UNDER THE MOUNTAINS
As we up the river which the Golden Cliffs out of the of the Mountains of Otz to its dark with the and Iss the which had appeared us into an all-enveloping radiance.
The river until it presented the of a large dome, by rock, was with the of the diamond, the sapphire, the ruby, and the countless, of Barsoom which in the gold which the major of these cliffs.
Beyond the of the was darkness—what the I not guess.
To have the across the water would have been to detection, and so, though I was to permit Thurid to pass for an my sight, I was to wait in the until the other had passed from my at the of the lake.
Then I out upon the surface in the direction they had taken.
When, after what an eternity, I the at the upper end of the I that the river from a low aperture, to pass which it was necessary that I Woola to in the boat, and I, myself, must need the low my head.
Immediately the rose again upon the other side, but no longer was the way lighted. Instead only a from small and of in and roof.
Directly me the river ran into this smaller through three openings.
Thurid and the were to be seen—into which of the dark had they disappeared? There was no means by which I might know, and so I the center opening as being as likely to lead me in the right direction as another.
Here the way was through darkness. The was narrow—so narrow that in the I was one and then another as the river and along its bed.
Far ahead I presently a and which in as I advanced, and then upon my ears with all the of its as I a into a of water.
Directly me the river from above in a that the narrow from to side, above me hundred feet—as a as I had seen.
But the roar—the awful, of those in the rocky, vault! Had the not my passage and me that I had the I that I should have the tumult.
Thurid and the not have come this way. By upon the I had the trail, and they had so much ahead of me that now I might not be able to them it was too late, if, in fact, I them at all.
It had taken hours to my way up to the against the current, and other hours would be for the descent, although the would be much swifter.
With a I the of my stream, and with with speed through the dark and until once again I came to the into which the three of the river.
Two still from which to choose; was there any means by which I judge which was the more likely to lead me to the plotters.
Never in my life, that I can recall, have I such an of indecision. So much upon a choice; so much upon haste.
The hours that I had already might seal the of the Dejah Thoris were she not already dead—to other hours, and maybe days in a of another lead would prove fatal.
Several times I the right-hand entrance only to turn as though by some that this was not the way. At last, by the oft-recurring phenomenon, I my all upon the left-hand archway; yet it was with a that I a look at the which rolled, dark and forbidding, from the grim, low on the right.
And as I looked there came out upon the from the Stygian of the the of one of the great, fruits of the tree.
I a of as this silent, messenger past me, on toward the Iss and Korus, for it told me that Martians were above me on that very stream.
They had of this fruit which nature the hard of the nut, and having had the overboard. It have come from no others than the party I sought.
Quickly I all of the left-hand passage, and a moment later had into the right. The soon widened, and of my way.
I good time, but was that I was nearly a day those I was tracking. Neither Woola I had since the previous day, but in so as he was it but little, since all the animals of the sea of Mars are able to go for without nourishment.
Nor did I suffer. The water of the river was sweet and cold, for it was by bodies—like the Iss—and as for food, why the that I was my me above every material want.
As I proceeded, the river and the and turbulent—so in that it was with that I my at all. I not have been making to a hundred yards an hour when, at a bend, I was by a series of through which the river and at a rate.
My me. The had proved a false prophet, and, after all, my had been correct—it was the left-hand that I should have followed.
Had I been a woman I should have wept. At my right was a great, slow-moving that the cliff's side, and to my I let my into its embrace.
I was almost by disappointment. It would another half-day's of time to my way and take the only passage that yet unexplored. What had me to select from three possible the two that were wrong?
As the lazy of the me slowly about the of the circle my twice touched the of the river in the dark the cliff. A third time it struck, as it had before, but the resulted in a different sound—the of upon wood.
In an I was on the alert, for there be no that river that had not been man brought. Almost with my of the noise, my hand out across the boat's side, and a second later I my the of another craft.
As though to I sat in and silence, my into the me in an to if the were occupied.
It was possible that there might be men on it who were still of my presence, for the was against the upon one side, so that the touch of my upon the other easily have gone unnoticed.
