September 24, 2025 • 26 mins
Dive into The Gods of Mars, the captivating 1918 science fiction novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the second installment of his iconic Barsoom series. This groundbreaking tale not only shaped the landscape of science fiction but also left an indelible mark on beloved franchises like Star Trek and Farscape. While Burroughs drew inspiration from the pulp fiction of his era, particularly westerns and swashbuckling adventures, his unique pacing and compelling themes paved the way for the soft science fiction genre. Join the fearless John Carter, a master of hand-to-hand combat and a charmer of enchanting alien women, whose character set a precedent for later icons such as Captain James T. Kirk and James Bond. Picking up after the events of A Princess of Mars, this sequel follows John Carters unexpected return to Barsoom (Mars) after a decade apart from his wife, Dejah Thoris, and their unborn child. However, his arrival is anything but ordinary, as he finds himself trapped in the Valley Dor‚Aîthe one place on Barsoom where no one is permitted to leave, believed to be the Barsoomian afterlife.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Gods of Mars written by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and read by J. D. Weber on
the south shores of Lake Superior.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Chapter nineteen. Black despair, Ah, said Zadarras, to what kindly
circumstance am I indebted for the pleasure of this unexpected
visit from the Prince of Helium. While he was speaking,
one of my guards had removed the gag from my mouth.
But I made no reply to Zadarras, simply standing there
in silence, with level gaze fixed upon the zed of Zodanga.
(00:43):
And I doubt not that my expression was colored by
the contempt I felt for the man. The eyes of
those within the chamber were fixed first upon me, and
then upon Zadarras, until finally a flush of anger crept
slowly over his face. You may go, he said to
those who had brought me, And when only as two
companions and ourselves were left in the chamber, he spoke
(01:03):
to me again, in a voice of ice, very slowly
and deliberately, with many pauses, as though he would choose
his words cautiously. John Carter, he said, by the edict
of custom, by the law of our religion, and by
the verdict of an impartial court, you are condemned to die.
(01:26):
The people cannot save you. I alone may accomplish that
you are absolutely in my power to do with as
I wish. I may kill you, or I may free you.
And should I elect to kill you, none.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Would be the wiser.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Should you go free and Helium for a year in
accordance with the conditions of your reprieve, there is little
fear that the people would ever insist upon the execution
of the sentence imposed upon you. You may go free
within two minutes. Upon one condition. Tardos Morse will never
(02:09):
return to Helium, neither will Moores Kajak nor dejah Thoris.
Helium must select a new Jeddak within the year. Zadarras
would be Jeddak of Helium. Say that you will espouse
my cause. This is the price of your freedom. I
(02:31):
am done. I knew it was within the scope of
zad Arras's cruel heart to destroy me, and if I
were dead, I could see little reason to doubt that
he might easily become Jeddak of Helium free I could
prosecute the search for dejah Thoris. Were I dead, my
brave comrades might not be able to carry out our plans.
So by refusing to accede to his request, it was
(02:54):
quite probable that not only would I not prevent him
from becoming Jeddak of Helium, but that I would be
the means of sealing dejah Thoris's fate, of consigning her
through my refusal to the horrors of the Arena of Issius.
For a moment, I was perplexed. But for a moment,
only the proud daughter of the thousand Jeddaks would choose
(03:14):
death to a dishonorable alliance such as this. Nor could
John Carter do less for Helium than his princess would do.
Then I turned to Zadarras. There can be no alliance
I said, between a traitor to Helium and a prince
of the House of Tardos Mors. I do not believe
Zadarras that the Great Jeddak is dead. Zadars shrugged his shoulders.
(03:36):
It will not be long, John Carter. He said that
your opinions will be of interest even to yourself, so
make the best of them while you can. Zadars will
permit you in due time to reflect further upon the
magnanimous offer he has made you. Into the silence and
darkness of the pits. You will enter upon your reflection
this night with the knowledge that should you fail with
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any reasonable time to agree to the alternative which has
been offered you, never shall you emerge from the darkness
and the silence again, nor shall you know at what
minute the hand will reach out through the darkness in
the silence with the keen dagger that shall rob you
of your last chance to win again the warmth and
the freedom and the joyousness of the outer world. Zadars
(04:19):
clapped his hands as he ceased speaking. The guards returned.
Zadarras waved his hand in my direction to the pits.
He said, that was all four men accompanied me from
the chamber, and with a radium hand light to illumine
the way, escorted me through seemingly interminable tunnels, down ever
down beneath the city of Helium. At length they halted
(04:40):
within a fair sized chamber. There were rings set in
the rocky walls. To them, chains were fastened, and at
the ends of many of the chains were human skeletons.
One of these they kicked the side, and, unlocking the
huge padlock that had held a chain about what had
once been a human ankle. They snapped the iron band
and about my own leg. Then they left me, taking
(05:02):
the light with them. Utter darkness prevailed for a few minutes.
I could hear the clanking of accouterments, but even this
grew fainter and fainter, until at last the silence was
as complete as the darkness. I was alone with my
gruesome companions, with the bones of dead men whose fate
was likely but the index of my own. How long
I stood listening in the darkness, I do not know,
(05:24):
but the silence was unbroken, and at last I sunk
to the hard floor of my prison, where, leaning my
head against the stony wall, I slept. It must have
been several hours later that I awakened to find a
young man standing before me. In one hand, he bore
a light, in the other a receptacle containing a gruel
like mixture, the common prison fare of Barsoom Zatar. Sends
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you greetings, said the young man, and commands me to
inform you that though he is fully advised of the
plot to make you Jeddak of Helium. He is, however,
not inclined to withdraw the offer which he has made you.
