The evening world. Newspaper, January 5, 1916, Page 15

Under the Moons of Mars : A Wonder Romance by Creator of “TARZAN” CHAPTER IX. The March Begins. Y first impulse was to tell her of my love, and then I thought of the helplessness , of her position, wherein I Rot chance causing her addi- _¢ Wenel pain or sorrow by declaring e whioh, im all probability, she « 44 not return. “Why are you so quist, Dejah « Thorie?’ I asked. “Possibly you * would rather return to Sola and your quarters?” “No,” she murmured, “I am happy pe . I do not know why it is that I should always be happy and con- .» tented, when you, John Carter, a stranger, are with me; yet at such i | "Do people kiss, then, upon Bar- @oom?” I asked, when she had ex- >» Dilained the word she used in answer jig! that to my inquiry as to its meaning. “Parents, brothers and sisters, yes »« end,” she added in a low, thought- ful tone, “lovers.” “And you, Dejab Thoris, have par- ents anq brothers and sisters? “Yes.” “And a lover?” She was silent, nor did | repeat the Questions of women, except his moth- er, and the woman he has fought for and won. } Titut 4 have fougnt” ——~ and then I wished my » tol had been cut from my mouth, § for sho turned even as I caught my- self and ceased, and drawing my ewailke from bh houlder “she held them out to me, and without a word, and with head held high, she moved swith the carriuge of the queen she ‘was toward the plaza and the doo: way of her quarters, this was love! no. Lhad escaped it for all the years T « had roamed the five continents and wtheir encircling seas, in spite of beau- wtiful women and urging opportunit + Inapite of a half-desire for love, and @ constant search for my tdeal, it had remained for me to fall furiously and vchopelessly in love with a creature grom another world, of a species simt- lar, pocsibly, yet not identical with mine. .. ‘The morning of our departure for ‘Thark dawned clear and hot, as do all Martian mornings except for the six de-eeks that the snow meits at the oles. y ay sought out Dejah Thoris in the ssthrong of departing chariots, but she turned her shoulder to me. and [ could see the red blood mount to her check. She was chained by one ankle to the chariot. “What does this mean?” I cried, turning to Sola. P Barkoja thought It best,” she an- ewered, her face betokening her dia- cedure, the manacies I saw “that they fastened with a massive * -mpring lock. » "Where is the key, Soln? Let me \ have it.” a “Sarkoja wears she answered. * A tow moments later T saw Sarkoja ‘deep in conversation with a warrior eisnamed Zad—a big, hulking, powerful ! brute, but one who had never made a own chieftains, and so it, John Carter,” ‘cond name o chieftain, ¥ It was thts custom which entitled me f either of the chiet- 1. In fact, some of the ‘warriors addressed me as Dotar Sojat, @ combination of the surnames of the two warrior chifetains whose metal en, or, In other words, whom slain in fair fight. As Sarkoja talked with Zad he cast ocasional glances in my direction, seemed to be urging him ( very strongly to some action. I paid +» little attention to it at the time, but «the next day I had good reason to yecall, the circumstance, and at the ame time gain a slight insight into the depths of Sarko); hatred and the tengths to which she wus capable », ef going to wreak ber horrid ven- geance on m Dejah Thoris would have none of me again on this evening, and though I speke her name, she netther replied nor conceded by so much as the flutter of an eyelid that she realized my ex- f my extrem! other lovers would Word from her through an intimate, In this instance it was Sola, whom I , intercepted in another part of the camp. io the matter with Dejan I blurted oyt at her. ‘Why 4 wee not speak to/me?” jemed puzzled herself, as such strange actions on the ‘of two humans were quite be- et se He could I did what most ve done—I sought her, @8 indeed they were, poor you have angered her, ahe will say, except ter of @ re the wound, I suffered no “I pondered over this report for som vtige, dually aaicing: ©" es ‘J ® sorak Sola?” animal about her ehoounter wi ~. ly. We hated at noon; and I was taneing from, dne spoeat J to a en Zad sprang forwa: warning, and struck my animal with his sword I did not need a manual of green Martian etiquette to know what reply to make, for in fact I was so wild with anger that I could scarcely ro- frain from drawing my pistol and shooting him down forthe brute he was, but he stood waiting with drawn ai eword, and my only choice was to draw my own and meet him in fair fight with bis choice of weapons or a lesser one. This latter alternative le always permissible, therefore I could have used my short sword, my dagger, my hatchet or my