CHAPTER II
A FOREST BATTLE
Tars Tarkas and I found no time for an exchange of experiences as westood there before the great boulder surrounded by the corpses of ourgrotesque assailants, for from all directions down the broad valley wasstreaming a perfect torrent of terrifying creatures in response to theweird call of the strange figure far above us.
"Come," cried Tars Tarkas, "we must make for the cliffs. There liesour only hope of even temporary escape; there we may find a cave or anarrow ledge which two may defend for ever against this motley, unarmedhorde."
Together we raced across the scarlet sward, I timing my speed that Imight not outdistance my slower companion. We had, perhaps, threehundred yards to cover between our boulder and the cliffs, and then tosearch out a suitable shelter for our stand against the terrifyingthings that were pursuing us.
They were rapidly overhauling us when Tars Tarkas cried to me to hastenahead and discover, if possible, the sanctuary we sought. Thesuggestion was a good one, for thus many valuable minutes might besaved to us, and, throwing every ounce of my earthly muscles into theeffort, I cleared the remaining distance between myself and the cliffsin great leaps and bounds that put me at their base in a moment.
The cliffs rose perpendicular directly from the almost level sward ofthe valley. There was no accumulation of fallen debris, forming a moreor less rough ascent to them, as is the case with nearly all othercliffs I have ever seen. The scattered boulders that had fallen fromabove and lay upon or partly buried in the turf, were the onlyindication that any disintegration of the massive, towering pile ofrocks ever had taken place.
My first cursory inspection of the face of the cliffs filled my heartwith forebodings, since nowhere could I discern, except where the weirdherald stood still shrieking his shrill summons, the faintestindication of even a bare foothold upon the lofty escarpment.
To my right the bottom of the cliff was lost in the dense foliage ofthe forest, which terminated at its very foot, rearing its gorgeousfoliage fully a thousand feet against its stern and forbiddingneighbour.
To the left the cliff ran, apparently unbroken, across the head of thebroad valley, to be lost in the outlines of what appeared to be a rangeof mighty mountains that skirted and confined the valley in everydirection.
Perhaps a thousand feet from me the river broke, as it seemed, directlyfrom the base of the cliffs, and as there seemed not the remotestchance for escape in that direction I turned my attention again towardthe forest.
The cliffs towered above me a good five thousand feet. The sun was notquite upon them and they loomed a dull yellow in their own shade. Hereand there they were broken with streaks and patches of dusky red,green, and occasional areas of white quartz.
Altogether they were very beautiful, but I fear that I did not regardthem with a particularly appreciative eye on this, my first inspectionof them.
Just then I was absorbed in them only as a medium of escape, and so, asmy gaze ran quickly, time and again, over their vast expanse in searchof some cranny or crevice, I came suddenly to loathe them as theprisoner must loathe the cruel and impregnable walls of his dungeon.
Tars Tarkas was approaching me rapidly, and still more rapidly came theawful horde at his heels.
It seemed the forest now or nothing, and I was just on the point ofmotioning Tars Tarkas to follow me in that direction when the sunpassed the cliff's zenith, and as the bright rays touched the dullsurface it burst out into a million scintillant lights of burnishedgold, of flaming red, of soft greens, and gleaming whites--a moregorgeous and inspiring spectacle human eye has never rested upon.
The face of the entire cliff was, as later inspection conclusivelyproved, so shot with veins and patches of solid gold as to quitepresent the appearance of a solid wall of that precious metal exceptwhere it was broken by outcroppings of ruby, emerald, and diamondboulders--a faint and alluring indication of the vast and unguessableriches which lay deeply buried behind the magnificent surface.
But what caught my most interested attention at the moment that thesun's rays set the cliff's face a-shimmer, was the several black spotswhich now appeared quite plainly in evidence high across the gorgeouswall close to the forest's top, and extending apparently below andbehind the branches.
Almost immediately I recognised them for what they were, the darkopenings of caves entering the solid walls--possible avenues of escapeor temporary shelter, could we but reach them.
