harboring a hare-brained scheme to pave the way for our eventual escape, that could only be successful if I were to have entry to the palace-that is, if my deductions were correct.
So John Carter, Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom, came into the palace of Doxus, Jeddak of the First Born, as a slave; but a slave with a reputation. The warriors of the jeddak's guard treated me with respect; I was given a decent room; and one of Doxus' trusted under-officers was made responsible for me, just as Ptang had been in the palace of Xaxak.
I was at something of a loss to know why Doxus had purchased me. He must have known that he couldn't arrange a money duel for me, for who would be fool enough to place a man or a wager against one who had made several of the best swordsmen of Kamtol look like novices?
The next day I found out. Doxus sent for me. He was alone in a small room when I was escorted in, and he immediately dismissed the warrior who had accompanied me.
'When you entered the valley,' he commenced, 'you saw many skeletons, did you not?'
'Yes,' I replied.
'Those men died trying to escape,' he said. 'It would be impossible for you to succeed any better than they. I am telling you this so that you won't make the attempt. You might think that by killing me you might escape in the confusion which would ensue; but you could not; you can never escape from the Valley of the First Born. However, you may live on here in comfort, if you wish. All that you have to do is teach me the tricks of swordsmanship with which you bested the finest swordsman of all the First Born. I wish you to make me that, but I wish the instruction given in secret and no word of it ever to pass your lips on pain of instant death-and a most unpleasant death, I can assure you. What do you say?'
'I can promise the utmost discretion,' I said, 'but I cannot promise to make you the greatest swordsman among the First Born; the achievement of that will depend somewhat upon your own native ability. I will instruct you, however.'
'You do not talk much like a poor panthan,' he said. 'You speak to me much as would a man who had been accustomed to speaking with jeddaks- and as an equal.'
'You may have much to learn about being a swordsman,' I said, 'but I have even more to learn about being a slave.'
He grunted at that, and then arose and told me to follow him. We passed through a little door behind the desk at which he had been sitting, and down a ramp which led to the pits below the palace. At the foot of the ramp we entered a large, well-lighted room in which were filing cases, a couch, several benches, and a table strewn with writing materials and drawing instruments.
'This is a secret apartment,' said Doxus. 'Only one person other than myself has access to it. We shall not be disturbed here. This other man of whom I spoke is my most trusted servant. He may come in occasionally, but he will not divulge our little secret. Let us get to work. I can scarcely wait until the day that I shall cross swords with some of those egotistical nobles who think that they are really great swordsmen. Won't they be surprised!'
Chapter 10
Now, I had no intention of revealing all of my tricks of swordsmanship to Doxus; although I might have as far as any danger to myself was concerned, for he could never equal me; because he could never match my strength or agility.
I had been practicing him in disarming an opponent, when a door opposite that from which we had entered the room opened; and a man came in. During the brief time that the door remained open, I saw beyond it a brilliantly lighted room; and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an amazingly complicated machine.
Its face was covered with dials, buttons, and other gadgets-all reminiscent of the machine to which I had been attached during the weird examination I had received upon entry to the city.
At sight of me, the newcomer looked surprised. Here was I, a total stranger and evidently a slave, facing the Jeddak of the First Born with a naked blade in my hand. Instantly, the fellow whipped out a radium pistol; but Doxus forestalled a tragedy.
'It is all right, Myr-lo,' he said. 'I am just taking some instruction in the finer points of swordsmanship from this slave. His name is Dotar Sojat; you will see him down here with me daily. What are you doing down here now? Anything wrong?'
'A slave escaped last night,' said Myr-lo.
'You got him, of course?'
'Just now. He was about half way up the escarpment, I think.'
'Good!' said Doxus. 'Resume, Dotar Sojat.'
I was so full of what I had just heard and seen and what I thought that it all connoted that I had hard work keeping my mind on my work; so that I inadvertently let Doxus prick me. He was as pleased as Punch.
'Wonderful!' he exclaimed. 'In one lesson I have been so improved that I have been able to touch you! Not even Nolat could do that. We will stop now. I give you the freedom of the city. Do not go beyond the gates.' He went to the table and wrote for a minute; then he handed me what he had written. 'Take this,' he said; 'it will permit you to go where you will in all public places and return to the palace.'
He had written:
Dotar Sojat, the slave, is granted the freedom of the palace and the city.
Doxus,
Jeddak.
As I returned to my quarters, I determined to let Doxus prick me every day. I found Man-lat, the under- officer who had been detailed to look after me, alone in his room, which adjoined mine.
'Your duties are going to be lessened,' I told him.
'What do you mean?' he asked.
I showed him the pass.
'Doxus must have taken a liking to you,' he said. 'I never knew before of a slave being given that much freedom, but don't try to escape.'
'I know better than to try that. I saw the skeletons from the top to the bottom of the escarpment.'
'We call them Myr-lo's babies,' said Man-lat; 'he's so proud of them.'
'Who is Myr-lo?' I asked.
'Somebody you'll probably never see,' replied Man-lat. 'He sticks to his pots and his kettles, his lathes and drills and his drawing instruments.'
'Does he live in the palace?' I asked.
'Nobody knows where he lives, unless it be the jeddak. They say he has a secret apartment in the palace, but I don't know about that. What I do know is that he's the most powerful man in Kamtol, next to Doxus; and that he has the power of life and death over every man and woman in the Valley of the First Born. Why, he could strike either one of us dead right while we are sitting here talking; and we'd never see what killed us.'
I was even more convinced now than I had been before that I had found what I had hoped to in that secret room beneath the palace but how to utilize the knowledge!
I immediately took advantage of my freedom to go out into the city, only a part of which I had seen during the short time that I had been out with Ptang. The guards at the palace gate were as surprised when they read my pass as Man-lat had been. Of course, pass or no pass, I was still an enemy and a slave-a person to be viewed with suspicion and contempt; but in my case the contempt was tempered by the knowledge that I had bested their best at swordsmanship. I doubt that you can realize in what high esteem a great swordsman is held everywhere on Mars. In his own country he is worshipped, as might be a Juan Belmonte in Spain or a Jack Dempsey in America.
I had not gone far from the palace, when I chanced to look up; and, to my surprise, saw a number of fliers dropping down toward the city. The First Born I had seen in the Valley Dor had all been flying men; but I had not before seen any fliers over the valley, and I had wondered.
Martian aeroplanes, being lighter than air, or in effect so; because of the utilization of that marvellous
