GHEK, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud,sat nursing his anger and his humiliation. Recently something hadawakened within him the existence of which he had never beforeeven dreamed. Had the influence of the strange captive womanaught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction? He did notknow. He missed the soothing influence of the noise she calledsinging. Could it be that there were other things more desirablethan cold logic and undefiled brain power? Was well balancedimperfection more to be sought after then, than the highdevelopment of a single characteristic? He thought of the great,ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving. It wouldbe deaf, and dumb, and blind. A thousand beautiful strangersmight sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasurefrom the singing or the dancing since it would possess noperceptive faculties. Already had the kaldanes shut themselvesoff from most of the gratifications of the senses. Ghek wonderedif much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, andwith the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of theirtheory. After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose coulda great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth?

And he, Ghek, was to die for this theory. Luud had decreed it.The injustice of it overwhelmed him with rage. But he washelpless. There was no escape. Beyond the enclosure the banthsawaited him; within, his own kind, equally as merciless andferocious. Among them there was no such thing as love, orloyalty, or friendship--they were just brains. He might killLuud; but what would that profit him? Another king would beloosed from his sealed chamber and Ghek would be killed. He didnot know it but he would not even have the poor satisfaction ofsatisfied revenge, since he was not capable of feeling soabstruse a sentiment.

Ghek, mounted upon his rykor, paced the floor of the towerchamber in which he had been ordered to remain. Ordinarily hewould have accepted the sentence of Luud with perfect equanimity,since it was but the logical result of reason; but now it seemeddifferent. The stranger woman had bewitched him. Life appeared apleasant thing--there were great possibilities in it. The dreamof the ultimate brain had receded into a tenuous haze far in thebackground of his thoughts.

At that moment there appeared in the doorway of the chamber a redwarrior with naked sword. He was a male counterpart of theprisoner whose sweet voice had undermined the cold, calculatingreason of the kaldane.

"Silence!" admonished the newcomer, his straight brows gatheredin an ominous frown and the point of his longsword playingmenacingly before the eyes of the kaldane. "I seek the woman,Tara of Helium. Where is she? If you value your life speakquickly and speak the truth."

If he valued his life! It was a truth that Ghek had but justlearned. He thought quickly. After all, a great brain is notwithout its uses. Perhaps here lay escape from the sentence ofLuud.

"You are of her kind?" he asked. "You come to rescue her?"

"Yes."

"Listen, then. I have befriended her, and because of this I am todie. If I help you to liberate her, will you take me with you?"

Gahan of Gathol eyed the weird creature from crown to foot--theperfect body, the grotesque head, the expressionless face. Amongsuch as these had the beautiful daughter of Helium been heldcaptive for days and weeks.

"If she lives and is unharmed," he said, "I will take you withus."

"When they took her from me she was alive and unharmed," repliedGhek. "I cannot say what has befallen her since. Luud sent forher."

"Who is Luud? Where is he? Lead me to him." Gahan spoke quicklyin tones vibrant with authority.

"Come, then," said Ghek, leading the way from the apartment anddown a stairway toward the underground burrows of the kaldanes."Luud is my king. I will take you to his chambers."

"Hasten!" urged Gahan.

"Sheathe your sword," warned Ghek, "so that should we pass othersof my kind I may say to them that you are a new prisoner withsome likelihood of winning their belief."

Gahan did as he was bid, but warning the kaldane that his handwas ever ready at his dagger's hilt.

"You need have no fear of treachery," said Ghek "My only hope oflife lies in you."

"And if you fail me," Gahan admonished him, "I can promise you assure a death as even your king might guarantee you."

Ghek made no reply, but moved rapidly through the windingsubterranean corridors until Gahan began to realize how truly washe in the hands of this strange monster. If the fellow shouldprove false it would profit Gahan nothing to slay him, sincewithout his guidance the red man might never hope to retrace hisway to the tower and freedom.

