A Princess of Mars

There were no marks of violence on the body, and with the aid of a

local physician the coroner's jury quickly reached a decision of death

from heart failure. Left alone in the study, I opened the safe and

withdrew the contents of the drawer in which he had told me I would

find my instructions. They were in part peculiar indeed, but I have

followed them to each last detail as faithfully as I was able.

He directed that I remove his body to Virginia without embalming, and

that he be laid in an open coffin within a tomb which he previously had

had constructed and which, as I later learned, was well ventilated.

The instructions impressed upon me that I must personally see that this

was carried out just as he directed, even in secrecy if necessary.

His property was left in such a way that I was to receive the entire

income for twenty-five years, when the principal was to become mine.

His further instructions related to this manuscript which I was to

retain sealed and unread, just as I found it, for eleven years; nor was

I to divulge its contents until twenty-one years after his death.

A strange feature about the tomb, where his body still lies, is that

the massive door is equipped with a single, huge gold-plated spring

lock which can be opened only from the inside.

Yours very sincerely, Edgar Rice Burroughs.