Chapters 1 and 2 of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
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00:00Chapter 1 On the Arizona Hills
00:10I am a very old man. How old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more, but
00:17I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood.
00:23So far as I can recollect, I have always been a man. A man of about thirty. I appear today
00:29as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever.
00:37That someday I shall die the real death, from which there is no resurrection. I do not know
00:43why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive. But yet I have the same
00:50horror of it as you, who have never died. And it is because of this terror of death,
00:56I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality. And because of this conviction, I have determined
01:04to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot
01:10explain the phenomena. I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of
01:15fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me during the ten years that my
01:21dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave. I have never told this story, nor shall
01:29mortal man see this manuscript, until after I have passed over for eternity. I know that
01:35the average human mind will not believe what it cannot grasp, and so I do not purpose being
01:41pilloried by the public, the pulpit, and the press, and held up as a colossal liar when
01:48I am but telling the simple truths which some day science will substantiate. Possibly
01:55the suggestions which I gained upon Mars, and the knowledge which I can set down in
02:00this chronicle, will aid in an earlier understanding of the mysteries of our sister planet. Mysteries
02:07to you, but no longer mysteries to me. My name is John Carter. I am better known
02:14as Captain Jack Carter of Virginia. At the close of the Civil War, I found myself possessed
02:21of several hundred thousand dollars Confederate, and a captain's commission in the cavalry
02:27arm of an army which no longer existed, the servant of a state which had vanished with
02:33the hopes of the South, masterless, penniless, and with my only means of livelihood. Fighting,
02:42gone, I determined to work my way to the Southwest and attempt to retrieve my fallen
02:48fortunes in a search for gold. I spent nearly a year prospecting in company
02:53with another Confederate officer, Captain James K. Powell of Richmond. We were extremely
02:59fortunate, for late in the winter of 1865, after many hardships and privations, we located
03:06the most remarkable gold-bearing quartz vein that our wildest dreams had ever pictured.
03:12Powell, who was a mining engineer by education, stated that we had uncovered over a million
03:18dollars' worth of ore in a trifle over three months. As our equipment was crude in the
03:25extreme, we decided that one of us must return to civilization, purchase the necessary machinery,
03:32and return with a sufficient force of men properly to work the mine. As Powell was familiar
03:38with the country, as well as with the mechanical requirements of mining, we determined that
03:43it would be best for him to make the trip. It was agreed that I was to hold down our
03:48claim against the remote possibility of its being jumped by some wandering prospector.
03:55On March 3, 1866, Powell and I packed his provisions on two of our burros, and bidding
04:02me good-bye, he mounted his horse and started down the mountainside toward the valley, across
04:08which led the first stage of his journey. The morning of Powell's departure was, like
04:14nearly all Arizona mornings, clear and beautiful. I could see him and his little pack animals
04:21picking their way down the mountainside toward the valley. And all during the morning I would
04:26catch occasional glimpses of them as they topped a hog back or came out upon a level
04:32plateau. My last sight of Powell was about three in the afternoon, as he entered the
04:38shadows of the range on the opposite side of the valley. Some half-hour later, I happened
04:44to glance casually across the valley, and was much surprised to note three little dots
04:50in about the same place I had last seen my friend and his two pack animals. I am not
04:56given to needless worrying, but the more I tried to convince myself that all was well
05:02with Powell, and that the dots I had seen on his trail were antelope or wild horses,
05:08the less I was able to assure myself. Since we had entered the territory, we had
05:14not seen a hostile Indian, and we had, therefore, become careless in the extreme, and were wont
05:20to ridicule the stories we had heard of the great numbers of these vicious marauders that
05:25were supposed to haunt the trails, taking their toll in lives and torture of every white
05:31party which fell into their merciless clutches. Powell, I knew, was well armed and, further,
05:39an experienced Indian fighter. But I, too, had lived and fought for years among the Sioux
05:45in the north, and I knew that his chances were small against a party of cunning, trailing
05:50Apaches. Finally, I could endure the suspense no longer, and, arming myself with my two
05:57Colt revolvers and a carbine, I strapped two belts of cartridges about me and, catching
06:03my saddle-horse, started down the trail taken by Powell in the morning.
