CHAPTER III
The Armies of Mars
As the two returning birds passed the marching soldiers, their ridersevidently delivered some message to the captains, for the soldierssuddenly broke forward in a run, using their long cross-bows with greatdexterity as jumping staves. Placing the outer end upon the ground aheadof them as they ran, they leaped and hung upon the cross-piece withtheir hands. The springy resistance of this tough wood imparted to thema forward motion with its rebound, and they scaled great distances ateach jump. The whole company did it in concert, and they made almost asgreat speed as if they had been riding bicycles. The slingers wereconsequently left far in the rear.
Less than half way up the incline the archers stopped, arranged theirbow-thongs, and selected feathered arrows from a pouch slung over theirshoulders.
"They can never hit us from that distance!" I exclaimed; "a rifle wouldnot carry so far."
"You forget the weak gravity which will bend their course down verylittle, and the thin air which will barely resist their flight; this isa model planet for archery," he answered. "Quick! drop behind yourshield! They have fired the first volley!"
A torrent of the shafts fell all about us, and many pelted against ourshields. Those which struck the soft earth of the bank sank into it andstuck there, but those which struck our steel were shivered and broken.
"Sit still and let them shoot away their arrows," I whispered. "Thiswill soon be over."
The next volley came with a little more force, as if they had marchedfurther up the hill. One or two arrows fell very near me, and I reachedfor them to examine their construction. They were made of the hollow,filmy stock of a rather tough reed, and were pointed with a chippedstone tip, which was brittle, but not harder than porous chalk.
"That stuff wouldn't pierce my two coats, to say nothing of the linkedsteel shirt," I sneered. "I will show them what fools they are!" and Iwalked boldly out to the brink and faced them. They let fly a quickvolley with a concerted shout. As I saw the arrows start, I turned myback and bent down my head quickly. Perhaps a dozen of the slim reedspelted me, and then I stooped over and gathered up as many as I couldfind, and broke them all in my hands before their eyes.
This sent a hum of excited jabbering through their ranks, and they firedno more. I stood watching them, and presently I grasped my two handstogether and shook hands with myself, to try to convey to them the ideathat we were friendly; but it must have carried no meaning to them. Bythis time the slingers had come up, and I retired behind my shield toawait their action. The archers seemed very glad of their arrival, andyielded the foremost place to them. I noted their operations carefully,and saw them place something, which did not look like a round stone, inthe pocket of their slings, and then they whirled it long andcautiously. Suddenly they discharged it with a swift movement of theirbodies backward, which landed them on one knee.
"Wide of the mark!" I cried, as the missiles sailed off far to the rightof us. But just before landing they bent a sharp, surprising curve, andlacked but little of hitting us behind the shields! The things they hadthrown were the thin, concave shells of a large nut, and the trick ofdischarging them gave them their peculiar flight.
"I don't like this throwing around the corner!" exclaimed the doctor."With a little truer aim they will be able to hit us behind anything."
"Hurry, bring your shield over behind mine, and face it the other way,"said I; "then we will crouch between the two in safety."
He did this just in time, for some of the next volley actually curvedaround and hit his shield, but none struck mine in front. However, theshells which fell near us were of light weight, and would not havebruised us much with heavy clothing on. Presently their pelting ceased,and we concluded that they were planning something new. We decided tolet them know that we were not hurt, so we emerged; and I tried throwingthe shells back with my hand, but I could not control their erraticcourse. When they saw this they jeered at me, and I itched to treat themto just one pistol shot, only to show them what child's play theirfighting was! Presently we saw what they were waiting for. Far down theroad the two great birds were returning harnessed together, and draggingbehind them an enormous catapult. Tied across their backs were two stoutdarts, seemingly twelve feet long and three inches square. Each of themhad a wicked-looking barbed tip.
There was a pleased and confident jabber among the slingers and archersbelow as the birds arrived. The catapult was turned about toward us, andlashed tightly to stakes driven in front and behind. Then the birds werehitched to the cord of the immense bow, and they pulled it far back,until the men made it fast in a notch. The cross-piece had now becomealmost a half-circle, quite ten feet in diameter. The captain of acompany of archers acted as gunner, and carefully adjusted the catapult,aiming it evidently at our shield. Upon seeing this we placed the twoshields together, and leaned them both inward toward us, so as to maketheir angle with the upward course of the dart more obtuse, and thuscause a glancing blow instead of a solid impact. Crouching under thesteel shelters, we awaited the dart.
Whiz-z-z it whistled up through the thin air! Bimm-m! it struck the topof our outer shield, and glanced off as we had hoped. The outer steelrattled and banged against the inner, and both shields pressed hard overagainst us, but not the slightest damage was done.
We went out to watch them load the second dart. They evidently saw theimpotence of the glancing blow, and were noisily discussing it. Acaptain of the slingers was arguing hotly with the gunner, who wasfinally persuaded to take his aim a little lower. Then a hum of approvalwent through the throng.
"They do think a little, but they are not secretive!" I sneered,flopping our inner shield over flat on the ground. "Come, sit on this,Doctor, and we will lean the outer shield over us, and snuggle inbetween them as cosy as two oysters! Let them fondly imagine they canshoot us through this pasty soil, and keep their own counsel betterafter this!"
