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"
It is not strange that so great a princess should not recall the face of every roving
panthan of Barsoom," he replied with a smile.
"
"
But your name?" insisted the girl.
Call me Turan," replied the man, for it had come to him that if Tara of Helium
recognized him as the man whose impetuous avowal of love had angered her that
day in the gardens of The Warlord, her situation might be rendered infinitely less
bearable than were she to believe him a total stranger. Then, too, as a simple
panthan* he might win a greater degree of her confidence by his loyalty and
faithfulness and a place in her esteem that seemed to have been closed to the
resplendent Jed of Gathol.
*
Soldier of Fortune; free-lance warrior.
They had reached the tower now, and as they entered it from the subterranean
corridor a backward glance revealed the van of their pursuers--hideous kaldanes
mounted upon swift and powerful rykors. As rapidly as might be the three
ascended the stairways leading to the ground level, but after them, even more
rapidly, came the minions of Luud. Ghek led the way, grasping one of Tara's
hands the more easily to guide and assist her, while Gahan of Gathol followed a
few paces in their rear, his bared sword ready for the assault that all realized
must come upon them now before ever they reached the enclosure and the flier.
"Let Ghek drop behind to your side," said Tara, "and fight with you."
"
There is but room for a single blade in these narrow corridors," replied the
Gatholian. "Hasten on with Ghek and win to the deck of the flier. Have your hand
upon the control, and if I come far enough ahead of these to reach the dangling
cable you can rise at my word and I can clamber to the deck at my leisure; but if
one of them emerges first into the enclosure you will know that I shall never
come, and you will rise quickly and trust to the Gods of our ancestors to give you
a fair breeze in the direction of a more hospitable people."
Tara of Helium shook her head. "We will not desert you, panthan," she said.
Gahan, ignoring her reply, spoke above her head to Ghek. "Take her to the craft
moored within the enclosure," he commanded. "It is our only hope. Alone, I may
win to its deck; but have I to wait upon you two at the last moment the chances
are that none of us will escape. Do as I bid." His tone was haughty and arrogant--
the tone of a man who has commanded other men from birth, and whose will has
been law. Tara of Helium was both angered and vexed. She was not accustomed
to being either commanded or ignored, but with all her royal pride she was no
fool, and she knew the man was right, that he was risking his life to save hers, so
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