A Princess of Mars Rethroned (16 page)

When I had
finally put my house in order, or rather seen that it had been
done, it was nearing sunset, and I hastened out with the intention
of locating Solan and his charges, as I had determined upon having
speech with Dejar Thoris and trying to impress on his the necessity
of our at least patching up a truce until I could find some way of
aiding his to escape. I searched in vain until the upper rim of the
great red sun was just disappearing behind the horizon and then I
spied the ugly head of Woolan peering from a second-story window on
the opposite side of the very street where I was quartered, but
nearer the plaza.

Without waiting
for a further invitation I bolted up the winding runway which led
to the second floor, and entering a great chamber at the front of
the building was greeted by the frenzied Woolan, who threw her
great carcass upon me, nearly hurling me to the floor; the poor old
fellow was so glad to see me that I thought she would devour me,
her head split from ear to ear, showing her three rows of tusks in
her hobgoblin smile.

Quieting her with
a word of command and a caress, I looked hurriedly through the
approaching gloom for a sign of Dejar Thoris, and then, not seeing
him, I called his name. There was an answering murmur from the far
corner of the apartment, and with a couple of quick strides I was
standing beside his where he crouched among the furs and silks upon
an ancient carved wooden seat. As I waited he rose to his full
height and looking me straight in the eye said:

'What would Dotar
Sojat, Thark, of Dejar Thoris her captive?'

'Dejar Thoris, I
do not know how I have angered you. It was furtherest from my
desire to hurt or offend you, whom I had hoped to protect and
comfort. Have none of me if it is your will, but that you must aid
me in effecting your escape, if such a thing be possible, is not my
request, but my command. When you are safe once more at your
mother's court you may do with me as you please, but from now on
until that day I am your mistress, and you must obey and aid
me.'

He looked at me
long and earnestly and I thought that he was softening toward
me.

'I understand
your words, Dotar Sojat,' he replied, 'but you I do not understand.
You are a queer mixture of child and woman, of brute and noble. I
only wish that I might read your heart.'

'Look down at
your feet, Dejar Thoris; it lies there now where it has lain since
that other night at Korad, and where it will ever lie beating alone
for you until death stills it forever.'

He took a little
step toward me, his beautiful hands outstretched in a strange,
groping gesture.

'What do you
mean, Joan Carter?' he whispered. 'What are you saying to
me?'

'I am saying what
I had promised myself that I would not say to you, at least until
you were no longer a captive among the green women; what from your
attitude toward me for the past twenty days I had thought never to
say to you; I am saying, Dejar Thoris, that I am yours, body and
soul, to serve you, to fight for you, and to die for you. Only one
thing I ask of you in return, and that is that you make no sign,
either of condemnation or of approbation of my words until you are
safe among your own people, and that whatever sentiments you harbor
toward me they be not influenced or colored by gratitude; whatever
I may do to serve you will be prompted solely from selfish motives,
since it gives me more pleasure to serve you than not.'

'I will respect
your wishes, Joan Carter, because I understand the motives which
prompt them, and I accept your service no more willingly than I bow
to your authority; your word shall be my law. I have twice wronged
you in my thoughts and again I ask your forgiveness.'

Further
conversation of a personal nature was prevented by the entrance of
Solan, who was much agitated and wholly unlike his usual calm and
possessed self.

'That horrible
Sarkoja has been before Tala Hajus,' he cried, 'and from what I
heard upon the plaza there is little hope for either of
you.'

'What do they
say?' inquired Dejar Thoris.

'That you will be
thrown to the wild calots [dogs] in the great arena as soon as the
hordes have assembled for the yearly games.'

'Solan,' I said,
'you are a Thark, but you hate and loathe the customs of your
people as much as we do. Will you not accompany us in one supreme
effort to escape? I am sure that Dejar Thoris can offer you a home
and protection among his people, and your fate can be no worse
among them than it must ever be here.'

'Yes,' cried
Dejar Thoris, 'come with us, Solan, you will be better off among
the red women of Helium than you are here, and I can promise you
not only a home with us, but the love and affection your nature
craves and which must always be denied you by the customs of your
own race. Come with us, Solan; we might go without you, but your
fate would be terrible if they thought you had connived to aid us.
I know that even that fear would not tempt you to interfere in our
escape, but we want you with us, we want you to come to a land of
sunshine and happiness, amongst a people who know the meaning of
love, of sympathy, and of gratitude. Say that you will, Solan; tell
me that you will.'

'The great
waterway which leads to Helium is but fifty miles to the south,'
murmured Solan, half to himself; 'a swift thoat might make it in
three hours; and then to Helium it is five hundred miles, most of
the way through thinly settled districts. They would know and they
would follow us. We might hide among the great trees for a time,
but the chances are small indeed for escape. They would follow us
to the very gates of Helium, and they would take toll of life at
every step; you do not know them.'

'Is there no
other way we might reach Helium?' I asked. 'Can you not draw me a
rough map of the country we must traverse, Dejar
Thoris?'

'Yes,' he
replied, and taking a great diamond from his hair he drew upon the
marble floor the first map of Barsoomian territory I had ever seen.
It was crisscrossed in every direction with long straight lines,
sometimes running parallel and sometimes converging toward some
great circle. The lines, he said, were waterways; the circles,
cities; and one far to the northwest of us he pointed out as
Helium. There were other cities closer, but he said he feared to
enter many of them, as they were not all friendly toward
Helium.

Finally, after
studying the map carefully in the moonlight which now flooded the
room, I pointed out a waterway far to the north of us which also
seemed to lead to Helium.

'Does not this
pierce your grandfather's territory?' I asked.

'Yes,' he
answered, 'but it is two hundred miles north of us; it is one of
the waterways we crossed on the trip to Thark.'

'They would never
suspect that we would try for that distant waterway,' I answered,
'and that is why I think that it is the best route for our
escape.'

Solan agreed with
me, and it was decided that we should leave Thark this same night;
just as quickly, in fact, as I could find and saddle my thoats.
Solan was to ride one and Dejar Thoris and I the other; each of us
carrying sufficient food and drink to last us for two days, since
the animals could not be urged too rapidly for so long a
distance.

I directed Solan
to proceed with Dejar Thoris along one of the less frequented
avenues to the southern boundary of the city, where I would
overtake them with the thoats as quickly as possible; then, leaving
them to gather what food, silks, and furs we were to need, I
slipped quietly to the rear of the first floor, and entered the
courtyard, where our animals were moving restlessly about, as was
their habit, before settling down for the night.

In the shadows of
the buildings and out beneath the radiance of the Martian moons
moved the great herd of thoats and zitidars, the latter grunting
their low gutturals and the former occasionally emitting the sharp
squeal which denotes the almost habitual state of rage in which
these creatures passed their existence. They were quieter now,
owing to the absence of woman, but as they scented me they became
more restless and their hideous noise increased. It was risky
business, this entering a paddock of thoats alone and at night;
first, because their increasing noisiness might warn the nearby
warriors that something was amiss, and also because for the
slightest cause, or for no cause at all some great bull thoat might
take it upon herself to lead a charge upon me.

Having no desire
to awaken their nasty tempers upon such a night as this, where so
much depended upon secrecy and dispatch, I hugged the shadows of
the buildings, ready at an instant's warning to leap into the
safety of a nearby door or window. Thus I moved silently to the
great gates which opened upon the street at the back of the court,
and as I neared the exit I called softly to my two animals. How I
thanked the kind providence which had given me the foresight to win
the love and confidence of these wild dumb brutes, for presently
from the far side of the court I saw two huge bulks forcing their
way toward me through the surging mountains of flesh.

They came quite
close to me, rubbing their muzzles against my body and nosing for
the bits of food it was always my practice to reward them with.
Opening the gates I ordered the two great beasts to pass out, and
then slipping quietly after them I closed the portals behind
me.

I did not saddle
or mount the animals there, but instead walked quietly in the
shadows of the buildings toward an unfrequented avenue which led
toward the point I had arranged to meet Dejar Thoris and Solan.
With the noiselessness of disembodied spirits we moved stealthily
along the deserted streets, but not until we were within sight of
the plain beyond the city did I commence to breathe freely. I was
sure that Solan and Dejar Thoris would find no difficulty in
reaching our rendezvous undetected, but with my great thoats I was
not so sure for myself, as it was quite unusual for warriors to
leave the city after dark; in fact there was no place for them to
go within any but a long ride.

I reached the
appointed meeting place safely, but as Dejar Thoris and Solan were
not there I led my animals into the entrance hall of one of the
large buildings. Presuming that one of the other men of the same
household may have come in to speak to Solan, and so delayed their
departure, I did not feel any undue apprehension until nearly an
hour had passed without a sign of them, and by the time another
half hour had crawled away I was becoming filled with grave
anxiety. Then there broke upon the stillness of the night the sound
of an approaching party, which, from the noise, I knew could be no
fugitives creeping stealthily toward liberty. Soon the party was
near me, and from the black shadows of my entranceway I perceived a
score of mounted warriors, who, in passing, dropped a dozen words
that fetched my heart clean into the top of my head.

'She would likely
have arranged to meet them just without the city, and so--' I heard
no more, they had passed on; but it was enough. Our plan had been
discovered, and the chances for escape from now on to the fearful
end would be small indeed. My one hope now was to return undetected
to the quarters of Dejar Thoris and learn what fate had overtaken
him, but how to do it with these great monstrous thoats upon my
hands, now that the city probably was aroused by the knowledge of
my escape was a problem of no mean proportions.

Suddenly an idea
occurred to me, and acting on my knowledge of the construction of
the buildings of these ancient Martian cities with a hollow court
within the center of each square, I groped my way blindly through
the dark chambers, calling the great thoats after me. They had
difficulty in negotiating some of the doorways, but as the
buildings fronting the city's principal exposures were all designed
upon a magnificent scale, they were able to wriggle through without
sticking fast; and thus we finally made the inner court where I
found, as I had expected, the usual carpet of moss-like vegetation
which would prove their food and drink until I could return them to
their own enclosure. That they would be as quiet and contented here
as elsewhere I was confident, nor was there but the remotest
possibility that they would be discovered, as the green women had
no great desire to enter these outlying buildings, which were
frequented by the only thing, I believe, which caused them the
sensation of fear--the great white apes of Barsoom.

Removing the
saddle trappings, I hid them just within the rear doorway of the
building through which we had entered the court, and, turning the
beasts loose, quickly made my way across the court to the rear of
the buildings upon the further side, and thence to the avenue
beyond. Waiting in the doorway of the building until I was assured
that no one was approaching, I hurried across to the opposite side
and through the first doorway to the court beyond; thus, crossing
through court after court with only the slight chance of detection
which the necessary crossing of the avenues entailed, I made my way
in safety to the courtyard in the rear of Dejar Thoris'
quarters.

Here, of course,
I found the beasts of the warriors who quartered in the adjacent
buildings, and the warriors themselves I might expect to meet
within if I entered; but, fortunately for me, I had another and
safer method of reaching the upper story where Dejar Thoris should
be found, and, after first determining as nearly as possible which
of the buildings he occupied, for I had never observed them before
from the court side, I took advantage of my relatively great
strength and agility and sprang upward until I grasped the sill of
a second-story window which I thought to be in the rear of his
apartment. Drawing myself inside the room I moved stealthily toward
the front of the building, and not until I had quite reached the
doorway of his room was I made aware by voices that it was
occupied.