It was not a bad guess on my part; for the second dart struck the edgeof the cliff, bored through the loose soil, and thumped our lower shieldwith a dull thud that lifted us from the ground. But the point andedges of the dart were blunted, and crumbled with the blow, and I couldfind no dent in the shield.
"See, the birds are returning to the city in haste for more darts!" saidthe doctor. But I was interested in examining the first dart, which hadfallen a few hundred feet behind us. Its shaft was of roughly-hewn,spongy wood, and it weighed far less than half the mass of soft pinewould on Earth. Its tip was not metal, but chipped stone--crumbly, likethe arrow-heads. Either they did not know the metals, or they were toorare to be used in their arts. And it was to be supposed that they woulduse the hardest stone they had for arrow-heads and dart-tips.
I carried the shaft easily upon my shoulder forward to the edge of thecliff. This surprised even the doctor a little, for four Martians hadbeen necessary to put it in place upon the catapult. It must haveastonished them still more, for they were staring at me so blankly thatI was tempted to toss the dart down their gaping throats!
"Give them just one dose of their own medicine!" suggested the doctor.
"Perhaps I had better teach them to keep their dangerous weapons athome," I said; and, balancing the dart easily above my head, I aimed itcarefully at a dense group around the catapult. I threw my whole forceinto the thrust, and sent the shaft whizzing down at them. Then Istaggered back, quite exhausted by the effort and gasping for breath.
"Good God! You have impaled two of them upon the dart!" cried thedoctor, "and it is causing a panic in the whole army!"
And when I sprang up to look, I saw two writhing Martians, much shrunkenin size and dying upon the dart. The terror-stricken archers andslingers were scattering and scurrying in every direction, regardless ofthe shouted orders of their captains. The foremost of the impaled menwore a beard, and was no other than the gunner of the catapult.
"I am sorry for the poor devils!" I exclaimed. "I had no idea they wereso soft and tender. They have shrunk like a pricked balloon!"
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"They thought they could prick us like that, and let the life ooze out,"said the doctor. "There is no danger that they will shoot any more atus. The whole army is afraid that you will throw down the other dart."
Nevertheless, other companies of archers and slingers were seen leavingthe palace, and the birds were already returning with two more darts.And the soldiers below were gaining courage and responding to therallying cries of the captains, who were halloing and pointing towardthe edge of the cliff, down in the direction of the cataract. I lookedquickly that way, and instantly shouted,--
"To the rifles, quick, doctor! The other two birds have ascended thecliff, and are racing toward us along its edge. Take careful aim at thehead of that front one. Afterward, let drive two random bullets into hisbody!"
Urged on by their riders, who with their hands swayed the long necks ofthe birds in unison with their rhythmical stride, these two-leggedgiraffes, with the wild look and sharp beak of an eagle, sweptmenacingly toward us.
"Ready now!" I cried, as the foremost came within fifty feet of us."Fire!"
Two sharp reports almost simultaneous, with a less thunderous explosionthan on Earth, but singing in a higher key and flaming vastly more,startled and terrified the Martians. Then crack! crack! bang! bang! fourother shots in swift succession, followed by the terrific croaking ofthe wounded Terror-bird, which fell ponderously forward, kickingviolently and beating the ground wildly with its head.
Seizing my broadsword in a flash, I dealt it such a blow upon the neckas quite to sever the head from the body. There was a gush of red blood;and those who have seen the antics of a decapitated chicken, maycorrespondingly multiply the corpse and imagine the confusion that nowensued.
"Stand ready for the second bird!" I shouted to the doctor; but onlooking, I saw that the other animal refused to be urged forward, afterseeing the fate of his companion. His rider was half-hearted in hisefforts, and was watching the forward rider, who had been severelythrown with the bird's fall, and badly bruised by the kicking andthreshing. He seemed to realize that he was in our power, and wasthoroughly desperate. With a wailing cry he rushed at me with open arms,as if to embrace death, for I still held the sword. Dropping the weapon,I grappled with him, catching him about the wrists, which shrank undermy grasp. He seemed to have scarcely the strength of a child; andeverywhere I touched him, his flesh yielded like the flabby muscles of afat baby. I bent him over backwards, then swung him around and caughthim by the shoulders, and whirled him around my head. Finally, I tossedhim over the edge of the cliff, where he landed among some bushes, andscrambled down as fast as he could, glad to have saved his life. Theother rider had turned his bird back toward the cataract with allpossible despatch.
"The whole army below us is now thoroughly demoralized!" said thejubilant doctor. "Many of them fled dismayed on hearing the firing, andothers screamed and ran away when they saw you decapitate the bird. Butyour wrestling with the rider, and flinging him about like an infant,was an object lesson none of them could stay to see repeated. I saw onetrembling fool slink back to cut the thong of the catapult, so that wecould not use it on them. They have wholly abandoned the attack!"
"If this is the worst they can do, I will undertake to make myself king,and you prime minister here, within twenty-four hours!" I ejaculated,decidedly pleased with the idea. "And I will maintain supremacy with astanding army of a thousand Terror-birds!"
"The consciousness of superior strength always brings that desire forconquest," answered the doctor. "We must not allow it to master us, butwe must push our advantage. Look! the panic of the first ones reachingthe city is spreading to the new companies marching out. They aretrampled over by the fleeing host, they turn and mingle with thefrightened mob in one struggling, terror-stricken mass! Come, let us beinto the projectile and after them. With a few booming shots above theirheads, we will make them think their Thunder-gods have come!"