CHAPTER II

Gods of Mars

by Edgar R. Burroughs

CHAPTER II, GODS OF MARS by Edgar R. Burroughs
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A FOREST BATTLE


Tars Tarkas and I found no time for an exchange of experiences
as we stood there before the great boulder surrounded by the
corpses of our grotesque assailants, for from all directions
down the broad valley was streaming a perfect torrent of
terrifying creatures in response to the weird call of the
strange figure far above us.

"Come," cried Tars Tarkas, "we must make for the cliffs.
There lies our only hope of even temporary escape; there
we may find a cave or a narrow ledge which two may defend
for ever against this motley, unarmed horde."

Together we raced across the scarlet sward, I timing my
speed that I might not outdistance my slower companion. We
had, perhaps, three hundred yards to cover between our
boulder and the cliffs, and then to search out a suitable
shelter for our stand against the terrifying things that were
pursuing us.

They were rapidly overhauling us when Tars Tarkas cried
to me to hasten ahead and discover, if possible, the sanctuary
we sought. The suggestion was a good one, for thus many
valuable minutes might be saved to us, and, throwing
every ounce of my earthly muscles into the effort, I cleared
the remaining distance between myself and the cliffs in
great leaps and bounds that put me at their base in a moment.

The cliffs rose perpendicular directly from the almost level
sward of the valley. There was no accumulation of fallen debris,
forming a more or less rough ascent to them, as is the case with
nearly all other cliffs I have ever seen. The scattered
boulders that had fallen from above and lay upon or partly
buried in the turf, were the only indication that any
disintegration of the massive, towering pile of rocks ever
had taken place.

My first cursory inspection of the face of the cliffs filled
my heart with forebodings, since nowhere could I discern, except
where the weird herald stood still shrieking his shrill summons, the
faintest indication of even a bare foothold upon the lofty escarpment.

To my right the bottom of the cliff was lost in the dense foliage
of the forest, which terminated at its very foot, rearing its
gorgeous foliage fully a thousand feet against its stern and
forbidding neighbour.

To the left the cliff ran, apparently unbroken, across the
head of the broad valley, to be lost in the outlines of what
appeared to be a range of mighty mountains that skirted
and confined the valley in every direction.

Perhaps a thousand feet from me the river broke, as it
seemed, directly from the base of the cliffs, and as there
seemed not the remotest chance for escape in that direction
I turned my attention again toward the forest.

The cliffs towered above me a good five thousand feet.
The sun was not quite upon them and they loomed a dull
yellow in their own shade. Here and there they were broken
with streaks and patches of dusky red, green, and occasional
areas of white quartz.

Altogether they were very beautiful, but I fear that I did
not regard them with a particularly appreciative eye on this,
my first inspection of them.

Just then I was absorbed in them only as a medium of
escape, and so, as my gaze ran quickly, time and again,
over their vast expanse in search of some cranny or crevice,
I came suddenly to loathe them as the prisoner must loathe
the cruel and impregnable walls of his dungeon.

Tars Tarkas was approaching me rapidly, and still more
rapidly came the awful horde at his heels.

It seemed the forest now or nothing, and I was just on the
point of motioning Tars Tarkas to follow me in that direction
when the sun passed the cliff's zenith, and as the bright rays
touched the dull surface it burst out into a million scintillant
lights of burnished gold, of flaming red, of soft greens, and
gleaming whites--a more gorgeous and inspiring spectacle
human eye has never rested upon.

The face of the entire cliff was, as later inspection
conclusively proved, so shot with veins and patches of
solid gold as to quite present the appearance of a solid wall of
that precious metal except where it was broken by outcroppings of
ruby, emerald, and diamond boulders--a faint and alluring
indication of the vast and unguessable riches which lay
deeply buried behind the magnificent surface.

But what caught my most interested attention at the moment
that the sun's rays set the cliff's face a-shimmer, was the
several black spots which now appeared quite plainly in evidence
high across the gorgeous wall close to the forest's top,
and extending apparently below and behind the branches.

