We did not catch them napping, but found a well-entrenched battle line confronting us.
1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co.; republished as “Through Carnage to Joy”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, page 310