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U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when her position had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the Black Chief after her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had failed He now discovered that he ht play his oar into personal combat with Gahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and could ill spare the other His position was a delicate one, since he did not wish to engage Gahan personally, while it appeared that there was little likelihood of his being able to escape There was just one hope and that lay in his Princess' Panthan, so, without more deliberation he ordered the piece onto the square occupied by the Black Chief

The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now If he lost, the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better of drawn games upon Barsoom than do Earth men If he won, it would doubtless mean a duel between the two Chiefs, a developary crowd should it be decided a draith only two ames on record where of the forty pieces on the field when the game opened only three survived-the two Princesses and the victorious Chief

They blahts in directing his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his part to engage the Black Chief necessarily an ireat chief who had conceived a notion to possess the slave Tara There was no honor that could accrue to hi in combat with slaves and criminals, or an unknoarrior from Manataj, nor was the stake of sufficient import to warrant the risk

But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and the decision of the next er in other hands than theirs It was the first tiht, but Tara of Helium knew that he was ht in her eyes as he crossed blades with the wearer of the Orange, he ht easily have wondered if they were the same eyes that had flashed fire and hatred at him that time he had covered her lips with mad kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar As she watched hireatest swordsinia, a Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom-and she knew that the skill of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison