<SPAN name="chap18"></SPAN>
<h3> CHAPTER XVIII </h3>
<h3> A TASK FOR LOYALTY </h3>
<p>Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan at
Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two Princesses and
the victorious Chief to the center of the field and presented to the
latter the fruits of his prowess, and then, as custom demanded, the
victorious players, headed by Gahan and the two Princesses, formed in
procession behind The Keeper of the Towers and were conducted to the
place of victory before the royal enclosure that they might receive the
commendation of the jeddak. Those who were mounted gave up their thoats
to slaves as all must be on foot for this ceremony. Directly beneath
the royal enclosure are the gates to one of the tunnels that, passing
beneath the seats, give ingress or egress to or from the Field. Before
this gate the party halted while O-Tar looked down upon them from
above. Val Dor and Floran, passing quietly ahead of the others, went
directly to the gates, where they were hidden from those who occupied
the enclosure with O-Tar. The Keeper of the Towers may have noticed
them, but so occupied was he with the formality of presenting the
victorious Chief to the jeddak that he paid no attention to them.</p>
<p>"I bring you, O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, U-Kal of Manataj," he cried in
a loud voice that might be heard by as many as possible, "victor over
the Orange in the second of the Jeddak's Games of the four hundred and
thirty-third year of O-Tar, and the slave woman Tara and the slave
woman Lan-O that you may bestow these, the stakes, upon U-Kal."</p>
<p>As he spoke, a little, wrinkled, old man peered over the rail of the
enclosure down upon the three who stood directly behind The Keeper, and
strained his weak and watery eyes in an effort to satisfy the curiosity
of old age in a matter of no particular import, for what were two
slaves and a common warrior from Manataj to any who sat with O-Tar the
jeddak?</p>
<p>"U-Kal of Manataj," said O-Tar, "you have deserved the stakes. Seldom
have we looked upon more noble swordplay. And you tire of Manataj there
be always here in the city of Manator a place for you in The Jeddak's
Guard."</p>
<p>While the jeddak was speaking the little, old man, failing clearly to
discern the features of the Black Chief, reached into his pocket-pouch
and drew forth a pair of thick-lensed spectacles, which he placed upon
his nose. For a moment he scrutinized Gahan closely, then he leaped to
his feet and addressing O-Tar pointed a shaking finger at Gahan. As he
rose Tara of Helium clutched the Black Chief's arm.</p>
<p>"Turan!" she whispered. "It is I-Gos, whom I thought to have slain in
the pits of O-Tar. It is I-Gos and he recognizes you and will—"</p>
<p>But what I-Gos would do was already transpiring. In his falsetto voice
he fairly screamed: "It is the slave Turan who stole the woman Tara
from your throne room, O-Tar. He desecrated the dead chief I-Mal and
wears his harness now!"</p>
<p>Instantly all was pandemonium. Warriors drew their swords and leaped to
their feet. Gahan's victorious players rushed forward in a body,
sweeping The Keeper of the Towers from his feet. Val Dor and Floran
threw open the gates beneath the royal enclosure, opening the tunnel
that led to the avenue in the city beyond the Towers. Gahan, surrounded
by his men, drew Tara and Lan-O into the passageway, and at a rapid
pace the party sought to reach the opposite end of the tunnel before
their escape could be cut off. They were successful and when they
emerged into the city the sun had set and darkness had come, relieved
only by an antiquated and ineffective lighting system, which cast but a
pale glow over the shadowy streets.</p>
<p>Now it was that Tara of Helium guessed why the Black Chief had drawn
out his duel with U-Dor and realized that he might have slain his man
at almost any moment he had elected. The whole plan that Gahan had
whispered to his players before the game was thoroughly understood.
They were to make their way to The Gate of Enemies and there offer
their services to U-Thor, the great Jed of Manatos. The fact that most
of them were Gatholians and that Gahan could lead rescuers to the pit
where A-Kor, the son of U-Thor's wife, was confined, convinced the Jed
of Gathol that they would meet with no rebuff at the hands of U-Thor.
But even should he refuse them, still were they bound together to go on
toward freedom, if necessary cutting their way through the forces of
U-Thor at The Gate of Enemies—twenty men against a small army; but of
such stuff are the warriors of Barsoom.</p>
<p>They had covered a considerable distance along the almost deserted
avenue before signs of pursuit developed and then there came upon them
suddenly from behind a dozen warriors mounted on thoats—a detachment,
evidently, from The Jeddak's Guard. Instantly the avenue was a
pandemonium of clashing blades, cursing warriors, and squealing thoats.
