Chapter 15 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Gods of Mars

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(00:00):
Chapter fifteen, Flight and Pursuit.I could not have been unconscious more than
a few seconds, and yet Iknow that I was unconscious. For the
next thing I realized was that agrowing radiance was illuminating the corridor about me,
and the eyes were gone. Iwas unharmed, except for a slight
bruise upon my forehead where it hadstruck the stone flagging as I fell.

(00:22):
I sprang to my feet to ascertainthe cause of the light. It came
from a torch in the hand ofone of a party of four Green warriors
who were coming rapidly down the corridortoward me. They had not yet seen
me, and so I lost notime in slipping into the first intersecting corridor
that I could find. This time, however, I did not advance so
far away from the main corridor ason the other occasion that had resulted in

(00:45):
my losing tars Tarkas and his guards. The party came rapidly toward the opening
of the passageway in which I crouchedagainst the wall. As they passed by,
I breathed a sigh of relief.I had not been discovered, and
best of all, the party wasthe saying that I had followed into the
pits. It consisted of Tars Tarkasand his three guards. I fell in

(01:06):
behind them, and soon we wereat the cell in which the great Thark
had been chained. Two of thewarriors remained without, while the man with
the keys entered with the Thark tofasten his irons upon him once more.
The two outside started to stroll slowlyin the direction of the spiral runway which
led to the floors above, andin a moment were lost to view beyond
a turn in the corridor. Thetorch had been stuck in a socket beside

(01:29):
the door, so that its raysilluminated both the corridor and the cell.
At the same time as I sawthe two warriors disappear, I approached the
entrance to the cell with a welldefined plan already formulated. While I disliked
the thought of carrying out the thingthat I had decided upon, there seemed
no alternative if Tars Tarkas and Iwere to go back together to my little

(01:49):
camp in the hills. Keeping nearthe wall, I came quite close to
the door to Tars Tarkas's cell,and there I stood with my long sword
above my head, grasped with bothhands that I might bring it down in
one quick cut upon the skull ofthe jailer, as he had merged.
I disliked to dwell upon what followedafter I heard the footsteps of the man
as he approached the doorway. Itis enough that within another minute or two,

(02:12):
Tars Tarkas, wearing the metal ofa warhoon chief, was hurrying down
the corridor toward the spiral runway,bearing the warhoon's torch to light his way.
A dozen paces behind him followed JohnCarter, Prince of Helium. The
two companions of the man who laynow beside the door of the cell that
had been Tars Tarkases, had juststarted to ascend the runway as the Thark
came in view. Why so long, tan Gama cried one of the men

(02:38):
I had trouble with a lock,replied Tars Tarkas, And now I find
that I have left my short swordin the thark's cell. Go you on,
I'll return and fetch it as youwill, tan Gama replied, he
who had before spoken, we shallsee you above directly. Yes, replied
Tars Tarkas, and turned as thoughto retrace his steps to the cell,

(02:58):
but he only waited till the twohad disappeared at the floor above. Then
I joined him. We extinguished thetorch, and together we crept toward the
spiral incline that led to the upperfloors of the building. At the first
floor, we found that the hallwayran but halfway through, necessitating the crossing
of our rear room full of greenfolk. Ere we could reach the inner
courtyard. So there was but onething left for us to do, and

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that was to gain the second floorand the hallway through which I had traversed
the length of the building. Cautiouslywe ascended. We could hear the sounds
of conversation coming from the room above, but the hall still was unlitted,
nor was any one in sight.As we gained the top of the runway,
together we threaded the long hall andreached the balcony overlooking the courtyard without

(03:42):
being detected. At our right wasthe window letting into the room in which
I had seen tan Gama and theother warriors as they started to tars Tarkas's
cell earlier in the evening. Hiscompanions had returned here, and we now
overheard a portion of their conversation.What can be detaining Gama asked one.
He certainly could not be all thistime, Fetching his short sword from the

(04:03):
Thark's cell, spoke another his shortsword, asked a woman, what mean
you? Tan Gama left his shortsword in the Thark's cell, explained the
first speaker, and left us atthe runway to return and get it.
Tan Gama wore no short sword thisnight, said the woman. It was
broken in today's battle with the Thark, and Tan Gama gave it to me

(04:25):
to repair. See, I haveit here, And as she spoke,
she drew tan gama short sword frombeneath her sleeping silks and furs. The
warriors sprang to their feet. There'ssomething amiss here, cried one. Tis
even what I myself thought when tanGama left us at the runway, said
another. Methought then that his voicesounded strangely. Come let us hasten to

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the pits. We waited to hearno more. Slinging my harness into a
long single strap, I lowered tarsTarkas to the courtyard beneath, and an
instant later dropped to his side.We had spoken scarcely dozen words since I
had felled Tangama at the cell door, and seen in the torch's light the
expression of utter bewilderment upon the greatThark's face. By this time he had

