The Ely miner., 1921-05-27
| A PRINC CE S s
O + NJ A r S



men, almost without exception, cover
their bodies with strange, unsightly
! pieces Of cloth, and their heads with
/ hideous cOntraptions the purpose Of
which we have been unable to con-
! ceive; while you, when found by the
Tharkian warriors, were entirely un-
dishgured and unadorned"
/ then narrated the details of my
departure from the Earth, explain
ing that my body there lay fully
clothed in all the, to her, strange gar
ments of mundane dwellers. At this
point Sola returned with our meager
belongings and her young Martian
protege, who, of course, would have
to share the quarters with them.
Sola asked us if we had had vis-
itor during her absence, and seemed
much surprised when we answered
in the negative. 1t seemed that as
she had mounted the approach to the
upper floors where our quarters were
located, she had met Sarkoja descend
ing. We decided that she must have
been eavesdropping, but as we could
recall nothing of Importance that had
passed between us we dismissed the
matter as of little consequence.
Dejah Thoris and / then fell to ex-
amining the architecture and decora-
tions of the beautiful chambers Of the
building we were occupying. She told
me that these people had presumably
! f1ourished over hundred thousand
years before They were the early
progenitors of her race, but had mixed
with the other great races of early
Martians, who were very dark, almost
black, and also with the reddish yel-
| low race which had flourished at the
same time.
! These three great divisions of the
| higher Martians had been forced in
to a mighty alliance as the drying up
| of the Martian seas had compelled
| them to seek the comparatively few
and always diminishing fertile areas,
and to defend themselves, under new
conditions of life, against the wild
hordes of green men.
The ancient Martians had been a
highly cultivated and literary race,
but during the vicissitudes of those
trying centuries of readjustment to
new conditions, not only did their ad-
vancement and production cease en-
tirely, but practically all their archives,
records. and literature were lost.
We had been so engrossed in explor-
alton of the building and in our con-
versation that it was late in the after
noon before we realized it. We were
brought back to a realization of our
present conditions by a messenger
bearing a summons from Lorquas
Ptomel directing me to appear before
him forthwith. Bidding Dejah Thor
| is and Sola farewell, and command
ing Woola to remain on guard, hast
ened to the audience chamber, where
found Lorquas Ptomel and Tars Tar
kas seated upon the rostrum.
AS I entered and saluted, Lorquas
Ptomel signaled me to advance, and,
fixing his great, hideous eyes upon
me, addressed me thus:
'You have been with us few days,
yet during that time you have by
your prowess won a high position
among US. Be that as 1t may, you are
not one Of us; you owe US no allegi-
/ ance.
"Your position is a peculiar one"
he continued; "you are prisoner
and yet you give commands which
must be obeyed; you are an alien and
| yet you are a Tharkian chieftain !;
you are midget and yet you can kill
mighty warrior with one blow Of
/ your fist. And now you are reported
] to have been plotting to escape with
another prisoner of another race; q
prisoner who, from her own admission.
half believes you are. returned from
the valley of Dor. Either one of these
accusations, if proved, would be suffi-
| cient grounds for your execution, but
we are a just people and you shall
have a trial on our return to Thark,
If Tai Hajus so commands.
"But," he continued, In his fierce
| cultural tones, "if you run off with
the red girl 1t is / who shall have to
account to Tai Hajus; it is who shall
have to face Tars Tarkas, and either
demonstrate my right to command.
! or the metal from my dead carcass
will go to better man, for such is
the custom of the Tharks.
81 have no quarrel with Tars Tar
kas; together we rule supreme the
! greatest of the lesser communities
] among the green men we do not wish
/ to fight between ourselves; and so
/ if you were dead, John Carter, should
be glad. Under two conditions only,
however, may you be killed by US with
out orders from Tai Hajus; in person
al combat in self-defense, should, you
attack one of us, or were you appre-
| hended in an attempt to escape.
"As matter of justice must warn
you that we only await one of these
| two excuses for Kidding ourselves Of
so great responsibility. The safe
delivery of the red girl to Tai Hajus
is of the greatest Importance. Not
In thousand years have the Tharks
made such capture; she is the grand
daughter of the greatest of red jed
| daks, who is also our bitterest en-
emy. have spoken. The red girl
told us that we were without the
softer sentiments of humanity, but we
are a just and truthful race. You may
&C."
Turning, I left the, audience cham
ber. So this was the beginning of
| Sarkoja's persecution! / knew that