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diff --git a/285-0.txt b/285-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4da3fc --- /dev/null +++ b/285-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9975 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Continent, by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne + +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: The Lost Continent + +Author: C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne + +Release Date: July 6, 2008 [EBook #285] +Last Updated: November 8, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST CONTINENT *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss + + + + + +THE LOST CONTINENT + +C. J. Cutliffe Hyne + + + +CONTENTS + + PREFATORY: THE LEGATEES OF DEUCALION + 1 MY RECALL + 2 BACK TO ATLANTIS + 3 A RIVAL NAVY + 4 THE WELCOME OF PHORENICE + 5 ZAEMON’S CURSE + 6 THE BITERS OF THE CITY WALLS + 7 THE BITERS OF THE WALLS + (FURTHER ACCOUNT) + 8 THE PREACHER FROM THE MOUNTAINS + 9 PHORENICE, GODDESS + 10 A WOOING + 11 AN AFFAIR WITH THE BARBAROUS FISHERS + 12 THE DRUG OF OUR LADY THE MOON + 13 THE BURYING ALIVE OF NAIS + 14 AGAIN THE GODS MAKE CHANGE + 15 ZAEMON’S SUMMONS + 16 SIEGE OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN + 17 NAIS THE REGAINED + 18 STORM OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN + 19 DESTRUCTION OF THE ATLANTIS + 20 ON THE BOSOM OF THE DEEP + + + + + + +PREFATORY: + +THE LEGATEES OF DEUCALION + + +We were both of us not a little stiff as the result of sleeping out in +the open all that night, for even in Grand Canary the dew-fall and the +comparative chill of darkness are not to be trifled with. For myself on +these occasions I like a bit of a run as an early refresher. But here on +this rough ground in the middle of the island there were not three yards +of level to be found, and so as Coppinger proceeded to go through some +sort of dumb-bell exercises with a couple of lumps of bristly lava, I +followed his example. Coppinger has done a good deal of roughing it in +his time, but being a doctor of medicine amongst other things--he takes +out a new degree of some sort on an average every other year--he is +great on health theories, and practises them like a religion. + +There had been rain two days before, and as there was still a bit of +stream trickling along at the bottom of the barranca, we went down there +and had a wash, and brushed our teeth. Greatest luxury imaginable, a +toothbrush, on this sort of expedition. + +“Now,” said Coppinger when we had emptied our pockets, “there’s precious +little grub left, and it’s none the better for being carried in a local +Spanish newspaper.” + +“Yours is mostly tobacco ashes.” + +“It’ll get worse if we leave it. We’ve a lot more bad scrambling ahead +of us.” + +That was obvious. So we sat down beside the stream there at the bottom +of the barranca, and ate up all of what was left. It was a ten-mile +tramp to the fonda at Santa Brigida, where we had set down our traps; +and as Coppinger wanted to take a lot more photographs and measurements +before we left this particular group of caves, it was likely we should +be pretty sharp set before we got our next meal, and our next taste of +the PATRON’S splendid old country wine. My faith! If only they knew down +in the English hotels in Las Palmas what magnificent wines one could +get--with diplomacy--up in some of the mountain villages, the old +vintage would become a thing of the past in a week. + +Now to tell the truth, the two mummies he had gathered already quite +satisfied my small ambition. The goatskins in which they were sewn up +were as brittle as paper, and the poor old things themselves gave out +dust like a puffball whenever they were touched. But you know what +Coppinger is. He thought he’d come upon traces of an old Guanche +university, or sacred college, or something of that kind, like the one +there is on the other side of the island, and he wouldn’t be satisfied +till he’d ransacked every cave in the whole face of the cliff. He’d +plenty of stuff left for the flashlight thing, and twenty-eight more +films in his kodak, and said we might as well get through with the job +then as make a return journey all on purpose. So he took the crowbar, +and I shouldered the rope, and away we went up to the ridge of the +cliff, where we had got such a baking from the sun the day before. + +Of course these caves were not easy to come at, or else they would have +been raided years before. Coppinger, who on principle makes out he +knows all about these things, says that in the old Guanche days they +had ladders of goatskin rope which they could pull up when they were at +home, and so keep out undesirable callers; and as no other plan occurs +to me, perhaps he may be right. Anyway the mouths of the caves were in +a more or less level row thirty feet below the ridge of the cliff, and +fifty feet above the bottom; and Spanish curiosity doesn’t go in much +where it cannot walk. + +Now laddering such caves from below would have been cumbersome, but a +light knotted rope is easily carried, and though it would have been hard +to climb up this, our plan was to descend on each cave mouth from above, +and then slip down to the foot of the cliffs, and start again AB INITIO +for the next. + +Coppinger is plucky enough, and he has a good head on a height, but +there is no getting over the fact that he is portly and nearer fifty +than forty-five. So you can see he must have been pretty keen. Of course +I went first each time, and got into the cave mouth, and did what I +could to help him in; but when you have to walk down a vertical cliff +face fly-fashion, with only a thin bootlace of a rope for support, it +is not much real help the man below can give, except offer you his best +wishes. + +I wanted to save him as much as I could, and as the first three caves +I climbed to were small and empty, seeming to be merely store-places, +I asked him to take them for granted, and save himself the rest. But +he insisted on clambering down to each one in person, and as he decided +that one of my granaries was a prison, and another a pot-making factory, +and another a schoolroom for young priests, he naturally said he hadn’t +much reliance on my judgment, and would have to go through the whole +lot himself. You know what these thorough-going archaeologists are for +imagination. + +But as the day went on, and the sun rose higher, Coppinger began clearly +to have had enough of it, though he was very game, and insisted on going +on much longer than was safe. I must say I didn’t like it. You see +the drop was seldom less than eighty feet from the top of the cliffs. +However, at last he was forced to give it up. I suggested marching off +to Santa Brigida forthwith, but he wouldn’t do that. There were three +more cave-openings to be looked into, and if I wouldn’t do them for him, +he would have to make another effort to get there himself. He tried to +make out he was conferring a very great favour on me by offering to take +a report solely from my untrained observation, but I flatly refused to +look at it in that light. I was pretty tired also; I was soaked with +perspiration from the heat; my head ached from the violence of the sun; +and my hands were cut raw with the rope. + +Coppinger might be tired, but he was still enthusiastic. He tried to +make me enthusiastic also. “Look here,” he said, “there’s no knowing +what you may find up there, and if you do lay hands on anything, +remember it’s your own. I shall have no claim whatever.” + +“Very kind of you, but I’ve got no use for any more mummies done up in +goatskin bags.” + +“Bah! That’s not a burial cave up there. Don’t you know the difference +yet in the openings? Now, be a good fellow. It doesn’t follow that +because we have drawn all the rest blank, you won’t stumble across a +good find for yourself up there.” + +“Oh, very well,” I said, as he seemed so set on it; and away I stumbled +over the fallen rocks, and along the ledge, and then scrambled up by +that fissure in the cliff which saved us the two-mile round which we had +had to take at first. I wrenched out the crowbar, and jammed it down +in a new place, and then away I went over the side, with hands smarting +worse at every new grip of the rope. It was an awkward job swinging into +the cave mouth because the rock above overhung, or else (what came to +the same thing) it had broken away below; but I managed it somehow, +although I landed with an awkward thump on my back, and at the same time +I didn’t let go the rope. It wouldn’t do to have lost the rope then: +Coppinger couldn’t have flicked it into me from where he was below. + +Now from the first glance I could see that this cave was of different +structure to the others. They were for the most part mere dens, rounded +out anyhow; this had been faced up with cutting tools, so that all the +angles were clean, and the sides smooth and flat. The walls inclined +inwards to the roof, reminding me of an architecture I had seen before +but could not recollect where, and moreover there were several rooms +connected up with passages. I was pleased to find that the other +cave-openings which Coppinger wanted me to explore were merely the +windows or the doorways of two of these other rooms. + +Of inscriptions or markings on the walls there was not a trace, though I +looked carefully, and except for bats the place was entirely bare. I +lit a cigarette and smoked it through--Coppinger always thinks one is +slurring over work if it is got through too quickly--and then I went +to the entrance where the rope was, and leaned out, and shouted down my +news. + +He turned up a very anxious face. “Have you searched it thoroughly?” he +bawled back. + +“Of course I have. What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?” + +“No, don’t come down yet. Wait a minute. I say, old man, do wait a +minute. I’m making fast the kodak and the flashlight apparatus on the +end of the rope. Pull them up, and just make me half a dozen exposures, +there’s a good fellow.” + +“Oh, all right,” I said, and hauled the things up, and got them inside. +The photographs would be absolutely dull and uninteresting, but that +wouldn’t matter to Coppinger. He rather preferred them that way. One has +to be careful about halation in photographing these dark interiors, but +there was a sort of ledge like a seat by the side of each doorway, and +so I lodged the camera on that to get a steady stand, and snapped off +the flashlight from behind and above. + +I got pictures of four of the chambers this way, and then came to one +where the ledge was higher and wider. I put down the camera, wedged it +level with scraps of stone, and then sat down myself to recharge the +flashlight machine. But the moment my weight got on that ledge, there +was a sharp crackle, and down I went half a dozen inches. + +Of course I was up again pretty sharply, and snapped up the kodak just +as it was going to slide off to the ground. I will confess, too, I was +feeling pleased. Here at any rate was a Guanche cupboard of sorts, and +as they had taken the trouble to hermetically seal it with cement, the +odds were that it had something inside worth hiding. At first there +was nothing to be seen but a lot of dust and rubble, so I lit a bit of +candle and cleared this away. Presently, however, I began to find that +I was shelling out something that was not cement. It chipped away, in +regular layers, and when I took it to the daylight I found that each +layer was made up of two parts. One side was shiny stuff that looked +like talc, and on this was smeared a coating of dark toffee-coloured +material, that might have been wax. The toffee-coloured surface was +worked over with some kind of pattern. + +Now I do not profess to any knowledge on these matters, and as a +consequence took what Coppinger had told me about Guanche habits and +acquirements as more or less true. For instance, he had repeatedly +impressed upon me that this old people could not write, and having this +in my memory, I did not guess that the patterns scribed through the +wax were letters in some obsolete character, which, if left to myself, +probably I should have done. But still at the same time I came to +the conclusion that the stuff was worth looting, and so set to work +quarrying it out with the heel of my boot and a pocket-knife. + +The sheets were all more or less stuck together, and so I did not go in +for separating them farther. They fitted exactly to the cavity in which +they were stored, but by smashing down its front I was able to get at +the foot of them, and then I hacked away through the bottom layers with +the knife till I got the bulk out in one solid piece. It measured some +twenty inches by fifteen, by fifteen, but it was not so heavy as it +looked, and when I had taken the remaining photographs, I lowered it +down to Coppinger on the end of the rope. + +There was nothing more to do in the caves then, so I went down myself +next. The lump of sheets was on the ground, and Coppinger was on all +fours beside it. He was pretty nearly mad with excitement. + + +“What is it?” I asked him. + +“I don’t know yet. But it is the most valuable find ever made in the +Canary Islands, and it’s yours, you unappreciative beggar; at least what +there is left of it. Oh, man, man, you’ve smashed up the beginning, and +you’ve smashed up the end of some history that is probably priceless. +It’s my own fault. I ought to have known better than set an untrained +man to do important exploring work.” + +“I should say it’s your fault if anything’s gone wrong. You said there +was no such thing as writing known to these ancient Canarios, and I +took your word for it. For anything I knew the stuff might have been +something to eat.” + +“It isn’t Guanche work at all,” said he testily. “You ought to have +known that from the talc. Great heavens, man, have you no eyes? Haven’t +you seen the general formation of the island? Don’t you know there’s no +talc here?” + +“I’m no geologist. Is this imported literature then?” + +“Of course. It’s Egyptian: that’s obvious at a glance. Though how +it’s got here I can’t tell yet. It isn’t stuff you can read off like +a newspaper. The character’s a variant on any of those that have been +discovered so far. And as for this waxy stuff spread over the talc, +it’s unique. It’s some sort of a mineral, I think: perhaps asphalt. It +doesn’t scratch up like animal wax. I’ll analyse that later. Why they +once invented it, and then let such a splendid notion drop out of use, +is just a marvel. I could stay gloating over this all day.” + +“Well,” I said, “if it’s all the same for you, I’d rather gloat over a +meal. It’s a good ten miles hard going to the fonda, and I’m as hungry +as a hawk already. Look here, do you know it is four o’clock already? +It takes longer than you think climbing down to each of these caves, and +then getting up again for the next.” + +Coppinger spread his coat on the ground, and wrapped the lump of sheets +with tender care, but would not allow it to be tied with a rope for fear +of breaking more of the edges. He insisted on carrying it himself too, +and did so for the larger part of the way to Santa Brigida, and it was +only when he was within an ace of dropping himself with sheer tiredness +that he condescended to let me take my turn. He was tolerably ungracious +about it too. “I suppose you may as well carry the stuff,” he snapped, +“seeing that after all it’s your own.” + +Personally, when we got to the fonda, I had as good a dinner as was +procurable, and a bottle of that old Canary wine, and turned into bed +after a final pipe. Coppinger dined also, but I have reason to believe +he did not sleep much. At any rate I found him still poring over the +find next morning, and looking very heavy-eyed, but brimming with +enthusiasm. + +“Do you know,” he said, “that you’ve blundered upon the most valuable +historical manuscript that the modern world has ever yet seen? Of +course, with your clumsy way of getting it out, you’ve done an infinity +of damage. For instance, those top sheets you shelled away and +spoiled, contained probably an absolutely unique account of the ancient +civilisation of Yucatan.” + +“Where’s that, anyway?” + +“In the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s all ruins to-day, but once it +was a very prosperous colony of the Atlanteans.” + +“Never heard of them. Oh yes, I have though. They were the people +Herodotus wrote about, didn’t he? But I thought they were mythical.” + +“They were very real, and so was Atlantis, the continent where they +lived, which lay just north of the Canaries here.” + +“What’s that crocodile sort of thing with wings drawn in the margin?” + +“Some sort of beast that lived in those bygone days. The pages are full +of them. That’s a cave-tiger. And that’s some sort of colossal bat. +Thank goodness he had the sense to illustrate fully, the man who wrote +this, or we should never have been able to reconstruct the tale, or at +any rate we could not have understood half of it. Whole species have +died out since this was written, just as a whole continent has been +swept away and three civilisations quenched. The worst of it is, it was +written by a highly-educated man who somewhat naturally writes a very +bad fist. I’ve hammered at it all the night through, and have only +managed to make out a few sentences here and there”--he rubbed his hands +appreciatively. “It will take me a year’s hard work to translate this +properly.” + +“Every man to his taste. I’m afraid my interest in the thing wouldn’t +last as long as that. But how did it get there? Did your ancient +Egyptian come to Grand Canary for the good of his lungs, and write it +because he felt dull up in that cave?” + +“I made a mistake there. The author was not an Egyptian. It was the +similarity of the inscribed character which misled me. The book was +written by one Deucalion, who seems to have been a priest or general--or +perhaps both--and he was an Atlantean. How it got there, I don’t know +yet. Probably that was told in the last few pages, which a certain +vandal smashed up with his pocketknife, in getting them away from the +place where they were stowed.” + +“That’s right, abuse me. Deucalion you say? There was a Deucalion in the +Greek mythology. He was one of the two who escaped from the Flood: their +Noah, in fact.” + +“The swamping of the continent of Atlantis might very well correspond to +the Flood.” + +“Is there a Pyrrha then? She was Deucalion’s wife.” + +“I haven’t come across her yet. But there’s a Phorenice, who may be the +same. She seems to have been the reigning Empress, as far as I can make +out at present.” + +I looked with interest at illustrations in the margin. They were quite +understandable, although the perspective was all wrong. “Weird beasts +they seem to have had knocking about the country in those days. Whacking +big size too, if one may judge. By Jove, that’ll be a cave-tiger trying +to puff down a mammoth. I shouldn’t care to have lived in those days.” + +“Probably they had some way of fighting the creatures. However, that +will show itself as I get along with the translation.” He looked at his +watch--“I suppose I ought to be ashamed of myself, but I haven’t been to +bed. Are you going out?” + +“I shall drive back to Las Palmas. I promised a man to have a round at +golf this afternoon.” + +“Very well, see you at dinner. I hope they’ve sent back my dress shirts +from the wash. O, lord! I am sleepy.” + +I left him going up to bed, and went outside and ordered a carriage to +take me down, and there I may say we parted for a considerable time. +A cable was waiting for me in the hotel at Las Palmas to go home for +business forthwith, and there was a Liverpool boat in the harbour which +I just managed to catch as she was steaming out. It was a close thing, +and the boatmen made a small fortune out of my hurry. + +Now Coppinger was only an hotel acquaintance, and as I was up to the +eyes in work when I got back to England, I’m afraid I didn’t think very +much more about him at the time. One doesn’t with people one just meets +casually abroad like that. And it must have been at least a year later +that I saw by a paragraph in one of the papers, that he had given the +lump of sheets to the British Museum, and that the estimated worth of +them was ten thousand pounds at the lowest valuation. + +Well, this was a bit of revelation, and as he had so repeatedly +impressed on me that the things were mine by right of discovery, I wrote +rather a pointed note to him mentioning that he seemed to have been +making rather free with my property. Promptly came back a stilted letter +beginning, “Doctor Coppinger regrets” and so on, and with it the English +translation of the wax-upon-talc MSS. He “quite admitted” my claim, +and “trusted that the profits of publication would be a sufficient +reimbursement for any damage received.” + +Now I had no idea that he would take me unpleasantly like this, and +wrote back a pretty warm reply to that effect; but the only answer I got +to this was through a firm of solicitors, who stated that all further +communications with Dr. Coppinger must be made through them. + +I will say here publicly that I regret the line he has taken over the +matter; but as the affair has gone so far, I am disposed to follow out +his proposition. Accordingly the old history is here printed; the credit +(and the responsibility) of the translation rests with Dr. Coppinger; +and whatever revenue accrues from readers, goes to the finder of the +original talc-upon-wax sheets, myself. + +If there is a further alteration in this arrangement, it will be +announced publicly at a later date. But at present this appears to be +most unlikely. + + + + +1. MY RECALL + + +The public official reception was over. The sentence had been read, the +name of Phorenice, the Empress, adored, and the new Viceroy installed +with all that vast and ponderous ceremonial which had gained its pomp +and majesty from the ages. Formally, I had delivered up the reins of my +government; formally, Tatho had seated himself on the snake-throne, and +had put over his neck the chain of gems which symbolised the supreme +office; and then, whilst the drums and the trumpets made their +proclamation of clamour, he had risen to his feet, for his first state +progress round that gilded council chamber as Viceroy of the Province of +Yucatan. + +With folded arms and bended head, I followed him between the glittering +lines of soldiers, and the brilliant throng of courtiers, and chiefs, +and statesmen. The roof-beams quivered to the cries of “Long Live +Tatho!” “Flourish the Empress!” which came forth as in duty bound, and +the new ruler acknowledged the welcome with stately inclinations of +the head. In turn he went to the three lesser thrones of the lesser +governors--in the East, the North, and the South, and received homage +from each as the ritual was; and I, the man whom his coming had deposed, +followed with the prescribed meekness in his train. + +It was a hard task, but we who hold the higher offices learn to carry +before the people a passionless face. Once, twenty years before, these +same fine obeisances had been made to me; now the Gods had seen fit to +make fortune change. But as I walked bent and humbly on behind the heels +of Tatho, though etiquette forbade noisy salutations to myself, it could +not inhibit kindly glances, and these came from every soldier, every +courtier, and every chief who stood there in that gilded hall, and +they fell upon me very gratefully. It is not often the fallen meet such +tender looks. + +The form goes, handed down from immemorial custom, that on these great +ceremonial days of changing a ruler, those of the people being present +may bring forward petitions and requests; may make accusations against +their retiring head with sure immunity from his vengeance; or may state +their own private theories for the better government of the State in the +future. I think it may be pardoned to my vanity if I record that not a +voice was raised against me, or against any of the items of my twenty +years of rule. Nor did any speak out for alterations in the future. +Yes, even though we made the circuit for the three prescribed times, all +present showed their approval in generous silence. + +Then, one behind the other, the new Viceroy and the old, we marched with +formal step over golden tiles of that council hall beneath the pyramid, +and the great officers of state left their stations and joined in our +train; and at the farther wall we came to the door of those private +chambers which an hour ago had been mine own. + +Ah, well! I had no home now in any of those wondrous cities of Yucatan, +and I could not help feeling a bitterness, though in sooth I should have +been thankful enough to return to the Continent of Atlantis with my head +still in its proper station. + +Tatho gave his formal summons of “Open ye to the Viceroy,” which the +ritual commands, and the slaves within sent the massive stone valves of +the door gaping wide. Tatho entered, I at his heels; the others halted, +sending valedictions from the threshold; and the valves of the door +clanged on the lock behind us. We passed on to the chamber beyond, and +then, when for the first time we were alone together, and the forced +etiquette of courts was behind us, the new Viceroy turned with meekly +folded arms, and bowed low before me. + +“Deucalion,” he said, “believe me that I have not sought this office. It +was thrust upon me. Had I not accepted, my head would have paid forfeit, +and another man--your enemy--would have been sent out as viceroy in +your place. The Empress does not permit that her will shall ever be +questioned.” + +“My friend,” I made answer, “my brother in all but blood, there is no +man living in all Atlantis or her territories to whom I had liefer hand +over my government. For twenty years now have I ruled this country +of Yucatan, and Mexico beyond, first under the old King, and then +as minister to this new Empress. I know my colony like a book. I am +intimate with all her wonderful cities, with their palaces, their +pyramids, and their people. I have hunted the beasts and the savages in +the forests. I have built roads, and made the rivers so that they will +carry shipping. I have fostered the arts and crafts like a merchant; I +have discoursed, three times each day, the cult of the Gods with +mine own lips. Through evil years and through good have I ruled here, +striving only for the prosperity of the land and the strengthening of +Atlantis, and I have grown to love the peoples like a father. To you I +bequeath them, Tatho, with tender supplications for their interests.” + +“It is not I that can carry on Deucalion’s work with Deucalion’s power, +but rest content, my friend, that I shall do my humble best to follow +exactly on in your footsteps. Believe me, I came out to this government +with a thousand regrets, but I would have died sooner than take your +place had I known how vigorously the supplanting would trouble you.” + +“We are alone here,” I said, “away from the formalities of formal +assemblies, and a man may give vent to his natural self without fear of +tarnishing a ceremony. Your coming was something of the suddenest. +Till an hour ago, when you demanded audience, I had thought to rule on +longer; and even now I do not know for what cause I am deposed.” + +“The proclamation said: ‘We relieve our well-beloved Deucalion of his +present service, because we have great need of his powers at home in our +kingdom of Atlantis.’” + +“A mere formality.” + +Tatho looked uneasily round the hangings of the chamber, and drew me +with him to its centre, and lowered his voice. + +“I do not think so,” he whispered. “I believe she has need of you. There +are troublous times on hand, and Phorenice wants the ablest men in the +kingdom ready to her call.” + +“You may speak openly,” I said, “and without fear of eavesdroppers. +We are in the heart of the pyramid here, built in every way by a man’s +length of solid stone. Myself, I oversaw the laying of every course. +And besides, here in Yucatan, we have not the niceties of your old world +diplomacy, and do not listen, because we count it shame to do so.” + +Tatho shrugged his shoulders. “I acted only according to mine education. +At home, a loose tongue makes a loose head, and there are those whose +trade it is to carry tales. Still, what I say is this: The throne +shakes, and Phorenice sees the need of sturdy props. So she has sent +this proclamation.” + +“But why come to me? It is twenty years since I sailed to this colony, +and from that day I have not returned to Atlantis once. I know little of +the old country’s politics. What small parcel of news drifts out to us +across the ocean, reads with slender interest here. Yucatan is another +world, my dear Tatho, as you in the course of your government will +learn, with new interests, new people, new everything. To us here, +Atlantis is only a figment, a shadow, far away across the waters. It +is for this new world of Yucatan that I have striven through all these +years.” + +“If Deucalion has small time to spare from his government for brooding +over his fatherland, Atlantis, at least, has found leisure to admire +the deeds of her brilliant son. Why, sir, over yonder at home, your name +carries magic with it. When you and I were lads together, it was the +custom in the colleges to teach that the men of the past were the +greatest this world has ever seen; but to-day this teaching is changed. +It is Deucalion who is held up as the model and example. Mothers name +their sons Deucalion, as the most valuable birth-gift they can make. +Deucalion is a household word. Indeed, there is only one name that is +near to it in familiarity.” + +“You trouble me,” I said, frowning. “I have tried to do my duty for its +own sake, and for the country’s sake, not for the pattings and fondlings +of the vulgar. And besides, if there are names to be in every one’s +mouth, they should be the names of the Gods.” + +Tatho shrugged his shoulders. “The Gods? They occupy us very little +these latter years. With our modern science, we have grown past the +tether of the older Gods, and no new one has appeared. No, my Lord +Deucalion, if it were merely the Gods who were your competitors on men’s +lips, your name would be a thousand times the better known.” + +“Of mere human names,” I said, “the name of this new Empress should come +first in Atlantis, our lord the old King being now dead.” + +“She certainly would have it so,” replied Tatho, and there was something +in his tone which made me see that more was meant behind the words. I +drew him to one of the marble seats, and bent myself familiarly towards +him. “I am speaking,” I said, “not to the new Viceroy of Yucatan, but +to my old friend Tatho, a member of the Priests’ Clan, like myself, with +whom I worked side by side in a score of the smaller home governments, +in hamlets, in villages, in smaller towns, in greater towns, as we +gained experience in war and knowledge in the art of ruling people, and +so tediously won our promotion. I am speaking in Tatho’s private abode, +that was mine own not two hours since, and I would have an answer with +that plainness which we always then used to one another.” + +The new Viceroy sighed whimsically. “I almost forget how to speak in +plain words now,” he said. “We have grown so polished in these latter +days, that mere bald truth would be hissed as indelicate. But for the +memory of those early years, when we expended as much law and thought +over the ownership of a hay-byre as we should now over the fate of a +rebellious city, I will try and speak plain to you even now, Deucalion. +Tell me, old friend, what is it?” + +“What of this new Empress?” + +He frowned. “I might have guessed your subject,” he said. + + +“Then speak upon it. Tell me of all the changes that have been made. +What has this Phorenice done to make her throne unstable in Atlantis?” + +Tatho frowned still. “If I did not know you to be as honest as our Lord +the Sun, your questions would carry mischief with them. Phorenice has a +short way with those who are daring enough to discuss her policies for +other purpose than politely to praise them.” + +“You can leave me ignorant if you wish,” I said with a touch of chill. +This Tatho seemed to be different from the Tatho I had known at home, +Tatho my workmate, Tatho who had read with me in the College of Priests, +who had run with me in many a furious charge, who had laboured with me +so heavily that the peoples under us might prosper. But he was quick +enough to see my change of tone. + +“You force me back to my old self,” he said with a half smile, “though +it is hard enough to forget the caution one has learned during the last +twenty years, even when speaking with you. Still, whatever may have +happened to the rest of us, it is clear to see that you at least have +not changed, and, old friend, I am ready to trust you with my life if +you ask it. In fact, you do ask me that very thing when you tell me to +speak all I know of Phorenice.” + +I nodded. This was more like the old times, when there was full +confidence between us. “The Gods will it now that I return to Atlantis,” + I said, “and what happens after that the Gods alone know. But it would +be of service to me if I could land on her shores with some knowledge of +this Phorenice, for at present I am as ignorant concerning her as some +savage from Europe or mid-Africa.” + +“What would you have me tell?” + +“Tell all. I know only that she, a woman, reigns, whereby the ancient +law of the land, a man should rule; that she is not even of the Priestly +Clan from which the law says all rulers must be drawn; and that, from +what you say, she has caused the throne to totter. The throne was as +firm as the everlasting hills in the old King’s day, Tatho.” + +“History has moved with pace since then, and Phorenice has spurred it. +You know her origin?” + +“I know only the exact little I have told you.” + +“She was a swineherd’s daughter from the mountains, though this is never +even whispered now, as she has declared herself to be a daughter of the +Gods, with a miraculous birth and upbringing. As she has decreed it a +sacrilege to question this parentage, and has ordered to be burnt all +those that seem to recollect her more earthly origin, the fable passes +current for truth. You see the faith I put in you, Deucalion, by telling +you what you wish to learn.” + +“There has always been trust between us.” + +“I know; but this habit of suspicion is hard to cast off, even with you. +However, let me put your good faith between me and the torture further. +Zaemon, you remember, was governor of the swineherd’s province, and +Zaemon’s wife saw Phorenice and took her away to adopt and bring up as +her own. It is said that the swineherd and his woman objected; perhaps +they did; anyway, I know they died; and Phorenice was taught the arts +and graces, and brought up as a daughter of the Priestly Clan.” + +“But still she was an adopted daughter only,” I objected. + +“The omission of the ‘adopted’ was her will at an early age,” said Tatho +dryly, “and she learnt early to have her wishes carried into fact. It +was notorious that before she had grown to fifteen years she ruled not +only the women of the household, but Zaemon also, and the province that +was beyond Zaemon.” + +“Zaemon was learned,” I said, “and a devout follower of the Gods, and +searcher into the higher mysteries; but, as a ruler, he was always a +flabby fellow.” + +“I do not say that opportunities have not come usefully in Phorenice’s +way, but she has genius as well. For her to have raised herself at all +from what she was, was remarkable. Not one woman out of a thousand, +placed as she was, would have grown to be aught higher than a mere wife +of some sturdy countryman, who was sufficiently simple to care nothing +for pedigree. But look at Phorenice: it was her whim to take exercise +as a man-at-arms and practise with all the utensils of war; and then, +before any one quite knows how or why it happened, a rebellion had +broken out in the province, and here was she, a slip of a girl, leading +Zaemon’s troops.” + +“Zaemon, when I knew him, was a mere derision in the field.” + +“Hear me on. Phorenice put down the rebellion in masterly fashion, and +gave the conquered a choice between sword and service. They fell into +her ranks at once, and were faithful to her from that moment. I tell +you, Deucalion, there is a marvellous fascination about the woman.” + +“Her present historian seems to have felt it.” + +“Of course I have. Every one who sees her comes under her spell. And +frankly, I am in love with her also, and look upon my coming here as +detestable exile. Every one near to Phorenice, high and low, loves her +just the same, even though they know it may be her whim to send them to +execution next minute.” + +Perhaps I let my scorn of this appear. + +“You feel contempt for our weakness? You were always a strong man, +Deucalion.” + +“At any rate you see me still unmarried. I have found no time to palter +with the fripperies of women.” + +“Ah, but these colonists here are crude and unfascinating. Wait till you +see the ladies of the court, my ascetic.” + +“It comes to my mind,” I said dryly, “that I lived in Atlantis before I +came out here, and at that time I used to see as much of court life as +most men. Yet then, also, I felt no inducement to marry.” + +Tatho chuckled. “Atlantis has changed so that you would hardly know the +country to-day. A new era has come over everything, especially over +the other sex. Well do I remember the women of the old King’s time, how +monstrous uncomely they were, how little they knew how to walk or carry +themselves, how painfully barbaric was their notion of dress. I dare +swear that your ladies here in Yucatan are not so provincial to-day as +ours were then. But you should see them now at home. They are delicious. +And above all in charm is the Empress. Oh, Deucalion, you shall see +Phorenice in all her glorious beauty and her magnificence one of these +fine days soon, and believe me you will go down on your knees and +repent.” + +“I may see, and (because you say so) I may alter my life’s ways. The +Gods make all things possible. But for the present I remain as I am, +celibate, and not wishful to be otherwise; and so in the meantime I +would hear the continuance of your history.” + +“It is one long story of success. She deposed Zaemon from his government +in name as well as in fact, and the news was spread, and the Priestly +Clan rose in its wrath. The two neighbouring governors were bidden join +forces, take her captive, and bring her for execution. Poor men! They +tried to obey their orders; they attacked her surely enough, but in +battle she could laugh at them. She killed both, and made some slaughter +amongst their troops; and to those that remained alive and became her +prisoners, she made her usual offer--the sword or service. Naturally +they were not long over making their choice: to these common people one +ruler is much the same as another: and so again her army was reinforced. + +“Three times were bodies of soldiery sent against her, and three times +was she victorious. The last was a final effort. Before, it had been +customary to despise this adventuress who had sprung up so suddenly. But +then the priests began to realise their peril; to see that the throne +itself was in danger; and to know that if she were to be crushed, they +would have to put forth their utmost. Every man who could carry arms was +pressed into the service. Every known art of war was ordered to be put +into employment. It was the largest army, and the best equipped army +that Atlantis then had ever raised, and the Priestly Clan saw fit to put +in supreme command their general, Tatho.” + +“You!” I cried. + +“Even myself, Deucalion. And mark you, I fought my utmost. I was not her +creature then; and when I set out (because they wanted to spur me to the +uttermost) the High Council of the priests pointed out my prospects. The +King we had known so long, was ailing and wearily old; he was so wrapped +up in the study of the mysteries, and the joy of closely knowing them, +that earthly matters had grown nauseous to him; and at any time he might +decide to die. The Priestly Clan uses its own discretion in the election +of a new king, but it takes note of popular sentiment; and a general who +at the critical time could come home victorious from a great campaign, +which moreover would release a harassed people from the constant +application of arms, would be the idol of the moment. These things were +pointed out to me solemnly and in the full council.” + +“What! They promised you the throne?” + +“Even that. So you see I set out with a high stake before me. Phorenice +I had never seen, and I swore to take her alive, and give her to be the +sport of my soldiery. I had a fine confidence in my own strategy then, +Deucalion. But the old Gods, in whom I trusted then, remained old, +taught me no new thing. I drilled and exercised my army according to the +forms you and I learnt together, old comrade, and in many a tough fight +found to serve well; I armed them with the choicest weapons we knew of +then, with sling and mace, with bow and spear, with axe and knife, with +sword and the throwing fire; their bodies I covered with metal plates; +even their bellies I cared for, with droves of cattle driven in the rear +of the fighting troops. + +“But when the encounter came, they might have been men of straw for all +the harm they did. Out of her own brain Phorenice had made fire-tubes +that cast a dart which would kill beyond two bowshots, and the fashion +in which she handled her troops dazzled me. They threatened us on one +flank, they harassed us on the other. It was not war as we had been +accustomed to. It was a newer and more deadly game, and I had to watch +my splendid army eaten away as waves eat a sandhill. Never once did I +get a chance of forcing close action. These new tactics that had come +from Phorenice’s invention, were beyond my art to meet or understand. We +were eight to her one, and our close-packed numbers only made us so much +the more easy for slaughter. A panic came, and those who could fled. +Myself, I had no wish to go back and earn the axe that waits for the +unsuccessful general. I tried to die there fighting where I stood. But +death would not come. It was a fine melee, Deucalion, that last one.” + +“And so she took you?” + +“I stood with three others back to back, with a ring of dead round us, +and a ring of the enemy hemming us in. We taunted them to come on. But +at hand-to-hand courtesies we had shown we could hold our own, and so +they were calling for fire-tubes with which they could strike us down +in safety from a distance. Then up came Phorenice. ‘What is this to-do?’ +says she. ‘We seek to kill Lord Tatho, who led against you,’ say they. +‘So that is Tatho?’ says she. ‘A fine figure of a man indeed, and a +pretty fighter seemingly, after the old manner. Doubtless he is one +who would acquire the newer method. See now Tatho,’ says she, ‘it is my +custom to offer those I vanquish either the sword (which, believe me, +was never nearer your neck than now) or service under my banner. Will +you make a choice?’ + +“‘Woman,’ I said, ‘fairest that ever I saw, finest general the world +has ever borne, you tempt me sorely by your qualities, but there is a +tradition in our Clan, that we should be true to the salt we eat. I am +the King’s man still, and so I can take no service from you.’ + +“‘The King is dead,’ says she. ‘A runner has just brought the tidings, +meaning them to have fallen into your hands. And I am the Empress.’ + +“‘Who made you Empress?’ I asked. + +“‘The same most capable hand that has given me this battle,’ says she. +‘It is a capable hand, as you have seen: it can be a kind hand also, as +you may learn if you choose. With the King dead, Tatho is a masterless +man now. Is Tatho in want of a mistress?’ + +“‘Such a glorious mistress as you,’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And from that moment, +Deucalion, I have been her slave. Oh, you may frown; you may get up from +this seat and walk away if you will. But I ask you this: keep back your +worst judgment of me, old friend, till after you have seen Phorenice +herself in the warm and lovely flesh. Then your own ears and your own +senses will be my advocates, to win me back your old esteem.” + + + + +2. BACK TO ATLANTIS + + +The words of Tatho were no sleeping draught for me that night. I began +to think that I had made somewhat a mistake in wrapping myself up so +entirely in my government of Yucatan, and not contriving to keep more in +touch with events that were passing at home in Atlantis. For many years +past it had been easy to see that the mariner folk who did traffic +across the seas spoke with restraint, and that only what news the +Empress pleased was allowed to ooze out beyond her borders. But, as +I say, I was fully occupied with my work in the colony, and had no +curiosity to pull away a veil intentionally placed. Besides, it has +always been against my principles to put to the torture men who had +received orders for silence from their superiors, merely that they shall +break these orders for my private convenience. + +However, the iron discipline of our Priestly Clan left me no choice +of procedure. As was customary, I had been deprived of my office at a +moment’s notice. From that time on, all papers and authority belonged to +my successor, and, although by courtesy I might be permitted to remain +as a guest in the pyramid that had so recently been mine, to see another +sunrise, it was clearly enjoined that I must leave the territory then at +the topmost of my speed and hasten to report in Atlantis. + +Tatho, to give him credit, was anxious to further my interests to the +utmost in his power. He was by my side again before the dawn, putting +all his resources at my disposal. + +I had little enough to ask him. “A ship to take me home,” I said, “and I +shall be your debtor.” + +The request seemed to surprise him. “That you may certainly have if you +wish it. But my ships are foul with the long passage, and are in need +of a careen. If you take them, you will make a slow voyage of it to +Atlantis. Why do you not take your own navy? The ships are in harbour +now, for I saw them there when we came in. Brave ships they are too.” + +“But not mine. That navy belongs to Yucatan.” + +“Well, Deucalion, you are Yucatan; or, rather, you were yesterday, and +have been these twenty years.” + +I saw what he meant, and the idea did not please me. I answered stiffly +enough that the ships were owned by private merchants, or belonged to +the State, and I could not claim so much as a ten-slave galley. + +Tatho shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose you know your own policies +best,” he said, “though to me it seems but risky for a man who has +attained to a position like yours and mine not to have provided himself +with a stout navy of his own. One never knows when a recall may be sent, +and, through lack of these precautions, a life’s earnings may very well +be lost in a dozen hours.” + +“I have no fear for mine,” I said coldly. + +“Of course not, because you know me to be your friend. But had another +man been appointed to this vice-royalty, you might have been sadly +shorn, Deucalion. It is not many fellows who can resist a snug hoard +ready and waiting in the very coffers they have come to line.” + +“My Lord Tatho,” I said, “it is clear to me that you and I have grown to +be of different tastes. All of the hoard that I have made for myself in +this colony, few men would covet. I have the poor clothes you see me +in this moment, and a box of drugs such as I have found useful to the +stomach. I possess also three slaves, two of them scribes and the third +a sturdy savage from Europe, who cooks my victual and fills for me the +bath. For my maintenance during my years of service, here, I have bled +the State of a soldier’s ration and nothing beyond; and if in my name +any man has mulcted a creature in Yucatan of so much as an ounce of +bronze, I request you as a last service to have that man hanged for me +as a liar and a thief.” + +Tatho looked at me curiously. “I do not know whether I admire you most +or whether I pity. I do not know whether to be astonished or to despise. +We had heard of much of your uprightness over yonder in Atlantis, of +your sternness and your justice, but I swear by the old Gods that no +soul guessed you carried your fancy so far as this. Why, man, money is +power. With money and the resources money can buy, nothing could stop +a fellow like you; whilst without it you may be tripped up and trodden +down irrevocably at the first puny reverse.” + +“The Gods will choose my fate.” + +“Possibly; but for mine, I prefer to nourish it myself. I tell you with +frankness that I have not come here to follow in the pattern you have +made for a vice-royalty. I shall govern Yucatan wisely and well to the +best of my ability; but I shall govern it also for the good of Tatho, +the viceroy. I have brought with me here my navy of eight ships and a +personal bodyguard. There is my wife also, and her women and her slaves. +All these must be provided for. And why indeed should it be otherwise? +If a people is to be governed, it should be their privilege to pay +handsomely for their prince.” + +“We shall not agree on this. You have the power now, and can employ it +as you choose. If I thought it would be of any use, I should like to +supplicate you most humbly to deal with lenience when you come to tax +these people who are under you. They have grown very dear to me.” + +“I have disgusted you with me, and I am grieved for it. But even to +retain your good opinion, Deucalion--which I value more than that of any +man living--I cannot do here as you have done. It would be impossible, +even if I wished it. You must not judge all other men by your own +strong standard: a Tatho is by no means a colossus like a Deucalion. And +besides, I have a wife and children, and they must be provided for, even +if I neglect myself.” + +“Ah, there,” I said, “it does seem that I possess the advantage. I have +no wife, to clog me.” + +He caught up my word quickly. “It seems to me you have nothing that +makes life worth living. You have neither wife, children, riches, cooks, +retinue, dresses, nor anything else in proportion to your station. You +will pardon my saying it, old comrade, but you are plaguey ignorant +about some matters. For example, you do not know how to dine. During +every day of a very weary voyage, I have promised myself when sitting +before the meagre sea victual, that presently the abstinence would be +more than repaid by Deucalion’s welcoming feast. Oh, I tell you that +feast was one of the vividest things that ever came before my eyes. And +then when we get to the actuality, what was it? Why, a country farmer +every day sits down to more delicate fare. You told me how it was +prepared. Well, your savage from Europe may be lusty, and perchance is +faithful, but he is a devil-possessed cook. Gods! I have lived better on +a campaign. + +“I know this is a colony here, without any of the home refinements; but +if in the days to come, the deer of the forest, the fish of the stream, +and the other resources of the place are not put to better use than +heretofore, I shall see it my duty as ruler to fry some of the +kitchen staff alive in grease so as to encourage better cookery. Gods! +Deucalion, have you forgotten what it is to have a palate? And have +you no esteem for your own dignity? Man, look at your clothes. You are +garbed like a herdsman, and you have not a gaud or a jewel to brighten +you.” + +“I eat,” I said coldly, “when my hunger bids me, and I carry this one +robe upon my person till it is worn out and needs replacement. The +grossness of excessive banqueting, and the effeminacy of many clothes +are attainments that never met my fancy. But I think we have talked here +over long, and there seems little chance of our finding agreement. You +have changed, Tatho, with the years, and perhaps I have changed also. +These alterations creep imperceptibly into one’s being as time advances. +Let us part now, and, forgetting these present differences, remember +only our friendship of twenty years agone. That for me, at any rate, has +always had a pleasant savour when called up into the memory.” + +Tatho bowed his head. “So be it,” he said. + +“And I would still charge myself upon your bounty for that ship. Dawn +cannot be far off now, and it is not decent that the man who has ruled +here so long, should walk in daylight through the streets on the morning +after his dismissal.” + +“So be it,” said Tatho. “You shall have