To gain your freedom. You have but to request me
to advise ad Ars that you accept the terms of
his proposition. I but shook my head. The youth said
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no more, and, after placing the food upon the floor
at my side, returned up the corridor, taking the light
with him. Twice a day. For many days, this youth
came to my cell with food and ever the same
greetings from zat Arras. For a long time I tried
to engage him in conversation upon other matters, but he
would not talk, and so at length I desisted. For months,
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I sought to devise methods to inform Cathars of my whereabouts.
For months I scraped and scraped upon a single link
of the massive chain which held me, hoping eventually to
wear it through that I might follow the youth back
through the winding tunnels to a point where I could
make a break for liberty. I was beside myself with
anxiety for knowledge of the progress of the expedition which
(06:50):
was to rescue dejah Thoris. I felt that Carthoris would
not let the matter drop were he free to act,
But in so far as I knew, he also might
be a prisoner in Zadarus's pits. That Zadarus's spy had
overheard our conversation relative to the selection of a new Jeddak,
I knew and scarcely a half dozen minutes prior we
(07:10):
had discussed the details of the plan to rescue dejah Thoris.
The chances were that that matter, too was well known
to him. Carthoris, Kantos, kan Tars, Tarkas, or Vastus, and
Exodar might even now be the victims of Zadarus's assassins
or else as prisoners. I determined to make at least
one more effort to learn something, and to this end
(07:32):
I adopted strategy. When next the youth came to my cell,
I had noticed that he was a handsome fellow about
the size and age of Carthoris, and I had also
noticed that his shabby trappings but illy comported with his
dignified and noble bearing. It was with these observations as
a basis that I opened my negotiations with him upon
his next subsequent visit. You've been very kind to me
(07:55):
during my imprisonment. Here, I said to him, and as
I feel that I have at best but a very
short time to live, I wish ere it is too
late to furnish substantial testimony of my appreciation of all
that you have done to render my imprisonment bearable. Promptly
you have brought my food each day, seeing that it
was pure and of sufficient quantity. Never by word or
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deed have you attempted to take advantage of my defenseless
condition to insult or torture me. You have been uniformly
courteous and considerate. It is this, more than any other thing,
which prompts my feeling of gratitude, and my desire to
give you some slight token of it. In the guard
room of my palace are many fine trappings. Go thou
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there and select the harness which most pleases you. It
shall be yours. All I ask is that you wear it,
that I may know that my wish has been realized.
Tell me that you will do it. The boy's eyes
had lighted with pleasure as I spoke, and I saw
him glance from his rusty trappings to the magnificence of
my own. For a moment he stood in thought before
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he spoke, and for that moment my heart fairly ceased beating.
So much for me there was which hung upon the
substance of his answer. And I went to the palace
of the Prince of Helium with any such demand, they
would laugh at me, and into the bargain would more
than likely throw me head foremost into the avenue. No,
it cannot be, though I thank you for the offer.
(09:19):
Why if zat Arras even dreamed that I contemplated such
a thing, he would have my heart cut out of me.
There could be no harm in it, my boy, I
urged by night, you may go to my palace with
a note from me to Carthoris, my son. You may
read the note before you deliver it, that you may
know that it contains nothing harmful. To Zadars, my son
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will be discreet, and so none but us three need know.
It is very simple and such a harmless act that
it could be condemned by no one. Again, he stood
silently in deep thought. And there is a jeweled short sword,
which I took from the body of a northern Jeddak.
When you get the harness, see that Carthoris gives you
that also with it and the harness which you may select.
(10:02):
There will be no more handsomely accoutred warrior in all Zodanga.
Bring writing materials when you come next to my cell,
and within a few hours we shall see you garb
in a style befitting your berth and carriage. Still in
thought and without speaking, he turned and left me. I
could not guess what his decision might be, and for
hours I sat fretting over the outcome of the matter.
(10:23):
If he accepted a message to Carthoris, it would mean
to me that Carthoris still lived and was free. If
the youth returned wearing the harness and the sword, I
would know that Carthoris had received my note, and that
he knew that I still lived. That the bearer of
the note was as Zodangan would be sufficient to explain
to Carthoris that I was a prisoner of zat Arras
(10:43):
it was with feelings of excited expectancy which I could
scarce hide that I heard the youth's approach upon the
occasion of his next regular visit. I did not speak
beyond my accustomed greeting of him. As he placed the
food upon the floor by my side. He also deposited
writing materials. At the same time, my heart fairly bounded
for joy I had won my point. For a moment
(11:06):
I looked at the materials in feign surprise, but soon
I permitted an expression of dawning comprehension to come into
my face. And then picking them up, I penned a
brief order to Carthoris to deliver to Parthak a harness
of his selection and the short sword, which I described.
That was all, but it meant everything to me and
to Carthoris. I laid the note open upon the floor.
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Parthak picked it up and without a word left me.
As nearly as I could estimate, I had at this
time been in the pits for three hundred days. If
anything was to be done to save dejah Thoris, it
must be done quickly, for were she not already dead,
her end must soon come, since those whom Issus chose
lived but a single year. The next time I heard
(11:48):
approaching footsteps, I could scarce await to see if Parthak
wore the harness and the sword, but judge if he can.
My chagrin and disappointment when I saw that he who
bore my food was not Parthak. What has become of Parthak?
I asked, But the fellow would not answer, And as
soon as he had deposited my food, turned and retraced
his steps to the world above. Days came and went,
(12:10):
and still my new jailer continued his duties. Nor would
he ever speak a word to me, either in reply
to the simplest question or of his own initiative. I
could only speculate on the cause of Parthak's removal, but
that it was connected in some way directly with the
note I had given him was most apparent to me.
After all my rejoicing, I was no better off than before.
(12:32):
For now I did not even know that Carthoris lived.