There was but a single way, and that led through the mighty, toweringtrees upon our right. That I could scale them I knew full well, butTars Tarkas, with his mighty bulk and enormous weight, would find it atask possibly quite beyond his prowess or his skill, for Martians areat best but poor climbers. Upon the entire surface of that ancientplanet I never before had seen a hill or mountain that exceeded fourthousand feet in height above the dead sea bottoms, and as the ascentwas usually gradual, nearly to their summits they presented but fewopportunities for the practice of climbing. Nor would the Martianshave embraced even such opportunities as might present themselves, forthey could always find a circuitous route about the base of anyeminence, and these roads they preferred and followed in preference tothe shorter but more arduous ways.
However, there was nothing else to consider than an attempt to scalethe trees contiguous to the cliff in an effort to reach the caves above.
The Thark grasped the possibilities and the difficulties of the plan atonce, but there was no alternative, and so we set out rapidly for thetrees nearest the cliff.
Our relentless pursuers were now close to us, so close that it seemedthat it would be an utter impossibility for the Jeddak of Thark toreach the forest in advance of them, nor was there any considerablewill in the efforts that Tars Tarkas made, for the green men of Barsoomdo not relish flight, nor ever before had I seen one fleeing from deathin whatsoever form it might have confronted him. But that Tars Tarkaswas the bravest of the brave he had proven thousands of times; yes,tens of thousands in countless mortal combats with men and beasts. Andso I knew that there was another reason than fear of death behind hisflight, as he knew that a greater power than pride or honour spurred meto escape these fierce destroyers. In my case it was love--love of thedivine Dejah Thoris; and the cause of the Thark's great and sudden loveof life I could not fathom, for it is oftener that they seek death thanlife--these strange, cruel, loveless, unhappy people.
At length, however, we reached the shadows of the forest, while rightbehind us sprang the swiftest of our pursuers--a giant plant man withclaws outreaching to fasten his bloodsucking mouths upon us.
He was, I should say, a hundred yards in advance of his closestcompanion, and so I called to Tars Tarkas to ascend a great tree thatbrushed the cliff's face while I dispatched the fellow, thus giving theless agile Thark an opportunity to reach the higher branches before theentire horde should be upon us and every vestige of escape cut off.
But I had reckoned without a just appreciation either of the cunning ofmy immediate antagonist or the swiftness with which his fellows werecovering the distance which had separated them from me.
As I raised my long-sword to deal the creature its death thrust ithalted in its charge and, as my sword cut harmlessly through the emptyair, the great tail of the thing swept with the power of a grizzly'sarm across the sward and carried me bodily from my feet to the ground.In an instant the brute was upon me, but ere it could fasten itshideous mouths into my breast and throat I grasped a writhing tentaclein either hand.
The plant man was well muscled, heavy, and powerful but my earthlysinews and greater agility, in conjunction with the deathly stranglehold I had upon him, would have given me, I think, an eventual victoryhad we had time to discuss the merits of our relative prowessuninterrupted. But as we strained and struggled about the tree intowhich Tars Tarkas was clambering with infinite difficulty, I suddenlycaught a glimpse over the shoulder of my antagonist of the great swarmof pursuers that now were fairly upon me.
Now, at la
st, I saw the nature of the other monsters who had come withthe plant men in response to the weird calling of the man upon thecliff's face. They were that most dreaded of Martian creatures--greatwhite apes of Barsoom.
My former experiences upon Mars had familiarized me thoroughly withthem and their methods, and I may say that of all the fearsome andterrible, weird and grotesque inhabitants of that strange world, it isthe white apes that come nearest to familiarizing me with the sensationof fear.
I think that the cause of this feeling which these apes engender withinme is due to their remarkable resemblance in form to our Earth men,which gives them a human appearance that is most uncanny when coupledwith their enormous size.
