NORTH PLATTE SEMT-WEEIttY TRIBUNE.
A
OFMARS
Copyright, A. 0. McClarjr find Company
STRANGE PEOPLE AND
WAYS.
Synopsis. The author tclln of hln
acquaintance) with the hero of one
of the most remarkable adventures
ever recorded. From a manuscript
left by Ma friend ho has vividly set
out 'the strange happening! which
brought together a brave Virginia
gentleman and a Princess of Mars.
In the Arizona hills John Carter,
mining prospector and ex-Confed-crato
soldier, fleeing from a war
party of Apaches, takes refuge In
a cavo tho ntmosphcre of which
has a remarkable effect on him.
Yielding to Its Influence ha sinks
Into unconsciousness, his last
thoughts centered on tho glow from
the planet Mars. Awaking) Carter
realizes that ho has, In some In
comprehensible manner, been trans
ported to Mars.
CHPATER II Continued.
2
The roof of (lie enclosure wns n
solid glass nljout four or five Inches
In thickness, mid beneath this were
several hundred large eggs, perfectly
round find snowy white. The eggs
were nenrly uniform In size, being
nltout two and one-linlf feet In diame
ter. Five or six lind nlreudy luitclied
find the grotesque curlcntures which
sat blinking In the sunlight were
enough to cause mo, to doubt my san
ity. They seemed mostly hend, with
little scrawny bodies, long nocks and
six legs, or, as I afterward learned,
two legs and two arms, with an Inter
mediary pair of limbs which could be
used nt will either as amis or legs.
Their eyes were set lit the extreme
sides of their heads n trifle above the
center and protruded In such a man
ner that they could be directed either
forward or back and also Independent
ly of each other, thus permitting this
iiueer animal to .look In any direction,
or In two directions at once, without
the necessity of turning the head.
Tliero was no hair on their bodies,
which wore of n very light yellow
green color. In the adults, ns I wns
to learn quite soon, this color deepens
to an olive green and Is darker In tho
male than In the femnlc.
Tho Iris of the eyes Is blood red, ns
In Albinos, while tho pupil Is dark.
The eyeball Itself Is very white, as
nre the teeth. These latter add a most
ferocious nppcarnnce to nn otherwise
fenrsomo and terrible countennnce, ns
the lower tusks curve upward to sharp
points which end nbout where the eyes
of earthly human beings are located.
The whiteness of tho teeth Is not that
of Ivory, but of tho snowiest and most
gleaming of china.
1 was given but little time to specu
late on the wonders of my new dis
covery. I had seen that tho eggs were
In the process of hatching, nnd ns I
ntood watching the hideous little mon
sters break from their shells I failed
to note tho approach of n score of
lull-grown Martians from behind me.
They might have captured me enslly,
but their Intentions wero far more
sinister, It wns the rattling of the
accoutrements of tho foremost wiy
rlor which warned me, Had not tho
rifle of the lender of tho party swung
from Its fastenings beside his snddlo
In such a way as to strike- against the
tiutt of his great metal-shod spear I
should have snuffed out without over
knowing that death was near mo. But
3 the little sound caused me to turn,
nnd there upon me, not ten feet from
my brcust, wns tho point of thnt huge
spean a spear forty foot long, tipped
with gleaming metal, and huld low at
the sdo of a mounted replica of the
little ilovlls I hnd been watching,
nut how puny and harmless they
now looked beside this huge and ter
rific Incarnation of hate, of vengeance,
nnd of denth. Tho ninn himself, for
such I may call hm, was fully fifteen
feet In height and, on earth, would
have weighed somo four hundred
pounds.
And his mount I Ilo'w ran earthly
words describe It I It towered ten feet
nt the shoulder; had four legs on
either side; tt broad flat tall, larger nt
tho tip than nt the root, and which
It held straight out behind whllo run
ning; a gaping mouth which split Its
head from its snout to its long, mus
slve neck.
Like Its master, it wns entirely do
void of hair, hut was of a dark slate
color and exceeding smooth nnd glo
ny. Its belly wns white and Us legs
shaded from tho slato of Its shoulders
and hips to a vivid yellow at the feet
Unarmed and naked as I was, tho
first law of nature manifested Itself
In tho only possible solution of my
Immediate problem, and that was to
get out of tho vicinity of the point
of tho charging spear. Consequently
I guvo a very onrthly and at tho siuno
time miporhumnn leap to reach tho
top of the Martian Incubator, for such
I bad determined It must be.