my poor navy. I could have +wished that you had asked me something greater.” + +“Not the navy, Tatho; one small ship. Believe me, more is wasted.” + +“Now, there,” said Tatho, “I shall act the tyrant. I am viceroy here +now, and will have my way in this. You may go naked of all possessions: +that I cannot help. But depart for Atlantis unattended, that you shall +not.” + +And so, in fine, as the choice was set beyond me, it was in the “Bear,” + Tatho’s own private ship, with all the rest of his navy sailing in +escort, that I did finally make my transit. + +But the start was not immediate. The vessels lay moored against the +stone quays of the inner harbour, gutted of their stores, and with crews +exhausted, and it would have been suicide to have forced them out then +and there to again take the seas. + +So the courtesies were fulfilled by the craft whereon I abode hauling +out into the entrance basin, and anchoring there in the swells of the +fairway; and forthwith she and her consorts took in wood and water, +cured meat and fish ashore, and refitted in all needful ways, with all +speed attainable. + +For myself there came then, as the first time during twenty busy years, +a breathing space from work. I had no further connection with the +country of my labours; indeed, officially, I had left it already. Into +the working of the ship it was contrary to rule that I should make +any inspection or interest, since all sea matters were the exclusive +property of the Mariners’ Guild, secured to them by royal patent, and +most jealously guarded. + +So there remained to me in my day, hours to gaze (if I would) upon the +quays, the harbours, the palaces, and the pyramids of the splendid city +before me which I had seen grow stone by stone from its foundations; or +to roam my eye over the pastures and the grain lands beyond the walls, +and to look longingly at the dense forests behind, from which field by +field we had so tediously ripped our territory. + +Would Tatho continue the work so healthily begun? I trusted so, even in +spite of his selfish words. And at all hours, during the radiance of +our Lord the Sun, or under the stars of night, I was free to pursue +that study of the higher mysteries, on which we of the Priests’ Clan are +trained to set our minds, without aid of book or instrument, of image or +temple. + +The refitting of the navy was gone about with speed. Never, it is said, +had ships been reprovisioned and caulked, and remanned with greater +speed for the over-ocean voyage. Indeed, it was barely over a month from +the day that they brought up in the harbour, they put out beyond the +walls, and began their voyage eastward over the hills and dale of the +ocean. + +Rowing-slaves from Europe for this long passage of sea are not taken +now, owing to the difficulty in provisioning them, for modern humanity +forbids the practice of letting them eat one another according to the +home custom of their continent; sails alone are but an indifferent stand +by; but modern science has shown how to extract force from the Sun, when +He is free from cloud, and this (in a manner kept secret by mariners) is +made to draw sea-water at the forepart of the vessel, and eject it with +such force at the stern that she is appreciably driven forward, even +with the wind adverse. + +In another matter also has navigation vastly improved. It is not +necessary now, as formerly, to trust wholly to a starry night (when +beyond sight of land) to find direction. A little image has been made, +and is stood balanced in the forepart of every vessel, with an arm +outstretched, pointing constantly to the direction where the Southern +Cross lies in the Heavens. So, by setting an angle, can a just course be +correctly steered. Other instruments have they also for finding a true +position on the ocean wastes, for the newer mariner, when he is at sea, +puts little trust in the Gods, and confides mightily in his own thews +and wits. + +Still, it is amusing to see these tarry fellows, even in this modern +day, take their last farewell of the harbour town. The ship is stowed, +and all ready for sea, and they wash and put on all their bravery of +attire. Ashore they go, their faces long with piety, and seek some +obscure temple whose God has little flavour with shore folk, and here +they make sacrifice with clamour and lavish outlay. And, finally, there +follows a feast in honour of the God, and they arrive back on board, and +put to sea for the most part drunken, and all heavy and evil-humoured +with gluttony and their other excesses. + +The voyage was very different to my previous sea-going. There was no +creeping timorously along in touch with the coasts. We stood straight +across the open gulf in the direction of home, came up with the band of +the Carib Islands, and worked confidently through them, as though they +had been signposts to mark the sea highway; and stopped only twice +to replenish with wood, water, and fruit. These commodities, too, the +savages brought us freely, so great was their subjection, and in +neither place did we have even the semblance of a fight. It was a great +certificate of the growing power of Atlantis and her finest over-sea +colony. + +Then boldly on we went across the vast ocean beyond, with never a +sacrifice to implore the Gods that they should help our direction. One +might feel censure towards these rugged mariners for their impiety, but +one could not help an admiration for their lusty skill and confidence. + +The dangers of the desolate sea are dealt out as the Gods will, and man +can only take them as they come. Storms we encountered, and the mariners +fought them with stubborn endurance; twice a blazing stone from Heaven +hissed into the sea beside us, though without injuring any of our ships; +and, as was unavoidable, the great beasts of the sea hunted us with +their accustomed savagery. But only once did we suffer material loss +from these last, and that was when three of the greater sea lizards +attacked the “Bear,” the ship whereon I travelled, at one and the same +time. + +The hour of their onset was during the blazing midday heat, and the Sun +being at the full of His power, our machines were getting full force +from Him. The vessel was travelling forward faster than a man on dry +land could walk. But for the power escape she might as well have been +standing still when the beasts sighted her. There were three of them, +as I have said, and we saw them come up over the curve of the horizon, +beating the sea into foam with their flappers, and waving their great +necks like masts as they swam. Our navy was spread out in a long line +of ships, and in olden days each of the beasts would have selected a +separate prey, and proceeded for it; but, like man, these beasts have +learned the necessities of warfare, and they hunt in pack now and do not +separate their forces. + +It was plain they were making for our ship, and Tob, the captain, would +have had me go into the after-castle, and there be secure from their +marauding. He was responsible to the Lord Tatho, he said, for my safe +conduct; it was certain that the beasts would contrive to seize some of +the ship’s company before they were satiated; and if the hap came to the +Lord Deucalion, he (the captain) would have to give himself voluntarily +to the beasts then, to escape a very painful death at Tatho’s hands +later on. + +However, my mind was set. A man can never have too much experience in +fighting enemies, whether human or bestial, and the attack of these +creatures was new to me, and I was fain to learn its method. So I gave +the captain a letter to Tatho, saying how the matter lay (and for which, +it may be mentioned, the rude fellow seemed little enough grateful), and +stayed in my chair under the awning. + +The beasts surged up to us with champing jaws, and all the shipmen +stood armed on their defence. They came up alongside, two females (the +smaller) on the flank of the ship, the giant male by himself on the +other. Their great heads swooped about, as high as the yards that held +the sails, and the reek from them gave one physical sickness. + +The shipmen faced the monsters with a sturdy courage. Arrows were +useless against the smooth, bull-like hides. Even the throwing fire +could not so much as singe them; nothing but twenty axe blows delivered +on an attacking head together could beat it back, and even these +succeeded only through sheer weight of metal, and did not make so much +as the scratch of a wound. + +During all time beasts have disputed with man the mastery of the earth, +and it is only in Atlantis and Egypt and Yucatan that man has dared to +hold his own, and fight them with a mind made strong by many previous +victories. In Europe and mid-Africa the greater beasts hold full +dominion, and man admits his puny number and force, and lives in earth +crannies and the higher tree-tops, as a fugitive confessed. And upon the +great oceans, the beasts are lords, unchecked. + +Still here, upon this desolate sea, although the giant lizards were new +to me, it was a pleasure to pit my knowledge of war against their brute +strength and courage. Ever since the first men did their business upon +the great waters, they fulfilled their instincts in fighting the beasts +with desperation. Hiding coward-like in a hold was useless, for if this +enemy could not find men above decks to glut them, they would break +a ship with their paddles, and so all would be slain. And so it was +recognised that the fight should go forward as desperately as might be, +and that it could only end when the beasts had got their prey and had +gone away satisfied. + +It was in a one-sided conflict after this fashion then, that I found +myself, and felt the joy once more to have my thews in action. But after +my axe had got in some dozen lusty blows, which, for all the harm they +did, might have been delivered against some city wall, or, indeed, +against the ark of the Mysteries itself, I sought about me till I found +a lance, and with that made very different play. + +The eyes of these lizards are small, and set deep in a bony socket, but +I judged them to be vulnerable, and it was upon the eyes of the beast +that I made my attack. The decks were slippery with the horrid slime of +them. The crew surged about in their battling, and, moreover, constantly +offered themselves as a rampart before me by reason of Tob, the +captain’s threats. But I gave a few shrewd progues with the lance to +show that I did not choose my will to be overridden, and presently was +given room for manoeuvre. + +Deliberately I placed myself in the sight of one of the lizards, and +offered my body to its attack. The challenge was accepted. It swooped +like a dropping stone, and I swerved and drove in the lance at its oozy +eye. + +I thanked the Gods then that I had been trained with the lance till +certain aim was a matter of instinct with me. The blade went true to +its mark and stuck there, and the shaft broke in my hand. The beast drew +off, blinded and bellowing, and beating the sea with its paddles. In a +great cataract of foam I saw it bend its great long neck, and rub its +head (with the spear still fixed) against its back, thereby enduring new +agonies, but without dislodging the weapon. And then presently, finding +this of no avail, it set off for the place from which it came with +extraordinary quickness, and rapidly grew smaller against the horizon. + +The male and the other female lizard had also left us, but not in +similar plight. Tob, the captain, seeing my resolve to take hazards, +deliberately thrust a shipman into the jaws of each of the others, +so that they might be sated and get them gone. It was clear that Tob +dreaded very much for his own skin if I came by harm, and I thought with +a warming heart of the threats that Tatho must have used in his kind +anxiety for my safety. It is pleasant when one’s old friends do not omit +to pay these little attentions. + + + + +3. A RIVAL NAVY + + +Now, when we came up with the coasts of Atlantis, though Tob, with +the aid of his modern instruments, had made his landfall with most +marvellous skill and nearness, there still remained some ten days’ more +journey in which we had to retrace our course, till we came to that arm +of the sea up which lies the great city of Atlantis, the capital. + +The sight of the land, and the breath of earth and herbage which came +off from it with the breezes, were, I believe, under the Gods, the +means of saving the lives of all of us. For, as is necessary with long +cross-ocean voyages, many of our ships’ companies had died, and still +more were sick with scurvy through the unnatural tossing, or (as some +have it) through the salt, unnatural food inseparable from shipboard. +But these last, the sight and the smells of land heartened up in +extraordinary fashion, and from being helpless logs, unable to move even +under blows of the scourge, they became active again, able to help in +the shipwork, and lusty (when the time came) to fight for their lives +and their vessels. + +From the moment that I was deposed in Yucatan, despite Tatho’s +assurances, there had been doubts in my mind as to what nature would +be my reception in Atlantis. But I had faced this event of the future +without concern: it was in the hands of the Gods. The Empress Phorenice +might be supreme on earth; she might cause my head to be lopped from its +proper shoulders the moment I set foot ashore; but my Lord the Sun was +above Phorenice, and if my head fell, it would be because He saw best +that it should be so. On which account, therefore, I had not troubled +myself about the matter during the voyage, but had followed out my calm +study of the higher mysteries with an unloaded mind. + +But when our navy had retraced sufficiently the course that had been +overrun, and came up with the two vast headlands which marked the +entrance to the inland waters, there, a bare two days from the Atlantis +capital, we met with another navy which was, beyond doubt, waiting to +give us a reception. The ships were riding at anchor in a bay which lent +them shelter, but they had scouts on the high land above, who cried +the alarm of our approach, and when we rounded the headland, they were +standing out to dispute our passage. + +Of us there were now but five ships, the rest having been lost in +storms, or fallen behind because all their crews were dead from the +scurvy; and of the strangers there were three fine ships, and three +galleys of many oars apiece. They were clean and bright and black; our +ships were storm-ragged and weather-worn, and had bottoms that were foul +with trailing ocean weed. Our ships hung out the colours and signs of +Tatho and Deucalion openly and without shame, so that all who looked +might know their origin and errand; but the other navy came on without +banner or antient, as though they were some low creatures feeling shame +for their birth. + +Clear it seemed also that they would not let us pass without a fight, +and in this there was nothing uncommon; for no law carries out over the +seas, and a brother in one ship feels quite free to harry his brother +in another vessel if he meets him out of earshot of the beach--more +especially if that other brother be coming home laden from foray or +trading tour. So Tob, with system and method, got our vessel into +fighting trim, and the other four captains did the like with theirs, +and drew close in to us to form a compact squadron. They had no wish to +smell slavery, now that the voyage had come so near to its end. + +Our Lord the Sun shone brilliantly, giving full speed to the machines, +as though He was fully willing for the affair to proceed, and the two +navies approached one another with quickness, the three galleys holding +back to stay in line with their consorts. But when some bare hundred +ship-lengths separated us, the other navy halted, and one of the +galleys, drawing ahead, flew green branches from her masts, seeking for +a parley. + +The course was unusual, but we, in our sea-battered state, were no navy +to invite a fight unnecessarily. So in hoarse sea-bawls word was passed, +and we too halted, and Tob hoisted a withered stick (which had to do +duty for greenery), to show that we were ready for talk, and would +respect the person of an ambassador. + +The galley drew on, swung round, and backed till its stern rasped on our +shield rail, and one of her people clambered up and jumped down upon +our decks. He was a dandily rigged-out fellow, young and lusty, and all +healthy from the land and land victual, and he looked round him with a +sneer at our sea-tatteredness, and with a fine self-confidence. Then, +seeing Tob, he nodded as one meets an acquaintance. “Old pot-mate,” he +said, “your woman waits for you up by the quay-side in Atlantis yonder, +with four youngsters at her heels. I saw her not half a month ago.” + +“You didn’t come out here to tell me home news,” said Tob; “that I’ll be +sworn. I’ve drunk enough pots with you, Dason, to know your pleasantries +thoroughly.” + +“I wanted to point out to you that your home is still there, with your +wife and children ready to welcome you.” + +“I am not a man that ever forgets it,” said Tob grimly; “and because +I’ve got them always at the back of my mind, I’ve sailed this ship over +the top of more than one pirate, when, if I’d been a single man, I might +have been e’en content to take the hap of slavery.” + +“Oh, I know you’re a desperate enough fellow,” said Dason, “and I’m free +to confess that if it does come to blows we are like to lose a few +men before we get you and your cripples here, and your crazy ships +comfortably sunk. Our navy has its orders to carry out, and the cause of +my embassage is this: we wish to see if you will act the sensible part +and give us what we want, and so be permitted to go on your way home, +with a skin that is unslit and dry?” + +“You have come to the wrong bird here for a plucking,” said Tob with a +heavy laugh. “We took no treasure or merchandise on board in Yucatan. We +stayed in harbour long enough to cure our sea victual and fill with food +and water, and no longer. We sail back as we sailed out, barren ships. +You will not believe me, of course; I would not have believed you had +our places been changed; but you may go into the holds and search if +you choose. You will find there nothing but a few poor sailormen half in +pieces with the scurvy. No, you can steal nothing here but blows, Dason, +and we will give you those with but little asking.” + +“I am glad to see that you state your cargo at such slender value,” said +the envoy, “for it is the cargo I must take back with me on the galley, +if you are to earn your safe conduct to home.” + +Tob knit his brows. “You had better speak more plain,” he said. “I am a +common sailor, and do not understand fancy talk.” + +“It is clear to see,” said Dason, “that you have been set to bring +Deucalion back to Atlantis as a prop for Phorenice. Well, we others find +Phorenice hard enough to fight against without further reinforcements, +and so we want Deucalion in our own custody to deal with after our own +fashion.” + +“And if I do the miser, and deny you this piece of my freight?” + +The spruce envoy looked round at the splintered ship, and the battered +navy beside her. “Why, then, Tob, we shall send you all to the fishes +in very short time, and instead of Deucalion standing before the Gods +alone, he will go down with a fine ragged company limping at his heels.” + +“I doubt it,” said Tob, “but we shall see. As for letting you have my +Lord Deucalion, that is out of the question. For see here, pot-mate +Dason; in the first place, if I went to Atlantis without Deucalion, my +other lord, Tatho, would come back one of these days, and in his hands I +should die by the slowest of slow inches; in the second, I have seen +my Lord Deucalion kill a great sea lizard, and he showed himself such a +proper man that day that I would not give him up against his will, even +to Tatho himself; and in the third place, you owe me for your share in +our last wine-bout ashore, and I’ll see you with the nether Gods before +I give you aught till you’ve settled that score.” + +“Well, Tob, I hope you’ll drown easy. As for that wife of yours, I’ve +always had a fancy for her myself, and I shall know how to find a use +for the woman.” + +“I’ll draw your neck for that, you son of a European,” said Tob; “and +if you do not clear off this deck I’ll draw it here. Go,” he cried, “you +father of monkey children! Get away, and let me fight you fairly, or by +my honour I’ll stamp the inwards out of you, and make your silly crew +wear them as necklaces.” + +Upon which Dason went to his galley. + +Promptly Tob set going the machine on our own “Bear,” and bawled his +orders right and left to the other ships. The crew might be weak with +scurvy, but they were quick to obey. Instantly the five vessels were all +started, and because our Lord the Sun was shining brightly, got soon to +the full of their pace. The whole of our small navy converged, singling +out one ship of their opponents, and she, not being ready for so swift +an attack, got flurried, and endeavoured to turn and run for room, +instead of trying to meet us bows on. As a consequence, the whole of our +five ships hit her together on the broadside, tearing her planking with +their underwater beaks, and sinking her before we had backed clear from +the engage. + +But if we thus brought the enemy’s number down to five, and so equal to +our own, the advantage did not remain with us for long. The three nimble +galleys formed into line: their boatswains’ whips cracked as the slaves +bent to their oars, and presently one of our own ships was gored and +sunk, the men on her being killed in the water without hope of rescue. + +And then commenced a tight-locked melee that would have warmed the heart +of the greatest warrior alive. The ships and the galleys were forced +together and lay savagely grinding one another upon the swells, as +though they had been sentient animals. The men on board them shot their +arrows, slashed with axes, thrust and hacked with swords, and hurled the +throwing fire. But in every way the fight converged upon the “Bear.” It +was on her that the enemy spent the fiercest of their spite; it was to +the “Bear,” that the other crews of Tatho’s navy rallied as their own +vessels caught fire, or were sunk or taken. + +Battle is an old acquaintance with us of the Priestly Clan, and for +those of us who have had to carve out territories for the new colonies, +it comes with enough frequency to cloy even the most chivalrous +appetite. So I can speak here as a man of experience. Up till that time, +for half a life-span, I had heard men shout “Deucalion” as a battlecry, +and in my day had seen some lusty encounters. But this sea-fight +surprised even me in its savage fierceness. The bleak, unstable element +which surrounded us; the swaying decks on which we fought; the throwing +fire, which burnt flesh and wood alike with its horrid flame; the +great gluttonous man-eating birds that hovered in the sky overhead; +the man-eating fish that swarmed up from the seas around, gnawing and +quarrelling over those that fell into the waters, all went to make up a +circumstance fit to daunt the bravest men-at-arms ever gathered for an +army. + +But these tarry shipmen faced it all with an indomitable courage, and +never a cry of quailing. Life on the seas is so hard, and (from the +beasts that haunt the great waters) so full of savage dangers, that +Death has lost half his terrors to them through sheer familiarity. +They were fellows who from pure lust for a fray would fight to a finish +amongst themselves in the taverns ashore; and so here, in this desperate +sea-battle, the passion for killing burned in them, as a fire stone +from Heaven rages in a forest; and they took even their death-wounds +laughing. + +On our side the battle-cry was “Tob!” and the name of this obscure +ship-captain seemed to carry a confidence with it for our own crews that +many a well-known commander might have envied. The enemy had a +dozen rallying cries, and these confused them. But as their other +ship-commanders one by one were killed, and Dason remained, active +with mischief, “Dason!” became the shout which was thrown back at us in +response to our “Tob!” + +However, I will not load my page with farther long account of this +obscure sea-fight, whose only glory was its ferocity. One by one all the +ships of either side were sunk or lay with all their people killed, till +finally only Dason’s galley and our own “Bear” were left. For the moment +we were being mastered. We had a score of men remaining out of all those +that manned the navy when it sailed from Yucatan, and the enemy had +boarded us and made the decks of the “Bear” the field of battle. But +they had been over busy with the throwing fire, and presently, as we +raged at one another, the smoke and the flame from the sturdy vessel +herself let us very plainly know that she was past salvation. + +But Tob was nothing daunted. “They may stay here and fry if they +choose,” he shouted with his great boisterous laugh, “but for ourselves +the galley is good enough now. Keep a guard on Deucalion, and come with +me, shipmates!” + +“Tob!” our fellows shouted in their ecstasy of fighting madness, and I +too could not forbear sending out a “Tob!” for my battle-cry. It was a +change for me not to be leader, but it was a luxury for once to fight +in the wake of this Tob, despite his uncouthness of mien and plan. There +was no stopping this new rush, though progress still was slow. Tob with +his bloody axe cut the road in front, and we others, with the lust of +battle filling us to the chin, raged like furies in his wake. Gods! but +it was a fight. + +Ten of us won to the galley, with the flames and the smoke from the poor +“Bear” spurting at our heels. We turned and stabbed madly at all who +tried to follow, and hacked through the grapples that held the vessels +to their embrace. The sea-swells spurned the “Bear” away. + +The slaves chained to the rowing-galley’s benches had interest neither +one way nor the other, and looked on the contest with dull concern, save +when some stray missile found a billet amongst them. But a handful of +the fighting men had scrambled desperately on board the galley after us, +preferring any fate to a fiery death on the “Bear,” and these had to be +dealt with