Chapter 18 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Gods of Mars

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(00:00):
Chapter eighteen, Sola's story. Oncewithin the palace, I drew Sola to
the dining hall, and when shehad greeted her father after the formal manner
of the green Men, she toldthe story of the pilgrimage and capture of
dejah Thoris seven days ago. Afterher audience was zat Ars, dejah Thoris
attempted to slip from the palace inthe dead of night. Although I had
not heard the outcome of her interviewas zat Ars, I knew that something

(00:23):
had occurred then to cause her thekeenest mental agony, And when I discovered
her creeping from the palace, Idid not need to be told her destination.
Hastily arousing a dozen of her mostfaithful guards, I explained my fears
to them, and as one theyenlisted with me to follow our beloved princess
in her wanderings, even to thesacred iss and the valley door. We

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came upon her but a short distancefrom the palace. With her was faithful
Woola the hound, but none other. When we overtook her, she feigned
anger and ordered us back to thepalace. But for once we disobeyed her,
and when she found that we wouldnot let her go upon the last
long pilgrimage alone. She wept andembraced us, and together we went out
into the night toward the south.The following day we came upon a herd

(01:06):
of small thoats, and thereafter wewere mounted and made good time. We
traveled very fast and very far duesouth, until the morning of the fifth
day we sighted a great fleet ofbattleships sailing north. They saw us before
we could seek shelter, and soonwe were surrounded by a horde of black
men. The princess's guard fought noblyto the end, but they were soon
overcome and slain. Only dejah Thorisand I were spared. When she realized

(01:32):
that she was in the clutches ofthe black pirates, she attempted to take
her own life, but one ofthe blacks tore her dagger from her,
and then they bound us both sothat we could not use our hands.
The fleet continued north after capturing us. There were about twenty large battleships in
all, besides a number of smallswift cruisers. That evening, one of
the smaller cruisers that had been farin advance of the fleet returned with a

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prisoner, a young red woman,whom they had picked up in a range
of hills. Under the very nosesthey said of a fleet of three red
Martian battleships. From scraps of conversationwhich we overheard, it was evident that
the Black pirates were searching for aparty of fugitives that had escaped them several
days prior that they considered the captureof the young woman important. Was evident

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from the long and earnest interview thecommander of the fleet held with her when
she was brought to him. Later, she was bound and placed in the
compartment with dejah Thoris and myself.The new captive was a very beautiful girl.
She told dejah Thoris that many yearsago she had taken the voluntary pilgrimage
from the court of her father,the Jeddak of Ptarth. She was Thuvia,

(02:36):
the Princess of Ptarth. And thenshe asked dejah Thoris who she might
be, And when she heard,she fell upon her knees and kissed dejah
Thoris's fettered hands and told her thatthat very morning she had been with John
Carter, Prince of Helium, andCarthoris, her son dejah Thoris could not
believe her at first, but finally, when the girl had narrated all the
strange adventures that had befallen her sinceshe had met John Carter, and told

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of the things John Carter and Carthorisand Exeter had narrated of their adventures in
the Land of the First Born,dejah Thoris knew that it could be none
other than the Prince of Helium,for who, she said upon all barsoom
other than John Carter could have donethe deeds you tell of. And when
Thuvia told dejah Thoris of her lovefor John Carter and his loyalty and devotion

(03:20):
to the princess of his choice,dejah Thoris broke down and wept, cursing
zat Ars and the cruel fate thathad driven her from Helium. But a
few brief days before the return ofher beloved lord, I do not blame
you for loving him, Thuvia,she said, and that your affection for
him is pure, and sincere Ican well believe from the candor of your
avowal of it to me. Thefleet continued north nearly to Helium, but

(03:43):
last night they evidently realized that Johncarter had indeed escaped them, and so
they turned toward the south once more. Shortly thereafter, a guard entered our
compartment and dragged me to the deck. There is no place in the land
of the first Born for a greenone, he said, and with that
he gave me a a fick shovethat carried me toppling from the deck of
the battleship. Evidently this seemed tohim the easiest way of ridding the vessel

