CHAPTER XVI

Gods of Mars

by Edgar R. Burroughs

CHAPTER XVI, GODS OF MARS by Edgar R. Burroughs
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UNDER ARREST


As Carthoris, Xodar, Tars Tarkas, and I stood gazing at
the magnificent vessel which meant so much to all of us,
we saw a second and then a third top the summit of the
hills and glide gracefully after their sister.

Now a score of one-man air scouts were launching from the
upper decks of the nearer vessel, and in a moment more
were speeding in long, swift dives to the ground about us.

In another instant we were surrounded by armed sailors,
and an officer had stepped forward to address us, when his
eyes fell upon Carthoris. With an exclamation of surprised
pleasure he sprang forward, and, placing his hands upon
the boy's shoulder, called him by name.

"Carthoris, my Prince," he cried, "Kaor! Kaor! Hor Vastus
greets the son of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and of her
husband, John Carter. Where have you been, O my Prince?
All Helium has been plunged in sorrow. Terrible have been the
calamities that have befallen your great-grandsire's mighty
nation since the fatal day that saw you leave our midst."

"Grieve not, my good Hor Vastus," cried Carthoris,
"since I bring not back myself alone to cheer my mother's
heart and the hearts of my beloved people, but also one
whom all Barsoom loved best--her greatest warrior and her
saviour--John Carter, Prince of Helium!"

Hor Vastus turned in the direction indicated by Carthoris,
and as his eyes fell upon me he was like to have collapsed
from sheer surprise.

"John Carter!" he exclaimed, and then a sudden troubled
look came into his eyes. "My Prince," he started, "where
hast thou--" and then he stopped, but I knew the question
that his lips dared not frame. The loyal fellow would not
be the one to force from mine a confession of the terrible
truth that I had returned from the bosom of the Iss, the
River of Mystery, back from the shore of the Lost Sea of Korus,
and the Valley Dor.

"Ah, my Prince," he continued, as though no thought had
interrupted his greeting, "that you are back is sufficient,
and let Hor Vastus' sword have the high honour of
being first at thy feet." With these words the noble
fellow unbuckled his scabbard and flung his sword upon
the ground before me.

Could you know the customs and the character of red
Martians you would appreciate the depth of meaning that
that simple act conveyed to me and to all about us who
witnessed it. The thing was equivalent to saying, "My
sword, my body, my life, my soul are yours to do with as
you wish. Until death and after death I look to you alone
for authority for my every act. Be you right or wrong,
your word shall be my only truth. Whoso raises his hand
against you must answer to my sword."

It is the oath of fealty that men occasionally pay to a
Jeddak whose high character and chivalrous acts have
inspired the enthusiastic love of his followers. Never had
I known this high tribute paid to a lesser mortal. There was
but one response possible. I stooped and lifted the sword
from the ground, raised the hilt to my lips, and then,
stepping to Hor Vastus, I buckled the weapon upon him
with my own hands.

"Hor Vastus," I said, placing my hand upon his shoulder,
"you know best the promptings of your own heart. That I
shall need your sword I have little doubt, but accept from
John Carter upon his sacred honour the assurance that he
will never call upon you to draw this sword other than in
the cause of truth, justice, and righteousness."

"That I knew, my Prince," he replied, "ere ever I threw
my beloved blade at thy feet."

As we spoke other fliers came and went between the
ground and the battleship, and presently a larger boat was
launched from above, one capable of carrying a dozen
persons, perhaps, and dropped lightly near us. As she touched,
an officer sprang from her deck to the ground, and, advancing
to Hor Vastus, saluted.

"Kantos Kan desires that this party whom we have rescued be
brought immediately to the deck of the Xavarian," he said.

As we approached the little craft I looked about for the
members of my party and for the first time noticed that
Thuvia was not among them. Questioning elicited the fact
that none had seen her since Carthoris had sent her thoat
galloping madly toward the hills, in the hope of carrying her
out of harm's way.

Immediately Hor Vastus dispatched a dozen air scouts in
as many directions to search for her. It could not be
possible that she had gone far since we had last seen her.
We others stepped to the deck of the craft that had been sent
to fetch us, and a moment later were upon the Xavarian.

