TURAN the panthan approached the strange city under cover of thedarkness. He entertained little hope of finding either food orwater outside the wall, but he would try and then, if he failed,he would attempt to make his way into the city, for Tara ofHelium must have sustenance and have it soon. He saw that thewalls were poorly sentineled, but they were sufficiently high torender an attempt to scale them foredoomed to failure. Takingadvantage of underbrush and trees, Turan managed to reach thebase of the wall without detection. Silently he moved north pastthe gateway which was closed by a massive gate which effectivelybarred even the slightest glimpse within the city beyond. It wasTuran's hope to find upon the north side of the city away fromthe hills a level plain where grew the crops of the inhabitants,and here too water from their irrigating system, but though hetraveled far along that seemingly interminable wall he found nofields nor any water. He searched also for some means of ingressto the city, yet here, too, failure was his only reward, and nowas he went keen eyes watched him from above and a silent stalkerkept pace with him for a time upon the summit of the wall; butpresently the shadower descended to the pavement within andhurrying swiftly raced ahead of the stranger without.

He came presently to a small gate beside which was a low buildingand before the doorway of the building a warrior standing guard.He spoke a few quick words to the warrior and then entered thebuilding only to return almost immediately to the street,followed by fully forty warriors. Cautiously opening the gate thefellow peered carefully along the wall upon the outside in thedirection from which he had come. Evidently satisfied, he issueda few words of instruction to those behind him, whereupon halfthe warriors returned to the interior of the building, while theother half followed the man stealthily through the gateway wherethey crouched low among the shrubbery in a half circle just northof the gateway which they had left open. Here they waited inutter silence, nor had they long to wait before Turan the panthancame cautiously along the base of the wall. To the very gate hecame and when he found it and that it was open he paused for amoment, listening; then he approached and looked within. Assuredthat there was none within sight to apprehend him he steppedthrough the gateway into the city.

He found himself in a narrow street that paralleled the wall.Upon the opposite side rose buildings of an architecture unknownto him, yet strangely beautiful. While the buildings were packedclosely together there seemed to be no two alike and their frontswere of all shapes and heights and of many hues. The skyline wasbroken by spire and dome and minaret and tall, slender towers,while the walls supported many a balcony and in the soft light ofCluros, the farther moon, now low in the west, he saw, to hissurprise and consternation, the figures of people upon thebalconies. Directly opposite him were two women and a man. Theysat leaning upon the rail of the balcony looking, apparently,directly at him; but if they saw him they gave no sign.

Turan hesitated a moment in the face of almost certain discoveryand then, assured that they must take him for one of their ownpeople, he moved boldly into the avenue. Having no idea of thedirection in which he might best hope to find what he sought, andnot wishing to arouse suspicion by further hesitation, he turnedto the left and stepped briskly along the pavement with theintention of placing himself as quickly as possible beyond theobservation of those nocturnal watchers. He knew that the nightmust be far spent; and so he could not but wonder why peopleshould sit upon their balconies when they should have been asleepamong their silks and furs. At first he had thought them the lateguests of some convivial host; but the windows behind them wereshrouded in darkness and utter quiet prevailed, quite upsettingsuch a theory. And as he proceeded he passed many another groupsitting silently upon other balconies. They paid no attention tohim, seeming not even to note his passing. Some leaned with asingle elbow upon the rail, their chins resting in their palms;others leaned upon both arms across the balcony, looking downinto the street, while several that he saw held musicalinstruments in their hands, but their fingers moved not upon thestrings.

And then Turan came to a point where the avenue turned to theright, to skirt a building that jutted from the inside of thecity wall, and as he rounded the corner he came full upon twowarriors standing upon either side of the entrance to a buildingupon his right. It was impossible for them not to be aware of hispresence, yet neither moved, nor gave other evidence that theyhad seen him. He stood there waiting, his hand upon the hilt ofhis long-sword, but they neither challenged nor halted him. Couldit be that these also thought him one of their own kind? Indeedupon no other grounds could he explain their inaction.

