They are the scavengers.

Many prisoners die here in their chains. The banths solve the

problem of sanitation, at least in this respect.

"In the gardens and temples above they are kept in pits. The therns

fear them. It is because of the banths that they seldom venture

below ground except as their duties call them."

An idea occurred to me, suggested by what Thuvia had just said.

"Why not take a number of banths and set them loose before us above

ground?" I asked.

Thuvia laughed.

"It would distract attention from us, I am sure," she said.

She commenced calling in a low singsong voice that was half purr.

She continued this as we wound our tedious way through the maze of

subterranean passages and chambers.

Presently soft, padded feet sounded close behind us, and as I turned I

saw a pair of great, green eyes shining in the dark shadows at our

rear. From a diverging tunnel a sinuous, tawny form crept stealthily

toward us.

Low growls and angry snarls assailed our ears on every side as we

hastened on and one by one the ferocious creatures answered the

call of their mistress.

She spoke a word to each as it joined us. Like well-schooled

terriers, they paced the corridors with us, but I could not help

but note the lathering jowls, nor the hungry expressions with which

they eyed Tars Tarkas and myself.

Soon we were entirely surrounded by some fifty of the brutes. Two

walked close on either side of Thuvia, as guards might walk. The

sleek sides of others now and then touched my own naked limbs. It

was a strange experience; the almost noiseless passage of naked human

feet and padded paws; the golden walls splashed with precious stones;

the dim light cast by the tiny radium bulbs set at considerable

distances along the roof; the huge, maned beasts of prey crowding

with low growls about us; the mighty green warrior towering high

above us all; myself crowned with the priceless diadem of a Holy

Thern; and leading the procession the beautiful girl, Thuvia.

I shall not soon forget it.

Presently we approached a great chamber more brightly lighted than

the corridors. Thuvia halted us. Quietly she stole toward the

entrance and glanced within. Then she motioned us to follow her.

The room was filled with specimens of the strange beings that

inhabit this underworld; a heterogeneous collection of hybrids--the

offspring of the prisoners from the outside world; red and green

Martians and the white race of therns.

Constant confinement below ground had wrought odd freaks upon their

skins. They more resemble corpses than living beings. Many are

deformed, others maimed, while the majority, Thuvia explained, are

sightless.

As they lay sprawled about the floor, sometimes overlapping one

another, again in heaps of several bodies, they suggested instantly

to me the grotesque illustrations that I had seen in copies of

Dante's INFERNO, and what more fitting comparison? Was this not

indeed a veritable hell, peopled by lost souls, dead and damned

beyond all hope?

Picking our way carefully we threaded a winding path across the

chamber, the great banths sniffing hungrily at the tempting prey

spread before them in such tantalizing and defenceless profusion.

Several times we passed the entrances to other chambers similarly

peopled, and twice again we were compelled to cross directly through

them. In others were chained prisoners and beasts.

"Why is it that we see no therns?" I asked of Thuvia.

"They seldom traverse the underworld at night, for then it is that

the great banths prowl the dim corridors seeking their prey. The

therns fear the awful denizens of this cruel and hopeless world

that they have fostered and allowed to grow beneath their feet. The

prisoners even sometimes turn upon them and rend them. The thern

can never tell from what dark shadow an assassin may spring upon

his back.

"By day it is different. Then the corridors and chambers are filled

with guards passing to and fro; slaves from the temples above come

by hundreds to the granaries and storerooms. All is life then.

You did not see it because I led you not in the beaten tracks, but

through roundabout passages seldom used. Yet it is possible that

we may meet a thern even yet. They do occasionally find it necessary

to come here after the sun has set. Because of this I have moved

with such great caution."

But we reached the upper galleries without detection and presently

Thuvia halted us at the foot of a short, steep ascent.

"Above us," she said, "is a doorway which opens on to the inner

gardens. I have brought you thus far. From here on for four miles

to the outer ramparts our way will be beset by countless dangers.

Guards patrol the courts, the temples, the gardens. Every inch of

the ramparts themselves is beneath the eye of a sentry."

I could not understand the necessity for such an enormous force of

armed men about a spot so surrounded by mystery and superstition

that not a soul upon Barsoom would have dared to approach it even

had they known its exact location. I questioned Thuvia, asking

her what enemies the therns could fear in their impregnable fortress.

We had reached the doorway now and Thuvia was opening it.

"They fear the black pirates of Barsoom, O Prince," she said, "from

whom may our first ancestors preserve us."

The door swung open; the smell of growing things greeted my nostrils;

the cool night air blew against my cheek. The great banths sniffed

the unfamiliar odours, and then with a rush they broke past us with

low growls, swarming across the gardens beneath the lurid light of

the nearer moon.

Suddenly a great cry arose from the roofs of the temples; a cry of

alarm and warning that, taken up from point to point, ran off to

the east and to the west, from temple, court, and rampart, until

it sounded as a dim echo in the distance.

The great Thark's long-sword leaped from its scabbard; Thuvia shrank

shuddering to my side.

CHAPTER VI

THE BLACK PIRATES OF BARSOOM

"What is it?" I asked of the girl.

For answer she pointed to the sky.

I looked, and there, above us, I saw shadowy bodies flitting hither

and thither high over temple, court, and garden.

Almost immediately flashes of light broke from these strange objects.

There was a roar of musketry, and then answering flashes and roars

from temple and rampart.

"The black pirates of Barsoom, O Prince," said Thuvia.

In great circles the air craft of the marauders swept lower and

lower toward the defending forces of the therns.

Volley after volley they vomited upon the temple guards; volley on

volley crashed through the thin air toward the fleeting and illusive

fliers.

As the pirates swooped closer toward the ground, thern soldiery

poured from the temples into the gardens and courts. The sight of

them in the open brought a score of fliers darting toward us from

all directions.

The therns fired upon them through shields affixed to their rifles,

but on, steadily on, came the grim, black craft. They were small

fliers for the most part, built for two to three men.