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wish," he said, "but I do not see what good that is going to do us. If we
fastened all our harnesses together, they would not reach to the castle roof
below us. It looks to me as though we had had all our work for nothing."
"Go over there and sit down," I told him, "and keep still. All of you keep
still; do not speak or move until I tell you to."
Of them all, only Jat Or could have guessed what I purposed attempting, yet they
all did as I had bid them.
Going to the window, I searched the sky; but I could see nothing of our craft.
Nevertheless, I sought to concentrate my thoughts upon the metallic brain
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r r
wherever it might be. I directed it to drop down and approach the window of the
tower where I stood. Never before in my life, I think, had I so concentrated my
mind upon a single idea. There seemed to be a reaction that I could feel almost
as definitely as when I tensed a muscle. Beads of cold sweat stood our upon my
forehead.
Behind me the room was as silent as the grave; and through the open window
where
I stood, no sound came from the sleeping castle below me.
The slow seconds passed, dragging into a seeming eternity of time. Could it be
that the brain had passed beyond the sphere of my control? Was the ship lost to
me forever? These thoughts assailed me as my power of concentration weakened.
My
mind was swept into a mad riot of conflicting hopes and doubts, fears and sudden
swift assurances of success that faded into despond as rapidly as they had grown
out of nothing.
And then, across the sky I saw a great black hulk moving slowly toward me out of
the night.
For just an instant the reaction left me weak; but I soon regained control of
myself and pulled aside the three bars that we had cut.
The others, who had evidently been watching the window from where they either
sat or stood, now pressed forward. I could hear smothered exclamations of
surprise, relief, elation. Turning quickly, I cautioned them to silence.
I directed the brain to bring the ship close to the window; then I turned again
to my companions.
"There are two Tarid warriors aboard her," I said. "If they found the water and
food which she carried, they are still alive; and there is no reason to believe
that starving men would not find it. We must therefore prepare ourselves for a
fight. Each of these men, no doubt, is armed with a long sword and a dagger. We
are unarmed. We shall have to overcome them with our bare hands."
I turned to Ur Jan. "When the door is opened, two of us must leap into the cabin
simultaneously on the chance that we may take them by surprise. Will you go
first with me, Ur Jan?"
He nodded and a crooked smile twisted his lips. "Yes," he said, "and it will be
a strange sight to see Ur Jan and John Carter fighting side by side."
"At least we should put up a good fight," I said.
"It is too bad," he sighed, "that those two Tarids will never have the honor of
knowing who killed them."
"Jat Or, you and Gar Nal follow immediately behind Ur Jan and me." And then,
in
his own language, I told Umka to board the ship immediately after Jat Or and
Gar
Nal. "And if the fighting is not all over," I told him, "you will know what to
do when you see the two Tarid warriors." His upper mouth stretched in one of his
strange grins, and he purred contentedly.
I stepped to the sill of the window, and Ur Jan clambered to my side. The hull
of the craft was almost scraping the side of the building; the doorway was only
a foot from the sill on which we stood.
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r r
"Ready, Ur Jan," I whispered, and then I directed the brain to draw the doors
aside as rapidly as possible.
Almost instantly, they sprang apart; and in the same instant Ur Jan and I sprang
into the cabin. Behind us, came our three companions. In the gloom of the
interior, I saw two men facing us; and without waiting to give either of them a
chance to draw, I hurled myself at the legs of the nearer.
He crashed to the floor, and before he could draw his dagger I seized both his
wrists and pinioned him on his back.
I did not see how Ur Jan handled his man; but a moment later, with the
assistance of Jat Or and Umka, we had disarmed them both.
Ur Jan and Gar Nal wanted to kill them offhand, but that I would not listen to.
I can kill a man in a fair fight without a single qualm of conscience; but I [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]