They stand fifteen feet in height and walk erect upon their hind feet.Like the green Martians, they have an intermediary set of arms midwaybetween their upper and lower limbs. Their eyes are very close set,but do not protrude as do those of the green men of Mars; their earsare high set, but more laterally located than are the green men's,while their snouts and teeth are much like those of our Africangorilla. Upon their heads grows an enormous shock of bristly hair.
It was into the eyes of such as these and the terrible plant men that Igazed above the shoulder of my foe, and then, in a mighty wave ofsnarling, snapping, screaming, purring rage, they swept over me--and ofall the sounds that assailed my ears as I went down beneath them, to methe most hideous was the horrid purring of the plant men.
Instantly a score of cruel fangs and keen talons were sunk into myflesh; cold, sucking lips fastened themselves upon my arteries. Istruggled to free myself, and even though weighed down by these immensebodies, I succeeded in struggling to my feet, where, still grasping mylong-sword, and shortening my grip upon it until I could use it as adagger, I wrought such havoc among them that at one time I stood for aninstant free.
What it has taken minutes to write occurred in but a few seconds, butduring that time Tars Tarkas had seen my plight and had dropped fromthe lower branches, which he had reached with such infinite labour, andas I flung the last of my immediate antagonists from me the great Tharkleaped to my side, and again we fought, back to back, as we had done ahundred times before.
Time and again the ferocious apes sprang in to close with us, and timeand again we beat them back with our swords. The great tails of theplant men lashed with tremendous power about us as they charged fromvarious directions or sprang with the agility of greyhounds above ourheads; but every attack met a gleaming blade in sword hands that hadbeen reputed for twenty years the best that Mars ever had known; forTars Tarkas and John Carter were names that the fighting men of theworld of warriors loved best to speak.
But even the two best swords in a world of fighters can avail not forever against overwhelming numbers of fierce and savage brutes that knownot what defeat means until cold steel teaches their hearts no longerto beat, and so, step by step, we were forced back. At length we stoodagainst the giant tree that we had chosen for our ascent, and then, ascharge after charge hurled its weight upon us, we gave back again andagain, until we had been forced half-way around the huge base of thecolossal trunk.
Tars Tarkas was in the lead, and suddenly I heard a little cry ofexultation from him.
"Here is shelter for one at least, John Carter," he said, and, glancingdown, I saw an opening in the base of the tree about three feet indiameter.
"In with you, Tars Tarkas," I cried, but he would not go; saying thathis bulk was too great for the little aperture, while I might slip ineasily.
"We shall both die if we remain without, John Carter; here is a slightchance for one of us. Take it and you may live to avenge me, it isuseless for me to attempt to worm my way into so small an opening withthis horde of demons besetting us on all sides."
"Then we shall die together, Tars Tarkas," I replied, "for I shall notgo first. Let me defend the opening while you get in, then my smallerstature will permit me to slip in with you before they can prevent."
We still were fighting furiously as we talked in broken sentences,punctured with vicious cuts and thrusts at our swarming enemy.
At length he yielded, for it seemed the only way in which either of usmight be saved from the ever-increasing numbers of our assailants, whowere still swarming upon us from all directions across the broad valley.
"It was ever your way, John Carter, to think last of your own life," hesaid; "but still more your way to command the lives and actions ofothers, even to the greatest of Jeddaks who rule upon Barsoom."
There was a grim smile upon his cruel, hard face, as he, the greatestJeddak of them all, turned to obey the dictates of a creature ofanother world--of a man whose stature was less than half his own.
"If you fail, John Carter," he said, "know that the cruel and heartlessThark, to whom you taught the meaning of friendship, will come out todie beside you."
"As you will, my friend," I replied; "but quickly now, head first,while I cover your retreat."
He hesitated a little at that word, for never before in his whole lifeof continual strife had he turned his back upon aught than a dead ordefeated enemy.
"Haste, Tars Tarkas," I urged, "or we shall both go down to profitlessdefeat; I cannot hold them for ever alone."
