THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN
There was nothing for it now other than to fight; nor did I haveany advantage as I sprang, sword in hand, into the corridor beforethe two therns, for my untimely sneeze had warned them of my presenceand they were ready for me.
There were no words, for they would have been a waste of breath.The very presence of the two proclaimed their treachery. Thatthey were following to fall upon me unawares was all too plain,and they, of course, must have known that I understood their plan.
In an instant I was engaged with both, and though I loathe the veryname of thern, I must in all fairness admit that they are mightyswordsmen; and these two were no exception, unless it were thatthey were even more skilled and fearless than the average amongtheir race.
While it lasted it was indeed as joyous a conflict as I ever hadexperienced. Twice at least I saved my breast from the mortalthrust of piercing steel only by the wondrous agility with whichmy earthly muscles endow me under the conditions of lesser gravityand air pressure upon Mars.
Yet even so I came near to tasting death that day in the gloomycorridor beneath Mars's southern pole, for Lakor played a trickupon me that in all my experience of fighting upon two planets Inever before had witnessed the like of.
The other thern was engaging me at the time, and I was forcinghim back--touching him here and there with my point until he wasbleeding from a dozen wounds, yet not being able to penetrate hismarvelous guard to reach a vulnerable spot for the brief instantthat would have been sufficient to send him to his ancestors.
It was then that Lakor quickly unslung a belt from his harness,and as I stepped back to parry a wicked thrust he lashed one endof it about my left ankle so that it wound there for an instant,while he jerked suddenly upon the other end, throwing me heavilyupon my back.
Then, like leaping panthers, they were upon me; but theyhad reckoned without Woola, and before ever a blade touched me, aroaring embodiment of a thousand demons hurtled above my prostrateform and my loyal Martian calot was upon them.
Imagine, if you can, a huge grizzly with ten legs armed with mightytalons and an enormous froglike mouth splitting his head from earto ear, exposing three rows of long, white tusks. Then endow thiscreature of your imagination with the agility and ferocity of ahalf-starved Bengal tiger and the strength of a span of bulls, andyou will have some faint conception of Woola in action.
Before I could call him off he had crushed Lakor into a jelly witha single blow of one mighty paw, and had literally torn the otherthern to ribbons; yet when I spoke to him sharply he cowed sheepishlyas though he had done a thing to deserve censure and chastisement.
Never had I had the heart to punish Woola during the long yearsthat had passed since that first day upon Mars when the green jedof the Tharks had placed him on guard over me, and I had won hislove and loyalty from the cruel and loveless masters of his formerlife, yet I believe he would have submitted to any cruelty that Imight have inflicted upon him, so wondrous was his affection forme.
The diadem in the center of the circlet of gold upon the brow ofLakor proclaimed him a Holy Thern, while his companion, not thusadorned, was a lesser thern, though from his harness I gleaned thathe had reached the Ninth Cycle, which is but one below that of theHoly Therns.
As I stood for a moment looking at the gruesome havoc Woola hadwrought, there recurred to me the memory of that other occasionupon which I had masqueraded in the wig, diadem, and harness ofSator Throg, the Holy Thern whom Thuvia of Ptarth had slain, and nowit occurred to me that it might prove of worth to utilize Lakor'strappings for the same purpose.
A moment later I had torn his yellow wig from his bald pate andtransferred it and the circlet, as well as all his harness, to myown person.
Woola did not approve of the metamorphosis. He sniffed at me andgrowled ominously, but when I spoke to him and patted his huge headhe at length became reconciled to the change, and at my commandtrotted off along the corridor in the direction we had been goingwhen our progress had been interrupted by the therns.
We moved cautiously now, warned by the fragment of conversationI had overheard. I kept abreast of Woola that we might have thebenefit of all our eyes for what might appear suddenly ahead tomenace us, and well it was that we were forewarned.
