"You may trust me to find a way

out of the prison of Shador, and I think, once out, that we shall

find no great difficulty in arming ourselves once more in a country

which abounds so plentifully in armed men."

"As you say," he replied with a smile and shrug. "I could not

follow another leader who inspired greater confidence than you.

Come, let us put your ruse to the test."

Boldly we emerged from the hatchway of the craft, leaving our swords

behind us, and strode to the main exit which led to the sentry's

post and the office of the Dator of the guard.

At sight of us the members of the guard sprang forward in surprise,

and with levelled rifles halted us. I held out the message to one

of them. He took it and seeing to whom it was addressed turned

and handed it to Torith who was emerging from his office to learn

the cause of the commotion.

The black read the order, and for a moment eyed us with evident

suspicion.

"Where is Dator Yersted?" he asked, and my heart sank within me, as

I cursed myself for a stupid fool in not having sunk the submarine

to make good the lie that I must tell.

"His orders were to return immediately to the temple landing," I

replied.

Torith took a half step toward the entrance to the pool as though

to corroborate my story. For that instant everything hung in the

balance, for had he done so and found the empty submarine still

lying at her wharf the whole weak fabric of my concoction would

have tumbled about our heads; but evidently he decided the message

must be genuine, nor indeed was there any good reason to doubt it

since it would scarce have seemed credible to him that two slaves

would voluntarily have given themselves into custody in any such

manner as this. It was the very boldness of the plan which rendered

it successful.

"Were you connected with the rising of the slaves?" asked Torith.

"We have just had meagre reports of some such event."

"All were involved," I replied. "But it amounted to little. The

guards quickly overcame and killed the majority of us."

He seemed satisfied with this reply. "Take them to Shador," he

ordered, turning to one of his subordinates. We entered a small

boat lying beside the island, and in a few minutes were disembarking

upon Shador. Here we were returned to our respective cells; I with

Xodar, the boy by himself; and behind locked doors we were again

prisoners of the First Born.

CHAPTER XIII

A BREAK FOR LIBERTY

Xodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my narration of the

events which had transpired within the arena at the rites of Issus.

He could scarce conceive, even though he had already professed his

doubt as to the deity of Issus, that one could threaten her with

sword in hand and not be blasted into a thousand fragments by the

mere fury of her divine wrath.

"It is the final proof," he said, at last. "No more is needed to

completely shatter the last remnant of my superstitious belief in

the divinity of Issus. She is only a wicked old woman, wielding a

mighty power for evil through machinations that have kept her own

people and all Barsoom in religious ignorance for ages."

"She is still all-powerful here, however," I replied. "So it behooves

us to leave at the first moment that appears at all propitious."

"I hope that you may find a propitious moment," he said, with

a laugh, "for it is certain that in all my life I have never seen

one in which a prisoner of the First Born might escape."

"To-night will do as well as any," I replied.

"It will soon be night," said Xodar. "How may I aid in the

adventure?"

"Can you swim?" I asked him.

"No slimy silian that haunts the depths of Korus is more at home

in water than is Xodar," he replied.

"Good. The red one in all probability cannot swim," I said,

"since there is scarce enough water in all their domains to float

the tiniest craft. One of us therefore will have to support him

through the sea to the craft we select. I had hoped that we might

make the entire distance below the surface, but I fear that the

red youth could not thus perform the trip. Even the bravest of the

brave among them are terrorized at the mere thought of deep water,

for it has been ages since their forebears saw a lake, a river or

a sea."

"The red one is to accompany us?" asked Xodar.

"Yes."

"It is well. Three swords are better than two. Especially when

the third is as mighty as this fellow's. I have seen him battle

in the arena at the rites of Issus many times. Never, until I

saw you fight, had I seen one who seemed unconquerable even in the

face of great odds. One might think you two master and pupil, or

father and son. Come to recall his face there is a resemblance

between you. It is very marked when you fight--there is the same

grim smile, the same maddening contempt for your adversary apparent

in every movement of your bodies and in every changing expression

of your faces."

"Be that as it may, Xodar, he is a great fighter. I think that

we will make a trio difficult to overcome, and if my friend Tars

Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, were but one of us we could fight our way

from one end of Barsoom to the other even though the whole world

were pitted against us."

"It will be," said Xodar, "when they find from whence you have come.

That is but one of the superstitions which Issus has foisted upon

a credulous humanity. She works through the Holy Therns who are

as ignorant of her real self as are the Barsoomians of the outer

world. Her decrees are borne to the therns written in blood upon

a strange parchment. The poor deluded fools think that they are

receiving the revelations of a goddess through some supernatural

agency, since they find these messages upon their guarded altars

to which none could have access without detection.