19 - The Gods of Mars - Black Despair

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Gods of Mars, Chapter nineteen, Black Despair, Ah, said
zad Arras, 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

(00:21):
to zad Arras, simply standing there in silence, with a
level gaze fixed upon the jet of Zodanga. 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
zad Arras, until finally a flush of anger crept slowly
over his face. You may go, he said to those

(00:45):
who had brought me, And when only his two companions
and ourselves were left in the chamber, he spoke 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

(01:08):
an impartial court, you are condemned to die. 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 would be the wiser.

(01:29):
Should you go free in 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 Mors will never
return to Helium, neither will mors Kajak nor dejah Thoris.

(01:54):
Helium must select a new Jeddak within the year. Zat
Arras would be Jeddak of Helium. Say that you will
espouse my cause. This is the price of your freedom.
I am done. I knew it was within the scope
of zat Ara's cruel heart to destroy me, and if
I were dead, I could see little reason to doubt

(02:16):
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 quite probable that not only would I not
prevent him from becoming Jeddak of Helium, but that I

(02:38):
would be the means of seething dejah thoris fate of
consigning her through my refusal to the horrors of the
arena of Issus. For a moment I was perplexed. But
for a moment, only the proud daughter of a thousand
Jeddaks would choose death to a dishonorable alliance such as this.
Nor could John Carter do less for health Helium than

(03:00):
his princess would do. Then I turned to zat Arras.
There can be no alliance I said, between a traitor
to Helium and a prince of the house of Tardos Moors.
I do not believe zad Arras that the great Jeddak
is dead. Zat Arras shrugged his shoulders. It will not

(03:21):
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. Zat Arras 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 within a reasonable

(03:43):
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 and the silence with the
keen dagger that shall rob you of your last chance
to win again the warmth and the freedom and joyousness
of the outer world. Zat Arras clapped his hands as

(04:06):
he ceased speaking. The guards returned. Zat Arras 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 within a fair

(04:30):
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 aside, and unlocking the huge padlock that had
held a chain about what had once been a human ankle,
they snapped the iron band about my own leg. Then

(04:51):
they left me taking 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

(05:14):
of my own. How long I stood listening in the darkness,
I do not know, 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,

(05:36):
he bore a light, in the other a receptacle containing
a gruelike mixture, the common prison fare of Barsoom. Zat
Arras sends 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

(05:57):
has made you. To gain your free You have but
to request me to advise zat Arras that you accept
the terms of his proposition. I but shook my head.
The youth said 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,

(06:19):
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, I sought to devise methods to inform Carthoris
of my whereabouts. For months I scraped and scraped upon

(06:43):
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 was to rescue dejah Thoris. I felt

(07:03):
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 zat Arras. Pits
that zat Aris spy had overheard our conversation relative to
the selection of a new Jeddak I knew and scarcely
a half dozen minutes prior we had discussed the details

(07:24):
of the plan to rescue dejah Thoris. The chances were
that that matter, too was well known to him. Carthoris, Kantos,
kan Tars, Tarkas, hor Vastus, and Zodar might even now
be the victims of zat arras assassins or else his prisoners.
I determined to make at least one more effort to

(07:46):
learn something, and to this end I adopted strategy. When
the next 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

(08:09):
opened my negotiations with him upon his next subsequent visit.
You have been very kind to me 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

(08:30):
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 deed have you attempted
to take advantage of my defenseless condition to insult or
torture me. You have been uniformly courteous and considerate. It

(08:51):
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 there and select
the harness which most pleases you. It shall be yours.
All I ask is that you wear it, that I

(09:12):
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 he spoke,
and for that moment my heart fairly ceased beating. So

(09:35):
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. Why

(09:55):
if zat Arras even dreamed that I contemplated such a thing,
he would have my heart heart cut out of me.
There can 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 zat Arras, my son

(10:17):
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

(10:40):
that also with it and the harness which you may select,
there will be no more handsomely accoutered warrior in all Zodanga.
Bring writing materials when you come next to my cell,
and within a few hours we shall see you garbed
in a style befitting your birth and carriage. Still in

(11:01):
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.
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

(11:22):
would know that Carthoris had received my note, and that
he knew that I still lived. That the bearer of
the note was a Zodangan would be sufficient to explain
to Carthoris that I was a prisoner of zat Arras
it was with feelings of excited expectancy which I could
scarce hide that I heard the use approach. Upon the

(11:42):
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
I looked at the materials in feign surprise, but soon

(12:05):
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.

(12:27):
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

(12:50):
lived but a single year. The next time I heard
approaching footsteps, I could scarce a wait to see if
Parthak wore the harness and the sword. But judge if
you 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,

(13:13):
And as soon as he had deposited my food, turned
and retraced his steps to the world above. Days came
and went, 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,

(13:35):
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.
For now I did not even know that Carthoris lived.
For if Parthak had wished to raise himself in the
estimation of zat Arras, he would have permitted me to
go on precisely as I did, so that he could

(13:58):
carry my note to his master 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,
there remained a bare thirty days ere dejah Thoris would

(14:19):
be ordered into 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

(14:42):
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 first
born those very wild beasts, that her bleeding corpse would

(15:03):
be dragged through the dirt and the dust, until at
last a part of it would be rescued to be
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.

(15:27):
Now a new and grim determination came to me. I
would make one superhuman effort to escape, killed my jailer
by a ruse, and trust to fate to lead me
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,

(15:50):
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
gripped firmly in my right hand for the purpose. Nearer
and nearer came the doomed man. Now I heard him

(16:11):
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
final blow, all at that same instant. The thing worked

(16:35):
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. God, what cruel
and malign fate had worked to such a frightful end.

