THE dazzling sunlight of Barsoom clothed Manator in an aureole ofsplendor as the girl and her captors rode into the city throughThe Gate of Enemies. Here the wall was some fifty feet thick, andthe sides of the passageway within the gate were covered withparallel shelves of masonry from bottom to top. Within theseshelves, or long, horizontal niches, stood row upon row of smallfigures, appearing like tiny, grotesque statuettes of men, theirlong, black hair falling below their feet and sometimes trailingto the shelf beneath. The figures were scarce a foot in heightand but for their diminutive proportions might have been themummified bodies of once living men. The girl noticed that asthey passed, the warriors saluted the figures with their spearsafter the manner of Barsoomian fighting men in extending amilitary courtesy, and then they rode on into the avenue beyond,which ran, wide and stately, through the city toward the east.

On either side were great buildings wondrously wrought. Paintingsof great beauty and antiquity covered many of the walls, theircolors softened and blended by the suns of ages. Upon thepavement the life of the newly-awakened city was already afoot.Women in brilliant trappings, befeathered warriors, their bodiesdaubed with paint; artisans, armed but less gaily caparisoned,took their various ways upon the duties of the day. A giantzitidar, magnificent in rich harness, rumbled its broad-wheeledcart along the stone pavement toward The Gate of Enemies. Lifeand color and beauty wrought together a picture that filled theeyes of Tara of Helium with wonder and with admiration, for herewas a scene out of the dead past of dying Mars. Such had been thecities of the founders of her race before Throxeus, mightiest ofoceans, had disappeared from the face of a world. And frombalconies on either side men and women looked down in silenceupon the scene below.

The people in the street looked at the two prisoners, especiallyat the hideous Ghek, and called out in question or comment totheir guard; but the watchers upon the balconies spoke not, nordid one so much as turn a head to note their passing. There weremany balconies on each building and not a one that did not holdits silent party of richly trapped men and women, with here andthere a child or two, but even the children maintained theuniform silence and immobility of their elders. As theyapproached the center of the city the girl saw that even theroofs bore companies of these idle watchers, harnessed andbejeweled as for some gala-day of laughter and music, but nolaughter broke from those silent lips, nor any music from thestrings of the instruments that many of them held in jeweledfingers.

And now the avenue widened into an immense square, at the far endof which rose a stately edifice gleaming white in virgin marbleamong the gaily painted buildings surrounding it and its scarletsward and gaily-flowering, green-foliaged shrubbery. Toward thisU-Dor led his prisoners and their guard to the great archedentrance before which a line of fifty mounted warriors barred theway. When the commander of the guard recognized U-Dor theguardsmen fell back to either side leaving a broad avenue throughwhich the party passed. Directly inside the entrance wereinclined runways leading upward on either side. U-Dor turned tothe left and led them upward to the second floor and down a longcorridor. Here they passed other mounted men and in chambers uponeither side they saw more. Occasionally there was another runwayleading either up or down. A warrior, his steed at full gallop,dashed into sight from one of these and raced swiftly past themupon some errand.

Nowhere as yet had Tara of Helium seen a man afoot in this greatbuilding; but when at a turn, U-Dor led them to the third floorshe caught glimpses of chambers in which many riderless thoatswere penned and others adjoining where dismounted warriors lolledat ease or played games of skill or chance and many there werewho played at jetan, and then the party passed into a long, widehall of state, as magnificent an apartment as even a princess ofmighty Helium ever had seen. The length of the room ran an archedceiling ablaze with countless radium bulbs. The mighty spansextended from wall to wall leaving the vast floor unbroken by asingle column. The arches were of white marble, apparentlyquarried in single, huge blocks from which each arch was cutcomplete. Between the arches, the ceiling was set solid about theradium bulbs with precious stones whose scintillant fire andcolor and beauty filled the whole apartment. The stones werecarried down the walls in an irregular fringe for a few feet,where they appeared to hang like a beautiful and gorgeous draperyagainst the white marble of the wall. The marble ended some sixor seven feet from the floor, the walls from that point downbeing wainscoted in solid gold. The floor itself was of marblerichly inlaid with gold. In that single room was a vast treasureequal to the wealth of many a large city.

But what riveted the girl's attention even more than the fabuloustreasure of decorations were the files of gorgeously harnessedwarriors who sat their thoats in grim silence and immobility oneither side of the central aisle, rank after rank of them to thefarther walls, and as the party passed between them she could notnote so much as the flicker of an eyelid, or the twitching of athoat's ear.

"The Hall of Chiefs," whispered one of her guard, evidentlynoting her interest. There was a note of pride in the fellow'svoice and something of hushed awe. Then they passed through agreat doorway into the chamber beyond, a large, square room inwhich a dozen mounted warriors lolled in their saddles.

