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Kaols that I now knew myself to be, but in
what direction to search for Dejar Thoris, or how far into the
heart of the great forest I might have to penetrate I had not the
faintest idea.
    But not so
Woolan.
    Scarcely had I
disentangled her than she raised her head high in air and commenced
circling about at the edge of the forest. Presently she halted,
and, turning to see if I were following, set off straight into the
maze of trees in the direction we had been going before Thurid's
shot had put an end to our flier.
    As best I could,
I stumbled after her down a steep declivity beginning at the
forest's edge.
    Immense trees
reared their mighty heads far above us, their broad fronds
completely shutting off the slightest glimpse of the sky. It was
easy to see why the Kaolians needed no navy; their cities, hidden
in the midst of this towering forest, must be entirely invisible
from above, nor could a landing be made by any but the smallest
fliers, and then only with the greatest risk of
accident.
    How Thurid and
Matain Shang were to land I could not imagine, though later I was
to learn that to the level of the forest top there rises in each
city of Kaol a slender watchtower which guards the Kaolians by day
and by night against the secret approach of a hostile fleet. To one
of these the hekkador of the Holy Therns had no difficulty in
approaching, and by its means the party was safely lowered to the
ground.
    As Woolan and I
approached the bottom of the declivity the ground became soft and
mushy, so that it was with the greatest difficulty that we made any
headway whatever.
    Slender purple
grasses topped with red and yellow fern-like fronds grew rankly all
about us to the height of several feet above my head.
    Myriad creepers
hung festooned in graceful loops from tree to tree, and among them
were several varieties of the Martian 'man-flower,' whose blooms
have eyes and hands with which to see and seize the insects which
form their diet.
    The repulsive
calot tree was, too, much in evidence. It is a carnivorous plant of
about the bigness of a large sage-brush such as dots our western
plains. Each branch ends in a set of strong jaws, which have been
known to drag down and devour large and formidable beasts of
prey.
    Both Woolan and I
had several narrow escapes from these greedy, arboreous
monsters.
    Occasional areas
of firm sod gave us intervals of rest from the arduous labor of
traversing this gorgeous, twilight swamp, and it was upon one of
these that I finally decided to make camp for the night which my
chronometer warned me would soon be upon us.
    Many varieties of
fruit grew in abundance about us; and as Martian calots are
omnivorous, Woolan had no difficulty in making a square meal after
I had brought down the viands for her. Then, having eaten, too, I
lay down with my back to that of my faithful hound, and dropped
into a deep and dreamless sleep.
    The forest was
shrouded in impenetrable darkness when a low growl from Woolan
awakened me. All about us I could hear the stealthy movement of
great, padded feet, and now and then the wicked gleam of green eyes
upon us. Arising, I drew my long-sword and waited.
    Suddenly a
deep-toned, horrid roar burst from some savage throat almost at my
side. What a fool I had been not to have found safer lodgings for
myself and Woolan among the branches of one of the countless trees
that surrounded us!
    By daylight it
would have been comparatively easy to have hoisted Woolan aloft in
one manner or another, but now it was too late. There was nothing
for it but to stand our ground and take our medicine, though, from
the hideous racket which now assailed our ears, and for which that
first roar had seemed to be the signal, I judged that we must be in
the midst of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the fierce, man-eating
denizens of the Kaolian jungle.
    All the balance
of the night they kept up their infernal din, but why they did not
attack us I could not guess, nor am I sure to this day, unless it
is that