The Gods of Mars

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

  CHAPTER XVII

  THE DEATH SENTENCE

  A few moments before the appointed time on the following morning astrong guard of Zat Arrras' officers appeared at our quarters to conductus to the great hall of the temple.

  In twos we entered the chamber and marched down the broad Aisle ofHope, as it is called, to the platform in the centre of the hall.Before and behind us marched armed guards, while three solid ranks ofZodangan soldiery lined either side of the aisle from the entrance tothe rostrum.

  As we reached the raised enclosure I saw our judges. As is the customupon Barsoom there were thirty-one, supposedly selected by lot from menof the noble class, for nobles were on trial. But to my amazement Isaw no single friendly face among them. Practically all wereZodangans, and it was I to whom Zodanga owed her defeat at the hands ofthe green hordes and her subsequent vassalage to Helium. There couldbe little justice here for John Carter, or his son, or for the greatThark who had commanded the savage tribesmen who overran Zodanga'sbroad avenues, looting, burning, and murdering.

  About us the vast circular coliseum was packed to its full capacity.All classes were represented--all ages, and both sexes. As we enteredthe hall the hum of subdued conversation ceased until as we halted uponthe platform, or Throne of Righteousness, the silence of deathenveloped the ten thousand spectators.

  The judges were seated in a great circle about the periphery of thecircular platform. We were assigned seats with our backs toward asmall platform in the exact centre of the larger one. This placed usfacing the judges and the audience. Upon the smaller platform eachwould take his place while his case was being heard.

  Zat Arrras himself sat in the golden chair of the presiding magistrate.As we were seated and our guards retired to the foot of the stairwayleading to the platform, he arose and called my name.

  "John Carter," he cried, "take your place upon the Pedestal of Truth tobe judged impartially according to your acts and here to know thereward you have earned thereby." Then turning to and fro toward theaudience he narrated the acts upon the value of which my reward was tobe determined.

  "Know you, O judges and people of Helium," he said, "that John Carter,one time Prince of Helium, has returned by his own statement from theValley Dor and even from the Temple of Issus itself. That, in thepresence of many men of Helium he has blasphemed against the SacredIss, and against the Valley Dor, and the Lost Sea of Korus, and theHoly Therns themselves, and even against Issus, Goddess of Death, andof Life Eternal. And know you further by witness of thine own eyesthat see him here now upon the Pedestal of Truth that he has indeedreturned from these sacred precincts in the face of our ancientcustoms, and in violation of the sanctity of our ancient religion.

  "He who be once dead may not live again. He who attempts it must bemade dead for ever. Judges, your duty lies plain before you--here canbe no testimony in contravention of truth. What reward shall be metedto John Carter in accordance with the acts he has committed?"

  "Death!" shouted one of the judges.

  And then a man sprang to his feet in the audience, and raising his handon high, cried: "Justice! Justice! Justice!" It was Kantos Kan, andas all eyes turned toward him he leaped past the Zodangan soldiery andsprang upon the platform.

  "What manner of justice be this?" he cried to Zat Arrras. "Thedefendant has not been heard, nor has he had an opportunity to callothers in his behalf. In the name of the people of Helium I demandfair and impartial treatment for the Prince of Helium."

  A great cry arose from the audience then: "Justice! Justice!Justice!" and Zat Arrras dared not deny them.

  "Speak, then," he snarled, turning to me; "but blaspheme not againstthe things that are sacred upon Barsoom."

  "Men of Helium," I cried, turning to the spectators, and speaking overthe heads of my judges, "how can John Carter expect justice from themen of Zodanga? He cannot nor does he ask it. It is to the men ofHelium that he states his case; nor does he appeal for mercy to any.It is not in his own cause that he speaks now--it is in thine. In thecause of your wives and daughters, and of wives and daughters yetunborn. It is to save them from the unthinkably atrocious indignitiesthat I have seen heaped upon the fair women of Barsoom in the place mencall the Temple of Issus. It is to save them from the sucking embraceof the plant men, from the fangs of the great white apes of Dor, fromthe cruel lust of the Holy Therns, from all that the cold, dead Isscarries them to from homes of love and life and happiness.

  "Sits there no man here who does not know the history of John Carter.How he came among you from another world and rose from a prisoner amongthe green men, through torture and persecution, to a place high amongthe highest of Barsoom. Nor ever did you know John Carter to lie inhis own behalf, or to say aught that might harm the people of Barsoom,or to speak lightly of the strange religion which he respected withoutunderstanding.

