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CHAPTER XVI.UNDER ARREST As Carthoris, Exodarm, Tars Tarkas, and I stood gazing at the magnificent vessel which meant so much to all of us, we saw second and then a third top the summit of the hills and glide gracefully after their sister.
A score of one-man air scouts were launching from the upper decks of the nearer vessel, and in a moment more were speeding in long, swift dives to the ground about us.
In another instant we were surrounded by armed sailors, and an officer had stepped forward to address us, when his eyes fell upon Carthoris.
With an exclamation of surprised pleasure he sprang forward, and placing his hands upon the boy's shoulder, called him by name."'Carthoris, my prince!'he cried."'Kaor!Kaor!
Horvastus greets the son of Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium, and of her husband John Carter.Where have you been, O my prince?All Helium has plunged in sorrow.
terrible have been the calamities that have befallen your great Grandsire's mighty nation since the fatal day that saw you leave our midst!"
"'Grieve not, my good Horvastus,' cried Carthoris, "'since I bring not back myself alone to cheer my mother's heart and the hearts of my beloved people, but also one whom all Barsoom loved best, her greatest warrior and her saviour, John Carter, Prince of Helium.'
Horvath's turn in the direction indicated by Carthoris, and as his eyes fell upon me he was like to have collapsed from sheer surprise."'John Carter!'he exclaimed, and then a sudden troubled look came into his eyes.
"'My prince,' he started, "'where hast thou?'and then he stopped. but I knew the question that his lips dared not frame.
The loyal fellow would not be the one to force from mine a confession of the terrible truth that I had returned from the bosom of the Ish, the River of Mystery, back from the shore of the Lost Sea of Korus and the Valley Dor.
Ah, my prince," he continued, as though no thought had interrupted his greeting, that your back is sufficient, and let Horvastus' sword have the high honor of being first at thy feet.
With these words the noble fellow unbuckled his scabbard and flung his sword upon the ground before me.
Could you know the customs and the character of Red Martians, you would appreciate the depth of meaning that that simple act conveyed to me and to all about us who witnessed it.
The thing was equivalent to saying, My sword, my body, my life, my soul are yours to do with as you wish.Until death and after death I look to you alone for authority for my every act. Be you right or wrong, your words shall be my only truth.
Whoso raises his hand against you must answer to my sword."It is the oath of fealty that men occasionally pay to a Jeddak whose high character and chivalrous acts have inspired the enthusiastic love of his followers.
Never had I known this high tribute paid to a lesser mortal.There was but one response possible.
I stooped and lifted the sword from the ground, raised the hilt to my lips, and then, stepping to Horvastus, I buckled the weapon upon him with my own hands.
"'Horvastus,' I said, placing my hand upon his shoulder, "'you know best the promptings of your own heart.
That I shall need your sword I have little doubt, but accept from John Carter upon his sacred honor the assurance that he will never call upon you to draw the sword other than in the cause of truth, justice, and righteousness.'"
That I knew, my prince," he replied, erever I threw my beloved blade at thy feet.
As we spoke, other fliers came and went between the ground and the battleship, and presently a larger boat was launched from above, one capable of carrying a dozen persons, perhaps, and dropped lightly near us.
As she touched, an officer sprang from her deck to the ground, and advancing to Horvastis, saluted. Kantos Kan desires that this party whom we have rescued be brought immediately to the deck of the Exavarian, he said.
As we approached the little craft, I looked about for the members of my party, and for the first time noticed that Thuvia was not among them.
Questioning elicited the fact that none had seen her since Carthoris had sent her thoat galloping madly toward the hills, in the hope of carrying her out of harm's way.
Immediately Horvathis dispatched a dozen air-scouts in as many directions to search for her.It could not be possible that she had gone far since we had last seen her.
We others stepped to the deck of the craft that had been sent to fetch us, and a moment later we were upon the Exavarian.The first man to greet me was Kantos Kan himself.
