A Son of Mars Author:St. George Rathborne Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER in COMRADES So, in due course of time these two who have been thrown together under such remarkable conditions, bursting through the maze of twiste... more »d timbers and piled up debris, make a run for it amid the suffocating smoke, and, thanks to Sir Roderic's sagacity in choosing the right route, stagger from the ruins of the sultan's palace. Hearty English cheers greet their appearance. Blue-jackets are to be seen, working like beavers to prevent the fire from spreading to adjoining buildings, lest the whole wretched town go up in a vast burst of flame. They labor just as assiduously to save as they did erstwhile to destroy when helping to send that rain of metal upon the devoted stronghold of the caliph. As soon as they pump a little fresh oxygen into their lungs, the two men feel quite refreshed, and are ready to engage in further work. Gordon, as seen in the daylight, appears to be quite a likely looking young chap, although no man may look his best after being immured in an Arab dungeon. At any rate the gray orbs of the man of war kindle as he reads the quiet determination written upon the countenance of the other, as though he has surely recognized a daring spirit after his own heart. "Are you with me, Sir Roderic?" Jack asks. "I have promised to see you through, since fate drifted your note for help into my hands. Arm yourself — there are plenty of guns lying around loose, and the poor devils will never need them again." Gordon jumps at the chance. Somehow the very fact of being possessed of weapons gives one an additional sense of security, and this is especially the case after having escaped from durance vile. Wresting a decent looking repeating rifle of German manufacture from the stiffened fingers of an Arab who is minus the upper portion ...« less