The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-05-14

shoulder and with mighty sweep
hurled his weapon point foremost at
the green warrior. 1t flew true as an
arrow and piercing the poor devlrs
heart laid him dead upon the arena.
Kantos Kan and l were now pitted
against each other but as we ap-
preached to the encounter ! whispered
to him to prolong the battle Until near
ly dark in the hope that we might
find some means of escape. just as l
saw the sudden coming Of dark whis-
pered to Kantos Kan to thrust his
sword between my left arm and my
body. As he did so I staggered back
clasping the sword tightly with my
arm and thus fell to the ground with
his weapon apparently protruding
from my chest. Kantos Kan perceived
nv coup and stepping quickly to my
side he placed his foot upon my neck
and withdrawing his sword from my
body gave me the final death blow
through the neck which is supposed to
sever the jugular vein. but in this in
stance the cold blade slipped harm
lessly into the sand of the arena. In
the darkness which had now fallen
none could tell but that he had really
finished me. / whispered to him to
90 and claim his freedom and then
look for me in the hills east of the
city, and so he left me.
When the amphitheater had cleared
I crept stealthily to the top and as
the great excavation lay far from the
plaza and in an untenanted portion or
the great dead city had little trouble
in reaching the hills beyond.
For two days I waited there for
Kantos Kan, but as he did not come l
started off on foot in a northwesteriy
direction toward point where he had
told me lay the nearest waterway. My
only food consisted Of vegetable milk
from the plants which gave so boun-
teously of this priceless fluid.
Through two long weeks wan
dered, stumbling through the nights
guided only by the stars and hiding
during the days behind some protrud-
ing rock or among the occasional
hills I traversed. Several times was
| attacked by wild beasts; strange, I'M
couth monstrosities that leaped upon
me In the dark, so that had ever to
| grasp my longsword in my hand that
| 1 might be ready for them. Usually
my strange, newly acquired telepathic
| power warned me in ample time. but
once I was down with vicious fangs at
my jugular and hairy face pressed
close to mine before / knew that 1
| was even threatened.
What manner Of thing was upon me
did not know, but that it was large
and heavy and many-legged l could
| feel. My hands were at its throat
before the fangs had chance to bury
themselves in my neck, and slowly l
forced the hairy face from me and
closed my fingers, viselike, upon its
windpipe.
Without sound we lay there. the
beast exerting every effort to reach
me with those awful fangs. and l
straining to maintain my grip and
choke the life from It as / kept 1t
from my throat. Then living mass
Of destruction sprang from the sur
rounding darkness full upon the crea-
ture that held me pinioned to the
ground The two rolled growing upon
the moss, tearing and rending one an
other In q frightful manner. but 1t was
soon over and my preserver stood with
lowered head above the throat OF the
dead thing which would have killed
me.
The nearer moon, hurting suddenly
above the horizon and lighting up the
Barsoemisn scene, showed me that
nv preserver was Woola. but from
whence he had come, or how found
me, l was at loss to know. That
was glad Of his companiOnship II ID
needless to say, but my pleasure n
seeing him was tempered by anxiety
as to the reason Of his leaving Dejah
Th0ris.
| BY the light Of the now brilliant
moons saw that he was but q
shadow Of his former self, and as he
turned from my caress and com
menceA greedily to devour the dead
carcass at my feet realized that the
Door fellow was more than hall
starved. When Woola had finished
his meal l again took up my weary
and seemingly endless wandering IL
quest of the elusive waterway.
At daybreak Of the fifteenth day
was overjoyed to see the high tree:
that denoted the object Of my search
About noon / dragged myself YEARLY
to the portals of huge building which
covered perhaps four square miles ant
lowered two hundred feet in the air
It showed no aperture in the might!
walls other than the tiny door a
which sank exhausted, nor was there
any sign of life about it.
I could find no bell or other methot
of making my presence known to TIL
inmates of the piece, unless n small
round hole in the wall near the doc
was for that purpose. 1t was of abou
the bigness of lead pencil and think
ing that it might be in the nature o
a speaking tube put my mouth to |
| oud x.,oc ohnuf RI ca11 into II whom