The Warlord of Mars

ON THE RIVER ISS

In the shadows of the forest that flanks the crimson plain by the side of theLost Sea of Korus in the Valley Dor, beneath the hurtling moons of Mars,speeding their meteoric way close above the bosom of the dying planet, I creptstealthily along the trail of a shadowy form that hugged the darker places witha persistency that proclaimed the sinister nature of its errand.

For six long Martian months I had haunted the vicinity of the hateful Temple ofthe Sun, within whose slow-revolving shaft, far beneath the surface of Mars, myprincess lay entombed—but whether alive or dead I knew not. HadPhaidor’s slim blade found that beloved heart? Time only would reveal thetruth.

Six hundred and eighty-seven Martian days must come and go before thecell’s door would again come opposite the tunnel’s end where last Ihad seen my ever-beautiful Dejah Thoris.

Half of them had passed, or would on the morrow, yet vivid in my memory,obliterating every event that had come before or after, there remained the lastscene before the gust of smoke blinded my eyes and the narrow slit that hadgiven me sight of the interior of her cell closed between me and the Princessof Helium for a long Martian year.

As if it were yesterday, I still saw the beautiful face of Phaidor, daughter ofMatai Shang, distorted with jealous rage and hatred as she sprang forward withraised dagger upon the woman I loved.

I saw the red girl, Thuvia of Ptarth, leap forward to prevent the hideous deed.

The smoke from the burning temple had come then to blot out the tragedy, but inmy ears rang the single shriek as the knife fell. Then silence, and when thesmoke had cleared, the revolving temple had shut off all sight or sound fromthe chamber in which the three beautiful women were imprisoned.

Much there had been to occupy my attention since that terrible moment; butnever for an instant had the memory of the thing faded, and all the time that Icould spare from the numerous duties that had devolved upon me in thereconstruction of the government of the First Born since our victorious fleetand land forces

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