CHAPTER XXII - The Chessmen of Mars

AT THE MOMENT OF MARRIAGE

The silence of the tomb lay heavy about him as O-Tar, Jeddak of

Manator, opened his eyes in the chamber of O-Mai. Recollection of the

frightful apparition that had confronted him swept to his

consciousness. He listened, but heard naught. Within the range of his

vision there was nothing apparent that might cause alarm. Slowly he

lifted his head and looked about. Upon the floor beside the couch lay

the thing that had at first attracted his attention and his eyes closed

in terror as he recognized it for what it was; but it moved not, nor

spoke. O-Tar opened his eyes again and rose to his feet. He was

trembling in every limb. There was nothing on the dais from which he

had seen the thing arise.

O-Tar backed slowly from the room. At last he gained the outer

corridor. It was empty. He did not know that it had emptied rapidly as

the loud scream with which his own had mingled had broken upon the

startled ears of the warriors who had been sent to spy upon him. He

looked at the timepiece set in a massive bracelet upon his left

forearm. The ninth zode was nearly half gone. O-Tar had lain for an

hour unconscious. He had spent an hour in the chamber of O-Mai and he

was not dead! He had looked upon the face of his predecessor and was

still sane! He shook himself and smiled. Rapidly he subdued his

rebelliously shaking nerves, so that by the time he reached the

tenanted portion of the palace he had gained control of himself. He

walked with chin high and something of a swagger. To the banquet hall

he went, knowing that his chiefs awaited him there and as he entered

they arose and upon the faces of many were incredulity and amaze, for

they had not thought to see O-Tar the jeddak again after what the spies

had told them of the horrid sounds issuing from the chamber of O-Mai.

Thankful was O-Tar that he had gone alone to that chamber of fright,

for now no one could deny the tale that he should tell.

E-Thas rushed forward to greet him, for E-Thas had seen black looks

directed toward him as the tals slipped by and his benefactor failed to

return.

"O brave and glorious jeddak!" cried the major-domo. "We rejoice at

your safe return and beg of you the story of your adventure."

"It was naught," exclaimed O-Tar. "I searched the chambers carefully

and waited in hiding for the return of the slave, Turan, if he were

temporarily away; but he came not. He is not there and I doubt if he

ever goes there. Few men would choose to remain long in such a dismal

place."

"You were not attacked?" asked E-Thas. "You heard no screams, nor

moans?"

"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled before

me so that never could I lay hold of one, and I looked upon the face of

O-Mai and I am not mad. I even rested in the chamber beside his corpse."

In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a smile

behind a golden goblet of strong brew.

"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the

pommel of which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which

summoned slaves, but the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar was

puzzled. He knew that it had been there just before he entered the

chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all his weapons to make

sure that none was missing. He seized instead a table utensil and

struck the gong, and when the slaves came bade them bring the strongest

brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. Before the dawn broke many were the

expressions of admiration bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for

the courage of their jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum.

* * * * *

Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of Helium

to wife. For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. Seven perfumed

baths occupied three long and weary hours, then her whole body was

anointed with the oil of pimalia blossoms and massaged by the deft

fingers of a slave from distant Dusar. Her harness, all new and wrought

for the occasion was of the white hide of the great white apes of

Barsoom, hung heavily with platinum and diamonds--fairly encrusted with

them. The glossy mass of her jet hair had been built into a coiffure of

stately and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were

stuck until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a

moonless night.

But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high tower

toward the throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled with slaves

and warriors, and the women of the palace and the city who had been

commanded to attend the ceremony. All the power and pride, wealth and

beauty of Manator were there.

Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along the

marble corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The Hall of

Chiefs E-Thas, the major-domo, received her. The Hall was empty except

for its ranks of dead chieftains upon their dead mounts. Through this

long chamber E-Thas escorted her to the throne room which also was

empty, the marriage ceremony in Manator differing from that of other

countries of Barsoom. Here the bride would await the groom at the foot

of the steps leading to the throne. The guests followed her in and took

their places, leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the

throne clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a

short solitary communion with the dead behind closed doors in The Hall

of Chiefs. It was the custom.

The guests had all filed through The Hall of Chiefs; the doors at both

ends had been closed. Presently those at the lower end of the hall

opened and O-Tar entered. His black harness was ornamented with rubies

and gold; his face was covered by a grotesque mask of the precious

metal in which two enormous rubies were set for eyes, though below them

were narrow slits through which the wearer could see. His crown was a

fillet supporting carved feathers of the same metal as the mask. To the

least detail his regalia was that demanded of a royal bridegroom by the

customs of Manator, and now in accordance with that same custom he came

alone to The Hall of Chiefs to receive the blessings and the council of

the great ones of Manator who had preceded him.