My old friend had won to the highest place in the navy of Helium, but he was still to me the same brave comrade who had shared with me the privations of a Warnhoon dungeon, the terrible atrocities of the Great Games, and later the dangers of our search for Dejah Thoris within the hostile city of Zodanga.
Then I had been an unknown wanderer upon a strange planet, and he a simple padwar in the navy of Helium.Today he commanded all Helium's great terrors of the skies, and I was a prince of the house of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium.
He did not ask me where I had been.Like Horvastus, he too dreaded the truth and would not be the one to wrest a statement from me.
That it must come some time he well knew, but until it came he seemed satisfied to but know that I was with him once more.He greeted Carthoris and Tars Tarkas with the keenest delight, but he asked neither where he had been.
He could scarcely keep his hands off the boy. You do not know, John Carter," he said to me, how we of Helium love this son of yours.It is as though all the great love we bore his noble father and his poor mother had been centered in him.
When it became known that he was lost, ten million people wept. What mean you, Canto's can?"I whispered.By his poor mother!For the words had seemed to carry a sinister meaning which I could not fathom.He drew me to one side.
For a year, he said, ever since Carthoris disappeared, Dejah Thoris has grieved and mourned for her lost boy.
The blow of years ago, when you did not return from the atmosphere plant, was lessened to some extent by the duties of motherhood, for your son broke his white shell that very night.
that she suffered terribly then all Helium knew, for did not all Helium suffer with her the loss of her lord.
But with the boy gone, there was nothing left, and after expedition upon expedition returned with the same hopeless tale of no clue as to his whereabouts, our beloved Princess drooped lower and lower, until all who saw her felt that it could be but a matter of days ere she went to join her loved ones within the precincts of the valley door.
As a last resort, Mors Kajak, her father, and Tardos Mors, her grandfather, took command of two mighty expeditions, and a month ago sailed away to explore every inch of ground in the northern hemisphere of Barsoom.
For two weeks no word has come back from them, but rumors were rift that they had met with a terrible disaster and that all were dead. About this time, Zataaris renewed his importunities for her hand in marriage.
He has been forever after her, since you disappeared.
She hated him and feared him, but with both her father and grandfather gone, Zataaris was very powerful, for he is still Jed of Zodanga, to which position, you will remember, Tardos Mors appointed him, after you had refused the honor.
He had a secret audience with her six days ago.
What took place none knows, but the next day Dejah Thoris had disappeared and with her had gone a dozen of her household guard and body-servants, including Sola the green woman, Tars Tarkas's daughter, you recall.
No word left, they, of their intentions, but it is always thus with those who go upon the voluntary pilgrimage from which none returns.
We cannot think aught than that Dejah Thoris has sought the icy bosom of Ish, and that her devoted servants have chosen to accompany her.Zadaris was at Helium when she disappeared.He commands this fleet which has been searching for her since.
No trace of her have we found, and I fear that it be a futile quest. While we talked, Horvastus' fliers were returning to the Exavarian.Not one, however, had discovered a trace of Thuvia.
I was much depressed over the news of Dejah Thoris' disappearance, and now there was added the further burden of apprehension concerning the fate of this girl whom I believed to be the daughter of some proud Barsoomian house, and it had been my intention to make every effort to return her to her people.
I was about to ask Kantos Kan to prosecute a further search for her, when a flier from the flagship of the fleet arrived at the Exavarian with an officer bearing a message to Kantos Kan from Arras.My friend read the dispatch, and then turned to me.
Zat Arras commands me to bring our prisoners before him.There is naught else to do.He is supreme in Helium, yet it would be far more in keeping with chivalry and good taste were he to come hither
and greet the Savior Barsoom with the honors that are his due.You know full well, my friend," I said, smiling, that Zadaris has good cause to hate me.Nothing would please him better than to humiliate me and then to kill me.
Now that he has so excellent an excuse, let us go and see if he has the courage to take advantage of it.
Summoning Carthoris, Tars Tarkas, and Exodar, we entered the small flier with Kantos Kan and Zataris' officer, and in a moment we were stepping to the deck of Zataris' flagship.
