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  Thurid was deterred by no such scruples; and though it must have been difficult for her to believe that it was really I who followed them, she could not very well doubt the witness of her own eyes; and so she trained their stern gun upon me with her own hands, and an instant later an explosive radium projectile whizzed perilously close above my deck.

  The black's next shot was more accurate, striking my flier full upon the prow and exploding with the instant of contact, ripping wide open the bow buoyancy tanks and disabling the engine.

  So quickly did my bow drop after the shot that I scarce had time to lash Woolan to the deck and buckle my own harness to a gunwale ring before the craft was hanging stern up and making his last long drop to ground.

  His stern buoyancy tanks prevented his dropping with great rapidity; but Thurid was firing rapidly now in an attempt to burst these also, that I might be dashed to death in the swift fall that would instantly follow a successful shot.

  Shot after shot tore past or into us, but by a miracle neither Woolan nor I was hit, nor were the after tanks punctured. This good fortune could not last indefinitely, and, assured that Thurid would not again leave me alive, I awaited the bursting of the next shell that hit; and then, throwing my hands above my head, I let go my hold and crumpled, limp and inert, dangling in my harness like a corpse.

  The ruse worked, and Thurid fired no more at us. Presently I heard the diminishing sound of whirring propellers and realized that again I was safe.

  Slowly the stricken flier sank to the ground, and when I had freed myself and Woolan from the entangling wreckage I found that we were upon the verge of a natural forest--so rare a thing upon the chest of dying Mars that, outside of the forest in the Valley Dor beside the Lost Sea of Korus, I never before had seen its like upon the planet.

  From books and travelers I had learned something of the little-known land of Kaol, which lies along the equator almost halfway round the planet to the east of Helium.

  It comprises a sunken area of extreme tropical heat, and is inhabited by a nation of red women varying but little in manners, customs, and appearance from the balance of the red women of Barsoom.

  I knew that they were among those of the outer world who still clung tenaciously to the discredited religion of the Holy Therns, and that Matain Shang would find a ready welcome and safe refuge among them; while Joan Carter could look for nothing better than an ignoble death at their hands.

  The isolation of the Kaolians is rendered almost complete by the fact that no waterway connects their land with that of any other nation, nor have they any need of a waterway since the low, swampy land which comprises the entire area of their domain self-waters their abundant tropical crops.

  For great distances in all directions rugged hills and arid stretches of dead sea bottom discourage intercourse with them, and since there is practically no such thing as foreign commerce upon warlike Barsoom, where each nation is sufficient to itself, really little has been known relative to the court of the Jeddak of Kaol and the numerous strange, but interesting, people over whom she rules.

  Occasional hunting parties have traveled to thim out-of-the-way corner of the globe, but the hostility of the natives has usually brought disaster upon them, so that even the sport of hunting the strange and savage creatures which haunt the jungle fastnesses of Kaol has of later years proved insufficient lure even to the most intrepid warriors.

  It was upon the verge of the land of the Kaols that I now knew myself to be, but in what direction to search for Dejar Thoris, or how far into the heart of the great forest I might have to penetrate I had not the faintest idea.

  But not so Woolan.

  Scarcely had I disentangled her than she raised her head high in air and commenced circling about at the edge of the forest. Presently she halted, and, turning to see if I were following, set off straight into the maze of trees in the direction we had been going before Thurid's shot had put an end to our flier.

  As best I could, I stumbled after her down a steep declivity beginning at the forest's edge.

  Immense trees reared their mighty heads far above us, their broad fronds completely shutting off the slightest glimpse of the sky. It was easy to see why the Kaolians needed no navy; their cities, hidden in the midst of this towering forest, must be entirely invisible from above, nor could a landing be made by any but the smallest fliers, and then only with the greatest risk of accident.

  How Thurid and Matain Shang were to land I could not imagine, though later I was to learn that to the level of the forest top there rises in each city of Kaol a slender watchtower which guards the Kaolians by day and by night against the secret approach of a hostile fleet. To one of these the hekkador of the Holy Therns had no difficulty in approaching, and by its means the party was safely lowered to the ground.

  As Woolan and I approached the bottom of the declivity the ground became soft and mushy, so that it was with the greatest difficulty that we made any headway whatever.

  Slender purple grasses topped with red and yellow fern-like fronds grew rankly all about us to the height of several feet above my head.

  Myriad creepers hung festooned in graceful loops from tree to tree, and among them were several varieties of the Martian 'man-flower,' whose blooms have eyes and hands with which to see and seize the insects which form their diet.

  The repulsive calot tree was, too, much in evidence. It is a carnivorous plant of about the bigness of a large sage-brush such as dots our western plains. Each branch ends in a set of strong jaws, which have been known to drag down and devour large and formidable beasts of prey.

  Both Woolan and I had several narrow escapes from these greedy, arboreous monsters.