Peer as I would I not the darkness, and then I for the of near me; but for the noise of the rapids, the soft of the boats, and the of the water at their I no sound. As usual, I rapidly.
A rope in the of my own craft. Very I it up, and making one end fast to the ring in the I into the me. In one hand I the rope, in the other my long-sword.
For a full minute, perhaps, I after entering the craft. It had a my weight, but it had been the of its against the of my own that had most likely to its occupants, if there were any.
But there was no sound, and a moment later I had from to and the deserted.
Groping with my hands along the of the to which the was moored, I a narrow which I must be the taken by those who had come me. That they be none other than Thurid and his party I was by the size and of the I had found.
Calling to Woola to me I out upon the ledge. The great, brute, as a cat, after me.
As he passed through the that had been by Thurid and the he a single low growl, and when he came me upon the and my hand rested upon his I his with anger. I think he the presence of an enemy, for I had no to to him the nature of our or the of those we tracked.
This I now to correct, and, after the manner of green Martians with their beasts, I let him know by the and of Barsoom and by word of mouth that we were upon the of those who had the through which we had just passed.
A soft purr, like that of a great cat, that Woola understood, and then, with a word to him to follow, I to the right along the ledge, but had I done so than I his at my harness.
As I to the of his act he to me in the opposite direction, would he until I had about and that I would him voluntarily.
Never had I him to be in error in a of tracking, so it was with a of entire security that I moved in the beast's wake. Through Cimmerian he moved along the narrow the rapids.
As we advanced, the way from the out into a light, and then it was that I saw that the had been cut from the rock, and that it ran up along the river's the rapids.
For hours we the dark and river and into the of Mars. From the direction and I that we must be well the Valley Dor, and possibly the Sea of Omean as well—it not be much now to the Temple of the Sun.
Even as my mind the thought, Woola a narrow, in the by the trail's side. Quickly he away from the entrance, at the same time his toward me.
Words not have more told me that of some near by, and so I pressed to his side, and him looked into the at our right.
Before me was a fair-sized that, from its appointments, I must have at one time been a guardroom. There were for weapons, and for the sleeping and of the warriors, but now its only were two of the who had been of the party with Thurid and Matai Shang.
The men were in conversation, and from their it was that they were that they had listeners.
"I tell you," one of them was saying, "I do not trust the black one. There was no for us here to the way. Against what, pray, should we this long-forgotten, path? It was but a to our numbers.
"He will have Matai Shang others on some or other, and then at last he will upon us with his and us all."
"I you, Lakor," the other, "there can be else than and First Born. And what think you of the of the light? 'Let the light with the of three for fifty tals, and for one let it with the of one unit, and then for twenty-five with nine units.' Those were his very words, and to think that wise old Matai Shang should to such foolishness."
"Indeed, it is silly," Lakor. "It will open nothing other than the way to a quick death for us all. He had to make some answer when Matai Shang asked him what he should do when he came to the Temple of the Sun, and so he his answer from his imagination—I would a hekkador's that he not now repeat it himself."
"Let us not here longer, Lakor," spoke the other thern. "Perchance if we after them we may come in time to Matai Shang, and our own upon the black dator. What say you?"
"Never in a long life," answered Lakor, "have I a single of the Father of Therns. I shall here until I if he not return to me elsewhere."
Lakor's his head.
"You are my superior," he said; "I cannot do other than you sanction, though I still that we are to remain."
I, too, that they were to remain, for I saw from Woola's that the through the room where the two guard. I had no to any love for this of self-deified demons, yet I would have passed them by were it possible without them.
It was trying anyway, for a might us considerably, or put an end to my search—better men than I have gone of ability than that by the warriors.
Signaling Woola to I into the room the two men. At of me their long-swords from the at their sides, but I my hand in a of restraint.
"I Thurid, the black dator," I said. "My is with him, not with you. Let me pass then in peace, for if I mistake not he is as much your enemy as mine, and you can have no to protect him."
They their and Lakor spoke.
"I know not you may be, with the white skin of a and the black of a red man; but were it only Thurid safety were at you might pass, and welcome, in so as we be concerned.
