The Lamar register., 1921-02-02

~ 10 lItlf Di.E-Stf ears. ia tNht
females ranged in Leigh, from ten II"
Twelve feet
Tie children w'-it. llehf In color.
even lighter fl':ir tr,- women. and all
looked precisely ollk- 70 me. except
thst some wefe rsll.r than nrhers;
older ! presumed
SAW no signs of extreme age HuIone
them. nor i rhet- any ai'prrciable DIFF
ference IN their aprrsrnnc~ from the
age ~ mnrurl'v nh"nr forty. until. al
about Ih. axe nf "ii" thousand years.
HEY ." v"'uuiHrily nron fhelr last
stinn.- pii@-l:u;is- dnwn the river Iss.
which Heads nn iivlu. Marian knows
Nhirl'-r aud frnin whn-- bosom no
Marian has ever returned. or would
pe allowed D." live did he return after
ance eu.l,nrking upon H. cold dark
waters
Only ahoni one Martinn In thou
sand dies of sickuaSS ar disease. and
possibly about twenty take the volun-
lary pilgrimage The other nine hun.
'lred and s-venfy-nine die violent
'lraIhs IN duclS. in hunrinr. IN ayiu,ion
aud In war: kni perhaps hy far The
-Ifstlf-' flfaI u Ab-~ 'fhii4FN Hll'Nfi. ilAf
age Of childhood. when vast numbers
uf the little Martiaus fail vlctim> Il"
The great white apes Of Mars.
As We neared the plaza and INV
presence was di~cn' erred We were i'm
me,lin''ly surrounded by hnndr"ds uf
the creatures. who SEEMED anxious 10
pluck me from my scat behind the
guard. A word from the leader Of the
party stilieI their clamor. aud we prn.
ceeded at n rroi across the PLAIN to the
entrance Of as magnificent an -dirice
rs mortal eve has rested upon.
The building was low. hut covered
an enormous area. II was constructed
If cleaning white marble inlald witt
gold and brilliant stones which spar
kled and Scintilisicd in The sualirhi
There was no stairway. hut gentl'
Incline to the first roor Of ths huiidins
opened Into an enormous chamber rn
rlrclcd by galleries.
On the floor of this chamber. which
was dotted with highly carved wooden
desks and chairs. were assembled
about forty ar nny male Marfians
around the steps ~ rostrum. On
the platform proper squatted an enor
nous warrior heavily loaded with
metal ornaments, gay colord feathers
and beautifully wrought leather trap
pings ingenIousiy set with preciou,
stones
Whist struck me ss most remarkable.
about this assemblage and the hall In
which they were congregated was the
20 ha1 -.
out Of proportion TO the desks chairs
and other furnishings. these being OF
size adapted 10 human beings such
as I. whereas the great buiks 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 dent
zens on Mars than the wild and gro
tesque creatures into whose hands r.
had fallen.
Our party had halted at the en-.
trance 10 the building. and at a sign
from the leader had been lowered
to the ground. Again locking his arm
In mine. we had proceeded into the
audience chamber. There were few
forInalities observed In approaching
tho Marian chIeftain. Ny captor
merely strobe up to the rostfum. the
others making way for him AS he ad-
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.
Ny capfor whose name was Tar1
Tarkas. evidently explained briefly the
Incidents connected with bis expedi-
tion, including my capture. and when
he had concluded the ehieftain ad-
dressed me at some length.
l replied in our good old English
tongue merely TO convince him that
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 at least
something In common: the ability "a
smile. therefore TO laugh denoting
sense of humor. But ] was to learn
that the Marian smile is merely per
functory and that the Yartian laugh
is thing TO cause strong men to
A. N. PARRISH, President