Chapter 14 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Gods of Mars

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(00:00):
Chapter fourteen. The eyes in thedark, my son, I could not
believe my ears. Slowly I roseand faced the handsome youth. Now that
I looked at him closely, Icommenced to see why his face and personality
had attracted me so strongly. Therewas much of his mother's incomparable beauty in
his clear cut features, but itwas strongly masculine beauty, and his gray

(00:22):
eyes, in the expression of them, were mine. The boy stood facing
me, half hope and half uncertaintyin his look. Tell me of your
mother, I said, tell meall you can, of the years that
I have been robbed by a relentlessfate of her dear companionship. With a
cry of pleasure, he sprang towardme and threw his arms about my neck.
And for a brief moment, asI held my boy close to me,

(00:44):
the tears welled to my eyes,and I was like to have choked
after the manner of some madlin fool. But I do not regret it,
nor am I ashamed. A longlife has taught me that a man may
seem weak where women and children areconcerned, and yet be anything but a
weakling in the sterner avenues of life, your stature, your manner, the
terrible ferocity of your swordmanship, saidthe boy, are as my mother has

(01:07):
described them to me a thousand times. But even with such evidence, I
could scarce credit the truth of whatseems so improbable to me, however much
I desired it to be true.Do you know what thing it was that
convinced me more than all the others? What, my boy, I asked
your first words to me? Theywere of my mother. None else but
the man who loved her, asshe has told me my father did,

(01:30):
would have thought first of her forlong years. My son, I can
scarce recall a moment that the radiantvision of your mother's face has not been
ever before me. Tell me ofher. Those who have known her longest
say that she has not changed,unless it be to grow more beautiful.
Were that possible? Only when shethinks I am not about to see her,

(01:52):
her face grows very sad and ohso wistful. She thinks ever of
you, my father, and allHelium mourns with her and for her.
Her grandfather's people love her. Theyloved you also, and fairly worship your
memory as the savior of Barsoom.Each year that brings its anniversary of the
day that saw you racing across anear dead world to unlock the secret of

(02:14):
that awful portal behind which lay themighty power of life. For countless millions,
a great festivals held in your honor. But there are tears mingled with
thanksgiving, tears of real regret thatthe author of the happiness is not with
them to share the joy of living. He died to give them upon all
barsoom. There is no greater namethan John Carter. And by what name

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has your mother called you? Myboy? I asked the people of Helium,
asked that I be named with myfather's name, But my mother said
no, that you and she hadchosen a name for me together, and
that your wish must be honored beforeall others. So the name that she
called me is the one that youdesired, a combination of hers and yours.
Carthoris Exeter had been at the wheelas I talked with my son,

(02:59):
and now he called me. Sheis dropping badly by the head, John
Carter, he said, So longas we were rising at a stiff angle,
it was not noticeable. But nowthat I am trying to keep a
horizontal course, it is different.The wound in her bow has opened one
of her forward ray tanks. Itwas true, and after I had examined
the damage, I found it amuch graver matter than I had anticipated.

(03:22):
Not only was the forced angle atwhich we were compelled to maintain the bow
in order to keep a horizontal coursegreatly impeding our speed, but at the
rate that we were losing our repulsiverays from the forward tanks, it was
but a question of an hour ormore when we would be floating, stern
up and helpless. We had slightlyreduced our speed with the dawning of a
sense of security. But now Itook the helm once more and pulled the

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noble little engine wide open, sothat again we raced north at terrific velocity.
In the meantime, Catharis and Exeter, with tools in hand, were
puttering with the great rent in thebow in a hopeless endeavor to stem the
tide of escaping rays. It wasstill dark when we passed the northern boundary
of the ice cap, and thearea of clouds below us lay a typical

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Martian landscape, rolling ochre sea,bottom of long dead seas, low surrounding
hills with here and there the grimand silent cities of the dead, past,
great piles of mighty architecture, tenantedonly by age old memories of a
once powerful race, and by thegreat white apes of Barsoom. It was
becoming more and more difficult to maintainour little vessel in a horizontal position.

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Lower and lower sagged the bow untilit became necessary to stop the engine to
prevent our flight terminating in a swiftdive to the ground. As the sun
rose in the light of a newday swept away the darkness of night,
our craft gave a final spasmodic plunge, turned half upon her side, and
then, with deck tilting at asickening angle, swung an a slow circle,

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her bow dropping further below her sterneach moment to handrail and stanchion we
clung, and finally, as wesaw the end approaching, snapped the buckles
of our harness to the rings ather sides. In another moment, the
deck reared at an angle of ninetydegrees, and we hung in our leather
with feet dangling a thousand yards abovethe ground. I was swinging quite close

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to the controlling devices, so Ireached out to the lever that directed the
rays of repulsion. The boat respondedto the touch, and very gently we
began to sink toward the ground.It was fully half an hour before we
touched. Directly north of us rosea rather lofty range of hills, towards
which we decided to make our way, since they afforded greater opportunity for concealment

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from the pursuers we were confident mightstumble in this direction. An hour later
found us in the thyme rounded gulliesof the hills, amid the beautiful flowering
plants that abound in the arid wasteplaces of Barsoom. There we found numbers
of huge milk giving shrubs, thatstrange plant which serves in great part as
food and drink for the wild hordesof green men. It was indeed a

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boon to us, for we allwere nearly famished. Beneath a cluster of
these, which afforded perfect concealment fromwandering air scouts. We lay down to
sleep, for me the first timein many hours. This was the beginning
of my fifth day upon Barsoom,since I had found myself suddenly translated from
my cottage on the Hudson to doorthe valley beautiful, the valley hideous.

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In all this time I had sleptbut twice, though once the clock round
within the storehouse of the Therns.It was mid afternoon when I was awakened
by some one seizing my hand andcovering it with kisses. With a start,
I opened my eyes to look intothe beautiful face of Thuvia, my
prince, My prince, she cried, and in ecstasy of happiness, tis
you, whom I had mourned asdead. My ancestors have been good to

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me. I have not lived invain. The girl's voice awoke Exeter on
Carthoris. The boy gazed upon thewoman in surprise, But she did not
seem to realize the presence of anotherthan I. She would have thrown her
arms about my neck and smothered mewith caresses, had I not gently but
firmly disengaged myself. Come, Come, Thuvia, I said, soothingly.
You are overwrought by the danger andhardships you have passed through. You forget

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yourself, as you forget that Iam the husband of the Princess of Helium.
I forget nothing, my prince,She replied, you have spoken no
word of love to me, nordo I expect that you ever shall.
But nothing can prevent me loving you. I would not take the place of
dejah Thoris. My greatest ambition isto serve you, my prince forever,
as your slave. No greater booncould I ask, No greater honor could

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I crave, No greater happiness couldI hope, As I have before said,
I am no lady's man, andI must admit that I seldom have
felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed as Idid that moment. While I was quite
familiar with the Martian custom which allowsfemale slaves to Martian men, whose high
and chivalrous honor is always ample protectionfor every woman in his household, yet

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I had never myself chosen other thanmen as my body servants. And I
ever returned to Helium Thuvia, Isaid, you shall go with me,
but as an honored equal, andnot as a slave. There you shall
find plenty of handsome young nobles whowould face Issus herself to win a smile
from you, and we shall haveyou married in short order to one of
the best of them. Forget yourfoolish gratitude begotten infatuation which your innocence has

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mistaken for love. I like yourfriendship better, Thuvia. You are my
master. It shall be as yousay, she replied simply, but there
was a note of sadness in hervoice. How came you here, Thuvia,
I asked? And where is tarsTarkas? The great thark I fear
is dead? She replied sadly.He was a mighty fighter, but a