For if Parthak had wished to raise himself in the
estimation of Zadarras, he would have permitted me to go
on precisely as I did, so that he could carry
my note to his master in proof of his own
loyalty and devotion. Thirty days had passed since I had
given the youth the note. Three hundred and thirty days
had passed since my incarceration. As closely as I could figure,
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there remained a bare thirty days ere Dejah Thoris would
be ordered to the arena for the rites of Issus.
As the terrible picture forced itself vividly across my imagination,
I buried my face in my arms, and only with
the greatest difficulty was it that I repressed the tears
that welled to my eyes, despite my every effort to
think of that beautiful creature torn and rendered by the
(13:17):
cruel fangs of the hideous white apes. It was unthinkable
such a horrid fact could not be. And yet my
reason told me that within thirty days, my incomparable princess
would be fought over in the arena of the Firstborn
by those very wild beasts, that her bleeding corpse would
be dragged through the dirt and the dust, until at
last a part of it would be rescued to be
(13:38):
served as food upon the tables of the black nobles.
I think that I should have gone crazy, but for
the sound of my approaching jailer. It distracted my attention
from the terrible thoughts that had been occupying my entire mind.
Now a new and grim determination came to me. I
would make one superhuman effort to escape, kill my jailer
by a ruse, and trust to fate to lead me
(14:00):
to the outer world in safety. With the thought came
instant action. I threw myself upon the floor of my cell,
close by the wall, in a strained and distorted posture,
as though I were dead after a struggle or convulsions.
When he should stoop over me, I had but to
grasp his throat with one hand and strike him a
terrific blow with the slack of my chain, which I
(14:21):
gripped firmly on my right hand for the purpose. Nearer
and nearer came the doomed man. Now I heard him
halt before me. There was a muttered exclamation, and then
a step. As he came to my side, I felt
him kneel beside me. My grip tightened upon the chain.
He leaned close to me. I must open my eyes
to find his throat, grasp it, and strike one mighty
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final blow, all at the same instant. The thing worked
just as I had planned. So brief was the interval
between the opening of my eyes and the fall of
the chain that I could not check it. Though in
that minute interval I recognized the face so close to
mine as that of my son Carthoris.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
God, what cruel and.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Malign fate had worked to such a frightful end. What
devious chain of circumstances had led my boy to my
side at this one particular minute of our lives, when
I could strike him down and kill him in ignorance
of his identity. A benign, though tardy providence blurred my
vision and my mind as I sank into unconsciousness across
the lifeless body of my only son. When I regained consciousness,
(15:23):
it was to feel a cool, firm hand pressed upon
my forehead. For an instant I did not open my eyes.
I was endeavoring to gather the loose ends of many
thoughts and memories which flitted elusively through my tired and
overwrought brain. At length came the cruel recollection of the
thing that I had done in my last conscious act.
And then I dared not to open my eyes for
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fear of what I should see lying beside me. I
wondered who it could be who ministered to me. Carthoris
must have had a companion whom I had not seen. Well,
I must face the inevitable sum time, so why not now?
And with a sigh I opened my eyes. Leaning over
me was Carthoris a great bruise upon his forehead where
the chain had struck, But alive, thank God, alive. There
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was no one with him. Reaching out my arms, I
took my boy within them, And if ever there arose
from any planet a fervent prayer of gratitude, it was
there beneath the crust of dying Mars, as I thanked
the eternal mystery for my son's life. The brief instant
in which I had seen and recognized Carthoris before the
chain fell must have been ample to check the force
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of the blow. He told me that he had lain
unconscious for a time. How long he did not know.
How came you here at all? I asked, mystified that
he had found me without a guide. It was by
your wit in appraising me of your existence and imprisonment
through the youth Parthac. Until he came for his harness
and his sword. We had thought you dead. When I
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had read your note, I did as you had bid,
giving Parthak his choice of the harness in the guard room,
and later bringing the jeweled short sword to him. But
the minute that I had fulfilled the promise you evidently
had made him. My obligation to him ceased. Then I
commenced to question him, but he would give me no
information as to your whereabouts. He was intensely loyal to Zadarras.
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Finally I gave him a fair choice between freedom and
the pits beneath the palace. The price of freedom to
be full information as to where you were imprisoned and
directions which would lead us to you. But still he
maintained his stubborn partisanship. Despairing, I had him removed to
the pits, where he still is. No threats of torture
or death, no bribes, however fabulous, would move him. His
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only reply to all our importunities was that whenever Parthak died,
were it tomorrow or a thousand years. Hence no man
could truly say a traitor is gone to his deserts. Finally, Exadar,
who is a fiend of subtle craftiness, evolved a plan
whereby we might worm the information from him, and so
I caused hor Vastus to be harnessed in the mettle
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of a Zodangan soldier and chained in Parthak's sell beside
him for fifteen days. The noble hor Vastus has languished
in the darkness of the pits, but not in vain.
Little by little he won the confidence and friendship of
the Zodangan, until only to day. Parthak, thinking that he
was speaking not only to a countryman but to a
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dear friend, revealed to hor Vastus the exact cell in
which you lay. It took me but a short time
to locate the plans of the pits of Helium among
thy official papers. To come to you, though, was a
trifle more difficult matter. As you know, while all the
pits beneath the city are connected, there are but single
entrances from those beneath each section and its neighbor, and
(18:36):
that at the upper level, just underneath the ground. Of course,
these openings, which lead from contiguous pits to those beneath
government buildings, are always guarded. And so while I easily
came to the entrance to the pits beneath the palace
which Zatars is occupying, I found there as Zodangan's soldier
on guard. There I left him when I had gone by,
(18:58):
but his soul was no longer with him. Here I
am just in time to be nearly killed by you.
