were open or ajar, for the corridor itself was forbidden to all but
the women and their slaves, with the exception of Tul Axtar. The foot
of the single ramp leading to it from the level below was watched over
by a guard of picked men, composed exclusively of eunuchs, and Tavia
assured me that short shrift was made of any adventurous spirit who
sought to investigate the precincts above; yet here was I, a man and an
enemy, safely within the forbidden territory.
As I looked about me in an attempt to determine where to commence my
investigation, several women emerged from one of the apartments and
approached me along the corridor. They were beautiful women, young and
richly trapped, and from their light conversation and their laughter
I judged that they were not unhappy. My conscience pricked me as I
realized the mean advantage that I was taking of them, but it could not
be avoided and so I waited and listened, hoping that I might overhear
some snatch of conversation that would aid me in my quest for Sanoma
Tora; but I learned nothing from them other than that they referred to
Tul Axtar contemptuously as the old zitidar. Some of their references
to him were extremely personal and none was complimentary.
They passed me and entered a large room at the end of the corridor.
Almost immediately thereafter other women emerged from other apartments
and followed the first party into the same apartment.
It soon became evident to me that they were congregating there and I
thought that perhaps this might be the best way in which to start my
search for Sanoma Tora--perhaps she, too, might be among the company.
Accordingly I fell in behind one of the groups and followed it through
the large doorway and a short corridor, which opened into a great hall
that was so gorgeously appointed and decorated as to suggest the throne
room of a jeddak, and in fact such appeared to have been a part of its
purpose, for at one end rose an enormous, highly-carved throne.
The floor was of highly polished wood, in the center of which was
a large pool of water. Along the sides of the room were commodious
benches, piled with pillows and soft silks and furs. Here it was that
Tul Axtar occasionally held unique court, surrounded solely by his
women. Here they danced for him; here they disported themselves in the
limpid waters of the pool for his diversion; here banquets were spread
and to the strains of music high revelry persisted long into the night.
As I looked about me at those who had already assembled I saw that
Sanoma Tora was not among them and so I took my place close to the
entrance where I might scrutinize the face of each who entered.
They were coming in droves now. I believe that I have never seen so
many women alone together before. As I watched for Sanoma Tora I tried
to count them, but I soon gave it up as hopeless, though I estimated
that fully fifteen hundred women were congregated in the great hall
when at last they ceased to enter.
They seated themselves upon the benches about the room, which was
filled with a babel of feminine voices. There were women of all ages
and of every type, but there was none that was not beautiful. The
secret agents of Tul Axtar must have combed the world for such an
aggregation of loveliness as this.
A door at one side of the throne opened and a file of warriors entered.
At first I was surprised because Tavia had told me that no men other
than Tul Axtar ever were permitted upon this level, but presently I
saw that the warriors were women dressed in the harness of men, their
hair cut and their faces painted, after the fashion of the fighting men
of Barsoom. After they had taken their places on either side of the
throne, a courtier entered by the same door--another woman masquerading
as a man.
"Give thanks!" she cried. "Give thanks! The Jeddak comes!"
Instantly the women arose and a moment later Tul Axtar, Jeddak of
Jahar, entered the hall, followed by a group of women disguised as
courtiers.
As Tul Axtar lowered his great bulk into the throne, he signalled for
the women in the room to be seated. Then he spoke in a low voice to a
woman courtier at his side.
The woman stepped to the edge of the dais. "The great Jeddak deigns to
honor you individually with his royal observation," she announced in
stilted tones. "From my left you will pass before him, one by one. In
the name of the Jeddak, I have spoken."
Immediately the first woman at the left arose and walked slowly
past the throne, pausing in front of Tul Axtar long enough to turn
completely about, and then walked slowly on around the apartment
and out through the doorway beside which I stood. One by one in
rapid succession the others followed her. The whole procedure seemed
meaningless to me. I could not understand it--then.
Perhaps a hundred women had passed before the Jeddak and come down
the long hall toward me when something in the carriage of one of
them attracted my attention as she neared me, and an instant later I
recognized Sanoma Tora. She was changed, but not greatly and I could
not understand why it was that I had not discovered her in the room
previously. I had found her! After all these long months I had found
her--the woman I loved. Why did my heart not thrill?
