SLAVERY
As the ruler of Ptarth, by his courtiers, from the landing stage above the palace, the into their places in the of their or masters, and the others one to the last. Then he the from his right foot, it into his pocket-pouch.
When the party had come to the levels, and the had them by a sign, none noticed that the who had so much attention to himself the Prince of Helium departed, was no longer among the other servants.
To he had been none had to inquire, for the of a Martian are many, and going at the of their master, so that a new is questioned, as the that a man has passed the is proof positive that his to the is question, so is the of each who service with the of the court.
A good that, and only by in of the of visiting from a power.
It was late in the of the next day that a man in the of the house of a great Ptarth passed out into the city from the gates. Along one and then another he until he had passed the of the and had come to the place of shops. Here he a that rose spire-like toward the heavens, its with and mosaics.
It was the Palace of Peace in which were the of the powers, or in which were their embassies; for the ministers themselves in the by the nobles.
Here the man the of Dusar. A as he entered, and at his to have a word with the minister asked his credentials. The visitor a plain metal from above his elbow, and pointing to an upon its surface, a word or two to the clerk.
The latter’s wide, and his at once to one of deference. He the to a seat, and to an room with the in his hand. A moment later he and the into the presence of the minister.
For a long time the two were together, and when at last the man from the office his was in a of satisfaction. From the Palace of Peace he directly to the of the Dusarian minister.
That night two left the same top. One its toward Helium; the other—
Thuvia of Ptarth in the gardens of her father’s palace, as was her retiring. Her and were about her, for the air of Mars is after the sun has taken his quick the planet’s western verge.
The girl’s from her nuptials, that would make her of Kaol, to the person of the Heliumite who had his at her the day.
Whether it was or that her as she toward the southern where she had the lights of his the previous night, it would be difficult to say.
So, too, is it to just what her may have been as she the lights of a out of the from that very direction, as though toward her garden by the very of the princess’ thoughts.
She saw it circle above the until she was positive that it but in for a landing.
Presently the powerful of its from the bow. They upon the landing stage for a instant, the of the Ptarthian guard, into points of fire the upon their harnesses.
Then the across the and minarets, into and park and garden to pause at last upon the bench and the girl there it, her full toward the flier.
For but an the upon Thuvia of Ptarth, then it was as as it had come to life. The passed on above her to a of trees that the grounds.
The girl for some time as it had left her, that her was and her in thought.
Who but Carthoris it have been? She to anger that he should have returned thus, upon her; but she it difficult to be angry with the of Helium.
What have him so to the of nations? For great powers had gone to war.
The in her was and angered—but what of the girl!
And the guard—what of them? Evidently they, too, had been so much by the action of the that they had not challenged; but that they had no to let the thing go was by the of upon the landing stage and the quick of a long-lined boat.
Thuvia it eastward. So, too, did other watch.
Within the of the grove, in a wide o’erspreading foliage, a a dozen above the ground. From its the far-fanning of the boat. No light from the craft. Upon its was the of the tomb. Its of a half-dozen red the lights of the in the distance.
“The of our are with us to-night,” said one in a low tone.
“No plan better,” returned another. “They did as the foretold.”
He who had spoken toward the man who the board.
“Now!” he whispered. There was no other order given. Every man upon the had been well in each detail of that night’s work. Silently the dark the of the dark and grove.
Thuvia of Ptarth, toward the east, saw the against the of the trees as the the garden wall. She saw the toward the of the garden.
She that men came not thus with intent. Yet she did not to the near-by guardsmen, did she to the safety of the palace.
Why?
I can see her her in reply as she voices the age-old, answer of the woman: Because!
Scarce had the touched the ground when four men from its deck. They ran toward the girl.
Still she no of alarm, as though hypnotized. Or it have been as one who a welcome visitor?
Not until they were close to her did she move. Then the nearer moon, above the foliage, touched their faces, all with the of her rays.
Thuvia of Ptarth saw only strangers—warriors in the of Dusar. Now she took fright, but too late!
Before she voice but a single cry, hands her. A was about her head. She was in arms and to the of the flier. There was the of propellers, the of air against her body, and, from the and the challenge from the guard.
Racing toward the south another toward Helium. In its a tall red man over the soft of an sandal. With he the of a small object which appeared there. Upon a him was the of a key, and here he noted the results of his measurements.
A played upon his as he his and to one who waited at the opposite of the table.
“The man is a genius,” he remarked.
“Only a have such a lock as this is designed to spring. Here, take the sketch, Larok, and give all own full and in it in metal.”
The warrior-artificer bowed. “Man naught,” he said, “that man may not destroy.” Then he left the with the sketch.
As upon the towers which mark the of Helium—the tower of one and the yellow tower of its sister—a out of the north.
Upon its was the of a of a city of the of Helium. Its approach and the with which it moved across the city no in the minds of the guard. Their of nearly done, they had little the of those who were to them.
