The evening world. Newspaper, January 8, 1916, Page 7

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PS | Wesseeccccecccneesceseseesensnecaseaceseeceeeanes eneescoerooooeresene } Under the Moons of Mar dergoes Tight Th He: arrives, promised. in‘ hed plane to resne ing tov make her hes oii CHAPTER XIX. (Continued) Loot. EFORE them stretched a broad aisle Mined on either side with soldiery, and as I looked there entered this aisle at the far end of the hall the ‘héad of a procession which advanced to the foot of the throne, First there marched four officers of the Jeddak's Guard, bearing a huge salver, on which reposed upon @ cush- ion of scarlet silk a great golden chain with a collar and padlock at each end. Directly behind these officers came four others, carrying a similar salver, which supported the magnificent or- namentas of a prince and princess of the reigning house of Zodanga. At the foot of the thrones these two parties separated and halted, facing each other at opposite sides of the aisle. Then came more dignitaries and the officers of the pulace and of the army, and finally two figures en- tirely muffled in scarlet silk, go that not a feature of either was discern- ible. These two stopped at the foot of the throne, facing Than Kosis. When the halance of the procession had entered and assumed their stations Than Ko- sis addressed the couple before him, 1 could not hear his words, but presently two officers adyanced and removed the scarlet robe from one of the figures, and I saw that Kantos Kan had failed in his mission, for it was Sab Than, Prince of Zodanga, who stood revealed before me. Than Kosis now took one set of or- naments from one of the salvers and Placed them upon Sab Than, then clasped one of ie collars of gold about his neck and sprung the pad- won faot, After a few more words addressed to Sab Than he turned to the other figure, from which the officers now removed the enshrouding silks, dis- closing to my now comprehending view Dejab Thoris, Princess of Helium, The object of the ceremony was clear to me; in another moment Dejait Thoris would be joined forever to the Prince of Zodanga It was an impressive and beautiful yeremony, [ presume; but to me it seemed the most fiendish sight I had ever witnessed, and as the ornaments were adjusted upon her beautiful figure and the collar of gold swung open in the hands of Than Kosis I raised my long-sword above my head, and with the heavy hilt I shattered the glass of the great window and sprang into the midst of the aston- ished assemblage. With a bound I was on the steps of the platform beside Than Kosis, and as ho stood riveted with surprise L brought my long-sword down upon the golden chain that would have bound Dejah Thoris to another. In an instant all was confusion A thousand drawn swords menaced me from every quarter, and Sab ‘Than sprang upon me with a Jeweled dagger he had drawn from his nuptial ornaments. T could have killed him as easily as I might e@ fly; but the age-old cus- tom of Barsoom stayed my hand, and, grasping his wrist as the dagger flew toward my heart, I held him as in a vise and with my long- thong sword pointed to the far end of the hall, “Zodanga bas fallen;” 1 cried “Look!” ‘All eyes turned in the direction | had indicated, and there, forging through the portals of the entrance- way, rode Tars Tarkas and his fifty warriors on their great thoats. A cry of alarm and amazement broke from the assemblage; but no word of fear, and in a moment the diers and nobles of Zodanga were urling themselves upon the advanc- ing Tharks. Th \g Sab Than headlong from the platform, I drew Dejan Thoris to my side. Than Kosis had pushed his consort through @ narrow doorway behind the room, and now he stood facing me with drawn long-sword. In an instant we were engaged, and [ found the Jeddak of Zodanga no mean 3 eee clos upon the broad plat- form I saw Sab Than rushing up the wteps to aid his father; but, as he raised his hand to strike, Dejab Tho- ris sprang before him, and then my sword found the spot made that Sab Than Jeddak of Zodan: ‘As his father rolled dead upon the floor the new jedddk tore himself from Dejah Thoris's grasp, and again we faced each other, He was soon joined by @ quartet of officers, and with my back against a golden throne I fought once again for Dejah Thoris. 