The Meeker herald., 1921-11-05
CHATTER v,,,-cent,cs.A


Is she injuredr' asked Of Sols.
Audicatlng Dejah TAosis By an incilpa.
sisa Of ny head.
"Ne.' sue answered. "shs thinks
that you ere dead. do not under.
stand either her ways or yours but I
An sure the granddaughter It ten
thousand Jeddaks would never grieve
tiks this over the death Of ons she
Considered beneath her. or indeed over
aay one who held but the highest claim
spon bsT affections.
Tears are . strange sight upon
6srsoom." she eontlnued. "and 70 It
. difficult for me to interpret them.
! have seen but two people weep In
all my life. other than Dejah Thorls;
ono wept from sorrow. the other from
bahsed rage. The nrst was my moth.
<ri -yesrs ago. before they killed her;
the ether was 6arkoja. when they
dragged her from me to-day"
Your mother" I exclaimed, .'but,
Sofa. you could not have known your
mother. child"
"Brt did. And my father also"
che added. eff you would like to hear
the strange and un-Barsoomlnn story
come to the chariot tonight. John Car,
ter. and will tell you that Of which I
have never spoken Ia all my life be-
TORE"
~ viii come tonight. Sofa" I prom
ssed. BE sure to tell Dejah Thoris I
an alive and well. II she would sneak
with me I but await her command"
sola mounted the chariot. which was
swinging Into Its place In line, and
hastened to my waiting thoat and gal
Hoped to my station beside Tars Tar
kas at the rear Of the column.
We made most Imposing and awe
Inspiring spectacle a. we strung ont
across the yellow landscape: the two
hundred and 6fty ornate and brightly
cs'ored chariots. prscsded BY an adj
vance guard Of soms two hundred
mounted warriors and chIeftains rid
Ing I'VE abreast and one hundred Yards
apart. and followed BY q like number
In the same formation. with score or
more Of flankers On either side; the
ofty extra mastodoas, or heavy
Arausht animals, known a. xitidars,
and the I'VE or slx hundred extra
thoats of the warriors running loose
within the hollow square formed BY
the surrounding warriors. The gieam.
Ing metal and Jewels oe, the gorgeous
ornaments Of the men and women, du-
plicated In the trapplnss Of the xiti.
dnrs and thoats. and intsrspersed with
the flashing colors Of magnificent silks
end furs and feathers, lent q bArbaric
splendor to the caravan which would
have turned an East Indian potentate
green with envy.
The enormous broad tires Of the
chsriots and the padded feet Of the
animals brought forth no sound from
the moss-cOvered sea bottom; and %
we moved In utter silence, like some
huge phantasmaEoria, except when the
stiffness was broken BY the cultural
growing Of q goaded sitidar. or the
squeaiing of fighting thoats. The green
Nartiats converse but little. and then
usually In monosyiiables, low and Like
the faint rumbling Of distant thunder.
We traversed trackless waste Of
moss which, bending to the pressure Of
broad tire or padded foot, rose up
again behind us, leaving no sign that
we had passed. We might indeed have
been the wruiths Of the departed dead
upon the dead sea Of that dying planet
for al, the sound or sign We made in
passlng. It was the flrst march Of q
large body Of men and anImais had
ever witnessed which raised NO dust
and left no sTsor; for there II no dust
ulnu Mars except In the cultivated dis
..-s.,~ ,h,rine ths w.sksr mnntAs. ana