promptly. Three, with their fighting fury still red-hot in +them, had most wastefully to be killed out of mischief’s way; five, who +had pitched their weapons into the sea, were chained to oar looms, in +place of slaves who were dead; and there remained only Dason to have a +fate apportioned. + +The fight had cooled out of him, and he had thrown his arms to the sea, +and stood sullenly ready for what might befall; and to him Tob went up +with an exulting face. + +“Ho, pot-mate Dason,” cried he, “you made a lot of talk an hour ago +about that woman of mine, who lives with her brats on the quay-side in +Atlantis yonder. Now, I’ll give you a pleasant choice; either I’ll +take you along home, and tell her what you said before the whole ship’s +company (that are for the most part dead now, poor souls!), and I’ll +leave her to perform on your carcase as she sees fit by way of payment; +or, as the other choice, I’ll deal with you here now myself.” + +“I thank you for the chance,” said Dason, and knelt and offered his neck +to the axe. So Tob cut off his head, sticking it on the galley’s beak as +an advertisement of what had been done. The body he threw over the side, +and one of the great man-eating birds that hovered near, picked it up +and flew away with it to its nest amongst the crags. And so we were +free to get a meal of the fruits and the fresh meats which the galley +offered, whilst the oar-slaves sent the galley rushing onwards towards +the capital. + +There was a wine-skin in the after-castle, and I filled a horn and +poured some out at Tob’s feet in salutation. “My man,” I said, “you have +shown me a fight.” + +“Thanks,” said he, “and I know you are a judge. ‘Twas pretty whilst it +lasted; and, seeing that my lads were, for the most, scurvy-rotten, I +will say they fought with credit. I have lost my Lord Tatho’s navy, but +I think Phorenice will see me righted there. If those that are against +her took so much trouble to kill my Lord Deucalion before he could come +to her aid, I can fancy she will not be niggard in her joy when I put +Deucalion safe, if somewhat dented and blood-bespattered, on the quay.” + +“The Gods know,” I said, for it is never my custom to discuss policies +with my inferiors, even though etiquette be for the moment loosened, +as ours was then by the thrill of battle. “The Gods will decide what +is best for you, Tob, even as they have decided that it is best that I +should go on to Atlantis.” + +The sailor held a horn filled from the wine-skin in his hand, and I +think was minded to pour a libation at my feet, even as I had done at +his. But he changed his mind, and emptied it down his throat instead. +“It is thirsty work, this fighting,” he said, “and that drink comes very +useful.” + +I put my hand on his blood-smeared arm. “Tob,” I said, “whether I step +into power again, or whether I go to the block to-morrow, is another +matter which the Gods alone know, but hear me tell you now, that if a +chance is given me of showing my gratitude, I shall not forget the way +you have served me in this voyage, and the way you have fought this +day.” + +Tob filled another brimming horn from the wine-skin and splashed it at +my feet. “That’s good enough surety for me,” he said, “that my woman and +brats never want from this day onward. The Lord Deucalion for the block, +indeed!” + + + + +4. THE WELCOME OF PHORENICE + + +Now I can say it with all truth that, till the rival navy met us in the +mouth of the gulf, I had thought little enough of my importance as a +recruit for the Empress. But the laying in wait for us of those ships, +and the wild ferocity with which they fought so that I might fall into +their hands, were omens which the blindest could not fail to read. It +was clear that I was expected to play a lusty part in the fortunes of +the nation. + +But if our coming had been watched for by enemies it seemed that +Phorenice also had her scouts; and these saw us from the mountains, and +carried news to the capital. The arm of the sea at the head of which the +vast city of Atlantis stands, varies greatly in width. In places where +the mountains have over-boiled, and sent their liquid contents down to +form hard stone below, the channel has barely a river’s wideness, and +then beyond, for the next half-day’s sail it will widen out into a lake, +with the sides barely visible. Moreover, its course is winding, and so +a runner who knows his way across the flats, and the swamps, and between +the smoking hills which lie along the shore, and did not get overcome by +fire-streams, or water, or wandering beasts, could carry news overland +from seacoast to capital far speedier than even the most shrewdly +whipped of galleys could ferry it along the water. + +Of course there were heavy risks that a lone traveller would not make +a safe passage by this land route, if he were bidden to sacrifice all +precautions to speed. But Phorenice was no niggard with her couriers. +She sent a corps of twenty to the headland that overlooks the +sea-entrance to the straits; they started with the news, each on his own +route; and it says much for their speed and cleverness, that no fewer +than seven of these agile fellows came through scathless with their +tidings, and of the others it was said that quite three were known to +have survived. + +Still, about this we had no means of knowing at the time, and pushed +on in fancy that our coming was quite unheralded. The slaves on the +galley’s row-banks were for the most part savages from Europe, and the +smell of them was so offensive that the voyage lost all its pleasures; +and as, moreover, the wind carried with it an infinite abundance of +small grit from some erupting fire mountain, we were anxious to linger +as little as possible. Besides, if I may confess to such a thing without +being unduly degraded, although by my priestly training I had been +taught stoicism, and knew that all the future was in the hands of the +Gods, I was frailly human still to have a very vast curiosity as to +what would be the form of my own reception at Atlantis. I could imagine +myself taken a formal prisoner on landing, and set on a formal trial +to answer for my cure of the colony of Yucatan; I could imagine myself +stepping ashore unknown and unnoticed, and after a due lapse, being +sent for by the Empress to take up new duties; but the manner of my real +welcome was a thing I did not even guess at. + +We came in sight of the peak of the sacred mountain, with its glare of +eternal fires which stand behind the city, one morning with the day’s +break, and the whips of the boatswains cracked more vehemently, so that +those offensive slaves should give the galley a final spurt. The wind +was adverse, and no sail could be spread, but under oars alone we made +a pretty pace, and the sides of the sacred mountain grew longer, and +presently the peaks of the pyramids in the city, the towers of the +higher buildings, began to show themselves as though they floated upon +the gleaming water. It was twenty years since I had seen Atlantis +last, and my heart glowed with the thought of treading again upon her +paving-stones. + +The splendid city grew out of the sea as we approached, and to every +throb of the oars, the shores leaped nearer. I saw the temple where I +had been admitted first to manhood; I saw the pyramid in whose heart +I had been initiated to the small mysteries; and then (as the lesser +objects became discernible) I made out the house where a father and a +mother had reared me, and my eyes became dim as the memories rose. + +We drew up outside the white walls of the harbour, as the law was, and +the slaves panted and sobbed in quietude over the oar-looms. For vessels +thus stationed there is, generally, a sufficiency of waiting, for a +port-captain is apt to be so uncertain of his own dignity, that he must +e’en keep folks waiting to prove it to them. But here for us it might +have been that the port-captain’s boat was waiting. The signal was +sounded from the two castles at the harbour’s entrance, the chain which +hung between them was dropped, and a ten-oared boat shot out from behind +the walls as fast as oars could drive her. She raced up alongside and +the questions were put: + +“That should be Dason’s galley?” + +“It was,” said Tob. + +“Oh, I saw Dason’s head on your beak,” said the port-captain. “You were +Tatho’s captain?” + +“And am still. Tatho’s fleet was sent by Dason and his friends to the +sea-floor, and so we took this stinking galley to finish the voyage in, +seeing that it was the only craft left afloat.” + +The port-captain was roving his eye over the group of us who stood on +the after-deck. “I fear me, captain, that you’ll have but a dangerous +reception. I do not see my Lord Deucalion. Or does he come with some +other navy? Gods, captain, if you have let him get killed whilst under +your charge, the Empress will have the skin torn slowly off you living.” + +“What with Phorenice and Tatho both so curious for his welfare,” said +Tob, “my Lord Deucalion seems but a dangerous passenger. But I shall +save my hide this voyage.” He jerked at me with his thumb. “He’s there +to put in a word for me himself.” + +The port-captain stared for a moment, as if unbelieving, and then, as +though satisfied, made obeisance like a fellow well used to ceremonial. +“I trust my lord, in his infinite strength, will pardon my sin in not +knowing him by his nobleness before. But truth to tell, I had looked to +see my lord more suitably apparelled.” + +“Pish,” I said; “if I choose to dress simply, I cannot object to being +mistaken for a simple man. It is not my pleasure to advertise my quality +by the gauds on my garb. If you think amends are due to me, I pray of +your charity that this inquisition may end.” + +The fellow was all bows and obsequiousness. “I am the humblest of my +lord’s servants,” he said. “It will be my exceeding honour to pilot my +lord’s galley into the berth appointed in harbour.” + +The boat shot ahead, and our galley-slaves swung into stroke again. Tob +watched me with a dry smile as he stood directing the men at the helms. + +“Well,” I said, humouring his whim, “what is it?” + +“I’m thinking,” said Tob, “that my Lord Deucalion will remember me +only as a very rude fellow when he steps ashore amongst all this fine +gentility.” + +“You don’t think,” said I, “anything of the kind.” + +“Then I must prove my refinement,” said Tob, “and not contradict.” He +picked up my hand in his huge, hard fist, and pressed it. “By the Gods, +Deucalion, you may be a great prince, but I’ve only known you as a +man. You’re the finest fighter of beasts and men that walks this world +to-day, and I love you for it. That spear-stroke of yours on the lizard +is a thing the singers in the taverns shall make chaunts about.” + +We drew rapidly into the harbour, the soldiers in the entrance castle +blowing their trumpets in welcome as we passed between them. The captain +of the port had run up my banner to the masthead of his boat, having +been provided with one apparently for this purpose of announcement, and +from the quays, across the vast basin of the harbour, there presently +came to us the noises of musicians, and the pale glow of welcoming +fires, dancing under the sunlight. I was almost awed to think that an +Empress of Atlantis had come to such straits as to feel an interest like +this in any mere returning subject. + +It was clear that nothing was to be done by halves. The port-captain’s +boat led, and we had no choice but to follow. Our galley was run up +alongside the royal quay and moored to its posts and rings of gold, all +of which are sacred to the reigning house. + +“If Dason could only have foreseen this honour,” said Tob, with grisly +jest, “I’m sure he’d have laid in a silken warp to make fast on the +bollards instead of mere plebeian hemp. I’m sure there’d be a frown on +Dason’s head this minute, if the sun hadn’t scorched it stiff. My Lord +Deucalion, will you pick your way with niceness over this common ship +and tread on the genteel carpet they’ve spread for you on the quay +yonder?” + +The port-captain heard Tob’s rude banter and looked up with a face of +horror, and I remembered, with a small sigh, that colonial freedom would +have no place here in Atlantis. Once more I must prepare myself for all +the dignity of rank, and make ready to tread the formalities of vast and +gorgeous ceremonial. + +But, be these things how they may, a self-respecting man must preserve +his individuality also, and though I consented to enter a pavilion of +crimson cloth, specially erected to shelter me till the Empress should +deign to arrive, there my complaisance ended. Again the matter of +clothes was harped upon. The three gorgeously caparisoned chamberlains, +who had inducted me to the shelter, laid before me changes of raiment +bedecked with every imaginable kind of frippery, and would have me +transform myself into a popinjay in fashion like their own. + +Curtly enough, I refused to alter my garb, and when one of them +stammeringly referred to the Empress’s tastes I asked him with plainness +if he had got any definite commands on this paltry matter from her +mightiness. + +Of course, he had to confess that there were none. + +Upon which I retorted that Phorenice had commanded Deucalion, the man, +to attend before her, and had sent no word of her pleasure as to his +outer casing. + +“This dress,” I said, “suits my temper well. It shields my poor body +from the heat and the wind, and, moreover, it is clean. It seems to +me, sirs,” I added, “that your interfering savours somewhat of an +impertinence.” + +With one accord the chamberlains drew their swords and pushed the hilts +towards me. + +“It would be a favour,” said their spokesman, “if the great Lord +Deucalion would take his vengeance now, instead of delivering us to the +tormentors hereafter.” + +“Poof,” I said, “the matter is forgotten. You make too much of a +little.” + +Nevertheless, their action gave me some enlightenment. They were +perfectly in earnest in offering me the swords, and I recognised that +this was a different Atlantis that I had come home to, where a man had +dread of the torture for a mere difference concerning the cut of a coat. + +There was a bath in the pavilion, and in that I regaled myself gladly, +though there was some paltry scent added to the water that took away +half its refreshing power; and then I set myself to wait with all +outward composure and placidity. The chamberlains were too well-bred to +break into my calm, and I did not condescend to small talk. So there we +remained, the four of us, I sitting, they standing, with our Lord the +Sun smiting heavily on the scarlet roof of the pavilion, whilst the +music blared, and the welcoming fires dispersed their odours from the +great paved square without, which faced upon the quay. + +It has been said that the great should always collect dignity by keeping +those of lesser degree waiting their pleasure, though for myself I must +say I have always thought the stratagem paltry and beneath me. Phorenice +also seemed of this opinion, for (as she herself told me later) at the +moment that Tob’s galley was reported as having its flank against the +marble of the royal quay, at that precise moment did she start out from +the palace. The gorgeous procession was already marshalled, bedecked, +and waiting only for its chiefest ornament, and as soon as she had +mounted to her steed, trumpets gave the order, and the advance began. + +Sitting in the doorway of the pavilion, I saw the soldiery who formed +the head of this vast concourse emerge from the great broad street where +it left the houses. They marched straight across to give me the salute, +and then ranged themselves on the farther side of the square. Then came +the Mariners’ Guild, then more soldiers, all making obeisance in +their turn, and passing on to make room for others. Following were the +merchants, the tanners, the spear-makers and all the other acknowledged +Guilds, deliberately attired (so it seemed to me) that they might make +a pageant; and whilst most walked on foot, there were some who proudly +rode on beasts which they had tamed into rendering them this menial +service. + +But presently came the two wonders of all that dazzling spectacle. From +out of the eclipse of the houses there swung into the open no less a +beast than a huge bull mammoth. The sight had sufficient surprise in it +almost to make me start. Many a time during my life had I led hunts +to kill the mammoth, when a herd of them had raided some village or +cornland under my charge. I had seen the huge brutes in the wild ground, +shaggy, horrid, monstrous; more fierce than even the cave-tiger or the +cave-bear; most dangerous beast of all that fight with man for dominion +of the earth, save only for a few of the greater lizards. And here +was this creature, a giant even amongst mammoths, yet tame as any +well-whipped slave, and bearing upon its back a great half-castle of +gold, stamped with the outstretched hand, and bedecked with silver +snakes. Its murderous tusks were gilded, its hairy neck was garlanded +with flowers, and it trod on in the procession as though assisting at +such pageantry was the beginning and end of its existence. Its tameness +seemed a fitting symbol of the masterful strength of this new ruler of +Atlantis. + +Simultaneously with the mammoth, there came into sight that other and +greater wonder, the mammoth’s mistress, the Empress Phorenice. The beast +took my eye at the first, from its very uncouth hugeness, from its +show of savage power restrained; but the lady who sat in the golden +half-castle on its lofty back quickly drew away my gaze, and held it +immovable from then onwards with an infinite attraction. + +I stood to my feet when the people first shouted at Phorenice’s +approach, and remained in the porchway of my scarlet pavilion till her +vast steed had halted in the centre of the square, and then I advanced +across the pavement towards her. + +“On your knees, my lord,” said one of the chamberlains behind me, in a +scared whisper. + +“At least with bent head,” urged another. + +But I had my own notions of what is due to one’s own self-respect in +these matters, and I marched across the bare open space with head erect, +giving the Empress gaze for gaze. She was clearly summing me up. I was +frankly doing the like by her. Gods! but those few short seconds made me +see a woman such as I never imagined could have lived. + +I know I have placed it on record earlier in this writing that, during +all the days of a long official life, women have had no influence over +me. But I have been quick to see that they often had a strong swaying +power over the policies of others, and as a consequence I have made it +my business to study them even as I have studied men. But this woman who +sat under the sacred snakes in her golden half-castle on the mammoth’s +back, fairly baffled me. Of her thoughts I could read no single +syllable. I could see a body slight, supple, and beautifully moulded; in +figure rather small. Her face was a most perfect book of cleverness, yet +she was fair, too, beyond belief, with hair of a lovely ruddiness, cut +short in the new fashion, and bunching on her shoulders. And eyes! Gods! +who could plumb the depths of Phorenice’s eyes, or find in mere tint a +trace of their heaven-made colour? + +It was plain, also, that she in her turn was searching me down to +my very soul, and it seemed that her scrutiny was not without its +satisfaction. She moved her head in little nods as I drew near, and when +I did the requisite obeisance permitted to my rank, she bade me in +a voice loud and clear enough for all at hand to hear, never to put +forehead on the ground again on her behalf so long as she ruled in +Atlantis. + +“For others,” she said, “it is fitting that they should do so, once, +twice, or several times, according to their rank and station, for I am +Empress, and they are all so far beneath me; but you are Deucalion, my +lord, and though till to-day I knew you only from pictures drawn with +tongues, I have seen you now, and have judged for myself. And so I make +this decree: Deucalion is above all other men in Atlantis, and if there +is one who does not render him obedience, that man is enemy also of +Phorenice, and shall feel her anger.” + +She made a sign, and a stair was brought, and then she called to me, and +I mounted and sat beside her in the golden half-castle under the canopy +of royal snakes. The girl who stood behind in attendance fanned us both +with perfumed feathers, and at a word from Phorenice the mammoth was +turned, bearing us back towards the royal pyramid by the way through +which it had come. At the same time also all the other machinery of +splendour was put in motion. The soldiers and the gaudily bedecked civil +traders fell into procession before and behind, and I noted that a body +of troops, heavily armed, marched on each of the mammoth’s flanks. + +Phorenice turned to me with a smile. “You piqued me,” she said, “at +first.” + +“Your Majesty overwhelms me with so much notice.” + +“You looked at my steed before you looked at me. A woman finds it hard +to forgive a slight like that.” + +“I envied you the greatest of your conquests, and do still. I have +fought mammoths myself, and at times have killed, but I never dared even +to think of taking one alive and bringing it into tameness.” + +“You speak boldly,” she said, still smiling, “and yet you can turn a +pretty compliment. Faugh! Deucalion, the way these people fawn on me +gives me a nausea. I am not of the same clay as they are, I know; but +just because I am the daughter of Gods they must needs feed me on the +pap of insincerity.” + +So Tatho was right, and the swineherd was forgotten. Well, if she chose +to keep up the fiction she had made, it was not my part to contradict +her. Rightly or wrongly I was her servant. + +“I have been pining this long enough for a stronger meat than they can +give,” she went on, “and at last I have sent for you. I have been at +some pains to procure my tongue-pictures of you, Deucalion, and though +you do not know me yet, I may say I knew you with all thoroughness even +before we met. I can admire a man with a mind great enough to forego the +silly gauds of clothes, or the excesses of feasts, or the pamperings of +women.” She looked down at her own silks and her glittering jewels. “We +women like to carry colours upon our persons, but that is a different +matter. And so I sent for you here to be my minister, and bear with me +the burden of ruling.” + +“There should be better men in broad Atlantis.” + +“There are not, my lord, and I who know them all by heart tell you so. +They are all enamoured of my poor person; they weary me with their empty +phrases and their importunities; and, though they are always brimming +with their cries of service, their own advancement and the filling of +their own treasuries ever comes first with them. So I have sent for you, +Deucalion, the one strong man in all the world. You at least will not +sigh to be my lover?” + +I saw her watching for my answer from the corner of her eyes. “The +Empress,” I said, “is my mistress, and I will be an honest minister to +her. With Phorenice, the woman, it is likely that I shall have little +enough to do. Besides, I am not the sort that sports with this toy they +call love.” + +“And yet you are a personable man enough,” she said rather thoughtfully. +“But that still further proves your strength, Deucalion. You at least +will not lose your head through weak infatuation for my poor looks and +graces.”--She turned to the girl who stood behind us.