ise and
dismay broke from the lips of the warriors of O-Tar. "U-Thor!" they
cried. "What treason is this?"

"It is no treason," said U-Thor in his deep voice. "I bring you a new
jeddak for all of Manator. No lying poltroon, but a courageous man whom
you all love."

He stepped aside then and another emerged from the corridor hidden by
the arras. It was A-Kor, and at sight of him there rose exclamations of
surprise, of pleasure, and of anger, as the various factions recognized
the coup d'etat that had been arranged so cunningly. Behind A-Kor came
other warriors until the dais was crowded with them--all men of Manator
from the city of Manatos.

O-Tar was exhorting his warriors to attack, when a bloody and
disheveled padwar burst into the chamber through a side entrance. "The
city has fallen!" he cried aloud. "The hordes of Manatos pour through
The Gate of Enemies. The slaves from Gathol have arisen and destroyed
the palace guards. Great ships are landing warriors upon the palace
roof and in the Fields of Jetan. The men of Helium and Gathol are
marching through Manator. They cry aloud for the Princess of Helium and
swear to leave Manator a blazing funeral pyre consuming the bodies of
all our people. The skies are black with ships. They come in great
processions from the east and from the south."

And then once more the doors from The Hall of Chiefs swung wide and the
men of Manator turned to see another figure standing upon the
threshold--a mighty figure of a man with white skin, and black hair,
and gray eyes that glittered now like points of steel and behind him
The Hall of Chiefs was filled with fighting men wearing the harness of
far countries. Tara of Helium saw him and her heart leaped in
exultation, for it was John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, come at the
head of a victorious host to the rescue of his daughter, and at his
side was Djor Kantos to whom she had been betrothed.

The Warlord eyed the assemblage for a moment before he spoke. "Lay down
your arms, men of Manator," he said. "I see my daughter and that she
lives, and if no harm has befallen her no blood need be shed. Your city
is filled with the fighting men of U-Thor, and those from Gathol and
from Helium. The palace is in the hands of the slaves from Gathol,
beside a thousand of my own warriors who fill the halls and chambers
surrounding this room. The fate of your jeddak lies in your own hands.
I have no wish to interfere. I come only for my daughter an