He ended, laughing as he talked Carthoris had been working
at the lock which held my fetters, and now, with
an exclamation of pleasure, he dropped the end of the
chain to the floor, and I stood up, once more,
freed from the galling irons I had chafed in for
(19:19):
almost a year. He had brought a long sword and
a dagger from me, and thus armed, we set out
upon the return journey to my palace. At the point
where we left the pits of zat Arras, we found
the body of the guard Cathoris had slain. It had
not yet been discovered, and in orders to still further
delay search and mystify the Jed's people, we carried the
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body with us for a short distance, hiding it in
a tiny cell off the main corridor of the pits,
beneath an adjoining estate. Some half hour later we came
to the pits beneath our own palace, and soon thereafter
emerged in the audience chamber itself, where we found Kantos,
kan Tars, Tarkas, hor Vastus, and Exodar awaiting us most
in pap No time was lost and fruitless recounting of
(20:03):
my imprisonment. What I desired to know was how well,
the plans we had laid nearly a year ago had
been carried out. It has taken much longer than we
had expected, replied kantos Kan. The fact that we were
compelled to maintain utter secrecy has handicapped us terribly. Zatarras's
spies are everywhere, yet to the best of my knowledge,
(20:23):
no word of our real plans has reached the villain's ear.
To night, there lies about the great docks at hast
a fleet of a thousand of the mightiest battleships that
ever sailed above Barsoom, and each equipped to navigate the
air of Omin and the waters of Omean itself. Upon
each battleship there are five ten man cruisers, and ten
five man's scouts, and a hundred one man scouts. In all,
(20:47):
one hundred and sixteen thousand craft fitted with both air
and water propellers. At thark Lie the transport for the
Green Warriors of Tars Tarkas nine hundred large troop ships,
and with them their convoys. Seven days ago all was
in readiness, but we waited in the hope that by
so doing, your rescue might be encompassed in time for
you to command the expedition. It is well, we waited,
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my prince, how is it tars Tarkas I asked that
the men of Thark take not the accustomed action against
one who returns from the bosom of Ish. They sent
a council fifty chieftains to talk with me. Here, replied
the Thark. We are a just people, and when I
had told them the entire story, they were as one
man in agreeing that their action toward me would be
(21:31):
guided by the action of Helium toward John Carter. In
the meantime, at their request, I was to resume my
throne as Jeddak of Tharp, that I might negotiate with
neighboring hordes of warriors to compose the land forces of
the expedition. I have done that which I agreed. Two
hundred and fifty thousand fighting men, gathered from the ice
cap at the north to the ice cap at the south,
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and representing a thousand different communities from a hundred wild
and warlike hordes, filled the great city of Thark to night.
They are ready to sail for the land of the
Firstborn when I give the word, and fight there until
I bid them stop. All they ask is the loot
they take, and transportation to their own territories. When the
fighting and the looting are over, I am done, and
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thou hor Vastes, I ask what has been thy success?
A million veteran fighting men from Helium's thin waterways man
the battleships, the transports, and the convoys. He replied, each
has sworn to loyalty and secrecy. Nor were enough recruited
from a single district to cause suspicion. Good, I cried,
Each has done his duty, and now, Kantos can may
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we not repair at once to Hastor and get under
way before tomorrow's sun. We should lose no time, Prince replied,
kantos Kan. Already the people of Hastor are questioning the
purpose of so great a fleet, fully manned with fighting men.
I wonder much that word of it has not before
reached Zatars. A cruiser waits above at your own dock.
Let us leave it a fuselat of shots from the
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palace gardens, just without cut short his further words. Together
we rushed to the balcony in time to see a
dozen members of my palace guard disappear in the shadows
of some distant shrubbery. As in pursuit of one who
fled directly beneath us upon the scarlet sword. A handful
of guardsmen were stooping above a still and prostrate form.
While we watched, they lifted the figure in their arms, and,
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at my command, bore to the audience chamber, where we
had been in council. When they stretched the body at
our feet, we saw that it was that of a
red man in the prime of life. His metal was plain,
such as common soldiers wear, or those who wished to
conceal their identity. Another of Zatarras's spies, said hor Vastus,
so it would seem, I replied. And then to the
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guard you may remove the body, wait, said Exodar. If
you will, Prince, ask that a cloth and a little
thoat oil be brought. I nodded to one of the
soldiers who left the chamber, returning presently with the things
that Exodar had requested. The black kneeled beside the body, and,
dipping a corner of the cloth in the thoat oil,
rubbed for a moment on the dead face before him.
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Then he turned to me with a smile, pointing to
his work. I looked and saw that where Exodar had
applied the thot oil. The face was white as white
as mine. And then Exodar seized the black hair of
the corpse, and with a sudden wrench, tore it all away,
revealing a hairless pate. Beneath. Guardsmen and nobles pressed close
about the silent witness upon the marble floor. Many were
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the exclamations of astonishment and questioning wonder as Exodar's axe
confirmed the suspicions which he had held. A thorn, whispered
tars Tarkas worse than that, I fear, replied Exodar. But
let us see with that. He drew his dagger and
cut open a locked pouch which had dangled from the
thorn's harness, and from it he brought forth a circlet
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of gold set with a large gem. It was the
mate to that which I had taken from Sator Throg.
He was a holy Thern, said Exodar. Fortunate, indeed, it
is for us that he did not escape. The officer
of the guard entered the chamber at this juncture, My Prince,
he said, I have to report that this fellow's companion
escaped us. I think that it was with the connivance
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of one or more of the men at the gate,
I have ordered them all under arrest. Exodar handed him
the thoat, oil and cloth. With this you may discover
the spy among you, he said, I at once ordered
a secret search within this city, for every martian noble
maintains a secret service of his own. A half hour
later the officer of the guard came again to report.
