Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-03

Issus of which 1ssus herself does not
dream"
What do you mean7"
II labored with the other slaves a year
since in the remodellng of these subterran-
can galleries and at that time we found
below these an ancient system of corri-
dors and chambers that had been sealed up
for ages.
The blacks in charge of the work ex-
plored them. taking several of us along to
do whatever work there might be occasion
Tor | know the entire system perfectly
There are miles of corridors honeycomb-
Ing the ground beneath the gardens and the
temple Itself and there is one passage that
leads down to and connects with the lower
regions that open on the water shaft that
gives passage to Omean.
IF we can reach the submarine unde-
tected we may yet make the sea In which
there are many Islands where the blacks
never go. There we may live for time,
and who knows what may transpire to aid
us to escape! Z"
He had spoken all in low whisper, evil
IDENTIFY fearing spying ears even here and so
answered him in the same subdued tone.
Lead back to Shador, my friend" I
whispered. "Xodar, the black, is there.
We were to attempt our escape together,
so I cannot desert him."
NO" said the boy, zone cannot desert
friend 1t were better TO be recaptured
ourselves than that"
Then he commenced cropping his way
about the floor of the dark chamber search
ing for the trap that led to the corridors
beneath. At length he summoned me by
low "Hist!" and crept toward the sound
of his voice to find him kneeling on the
brink of an opening in the floor.
There is drop here of about ten feet"
he whispered. Hang by your hands and
you will alight safely on level floor of
soft sand"
Very quietly lowered myself from the
inky cell above into the inky pit below.
So utterly dark was 1t that we could not
see our hands at an inch from our noses.
Never, 1 think, have 1 known such COM
plete absence of light as existed in the
pits of Issus.
For an instant hung in midair There
is strange sensation connected with an ex-
perlence of that nature which is quite diff
cult to describe. When the feet tread empty
air and the distance below Is shrouded in
darkness there is feeling akin to panic
at the thought Of releasing the hold and
taking the plunge into unknown depths.
Though the boy had told me that 1t was
but 10 feet to the floor below, experienced
the same thrills as though were hanging
above a bottomess pit Then released my
hold and dropped-two feet TO n soft cush-
ion of sand.
The boy followed me.
Raise me to your shoulders" he said,
"and I Will replace the trap"
This done, he took me by the hand, lead.
ing me very slowly, with much feeling about
and frequent halts to assure himself that
he did not stray into wrong passagewnys.
Presently we commenced the descent Of
n very steep incline.
''It will not be long" he said. before we
shall have light. At the lower levels we
meet the same stratum of phosphorescent
rock that llluminates Omean."
Never shall 1 forget that trip through
the pits of Issus.
While it was devoid of important incl
dents yet It was filled for me with n strange
charm of excitement and adventure which
/ think must have hinged principally on the
unguessabe antiquity of these long-forgot.
ten corridors. The things which the Stygian
darkness hid could not have been half 80
wonderful as the pictures which my imag-
inaton wrought.
My fancy conjured to life again the
ancient peoples of this dying world and
set them once more to the labors the in
trigues, the mysteries and the crueltes they
had practlced to make their last stand
against the swarming hordes of the dead
sea bottoms who had driven them step by
step to the uttermost pinnacle of the world,
where they were now intrenched behind
barrier of superstition.
In addition to the green men there had
been three principal races upon Barsoom.
The blacks, the whites and n race of
yellow men. AS the waters of the planet
dried and the seas receded all other re-
sources dwlndled until life upon the planet
became a constant battle for survival.
The various races had made war upon
one another for ages, and the three higher
types had easily bested the green savages
of the waste places of the world: but now
that the receding seas necessitated constant
abandonment of their fortified cities and
forced upon them more or less nomadic
life In which they became separated into
smaller communities. they soon fell prny to
the 6erra hOFdeS of green men,
The result was partial amalgamation
of the blacks. whites and yellows, the re-
suit of which is shown in the present
splendid race of red men,
CONTINUED WEDNESDAY,