As the doors at the lower end of the Hall closed behind him O-Tar the

Jeddak stood alone with the great dead. By the dictates of ages no

mortal eye might look upon the scene enacted within that sacred

chamber. As the mighty of Manator respected the traditions of Manator,

let us, too, respect those traditions of a proud and sensitive people.

Of what concern to us the happenings in that solemn chamber of the dead?

Five minutes passed. The bride stood silently at the foot of the

throne. The guests spoke together in low whispers until the room was

filled with the hum of many voices. At length the doors leading into

The Hall of Chiefs swung open, and the resplendent bridegroom stood

framed for a moment in the massive opening. A hush fell upon the

wedding guests. With measured and impressive step the groom approached

the bride. Tara felt the muscles of her heart contract with the

apprehension that had been growing upon her as the coils of Fate

settled more closely about her and no sign came from Turan. Where was

he? What, indeed, could he accomplish now to save her? Surrounded by

the power of O-Tar with never a friend among them, her position seemed

at last without vestige of hope.

"I still live!" she whispered inwardly in a last brave attempt to

combat the terrible hopelessness that was overwhelming her, but her

fingers stole for reassurance to the slim blade that she had managed to

transfer, undetected, from her old harness to the new. And now the

groom was at her side and taking her hand was leading her up the steps

to the throne, before which they halted and stood facing the gathering

below. Came then, from the back of the room a procession headed by the

high dignitary whose office it was to make these two man and wife, and

directly behind him a richly-clad youth bearing a silken pillow on

which lay the golden handcuffs connected by a short length of

chain-of-gold with which the ceremony would be concluded when the

dignitary clasped a handcuff about the wrist of each symbolizing their

indissoluble union in the holy bonds of wedlock.

Would Turan's promised succor come too late? Tara listened to the long,

monotonous intonation of the wedding service. She heard the virtues of

O-Tar extolled and the beauties of the bride. The moment was

approaching and still no sign of Turan. But what could he accomplish

should he succeed in reaching the throne room, other than to die with

her? There could be no hope of rescue.

The dignitary lifted the golden handcuffs from the pillow upon which

they reposed. He blessed them and reached for Tara's wrist. The time

had come! The thing could go no further, for alive or dead, by all the

laws of Barsoom she would be the wife of O-Tar of Manator the instant

the two were locked together. Even should rescue come then or later she

could never dissolve those bonds and Turan would be lost to her as

surely as though death separated them.

Her hand stole toward the hidden blade, but instantly the hand of the

groom shot out and seized her wrist. He had guessed her intention.

Through the slits in the grotesque mask she could see his eyes upon her

and she guessed the sardonic smile that the mask hid. For a tense

moment the two stood thus. The people below them kept breathless

silence for the play before the throne had not passed unnoticed.

Dramatic as was the moment it was suddenly rendered trebly so by the

noisy opening of the doors leading to The Hall of Chiefs. All eyes

turned in the direction of the interruption to see another figure

framed in the massive opening--a half-clad figure buckling the

half-adjusted harness hurriedly in place--the figure of O-Tar, Jeddak

of Manator.

"Stop!" he screamed, springing forward along the aisle toward the

throne. "Seize the impostor!"

All eyes shot to the figure of the groom before the throne. They saw

him raise his hand and snatch off the golden mask, and Tara of Helium

in wide-eyed incredulity looked up into the face of Turan the panthan.

"Turan the slave," they cried then. "Death to him! Death to him!"

"Wait!" shouted Turan, drawing his sword, as a dozen warriors leaped

forward.

"Wait!" screamed another voice, old and cracked, as I-Gos, the ancient

taxidermist, sprang from among the guests and reached the throne steps

ahead of the foremost warriors.

At sight of the old man the warriors paused, for age is held in great

veneration among the peoples of Barsoom, as is true, perhaps, of all

peoples whose religion is based to any extent upon ancestor worship.

But O-Tar gave no heed to him, leaping instead swiftly toward the

throne. "Stop, coward!" cried I-Gos.

The people looked at the little old man in amazement. "Men of Manator,"

he cackled in his thin, shrill voice, "wouldst be ruled by a coward and

a liar?"

"Down with him!" shouted O-Tar.

"Not until I have spoken," retorted I-Gos. "It is my right. If I fail

my life is forfeit--that you all know and I know. I demand therefore to

be heard. It is my right!"

"It is his right," echoed the voices of a score of warriors in various

parts of the chamber.

"That O-Tar is a coward and a liar I can prove," continued I-Gos. "He

said that he faced bravely the horrors of the chamber of O-Mai and saw

nothing of the slave Turan. I was there, hiding behind the hangings,

and I saw all that transpired. Turan had been hiding in the chamber and

was even then lying upon the couch of O-Mai when O-Tar, trembling with

fear, entered the room. Turan, disturbed, arose to a sitting position

at the same time voicing a piercing shriek. O-Tar screamed and swooned."

"It is a lie!" cried O-Tar.

