A Princess of Mars

Close at my heel, in his now accustomed place, followed Woola, the

hound, and as I emerged upon the street Sola rushed up to me as though

I had been the object of some search on her part. The cavalcade was

returning to the plaza, the homeward march having been given up for

that day; nor, in fact, was it recommenced for more than a week, owing

to the fear of a return attack by the air craft.

Lorquas Ptomel was too astute an old warrior to be caught upon the open

plains with a caravan of chariots and children, and so we remained at

the deserted city until the danger seemed passed.

As Sola and I entered the plaza a sight met my eyes which filled my

whole being with a great surge of mingled hope, fear, exultation, and

depression, and yet most dominant was a subtle sense of relief and

happiness; for just as we neared the throng of Martians I caught a

glimpse of the prisoner from the battle craft who was being roughly

dragged into a nearby building by a couple of green Martian females.

And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure,

similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life. She did

not see me at first, but just as she was disappearing through the

portal of the building which was to be her prison she turned, and her

eyes met mine. Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her

every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and

lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair,

caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a

light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her

cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a

strangely enhancing effect.

She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied

her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely

naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect

and symmetrical figure.

As her gaze rested on me her eyes opened wide in astonishment, and she

made a little sign with her free hand; a sign which I did not, of

course, understand. Just a moment we gazed upon each other, and then

the look of hope and renewed courage which had glorified her face as

she discovered me, faded into one of utter dejection, mingled with

loathing and contempt. I realized I had not answered her signal, and

ignorant as I was of Martian customs, I intuitively felt that she had

made an appeal for succor and protection which my unfortunate ignorance

had prevented me from answering. And then she was dragged out of my

sight into the depths of the deserted edifice.