We had gone perhaps ten miles when the ground began torise very rapidly. We were, as I was later to learn, nearing theedge of one of Mars' long-dead seas, in the bottom of whichmy encounter with the Martians had taken place.

In a short time we gained the foot of the mountains, andafter traversing a narrow gorge came to an open valley, at thefar extremity of which was a low table land upon which Ibeheld an enormous city. Toward this we galloped, entering itby what appeared to be a ruined roadway leading out from thecity, but only to the edge of the table land, where it endedabruptly in a flight of broad steps.

Upon closer observation I saw as we passed them that thebuildings were deserted, and while not greatly decayed hadthe appearance of not having been tenanted for years, possiblyfor ages. Toward the center of the city was a large plaza, andupon this and in the buildings immediately surrounding itwere camped some nine or ten hundred creatures of the samebreed as my captors, for such I now considered them despitethe suave manner in which I had been trapped.

With the exception of their ornaments all were naked. Thewomen varied in appearance but little from the men, exceptthat their tusks were much larger in proportion to their height,in some instances curving nearly to their high-set ears. Theirbodies were smaller and lighter in color, and their fingersand toes bore the rudiments of nails, which were entirelylacking among the males. The adult females ranged in heightfrom ten to twelve feet.

The children were light in color, even lighter than thewomen, and all looked precisely alike to me, except that somewere taller than others; older, I presumed.

I saw no signs of extreme age among them, nor is there anyappreciable difference in their appearance from the age ofmaturity, about forty, until, at about the age of one thousandyears, they go voluntarily upon their last strange pilgrimagedown the river Iss, which leads no living Martian knowswhither and from whose bosom no Martian has ever returned,or would be allowed to live did he return after once embarkingupon its cold, dark waters.

Only about one Martian in a thousand dies of sickness ordisease, and possibly about twenty take the voluntary pilgrimage.The other nine hundred and seventy-nine die violent deathsin duels, in hunting, in aviation and in war; but perhaps by farthe greatest death loss comes during the age of childhood,when vast numbers of the little Martians fall victimsto the great white apes of Mars.

The average life expectancy of a Martian after the age ofmaturity is about three hundred years, but would be nearerthe one-thousand mark were it not for the various meansleading to violent death. Owing to the waning resourcesof the planet it evidently became necessary to counteractthe increasing longevity which their remarkable skill intherapeutics and surgery produced, and so human life has cometo be considered but lightly on Mars, as is evidenced by theirdangerous sports and the almost continual warfare betweenthe various communities.

There are other and natural causes tending toward adiminution of population, but nothing contributes so greatlyto this end as the fact that no male or female Martian is evervoluntarily without a weapon of destruction.

As we neared the plaza and my presence was discovered wewere immediately surrounded by hundreds of the creatureswho seemed anxious to pluck me from my seat behind myguard. A word from the leader of the party stilled theirclamor, and we proceeded at a trot across the plaza to theentrance of as magnificent an edifice as mortal eye has restedupon.

The building was low, but covered an enormous area. Itwas constructed of gleaming white marble inlaid with goldand brilliant stones which sparkled and scintillated in thesunlight. The main entrance was some hundred feet in widthand projected from the building proper to form a huge canopyabove the entrance hall. There was no stairway, but a gentleincline to the first floor of the building opened into anenormous chamber encircled by galleries.

On the floor of this chamber, which was dotted with highlycarved wooden desks and chairs, were assembled about fortyor fifty male Martians around the steps of a rostrum. On theplatform proper squatted an enormous warrior heavily loadedwith metal ornaments, gay-colored feathers and beautifullywrought leather trappings ingeniously set with precious stones.From his shoulders depended a short cape of white fur linedwith brilliant scarlet silk.

What struck me as most remarkable about this assemblageand the hall in which they were congregated was the factthat the creatures were entirely out of proportion to the desks,chairs, and other furnishings; these being of a size adapted tohuman beings such as I, whereas the great bulks of theMartians could scarcely have squeezed into the chairs, nor wasthere room beneath the desks for their long legs. Evidently,then, there were other denizens on Mars than the wild andgrotesque creatures into whose hands I had fallen, but theevidences of extreme antiquity which showed all around meindicated that these buildings might have belonged to somelong-extinct and forgotten race in the dim antiquity of Mars.

Our party had halted at the entrance to the building, and ata sign from the leader I had been lowered to the ground.Again locking his arm in mine, we had proceeded into theaudience chamber. There were few formalities observed inapproaching the Martian chieftain. My captor merely strodeup to the rostrum, the others making way for him as headvanced. The chieftain rose to his feet and uttered the nameof my escort who, in turn, halted and repeated the name ofthe ruler followed by his title.

At the time, this ceremony and the words they utteredmeant nothing to me, but later I came to know that this wasthe customary greeting between green Martians. Had the menbeen strangers, and therefore unable to exchange names, theywould have silently exchanged ornaments, had their missionsbeen peaceful--otherwise they would have exchanged shots,or have fought out their introduction with some other of theirvarious weapons.

My captor, whose name was Tars Tarkas, was virtually thevice-chieftain of the community, and a man of great ability asa statesman and warrior. He evidently explained briefly theincidents connected with his expedition, including my capture,and when he had concluded the chieftain addressed me atsome length.

I replied in our good old English tongue merely toconvince him that neither of us could understand the other;but I noticed that when I smiled slightly on concluding, he didlikewise. This fact, and the similar occurrence during my firsttalk with Tars Tarkas, convinced me that we had at leastsomething in common; the ability to smile, therefore to laugh;denoting a sense of humor. But I was to learn that theMartian smile is merely perfunctory, and that the Martianlaugh is a thing to cause strong men to blanch in horror.

The ideas of humor among the green men of Mars arewidely at variance with our conceptions of incitants tomerriment. The death agonies of a fellow being are, to thesestrange creatures provocative of the wildest hilarity, whiletheir chief form of commonest amusement is to inflict deathon their prisoners of war in various ingenious and horribleways.

The assembled warriors and chieftains examined me closely,feeling my muscles and the texture of my skin. The principalchieftain then evidently signified a desire to see me perform,and, motioning me to follow, he started with Tars Tarkas forthe open plaza.

Now, I had made no attempt to walk, since my first signalfailure, except while tightly grasping Tars Tarkas' arm, andso now I went skipping and flitting about among the desksand chairs like some monstrous grasshopper. After bruisingmyself severely, much to the amusement of the Martians, Iagain had recourse to creeping, but this did not suit them andI was roughly jerked to my feet by a towering fellow who hadlaughed most heartily at my misfortunes.

As he banged me down upon my feet his face was bentclose to mine and I did the only thing a gentleman might dounder the circumstances of brutality, boorishness, and lack ofconsideration for a stranger's rights; I swung my fist squarelyto his jaw and he went down like a felled ox. As he sunk tothe floor I wheeled around with my back toward the nearestdesk, expecting to be overwhelmed by the vengeance of hisfellows, but determined to give them as good a battle as theunequal odds would permit before I gave up my life.

My fears were groundless, however, as the other Martians,at first struck dumb with wonderment, finally broke into wildpeals of laughter and applause. I did not recognize theapplause as such, but later, when I had become acquaintedwith their customs, I learned that I had won what they seldomaccord, a manifestation of approbation.

The fellow whom I had struck lay where he had fallen, nordid any of his mates approach him. Tars Tarkas advancedtoward me, holding out one of his arms, and we thus proceededto the plaza without further mishap. I did not, of course,know the reason for which we had come to the open, but Iwas not long in being enlightened. They first repeatedthe word "sak" a number of times, and then Tars Tarkas madeseveral jumps, repeating the same word before each leap; then,turning to me, he said, "sak!" I saw what they were after, andgathering myself together I "sakked" with such marveloussuccess that I cleared a good hundred and fifty feet; nor did Ithis time, lose my equilibrium, but landed squarely upon myfeet without falling. I then returned by easy jumps of twenty-five or thirty feet to the little group of warriors.

My exhibition had been witnessed by several hundred lesserMartians, and they immediately broke into demands for arepetition, which the chieftain then ordered me to make; butI was both hungry and thirsty, and determined on the spotthat my only method of salvation was to demand theconsideration from these creatures which they evidently wouldnot voluntarily accord. I therefore ignored the repeatedcommands to "sak," and each time they were made I motionedto my mouth and rubbed my stomach.

Tars Tarkas and the chief exchanged a few words, and theformer, calling to a young female among the throng, gaveher some instructions and motioned me to accompany her. Igrasped her proffered arm and together we crossed the plazatoward a large building on the far side.

My fair companion was about eight feet tall, having justarrived at maturity, but not yet to her full height. She was ofa light olive-green color, with a smooth, glossy hide. Hername, as I afterward learned, was Sola, and she belonged tothe retinue of Tars Tarkas. She conducted me to a spaciouschamber in one of the buildings fronting on the plaza, andwhich, from the litter of silks and furs upon the floor, I tookto be the sleeping quarters of several of the natives.

The room was well lighted by a number of large windowsand was beautifully decorated with mural paintings and mosaics,but upon all there seemed to rest that indefinable touchof the finger of antiquity which convinced me that thearchitects and builders of these wondrous creations had nothingin common with the crude half-brutes which now occupied them.

Sola motioned me to be seated upon a pile of silks nearthe center of the room, and, turning, made a peculiar hissingsound, as though signaling to someone in an adjoining room.In response to her call I obtained my first sight of a newMartian wonder. It waddled in on its ten short legs, andsquatted down before the girl like an obedient puppy. Thething was about the size of a Shetland pony, but its head borea slight resemblance to that of a frog, except that the jawswere equipped with three rows of long, sharp tusks.