The first man to greet me was Kantos Kan himself. My
old friend had won to the highest place in the navy of
Helium, but he was still to me the same brave comrade
who had shared with me the privations of a Warhoon
dungeon, the terrible atrocities of the Great Games, and
later the dangers of our search for Dejah Thoris within
the hostile city of Zodanga.

Then I had been an unknown wanderer upon a strange
planet, and he a simple padwar in the navy of Helium.
To-day he commanded all Helium's great terrors of the
skies, and I was a Prince of the House of Tardos Mors,
Jeddak of Helium.

He did not ask me where I had been. Like Hor Vastus,
he too dreaded the truth and would not be the one to
wrest a statement from me. That it must come some time he
well knew, but until it came he seemed satisfied to but
know that I was with him once more. He greeted Carthoris
and Tars Tarkas with the keenest delight, but he asked
neither where he had been. He could scarcely keep his
hands off the boy.

"You do not know, John Carter," he said to me, "how we of
Helium love this son of yours. It is as though all the
great love we bore his noble father and his poor mother
had been centred in him. When it became known that he
was lost, ten million people wept."

"What mean you, Kantos Kan," I whispered, "by 'his
poor mother'?" for the words had seemed to carry a sinister
meaning which I could not fathom.

He drew me to one side.

"For a year," he said, "Ever since Carthoris disappeared,
Dejah Thoris has grieved and mourned for her lost boy.
The blow of years ago, when you did not return from the
atmosphere plant, was lessened to some extent by the duties of
motherhood, for your son broke his white shell that very night."

"That she suffered terribly then, all Helium knew, for
did not all Helium suffer with her the loss of her lord! But
with the boy gone there was nothing left, and after expedition
upon expedition returned with the same hopeless tale
of no clue as to his whereabouts, our beloved Princess
drooped lower and lower, until all who saw her felt that it
could be but a matter of days ere she went to join her
loved ones within the precincts of the Valley Dor.

"As a last resort, Mors Kajak, her father, and Tardos Mors,
her grandfather, took command of two mighty expeditions,
and a month ago sailed away to explore every inch of
ground in the northern hemisphere of Barsoom. For two
weeks no word has come back from them, but rumours were
rife that they had met with a terrible disaster and
that all were dead.

"About this time Zat Arras renewed his importunities for
her hand in marriage. He has been for ever after her since
you disappeared. She hated him and feared him, but with
both her father and grandfather gone, Zat Arras was very
powerful, for he is still Jed of Zodanga, to which position,
you will remember, Tardos Mors appointed him after you
had refused the honour.

"He had a secret audience with her six days ago. What
took place none knows, but the next day Dejah Thoris
had disappeared, and with her had gone a dozen of her
household guard and body servants, including Sola the
green woman--Tars Tarkas' daughter, you recall. No word
left they of their intentions, but it is always thus with those
who go upon the voluntary pilgrimage from which none
returns. We cannot think aught than that Dejah Thoris has
sought the icy bosom of Iss, and that her devoted servants
have chosen to accompany her.

"Zat Arras was at Helium when she disappeared. He commands
this fleet which has been searching for her since.
No trace of her have we found, and I fear that it be
a futile quest."

While we talked, Hor Vastus' fliers were returning to
the Xavarian. Not one, however, had discovered a trace of
Thuvia. I was much depressed over the news of Dejah
Thoris' disappearance, and now there was added the further
burden of apprehension concerning the fate of this girl whom
I believed to be the daughter of some proud Barsoomian
house, and it had been my intention to make every effort
to return her to her people.

I was about to ask Kantos Kan to prosecute a further
search for her when a flier from the flagship of the fleet
arrived at the Xavarian with an officer bearing a message
to Kantos Kan from Arras.

My friend read the dispatch and then turned to me.

"Zat Arras commands me to bring our 'prisoners' before
him. There is naught else to do. He is supreme in Helium,
yet it would be far more in keeping with chivalry and good
taste were he to come hither and greet the saviour of
Barsoom with the honours that are his due."

"You know full well, my friend," I said, smiling, "that
Zat Arras has good cause to hate me. Nothing would please
him better than to humiliate me and then to kill me. Now
that he has so excellent an excuse, let us go and see if he
has the courage to take advantage of it."

Summoning Carthoris, Tars Tarkas, and Xodar, we entered
the small flier with Kantos Kan and Zat Arras' officer, and
in a moment were stepping to the deck of Zat Arras' flagship.

As we approached the Jed of Zodanga no sign of greeting
or recognition crossed his face; not even to Carthoris
did he vouchsafe a friendly word. His attitude was cold,
haughty, and uncompromising.

"Kaor, Zat Arras," I said in greeting, but he did not respond.

"Why were these prisoners not disarmed?" he asked to Kantos Kan.

"They are not prisoners, Zat Arras," replied the officer.

"Two of them are of Helium's noblest family. Tars Tarkas,
Jeddak of Thark, is Tardos Mors' best beloved ally. The
other is a friend and companion of the Prince of Helium--
that is enough for me to know."

"It is not enough for me, however," retorted Zat Arras.
"More must I hear from those who have taken the pilgrimage
than their names. Where have you been, John Carter?"

"I have just come from the Valley Dor and the Land of
the First Born, Zat Arras," I replied.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in evident pleasure, "you do not
deny it, then? You have returned from the bosom of Iss?"

"I have come back from a land of false hope, from a
valley of torture and death; with my companions I have
escaped from the hideous clutches of lying fiends. I have
come back to the Barsoom that I saved from a painless
death to again save her, but this time from death in its
most frightful form."

"Cease, blasphemer!" cried Zat Arras. "Hope not to
save thy cowardly carcass by inventing horrid lies to--"
But he got no further. One does not call John Carter
"coward" and "liar" thus lightly, and Zat Arras should have
known it. Before a hand could be raised to stop me, I was
at his side and one hand grasped his throat.

"Come I from heaven or hell, Zat Arras, you will find
me still the same John Carter that I have always been; nor
did ever man call me such names and live--without apologizing."
And with that I commenced to bend him back across
my knee and tighten my grip upon his throat.

"Seize him!" cried Zat Arras, and a dozen officers sprang
forward to assist him.

Kantos Kan came close and whispered to me.

"Desist, I beg of you. It will but involve us all, for I
cannot see these men lay hands upon you without aiding you.
My officers and men will join me and we shall have a
mutiny then that may lead to the revolution. For the sake of
Tardos Mors and Helium, desist."

At his words I released Zat Arras and, turning my back
upon him, walked toward the ship's rail.

"Come, Kantos Kan," I said, "the Prince of Helium
would return to the Xavarian."

None interfered. Zat Arras stood white and trembling
amidst his officers. Some there were who looked upon him
with scorn and drew toward me, while one, a man long
in the service and confidence of Tardos Mors, spoke to me
in a low tone as I passed him.

"You may count my metal among your fighting-men,
John Carter," he said.

I thanked him and passed on. In silence we embarked,
and shortly after stepped once more upon the deck of the
Xavarian. Fifteen minutes later we received orders from the
flagship to proceed toward Helium.

Our journey thither was uneventful. Carthoris and I were
wrapped in the gloomiest of thoughts. Kantos Kan was sombre
in contemplation of the further calamity that might fall upon
Helium should Zat Arras attempt to follow the age-old precedent
that allotted a terrible death to fugitives from the Valley
Dor. Tars Tarkas grieved for the loss of his daughter. Xodar
alone was care-free--a fugitive and outlaw, he could be no
worse off in Helium than elsewhere.

"Let us hope that we may at least go out with good red
blood upon our blades," he said. It was a simple wish
and one most likely to be gratified.

Among the officers of the Xavarian I thought I could
discern division into factions ere we had reached Helium.
There were those who gathered about Carthoris and myself
whenever the opportunity presented, while about an equal
number held aloof from us. They offered us only the most
courteous treatment, but were evidently bound by their
superstitious belief in the doctrine of Dor and Iss and Korus.
I could not blame them, for I knew how strong a hold a
creed, however ridiculous it may be, may gain upon an
otherwise intelligent people.

By returning from Dor we had committed a sacrilege;
by recounting our adventures there, and stating the facts
as they existed we had outraged the religion of their fathers.
We were blasphemers--lying heretics. Even those who still
clung to us from personal love and loyalty I think did so
in the face of the fact that at heart they questioned our
veracity--it is very hard to accept a new religion for an old,
no matter how alluring the promises of the new may be; but to
reject the old as a tissue of falsehoods without being offered
anything in its stead is indeed a most difficult thing to ask
of any people.

Kantos Kan would not talk of our experiences among the therns
and the First Born.

"It is enough," he said, "that I jeopardize my life here
and hereafter by countenancing you at all--do not ask me
to add still further to my sins by listening to what I have
always been taught was the rankest heresy."

I knew that sooner or later the time must come when
our friends and enemies would be forced to declare
themselves openly. When we reached Helium there must be
an accounting, and if Tardos Mors had not returned I feared
that the enmity of Zat Arras might weigh heavily against
us, for he represented the government of Helium. To take
sides against him were equivalent to treason. The majority
of the troops would doubtless follow the lead of their
officers, and I knew that many of the highest and most
powerful men of both land and air forces would cleave to
John Carter in the face of god, man, or devil.

On the other hand, the majority of the populace
unquestionably would demand that we pay the penalty of
our sacrilege. The outlook seemed dark from whatever
angle I viewed it, but my mind was so torn with anguish
at the thought of Dejah Thoris that I realize now that I
gave the terrible question of Helium's plight but scant
attention at that time.

There was always before me, day and night, a horrible
nightmare of the frightful scenes through which I knew
my Princess might even then be passing--the horrid plant
men--the ferocious white apes. At times I would cover
my face with my hands in a vain effort to shut out the
fearful thing from my mind.

It was in the forenoon that we arrived above the mile-
high scarlet tower which marks greater Helium from her
twin city. As we descended in great circles toward the
navy docks a mighty multitude could be seen surging in the
streets beneath. Helium had been notified by radio-aerogram
of our approach.

From the deck of the Xavarian we four, Carthoris, Tars
Tarkas, Xodar, and I, were transferred to a lesser flier
to be transported to quarters within the Temple of Reward.
It is here that Martian justice is meted to benefactor and
malefactor. Here the hero is decorated. Here the felon
is condemned. We were taken into the temple from the
landing stage upon the roof, so that we did not pass among
the people at all, as is customary. Always before I had
seen prisoners of note, or returned wanderers of eminence,
paraded from the Gate of Jeddaks to the Temple of Reward
up the broad Avenue of Ancestors through dense crowds of
jeering or cheering citizens.

I knew that Zat Arras dared not trust the people near to
us, for he feared that their love for Carthoris and myself
might break into a demonstration which would wipe out
their superstitious horror of the crime we were to be
charged with. What his plans were I could only guess, but
that they were sinister was evidenced by the fact that only
his most trusted servitors accompanied us upon the flier to
the Temple of Reward.

We were lodged in a room upon the south side of the
temple, overlooking the Avenue of Ancestors down which
we could see the full length to the Gate of Jeddaks, five
miles away. The people in the temple plaza and in the
streets for a distance of a full mile were standing as close
packed as it was possible for them to get. They were very
orderly--there were neither scoffs nor plaudits, and when
they saw us at the window above them there were many who
buried their faces in their arms and wept.

Late in the afternoon a messenger arrived from Zat Arras
to inform us that we would be tried by an impartial body
of nobles in the great hall of the temple at the 1st
zode* on the following day, or about 8:40 A.M. Earth time.


*Wherever Captain Carter has used Martian measurements of time,
distance, weight, and the like I have translated them into as nearly their
equivalent in earthly values as is possible. His notes contain many
Martian tables, and a great volume of scientific data, but since the
International Astronomic Society is at present engaged in classifying,
investigating, and verifying this vast fund of remarkable and valuable
information, I have felt that it will add nothing to the interest of Captain
Carter's story or to the sum total of human knowledge to maintain a strict
adherence to the original manuscript in these matters, while it might
readily confuse the reader and detract from the interest of the history.
For those who may be interested, however, I will explain that the Martian
day is a trifle over 24 hours 37 minutes duration (Earth time). This the
Martians divide into ten equal parts, commencing the day at about 6 A.M.
Earth time. The zodes are divided into fifty shorter periods, each of
which in turn is composed of 200 brief periods of time, about equivalent
to the earthly second. The Barsoomian Table of Time as here given is but
a part of the full table appearing in Captain Carter's notes.

TABLE

200 tals . . . . . . . . . 1 xat

50 xats . . . . . . . . . 1 zode

10 zodes . . . . . . . . 1 revolution of Mars upon its axis.