At the bottom of a flight of narrow steps the corridor turned sharplyback upon itself, immediately making another turn in the originaldirection, so that at that point it formed a perfect letter S,the top leg of which debouched suddenly into a large chamber, illylighted, and the floor of which was completely covered by venomoussnakes and loathsome reptiles.
To have attempted to cross that floor would have been to courtinstant death, and for a moment I was almost completely discouraged.Then it occurred to me that Thurid and Matai Shang with their partymust have crossed it, and so there was a way.
Had it not been for the fortunate accident by which I overheardeven so small a portion of the therns' conversation we shouldhave blundered at least a step or two into that wriggling mass ofdestruction, and a single step would have been all-sufficient tohave sealed our doom.
These were the only reptiles I had ever seen upon Barsoom, but Iknew from their similarity to the fossilized remains of supposedlyextinct species I had seen in the museums of Helium that theycomprised many of the known prehistoric reptilian genera, as wellas others undiscovered.
A more hideous aggregation of monsters had never before assailed myvision. It would be futile to attempt to describe them to Earthmen, since substance is the only thing which they possess incommon with any creature of the past or present with which you arefamiliar--even their venom is of an unearthly virulence that, bycomparison, would make the cobra de capello seem quite as harmlessas an angleworm.
As they spied me there was a concerted rush by those nearest theentrance where we stood, but a line of radium bulbs inset along thethreshold of their chamber brought them to a sudden halt--evidentlythey dared not cross that line of light.
I had been quite sure that they would not venture beyond the roomin which I had discovered them, though I had not guessed at whatdeterred them. The simple fact that we had found no reptiles inthe corridor through which we had just come was sufficient assurancethat they did not venture there.
I drew Woola out of harm's way, and then began a careful surveyof as much of the Chamber of Reptiles as I could see from whereI stood. As my eyes became accustomed to the dim light of itsinterior I gradually made out a low gallery at the far end of theapartment from which opened several exits.
Coming as close to the threshold as I dared, I followed thisgallery with my eyes, discovering that it circled the room as faras I could see. Then I glanced above me along the upper edge ofthe entrance to which we had come, and there, to my delight, I sawan end of the gallery not a foot above my head. In an instant Ihad leaped to it and called Woola after me.
Here there were no reptiles--the way was clear to the opposite sideof the hideous chamber--and a moment later Woola and I dropped downto safety in the corridor beyond.
Not ten minutes later we came into a vast circular apartmentof white marble, the walls of which were inlaid with gold in thestrange hieroglyphics of the First Born.
From the high dome of this mighty apartment a huge circular columnextended to the floor, and as I watched I saw that it slowlyrevolved.
I had reached the base of the Temple of the Sun!
Somewhere above me lay Dejah Thoris, and with her were Phaidor,daughter of Matai Shang, and Thuvia of Ptarth. But how to reachthem, now that I had found the only vulnerable spot in their mightyprison, was still a baffling riddle.
Slowly I circled the great shaft, looking for a means of ingress.Part way around I found a tiny radium flash torch, and as I examinedit in mild curiosity as to its presence there in this almostinaccessible and unknown spot, I came suddenly upon the insigniaof the house of Thurid jewel-inset in its metal case.
I am upon the right trail, I thought, as I slipped the bauble intothe pocket-pouch whi
ch hung from my harness. Then I continuedmy search for the entrance, which I knew must be somewhere about;nor had I long to search, for almost immediately thereafter I cameupon a small door so cunningly inlaid in the shaft's base that itmight have passed unnoticed by a less keen or careful observer.
There was the door that would lead me within the prison, but wherewas the means to open it? No button or lock were visible. Againand again I went carefully over every square inch of its surface,but the most that I could find was a tiny pinhole a little aboveand to the right of the door's center--a pinhole that seemed onlyan accident of manufacture or an imperfection of material.
Into this minute aperture I attempted to peer, but whether it wasbut a fraction of an inch deep or passed completely through the doorI could not tell--at least no light showed beyond it. I put my earto it next and listened, but again my efforts brought negligibleresults.
