Warlord of Mars | Page 6

the new order of things that had swept their false religion from
long-suffering Mars.
In a few isolated countries they still retained their age-old power; but
Matai Shang, their hekkador, Father of Therns, had been driven from
his temple. Strenuous had been our endeavors to capture him; but with
a few of the faithful he had escaped, and was in hiding--where we knew
not.
As I came cautiously to the edge of the low cliff overlooking the Lost
Sea of Korus I saw Thurid pushing out upon the bosom of the
shimmering water in a small skiff--one of those strangely wrought craft
of unthinkable age which the Holy Therns, with their organization of
priests and lesser therns, were wont to distribute along the banks of the
Iss, that the long journey of their victims might be facilitated.
Drawn up on the beach below me were a score of similar boats, each
with its long pole, at one end of which was a pike, at the other a paddle.
Thurid was hugging the shore, and as he passed out of sight round a
near-by promontory I shoved one of the boats into the water and,
calling Woola into it, pushed out from shore.
The pursuit of Thurid carried me along the edge of the sea toward the
mouth of the Iss. The farther moon lay close to the horizon, casting a

dense shadow beneath the cliffs that fringed the water. Thuria, the
nearer moon, had set, nor would it rise again for near four hours, so that
I was ensured concealing darkness for that length of time at least.
On and on went the black warrior. Now he was opposite the mouth of
the Iss. Without an instant's hesitation he turned up the grim river,
paddling hard against the strong current.
After him came Woola and I, closer now, for the man was too intent
upon forcing his craft up the river to have any eyes for what might be
transpiring behind him. He hugged the shore where the current was less
strong.
Presently he came to the dark cavernous portal in the face of the
Golden Cliffs, through which the river poured. On into the Stygian
darkness beyond he urged his craft.
It seemed hopeless to attempt to follow him here where I could not see
my hand before my face, and I was almost on the point of giving up the
pursuit and drifting back to the mouth of the river, there to await his
return, when a sudden bend showed a faint luminosity ahead.
My quarry was plainly visible again, and in the increasing light from
the phosphorescent rock that lay embedded in great patches in the
roughly arched roof of the cavern I had no difficulty in following him.
It was my first trip upon the bosom of Iss, and the things I saw there
will live forever in my memory.
Terrible as they were, they could not have commenced to approximate
the horrible conditions which must have obtained before Tars Tarkas,
the great green warrior, Xodar, the black dator, and I brought the light
of truth to the outer world and stopped the mad rush of millions upon
the voluntary pilgrimage to what they believed would end in a beautiful
valley of peace and happiness and love.
Even now the low islands which dotted the broad stream were choked
with the skeletons and half devoured carcasses of those who, through

fear or a sudden awakening to the truth, had halted almost at the
completion of their journey.
In the awful stench of these frightful charnel isles haggard maniacs
screamed and gibbered and fought among the torn remnants of their
grisly feasts; while on those which contained but clean-picked bones
they battled with one another, the weaker furnishing sustenance for the
stronger; or with clawlike hands clutched at the bloated bodies that
drifted down with the current.
Thurid paid not the slightest attention to the screaming things that
either menaced or pleaded with him as the mood directed
them--evidently he was familiar with the horrid sights that surrounded
him. He continued up the river for perhaps a mile; and then, crossing
over to the left bank, drew his craft up on a low ledge that lay almost
on a level with the water.
I dared not follow across the stream, for he most surely would have
seen me. Instead I stopped close to the opposite wall beneath an
overhanging mass of rock that cast a dense shadow beneath it. Here I
could watch Thurid without danger of discovery.
The black was standing upon the ledge beside his boat, looking up the
river, as though he were awaiting one whom he expected from that
direction.
As I lay there beneath the dark rocks I noticed that a strong current
seemed