A PRINCESS OF MARS
A PRISONER
We had gone ten miles when the ground to very rapidly. We were, as I was later to learn, the of one of Mars' long-dead seas, in the of which my with the Martians had taken place.
In a time we the of the mountains, and after a narrow came to an open valley, at the of which was a low table land upon which I an city. Toward this we galloped, entering it by what appeared to be a leading out from the city, but only to the of the table land, where it ended in a of steps.
Upon closer I saw as we passed them that the were deserted, and while not had the of not having been for years, possibly for ages. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza, and upon this and in the it were some nine or ten hundred of the same as my captors, for such I now them despite the manner in which I had been trapped.
With the of their all were naked. The in but little from the men, that their were much larger in to their height, in some nearly to their high-set ears. Their were smaller and in color, and their and the rudiments of nails, which were among the males. The adult in from ten to twelve feet.
The children were light in color, than the women, and all looked to me, that some were than others; older, I presumed.
I saw no of age among them, is there any in their from the age of maturity, about forty, until, at about the age of one thousand years, they go upon their last the river Iss, which leads no Martian and from no Martian has returned, or would be allowed to live did he return after once upon its cold, dark waters.
Only about one Martian in a thousand dies of or disease, and possibly about twenty take the pilgrimage. The other nine hundred and seventy-nine die deaths in duels, in hunting, in and in war; but by the death comes the age of childhood, when numbers of the little Martians to the great white of Mars.
The life of a Martian after the age of is about three hundred years, but would be nearer the one-thousand mark were it not for the means leading to death. Owing to the of the it necessary to the which their skill in and produced, and so life has come to be but on Mars, as is by their and the almost the communities.
There are other and natural toward a of population, but nothing so to this end as the that no male or female Martian is without a of destruction.
As we the and my presence was we were by hundreds of the who to me from my seat my guard. A word from the leader of the party their clamor, and we at a across the to the entrance of as an as has rested upon.
The was low, but an area. It was of white marble with gold and which and in the sunlight. The main entrance was some hundred in and from the proper to a above the entrance hall. There was no stairway, but a to the of the opened into an by galleries.
On the of this chamber, which was with and chairs, were assembled about or fifty male Martians around the steps of a rostrum. On the proper an with metal ornaments, gay-colored and leather set with stones. From his a of white with silk.
What me as most about this and the in which they were was the that the were out of to the desks, chairs, and other furnishings; these being of a size to beings such as I, the great of the Martians have into the chairs, was there room the for their long legs. Evidently, then, there were other on Mars than the wild and into hands I had fallen, but the of which all around me that these might have to some long-extinct and in the of Mars.
Our party had at the entrance to the building, and at a from the leader I had been to the ground. Again locking his arm in mine, we had into the audience chamber. There were in the Martian chieftain. My up to the rostrum, the others making way for him as he advanced. The rose to his and the name of my who, in turn, and the name of the ruler by his title.
At the time, this and the they meant nothing to me, but later I came to know that this was the green Martians. Had the men been strangers, and therefore unable to names, they would have ornaments, had their been peaceful—otherwise they would have shots, or have out their with some other of their weapons.
My captor, name was Tars Tarkas, was the vice-chieftain of the community, and a man of great ability as a and warrior. He the with his expedition, my capture, and when he had the me at some length.
I in our good old English to him that neither of us the other; but I noticed that when I on concluding, he did likewise. This fact, and the my talk with Tars Tarkas, me that we had at least something in common; the ability to smile, therefore to laugh; a of humor. But I was to learn that the Martian is perfunctory, and that the Martian laugh is a thing to men to in horror.
The ideas of among the green men of Mars are at with our of to merriment. The death of a being are, to these creatures, of the hilarity, while their of is to death on their of in and ways.
The assembled and me closely, my and the of my skin. The then a to see me perform, and, me to follow, he started with Tars Tarkas for the open plaza.
Now, I had no attempt to walk, since my failure, while Tars Tarkas' arm, and so now I and about among the and chairs like some grasshopper. After myself severely, much to the of the Martians, I again had to creeping, but this did not them and I was to my by a who had laughed most at my misfortunes.
As he me upon my his was close to mine and I did the only thing a might do under the of brutality, boorishness, and of for a stranger's rights; I my to his and he like a ox. As he to the I around with my toward the nearest desk, to be by the of his fellows, but to give them as good a as the would permit I gave up my life.
My were groundless, however, as the other Martians, at with wonderment, into wild of and applause. I did not the as such, but later, when I had with their customs, I learned that I had what they accord, a of approbation.
The I had where he had fallen, did any of his approach him. Tars Tarkas toward me, out one of his arms, and we thus to the without mishap. I did not, of course, know the for which we had come to the open, but I was not long in being enlightened. They the word "sak" a number of times, and then Tars Tarkas jumps, the same word each leap; then, to me, he said, "sak!" I saw what they were after, and myself together I "sakked" with such success that I a good hundred and fifty feet; did I, this time, my equilibrium, but upon my without falling. I then returned by easy jumps of twenty-five or thirty to the little group of warriors.
My had been by hundred Martians, and they into for a repetition, which the then ordered me to make; but I was and thirsty, and on the spot that my only method of was to the from these which they would not accord. I therefore the to "sak," and each time they were I to my mouth and my stomach.
Tars Tarkas and the a words, and the former, calling to a female among the throng, gave her some and me to her. I her arm and together we the toward a large on the side.
My was about eight tall, having just at maturity, but not yet to her full height. She was of a light olive-green color, with a smooth, hide. Her name, as I learned, was Sola, and she to the of Tars Tarkas. She me to a in one of the on the plaza, and which, from the of and upon the floor, I took to be the sleeping of of the natives.
The room was well by a number of large and was with paintings and mosaics, but upon all there to that touch of the of which me that the and of these had nothing in common with the half-brutes which now them.
Sola me to be seated upon a of near the center of the room, and, turning, a sound, as though to someone in an room. In response to her call I my of a new Martian wonder. It in on its ten legs, and the girl like an puppy. The thing was about the size of a Shetland pony, but its a to that of a frog, that the were with three of long, tusks.