Almost immediately I recognised them for what they were,
the dark openings of caves entering the solid walls--possible
avenues of escape or temporary shelter, could we but reach them.

There was but a single way, and that led through the
mighty, towering trees upon our right. That I could scale
them I knew full well, but Tars Tarkas, with his mighty bulk
and enormous weight, would find it a task possibly quite
beyond his prowess or his skill, for Martians are at best but
poor climbers. Upon the entire surface of that ancient planet
I never before had seen a hill or mountain that exceeded four
thousand feet in height above the dead sea bottoms, and as
the ascent was usually gradual, nearly to their summits they
presented but few opportunities for the practice of climbing.
Nor would the Martians have embraced even such opportunities
as might present themselves, for they could always find a
circuitous route about the base of any eminence, and these
roads they preferred and followed in preference to the
shorter but more arduous ways.

However, there was nothing else to consider than an attempt
to scale the trees contiguous to the cliff in an effort to
reach the caves above.

The Thark grasped the possibilities and the difficulties of
the plan at once, but there was no alternative, and so we
set out rapidly for the trees nearest the cliff.

Our relentless pursuers were now close to us, so close that
it seemed that it would be an utter impossibility for the
Jeddak of Thark to reach the forest in advance of them, nor
was there any considerable will in the efforts that Tars Tarkas
made, for the green men of Barsoom do not relish flight, nor
ever before had I seen one fleeing from death in whatsoever
form it might have confronted him. But that Tars Tarkas was
the bravest of the brave he had proven thousands of times;
yes, tens of thousands in countless mortal combats with men
and beasts. And so I knew that there was another reason than
fear of death behind his flight, as he knew that a greater
power than pride or honour spurred me to escape these
fierce destroyers. In my case it was love--love of the divine
Dejah Thoris; and the cause of the Thark's great and sudden
love of life I could not fathom, for it is oftener that they seek
death than life--these strange, cruel, loveless, unhappy people.

At length, however, we reached the shadows of the forest, while
right behind us sprang the swiftest of our pursuers--a giant plant man
with claws outreaching to fasten his bloodsucking mouths upon us.

He was, I should say, a hundred yards in advance of his
closest companion, and so I called to Tars Tarkas to ascend a
great tree that brushed the cliff's face while I dispatched the
fellow, thus giving the less agile Thark an opportunity to
reach the higher branches before the entire horde should be
upon us and every vestige of escape cut off.

But I had reckoned without a just appreciation either of
the cunning of my immediate antagonist or the swiftness
with which his fellows were covering the distance which had
separated them from me.

As I raised my long-sword to deal the creature its death
thrust it halted in its charge and, as my sword cut harmlessly
through the empty air, the great tail of the thing swept with
the power of a grizzly's arm across the sward and carried
me bodily from my feet to the ground. In an instant the brute
was upon me, but ere it could fasten its hideous mouths into my
breast and throat I grasped a writhing tentacle in either hand.

The plant man was well muscled, heavy, and powerful
but my earthly sinews and greater agility, in conjunction
with the deathly strangle hold I had upon him, would have
given me, I think, an eventual victory had we had time to
discuss the merits of our relative prowess uninterrupted.
But as we strained and struggled about the tree into which
Tars Tarkas was clambering with infinite difficulty, I suddenly
caught a glimpse over the shoulder of my antagonist of the
great swarm of pursuers that now were fairly upon me.

Now, at last, I saw the nature of the other monsters who
had come with the plant men in response to the weird calling
of the man upon the cliff's face. They were that most dreaded
of Martian creatures--great white apes of Barsoom.

My former experiences upon Mars had familiarized me
thoroughly with them and their methods, and I may say that
of all the fearsome and terrible, weird and grotesque inhabitants
of that strange world, it is the white apes that come nearest
to familiarizing me with the sensation of fear.

I think that the cause of this feeling which these apes
engender within me is due to their remarkable resemblance
in form to our Earth men, which gives them a human appearance
that is most uncanny when coupled with their enormous size.