(25:35):
This time it was to confirm our worst fears. Half
the guards at the gate that night had been thorns,
disguised as red men. Come. I cried, we must lose
no time on to Hastar at once. Should the thorns
attempt to check us at the southern verge of the
ice cap, it may result in the wrecking of all
our plans and the total destruction of the expedition. Ten
(25:56):
minutes later we were speeding through the night toward Haster,
prepared to strike the first blow for the preservation of
dejah Thoris. End of Chapter nineteen
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Gods of Mars written by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and read by J. D. Weber on
the south shores of Lake Superior.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Chapter nineteen. Black despair, Ah, said Zadarras, to what kindly
circumstance am I indebted for the pleasure of this unexpected
visit from the Prince of Helium. While he was speaking,
one of my guards had removed the gag from my mouth.
But I made no reply to Zadarras, simply standing there
in silence, with level gaze fixed upon the zed of Zodanga.
(00:43):
And I doubt not that my expression was colored by
the contempt I felt for the man. The eyes of
those within the chamber were fixed first upon me, and
then upon Zadarras, until finally a flush of anger crept
slowly over his face. You may go, he said to
those who had brought me, And when only as two
companions and ourselves were left in the chamber, he spoke
(01:03):
to me again, in a voice of ice, very slowly
and deliberately, with many pauses, as though he would choose
his words cautiously. John Carter, he said, by the edict
of custom, by the law of our religion, and by
the verdict of an impartial court, you are condemned to die.
(01:26):
The people cannot save you. I alone may accomplish that
you are absolutely in my power to do with as
I wish. I may kill you, or I may free you.
And should I elect to kill you, none.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Would be the wiser.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Should you go free and Helium for a year in
accordance with the conditions of your reprieve, there is little
fear that the people would ever insist upon the execution
of the sentence imposed upon you. You may go free
within two minutes. Upon one condition. Tardos Morse will never
(02:09):
return to Helium, neither will Moores Kajak nor dejah Thoris.
Helium must select a new Jeddak within the year. Zadarras
would be Jeddak of Helium. Say that you will espouse
my cause. This is the price of your freedom. I
(02:31):
am done. I knew it was within the scope of
zad Arras's cruel heart to destroy me, and if I
were dead, I could see little reason to doubt that
he might easily become Jeddak of Helium free I could
prosecute the search for dejah Thoris. Were I dead, my
brave comrades might not be able to carry out our plans.
So by refusing to accede to his request, it was
(02:54):
quite probable that not only would I not prevent him
from becoming Jeddak of Helium, but that I would be
the means of sealing dejah Thoris's fate, of consigning her
through my refusal to the horrors of the Arena of Issius.
For a moment, I was perplexed. But for a moment,
only the proud daughter of the thousand Jeddaks would choose
(03:14):
death to a dishonorable alliance such as this. Nor could
John Carter do less for Helium than his princess would do.
Then I turned to Zadarras. There can be no alliance
I said, between a traitor to Helium and a prince
of the House of Tardos Mors. I do not believe
Zadarras that the Great Jeddak is dead. Zadars shrugged his shoulders.
(03:36):
It will not be long, John Carter. He said that
your opinions will be of interest even to yourself, so
make the best of them while you can. Zadars will
permit you in due time to reflect further upon the
magnanimous offer he has made you. Into the silence and
darkness of the pits. You will enter upon your reflection
this night with the knowledge that should you fail with
(03:57):
any reasonable time to agree to the alternative which has
been offered you, never shall you emerge from the darkness
and the silence again, nor shall you know at what
minute the hand will reach out through the darkness in
the silence with the keen dagger that shall rob you
of your last chance to win again the warmth and
the freedom and the joyousness of the outer world. Zadars
(04:19):
clapped his hands as he ceased speaking. The guards returned.
Zadarras waved his hand in my direction to the pits.
He said, that was all four men accompanied me from
the chamber, and with a radium hand light to illumine
the way, escorted me through seemingly interminable tunnels, down ever
down beneath the city of Helium. At length they halted
(04:40):
within a fair sized chamber. There were rings set in
the rocky walls. To them, chains were fastened, and at
the ends of many of the chains were human skeletons.
One of these they kicked the side, and, unlocking the
huge padlock that had held a chain about what had
once been a human ankle. They snapped the iron band
and about my own leg. Then they left me, taking
(05:02):
the light with them. Utter darkness prevailed for a few minutes.
I could hear the clanking of accouterments, but even this
grew fainter and fainter, until at last the silence was
as complete as the darkness. I was alone with my
gruesome companions, with the bones of dead men whose fate
was likely but the index of my own. How long
I stood listening in the darkness, I do not know,
(05:24):
but the silence was unbroken, and at last I sunk
to the hard floor of my prison, where, leaning my
head against the stony wall, I slept. It must have
been several hours later that I awakened to find a
young man standing before me. In one hand, he bore
a light, in the other a receptacle containing a gruel
like mixture, the common prison fare of Barsoom Zatar. Sends
(05:47):
you greetings, said the young man, and commands me to
inform you that though he is fully advised of the
plot to make you Jeddak of Helium. He is, however,
not inclined to withdraw the offer which he has made you.
To gain your freedom. You have but to request me
to advise ad Ars that you accept the terms of
his proposition. I but shook my head. The youth said
(06:08):
no more, and, after placing the food upon the floor
at my side, returned up the corridor, taking the light
with him. Twice a day. For many days, this youth
came to my cell with food and ever the same
greetings from zat Arras. For a long time I tried
to engage him in conversation upon other matters, but he
would not talk, and so at length I desisted. For months,
(06:29):
I sought to devise methods to inform Cathars of my whereabouts.
