THE FAIR RACE
Downward along a smooth, the tunnel, for such Carthoris was now was the nature of the he at had but a cave.
Before him he the occasional low of the banth, and presently from came a note. Another had entered the on his trail!
His position was anything but pleasant. His not the to the of his hand his face, while the banths, he knew, see well, though of light were utter.
No other came to his ears than the dismal, of the ahead and the behind.
The had straight, from where he had entered it the of the from the cliffs, toward the that had him so long.
Now it was almost level, and presently he noted a ascent.
The him was upon him, him close upon the of the in front. Presently he should have to do with one, or both. More he his weapon.
Now he the of the at his heels. Not for much longer he the encounter.
Long since he had that the the to the opposite of the barrier, and he had that he might the open being to with either of the monsters.
The sun had been setting as he entered the tunnel, and the way had been long to him that now upon the world without. He him. Blazing out of the darkness, not ten behind, two points of fire. As the met his, the a and then he charged.
To that of ferocity, to the that he were in blood-thirstiness, though he not see them, nerves of steel; but of such were the nerves of Carthoris of Helium.
He had the brute’s to his point, and, as true as the hand of his sire, his the point to one of those orbs, as he to one side.
With a of pain and rage, the hurtled, clawing, past him. Then it to once more; but this time Carthoris saw but a single point of upon him.
Again the point met its target. Again the of the through the tunnel, in its torture-laden shrillness, in its volume.
But now, as it to again, the man had no to direct his point. He the of the upon the floor. He the thing was upon him once again, but he see nothing.
Yet, if he not see his antagonist, neither his now see him.
Leaping, as he thought, to the exact centre of the tunnel, he his point on a line with the beast’s chest. It was all that he do, that might send the point into the as he the great body.
So was the thing over that Carthoris his as the past him. Either he had not himself in the centre of the tunnel, or else the had in its calculations.
However, the missed him by a foot, and the on the as though in of the that had him.
Carthoris, too, the same direction, was it long his was by the of the from the long, dark passage.
Before him a hollow, by cliffs. The surface of the was with trees, a so from a Martian waterway. The ground itself was in sward, out with of wild flowers.
Beneath the of the two the was one of loveliness, with the of enchantment.
For only an instant, however, did his upon the natural him. Almost they were upon the of a great across the of a new-killed thoat.
The beast, his around his head, his upon another that and thither, with of pain, and of and rage.
Carthoris that the second was the one he had the in the tunnel, but it was the that his more than either of the carnivores.
The was still upon the of the Martian mount, and Carthoris not but that this was the very animal upon which the green had away Thuvia of Ptarth.
But where were the and his prisoner? The Prince of Helium as he upon the of the that had overtaken them.
Human is the food most by the Barsoomian lion, great and of meat to them.
Two would have but the creature’s appetite, and that he had killed and the green man and the red girl only too likely to Carthoris. He had left the of the to be after having the more tooth-some of his banquet.
Now the banth, in its savage, and counter-charging, had passed the kill of its fellow, and there the light that was the of new blood to its nostrils.
No longer were its movements erratic. With and it as an arrow, for the of the and the of that with upon the slate-grey side, waiting to its meat.
When the was twenty from the the gave to its challenge, and with a to meet it.
The that the Barsoomian. The rending, the and roaring, the of the blood-stained him in the of fascination, and when it was over and the two creatures, their and to ribbons, with their still in each other’s bodies, Carthoris himself from the spell only by an of the will.
Hurrying to the of the thoat, he for of the girl he had the thoat’s fate, but he anything to his fears.
With he started out to the valley, but a dozen steps had he taken when the of a on the his eye.
As he it up his him that it was a woman’s ornament, and upon it was the of the house of Ptarth.
But, discovery, blood, still wet, the of the setting.
Carthoris as the possibilities which the thing presented themselves to his imagination. Yet he not, would not it.
It was that that have met so an end. It was that the Thuvia should to be.
Upon his already jewel-encrusted harness, to the that his great which his heart, Carthoris, Prince of Helium, the thing that Thuvia of Ptarth had worn, and wearing, had to the Heliumite.
Then he upon his way into the of the unknown valley.
For the most part the trees off his view to any but the most limited distances. Occasionally he of the that the upon every side, and though they out clear the light of the two moons, he that they were off, and that the of the was immense.
For the night he his search, until presently he was to a by the of thoats.
Guided by the noise of these angry beasts, he through the trees until at last he came upon a level, plain, in the centre of which a city its and towers.
About the city the red man saw a of the green of the sea-bottoms, and as he let his over the city he that here was no of a past.
