Green Men And White Apes

: Thuvia, Maid Of Mars

A Torquasian sword smote a glancing blow across the forehead of

Carthoris. He had a fleeting vision of soft arms about his neck,

and warm lips close to his before he lost consciousness.



How long he lay there senseless he could not guess; but when he

opened his eyes again he was alone, except for the bodies of the

dead green men and Dusarians, and the carcass of a great banth that

lay half across his own. br />


Thuvia was gone, nor was the body of Kar Komak among the dead.



Weak from loss of blood, Carthoris made his way slowly toward

Aaanthor, reaching its outskirts at dark.



He wanted water more than any other thing, and so he kept on up

a broad avenue toward the great central plaza, where he knew the

precious fluid was to be found in a half-ruined building opposite

the great palace of the ancient jeddak, who once had ruled this

mighty city.



Disheartened and discouraged by the strange sequence of events

that seemed fore-ordained to thwart his every attempt to serve

the Princess of Ptarth, he paid little or no attention to his

surroundings, moving through the deserted city as though no great

white apes lurked in the black shadows of the mystery-haunted piles

that flanked the broad avenues and the great plaza.



But if Carthoris was careless of his surroundings, not so other

eyes that watched his entrance into the plaza, and followed his slow

footsteps toward the marble pile that housed the tiny, half-choked

spring whose water one might gain only by scratching a deep hole

in the red sand that covered it.



And as the Heliumite entered the small building a dozen mighty,

grotesque figures emerged from the doorway of the palace to speed

noiselessly across the plaza toward him.



For half an hour Carthoris remained in the building, digging for

water and gaining the few much-needed drops which were the fruits

of his labour. Then he rose and slowly left the structure. Scarce

had he stepped beyond the threshold than twelve Torquasian warriors

leaped upon him.



No time then to draw long-sword; but swift from his harness flew

his long, slim dagger, and as he went down beneath them more than

a single green heart ceased beating at the bite of that keen point.



Then they overpowered him and took his weapons away; but only nine

of the twelve warriors who had crossed the plaza returned with

their prize.



They dragged their prisoner roughly to the palace pits, where

in utter darkness they chained him with rusty links to the solid

masonry of the wall.



"To-morrow Thar Ban will speak with you," they said. "Now

he sleeps. But great will be his pleasure when he learns who has

wandered amongst us--and great will be the pleasure of Hortan Gur

when Thar Ban drags before him the mad fool who dared prick the

great jeddak with his sword."



Then they left him to the silence and the darkness.



For what seemed hours Carthoris squatted upon the stone floor of

his prison, his back against the wall in which was sunk the heavy

eye-bolt that secured the chain which held him.



Then, from out of the mysterious blackness before him, there

came to his ears the sound of naked feet moving stealthily upon

stone--approaching nearer and nearer to where he lay, unarmed and

defenceless.



Minutes passed--minutes that seemed hours--during which time

periods of sepulchral silence would be followed by a repetition of

the uncanny scraping of naked feet slinking warily upon him.



At last he heard a sudden rush of unshod soles across the empty

blackness, and at a little distance a scuffling sound, heavy

breathing, and once what he thought the muttered imprecation of

a man battling against great odds. Then the clanging of a chain,

and a noise as of the snapping back against stone of a broken link.



Again came silence. But for a moment only. Now he heard once

more the soft feet approaching him. He thought that he discerned

wicked eyes gleaming fearfully at him through the darkness. He

knew that he could hear the heavy breathing of powerful lungs.



Then came the rush of many feet toward him, and the THINGS were

upon him.



Hands terminating in manlike fingers clutched at his throat and

arms and legs. Hairy bodies strained and struggled against his

own smooth hide as he battled in grim silence against these horrid

foemen in the darkness of the pits of ancient Aaanthor.



Thewed like some giant god was Carthoris of Helium, yet in the

clutches of these unseen creatures of the pit's Stygian night he

was helpless as a frail woman.



Yet he battled on, striking futile blows against great, hispid

breasts he could not see; feeling thick, squat throats beneath his

fingers; the drool of saliva upon his cheek, and hot, foul breath

in his nostrils.



Fangs, too, mighty fangs, he knew were close, and why they did not

sink into his flesh he could not guess.



At last he became aware of the mighty surging of a number of his

antagonists back and forth upon the great chain that held him, and

presently came the same sound that he had heard at a little distance

from him a short time before he had been attacked--his chain had

parted and the broken end snapped back against the stone wall.



Now he was seized upon either side and dragged at a rapid pace through

the dark corridors--toward what fate he could not even guess.