As we approached the jed of Zodanga, no sign of greeting or recognition crossed his face.Not even to Carthoris did he vouchsafe a friendly word.His attitude was cold, haughty, and uncompromising.
Kaor Zataris, I said in greeting, but he did not respond. Why were these prisoners not disarmed?"he asked to Kantos Kan.They are not prisoners, Zadaris, replied the officer.Two of them are of Helium's noblest family.
Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, is Tardos Mors' best beloved ally.The other is a friend and companion of the Prince of Helium.That is enough for me to know.It is not enough for me, however, retorted Zadaris.
More must I hear from those who have taken the pilgrimage than their names.Where have you been, John Carter?""'I have just come from the valley door in the land of the firstborns, Adars,' I replied.""'Ah!'he exclaimed in evident pleasure.
"'You do not deny it, then?You have returned from the bosom of Ish!' I have come back from a land of false hope, from a valley of torture and death.With my companions I have escaped from the hideous clutches of lying fiends.
I have come back to the Barsoom that I saved from a painless death to again save her, but this time from death in its most frightful form.""'Cease, blasphemer!'cried Zetaris."'Hope not to save thy cowardly carcass by inventing horrid lies to—'
but he got no further.One does not call John Carter coward and liar thus lightly, and Zadaris should have known it.Before a hand could be raised to stop me, I was at his side and one hand grasped his throat.
Come I from heaven or hell, Zadaris, you will find me still the same John Carter that I've always been, nor did ever man call me such names and live without apologizing.
And with that I commenced to bend him back across my knee and tighten my grip upon his throat.Seize him, cried Satars, and a dozen officers sprang forward to assist him.Kantos Kan came close and whispered to me, Desist, I beg of you.
It will but involve us all, for I cannot see these men lay hands upon you without aiding you.My officers and men will join me, and we shall have a mutiny then that may lead to the revolution.For the sake of Tardos Mors and Helium, desist.
At his words I released Zat Arras, and, turning my back upon him, walked toward the ship's rail.Come, Kantos Kan, I said.The Prince of Helium would return to the Excellerion. None interfered.Zadar stood white and trembling amidst his officers.
Some there were who looked upon him with scorn and drew toward me, while one, a man long in the service and confidence of Tardos Mors, spoke to me in a low tone as I passed him.You may count my medal among your fighting men, John Carter, he said.
I thanked him and passed on.In silence we embarked, and shortly after stepped once more upon the deck of the Exavarium. Fifteen minutes later we received orders from the flagship to proceed toward Helium.Our journey thither was uneventful.
Carthoris and I were wrapped in the gloomiest of thoughts.Kantos Kan was somber in contemplation of the further calamity that might fall upon Helium should Zadaris attempt to follow the age-old precedent that allotted a terrible death.
to fugitives from the Valley Dor.Tars Tarkas grieved for the loss of his daughter.Exodar alone was carefree, a fugitive and outlaw.He could be no worse off in Helium than elsewhere.
Let us hope that we may at least go out with good red blood upon our blades, he said.It was a simple wish, and one most likely to be gratified.
Among the officers of Exavarian I thought I could discern division into fractions ere we had reached Helium. There were those who gathered about Carthoris and myself whenever the opportunity presented, while about an equal number held aloof from us.
They offered us only the most courteous treatment, but were evidently bound by their superstitious belief in the doctrine of Dor and Ish and Chorus.
I could not blame them, for I knew how strong a hold a creed, however ridiculous it may be, may gain upon an otherwise intelligent people.By returning from Dor we had committed a sacrilege.
By recounting our adventures there, and stating the facts as they existed, we had outraged the religion of their fathers.We were blasphemers, lying heretics.
Even those who still clung to us from personal love and loyalty I think did so in the face of the fact that at heart they questioned our veracity.
It is very hard to accept a new religion for an old, no matter how alluring the promises of the new may be.