In the first onslaught life blood was spilled upon both sides. Two of
Gahan's men went down, and upon the enemies' side three riderless
thoats attested at least a portion of their casualties.</p>
<p>Gahan was engaged with a fellow who appeared to have been selected to
account for him only, since he rode straight for him and sought to cut
him down without giving the slightest heed to several who slashed at
him as he passed them. The Gatholian, practiced in the art of combating
a mounted warrior from the ground, sought to reach the left side of the
fellow's thoat a little to the rider's rear, the only position in which
he would have any advantage over his antagonist, or rather the position
that would most greatly reduce the advantage of the mounted man, and,
similarly, the Manatorian strove to thwart his design. And so the
guardsman wheeled and turned his vicious, angry mount while Gahan
leaped in and out in an effort to reach the coveted vantage point, but
always seeking some other opening in his foe's defense.</p>
<p>And while they jockeyed for position a rider swept swiftly past them.
As he passed behind Gahan the latter heard a cry of alarm.</p>
<p>"Turan, they have me!" came to his ears in the voice of Tara of Helium.</p>
<p>A quick glance across his shoulder showed him the galloping thoatman in
the act of dragging Tara to the withers of the beast, and then, with
the fury of a demon, Gahan of Gathol leaped for his own man, dragged
him from his mount and as he fell smote his head from his shoulders
with a single cut of his keen sword. Scarce had the body touched the
pavement when the Gatholian was upon the back of the dead warrior's
mount, and galloping swiftly down the avenue after the diminishing
figures of Tara and her abductor, the sounds of the fight waning in the
distance as he pursued his quarry along the avenue that passes the
palace of O-Tar and leads to The Gate of Enemies.</p>
<p>Gahan's mount, carrying but a single rider, gained upon that of the
Manatorian, so that as they neared the palace Gahan was scarce a
hundred yards behind, and now, to his consternation, he saw the fellow
turn into the great entrance-way. For a moment only was he halted by
the guards and then he disappeared within. Gahan was almost upon him
then, but evidently he had warned the guards, for they leaped out to
intercept the Gatholian. But no! the fellow could not have known that
he was pursued, since he had not seen Gahan seize a mount, nor would he
have thought that pursuit would come so soon. If he had passed then, so
could Gahan pass, for did he not wear the trappings of a Manatorian?
The Gatholian thought quickly, and stopping his thoat called to the
guardsmen to let him pass, "In the name of O-Tar!" They hesitated a
moment.</p>
<p>"Aside!" cried Gahan. "Must the jeddak's messenger parley for the right
to deliver his message?"</p>
<p>"To whom would you deliver it?" asked the padwar of the guard.</p>
<p>"Saw you not him who just entered?" cried Gahan, and without waiting
for a reply urged his thoat straight past them into the palace, and
while they were deliberating what was best to be done, it was too late
to do anything—which is not unusual.</p>
<p>Along the marble corridors Gahan guided his thoat, and because he had
gone that way before, rather than because he knew which way Tara had
been taken, he followed the runways and passed through the chambers
that led to the throne room of O-Tar. On the second level he met a
slave.</p>
<p>"Which way went he who carried the woman before him?" he asked.</p>
<p>The slave pointed toward a nearby runway that led to the third level
and Gahan dashed rapidly on in pursuit. At the same moment a thoatman,
riding at a furious pace, approached the palace and halted his mount at
the gate.</p>
<p>"Saw you aught of a warrior pursuing one who carried a woman before him
on his thoat?" he shouted to the guard.</p>
<p>"He but just passed in," replied the padwar, "saying that he was
O-Tar's messenger."</p>
<p>"He lied," cried the newcomer. "He was Turan, the slave, who stole the
woman from the throne room two days since. Arouse the palace! He must
be seized, and alive if possible. It is O-Tar's command."</p>
<p>Instantly warriors were dispatched to search for the Gatholian and warn
the inmates of the palace to do likewise. Owing to the games there were
comparatively few retainers in the great building, but those whom they
found were immediately enlisted in the search, so that presently at
least fifty warriors were seeking through the countless chambers and
corridors of the palace of O-Tar.</p>
<p>As Gahan's thoat bore him to the third Level the man glimpsed the hind
quarters of another thoat disappearing at the turn of a corridor far
ahead. Urging his own animal forward he raced swiftly in pursuit and
making the turn discovered only an empty corridor ahead. Along this he
