Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Gods of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tars Tarkas and I found no time for an exchange of experiences as we stood there before thegreat boulder surrounded by the corpses of our grotesque assailants, for from all directions downthe broad valley was streaming a perfect torrent of terrifying creatures in response to the weird callof the strange figure far above us."Come," cried Tars Tarkas, "we must make for the cliffs. There lies our only hope of eventemporary escape; there we may find a cave or a narrow ledge which two may defend for everagainst this motley, unarmed horde."Together we raced across the scarlet sward, I timing my speed that I might not outdistance myslower companion. We had, perhaps, three hundred yards to cover between our boulder and thecliffs, and then to search out a suitable shelter for our stand against the terrifying things that werepursuing us. They were rapidly overhauling us when Tars Tarkas cried to me to hasten ahead and discover, ifpossible, the sanctuary we sought. The suggestion was a good one, for thus many valuable minutesmight be saved to us, and, throwing every ounce of my earthly muscles into the effort, I cleared theremaining distance between myself and the cliffs in great leaps and bounds that put me at their basein a moment. The cliffs rose perpendicular directly from the almost level sward of the valley. There was noaccumulation of fallen debris, forming a more or less rough ascent to them, as is the case with nearlyall other cliffs I have ever seen. The scattered boulders that had fallen from above and lay upon orpartly buried in the turf, were the only indication that any disintegration of the massive, toweringpile of rocks ever had taken place. My first cursory inspection of the face of the cliffs filled my heart with forebodings, sincenowhere could I discern, except where the weird herald stood still shrieking his shrill summons, thefaintest indication of even a bare foothold upon the lofty escarpment. To my right the bottom of the cliff was lost in the dense foliage of the forest, which terminatedat its very foot, rearing its gorgeous foliage fully a thousand feet against its stern and forbiddingneighbour.