Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-28

pianatiou. The red men had always con.
sioereu II miracle that caused great col
uInns Of water TO squirt from the solid
roek ot their reservoir sides to Increase the
suppy OF the precious liquid which Is SO
scarce IN the outer world OF Mars
| Never had their learned men been able
70 fathom the secret OF the source OF this
enormous volume Of water. AS ages passed
tney had simply come to accept 1t as a
| its origin n s.
we passed several Islands. on which were
strangely shaped circular buildings ap.
parently roofless, and pierced midway be.
tween the ground and their tops with small,
heavily barred windows They bore the
| marks OF prisons, which were further &C.
centuated by the armed guards who
sountted on low benches without or patrolled
the short beachIines
Few Of these islets contained over an acre
OK ground, but presently we sighted a much
larger one directly ahead. This proved
TO be our destination, and the great ship
was soon made fast against the steep
Shore
Xodar signaled us TO follow him, and
with a half-dozen officers and men we left
the battieship and approached q large oval
structure couple of hundred yards from
the shore.
You shall soon see Issus" said xodar
to Phaidor The few prisoners we take
are presented to her. Occasionally she Sc
iects slaves from among them to replensh
the ranks Of her handmaidens. None serves
Issue above single year"
There was a grim smile on the blacks
lips that lent a cruel and sinister meaning
to his simple statement.
Phaidor though loath to believe that
Issus was allied to such as these. had
commenced to entertain doubts and fears
She ,cung very closely to me, no longer
the proud daughter of the master OF life
and death upon Barsoom, but young and
frightened girl in tho power of relentless
enemies.
The building which we now entered was
entirely roofless. In It's centre was long
tank Of water, set below the level of the
floor like the swimming pool of a natato-
rum. Near one side of the pool ioated an
odd.looleing. black object. Whether It were
some strange monster of these buried
waters or a queer raft I could not at once
pefceive. 'H
We were soon to know, however, for as
we reached the edge of the pool directly
above the thing, xodar cried out few
words In strange tongue. Immediately
hatch cover was raised from the surface of
the object and black seaman sprang from
the bowels of this strange craft
xodar addressed the seaman.
= TRANSMIT to your officer" he said "the
commands of Dator xodar. Say to him
that Dator Xodar, with officers and men,
escortng two prisoners. would be trans
ported to the gardens of Issus beside tho
Golden Temple
!. blessed be the shell of thy first an
cestor, most noble Dator," replied the man.
1T shall be done even as thou sayest."
And raising both hands. palms back
ward. above his head after the manner of
salute which Is common to all races Of Bar
l. a t..NN NI.n
trails of his ship,
A moment later an officer, resplendent in
the gorgeous trnpplngs of his rank. ap-
peared on deck and welcomed Xodar to the
vessel. and in the latter's wake we filed
aboard and below.
The cabin in~which we found ourselves
extended entirely across the ship having
portholes on either side below the water
line No sooner were all below than num-
ber OF commands were given, In accordance
with which the hatch was closed and Sc
cured and the vessel commenced to vibrate
to the rhythmic purr Of its machinery.