Thuvia Maid of Mars | Page 7

them both.
Carthoris of Helium did not ask, though he noted it, for his loyalty to Kulan Tith was the
loyalty of the blood of John Carter of Virginia for a friend, greater than which could be
no loyalty.

He raised a jewel-encrusted bit of the girl's magnificent trappings to his lips.
"To the honour and happiness of Kulan Tith and the priceless jewel that has been
bestowed upon him," he said, and though his voice was husky there was the true ring of
sincerity in it. "I told you that I loved you, Thuvia, before I knew that you were promised
to another. I may not tell you it again, but I am glad that you know it, for there is no
dishonour in it either to you or to Kulan Tith or to myself. My love is such that it may
embrace as well Kulan Tith--if you love him." There was almost a question in the
statement.
"I am promised to him," she replied.
Carthoris backed slowly away. He laid one hand upon his heart, the other upon the
pommel of his long-sword.
"These are yours--always," he said. A moment later he had entered the palace, and was
gone from the girl's sight.
Had he returned at once he would have found her prone upon the ersite bench, her face
buried in her arms. Was she weeping? There was none to see.
Carthoris of Helium had come all unannounced to the court of his father's friend that day.
He had come alone in a small flier, sure of the same welcome that always awaited him at
Ptarth. As there had been no formality in his coming there was no need of formality in his
going.
To Thuvan Dihn he explained that he had been but testing an invention of his own with
which his flier was equipped--a clever improvement of the ordinary Martian air compass,
which, when set for a certain destination, will remain constantly fixed thereon, making it
only necessary to keep a vessel's prow always in the direction of the compass needle to
reach any given point upon Barsoom by the shortest route.
Carthoris' improvement upon this consisted of an auxiliary device which steered the craft
mechanically in the direction of the compass, and upon arrival directly over the point for
which the compass was set, brought the craft to a standstill and lowered it, also
automatically, to the ground.
"You readily discern the advantages of this invention," he was saying to Thuvan Dihn,
who had accompanied him to the landing-stage upon the palace roof to inspect the
compass and bid his young friend farewell.
A dozen officers of the court with several body servants were grouped behind the jeddak
and his guest, eager listeners to the conversation--so eager on the part of one of the
servants that he was twice rebuked by a noble for his forwardness in pushing himself
ahead of his betters to view the intricate mechanism of the wonderful "controlling
destination compass," as the thing was called.
"For example," continued Carthoris, "I have an all-night trip before me, as to-night. I set

the pointer here upon the right-hand dial which represents the eastern hemisphere of
Barsoom, so that the point rests upon the exact latitude and longitude of Helium. Then I
start the engine, roll up in my sleeping silks and furs, and with lights burning, race
through the air toward Helium, confident that at the appointed hour I shall drop gently
toward the landing-stage upon my own palace, whether I am still asleep or no."
"Provided," suggested Thuvan Dihn, "you do not chance to collide with some other night
wanderer in the meanwhile."
Carthoris smiled. "No danger of that," he replied. "See here," and he indicated a device at
the right of the destination compass. "This is my `obstruction evader,' as I call it. This
visible device is the switch which throws the mechanism on or off. The instrument itself
is below deck, geared both to the steering apparatus and the control levers.
"It is quite simple, being nothing more than a radium generator diffusing radio-activity in
all directions to a distance of a hundred yards or so from the flier. Should this enveloping
force be interrupted in any direction a delicate instrument immediately apprehends the
irregularity, at the same time imparting an impulse to a magnetic device which in turn
actuates the steering mechanism, diverting the bow of the flier away from the obstacle
until the craft's radio-activity sphere is no longer in contact with the obstruction, then she
falls once more into her normal course. Should the disturbance approach from the rear, as
in case of a faster-moving craft overhauling me, the mechanism actuates the speed
control as well as the steering gear, and the flier shoots ahead and either up