"EY, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" Thespeaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one ofthe chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Korwas alive there were a jeddak for us!"

"Who says that A-Kor is dead?" demanded one of the chiefs.

"Where is he then?" asked I-Gos. "Have not others disappearedwhom O-Tar thought too well beloved for men so near the throne asthey?"

The chief shook his head. "And I thought that, or knew it,rather; I'd join U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies."

"S-s-st," cautioned one; "here comes the licker of feet," and alleyes were turned upon the approaching E-Thas.

"Kaor, friends!" he exclaimed as he stopped among them, but hisfriendly greeting elicited naught but a few surly nods. "Have youheard the news?" he continued, unabashed by treatment to which hewas becoming accustomed.

"What--has O-Tar seen an ulsio and fainted?" demanded I-Gos withbroad sarcasm.

"Men have died for less than that, ancient one," E-Thas remindedhim.

"I am safe," retorted I-Gos, "for I am not a brave and popularson of the jeddak of Manator."

This was indeed open treason, but E-Thas feigned not to hear it.He ignored I-Gos and turned to the others. "O-Tar goes to thechamber of O-Mai this night in search of Turan the slave," hesaid. "He sorrows that his warriors have not the courage for somean a duty and that their jeddak is thus compelled to arrest acommon slave," with which taunt E-Thas passed on to spread theword in other parts of the palace. As a matter of fact the latterpart of his message was purely original with himself, and he tookgreat delight in delivering it to the discomfiture of hisenemies. As he was leaving the little group of men I-Gos calledafter him. "At what hour does O-Tar intend visiting the chambersof O-Mai?" he asked.

"Toward the end of the eighth zode*," replied the major-domo, andwent his way.

* About 1:00 A. M. Earth Time.

"We shall see," stated I-Gos.

"What shall we see?" asked a warrior.

"We shall see whether O-Tar visits the chamber of O-Mai."

"How?"

"I shall be there myself and if I see him I will know that he hasbeen there. If I don't see him I will know that he has not,"explained the old taxidermist.

"Is there anything there to fill an honest man with fear?" askeda chieftain. "What have you seen?"

"It was not so much what I saw, though that was bad enough, aswhat I heard," said I-Gos.

"Tell us! What heard and saw you?"

"I saw the dead O-Mai," said I-Gos. The others shuddered.

"And you went not mad?" they asked.

"Am I mad?" retorted I-Gos.

"And you will go again?"

"Yes."

"Then indeed you are mad," cried one.

"You saw the dead O-Mai; but what heard you that was worse?"whispered another.

"I saw the dead O-Mai lying upon the floor of his sleepingchamber with one foot tangled in the sleeping silks and furs uponhis couch. I heard horrid moans and frightful screams."

"And you are not afraid to go there again?" demanded several.

"The dead cannot harm me," said I-Gos. "He has lain thus for fivethousand years. Nor can a sound harm me. I heard it once andlive--I can hear it again. It came from almost at my side where Ihid behind the hangings and watched the slave Turan before Isnatched the woman away from him."

"I-Gos, you are a very brave man," said a chieftain.

"O-Tar called me 'doddering fool' and I would face worse dangersthan lie in the forbidden chambers of O-Mai to know it if he doesnot visit the chamber of O-Mai. Then indeed shall O-Tar fall!"

The night came and the zodes dragged and the time approached whenO-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, was to visit the chamber of O-Mai insearch of the slave Turan. To us, who may doubt the existence ofmalignant spirits, his fear may seem unbelievable, for he was astrong man, an excellent swordsman, and a warrior of greatrepute; but the fact remained that O-Tar of Manator was nervouswith apprehension as he strode the corridors of his palace towardthe deserted halls of O-Mai and when he stood at last with hishand upon the door that opened from the dusty corridor to thevery apartments themselves he was almost paralyzed with terror.He had come alone for two very excellent reasons, the first ofwhich was that thus none might note his terror-stricken state norhis defection should he fail at the last moment, and the otherwas that should he accomplish the thing alone or be able to makehis chiefs believe that he had, the credit would be far greaterthan were he to be accompanied by warriors.