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multitude of green warriors of another hordethan his overwhelmed him. The last that
I saw of him, they werebearing him wounded and bleeding, to the
deserted city from which they had salliedto attack us. You are not sure
that he is dead, then Iasked, And where is the city of
which you speak? It is justbeyond this range of hills. The vessel

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on which you so nobly resigned,a place that we might find escape defied
our small skill in navigation, withthe result that we drifted aimlessly about for
two days. Then we decided toabandon the craft and attempt to make our
way on foot to the nearest waterway. Yesterday we crossed these hills and came
upon the dead city beyond. Wehad passed within its streets and were walking

(09:18):
towards the central portion, when atan intersecting avenue, we saw a body
of green warriors approaching. Tars Tarkaswas in advance, and they saw him,
but me. They did not see. The thark sprang back to my
side and forced me into an adjacentdoorway, where he told me to remain
in hiding until I could escape,making my way to Helium if possible.
There will be no escape for menow, he said, for these be

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the Warhoon of the south. Whenthey have seen my metal, it will
be to the death. Then hestepped out to meet them, Ah,
my prince. Such fighting for anhour, they had swarmed about him until
the Warhoon dead formed a hill wherehe had stood. But at last they
overwhelmed him, those behind, pushingthe foremost upon him until there remained no
space to swing his great sword.Then he stumbled and went down, and

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they rolled over him like a hugewave. When they carried him away toward
the heart of the city, hewas dead, I think, for I
did not see him move. Beforewe go farther, we must be sure,
I said, I cannot leave TarsTarkas alive among the Warhoons. To
night, I shall enter the cityand make sure, and I shall go
with you, spoke Carthoris, andI said Exodar, neither one of you

(10:26):
shall go. I replied, itis work that requires stealth and strategy,
not force. One man alone maysucceed where more would invite disaster. I
shall go alone. If I needyour help, I will return for you.
They did not like it, butboth were good soldiers, and it
had been agreed that I should command. The sun already was low, so

(10:46):
that I did not have longed awaitbefore the sudden darkness of Barsoom engulfed us.
With a parting word of instructions toCarthoris and Exodar in case I should
not return, I bade them allfarewell, and set forth at a rapid
dog trot towards the city. AsI emerged from the hills, the nearer
moon was winging its wild flight throughthe heavens, its bright beams turning to

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burnished silver, the barbaric splendor ofthe ancient metropolis. The city had been
built upon the gently rolling foothills that, in the dim and distant past had
sloped down to meet the sea.It was due to this fact that I
had no difficulty in entering the streetsunobserved. The green hordes that used these
deserted cities seldom occupy more than afew squares about the central plaza, and

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as they come and go always acrossthe dead sea bottoms that the city's face.
It is usually a matter of comparativeease to enter from the hillside.
Once within the streets, I keptclose in the dense shadows of the walls.
At intersections, I halted a momentto make sure that none was in
sight before I sprang quickly to theshadows of the opposite side. Thus I
made the journey to the vicinity ofthe plaza without detection. As I approached

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the purlouse of the inhabited portion ofthe city, I was made aware of
the proximity of the warrior's quarters bythe squealing and grunting of the thwarts and
the zitidars corralled within the hollow courtyardformed by the buildings surrounding each square.
These old, familiar sounds that areso distinctive of Green Martian life, sent
a thrill of pleasure surging through me. It was as one might feel on

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coming home after a long absence.It was amid such sounds that I had
first quartered the incomparable dejah Thoris inthe age old marble halls of the dead
city of Korad. As I stoodin the shadows at the far corner of
the first square, which housed membersof the Horde, I saw warriors emerging
from several of the buildings. Theyall went in the same direction toward a
great building which stood in the centerof the plaza. My knowledge of Green

(12:39):
Martian customs convinced me that this waseither the quarters of the principal chieftain or
contain the audience chamber wherein the Jeddakmet his jeds and lesser chieftains. In
either event, it was evident thatsomething was afoot, which might have a
bearing on the recent capture of TarsTarkas. To reach this building, which
I now felt and imperative that Ido, I must needs traversed the entire