1 was bard sed to defend myself, and yet not strike down Sab Than, and, with him, my last chance to win the oman t loved. wily blade was swinging with the rapidity of lightning as 1 sought to parry the thrusts and cuts of my op- ponents. Two | had disarmed and one was down, when several more rushed to the aid of their new ruler and to avenge the death of the old. As they advanced there were cries of woman! The woman! Stpike It is her plot! Kill her! Kill her! Calling to Dejah Thoris to get be- hind me, 1 worked my way toward little doorway back of the throne; i) the officers realized my inten- tions, and three of them sprang in hehitd me and Wlocked my chances for gaining a position where | could have defended Dejah Thoris against an ormy of swordsmen. The Tharks were having their hands full in the centre of the room, and | began to realize that nothing short of a miracle could gave Dejah hela ond om Mf, Tarkos surging nvemie about aim With + roof his mighty lone word he liid a dozen corpses at hia and so be hewed « pathway A Wonder Romance by the Creator of “TARZAN” wn PRADA ALPLPAD VIP RIIIFSIITS? before him until in another moment he stood upon the platform beside me, dealing death and destruction of (he Zodangans was uspiring; not one attempted to} pe, and when the fighting ceased it was because only Tharks remained alive in the great hall other than Deja) Thoris and myself. Sab Than lay dead beside his father, and the corpses of the flower of Zodangan nobility and chivalry covered the floor of the bloody sham- es, My firat thought when the battle for Kantos Kan, and, Tars Tarkas, T took a dozen warriors ind hastened to the dungeons be- neath the palace. The jailers had all left to join the fighters in the throne room, #0 we searched the labyrinthine prison without opposition, I called Kantos Kan's name aloud in each new corridor and compart- ment, and finally T was rewarded by hearing a faint response, Guided by the sound, we soon found him in a dark recess, He was overjoyed at seeing me and to know the meaning of the fight, faint echoes of which had reached his prison cell. He told me that the air patrol had captured him before he reached the high tower of the palace, so that he had not seen Sab Than. We discovered that tt would be fn. tile to attempt to cut away the bars and chains which held him prisoner, so at bis suggestion [L returned to search the bodies on the floor above for keys to open the padlocks of 4 cell and of his chains, Fortunat@ly among the first I examined I found his jailer, and soon we had Kantos Kan with us in the throne room, ‘The sounds of heavy firing, mingled with shouts and cries, came to us from the city's streets, and Tars Tarkas hastened away to direct the fighting without. Kantos Kan accompanied him to! act as gulde, the green warriors com- menced a thorough search of the pa {ou Beat Ji? fe MAM WHAT HH. SHALLIGET Fl I AY) AT THE MARKET ? WANT oo rs To ace for other Zodangans and for loot and Dejah Thoris and I were left! alone. She had sunk into one of the golden thrones, and as [ turned to her she greeted me with a wan smile. “Was there ever such a man?” she exclaimed. “I know that Rarsoom has never before seen your like, Can it be that all earthmen are as you?! Alone, © stranger, hunted, threatened persecuted, you have done in a sbort months what In all the past ages of Barsoom no man has ever done—joined together the wild hordes of the sea-bottoms and brought t to fight as allies of a red Martian people.” “The answer Is ea. T replied, smiling. “It was not | who did it, it was love—love for Dejan Thoris—a power that would work greater miracles than this you have ween.” and she answered: “You may say that now, John Cur ter;and I may listen, for Tam frec “And more still I have to say, er: it is again too late.” T returned, "I have done many strange things in my hfe, many things that wiser men would not have dared; but never tn my wildest fancies have 1 dreamed winning a Dejah Thoris for myself. for never had I dreamed that in all the universe dwelt such a woman as the Princess of Helium. That you are @ princess does not abash me, but that you are 1s enough to make 1 doubt my sanity as I ask you, my princess, to be mine.” “He does not need to be abashed who so well knew the answer to his plea before the plea were made,” sho replied, riving and placing her dear hands upon my shoulders: and so I took her in my arms and kissed her. hus in the midst of a city of wild confilet, filled with the alarms of wi with deat 6 thelr terrible harvest honey, en Dejah Thoris, Princess of Heltum, true daughter of Murs, the god of wi promise herself in marriage to Jol Carter, gentleman of Virginia. —_—_—— CHAPTER XX. Conquering Heroes. OME time later Tars Tarkas | | and Kantos Kan returned i to report that Zodanga had J been completely redu Her forces were entirely destroyed or captured, and no further resistance was to be expected from within, Several battleships had es- caped, but