hurried to discover near its farther end a runway to the fourth level,
which he followed upward. Here he saw that he had gained upon his
quarry who was just turning through a doorway fifty yards ahead. As
Gahan reached the opening he saw that the warrior had dismounted and
was dragging Tara toward a small door on the opposite side of the
chamber. At the same instant the clank of harness to his rear caused
him to cast a glance behind where, along the corridor he had just
traversed, he saw three warriors approaching on foot at a run. Leaping
from his thoat Gahan sprang into the chamber where Tara was struggling
to free herself from the grasp of her captor, slammed the door behind
him, shot the great bolt into its seat, and drawing his sword crossed
the room at a run to engage the Manatorian. The fellow, thus menaced,
called aloud to Gahan to halt, at the same time thrusting Tara at arm's
length and threatening her heart with the point of his short-sword.</p>
<p>"Stay!" he cried, "or the woman dies, for such is the command of O-Tar,
rather than that she again fall into your hands."</p>
<p>Gahan stopped. But a few feet separated him from Tara and her captor,
yet he was helpless to aid her. Slowly the warrior backed toward the
open doorway behind him, dragging Tara with him. The girl struggled and
fought, but the warrior was a powerful man and having seized her by the
harness from behind was able to hold her in a position of helplessness.</p>
<p>"Save me, Turan!" she cried. "Let them not drag me to a fate worse than
death. Better that I die now while my eyes behold a brave friend than
later, fighting alone among enemies in defense of my honor."</p>
<p>He took a step nearer. The warrior made a threatening gesture with his
sword close to the soft, smooth skin of the princess, and Gahan halted.</p>
<p>"I cannot, Tara of Helium," he cried. "Think not ill of me that I am
weak—that I cannot see you die. Too great is my love for you, daughter
of Helium."</p>
<p>The Manatorian warrior, a derisive grin upon his lips, backed steadily
away. He had almost reached the doorway when Gahan saw another warrior
in the chamber toward which Tara was being borne—a fellow who moved
silently, almost stealthily, across the marble floor as he approached
Tara's captor from behind. In his right hand he grasped a long-sword.</p>
<p>"Two to one," thought Gahan, and a grim smile touched his lips, for he
had no doubt that once they had Tara safely in the adjoining chamber
the two would set upon him. If he could not save her, he could at least
die for her.</p>
<p>And then, suddenly, Gahan's eyes fastened with amazement upon the
figure of the warrior behind the grinning fellow who held Tara and was
forcing her to the doorway. He saw the newcomer step almost within
arm's reach of the other. He saw him stop, an expression of malevolent
hatred upon his features. He saw the great sword swing through the arc
of a great circle, gathering swift and terrific momentum from its own
weight backed by the brawn of the steel thews that guided it; he saw it
pass through the feathered skull of the Manatorian, splitting his
sardonic grin in twain, and open him to the middle of his breast bone.</p>
<p>As the dead hand relaxed its grasp upon Tara's wrist the girl leaped
forward, without a backward glance, to Gahan's side. His left arm
encircled her, nor did she draw away, as with ready sword the Gatholian
awaited Fate's next decree. Before them Tara's deliverer was wiping the
blood from his sword upon the hair of his victim. He was evidently a
Manatorian, his trappings those of the Jeddak's Guard, and so his act
was inexplicable to Gahan and to Tara. Presently he sheathed his sword
and approached them.</p>
<p>"When a man chooses to hide his identity behind an assumed name," he
said, looking straight into Gahan's eyes, "whatever friend pierces the
deception were no friend if he divulged the other's secret."</p>
<p>He paused as though awaiting a reply.</p>
<p>"Your integrity has perceived and your lips voiced an unalterable
truth," replied Gahan, whose mind was filled with wonder if the
implication could by any possibility be true—that this Manatorian had
guessed his identity.</p>
<p>"We are thus agreed," continued the other, "and I may tell you that
though I am here known as A-Sor, my real name is Tasor." He paused and
watched Gahan's face intently for any sign of the effect of this
knowledge and was rewarded with a quick, though guarded expression of
recognition.</p>
<p>Tasor! Friend of his youth. The son of that great Gatholian noble who
had given his life so gloriously, however futilely, in an attempt to
defend Gahan's sire from the daggers of the assassins. Tasor an
under-padwar in the guard of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator! It was
inconceivable—and yet it was he; there could be no doubt of it.