--“Ylga, fan not so +violently.” + +Our talk broke off then for the moment, and I had time to look about +me. We were passing through the chief street in the fairest, the most +wonderful city this world has ever seen. I had left it a score of years +before, and was curious to note its increase. + +In public buildings the city had certainly made growth; there were +new temples, new pyramids, new palaces, and statuary everywhere. Its +greatness and magnificence impressed me more strongly even than usual, +returning to it as I did from such a distance of time and space, for, +though the many cities of Yucatan might each of them be princely, this +great capital was a place not to be compared with any of them. It was +imperial and gorgeous beyond descriptive words. + +Yet most of all was I struck by the poverty and squalor which stood in +such close touch with all this magnificence. In the throngs that lined +the streets there were gaunt bodies and hungry faces everywhere. Here +and there stood one, a man or a woman, as naked as a savage in Europe, +and yet dull to shame. Even the trader, with trumpery gauds on his coat, +aping the prevailing fashion for display, had a scared, uneasy look to +his face, as though he had forgotten the mere name of safety, and hid a +frantic heart with his tawdry outward vauntings of prosperity. + +Phorenice read the direction of my looks. + +“The season,” she said, “has been unhealthy of recent months. These +lower people will not build fine houses to adorn my city, and because +they choose to live on in their squalid, unsightly kennels, there have +been calentures and other sicknesses amongst them, which make them +disinclined for work. And then, too, for the moment, earning is not +easy. Indeed, you may say trade is nearly stopped this last half-year, +since the rebels have been hammering so lustily at my city gates.” + +I was fairly startled out of my decorum. + +“Rebels!” I cried. “Who are hammering at the gates of Atlantis? Is the +city in a state of siege?” + +“Of their condescension,” said Phorenice lightly, “they are giving us +holiday to-day, and so, happily, my welcome to you comes undisturbed. +If they were fighting, your ears would have told you of it. To give them +their due, they are noisy enough in all their efforts. My spies say they +are making ready new engines for use against the walls, which you may +sally out to-morrow and break if it gives you amusement. But for to-day, +Deucalion, I have you, and you have me, and there is peace round us, and +some prettiness of display. If you ask for more I will give it you.” + +“I did not know of this rebellion,” I said, “but as Your Majesty has +made me your minister, it is well that I should know all about its scope +at once. This is a matter we should be serious upon.” + +“And do you think I cannot take it seriously also?” she retorted. +“Ylga,” she said to the girl that stood behind, “set loose my dress at +the shoulder.” + +And when the attendant had unlinked the jewelled clasp (as it seemed to +me with a very ill grace), she herself stripped down the fabric, baring +the pure skin beneath, and showing me just below the curve of the left +breast a bandage of bloodstained linen. + +“There is a guarantee of my seriousness yesterday, at any rate,” she +said, looking at me sidelong. “The arrow struck on a rib and that saved +me. If it had struck between, Deucalion would have been standing beside +my funeral pyre to-day instead of riding on this pretty steed of mine +which he admires so much. Your eye seems to feast itself most on the +mammoth, Deucalion. Ah, poor me. I am not one of your shaggy creatures, +and so it seems I shall never be able to catch your regard. Ylga,” she +said to the girl behind, “you may link my dress up again with its clasp. +My Lord Deucalion has seen wounds before, and there is nothing else here +to interest him.” + + + + +5. ZAEMON’S CURSE + + +It appeared that for the present at any rate I was to have my residence +in the royal pyramid. The glittering cavalcade drew up in the great +paved square which lies before the building, and massed itself in +groups. The mammoth was halted before the doorway, and when a stair had +been brought, the trumpets sounded, and we three who had ridden in the +golden half-castle under the canopy of snakes, descended to the ground. + +It was plain that we were going from beneath the open sky to the +apartments which lay inside the vast stone mazes of the pyramid, and +without thinking, the instinct of custom and reverence that had become +part of my nature caused me to turn to where the towering rocks of the +Sacred Mountain frowned above the city, and make the usual obeisance, +and offer up in silence the prescribed prayer. I say I did this thing +unthinking, and as a matter of common custom, but when I rose to my +feet, I could have sworn I heard a titter of laughter from somewhere in +that fancifully bedecked crowd of onlookers. + +I glanced in the direction of the scoffers, frowningly enough, and +then I turned to Phorenice to demand their prompt punishment for the +disrespect. But here was a strange thing. I had looked to see her in the +act and article of rising from an obeisance; but there she was, standing +erect, and had clearly never touched her forehead to the ground. +Moreover, she was regarding me with a queer look which I could not +fathom. + +But whatever was in her mind, she had no plan to bawl about it then +before the people collected in the square. She said to me, “Come,” + and, turning to the doorway, cried for entrance, giving the secret word +appointed for the day. The ponderous stone blocks, which barred the +porch, swung back on their hinges, and with stately tread she passed +out of the hot sunshine into the cool gloom beyond, with the fan-girl +following decorously at her heels. With a heaviness beginning to grow +at my heart, I too went inside the pyramid, and the stone doors, with a +sullen thud, closed behind us. + +We did not go far just then. Phorenice halted in the hall of waiting. +How well I remembered the place, with the pictures of kings on its red +walls, and the burning fountain of earth-breath which blazed from a jet +of bronze in the middle of the flooring and gave it light. The old King +that was gone had come this far of his complaisance when he bade +me farewell as I set out twenty years before for my vice-royalty in +Yucatan. But the air of the hall was different to what it had been in +those old days. Then it was pure and sweet. Now it was heavy with some +scent, and I found it languid and oppressive. + +“My minister,” said the Empress, “I acquit you of intentional insult; +but I think the colonial air has made you a very simple man. Such an +obeisance as you showed to that mountain not a minute since has not been +made since I was sent to reign over this kingdom.” + +“Your Majesty,” I said, “I am a member of the Priests’ Clan and was +brought up in their tenets. I have been taught, before entering a house, +to thank the Gods, and more especially our Lord the Sun, for the good +air that He and They have provided. It has been my fate more than once +to be chased by streams of fire and stinking air amongst the mountains +during one of their sudden boils, and so I can say the prescribed prayer +upon this matter straight from my heart.” + +“Circumstances have changed since you left Atlantis,” said Phorenice, +“and when thanks are given now, they are not thrown at those old Gods.” + +I saw her meaning, and almost started at the impiety of it. If this was +to be the new rule of things, I would have no hand in it. Fate might +deal with me as it chose. To serve truly a reigning monarch, that I was +prepared for; but to palter with sacrilege, and accept a swineherd’s +daughter as a God, who should receive prayers and obeisances, revolted +my manhood. So I invited a crisis. + +“Phorenice,” I said, “I have been a priest from my childhood up, +revering the Gods, and growing intimate with their mysteries. Till I +find for myself that those old things are false, I must stand by that +allegiance, and if there is a cost for this faithfulness I must pay it.” + +She looked at me with a slow smile. “You are a strong man, Deucalion,” + she said. + +I bowed. + +“I have heard others as stubborn,” she said, “but they were converted.” + She shook out the ruddy bunches of her hair, and stood so that the light +of the burning earth-breath might fall on the loveliness of her face and +form. “I have found it as easy to convert the stubborn as to burn them. +Indeed, there has been little talk of burning. They have all rushed to +conversion, whether I would or no. But it seems that my poor looks and +tongue are wanting in charm to-day.” + +“Phorenice is Empress,” I said stolidly, “and I am her servant. +To-morrow, if she gives me leave, I will clear away this rabble which +clamours outside the walls. I must begin to prove my uses.” + +“I am told you are a pretty fighter,” said she. “Well, I hold some small +skill in arms myself, and have a conceit that I am something of a judge. +To-morrow we will take a taste of battle together. But to-day I +must carry through the honourable reception I have planned for you, +Deucalion. The feast will be set ready soon, and you will wish to make +ready for the feast. There are chambers here selected for your use, and +stored with what is needful. Ylga will show you their places.” + +We waited, the fan-girl and I, till Phorenice had passed out of the glow +of the light-jet, and had left the hall of waiting through a doorway +amongst the shadows of its farther angle, and then (the girl taking a +lamp and leading) we also threaded our way through the narrow mazes of +the pyramid. + +Everywhere the air was full of perfumes, and everywhere the passages +turned and twisted and doubled through the solid stone of the pyramid, +so that strangers might have spent hours--yes, or days--in search before +they came to the chamber they desired. There was a fine cunningness +about those forgotten builders who set up this royal pyramid. They had +no mind that kings should fall by the hand of vulgar assassins who might +come in suddenly from outside. And it is said also that the king of the +time, to make doubly sure, killed all that had built the pyramid, or +seen even the lay of its inner stones. + +But the fan-girl led the way with the lamp swinging in her hand, as one +accustomed to the mazes. Here she doubled, there she turned, and here +she stopped in the middle of a blank wall to push a stone, which swung +to let us pass. And once she pressed at the corner of a flagstone on the +floor, which reared up to the thrust of her foot, and showed us a stair +steep and narrow. That we descended, coming to the foot of an inclined +way which led us upward again; and so by degrees we came unto the +chamber which had been given for my use. + +“There is raiment in all these chests which stand by the walls,” + said the girl, “and jewels and gauds in that bronze coffer. They are +Phorenice’s first presents, she bid me say, and but a small earnest of +what is to come. My Lord Deucalion can drop his simplicity now, and fig +himself out in finery to suit the fashion.” + +“Girl,” I said sharply, “be more decorous with your tongue, and spare me +such small advice.” + +“If my Lord Deucalion thinks this a rudeness, he can give a word to +Phorenice, and I shall be whipped. If he asks it, I can be stripped and +scourged before him. The Empress will do much for Deucalion just now.” + +“Girl,” I said, “you are nearer to that whipping than you think for.” + +“I have got a name,” she retorted, looking at me sullenly from under her +black brows. “They call me Ylga. You might have heard that as we rode +here on the mammoth, had you not been so wrapped up in Phorenice.” + +I gazed at her curiously. “You have never seen me before,” I said, “and +the first words you utter are those that might well bring trouble to +yourself. There is some object in all this.” + +She went and pushed to the massive stone that swung in the doorway of +the chamber. Then she put her little jewelled fingers on my garment and +drew me carefully away from the airshaft into the farther corner. “I am +the daughter of Zaemon,” she said, “whom you knew.” + +“You bring me some message from him?” + +“How could I? He lives in the priests’ dwellings on the Mountain you did +obeisance to. I have not put eyes on him these two years. But when I +saw you first step out from that red pavilion they had pitched at the +harbour side, I--I felt a pity for you, Deucalion. I remembered you were +my father’s, Zaemon’s, friend, and I knew what Phorenice had in store. +She has been plotting it all these two months.” + +“I cannot hear words against the Empress.” + +“And yet--” + +“What?” + +She stamped her sandal upon the stone of the floor. “You must be a very +blind man, Deucalion, or a very daring one. But I shall not interfere +further; at least not now. Still, I shall watch, and if at any time you +seem to want a friend I will try and serve you.” + +“I thank you for your friendship.” + +“You seem to take it lightly enough. Why, sir, even now I do not believe +you know my power, any more than you guess my motive. You may be first +man in this kingdom, but let me tell you I rank as second lady. And +remember, women stand high in Atlantis now. Believe me, my friendship is +a commodity that has been sought with frequence and industry.” + +“And as I say, I am grateful for it. You seem to think little enough of +my gratitude, Ylga; but, credit me, I never have bestowed it on a woman +before, and so you should treasure it for its rarity.” + +“Well,” she said, “my lord, there is an education before you.” She left +me then, showing me how to call slaves when I wished for their help, and +for a full minute I stood wondering at the words I had spoken to her. +Who was the daughter of Zaemon that she should induce me to change the +habit of a lifetime? + +The slaves came at my bidding, and showed themselves anxious to deck +me with a thousand foolishnesses in the matter of robes and gauds, and +(what seemed to be the modern fashion of their class) holding out the +virtues of a score of perfumes and unguents. Their manner irritated +me. Clean I was already, and shaved; my hair was trim, and my robe was +unsoiled; and, considering these pressing attentions of theirs something +of an impertinence, I set them to beat one another as a punishment, +promising that if they did not do it with thoroughness, I would hand +them on to the brander to be marked with stripes which would endure. +It is strange, but a common menial can often surpass even a rebellious +general in power of ruffling one. + +I had seen many strange sights that day, and undergone many new +sensations; but of all the things which came to my notice, Phorenice’s +manner of summoning the guests to her feast surprised me most. Nay, it +did more; it shocked me profoundly; and I cannot say whether amazement +at her profanity, or wonder at her power, was for the moment strongest +in my breast. I sat in my chamber awaiting the summons, when gradually, +growing out of nothing, a sound fell upon my ear which increased in +volume with infinitely small graduations, till at last it became a +clanging din which hurt the ear with its fierceness; and then (I guessed +what was coming) the whole massive fabric of the pyramid trembled and +groaned and shook, as though it had been merely a child’s wooden toy +brushed about by a strong man’s sandal. + +It was the portent served out yearly by the chiefs of the Priests’ Clan +on the Sacred Mountain, when they bade all the world take count of their +sins. It was the sacred reminder that from roaring, raging fire, and +from the agony of monstrous earth-tremors, man had been born, and that +by these same agencies he would eventually be swallowed up--he and +the sins within his breast. And here the Empress was prostituting its +solemnities into a mere call to gluttony, and sign for ribald laughter +and sensuous display. + +But how had she acquired the authority to do this thing? Who was she +that she should tamper with those dimly understood powers, the forces +that dwell within the liquid heart of our mother earth? Had there been +treachery? Had some member of the Priests’ Clan forgotten his sacred +vows, and babbled to this woman matters concerning the holy mysteries? +Or had Phorenice discovered a key to these mysteries with her own agile +brain? + +If that last was the case, I could continue to serve her with silent +conscience. Though she might be none of my making, at least she was +Empress, and it was my duty to give her obedience. But if she had +suborned some weaker member of the Clan on the Sacred Mount, that would +be a different matter. For be it remembered that it was one of the +elements of our constitution to preserve our secrets and mysteries +inviolate, and to pursue with undying hatred both the man who had dared +to betray them, and the unhappy recipient of his confidence. + +It was with very undecided feelings, then, that I obeyed the summons of +the earth-shaking, and bade the slaves lead me through the windings of +the pyramid to the great banqueting-hall. The scene there was dazzling. +The majestic chamber with its marvellous carvings was filled with a +company decked out with all the gauds and colours that fancy could +conceive. Little recked they of the solemn portent which had summoned +them to the meal, of the death and misery that stalked openly through +the city wards without, of the rebels which lay in leaguer beyond the +walls, of the neglected Gods and their clan of priests on the Sacred +Mountain. They were all gluttonous for the passions of the moment; it +was their fashion and conceit to look at nothing beyond. + +Flaming jets of earth-breath lit the great hall to the brightness of +midday; and when I stepped out upon the pavement, trumpets blared, so +that all might know of my coming. But there was no roar of welcome. +“Deucalion,” they lisped with mincing voices, bowing themselves +ridiculously to the ground so that all their ornaments and silks might +jangle and swish. Indeed, when Phorenice herself appeared, and all +sent up their cries and made lawful obeisance, there was the same +artificiality in the welcome. They meant well enough, it is true; +but this was the new fashion. Heartiness had come to be accounted a +barbarism by this new culture. + +A pair of posturing, smirking chamberlains took me in charge, and +ushered me with their flimsy golden wands to the dais at the farther +end. It appeared that I was to sit on Phorenice’s divan, and eat my meat +out of her dish. + +“There is no stint to the honour the Empress puts upon me,” I said, as I +knelt down and took my seat. + +She gave me one of her queer, sidelong looks. “Deucalion may have more +beside, if he asks for it prettily. He may have what all the other men +in the known world have sighed for, and what none of them will ever +get. But I have given enough of my own accord; he must ask me warmly for +those further favours.” + +“I ask,” I said, “first, that I may sweep the boundaries clear of this +rabble which is clamouring against the city walls.” + +“Pah,” she said, and frowned. “Have you appetite only for the sterner +pleasures of life? My good Deucalion, they must have been rustic folk +in that colony of yours. Well, you shall give me news now of the +toothsomeness of this feast.” + +Dishes and goblets were placed before us, and we began to eat, though I +had little enough appetite for victual so broken and so highly spiced. +But if this finicking cookery and these luscious wines did not appeal +to me, the other diners in that gorgeous hall appreciated it all to the +full. They sat about in groups on the pavement beneath the light-jets +like a tangle of rainbows for colour, and according to the new custom +they went into raptures and ecstasies over their enjoyment. Women and +men both, they lingered over each titillation of the palate as though it +were a caress of the Gods. + +Phorenice, with her quick, bright eyes, looked on, and occasionally +flung one or another a few words between her talk with me, and now and +again called some favoured creature up to receive a scrap of viand +from the royal dish. This the honoured one would eat with extravagant +gesture, or (as happened twice) would put it away in the folds of his +clothes as a treasure too dear to be profaned by human lips. + +To me, this flattery appeared gross and disgustful, but Phorenice, +through use, perhaps, seemed to take it as merely her due. There was, +one had to suppose, a weakness in her somewhere, though truly to the +outward seeing none was apparent. Her face was strong enough, and it was +subtle also, and, moreover, it was wondrous comely. All the courtiers in +the banqueting-hall raved about Phorenice’s face and the other beauties +of her body and limbs, and though not given to appreciation in these +matters, I could not but see that here at least they had a groundwork +for their admiration, for surely the Gods have never favoured mortal +woman more highly. Yet lovely though she might be, for myself I +preferred to look upon Ylga, the girl, who, because of her rank, was +privileged to sit on the divan behind us as immediate attendant. There +was an honesty in Ylga’s face which Phorenice’s lacked. + +They did not eat to nutrify their bodies, these feasters in the +banqueting-hall of the royal pyramid, but they all ate to cloy +themselves, and they strutted forth new usages with every platter and +bowl that the slaves brought. To me some of their manners were +closely touching on disrespect. At the halfway of the meal, a gorgeous +popinjay--he was a governor of an out-province driven into the capital +by a rebellion in his own lands--this gorgeous fop, I say, walked up +between the groups of feasters with flushed face and unsteady gait, and +did obeisance before the divan. “Most astounding Empress,” cried he, +“fairest among the Goddesses, Queen regnant of my adoring heart, hail!” + +Phorenice with a smile stretched him out her cup. I looked to see him +pour respectful libation, but no such thing. He set the drink to his +lips and drained it to the final drop. “May all your troubles,” he +cried, “pass from you as easily, and leave as pleasant a flavour.” + +The Empress turned to me with one of her quick looks. “You do not like +this new habit?” + +To which I replied bluntly enough that to pour out liquor at a person’s +feet had grown through custom to be a mark of respect, but that drinking +it seemed to me mere self-indulgence, which might be practised anywhere. + +“You still keep to the old austere teachings,” she said. “Our newer code +bids us enjoy life first, and order other things so as not to meddle +with our more immediate pleasure.” + +And so the feast went on, the guests practising their gluttonies and +their absurdities, and the guards standing to their arms round the +circuit of the walls as motionless and as stern as the statues carven +in the white stone beyond them. But a term was put to the orgy with +something of suddenness. There was a stir at the farther doorway of the +banqueting-hall, and a clash, as two of the guards joined their spears +across the entrance. But the man they tried to stop--or perhaps it was +to pin--passed them unharmed, and walked up over the pavement between +the lights, and the groups of feasters. All looked round at him; a few +threw him ribald words; but none ventured to stop his progress. A few, +women chiefly, I could see, shuddered as he passed them by, as though a +wintry chill had come over them; and in the end he walked up and stood +in front of Phorenice’s divan, and gazed fixedly on her, but without +making obeisance. + +He was a frail old man, with white hair tumbling on his shoulders, and +ragged white beard. The mud of wayfaring hung in clots on his feet and +legs. His wizened body was bare save for a single cloth wound about +his shoulders and his loins, and he carried in his hand a wand with the +symbol of our Lord the Sun glowing at its tip. That wand went to show +his caste, but in no other way could I recognize him. + +I took him for one of those ascetics of the Priests’ Clan, who had +forsworn the steady nurtured life of the Sacred Mountain, and who lived +out in the dangerous lands amongst the burning hills, where there is +daily peril from falling rocks, from fire streams, from evil vapours, +from sudden fissuring of the ground, and from other movements of those +unstable territories, and from the greater lizards and other monstrous +beasts which haunt them. These keep constant in the memory the might of +the Holy Gods, and the insecurity of this frail earth on which we have +our resting-place, and so the sojourners there become chastened in the +spirit, and gain power over mysteries which even the most studious and +learned of other men can never hope to attain. + +A silence filled the room when the old man came to his halt, and +Phorenice was the first to break it. “Those two guards,” she said, in +her clear, carrying voice, “who held the door, are not equal to their +work. I cannot have imperfect servants; remove them.” + +The soldiers next in the rank lifted their spears and drove them home, +and the two fellows who had admitted the old man fell to the ground. One +shrieked once, the other gave no sound: they were clever thrusts both. + +The old man found his voice, thin, and high, and broken. “Another crime +added to your tally, Phorenice. Not half your army could have hindered +my entrance had I wished to come, and let me tell you that I am here to +bring you your last warning. The Gods have shown you much favour; they +gave you merit by which you could rise above your fellows, till at last +only the throne stood above you. It was seen good by those on the Sacred +Mountain to let you have this last ambition, and sit on this throne +that has as long and honourably been filled by the ancient kings of +Atlantis.” + +The Empress sat back on the divan smiling. “I seemed to get these things +as I chose, and in spite of your friends’ teeth. I may owe to you, old +man, a small parcel of thanks, though that I offered to repay; but for +my lords the priests, their permission was of small enough value when +it came. I would have you remember that I was as firm on the throne of +Atlantis as this pyramid stands upon its base when your worn-out priests +came up to give their tottering benediction.” + +The old man waved aside her interruption. “Hear me out,” he said. “I am +here with no trivial message. There is nothing paltry about the threat +I can throw at you, Phorenice. With your fire-tubes, your handling of +troops, and your other fiendish clevernesses, you may not be easy to +overthrow by mere human means, though, forsooth, these poor rebels who +yap against your city walls have contrived to hold their ground for long +enough now. It may be that you are becoming enervated; I do not know. +It may be that you are too wrapped up in your feastings, your dressings, +your pomps, and your debaucheries, to find leisure to turn to the art +of war. It may be that the man’s spirit has gone out from your arm and +brain, and you are a woman once more--weak, and pleasure-loving; again I +do not know. + +“But this must happen: You must undo the evil you have done; you must +give bread to the people who are starving, even if you take it from +these gluttons in this hall; you must restore Atlantis to the state in +which it was entrusted to you: or else you must be removed. It cannot +be permitted that the country should sink back into the lawlessness +and barbarism from which its ancient kings have digged it. You hear, +Phorenice. Now give me true answer.” + +“Speak him fair. Oh! For the sake of your fortune, speak him fair,” came +Ylga’s voice in a hurried whisper from behind us. But the Empress took +no notice of it. She leaned forward on the cushions of the divan with a +knit brow. + +“Do you dare to threaten me, old man, knowing what I am?” + +“I know your origin,” he said gravely, “as well as you know it yourself. +As for my daring, that is a small matter. He need be but a timid man who +dares to say words that the High Gods put on his lips.” + +“I shall rule this kingdom as I choose. I shall brook interference from +no creature on this earth, or beneath it, or in the sky above. The Gods +have chosen me to be Their regent in Atlantis, and They do not depose me +through such creatures as you. Go away, old man, and play the fanatic in +another court. It is well that I have an ancient kindliness for you, or +you would not leave this place unharmed.” + +“Now, indeed, you are lost,” I heard Ylga murmur from behind, and the +old man in front of us did not move a step. Instead, he lifted up the +Symbol of our Lord the Sun, and launched his curse. “Your blasphemy +gives the reply I asked for. Hear me now make declaration of war on +behalf of Those against whom you have thrown your insults. You shall be +overthrown and sent to the nether Gods. At whatever cost the land shall +be purged of you and yours, and all the evil that has been done to it +whilst you have sullied the throne of its ancient kings. You will not +amend, neither will you yield tamely. You vaunt that you sit as firm on +your throne as