"But," he continued, in his fierce guttural tones,
"if you run off with the red girl it is I who shall
have to account to Tal Hajus; it is I who shall
have to face Tars Tarkas, and either demonstrate
my right to command, or the metal from my dead
carcass will go to a better man, for such is the
custom of the Tharks.

"I have no quarrel with Tars Tarkas; together
we rule supreme the greatest of the lesser com-
munities among the green men; we do not wish
to fight between ourselves; and so if you were
dead, John Carter, I should be glad. Under two
conditions only, however, may you be killed by
us without orders from Tal Hajus; in personal
combat in self-defense, should you attack one of
us, or were you apprehended in an attempt to
escape.

"As a matter of justice I must warn you that
we only await one of these two excuses for ridding
ourselves of so great a responsibility. The safe
delivery of the red girl to Tal Hajus is of the
greatest importance. Not in a thousand years
have the Tharks made such a capture; she is the
granddaughter of the greatest of the red jeddaks,
who is also our bitterest enemy. I have spoken.
The red girl told us that we were without the

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