Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-23
THE GODS OF MARS
Sequel to Under the Moons Of Mars"

ering high above us all; myself crowned
| with the priceless diadem of holy thern
and leading the procession the beautiful
girl, Thuvia
shall not soon forget it,
Presently we approached great cham
| ber more brightly lighted than the cor
| ridors ThuVia halted us Quietly she
| stole toward the entrance and glanced
within Then she motioned us to follow
| her.
The room was filled with specimens of
| the strange beings that inhabit this under
| world a heterogeneous collection Of hybrids
| the offspring of the prisoners from the
| outside world red and green Martians and
| tho white race Of therns.
Constant confinement below ground had
| wrought odd freaks upon their skins. They
more resemble corpses than living beings.
| Many are doformed, others manned, while
| the majority, Thuvia explained, are sight
| less,
| AS they lay sprawled about the floor.
| sometimes overlapping one another. again
| in heaps of several bodies, they suggested
| instantly to me the grotesdue illustrations
| that / had seen in copies Of Dante's I'M
| ferno" and what more fitting comparison?
| Was this not indeed verltable hell, peo-
| pied by lost souls, dead and damned beyond
| all hope2
Picking our way carefully we threaded a
| winding path across the chamber, tho great
| prey spread before them in such tantalis-
| ing and defenscless profusion.
Several times we passed the entrances
to other chambers similarly peopled, and
| twice we were compelled TO cross directly
| through them. In others were chained
| prisoners and beasts.
why Is It that we see no therns7" /
asked OF 'rhuvia
"They seldom traverse the underworld
: at night, for then It is that the great
| banths prowl the dim corridors seeking
their prey. The therns fear the awful denl-
| zeus of this cruel and hopeless world that
| they have fostered and allowed to grow
| beneath their very feet.
THE prisoners even sometimes turn upon
| them and rend them. The thern can never
| tell from what dark shadow an assassin
may spring upon his back.
BY day 1t Is different. Then the cor
| ridors and chambers are filled with guards
| passing to and fro: slaves from the temples
| above come by hundreds to the granarles
| and storerooms All Is life then. You did
| not see 4 because 1 led you not in the
| beaten tr;Nis. but through roundabout pas
| sages seldom used
| Yet 1t is possible that we may meet a
| thern even yet: They do occasionally find
1t necessary to come here after the sun has
| set. Because of this l have moved with
| caution"
But we reached the upper galleries with
| out detection and presently Thuvia halted
| us at the foot of a short, steep ascent.
Above u.s." she said, "is a doorway which
| opens In to the inner gardens have
| brought you thus far. From here on for
| four miles to the outer ramparts our way
| will be beset by countless dangers
Guards patrol the courts, the temples
| the gardens. Every inch of the ramparts
| themselves is beneath the eye of a sentry -
1 could not understand the necessity for
such an enormous force Of armed men about
| spot so surrounded by mystery and super.
| stition that not n soul upon Barsoom would
| have dared to approach 1t even had they
| known it's exact location.
| questioned Thuya asking her what
| enemies the therns could fear in their i'm
| pregnable fortress.
We had reached the doorway now and
| Thuvia was opening it.
They fear the black pirates of Barsoon
| o prince" she said. From whom may our
| first ancestors preserve US"
! The door swung open; the smell of grow.