My effort was crowned with n suo
cess which appalled mo no loss than It
Hceined to surprise tho Martian wur-
rlors, for It carried me fully thirty
feet Into the air and landed me a hun
dred feet from my pursuers nnd on
the opposite side of tho enclosure
I alighted upon tho soft moss easily
'Jeud without mishap, and turning saw
'pxy enemies lined up ntong tho further
IJVCESS
wall. Home were surveying me with
expressions which I afterward dlscov.
ered marked extreme astonishment,
nnd the others wero evidently satis
fying themselves thut I had not mo
lested their young.
They were conversing together In
low tones, nnd gesticulating and point
ing townrd me. Their discovery that
I had not harmed the little Martians
und thnt I was unhnrmcd must have
mused them to look upon mo with less
ferocity; but, ns I wns to learn Inter,
tho thing which weighed most In my
favor was my exhibition of hurdling.
While the Mnrtlnns are Immense,
their bones are very large nnd they
nre muscled only In proportion to tho
gravitation which they must overcome.
The result Is thnt they urolnllnltely
less agile and less powerful, In pro
per! Ion to their weight, than nn Earth
man. nnd I doubt thnt wero one of
them suddenly to bo transported to
Enrth he could lift his own weight
from the ground; In fact, I nm con
vinced that he could not do so.
My fent, then, wns ns marvelous up
on Mars as It would have been upon
Earth, nnd from desiring lo nnnlhllate
me they suddenly looked upon me ns
a wonderful discovery to be captured
Mini exhibited among their fellows.
1 noted that each was armed with
several other weapons in addition to
the huge spear which I have described.
The weapon which caused me to de
cide ngnlnst nn attempt at escape by
lllght was what was evidently a rifle
of somo description nnd which I felt,
for some reason, they were peculiarly
efllclcnt In hnndllng.
These rifles were of n white metal
stocked with wood, which I learned
later wns a very light nnd Intensely
hard growth much prized on Mars,
ittul entirely unknown to us denizens
of Earth. The metnl of tho barrel
Is nn alloy composed principally of
nlumlnum and steel which they have
learned to temper to n hardness fur
exceeding thnt of the steel with which
wo are familiar, The weight of these i
rifles Is comparatively little, and with
the small caliber, explosive, radium
projectiles which they use and tho
great length of the barrel, they are
deadly In tho extreme and nt ranges
which would bo unthinkable on Earth.
The theoretic effective radius of this
rllle Is three hundred miles, but the
best they can do In actual service
when equipped with their wireless
finders nnd slghtcrs Is but n trifle
over two hundred miles.
Tho Martians, nftcr conversing for
u short time, turned and rode away
In the direction from which they hnd
come, leaving one of their number
nlone by tho enclosure. When they
had covered perhaps two hundred
yurds they united and turning their
mounts townrd us sat watching the
warrior by the enclosure.
When his forco had come to a halt
he dismounted, throw down his spear
and small nrms and cnnio around the
end of the Incubator toward me. en
tirely unarmed nnd as nuked ns I,
excopt for the ornaments strapped up
on his head, limbs and breast.
When he wns within about fifty feet
of mo he unclasped an enormous met
nl nrmlct nnd holding It townrd mo In
the open palm of his hand, addressed
"My Effort Was Crowned With a Suc
cess Which Appalled Me No Less
Than It Seemed to Surprise the Mar
tlan Warriors."
me In n clear, resonant voice, but In
a laugunge, It Is needless to say, I
could not understand. Ilo then stopped
as though wnltlng for my reply,
pricking up his antonnae-llko ears and
cocking his strange-looking eyes still
further townrd me.
As the silence beenmo painful I
concluded to hazard' . little conversa
tion on my own part, as I Into guessed
J
that he was making overtures of
peace.
Stretching my hnnd townrd him I
ndvnnced ond took the armlet from
his open palm, clnsplng It nbout my
arm above the elbow; smiled at him
and stood wnltlng. Ills wide mouth
spread Into nn answering smile, nnd
locking one of his Intermediary arms
in mine we turneu iinu wniscu duck
townrd his mount. At the some time
he m6tloned his followers to advance.
