In the shadows of the forest that flanks the crimson plain bythe side of the Lost Sea of Korus in the Valley Dor, beneath thehurtling moons of Mars, speeding their meteoric way close above thebosom of the dying planet, I crept stealthily along the trail of ashadowy form that hugged the darker places with a persistency thatproclaimed the sinister nature of its errand.

For six long Martian months I had haunted the vicinity of thehateful Temple of the Sun, within whose slow-revolving shaft,far beneath the surface of Mars, my princess lay entombed--but whether alive or dead I knew not. Had Phaidor's slim bladefound that beloved heart? Time only would reveal the truth.

Six hundred and eighty-seven Martian days must come and gobefore the cell's door would again come opposite the tunnel'send where last I had seen my ever-beautiful Dejah Thoris.

Half of them had passed, or would on the morrow, yet vivid inmy memory, obliterating every event that had come before or after,there remained the last scene before the gust of smoke blinded myeyes and the narrow slit that had given me sight of the interior ofher cell closed between me and the Princess of Helium for a longMartian year.

As if it were yesterday, I still saw the beautiful face of Phaidor,daughter of Matai Shang, distorted with jealous rage and hatredas she sprang forward with raised dagger upon the woman I loved.

I saw the red girl, Thuvia of Ptarth, leap forward to preventthe hideous deed.

The smoke from the burning temple had come then to blot outthe tragedy, but in my ears rang the single shriek as the knifefell. Then silence, and when the smoke had cleared, the revolvingtemple had shut off all sight or sound from the chamber in whichthe three beautiful women were imprisoned.

Much there had been to occupy my attention since that terrible moment;but never for an instant had the memory of the thing faded,and all the time that I could spare from the numerous duties thathad devolved upon me in the reconstruction of the government of theFirst Born since our victorious fleet and land forces hadoverwhelmed them, had been spent close to the grim shaft that heldthe mother of my boy, Carthoris of Helium.

The race of blacks that for ages had worshiped Issus, thefalse deity of Mars, had been left in a state of chaos by myrevealment of her as naught more than a wicked old woman.In their rage they had torn her to pieces.

From the high pinnacle of their egotism the First Born hadbeen plunged to the depths of humiliation. Their deity was gone,and with her the whole false fabric of their religion. Theirvaunted navy had fallen in defeat before the superior ships andfighting men of the red men of Helium.

Fierce green warriors from the ocher sea bottoms of outer Marshad ridden their wild thoats across the sacred gardens of theTemple of Issus, and Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, fiercest ofthem all, had sat upon the throne of Issus and ruled the First Bornwhile the allies were deciding the conquered nation's fate.

Almost unanimous was the request that I ascend the ancient throneof the black men, even the First Born themselves concurring in it;but I would have none of it. My heart could never be with the racethat had heaped indignities upon my princess and my son.

At my suggestion Xodar became Jeddak of the First Born.He had been a dator, or prince, until Issus had degraded him,so that his fitness for the high office bestowed was unquestioned.

The peace of the Valley Dor thus assured, the green warriorsdispersed to their desolate sea bottoms, while we of Heliumreturned to our own country. Here again was a throne offered me,since no word had been received from the missing Jeddak of Helium,Tardos Mors, grandfather of Dejah Thoris, or his son, Mors Kajak,Jed of Helium, her father.

Over a year had elapsed since they had set out to explore thenorthern hemisphere in search of Carthoris, and at last theirdisheartened people had accepted as truth the vague rumors of theirdeath that had filtered in from the frozen region of the pole.

Once again I refused a throne, for I would not believe thatthe mighty Tardos Mors, or his no less redoubtable son, was dead.

"Let one of their own blood rule you until they return,"I said to the assembled nobles of Helium, as I addressed them fromthe Pedestal of Truth beside the Throne of Righteousness in theTemple of Reward, from the very spot where I had stood a yearbefore when Zat Arras pronounced the sentence of death upon me.

As I spoke I stepped forward and laid my hand upon theshoulder of Carthoris where he stood in the front rank of thecircle of nobles about me.

As one, the nobles and the people lifted their voices in along cheer of approbation. Ten thousand swords sprang on high fromas many scabbards, and the glorious fighting men of ancient Heliumhailed Carthoris Jeddak of Helium.

His tenure of office was to be for life or until his great-grandfather, or grandfather, should return. Having thussatisfactorily arranged this important duty for Helium, I startedthe following day for the Valley Dor that I might remain close tothe Temple of the Sun until the fateful day that should see theopening of the prison cell where my lost love lay buried.