there were thousands of war and merchant vessels under guard of Thark warriors, ‘The lesser hordes had commenced looting and quarrelling among them- selves, so it was decided that we col- lect what warriors we could, man as many vessels as possible with Zodan- gan prisoners, and make for Helium without further loss of time, Five hours later we sailed from the roots of the dock buildings with a fleet of two hundred and fifty battle- ships, carrying nearly one hundred thousand green warriors, followed by a fleet of transports laden with our thoats, Behind us we left the stricken city In the flerce and brutal clutches of some forty thousand green warriors of the lesser hordes, They were loot- ing, murdering, and fighting among themselves, Ina hundred places they had applied the torch. and columns of dense smoke w rising above the city as though to blot out from the eye of heaven the horrid sights be- neath, In the middle of the afternoon wa sighted the scarlet and vellow towers of Helium, and_a short time later a great fleet of Zodangan battleships rose from the camps of the besler- ers and advanced to meet us The banners of Helium had been strung from stem to stern of each of our mighty craft: but the Zo- dangans did not need this sign to realize that we were enemies, for our green martian warriors had opened fire upon them almost as they left the ground. With their uncanny marksmanship they raked the oncoming fleet with volley after volley ‘The twin cities of Helium, percelv- ing that we were friends, sent out hundreds of vessels to ald us, and then began the first real oir battle 1 had ev The v our green above fow | Dejah Thoris," | 0 A pretty flush overspread her face, | of AND ALSO GET Two DoZEN EGGS AND A BUNCH / OF CELERY H WHAT'S (T STHE STUFF THAT TOHN You TELEPHONED a —— NE To BRING Wasa. 3 ae Sey : \| fs, VEN ue ¥ le yy | pae EW ed * Lae By Maurice Kotien ne The Evening World Daily Magazine, Saturday. January 8, I . | halal GET A Be \SIAL |) LEG oF , 1 Ge LANB JOHN | WANT You To COME HOME EARLY _ WE ARE GOING Ta HAVE COMPANY ARE YOU CRAZY YOu To BRING ANYTHING: | DION'T TELEPHONE CAN You BEAT IT! YOU TELEPHONED LEE) aA AR UR ASTIN maf TT LVS) Cy LCA LF the contending fleets of Helium and Zodanga, since their batteries were useless s of the Tharks. them, however, and the final @ engagement was y influenced, if not wholly de- termined, by their presence. At first the two forces circled at the same altitude, pouring broadside after broadside into each other. Presently a great hole was torn In of one of the immense bat- tle-eraft from the Zodangan camp, With a lureh she turned completely over, the little figures of her crew plunging, turning and twisting to- ward the ground a thousand feet be- low; then, with sickening velocity, she tore after them, almost com- pletely burying herself in the soft loam of the ancient sea-bottom A wild cry of exultation rose from tho Heliumite squadron, and with re- vubled ferocity they fell upon the odangan fleet, a pretty manoeuvre two of the vessels of Hellum gained a position above thetr adversaries, from which they poured upon them from. their Xeel-bomb batteries 4. perfect tor. rent of exploding bomb tleships of Helium succeeded in rising above the Zodangans, and tn a short time a number of the beleaguering battle ships were drifting, hopeless wrecks, toward the high sea tower of greater Helium. Several at tempted to escape, but were soon surrounded by thousands of tiny individual flyers) and above each hung a monster battleship of Hellum ready to drop boarding parties upon their decks, Within but Hitle more than an hour from the moment the victorious squadron had risen to meet us from the camp of the besiegers the battle was over, and the remaining vessels of ithe conquered Zodangans were headed toward the cities of Helium under prize crews. There was an ext 1y pathetic side to the surrender of these mighty flyers, the result of an age-old cus- tom which demanded that surrender should by the volun- tary plunging to earth of the com- mander of the vanquished — vessel, One after another the brave fellows, holding their colors high above their #, leaped from the towering bow their mighty craft to an awful death, Not until the comander tire fleet took the fearful plunge, thus indicating the surrender of the remain= ing vessels, did the fighting cease and of the en- the useless sacriflee of brave men Woe now signalled the flagship of Helium's navy to approach, and when she was Within hailing distance I called out that we had the Princess Dejah Thoris on bo: nd that we wished to transfer her to the flagship that » might be taken immediately