Twice they met and were accosted by other kaldanes; but in bothinstances Ghek's simple statement that he was taking a newprisoner to Luud appeared to allay all suspicion, and then atlast they came to the ante-chamber of the king.

"Here, now, red man, thou must fight, if ever," whispered Ghek."Enter there!" and he pointed to a doorway before them.

"And you?" asked Gahan, still fearful of treachery.

"My rykor is powerful," replied the kaldane. "I shall accompanyyou and fight at your side. As well die thus as in torture laterat the will of Luud. Come!"

But Gahan had already crossed the room and entered the chamberbeyond. Upon the opposite side of the room was a circular openingguarded by two warriors. Beyond this opening he could see twofigures struggling upon the floor, and the fleeting glimpse hehad of one of the faces suddenly endowed him with the strength often warriors and the ferocity of a wounded banth. It was Tara ofHelium, fighting for her honor or her life.

The warriors, startled by the unexpected appearance of a red man,stood for a moment in dumb amazement, and in that moment Gahan ofGathol was upon them, and one was down, a sword-thrust throughits heart.

"Strike at the heads," whispered the voice of Ghek in Gahan'sear. The latter saw the head of the fallen warrior crawl quicklywithin the aperture leading to the chamber where he had seen Taraof Helium in the clutches of a headless body. Then the sword ofGhek struck the kaldane of the remaining warrior from its rykorand Gahan ran his sword through the repulsive head.

Instantly the red warrior leaped for the aperture, while closebehind him came Ghek.

"Look not upon the eyes of Luud," warned the kaldane, "or you arelost."

Within the chamber Gahan saw Tara of Helium in the clutches of amighty body, while close to the wall upon the opposite side ofthe apartment crouched the hideous, spider-like Luud. Instantlythe king realized the menace to himself and sought to fasten hiseyes upon the eyes of Gahan, and in doing so he was forced torelax his concentration upon the rykor in whose embraces Tarastruggled, so that almost immediately the girl found herself ableto tear away from the awful, headless thing.

As she rose quickly to her feet she saw for the first time thecause of the interruption of Luud's plans. A red warrior! Herheart leaped in rejoicing and thanksgiving. What miracle of fatehad sent him to her? She did not recognize him, though, thistravel-worn warrior in the plain harness which showed no singlejewel. How could she have guessed him the same as the scintillantcreature of platinum and diamonds that she had seen for a briefhour under such different circumstances at the court of heraugust sire?

Luud saw Ghek following the strange warrior into the chamber."Strike him down, Ghek!" commanded the king. "Strike down thestranger and your life shall be yours."

Gahan glanced at the hideous face of the king.

"Seek not his eyes," screamed Tara in warning; but it was toolate. Already the horrid hypnotic gaze of the king kaldane hadseized upon the eyes of Gahan. The red warrior hesitated in hisstride. His sword point drooped slowly toward the floor. Taraglanced toward Ghek. She saw the creature glaring with hisexpressionless eyes upon the broad back of the stranger. She sawthe hand of the creature's rykor creeping stealthily toward thehilt of its dagger.

And then Tara of Helium raised her eyes aloft and poured forththe notes of Mars' most beautiful melody, The Song of Love.

Ghek drew his dagger from its sheath. His eyes turned toward thesinging girl. Luud's glance wavered from the eyes of the man tothe face of Tara, and the instant that the latter's songdistracted his attention from his victim, Gahan of Gathol shookhimself and as with a supreme effort of will forced his eyes tothe wall above Luud's hideous head. Ghek raised his dagger abovehis right shoulder, took a single quick step forward, and struck.The girl's song ended in a stifled scream as she leaped forwardwith the evident intention of frustrating the kaldane's purpose;but she was too late, and well it was, for an instant later sherealized the purpose of Ghek's act as she saw the dagger fly fromhis hand, pass Gahan's shoulder, and sink full to the guard inthe soft face of Luud.

