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watching and sleeping.
When all had slept, the smudges were allowed to burn more brightly, the men cut
limbs from the living trees, sliced them and roasted them. They tasted much like
veal. Then we talked over our plans for the future. It was decided that we
should split up into parties of two or three and scatter; so that some of us at
least might have a chance to escape recapture. They said that the Morgors would
hunt us down for a long time. I felt that we would be much safer remaining
together, as we were ten undefeatable sword-arms; but as the countries from
which my companions came were widely scattered; and, as naturally, each wished
if possible to return to his own home, it was necessary that we separate.
It chanced that Han Du's country lay in the general direction of Zanor, as did
Pho Lar's; so we three bid goodby to the others and left them. How I was to
reach faraway Zanor on a planet of twenty-three billion square miles of area, I
was at some loss to conceive. So was Han Du. He told me that I would be welcome
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r r
in his country  if we were fortunate enough to reach it; but I assured him that
I should never cease to search for Zanor and my mate.
Nine
TO ZANOR!
I SHALL NOT BORE YOU with an account of that part of my odyssey which finally
brought me to one of the cities of Han Du's country. We kept as much to cover as
we could, since we knew that if Morgors were searching for us they would be
flying low in invisible ships. Forests offered us our best protection from
discovery, but there were wide plains to cross, rivers to swim, mountains to
climb.
In this world without night, it was difficult to keep account of time; but it
seemed to me that we must have traveled for months. Pho Lar remained with us for
a great deal of the time, but finally he had to turn away in the direction of
his own country. We were sorry to lose him, as he had developed into a splendid
companion; and we should miss his sword, too.
We had met no men, but had had several encounters with wild beasts  creatures
of hideous, unearthly appearance, both powerful and voracious. I soon realized
the inadequacy of our swords as a sole means of defense; so we fashioned spears
of a bamboolike growth that seemed wholly vegetable. I also taught Han Du and
Pho Lar how to make bows and arrows and to use them. We found them of great
advantage in our hunting of smaller animals and birds for food. In the forests,
we subsisted almost wholly on the meat of the man-tree.
At last Han Du and I came within sight of an ocean. "We are home," he said. "My
city lies close beside the sea." I saw no city.
We had come down out of some low hills, and were walking across a narrow coastal
plain. Han Du was several yards to my right, when I suddenly bumped into
something solid  solid as a brick wall; but there was nothing there! The sudden
collision had caused me to step back. I stretched out my hands, and felt what
seemed to be a solid wall barring my way, yet only a level expanse of bare
ground, but the ground was not entirely bare. It was dotted, here and there,
with strange plants  a simple, leafless stock a foot or two tall bearing a
single fuzzy blossom at its top.
I looked around for Han Du. He had disappeared! He had just vanished like a
punctured soap bubble. All up and down the shore there was no place into which
he could have vanished, nothing behind which he would have hidden, no hole in
the ground into which he might have darted. I was baffled. I scratched my head
in perplexity, as I started on again toward the beach only to once more bump
into the wall that was not there.
I put my hands against the invisible wall and followed it. It curved away from
me. Foot by foot, I pursued my tantalizing investigation. After a while I was
back right where I had started from. It seemed that I had run into an invisible
tower of solid air. I started off in a new direction toward the beach, avoiding
the obstacle which had obstructed my way. After a dozen paces I ran into
another; then I gave up  at least temporarily.
Presently I called Han Du's Dame aloud, and almost instantly he appeared a short
distance from me. "What kind of a game is this?" I demanded. "I bump into a wall
of solid air and when I look for you, you are not anywhere, you have
disappeared."
Han Du laughed. "I keep forgetting that you are a stranger in this world," he
said. "We have come to the city in which I live. I just stepped into my home to
greet my family. That is why you could not see me." As he spoke, a woman
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r r
appeared beside him, and a little child. They seemed to materialize out of thin
air. Had I come to a land of disembodied spirits who had the power to
materialize? I could scarcely believe it, as there was nothing ghostly nor
ethereal about Han Du.
"This is O Ala, my mate," said Han Du. "O Ala, this is John Carter, Prince of
Helium. To him we owe my escape from the Morgors."
O Ala extended her hand to me. It was a firm, warm hand of flesh and blood.
"Welcome, John Carter," she said. "All that we have is yours."
It was a sweet gesture of hospitality; but as I looked around, I could not see
that they had anything. "Where is the city?" I asked.
They both laughed. "Come with us," said O Ala. She led the way, apparently
around an invisible corner; and there, before me, I saw an open doorway in thin
air. Through the doorway, I could see the interior of a room. "Come in," invited
O Ala, and I followed her into a commodius, circular apartment. Han Du followed
and closed the door. The roof of the apartment was a dome perhaps twenty feet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]