As Turan had passed through the gateway into the city and takenhis unhindered way along the avenue, twenty warriors had enteredthe city and closed the gate behind them, and then one had takento the wall and followed along its summit in the rear of Turan,and another had followed him along the avenue, while a third hadcrossed the street and entered one of the buildings upon theopposite side.

The balance of them, with the exception of a single sentinelbeside the gate, had re-entered the building from which they hadbeen summoned. They were well built, strapping, painted fellows,their naked figures covered now by gorgeous robes against thechill of night. As they spoke of the stranger they laughed at theease with which they had tricked him, and were still laughing asthey threw themselves upon their sleeping silks and furs toresume their broken slumber. It was evident that they constituteda guard detailed for the gate beside which they slept, and it wasequally evident that the gates were guarded and the city watchedmuch more carefully than Turan had believed. Chagrined indeed hadbeen the Jed of Gathol had he dreamed that he was being so neatlytricked.

As Turan proceeded along the avenue he passed other sentriesbeside other doors but now he gave them small heed, since theyneither challenged nor otherwise outwardly noted his passing; butwhile at nearly every turn of the erratic avenue he passed one ormore of these silent sentinels he could not guess that he hadpassed one of them many times and that his every move was watchedby silent, clever stalkers. Scarce had he passed a certain one ofthese rigid guardsmen before the fellow awoke to sudden life,bounded across the avenue, entered a narrow opening in the outerwall where he swiftly followed a corridor built within the wallitself until presently he emerged a little distance ahead ofTuran, where he assumed the stiff and silent attitude of asoldier upon guard. Nor did Turan know that a second followed inthe shadows of the buildings behind him, nor of the third whohastened ahead of him upon some urgent mission.

And so the panthan moved through the silent streets of thestrange city in search of food and drink for the woman he loved.Men and women looked down upon him from shadowy balconies, butspoke not; and sentinels saw him pass and did not challenge.Presently from along the avenue before him came the familiarsound of clanking accouterments, the herald of marching warriors,and almost simultaneously he saw upon his right an open doorwaydimly lighted from within. It was the only available place wherehe might seek to hide from the approaching company, and while hehad passed several sentries unquestioned he could scarce hope toescape scrutiny and questioning from a patrol, as he naturallyassumed this body of men to be.

Inside the doorway he discovered a passage turning abruptly tothe right and almost immediately thereafter to the left. Therewas none in sight within and so he stepped cautiously around thesecond turn the more effectually to be hidden from the street.Before him stretched a long corridor, dimly lighted like theentrance. Waiting there he heard the party approach the building,he heard someone at the entrance to his hiding place, and then heheard the door past which he had come slam to. He laid his handupon his sword, expecting momentarily to hear footstepsapproaching along the corridor; but none came. He approached theturn and looked around it; the corridor was empty to the closeddoor. Whoever had closed it had remained upon the outside.

Turan waited, listening. He heard no sound. Then he advanced tothe door and placed an ear against it. All was silence in thestreet beyond. A sudden draft must have closed the door, orperhaps it was the duty of the patrol to see to such things. Itwas immaterial. They had evidently passed on and now he wouldreturn to the street and continue upon his way. Somewhere therewould be a public fountain where he could obtain water, and thechance of food lay in the strings of dried vegetables and meatwhich hung before the doorways of nearly every Barsoomian home ofthe poorer classes that he had ever seen. It was this district hewas seeking, and it was for this reason his search had led himaway from the main gate of the city which he knew would not belocated in a poor district.

He attempted to open the door only to find that it resisted hisevery effort--it was locked upon the outside. Here indeed was asorry contretemps. Turan the panthan scratched his head. "Fortunefrowns upon me," he murmured; but beyond the door, Fate, in theform of a painted warrior, stood smiling. Neatly had he trickedthe unwary stranger. The lighted doorway, the marchingpatrol--these had been planned and timed to a nicety by the thirdwarrior who had sped ahead of Turan along another avenue, and thestranger had done precisely what the fellow had thought he woulddo--no wonder, then, that he smiled.