They stand fifteen feet in height and walk erect upon their
hind feet. Like the green Martians, they have an intermediary
set of arms midway between their upper and lower limbs.
Their eyes are very close set, but do not protrude as do those
of the green men of Mars; their ears are high set, but more
laterally located than are the green men's, while their snouts
and teeth are much like those of our African gorilla. Upon
their heads grows an enormous shock of bristly hair.

It was into the eyes of such as these and the terrible plant
men that I gazed above the shoulder of my foe, and then, in
a mighty wave of snarling, snapping, screaming, purring rage,
they swept over me--and of all the sounds that assailed my
ears as I went down beneath them, to me the most hideous
was the horrid purring of the plant men.

Instantly a score of cruel fangs and keen talons were sunk
into my flesh; cold, sucking lips fastened themselves upon my
arteries. I struggled to free myself, and even though weighed
down by these immense bodies, I succeeded in struggling to
my feet, where, still grasping my long-sword, and shortening my
grip upon it until I could use it as a dagger, I wrought such
havoc among them that at one time I stood for an instant free.

What it has taken minutes to write occurred in but a few
seconds, but during that time Tars Tarkas had seen my plight
and had dropped from the lower branches, which he had
reached with such infinite labour, and as I flung the last
of my immediate antagonists from me the great Thark leaped
to my side, and again we fought, back to back, as we
had done a hundred times before.

Time and again the ferocious apes sprang in to close with
us, and time and again we beat them back with our swords.
The great tails of the plant men lashed with tremendous
power about us as they charged from various directions or
sprang with the agility of greyhounds above our heads; but
every attack met a gleaming blade in sword hands that had
been reputed for twenty years the best that Mars ever had
known; for Tars Tarkas and John Carter were names that the
fighting men of the world of warriors loved best to speak.

But even the two best swords in a world of fighters can
avail not for ever against overwhelming numbers of fierce
and savage brutes that know not what defeat means until
cold steel teaches their hearts no longer to beat, and so, step
by step, we were forced back. At length we stood against the
giant tree that we had chosen for our ascent, and then, as
charge after charge hurled its weight upon us, we gave back
again and again, until we had been forced half-way around
the huge base of the colossal trunk.

Tars Tarkas was in the lead, and suddenly I heard a little
cry of exultation from him.

"Here is shelter for one at least, John Carter," he said,
and, glancing down, I saw an opening in the base of the tree
about three feet in diameter.

"In with you, Tars Tarkas," I cried, but he would not go;
saying that his bulk was too great for the little aperture,
while I might slip in easily.

"We shall both die if we remain without, John Carter; here
is a slight chance for one of us. Take it and you may live
to avenge me, it is useless for me to attempt to worm my
way into so small an opening with this horde of demons
besetting us on all sides."

"Then we shall die together, Tars Tarkas," I replied, "for I
shall not go first. Let me defend the opening while you get
in, then my smaller stature will permit me to slip in with you
before they can prevent."

We still were fighting furiously as we talked in broken sentences,
punctured with vicious cuts and thrusts at our swarming enemy.

At length he yielded, for it seemed the only way in which
either of us might be saved from the ever-increasing numbers
of our assailants, who were still swarming upon us from all
directions across the broad valley.

"It was ever your way, John Carter, to think last of your
own life," he said; "but still more your way to command the
lives and actions of others, even to the greatest of Jeddaks
who rule upon Barsoom."

There was a grim smile upon his cruel, hard face, as he,
the greatest Jeddak of them all, turned to obey the dictates
of a creature of another world--of a man whose stature was
less than half his own.

"If you fail, John Carter," he said, "know that the cruel
and heartless Thark, to whom you taught the meaning of
friendship, will come out to die beside you."

"As you will, my friend," I replied; "but quickly now,
head first, while I cover your retreat."

He hesitated a little at that word, for never before in his
whole life of continual strife had he turned his back upon
aught than a dead or defeated enemy.

"Haste, Tars Tarkas," I urged, "or we shall both go down
to profitless defeat; I cannot hold them for ever alone."

