The guardsmen paid not the slightest attention to their wards,for the red men could not move over two feet from the great ringsto which they were padlocked, though each had seized a weapon uponwhich he had been engaged when I entered the room, and stood readyto join me could they have but done so.

The yellow men devoted all their attention to me, nor were they longin discovering that the three of them were none too many to defend thearmory against John Carter. Would that I had had my own good long-swordin my hand that day; but, as it was, I rendered a satisfactory accountof myself with the unfamiliar weapon of the yellow man.

At first I had a time of it dodging their villainous hook-swords,but after a minute or two I had succeeded in wresting a second straightsword from one of the racks along the wall, and thereafter, using itto parry the hooks of my antagonists, I felt more evenly equipped.

The three of them were on me at once, and but for a luckycircumstance my end might have come quickly. The foremostguardsman made a vicious lunge for my side with his hook after thethree of them had backed me against the wall, but as I sidesteppedand raised my arm his weapon but grazed my side, passing into arack of javelins, where it became entangled.

Before he could release it I had run him through, and then,falling back upon the tactics that have saved me a hundred timesin tight pinches, I rushed the two remaining warriors, forcing themback with a perfect torrent of cuts and thrusts, weaving my swordin and out about their guards until I had the fear of death upon them.

Then one of them commenced calling for help, but it was too lateto save them.

They were as putty in my hands now, and I backed them about thearmory as I would until I had them where I wanted them--withinreach of the swords of the shackled slaves. In an instantboth lay dead upon the floor. But their cries had not beenentirely fruitless, for now I heard answering shouts and thefootfalls of many men running and the clank of accoutermentsand the commands of officers.

"The door! Quick, John Carter, bar the door!" cried Tardos Mors.

Already the guard was in sight, charging across the open courtthat was visible through the doorway.

A dozen seconds would bring them into the tower. A singleleap carried me to the heavy portal. With a resounding bang Islammed it shut.

"The bar!" shouted Tardos Mors.

I tried to slip the huge fastening into place, but it defiedmy every attempt.

"Raise it a little to release the catch," cried one of the red men.

I could hear the yellow warriors leaping along the flagging justbeyond the door. I raised the bar and shot it to the rightjust as the foremost of the guardsmen threw himself against theopposite side of the massive panels.

The barrier held--I had been in time, but by the fraction ofa second only.

Now I turned my attention to the prisoners. To Tardos Mors Iwent first, asking where the keys might be which would unfastentheir fetters.

"The officer of the guard has them," replied the Jeddak of Helium,"and he is among those without who seek entrance. You will haveto force them."

Most of the prisoners were already hacking at their bonds withthe swords in their hands. The yellow men were battering at thedoor with javelins and axes.

I turned my attention to the chains that held Tardos Mors.Again and again I cut deep into the metal with my sharp blade,but ever faster and faster fell the torrent of blows upon the portal.

At last a link parted beneath my efforts, and a moment laterTardos Mors was free, though a few inches of trailing chain stilldangled from his ankle.

A splinter of wood falling inward from the door announced theheadway that our enemies were making toward us.

The mighty panels trembled and bent beneath the furious onslaughtof the enraged yellow men.

What with the battering upon the door and the hacking of thered men at their chains the din within the armory was appalling.No sooner was Tardos Mors free than he turned his attention toanother of the prisoners, while I set to work to liberate Mors Kajak.

We must work fast if we would have all those fetters cut beforethe door gave way. Now a panel crashed inward upon the floor,and Mors Kajak sprang to the opening to defend the way untilwe should have time to release the others.

With javelins snatched from the wall he wrought havoc amongthe foremost of the Okarians while we battled with the insensatemetal that stood between our fellows and freedom.

At length all but one of the prisoners were freed, and thenthe door fell with a mighty crash before a hastily improvisedbattering-ram, and the yellow horde was upon us.

"To the upper chambers!" shouted the red man who was stillfettered to the floor. "To the upper chambers! There you maydefend the tower against all Kadabra. Do not delay because of me,who could pray for no better death than in the service ofTardos Mors and the Prince of Helium."