This exit barred to him Turan turned back into the corridor. Hefollowed it cautiously and silently. Occasionally there was adoor on one side or the other. These he tried only to find eachsecurely locked. The corridor wound more erratically the fartherhe advanced. A locked door barred his way at its end, but a doorupon his right opened and he stepped into a dimly-lightedchamber, about the walls of which were three other doors, each ofwhich he tried in turn. Two were locked; the other opened upon arunway leading downward. It was spiral and he could see nofarther than the first turn. A door in the corridor he hadquitted opened after he had passed, and the third warrior steppedout and followed after him. A faint smile still lingered upon thefellow's grim lips.

Turan drew his short-sword and cautiously descended. At thebottom was a short corridor with a closed door at the end. Heapproached the single heavy panel and listened. No sound came tohim from beyond the mysterious portal. Gently he tried the door,which swung easily toward him at his touch. Before him was alow-ceiled chamber with a dirt floor. Set in its walls wereseveral other doors and all were closed. As Turan steppedcautiously within, the third warrior descended the spiral runwaybehind him. The panthan crossed the room quickly and tried adoor. It was locked. He heard a muffled click behind him andturned about with ready sword. He was alone; but the door throughwhich he had entered was closed--it was the click of its lockthat he had heard.

With a bound he crossed the room and attempted to open it; but tono avail. No longer did he seek silence, for he knew now that thething had gone beyond the sphere of chance. He threw his weightagainst the wooden panel; but the thick skeel of which it wasconstructed would have withstood a battering ram. From beyondcame a low laugh.

Rapidly Turan examined each of the other doors. They were alllocked. A glance about the chamber revealed a wooden table and abench. Set in the walls were several heavy rings to which rustychains were attached--all too significant of the purpose to whichthe room was dedicated. In the dirt floor near the wall were twoor three holes resembling the mouths of burrows--doubtless thehabitat of the giant Martian rat. He had observed this much whensuddenly the dim light was extinguished, leaving him in darknessutter and complete. Turan, groping about, sought the table andthe bench. Placing the latter against the wall he drew the tablein front of him and sat down upon the bench, his long-swordgripped in readiness before him. At least they should fightbefore they took him.

For some time he sat there waiting for he knew not what. No soundpenetrated to his subterranean dungeon. He slowly revolved in hismind the incidents of the evening--the open, unguarded gate; thelighted doorway--the only one he had seen thus open and lightedalong the avenue he had followed; the advance of the warriors atprecisely the moment that he could find no other avenue of escapeor concealment; the corridors and chambers that led past manylocked doors to this underground prison leaving no other path forhim to pursue.

"By my first ancestor!" he swore; "but it was simple and I asimpleton. They tricked me neatly and have taken me withoutexposing themselves to a scratch; but for what purpose?"

He wished that he might answer that question and then histhoughts turned to the girl waiting there on the hill beyond thecity for him--and he would never come. He knew the ways of themore savage peoples of Barsoom. No, he would never come, now. Hehad disobeyed her. He smiled at the sweet recollection of thosewords of command that had fallen from her dear lips. He haddisobeyed her and now he had lost the reward.

But what of her? What now would be her fate--starving before ahostile city with only an inhuman kaldane for company? Anotherthought--a horrid thought--obtruded itself upon him. She had toldhim of the hideous sights she had witnessed in the burrows of thekaldanes and he knew that they ate human flesh. Ghek wasstarving. Should he eat his rykor he would be helpless;but--there was sustenance there for them both, for the rykor andthe kaldane. Turan cursed himself for a fool. Why had he lefther? Far better to have remained and died with her, ready alwaysto protect her, than to have left her at the mercy of the hideousBantoomian.

Now Turan detected a heavy odor in the air. It oppressed him witha feeling of drowsiness. He would have risen to fight off thecreeping lethargy, but his legs seemed weak, so that he sankagain to the bench. Presently his sword slipped from his fingersand he sprawled forward upon the table his head resting upon hisarms.

