{"product_id":"2940014480321","title":"The Chessmen of Mars","description":"THE CHESSMEN OF MARS\u003cbr\u003ePRELUDE\u003cbr\u003eJOHN CARTER COMES TO EARTH\u003cbr\u003eShea had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I had\u003cbr\u003egleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting him with\u003cbr\u003ethis indication of failing mentality by calling his attention to the\u003cbr\u003e_n_th time to that theory, propounded by certain scientists, which is\u003cbr\u003ebased upon the assertion that phenomenal chess players are always\u003cbr\u003efound\u003cbr\u003eto be from the ranks of children under twelve, adults over seventy-two\u003cbr\u003ePage 1\u003cbr\u003eThe Chessmen of Mars\u003cbr\u003eor the mentally defective--a theory that is lightly ignored upon those\u003cbr\u003erare occasions that I win. Shea had gone to bed and I should have\u003cbr\u003efollowed suit, for we are always in the saddle here before sunrise;\u003cbr\u003ebut\u003cbr\u003einstead I sat there before the chess table in the library, idly\u003cbr\u003eblowing\u003cbr\u003esmoke at the dishonored head of my defeated king.\u003cbr\u003eWhile thus profitably employed I heard the east door of the\u003cbr\u003eliving-room\u003cbr\u003eopen and someone enter. I thought it was Shea returning to speak with\u003cbr\u003eme on some matter of tomorrow's work; but when I raised my eyes to the\u003cbr\u003edoorway that connects the two rooms I saw framed there the figure of a\u003cbr\u003ebronzed giant, his otherwise naked body trapped with a jewel-encrusted\u003cbr\u003eharness from which there hung at one side an ornate short-sword and at\u003cbr\u003ethe other a pistol of strange pattern. The black hair, the steel-gray\u003cbr\u003eeyes, brave and smiling, the noble features--I recognized them at\u003cbr\u003eonce,\u003cbr\u003eand leaping to my feet I advanced with outstretched hand.\u003cbr\u003e\"John Carter!\" I cried. \"You?\"\u003cbr\u003e\"None other, my son,\" he replied, taking my hand in one of his and\u003cbr\u003eplacing the other upon my shoulder.\u003cbr\u003e\"And what are you doing here?\" I asked. \"It has been long years since\u003cbr\u003eyou revisited Earth, and never before in the trappings of Mars. Lord!\u003cbr\u003ebut it is good to see you--and not a day older in appearance than when\u003cbr\u003eyou trotted me on your knee in my babyhood. How do you explain it,\u003cbr\u003eJohn\u003cbr\u003eCarter, Warlord of Mars, or do you try to explain it?\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?\" he replied. \"As I have told\u003cbr\u003eyou before, I am a very old man. I do not know how old I am. I recall\u003cbr\u003eno childhood; but recollect only having been always as you see me now\u003cbr\u003eand as you saw me first when you were five years old. You, yourself,\u003cbr\u003ehave aged, though not as much as most men in a corresponding number of\u003cbr\u003eyears, which may be accounted for by the fact that the same blood runs\u003cbr\u003ein our veins; but I have not aged at all. I have discussed the\u003cbr\u003equestion\u003cbr\u003ewith a noted Martian scientist, a friend of mine; but his theories are\u003cbr\u003estill only theories. However, I am content with the fact--I never age,\u003cbr\u003eand I love life and the vigor of youth.\u003cbr\u003e\"And now as to your natural question as to what brings me to Earth\u003cbr\u003eagain and in this, to earthly eyes, strange habiliment. We may thank\u003cbr\u003eKar Komak, the bowman of Lothar. It was he who gave me the idea upon\u003cbr\u003ewhich I have been experimenting until at last I have achieved success.\u003cbr\u003eAs you know I have long possessed the power to cross the void in\u003cbr\u003espirit, but never before have I been able to impart to inanimate\u003cbr\u003ethings\u003cbr\u003ea similar power. Now, however, you see me for the first time precisely\u003cbr\u003ePage 2\u003cbr\u003eThe Chessmen of Mars\u003cbr\u003eas my Martian fellows see me--you see the very short-sword that has\u003cbr\u003etasted the blood of many a savage foeman; the harness with the devices\u003cbr\u003eof Helium and the insignia of my rank; the pistol that was presented\u003cbr\u003eto\u003cbr\u003eme by Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark.\u003cbr\u003e\"Aside from seeing you, which is my principal reason for being here,\u003cbr\u003eand satisfying myself that I can transport inanimate things from Mars\u003cbr\u003eto Earth, and therefore animate things if I so desire, I have no\u003cbr\u003epurpose. Earth is not for me. My every interest is upon Barsoom--my\u003cbr\u003ewife, my children, my work; all are there. I will spend a quiet\u003cbr\u003eevening\u003cbr\u003ewith you and then back to the world I love even better than I love\u003cbr\u003elife.\"\u003cbr\u003eAs he spoke he dropped into the chair upon the opposite side of the\u003cbr\u003echess table.\u003cbr\u003e\"You spoke of children,\" I said. \"Have you more than Carthoris?\"\u003cbr\u003e\"A daughter,\" he replied, \"only a little younger than Carthoris, and,\u003cbr\u003ebarring one, the fairest thing that ever breathed the thin air of\u003cbr\u003edying\u003cbr\u003eMars. Only Dejah Thoris, her mother, could be more beautiful than Tara\u003cbr\u003eof Helium.\"\u003cbr\u003eFor a moment he fingered the chessmen idly. \"We have a game on Mars\u003cbr\u003esimilar to chess,\" he said, \"very similar. And there is a race there\u003cbr\u003ethat plays it grimly with men and naked swords. We call the game\u003cbr\u003ejetan.\u003cbr\u003eIt is played on a board like yours, except that there are a hundred\u003cbr\u003esquares and we use twenty pieces on each side. I never see it played\u003cbr\u003ewithout thinking of Tara of Helium and what befell her among the\u003cbr\u003echessmen of Barsoom. Would you like to hear her story?\"\u003cbr\u003eI said that I ...","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070615699696,"sku":"2940014480321","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014480321_p0.jpg?v=1763618583","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014480321","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}