this pyramid reposes on its base. See how little you +know of what the future carries. I say to you that, whilst you are yet +Empress, you shall see this royal pyramid which you have polluted +with your debaucheries torn tier from tier, and stone from stone, and +scattered as feathers spread before a wind.” + +“You may wreck the pyramid,” said Phorenice contemptuously. “I myself +have some knowledge of the earth forces, as I have shown this night. But +though you crumble every stone above us now and grind it into grit and +dust, I shall still be Empress. What force can you crazy priests bring +against me that I cannot throw back and destroy?” + +“We have a weapon that was forged in no mortal smithy,” shrilled the +old man, “whereof the key is now lodged in the Ark of the Mysteries. But +that weapon can be used only as a last resource. The nature of it even +is too awful to be told in words. Our other powers will be launched +against you first, and for this poor country’s sake I pray that they may +cause you to wince. Yet rest assured, Phorenice, that we shall not step +aside once we have put a hand to this matter. We shall carry it through, +even though the cost be a universal burning and destruction. For know +this, daughter of the swineherd, it is agreed amongst the most High Gods +that you are too full of sin to continue unchecked.” + +“Speak him fairly,” Ylga urged from behind. “He has a power at which you +cannot even guess.” + +The Empress made to rise, but Ylga clung to her skirt. “For the sake of +your fame,” she urged, “for the sake of your life, do not defy him.” But +Phorenice struck her fiercely aside, and faced the old man in a tumult +of passion. “You dare call me a blasphemer, who blaspheme yourself? You +dare cast slurs upon my birth, who am come direct from the most high +Heaven? Old man, your craziness protects you in part, but not in all. +You shall be whipped. Do you hear me? I say, whipped. The lean flesh +shall be scourged from your scraggy bones, and you shall totter away +from this place as a red and bleeding example for those who would dare +traduce their Empress. Here, some of you, I say, take that man, and let +him be whipped where he stands.” + +Her cry went out clearly enough. But not a soul amongst those glittering +feasters stirred in his place. Not a soldier amongst the guards stepped +from his rank. The place was hung in a terrible silence. It seemed as +though no one within the hall dared so much as to draw a breath. All +felt that the very air was big with fate. + +Phorenice, with her head crouched forward, looked from one group to +another. Her face was working. “Have I no true servants,” she asked, +“amongst all you pretty lip-servers?” + +Still no one moved. They stood, or sat, or crouched like people +fascinated. For myself, with the first words he had uttered, I had +recognized the old man by his voice. It was Zaemon, the weak governor +who had given the Empress her first step towards power; that earnest +searcher into the mysteries, who knew more of their powers, and more +about the hidden forces, than any other dweller on the Sacred Mountain, +even at that time when I left for my colony. And now, during his strange +hermit life, how much more might he not have learned? I was torn by +warring duties. I owed much to the Priests’ Clan, by reason of my oath +and membership; it seemed I owed no less to Phorenice. And, again, was +Zaemon the truly accredited envoy of the high council of the priests of +the Sacred Mountain? And was the Empress of a truth deposed by the High +Gods above, or was she still Empress, and still the commander of my +duty? I could not tell, and so I sat in my seat awaiting what the event +would sow. + +Phorenice’s fury was growing. “Do I stand alone here?” she cried. “Have +I pampered you creatures out of all touch with gratitude? It seems that +at last I want a new chief to my guards. Ho! Who will be chief of the +guards of the Empress?” + +There was a shifting of eyes, a hesitation. Then a great burly form +strode up from the farther end of the hall, and a perceptible shudder +went up from all the others as they watched him. + +“So, Tarca, you prefer to take the risks, and remain chief of the guard +yourself?” she said with an angry scoff. “Truly there did not seem to be +many thrusting forward to strip you of the office. I shall have a fine +sorting up of places in payment for this night’s work. But for the +present, Tarca, do your duty.” + +The man came up, obviously timorous. He was a solidly made fellow, but +not altogether unmartial, and though but little of his cheek showed +above his decorated beard, I could see that he paled as he came near +to the priest. “My lord,” he said quietly, “I must ask you to come with +me.” + +“Stand aside,” said the old man, thrusting out the Symbol in front of +him. I could see his eyes gather on the soldier and his brows knit with +a strain of will. + +Tarca saw this too, and I thought he would have fallen, but with an +effort he kept his manhood, and doggedly repeated his summons. “I must +obey the command of my mistress, and I would have you remember, my lord, +that I am but a servant. You must come with me to the whip.” + +“I warn you!” cried the old man. “Stand from out of my path, you!” + +It must have been with the courage of desperation that the soldier dared +to use force. But the hand he stretched out dropped limply back to his +side the moment it touched the old man’s bare shoulder, as though it had +been struck by some shock. He seemed almost to have expected some such +repulse; yet when he picked up that hand with the other, and looked +at it, and saw its whiteness, he let out of him a yell like a wounded +beast. “Oh, Gods!” he cried. “Not that. Spare me!” + +But Zaemon was glowering at him still. A twitching seized the man’s +face, and he put up his sound hand to it and plucked at his beard, +which was curled and plaited after the new fashion of the day. A woman +standing near screamed as the half of the beard came off in his fingers. +Beneath was silver whiteness over half his face. Zaemon had smitten him +with a sudden leprosy that was past cure. + +Yet the punishment was not ended even then. Other twitchings took him +on other parts of the body, and he tore off his armour and his foppish +clothes, and always where the bare flesh showed, there had the horrid +plague written its white mark; and in the end, being able to endure no +more, the man fell to the pavement and lay there writhing. + +Zaemon said no further word. He lifted the Symbol before him, set +his eyes on the farther door of the banqueting-hall and walked for +it directly, all those in his path shrinking away from him with open +shudders. And through the valves of the door he passed out of our sight, +still wordless, still unchecked. + +I glanced up at Phorenice. The loveliness of her face was drawn and +haggard. It was the first great reverse, this, she had met with in +all her life, and the shock of it, and the vision of what might follow +after, dazed her. Alas, if she could only have guessed at a tenth of the +terrors which the future had in its womb, Atlantis might have been saved +even then. + + + + +6. THE BITERS OF THE CITY WALLS + + +Here then was the manner of my reception back in the capital of +Atlantis, and some first glimpse at her new policies. I freely confess +to my own inaction and limpness; but it was all deliberate. The old ties +of duty seemed lost, or at least merged in one another. Beforetime, to +serve the king was to serve the Clan of the Priests, from which he had +been chosen, and whose head he constituted. But Phorenice was self-made, +and appeared to be a rule unto herself; if Zaemon was to be trusted, +he was the mouthpiece of the Priests, and their Clan had set her at +defiance; and how was a mere honest man to choose on the instant between +the two? + +But cold argument told me that governments were set up for the good +of the country at large, and I said to myself that there would be my +choice. I must find out which rule promised best of Atlantis, and do my +poor best to prop it into full power. And here at once there opened up +another path in the maze: I had heard some considerable talk of rebels; +of another faction of Atlanteans who, whatever their faults might be, +were at any rate strong enough to beleaguer the capital; and before +coming to any final decision, it would be as well to take their claims +in balance with the rest. So on the night of that very same day on which +I had just re-planted my foot on the old country’s shores, I set out to +glean for myself tidings on the matter. + +No one inside the royal pyramid gainsaid me. The banquet had ended +abruptly with the terrible scene that I have set down above on these +tablets, for with Tarca writhing on the floor, and thrusting out the +gruesome scars of his leprosy, even the most gluttonous had little +enough appetite for further gorging. Phorenice glowered on the feasters +for a while longer in silent fury, but saying no further word; and then +her eyes turned on me, though softened somewhat. + +“You may be an honest man, Deucalion,” she said, at length, “but you are +a monstrous cold one. I wonder when you will thaw?” And here she smiled. +“I think it will be soon. But for now I bid you farewell. In the morning +we will take this country by the shoulders, and see it in some new +order.” + +She left the banqueting-hall then, Ylga following; and taking +precedence of my rank, I went out next, whilst all others stood and made +salutation. But I halted by Tarca first, and put my hand on his unclean +flesh. “You are an unfortunate man,” I said, “but I can admire a brave +soldier. If relief can be gained for your plague, I will use interest to +procure it for you.” + +The man’s thanks came in a mumble from his wrecked mouth, and some of +those near shuddered in affected disgust. I turned on them with a +black brow: “Your charity, my lords, seems of as small account as +your courage. You affected a fine disbelief of Zaemon’s sayings, and +a simpering contempt for his priesthood, but when it comes to laying +a hand on him, you show a discretion which, in the old days, we should +have called by an ugly name. I had rather be Tarca, with all his +uncleanness, than any of you now as you stand.” + +With which leave-taking I waited coldly till they gave me my due +salutation, and then walked out of the banqueting-hall without offering +a soul another glance. I took my way to the grand gate of the pyramid, +called for the officer of the guard, and demanded exit. The man was +obsequious enough, but he opened with some demur. + +“My lord’s attendants have not yet come up?” + +“I have none.” + +“My lord knows the state of the streets?” + +“I did twenty years back. I shall be able to pick my way.” + +“My lord must remember that the city is beleaguered,” the fellow +persisted. “The people are hungry. They prowl in bands after nightfall, +and--I make no question that my lord would conquer in a fight against +whatever odds, but--” + +“Quite right. I covet no street scuffle to-night. Lend me, I pray you, +a sufficiency of men. You will know best what are needed. For me, I am +accustomed to a city with quiet streets.” + +A score of sturdy fellows were detailed off for my escort, and with them +in a double file on either hand, I marched out from the close perfumed +air of the pyramid into the cool moonlight of the city. It was my +purpose to make a tour of the walls and to find out somewhat of the +disposition of these rebels. + +But the Gods saw fit to give me another education first. The city, as I +saw it during that night walk, was no longer the old capital that I had +known, the just accretion of the ages, the due admixture of comfort and +splendour. The splendour was there, vastly increased. Whole wards had +been swept away to make space for new palaces, and new pyramids of the +wealthy, and I could not but have an admiration for the skill and the +brain which made possible such splendid monuments. + +And, indeed, gazing at them there under the silver of the moonlight, +I could almost understand the emotions of the Europeans and other +barbarous savages which cause them to worship all such great buildings +as Gods, since they deem them too wonderful and majestic to be set up by +human hands unaided. + +Still, if it was easy to admire, it was simple also to see plain +advertisement of the cost at which these great works had been reared. +From each grant of ground, where one of these stately piles earned +silver under the moon, a hundred families had been evicted and left to +harbour as they pleased in the open; and, as a consequence, now every +niche had its quota of sleepers, and every shadow its squad of fierce +wild creatures, ready to rush out and rob or slay all wayfarers of less +force than their own. + +Myself, I am no pamperer of the common people. I say that, if a man be +left to hunger and shiver, he will work to gain him food and raiment; +and if not, why then he can die, and the State is well rid of a +worthless fellow. But here beside us, as we marched through many wards, +were marks of blind oppression; starved dead bodies, with the bones +starting through the lean skin, sprawled in the gutter; and indeed +it was plain that, save for the favoured few, the people of the great +capital were under a most heavy oppression. + +But at this, though I might regret it abominably, I could make no strong +complaint. By the ancient law of the land all the people, great and +small, were the servants of the king, to be put without question to what +purposes he chose; and Phorenice stood in the place of the king. So I +tried to think no treason, but with a sigh passed on, keeping my eyes +above the miseries and the squalors of the roadway, and sending out my +thoughts to the stars which hung in the purple night above, and to +the High Gods which dwelt amongst them, seeking, if it might be, for +guidance for my future policies. And so in time the windings of the +streets brought us to the walls, and, coursing beside these and giving +fitting answer to the sentries who beat their drums as we passed, we +came in time to that great gate which was a charge to the captain of the +garrison. + +Here it was plain there was some special commotion. A noise of laughter +went up into the still night air, and with it now and again the snarl +and roar of a great beast, and now and again the shriek of a hurt man. +But whatever might be afoot, it was not a scene to come upon suddenly. +The entrance gates of our great capital were designed by their ancient +builders to be no less strong than the walls themselves. Four pairs +of valves were there, each a monstrous block of stone two man-heights +square, and a man-height thick, and the wall was doubled to receive +them, enclosing an open circus between its two parts. The four gates +themselves were set one at the inner, one at the outer side of each of +these walls, and a hidden machinery so connected them, that of each set +one could not open till the other was closed; and as for forcing them +without war engines, one might as foolishly try to push down the royal +pyramid with the bare hand. + +My escort made outcry with the horn which hung from the wall inviting +such a summons, and a warder came to an arrow-slit, and did inspection +of our persons and business. His survey was according to the ancient +form of words, which is long, and this was made still more tedious by +the noise from within, which ever and again drowned all speech between +us entirely. + +But at last the formalities had been duly complied with, and he shot +back the massive bars and bolts of stone, and threw ajar one monstrous +stone valve of the door. Into the chamber within--a chamber made from +the thickness of the wall between the two doors--I and my fellows +crowded, and then the warder with his machines pulled to the valve which +had been opened, and came to me again through the press of my escort, +bowing low to the ground. + +“I have no vail to give you,” I said abruptly. “Get on with your duty. +Open me that other door.” + +“With respect, my lord, it would be better that I should first announce +my lord’s presence. There is a baiting going forward in the circus, and +the tigers are as yet mere savages, and no respecters of persons.” + +“The what?” + +“The tigers, if my lord will permit them the name. They are baiting a +batch of prisoners with the two great beasts which the Empress (whose +name be adored) has sent here to aid us keep the gate. But if my +lord will, there are the ward rooms leading off this passage, and the +galleries which run out from them commanding the circus, and from there +my lord can see the sport undisturbed.” + +Now, the mere lust for killing excites only disgust in me, but I +suspected the orders of the Empress in this matter, and had a curiosity +to see her scheme. So I stepped into the warder’s lodge, and on into +the galleries which commanded the circus with their arrow-slits. The old +builders of the place had intended these for a second line of defence, +for, supposing the outer doors all forced, an enemy could be speedily +shot down in the circus, without being able to give a blow in return, +and so would only march into a death-trap. But as a gazing-place on a +spectacle they were no less useful. + +The circus was bright lit by the moonlight, and the air which came in to +me from it was acrid with the reek of blood. There was no sport in +what was going forward: as I said, it was mere killing, and the sight +disgusted me. I am no prude about this matter. Give a prisoner his +weapons, put him in a pit with beasts of reasonable strength, and let +him fight to a finish if you choose, and I can look on there and applaud +the strokes. The war prisoner, being a prisoner, has earned death by +natural law, and prefers to get his last stroke in hot blood than to +be knocked down by the headsman’s axe. And it is any brave man’s luxury +either to help or watch a lusty fight. But this baiting in the circus +between the gates was no fair battle like that. + +To begin with, the beasts were no fair antagonists for single men. In +fact, twenty men armed might well have fled from them. When the warder +said tigers, I supposed he meant the great cats of the woods. But here, +in the circus, I saw a pair of the most terrific of all the fur-bearing +land beasts, the great tigers of the caves--huge monsters, of such +ponderous strength that in hunger they will oftentimes drag down a +mammoth, if they can find him away from his herd. + +How they had been brought captive I could not tell. Hunter of beasts +though I had been for all my days, I take no shame in saying that +I always approached the slaying of a cave-tiger with stratagem and +infinite caution. To entrap it alive and bring it to a city on a chain +was beyond my most daring schemes, and I have been accredited with more +new things than one. But here it was in fact, and I saw in these captive +beasts a new certificate for Phorenice’s genius. + +The purpose of these two cave-tigers was plain: whilst they were in +the circus, and loose, no living being could cross from one gate to +the other. They were a new and sturdy addition to the defences of the +capital. A collar of bronze was round the throat of each, and on the +collar was a massive chain which led to the wall, where it could be +payed out or hauled in by means of a windlass in one of the hidden +galleries. So that at ordinary moments the two huge beasts could be +tethered, one close to either end of the circus, as the litter of bones +and other messes showed, leaving free passage-way between the two sets +of doors. + +But when I stood there by the arrow-slit, looking down into the +moonlight of the circus, these chains were slackened (though men stood +by the windlass of each), and the great striped brutes were prowling +about the circus with the links clanking and chinking in their wake. +Lying stark on the pavement were the bodies of some eight men, dead +and uneaten; and though the cave-tigers stopped their prowlings now and +again to nuzzle these, and beat them about with playful paw-blows, they +made no pretence at commencing a meal. It was clear that this cruel +sport had grown common to them, and they knew there were other victims +yet to be added to the tally. + +Presently, sure enough, as I watched, a valve of the farther gate swung +back an arm’s length, and a prisoner, furiously resisting, was thrust +out into the circus. He fell on his face, and after one look around him +he lay resolutely still, with eyes on the ground passively awaiting +his fate. The ponderous stone of the gate clapped to in its place; the +cave-tigers turned in their prowlings; and a chatter of wagers ran to +and fro amongst the watchers behind the arrow-slits. + +It seemed there were niceties of cruelty in this wretched game. There +was a sharp clank as the windlasses were manned, and the tethering +chains were drawn in by perhaps a score of links. One of the cave-tigers +crouched, lashed its tail, and launched forth on a terrific spring. +The chain tautened, the massive links sang to the strain, and the great +beast gave a roar which shook the walls. It had missed the prone man by +a hand’s breadth, and the watchers behind the arrow-slits shrieked forth +their delight. The other tiger sprang also and missed, and again there +were shouts of pleasure, which mingled with the bellowing voices of the +beasts. The man lay motionless in his form. One more cowardly, or +one more brave, might have run from death, or faced it; but this poor +prisoner chose the middle course--he permitted death to come to him, and +had enough of doggedness to wait for it without stir. + +The great cave-tigers were used, it appeared, to this disgusting sport. +There were no more wild springs, no more stubbings at the end of the +massive chains. They lay down on the pavement, and presently began to +purr, rolling on to their sides and rubbing themselves luxuriously. The +prisoner still lay motionless in his form. + +By slow degrees the monstrous brutes each drew to the end of its chain +and began to reach at the man with out-stretched forepaw. The male could +not touch him; the female could just reach him with the far tip of a +claw; and I saw a red scratch start up in the bare skin of his side at +every stroke. But still the prisoner would not stir. It seemed to me +that they must slack out more links of one of the tigers’ chains, or let +the vile play linger into mere tediousness. + +But I had more to learn yet. The male tiger, either taught by his +own devilishness, or by those brutes that were his keepers, had still +another ruse in store. He rose to his feet and turned round, backing +against the chain. A yell of applause from the hidden men behind +the arrow-slits told that they knew what was in store; and then the +monstrous beast, stretched to the utmost of its vast length, kicked +sharply with one hind paw. + +I heard the crunch of the prisoner’s ribs as the pads struck him, and at +that same moment the poor wretch’s body was spurned away by the blow, as +one might throw a fruit with the hand. But it did not travel far. It was +clear that the she-tiger knew this manoeuvre of her mate’s. She caught +the man on his bound, nuzzling over him for a minute, and then tossing +him high into the air, and leaping up to the full of her splendid height +after him. + +Those other onlookers thought it magnificent; their gleeful shouts said +as much. But for me, my gorge rose at the sight. Once the tigers +had reached him, the man had been killed, it is true, without any +unnecessary lingering. Even a light blow from those terrific paws would +slay the strongest man living. But to see the two cave-tigers toying +with the poor body was an insult to the pride of our race. + +However, I was not there to preach the superiority of man to the +beasts, and the indecency and degradation of permitting man to be unduly +insulted. I had come to learn for myself the new balance of things +in the kingdom of Atlantis, and so I stood at my place behind the +arrow-slit with a still face. And presently another scene in this +ghastly play was enacted. + +The cave-tigers tired of their sport, and first one and then the other +fell once more to prowling over the littered pavements, with the heavy +chains scraping and chinking in their wake. They made no beginning to +feast on the bodies provided for them. That would be for afterwards. In +the present, the fascination of slaughter was big in them, and they +had thought that it would be indulged further. It seemed that they knew +their entertainers. + +Again the windlass clanked, and the tethering chains drew the great +beasts clear of the doorway; and again a valve of the farther door swung +ajar, and another prisoner was thrust struggling into the circus. A +sickness seized me when I saw that this was a woman, but still, in view +of the object I had in hand, I made no interruption. + +It was not that I had never seen women sent to death before. A general, +who has done his fighting, must in his day have killed women equally +with men; yes, and seen them earn their death-blow by lusty battling. +Yet there seemed something so wanton in this cruel helpless sacrifice +of a woman prisoner, that I had a struggle with myself to avoid +interference. Still it is ever the case that the individual must be +sacrificed to a policy, and so as I say, I watched on, outwardly cold +and impassive. + +I watched too (I confess it freely) with a quickening heart. Here was no +sullen submissive victim like the last. She may have been more cowardly +(as some women are), she may have been braver (as many women have shown +themselves); but, at any rate, it was clear that she was going to make a +struggle for her life, and to do vicious damage, it might be, before +she yielded it up. The watchers behind the arrow-slits recognized this. +Their wagers, and the hum of their appreciation, swept loudly round the +ring of the circus. + +They stripped their prisoners, before they thrust them out to this +death, of all the clothes they might carry, for clothes have a value; +and so the woman stood there bare-limbed in the moonlight. + +She clapped her back to the great stone door by which she had entered, +and faced fate with glowing eye. Gods! there have been times in early +years when I could have plucked out sword and jumped down, and fought +for her there for the sheer