READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
"So it has happened at last! My own husband, Vad Varo, has
finally succumbed to the fatal charms of your maiden of
Ptarth!"
"Alas!—that we should be left to console each other!"
The two turned laughingly to the attendant who brought
them their instrument. Already, the other dancers had found
their appointed musical parts in the memorized score, and
from everywhere in the ballroom came the pleasant notes
which they played. Each instrument was constructed of skeel
wood, the single string being composed of gut, and was
shaped to fit the left forearm of the dancer, to whom it was
strapped. There was also a ring wound with gut which was
worn between the first and second joints of the index finger
of the right hand and which, when passed over the string of
the instrument, elicited the single note required of the
dancer.
As the dance progressed, Valla Dia took note of a tall,
handsome officer who merely stood on the sidelines and
watched the others.
"There is a very strange man," she said to Carthoris. "I
have seen him several times at social functions. He is a fine
looking warrior, yet he is never in the company of a woman."
Carthoris soon discerned the man, himself. As he
recognized him, he smiled, looking back at Valla Dia.
"Is that the only strange thing you have noticed in him?"
he asked.
"No. That he is not a red man is obvious. He is white, as
is Vad Varo and your illustrious father, John Carter. But, if he
were of that other world of Jasoom, I should have known the
fact ere now. Nor is he a Thern, for his fair hair is real
enough, whereas the Therns are bald from birth."
"He is a Lotharian," said Carthoris.
"Lotharian? What far place is that? I do not recall having
ever heard of Lothar."
"Few people have. I was there once." A frown passed
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