As he dropped to the ground to force his way into the tree, the wholehowling pack of hideous devils hurled themselves upon me. To right andleft flew my shimmering blade, now green with the sticky juice of aplant man, now red with the crimson blood of a great white ape; butalways flying from one opponent to another, hesitating but the barestfraction of a second to drink the lifeblood in the centre of somesavage heart.
And thus I fought as I never had fought before, against such frightfulodds that I cannot realize even now that human muscles could havewithstood that awful onslaught, that terrific weight of hurtling tonsof ferocious, battling flesh.
With the fear that we would escape them, the creatures redoubled theirefforts to pull me down, and though the ground about me was piled highwith their dead and dying comrades, they succeeded at last inoverwhelming me, and I went down beneath them for the second time thatday, and once again felt those awful sucking lips against my flesh.
But scarce had I fallen ere I felt powerful hands grip my ankles, andin another second I was being drawn within the shelter of the tree'sinterior. For a moment it was a tug of war between Tars Tarkas and agreat plant man, who clung tenaciously to my breast, but presently Igot the point of my long-sword beneath him and with a mighty thrustpierced his vitals.
Torn and bleeding from many cruel wounds, I lay panting upon the groundwithin the hollow of the tree, while Tars Tarkas defended the openingfrom the furious mob without.
For an hour they howled about the tree, but after a few attempts toreach us they confined their efforts to terrorizing shrieks andscreams, to horrid growling on the part of the great white apes, andthe fearsome and indescribable purring by the plant men.
At length, all but a score, who had apparently been left to prevent ourescape, had left us, and our adventure seemed destined to result in asiege, the only outcome of which could be our death by starvation; foreven should we be able to slip out after dark, whither in this unknownand hostile valley could we hope to turn our steps toward possibleescape?
As the attacks of our enemies ceased and our eyes became accustomed tothe semi-darkness of the interior of our strange retreat, I took theopportunity to explore our shelter.
The tree was hollow to an extent of about fifty feet in diameter, andfrom its flat, hard floor I judged that it had often been used todomicile others before our occupancy. As I raised my eyes toward itsroof to note the height I saw far above me a faint glow of light.
There was an opening above. If we could but reach it we might stillhope to make the shelter of the cliff caves. My eyes had now becomequite used to the subdued light of the interior, and as I pursued myinvestigation I presently came upon a rough ladder at the far side ofthe cave.
Quickly I mounted it, only to find that it connected at the top w
iththe lower of a series of horizontal wooden bars that spanned the nownarrow and shaft-like interior of the tree's stem. These bars were setone above another about three feet apart, and formed a perfect ladderas far above me as I could see.
Dropping to the floor once more, I detailed my discovery to TarsTarkas, who suggested that I explore aloft as far as I could go insafety while he guarded the entrance against a possible attack.
As I hastened above to explore the strange shaft I found that theladder of horizontal bars mounted always as far above me as my eyescould reach, and as I ascended, the light from above grew brighter andbrighter.
For fully five hundred feet I continued to climb, until at length Ireached the opening in the stem which admitted the light. It was ofabout the same diameter as the entrance at the foot of the tree, andopened directly upon a large flat limb, the well worn surface of whichtestified to its long continued use as an avenue for some creature toand from this remarkable shaft.
I did not venture out upon the limb for fear that I might be discoveredand our retreat in this direction cut off; but instead hurried toretrace my steps to Tars Tarkas.
I soon reached him and presently we were both ascending the long laddertoward the opening above.
Tars Tarkas went in advance and as I reached the first of thehorizontal bars I drew the ladder up after me and, handing it to him,he carried it a hundred feet further aloft, where he wedged it safelybetween one of the bars and the side of the shaft. In like manner Idislodged the lower bars as I passed them, so that we soon had theinterior of the tree denuded of all possible means of ascent for adistance of a hundred feet from the base; thus precluding possiblepursuit and attack from the rear.
As we were to learn later, this precaution saved us from direpredicament, and was eventually the means of our salvation.