But what city it be? His had him that in this little-explored of Barsoom the of Torquasian green men supreme, and that as yet no red man had succeeded in to the of their to return again to the world of civilization.
The men of Torquas had perfected with which their had permitted them to the that near-by red nations had to their country by means of of airships.
That he was the of Torquas, Carthoris was sure, but that there there such a city he had dreamed, had the of the past at such a possibility, for the Torquasians were to live, as did the other green men of Mars, the that the planet, had any green so much as a single edifice, other than the low-walled where their are by the sun’s heat.
The of green about five hundred yards from the city’s walls. Between it and the city was no of or other protection against or fire; yet now in the light of the sun Carthoris see many moving along the of the high wall, and upon the beyond.
That they were beings like himself he was sure, though they were at too great from him for him to be positive that they were red men.
Almost after the green upon the little upon the wall. To Carthoris’ the fire was not returned, but presently the last of the city’s had from the of the green men, and no of life was visible the wall.
Then Carthoris, the of the trees that the plain, the of the besiegers’ line, against that he would obtain of Thuvia of Ptarth, for now he not that she was dead.
That he was not was a miracle, for were and from the into the forest; but the long day on and still he his quest, until, near sunset, he came opposite a gate in the city’s western wall.
Here to be the of the horde. Here a great had been Carthoris see a green warrior, by others of his kind.
This, then, must be the Hortan Gur, Jeddak of Torquas, the old of the south-western hemisphere, as only for a are in temporary or upon the by the green of Barsoom.
As the Heliumite he saw another green push his way toward the rostrum. Beside him he a captive, and as the to let the two pass, Carthoris a of the prisoner.
His in rejoicing. Thuvia of Ptarth still lived!
It was with that Carthoris the to to the of the Ptarthian princess; but in the end his prevailed, for in the of such he that he should have been but away, uselessly, any opportunity he might have to her.
He saw her to the of the rostrum. He saw Hortan Gur address her. He not the creature’s words, Thuvia’s reply; but it must have the green monster, for Carthoris saw him toward the prisoner, her a across the with his metal-banded arm.
Then the son of John Carter, Jeddak of Jeddaks, Warlord of Barsoom, mad. The old, blood-red through which his had at foes, his eyes.
His half-Earthly muscles, to his will, sent him in and toward the green that had the woman he loved.
The Torquasians were not looking in the direction of the forest. All had been upon the of the girl and their jeddak, and loud was the that out in of the of the green emperor’s reply to his prisoner’s for liberty.
Carthoris had about the the and the green warriors, when a new succeeded in still the attention of the from him.
Upon a high tower the city a man appeared. From his mouth there a series of shrieks; that swept, and terrifying, across the city’s walls, over the of the besiegers, and out across the to the of the valley.
Once, twice, thrice the upon the ears of the green men and then far, off across the came and clear from the an shriek.
It was but the first. From every point rose cries, until the world to to their reverberations.
The green looked this way and that. They not fear, as Earth men may know it; but in the of the their self-assurance them.
And then the great gate in the city opposite the of Hortan Gur wide. From it as a as Carthoris had witnessed, though at the moment he had time to but a single at the tall through the portal their long, shields; to note their hair; and to that the at their were Barsoomian lions.
Then he was in the of the Torquasians. With long-sword he was among them, and to Thuvia of Ptarth, were the to upon him, it that she was looking upon John Carter himself, so to the of the father was that of the son.
Even to the famous of the Virginian was the true. And the arm! Ah, the of it, and the speed!
All about was and confusion. Green were to the of their restive, thoats. Calots were out their gutturals, to be at the of the foemen.
Thar Ban and another by the of the had been the to note the of Carthoris, and it was with them he for of the red girl, while the others to meet the from the city.
Carthoris to Thuvia of Ptarth and the of the Hortan Gur that he might the the had the girl.
He succeeded in the rostrum, over the of two who had to join Thar Ban and his in this red man, just as Hortan Gur was about to from it to the of his thoat.
The attention of the green upon the upon them from the city, and upon the that them—cruel of war, more terrible than their own calots.
As Carthoris to the he Thuvia up him, and then he upon the with an angry challenge and a thrust.
As the Heliumite’s point his green hide, Hortan Gur upon his with a snarl, but at the same two of his called to him to hasten, for the of the fair-skinned of the city was into a more than the Torquasians had anticipated.
Instead of to with the red man, Hortan Gur promised him his attention after he had of the citizens of the city, and, his thoat, off to meet the bowmen.
The other their jeddak, Thuvia and Carthoris alone upon the platform.
Between them and the city a battle. The fair-skinned warriors, only with their long and a of short-handled war-axe, were almost the green men at close quarters; but at a their did as much as the of the green men.
