"Ah," said Zat Arras, "to what kindly circumstance am Iindebted for the pleasure of this unexpected visit from thePrince of Helium?"

While he was speaking, one of my guards had removed thegag from my mouth, but I made no reply to Zat Arras:simply standing there in silence with level gaze fixed uponthe Jed of Zodanga. And I doubt not that my expressionwas coloured by the contempt I felt for the man.

The eyes of those within the chamber were fixed first uponme and then upon Zat Arras, until finally a flush of angercrept slowly over his face.

"You may go," he said to those who had brought me,and when only his two companions and ourselves were leftin the chamber, he spoke to me again in a voice of ice--very slowly and deliberately, with many pauses, as thoughhe would choose his words cautiously.

"John Carter," he said, "by the edict of custom, by the lawof our religion, and by the verdict of an impartial court,you are condemned to die. The people cannot save you--Ialone may accomplish that. You are absolutely in my powerto do with as I wish--I may kill you, or I may free you,and should I elect to kill you, none would be the wiser.

"Should you go free in Helium for a year, in accordance withthe conditions of your reprieve, there is little fear thatthe people would ever insist upon the execution of the sentenceimposed upon you.

"You may go free within two minutes, upon one condition. Tardos Mors will never return to Helium. Neither willMors Kajak, nor Dejah Thoris. Helium must select a newJeddak within the year. Zat Arras would be Jeddak of Helium. Say that you will espouse my cause. This is the price ofyour freedom. I am done."

I knew it was within the scope of Zat Arras' cruel heartto destroy me, and if I were dead I could see little reasonto doubt that he might easily become Jeddak of Helium. Free,I could prosecute the search for Dejah Thoris. Were I dead,my brave comrades might not be able to carry out our plans.So, by refusing to accede to his request, it was quiteprobable that not only would I not prevent him frombecoming Jeddak of Helium, but that I would be themeans of sealing Dejah Thoris' fate--of consigning her,through my refusal, to the horrors of the arena of Issus.

For a moment I was perplexed, but for a moment only.The proud daughter of a thousand Jeddaks would choosedeath to a dishonorable alliance such as this, nor couldJohn Carter do less for Helium than his Princess would do.

Then I turned to Zat Arras.

"There can be no alliance," I said, "between a traitor toHelium and a prince of the House of Tardos Mors. Ido not believe, Zat Arras, that the great Jeddak is dead."

Zat Arras shrugged his shoulders.

"It will not be long, John Carter," he said, "that youropinions will be of interest even to yourself, so make the bestof them while you can. Zat Arras will permit you in duetime to reflect further upon the magnanimous offer he hasmade you. Into the silence and darkness of the pits youwill enter upon your reflection this night with the knowledgethat should you fail within a reasonable time to agree to thealternative which has been offered you, never shall you emergefrom the darkness and the silence again. Nor shall you knowat what minute the hand will reach out through the darknessand the silence with the keen dagger that shall rob youof your last chance to win again the warmth and the freedomand joyousness of the outer world."

Zat Arras clapped his hands as he ceased speaking.The guards returned.

Zat Arras waved his hand in my direction.

"To the pits," he said. That was all. Four men accompaniedme from the chamber, and with a radium hand-light to illuminethe way, escorted me through seemingly interminable tunnels,down, ever down beneath the city of Helium.

At length they halted within a fair-sized chamber. Therewere rings set in the rocky walls. To them chains werefastened, and at the ends of many of the chains were humanskeletons. One of these they kicked aside, and, unlocking thehuge padlock that had held a chain about what had oncebeen a human ankle, they snapped the iron band about myown leg. Then they left me, taking the light with them.

Utter darkness prevailed. For a few minutes I could hearthe clanking of accoutrements, but even this grew fainterand fainter, until at last the silence was as complete asthe darkness. I was alone with my gruesome companions--withthe bones of dead men whose fate was likely but the indexof my own.

How long I stood listening in the darkness I do not know,but the silence was unbroken, and at last I sunk to the hardfloor of my prison, where, leaning my head against the stonywall, I slept.

It must have been several hours later that I awakenedto find a young man standing before me. In one hand hebore a light, in the other a receptacle containing a gruel-likemixture--the common prison fare of Barsoom.