to the city Ax the full import of my announce- ment bore in upon them a great ery rose from the decks of the flag-ship, and a moment later the colors of the Princess of Helium broke from a bun dred points upon her upper works, When the other vessels of the squadron caught the meaning of the signals flashed n they took up the wild acclaim and unfurled her colors in the ¢ ming suniight he flag-ship bore down upon us, and as she swung gracefully to and touched our side dozen officers sprang upon her decks. As their as tonished gaze fell upon the hundreds of green Warriors, who how cane forth from the tighting shelters, they stopped, aghast; but at sight of Kan- tos Kan, who advanced to meet them, they came forward, crowding about him Dejah Thoris and I then advanced, and they had no eves for other than she She received them gracefully, call- ing each by name, for they were men high in the esteem and service of her grandfather, and she knew them well, “Lay your hands upon the shoulder of John Carter,” she said to them, turning toward m the man to whom Helium owes her princess as y is her victory to-day.” You owe your thanks more to an- other man than to me," I said, “and here he is, Meet one of Barsoom's greatest soldiers and statesmen, Tars Tarkos, Jeddak of Thark.” Dejah Thoris went aboard the flag- ship, and was much put out that T would not follow; but, ax I explained to her, the battle was but partly won; We still had the land forces of the besleging Zodangans to account for, and 1 would not leave Tars Tarkas until that had been acccmplished, As soon as the Jast thoat was un- loaded, Tars Tarkas gaye the com- mand to advance, and in three parties we crept upon the Zodangan camp— from the north, the south and the east, About a mile from the main camp , t# and, as vccepted this had been prearrange: as the signal to cha With wild, ferocious ertes and amid the nasty squealing of battle-enraged thoats we bore down upon the We did not catch them napping, but found a well-intrenched ba line confronting us, ‘Time after time we were repulsed until, toward noon, I began to fear for the buttle, The Zodangans numbered nearly 4 million fighting men gathered from pole to pole, wherever stretched their ribbonlike waterways, while pitted against them were less than a@ hun- dred thousand green warriors, The forces from Helium had not arrived, nor could we receive any word from them Just at noon wa ll along the line between the Zodan- fans and the cities, and knew then that our much-needed reinforce- had come. and heavy firing Again Tars ‘Tarkas ordered the charge, and once more the mighty thoats bore their terrible riders against (ho rampart of the enemy. At the sume moment the battle lne of Helium surged over the opposite breastworks of the Zodangans, and in another moment they were being crushed as between two millstone n vain, ity became a Jangan sur- ve the carnage ased, the prisoners wera marched ck to Helium, and wo itered the greater city's gates, 2 trlumphal Procession of conque eroes That my poor as to Dejah Thoris had become n to the Heliumites. was ev 1 by the joud erying of my n and by the thbbleteleereietebteleteei-iot loads of ornaments that were fastened upon me and my huge thoat as we Passed up the avenues to the palace. AS We approached this magnificent pile we were met by a party of off- cers, who greeted us warmly and re- quested that Tara Tarkas and his jeds, with the jeddaks and jeds of his wild allies, together with myself, dismount and accompany them to re- ceive from Tardos Mors an expres- sion of his gratitude for our services At the top of the great steps, lead- ing up te the main portals of the palace, stood the royal party, and as we reached the lower steps one of their number descended to meet us, He was an almost perfect specimen of manhood—tall, straight as an ar- row, superbly muscled, and with the carriage and bearing of a ruler of men. I did not need to be told that he was Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium. The first member of our party he met was Tars Tarkas, and his first words sealed forever the new friend- ship between the r: “That Tardos Mors,” he sald earn- estly, “may meet the greatest living warrior of Barsoom ta a priceless honor, but that he may lay his hand on the shoulder of a@ friend and ally is a far greater boon." “Jeddak of Helium," returned Tars Tarkas, “it has remained for a man of another world to teach the green warriors of Barsoom the meaning of friendship, To him we owe the fact that the hordes of Thark can under- stand you, that they can appreciate and reciprocate the sentiments you #0 graciously Tardos Mors then