The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1921-02-18
SYNOPSIS.

CHAPTER LIN the Arizona hills. John
Carter mining prospector and eI-Confed-
crate soldier. Seeing from a war party
OF Apaches. takes refuge In "A cave the
atmosphere OF which has a remarkable
effect on him Yielding TO It's Influence,
he sinks into inconsistencies. his last
thoughts conferred on the glow from the
planet Mars
Only about one Marian in thou
sand dies OF sickness or disease, and
possibly about twenty take the volun-
tary pilgrimage. The other nine hun.
dred and seventy.nine die violent
deaths in duels. In hunting. IN aviation
and In war; but perhaps by FAR the
greatest death loss comes during the
age Of childhood. when vast numbers
of the little Martians fall victims TO
the great white apes OF Mars
As we neared the plaza and my
presence was discovered we were I'M
mediately surrounded by hundreds Of
the creatures. who seemed anxious 10
pluck me from my seat behind the
guard A word from the leader 81 the
party stilled their clamor. and We pro
ceeded at trot across the plaza to the
entrance Of as magnificent an edince
ms mortal eye has rested upon.
The building was low. but covered
mn enormous area. II was constructed
Of cleaning white marble Inaid with
gold and brilliant stones which spar
killed. and sclntillated in the sunlight.
There was no stairway. but gentle
incline 70 the first floor Of tho building
opened into an enormous chamber en-
circled by galleries.
on the floor OF this chamber, which
was dotted with highly carved wooden
desks and chairs were assembled
about forty or nifty male Martlans
around the steps OF n rostrum. ON
the platform proper sQuatted an enor.
nous warrior heavily loaded with
metal ornaments. gay-colored feathers
and beautifully wrought leather trap
pings ingenlously set with precious
stones.
what struck me as most remarkable
about this ssSemhlase and the hall In
which they were congregated WAS the
fact that the creatures were entirely
out Of proportion 10 the desks. chairs
nnd other furnishings these being n
sire adapted 10 human beings such
as l. whereas the great bulks ~ The
Msrtians could scarcely have squeezed
into the chairs nor was there room
beneath the desks FOR their long legs
Evidently then there were other don.-
zens on Mars than the wild and gro
tcsouc creatures into whose hands I
had fallen,
Our party had halted az the en-
trance 10 the building. and m sign
from the leader had been lowered
n the ground Again locking his arm
IN mine. we had proceeded into the
audience chamber. There were few
formalities observed IN approaching
the Marian chleftnin. MY captor
merely strobe up to the rostrum. the
others making way FOR him MS he adj
vAnced. The chieftaln rose 20 his
feet and uttered the name ~ 10y es.
cort who. in turn. halted and repeated
the name OF the ruler followed by his
title.
NJ captor. whose name was Tsrs
Tarkas. evidently explained briefly ne
incidents connected with his eXpedl'
ton, including my capture, and when
he had concluded the chicfiain ad'
dressed me at some length.
! replied in our good old English
tongue merely TO convince him mar
neither Of us could understand the
other: but noticed that when smiled
slightly on concluding he did likewise,
This fact and the similar occurrence
during my FIRST talk with Tars Tarkas
convinced me that we had ~ least
something In common; the ability to
smile. therefore To laugh; denoting a
sense of humor But | was to learn
that the Marian smile is merely per
fupctory and that the Marian laugh
is thing 10 cause strong men 10
blanch with horror.
The ideas OF humor among the green
men of Mars are widely AZ variance
with our conceptions OF inciiants 10
merrlmcnt. The death agonles OF a
fellow being are. to these strange crea'
lures provocative of the widest hilar'
itv while their chief form OF common
est amusement Is TO infict death on
their prisoners OF war In various IN
Renlous and horrible ways.
The assembled warriors and cher
Trims examined me closely, feeling my
muscles and texture Of my skin. Inc
principal chieftain then evidently sig
ni6ed a desire to see me perform, and,
motioning me TO follow, he started
with Tars Tarkas for the open plaza.
Now. I had made no attempt to
wink. since my first signal failure, ex'
cept while tightly grasping and fitting
about among the desks and chairs IKE
some monstrous grasshcpper. After
bruIsIng myself severely, much to the
amusement Of the Martians. | again
had recourse to creeping. but this did
not suit them and l was roughly