But I would have sacrificed the life of every man of us ratherthan desert a single red man, much less the lion-hearted hero whobegged us to leave him.

"Cut his chains," I cried to two of the red men, "while thebalance of us hold off the foe."

There were ten of us now to do battle with the Okarian guard,and I warrant that that ancient watchtower never looked down upona more hotly contested battle than took place that day withinits own grim walls.

The first inrushing wave of yellow warriors recoiled from theslashing blades of ten of Helium's veteran fighting men. A dozenOkarian corpses blocked the doorway, but over the gruesome barriera score more of their fellows dashed, shouting their hoarse andhideous war-cry.

Upon the bloody mound we met them, hand to hand, stabbing wherethe quarters were too close to cut, thrusting when we could pusha foeman to arm's length; and mingled with the wild cry of theOkarian there rose and fell the glorious words: "For Helium!For Helium!" that for countless ages have spurred on the bravest ofthe brave to those deeds of valor that have sent the fame of Helium'sheroes broadcast throughout the length and breadth of a world.

Now were the fetters struck from the last of the red men,and thirteen strong we met each new charge of the soldiersof Salensus Oll. Scarce one of us but bled from a scoreof wounds, yet none had fallen.

From without we saw hundreds of guardsmen pouring into the courtyard,and along the lower corridor from which I had found my way to thearmory we could hear the clank of metal and the shouting of men.

In a moment we should be attacked from two sides, and withall our prowess we could not hope to withstand the unequal oddswhich would thus divide our attention and our small numbers.

"To the upper chambers!" cried Tardos Mors, and a moment laterwe fell back toward the runway that led to the floors above.

Here another bloody battle was waged with the force of yellowmen who charged into the armory as we fell back from the doorway.Here we lost our first man, a noble fellow whom we could ill spare;but at length all had backed into the runway except myself, whoremained to hold back the Okarians until the others were safe above.

In the mouth of the narrow spiral but a single warrior couldattack me at a time, so that I had little difficulty in holdingthem all back for the brief moment that was necessary. Then,backing slowly before them, I commenced the ascent of the spiral.

All the long way to the tower's top the guardsmen pressed me closely.When one went down before my sword another scrambled over the dead man totake his place; and thus, taking an awful toll with each few feet gained,I came to the spacious glass-walled watchtower of Kadabra.

Here my companions clustered ready to take my place, and for amoment's respite I stepped to one side while they held the enemy off.

From the lofty perch a view could be had for miles in every direction.Toward the south stretched the rugged, ice-clad waste to the edge ofthe mighty barrier. Toward the east and west, and dimly toward thenorth I descried other Okarian cities, while in the immediate foreground,just beyond the walls of Kadabra, the grim guardian shaft reared itssomber head.

Then I cast my eyes down into the streets of Kadabra, from whicha sudden tumult had arisen, and there I saw a battle raging,and beyond the city's walls I saw armed men marching in greatcolumns toward a near-by gate.

Eagerly I pressed forward against the glass wall of the observatory,scarce daring to credit the testimony of my own eyes. But at lastI could doubt no longer, and with a shout of joy that rose strangelyin the midst of the cursing and groaning of the battling men at theentrance to the chamber, I called to Tardos Mors.

As he joined me I pointed down into the streets of Kadabra andto the advancing columns beyond, above which floated bravely inthe arctic air the flags and banners of Helium.

An instant later every red man in the lofty chamber had seenthe inspiring sight, and such a shout of thanksgiving arose as Iwarrant never before echoed through that age-old pile of stone.

But still we must fight on, for though our troops had entered Kadabra,the city was yet far from capitulation, nor had the palace beeneven assaulted. Turn and turn about we held the top of the runwaywhile the others feasted their eyes upon the sight of our valiantcountrymen battling far beneath us.

Now they have rushed the palace gate! Great battering-ramsare dashed against its formidable surface. Now they are repulsedby a deadly shower of javelins from the wall's top!