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said, I should have learned towonder at nothing, which John Carter accomplishes.
That was all. He did notneed to tell me that he appreciated
the friendship which had prompted me torisk my life to rescue him, Nor
did he need to say that hewas glad to see me. This fierce
green warrior had been the first togreet me that day, now twenty years
gone, which had witnessed my firstadvent upon Mars. He had met me

(05:31):
with leveled spear and cruel hatred inhis heart as he charged down upon me,
bending low at the side of hismighty thwart. As I stood beside
the incubator of his horde, uponthe dead sea bottom beyond Korab, and
now among the inhabitants of two worlds, I counted none a better friend than
Tars Tarkas Jeddak of Tharks. Aswe reached the courtyard, we stood in

(05:53):
the shadows beneath the balcony for amoment to discuss our plans. There be
five now in the party tars Tarkas, I said, thuvia exodar Carthoris and
ourselves. We shall need five thwartsto bear us. Carthoris, he cried,
your son, Yes, I foundhim in the prison of Shador,
on the sea of Omean, inthe land of the first Born. I

(06:15):
know not any of these places,John Carter. Be they upon barsoom upon
and below, my friend, Butwait until we shall have made good our
escape, and you shall hear thestrangest narrative that ever a Barsoomium of the
outer world gave ear to. Nowwe must steal our thwarts and be well
away to the north, before thesefellows discover how we have tricked them.
In safety, we reached the greatgates at the far end of the courtyard,

(06:39):
through which it was necessary to takeour thwarts to the avenue beyond.
It is no easy matter to handlefive of these great, fierce beasts,
which by nature are as wild andferocious as their masters, and held in
subjection by cruelty and brute force alone. As we approached them, they sniffed
our unfamiliar scent, and with squealsof rage, circled about us. There,

(07:00):
long, massive necks upreared, raisetheir great gaping mouse high above our
heads. They are fearsome appearing brutesat best, but when they are aroused,
they are fully as dangerous as theylook. The thoat stands a good
ten feet at the shoulder, hishide a sleek and hairless and of a
dark slate color on back and sides, shading down his eight legs to a
vivid yellow at the huge padded nails'sfeet. The belly is pure white.

(07:25):
A broad, flat tail, largerat the tip than at the root,
completes the picture of this ferocious greenMartian mount. A fit war steed for
these warlike people. As the thwartsare guided by telepathic means alone, there
is no need for rain or bridle, and so our object now was to
find too that would obey our unspokencommands. As they charged about us.

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We succeeded in mastering them sufficiently toprevent any concerted attack upon us, but
the din of their squealing was certainto bring investigating warriors into the courtyard were
it to continue much longer. Atlength, I was successful in reaching the
side of one great brute, andere he knew what I was about.
I was firmly seated astride his glossyback. A moment later tars Tarkas had

(08:07):
caught and mounted another. Then betweenus we heard it three or four more
toward the great gates. Tars Tarkasrode ahead, and leaning down to the
latch through the barriers open, whileI held the loose thoats from breaking back
to the herd. Then together werode through the avenues with our stolen mounts,
and without waiting to close the gates, hurried off toward the southern boundary

(08:28):
of the city. Thus far ourescape had been little short of marvelous.
Nor did our good fortune desert us, for we passed the outer purlouse of
the dead city and came to ourcamp without hearing even the faintest sound of
pursuit. Here a low whistle theprearigned signal appraised the balance of our party
that I was returning, and wewere met by the three with every manifestation

(08:50):
of enthusiastic rejoicing. But little timewas wasted in narration of our adventure.
Tars Tarkas and Carthoris exchanged the dignifiedand formal griefs common upon barsoom, But
I could tell intuitively that Thark lovedmy boy, and that Carthoris reciprocated his
affection. Exodar and the Green Jeddakwere formerly presented to each other. Then

(09:11):
Thuvia was lifted to the least fracturessThorpe. Exodar and Carthoris mounted two others,
and we set out at a rapidpace toward the east. At the
far extremity of the city, wecircled toward the north, and under the
glorious rays of the two moons,we sped noiselessly across the dead sea bottom,
away from the Moorhoons and the firstBorn. But to what new dangers
and adventures we knew not Toward noonof the following day, we halted to

(09:35):
rest our mounts and ourselves. Thebeasts were hobbled that they might move slowly
about cropping the ochre mosslike vegetation whichconstitutes both food and drink for them.
On the march. Thuvia volunteered toremain on watch while the balance of the
party slept. For an hour.It seemed to me that I had but
closed my eyes when I felt herhand upon my shoulder and heard her soft

(09:56):
voice warning me of a new danger. Arise, all, Prince, she
whispered, there be that behind us, which has the appearance of a great
body of pursuers. The girl stoodpointing in the direction from whence we had
come. And as I arose andlooked, I too thought that I could
detect a thin dark line on thefar horizon. I awoke the others.

