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grandeur."
"It saddens me to think of it," I said.
"And me, too," he replied.
"But you could return to Earth," I reminded him.
He smiled. "I do not think that either of us need worry about the end of Mars;
at least, not for another million years, perhaps."
I laughed. "Somehow, when you spoke of it, it seemed as though the end were
very
near," I said.
"Comparatively speaking, it is," he replied. "Here we have only a shallow
marshland to remind us of the mighty oceans which once rolled across the major
portion of Barsoom. On Earth, the waters cover three quarters of the globe,
reaching a depth of over five miles; yet, eventually the same fate will overtake
that planet. The mountains will wash down into the seas; the seas will
evaporate; and some day all that will be left to mark their great oceans will be
another Toonolian Marsh in some barren waste where the great Pacific Ocean
rolls
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r r
today."
"You make me sad," I said.
"Well, let's not worry about it, then," he laughed. "We have much more important
matters to consider than the end of the two worlds. The fate of a friend
transcends that of a planet. What shall you do if your body cannot be
recovered?"
"I shall never return to Helium with this body," I replied.
"I cannot blame you. We shall have to find you another body."
"No," I said. "I have given the matter a great deal of thought, and I have come
to a final decision. If my own body has been destroyed, I shall destroy this
body, too, and the brain with it. There are far more desirable bodies than mine,
of course; and yet I am so attached to it that I should not care to live in the
body of another."
"Do not decide too hastily, Vor Daj."
"Tor-dur-bar, my Prince," I corrected.
"Why carry on the masquerade longer?" he demanded.
"Because she does not know," I said.
He nodded. "You think it might make a difference with her?" he asked.
"I am afraid that she could never forget this inhuman face and body, and that
she might always wonder if the brain, too, were not the brain of a hormad, even
though it reposed in the skull of Vor Daj. No one knows but you and Ras Thavas
and I, my prince. I beg of you that you will never divulge the truth to Janai."
"As you wish," he said; "though I am quite sure that you are making a mistake.
If she cares for you, it will make no difference to her; if she does not care
for you, it will make no difference to you."
"No," I said. "I want to forget Tor-dur-bar, myself, and I certainly want her to
forget him."
"That she will never do," he said, "for, from what she has told me, she
entertains a very strong affection for Tor-dur-bar! He is Vor Daj's most
dangerous rival."
"Don't," I begged. "The very idea is repulsive."
"It is the character that makes the man," said John Carter, "not the clay which
is its abode."
"No, my friend," I replied, "no amount of philosophizing could make Tor-dur-bar
a suitable mate for any red woman; least of all, Janai."
"Perhaps you are right," he agreed; "but after the great sacrifice that you have
made for her, I feel that you deserve a better reward than death by your own
hand."
"Well," I replied, "tomorrow will probably decide the matter for us; and already
I see the first streak of dawn above the horizon."
He thought in silence for a few moments, and then he said, "Perhaps the least of
the difficulties which may confront us will be reaching 3-17 and the body of Vor
Daj. What concerns me more than that is the likelihood that the entire
Laboratory Building may be filled with the mass from Vat Room No. 4, in which
event it will be practically impossible to reach Ras Thavas's laboratory which
contains the necessary paraphernalia for the delicate operation of returning
your brain to your own body."
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r r
"I anticipated that," I replied; "and on my way out of Morbus, I took everything
that was necessary to 3-17."
"Good!" he exclaimed. "My mind is greatly relieved. Ras Thavas and I have both
been deeply concerned by what amounted to his practical certainty that we
should
never be able to reach his laboratory. He believes that it is going to be
necessary to destroy Morbus before we can check the growth from Vat No. 4."
It was daylight when we approached Morbus. The ships, with the exception of the
Ruzaar, which carried us, were dispatched to circle the island to discover how
far the mass from Vat Room No. 4 had spread.
The Ruzaar, dropping to within a few yards of the ground, approached the little
island where lay the tunnel leading to 3-17; and, as we approached it, a sight
of horror met our eyes. A wriggling, writhing mass of tissue had spread across
the water from the main island of Morbus and now completely covered the little
island. Hideous heads looked up at us screaming defiance; hands stretched forth
futilely to clutch us.
I searched for the mouth of the tunnel; but it was not visible, being entirely
covered by the writhing mass. My heart sank, for I felt certain that the mass
must have entered the tunnel and found its way to 3-17; for I was sure that it
would enter any opening and follow the line of least resistance until it met
some impassable barrier.
However, I clung desperately to the hope that I had covered the mouth of the
tunnel sufficiently well to have prevented the mass from starting down it. But
even so, how could we hope to reach the tunnel through that hideous cordon of
horror?
John Carter stood by the rail with several members of his staff. Janai, Ras
Thavas, and I were close beside him. He was gazing down with evident horror
upon
Ras Thavas's creation. Presently he issued instructions to the members of his
staff, and two of them left to put them into effect. Then we waited, no one
speaking, silenced by the horror surging beneath us, screaming, mouthing,
gesticulating.
Janai was standing close to me, and presently she grasped my arm. It was the
first time that she had ever voluntarily touched me. "How horrible!" she
whispered. "It cannot be possible that Vor Daj's body still exists, for that
horrid mass must have spread everywhere through the buildings as well as out
beyond the walls of the City.
I shook my head. I had nothing to say. She pressed my arm tightly. "Tor-dur-bar,
promise me that you will do nothing rash if the body of Vor Daj is lost."
"Let's not even think of it," I said.
"But we must think of it; and you must promise me."
I shook my head. "You are asking too much," I said. "There can be no happiness
for me as long as I retain the body of a hormad." I realized then that I had
given myself away, but she did not seem to notice it, but just stood in silence [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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