Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-03-10
cover Tars Tar

: There were twenty chieftains abou
the rostrum, and twenty swords
: flashed high in assent.
: There was no alternative That de
cree was final and so Tai Hajus drew
his longsword and advanced to meet
Tars Tarkas.
The combat was soon over. and with
his foot upon the neck Of the dead
monster Tars Tarkas became jeddak
among the Thanks
His first act was to make me full
f1edged chieftain with the rank | had
won by my combats the first few weeks
of my captivity among them.
Seeing the favorable disposition Of
the warriors toward Tars Tarkas, as
well as toward me, / grasped the OPP
portunity to enlist them in my cause
against ZOdanga. told Tars Tarkas
the story of my adventures, and in a
few words had explained to him the
thought had in mind.
John Carter has made proposal"
he said, addressing the council, (which
meets with my sanction. l shall put it
to you briefly. Dejah Thoris, the
/ princess of Helium, who was our pris-
oner, is now held by the jeddak of 10
danga, whose son she must wed to
save her country from devastation at
the hands of the zodangan forces.
John Carter suggests that we res
cue her and return her to Helium. The
loot of ZOdanga would be magnificent,
and have often thought that had we
an alliance with the people of Heium
we could obtain sufficient assurance of
sustenance to permit us to increase
the size and frequency OF our hatch
ings, and thus become unquestionably
supreme among the green men of all
Barsoom. What say your"
1t was a chance to fight, an oppor-
tunity to loot. and they rose to the |
bait as speckled trout to fly.
In three days we were on the march |
toward Zodanga, one hundred thou
sand strong, as Tars Tarkas had been
able to enlist the services of three
smaller hordes on the promise of the
great loot of Zodanga.
We Travelled entirely by night, timing
our marches so that we camped dur
ing the day at deserted cities where,
even to the beasts, we were all kept
indoors during the daylight hours. On
the march Tars Tarkas, through his
remarkable ability and craftsmanship,
enlisted fifty thousand more warriors
from various hordes, so that, ten days
after we set out we halted at midnight
outside the great walled city of 20
danga, one hundred and fifty thousand
strong
The task of obtaining entry to the
city devoIved upon me- took twenty
warriors and approached
one of the small gates that pierced
the walls at short Intervals.
Placing three of my warriors with
heir faces to the wall and arms
ocked, / commanded two more to
mount to their shoulders, and a sixth
ordered to climb upon the shoulders
If the upper two. The head of the top
most warrior lowered over forty feet
rom the ground
In this way with ten warriors,
'uilt a series of three steps from the
round to the shoulders of the topmost
nan. Then starting from a short dis |
ance behind them l ran swiftly up |
rom one tier to the next, and with
nal bound from the broad shoulders |.
the highest | clutched the top of the
reat wall and quietly drew myself to
s broad expanse. After me dragged
TX lengths of leather from an equal
umber of my warriors. These lengths l
e had previously fastened together
nd passing one end to the topmost
arrior ! lowered the other end eau
ously over the opposite side Of the
all toward the avenue below. No one
as in sight so. lowering myself to
lie end of my leather strap / dropped
e remaining thirty feet to the pave
ent below.
had learned from KantOs Kan the
cret of opening these gates, and In
lother moment my twenty great fight w
g men stood within the doomed CITY
Zodanga
I found to my delight that l had en-
red at the lower boundary of the th
ormous palace grounds. Dispatching W,
e VI my men " lars IdrkaS Tor wa
tail of fifty Thanks, with word of my
tentiOns, / ordered ten warriors to br
pture and open one of the great We
ties while with the nine remaining sol
ok the other. We were to do our work hu
Ietly, no shots were to be fired and
general advance made until l had 1
ched the palace with my fifty the
arks. Our plans worked 70 perfec- my
D. The two sentries we met were row
patched to their fathers upon the nov
ks Of the lost sea Of Korus, and the ions
Irds at both gates followed them in gag
nee. mist
CHAPTER XVI. forr