He exchanged n few words with his
men, motioned to me that I would ride
behind one of them, nnd then mounted
his own animal. The fellow desig
nated reached down two or three
hands nnd lifted me up behind him on
the glossy back of his mount, where
I hung on ns best I could by the belts
find straps which held the Murtlnn's
wen pons nnd ornnments.
Tho entire cavalcade then turned
nnd galloped away toward the range
of hills In the distance.
In n Short time we gained the foot
of the mountnlns. nnd nftcr traversing
n' nnrrow gorge enme to nn open vnl
ley, nt the far extremity of which wns
a low tableland upon which I beheld
nu enormous city. Toward this we
galloped, entering It by whnt appeared
to he a ruined rondwny lending out
from the city, but only to the edge of
the tableland, where It ended abrupt
ly In a flight of broad steps.
Upon closer observation I snw'ns
we passed them that the buildings
were deserted, and whllo not greatly
decayed had the appearance of not
bavins been tenanted for years, pos
sibly for ages. Toward the center of
the city was a Inrge plaza, and upon
this and In the buildings Immediately
surrounding It were camped some nine
or ten hundred creatures of the snriie
breed as my enptors, for such I now
considered them, despite the .wave
manner In which I had been trapped.
With the exception of their- ornn
ments nil were naked, The women
varied In nppcarnnce but little from
the men, except thnt their tusks were
much Inrgcr In proportion to their
height, In some Instances curving nenr
ly to their high-set veurs. The adult
females ranged In height from ten to
twelve feet.
The children were light In color,
even lighter than the women, nnd all
looked precisely alike to me, except
thnt some were tnllcr thun others;
older, I presumed.
I saw no signs of extreme ago nmong
them, nor Is there nny nppreclnble dif
ference In their appearance from the
ngc of maturity, about forty, until, at
about the age of ono thousand yenrs,
they go voluntarily upon- their Inst
strange pilgrimage tlown the river Iss,
which lends no living Martlnn knows
whither and from whose bosom no
Mnrtlnn has ever returned, or would
be allowed to live did ho return 'after
once embarking upon Its cold, dark
waters.
Only about ono Martlnn In a thou
sand dies of sickness or disease, nnd
possibly nbout twenty tnke the volun
tary pilgrimage. Tho other nine hun
dred and seventy-nino die vlolont
denths In duels, In hunting, In aviation
nnd In war; but perhaps by far the
greatest death loss comes during tho
ngo of childhood, when vnst numbers
of the little Martians fall victims to
the grent white npes of Mars.
As we nenred the plaza and my
presence wns discovered we were Im
mediately surrounded by hundreds of
tho crcntures, who seemed nnxlous lo
pluck mo from my sent behind tho
gunrd, A word from tho leader of the
party stilled their clnmor, nnd we pro
ceeded nt n trot across the plaza to tho
entrance of as mugnlflcent nn edifice
ns mortal eve has rested upon.
Tho building was low, but covered
an enormous nrea. It was constructed
of gleaming white marble Inlaid with
gold and brilliant stones which spar
kled nnd sclntlllntcd In the sunlight.
There wns no stairway, but n gentle
lucllno to the first lloor-of the building
opened Into nn enormous chnmber en
circled by gnllerlcs.
On tho floor of this chnmber, which
was dotted with highly carved wooden
desks and chnlrs, were assembled
about forty or fifty mnlo Martians
nround tho steps of a rostrum. On
the plntforin proper squnttod an enor
mous warrior henvlly loaded with
metnl ornnments, guy-colored feathers
and bonutlfully wrought leather trap
pings "ingeniously sot with precious
stones.
Whnt struck me ns most remarkable
nbout this nssemblngc and the hall In
which they wero congregated was the
fact thnt tho crcntures wero entirely
out of proportion to the desks, chnlrs,
and other furnishings, these being of
a slzo adapted to humnn beings such
ns I, whereas the grent hulks of tho
Mnrtlnns could scarcely have squeezed
Into the chnlrs, nor wns there room
beneath tho desks for their long legs.
Evidently, then, there were other dcnl
zens on Mars than tho wild nnd gro
tesquo creatures Into whose hands I
had fallen.
