The Lamar register., 1921-03-02


surnames OF the two warrior chieftains
whose metal ! had taken. or. In other
words. whom had slain in fair light
AS Sarkoja ralked with Zad he cast
occasional slances in ms direction.
while she seemed 10 he urging him
very strongly 10 >"in' action. | paid
little attention 10 Il ~ the time, but
the next day | had good reason to re
call the circumstances, and al the
same time gain slight insigh, into
rhe depths Of SarEoia'S hatred and the
lengths 10 which she WAS capable or
going to wrvak her hlrrid vengeance
On me.
We broke camp the n.NI day at an
early hour aud marched with only
single hall uifiI just before dark. Two
Incidents broke fhe te,llonsness OF the
march About noon We espied far to
our right what was evidently an incu-
bator. and Lorquas Ptomel directed
Tars Tarkas to Investigate H. The
latter took "A dozen warriors, inciud-
ing myself. and we ruced across the
yelvcty cnrpering Of m0ss 10 the littie
enclosure.
Turs Tarkas dlsmounted and exam.
iued the incloSure minutely, hnaily an
nuunclng that II belonged 10 the green
men Of WarlIoon and Thai the cement
was scarcely dry where It hsd been
walled mp.
"rhey cannot be Il days march
ahead or us he exclaimed. III" lishi
NJ hattl. leapine 10 hts fierce face.
The work al The Incubator was short
indeed. The warriors tore open The
entrance and II couple Of them. crawl
ing in. soon demolished all The eggs
with their short.SwOrds. Then re
mounting we dashed back To Join the
cavalcnde. During the ride took
occasion To ask Tars Tarkas u these
Warhoons whose eggs We had de
~troyed were smaller people Than
his Tharks.
II noticed that their eggs were So
uuch smaller than those | saw hatch
ing IN your incubator" | added.
He explained that the eggs had just
been placed there; hut. ike all green
Marian eggs. they would grow dur
ing IN. 1ive-y-ar period of Incubation
until they obtained the size Of those
| had seen Matching IN the dsy Of my
arrival on Barsoom This was indeed
an Interesting piece Of Information,
for II had always seemed remarkable
to me that the green Marian women,
large as they were, could bring forth
such enormous eggs as ] had seen
the four-foot infants emerging from.
As matter OF fact. the new-laid egg
is but little larger than an ordinary
goose egg. and as II does not com
mence to grow until subjected to the
light of the sun the chieftains have
little difficulty In transporting sew
eral hundreds OF them At one time
from the storage vault to the incubat-
ors.
shortly after the incident Of the
Warhoon eggs we halted to rest the
animals. and II was during this halt
that the second of the days interest
ing episodes occurred. was engaged
in changing my riding cloths from
one of my thosts to the other. for
divided the days work between them,
when Zad approached me. and with
out q word struck the animal a ter
rife blow with his long-sword.
did not need a manual Of green
Martian etiquette 10 know what reply
to make. for. In fact, ! was so wild
with anger that ] could scarcely re-
frain from drawing my pistol and
shooting down the brute he was; but
he stood waiting with drawn long
sword. and my only choice was TO
draw my own and meet him In fair
hght with his choice OF weapons or
lesser one.
| chose the same weapon he hso
drawn because he prided himself upon
his ability with 1t. and ] wished. II !
worsted him at all. to do 1t with his
own weapon. The entire communit,
surrounded US. leaving q clear space
about one hundred feet in diameter
for our battle.
Zad first attempted to rush me down
as a bull might a wolf. but l was much
too quick for him. and each time
slde-stepped his rushes he would &c
lunging past me, only to receive Il
nick from my sword upon his arm oi
hack. He was soon streaming blood