The evening world. Newspaper, January 31, 1916, Page 13

i « i) Ah) ) .) (Copgrigtt, the Frank The Gods of Mars The “TARZAN” Man Is at His Best in This Wonder Story By Edgar Rice Burroughs Authot of “TARZAN OF THE APE RATA ART RAAA AAA TA RAAT AM The Evening World Daily Magasine, Monday, Jan " nnemminnnnenn)? if Eto, A. Muneey Oumpany, CHAPTER I. My Return to Mara. Deja Thoris. Long I sorrowed for her and for (i at last I learned the mystic power of returning to Mare, So back I went, this time to a strange and terrible region of the red planet, I fell into the clutches of the terrible “plant men,” from whom I barely @scaped with my life, by the aid of my old Martian brother-at-arms, Taras Terkee, From Tara Tarkas I learned It had iunded upon the part of Mars nas the Valley Dor, héld sacred by Martians as their heaven, but which Bow found was inhabited by races of the utmost cruelty, who preyed on deluded victims of the Martian faith, } We escaped, after many adventures, from the Valley Dor, only to clash the Black Pirates—who call nselves “tho First Born,” and live at one of the Martian poles. Tarkas escaped from them, but captured. y led me to the abode of their ble goddess, Issus. To look upon Mmcomparable face of Issus was supposed to foreshadow the look- death within one year, And, ing mo into her dread presence, captors bade me turn and gaze mm the goddess obeyed. Hetween mo and a dais arranged a solid phalanx of men. On this dats's throne ® woman, jet black, Very old was; wrinkled, nearly toothless with flery, cavernous eyes. irrounding her were a number mf lo slaves, among them a woman med Phaidor, whom I had met on yy journey with my captors; a wo n who had aeemed to take a violent ney to me. “This te the man who slew seven the First Born, and, barehanded, id Dator Xodar with his own 8 before you could overcome im in fight?" asked Issus, “Most glorious mn of “divine pveliness, it 1#,' replied tha officer ho stood at my side. “Produce Dator Nodar,” she com- janded, Xodar, First overcome when Tarkas and mysel from the adjoining room, Issus glared at him, a baleful Nght In her hideous eyes. ‘And such as you are a dator chiet- n of the First Horn?” she squealed. For the disgrace you have brought pon the Immortal Race you shall ba led to a rank below the | “No longer bo you a dator, but fo! vermore a slave of slaves, to fe nd carry for tho | orders t rve in the ga Tssins. ; harne Cowards ar no trappin Kodar stool stitily ¢ Not a husclo twitcied nofa tremor shook ia giant fra fs a soldier of the ward roughly stripped his gorgeous ings from him. egone!” sc ed’ the Infurtated ttle old woman Begone! but in- tead of the light of the gardens of jewus, KeTVA aN a slave of this slave ho conquered you, in the prison oa Isle of Shador, in the Sca of n, Tako him away out of the of my divine eyes.” ly and with high-helc ad the 4 Xodar turned and stalked from @hamber. Issus rose and turned leave the room by another exit to me sho said: “You shall immed to Shador for the present Issus will seo the manner of ing. Go. she disappeared, followed by tinue. Only Phaidor lagged be- and, as I started to follow my toward the gardens, the girl running after me not leave me in this torrible " she begged. “Let mo share imprisonment on Shador, I love lo I live my heart beats for but woman—the incomparable Dejah la, Princess of Helium,” I an- d. “When death overtakes mo y heart shall have ceased to beat; what comes after that I know not din that I am as wise as Matal , master of Lifp and Death p Barsoom (Mars); or Issus, god- of Life Eternal. dor stood looking at ma intent- for a moment. No anger showed her eyes, only # pathetlo expres- of hopeless sorrow and resig- do not understand,” she said, turning, walked slowly In the dl- on of the door through which and her retinue had passed, moment later she had passed my sight. Born chieftain T they attacked was brought Re- and Ln by a crowd of noble biacks. The cried one, "so CHAPTER I. The Prison Isle of Shador. IN the outer gardens to which the guard now escorted me I found Xodar surrounded They were reviling and him, men slapped hin face. ON spat upon him. Vhon T appeared thoy turned thei ions toward me, this is the jure who overcame the great barehanded! Let us see how done. t him bind ‘Thurta,” suggested beautiful woman, “Thurld ie a je dator. Let Thurld show the what it means to Yes, Thurid! N Voices. “Here ho is now!" er, and turning in the direction in cated I waw & luxe black, weighted wh with respendent ornaments and ms, advancits with noble and gal- “What Aus, "he eried, Hd you of Thurid?” wickly a dozen voloes explained, ‘hurid turned toward Xodar, his narrowing to two nasty slits, “Calot!” he