"Zat Arras sends you greetings," said the young man, "andcommands me to inform you that though he is fully advisedof the plot to make you Jeddak of Helium, he is, however, notinclined to withdraw the offer which he has made you.To gain your freedom you have but to request me to adviseZat Arras that you accept the terms of his proposition."

I but shook my head. The youth said no more, and, afterplacing the food upon the floor at my side, returned up thecorridor, taking the light with him.

Twice a day for many days this youth came to my cellwith food, and ever the same greetings from Zat Arras.For a long time I tried to engage him in conversationupon other matters, but he would not talk, and so,at length, I desisted.

For months I sought to devise methods to inform Carthorisof my whereabouts. For months I scraped and scrapedupon a single link of the massive chain which held me,hoping eventually to wear it through, that I might followthe youth back through the winding tunnels to a point whereI could make a break for liberty.

I was beside myself with anxiety for knowledge of theprogress of the expedition which was to rescue Dejah Thoris.I felt that Carthoris would not let the matter drop, were hefree to act, but in so far as I knew, he also might be aprisoner in Zat Arras' pits.

That Zat Arras' spy had overheard our conversation relativeto the selection of a new Jeddak, I knew, and scarcelya half-dozen minutes prior we had discussed the detailsof the plan to rescue Dejah Thoris. The chances were thatthat matter, too, was well known to him. Carthoris, KantosKan, Tars Tarkas, Hor Vastus, and Xodar might even nowbe the victims of Zat Arras' assassins, or else his prisoners.

I determined to make at least one more effort to learnsomething, and to this end I adopted strategy when nextthe youth came to my cell. I had noticed that he was ahandsome fellow, about the size and age of Carthoris.And I had also noticed that his shabby trappings but illycomported with his dignified and noble bearing.

It was with these observations as a basis that I openedmy negotiations with him upon his next subsequent visit.

"You have been very kind to me during my imprisonment here,"I said to him, "and as I feel that I have at best but avery short time to live, I wish, ere it is too late,to furnish substantial testimony of my appreciation of allthat you have done to render my imprisonment bearable.

"Promptly you have brought my food each day, seeing thatit was pure and of sufficient quantity. Never by wordor deed have you attempted to take advantage of mydefenceless condition to insult or torture me. You havebeen uniformly courteous and considerate--it is this morethan any other thing which prompts my feeling of gratitudeand my desire to give you some slight token of it.

"In the guard-room of my palace are many fine trappings.Go thou there and select the harness which most pleases you--it shall be yours. All I ask is that you wear it, that Imay know that my wish has been realized. Tell me that youwill do it."

The boy's eyes had lighted with pleasure as I spoke, and Isaw him glance from his rusty trappings to the magnificenceof my own. For a moment he stood in thought before hespoke, and for that moment my heart fairly ceased beating--so much for me there was which hung upon the substanceof his answer.

"And I went to the palace of the Prince of Helium with anysuch demand, they would laugh at me and, into the bargain,would more than likely throw me headforemost into the avenue. No, it cannot be, though I thank you for the offer. Why,if Zat Arras even dreamed that I contemplated such a thinghe would have my heart cut out of me."

"There can be no harm in it, my boy," I urged. "By nightyou may go to my palace with a note from me to Carthoris,my son. You may read the note before you deliver it,that you may know that it contains nothing harmful toZat Arras. My son will be discreet, and so none but usthree need know. It is very simple, and such a harmlessact that it could be condemned by no one."

Again he stood silently in deep thought.

"And there is a jewelled short-sword which I took from thebody of a northern Jeddak. When you get the harness, seethat Carthoris gives you that also. With it and the harnesswhich you may select there will be no more handsomelyaccoutred warrior in all Zodanga.

"Bring writing materials when you come next to my cell,and within a few hours we shall see you garbed in a stylebefitting your birth and carriage."

Still in thought, and without speaking, he turned andleft me. I could not guess what his decision might be, andfor hours I sat fretting over the outcome of the matter.

If he accepted a message to Carthoris it would mean to methat Carthoris still lived and was free. If the youth returnedwearing the harness and the sword, I would know that Carthorishad received my note and that he knew that I still lived.That the bearer of the note was a Zodangan would be sufficientto explain to Carthoris that I was a prisoner of Zat Arras.

It was with feelings of excited expectancy which I could scarcehide that I heard the youth's approach upon the occasion ofhis next regular visit. I did not speak beyond my accustomedgreeting of him. As he placed the food upon the floor by myside he also deposited writing materials at the same time.

My heart fairly bounded for joy. I had won my point. Fora moment I looked at the materials in feigned surprise, butsoon I permitted an expression of dawning comprehension tocome into my face, and then, picking them up, I penneda brief order to Carthoris to deliver to Parthak a harness of hisselection and the short-sword which I described. That was all.But it meant everything to me and to Carthoris.

I laid the note open upon the floor. Parthak picked it up and,without a word, left me.

As nearly as I could estimate, I had at this time beenin the pits for three hundred days. If anything was to be doneto save Dejah Thoris it must be done quickly, for, were shenot already dead, her end must soon come, since thosewhom Issus chose lived but a single year.

The next time I heard approaching footsteps I could scarceawait to see if Parthak wore the harness and the sword, butjudge, if you can, my chagrin and disappointment when Isaw that he who bore my food was not Parthak.

"What has become of Parthak?" I asked, but the fellowwould not answer, and as soon as he had deposited my food,turned and retraced his steps to the world above.

Days came and went, and still my new jailer continuedhis duties, nor would he ever speak a word to me, either inreply to the simplest question or of his own initiative.

I could only speculate on the cause of Parthak's removal,but that it was connected in some way directly with the noteI had given him was most apparent to me. After all myrejoicing, I was no better off than before, for now I did noteven know that Carthoris lived, for if Parthak had wished toraise himself in the estimation of Zat Arras he would havepermitted me to go on precisely as I did, so that he couldcarry my note to his master, in proof of his own loyaltyand devotion.

Thirty days had passed since I had given the youth thenote. Three hundred and thirty days had passed since myincarceration. As closely as I could figure, there remained abare thirty days ere Dejah Thoris would be ordered tothe arena for the rites of Issus.

As the terrible picture forced itself vividly across myimagination, I buried my face in my arms, and only with thegreatest difficulty was it that I repressed the tears that welledto my eyes despite my every effort. To think of that beautifulcreature torn and rended by the cruel fangs of the hideouswhite apes! It was unthinkable. Such a horrid fact couldnot be; and yet my reason told me that within thirty daysmy incomparable Princess would be fought over in thearena of the First Born by those very wild beasts; that herbleeding corpse would be dragged through the dirt and the dust,until at last a part of it would be rescued to be served asfood upon the tables of the black nobles.

I think that I should have gone crazy but for the soundof my approaching jailer. It distracted my attention fromthe terrible thoughts that had been occupying my entire mind.Now a new and grim determination came to me. I would makeone super-human effort to escape. Kill my jailer by a ruse,and trust to fate to lead me to the outer world in safety.

With the thought came instant action. I threw myself uponthe floor of my cell close by the wall, in a strained anddistorted posture, as though I were dead after a struggleor convulsions. When he should stoop over me I had but tograsp his throat with one hand and strike him a terrific blowwith the slack of my chain, which I gripped firmly in myright hand for the purpose.

Nearer and nearer came the doomed man. Now I heardhim halt before me. There was a muttered exclamation, andthen a step as he came to my side. I felt him kneel beside me.My grip tightened upon the chain. He leaned close to me.I must open my eyes to find his throat, grasp it, and strikeone mighty final blow all at the same instant.

The thing worked just as I had planned. So brief was theinterval between the opening of my eyes and the fall of thechain that I could not check it, though it that minuteinterval I recognized the face so close to mine as thatof my son, Carthoris.

God! What cruel and malign fate had worked to such afrightful end! What devious chain of circumstances had ledmy boy to my side at this one particular minute of our liveswhen I could strike him down and kill him, in ignoranceof his identity! A benign though tardy Providence blurred myvision and my mind as I sank into unconsciousness across thelifeless body of my only son.

When I regained consciousness it was to feel a cool, firmhand pressed upon my forehead. For an instant I did notopen my eyes. I was endeavouring to gather the loose endsof many thoughts and memories which flitted elusivelythrough my tired and overwrought brain.

At length came the cruel recollection of the thing that Ihad done in my last conscious act, and then I dared notto open my eyes for fear of what I should see lying besideme. I wondered who it could be who ministered to me. Carthoris must have had a companion whom I had not seen.Well, I must face the inevitable some time, so why not now,and with a sigh I opened my eyes.

Leaning over me was Carthoris, a great bruise upon hisforehead where the chain had struck, but alive, thankGod, alive! There was no one with him. Reaching out myarms, I took my boy within them, and if ever there arosefrom any planet a fervent prayer of gratitude, it was therebeneath the crust of dying Mars as I thanked the EternalMystery for my son's life.

The brief instant in which I had seen and recognizedCarthoris before the chain fell must have been ample tocheck the force of the blow. He told me that he hadlain unconscious for a time--how long he did not know.

"How came you here at all?" I asked, mystified that hehad found me without a guide.

"It was by your wit in apprising me of your existence andimprisonment through the youth, Parthak. Until he came forhis harness and his sword, we had thought you dead. WhenI had read your note I did as you had bid, giving Parthak hischoice of the harnesses in the guardroom, and later bringingthe jewelled short-sword to him; but the minute that I hadfulfilled the promise you evidently had made him, myobligation to him ceased. Then I commenced to question him,but he would give me no information as to your whereabouts. He was intensely loyal to Zat Arras.

"Finally I gave him a fair choice between freedom andthe pits beneath the palace--the price of freedom to be fullinformation as to where you were imprisoned and directionswhich would lead us to you; but still he maintained hisstubborn partisanship. Despairing, I had him removed tothe pits, where he still is.

"No threats of torture or death, no bribes, however fabulous,would move him. His only reply to all our importunitieswas that whenever Parthak died, were it to-morrow or athousand years hence, no man could truly say, 'A traitor isgone to his deserts.'

"Finally, Xodar, who is a fiend for subtle craftiness,evolved a plan whereby we might worm the informationfrom him. And so I caused Hor Vastus to be harnessed inthe metal of a Zodangan soldier and chained in Parthak'scell beside him. For fifteen days the noble Hor Vastus haslanguished in the darkness of the pits, but not in vain.Little by little he won the confidence and friendship of theZodangan, until only to-day Parthak, thinking that he wasspeaking not only to a countryman, but to a dear friend,revealed that Hor Vastus the exact cell in which you lay.

"It took me but a short time to locate the plans of the pitsof Helium among thy official papers. To come to you, though,was a trifle more difficult matter. As you know, while allthe pits beneath the city are connected, there are but singleentrances from those beneath each section and its neighbour,and that at the upper level just underneath the ground.

"Of course, these openings which lead from contiguous pits tothose beneath government buildings are always guarded, and so,while I easily came to the entrance to the pits beneath thepalace which Zat Arras is occupying, I found there a Zodangansoldier on guard. There I left him when I had gone by,but his soul was no longer with him.

"And here I am, just in time to be nearly killed by you,"he ended, laughing.

As he talked Carthoris had been working at the lock whichheld my fetters, and now, with an exclamation of pleasure,he dropped the end of the chain to the floor, and I stood uponce more, freed from the galling irons I had chafed in foralmost a year.

He had brought a long-sword and a dagger for me, andthus armed we set out upon the return journey to my palace.

At the point where we left the pits of Zat Arras we foundthe body of the guard Carthoris had slain. It had not yet beendiscovered, and, in order to still further delay search andmystify the jed's people, we carried the body with us for ashort distance, hiding it in a tiny cell off the main corridorof the pits beneath an adjoining estate.

Some half-hour later we came to the pits beneath our ownpalace, and soon thereafter emerged into the audience chamberitself, where we found Kantos Kan, Tars Tarkas, Hor Vastus,and Xodar awaiting us most impatiently.

No time was lost in fruitless recounting of my imprisonment. What I desired to know was how well the plans we had laidnearly a year ago and had been carried out.

"It has taken much longer than we had expected," repliedKantos Kan. "The fact that we were compelled to maintainutter secrecy has handicapped us terribly. Zat Arras' spiesare everywhere. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, no wordof our real plans has reached the villain's ear.

"To-night there lies about the great docks at Hastor a fleetof a thousand of the mightiest battleships that ever sailedabove Barsoom, and each equipped to navigate the air of Omeanand the waters of Omean itself. Upon each battleshipthere are five ten-man cruisers, and ten five-man scouts,and a hundred one-man scouts; in all, one hundred and sixteenthousand craft fitted with both air and water propellers.

"At Thark lie the transports for the green warriors of TarsTarkas, nine hundred large troopships, and with them theirconvoys. Seven days ago all was in readiness, but we waitedin the hope that by so doing your rescue might be encompassedin time for you to command the expedition. It is well we waited,my Prince."