But though he had started alone he had become aware that he wasbeing followed, and he knew that it was because his people had nofaith in either his courage or his veracity. He did not believethat he would find the slave Turan. He did not very much want tofind him, for though O-Tar was an excellent swordsman and a bravewarrior in physical combat, he had seen how Turan had played withU-Dor and he had no stomach for a passage at arms with one whomhe knew outclassed him.

And so O-Tar stood with his hand upon the door--afraid to enter;afraid not to. But at last his fear of his own warriors, watchingbehind him, grew greater than the fear of the unknown behind theancient door and he pushed the heavy skeel aside and entered.

Silence and gloom and the dust of centuries lay heavy upon thechamber. From his warriors he knew the route that he must take tothe horrid chamber of O-Mai and so he forced his unwilling feetacross the room before him, across the room where the jetanplayers sat at their eternal game, and came to the short corridorthat led into the room of O-Mai. His naked sword trembled in hisgrasp. He paused after each forward step to listen and when hewas almost at the door of the ghost-haunted chamber, his heartstood still within his breast and the cold sweat broke from theclammy skin of his forehead, for from within there came to hisaffrighted ears the sound of muffled breathing. Then it was thatO-Tar of Manator came near to fleeing from the nameless horrorthat he could not see, but that he knew lay waiting for him inthat chamber just ahead. But again came the fear of the wrath andcontempt of his warriors and his chiefs. They would degrade himand they would slay him into the bargain. There was no doubt ofwhat his fate would be should he flee the apartments of O-Mai interror. His only hope, therefore, lay in daring the unknown inpreference to the known.

He moved forward. A few steps took him to the doorway. Thechamber before him was darker than the corridor, so that he couldjust indistinctly make out the objects in the room. He saw asleeping dais near the center, with a darker blotch of somethinglying on the marble floor beside it. He moved a step farther intothe doorway and the scabbard of his sword scraped against thestone frame. To his horror he saw the sleeping silks and fursupon the central dais move. He saw a figure slowly arising to asitting posture from the death bed of O-Mai the Cruel. His kneesshook, but he gathered all his moral forces, and gripping hissword more tightly in his trembling fingers prepared to leapacross the chamber upon the horrid apparition. He hesitated justa moment. He felt eyes upon him--ghoulish eyes that bored throughthe darkness into his withering heart--eyes that he could notsee. He gathered himself for the rush--and then there broke fromthe thing upon the couch an awful shriek, and O-Tar sanksenseless to the floor.

Gahan rose from the couch of O-Mai, smiling, only to swingquickly about with drawn sword as the shadow of a noise impingedupon his keen ears from the shadows behind him. Between theparted hangings he saw a bent and wrinkled figure. It was I-Gos.

"Sheathe your sword, Turan," said the old man. "You have naughtto fear from I-Gos."

"What do you here?" demanded Gahan.

"I came to make sure that the great coward did not cheat us. Ey,and he called me 'doddering fool;' but look at him now! Strickeninsensible by terror, but, ey, one might forgive him that who hadheard your uncanny scream. It all but blasted my own courage. Andit was you, then, who moaned and screamed when the chiefs camethe day that I stole Tara from you?"

"It was you, then, old scoundrel?" demanded Gahan, movingthreateningly toward I-Gos.

"Come, come!" expostulated the old man; "it was I, but then I wasyour enemy. I would not do it now. Conditions have changed."

"How have they changed? What has changed them?" asked Gahan.

"Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or thebravery of you and the girl. I am an old man from another age andI love courage. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me,but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won myadmiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, shefeared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. Andyou! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that Iexposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged thegirl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be yourfriend. Here is my sword at your feet," and drawing his weaponI-Gos cast it to the floor in front of Gahan.

The Gatholian knew that scarce the most abandoned of knaves wouldrepudiate this solemn pledge, and so he stooped, and picking upthe old man's sword returned it to him, hilt first, in acceptanceof his friendship.

