A Princess of Mars (6 page)

The cudgel was swinging in the arc which ended upon my upturned
face when a bolt of myriad-legged horror hurled itself through the
doorway full upon the breast of my executioner. With a shriek of
fear the ape which held me leaped through the open window, but its
mate closed in a terrific death struggle with my preserver, which
was nothing less than my faithful watch-thing; I cannot bring myself
to call so hideous a creature a dog.

As quickly as possible I gained my feet and backing against the wall
I witnessed such a battle as it is vouchsafed few beings to see.
The strength, agility, and blind ferocity of these two creatures
is approached by nothing known to earthly man. My beast had an
advantage in his first hold, having sunk his mighty fangs far into
the breast of his adversary; but the great arms and paws of the ape,
backed by muscles far transcending those of the Martian men I had
seen, had locked the throat of my guardian and slowly were choking
out his life, and bending back his head and neck upon his body,
where I momentarily expected the former to fall limp at the end of
a broken neck.

In accomplishing this the ape was tearing away the entire front of
its breast, which was held in the vise-like grip of the powerful
jaws. Back and forth upon the floor they rolled, neither one
emitting a sound of fear or pain. Presently I saw the great eyes
of my beast bulging completely from their sockets and blood flowing
from its nostrils. That he was weakening perceptibly was evident,
but so also was the ape, whose struggles were growing momentarily
less.

Suddenly I came to myself and, with that strange instinct which
seems ever to prompt me to my duty, I seized the cudgel, which had
fallen to the floor at the commencement of the battle, and swinging
it with all the power of my earthly arms I crashed it full upon the
head of the ape, crushing his skull as though it had been an
eggshell.

Scarcely had the blow descended when I was confronted with a new
danger. The ape's mate, recovered from its first shock of terror,
had returned to the scene of the encounter by way of the interior
of the building. I glimpsed him just before he reached the doorway
and the sight of him, now roaring as he perceived his lifeless
fellow stretched upon the floor, and frothing at the mouth, in the
extremity of his rage, filled me, I must confess, with dire
forebodings.

I am ever willing to stand and fight when the odds are not too
overwhelmingly against me, but in this instance I perceived neither
glory nor profit in pitting my relatively puny strength against
the iron muscles and brutal ferocity of this enraged denizen of an
unknown world; in fact, the only outcome of such an encounter, so
far as I might be concerned, seemed sudden death.

I was standing near the window and I knew that once in the street I
might gain the plaza and safety before the creature could overtake
me; at least there was a chance for safety in flight, against almost
certain death should I remain and fight however desperately.

It is true I held the cudgel, but what could I do with it against
his four great arms? Even should I break one of them with my first
blow, for I figured that he would attempt to ward off the cudgel,
he could reach out and annihilate me with the others before I could
recover for a second attack.

In the instant that these thoughts passed through my mind I had
turned to make for the window, but my eyes alighting on the form
of my erstwhile guardian threw all thoughts of flight to the four
winds. He lay gasping upon the floor of the chamber, his great eyes
fastened upon me in what seemed a pitiful appeal for protection. I
could not withstand that look, nor could I, on second thought, have
deserted my rescuer without giving as good an account of myself in
his behalf as he had in mine.

Without more ado, therefore, I turned to meet the charge of the
infuriated bull ape. He was now too close upon me for the cudgel to
prove of any effective assistance, so I merely threw it as heavily
as I could at his advancing bulk. It struck him just below the
knees, eliciting a howl of pain and rage, and so throwing him off
his balance that he lunged full upon me with arms wide stretched
to ease his fall.

Again, as on the preceding day, I had recourse to earthly tactics,
and swinging my right fist full upon the point of his chin I
followed it with a smashing left to the pit of his stomach.
The effect was marvelous, for, as I lightly sidestepped, after
delivering the second blow, he reeled and fell upon the floor
doubled up with pain and gasping for wind. Leaping over his
prostrate body, I seized the cudgel and finished the monster
before he could regain his feet.

As I delivered the blow a low laugh rang out behind me, and,
turning, I beheld Tars Tarkas, Sola, and three or four warriors
standing in the doorway of the chamber. As my eyes met theirs I
was, for the second time, the recipient of their zealously guarded
applause.

My absence had been noted by Sola on her awakening, and she had
quickly informed Tars Tarkas, who had set out immediately with a
handful of warriors to search for me. As they had approached the
limits of the city they had witnessed the actions of the bull ape
as he bolted into the building, frothing with rage.

They had followed immediately behind him, thinking it barely
possible that his actions might prove a clew to my whereabouts
and had witnessed my short but decisive battle with him. This
encounter, together with my set-to with the Martian warrior on the
previous day and my feats of jumping placed me upon a high pinnacle
in their regard. Evidently devoid of all the finer sentiments of
friendship, love, or affection, these people fairly worship physical
prowess and bravery, and nothing is too good for the object of their
adoration as long as he maintains his position by repeated examples
of his skill, strength, and courage.

Sola, who had accompanied the searching party of her own volition,
was the only one of the Martians whose face had not been twisted in
laughter as I battled for my life. She, on the contrary, was sober
with apparent solicitude and, as soon as I had finished the monster,
rushed to me and carefully examined my body for possible wounds or
injuries. Satisfying herself that I had come off unscathed she
smiled quietly, and, taking my hand, started toward the door of
the chamber.

Tars Tarkas and the other warriors had entered and were standing
over the now rapidly reviving brute which had saved my life, and
whose life I, in turn, had rescued. They seemed to be deep in
argument, and finally one of them addressed me, but remembering
my ignorance of his language turned back to Tars Tarkas, who, with
a word and gesture, gave some command to the fellow and turned to
follow us from the room.