Hor Vastus and Kantos Kan, with my other noble lieutenants,I left with Carthoris at Helium, that he might have the benefitof their wisdom, bravery, and loyalty in the performance of thearduous duties which had devolved upon him. Only Woola,my Martian hound, accompanied me.

At my heels tonight the faithful beast moved softly in mytracks. As large as a Shetland pony, with hideous head andfrightful fangs, he was indeed an awesome spectacle, as he creptafter me on his ten short, muscular legs; but to me he was theembodiment of love and loyalty.

The figure ahead was that of the black dator of the First Born,Thurid, whose undying enmity I had earned that time I laidhim low with my bare hands in the courtyard of the Temple of Issus,and bound him with his own harness before the noble men and womenwho had but a moment before been extolling his prowess.

Like many of his fellows, he had apparently accepted the new order ofthings with good grace, and had sworn fealty to Xodar, his new ruler;but I knew that he hated me, and I was sure that in his heart he enviedand hated Xodar, so I had kept a watch upon his comings and goings,to the end that of late I had become convinced that he was occupiedwith some manner of intrigue.

Several times I had observed him leaving the walled city ofthe First Born after dark, taking his way out into the cruel andhorrible Valley Dor, where no honest business could lead any man.

Tonight he moved quickly along the edge of the forest untilwell beyond sight or sound of the city, then he turned across thecrimson sward toward the shore of the Lost Sea of Korus.

The rays of the nearer moon, swinging low across the valley,touched his jewel-incrusted harness with a thousand changing lightsand glanced from the glossy ebony of his smooth hide. Twice heturned his head back toward the forest, after the manner of one who isupon an evil errand, though he must have felt quite safe from pursuit.

I did not dare follow him there beneath the moonlight, sinceit best suited my plans not to interrupt his--I wished him to reachhis destination unsuspecting, that I might learn just where thatdestination lay and the business that awaited the night prowler there.

So it was that I remained hidden until after Thurid haddisappeared over the edge of the steep bank beside the sea aquarter of a mile away. Then, with Woola following, I hastenedacross the open after the black dator.

The quiet of the tomb lay upon the mysterious valley of death,crouching deep in its warm nest within the sunken area at the southpole of the dying planet. In the far distance the Golden Cliffsraised their mighty barrier faces far into the starlit heavens,the precious metals and scintillating jewels that composed themsparkling in the brilliant light of Mars's two gorgeous moons.

At my back was the forest, pruned and trimmed like the swardto parklike symmetry by the browsing of the ghoulish plant men.

Before me lay the Lost Sea of Korus, while farther on I caughtthe shimmering ribbon of Iss, the River of Mystery, where it woundout from beneath the Golden Cliffs to empty into Korus, to whichfor countless ages had been borne the deluded and unhappy Martiansof the outer world upon the voluntary pilgrimage to this false heaven.

The plant men, with their blood-sucking hands, and the monstrouswhite apes that make Dor hideous by day, were hidden in theirlairs for the night.

There was no longer a Holy Thern upon the balcony in the GoldenCliffs above the Iss to summon them with weird cry to the victimsfloating down to their maws upon the cold, broad bosom of ancient Iss.

The navies of Helium and the First Born had cleared thefortresses and the temples of the therns when they had refused tosurrender and accept the new order of things that had swept theirfalse religion from long-suffering Mars.

In a few isolated countries they still retained their age-oldpower; but Matai Shang, their hekkador, Father of Therns, had beendriven from his temple. Strenuous had been our endeavors tocapture him; but with a few of the faithful he had escaped, and wasin hiding--where we knew not.

As I came cautiously to the edge of the low cliff overlookingthe Lost Sea of Korus I saw Thurid pushing out upon the bosom ofthe shimmering water in a small skiff--one of those strangelywrought craft of unthinkable age which the Holy Therns, with theirorganization of priests and lesser therns, were wont to distributealong the banks of the Iss, that the long journey of their victimsmight be facilitated.

Drawn up on the beach below me were a score of similar boats,each with its long pole, at one end of which was a pike, at theother a paddle. Thurid was hugging the shore, and as he passed outof sight round a near-by promontory I shoved one of the boats intothe water and, calling Woola into it, pushed out from shore.

The pursuit of Thurid carried me along the edge of the seatoward the mouth of the Iss. The farther moon lay close to thehorizon, casting a dense shadow beneath the cliffs that fringed thewater. Thuria, the nearer moon, had set, nor would it rise againfor near four hours, so that I was ensured concealing darkness forthat length of time at least.