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length of one square and cross abroad avenue and a portion of the plaza.
From the noises of the animals whichcame from every courtyard about me,
I knew that there were many peoplein the surrounding buildings, probably several communities
of the Great Horde of the warhoonsof the south. To pass undetected among
all these people was in itself adifficult task, but if I was to
find and rescue the great Thark,I must expect even more formidable obstacles before

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success could be mine. I hadentered the city from the south and now
stood on the corner of the avenuethrough which I had passed, and the
first intersecting avenue south of the plaza. The buildings upon the south side of
this square did not appear to beinhabited, as I could see no lights,
and so I decided to gain theinner courtyard through one of them.
Nothing occurred to interrupt my progress tothe deserted pile I chose, and I

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came into the inner court close tothe rear walls of the east buildings,
without detection. Within the court,a great herd of thwarts and zitidars moved
restlessly about cropping the mosslike oak vegetationwhich overgrows practically the entire uncultivated area of
Mars. What breeze there was camefrom the northwest, so there was little
danger that the beast would scent me, had they their squealing and grunting would

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have grown to such a volume asto track the attention of the warriors.
Within the buildings close to the eastwall, beneath the overhanging balconies of the
second floors, I crept in denseshadows the full length of the courtyard until
I came to the buildings on thenorth end. These were lighted for about
three floors up, but above thethird floor all was dark. To pass

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through the lighted rooms was, ofcourse out of the question, since they
swarmed with green Martian men and women. My only path lay through the upper
floors, and to gain these itwas necessary to scale the face of the
wall. The reaching of the balconyof the second floor was a matter of
easy accomplishment. An agile leap gavemy hands a grasp upon the stone hand

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rail above. In another instant,I had drawn myself upon the balcony.
Here, through the open windows,I saw the green folks squatting upon their
leaping silks and furs, grunting anoccasional monostable, which, in connection with
their wondrous telepathic powers, is amplefor their conversational requirements. As I drew
closer to listen to their words,a warrior entered the room from the hall

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beyond, come Tangama. He cried, where to take the thark before cab
Kadja, bring another with you.The warrior dressed arose and beckoning a fellow
squatting near. The three turned andleft the apartment. If I could but
follow them, the chance might cometo free tars Tarkas at once. At
least I would learn the location ofhis prison. At my right was a
door leading from the balcony into thebuilding. It was at the end of

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an unlighted hall, and on theimpulse of the moment I stepped within.
The hall was broad and led straightthrough to the front of the building.
On either side were the doorways ofthe various apartments which lined it. I
had no more than entered the corridorthan I saw the three warriors at the
other end, those whom I hadjust seen leaving the apartment. Then a
turn to the right took them frommy sight again. Quickly I hastened along

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the hallway in pursuit. My gaitwas reckless, but I felt that fate
had been kind indeed, to throwsuch an opportunity within my grasp, and
I could not afford to allow itto elude me. Now at the far
end of the corridor, I founda spiral stairway leading to the floors above
and below. The three had evidentlyleft the floor by this avenue, that
they had gone down and not up. I was sure, from my knowledge

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of these ancient buildings and the methodsof the Warhoons. I myself had once
been a prisoner of the cruel hordesof Northern Warhoon, and the memory of
the underground dungeon in which I laystill is vivid in my memory. And
so I felt certain that tars Tarkaslay in the dark pits beneath some near
by building, and that in thatdirection I should find the trail of the
three warriors leading to his cell.Nor was I wrong. At the bottom

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of the runway, or rather atthe landing on the floor below, I
saw that the shaft descended into thepits beneath, and as I glanced down,
the flickering light of a torch revealedthe presence of the three I was
trailing down. They went towards thepits beneath the structure, and at a
safe distance behind I followed the flickerof their torch. The way led through
a maze of Torcher's corridors, unlightedsave for the wavering light they carried.