But if the themselves were outclassed, not so their companions, the banths. Scarce had the two lines come together when hundreds of these had among the Torquasians, from their thoats—dragging the themselves, and to all them.
The numbers of the citizenry, too, was to their advantage, for it that a but his place was taken by a score more, in such a did they from the city’s great gate.
And so it came, what with the of the and the numbers of the bowmen, that at last the Torquasians back, until presently the upon which Carthoris and Thuvia directly in the centre of the fight.
That neither was by a or an a to both; but at last the had rolled past them, so that they were alone the and the city, for the and the dead, and a score or so of banths, less well than their fellows, who among the meat.
To Carthoris the part of the had been the taken by the with their weapons. Nowhere that he see was there a single green man, but the of their thick upon the of battle.
Death to the of a bowman’s arrow, did one miss its goal. There be but one explanation: the were poison-tipped.
Presently the of died in the forest. Quiet reigned, only by the of the banths. Carthoris toward Thuvia of Ptarth. As yet neither had spoken.
“Where are we, Thuvia?” he asked.
The girl looked at him questioningly. His very presence had to a knowledge of her abduction. How else might he have the of the that her!
“Who should know than the Prince of Helium?” she asked in return. “Did he not come of his own free will?”
“From Aaanthor I came upon the of the green man who had you, Thuvia,” he replied; “but from the time I left Helium until I above Aaanthor I myself for Ptarth.
“It had been that I had knowledge of your abduction,” he simply, “and I was to the jeddak, your father, to him of the of the charge, and to give my service to your recovery. Before I left Helium some one with my compass, so that it me to Aaanthor of to Ptarth. That is all. You me?”
“But the who me from the garden!” she exclaimed. “After we at Aaanthor they the metal of the Prince of Helium. When they took me they were in Dusarian harness. There but a single explanation. Whoever the to put the upon another, should he be in the act; but once safely away from Ptarth he safe in having his return to their own harness.”
“You that I did this thing, Thuvia?” he asked.
“Ah, Carthoris,” she sadly, “I did not wish to it; but when pointed to you—even then I would not it.”
“I did not do it, Thuvia,” he said. “But let me be with you. As much as I love your father, as much as I respect Kulan Tith, to you are betrothed, as well as I know the that must have such an act of mine, into war, as it would, three of the nations of Barsoom—yet, all this, I should not have to take you thus, Thuvia of Ptarth, had you that it would not have you.
“But you did nothing of the kind, and so I am here, not in my own service, but in yours, and in the service of the man to you are promised, to save you for him, if it the power of man to do so,” he concluded, almost bitterly.
Thuvia of Ptarth looked into his for moments. Her was and as though to some emotion. She took a step toward him. Her as though to speak—swiftly and impetuously.
And then she had moved her.
“The of the Prince of Helium,” she said coldly, “must the proof of his past of purpose.”
Carthoris was by the girl’s tone, as much as by the as to his which her implied.
He had that she might hint that his love would be acceptable—certainly there was him at least a little for his in her behalf; but the best he was cold skepticism.
The Prince of Helium his shoulders. The girl noted it, and the little that touched his lips, so that it her turn to be hurt.
Of she had not meant to him. He might have that after what he had said she not do anything to him! But he need not have his so palpable. The men of Helium were noted for their gallantry—not for boorishness. Possibly it was the Earth blood that in his veins.
How she know that the was but Carthoris’ way of attempting, by physical effort, to from his heart, or that the upon his was the of his father with which the son gave of the he had to his own great love in his to save Thuvia of Ptarth for another, he that she loved this other!
He to his original question.
“Where are we?” he asked. “I do not know.”
“Nor I,” the girl. “Those who me from Ptarth spoke among themselves of Aaanthor, so that I it possible that the city to which they took me was that famous ruin; but where we may be now I have no idea.”
“When the return we shall learn all that there is to know,” said Carthoris. “Let us that they prove friendly. What may they be? Only in the most of our and in the paintings of the of the sea-bottoms are such a of auburn-haired, fair-skinned people. Can it be that we have upon a city of the past which all Barsoom the ages?”
Thuvia was looking toward the into which the green men and the had disappeared. From a great came the of banths, and an occasional shot.
“It is that they do not return,” said the girl.
“One would to see the or being to the city,” Carthoris, with a puzzled frown. “But how about the nearer the city? Have they them within?”
Both their toward the them and the city, where the had been most furious.
There were the banths, still about their feast.
Carthoris looked at Thuvia in astonishment. Then he pointed toward the field.
“Where are they?” he whispered. “What has of their and wounded?”
