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"I heard hideous noises and saw phantom figures; but they fled before me so that
never could I lay hold of one, and I looked upon the face of O-Mai and I am not
mad. I even rested in the chamber beside his corpse."
In a far corner of the room a bent and wrinkled old man hid a smile behind a
golden goblet of strong brew.
"Come! Let us drink!" cried O-Tar and reached for the dagger, the pommel of
which he was accustomed to use to strike the gong which summoned slaves, but
the dagger was not in its scabbard. O-Tar was puzzled. He knew that it had been
there just before he entered the chamber of O-Mai, for he had carefully felt of all
his weapons to make sure that none was missing. He seized instead a table
utensil and struck the gong, and when the slaves came bade them bring the
strongest brew for O-Tar and his chiefs. Before the dawn broke many were the
expressions of admiration bellowed from drunken lips--admiration for the courage
of their jeddak; but some there were who still looked glum.
*
* * * *
Came at last the day that O-Tar would take the Princess Tara of Helium to wife.
For hours slaves prepared the unwilling bride. Seven perfumed baths occupied
three long and weary hours, then her whole body was anointed with the oil of
pimalia blossoms and massaged by the deft fingers of a slave from distant Dusar.
Her harness, all new and wrought for the occasion was of the white hide of the
great white apes of Barsoom, hung heavily with platinum and diamonds--fairly
encrusted with them. The glossy mass of her jet hair had been built into a
coiffure of stately and becoming grandeur, into which diamond-headed pins were
stuck until the whole scintillated as the stars in heaven upon a moonless night.
But it was a sullen and defiant bride that they led from the high tower toward the
throne room of O-Tar. The corridors were filled with slaves and warriors, and the
women of the palace and the city who had been commanded to attend the
ceremony. All the power and pride, wealth and beauty of Manator were there.
Slowly Tara, surrounded by a heavy guard of honor, moved along the marble
corridors filled with people. At the entrance to The Hall of Chiefs E-Thas, the
major-domo, received her. The Hall was empty except for its ranks of dead
chieftains upon their dead mounts. Through this long chamber E-Thas escorted
her to the throne room which also was empty, the marriage ceremony in Manator
differing from that of other countries of Barsoom. Here the bride would await the
groom at the foot of the steps leading to the throne. The guests followed her in
and took their places, leaving the central aisle from The Hall of Chiefs to the
throne clear, for up this O-Tar would approach his bride alone after a short
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