delight of such a battle. But now policy +restrained me. The individual might want a helping hand, but it was +becoming more and more clear that Atlantis wanted a minister also; and +before these great needs, the lesser ones perforce must perish. Still, +be it noted that, if I did not jump down, no other man there that night +had sufficient manhood remaining to venture the opportunity. + +My heart glowed as I watched her. She picked a bone from the litter on +the pavement and beat off its head by blows against the wall. Then with +her teeth she fashioned the point to still further sharpness. I could +see her teeth glisten white in the moonrays as she bit with them. + +The huge cave-tigers, which stood as high as her head as they walked, +came nearer to her in their prowlings, yet obviously neglected her. This +was part of their accustomed scheme of torment, and the woman knew it +well. There was something intolerable in their noiseless, ceaseless +paddings over the pavement. I could see the prisoner’s breast heave as +she watched them. A terror such as that would have made many a victim +sick and helpless. + +But this one was bolder than I had thought. She did not wait for a +spring: she made the first attack herself. When the she-tiger made its +stroll towards her, and was in the act of turning, she flung herself +into a sudden leap, striking viciously at its eye with her sharpened +bone. A roar from the onlookers acknowledged the stroke. The +cave-tiger’s eye remained undarkened, but the puny weapon had dealt it +a smart flesh wound, and with a great bellow of surprise and pain it +scampered away to gain space for a rush and a spring. + +But the woman did not await its charge. With a shrill scream she sped +forward, running at the full of her speed across the moonlight directly +towards that shadowed part of the encircling wall within whose thickness +I had my gazing place; and then, throwing every tendon of her body into +the spring, made the greatest leap that surely any human being +ever accomplished, even when spurred on by the utmost of terror and +desperation. In an after day I measured it, and though of a certainty +she must have added much to the tally by the sheer force of her run, +which drove her clinging up the rough surface of the wall, it is a sure +thing that in that splendid leap her feet must have dangled a man-height +and a half above the pavement. + +I say it was prodigious, but then the spur was more than the ordinary, +and the woman herself was far out of the common both in thews and +intelligence; and the end of the leap left her with five fingers lodged +in the sill of the arrow-slit from which I watched. Even then she must +have slipped back if she had been left to herself, for the sill sloped, +and the stone was finely smooth; but I shot out my hand and gripped +hers by the wrist, and instantly she clambered up with both knees on the +sills, and her fingers twined round to grip my wrist in her turn. + +And now you will suppose she gushed out prayers and promises, thinking +only of safety and enlargement. There was nothing of this. With savage +panting wordlessness she took fresh grip on the sharpened bone with her +spare hand, and lunged with it desperately through the arrow-slit. With +the hand that clutched mine she drew me towards her, so as to give the +blows the surer chance, and so unprepared was I for such an attack, and +with such fierce suddenness did she deliver it, that the first blow was +near giving me my quietus. But I grappled with the poor frantic creature +as gently as might be--the stone of the wall separating us always--and +stripped her of her weapon, and held her firmly captive till she might +calm herself. + +“That was an ungrateful blow,” I said. “But for my hand you’d have +slipped and be the sport of a tiger’s paw this minute.” + +“Oh, I must kill some one,” she panted, “before I am killed myself.” + +“There will be time enough to think upon that some other day; but for +now you are far enough off meeting further harm.” + +“You are lying to me. You will throw me to the beasts as soon as I loose +my grip. I know your kind: you will not be robbed of your sport.” + +“I will go so far as to prove myself to you,” said I, and called out for +the warder who had tended the doors below. “Bid those tigers be tethered +on a shorter chain,” I ordered, “and then go yourself outside into the +circus, and help this lady delicately to the ground.” + +The word was passed and these things were done; and I too came out into +the circus and joined the woman, who stood waiting under the moonlight. +But the others who had seen these doings were by no means suited at the +change of plan. One of the great stone valves of the farther door opened +hurriedly, and a man strode out, armed and flushed. “By all the Gods!” + he shouted. “Who comes between me and my pastime?” + +I stepped quietly to the advance. “I fear, sir,” I said, “that you must +launch your anger against me. By accident I gave that woman sanctuary, +and I had not heart to toss her back to your beasts.” + +His fingers began to snap against his hilt. + +“You have come to the wrong market here with your qualms. I am captain +here, and my word carries, subject only to Phorenice’s nod. Do you +hear that? Do you know too that I can have you tossed to those striped +gate-keepers of mine for meddling in here without an invitation?” He +looked at me sharp enough, but saw plainly that I was a stranger. “But +perhaps you carry a name, my man, which warrants your impertinence?” + +“Deucalion is my poor name,” I said, “but I cannot expect you will know +it. I am but newly landed here, sir, and when I left Atlantis some score +of years back, a very different man to you held guard over these gates.” + He had his forehead on my feet by this time. “I had it from the Empress +this night that she will to-morrow make a new sorting of this kingdom’s +dignities. Perhaps there is some recommendation you would wish me to lay +before her in return for your courtesies?” + +“My lord,” said the man, “if you wish it, I can have a turn with those +cave-tigers myself now, and you can look on from behind the walls and +see them tear me.” + +“Why tell me what is no news?” + +“I wish to remind my lord of his power; I wish to beg of his clemency.” + +“You showed your power to these poor prisoners; but from what remains +here to be seen, few of them have tasted much of your clemency.” + +“The orders were,” said the captain of the gate, as though he thought a +word might be said here for his defence, “the orders were, my lord, that +the tigers should be kept fierce and accustomed to killing.” + +“Then, if you have obeyed orders, let me be the last to chide you. +But it is my pleasure that this woman be respited, and I wish now to +question her.” + +The man got to his feet again with obvious relief, though still bowing +low. + +“Then if my lord will honour me by sitting in my room that overlooks the +outer gate, the favour will never be forgotten.” + +“Show the way,” I said, and took the woman by the fingers, leading her +gently. At the two ends of the circus the tigers prowled about on short +chains, growling and muttering. + +We passed through the door into the thickness of the outer wall, and the +captain of the gate led us into his private chamber, a snug enough box +overlooking the plain beyond the city. He lit a torch from his lamp +and thrust it into a bracket on the wall, and bowing deeply and walking +backwards, left us alone, closing the door in place behind him. He was +an industrious fellow, this captain, to judge from the spoil with +which his chamber was packed. There could have come very few traders in +through that gate below without his levying a private tribute; and so, +judging that most of his goods had been unlawfully come by, I had little +qualm at making a selection. It was not decent that the woman, being +an Atlantean, should go bereft of the dignity of clothes, as though +she were a mere savage from Europe; and so I sought about amongst the +captain’s spoil for garments that would be befitting. + +But, as I busied myself in this search for raiment, rummaging amongst +the heaps and bales, with a hand and eye little skilled in such +business, I heard a sound behind which caused me to turn my head, and +there was the woman with a dagger she had picked from the floor, in the +act of drawing it from the sheath. + +She caught my eye and drew the weapon clear, but seeing that I made no +advance towards her, or move to protect myself, waited where she was, +and presently was took with a shuddering. + +“Your designs seem somewhat of a riddle,” I said. “At first you +wished to kill me from motives which you explained, and which I quite +understood. It lay in my power next to confer some small benefit +upon you, in consequence of which you are here, and not--shall we +say?--yonder in the circus. Why you should desire now to kill the only +man here who can set you completely free, and beyond these walls, is a +thing it would gratify me much to learn. I say nothing of the trifle of +ingratitude. Gratitude and ingratitude are of little weight here. There +is some far greater in your mind.” + +She pressed a hand hard against her breasts. “You are Deucalion,” she +gasped; “I heard you say it.” + +“I am Deucalion. So far, I have known no reason to feel shame for my +name.” + +“And I come of those,” she cried, with a rising voice, “who bite against +this city, because they have found their fate too intolerable with the +land as it is ordered now. We heard of your coming from Yucatan. It was +we who sent the fleet to take you at the entrance to the Gulf.” + +“Your fleet gave us a pretty fight.” + +“Oh, I know, I know. We had our watchers on the high land who brought us +the tidings. We had an omen even before that. Where we lay with our army +before the walls here, we saw great birds carrying off the slain to the +mountains. But where the fleet failed, I saw a chance where I, a woman, +might--” + +“Where you might succeed?” I sat me down on a pile of the captain’s +stuffs. It seemed as if here at last that I should find a solution for +many things. “You carry a name?” I asked. + +“They call me Nais.” + +“Ah,” I said, and signed to her to take the clothes that I had sought +out. She was curiously like, so both my eyes and hearing said, to Ylga, +the fan-girl of Phorenice, but as she had told me of no parentage I +asked for none then. Still her talk alone let me know that she was bred +of none of the common people, and I made up my mind towards definite +understanding. “Nais,” I said, “you wish to kill me. At the same time I +have no doubt you wish to live on yourself, if only to get credit from +your people for what you have done. So here I will make a contract with +you. Prove to me that my death is for Atlantis’ good, and I swear by our +Lord the Sun to go out with you beyond the walls, where you can stab me +and then get you gone. Or the--” + +“I will not be your slave.” + +“I do not ask you for service. Or else, I wished to say, I shall live +so long as the High Gods wish, and do my poor best for this country. And +for you--I shall set you free to do your best also. So now, I pray you, +speak.” + + + + +7. THE BITERS OF THE WALLS (FURTHER ACCOUNT) + + +“You will set me free,” she said, regarding me from under her brows, +“without any further exactions or treaty?” + +“I will set you free exactly on those terms,” I answered, “unless indeed +we here decide that it is better for Atlantis that I should die, in +which case the freedom will be of your own taking.” + +“My lord plays a bold game.” + +“Tut, tut,” I said. + +“But I shall not hesitate to take the full of my bond, unless my +theories are most clearly disproved to me.” + +“Tut,” I said, “you women, how you can play out the time needlessly. +Show me sufficient cause, and you shall kill me where and how you +please. Come, begin the accusation.” + +“You are a tyrant.” + +“At least I have not paraded my tyrannies in Atlantis these twenty +years. Why, Nais, I did but land yesterday.” + +“You will not deny you came back from Yucatan for a purpose.” + +“I came back because I was sent for. The Empress gives no reasons for +her recalls. She states her will; and we who serve her obey without +question.” + +“Pah, I know that old dogma.” + +“If you discredit my poor honesty at the outset like this, I fear we +shall not get far with our unravelling.” + +“My lord must be indeed simple,” said this strange woman scornfully, “if +he is ignorant of what all Atlantis knows.” + +“Then simple you must write me down. Over yonder in Yucatan we were too +well wrapped up in our own parochial needs and policies to have +leisure to ponder much over the slim news which drifted out to us from +Atlantis--and, in truth, little enough came. By example, Phorenice +(whose office be adored) is a great personage here at home; but over +there in the colony we barely knew so much as her name. Here, since I +have been ashore, I have seen many new wonders; I have been carried by a +riding mammoth; I have sat at a banquet; but in what new policies there +are afoot, I have yet to be schooled.” + +“Then, if truly you do not know it, let me repeat to you the common +tale. Phorenice has tired of her unmated life.” + +“Stay there. I will hear no word against the Empress.” + +“Pah, my lord, your scruples are most decorous. But I did no more than +repeat what the Empress had made public by proclamation. She is minded +to take to herself a husband, and nothing short of the best is good +enough for Phorenice. One after another has been put up in turn as +favourite--and been found wanting. Oh, I tell you, we here in Atlantis +have watched her courtship with jumping hearts. First it was this one +here, then it was that one there; now it was this general just returned +from a victory, and a day later he had been packed back to his camp, to +give place to some dashing governor who had squeezed increased revenues +from his province. But every ship that came from the West said that +there was a stronger man than any of these in Yucatan, and at last the +Empress changed the wording of her vow. ‘I’ll have Deucalion for my +husband,’ said she, ‘and then we will see who can stand against my +wishes.’” + +“The Empress (whose name be adored) can do as she pleases in such +matters,” I said guardedly; “but that is beside the argument. I am here +to know how it would be better for Atlantis that I should die?” + +“You know you are the strongest man in the kingdom.” + +“It pleases you to say so.” + +“And Phorenice is the strongest woman.” + +“That is beyond doubt.” + +“Why, then, if the Empress takes you in marriage, we shall be under a +double tyranny. And her rule alone is more cruelly heavy than we can +bear already.” + +“I pass no criticism on Phorenice’s rule. I have not seen it. But I +crave your mercy, Nais, on the newcomer into this kingdom. I am strong, +say you, and therefore I am a tyrant, say you. Now to me this sequence +is faulty.” + +“Who should a strong man use strength for, if not for himself? And if +for himself, why that spells tyranny. You will get all your heart’s +desires, my lord, and you will forget that many a thousand of the common +people will have to pay for them.” + +“And this is all your accusation?” + +“It seems to be black enough. I am one that has a compassion for my +fellow-men, my lord, and because of that compassion you see me what I am +to-day. There was a time, not long passed, when I slept as soft and ate +as dainty as any in Atlantis.” + +I smiled. “Your speech told me that much from the first.” + +“Then I would I had cast the speech off, too, if that is also a livery +of the tyrant’s class. But I tell you I saw all the oppression myself +from the oppressor’s side. I was high in Phorenice’s favour then.” + +“That, too, is easy of credence. Ylga is the fan-girl to the Empress +now, and second lady in the kingdom, and those who have seen Ylga could +make an easy guess at the parentage of Nais.” + +“We were the daughters of one birth; but I do not count with either +Zaemon or Ylga now. Ylga is the creature of Phorenice, and Phorenice +would have all the people of Atlantis slaves and in chains, so that +she might crush them the easier. And as for Zaemon, he is no friend of +Phorenice’s; he fights with brain and soul to drag the old authority +to those on the Sacred Mountain; and that, if it come down on us again, +would only be the exchange of one form of slavery for another.” + +“It seems to me you bite at all authority.” + +“In fact,” she said simply, “I do. I have seen too much of it.” + +“And so you think a rule of no-rule would be best for the country?” + +“You have put it plainly in words for me. That is my creed to-day. That +is the creed of all those yonder, who sit in the camp and besiege this +city. And we number on our side, now, all in Atlantis save those in the +city and a handful on the priests’ Mountain.” + +I shook my head. “A creed of desperation, if you like, Nais, but, +believe me, a silly creed. Since man was born out of the quakings and +the fevers of this earth, and picked his way amongst the cooler-places, +he has been dependent always on his fellow-men. And where two are +congregated together, one must be chief, and order how matters are to be +governed--at least, I speak of men who have a wish to be higher than the +beasts. Have you ever set foot in Europe?” + +“No.” + +“I have. Years back I sailed there, gathering slaves. What did I see? A +country without rule or order. Tyrants they were, to be sure, but they +were the beasts. The men and the women were the rudest savages, knowing +nothing of the arts, dressing in skins and uncleanness, harbouring in +caves and the tree-tops. The beasts roamed about where they would, and +hunted them unchecked.” + +“Still, they fought you for their liberty?” + +“Never once. They knew how disastrous was their masterless freedom. Even +to their dull, savage brains it was a sure thing that no slavery could +be worse; and to that state you, and your friends, and your theories, +will reduce Atlantis, if you get the upper hand. But, then, to argue +in a circle, you will never get it. For to conquer, you must set up +leaders, and once you have set them up, you will never pull them down +again.” + +“Aye,” she said with a sigh, “there is truth in that last.” + +The torch had filled the captain’s room with a resinous smoke, but the +flame was growing pale. Dawn was coming in greyly through a slender +arrow-slit, and with it ever and again the glow from some mountain out +of sight, which was shooting forth spasmodic bursts of fire. With it +also were mutterings of distant falling rocks, and sullen tremblings, +which had endured all the night through, and I judged that earth was in +one of her quaking moods, and would probably during the forthcoming day +offer us some chastening discomforts. + +On this account, perhaps, my senses were stilled to certain evidences +which would otherwise have given me a suspicion; and also, there is no +denying that my general wakefulness was sapped by another matter. This +woman, Nais, interested me vastly out of the common; the mere presence +of her seemed to warm the organs of my interior; and whilst she was +there, all my thoughts and senses were present in the room of the +captain of the gate in which we sat. + +But of a sudden the floor of the chamber rocked and fell away beneath +me, and in a tumult of dust, and litter, and bales of the captain’s +plunder, I fell down (still seated on the flagstone) into a pit which +had been digged beneath it. With the violence of the descent, and the +flutter of all these articles about my head, I was in no condition for +immediate action; and whilst I was still half-stunned by the shock, and +long before I could get my eyes into service again, I had been seized, +and bound, and half-strangled with a noose of hide. Voices were raised +that I should be despatched at once out of the way; but one in authority +cried out that, killing me at leisure, and as a prisoner, promised more +genteel sport; and so I was thrust down on the floor, whilst a whole +army of men trod in over me to the attack. + +What had happened was clear to me now, though I was powerless to do +anything in hindrance. The rebels with more craft than any one had +credited to them, had driven a galley from their camp under the ground, +intending so to make an entrance into the heart of the city. In their +clumsy ignorance, and having no one of sufficient talent in mensuration, +they had bungled sadly both in direction and length, and so had ended +their burrow under this chamber of the captain of the gate. The great +flagstone in its fall had, it appeared, crushed four of them to death, +but these were little noticed or lamented. Life was to them a bauble of +the slenderest price, and a horde of others pressed through the opening, +lusting for the fight, and recking nothing of their risks and perils. + +Half-choked by the foul air of the galley, and trodden on by this great +procession of feet, it was little enough I could do to help my immediate +self much less the more distant city. But when the chief mass of the +attackers had passed through, and there came only here and there one +eager to take his share at storming the gate, a couple of fellows +plucked me up out of the mud on the floor, and began dragging me down +through the stinking darkness of the galley towards the pit that gave it +entrance. + +Twenty times we were jostled by others hastening to the attack, either +from hunger for fight, or from appetite for what they could steal. +But we came to the open at last, and half-suffocated though I was, I +contrived to do obeisance, and say aloud the prescribed prayer to the +most High Gods in gratitude for the fresh, sweet air which They had +provided. + +Our Lord the Sun was on the verge of rising for His day, and all things +were plainly shown. Before me were the monstrous walls of the capital, +with the heads of its pyramids and higher buildings showing above them. +And on the walls, the sentries walked calmly their appointed paces, or +took shelter against arrows in the casemates provided for them. + +The din of fighting within the gate rose high into the air, and the +heavy roaring of the cave-tigers told that they too were taking their +share of the melee. But the massive stonework of the walls hid all the +actual engagement from our view, and which party was getting the upper +hand we could not even guess. But the sounds told how tight a fight was +being hammered out in those narrow boundaries, and my veins tingled to +be once more back at the old trade, and to be doing my share. + +But there was no chivalry about the fellows who held me by my bonds. +They thrust me into a small temple near by, which once had been a fane +in much favour with travellers, who wished to show gratitude for the +safe journey to the capital, but which now was robbed and ruined, and +they swung to the stone entrance gate and barred it, leaving me to +commune with myself. Presently, they told me, I should be put to death +by torments. Well, this seemed to be the new custom of Atlantis, and I +should have to endure it as best I could. The High Gods, it appeared, +had no further use for my services in Atlantis, and I was not in the +mood then to bite very much at their decision. What I had seen of the +country since my return had not enamoured me very much with its new +conditions. + +The little temple in which I was gaoled had been robbed and despoiled of +all its furnishments. But the light-slits, where at certain hours of the +day the rays of our Lord the Sun had fallen upon the image of the God, +before this had been taken away, gave me vantage places from which I +could see over the camp of these rebel besiegers, and a dreary prospect +it was. The people seemed to have shucked off the culture of centuries +in as many months, and to have gone back for the most part to sheer +brutishness. The majority harboured on the bare ground. Few owned +shelter, and these were merely bowers of mud and branches. + +They fought and quarrelled amongst themselves for food, eating their +meat raw, and their grain (when they had it) unground. Many who passed +my vision I saw were even gnawing the soft inside of tree bark. + +The dead lay where they fell. The sick and the wounded found no hand +to tend them. Great man-eating birds hovered about the camp or skulked +about, heavy with gorging, amongst the hovels, and no one had public +spirit enough to give them battle. The stink of the place rose up to +heaven as a foul incense inviting a pestilence. There was no order, no +trace of strong command anywhere. With three hundred well-disciplined +troops it seemed to me that I could have sent those poor desperate +hordes flying in panic to the forest. + +However, there was no very lengthy space of time granted me for thinking +out the policy of this matter to any great depth. The attack on the gate +had been delivered with suddenness; the repulse was not slow. Of what +desperate fighting took place in the galleries, and in the circus +between the two sets of gates, the detail will never be told in full. + +At the first alarm the great cave-tigers were set loose, and these raged +impartially against keeper and foe. Of those that went in through the +tunnel, not one in ten returned, and there were few of these but what +carried a bloody wound. Some, with the ruling passion still strong in +them, bore back plunder; one trailed along with him the head of the +captain of the gate; and amongst them they dragged out two of the +warders who were wounded, and whom revenge had urged them to take as +prisoners. + +Over these two last a hubbub now arose, that seemed likely to boil over +into blows. Every voice shouted out for them what he thought the most +repulsive fate. Some were for burning, some for skinning, some for +impaling, some for other things: my flesh crept as I heard their +ravenous yells. Those that had been to the trouble of making them +captive were still breathless from the fight, and were readily thrust +aside; and it seemed to me that the poor wretches would be hustled into +death before any definite fate was agreed upon, which all would pass as +sufficiently terrific. Never had I seen such a disorderly tumult, never +such a leaderless mob. But, as always has happened, and always will, the +stronger men by dint of louder voices and more vigorous shoulders got +their plans