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We had gone perhaps a hundred yardswhen the party turned abruptly through a doorway
at their right. I hastened onas rapidly as I dared through the darkness
until I reached the point at whichthey had left the corridor. There,
through an open door, I sawthem removing the chains that secured the great
thark Tars Tarkas to the wall,hustling him roughly between them. They came
immediately from the chamber, so quickly, in fact, that I was near

(17:33):
to being apprehended. But I managedto run along the corridor in the direction
I had been going in my pursuitof them, far enough to be without
the radius of their meager light.As they emerged from the cell, I
had naturally assumed that they would returnwith Tars Tarkas the same way that they
had come, which would have carriedthem away from me. But to my
chagrin, they wheeled directly in mydirection as they left the room. There

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was nothing for me but to hastenon in advance and keep out of the
light of their torch. I darednot attempt to halt in the darkness of
any of the many intersecting corridors.For I knew nothing of the direction they
might take. Chance was as likelyas not to carry me into the very
corridor they might choose to enter.The sensation of moving rapidly through these dark

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passages was far from reassuring. Iknew not at what moment I might plunge
headlong into some terrible pit, ormeet with some of the ghoulish creatures that
inhabit these lower worlds beneath the deadcities of Dying Mars. There filtered to
me a faint radiance from the torchof the men behind, just enough to
permit me to trace the direction ofthe whining passageways directly before me, and

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so keep me from dashing myself againstthe walls at the terns. Presently I
came to a place where five corridorsdiverged from a common point. I had
hastened along one of them for somelittle distance, when suddenly the faint light
of the torch disappeared from behind me. I paused to listen for sounds of
the party behind me, but thesilence was as utter as the silence of

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the tomb quickly I realized that thewarriors had taken one of the other corridors
with their prisoner, and so Ihastened back, with a feeling of considerable
relief, to take up a muchsafer and more desirable position behind them.
It was much slower work returning,however, than it had been coming,
for now the darkness was as utteras the silence. It was necessary to

(19:18):
feel every foot of the way backwith my hand against the side wall,
that I might not pass the spotwhere the five roads radiated. After what
seemed an eternity to me, Ireached the place and recognized it by groping
across the entrances to the several corridors, until I had counted five of them
in. Not one, however,showed the faintest sign of light. I
listened intently, but the naked feetof the green men sent back no guiding

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echoes, though presently I thought Idetected the clank of side arms in the
far distance of the middle corridor.Up this then I hastened, searching for
the light and stopping to listen occasionallyfor a repetition of the sound. But
soon I was forced to admit thatI must have been following a blind lead,
as only darkness and silence rewarded myefforts. Again, I retraced my

(20:03):
steps toward the parting of the ways, when to my surprise I came upon
the entrance to three diverging corridors,any one of which I might have traversed
in my hasty dash after the falseclue I had been following. Here was
a pretty fix. Indeed, onceback at the point where the five passageways
met, I might wait with someassurance for the return of the warriors with
tars Tarkas. My knowledge of theircustoms lent color to the belief that he

(20:29):
was but being escorted to the audiencechamber to have sentence passed upon him.
I had not the slightest doubt butthat they would preserve so Doughty a warrior
as the great Thark, for therare sport he would furnish at the great
Games. But unless I could findmy way back to that point, the
chances were most excellent that I wouldwander for days through the awful blackness,
until overcome by thirst and hunger,I lay down to die. Or what

(20:52):
was that? A faint shuffling soundedbehind me, and as I cast a
hasty glance over my shoulder. Myblood froze in my veins for the thing
I saw there. It was notso much fear of the present danger as
it was the horrifying memories it recalledof that time I near went mad over
the corpse of the man I hadkilled in the dungeons of the Warhoons,
when blazing eyes came out of thedark recesses and dragged the thing that had

