Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1921-07-08
A Princess
of Mars
By Edgar Rice Burroughs
Continued from Page SKI

soon iounu SOFA ana explained to
her that ] wished her to guard Dejah
Thoris rs she had guarded me; that !
wished her to find other ouarters
where they would not be molested nv
Sarkojn. and | finally Informed her
that | myself would take up my quar-
tiers among the men.
"You are great chieftnln now, John
Carter" she said. "and ! must do your
bidding, though indeed am glad to do
It under any circumstances. The man
whose metal you carry was young. but
he was great warrior, and had by his
promotions and kills won his way close
TO the rank of Tars Tarkas. who as
you know, Is second to Lorquas Ptomel
only. You are eleventh, there are but
ten chleftains In this community who
rank you in prowess"
"And If should kill Loruuas Pto-
mel2" I asked.
"You would be first, John Carter:
but you may only win that honor by
the will of the entire council that Lor-
quas Ptomel meet you In combat, or
should he attack you, you may kill him
In self-defense, and thus win first
place."
i laughed, and changed the subject.
! had no particular desire to kill Lor.
quas Ptomel, and less to be Jed
among the Thanks.
accompanied Sofa and Dejah Thor.
is In a search for new quarters, which
we found In building near the audi
ence chamber and Of far more preten-
tious architecture than our former
habitatiOn. We also found In this
building real sleeping apartments with
ancient beds Of highly wrought metal
swinging from enormous gold chains
depending from the marble ceilings.
The decoration Of the walls was most
elaborate and, unlike the frescoes In
the other buildings I had examined,
portrayed many human figures In the
compositions. These were OF people
like myself, and of a much lighter col
or than Dejah Thoris. They were clad
in graceful. flowing robes, highly orpa-
mented with metal and jewels, and
their luxuriant hair was Of beautiful
golden and reddish bronze. The men
were beardless and only few wore
arms. The scenes depicted for the
most part a fair-skinned, fair-haired
people at play.
Dejah Thoris clasped her hands
with an exclamation of rapture as she
gazed upon these magnificent works of
Art. wrought by people long extinct {;
while Sofa, on the other hand, appar-
emily did not see them.
We decided to nse this room, on the
second floor and overlooking the plaza,
for Dejah Thoris and Soa, and an
other room adjoining and in the rear
for cooking and supplies. l then dis
patched Sofa to bring the bedding and
such food and utensils as she might
need, telling her that | would guard
Dejah Thorls until her return.
AS Sofa departed Dejah Thoris
turned to me with faint smile.
"And to where, then, would your pris-
oper escape should you leave her, I'M
less II was to follow you and crave
your protection, and ask your pardon
for the cruel thoughts she has har-
bored against you these past few
days?"
"YOu are right" answered, there
is no escape for either of us unless we
60 together"
II heard your challenge to the crea-
ture you call Tars Tarkas, and think
i understand your position among
these people, but what cannot fathom
is your statement that you are not OF
BarsOOm.
'In the name of my first ancestor,
then" she continued "where may you
be fromf You are like unto my peo-
pie, and yet so unlike. You speak my
language, and yet heard you tell
Tars Tarkas that you had but learned
II recently. All BarsOomians speak the
same tongue from the ice-clad south to
the ice-clad north, though their written
languages differ. Only In the valley
Dor, where the river Iss empties into
the lost sea Of Korus, is there supposed
to be different language spoken, and,
except in the legends of our ancestors
there Is no record of a Barsoomian re-
turning up the river Iss, from the
shores OF Korus In the valley of Dor
Do not tell me that you have thus re-
turned They would XIII you horribly
anywhere upon the surface of Barsoom
If that were true; tell me 1t Is notV
Her little hands, reached up upon
my breast, were pressed against me
as though to wiring denial from my
very heart.
IL do not know your customs. Dejah
Thoris, but In my own Virginia a gem
tleman does not lie to save himself;
l am not of Dor; | have never seen
the mysterious lss the lost sea or
Korus Is still lost so far rs am con
cerned. Do you believe me"
And then 1t struck me that ! was
very anxious that she should believe
me- looked down mt her; her beaull-
full face upturned, and her wonderful
eyes opening up the very depth OF her
soul and as my eyes met hers | knew
why, and--I shuddered.