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She groped her way through the darkness, giving the tower and its enclosure as wide a berth as possible So shadows cast by the rising Cluros objects were grotesquely distorted though the light from the moon was still not sufficient to be of much assistance to her Nor, as a ht She could find the strea down hill until she walked into it and she had seen that bearing trees and hout the valley, so that she would pass food in plenty ere she reached the stream If the moon showed her the way more clearly and thus saved her from an occasional fall, he would, too, show her e denizens of the towers, and that, of course, ht conditions would have been better, since Cluros would not appear in the heavens at all and so, during Thuria's absence, utter darkness would reign; but the pangs of thirst and the gnawing of hunger could be endured no longer with food and drink both in sight, and so she had decided to risk discovery rather than suffer longer

Safely past the nearest tower, sheher herever possible so that she rew at intervals and at the same time discover those which bore fruit In this latter she met with almost immediate success, for the very third tree beneath which she halted was heavy with ripe fruit Never, thought Tara of Heliued upon her palate, and yet it was naught else than the almost tasteless usa, which is considered to be palatable only after having been cooked and highly spiced It grows easily with little irrigation and the trees bear abundantly The fruit, which ranks high in food value, is one of the staple foods of the less well-to-do, and because of its cheapness and nutritive value forms one of the principal rations of both armies and navies upon Barsoom, a use which has won for it a Martian sobriquet which, freely translated into English, would be, The Fighting Potato The girl ise enough to eat but sparingly, but she filled her pocket-pouch with the fruit before she continued upon her way

Ters she passed before she caain was she te herself with rinsing herher face, her hands, and her feet; and even though the night was cold, as Martian nights are, the sensation of refreshment more than compensated for the physical discoht a track near the streaht be planted there, and found a couple of varieties that could be eaten raw With these she replaced some of the usa in her pocket-pouch, not only to insure a variety but because she found them more palatable Occasionally she returned to the stream to drink, but each time moderately Alere her eyes and ears alert for the first signs of danger, but she had neither seen nor heard aught to disturb her And presently the time approached when she felt shelight of loinging Thuria She dreaded leaving the water for she knew that she ain to the stream If she only had some little receptacle in which to carry water, even a sht; but she had nothing and so she must content herself as best she could with the juices of the fruit and tubers she had gathered