For months I scraped and scraped upon a single link
of the massive chain which held me, hoping eventually to
wear it through that I might follow the youth back
through the winding tunnels to a point where I could
make a break for liberty. I was beside myself with
anxiety for knowledge of the progress of the expedition which
(06:50):
was to rescue dejah Thoris. I felt that Carthoris would
not let the matter drop were he free to act,
But in so far as I knew, he also might
be a prisoner in Zadarus's pits. That Zadarus's spy had
overheard our conversation relative to the selection of a new Jeddak,
I knew and scarcely a half dozen minutes prior we
(07:10):
had discussed the details of the plan to rescue dejah Thoris.
The chances were that that matter, too was well known
to him. Carthoris, Kantos, kan Tars, Tarkas, or Vastus, and
Exodar might even now be the victims of Zadarus's assassins
or else as prisoners. I determined to make at least
one more effort to learn something, and to this end
(07:32):
I adopted strategy. When next the youth came to my cell,
I had noticed that he was a handsome fellow about
the size and age of Carthoris, and I had also
noticed that his shabby trappings but illy comported with his
dignified and noble bearing. It was with these observations as
a basis that I opened my negotiations with him upon
his next subsequent visit. You've been very kind to me
(07:55):
during my imprisonment. Here, I said to him, and as
I feel that I have at best but a very
short time to live, I wish ere it is too
late to furnish substantial testimony of my appreciation of all
that you have done to render my imprisonment bearable. Promptly
you have brought my food each day, seeing that it
was pure and of sufficient quantity. Never by word or
(08:17):
deed have you attempted to take advantage of my defenseless
condition to insult or torture me. You have been uniformly
courteous and considerate. It is this, more than any other thing,
which prompts my feeling of gratitude, and my desire to
give you some slight token of it. In the guard
room of my palace are many fine trappings. Go thou
(08:37):
there and select the harness which most pleases you. It
shall be yours. All I ask is that you wear it,
that I may know that my wish has been realized.
Tell me that you will do it. The boy's eyes
had lighted with pleasure as I spoke, and I saw
him glance from his rusty trappings to the magnificence of
my own. For a moment he stood in thought before
(08:57):
he spoke, and for that moment my heart fairly ceased beating.
So much for me there was which hung upon the
substance of his answer. And I went to the palace
of the Prince of Helium with any such demand, they
would laugh at me, and into the bargain would more
than likely throw me head foremost into the avenue. No,
it cannot be, though I thank you for the offer.
(09:19):
Why if zat Arras even dreamed that I contemplated such
a thing, he would have my heart cut out of me.
There could be no harm in it, my boy, I
urged by night, you may go to my palace with
a note from me to Carthoris, my son. You may
read the note before you deliver it, that you may
know that it contains nothing harmful. To Zadars, my son
(09:40):
will be discreet, and so none but us three need know.
It is very simple and such a harmless act that
it could be condemned by no one. Again, he stood
silently in deep thought. And there is a jeweled short sword,
which I took from the body of a northern Jeddak.
When you get the harness, see that Carthoris gives you
that also with it and the harness which you may select.
(10:02):
There will be no more handsomely accoutred warrior in all Zodanga.
Bring writing materials when you come next to my cell,
and within a few hours we shall see you garb
in a style befitting your berth and carriage. Still in
thought and without speaking, he turned and left me. I
could not guess what his decision might be, and for
hours I sat fretting over the outcome of the matter.
(10:23):
If he accepted a message to Carthoris, it would mean
to me that Carthoris still lived and was free. If
the youth returned wearing the harness and the sword, I
would know that Carthoris had received my note, and that
he knew that I still lived. That the bearer of
the note was as Zodangan would be sufficient to explain
to Carthoris that I was a prisoner of zat Arras
(10:43):
it was with feelings of excited expectancy which I could
scarce hide that I heard the youth's approach upon the
occasion of his next regular visit. I did not speak
beyond my accustomed greeting of him. As he placed the
food upon the floor by my side. He also deposited
writing materials. At the same time, my heart fairly bounded
for joy I had won my point. For a moment
(11:06):
I looked at the materials in feign surprise, but soon
I permitted an expression of dawning comprehension to come into
my face. And then picking them up, I penned a
brief order to Carthoris to deliver to Parthak a harness
of his selection and the short sword, which I described.
That was all, but it meant everything to me and
to Carthoris. I laid the note open upon the floor.
(11:27):
Parthak picked it up and without a word left me.
As nearly as I could estimate, I had at this
time been in the pits for three hundred days. If
anything was to be done to save dejah Thoris, it
must be done quickly, for were she not already dead,
her end must soon come, since those whom Issus chose
lived but a single year. The next time I heard
(11:48):
approaching footsteps, I could scarce await to see if Parthak
wore the harness and the sword, but judge if he can.
My chagrin and disappointment when I saw that he who
bore my food was not Parthak. What has become of Parthak?
I asked, But the fellow would not answer, And as
soon as he had deposited my food, turned and retraced
his steps to the world above. Days came and went,
(12:10):
and still my new jailer continued his duties. Nor would
he ever speak a word to me, either in reply
to the simplest question or of his own initiative. I
could only speculate on the cause of Parthak's removal, but
that it was connected in some way directly with the
note I had given him was most apparent to me.
After all my rejoicing, I was no better off than before.
(12:32):
For now I did not even know that Carthoris lived.
For if Parthak had wished to raise himself in the
estimation of Zadarras, he would have permitted me to go
on precisely as I did, so that he could carry
my note to his master in proof of his own
loyalty and devotion. Thirty days had passed since I had
given the youth the note. Three hundred and thirty days
had passed since my incarceration. As closely as I could figure,
(12:55):
there remained a bare thirty days ere Dejah Thoris would
be ordered to the arena for the rites of Issus.