At first he had thought his foes might be of the tribe of Torquas,

but their hairy bodies belied that belief. Now he was at last

quite sure of their identity, though why they had not killed and

devoured him at once he could not imagine.



After half an hour or more of rapid racing through the underground

passages that are a distinguishing feature of all Barsoomian cities,

modern as well as ancient, his captors suddenly emerged into the

moonlight of a courtyard, far from the central plaza.



Immediately Carthoris saw that he was in the power of a tribe of

the great white apes of Barsoom. All that had caused him doubt

before as to the identity of his attackers was the hairiness of

their breasts, for the white apes are entirely hairless except for

a great shock bristling from their heads.



Now he saw the cause of that which had deceived him--across the

chest of each of them were strips of hairy hide, usually of banth,

in imitation of the harness of the green warriors who so often

camped at their deserted city.



Carthoris had read of the existence of tribes of apes that seemed

to be progressing slowly toward higher standards of intelligence.

Into the hands of such, he realized, he had fallen; but--what were

their intentions toward him?



As he glanced about the courtyard, he saw fully fifty of the hideous

beasts, squatting on their haunches, and at a little distance from

him another human being, closely guarded.



As his eyes met those of his fellow-captive a smile lit the other's

face, and: "Kaor, red man!" burst from his lips. It was Kar Komak,

the bowman.



"Kaor!" cried Carthoris, in response. "How came you here, and what

befell the princess?"



"Red men like yourself descended in mighty ships that sailed the

air, even as the great ships of my distant day sailed the five seas,"

replied Kar Komak. "They fought with the green men of Torquas.

They slew Komal, god of Lothar. I thought they were your friends,

and I was glad when finally those of them who survived the battle

carried the red girl to one of the ships and sailed away with her

into the safety of the high air.



"Then the green men seized me, and carried me to a great, empty

city, where they chained me to a wall in a black pit. Afterward

came these and dragged me hither. And what of you, red man?"



Carthoris related all that had befallen him, and as the two men

talked the great apes squatted about them watching them intently.



"What are we to do now?" asked the bowman.



"Our case looks rather hopeless," replied Carthoris ruefully.

"These creatures are born man-eaters. Why they have not already

devoured us I cannot imagine--there!" he whispered. "See? The

end is coming."



Kar Komak looked in the direction Carthoris indicated to see a huge

ape advancing with a mighty bludgeon.



"It is thus they like best to kill their prey," said Carthoris.



"Must we die without a struggle?" asked Kar Komak.



"Not I," replied Carthoris, "though I know how futile our best

defence must be against these mighty brutes! Oh, for a long-sword!"



"Or a good bow," added Kar Komak, "and a utan of bowmen."



At the words Carthoris half sprang to his feet, only to be dragged

roughly down by his guard.



"Kar Komak!" he cried. "Why cannot you do what Tario and Jav did?

They had no bowmen other than those of their own creation. You

must know the secret of their power. Call forth your own utan,

Kar Komak!"



The Lotharian looked at Carthoris in wide-eyed astonishment as the

full purport of the suggestion bore in upon his understanding.



"Why not?" he murmured.



The savage ape bearing the mighty bludgeon was slinking toward

Carthoris. The Heliumite's fingers were working as he kept his

eyes upon his executioner. Kar Komak bent his gaze penetratingly

upon the apes. The effort of his mind was evidenced in the sweat

upon his contracted brows.



The creature that was to slay the red man was almost within arm's

reach of his prey when Carthoris heard a hoarse shout from the opposite

side of the courtyard. In common with the squatting apes and the

demon with the club he turned in the direction of the sound, to see

a company of sturdy bowmen rushing from the doorway of a near-by

building.



With screams of rage the apes leaped to their feet to meet the

charge. A volley of arrows met them half-way, sending a dozen

rolling lifeless to the ground. Then the apes closed with their

adversaries. All their attention was occupied by the attackers--even

the guard had deserted the prisoners to join in the battle.



"Come!" whispered Kar Komak. "Now may we escape while their

attention is diverted from us by my bowmen."



"And leave those brave fellows leaderless?" cried Carthoris, whose

loyal nature revolted at the merest suggestion of such a thing.



Kar Komak laughed.



"You forget," he said, "that they are but thin air--figments of my

brain. They will vanish, unscathed, when we have no further need

for them. Praised be your first ancestor, redman, that you thought

of this chance in time! It would never have occurred to me to imagine

that I might wield the same power that brought me into existence."