"Tasor," Gahan repeated aloud. "But it is no Manatorian name." The
statement was half interrogatory, for Gahan's curiosity was aroused. He
would know how his friend and loyal subject had become a Manatorian.
Long years had passed since Tasor had disappeared as mysteriously as
the Princess Haja and many other of Gahan's subjects. The Jed of Gathol
had long supposed him dead.</p>
<p>"No," replied Tasor, "nor is it a Manatorian name. Come, while I search
for a hiding place for you in some forgotten chamber in one of the
untenanted portions of the palace, and as we go I will tell you briefly
how Tasor the Gatholian became A-Sor the Manatorian.</p>
<p>"It befell that as I rode with a dozen of my warriors along the western
border of Gathol searching for zitidars that had strayed from my herds,
we were set upon and surrounded by a great company of Manatorians. They
overpowered us, though not before half our number was slain and the
balance helpless from wounds. And so I was brought a prisoner to
Manataj, a distant city of Manator, and there sold into slavery. A
woman bought me—a princess of Manataj whose wealth and position were
unequaled in the city of her birth. She loved me and when her husband
discovered her infatuation she beseeched me to slay him, and when I
refused she hired another to do it. Then she married me; but none would
have aught to do with her in Manataj, for they suspected her guilty
knowledge of her husband's murder. And so we set out from Manataj for
Manatos accompanied by a great caravan bearing all her worldly goods
and jewels and precious metals, and on the way she caused the rumor to
be spread that she and I had died. Then we came to Manator instead, she
taking a new name and I the name A-Sor, that we might not be traced
through our names. With her great wealth she bought me a post in The
Jeddak's Guard and none knows that I am not a Manatorian, for she is
dead. She was beautiful, but she was a devil."</p>
<p>"And you never sought to return to your native city?" asked Gahan.</p>
<p>"Never has the hope been absent from my heart, or my mind empty of a
plan," replied Tasor. "I dream of it by day and by night, but always
must I return to the same conclusion—that there can be but a single
means for escape. I must wait until Fortune favors me with a place in a
raiding party to Gathol. Then, once within the boundaries of my own
country, they shall see me no more."</p>
<p>"Perhaps your opportunity lies already within your grasp," said Gahan,
"has not your fealty to your own Jed been undermined by years of
association with the men of Manator." The statement was half challenge.</p>
<p>"And my Jed stood before me now," cried Tasor, "and my avowal could be
made without violating his confidence, I should cast my sword at his
feet and beg the high privilege of dying for him as my sire died for
his sire."</p>
<p>There could be no doubt of his sincerity nor any that he was cognizant
of Gahan's identity. The Jed of Gathol smiled. "And if your Jed were
here there is little doubt but that he would command you to devote your
talents and your prowess to the rescue of the Princess Tara of Helium,"
he said, meaningly. "And he possessed the knowledge I have gained
during my captivity he would say to you, 'Go, Tasor, to the pit where
A-kor, son of Haja of Gathol, is confined and set him free and with him
arouse the slaves from Gathol and march to The Gate of Enemies and
offer your services to U-Thor of Manataj, who is wed to Haja of Gathol,
and ask of him in return that he attack the palace of O-Tar and rescue
Tara of Helium and when that thing is accomplished that he free the
slaves of Gathol and furnish them with the arms and the means to return
to their own country.' That, Tasor of Gathol, is what Gahan your Jed
would demand of you."</p>
<p>"And that, Turan the slave, is what I shall bend my every effort to
accomplish after I have found a safe refuge for Tara of Helium and her
panthan," replied Tasor.</p>
<p>Gahan's glance carried to Tasor an intimation of his Jed's
gratification and filled him with a chivalrous determination to do the
thing required of him, or die, for he considered that he had received
from the lips of his beloved ruler a commission that placed upon his
shoulders a responsibility that encompassed not alone the life of Gahan
and Tara but the welfare, perhaps the whole future, of Gathol. And so
he hastened them onward through the musty corridors of the old palace
where the dust of ages lay undisturbed upon the marble tiles. Now and
again he tried a door until he found one that was unlocked. Opening it
he ushered them into a chamber, heavy with dust. Crumbling silks and
furs adorned the walls, with ancient weapons, and great paintings whose
colors were toned by age to wondrous softness.</p>
<p>"This be as good as any place," he said. "No one comes here. Never have
I been here before, so I know no more of the other chambers than you;