"Where is the Princess Tara of Helium?" asked Gahan. "Is shesafe?"

"She is confined in the tower of the women's quarters awaitingthe ceremony that is to make her Jeddara of Manator," repliedI-Gos.

"This thing dared think that Tara of Helium would mate with him?"growled Gahan. "I will make short work of him if he is notalready dead from fright," and he stepped toward the fallen O-Tarto run his sword through the jeddak's heart.

"No!" cried I-Gos. "Slay him not and pray that he be not dead ifyou would save your princess."

"How is that?" asked Gahan.

"If word of O-Tar's death reached the quarters of the women thePrincess Tara would be lost. They know O-Tar's intention oftaking her to wife and making her Jeddara of Manator, so you mayrest assured that they all hate her with the hate of jealouswomen. Only O-Tar's power protects her now from harm. ShouldO-Tar die they would turn her over to the warriors and the maleslaves, for there would be none to avenge her."

Gahan sheathed his sword. "Your point is well taken; but whatshall we do with him?"

"Leave him where he lies," counseled I-Gos. "He is not dead. Whenhe revives he will return to his quarters with a fine tale of hisbravery and there will be none to impugn his boasts--none butI-Gos. Come! he may revive at any moment and he must not find ushere."

I-Gos crossed to the body of his jeddak, knelt beside it for aninstant, and then returned past the couch to Gahan. The two quitthe chamber of O-Mai and took their way toward the spiral runway.Here I-Gos led Gahan to a higher level and out upon the roof ofthat portion of the palace from where he pointed to a high towerquite close by. "There," he said, "lies the Princess of Helium,and quite safe she will be until the time of the ceremony."

"Safe, possibly, from other hands, but not from her own," saidGahan. "She will never become Jeddara of Manator--first will shedestroy herself."

"She would do that?" asked I-Gos.

"She will, unless you can get word to her that I still live andthat there is yet hope," replied Gahan.

"I cannot get word to her," said I-Gos. "The quarters of hiswomen O-Tar guards with jealous hand. Here are his most trustedslaves and warriors, yet even so, thick among them are countlessspies, so that no man knows which be which. No shadow fallswithin those chambers that is not marked by a hundred eyes."

Gahan stood gazing at the lighted windows of the high tower inthe upper chambers of which Tara of Helium was confined. "I willfind a way, I-Gos," he said.

"There is no way," replied the old man.

For some time they stood upon the roof beneath the brilliantstars and hurtling moons of dying Mars, laying their plansagainst the time that Tara of Helium should be brought from thehigh tower to the throne room of O-Tar. It was then, and thenalone, argued I-Gos, that any hope of rescuing her might beentertained. Just how far he might trust the other Gahan did notknow, and so he kept to himself the knowledge of the plan that hehad forwarded to Floran and Val Dor by Ghek, but he assured theancient taxidermist that if he were sincere in his oft-repeateddeclaration that O-Tar should be denounced and superseded hewould have his opportunity on the night that the jeddak sought towed the Heliumetic princess.

"Your time shall come then, I-Gos," Gahan assured the other, "andif you have any party that thinks as you do, prepare them for theeventuality that will succeed O-Tar's presumptuous attempt to wedthe daughter of The Warlord. Where shall I see you again, andwhen? I go now to speak with Tara, Princess of Helium."

"I like your boldness," said I-Gos; "but it will avail younaught. You will not speak with Tara, Princess of Helium, thoughdoubtless the blood of many Manatorians will drench the floors ofthe women's quarters before you are slain."

Gahan smiled. "I shall not be slain. Where and when shall wemeet? But you may find me in O-Mai's chamber at night. That seemsthe safest retreat in all Manator for an enemy of the jeddak inwhose palace it lies. I go!"

"And may the spirits of your ancestors surround you," said I-Gos.