As she passed through the doorway leading from the great hall, I
followed her and along the corridor to an apartment near the far end,
and when she entered, I entered behind her. I had to move quickly,
too, for she turned immediately and closed the door after her.
We were alone in a small room, Sanoma Tora and I. In one corner were
her sleeping silks and furs; between two windows was a carved bench
upon which stood those toilet articles that are essential to a woman of
Barsoom.
It was not the apartment of a Jeddara; it was little better than the
cell of a slave.
As Sanoma Tora crossed the room listlessly toward a stool which stood
before the toilet bench, her back was toward me and I dropped the robe
of invisibility from about me.
"Sanoma Tora!" I said in a low voice.
Startled, she turned toward me. "Hadron of Hastor!" she exclaimed; "or
am I dreaming?"
"You are not dreaming, Sanoma Tora. It is Hadron of Hastor."
"Why are you here? How did you get here? It is impossible. No men but
Tul Axtar are permitted upon this level."
"Here I am, Sanoma Tora, and I have come to take you back to Helium--if
you wish to return."
"Oh, name of my first ancestor, if I could but hope," she cried.
"You may hope, Sanoma Tora," I assured her. "I am here and I can take
you back."
"I cannot believe it," she said. "I cannot imagine how you gained
entrance here. It is madness to think that two of us could leave
without being detected."
I threw the cloak about me. "Where are you, Tan Hadron? What has become
of you? What has happened?" cried Sanoma Tora.
"This is how I gained entrance," I explained. "This is how we shall
escape." I removed the cloak from about me.
"What forbidden magic is this?" she demanded, and, as best I might in
few words, I explained to her the compound of invisibility and how I
had come by it.
"How have you fared here, Sanoma Tora?" I asked her. "How have they
treated you?"
"I have not been ill treated," she replied; "no one has paid any
attention to me." I could scent the wounded vanity in her tone. "Until
tonight I had not seen Tul Axtar. I have just come from the hall where
he holds court among his women."
"Yes," I said, "I know. I was there. It was from there that I followed
you here."
"When can you take me away?" she asked.
"Very quickly now," I replied.
"I am afraid that it will have to be quickly," she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"When I passed Tul Axtar he stopped me for a moment and I heard him
speak to one of the courtiers at his side. He told her to ascertain my
name and where I was quartered. The women have told me what happens
after Tul Axtar has noticed one of us, and I am afraid; but what
difference does it make, I am only a slave."
What a change had come over the haughty Sanoma Tora! Was this the
same arrogant beauty who had refused my hand? Was this the Sanoma
Tora who had aspired to be a jeddara? She was humbled now--I read it
in the droop of her shoulders, in the trembling of her lips, in the
fear-haunted light that shone from her eyes.
My heart was filled with compassion for her, but I was astonished
and dismayed to discover that no other emotion overwhelmed me. The
last time that I had seen Sanoma Tora I would have given my soul to
have been able to take her into my arms. Had the hardships that I had
undergone so changed me? Was Sanoma Tora, a slave, less desirable to me
than Sanoma Tora, daughter of the rich Tor Hatan? No; I knew that that
could not be true. I had changed, but doubtless it was only a temporary
metamorphosis induced by the nervous strain which I was undergoing
consequent upon the responsibility imposed upon me by the necessity
for carrying word to Helium in time to save her from destruction at
the hands of Tul Axtar--to save not only Helium, but a world. It was
a grave responsibility. How might one thus burdened have time for
thoughts of love? No, I was not myself; yet I knew that I still loved
Sanoma Tora.
Realizing the necessity for haste, I made a speedy examination of the
room and discovered that I could easily effect Sanoma Tora's rescue by
taking her through the window, just as I had taken Tavia and Phao from
the east tower at Tjanath.
Briefly, but carefully, I explained my plan to her and bid her prepare
herself while I was gone that there might be no delay when I was ready
to take her aboard the Jhama.
"And now, Sanoma Tora," I said, "for a few moments, good-bye! The next
that you will hear will be a voice at your window, but you will see no
one nor any ship. Extinguish the light in your room and step to the
sill. I will take your hand. Put your trust in me then and do as I bid."
"Good-bye, Hadron!" she said. "I cannot express now in adequate words
the gratitude that I feel, but when we are returned to Helium there is
nothing that you can demand of me that I shall not grant you, not only
willingly, but gladly."