hissed. ver did 1 nk you carried the heart of a ‘din your breast, Often have grou bested me in the secret councils Mf Trous, but now in the fleld of war, men aro truly gaged, your hath revealed its sores to all World, Calot, I epurn you with y oe and with the words he d dar, 4 { AM John Carter, Amertean soldier; the man—ns perhaps you may remember—who was transport! many strange adventures of love and of war there before T was transported back to earth and awny from my lovely Martian bride, to Mars, and who underwent my Martian comrades here on earth, paced apa liaaroe aon | My blood was up. For minutes it! had been boiling at the cowardly treatment they had been according this once powerful comrade beca he had fallen from the favor of Issu I was standing close beside Xodar as Thurid swung his foot for the cowardly kigk. The degraded dator; stood erect and motionless as a carven image. He was prepared to tako whatever his former comrades had to offer in the way of insults and reproaches, and take them in manly silence and stoiciam. But as Thurid’s foot swung, #0 did mine, and [ caught him a painful blow upon the shin-bone that saved Xodar from this added ignominy, or @ moment thera was tense nee; then Thurid, with a roar of sprang for my throat. I ducked ath his outstretched arms, and as he lunged past me planted a ter- riflo blow right on the side of his jaw. he big spun round like a top, his knees"gave beneath him and he crumpled to the ground at my feet. The blacks gazed in astonishment, first at the still form of the proud dator lying there in the ruby dust of the pathway, then at me as though they could not believe that such a thing could be, “You asked me to bind Thurid! Terled, "Behold!" And then I stooped beside’ the prc form, tore the harness bound the fei- low’s arms and legs securely. ‘As you have done to Xodar, now do you likewise to Thurid, ‘Take him before Issus, bound tn his own har- nes, that she may see with her own eyes that there be one among you now who is greater than the Firat torn,” “Who woman W T attempt are you?" whispered the > had first suggested that bind Thurid: _"1 am a citizen of two worlds—| Captain John Carter of Virginia, and, on Mars, Prince of the House of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Hellum man to your goddess, aa I have said, and i i op too, that as I have done to Xodat and Thurld, so » éan I do to the mightiest of her # With naked hands, with vord, or with short-sword, I wer of her fighting ders are imperatly re is to be no delay r, come you also.” There was little of disrespect in the tone that the man used in addressing olther Xodar or myself, It was evi- dent that he felt less contempt for the former dator since he had wit- nessed the nase with which I disposed of the powerful Thurid, ‘The journey to the Sea of Omean was uneventful. We dropped down awful shaft in a car, There we ring, taking a long r beneath the up- por world, ‘Then through the tunnel, and up again to a pool rom the {sland of the submarines we were transported on a small cruiser to the distant Iele of Shador. Hore we found a small atone prison da guard of half a dozen blacks. sre Wes no ceremony wasted fn completing our incarceration. One of the blacks opened the door of the prison wlth a huge key; we walked in, the door closed behind us, the lock T fell of the @ Itul co ering about the fate of his : e called Thu- via, Even ehould th some mir. acle have escaped, and been recetved and spared by 4 friendly nation, what hope had | of succor which T knew they would gladly extend If it lay In thelr pow Xodar sat w the h bowed head upon a low gtone bench near the centre of the r@om tn which we were, He had not spoken since Issus had degraded him, The building was roofless, the walla rising to a height of about thirty fect. Half-way up were a couple of small, heavily barred windows, The prison was divided Into several rooms by partitions twenty feet high, There Was no one in the room which we oc- cupled, but two doors which led to other rooms were open. T entered one of these rooms, but fownd tt vacant, Thus T continued through several of the chambers un- . In the Inst on found @ young Martlan boy ping upon the ne bene constituted the y furt ef the prison ale which hure of any idently he was the only other prisoner, As he slept I leaned over and looked at him, ‘There was some- thing strangely familiar about his taco, and yet I could not place him, His features were very regular and, ike the proportions of his graceful mba and body, beautiful in the ex- treme, Ho was very light in color for a red man, but In other respects he seemed a typical apecimen of this handsome race, T did not awaken him, for