"You are right," said Carthoris. "Still, I hate to leave them,

though there is naught else to do," and so the two turned from

the courtyard, and making their way into one of the broad avenues,

crept stealthily in the shadows of the building toward the great

central plaza upon which were the buildings occupied by the green

warriors when they visited the deserted city.



When they had come to the plaza's edge Carthoris halted.



"Wait here," he whispered. "I go to fetch thoats, since on foot

we may never hope to escape the clutches of these green fiends."



To reach the courtyard where the thoats were kept it was necessary

for Carthoris to pass through one of the buildings which surrounded

the square. Which were occupied and which not he could not even

guess, so he was compelled to take considerable chances to gain

the enclosure in which he could hear the restless beasts squealing

and quarrelling among themselves.



Chance carried him through a dark doorway into a large chamber in

which lay a score or more green warriors wrapped in their sleeping

silks and furs. Scarce had Carthoris passed through the short

hallway that connected the door of the building and the great room

beyond it than he became aware of the presence of something or some

one in the hallway through which he had but just passed.



He heard a man yawn, and then, behind him, he saw the figure of a

sentry rise from where the fellow had been dozing, and stretching

himself resume his wakeful watchfulness.



Carthoris realized that he must have passed within a foot of the

warrior, doubtless rousing him from his slumber. To retreat now

would be impossible. Yet to cross through that roomful of sleeping

warriors seemed almost equally beyond the pale of possibility.



Carthoris shrugged his broad shoulders and chose the lesser evil.

Warily he entered the room. At his right, against the wall,

leaned several swords and rifles and spears--extra weapons which

the warriors had stacked here ready to their hands should there

be a night alarm calling them suddenly from slumber. Beside each

sleeper lay his weapon--these were never far from their owners from

childhood to death.



The sight of the swords made the young man's palm itch. He stepped

quickly to them, selecting two short-swords--one for Kar Komak,

the other for himself; also some trappings for his naked comrade.



Then he started directly across the centre of the apartment among

the sleeping Torquasians.



Not a man of them moved until Carthoris had completed more than half

of the short though dangerous journey. Then a fellow directly in

his path turned restlessly upon his sleeping silks and furs.



The Heliumite paused above him, one of the short-swords in readiness

should the warrior awaken. For what seemed an eternity to the young

prince the green man continued to move uneasily upon his couch,

then, as though actuated by springs, he leaped to his feet and

faced the red man.



Instantly Carthoris struck, but not before a savage grunt escaped

the other's lips. In an instant the room was in turmoil. Warriors

leaped to their feet, grasping their weapons as they rose, and

shouting to one another for an explanation of the disturbance.



To Carthoris all within the room was plainly visible in the dim

light reflected from without, for the further moon stood directly

at zenith; but to the eyes of the newly-awakened green men objects

as yet had not taken on familiar forms--they but saw vaguely the

figures of warriors moving about their apartment.



Now one stumbled against the corpse of him whom Carthoris had

slain. The fellow stooped and his hand came in contact with the

cleft skull. He saw about him the giant figures of other green

men, and so he jumped to the only conclusion that was open to him.



"The Thurds!" he cried. "The Thurds are upon us! Rise, warriors

of Torquas, and drive home your swords within the hearts of Torquas'

ancient enemies!"



Instantly the green men began to fall upon one another with naked

swords. Their savage lust of battle was aroused. To fight, to

kill, to die with cold steel buried in their vitals! Ah, that to

them was Nirvana.



Carthoris was quick to guess their error and take advantage of it.

He knew that in the pleasure of killing they might fight on long

after they had discovered their mistake, unless their attention

was distracted by sight of the real cause of the altercation, and

so he lost no time in continuing across the room to the doorway

upon the opposite side, which opened into the inner court, where

the savage thoats were squealing and fighting among themselves.



Once here he had no easy task before him. To catch and mount one

of these habitually rageful and intractable beasts was no child's

play under the best of conditions; but now, when silence and time

were such important considerations, it might well have seemed quite

hopeless to a less resourceful and optimistic man than the son of

the great warlord.



From his father he had learned much concerning the traits of these

mighty beasts, and from Tars Tarkas, also, when he had visited that

great green jeddak among his horde at Thark. So now he centred

upon the work in hand all that he had ever learned about them from

others and from his own experience, for he, too, had ridden and

handled them many times.



The temper of the thoats of Torquas appeared even shorter than their

vicious cousins among the Tharks and Warhoons, and for a time it

seemed unlikely that he should escape a savage charge on the part

of a couple of old bulls that circled, squealing, about him; but

at last he managed to get close enough to one of them to touch the

beast. With the feel of his hand upon the sleek hide the creature

quieted, and in answer to the telepathic command of the red man

sank to its knees.



