That is something that only the sword may decide, I
replied.
They think I am Gantun Gur, theassassin of Amhor;
and they treat me with great respect.
Well, his sense of humor had gone the limit in
questioning thetreasure.
He looked at me in ill-disguised repugnance. Our
people would never bother you, I said. I asked him if heremembered an officer named
Vor Daj, and he said he remembered him verywell. Was that Janai with you when you
were captured?
What do you mean, I asked, the sacrifice? What do
you mean, I asked, the sacrifice? Sometimes I think it is a little silly, but I
would not dare say soto Anatok or to any others. Well, his sense of humor had gone
the limit in questioning thetreasure.
It wascruising very low, scarcely a hundred feet
above the ground and movingquite slowly.
I asked him if heremembered an officer named Vor
Daj, and he said he remembered him verywell. There is something that you can do for
me, I said.
I mustadmit that I was by far the most hideous
creature in the zoo. As the doorslammed, he turned and faced me; and each of us
voiced an exclamationof surprise.
For the moment I had forgotten that you hadtaken
the body of Gantun Gur.
Jal Had, the Prince of Amhor, has a hobby for
collecting wild beasts.
Your eyeshave probably never rested upon anything
that compares with the richesof Gooli.
And be tortured to death by Jal Had when I get back
to Amhor?
In reality then, I was to fight eleven
men.
He just leaped overboard; I was watching him when
you came in. I will fight with anything that my antagonist chooses, I
replied.
I am notafraid, he said; but I knew that he
was.
I saved the five men that you would have givenup as
tribute without a single effort to defend them.
I am from Helium; and there is no creature like you
inthe entire empire. Then, following my antagonist, was a guard of honor consisting
ofabout ten warriors.
Perhaps a good beating will teach you bettermanners
than to lie to Jal Had. Perhaps he will letyou live and work; perhaps he will
destroy you.
That is no reason why it cant be done now, I
snapped.
And you are not averse to going to
Amhor?
If one of your people should come to our country,
he would betreated with kindness.
One day I asked him why theyconsidered the shells
such a valuable treasure. By my first ancestor, he exclaimed,but you do know a lot
about John Carter.
The red man laughed at that, but he would not have
laughed if he hadknown what I knew.
In reality then, I was to fight eleven men.