greeted each of the green jeddaks and jeds, and to each spoke words of friendship and appreciation. As hoe approached me he laid both hands upon my shoulders, “Welcome, my son,” he said, “that you are granted gladly and without one word of opposition the most prec- fous Jewel in all Helium—yes, on all Barsoom—tg sutfictent earnest of my esteem.” We were then presented to Mors Kajak, Jed of lesser Helium and father of Dejah Thoris. He had followed close behind Tardos More and seemed even more affected by the meeting than bad his father, CHAPTER XXI1. “The Light Flickers’? —— OR ten days the hordes of Thark and their wild allies were feasted and enter- tained; and then, loaded with costly presents and es- corted by ten thousand soldiers of Helium, commanded by Mora Kajak, they started on the return Journey to their own lands, The jed of lesser Helium, with a sina party of nobles, accompanied them all the way to Thark to cement 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 more closely the new bonds of pe and friendship. Sola also accompanied Tars Tarkas, her father, who before all his chief- tains had acknowledged her as his daughter. Three weeks later Mors Kajak and his officers, accompanted by Tars Tar- kas and Sola, returned upon a battle- ship that had been dispatched to Thark to fetch them in time for the ceremony which made Dejah Thoris and John Carter one. For nine years I served In the councils and fought In the armies of Helium as a prince of ‘the house of ‘Tardos Mors. The people seemed never to tire of heaping honors upon me, and no day passed that did not bring some new proof of their love for my princess, the incomparable Jejah Thoris in @ golden incubator upon the root of our palace luy a snow-white egg. For nearly five years ten soldiers o} the Jeddak’s Guards had constantly wtood over it, and not « day passed when | was in the city that Dejah ‘Thoris and I did not stand band in hand before our little shrine planning for the future, when the delicate shell should break Vivid in my memory is the pictw of the lust night us we sat there, talking in low tones of the stran: romance which bad woven our liv together, and of this new wonder which Was coming to augment our happiness and round out our hopes and aspirations In the distance we saw the bright white light of an approaching air- ahip, but we attached no special sig- nificance to so common @ eight. Like @ bol lightaing it raced to- ward Helium until Ita very #peed be- spoke the unusual Prlasuing the sixnals which pro claimed it a despatch-beaier for t jeddak, it circled impatiently, await. ing the tardy patrol-boat which must convoy it to the palace doc ‘Yen minutes after it touched at the palace a méssage called me to the council chamber, which I found fill- ing with the members of that body. On the raised platform of the throne ‘Yardos Mors, pacing back and forth with tense-drawn face, When all were in their seats he turned toward us. “This morning,” he said, “word reached the seve! governments of Barsoom that the keeper of the at mosphere plant had made no wire less report for two days, nor had almost ceaseless calls upon him from @ score or capitals elicited a sign of response, “Phe ambassadors of the other na- tions ask the matter in hand @ , y ussisiant keepe to the ant All da 0 ousind cruisers have been sea nis for him, until but just now on them re turns, bearing his dead body, which was found in the pits bencath his house horribly muulated by some assassin Ido not need to tell you what this means to Barsoom. It would take months to otr those mighty walls; in fu the work has co commenced, and « ruld be hi r were the eng of the pump- nt to run as it should and as they all have for hundreds of year we fear, has happened instruments show a rapidly asing wir pressure on all parts Of Bargoom—ibs eaine bas wtoppad, he 1916 | Sir Arthur juropean Battlefields PL Beeeeeecceneceee sees eocsssacccos cosas “My gentiemen,” he concluded, “we t best three days to live.” There was absolute silence for sv J eral minutes ,and then a young noble rose, and, with bis drawn sword held high above his head addressed Tar- dos Mors: “The men ¢ i themselves ishown Barsd have prided tunity to show th {die, Let us go about our dutt jthough a thousand useful years etl lay be rang With applause, as there Was nothing better to do than to ailay the fears of tho |people by our example, we went our ‘9 with smiles upon our faces and sorrow gnawing at our hearts. When }found that reached [ returned to my palace { the rumor already had ejah Thoris so 1 told her all d heard. have been very happy, J whe sald, “and Lt thank w ever fate overtakes