I raised my fingers to my lips and had turned toward the door when
Sanoma Tora laid a detaining hand upon my arm. "Wait!" she said.
"Someone is coming."
Hastily I resumed my cloak of invisibility and stepped to one side
of the room as the door, leading into the corridor, was thrown open,
revealing one of the female courtiers of Tul Axtar in gorgeous harness.
The woman entered the room and stepped to one side of the doorway,
which remained opened.
"The Jeddak! Tul Axtar, Jeddak of Jahar!" she announced.
A moment later Tul Axtar entered the room, followed by half a dozen of
his female courtiers. He was a gross man with repulsive features, which
reflected a combination of strength and weakness, of haughty arrogance,
of pride and of doubt--an innate questioning of his own ability.
As he faced Sanoma Tora his courtiers formed behind him. They were
masculine looking women, who had evidently been selected because of
this very characteristic. They were good looking in a masculine way
and their physiques suggested that they might prove a very effective
body guard for the Jeddak.
For several minutes Tul Axtar examined Sanoma Tora with appraising
eyes. He came closer to her and there was that in his attitude which I
did not like, and when he laid a hand upon her shoulder, I could scarce
restrain myself.
"I was not wrong," he said. "You are gorgeous. How long have you been
here?"
She shuddered, but did not reply.
"You are from Helium?"
No answer.
"The ships of Helium are on their way to Jahar." He laughed. "My scouts
bring word that they will soon be here. They will meet with a warm
welcome from the great fleet of Tul Axtar." He turned to his courtiers.
"Go!" he said, "and let none return until I summon her."
They bowed and retired, closing the door after them, and then Tul Axtar
laid his hand again upon the bare flesh of Sanoma Tora's shoulder.
"Come!" he said. "I shall not war with all of Helium--with you I shall
love--by my first ancestor, but you are worthy the love of a jeddak."
He drew her toward him. My blood boiled--so hot was my anger that it
boiled over and without thought of the consequences I let the cloak
fall from me.
XIV
THE CANNIBALS OF U-GOR
As I dropped the cloak of invisibility aside I drew my long sword and
as it slithered from its sheath, Tul Axtar heard and faced me. His
craven blood rushed to his heart and left his face pale at the sight of
me. A scream was in his throat when my point touched him in warning.
"Silence!" I hissed.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Silence!"
Even in the instant my plans were formed. I made him turn with his back
toward me and then I disarmed him, after which I bound him securely and
gagged him.
"Where can I hide him, Sanoma Tora?" I asked.
"There is a little closet here," she said, pointing toward a small door
in one side of the room, and then she crossed to it and opened it,
while I dragged Tul Axtar behind her and cast him into the closet--none
too gently I can assure you.
As I closed the closet door I turned to find Sanoma Tora white and
trembling. "I am afraid," she said. "If they come back and find him
thus, they will kill me."
"His courtiers will not return until he summons them," I reminded her.
"You heard him tell them that such were his wishes--his command."
She nodded.
"Here is his dagger," I told her. "If worse comes to worst you can
hold them off by threatening to kill Tul Axtar," but the girl seemed
terrified, she trembled in every limb and I feared that she might fail
if put to the test. How I wished that Tavia were here. I knew that
she would not fail, and, in the name of my first ancestor, how much
depended upon success!
"I shall return soon," I said, as I groped about the floor for the robe
of invisibility. "Leave that large window open and when I return, be
ready."
As I replaced the cloak about me I saw that she was trembling so that
she could not reply; in fact, she was even having difficulty in holding
the dagger, which I expected momentarily to see drop from her nerveless
fingers, but there was naught that I could do but hasten to the Jhama
and try to return before it was too late.
I gained the summit of the tower without incident. Above me twinkled
the brilliant stars of a Barsoomian night, while just above the palace
roof hung the gorgeous planet, Jasoom (Earth).
The Jhama, of course, was invisible, but so great was my confidence in
Tavia that when I stretched a hand upward I knew that I should feel the
keel of the craft, and sure enough I did. Three times I rapped gently
upon the forward hatch, which was the signal that we had determined
upon before I had entered the palace. Instantly the hatch was raised
and a moment later I had clambered aboard.
"Where is Sanoma Tora?" asked Tavia.
"No questions now," I replied. "We must work quickly. Be ready to take
over the controls the moment that I leave them."
