A PRINCESS OF MARS
A PRISONER WITH POWER
As I entered and saluted, Lorquas Ptomel me to advance, and, his great, upon me, me thus:
"You have been with us a days, yet that time you have by your a high position among us. Be that as it may, you are not one of us; you us no allegiance.
"Your position is a one," he continued; "you are a and yet you give which must be obeyed; you are an and yet you are a Tharkian chieftain; you are a and yet you can kill a with one of your fist. And now you are reported to have been to with another of another race; a who, from her own admission, you are returned from the of Dor. Either one of these accusations, if proved, would be for your execution, but we are a just people and you shall have a trial on our return to Thark, if Tal Hajus so commands.
"But," he continued, in his tones, "if you off with the red girl it is I who shall have to account to Tal Hajus; it is I who shall have to Tars Tarkas, and either my right to command, or the metal from my will go to a man, for such is the of the Tharks.
"I have no with Tars Tarkas; together we the of the among the green men; we do not wish to ourselves; and so if you were dead, John Carter, I should be glad. Under two only, however, may you be killed by us without orders from Tal Hajus; in personal in self-defense, should you attack one of us, or were you in an attempt to escape.
"As a of I must you that we only one of these two for ourselves of so great a responsibility. The safe of the red girl to Tal Hajus is of the importance. Not in a thousand years have the Tharks such a capture; she is the of the of the red jeddaks, who is also our enemy. I have spoken. The red girl told us that we were without the of humanity, but we are a just and race. You may go."
Turning, I left the audience chamber. So this was the of Sarkoja's persecution! I that none other be for this report which had the ears of Lorquas Ptomel so quickly, and now I those of our which had touched upon and upon my origin.
Sarkoja was at this time Tars Tarkas' and most female. As such she was a power the throne, for no had the of Lorquas Ptomel to such an as did his lieutenant, Tars Tarkas.
However, of of possible from my mind, my audience with Lorquas Ptomel only to center my every on this subject. Now, more than before, the for escape, in so as Dejah Thoris was concerned, was upon me, for I was that some her at the of Tal Hajus.
As by Sola, this was the of all the of cruelty, ferocity, and from which he had descended. Cold, cunning, calculating; he was, also, in marked to most of his fellows, a to that which the for upon their has almost in the Martian breast.
The that the Dejah Thoris might into the of such an started the cold upon me. Far that we save for ourselves at the last moment, as did those of my land, who took their own than into the hands of the Indian braves.
As I about the in my Tars Tarkas approached me on his way from the audience chamber. His toward me was unchanged, and he me as though we had not just a moments before.
"Where are your quarters, John Carter?" he asked.
"I have none," I replied. "It best that I either by myself or among the other warriors, and I was an opportunity to ask your advice. As you know," and I smiled, "I am not yet familiar with all the of the Tharks."
"Come with me," he directed, and together we moved off across the to a which I was to see that by Sola and her charges.
"My are on the of this building," he said, "and the second also is by warriors, but the third and the above are vacant; you may take your choice of these.
"I understand," he continued, "that you have up your woman to the red prisoner. Well, as you have said, your are not our ways, but you can well to do about as you please, and so, if you wish to give your woman to a captive, it is your own affair; but as a you should have those to you, and in with our you may select any or all the from the retinues of the metal you now wear."
I thanked him, but him that I along very without in the of preparing food, and so he promised to send to me for this purpose and also for the of my arms and the of my ammunition, which he said would be necessary. I that they might also some of the sleeping and which to me as of combat, for the nights were cold and I had none of my own.
He promised to do so, and departed. Left alone, I the to the upper in search of quarters. The of the other were in this, and, as usual, I was soon in a of and discovery.
I a room on the third floor, this me nearer to Dejah Thoris, was on the second of the building, and it upon me that I up some means of she might me in case she needed either my services or my protection.
Adjoining my sleeping were baths, rooms, and other sleeping and apartments, in all some ten rooms on this floor. The of the rooms an court, which the center of the square by the which the four streets, and which was now over to the of the animals to the the buildings.
While the was with the yellow, moss-like which the entire surface of Mars, yet fountains, statuary, benches, and pergola-like to the which the must have presented in times, when by the fair-haired, laughing people and laws had not only from their homes, but from all the of their descendants.
One easily picture the of the Martian which once this with life and color; the of the women, the and men; the happy children—all sunlight, and peace. It was difficult to that they had gone; through of darkness, cruelty, and ignorance, until their of and had once more in the final which now is upon Mars.
My were cut by the of of weapons, silks, furs, jewels, cooking utensils, and of food and drink, from the air craft. All this, it seemed, had been the property of the two I had slain, and now, by the of the Tharks, it had mine. At my direction they the in one of the rooms, and then departed, only to return with a second load, which they me the of my goods. On the second they were by ten or fifteen other and youths, who, it seemed, the retinues of the two chieftains.
They were not their families, their wives, their servants; the relationship was peculiar, and so anything to us that it is most difficult to describe. All property among the green Martians is owned in common by the community, the personal weapons, and sleeping and of the individuals. These alone can one right to, may he more of these than are for his needs. The he as custodian, and it is passed on to the members of the as demands.
The and children of a man's may be to a unit for which he is in ways, as in of instruction, discipline, sustenance, and the of their roamings and their with other and with the red Martians. His are in no wives. The green Martians use no word in meaning with this word. Their is a of solely, and is without to natural selection. The of of each the as surely as the owner of a Kentucky the scientific of his stock for the of the whole.
In it may well, as is often the case with theories, but the results of of this practice, with the in the being to that of the mother, is in the cold, creatures, and their gloomy, loveless, existence.
It is true that the green Martians are virtuous, men and women, with the of such as Tal Hajus; but a of at the of a and occasional of chastity.
Finding that I must assume for these creatures, I would or not, I the best of it and them to on the upper floors, the third to me. One of the girls I with the of my cuisine, and the others to take up the which had their vocations. Thereafter I saw little of them, did I to.