sleep in prison ts such @ priceless boon that T have seen men transformed into rag- ing brutes when robbed by one of their fellow prisoners of a few pre- clous momenta of tt, Returning to my own cell, I found Xodar still sitting in the same post- tion in which T had left him, “Man,” T erted, “it will profit you nothing to mope thus. It were no disgrace to be bested by John Carter. You have seen that In the ease with which T accounted for Thurid. You knew it before when, on the crutser’s deck, you eaw me ruthlessly y threo of your comrades.” be Sepaiched would that you had me at the eame time,” he "Coma, come!" I orted. “There tn hope yet. Neither of us is dead, We are great fighters. Why not win to freedom?" Ile looked at me in amazement. ‘You know not of what you speak,” he replied, ‘“Issus is omnipotent. Issus is omniacient. She hears now the words you speak, She knows the thoughts you think. It 1s sacrilege even to dream of breaking her com- mands.”" “Nonsense, impatiently. Ho sprang to his feet in horror. “The curse of Issua will fall upon you!” he cried, “In another instant you will be amitten down, writhing to your death in horrible “Do you believe that, asked, “Ot doubt?” “T doubt; yes, and further, | deny,” I said. “Why, Xodar, you tell me that she even knows my thoughts ‘The red men have all had that power ages—and another wonderful power, They can shut their minds so that none may read their thoughts. T learned the firat secret yours Ago: the over T never had to learn, since upon all Barsoom is none who can read what passes in the secret cham- hers of my brain. Your goddess cannot read my thouhts, nor oan she tread yours when you are out of her aight uniess you will it, Had she been able to read mine J am afraid that her pride would have suffered a rather severe shock when | turned at her comman: to © upon the holy vision of her radiant face.’ ‘What do you mean?” he whispered in an affrighted voloe, so low that T could scarcely hear him. ee went “T mean that I thought her the m¢ repulsive and vilely hideous creature my eyes ever had rested upon. For a moment he eyed me in hor- ror-stricken amazement, and then, with a cry of ‘“Blasphemer! sprang upon me, i ‘aid not wish to strike him again; nor was it necessary, since he was unarmed and, therefore, quite harm- lena to me. As he came T grasped his left wrist with my left hand and, swinging my right arm above hiv left should caught him beneath tho chin with my sIhow, and bore him backward across high. There he hung helpless for a mo- ment, glaring up at me tn impotent Xodar!” 1 ejaculated course; who would dare rage. “Xodar," I said, “let us be friends For a year, possibly wa may be forced to live together in the narrow confines of this tiny room. Tam sorry to have offended you, but I could not dream that ona who had suffered from the cruel injustice of Ismus still could believe her divine, “L will eay a few more words, Xodar, with no intent to wound your feelings further, but rather that you may give thought to the fact that while we live we are «till more the arbiters of our own fate than is any od. “Issus, you se6, has not struck me dead, nor {s she rescuing her faithful Xodar from the clutches of the un- believer who defamed her fair beauty, No, Xodar; your Issus is @ mortal old woman. Once out of her clutohes, and she cannot harm you, “With your knowledgs of thin strange land, and my know! if the outer world, two much men as you and I should be able win our way to freedom. Ev: in, to we died in the would not our memories be fe than as h we in wervile fear ALL DAY Bere ON IN ME FLATS, AT THE AND A SouND A FAT WOMAN WHO SKIPS THE ROPE To REDUCE ANDAMAN WHO IS PHONE 4nd MUSIC BOX STOPS ARE IN THE FLATS ADIOINING= A MAN WHO BELIEVES IN PREPAREDNESS A WOMAN WHOIS STUDYING SHOUTING R SING IN A CABARET, Age IN THE FLATS CLOW ~ OTHERWISE YOU DON'T HEAR. ROLLER SIKATING HAVE ~ A DOG WHO BARKS. A KID WHO CQIES IF THE e to be butchered by a cruel and Wnjust tyrant—call her goddess or mortal, as you will.” As | finished I raised Xodar to his feet and released him. He did not re- new the attack upon me, nor did he speak. Instead, he walked toward the bench and, sinking down upon it, re- mained lost in deep thought for hours. A long time afterward I heart a soft sound at the doorway leading to one of the other apartinents, and, looking up, beheld the red Martian youth gazing intently at us. “Kaor!" | cried, after the red Mar- er of greeting. he replied, “What do you here?” “lL await my death, I presume,” I replied with @ wry erile, He, too, smiled—a brave and win- ning smi “I, also,” he said. “Ming will come soon, I looked upon the radiant beauty of Issus nearly a year sing