fists had I wished and been entirely within my rights, but I could not use firearms or @ spear while he held only his long sword. I chose the same weapon he nad drawn because I know he prided him- self upon his ability with it, and I wished, if I worsted him at to do it with his own weapon. Zed first attempted to rush me down as a bull might a woit, but I wes much too quick for him; and each time I sidestepped his rushes he would go hunging past me, only to receive @ nick from my sword upon his arm or He was soon streaming blood from @ half dozen minor wounds, but I could not obtain an opening to deliver an effective thrust. Then he changed his tactics, and, fighting warily and with extreme dexterity, he tried to = ty ene what he was unable to o etrength. Finally Sea, realizing that he was tiring more than I, lently decided to close in and end the battle in a final blaze of glory for himself; fust as he rushed me a blinding flash of an éffort to escape the mighty blade that {t seemed I could already fee! in my vitals. I was only partially successful, as a@ sharp pain in my left shoulder tested; but in the sweep of my glanc as 1 sought to again locate my ad. versary, a sight met my astonished gaze which paid me well for the wound the temporary blindness had caused me. There, upon Dejah Thoris’s chariot, Stood three figures, for the purpose, evidently, of witnessing the encoun- ter above the heads of th ing Tharks. There ‘Thoris, Sola and Sarkoja; and as my fleeting glance swept over them a little tableau was presented which will stand graven in my memory to the day of my death, ‘ As I looked, Dejah Thoris turned upon Sarkoja with the fury of a young tigress and struck something from her upraised hand; som which flushed in the sunlight Spun to the ground. y Then I knew what had blinded me at that crucial moment of the fight and how Sarkoja had found a way to kill me without herself delivering the final thrust. Another thing I saw, too, which almost lost my life for me. then and there, for it took my mind for the fraction of an instant entirely from my antagonist. As Dejah Thoris struck the tiny mirror from her hand, Sarkoja, ner face livid with hatred and baffled rage, whipped out her dagger and timed a terrific blow at Dejah Thoris: and then Sola, our dear and faithful Sola, sprang between them; the last I saw was the great knife descending Upon her shielding breast My enemy had recovered from his thrust, and was making it extremely interesting for mo, so I reluctant! gave my attention to the work in hand, but my mind was not upon the ‘We. rushed each other furiously time after time, till euddenly, feeling the sharp point of his sword at my breast in a thrust I could neithor parry nor escape, I threw myself Upon him with outstretched sword and with all the weight of my body, determined that I should not die alone if I could prevent it. I felt the steel tear into my chest, all went black before me, my head whirled in dizziness and my knoes fave beneath CHAPTER X. A Sad History. HEN consciousness returned, and, as I soon learned, | was down but for a mo- ment, I sprang quickly to my feet, searching for my sword, and there I found it, buried to the hilt in the green breast of Zad. who lay stone deed upon the ochre moss of the ancient sea bottom, As I regained my full senses I found his weapon piercing my left breast; but only through the flesh and mus- cles which cover my ribs, entering near the centre of my chest, and com- ing out below the shoulder, As I had lunged I had turned go that his sword merely passed beneath the muscles, inflicting @ painful but not dangerous wound, Removing the blade from my body, I also regained my own, and, turning my back upon his ugly carcass, I moved, sick, sore, and disgusted, to- ward the chariots which bore my retinue and my belongings. A murmur of Martian applause greeted me, but I cared not for it, Bleeding and weak, I reached my women, who, accustomed to uch happenings, dressed my wounds, ap- plying the wonderful healing and re- medial agents which make only the most instantaneous of death-blows Taial. Give a Martian woman a Shanon, and death must take a back seat. They soon had me patched up so that, except for weakness from loss of blood and @ little soreness around it dis- tress from this thrust whlch, under earthly treatment would have put me flat on my back for days, As soon as they were fh with me I hastened to the chariot of Dejah Thoris, where I found my ir Bola her chest swathed in bandages, but apparently little the worse for her Sarkoja, whose dag- a ad struck the edge of one of a'a metal breast ornaments, and had indicted but @ alight Oesh- wound. *: ry g || Can You As I approached I' found Dejah ‘Toris lying