(04:05):
of my presence and killing me atthe same time. But a kind fate
intervened, and by a miracle Iescaped with but slight bruises. The ship
was moving slowly at the time,and as I lunged overboard into the darkness
beneath, I shuddered at the awfulplunge I thought awaited me for all day.
The fleet had sailed thousands of feetabove the ground, But to my

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outter surprise, I struck upon asoft mass of vegetation not twenty feet from
the deck of the ship. Infact, the keel of the vessel must
have been grazing the surface of theground at the time. I lay all
night where I had fallen, andthe next morning brought an explanation of the
fortunate coincidence that had saved me froma terrible death. As the sun rose,
I saw a vast panorama of seabottom and distant hills lying far below

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me. I was upon the highestpeak of a lofty range. The fleet,
in the darkness of the preceding night, had barely grazed the crest of
the hills, and in the briefspan they hovered close to the surface.
The black Guard had pitched me ashe supposed to my death. A few
miles west of me was a greatwaterway. When I reached it, I
found to my delight that it belongedto Helium. Here a thoat was procured

(05:13):
for me the rest you know.For many minutes none spoke dejah Thoris in
the clutches of the first born.I shuddered at the thought. But of
a sudden the old fire of unconquerableself confidence surged through me. I sprang
to my feet, and, withback thrown shoulders and upraised sword, took
a solemn vow to reach, rescueand revenge my princess. A hundred swords

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leaped from a hundred scabbards, anda hundred fighting men sprang to the table
top and pledged me their lives andfortunes to the expedition. Already my plans
were formulated. I thanked each loyalfriend, and, leaving Carthoris to entertain
them withdrew to my own audience chamberwith kantos Can, Tars Tarkas, Exodar,
and Horastus. Here we discussed thedetails of our expedition until long after

(05:58):
dark. Ex was positive that Issuswould choose both dejah Thoris and Thuvia to
serve her for a year. Forthat length of time, at least they
will be comparatively safe, he said, and we will at least know where
to look for them. In thematter of equipping a fleet to enter Omean,
the details were left to kantos Kanand Xodar. The former agreed to
take such vessels as we required intodock as rapidly as possible, where Exodar

(06:24):
would direct their equipment with water propellers. For many years, the Black had
been in charge of the refitting ofcaptured battleships that they might navigate Omean,
and so was familiar with the constructionof the propellers, housings and the auxiliary
gearing required. It was estimated thatit would require six months to complete our
preparations. In view of the factthat the utmost secrecy must be maintained to

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keep the project from the ears ofzat Arras. Kantos Kan was confident now
that the man's ambitions were fully aroused, and that nothing short of the title
of Jeddak of Helium would satisfy him. I doubt, he said, if
you would even welcome dejah Thoris's return, for it would mean another nearer the
throne than he. With you andCarthoris out of the way, there would

(07:08):
be little to prevent him from assumingthe title of Jeddak. And you may
rest assured that so long as heis supreme here there is no safety for
either of you. There is away, cried hor Vastus, to thwart
him effectually and forever. What Iasked, he smiled, I shall whisper
it here, but some day Ishall stand upon the dome of the Temple
of Reward and shout it to cheeringmultitudes below. What do you mean,

(07:31):
asked kantos Kam John Carter, Jeddakof Helium, said Horvastus in a low
voice. The eyes of my companionslighted and grim smiles of pleasure and anticipation
overspread their faces as each eye turnedtoward me questioningly. But I shook my
head. No, my friends,I said, smiling, thank you.
But it cannot be, not yet, at least when we know that Tardos

(07:55):
Mors and mors Kajak are gone toreturn no more. If I be here,
then I shall join you all tosee that the people of Helium are
permitted to choose fairly their next Jeddak. Whom they choose may count upon the
loyalty of my sword. Nor shallI seek the honor for myself until then.
Tardos Mors is Jeddak of Helium,and Zadarus his representative, as you

(08:16):
will, John Carter, said Horvastus. But what was that, he whispered,
pointing toward the window overlooking the gardens. The words were scarce out of
his mouth. Ere he had sprungto the balcony without there he goes,
he cried excitedly. The guards below. There, the guards, we were
close behind him, and all sawthe figure of a man run quickly across
a little piece of sword and disappearin the shrubbery beyond. He was on

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the balcony when I first saw him, cried Horvastus, quick, let us
follow him. Together we ran tothe gardens, But even though we scoured
the grounds with the entire guard forhours, no trace could we find of
the night marauder. What do youmake of it, kantos Kan, asked
tars Tarkas, a spy sent byZadars. He replied it was ever his
way. Humph, he will havesomething interesting to report to his master's.

