? ? ? ? The repulsive creature, squatting there in terror, attempted to escape me and leap into a trap behind her. But this time I was not to be outwitted by any such petty subterfuge. Before she had half arisen I had grasped her by the arm, and then, as I saw the guard starting to make a concerted rush upon me from all sides, I whipped out my dagger and, holding it close to that vile breast, ordered them to halt.
? ? ? ? "Back!" I cried to them. "Back! The first black foot that is planted upon this platform sends my dagger into Issus' heart."
? ? ? ? For an instant they hesitated. Then an officer ordered them back, while from the outer corridor there swept into the throne room at the heels of my little party of survivors a full thousand red men under Kantos Kan, Hor Vastus, and Xodar.
? ? ? ? "Where is Dejah Thoris?" I cried to the thing within my hands.
? ? ? ? For a moment her eyes roved wildly about the scene beneath her. I think that it took a moment for the true condition to make any impression upon her--she could not at first realize that the temple had fallen before the assault of men of the outer world.
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