During these experiments Woola had been standing at my side gazingintently at the door, and as my glance fell upon him it occurredto me to test the correctness of my hypothesis, that this portalhad been the means of ingress to the temple used by Thurid, theblack dator, and Matai Shang, Father of Therns.
Turning away abruptly, I called to him to follow me. For a momenthe hesitated, and then leaped after me, whining and tugging at myharness to draw me back. I walked on, however, some distance fromthe door before I let him have his way, that I might see preciselywhat he would do. Then I permitted him to lead me wherever hewould.
Straight back to that baffling portal he dragged me, again takingup his position facing the blank stone, gazing straight at itsshining surface. For an hour I worked to solve the mystery of thecombination that would open the way before me.
Carefully I recalled every circumstance of my pursuit of Thurid,and my conclusion was identical with my original belief--that Thuridhad come this way without other assistance than his own knowledgeand passed through the door that barred my progress, unaided fromwithin. But how had he accomplished it?
I recalled the incident of the Chamber of Mystery in the GoldenCliffs that time I had freed Thuvia of Ptarth from the dungeon ofthe therns, and she had taken a slender, needle-like key from thekeyring of her dead jailer to open the door leading back into theChamber of Mystery where Tars Tarkas fought for his life with thegreat banths. Such a tiny keyhole as now defied me had opened theway to the intricate lock in that other door.
Hastily I dumped the contents of my pocket-pouch upon the groundbefore me. Could I but find a slender bit of steel I might yetfashion a key that would give me ingress to the temple prison.
As I examined the heterogeneous collection of odds and ends thatis always to be found in the pocket-pouch of a Martian warrior myhand fell upon the emblazoned radium flash torch of the black dator.
As I was about to lay the thing aside as of no value in my presentpredicament my eyes chanced upon a few strange characters roughlyand freshly scratched upon the soft gold of the case.
Casual curiosity prompted me to decipher them, but what I readcarried no immediate meaning to my mind. There were three sets ofcharacters, one below another:
3 |--| 50 T 1 |--| 1 X 9 |--| 25 T
For only an instant my curiosity was piqued, and then I replacedthe torch in my pocket-pouch, but my fingers had not unclaspedfrom it when there rushed to my memory the recollection of theconversation between Lakor and his companion when the lesser thernhad quoted the words of Thurid and scoffed at them: "And whatthink you of the ridiculous matter of the light? Let the lightshine with the intensity of three radium units for fifty tals"--ah,there was the first line of characters upon the torch's metalcase--3--50 T; "and for one xat let it shine with the intensityof one radium unit"--there was the second line; "and then fortwenty-five tals with nine units."
The formula was complete; but--what did it mean?
I thought I knew, and, seizing a powerful magnifying glass from thelitter of my pocket-pouch, I applied myself to a careful examinationof the marble immediately about the pinhole in the door. I couldhave cried aloud in exultation when my scrutiny disclosed the almostinvisible incrustation of particles of carbonized electrons whichare thrown off by these Martian torches.
It was evident that for countless ages radium torches had beenapplied to this pinhole, and for what purpose there could be buta single answer--the mechanism of the lock was actuated by lightrays; and I, John Carter, Prince of Helium, held the combinationin my hand--scratched by the hand of my enemy upon his own torchcase.
In a cylindrical bracelet of gold about my wrist was my Barsoomianchronometer--a delicate instrument that records the tals and xatsand zodes of Martian time, presenting them to view beneath a strongcrystal much after the manner of an earthly odometer.
Timing my operations carefully, I held the torch to the small aperturein the door, regulating the intensity of the light by means of thethumb-lever upon the side of the case.
For fifty tals I let three units of light shine full in the pinhole,then one unit for one xat, and for twenty-five tals nine units.Those last twenty-five tals were the longest twenty-five secondsof my life. Would the lock click at the end of those seeminglyinterminable intervals of time?