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Then laughed hor Vastus, I hopehe heard only our references to a new
Jeddak, I said. If heoverheard our plans to rescue dejah Thoris,
it will mean civil war, forhe will attempt to thwart us, and
in that I will not be thwarted. There would I turn against Tardos Morris
himself, were it necessary, ifit throws all Helium into a bloody conflict.

(09:22):
I shall go on with these plansto save my princess. Nothing shall
stay me now short of death.And should I die, my friends,
will you take oath to prosecute thesearch for her and bring her back in
safety to her grandfather's court. Uponthe hilt of his sword, each of
them swore to do as I hadasked. It was agreed that the battleships
that were to be remodeled should beordered to Hastor, another heliumetic city far

(09:46):
to the southwest. Kantos Kan thoughtthat the docks there, in addition to
their regular work, would accommodate atleast six battleships at a time. As
he was commander in chief of thenavy, it would be a simple matter
for him to order the vessels thereas they could be handled, and thereafter
keep the remodeled fleet in remote partsof the empire until we should be ready

(10:07):
to assemble it for the dash uponOmean. It was late that night before
our conference broke up, but eachman there had his particular duties outlined,
and the details of the entire planhad been mapped out. Kantos Kan and
Exeter were to attend to the remoellyingof the ships. Tars Tarkas was to
get into communication with Thark and learnthe sentiments of his people toward his return

(10:28):
from door. If favorable, hewas to return immediately to Thark and devote
his time to the assembling of agreat horde of green warriors, whom it
was our plan to send in transportsdirectly to the Valley Door and the Temple
of Issus, while the fleet enteredOmean and destroyed the vessels of the First
Born. Upon hor Vastus devolved thedelicate mission of organizing a secret force of

(10:50):
fighting men sworn to follow John Carterwherever he might lead. As we estimated
that it would require over a millionmen to man the thousand great battleships we
intended to use on Omean, andthe transports for the green Men, as
well as the ships that were toconvoy the transports. It was no trifling
job that hor Vastus had before him. After they had left, I bid

(11:11):
Carthoris good night, for I wasvery tired, and going to my own
apartments, bathed and lay down uponmy sleeping silks and furs for the first
good night's sleep I had had anopportunity to look forward to since I had
returned to Barsoom. But even nowI was to be disappointed. How long
I slept, I do not know. When I awoke suddenly it was to

(11:31):
find a half dozen powerful men uponme, a gag already in my mouth,
and a moment later my arms andlegs securely bound so quickly had they
worked, and to such good purpose, that I was utterly beyond the power
to resist them. By the timeI was fully awake, never a word
spoke, they and the gag effectuallyprevented me speaking Silently, they lifted me

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and bore me toward the door ofmy chamber. As they passed the window
through which the farther moon was castingits brilliant beams, I saw that each
of the party had his face swathedin layers of silk. I could not
recognize one of them. When theyhad come into the corridor with me,
they turned toward a secret panel inthe wall, which led to the passage
that terminated in the pits beneath thepalace. That any knew of this panel

(12:16):
outside my own household, I wasdoubtful. Yet the leader of the band
did not hesitate a moment. Hestepped directly to the panel, touched the
concealed button, and as the doorswung open, he stood aside while his
companions entered with me. Then heclosed the panel behind him and followed us
down through the passageways to the pits. We went, the leader wrapped upon
it with the hilt of his sword. Three quick, sharp blows a pause,

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then three more, another pause,and then two. A second later,
the wall swung in, and Iwas pushed within a brilliantly lighted chamber,
in which sat three richly trapped men. One of them turned towards me
with a sardonic smile upon his thin, cruel lips. It was sat oiris
end of chapter eighteen.

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Chapter 18 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

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