READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
of Issus shall prevail.
Zithad shook his head, frowning. "There is something
more, I believe," he said, "but I cannot recall it."
"The rest is immaterial," said Ranas Ghol.
"It is preposterous!" exclaimed Sardon Dhur. "How can
all this gibberish be of importance to us here?"
"It is your greatest weapon," said Ranas Ghol. "This
prophecy will be taught to the people of Barsoom, through
your own channels of communication—through the old
temples of the Therns, in every city and nation."
"Don't you see the wisdom of it?" smiled Tario. "We
'resurrect' an Issus in which the faithful will believe implicitly.
Thus half of the prophecy will be reality to them. But they
shall wait, quite fanatically, for the coming of the Guardian of
Heaven, Tharos Pthan. And that will never be, of course,
since it is, as you say, gibberish—to us who know better. But
the people will believe, and while they wait they will be our
faithful allies—against the Warlord."
"I see it now," smiled Sardon Dhur at last. "No faith is so
strong as that which looks to the distant promise of fulfillment!"
However, Zithad did not smile. "To the First Born," he
muttered, as though to himself, "the prophecy is valid, for did
not the false Issus already fall? We believe in the resurrection
of the true Issus."
Tario and Sardon Dhur winked at Ranas Ghol.
The could not quite fathom the Zumorian, however,
when he answered, "Who knows, for certain?"
Which was a strange statement, indeed, for one who
could observe the future!
94