Twenty-three! Twenty-four! Twenty-five!
I shut off the light with a snap. For seven tals I waited--therehad been no appreciable effect upon the lock's mechanism. Couldit be that my theory was entirely wrong?
Hold! Had the nervous strain resulted in a hallucination, or didthe door really move? Slowly the solid stone sank noiselessly backinto the wall--there was no hallucination here.
Back and back it slid for ten feet until it had disclosed at itsright a narrow doorway leading into a dark and narrow corridor thatparalleled the outer wall. Scarcely was the entrance uncoveredthan Woola and I had leaped through--then the door slipped quietlyback into place.
Down the corridor at some distance I saw the faint reflection ofa light, and toward this we made our way. At the point where thelight shone was a sharp turn, and a little distance beyond this abrilliantly lighted chamber.
Here we discovered a spiral stairway leading up from the center ofthe circular room.
Immediately I knew that we had reached the center of the base ofthe Temple of the Sun--the spiral runway led upward past the innerwalls of the prison cells. Somewhere above me was Dejah Thoris,unless Thurid and Matai Shang had already succeeded in stealingher.
We had scarcely started up the runway when Woola suddenly displayedthe wildest excitement. He leaped back and forth, snapping at mylegs and harness, until I thought that he was mad, and finally whenI pushed him from me and started once more to ascend he grasped mysword arm between his jaws and dragged me back.
No amount of scolding or cuffing would suffice to make him releaseme, and I was entirely at the mercy of his brute strength unlessI cared to use my dagger upon him with my left hand; but, mad orno, I had not the heart to run the sharp blade into that faithfulbody.
Down into the chamber he dragged me, and across it to the sideopposite that at which we had entered. Here was another doorwayleading into a corridor which ran directly down a steep incline.Without a moment's hesitation Woola jerked me along this rockypassage.
Presently he stopped and released me, standing between me and theway we had come, looking up into my face as though to ask if I wouldnow follow him voluntarily or if he must still resort to force.
Looking ruefully at the marks of his great teeth upon my bare armI decided to do as he seemed to wish me to do. After all, his strangeinstinct might be more dependable than my faulty human judgment.
And well it was that I had been forced to follow him. But ashort distance from the circular chamber we came suddenly into abrilliantly lighted labyrinth of crystal glass partitioned passages.
At first I thought it was one vast, unbroken chamber, so clear andtransparent were the walls of the winding corridors, but after Ihad nearly brained myself a co
uple of times by attempting to passthrough solid vitreous walls I went more carefully.
We had proceeded but a few yards along the corridor that had givenus entrance to this strange maze when Woola gave mouth to a mostfrightful roar, at the same time dashing against the clear partitionat our left.
The resounding echoes of that fearsome cry were still reverberatingthrough the subterranean chambers when I saw the thing that hadstartled it from the faithful beast.
Far in the distance, dimly through the many thicknesses of interveningcrystal, as in a haze that made them seem unreal and ghostly, Idiscerned the figures of eight people--three females and five men.
At the same instant, evidently startled by Woola's fierce cry, theyhalted and looked about. Then, of a sudden, one of them, a woman,held her arms out toward me, and even at that great distance I couldsee that her lips moved--it was Dejah Thoris, my ever beautifuland ever youthful Princess of Helium.
With her were Thuvia of Ptarth, Phaidor, daughter of Matai Shang,and Thurid, and the Father of Therns, and the three lesser thernsthat had accompanied them.
Thurid shook his fist at me, and then two of the therns graspedDejah Thoris and Thuvia roughly by their arms and hurried them on.A moment later they had disappeared into a stone corridor beyondthe labyrinth of glass.
They say that love is blind; but so great a love as that of DejahThoris that knew me even beneath the thern disguise I wore and acrossthe misty vista of that crystal maze must indeed be far from blind.