Edgar Rice Burroughs - Mars Chronicles 07 - A Fighting Man.pdf

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Burroughs, Edgar Rice - Mars Chronicles 07 - A Fighting Man of Mars
Ten. THE FLYING DEATH
Eleven. "LET THE FIRE BE HOT!"
Twelve. THE CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY
Thirteen. TUL AXTAR'S WOMEN
Fourteen. THE CANNIBALS OF U-GOR
Fifteen. THE BATTLE OF JAHAR
Sixteen. DESPAIR
Seventeen. I FIND A PRINCESS
Gridley had constructed a simple, automatic device for broadcasting
signals intermittently and for recording whatever might be received dur-
ing his absence.
For a period of five minutes the Gridley Wave carried a simple code
signal consisting of two letters, "J.G.," out into the ether, following which
there was a pause of ten minutes. Hour after hour, day after day, week
after week, these silent, invisible messengers sped out to the uttermost
reaches of infinite space, and after Jason Gridley left Tarzana to embark
upon his expedition to Pellucidar, I found myself drawn to his laboratory
by the lure of the tantalizing possibilities of his dream, as well as by the
promise I had made him that I would look in occasionally to see that the
device was functioning properly and to examine the recording instru-
ments for any indication that the signals had been received and an-
swered.
My considerable association with Gridley had given me a fair working
knowledge of his devices and sufficient knowledge of the Morse Code to
enable me to receive with moderate accuracy and speed.
Months passed; dust accumulated thickly upon everything except the
working parts of Gridley's device, and the white ribbon of ticker tape that
was to receive an answering signal retained its virgin purity; then I went
away for a short trip into Arizona.
I was absent for about ten days and upon my return one of the first
things with which I concerned myself was an inspection of Gridley's labo-
ratory and the instruments he had left in my care. As I entered the fa-
miliar room and switched on the lights it was with the expectation of
meeting with the same blank unresponsiveness to which I was by now
quite accustomed.
As a matter of fact, hope of success had never been raised to any con-
siderable degree in my breast, nor had Gridley been over sanguine-- his
was merely an experiment. He considered it well worth while to make it,
and I considered it equally worth while to lend him what small assistance
I might.
In brief, the message explained that for months mysterious signals had
been received at Helium, and while they were unable to interpret them,
they felt that they came from Jasoom, the name by which the planet
Earth is known upon Mars.
John Carter being absent from Helium, a fast flier had been dis-
patched to Duhor bearing an urgent request to Paxton to come at once to
the twin cities and endeavor to determine if in truth the signals they were
receiving actually originated upon the planet of his birth.
Upon his arrival at Helium, Paxton immediately recognized the Morse
Code signals and no doubt was left in the minds of the Martian scientists
that at last something tangible had been accomplished toward the solu-
tion of inter-communication between Jasoom and Barsoom.
Repeated attempts to transmit answering signals to Earth proved
fruitless and then the best minds of Helium settled down to the task of
analyzing and reproducing the Gridley Wave.
They felt that at last they had succeeded. Paxton had sent his message
and they were eagerly awaiting an acknowledgment.
I have since been in almost constant communication with Mars, but
out of loyalty to Jason Gridley, to whom all the credit and honor are due,
I have made no official announcement, nor shall I give out any important
information, leaving all that for his return to the outer world; but I believe
that I am betraying no confidence if I narrate to you the interesting story
of Hadron of Hastor, which Paxton told me one evening not long since.
I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did.
But before I go on with the story a brief description of the principal
races of Mars, their political and military organization and some of their
customs may prove of interest to many of my readers. The dominant race
in whose hands rest the progress and civilization--yes, the very life of
Mars--differ but little in physical appearance from ourselves. The fact that
their skins are a light reddish copper color and that they are oviparous
constitute the two most marked divergences from Anglo-Saxon standards.
No, there is another--their longevity. A thousand years is the natural
handsome and highly intelligent black men. There, also, is the remnant of
a white race; while the north polar regions are dominated by a race of
yellow men.
In between the two poles and scattered over all the and waste lands of
the dead sea bottoms, often inhabiting the ruined cities of another age,
are the feared green hordes of Mars.
The terrible green warriors of Barsoom are the hereditary enemies of
all the other races of this martial planet. They are of heroic size and in
addition to being equipped with two legs and two arms apiece, they have
an intermediary pair of limbs, which may be used at will either as arms or
legs. Their eyes are set at the extreme sides of their heads, a trifle above
the center, and protrude in such a manner that they may be directed ei-
ther forward or back and also independently of each other, thus permit-
ting these remarkable creatures to look in any direction, or in two direc-
tions at once without the necessity of turning their heads.
Their ears, which are slightly above the eyes and closer together are
small cupped-shape antennae, protruding several inches from the head,
while their noses are but longitudinal slits in the center of their faces,
midway between their mouths and ears.
They have no hair on their bodies, which are of a very light yellowish-
green color in infancy, deepening to an olive green toward maturity, the
adult males being darker in color than the females.
The iris of the eyes is blood red, as an Albino's, while the pupil is dark.
The eyeball itself is very white, as are the teeth and it is these latter which
add a most ferocious appearance to an otherwise fearsome and terrible
countenance, as the lower tusks curve upward to sharp points which end
about where the eyes of earthly human beings are located. The whiteness
of the teeth is not that of ivory, but of the snowiest and most gleaming of
china. Against the dark background of their olive skins their tusks stand
out in a most striking manner, causing these weapons to present a sin-
gularly formidable appearance.
They are a cruel and taciturn race, entirely devoid of love, sympathy or
pity.

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