As Thar Ban rode noiselessly up the broad avenue which leads from the quays of Aaanthor to the great central plaza, he and his mount might have been mistaken for spectres from a world of dreams, so grotesque the man and beast, so soundless the great thoat's padded, nailless feet upon the moss-grown flagging of the ancient pavement.
His protruding eyes and antennae-like ears were turning constantly hither and thither, for Thar Ban was yet in the country of the enemy, and, too, there was always the menace of the great white apes, which, John Carter was wont to say, are the only creatures that can arouse in the breasts of these fierce denizens of the dead sea-bottoms even the remotest semblance of fear.
In the centre of the plaza Thar Ban saw the figure of a red woman.
Thar Ban watched until he had disappeared within the yawning portal.
"Ban's a sluggard alongside of her," Chris affirmed.
She spurred Washoe Ban in pursuit, but he could not hold his own with the mad mare, and dropped gradually behind.
Lute followed unhesitatingly, putting Ban through the gap in the fence and plunging on into the thicket.
When she turned at a sharp angle into the thicket-land beyond, Lute took the long diagonal, skirted the ticket, and reined in Ban at the other side.
"By Yupiter, I
ban take that bet," Olaf Henderson said, dragging Daylight away from Bettles and Kearns.
They gave notice that the abbot and his official suite would move in state and occupy the platform at 10:30, up to which time all the region which was under my ban must be clear; the bells would then cease from tolling, and this sign should be permission to the multitudes to close in and take their places.
One could not see the multitudes banked together be- yond the ban, but they were there, just the same.
"I, probably, should know nothing about their
ban; and if I did, I should care nothing about it."