Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-02-07

he motioned his followers to advance.
He exchanged a few words with his
men. motloned to me that would ride
behind one Of them, and then mounted
his own animal. The fellow desig-
mated reached down two or three
hands and lifted me up behind him on
the glossy back of his mount, where
l hung on as best could by the belts
and straps which held the Martian's
weapons and ornaments.
The entire cavalcade then turned
and galloped away toward the range
Of hills In the distance.
In a short time we gained the foot
Of the mountains, and after traversing
a narrow gorge came to an open val
ley, at the far extremity of which was
a low tableland upon which / beheld
an enormous city. Toward this we
gallOped, entering it by what appeared
to be a ruined roadway leading out
from the city, but only to the edge OF
the tableland, where it ended abrupt
ly in a fight Of broad steps.
Upon closer observation / saw as
we passed them that the buildings
were deserted, and while not greatly
decayed had the appearance OF not
having been tenanted for years, pos
sibly for ages. Toward the center OF
the city was a large plaza, and upon
this and In the buildings Immediately
surrounding it were camped some nine
or ten hundred creatures of the same
breed as my captors, for such | now
considered them, despite the suave
manner in which l had been trapped.
With the exception of their orna-
ments all were naked. The women
varied in appearance but little from
the men, except that their tusks were
much larger in proportion to their
height, In some instances curving near
~ to their high-set ears. The adult
females ranged in height from ten to
twelve feet.
The children we're light In color,
even lighter than the women. and all
looked precisely alike to me. except
that some were taller than others
older, I presumed.
saw no signs Of extreme age among
them. nor Is there any appreciable diff
ference in their appearance from the
age of maturity, about forty, until al
about the age OF one thousand years
they go voluntarily upon their last
strange pilgrimage down the river ISIS
which leads no living Marian knows
| whittier and from whose bosom nc
Marian has ever returned, or would
be allowed to live did he return after
once embarking upon its cold, darH
waters.
Only about one Marian in a thou
sand dies of sickness or disease, ant
possibly about twenty take the volun
tary pilgrimage. The other nine hun
bred and seventy-nine die viOlen
deaths in duels, in hunting, in aviation
and in war; but perhaps by far tn
greatest death loss comes during tn
age Of childhood, when vast number
of the little Martians fall victims t
the great white apes of Mars.
AS we neared the plaza and m
presence was discovered we were in
mediately surrounded by hundreds Q
the creatures, who seemed anxious
pluck me from my seat behind tn
guard. A word from the leader of tn
party stilled their clam0r, and we pre-
ceeded at trot across theJplaza to tn
entrance of as magnificent an edific
as mortal eye has rested upon.
The building was low, but covere
an enormous area. It was cOnstructe
Of cleaning white marble inlaid wit
gold and brilliant stones which spal
killed. and scintillated in the sunligh
There was no stairway, but gent
incline to the first floor of the buildin
opened into an enormous chamber er
circled by galleries.
On the floor of this chamber, whic
was dotted with highly carved woode
desks and chairs, were assemble
about forty or fifty male Marian
around the steps Of a rostrum. o
the platform proper squatted an emo
nous warrior heavily loaded wit
metal ornaments, gay-colored feather
and beautifully wrought leather traI
pings ingeniously set with preciou
stones.
What struck me as most remarkabl
about this assemblage and the hall
which they were congregated was tn
fact that the creatures were entirel
out of proportion TO the desks, chair
and other furnishings, these being {
size adapted to human beings sue
as /, whereas the great bulks Of til
Martians could scarcely have squeeze
into the chairs. nor was there ROOF
beneath the desks for their long leg
Evidently, then, there were other den
zens on Mars than the wild and gr'
tesque creatures into whose hands
had fallen.
Our party had halted at the Ell
trance to the building, and at sig
from the leader had been lowere
to the ground. Again locking his arr
In mine, we had proceeded into tn
audience chamber. There were fe'
for1nalitIes observed In approachin
the Marian chieftain. My captC
merely strobe up to the rostrum, tn
others making way for him as he az
vanced. The chieftain rose to b