always been a source of keen wonder to me that J did not drop dead at the first might of that hideous counte- nance. “By my first ancestor! but never was there go grotesque a ficure in all the universe, That they should call auch & one Goddess of Life Eternal, God- deas of Death, Mother of the Nearer Moon, and fifty other equally impos-* sible titles 1s quite beyond mie.” “How came you here?” | asked, “It is very simple, 1 was flying a one-man alr-scout far to the south when the brilliant idea occurred to me tain man: “iaor,” a that I should ike to search for the lost Sea of Korus, which tradition places near to the Bouth Pole. I must Xod: have inherited from my father a wild lust for adventure, as well as a hollow ® my bump of reverence should be. "I had reached the area of eternal {ce when my port propeller jammed, and I dropped to the ground make repairs, Before I knew it the atr waa black with filers, and a hundred of these first born devils were leaping to the ground all about me With drawn swords they made for me, but before T went down beneath them they had tasted of the steel of my father's sword, and I had given much an account of myself as T know would have pleased my sire had ho lived to witness it.” “Who was your father?" I asked Ho was about to reply when the outer door of our prison opened and a bury guard entered and ordered him to his own quarters for the night, cocking the door after him as he passed through into the farther hamber, “It is Iswusa wish that you two be confined in the same room,” said the rend when he had returned to our cell. “This cowardly slave of @ slave ts to serve you well,” ho safd to me, in- dicating Xodar with a wave of his hand. “If lie does not, you are to beat him tnto submisston. It ts Tsaus's wish that you heap upon him every indignity and degradation of which you can conceive. With these words he left us. Xodar atil! eat with his face burle: in his hands, I walked to his side and placed my hand upon his shoulder. "Xodar," 1 sald, “you have heard the commands of Isms, but you nesd not fear that I shall attempt to put them into execution, You area brave man, 7, It is your own affair ting if you wish to be persecuted and hu- miliated; but were T you I should aasort by manhood and defy my en- 8. “I have deen thinking very hard, hn be sald, of all the new ideas you gave me & fow hours since, Little by little, I have been piecing together the things that you sald which sounded blasphemous to me then with the things that I have seen in my paat life and dared not even think about for fear of bringitg down Upon me the wrath of Iaeus, 1 believe now that she is a fraud, no mure divine than you or I, ° More I am willing to concede, And that the First Born are no holier than the holy therns, nor the holy therns more holy than the red men, “The whole fabrio of our religion is based on superstitious beliaf in lies that have been foisted upon ua for ages by those directly above’ us to Whose personal profit and aggrandize- ment it was to have us continue to belleve as they wished us to beileve, “Lam ready to cast off the tigs that have bound me. I am’ ready,to defy Issue herself; but what will tt avail us? Be the Firat Born gods orznor- tals, they are a powerful race, and we are as fast in their clutches ai wo were already dead, Th enoape, “L have escaped from ba: Nights the pas, my friend.” [ replied; r while Iife is in me shall I des- pajr of eereping from the Isle of Shndor and the Sea of Omean,.” “But we cannot even escape from the four walls of our prison,” urged XNodar, “Test this flintiike murface!' he cried, emiting the solid rock that confined us, "And look upon this pol- ished surface; none could oling to it to reach the top.” 1 amiled. “That is the least of our troubles, jar,” I replied. ‘I will guarantee to soale the wall and take you with me, If you will help with your knowledge of the custome here to appoint the best time for the attempt and guide me to the shaft that lets from the dome of this abysmal sea to the lignt of God's pure alr above.” “Night time is the beat and offers the only slender chance we have, for then men sleep, and only @ dosing watoh nods in the tops of the battic- ships, “No watch is kept upon the cruisers and smaller craft. The watshors upon the larger vessela #ee to all about them. It ts night now." “But,” T exclaimed, “it ta not dark! y How can It be night, then?” Ho forge’ he sald, “that wo ! aro far below ground, The light of the sun never penetrates here. There 4re ho moons and no stars reflected In tha bosom of Omean, “The phosphorescent light you now see pervading this great subterranean vault emanates from the rocks tlt form ite dome; it {a always thus upon Omean, Just aa tho billows are ai ways as you see them, rolling, ever rolling, over a windless sea. “At the appointed hour ef night upon the world above the men whos» duties hold them here sleep, but the ight fs ever the same.” ‘It will make escape more a Mout,” J said, and then I shrugged my #how!