"Come!" cried the assassin, "we have no time to lose," andstarted for the aperture through which they had entered thechamber; but in his stride he paused as his glance was arrestedby the form of the mighty rykor Iying prone upon the floor--aking's rykor; the most beautiful, the most powerful, that thebreeders of Bantoom could produce. Ghek realized that in hisescape he could take with him but a single rykor, and there wasnone in Bantoom that could give him better service than thisgiant Iying here. Quickly he transferred himself to the shouldersof the great, inert hulk. Instantly the latter was transformed toa sentient creature, filled with pulsing life and alert energy.

"Now," said the kaldane, "we are ready. Let whoso would revert tonothingness impede me." Even as he spoke he stooped and crawledinto the chamber beyond, while Gahan, taking Tara by the arm,motioned her to follow. The girl looked him full in the eyes forthe first time. "The Gods of my people have been kind," she said;"you came just in time. To the thanks of Tara of Helium shall beadded those of The Warlord of Barsoom and his people. Thy rewardshall surpass thy greatest desires."

Gahan of Gathol saw that she did not recognize him, and quicklyhe checked the warm greeting that had been upon his lips.

"Be thou Tara of Helium or another," he replied, "is immaterial,to serve thus a red woman of Barsoom is in itself sufficientreward."

As they spoke the girl was making her way through the apertureafter Ghek, and presently all three had quitted the apartments ofLuud and were moving rapidly along the winding corridors towardthe tower. Ghek repeatedly urged them to greater speed, but thered men of Barsoom were never keen for retreat, and so the twothat followed him moved all too slowly for the kaldane.

"There are none to impede our progress," urged Gahan, "so why taxthe strength of the Princess by needless haste?"

"I fear not so much opposition ahead, for there are none therewho know the thing that has been done in Luud's chambers thisnight; but the kaldane of one of the warriors who stood guardbefore Luud's apartment escaped, and you may count it a truththat he lost no time in seeking aid. That it did not come beforewe left is due solely to the rapidity with which eventstranspired in the king's* room. Long before we reach the towerthey will be upon us from behind, and that they will come innumbers far superior to ours and with great and powerful rykors Iwell know."

* I have used the word king in describing the rulers or chiefs ofthe Bantoomian swarms, since the word itself is unpronounceablein English, nor does jed or jeddak of the red Martian tongue havequite the same meaning as the Bantoomian word, which haspractically the same significance as the English word queen asapplied to the leader of a swarm of bees.--J. C.

Nor was Ghek's prophecy long in fulfilment. Presently the soundsof pursuit became audible in the distant clanking ofaccouterments and the whistling call to arms of the kaldanes.

"The tower is but a short distance now," cried Ghek. "Make hastewhile yet you may, and if we can barricade it until the sun riseswe may yet escape."

"We shall need no barricades for we shall not linger in thetower," replied Gahan, moving more rapidly as he realized fromthe volume of sound behind them the great number of theirpursuers.

"But we may not go further than the tower tonight," insistedGhek. "Beyond the tower await the banths and certain death."

Gahan smiled. "Fear not the banths," he assured them. "Can we butreach the enclosure a little ahead of our pursuers we have naughtto fear from any evil power within this accursed valley."

Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote eitherbelief or skepticism. The girl looked into the face of the manquestioningly. She did not understand.

"Your flier," he said. "It is moored before the tower."

Her face lighted with pleasure and relief. "You found it!" sheexclaimed. "What fortune!"

"It was fortune indeed," he replied. "Since it not only told thatyou were a prisoner here; but it saved me from the banths as Iwas crossing the valley from the hills to this tower into which Isaw them take you this afternoon after your brave attempt atescape."

"How did you know it was I?" she asked, her puzzled browsscanning his face as though she sought to recall from pastmemories some scene in which he figured.

"Who is there but knows of the loss of the Princess Tara ofHelium?" he replied. "And when I saw the device upon your flier Iknew at once, though I had not known when I saw you among them inthe fields a short time earlier. Too great was the distance forme to make certain whether the captive was man or woman. Hadchance not divulged the hiding place of your flier I had gone myway, Tara of Helium. I shudder to think how close was the chanceat that. But for the momentary shining of the sun upon theemblazoned device on the prow of your craft, I had passed onunknowing."