Once again they charge, but a sortie by a large force of Okariansfrom an intersecting avenue crumples the head of the column,and the men of Helium go down, fighting, beneath an overwhelming force.

The palace gate flies open and a force of the jeddak's own guard,picked men from the flower of the Okarian army, sallies forthto shatter the broken regiments. For a moment it looks asthough nothing could avert defeat, and then I see a noble figureupon a mighty thoat--not the tiny thoat of the red man, but one ofhis huge cousins of the dead sea bottoms.

The warrior hews his way to the front, and behind him rally thedisorganized soldiers of Helium. As he raises his head aloftto fling a challenge at the men upon the palace walls I seehis face, and my heart swells in pride and happiness as thered warriors leap to the side of their leader and win backthe ground that they had but just lost--the face of him uponthe mighty thoat is the face of my son--Carthoris of Helium.

At his side fights a huge Martian war-hound, nor did I need asecond look to know that it was Woola--my faithful Woola who hadthus well performed his arduous task and brought the succoringlegions in the nick of time.

"In the nick of time?"

Who yet might say that they were not too late to save, but surelythey could avenge! And such retribution as that unconquered armywould deal out to the hateful Okarians! I sighed to think that Imight not be alive to witness it.

Again I turned to the windows. The red men had not yet forcedthe outer palace wall, but they were fighting nobly against thebest that Okar afforded--valiant warriors who contested every inchof the way.

Now my attention was caught by a new element without the city wall--a great body of mounted warriors looming large above the red men.They were the huge green allies of Helium--the savage hordes fromthe dead sea bottoms of the far south.

In grim and terrible silence they sped on toward the gate,the padded hoofs of their frightful mounts giving forth no sound.Into the doomed city they charged, and as they wheeled across thewide plaza before the palace of the Jeddak of Jeddaks I saw, riding attheir head, the mighty figure of their mighty leader--Tars Tarkas,Jeddak of Thark.

My wish, then, was to be gratified, for I was to see my old friendbattling once again, and though not shoulder to shoulder with him,I, too, would be fighting in the same cause here in the high tower of Okar.

Nor did it seem that our foes would ever cease their stubborn attacks,for still they came, though the way to our chamber was often cloggedwith the bodies of their dead. At times they would pause long enoughto drag back the impeding corpses, and then fresh warriors would forgeupward to taste the cup of death.

I had been taking my turn with the others in defending theapproach to our lofty retreat when Mors Kajak, who had beenwatching the battle in the street below, called aloud insudden excitement. There was a note of apprehension in his voicethat brought me to his side the instant that I could turn my placeover to another, and as I reached him he pointed far out across thewaste of snow and ice toward the southern horizon.

"Alas!" he cried, "that I should be forced to witness cruel fatebetray them without power to warn or aid; but they be past either now."

As I looked in the direction he indicated I saw the cause ofhis perturbation. A mighty fleet of fliers was approachingmajestically toward Kadabra from the direction of the ice-barrier.On and on they came with ever increasing velocity.

"The grim shaft that they call the Guardian of the North isbeckoning to them," said Mors Kajak sadly, "just as it beckoned toTardos Mors and his great fleet; see where they lie, crumpled andbroken, a grim and terrible monument to the mighty force ofdestruction which naught can resist."

I, too, saw; but something else I saw that Mors Kajak did not;in my mind's eye I saw a buried chamber whose walls were lined withstrange instruments and devices.

In the center of the chamber was a long table, and before it sat alittle, pop-eyed old man counting his money; but, plainest of all,I saw upon the wall a great switch with a small magnet inlaidwithin the surface of its black handle.

Then I glanced out at the fast-approaching fleet. In five minutesthat mighty armada of the skies would be bent and worthless scrap,lying at the base of the shaft beyond the city's wall, and yellowhordes would be loosed from another gate to rush out upon the fewsurvivors stumbling blindly down through the mass of wreckage;then the apts would come. I shuddered at the thought, for I couldvividly picture the whole horrible scene.