As he dropped to the ground to force his way into the
tree, the whole howling pack of hideous devils hurled themselves
upon me. To right and left flew my shimmering blade,
now green with the sticky juice of a plant man, now red
with the crimson blood of a great white ape; but always
flying from one opponent to another, hesitating but the barest
fraction of a second to drink the lifeblood in the centre of
some savage heart.

And thus I fought as I never had fought before, against such
frightful odds that I cannot realize even now that human
muscles could have withstood that awful onslaught, that
terrific weight of hurtling tons of ferocious, battling flesh.

With the fear that we would escape them, the creatures
redoubled their efforts to pull me down, and though the ground
about me was piled high with their dead and dying comrades,
they succeeded at last in overwhelming me, and I went down
beneath them for the second time that day, and once again
felt those awful sucking lips against my flesh.

But scarce had I fallen ere I felt powerful hands grip my ankles,
and in another second I was being drawn within the shelter of
the tree's interior. For a moment it was a tug of war between
Tars Tarkas and a great plant man, who clung tenaciously to my breast,
but presently I got the point of my long-sword beneath him and with
a mighty thrust pierced his vitals.

Torn and bleeding from many cruel wounds, I lay panting
upon the ground within the hollow of the tree, while Tars
Tarkas defended the opening from the furious mob without.

For an hour they howled about the tree, but after a few
attempts to reach us they confined their efforts to terrorizing
shrieks and screams, to horrid growling on the part of the
great white apes, and the fearsome and indescribable purring
by the plant men.

At length, all but a score, who had apparently been left to
prevent our escape, had left us, and our adventure seemed
destined to result in a siege, the only outcome of which could
be our death by starvation; for even should we be able to slip
out after dark, whither in this unknown and hostile valley
could we hope to turn our steps toward possible escape?

As the attacks of our enemies ceased and our eyes became
accustomed to the semi-darkness of the interior of our strange
retreat, I took the opportunity to explore our shelter.

The tree was hollow to an extent of about fifty feet in
diameter, and from its flat, hard floor I judged that it had
often been used to domicile others before our occupancy.
As I raised my eyes toward its roof to note the height I saw
far above me a faint glow of light.

There was an opening above. If we could but reach it
we might still hope to make the shelter of the cliff caves.
My eyes had now become quite used to the subdued light of
the interior, and as I pursued my investigation I presently
came upon a rough ladder at the far side of the cave.

Quickly I mounted it, only to find that it connected at the top
with the lower of a series of horizontal wooden bars that spanned
the now narrow and shaft-like interior of the tree's stem.
These bars were set one above another about three feet apart,
and formed a perfect ladder as far above me as I could see.

Dropping to the floor once more, I detailed my discovery
to Tars Tarkas, who suggested that I explore aloft as far as
I could go in safety while he guarded the entrance against a
possible attack.

As I hastened above to explore the strange shaft I found
that the ladder of horizontal bars mounted always as far
above me as my eyes could reach, and as I ascended, the
light from above grew brighter and brighter.

For fully five hundred feet I continued to climb, until at
length I reached the opening in the stem which admitted
the light. It was of about the same diameter as the entrance
at the foot of the tree, and opened directly upon a large flat
limb, the well worn surface of which testified to its long
continued use as an avenue for some creature to and from
this remarkable shaft.

I did not venture out upon the limb for fear that I might
be discovered and our retreat in this direction cut off;
but instead hurried to retrace my steps to Tars Tarkas.

I soon reached him and presently we were both ascending
the long ladder toward the opening above.

Tars Tarkas went in advance and as I reached the first
of the horizontal bars I drew the ladder up after me and,
handing it to him, he carried it a hundred feet further aloft,
where he wedged it safely between one of the bars and the
side of the shaft. In like manner I dislodged the lower bars
as I passed them, so that we soon had the interior of the
tree denuded of all possible means of ascent for a distance
of a hundred feet from the base; thus precluding possible
pursuit and attack from the rear.

As we were to learn later, this precaution saved us from dire
predicament, and was eventually the means of our salvation.