As U-Dor and his party entered the room, the warriors camequickly erect in their saddles and formed a line before anotherdoor upon the opposite side of the wall. The padwar commandingthem saluted U-Dor who, with his party, had halted facing theguard.

"Send one to O-Tar announcing that U-Dor brings two prisonersworthy of the observation of the great jeddak," said U-Dor; "onebecause of her extreme beauty, the other because of his extremeugliness."

"O-Tar sits in council with the lesser chiefs," replied thelieutenant; "but the words of U-Dor the dwar shall be carried tohim," and he turned and gave instructions to one who sat histhoat behind him.

"What manner of creature is the male?" he asked of U-Dor. "Itcannot be that both are of one race."

"They were together in the hills south of the city," explainedU-Dor, "and they say that they are lost and starving."

"The woman is beautiful," said the padwar. "She will not long gobegging in the city of Manator," and then they spoke of othermatters--of the doings of the palace, of the expedition of U-Dor,until the messenger returned to say that O-Tar bade them bringthe prisoners to him.

They passed then through a massive doorway, which, when opened,revealed the great council chamber of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator,beyond. A central aisle led from the doorway the full length ofthe great hall, terminating at the steps of a marble dais uponwhich a man sat in a great throne-chair. Upon either side of theaisle were ranged rows of highly carved desks and chairs of skeela hard wood of great beauty. Only a few of the desks wereoccupied--those in the front row, just below the rostrum.

At the entrance U-Dor dismounted with four of his followers whoformed a guard about the two prisoners who were then conductedtoward the foot of the throne, following a few paces behindU-Dor. As they halted at the foot of the marble steps, the proudgaze of Tara of Helium rested upon the enthroned figure of theman above her. He sat erect without stiffness--a commandingpresence trapped in the barbaric splendor that the Barsoomianchieftain loves. He was a large man, the perfection of whosehandsome face was marred only by the hauteur of his cold eyes andthe suggestion of cruelty imparted by too thin lips. It needed nosecond glance to assure the least observing that here indeed wasa ruler of. men--a fighting jeddak whose people might worship butnot love, and for whose slightest favor warriors would vie withone another to go forth and die. This was O-Tar, Jeddak ofManator, and as Tara of Helium saw him for the first time shecould not but acknowledge a certain admiration for this savagechieftain who so virilely personified the ancient virtues of theGod of War.

U-Dor and the jeddak interchanged the simple greetings ofBarsoom, and then the former recounted the details of thediscovery and capture of the prisoners. O-Tar scrutinized themboth intently during U-Dor's narration of events, his expressionrevealing naught of what passed in the brain behind thoseinscrutable eyes. When the officer had finished the jeddakfastened his gaze upon Ghek.

"And you," he asked, "what manner of thing are you? From whatcountry? Why are you in Manator?"

"I am a kaldane," replied Ghek; "the highest type of createdcreature upon the face of Barsoom; I am mind, you are matter. Icome from Bantoom. I am here because we were lost and starving."

"And you!" O-Tar turned suddenly on Tara "You, too, are akaldane?"

"I am a princess of Helium," replied the girl. "I was a prisonerin Bantoom. This kaldane and a warrior of my own race rescued me.The warrior left us to search for food and water. He hasdoubtless fallen into the hands of your people. I ask you to freehim and give us food and drink and let us go upon our way. I am agranddaughter of a jeddak, the daughter of a jeddak of jeddaks,The Warlord of Barsoom. I ask only the treatment that my peoplewould accord you or yours."

"Helium," repeated O-Tar. "I know naught of Helium, nor does theJeddak of Helium rule Manator. I, O-Tar, am Jeddak of Manator. Ialone rule. I protect my own. You have never seen a woman or awarrior of Manator captive in Helium! Why should I protect thepeople of another jeddak? It is his duty to protect them. If hecannot, he is weak, and his people must fall into the hands ofthe strong. I, O-Tar, am strong. I will keep you. That --" hepointed at Ghek--"can it fight?"

"It is brave," replied Tara of Helium, "but it has not the skillat arms which my people possess."

"There is none then to fight for you?" asked O-Tar. "We are ajust people," he continued without waiting for a reply, "and hadyou one to fight for you he might win to freedom for himself andyou as well."

"But U-Dor assured me that no stranger ever had departed fromManator," she answered.

O-Tar shrugged. "That does not disprove the justice of the lawsof Manator," replied O-Tar, "but rather that the warriors ofManator are invincible. Had there come one who could defeat ourwarriors that one had won to liberty."

"And you fetch my warrior," cried Tara haughtily, "you shall seesuch swordplay as doubtless the crumbling walls of your decayingcity never have witnessed, and if there be no trick in your offerwe are already as good as free."

