A Princess of Mars

He bent his head in thought a moment, then raised it with an air of

confidence.

"I only need to pass these guards and I can do it," he said at last.

"I know a secret entrance to the palace through the pinnacle of the

highest tower. I fell upon it by chance one day as I was passing above

the palace on patrol duty. In this work it is required that we

investigate any unusual occurrence we may witness, and a face peering

from the pinnacle of the high tower of the palace was, to me, most

unusual. I therefore drew near and discovered that the possessor of

the peering face was none other than Sab Than. He was slightly put out

at being detected and commanded me to keep the matter to myself,

explaining that the passage from the tower led directly to his

apartments, and was known only to him. If I can reach the roof of the

barracks and get my machine I can be in Sab Than's quarters in five

minutes; but how am I to escape from this building, guarded as you say

it is?"

"How well are the machine sheds at the barracks guarded?" I asked.

"There is usually but one man on duty there at night upon the roof."

"Go to the roof of this building, Kantos Kan, and wait me there."

Without stopping to explain my plans I retraced my way to the street

and hastened to the barracks. I did not dare to enter the building,

filled as it was with members of the air-scout squadron, who, in common

with all Zodanga, were on the lookout for me.

The building was an enormous one, rearing its lofty head fully a

thousand feet into the air. But few buildings in Zodanga were higher

than these barracks, though several topped it by a few hundred feet;

the docks of the great battleships of the line standing some fifteen

hundred feet from the ground, while the freight and passenger stations

of the merchant squadrons rose nearly as high.

It was a long climb up the face of the building, and one fraught with

much danger, but there was no other way, and so I essayed the task.

The fact that Barsoomian architecture is extremely ornate made the feat

much simpler than I had anticipated, since I found ornamental ledges

and projections which fairly formed a perfect ladder for me all the way

to the eaves of the building. Here I met my first real obstacle. The

eaves projected nearly twenty feet from the wall to which I clung, and

though I encircled the great building I could find no opening through

them.

The top floor was alight, and filled with soldiers engaged in the

pastimes of their kind; I could not, therefore, reach the roof through

the building.