Quick have I always been to decide and act. The impulsethat moves me and the doing of the thing seem simultaneous;for if my mind goes through the tedious formality of reasoning,it must be a subconscious act of which I am not objectively aware.Psychologists tell me that, as the subconscious does not reason,too close a scrutiny of my mental activities might prove anythingbut flattering; but be that as it may, I have often won successwhile the thinker would have been still at the endless task ofcomparing various judgments.

And now celerity of action was the prime essential to thesuccess of the thing that I had decided upon.

Grasping my sword more firmly in my hand, I called to the red manat the opening to the runway to stand aside.

"Way for the Prince of Helium!" I shouted; and before theastonished yellow man whose misfortune it was to be at the fightingend of the line at that particular moment could gather his witstogether my sword had decapitated him, and I was rushing like amad bull down upon those behind him.

"Way for the Prince of Helium!" I shouted as I cut a paththrough the astonished guardsmen of Salensus Oll.

Hewing to right and left, I beat my way down that warrior-chokedspiral until, near the bottom, those below, thinking that an armywas descending upon them, turned and fled.

The armory at the first floor was vacant when I entered it,the last of the Okarians having fled into the courtyard, so nonesaw me continue down the spiral toward the corridor beneath.

Here I ran as rapidly as my legs would carry me toward thefive corners, and there plunged into the passageway that ledto the station of the old miser.

Without the formality of a knock, I burst into the room.There sat the old man at his table; but as he saw me hesprang to his feet, drawing his sword.

With scarce more than a glance toward him I leaped for the great switch;but, quick as I was, that wiry old fellow was there before me.

How he did it I shall never know, nor does it seem crediblethat any Martian-born creature could approximate the marvelousspeed of my earthly muscles.

Like a tiger he turned upon me, and I was quick to see whySolan had been chosen for this important duty.

Never in all my life have I seen such wondrous swordsmanshipand such uncanny agility as that ancient bag of bones displayed.He was in forty places at the same time, and before I had half a chanceto awaken to my danger he was like to have made a monkey of me,and a dead monkey at that.

It is strange how new and unexpected conditions bring outunguessed ability to meet them.

That day in the buried chamber beneath the palace of Salensus OllI learned what swordsmanship meant, and to what heights of swordmastery I could achieve when pitted against such a wizard of theblade as Solan.

For a time he liked to have bested me; but presently the latentpossibilities that must have been lying dormant within me for alifetime came to the fore, and I fought as I had never dreameda human being could fight.

That that duel-royal should have taken place in the dark recessesof a cellar, without a single appreciative eye to witness it hasalways seemed to me almost a world calamity--at least fromthe viewpoint Barsoomian, where bloody strife is the firstand greatest consideration of individuals, nations, and races.

I was fighting to reach the switch, Solan to prevent me;and, though we stood not three feet from it, I could not winan inch toward it, for he forced me back an inch for thefirst five minutes of our battle.

I knew that if I were to throw it in time to save the oncomingfleet it must be done in the next few seconds, and so I tried myold rushing tactics; but I might as well have rushed a brick wallfor all that Solan gave way.

In fact, I came near to impaling myself upon his point for my pains;but right was on my side, and I think that that must give a mangreater confidence than though he knew himself to be battlingin a wicked cause.

At least, I did not want in confidence; and when I next rushedSolan it was to one side with implicit confidence that he must turnto meet my new line of attack, and turn he did, so that now wefought with our sides towards the coveted goal--the great switchstood within my reach upon my right hand.

To uncover my breast for an instant would have been to courtsudden death, but I saw no other way than to chance it, if by sodoing I might rescue that oncoming, succoring fleet; and so, in theface of a wicked sword-thrust, I reached out my point and caughtthe great switch a sudden blow that released it from its seating.

So surprised and horrified was Solan that he forgot to finishhis thrust; instead, he wheeled toward the switch with a loud shriek--a shriek which was his last, for before his hand could touch thelever it sought, my sword's point had passed through his heart.