CHAPTER IX
I LEARN THE LANGUAGE
As I came back to myself I glanced at Sola, who had witnessed this
encounter and I was surprised to note a strange expression upon her
usually expressionless countenance. What her thoughts were I did
not know, for as yet I had learned but little of the Martian tongue;
enough only to suffice for my daily needs.
As I reached the doorway of our building a strange surprise awaited
me. A warrior approached bearing the arms, ornaments, and full
accouterments of his kind. These he presented to me with a few
unintelligible words, and a bearing at once respectful and menacing.
Later, Sola, with the aid of several of the other women, remodeled
the trappings to fit my lesser proportions, and after they completed
the work I went about garbed in all the panoply of war.
From then on Sola instructed me in the mysteries of the various
weapons, and with the Martian young I spent several hours each day
practicing upon the plaza. I was not yet proficient with all the
weapons, but my great familiarity with similar earthly weapons made
me an unusually apt pupil, and I progressed in a very satisfactory
manner.
The training of myself and the young Martians was conducted solely
by the women, who not only attend to the education of the young
in the arts of individual defense and offense, but are also the
artisans who produce every manufactured article wrought by the
green Martians. They make the powder, the cartridges, the firearms;
in fact everything of value is produced by the females. In time
of actual warfare they form a part of the reserves, and when the
necessity arises fight with even greater intelligence and ferocity
than the men.
The men are trained in the higher branches of the art of war; in
strategy and the maneuvering of large bodies of troops. They make
the laws as they are needed; a new law for each emergency. They are
unfettered by precedent in the administration of justice. Customs
have been handed down by ages of repetition, but the punishment for
ignoring a custom is a matter for individual treatment by a jury of
the culprit's peers, and I may say that justice seldom misses fire,
but seems rather to rule in inverse ratio to the ascendency of law.
In one respect at least the Martians are a happy people; they have
no lawyers.
I did not see the prisoner again for several days subsequent to our
first encounter, and then only to catch a fleeting glimpse of her as
she was being conducted to the great audience chamber where I had
had my first meeting with Lorquas Ptomel. I could not but note the
unnecessary harshness and brutality with which her guards treated
her; so different from the almost maternal kindliness which Sola
manifested toward me, and the respectful attitude of the few green
Martians who took the trouble to notice me at all.
I had observed on the two occasions when I had seen her that the
prisoner exchanged words with her guards, and this convinced me that
they spoke, or at least could make themselves understood by a common
language. With this added incentive I nearly drove Sola distracted
by my importunities to hasten on my education and within a few more
days I had mastered the Martian tongue sufficiently well to enable
me to carry on a passable conversation and to fully understand
practically all that I heard.
At this time our sleeping quarters were occupied by three or four
females and a couple of the recently hatched young, beside Sola and
her youthful ward, myself, and Woola the hound. After they had
retired for the night it was customary for the adults to carry on a
desultory conversation for a short time before lapsing into sleep,
and now that I could understand their language I was always a keen
listener, although I never proffered any remarks myself.
On the night following the prisoner's visit to the audience chamber
the conversation finally fell upon this subject, and I was all ears
on the instant. I had feared to question Sola relative to the
beautiful captive, as I could not but recall the strange expression
I had noted upon her face after my first encounter with the
prisoner. That it denoted jealousy I could not say, and yet,
judging all things by mundane standards as I still did, I felt it
safer to affect indifference in the matter until I learned more
surely Sola's attitude toward the object of my solicitude.
Sarkoja, one of the older women who shared our domicile, had been
present at the audience as one of the captive's guards, and it
was toward her the question turned.
"When," asked one of the women, "will we enjoy the death throes of
the red one? or does Lorquas Ptomel, Jed, intend holding her for
ransom?"
"They have decided to carry her with us back to Thark, and exhibit
her last agonies at the great games before Tal Hajus," replied
Sarkoja.
"What will be the manner of her going out?" inquired Sola. "She
is very small and very beautiful; I had hoped that they would hold
her for ransom."
Sarkoja and the other women grunted angrily at this evidence of
weakness on the part of Sola.
"It is sad, Sola, that you were not born a million years ago,"
snapped Sarkoja, "when all the hollows of the land were filled with
water, and the peoples were as soft as the stuff they sailed upon.
In our day we have progressed to a point where such sentiments mark
weakness and atavism. It will not be well for you to permit Tars
Tarkas to learn that you hold such degenerate sentiments, as I
doubt that he would care to entrust such as you with the grave
responsibilities of maternity."
"I see nothing wrong with my expression of interest in this red
woman," retorted Sola. "She has never harmed us, nor would she
should we have fallen into her hands. It is only the men of her
kind who war upon us, and I have ever thought that their attitude
toward us is but the reflection of ours toward them. They live at
peace with all their fellows, except when duty calls upon them to
make war, while we are at peace with none; forever warring among
our own kind as well as upon the red men, and even in our own
communities the individuals fight amongst themselves. Oh, it is
one continual, awful period of bloodshed from the time we break the
shell until we gladly embrace the bosom of the river of mystery,
the dark and ancient Iss which carries us to an unknown, but at
least no more frightful and terrible existence! Fortunate indeed is
he who meets his end in an early death. Say what you please to Tars
Tarkas, he can mete out no worse fate to me than a continuation of
the horrible existence we are forced to lead in this life."
This wild outbreak on the part of Sola so greatly surprised and
shocked the other women, that, after a few words of general
reprimand, they all lapsed into silence and were soon asleep. One
thing the episode had accomplished was to assure me of Sola's
friendliness toward the poor girl, and also to convince me that I
had been extremely fortunate in falling into her hands rather than
those of some of the other females. I knew that she was fond of me,
and now that I had discovered that she hated cruelty and barbarity
I was confident that I could depend upon her to aid me and the girl
captive to escape, provided of course that such a thing was within
the range of possibilities.
I did not even know that there were any better conditions to escape
to, but I was more than willing to take my chances among people
fashioned after my own mold rather than to remain longer among the
hideous and bloodthirsty green men of Mars. But where to go, and
how, was as much of a puzzle to me as the age-old search for the
spring of eternal life has been to earthly men since the beginning
of time.
I decided that at the first opportunity I would take Sola into my
confidence and openly ask her to aid me, and with this resolution
strong upon me I turned among my silks and furs and slept the
dreamless and refreshing sleep of Mars.
