Shortly after this episode another prisoner was brought in and chained near me. By the dim torch light I saw that he was a red Martian and I could scarcely await the departure of his guards to address him. As their retreating footsteps died away in the distance, I called out softly the Martian word of greeting, kaor .

“Who are you who speaks out of the darkness?” he answered.

“John Carter, a friend of the red men of Helium.”

“I am of Helium,” he said, “but I do not recall your name.”