- ders; ‘tor What, pray, ia the pleasure in doing an easy thing? “Lat us sleep on it to-night,” atd Xodar. “A plan may come with our awakening.” encape. CHAPTER III. Firat 1 bad him sketch The Rites of Issus. (Bs the vtone floor of our cell as ARLY the next morning Xodar and I commenced work upon our pinha for \ nary 31, 1916 HEA By Eleanor Next Week's Com duel of hearte. in next Monday's Evening World. Then I dropped Nehtly to the floor of the cell beyond, “Where is the white cried the guard, “L know not,” replied Xodar, was here even as you entered, not his keeper, Go find him.” ‘The black grumbled something that T could not understand, and then [ heard him unooking the door into one of the other cells on the farther side, LAstening intently, I caught the sound as the door closed behind him. Then I sprang once more to the top of the partition and dropped Into my own cell beside the astonished Xodar, “Do you seo now how we will ¢a. capo?” [asked him in @ whisper. ‘I seo how you may,” he replied, “but Lam no wiser than before as to how Lam to pass these walla, Certain it Js that I cannot bounce over them aa yout do.” Wo heard the guard moving about from cell to cell, and finally, his rounds completed, ho again entered ours, When hia eyes fell upon me they fairly bulged from his head. “Hy the abel of my first ancestor!" he roared. “Where have you been? “{ have been in prison since you yut me here yesterday,” I answered, “I waa in thi room when you en- tered. You had better look to your eyentght.”’ Ho klared at me In mingled rage fand relict. - me," he sald, your presence.” He conducted me outaide the prison, leaving Xodar behind. There we found several other guards, and with them was the red Martian youth who occupied another cell upon Stador. Tho journey I had taken to the Tomple of Issus on the preceding day waa repeated, The guards kept the red boy and myself separated, so that we had no opportunity te continue the conversation that had been in- terrupted the previous night. ‘The youth's face bad haunted me. ‘Where had I seen him before? There waa something strangely familiar in every line of him—tn bis carriage, bis manner of speaking, his gestures. I could have sworn that [ knew him, and yet I knew, too, that I had never seen him before. When we reached the gardens of Inius we were lod away from t ple instead of toward it. The way wound through enchanted parks to a mighty wall that towered a hundred feot in alr. Massive gates gave egress upon A small plain, surrounded by the same gorgeous forests that I had seen at the foot of the Golden Cliffs, cks were strolling in the same direction that our guards wero leading ua, and with them min- «ied my ‘old friends, the plantmen and great white apes, The brutal beaste moved among the crowd as pet dogs might. it they were in the way the biacks pushed them roughly to one side of a sword, and the animals elunk away as in gieat fear, Presently we came upon our des- tination—a t amphitheatre nitu- ted at the further eo of plain, and about half a mile beyond the gar- den walls, Through @ massive arched gateway the blacks poured in to tal their sents, while our guards led us to a mnalier entrance near one end of the structure, ‘Through thia we passed Into an in- clomire beneath the seats, where we found a number of other prisoners herded together under ard, Some of them were in irons, but for the mom, part they seemed sufficiently awed by the presence of their guards to preclude any possibility of at~ tempted escape During the trip from Shador T had had no opportunity to talk with my fellow prisoner, but now that we wero safely within tho barred paddock our guarda abated their watchfulness, with the result that T found myself ave?” again “He Tam “Tssus commands ecourate a map of the south polar regions an was possible with the orude instruments at our disposal—a buckle from my harness and the sharp edge of the wondrous gem [ had taken from Sator Throg. From this | computed the general direction of Helium and the distance at which it lay from the opening which led to Omean, Then I 1 him draw a map of Omean, Indicating plainly the position of Shador and of the opening in the dome whioh led to the outer world. ‘These I studied until they were tn- delibly imprinted in my memory, From Xodar I learned the duties and customa of the guards who patrolled Shador, it seemed that during the hours