Our pnrty had halted at tho en
trance to tho building, nnd nt a sign
from the lender I hnd been lowered
to the ground. Again locking his nrm
In mine, we had proceeded Into the
audience chamber. There were few
formalities observed in approaching
Tiy
EDGAR RICE
BURROUGHS
Author of
Tarzan of th
Apes
tho Martian chieftain. My captqr
merely strode up to the rostrum, the
others making way, for him as he nd
vnnced. The chleftnln rose to his
feet and uttered the nnme of my es
cort who, In turn, hnlted and repeated
the name of the ruler followed by his
title.
My captor, whoso name was Tnrs
rnrkns, evidently explained briefly the
Incidents Connected with his expedi
tion, Including my, enpture, und when
he hnd concluded the chieftain ad
dressed me nt some length.
I replied In our good old English
tongue merely to convince him that
neither of us could understand the
other; but I noticed that when I smiled
slightly on concluding he did likewise.
This fact and the slmllnr occurrence
during my first tnlk with Tnrs Turkns
convinced me thnt we had at least
something In common; the ability to
smile, therefore to Inugh ; denoting a
sense of humor. But I wns to learn
that the Martian smile Is merely per
functory and that the Martlnn laugh
Is n thing to cause strong men to
blnnch with horror.
The Ideas of humor nmong the green
men of Mnrs nre widely nt variance
with our conceptions of Incltnnts to
merriment. The denth ngonles of u
fellow being nre, to these strange crcn
tures, provocntlvo of the wildest hilar
ity, while their chief form of common
est nmusement Is to Inflict death on
their prisoners of wnr In various In-
enlous nnd horrible ways.
The assembled warriors and chief
tains exnmlncd me closely, feeling my
muscles nnd texture of my skin. The
prlnclpnl chleftnln then evidently sig
nified n desire to see me perform, and.
motioning me to follow, he started
with Tars Tarkns for the open plnza.
Now, I had made no attempt to
walk, since my first signal failure, ex
cept whllo tightly grasping and flitting
about among the desks and chnlrs like
some monstrous grasshopper. After
bruising myself severely, much to the
nmusement of the Mnrtlnns, I nguln
hnd recourse to creeping, but this did
not suit them nnd I wnfl roughly
jerked to my feet by n towering fel
low who hnd laughed most heartily at
my misfortunes.
As he banged me down upon1 my
feet his fnce was bent close to mine
und I did the only thing n gcntlemnn
might do under the circumstances of
brutality, hoorlshness and lack of con
sideration for n stranger's rights; I
swung my fist squarely to his jaw and
he went down like n felled ox. As
he sunk to the floor I wheeled around
with my bnck toward the nenrest desk,
expecting to bo overwhelmed by the
vengeance of his fellows, but deter
mined to give them as good a battle
as the unequal odds would permit be
fore I gave up my life.
My fears, were groundless, however,
ns the other Martians, at first struck
dumb with wonderment, finally broke
Into wild peuls of laughter and ap
plause. I did not recognize the np-
plnuse ns such, but later, when I had
become acquainted with their customs,
I learned thut I had won what they
seldom accord, n manifestation of ap
probation.
The fellow whom I had struwk lay
where he had fallen, nor did nny of his
mntos approach him. Tars Tnrkas ad
vanced townrd me, holding out one of
his nrms, nnd we thus proceeded to the
plnzn without further mishap. I did
not, of course, know the reason for
which we had como to the open, but
I wns not long In being enlightened.
They first repeated the word "snk"
a number of times, and then Tars Tnr
kas made several Jumps, repeating
the same word before each leap; then,
turning to me, he snld. "Snk I" I saw
whnt thoy were after, and gathering
myself together I "snkked" with such
marvelous success that I cleared a
good hundred and fifty feet; nor did
I this time lose my equilibrium, but
landed squarely upon my feet without
fnlllng. I then returned by easy Jumps
of twenty-five or thirty feet to the
llttlo group of wnrrlors.
My exhibition hnd been witnessed
by several hundred lesser Martians,
nnd thoy Immediately broke Into de
mands for a repetition. But I was
both hungry and thirsty, and Ignored
tho repeuted commnnds to "snk," and
each time they were mnde I motioned
to my mouth nnd rubbed my stomach.
TarS Tnrkns and tho chief exchnnged
n few words, nnd tho former, cnlllng
to n young femnlo nmong the throng,
guvo her somo Instructions and mo
tioned me to nccompany her. I
grasped her proffered arm and to
gether we crossed the plnza townrd n
large building on the.far side.