Peace Helium. Stagnant, peace. Helium had no enemies. There was to fear.
Without the nearest air about and approached the stranger. At easy speaking the officer upon her the craft.
The “Kaor!” and the that the owner had come from parts for a days of in Helium sufficed. The air-patrol off, again upon its way. The toward a public landing stage, where she into the and came to rest.
At about the same time a entered her cabin.
“It is done, Vas Kor,” he said, a small metal key to the tall who had just from his sleeping and furs.
“Good!” the latter. “You must have upon it all the night, Larok.”
The nodded.
“Now me the Heliumetic metal you some days since,” Vas Kor.
This done, the his master to replace the metal of his with the of an ordinary man of Helium, and with the of the same house that appeared upon the of the flier.
Vas Kor on board. Then he upon the dock, entered an elevator, and was to the below, where he was soon by the early of to their daily duties.
Among them his were no more than is a pair of upon Broadway. All Martian men are warriors, save those physically unable to arms. The and his with their as they their vocations. The schoolboy, into the world, as he does, almost adult from the that has his for five long years, so little of life without a at his that he would the same at going that an Earth boy would in walking the knicker-bockerless.
Vas Kor’s in Greater Helium, which some seventy-five miles across the level plain from Lesser Helium. He had at the city the air is less and than that above the larger where the of the jeddak.
As he moved with the in the of the the life of an Martian city was in about him. Houses, high upon their metal for the night were toward the ground. Among the flowers upon the which about the children were already playing, and laughing and with their as they for the doors.
The “kaor” of the Barsoomian upon the ears of the as friends and took up the of a new day.
The in which he had was residential—a of merchants of the more sort. Everywhere were of luxury and wealth. Slaves appeared upon every with and furs, them in the sun for airing. Jewel-encrusted thus early upon the their sleeping apartments. Later in the day they would repair to the when the had and to them from the sun.
Strains of music from open windows, for the Martians have solved the problem of the nerves to the from sleep to that proves so difficult a thing for most Earth folk.
Above him the long, light fliers, plying, each in its proper plane, the landing for traffic. Landing that tower high into the are for the great liners. Freighters have other landing at levels, to a of hundred of the ground; any or from one plane to another in restricted where traffic is forbidden.
Along the close-cropped which the ground were moving in lines in opposite directions. For the part they along the surface of the sward, into the air at times to pass over a slower-going driver ahead, or at intersections, where the north and south traffic has the right of way and the east and west must above it.
From private upon many a top were into the line of traffic. Gay and with the of and the of the city.
Yet with all the movement and the thousands and thither, the was that of and soft noiselessness.
Martians harsh, clamour. The only loud they can are the of war, the of arms, the of two of the air. To them there is no music than this.
At the of two Vas Kor from the level to one of the great of the city. Here he paid a little the to his with a of the dull, of Helium.
Beyond the he came to a slowly moving line of what to Earthly would have appeared to be conical-nosed, eight-foot for some gun. In slow the moved in single file along a track. A dozen to enter, or these to their proper destination.
Vas Kor approached one that was empty. Upon its nose was a and a pointer. He set the for a station in Greater Helium, the of the thing, in and upon the bottom. An closed the lid, which locked with a little click, and the its slow way.
Presently it itself to another track, to enter, a moment later, one of the series of dark-mouthed tubes.
The that its entire length was the black it with the speed of a ball. There was an of whizzing—a soft, though sudden, stop, and slowly the upon another platform, another the and Vas Kor out at the station the centre of Greater Helium, seventy-five miles from the point at which he had embarked.
Here he the level, into a waiting ground flier. He spoke no word to the in the driver’s seat. It was that he had been expected, and that the had his his coming.
Scarcely had Vas Kor taken his seat when the into the fast-moving procession, presently from the and into a less street. Presently it left the to enter a of small shops, where it stopped the entrance to one which the of a in silks.
Vas Kor entered the low-ceiling room. A man at the end him toward an apartment, no of until he had passed in after the and closed the door.
Then he his visitor, deferentially.
“Most noble—” he commenced, but Vas Kor him with a gesture.
“No formalities,” he said. “We must that I am other than your slave. If all has been as out as it has been planned, we have no time to waste. Instead we should be upon our way to the market. Are you ready?”
The merchant nodded, and, to a great chest, produced the of a slave. These Vas Kor donned. Then the two passed from the shop through a door, a to an beyond, where they entered a which them.
Five minutes later the merchant was leading his to the public market, where a great of people the great open space in the centre of which the block.
The were to-day, for Carthoris, Prince of Helium, was to be the bidder.
One by one the masters the the upon which their chattels. Briefly and each the of his particular offering.
When all were done, the major-domo of the Prince of Helium to the such as had him. For such he had a offer.
There was little as to price, and none at all when Vas Kor was upon the block. His merchant-master the offer that was for him, and thus a Dusarian entered the of Carthoris.