In silence she took her place at my side, her soft shoulder touching my
arm, and in silence I dropped the Jhama to the level of the windows in
the women's quarters. In a general way I knew the location of Sanoma
Tora's apartment, and as I moved slowly along I kept the periscope
pointed toward the windows and presently I saw the figure of Sanoma
Tora upon the ground glass before me. I brought the Jhama close to the
sill, her upper deck just below it.
"Hold her here, Tavia," I said. Then I raised the upper hatch a few
inches and called to the girl within the room.
At the sound of my voice she trembled so that she almost dropped the
dagger, although she must have known that I was coming and had been
awaiting me.
"Darken your room," I whispered to her. I saw her stagger across to
a button that was set in the wall and an instant later the room was
enveloped in darkness. Then I raised the hatch and stepped to the
sill. I did not wish to be bothered with the enveloping folds of the
mantle of invisibility and so I had folded it up and tucked it into my
harness, where I could have it instantly ready for use in the event
of an emergency. I found Sanoma Tora in the darkness and so weak with
terror was she that I had to lift her in my arms and carry her to the
window, where with Phao's help I managed to draw her through the open
hatch into the interior. Then I returned to the closet where Tul Axtar
lay bound and gagged. I stooped and cut the bonds which held his ankles.
"Do precisely as I tell you, Tul Axtar," I said, "or my steel will have
its way yet and find your heart. It thirsts for your blood, Tul Axtar,
and I have difficulty in restraining it, but if you do not fail me
perhaps I shall be able to save you yet. I can use you, Tul Axtar, and
upon your usefulness to me depends your life, for dead you are of no
value to me."
I made him rise and walk to the window and there I assisted him to the
sill. He was terror-stricken when I tried to make him step out into
space, as he thought, but when I stepped to the deck of the Jhama ahead
of him and he saw me apparently floating there in the air, he took a
little heart and I finally succeeded in getting him aboard.
Following him I closed the hatch and lighted a single dim light within
the hull. Tavia turned and looked at me for orders.
"Hold her where she is, Tavia," I said.
There was a tiny desk in the cabin of the Jhama where the officer of
the ship was supposed to keep his log and attend to any other records
or reports that it might be necessary to make. Here were writing
materials, and as I got them out of the drawer in which they were kept,
I called Phao to my side.
"You are of Jahar," I said. "You can write in the language of your
country?"
"Of course," she said.
"Then write what I dictate," I instructed her.
She prepared to do my bidding.
"If a single ship of Helium is destroyed," I dictated, "Tul Axtar dies.
Now sign it Hadron of Hastor, Padwar of Helium."
Tavia and Phao looked at me and then at the prisoner, their eyes wide
in astonishment, for in the dim light of the ship's interior they had
not recognized the prisoner.
"Tul Axtar of Jahar!" breathed Tavia incredulously. "Tan Hadron of
Hastor, you have saved Helium and Barsoom tonight."
I could not but note how quickly her mind functioned, with what
celerity she had seen the possibilities that lay in the possession of
the person of Tul Axtar, Jeddak of Jahar.
I took the note that Phao had written, and, returning quickly to Sanoma
Tora's room, I laid it upon her dressing table. A moment later I was
again in the cabin of the Jhama and we were rising swiftly above the
roofs of Jahar.
Morning found us beyond the uttermost line of Jaharian ships, beneath
which we had passed, guided by their lights--evidence to me that the
fleet was poorly officered, for no trained man, expecting an enemy in
force, would show lights aboard his ships at night.
We were speeding now in the direction of far Helium, following the
course that I hoped would permit us to intercept the fleet of the
Warlord in the event that it was already bound for Jahar as Tul Axtar
had announced.
Sanoma Tora had slightly recovered her poise and control of her nerves.
Tavia's sweet solicitude for her welfare touched me deeply. She had
soothed and quieted her as she might have soothed and quieted a younger
sister, though she herself was younger than Sanoma Tora, but with the
return of confidence Sanoma Tora's old haughtiness was returning and
it seemed to me that she showed too little gratitude to Tavia for
her kindliness, but I realized that that was Sanoma Tora's way, that
it was born in her and that doubtless deep in her heart she was fully
appreciative and grateful. However that may be, I cannot but admit that
I wished at the time that she would show it by some slight word or
deed. We were flying smoothly, slightly above the normal altitude of
battleships. The destination control compass was holding the Jhama to
her course, and after all that I had passed through, I felt the need of
sleep. Phao, at my suggestion, had rested earlier in the night, and as
all that was needed was a lookout to keep a careful watch for ships, I
entrusted this duty to Phao, and Tavia and I rolled up in our sleeping
silks and furs and were soon asleep.