When we reached the opening at the top Tars Tarkas drew to one
side that I might pass out and investigate, as, owing to
my lesser weight and greater agility, I was better fitted for the
perilous threading of this dizzy, hanging pathway.

The limb upon which I found myself ascended at a slight
angle toward the cliff, and as I followed it I found that it
terminated a few feet above a narrow ledge which protruded
from the cliff's face at the entrance to a narrow cave.

As I approached the slightly more slender extremity of the branch
it bent beneath my weight until, as I balanced perilously
upon its outer tip, it swayed gently on a level with the
ledge at a distance of a couple of feet.

Five hundred feet below me lay the vivid scarlet carpet of
the valley; nearly five thousand feet above towered the mighty,
gleaming face of the gorgeous cliffs.

The cave that I faced was not one of those that I had
seen from the ground, and which lay much higher, possibly
a thousand feet. But so far as I might know it was as good
for our purpose as another, and so I returned to the tree
for Tars Tarkas.

Together we wormed our way along the waving pathway,
but when we reached the end of the branch we found that
our combined weight so depressed the limb that the cave's
mouth was now too far above us to be reached.

We finally agreed that Tars Tarkas should return along the
branch, leaving his longest leather harness strap with me,
and that when the limb had risen to a height that would
permit me to enter the cave I was to do so, and on Tars
Tarkas' return I could then lower the strap and haul him up
to the safety of the ledge.

This we did without mishap and soon found ourselves together
upon the verge of a dizzy little balcony, with a magnificent
view of the valley spreading out below us.

As far as the eye could reach gorgeous forest and crimson
sward skirted a silent sea, and about all towered the brilliant
monster guardian cliffs. Once we thought we discerned a
gilded minaret gleaming in the sun amidst the waving tops
of far-distant trees, but we soon abandoned the idea in the
belief that it was but an hallucination born of our great desire
to discover the haunts of civilized men in this beautiful, yet
forbidding, spot.

Below us upon the river's bank the great white apes were
devouring the last remnants of Tars Tarkas' former companions,
while great herds of plant men grazed in ever-widening circles
about the sward which they kept as close clipped as the
smoothest of lawns.

Knowing that attack from the tree was now improbable,
we determined to explore the cave, which we had every
reason to believe was but a continuation of the path we
had already traversed, leading the gods alone knew where,
but quite evidently away from this valley of grim ferocity.

As we advanced we found a well-proportioned tunnel cut from
the solid cliff. Its walls rose some twenty feet above the
floor, which was about five feet in width. The roof was arched.
We had no means of making a light, and so groped our way
slowly into the ever-increasing darkness, Tars Tarkas keeping
in touch with one wall while I felt along the other, while, to
prevent our wandering into diverging branches and becoming
separated or lost in some intricate and labyrinthine maze,
we clasped hands.

How far we traversed the tunnel in this manner I do not
know, but presently we came to an obstruction which blocked
our further progress. It seemed more like a partition than a
sudden ending of the cave, for it was constructed not of
the material of the cliff, but of something which felt like
very hard wood.

Silently I groped over its surface with my hands, and
presently was rewarded by the feel of the button which as
commonly denotes a door on Mars as does a door knob on Earth.

Gently pressing it, I had the satisfaction of feeling the
door slowly give before me, and in another instant we were
looking into a dimly lighted apartment, which, so far as we
could see, was unoccupied.

Without more ado I swung the door wide open and, followed
by the huge Thark, stepped into the chamber. As we stood
for a moment in silence gazing about the room a slight noise
behind caused me to turn quickly, when, to my astonishment,
I saw the door close with a sharp click as though by an
unseen hand.

Instantly I sprang toward it to wrench it open again,
for something in the uncanny movement of the thing and the
tense and almost palpable silence of the chamber seemed
to portend a lurking evil lying hidden in this rock-bound
chamber within the bowels of the Golden Cliffs.

My fingers clawed futilely at the unyielding portal, while
my eyes sought in vain for a duplicate of the button which
had given us ingress.

And then, from unseen lips, a cruel and mocking peal of
laughter rang through the desolate place.