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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Queen Sheba's Ring, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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
+
+
+Title: Queen Sheba's Ring
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: April 3, 2006 [EBook #2602]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUEEN SHEBA'S RING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Emma Dudding; Dagny; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+QUEEN SHEBA'S RING
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+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
+sepulchural 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
+quiet 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 soon 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 a 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 discussions. 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 probably, 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 difference 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 schoolboy's 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 of 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 too 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 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
+past 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 containing 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 upon 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 of Queen Sheba's Ring, by H. Rider Haggard
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