"It is not a lie and I can prove it," retorted I-Gos. "Didst notice the

night that he returned from the chambers of O-Mai and was boasting of

his exploit, that when he would summon slaves to bring wine he reached

for his dagger to strike the gong with its pommel as is always his

custom? Didst note that, any of you? And that he had no dagger? O-Tar,

where is the dagger that you carried into the chamber of O-Mai? You do

not know; but I know. While you lay in the swoon of terror I took it

from your harness and hid it among the sleeping silks upon the couch of

O-Mai. There it is even now, and if any doubt it let them go thither

and there they will find it and know the cowardice of their jeddak."

"But what of this impostor?" demanded one. "Shall he stand with

impunity upon the throne of Manator whilst we squabble about our ruler?"

"It is through his bravery that you have learned the cowardice of

O-Tar," replied I-Gos, "and through him you will be given a greater

jeddak."

"We will choose our own jeddak. Seize and slay the slave!" There were

cries of approval from all parts of the room. Gahan was listening

intently, as though for some hoped-for sound. He saw the warriors

approaching the dais, where he now stood with drawn sword and with one

arm about Tara of Helium. He wondered if his plans had miscarried after

all. If they had it would mean death for him, and he knew that Tara

would take her life if he fell. Had he, then, served her so futilely

after all his efforts?

Several warriors were urging the necessity for sending at once to the

chamber of O-Mai to search for the dagger that would prove, if found,

the cowardice of O-Tar. At last three consented to go. "You need not

fear," I-Gos assured them. "There is naught there to harm you. I have

been there often of late and Turan the slave has slept there for these

many nights. The screams and moans that frightened you and O-Tar were

voiced by Turan to drive you away from his hiding place." Shamefacedly

the three left the apartment to search for O-Tar's dagger.

And now the others turned their attention once more to Gahan. They

approached the throne with bared swords, but they came slowly for they

had seen this slave upon the Field of Jetan and they knew the prowess

of his arm. They had reached the foot of the steps when from far above

there sounded a deep boom, and another, and another, and Turan smiled

and breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps, after all, it had not come too

late. The warriors stopped and listened as did the others in the

chamber. Now there broke upon their ears a loud rattle of musketry and

it all came from above as though men were fighting upon the roofs of

the palace.

"What is it?" they demanded, one of the other.

"A great storm has broken over Manator," said one.

"Mind not the storm until you have slain the creature who dares stand

upon the throne of your jeddak," demanded O-Tar. "Seize him!"

Even as he ceased speaking the arras behind the throne parted and a

warrior stepped forth upon the dais. An exclamation of surprise and

dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. "U-Thor!" they

cried. "What treason is this?"

"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a new

jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a courageous man whom

you all love."

He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor hidden by

the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose exclamations of

surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the various factions recognized

the coup d'etat that had been arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came

other warriors until the dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator

from the city of Manatos.

O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and

disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. "The

city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos pour through

The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have arisen and destroyed

the palace guards. Great ships are landing warriors upon the palace

roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men of Helium and Gathol are

marching through Manator. They cry aloud for the Princess of Helium and

swear to leave Manator a blazing funeral pyre consuming the bodies of

all our people. The skies are black with ships. They come in great

processions from the east and from the south."

And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide and the

men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon the

threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and black hair,

and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel and behind him

The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men wearing the harness of

far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and her heart leaped in

exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, come at the

head of a victorious host to the rescue of his daughter, and at his

side was Djor Kantos to whom she had been betrothed.

The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. "Lay down

your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter and that she

lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need be shed. Your city

is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and those from Gathol and

from Helium. The palace is in the hands of the slaves from Gathol,

beside a thousand of my own warriors who fill the halls and chambers

surrounding this room. The fate of your jeddak lies in your own hands.

I have no wish to interfere. I come only for my daughter and to free

the slaves from Gathol. I have spoken!" and without waiting for a reply

and as though the room had been filled with his own people rather than

a hostile band he strode up the broad main aisle toward Tara of Helium.

The chiefs of Manator were stunned. They looked to O-Tar; but he could

only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from The Hall of

Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had surrounded the entire

company. And then a dwar of the army of Helium entered.

"We have captured three chiefs," he reported to The Warlord, "who beg

that they be permitted to enter the throne room and report to their

fellows some matter which they say will decide the fate of Manator."

"Fetch them," ordered The Warlord.

They came, heavily guarded, to the foot of the steps leading to the

throne and there they stopped and the leader turned toward the others

of Manator and raising high his right hand displayed a jeweled dagger.

"We found it," he said, "even where I-Gos said that we would find it,"

and he looked menacingly upon O-Tar.

"A-Kor, jeddak of Manator!" cried a voice, and the cry was taken up by

a hundred hoarse-throated warriors.

