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diff --git a/2602-0.txt b/2602-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e4f946c --- /dev/null +++ b/2602-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11146 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Queen Sheba’s Ring, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Queen Sheba’s Ring + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: April, 2001 [eBook #2602] +[Most recently updated: January 9, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: John Bickers, Emma Dudding, Dagny and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUEEN SHEBA’S RING *** + + + + +QUEEN SHEBA’S RING + + + +by H. Rider Haggard + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I. THE COMING OF THE RING +CHAPTER II. THE ADVICE OF SERGEANT QUICK +CHAPTER III. THE PROFESSOR GOES OUT SHOOTING +CHAPTER IV. THE DEATH WIND +CHAPTER V. PHARAOH MAKES TROUBLE +CHAPTER VI. HOW WE ESCAPED FROM HARMAC +CHAPTER VII. BARUNG +CHAPTER VIII. THE SHADOW OF FATE +CHAPTER IX. THE SWEARING OF THE OATH +CHAPTER X. QUICK LIGHTS A MATCH +CHAPTER XI. THE RESCUE FAILS +CHAPTER XII. THE DEN OF LIONS +CHAPTER XIII. THE ADVENTURES OF HIGGS +CHAPTER XIV. HOW PHARAOH MET SHADRACH +CHAPTER XV. SERGEANT QUICK HAS A PRESENTIMENT +CHAPTER XVI. HARMAC COMES TO MUR +CHAPTER XVII. I FIND MY SON +CHAPTER XVIII. THE BURNING OF THE PALACE +CHAPTER XIX. STARVATION +CHAPTER XX. THE TRIAL AND AFTER + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE COMING OF THE RING + + +Every one has read the monograph, I believe that is the right word, of +my dear friend, Professor Higgs—Ptolemy Higgs to give him his full +name—descriptive of the tableland of Mur in North Central Africa, of +the ancient underground city in the mountains which surrounded it, and +of the strange tribe of Abyssinian Jews, or rather their mixed +descendants, by whom it is, or was, inhabited. I say every one +advisedly, for although the public which studies such works is usually +select, that which will take an interest in them, if the character of a +learned and pugnacious personage is concerned, is very wide indeed. Not +to mince matters, I may as well explain what I mean at once. + +Professor Higgs’s rivals and enemies, of whom either the brilliancy of +his achievements or his somewhat abrupt and pointed methods of +controversy seem to have made him a great many, have risen up, or +rather seated themselves, and written him down—well, an individual +who strains the truth. Indeed, only this morning one of these inquired, +in a letter to the press, alluding to some adventurous traveller who, I +am told, lectured to the British Association several years ago, whether +Professor Higgs did not, in fact, ride across the desert to Mur, not +upon a camel, as he alleged, but upon a land tortoise of extraordinary +size. + +The innuendo contained in this epistle has made the Professor, who, as I +have already hinted, is not by nature of a meek disposition, extremely +angry. Indeed, notwithstanding all that I could do, he left his London +house under an hour ago with a whip of hippopotamus hide such as the +Egyptians call a _koorbash_, purposing to avenge himself upon the +person of his defamer. In order to prevent a public scandal, however, I +have taken the liberty of telephoning to that gentleman, who, bold and +vicious as he may be in print, is physically small and, I should say, +of a timid character, to get out of the way at once. To judge from the +abrupt fashion in which our conversation came to an end, I imagine that +the hint has been taken. At any rate, I hope for the best, and, as an +extra precaution, have communicated with the lawyers of my justly +indignant friend. + +The reader will now probably understand that I am writing this book, not +to bring myself or others before the public, or to make money of which +I have no present need, or for any purpose whatsoever, except to set +down the bare and actual truth. In fact, so many rumours are flying +about as to where we have been and what befell us that this has become +almost necessary. As soon as I laid down that cruel column of gibes and +insinuations to which I have alluded—yes, this very morning, before +breakfast, this conviction took hold of me so strongly that I cabled to +Oliver, Captain Oliver Orme, the hero of my history, if it has any +particular hero, who is at present engaged upon what must be an +extremely agreeable journey round the world—asking his consent. Ten +minutes since the answer arrived from Tokyo. Here it is: + +“Do what you like and think necessary, but please alter all names, et +cetera, as propose returning via America, and fear interviewers. Japan +jolly place.” Then follows some private matter which I need not +insert. Oliver is always extravagant where cablegrams are concerned. + +I suppose that before entering on this narration, for the reader’s +benefit I had better give some short description of myself. + +My name is Richard Adams, and I am the son of a Cumberland yeoman who +married a Welshwoman. Therefore I have Celtic blood in my veins, which +perhaps accounts for my love of roving and other things. I am now an +old man, near the end of my course, I suppose; at any rate, I was +sixty-five last birthday. This is my appearance as I see it in the +glass before me: tall, spare (I don’t weigh more than a hundred and +forty pounds—the desert has any superfluous flesh that I ever owned, +my lot having been, like Falstaff, to lard the lean earth, but in a hot +climate); my eyes are brown, my face is long, and I wear a pointed +white beard, which matches the white hair above. + +Truth compels me to add that my general appearance, as seen in that +glass which will not lie, reminds me of that of a rather aged goat; +indeed, to be frank, by the natives among whom I have sojourned, and +especially among the Khalifa’s people when I was a prisoner there, I +have often been called the White Goat. + +Of my very commonplace outward self let this suffice. As for my record, +I am a doctor of the old school. Think of it! When I was a student at +Bart.‘s the antiseptic treatment was quite a new thing, and +administered when at all, by help of a kind of engine on wheels, out of +which disinfectants were dispensed with a pump, much as the advanced +gardener sprays a greenhouse to-day. + +I succeeded above the average as a student, and in my early time as a +doctor. But in every man’s life there happen things which, whatever +excuses may be found for them, would not look particularly well in cold +print (nobody’s record, as understood by convention and the Pharisee, +could really stand cold print); also something in my blood made me its +servant. In short, having no strict ties at home, and desiring to see +the world, I wandered far and wide for many years, earning my living as +I went, never, in my experience, a difficult thing to do, for I was +always a master of my trade. + +My fortieth birthday found me practising at Cairo, which I mention only +because it was here that first I met Ptolemy Higgs, who, even then in +his youth, was noted for his extraordinary antiquarian and linguistic +abilities. I remember that in those days the joke about him was that he +could swear in fifteen languages like a native and in thirty-two with +common proficiency, and could read hieroglyphics as easily as a bishop +reads the _Times_. + +Well, I doctored him through a bad attack of typhoid, but as he had +spent every farthing he owned on scarabs or something of the sort, made +him no charge. This little kindness I am bound to say he never forgot, +for whatever his failings may be (personally I would not trust him +alone with any object that was more than a thousand years old), Ptolemy +is a good and faithful friend. + +In Cairo I married a Copt. She was a lady of high descent, the tradition +in her family being that they were sprung from one of the Ptolemaic +Pharaohs, which is possible and even probable enough. Also, she was a +Christian, and well educated in her way. But, of course, she remained +an Oriental, and for a European to marry an Oriental is, as I have +tried to explain to others, a very dangerous thing, especially if he +continues to live in the East, where it cuts him off from social +recognition and intimacy with his own race. Still, although this step +of mine forced me to leave Cairo and go to Assouan, then a little-known +place, to practise chiefly among the natives, God knows we were happy +enough together till the plague took her, and with it my joy in life. + +I pass over all that business, since there are some things too dreadful +and too sacred to write about. She left me one child, a son, who, to +fill up my cup of sorrow, when he was twelve years of age, was +kidnapped by the Mardi’s people. + +This brings me to the real story. There is nobody else to write it; +Oliver will not; Higgs cannot (outside of anything learned and +antiquarian, he is hopeless); so I must. At any rate, if it is not +interesting, the fault will be mine, not that of the story, which in +all conscience is strange enough. + +We are now in the middle of June, and it was a year ago last December +that, on the evening of the day of my arrival in London after an +absence of half a lifetime, I found myself knocking at the door of +Professor Higgs’s rooms in Guildford Street, W.C. It was opened by +his housekeeper, Mrs. Reid, a thin and saturnine old woman, who +reminded and still reminds me of a reanimated mummy. She told me that +the Professor was in, but had a gentleman to dinner, and suggested +sourly that I should call again the next morning. With difficulty I +persuaded her at last to inform her master that an old Egyptian friend +had brought him something which he certainly would like to see. + +Five minutes later I groped my way into Higgs’s sitting-room, which +Mrs. Reid had contented herself with indicating from a lower floor. It +is a large room, running the whole width of the house, divided into two +by an arch, where once, in the Georgian days, there had been folding +doors. The place was in shadow, except for the firelight, which shone +upon a table laid ready for dinner, and upon an extraordinary +collection of antiquities, including a couple of mummies with gold +faces arranged in their coffins against the wall. At the far end of the +room, however, an electric lamp was alight in the bow-window hanging +over another table covered with books, and by it I saw my host, whom I +had not met for twenty years, although until I vanished into the desert +we frequently corresponded, and with him the friend who had come to +dinner. + +First, I will describe Higgs, who, I may state, is admitted, even by his +enemies, to be one of the most learned antiquarians and greatest masters +of dead languages in Europe, though this no one would guess from his +appearance at the age of about forty-five. In build short and stout, +face round and high-coloured, hair and beard of a fiery red, eyes, when +they can be seen—for generally he wears a pair of large blue +spectacles—small and of an indefinite hue, but sharp as needles. +Dress so untidy, peculiar, and worn that it is said the police +invariably request him to move on, should he loiter in the streets at +night. Such was, and is, the outward seeming of my dearest friend, +Professor Ptolemy Higgs, and I only hope that he won’t be offended +when he sees it set down in black and white. + +That of his companion who was seated at the table, his chin resting on +his hand, listening to some erudite discourse with a rather distracted +air, was extraordinarily different, especially by contrast. A tall +well-made young man, rather thin, but broad-shouldered, and apparently +five or six and twenty years of age. Face clean-cut—so much so, +indeed, that the dark eyes alone relieved it from a suspicion of +hardness; hair short and straight, like the eyes, brown; expression +that of a man of thought and ability, and, when he smiled, singularly +pleasant. Such was, and is, Captain Oliver Orme, who, by the way, I +should explain, is only a captain of some volunteer engineers, although, + in fact, a very able soldier, as was proved in the South African War, +whence he had then but lately returned. + +I ought to add also that he gave me the impression of a man not in love +with fortune, or rather of one with whom fortune was not in love; +indeed, his young face seemed distinctly sad. Perhaps it was this that +attracted me to him so much from the first moment that my eyes fell on +him—me with whom fortune had also been out of love for many years. + +While I stood contemplating this pair, Higgs, looking up from the +papyrus or whatever it might be that he was reading (I gathered later +that he had spent the afternoon in unrolling a mummy, and was studying +its spoils), caught sight of me standing in the shadow. + +“Who the devil are you?” he exclaimed in a shrill and strident +voice, for it acquires that quality when he is angry or alarmed, “and +what are you doing in my room?” + +“Steady,” said his companion; “your housekeeper told you that +some friend of yours had come to call.” + +“Oh, yes, so she did, only I can’t remember any friend with a face +and beard like a goat. Advance, friend, and all’s well.” + +So I stepped into the shining circle of the electric light and halted +again. + +“Who is it? Who is it?” muttered Higgs. “The face is the face +of—of—I have it—of old Adams, only he’s been dead these +ten years. The Khalifa got him, they said. Antique shade of the +long-lost Adams, please be so good as to tell me your name, for we +waste time over a useless mystery.” + +“There is no need, Higgs, since it is in your mouth already. Well, I +should have known you anywhere; but then _your_ hair doesn’t go +white.” + +“Not it; too much colouring matter; direct result of a sanguine +disposition. Well, Adams—for Adams you must be—I am really +delighted to see you, especially as you never answered some questions in +my last letter as to where you got those First Dynasty scarabs, of +which the genuineness, I may tell you, has been disputed by certain +envious beasts. Adams, my dear old fellow, welcome a thousand +times”—and he seized my hands and wrung them, adding, as his eye +fell upon a ring I wore, “Why, what’s that? Something quite +unusual. But never mind; you shall tell me after dinner. Let me +introduce you to my friend, Captain Orme, a very decent scholar of +Arabic, with a quite elementary knowledge of Egyptology.” + +“_Mr._ Orme,” interrupted the younger man, bowing to me. + +“Oh, well, Mr. or Captain, whichever you like. He means that he is not +in the regular army, although he has been all through the Boer War, and +wounded three times, once straight through the lungs. Here’s the +soup. Mrs. Reid, lay another place. I am dreadfully hungry; nothing +gives me such an appetite as unrolling mummies; it involves so much +intellectual wear and tear, in addition to the physical labour. Eat, +man, eat. We will talk afterwards.” + +So we ate, Higgs largely, for his appetite was always excellent, perhaps +because he was then practically a teetotaller; Mr. Orme very moderately, +and I as becomes a person who has lived for months at a time on +dates—mainly of vegetables, which, with fruits, form my principal +diet—that is, if these are available, for at a pinch I can exist on +anything. + +When the meal was finished and our glasses had been filled with port, +Higgs helped himself to water, lit the large meerschaum pipe he always +smokes, and pushed round the tobacco-jar which had once served as a +sepulchral urn for the heart of an old Egyptian. + +“Now, Adams,” he said when we also had filled our pipes, +“tell us what has brought you back from the Shades. In short, your +story, man, your story.” + +I drew the ring he had noticed off my hand, a thick band of rather +light-coloured gold of a size such as an ordinary woman might wear upon +her first or second finger, in which was set a splendid slab of +sapphire engraved with curious and archaic characters. Pointing to +these characters, I asked Higgs if he could read them. + +“Read them? Of course,” he answered, producing a magnifying glass. +“Can’t you? No, I remember; you never were good at anything more +than fifty years old. Hullo! this is early Hebrew. Ah! I’ve got +it,” and he read: + +“‘The gift of Solomon the ruler—no, the Great One—of +Israel, Beloved of Jah, to Maqueda of Sheba-land, Queen, Daughter of +Kings, Child of Wisdom, Beautiful.’ + +“That’s the writing on your ring, Adams—a really magnificent +thing. ‘Queen of Sheba—Bath-Melachim, Daughter of Kings,’ +with our old friend Solomon chucked in. Splendid, quite +splendid!”—and he touched the gold with his tongue, and tested it +with his teeth. “Hum—where did you get this intelligent fraud from, +Adams?” + +“Oh!” I answered, laughing, “the usual thing, of course. I +bought it from a donkey-boy in Cairo for about thirty shillings.” + +“Indeed,” he replied suspiciously. “I should have thought the +stone in it was worth more than that, although, of course, it may be +nothing but glass. The engraving, too, is first-rate. Adams,” he +added with severity, “you are trying to hoax us, but let me tell you +what I thought you knew by this time—that you can’t take in Ptolemy +Higgs. This ring is a shameless swindle; but who did the Hebrew on it? +He’s a good scholar, anyway.” + +“Don’t know,” I answered; “wasn’t aware till now +that it was Hebrew. To tell you the truth, I thought it was old +Egyptian. All I do know is that it was given, or rather lent, to me by +a lady whose title is Walda Nagasta, and who is supposed to be a +descendant of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” + +Higgs took up the ring and looked at it again; then, as though in a fit +of abstraction, slipped it into his waistcoat pocket. + +“I don’t want to be rude, therefore I will not contradict +you,” he answered with a kind of groan, “or, indeed, say anything +except that if any one else had spun me that yarn I should have told him +he was a common liar. But, of course, as every schoolboy knows, Walda +Nagasta—that is, Child of Kings in Ethiopic—is much the same as +Bath-Melachim—that is, Daughter of Kings in Hebrew.” + +Here Captain Orme burst out laughing, and remarked, “It is easy to see +why you are not altogether popular in the antiquarian world, Higgs. Your +methods of controversy are those of a savage with a stone axe.” + +“If you only open your mouth to show your ignorance, Oliver, you had +better keep it shut. The men who carried stone axes had advanced far +beyond the state of savagery. But I suggest that you had better give +Doctor Adams a chance of telling his story, after which you can +criticize.” + +“Perhaps Captain Orme does not wish to be bored with it,” I said, +whereon he answered at once: + +“On the contrary, I should like to hear it very much—that is, if +you are willing to confide in me as well as in Higgs.” + +I reflected a moment, since, to tell the truth, for sundry reasons, my +intention had been to trust no one except the Professor, whom I knew to +be as faithful as he is rough. Yet some instinct prompted me to make an +exception in favour of this Captain Orme. I liked the man; there was +something about those brown eyes of his that appealed to me. Also it +struck me as odd that he should happen to be present on this occasion, +for I have always held that there is nothing casual or accidental in +the world; that even the most trivial circumstances are either +ordained, or the result of the workings of some inexorable law whereof +the end is known by whatever power may direct our steps, though it be +not yet declared. + +“Certainly I am willing,” I answered; “your face and your +friendship with the Professor are passport enough for me. Only I must +ask you to give me your word of honour that without my leave you will +repeat nothing of what I am about to tell you.” + +“Of course,” he answered, whereon Higgs broke in: + +“There, that will do; you don’t want us both to kiss the Book, do +you? Who sold you that ring, and where have you been for the last dozen +years, and whence do you come now?” + +“I have been a prisoner of the Khalifa’s among other things. I had +five years of that entertainment of which my back would give some +evidence if I were to strip. I think I am about the only man who never +embraced Islam whom they allowed to live, and that was because I am a +doctor, and, therefore, a useful person. The rest of the time I have +spent wandering about the North African deserts looking for my son, +Roderick. You remember the boy, or should, for you are his godfather, +and I used to send you photographs of him as a little chap.” + +“Of course, of course,” said the Professor in a new tone; “I +came across a Christmas letter from him the other day. But, my dear +Adams, what happened? I never heard.” + +“He went up the river to shoot crocodiles against my orders, when he +was about twelve years old—not very long after his mother’s death, +and some wandering Mahdi tribesmen kidnapped him and sold him as a +slave. I have been looking for him ever since, for the poor boy was +passed on from tribe to tribe, among which his skill as a musician +enabled me to follow him. The Arabs call him the Singer of Egypt, +because of his wonderful voice, and it seems that he has learned to +play upon their native instruments.” + +“And now where is he?” asked Higgs, as one who feared the answer. + +“He is, or was, a favourite slave among a barbarous, half-negroid +people called the Fung, who dwell in the far interior of North Central +Africa. After the fall of the Khalifa I followed him there; it took me +several years. Some Bedouin were making an expedition to trade with +these Fung, and I disguised myself as one of them. + +“On a certain night we camped at the foot of a valley outside a great +wall which encloses the holy place where their idol is. I rode up to +this wall and, through the open gateway, heard some one with a +beautiful tenor voice singing in English. What he sang was a hymn that +I had taught my son. It begins: + +‘Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.’ + +“I knew the voice again. I dismounted and slipped through the gateway, +and presently came to an open space, where a young man sat singing upon +a sort of raised bench with lamps on either side of him, and a large +audience in front. I saw his face and, notwithstanding the turban which +he wore and his Eastern robe—yes, and the passage of all those +years—I knew it for that of my son. Some spirit of madness entered +into me, and I called aloud, ‘Roderick, Roderick!’ and he started +up, staring about him wildly. The audience started up also, and one of +them caught sight of me lurking in the shadow. + +“With a howl of rage, for I had desecrated their sanctuary, they +sprang at me. To save my life, coward that I was, I fled back through +the gates. Yes, after all those years of seeking, still I fled rather +than die, and though I was wounded with a spear and stones, managed to +reach and spring upon my horse. Then, as I was headed off from our +camp, I galloped away anywhere, still to save my miserable life from +those savages, so strongly is the instinct of self-preservation +implanted in us. From a distance I looked back and saw by the light of +the fired tents that the Fung were attacking the Arabs with whom I had +travelled, I suppose because they thought them parties to the sacrilege. + Afterwards I heard that they killed them every one, poor men, but I +escaped, who unwittingly had brought their fate upon them. + +“On and on I galloped up a steep road. I remember hearing lions +roaring round me in the darkness. I remember one of them springing upon +my horse and the poor beast’s scream. Then I remember no more till I +found myself—I believe it was a week or so later—lying on the +verandah of a nice house, and being attended by some good-looking women +of an Abyssinian cast of countenance.” + +“Sounds rather like one of the lost tribes of Israel,” remarked +Higgs sarcastically, puffing at his big meerschaum. + +“Yes, something of that sort. The details I will give you later. The +main facts are that these people who picked me up outside their gates +are called Abati, live in a town called Mur, and allege themselves to +be descended from a tribe of Abyssinian Jews who were driven out and +migrated to this place four or five centuries ago. Briefly, they look +something like Jews, practise a very debased form of the Jewish +religion, are civilized and clever after a fashion, but in the last +stage of decadence from interbreeding—about nine thousand men is +their total fighting force, although three or four generations ago they +had twenty thousand—and live in hourly terror of extermination by the +surrounding Fung, who hold them in hereditary hate as the possessors of +the wonderful mountain fortress that once belonged to their +forefathers.” + +“Gibraltar and Spain over again,” suggested Orme. + +“Yes, with this difference—that the position is reversed, the Abati +of this Central African Gibraltar are decaying, and the Fung, who answer +to the Spaniards, are vigorous and increasing.” + +“Well, what happened?” asked the Professor. + +“Nothing particular. I tried to persuade these Abati to organize an +expedition to rescue my son, but they laughed in my face. By degrees I +found out that there was only one person among them who was worth +anything at all, and she happened to be their hereditary ruler who bore +the high-sounding titles of Walda Nagasta, or Child of Kings, and Takla +Warda, or Bud of the Rose, a very handsome and spirited young woman, +whose personal name is Maqueda——” + +“One of the names of the first known Queens of Sheba,” muttered +Higgs; “the other was Belchis.” + +“Under pretence of attending her medically,” I went on, “for +otherwise their wretched etiquette would scarcely have allowed me access +to one so exalted, I talked things over with her. She told me that the +idol of the Fung is fashioned like a huge sphinx, or so I gathered from +her description of the thing, for I have never seen it.” + +“What!” exclaimed Higgs, jumping up, “a sphinx in North +Central Africa! Well, after all, why not? Some of the earlier Pharaohs +are said to have had dealings with that part of the world, or even to +have migrated from it. I think that the Makreezi repeats the legend. I +suppose that it is ram-headed.” + +“She told me also,” I continued, “that they have a tradition, +or rather a belief, which amounts to an article of faith, that if this +sphinx or god, which, by the way, is lion, not ram-headed, and is +called Harmac——” + +“Harmac!” interrupted Higgs again. “That is one of the names +of the sphinx—Harmachis, god of dawn.” + +“If this god,” I repeated, “should be destroyed, the nation +of the Fung, whose forefathers fashioned it as they say, must move away +from that country across the great river which lies to the south. I +have forgotten its name at the moment, but I think it must be a branch +of the Nile. + +“I suggested to her that, in the circumstances, her people had better +try to destroy the idol. Maqueda laughed and said it was impossible, +since the thing was the size of a small mountain, adding that the Abati +had long ago lost all courage and enterprise, and were content to sit +in their fertile and mountain-ringed land, feeding themselves with +tales of departed grandeur and struggling for rank and high-sounding +titles, till the day of doom overtook them. + +“I inquired whether she were also content, and she replied, +‘Certainly not’; but what could she do to regenerate her people, +she who was nothing but a woman, and the last of an endless line of +rulers? + +“‘Rid me of the Fung,’ she added passionately, ‘and I +will give you such a reward as you never dreamed. The old cave-city +yonder is full of treasure that was buried with its ancient kings long +before we came to Mur. To us it is useless, since we have none to trade +with, but I have heard that the peoples of the outside world worship +gold.’ + +“‘I do not want gold,’ I answered; ‘I want to rescue my +son who is a prisoner yonder.’ + +“‘Then,’ said the Child of Kings, ‘you must begin by +helping us to destroy the idol of the Fung. Are there no means by which +this can be done?’ + +“‘There are means,’ I replied, and I tried to explain to her +the properties of dynamite and of other more powerful explosives. + +“‘Go to your own land,’ she exclaimed eagerly, ‘and +return with that stuff and two or three who can manage it, and I swear +to them all the wealth of Mur. Thus only can you win my help to save +your son.’” + +“Well, what was the end?” asked Captain Orme. + +“This: They gave me some gold and an escort with camels which were +literally lowered down a secret path in the mountains so as to avoid the +Fung, who ring them in and of whom they are terribly afraid. With these +people I crossed the desert to Assouan in safety, a journey of many +weeks, where I left them encamped about sixteen days ago, bidding them +await my return. I arrived in England this morning, and as soon as I +could ascertain that you still lived, and your address, from a book of +reference called _Who’s Who_, which they gave me in the hotel, I came +on here.” + +“Why did you come to me? What do you want me to do?” asked the +Professor. + +“I came to you, Higgs, because I know how deeply you are interested in +anything antiquarian, and because I wished to give you the first +opportunity, not only of winning wealth, but also of becoming famous as +the discoverer of the most wonderful relics of antiquity that are left +in the world.” + +“With a very good chance of getting my throat cut thrown in,” +grumbled Higgs. + +“As to what I want you to do,” I went on, “I want you to find +someone who understands explosives, and will undertake the business of +blowing up the Fung idol.” + +“Well, that’s easy enough, anyhow,” said the Professor, +pointing to Captain Orme with the bowl of his pipe, and adding, “he is +an engineer by education, a soldier and a very fair chemist; also he +knows Arabic and was brought up in Egypt as a boy—just the man for +the job if he will go.” + +I reflected a moment, then, obeying some sort of instinct, looked up and +asked: + +“Will you, Captain Orme, if terms can be arranged?” + +“Yesterday,” he replied, colouring a little, “I should have +answered, ‘Certainly not.’ To-day I answer that I am prepared to +consider the matter—that is, if Higgs will go too, and you can +enlighten me on certain points. But I warn you that I am only an +amateur in the three trades that the Professor has mentioned, though, +it is true, one with some experience.” + +“Would it be rude to inquire, Captain Orme, why twenty-four hours have +made such a difference in your views and plans?” + +“Not rude, only awkward,” he replied, colouring again, this time +more deeply. “Still, as it is best to be frank, I will tell you. +Yesterday I believed myself to be the inheritor of a very large fortune +from an uncle whose fatal illness brought me back from South Africa +before I meant to come, and as whose heir I have been brought up. +To-day I have learned for the first time that he married secretly, last +year, a woman much below him in rank, and has left a child, who, of +course, will take all his property, as he died intestate. But that is +not all. Yesterday I believed myself to be engaged to be married; +to-day I am undeceived upon that point also. The lady,” he added with +some bitterness, “who was willing to marry Anthony Orme’s heir is +no longer willing to marry Oliver Orme, whose total possessions amount +to under £10,000. Well, small blame to her or to her relations, +whichever it may be, especially as I understand that she has a better +alliance in view. Certainly her decision has simplified matters,” and +he rose and walked to the other end of the room. + +“Shocking business,” whispered Higgs; “been infamously +treated,” and he proceeded to express his opinion of the lady +concerned, of her relatives, and of the late Anthony Orme, shipowner, +in language that, if printed, would render this history unfit for +family reading. The outspokenness of Professor Higgs is well known in +the antiquarian world, so there is no need for me to enlarge upon it. + +“What I do not exactly understand, Adams,” he added in a loud +voice, seeing that Orme had turned again, “and what I think we should +both like to know, is _your_ exact object in making these proposals.” + +“I am afraid I have explained myself badly. I thought I had made it +clear that I have only one object—to attempt the rescue of my son, if +he still lives, as I believe he does. Higgs, put yourself in my +position. Imagine yourself with nothing and no one left to care for +except a single child, and that child stolen away from you by savages. +Imagine yourself, after years of search, hearing his very voice, seeing +his very face, adult now, but the same, the thing you had dreamed of +and desired for years; that for which you would have given a thousand +lives if you could have had time to think. And then the rush of the +howling, fantastic mob, the breakdown of courage, of love, of +everything that is noble under the pressure of primæval instinct, which +has but one song—Save your life. Lastly, imagine this coward saved, +dwelling within a few miles of the son whom he had deserted, and yet +utterly unable to rescue or even to communicate with him because of the +poltroonery of those among whom he had refuged.” + +“Well,” grunted Higgs, “I have imagined all that +high-faluting lot. What of it? If you mean that you are to blame, I +don’t agree with you. You wouldn’t have helped your son by getting +your own throat cut, and perhaps his also.” + +“I don’t know,” I answered. “I have brooded over the +thing so long that it seems to me that I have disgraced myself. Well, +there came a chance, and I took it. This lady, Walda Nagasta, or +Maqueda, who, I think, had also brooded over things, made me an +offer—I fancy without the knowledge or consent of her Council. +‘Help me,’ she said, ‘and I will help you. Save my people, and I +will try to save your son. I can pay for your services and those of any +whom you may bring with you.’ + +“I answered that it was hopeless, as no one would believe the tale, +whereon she drew from her finger the throne-ring or State signet which +you have in your pocket, Higgs, saying: ‘My mothers have worn this +since the days of Maqueda, Queen of Sheba. If there are learned men +among your people they will read her name upon it and know that I speak +no lie. Take it as a token, and take also enough of our gold to buy the +stuffs whereof you speak, which hide fires that can throw mountains +skyward, and the services of skilled and trusty men who are masters of +the stuff, two or three of them only, for more cannot be transported +across the desert, and come back to save your son and me.’ That’s +all the story, Higgs. Will you take the business on, or shall I try +elsewhere? You must make up your mind, because I have no time to lose, +if I am to get into Mur again before the rains.” + +“Got any of that gold you spoke of about you?” asked the Professor. + +I drew a skin bag from the pocket of my coat, and poured some out upon +the table, which he examined carefully. + +“Ring money,” he said presently, “might be Anglo-Saxon, might +be anything; date absolutely uncertain, but from its appearance I should +say slightly alloyed with silver; yes, there is a bit which has +oxydized—undoubtedly old, that.” + +Then he produced the signet from his pocket, and examined the ring and +the stone very carefully through a powerful glass. + +“Seems all right,” he said, “and although I have been greened +in my time, I don’t make many mistakes nowadays. What do you say, +Adams? Must have it back? A sacred trust! Only lent to you! All right, +take it by all means. _I_ don’t want the thing. Well, it is a risky +job, and if any one else had proposed it to me, I’d have told him to +go to—Mur. But, Adams, my boy, you saved my life once, and never sent +in a bill, because I was hard up, and I haven’t forgotten that. Also +things are pretty hot for me here just now over a certain controversy +of which I suppose you haven’t heard in Central Africa. I think +I’ll go. What do you say, Oliver?” + +“Oh!” said Captain Orme, waking up from a reverie, “if you +are satisfied, I am. It doesn’t matter to me where I go.” + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ADVICE OF SERGEANT QUICK + + +At this moment a fearful hubbub arose without. The front door slammed, a +cab drove off furiously, a policeman’s whistle blew, heavy feet were +heard trampling; then came an invocation of “In the King’s name,” +answered by “Yes, and the Queen’s, and the rest of the Royal +Family’s, and if you want it, take it, you chuckle-headed, +flat-footed, pot-bellied Peelers.” + +Then followed tumult indescribable as of heavy men and things rolling +down the stairs, with cries of fear and indignation. + +“What the dickens is that?” asked Higgs. + +“The voice sounded like that of Samuel—I mean Sergeant +Quick,” answered Captain Orme with evident alarm; “what can he be +after? Oh, I know, it is something to do with that infernal mummy you +unwrapped this afternoon, and asked him to bring round after dinner.” + +Just then the door burst open, and a tall, soldier-like form stalked in, +carrying in his arms a corpse wrapped in a sheet, which he laid upon the +table among the wine glasses. + +“I’m sorry, Captain,” he said, addressing Orme, “but +I’ve lost the head of the departed. I think it is at the bottom of the +stairs with the police. Had nothing else to defend myself with, sir, +against their unwarranted attacks, so brought the body to the present +and charged, thinking it very stiff and strong, but regret to say neck +snapped, and that deceased’s head is now under arrest.” + +As Sergeant Quick finished speaking, the door opened again, and through +it appeared two very flurried and dishevelled policemen, one of whom +held, as far as possible from his person, the grizzly head of a mummy +by the long hair which still adhered to the skull. + +“What do you mean by breaking into my rooms like this? Where’s your +warrant?” asked the indignant Higgs in his high voice. + +“There!” answered the first policeman, pointing to the +sheet-wrapped form on the table. + +“And here!” added the second, holding up the awful head. “As +in duty bound, we ask explanation from that man of the secret conveyance +of a corpse through the open streets, whereon he assaults us with the +same, for which assault, pending investigation of the corpse, I arrest +him. Now, Guv’nor” (addressing Sergeant Quick), “will you come +along with us quietly, or must we take you?” + +The Sergeant, who seemed to be inarticulate with wrath, made a dash for +the shrouded object on the table, with the intention, apparently, of +once more using it as a weapon of offence, and the policemen drew their +batons. + +“Stop,” said Orme, thrusting himself between the combatants, +“are you all mad? Do you know that this woman died about four thousand +years ago?” + +“Oh, Lord!” said the policeman who held the head, addressing his +companion, “it must be one of them mummies what they dig up in the +British Museum. Seems pretty ancient and spicy, don’t it?” and he +sniffed at the head, then set it down upon the table. + +Explanations followed, and after the wounded dignity of the two officers +of the Force had been soothed with sundry glasses of port wine and a +written list of the names of all concerned, including that of the +mummy, they departed. + +“You take my advice, bobbies,” I heard the indignant Sergeant +declaim outside the door, “and don’t you believe things is always +what they seem. A party ain’t necessarily drunk because he rolls about +and falls down in the street; he may be mad, or ‘ungry, or epileptic, +and a body ain’t always a body jest because it’s dead and cold and +stiff. Why, men, as you’ve seen, it may be a mummy, which is quite a +different thing. If I was to put on that blue coat of yours, would that +make me a policeman? Good heavens! I should hope not, for the sake of +the Army to which I still belong, being in the Reserve. What you +bobbies need is to study human nature and cultivate observation, which +will learn you the difference between a new-laid corpse and a mummy, +and many other things. Now you lay my words to heart, and you’ll both +of you rise to superintendents, instead of running in daily +‘drunks’ until you retire on a pension. Good-night.” + +Peace having been restored, and the headless mummy removed into the +Professor’s bedroom, since Captain Orme declared that he could not +talk business in the presence of a body, however ancient, we resumed +our discussion. First of all, at Higgs’s suggestion I drew up a brief +memorandum of agreement which set out the objects of the expedition, +and provided for the equal division amongst us of any profit that might +accrue; in the event of the death of one or more of us, the survivors +or survivor to take their or his share. + +To this arrangement personally I objected, who desired neither treasure +nor antiquities, but only the rescue of my son. The others pointed out, +however, that, like most people, I might in future want something to +live on, or that if I did not, in the event of his escape, my boy +certainly would; so in the end I gave way. + +Then Captain Orme very sensibly asked for a definition of our respective +duties, and it was settled that I was to be guide to the expedition; +Higgs, antiquarian, interpreter, and, on account of his vast knowledge, +general referee; and Captain Orme, engineer and military commander, +with the proviso that, in the event of a difference of opinion, the +dissentient was to loyally accept the decision of the majority. + +This curious document having been copied out fair, I signed and passed +it to the Professor, who hesitated a little, but, after refreshing +himself with a further minute examination of Sheba’s ring, signed +also, remarking that he was an infernal fool for his pains, and pushed +the paper across the table to Orme. + +“Stop a minute,” said the Captain; “I forgot something. I +should like my old servant, Sergeant Quick, to accompany us. He’s a +very handy man at a pinch, especially if, as I understand, we are +expected to deal with explosives with which he has had a lot to do in +the Engineers and elsewhere. If you agree I will call him, and ask if +he will go. I expect he’s somewhere round.” + +I nodded, judging from the episode of the mummy and the policeman that +the Sergeant was likely to be a useful man. As I was sitting next to +it, I opened the door for the Captain, whereon the erect shape of +Sergeant Quick, who had clearly been leaning against it, literally fell +into the room, reminding me much of an overset wooden soldier. + +“Hullo!” said Orme as, without the slightest change of countenance, +his retainer recovered himself and stood to attention. “What the deuce +are you doing there?” + +“Sentry go, Captain. Thought the police might change their minds and +come back. Any orders, Captain?” + +“Yes. I am going to North Central Africa. When can you be ready to +start?” + +“The Brindisi mail leaves to-morrow night, Captain, if you travel by +Egypt, but if you go by Tunis, 7.15 a.m. Saturday is the time from +Charing Cross. Only, as I understand that high explosives and arms have +to be provided, these might take awhile to lay in and pack so as to +deceive customs.” + +“You understand!” said Orme. “Pray, how do you +understand?” + +“Doors in these old houses are apt to get away from their frames, +Captain, and the gentleman there”—and he pointed to the +Professor—“has a voice that carries like a dog-whistle. Oh, no +offence, sir. A clear voice is an excellent thing—that is, if the +doors fit”—and although Sergeant Quick’s wooden face did not +move, I saw his humorous grey eyes twinkle beneath the bushy eyebrows. + +We burst out laughing, including Higgs. + +“So you are willing to go?” said Orme. “But I hope you +clearly understand that this is a risky business, and that you may not +come back?” + +“Spion Kop was a bit risky, Captain, and so was that business in the +donga, where every one was hit except you and me and the sailor man, but +we came back, for all that. Begging your pardon, Captain, there ain’t +no such thing as risk. Man comes here when he must, and dies when he +must, and what he does between don’t make a ha’porth of +difference.” + +“Hear, hear,” I said; “we are much of the same way of +thinking.” + +“There have been several who held those views, sir, since old Solomon +gave the lady that”—and he pointed to Sheba’s ring, which was +lying on the table. “But excuse me, Captain; how about local +allowances? Not having been a marrying man myself, I’ve none +dependent upon me, but, as you know, I’ve sisters that have, and a +soldier’s pension goes with him. Don’t think me greedy, Captain,” +he added hastily, “but, as you gentlemen understand, black and white +at the beginning saves bother at the end”—and he pointed to the +agreement. + +“Quite right. What do you want, Sergeant?” asked Orme. + +“Nothing beyond my pay, if we get nothing, Captain, but if we get +something, would five per cent. be too much?” + +“It might be ten,” I suggested. “Sergeant Quick has a life to +lose like the rest of us.” + +“Thank you kindly, sir,” he answered; “but that, in my +opinion, would be too much. Five per cent. was what I suggested.” + +So it was written down that Sergeant Samuel Quick was to receive five +per cent. of the total profits, if any, provided that he behaved +himself and obeyed orders. Then he also signed the agreement, and was +furnished with a glass of whisky and water to drink to its good health. + +“Now, gentlemen,” he said, declining the chair which Higgs offered +to him, apparently because, from long custom, he preferred his +wooden-soldier attitude against the wall, “as a humble five-per-cent. +private in this very adventurous company I’ll ask permission to say a +word.” + +Permission was given accordingly, and the Sergeant proceeded to inquire +what weight of rock it was wished to remove. + +I told him that I did not know, as I had never seen the Fung idol, but I +understood that its size was enormous, probably as large as St. Paul’s +Cathedral. + +“Which, if solid, would take some stirring,” remarked the Sergeant. +“Dynamite might do it, but it is too bulky to be carried across the +desert on camels in that quantity. Captain, how about them picrates? You +remember those new Boer shells that blew a lot of us to kingdom come, +and poisoned the rest?” + +“Yes,” answered Orme; “I remember; but now they have stronger +stuffs—azo-imides, I think they call them—terrific new compounds of +nitrogen. We will inquire to-morrow, Sergeant.” + +“Yes, Captain,” he answered; “but the point is, who’ll +pay? You can’t buy hell-fire in bulk for nothing. I calculate that, +allowing for the purchase of the explosives and, say, fifty military +rifles with ammunition and all other necessaries, not including camels, +the outfit of this expedition can’t come to less than £1,500.” + +“I think I have that amount in gold,” I answered, “of which +the lady of the Abati gave me as much as I could carry in comfort.” + +“If not,” said Orme, “although I am a poor man now, I could +find £500 or so in a pinch. So don’t let us bother about the money. +The question is—Are we all agreed that we will undertake this +expedition and see it through to the end, whatever that may be?” + +We answered that we were. + +“Then has anybody anything more to say?” + +“Yes,” I replied; “I forgot to tell you that if we should +ever get to Mur, none of you must make love to the Walda Nagasta. She is +a kind of holy person, who can only marry into her own family, and to +do so might mean that our throats would be cut.” + +“Do you hear that, Oliver?” said the Professor. “I suppose +that the Doctor’s warning is meant for you, as the rest of us are +rather past that kind of thing.” + +“Indeed,” replied the Captain, colouring again after his fashion. +“Well, to tell you the truth, I feel a bit past it myself, and, so far +as I am concerned, I don’t think we need take the fascinations of +this black lady into account.” + +“Don’t brag, Captain. Please don’t brag,” said Sergeant +Quick in a hollow whisper. “Woman is just the one thing about which +you can never be sure. To-day she’s poison, and to-morrow honey—God +and the climate alone know why. Please don’t brag, or we may live to +see you crawling after this one on your knees, with the gent in the +specs behind, and Samuel Quick, who hates the whole tribe of them, +bringing up the rear. Tempt Providence, if you like, Captain, but +don’t tempt woman, lest she should turn round and tempt you, as she +has done before to-day.” + +“Will you be so good as to stop talking nonsense and call a cab,” +said Captain Orme coldly. But Higgs began to laugh in his rude fashion, +and I, remembering the appearance of “Bud of the Rose” when she +lifted her veil of ceremony, and the soft earnestness of her voice, +fell into reflection. “Black lady” indeed! What, I wondered, would +this young gentleman think if ever he should live to set his eyes upon +her sweet and comely face? + +It seemed to me that Sergeant Quick was not so foolish as his master +chose to imagine. Captain Orme undoubtedly was in every way qualified +to be a partner in our venture; still, I could have wished either that +he had been an older man, or that the lady to whom he was recently +affianced had not chosen this occasion to break her engagement. In +dealing with difficult and dangerous combinations, my experience has +been that it is always well to eliminate the possibility of a love +affair, especially in the East. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PROFESSOR GOES OUT SHOOTING + + +Of all our tremendous journey across the desert until we had passed the +forest and reached the plains which surrounded the mountains of Mur, +there are, I think, but few incidents with which the reader need be +troubled. The first of these was at Assouan, where a letter and various +telegrams overtook Captain Orme, which, as by this time we had become +intimate, he showed to me. They informed him that the clandestine +infant whom his uncle left behind him had suddenly sickened and died of +some childish ailment, so that he was once again heir to the large +property which he thought he had lost, since the widow only took a life +interest in some of the personalty. I congratulated him and said I +supposed this meant that we should not have the pleasure of his company +to Mur. + +“Why not?” he asked. “I said I was going and I mean to go; +indeed, I signed a document to that effect.” + +“I daresay,” I answered, “but circumstances alter cases. If I +might say so, an adventure that perhaps was good enough for a young and +well-born man of spirit and enterprise without any particular resources, +is no longer good enough for one who has the ball at his feet. Think +what a ball it is to a man of your birth, intelligence, record, and +now, great fortune come to you in youth. Why, with these advantages +there is absolutely nothing that you cannot do in England. You can go +into Parliament and rule the country; if you like you can become a +peer. You can marry any one who isn’t of the blood royal; in short, +with uncommonly little effort of your own, your career is made for you. +Don’t throw away a silver spoon like that in order, perhaps, to die +of thirst in the desert or be killed in a fight among unknown tribes.” + +“Oh, I don’t know,” he answered. “I never set heart +much on spoons, silver or other. When I lost this one I didn’t cry, +and now that I have found it again I shan’t sing. Anyway, I am going +on with you, and you can’t prevent me under the agreement. Only as I +have got such a lot to leave, I suppose I had better make a will first +and post it home, which is a bore.” + +Just then the Professor came in, followed by an Arab thief of a dealer, +with whom he was trying to bargain for some object of antiquity. When +the dealer had been ejected and the position explained to him, Higgs, +who whatever may be his failings in small matters, is unselfish enough +in big ones, said that he agreed with me and thought that under the +circumstances, in his own interest, Orme ought to leave us and return +home. + +“You may save your breath, old fellow,” answered the Captain, +“for this reason if for no other,” and he threw him a letter across +the table, which letter I saw afterwards. To be brief, it was from the +young lady to whom he had been engaged to be married, and who on his +loss of fortune had jilted him. Now she seemed to have changed her mind +again, and, although she did not mention the matter, it is perhaps not +uncharitable to suppose that the news of the death of the inconvenient +child had something to do with her decision. + +“Have you answered this?” asked Higgs. + +“No,” answered Orme, setting his mouth. “I have not answered, +and I am not going to answer it, either in writing or in person. I +intend to start to-morrow for Mur and to travel as far on that road as +it pleases fate to allow, and now I am going to look at the rock +sculptures by the cataract.” + +“Well, that’s flat,” said Higgs after he had departed, +“and for my part I am glad of it, for somehow I think he will be a +useful man among those Fung. Also, if he went I expect that the +Sergeant would go too, and where should we be without Quick, I should +like to know?” + +Afterwards I conversed with the said Quick about this same matter, +repeating to him my opinions, to which the Sergeant listened with the +deference which he was always kind enough to show to me. + +“Begging your pardon, sir,” he said, when I had finished, +“but I think you are both right and wrong. Everything has two ends, +hasn’t it? You say that it would be wicked for the Captain to get +himself killed, there being now so much money for him to live for, +seeing that life is common as dirt while money is precious, rare and +hard to come by. It ain’t the kings we admire, it’s their crowns; +it ain’t the millionaires, it’s their millions; but, after all, the +millionaires don’t take their millions with them, for Providence, +that, like Nature, hates waste, knows that if they did they’d melt, +so one man dead gives another bread, as the saying goes, or p’raps I +should say gingerbread in such cases. + +“Still, on the whole, sir, I admit you are right as to the sinfulness +of wasting luck. But now comes the other end. I know this young lady +what the Captain was engaged to, which he never would have been if he +had taken my advice, since of all the fish-blooded little serpents that +ever I set eyes on she’s the serpentest, though pretty, I allow. +Solomon said in his haste that an honest woman he had not found, but if +he had met the Honourable Miss—well, never mind her name—he’d +have said it at his leisure, and gone on saying it. Now, no one should +never take back a servant what has given notice and then says he’s +sorry, for if he does the sorrow will be on the other side before +it’s all done; and much less should he take back a _fiancée_ (Quick +said a ‘finance’), on the whole, he’d better drown himself—I +tried it once, and I know. So that’s the tail of the business. + +“But,” he went on, “it has a couple of fins as well, like +that eel beast I caught in the Nile. One of them is that the Captain +promised and vowed to go through with this expedition, and if a man’s +got to die, he’d better die honest without breaking his word. And the +other is what I said to you in London when I signed on, that he won’t +die a minute before his time, and nothing won’t happen to him, but +what’s bound to happen, and therefore it ain’t a ha’porth of use +bothering about anything, and that’s where the East’s well ahead of +the West. + +“And now, sir, I’ll go and look after the camels and those +half-bred Jew boys what you call Abati, but I call rotten sneaks, for if +they get their thieving fingers into those canisters of picric salts, +thinking they’re jam, as I found them trying to do yesterday, +something may happen in Egypt that’ll make the Pharaohs turn in their +graves and the Ten Plagues look silly.” + +So, having finished his oration, Quick went, and in due course we +started for Mur. + +The second incident that is perhaps worth recording was an adventure +that happened to us when we had completed about two of our four +months’ journey. + +After weeks of weary desert travel—if I remember right, it was exactly +a fortnight after the dog Pharaoh, of which I shall soon have plenty to +say, had come into Orme’s possession—we reached an oasis called +Zeu, where I had halted upon my road down to Egypt. In this oasis, +which, although not large in extent, possesses springs of beautiful +water and groves of date-trees, we were, as it chanced, very welcome, +since when I was there before, I had been fortunate enough to cure its +sheik of an attack of ophthalmia and to doctor several of his people +for various ailments with good results. So, although I was burning to +get forward, I agreed with the others that it would be wise to accede +to the request of the leader of our caravan, a clever and resourceful, +but to my mind untrustworthy Abati of the name of Shadrach, and camp in +Zeu for a week or so to rest and feed our camels, which had wasted +almost to nothing on the scant herbage of the desert. + +This Shadrach, I may add here, whom his companions, for some reason +unknown to me at that time, called the Cat, was remarkable for a triple +line of scars upon his face, which, he informed me, had been set there +by the claws of a lion. Now the great enemies of this people of Zeu +were lions, which at certain seasons of the year, I suppose when food +grew scarce, descended from the slopes of a range of hills that +stretched east and west at a distance of about fifty miles north of the +oasis, and, crossing the intervening desert, killed many of the Zeu +sheep, camels, and other cattle, and often enough any of the tribe whom +they could catch. As these poor Zeus practically possessed no firearms, +they were at the mercy of the lions, which grew correspondingly bold. +Indeed, their only resource was to kraal their animals within stone +walls at night and take refuge in their huts, which they seldom left +between sunset and dawn, except to replenish the fires that they lit to +scare any beast of prey which might be prowling through the town. + +Though the lion season was now in full swing, as it happened, for the +first five days of our stay at Zeu we saw none of these great cats, +although in the darkness we heard them roaring in the distance. On the +sixth night, however, we were awakened by a sound of wailing, which +came from the village about a quarter of a mile away, and when we went +out at dawn to see what was the matter, were met by a melancholy +procession advancing from its walls. At the head of it marched the +grey-haired old chief, followed by a number of screaming women, who in +their excitement, or perhaps as a sign of mourning, had omitted to make +their toilette, and by four men, who carried something horrid on a +wickerwork door. + +Soon we learned what had happened. It seemed that hungry lions, two or +three of them, had broken through the palm-leaf roof of the hut of one +of the sheik’s wives, she whose remains were stretched upon the door, +and, in addition to killing her, had actually carried off his son. Now +he came to implore us white men who had guns to revenge him on the +lions, which otherwise, having once tasted human flesh, would destroy +many more of his people. + +Through an interpreter who knew Arabic, for not even Higgs could +understand the peculiar Zeu dialect, he explained in excited and +incoherent words that the beasts lay up among the sand-hills not very +far away, where some thick reeds grew around a little spring of water. +Would we not come out and kill them and earn the blessing of the Zeus? + +Now I said nothing, for the simple reason that, having such big matters +on hand, although I was always fond of sport, I did not wish any of us +to be led off after these lions. There is a time to hunt and a time to +cease from hunting, and it seemed to me, except for the purposes of +food, that this journey of ours was the latter. However, as I expected, +Oliver Orme literally leaped at the idea. So did Higgs, who of late had +been practising with a rifle and began to fancy himself a shot. He +exclaimed loudly that nothing would give him greater pleasure, +especially as he was sure that lions were in fact cowardly and +overrated beasts. + +From that moment I foreboded disaster in my heart. Still, I said I would +come too, partly because I had not shot a lion for many a day and had a +score to settle with those beasts which, it may be remembered, nearly +killed me on the Mountain of Mur, and partly because, knowing the +desert and also the Zeu people much better than either the Professor or +Orme, I thought that I might possibly be of service. + +So we fetched our rifles and cartridges, to which by an afterthought we +added two large water-bottles, and ate a hearty breakfast. As we were +preparing to start, Shadrach, the leader of the Abati camel-drivers, +that man with the scarred face who was nicknamed the Cat, came up to me +and asked me whither we were going. I told him, whereon he said: + +“What have you to do with these savages and their troubles, lords? If +a few of them are killed it is no matter, but as you should know, O +Doctor, if you wish to hunt lions there are plenty in that land whither +you travel, seeing that the lion is the fetish of the Fung and +therefore never killed. But the desert about Zeu is dangerous and harm +may come to you.” + +“Then accompany us,” broke in the Professor, between whom and +Shadrach there was no love lost, “for, of course, with you we should +be quite safe.” + +“Not so,” he replied, “I and my people rest; only madmen +would go to hunt worthless wild beasts when they might rest. Have we not +enough of the desert and its dangers as it is? If you knew all that I +do of lions you would leave them alone.” + +“Of the desert we have plenty also, but of shooting very little,” +remarked the Captain, who talked Arabic well. “Lie in your beds; we go +to kill the beasts that harass the poor people who have treated us so +kindly.” + +“So be it,” said Shadrach with a smile that struck me as malicious. +“A lion made this”—pointing to the dreadful threefold scar +upon his face. “May the God of Israel protect you from lions. +Remember, lords, that, the camels being fresh again, we march the day +after to-morrow, should the weather hold, for if the wind blows on +yonder sand-hills, no man may live among them;” and, putting up his +hand, he studied the sky carefully from beneath its shadow, then, with +a grunt, turned and vanished behind a hut. + +All this while Sergeant Quick was engaged at a little distance in +washing up the tin breakfast things, to all appearance quite +unconscious of what was going on. Orme called him, whereupon he +advanced and stood to attention. I remember thinking how curious he +looked in those surroundings—his tall, bony frame clothed in +semi-military garments, his wooden face perfectly shaved, his iron-grey +hair neatly parted and plastered down upon his head with pomade or some +equivalent after the old private soldier fashion, and his sharp +ferret-like grey eyes taking in everything. + +“Are you coming with us, Sergeant?” asked Orme. + +“Not unless ordered so to do, Captain. I like a bit of hunting well +enough, but, with all three officers away, some one should mount guard +over the stores and transport, so I think the dog Pharaoh and I had +best stop behind.” + +“Perhaps you are right, Sergeant, only tie Pharaoh up, or he’ll +follow me. Well, what do you want to say? Out with it.” + +“Only this, Captain. Although I have served in three campaigns among +these here Arabians (to Quick, all African natives north of the Equator +were Arabians, and all south of it, niggers), I can’t say I talk +their lingo well. Still, I made out that the fellow they call Cat +don’t like this trip of yours, and, begging your pardon, Captain, +whatever else Cat may be, he ain’t no fool.” + +“Can’t help it, Sergeant. For one thing, it would never do to give +in to his fancies now.” + +“That’s true, Captain. When once it’s hoist, right or wrong, +keep the flag flying, and no doubt you’ll come back safe and sound if +you’re meant to.” + +Then, having relieved his mind, the Sergeant ran his eye over our +equipment to see that nothing had been forgotten, rapidly assured +himself that the rifles were in working order, reported all well, and +returned to his dishes. Little did any of us guess under what +circumstances we should next meet with him. + +After leaving the town and marching for a mile or so along the oasis, +accompanied by a mob of the Zeus armed with spears and bows, we were led +by the bereaved chief, who also acted as tracker, out into the +surrounding sands. The desert here, although I remembered it well +enough, was different from any that we had yet encountered upon this +journey, being composed of huge and abrupt sand-hills, some of which +were quite three hundred feet high, separated from each other by deep, +wind-cut valleys. + +For a distance, while they were within reach of the moist air of the +oasis, these sand-mountains produced vegetation of various sorts. +Presently, however, we passed out into the wilderness proper, and for a +while climbed up and down the steep, shifting slopes, till from the +crest of one of them the chief pointed out what in South Africa is +called a pan, or _vlei_, covered with green reeds, and explained by +signs that in these lay the lions. Descending a steep declivity, we +posted ourselves, I at the top, and Higgs and Orme a little way down +either side of this _vlei_. This done, we dispatched the Zeus to beat +it out towards us, for although the reeds grew thick along the course of + the underground water, it was but a narrow place, and not more than a +quarter of a mile in length. + +Scarcely had the beaters entered the tall reeds, evidently with +trepidation, for a good many of them held back from the adventure, when +a sound of loud wailing informed us that something had happened. A +minute or two later we saw two of them bearing away what appeared to be +the mangled remains of the chief’s son who had been carried off on +the previous night. + +Just then, too, we saw something else, for half-way down the marsh a +great male lion broke cover, and began to steal off toward the +sand-hills. It was about two hundred yards from Higgs, who chanced to +be nearest to it, and, therefore, as any big-game hunter will know, for +practical purposes, far out of shot. But the Professor, who was quite +unaccustomed to this, or, indeed, any kind of sport, and, like all +beginners, wildly anxious for blood, lifted his rifle and fired, as he +might have done at a rabbit. By some marvellous accident the aim was +good, and the bullet from the express, striking the lion fair behind the + shoulder, passed through its heart, and knocked it over dead as a +stone. + +“By Jingo! Did you see that?” screamed Higgs in his delight. Then, +without even stopping to reload the empty barrel, he set off at the top +of his speed toward the prostrate beast, followed by myself and by +Orme, as fast as our astonishment would allow. + +Running along the edge of the marsh, Higgs had covered about a hundred +yards of the distance, when suddenly, charging straight at him out of +the tall reeds, appeared a second lion, or rather lioness. Higgs +wheeled round, and wildly fired the left barrel of his rifle without +touching the infuriated brute. Next instant, to our horror, we saw him +upon his back, with the lioness standing over him, lashing her tail, +and growling. + +We shouted as we ran, and so did the Zeus, although they made no attempt +at rescue, with the result that the lioness, instead of tearing Higgs +to pieces, turned her head confusedly first to one side and then to the +other. By now I, who had a long start of Orme, was quite close, say +within thirty yards, though fire I dared not as yet, fearing lest, +should I do so, I might kill my friend. At this moment the lioness, +recovering her nerves, squatted down on the prostrate Higgs, and though +he hit at her with his fists, dropped her muzzle, evidently with the +intention of biting him through the head. + +Now I felt that if I hesitated any more, all would be finished. The +lioness was much longer than Higgs—a short, stout man—and her hind +quarters projected beyond his feet. At these I aimed rapidly, and, +pressing the trigger, next second heard the bullet clap upon the great +beast’s hide. Up she sprang with a roar, one hind leg dangling, and +after a moment’s hesitation, fled toward the sand-hill. + +Now Orme, who was behind me, fired also, knocking up the dust beneath +the lioness’s belly, but although he had more cartridges in his +rifle, which was a repeater, before either he or I could get another +chance, it vanished behind a mound. Leaving it to go where it would, we +ran on towards Higgs, expecting to find him either dead or badly +mauled, but, to our amazement and delight, up jumped the Professor, his +blue spectacles still on his nose, and, loading his rifle as he went, +charged away after the wounded lioness. + +“Come back,” shouted the Captain as he followed. + +“Not for Joe!” yelled Higgs in his high voice. “If you +fellows think that I’m going to let a great cat sit on my stomach for +nothing, you are jolly well mistaken.” + +At the top of the first rise the long-legged Orme caught him, but +persuade him to return was more than he, or I when I arrived, could do. +Beyond a scratch on his nose, which had stung him and covered him with +blood, we found that he was quite uninjured, except in temper and +dignity. But in vain did we beg him to be content with his luck and the +honours he had won. + +“Why?” he answered, “Adams wounded the beast, and I’d +rather kill two lions than one; also I have a score to square. But if +you fellows are afraid, you go home.” + +Well, I confess I felt inclined to accept the invitation, but Orme, who +was nettled, replied: + +“Come, come; that settles the question, doesn’t it? You must be +shaken by your fall, or you would not talk like that, Higgs. Look, here +runs the spoor—see the blood? Well, let’s go steady and keep our +wind. We may come on her anywhere, but don’t you try any more long +distance shots. You won’t kill another lion at two hundred and fifty +yards.” + +“All right,” said Higgs, “don’t be offended. I +didn’t mean anything, except that I am going to teach that beast the +difference between a white man and a Zeu.” + +Then we began our march, following the blood tracks up and down the +steep sand-slopes. When we had been at it for about half-an-hour our +spirits were cheered by catching sight of the lioness on a ridge five +hundred yards away. Just then, too, some of the Zeus overtook us and +joined the hunt, though without zeal. + +Meanwhile, as the day grew, the heat increased until it was so intense +that the hot air danced above the sand slopes like billions of midges, +and this although the sun was not visible, being hidden by a sort of +mist. A strange silence, unusual even in the desert, pervaded the earth +and sky; we could hear the grains of sand trickling from the ridges. +The Zeus, who accompanied us, grew uneasy, and pointed upward with +their spears, then behind toward the oasis of which we had long lost +sight. Finally, when we were not looking, they disappeared. + +Now I would have followed them, guessing that they had some good reason +for this sudden departure. But Higgs refused to come, and Orme, in whom +his foolish taunt seemed still to rankle, only shrugged his shoulders +and said nothing. + +“Let the black curs go,” exclaimed the Professor as he polished his +blue spectacles and mopped his face. “They are a white-livered lot of +sneaks. Look! There she is, creeping off to the left. If we run round +that sand-hill we shall meet her.” + +So we ran round the sand-hill, but we did not meet her, although after +long hunting we struck the blood spoor afresh, and followed it for +several miles, first in this direction, and then in that, until Orme +and I wondered at Higgs’s obstinacy and endurance. At length, when +even he was beginning to despair, we put up the lioness in a hollow, +and fired several shots at her as she hobbled over the opposing slope, +one of which hit her, for she rolled over, then picked herself up +again, roaring. As a matter of fact, it came from the Captain’s +rifle, but Higgs, who, like many an inexperienced person was a jealous +sportsman, declared that it was his and we did not think it worth while +to contradict him. + +On we toiled, and, just beyond the ridge, walked straight into the +lioness, sitting up like a great dog, so injured that she could do +nothing but snarl hideously and paw at the air. + +“Now it is my turn, old lady,” ejaculated Higgs, and straightway +missed her clean from a distance of five yards. A second shot was more +successful, and she rolled over, dead. + +“Come on,” said the exultant Professor, “and we’ll skin +her. She sat on me, and I mean to sit on her for many a day.” + +So we began the job, although I, who had large experience of this +desert, and did not like the appearance of the weather, wished to leave +the beast where it lay and get back to the oasis. It proved long, for I +was the only one of us who had any practical knowledge of flaying +animals, and in that heat extremely unpleasant. + +At length it was done, and, having doubled the hide over a rifle for two +of us to carry in turns, we refreshed ourselves from the water-bottles +(I even caught the Professor washing the blood off his face and hands +with some of the precious fluid). Then we started for the oasis, only +to discover, though we were all sure that we knew the way, that not one +of us had a slightest idea of its real direction. In the hurry of our +departure we had forgotten to bring a compass, and the sun, that would +have been our guide in ordinary circumstances, and to which we always +trusted in the open desert, was hidden by the curious haze that has +been described. + +So, sensibly enough, we determined to return to the sand crest where we +had killed the lioness, and then trace our own footprints backward. +This seemed simple enough, for there, within half-a-mile, rose the +identical ridge. + +We reached it, grumbling, for the lion-skin was heavy, only to discover +that it was a totally different ridge. Now, after reflection and +argument, we saw our exact mistake, and made for what was obviously the +real ridge—with the same result. + +We were lost in the desert! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE DEATH WIND + + +“The fact is,” said Higgs presently, speaking with the air of an +oracle, “the fact is that all these accursed sand-hills are as like +each other as mummy beads on the same necklace, and therefore it is +very difficult to know them apart. Give me that water-bottle, Adams; I +am as dry as a lime-kiln.” + +“No,” I said shortly; “you may be drier before the end.” + +“What do you mean? Oh! I see; but that’s nonsense; those Zeus will +hunt us up, or, at the worst, we have only to wait till the sun gets +out.” + +As he spoke, suddenly the air became filled with a curious singing sound +impossible to describe, caused as I knew, who had often heard it before, +by millions and millions of particles of sand being rubbed together. We +turned to see whence it came, and perceived, far away, rushing towards +us with extraordinary swiftness, a huge and dense cloud preceded by +isolated columns and funnels of similar clouds. + +“A sand-storm,” said Higgs, his florid face paling a little. +“Bad luck for us! That’s what comes of getting out of bed the wrong +side first this morning. No, it’s your fault, Adams; you helped me to +salt last night, in spite of my remonstrances” (the Professor has +sundry little superstitions of this sort, particularly absurd in so +learned a man). “Well, what shall we do? Get under the lee of the +hill until it blows over?” + +“Don’t suppose it will blow over. Can’t see anything to do +except say our prayers,” remarked Orme with sweet resignation. Oliver +is, I think, the coolest hand in an emergency of any one I ever met, +except, perhaps, Sergeant Quick, a man, of course, nearly old enough to +be his father. “The game seems to be pretty well up,” he added. +“Well, you have killed two lions, Higgs, and that is something.” + +“Oh, hang it! You can die if you like, Oliver. The world won’t miss +you; but think of its loss if anything happened to _me_. I don’t +intend to be wiped out by a beastly sand-storm. I intend to live to +write a book on Mur,” and Higgs shook his fist at the advancing +clouds with an air that was really noble. It reminded me of Ajax +defying the lightning. + +Meanwhile I had been reflecting. + +“Listen,” I said. “Our only chance is to stop where we are, +for if we move we shall certainly be buried alive. Look; there is +something solid to lie on,” and I pointed to a ridge of rock, a kind +of core of congealed sand, from which the surface had been swept by +gales. “Down with you, quick,” I went on, “and let’s draw that +lion-skin over our heads. It may help to keep the dust from choking us. +Hurry, men; it’s coming!” + +Coming, it was indeed, with a mighty, wailing roar. Scarcely had we got +ourselves into position, our backs to the blast and our mouths and noses +buried after the fashion of camels in a similar predicament, the +lion-skin covering our heads and bodies to the middle, with the paws +tucked securely beneath us to prevent it from being blown away, when +the storm leaped upon us furiously, bringing darkness in its train. +There we lay for hour after hour, unable to see, unable to talk because +of the roaring noise about us, and only from time to time lifting +ourselves a little upon our hands and knees to disturb the weight of +sand that accumulated on our bodies, lest it should encase us in a +living tomb. + +Dreadful were the miseries we suffered—the misery of the heat beneath +the stinking pelt of the lion, the misery of the dust-laden air that +choked us almost to suffocation, the misery of thirst, for we could not +get at our scanty supply of water to drink. But worst of all perhaps, +was the pain caused by the continual friction of the sharp sand driven +along at hurricane speed, which, incredible as it may seem, finally +wore holes in our thin clothing and filed our skins to rawness. + +“No wonder the Egyptian monuments get such a beautiful shine on +them,” I heard poor Higgs muttering in my ear again and again, for he +was growing light-headed; “no wonder, no wonder! My shin-bones will +be very useful to polish Quick’s tall riding-boots. Oh! curse the +lions. Why did you help me to salt, you old ass; why did you help me to +salt? It’s pickling me behind.” + +Then he became quite incoherent, and only groaned from time to time. + +Perhaps, however, this suffering did us a service, since otherwise +exhaustion, thirst, and dust might have overwhelmed our senses, and +caused us to fall into a sleep from which we never should have +awakened. Yet at the time we were not grateful to it, for at last the +agony became almost unbearable. Indeed, Orme told me afterwards that +the last thing he could remember was a quaint fancy that he had made a +colossal fortune by selling the secret of a new torture to the +Chinese—that of hot sand driven on to the victim by a continuous +blast of hot air. + +After a while we lost count of time, nor was it until later that we +learned that the storm endured for full twenty hours, during the latter +part of which, notwithstanding our manifold sufferings, we must have +become more or less insensible. At any rate, at one moment I remembered +the awful roar and the stinging of the sand whips, followed by a kind +of vision of the face of my son—that beloved, long-lost son whom I +had sought for so many years, and for whose sake I endured all these +things. Then, without any interval, as it were, I felt my limbs being +scorched as though by hot irons or through a burning-glass, and with a +fearful effort staggered up to find that the storm had passed, and that +the furious sun was blistering my excoriated skin. Rubbing the caked +dirt from my eyes, I looked down to see two mounds like those of +graves, out of which projected legs that had been white. Just then one +pair of legs, the longer pair, stirred, the sand heaved up +convulsively, and, uttering wandering words in a choky voice, there +arose the figure of Oliver Orme. + +For a moment we stood and stared at each other, and strange spectacles +we were. + +“Is he dead?” muttered Orme, pointing to the still buried Higgs. + +“Fear so,” I answered, “but we’ll look;” and +painfully we began to disinter him. + +When we came to it beneath the lion-skin, the Professor’s face was +black and hideous to see, but, to our relief, we perceived that he was +not dead, for he moved his hand and moaned. Orme looked at me. + +“Water would save him,” I said. + +Then came the anxious moment. One of our water-bottles was emptied +before the storm began, but the other, a large, patent flask covered +with felt, and having a screw vulcanite top, should still contain a +good quantity, perhaps three quarts—that is, if the fluid had not +evaporated in the dreadful heat. If this had happened, it meant that +Higgs would die, and unless help came, that soon we should follow him. +Orme unscrewed the flask, for my hands refused that office, and used +his teeth to draw the cork, which, providentially enough the thoughtful +Quick had set in the neck beneath the screw. Some of the water, which, +although it was quite hot, had _not_ evaporated, thank God! flew +against his parched lips, and I saw him bite them till the blood came in +the fierceness of the temptation to assuage his raging thirst. But he +resisted it like the man he is, and, without drinking a drop, handed me +the bottle, saying simply: + +“You are the oldest; take care of this, Adams.” + +Now it was my turn to be tempted, but I, too, overcame, and, sitting +down, laid Higgs’s head upon my knee; then, drop by drop, let a +little of the water trickle between his swollen lips. + +The effect was magical, for in less than a minute the Professor sat up, +grasped at the flask with both hands, and strove to tear it away. + +“You cruel brute! You cruel selfish brute!” he moaned as I wrenched +it from him. + +“Look here, Higgs,” I answered thickly; “Orme and I want +water badly enough, and we have had none. But you might take it all if +it would save you, only it wouldn’t. We are lost in the desert, and +must be sparing. If you drank everything now, in a few hours you would +be thirsty again and die.” + +He thought awhile, then looked up and said: + +“Beg pardon—I understand. I’m the selfish brute. But +there’s a good lot of water there; let’s each have a drink; we +can’t move unless we do.” + +So we drank, measuring out the water in a little india-rubber cup which +we had with us. It held about as much as a port wine glass, and each of +us drank, or rather slowly sipped, three cupfuls; we who felt as though +we could have swallowed a gallon apiece, and asked for more. Small as +was the allowance, it worked wonders in us; we were men again. + +We stood up and looked about us, but the great storm had changed +everything. Where there had been sand-hills a hundred feet high, now +were plains and valleys; where there had been valleys appeared +sand-hills. Only the high ridge upon which we had lain was as before, +because it stood above the others and had a core of rock. We tried to +discover the direction of the oasis by the position of the sun, only to +be baffled, since our two watches had run down, and we did not know the +time of day or where the sun ought to be in the heavens. Also, in that +howling wilderness there was nothing to show us the points of the +compass. + +Higgs, whose obstinacy remained unimpaired, whatever may have happened +to the rest of his vital forces, had one view of the matter, and Orme +another diametrically opposed to it. They even argued as to whether the +oasis lay to our right or to our left, for their poor heads were so +confused that they were scarcely capable of accurate thought or +observation. Meanwhile I sat down upon the sand and considered. Through +the haze I could see the points of what I thought must be the hills +whence the Zeus declared that the lions came, although of course, for +aught I knew, they might be other hills. + +“Listen,” I said; “if lions live upon those hills, there must +be water there. Let us try to reach them; perhaps we shall see the oasis +as we go.” + +Then began our dreadful march. The lion-skin that had saved our lives, +and was now baked hard as a board, we left behind, but the rifles we +took. All day long we dragged ourselves up and down steep sand-slopes, +pausing now again to drink a sip of water, and hoping always that from +the top of the next slope we should see a rescue party headed by Quick, +or perhaps the oasis itself. Indeed, once we did see it, green and +shining, not more than three miles away, but when we got to the head of +the hill beyond which it should lie we found that the vision was only a +mirage, and our hearts nearly broke with disappointment. Oh! to men +dying of thirst, that mirage was indeed a cruel mockery. + +At length night approached, and the mountains were yet a long way off. +We could march no more, and sank down exhausted, lying on our faces, +because our backs were so cut by the driving sand and blistered by the +sun that we could not sit. By now almost all our water was gone. +Suddenly Higgs nudged us and pointed upwards. Following the line of his +hand, we saw, not thirty yards away and showing clear against the sky, +a file of antelopes trekking along the sand-ridge, doubtless on a night +journey from one pasturage to another. + +“You fellows shoot,” he muttered; “I might miss and frighten +them away,” for in his distress poor Higgs was growing modest. + +Slowly Orme and I drew ourselves to our knees, cocking our rifles. By +this time all the buck save one had passed; there were but six of them, +and this one marched along about twenty yards behind the others. Orme +pulled the trigger, but his rifle would not go off because, as he +discovered afterwards, some sand had worked into the mechanism of the +lock. + +Meanwhile I had also covered the buck, but the sunset dazzled my +weakened eyes, and my arms were feeble; also my terrible anxiety for +success, since I knew that on this shot hung our lives, unnerved me. +But it must be now or never; in three more paces the beast would be +down the dip. + +I fired, and knowing that I had missed, turned sick and faint. The +antelope bounded forward a few yards right to the edge of the dip; +then, never having heard such a sound before, and being overcome by +some fatal curiosity, stopped and turned around, staring at the +direction whence it had come. + +Despairingly I fired again, almost without taking aim, and this time the +bullet went in beneath the throat, and, raking the animal, dropped it +dead as a stone. We scrambled to it, and presently were engaged in an +awful meal of which we never afterwards liked to think. Happily for us +that antelope must have drunk water not long before. + +Our hunger and thirst assuaged after this horrible fashion, we slept +awhile by the carcase, then arose extraordinarily refreshed, and, +having cut off some hunks of meat to carry with us, started on again. +By the position of the stars, we now knew that the oasis must lie +somewhere to the east of us; but as between us and it there appeared to +be nothing but these eternal sand-hills stretching away for many miles, +and as in front of us toward the range the character of the desert +seemed to be changing, we thought it safer, if the word safety can be +used in such a connection, to continue to head for that range. All the +remainder of this night we marched, and, as we had no fuel wherewith to +cook it, at dawn ate some of the raw meat, which we washed down with +the last drops of our water. + +Now we were out of the sand-hills, and had entered on a great pebbly +plain that lay between us and the foot of the mountains. These looked +quite close, but in fact were still far off. Feebly and ever more +feebly we staggered on, meeting no one and finding no water, though +here and there we came across little bushes, of which we chewed the +stringy and aromatic leaves that contained some moisture, but drew up +our mouths and throats like alum. + +Higgs, who was the softest of us, gave out the first, though to the last +he struggled forward with surprising pluck, even after he had been +obliged to throw away his rifle, because he could no longer carry it, +though this we did not notice at the time. When he could not support +himself upon his feet, Orme took him by one arm, and I by the other, +and helped him on, much as I have seen two elephants do by a wounded +companion of the herd. + +Half-an-hour or so later my strength failed me also. Although advanced +in years, I am tough and accustomed to the desert and hardships; who +would not be who had been a slave to the Khalifa? But now I could do no +more, and halting, begged the others to go on and leave me. Orme’s +only answer was to proffer me his left arm. I took it, for life is +sweet to us all, especially when one has something to live for—a +desire to fulfil as I had, though to tell the truth, even at the time I +felt ashamed of myself. + +Thus, then, we proceeded awhile, resembling a sober man attempting to +lead two drunken friends out of reach of that stern policeman, Death. +Orme’s strength must be wonderful; or was it his great spirit and his +tender pity for our helplessness which enabled him to endure beneath +this double burden. + +Suddenly he fell down as though he had been shot, and lay there +senseless. The Professor, however, retained some portion of his mind, +although it wandered. He became light-headed, and rambled on about our +madness in having undertaken such a journey, “just to pot a couple of +beastly lions,” and although I did not answer them, I agreed heartily +with his remarks. Then he seemed to imagine that I was a clergyman, and +kneeling on the sand, he made a lengthy confession of his sins which, +so far as I gathered, though I did not pay much attention to them, for +I was thinking of my own, appeared chiefly to consist of the unlawful +acquisition of certain objects of antiquity, or of having overmatched +others in the purchase of such objects. + +To pacify him, for I feared lest he should go raving mad, I pronounced +some religious absolution, whereon poor Higgs rolled over and lay still +by Orme. Yes; he, the friend whom I had always loved, for his very +failings were endearing, was dead or at the point of death, like the +gallant young man at his side, and I myself was dying. Tremors shook my +limbs; horrible waves of blackness seemed to well up from my vitals, +through my breast to my brain, and thence to evaporate in queer, jagged +lines and patches, which I realized, but could not actually see. Gay +memories of my far-off childhood arose in me, particularly those of a +Christmas party where I had met a little girl dressed like an elf, a +little girl with blue eyes whom I had loved dearly for quite a +fortnight, to be beaten down, stamped out, swallowed by that vision of +the imminent shadow which awaits all mankind, the black womb of a +re-birth, if re-birth there be. + +What could I do? I thought of lighting a fire; at any rate it would +serve to scare the lions and other wild beasts which else might prey +upon us before we were quite dead. It would be dreadful to lie helpless +but sentient, and feel their rending fangs. But I had no strength to +collect the material. To do so at best must have meant a long walk, for +even here it was not plentiful. I had a few cartridges left—three, to +be accurate—in my repeating rifle; the rest I had thrown away to be +rid of their weight. I determined to fire them, since, in my state I +thought they could no longer serve either to win food or for the +purposes of defence, although, as it happened, in this I was wrong. It +was possible that, even in that endless desert, some one might hear the +shots, and if not—well, good-night. + +So I sat up and fired the first cartridge, wondering in a childish +fashion where the bullet would fall. Then I went to sleep for awhile. +The howling of a hyena woke me up, and, on glancing around, I saw the +beast’s flaming eyes quite close to me. I aimed and shot at it, and +heard a yell of pain. That hyena, I reflected, would want no more food +at present. + +The silence of the desert overwhelmed me; it was so terrible that I +almost wished the hyena back for company. Holding the rifle above my +head, I fired the third cartridge. Then I took the hand of Higgs in my +own, for, after all, it was a link—the last link with humanity and +the world—and lay down in the company of death that seemed to fall +upon me in black and smothering veils. + +I woke up and became aware that some one was pouring water down my +throat. Heaven! I thought to myself, for at that time heaven and water +were synonymous in my mind. I drank a good deal of it, not all I wanted +by any means, but as much as the pourer would allow, then raised myself +upon my hands and looked. The starlight was extraordinarily clear in +that pure desert atmosphere, and by it I saw the face of Sergeant Quick +bending over me. Also, I saw Orme sitting up, staring about him +stupidly, while a great yellow dog, with a head like a mastiff, licked +his hand. I knew the dog at once; it was that which Orme had bought +from some wandering natives, and named Pharaoh because he ruled over all + other dogs. Moreover, I knew the two camels that stood near by. So I +was still on earth—unless, indeed we had all moved on a step. + +“How did you find us, Sergeant?” I asked feebly. + +“Didn’t find you, Doctor,” answered Quick, “dog Pharaoh +found you. In a business like this a dog is more useful than man, for he +can smell what one can’t see. Now, if you feel better, Doctor, please +look at Mr. Higgs, for I fear he’s gone.” + +I looked, and, although I did not say so, was of the same opinion. His +jaw had fallen, and he lay limp and senseless; his eyes I could not +see, because of the black spectacles. + +“Water,” I said, and Quick poured some into his mouth, where it +vanished. + +Still he did not stir, so I opened his garments and felt his heart. At +first I could detect nothing; then there was the slightest possible +flutter. + +“There’s hope,” I said in answer to the questioning looks. +“You don’t happen to have any brandy, do you?” I added. + +“Never travelled without it yet, Doctor,” replied Quick +indignantly, producing a metal flask. + +“Give him some,” I said, and the Sergeant obeyed with liberality +and almost instantaneous effect, for Higgs sat up gasping and coughing. + +“Brandy; filthy stuff; teetotaller! Cursed trick! Never forgive you. +Water, water,” he spluttered in a thick, low voice. + +We gave it to him, and he drank copiously, until we would let him have +no more indeed. Then, by degrees, his senses came back to him. He +thrust up his black spectacles which he had worn all this while, and +stared at the Sergeant with his sharp eyes. + +“I understand,” he said. “So we are not dead, after all, +which perhaps is a pity after getting through the beastly preliminaries. +What has happened?” + +“Don’t quite know,” answered Orme; “ask Quick.” + +But the Sergeant was already engaged in lighting a little fire and +setting a camp-kettle to boil, into which he poured a tin of beef +extract that he had brought with other eatables from our stores on the +chance that he might find us. In fifteen minutes we were drinking soup, +for I forbade anything more solid as yet, and, oh! what a blessed meal +was that. When it was finished, Quick fetched some blankets from the +camels, which he threw over us. + +“Lie down and sleep, gentlemen,” he said; “Pharaoh and I will +watch.” + +The last thing I remember was seeing the Sergeant, in his own fashion an +extremely religious man, and not ashamed of it, kneeling upon the sand +and apparently saying his prayers. As he explained afterwards, of +course, as a fatalist, he knew well that whatever must happen would +happen, but still he considered it right and proper to return thanks to +the Power which had arranged that on this occasion the happenings +should be good, and not ill, a sentiment with which every one of us +agreed. Opposite to him, with one of his faithful eyes fixed on Orme, +sat Pharaoh in grave contemplation. Doubtless, being an Eastern dog, he +understood the meaning of public prayer; or perhaps he thought that he +should receive some share of gratitude and thanks. + +When we awoke the sun was already high, and to show us that we had +dreamed no dream, there was Quick frying tinned bacon over the fire, +while Pharaoh sat still and watched him—or the bacon. + +“Look,” said Orme to me, pointing to the mountains, “they are +still miles away. It was madness to think that we could reach them.” + +I nodded, then turned to stare at Higgs, who was just waking up, for, +indeed, he was a sight to see. His fiery red hair was full of sand, his +nether garments were gone, apparently at some stage in our march he had +dispensed with the remains of them because they chafed his sore limbs, +and his fair skin, not excluding that of his face, was a mass of +blisters, raised by the sun. In fact he was so disfigured that his +worst enemy would not have known him. He yawned, stretched himself, +always a good sign in man or beast, and asked for a bath. + +“I am afraid you will have to wash yourself in sand here, sir, like +them filthy Arabians,” said Quick, saluting. “No water to spare for +baths in this dry country. But I’ve got a tube of hazeline, also a +hair-brush and a looking-glass,” he added, producing these articles. + +“Quite so, Sergeant,” said Higgs, as he took them; +“it’s sacrilege to think of using water to wash. I intend never to +waste it in that way again.” Then he looked at himself in the glass, +and let it fall upon the sand, ejaculating, “Oh! good Lord, is that +me?” + +“Please be careful, sir,” said the Sergeant sternly; “you +told me the other day that it’s unlucky to break a looking-glass; also +I have no other.” + +“Take it away,” said the Professor; “I don’t want it +any more, and, Doctor, come and oil my face, there’s a good fellow; +yes, and the rest of me also, if there is enough hazeline.” + +So we treated each other with the ointment, which at first made us smart +fearfully, and then, very gingerly sat down to breakfast. + +“Now, Sergeant,” said Orme, as he finished his fifth pannikin of +tea, “tell us your story.” + +“There isn’t much of a story, Captain. Those Zeu fellows came back +without you, and, not knowing the lingo, I could make nothing of their +tale. Well, I soon made Shadrach and Co. understand that, death-wind or +no death-wind—that’s what they call it—they must come with me to +look for you, and at last we started, although they said that I was mad, +as you were dead already. Indeed, it wasn’t until I asked that fellow +Shadrach if he wanted to be dead too”—and the Sergeant tapped his +revolver grimly—“that he would let any one go. + +“As it proved, he was right, for we couldn’t find you, and after +awhile the camels refused to face the storm any longer; also one of the +Abati drivers was lost, and hasn’t been heard of since. It was all +the rest of us could do to get back to the oasis alive, nor would +Shadrach go out again even after the storm had blown itself away. It +was no use arguing with the pig, so, as I did not want his blood upon +my hands, I took two camels and started with the dog Pharaoh for +company. + +“Now this was my thought, although I could not explain it to the Abati +crowd, that if you lived at all, you would almost certainly head for the +hills as I knew you had no compass, and you would not be able to see +anything else. So I rode along the plain which stretches between the +desert and the mountains, keeping on the edge of the sand-hills. I rode +all day, but when night came I halted, since I could see no more. There +I sat in that great place, thinking, and after an hour or two I +observed Pharaoh prick his ears and look toward the west. So I also +started toward the west, and presently I thought that I saw one faint +streak of light which seemed to go upward, and therefore couldn’t +come from a falling star, but might have come from a rifle fired toward +the sky. + +“I listened, but no sound reached me, only presently, some seconds +afterwards, the dog again pricked his ears as though _he_ heard +something. That settled me, and I mounted and rode forward through the +night toward the place where I thought I had seen the flash. For two +hours I rode, firing my revolver from time to time; then as no answer +came, gave it up as a bad job, and stopped. But Pharaoh there +wouldn’t stop. He began to whine and sniff and run forward, and at +last bolted into the darkness, out of which presently I heard him +barking some hundreds of yards away, to call me, I suppose. So I +followed and found you three gentlemen, dead, as I thought at first. +That’s all the story, Captain.” + +“One with a good end, anyway, Sergeant. We owe our lives to you.” + +“Beg your pardon, Captain,” answered Quick modestly; “not to +me at all, but to Providence first that arranged everything, before we +were born perhaps, and next to Pharaoh. He’s a wise dog, Pharaoh, +though fierce with some, and you did a good deal when you bought him +for a bottle of whisky and a sixpenny pocket-knife.” + +It was dawn on the following morning before we sighted the oasis, +whither we could travel but slowly, since, owing to the lack of camels, +two of us must walk. Of these two, as may be guessed, the Sergeant was +always one and his master the other, for of all the men I ever knew I +think that in such matters Orme is the most unselfish. Nothing would +induce him to mount one of the camels, even for half-an-hour, so that +when I walked, the brute went riderless. On the other hand, once he was +on, notwithstanding the agonies he suffered from his soreness, nothing +would induce Higgs to get off. + +“Here I am and here I stop,” he said several times, in English, +French, and sundry Oriental languages. “I’ve tramped it enough to +last me the rest of my life.” + +Both of us were dozing upon our saddles when suddenly I heard the +Sergeant calling to the camels to halt and asked what was the matter. + +“Looks like Arabians, Doctor,” he said, pointing to a cloud of dust +advancing toward us. + +“Well, if so,” I answered, “our best chance is to show no +fear and go on. I don’t think they will harm us.” + +So, having made ready such weapons as we had, we advanced, Orme and the +Sergeant walking between the two camels, until presently we encountered +the other caravan, and, to our astonishment, saw none other than +Shadrach riding at the head of it, mounted on my dromedary, which his +own mistress, the Lady of the Abati, had given to me. We came face to +face, and halted, staring at each other. + +“By the beard of Aaron! is it you, lords?” he asked. “We +thought you were dead.” + +“By the hair of Moses! so I gather,” I answered angrily, +“seeing that you are going off with all our belongings,” and I +pointed to the baggage camels laden with goods. + +Then followed explanations and voluble apologies, which Higgs for one +accepted with a very bad grace. Indeed, as he can talk Arabic and its +dialects perfectly, he made use of that tongue to pour upon the heads +of Shadrach and his companions a stream of Eastern invective that must +have astonished them, ably seconded as it was by Sergeant Quick in +English. + +Orme listened for some time, then said: + +“That’ll do, old fellow; if you go on, you will get up a row, and, +Sergeant, be good enough to hold your tongue. We have met them, so there +is no harm done. Now, friend Shadrach, turn back with us to the oasis. +We are going to rest there for some days.” + +Shadrach looked sulky, and said something about our turning and going on +with _them_, whereon I produced the ancient ring, Sheba’s ring, which +I had brought as a token from Mur. This I held before his eyes, saying: + +“Disobey, and there will be an account to settle when you come into +the presence of her who sent you forth, for even if we four should +die”—and I looked at him meaningly—“think not that you +will be able to hide this matter; there are too many witnesses.” + +Then, without more words, he saluted the sacred ring, and we all went +back to Zeu. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PHARAOH MAKES TROUBLE + + +Another six weeks or so had gone by, and at length the character of the +country began to change. At last we were passing out of the endless +desert over which we had travelled for so many hundreds of miles; at +least a thousand, according to our observations and reckonings, which I +checked by those that I had taken upon my eastward journey. Our march, +after the great adventure at the oasis, was singularly devoid of +startling events. Indeed, it had been awful in its monotony, and yet, +oddly enough, not without a certain charm—at any rate for Higgs and +Orme, to whom the experience was new. + +Day by day to travel on across an endless sea of sand so remote, so +unvisited that for whole weeks no man, not even a wandering Bedouin of +the desert, crossed our path. Day by day to see the great red sun rise +out of the eastern sands, and, its journey finished, sink into the +western sands. Night by night to watch the moon, the same moon on which +were fixed the million eyes of cities, turning those sands to a silver +sea, or, in that pure air, to observe the constellations by which we +steered our path making their majestic march through space. And yet to +know that this vast region, now so utterly lonesome and desolate, had +once been familiar to the feet of long-forgotten men who had trod the +sands we walked, and dug the wells at which we drank. + +Armies had marched across these deserts, also, and perished there. For +once we came to a place where a recent fearful gale had almost denuded +the underlying rock, and there found the skeletons of thousands upon +thousands of soldiers, with those of their beasts of burden, and among +them heads of arrows, sword-blades, fragments of armour and of painted +wooden shields. + +Here a whole host had died; perhaps Alexander sent it forth, or perhaps +some far earlier monarch whose name has ceased to echo on the earth. At +least they had died, for there we saw the memorial of that buried +enterprise. There lay the kings, the captains, the soldiers, and the +concubines, for I found the female bones heaped apart, some with the +long hair still upon the skulls, showing where the poor, affrighted +women had hived together in the last catastrophe of slaughter or of +famine, thirst, and driven sand. Oh, if only those bones could speak, +what a tale was theirs to tell! + +There had been cities in this desert, too, where once were oases, now +overwhelmed, except perhaps for a sand-choked spring. Twice we came upon +the foundations of such places, old walls of clay or stone, stark +skeletons of ancient homes that the shifting sands had disinterred, +which once had been the theatre of human hopes and fears, where once +men had been born, loved, and died, where once maidens had been fair, +and good and evil wrestled, and little children played. Some Job may +have dwelt here and written his immortal plaint, or some king of Sodom, +and suffered the uttermost calamity. The world is very old; all we +Westerns learned from the contemplation of these wrecks of men and of +their works was just that the world is very old. + +One evening against the clear sky there appeared the dim outline of +towering cliffs, shaped like a horseshoe. They were the Mountains of +Mur many miles away, but still the Mountains of Mur, sighted at last. +Next morning we began to descend through wooded land toward a wide +river that is, I believe, a tributary of the Nile, though upon this +point I have no certain information. Three days later we reached the +banks of this river, following some old road, and faring sumptuously +all the way, since here there was much game and grass in plenty for the +camels that, after their long abstinence, ate until we thought that they + would burst. Evidently we had not arrived an hour too soon, for now the + Mountains of Mur were hid by clouds, and we could see that it was +raining upon the plains which lay between us and them. The wet season +was setting in, and, had we been a single week later, it might have +been impossible for us to cross the river, which would then have been +in flood. As it was, we passed it without difficulty by the ancient +ford, the water never rising above the knees of our camels. + +Upon its further bank we took counsel, for now we had entered the +territory of the Fung, and were face to face with the real dangers of +our journey. Fifty miles or so away rose the fortress of Mur, but, as I +explained to my companions, the question was how to pass those fifty +miles in safety. Shadrach was called to our conference, and at my +request set out the facts. + +Yonder, he said, rose the impregnable mountain home of the Abati, but +all the vast plain included in the loop of the river which he called +Ebur, was the home of the savage Fung race, whose warriors could be +counted by the ten thousand, and whose principal city, Harmac, was +built opposite to the stone effigy of their idol, that was also called +Harmac—— + +“Harmac—that is Harmachis, god of dawn. Your Fung had something to +do with the old Egyptians, or both of them came from a common stock,” +interrupted Higgs triumphantly. + +“I daresay, old fellow,” answered Orme; “I think you told us +that before in London; but we will go into the archæology afterwards if +we survive to do so. Let Shadrach get on with his tale.” + +This city, which had quite fifty thousand inhabitants, continued +Shadrach, commanded the mouth of the pass or cleft by which we must +approach Mur, having probably been first built there for that very +purpose. + +Orme asked if there was no other way into the stronghold, which, he +understood, the embassy had left by being let down a precipice. +Shadrach answered that this was true, but that although the camels and +their loads had been let down that precipitous place, owing to the +formation of its overhanging rocks, it would be perfectly impossible to +haul them up it with any tackle that the Abati possessed. + +He asked again if there was not a way round, if that circle of mountains +had no back door. Shadrach replied that there was such a back door +facing to the north some eight days’ journey away. Only at this +season of the year it could not be reached, since beyond the Mountains +of Mur in that direction was a great lake, out of which flowed the +river Ebur in two arms that enclosed the whole plain of Fung. By now +this lake would be full, swollen with rains that fell on the hills of +Northern Africa, and the space between it and the Mur range nothing but +an impassable swamp. + +Being still unsatisfied, Orme inquired whether, if we abandoned the +camels, we could not then climb the precipice down which the embassy +had descended. To this the answer, which I corroborated, was that if +our approach were known and help given to us from above, it might be +possible, provided that we threw away the loads. + +“Seeing what these loads are, and the purpose for which we have +brought them so far, that is out of the question,” said Orme. +“Therefore, tell us at once, Shadrach, how we are to win through the +Fung to Mur.” + +“In one way only, O son of Orme, should it be the will of God that we +do so at all; by keeping ourselves hidden during the daytime and +marching at night. According to their custom at this season, to-morrow, +after sunset, the Fung hold their great spring feast in the city of +Harmac, and at dawn go up to make sacrifice to their idol. But after +sunset they eat and drink and are merry, and then it is their habit to +withdraw their guards, that they may take part in the festival. For +this reason I have timed our march that we should arrive on the night +of this feast, which I know by the age of the moon, when, in the +darkness, with God’s help, perchance we may slip past Harmac, and at +the first light find ourselves in the mouth of the road that runs up to +Mur. Moreover, I will give warning to my people, the Abati, that we are +coming, so that they may be at hand to help us if there is need.” + +“How?” asked Orme. + +“By firing the reeds”—and he pointed to the dense masses of +dead vegetation about—“as I arranged that I would do before we left +Mur many months ago. The Fung, if they see it, will think only that it +is the work of some wandering fisherman.” + +Orme shrugged his shoulders, saying: + +“Well, friend Shadrach, you know the place and these people, and I do +not, so we must do what you tell us. But I say at once that if, as I +understand, yonder Fung will kill us if they can, to me your plan seems +very dangerous.” + +“It is dangerous,” he answered, adding with a sneer, “but I +thought that you men of England were not cowards.” + +“Cowards! you son of a dog!” broke in Higgs in his high voice. +“How dare you talk to us like that? You see this man +here”—and he pointed to Sergeant Quick, who, tall and upright, +stood watching this scene grimly, and understanding most of what +passed—“well, he is the lowest among us—a servant only” +(here the Sergeant saluted), “but I tell you that there is more +courage in his little finger than in your whole body, or in that of all +the Abati people, so far as I can make out.” + +Here the Sergeant saluted again, murmuring beneath his breath, “I hope +so, sir. Being a Christian, I hope so, but till it comes to the +sticking-point, one can never be sure.” + +“You speak big words, O Higgs,” answered Shadrach insolently, for, +as I think I have said, he hated the Professor, who smelt the rogue in +him, and scourged him continually with his sharp tongue, “but if the +Fung get hold of you, then we shall learn the truth.” + +“Shall I punch his head, sir?” queried Quick in a meditative voice. + +“Be quiet, please,” interrupted Orme. “We have troubles +enough before us, without making more. It will be time to settle our +quarrels when we have got through the Fung.” + +Then he turned to Shadrach and said: + +“Friend, this is no time for angry words. You are the guide of this +party; lead us as you will, remembering only that if it comes to war, I, +by the wish of my companions, am Captain. Also, there is another thing +which you should not forget—namely, that in the end you must make +answer to your own ruler, she who, I understand from the doctor here, +is called Walda Nagasta, the Child of Kings. Now, no more words; we +march as you wish and where you wish. On your head be it!” + +The Abati heard and bowed sullenly. Then, with a look of hate at Higgs, +he turned and went about his business. + +“Much better to have let me punch his head,” soliloquized Quick. +“It would have done him a world of good, and perhaps saved many +troubles, for, to tell the truth, I don’t trust that quarter-bred +Hebrew.” + +Then he departed to see to the camels and the guns while the rest of us +went to our tents to get such sleep as the mosquitoes would allow. In +my own case it was not much, since the fear of evil to come weighed +upon me. Although I knew the enormous difficulty of entering the +mountain stronghold of Mur by any other way, such as that by which I +had quitted it, burdened as we were with our long train of camels laden +with rifles, ammunition, and explosives, I dreaded the results of an +attempt to pass through the Fung savages. + +Moreover, it occurred to me that Shadrach had insisted upon this route +from a kind of jealous obstinacy, and to be in opposition to us +Englishmen, whom he hated in his heart, or perhaps for some dark and +secret reason. Still, the fact remained that we were in his power, +since owing to the circumstances in which I had entered and left the +place, it was impossible for me to act as guide to the party. If I +attempted to do so, no doubt he and the Abati with him would desert, +leaving the camels and their loads upon our hands. Why should they not, +seeing that they would be quite safe in concluding that we should never +have an opportunity of laying our side of the case before their ruler? + + +Just as the sun was setting, Quick came to call me, saying that the +camels were being loaded up. + +“I don’t much like the look of things, Doctor,” he said as he +helped me to pack my few belongings, “for the fact is I can’t trust +that Shadrach man. His pals call him ‘Cat,’ a good name for him, I +think. Also, he is showing his claws just now, the truth being that he +hates the lot of us, and would like to get back into Purr or Mur, or +whatever the name of the place is, having lost us on the road. You +should have seen the way he looked at the Professor just now. Oh! I +wish the Captain had let me punch his head. I’m sure it would have +cleared the air a lot.” + +As it chanced, Shadrach was destined to get his head “punched” +after all, but by another hand. It happened thus. The reeds were fired, +as Shadrach had declared it was necessary to do, in order that the +Abati watchmen on the distant mountains might see and report the +signal, although in the light of subsequent events I am by no means +certain that this warning was not meant for other eyes as well. Then, +as arranged, we started out, leaving them burning in a great sheet of +flame behind us, and all that night marched by the shine of the stars +along some broken-down and undoubtedly ancient road. + +At the first sign of dawn we left this road and camped amid the +overgrown ruins of a deserted town that had been built almost beneath +the precipitous cliffs of Mur, fortunately without having met any one +or being challenged. I took the first watch, while the others turned in +to sleep after we had all breakfasted off cold meats, for here we dared +not light a fire. As the sun grew high, dispelling the mists, I saw +that we were entering upon a thickly-populated country which was no +stranger to civilization of a sort. Below us, not more than fifteen or +sixteen miles away, and clearly visible through my field-glasses, lay +the great town of Harmac, which, during my previous visit to this land, +I had never seen, as I passed it in the night. + +It was a city of the West Central African type, with open market-places +and wide streets, containing thousands of white, flat-roofed houses, +the most important of which were surrounded by gardens. Round it ran a +high and thick wall, built, apparently, of sun-burnt brick, and in +front of the gateways, of which I could see two, stood square towers +whence these might be protected. All about this city the flat and +fertile land was under cultivation, for the season being that of early +spring, already the maize and other crops showed green upon the ground. + +Beyond this belt of plough-lands, with the aid of the field-glasses, I +could make out great herds of grazing cattle and horses, mixed with +wild game, a fact that assured me of the truth of what I had heard +during my brief visit to Mur, that the Fung had few or no firearms, +since otherwise the buck and quagga would have kept at a distance. Far +off, too, and even on the horizon, I saw what appeared to be other +towns and villages. Evidently this was a very numerous people, and one +which could not justly be described as savage. No wonder that the +little Abati tribe feared them so intensely, notwithstanding the mighty +precipices by which they were protected from their hate. + +About eleven o’clock Orme came on watch, and I turned in, having +nothing to report. Soon I was fast asleep, notwithstanding the +anxieties that, had I been less weary, might well have kept me wakeful. +For these were many. On the coming night we must slip through the Fung, +and before midday on the morrow we should either have entered Mur, or +failed to have entered Mur, which meant—death, or, what was worse, +captivity among barbarians, and subsequent execution, preceded probably +by torture of one sort or another. + +Of course, however, we might come thither without accident, travelling +with good guides on a dark night, for, after all, the place was big, +and the road lonely and little used, so that unless we met a watch, +which, we were told, would not be there, our little caravan had a good +chance to pass unobserved. Shadrach seemed to think that we should do +so, but the worst of it was that, like Quick, I did not trust Shadrach. +Even Maqueda, the Lady of the Abati, she whom they called Child of +Kings, had her doubts about him, or so it had seemed to me. + +At any rate, she had told me before I left Mur that she chose him for +this mission because he was bold and cunning, one of the very few of +her people also who, in his youth, had crossed the desert and, +therefore, knew the road. “Yet, Physician,” she added meaningly, +“watch him, for is he not named ‘Cat’? Yes, watch him, for did I +not hold his wife and children hostages, and were I not sure that he +desires to win the great reward in land which I have promised to him, I +would not trust you to this man’s keeping.” + +Well, after many experiences in his company, my opinion coincided with +Maqueda’s, and so did that of Quick, no mean judge of men. + +“Look at him, Doctor,” he said when he came to tell me that I could +turn in, for whether it were his watch or not, the Sergeant never seemed +to be off duty. “Look, at him,” and he pointed to Shadrach, who was +seated under the shade of a tree, talking earnestly in whispers with two +of his subordinates with a very curious and unpleasing smile upon his +face. “If God Almighty ever made a scamp, he’s squatting yonder. My +belief is that he wanted to be rid of us all at Zeu, so that he might +steal our goods, and I hope he won’t play the same trick again +to-night. Even the dog can’t abide him.” + +Before I could answer, I had proof of this last statement, for the great +yellow hound, Pharaoh, that had found us in the desert, hearing our +voices, emerged from some corner where it was hidden, and advanced +toward us, wagging its tail. As it passed Shadrach, it stopped and +growled, the hair rising on its back, whereon he hurled a stone at it +and hit its leg. Next instant Pharaoh, a beast of enormous power, was +on the top of him, and really, I thought, about to tear out his throat. + +Well, we got him off before any harm was done, but Shadrach’s face, +lined with its livid scars, was a thing to remember. Between rage and +fear, it looked like that of a devil. + +To return. After this business I went to sleep, wondering if it were my +last rest upon the earth, and whether, having endured so much for his +sake, it would or would not be my fortune to see the face of my son +again, if, indeed, he still lived, yonder not a score of miles +away—or anywhere. + +Toward evening I was awakened by a fearful hubbub, in which I +distinguished the shrill voice of Higgs ejaculating language which I +will not repeat, the baying of Pharaoh, and the smothered groans and +curses of an Abati. Running from the little tent, I saw a curious +sight, that of the Professor with Shadrach’s head under his left arm, +in chancery, as we used to call it at school, while with his right he +punched the said Shadrach’s nose and countenance generally with all +his strength, which, I may add, is considerable. Close by, holding +Pharaoh by the collar, which we had manufactured for him out of the +skin of a camel that had died, stood Sergeant Quick, a look of grim +amusement on his wooden face, while around, gesticulating after their +Eastern fashion, and uttering guttural sounds of wrath, were several of +the Abati drivers. Orme was absent, being, in fact, asleep at the time. + + +“What are you doing, Higgs?” I shouted. + +“Can’t—you—see,” he spluttered, accompanying each +word with a blow on the unfortunate Shadrach’s prominent nose. “I +am punching this fellow’s beastly head. Ah! you’d bite, would you? +Then take that, and that and—that. Lord, how hard his teeth are. Well, +I think he has had enough,” and suddenly he released the Abati, who, +a gory and most unpleasant spectacle, fell to the ground and lay there +panting. His companions, seeing their chief’s melancholy plight, +advanced upon the Professor in a threatening fashion; indeed, one of +them drew a knife. + +“Put up that thing, sonny,” said the Sergeant, “or by heaven, +I’ll loose the dog upon you. Got your revolver handy, Doctor?” + +Evidently, if the man did not understand Quick’s words, their purport +was clear to him, for he sheathed his knife and fell back with the +others. Shadrach, too, rose from the ground and went with them. At a +distance of a few yards, however, he turned, and, glaring at Higgs out +of his swollen eyes, said: + +“Be sure, accursed Gentile, that I will remember and repay.” + +At this moment, too, Orme arrived upon the scene, yawning. + +“What the deuce is the matter?” he asked. + +“I’d give five bob for a pint of iced stone ginger,” replied +Higgs inconsequently. Then he drank off a pannikin of warmish, +muddy-coloured water which Quick gave to him, and handed it back, +saying: + +“Thanks, Sergeant; that’s better than nothing, and cold drink is +always dangerous if you are hot. What’s the matter? Oh! not much. +Shadrach tried to poison Pharaoh; that’s all. I was watching him out +of the corner of my eye, and saw him go to the strychnine tin, roll a +bit of meat in it which he had first wetted, and throw it to the poor +beast. I got hold of it in time, and chucked it over that wall, where +you will find it if you care to look. I asked Shadrach why he had done +such a thing. He answered, ‘To keep the dog quiet while we are +passing through the Fung,’ adding that anyhow it was a savage beast +and best out of the way, as it had tried to bite him that morning. Then +I lost my temper and went for the blackguard, and although I gave up +boxing twenty years ago, very soon had the best of it, for, as you may +have observed, no Oriental can fight with his fists. That’s all. Give +me another cup of water, Sergeant.” + +“I hope it may be,” answered Orme, shrugging his shoulders. +“To tell the truth, old fellow, it would have been wiser to defer +blacking Shadrach’s eyes till we were safe in Mur. But it’s no use +talking now, and I daresay I should have done the same myself if I had +seen him try to poison Pharaoh,” and he patted the head of the great +dog, of which we were all exceedingly fond, although in reality it only +cared for Orme, merely tolerating the rest of us. + +“Doctor,” he added, “perhaps you would try to patch up our +guide’s nose and soothe his feelings. You know him better than we do. +Give him a rifle. No, don’t do that, or he might shoot some one in the +back—by accident done on purpose. Promise him a rifle when we get into +Mur; I know he wants one badly, because I caught him trying to steal a +carbine from the case. Promise him anything so long as you can square +it up.” + +So I went, taking a bottle of arnica and some court plaster with me, to +find Shadrach surrounded by sympathizers and weeping with rage over the +insult, which, he said, had been offered to his ancient and +distinguished race in his own unworthy person. I did my best for him +physically and mentally, pointing out, as I dabbed the arnica on his +sadly disfigured countenance, that he had brought the trouble on +himself, seeing that he had really no business to poison Pharaoh +because he had tried to bite him. He answered that his reason for +wishing to kill the dog was quite different, and repeated at great +length what he had told the Professor—namely, that it might betray us +while we were passing through the Fung. Also he went on so venomously +about revenge that I thought it time to put a stop to the thing. + +“See here, Shadrach,” I said, “unless you unsay those words +and make peace at once, you shall be bound and tried. Perhaps we shall +have a better chance of passing safely through the Fung if we leave you +dead behind us than if you accompany us as a living enemy.” + +On hearing this, he changed his note altogether, saying that he saw he +had been wrong. Moreover, so soon as his injuries were dressed, he +sought out Higgs, whose hand he kissed with many apologies, vowing that +he had forgotten everything and that his heart toward him was like that +of a twin brother. + +“Very good, friend,” answered Higgs, who never bore malice, +“only don’t try to poison Pharaoh again, and, for my part, +I’ll promise not to remember this matter when we get to Mur.” + +“Quite a converted character, ain’t he, Doctor?” +sarcastically remarked Quick, who had been watching this edifying scene. +“Nasty Eastern temper all gone; no Hebrew talk of eye for eye or tooth +for tooth, but kisses the fist that smote him in the best Christian +spirit. All the same, I wouldn’t trust the swine further than I could +kick him, especially in the dark, which,” he added meaningly, “is +what it will be to-night.” + +I made no answer to the Sergeant, for although I agreed with him, there +was nothing to be done, and talking about a bad business would only +make it worse. + +By now the afternoon drew towards night—a very stormy night, to judge +from the gathering clouds and rising wind. We were to start a little +after sundown, that is, within an hour, and, having made ready my own +baggage and assisted Higgs with his, we went to look for Orme and +Quick, whom we found very busy in one of the rooms of an unroofed +house. To all appearance they were engaged, Quick in sorting pound tins +of tobacco or baking-powder, and Orme in testing an electric battery +and carefully examining coils of insulated wire. + +“What’s your game?” asked the Professor. + +“Better than yours, old boy, when Satan taught your idle hands to +punch Shadrach’s head. But perhaps you had better put that pipe out. +These azo-imide compounds are said to burn rather more safely than +coal. Still, one never knows; the climate or the journey may have +changed their constitution.” + +Higgs retreated hurriedly, to a distance of fifty yards indeed, whence +he returned, having knocked out his pipe and even left his matches on a +stone. + +“Don’t waste time in asking questions,” said Orme as the +Professor approached with caution. “I’ll explain. We are going on a +queer journey to-night—four white men with about a dozen half-bred +mongrel scamps of doubtful loyalty, so you see Quick and I thought it as +well to have some of this stuff handy. Probably it will never be +wanted, and if wanted we shall have no time to use it; still, who +knows? There, that will do. Ten canisters; enough to blow up half the +Fung if they will kindly sit on them. You take five, Quick, a battery +and three hundred yards of wire, and I’ll take five, a battery, and +three hundred yards of wire. Your detonators are all fixed, aren’t +they? Well, so are mine,” and without more words he proceeded to stow +away his share of the apparatus in the poacher pockets of his coat and +elsewhere, while Quick did likewise with what remained. Then the case +that they had opened was fastened up again and removed to be laden on a +camel. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +HOW WE ESCAPED FROM HARMAC + + +As finally arranged this was the order of our march: First went an Abati +guide who was said to be conversant with every inch of the way. Then +came Orme and Sergeant Quick, conducting the camels that were loaded +with the explosives. I followed in order to keep an eye upon these +precious beasts and those in charge of them. Next marched some more +camels, carrying our baggage, provisions, and sundries, and finally in +the rear were the Professor and Shadrach with two Abati. + +Shadrach, I should explain, had selected this situation for the reason, +as he said, that if he went first, after what had passed, any mistake +or untoward occurrence might be set down to his malice, whereas, if he +were behind, he could not be thus slandered. On hearing this, Higgs, +who is a generous soul, insisted upon showing his confidence in the +virtue of Shadrach by accompanying him as a rearguard. So violently did +he insist, and so flattered did Shadrach seem to be by this mark of +faith, that Orme, who, I should say, if I have not already done so, was +in sole command of the party now that hostilities were in the air, +consented to the plan, if with evident reluctance. + +As I know, his own view was that it would be best for us four Englishmen +to remain together, although, if we did so, whatever position we chose, +it would be impossible for us in that darkness to keep touch with the +line of camels and their loads, which were almost as important to us as +our lives. At least, having made up our minds to deliver them in Mur, +we thought that they were important, perhaps because it is the fashion +of the Anglo-Saxon race to put even a self-created idea of duty before +personal safety or convenience. + +Rightly or wrongly, so things were settled, for in such troublous +conditions one can only do what seems best at the moment. Criticism +subsequent to the event is always easy, as many an unlucky commander +has found out when the issue went awry, but in emergency one must +decide on something. + +The sun set, the darkness fell, and it began to rain and blow. We +started quite unobserved, so far as we could tell, and, travelling +downward from the overgrown, ruined town, gained the old road, and in +complete silence, for the feet of camels make no noise, passed along it +toward the lights of Harmac, which now and again, when the storm-clouds +lifted, we saw glimmering in front of us and somewhat to our left. + +In all my long wanderings I cannot remember a more exciting or a more +disagreeable journey. The blackness, relieved only from time to time by +distant lightnings, was that of the plagues of Egypt; the driving rain +worked through the openings of our camel-hair cloaks and the +waterproofs we wore underneath them, and wet us through. The cold, damp +wind chilled us to the bone, enervated as we were with the heat of the +desert. But these discomforts, and they were serious enough, we forgot +in the tremendous issue of the enterprise. Should we win through to +Mur? Or, as a crown to our many labours and sufferings, should we +perish presently on the road? That was the question; as I can assure the + reader, one that we found very urgent and interesting. + +Three hours had gone by. Now we were opposite to the lights of Harmac, +also to other lights that shone up a valley in the mountain to our +right. As yet everything was well; for this we knew by the words +whispered up and down the line. + +Then of a sudden, in front of us a light flashed, although as yet it was +a long way off. Next came another whispered message of “Halt!” So +we halted, and presently one of the front guides crept back, informing +us that a body of Fung cavalry had appeared upon the road ahead. We +took counsel. Shadrach arrived from the rear, and said that if we +waited awhile they might go away, as he thought that their presence +must be accidental and connected with the great festival. He implored +us to be quite silent. Accordingly, not knowing what to do, we waited. + +Now I think I have forgotten to say that the dog Pharaoh, to prevent +accidents, occupied a big basket; this basket, in which he often rode +when tired, being fixed upon one side of Orme’s camel. Here he lay +peaceably enough until, in an unlucky moment, Shadrach left me to go +forward to talk to the Captain, whereon, smelling his enemy, Pharaoh +burst out into furious baying. After that everything was confusion. +Shadrach darted back toward the rear. The light ahead began to move +quickly, advancing toward us. The front camels left the road, as I +presume, following their leader according to the custom of these beasts +when marching in line. + +Presently, I know not how, Orme, Quick, and myself found ourselves +together in the darkness; at the time we thought Higgs was with us +also, but in this we were mistaken. We heard shoutings and strange +voices speaking a language that we could not understand. By the sudden +glare of a flash of lightning, for the thunderstorm was now travelling +over us, we saw several things. One of these was the Professor’s +riding-dromedary, which could not be mistaken because of its pure white +colour and queer method of holding its head to one side, passing within +ten yards, between us and the road, having a man upon its back who +evidently was not the Professor. Then it was that we discovered his +absence and feared the worst. + +“A Fung has got his camel,” I said. + +“No,” answered Quick; “Shadrach has got it. I saw his ugly +mug against the light.” + +Another vision was that of what appeared to be our baggage camels moving +swiftly away from us, but off the road which was occupied by a body of +horsemen in white robes. Orme issued a brief order to the effect that +we were to follow the camels with which the Professor might be. We +started to obey, but before we had covered twenty yards of the +cornfield or whatever it was in which we were standing, heard voices +ahead that were not those of Abati. Evidently the flash which showed +the Fung to us had done them a like service, and they were now +advancing to kill or capture us. + +There was only one thing to do—turn and fly—and this we did, +heading whither we knew not, but managing to keep touch of each other. + +About a quarter of an hour later, just as we were entering a grove of +palms or other trees which hid everything in front of us, the lightning +blazed again, though much more faintly, for by this time the storm had +passed over the Mountains of Mur, leaving heavy rain behind it. By the +flash I, who was riding last and, as it chanced, looking back over my +shoulder, saw that the Fung horsemen were not fifty yards behind, and +hunting for us everywhere, their line being extended over a long front. +I was, however, sure that they had not yet caught sight of us in the +dense shadow of the trees. + +“Get on,” I said to the others; “they will be here +presently,” and heard Quick add: + +“Give your camel his head, Captain; he can see in the dark, and +perhaps will take us back to the road.” + +Orme acted on this suggestion, which, as the blackness round us was +pitchy, seemed a good one. At any rate it answered, for off we went at +a fair pace, the three camels marching in line, first over soft ground +and afterwards on a road. Presently I thought that the rain had +stopped, since for a few seconds none fell on us, but concluded from +the echo of the camels’ feet and its recommencement that we had +passed under some archway. On we went, and at length even through the +gloom and rain I saw objects that looked like houses, though if so +there were no lights in them, perhaps because the night drew toward +morning. A dreadful idea struck me: we might be in Harmac! I passed it +up for what it was worth. + +“Very likely,” whispered Orme back. “Perhaps these camels +were bred here, and are looking for their stables. Well, there is only +one thing to do—go on.” + +So we went on for a long while, only interfered with by the occasional +attentions of some barking dog. Luckily of these Pharaoh, in his basket, +took no heed, probably because it was his habit if another dog barked +at him to pretend complete indifference until it came so near that he +could spring and fight, or kill it. At length we appeared to pass under +another archway, after which, a hundred and fifty yards or so further +on, the camels came to a sudden stop. Quick dismounted, and presently I +heard him say: + +“Doors. Can feel the brasswork on them. Tower above, I think, and wall +on either side. Seem to be in a trap. Best stop here till light comes. +Nothing else to be done.” + +Accordingly, we stopped, and, having tied the camels to each other to +prevent their straying, took shelter from the rain under the tower or +whatever it might be. To pass away the time and keep life in us, for we +were almost frozen with the wet and cold, we ate some tinned food and +biscuits that we carried in our saddle-bags, and drank a dram of brandy +from Quick’s flask. This warmed us a little, though I do not think +that a bottleful would have raised our spirits. Higgs, whom we all +loved, was gone, dead, probably, by that time; the Abati had lost or +deserted us, and we three white men appeared to have wandered into a +savage stronghold, where, as soon as we were seen, we should be trapped +like birds in a net, and butchered at our captor’s will. Certainly the + position was not cheerful. + +Overwhelmed with physical and mental misery, I began to doze; Orme grew +silent, and the Sergeant, having remarked that there was no need to +bother, since what must be must be, consoled himself in a corner by +humming over and over again the verse of the hymn which begins: + +“There is a blessed home beyond this land of woe, + +Where trials never come nor tears of sorrow flow.” + +Fortunately for us, shortly before dawn the “tears of sorrow” as +represented by the rain ceased to flow. The sky cleared, showing the +stars; suddenly the vault of heaven was suffused with a wonderful and +pearly light, although on the earth the mist remained so thick that we +could see nothing. Then above this sea of mist rose the great ball of +the sun, but still we could see nothing that was more than a few yards +away from us. + +“There is a blessed home beyond this land of woe” + +droned Quick beneath his breath for about the fiftieth time, since, +apparently, he knew no other hymn which he considered suitable to our +circumstances, then ejaculated suddenly: + +“Hullo! here’s a stair. With your leave I’ll go up it, +Captain,” and he did. + +A minute later we heard his voice calling us softly: + +“Come here, gentlemen,” he said, “and see something worth +looking at.” + +So we scrambled up the steps, and, as I rather expected, found ourselves +upon the top of one of two towers set above an archway, which towers +were part of a great protective work outside the southern gates of a +city that could be none other than Harmac. Soaring above the mist rose +the mighty cliffs of Mur that, almost exactly opposite to us, were +pierced by a deep valley. + +Into this valley the sunlight poured, revealing a wondrous and +awe-inspiring object of which the base was surrounded by billowy +vapours, a huge, couchant animal fashioned of black stone, with a head +carved to the likeness of that of a lion, and crowned with the +_uraeus_, the asp-crested symbol of majesty in old Egypt. How big the +creature might be it was impossible to say at that distance, for we +were quite a mile away from it; but it was evident that no other +monolithic monument that we had ever seen or heard of could approach its + colossal dimensions. + +Compared to this tremendous effigy indeed, the boasted Sphinx of Gizeh +seemed but a toy. It was no less than a small mountain of rock shaped +by the genius and patient labour of some departed race of men to the +form of a lion-headed monster. Its majesty and awfulness set thus above +the rolling mists in the red light of the morning, reflected on it from +the towering precipices beyond, were literally indescribable; even in +our miserable state, they oppressed and overcame us, so that for awhile +we were silent. Then we spoke, each after his own manner: + +“The idol of the Fung!” said I. “No wonder that savages +should take it for a god.” + +“The greatest monolith in all the world,” muttered Orme, “and +Higgs is dead. Oh! if only he had lived to see it, he would have gone +happy. I wish it had been I who was taken; I wish it had been I!” and +he wrung his hands, for it is the nature of Oliver Orme always to think +of others before himself. + +“That’s what we have come to blow up,” soliloquized Quick. +“Well, those ‘azure stinging-bees,’ or whatever they call the +stuff (he meant azo-imides) are pretty active, but it will take a lot of +stirring if ever we get there. Seems a pity, too, for the old pussy is +handsome in his way.” + +“Come down,” said Orme. “We must find out where we are; +perhaps we can escape in the mist.” + +“One moment,” I answered. “Do you see that?” and I +pointed to a needle-like rock that pierced the fog about a mile to the +south of the idol valley, and say two miles from where we were. +“That’s the White Rock; it isn’t white really, but the vultures +roost on it and make it look so. I have never seen it before, for I +passed it in the night, but I know that it marks the beginning of the +cleft which runs up to Mur; you remember, Shadrach told us so. Well, if +we can get to that White Rock we have a chance of life.” + +Orme studied it hurriedly and repeated, “Come down; we may be seen up +here.” + +We descended and began our investigations in feverish haste. This was +the sum of them: In the arch under the tower were set two great doors +covered with plates of copper or bronze beaten into curious shapes to +represent animals and men, and apparently very ancient. These huge +doors had grilles in them through which their defenders could peep out +or shoot arrows. What seemed more important to us, however, was that +they lacked locks, being secured only by thick bronze bolts and bars +such as we could undo. + +“Let’s clear out before the mist lifts,” said Orme. +“With luck we may get to the pass.” + +We assented, and I ran to the camels that lay resting just outside the +arch. Before I reached them, however, Quick called me back. + +“Look through there, Doctor,” he said, pointing to one of the +peep-holes. + +I did so, and in the dense mist saw a body of horsemen advancing toward +the door. + +They must have seen us on the top of the wall. “Fools that we were to +go there!” exclaimed Orme. + +Next instant he started back, not a second too soon, for through the +hole where his face had been, flashed a spear which struck the ground +beyond the archway. Also we heard other spears rattle upon the bronze +plates of the doors. + +“No luck!” said Orme; “that’s all up, they mean to +break in. Now I think we had better play a bold game. Got your rifles, +Sergeant and Doctor? Yes? Then choose your loopholes, aim, and empty +the magazines into them. Don’t waste a shot. For heaven’s sake +don’t waste a shot. Now—one—two—three, fire!” + +Fire we did into the dense mass of men who had dismounted and were +running up to the doors to burst them open. At that distance we could +scarcely miss and the magazines of the repeating rifles held five shots +apiece. As the smoke cleared away I counted quite half-a-dozen Fung +down, while some others were staggering off, wounded. Also several of +the men and horses beyond were struck by the bullets which had passed +through the bodies of the fallen. + +The effect of this murderous discharge was instantaneous and remarkable. +Brave though the Fung might be, they were quite unaccustomed to +magazine rifles. Living as they did perfectly isolated and surrounded +by a great river, even if they had heard of such things and +occasionally seen an old gaspipe musket that reached them in the course +of trade, of modern guns and their terrible power they knew nothing. +Small blame to them, therefore, if their courage evaporated in face of +a form of sudden death which to them must have been almost magical. At +any rate they fled incontinently, leaving their dead and wounded on the +ground. + +Now again we thought of flight, which perhaps would have proved our +wisest course, but hesitated because we could not believe that the Fung +had left the road clear, or done more than retreat a little to wait for +us. While we lost time thus the mist thinned a great deal, so much +indeed that we could see our exact position. In front of us, towards +the city side, lay a wide open space, whereof the walls ended against +those of Harmac itself, to which they formed a kind of vestibule or +antechamber set there to protect this gateway of the town through which +we had ridden in the darkness, not knowing whither we went. + +“Those inner doors are open,” said Orme, nodding his head toward +the great portals upon the farther side of the square. “Let’s go +see if we can shut them. Otherwise we shan’t hold this place long.” + +So we ran across to the further doors that were similar to those through +which we had just fired, only larger, and as we met nobody to interfere +with our efforts, found that the united strength of the three of us was +just, only just, sufficient to turn first one and then the other of +them upon its hinges and work the various bolts and bars into their +respective places. Two men could never have done the job, but being +three and fairly desperate we managed it. Then we retreated to our +archway and, as nothing happened, took the opportunity to eat and drink +a few mouthfuls, Quick remarking sagely that we might as well die upon +full as upon empty stomachs. + +When we had crossed the square the fog was thinning rapidly, but as the +sun rose, sucking the vapours from the rain-soaked earth, it thickened +again for awhile. + +“Sergeant,” said Orme presently, “these black men are bound +to attack us soon. Now is the time to lay a mine while they can’t see +what we are after.” + +“I was just thinking the same thing, Captain; the sooner the +better,” replied Quick. “Perhaps the Doctor will keep a watch here +over the camels, and if he sees any one stick up his head above the +wall, he might bid him good-morning. We know he is a nice shot, is the +Doctor,” and he tapped my rifle. + +I nodded and the two of them set out laden with wires and the packages +that looked like tobacco tins, heading for a stone erection in the +centre of the square which resembled an altar, but was, I believe, a +rostrum whence the native auctioneers sold slaves and other +merchandise. What they did there exactly, I am sure I do not know; +indeed, I was too much occupied in keeping a watch upon the walls +whereof I could clearly see the crest above the mist, to pay much +attention to their proceedings. + +Presently my vigilance was rewarded, for over the great gateway +opposite, at a distance of about a hundred and fifty paces from me, +appeared some kind of a chieftain clad in white robes and wearing a +very fine turban or coloured head-dress, who paraded up and down, +waving a spear defiantly and uttering loud shouts. + +This man I covered very carefully, lying down to do so. As Quick had +said, I am a good rifle shot, having practised that art for many years; +still, one may always miss, which, although I bore no personal grudge +against the poor fellow in the fine head-dress, on this occasion I did +not wish to do. The sudden and mysterious death of that savage would, I +felt sure, produce a great effect among his people. + +At length he stopped exactly over the door and began to execute a kind +of war-dance, turning his head from time to time to yell out something +to others on the farther side of the wall. This was my opportunity. I +covered him with as much care as though I were shooting at a target, +with one bull’s eye to win. Aiming a little low in case the rifle +should throw high, very gently I pressed the trigger. The cartridge +exploded, the bullet went on its way, and the man on the wall stopped +dancing and shouting and stood quite still. Clearly he had heard the +shot or felt the wind of the ball, but was untouched. + +I worked the lever jerking out the empty case, preparatory to firing +again, but on looking up saw that there was no need, for the Fung +captain was spinning round on his heels like a top. Three or four times +he whirled thus with incredible rapidity, then suddenly threw his arms +wide, and dived headlong from the wall like a bather from a plank, but +backward, and was seen no more. Only from the farther side of those +gates arose a wail of wrath and consternation. + +After this no other Fung appeared upon the wall, so I turned my +attention to the spy-hole in the doors behind me, and seeing some +horsemen moving about at a distance of four or five hundred yards on a +rocky ridge where the mist did not lie, I opened fire on them and at +the second shot was fortunate enough to knock a man out of the saddle. +One of those with him, who must have been a brave fellow, instantly +jumped down, threw him, dead or living, over the horse, leaped up +behind him, and galloped away accompanied by the others, pursued by +some probably ineffective bullets that I sent after them. + +Now the road to the Pass of Mur seemed to be clear, and I regretted that +Orme and Quick were not with me to attempt escape. Indeed, I meditated +fetching or calling them, when suddenly I saw them returning, burying a +wire or wires in the sand as they came, and at the same time heard a +noise of thunderous blows of which I could not mistake the meaning. +Evidently the Fung were breaking down the farther bronze doors with +some kind of battering-ram. I ran out to meet them and told my news. + +“Well done,” said Orme in a quiet voice. “Now, Sergeant, just +join up those wires to the battery, and be careful to screw them in +tight. You have tested it, haven’t you? Doctor, be good enough to +unbar the gates. No, you can’t do that alone; I’ll help you +presently. Look to the camels and tighten the girths. These Fung will +have the doors down in a minute, and then there will be no time to +lose.” + +“What are you going to do?” I asked as I obeyed. + +“Show them some fireworks, I hope. Bring the camels into the archway +so that they can’t foul the wire with their feet. So—stand still, +you grumbling brutes! Now for these bolts. Heavens! how stiff they are. +I wonder why the Fung don’t grease them. One door will do—never +mind the other.” + +Labouring furiously we got it undone and ajar. So far as we could see +there was no one in sight beyond. Scared by our bullets or for other +reasons of their own, the guard there appeared to have moved away. + +“Shall we take the risk and ride for it?” I suggested. + +“No,” answered Orme. “If we do, even supposing there are no +Fung waiting beyond the rise, those inside the town will soon catch us +on their swift horses. We must scare them before we bolt, and then +those that are left of them may let us alone. Now listen to me. When I +give the word, you two take the camels outside and make them kneel +about fifty yards away, not nearer, for I don’t know the effective +range of these new explosives; it may be greater than I think. I shall +wait until the Fung are well over the mine and then fire it, after +which I hope to join you. If I don’t, ride as hard as you can go to +that White Rock, and if you reach Mur give my compliments to the Child +of Kings, or whatever she is called, and say that although I have been +prevented from waiting upon her, Sergeant Quick understands as much +about picrates as I do. Also get Shadrach tried and hanged if he is +guilty of Higgs’s death. Poor old Higgs! how he would have enjoyed +this.” + +“Beg your pardon, Captain,” said Quick, “but I’ll stay +with you. The doctor can see to the baggage animals.” + +“Will you be good enough to obey orders and fall to the rear when you +are told, Sergeant? Now, no words. It is necessary for the purposes of +this expedition that one of us two should try to keep a whole skin.” + +“Then, sir,” pleaded Quick, “mayn’t I take charge of +the battery?” + +“No,” he answered sternly. “Ah! the doors are down at +last,” and he pointed to a horde of Fung, mounted and on foot, who +poured through the gateway where they had stood, shouting after their +fashion, and went on: “Now then, pick out the captains and pepper +away. I want to keep them back a bit, so that they come on in a crowd, +not scattered.” + +We took up our repeating rifles and did as Orme told us, and so dense +was the mass of humanity opposite that if we missed one man, we hit +another, killing or wounding a number of them. The result of the loss +of several of their leaders, to say nothing of meaner folk, was just +what Orme had foreseen. The Fung soldiers, instead of rushing on +independently, spread to right and left, until the whole farther side +of the square filled up with thousands of them, a veritable sea of men, +at which we pelted bullets as boys hurl stones at a wave. + +At length the pressure of those behind thrust onward those in front, and +the whole fierce, tumultuous mob began to flow forward across the +square, a multitude bent on the destruction of three white men, armed +with these new and terrible weapons. It was a very strange and +thrilling sight; never have I seen its like. + +“Now,” said Orme, “stop firing and do as I bid you. Kneel the +camels fifty yards outside the wall, not less, and wait till you know +the end. If we shouldn’t meet again, well, good-bye and good luck.” + +So we went, Quick literally weeping with shame and rage. + +“Good Lord!” he exclaimed, “good Lord! to think that, after +four campaigns, Samuel Quick, Sergeant of Engineers, with five medals, +should live to be sent off with the baggage like a pot-bellied +bandmaster, leaving his captain to fight about three thousand niggers +single-handed. Doctor, if he don’t come out, you do the best you can +for yourself, for I’m going back to stop with him, that’s all. +There, that’s fifty paces; down you go, you ugly beasts,” and he +bumped his camel viciously on the head with the butt of his rifle. + +From where we had halted we could only see through the archway into the +space beyond. By now the square looked like a great Sunday meeting in +Hyde Park, being filled up with men of whom the first rows were already +past the altar-like rostrum in its centre. + +“Why don’t he loose off them stinging-bees?” muttered Quick. +“Oh! I see his little game. Look,” and he pointed to the figure of +Orme, who had crept behind the unopened half of the door on our side of +it and was looking intently round its edge, holding the battery in his +right hand. “He wants to let them get nearer so as to make a bigger +bag. He——” + +I heard no more of Quick’s remarks, for suddenly something like an +earthquake took place, and the whole sky seemed to turn to one great +flame. I saw a length of the wall of the square rush outward and +upward. I saw the shut half of the bronze-plated door skipping and +hopping playfully toward us, and in front of it the figure of a man. +Then it began to rain all sorts of things. + +For instance, stones, none of which hit us, luckily, and other more +unpleasant objects. It is a strange experience to be knocked backward +by a dead fist separated from its parent body, yet on this occasion +this actually happened to me, and, what is more, the fist had a spear +in it. The camels tried to rise and bolt, but they are phlegmatic +brutes, and, as ours were tired as well, we succeeded in quieting them. + +Whilst we were thus occupied somewhat automatically, for the shock had +dazed us, the figure that had been propelled before the dancing door +arrived, reeling in a drunken fashion, and through the dust and falling +_débris_ we knew it for that of Oliver Orme. His face was blackened, +his clothes were torn half off him, and blood from a scalp wound ran +down his brown hair. But in his right hand he still held the little +electric battery, and I knew at once that he had no limbs broken. + +“Very successful mine,” he said thickly. “Boer melinite +shells aren’t in it with this new compound. Come on before the enemy +recover from the shock,” and he flung himself upon his camel. + +In another minute we had started at a trot toward the White Rock, whilst +from the city of Harmac behind us rose a wail of fear and misery. We +gained the top of the rise on which I had shot the horseman, and, as I +expected, found that the Fung had posted a strong guard in the dip +beyond, out of reach of our bullets, in order to cut us off, should we +attempt to escape. Now, terrified by what had happened, to them a +supernatural catastrophe, they were escaping themselves, for we +perceived them galloping off to the left and right as fast as their +horses would carry them. + +So for awhile we went on unmolested, though not very quickly, because of +Orme’s condition. When we had covered about half the distance between +us and the White Rock, I looked round and became aware that we were +being pursued by a body of cavalry about a hundred strong, which I +supposed had emerged from some other gate of the city. + +“Flog the animals,” I shouted to Quick, “or they will catch +us after all.” + +He did so, and we advanced at a shambling gallop, the horsemen gaining +on us every moment. Now I thought that all was over, especially when of +a sudden from behind the White Rock emerged a second squad of horsemen. + +“Cut off!” I exclaimed. + +“Suppose so, sir,” answered Quick, “but these seem a +different crowd.” + +I scanned them and saw that he was right. They were a very different +crowd, for in front of them floated the Abati banner, which I could not +mistake, having studied it when I was a guest of the tribe: a curious, +triangular, green flag covered with golden Hebrew characters, +surrounding the figure of Solomon seated on a throne. Moreover, +immediately behind the banner in the midst of a bodyguard rode a +delicately shaped woman clothed in pure white. It was the Child of +Kings herself! + +Two more minutes and we were among them. I halted my camel and looked +round to see that the Fung cavalry were retreating. After the events of +that morning clearly they had no stomach left for a fight with a +superior force. + +The lady in white rode up to us. + +“Greetings, friend,” she exclaimed to me, for she knew me again at +once. “Now, who is captain among you?” + +I pointed to the shattered Orme, who sat swaying on his camel with eyes +half closed. + +“Noble sir,” she said, addressing him, “if you can, tell me +what has happened. I am Maqueda of the Abati, she who is named Child of +Kings. Look at the symbol on my brow, and you will see that I speak +truth,” and, throwing back her veil, she revealed the coronet of gold +that showed her rank. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BARUNG + + +At the sound of this soft voice (the extreme softness of Maqueda’s +voice was always one of her greatest charms), Orme opened his eyes and +stared at her. + +“Very queer dream,” I heard him mutter. “Must be something in +the Mohammedan business after all. Extremely beautiful woman, and that +gold thing looks well on her dark hair.” + +“What does the lord your companion say?” asked Maqueda of me. + +Having first explained that he was suffering from shock, I translated +word for word, whereon Maqueda blushed to her lovely violet eyes and +let fall her veil in a great hurry. In the confusion which ensued, I +heard Quick saying to his master: + +“No, no, sir; this one ain’t no houri. She’s a flesh and +blood queen, and the pleasantest to look at I ever clapped eyes on, +though a benighted African Jew. Wake up, Captain, wake up; you are out +of that hell-fire now. It’s got the Fung, not you.” + +The word Fung seemed to rouse Orme. + +“Yes,” he said; “I understand. The vapour of the stuff +poisoned me, but it is passing now. Adams, ask that lady how many men +she’s got with her. What does she say? About five hundred? Well, then, +let her attack Harmac at once. The outer and inner gates are down; the +Fung think they have raised the devil and will run. She can inflict a +defeat on them from which they will not recover for years, only it must +be done at once, before they get their nerve again, for, after all, +they are more frightened than hurt.” + +Maqueda listened to this advice intently. + +“It is to my liking; it is very good,” she said in her quaint +archaic Arabic when I had finished translating. “But I must consult my +Council. Where is my uncle, the prince Joshua?” + +“Here, Lady,” answered a voice from the press behind, out of which +presently emerged, mounted on a white horse, a stout man, well advanced +in middle age, with a swarthy complexion and remarkably round, +prominent eyes. He was clad in the usual Eastern robes, richly worked, +over which he wore a shirt of chain-mail, and on his head a helmet, +with mail flaps, an attire that gave the general effect of an obese +Crusader of the early Norman period without his cross. + +“Is that Joshua?” said Orme, who was wandering a little again. +“Rummy-looking cock, isn’t he? Sergeant, tell Joshua that the walls +of Jericho are down, so there’ll be no need to blow his own trumpet. +I’m sure from the look of him that he’s a perfect devil with a +trumpet.” + +“What does your companion say?” asked Maqueda again. + +I translated the middle part of Orme’s remarks, but neither the +commencement nor the end, but even these amused her very much, for she +burst out laughing, and said, pointing to Harmac, over which still hung +a cloud of dust: + +“Yes, yes, Joshua, my uncle, the walls of Jericho are down, and the +question is, will you not take your opportunity? So in an hour or two we +shall be dead, or if God goes with us, perhaps free from the menace of +the Fung for years.” + +The prince Joshua stared at her with his great, prominent eyes, then +answered in a thick, gobbling voice: + +“Are you mad, Child of Kings? Of us Abati here there are but five +hundred men, and of the Fung yonder tens of thousands. If we attacked, +they would eat us up. Can five hundred men stand against tens of +thousands?” + +“It seems that three stood against them this morning, and worked some +damage, my uncle, but it is true those three are of a different race +from the Abati,” she added with bitter sarcasm. Then she turned to +those behind her and cried: “Who of my captains and Council will +accompany me, if I who am but a woman dare to advance on Harmac?” + +Now here and there a voice cried, “I will,” or some gorgeously +dressed person stepped forward in a hesitating way, and that was all. + +“You see, men of the West!” said Maqueda after a little pause, +addressing us three. “I thank you for the great deeds that you have +done and for your counsel. But I cannot take it because my people are +not—warlike,” and she covered her face with her hands. + +Now there arose a great tumult among her followers, who all began to +talk at once. Joshua in particular drew a large sword and waved it, +shouting out a recital of the desperate actions of his youth and the +names of Fung chieftains whom he alleged he had killed in single +combat. + +“Told you that fat cur was a first-class trumpeter,” said Orme +languidly, while the Sergeant ejaculated in tones of deep disgust: + +“Good Lord! what a set. Why, Doctor, they ain’t fit to savage a +referee in a London football ground. Pharaoh there in his basket (where +he was barking loudly) would make the whole lot run, and if he was +out—oh my! Now, then, you porpoise”—this he addressed to Joshua, +who was flourishing his sword unpleasantly near—“put your +pasteboard up, won’t you, or I’ll knock your fat head off,” +whereon the Prince, who, if he did not understand Quick’s words, at +any rate caught their meaning wonderfully well, did as he was told, and +fell back. + +Just then, indeed, there was a general movement up the pass, in the wide +mouth of which all this scene took place, for suddenly three Fung +chieftains appeared galloping toward us, one of whom was veiled with a +napkin in which were cut eyeholes. So universal was this retreat, in +fact, that we three on our camels, and the Child of Kings on her +beautiful mare, found ourselves left alone. + +“An embassy,” said Maqueda, scanning the advancing horsemen, who +carried with them a white flag tied to the blade of a spear. +“Physician, will you and your friends come with me and speak to these +messengers?” And without even waiting for an answer, she rode forward +fifty yards or so on to the plain, and there reined up and halted till +we could bring our camels round and join her. As we did so, the three +Fung, splendid-looking, black-faced fellows, arrived at a furious +gallop, their lances pointed at us. + +“Stand still, friends,” said Maqueda; “they mean no +harm.” + +As the words passed her lips, the Fung pulled the horses to their +haunches, Arab-fashion, lifted spears and saluted. Then their +leader—not the veiled man, but another—spoke in a dialect that I, +who had spent so many years among the savages of the desert, understood +well enough, especially as the base of it was Arabic. + +“O, Walda Nagasta, Daughter of Solomon,” he said, “we are the +tongues of our Sultan Barung, Son of Barung for a hundred generations, +and we speak his words to the brave white men who are your guests. Thus +says Barung. Like the Fat One whom I have already captured, you white +men are heroes. Three of you alone, you held the gate against my army. +With the weapons of the white man you killed us from afar, here one and +there one. Then, at last, with a great magic of thunder and lightning +and earthquake, you sent us by scores into the bosom of our god, and +shook down our walls about our ears and out of that hell you escaped +yourselves. + +“Now, O white men, this is the offer of Barung to you: Leave the curs +of the Abati, the baboons who gibber and deck themselves out, the +rock-rabbits who seek safety in the cliffs, and come to him. He will +give you not only life, but all your heart’s desire—lands and wives +and horses; great shall you be in his councils and happy shall you +live. Moreover, for your sakes he will try to spare your brother, the +Fat One, whose eyes look out of black windows, who blows fire from his +mouth, and reviles his enemies as never man did before. Yes, although +the priests have doomed him to sacrifice at the next feast of Harmac, +he will try to spare him, which, perhaps, he can do by making him, like +the Singer of Egypt, also a priest of Harmac, and thus dedicate forever +to the god with whom, indeed, he says he had been familiar for +thousands of years. This is our message, O white men.” + +Now, when I had translated the substance of this oration to Orme and +Quick, for, as I saw by the quiver that passed through her at the Fung +insults upon her tribe, Maqueda understood it, their tongues not +differing greatly, Orme who, for the time at any rate, was almost +himself again, said: + +“Tell these fellows to say to their Sultan that he is a good old boy, +and that we thank him very much; also that we are sorry to have been +obliged to kill so many of them in a way that he must have thought +unsportsmanlike, but we had to do it, as we are sure he will +understand, in order to save our skins. Tell him also that, speaking +personally, having sampled the Abati yonder and on our journey, I +should like to accept his invitation. But although, as yet, we have +found no men among them, only, as he says, baboons, rock-rabbits, and +boasters without a fight in them, we have”—and here he bowed his +bleeding head to Maqueda—“found a woman with a great heart. Of her +salt we have eaten, or are about to eat; to serve her we have come from +far upon her camels, and, unless she should be pleased to accompany us, +we cannot desert her.” + +All of this I rendered faithfully, while every one, and especially +Maqueda, listened with much attention. When they had considered our +words, the spokesman of the messengers replied to the effect that the +motives of our decision were of a nature that commanded their entire +respect and sympathy, especially as their people quite concurred in our +estimate of the character of the Abati ruler, Child of Kings. This +being so, they would amend their proposition, knowing the mind of their +Sultan, and having, indeed, plenipotentiary powers. + +“Lady of Mur,” he went on, addressing Maqueda directly, “fair +daughter of the great god Harmac and a mortal queen, what we have +offered to the white lords, your guests, we offer to you also. Barung, +our Sultan, shall make you his head wife; or, if that does not please +you, you shall wed whom you will”—and, perhaps by accident, the +envoy’s roving eyes rested for a moment upon Oliver Orme. + +“Leave, then, your rock-rabbits, who dare not quit their cliffs when +but three messengers wait without with sticks,” and he glanced at the +spear in his hand, “and come to dwell among men. Listen, high Lady; +we know your case. You do your best in a hopeless task. Had it not been +for you and your courage, Mur would have been ours three years ago, and +it was ours before your tribe wandered thither. But while you can find +but a hundred brave warriors to help you, you think the place +impregnable, and you have perhaps that number, though we know they are +not here; they guard the gates above. Yes, with a few of your +Mountaineers whose hearts are as those of their forefathers were, so +far as you have defied all the power of the Fung, and when you saw that +the end drew near, using your woman’s wit, you sent for the white men +to come with their magic, promising to pay them with the gold which you +have in such plenty in the tombs of our old kings and in the rocks of +the mountains.” + +“Who told you that, O Tongue of Barung?” asked Maqueda in a low +voice, speaking for the first time. “The man of the West whom you took +prisoner—he whom you call Fat One?” + +“No, no, O Walda Nagasta, the lord Black Windows has told us nothing +as yet, except sundry things about the history of our god, with whom, +as we said, he seems to be familiar, and to whom, therefore, we vowed +him at once. But there are others who tell us things, for in times of +truce our peoples trade together a little, and cowards are often spies. +For instance, we knew that these white men were coming last night, +though it is true that we did not know of their fire magic, for, had we +done so, we should not have let the camels slip through, since there +may be more of it on them——” + +“For your comfort, learn that there is—much more,” I +interrupted. + +“Ah!” replied the Tongue, shaking his head sadly, “and yet we +suffered Cat, whom you call Shadrach, to make off with that of your fat +brother; yes, and even gave it to him after his own beast had been lamed +by accident. Well, it is our bad luck, and without doubt Harmac is +angry with us to-day. But your answer, O Walda Nagasta, your answer, O +Rose of Mur?” + +“What can it be, O Voices of Barung the Sultan?” replied Maqueda. +“You know that by my blood and by my oath of office I am sworn to +protect Mur to the last.” + +“And so you shall,” pleaded the Tongue, “for when we have +cleaned it of baboons and rock-rabbits, which, if you were among us, we +soon should do, and thus fulfilled our oath to regain our ancient +secret City of the Rocks, we will set you there once more as its Lady, +under Barung, and give you a multitude of subjects of whom you may be +proud.” + +“It may not be, O Tongue, for they would be worshippers of Harmac, and +between Jehovah, whom I serve, and Harmac there is war,” she answered +with spirit. + +“Yes, sweet-smelling Bud of the Rose, there is war, and let it be +admitted that the first battle has gone against Harmac, thanks to the +magic of the white men. Yet yonder he sits in his glory as the spirits, +his servants, fashioned him in the beginning,” and he pointed with +his spear toward the valley of the idol. “You know our +prophecy—that until Harmac rises from his seat and flies away, for +where he goes, the Fung must follow—till then, I say, we shall hold +the plains and the city of his name—that is, for ever.” + +“For ever is a long word, O Mouth of Barung.” Then she paused a +little, and added slowly, “Did not certain of the gates of Harmac fly +far this morning? Now what if your god should follow his gates and +those worshippers who went with them, and be seen no more? Or what if +the earth should open and swallow him, so that he goes down to hell, +whither you cannot follow? Or what if the mountains should fall +together and bury him from your sight eternally. Or what if the +lightnings should leap out and shatter him to dust?” + +At these ominous words the envoys shivered, and it seemed to me that +their faces for a moment turned grey. + +“Then, O Child of Kings,” answered the spokesman solemnly, +“the Fung will acknowledge that your god is greater than our god, and +that our glory is departed.” + +Thus he spoke and was silent, turning his eyes toward the third +messenger, he who wore a cloth or napkin upon his head that was pierced +with eyeholes and hung down to the breast. With a quick motion, the man +dragged off this veil and threw it to the ground, revealing a very +noble countenance, not black like that of his followers, but +copper-coloured. He was about fifty years of age, with deep-set +flashing eyes, hooked nose, and a flowing, grizzled beard. The collar +of gold about his neck showed that his rank was high, but when we +noticed a second ornament of gold, also upon his brow, we knew that it +must be supreme. For this ornament was nothing less than the symbol of +royalty, once worn by the ancient Pharaohs of Egypt, the double snakes +of the _uraeus_ bending forward as though to strike, which, as we had +seen, rose also from the brow of the lion-headed sphinx of Harmac. + +As he uncovered, his two companions leapt to the ground and prostrated +themselves before him, crying, “Barung! Barung!” while all three of +us Englishmen saluted, involuntarily, I think, and even the Child of +Kings bowed. + +The Sultan acknowledged our greetings by raising his spear. Then he +spoke in a grave measured voice: + +“O Walda Nagasta, and you, white men, sons of great fathers, I have +listened to the talk between you and my servants; I confirm their words +and I add to them. I am sorry that my generals tried to kill you last +night. I was making prayer to my god, or it should not have happened. I +have been well repaid for that deed, since an army should not make war +upon four men, even though by their secret power four men can defeat an +army. I beseech you, and you also, Rose of Mur, to accept my proffered +friendship, since otherwise, ere long, you will soon be dead, and your +wisdom will perish with you for I am weary of this little war against a +handful whom we despise. + +“O Walda Nagasta, you have breathed threats against the Majesty of +Harmac, but he is too strong for you, nor may the might that can turn a +few bricks to dust and shatter the bones of men prevail against him who +is shaped from the heart of a mountain and holds the spirit of +eternity. So at least I think: but even if it is decreed otherwise, +what will that avail you? If it should please the god to leave us +because of your arts, the Fung will still remain to avenge him ere they +follow. Then I swear to you by my majesty and by the bones of my +ancestors who sit in the caves of Mur, that I will spare but one of the +Abati Jews, yourself, O Child of Kings, because of your great heart, +and the three white men, your guests, should they survive the battle, +because of their courage and their wisdom. As for their brother, Black +Windows, whom I have captured, he must be sacrificed, since I have +sworn it, unless you yield, when I will plead for his life to the god, +with what result I cannot tell. Yield, then, and I will not even slay +the Abati; they shall live on and serve the Fung as slaves and minister +to the glory of Harmac.” + +“It may not be, it may not be!” Maqueda answered, striking the +pommel of her saddle with her small hand. “Shall Jehovah whom Solomon, +my father, worshipped, Jehovah of all the generations, do homage to an +idol shaped by the hands He made? My people are worn out; they have +forgot their faith and gone astray, as did Israel in the desert. I know +it. It may even happen that the time has come for them to perish, who +are no longer warriors, as of old. Well, if so, let them die free, and +not as slaves. At least I, in whom their best blood runs, do not seek +your mercy, O Barung. I’ll be no plaything in your house, who, at the +worst, can always die, having done my duty to my God and those who bred +me. Thus I answer you as the Child of many Kings. Yet as a woman,” +she added in a gentler voice, “I thank you for your courtesy. When I +am slain, Barung, if I am fated to be slain, think kindly of me, as one +who did her best against mighty odds,” and her voice broke. + +“That I shall always do,” he answered gravely. “Is it +ended?” + +“Not quite,” she answered. “These Western lords, I give them +to you; I absolve them from their promise. Why should they perish in a +lost cause? If they take their wisdom to you to use against me, you +have vowed them their lives, and, perhaps, that of their brother, your +captive. There is a slave of yours also—you spoke of him, or your +servant did—Singer of Egypt is his name. One of them knew him as a +child; perchance you will not refuse him to that man.” + +She paused, but Barung made no answer. + +“Go, my friends,” she went on, turning toward us. “I thank +you for your long journey on my behalf and the blow you have struck for +me, and in payment I will send you a gift of gold; the Sultan will see +it safe into your hands. I thank you. I wish I could have known more of +you, but mayhap we shall meet again in war. Farewell.” + +She ceased, and I could see that she was watching us intently through +her thin veil. The Sultan also watched us, stroking his long beard, a +look of speculation in his eyes, for evidently this play interested him +and he wondered how it would end. + +“This won’t do,” said Orme, when he understood the thing. +“Higgs would never forgive us if we ate dirt just on the off-chance of +saving him from sacrifice. He’s too straight-minded on big things. +But, of course, Doctor,” he added jerkily, “you have interests of +your own and must decide for yourself. I think I can speak for the +Sergeant.” + +“I have decided,” I answered. “I hope that my son would never +forgive me either; but if it is otherwise, why, so it must be. Also +Barung has made no promises about him.” + +“Tell him, then,” said Orme. “My head aches infernally, and I +want to go to bed, above ground or under it.” + +So I told him, although, to speak the truth, I felt like a man with a +knife in his heart, for it was bitter to come so near to the desire of +years, to the love of life, and then to lose all hope just because of +duty to the head woman of a pack of effete curs to whom one had chanced +to make a promise in order to gain this very end. If we could have +surrendered with honour, at least I should have seen my son, whom now I +might never see again. + +One thing, however, I added on the spur of the moment—namely, a +request that the Sultan would tell the Professor every word that had +passed, in order that whatever happened to him he might know the exact +situation. + +“My Harmac,” said Barung when he had heard, “how disappointed +should I have been with you if you had answered otherwise when a woman +showed you the way. I have heard of you English before—Arabs and +traders brought me tales of you. For instance, there was one who died +defending a city against a worshipper of the Prophet who called himself +a prophet, down yonder at Khartoum on the Nile—a great death, they +told me, a great death, which your people avenged afterwards. + +“Well I did not quite believe the story, and I wished to judge of it +by you. I have judged, white lords, I have judged, and I am sure that +your fat brother, Black Windows, will be proud of you even in the +lion’s jaws. Fear not; he shall hear every word. The Singer of Egypt, +who, it appears, can talk his tongue, shall tell the tale to him, and +make a song of it to be sung over your honourable graves. And now +farewell; may it be my lot to cross swords with one of you before all +is done. That shall not be yet, for you need rest, especially yonder +tall son of a god who is wounded,” and he pointed to Orme. “Child +of Kings with a heart of kings, permit me to kiss your hand and to lead +you back to your people, that I would were more worthy of you. Ah! yes, +I would that _we_ were your people.” + +Maqueda stretched out her hand, and, taking it, the Sultan barely +touched her fingers with his lips. Then, still holding them, he rode +with her toward the pass. + +As we approached its mouth, where the Abati were crowded together, +watching our conference, I heard them murmur, “The Sultan, the Sultan +himself!” and saw the prince Joshua mutter some eager words to the +officers about him. + +“Look out, Doctor,” said Quick into my ear. “Unless I’m +mistook, that porpoise is going to play some game.” + +Hardly were the words out of his mouth when, uttering the most valiant +shouts and with swords drawn, Joshua and a body of his companions +galloped up and surrounded our little group. + +“Now yield, Barung,” bellowed Joshua; “yield or die!” + +The Sultan stared at him in astonishment, then answered: + +“If I had any weapon (he had thrown down his lance when he took +Maqueda by the hand), certainly one of us should die, O Hog in man’s +clothes.” + +Then he turned to Maqueda and added, “Child of Kings, I knew these +people of yours to be cowardly and treacherous, but is it thus that you +suffer them to deal with envoys under a flag of peace?” + +“Not so, not so,” she cried. “My uncle Joshua, you disgrace +me; you make our people a shame, a hissing, and a reproach. Stand back; +let the Sultan of the Fung go free.” + +But they would not; the prize was too great to be readily disgorged. + +We looked at each other. “Not at all the game,” said Orme. +“If they collar him, we shall be tarred with their extremely dirty +brush. Shove your camel in front, Sergeant, and if that beggar Joshua +tries any tricks, put a bullet through him.” + +Quick did not need to be told twice. Banging his dromedary’s ribs with +the butt end of his rifle, he drove it straight on to Joshua, shouting: + +“Out of the light, porpoise!” with the result that the +Prince’s horse took fright, and reared up so high that its rider slid +off over its tail to find himself seated on the ground, a sorry +spectacle in his gorgeous robes and armour. + +Taking advantage of the confusion which ensued, we surrounded the Sultan +and escorted him out of the throng back to his two companions, who, +seeing that there was something amiss, were galloping toward us. + +“I am your debtor,” said Barung, “but, O White Men, make me +more so. Return, I pray you, to that hog in armour, and say that Barung, +Sultan of the Fung, understands from his conduct that he desires to +challenge him to single combat, and that, seeing he is fully armed, the +Sultan, although he wears no mail, awaits him here and now.” + +So I went at once with the message. But Joshua was far too clever to be +drawn into any such dangerous adventure. + +Nothing, he said, would have given him greater joy than to hack the head +from the shoulders of this dog of a Gentile sheik. But, unhappily, +owing to the conduct of one of us foreigners, he had been thrown from +his horse, and hurt his back, so that he could scarcely stand, much +less fight a duel. + +So I returned with my answer, whereat Barung smiled and said nothing. +Only, taking from his neck a gold chain which he wore, he proffered it +to Quick, who, as he said, had induced the prince Joshua to show his +horsemanship if not his courage. Then he bowed to us, one by one, and +before the Abati could make up their mind whether to follow him or not, +galloped off swiftly with his companions toward Harmac. + +Such was our introduction to Barung, Sultan of the Fung, a barbarian +with many good points, among them courage, generosity, and appreciation +of those qualities even in a foe, characteristics that may have been +intensified by the blood of his mother, who, I am told, was an Arab of +high lineage captured by the Fung in war and given as a wife to the +father of Barung. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE SHADOW OF FATE + + +Our ride from the plains up the pass that led to the high tableland of +Mur was long and, in its way, wonderful enough. I doubt whether in the +whole world there exists another home of men more marvellously defended +by nature. Apparently the road by which we climbed was cut in the first +instance, not by human hands, but by the action of primæval floods, +pouring, perhaps, from the huge lake which doubtless once covered the +whole area within the circle of the mountains, although to-day it is +but a moderate-sized sheet of water, about twenty miles long by ten in +breadth. However this may be, the old inhabitants had worked on it, the +marks of their tools may still be seen upon the rock. + +For the first mile or two the road is broad and the ascent so gentle +that my horse was able to gallop up it on that dreadful night when, +after seeing my son’s face, accident, or rather Providence, enabled +me to escape the Fung. But from the spot where the lions pulled the +poor beast down, its character changes. In places it is so narrow that +travellers must advance in single file between walls of rock hundreds +of feet high, where the sky above looks like a blue ribbon, and even at +midday the path below is plunged in gloom. At other spots the slope is +so precipitous that beasts of burden can scarcely keep their foothold; +indeed, we were soon obliged to transfer ourselves from the camels to +horses accustomed to the rocks. At others, again, it follows the brink +of a yawning precipice, an ugly place to ride or turn rectangular +corners, which half-a-dozen men could hold against an army, and twice +it passes through tunnels, though whether these are natural I do not +know. + +Besides all these obstacles to an invader there were strong gates at +intervals, with towers near by where guards were stationed night and +day, and fosses or dry moats in front of them which could only be +crossed by means of drawbridges. So the reader will easily understand +how it came about that, whatever the cowardice of the Abati, though +they strove for generations, the Fung had as yet never been able to +recapture the ancient stronghold, which, or so it is said, in the +beginning these Abati won from them by means of an Oriental trick. + +Here I should add that, although there are two other roads to the +plains—that by which, in order to outflank the Fung, the camels were +let down when I started on my embassy to Egypt, and that to the north +where the great swamps lie—these are both of them equally, if not +more, impassable, at any rate to an enemy attacking from below. + +A strange cavalcade we must have seemed as we crawled up this terrific +approach. First went a body of the Abati notables on horseback, forming +a long line of colour and glittering steel, who chattered as they rode, +for they seemed to have no idea of discipline. Next came a company of +horsemen armed with spears, or rather two companies in the centre of +which rode the Child of Kings, some of her courtiers and chief +officers, and ourselves, perhaps, as Quick suggested, because infantry +in the event of surprise would find it less easy to run away than those +who were mounted upon horses. Last of all rode more cavalry, the duty +of whose rear files it was to turn from time to time, and, after +inspection, to shout out that we were not pursued. + +It cannot be said that we who occupied the centre of the advance were a +cheerful band. Orme, although so far he had borne up, was evidently very +ill from the shock of the explosion, so much so that men had to be set +on each side of him to see that he did not fall from the saddle. Also +he was deeply depressed by the fact that honour had forced us to +abandon Higgs to what seemed a certain and probably a cruel death; and +if he felt thus, what was my own case, who left not only my friend, but +also my son, in the hands of savage heathens? + +Maqueda’s face was not visible because of the thin spangled veil that +she wore, but there was something about her attitude suggestive of +shame and of despair. The droop of the head and even her back showed +this, as I, who rode a little behind and on side of her, could see. I +think, too, that she was anxious about Orme, for she turned toward him +several times as though studying his condition. Also I am sure that she +was indignant with Joshua and others of her officers, for when they +spoke to her she would not answer or take the slightest notice of them +beyond straightening herself in the saddle. As for the Prince himself, +his temper seemed to be much ruffled, although apparently he had +overcome the hurt to his back which prevented him from accepting the +Sultan’s challenge, for at a difficult spot in the road he dismounted +and ran along actively enough. At any rate, when his subordinates +addressed him he only answered them with muttered oaths, and his +attitude towards us Englishmen, especially Quick, was not amiable. +Indeed, if looks could have killed us I am sure that we should all have +been dead before ever we reached the Gate of Mur. + +This so-called gate was the upper mouth of the pass whence first we saw, +lying beneath us, the vast, mountain-ringed plain beyond. It was a +beautiful sight in the sunshine. Almost at our feet, half-hidden in +palms and other trees, lay the flat-roofed town itself, a place of +considerable extent, as every house of any consequence seemed to be set +in a garden, since here there was no need for cramping walls and +defensive works. Beyond it to the northward, farther than the eye could +reach, stretching down a gentle slope to the far-off shores of the +great lake of glistening water, were cultivated fields, and amongst them + villas and, here and there, hamlets. + +Whatever might be the faults of the Abati, evidently they were skilled +husbandsmen, such as their reputed forefathers, the old inhabitants of +Judæa, must have been before them, for of that strain presumably some +trace was still present in their veins. However far he may have drifted +from such pursuits, originally the Jew was a tiller of the soil, and +here, where many of his other characteristics had evaporated under +pressure of circumstances—notably the fierce courage that Titus +knew—this taste remained to him, if only by tradition. + +Indeed, having no other outlet for their energies and none with whom to +trade, the interests of the Abati were centred in the land. For and by +the land they lived and died, and, since the amount available was +limited by the mountain wall, he who had most land was great amongst +them, he who had little land was small, he who had no land was +practically a slave. Their law was in its essentials a law of the land; +their ambitions, their crimes, everything to do with them, were +concerned with the land, upon the produce of which they existed and +grew rich, some of them, by means of a system of barter. They had no +coinage, their money being measures of corn or other produce, horses, +camels, acres of their equivalent of soil, and so forth. + +And yet, oddly enough, their country is the richest in gold and other +metals that I have ever heard of even in Africa—so rich that, +according to Higgs, the old Egyptians drew bullion from it to the value +of millions of pounds every year. This, indeed, I can well believe, for +I have seen the ancient mines which were worked, for the most part as +open quarries, still showing plenty of visible gold on the face of the +slopes. Yet to these alleged Jews this gold was of no account. Imagine +it; as Quick said, such a topsy-turvy state of things was enough to +make a mere Christian feel cold down the back and go to bed thinking +that the world must be coming to an end. + +To return, the prince Joshua, who appeared to be generalissimo of the +army, in what was evidently a set phrase, exhorted the guards at the +last gates to be brave and, if need were, deal with the heathen as some +one or other dealt with Og, King of Bashan, and other unlucky persons +of a different faith. In reply he received their earnest +congratulations upon his escape from the frightful dangers of our +journey. + +These formalities concluded, casting off the iron discipline of war, we +descended a joyous mob, or rather the Abati did, to partake of the +delights of peace. Really, conquerors returning from some desperate +adventure could not have been more warmly greeted. As we entered the +suburbs of the town, women, some of them very handsome, ran out and +embraced their lords or lovers, holding up babies for them to kiss, and +a little farther on children appeared, throwing roses and pomegranate +flowers before their triumphant feet. And all this because these +gallant men had ridden to the bottom of a pass and back again! + +“Heavens! Doctor,” exclaimed the sardonic Quick, after taking note +of these demonstrations, “Heavens! what a hero I feel myself to be. +And to think that when I got back from the war with them Boers, after +being left for dead on Spion Kop with a bullet through my lung and +mentioned in a dispatch—yes, I, Sergeant Quick, mentioned in a +dispatch by the biggest ass of a general as ever I clapped eyes on, for +a job that I won’t detail, no one in my native village ever took no +note of me, although I had written to the parish clerk, who happens to +be my brother-in-law, and told him the train I was coming by. I tell +you, Doctor, no one so much as stood me a pint of beer, let alone +wine,” and he pointed to a lady who was proffering that beverage to +some one whom she admired. + +“And as for chucking their arms round my neck and kissing me,” and +he indicated another episode, “all my old mother said—she was alive +then—was that she ‘hoped I’d done fooling about furrin’ +parts as I called soldiering, and come home to live respectable, better +late than never.’ Well, Doctor, circumstances alter cases, or blood +and climate do, which is the same thing, and I didn’t miss what I +never expected, why should I when others like the Captain there, who +had done so much more, fared worse? But, Lord! these Abati are a +sickening lot, and I wish we were clear of them. Old Barung’s the boy +for me.” + +Passing down the main street of this charming town of Mur, accompanied +by these joyous demonstrators, we came at last to its central square, a +large, open space where, in the moist and genial climate, for the high +surrounding mountains attracted plentiful showers of rain, trees and +flowers grew luxuriantly. At the head of this square stood a long, low +building with white-washed walls and gilded domes, backed by the +towering cliff, but at a little distance from it, and surrounded by +double walls with a moat of water between them, dug for purposes of +defence. + +This was the palace, which on my previous visit I had only entered once +or twice when I was received by the Child of Kings in formal audience. +Round the rest of this square, each placed in its own garden, were the +houses of the great nobles and officials, and at its western end, among +other public buildings, a synagogue or temple which looked like a model +of that built by Solomon in Jerusalem, from the description of which it +had indeed been copied, though, of course, upon a small scale. + +At the gate of the palace we halted, and Joshua, riding up, asked +Maqueda sulkily whether he should conduct “the Gentiles,” for that +was his polite description of us, to the lodging for pilgrims in the +western town. + +“No, my uncle,” answered Maqueda; “these foreign lords will +be housed in the guest-wing of the palace.” + +“In the guest-wing of the palace? It is not usual,” gobbled Joshua, +swelling himself out like a great turkey cock. “Remember, O niece, +that you are still unmarried. I do not yet dwell in the palace to +protect you.” + +“So I found out in the plain yonder,” she replied; “still, I +managed to protect myself. Now, I pray you, no words. I think it +necessary that these my guests should be where their goods already are, +in the safest place in Mur. You, my uncle, as you told us, are badly +hurt, by which accident you were prevented from accepting the challenge +of the Sultan of the Fung. Go, then, and rest; I will send the court +physician to you at once. Good-night, my uncle; when you are recovered +we will meet again, for we have much that we must discuss. Nay, nay, +you are most kind, but I will not detain you another minute. Seek your +bed, my uncle, and forget not to thank God for your escape from many +perils.” + +At this polite mockery Joshua turned perfectly pale with rage, like the +turkey cock when his wattles fade from scarlet into white. Before he +could make any answer, however, Maqueda had vanished under the archway, +so his only resource was to curse us, and especially Quick, who had +caused him to fall from his horse. Unfortunately the Sergeant +understood quite enough Arabic to be aware of the tenor of his remarks, +which he resented and returned: + +“Shut it, Porpoise,” he said, “and keep your eyes where +Nature put ’em, or they’ll fall out.” + +“What says the Gentile?” spluttered Joshua, whereon Orme, waking up +from one of his fits of lethargy, replied in Arabic: + +“He says that he prays you, O Prince of princes, to close your noble +mouth and to keep your high-bred eyes within their sockets lest you +should lose them”; at which words those who were listening broke into +a fit of laughter, for one redeeming characteristic among the Abati was +that they had a sense of humour. + +After this I do not quite know what happened for Orme showed signs of +fainting, and I had to attend to him. When I looked round again the +gates were shut and we were being conducted toward the guest-wing of +the palace by a number of gaily dressed attendants. + +They took us to our rooms—cool, lofty chambers ornamented with glazed +tiles of quaint colour and beautiful design, and furnished somewhat +scantily with articles made of rich-hued woods. This guest-wing of the +palace, where these rooms were situated, formed, we noted, a separate +house, having its own gateway, but, so far as we could see, no passage +or other connection joining it to the main building. In front of it was +a small garden, and at its back a courtyard with buildings, in which we +were informed our camels had been stabled. At the time we noted no +more, for night was falling, and, even if it had not been, we were too +worn out to make researches. + +Moreover, Orme was now desperately ill—so ill that he could scarcely +walk leaning even on our shoulders. Still, he would not be satisfied +till he was sure that our stores were safe, and, before he could be +persuaded to lie down, insisted upon being supported to a vault with +copper-bound doors, which the officers opened, revealing the packages +that had been taken from the camels. + +“Count them, Sergeant,” he said, and Quick obeyed by the light of a +lamp that the officer held at the open door. “All correct, sir,” he +said, “so far as I can make out.” + +“Very good, Sergeant. Lock the door and take the keys.” + +Again he obeyed, and, when the officer demurred to their surrender, +turned on him so fiercely that the man thought better of it and +departed with a shrug of his shoulders, as I supposed to make report to +his superiors. + +Then at length we got Orme to bed, and, as he complained of intolerable +pains in his head and would take nothing but some milk and water, +having first ascertained that he had no serious physical injuries that +I could discover, I administered to him a strong sleeping-draught from +my little travelling medicine case. To our great relief this took +effect upon him in about twenty minutes, causing him to sink into a +stupor from which he did not awake for many hours. + +Quick and I washed ourselves, ate some food that was brought to us, and +then took turns to watch Orme throughout the night. When I was at my +post about six o’clock on the following morning he woke up and asked +for drink, which I gave to him. After swallowing it he began to wander +in his mind, and, on taking his temperature, I found that he had over +five degrees of fever. The end of it was that he went off to sleep +again, only waking up from time to time and asking for more drink. + +Twice during the night and early morning Maqueda sent to inquire as to +his condition, and, apparently not satisfied with the replies, about +ten in the forenoon arrived herself, accompanied by two waiting-ladies +and a long-bearded old gentleman who, I understood, was the court +physician. + +“May I see him?” she asked anxiously. + +I answered yes, if she and those with her were quite quiet. Then I led +them into the darkened room where Quick stood like a statue at the head +of the bed, only acknowledging her presence with a silent salute. She +gazed at Oliver’s flushed face and the forehead blackened where the +gases from the explosion had struck him, and as she gazed I saw her +beautiful violet eyes fill with tears. Then abruptly she turned and +left the sick-chamber. Outside its doors she waved back her attendants +imperiously and asked me in a whisper: + +“Will he live?” + +“I do not know,” I answered, for I thought it best that she should +learn the truth. “If he is only suffering from shock, fatigue, and +fever, I think so, but if the explosion or the blow on his head where +it cut has fractured the skull, then——” + +“Save him,” she muttered. “I will give you all I—nay, +pardon me; what need is there to tempt you, his friend, with reward? +Only save him, save him.” + +“I will do what I can, Lady, but the issue is in other hands than +mine,” I answered, and just then her attendants came up and put an end +to the conversation. + +To this day the memory of that old rabbi, the court physician, affects +me like a nightmare, for of all the medical fools that ever I met he +was by far the most pre-eminent. All about the place he followed me +suggesting remedies that would have been absurd even in the Middle +Ages. The least harmful of them, I remember, was that poor Orme’s +head should be plastered with a compound of butter and the bones of a +still-born child, and that he should be given some filthy compound to +drink which had been specially blessed by the priests. Others there +were also that would certainly have killed him in half-an-hour. + +Well, I got rid of him at last for the time, and returned to my vigil. +It was melancholy work, since no skill that I had could tell me whether +my patient would live or die. Nowadays the young men might know, or say +that they did, but it must be remembered that, as a doctor, I am +entirely superannuated. How could it be otherwise, seeing that I have +passed the best of my life in the desert without any opportunity of +keeping up with the times. + +Three days went by in this fashion, and very anxious days they were. For +my part, although I said nothing of it to any one, I believed that +there was some injury to the patient’s skull and that he would die, +or at best be paralyzed. Quick, however, had a different opinion. He +said that he had seen two men in this state before from the concussion +caused by the bursting of large shells near to them, and that they both +recovered although one of them became an idiot. + +But it was Maqueda who first gave me any definite hope. On the third +evening she came and sat by Orme for awhile, her attendants standing at +a little distance. When she left him there was a new look upon her +face—a very joyful look—which caused me to ask her what had +happened. + +“Oh! he will live,” she answered. + +I inquired what made her think so. + +“This,” she replied, blushing. “Suddenly he looked up and in +my own tongue asked me of what colour were my eyes. I answered that it +depended upon the light in which they might be seen. + +“‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘They are always +_vi-o-let_, whether the curtain is drawn or no.’ Now, physician +Adams, tell me what is this colour _vi-o-let_?” + +“That of a little wild flower which grows in the West in the spring, O +Maqueda—a very beautiful and sweet-scented flower which is dark blue +like your eyes.” + +“Indeed, Physician,” she said. “Well, I do not know this +flower, but what of that? Your friend will live and be sane. A dying man +does not trouble about the colour of a lady’s eyes, and one who is +mad does not give that colour right.” + +“Are you glad, O Child of Kings?” I asked. + +“Of course,” she answered, “seeing that I am told that this +captain alone can handle the firestuffs which you have brought with you, +and, therefore, that it is necessary to me that he should not die.” + +“I understand,” I replied. “Let us pray that we may keep him +alive. But there are many kinds of firestuffs, O Maqueda, and of one of +them which chances to give out violet flames I am not sure that my +friend is master. Yet in this country it may be the most dangerous of +all.” + +Now when she heard these words the Child of Kings looked me up and down +angrily. Then suddenly she laughed a little in a kind of silent way that +is peculiar to her, and, without saying anything, beckoned to her +ladies and left the place. + +“Very variegated thing, woman, sir,” remarked Quick, who was +watching. (I think he meant to say “variable.”) “This one, +for instance, comes up that passage like a tired horse—shuffle, +shuffle, shuffle—for I could hear the heels of her slippers on the +floor. But now she goes out like a buck seeking its mate—head in air +and hoof lifted. How do you explain it, Doctor?” + +“You had better ask the lady herself, Quick. Did the Captain take that +soup she brought him?” + +“Every drop, sir, and tried to kiss her hand afterward, being still +dazed, poor man, poor man! I saw him do it, knowing no better. He’ll +be sorry enough when he comes to himself.” + +“No doubt, Sergeant. But meanwhile let us be glad that both their +spirits seem to have improved, and if she brings any more soup when I +am not there, I should let him have it. It is always well to humour +invalids and women.” + +“Yes, Doctor; but,” he added, with a sudden fall of face, +“invalids recover sometimes, and then how about the women.” + +“Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof,” I answered; “you +had better go out for exercise; it is my watch.” But to myself I +thought that Fate was already throwing its ominous shadow before, and +that it lay deep in Maqueda’s violet eyes. + +Well, to cut a long story short, this was the turning-point of Orme’s +illness, and from that day he recovered rapidly, for, as it proved, +there was no secret injury to the skull, and he was suffering from +nothing except shock and fever. During his convalescence the Child of +Kings came to see him several times, or to be accurate, if my memory +serves me right, every afternoon. Of course, her visits were those of +ceremony—that is to say, she was always accompanied by several of her +ladies, that thorn in my flesh, the old doctor, and one or two +secretaries and officers-in-waiting. + +But as Oliver was now moved by day into a huge reception room, and these +people of the court were expected to stop at one end of it while she +conversed with him at the other, to all intents and purposes, save for +the presence of myself and Quick, her calls were of a private nature. +Nor were we always present, since, now that my patient was out of +danger the Sergeant and I went out riding a good deal—investigating +Mur and its surroundings. + +It may be asked what they talked about on these occasions. I can only +answer that, so far as I heard, the general subject was the politics of +Mur and its perpetual war with the Fung. Still, there must have been +other topics which I did not hear, since incidently I discovered that +Orme was acquainted with many of Maqueda’s private affairs whereof he +could only have learned from her lips. + +Thus when I ventured to remark that perhaps it was not altogether wise +for a young man in his position to become so intimate with the +hereditary ruler of an exclusive tribe like the Abati, he replied +cheerfully that this did not in the least matter, as, of course, +according to their ancient laws, she could only marry with one of her +own family, a fact which made all complications impossible. I inquired +which of her cousins, of whom I knew she had several, was the happy +man. He replied: + +“None of them. As a matter of fact, I believe that she is officially +affianced to that fat uncle of hers, the fellow who blows his own +trumpet so much, but I needn’t add that this is only a form to which +she submits in order to keep the others off.” + +“Ah!” I said. “I wonder if Prince Joshua thinks it only a +form?” + +“Don’t know what he thinks, and don’t care,” he +replied, yawning; “I only know that things stand as I say, and that +the porpoise-man has as much chance of becoming the husband of Maqueda +as you have of marrying the Empress of China. And now, to drop this +matrimonial conversation and come to something more important, have you +heard anything about Higgs and your son?” + +“You are more in the way of learning state secrets than I am, +Orme,” I answered sarcastically, being rather irritated at the course +of events and his foolishness. “What have you heard?” + +“This, old fellow. I can’t say how she knows it, but Maqueda says +that they are both in good health and well treated. Only our friend +Barung sticks to his word and proposes to sacrifice poor old Higgs on +this day fortnight. Now, of course, that must be prevented somehow, and +prevented it shall be if it costs me my life. Don’t you suppose that +I have been thinking about myself all the time, for it isn’t so, only +the trouble is that I can’t find any plan of rescue which will hold +water.” + +“Then what’s to be done, Orme? I haven’t spoken much of the +matter before for fear of upsetting you when you were still weak, but +now that you are all right again we must come to some decision.” + +“I know, I know,” he answered earnestly; “and I tell you +this, that rather than let Higgs die alone there, I will give myself up +to Barung, and, if I can’t save him, suffer with him, or for him if I +can. Listen: there is to be a great council held by the Child of Kings +on the day after to-morrow which we must attend, for it has only been +postponed until I was well enough. At this council that rogue Shadrach +is to be put upon his trial, and will, I believe, be condemned to +death. Also we are formally to return Sheba’s ring which Maqueda lent +to you to be used in proof of her story. Well, we may learn something +then, or at any rate must make up our minds to definite action. And now +I am to have my first ride, am I not? Come on, Pharaoh,” he added to +the dog, which had stuck at his bedside all through his illness so +closely that it was difficult to entice him away even to eat; “we are +going for a ride, Pharaoh; do you hear that, you faithful beast?” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE SWEARING OF THE OATH + + +Two or three days after this conversation, I forget exactly which it +was, Maqueda held her council in the great hall of the palace. When we +entered the place in charge of a guard, as though we were prisoners, we +found some hundreds of Abati gathered there who were seated in orderly +rows upon benches. At the farther end, in an apse-shaped space, sat the +Child of Kings herself on a gilded or perhaps a golden chair of which +the arms terminated in lions’ heads. She was dressed in a robe of +glittering silver, and wore a ceremonial veil embroidered with stars, +also of silver, and above it, set upon her dark hair, a little circlet +of gold, in which shone a single gem that looked like a ruby. Thus +attired, although her stature is small, her appearance was very +dignified and beautiful, especially as the gossamer veil added mystery +to her face. + +Behind the throne stood soldiers armed with spears and swords, and at +its sides and in front of it were gathered her court to the number of a +hundred or more, including her waiting-ladies, who in two companies +were arranged to the right and left. Each member of this court was +gorgeously dressed according to his profession. + +There were the generals and captains with Prince Joshua at the head of +them in their Norman-like chain armour. There were judges in black +robes and priests in gorgeous garments; there were territorial lords, +of whose attire I remember only that they wore high boots, and men who +were called Market-masters, whose business it was to regulate the rate +of exchange of products, and with them the representatives of other +trades. + +In short, here was collected all the aristocracy of the little +population of the town and territory of Mur, every one of whom, as we +found afterwards, possessed some high-sounding title answering to those +of our dukes and lords and Right Honourables, and knights, to say +nothing of the Princes of the Blood, of whom Joshua was the first. + +Really, although it looked so fine and gay, the spectacle was, in a +sense, piteous, being evidently but a poor mockery and survival of the +pageantry of a people that had once been great. The vast hall in which +they were assembled showed this, since, although the occasion was one +that excited public interest, it was after all but a quarter filled by +those who had a right to be present. + +With much dignity and to the sound of music we were marched up the broad +nave, if I may describe it thus, for the building, with its apse and +supporting cedar columns, bore some resemblance to a cathedral, till we +reached the open space in front of the throne, where our guards +prostrated themselves in their Eastern fashion, and we saluted its +occupant in our own. Then, chairs having been given to us, after a +pause a trumpet blew, and from a side chamber was produced our late +guide, Shadrach, heavily manacled and looking extremely frightened. + +The trial that followed I need not describe at length. It took a long +while, and the three of us were called upon to give evidence as to the +quarrel between our companion, the Professor, and the prisoner about +the dog Pharaoh and other matters. The testimony, however, that +proclaimed the guilt of Shadrach was that of his companion guides, who, +it appeared, had been threatened with floggings unless they told the +truth. + +These men swore, one after the other, that the abandonment of Higgs had +been a preconceived plan. Several of them added that Shadrach was in +traitorous communication with the Fung, whom he had warned of our +advent by firing the reeds, and had even contrived to arrange that we +were to be taken while he and the other Abati, with the camels laden +with our rifles and goods which they hoped to steal, passed through in +safety. + +In defence Shadrach boldly denied the whole story, and especially that +he had pushed the Gentile, Higgs, off his dromedary, as was alleged, +and mounted it himself because his own beast had broken down or been +injured. + +However, his lies availed him little, since, after consultation with the +Child of Kings, presently one of the black-robed judges condemned him +to suffer death in a very cruel fashion which was reserved for +traitors. Further, his possessions were to be forfeited to the State, +and his wife and children and household to become public slaves, which +meant that the males would be condemned to serve as soldiers, and the +females allotted to certain officials in the order of their rank. + +Several of those who had conspired with him to betray us to the Fung +were also deprived of their possessions and condemned to the army, +which was their form of penal servitude. + +Thus amidst a mighty wailing of those concerned and of their friends and +relatives ended this remarkable trial, of which I give some account +because it throws light upon the social conditions of Abati. What hope +is there for a people when its criminals are sent, not to jail, but to +serve as soldiers, and their womenfolk however innocent, are doomed to +become the slaves of the judges or whoever these may appoint. Be it +added, however, that in this instance Shadrach and his friends deserved +all they got, since, even allowing for a certain amount of false +evidence, undoubtedly, for the purposes of robbery and private hate, +they did betray those whom their ruler had sent them to guide and +protect. + +When this trial was finished and Shadrach had been removed, howling for +mercy and attempting to kiss our feet like the cur he was, the audience +who had collected to hear it and to see us, the Gentile strangers, +dispersed, and the members of the Privy Council, if I may call it so, +were summoned by name to attend to their duties. When all had gathered, +we three were requested to advance and take seats which had been placed +for us among the councillors. + +Then came a pause, and, as I had been instructed that I should do, I +advanced and laid Sheba’s ring upon a cushion held by one of the +court officers, who carried it to Maqueda. + +“Child of Kings,” I said, “take back this ancient token which +you lent to me to be a proof of your good faith and mine. Know that by +means of it I persuaded our brother who is captive, a man learned in +all that has to do with the past, to undertake this mission, and +through him the Captain Orme who stands before you, and his servant, +the soldier.” + +She took it and, after examination, showed it to several of the priests, +by whom it was identified. + +“Though I parted from it with fear and doubt, the holy ring has served +its purpose well,” she said, “and I thank you, Physician, for +returning it to my people and to me in safety.” + +Then she replaced it on the finger from which it had been withdrawn when +she gave it to me many months before. + +There, then, that matter ended. + +Now an officer cried: + +“Walda Nagasta speaks!” whereon every one repeated, “Walda +Nagasta speaks,” and was silent. + +Then Maqueda began to address us in her soft and pleasant voice. + +“Strangers from the Western country called England,” she said, +“be pleased to hear me. You know our case with the Fung—that they +surround us and would destroy us. You know that in our extremity I took +advantage of the wandering hither of one of you a year ago to beg him to +go to his own land and there obtain firestuffs and those who understand +them, with which to destroy the great and ancient idol of the Fung. For +that people declare that if this idol is destroyed they will leave the +land they dwell in for another, such being their ancient prophecy.” + +“Pardon, O Child of Kings,” interrupted Orme, “but you will +remember that only the other day Barung, Sultan of the Fung, said that +in this event his nation would still live on to avenge their god, +Harmac. Also he said that of all the Abati he would leave you alive +alone.” + +Now at these ill-omened words a shiver and a murmur went through the +Council. But Maqueda only shrugged her shoulders, causing the silver +trimmings on her dress to tinkle. + +“I have told you the ancient prophecy,” she answered, “and +for the rest words are not deeds. If the foul fiend, Harmac, goes I +think that the Fung will follow him. Otherwise, why do they make +sacrifice to Earthquake as the evil god they have to fear? And when +some five centuries ago, such an earthquake shook down part of the +secret city in the bowels of the mountains that I will show to you +afterwards, why did they fly from Mur and take up their abode in the +plain, as they said, to protect the god?” + +“I do not know,” answered Oliver. “If our brother were here, +he whom the Fung have captured, he might know, being learned in the ways +of idol-worshipping, savage peoples.” + +“Alas! O Son of Orme,” she said, “thanks to that traitor whom +but now we have condemned, he is not here and, perhaps, could tell us +nothing if he were. At least, the saying runs as I have spoken it, and +for many generations, because of it, we Abati have desired to destroy +the idol of the Fung to which so many of us have been offered in +sacrifice through the jaws of their sacred lions. Now I ask,” and she +leaned forward, looking at Oliver, “will you do this for me?” + +“Speak of the reward, my niece,” broke in Joshua in his thick voice +when he saw that we hesitated what to answer, “I have heard that these +Western Gentiles are a very greedy people, who live and die for the gold +which we despise.” + +“Ask him, Captain,” exclaimed Quick, “if they despise land +also, since yesterday afternoon I saw one of them try to cut the throat +of another over a piece not bigger than a large dog-kennel.” + +“Yes,” I added, for I confess that Joshua’s remarks nettled +me, “and ask him whether the Jews did not despoil the Egyptians of +their ornaments of gold in the old days, and whether Solomon, whom he +claims as a forefather, did not trade in gold to Ophir, and lastly +whether he knows that most of his kindred in other lands make a very +god of gold.” + +So Orme, as our spokesman, put these questions with great gusto to +Joshua, whom he disliked intensely, whereat some of the Council, those +who were not of the party of the Prince, smiled or even laughed, and +the silvery ornaments upon Maqueda’s dress began to shake again as +though she also were laughing behind her veil. Still, she did not seem +to think it wise to allow Joshua to answer—if he could—but did so +herself, saying: + +“The truth is, O my friends, that here we set small store by gold +because, being shut in and unable to trade, it is of no use to us save +as an ornament. Were it otherwise, doubtless we should value it as much +as the rest of the world, Jew or Gentile, and shall do so when we are +freed from our foes who hem us in. Therefore, my uncle is wrong to +claim as a virtue that which is only a necessity, especially when, as +your servant says,” and she pointed to the Sergeant, “our people +make land their gold and will spend their lives in gaining more of it, +even when they have enough.” + +“Then do the Gentiles seek no reward for their services?” sneered +Joshua. + +“By no means, Prince,” answered Oliver, “we are soldiers of +fortune, since otherwise why should we have come here to fight your +quarrel” (laying an unpleasant emphasis on the “your”) +“against a chief who, if half savage, to us seems to have some merits, +those of honour and courage, for instance? If we risk our lives and do +our work, we are not too proud to take whatever we can earn. Why should +we be, seeing that some of us need wealth, and that our brother, who is +as good as dead yonder, owing to the treachery of those who were sent +to guard him, has relatives in England who are poor and should be +compensated for his loss?” + +“Why, indeed?” ejaculated Maqueda. “Listen, now, my friends. +In my own name and in that of the Abati people I promised to you as many +camel-loads of this gold as you can carry away from Mur, and before the +day is done I will show it to you if you dare follow me to where it +lies hid.” + +“First the work, then the pay,” said Oliver. “Now tell us, +Child of Kings, what is that work?” + +“This, O Son of Orme. You must swear—if this is not against your +consciences as Christians—that for the space of one year from to-day +you will serve me and fight for me and be subject to my laws, striving +all the while to destroy the idol Harmac by your Western skill and +weapons, after which you shall be free to go whither you will with your +reward.” + +“And if we swear, Lady,” asked Oliver after reflection, “tell +us what rank shall we hold in your service?” + +“You shall be my chief captain for this enterprise, O Son of Orme, and +those with you shall serve under you in such positions as you may +please.” + +At these words a murmur of dissatisfaction arose from the mail-clad +generals in the Council. + +“Are we then, to obey this stranger, O Child of Kings?” queried +Joshua as their spokesman. + +“Aye, my uncle, so far as this great enterprise is concerned, as I +have said. Can you handle the firestuffs of which they alone have the +secret? Could any three of you have held the gate of Harmac against the +armies of the Fung and sent it flying skyward?” + +She paused and waited in the midst of a sullen silence. + +“You do not answer because you cannot,” continued Maqueda. +“Then for this purpose be content to serve awhile under the command of +those who have the skill and power which you lack.” + +Still there was no answer. + +“Lady,” said Orme in this ominous quiet, “you are so good as +to make me a general among your soldiers, but will they obey me? And who +are your soldiers? Does every man of the Abati bear arms?” + +“Alas! no,” she replied, fixing upon this latter question perhaps +because she could not answer the first. “Alas! no. In the old days it +was otherwise, when my great ancestresses ruled, and then we did not +fear the Fung. But now the people will not serve as soldiers. They say +it takes them from their trades and the games they love; they say they +cannot give the time in youth; they say that it degrades a man to obey +the orders of those set over him; they say that war is barbarous and +should be abolished, and all the while the brave Fung wait without to +massacre our men and make our women slaves. Only the very poor and the +desperate, and those who have offended against the laws will serve in +my army, except it be as officers. Oh! and therefore are the Abati +doomed,” and, throwing back her veil, suddenly, she burst into tears +before us all. + +I do not know that I ever remember seeing a sight more pathetic in its +way than that of this beautiful and high-spirited young woman weeping +in the presence of her Council over the utter degeneracy of the race +she was called upon to rule. Being old and accustomed to these Eastern +expressions of emotion, I remained silent, however; but Oliver was so +deeply affected that I feared lest he should do something foolish. He +went red, he went white, and was rising from his seat to go to her, had +I not caught him by the arm and pulled him back. As for Quick, he +turned his eyes to the ceiling, as though engaged in prayer, and I +heard him muttering: + +“The Lord help the poor thing, the Lord help her; the one pearl in the +snout of all these gilded swine! Well, I understand I am a bit of a +general now, and if I don’t make ‘em sit up for her sake my name +ain’t Samuel Quick.” + +Meanwhile there was much consternation and indignant murmuring amongst +the Court, which felt that reflections had been thrown upon it +collectively and individually. At such a crisis, as usual, Prince +Joshua took the lead. Rising from his seat, he knelt, not without +difficulty, before the throne, and said: + +“O Child of Kings, why do you distress us with such words? Have you +not the God of Solomon to protect you?” + +“God protects those who protect themselves,” sobbed Maqueda. + +“And have you not many brave officers?” + +“What are officers without an army?” + +“And have you not me, your uncle, your affianced, your lover?” and +he laid his hand where he conceived his heart to be, and stared up at +her with his rolling, fish-like eyes. “Had it not been for the +interference of these Gentiles, in whom you seem to put such trust,” +he went on, “should I not have taken Barung captive the other day, +and left the Fung without a head?” + +“And the Abati without such shreds of honour as still belong to them, +my uncle.” + +“Let us be wed, O Bud of the Rose, O Flower of Mur, and soon I will +free you from the Fung. We are helpless because we are separate, but +together we shall triumph. Say, O Maqueda, when shall we be wed?” + +“When the idol Harmac is utterly destroyed, and the Fung have departed +for ever, my uncle,” she answered impatiently. “But is this a time +to talk of marriage? I declare the Council closed. Let the priests bring +the rolls that these strangers from the West may take the oath, and +then pardon me if I leave you.” + +Now from behind the throne there appeared a gorgeous gentleman arrayed +in a head-dress that reminded me faintly of a bishop’s mitre, and +wearing over his robes a breastplate of precious stones roughly +polished, which was half hidden by a very long white beard. + +This person, who it seemed was the high priest, carried in his hand a +double roll of parchment written over with characters which we +afterwards discovered were bastard Hebrew, very ancient and only +decipherable by three or four of the Abati, if indeed any of them could +really read it. At least it was said to be the roll of the law brought +by their forefathers centuries ago from Abyssinia, together with +Sheba’s ring and a few other relics, among them the cradle (a +palpable forgery), in which the child of Solomon and Maqueda, or +Belchis, the first known Queen of Sheba, was traditionally reported to +have been rocked. This roll of the law, which for generations had been +used at all important ceremonies among the Abati, such as the +swearing-in of their queens and chief officers, was now tendered to us +to hold and kiss while we took the oath of obedience and allegiance in +the names of Jehovah and of Solomon (a strange mixture, it struck us), +solemnly vowing to perform those things which I have already set out. + +“This seems a pretty wide promise,” said Oliver, after it had been +read to us and translated by me to Quick. “Do you think that we ought +to take it on?” + +I answered “Yes,” that was from my point of view, since otherwise I +saw no chance of achieving the object that had caused me to enter upon +this adventure. Then, being especially requested to do so, the +Sergeant, after reflecting awhile, gave his considered opinion. + +“Sir,” he said to Orme, “we are three white men here +consorting with a mob of quarter-bred African Jews and one real lady. It +seems to me that we had best swear anything they want us to, trusting +to the lady to see us through the mess, since otherwise we shall be +mere filibusters in the country without official rank, and liable +therefore to be shot on sight by the enemy, or any mutineers who get +the upper hand here. Also, we have the Professor and the Doctor’s son +to think of. Therefore I say: Swear to anything in reason, reserving +allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, and trust to luck. You see, +Captain, we are in their power anyway, and this oath may help, but +can’t hurt us, while to refuse it must give offence to all these +skunks, and perhaps to the lady also, which is of more consequence.” + +“I think you are probably right, Sergeant,” said Orme. +“Anyway, in for a penny, in for a pound.” + +Then he turned to Maqueda, who had been watching this conference in an +unknown tongue with some anxiety, or so it seemed to me, and added in +Arabic: “O Child of Kings, we will take your oath, although it is +wide, trusting to your honour to protect us from any pitfalls which it +may cover, for we would ask you to remember that we are strangers in +your land who do not understand its laws and customs. Only we stipulate +that we retain our allegiance to our own ruler far away, remaining the +subjects of that monarch with all rights thereto appertaining. Also, we +stipulate that before we enter on our duties, or at any rate during +those duties, we shall be at full liberty to attempt the rescue of our +friend and companion, now a prisoner in the hands of the Fung, and of +the son of one of us who is believed to be a slave to them, and that we +shall have all the assistance which you can give us in this matter. +Moreover, we demand that if we should be tried for any offence under +this oath, you to whom we swear allegiance shall be our judge alone, +none others intermeddling in the trial. If you accept these terms we +will swear the oath; otherwise we swear nothing, but will act as +occasion may arise.” + +Now we were requested to stand back while the Child of Kings consulted +with her advisers, which she did for a considerable time, since +evidently the questions raised involved differences of opinion. In the +end, however, she and those who supported her seemed to overrule the +objectors, and we were called up and told that our terms had been +accepted and engrossed upon the form of the oath, and that everything +there included would be faithfully observed by the Ruler and Council of +the Abati. + +So we signed and swore, kissing the book, or rather the roll, in the +civilized fashion. Afterwards, very tired, for all this business had +been anxious, we were conducted back to our own quarters to lunch, or +rather to dine, for the Abati ate their heaviest meal at midday, taking +a siesta after it according to the common Eastern custom. + +About four o’clock of that afternoon I was awakened from my nap by the +growls of Pharaoh, and looked up to see a man crouching against the +door, evidently in fear of the dog’s fangs. He proved to be a +messenger from Maqueda, sent to ask us if we cared to accompany her to +a place that we had never seen. Of course we answered “Yes,” and +were at once led by the messenger to a disused and dusty hall at the +back of the palace, where presently Maqueda and three of her ladies +joined us, and with them a number of men who carried lighted lamps, +gourds of oil, and bundles of torches. + +“Doubtless, friends,” said Maqueda, who was unveiled and appeared +to have quite recovered from our outburst of the morning, “you have +seen many wonderful places in this Africa and other lands, but now I am +about to show you one that, I think, is stranger than them all.” + +Following her, we came to a door at the end of the hall which the men +unbolted and shut again behind us, and thence passed into a long +passage cut in the rock, that sloped continuously downwards and at +length led through another doorway to the vastest cave that we had ever +heard of or seen. So vast was it, indeed, that the feeble light of our +lamps did not suffice to reach the roof, and only dimly showed to right +and left the outlines of what appeared to be shattered buildings of +rock. + +“Behold the cave city of Mur,” said Maqueda, waving the lamp she +held. “Here it was that the ancients whom we believe to have been the +forefathers of the Fung, had their secret stronghold. These walls were +those of their granaries, temples, and places of ceremonial, but, as I +have told you, centuries ago an earthquake shattered them, leaving them +as they are now. Also, it broke down much of the cave itself, causing +the roof to fall, so that there are many parts where it is not safe to +enter. Come now and see what is left.” + +We followed her into the depth of the wonderful place, our lanterns and +torches making little stars of light in that great blackness. We saw +the ruins of granaries still filled with the dust of what I suppose had +once been corn, and came at length to a huge, roofless building of +which the area was strewn with shattered columns, and among them +overgrown statues, covered so thick by dust that we could only discover +that most of them seemed to be shaped like sphinxes. + +“If only Higgs were here,” said Oliver with a sigh, and passed on +to Maqueda, who was calling him to look at something else. + +Leaving the temple in which it was unsafe to walk, she led us to where a +strong spring, the water supply of the place, bubbled up into a rock +basin, and overflowing thence through prepared openings, ran away we +knew not whither. + +“Look, this fountain is very ancient,” said Maqueda, pointing to +the lip of the basin that was worn away to the depth of several inches +where those who drew water had for many generations rested their hands +upon the hard rock. + +“How did they light so vast a cavern?” asked Oliver. + +“We do not know,” she answered, “since lamps would scarcely +have served them. It is a secret of the past which none of the Abati +have cared to recover, and another is how the air is always kept fresh +so deep in the bowels of the mountain. We cannot even say whether this +place is natural, as I think, or hollowed out by men.” + +“Both, I expect,” I answered. “But tell me, Lady, do the +Abati make any use of this great cave?” + +“Some corn is still stored here in pits in case of siege,” she +replied, adding sadly, “but it is not enough to be of real service, +since almost all of it comes from the estates of the Child of Kings. In +vain have I prayed the people to contribute, if only a hundredth part +of their harvest, but they will not. Each says that he would give if +his neighbour gave, and so none give. And yet a day may come when a +store of corn alone would stand between them and death by hunger—if +the Fung held the valley, for instance,” and she turned impatiently +and walked forward to show us the stables where the ancients kept their +horses and the marks of their chariot wheels in the stone floor. + +“Nice people, the Abati, sir,” said Quick to me. “If it +weren’t for the women and children, and, above all, for this little +lady, whom I am beginning to worship like my master, as in duty bound, +I’d like to see them do a bit of hungering.” + +“There is one more place to show you,” said Maqueda, when we had +inspected the stables and argued as to what possible causes could have +induced the ancients to keep horses underground, “which perhaps you +will think worth a visit, since it holds the treasures that are, or +shall be, yours. Come!” + +We started forward again along various passages, the last of which +suddenly widened into a broad and steep incline of rock, which we +followed for quite fifty paces till it ended in what seemed to be a +blank wall. Here Maqueda bade her ladies and attendants halt, which +indeed they seemed very anxious to do, though at the moment we did not +know why. Then she went to one end of the wall where it joined that of +the passage, and, showing us some loose stones, asked me to pull them +out, which I did, not without difficulty. When an aperture had been +made large enough for a man to creep through, she turned to her people +and said: + +“You, I know, believe this place to be haunted, nor would the bravest +of you enter it save by express command. But I and these strangers have +no such fears. Therefore give us a gourd of oil and some torches and +bide where you are till we return, setting a lamp in the hole in the +wall to guide us in case our own should become extinguished. No, do not +reason but obey. There is no danger, for though hot, the air within is +pure, as I know who have breathed it more than once.” + +Then she gave her hand to Oliver, and with his assistance crept through +the hole. We followed, to find ourselves in another cavern, where, as +she had said, the temperature was much hotter than that without. + +“What is this place?” asked Orme in a low voice, for its aspect +seemed to awe him. + +“The tomb of the old kings of Mur,” she replied. “Presently +you shall see,” and once more she took his hand, for the slope was +sharp and slippery. + +On we went, always descending, for perhaps four hundred yards, our +footfalls echoing loudly in the intense silence, and our lamps, round +which the bats circled in hundreds, making four stars of light in the +utter blackness, till at length the passage widened out into what +appeared to be a vast circular arena, with a lofty dome-like roof of +rock. Maqueda turned to the right, and, halting before some objects +that glimmered whitely, held up her light, saying, “Look!” + +This was what we saw: A great stone chair and, piled upon its seat and +upon its base, human bones. Amongst these was a skull, and on it, +grotesquely tilted, a crown of gold, while other ornaments—sceptres, +rings, necklaces, weapons and armour—were mingled with the bones. Nor +was this all, for in a wide circle round the chair were other +skeletons, fifty or more of them, and amongst them the ornaments that +their owners had worn. + +Also, in front of each stood a tray of some metal, which we afterwards +discovered to be silver or copper, and heaped upon it every kind of +valuable, such as golden cups and vases, toilet utensils, necklaces, +pectorals, bracelets, leglets, earrings and beads that seemed to be cut +from precious stones, piles of ring money, and a hundred other things +such as have been prized by mankind since the beginning of +civilization. + +“You understand,” said Maqueda, as we stared, open-mouthed at this +awful and marvellous sight, “he in the chair was the king. Those about +him were his officers, guards, and women. When he was buried they +brought his household here, bearing his wealth, sat them down about +him, and killed them. Blow away the dust, and you will see that the +rock beneath is still stained with their blood; also, there are the +sword-marks on their skulls, and neckbones.” + +Quick, who was of an inquiring mind, stepped forward and verified these +statements. + +“Golly!” he said, throwing down the skull of a man over whom the +tired executioners had evidently bungled badly, “I’m glad I +didn’t serve the old kings of Mur. But the same game goes on in a +small way to-day in Africa, for when I was campaigning on the West +Coast I came across it not a fortnight old, only there they had buried +the poor beggars living.” + +“Perhaps,” said Maqueda, when the Sergeant’s remarks had been +translated to her. “Yet I do not think the custom is one that my +people would love,” and she laughed a little, then added, “forward, +friends, there are many more of these kings and oil does not burn for +ever.” + +So we moved on, and at a distance of some twenty paces found another +chair with scattered bones on and about the seat, lying where each had +fallen as the dead man decayed. Round it were the skeletons of the +unfortunates who had been doomed to accompany him upon his last +journey, every one of them behind his tray of golden objects, or of +simple treasure. In front of this king’s chair also were the bones of +a dog with a jewelled collar. + +Again we proceeded to a third mortuary, if it may so be called, and here +Maqueda pointed out the skeleton of a man, in front of which stood a +tray piled up with what evidently had been the medicine bottles of the +period and among them a number of rude surgical instruments. + +“Say, O Physician Adams,” she remarked with a smile, “would +you have wished to be court doctor to the kings of Mur, if indeed that +was then their city’s name?” + +“No, Lady,” I answered; “but I do wish to examine his +instruments if I have your leave,” and while she hurried forward I +stooped down and filled my pockets. Here I may remark, that upon +subsequent inspection I found among these instruments, manufactured I +know not what number of thousands of years ago—for on that point +controversy rages among the learned—many that with modifications are +still in use to-day. + +Of that strange and dreadful sepulchre there is little more to tell. +From monarch to monarch we marched on till at length we grew weary of +staring at bones and gold. Even Quick grew weary, who had passed his +early youth in assisting his father, the parish sexton, and therefore, +like myself, regarded these relics with professional interest, though +of a different degree. At any rate, he remarked that this family vault +was uncommonly hot, and perhaps, if it pleased her Majesty, as he +called Maqueda, we might take the rest of the deceased gentlemen as +read, like a recruit’s attestation questions. + +But just then we came to No. 25, according to my counting, and were +obliged to stop to wonder, for clearly this king had been the greatest +of them all, since round him lay about two or three times the average +number of dead, and an enormous quantity of wealth, some of it in the +form of little statues of men and women, or perhaps of gods. Yet, oddly +enough, he was hunchback with a huge skull, almost a monstrosity +indeed. Perhaps his mind partook of the abnormal qualities of his body, +since no less than eleven little children had been sacrificed at his +obsequies, two of whom, judging from their crooked bones, must have +been his own. + +One wonders what chanced in Mur and the surrounding territories which +then acknowledged its sway when King Hunchback ruled. Alas! history +writes no record. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +QUICK LIGHTS A MATCH + + +“Here we begin to turn, for this cave is a great circle,” said +Maqueda over her shoulder. + +But Oliver, whom she addressed, had left her side and was engaged in +taking observations behind the hunchback’s funeral chair with an +instrument which he had produced from his pocket. + +She followed him and asked curiously what this thing might be, and why +he made use of it here. + +“We call it a compass,” he answered, “and it tells me that +beyond us lies the east, where the sun rises; also it shows at what +height we stand above the sea, that great water which you have never +seen, O Child of Kings. Say now, if we could walk through this rock, +what should we find out yonder?” + +“The lion-headed idol of the Fung, I have been told,” she answered. +“That which you saw before you blew up the gate of the city Harmac. +But how far off it may be I do not know, for I cannot see through +stone. Friend Adams, help me to refill the lamps, for they burn low, +and all these dead would be ill company in the dark. So at least my +people think, since there is not one of them that dares to enter this +place. When first we found it only a few years ago and saw the company +it held, they fled, and left me to search it alone. Look, yonder are my +footsteps in the dust.” + +So I refilled the shallow hand-lamps, and while I did so Orme took some +hasty observations of which he jotted down the results in his +pocket-book. + +“What have you learned?” she asked, when at last he rejoined us +somewhat unwillingly, for she had been calling to him to come. + +“Not so much as I should have done if you could have given me more +time,” he replied, adding in explanation, “Lady, I was brought up +as an engineer, that is, one who executes works, and to do so takes +measurements and makes calculations. For instance, those dead men who +hollowed or dressed these caves must have been engineers and no mean +ones.” + +“We have such among us now,” she said. “They raise dams and +make drains and houses, though not so good as those which were built of +old. But again I ask—what have you learned, O wise Engineer?” + +“Only that here we stand not so very far above the city Harmac, of +which I chanced to take the level, and that behind yonder chair there +was, I think, once a passage which has been built up. But be pleased to +say nothing of the matter, Lady, and to ask me no more questions at +present, as I cannot answer them with certainty.” + +“I see that you are discreet as well as wise,” she replied with +some sarcasm. “Well, since I may not be trusted with your counsel, +keep it to yourself.” + +Oliver bowed and obeyed this curt instruction. + +Then we began our return journey, passing many more groups of skeletons +which now we scarcely troubled to look at, perhaps because the heavy +air filled with dust that once had been the flesh of men, was telling +on our energies. Only I noticed, or rather the observant Quick called +my attention to the fact, that as we went the kings in their chairs +were surrounded by fewer and fewer attendants and women, and that the +offerings placed at their feet were of an ever-lessening value. Indeed, +after we had passed another five or six of them, their murdered +retinues dwindled to a few female skeletons, doubtless those of +favourite wives who had been singled out for this particular honour. + +At length there were none at all, the poor monarchs, who now were +crowded close together, being left to explore the shades alone, adorned +merely with their own jewellery and regalia. Ultimately even these were +replaced by funeral gold-foil ornaments, and the trays of treasure by +earthenware jars which appeared to have contained nothing but food and +wine, and added to these a few spears and other weapons. The last of +the occupied chairs, for there were empty ones beyond, contained bones +which, from their slenderness and the small size of the bracelets among +them, I saw at once had belonged to a woman who had been sent to the +grave without companions or any offerings at all. + +“Doubtless,” said Maqueda, when I pointed this out to her, +“at that time the ancients had grown weak and poor, since after so +many kings they permitted a woman to rule over them and had no wealth +to waste upon her burial. That may have been after the earthquake, when +only a few people were left in Mur before the Abati took possession of +it.” + +“Where, then, are those of your own house buried?” asked Oliver, +staring at the empty chairs. + +“Oh! not in this place,” she answered; “I have told you it +was discovered but a few years ago. We rest in tombs outside, and for my +part I will sleep in the simple earth, so that I may live on in grass +and flowers, if in no other way. But enough of death and doom. Soon, +who can tell how soon? we shall be as these are,” and she shuddered. +“Meanwhile, we breathe, so let us make the best of breath. You have +seen your fee, say, does it content you?” + +“What fee?” he asked. “Death, the reward of Life? How can I +tell until I have passed its gate?” + +Here this philosophical discussion was interrupted by the sudden decease +of Quick’s lamp. + +“Thought there was something wrong with the blooming thing,” said +the Sergeant, “but couldn’t turn it up, as it hasn’t got a +screw, without which these old-fashioned colza oils never were no good. +Hullo! Doctor, there goes yours,” and as he spoke, go it did. + +“The wicks!” exclaimed Maqueda, “we forgot to bring new +wicks, and without them of what use is oil? Come, be swift; we are still +far from the mouth of this cave, where none except the high priests +will dare to seek us,” and, taking Oliver by the hand, she began to +run, leaving us two to follow as best we could. + +“Steady, Doctor,” said Quick, “steady. In the presence of +disaster comrades should always stick together, as it says in the +Red-book presented by the crown to warrant officers, but paid for out +of their deferred allowance. Take my arm, Doctor. Ah! I thought so, the +more haste the less speed. Look there,” and he pointed to the flying +shapes ahead, now a long way off, and with only one lamp between them. + +Next instant Maqueda turned round holding up this remaining lamp and +called to us. I saw the faint light gleam upon her beautiful face and +glitter down the silver ornaments of her dress. Very wild and strange +she looked in that huge vault, seen thus for a single moment, then seen +no more, for presently where the flame had been was but a red spark, +and then nothing at all. + +“Stop still till we come back to you,” cried Oliver, “and +shout at intervals.” + +“Yes, sir,” said Quick, and instantly let off a fearful yell, which +echoed backward and forward across the vault till I was quite +bewildered. + +“All right, coming,” answered Oliver, and his voice sounded so far +to the left that Quick thought it wise to yell again. + +To cut a long story short, we next heard him on our right and then +behind us. + +“Can’t trust sounds here, sir, echoes are too uncertain,” +said the Sergeant; “but come on, I think I’ve placed them +now,” and calling to _them_ not to move, we headed in what we were +sure was the right direction. + +The end of that adventure was that presently I tripped up over a +skeleton and found myself lying half stunned amidst trays of treasure, +affectionately clasping a skull under the impression that it was +Quick’s boot. + +He hauled me up again somehow, and, as we did not know what to do, we +sat down amidst the dead and listened. By now the others were +apparently so far off that the sound of Oliver’s calling only reached +us in faint, mysterious notes that came from we knew not whence. + +“As, like idiots, we started in such a hurry that we forgot to bring +any matches with us, there is nothing to be done, except wait,” I +said. “No doubt in due course those Abati will get over their fear of +ghosts and come to look for us.” + +“Wish I could do the same, sir. I didn’t mind those deaders in the +light, but the dark’s a different matter. Can’t you hear them +rattling their shanks and talking all round us?” + +“Certainly I do hear something,” I answered, “but I think it +must be the echo of our own voices.” + +“Well, let us hold our jaw, sir, and perhaps they will hold theirs, +for this kind of conversation ain’t nice.” + +So we were silent, but the strange murmuring still went on, coming +apparently from the wall of the cave behind us, and it occurred to me +that I had once heard something like it before, though at the time I +could not think where. Afterwards I remembered that it was when, as a +boy, I had been taken to see the Whispering Gallery in St. Paul’s +Cathedral in London. + +Half-an-hour or so went by in this fashion, and still there were no +signs of the Abati or of our missing pair. Quick began to fumble among +his clothes. I asked him what he was doing. + +“Can’t help thinking I’ve got a wax match somewhere, Doctor. +I remember feeling it in one of the pockets of this coat on the day +before we left London, and thinking afterwards it wasn’t safe to have +had it packed in a box marked ‘Hold.’ Now if only I could find that +match, we have got plenty of torches, for I’ve stuck to my bundle all +through, although I never thought of them when the lamps were going +out.” + +Having small belief in the Sergeant’s match, I made no answer, and the +search went on till presently I heard him ejaculate: + +“By Jingo, here it is, in the lining. Yes, and the head feels all +right. Now, Doctor, hold two of the torches toward me; make ready, +present, fire!” and he struck the match and applied it to the heads +of the resinous torches. + +Instantly these blazed up, giving an intense light in that awful +darkness. By this light, for one moment only, we saw a strange, and not +unattractive spectacle. I think I forgot to say that in the centre of +this vault stood a kind of altar, which until that moment, indeed, I +had not seen. This altar, which, doubtless, had been used for +ceremonial purposes at the funerals of the ancient Kings, consisted of +a plain block of basalt stone, whereon was cut the symbol of a human +eye, the stone being approached by steps and supported upon carved and +crouching sphinxes. + +On the lowest of these steps, near enough to enable us to see them quite +clearly, were seated Oliver Orme and Maqueda, Child of Kings. They were +seated very close together; indeed, if I must tell the truth, +Oliver’s arm was about Maqueda’s waist, her head rested upon his +shoulder, and apparently he was engaged in kissing her upon the lips. + +“Right about face,” hissed the Sergeant, in a tone of command, +“and mark time!” + +So we right-abouted for a decent period, then, coughing loudly—because +of the irritant smoke of the torches—advanced to cross the cavern, +and by accident stumbled upon our lost companions. I confess that I had +nothing to say, but Quick rose to the occasion nobly. + +“Glad to see you, Captain,” he said to Oliver. “Was getting +very anxious about you, sir, until by good luck I found a match in the +lining of my coat. If the Professor had been here he’d have had +plenty, which is an argument in favour of continuous smoking, even when +ladies are present. Ah! no wonder her Majesty is faint in this hot +place, poor young thing. It’s lucky you didn’t leave hold of her, +sir. Do you think you could manage to support her, sir, as we ought to +be moving. Can’t offer to do so myself, as I have lamed my foot with +the tooth of a dead king, also my arms are full of torches. But if you +prefer the Doctor—what do you say, sir? That you _can_ manage? There +is such an echo in this vault that it is difficult to hear—very well, +let us go on, for these torches won’t last for ever, and you +wouldn’t like us to have to spend a whole night here with the lady in +such a delicate condition, would you, especially as those +nasty-tempered Abati might say that you had done it on purpose? Take her + Majesty’s arm, Doctor, and let us trek. I’ll go ahead with the +torches.” + +To all this artless harangue Oliver answered not a single word, but +glared at us suspiciously over the shape of Maqueda, who apparently had +fainted. Only when I ventured to offer her some professional assistance +she recovered, and said that she could get on quite well alone, which +meant upon Orme’s arm. + +Well, the end of it was that she got on, and so did we, for the torches +lasted until we reached the narrow, sloping passage, and, rounding the +corner, saw the lantern burning in the hole in the wall, after which, +of course, things were easy. + +“Doctor,” said Oliver to me in a voice of studied nonchalance that +night, as we were preparing to turn in, “did you notice anything in +the Vault of Kings this afternoon?” + +“Oh, yes,” I answered, “lots! Of course, myself, I am not +given to archæology, like poor Higgs, but the sight struck me as +absolutely unique. If I were inclined to moralize, for instance, what a +contrast between those dead rulers and their young and beautiful +successor, full of life and love”—here he looked at me +sharply—“love of her people, such as I have no doubt in their +day——” + +“Oh, shut it, Adams! I don’t want a philosophical lecture with +historical comparisons. Did you notice anything except bones and gold +when that unutterable ass, Quick, suddenly turned on the lights—I +mean struck the match which unfortunately he had with him.” + +Now I gave it up and faced the situation. + +“Well, if you want the truth,” I said, “not _very_ much +myself, for my sight isn’t as good as it used to be. But the Sergeant, +who has extraordinarily sharp eyes, thought that he saw you kissing +Maqueda, a supposition that your relative attitudes seemed to confirm, +which explains, moreover, some of the curious sounds we heard before he +lit the torches. That’s why he asked me to turn my back. But, of +course, we may have been mistaken. Do I understand you to say that the +Sergeant was mistaken?” + +Oliver consigned the Sergeant’s eyes to an ultimate fate worse than +that which befell those of Peeping Tom; then, in a burst of candour, +for subterfuge never was his forte, owned up: + +“You made no mistake,” he said, “we love each other, and it +came out suddenly in the dark. I suppose that the unusual surroundings +acted on our nerves.” + +“From a moral point of view I am glad that you love each other,” I +remarked, “since embraces that are merely nervous cannot be commended. +But from every other, in our circumstances the resulting situation +strikes me as little short of awful, although Quick, a most observant +man, warned me to expect it from the first.” + +“Curse Quick,” said Oliver again, with the utmost energy. +“I’ll give him a month’s notice this very night.” + +“Don’t,” I said, “for then you’ll oblige him to +take service with Barung, where he would be most dangerous. Look here, +Orme, to drop chaff, this is a pretty mess.” + +“Why? What’s wrong about it, Doctor?” he asked indignantly. +“Of course, she’s a Jew of some diluted sort or other, and +I’m a Christian; but those things adapt themselves. Of course, too, +she’s my superior, but after all hers is a strictly local rank, and in +Europe we should be on much the same footing. As for her being an +Eastern, what does that matter? Surely it is not an objection which +should have weight with _you_. And for the rest, did you ever see her +equal?” + +“Never, never, _never_!” I answered with enthusiasm. +“The young lady to whom any gentleman has just engaged himself is +always absolutely unequalled, and, let me admit at once that this is +perhaps the most original and charming that I have ever met in all +Central Africa. Only, whatever may be the case with you, I don’t know +whether this fact will console me and Quick when our throats are being +cut. Look here, Orme,” I added, “didn’t I tell you long ago that +the one thing you must _not_ do was to make love to the Child of +Kings?” + +“Did you? Really, I forget; you told me such a lot of things, +Doctor,” he answered coolly enough, only unfortunately the colour that +rose in his cheeks betrayed his lips. + +At this moment, Quick, who had entered the room unobserved, gave a dry +cough, and remarked: + +“Don’t blame the Captain, Doctor, because he don’t remember. +There’s nothing like shock from an explosion for upsetting the memory. +I’ve seen that often in the Boer war, when, after a big shell had gone +off somewhere near them, the very bravest soldiers would clean forget +that it was their duty to stand still and not run like rabbits; indeed, +it happened to me myself.” + +I laughed, and Oliver said something which I could not hear, but Quick +went on imperturbably: + +“Still, truth is truth, and if the Captain has forgotten, the more +reason that we should remind him. That evening at the Professor’s +house in London you did warn him, sir, and he answered that you +needn’t bother your head about the fascinations of a nigger +woman——” + +“Nigger woman,” broke out Oliver; “I never used such words; I +never even thought them, and you are an impertinent fellow to put them +into my mouth. Nigger woman! Good heavens! It’s desecration.” + +“Very sorry, Captain, now I come to think of it, I believe you said +black woman, speaking in your haste. Yes and I begged you not to brag, +seeing that if you did we might live to see you crawling after her, +with myself, Samuel Quick bringing up the rear. Well, there it is we +are, and the worst of it is that I can’t blame you, being as +anticipated in the prophecy—for that’s what it was though I +didn’t know it myself at the time—exactly in the same state myself, +though, of course, at a distance, bringing up the rear respectfully, as +said.” + +“You don’t mean that you are in love with the Child of +Kings?” said Oliver, staring at the Sergeant’s grim and battered +figure. + +“Begging your pardon, Captain, that is exactly what I do mean. If a +cat may look at a queen, why mayn’t a man love her? Howsoever, my +kind of love ain’t likely to interfere with yours. My kind means +sentry-go and perhaps a knife in my gizzard; yours—well, we saw what +yours means this afternoon, though what it will all lead to we didn’t +see. Still, Captain, speaking as one who hasn’t been keen on the sex +heretofore, I say—sail in, since it’s worth it, even if you’ve +got to sink afterwards, for this lady, although she is half a Jew, and +I never could abide Jews, is the sweetest and the loveliest and the +best and the bravest little woman that ever walked God’s earth.” + +At this point Oliver seized his hand and shook it warmly, and I may +mention that I think some report of Quick’s summary of her character +must have reached Maqueda’s ears. At any rate, thenceforward until +the end she always treated the old fellow with what the French call the +“most distinguished consideration.” + +But, as I was not in love, no one shook my hand, so, leaving the other +two to discuss the virtues and graces of the Child of Kings, I went off +to bed filled with the gloomiest forbodings. What a fool I had been not +to insist that whatever expert accompanied Higgs should be a married +man. And yet, now when I came to think of it, that might not have +bettered matters, and perhaps would only have added to the transaction +a degree of moral turpitude which at present was lacking, since even +married men are sometimes weak. + +The truth was that Maqueda’s attractions were extraordinarily great. +To her remarkable beauty she added a wonderful charm of manner and +force of mind. Also her situation must touch the heart and pity of any +man, so helpless was she in the midst of all her hollow grandeur, so +lonely amongst a nation of curs whom she strove in vain to save, and +should she escape destruction with them, doomed to so sad and repulsive +a fate, namely to become the wife of a fat poltroon who was her own +uncle. Well, we know to what emotion pity is akin, and the catastrophe +had occurred a little sooner than I had expected, that was all. + +Doubtless to her, in comparison with the men to whom she was accustomed +and allowed by etiquette to take as her associates, this brave and +handsome young Englishman, who had come into her care sick and +shattered after the doing of a great deed, must have seemed a veritable +fairy prince. And she had helped to nurse him, and he had shown himself +grateful for her kindness and condescension, and—the rest followed, +as surely as the day follows the night. + +But how would it end? Sooner or later the secret must come out, for +already the Abati nobles, if I may call them so for want of a better +name, and especially Joshua, were bitterly jealous of the favour their +lady showed to the foreigner, and watched them both. Then what—what +would happen? Under the Abati law it was death for any one outside of +the permitted degree of relationship to tamper with the affections of +the Child of Kings. Nor was this wonderful, since that person held her +seat in virtue of her supposed direct descent from Solomon and the +first Maqueda, Queen of Sheba, and therefore the introduction of any +alien blood could not be tolerated. + +Moreover, Orme, having sworn an oath of allegiance, had become subject +to those laws. Lastly, I could not in the least hope from the character +of the pair concerned that this was but a passing flirtation. + +Oh! without a doubt these two had signed their own death-warrant yonder +in the Cave of Death, and incidentally ours also. This must be the end +of our adventure and my long search for the son whom I had lost. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE RESCUE FAILS + + +Our breakfast on the following morning was a somewhat gloomy meal. By +common consent no allusion was made to the events of the previous day, +or to our conversation at bedtime. + +Indeed, there was no talk at all to speak of, since, not knowing what +else to do, I thought I could best show my attitude of mind by +preserving a severe silence, while Quick seemed to be absorbed in +philosophical reflections, and Orme looked rather excited and +dishevelled, as though he had been writing poetry, as I daresay was the +case. In the midst of this dreary meal a messenger arrived, who +announced that the Walda Nagasta would be pleased to see us all within +half-an-hour. + +Fearing lest Orme should say something foolish, I answered briefly that +we would wait upon her, and the man went, leaving us wondering what had +happened to cause her to desire our presence. + +At the appointed time we were shown into the small audience room, and, +as we passed its door, I ventured to whisper to Oliver: + +“For your own sake and hers, as well as that of the rest of us, I +implore you to be careful. Your face is watched as well as your +words.” + +“All right, old fellow,” he answered, colouring a little. +“You may trust me.” + +“I wish I could,” I muttered. + +Then we were shown in ceremoniously, and made our bows to Maqueda, who +was seated, surrounded by some of the judges and officers, among them, +Prince Joshua, and talking to two rough-looking men clad in ordinary +brown robes. She greeted us, and after the exchange of the usual +compliments, said: + +“Friends, I have summoned you for this reason. This morning when the +traitor Shadrach was being led out to execution at the hands of these +men, the officers of the law, he begged for a delay. When asked why, as +his petition for reprieve had been refused, he said that if his life +was spared he could show how your companion, he whom they call Black +Windows, may be rescued from the Fung.” + +“How?” asked Orme and I in one breath. + +“I do not know,” she answered, “but wisely they spared the +man. Let him be brought in.” + +A door opened, and Shadrach entered, his hands bound behind his back and +shackles on his feet. He was a very fearful and much chastened Shadrach, +for his eyes rolled and his teeth chattered with terror, as, having +prostrated himself to the Walda Nagasta, he wriggled round and tried to +kiss Orme’s boot. The guards pulled him to his feet again, and +Maqueda said: + +“What have you to tell us, traitor, before you die?” + +“The thing is secret, O Bud of the Rose. Must I speak before so +many?” + +“Nay,” she answered, and ordered most of those present to leave the +room, including the executioners and soldiers. + +“The man is desperate, and there will be none left to guard him,” +said Joshua nervously. + +“I’ll do that, your Highness,” answered Quick in his bad +Arabic, and stepping up behind Shadrach he added in English, “Now +then, Pussy, you behave, or it will be the worse for you.” + +When all had gone again Shadrach was commanded to speak and say how he +could save the Englishman whom he had betrayed into the hands of the +Fung. + +“Thus, Child of Kings,” he answered, “Black Windows, as we +know, is imprisoned in the body of the great idol.” + +“How do you know it, man?” + +“O Lady, I do know it, and also the Sultan said so, did he not? Well, +I can show a secret road to that idol whence he may be reached and +rescued. In my boyhood I, who am called Cat, because I can climb so +well, found that road, and when the Fung took me afterward and threw me +to the lions, where I got these scars upon my face, by it I escaped. +Spare me, and I will show it to you.” + +“It is not enough to show the road,” said Maqueda. “Dog, you +must save the foreign lord whom you betrayed. If you do not save him you +die. Do you understand?” + +“That is a hard saying, Lady,” answered the man. “Am I God +that I should promise to save this stranger who perchance is already +dead? Yet I will do my best, knowing that if I fail you will kill me, +and that if I succeed I shall be spared. At any rate, I will show you +the road to where he is or was imprisoned, although I warn you that it +is a rough one.” + +“Where you can travel we can follow,” said Maqueda. “Tell us +now what we must do.” + +So he told her, and when he had done the Prince Joshua intervened, +saying that it was not fitting that the Child of Kings in her own +sacred person should undertake such a dangerous journey. She listened +to his remonstrances and thanked him for his care of her. + +“Still I am going,” she said, “not for the sake of the +stranger who is called Black Windows, but because, if there is a secret +way out of Mur I think it well that I should know that way. Yet I agree +with you, my uncle, that on such a journey I ought not to be +unprotected, and therefore I pray that you will be ready to start with +us at noon, since I am sure that then we shall all be safe.” + +Now Joshua began to make excuses, but she would not listen to them. + +“No, no,” she said, “you are too honest. The honour of the +Abati is involved in this manner, since, alas! it was an Abati that +betrayed Black Windows, and an Abati—namely, yourself—must save +him. You have often told me, my uncle, how clever you are at climbing +rocks, and now you shall make proof of your skill and courage before +these foreigners. It is a command, speak no more,” and she rose, to +show that the audience was finished. + +That same afternoon Shadrach, by mountain paths that were known to him, +led a little company of people to the crest of the western precipice of +Mur. Fifteen hundred feet or more beneath us lay the great plains upon +which, some miles away, could be seen the city of Harmac. But the idol +in the valley we could not see, because here the precipice bent over +and hid it from our sight. + +“What now, fellow,” said Maqueda, who was clad in the rough +sheepskin of a peasant woman, which somehow looked charming upon her. +“Here is the cliff, there lies the plain; I see no road between the +two, and my wise uncle, the prince, tells me that he never heard of +one.” + +“Lady,” answered the man, “now I take command, and you must +follow me. But first let us see that nobody and nothing are lacking.” + +Then he went round the company and numbered them. In all we were +sixteen; Maqueda and Joshua, we three Englishmen, armed with repeating +rifles and revolvers, our guide Shadrach, and some picked Mountaineers +chosen for their skill and courage. For even in Mur there were brave +men left, especially among the shepherds and huntsmen, whose homes were +on the cliffs. These sturdy guides were laden with ropes, lamps, and +long, slender ladders that could be strapped together. + +When everything had been checked and all the ladders and straps tested, +Shadrach went to a clump of bushes which grew feebly on the wind-swept +crest of the precipice. In the midst of these he found and removed a +large flat stone, revealing what evidently had been the head of a +stair, although now its steps were much worn and crumbled by the water +that in the wet season followed this natural drain to the depths below. + +“This is that road the ancients made for purposes of their own,” +explained Shadrach, “which, as I have said, I chanced to discover when +I was a boy. But let none follow it who are afraid, for it is steep and +rough.” + +Now Joshua, who was already weary with his long ride and walk up to the +crest of the precipice, implored Maqueda almost passionately to abandon +the idea of entering this horrid hole, while Oliver backed up his +entreaties with few words but many appealing glances, for on this +point, though for different reasons, the prince and he were at one. + +But she would not listen. + +“My uncle,” she said, “with you, the experienced mountaineer, +why should I be afraid? If the Doctor here, who is old enough to be the +father of either of us” (so far as Joshua was concerned this remark +lacked truth), “is willing to go, surely I can go also? Moreover, if +I remained behind, you would wish to stay to guard me, and never should +I forgive myself if I deprived you of such a great adventure. Also, +like you, I love climbing. Come, let us waste no more time.” + +So we were roped up. First went Shadrach, with Quick next to him, a +position which the Sergeant insisted upon occupying as his custodian, +and several of the Mountaineers, carrying ladders, lamps, oil, food and +other things. Then in a second gang came two more of these men, Oliver, +Maqueda, myself, and next to me, Joshua. The remaining mountaineers +brought up the rear, carrying spare stores, ladders, and so forth. When +all was ready the lamps were lit, and we started upon a very strange +journey. + +For the first two hundred feet or so the stairs, though worn and almost +perpendicular, for the place was like the shaft of a mine, were not +difficult to descend, to any of us except Joshua, whom I heard puffing +and groaning behind me. Then came a gallery running eastward at a steep +slope for perhaps fifty paces, and at the end of it a second shaft of +about the same depth as the first, but with the stairs much more worn, +apparently by the washing of water, of which a good deal trickled out +of the sides of the shaft. Another difficulty was that the air rushing +up from below made it hard to keep the lamps alight. + +Toward the bottom of this section there was scarcely any stair left, and +the climbing became very dangerous. Here, indeed, Joshua slipped, and +with a wail of terror slid down the shaft and landed with his legs +across my back in such a fashion that had I not happened to have good +hand and foot hold at the time, he would have propelled me on to +Maqueda, and we must have all rolled down headlong, probably to our +deaths. + +As it was, this fat and terrified fellow cast his arms about my neck, to +which he clung, nearly choking me, until, just when I was about to +faint beneath his weight and pressure, the Mountaineers in the third +party arrived and dragged him off. When they had got him in charge, for +I refused to move another step while he was immediately behind me, we +descended by a ladder which the first party had set up, to the second +level, where began another long, eastward sloping passage that ended at +the mouth of a third pit. + +Here arose the great question as to what was to be done with the Prince +Joshua, who vowed that he could go no farther, and demanded loudly to +be taken back to the top of the cliff, although Shadrach assured him +that thenceforward the road was much easier. At length we were obliged +to refer the matter to Maqueda, who settled it in very few words. + +“My uncle,” she said, “you tell us that you cannot come on, +and it is certain that we cannot spare the time and men to send you +back. Therefore, it seems that you must stop where you are until we +return, and if we should not return, make the best of your own way up +the shaft. Farewell, my uncle, this place is safe and comfortable, and +if you are wise you will rest awhile.” + +“Heartless woman!” gobbled Joshua, who was shaking like a jelly +with fear and rage. “Would you leave your affianced lord and lover +alone in this haunted hole while you scramble down rocks like a wild +cat with strangers? If I must stay, do you stay with me?” + +“Certainly not,” replied Maqueda with decision. “Shall it be +said that the Child of Kings is afraid to go where her guests can +travel?” + +Well, the end of it was that Joshua came on in the centre of the third +body of Mountaineers, who were practically obliged to carry him. + +Shadrach was right, since for some reason or other the stairs +thenceforward remained more perfect. Only they seemed almost endless, +and before we reached our goal I calculated that we must have descended +quite twelve hundred feet into the bowels of the rock. At length, when +I was almost tired out and Maqueda was so breathless that she was +obliged to lean on Oliver, dragging me behind her like a dog on a +string, of a sudden we saw a glimmer of daylight that crept into the +tunnel through a small hole. By the mouth of yet another pit or shaft, +we found Shadrach and the others waiting for us. Saluting, he said that +we must unrope, leave our lamps behind, and follow him. Oliver asked +him whither this last shaft led. + +“To a still lower level, lord,” he answered, “but one which +you will scarcely care to explore, since it ends in the great pit where +the Fung keep their sacred lions.” + +“Indeed,” said Oliver, much interested for reasons of his own, and +he glanced at Quick, who nodded his head and whistled. + +Then we all followed Shadrach to find ourselves presently upon a plateau +about the size of a racquet court which, either by nature or by the +hand of man, had been recessed into the face of that gigantic cliff. +Going to the edge of this plateau, whereon grew many tree-ferns and +some thick green bushes that would have made us invisible from below +even had there been any one to see us, we saw that the sheer precipice +ran down beneath for several hundred feet. Of these yawning depths, +however, we did not at the moment make out much, partly because they +were plunged in shadow and partly for another reason. + +Rising out of the gulf below was what we took at first to be a rounded +hill of black rock, oblong in shape, from which projected a gigantic +shaft of stone ending in a kind of fretted bush that alone was of the +size of a cottage. The point of this bush-like rock was exactly +opposite the little plateau on to which we had emerged and distant from +it not more than thirty, or at most, forty feet. + +“What is that?” asked Maqueda, of Shadrach, pointing in front of +her, as she handed back to one of the Mountaineers a cup from which she +had been drinking water. + +“That, O Walda Nagasta,” he answered, “is nothing else than +the back of the mighty idol of the Fung, which is shaped like a lion. +The great shaft of rock with the bush at the end of it is the tail of +the lion. Doubtless this platform on which we stand is a place whence +the old priests, when they owned Mur as well as the land of the Fung, +used to hide themselves to watch whatever it was they wanted to see. +Look,” and he pointed to certain grooves in the face of the rock, +“I think that here there was once a bridge which could be let down at +will on to the tail of the lion-god, though long ago it has rotted +away. Yet ere now I have travelled this road without it.” + +We stared at him astonished, and in the silence that followed I heard +Maqueda whisper to Oliver: + +“Perhaps that is how he whom we call Cat escaped from the Fung; or +perhaps that is how he communicates with them as a spy.” + +“Or perhaps he is a liar, my Lady,” interrupted Quick, who had also +overheard their talk, a solution which, I confess, commended itself to +me. + +“Why have you brought us here?” asked Maqueda presently. + +“Did I not tell you in Mur, Lady—to rescue Black Windows? Listen, +now, it is the custom of the Fung to allow those who are imprisoned +within the idol to walk unguarded upon its back at dawn and sunset. At +least, this is their custom with Black Windows—ask me not how I know +it; this is truth, I swear it on my life, which is at stake. Now this +is my plan. We have with us a ladder which will reach from where we +stand to the tail of the idol. Should the foreign lord appear upon the +back of the god, which, if he still lives, as I believe he does, he is +almost sure to do at sundown, as a man who dwells in the dark all day +will love the light and air when he can get them, then some of us must +cross and bring him back with us. Perhaps it had best be you, my lord +Orme, since if I went alone, or even with these men, after what is past +Black Windows might not altogether trust me.” + +“Fool,” broke in Maqueda, “how can a man do such a +thing?” + +“O Lady, it is not so difficult as it looks. A few steps across the +gulf, and then a hundred feet or so along the tail of the lion which is +flat on the top and so broad that one may run down it if careful to +follow the curves, that is on a still day—nothing more. But, of +course, if the Lord Orme is afraid, which I did not think who have +heard so much of his courage——” and the rogue shrugged his +shoulders and paused. + +“Afraid, fellow,” said Oliver, “well, I am not ashamed to be +afraid of such a journey. Yet if there is need I will make it, though +not before I see my brother alone yonder on the rock, since all this +may be but a trick of yours to deliver me to the Fung, among whom I +know that you have friends.” + +“It is madness; you shall not go,” said Maqueda. “You will +fall and be dashed to pieces. I say that you shall not go.” + +“Why should he not go, my niece?” interrupted Joshua. +“Shadrach is right; we have heard much of the courage of this Gentile. +Now let us see him do something.” + +She turned on the Prince like a tiger. + +“Very good, my uncle, then you shall go with him. Surely one of the +ancient blood of the Abati will not shirk from what a ‘Gentile’ +dares.” + +On hearing this Joshua relapsed into silence, and I have no clear memory +of what he did or said in connection with the rest of that thrilling +scene. + +Now followed a pause in the midst of which Oliver sat down and began to +take off his boots. + +“Why do you undress yourself, friend?” asked Maqueda nervously. + +“Because, Lady,” he answered, “if I have to walk yonder road +it is safer to do so in my stockings. Have no fear,” he added gently, +“from boyhood I have been accustomed to such feats, and when I served +in my country’s army it was my pleasure to give instruction in them, +although it is true that this one surpasses all that ever I +attempted.” + +“Still I do fear,” she said. + +Meanwhile Quick had sat down and begun to take off _his_ boots. + +“What are you doing, Sergeant?” I asked. + +“Getting ready to accompany the Captain upon forlorn hope, Doctor.” + +“Nonsense,” I said, “you are too old for the game, Sergeant. +If any one goes, I should, seeing that I believe my son is over there, +but I can’t try it, as I know my head would give out, and I should +fall in a second, which would only upset everybody.” + +“Of course,” broke in Oliver, who had overheard us, +“I’m in command here, and my orders are that neither of you shall +come. Remember, Sergeant, that if anything happens to me it is your +business to take over the stores and use them if necessary, which you +alone can do. Now go and see to the preparations, and find out the plan +of campaign, for I want to rest and keep quiet. I daresay the whole +thing is humbug, and we shall see nothing of the Professor; still, one +may as well be prepared.” + +So Quick and I went to superintend the lashing of two of the light +ladders together and the securing of some planks which we had brought +with us upon the top of the rungs, so as to make these ladders easy to +walk on. I asked who would be of the party besides Shadrach and Orme, +and was told no one, as all were afraid. Ultimately, however, a man +named Japhet, one of the Mountaineers, volunteered upon being promised +a grant of land from the Child of Kings herself, which grant she +proclaimed before them all was to be given to his relatives in the +event of his death. + +At length everything was ready, and there came another spell of silence, +for the nerves of all of us were so strained that we did not seem able +to talk. It was broken by a sound of sudden and terrible roaring that +arose from the gulf beneath. + +“It is the hour of the feeding of the sacred lions which the Fung keep +in the pit about the base of the idol,” explained Shadrach. Then he +added, “Unless he should be rescued, I believe that Black Windows +will be given to the lions to-night, which is that of full moon and a +festival of Harmac, though maybe he will be kept till the next full +moon when all the Fung come up to worship.” + +This information did not tend to raise anyone’s spirits, although +Quick, who always tried to be cheerful, remarked that it was probably +false. + +The shadows began to gather in the Valley of Harmac, whereby we knew +that the sun was setting behind the mountains. Indeed, had it not been +for a clear and curious glow reflected from the eastern sky, the gulf +would have plunged us in gloom. Presently, far away upon a rise of rock +which we knew must be the sphinx head of the huge idol, a little figure +appeared outlined against the sky, and there began to sing. The moment +that I heard the distant voice I went near to fainting, and indeed +should have fallen had not Quick caught me. + +“What is it, Adams?” asked Oliver, looking up from where he and +Maqueda sat whispering to each other while the fat Joshua glowered at +them in the background. “Has Higgs appeared?” + +“No,” I answered, “but, thank God, my son still lives. That +is his voice. Oh! if you can, save him, too.” + +Now there was much suppressed excitement, and some one thrust a pair of +field-glasses into my hand, but either they were wrongly set or the +state of my nerves would not allow me to see through them. So Quick +took them and reported. + +“Tall, slim figure wearing a white robe, but at the distance in this +light can’t make out the face. One might hail him, perhaps, only it +would give us away. Ah! the hymn is done and he’s gone; seemed to +jump into a hole in the rock, which shows that he’s all right, +anyway, or he couldn’t jump. So cheer up, Doctor, for you have much +to be thankful for.” + +“Yes,” I repeated after him, “much to be thankful for, but +still I would that I had more after all these years to search. To think +that I should be so close to him and he know nothing of it.” + +After the ceasing of the song and the departure of my son, there +appeared upon the back of the idol three Fung warriors, fine fellows +clad in long robes and armed with spears, and behind them a trumpeter +who carried a horn or hollowed elephant’s tusk. These men marched up +and down the length of the platform from the rise of the neck to the +root of the tail, apparently to make an inspection. Having found +nothing, for, of course, they could not see us hidden behind the bushes +on our little plateau, of which no doubt they did not even know the +existence, and much less that it was connected with the mountain plain +of Mur, the trumpeter blew a shrill blast upon his horn, and before the +echoes of it had died away, vanished with his companions. + +“Sunset tour of inspection. Seen the same kind of thing as at +Gib.,” said the Sergeant. “Oh! by Jingo! Pussy isn’t lying +after all—there he is,” and he pointed to a figure that rose +suddenly out of the black stone of the idol’s back just as the guards +had done. + +It was Higgs, Higgs without a doubt; Higgs wearing his battered +sun-helmet and his dark spectacles; Higgs smoking his big meerschaum +pipe, and engaged in making notes in a pocket-book as calmly as though +he sat before a new object in the British Museum. + +I gasped with astonishment, for somehow I had never expected that we +should really see him, but Orme, rising very quietly from his seat +beside Maqueda, only said: + +“Yes, that’s the old fellow right enough. Well, now for it. You, +Shadrach, run out your ladder and cross first that I may be sure you +play no trick.” + +“Nay,” broke in Maqueda, “this dog shall not go, for never +would he return from his friends the Fung. Man,” she said, addressing +Japhet, the Mountaineer to whom she had promised land, “go you over +first and hold the end of the ladder while this lord crosses. If he +returns safe your reward is doubled.” + +Japhet saluted, the ladder was run out and its end set upon the +roughnesses in the rock that represented the hair of the sphinx’s +tail. The Mountaineer paused a moment with hands and face uplifted; +evidently he was praying. Then bidding his companions hold the hither +end of the ladder, and having first tested it with his foot and found +that it hung firm, calmly he walked across, being a brave fellow, and +presently was seen seated on the opposing mass of rock. + +Now came Oliver’s turn. He nodded to Maqueda, who went white as a +sheet, muttering some words to her that did not reach me. Then he +turned and shook my hand. + +“If you can, save my son also,” I whispered. + +“I’ll do my best if I can get hold of him,” he answered. +“Sergeant, if anything happens to me you know your duty.” + +“I’ll try and follow your example, Captain, under all +circumstances, though that will be hard,” replied Quick in a rather +shaky voice. + +Oliver stepped out on the ladder. I reckoned that twelve or fourteen +short paces would take him across, and the first half of these he +accomplished with quiet certainty. When he was in the exact middle of +the passage, however, the end of one of the uprights of the ladder at +the farther side slipped a little, notwithstanding the efforts of +Japhet to keep it straight, with the result that the plank bound on the +rungs lost its level, sinking an inch or so to the right, and nearly +causing Oliver to fall from it into the gulf. He wavered like a +wind-shaken reed, attempted to step forward, hesitated, stopped, and +slowly sank on to his hands and knees. + +“_Ah_!” panted Maqueda. + +“The Gentile has lost his head,” began Joshua in a voice full of +the triumph that he could not hide. “He—will——” + +Joshua got no further, for Quick, turning, threatened him savagely with +his fist, saying in English: + +“Stow your jaw if you don’t want to follow him, you swine,” +whereon Joshua, who understood the gesture, if not the words, relapsed +into silence. + +Now the Mountaineer on the farther side spoke, saying: + +“Have no fear, the ladder is safe.” + +For a moment Oliver remained in his crouching posture on the board, +which was all that separated him from an awful death in the gulf +beneath. Next, while we watched, agonized, he rose to his feet again, +and with perfect calmness walked across to its other end. + +“Well done our side!” said Quick, addressing Joshua, “why +don’t your Royal Highness cheer? No, you leave that knife alone, or +presently there’ll be a hog the less in this world,” and stooping +down he relieved the Prince of the weapon which he was fingering with +his round eyes fixed upon the Sergeant. + +Maqueda, who had noted all, now interfered. + +“My uncle,” she said, “brave men are risking their lives +yonder while we sit in safety. Be silent and cease from quarrelling, I +pray you.” + +Next moment we had forgotten all about Joshua, being utterly absorbed in +watching the drama in progress upon the farther side of the gulf. After +a slight pause to recover his nerve or breath, Orme rose, and preceded +by Japhet, climbed up the bush-like rock till he reached the shaft of +the sphinx’s tail. Here he turned and waved his hand to us, then +following the Mountaineer, walked, apparently with the utmost +confidence, along the curves of the tail to where it sprang from the +body of the idol. At this spot there was a little difficulty in +climbing over the smooth slope of rock on to the broad terrace-like +back. Soon, however, they surmounted it, and vanishing for a few +seconds into the hollow of the loins, which, of course, was a good many +feet deep, re-appeared moving toward the shoulders. Between these we +could see Higgs standing with his back toward us, utterly unconscious +of all that was passing behind him. + +Passing Japhet, Oliver walked up to the Professor and touched him on the +arm. Higgs turned, stared at the pair for a moment, and then, in his +astonishment, or so we guessed, sat down plump upon the rock. They +pulled him to his feet, Orme pointing to the cliff behind, and +evidently explaining the situation and what must be done. Then followed +a short and animated talk. Through the glasses we could even see Higgs +shaking his head. He told them something, they came to a determination, +for now he turned, stepped forward a pace or two, and vanished, as I +learnt afterwards, to fetch my son, without whom he would not try to +escape. + +A while went by; it seemed an age, but really was under a minute. We +heard the sound of shouts. Higgs’s white helmet reappeared, and then +his body, with two Fung guards clinging on to him. He yelled out in +English and the words reached us faintly: + +“Save yourself! I’ll hold these devils. Run, you infernal fool, +run!” + +Oliver hesitated, although the Mountaineer was pulling at him, till the +heads of more Fung appeared. Then, with a gesture of despair, he turned +and fled. First ran Oliver, then Japhet, whom he had outpaced, and +after them came a number of priests or guards, waving knives, while in +the background Higgs rolled on the rock with his captors. + +The rest was very short. Orme slid down the rump of the idol on to the +tail, followed by the Mountaineer, and after them in single file came +three Fung, who apparently thought no more of the perilous nature of +their foothold than do the sheiks of the Egyptian pyramids when they +swarm about those monuments like lizards. Nor, for the matter of that, +did Oliver or Japhet, who doubled down the tail as though it were a +race track. Oliver swung himself on to the ladder, and in a second was +half across it, we holding its other end, when suddenly he heard his +companion cry out. A Fung had got hold of Japhet by the leg and he lay +face downward on the board. + +Oliver halted and slowly turned round, drawing his revolver as he did +so. Then he aimed and fired, and the Fung, leaving go of Japhet’s +leg, threw up his arms and plunged headlong into the gulf beneath. The +next thing I remember is that they were both among us, and somebody +shouted, “Pull in the ladder.” + +“No,” said Quick, “wait a bit.” + +Vaguely I wondered why, till I perceived that three of those courageous +Fung were following across it, resting their hands upon each other’s +shoulders, while their companions cheered them. + +“Now, pull, brothers, pull!” shouted the Sergeant, and pull we did. +Poor Fung! they deserved a better fate. + +“Always inflict loss upon the enemy when you get a chance,” +remarked the Sergeant, as he opened fire with his repeating rifle upon +other Fung who by now were clustering upon the back of the idol. This +position, however, they soon abandoned as untenable, except one or two +of them who remained there, dead or wounded. + +A silence followed, in the midst of which I heard Quick saying to Joshua +in his very worst Arabic: + +“Now does your Royal Highness think that we Gentiles are cowards, +although it is true those Fung are as good men as we any day?” + +Joshua declined argument, and I turned to watch Oliver, who had covered +his face with his hands, and seemed to be weeping. + +“What is it, O friend, what is it?” I heard Maqueda say in her +gentle voice—a voice full of tears, tears of gratitude I think. +“You have done a great deed; you have returned safe; all is well.” + +“Nay,” he answered, forgetting her titles in his distress, +“all is ill. I have failed, and to-night they throw my brother to the +lions. He told me so.” + +Maqueda, finding no answer, stretched out her hand to the Mountaineer, +his companion in adventure, who kissed it. + +“Japhet,” she said, “I am proud of you; your reward is +fourfold, and henceforth you are a captain of my Mountaineers.” + +“Tell us what happened,” I said to Oliver. + +“This,” he answered: “I remembered about your son, and so did +Higgs. In fact, he spoke of him first—they seem to have become +friends. He said he would not escape without him, and could fetch him +in a moment, as he was only just below. Well, he went to do so, and +must have found the guard instead, who, I suppose, had heard us +talking. You know as much about the rest as I do. To-night, when the +full moon is two hours high, there is to be a ceremony of sacrifice, +and poor Higgs will be let down into the den of lions. He was writing +his will in a note-book when we saw him, as Barung had promised to send +it to us.” + +“Doctor,” said the Sergeant, in a confidential voice, when he had +digested this information, “would you translate for me a bit, as I +want to have a talk with Cat there, and my Arabic don’t run to it?” + +I nodded, and we went to that corner of the plateau where Shadrach stood +apart, watching and listening. + +“Now, Cat,” said the Sergeant (I give his remarks in his own +language, leaving out my rendering) “just listen to me, and understand +that if you tell lies or play games either you or I don’t reach the +top of this cliff again alive. Do you catch on?” + +Shadrach replied that he caught on. + +“Very well. You’ve told us that once you were a prisoner among the +Fung and thrown to these holy lions, but got out. Now just explain what +happened.” + +“This, O Quick. After ceremonies that do not matter, I was let down in +the food-basket into the feeding-den, and thrown out of the basket like +any other meat. Then the gates were lifted up by the chains, and the +lions came in to devour me according to their custom.” + +“And what happened next, Shadrach?” + +“What happened? Why, of course I hid myself in the shadow as much as +possible, right against the walls of the precipice, until a satan of a +she-lion snuffled me out and gave a stroke at me. Look, here are the +marks of her claws,” and he pointed to the scars upon his face. +“Those claws stung like scorpions; they made me mad. The terror which +I had lost when I saw their yellow eyes came back to me. I rushed at +the precipice as a cat that is hunted by a dog rushes at a wall. I +clung to its smooth side with my nails, with my toes, with my teeth. A +lion leaped up and tore the flesh of my leg, here, here,” and he +showed the marks, which we could scarcely see in that dim light. “He +ran back for another spring. Above me I saw a tiny ledge, big enough +for a hawk to sit on—no more. I jumped, I caught it, drawing up my +legs so that the lion missed me. I made the effort a man makes once in +his life. Somehow I dragged myself to that ledge; I rested one thigh +upon it and pressed against the rock to steady myself. Then the rock +gave, and I tumbled backward into the bottom of a tunnel. Afterwards I +escaped to the top of the cliff in the dark, O God of Israel! in the +dark, smelling my way, climbing like a baboon, risking death a thousand +times. It took me two whole days and nights, and the last of those +nights I knew not what I did. Yet I found my way, and that is why my +people name me Cat.” + +“I understand,” said Quick in a new and more respectful voice, +“and however big a rascal you may be, you’ve got pluck. Now, say, +remembering what I told you,” and he tapped the handle of his +revolver, “is that feeding-den where it used to be?” + +“I believe so, O Quick; why should it be changed? The victims are let +down from the belly of the god, just there between his thighs where are +doors. The feeding-place lies in a hollow of the cliff; this platform +on which we stand is over it. None saw my escape, therefore none +searched for the means of it, since they thought that the lions had +devoured me, as they have devoured thousands. No one enters there, only +when the beasts have fed full they draw back to their sleeping-dens, +and those who watch above let down the bars. Listen,” and as he spoke +we heard a crash and a rattle far below. “They fall now, the lions +having eaten. When Black Windows and perhaps others are thrown to them, +by and by, they will be drawn up again.” + +“Is that hole in the rock still there, Shadrach?” + +“Without doubt, though I have not been down to look.” + +“Then, my boy, you are going now,” remarked Quick grimly. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE DEN OF LIONS + + +We returned to the others and told them everything that we had learned +from Shadrach. + +“What’s your plan, Sergeant?” asked Oliver when he had heard. +“Tell me, for I have none; my head is muddled.” + +“This, Captain, for what it is worth; that I should go down through +the hole that Cat here speaks of, and get into the den. Then when they +let down the Professor, if they do, and pull up the gates, that I +should keep back the lions with my rifle while he bolts to the ladder +which is ready for him, and I follow if I can.” + +“Capital,” said Orme, “but you can’t go alone. +I’ll come too.” + +“And I also,” I said. + +“What schemes do you make?” asked Maqueda eagerly, for, of course, +she could not understand our talk. + +We explained. + +“What, my friend,” she said to Oliver reproachfully, “would +you risk your life again to-night? Surely it is tempting the goodness of +God.” + +“It would be tempting the goodness of God much more if I left my +friend to be eaten by lions, Lady,” he answered. + +Then followed much discussion. In the end it was agreed that we should +descend to the level of the den, if this were possible; that Oliver and +Quick should go down into the den with Japhet, who instantly +volunteered to accompany them, and that I, with some of the +Mountaineers, should stop in the mouth of the hole as a reserve to +cover their retreat from the lions. I pleaded to be allowed to take a +more active part, but of this they would not hear, saying with some +truth, that I was by far the best shot of the three, and could do much +more to help them from above, if, as was hoped, the moon should shine +brightly. + +But I knew they really meant that I was too old to be of service in such +an adventure as this. Also they desired to keep me out of risk. + +Then came the question as to who should descend the last tunnel to the +place of operations. Oliver wished Maqueda to return to the top of the +cliff and wait there, but she said at once that she could not think of +attempting the ascent without our aid; also that she was determined to +see the end of the matter. Even Joshua would not go; I think, that +being an unpopular character among them, he distrusted the +Mountaineers, whose duty it would have been to escort him. + +It was suggested that he should remain where he was until we returned, +if we did return, but this idea commended itself to him still less than +the other. Indeed he pointed out with much truth what we had +overlooked, namely, that now the Fung knew of the passage and were +quite capable of playing our own game, that is, of throwing a bridge +across from the sphinx’s tail and attempting the storm of Mur. + +“And then what should I do if they found me here alone?” he added +pathetically. + +Maqueda answered that she was sure she did not know, but that meanwhile +it might be wise to block the mouth of the tunnel by which we had +reached the plateau in such a fashion that it could not easily be +forced. + +“Yes,” answered Oliver, “and if we ever get out of this, to +blow the shaft in and make sure that it cannot be used.” + +“That shaft might be useful, Captain,” said Quick doubtfully. + +“There is a better way, Sergeant, if we want to mine under the sphinx; +I mean through the Tomb of Kings. I took the levels roughly, and the +end of it can’t be far off. Anyhow, this shaft is of no more use to +us now that the Fung have found it out.” + +Then we set to work to fill in the mouth of the passage with such loose +stones as we could find. It was a difficult business, but in the end +the Mountaineers made a very fair job of it under our direction, piling +the rocks in such a fashion that they could scarcely be cleared away in +any short time without the aid of explosives. + +While this work was going on, Japhet, Shadrach, and the Sergeant in +charge of him, undertook to explore the last shaft which led down to +the level of the den. To our relief, just as we had finished building +up the hole, they returned with the news that now after they had +removed a fallen stone or two it was quite practicable with the aid of +ropes and ladders. + +So, in the same order as before, we commenced its passage, and in about +half-an-hour, for it was under three hundred feet in depth, arrived +safely at the foot. Here we found a bat-haunted place like a room that +evidently had been hollowed out by man. As Shadrach had said, at its +eastern extremity was a large, oblong boulder, so balanced that if even +one person pushed on either of its ends it swung around, leaving on +each side a passage large enough to allow a man to walk through in a +crouching attitude. + +Very silently we propped open this primæval door and looked out. Now +the full moon was up, and her brilliant light had begun to flood the +gulf. By it we saw a dense shadow, that reached from the ground to +three hundred feet or so above us. This we knew to be that thrown by +the flanks of the gigantic sphinx which projected beyond the mountain +of stone whereon it rested, those flanks whence, according to Shadrach, +Higgs would be lowered in a food-basket. In this shadow and on either +side of it, covering a space of quite a hundred yards square, lay the +feeding-den, whence arose a sickly and horrible odour such as is common +to any place frequented by cats, mingled with the more pungent smell of +decaying flesh. + +This darksome den was surrounded on three sides by precipices, and on +the fourth, that toward the east, enclosed by a wall or barrier of rock +pierced with several gates made of bars of metal, or so we judged by +the light that flowed through them. + +From beyond this eastern wall came dreadful sounds of roars, snarls, and +whimperings. Evidently there the sacred lions had their home. + +Only one more thing need be mentioned. On the rock floor almost +immediately beneath us lay remains which, from their torn clothes and +hair, we knew must be human. As somebody explained, I think it was +Shadrach, they were those of the man whom Orme had shot upon the tail +of the sphinx, and of his companions who had been tilted off the +ladder. + +For awhile we gazed at this horrible hole in silence. Then Oliver took +out his watch, which was a repeater, and struck it. + +“Higgs told me,” he said, “that he was to be thrown to the +lions two hours after moonrise, which is within fifteen minutes or so. +Sergeant, I think we had better be getting ready.” + +“Yes, Captain,” answered Quick; “but everything is quite +ready, including those brutes, to judge by the noise they make, +excepting perhaps Samuel Quick, who never felt less ready for anything +in his life. Now then, Pussy, run out that ladder. Here’s your rifle, +Captain, and six reload clips of cartridges, five hollow-nosed bullets +in each. You’ll never want more than that, and it’s no use carrying +extra weight. In your right-hand pocket, Captain, don’t forget. +I’ve the same in mine. Doctor, here’s a pile for you; laid upon +that stone. If you lie there, you’ll have a good light and rest for +your elbow, and at this range ought to make very pretty shooting, even +in the moonlight. Best keep your pistol on the safe, Captain; at least, +I’m doing so, as we might get a fall, and these new-fangled weapons +are very hair-triggered. Here’s Japhet ready, too, so give us your +marching orders, sir, and we will go to business; the Doctor will +translate to Japhet.” + +“We descend the ladder,” said Orme, “and advance about fifty +paces into the shadow, where we can see without being seen; where also, +according to Shadrach, the food-basket is let down. There we shall stand +and await the arrival of this basket. If it contains the Professor, he +whom the Fung and the Abati know as Black Windows, Japhet, you are to +seize him and lead, or if necessary carry, him to the ladder, up which +some of the mountaineers must be ready to help him. Your duty, +Sergeant, and mine, also that of the Doctor firing from above, will be +to keep off the lions as best we can, should any lions appear, +retreating as we fire. If the brutes get one of us he must be left, +since it is foolish that both lives should be sacrificed needlessly. +For the rest, you, Sergeant, and you, Japhet, must be guided by +circumstances and act upon your own discretion. Do not wait for special +orders from me which I may not be able to give. Now, come on. If we do +not return, Adams, you will see the Child of Kings safely up the shafts +and conduct her to Mur. Good-bye, Lady.” + +“Good-bye,” answered Maqueda in a brave voice; I could not see her +face in the darkness. “Presently, I am sure, you will return with your +brother.” + +Just then Joshua broke in: + +“I will not be outdone in courage by these Gentiles,” he said. +“Lacking their terrible weapons, I cannot advance into the den, but I +will descend and guard the foot of the ladder.” + +“Very well, sir,” answered Orme in an astonished voice, “glad +to have your company, I am sure. Only remember that you must be quick in +going up it again, since hungry lions are active, and let all take +notice that we are not responsible for anything that may happen to +you.” + +“Surely you had better stop where you are, my uncle,” remarked +Maqueda. + +“To be mocked by you for ever after, my niece. No, I go to face the +lions,” and very slowly he crept through the hole and began to descend +the ladder. Indeed, when Quick followed after an interval he found him +only half-way down, and had to hurry his movements by accidentally +treading on his fingers. + +A minute or two later, peeping over the edge, I saw that they were all +in the den, that is, except Joshua, who had reascended the ladder to +the height of about six feet, and stood on it face outward, holding to +the rock on either side with his hands as though he had been crucified. +Fearing lest he should be seen there, even in the shadow, I suggested +to Maqueda that she should order him either to go down, or to return, +which she did vigorously, but without effect. So in the end we left him +alone. + +Meanwhile the three had vanished into the shadow of the sphinx, and we +could see nothing of them. The great round moon rose higher and higher, +flooding the rest of the charnel-house with light, and, save for an +occasional roar or whimper from the lions beyond the wall, the silence +was intense. Now I could make out the metal gates in this wall, and +even dark and stealthy forms which passed and repassed beyond their +bars. Then I made out something else also, the figures of men gathering +on the top of the wall, though whence they came I knew not. By degrees +their number increased till there were hundreds of them, for the wall +was broad as a roadway. + +Evidently these were spectators, come to witness the ceremony of +sacrifice. + +“Prince,” I whispered to Joshua, “you must get down off the +ladder or you will betray us all. Nay, it is too late to come up here +again, for already the moonlight strikes just above your head. Go down, +or we will cast the ladder loose and let you fall.” + +So he went down and hid himself among some ferns and bushes where we saw +no more of him for a while, and, to tell the truth, forgot his +existence. + +Far, far above us, from the back of the idol I suppose, came a faint +sound of solemn chanting. It sank, and we heard shouts. Then suddenly +it swelled again. Now Maqueda, who knelt near me, touched my arm and +pointed to the shadow which gradually was becoming infiltrated with the +moonlight flowing into it from either side. I looked, and high in the +air, perhaps two hundred feet from the ground, saw something dark +descending slowly. Doubtless it was the basket containing Higgs, and +whether by coincidence or no, at this moment the lions on the farther +side of the wall burst into peal upon peal of terrific roaring. Perhaps +their sentries watching at the gate saw or smelt the familiar basket, +and communicated the intelligence to their fellows. + +Slowly, slowly it descended, till it was within a few feet of the +ground, when it began to sway backward and forward like a pendulum, at +each swing covering a wider arc. Presently, when it hung over the edge +of the shadow that was nearest to us, it was let down with a run and +overset, and out of it, looking very small in those vast surroundings +and that mysterious light, rolled the figure of a man. Although at that +distance we could see little of him, accident assured us of his +identity, for as he rolled the hat he wore fell from him, and I knew it +at once for Higgs’s sun-helmet. He rose from the ground, limped very +slowly and painfully after the helmet, picked it up, and proceeded to +use it to dust his knees. At this moment there was a clanking sound. + +“Oh! they lift the gates!” murmured Maqueda. + +Then followed more sounds, this time of wild beasts raging for their +prey, and of other human beasts shrieking with excitement on the wall +above. The Professor turned and saw. For a moment he seemed about to +run, then changed his mind, clapped the helmet on his head, folded his +arms and stood still, reminding me in some curious way, perhaps, +because of the shortness of his thick figure, of a picture I had seen +of the great Napoleon contemplating a disaster. + +To describe what followed is extremely difficult, for we watched not one +but several simultaneous scenes. For instance, there were the lions, +which did not behave as might have been expected. I thought that they +would rush through the doors and bound upon the victim, but whether it +was because they had already been fed that afternoon or because they +thought that a single human being was not worth the trouble, they acted +differently. + +Through the open gates they came, in two indolent yellow lines, male +lions, female lions, half-grown lions, cub lions that cuffed each other +in play, in all perhaps fifty or sixty of them. Of these only two or +three looked towards the Professor, for none of them ran or galloped, +while the rest spread over the den, some of them vanishing into the +shadow at the edge of the surrounding cliff where the moonlight could +not reach. + +Here one of them, at any rate, must have travelled fast enough, for it +seemed only a few seconds later that we heard a terrific yell beneath +us, and craning over the rock I saw the Prince Joshua running up the +ladder more swiftly than ever did any London lamplighter when I was a +boy. + +But quickly as he came, the long, thin, sinuous thing beneath came +quicker. It reared itself on its hind legs, it stretched up a great +paw—I can see the gleaming claws in it now—and struck or hooked at +poor Joshua. The paw caught him in the small of the back, and seemed to +pin him against the ladder. Then it was drawn slowly downward, and +heaven! how Joshua howled. Up came the other paw to repeat the +operation, when, stretching myself outward and downward, with an Abati +holding me by the ankles, I managed to shoot the beast through the head +so that it fell all of a heap, taking with it a large portion of +Joshua’s nether garments. + +A few seconds later he was among us, and tumbled groaning into a corner, +where he lay in charge of some of the mountaineers, for I had no time +to attend to him just then. + +When the smoke cleared at length, I saw that Japhet had reached Higgs, +and was gesticulating to him to run, while two lions, a male and a +female, stood at a little distance, regarding the pair in an interested +fashion. Higgs, after some brief words of explanation, pointed to his +knee. Evidently he was lamed and could not run. Japhet, rising to the +occasion, pointed to his back, and bent down. Higgs flung himself upon +it, and was hitched up like a sack of flour. The pair began to advance +toward the ladder, Japhet carrying Higgs as one schoolboy carries +another. + +The lion sat down like a great dog, watching this strange proceeding +with mild interest, but the lioness, filled with feminine curiosity, +followed sniffing at Higgs, who looked over his shoulder. Taking off +his battered helmet, he threw it at the beast, hitting her on the head. +She growled, then seized the helmet, playing with it for a moment as a +kitten does with a ball of wool, and next instant, finding it +unsatisfying, uttered a short and savage roar, ran forward, and +crouched to spring, lashing her tail. I could not fire, because a bullet + that would hit her must first pass through Japhet and Higgs. + +But, just when I thought that the end had come, a rifle went off in the +shadow and she rolled over, kicking and biting the rock. Thereon the +indolent male lion seemed to awake, and sprang, not at the men, but at +the wounded lioness, and a hellish fight ensued, of which the details +and end were lost in a mist of dust and flying hair. + +The crowd upon the wall, becoming alive to the real situation, began to +scream in indignant excitement which quickly communicated itself to the +less savage beasts. These set up a terrible roaring, and ran about, +keeping for the most part to the shadows, while Japhet and his burden +made slow but steady progress toward the ladder. + +Then from the gloom beneath the hind-quarters of the sphinx rose a sound +of rapid firing, and presently Orme and Quick emerged into the +moonlight, followed by a number of angry lions that advanced in short +rushes. Evidently the pair had kept their heads, and were acting on a +plan. + +One of them emptied his rifle at the pursuing beasts, while the other +ran back a few paces, thrusting in a fresh clip of cartridges as he +went. Then he began to fire, and his companion in turn retreated behind +him. In this way they knocked over a number of lions, for the range was +too short for them to miss often, and the expanding bullets did their +work very well, paralyzing even when they did not kill. I also opened +fire over their heads, and, although in that uncertain light the +majority of my shots did no damage, the others disposed of several +animals which I saw were becoming dangerous. + +So things went on until all four, that is, Japhet with Higgs upon his +back, and Orme and Quick, were within twenty paces of the ladder, +although separated from each other by perhaps half the length of a +cricket pitch. We thought that they were safe, and shouted in our joy, +while the hundreds of spectators on the wall who fortunately dared not +descend into the den because of the lions, which are undiscriminating +beasts, yelled with rage at the imminent rescue of the sacrifice. + +Then of a sudden the position changed. From every quarter fresh lions +seemed to arrive, ringing the men round and clearly bent on slaughter, +although the shouting and the sound of firearms, which they had never +heard before, frightened them and made them cautious. + +A half-grown cub rushed in and knocked over Japhet and Higgs. I fired +and hit it in the flank. It bit savagely at its wound, then sprang on +to the prostrate pair, and stood over them growling, but in such pain +that it forgot to kill them. The ring of beasts closed in—we could +see their yellow eyes glowing in the gloom. Orme and Quick might have +got through by the help of their rifles, but they could not leave the +others. The dreadful climax seemed at hand. + +“Follow me,” said Maqueda, who all this while had watched panting +at my side, and rose to run to the ladder. I thrust her back. + +“Nay,” I shouted. “Follow me, Abati! Shall a woman lead +you?” + +Of how I descended that ladder I have no recollection, nor do I in the +least know how the Mountaineers came after me, but I think that the +most of them rolled and scrambled down the thirty feet of rock. At +least, to their honour be it said, they did come, yelling like demons +and waving long knives in their hands. + +The effect of our sudden arrival from above was extraordinary. Scared by +the rush and the noise, the lions gave way, then bolted in every +direction, the wounded cub, which could not, or would not move, being +stabbed to death where it stood over Higgs and Japhet. + +Five minutes more and all of us were safe in the mouth of the tunnel. + +That was how we rescued Higgs from the den of the sacred lions which +guarded the idol of the Fung. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE ADVENTURES OF HIGGS + + +A more weary and dishevelled set of people than that which about the +hour of dawn finally emerged from the mouth of the ancient shaft on to +the cliffs of Mur it has seldom been my lot to behold. Yet with a +single exception the party was a happy one, for we had come triumphant +through great dangers, and actually effected our object—the rescue of +Higgs, which, under the circumstances most people would have thought +impossible. Yes, there he was in the flesh before us, having injured +his knee and lost his hat, but otherwise quite sound save for a few +trifling scratches inflicted by the cub, and still wearing what the +natives called his “black windows.” + +Even the Prince Joshua was happy, though wrapped in a piece of coarse +sacking because the lion had taken most of his posterior clothing, and +terribly sore from the deep cuts left by the claws. + +Had he not dared the dangers of the den, and thus proved himself a hero +whose fame would last for generations? Had I not assured him that his +honourable wounds, though painful (as a matter of fact, after they had +set, they kept him stiff as a mummy for some days, so that unless he +stood upon his feet, he had to be carried, or lie rigid on his face) +would probably not prove fatal? And had he not actually survived to +reach the upper air again, which was more than he ever expected to do? +No wonder that he was happy. + +I alone could not share in the general joy, since, although my friend +was restored to me, my son still remained a prisoner among the Fung. +Yet even in this matter things might have been worse, since I learned +that he was well treated, and in no danger. But of that I will write +presently. + +Never shall I forget the scene after the arrival of Higgs in our hole, +when the swinging boulder had been closed and made secure and the lamps +lighted. There he sat on the floor, his red hair glowing like a torch, +his clothes torn and bloody, his beard ragged and stretching in a +Newgate frill to his ears. Indeed, his whole appearance, accentuated by +the blue spectacles with wire gauze side-pieces, was more disreputable +than words can tell; moreover, he smelt horribly of lion. He put his +hand into his pocket, and produced his big pipe, which had remained +unbroken in its case. + +“Some tobacco, please,” he said. (Those were his first words to +us!) “I have finished mine, saved up the last to smoke just before +they put me into that stinking basket.” + +I gave him some, and as he lit his pipe the light of the match fell upon +the face of Maqueda, who was staring at him with amused astonishment. + +“What an uncommonly pretty woman,” he said. “What’s she +doing down here, and who is she?” + +I told him, whereon he rose, or rather tried to, felt for his hat, +which, of course, had gone, with the idea of taking it off, and +instantly addressed her in his beautiful and fluent Arabic, saying how +glad he was to have this unexpected honour, and so forth. + +She congratulated him on his escape, whereon his face grew serious. + +“Yes, a nasty business,” he said, “as yet I can hardly +remember whether my name is Daniel, or Ptolemy Higgs.” Then he turned +to us and added, “Look here, you fellows, if I don’t thank you it +isn’t because I am not grateful, but because I can’t. The truth is, +I’m a bit dazed. Your son is all right, Adams; he’s a good fellow, +and we grew great friends. Safe? Oh! yes, he’s safe as a church! Old +Barung, he’s the Sultan, and another good fellow, although he did +throw me to the lions—because the priests made him—is very fond of +him, and is going to marry him to his daughter.” + +At this moment the men announced that everything was ready for our +ascent, and when I had attended to Joshua with a heart made thankful by +Higgs’s news, we began that toilsome business, and, as I have already +said, at length accomplished it safely. But even then our labours were +not ended, since it was necessary to fill up the mouth of the shaft so +as to make it impossible that it should be used by the Fung, who now +knew of its existence. + +Nor was this a business that could be delayed, for as we passed the +plateau whence Oliver and Japhet had crossed to the sphinx, we heard +the voices of men on the farther side of the rough wall that we had +built there. Evidently the priests, or idol guards, infuriated by the +rescue of their victim, had already managed to bridge the gulf and were +contemplating assault, a knowledge which caused us to hurry our +movements considerably. If they had got through before we passed them, +our fate would have been terrible, since at the best we must have +slowly starved in the pit below. + +Indeed, as soon as we reached the top and had blocked it temporarily, +Quick, weary as he was, was sent off on horseback, accompanied by +Maqueda, Shadrach, now under the terms of his contract once more a free +man, and two Mountaineers, to gallop to the palace of Mur, and fetch a +supply of explosives. The rest of us, for Higgs declined to leave, and +we had no means of carrying Joshua, remained watching the place, or +rather the Abati watched while we slept with our rifles in our hands. +Before noon Quick returned, accompanied by many men with litters and +all things needful. + +Then we pulled out the stones, and Oliver, Japhet, and some others +descended to the first level and arranged blasting charges. Awhile +after he reappeared with his companions, looking somewhat pale and +anxious, and shouted to us to get back. Following our retreat to a +certain distance, unwinding a wire as he came, presently he stopped and +pressed the button of a battery which he held in his hand. There was a +muffled explosion and a tremor of the soil like to that of an +earthquake, while from the mouth of the shaft stones leapt into the air. + + +It was over, and all that could be noted was a sinkage in the ground +where the ancient pit had been. + +“I am sorry for them,” said Oliver presently, “but it had to +be done.” + +“Sorry for whom?” I asked. + +“For those Fung priests or soldiers. The levels below are full of +them, dead or alive. They were pouring up at our heels. Well, no one +will travel that road again.” + +Later, in the guest house at Mur, Higgs told us his story. After his +betrayal by Shadrach, which, it appeared, was meant to include us all, +for the Professor overheard the hurried talk between him and a Fung +captain, he was seized and imprisoned in the body of the great sphinx, +where many chambers and dungeons had been hollowed out by the primæval +race that fashioned it. Here Barung the Sultan visited him and informed +him of his meeting with the rest of us, to whom apparently he had taken +a great liking, and also that we had refused to purchase a chance of +his release at the price of being false to our trust. + +“You know,” said Higgs, “that when first I heard this I was +very angry with you, and thought you a set of beasts. But on considering +things I saw the other side of it, and that you were right, although I +never could come to fancy the idea of being sacrificed to a sphinx by +being chucked like a piece of horse-flesh to a lot of holy lions. +However, Barung, an excellent fellow in his way, assured me that there +was no road out of the matter without giving grave offence to the +priests, who are very powerful among the Fung, and bringing a fearful +curse on the nation. + +“Meanwhile, he made me as comfortable as he could. For instance, I was +allowed to walk upon the back of the idol, to associate with the +priests, a suspicious and most exclusive set, and to study their entire +religious system, from which I have no doubt that of Egypt was derived. +Indeed, I have made a great discovery which, if ever we get out of +this, will carry my name down to all generations. The forefathers of +these Fung were undoubtedly also the forefathers of the pre-dynastic +Egyptians, as is shown by the similarity of their customs and spiritual +theories. Further, intercourse was kept up between the Fung, who then +had their headquarters here in Mur, and the Egyptians in the time of +the ancient empire, till the Twentieth Dynasty, indeed, if not later. +My friends, in the dungeons in which I was confined there is an +inscription, or, rather, a _graffite_, made by a prisoner extradited to +Mur by Rameses II., after twenty years’ residence in Egypt, which was +written by him on the night before he was thrown to the sacred lions, +that even in those days were an established institution. And I have got +a copy of that inscription in my pocket-book. I tell you,” he added +in a scream of triumph, “I’ve got a certified copy of that +inscription, thanks to Shadrach, on whose dirty head be blessings!” + +I congratulated him heartily upon this triumph, and before he proceeded +to give us further archæological details, asked him for some +information about my boy. + +“Oh,” said Higgs, “he is a very nice young man and extremely +good looking. Indeed, I am quite proud to have such a godson. He was +much interested to hear that you were hunting for him after so many +years, quite touched indeed. He still talks English, though with a Fung +accent, and, of course, would like to escape. Meanwhile, he is having a +very good time, being chief singer to the god, for his voice is really +beautiful, an office which carries with it all sorts of privileges. I +told you, didn’t I, that he is to be married to Barung’s only +legitimate daughter on the night of the next full moon but one. The +ceremony is to take place in Harmac City, and will be the greatest of +its sort for generations, a feast of the entire people in short. I +should very much like to be present at it, but being an intelligent +young man he has promised to keep notes of everything, which I hope may +become available in due course.” + +“And is he attached to this savage lady?” I asked dismayed. + +“Attached? Oh, dear no, I think he said he had never seen her, and +only knew that she was rather plain and reported to possess a haughty +temper. He is a philosophical young man, however, as might be expected +from one who has undergone so many vicissitudes, and, therefore, takes +things as they come, thanking heaven that they are no worse. You see, +as the husband of the Sultan’s daughter, unless the pair quarrel very +violently, he will be safe from the lions, and he could never quite say +as much before. But we didn’t go into these domestic matters very +deeply as there were so many more important things to interest us both. +He wanted to know all about you and our plans, and naturally I wanted +to know all about the Fung and the ritual and traditions connected with +the worship of Harmac, so that we were never dull for a single moment. +In fact, I wish that we could have had longer together, for we became +excellent friends. But whatever happens, I think that I have collected +the cream of his information,” and he tapped a fat note-book in his +hands, adding: + +“What an awful thing it would have been if a lion had eaten this. For +myself it did not matter; there may be many better Egyptologists, but I +doubt if any one of them will again have such opportunities of original +research. However, I took every possible precaution to save my notes by +leaving a copy of the most important of them written with native ink +upon sheepskin in charge of your son. Indeed, I meant to leave the +originals also, but fortunately forgot in the excitement of my very +hurried departure.” + +I agreed with him that his chances had been unique and that he was a +most lucky archæologist, and presently he went on puffing at his pipe. + +“Of course, when Oliver turned up in that unexpected fashion on the +back of the idol, remembering your wishes and natural desire to recover +your son, I did my best to rescue him also. But he wasn’t in the room +beneath, where I thought I should find him. The priests were there +instead, and they had heard us talking above, and you know the rest. +Well, as it happens, it didn’t matter, though that descent into the +den of lions—there were two or three hundred feet of it, and the rope +seemed worn uncommonly thin with use—was a trying business to the +nerves.” + +“What did you think about all the time?” asked Oliver curiously. + +“Think about? I didn’t think much, was in too great a fright. I +just wondered whether St. Paul had the same sensations when he was let +down in a basket; wondered what the early Christian martyrs felt like +in the arena; wondered whether Barung, with whom my parting was quite +affectionate, would come in the morning and look for me as Darius did +for Daniel and how much he would find if he did; hoped that my specs +would give one of those brutes appendicitis, and so forth. My word! it +was sickening, especially that kind of school-treat swing and bump at +the end. I never could bear swinging. Still, it was all for the best, +as I shouldn’t have gone a yard along that sphinx’s tail without +tumbling off, tight-rope walking not being in my line; and I’ll tell +you what, you are just the best three fellows in the whole world. +Don’t you think I forget that because I haven’t said much. And now +let’s have your yarn, for I want to hear how things stand, which I +never expected to do this side of Judgment-day.” + +So we told him all, while he listened open-mouthed. When we came to the +description of the Tomb of the Kings his excitement could scarcely be +restrained. + +“You haven’t touched them,” he almost screamed; +“don’t say you have been vandals enough to touch them, for every +article must be catalogued _in situ_ and drawings must be made. If +possible, specimen groups with their surrounding offerings should be +moved so that they can be set up again in museums. Why, there’s six +months’ work before me, at least. And to think that if it hadn’t +been for you, by now I should be in process of digestion by a lion, a +stinking, mangy, sacred lion!” + +Next morning I was awakened by Higgs limping into my room in some weird +sleeping-suit that he had contrived with the help of Quick. + +“I say, old fellow,” he said, “tell me some more about that +girl, Walda Nagasta. What a sweet face she’s got, and what pluck! Of +course, such things ain’t in my line, never looked at a woman these +twenty years past, hard enough to remember her next morning, but, by +Jingo! the eyes of that one made me feel quite queer here,” and he +hit the sleeping-suit somewhere in the middle, “though perhaps it was +only because she was such a contrast to the lions.” + +“Ptolemy,” I answered in a solemn voice, “let me tell you +that she is more dangerous to meddle with than any lion, and what’s +more, if you don’t want to further complicate matters with a flaming +row, you had better keep to your old habits and leave her eyes alone. I +mean that Oliver is in love with her.” + +“Of course he is. I never expected anything else, but what’s that +got to do with it? Why shouldn’t I be in love with her too? Though I +admit,” he added sadly, contemplating his rotund form, “the chances +are in his favour, especially as he’s got the start.” + +“They are, Ptolemy, for she’s in love with him,” and I told +him what we had seen in the Tomb of Kings. + +First he roared with laughter, then on second thoughts grew exceedingly +indignant. + +“I call it scandalous of Oliver, compromising us all in this +way—the lucky dog! These selfish, amorous adventures will let us in +for no end of trouble. It is even probable, Adams, that you and I may +come to a miserable end, solely because of this young man’s erotic +tendencies. Just fancy neglecting business in order to run after a +pretty, round-faced Jewess, that is if she _is_ a Jewess, which I +doubt, as the blood must have got considerably mixed by now, and the +first Queen of Sheba, if she ever existed, was an Ethiopian. As a +friend almost old enough to be his father, I shall speak to him very +seriously.” + +“All right,” I called after him as he hobbled off to take his bath, +“only if you are wise, you won’t speak to Maqueda, for she might +misinterpret your motives if you go on staring at her as you did +yesterday.” + +That morning I was summoned to see the Prince Joshua and dress his +wounds, which, although not of a serious nature, were very painful. The +moment that I entered the man’s presence I noticed a change in his +face. Like the rest of us I had always set this fellow down as a mere +poltroon and windbag, a blower of his own trumpet, as Oliver had called +him. Now I got an insight into his real nature which showed me that +although he might be these things and worse, he was also a very +determined and dangerous person, animated by ambitions which he meant +to satisfy at all hazards. + +When I had done what I could for him and told him that in my opinion he +had no ill results to fear from his hurts, since the thick clothes he +was wearing at the time had probably cleaned the lion’s paws of any +poison that might have been on them, he said, + +“Physician, I desire private words with you.” + +I bowed, and he went on: + +“The Child of Kings, hereditary ruler of this land, somewhat against +the advice of her Council, has thought fit to employ you and your +Gentile companions in order that by your skill and certain arts of +which you are masters you may damage its ancient enemies, the Fung, and +in reward has promised to pay you well should you succeed in your +endeavours. Now, I wish you to understand that though you think +yourselves great men, and may for aught I know be great in your own +country, here you are but servants like any other mercenaries whom it +may please us to hire.” + +His tone was so offensive that, though it might have been wiser to keep +silent, I could not help interrupting him. + +“You use hard words, Prince,” I said; “let me then explain +what is the real pay for which we work and undergo some risks. Mine is +the hope of recovering a son who is the slave of your enemies. That of +the Captain Orme is the quest of adventure and war, since being a rich +man in his own country he needs no further wealth. That of him whom you +call Black Windows, but whose name is Higgs, is the pure love of +learning. In England and throughout the West he is noted for his +knowledge of dead peoples, their languages, and customs, and it is to +study these that he has undertaken so terrible a journey. As for Quick, +he is Orme’s man, who has known him from childhood, an old soldier +who has served with him in war and comes hither to be with the master +whom he loves.” + +“Ah!” said Joshua, “a servant, a person of no degree, who yet +dares to threaten me, the premier prince of the Abati, to my face.” + +“In the presence of death all men are equal, Prince. You acted in a +fashion that might have brought his lord, who was daring a desperate +deed, to a hideous doom.” + +“And what do I care about his lord’s desperate deeds, Physician? I +see that you set store by such things, and think those who accomplish +them great and wonderful. Well, we do not. There is no savage among the +barbarous Fung would not do all that your Orme does, and more, just +because he is a savage. We who are civilized, we who are cultivated, we +who are wise, know better. Our lives were given us to enjoy, not to +throw away or to lose at the sword’s point, and, therefore, no doubt, +you would call us cowards.” + +“Yet, Prince, those who bear that title of coward which you hold one +of honour, are apt to perish ‘at the sword’s point.’ The Fung +wait without your gates, O Prince.” + +“And therefore, O Gentile, we hire you to fight the Fung. Still, I +bear no grudge against your servant, Quick, who is himself but a +white-skinned Fung, for he acted according to his nature, and I forgive +him; only in the future let him beware! And now—for a greater matter. +The Child of Kings is beautiful, she is young and high spirited; a new +face from another land may perchance touch her fancy. But,” he added +meaningly, “let the owner of that face remember who she is and what +he is; let him remember that for any outside the circle of the ancient +blood to lift his eyes to the daughter of Solomon is to earn death, +death slow and cruel for himself and all who aid and abet him. Let him +remember, lastly, that this high-born lady to whom he, an unknown and +vagrant Gentile, dares to talk as equal to equal, has from childhood +been my affianced, who will shortly be my wife, although it may please +her to seem to flout me after the fashion of maidens, and that we Abati +are jealous of the honour of our women. Do you understand?” + +“Yes, Prince,” I answered, for by now my temper was roused. +“But I would have you understand something also—that we are men of +a high race whose arm stretches over half the world, and that we differ +from the little tribe of the Abati, whose fame is not known to us, in +this—that we are jealous of our own honour, and do not need to hire +strangers to fight the foes we fear to face. Next time I come to attend +to your wounds, O Prince, I trust that they will be in front, and not +behind. One word more, if you will be advised by me you will not +threaten that Captain whom you call a Gentile and a mercenary, lest you +should learn that it is not always well to be a coward, of blood +however ancient.” + +Then, in a towering rage, I left him, feeling that I had made a thorough +fool of myself. But the truth was that I could not sit still and hear +men such as my companions, to say nothing of myself, spoken of thus by +a bloated cur, who called himself a prince and boasted of his own +poltroonery. He glowered at me as I went, and the men of his party who +hung about the end of the great room and in his courts, glowered at me +also. Clearly he was a very dangerous cur, and I almost wished that +instead of threatening to slap his face down in the tunnel, Quick had +broken his neck and made an end of him. + +So did the others when I told them the story, although I think it opened +their eyes, and especially those of Oliver, to the grave and growing +dangers of the situation. Afterward he informed me that he had spoken +of the matter with Maqueda, and that she was much frightened for our +sakes, and somewhat for her own. Joshua, she said, was a man capable of +any crime, who had at his back the great majority of the Abati; a +jealous, mean and intolerant race who made up in cunning for what they +lacked in courage. + +Yet, as I saw well, the peril of their situation did nothing to separate +this pair or to lessen their love. Indeed, rather did it seem to bind +them closer together, and to make them more completely one. In short, +the tragedy took its appointed course, whilst we stood by and watched +it helplessly. + +On the afternoon of my angry interview with Joshua we were summoned to a +meeting of the Council, whither we went, not without some trepidation, +expecting trouble. Trouble there was, but of a different sort to that +which we feared. Scarcely had we entered the great room where the Child +of Kings was seated in her chair of state surrounded by all the pomp +and ceremony of her mimic court, when the big doors at the end of it +were opened, and through them marched three gray-bearded men in white +robes whom we saw at once were heralds or ambassadors from the Fung. +These men bowed to the veiled Maqueda and, turning toward where we +stood in a little group apart, bowed to us also. + +But of Joshua, who was there supported by two servants, for he could not +yet stand alone, and the other notables and priests of the Abati, they +took not the slightest heed. + +“Speak,” said Maqueda. + +“Lady,” answered the spokesman of the embassy, “we are sent +by our Sultan, Barung, son of Barung, Ruler of the Fung nation. These +are the words of Barung: O Walda Nagasta! ‘By the hands and the wit +of the white lords whom you have called to your aid, you have of late +done much evil to the god Harmac and to me his servant. You have +destroyed one of the gates of my city, and with it many of my people. +You have rescued a prisoner out of my hands, robbing Harmac of his +sacrifice and thereby bringing his wrath upon us. You have slain sundry +of the sacred beasts that are the mouth of sacrifice, you have killed +certain of the priests and guards of Harmac in a hole of the rocks. +Moreover my spies tell me that you plan further ills against the god and + against me. Now I send to tell you that for these and other offences I +will make an end of the people of the Abati, whom hitherto I have +spared. In a little while I marry my daughter to the white man, that +priest of Harmac who is called Singer of Egypt, and who is said to be +the son of the physician in your service, but after I have celebrated +this feast and my people have finished the hoeing of their crops, I +take up the sword in earnest, nor will I lay it down again until the +Abati are no more. + +“‘Learn that last night after the holy beasts had been slain and +the sacrifice snatched away, the god Harmac spoke to his priests in +prophecy. And this was his prophecy; that before the gathering in of +the harvest his _head_ should sleep above the plain of Mur. We know not +the interpretation of the saying, but this I know, that before the +gathering of the harvest I, or those who rule after me, will lie down +to sleep within my city of Mur.’ + +“‘Now, choose—surrender forthwith and, save for the dog, +Joshua, who the other day tried to entrap me against the custom of +peoples, and ten others whom I shall name, I will spare the lives of +all of you, though Joshua and these ten I will hang, since they are not +worthy to die by the sword. Or resist, and by Harmac himself I swear +that every man among the Abati shall die save the white lords whom I +honour because they are brave, and that servant of yours who stood with +them last night in the den of lions, and that every woman shall be made +a slave, save you, O Walda Nagasta, because of your great heart. Your +answer, O Lady of the Abati!’” + +Now Maqueda looked around the faces of her Council, and saw fear written +upon them all. Indeed, as we noted, many of them shook in their terror. + +“My answer will be short, ambassadors of Barung,” she replied, +“still, I am but one woman, and it is fitting that those who represent +the people should speak for the people. My uncle, Joshua, you are the +first of my Council, what have you to say? Are you willing to give up +your life with ten others whose names I do not know, that there may be +peace between us and the Fung?” + +“What?” answered Joshua, with a splutter of rage, “do I live +to hear a Walda Nagasta suggest that the first prince of the land, her +uncle and affianced husband, should be surrendered to our hereditary +foes to be hanged like a worn-out hound, and do you, O unknown ten, who +doubtless stand in this chamber, live to hear it also?” + +“My uncle, you do not. I asked if such was your wish, that is all.” + +“Then I answer that it is not my wish, nor the wish of the ten, nor +the wish of the Abati. Nay, we will fight the Fung and destroy them, +and of their beast-headed idol Harmac we will make blocks to build our +synagogues and stones to pave our roads. Do you hear, savages of +Fung?” and assisted by his two servants he hobbled towards them, +grinning in their faces. + +The envoys looked him up and down with their quiet eyes. “We hear and +we are very glad to hear,” their spokesman answered, “since we Fung +love to settle our quarrels with the sword and not by treaty. But to +you, Joshua, we say: Make haste to die before we enter Mur, since the +rope is not the only means of death whereof we know.” + +Very solemnly the three ambassadors saluted, first the Child of Kings +and next ourselves, then turned to go. + +“Kill them!” shouted Joshua, “they have threatened and +insulted me, the Prince!” + +But no one lifted a hand against the men, who passed safely out of the +palace to the square, where an escort waited with their horses. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +HOW PHARAOH MET SHADRACH + + +When the ambassadors had gone, at first there was silence, a very heavy +silence, since even the frivolous Abati felt that the hour was big with +fate. Of a sudden, however, the members of the Council began to chatter +like so many monkeys, each talking without listening to what his +neighbour said, till at length a gorgeously dressed person, I +understood that he was a priest, stepped forward, and shouted down the +others. + +Then he spoke in an excited and venomous fashion. He pointed out that we +Gentiles had brought all this trouble upon Mur, since before we came the +Abati, although threatened, had lived in peace and glory—he actually +used the word glory!—for generations. But now we had stung the Fung, +as a hornet stings a bull, and made them mad, so that they wished to +toss the Abati. He proposed, therefore, that we should at once be +ejected from Mur. + +At this point I saw Joshua whisper into the ear of a man, who called +out:— + +“No, no, for then they would go to their friend, Barung, a savage like +themselves, and having learned our secrets, would doubtless use them +against us. I say that they must be killed instantly,” and he drew a +sword, and waved it. + +Quick walked up to the fellow and clapped a pistol to his head. + +“Drop that sword,” he said, “or _you_’ll never +hear the end of the story,” and he obeyed, whereupon Quick came back. + +Now Maqueda began to speak, quietly enough, although I could see that +she was quaking with passion. + +“These men are our guests,” she said, “come hither to serve +us. Do you desire to murder our guests? Moreover, of what use would that +be? One thing alone can save us, the destruction of the god of the +Fung, since, according to the ancient saying of that people, when the +idol is destroyed the Fung will leave their city of Harmac. Moreover, +as to this new prophecy of the priests of the idol, that before the +gathering in of the harvest his head shall sleep above the plain of +Mur, how can that happen if it is destroyed, unless indeed it means +that Harmac shall sleep in the heavens. Therefore what have you to fear +from threats built upon that which cannot happen? + +“But can _you_ destroy this false god Harmac, or dare _you_ +fight the Fung? You know that it is not so, for had it been so what need +was there for me to send for these Westerns? And if you murder them, +will Barung thereby be appeased? Nay, I tell you that being a brave and +honourable man, although our enemy, he will become ten times more wroth +with you than he was before, and exact a vengeance even more terrible. +I tell you also, that then you must find another Walda Nagasta to rule +over you, since I, Maqueda, will do so no more.” + +“That is impossible,” said some one, “you are the last woman +of the true blood.” + +“Then you can choose one of blood that is not true, or elect a king, +as the Jews elected Saul, for if my guests are butchered I shall die of +very shame.” + +These words of hers seemed to cow the Council, one of whom asked what +would she have them do? + +“Do?” she replied, throwing back her veil, “why, be men, +raise an army of every male who can carry a sword; help the foreigners, +and they will lead you to victory. People of the Abati, would you be +slaughtered, would you see your women slaves, and your ancient name +blotted out from the list of peoples?” + +Now some of them cried, “No.” + +“Then save yourselves. You are still many, the strangers here have +skill in war, they can lead if you will follow. Be brave a while, and I +swear to you that by harvest the Abati shall sit in the city of Harmac +and not the Fung in Mur. I have spoken, now do what you will,” and +rising from her chair of state Maqueda left the chamber, motioning to +us to do likewise. + +The end of all this business was that a peace was made between us and +the Council of the Abati. After their pompous, pedantic fashion they +swore solemnly on the roll of the Law that they would aid us in every +way to overcome the Fung, and even obey such military orders as we +might give them, subject to the confirmation of these orders by a small +council of their generals. In short, being very frightened, for a time +they forgot their hatred of us foreigners. + +So a scheme of operations was agreed upon, and some law passed by the +Council, the only governing body among the Abati, for they possessed no +representative institutions, under which law a kind of conscription was +established for a while. Let me say at once that it met with the most +intense opposition. The Abati were agriculturalists who loathed +military service. From their childhood they had heard of the imminence +of invasion, but no actual invasion had ever yet taken place. The Fung +were always without, and they were always within, an inland isle, the +wall of rock that they thought impassable being their sea which +protected them from danger. + +They had no experience of slaughter and rapine, their imaginations were +not sufficiently strong to enable them to understand what these things +meant; they were lost in the pettiness of daily life and its pressing +local interests. Their homes in flames, they themselves massacred, +their women and children dragged off to be the slaves of the victors, a +poor remnant left to die of starvation among the wasted fields or to +become wild men of the rocks! All these things they looked upon as a +mere tale, a romance such as their local poets repeated in the evenings +of a wet season, dim and far-off events which might have happened to +the Canaanites and Jebusites and Amalekites in the ancient days whereof +the book of their Law told them, but which could never happen to +_them_, the comfortable Abati. In that book the Israelites always +conquered in the end, although the Philistines, alias Fung, sat at their + gates. For it will be remembered that it includes no account of the +final fall of Jerusalem and awful destruction of its citizens, of which +they had little if any knowledge. + +So it came about that our recruiting parties, perhaps press gangs would +be a better term, were not well received. I know it, for this branch of +the business was handed over to me, of course as adviser to the Abati +captains, and on several occasions, when riding round the villages on +the shores of their beautiful lake, we were met by showers of stones, +and were even the object of active attacks which had to be put down +with bloodshed. Still, an army of five or six thousand men was got +together somehow, and formed into camps, whence desertions were +incessant, once or twice accompanied by the murder of officers. + +“It’s ’opeless, downright ’opeless, Doctor,” said +Quick to me, dropping his h’s, as he sometimes did in the excitement +of the moment. “What can one do with a crowd of pigs, everyone of +them bent on bolting to his own sty, or anywhere except toward the +enemy? The sooner the Fung get them the better for all concerned, say +I, and if it wasn’t for our Lady yonder” (Quick always called +Maqueda after “our Lady,” after it had been impressed upon him that +“her Majesty” was an incorrect title), “my advice to the Captain +and you gentlemen would be: Get out of this infernal hole as quick as +your legs can carry you, and let’s do a bit of hunting on the way +home, leaving the Abati to settle their own affairs.” + +“You forget, Sergeant, that I have a reason for staying in this part +of the world, and so perhaps have the others. For instance, the +Professor is very fond of those old skeletons down in the cave,” and +I paused. + +“Yes, Doctor, and the Captain is very fond of something much better +than a skeleton, and so are we all. Well, we’ve got to see it +through, but somehow I don’t think that every one of us will have +that luck, though it’s true that when a man has lived fairly straight +according to his lights a few years more or less don’t matter much +one way or the other. After all, except you gentlemen, who is there +that will miss Samuel Quick?” + +Then without waiting for an answer, drawing himself up straight as a +ramrod he marched off to assist some popinjays of Abati officers, whom +he hated and who hated him, to instil the elements of drill into a +newly raised company, leaving me to wonder what fears or premonitions +filled his honest soul. + +But this was not Quick’s principal work, since for at least six hours +of every day he was engaged in helping Oliver in our great enterprise +of driving a tunnel from the end of the Tomb of Kings deep into the +solid rock that formed the base of the mighty idol of the Fung. The +task was stupendous, and would indeed have been impossible had not +Orme’s conjecture that some passage had once run from the extremity +of the cave toward the idol proved to be perfectly accurate. Such a +passage indeed was found walled up at the back of the chair containing +the bones of the hunchbacked king. It descended very sharply for a +distance of several hundred yards, after which for another hundred +yards or more its walls and roof were so riven and shaky that, for fear +of accidents, we found it necessary to timber them as we went. + +At last we came to a place where they had fallen in altogether, shaken +down, I presume, by the great earthquake which had destroyed so much of +the ancient cave-city. At this spot, if Oliver’s instruments and +calculations could be trusted, we were within about two hundred feet of +the floor of the den of lions, to which it seemed probable that the +passage once led, and of course the question arose as to what should be +done. + +A Council was held to discuss this problem, at which Maqueda and a few +of the Abati notables were present. To these Oliver explained that even +if that were possible it would be useless to clear out the old passage +and at the end find ourselves once more in the den of lions. + +“What, then, is your plan?” asked Maqueda. + +“Lady,” he answered, “I, your servant, am instructed to +attempt to destroy the idol Harmac, by means of the explosives which we +have brought with us from England. First, I would ask you if you still +cling to that design?” + +“Why should it be abandoned?” inquired Maqueda. “What have +you against it?” + +“Two things, Lady. As an act of war the deed seems useless, since +supposing that the sphinx is shattered and a certain number of priests +and guards are destroyed, how will that advance your cause? Secondly, +such destruction will be very difficult, if it can be done at all. The +stuff we have with us, it is true, is of fearful strength, yet who can +be sure that there is enough of it to move this mountain of hard rock, +of which I cannot calculate the weight, not having the measurements or +any knowledge of the size of the cavities within its bulk. Lastly, if +the attempt is to be made, a tunnel must be hollowed of not less than +three hundred feet in length, first downward and then upward into the +very base of the idol, and if this is to be done within six weeks, that +is, by the night of the marriage of the daughter of Barung, the work +will be very hard, if indeed it can be completed at all, although +hundreds of men labour day and night.” + +Now Maqueda thought a while, then looked up and said: + +“Friend, you are brave and skilful, tell us all your mind. If you sat +in my place, what would you do?” + +“Lady, I would lead out every able-bodied man and attack the city of +the Fung, say, on the night of the great festival when they are off +their guard. I would blow in the gates of the city of Harmac, and storm +it and drive away the Fung, and afterwards take possession of the idol, +and if it is thought necessary, destroy it piecemeal from within.” + +Now Maqueda consulted with her councillors, who appeared to be much +disturbed at this suggestion, and finally called us back and gave us +her decision. + +“These lords of the Council,” she said, speaking with a ring of +contempt in her voice, “declare that your plan is mad, and that they +will never sanction it because the Abati could not be persuaded to +undertake so dangerous an enterprise as an attack upon the city of +Harmac, which would end, they think, in all of them being killed. They +point out, O Orme, that the prophecy is that the Fung will leave the +plain of Harmac when their god is destroyed and not before, and that +therefore it must be destroyed. They say, further, O Orme, that for a +year you and your companions are the sworn servants of the Abati, and +that it is your business to receive orders, not to give them, also that +the condition upon which you earn your pay is that you destroy the idol +of the Fung. This is the decision of the Council, spoken by the mouth of + the prince Joshua, who command further that you shall at once set about +the business to execute which you and your companions are present here +in Mur.” + +“Is that _your_ command also, O Child of Kings?” answered +Oliver, colouring. + +“Since I also think that the Abati can never be forced to attack the +city of the Fung, it is, O Orme, though the words in which it is +couched are not my words.” + +“Very well, O Child of Kings, I will do my best. Only blame us not if +the end of this matter is other than these advisers of yours expect. +Prophecies are two-edged swords to play with, and I do not believe that +a race of fighting men like the Fung will fly and leave you triumphant +just because a stone image is shattered, if that can be done in the +time and with the means which we possess. Meanwhile, I ask that you +should give me two hundred and fifty picked men of the Mountaineers, +not of the townspeople, under the captaincy of Japhet, who must choose +them, to assist us in our work.” + +“It shall be done,” she answered, and we made our bows and went. As +we passed through the Council we heard Joshua say in a loud voice meant +for us to hear: + +“Thanks be to God, these hired Gentiles have been taught their place +at last.” + +Oliver turned on him so fiercely that he recoiled, thinking that he was +about to strike him. + +“Be careful, Prince Joshua,” he said, “that before this +business is finished you are not taught yours, which I think may be +lowly,” and he looked meaningly at the ground. + +So the labour began, and it was heavy indeed as well as dangerous. +Fortunately, in addition to the picrate compounds that Quick called +“azure stinging bees,” we had brought with us a few cases of +dynamite, of which we now made use for blasting purposes. A hole was +drilled in the face of the tunnel, and the charge inserted. Then all +retreated back into the Tomb of Kings till the cartridge had exploded, +and the smoke cleared off, which took a long while, when our people +advanced with iron bars and baskets, and cleared away the débris, +after which the process must be repeated. + +Oh! the heat of that narrow hole deep in the bowels of the rock, and the +reek of the stagnant air which sometimes was so bad that the lights +would scarcely burn. Indeed, after a hundred feet had been completed, +we thought that it would be impossible to proceed, since two men died +of asphyxiation and the others, although they were good fellows enough, +refused to return into the tunnel. At length, however, Orme and Japhet +persuaded some of the best of them to do so, and shortly after this the +atmosphere improved very much, I suppose because we cut some cranny or +shaft which communicated with the open air. + +There were other dangers also, notably of the collapse of the whole roof +where the rock was rotten, as we found it to be in places. Then it +proved very hard to deal with the water, for once or twice we struck +small springs impregnated with copper or some other mineral that +blistered the feet and skin, since every drop of this acid water had to +be carried out in wooden pails. That difficulty we overcame at last by +sinking a narrow well down to the level of the ancient tunnel of which +I have spoken as having been shaken in by the earthquake. + +Thus we, or rather Oliver and Quick with the Mountaineers, toiled on. +Higgs did his best, but after a while proved quite unable to bear the +heat, which became too much for so stout a man. The end of it was that +he devoted himself to the superintendence of the removal of the rubbish +into the Tomb of Kings, the care of the stores and so forth. At least +that was supposed to be his business, but really he employed most of +his time in drawing and cataloguing the objects of antiquity and the +groups of bones that were buried there, and in exploring the remains of +the underground city. In truth, this task of destruction was most +repellent to the poor Professor. + +“To think,” he said to us, “to think that I, who all my life +have preached the iniquity of not conserving every relic of the past, +should now be employed in attempting to obliterate the most wonderful +object ever fashioned by the ancients! It is enough to make a Vandal +weep, and I pray heaven that you may not succeed in your infamous +design. What does it matter if the Abati are wiped out, as lots of +better people have been before them? What does it matter if we +accompany them to oblivion so long as that noble sphinx is preserved to +be the wonder of future generations? Well, thank goodness, at any rate +I have seen it, which is more, probably, than any of you will ever do. +There, another brute is dumping his rubbish over the skull of No. 14!” + + +Thus we laboured continually, each at his different task, for the work +in the mine never stopped, Oliver being in charge during the day and +Quick at night for a whole week, since on each Sunday they changed with +their gangs, Quick taking the day shift and Oliver the night, or _vice +versa_. Sometimes Maqueda came down the cave to inspect progress, +always, I noticed, at those hours when Oliver happened to be off duty. +Then on this pretext or on that they would wander away together to +visit I know not what in the recesses of the underground city, or +elsewhere. In vain did I warn them that their every step was dogged, +and that their every word and action were noted by spies who crept +after them continually, since twice I caught one of these gentry in the +act. They were infatuated, and would not listen. + +At this time Oliver only left the underground city twice or thrice a +week to breathe the fresh air for an hour or two. In truth, he had no +leisure. For this same reason he fitted himself up a bed in what had +been a priest’s chamber, or a sanctuary in the old temple, and slept +there, generally with no other guard but the great dog, Pharaoh, his +constant companion even in the recesses of the mine. + +It was curious to see how this faithful beast accustomed itself to the +darkness, and made its other senses, especially that of smell, serve the +purpose of eyes as do the blind. By degrees, too, it learned all the +details of the operations; thus, when the cartridge was in place for +firing, it would rise and begin to walk out of the tunnel even before +the men in charge. + +One night the tragedy that I feared very nearly happened, and indeed +must have happened had it not been for this same hound, Pharaoh. About +six o’clock in the evening Oliver came off duty after an eight-hour +shift in the tunnel, leaving Higgs in command for a little while until +it was time for Quick to take charge. I had been at work outside all +day in connection with the new conscript army, a regiment of which was +in revolt, because the men, most of whom were what we should call +small-holders, declared that they wanted to go home to weed their +crops. Indeed, it had proved necessary for the Child of Kings herself to + be summoned to plead with them and condemn some of the ringleaders to +punishment. + +When at length this business was over we left together, and the poor +lady, exasperated almost to madness, sharply refusing the escort of any +of her people, requested me to accompany her to the mine. + +At the mouth of the tunnel she met Oliver, as probably she had arranged +to do, and after he had reported progress to her, wandered away with +him as usual, each of them carrying a lamp, into some recess of the +buried city. I followed them at a distance, not from curiosity, or +because I wished to see more of the wonders of that city whereof I was +heartily sick, but because I suspected that they were being spied upon. + +The pair vanished round a corner that I knew ended in a _cul-de-sac_, so +extinguishing my lamp, I sat down on a fallen column and waited till I +should see their light reappear, when I proposed to effect my retreat. +Whilst I sat thus, thinking on many things and, to tell the truth, very +depressed in mind, I heard a sound as of some one moving and instantly +struck a match. The light of it fell full upon the face of a man whom I +recognized at once as a body-servant of the prince Joshua, though +whether he was passing me toward the pair or returning from their +direction I could not be sure. + +“What are you doing here?” I asked. + +“What is that to you, Physician?” he answered. + +Then the match burnt out, and before I could light another he had +vanished, like a snake into a stone wall. + +My first impulse was to warn Maqueda and Oliver that they were being +watched, but reflecting that the business was awkward, and that the spy +would doubtless have given over his task for this day, I left it alone, +and went down to the Tomb of the Kings to help Higgs. Just afterwards +Quick came on duty, long before his time, the fact being that he had no +confidence in the Professor as a director of mining operations. When he +appeared Higgs and I retreated from that close and filthy tunnel, and, +by way of recreation, put in an hour or so at the cataloguing and +archæological research in which his soul delighted. + +“If only we could get all this lot out of Mur,” he said, with a +sweep of his hand, “we should be the most famous men in Europe for at +least three days, and rich into the bargain.” + +“Ptolemy,” I answered, “we shall be fortunate if we get +ourselves alive out of Mur, let alone these bones and ancient +treasures,” and I told him what I had seen that evening. + +His fat and kindly face grew anxious. + +“Ah!” he said. “Well, I don’t blame him; should +probably do the same myself if I got the chance, and so would you—if +you were twenty years younger. No, I don’t blame him, or her either, +for the fact is that although their race, education, and circumstances +are so different, they are one of Nature’s pairs, and while they are +alive nothing will keep them apart. You might as well expect a magnet +and a bit of iron to remain separate on a sheet of notepaper. Moreover, +they give themselves away, as people in that state always do. The +pursuit of archæology has its dangers, but it is a jolly sight safer +than that of woman, though it did land me in a den of lions. What’s +going to happen, old fellow?” + +“Can’t say, but I think it very probable that Oliver will be +murdered, and that we shall follow the same road, or, if we are lucky, +be only bundled out of Mur. Well, it’s time for dinner; if I get a +chance I will give them a hint.” + +So we made our way to the old temple in the great cave, where we kept +our stores and Oliver had his headquarters. Here we found him waiting +for us and our meal ready, for food was always brought to us by the +palace servants. When we had eaten and these men had cleared away, we +lit our pipes and fed the dog Pharaoh upon the scraps that had been +reserved for him. Then I told Oliver about the spy whom I had caught +tracking him and Maqueda. + +“Well, what of it?” he said, colouring in his tell-tale fashion; +“she only took me to see what she believed to be an ancient +inscription on a column in that northern aisle.” + +“Then she’d have done better to take me, my boy,” said Higgs. +“What was the character like?” + +“Don’t know,” he answered guiltily. “She could not find +it again.” + +An awkward silence followed, which I broke. + +“Oliver,” I said, “I don’t think you ought to go on +sleeping here alone. You have too many enemies in this place.” + +“Rubbish,” he answered, “though it’s true Pharaoh +seemed uneasy last night, and that once I woke up and thought I heard +footsteps in the court outside. I set them down to ghosts, in which I +have almost come to believe in this haunted place, and went to sleep +again.” + +“Ghosts be blowed!” said Higgs vulgarly, “if there were such +things I have slept with too many mummies not to see them. That +confounded Joshua is the wizard who raises your ghosts. Look here, old +boy,” he added, “let me camp with you to-night, since Quick must be +in the tunnel, and Adams has to sleep outside in case he is wanted on +the army business.” + +“Not a bit of it,” he answered; “you know you are too +asthmatical to get a wink in this atmosphere. I won’t hear of such a +thing.” + +“Then come and sleep with us in the guest-house.” + +“Can’t be done; the Sergeant has got a very nasty job down there +about one o’clock, and I promised to be handy in case he calls me +up,” and he pointed to the portable field telephone that fortunately +we had brought with us from England, which was fixed closed by, adding, +“if only that silly thing had another few hundred yards of wire, +I’d come; but, you see, it hasn’t and I must be in touch with the +work.” + +At this moment the bell tinkled, and Orme made a jump for the receiver +through which for the next five minutes he was engaged in giving rapid +and to us quite unintelligible directions. + +“There you are,” he said, when he had replaced the mouthpiece on +its hook, “if I hadn’t been here they would probably have had the +roof of the tunnel down and killed some people. No, no; I can’t leave +that receiver unless I go back to the mine, which I am too tired to do. +However, don’t you fret. With a pistol, a telephone, and Pharaoh +I’m safe enough. And now, good night; you fellows had better be +getting home as I must be up early to-morrow and want to sleep while I +can.” + +On the following morning about five o’clock Higgs and I were awakened +by some one knocking at our door. I rose and opened it, whereon in +walked Quick, a grim and grimy figure, for, as his soaked clothes and +soiled face told us, he had but just left his work in the mine. + +“Captain wants to see you as soon as possible, gentlemen,” he said. + +“What’s the matter, Sergeant?” asked Higgs, as we got into +our garments. + +“You’ll see for yourself presently, Professor,” was the +laconic reply, nor could we get anything more out of him. + +Five minutes later we were advancing at a run through the dense darkness +of the underground city, each of us carrying a lamp. I reached the +ruins of the old temple first, for Quick seemed very tired and lagged +behind, and in that atmosphere Higgs was scant of breath and could not +travel fast. At the doorway of the place where he slept stood the tall +form of Oliver holding a lamp aloft. Evidently he was waiting for us. +By his side sat the big yellow dog, Pharaoh, that, when he smelt us, +gambolled forward, wagging his tail in greeting. + +“Come here,” said Orme, in a low and solemn voice, “I have +something to show you,” and he led the way into the priest’s +chamber, or sanctuary, whatever it may have been, where he slept upon a +rough, native-made bedstead. At the doorway he halted, lowered the lamp +he held, and pointed to something dark on the floor to the right of his +bedstead, saying, “Look!” + +There lay a dead man, and by his side a great knife that evidently had +fallen from his hand. At the first glance we recognised the face which, +by the way, was singularly peaceful, as though it were that of one +plunged in deep sleep. This seemed odd, since the throat below was +literally torn out. + +“Shadrach!” we said, with one voice. + +Shadrach it was; Shadrach, our former guide, who had betrayed us; +Shadrach who, to save his own life, had shown us how to rescue Higgs, +and for that service been pardoned, as I think I mentioned. Shadrach +and no other! + +“Pussy seems to have been on the prowl and to have met a dog,” +remarked Quick. + +“Do you understand what has happened?” asked Oliver, in a dry, hard +voice. “Perhaps I had better explain before anything is moved. +Shadrach must have crept in here last night—I don’t know at what +time, for I slept through it all—for purposes of his own. But he +forgot his old enemy Pharaoh, and Pharaoh killed him. See his throat? +When Pharaoh bites he doesn’t growl, and, of course, Shadrach could +say nothing, or, as he had dropped his knife, for the matter of that, +do anything either. When I was woke up about an hour ago by the +telephone bell the dog was fast asleep, for he is accustomed to that +bell, with his head resting upon the body of Shadrach. Now why did +Shadrach come into my room at night with a drawn knife in his hand?” + +“Doesn’t seem a difficult question to answer,” replied Higgs, +in the high voice which was common to him when excited. “He came here +to murder you, and Pharaoh was too quick for him, that’s all. That +dog was the cheapest purchase you ever made, friend Oliver.” + +“Yes,” answered Orme, “he came here to murder me—you +were right about the risk, after all—but what I wonder is, who sent +him?” + +“And so you may go on wondering for the rest of your life, +Captain,” exclaimed Quick. “Still, I think we might guess if we +tried.” + +Then news of what had happened was sent to the palace, and within little +over an hour Maqueda arrived, accompanied by Joshua and several other +members of her Council. When she saw and understood everything she was +horrified, and sternly asked Joshua what he knew of this business. Of +course, he proved to be completely innocent, and had not the slightest +idea of who had set the murderer on to work this deed of darkness. Nor +had anybody else, the general suggestion being that Shadrach had +attempted it out of revenge, and met with the due reward of his crime. + +Only that day poor Pharaoh was poisoned. Well, he had done his work, and +his memory is blessed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SERGEANT QUICK HAS A PRESENTIMENT + + +From this time forward all of us, and especially Oliver, were guarded +night and day by picked men who it was believed could not be corrupted. +As a consequence, the Tsar of Russia scarcely leads a life more irksome +than ours became at Mur. Of privacy there was none left to us, since +sentries and detectives lurked at every corner, while tasters were +obliged to eat of each dish and drink from each cup before it touched +our lips, lest our fate should be that of Pharaoh, whose loss we +mourned as much as though the poor dog had been some beloved human +being. + +Most of all was it irksome, I think, to Oliver and Maqueda, whose +opportunities of meeting were much curtailed by the exigencies of this +rigid espionage. Who can murmur sweet nothings to his adored when two +soldiers armed to the teeth have been instructed never to let him out +of their sight? Particularly is this so if the adored happens to be the +ruler of those soldiers to whom the person guarded has no right to be +making himself agreeable. For when off duty even the most faithful +guardians are apt to talk. Of course, the result was that the pair took +risks which did not escape observation. Indeed, their intimate +relations became a matter of gossip throughout the land. + +Still, annoying as they might be, these precautions succeeded, for none +of us were poisoned or got our throats cut, although we were constantly +the victims of mysterious accidents. Thus, a heavy rock rolled down +upon us when we sat together one evening upon the hill-side, and a +flight of arrows passed between us while we were riding along the edge +of a thicket, by one of which Higgs’s horse was killed. Only when the +mountain and the thicket were searched no one could be found. Moreover, +a great plot against us was discovered in which some of the lords and +priests were implicated, but such was the state of feeling in the +country that, beyond warning them privately that their machinations +were known, Maqueda did not dare to take proceedings against these men. + +A little later on things mended so far as we were concerned, for the +following reason: One day two shepherds arrived at the palace with some +of their companions, saying that they had news to communicate. On being +questioned, these peasants averred that while they were herding their +goats upon the western cliffs many miles away, suddenly on the top of +the hills appeared a body of fifteen Fung, who bound and blindfolded +them, telling them in mocking language to take a message to the Council +and to the white men. + +This was the message: That they had better make haste to destroy the god +Harmac, since otherwise his head would move to Mur according to the +prophecy, and that when it did so, the Fung would follow as they knew +how to do. Then they set the two men on a rock where they could be +seen, and on the following morning were in fact found by some of their +fellows, those who accompanied them to the Court and corroborated this +story. + +Of course the matter was duly investigated, but as I know, for I went +with the search party, when we got to the place no trace of the Fung +could be found, except one of their spears, of which the handle had +been driven into the earth and the blade pointed toward Mur, evidently +in threat or defiance. No other token of them remained, for, as it +happened, a heavy rain had fallen and obliterated their footprints, +which in any case must have been faint on this rocky ground. + +Notwithstanding the most diligent search by skilled men, their mode of +approach and retreat remained a mystery, as, indeed, it does to this +day. The only places where it was supposed to be possible to scale the +precipice of Mur were watched continually, so that they could have +climbed up by none of these. The inference was, therefore, that the +Fung had discovered some unknown path, and, if fifteen men could climb +that path, why not fifteen thousand! + +Only, where was this path? In vain were great rewards in land and +honours offered to him who should discover it, for although such +discoveries were continually reported, on investigation these were +found to be inventions or mares’ nests. Nothing but a bird could have +travelled by such roads. + +Then at last we saw the Abati thoroughly frightened, for, with +additions, the story soon passed from mouth to mouth till the whole +people talked of nothing else. It was as though we English learned that +a huge foreign army had suddenly landed on our shores and, having cut +the wires and seized the railways, was marching upon London. The effect +of such tidings upon a nation that always believed invasion to be +impossible may easily be imagined, only I hope that we should take them +better than did the Abati. + +Their swagger, their self-confidence, their talk about the “rocky +walls of Mur,” evaporated in an hour. Now it was only of the +disciplined and terrible regiments of the Fung, among whom every man +was trained to war, and of what would happen to them, the civilized and +domesticated Abati, a peace-loving people who rightly enough, as they +declared, had refused all martial burdens, should these regiments +suddenly appear in their midst. They cried out that they were +betrayed—they clamoured for the blood of certain of the Councillors. +That carpet knight, Joshua, lost popularity for a while, while Maqueda, +who was known always to have been in favour of conscription and perfect +readiness to repel attack, gained what he had lost. + +Leaving their farms, they crowded together into the towns and villages, +where they made what in South Africa are called laagers. Religion, +which practically had been dead among them, for they retained but few +traces of the Jewish faith if, indeed, they had ever really practised +it, became the craze of the hour. Priests were at a premium; sheep and +cattle were sacrificed; it was even said that, after the fashion of +their foes the Fung, some human beings shared the same fate. At any +rate the Almighty was importuned hourly to destroy the hated Fung and +to protect His people—the Abati—from the results of their own base +selfishness and cowardly neglect. + +Well, the world has seen such exhibitions before to-day, and will +doubtless see more of them in the instance of greater peoples who allow +luxury and pleasure-seeking to sap their strength and manhood. + +The upshot of it all was that the Abati became obsessed with the saying +of the Fung scouts to the shepherds, which, after all, was but a +repetition of that of their envoys delivered to the Council a little +while before: that they should hasten to destroy the idol Harmac, lest +he should move himself to Mur. How an idol of such proportions, or even +its head, could move at all they did not stop to inquire. It was +obvious to them, however, that if he was destroyed there would be +nothing to move and, further, that we Gentiles were the only persons +who could possibly effect such destruction. So we also became popular +for a little while. Everybody was pleasant and flattered +us—everybody, even Joshua, bowed when we approached, and took a most +lively interest in the progress of our work, which many deputations and +prominent individuals urged us to expedite. + +Better still, the untoward accidents such as those I have mentioned, +ceased. Our dogs, for we had obtained some others, were no longer +poisoned; rocks that appeared fixed did not fall; no arrows whistled +among us when we went out riding. We even found it safe occasionally to +dispense with our guards, since it was every one’s interest to keep +us alive—for the present. Still, I for one was not deceived for a +single moment, and in season and out of season warned the others that +the wind would soon blow again from a less favourable quarter. + +We worked, we worked, we worked! Heaven alone knows how we did work. +Think of the task, which, after all, was only one of several. A tunnel +must be bored, for I forget how far, through virgin rock, with the help +of inadequate tools and unskilled labour, and this tunnel must be +finished by a certain date. A hundred unexpected difficulties arose, +and one by one were conquered. Great dangers must be run, and were +avoided, while the responsibility of this tremendous engineering feat +lay upon the shoulders of a single individual, Oliver Orme, who, +although he had been educated as an engineer, had no great practical +experience of such enterprises. + +Truly the occasion makes the man, for Orme rose to it in a way that I +can only call heroic. When he was not actually in the tunnel he was +labouring at his calculations, of which many must be made, or taking +levels with such instruments as he had. For if there proved to be the +slightest error all this toil would be in vain, and result only in the +blowing of a useless hole through a mass of rock. Then there was a +great question as to the effect which would be produced by the amount +of explosive at his disposal, since terrible as might be the force of +the stuff, unless it were scientifically placed and distributed it +would assuredly fail to accomplish the desired end. + +At last, after superhuman efforts, the mine was finished. Our stock of +concentrated explosive, about four full camel loads of it, was set in as +many separate chambers, each of them just large enough to receive the +charge, hollowed in the primæval rock from which the idol had been +hewn. + +These chambers were about twenty feet from each other, although if there +had been time to prolong the tunnel, the distance should have been at +least forty in order to give the stuff a wider range of action. +According to Oliver’s mathematical reckoning, they were cut in the +exact centre of the base of the idol, and about thirty feet below the +actual body of the crouching sphinx. As a matter of fact this reckoning +was wrong in several particulars, the charges having been set farther +toward the east or head of the sphinx and higher up in the base than he +supposed. When it is remembered that he had found no opportunity of +measuring the monument which practically we had only seen once from +behind under conditions not favourable to accuracy in such respects, or +of knowing its actual length and depth, these trifling errors were not +remarkable. + +What was remarkable is that his general plan of operations, founded upon +a mere hypothetical estimate, should have proved as accurate as it did. + +At length all was prepared, and the deadly cast-iron flasks had been +packed in sand, together with dynamite cartridges, the necessary +detonators, electric wires, and so forth, an anxious and indeed awful +task executed entirely in that stifling atmosphere by the hands of Orme +and Quick. Then began another labour, that of the filling in of the +tunnels. This, it seems, was necessary, or so I understood, lest the +expanding gases, following the line of least resistance, should blow +back, as it were, through the vent-hole. What made that task the more +difficult was the need of cutting a little channel in the rock to +contain the wires, and thereby lessen the risk of the fracture of these +wires in the course of the building-up process. Of course, if by any +accident this should happen, the circuit would be severed, and no +explosion would follow when the electric battery was set to work. + +The arrangement was that the mine should be fired on the night of that +full moon on which we had been told, and spies confirmed the +information, the feast of the marriage of Barung’s daughter to my son +would be celebrated in the city of Harmac. This date was fixed because +the Sultan had announced that so soon as that festivity, which +coincided with the conclusion of the harvest, was ended, he meant to +deliver his attack on Mur. + +Also, we were anxious that it should be adhered to for another reason, +since we knew that on this day but a small number of priests and guards +would be left in charge of the idol, and my son could not be among +them. Now, whatever may have been the views of the Abati, we as +Christians who bore them no malice did not at all desire to destroy an +enormous number of innocent Fung, as might have happened if we had +fired our mine when the people were gathered to sacrifice to their god. + +The fatal day arrived at last. All was completed, save for the blocking +of the passage, which still went on, or, rather, was being reinforced +by the piling up of loose rocks against its mouth, at which a hundred +or so men laboured incessantly. The firing wires had been led into that +little chamber in the old temple where the dog Pharaoh tore out the +throat of Shadrach, and no inch of them was left unguarded for fear of +accident or treachery. + +The electric batteries—two of them, in case one should fail—had +been tested but not connected with the wires. There they stood upon the +floor, looking innocent enough, and we four sat round them like wizards +round their magic pot, who await the working of some spell. We were not +cheerful; who could be under so intense a strain? Orme, indeed, who had +grown pale and thin with continuous labour of mind and body, seemed +quite worn out. He could not eat nor smoke, and with difficulty I +persuaded him to drink some of the native wine. He would not even go to +look at the completion of the work or to test the wires. + +“You can see to it,” he said; “I have done all I can. Now +things must take their chance.” + +After our midday meal he lay down and slept quite soundly for several +hours. About four o’clock those who were labouring at the piling up +of débris over the mouth of the tunnel completed their task, and, in +charge of Quick, were marched out of the underground city. + +Then Higgs and I took lamps and went along the length of the wires, +which lay in a little trench covered over with dust, removing the dust +and inspecting them at intervals. Discovering nothing amiss, we +returned to the old temple, and at its doorway met the mountaineer, +Japhet, who throughout all these proceedings had been our prop and +stay. Indeed, without his help and that of his authority over the Abati +the mine could never have been completed, at any rate within the time. + +The light of the lamp showed that his face was very anxious. + +“What is the matter?” I asked. + +“O Physician,” he answered, “I have words for the ear of the +Captain Orme. Be pleased to lead me to him.” + +We explained that he slept and could not be disturbed, but Japhet only +answered as before, adding: + +“Come you with me, my words are for your ears as well as his.” + +So we went into the little room and awoke Oliver, who sprang up in a +great fright, thinking that something untoward had happened at the +mine. + +“What’s wrong?” he asked of Japhet. “Have the Fung cut +the wires?” + +“Nay, O Orme, a worse thing; I have discovered that the Prince Joshua +has laid a plot to steal away ‘Her-whose-name-is-high.’” + +“What do you mean? Set out all the story, Japhet,” said Oliver. + +“It is short, lord. I have some friends, one of whom—he is of my +own blood, but ask me not his name—is in the service of the Prince. We +drank a cup of wine together, which I needed, and I suppose it loosed +his tongue. At any rate, he told me, and I believed him. This is the +story. For his own sake and that of the people the Prince desires that +you should destroy the idol of Fung, and therefore he has kept his +hands off you of late. Yet should you succeed, he does not know what +may happen. He fears lest the Abati in their gratitude should set you +up as great men.” + +“Then he is an ass!” interrupted Quick; “for the Abati have +no gratitude.” + +“He fears,” went on Japhet, “other things also. For instance, +that the Child of Kings may express that gratitude by a mark of her +signal favour toward one of you,” and he stared at Orme, who turned +his head aside. “Now, the Prince is affianced to this great lady, +whom he desires to wed for two reasons: First, because this marriage +will make him the chief man amongst the Abati, and, secondly, because +of late he has come to think that he loves her whom he is afraid that +he may lose. So he has set a snare.” + +“What snare?” asked one of us, for Japhet paused. + +“I don’t know,” answered Japhet, “and I do not think +that my friend knew either, or, if he did, he would not tell me. But I +understand the plot is that the Child of Kings is to be carried off to +the Prince Joshua’s castle at the other end of the lake, six hours’ +ride away, and there be forced to marry him at once.” + +“Indeed,” said Orme, “and when is all this to happen?” + +“I don’t know, lord. I know nothing except what my friend told me, +which I thought it right to communicate to you instantly. I asked him +the time, however, and he said that he believed the date was fixed for +one night after next Sabbath.” + +“Next Sabbath is five days hence, so that this matter does not seem to +be very pressing,” remarked Oliver with a sigh of relief. “Are you +sure that you can trust your friend, Japhet?” + +“No, lord, I am not sure, especially as I have always known him to be +a liar. Still, I thought that I ought to tell you.” + +“Very kind of you, Japhet, but I wish that you had let me have my +sleep out first. Now go down the line and see that all is right, then +return and report.” + +Japhet saluted in his native fashion and went. + +“What do you think of this story?” asked Oliver, as soon as he was +out of hearing. + +“All bosh,” answered Higgs; “the place is full of talk and +rumours, and this is one of them.” + +He paused and looked at me. + +“Oh!” I said, “I agree with Higgs. If Japhet’s friend +had really anything to tell he would have told it in more detail. I +daresay there are a good many things Joshua would like to do, but I +expect he will stop there, at any rate, for the present. If you take my +advice you will say nothing of the matter, especially to Maqueda.” + +“Then we are all agreed. But what are you thinking of, Sergeant?” +asked Oliver, addressing Quick, who stood in a corner of the room, lost +apparently in contemplation of the floor. + +“I, Captain,” he replied, coming to attention. “Well, begging +their pardon, I was thinking that I don’t hold with these gentlemen, +except in so far that I should say nothing of this job to our Lady, who +has plenty to bother her just now, and won’t need to be frightened as +well. Still, there may be something in it, for though that Japhet is +stupid, he’s honest, and honest men sometimes get hold of the right +end of the stick. At least, he believes there is something, and +that’s what weighs with me.” + +“Well, if that’s your opinion, what’s best to be done +Sergeant? I agree that the Child of Kings should not be told, and I +shan’t leave this place till after ten o’clock to-night at the +earliest, if we stick to our plans, as we had better do, for all that +stuff in the tunnel wants a little time to settle, and for other +reasons. What are you drawing there?” and he pointed to the floor, in +the dust of which Quick was tracing something with his finger. + +“A plan of our Lady’s private rooms, Captain. She told you she was +going to rest at sundown, didn’t she, or earlier, for she was up most +of last night, and wanted to get a few hours’ sleep +before—something happens. Well, her bed-chamber is there, isn’t it? +and another before it, in which her maids sleep, and nothing behind +except a high wall and a ditch which cannot be climbed.” + +“That’s quite true,” interrupted Higgs. “I got leave to +make a plan of the palace, only there is a passage six feet wide and +twenty long leading from the guard chamber to the ladies’ +anteroom.” + +“Just so, Professor, and that passage has a turn in it, if I remember +right, so that two well-armed men could hold it against quite a lot. +Supposing now that you and I, Professor, should go and take a nap in +that guard-room, which will be empty, for the watch is set at the +palace gate. We shan’t be wanted here, since if the Captain can’t +touch off that mine, no one can, with the Doctor to help him just in +case anything goes wrong, and Japhet guarding the line. I daresay +there’s nothing in this yarn, but who knows? There might be, and then +we should blame ourselves. What do you say, Professor?” + +“I? Oh, I’ll do anything you wish, though I should rather have +liked to climb the cliff and watch what happens.” + +“You’d see nothing, Higgs,” interrupted Oliver, “except +perhaps the reflection of a flash in the sky; so, if you don’t mind, I +wish you would go with the Sergeant. Somehow, although I am quite +certain that we ought not to alarm Maqueda, I am not easy about her, +and if you two fellows were there, I should know she was all right, and +it would be a weight off my mind.” + +“That settles it,” said Higgs; “we’ll be off presently. +Look here, give us that portable telephone, which is of no use anywhere +else now. The wire will reach to the palace, and if the machine works +all right we can talk to you and tell each other how things are going +on.” + +Ten minutes later they had made their preparations. Quick stepped up to +Oliver and stood at attention, saying: + +“Ready to march. Any more orders, Captain?” + +“I think not, Sergeant,” he answered, lifting his eyes from the +little batteries that he was watching as though they were live things. +“You know the arrangements. At ten o’clock—that is about two +hours hence—I touch this switch. Whatever happens it must not be done +before, for fear lest the Doctor’s son should not have left the idol, +to say nothing of all the other poor beggars. The spies say that the +marriage feast will not be celebrated until at least three hours after +moonrise.” + +“And that’s what I heard when I was a prisoner,” interrupted +Higgs. + +“I daresay,” answered Orme; “but it is always well to allow a +margin in case the procession should be delayed, or something. So until +ten o’clock I’ve got to stop where I am, and you may be sure, +Doctor, that under no circumstances shall I fire the mine before that +hour, as indeed you will be here to see. After that I can’t say what +will happen, but if we don’t appear, you two had better come to look +for us—in case of accidents, you know. Do your best at your end +according to circumstances; the Doctor and I will do our best at ours. +I think that is all, Sergeant. Report yourselves by the telephone if +the wire is long enough and it will work, which I daresay it won’t, +and, anyway, look out for us about half-past ten. Good-bye!” + +“Good-bye, Captain,” answered Quick, then stretched out his hand, +shook that of Orme, and without another word took his lamp and left the +chamber. + +An impulse prompted me to follow him, leaving Orme and Higgs discussing +something before they parted. When he had walked about fifty yards in +the awful silence of that vast underground town, of which the ruined +tenements yawned on either side of us, the Sergeant stopped and said +suddenly: + +“You don’t believe in presentiments, do you, Doctor?” + +“Not a bit,” I answered. + +“Glad of it, Doctor. Still, I have got a bad one now, and it is that I +shan’t see the Captain or you any more.” + +“Then that’s a poor look-out for us, Quick.” + +“No, Doctor, for me. I think you are both all right, and the +Professor, too. It’s my name they are calling up aloft, or so it +seems to me. Well, I don’t care much, for, though no saint, I have +tried to do my duty, and if it is done, it’s done. If it’s written, +it’s got to come to pass, hasn’t it? For everything is written down +for us long before we begin, or so I’ve always thought. Still, I’ll +grieve to part from the Captain, seeing that I nursed him as a child, +and I’d have liked to know him well out of this hole, and safely +married to that sweet lady first, though I don’t doubt that it will +be so.” + +“Nonsense, Sergeant,” I said sharply; “you are not yourself; +all this work and anxiety has got on your nerves.” + +“As it well might, Doctor, not but I daresay that’s true. Anyhow, +if the other is the true thing, and you should all see old England again +with some of the stuff in that dead-house, I’ve got three nieces +living down at home whom you might remember. Don’t say nothing of +what I told you to the Captain till this night’s game is played, +seeing that it might upset him, and he’ll need to keep cool up to ten +o’clock, and afterwards too, perhaps. Only if we shouldn’t meet +again, say that Samuel Quick sent him his duty and God’s blessing. +And the same on yourself, Doctor, and your son, too. And now here comes +the Professor, so good-bye.” + +A minute later they had left me, and I stood watching them until the two +stars of light from their lanterns vanished into the blackness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HARMAC COMES TO MUR + + +Slowly and in very bad spirits I retraced my steps to the old temple, +following the line of the telephone wire which Higgs and Quick had +unreeled as they went. In the Sergeant’s prognostications of evil I +had no particular belief, as they seemed to me to be born of the +circumstances which surrounded us, and in different ways affected all +our minds, even that of the buoyant Higgs. + +To take my own case, for instance. Here I was about to assist in an act +which for aught I knew might involve the destruction of my only son. It +was true we believed that this was the night of his marriage at the +town of Harmac, some miles away, and that the tale of our spies +supported this information. But how could we be sure that the date, or +the place of the ceremony, had not been changed at the last moment? +Supposing, for instance, that it was held, not in the town, as +arranged, but in the courts of the idol, and that the fearful +activities of the fiery agent which we were about to wake to life should +sweep the celebrants into nothingness. + +The thought made me turn cold, and yet the deed must be done; Roderick +must take his chance. And if all were well, and he escaped that danger, +were there not worse behind? Think of him, a Christian man, the husband +of a savage woman who worshipped a stone image with a lion’s head, +bound to her and her tribe, a state prisoner, trebly guarded, whom, so +far as I could see, there would be no hope of rescuing. It was awful. +Then there were other complications. If the plan succeeded and the idol +was destroyed, my own belief was that the Fung must thereby be +exasperated. Evidently they knew some road into this stronghold. It +would be used. They would pour their thousands up it, a general +massacre would follow, of which, justly, we should be the first +victims. + +I reached the chamber where Oliver sat brooding alone, for Japhet was +patrolling the line. + +“I am not happy about Maqueda, Doctor,” he said to me. “I am +afraid there is something in that story. She wanted to be with us; +indeed, she begged to be allowed to come almost with tears. But I +wouldn’t have it, since accidents may always happen; the vibration +might shake in the roof or something; in fact, I don’t think you +should be here. Why don’t you go away and leave me?” + +I answered that nothing would induce me to do so, for such a job should +not be left to one man. + +“No, you’re right,” he said; “I might faint or lose my +head or anything. I wish now that we had arranged to send the spark from +the palace, which perhaps we might have done by joining the telephone +wire on to the others. But, to tell you the truth, I’m afraid of the +batteries. The cells are new but very weak, for time and the climate +have affected them, and I thought it possible the extra distance might +make the difference and that they would fail to work. That’s why I +fixed this as the firing point. Hullo, there’s the bell. What have +they got to say?” + +I snatched the receiver, and presently heard the cheerful voice of Higgs +announcing that they had arrived safely in the little anteroom to +Maqueda’s private apartments. + +“The palace seems very empty,” he added; “we only met one +sentry, for I think that everybody else, except Maqueda and a few of her +ladies, have cleared out, being afraid lest rocks should fall on them +when the explosion occurs.” + +“Did the man say so?” I asked of Higgs. + +“Yes, something of that sort; also he wanted to forbid us to come +here, saying that it was against the Prince Joshua’s orders that we +Gentiles should approach the private apartments of the Child of Kings. +Well, we soon settled that, and he bolted. Where to? Oh! I don’t +know; to report, he said.” + +“How’s Quick?” I asked. + +“Much the same as usual. In fact, he is saying his prayers in the +corner, looking like a melancholy brigand with rifles, revolvers, and +knives stuck all over him. I wish he wouldn’t say his prayers,” +added Higgs, and his voice reached me in an indignant squeak; “it +makes me feel uncomfortable, as though I ought to join him. But not +having been brought up a Dissenter or a Moslem, I can’t pray in +public as he does. Hullo! Wait a minute, will you?” + +Then followed a longish pause, and after it Higgs’s voice again. + +“It’s all right,” it said. “Only one of Maqueda’s +ladies who had heard us and come to see who we were. When she learns I +expect she will join us here, as the girl says she’s nervous and +can’t sleep.” + +Higgs proved right in his anticipations, for in about ten minutes we +were rung up again, this time by Maqueda herself, whereon I handed the +receiver to Oliver and retired to the other end of the room. + +Nor, to tell the truth, was I sorry for the interruption, since it +cheered up Oliver and helped to pass the time. + +The next thing worth telling that happened was that, an hour or more +later, Japhet arrived, looking very frightened. We asked him our usual +question: if anything was wrong with the wires. With a groan he +answered “No,” the wires seemed all right, but he had met a ghost. + +“What ghost, you donkey?” I said. + +“The ghost of one of the dead kings, O Physician, yonder in the burial +cave. It was he with the bent bones who sits in the farthest chair. Only +he had put some flesh on his bones, and I tell you he looked fearful, a +very fierce man, or rather ghost.” + +“Indeed, and did he say anything to you, Japhet?” + +“Oh! yes, plenty, O Physician, only I could not understand it all, +because his language was somewhat different to mine, and he spat out his +words as a green log spits out sparks. I think that he asked me, +however, how my miserable people dared to destroy his god, Harmac. I +answered that I was only a servant and did not know, adding that he +should put his questions to you.” + +“And what did he say to that, Japhet?” + +“I think he said that Harmac would come to Mur and settle his account +with the Abati, and that the foreign men would be wise to fly fast and +far. That’s all I understood; ask me no more, who would not return +into that cave to be made a prince.” + +“He’s got hold of what Barung’s envoys told us,” said +Oliver, indifferently, “and no wonder, this place is enough to make +anybody see ghosts. I’ll repeat it to Maqueda; it will amuse her.” + +“I wouldn’t if I were you,” I answered, “for it +isn’t exactly a cheerful yarn, and perhaps she’s afraid of ghosts +too. Also,” and I pointed to the watch that lay on the table beside +the batteries, “it is five minutes to ten.” + +Oh! that last five minutes! It seemed as many centuries. Like stone +statues we sat, each of us lost in his own thoughts, though for my part +the power of clear thinking appeared to have left me. Visions of a sort +flowed over my mind without sinking into it, as water flows over +marble. All I could do was fix my eyes on the face of that watch, of +which in the flickering lamp-light the second-hand seemed to my excited +fancy to grow enormous and jump from one side of the room to the other. + +Orme began to count aloud. “One, two, three, four, +five—_now_!” and almost simultaneously he touched the knob +first of one battery and next of the other. Before his finger pressed +the left-hand knob I felt the solid rock beneath us surge—no other +word conveys its movement. Then the great stone cross-piece, weighing +several tons, that was set as a transom above the tall door of our +room, dislodged itself, and fell quite gently into the doorway, which +it completely blocked. + +Other rocks fell also at a distance, making a great noise, and somehow I +found myself on the ground, my stool had slid away from me. Next +followed a muffled, awful roar, and with it came a blast of wind +blowing where wind never blew before since the beginning of the world, +that with a terrible wailing howled itself to silence in the thousand +recesses of the cave city. As it passed our lamps went out. Lastly, +quite a minute later I should think, there was a thud, as though +something of enormous weight had fallen on the surface of the earth far +above us. + +Then all was as it had been; all was darkness and utter quietude. + +“Well, that’s over,” said Oliver, in a strained voice which +sounded very small and far away through that thick darkness; “all over +for good or ill. I needn’t have been anxious; the first battery was +strong enough, for I felt the mine spring as I touched the second. I +wonder,” he went on, as though speaking to himself, “what amount of +damage nearly a ton and a half of that awful azo-imide compound has done +to the old sphinx. According to my calculations it ought to have been +enough to break the thing up, if we could have spread the charge more. +But, as it is, I am by no means certain. It may only have driven a hole +in its bulk, especially if there were hollows through which the gases +could run. Well, with luck, we may know more about it later. Strike a +match, Adams, and light those lamps. Why, what’s that? Listen!” + +As he spoke, from somewhere came a series of tiny noises, that, though +they were so faint and small, suggested rifles fired at a great +distance. Crack, crack, crack! went the infinitesimal noises. + +I groped about, and finding the receiver of the field telephone, set it +to my ear. In an instant all grew plain to me. Guns were being fired +near the other end of the wire, and the transmitter was sending us the +sound of them. Very faintly but with distinctness I could hear +Higgs’s high voice saying, “Look out, Sergeant, there’s another +rush coming!” and Quick answering, “Shoot low, Professor; for the +Lord’s sake shoot low. You are empty, sir. Load up, load up! Here’s +a clip of cartridges. Don’t fire too fast. Ah! that devil got me, but +I’ve got him; he’ll never throw another spear.” + +“They are being attacked!” I exclaimed. “Quick is wounded. +Now Maqueda is talking to you. She says, ‘Oliver, come! Joshua’s +men assail me. Oliver, come!’” + +Then followed a great sound of shouting answered by more shots, and just +as Orme snatched the receiver from my hand the wire went dead. In vain +he called down it in an agonized voice. As well might he have addressed +the planet Saturn. + +“The wire’s cut,” he exclaimed, dashing down the receiver and +seizing the lantern which Japhet had just succeeded in re-lighting; +“come on, there’s murder being done,” and he sprang to the +doorway, only to stagger back again from the great stone with which it +was blocked. + +“Good God!” he screamed, “we’re shut in. How can we get +out? How can we get out?” and he began to run round and round the +room, and even to spring at the walls like a frightened cat. Thrice he +sprang, striving to climb to the coping, for the place had no roof, +each time falling back, since it was too high for him to grasp. I +caught him round the middle, and held him by main force, although he +struck at me. + +“Be quiet,” I said; “do you want to kill yourself? You will +be no good dead or maimed. Let me think.” + +Meanwhile Japhet was acting on his own account, for he, too, had heard +the tiny, ominous sounds given out by the telephone and guessed their +purport. First he ran to the massive transom that blocked the doorway +and pushed. It was useless; not even an elephant could have stirred it. +Then he stepped back, examining it carefully. + +“I think it can be climbed, Physician,” he said. “Help me +now,” and he motioned to me to take one end of the heavy table on +which the batteries stood. We dragged it to the doorway, and, seeing +his purpose, Oliver jumped on to it with him. Then at Japhet’s +direction, while I supported the table to prevent its oversetting, Orme +rested his forehead against the stone, making what schoolboys call “a +back,” up which the mountaineer climbed actively until he stood upon +his shoulders, and by stretching himself was able to grasp the end of +the fallen transom. Next, while I held up the lamp to give him light, +he gripped the roughnesses of the hewn stone with his toes, and in a +few moments was upon the coping of the wall, twenty feet or more above +the floor line. + +The rest was comparatively easy, for taking off his linen robe, Japhet +knotted it once or twice, and let it down to us. By the help of this +improvised rope, with Orme supporting me beneath, I, too, was dragged +up to the coping of the wall. Then both of us pulled up Oliver, who, +without a word, swung himself over the wall, hanging to Japhet’s +arms, and loosing his hold, dropped to the ground on the farther side. +Next came my turn. It was a long fall, and had not Oliver caught me I +think that I should have hurt myself. As it was, the breath was shaken +out of me. Lastly, Japhet swung himself down, landing lightly as a cat. +The lamps he had already dropped to us, and in another minute they were +all lighted, and we were speeding down the great cavern. + +“Be careful,” I cried; “there may be fallen rocks +about.” + +As it happened I was right, for at that moment Oliver struck his legs +against one of them and fell, cutting himself a good deal. In a moment +he was up again, but after this our progress grew slow, for hundreds of +tons of stone had been shaken from the roof and blocked the path. Also, +whole buildings of the ancient and underground city had been thrown +down, although these were mostly blown inward by the rush of air. At +length we came to the end of the cave, and halted dismayed, for here, +where the blast of the explosion had been brought to a full stop, the +place seemed to be crowded with rocks which it had rolled before it. + +“My God! I believe we are shut in,” exclaimed Oliver in despair. + +But Japhet, lantern in hand, was already leaping from block to block, +and presently, from the top of the débris, called to us to come to +him. + +“I think there is a road left, though a bad one, lords,” he said, +and pointed to a jagged, well-like hole blown out, as I believe, by the +recoil of the blast. With difficulty and danger, for many of the piled +up stones were loose, we climbed down this place, and at its bottom +squeezed ourselves through a narrow aperture on to the floor of the +cave, praying that the huge door which led to the passage beyond might +not be jammed, since if it were, as we knew well, our small strength +would not avail to move it. Happily, this fear at least proved +groundless, since it opened outward, and the force of the compressed +air had torn it from its massive stone hinges and thrown it shattered +to the ground. + +We scrambled over it, and advanced down the passage, our revolvers in +our hands. We reached the audience hall, which was empty and in +darkness. We turned to the left, crossing various chambers, and in the +last of them, through which one of the gates of the palace could be +approached, met with the first signs of the tragedy, for there were +bloodstains on the floor. + +Orme pointed to them as he hurried on, and suddenly a man leapt out of +the darkness as a buck leaps from a bush, and ran past us, holding his +hands to his side, where evidently he had some grievous hurt. Now we +entered the corridor leading to the private apartments of the Child of +Kings, and found ourselves walking on the bodies of dead and dying men. +One of the former I observed, as one does notice little things at such +a moment, held in his hand the broken wire of the field telephone. I +presume that he had snatched and severed it in his death pang at the +moment when communication ceased between us and the palace. + +We rushed into the little antechamber, in which lights were burning, and +there saw a sight that I for one never shall forget. + +In the foreground lay more dead men, all of them wearing the livery of +Prince Joshua. Beyond was Sergeant Quick, seated on a chair. He seemed +to be literally hacked to pieces. An arrow that no one had attempted to +remove was fast in his shoulder; his head, which Maqueda was sponging +with wet cloths—well, I will not describe his wounds. + +Leaning against the wall near by stood Higgs, also bleeding, and +apparently quite exhausted. Behind, besides Maqueda herself, were two +or three of her ladies, wringing their hands and weeping. In face of +this terrible spectacle we came to a sudden halt. No word was spoken by +any one, for the power of speech had left us. + +The dying Quick opened his eyes, lifted his hand, upon which there was a +ghastly sword-cut, to his forehead, as though to shade them from the +light—ah! how well I recall that pathetic motion—and from beneath +this screen stared at us a while. Then he rose from the chair, touched +his throat to show that he could not speak, as I suppose, saluted Orme, +turned and pointed to Maqueda, and with a triumphant smile sank down +and—died. + +Such was the noble end of Sergeant Quick. + +To describe what followed is not easy, for the scene was confused. Also +shock and sorrow have blurred its recollection in my mind. I remember +Maqueda and Orme falling into each other’s arms before everybody. I +remember her drawing herself up in that imperial way of hers, and +saying, as she pointed to the body of Quick: + +“There lies one who has shown us how to die. This countryman of yours +was a hero, O Oliver, and you should hold his memory in honour, since +he saved me from worse than death.” + +“What’s the story?” asked Orme of Higgs. + +“A simple one enough,” he answered. “We got here all right, +as we told you over the wire. Then Maqueda talked to you for a long +while until you rang off, saying you wanted to speak to Japhet. After +that, at ten o’clock precisely, we heard the thud of the explosion. +Next, as we were preparing to go out to see what had happened, Joshua +arrived alone, announced that the idol Harmac had been destroyed, and +demanded that the Child of Kings, ‘for State reasons,’ should +accompany him to his own castle. She declined and, as he insisted, I +took it upon myself to kick him out of the place. He retired, and we +saw no more of him, but a few minutes later there came a shower of +arrows down the passage, and after them a rush of men, who called, +‘Death to the Gentiles. Rescue the Rose.’ + +“So we began to shoot and knocked over a lot of them, but Quick got +that arrow through his shoulder. Three times they came on like that, +and three times we drove them back. At last our cartridges ran low, and +we only had our revolvers left, which we emptied into them. They hung a +moment, but moved forward again, and all seemed up. + +“Then Quick went mad. He snatched the sword of a dead Abati and ran at +them roaring like a bull. They hacked and cut at him, but the end of it +was that he drove them right out of the passage, while I followed, +firing past him. + +“Well, those who were left of the blackguards bolted, and when they +had gone the Sergeant tumbled down. The women and I carried him back +here, but he never said another word, and at last you turned up. Now +he’s gone, God rest him, for if ever there was a hero in this world +he was christened Samuel Quick!” and, turning aside, the Professor +pushed up the blue spectacles he always wore on to his forehead, and +wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. + +With grief more bitter than I can describe we lifted up the body of the +gallant Quick and, bearing it into Maqueda’s private apartment, +placed it on her own bed, for she insisted that the man who had died to +protect her should be laid nowhere else. It was strange to see the grim +old soldier, whose face, now that I had washed his wounds, looked calm +and even beautiful, laid out to sleep his last sleep upon the couch of +the Child of Kings. That bed, I remember, was a rich and splendid +thing, made of some black wood inlaid with scrolls of gold, and having +hung about it curtains of white net embroidered with golden stars, such +as Maqueda wore upon her official veil. + +There upon the scented pillows and silken coverlet we set our burden +down, the work-worn hands clasped upon the breast in an attitude of +prayer, and one by one bid our farewell to this faithful and upright +man, whose face, as it chanced, we were never to see again, except in +the glass of memory. Well, he had died as he had lived and would have +wished to die—doing his duty and in war. And so we left him. Peace be +to his honoured spirit! + +In the blood-stained ante-room, while I dressed and stitched up the +Professor’s wounds, a sword-cut on the head, an arrow-graze along the +face, and a spear-prick in the thigh, none of them happily at all deep +or dangerous, we held a brief council. + +“Friends,” said Maqueda, who was leaning on her lover’s arm, +“it is not safe that we should stop here. My uncle’s plot has +failed for the moment, but it was only a small and secret thing. I think +that soon he will return again with a thousand at his back, and +then——” + +“What is in your mind?” asked Oliver. “To fly from Mur?” + +“How can we fly,” she answered, “when the pass is guarded by +Joshua’s men, and the Fung wait for us without? The Abati hate you, my +friends, and now that you have done your work I think that they will +kill you if they can, whom they bore with only till it was done. Alas! +alas! that I should have brought you to this false and ungrateful +country,” and she began to weep, while we stared at each other, +helpless. + +Then Japhet, who all this while had been crouched on the floor, rocking +himself to and fro and mourning in his Eastern fashion for Quick, whom +he had loved, rose, and, coming to the Child of Kings, prostrated +himself before her. + +“O Walda Nagasta,” he said, “hear the words of your servant. +Only three miles away, near to the mouth of the pass, are encamped five +hundred men of my own people, the Mountaineers, who hate Prince Joshua +and his following. Fly to them, O Walda Nagasta, for they will cleave +to you and listen to me whom you have made a chief among them. +Afterwards you can act as may seem wisest.” + +Maqueda looked at Oliver questioningly. + +“I think that is good advice,” he said. “At any rate, we +can’t be worse off among the Mountaineers than we are in this +undefended place. Tell your women to bring cloaks that we can throw +over our heads, and let us go.” + +Five minutes later, a forlorn group filled with fears, we had stolen +over the dead and dying in the passage, and made our way to the side +gate of the palace that we found open, and over the bridge that spanned +the moat beyond, which was down. Doubtless Joshua’s ruffians had used +it in their approach and retreat. Disguised in the long cloaks with +monk-like hoods that the Abati wore at night or when the weather was +cold and wet, we hurried across the great square. Here, since we could +not escape them, we mingled with the crowd that was gathered at its +farther end, all of them—men, women and children—chattering like +monkeys in the tree-tops, and pointing to the cliff at the back of the +palace, beneath which, it will be remembered, lay the underground city. + +A band of soldiers rode by, thrusting their way through the people, and +in order to avoid them we thought it wise to take refuge in the shadow +of a walk of green-leaved trees which grew close at hand, for we feared +lest they might recognize Oliver by his height. Here we turned and +looked up at the cliff, to discover what it was at which every one was +staring. At that moment the full moon, which had been obscured by a +cloud, broke out, and we saw a spectacle that under the circumstances +was nothing less than terrifying. + +The cliff behind the palace rose to a height of about a hundred and +fifty feet, and, as it chanced, just there a portion of it jutted out +in an oblong shape, which the Abati called the Lion Rock, although +personally, heretofore, I had never been able to see in it any great +resemblance to a lion. Now, however, it was different, for on the very +extremity of this rock, staring down at Mur, sat the head and neck of +the huge lion-faced idol of the Fung. Indeed, in that light, with the +promontory stretching away behind it, it looked as though it were the +idol itself, moved from the valley upon the farther side of the +precipice to the top of the cliff above. + +“Oh! oh! oh!” groaned Japhet, “the prophecy is +fulfilled—the head of Harmac has come to sleep at Mur.” + +“You mean that we have sent him there,” whispered Higgs. +“Don’t be frightened, man; can’t you understand that the +power of our medicine has blown the head off the sphinx high into the +air, and landed it where it sits now?” + +“Yes,” I put in, “and what we felt in the cave was the shock +of its fall.” + +“I don’t care what brought him,” replied Japhet, who seemed +quite unstrung by all that he had gone through. “All I know is that +the prophecy is fulfilled, and Harmac has come to Mur, and where Harmac +goes the Fung follow.” + +“So much the better,” said the irreverent Higgs. “I may be +able to sketch and measure him now.” + +But I saw that Maqueda was trembling, for she, too, thought this +occurrence a very bad omen, and even Oliver remained silent, perhaps +because he feared its effect upon the Abati. + +Nor was this wonderful since, from the talk around us, clearly that +effect was great. Evidently the people were terrified, like Japhet. We +could hear them foreboding ill, and cursing us Gentiles as wizards, who +had not destroyed the idol of the Fung as we promised, but had only +caused him to fly to Mur. + +Here I may mention that as a matter of fact they were right. As we +discovered afterwards, the whole force of the explosion, instead of +shattering the vast bulk of the stone image, had rushed up through the +hollow chambers in its interior until it struck against the solid head. +Lifting this as though it were a toy, the expanding gas had hurled that +mighty mass an unknown distance into the air, to light upon the crest +of the cliffs of Mur, where probably it will remain forever. + +“Well,” I said, when we had stared a little while at this +extraordinary phenomenon, “thank God it did not travel farther, and +fall upon the palace.” + +“Oh! had it done so,” whispered Maqueda in a tearful voice, +“I think you might have thanked God indeed, for then at least I should +be free from all my troubles. Come, friends, let us be going before we +are discovered.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +I FIND MY SON + + +Our road toward the pass ran through the camping ground of the newly +created Abati army, and what we saw on our journey thither told us more +vividly than any words or reports could do, how utter was the +demoralization of that people. Where should have been sentries were no +sentries; where should have been soldiers were groups of officers +talking with women; where should have been officers were camp followers +drinking. + +Through this confusion and excitement we made our way unobserved, or, at +any rate, unquestioned, till at length we came to the regiment of the +Mountaineers, who, for the most part, were goatherds, poor people who +lived upon the slopes of the precipices that enclosed the land of Mur. +These folk, having little to do with their more prosperous brethren of +the plain, were hardy and primitive of nature, and therefore retained +some of the primeval virtues of mankind, such as courage and loyalty. + +It was for the first of these reasons, and, indeed, for the second also, +that they had been posted by Joshua at the mouth of the pass, which he +knew well they alone could be trusted to defend in the event of serious +attack. Moreover, it was desirable, from his point of view, to keep +them out of the way while he developed his plans against the person of +the Child of Kings, for whom these simple-minded men had a hereditary +and almost a superstitious reverence. + +As soon as we were within the lines of these Mountaineers we found the +difference between them and the rest of the Abati. The other regiments +we had passed unchallenged, but here we were instantly stopped by a +picket. Japhet whispered something into the ear of its officer that +caused him to stare hard at us. Then this officer saluted the veiled +figure of the Child of Kings and led us to where the commander of the +band and his subordinates were seated near a fire sitting together. At +some sign or word that did not reach us the commander, an old fellow +with a long grey beard, rose and said: + +“Your pardon, but be pleased to show your faces.” + +Maqueda threw back her hood and turned so that the light of the moon +fell full upon her, whereon the old man dropped to his knee, saying: + +“Your commands, O Walda Nagasta.” + +“Summon your regiment and I will give them,” she answered, and +seated herself on a bench by the fire, we three and Japhet standing +behind her. + +The commander issued orders to his captains, and presently the +Mountaineers formed up on three sides of a square above us, to the +number of a little over five hundred men. When all were gathered +Maqueda mounted the bench upon which she had been sitting, threw back +her hood so that every one could see her face in the light of the fire, +and addressed them: + +“Men of the mountain-side, this night just after the idol of the Fung +had been destroyed, the Prince Joshua, my uncle, came to me demanding +my surrender to him, whether to kill me or to imprison me in his castle +beyond the end of the lake, for reasons of State as he said, or for +other vile purposes, I do not know.” + +At these words a murmur rose from the audience. + +“Wait,” said Maqueda, holding up her hand, “there is worse to +come. I told my uncle, Prince Joshua, that he was a traitor and had best +be gone. He went, threatening me and, when I do not know, withdrew the +guards that should be stationed at my palace gates. Now, some rumour of +my danger had reached the foreigners in my service, and two of them, he +who is called Black Windows, whom we rescued from the Fung, and the +soldier named Quick, came to watch over me, while the Lord Orme and the +Doctor Adams stayed in the cave to send out that spark of fire which +should destroy the idol. Nor did they come back without need, for +presently arrived a band of Prince Joshua’s men to take me. + +“Then Black Windows and the soldier his companion fought a good fight, +they two holding the narrow passage against many, and slaying a number +of them with their terrible weapons. The end of it was, men of the +mountains, that the warrior Quick, charging down the passage, drove +away those servants of Joshua who remained alive. But in so doing he +was wounded to the death. Yes, that brave man lies dead, having given +his life to save the Child of Kings from the hands of her own people. +Black Windows also was wounded—see the bandages about his head. Then +came the Lord Orme and the Doctor Adams, and with them your brother +Japhet, who had barely escaped with their lives from the cave city, and +knowing that I was no longer safe in the palace, where even my +sleeping-room has been drenched with blood, with them I have fled to you +for succour. Will you not protect me, O men of the mountain-side?” + +“Yes, yes,” they answered with a great shout. “Command and we +obey. What shall we do, O Child of Kings?” + +Now Maqueda called the officers of the regiment apart and consulted with +them, asking their opinions, one by one. Some of them were in favour of +finding out where Joshua might be, and attacking him at once. “Crush +the snake’s head and its tail will soon cease wriggling!” these +said, and I confess this was a view that in many ways commended itself +to us. + +But Maqueda would have none of it. + +“What!” she exclaimed, “shall I begin a civil war among my +people when for aught I know the enemy is at our gates?” adding aside +to us, “also, how can these few hundred men, brave though they be, +hope to stand against the thousands under the command of Joshua?” + +“What, then, would you do?” asked Orme. + +“Return to the palace with these Mountaineers, O Oliver, and by help +of that garrison, hold it against all enemies.” + +“Very well,” he replied. “To those who are quite lost one +road is as good as another; they must trust to the stars to guide +them.” + +“Quite so,” echoed Higgs; “and the sooner we go the better, +for my leg hurts, and I want a sleep.” + +So Maqueda gave her commands to the officers, by whom they were conveyed +to the regiment, which received them with a shout, and instantly began +to strike its camp. + +Then it was, coming hot-foot after so much sorrow, loss and doubt, that +there followed the happiest event of all my life. Utterly tired out and +very despondent, I was seated on an arrow-chest awaiting the order to +march, idly watching Oliver and Maqueda talking with great earnestness +at a little distance, and in the intervals trying to prevent poor Higgs +at my side from falling asleep. While I was thus engaged, suddenly I +heard a disturbance, and by the bright moonlight caught sight of a man +being led into the camp in charge of a guard of Abati soldiers, whom +from their dress I knew to belong to a company that just then was +employed in watching the lower gates of the pass. + +I took no particular heed of the incident, thinking only that they might +have captured some spy, till a murmur of astonishment, and the general +stir, warned me that something unusual had occurred. So I rose from my +box and strolled towards the man, who now was hidden from me by a group +of Mountaineers. As I advanced this group opened, the men who composed +it bowing to me with a kind of wondering respect that impressed me, I +did not know why. + +Then for the first time I saw the prisoner. He was a tall, athletic +young man, dressed in festal robes with a heavy gold chain about his +neck, and I wondered vaguely what such a person should be doing here in +this time of national commotion. He turned his head so that the +moonlight showed his dark eyes, his somewhat oval-shaped face ending in +a peaked black beard, and his finely cut features. In an instant I knew +him. + +_It was my son Roderick!_ + +Next moment, for the first time for very many years, he was in my arms. + +The first thing that I remember saying to him was a typically +Anglo-Saxon remark, for however much we live in the East or elsewhere, +we never really shake off our native conventions, and habits of speech. +It was, “How are you, my boy, and how on earth did you come here?” +to which he answered, slowly, it is true, and speaking with a foreign +accent: + +“All right, thank you, father. I ran upon my legs.” + +By this time Higgs hobbled up, and was greeting my son warmly, for, of +course, they were old friends. + +“Thought you were to be married to-night, Roderick?” he said. + +“Yes, yes,” he answered, “I am half married according to Fung +custom, which counts not to my soul. Look, this is the dress of +marriage,” and he pointed to his fine embroidered robe and rich +ornaments. + +“Then, where’s your wife?” asked Higgs. + +“I do not know and I do not care,” he answered, “for I did +not like that wife. Also it is all nothing as I am not quite married to +her. Fung marriage between big people takes two days to finish, and if +not finished does not matter. So she marry some one else if she like, +and I too.” + +“What happened then?” I asked. + +“Oh, this, father. When we had eaten the marriage feast, but before we +pass before priest, suddenly we hear a thunder and see a pillar of fire +shoot up into sky, and sitting on top of it head of Harmac, which +vanish into heaven and stop there. Then everybody jump up and say: + +“‘Magic of white man! Magic of white man! White man kill the god +who sit there from beginning of world, now day of Fung finished +according to prophecy. Run away, people of Fung, run away!’ + +“Barung the Sultan tear his clothes too, and say—‘Run away, +Fung,’ and my half-wife, she tear _her_ clothes and say nothing, +but run like antelope. So they all run toward east, where great river +is, and leave me alone. Then I get up and run too—toward west, for I +know from Black Windows,” and he pointed to Higgs, “when we shut up +together in belly of god before he let down to lions, what all this +game mean, and therefore not frightened. Well, I run, meeting no one in +night, till I come to pass, run up it, and find guards, to whom I tell +story, so they not kill me, but let me through, and at last I come +here, quite safe, without Fung wife, thank God, and that end of +tale.” + +“I am afraid you are wrong there, my boy,” I said, “out of +the frying-pan into the fire, that’s all.” + +“Out of frying-pan into fire,” he repeated. “Not understand; +father must remember I only little fellow when Khalifa’s people take +me, and since then speak no English till I meet Black Windows. Only he +give me Bible-book that he have in pocket when he go down to be eat by +lions.” (Here Higgs blushed, for no one ever suspected him, a severe +critic of all religions, of carrying a Bible in his pocket, and +muttered something about “ancient customs of the Hebrews.”) + +“Well,” went on Roderick, “read that book ever since, and, as +you see, all my English come back.” + +“The question is,” said Higgs, evidently in haste to talk of +something else, “will the Fung come back?” + +“Oh! Black Windows, don’t know, can’t say. Think not. Their +prophecy was that Harmac move to Mur, but when they see his head jump +into sky and stop there, they run every man toward the sunrise, and I +think go on running.” + +“But Harmac has come to Mur, Roderick,” I said; “at least his +head has fallen on to the cliff that overlooks the city.” + +“Oh! my father,” he answered, “then that make great +difference. When Fung find out that head of Harmac has come here, no +doubt they come after him, for head his most holy bit, especially as +they want hang all the Abati whom they not like.” + +“Well, let’s hope that they don’t find out anything about +it,” I replied, to change the subject. Then taking Roderick by the +hand I led him to where Maqueda stood a yard or two apart, listening to +our talk, but, of course, understanding very little of it, and +introduced him to her, explaining in a few words the wonderful thing +that had happened. She welcomed him very kindly, and congratulated me +upon my son’s escape. Meanwhile, Roderick had been staring at her +with evident admiration. Now he turned to us and said in his quaint +broken English: + +“Walda Nagasta most lovely woman! No wonder King Solomon love her +mother. If Barung’s daughter, my wife, had been like her, think I run +through great river into rising sun with Fung.” + +Oliver instantly translated this remark, which made us all laugh, +including Maqueda herself, and very grateful we were to find the +opportunity for a little innocent merriment upon that tragic night. + +By this time the regiment was ready to start, and had formed up into +companies. Before the march actually began, however, the officer of the +Abati patrol, in whose charge Roderick had been brought to us, demanded +his surrender that he might deliver his prisoner to the +Commander-in-Chief, Prince Joshua. Of course, this was refused, whereon +the man asked roughly: + +“By whose order?” + +As it happened, Maqueda, of whose presence he was not aware, heard him, +and acting on some impulse, came forward, and unveiled. + +“By mine,” she said. “Know that the Child of Kings rules the +Abati, not the Prince Joshua, and that prisoners taken by her soldiers +are hers, not his. Be gone back to your post!” + +The captain stared, saluted, and went with his companions, not to the +pass, indeed, as he had been ordered, but to Joshua. To him he reported +the arrival of the Gentile’s son, and the news he brought that the +nation of the Fung, dismayed by the destruction of their god, were in +full flight from the plains of Harmac, purposing to cross the great +river and to return no more. + +This glad tidings spread like wildfire; so fast, indeed, that almost +before we had begun our march, we heard the shouts of exultation with +which it was received by the terrified mob gathered in the great +square. The cloud of terror was suddenly lifted from them. They went +mad in their delight; they lit bonfires, they drank, they feasted, they +embraced each other and boasted of their bravery that had caused the +mighty nation of the Fung to flee away for ever. + +Meanwhile, our advance had begun, nor in the midst of the general +jubilation was any particular notice taken of us till we were in the +middle of the square of Mur and within half a mile of the palace, when +we saw by the moonlight that a large body of troops, two or three +thousand of them, were drawn up in front of us, apparently to bar our +way. Still we went on till a number of officers rode up, and addressing +the commander of the regiment of Mountaineers, demanded to know why he +had left his post, and whither he went. + +“I go whither I am ordered,” he answered, “for there is one +here greater than I.” + +“If you mean the Gentile Orme and his fellows, the command of the +Prince Joshua is that you hand them over to us that they may make +report to him of their doings this night.” + +“And the command of the Child of Kings is,” replied the captain of +the Mountaineers, “that I take them with her back to the palace.” + +“It has no weight,” said the spokesman insolently, “not being +endorsed by the Council. Surrender the Gentiles, hand over to us the +person of the Child of Kings of whom you have taken possession, and +return to your post till the pleasure of the Prince Joshua be known.” + +Then the wrath of Maqueda blazed up. + +“Seize those men!” she said, and it was done instantly. “Now, +cut the head from him who dared to demand the surrender of my person and +of my officers, and give it to his companions to take back to the +Prince Joshua as my answer to his message.” + +The man heard, and being a coward like all the Abati, flung himself upon +his face before Maqueda, trying to kiss her robe and pleading for +mercy. + +“Dog!” she answered, “you were one of those who this very +night dared to attack my chamber. Oh! lie not, I knew your voice and +heard your fellow-traitors call you by your name. Away with him!” + +We tried to interfere, but she would not listen, even to Orme. + +“Would you plead for your brother’s murderer?” she asked, +alluding to Quick. “I have spoken!” + +So they dragged him off behind us, and presently we saw a melancholy +procession returning whence they came, carrying something on a shield. +It reached the opposing ranks, whence there arose a murmur of wrath and +fear. + +“March on!” said Maqueda, “and gain the palace.” + +So the regiment formed into a square, and, setting Maqueda and ourselves +in the centre of it, advanced again. + +Then the fight began. Great numbers of the Abati surrounded us and, as +they did not dare to make a direct attack, commenced shooting arrows, +which killed and wounded a number of men. But the Highlanders also were +archers, and carried stronger bows. The square was halted, the first +ranks kneeling and the second standing behind them. Then, at a given +word, the stiff bows which these hardy people used against the lion and +the buffalo upon their hills were drawn to the ear and loosed again and +again with terrible effect. + +On that open place it was almost impossible to miss the mobs of the +Abati who, having no experience of war, were fighting without order. +Nor could the light mail they wore withstand the rush of the heavy +barbed arrows which pierced them through and through. In two minutes +they began to give, in three they were flying back to their main body, +those who were left of them, a huddled rout of men and horses. So the +French must have fled before the terrible longbows of the English at +Crécy and Poitiers, for, in fact, we were taking part in just such a +mediæval battle. + +Oliver, who was watching intently, went to Japhet and whispered +something in his ear. He nodded and ran to seek the commander of the +regiment. Presently the result of that whisper became apparent, for the +sides of the hollow square wheeled outward and the rear moved up to +strengthen the centre. + +Now the Mountaineers were ranged in a double or triple line, behind +which were only about a dozen soldiers, who marched round Maqueda, +holding their shields aloft in order to protect her from stray arrows. +With these, too, came our four selves, a number of camp-followers and +others, carrying on their shields those of the regiment who were too +badly wounded to walk. + +Leaving the dead where they lay, we began to advance, pouring in volleys +of arrows as we went. Twice the Abati tried to charge us, and twice +those dreadful arrows drove them back. Then at the word of command, the +Highlanders slung their bows upon their backs, drew their short swords, +and in their turn charged. + +Five minutes afterwards everything was over. Joshua’s soldiers threw +down their arms, and ran or galloped to right and left, save a number +of them who fled through the gates of the palace, which they had +opened, and across the drawbridge into the courtyards within. After +them, or, rather, mixed up with them, followed the Mountaineers, +killing all whom they could find, for they were out of hand and would +not listen to the commands of Maqueda and their officers, that they +should show mercy. + +So, just as the dawn broke this strange moonlit battle ended, a small +affair, it is true, for there were only five hundred men engaged upon +our side and three or four thousand on the other, yet one that cost a +great number of lives and was the beginning of all the ruin that +followed. + +Well, we were safe for a while, since it was certain, after the lesson +which he had just learned, that Joshua would not attempt to storm the +double walls and fosse of the palace without long preparation. Yet even +now a new trouble awaited us, for by some means, we never discovered +how, that wing of the palace in which Maqueda’s private rooms were +situated suddenly burst into flames. + +Personally, I believe that the fire arose through the fact that a lamp +had been left burning near the bed of the Child of Kings upon which was +laid the body of Sergeant Quick. Perhaps a wounded man hidden there +overturned the lamp; perhaps the draught blowing through the open doors +brought the gold-spangled curtains into contact with the wick. + +At any rate, the wood-panelled chambers took fire, and had it not +happened that the set of the wind was favourable, the whole palace +might have been consumed. As it was, we succeeded in confining the +conflagration to this particular part of it, which within two hours had +burnt out, leaving nothing standing but the stark, stone walls. + +Such was the funeral pyre of Sergeant Quick, a noble one, I thought to +myself, as I watched it burn. + +When the fire was so well under control, for we had pulled down the +connecting passage where Higgs and Quick fought their great fight, that +there was no longer any danger of its spreading, and the watches had +been set, at length we got some rest. + +Maqueda and two or three of her ladies, one of them, I remember, her old +nurse who had brought her up, for her mother died at her birth, took +possession of some empty rooms, of which there were many in the palace, +while we lay, or rather fell, down in the guest-chambers, where we had +always slept, and never opened our eyes again until the evening. + +I remember that I woke thinking that I was the victim of some wonderful +dream of mingled joy and tragedy. Oliver and Higgs were sleeping like +logs, but my son Roderick, still dressed in his bridal robes, had risen +and sat by my bed staring at me, a puzzled look upon his handsome face. + +“So you are here,” I said, taking his hand. “I thought I +dreamed.” + +“No, Father,” he answered in his odd English, “no dream; all +true. This is a strange world, Father. Look at me! For how many +years—twelve—fourteen, slave of savage peoples for whom I sing, +priest of Fung idol, always near death but never die. Then Sultan Barung +take fancy to me, say I come of white blood and must be his +daughter’s husband. Then your brother Higgs made prisoner with me and +tell me that you hunt me all these years. Then Higgs thrown to lions +and you save him. Then yesterday I married to Sultan’s daughter, whom +I never see before but twice at fast of idol. Then Harmac’s head fly +off to heaven, and all Fung people run away, and I run too, and find +you. Then battle, and many killed, and arrow scratch my neck but not +hurt me,” and he pointed to a graze just over his jugular vein, +“and now we together. Oh! Father, very strange world! I think there +God somewhere who look after us!” + +“I think so, too, my boy,” I answered, “and I hope that He +will continue to do so, for I tell you we are in a worse place than ever +you were among the Fung.” + +“Oh, don’t mind that, Father,” he answered gaily, for +Roderick is a cheerful soul. “As Fung say, there no house without +door, although plenty people made blind and can’t see it. But we not +blind, or we dead long ago. Find door by and by, but here come man to +talk to you.” + +The man proved to be Japhet, who had been sent by the Child of Kings to +summon us, as she had news to tell. So I woke the others, and after I +had dressed the Professor’s flesh wounds, which were stiff and sore, +we joined her where she sat in the gateway tower of the inner wall. She +greeted us rather sadly, asked Oliver how he had slept and Higgs if his +cuts hurt him. Then she turned to my son, and congratulated him upon +his wonderful escape and upon having found a father if he had lost a +wife. + +“Truly,” she added, “you are a fortunate man to be so well +loved, O son of Adams. To how many sons are given fathers who for +fourteen long years, abandoning all else, would search for them in +peril of their lives, enduring slavery and blows and starvation and the +desert’s heat and cold for the sake of a long-lost face? Such +faithfulness is that of my forefather David for his brother Jonathan, +and such love it is that passes the love of women. See that you pay it +back to him, and to his memory until the last hour of your life, child +of Adams.” + +“I will, indeed, I will, O Walda Nagasta,” answered Roderick, and +throwing his arms about my neck he embraced me before them all. It is +not too much to say that this kiss of filial devotion more than repaid +me for all I had undergone for his beloved sake. For now I knew that I +had not toiled and suffered for one of no worth, as is so often the lot +of true hearts in this bitter world. + +Just then some of Maqueda’s ladies brought food, and at her bidding we +breakfasted. + +“Be sparing,” she said with a melancholy little laugh, “for I +know not how long our store will last. Listen! I have received a last +offer from my uncle Joshua. An arrow brought it—not a man; I think +that no man would come lest his fate should be that of the traitor of +yesterday,” and she produced a slip of parchment that had been tied +to the shaft of an arrow and, unfolding it, read as follows— + +“O Walda Nagasta, deliver up to death the Gentiles who have bewitched +you and led you to shed the blood of so many of your people, and with +them the officers of the Mountaineers, and the rest shall be spared. +You also I will forgive and make my wife. Resist, and all who cling to +you shall be put to the sword, and to yourself I promise nothing. + +“Written by order of the Council, + +“Joshua, Prince of the Abati.” + +“What answer shall I send?” she asked, looking at us curiously. + +“Upon my word,” replied Orme, shrugging his shoulders, “if it +were not for those faithful officers I am not sure but that you would be +wise to accept the terms. We are cooped up here, but a few surrounded +by thousands, who, if they dare not assault, still can starve us out, +as this place is not victualled for a siege.” + +“You forget one of those terms, O Oliver!” she said slowly, +pointing with her finger to the passage in the letter which stated that +Joshua would make her his wife, “Now do you still counsel +surrender?” + +“How can I?” he answered, flushing, and was silent. + +“Well, it does not matter what you counsel,” she went on with a +smile, “seeing that I have already sent my answer, also by arrow. See, +here is a copy of it,” and she read— + +“To my rebellious People of the Abati: + +“Surrender to me Joshua, my uncle, and the members of the Council who +have lifted sword against me, to be dealt with according to the ancient +law, and the rest of you shall go unharmed. Refuse, and I swear to you +that before the night of the new moon has passed there shall be such +woe in Mur as fell upon the city of David when the barbarian standards +were set upon her walls. Such is the counsel that has come to me, the +Child of Solomon, in the watches of the night, and I tell you that it +is true. Do what you will, people of the Abati, or what you must, since +your fate and ours are written. But be sure that in me and the Western +lords lies your only hope. + +“Walda Nagasta.” + +“What do you mean, O Maqueda,” I asked, “about the counsel +that came to you in the watches of the night?” + +“What I say, O Adams,” she answered calmly. “After we parted +at dawn I slept heavily, and in my sleep a dark and royal woman stood +before me whom I knew to be my great ancestress, the beloved of +Solomon. She looked on me sadly, yet as I thought with love. Then she +drew back, as it were, a curtain of thick cloud that hid the future and +revealed to me the young moon riding the sky and beneath it Mur, a +blackened ruin, her streets filled with dead. Yes, and she showed to me +other things, though I may not tell them, which also shall come to +pass, then held her hands over me as if in blessing, and was gone.” + +“Old Hebrew prophet business! Very interesting,” I heard Higgs +mutter below his breath, while in my own heart I set the dream down to +excitement and want of food. In fact, only two of us were impressed, my +son very much, and Oliver a little, perhaps because everything Maqueda +said was gospel to him. + +“Doubtless all will come to pass as you say, Walda Nagasta,” said +Roderick with conviction. “The day of the Abati is finished.” + +“Why do you say that, Son?” I asked. + +“Because, Father, among the Fung people from a child I have two +offices, that of Singer to the God and that of Reader of Dreams. Oh! do +not laugh. I can tell you many that have come true as I read them; thus +the dream of Barung which I read to mean that the head of Harmac would +come to Mur, and see, there it sit,” and turning, he pointed through +the doorway of the tower to the grim lion-head of the idol crouched +upon the top of the precipice, watching Mur as a beast of prey watches +the victim upon which it is about to spring. “I know when dreams true +and when dreams false; it my gift, like my voice. I know that this +dream true, that all,” and as he ceased speaking I saw his eyes catch +Maqueda’s, and a very curious glance pass between them. + +As for Orme, he only said: + +“You Easterns are strange people, and if you believe a thing, Maqueda, +there may be something in it. But you understand that this message of +yours means war to the last, a very unequal war,” and he looked at +the hordes of the Abati gathering on the great square. + +“Yes,” she answered quietly, “I understand, but however sore +our straits, and however strange may seem the things that happen, have +no fear of the end of that war, O my friends.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE BURNING OF THE PALACE + + +Orme was right. Maqueda’s defiance did mean war, “an unequal +war.” This was our position. We were shut up in a long range of +buildings, of which one end had been burned, that on account of their +moat and double wall, if defended with any vigour, could only be +stormed by an enemy of great courage and determination, prepared to +face a heavy sacrifice of life. This was a circumstance in our favour, +since the Abati were not courageous, and very much disliked the idea of +being killed, or even injured. + +But here our advantage ended. Deducting those whom we had lost on the +previous night, the garrison only amounted to something over four +hundred men, of whom about fifty were wounded, some of them +dangerously. Moreover, ammunition was short, for they had shot away +most of their arrows in the battle of the square, and we had no means +of obtaining more. But, worst of all, the palace was not provisioned +for a siege, and the mountaineers had with them only three days’ +rations of sun-dried beef or goat’s flesh, and a hard kind of biscuit +made of Indian corn mixed with barley meal. Thus, as we saw from the +beginning, unless we could manage to secure more food our case must soon +grow hopeless. + +There remained yet another danger. Although the palace itself was +stone-built, its gilded domes and ornamental turrets were of timber, +and therefore liable to be fired, as indeed had already happened. The +roof also was of ancient cedar beams, thinly covered with concrete, +while the interior contained an enormous quantity of panels, or rather +boarding, cut from some resinous wood. + +The Abati, on the other hand, were amply supplied with every kind of +store and weapon, and could bring a great force to blockade us, though +that force was composed of a timid and undisciplined rabble. + +Well, we made the best preparations that we could, although of these I +did not see much, since all that day my time was occupied in attending +to the wounded with the help of my son and a few rough orderlies, whose +experience in doctoring had for the most part been confined to cattle. +A pitiful business it proved without the aid of anæsthetics or a +proper supply of bandages and other appliances. Although my medicine +chest had been furnished upon a liberal scale, it proved totally +inadequate to the casualties of battle. Still I did my best and saved +some lives, though many cases developed gangrene and slipped through my +fingers. + +Meanwhile Higgs, who worked nobly, notwithstanding his flesh wounds, +which pained him considerably, and Orme were also doing their best with +the assistance of Japhet and the other officers of the highland +regiment. The palace was thoroughly examined, and all weak places in +its defences were made good. The available force was divided into +watches and stationed to the best advantage. A number of men were set +to work to manufacture arrow shafts from cedar beams, of which there +were plenty in the wooden stables and outhouses that lay at the back of +the main building, and to point and wing the same from a supply of iron +barbs and feathers which fortunately was discovered in one of the +guard-houses. A few horses that remained in a shed were killed and +salted down for food, and so forth. + +Also every possible preparation was made to repel attempts to storm, +paving stones being piled up to throw upon the heads of assailants and +fires lighted on the walls to heat pitch and oil and water for the same +purpose. + +But, to our disappointment, no direct assault was delivered, such +desperate methods not commending themselves to the Abati. Their plan of +attack was to take cover wherever they could, especially among the +trees of the garden beyond the gates, and thence shoot arrows at any +one who appeared upon the walls, or even fire them in volleys at the +clouds, as the Normans did at Hastings, so that they might fall upon +the heads of persons in the courtyards. Although these cautious tactics +cost us several men, they had the advantage of furnishing us with a +supply of ammunition which we sorely needed. All the spent arrows were +carefully collected and made use of against the enemy, at whom we shot +whenever opportunity offered. We did them but little damage, however, +since they were extremely careful not to expose themselves. + +In this fashion three dreary days went past, unrelieved by any incident +except a feint, for it was scarcely more, which the Abati made upon the +second night, apparently with the object of forcing the great gates +under cover of a rainstorm. The advance was discovered at once, and +repelled by two or three volleys of arrows and some rifle shots. Of +these rifles, indeed, whereof we possessed about a score, the Abati +were terribly afraid. Picking out some of the most intelligent soldiers +we taught them how to handle our spare guns, and though, of course, +their shooting was extremely erratic, the result of it, backed up by +our own more accurate marksmanship, was to force the enemy to take +cover. Indeed, after one or two experiences of the effect of bullets, +not a man would show himself in the open within five hundred yards +until night had fallen. + +On the third afternoon we held a council to determine what must be done, +since for the last twenty-four hours it had been obvious that things +could not continue as they were. To begin with, we had only sufficient +food left to keep our force from starvation for two more days. Also the +spirits of our soldiers, brave men enough when actual fighting was +concerned, were beginning to flag in this atmosphere of inaction. +Gathered into groups, they talked of their wives and children, and of +what would happen to them at the hands of Joshua; also of their cattle +and crops, saying that doubtless these were being ravaged and their +houses burned. In vain did Maqueda promise them five-fold their loss +when the war was ended, for evidently in their hearts they thought it +could only end one way. Moreover, as they pointed out, she could not +give them back their children if these were killed. + +At this melancholy council every possible plan was discussed, to find +that these resolved themselves into two alternatives—to surrender, or +to take the bull by the horns, sally out of the palace at night and +attack Joshua. On the face of it, this latter scheme had the appearance +of suicide, but, in fact, it was not so desperate as it seemed. The +Abati being such cowards it was quite probable that they would run in +their thousands before the onset of a few hundred determined men, and +that, if once victory declared itself for the Child of Kings, the bulk +of her subjects would return to their allegiance. So we settled on it +in preference to surrender, which we knew meant death to ourselves, and +for Maqueda a choice between that last grim solution of her troubles +and a forced marriage. + +But there were others to be convinced, namely, the Mountaineers. Japhet, +who had been present at the council, was sent to summon all of them +except those actually on guard, and when they were assembled in the +large inner court Maqueda went out and addressed them. + +I do not remember the exact words of her speech, and I made no note of +them, but it was extremely beautiful and touching. She pointed out her +plight, and that we could halt no longer between two opinions, who must +either fight or yield. For herself she said she did not care, since, +although she was young and their ruler, she set no store upon her life, +and would give it up gladly rather than be driven into a marriage which +she considered shameful, and forced to pass beneath the yoke of +traitors. + +But for us foreigners she did care. We had come to her country at her +invitation, we had served her nobly, one of us had given his life to +protect her person, and now, in violation of her safeguard and that of +the Council, we were threatened with a dreadful death. Were they, her +subjects, so lacking in honour and hospitality that they would suffer +such a thing with no blow struck to save us? + +Now the majority of them shouted “No,” but some were silent, and +one old captain advanced, saluted, and spoke. + +“Child of Kings,” he said, “let us search out the truth of +this matter. Is it not because of your love of the foreign soldier, +Orme, that all this trouble has arisen? Is not that love unlawful +according to our law, and are you not solemnly affianced to the Prince +Joshua?” + +Maqueda considered awhile before she replied, and said slowly: + +“Friend, my heart is my own, therefore upon this point answer your +question for yourself. As regards my uncle Joshua, if there existed any +abiding contract between us it was broken when a few nights ago he sent +his servants armed to attack and drag me off I know not whither. Would +you have me marry a traitor and a coward? I have spoken.” + +“No,” again shouted the majority of the soldiers. + +Then in the silence that followed the old captain replied, with a +canniness that was almost Scotch: + +“On the point raised by you, O Child of Kings, I give no opinion, +since you, being but a woman, if a high-born one, would not listen to +me if I did, but will doubtless follow that heart of yours of which you +speak to whatever end is appointed. Settle the matter with your +betrothed Joshua as you will. But we also have a matter to settle with +Joshua, who is a toad with a long tongue that if he seems slow yet +never misses his fly. We took up your cause, and have killed a great +number of his people, as he has killed some of ours. This he will not +forget. Therefore it seems to me that it will be wise that we should +make what we can of the nest that we have built, since it is better to +die in battle than on the gallows. For this reason, then, since we can +stay here no longer, for my part I am willing to go out and fight for +you this night, although Joshua’s people being so many and ours so +few, I shall think myself fortunate if I live to see another sun.” + +This hard and reasoned speech seemed to appeal to the dissentients, with +the result that they withdrew their opposition, and it was agreed that +we should attempt to break our way through the besieging army about one +hour before the dawn, when they would be heavily asleep and most liable +to panic. + +Yet, as it chanced, that sortie was destined never to take place, which +perhaps was fortunate for us, since I am convinced that it would have +ended in failure. It is true that we might have forced our way through +Joshua’s army, but afterwards those of us who remained alive would +have been surrounded, starved out, and, when our strength and +ammunition were exhausted taken prisoners or cut down. + +However that may be, events shaped a different course for us, perhaps +because the Abati got wind of our intention and had no stomach for a +pitched battle with desperate men. As it happened, this night from +sunset on to moonrise was one of a darkness so remarkable that it was +impossible to see anything even a foot away, also a wind blowing from +the east made sounds very inaudible. Only a few of our men were on +guard, since it was necessary that they should be rested till it was +time for them to prepare for their great effort. Also, we had little +fear of any direct attack. + +About eight o’clock, however, my son Roderick, one of the watch +stationed in the gateway towers, who was gifted with very quick ears, +reported that he thought he heard people moving on the farther side of +the massive wooden doors beyond the moat. Accordingly some of us went +to listen, but could distinguish nothing, and concluded therefore that +he was mistaken. So we retired to our posts and waited patiently for +the moon to rise. But as it chanced no moon rose, or rather we could +not see her, because the sky was completely covered by thick banks of +thunder-clouds presaging the break-up of a period of great heat. These, +as the wind had now died down, remained quite stationary upon the face +of the sky, blotting out all light. + +Perhaps another hour had passed when, chancing to look behind me, I saw +what I thought was a meteor falling from the crest of the cliff against +which the palace was built, that cliff whither the head of the idol +Harmac had been carried by the force of the explosion. + +“Look at that shooting star,” I said to Oliver, who was at my side. + +“It is not a shooting star, it is fire,” he replied in a startled +voice, and, as he spoke, other streaks of light, scores of them, began +to rain down from the brow of the cliff and land upon the wooden +buildings to the rear of the palace that were dry as tinder with the +drought, and, what was worse, upon the gilded timber domes of the roof. + +“Don’t you understand the game?” he went on. “They have +tied firebrands to arrows and spears to burn us out. Sound the alarm. +Sound the alarm!” + +It was done, and presently the great range of buildings began to hum +like a hive of bees. The soldiers still half asleep, rushed hither and +thither shouting. The officers also, developing the characteristic +excitement of the Abati race in this hour of panic, yelled and screamed +at them, beating them with their fists and swords till some kind of +control was established. + +Then attempts were made to extinguish the flames, which by this time had +got hold in half-a-dozen places. From the beginning the effort was +absolutely hopeless. It is true that there was plenty of water in the +moat, which was fed by a perennial stream that flowed down the face of +the precipice behind; but pumping engines of any sort were quite +unknown to the Abati, who, if a building took fire, just let it burn, +contenting themselves with safeguarding those in its neighbourhood. +Moreover, even in the palace, such articles as pails, jugs, or other +vessels were comparatively few and far between. + +Those that we could find, however, were filled with water and passed by +lines of men to the places in most danger—that is, practically +everywhere—while other men tried to cut off the advance of the flames +by pulling down portions of the building. + +But as fast as one fire was extinguished others broke out, for the rain +of burning darts and of lighted pots or lamps filled with oil descended +continuously from the cliff above. A strange and terrible sight it was +to see them flashing down through the darkness, like the fiery darts +that shall destroy the wicked in the day of Armageddon. + +Still, we toiled on despairingly. On the roof we four white men, and +some soldiers under the command of Japhet, were pouring water on to +several of the gilded domes, which now were well alight. Close by, +wrapped in a dark cloak, and attended by some of her ladies, stood +Maqueda. She was quite calm, although sundry burning arrows and spears, +falling with great force from the cliff above, struck the flat roofs +close to where she stood. + +Her ladies, however, were not calm. They wept and wrung their hands, +while one of them went into violent hysterics in her very natural +terror. Maqueda turned and bade them descend to the courtyard of the +gateway, where she said she would join them presently. They rushed off, +rejoicing to escape the sight of those burning arrows, one of which had +just pierced a man and set his clothes and hair on fire, causing him to +leap from the roof in his madness. + +At Oliver’s request I ran to the Child of Kings to lead her to some +safer place, if it could be found. But she would not stir. + +“Let me be, O Adams,” she said. “If I am to die, I will die +here. But I do not think that is fated,” and with her foot she kicked +aside a burning spear that had struck the cement roof, and, rebounding, +fallen quite close to her. “If my people will not fight,” she went +on, with bitter sarcasm, “at least they understand the other arts of +war, for this trick of theirs is clever. They are cruel also. Listen to +them mocking us in the square. They ask whether we will roast alive or +come out and have our throats cut. Oh!” she went on, clenching her +hands, “oh! that I should have been born the head of such an accursed +race. Let Sheol take them all, for in the day of their tribulation no +finger will I lift to save them.” + +She was silent for a moment, and down below, near the gateway, I heard +some brute screaming, “Pretty pigeons! Pretty pigeons, are your +feathers singeing? Come then into our pie, pretty pigeons, pretty +pigeons!” followed by shouts of ribald laughter. + +But it chanced it was this hound himself who went into the “pie.” +Presently, when the flames were brighter, I saw him, in the midst of a +crowd of his admirers, singing his foul song, another verse of it about +Maqueda, which I will not repeat, and by good fortune managed to put a +bullet through his head. It was not a bad shot considering the light +and circumstances, and the only one I fired that night. I trust also +that it will be the last I shall ever fire at any human being. + +Just as I was about to leave Maqueda and return with her message to +Orme, to the effect that she would not move, the final catastrophe +occurred. Amongst the stables was a large shed filled with dry fodder +for the palace horses and camels. Suddenly this burst into a mass of +flame that spread in all directions. Then came the last, hideous panic. +From every part of the palace, the Mountaineers, men and officers +together, rushed down to the gateway. In a minute, with the single +exception of Japhet, we four and Maqueda were left alone upon the roof, +where we stood overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. We heard the +drawbridge fall; we heard the great doors burst open beneath the +pressure of a mob of men; we heard a coarse voice—I thought it was +that of Joshua—yell: + +“Kill whom you will, my children, but death to him who harms the Child +of Kings. She is my spoil!” + +Then followed terrible sights and sounds. The cunning Abati had +stretched ropes outside the doors; it was the noise they made at this +work which had reached Roderick’s ears earlier during the darkness. +The terrified soldiers, flying from the fire, stumbled and fell over +these ropes, nor could they rise again because of those who pressed +behind. What happened to them all I am sure I do not know, but +doubtless many were crushed to death and many more killed by Joshua’s +men. I trust, however, that some of them escaped, since, compared to +the rest of the Abati, they were as lions are to cats, although, like +all their race, they lacked the stamina to fight an uphill game. + +It was at the commencement of this terrific scene that I shot the +foul-mouthed singer. + +“You shouldn’t have done that, old fellow,” screamed Higgs in +his high voice, striving to make himself heard above the tumult, “as +it will show those swine where we are.” + +“I don’t think they will look for us here, anyway,” I +answered. + +Then we watched awhile in silence. + +“Come,” said Orme at length, taking Maqueda by the hand. + +“Where are you going, O Oliver?” she asked, hanging back. +“Sooner will I burn than yield to Joshua.” + +“I am going to the cave city,” he answered; “we have nowhere +else to go, and little time to lose. Four men with rifles can hold that +place against a thousand. Come.” + +“I obey,” she answered, bowing her head. + +We went down the stairway that led from the roof on which the +inhabitants of the palace were accustomed to spend much of their day, +and even to sleep in hot weather, as is common in the East. Another +minute and we should have been too late. The fire from one of the domes +had spread to the upper story, and was already appearing in little +tongues of flame mingled with jets of black smoke through cracks in the +crumbling partition wall. + +As a matter of fact this wall fell in just as my son Roderick, the last +of us, was passing down the stairs. With the curiosity of youth he had +lingered for a few moments to watch the sad scene below, a delay which +nearly cost him his life. + +On the ground floor we found ourselves out of immediate danger, since +the fire was attacking this part of the palace from above and burning +downward. We had even time to go to our respective sleeping-places and +collect such of our possessions and valuables as we were able to carry. +Fortunately, among other things, these included all our note-books, +which to-day are of priceless value. Laden with these articles, we met +again in the audience hall, which, although it was very hot, seemed as +it had always been, a huge, empty place, whereof the roof, painted with +stars, was supported upon thick cedar columns, each of them hewn from a +single tree. + +Passing down that splendid apartment, which an hour later had ceased to +exist, lamps in hand, for these we had found time to fetch and light, +we reached the mouth of the passage that led to the underground city +without meeting a single human being. + +Had the Abati been a different race they could perfectly well have +dashed in and made us prisoners, for the drawbridge was still intact. +But their cowardice was our salvation, for they feared lest they should +be trapped by the fire. So I think at least, but justice compels me to +add that, on the spur of the moment, they may have found it impossible +to clear the gateways of the mass of fallen or dead soldiers over which +it would have been difficult to climb. + +Such, at any rate, was the explanation that we heard afterwards. + +We reached the mouth of the vast cave in perfect safety, and clambered +through the little orifice which was left between the rocks rolled +thither by the force of the explosion, or shaken down from the roof. +This hole, for it was nothing more, we proceeded to stop with a few +stones in such a fashion that it could not be forced without much toil +and considerable noise, only leaving one little tortuous channel +through which, if necessary, a man could creep. + +The labour of rock-carrying, in which even Maqueda shared, occupied our +minds for awhile, and induced a kind of fictitious cheerfulness. But +when it was done, and the chilly silence of that enormous cave, so +striking in comparison with the roar of the flames and the hideous +human tumult which we had left without, fell upon us like sudden cold +and blinding night upon a wanderer in windy, sunlit mountains, all our +excitement perished. In a flash, we understood our terrible position, +we who had but escaped from the red fire to perish slowly in the black +darkness. + +Still we strove to keep our spirits as best we could. Leaving Higgs to +watch the blocked passage, a somewhat superfluous task, since the fire +without was our best watchman, the rest of us threaded our way up the +cave, following the telephone wire which poor Quick had laid on the +night of the blowing-up of the god Harmac, till we came to what had +been our headquarters during the digging of the mine. Into the room +which was Oliver’s, whence we had escaped with so much difficulty +after that event, we could not enter because of the transom that +blocked the doorway. Still, there were plenty of others at hand in the +old temple, although they were foul with the refuse of the bats that +wheeled about us in thousands, for these creatures evidently had some +unknown access to the open air. One of these rooms had served as our +store-chamber, and after a few rough preparations we assigned it to +Maqueda. + +“Friends,” she said, as she surveyed its darksome entrance, +“it looks like the door of a tomb. Well, in the tomb there is rest, +and rest I must have. Leave me to sleep, who, were it not for you, O +Oliver, would pray that I might never wake again. + +“Man,” she added passionately, before us all, for now in face of +the last peril every false shame and wish to conceal the truth had left +her; “man, why were you born to bring woe upon my head and joy to my +heart? Well, well, the joy outweighs the woe, and even if the angel who +led you hither is named Azrael, still I shall bless him who has +revealed to me my soul. Yet for you I weep, and if only your life could +be spared to fulfil itself in happiness in the land that bore you, oh! +for you I would gladly die.” + +Now Oliver, who seemed deeply moved, stepped to her and began to whisper +into her ear, evidently making some proposal of which I think I can +guess the nature. She listened to him, smiling sadly, and made a motion +with her hand as though to thrust him away. + +“Not so,” she said, “it is nobly offered, but did I accept, +through whatever universes I may wander, those who came after me would +know me by my trail of blood, the blood of him who loved me. Perhaps, +too, by that crime I should be separated from you for ever. Moreover, I +tell you that though all seems black as this thick darkness, I believe +that things will yet end well for you and me—in this world or +another.” + +Then she was gone, leaving Orme staring after her like a man in a +trance. + +“I daresay they will,” remarked Higgs _sotto voce_ to me, +“and that’s first-rate so far as they are concerned. But what I +should jolly well like to know is how they are going to end for _us_ who +haven’t got a charming lady to see us across the Styx.” + +“You needn’t puzzle your brain over that,” I answered +gloomily, “for I think there will soon be a few more skeletons in this +beastly cave, that’s all. Don’t you see that those Abati will +believe we are burned in the palace?” + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +STARVATION + + +I was right. The Abati did think that we had been burned. It never +occurred to them that we might have