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READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

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Tarzan on Mars<br />

joined in the brotherhood of the damned, ready as ever to<br />

fight against these forces of the outer world which sometimes<br />

hunted them out and sought to drive them once more into the<br />

caverns of the dead.<br />

Though there was something familiar in the scene, yet<br />

was there an unusual element about it which held him back<br />

momentarily from joining sympathetically in their defense.<br />

The invaders were far from ordinary. True, the main body of<br />

them consisted of mounted green warriors—probably Thurds,<br />

he reasoned—but intermingled with them were hundreds of<br />

great white apes!<br />

Strange, indeed, was such a sight to Martian eyes, for<br />

never had two such natural enemies as the great white ape<br />

and the green man consorted together in the history of the<br />

planet! Moreover, the apes seemed to be wearing battle harness<br />

and even the glistening metal of warriors! In fact, some<br />

of them carried axes and swords instead of clubs!<br />

At the point of entry into the make-shift city of the Lost<br />

People, the battle was growing thick and deadly. To the old<br />

man on the hilltop, it seemed a pointless battle which could<br />

only result in death for the innocent and nothing of material<br />

profit for the victors.<br />

He was about to raise his formidable weapon to his<br />

shoulder with the intention of picking off a few of the invaders<br />

when his attention was attracted by the appearance of a<br />

massive zitidar as it emerged from the pass through which<br />

the vanguard had come. The huge mastodon was pulling<br />

behind it one of those large three wheeled chariots which are<br />

a familiar sight in every green Martian caravan, except that<br />

this particular chariot glistened from afar in the sunlight as<br />

though it were plated with gold and set with priceless gems.<br />

The zitidar, itself, was gorgeously trapped in costly material,<br />

and on its back sat a young green giant of a warrior.<br />

Walking beside the chariot were a number of great white<br />

apes wearing what appeared to be religious symbols. Evi-<br />

206

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