"Tell us who you be, and what mission calls you to this unknown world the Valley Dor, then maybe we can see our way to let you pass upon the which we should like to would our orders permit."
I was that neither of them had me, for I that I was well either by personal or to every upon Barsoom as to make my identity in any part of the planet. In fact, I was the only white man upon Mars was black and were gray, with the of my son, Carthoris.
To my identity might be to an attack, for every upon Barsoom that to me they the of their age-old supremacy. On the other hand my as a man might be to pass me by these two were their not of the right to welcome a to the death.
To be I did not attempt to myself with any such sophistry, since I well that upon war-like Mars there are cowards, and that every man, prince, priest, or peasant, in strife. And so I my long-sword the as I to Lakor.
"I that you will see the of me to pass unmolested," I said, "for it would you nothing to die in the of Barsoom to protect a enemy, such as Thurid, Dator of the First Born.
"That you shall die should you elect to oppose me is by the of all the many great Barsoomian who have gone this blade—I am John Carter, Prince of Helium."
For a moment that name to the two men; but only for a moment, and then the of them, with a name upon his lips, toward me with sword.
He had been a little his companion, Lakor, our parley, and now, he me, the older man his and him back.
"Hold!" Lakor. "There will be of time to if we it wise to at all. There be good why every upon Barsoom should to the blood of the blasphemer, the sacrilegist; but let us mix with our hate. The Prince of Helium is upon an which we ourselves, but a moment since, were that we might undertake.
"Let him go then and the black. When he returns we shall still be here to his way to the world, and thus we shall have ourselves of two enemies, have the of the Father of Therns."
As he spoke I not but note the in his eyes, and while I saw the logic of his I felt, perhaps, that his did but some intent. The other toward him in surprise, but when Lakor had a into his ear he, too, and to his superior's suggestion.
"Proceed, John Carter," said Lakor; "but know that if Thurid not you low there will be those your return who will see that you pass again into the of the upper world. Go!"
During our Woola had been and close to my side. Occasionally he would look up into my with a low, whine, as though for the word that would send him at the him. He, too, the the words.
Beyond the opened off the guardroom, and toward the one upon the right Lakor motioned.
"That way leads to Thurid," he said.
But when I would have called Woola to me there the and back, and at last ran to the opening at the left, where he his bark, as though me to him upon the right way.
I a look upon Lakor.
"The is wrong," I said, "and while I do not your knowledge, Thern, I think that I shall do well to to the voice of that is by love and loyalty."
As I spoke I that he might know without that I him.
"As you will," the with a shrug. "In the end it shall be all the same."
I and Woola into the left-hand passage, and though my was toward my enemies, my ears were on the alert; yet I no of pursuit. The was by occasional bulbs, the medium of Barsoom.
These same may have been doing in these for ages, since they no attention and are so that they give off but the of their in the of years of luminosity.
We had for but a when we to pass the mouths of corridors, but not once did Woola hesitate. It was at the opening to one of these upon my right that I presently a that spoke more to John Carter, man, than the of my mother tongue—it was the of metal—the metal of a warrior's harness—and it came from a little up the upon my right.
Woola it, too, and like a he had and the danger, his all and all his of by snarling, lips. With a I him, and together we into another a on.
Here we waited; did we have long to wait, for presently we saw the of two men upon the of the main the of our place. Very they were moving now—the that had me was not repeated.
Presently they came opposite our station; was I to see that the two were Lakor and his of the guardroom.
They walked very softly, and in the right hand of each a long-sword. They close to the entrance of our retreat, to each other.
"Can it be that we have them already?" said Lakor.
"Either that or the has the man upon a trail," the other, "for the way which we took is by the to this point—for him who it. John Carter would have it a road to death had he taken it as you to him."
"Yes," said Lakor, "no amount of ability would have saved him from the flagstone. He surely would have upon it, and by now, if the it has a bottom, which Thurid denies, he should have been it. Curses on that of his that him toward the avenue!"
"There be other ahead of him, though," spoke Lakor's fellow, "which he may not so easily escape—should he succeed in our two good swords. Consider, for example, what he will have, into the of—"