My fair companion was nbout eight
feet tall, having Just nrrlvod nt ma
turity, but not yet to her full height
Sho wns of a light olive-green color,
with n smooth, glossy hide. Her name,
as I afterward learned, was Sola, and
she belonged to the retinue of Tars
Tarkas. She conducted me to a spa
cious chnmher In one of tho buildings
fronting on the plnza, and which, from
the litter of silks nnd furs upon the
floor, I took to bo tho sleeping quar
ters of several of tho natives.
Sola motioned me to be seated upon
a pllo of silks near tho center of the
room, nnd, turning, mnde a peculiar
hissing sound, as though signaling, to
some one In an adjoining room. Ia
response to her call I obtained my
first sight of a new Mnrtlnn wonder.
It wnddled In on Its ton Bhort legs,
nnd squatted down before the girl like
nn obedient p"Ppy The thing was
about the size of n Shetland pony, but
Its head bore a slight resemblance to
that of a frog, except that the jaws
were equipped with three rows of
long, sharp tusks.
CHAPTER III. PT
A Fight That Won Friends.
Sola stnred Into tho brute's wicked
looking eyes, muttered n word or two
of command, polptcd to me, and left
the chnmber. The beast, after survey
ing me Intently for n moment, crossed
the room to the only exit which led to
the street nnd lny down full length
ncross the threshold.
This wns my first experience with a
Martian watch dog, but It was destined
not to be my lust, for this fellow
guarded me carefully during tho time
I remnlned a cnptlve among these
green men, twice snvlng my life, nnd
never voluntarily being away from me
a mAment.
Sola returned bearing both food and
drink. These she placed on the floor
beside me, nnd seating herself a short
IRWIN
AM
"In Response to Her Call I Obtained
My First Sight of a New Martian
Wonder."
ways off regarded tne Intently. The
food consisted of nbout a pound of
some solid substance of the consist
ency of cheese nnd almost: tasteless,
while the liquid was apparently milk
from some animal. It came, as I later
discovered, not from nn animal, as
there Is only one "mammal on Mnrs,
nnd thnt ono very rare Indeed, but
from n largo plant which grows prac-,
tlcally without water, but seems to
distill Its plentiful supply of milk from
tho products of the soil, the moisture
of the nlr. and the rays of the sun.
A single plant of this species will give
eight or ten quarts of milk per day.
After I hnd eaten I was greatly In
vigorated, but feeling the need of rest
I stretched out upon the silks nnd wns
soon nsleep. I must have slept sev
eral hours, as It was dnrk when I
awoke, nnd I wns very cold. I noticed
thnt someone hnd thrown n fur over
me, but It had become partially dis
lodged and In the darkness I could not
see Jin repln'ce It. Suddenly n hnnd
reached out nnd pulled the ur over
me, shortly nfterwnrd adding nnother
to my covering.
I presumed thnt my watchful guard
ian was Sola, nor wns I wrong. This
girl nlone. among nil the green Mnr
tlnns with whom I enme In contnet,
disclosed characteristics of sympnthy.
kindliness nnd affection ; her ministra
tions to my bodily wants were unfail
ing, and her solicitous care saved me
from much suffering and mnny hard
ships.
As 1 wns to lenrn, the Martian nights
nre extremely cold, nnd ns there Is
practically no twilight or dnwn, the
changes In temperature nre sudden
nnd most uneomfortnble, as are the
transitions from brilliant daylight to
dnrknesH. The nights nre either brilli
antly Illuminated or very dark, for
If neither of tho two moons of Mars
happen to be In the sky nlmost total
darkness results, since the lack of at
moHphere.' or, rather, the very thin
atmosphere, falls to diffuse tho star
light to nny groat extent; on the other
hnnd, If both of the moons nre In the
heavens at night the surface of the
ground Is brightly lilumlnnted.
After Soln had replenished my cov
erings I ngnln slept, nor did I nwnken
until daylight The other occupants
of tho room, five In number, were nil
remnlcs nnd they were still sleeping,
piled high with n motley army of
silks nnd furs. Across tho threshold
lny stretched the sleepless guardian
brute, Just as I had last seen him on
tho preceding (lny; apparently he hnd
not moved n muscle; his eyes were
fairly glued upon me, nnd 1 fell to
wondering Just whnt might befall me
should I endeavor to escape.
Another race of Martians in
airships.
(TO BE CONTfNUUD.)
The moon resembles a mnrrlnge cer
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