  "There be no man here, or elsewhere upon Barsoom to-day who does notowe his life directly to a single act of mine, in which I sacrificedmyself and the happiness of my Princess that you might live. And so,men of Helium, I think that I have the right to demand that I be heard,that I be believed, and that you let me serve you and save you from thefalse hereafter of Dor and Issus as I saved you from the real deaththat other day.

  "It is to you of Helium that I speak now. When I am done let the menof Zodanga have their will with me. Zat Arrras has taken my sword fromme, so the men of Zodanga no longer fear me. Will you listen?"

  "Speak, John Carter, Prince of Helium," cried a great noble from theaudience, and the multitude echoed his permission, until the buildingrocked with the noise of their demonstration.

  Zat Arrras knew better than to interfere with such a sentiment as wasexpressed that day in the Temple of Reward, and so for two hours Italked with the people of Helium.

  But when I had finished, Zat Arrras arose and, turning to the judges,said in a low tone: "My nobles, you have heard John Carter's plea;every opportunity has been given him to prove his innocence if he benot guilty; but instead he has but utilized the time in furtherblasphemy. What, gentlemen, is your verdict?"

  "Death to the blasphemer!" cried one, springing to his feet, and in aninstant the entire thirty-one judges were on their feet with upraisedswords in token of the unanimity of their verdict.

  If the people did not hear Zat Arrras' charge, they certainly did hearthe verdict of the tribunal. A sullen murmur rose louder and louderabout the packed coliseum, and then Kantos Kan, who had not left theplatform since first he had taken his place near me, raised his handfor silence. When he could be heard he spoke to the people in a cooland level voice.

  "You have heard the fate that the men of Zodanga would mete to Helium'snoblest hero. It may be the duty of the men of Helium to accept theverdict as final. Let each man act according to his own heart. Hereis the answer of Kantos Kan, head of the navy of Helium, to Zat Arrrasand his judges," and with that he unbuckled his scabbard and threw hissword at my feet.

  In an instant soldiers and citizens, officers and nobles were crowdingpast the soldiers of Zodanga and forcing their way to the Throne ofRighteousness. A hundred men surged up on the platform, and a hundredblades rattled and clanked to the floor at my feet. Zat Arrras and hisofficers were furious, but they were helpless. One by one I raised theswords to my lips and buckled them again upon their owners.

  "Come," said Kantos Kan, "we will escort John Carter and his party tohis own palace," and they formed about us and started toward the stairsleading to the Aisle of Hope.

  "Stop!" cried Zat Arrras. "Soldiers of Helium, let no prisoner leavethe Throne of Righteousness."

  The soldiery from Zodanga were the only organized body of Heliumetictroops within the temple, so Zat Arrras was confident that his orderswould be obeyed, but I do not think that he looked for the oppositionthat was raised the moment the soldiers advanced toward the throne.

  From every quarter of the coliseum swords flashed and men rushedthreateningly upon the Zodangans. Some one raised a cry
: "Tardos Morsis dead--a thousand years to John Carter, Jeddak of Helium." As I heardthat and saw the ugly attitude of the men of Helium toward the soldiersof Zat Arrras, I knew that only a miracle could avert a clash that wouldend in civil war.

  "Hold!" I cried, leaping to the Pedestal of Truth once more. "Let noman move till I am done. A single sword thrust here to-day may plungeHelium into a bitter and bloody war the results of which none canforesee. It will turn brother against brother and father against son.No man's life is worth that sacrifice. Rather would I submit to thebiased judgment of Zat Arrras than be the cause of civil strife inHelium.

  "Let us each give in a point to the other, and let this entire matterrest until Tardos Mors returns, or Mors Kajak, his son. If neither beback at the end of a year a second trial may be held--the thing has aprecedent." And then turning to Zat Arrras, I said in a low voice:"Unless you be a bigger fool than I take you to be, you will grasp thechance I am offering you ere it is too late. Once that multitude ofswords below is drawn against your soldiery no man upon Barsoom--noteven Tardos Mors himself--can avert the consequences. What say you?Speak quickly."

  The Jed of Zodangan Helium raised his voice to the angry sea beneath us.

  "Stay your hands, men of Helium," he shouted, his voice trembling withrage. "The sentence of the court is passed, but the day of retributionhas not been set. I, Zat Arrras, Jed of Zodanga, appreciating the royalconnections of the prisoner and his past services to Helium andBarsoom, grant a respite of one year, or until the return of MorsKajak, or Tardos Mors to Helium. Disperse quietly to your houses. Go."

  No one moved. Instead, they stood in tense silence with their eyesfastened upon me, as though waiting for a signal to attack.

  "Clear the temple," commanded Zat Arrras, in a low tone to one of hisofficers.