us that it per- mits us to die together.” The next two days brought no no- ticeable change tn the supply of air, third day difficult at the of the rooftops, The higher altitude: avenues and plazas of Hellum were filled with people, All business had ceased, For the most part the people looked bravely into the face of their unalterable doom, Here and there, however, women wept quietly. Toward the middle of the day many of ‘he weaker commenced to suc- cumb, and within an hour the people of Barsoom were sinking by thou- sands into the unconsciousness which precedes death by asphyxiation, Dejah Thoris and I, with the other members of Uh coyal fanaily, had col- lected In a sunken garden within an linner courtyard of the palace. We conversed in low tones, when we con- versed at all, as the awe of the grim shadow of death crept over us, ‘The little incubator had been brought from the roof of our palace at the uest of Dejah Thoris, and \ she sat gazing longingly upon the un- known little life that now she would never know. |, As it was becoming perceptibly dit- ficult to breathe, Tardos Mors arose, ‘ ing: Let us bid each other farewell. ‘The days of the greatness of Barsoom are over, To-morrow's sun will logk down upon a dead world which through all eternity must go swing- ing through the heave: peopled not even by memories, Tt is the end.” He stooped and kissed the women of his family, and lald his strong hand upon the shoulders of the men. ‘As I turned sadly from him my eyes fell upon Dejah Thoris. Her head was drooping upon her breast; to al! appearances she was IIfeless, With a ery I sprang to her and raised her tn my arms Hor eyes ne Kiss me, John Carter,” she mur mul “Ldove you! [love you! It is cruel that we must be torn apart who were just starting upon a life of love and happiness.” As I pressed her dear lips to mine the old feeling of unconquerable power and authority rose in me. The fighting blood of Virginia sprang to life in my veins opened and looked Into “It shall not be, my princess,” T cried. “1 is, there must be some way, and » Carter, who has fourht his way through a stra world for love of you, will find it.” With my words there crept above the threshold of my conscious mind a series of ning long forgotten sounds, lAke a flash of Ughtning In the dark- noss, their full purport dawned upon me—the key to the three great doors of the atmosphere plant! Turning suddenly toward Tardes Mors, as I still clasped my dying love to my breast, I cried “A flyer, Jeddak! Quick! Order your swiftest Mier to the palace top. [can save Barsoom yet." He did not wait to question, but in an instant @ guard was racing to the nearest dock, and, though the alr was thin and almost gone at the roof top, they matiaged to launch the fast one-man alr scout machine that Bi soom had ever produced. Kissing Dejah Thorts a dozen times, I bounded with my old agility and strength to the high ramparts of the palace, and in another moment I was headed toward the goal of the hopes of all Barsoom I had to fly low to get sufficient air to breathe; but I took a straight course across an old sea-bottom, and #0 had to rise only a few feet above the ground. I traveled with awful velocity, for my errand was 4 race against time with death The face of Dejah Thoris hung al- ways berfore me. As I turned for a last look as I left the palace garden, T had seen her stagger and sink upon the ground beside the little incubator That she had dropped into the last coma which would end in death, |f the air supply remained unreplen- ished, I well knew; and so, throwing aution to the winds, I flung over- board everything but engine and com- pass, even to my ornaments, and ly ink on my face along the deck with one hand on the steering wheel and the other pushing the lever to its last notch, | split the thin air of dying Mars with the speed of a meteor. An hour before dark the great walls the atmosphere plant loomed sud- ly before me, and with a sickening « lunged to the 1 1 before the small door whioh was withholding the spark of life from the inhabitants entire planet Beside the door a gr had been laboring to pie had scarcely scratched the surface, and now most of in the last steep, from which not even alr would awake them, Condiuoxa seomed much worge here rew of men 6 tue wall; them la Great Shadow Vhe Most Powerful and Enthralling Serial of its Kind that the Author of the “SHERLOCK HOLMES” Stories Has Written ev Conan Doyle “The Great Shadow" Is a Romance of the Be cn tbe Lookout for the First instalment In Monday’s Evening World, Jan. 10 and of a Girl’s Love eee FFFFSOSSO SSS: than at Helium, and it was with dif- eulty that I