but this one, at least, I can find again when I bring you food and
drink. O-Mai the Cruel occupied this portion of the palace during his
reign, five thousand years before O-Tar. In one of these apartments he
was found dead, his face contorted in an expression of fear so horrible
that it drove to madness those who looked upon it; yet there was no
mark of violence upon him. Since then the quarters of O-Mai have been
shunned for the legends have it that the ghosts of Corphals pursue the
spirit of the wicked Jeddak nightly through these chambers, shrieking
and moaning as they go. But," he added, as though to reassure himself
as well as his companions, "such things may not be countenanced by the
culture of Gathol or Helium."</p>
<p>Gahan laughed. "And if all who looked upon him were driven mad, who
then was there to perform the last rites or prepare the body of the
Jeddak for them?"</p>
<p>"There was none," replied Tasor. "Where they found him they left him
and there to this very day his mouldering bones lie hid in some
forgotten chamber of this forbidden suite."</p>
<p>Tasor left them then assuring them that he would seek the first
opportunity to speak with A-Kor, and upon the following day he would
bring them food and drink.*</p>
<p class="footnote">
* Those who have read John Carter's description of the Green Martians
in A Princess of Mars will recall that these strange people could exist
for considerable periods of time without food or water, and to a lesser
degree is the same true of all Martians.</p>
<br/>
<p>After Tasor had gone Tara turned to Gahan and approaching laid a hand
upon his arm. "So swiftly have events transpired since I recognized you
beneath your disguise," she said, "that I have had no opportunity to
assure you of my gratitude and the high esteem that your valor has won
for you in my consideration. Let me now acknowledge my indebtedness;
and if promises be not vain from one whose life and liberty are in
grave jeopardy, accept my assurance of the great reward that awaits you
at the hand of my father in Helium."</p>
<p>"I desire no reward," he replied, "other than the happiness of knowing
that the woman I love is happy."</p>
<p>For an instant the eyes of Tara of Helium blazed as she drew herself
haughtily to her full height, and then they softened and her attitude
relaxed as she shook her head sadly.</p>
<p>"I have it not in my heart to reprimand you, Turan," she said, "however
great your fault, for you have been an honorable and a loyal friend to
Tara of Helium; but you must not say what my ears must not hear."</p>
<p>"You mean," he asked, "that the ears of a Princess must not listen to
words of love from a panthan?"</p>
<p>"It is not that, Turan," she replied; "but rather that I may not in
honor listen to words of love from another than him to whom I am
betrothed—a fellow countryman, Djor Kantos."</p>
<p>"You mean, Tara of Helium," he cried, "that were it not for that you
would—"</p>
<p>"Stop!" she commanded. "You have no right to assume aught else than my
lips testify."</p>
<p>"The eyes are ofttimes more eloquent than the lips, Tara," he replied;
"and in yours I have read that which is neither hatred nor contempt for
Turan the panthan, and my heart tells me that your lips bore false
witness when they cried in anger: 'I hate you!'"</p>
<p>"I do not hate you, Turan, nor yet may I love you," said the girl,
simply.</p>
<p>"When I broke my way out from the chamber of I-Gos I was indeed upon
the verge of believing that you did hate me," he said, "for only
hatred, it seemed to me, could account for the fact that you had gone
without making an effort to liberate me; but presently both my heart
and my judgment told me that Tara of Helium could not have deserted a
companion in distress, and though I still am in ignorance of the facts
I know that it was beyond your power to aid me."</p>
<p>"It was indeed," said the girl. "Scarce had I-Gos fallen at the bite of
my dagger than I heard the approach of warriors. I ran then to hide
until they had passed, thinking to return and liberate you; but in
seeking to elude the party I had heard I ran full into the arms of
another. They questioned me as to your whereabouts, and I told them
that you had gone ahead and that I was following you and thus I led
them from you."</p>
<p>"I knew," was Gahan's only comment, but his heart was glad with
elation, as a lover's must be who has heard from the lips of his
divinity an avowal of interest and loyalty, however little tinged by a
suggestion of warmer regard it may be. To be abused, even, by the
mistress of one's heart is better than to be ignored.</p>
<p>As the two conversed in the ill-lit chamber, the dim bulbs of which
were encrusted with the accumulated dust of centuries, a bent and
withered figure traversed slowly the gloomy corridors without, his weak
and watery eyes peering through thick lenses at the signs of passage
written upon the dusty floor.</p>
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