Once within the palace, I drew Sola to the dining hall,and, when she had greeted her father after the formal mannerof the green men, she told the story of the pilgrimage andcapture of Dejah Thoris.

"Seven days ago, after her audience with Zat Arras, Dejah Thorisattempted to slip from the palace in the dead of night.Although I had not heard the outcome of her interview withZat Arras I knew that something had occurred then to causeher the keenest mental agony, and when I discovered her creepingfrom the palace I did not need to be told her destination.

"Hastily arousing a dozen of her most faithful guards, Iexplained my fears to them, and as one they enlisted with meto follow our beloved Princess in her wanderings, even tothe Sacred Iss and the Valley Dor. We came upon her but ashort distance from the palace. With her was faithful Woolathe hound, but none other. When we overtook her shefeigned anger, and ordered us back to the palace, but foronce we disobeyed her, and when she found that we wouldnot let her go upon the last long pilgrimage alone, she weptand embraced us, and together we went out into the nighttoward the south.

"The following day we came upon a herd of small thoats,and thereafter we were mounted and made good time. Wetravelled very fast and very far due south until the morningof the fifth day we sighted a great fleet of battleships sailingnorth. They saw us before we could seek shelter, and soonwe were surrounded by a horde of black men. The Princess'sguard fought nobly to the end, but they were soon overcomeand slain. Only Dejah Thoris and I were spared.

When she realized that she was in the clutches of theblack pirates, she attempted to take her own life, but oneof the blacks tore her dagger from her, and then they boundus both so that we could not use our hands.

"The fleet continued north after capturing us. There wereabout twenty large battleships in all, besides a number ofsmall swift cruisers. That evening one of the smallercruisers that had been far in advance of the fleet returnedwith a prisoner--a young red woman whom they had picked up ina range of hills under the very noses, they said, of a fleet ofthree red Martian battleships.

"From scraps of conversation which we overheard it wasevident that the black pirates were searching for a partyof fugitives that had escaped them several days prior. Thatthey considered the capture of the young woman importantwas evident from the long and earnest interview thecommander of the fleet held with her when she was broughtto him. Later she was bound and placed in the compartmentwith Dejah Thoris and myself.

"The new captive was a very beautiful girl. She toldDejah Thoris that many years ago she had taken the voluntarypilgrimage from the court of her father, the Jeddak of Ptarth.She was Thuvia, the Princess of Ptarth. And then she askedDejah Thoris who she might be, and when she heard shefell upon her knees and kissed Dejah Thoris' fettered hands,and told her that that very morning she had been with JohnCarter, Prince of Helium, and Carthoris, her son.

"Dejah Thoris could not believe her at first, but finallywhen the girl had narrated all the strange adventures thathad befallen her since she had met John Carter, and told herof the things John Carter, and Carthoris, and Xodar hadnarrated of their adventures in the Land of the First Born,Dejah Thoris knew that it could be none other than thePrince of Helium; 'For who,' she said, 'upon all Barsoomother than John Carter could have done the deeds you tell of.'And when Thuvia told Dejah Thoris of her love for JohnCarter, and his loyalty and devotion to the Princess of hischoice, Dejah Thoris broke down and wept--cursing ZatArras and the cruel fate that had driven her from Heliumbut a few brief days before the return of her beloved lord.

"'I do not blame you for loving him, Thuvia,' she said;'and that your affection for him is pure and sincere I canwell believe from the candour of your avowal of it to me.'

"The fleet continued north nearly to Helium, but last nightthey evidently realized that John Carter had indeed escapedthem and so they turned toward the south once more.Shortly thereafter a guard entered our compartment anddragged me to the deck.

"'There is no place in the Land of the First Born for agreen one,' he said, and with that he gave me a terrificshove that carried me toppling from the deck of the battleship. Evidently this seemed to him the easiest way of riddingthe vessel of my presence and killing me at the same time.