  Fearing the result of an attempt to carry out this order by force, Istepped to the edge of the platform and, pointing toward the mainentrance, bid them pass out. As one man they turned at my request andfiled, silent and threatening, past the soldiers of Zat Arrras, Jed ofZodanga, who stood scowling in impotent rage.

  Kantos Kan with the others who had sworn allegiance to me still stoodupon the Throne of Righteousness with me.

  "Come," said Kantos Kan to me, "we will escort you to your palace, myPrince. Come, Carthoris and Xodar. Come, Tars Tarkas." And with ahaughty sneer for Zat Arrras upon his handsome lips, he turned andstrode to the throne steps and up the Aisle of Hope. We four and thehundred loyal ones followed behind him, nor was a hand raised to stayus, though glowering eyes followed our triumphal march through thetemple.

  In the avenues we found a press of people, but they opened a pathwayfor us, and many were the swords that were flung at my feet as I passedthrough the city of Helium toward my palace upon the outskirts. Heremy old slaves fell upon their knees and kissed my hands as I greetedthem. They cared not where I had been. It was enough that I hadreturned to them.

  "Ah, master," cried one, "if our divine Princess were but here thiswould be a day indeed."

  Tears came to my eyes, so that I was forced to turn away that I mighthide my emotions. Carthoris wept openly as the slaves pressed abouthim with expressions of affection, and words of sorrow for our commonloss. It was now that Tars Tarkas for the first time learned that hisdaughter, Sola, had accompanied Dejah Thoris upon the last longpilgrimage. I had not had the heart to tell him what Kantos Kan hadtold me. With the stoicism of the green Martian he showed no sign ofsuffering, yet I knew that his grief was as poignant as my own. Inmarked contrast to his kind, he had in well-developed form the kindlierhuman characteristics of love, friendship, and charity.

  It was a sad and sombre party that sat at the feast of welcome in thegreat dining hall of the palace of the Prince of Helium that day. Wewere over a hundred strong, not counting the members of my littlecourt, for Dejah Thoris and I had maintained a household consistentwith our royal rank.

  The board, according to red Martian custom, was triangular, for therewere three in our family. Carthoris and I presided in the centre ofour sides of the table--midway of the third side Dejah Thoris'high-backed, carven chair stood vacant except for her gorgeous weddingtrappings and jewels which were draped upon it. Behind stood a slaveas in the days when his mistress had occupied her place at the board,ready to do her bidding. It was the way upon Barsoom, so I endured theanguish of it, though it wrung my heart to see that silent chair whereshould have been my laughing and vivacious Princess keeping the greathall ringing with her merry gaiety.

  At my right sat Kantos Kan, while to the right of Dejah Thoris' emptyplace Tars Tarkas sat in a huge chair before a raised section of theboard which years ago I had had constructed to meet the requirements ofhis mighty bulk. The place of honour at a Martian hoard is always atthe hostess's right, and this place was ever reserved by Dejah Thorisfor the great Thark upon the occasions that he was in Helium.

  Hor Vastus sat in the seat of honour upon Carthoris' side of the table.There was little general conversation. It was a quiet and saddenedparty. The loss of Dejah Thoris was still fresh in the minds of all,and to this was added fear for the safety of Tardos Mors and MorsKajak, as well as doubt and uncertainty as to the fate of Helium,should it prove true that she was permanently deprived of her greatJeddak.

  Suddenly our attention was attracted by the sound of distant shouting,as of many people raising their voices at once, but whether in anger orrejoicing, we could not tell. Nearer and nearer came the tumult. Aslave rushed into the dining hall to cry that a great concourse ofpeople was swarming through the palace gates. A second burst upon theheels of the first alternately laughing and shrieking as a madman.

  "Dejah Thoris is found!" he cried. "A messenger from Dejah Thoris!"

  I waited to hear no more. The great windows of the dining halloverlooked the avenue leading to the main gates--they were upon theopposite side of the hall from me with the table intervening. I didnot waste time in circling the great board--with a single leap Icleared table and diners and sprang upon the balcony beyond. Thirtyfeet below lay the scarlet sward of the lawn and beyond were manypeople crowding about a great thoat which bore a rider headed towardthe palace. I vaulted to the ground below and ran swiftly toward theadvancing party.

  As I came near to them I saw that the figure on the thoat was Sola.

  "Where is the Princess of Helium?" I cried.

  The green girl slid from her mighty mount and ran toward me.

  "O my Prince! My Prince!" she cried. "She is gone for ever. Even nowshe may be a captive upon the lesser moon. The black pirates ofBarsoom have stolen her."