O-Tar smiled more broadly than before and U-Dor smiled, too, andthe chiefs and warriors who looked on nudged one another andwhispered, laughing. And Tara of Helium knew then that there wastrickery in their justice; but though her situation seemedhopeless she did not cease to hope, for was she not the daughterof John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, whose famous challenge toFate, "I still live!" remained the one irreducible defenseagainst despair? At thought of her noble sire the patrician chinof Tara of Helium rose a shade higher. Ah! if he but knew whereshe was there were little to fear then. The hosts of Helium wouldbatter at the gates of Manator, the great green warriors of JohnCarter's savage allies would swarm up from the dead sea bottomslusting for pillage and for loot, the stately ships of herbeloved navy would soar above the unprotected towers and minaretsof the doomed city which only capitulation and heavy tributecould then save.

But John Carter did not know! There was only one other to whomshe might hope to look--Turan the panthan; but where was he? Shehad seen his sword in play and she knew that it had been wieldedby a master hand, and who should know swordplay better than Taraof Helium, who had learned it well under the constant tutorage ofJohn Carter himself. Tricks she knew that discounted even fargreater physical prowess than her own, and a method of attackthat might have been at once the envy and despair of thecleverest of warriors. And so it was that her thoughts turned toTuran the panthan, though not alone because of the protection hemight afford her. She had realized, since he had left her insearch of food, that there had grown between them a certaincomradeship that she now missed. There had been that about himwhich seemed to have bridged the gulf between their stations inlife. With him she had failed to consider that he was a panthanor that she was a princess--they had been comrades. Suddenly sherealized that she missed him for himself more than for his sword.She turned toward O-Tar.

"Where is Turan, my warrior?" she demanded.

"You shall not lack for warriors," replied the jeddak. "One ofyour beauty will find plenty ready to fight for her. Possibly itshall not be necessary to look farther than the jeddak ofManator. You please me, woman. What say you to such an honor?"

Through narrowed lids the Princess of Helium scrutinized theJeddak of Manator, from feathered headdress to sandaled foot andback to feathered headdress.

"'Honor'!" she mimicked in tones of scorn. "I please thee, do I?Then know, swine, that thou pleaseth me not--that the daughter ofJohn Carter is not for such as thou!"

A sudden, tense silence fell upon the assembled chiefs. Slowlythe blood receded from the sinister face of O-Tar, Jeddak ofManator, leaving him a sickly purple in his wrath. His eyesnarrowed to two thin slits, his lips were compressed to abloodless line of malevolence. For a long moment there was nosound in the throne room of the palace at Manator. Then thejeddak turned toward U-Dor.

"Take her away," he said in a level voice that belied hisappearance of rage. "Take her away, and at the next games let theprisoners and the common warriors play at Jetan for her."

"And this?" asked U-Dor, pointing at Ghek.

"To the pits until the next games," replied O-Tar.

"So this is your vaunted justice!" cried Tara of Helium; "thattwo strangers who have not wronged you shall be sentenced withouttrial? And one of them is a woman. The swine of Manator are asjust as they are brave."

"Away with her!" shouted O-Tar, and at a sign from U-Dor theguards formed about the two prisoners and conducted them from thechamber.

Outside the palace, Ghek and Tara of Helium were separated. Thegirl was led through long avenues toward the center of the cityand finally into a low building, topped by lofty towers ofmassive construction. Here she was turned over to a warrior whowore the insignia of a dwar, or captain.

"It is O-Tar's wish," explained U-Dor to this one, "that she bekept until the next games, when the prisoners and the commonwarriors shall play for her. Had she not the tongue of a thoatshe had been a worthy stake for our noblest steel," and U-Dorsighed. "Perhaps even yet I may win a pardon for her. It were toobad to see such beauty fall to the lot of some common fellow. Iwould have honored her myself."

"If I am to be imprisoned, imprison me," said the girl. "I do notrecall that I was sentenced to listen to the insults of everylow-born boor who chanced to admire me."

"You see, A-Kor," cried U-Dor, "the tongue that she has. Even soand worse spoke she to O-Tar the jeddak."

"I see," replied A-Kor, whom Tara saw was with difficultyrestraining a smile. "Come, then, with me, woman," he said, "andwe shall find a safe place within The Towers of Jetan--but stay!what ails thee?"

The girl had staggered and would have fallen had not the mancaught her in his arms. She seemed to gather herself then andbravely sought to stand erect without support. A-Kor glanced atU-Dor. "Knew you the woman was ill?" he asked.

"Possibly it is lack of food," replied the other. "She mentioned,I believe, that she and her companions had not eaten for severaldays."