The girl shuddered. "The Gods sent you," she whisperedreverently.

"The Gods sent me, Tara of Helium," he replied.

"But I do not recognize you," she said. "I have tried to recallyou, but I have failed. Your name, what may it be?"

"It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall theface of every roving panthan of Barsoom," he replied with asmile.

"But your name?" insisted the girt

"Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that ifTara of Helium recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowalof love had angered her that day in the gardens of The Warlord,her situation might be rendered infinitely less bearable thanwere she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simplepanthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by hisloyalty and faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed tohave been closed to the resplendent Jed of Gathol.

* Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior.

They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from thesubterranean corridor a backward glance revealed the van of theirpursuers--hideous kaldanes mounted upon swift and powerfulrykors. As rapidly as might be the three ascended the stairwaysleading to the ground level, but after them, even more rapidly,came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one ofTara's hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahanof Gathol followed a few paces in their rear, his bared swordready for the assault that all realized must come upon them nowbefore ever they reached the enclosure and the flier.

"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight withyou."

"There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors,"replied the Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deckof the flier. Have your hand upon the control, and if I come farenough ahead of these to reach the dangling cable you can rise atmy word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if oneof them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that Ishall never come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Godsof our ancestors to give you a fair breeze in the direction of amore hospitable people."

Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan,"she said.

Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Takeher to the craft moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "Itis our only hope. Alone, I may win to its deck; but have I towait upon you two at the last moment the chances are that none ofus will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty andarrogant--the tone of a man who has commanded other men frombirth, and whose will has been law. Tara of Helium was bothangered and vexed. She was not accustomed to being eithercommanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was nofool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking hislife to save hers, so she hastened on with Ghek as she was bid,and after the first flush of anger she smiled, for therealization came to her that this fellow was but a roughuntutored warrior, skilled not in the finer usages of culturedcourts. His heart was right, though; a brave and loyal heart, andgladly she forgave him the offense of his tone and manner. Butwhat a tone! Recollection of it gave her sudden pause. Panthanswere rough and ready men. Often they rose to positions of highcommand, so it was not the note of authority in the fellow'svoice that seemed remarkable; but something else--a quality thatwas indefinable, yet as distinct as it was familiar. She hadheard it before when the voice of her great-grandsire, TardosMors, Jeddak of Helium, had risen in command; and in the voice ofher grandfather, Mors Kajak, the jed; and in the ringing tones ofher illustrious sire, John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, when headdressed his warriors.

But now she had no time to speculate upon so trivial a thing, forbehind her came the sudden clash of arms and she knew that Turan,the panthan, had crossed swords with the first of their pursuers.As she glanced back he was still visible

beyond a turn in the stairway, so that she could see the quickswordplay that ensued. Daughter of a world's greatest swordsman,she knew well the finest points of the art. She saw the clumsyattack of the kaldane and the quick, sure return of the panthan.As she looked down from above upon his almost naked body, trappedonly in the simplest of unadorned harness, and saw the play ofthe lithe muscles beneath the red-bronze skin, and witnessed thequick and delicate play of his sword point, to her sense ofobligation was added a spontaneous admission of admiration thatwas but the natural tribute of a woman to skill and bravery and,perchance, some trifle to manly symmetry and strength.

Three times the panthan's blade changed its position--once tofend a savage cut; once to feint; and once to thrust. And as hewithdrew it from the last position the kaldane rolled lifelessfrom its stumbling rykor and Turan sprang quickly down the stepsto engage the next behind, and then Ghek had drawn Tara upwardand a turn in the stairway shut the battling panthan from herview; but still she heard the ring of steel on steel, the clankof accouterments and the shrill whistling of the kaldanes. Herheart moved her to turn back to the side of her brave defender;but her judgment told her that she could serve him best by beingready at the control of the flier at the moment he reached theenclosure.