"But a kind fate intervened, and by a miracle I escapedwith but slight bruises. The ship was moving slowly at thetime, and as I lunged overboard into the darkness beneath Ishuddered at the awful plunge I thought awaited me, for allday the fleet had sailed thousands of feet above the ground;but to my utter surprise I struck upon a soft mass ofvegetation not twenty feet from the deck of the ship.In fact, the keel of the vessel must have been grazingthe surface of the ground at the time.

"I lay all night where I had fallen and the next morningbrought an explanation of the fortunate coincidence that hadsaved me from a terrible death. As the sun rose I saw a vastpanorama of sea bottom and distant hills lying far below me.I was upon the highest peak of a lofty range. The fleet inthe darkness of the preceding night had barely grazed thecrest of the hills, and in the brief span that they hoveredclose to the surface the black guard had pitched me, as hesupposed, to my death.

"A few miles west of me was a great waterway. When Ireached it I found to my delight that it belonged to Helium.Here a thoat was procured for me--the rest you know."

For many minutes none spoke. Dejah Thoris in the clutchesof the First Born! I shuddered at the thought, but of asudden the old fire of unconquerable self-confidence surgedthrough me. I sprang to my feet, and with back-thrownshoulders and upraised sword took a solemn vow to reach,rescue, and revenge my Princess.

A hundred swords leaped from a hundred scabbards, and ahundred fighting-men sprang to the table-top and pledgedme their lives and fortunes to the expedition. Already myplans were formulated. I thanked each loyal friend, and leavingCarthoris to entertain them, withdrew to my own audience chamberwith Kantos Kan, Tars Tarkas, Xodar, and Hor Vastus.

Here we discussed the details of our expedition until longafter dark. Xodar was positive that Issus would choose bothDejah Thoris and Thuvia to serve her for a year.

"For that length of time at least they will be comparatively safe,"he said, "and we will at least know where to look for them."

In the matter of equipping a fleet to enter Omean the detailswere left to Kantos Kan and Xodar. The former agreed to takesuch vessels as we required into dock as rapidly as possible,where Xodar would direct their equipment with water propellers.

For many years the black had been in charge of therefitting of captured battleships that they might navigateOmean, and so was familiar with the construction of thepropellers, housings, and the auxiliary gearing required.

It was estimated that it would require six months to completeour preparations in view of the fact that the utmost secrecymust be maintained to keep the project from the ears of Zat Arras.Kantos Kan was confident now that the man's ambitions were fullyaroused and that nothing short of the title of Jeddak of Heliumwould satisfy him.

"I doubt," he said, "if he would even welcome Dejah Thoris'return, for it would mean another nearer the throne than he.With you and Carthoris out of the way there would be littleto prevent him from assuming the title of Jeddak, and you mayrest assured that so long as he is supreme here there is nosafety for either of you."

"There is a way," cried Hor Vastus, "to thwart him effectuallyand for ever."

"What?" I asked.

He smiled.

"I shall whisper it here, but some day I shall stand uponthe dome of the Temple of Reward and shout it to cheeringmultitudes below."

"What do you mean?" asked Kantos Kan.

"John Carter, Jeddak of Helium," said Hor Vastus in a low voice.

The eyes of my companions lighted, and grim smiles ofpleasure and anticipation overspread their faces, as each eyeturned toward me questioningly. But I shook my head.

"No, my friends," I said, smiling, "I thank you, but itcannot be. Not yet, at least. When we know that Tardos Morsand Mors Kajak are gone to return no more; if I be here,then I shall join you all to see that the people of Heliumare permitted to choose fairly their next Jeddak. Whom theychoose may count upon the loyalty of my sword, nor shall Iseek the honour for myself. Until then Tardos Mors is Jeddakof Helium, and Zat Arras is his representative."

"As you will, John Carter," said Hor Vastus, "but--What was that?" he whispered, pointing toward the windowoverlooking the gardens.

The words were scarce out of his mouth ere he had sprungto the balcony without.

"There he goes!" he cried excitedly. "The guards! Below there!The guards!"