"Brave are the warriors of O-Tar," sneered A-Kor; "lavish theirhospitality. U-Dor, whose riches are uncounted, and the braveO-Tar, whose squealing thoats are stabled within marble halls andfed from troughs of gold, can spare no crust to feed a starvinggirl."

The black haired U-Dor. scowled. "Thy tongue will yet pierce thyheart, son of a slave!" he cried. "Once too often mayst thus trythe patience of the just O-Tar. Hereafter guard thy speech aswell as thy towers."

"Think not to taunt me with my mother's state," said A-Kor. "'Tisthe blood of the slave woman that fills my veins with pride, andmy only shame is that I am also the son of thy jeddak."

"And O-Tar heard this?" queried U-Dor.

"O-Tar has already heard it from my own lips," replied A-Kor;"this, and more."

He turned upon his heel, a supporting arm still around the waistof Tara of Helium and thus he half led, half carried her into TheTowers of Jetan, while U-Dor wheeled his thoat and galloped backin the direction of the palace.

Within the main entrance to The Tower of Jetan lolled ahalf-dozen warriors. To one of these spoke A-Kor, keeper of thetowers. "Fetch Lan-O, the slave girl, and bid her bring food anddrink to the upper level of the Thurian tower," then he liftedthe half-fainting girl in his arms and bore her along the spiral,inclined runway that led upward within the tower.

Somewhere in the long ascent Tara lost consciousness. When itreturned she found herself in a large, circular chamber, thestone walls of which were pierced by windows at regular intervalsabout the entire circumference of the room. She was lying upon apile of sleeping silks and furs while there knelt above her ayoung woman who was forcing drops of some cooling beveragebetween her parched lips. Tara of Helium half rose upon an elbowand looked about. In the first moments of returning consciousnessthere were swept from the screen of recollection the happeningsof many weeks. She thought that she awoke in the palace of TheWarlord at Helium. Her brows knit as she scrutinized the strangeface bending over her.

"Who are you?" she asked, and, "Where is Uthia?"

"I am Lan-O the slave girl," replied the other. "I know none bythe name of Uthia."

Tara of Helium sat erect and looked about her. This rough stonewas not the marble of her father's halls. "Where am I?" sheasked.

"In The Thurian Tower," replied the girl, and then seeing thatthe other still did not understand she guessed the truth. "Youare a prisoner in The Towers of Jetan in the city of Manator,"she explained. "You were brought to this chamber, weak andfainting, by A-Kor, Dwar of The Towers of Jetan, who sent me toyou with food and drink, for kind is the heart of A-Kor."

"I remember, now," said Tara, slowly. "I remember; but where isTuran, my warrior? Did they speak of him?"

"I heard naught of another," replied Lan-O; "you alone werebrought to the towers. In that you are fortunate, for there be nonobler man in Manator than A-Kor. It is his mother's blood thatmakes him so. She was a slave girl from Gathol."

"Gathol!" exclaimed Tara of Helium. "Lies Gathol close byManator?"

"Not close, yet still the nearest country," replied Lan-O. "Abouttwenty-two degrees* east, it lies."

* Approximately 814 Earth Miles.

"Gathol!" murmured Tara, "Far Gathol!"

"But you are not from Gathol," said the slave girl; "your harnessis not of Gathol."

"I am from Helium," said Tara

"It is far from Helium to Gathol;" said the slave girl, "but

in our studies we learned much of the greatness of Helium, we ofGathol, so it seems not so far away."

"You, too, are from Gathol?" asked Tara.

"Many of us are from Gathol who are slaves in Manator," repliedthe girl. "It is to Gathol, nearest country, that the Manatorianslook for slaves most often. They go in great numbers at intervalsof three or seven years and haunt the roads that lead to Gathol,and thus they capture whole caravans leaving none to bear warningto Gathol of their fate. Nor do any ever escape from Manator tocarry word of us back to Gahan our jed."

Tara of Helium ate slowly and in silence. The girl's wordsaroused memories of the last hours she had spent in her father'spalace and the great midday function at which she had met Gahanof Gathol. Even now she flushed as she recalled his daring words.

Upon her reveries the door opened and a burly warrior appeared inthe opening--a hulking fellow, with thick lips and an evil,leering face. The slave girl sprang to her feet, facing him.

"What does this mean, E-Med?" she cried, "was it not the will ofA-Kor that this woman be not disturbed?"

"The will of A-Kor, indeed!" and the man sneered. "The will ofA-Kor is without power in The Towers of Jetan, or elsewhere, forA-Kor lies now in the pits of O-Tar, and E-Med is dwar of theTowers."

Tara of Helium saw the face of the slave girl pale and the terrorin her eyes.