prone upon her silks and furs, her lithe form racked with sobs, “Is sue injured?” I asked of Sola, indicating Dejah Thorts by an tnclina- ton of my head. “me thinks “No,” she answered; that you are dead,” “And that her grandmother's cat may now have no one to polish its teeth?” | queried, smiling, Then the day’s mare was re. sumed. At the evening halt I went again to Sola, “1 am glad you came,” he said. “Dejah Torts sleeps, amd I am lone- ly, Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter; T am too unlike them. It is @ sad fate, since I must live my life among them, and I often wish that I were a true green Martian woman, without love and without hope, but I bave known love, and eo T senk down beside the industrious woman and for some time we sat in friendly silence. After awhile we en- tered into desultory conversation, and in the end @he opened her heart to me and told me her story, The tragedy and the pathos of thu story at on¢e made clear to me why it was that Sola was so different from the other Martian women I had known. Deppite Martian customs, there had been real love between her father and mother—a clandestine af- fair which had persevered for years, to be discovered and exposed by Sar- koja during a time when Sola’s father was at war, His identity was not learned by the spying woman. Old Tal Hajus, soulless and bloody- handed villain, ordered Sola's mother executed; but the doomed woman, be- fore her end, succeeded tn placing her young daughter among the other com- mon children, and the real identity of the child never came out. “She had told them that she had killed me to save me from a like fate at their hands, and that she had thrown my t to the white apes. Sarkoja alone disbelteved her, and I feel to this day that she suspects my true origin, but does not dare expose me because she wuesses, 1 am sure, the identity of my father. “When he returned from his ex- edition and learned the story of my mother's fate, I was presont as Tal Hajus told hi but never by the quiver of a mu did he betray the slightest emotion; only he did not laugh as Tal Hajus gleefully de- scribed her death struggles. “From that moment on he was the cruelest of the cruel and I am await- ing the day when he shall win the goal of his ambition, and feel the car- cass of Tal Hajus beneath his foot, for I am sure that he but waits the opportunity to wreak a terrible Vengeance, and that bis great love is 48 strong in his breast as when it first transfigured him, nearly forty years go, as | am that we sit here upon t! ize of @ world old ocean while sens!- ble peaple' sleep, John Carte: “And re seer » Bola, he with “Yes,” she replied; “but he does not know me for what I am, nor does he know who betrayed my mother to Tal Hajus, I alone know my father's name, and only | and Hajus and Sar- koja know that it was she who oar- ried the tale that brought death and torture upon her he loved, “When the time comes speak the truth if it seems best to you. I trust you beoause I know that you are not cursed with the terrible trait of abso- lute and unswerving truthfulness, thet you could lie like one of your own Virginia gentlemen—if a lie would eave others trom sorrow or ally Magaz eat It? suffering, My thther’s name ‘s Tars kas,” ‘Tari “CHAPTER XI. Treptdation. HE remainder of our Joarney to Thark was uneventful. We were, in al, twenty days upon the road, orosa- Passing through or round a number of ruined cities, mostly smaller than Korad. Twice we orossed the famous Martian weterways, or so-called canals, by our earthly astronomers. Not once di@ I have speech with Dejah Thoris, as she sent no word to me that I would be welcome at her chariot, and my foolish pride kept me from making any advances, Just thirty daye after my advent upon Barsoom we entered the uncient city of Thark, from whose long for- gotten people this horde of green men hay jtolen even their names. our entry into the great central plaza early in the afternoon, There were no enthusiastic, friendly greetings for the returned expedition. ‘Those who chanced to be in sight spoke the es of warriors or women with whom they came in direct con- tact, in the formal greeting of their kind; but when it was discovered that they brought two captives a greater interest wae roused, and Dejah Thoris and 1 were the centres of inquiring groups. When quarters had been assigned to us, I sought out Deja Phoris, She greeted me coldly: “What would Dotar Sojat, Thark, of Dejah Thoris, bis captive?” “Dejab Thoris, I do not know how ing two sea bottoms and ° » It was furthest I had hoped to protect an “Have none of me, if it {s your will, but that you must aid me in effecting your escape, if such a thing be pos- sible, is not my request, but my com. mand. When you are safe once more at your father’s court you may do with me as you please, but from now on until that day I am your master, and you must obey and aid me.” She looked at me long and earnestly and I thought that she was softening toward me, “I understand your words, Dotdr Sojat,” she reptied, “but you I do not . You are a queer mixture of child and man, of brute and noble. I only wish that I might read your heart,” “Look down at your fost, Dejah Thoris; ft lies th now where it has lain #ince that other night Korad, and where ft will ever Iie beating alone for you untli death stills It forever." She took a Httle step toward me, her beautiful hands outstretched in a etran; een: ing gesture. , t you mean, John Carter?” The Creator of “SHERLOCK HOLMES" ts at + his very best in the great romance of love and of European war ‘ THE GREAT SHADOW By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE THIS WILL BE NEXT WEEK'S COMPLETE NOVEL IN THE EVENING WORLD ine. “We dnesd 1938. oho te Galtig cs, (the New ea Wort’) che raaneeye “What are you ing to me?” f “I am saying what I hag ipromibeee myself that I should not say to you, at least until you were no longer a captive among the men; what from your attitudé toward me for the past twenty days, I had thought never to say to you; I am saying, Dejah Thoris, that | am yours, body oul, to serve you, to fight for nd to dle for you. “Only one thing I ask of you In re- turn, and that is that you make no sign, either of condemnation or of ap- probation of my words, until you are safe among your own people, and that whatever sentiments you harbor to- ward me they be not influenced or colored by gratitude. Whatever T may do to serve you will be prompted solely from selfish motives, since it gives me more pleasure to serve you than not.” “L will respect your wishes, John Carter, because [ understand the mo- tives which prompt them, and I ac- cept your service no more willingly than I bow to your authority; your word shall be my law. I have twice wronged you in my thoughts, and again T ask your forgiveness.” Further conversation of @ personal nature was prevented by the en- trance of Sola, who was much agi- tated and wholly unlike her usual calm and possessed self “That borrible Sarkoja has been be- fore Tal Hajus,” she cried, “and from what I heard upon the plaza there is little hope for either of you “What do they say?” Inquired Dejah Thoris. “That you will be thrown to the wild calots (dogs) in the great arena as soon a8 the hordes have assembled tor the arly games.” “Sola,” I said, “you are a Thark, but you hate and loathe the customs of your people as much as we. Will you not accompany us in our supreme ef. fort to escape? | am sure that Dejah Thoria can offer you 4 home and @ pro- tection among her people, and your fate can be no worse among them than it must ever be here,” “Yes,” cried Dejah Thoris, “come with us, Sola, you will be better off among the red men of Helturn than you are here, and I can promise you not only a home with us, but the love and affection your nature craves and which must always be denied you by the customs of your own rac; “The great waterway which leads to Helfum is but fifty miles to the south,” murmured Sola, half to h self, “A swift thoat might make it in three hours; and then to Helium It is five hundred miles, most of the way through thinly settled districts “They would know, and they would follow us. We might bide among tli great trees for a time, but the chances are @ma!! indeed for escape. They would follow us to the very gates of Heltum, and they would take toll of lite at every step. You do not know them.” “Is there no other way we might By Maurice Ketten ay. A Januar “yar reach Helium?” 1 et td Bee | ee no, draw me a ro! map e iegentea” we must “fraverse, Dejan joris 2” “Yes,” she replied, t diamond from ‘ew upon the marble floor the first map of Barsoomian territory had ever seen, It was ceiss-crossed in every direction with long straight lines, sémetines running paraliel and sometimes Converging toward some great circle, The lines, she sald, were waterways, the circles ofties, one far to thi northwest of us she pointed out There were other citiei but she said she feared to enter many of them, as they were not all friendly toward Heltum, Finally, after studying ‘the map carefully In the moonlight whieh now met ol the room, I pointed out @ waterway far to the north of us, which also seemed to lead to Helium. “Does not this pierce your grand~- father’s territory?” I asked, “Yes,” she answered, “but it ts two hundred miles north of us; it is one of the wate! 8 We crowsed on the | trip to Thark. “They would never suspeet that we would try for that distant waterway,” 1 answered, “and that is why I think that it Is the best route for our ea- cape.” Sola agreed with me, and it waa de- cided that we should leave Thark this same night; just as quickly, in fact, as [ could flad aod saddie my thoats. Sola was to ride one, and Dejah Thoris and I the other, each of ue carrying mufficlent food and drink to last us for two days, since the animals could pot be urged too rapidly for ao long # dis- tance. I directed Sola to proceed jah Thoris along one of the less fro. quented avenues to the southern boundary of the city, where I would overtake them with the thoats as quickly as possible; then, leaving them to gather what food, silks and furs we were to need, | slipped qui to the rear of the first floor and tered the courtyard where our mals were moving restlessty about, as waa their habit before settl night, I eaddied the two 1 chosen, and led them out. 1 5 the appointed meeting~ plac but as Dejah Thoris and solu were not there I led my animals into the, entrance hall of one of the large buildings. ‘Then there broke upon the atiliness of the night the sound of an approach- ing party, wich from the noise I knew could be no fugitives creeping stealthily toward liberty. Soon the party was near me, and from the black shadows of my en- tranceway I perceived @ score of mounted warriora, who in passing dropped a dozen words that fetched my heart clean into the top of my head, “He would iikely have arranged to meet them just without the city, and s0"— I heard no more—they had passed on; but it was enough. Our plan had been discovered, and the chances for escape from now on to the fearful end would be ema!) indeed, Suddenly an idea ocurred to me, and, taking « her hair, she and, acting on my knowledge of the construction of the buildings of these ancient Martian cities with a hollow court within the centre of each square, I groped my way bitndly through the dark ghambers, calling the great ba after 28 aie ney had 10 in negotiating some of the doorways; but, as the buildings fronting the citye principal exposure were all di 1 upon a magnificent scale, they found none y 5. Kind t H European Battlefields Sv, could wriggle through ithout sticking fast; and thus we made the inner court, where [ td bpd pa ly ty ht until retura them to their own in- way across the court to the rear of the buildin upon the further side, thence to the avenue joorway to the court beyond; throu court after it chance of adjacent ii and the warriors =i expect to meet witht: tered, Fortunately, SF 4 another and safer tr 1 heard was tion, for the conversation as in the low gutturals of men, and the words which finally came to me proved @ most timely warnt The speaker was a and was giving orders to four of hie war- vaetind when he returns to this cham- ber,” he was saying, “as he surely will when be ghe. does not meet him zanntis an F will require the combined strength of al! of you to do it, if the reports they bring back from Korad are correct. ‘Wenen you have him fast bound bear .him to the vaults beneath the Jeddak’s quarters and eae him se. BI rhe! oe may foun Tal Hajua wishes him, “Allow him to speak with none, nor permit any other to enter this apartment before Thre wall be no danger of the ate 5 by this time si Th'the Nome of Ta Hajus, and may all her ancestors have pity upon her, Hajus will have none. The great Sarkoja ‘haa done & noble night's work.” CHAPTER XU. Pursuit. the speaker ceased he turned to leave the apart- ment by the door where I was standing, but I needed to wait no longer! I had heard enough to fill my soul with dread and, stealing quietly away, I returned to the courtyard by the way I had come. My plan of action was formed upon the instant, and crossing the square and the bordering avenue upon the opposite side I eoon stood within the courtyard of Tal Hajus. ‘The brilliantly lighted apartments of the first floor told me where first to eee, and advancing to the win- dowa I peered within. I soon dis- covered that my approach was not to be the easy thing [ had hoped, for the rear rooms bordering the court were filled with warriors and women, 1 then glanced up at the stories above, discovering that the third was apparently unlighted, and so decided to make my entrance to the building from that point, It was the work of but a moment for me to reach the Windows above, and svon | had drawn myself within the sheltering shadows of the unlighted third tloor, Fortunately the room L had selected was Untenanted, and creeping nolse- leasly to the aorrider beyond I dis- covered a light in ‘the apartments ahead of me. Reaching what appeared to be a doorway, I discovered that it was but an opening upon an immense inner 8 chamber, which towered from tho first