But to reject the old as a tissue of falsehoods without being offered anything in its steed is indeed a most difficult thing to ask of any people. Kantos Kan would not talk of our experiences among the Therns and the Firstborn.
It is enough, he said, that I jeopardize my life here and hereafter by countenancing you all.Do not ask me to add still further to my sins by listening to what I've always been taught was the rankest heresy.
I knew that sooner or later the time must come when our friends and enemies would be forced to declare themselves openly.
When we reached Helium there must be an accounting, and if Tardos Mors had not returned I feared that the enmity of Zadaris might weigh heavily against us, for he represented the government of Helium.
To take sides against him were equivalent to treason.
The majority of the troops would doubtless follow the lead of their officers, and I knew that many of the highest and most powerful men of both land and air forces would cleave to John Carter in the face of God, man, or devil.
On the other hand, the majority of the populace unquestionably would demand that we pay the penalty of our sacrilege.The outlook seemed dark from whatever angle I viewed it.
But my mind was so torn with anguish at the thought of Dejah Thoris that I realize now that I gave the terrible question of Helium's plight but scant attention at that time.
There was always before me, day and night, a horrible nightmare of the frightful scenes through which I knew my princess might even then be passing.The horrid plant men, the ferocious white apes.
At times I would cover my face with my hands in a vain effort to shut out the fearful thing from my mind.It was in the forenoon that we arrived above the mile-high scarlet tower which marks greater Helium from her twin city.
As we descended in great circles toward the navy docks, a mighty multitude could be seen surging in the streets beneath.Helium had been notified by a radio-aerogram of our approach.
From the deck of the Exavarian we four, Carthoris, Tars Tarkas, Exodar and I, were transferred to a lesser flier to be transported to quarters within the Temple of Reward.It is here that Martian justice is meted to benefactor or malfactor.
Here the hero is decorated.Here the felon is condemned.We were taken into the Temple from the landing stage upon the roof, so that we did not pass among the people at all. as is customary.
Always before I had seen prisoners of note or returned wanderers of eminence paraded from the gate of Jeddak's to the Temple of Reward up the broad avenue of ancestors through dense crowds of jeering or cheering citizens.
I knew that Zatdarus dared not trust the people near to us, for he feared that their love for Carthoris and myself might break into a demonstration which would wipe out their superstitious horror of the crime we were to be charged with.
What his plans were I could only guess, but that they were sinister was evidenced by the fact that only his most trusted servitors accompanied us upon the flyer to the Temple of Reward.
We were lodged in a room upon the south side of the temple, overlooking the Avenue of Ancestors, down which we could see the full length of the Gate of Jeddix, five miles away.
The people in the temple plaza, and in the streets for a distance of a full mile, were standing as close packed as it was possible for them to get. They were very orderly.
There were neither scoffs nor plaudits, and when they saw us at the window above them, there were many who buried their faces in their arms and wept.
Late in the afternoon a messenger arrived from Zadaris to inform us that we would be tried by an impartial body of nobles in the great hall of the temple at the Vers Zod, on the following day, or at about 8.40 a.m.earth time.
Asterix, wherever Captain Carter has used Martian measurements of time, distance, weight, and the like, I have translated them into as nearly their equivalent in earthly values as is possible.
His notes contain many Martian tables and a great volume of scientific data.
But since the International Astronomic Society is at present engaged in classifying, investigating, and verifying this vast fund of remarkable and valuable information, I have felt that it will add nothing to the interest of Captain Carter's story or to the sum total of human knowledge to maintain a strict adherence to the original manuscript in these matters.
while it might readily confuse the reader and detract from the interest of the history.For those who may be interested, however, I will explain that the Martian day is a trifle over 24 hours, 37 minutes duration, Earth time.
This, the Martians divide into 10 equal parts, commencing the day at about 6 a.m., Earth time.The Zodes are divided into 50 shorter periods,
each of which, in turn, is composed of two hundred brief periods of time, about equivalent to the earthly second.The Barsoomian table of time, as here given, is but a part of the full table appearing in Captain Carter's notes.
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