NEW ALLIES
Surrounded by guardsmen I marched back along the corridors of thepalace of Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, to the great audience chamberin the center of the massive structure.
As I entered the brilliantly lighted apartment, filled with thenobles of Kaol and the officers of the visiting jeddak, all eyeswere turned upon me. Upon the great dais at the end of the chamberstood three thrones, upon which sat Kulan Tith and his two guests,Matai Shang, and the visiting jeddak.
Up the broad center aisle we marched beneath deadly silence, andat the foot of the thrones we halted.
"Prefer thy charge," said Kulan Tith, turning to one who stoodamong the nobles at his right; and then Thurid, the black dator ofthe First Born, stepped forward and faced me.
"Most noble Jeddak," he said, addressing Kulan Tith, "from the firstI suspected this stranger within thy palace. Your description ofhis fiendish prowess tallied with that of the arch-enemy of truthupon Barsoom.
"But that there might be no mistake I despatched a priest of yourown holy cult to make the test that should pierce his disguise andreveal the truth. Behold the result!" and Thurid pointed a rigidfinger at my forehead.
All eyes followed the direction of that accusing digit--I aloneseemed at a loss to guess what fatal sign rested upon my brow.
The officer beside me guessed my perplexity; and as the brows ofKulan Tith darkened in a menacing scowl as his eyes rested uponme, the noble drew a small mirror from his pocket-pouch and heldit before my face.
One glance at the reflection it gave back to me was sufficient.
From my forehead the hand of the sneaking thern had reached outthrough the concealing darkness of my bed-chamber and wiped away apatch of the disguising red pigment as broad as my palm. Beneathshowed the tanned texture of my own white skin.
For a moment Thurid ceased speaking, to enhance, I suspect, thedramatic effect of his disclosure. Then he resumed.
"Here, O Kulan Tith," he cried, "is he who has desecrated the temples ofthe Gods of Mars, who has violated the persons of the Holy Thernsthemselves and turned a world against its age-old religion. Beforeyou, in your power, Jeddak of Kaol, Defender of the Holies, standsJohn Carter, Prince of Helium!"
Kulan Tith looked toward Matai Shang as though for corroborationof these charges. The Holy Thern nodded his head.
"It is indeed the arch-blasphemer," he said. "Even now he hasfollowed me to the very heart of thy palace, Kulan Tith, for thesole purpose of assassinating me. He--"
"He lies!" I cried. "Kulan Tith, listen that you may know thetruth. Listen while I tell you why John Carter has followed MataiShang to the heart of thy palace. Listen to me as well as to them,and then judge if my acts be not more in accord with true Barsoomianchivalry and honor than those of these revengeful devotees of thespurious creeds from whose cruel bonds I have freed your planet."
"Silence!" roared the jeddak, leaping to his feet and laying hishand upon the hilt of his sword. "Silence, blasphemer! Kulan Tithneed not permit the air of his audience chamber to be defiled bythe heresies that issue from your polluted throat to judge you.
"You stand already self-condemned. It but remains to determinethe manner of your death. Even the service that you rendered thearms of Kaol shall avail you naught; it was but a base subterfugewhereby you might win your way into my favor and reach the sideof this holy man whose life you craved. To the pits with him!" heconcluded, addressing the officer of my guard.
Here was a pretty pass, indeed! What chance had I against a wholenation? What hope for me of mercy at the hands of the fanaticalKulan Tith with such advisers as Matai Shang and Thurid. The blackgrinned malevolently in my face.
"You shall not escape this time, Earth man," he taunted.
The guards closed toward me. A red haze blurred my vision. Thefighting blood of my Virginian sires coursed hot through my veins.The lust of battle in all its mad fury was upon me.
With a leap I was beside Thurid, and ere the devilish smirk hadfaded from his handsome face I had caught him full upon the mouthwith my clenched fist; and as the good, old American blow landed,the black dator shot back a dozen feet, to crumple in a heap atthe foot of Kulan Tith's throne, spitting blood and teeth from hishurt mouth.
Then I drew my sword and swung round, on guard, to face a nation.
In an instant the guardsmen were upon me, but before a blow hadbeen struck a mighty voice rose above the din of shouting warriors,and a giant figure leaped from the dais beside Kulan Tith and, withdrawn long-sword, threw himself between me and my adversaries.
It was the visiting jeddak.
"Hold!" he cried. "If you value my friendship, Kulan Tith, and theage-old peace that has existed between our peoples, call off yourswordsmen; for wherever or against whomsoever fights John Carter,Prince of Helium, there beside him and to the death fights ThuvanDihn, Jeddak of Ptarth."
The shouting ceased and the menacing points were lowered as athousand eyes turned first toward Thuvan Dihn in surprise and thentoward Kulan Tith in question. At first the Jeddak of Kaol wentwhite in rage, but before he spoke he had mastered himself, sothat his tone was calm and even as befitted intercourse betweentwo great jeddaks.
"Thuvan Dihn," he said slowly, "must have great provocation thusto desecrate the ancient customs which inspire the deportment ofa guest within the palace of his host. Lest I, too, should forgetmyself as has my royal friend, I should prefer to remain silentuntil the Jeddak of Ptarth has won from me applause for his actionby relating the causes which provoked it."
I could see that the Jeddak of Ptarth was of half a mind to throwhis metal in Kulan Tith's face, but he controlled himself even aswell as had his host.
"None knows better than Thuvan Dihn," he said, "the laws which governthe acts of men in the domains of their neighbors; but Thuvan Dihnowes allegiance to a higher law than these--the law of gratitude.Nor to any man upon Barsoom does he owe a greater debt of gratitudethan to John Carter, Prince of Helium.
"Years ago, Kulan Tith," he continued, "upon the occasion of yourlast visit to me, you were greatly taken with the charms and gracesof my only daughter, Thuvia. You saw how I adored her, and lateryou learned that, inspired by some unfathomable whim, she hadtaken the last, long, voluntary pilgrimage upon the cold bosom ofthe mysterious Iss, leaving me desolate.
"Some months ago I first heard of the expedition which John Carterhad led against Issus and the Holy Therns. Faint rumors of theatrocities reported to have been committed by the therns upon thosewho for countless ages have floated down the mighty Iss came to myears.
"I heard that thousands of prisoners had been released, few ofwhom dared to return to their own countries owing to the mandate ofterrible death which rests against all who return from the ValleyDor.
"For a time I could not believe the heresies which I heard, andI prayed that my daughter Thuvia might have died before she evercommitted the sacrilege of returning to the outer world. But thenmy father's love asserted itself, and I vowed that I would prefereternal damnation to further separation from her if she could befound.
"So I sent emissaries to Helium, and to the court of Xodar, Jeddakof the First Born, and to him who now rules those of the thernnation that have renounced their religion; and from each and allI heard the same story of unspeakable cruelties and atrocitiesperpetrated upon the poor defenseless victims of their religion bythe Holy Therns.
"Many there were who had seen or known my daughter, and from thernswho had been close to Matai Shang I learned of the indignities thathe personally heaped upon her; and I was glad when I came here tofind that Matai Shang was also your guest, for I should have soughthim out had it taken a lifetime.
"More, too, I heard, and that of the chivalrous kindness that JohnCarter had accorded my daughter. They told me how he fought forher and rescued her, and how he spurned escape from the savageWarhoons of the south, sending her to safety upon his own thoatand remaining upon foot to meet the green warriors.
"Can you wonder, Ku
lan Tith, that I am willing to jeopardizemy life, the peace of my nation, or even your friendship, which Iprize more than aught else, to champion the Prince of Helium?"
For a moment Kulan Tith was silent. I could see by the expressionof his face that he was sore perplexed. Then he spoke.
"Thuvan Dihn," he said, and his tone was friendly though sad,"who am I to judge my fellow-man? In my eyes the Father of Thernsis still holy, and the religion which he teaches the only truereligion, but were I faced by the same problem that has vexed youI doubt not that I should feel and act precisely as you have.
"In so far as the Prince of Helium is concerned I may act, but betweenyou and Matai Shang my only office can be one of conciliation. ThePrince of Helium shall be escorted in safety to the boundary ofmy domain ere the sun has set again, where he shall be free to gowhither he will; but upon pain of death must he never again enterthe land of Kaol.
"If there be a quarrel between you and the Father of Therns, Ineed not ask that the settlement of it be deferred until both havepassed beyond the limits of my power. Are you satisfied, ThuvanDihn?"
The Jeddak of Ptarth nodded his assent, but the ugly scowl that hebent upon Matai Shang harbored ill for that pasty-faced godling.
"The Prince of Helium is far from satisfied," I cried, breakingrudely in upon the beginnings of peace, for I had no stomach forpeace at the price that had been named.
"I have escaped death in a dozen forms to follow Matai Shang andovertake him, and I do not intend to be led, like a decrepit thoatto the slaughter, from the goal that I have won by the prowess ofmy sword arm and the might of my muscles.