  Occasional areas of firm sod gave us intervals of rest from the arduous labor of traversing this gorgeous, twilight swamp, and it was upon one of these that I finally decided to make camp for the night which my chronometer warned me would soon be upon us.

  Many varieties of fruit grew in abundance about us; and as Martian calots are omnivorous, Woolan had no difficulty in making a square meal after I had brought down the viands for her. Then, having eaten, too, I lay down with my back to that of my faithful hound, and dropped into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  The forest was shrouded in impenetrable darkness when a low growl from Woolan awakened me. All about us I could hear the stealthy movement of great, padded feet, and now and then the wicked gleam of green eyes upon us. Arising, I drew my long-sword and waited.

  Suddenly a deep-toned, horrid roar burst from some savage throat almost at my side. What a fool I had been not to have found safer lodgings for myself and Woolan among the branches of one of the countless trees that surrounded us!

  By daylight it would have been comparatively easy to have hoisted Woolan aloft in one manner or another, but now it was too late. There was nothing for it but to stand our ground and take our medicine, though, from the hideous racket which now assailed our ears, and for which that first roar had seemed to be the signal, I judged that we must be in the midst of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the fierce, man-eating denizens of the Kaolian jungle.

  All the balance of the night they kept up their infernal din, but why they did not attack us I could not guess, nor am I sure to this day, unless it is that none of them ever venture upon the patches of scarlet sward which dot the swamp.

  When morning broke they were still there, walking about as in a circle, but always just beyond the edge of the sward. A more terrifying aggregation of fierce and blood-thirsty monsters it would be difficult to imagine.

  Singly and in pairs they commenced wandering off into the jungle shortly after sunrise, and when the last of them had departed Woolan and I resumed our journey.

  Occasionally we caught glimpses of horrid beasts all during the day; but, fortunately, we were never far from a sward island, and when they saw us their pursuit always ended at the verge of the solid sod.

  Toward noon we stumbled upon a well-constructed road running in the general direction
we had been pursuing. Everything about this highway marked it as the work of skilled engineers, and I was confident, from the indications of antiquity which it bore, as well as from the very evident signs of its being still in everyday use, that it must lead to one of the principal cities of Kaol.

  Just as we entered it from one side a huge monster emerged from the jungle upon the other, and at sight of us charged madly in our direction.

  Imagine, if you can, a bald-faced hornet of your earthly experience grown to the size of a prize Hereford bull, and you will have some faint conception of the ferocious appearance and awesome formidability of the winged monster that bore down upon me.

  Frightful jaws in front and mighty, poisoned sting behind made my relatively puny long-sword seem a pitiful weapon of defense indeed. Nor could I hope to escape the lightning-like movements or hide from those myriad facet eyes which covered three-fourths of the hideous head, permitting the creature to see in all directions at one and the same time.

  Even my powerful and ferocious Woolan was as helpless as a kitten before that frightful thing. But to flee were useless, even had it ever been to my liking to turn my back upon a danger; so I stood my ground, Woolan snarling at my side, my only hope to die as I had always lived--fighting.

  The creature was upon us now, and at the instant there seemed to me a single slight chance for victory. If I could but remove the terrible menace of certain death hidden in the poison sacs that fed the sting the struggle would be less unequal.

  At the thought I called to Woolan to leap upon the creature's head and hang there, and as her mighty jaws closed upon that fiendish face, and glistening fangs buried themselves in the bone and cartilage and lower part of one of the huge eyes, I dived beneath the great body as the creature rose, dragging Woolan from the ground, that it might bring its sting beneath and pierce the body of the thing hanging to its head.

  To put myself in the path of that poison-laden lance was to court instant death, but it was the only way; and as the thing shot lightning-like toward me I swung my long-sword in a terrific cut that severed the deadly member close to the gorgeously marked body.

  Then, like a battering-ram, one of the powerful hind legs caught me full in the bosom and hurled me, half stunned and wholly winded, clear across the broad highway and into the underbrush of the jungle that fringes it.

  Fortunately, I passed between the boles of trees; had I struck one of them I should have been badly injured, if not killed, so swiftly had I been catapulted by that enormous hind leg.

  Dazed though I was, I stumbled to my feet and staggered back to Woolan's assistance, to find her savage antagonist circling ten feet above the ground, beating madly at the clinging calot with all six powerful legs.

  Even during my sudden flight through the air I had not once released my grip upon my long-sword, and now I ran beneath the two battling monsters, jabbing the winged terror repeatedly with its sharp point.

  The thing might easily have risen out of my reach, but evidently it knew as little concerning retreat in the face of danger as either Woolan or I, for it dropped quickly toward me, and before I could escape had grasped my shoulder between its powerful jaws.

  Time and again the now useless stub of its giant sting struck futilely against my body, but the blows alone were almost as effective as the kick of a horse; so that when I say futilely, I refer only to the natural function of the disabled member--eventually the thing would have hammered me to a pulp. Nor was it far from accomplishing this when an interruption occurred that put an end forever to its hostilities.