06:09As soon as I reached comparatively level ground, I urged my mount into a canter and
06:15continued this, where the going permitted, until, close upon dusk, I discovered the point
06:21where other tracks joined those of Powell. They were the tracks of unshod ponies, three
06:27of them, and the ponies had been galloping. I followed rapidly until, darkness shutting
06:34down, I was forced to await the rising of the moon, and given an opportunity to speculate
06:40on the question of the wisdom of my chase. Possibly I had conjured up impossible dangers,
06:47like some nervous old housewife, and when I should catch up with Powell would get a
06:51good laugh for my pains. However, I am not prone to sensitiveness, and the following
06:57of a sense of duty, wherever it may lead, has always been a kind of fetish with me throughout
07:03my life, which may account for the honors bestowed upon me by three republics, and
07:09the decorations and friendships of an old and powerful emperor, and several lesser kings,
07:15in whose service my sword has been read many a time.
07:20About nine o'clock, the moon was sufficiently bright for me to proceed on my way, and I
07:25had no difficulty in following the trail at a fast walk, and in some places at a brisk
07:31trot, until, about midnight, I reached the water hole where Powell had expected to camp.
07:38I came upon the spot unexpectedly, finding it entirely deserted, with no signs of having
07:45been recently occupied as a camp. I was interested to note that the tracks of the pursuing horsemen,
07:52for such I was now convinced they must be, continued after Powell with only a brief stop
07:58at the hole for water, and always at the same rate of speed as his. I was positive
08:04now that the trailers were Apaches, and that they wished to capture Powell alive for the
08:09fiendish pleasure of the torture, so I urged my horse onward at a most dangerous pace,
08:16hoping against hope that I would catch up with the red rascals before they attacked
08:21him. Further speculation was suddenly cut short by the faint report of two shots far
08:27ahead of me. I knew that Powell would need me now, if ever, and I instantly urged my
08:33horse to his topmost speed up the narrow and difficult mountain trail. I had forged ahead
08:39for perhaps a mile or more without hearing further sounds, when the trail suddenly debauched
08:45onto a small open plateau near the summit of the pass. I had passed through a narrow
08:52overhanging gorge just before entering suddenly upon this table land, and the sight which
08:58met my eyes filled me with consternation and dismay. The little stretch of level land was
09:05white with Indian teepees, and there were probably half a thousand red warriors clustered
09:10around some object near the center of the camp. Their attention was so wholly riveted
09:16to this point of interest that they did not notice me, and I easily could have turned
09:20back into the dark recesses of the gorge and made my escape with perfect safety. The
09:27fact, however, that this thought did not occur to me until the following day removes any
09:33possible right to a claim to heroism, to which the narration of this episode might possibly
09:39otherwise entitle me. I do not believe that I am made of the stuff which constitutes heroes,
09:47all of the hundreds of instances that my voluntary acts have placed me face to face with death.
09:53I cannot recall a single one where any alternative step to that I took occurred to me until many
10:00hours later. My mind is evidently so constituted that I am subconsciously forced into the path
10:07of duty without recourse to tiresome mental processes. However that may be, I have never
10:15regretted that cowardice is not optional with me. In this instance I was, of course, positive that
10:21Powell was the center of attraction. But whether I thought or acted first, I do not know. But within
10:28an instant, from the moment the scene broke upon my view, I had whipped out my revolvers and was
10:34charging down upon the entire army of warriors, shooting rapidly and whooping at the top of my
10:41lungs. Single-handed, I could not have pursued better tactics, for the red men, convinced by
10:48sudden surprise that not less than a regiment of regulars was upon them, turned and fled in
10:55every direction for their bows, arrows, and rifles. The view which their hurried rooting disclosed
11:02filled me with apprehension and with rage. Under the clear rays of the Arizona moon lay Powell,
11:09his body fairly bristling with the hostile arrows of the braves. That he was already dead,
11:16I could not but be convinced. And yet I would have saved his body from mutilation at the hands
11:23of the Apaches as quickly as I would have saved the man himself from death. Riding close to him,
11:30I reached down from the saddle, and grasping his cartridge belt, drew him up across the withers
11:37of my mount. A backward glance convinced me that to return by the way I had come would be
11:43more hazardous than to continue across the plateau. So, putting spurs to my poor beast,
11:49I made a dash for the opening to the pass, which I could distinguish on the far side of the table
11:55land. The Indians had by this time discovered that I was alone, and I was pursued with imprecations,
12:02arrows, and rifle balls. The fact that it is difficult to aim anything but imprecations
12:08accurately by moonlight, that they were upset by the sudden and unexpected manner of my advent,
12:14and that I was a rather rapidly moving target saved me from the various deadly projectiles
12:19of the enemy and permitted me to reach the shadows of the surrounding peaks before an
12:25orderly pursuit could be organized. My horse was traveling practically unguided,
12:30as I knew that I had probably less knowledge of the exact location of the trail to the pass
12:36than he, and thus it happened that he entered a defile which led to the summit of the range,
12:42and not to the pass which I had hoped would carry me to the valley and to safety. It is
12:49probable, however, that to this fact I owe my life and the remarkable experiences and
12:55adventures which befell me during the following ten years.