set aside for sleep only one man was on duty at a time. He paced a beat that passed around the prison at @ distance of aboul @ hundred feet from the building. The pace of the sentrtes, Xodar paid, was very slow, requiring nearly ton minutes to make @ aingle round, This meant that for practically five minutes at @ time eaoh side of the prigon was unguaried as the sentry pursued his snatl-like paee upon the opposite aide. “This information you ask,” aid Xodar, “will be all very valuable after we «vt oul, bul nothing th ‘ou have able to approach the red Martian asked has any bearing on that firat youth for whom I felt such a strange and most tmportant consideration.” attraction “We will Ket » all right," 1 “What is the object of this assam~- plied, laughing. “Leave that to me. bly?” [asked him. “Are we to fight “When shall wo make the at- for the edification of the First Boi tempt?” he asked. or im it something worse than that? “The first night that finds « small “It Ia a part of the monthly rites of craft moored near the shore of Bha- laws," he replied, “in whieh black dor." T replied. men wash the sins from their souls tn tut how will you know that any the blood of men from the outer craft ja moored near Shador? The werld. If, perchance, the black ia jowa are far beyond our reach.” Killed, tt is evidence of hie disloyalty to Iseus—che unpardonable sin, “Tt he lives through the contest he held acquitted of the charge that the sentence of the rites, as it 4, upon him, “The forms of combat vary. A number of us may be pitted together Against an equal number, or twice the number of blacks: or singly we may rth to face wild beasts or Not ao, friend Xodar; look!” With a hound T sprang to the bars of the window opposite us, and took a quick survey of the acene without. Several amall craft and two large hattleships Iny within a hundred yards of Shader. fon to v 1." 1 thought, and was § joo my deciston to Nodar, when, without warning, the door of soinn fumous black warrior.”* ou won opened and a guard °") victorious,” I asked, felle anw me there our af excape might qui rly ao The only free- ng, for f knew that they dom for us None who en- ‘n Irons if they had the toy the domains of the First Born eption of the wonderful pver Inaves. If we prove able fight- agi which my earthly muscles org we are permitted to fight often, fave me upon Mara If we are not mighty fighters” Ho man had entered and WAS phrug@ed his shoulders canan Tor standing facing the centre of the jater we die in the arena.” ao that his back was toward And you have fought often?” 1 Five feat above mo was the top partition wall, separating our asked oy of a cell from the next ry often,” he replied. "Tt ts my only pleasure, Some hundred black devils have I accounted for during Dearly a year of the rites of Issue My mother would be very proud could whe know how well f have maintained the traditions of my father’s prow pang Thera was my only chance to eas cape detection, Tf the fellow turned T wan lost, nor could [ have dropped to the floor undetecter!, sInce he w #0 nearly below me that f would hay ruck him had T done so “Where ja the white man?" cried the guard of Xodar, ‘Tasus com- mands bia presenco,” Your father must have wen a mighty warrior,” [ said, have known most of the warriors of Bar- Flo atarted to turn to aee if T were s0om in my timo; doubtless | knew in another part of the cell, nim, Who was he?" ft eerambled up the tron grating of "My father waa"— the Window untt! T could catch a good = ="Como, oalota! oried the rough on the sill with one foot; then volce of a guard. “To the siaughter I let go my hold and mprang for the with you.” partition top. Roughly we were hustled to the “What was that?” I heard the deep steep incline that led to the cham- votoe of the black bellow as my metal bere far below which let out upon the grated against the stone wall as slipped over, When Two Women Love the Same Man and when be Isn't sure whether he loves either or both.ot them, What Is He to Do? . That Is one of the several queer problems confronting the hero of A MAN’S . Novel in The Evening World This is an up to date New York story and tells of a strange Don't forget to look for the first Instalment of “A MAN'S HEARTH" I St, to kill. ‘Wie alb I bad over a RTH M. Ingram seen upon Barsoom, was bullt in Jarre excavation, Only the sheet seats which formed the low a" rounding the pit were above the lewel of the ground. Tho arena itself was, far below the surface. Just beneath the lowest tler of seats were a séries of barfed cages on a jovel with the @urface of the arama: Into these we were harded. ‘un Aare ge A my youthful f was not of those who occupied a cage, “LSE, penn or