breathed at all. were few men still conscious one of these I apoke. “If L can open these doors is there ”® man who can start the engines?” I asked, “T can,” he replied, “if you open quickly, | can last but a few mos re. But it is useless; they ments tr wre both dead, and no one else upon Harnoom knew the secret of these a locks, For three di men crazed with fear have surged about this portal in vain attempts to solve its mystery,” [ had no time to talk. I was be- coming very weak and it was with diMeulty that I controlled my mind at all But with a final effort, as I sank d ni weakly to my knees, | hurled t thought-waves at that awful before me. The Martian had crawl i to my side, and with ing eyes fixed on the panel before us we walt~ ed in the sit of death, Slowly the mighty door receded be- fore us. T attempted to rise and fol+ low it, but I was too weak. “After it,” Leried to my companion, “and if you reach the pump room turn loose all the pumps. It is the only chance Barsoom has to exist to-morrow.” From where I lay IT opened the sec- ond door, and then the third, and as 1 saw the hope of Barsoom crawling weakly on hands and knees through the last doorwav I sank unconscious upon the ground. CHAPTER XXII. ‘«—and Goes Out.”” jt was dark when I opened my eyes again, Suruuge, stiff garments were upon my body, gar- ments that cracked and Dowdered away from me as I rose to @ sitting posture. I felt myself over from head te feet, and from head to foot I was clothed, though when I fell unconscious at the little doorway I had been naked. Before me was @ small patch of moon- Mt sky which showed through « rag- ged aperture. As my hands passed over my bod: they came in contact with pockets, and in one of these pockets I founda small parcel of matches wrapped carefully tn ofled paper. Ono of these matches I struck, and its dim flame lighted up whet appeared to be a huge cave, toward the back of which T discovered a strange, still figure huddled over @ tiny bench. As I approached it I saw it was the dead and mummified remainy of @,lit- Ue old woman with long black . and the thing it leaned over was « small charcoal burner upon which rested a round copper vessel contain- ing @ small quantity of greenish pow- der, ry Behind her, depending from the root Upon rawhide thongs, and stre' entirely across th human skeletons. i. which held them stretched another to the dead hand of the little oid woman, As 1 touched the cord the skeletons swung to the motion with a noise as of the rushing of dry leaves, it was a most tesque and hor rible tableau, and I hastened out into ‘the fresh air, glad to escape from #0 @ place. isht that met my eyes I stepped out upon a small ledge ran before the entrance of the ° iilled me with consternation. A new heaven and a new landscape met my gaze The silvered mountains in the dig- tance, the almost tionary mwo: hanging in the sky, the cactiwmd ded valley below me, were got of ea could scarcely believe m: but ‘the truth slowly forced Steet upon me—1 was looking upon Arigona from the same ledge from which te: years before | had gazed with fong: ing upon Mars Burying my bead in my anna, £ turned, broken and sorrowful, dowa the trail from the cave Above me shone the red eye of Mars holding her awful secret, forty- ight million miles away, Did the Martian reach the pw roon Did the vitalising rays reach the people of that distant planet im Ume to save them? Was my Dejab Thoris alive, or 4 her beautiful body lie cold in death beside the tiny golden incubator in the sunken garden of the inner couri+ yard of the palace of Tardos Mors, the jeddak of Helium” For ten years I have waited an@ prayed for an answer to my que: tions. For ten years I have wi ind prayed to be taken back to the world of my lost love. [ would rather Nie dead beside her there than ive on earth al! those millions of terrible miles from her The old mine, which I found un- touched, has made me fabulously wealthy, bul what care L for wealth! As I sit lere to-night in my little study ov king (he Hudson, just twenty years have elapsed singe I first opened my eyes upon Mars, I can see her shining in the sky Unrough the little window by my desk, and to-night she seems call to me again as she has not call before since that long dead night. T think I can see, across that awful abyss of space, a beautiful blacks haired woman standing in the garden of a palace, and at her side is a little boy who puts his she points into the planet earth I think | see them, and somethiag tells me that [ shall soon kaow, (Tye Endy rm round her aa sky toward the 2 rane ESTE ea mn ‘ J

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