13:00My first knowledge that I was on the wrong trail came when I heard the yells of the pursuing
13:05savages suddenly grow fainter and fainter far off to my left. I knew then that they
13:12had passed to the left of the jagged rock formation at the edge of the plateau, to the
13:18right of which my horse had borne me and the body of Powell. I drew rein on a little level
13:24promontory overlooking the trail below and to my left and saw the party of pursuing savages
13:31disappearing around the point of a neighboring peak. I knew the Indians would soon discover
13:37that they were on the wrong trail and that the search for me would be renewed in the
13:42right direction as soon as they located my tracks. I had gone but a short distance further
13:49when what seemed to be an excellent trail opened up around the face of a high cliff.
13:54The trail was level and quite broad and led upward and in the general direction I wished
14:00to go. The cliff arose for several hundred feet on my right, and on my left was an equal
14:06and nearly perpendicular drop to the bottom of a rocky ravine. I had followed this trail
14:13for perhaps a hundred yards when a sharp turn to the right brought me to the mouth of a
14:18large cave. The opening was about four feet in height and three to four feet wide, and
14:25at this opening the trail ended. It was now morning, and, with the customary lack of dawn
14:32which is a startling characteristic of Arizona, it had become daylight almost without warning.
14:38Dismounting, I laid Powell upon the ground, but the most painstaking examination failed
14:45to reveal the faintest spark of life. I forced water from my canteen between his dead lips,
14:51bathed his face, and rubbed his hands, working over him continuously for the better part
14:57of an hour in the face of the fact that I knew him to be dead. I was very fond of Powell.
15:04He was thoroughly a man in every respect, a polished southern gentleman, a staunch and
15:10true friend, and it was with a feeling of the deepest grief that I finally gave up my
15:16crude endeavors at resuscitation. Leaving Powell's body where it lay on the
15:22ledge, I crept into the cave to reconnoiter. I found a large chamber, possibly a hundred
15:29feet in diameter and thirty or forty feet in height. A smooth and well-worn floor and
15:36many other evidences that the cave had, at some remote period, been inhabited. The back
15:42of the cave was so lost in dense shadow that I could not distinguish whether there were
15:47openings into other apartments or not. As I was continuing my examination, I commenced
15:54to feel a pleasant drowsiness creeping over me, which I attributed to the fatigue of my
15:59long and strenuous ride and the reaction from the excitement of the fight and the pursuit.
16:06I felt comparatively safe in my present location, as I knew that one man could defend the trail
16:12to the cave against an army. I soon became so drowsy that I could scarcely resist the
16:18strong desire to throw myself on the floor of the cave for a few moments' rest. But I
16:23knew that this would never do, as it would mean certain death at the hands of my red
16:29friends, who might be upon me at any moment. With an effort, I started toward the opening
16:35of the cave, only to reel drunkenly against a side wall, and from there slip prone upon
16:41the floor. CHAPTER II
16:46THE ESCAPE OF THE DEAD A sense of delicious dreaminess overcame me.
