A Princess of Mars

The fellow whom I had struck lay where he had fallen, nor did any of

his mates approach him. Tars Tarkas advanced toward me, holding out

one of his arms, and we thus proceeded to the plaza without further

mishap. I did not, of course, know the reason for which we had come to

the open, but I was not long in being enlightened. They first repeated

the word "sak" a number of times, and then Tars Tarkas made several

jumps, repeating the same word before each leap; then, turning to me,

he said, "sak!" I saw what they were after, and gathering myself

together I "sakked" with such marvelous success that I cleared a good

hundred and fifty feet; nor did I this time, lose my equilibrium, but

landed squarely upon my feet 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 lesser Martians,

and they immediately broke into demands for a repetition, which the

chieftain then ordered me to make; but I was both hungry and thirsty,

and determined on the spot that my only method of salvation was to

demand the consideration from these creatures which they evidently

would not voluntarily accord. I therefore ignored the repeated

commands to "sak," and each time they were made I motioned to my mouth

and rubbed my stomach.

Tars Tarkas and the chief exchanged a few words, and the former,

calling to a young female among the throng, gave her some instructions

and motioned me to accompany her. I grasped her proffered arm and

together we crossed the plaza toward a large building on the far side.

My fair companion was about eight feet tall, having just arrived at

maturity, but not yet to her full height. She was of a light

olive-green color, with a smooth, glossy hide. Her name, as I

afterward learned, was Sola, and she belonged to the retinue of Tars

Tarkas. She conducted me to a spacious chamber in one of the buildings

fronting on the plaza, and which, from the litter of silks and furs

upon the floor, I took to be the sleeping quarters of several of the

natives.

The room was well lighted by a number of large windows and was

beautifully decorated with mural paintings and mosaics, but upon all

there seemed to rest that indefinable touch of the finger of antiquity

which convinced me that the architects and builders of these wondrous

creations had nothing in common with the crude half-brutes which now

occupied them.

Sola motioned me to be seated upon a pile of silks near the center of

the room, and, turning, made a peculiar hissing sound, as though

signaling to someone in an adjoining room. In response to her call I

obtained my first sight of a new Martian wonder. It waddled in on its

ten short legs, and squatted down before the girl like an obedient

puppy. The thing was about the size of a Shetland pony, but its head

bore a slight resemblance to that of a frog, except that the jaws were

equipped with three rows of long, sharp tusks.