"How is it, Tars Tarkas," I asked, "that the men of Tharktake not the accustomed action against one who returns fromthe bosom of Iss?"

"They sent a council of fifty chieftains to talk with mehere," replied the Thark. "We are a just people, and when Ihad told them the entire story they were as one man inagreeing that their action toward me would be guided by theaction of Helium toward John Carter. In the meantime, attheir request, I was to resume my throne as Jeddak of Thark,that I might negotiate with neighboring hordes for warriorsto compose the land forces of the expedition. I have donethat which I agreed. Two hundred and fifty thousand fightingmen, gathered from the ice cap at the north to the ice cap atthe south, and representing a thousand different communities,from a hundred wild and warlike hordes, fill the great cityof Thark to-night. They are ready to sail for the Land ofthe First Born when I give the word and fight there untilI bid them stop. All they ask is the loot they take andtransportation to their own territories when the fightingand the looting are over. I am done."

"And thou, Hor Vastus," I asked, "what has been thy success?"

"A million veteran fighting-men from Helium's thin waterways manthe battleships, the transports, and the convoys," he replied."Each is sworn to loyalty and secrecy, nor were enough recruitedfrom a single district to cause suspicion."

"Good!" I cried. "Each has done his duty, and now, Kantos Kan,may we not repair at once to Hastor and get under way beforeto-morrow's sun?"

"We should lose no time, Prince," replied Kantos Kan."Already the people of Hastor are questioning the purpose ofso great a fleet fully manned with fighting-men. I wondermuch that word of it has not before reached Zat Arras. Acruiser awaits above at your own dock; let us leave at--"A fusillade of shots from the palace gardens just without cutshort his further words.

Together we rushed to the balcony in time to see a dozenmembers of my palace guard disappear in the shadows ofsome distant shrubbery as in pursuit of one who fled. Directlybeneath us upon the scarlet sward a handful of guardsmenwere stooping above a still and prostrate form.

While we watched they lifted the figure in their arms andat my command bore it to the audience chamber where wehad been in council. When they stretched the body at ourfeet we saw that it was that of a red man in the prime of life--his metal was plain, such as common soldiers wear, orthose who wish to conceal their identity.

"Another of Zat Arras' spies," said Hor Vastus.

"So it would seem," I replied, and then to the guard:"You may remove the body."

"Wait!" said Xodar. "If you will, Prince, ask that a clothand a little thoat oil be brought."

I nodded to one of the soldiers, who left the chamber,returning presently with the things that Xodar had requested.The black kneeled beside the body and, dipping a corner ofthe cloth in the thoat oil, rubbed for a moment on the deadface before him, Then he turned to me with a smile, pointingto his work. I looked and saw that where Xodar had appliedthe thoat oil the face was white, as white as mine, and thenXodar seized the black hair of the corpse and with a suddenwrench tore it all away, revealing a hairless pate beneath.

Guardsmen and nobles pressed close about the silent witnessupon the marble floor. Many were the exclamations ofastonishment and questioning wonder as Xodar's actsconfirmed the suspicion which he had held.

"A thern!" whispered Tars Tarkas.

"Worse than that, I fear," replied Xodar. "But let us see."

With that he drew his dagger and cut open a locked pouchwhich had dangled from the thern's harness, and from ithe brought forth a circlet of gold set with a large gem--itwas the mate to that which I had taken from Sator Throg.

"He was a Holy Thern," said Xodar. "Fortunate indeed itis for us that he did not escape."

The officer of the guard entered the chamber at this juncture.

"My Prince," he said, "I have to report that this fellow'scompanion escaped us. I think that it was with the connivanceof one or more of the men at the gate. I have orderedthem all under arrest."

Xodar handed him the thoat oil and cloth.

"With this you may discover the spy among you," he said.

I at once ordered a secret search within the city, for everyMartian noble maintains a secret service of his own.

A half-hour later the officer of the guard came again to report.This time it was to confirm our worst fears--half the guards atthe gate that night had been therns disguised as red men.

"Come!" I cried. "We must lose no time. On to Hastor atonce. Should the therns attempt to check us at the southernverge of the ice cap it may result in the wrecking of all ourplans and the total destruction of the expedition."

Ten minutes later we were speeding through the night toward Hastor,prepared to strike the first blow for the preservation of Dejah Thoris.