Tara of Helium, as the night wore on and Turan did not return,became more and more uneasy, and when dawn broke with no sign ofhim she guessed that he had failed. Something more than her ownunhappy predicament brought a feeling of sorrow to her heart--ofsorrow and loneliness. She realized now how she had come todepend upon this panthan not only for protection but forcompanionship as well. She missed him, and in missing himrealized suddenly that he had meant more to her than a mere hiredwarrior. It was as though a friend had been taken from her--anold and valued friend. She rose from her place of concealmentthat she might have a better view of the city.

U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, rodeback in the early dawn toward Manator from a brief excursion to aneighboring village. As he was rounding the hills south of thecity, his keen eyes were attracted by a slight movement among theshrubbery close to the summit of the nearest hill. He halted hisvicious mount and watched more closely. He saw a figure risefacing away from him and peer down toward Manator beyond thehill.

"Come!" he signalled to his followers, and with a word to thisthoat turned the beast at a rapid gallop up the hillside. In hiswake swept his twenty savage warriors, the padded feet of theirmounts soundless upon the soft turf. It was the rattle ofsidearms and harness that brought Tara of Helium suddenly about,facing them. She saw a score of warriors with couched lancesbearing down upon her.

She glanced at Ghek. What would the spiderman do in thisemergency? She saw him crawl to his rykor and attach himself.Then he arose, the beautiful body once again animated and alert.She thought that the creature was preparing for flight. Well, itmade little difference to her. Against such as were streaming upthe hill toward them a single mediocre swordsman such as Ghek wasworse than no defense at all.

"Hurry, Ghek!" she admonished him. "Back into the hills! You mayfind there a hiding-place;" but the creature only stepped betweenher and the oncoming riders, drawing his long-sword.

"It is useless, Ghek," she said, when she saw that he intended todefend her. "What can a single sword accomplish against suchodds?"

"I can die but once," replied the kaldane. "You and your panthansaved me from Luud and I but do what your panthan would do werehe here to protect you."

"It is brave, but it is useless," she replied. "Sheathe yoursword. They may not intend us harm."

Ghek let the point of his weapon drop to the ground, but he didnot sheathe it, and thus the two stood waiting as U-Dor the dwarstopped his thoat before them while his twenty warriors formed arough circle about. For a long minute U-Dor sat his mount insilence, looking searchingly first at Tara of Helium and then ather hideous companion.

"What manner of creature are you?" he asked presently. "And whatdo you before the gates of Manator?"

"We are from far countries," replied the girl, "and we are lostand starving. We ask only food and rest and the privilege to goour way seeking our own homes."

U-Dor smiled a grim smile. "Manator and the hills which guard italone know the age of Manator," he said; "yet in all the agesthat have rolled by since Manator first was, there be no recordin the annals of Manator of a stranger departing from Manator."

"But I am a princess," cried the girl haughtily, "and my countryis not at war with yours. You must give me and my companions aidand assist us to return to our own land. It is the law ofBarsoom."

"Manator knows only the laws of Manator," replied U-Dor; "butcome. You shall go with us to the city, where you, beingbeautiful, need have no fear. I, myself, will protect you ifO-Tar so decrees. And as for your companion--but hold! You said'companions'--there are others of your party then?"

"You see what you see," replied Tara haughtily.

"Be that as it may," said U-Dor. "If there be more they shall notescape Manator; but as I was saying, if your companion fightswell he too may live, for O-Tar is just, and just are the laws ofManator. Come!"

Ghek demurred.

"It is useless," said the girl, seeing that he would have stoodhis ground and fought them. "Let us go with them. Why pit yourpuny blade against their mighty ones when there should lie inyour great brain the means to outwit them?" She spoke in a lowwhisper, rapidly.

"You are right, Tara of Helium," he replied and sheathed hissword.

And so they moved down the hillside toward the gates ofManator--Tara, Princess of Helium, and Ghek, the kaldane ofBantoom--and surrounding them rode the savage, painted warriorsof U-Dor, dwar of the 8th Utan of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator.