The Connecticut labor news., 1921-07-29
CHAPTER IX-Continued.


 as possible; then, leaving them to gather what food, silks and furs we were to need, slipped quietly to the rear of the first floor, and entered the courtyard, where our animals were.
 l called softly to my two beasts How l thanked the kind providence which had given me the foresight to win the love and confidence of these wild dumb brutes, for presently from the far side of the court I saw two huge bulks forcing their way toward me through the surging mountains of flesh. Opening the gates I ordered the two great beasts to pass out, and then slipping quietly after them I closed the portals behind me.
 I did not saddle or mount the ami malls there, but instead walked quietly in the shadows of the buildings toward an unfrequented avenue which led to- ward the point where had arranged to meet Dejah Thoris and Sola. With the noiseessness of disembodied spirits we moved stealthily along the desert ed streets, but not until we were with in sight of the plain beyond the city did I commence to breathe freely. l was sure that Sola and Deja Thoris would find no difficulty in reaching our rendezvous undetected, but with my great thoats I was not so sure for my self, as it was quite unusual for war riors to leave the city after dark; in fact there was no place for them to go within any but long ride.
 I reached the appointed meeting place safely, but as Dejah Thoris and Sola were not there led my animals into the entrance hall of one of the large buildings. Presuming that one of the other women of the same house hold may have come in to speak to Sola, and so delayed their departure, I did not feel any undue apprehen- sion until nearly an hour had passed without a sign of them, and by the time another half hour had crawled away was becoming filled with grave anxiety. Then there broke upon the stiffness of the night the sound of an approaching party, which, from the noise, I knew could be no fugitives creeping stealthily toward liberty. Soon the party was near me, and from the black shadows of my en- trance way I perceived a score of mounted warriors, who, in passing, dropped a dozen words that fetched my heart clean into the top of my head.
 He would likely have arranged to meet them just without the city, and SO" I heard no more, they had passed on; but it was enough. Our plan had been discovered, and the chances for escape from now on to the fearful end would be small indeed. My one hope now was to return unde- tected to the quarters of Dejah Thoris and learn what fate had overtaken her, but how to do it with these great monstrous thoats upon my hands, now that the city probably was aroused by the knowledge of my escape, was problem of no mean proportions.
 Suddenly an idea occurred to me and, acting on my knowledge of the con- struction of the buildings of these an- ctent Martian cities with a hollow square, I groped. my way blindly through the dark chambers, calling the great thoats after me. They had diff culty in negotiating some of the door, ways, but as the buildings fronting the cfty's principal exposures were all de- signed upon a magnificent scale, they were able to wriggle through without sticking fast; and thus we finally made the inner court where I found, as had expected, the usual carpet of moss-like vegetation which would prove their food and drink until I could return them to their own en- closure. Removing the saddle trappings, hid them just within the rear doorway of the building through which we had entered the court and, turning the beasts loose, quickly made my way across the court to the rear of the buildings upon the further side, and thence to the avenue beyond. With only the slight chance of detection which the necessary crossing of the avenues entailed, I made my way in safety to the courtyard in the rear of Dejah Thoris' quarters.
 Here, of course, I found the beasts of the warriors who quartered in the adjacent buildings, and the warriors themselves l might expect to meet within if I entered; but, fortunately for me, I had another and safer meth cd of reaching the upper story where Dejah Thoris should be found, and, after first determining as nearly as possible which of the buildings she oc- cupied, for had never observed them before from the court side, I took ad- vantage of my relatively great strength and agility and sprang up- ward until grasped the sill of a sec ond-story window which I thought to be in the rear of her apartment. Draw ing myself inside the room I moved stealthily toward the front of the building, and not until I had quite reached the doorway of her room was I made aware by voices that it was oc- cupfed.
 I did not rush headlOng in, but lis tened without to assure myself that 1t was Dejah Thoris and that 1t was safe to venture within. It was we'll, indeed. that I took this precautiOn, for the conversation I heard was in the low gutturals of men, and the words which finally came to me proved most time ly warning. The speaker was a chief tain and he was giving orders to four | of his warriors.
 "And when he returns to this cham | h