'It is a lie,' cried Sil Vagis.
'Silence, coward!' I commanded.
'Continue, slave!' directed Tor Hatan.
'Sanoma Tora was not aware of the presence of the strange warriors until she was seized roughly from behind. It all happened so quickly that I scarce had time to realize the purpose of the sinister visitation before they laid hands upon her. When I comprehended that my mistress was the object of this night attack, I rushed hurriedly down the ramp, but ere I reached the garden they had dragged her aboard the flier. Even then, however, had I had a sword I might at least have died in the service of Sanoma Tora, for I reached the ship of mystery as the last warrior was clambering aboard. I seized him by the harness and attempted to drag him to the ground, at the same time shouting loudly to attract the palace guard, but ere I did so one of his fellows on the deck above me drew his long sword and struck viciously at my head. The blade caught me but a glancing blow which, however, sufficed to stun me for a moment, so that I relaxed my hold upon the strange warrior and fell to the sward. When I regained consciousness the ship had gone and the tardy palace guard was pouring from the guard room. I have spoken- and spoken truthfully.'
Tor Hatan's cold gaze sought out the lowered eyes of Sil Vagis. 'What have you to say to this?' he demanded.
'The fellow is in the employ of Hadron of Hastor,' shouted Sil Vagis. 'He speaks nothing but lies. I attacked them when they came, but there were many and they overpowered me. This fellow was not present.'
'Let me see thy head,' I said to the slave, and when he had come and knelt before me I saw a great red welt the length of one side of his head above the ear, just such a welt as a glancing blow from the flat side of a long sword might have made. 'Here,' I said to Tor Hatan, pointing to the great welt, 'is the proof of a slave's loyalty and courage. Let us see the wounds received by a noble of Helium who by his own testimony engaged in single- handed combat against great odds. Surely in such an encounter he must have received at least a single scratch.'
'Unless he is as marvelous a swordsman as the great John Carter himself,' said the dwar of the palace guard with a thinly veiled sneer.
'It is all a plot,' cried Sil Vagis. 'Do you take the word of a slave, Tor Hatan, against that of a noble of Helium?'
'I rely on the testimony of my eyes and my senses,' replied the odwar, and he turned his back upon Sil Vagis and again addressed the slave. 'Didst thou recognize any of those who abducted Sanoma Tora,' he demanded, 'or note their harness or their metal?'
'I got no good look at the face of any of them, but I did see the harness and the metal of him whom I tried to drag from the flier.'
'Was it the metal of Hastor?' asked Tor Hatan.
'By my first ancestor, it was not,' replied the slave emphatically; 'nor was it the metal of any other city of the Empire of Helium. The design and the insignia were unknown to me, and yet there was a certain familiarity about them that tantalizes me. I feel that I have seen them before, but when and where I cannot recall. In the service of my jed I fought invaders from many lands and it may be that upon some of these I saw similar metal many years ago.'
'Are you satisfied, Tor Hatan,' I demanded, 'that the aspersions cast upon me by Sil Vagis are without foundation?'
'Yes, Hadron of Hastor,' replied the odwar.
'Then with your leave, I shall depart,' I said.
'Where are you going?' he asked.
'To find Sanoma Tora,' I replied.
'And if you find her,' he said, 'and return her safely to me, she is yours.'
I made no other acknowledgment of his generous offer than to bow deeply, for I had it in my mind that Sanoma Tora might have something to say about that, and whether she had or not, I wished no mate who came not to me willingly.
Leaping to the deck of the flier that brought me I rose into the night and sped in the direction of the marble palace of the Warlord of Barsoom, for, even though the hour was late, I was determined to see him without an instant's unnecessary loss of time.
Two. BROUGHT DOWN
As I approached the Warlord's palace I saw signs of activity unusual for that hour of the night. Fliers were arriving and departing, and when I alighted upon that portion of the roof reserved for military ships, I saw the fliers of a number of high officers of the Warlord's staff.
Being a frequent visitor at the palace and being well known by all the officers of the Warlord's body guard, I had no difficulty in gaining admission to the palace, and presently I was waiting in the hall, just off the small compartment in which the Warlord is accustomed to give small, private audiences, while a slave announced me to his master.
I do not know how long I waited. It could not have been a long while, yet it seemed to me a veritable eternity, because my mind was harassed by the conviction that the woman I loved was in dire danger. I was possessed by a conviction, ridiculous perhaps, but none the less real, that I alone could save her and that every instant I was delayed reduced her chances for succor before it was too late.
But at last I was invited to enter, and when I stood in the presence of the great Warlord I found him surrounded by men high in the councils of Helium.
'I assume,' said John Carter, coming directly to the point, 'that what brings you here tonight, Hadron of Hastor, pertains to the matter of the abduction of the daughter of Tor Hatan. Have you any knowledge or any theory that might cast any light upon the subject?'
'No,' I replied. 'I have come merely to obtain your authority to depart at once in an attempt to pick up the trail of the abductors of Sanoma Tora.'
'Where do you intend to search?' he demanded.
'I do not yet know, sir,' I replied, 'but I shall find her.'
He smiled. 'Such assurance is at least an asset,' he said, 'and knowing as I do what prompts it, I shall grant you the permission you desire. While the abduction of a daughter of Helium is in itself of sufficient gravity to warrant the use of every resource to apprehend her abductors and return her to her home, there is also involved in this occurrence an element that may portend high danger to the empire. As you doubtless know, the mysterious ship that bore her away mounted a gun from which emanated some force that entirely disintegrated all the metal parts of the patrol flier that sought to intercept and question it. Even the weapons and the metal portions of the harness of the crew were dissipated into nothing, a fact that was easily discernible from an examination of the wreck of the patrol flier and the bodies of its crew. Wood, leather, flesh, everything of the animal and vegetable kingdom that was aboard the flier, has been found scattered about the ground where it fell, but no trace of any metallic substance remains.
'I am impressing this upon you because it suggests to my mind a possible clue to the general location of the city of these new enemies of Helium. I am convinced that this is but the first blow, since any navy armed with such guns could easily hold Helium at its mercy, and few indeed are the cities of Barsoom outside the empire that would not seize with avidity upon any instrument that would give them the sack of the Twin Cities.
'For some time now we have been deeply concerned by the increasing number of missing ships of the navy. In nearly all instances these were ships engaged in charting air currents and recording atmospheric pressures in different parts of Barsoom far from the empire, and recently it has become apparent that the vast majority of these ships which never return were those cruising in the southern part of the western hemisphere, an unhospitable portion of our planet concerning which we have unfortunately but little knowledge owing to the fact that we have developed no trade with the unfriendly people inhabiting this vast domain.
'This, Hadron of Hastor, is only a suggestion; only the vaguest of clues, but I offer it to you for what it is worth. A thousand one-man scout fliers will be dispatched between now and noon tomorrow in search of the