escaped to the underground city. So +at least I judged from the fact that they made no attempt to seek us +there until they learned the truth in the fashion that I am about to +describe. If anything, this safety from our enemies added to the trials +of those hideous days and nights. Had there been assaults to repel and +the excitement of striving against overwhelming odds, at any rate we +should have found occupation for our minds and remaining energies. + +But there were none. By turns we listened at the mouth of the passage +for the echo of footsteps that never came. Nothing came to break a +silence so intense that at last our ears, craving for sound, magnified +the soft flitter of the bats into a noise as of eagle’s wings, till +at last we spoke in whispers, because the full voice of man seemed to +affront the solemn quietude, seemed intolerable to our nerves. + +Yet for the first day or two we found occupation of a sort. Of course +our first need was to secure a supply of food, of which we had only a +little originally laid up for our use in the chambers of the old +temple, tinned meats that we had brought from London and so forth, now +nearly all consumed. We remembered that Maqueda had told us of corn +from her estates which was stored annually in pits to provide against +the possibility of a siege of Mur, and asked her where it was. + +She led us to a place where round stone covers with rings attached to +them were let into the floor of the cave, not unlike those which stop +the coal-shoots in a town pavement, only larger. With great difficulty +we prised one of these up; to me it did not seem to have been moved +since the ancient kings ruled in Mur and, after leaving it open for a +long while for the air within to purify, lowered Roderick by a rope we +had to report its contents. Next moment we heard him saying: “Want to +come up, please. This place is not pleasant.” + +We pulled him out and asked what he had found. + +“Nothing good to eat,” he answered, “only plenty of dead +bones and one rat that ran up my leg.” + +We tried the next two pits with the same result—they were full of +human bones. Then we cross-examined Maqueda, who, after reflection, +informed us that she now remembered that about five generations before +a great plague had fallen on Mur, which reduced its population by +one-half. She had heard, also, that those stricken with the plague were +driven into the underground city in order that they might not infect +the others, and supposed that the bones we saw were their remains. This +information caused us to close up those pits again in a great hurry, +though really it did not matter whether we caught the plague or no. + +Still, as she was sure that corn was buried somewhere, we went to +another group of pits in a distant chamber, and opened the first one. +This time our search was rewarded, to the extent that we found at the +bottom of it some mouldering dust that years ago had been grain. The +other pits, two of which had been sealed up within three years as the +date upon the wax showed, were quite empty. + +Then Maqueda understood what had happened. + +“Surely the Abati are a people of rogues,” she said. “See +now, the officers appointed to store away my corn which I gave them have +stolen it! Oh! may they live to lack bread even more bitterly than we +do to-day.” + +We went back to our sleeping-place in silence. Well might we be silent, +for of food we had only enough left for a single scanty meal. Water +there was in plenty, but no food. When we had recovered a little from +our horrible disappointment we consulted together. + +“If we could get through the mine tunnel,” said Oliver, “we +might escape into the den of lions, which were probably all destroyed by +the explosion, and so out into the open country.” + +“The Fung would take us there,” suggested Higgs. + +“No, no,” broke in Roderick, “Fung all gone, or if they do, +anything better than this black hole, yes, even my wife.” + +“Let us look,” I said, and we started. + +When we reached the passage that led from the city to the Tomb of Kings, +it was to find that the wall at the end of it had been blown bodily +back into the parent cave, leaving an opening through which we could +walk side by side. Of course the contents of the tomb itself were +scattered. In all directions lay bones, objects of gold and other +metals, or overturned thrones. The roof and walls alone remained as +they had been. + +“What vandalism!” exclaimed Higgs, indignant even in his misery. +“Why wouldn’t you let me move the things when I wanted to, +Orme?” + +“Because they would have thought that we were stealing them, old +fellow. Also those Mountaineers were superstitious, and I did not want +them to desert. But what does it matter, anyway? If you had, they would +have been burned in the palace.” + +By this time we had reached that end of the vast tomb where the +hunchbacked king used to sit, and saw at once that our quest was vain. +The tunnel which we had dug beyond was utterly choked with masses of +fallen rock that we could never hope to move, even with the aid of +explosives, of which we had none left. + +So we returned, our last hope gone. + +Also another trouble stared us in the face; our supply of the crude +mineral oil which the Abati used for lighting purposes was beginning to +run low. Measurement of what remained of the store laid up for our use +while the mine was being made, revealed the fact that there was only +enough left to supply four lamps for about three days and nights: one +for Maqueda, one for ourselves, one for the watchman near the tunnel +mouth, and one for general purposes. + +This general-purpose lamp, as a matter of fact, was mostly made use of +by Higgs. Truly, he furnished a striking instance of the ruling passion +strong in death. All through those days of starvation and utter misery, +until he grew too weak and the oil gave out, he trudged backward and +forward between the old temple and the Tomb of Kings carrying a large +basket on his arm. Going out with this basket empty, he would bring it +back filled with gold cups and other precious objects that he had +collected from among the bones and scattered rubbish in the Tomb. These +objects he laboriously catalogued in his pocket-book at night, and +afterwards packed away in empty cases that had contained our supplies +of explosive and other goods, carefully nailing them down when filled. + +“What on earth are you doing that for, Higgs?” I asked petulantly, +as he finished off another case, I think it was his twentieth. + +“I don’t know, Doctor,” he answered in a thin voice, for like +the rest of us he was growing feeble on a water-diet. “I suppose it +amuses me to think how jolly it would be to open all these boxes in my +rooms in London after a first-rate dinner of fried sole and steak cut +thick,” and he smacked his poor, hungry lips. “Yes, yes,” he went +on, “to take them out one by one and show them to —— and +——,” and he mentioned by name officials of sundry great +museums with whom he was at war, “and see them tear their hair with +rage and jealousy, while they wondered in their hearts if they could +not manage to seize the lot for the Crown as treasure-trove, or do me +out of them somehow,” and he laughed a little in his old, pleasant +fashion. + +“Of course I never shall,” he added sadly, “but perhaps one +day some other fellow will find them here and get them to Europe, and if +he is a decent chap, publish my notes and descriptions, of which I have +put a duplicate in each box, and so make my name immortal. Well, I’m +off again. There are four more cases to fill before the oil gives out, +and I must get that great gold head into one of them, though it is an +awful job to carry it far at a time. Doctor, what disease is it that +makes your legs suddenly give way beneath you, so that you find +yourself sitting in a heap on the floor without knowing how you came +there? You don’t know? Well, no more do I, but I’ve got it bad. I +tell you I’m downright sore behind from continual and unexpected +contact with the rock.” + +Poor old Higgs! I did not like to tell him that his disease was +starvation. + +Well, he went on with his fetching and carrying and cataloguing and +packing. I remember that the last load he brought in was the golden +head he had spoken of, the wonderful likeness of some prehistoric king +which has since excited so much interest throughout the world. The +thing being too heavy for him to carry in his weakened state, for it is +much over life-size, he was obliged to roll it before him, which +accounts for the present somewhat damaged condition of the nose and +semi-Egyptian diadem. + +Never shall I forget the sight of the Professor as he appeared out of +the darkness, shuffling along upon his knees where his garments were +worn into holes, and by the feeble light of the lamp that he moved from +time to time, painfully pushing the great yellow object forward, only a +foot or two at each push. + +“Here it is at last,” he gasped triumphantly, whilst we watched him +with indifferent eyes. “Japhet, help me to wrap it up in the mat and +lift it into the box. No, no, you donkey—face upward—so. Never mind +the corners, I’ll fill them with ring-money and other trifles,” and +out of his wide pockets he emptied a golden shower, amongst which he +sifted handfuls of dust from the floor and anything else he could find +to serve as packing, finally covering all with a goat’s-hair blanket +which he took from his bed. + +Then very slowly he found the lid of the box and nailed it down, resting +between every few strokes of the hammer whilst we watched him in our +intent, but idle, fashion, wondering at the strange form of his +madness. + +At length the last nail was driven, and seated on the box he put his +hand into an inner pocket to find his note-book, then incontinently +fainted. I struggled to my feet and sprinkled water over his face till +he revived and rolled on to the floor, where presently he sank into +sleep or torpor. As he did so the first lamp gave out. + +“Light it, Japhet,” said Maqueda, “it is dark in this +place.” + +“O Child of Kings,” answered the man, “I would obey if I +could, but there is no more oil.” + +Half-an-hour later the second lamp went out. By the light that remained +we made such arrangements as we could, knowing that soon darkness would +be on us. They were few and simple: the fetching of a jar or two of +water, the placing of arms and ammunition to our hands, and the +spreading out of some blankets on which to lie down side by side upon +what I for one believed would be our bed of death. + +While we were thus engaged, Japhet crawled into our circle from the +outer gloom. Suddenly I saw his haggard face appear, looking like that +of a spirit rising from the grave. + +“My lamp is burned out,” he moaned; “it began to fail whilst +I was on watch at the tunnel mouth, and before I was half-way here it +died altogether. Had it not been for the wire of the +‘thing-that-speaks’ which guided me, I could never have reached +you. I should have been lost in the darkness of the city and perished +alone among the ghosts.” + +“Well, you are here now,” said Oliver. “Have you anything to +report?” + +“Nothing, lord, or at least very little. I moved some of the small +rocks that we piled up, and crept down the hole till I came to a place +where the blessed light of day fell upon me, only one little ray of it, +but still the light of day. I think that something has fallen upon the +tunnel and broken it, perhaps one of the outer walls of the palace. At +least I looked through a crack and saw everywhere ruins—ruins that +still smoke. From among them I heard the voices of men shouting to each +other. + +“One of them called to his companion that it was strange, if the +Gentiles and the Child of Kings had perished in the fire, that they had +not found their bones which would be known by the guns they carried. +His friend answered that it was strange indeed, but being magicians, +perhaps they had hidden away somewhere. For his part he hoped so, as +then sooner or later they would be found and put to death slowly, as +they deserved, who had led astray the Child of Kings and brought so +many of the heaven-descended Abati to their death. Then fearing lest +they should find and kill me, for they drew near as I could tell by +their voices, I crept back again, and that is all my story.” + +We said nothing; there seemed to be nothing to say, but sat in our sad +circle and watched the dying lamp. When it began to flicker, leaping up +and down like a thing alive, a sudden panic seized poor Japhet. + +“O Walda Nagasta,” he cried, throwing himself at her feet, +“you have called me a brave man, but I am only brave where the sun and +the stars shine. Here in the dark amongst so many angry spirits, and +with hunger gnawing at my bowels, I am a great coward; Joshua himself +is not such a coward as I. Let us go out into the light while there is +yet time. Let us give ourselves up to the Prince. Perhaps he will be +merciful and spare our lives, or at least he will spare yours, and if +we die, it will be with the sun shining on us.” + +But Maqueda only shook her head, whereon he turned to Orme and went on: + +“Lord, would you have the blood of the Child of Kings upon your hands? +Is it thus that you repay her for her love? Lead her forth. No harm +will come to her who otherwise must perish here in misery.” + +“You hear what the man says, Maqueda?” said Orme heavily. +“There is some truth in it. It really does not matter to us whether we +die in the power of the Abati or here of starvation; in fact, I think +that we should prefer the former end, and doubtless no hand will be +laid on you. Will you go?” + +“Nay,” she answered passionately. “A hand would be laid on +me, the hand of Joshua, and rather than that he should touch me I will +die a hundred deaths. Let fate take its course, for as I have told you, +I believe that then it will open to us some gate we cannot see. And if +I believe in vain, why there is another gate which we can pass +together, O Oliver, and beyond that gate lies peace. Bid the man be +silent, or drive him away. Let him trouble me no more.” + +The lamp flame sank low. It flickered, once, twice, thrice, each time +showing the pale, drawn faces of us six seated about it, like wizards +making an incantation, like corpses in a tomb. + +Then it went out. + +How long were we in that place after this? At least three whole days and +nights, I believe, if not more, but of course we soon lost all count of +time. At first we suffered agonies from famine, which we strove in vain +to assuage with great draughts of water. No doubt these kept us alive, +but even Higgs, who it may be remembered was a teetotaller, afterwards +confessed to me that he has loathed the sight and taste of water ever +since. Indeed he now drinks beer and wine like other people. It was +torture; we could have eaten anything. In fact the Professor did manage +to catch and eat a bat that got entangled in his red hair. He offered +me a bite of it, I remember, and was most grateful when I declined. + +The worst of it was also that we had a little food, a few hard ship’s +biscuits, which we had saved up for a purpose, namely, to feed Maqueda. +This was how we managed it. At certain intervals I would announce that +it was time to eat, and hand Maqueda her biscuit. Then we would all +pretend to eat also, saying how much we felt refreshed by the food and +how we longed for more, smacking our lips and biting on a piece of wood +so that she could not help hearing us. + +This piteous farce went on for forty-eight hours or more until at last +the wretched Japhet, who was quite demoralized and in no mood for +acting, betrayed us, exactly how I cannot remember. After this Maqueda +would touch nothing more, which did not greatly matter as there was +only one biscuit left. I offered it to her, whereon she thanked me and +all of us for our courtesy toward a woman, took the biscuit, and gave +it to Japhet, who ate it like a wolf. + +It was some time after this incident that we discovered Japhet to be +missing; at least we could no longer touch him, nor did he answer when +we called. Therefore, we concluded that he had crept away to die and, I +am sorry to say, thought little more about it for, after all, what he +suffered, or had suffered, we suffered also. + +I recall that before we were overtaken by the last sleep, a strange fit +came upon us. Our pangs passed away, much as the pain does when +mortification follows a wound, and with them that horrible craving for +nutriment. We grew cheerful and talked a great deal. Thus Roderick gave +me the entire history of the Fung people and of his life among them and +other savage tribes. Further, he explained every secret detail of their +idol worship to Higgs, who was enormously interested, and tried to make +some notes by the aid of our few remaining matches. When even that +subject was exhausted, he sang to us in his beautiful voice—English +hymns and Arab songs. Oliver and Maqueda also chatted together quite +gaily, for I heard them laughing, and gathered that he was engaged in +trying to teach her English. + +The last thing that I recollect is the scene as it was revealed by the +momentary light of one of the last matches. Maqueda sat by Oliver. His +arm was about her waist, her head rested upon his shoulder, her long +hair flowed loose, her large and tender eyes stared from her white, wan +face up toward his face, which was almost that of a mummy. + +Then on the other side stood my son, supporting himself against the wall +of the room, and beyond him Higgs, a shadow of his former self, feebly +waving a pencil in the air and trying, apparently, to write a note upon +his Panama straw hat, which he held in his left hand, as I suppose, +imagining it to be his pocket-book. The incongruity of that sun-hat in +a place where no sun had ever come made me laugh, and as the match went +out I regretted that I had forgotten to look at his face to ascertain +whether he was still wearing his smoked spectacles. + +“What is the use of a straw hat and smoked spectacles in +kingdom-come?” I kept repeating to myself, while Roderick, whose arm I +knew was about me, seemed to answer: + +“The Fung wizards say that the sphinx Harmac once wore a hat, but, my +father, I do not know if he had spectacles.” + +Then a sensation as of being whirled round and round in some vast +machine, down the sloping sides of which I sank at last into a vortex +of utter blackness, whereof I knew the name was death. + +Dimly, very dimly, I became aware that I was being carried. I heard +voices in my ears, but what they said I could not understand. Then a +feeling of light struck upon my eyeballs which gave me great pain. +Agony ran all through me as it does through the limbs of one who is +being brought back from death by drowning. After this something warm +was poured down my throat, and I went to sleep. + +When I awoke again it was to find myself in a large room that I did not +know. I was lying on a bed, and by the light of sunrise which streamed +through the window-places I saw the three others, my son Roderick, Orme +and Higgs lying on the other beds, but they were still asleep. + +Abati servants entered the room bringing food, a kind of rough soup with +pieces of meat in it of which they gave me a portion in a wooden bowl +that I devoured greedily. Also they shook my companions until they +awoke and almost automatically ate up the contents of similar bowls, +after which they went to sleep again, as I did, thanking heaven that we +were all still alive. + +Every few hours I had a vision of these men entering with the bowls of +soup or porridge, until at last life and reason came back to me in +earnest, and I saw Higgs sitting up on the bed opposite and staring at +me. + +“I say, old fellow,” he said, “are we alive, or is this +Hades?” + +“Can’t be Hades,” I answered, “because there are Abati +here.” + +“Quite right,” he replied. “If the Abati go anywhere, +it’s to hell, where they haven’t whitewashed walls and four-post +beds. Oliver, wake up. We are out of that cave, anyway.” + +Orme raised himself on his hand and stared at us. + +“Where’s Maqueda?” he asked, a question to which of course, +we could give no answer, till presently Roderick woke also and said: + +“I remember something. They carried us all out of the cave; Japhet was +with them. They took the Child of Kings one way and us another, that is +all I know.” + +Shortly afterwards the Abati servants arrived, bearing food more solid +than the soup, and with them came one of their doctors, not that old +idiot of a court physician, who examined us, and announced that we +should all recover, a fact which we knew already. We asked many +questions of him and the servants, but could get no answer, for +evidently they were sworn to silence. However, we persuaded them to +bring us water to wash in. It came, and with it a polished piece of +metal, such as the Abati use for a looking-glass, in which we saw our +faces, the terrible, wasted faces of those who have gone within a +hair’s breadth of death by starvation in the dark. + +Yet although our gaolers would say nothing, something in their aspect +told us that we were in sore peril of our lives. They looked at us +hungrily, as a terrier looks at rats in a wire cage of which the door +will presently be opened. Moreover, Roderick, who, as I think I have +said, has very quick ears, overheard one of the attendants whisper to +another: + +“When does our service on these hounds of Gentiles come to an end?” +to which his fellow answered, “The Council has not yet decided, but I +think to-morrow or the next day, if they are strong enough. It will be a +great show.” + +Also that evening, about sunset, we heard a mob shouting outside the +barrack in which we were imprisoned, for that was its real use, “Give +us the Gentiles! Give us the Gentiles! We are tired of waiting,” +until at length some soldiers drove them away. + +Well, we talked the thing over, only to conclude that there was nothing +to be done. We had no friend in the place except Maqueda, and she, it +appeared, was a prisoner like ourselves, and therefore could not +communicate with us. Nor could we see the slightest possibility of +escape. + +“Out of the frying-pan into the fire,” remarked Higgs gloomily. +“I wish now that they had let us die in the cave. It would have been +better than being baited to death by a mob of Abati.” + +“Yes,” answered Oliver with a sigh, for he was thinking of Maqueda, +“but that’s why they saved us, the vindictive beasts, to kill us +for what they are pleased to call high treason.” + +“High treason!” exclaimed Higgs. “I hope to goodness their +punishment for the offence is not that of mediæval England; hanging is +bad enough—but the rest——!” + +“I don’t think the Abati study European history,” I broke in; +“but it is no use disguising from you that they have methods of their +own. Look here, friends,” I added, “I have kept something about me +in case the worst should come to the worst,” and I produced a little +bottle containing a particularly swift and deadly poison done up into +tabloids, and gave one to each of them. “My advice is,” I added, +“that if you see we are going to be exposed to torture or to any +dreadful form of death, you should take one of these, as I mean to do, +and cheat the Abati of their vengeance.” + +“That is all very fine,” said the Professor as he pocketed his +tabloid, “but I never could swallow a pill without water at the best +of times, and I don’t believe those beasts will give one any. Well, I +suppose I must suck it, that’s all. Oh! if only the luck would turn, +if only the luck would turn!” + +Three more days went by without any sign of Higgs’s aspiration being +fulfilled. On the contrary, except in one respect, the luck remained +steadily against us. The exception was that we got plenty to eat and +consequently regained our normal state of health and strength more +rapidly than might have been expected. With us it was literally a case +of “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” + +Only somehow I don’t think that any of us really believed that we +should die, though whether this was because we had all, except poor +Quick, survived so much, or from a sneaking faith in Maqueda’s +optimistic dreams, I cannot say. At any rate we ate our food with +appetite, took exercise in an inner yard of the prison, and strove to +grow as strong as we could, feeling that soon we might need all our +powers. Oliver was the most miserable among us, not for his own sake, +but because, poor fellow, he was haunted with fears as to Maqueda and +her fate, although of these he said little or nothing to us. On the +other hand, my son Roderick was by far the most cheerful. He had lived +for so many years upon the brink of death that this familiar gulf +seemed to have no terrors for him. + +“All come right somehow, my father,” he said airily. “Who can +know what happen? Perhaps Child of King drag us out of mud-hole, for +after all she was very strong cow, or what you call it, heifer, and I +think toss Joshua if he drive her into corner. Or perhaps other thing +occur.” + +“What other thing, Roderick?” I asked. + +“Oh! don’t know, can’t say, but I think Fung thing. Believe +we not done with Fung yet, believe they not run far. Believe they take +thought for morrow and come back again. Only,” he added sadly, +“hope my wife not come back, for that old girl too full of lofty +temper for me. Still, cheer up, not dead yet by long day’s march, and +meanwhile food good and this very jolly rest after beastly underground +city. Now I tell Professor some more stories about Fung religion, den +of lions, and so forth.” + +On the morning after this conversation a crisis came. Just as we had +finished breakfast the doors of our chamber were thrown open and in +marched a number of soldiers wearing Joshua’s badge. They were headed +by an officer of his household, who commanded us to rise and follow +him. + +“Where to?” asked Orme. + +“To take your trial before the Child of Kings and her Council, +Gentile, upon the charge of having murdered certain of her subjects,” +answered the officer sternly. + +“That’s all right,” said Higgs with a sigh of relief. +“If Maqueda is chairman of the Bench we are pretty certain of an +acquittal, for Orme’s sake if not for our own.” + +“Don’t you be too sure of that,” I whispered into his ear. +“The circumstances are peculiar, and women have been known to change +their minds.” + +“Adams,” he replied, glaring at me through his smoked spectacles, +“If you talk like that we shall quarrel. Maqueda change her mind +indeed! Why, it is an insult to suggest such a thing, and if you take +my advice you won’t let Oliver hear you. Don’t you remember, man, +that she’s in love with him?” + +“Oh, yes,” I answered, “but I remember also that Prince +Joshua is in love with her, and that she is his prisoner.” + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE TRIAL AND AFTER + + +They set us in a line, four ragged-looking fellows, all of us with +beards of various degrees of growth, that is, all the other three, for +mine had been an established fact for years, and everything having been +taken away from us, we possessed neither razor nor scissors. + +In the courtyard of our barrack we were met by a company of soldiers, +who encircled us about with a triple line of men, as we thought to +prevent any attempt of escape. So soon as we passed the gates I found, +however, that this was done for a different reason, namely, to protect +us from the fury of the populace. All the way from the barrack to the +courthouse, whither we were being taken now that the palace was burned, +the people were gathered in hundreds, literally howling for our blood. +It was a strange, and, in a way, a dreadful sight to see even the +brightly dressed women and children shaking their fists and spitting at +us with faces distorted by hate. + +“Why they love you so little, father, when you do so much for +them?” asked Roderick, shrugging his shoulders and dodging a stone +that nearly hit him on the head. + +“For two reasons,” I answered. “Because their Lady loves one +of us too much, and because through us many of their people have lost +their lives. Also they hate strangers, and are by nature cruel, like +most cowards, and now that they have no more fear of the Fung, they +think it will be safe to kill us.” + +“Ah!” said Roderick; “yet Harmac has come to Mur,” and +he pointed to the great head of the idol seated on the cliff, “and I +think where Harmac goes, Fung follow, and if so they make them pay +plenty for my life, for I great man among Fung; Fung myself husband of +Sultan’s daughter. These fools, like children, because they see no +Fung, think there are no Fung. Well, in one year, or perhaps one month, +they learn.” + +“I daresay, my boy,” I answered, “but I am afraid that +won’t help us.” + +By now we were approaching the court-house where the Abati priests and +learned men tried civil and some criminal cases. Through a mob of +nobles and soldiers who mocked us as we went, we were hustled into the +large hall of judgment that was already full to overflowing. + +Up the centre of it we marched to a clear space reserved for the parties +to a cause, or prisoners and their advocates, beyond which, against the +wall, were seats for the judges. These were five members of the +Council, one of whom was Joshua, while in the centre as President of +the Court, and wearing her veil and beautiful robes of ceremony, sat +Maqueda herself. + +“Thank God, she’s safe!” muttered Oliver with a gasp of +relief. + +“Yes,” answered Higgs, “but what’s she doing there? She +ought to be in the dock, too, not on the Bench.” + +We reached the open space, and were thrust by soldiers armed with swords +to where we must stand, and although each of us bowed to her, I +observed that Maqueda took not the slightest notice of our salutations. +She only turned her head and said something to Joshua on her right, +which caused him to laugh. + +Then with startling suddenness the case began. A kind of public +prosecutor stood forward and droned out the charge against us. It was +that we, who were in the employ of the Abati, had traitorously taken +advantage of our position as mercenary captains to stir up a civil war, +in which many people had lost their lives, and some been actually +murdered by ourselves and our companion who was dead. Moreover, that we +had caused their palace to be burned and, greatest crime of all, had +seized the sacred person of the Walda Nagasta, Rose of Mur, and dragged +her away into the recesses of the underground city, whence she was only +rescued by the chance of an accomplice of ours, one Japhet, betraying +our hiding-place. + +This was the charge which, it will be noted, contained no allusion +whatever to the love entanglement between Maqueda and Oliver. When it +was finished the prosecutor asked us what we pleaded, whereon Oliver +answered as our spokesman that it was true there had been fighting and +men killed, also that we had been driven into the cave, but as to all +the rest the Child of Kings knew the truth, and must speak for us as +she wished. + +Now the audience began to shout, “They plead guilty! Give them to +death!” and so forth, while the judges rising from their seats, +gathered round Maqueda and consulted her. + +“By heaven! I believe she is going to give us away!” exclaimed +Higgs, whereon Oliver turned on him fiercely and bade him hold his +tongue, adding: + +“If you were anywhere else you should answer for that slander!” + +At length the consultation was finished; the judges resumed their seats, +and Maqueda held up her hand. Thereon an intense silence fell upon the +place. Then she began to speak in a cold, constrained voice: + +“Gentiles,” she said, addressing us, “you have pleaded guilty +to the stirring up of civil war in Mur, and to the slaying of numbers of +its people, facts of which there is no need for evidence, since many +widows and fatherless children can testify to them to-day. Moreover, +you did, as alleged by my officer, commit the crime of bearing off my +person into the cave and keeping me there by force to be a hostage for +your safety.” + +We heard and gasped, Higgs ejaculating, “Good gracious, what a +lie!” But none of the rest of us said anything. + +“For these offences,” went on Maqueda, “you are all of you +justly worthy of a cruel death.” Then she paused and added, “Yet, +as I have the power to do, I remit the sentence. I decree that this day +you and all the goods that remain to you which have been found in the +cave city, and elsewhere, together with camels for yourselves and your +baggage, shall be driven from Mur, and that if any one of you returns +hither, he shall without further trial be handed over to the +executioners. This I do because at the beginning of your service a +certain bargain was made with you, and although you have sinned so +deeply I will not suffer that the glorious honour of the Abati people +shall be tarnished even by the breath of suspicion. Get you gone, +Wanderers, and let us see your faces no more for ever!” + +Now the mob gathered in the hall shouted in exultation, though I heard +some crying out, “No, kill them! Kill them!” + +When the tumult had died down Maqueda spoke again saying: + +“O noble and generous Abati, you approve of this deed of mercy; you +who would not be held merciless in far lands, O Abati, where, although +you may not have heard of them, there are, I believe, other peoples who +think themselves as great as you. You would not have it whispered, I +say, that we who are the best of the world, we, the children of +Solomon, have dealt harshly even with stray dogs that have wandered to +our gates? Moreover, we called these dogs to hunt a certain beast for +us, the lion-headed beast called Fung, and, to be just to them, they +hunted well. Therefore spare them the noose, though they may have +deserved it, and let them run hence with their bone, say you, the bone +which they think that they have earned. What does a bone more or less +matter to the rich Abati, if only their holy ground is not defiled with +the blood of Gentile dogs?” + +“Nothing at all! Nothing at all!” they shouted. “Tie it to +their tails and let them go!” + +“It shall be done, O my people! And now that we have finished with +these dogs, I have another word to say to you. You may have thought or +heard that I was too fond of them, and especially of one of them,” +and she glanced toward Oliver. “Well, there are certain dogs who will +not work unless you pat them on the head. Therefore I patted this one +on the head, since, after all, he is a clever dog who knows things that +we do not know; for instance, how to destroy the idol of the Fung. O +great Abati, can any of you really have believed that I, of the ancient +race of Solomon and Sheba, I, the Child of Kings, purposed to give my +noble hand to a vagrant Gentile come hither for hire? Can you really +have believed that I, the solemnly betrothed to yonder Prince of +Princes, Joshua, my uncle, would for a moment even in my heart have +preferred to him such a man as that?” And once again she looked at +Oliver, who made a wild motion, as though he were about to speak. But +before he could so much as open his lips Maqueda went on: + +“Well, if you believed, not guessing all the while I was working for +the safety of my people, soon shall you be undeceived, since to-morrow +night I invite you to the great ceremony of my nuptials, when, +according to the ancient custom, I break the glass with him whom on the +following night I take to be my husband,” and rising, she bowed +thrice to the audience, then stretched out her hand to Joshua. + +He, too, rose, puffing himself out like a great turkey-cock, and, taking +her hand, kissed it, gobbling some words which we did not catch. + +Wild cheering followed, and in the momentary silence which followed +Oliver spoke. + +“Lady,” he said, in a cold and bitter voice, “we +‘Gentiles’ have heard your words. We thank you for your kind +acknowledgment of our services, namely, the destruction of the idol of +the Fung at the cost of some risk and labour to ourselves. We thank you +also for your generosity in allowing us, as the reward of that service, +to depart from Mur, with insult and hard words, and such goods as +remain to us, instead of consigning us to death by torture, as you and +your Council have the power to do. It is indeed a proof of your +generosity, and of that of the Abati people which we shall always +remember and repeat in our own land, should we live to reach it. Also, +we trust that it will come to the ears of the savage Fung, so that at +length they may understand that true nobility and greatness lie not in +brutal deeds of arms, but in the hearts of men. But now, Walda Nagasta, +I have a last request to make of you, namely, that I may see your face +once more to be sure that it is you who have spoken to us, and not +another beneath your veil, and that if this be so, I may carry away +with me a faithful picture of one so true to her country and noble to +her guests as you have shown yourself this day.” + +She listened, then very slowly lifted her veil, revealing such a +countenance as I had never seen before. It was Maqueda without a doubt, +but Maqueda changed. Her face was pale, which was only to be expected +after all she had gone through; her eyes glowed in it like coals, her +lips were set. But it was her expression, at once defiant and agonized, +which impressed me so much that I never shall forget it. I confess I +could not read it in the least, but it left upon my mind the belief +that she was a false woman, and yet ashamed of her own falsity. There +was the greatest triumph of her art, that in those terrible +circumstances she should still have succeeded in conveying to me, and to +the hundreds of others who watched, this conviction of her own +turpitude. + +For a moment her eyes met those of Orme, but although he searched them +with pleading and despair in his glance, I could trace in hers no +relenting sign, but only challenge not unmixed with mockery. Then with +a short, hard laugh she let fall her veil again and turned to talk with +Joshua. Oliver stood silent a little while, long enough for Higgs to +whisper to me: + +“I say, isn’t this downright awful? I’d rather be back in the +den of lions than live to see it.” + +As he spoke I saw Oliver put his hand to where his revolver usually +hung, but, of course, it had been taken from him. Next he began to +search in his pocket, and finding that tabloid of poison which I had +given him, lifted it toward his mouth. But just as it touched his lips, +my son, who was next to him, saw also. With a quick motion he struck it +from his fingers, and ground it to powder on the floor beneath his +heel. + +Oliver raised his arm as though to hit him, then without a sound fell +senseless. Evidently Maqueda noted all this also, for I saw a kind of +quiver go through her, and her hands gripped the arms of her chair till +the knuckles showed white beneath the skin. But she only said: + +“This Gentile has fainted because he is disappointed with his reward. +Take him hence and let his companion, the Doctor Adams, attend to him. +When he is recovered, conduct them all from Mur as I have decreed. See +that they go unharmed, taking with them plenty of food lest it be said +that we only spared their lives here in order that they might starve +without our gates.” + +Then waving her hand to show that the matter was done with, she rose +and, followed by the judges and officers, left the court by some door +behind them. + +While she spoke a strong body of guards had surrounded us, some of whom +came forward and lifted the senseless Oliver on to a stretcher. They +carried him down the court, the rest of us following. + +“Look,” jeered the Abati as he passed, “look at the Gentile +pig who thought to wear the Bud of the Rose upon his bosom. He has got +the thorn now, not the rose. Is the swine dead, think you?” + +Thus they mocked him and us. + +We reached our prison in safety, and there I set to work to revive +Oliver, a task in which I succeeded at length. When he had come to +himself again he drank a cup of water, and said quite quietly: + +“You fellows have seen all, so there is no need for talk and +explanations. One thing I beg of you, if you are any friends of mine, +and it is that you will not reproach or even speak of Maqueda to me. +Doubtless she had reasons for what she did; moreover, her bringing up +has not been the same as ours, and her code is different. Do not let us +judge her. I have been a great fool, that is all, and now I am paying +for my folly, or, rather, I have paid. Come, let us have some dinner, +for we don’t know when we shall get another meal.” + +We listened to this speech in silence, only I saw Roderick turn aside to +hide a smile and wondered why he smiled. + +Scarcely had we finished eating, or pretending to eat, when an officer +entered the room and informed us roughly that it was time for us to be +going. As he did so some attendants who had followed him threw us +bundles of clothes, and with them four very beautiful camel-hair cloaks +to protect us from the cold. With some of these garments we replaced +our rags, for they were little more, tying them and the rest of the +outfit up into bundles. + +Then, clothed as Abati of the upper class, we were taken to the gates of +the barrack, where we found a long train of riding camels waiting for +us. The moment that I saw these beasts I knew that they were the best +in the whole land, and of very great value. Indeed, that to which +Oliver was conducted was Maqueda’s own favourite dromedary, which +upon state occasions she sometimes rode instead of a horse. He +recognized it at once, poor fellow, and coloured to the eyes at this +unexpected mark of kindness, the only one she had vouchsafed to him. + +“Come, Gentiles,” said the officer, “and take count of your +goods, that you may not say that we have stolen anything from you. Here +are your firearms and all the ammunition that is left. These will be +given to you at the foot of the pass, but not before, lest you should +do more murder on the road. On those camels are fastened the boxes in +which you brought up the magic fire. We found them in your quarters in +the cave city, ready packed, but what they contain we neither know nor +care. Full or empty, take them, they are yours. Those,” and he +pointed to two other beasts, “are laden with your pay, which the +Child of Kings sends to you, requesting that you will not count it till +you reach Egypt or your own land, since she wishes no quarrelling with +you as to the amount. The rest carry food for you to eat; also, there +are two spare beasts. Now, mount and begone.” + +So we climbed into the embroidered saddles of the kneeling dromedaries, +and a few minutes later were riding through Mur toward the pass, +accompanied by our guard and hooting mobs that once or twice became +threatening, but were driven off by the soldiers. + +“I say, Doctor,” said Higgs to me excitedly, “do you know +that we have got all the best of the treasure of the Tomb of Kings in +those five-and-twenty crates? I have thought since that I was crazy +when I packed them, picking out the most valuable and rare articles +with such care, and filling in the cracks with ring money and small +curiosities, but now I see it was the inspiration of genius. My +subliminal self knew what was going to happen, and was on the job, +that’s all. Oh, if only we can get it safe away, I shall not have +played Daniel and been nearly starved to death for nothing. Why, I’d +go through it all again for that golden head alone. Shove on, shove on, +before they change their minds; it seems too good to be true.” + +Just then a rotten egg thrown by some sweet Abati youth landed full on +the bridge of his nose, and dispersing itself into his mouth and over +his smoked spectacles, cut short the Professor’s eloquence, or rather +changed its tenor. So absurd was the sight that in spite of myself I +burst out laughing, and with that laugh felt my heart grow lighter, as +though our clouds of trouble were lifting at length. + +At the mouth of the pass we found Joshua himself waiting for us, clad in +all his finery and chain armour, and looking more like a porpoise on +horseback than he had ever done. + +“Farewell, Gentiles,” he said, bowing to us in mockery, “we +wish you a quick journey to Sheol, or wherever such swine as you may go. +Listen, you Orme. I have a message for you from the Walda Nagasta. It is +that she is sorry she could not ask you to stop for her nuptial feast, +which she would have done had she not been sure that, if you stayed, +the people would have cut your throat, and she did not wish the holy +soil of Mur to be defiled with your dog’s blood. Also she bids me say +that she hopes that your stay here will have taught you a lesson, and +that in future you will not believe that every woman who makes use of +you for her own ends is therefore a victim of your charms. To-morrow +night and the night after, I pray you think of our happiness and drink +a cup of wine to the Walda Nagasta and her husband. Come, will you not +wish me joy, O Gentile?” + +Orme turned white as a sheet and gazed at him steadily. Then a strange +look came into his grey eyes, almost a look of inspiration. + +“Prince Joshua,” he said in a very quiet voice, “who knows +what may happen before the sun rises thrice on Mur? All things that +begin well do not end well, as I have learned, and as you also may live +to learn. At least, soon or late, your day of reckoning must come, and +you, too, may be betrayed as I have been. Rather should you ask me to +forgive your soul the insults that in your hour of triumph you have not +been ashamed to heap upon one who is powerless to avenge them,” and +he urged his camel past him. + +As we followed I saw Joshua’s face turn as pale as Oliver’s had +done, and his great round eyes protrude themselves like those of a fish. + +“What does he mean?” said the prince to his companions. “Pray +God he is not a prophet of evil. Even now I have a mind—no, let him +go. To break my marriage vow might bring bad luck upon me. Let him +go!” and he glared after Oliver with fear and hatred written on his +coarse features. + +That was the last we ever saw of Joshua, uncle of Maqueda, and first +prince among the Abati. + +Down the pass we went and through the various gates of the +fortifications, which were thrown open as we came and closed behind us. +We did not linger on that journey. Why should we when our guards were +anxious to be rid of us and we of them? Indeed, so soon as the last +gate was behind us, either from fear of the Fung or because they were +in a hurry to return to share in the festivities of the approaching +marriage, suddenly the Abati wheeled round, bade us farewell with a +parting curse, and left us to our own devices. + +So, having roped the camels into a long line, we went on alone, truly +thankful to be rid of them, and praying, every one of us, that never in +this world or the next might we see the face or hear the voice of +another Abati. + +We emerged on to the plain at the spot where months before we had held +our conference with Barung, Sultan of the Fung, and where poor Quick +had forced his camel on to Joshua’s horse and dismounted that hero. +Here we paused awhile to arrange our little caravan and arm ourselves +with the rifles, revolvers, and cartridges which until now we had not +been allowed to touch. + +There were but four of us to manage the long train of camels, so we were +obliged to separate. Higgs and I went ahead, since I was best acquainted +with the desert and the road, Oliver took the central station, and +Roderick brought up the rear, because he was very keen of sight and +hearing and from his long familiarity with them, knew how to drive +camels that showed signs of obstinacy or a wish to turn. + +On our right lay the great city of Harmac. We noted that it seemed to be +quite deserted. There, rebuilt now, frowned the gateway through which +we had escaped from the Fung after we had blown so many of them to +pieces, but beneath it none passed in or out. The town was empty, and +although they were dead ripe the rich crops had not yet been reaped. +Apparently the Fung people had now left the land. + +Now we were opposite to the valley of Harmac, and saw that the huge +sphinx still sat there as it had done for unknown thousands of years. +Only its head was gone, for that had “moved to Mur,” and in its +neck and shoulders appeared great clefts, caused by the terrific force +of the explosion. Moreover, no sound came from the enclosures where the +sacred lions used to be. Doubtless every one of them was dead. + +“Don’t you think,” suggested Higgs, whose archæological zeal +was rekindling fast, “that we might spare half-an-hour to go up the +valley and have a look at Harmac from the outside? Of course, both +Roderick and I are thoroughly acquainted with his inside, and the den +of lions, and so forth, but I would give a great deal just to study the +rest of him and take a few measurements. You know one must camp +somewhere, and if we can’t find the camera, at dawn one might make a +sketch.” + +“Are you mad?” I asked by way of answer, and Higgs collapsed, but +to this hour he has never forgiven me. + +We looked our last upon Harmac, the god whose glory we had destroyed, +and went on swiftly till darkness overtook us almost opposite to that +ruined village where Shadrach had tried to poison the hound Pharaoh, +which afterwards tore out his throat. Here we unloaded the camels, no +light task, and camped, for near this spot there was water and a patch +of maize on which the beasts could feed. + +Before the light quite faded Roderick rode forward for a little way to +reconnoitre, and presently returned announcing shortly that he had seen +no one. So we ate of the food with which the Abati had provided us, not +without fear lest it should be poisoned, and then held a council of +war. + +The question was whether we should take the old road toward Egypt, or +now that the swamps were dry, strike up northward by the other route of +which Shadrach had told us. According to the map this should be +shorter, and Higgs advocated it strongly, as I discovered afterwards +because he thought there might be more archæological remains in that +direction. + +I, on the other hand, was in favour of following the road we knew, +which, although long and very wearisome, was comparatively safe, as in +that vast desert there were few people to attack us, while Oliver, our +captain, listened to all we had to say, and reserved his opinion. + +Presently, however, the question was settled for us by Roderick, who +remarked that if we travelled to the north we should probably fall in +with the Fung. I asked what he meant, and he replied that when he made +his reconnaissance an hour or so before, although it was true that he +had seen no one, not a thousand yards from where we sat he had come +across the track of a great army. This army, from various indications, +he felt sure was that of Barung, which had passed there within twelve +hours. + +“Perhaps my wife with them, so I no want to go that way, father,” +he added with sincere simplicity. + +“Where could they be travelling?” I asked. + +“Don’t know,” he answered, “but think they go round to +attack Mur from other side, or perhaps to find new land to north.” + +“We will stick to the old road,” said Oliver briefly. “Like +Roderick I have had enough of all the inhabitants of this country. Now +let us rest awhile; we need it.” + +About two o’clock we were up again and before it was dawn on the +following morning we had loaded our camels and were on the road. By the +first faint light we saw that what Roderick had told us was true. We +were crossing the track of an army of many thousand men who had passed +there recently with laden camels and horses. Moreover, those men were +Fung, for we picked up some articles that could have belonged to no +other people, such as a head-dress that had been lost or thrown away, +and an arrow that had fallen from a quiver. + +However, we saw nothing of them, and, travelling fast, to our great +relief by midday reached the river Ebur, which we crossed without +difficulty, for it was now low. That night we camped in the +forest-lands beyond, having all the afternoon marched up the rising +ground at the foot of which ran the river. + +Toward dawn Higgs, whose turn it was to watch the camels, came and woke +me. + +“Sorry to disturb you, old fellow,” he said, “but there is a +most curious sky effect behind us which I thought you might like to +see.” + +I rose and looked. In the clear, starlight night I could just discern +the mighty outline of the mountains of Mur. Above them the firmament +was suffused with a strange red glow. I formed my own conclusion at +once, but only said: + +“Let us go to tell Orme,” and led the way to where he had lain down +under a tree. + +He was not sleeping; indeed, I do not think he had closed his eyes all +night, the night of Maqueda’s marriage. On the contrary, he was +standing on a little knoll staring at the distant mountains and the +glow above them. + +“Mur is on fire,” he said solemnly. “Oh, my God, Mur is on +fire!” and turning he walked away. + +Just then Roderick joined us. + +“Fung got into Mur,” he said, “and now cut throat of all +Abati. We well out of that, but pig Joshua have very warm wedding feast, +because Barung hate Joshua who try to catch him not fairly, which he +never forget; often talk of it.” + +“Poor Maqueda!” I said to Higgs, “what will happen to +her?” + +“I don’t know,” he answered, “but although once, like +everybody else, I adored that girl, really as a matter of justice she +deserves all she gets, the false-hearted little wretch. Still it is +true,” he added, relenting, “she gave us very good camels, to say +nothing of their loads.” + +But I only repeated, “Poor Maqueda!” + +That day we made but a short journey, since we wished to rest ourselves +and fill the camels before plunging into the wilderness, and feeling +sure that we should not be pursued, had no cause to hurry. At night we +camped in a little hollow by a stream that ran at the foot of a rise. +As dawn broke we were awakened by the voice of Roderick, who was on +watch, calling to us in tones of alarm to get up, as we were followed. +We sprang to our feet, seizing our rifles. + +“Where are they?” I asked. + +“There, there,” he said, pointing toward the rise behind us. + +We ran round some intervening bushes and looked, to see upon its crest a +solitary figure seated on a very tired horse, for it panted and its head +drooped. This figure, which was entirely hidden in a long cloak with a +hood, appeared to be watching our camp just as a spy might do. Higgs +lifted his rifle and fired at it, but Oliver, who was standing by him, +knocked the barrel up so that the bullet went high, saying: + +“Don’t be a fool. If it is only one man there’s no need to +shoot him, and if there are more you will bring them on to us.” + +Then the figure urged the weary horse and advanced slowly, and I noticed +that it was very small. “A boy,” I thought to myself, “who is +bringing some message.” + +The rider reached us, and slipping from the horse, stood still. + +“Who are you?” asked Oliver, scanning the cloaked form. + +“One who brings a token to you, lord,” was the answer, spoken in a +low and muffled voice. “Here it is,” and a hand, a very delicate +hand, was stretched out, holding between the fingers a ring. + +I knew it at once; it was Sheba’s ring which Maqueda had lent to me in +proof of her good faith when I journeyed for help to England. This ring, +it will be remembered, we returned to her with much ceremony at our +first public audience. Oliver grew pale at the sight of it. + +“How did you come by this?” he asked hoarsely. “Is she who +alone may wear it dead?” + +“Yes, yes,” answered the voice, a feigned voice as I thought. +“The Child of Kings whom you knew is dead, and having no more need for +this ancient symbol of her power, she bequeathed it to you whom she +remembered kindly at the last.” + +Oliver covered his face with his hands and turned away. + +“But,” went on the speaker slowly, “the woman Maqueda whom +once it is said you loved——” + +He dropped his hands and stared. + +“——the woman Maqueda whom once it is said +you—loved—still lives.” + +Then the hood slipped back, and in the glow of the rising sun we saw the +face beneath. + +It was that of Maqueda herself! + +A silence followed that in its way was almost awful. + +“My Lord Oliver,” asked Maqueda presently, “do you accept my +offering of Queen Sheba’s ring?” + +NOTE BY MAQUEDA + +Once called Walda Nagasta and Takla Warda, that is, Child of Kings and +Bud of the Rose, once also by birth Ruler of the Abati people, the Sons +of Solomon and Sheba. + +I, Maqueda, write this by the command of Oliver, my lord, who desires +that I should set out certain things in my own words. + +Truly all men are fools, and the greatest of them is Oliver, my lord, +though perhaps he is almost equalled by the learned man whom the Abati +called Black Windows, and by the doctor, Son of Adam. Only he who is +named Roderick, child of Adam, is somewhat less blind, because having +been brought up among the Fung and other people of the desert, he has +gathered a little wisdom. This I know because he has told me that he +alone saw through my plan to save all their lives, but said nothing of +it because he desired to escape from Mur, where certain death waited on +him and his companions. Perhaps, however, he lies to please me. + +Now, for the truth of the matter, which not being skilled in writing I +will tell briefly. + +I was carried out of the cave city with my lord and the others, +starving, starving, too weak to kill myself, which otherwise I would +have done rather than fall into the hands of my accursed uncle, Joshua. +Yet I was stronger than the rest, because as I have learned, they +tricked me about those biscuits, pretending to eat when they were not +eating, for which never will I forgive them. It was Japhet, a gallant +man on one side, but a coward on the other like the rest of the Abati, +who betrayed us, driven thereto by emptiness within, which, after all, +is an ill enemy to fight. He went out and told Joshua where we lay hid, +and then, of course, they came. + +Well, they took away my lord and the others, and me too they bore to +another place and fed me till my strength returned, and oh! how good +was that honey which first I ate, for I could touch nothing else. When +I was strong again came Prince Joshua to me and said, “Now I have you +in my net; now you are mine.” + +Then I answered Joshua, “Fool, your net is of air; I will fly through +it.” + +“How?” he asked. “By death,” I answered, “of +which a hundred means lie to my hand. You have robbed me of one, but +what does that matter when so many remain? I will go where you and your +love cannot pursue me.” + +“Very well, Child of Kings,” he said, “but how about that +tall Gentile who has caught your eyes, and his companions? They, too, +have recovered, and they shall die every one of them after a certain +fashion (which, I Maqueda, will not set down, since there are some +things that ought not to be written). If you die, they die; as I told +you, they die as a wolf dies that is caught by the shepherds; they die +as a baboon dies that is caught by the husbandman.” + +Now I looked this way and that, and found that there was no escape. So I +made a bargain. + +“Joshua,” I said, “let these men go and I swear upon the name +of our mother, she of Sheba, that I will marry you. Keep them and kill +them, and you will have none of me.” + +Well, in the end, because he desired me and the power that went with me, +he consented. + +Then I played my part. My lord and his companions were brought before +me, and in presence of all the people I mocked them; I spat in their +faces, and oh! fools, fools, fools, they believed me! I lifted my veil, +and showed them my eyes, and they believed also what they seemed to see +in my eyes, forgetting that I am a woman who can play a part at need. +Yes, they forgot that there were others to deceive as well, all the +Abati people, who, if they thought I tricked them, would have torn the +foreigners limb from limb. That was my bitterest morsel, that I should +have succeeded in making even my own lord believe that of all the +wicked women that ever trod this world, I was the most vile. Yet I did +so, and he cannot deny it, for often we have talked of this thing till +he will hear of it no more. + +Well, they went with all that I could give them, though I knew well that +my lord cared nothing, for what I could give, nor the doctor, Child of +Adam, either, who cared only for his son that God had restored to him. +Only Black Windows cared, not because he loves wealth, but because he +worships all that is old and ugly, for of such things he fashions up +his god. + +They went, for their going was reported to me, and I, I entered into +hell because I knew that my lord thought me false, and that he would +never learn the truth, namely, that what I did I did to save his life, +until at length he came to his own country, if ever he came there, and +opened the chests of treasure, if ever he opened them, which perhaps he +would not care to do. And all that while he would believe me the wife +of Joshua, and—oh! I cannot write of it. And I, I should be dead; I, +I could not tell him the truth until he joined me in that land of +death, if there men and women can talk together any more. + +For this and no other was the road that I had planned to walk. When he +and his companions had gone so far that they could not be followed, +then I would tell Joshua and the Abati all the truth in such language +as should never be forgotten for generations, and kill myself before +their eyes, so that Joshua might lack a wife and the Abati a Child of +Kings. + +I sat through the Feast of Preparation and smiled and smiled. It passed +and the next day passed, and came the night of the Feast of Marriage. +The glass was broken, the ceremony was fulfilled. Joshua rose up to +pledge me before all the priests, lords, and headmen. He devoured me +with his hateful eyes, me, who was already his. But I, I handled the +knife in my robe, wishing, such was the rage in my heart, that I could +kill him also. + +Then God spoke, and the dream that I had dreamed came true. Far away +there rose a single cry, and after it other cries, and the sounds of +shouting and of marching feet. Far away tongues of fire leapt into the +air, and each man asked his neighbour, “What is this?” Then from +all the thousands of the feasting people rose one giant scream, and +that scream said, “Fung! Fung! The Fung are on us! Fly, fly, fly!” + +“Come,” shouted Joshua, seizing me by the arm, but I drew my dagger +on him and he let go. Then he fled with the other lords, and I remained +in my high seat beneath the golden canopy alone. + +The people fled past me without fighting; they fled into the cave city, +they fled to the rocks; they hid themselves among the precipices, and +after them came the Fung, slaying and burning, till all Mur went up in +flames. And I, I sat and watched, waiting till it was time for me to +die also. + +At last, I know not how long afterwards, appeared before me Barung, a +red sword in his hand, which he lifted to me in salute. + +“Greeting, Child of Kings,” he said. “You see Harmac is come +to sleep at Mur.” + +“Yes,” I answered, “Harmac is come to sleep at Mur, and many +of those who dwelt there sleep with him. What of it? Say, Barung, will +you kill me, or shall I kill myself?” + +“Neither, Child of Kings,” he answered in his high fashion. +“Did I not make you a promise yonder in the Pass of Mur, when I spoke +with you and the Western men, and does a Fung Sultan break his word? I +have taken back the city that was ours, as I swore to do, and purified +it with fire,” and he pointed to the raging flames. “Now I will +rebuild it, and you shall rule under me.” + +“Not so,” I answered; “but in place of that promise I ask of +you three things.” + +“Name them,” said Barung. + +“They are these: First, that you give me a good horse and five +days’ food, and let me go where I will. Secondly, that if he still +lives you advance one Japhet, a certain Mountaineer who befriended me +and brought others to do likewise, to a place of honour under you. +Thirdly, that you spare the rest of the Abati people.” + +“You shall go whither you desire, and I think I know where you will +go,” answered Barung. “Certain spies of mine last night saw four +white men riding on fine camels towards Egypt, and reported it to me as +I led my army to the secret pass that Harmac showed me, which you Abati +could never find. But I said, ‘Let them go; it is right that brave +men who have been the mock of the Abati should be allowed their +freedom.’ Yes, I said this, although one of them was my daughter’s +husband, or near to it. But she will have no more of him who fled to +his father rather than with her, so it was best that he should go also, +since, if I brought him back it must be to his death.” + +“Yes,” I answered boldly, “I go after the Western men; I who +have done with these Abati. I wish to see new lands.” + +“And find an old love who thinks ill of you just now,” he said, +stroking his beard. “Well, no wonder, for here has been a marriage +feast. Say, what were you about to do, O Child of Kings? Take the fat +Joshua to your breast?” + +“Nay, Barung, I was about to take _this_ husband to my +breast,” and I showed him the knife that was hidden in my marriage +robe. + +“No,” he said, smiling, “I think the knife was for Joshua +first. Still, you are a brave woman who could save the life of him you +love at the cost of your own. Yet, bethink you, Child of Kings, for +many a generation your mothers have been queens, and under me you may +still remain a queen. How will one whose blood has ruled so long endure +to serve a Western man in a strange land?” + +“That is what I go to find out, Barung, and if I cannot endure, then I +shall come back again, though not to rule the Abati, of whom I wash my +hands for ever. Yet, Barung, my heart tells me I shall endure.” + +“The Child of Kings has spoken,” he said, bowing to me. “My +best horse awaits her, and five of my bravest guards shall ride with her +to keep her safe till she sights the camp of the Western men. I say +happy is he of them who was born to wear the sweet-scented Bud of the +Rose upon his bosom. For the rest, the man Japhet is in my hands. He +yielded himself to me who would not fight for his own people because of +what they had done to his friends, the white men. Lastly, already I +have given orders that the slaying should cease, since I need the Abati +to be my slaves, they who are cowards, but cunning in many arts. Only +one more man shall die,” he added sternly, “and that is Joshua, who +would have taken me by a trick in the mouth of the pass. So plead not +for him, for by the head of Harmac it is in vain.” + +Now hearing this I did not plead, fearing lest I should anger Barung, +and but waste my breath. + +At daybreak I started on the horse, having with me the five Fung +captains. As we crossed the marketplace I met those that remained alive +of the Abati, being driven in hordes like beasts, to hear their doom. +Among them was Prince Joshua, my uncle, whom a man led by a rope about +his neck, while another man thrust him forward from behind, since +Joshua knew that he went to his death and the road was one which he did +not wish to travel. He saw me, and cast himself down upon the ground, +crying to me to save him. I told him that I could not, though it is the +truth, I swear it before God, that, notwithstanding all the evil he had +worked toward me, toward Oliver my lord, and his companions, bringing to +his end that gallant man who died to protect me, I would still have +saved him if I could. But I could not, for although I tried once more, +Barung would not listen. So I answered: + +“Plead, O Joshua, with him who has the power in Mur to-day, for I have +none. You have fashioned your own fate, and must travel the road you +chose.” + +“What road do you ride, mounted on a horse of the plains, Maqueda? Oh! +what need is there for me to ask? You go to see that accursed Gentile +whom I would I had killed by inches, as I would that I could kill +you.” + +Then calling me by evil names, Joshua sprang at me as though to strike +me down, but he who held the rope about his neck jerked him backward, +so that he fell and I saw his face no more. + +But oh! it was sad, that journey across the great square, for the +captive Abati by hundreds—men, women, and children together—with +tears and lamentations cried to me to preserve them from death or +slavery at the hands of the Fung. But I answered: + +“Your sins against me and the brave foreign men who fought so well for +you I forgive, but search your hearts, O Abati, and say if you can +forgive yourselves? If you had listened to me and to those whom I +called in to help us, you might have beaten back the Fung, and remained +free for ever. But you were cowards; you would not learn to bear arms +like men, you would not even watch your mountain walls, and soon or +late the people who refuse to be ready to fight must fall and become +the servants of those who are ready.” + +And now, my Oliver, I have no more to write, save that I am glad to have +endured so many things, and thereby win the joy that is mine to-day. Not +yet have I, Maqueda, wished to reign again in Mur, who have found +another throne. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUEEN SHEBA’S RING *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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