"Nor will Thuvan Dihn, Jeddak of Ptarth, be satisfied when he hasheard me through. Do you know why I have followed Matai Shang andThurid, the black dator, from the forests of the Valley Dor acrosshalf a world through almost insurmountable difficulties?
"Think you that John Carter, Prince of Helium, would stoop toassassination? Can Kulan Tith be such a fool as to believe thatlie, whispered in his ear by the Holy Thern or Dator Thurid?
"I do not follow Matai Shang to kill him, though the God of mineown planet knows that my hands itch to be at his throat. I followhim, Thuvan Dihn, because with him are two prisoners--my wife, DejahThoris, Princess of Helium, and your daughter, Thuvia of Ptarth.
"Now think you that I shall permit myself to be led beyond thewalls of Kaol unless the mother of my son accompanies me, and thydaughter be restored?"
Thuvan Dihn turned upon Kulan Tith. Rage flamed in his keen eyes;but by the masterfulness of his self-control he kept his toneslevel as he spoke.
"Knew you this thing, Kulan Tith?" he asked. "Knew you that mydaughter lay a prisoner in your palace?"
"He could not know it," interrupted Matai Shang, white with whatI am sure was more fear than rage. "He could not know it, for itis a lie."
I would have had his life for that upon the spot, but even as Isprang toward him Thuvan Dihn laid a heavy hand upon my shoulder.
"Wait," he said to me, and then to Kulan Tith. "It is not a lie.This much have I learned of the Prince of Helium--he does not lie.Answer me, Kulan Tith--I have asked you a question."
"Three women came with the Father of Therns," replied Kulan Tith."Phaidor, his daughter, and two who were reported to be her slaves.If these be Thuvia of Ptarth and Dejah Thoris of Helium I did notknow it--I have seen neither. But if they be, then shall they bereturned to you on the morrow."
As he spoke he looked straight at Matai Shang, not as a devoteeshould look at a high priest, but as a ruler of men looks at oneto whom he issues a command.
It must have been plain to the Father of Therns, as it was to me,that the recent disclosures of his true character had done muchalready to weaken the faith of Kulan Tith, and that it would requirebut little more to turn the powerful jeddak into an avowed enemy;but so strong are the seeds of superstition that even the greatKaolian still hesitated to cut the final strand that bound him tohis ancient religion.
Matai Shang was wise enough to seem to accept the mandate of hisfollower, and promised to bring the two slave women to the audiencechamber on the morrow.
"It is almost morning now," he said, "and I should dislike to breakin upon the slumber of my daughter, or I would have them fetchedat once that you might see that the Prince of Helium is mistaken,"and he emphasized the last word in an effort to affront me sosubtlely that I could not take open offense.
I was about to object to any delay, and demand that the Princessof Helium be brought to me forthwith, when Thuvan Dihn made suchinsistence seem unnecessary.
"I should like to see my daughter at once," he said, "but if KulanTith will give me his assurance that none will be permitted toleave the palace this night, and that no harm shall befall eitherDejah Thoris or Thuvia of Ptarth between now and the moment theyare brought into our presence in this chamber at daylight I shallnot insist."
"None shall leave the palace tonight," replied the Jeddak of Kaol,"and Matai Shang will give us assurance that no harm will come tothe two women?"
The thern assented with a nod. A few moments later Kulan Tithindicated that the audience was at an end, and at Thuvan Dihn'sinvitation I accompanied the Jeddak of Ptarth to his own apartments,where we sat until daylight, while he listened to the account ofmy experiences upon his planet and to all that had befallen hisdaughter during the time that we had been together.
I found the father of Thuvia a man after my own heart, and thatnight saw the beginning of a friendship which has grown until itis second only to that which obtains between Tars Tarkas, the greenJeddak of Thark, and myself.
The first burst of Mars's sudden dawn brought messengers from KulanTith, summoning us to the audience chamber where Thuvan Dihn wasto receive his daughter after years of separation, and I was tobe reunited with the glorious daughter of Helium after an almostunbroken separation of twelve years.
My heart pounded within my bosom until I looked about me inembarrassment, so sure was I that all within the room must hear.My arms ached to enfold once more the divine form of her whoseeternal youth and undying beauty were but outward manifestationsof a perfect soul.
At last the messenger despatched to fetch Matai Shang returned. Icraned my neck to catch the first glimpse of those who should befollowing, but the messenger was alone.