(10:18):
Tars Tarkas, whose giant stature toweredhigh above the rest of us, could
see the farthest It is a greatbody of mounted men, he said,
and they are traveling at high speed. There was no time to be lost.
We sprang to our hobbled thoats,freed them, and mounted. Then
we turned our faces once more towardthe north and took our flight again,
at the highest speed of our slowestbeast. For the balance of the day

(10:41):
and all the following night, weraced across the Ochre wilderness, with the
pursuers at our back, ever gainingupon us. Slowly, but surely,
they were lessening the distance between us. Just before dark they had been close
enough for us to plainly distinguish thatthey were green Martians, and all during
the long night we distinctly heard theclanking of their accouterments behind us. As
the sun rose on the second dayof our flight, it disclosed the pursuing

(11:03):
horde not a half mile in ourrear. As they saw us, a
fiendish shout of triumph rose from theirranks. Several miles in advance lay a
range of hills, the further shoreof the Dead Sea we had been crossing.
Could we but reach these hills,our chances of escape would be greatly
enhanced. But Thuvia's mount, althoughcarrying the lightest burden, already was showing

(11:24):
signs of exhaustion. I was ridingbeside her, when suddenly her animals staggered
and lurched against mine. I sawthat it was going down, but ere
he fell. I snatched the girlfrom his back and swung her to a
place upon my own thoat behind me, where she clung with her arms about
me. This double burden soon provedtoo much from my already overtaxed beast,

(11:45):
and thus our speed was terribly diminished, for the others would proceed no faster
than the slows of us could go. In that little party, there was
not one who would desert another.Yet we were of different countries, different
colors, different races, different religions, and one of us was of a
different world. We were quite closeto the hills, but the warhoons were
gaining so rapidly that we had givenup all hope of reaching them in time.

(12:11):
Thuvia and I were in the rear, for our beast was lagging more
and more. Suddenly I felt thegirl's warm lips press a kiss upon my
shoulder. For thy sake, O, my prince, she murmured. Then
her arms slipped from about my waist, and she was gone. I turned
and saw that she had deliberately slippedto the ground in the very path of
the cruel demons who pursued us,thinking that by lightening the burden of my

(12:33):
mount, it might thus be enabledto bear me to the safety of the
hills. Poor child, she shouldhave known John Carter better than that.
Turning my thoat, I urged himafter her, hoping to reach her side
and bear her on again in ourhopeless flight. Carthoris must have glanced behind
him at about the same time andtaken in the situation, for by the
time I had reached Thuvia's side,he was there also, and springing from

(12:56):
his mount, he threw her uponits back, and turning the animal's head
toward the hills, gave the beasta sharp crack across the rump with the
flat of a sword. Then heattempted to do the same with mine.
The brave boy's act of chivalrous selfsacrifice filled me with pride, Nor did
I care that it had wrested fromus our last frail chance for escape.

(13:18):
The warhoons were now close upon us. Tars, Tarkas, and Exodar had
discovered our absence and were charging rapidlyto our support. Everything pointed toward a
splendid ending of my second journey toBarsoom. I hated to go out without
having seen my divine princess and heldher in my arms once again. But
if it were not writ upon theBook of Fate that such was to be,

(13:39):
then would I take the most thatwas coming to me? And in
these last few moments that were tobe vouchsafed me before I passed over into
that unguessed future, I could atleast give such an account of myself in
my chosen vocation as would leave thewarhoons of the South food for discourse for
the next twenty generations. As Carthoriswas not mounted from the back of my

(14:00):
own mount, and took my placeat his side to meet the charge of
the howling devils bearing down upon us. A moment later, Tars, Tarkas,
and Exeter ranged themselves on either hand, turning their thoats loose, that
we might all be on equal footing. The warhoons were perhaps a hundred yards
from us when a loud explosion soundedfrom above and behind us, and almost
at the same instant a shell burstin their advancing ranks. At once all

(14:24):
was confusion. A hundred warriors toppledto the ground, riderless thoats plunged hither
and thither among the dead and dying. Dismounted warriors were trampled under foot in
the stampede which followed. All semblanceof order had left the ranks of the
green Men, and as they lookedfar above our heads to trace the origin
of this unexpected attack, disorder turnedto retreat and retreat to a wild panic.

(14:48):
In another moment, they were racingas madly away from us as they
had before been, charging down uponus. We turned to look in the
direction from whence the first report hadcome, and there we saw us,
clearing the tops of the nearer hills, a great battleship swinging majestically through the
air. Her bow guns spoke againeven as we looked, and another shell
burst among the fleeing warhoons. Asshe drew nearer, I could not repress

(15:13):
a wild cry of elation, forupon her bows I saw the device of
helium. End of Chapter fifteen,

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Chapter 15 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Chapter 15 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs