CHAPTER XVII

Gods of Mars

by Edgar R. Burroughs

CHAPTER XVII, GODS OF MARS by Edgar R. Burroughs
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THE DEATH SENTENCE


A few moments before the appointed time on the following
morning a strong guard of Zat Arras' officers appeared at our
quarters to conduct us to the great hall of the temple.

In twos we entered the chamber and marched down the
broad Aisle of Hope, as it is called, to the platform
in the centre of the hall. Before and behind us marched
armed guards, while three solid ranks of Zodangan soldiery
lined either side of the aisle from the entrance to the rostrum.

As we reached the raised enclosure I saw our judges.
As is the custom upon Barsoom there were thirty-one,
supposedly selected by lot from men of the noble class, for
nobles were on trial. But to my amazement I saw no single
friendly face among them. Practically all were Zodangans,
and it was I to whom Zodanga owed her defeat at the
hands of the green hordes and her subsequent vassalage to
Helium. There could be little justice here for John Carter,
or his son, or for the great Thark who had commanded the
savage tribesmen who overran Zodanga's broad avenues,
looting, burning, and murdering.

About us the vast circular coliseum was packed to its full
capacity. All classes were represented--all ages, and both
sexes. As we entered the hall the hum of subdued conversation
ceased until as we halted upon the platform, or Throne
of Righteousness, the silence of death enveloped the
ten thousand spectators.

The judges were seated in a great circle about the
periphery of the circular platform. We were assigned seats
with our backs toward a small platform in the exact centre
of the larger one. This placed us facing the judges and the
audience. Upon the smaller platform each would take his
place while his case was being heard.

Zat Arras himself sat in the golden chair of the presiding
magistrate. As we were seated and our guards retired to the
foot of the stairway leading to the platform, he arose and
called my name.

"John Carter," he cried, "take your place upon the Pedestal
of Truth to be judged impartially according to your acts
and here to know the reward you have earned thereby."
Then turning to and fro toward the audience he narrated the
acts upon the value of which my reward was to be determined.

"Know you, O judges and people of Helium," he said, "that
John Carter, one time Prince of Helium, has returned by his
own statement from the Valley Dor and even from the
Temple of Issus itself. That, in the presence of many men
of Helium he has blasphemed against the Sacred Iss, and
against the Valley Dor, and the Lost Sea of Korus, and the
Holy Therns themselves, and even against Issus, Goddess of
Death, and of Life Eternal. And know you further by
witness of thine own eyes that see him here now upon the
Pedestal of Truth that he has indeed returned from these
sacred precincts in the face of our ancient customs, and in
violation of the sanctity of our ancient religion.

"He who be once dead may not live again. He who attempts
it must be made dead for ever. Judges, your duty lies
plain before you--here can be no testimony in
contravention of truth. What reward shall be meted to
John Carter in accordance with the acts he has committed?"

"Death!" shouted one of the judges.

And then a man sprang to his feet in the audience, and raising
his hand on high, cried: "Justice! Justice! Justice!"
It was Kantos Kan, and as all eyes turned toward him he
leaped past the Zodangan soldiery and sprang upon the platform.

"What manner of justice be this?" he cried to Zat Arras.
"The defendant has not been heard, nor has he had an
opportunity to call others in his behalf. In the name of
the people of Helium I demand fair and impartial treatment
for the Prince of Helium."

A great cry arose from the audience then: "Justice!
Justice! Justice!" and Zat Arras dared not deny them.

"Speak, then," he snarled, turning to me; "but blaspheme
not against the things that are sacred upon Barsoom."

"Men of Helium," I cried, turning to the spectators, and
speaking over the heads of my judges, "how can John Carter
expect justice from the men of Zodanga? He cannot nor
does he ask it. It is to the men of Helium that he states
his case; nor does he appeal for mercy to any. It is not in
his own cause that he speaks now--it is in thine. In the
cause of your wives and daughters, and of wives and daughters
yet unborn. It is to save them from the unthinkably atrocious
indignities that I have seen heaped upon the fair women
of Barsoom in the place men call the Temple of Issus.
It is to save them from the sucking embrace of the plant men,
from the fangs of the great white apes of Dor, from the cruel
lust of the Holy Therns, from all that the cold, dead Iss
carries them to from homes of love and life and happiness.

"Sits there no man here who does not know the history of
John Carter. How he came among you from another world
and rose from a prisoner among the green men, through
torture and persecution, to a place high among the highest
of Barsoom. Nor ever did you know John Carter to lie in
his own behalf, or to say aught that might harm the people
of Barsoom, or to speak lightly of the strange religion which
he respected without understanding.

"There be no man here, or elsewhere upon Barsoom to-day
who does not owe his life directly to a single act of mine,
in which I sacrificed myself and the happiness of my Princess
that you might live. And so, men of Helium, I think that I
have the right to demand that I be heard, that I be believed,
and that you let me serve you and save you from the false
hereafter of Dor and Issus as I saved you from the real death
that other day.

"It is to you of Helium that I speak now. When I am
done let the men of Zodanga have their will with me. Zat
Arras has taken my sword from me, so the men of Zodanga
no longer fear me. Will you listen?"

"Speak, John Carter, Prince of Helium," cried a great noble
from the audience, and the multitude echoed his permission,
until the building rocked with the noise of their demonstration.

Zat Arras knew better than to interfere with such a sentiment
as was expressed that day in the Temple of Reward, and so for
two hours I talked with the people of Helium.

But when I had finished, Zat Arras arose and, turning to
the judges, said in a low tone: "My nobles, you have
heard John Carter's plea; every opportunity has been given
him to prove his innocence if he be not guilty; but instead
he has but utilized the time in further blasphemy. What,
gentlemen, is your verdict?"

"Death to the blasphemer!" cried one, springing to his feet,
and in an instant the entire thirty-one judges were on their feet
with upraised swords in token of the unanimity of their verdict.

If the people did not hear Zat Arras' charge, they certainly
did hear the verdict of the tribunal. A sullen murmur
rose louder and louder about the packed coliseum, and then
Kantos Kan, who had not left the platform since first he had
taken his place near me, raised his hand for silence. When he
could be heard he spoke to the people in a cool and level voice.

"You have heard the fate that the men of Zodanga would
mete to Helium's noblest hero. It may be the duty of
the men of Helium to accept the verdict as final. Let each
man act according to his own heart. Here is the answer of
Kantos Kan, head of the navy of Helium, to Zat Arras and
his judges," and with that he unbuckled his scabbard and
threw his sword at my feet.

In an instant soldiers and citizens, officers and nobles
were crowding past the soldiers of Zodanga and forcing their
way to the Throne of Righteousness. A hundred men surged
upon the platform, and a hundred blades rattled and clanked
to the floor at my feet. Zat Arras and his officers were
furious, but they were helpless. One by one I raised the
swords to my lips and buckled them again upon their owners.

"Come," sand Kantos Kan, "we will escort John Carter and
his party to his own palace," and they formed about us and
started toward the stairs leading to the Aisle of Hope.

"Stop!" cried Zat Arras. "Soldiers of Helium, let no
prisoner leave the Throne of Righteousness."

The soldiery from Zodanga were the only organized body
of Heliumetic troops within the temple, so Zat Arras was
confident that his orders would be obeyed, but I do not
think that he looked for the opposition that was raised the
moment the soldiers advanced toward the throne.

From every quarter of the coliseum swords flashed and
men rushed threateningly upon the Zodangans. Some one
raised a cry: "Tardos Mors is dead--a thousand years to
John Carter, Jeddak of Helium." As I heard that and saw the
ugly attitude of the men of Helium toward the soldiers of
Zat Arras, I knew that only a miracle could avert a clash
that would end in civil war.

"Hold!" I cried, leaping to the Pedestal of Truth once
more. "Let no man move till I am done. A single sword
thrust here to-day may plunge Helium into a bitter and
bloody war the results of which none can foresee. It
will turn brother against brother and father against son.
No man's life is worth that sacrifice. Rather would I
submit to the biased judgment of Zat Arras than be the
cause of civil strife in Helium.

"Let us each give in a point to the other, and let this entire
matter rest until Tardos Mors returns, or Mors Kajak, his son.
If neither be back at the end of a year a second trial
may be held--the thing has a precedent." And then turning
to Zat Arras, I said in a low voice: "Unless you be a bigger
fool than I take you to be, you will grasp the chance I am
offering you ere it is too late. Once that multitude of swords
below is drawn against your soldiery no man upon Barsoom--
not even Tardos Mors himself--can avert the consequences.
What say you? Speak quickly."

The Jed of Zodangan Helium raised his voice to the angry
sea beneath us.

"Stay your hands, men of Helium," he shouted, his voice
trembling with rage. "The sentence of the court is passed,
but the day of retribution has not been set. I, Zat Arras,
Jed of Zodanga, appreciating the royal connections of the
prisoner and his past services to Helium and Barsoom, grant a
respite of one year, or until the return of Mors Kajak, or
Tardos Mors to Helium. Disperse quietly to your houses. Go."

No one moved. Instead, they stood in tense silence with their
eyes fastened upon me, as though waiting for a signal to attack.

