=== apom_ch7_pt2 === 

It is the universal language of Mars, through the medium of which the higher and lower animals of this world of paradoxes are able to communicate to a greater or less extent, depending upon the intellectual sphere of the species and the development of the individual. =

As the cavalcade took up the line of march in single file, Sola dragged me into an empty chariot and we proceeded with the procession toward the point by which I had entered the city the day before.  At the head of the caravan rode some two hundred warriors, five abreast, and a like number brought up the rear, while twenty five or thirty outriders flanked us on either side. =

Every one but myself men, women, and children were heavily armed, and at the tail of each chariot trotted a Martian hound, my own beast following closely behind ours, in fact, the faithful creature never left me voluntarily during the entire ten years I spent on Mars.  Our way led out across the little valley before the city, through the hills, and down into the dead sea bottom which I had traversed on my journey from the incubator to the plaza.  The incubator, as it proved, was the terminal point of our journey this day, and, as the entire cavalcade broke into a mad gallop as soon as we reached the level expanse of sea bottom, we were soon within sight of our goal = 

=== end of pt2 ===