After the old man had left him Gahan made his way across the roofto the high tower, which appeared to have been constructed ofconcrete and afterward elaborately carved, its entire surfacebeing covered with intricate designs cut deep into the stone-likematerial of which it was composed. Though wrought ages since, itwas but little weather-worn owing to the aridity of the Martianatmosphere, the infrequency of rains, and the rarity of duststorms. To scale it, though, presented difficulties and dangerthat might have deterred the bravest of men--that would,doubtless, have deterred Gahan, had he not felt that the life ofthe woman he loved depended upon his accomplishing the hazardousfeat.

Removing his sandals and laying aside all of his harness andweapons other than a single belt supporting a dagger, theGatholian essayed the dangerous ascent. Clinging to the carvingswith hands and feet he worked himself slowly aloft, avoiding thewindows and keeping upon the shadowy side of the tower, away fromthe light of Thuria and Cluros. The tower rose some fifty feetabove the roof of the adjacent part of the palace, comprisingfive levels or floors with windows looking in every direction. Afew of the windows were balconied, and these more than the othershe sought to avoid, although, it being now near the close of theninth zode, there was little likelihood that many were awakewithin the tower.

His progress was noiseless and he came at last, undetected, tothe windows of the upper level. These, like several of the othershe had passed at lower levels, were heavily barred, so that therewas no possibility of his gaining ingress to the apartment whereTara was confined. Darkness hid the interior behind the firstwindow that he approached. The second opened upon a lightedchamber where he could see a guard sleeping at his post outside adoor. Here also was the top of the runway leading to the nextlevel below. Passing still farther around the tower Gahanapproached another window, but now he clung to that side of thetower which ended in a courtyard a hundred feet below and in ashort time the light of Thuria would reach him. He realized thathe must hasten and he prayed that behind the window he nowapproached he would find Tara of Helium.

Coming to the opening he looked in upon a small chamber dimlylighted. In the center was a sleeping dais upon which a humanform lay beneath silks and furs. A bare arm, protruding from thecoverings, lay exposed against a black and yellow striped orlukskin--an arm of wondrous beauty about which was clasped an armletthat Gahan knew. No other creature was visible within thechamber, all of which was exposed to Gahan's view. Pressing hisface to the bars the Gatholian whispered her dear name. The girlstirred, but did not awaken. Again he called, but this timelouder. Tara sat up and looked about and at the same instant ahuge eunuch leaped to his feet from where he had been lying onthe floor close by that side of the dais farthest from Gahan.Simultaneously the brilliant light of Thuria flashed full uponthe window where Gahan clung silhouetting him plainly to the twowithin.

Both sprang to their feet. The eunuch drew his sword and leapedfor the window where the helpless Gahan would have fallen an easyvictim to a single thrust of the murderous weapon the fellowbore, had not Tara of Helium leaped upon her guard dragging himback. At the same time she drew the slim dagger from its hidingplace in her harness and even as the eunuch sought to hurl heraside its keen point found his heart. Without a sound he died andlunged forward to the floor. Then Tara ran to the window.

"Turan, my chief!" she cried. "What awful risk is this you taketo seek me here, where even your brave heart is powerless to aidme."

"Be not so sure of that, heart of my heart," he replied. "While Ibring but words to my love, they be the forerunner of deeds, Ihope, that will give her back to me forever. I feared that youmight destroy yourself, Tara of Helium, to escape the dishonorthat O-Tar would do you, and so I came to give you new hope andto beg that you live for me through whatever may transpire, inthe knowledge that there is yet a way and that if all goes wellwe shall be freed at last. Look for me in the throne room ofO-Tar the night that he would wed you. And now, how may wedispose of this fellow?" He pointed to the dead eunuch upon thefloor.

"We need not concern ourselves about that," she replied. "Nonedares harm me for fear of the wrath of O-Tar--otherwise I shouldhave been dead so soon as ever I entered this portion of thepalace, for the women hate me. O-Tar alone may punish me, andwhat cares O-Tar for the life of a eunuch? No, fear not upon thisscore."

Their hands were clasped between the bars and now Gahan drew hernearer to him.

"One kiss," he said, "before I go, my princess," and the prouddaughter of Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, and The Warlord ofBarsoom whispered: "My chieftain!" and pressed her lips to thelips of Turan, the common panthan.