Tavia and I were about mid-ship, Phao was forward at the controls,
constantly swinging the periscope to and fro searching the sky for
ships. When I retired Sanoma Tora was standing at one of the starboard
ports looking out into the night, while Tul Axtar lay down in the stern
of the ship. I had long since removed the gag from his mouth, but he
seemed too utterly cowed even to address us and lay there in morose
silence, or perhaps he was asleep, I do not know.
I was thoroughly fatigued and must have slept like a log from the
moment that I laid down until I was suddenly awakened by the impact
of a body upon me. As I struggled to free myself, I discovered to my
chagrin that my hands had been deftly bound while I slept, a feat that
had been rendered simple by the fact that it is my habit to sleep with
my hands together in front of my face.
A man's knee was upon my chest, pressing me heavily against the deck
and one of his hands clutched me by the throat. In the dim light of the
cabin I saw that it was Tul Axtar and that his other hand held a dagger.
"Silence!" he whispered. "If you would live, make no sound," and then
to make assurance doubly sure he gagged me and bound my ankles. Then
he crossed quickly to Tavia and bound her, and as he did so my eyes
moved quickly about the interior of the cabin in search of aid. On the
floor, near the controls, I saw Phao lying bound and gagged as was I.
Sanoma Tora crouched against the wall, apparently overcome by terror.
She was neither bound nor gagged. Why had she not warned me? Why had
she not come to my help? If it had been Tavia who remained unbound
instead of Sanoma Tora, how different would have been the outcome of
Tul Axtar's bid for liberty and revenge.
How had it all happened? I was sure that I had bound Tul Axtar so
securely that he could not possibly have freed himself, and yet I must
have been mistaken and I cursed myself for the carelessness that had
upset all my plans and that might easily eventually spell the doom of
Helium.
Having disposed of Phao, Tavia and me, Tul Axtar moved quickly to the
controls, ignoring Sanoma Tora as he passed by her. In view of the
marked terror that she displayed, I could readily understand why he did
not consider her any menace to his plans--she was as harmless to him
free as bound.
Putting the ship about he turned back toward Jahar, and though he did
not understand the mechanism of the destination control compass and
could not cut it out, this made no difference as long as he remained
at the controls, the only effect that the compass might have being
to return the ship to its former course should the controls be again
abandoned while the ship was in motion.
Presently he turned toward me. "I should destroy you, Hadron of
Hastor," he said, "had I not given the word of a jeddak that I would
not."
Vaguely I had wondered to whom he had given his word that he would not
kill me, but other and more important thoughts were racing through my
mind, crowding all else into the background. Uppermost among them, of
course, were plans for regaining control of the Jhama and, secondarily,
apprehension as to the fate of Tavia, Sanoma Tora and Phao.
"Give thanks for the magnanimity of Tul Axtar," he continued, "who
exacts no penalty for the affront you have put upon him. Instead you
are to be set free. I shall land you." He laughed. "Free! I shall land
you in the province of U-Gor!"
There was something nasty in the tone of his voice which made his
promise sound more like a threat. I had never heard of U-Gor, but
I assumed that it was some remote province from which it would be
difficult or impossible for me to make my way either to Jahar or
Helium. Of one thing I was confident--that Tul Axtar would not set me
free any place that I might become a menace to him.
For hours the Jhama moved on in silence. Tul Axtar had not had the
decency or the humanity to remove our gags. He was engrossed with the
business of the controls, and Sanoma Tora, crouching against the side
of the cabin, never spoke; nor once in all that time did her eyes turn
toward me. What thoughts were passing in that beautiful head? Was she
trying to find some plan by which she might turn the tables upon Tul
Axtar, or was she merely crushed by the hopeless outlook--the prospect
of being returned to the slavery of Jahar? I did not know; I could not
guess; she was an enigma to me.
How far we traveled or in what direction, I did not know. The night had
long since passed and the sun was high when I became aware that Tul
Axtar was bringing the ship down. Presently the purring of the motor
ceased and the ship came to a stop. Leaving the controls he walked back
to where I lay.