READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
that? The fellow was a miner jed from one of the greatest
nations of Jasoom!"
"Continue!" commanded Carthoris.
"...who comes to you with a personal problem of such a
mysterious and unusual nature that I must refrain from
attempting to explain it. However, your kind assistance to
Lord Greystoke, insofar as it may lie within your power to aid
him, is urgently requested...”
The letter went on to express the hope that the Gridley
Wave might get through to Helium once more, so that news
might be obtained concerning the outcome of the mission. It
was signed by Gridley, himself.
For a few moments, the three men merely stood there
in silence looking at one another. Finally, Carthoris bent
down and picked up an article from the ground. It was the
mate to the Air Force flying mitt which Tarzan had appropriated
in lieu of a hunting pouch.
"What do these characters indicate?" he asked of Vad
Varo, showing him the mitt.
"U.S.A.F" read Vad Varo. A mistiness crept into his eyes
as he remembered his former captaincy in the United States
Infantry during World War I. He remembered France and a
gallant group of men who risked their lives in lumbering biplanes.
"How well I remember," he mumbled aloud to himself.
"This is a symbol for the most gallant aerial navy of Jasoom."
Carthoris looked up at the sky. "And now that navy has
reached out to a sister planet," he mused. "Some day, men
will come again in other spaceships."
"And a very old and charming planet will never be the
same again," smiled Vad Varo, ruefully. "But perhaps interplanetary
travel is inevitable."
"We have been experimenting along that line," said
Carthoris. "One of our scientists is developing a new type of
magnetic propulsion. With the eight Barsoomian ray and a
hermetically sealed ship, coupled with the magnetic field
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