ae 1¥ oppoaite was the throne of Isaw There the horrid creature squatted, surrounded by # hundred slave maidens, sparkling tm Jeweled trappings. Brilliant cloths of many hues and strange formed the soft cushion co o the dats upon which they } about her, ° On four aides of the throne several fect below It stood three ranks of heavily armed soldtery, ol- bow to aibow, In front of these were the high dignitaries of this mook heaven—«leaming blacks bedecked with precious stones, upon thelr fore- heads the insignia of their rank set in circlets of gold, On both aides of the throne stretched & solla mass of humanity from top to bottom of the amphitheatre, Therd were as many women as men, end each was clothed in the wond: 4 wrought harness of his statt hia house, = ae With each binck was from one to three slaves, drawn from the do- mains of the therns and from the puter world. The Ddlacks are all! “noble.” ‘There is no peasantry among the First Born, Even the lowest sol- dler is a god, and has slaves to beat | upon him, The First Born do no work. ‘The mon fight~that is a sacred privilege Bd duty to — sad die for Tevus, en no’ * omhine. Ing—absolutely laven wash them, sinves dress them, slaves feed them, There are some, even, who have slaves that talk for them, and I saw one who eat during the rites with clawed eyes While a slave narrated to her events that were transpiring within the “rhe firs! e t event of the day wag tribute to Issue, It marked u of those poor unfortunates who had looked upon the divine glory of the goddenss'a full year before. There were ten of them—eplendid beauties from the proud courts of mighty Jeddaks and from the tem- ples of the holy therns. For a year they had served tn the retinue of Imma; to-day they were to pay the price of this divine preferment with their lives. ‘ A huge black entered the arena with the young women. Carefully he in- spected them. Presently he selected one of their number, whom he led be- fore the throne of Issus, He ad- dressed some words to the goddess which I could not hear, Iesus nodded her head. The black raised his hands above his head in token of aniute, grasped the girl by the wrist and dragged her from the arena through a small doorway be- low the throne. Then the gate of a nearby cage wan thrown open and three mon- strous white apes sprang into the arena. ‘The girls shrank in a frigh ened group in the centre of the in closure, One was on her knees with Implor- ing hands outstretched toward Tequs, Dnt the hideous deity only leaned fur ther forward tn keener anticipation of the entertainment to come. At length the apes spied the huddled knot of terror stricken maidens and with de- moniacal shrieks of bestial frenzy charred upon them. A wave of mad fury surged over me. The cowardliness of the power- drunk creature whose malign min conceived auch frightful formas of tor- ture atirred to their uttermost depthy my resentment and my manhood. The blood red haze that presaged death to my foes awam before my eyes, The guard tolled before the un- darrad pata of the cnge which con- fined me, What need of bars, indeed, to keep these poor victims from rush. tng Into the arena which the edict of the mods had appointed as thetr death ninea! A single blow sent the black uncon- scloun to the ground. Snatching up Me long mword, I eprane into, bas na, The apos were almost pol matdens, but a couple of mighty hounds were all my earthly muscles required to carry me to the centre the sand strewn floor. For an tnetant atlence retened tn the great amphitheatre; then a wild shout arose from the cages of the toon My long sword etroled, whirring through the alr, and oa mreat ane eprawlet, headless, at the fect of the fainting minis The other apes turned now upon me, and as 1 stood facing them a autlen roar from the audience an- awered the wild cheers from the cages. From the tail of my eye T saw a score of guards rushing bye | the glistening sand toward me, The a ficure broke from one of the cages hehind them, Tt was the youth whose personality #0 fascinated ma, Ho paused a moment before the cages with upraised sword. “Come, men of the outer. world! he shoute wt Us make our deaths worth while, and at the back of this unknown warrior turn this day's trib- ute to Issus Into an orgy of revenge that will echo through the ages cause black skina to blanch at each repetition of the rites of Issug, Come! ‘The racks behind vour cages are filled with blades.” Without waiting to note the out- come of his plea he turned and bound~ ed toward me. From every cage that harbored red men a thunderous shout vent up in answer to his exhortation, Tho inner guards went down howling mobs, and the forth thoir inmates hot with