"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held the

dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he crossed to where

the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an outstretched palm

proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There can be but one jeddak in

Manator," he repeated meaningly.

O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full height

plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single act redeeming

himself in the esteem of his people and winning an eternal place in The

Hall of Chiefs.

As he fell all was silence in the great room, to be broken presently by

the voice of U-Thor. "O-Tar is dead!" he cried. "Let A-Kor rule until

the chiefs of all Manator may be summoned to choose a new jeddak. What

is your answer?"

"Let A-Kor rule! A-Kor, Jeddak of Manator!" The cries filled the room

and there was no dissenting voice.

A-Kor raised his sword for silence. "It is the will of A-Kor," he said,

"and that of the Great Jed of Manatos, and the commander of the fleet

from Gathol, and of the illustrious John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom,

that peace lie upon the city of Manator and so I decree that the men of

Manator go forth and welcome the fighting men of these our allies as

guests and friends and show them the wonders of our ancient city and

the hospitality of Manator. I have spoken." And U-Thor and John Carter

dismissed their warriors and bade them accept the hospitality of

Manator. As the room emptied Djor Kantos reached the side of Tara of

Helium. The girl's happiness at rescue had been blighted by sight of

this man whom her virtuous heart told her she had wronged. She dreaded

the ordeal that lay before her and the dishonor that she must admit

before she could hope to be freed from the understanding that had for

long existed between them. And now Djor Kantos approached and kneeling

raised her fingers to his lips.

"Beautiful daughter of Helium," he said, "how may I tell you the thing

that I must tell you--of the dishonor that I have all unwittingly done

you? I can but throw myself upon your generosity for forgiveness; but

if you demand it I can receive the dagger as honorably as did O-Tar."

"What do you mean?" asked Tara of Helium. "What are you talking

about--why speak thus in riddles to one whose heart is already

breaking?"

Her heart already breaking! The outlook was anything but promising, and

the young padwar wished that he had died before ever he had had to

speak the words he now must speak.

"Tara of Helium," he continued, "we all thought you dead. For a long

year have you been gone from Helium. I mourned you truly and then, less

than a moon since, I wed with Olvia Marthis." He stopped and looked at

her with eyes that might have said: "Now, strike me dead!"

"Oh, foolish man!" cried Tara. "Nothing you could have done could have

pleased me more. Djor Kantos, I could kiss you!"

"I do not think that Olvia Marthis would mind," he said, his face now

wreathed with smiles. As they spoke a body of men had entered the

throne room and approached the dais. They were tall men trapped in

plain harness, absolutely without ornamentation. Just as their leader

reached the dais Tara had turned to Gahan, motioning him to join them.

"Djor Kantos," she said, "I bring you Turan the panthan, whose loyalty

and bravery have won my love."

John Carter and the leader of the new come warriors, who were standing

near, looked quickly at the little group. The former smiled an

inscrutable smile, the latter addressed the Princess of Helium. "'Turan

the panthan!'" he cried. "Know you not, fair daughter of Helium, that

this man you call panthan is Gahan, Jed of Gathol?"

For just a moment Tara of Helium looked her surprise; and then she

shrugged her beautiful shoulders as she turned her head to cast her

eyes over one of them at Gahan of Gathol.

"Jed or panthan," she said; "what difference does it make what one's

slave has been?" and she laughed roguishly into the smiling face of her

lover.

* * * * *

His story finished, John Carter rose from the chair opposite me,

stretching his giant frame like some great forest-bred lion.

"You must go?" I cried, for I hated to see him leave and it seemed that

he had been with me but a moment.

"The sky is already red beyond those beautiful hills of yours," he

replied, "and it will soon be day."

"Just one question before you go," I begged.

"Well?" he assented, good-naturedly.

"How was Gahan able to enter the throne room garbed in O-Tar's

trappings?" I asked.

"It was simple--for Gahan of Gathol," replied The Warlord. "With the

assistance of I-Gos he crept into The Hall of Chiefs before the

ceremony, while the throne room and Hall of Chiefs were vacated to

receive the bride. He came from the pits through the corridor that

opened behind the arras at the rear of the throne, and passing into The

Hall of Chiefs took his place upon the back of a riderless thoat, whose

warrior was in I-Gos' repair room. When O-Tar entered and came near him

Gahan fell upon him and struck him with the butt of a heavy spear. He

thought that he had killed him and was surprised when O-Tar appeared to

denounce him."

"And Ghek? What became of Ghek?" I insisted.

"After leading Val Dor and Floran to Tara's disabled flier which they

repaired, he accompanied them to Gathol from where a message was sent

to me in Helium. He then led a large party including A-Kor and U-Thor

from the roof, where our ships landed them, down a spiral runway into

the palace and guided them to the throne room. We took him back to

Helium with us, where he still lives, with his single rykor which we

found all but starved to death in the pits of Manator. But come! No