Part 2 (1/2)

So fascinated was Tara of Heliue creatures--a fact that was to prove her undoing, for in order that she ht see them she was forced to expose a part of her own head and presently, to her consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his work and was staring directly at her She did not darehad not seen her, or at least was only suspicious that so the weeds If she could allay this suspicion by reht believe that he had been mistaken and return to his work; but, alas, such was not to be the case She saw the thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately four or five of them started to move in her direction

It was iht If she could elude theht escape, and that could be acco to her feet she darted along the base of the hich she must skirt to the opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal Her act was greeted by strange whistling sounds frolance over her shoulder she saw them all in rapid pursuit

There were also shrill commands that she halt, but to these she paid no attention Before she had half circled the enclosure she discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet as she High indeed then were her hopes as she caht of the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her, for there, in the fields that lay between, were fully a hundred creatures similar to those behind her and all were on the alert, evidently warned by the whistling of their fellows Instructions and commands were shouted to and fro, with the result that those before her spread roughly into a great half circle to intercept her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, she saw others co from fields beyond, and to the left the same was true But Tara of Heliu she turned directly toward the center of the advancing sele chance of escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slier Like her valiant sire, if die she aps in the thin line confronting her and toward the widest of one of these she directed her course The things on either side of the opening guessed her intent for they closed in to place thes on either side of theirl appeared alles, ran swiftly in the new direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the hill again Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either side of hih all the others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her If she could pass this one without too much delay she could escape, of that she was certain Her every hope hinged on this The creature before her realized it, too, for he by fullback ht maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the opposing team and a touchdown

At first Tara of Heliuuess that she was not only e creatures; but soon there came to her the realization that in the tirasp his nearer felloould be upon her and escape then iht for hi and with outstretched ar her In one hand was his sword, but a voice arose, crying in tones of authority ”Take her alive! Do not harm her!” Instantly the fellow returned his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Heliu and in the instant that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into the naked chest The iround and as Tara of Heliuain she saw, to her horror, that the loathso away froled spasmodically and lay still As brief as had been the delay caused by the encounter, it still had been of sufficient duration to undo her, for even as she rose two s fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded Her blade sank once more into naked flesh and once more a head rolled free and crawled away Then they overpowered her and in another moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures, all seeking to lay hands upon her At first she thought that they wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive

”Come!” said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold upon her As he spoke he tried to lead her aith his to me,” cried the other ”Did not I capture her? She will come with me to the tower of Moak”

”Never!” insisted the first ”She is Luud's To Luud I will take her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my sword--in the head!” He alh of this,” cried one who spoke with some show of authority ”She was captured in Luud's fields--she will go to Luud”

”She was discovered in Moak's fields, at the very foot of the tower of Moak,” insisted he who had claimed her for Moak

”You have heard the Nolach speak,” cried the Luud ”It shall be as he says”

”Not while this Moak holds a sword,” replied the other ”Rather will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moak than to relinquish her all to Luud,” and he drew his sword, or rather he laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture; but before ever he could draw it the Luud had whipped his out and with a fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary Instantly the big, round head collapsed, alrayish, se eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared, the sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then the head toppled froround The body stood dully for a moment and then slowly started to wander aimlessly about until one of the others seized it by the arround now approached ”This rykor belongs to Moak,” it said ”I am a Moak I will take it,” and without further discussion it co its six short, spiderlike legs and two stout chelae which grew just in front of its legs and strongly resembled those of an Earthly lobster, except that they were both of the same size The body in theidly at its sides The head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the leather collar that now hid its chelae and legs Alent animation It raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably, it took the head between its palms and settled it in place and when it moved around it did not wander aimlessly, but instead its steps were firs in groonder, and presently, no other of the Moaks seeht of the Luud to her, she was led off by her captor toward the nearest tower Several acco one who carried the loose head under his ar carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing that carried it Tara of Helium shi+vered It was horrible! All that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible And to be a prisoner, wholly in their power Shadow of her first ancestor! What had she done to deserve so cruel a fate?

At the wall enclosing the tower they paused while one opened the gate and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies The creature who carried the bodiless head now set its burden upon the ground and the latter i near by Some wandered stupidly to and fro, but this one lay still It was a female The head crawled to it and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself At once the body sprang lightly erect Another of those who had accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had formerly topped The new body now appropriated these and the hands deftly adjusted theood as before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her slim blade But there was a difference Before it had been male--noas female That, however, seemed to make no difference to the head In fact, Tara of Heliuht about her that sex differences seemed of little moment to her captors Males and females had taken equal part in her pursuit, both were identically harnessed and both carried swords, and she had seen as many females as males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the two factions seeiven but brief opportunity for further observation of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor, after having directed the others to return to the fields, led her toward the tohich they entered, passing into an apart, in one end of which was a stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to a sih on a level with the ground, was brilliantly lighted by s in its inner wall, the light co from a circular court in the center of the tower The walls of this court appeared to be faced hat reselazed, white tile and the whole interior of it was flooded with dazzling light, a fact which ilass prisms of which the domes were constructed The stairways themselves were sufficient to cause remark, since in nearly all Barsoomian architecture inclined runways are utilized for purposes of communication between different levels, and especially is this true of the more ancient fores have come to alter the customs of antiquity

Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Heliuhted fro in the opposite direction and these always stopped to exairl and ask questions of her captor

”I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I caught her after a fight in which she sleo rykors and in which I slew a Moak, and that I take her to Luud, to whos If Luud wishes to question her that is for Luud to do--not for me” Thus always he answered the curious

Presently they reached a room from which a circular tunnel led away from the tower, and into this the creature conducted her The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the bottom to form a walk For a hundred feet from the tower it was lined with the saht well and aht from that source Beyond it was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes, neatly cut and fitted together--a very fine mosaic without a pattern There were branches, too, and other tunnels which crossed this, and occasionally openings notusually close to the floor Above each of these ss was painted a different device, while upon the walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of convergence hieroglyphics appeared These the girl could not read though she guessed that they were the na the points to which they led She tried to study some of them out, but there was not a character that was fae, since, while the written languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ, it still is true that they have many characters and words in couard but he had not seemed inclined to talk with her and she had finally desisted She could not but note that he had offered her no indignities, nor had he been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel The fact that she had slain two of the bodies with her dagger had apparently aroused no anie heads that surmounted the bodies--even those whose bodies had been killed She did not try to understand it, since she could not approach the peculiar relationshi+p between the heads and the bodies of these creatures froe or experience of her own So far their treatht arouse her fears Perhaps, after all, she had been fortunate to fall into the hands of these strange people, who ht not only protect her fro to Heliuet, but if they meant her no harm she could, at least, overlook their repulsiveness Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater cheerfulness, and it was almost blithely now that she ht herself huay little tune that was then popular in Helium The creature at her side turned its expressionless eyes upon her

”What is that noise that you arean air,” she replied

”'Hu an air,'” he repeated ”I do not knohat youthe words, while her coave no indication of as passing in that strange head It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider It reminded her of a spider When she had finished he turned toward her again

”That was different,” he said ”I liked that better, even, than the other How do you do it?”

”Why,” she said, ”it is singing Do you not knohat song is?”

”No,” he replied ”Tell me how you do it”

”It is difficult to explain,” she told hie of melody and of music, while your very question indicates that you have no knowledge of either”

”No,” he said, ”I do not knohat you are talking about; but tell me how you do it”

”It is merely the melodious ain she sang

”I do not understand,” he insisted; ”but I like it Could you teach lad to try”

”We will see what Luud does with you,” he said ”If he does not want you I will keep you and you shall teach ain as they continued their way along the winding tunnel, which was now lighted by occasional bulbs which appeared to be similar to the radium bulbs hich she was familiar and which were com been perfected at so rein was lost in antiquity They consist, usually, of a helass in which is packed a co to John Carter, must be radium The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the ht of greater or less intensity, according to the co material, for an almost incalculable period of tireater nuirl noted that a many of these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those of the workers in the fields above The heads and bodies, however, were siht No one offered her har of relief aluide turned suddenly into an opening on the right side of the tunnel and she found herself in a large, well lighted cha that had been upon her lips as she entered died there--frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes In the center of the chamber a headless body lay upon the floor--a body that had been partially devoured--while over and upon it crawled a half a dozen heads upon their short, spider legs, and they tore at the flesh of the woman with their chelae and carried the bits to their awfulit raw!

Tara of Heliu away covered her eyes with her palms

”Come!” said her captor ”What is thethe flesh of the woman,” she whispered in tones of horror

”Why not?” he inquired ”Did you suppose that we kept the rykor for labor alone? Ah, no They are delicious when kept and fattened Fortunate, too, are those that are bred for food, since they are never called upon to do aught but eat”

”It is hideous!” she cried

He looked at her steadily for a er, or in pity his expressionless face did not reveal Then he led her on across the roo, fro about the floor near the walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness These she guessed had been abandoned teain required their services In the walls of this roos she had noticed in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could not guess

They passed through another corridor and then into a second chaer than the first and more brilliantly illuminated Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls Here her captor halted and spoke to one of the occupants of the cha to Luud a creature that I captured in the fields above”

The others crowded about to exairl learned sos in the walls, for aliant spiders, a score or ht one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in place Ient direction of the heads They arose, the hands adjusted the leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order, then the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Heliuhly ornamented than that worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she guessed that these her in authority than the others Nor was she mistaken The demeanor of her captor indicated it He addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors

Several of those who exaently between thuirl resented She struck down their hands ”Do not touch me!” she cried, imperiously, for was she not a princess of Heliue She could not tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had filled them with respect for her, or contempt Only one of them spoke immediately

”She will have to be fattened irl's eyes ith horror She turned upon her captor ”Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?” she cried

”That is for Luud to say,” he replied, and then he leaned closer so that his mouth was near her ear ”That noise youpleasedyou not to antagonize these kaldanes They are very powerful Luud listens to thehtful They are very handsoold, their jewels”

”Thank you,” she said ”You called them kaldanes--what does that mean?”

”We are all kaldanes,” he replied

”You, too?” and she pointed at hier directed toward his chest