(21:15):
been a man from my clutches,and I heard it scraping over the stone
of my prison as they bored awayto their terrible feast. And now in
these black pits of the other Warhoons, I looked into those same fiery eyes
blazing at me through the terrible darkness, revealing no sign of the beast behind
them. I think that the mostfearsome attribute of these awesome creatures is their

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silence, and the fact that onenever sees them nothing but those baleful eyes
glaring unblinkingly out of the dark voidbehind. Grasping my long sword tightly in
my hand, I backed slowly alongthe corridor away from the thing that watched
me. But ever as I retreated, the eyes advanced, nor was there
any sound, not even the soundof breathing, except the occasional shuffling sound,

(22:00):
as of the dragging of a deadlimb that had first attracted my attention.
On and on I went, butI could not escape my sinister pursuer.
Suddenly I heard the shuffling noise atmy right, and looking saw another
pair of eyes, evidently approaching froman intersecting corridor. As I started to
renew my slow retreat, I heardthe noise repeated behind me, and then

(22:21):
before I could turn, I heardit again at my left. The things
were all about me. They hadme surrounded at the intersection of two corridors.
Retreat was cut off in all directionsunless I chose to charge one of
the beasts. Even then, Ihad no doubt but that the others would
hurl themselves upon my back. Icould not even guess the size or nature
of the weird creatures. That theywere of goodly proportions, I guessed from

(22:42):
the fact that the eyes were ona level with my own. Why is
it that darkness so magnifies our dangers? By day, I would have charged
the great banth itself had I thoughtit necessary, But hemmed in by darkness
of these silent pits, I hesitatedbefore a pair of eyes. Soon I
saw that the matter shortly would betaken entirely from my hands, for the

(23:02):
eyes at my right were moving slowlynearer me, as were those at my
left, and those behind and beforeme. Gradually they were closing in upon
me, but still that awful,stealthy silence. For what seemed hours,
the eyes approached gradually closer and closer, until I felt that I should go
mad for the horror of it.I had been constantly turning this way and

(23:22):
that to prevent any sudden rush frombehind, until I was fairly worn out.
At length, I could endure itno longer, and taking a fresh
grasp upon my long sword, Iturned suddenly and charged down upon one of
my tormentors. As I was almostupon it, the thing retreated before me,
but a sound from behind caused meto wheel in time to see three
pairs of eyes rushing at me fromthe rear. With a cry of rage,

(23:45):
I turned to meet the cowardly beasts, but as I advanced, they
retreated, as had their fellow.Another glance over my shoulder discovered the first
eye sneaking on me again, andagain I charged, only to see the
eyes retreat before me and hear themuffled rush of the three at my back.
Thus we continued, the eyes alwaysa little closer in the end than
they had been before, until Ithought that I should go mad with the

(24:07):
terrible strain of the ordeal. Thatthey were waiting to spring upon my back
seemed evident, and that it wouldnot be long before they succeeded was equally
apparent, for I could not endurethe wear of this repeated charge and counter
charge indefinitely. In fact, Icould feel myself weakening from the mental and
physical strain I had been undergoing.At that moment, I caught another glimpse
from the corner of my eye ofthe single pair of eyes at my back

(24:30):
making a sudden rush upon me.I turned to meet the charge. There
was a quick rush of the threefrom the other direction, but I determined
to pursue the single pair until Ishould at least settle my account with one
of the beasts, and thus berelieved of the strain of meeting attacks from
both directions. There was no soundin the corridor, only that of my
own breathing. Yet I knew thatthose three uncanny creatures were almost upon me.

(24:55):
The eyes in front were not retreatingso rapidly. Now I was almost
within sword reach of them. Iraised my sword arm to deal the blow
that should free me. And thenI felt a heavy body upon my back.
A cold, moist, slimy somethingfastened itself upon my throat. I
stumbled and went down. End ofChapter fourteen.

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Chapter 14 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

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