The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1921-04-08
CHAPTER VIII-continued.

'Is she injlred?" | asked of Sofa,
indicating Dejah Thoris by an inclina-
I ton of my head.
! No" she answered, "she thinks
! that you are dead. | do not under
stand either her ways or yours, but 1
am sure the granddaughter of ten
thousand jeddaks would never grieve
like this over the death of one she
considered beneath her. or indeed over
any one who held but the highest claim
upon her affections.
Tears are Il strange sight upon
Barsoom," She continued, and so it
is difficult for me to interpret them.
l have seen but two people weep in
all my life. other than Dejah Thoris :;
one wept from sorrow. the other from
baffied rage. The first was my moth
er. years ago, before they killed her;
the other was Sarkoja when they
dragged her from me today"
''Your mother" | exclaimed. but.
Sofa. You could not have known your
mother child"
But I did. And my father also"
she added. If you would like to hear
the strange and un-Barsoomian story
come to the chariot tonight. John Car
ter. and ! viii tell you that of which 7
have never spoken in all my life be-
fore"
Il will come tonight, Soda" I prom
ised. BE sure to tell Dejah Thoris 7
am alive and well. If She would speak
with me I but await her command"
Soda mounted the chariot. which was
swinging into ieS place i'm line. and I
FASTENED to my waiting thoat and gal
Ioped TO my station beside Tars Tar
kas at the rear Of the column
We made most imposing and awe
inspiring spectacle as we strung out
across the yellow landscape: the two
hundred and fifty ornate and brightly
coIored 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 a like number
in the same formation. with 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
thoats of the warriors running loose
within the hollow square >forned by
the surrounding warriors The gIeam-
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
fhe flashing cOlOrS of magnificent silks 1
and furs and feathers. lent a harbaric
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 I
growing of a goaded zitidar or the
of fighting thoats The green
MartianS converse but little. and then
usually in mon0sylahIes. low and like
the faint rumbling of distant thunder.
We CraverSed tracklesS waste of I
moss which. bending 10 the pressure of
broad tire or padded foot, rose up
again behind us, leaving no sign that
we had passed. We might indeed have
heen the wraiths of the departed dead
I
for all the sound or sign we made in
passing. 1t was tile first march o.
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
5ven then the absence of high winds
renders it almost unnoticeahle.
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
or nearly two months. not since
shortly after leaving Thank but. as
Ears Tarkas explained TO me- they re-
Iuire but little and can live almost in
upon the mos which covers
8arsoom. and which. BE- told me- holds I,
n its tiny stems SuffI tent moisture Ia
o meet the limited demands of the |
animals.