There seemed something menacing in their attitude toward my beast,
and I hesitated to leave until I had learned the outcome. It was
well I did so, for the warrior drew an evil looking pistol from its
holster and was on the point of putting an end to the creature when
I sprang forward and struck up his arm. The bullet striking the
wooden casing of the window exploded, blowing a hole completely
through the wood and masonry.

I then knelt down beside the fearsome-looking thing, and raising it
to its feet motioned for it to follow me. The looks of surprise
which my actions elicited from the Martians were ludicrous; they
could not understand, except in a feeble and childish way, such
attributes as gratitude and compassion. The warrior whose gun I
had struck up looked enquiringly at Tars Tarkas, but the latter
signed that I be left to my own devices, and so we returned to
the plaza with my great beast following close at heel, and Sola
grasping me tightly by the arm.

I had at least two friends on Mars; a young woman who watched over
me with motherly solicitude, and a dumb brute which, as I later came
to know, held in its poor ugly carcass more love, more loyalty, more
gratitude than could have been found in the entire five million
green Martians who rove the deserted cities and dead sea bottoms
of Mars.

After a breakfast, which was an exact replica of the meal of the
preceding day and an index of practically every meal which followed
while I was with the green men of Mars, Sola escorted me to the
plaza, where I found the entire community engaged in watching or
helping at the harnessing of huge mastodonian animals to great
three-wheeled chariots. There were about two hundred and fifty of
these vehicles, each drawn by a single animal, any one of which,
from their appearance, might easily have drawn the entire wagon
train when fully loaded.

The chariots themselves were large, commodious, and gorgeously
decorated. In each was seated a female Martian loaded with
ornaments of metal, with jewels and silks and furs, and upon the
back of each of the beasts which drew the chariots was perched a
young Martian driver. Like the animals upon which the warriors were
mounted, the heavier draft animals wore neither bit nor bridle, but
were guided entirely by telepathic means.

This power is wonderfully developed in all Martians, and accounts
largely for the simplicity of their language and the relatively
few spoken words exchanged even in long conversations. It is the
universal language of Mars, through the medium of which the higher
and lower animals of this world of paradoxes are able to communicate
to a greater or less extent, depending upon the intellectual sphere
of the species and the development of the individual.

As the cavalcade took up the line of march in single file, Sola
dragged me into an empty chariot and we proceeded with the
procession toward the point by which I had entered the city the
day before. At the head of the caravan rode some two hundred
warriors, five abreast, and a like number brought up the rear,
while twenty-five or thirty outriders flanked us on either side.

Every one but myself—men, women, and children—were heavily armed,
and at the tail of each chariot trotted a Martian hound, my own
beast following closely behind ours; in fact, the faithful creature
never left me voluntarily during the entire ten years I spent on
Mars. Our way led out across the little valley before the city,
through the hills, and down into the dead sea bottom which I had
traversed on my journey from the incubator to the plaza. The
incubator, as it proved, was the terminal point of our journey this
day, and, as the entire cavalcade broke into a mad gallop as soon
as we reached the level expanse of sea bottom, we were soon within
sight of our goal.

On reaching it the chariots were parked with military precision
on the four sides of the enclosure, and half a score of warriors,
headed by the enormous chieftain, and including Tars Tarkas and
several other lesser chiefs, dismounted and advanced toward it.
I could see Tars Tarkas explaining something to the principal
chieftain, whose name, by the way, was, as nearly as I can
translate it into English, Lorquas Ptomel, Jed; jed being his
title.

I was soon appraised of the subject of their conversation, as,
calling to Sola, Tars Tarkas signed for her to send me to him. I
had by this time mastered the intricacies of walking under Martian
conditions, and quickly responding to his command I advanced to
the side of the incubator where the warriors stood.

As I reached their side a glance showed me that all but a very few
eggs had hatched, the incubator being fairly alive with the hideous
little devils. They ranged in height from three to four feet, and
were moving restlessly about the enclosure as though searching for
food.

As I came to a halt before him, Tars Tarkas pointed over the
incubator and said, "Sak." I saw that he wanted me to repeat my
performance of yesterday for the edification of Lorquas Ptomel, and,
as I must confess that my prowess gave me no little satisfaction, I
responded quickly, leaping entirely over the parked chariots on the
far side of the incubator. As I returned, Lorquas Ptomel grunted
something at me, and turning to his warriors gave a few words of
command relative to the incubator. They paid no further attention
to me and I was thus permitted to remain close and watch their
operations, which consisted in breaking an opening in the wall of
the incubator large enough to permit of the exit of the young
Martians.

On either side of this opening the women and the younger Martians,
both male and female, formed two solid walls leading out through the
chariots and quite away into the plain beyond. Between these walls
the little Martians scampered, wild as deer; being permitted to run
the full length of the aisle, where they were captured one at a time
by the women and older children; the last in the line capturing the
first little one to reach the end of the gauntlet, her opposite in
the line capturing the second, and so on until all the little
fellows had left the enclosure and been appropriated by some youth
or female. As the women caught the young they fell out of line and
returned to their respective chariots, while those who fell into the
hands of the young men were later turned over to some of the women.

I saw that the ceremony, if it could be dignified by such a name,
was over, and seeking out Sola I found her in our chariot with a
hideous little creature held tightly in her arms.

The work of rearing young, green Martians consists solely in
teaching them to talk, and to use the weapons of warfare with
which they are loaded down from the very first year of their lives.
Coming from eggs in which they have lain for five years, the period
of incubation, they step forth into the world perfectly developed
except in size. Entirely unknown to their mothers, who, in turn,
would have difficulty in pointing out the fathers with any degree of
accuracy, they are the common children of the community, and their
education devolves upon the females who chance to capture them as
they leave the incubator.