The Snowflake herald., 1921-03-25


us she injuredY" l asked of SOla
Indicating Dejah Thoris by an inclina
ton of my head.
"No." she answered, "she thinks
that you are dead. | do not under
stand either her ways or yours but
am sure the granddaughter of ter
thousand jeddaks would never grievt
like this over the death of one sht
considered beneath her. or indeed over
any one who held but the highest CLAIM
upon her affections.
Tears are a strange sight upoI
Barsoom," she continued, "and so Il
is difficult for me to interpret them
have seen but two people weep il
all my life other than Dejah ThOris
one wept from sorrow, the other from
bafled rage. The first was my moth
er, years ago. before they killed her
the other was Sarkoja when the.
dragged her from me today"
"Your mother" / exclaimed. but
Sola. you could not have known you
mother, child"
"But | did, And my father also
she added. "If you would like to hea-
the strange and un-BarSOoman suorA
come TO the chariot tonight. John Car
ter, and | will tell you that of which
have never spoken in all my life be-
fore"
II will come tonight. Soda" | prom
ised. "Be sure to tell Deiah Thoris
am alive and we'll If she would speak
with me but await her command"
Sola mounted the chariot. which was
swinging into its place in line. and |
FASTENED to my waiting thoat and gal
loped to my station beside Tars Tar
kas at the rear of the column.
We made a most imposing anil awe
inspiring spectacle as we strung out
across the yellow landscape; tie two
hundred and fifty ornate and brightly
co'ored chariots. preceded by an adj
vance guard of some two hundred
mounted warriors and chieftains rid
ing five abreast and one hundred yards
apart. and followed by like number
In the same formation. with a score or
more of fankers on either side: the
fifty extra mastodons or heavy
draught animals. known as zitidars
and the five or six hundred extra
th0ats Of the warriors running loose
within the hollow square formed by
the surrounding warriors. The gleam-
ing metal and jewels of the gorgeous
ornaments of the men and women du-
plicated in the trappings of the ziti-
dars and thOatS. and interspersed with
the flashing colOrS of magnificent silks
and furS and feathers. lent harharic
splendor to the caravan which would
have turned an East Indian potentate
green with envy.
The enormous broad tires Of the
chariots and the padded feet of the
animals brought forth no sound from
the moss-covered sea bottom and so
we moved in utter silence. like some
huge phantasmagoria. except when the
stiffness was broken by the cultural
growing of a goaded zitidar or the
squealing of fighting thoats. The green
Martians converse but little. and then
usually in monosyllables. low and like
the faint rumbling of distant thunder
We traversed a trackless waste of
moss which. bending TO the pressure of
broad tire or padded foot, rose up
again behind us, leaving no sign that
we had passed We might indeed have
been the wraiths of the departed dead
upon the dead sea Of that dying planet
for all the sound or sign we made in
passing 1t was the first march of
large body of men and animals had
ever witnessed which raised no dust
and left no spoOr; for there is no dust
upon Mars except in the cultivated dis
tricts during the winter months, and
even then the absence Of high winds
renders 1t almost unnoticeable.
We camped that night at the foot
of the hills we had been approaching
for two days and which marked the
southern boundary of this particular
sea. Our ANIMALS had been two days
without drink, nor had they had water
for nearly two months. not since
shortly after leaving Thark but, as
Tars Tarkas explained TO me, they re-
quire but little and can live almost in
definitely upon the moss which covers
Barsoom and which, he told me. holds
in its tiny stems sufficient moisture
to meet the limited demands of the
animals
After partaking of my evening meal
of cheese-like food and vegetable milk
sought out SoIa. whom l found work
ing by the light of torch upon some
of Tars Tarkas' trappings. She looked
up at my approach. her face lighting
with pleasure and with welcome.
II am glad you came" she said;
"Dejah Thoris sleeps and am lonely.
promised to tell you my story, or
rather the story of my parents. From
what I have learned of you and the
ways of your people | am sure that
the tale will not seem strange to you.
but among green Martians il has no
parallel within the memory of the old
est living Thark nor do our legends