The Aberdeen weekly., 1921-03-04

Upon closer observation / saw as
we passed them that the buildings
were deserted. and while not greatly
decayed had the appearance of not
having been tenanted for years, pos
sibIy for ages. Toward the center Of
the city was a large plaza, and upoa
this and in the buildings Immediately
surrounding il were camped some IHne
or rem hundred creatures of the same
breed as my captOrs, for such now
considered them. despite the suave
manner in which I had been trapped.
With the exception of their Orna-
ments all were naked. The women
varied in appearance hut little from
the men, except that their tusks We're
much larger in proportion TO their
height, in some instances curving near
ly to their high-set ears The adult
females ranged in height from ten to
twelve feet
The children were light in color.
even lighter than the women. and all
looked precisely alike to me. except
that some were taller than others :;
older, I presumed.
saw no signs of extreme age among
them nor is there any appreciate diff
ference in their appearance from the
age Of maturity. about forty, until. at
about the age of one thousand eyears
they go voluntarily upon their last
strange pilgrimage down the river Iss.
which leads no living Marian knows
whittier and from whose bosom no
Martian has ever returned. or would
be allowed to live did he return after
once embarking upon its cold, dark
waters.
Only about one Martian IN q 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 to
pluck me from my seat behind the
guard. A word. from the leader OF the
party stired their clamCr, and we pro-
eeeded at trot acress the plaza to the
entrance of as magnificent an edifice
as mortal eve has rested upon.
The building was low, but covered
an enormous area. 1t was constructed
of cleaning white marble inlaid with
gold and brilliant stones which spar
kIed and scintillated in the sunlight
There was no stairway, but a gentle
incline to the first floor of the 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 fifty male Martians
around the steps of a rostrum. On
the platform proper squatted an enor-
nous warrior heavily loaded with
metal ornaments, gay-colored feathers
and beautifully wrought leather trap
pings ingeniously set with precious
stones.
What struck me as most remarkable
about this assemblage and the hall in
which they were cOngregated was the
fact that the creatures we're entirely
out of proportion 20 the desks. chairs,
and othsr furnishings. these being of
a size adapted to human beings such
as /, whereas the great bulks of the
Martians could scarcely have squeezed
into the chairs. nor was there room
beneath the desks for their long legs
Evidently. then. there were other deni-
zens on Mars than the wild and GRO
tesque creatures into whose hands /
had fallen.
Our party had halted at the en-
trance to the building. and at a sign
from the lender I had been lowered
to the ground Again locking his arm
in mine. we had proceeded into the
audience chamber There were few
formalities observed in approaching
the Martian chieftain. My captor
merely strobe UP to the rostrum, the
others making way for him as he adj
vanced. The chieftain rose to his
feet and uttered the name of my es-
cort who, in turn. halted and repeated
the name of the ruler followed by his
title.
My captor. whose name was Tars
Tarkas. evidently explained briefly the
incidents connected with his expedi-
ton, including my capture. and when
he had concluded the chieftain ad-
dressed me at some length.
I replied in our good old English
tongue merely TO convince him that
neither of us could understand the
other: but I noticed that when 1 smiled
slightly on concluding he did likewise.
This fact and the similar occurrence
during my first talk with Tars Tarkas
convinced me shat we had at least
something in common: the ability TO
smile. therefore to laugh; denoting a
sense of humor. But | was to learn
that the Martian smile is merely per-
functory and that the Martian laugh
Is a thing to cause strong men TO
blanch with horror.
The ideas of humor among the green
men of Mars are widely at variance
with our conceptions of incitants to
merriment The death agonies Of a
fellow being are. to these strange crea-
lures. provocative of the widest hilar-
ity. while their chief form of commoih
est amusement is to :nfiict death on
their prisoners of war in various in
Cenious and horrible ways.
The assembled warriors and chief
tains examined me closely feeling my