A PRINCESS OF MARS
LOST IN THE SKY
Without at I to the of our quarters, where I sure I should Kantos Kan. As I the I more careful, as I judged, and rightly, that the place would be guarded. Several men in metal near the entrance and in the were others. My only means of reaching, unseen, the upper where our were was through an building, and after I managed to the of a shop doors away.
Leaping from to roof, I soon an open window in the where I to the Heliumite, and in another moment I in the room him. He was alone and no at my coming, saying he had me much earlier, as my of must have ended some time since.
I saw that he nothing of the events of the day at the palace, and when I had him he was all excitement. The news that Dejah Thoris had promised her hand to Sab Than him with dismay.
"It cannot be," he exclaimed. "It is impossible! Why no man in all Helium but would death to the selling of our loved to the house of Zodanga. She must have her mind to have to such an bargain. You, who do not know how we of Helium love the members of our house, cannot the with which I such an alliance."
"What can be done, John Carter?" he continued. "You are a resourceful man. Can you not think of some way to save Helium from this disgrace?"
"If I can come sword's of Sab Than," I answered, "I can solve the in so as Helium is concerned, but for personal I would that another the that Dejah Thoris."
Kantos Kan me he spoke.
"You love her!" he said. "Does she know it?"
"She it, Kantos Kan, and repulses me only she is promised to Sab Than."
The to his feet, and me by the his on high, exclaiming:
"And had the choice been left to me I not have a more for the of Barsoom. Here is my hand upon your shoulder, John Carter, and my word that Sab Than shall go out at the point of my for the of my love for Helium, for Dejah Thoris, and for you. This very night I shall try to his in the palace."
"How?" I asked. "You are and a the sky."
He his in a moment, then it with an air of confidence.
"I only need to pass these and I can do it," he said at last. "I know a entrance to the through the of the tower. I upon it by one day as I was above the on duty. In this work it is that we any we may witness, and a from the of the high tower of the was, to me, most unusual. I therefore near and that the of the was none other than Sab Than. He was put out at being and me to keep the to myself, that the passage from the tower directly to his apartments, and was only to him. If I can the of the and my machine I can be in Sab Than's in five minutes; but how am I to from this building, as you say it is?"
"How well are the machine at the guarded?" I asked.
"There is but one man on there at night upon the roof."
"Go to the of this building, Kantos Kan, and wait me there."
Without stopping to my plans I retraced my way to the and to the barracks. I did not to enter the building, as it was with members of the air-scout squadron, who, in common with all Zodanga, were on the for me.
The was an one, its a thousand into the air. But in Zodanga were higher than these barracks, though it by a hundred feet; the of the great of the line some fifteen hundred from the ground, while the and of the merchant rose nearly as high.
It was a long climb up the of the building, and one with much danger, but there was no other way, and so I the task. The that Barsoomian is the much than I had anticipated, since I and which a perfect for me all the way to the of the building. Here I met my obstacle. The nearly twenty from the to which I clung, and though I the great I no opening through them.
The top was alight, and with soldiers in the of their kind; I not, therefore, the through the building.
There was one slight, chance, and that I I must take—it was for Dejah Thoris, and no man has who would not a thousand deaths for such as she.
Clinging to the with my and one hand, I one of the long leather of my at the end of which a great by which air are to the and of their for purposes of repair, and by means of which landing parties are to the ground from the battleships.
I this to the times it lodgment; I on it to its hold, but it would the weight of my I did not know. It might be upon the very of the roof, so that as my out at the end of the it would off and me to the a thousand below.
An I hesitated, and then, my upon the supporting ornament, I out into space at the end of the strap. Far me the streets, the hard pavements, and death. There was a little at the top of the supporting eaves, and a slipping, which me cold with apprehension; then the and I was safe.
Clambering I the of the and myself to the surface of the above. As I my I was by the on duty, into the of I myself looking.
"Who are you and came you?" he cried.
"I am an air scout, friend, and very near a one, for just by the I to the below," I replied.
"But how came you upon the roof, man? No one has or come up from the for the past hour. Quick, yourself, or I call the guard."
"Look you here, sentry, and you shall see how I came and how close a I had to not at all," I answered, toward the of the roof, where, twenty below, at the end of my strap, all my weapons.
The fellow, acting on of curiosity, to my and to his undoing, for as he to over the I him by his and his pistol arm and him to the roof. The from his grasp, and my off his for assistance. I and him and then him over the of the as I myself had a moments before. I it would be he would be discovered, and I needed all the time that I gain.
Donning my and I to the sheds, and soon had out my machine and Kantos Kan's. Making his fast mine I started my engine, and over the of the I into the of the city the plane by the air patrol. In less than a minute I was settling safely upon the of our the Kantos Kan.
I no time in explanation, but into a of our plans for the future. It was that I was to try to make Helium while Kantos Kan was to enter the and Sab Than. If successful he was then to me. He set my for me, a little device which will upon any point on the surface of Barsoom, and each other we rose together and in the direction of the which in the which I must take to Helium.
As we the high tower a from above, its full upon my craft, and a voice out a to halt, with a as I paid no attention to his hail. Kantos Kan into the darkness, while I rose and at speed raced through the Martian sky by a dozen of the air-scout which had joined the pursuit, and later by a a hundred men and a of rapid-fire guns. By and my little machine, now and now falling, I managed to their search-lights most of the time, but I was also ground by these tactics, and so I to on a straight-away and the result to and the speed of my machine.
Kantos Kan had me a of gearing, which is only to the of Helium, that the speed of our machines, so that I sure I my if I their for a moments.
As I through the air the of the around me me that only by a I escape, but the die was cast, and on full speed I raced a toward Helium. Gradually I left my and behind, and I was just myself on my lucky escape, when a well-directed from the at the of my little craft. The nearly her, and with a she through the dark night.
How I I of the plane I do not know, but I must have been very close to the ground when I started to again, as I the of animals me. Rising again I the for my pursuers, and making out their lights me, saw that they were landing, in search of me.
Not until their lights were no longer did I to my little lamp upon my compass, and then I to my that a of the had my only guide, as well as my speedometer. It was true I the in the direction of Helium, but without the exact of the city or the speed at which I was traveling my for it were slim.
Helium a thousand miles of Zodanga, and with my I should have the trip, accidents, in four and five hours. As it out, however, me over a of sea after nearly six hours of at high speed. Presently a great city me, but it was not Helium, as that alone of all Barsoomian in two about seventy-five miles and would have been easily from the at which I was flying.
Believing that I had come too to the north and west, I in a direction, the other large cities, but none the which Kantos Kan had me of Helium. In to the twin-city of Helium, another is the two towers, one of nearly a mile into the air from the center of one of the cities, while the other, of yellow and of the same height, marks her sister.
