For months I sought to devise methods to inform Carthoris of my
whereabouts. For months I scraped and scraped upon a single link
of the massive chain which held me, hoping eventually to wear it
through, that I might follow the youth back through the winding
tunnels to a point where I could make a break for liberty.
I was beside myself with anxiety for knowledge of the progress
of the expedition which was to rescue Dejah Thoris. I felt that
Carthoris would not let the matter drop, were he free to act, but
in so far as I knew, he also might be a prisoner in Zat Arras'
pits.
That Zat Arras' spy had overheard our conversation relative to
the selection of a new Jeddak, I knew, and scarcely a half-dozen
minutes prior we had discussed the details of the plan to rescue
Dejah Thoris. The chances were that that matter, too, was well
known to him. Carthoris, Kantos Kan, Tars Tarkas, Hor Vastus, and
Xodar might even now be the victims of Zat Arras' assassins, or
else his prisoners.
I determined to make at least one more effort to learn something,
and to this end I adopted strategy when next the youth came to
my cell. I had noticed that he was a handsome fellow, about the
size and age of Carthoris. And I had also noticed that his shabby
trappings but illy comported with his dignified and noble bearing.
It was with these observations as a basis that I opened my negotiations
with him upon his next subsequent visit.
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