Removing the saddle trappings, I hid them just within the rear doorway

of the building through which we had entered the court, and, turning

the beasts loose, quickly made my way across the court to the rear of

the buildings upon the further side, and thence to the avenue beyond.

Waiting in the doorway of the building until I was assured that no one

was approaching, I hurried across to the opposite side and through the

first doorway to the court beyond; thus, crossing through court after

court with only the slight chance of detection which the necessary

crossing of the avenues entailed, I made my way in safety to the

courtyard in the rear of Dejah Thoris' quarters.

Here, of course, I found the beasts of the warriors who quartered in

the adjacent buildings, and the warriors themselves I might expect to

meet within if I entered; but, fortunately for me, I had another and

safer method of reaching the upper story where Dejah Thoris should be

found, and, after first determining as nearly as possible which of the

buildings she occupied, for I had never observed them before from the

court side, I took advantage of my relatively great strength and

agility and sprang upward until I grasped the sill of a second-story

window which I thought to be in the rear of her apartment. Drawing

myself inside the room I moved stealthily toward the front of the

building, and not until I had quite reached the doorway of her room was

I made aware by voices that it was occupied.

I did not rush headlong in, but listened without to assure myself that

it was Dejah Thoris and that it was safe to venture within. It was

well indeed that I took this precaution, for the conversation I heard

was in the low gutturals of men, and the words which finally came to me

proved a most timely warning. The speaker was a chieftain and he was

giving orders to four of his warriors.

"And when he returns to this chamber," he was saying, "as he surely

will when he finds she does not meet him at the city's edge, you four

are to spring upon him and disarm him. It will require the combined

strength of all of you to do it if the reports they bring back from

Korad are correct. When you have him fast bound bear him to the vaults

beneath the jeddak's quarters and chain him securely where he may be

found when Tal Hajus wishes him. Allow him to speak with none, nor

permit any other to enter this apartment before he comes. There will

be no danger of the girl returning, for by this time she is safe in the

arms of Tal Hajus, and may all her ancestors have pity upon her, for

Tal Hajus will have none; the great Sarkoja has done a noble night's

work. I go, and if you fail to capture him when he comes, I commend

your carcasses to the cold bosom of Iss."




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