Halting before the throne he addressed his jeddak in a voice thatwas plainly audible to all within the chamber.
"O Kulan Tith, Mightiest of Jeddaks," he cried, after the fashionof the court, "your messenger returns alone, for when he reachedthe apartments of the Father of Therns he found them empty, as werethose occupied by his suite."
Kulan Tith went white.
A low groan burst from the lips of Thuvan Dihn who stood next me,not having ascended the throne which awaited him beside his host.For a moment the silence of death reigned in the great audiencechamber of Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol. It was he who broke thespell.
Rising from his throne he stepped down from the dais to the sideof Thuvan Dihn. Tears dimmed his eyes as he placed both his handsupon the shoulders of his friend.
"O Thuvan Dihn," he cried, "that this should have happened in thepalace of thy best friend! With my own hands would I have wrungthe neck of Matai Shang had I guessed what was in his foul heart.Last night my life-long faith was weakened--this morning it hasbeen shattered; but too late, too late.
"To wrest your daughter and the wife of this royal warrior from theclutches of these archfiends you have but to command the resourcesof a mighty nation, for all Kaol is at your disposal. What may bedone? Say the word!"
"First," I suggested, "let us find those of your people whobe responsible for the escape of Matai Shang and his followers.Without assistance on the part of the palace guard this thing couldnot have come to pass. Seek the guilty, and from them force anexplanation of the manner of their going and the direction theyhave taken."
Before Kulan Tith could issue the commands that would initiate theinvestigation a handsome young officer stepped
forward and addressedhis jeddak.
"O Kulan Tith, Mightiest of Jeddaks," he said, "I alone be responsiblefor this grievous error. Last night it was I who commanded thepalace guard. I was on duty in other parts of the palace during theaudience of the early morning, and knew nothing of what transpiredthen, so that when the Father of Therns summoned me and explainedthat it was your wish that his party be hastened from the citybecause of the presence here of a deadly enemy who sought the HolyHekkador's life I did only what a lifetime of training has taughtme was the proper thing to do--I obeyed him whom I believed to bethe ruler of us all, mightier even than thou, mightiest of jeddaks.
"Let the consequences and the punishment fall on me alone, for Ialone am guilty. Those others of the palace guard who assisted inthe flight did so under my instructions."
Kulan Tith looked first at me and then at Thuvan Dihn, as thoughto ask our judgment upon the man, but the error was so evidentlyexcusable that neither of us had any mind to see the young officersuffer for a mistake that any might readily have made.
"How left they," asked Thuvan Dihn, "and what direction did theytake?"
"They left as they came," replied the officer, "upon their ownflier. For some time after they had departed I watched the vessel'slights, which vanished finally due north."
"Where north could Matai Shang find an asylum?" asked Thuvan Dihnof Kulan Tith.
For some moments the Jeddak of Kaol stood with bowed head, apparentlydeep in thought. Then a sudden light brightened his countenance.
"I have it!" he cried. "Only yesterday Matai Shang let drop a hintof his destination, telling me of a race of people unlike ourselveswho dwell far to the north. They, he said, had always been knownto the Holy Therns and were devout and faithful followers of theancient cult. Among them would he find a perpetual haven of refuge,where no 'lying heretics' might seek him out. It is there thatMatai Shang has gone."
"And in all Kaol there be no flier wherein to follow," I cried.
"Nor nearer than Ptarth," replied Thuvan Dihn.
"Wait!" I exclaimed, "beyond the southern fringe of this greatforest lies the wreck of the thern flier which brought me that farupon my way. If you will loan me men to fetch it, and artificersto assist me, I can repair it in two days, Kulan Tith."
I had been more than half suspicious of the seeming sincerity ofthe Kaolian jeddak's sudden apostasy, but the alacrity with whichhe embraced my suggestion, and the despatch with which a force ofofficers and men were placed at my disposal entirely removed thelast vestige of my doubts.
Two days later the flier rested upon the top of the watchtower,ready to depart. Thuvan Dihn and Kulan Tith had offered me theentire resources of two nations--millions of fighting men were atmy disposal; but my flier could hold but one other than myself andWoola.
As I stepped aboard her, Thuvan Dihn took his place beside me. Icast a look of questioning surprise upon him. He turned to thehighest of his own officers who had accompanied him to Kaol.
"To you I entrust the return of my retinue to Ptarth," he said."There my son rules ably in my absence. The Prince of Helium shallnot go alone into the land of his enemies. I have spoken. Farewell!"