On and on went the black warrior. Now he was opposite themouth of the Iss. Without an instant's hesitation he turned up thegrim river, paddling hard against the strong current.

After him came Woola and I, closer now, for the man was toointent upon forcing his craft up the river to have any eyes forwhat might be transpiring behind him. He hugged the shore wherethe current was less strong.

Presently he came to the dark cavernous portal in the face ofthe Golden Cliffs, through which the river poured. On into theStygian darkness beyond he urged his craft.

It seemed hopeless to attempt to follow him here where I couldnot see my hand before my face, and I was almost on the point ofgiving up the pursuit and drifting back to the mouth of the river,there to await his return, when a sudden bend showed a faintluminosity ahead.

My quarry was plainly visible again, and in the increasinglight from the phosphorescent rock that lay embedded in greatpatches in the roughly arched roof of the cavern I had nodifficulty in following him.

It was my first trip upon the bosom of Iss, and the thingsI saw there will live forever in my memory.

Terrible as they were, they could not have commenced toapproximate the horrible conditions which must have obtained beforeTars Tarkas, the great green warrior, Xodar, the black dator, andI brought the light of truth to the outer world and stopped the madrush of millions upon the voluntary pilgrimage to what they believedwould end in a beautiful valley of peace and happiness and love.

Even now the low islands which dotted the broad stream were chokedwith the skeletons and half devoured carcasses of those who,through fear or a sudden awakening to the truth, had halted almostat the completion of their journey.

In the awful stench of these frightful charnel isles haggardmaniacs screamed and gibbered and fought among the torn remnants oftheir grisly feasts; while on those which contained but clean-picked bones they battled with one another, the weaker furnishingsustenance for the stronger; or with clawlike hands clutched at thebloated bodies that drifted down with the current.

Thurid paid not the slightest attention to the screaming thingsthat either menaced or pleaded with him as the mood directedthem--evidently he was familiar with the horrid sights thatsurrounded him. He continued up the river for perhaps a mile;and then, crossing over to the left bank, drew his craft up ona low ledge that lay almost on a level with the water.

I dared not follow across the stream, for he most surely wouldhave seen me. Instead I stopped close to the opposite wall beneathan overhanging mass of rock that cast a dense shadow beneath it.Here I could watch Thurid without danger of discovery.

The black was standing upon the ledge beside his boat, lookingup the river, as though he were awaiting one whom he expectedfrom that direction.

As I lay there beneath the dark rocks I noticed that a strongcurrent seemed to flow directly toward the center of the river,so that it was difficult to hold my craft in its position. I edgedfarther into the shadow that I might find a hold upon the bank;but, though I proceeded several yards, I touched nothing; and then,finding that I would soon reach a point from where I could nolonger see the black man, I was compelled to remain where I was,holding my position as best I could by paddling strongly againstthe current which flowed from beneath the rocky mass behind me.

I could not imagine what might cause this strong lateral flow,for the main channel of the river was plainly visible to me fromwhere I sat, and I could see the rippling junction of it and themysterious current which had aroused my curiosity.

While I was still speculating upon the phenomenon, myattention was suddenly riveted upon Thurid, who had raised bothpalms forward above his head in the universal salute of Martians,and a moment later his "Kaor!" the Barsoomian word of greeting,came in low but distinct tones.

I turned my eyes up the river in the direction that his were bent,and presently there came within my limited range of vision along boat, in which were six men. Five were at the paddles,while the sixth sat in the seat of honor.

The white skins, the flowing yellow wigs which covered theirbald pates, and the gorgeous diadems set in circlets of goldabout their heads marked them as Holy Therns.

As they drew up beside the ledge upon which Thurid awaitedthem, he in the bow of the boat arose to step ashore, and then Isaw that it was none other than Matai Shang, Father of Therns.

The evident cordiality with which the two men exchangedgreetings filled me with wonder, for the black and white men ofBarsoom were hereditary enemies--nor ever before had I known oftwo meeting other than in battle.

Evidently the reverses that had recently overtaken both peopleshad resulted in an alliance between these two individuals--atleast against the common enemy--and now I saw why Thurid hadcome so often out into the Valley Dor by night, and that thenature of his conspiring might be such as to strike very closeto me or to my friends.

I wished that I might have found a point closer to the two menfrom which to have heard their conversation; but it was out of thequestion now to attempt to cross the river, and so I lay quietlywatching them, who would have given so much to have known how closeI lay to them, and how easily they might have overcome and killedme with their superior force.

