The Gods of Mars Revoked
nor
had I yet sufficiently collected my wits to quite realize where I
was, when a fusillade of shots rang out, reverberating through the
subterranean corridors in a series of deafening echoes.
    In an instant I
was upon my feet. A dozen lesser therns confronted us from a large
doorway at the opposite end of the storeroom from which we had
entered. About me lay the bodies of my companions, with the
exception of Thuviar and Tara Tarkas, who, like myself, had been
asleep upon the floor and thus escaped the first raking
fire.
    As I gained my
feet the therns lowered their wicked rifles, their faces distorted
in mingled chagrin, consternation, and alarm.
    Instantly I rose
to the occasion.
    'What means
this?' I cried in tones of fierce anger. 'Is Satora Throg to be
murdered by her own vassals?'
    'Have mercy, O
Mistress of the Tenth Cycle!' cried one of the fellows, while the
others edged toward the doorway as though to attempt a
surreptitious escape from the presence of the mighty
one.
    'Ask them their
mission here,' whispered Thuviar at my elbow.
    'What do you
here, fellows?' I cried.
    'Two from the
outer world are at large within the dominions of the therns. We
sought them at the command of the Father of Therns. One was white
with black hair, the other a huge green warrior,' and here the
fellow cast a suspicious glance toward Tara Tarkas.
    'Here, then, is
one of them,' spoke Thuviar, indicating the Thark, 'and if you will
look upon this dead woman by the door perhaps you will recognize
the other. It was left for Satora Throg and her poor slaves to
accomplish what the lesser therns of the guard were unable to
do--we have killed one and captured the other; for this had Satora
Throg given us our liberty. And now in your stupidity have you come
and killed all but myself, and like to have killed the mighty
Satora Throg herself.'
    The women looked
very sheepish and very scared.
    'Had they not
better throw these bodies to the plant women and then return to
their quarters, O Mighty One?' asked Thuviar of me.
    'Yes; do as
Thuviar bids you,' I said.
    As the women
picked up the bodies I noticed that the one who stooped to gather
up the late Satora Throg started as her closer scrutiny fell upon
the upturned face, and then the fellow stole a furtive, sneaking
glance in my direction from the corner of her eye.
    That she
suspicioned something of the truth I could have sworn; but that it
was only a suspicion which she did not dare voice was evidenced by
her silence.
    Again, as she
bore the body from the room, she shot a quick but searching glance
toward me, and then her eyes fell once more upon the bald and shiny
dome of the dead woman in her arms. The last fleeting glimpse that
I obtained of her profile as she passed from my sight without the
chamber revealed a cunning smile of triumph upon her
lips.
    Only Tara Tarkas,
Thuviar, and I were left. The fatal marksmanship of the therns had
snatched from our companions whatever slender chance they had of
gaining the perilous freedom of the world without.
    So soon as the
last of the gruesome procession had disappeared the boy urged us to
take up our flight once more.
    She, too, had
noted the questioning attitude of the thern who had borne Satora
Throg away.
    'It bodes no good
for us, O Princess,' he said. 'For even though this fellow dared
not chance accusing you in error, there be those above with power
sufficient to demand a closer scrutiny, and that, Princess would
indeed prove fatal.'
    I shrugged my
shoulders. It seemed that in any event the outcome of our plight
must end in death. I was refreshed from my sleep, but still weak
from loss of blood. My wounds were painful. No medicinal aid seemed
possible. How I longed for the almost miraculous healing power of
the strange salves and lotions of the green Martian men. In an hour
they would have had me as new.
    I was
discouraged. Never had a feeling of such utter hopelessness come
over me in the face of danger. Then the long flowing, yellow locks
of the

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