When we reached the opening at the top Tars Tarkas drew to one sidethat I might pass out and investigate, as, owing to my lesser weightand greater agility, I was better fitted for the perilous threading ofthis dizzy, hanging pathway.
The limb upon which I found myself ascended at a slight angle towardthe cliff, and as I followed it I found that it terminated a few feetabove a narrow ledge which protruded from the cliff's face at theentrance to a narrow cave.
As I approached the slightly more slender extremity of the branch itbent beneath my weight until, as I balanced perilously upon its outertip, it swayed gently on a level with the ledge at a distance of acouple of feet.
Five hundred feet below me lay the vivid scarlet carpet of the valley;nearly five thousand feet above towered the mighty, gleaming face ofthe gorgeous cliffs.
The cave that I faced was not one of those that I had seen from theground, and which lay much higher, possibly a thousand feet. But sofar as I might know it was as good for our purpose as another, and so Ireturned to the tree for Tars Tarkas.
Together we wormed our way along the waving pathway, but when wereached the end of the branch we found that our combined weight sodepressed the limb that the cave's mouth was now too far above us to bereached.
We finally agreed that Tars Tarkas should return along the branch,leaving his longest leather harness strap with me, and that when thelimb had risen to a height that would permit me to enter the cave I wasto do so, and on Tars Tarkas' return I could then lower the strap andhaul him up to the safety of the ledge.
This we did without mishap and soon found ourselves together upon theverge of a dizzy little balcony, with a magnificent view of the valleyspreading out below us.
As far as the eye could reach gorgeous forest and crimson sward skirteda silent sea, and about all towered the brilliant monster guardiancliffs. Once we thought we discerned a gilded minaret gleaming in thesun amidst the waving tops of far-distant trees, but we soon abandonedthe idea in the belief that it was but an hallucination born of ourgreat desire to discover the haunts of civilized men in this beautiful,yet forbidding, spot.
Below us upon the river's bank the great white apes were devouring thelast remnants of Tars Tarkas' former companions, while great herds ofplant men grazed in ever-widening circles about the sward which theykept as close clipped as the smoothest of lawns.
Knowing that attack from the tree was now improbable, we determined toexplore the cave, which we had every reason to believe was but acontinuation of the path we had already traversed, leading the godsalone knew where, but quite evidently away from this valley of grimferocity.
As we advanced we found a well-proportioned tunnel cut from the solidcliff. Its walls rose some twenty feet above the floor, which wasabout five feet in width. The roof was arched. We had no means ofmaking a light, and so groped our way slowly into the ever-increasingdarkness, Tars Tarkas keeping in touch with one wall while I felt alongthe other, while, to prevent our wandering into diverging branches andbecoming separated or lost in some intricate and labyrinthine maze, weclasped hands.
How far we traversed the tunnel in this manner I do not know, butpresently we came to an obstruction which blocked our further progress.It seemed more like a partition than a sudden ending of the cave, forit was constructed not of the material of the cliff, but of somethingwhich felt like very hard wood.
Silently I groped over its surface with my hands, and presently wasrewarded by the feel of the button which as commonly denotes a door onMars as does a door knob on Earth.
Gently pressing it, I had the satisfaction of feeling the door slowlygive before me, and in another instant we were looking into a dimlylighted apartment, which, so far as we could see, was unoccupied.
Without more ado I swung the door wide open and, followed by the hugeThark, stepped into the chamber. As we stood for a moment in silencegazing about the room a slight noise behind caused me to turn quickly,when, to my astonishment, I saw the door close with a sharp click asthough by an unseen hand.
Instantly I sprang toward it to wrench it open again, for something inthe uncanny movement of the thing and the tense and almost palpablesilence of the chamber seemed to portend a lurking evil lying hidden inthis rock-bound chamber within the bowels of the Golden Cliffs.
My fingers clawed futilely at the unyielding portal, while my eyessought in vain for a duplicate of the button which had given us ingress.
And then, from unseen lips, a cruel and mocking peal of laughter rangthrough the desolate place.