As the terrible picture forced itself vividly across my imagination,
I buried my face in my arms, and only with
the greatest difficulty was it that I repressed the tears
that welled to my eyes, despite my every effort to
think of that beautiful creature torn and rendered by the
(13:17):
cruel fangs of the hideous white apes. It was unthinkable
such a horrid fact could not be. And yet my
reason told me that within thirty days, my incomparable princess
would be fought over in the arena of the Firstborn
by those very wild beasts, that her bleeding corpse would
be dragged through the dirt and the dust, until at
last a part of it would be rescued to be
(13:38):
served as food upon the tables of the black nobles.
I think that I should have gone crazy, but for
the sound of my approaching jailer. It distracted my attention
from the terrible thoughts that had been occupying my entire mind.
Now a new and grim determination came to me. I
would make one superhuman effort to escape, kill my jailer
by a ruse, and trust to fate to lead me
(14:00):
to the outer world in safety. With the thought came
instant action. I threw myself upon the floor of my cell,
close by the wall, in a strained and distorted posture,
as though I were dead after a struggle or convulsions.
When he should stoop over me, I had but to
grasp his throat with one hand and strike him a
terrific blow with the slack of my chain, which I
(14:21):
gripped firmly on my right hand for the purpose. Nearer
and nearer came the doomed man. Now I heard him
halt before me. There was a muttered exclamation, and then
a step. As he came to my side, I felt
him kneel beside me. My grip tightened upon the chain.
He leaned close to me. I must open my eyes
to find his throat, grasp it, and strike one mighty
(14:42):
final blow, all at the same instant. The thing worked
just as I had planned. So brief was the interval
between the opening of my eyes and the fall of
the chain that I could not check it. Though in
that minute interval I recognized the face so close to
mine as that of my son Carthoris.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
God, what cruel and.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Malign fate had worked to such a frightful end. What
devious chain of circumstances had led my boy to my
side at this one particular minute of our lives, when
I could strike him down and kill him in ignorance
of his identity. A benign, though tardy providence blurred my
vision and my mind as I sank into unconsciousness across
the lifeless body of my only son. When I regained consciousness,
(15:23):
it was to feel a cool, firm hand pressed upon
my forehead. For an instant I did not open my eyes.
I was endeavoring to gather the loose ends of many
thoughts and memories which flitted elusively through my tired and
overwrought brain. At length came the cruel recollection of the
thing that I had done in my last conscious act.
And then I dared not to open my eyes for
(15:44):
fear of what I should see lying beside me. I
wondered who it could be who ministered to me. Carthoris
must have had a companion whom I had not seen. Well,
I must face the inevitable sum time, so why not now?
And with a sigh I opened my eyes. Leaning over
me was Carthoris a great bruise upon his forehead where
the chain had struck, But alive, thank God, alive. There
(16:08):
was no one with him. Reaching out my arms, I
took my boy within them, And if ever there arose
from any planet a fervent prayer of gratitude, it was
there beneath the crust of dying Mars, as I thanked
the eternal mystery for my son's life. The brief instant
in which I had seen and recognized Carthoris before the
chain fell must have been ample to check the force
(16:29):
of the blow. He told me that he had lain
unconscious for a time. How long he did not know.
How came you here at all? I asked, mystified that
he had found me without a guide. It was by
your wit in appraising me of your existence and imprisonment
through the youth Parthac. Until he came for his harness
and his sword. We had thought you dead. When I
(16:49):
had read your note, I did as you had bid,
giving Parthak his choice of the harness in the guard room,
and later bringing the jeweled short sword to him. But
the minute that I had fulfilled the promise you evidently
had made him. My obligation to him ceased. Then I
commenced to question him, but he would give me no
information as to your whereabouts. He was intensely loyal to Zadarras.
(17:10):
Finally I gave him a fair choice between freedom and
the pits beneath the palace. The price of freedom to
be full information as to where you were imprisoned and
directions which would lead us to you. But still he
maintained his stubborn partisanship. Despairing, I had him removed to
the pits, where he still is. No threats of torture
or death, no bribes, however fabulous, would move him. His
(17:33):
only reply to all our importunities was that whenever Parthak died,
were it tomorrow or a thousand years. Hence no man
could truly say a traitor is gone to his deserts. Finally, Exadar,
who is a fiend of subtle craftiness, evolved a plan
whereby we might worm the information from him, and so
I caused hor Vastus to be harnessed in the mettle
(17:55):
of a Zodangan soldier and chained in Parthak's sell beside
him for fifteen days. The noble hor Vastus has languished
in the darkness of the pits, but not in vain.
Little by little he won the confidence and friendship of
the Zodangan, until only to day. Parthak, thinking that he
was speaking not only to a countryman but to a
(18:15):
dear friend, revealed to hor Vastus the exact cell in
which you lay. It took me but a short time
to locate the plans of the pits of Helium among
thy official papers. To come to you, though, was a
trifle more difficult matter. As you know, while all the
pits beneath the city are connected, there are but single
entrances from those beneath each section and its neighbor, and
(18:36):
that at the upper level, just underneath the ground. Of course,
these openings, which lead from contiguous pits to those beneath
government buildings, are always guarded. And so while I easily
came to the entrance to the pits beneath the palace
which Zatars is occupying, I found there as Zodangan's soldier
on guard. There I left him when I had gone by,
(18:58):
but his soul was no longer with him. Here I
am just in time to be nearly killed by you.