Several times Thurid pointed across the river in my direction,but that his gestures had any reference to me I did not for amoment believe. Presently he and Matai Shang entered the latter'sboat, which turned out into the river and, swinging round, forgedsteadily across in my direction.

As they advanced I moved my boat farther and farther inbeneath the overhanging wall, but at last it became evident thattheir craft was holding the same course. The five paddlers sentthe larger boat ahead at a speed that taxed my energies to equal.

Every instant I expected to feel my prow crash against solid rock.The light from the river was no longer visible, but ahead Isaw the faint tinge of a distant radiance, and still the waterbefore me was open.

At last the truth dawned upon me--I was following a subterraneanriver which emptied into the Iss at the very point where I had hidden.

The rowers were now quite close to me. The noise of their ownpaddles drowned the sound of mine, but in another instant thegrowing light ahead would reveal me to them.

There was no time to be lost. Whatever action I was to take mustbe taken at once. Swinging the prow of my boat toward the right,I sought the river's rocky side, and there I lay while Matai Shangand Thurid approached up the center of the stream, which was muchnarrower than the Iss.

As they came nearer I heard the voices of Thurid and theFather of Therns raised in argument.

"I tell you, Thern," the black dator was saying, "that I wishonly vengeance upon John Carter, Prince of Helium. I am leadingyou into no trap. What could I gain by betraying you to those whohave ruined my nation and my house?"

"Let us stop here a moment that I may hear your plans,"replied the hekkador, "and then we may proceed with a betterunderstanding of our duties and obligations."

To the rowers he issued the command that brought their boat intoward the bank not a dozen paces beyond the spot where I lay.

Had they pulled in below me they must surely have seen meagainst the faint glow of light ahead, but from where they finallycame to rest I was as secure from detection as though milesseparated us.

The few words I had already overheard whetted my curiosity,and I was anxious to learn what manner of vengeance Thurid wasplanning against me. Nor had I long to wait. I listened intently.

"There are no obligations, Father of Therns," continued theFirst Born. "Thurid, Dator of Issus, has no price. When the thinghas been accomplished I shall be glad if you will see to it that Iam well received, as is befitting my ancient lineage and noblerank, at some court that is yet loyal to thy ancient faith, for Icannot return to the Valley Dor or elsewhere within the power ofthe Prince of Helium; but even that I do not demand--it shall be asyour own desire in the matter directs."

"It shall be as you wish, Dator," replied Matai Shang; "nor isthat all--power and riches shall be yours if you restore mydaughter, Phaidor, to me, and place within my power Dejah Thoris,Princess of Helium.

"Ah," he continued with a malicious snarl, "but the Earth manshall suffer for the indignities he has put upon the holy ofholies, nor shall any vileness be too vile to inflict upon hisprincess. Would that it were in my power to force him to witnessthe humiliation and degradation of the red woman."

"You shall have your way with her before another day haspassed, Matai Shang," said Thurid, "if you but say the word."

"I have heard of the Temple of the Sun, Dator," replied Matai Shang,"but never have I heard that its prisoners could be releasedbefore the allotted year of their incarceration had elapsed.How, then, may you accomplish the impossible?"

"Access may be had to any cell of the temple at any time,"replied Thurid. "Only Issus knew this; nor was it ever Issus' wayto divulge more of her secrets than were necessary. By chance,after her death, I came upon an ancient plan of the temple,and there I found, plainly writ, the most minute directionsfor reaching the cells at any time.

"And more I learned--that many men had gone thither for Issus inthe past, always on errands of death and torture to the prisoners;but those who thus learned the secret way were wont to diemysteriously immediately they had returned and made theirreports to cruel Issus."

"Let us proceed, then," said Matai Shang at last. "I musttrust you, yet at the same time you must trust me, for weare six to your one."

"I do not fear," replied Thurid, "nor need you. Our hatred ofthe common enemy is sufficient bond to insure our loyalty to eachother, and after we have defiled the Princess of Helium there willbe still greater reason for the maintenance of our allegiance--unless I greatly mistake the temper of her lord."

Matai Shang spoke to the paddlers. The boat moved on up the tributary.

It was with difficulty that I restrained myself from rushing uponthem and slaying the two vile plotters; but quickly I saw the madrashness of such an act, which would cut down the only man whocould lead the way to Dejah Thoris' prison before the longMartian year had swung its interminable circle.

If he should lead Matai Shang to that hollowed spot, then,too, should he lead John Carter, Prince of Helium.

With silent paddle I swung slowly into the wake of the larger craft.