In a moment Carthoris was upon its back, guiding it toward the

great gate that leads from the courtyard through a large building

at one end into an avenue beyond.



The other bull, still squealing and enraged, followed after his

fellow. There was no bridle upon either, for these strange creatures

are controlled entirely by suggestion--when they are controlled at

all.



Even in the hands of the giant green men bridle reins would be

hopelessly futile against the mad savagery and mastodonic strength

of the thoat, and so they are guided by that strange telepathic

power with which the men of Mars have learned to communicate in a

crude way with the lower orders of their planet.



With difficulty Carthoris urged the two beasts to the gate, where,

leaning down, he raised the latch. Then the thoat that he was

riding placed his great shoulder to the skeel-wood planking, pushed

through, and a moment later the man and the two beasts were swinging

silently down the avenue to the edge of the plaza, where Kar Komak

hid.



Here Carthoris found considerable difficulty in subduing the second

thoat, and as Kar Komak had never before ridden one of the beasts,

it seemed a most hopeless job; but at last the bowman managed to

scramble to the sleek back, and again the two beasts fled softly

down the moss-grown avenues toward the open sea-bottom beyond the

city.



All that night and the following day and the second night they

rode toward the north-east. No indication of pursuit developed,

and at dawn of the second day Carthoris saw in the distance the

waving ribbon of great trees that marked one of the long Barsoomian

water-ways.



Immediately they abandoned their thoats and approached the cultivated

district on foot. Carthoris also discarded the metal from his

harness, or such of it as might serve to identify him as a Heliumite,

or of royal blood, for he did not know to what nation belonged this

waterway, and upon Mars it is always well to assume every man and

nation your enemy until you have learned the contrary.



It was mid-forenoon when the two at last entered one of the roads

that cut through the cultivated districts at regular intervals,

joining the arid wastes on either side with the great, white,

central highway that follows through the centre from end to end of

the far-reaching, threadlike farm lands.



The high wall surrounding the fields served as a protection against

surprise by raiding green hordes, as well as keeping the savage

banths and other carnivora from the domestic animals and the human

beings upon the farms.



Carthoris stopped before the first gate he came to, pounding for

admission. The young man who answered his summons greeted the

two hospitably, though he looked with considerable wonder upon the

white skin and auburn hair of the bowman.



After he had listened for a moment to a partial narration of their

escape from the Torquasians, he invited them within, took them to

his house and bade the servants there prepare food for them.



As they waited in the low-ceiled, pleasant living room of the

farmhouse until the meal should be ready, Carthoris drew his host

into conversation that he might learn his nationality, and thus

the nation under whose dominion lay the waterway where circumstance

had placed him.



"I am Hal Vas," said the young man, "son of Vas Kor, of Dusar, a

noble in the retinue of Astok, Prince of Dusar. At present I am

Dwar of the Road for this district."



Carthoris was very glad that he had not disclosed his identity, for

though he had no idea of anything that had transpired since he had

left Helium, or that Astok was at the bottom of all his misfortunes,

he well knew that the Dusarian had no love for him, and that he

could hope for no assistance within the dominions of Dusar.



"And who are you?" asked Hal Vas. "By your appearance I take you

for a fighting man, but I see no insignia upon your harness. Can

it be that you are a panthan?"



Now, these wandering soldiers of fortune are common upon Barsoom,

where most men love to fight. They sell their services wherever

war exists, and in the occasional brief intervals when there is

no organized warfare between the red nations, they join one of the

numerous expeditions that are constantly being dispatched against

the green men in protection of the waterways that traverse the

wilder portions of the globe.



When their service is over they discard the metal of the nation

they have been serving until they shall have found a new master.

In the intervals they wear no insignia, their war-worn harness and

grim weapons being sufficient to attest their calling.



The suggestion was a happy one, and Carthoris embraced the chance

it afforded to account satisfactorily for himself. There was, however,

a single drawback. In times of war such panthans as happened to

be within the domain of a belligerent nation were compelled to don

the insignia of that nation and fight with her warriors.



As far as Carthoris knew Dusar was not at war with any other

nation, but there was never any telling when one red nation would

be flying at the throat of a neighbour, even though the great and

powerful alliance at the head of which was his father, John Carter,

had managed to maintain a long peace upon the greater portion of

Barsoom.



A pleasant smile lighted Hal Vas' face as Carthoris admitted his

vocation.



"It is well," exclaimed the young man, "that you chanced to come

hither, for here you will find the means of obtaining service in

short order. My father, Vas Kor, is even now with me, having come

hither to recruit a force for the new war against Helium."