floor, two stories below me, to the domelike roof of the building, high above my head. The floor of this great circular hall was thronged with chieftains, warriors and women, and at one end was @ great raised plat form, upon which squatted the most hideous beast I had ever put my eyes upon, He had all the cold, hard, cruel, ter. rible features of the green warriors, but accentuated and debased by the animal passions to which he had given himeelf over for many years. There was not a mark of dignity or pride upon his bestial countenance, while his enormous bulk spread itself out upon the platform where he wquatted Mke some huge devil-tish; his aix iimba accentuating the hi in 4 horrtble and startling manner. But the sight that froze mo with apprehension was that of Dejan ‘Thoris and Sola standing there before The Most Powerful and Enthrallin, the Author of the “ MES" Stories Has Written Sir Arthur Conan Doyle “The Great Shadow"’ Is a Romance of the, iv Be om the Lookout for the First instalment g Serial of its ERLOCK and of a Girl’s Love. } him, and the fi he let his pretreating defore departing; I titaemcas a Bie ingers nervous ile of his great eword, and, eyea bent in implacad| Tal Hajus. = ds F iz It was Tars Tarkas, and read his thoughts as they open book for the updiagull ing upon his face. je was of that other woman who, foi ago, had stood before this could I have spoken a word ear at that moment the rei; Hajus would have been ping 4 he also strode from the pte igiey that ~ Pa his ir at the merc: the creature MAST reel ue see Da Sb reac! the floor Tal “Princess of Heltu: wring jm, I might £. mighty ransom from. 7 ‘ould 1 but return you to them an- harmed, but a thousand times would I watch that beautiful EH Phe Laie fi your race, “The terrors of haunt the plumbers’ of wi Aide ig Me" attest shudder in ah. night as their fathers toll power and and hate bag of Tal Hajus.” le i a : 4 i i a & t g i g Ee z 2 2 abt Hi jas Jaw. he slipped to the floor as In the same deathly grasped Dejah Thoria by and motioning to Sola sped noiselessly from and to the floor above, reached a rear window, straps and leather of my lowered first Sola, and Thoris to the und below, Dropping lightly after them, them rapidly around the court shadows of the buildings, and. returned over the same co! #0 recently followed from boundary of the city. We finally came upon my Se birt aged where I had placing the trappt we hastened the the avenue beyo. upon one beast, and De, hind me upon the other, we the City of Thark through to. gee south. jo word waa left the city far betes. eer 1 ot bie Lane i fig 832 We Ff : 4 et ff fit the fy sobbing as e clung to dear head resting” cane shoulder, been #0 sadly upect that we now f urselves Without food or Grin, and alone was armed, We therefore urged beasts to @ speed that must tell oa them sorely before we could hope = sight the ending of the frst stage of our journey. \ ae sone all nish ond all the fpl- lowing day, with on! te rests. At last I realised we had wie ee lost our way, ahead of us and a trifle right we could distinguish the pute hhnes of low mountains, These wedo- am cided to attempt to reach, in the that from some ridge we mien die cry the missing waterway, Night fell upon us before we reached aur goal, and, almost fainting from weariness and weakness, we lay down and slept. I was awakened early in the morn- ing by some huge body preasing close to mine, and opening my eyes with a start I beheld the blessed old Woole snuggling close to me; the brute, had followed us acrogs that rackless waste to share 0! it whatever it might be. me Putting my arms about his neck, t pressed my cheek close to his, nor pei I aghamed sot 5 418 it, nor of the ears that came my eyes I thought of his love for me, “ Shortly after this Dejah Thoris Sola awakened, and it was that we push on at once in an effort to gain the hills, We had gone scarcely a mile when I noticed that my thoat was com- mencing to stumble and stagger in a most pitiful manner, though we had not attempted to force them out of a walk since about noon of the pre- coding day, Suddenly he lurehed wildly to one side and pitched vio- lently to the ground. Dejah Thoris and I were thrown clear of him and fell upon the soft moss with scaroely a jar; but the poor beast was in @ pitiable condition, not even being able to rise, though relieved of our weight, Sola and I walked, making Dejah Thoris ride, much against fer wil In this way we had progressed to within about a mile of the Mills we were endeavoring to reach Dejah Thoris, from her point of van- tage upon the thoat, cried out that she saw @ great party of mounted men filling down from @ pass in. the hills several miles away, (To Be Continued.) pated Bz