The Snowflake herald., 1921-02-25

having sunk his mighty fangS far into
the breast of his adversary; but the
great arms and paws of the ape, back.
ed by muscles far transcending those
of the Marian men | had seen, had
locked the throat of my guardian and
slowly were choking out his life, and
bending back his head and neck upon
his body. where | mOmentarily ex.
pected the former to fall limp at the
end of a broken neck.
Back and forth upon the floor they
rolled, neither one emitting a sound
of fear or pain. Presently / saw the
great eyes of my beast bulging COM
pletely from their sockets and blood
flowing from It's nostrils. That he
was weakening perceptibly was evi-
dent, but so also was the ape, whose
struggles were growing momentarily
less.
Suddenly came to myself and, with
that strange instinct which seems ever
to prompt me to my duty, seized the
cudgel, which had fallen to the floor
at the commencement Of the battle,
and swinging 1t with all the power Of
my earthly arms l crashed 1t full upon
the head Of the ape. crushing his skull
as though it had been an egg shell.
Scarcely had the blow descended
when | was confronted with a new
danger. The apes mate, recovered
from It's first shock of terror, had re.
turned to the scene of the encounter
by way of the interior of the building.
and | knew that once In the street
might gain the plaza and safety
before the creature could overtake me;
at least there was chance for safety
In fight, against almost certain death
should ! remain and fight. however
desperately.
had turned to make for the win
dew, but my eyes alightlng on the form
Of my erstwhile guardian threw all
thoughts Of flight TO the four winds.
He lay gaspIng upon the floor of the
chamber. his great eyes fastened upon
me In what seemed a pitiful appeal
for protection. | could not Withstand
that look. nor could I. on second
thought. have deserted my rescuer
without giving as good an account in
his behalf as he had in mine.
Without more ado. therefore. I
turned to meet the charge of the In
furiated bull ape. He was now too
close upon me for the cudgel to prove
of any effective assistance, so | mere
ly threw II as heavily as ! could at
his advancing bulk II struck him
just below the knees. cliciting a howl
of pain and rage and so throwing him
of his balance that he lunged full up
on me with arms wide stretched to
ease his fall.
Again, as on the preceding day,
had recourse to earthly tactics, and
swinging my right fist full upon the
point of his chin followed ii with
a smashing left to the pit of his
stomach. The effect was marvellous.
for, as lightly side-stepped, after de-
livering the second blow, he reeled
and fell upon the floor doubled up
with pain and gasping for wind. Leap
ing over his PROSTATE body seized
the cudgel and finished the monster
before he could regain his feet.
AS I delivered the blow a low laugh
rang out behind me. and, turning.
beheld Tars Tarkas. Sola and three
or four warriors standing in the door
way of the chamber. AS my eyes met
theirs | was, for the second time. the
recipient of their zealously guarded
applause
My absence had been noted by Sola
on her awakening and she had quickly
Informed TarS Tarkas. who had set |
out Immediately with a handful of |
warriors to search for me. AS they
had approached the limits of the city
they had witnessed the actions Of the |
bull ape as he bolted into the building. |
frothing with rage
They had followed Immediately be |
hind him, thinking 1t barely possible t
that his actions might prove a clew to
my whereabouts, and had witnessed +
my short but decisive battle with him
This encounter. together with my set.
to with the Martian warrior on the
previous day and my feats Of jumping
placed me upon a high pinnacle ir
their regard.
Sola. who had accompanied the
searching party Of her own voIition
was the only one of the Martians
whose face had not been twisted In
laughter as battled for my life She.
on the contrary, was sober with ap
parent solicitude and, as soon as
had finished the monster, rushed TO me
and carefully examined my body for
possible wounds or injuries Salts
flying herself that I had come off un
scathed she smiled quietly, and. tax
ing my hand, started toward the door
of the chamber.
Tars Tarkas and the other warriors
had entered and were standing over
the now rapidly reviving brute which
had saved my life. and whose life 1
In turn. had rescued. There seemed
menacing In their attitude