He ended, laughing as he talked Carthoris had been working
at the lock which held my fetters, and now, with
an exclamation of pleasure, he dropped the end of the
chain to the floor, and I stood up, once more,
freed from the galling irons I had chafed in for
(19:19):
almost a year. He had brought a long sword and
a dagger from me, and thus armed, we set out
upon the return journey to my palace. At the point
where we left the pits of zat Arras, we found
the body of the guard Cathoris had slain. It had
not yet been discovered, and in orders to still further
delay search and mystify the Jed's people, we carried the
(19:40):
body with us for a short distance, hiding it in
a tiny cell off the main corridor of the pits,
beneath an adjoining estate. Some half hour later we came
to the pits beneath our own palace, and soon thereafter
emerged in the audience chamber itself, where we found Kantos,
kan Tars, Tarkas, hor Vastus, and Exodar awaiting us most
in pap No time was lost and fruitless recounting of
(20:03):
my imprisonment. What I desired to know was how well,
the plans we had laid nearly a year ago had
been carried out. It has taken much longer than we
had expected, replied kantos Kan. The fact that we were
compelled to maintain utter secrecy has handicapped us terribly. Zatarras's
spies are everywhere, yet to the best of my knowledge,
(20:23):
no word of our real plans has reached the villain's ear.
To night, there lies about the great docks at hast
a fleet of a thousand of the mightiest battleships that
ever sailed above Barsoom, and each equipped to navigate the
air of Omin and the waters of Omean itself. Upon
each battleship there are five ten man cruisers, and ten
five man's scouts, and a hundred one man scouts. In all,
(20:47):
one hundred and sixteen thousand craft fitted with both air
and water propellers. At thark Lie the transport for the
Green Warriors of Tars Tarkas nine hundred large troop ships,
and with them their convoys. Seven days ago all was
in readiness, but we waited in the hope that by
so doing, your rescue might be encompassed in time for
you to command the expedition. It is well, we waited,
(21:10):
my prince, how is it tars Tarkas I asked that
the men of Thark take not the accustomed action against
one who returns from the bosom of Ish. They sent
a council fifty chieftains to talk with me. Here, replied
the Thark. We are a just people, and when I
had told them the entire story, they were as one
man in agreeing that their action toward me would be
(21:31):
guided by the action of Helium toward John Carter. In
the meantime, at their request, I was to resume my
throne as Jeddak of Tharp, that I might negotiate with
neighboring hordes of warriors to compose the land forces of
the expedition. I have done that which I agreed. Two
hundred and fifty thousand fighting men, gathered from the ice
cap at the north to the ice cap at the south,
(21:53):
and representing a thousand different communities from a hundred wild
and warlike hordes, filled the great city of Thark to night.
They are ready to sail for the land of the
Firstborn when I give the word, and fight there until
I bid them stop. All they ask is the loot
they take, and transportation to their own territories. When the
fighting and the looting are over, I am done, and
(22:15):
thou hor Vastes, I ask what has been thy success?
A million veteran fighting men from Helium's thin waterways man
the battleships, the transports, and the convoys. He replied, each
has sworn to loyalty and secrecy. Nor were enough recruited
from a single district to cause suspicion. Good, I cried,
Each has done his duty, and now, Kantos can may
(22:37):
we not repair at once to Hastor and get under
way before tomorrow's sun. We should lose no time, Prince replied,
kantos Kan. Already the people of Hastor are questioning the
purpose of so great a fleet, fully manned with fighting men.
I wonder much that word of it has not before
reached Zatars. A cruiser waits above at your own dock.
Let us leave it a fuselat of shots from the
(22:59):
palace gardens, just without cut short his further words. Together
we rushed to the balcony in time to see a
dozen members of my palace guard disappear in the shadows
of some distant shrubbery. As in pursuit of one who
fled directly beneath us upon the scarlet sword. A handful
of guardsmen were stooping above a still and prostrate form.
While we watched, they lifted the figure in their arms, and,
(23:22):
at my command, bore to the audience chamber, where we
had been in council. When they stretched the body at
our feet, we saw that it was that of a
red man in the prime of life. His metal was plain,
such as common soldiers wear, or those who wished to
conceal their identity. Another of Zatarras's spies, said hor Vastus,
so it would seem, I replied. And then to the
(23:44):
guard you may remove the body, wait, said Exodar. If
you will, Prince, ask that a cloth and a little
thoat oil be brought. I nodded to one of the
soldiers who left the chamber, returning presently with the things
that Exodar had requested. The black kneeled beside the body, and,
dipping a corner of the cloth in the thoat oil,
rubbed for a moment on the dead face before him.
(24:06):
Then he turned to me with a smile, pointing to
his work. I looked and saw that where Exodar had
applied the thot oil. The face was white as white
as mine. And then Exodar seized the black hair of
the corpse, and with a sudden wrench, tore it all away,
revealing a hairless pate. Beneath. Guardsmen and nobles pressed close
about the silent witness upon the marble floor. Many were
(24:28):
the exclamations of astonishment and questioning wonder as Exodar's axe
confirmed the suspicions which he had held. A thorn, whispered
tars Tarkas worse than that, I fear, replied Exodar. But
let us see with that. He drew his dagger and
cut open a locked pouch which had dangled from the
thorn's harness, and from it he brought forth a circlet
(24:51):
of gold set with a large gem. It was the
mate to that which I had taken from Sator Throg.
He was a holy Thern, said Exodar. Fortunate, indeed, it
is for us that he did not escape. The officer
of the guard entered the chamber at this juncture, My Prince,
he said, I have to report that this fellow's companion
escaped us. I think that it was with the connivance
(25:13):
of one or more of the men at the gate,
I have ordered them all under arrest. Exodar handed him
the thoat, oil and cloth. With this you may discover
the spy among you, he said, I at once ordered
a secret search within this city, for every martian noble
maintains a secret service of his own. A half hour
later the officer of the guard came again to report.
(25:35):
This time it was to confirm our worst fears. Half
the guards at the gate that night had been thorns,
disguised as red men. Come. I cried, we must lose
no time on to Hastar at once. Should the thorns
attempt to check us at the southern verge of the
ice cap, it may result in the wrecking of all
our plans and the total destruction of the expedition. Ten
(25:56):
minutes later we were speeding through the night toward Haster,
prepared to strike the first blow for the preservation of
dejah Thoris. End of Chapter nineteen
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