"He was on the balcony when I first saw him," cried Hor Vastus.
"Quick! Let us follow him!"
Together we ran to the gardens, but even though we scoured the
grounds with the entire guard for hours, no trace could we find of
the night marauder.
"What do you make of it, Kantos Kan?" asked Tars Tarkas.
"A spy sent by Zat Arras," he replied. "It was ever his way."
"He will have something interesting to report to his master then,"
laughed Hor Vastus.
"I hope he heard only our references to a new Jeddak," I said. "If
he overheard our plans to rescue Dejah Thoris, it will mean civil
war, for he will attempt to thwart us, and in that I will not be
thwarted. There would I turn against Tardos Mors himself, were
it necessary. If it throws all Helium into a bloody conflict, I
shall go on with these plans to save my Princess. Nothing shall
stay me now short of death, and should I die, my friends, will you
take oath to prosecute the search for her and bring her back in
safety to her grandfather's court?"
Upon the hilt of his sword each of them swore to do as I had asked.
It was agreed that the battleships that were to be remodelled
should be ordered to Hastor, another Heliumetic city, far to the
south-west. Kantos Kan thought that the docks there, in addition
to their regular work, would accommodate at least six battleships
at a time. As he was commander-in-chief of the navy, it would be
a simple matter for him to order the vessels there as they could be
handled, and thereafter keep the remodelled fleet in remote parts
of the empire until we should be ready to assemble it for the dash
upon Omean.
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