16:52My muscles relaxed, and I was on the point of giving way to my desire to sleep when the
16:58sound of approaching horses reached my ears. I attempted to spring to my feet, but was
17:04horrified to discover that my muscles refused to respond to my will. I was now thoroughly
17:10awake, but as unable to move a muscle as though turned to stone. It was then, for the first
17:17time, that I noticed a slight vapor filling the cave. It was extremely tenuous and only
17:24noticeable against the opening which led to daylight. There also came to my nostrils a
17:29faintly pungent odor, and I could only assume that I had been overcome by some poisonous
17:35gas, but why I should retain my mental faculties and yet be unable to move I could not fathom.
17:43I lay facing the opening of the cave and where I could see the short stretch of trail which
17:48lay between the cave and the turn of the cliff around which the trail led. The noise of the
17:55approaching horses had ceased, and I judged the Indians were creeping stealthily upon
18:00me along the little ledge which led to my living tomb. I remember that I hoped they
18:06would make short work of me as I did not particularly relish the thought of the innumerable things
18:12they might do to me if the spirit prompted them. I had not long to wait before a stealthy
18:18sound apprised me of their nearness, and then a war-bonneted, paint-streaked face was
18:25thrust cautiously around the shoulder of the cliff, and savage eyes looked into mine. That
18:32he could see me in the dim light of the cave, I was sure for the early morning sun was falling
18:39full upon me through the opening. The fellow, instead of approaching, merely stood and stared,
18:46his eyes bulging and his jaw dropped, and then another savage face appeared, and a third
18:53and fourth and fifth, craning their necks over the shoulders of their fellows whom they
18:59could not pass upon the narrow ledge. Each face was the picture of awe and fear, but
19:06for what reason I did not know, nor did I learn, until ten years later, that there were
19:13still other braves behind those who regarded me was apparent from the fact that the leaders
19:19passed back whispered word to those behind them. Suddenly, a low but distinct moaning
19:25sound issued from the recesses of the cave behind me, and, as it reached the ears of
19:31the Indians, they turned and fled in terror, panic-stricken. So frantic were their efforts
19:39to escape from the unseen thing behind me that one of the braves was hurled headlong
19:45from the cliff to the rocks below. Their wild cries echoed in the canyon for a short time,
19:52and then all was still once more. The sound which had frightened them was not repeated,
19:59but it had been sufficient as it was to start me speculating on the possible horror which
20:05lurked in the shadows at my back. Fear is a relative term, and so I can only measure
20:11my feelings at that time by what I had experienced in previous positions of danger and by those
20:18that I have passed through since, but I can say without shame that if the sensations I
20:24endured during the next few minutes were fear, then may God help the coward, for cowardice
20:31is of a surety its own punishment. To be held paralyzed, with one's back toward some horrible
20:38and unknown danger from the very sound of which the ferocious Apache warriors turn in
20:43wild stampede, as a flock of sheep would madly flee from a pack of wolves, seems to me the
20:50last word in fearsome predicaments for a man who had ever been used to fighting for his
20:55life with all the energy of a powerful physique. Several times I thought I heard faint sounds
21:02behind me, as of somebody moving cautiously, but eventually even these ceased, and I was
21:09left to the contemplation of my position without interruption. I could but vaguely conjecture
21:15the cause of my paralysis, and my only hope lay in that it might pass off as suddenly
21:21as it had fallen upon me. Late in the afternoon, my horse, which had been standing with dragging
21:27rein before the cave, started slowly down the trail, evidently in search of food and
21:34water, and I was left alone with my mysterious unknown companion and the dead body of my
21:40friend, which lay just within my range of vision upon the ledge where I had placed it
21:47in the early morning. From then until possibly midnight, all was silence, the silence of
21:54the dead. Then, suddenly, the awful moan of the morning
21:59broke upon my startled ears, and there came again from the black shadows the sound of
22:04a moving thing and a faint rustling as of dead leaves. The shock to my already overstrained
22:12nervous system was terrible in the extreme, and with a superhuman effort I strove to break
22:18my awful bonds. It was an effort of the mind, of the will, of the nerves, not muscular,
22:27for I could not move even so much as my little finger, but nonetheless mighty for all that.