We were close behind him, and all saw the figure of a manrun quickly across a little piece of sward and disappear in theshrubbery beyond.

"He was on the balcony when I first saw him," cried Hor Vastus."Quick! Let us follow him!"

Together we ran to the gardens, but even though we scoured thegrounds with the entire guard for hours, no trace could we findof the night marauder.

"What do you make of it, Kantos Kan?" asked Tars Tarkas.

"A spy sent by Zat Arras," he replied. "It was ever his way."

"He will have something interesting to report to his master then,"laughed Hor Vastus.

"I hope he heard only our references to a new Jeddak," Isaid. "If he overheard our plans to rescue Dejah Thoris, itwill mean civil war, for he will attempt to thwart us, andin that I will not be thwarted. There would I turn againstTardos Mors himself, were it necessary. If it throws all Heliuminto a bloody conflict, I shall go on with these plans to savemy Princess. Nothing shall stay me now short of death, and shouldI die, my friends, will you take oath to prosecute the search forher and bring her back in safety to her grandfather's court?"

Upon the hilt of his sword each of them swore to do as I had asked.

It was agreed that the battleships that were to be remodelledshould be ordered to Hastor, another Heliumetic city, far tothe south-west. Kantos Kan thought that the docks there,in addition to their regular work, would accommodate atleast six battleships at a time. As he was commander-in-chief of the navy, it would be a simple matter for him toorder the vessels there as they could be handled, and thereafterkeep the remodelled fleet in remote parts of the empire untilwe should be ready to assemble it for the dash upon Omean.

It was late that night before our conference broke up,but each man there had his particular duties outlined, andthe details of the entire plan had been mapped out.

Kantos Kan and Xodar were to attend to the remodellingof the ships. Tars Tarkas was to get into communicationwith Thark and learn the sentiments of his people toward hisreturn from Dor. If favourable, he was to repair immediatelyto Thark and devote his time to the assembling of a great hordeof green warriors whom it was our plan to send in transportsdirectly to the Valley Dor and the Temple of Issus, while thefleet entered Omean and destroyed the vessels of the First Born.

Upon Hor Vastus devolved the delicate mission of organisinga secret force of fighting-men sworn to follow John Carterwherever he might lead. As we estimated that it would requireover a million men to man the thousand great battleshipswe intended to use on Omean and the transports for the greenmen as well as the ships that were to convoy the transports,it was no trifling job that Hor Vastus had before him.

After they had left I bid Carthoris good-night, for I was verytired, and going to my own apartments, bathed and lay downupon my sleeping silks and furs for the first good night'ssleep I had had an opportunity to look forward to sinceI had returned to Barsoom. But even now I was to be disappointed.

How long I slept I do not know. When I awoke suddenlyit was to find a half-dozen powerful men upon me, a gagalready in my mouth, and a moment later my arms and legssecurely bound. So quickly had they worked and to suchgood purpose, that I was utterly beyond the power to resistthem by the time I was fully awake.

Never a word spoke they, and the gag effectually preventedme speaking. Silently they lifted me and bore me towardthe door of my chamber. As they passed the window throughwhich the farther moon was casting its brilliant beams, I sawthat each of the party had his face swathed in layers of silk--I could not recognize one of them.

When they had come into the corridor with me, they turnedtoward a secret panel in the wall which led to the passagethat terminated in the pits beneath the palace. That anyknew of this panel outside my own household, I was doubtful.Yet the leader of the band did not hesitate a moment. He stepped directly to the panel, touched the concealedbutton, and as the door swung open he stood aside whilehis companions entered with me. Then he closed the panelbehind him and followed us.

Down through the passageways to the pits we went. The leaderrapped upon it with the hilt of his sword--three quick, sharpblows, a pause, then three more, another pause, and then two.A second later the wall swung in, and I was pushed within abrilliantly lighted chamber in which sat three richly trapped men.

One of them turned toward me with a sardonic smile upon his thin,cruel lips--it was Zat Arras.