(16:56):
What devious chain of circumstances had led my jway 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

(17:22):
regained consciousness, 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

(17:43):
last conscious act. And then I dared not to open
my eyes for 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 some time,
so why not now? And with a sigh, I opened

(18:05):
my eyes. Leaning over me was Carthoris, a great bruise
upon his forehead where the chain had struck, but alive,
thanked God, alive, There 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

(18:27):
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 of the blow. He told me that
he had lain unconscious for a time. How long he

(18:50):
did not know? How came you here at all? I asked,
mystified that he had found me without a guide. It
was by your ye in apprising 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 had read your note, I did as you

(19:11):
had bid, giving Parthac his choice of the harnesses 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

(19:31):
loyal to zat Arras. 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

(19:54):
threats of torture or death, no bribes, however fabulous, would
move him. His 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, Zodar, who is a fiend for

(20:15):
subtle craftiness, evolved a plan whereby we might worm the
information from him, and so I caused hor Vastus to
be harnessed in the middle of a Zodangan soldier and
chained in Parthak's cell 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

(20:37):
confidence and friendship of the Zodangan, until only to day. Parthak,
thinking that he was speaking not only to a countryman
but to a dear friend, revealed that 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 the official papers. To come to you, though,

(20:58):
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 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

(21:20):
I easily came to the entrance to the pits beneath
the palace which zat Arras is occupying, I found there
o Zodangan soldier on guard there. I left him when
I had gone by, but his soul was no longer
with him, and here I am, just in time to
be nearly killed by you. He ended, laughing as he talked.

(21:41):
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 almost a year. He had brought a long
sword and a dagger for me, and thus armed, we
said out. Upon the return journey to my palace, at

(22:04):
the point where we left the pits of zat Arras,
we found the body of the guard Carthoris had slain.
It had not yet been discovered, and in order to
still further delay search and mystify the Jad's people, we
carried the 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

(22:27):
we came to the pits beneath our own palace, and
soon thereafter emerged into the audience chamber itself, where we
found kantos Kan, tars Tarkas, hor Vastus, and Zodar awaiting
us most impatiently. No time was lost in fruitless recounting
of my imprisonment. What I desired to know was how

(22:48):
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 utters secrecy has handicapped us terribly
zat Arras spies are everywhere, Yet to the best of
my knowledge, no word of our real plans has reached

(23:10):
the villain's ear. Tonight, there lies about the great docks
at Hastor a fleet of a thousand of the mightiest
battleships that ever sailed above Barsoom, and each equipped to
navigate the air of Omean and the waters of Omean itself.
Upon each battleship there are five ten man cruisers, and
ten five man scouts, and a hundred one man scouts.

(23:34):
In all, one hundred and sixteen thousand craft fitted with
both air and water propellers. At dark lie the transports
for the Green warriors of Taras Tarkas, nine hundred large
troop ships, and with them their convoys. Seven days ago
all was in readiness, but we waited in the hope

(23:55):
that by doing so, your rescue might be encompassed in
time for you to command the expedition. It is well
we waited, 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 Iss.
They sent a council of fifteen chieftains to talk with

(24:15):
me here, replied the dark We are 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 guided by the action of Helium toward John Carter.
In the meantime, at their request, I was to resume
my throne as Jeddak of Thark, that I might negotiate

(24:37):
with neighboring hordes for 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, and representing a thousand different communities from a
hundred wild and warlike hordes, filled the great city of

(24:59):
Thark to night. They are ready to sail for the
land of the First Bond 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 thou hor Vastus asked what has

(25:19):
been thy success? A million veteran fighting men from Helium's
thin waterways manned the battleships, the transports, and the convoys.
He replied, each is 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 canos Kan.

(25:41):
May 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 zat Arras a cruiser awaits above

(26:03):
at your own dock, let us leave at a few
slot of shots from the 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

(26:24):
the scarlet sward, a handful of guardsmen were stooping above
a still and prostrate form. While we watched, they lifted
the figure in their arms, and at my command bore
it 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

(26:46):
soldiers war or those who wished to conceal their identity.
Another of zat Arras spies, said hor Vastus, so it
would seem, I replied, And then to the guard, you
may remove the body, wait, said Zodar. If you will, Prince,
ask that a cloth and a little thotoil be brought.

(27:08):
I nodded to one of the soldiers, who left the chamber,
returning presently with the things that Zodar had requested. The
black kneeled beside the body, and, dipping a corner of
the cloth in the thod oil, rubbed for a moment
on the dead face before him. Then he turned to
me with a smile, pointing to his work. I looked

(27:29):
and saw that where Zodar had applied the thoat oil,
the face was white, as white as mine. And then
Zodar 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 the exclamations of

(27:50):
astonishment and questioning wonder as Zodar's axe confirmed the suspicion
which he had held. Adurn, whispered tars Tarkas. Worse than that,
I fear, replied Zodar. But let us see with that.
He drew his dagger and cut open a locked pouch
which had dangled from the Thurn's harness, and from it

(28:12):
he brought forth a circlet of gold set with a
large gem. It was the mate to that which I
had taken from sat tour Throg. He was a hoary, then,
said Zodar. 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

(28:34):
to report that this fellow's companion escaped us. I think
that it was with the conniments of one or more
of the men at the gate. I have ordered them
all under arrest. Zodar 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 the city,

(28:54):
for every martian noble maintains a secret service of his own.
A half hourly, the officer of the guard came again
to report. This time it was to confirm our worst fears.
Half the guards at the gate that night had been thurns,
disguised as red men. Come. I cried, we must lose
no time on to Hastor at once. Should the thorns

(29:17):
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
minutes later we were speeding through the night toward Hastor,
prepared to strike the first blow for the preservation of
dejah Thoris. End of Chapter nineteen