22:33And then something gave. There was a momentary feeling of nausea, a sharp click as of the
22:40snapping of a steel wire, and I stood with my back against the wall of the cave facing
22:46my unknown foe. And then the moonlight flooded the cave, and there before me lay my own body
22:53as it had been lying all these hours, with the eyes staring toward the open ledge and
22:59the hands resting limply upon the ground. I looked first at my lifeless clay there upon
23:05the floor of the cave, and then down at myself in utter bewilderment. For there I lay clothed,
23:12and yet here I stood but naked as at the minute of my birth. The transition had been so sudden
23:19and so unexpected that it left me for a moment forgetful of aught else than my strange metamorphosis.
23:27My first thought was, Is this then death? Have I indeed passed over forever into that
23:33other life? But I could not well believe this, as I could feel my heart pounding against
23:39my ribs from the exertion of my efforts to release myself from the anesthesis which had
23:45held me. My breath was coming in quick, short gasps, cold sweat stood out from every pore
23:52of my body, and the ancient experiment of pinching revealed the fact that I was anything
23:59other than a wraith. Again was I suddenly recalled to my immediate surroundings by a
24:04repetition of the weird moan from the depths of the cave.
24:09Naked and unarmed as I was, I had no desire to face the unseen thing which menaced me.
24:16My revolvers were strapped to my lifeless body, which, for some unfathomable reason,
24:22I could not bring myself to touch. My carbine was in its boot, strapped to my saddle, and
24:28as my horse had wandered off, I was left without means of defense. My only alternative
24:34seemed to lie in flight, and my decision was crystallized by a recurrence of the rustling
24:40sound from the thing which now seemed, in the darkness of the cave and to my distorted
24:45imagination, to be creeping stealthily upon me. Unable longer to resist the temptation
24:52to escape this horrible place, I leapt quickly through the opening into the starlight of
24:57a clear Arizona night. The crisp, fresh mountain air outside the cave acted as an immediate
25:04tonic, and I felt new life and new courage coursing through me. Pausing upon the brink
25:10of the ledge, I upbraided myself for what now seemed to me wholly unwarranted apprehension.
25:18I reasoned with myself that I had lain helpless for many hours within the cave, yet nothing
25:25had molested me, and my better judgment, when permitted the direction of clear and
25:30logical reasoning, convinced me that the noises I had heard must have resulted from purely
25:35natural and harmless causes. Probably the conformation of the cave was such that a slight
25:42breeze had caused the sounds I heard. I decided to investigate, but first I lifted my head
25:48to fill my lungs with the pure, invigorating night air of the mountains. As I did so, I
25:55saw stretching far below me the beautiful vista of rocky gorge and level, cacti-studded
26:01flat, wrought by the moonlight into a miracle of soft splendor and wondrous enchantment.
26:09Few Western wonders are more inspiring than the beauties of an Arizona moonlit landscape
26:14the silvered mountains in the distance, the strange lights and shadows upon Hogback and
26:21Arroyo, and the grotesque details of the stiff yet beautiful cacti form a picture at
26:27once enchanting and inspiring. As though one were catching for the first time a glimpse
26:33of some dead and forgotten world, so different is it from the aspect of any other spot upon
26:39our earth. As I stood thus meditating, I turned my gaze from the landscape to the heavens,
26:46where the myriad stars formed a gorgeous and fitting canopy for the wonders of the
26:51earthly scene. My attention was quickly riveted by a large red star close to the distant horizon.
26:58As I gazed upon it, I felt a spell of overpowering fascination. It was Mars, the god of war,
27:07and for me, the fighting man. It had always held the power of irresistible enchantment.
27:13As I gazed at it on that far-gone night, it seemed to call across the unthinkable void,
27:20to lure me to it, to draw me as the lodestone attracts a particle of iron. My longing was
27:27beyond the power of opposition. I closed my eyes, stretched out my arms toward the god
27:33of my vocation, and felt myself drawn with the suddenness of thought through the trackless
27:39immensity of space. There was an instant of extreme cold and utter darkness.