"Clear the temple," commanded Zat Arras, in a low tone to one
of his officers.

Fearing the result of an attempt to carry out this order by
force, I stepped to the edge of the platform and, pointing
toward the main entrance, bid them pass out. As one man
they turned at my request and filed, silent and threatening,
past the soldiers of Zat Arras, Jed of Zodanga, who stood
scowling in impotent rage.

Kantos Kan with the others who had sworn allegiance to me
still stood upon the Throne of Righteousness with me.

"Come," said Kantos Kan to me, "we will escort you to
your palace, my Prince. Come, Carthoris and Xodar. Come,
Tars Tarkas." And with a haughty sneer for Zat Arras upon
his handsome lips, he turned and strode to the throne steps
and up the Aisle of Hope. We four and the hundred loyal
ones followed behind him, nor was a hand raised to stay us,
though glowering eyes followed our triumphal march
through the temple.

In the avenues we found a press of people, but they
opened a pathway for us, and many were the swords that
were flung at my feet as I passed through the city of Helium
toward my palace upon the outskirts. Here my old slaves fell
upon their knees and kissed my hands as I greeted them.
They cared not where I had been. It was enough that I
had returned to them.

"Ah, master," cried one, "if our divine Princess were but
here this would be a day indeed."

Tears came to my eyes, so that I was forced to turn
away that I might hide my emotions. Carthoris wept openly
as the slaves pressed about him with expressions of affection,
and words of sorrow for our common loss. It was now that
Tars Tarkas for the first time learned that his daughter, Sola,
had accompanied Dejah Thoris upon the last long pilgrimage.
I had not had the heart to tell him what Kantos Kan had
told me. With the stoicism of the green Martian he showed
no sign of suffering, yet I knew that his grief was as
poignant as my own. In marked contrast to his kind, he had
in well-developed form the kindlier human characteristics
of love, friendship, and charity.

It was a sad and sombre party that sat at the feast of welcome
in the great dining hall of the palace of the Prince of Helium
that day. We were over a hundred strong, not counting the
members of my little court, for Dejah Thoris and I had
maintained a household consistent with our royal rank.

The board, according to red Martian custom, was triangular,
for there were three in our family. Carthoris and I presided
in the centre of our sides of the table--midway of the
third side Dejah Thoris' high-backed, carven chair stood
vacant except for her gorgeous wedding trappings and jewels
which were draped upon it. Behind stood a slave as in the
days when his mistress had occupied her place at the board,
ready to do her bidding. It was the way upon Barsoom, so I
endured the anguish of it, though it wrung my heart to see
that silent chair where should have been my laughing and vivacious
Princess keeping the great hall ringing with her merry gaiety.

At my right sat Kantos Kan, while to the right of Dejah
Thoris' empty place Tars Tarkas sat in a huge chair before
a raised section of the board which years ago I had had
constructed to meet the requirements of his mighty bulk.
The place of honour at a Martian hoard is always at the
hostess's right, and this place was ever reserved by
Dejah Thoris for the great Thark upon the occasions
that he was in Helium.

Hor Vastus sat in the seat of honour upon Carthoris' side
of the table. There was little general conversation. It was a
quiet and saddened party. The loss of Dejah Thoris was
still fresh in the minds of all, and to this was added fear
for the safety of Tardos Mors and Mors Kajak, as well
as doubt and uncertainty as to the fate of Helium, should it
prove true that she was permanently deprived of her great Jeddak.

Suddenly our attention was attracted by the sound of distant
shouting, as of many people raising their voices at once,
but whether in anger or rejoicing, we could not tell.
Nearer and nearer came the tumult. A slave rushed into the
dining hall to cry that a great concourse of people was swarming
through the palace gates. A second burst upon the heels of the
first alternately laughing and shrieking as a madman.

"Dejah Thoris is found!" he cried. "A messenger from Dejah Thoris!"

I waited to hear no more. The great windows of the
dining hall overlooked the avenue leading to the main gates
--they were upon the opposite side of the hall from me with
the table intervening. I did not waste time in circling the great
board--with a single leap I cleared table and diners and
sprang upon the balcony beyond. Thirty feet below lay the
scarlet sward of the lawn and beyond were many people
crowding about a great thoat which bore a rider headed
toward the palace. I vaulted to the ground below and ran
swiftly toward the advancing party.

As I came near to them I saw that the figure on the thoat was Sola.

"Where is the Princess of Helium?" I cried.

The green girl slid from her mighty mount and ran toward me.

"O my Prince! My Prince!" she cried. "She is gone for ever.
Even now she may be a captive upon the lesser moon.
The black pirates of Barsoom have stolen her."