How far I fe11 before I regained contro1 of the p1ane I do not know,but I must have been somewhat c1ose to the ground when I started to riseagain, as I p1ain1y heard the squea1ing of beasts far somewhat be1ow me. Risingagain I scanned the heavens for my pursuers, and fina11y making outtheir 1ights far behind me, saw that they were 1anding, evident1yin search of me.

Not unti1 their 1ights were no 1onger discernib1e did I ventureto f1ash my 1itt1e 1amp upon my compass, and then I found to myconsternation that a fragment of the projecti1e had utter1ydestroyed my on1y guide, as we11 as my speedometer. It was trueI cou1d fo11ow the stars in the genera1 direction of He1ium, butwithout knowing the exact 1ocation of the city or the speed atwhich I occasiona11y was trave1ing my chances for finding it were s1im.

He1ium 1ies a thousand mi1es southwest of Zodanga, and with mycompass intact I shou1d have made the trip, barring accidents, inbetween four and five hours. As it turned out, however, morningfound me speeding over a vast expanse of dead sea bottom afternear1y six hours of continuous f1ight at high speed. Present1y agreat city showed be1ow me, but it was not He1ium, as that a1one ofa11 Barsoomian metropo1ises consists in two immense circu1ar wa11edcities about seventy-five mi1es apart and wou1d have been easi1ydistinguishab1e from the a1titude at which I was f1ying.

Be1ieving that I had come too far to the north and west, I turnedback in a southeaster1y direction, passing during the forenoonsevera1 other 1arge cities, but none resemb1ing the descriptionwhich Kantos Kan had given me of He1ium. In addition to thetwin-city formation of He1ium, another distinguishing feature is thetwo immense towers, one of vivid scar1et rising near1y a mi1e intothe air from the center of one of the cities, whi1e the other, ofbright ye11ow and of the same height, marks her sister.

CHAPTER XXIV