  From where I hung a few feet above the road I could see along the highway a few hundred yards to where it turned toward the east, and just as I had about given up all hope of escaping the perilous position in which I now was I saw a red warrior come into view from around the bend.

  She was mounted on a splendid thoat, one of the smaller species used by red women, and in her hand was a wondrous long, light lance.

  Her mount was walking sedately when I first perceived them, but the instant that the red woman's eyes fell upon us a word to the thoat brought the animal at full charge down upon us. The long lance of the warrior dipped toward us, and as thoat and rider hurtled beneath, the point passed through the body of our antagonist.

  With a convulsive shudder the thing stiffened, the jaws relaxed, dropping me to the ground, and then, careening once in mid air, the creature plunged headforemost to the road, full upon Woolan, who still clung tenaciously to its gory head.

  By the time I had regained my feet the red woman had turned and ridden back to us. Woolan, finding her enemy inert and lifeless, released her hold at my command and wriggled from beneath the body that had covered her, and together we faced the warrior looking down upon us.

  I started to thank the stranger for her timely assistance, but she cut me off peremptorily.

  'Who are you,' she asked, 'who dare enter the land of Kaol and hunt in the royal forest of the jeddak?'

  Then, as she noted my white skin through the coating of grime and blood that covered me, her eyes went wide and in an altered tone she whispered: 'Can it be that you are a Holy Thern?'

  I might have deceived the fellow for a time, as I had deceived others, but I had cast away the yellow wig and the holy diadem in the presence of Matain Shang, and I knew that it would not be long ere my new acquaintance discovered that I was no thern at all.

  'I am not a thern,' I replied, and then, flinging caution to the winds, I said: 'I am Joan Carter, Princess of Helium, whose name may not be entirely unknown to you.'

  If her eyes had gone wide when she thought that I was a Holy Thern, they fairly popped now that she knew that I was Joan Carter. I grasped my long-sword more firmly as I spoke the words which I was sure would precipitate an attack, but to my surprise they precipitated nothing of the kind.

  'Joan Carter, Princess of Helium,' she repeated slowly, as though she could not quite grasp the truth of the statement. 'Joan Carter, the mightiest warrior of Barsoom!'

  And then she dismounted and placed her hand upon my shoulder after the manner of most friendly greeting upon Mars.

  'It is my duty, and it should be my pleasure, to kill you, Joan Carter,' she said, 'but always in my heart of hearts have I admired your prowess and believed in your sincerity the while I have questioned and disbelieved the therns and their religion.

  'It would mean my instant death were my heresy to be suspected in the court of Kula Tith, but if I may serve you, Princess, you have but to command Torkar Bar, Dwar of the Kaolian Road.'

  Truth and honesty were writ large upon the warrior's noble countenance, so that I could not but have trusted her, enemy though she should have been. Her title of Captain of the Kaolian Road explained her timely presence in the heart of the savage forest, for every highway upon Barsoom is patrolled by doughty warriors of the noble class, nor is there any service more honorable than this lonely and dangerous duty in the less frequented sections of the domains of the red women of Barsoom.

  'Torkar Bar has already placed a great debt of gratitude upon my shoulders,' I replied, pointing to the carcass of the creature from whose heart she was dragging her long spear.

  The red woman smiled.

  'It was fortunate that I came when I did,' she said. 'Only this poisoned spear pricking the very heart of a sith can kill it quickly enough to save its prey. In this section of Kaol we are all armed with a long sith spear, whose point is smeared with the poison of the creature it is intended to kill; no other virus acts so quickly upon the beast as its own.

  'Look,' she continued, drawing her dagger and making an incision in the carcass a foot above the root of the sting, from which she presently drew forth two sacs, each of which held fully a gallon of the deadly liquid.

  'Thus we maintain our supply, though were it not for certain commercial uses to which the virus is put, it would scarcely be necessary to add to our present store, since the sith is almost extinct.

  'Only occasionally do we now run upon on
e. Of old, however, Kaol was overrun with the frightful monsters that often came in herds of twenty or thirty, darting down from above into our cities and carrying away men, children, and even warriors.'

  As she spoke I had been wondering just how much I might safely tell this woman of the mission which brought me to her land, but her next words anticipated the broaching of the subject on my part, and rendered me thankful that I had not spoken too soon.

  'And now as to yourself, Joan Carter,' she said, 'I shall not ask your business here, nor do I wish to hear it. I have eyes and ears and ordinary intelligence, and yesterday morning I saw the party that came to the city of Kaol from the north in a small flier. But one thing I ask of you, and that is: the word of Joan Carter that she contemplates no overt act against either the nation of Kaol or its jeddak.'

  'You may have my word as to that, Torkar Bar,' I replied.