agreed to at last, and the others perforce had to give way. + +A band of them set off running, and presently returned at snails’ pace, +dragging with them (with many squeals from ungreased wheels) one of +those huge war engines with which besiegers are wont to throw great +stones and other missiles into the cities they sit down against. They +ran it up just beyond bowshot of the walls, and clamped it firmly down +with stakes and ropes to the earth. Then setting their lean arms to the +windlasses, they drew back the great tree which formed the spring till +its tethering place reached the ground, and in the cradle at its head +they placed one of the prisoners, bound helplessly, so that he could not +throw himself over the side. + +Then the rude, savage, skin-clad mob stood back, and one who had +appointed himself engineer knocked back the catch that held the great +spring in place. + +With a whir and a twang the elastic wood flung upwards, and the bound +man was shot away from its tip with the speed of a lightning flash. +He sang through the air, spinning over and over with inconceivable +rapidity, and the great crowd of rebels held their breath in silence as +they watched. He passed high above the city wall, a tiny mannikin in the +distance now, and then the trajectory of his flight began to lower. The +spike of a new-built pyramid lay in the path of his terrific flight, and +he struck it with a thud whose sound floated out to us afterwards, +and then he toppled down out of our sight, leaving a red stain on the +whiteness of the stone as he fell. + +With a roar the crowd acknowledged the success of their device, and +bellowed out insults to Phorenice, and insults to the Gods: a poor +frantic crowd they showed themselves. And then with ravening shouts, +they fell upon the other captive warder, binding him also into a compact +helpless missile, and meanwhile getting the engine in gear again for +another shot. + +But for my part I saw nothing of this disgusting scene. I heard the bolt +grate stealthily against the door of the little temple in which I was +imprisoned, and was minded to give these brutish rebels somewhat of a +surprise. I had rid myself of my bonds handily enough; I had rubbed +my limbs to that perfect suppleness which is always desirable before a +fight; and I had planned to rush out so soon as the door was swung, and +kill those that came first with fist blows on the brow and chin. + +They had not suspected my name, it was clear, for my stature and garb +were nothing out of the ordinary; but if my bodily strength and fighting +power had been sufficient to raise me to a vice-royalty like that of +Yucatan, and let me endure alive in that government throughout twenty +hard-battling years, why, it was likely that this rabble of savages +would see something that was new and admirable in the practice of arms +before the crude weight of their numbers could drag me down. Nay, I did +not even despair of winning free altogether. I must find me a weapon +from those that came up to battle, with which I could write worthy +signatures, and I must attempt no standing fights. Gods! but what a glow +the prospect did send through me as I stood there waiting. + +A vainer man, writing history, might have said that always, before +everything else, he held in mind the greater interests before the less. +But for me--I prefer to be honest, and own myself human. In my glee +at that forthcoming fight--which promised to be the greatest and most +furious I had known in all a long life of battling--I will confess that +Atlantis and her differing policies were clean forgot. I should go out +an unknown man from the little cell of a temple, I should do my work, +and then, whether I took freedom with me, or whether I came down at last +myself on a pile of slain, these people would guess without being told +the name, that here was Deucalion. Gods! what a fight we would have +made! + +But the door did not open wide to give me space for my first rush. It +creaked gratingly outwards on its pivots, and a slim hand and a white +arm slipped inside, beckoning me to quietude. Here was some woman. The +door creaked wider, and she came inside. + +“Nais,” I said. + +“Silence, or they will hear you, and remember. At present those who +brought you here are killed, and unless by chance some one blunders into +this robbed shrine, you will not be found.” + +“Then, if that is so, let me go out and walk amongst these people as one +of themselves.” + +She shook her head. + +“But, Nais, I am not known here. I am merely a man in very plain and +mud-stained robe. I should be in no ways remarkable.” + +A smile twitched her face. “My lord,” she said, “wears no beard; and his +is the only clean chin in the camp.” + +I joined in her laugh. “A pest on my want of foppishness then. But I am +forgetting somewhat. It comes to my mind that we still have unfinished +that small discussion of ours concerning the length of my poor life. +Have you decided to cut it off from risk of further mischief, or do you +propose to give me further span?” + +She turned to me with a look of sharp distress. “My lord,” she said, +“I would have you forget that silly talk of mine. This last two hours I +thought you were dead in real truth.” + +“And you were not relieved?” + +“I felt that the only man was gone out of the world--I mean, my lord, +the only man who can save Atlantis.” + +“Your words give me a confidence. Then you would have me go back and +become husband to Phorenice?” + +“If there is no other way.” + +“I warn you I shall do that, if she still so desires it, and if it seems +to me that that course will be best. This is no hour for private likings +or dislikings.” + +“I know it,” she said, “I feel it. I have no heart now, save only for +Atlantis. I have schooled myself once more to that.” + +“And at present I am in this lone little box of a temple. A minute +ago, before you came, I had promised myself a pretty enough fight to +signalise my changing of abode.” + +“There must be nothing of that. I will not have these poor people +slaughtered unnecessarily. Nor do I wish to see my lord exposed to a +hopeless risk. This poor place, such as it is, has been given to me +as an abode, and, if my lord can remain decorously till nightfall in a +maiden’s chamber, he may at least be sure of quietude. I am a person,” + she added simply, “that in this camp has some respect. When darkness +comes, I will take my lord down to the sea and a boat, and so he may +come with ease to the harbour and the watergate.” + + + + +8. THE PREACHER FROM THE MOUNTAINS + + +It was long enough since I had found leisure for a parcel of sleep, +and so during the larger part of that day I am free to confess that I +slumbered soundly, Nais watching me. Night fell, and still we remained +within the privacy of the temple. It was our plan that I should stay +there till the camp slept, and so I should have more chance of reaching +the sea without disturbance. + +The night came down wet, with a drizzle of rain, and through the slits +in the temple walls we could see the many fires in the camp well cared +for, the men and women in skins and rags toasting before them, with +steam rising as the heat fought with their wetness. Folk seated in +discomfort like this are proverbially alert and cruel in the temper, and +Nais frowned as she looked on the inclemency of the weather. + +“A fine night,” she said, “and I would have sent my lord back to the +city without a soul here being the wiser; but in this chill, people +sleep sourly. We must wait till the hour drugs them sounder.” + +And so we waited, sitting there together on that pavement so long +unkissed by worshippers, and it was little enough we said aloud. But +there can be good companionship without sentences of talk. + +But as the hours drew on, the night began to grow less quiet. From the +distance some one began to blow on a horn or a shell, sending forth a +harsh raucous note incessantly. The sound came nearer, as we could tell +from its growing loudness, and the voices of those by the fires made +themselves heard, railing at the blower for his disturbance. And +presently it became stationary, and standing up we could see through the +slits in the walls the people of the camp rousing up from their uneasy +rest, and clustering together round one who stood and talked to them +from the pedestal of a war engine. + +What he was declaiming upon we could not hear, and our curiosity on +the matter was not keen. Given that all who did not sleep went to weary +themselves with this fellow, as Nais whispered, it would be simple for +me to make an exit in the opposite direction. + +But here we were reckoning without the inevitable busybody. A dozen +pairs of feet splashing through the wet came up to the side of the +little temple, and cried loudly that Nais should join the audience. She +had eloquence of tongue, it appeared, and they feared lest this speaker +who had taken his stand on the war engine should make schisms amongst +their ranks unless some skilled person stood up also to refute his +arguments. + +Here, then, it seemed to me that I must be elbowed into my skirmish by +the most unexpected of chances, but Nais was firmly minded that there +should be no fight, if courage on her part could turn it. “Come out with +me,” she whispered, “and keep distant from the light of the fires.” + +“But how explain my being here?” + +“There is no reason to explain anything,” she said bitterly. “They will +take you for my lover. There is nothing remarkable in that: it is the +mode here. But oh, why did not the Gods make you wear a beard, and curl +it, even as other men? Then you could have been gone and safe these two +hours.” + +“A smooth chin pleases me better.” + +“So it does me,” I heard her murmur as she leaned her weight on the +stone which hung in the doorway, and pushed it ajar; “your chin.” The +ragged men outside--there were women with them also--did not wait to +watch me very closely. A coarse jest or two flew (which I could have +found good heart to have repaid with a sword-thrust) and they stepped +off into the darkness, just turning from time to time to make sure we +followed. On all sides others were pressing in the same direction--black +shadows against the night; the rain spat noisily on the camp fires as we +passed them; and from behind us came up others. There were no sleepers +in the camp now; all were pressing on to hear this preacher who stood on +the pedestal of the war engine; and if we had tried to swerve from the +straight course, we should have been marked at once. + +So we held on through the darkness, and presently came within earshot. + +Still it was little enough of the preacher’s words we could make out at +first. “Who are your chiefs?” came the question at the end of a fervid +harangue, and immediately all further rational talk was drowned in +uproar. “We have no chiefs,” the people shouted, “we are done with +chiefs; we are all equal here. Take away your silly magic. You may kill +us with magic if you choose, but rule us you shall not. Nor shall +the other priests rule. Nor Phorenice. Nor anybody. We are done with +rulers.” + +The press had brought us closer and closer to the man who stood on the +war engine. We saw him to be old, with white hair that tumbled on his +shoulders, and a long white beard, untrimmed and uncurled. Save for a +wisp of rag about the loins, his body was unclothed, and glistened in +the wet. + +But in his hand he held that which marked his caste. With it he pointed +his sentences, and at times he whirled it about bathing his wet, +naked body in a halo of light. It was a wand whose tip burned with an +unconsuming fire, which glowed and twinkled and blazed like some star +sent down by the Gods from their own place in the high heaven. It was +the Symbol of our Lord the Sun, a credential no one could forge, and one +on which no civilised man would cast a doubt. + +Indeed, the ragged frantic crew did not question for one moment that +he was a member of the Clan of Priests, the Clan which from time out +of numbering had given rulers for the land, and even in their loudest +clamours they freely acknowledged his powers. “You may kill us with your +magic, if you choose,” they screamed at him. But stubbornly they refused +to come back to their old allegiance. “We have suffered too many +things these later years,” they cried. “We are done with rulers now for +always.” + +But for myself I saw the old man with a different emotion. Here was +Zaemon that was father to Nais, Zaemon that had seen me yesterday seated +on the divan at Phorenice’s elbow, and who to-day could denounce me as +Deucalion if so he chose. These rebels had expended a navy in their +wish to kill me four days earlier, and if they knew of my nearness, even +though Nais were my advocate, her cold reasoning would have had little +chance of an audience now. The High Gods who keep the tether of our +lives hide Their secrets well, but I did not think it impious to be sure +that mine was very near the cutting then. + +The beautiful woman saw this too. She even went so far as to twine her +fingers in mine and press them as a farewell, and I pressed hers in +return, for I was sorry enough not to see her more. Still I could not +help letting my thoughts travel with a grim gloating over the fine mound +of dead I should build before these ragged, unskilled rebels pulled me +down. And it was inevitable this should be so. For of all the emotions +that can ferment in the human heart, the joy of strife is keenest, and +none but an old fighter, face to face with what must necessarily be his +final battle, can tell how deep this lust is embroidered into the very +foundations of his being. + +But for the time Zaemon did not see me, being too much wrapped in his +outcry, and so I was free to listen to the burning words which he spread +around him, and to determine their effect on the hearers. + +The theme he preached was no new one. He told that ever since the +beginning of history, the Gods had set apart one Clan of the people +to rule over the rest and be their Priests, and until the coming of +Phorenice these had done their duties with exactitude and justice. +They had fought invaders, carried war against the beasts, and studied +earth-movements so that they were able to foretell earthquakes and +eruptions, and could spread warnings that the people might be able +to escape their devastations. They are no self-seekers; their aim was +always to further the interest of Atlantis, and so do honour to the +kingdom on which the High Gods had set their special favour. Under the +Priestly Clan, Atlantis had reached the pinnacle of human prosperity and +happiness. + +“But,” cried the old man, waving the Symbol till his wet body glistened +in a halo of light, “the people grew fat and careless with their easy +life. They began to have a conceit that their good fortune was earned +by their own puny brains and thews, and was no gift from the Gods above; +and presently the cult of these Gods became neglected, and Their temples +were barren of gifts and worshippers. Followed a punishment. The Gods +in Their inscrutable way decreed that a wife of one of the Priests (that +was a governor of no inconsiderable province) should see a woman child +by the wayside, and take it for adoption. That child the Gods in their +infinite wisdom fashioned into a scourge for Atlantis, and you who have +felt the weight of Phorenice’s hand, know with what completeness the +High Gods can fashion their instruments. + +“Yet, even as they set up, so can they throw down, and those that +shall debase Phorenice are even now appointed. The old rule is to +be re-established; but not till you who have sinned are sufficiently +chastened to cry to it for relief.” He waved the mysterious glowing +Symbol before him. “See,” he cried in his high old quavering voice, “you +know the unspeakable Power of which that is the sign, and for which I +am the mouthpiece. It is for you to make decision now. Are the Gods to +throw down this woman who has scorned Them and so cruelly trodden on +you? Or are you to be still further purged of your pride before you are +ripe for deliverance?” + +The old priest broke off with a gesture, and his ragged white beard +sank on to his chest. Promptly a young man, skin clad and carrying his +weapon, elbowed up through the press of listeners, and jumped on to the +platform beside him. “Hear me, brethren!” he bellowed, in his strong +young voice. “We are done with tyrants. Death may come, and we all of us +here have shown how little we fear it. But own rulers again we will not, +and that is our final say. My lord,” he said, turning to the old man +with a brave face, “I know it is in your power to kill me by magic if +you choose, but I have said my say, and can stand the cost if needs be.” + +“I can kill you, but I will not,” said Zaemon. “You have said your +silliness. Now go you to the ground again.” + +“We have free speech here. I will not go till I choose.” + +“Aye, but you will,” said the old man, and turned on him with a sudden +tightening of the brows. There was no blow passed; even the Symbol, +which glowed like a star against the night, was not so much as lifted in +warning; but the young man tried to retort, and, finding himself smitten +with a sudden dumbness, turned with a spasm of fear, and jumped back +whence he had come. The crowd of them thrilled expectantly, and when no +further portent was given, they began to shout that a miracle should be +shown them, and then perchance they would be persuaded back to the old +allegiance. + +The old man stooped and glowered at them in fury. “You dogs,” he cried, +“you empty-witted dogs! Do you ask that I should degrade the powers of +the Higher Mysteries by dancing them out before you as though they were +a mummers’ show? Do you tickle yourselves that you are to be tempted +back to your allegiance? It is for you to woo the Gods who are so +offended. Come in humility, and I take it upon myself to declare that +you will receive fitting pardon and relief. Remain stubborn, and the +scourge, Phorenice, may torment you into annihilation before she in turn +is made to answer for the evil she has put upon the land. There is the +choice for you to pick at.” + +The turmoil of voices rose again into the wetness of the night, and +weapons were upraised menacingly. It was clear that the party for +independence had by far the greater weight, both in numbers and +lustiness; and those who might, from sheer weariness of strife, have +been willing for surrender, withheld their word through terror of the +consequence. It was a fine comment on the freedom of speech, about which +these unruly fools had made their boast, and, with a sly malice, I could +not help whispering a word on this to Nais as she stood at my elbow. But +Nais clutched at my hand, and implored me for caution. “Oh, be silent, +my lord,” she whispered back, “or they will tear you in pieces. They are +on fire for mischief now.” + +“Yet a few hours back you were for killing me yourself,” I could not +help reminding her. + +She turned on me with a hot look. “A woman can change her mind, my lord. +But it becomes you little to remind her of her fickleness.” + +A man in the press beside me wrenched round with an effort, and stared +at me searchingly through the darkness. “Oh!” he said. “A shaved chin. +Who are you, friend, that you should cut a beard instead of curling it? +I can see no wound on your face.” + +I answered him civilly enough that, with “freedom” for a watchword, the +fashion of my chin was a matter of mere private concern. But as that did +not satisfy him, and as he seemed to be one of those quarrelsome fellows +that are the bane of every community, I took him suddenly by the throat +and the shoulder, and bent his neck with the old, quick turn till I +heard it crack, and had unhanded him before any of his neighbours had +seen what had befallen. The fierce press of the crowd held him from +slipping to the ground, and so he stood on there where he was, with his +head nodded forward, as though he had fallen asleep through heaviness, +or had fainted through the crushing of his fellows. I had no desire to +begin that last fight of mine in a place like this, where there was no +room to swing a weapon, nor chance to clear a battle ring. + +But all this time the lean preacher from the mountains was sending forth +his angry anathemas, and still holding the strained attention of the +people. And next he set forth before them the cult of the Gods in the +ancient form as is prescribed, and they (with old habit coming back to +them) made response in the words and in the places where the old ritual +enjoins. It was weird enough sight, that time-honoured service of +adoration, forced upon these wild people after so long a period of +irreligion. + +They warmed to the old words as the high shrill voice of the priest +cried them forth, and as they listened, and as they realised how +intimate was the care of the Gods for the travails and sorrows of their +daily lives, so much warmer grew their responses. + +“... WHO STILLED THE BURNING OF THE MOUNTAINS, AND MADE COOL PLACES ON +THE EARTH FOR US TO LIVE!--PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GODS. + +“WHO GAVE US MASTERY OVER THE LESSER BEASTS AND SKILL OF TEN TIMES TO +PREVAIL!--PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GODS....” + +“WHO GAVE US MASTERY OVER THE LESSER BEASTS AND SKILL OF TEN TIMES TO +PREVAIL!--PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GODS....” + +It thrilled one to hear their earnestness; it sorrowed one to know that +they would yet be obdurate and not return to their old allegiance. +For this is the way with these common people; they will work up an +enthusiasm one minute, and an hour later it will have fled away and left +them cold and empty. + +But Zaemon made no further calls upon their loyalty. He finished the +prescribed form of sentences, and stepped down off the platform of the +war engine with the Symbol of our Lord the Sun thrust out resolutely +before him. To all ordinary seeming the crowd had been packed so that no +further compression was possible, but before the advance of the Symbol +the people crushed back, leaving a wide lane for his passage. + +And here came the turning point of my life. At first, like, I take +it, every one else in that crowd, I imagined that the old man, having +finished his mission, was making a way to return to the place from which +he had come. But he held steadily to one direction, and as that was +towards myself, it naturally came to my mind that, having dealt with +greater things, he would now settle with the less; or, in plainer words, +that having put his policy before the swarming people, he would now +smite down the man he had seen but yesterday seated as Phorenice’s +minister. Well, I should lose that final fight I had promised myself, +and that mound of slain for my funeral bed. It was clear that Zaemon was +the mouthpiece of the Priests’ Clan, duly appointed; and I also was a +priest. If the word had been given on the Sacred Mountain to those who +sat before the Ark of the Mysteries that Atlantis would prosper more +with Deucalion sent to the Gods, I was ready to bow to the sentence with +submissiveness. That I had regret for this mode of cutting off, I will +not deny. No man who has practised the game of arms could abandon the +promise of such a gorgeous final battle without a qualm of longing. + +But I had been trained enough to show none of these emotions on my face, +and when the old man came up to me, I stood my ground and gave him the +salutation prescribed between our ranks, which he returned to me with +circumstance and accuracy. The crowd fell back, being driven away by the +ineffable force of the Symbol, leaving us alone in the middle of a +ring. Even Nais, though she was a priest’s daughter, was ignorant of the +Mysteries, and could not withstand its force. And so we two men stood +there alone together, with the glow of the Symbol bathing us, and +lighting up the sea of ravenous faces that watched. + +The people were quick to put their natural explanation on the scene. “A +spy!” they began to roar out. “A spy! Zaemon salutes him as a Priest!” + +Zaemon faced round on them with a queer look on his grim old face. +“Aye,” he said, “this is a Priest. If I give you his name, you might +have further interest. This is the Lord Deucalion.” + +The word was picked up and yelled amongst them with a thousand emotions. +But at least they were loyal to their policy; they had decided that +Deucalion was their enemy; they had already expended a navy for his +destruction; and now that he was ringed in by their masses, they lusted +to tear him into rags with their fingers. But rave and rave though they +might against me, the glare from the Symbol drove them shuddering back +as though it had been a lava-stream; and Zaemon was not the man to hand +me over to their fury until he had delivered formal sentence as the +emissary of our Clan on the Sacred Mount. So the end was not to be yet. + +The old man faced me and spoke in the sacred tongue, which the common +people do not know. “My brother,” he said, “which have you come to +serve, Deucalion or Atlantis?” + +“Words are a poor thing to answer a question like that. You will know +all of my record. According to the Law of the Priests, each ship from +Yucatan will have carried home its sworn report to lay at the feet of +their council, and before I went to that vice-royalty, what I did was +written plain here on the face of Atlantis.” + +“We know your doings in the past, brother, and they have found approval. +You have governed well, and you have lived austerely. You set up +Atlantis for a mistress, and served her well; but then, you have had no +Phorenice to tempt you into change and fickleness.” + +“You can send me where I shall see her no more, if you think me frail.” + +“Yes, and lose your usefulness. No, brother, you are the last hope which +this poor land has remaining. All other human means that have been tried +against Phorenice have failed. You have returned from overseas for the +final duel. You are the strongest man we have, and you are our final +champion. If you fail, then only those terrible Powers which are locked +within the Ark of the Mysteries remains to us, and though it is not +lawful to speak even in this hidden tongue of their scope, you at least +have full assurance of their potency.” + +I shrugged my shoulders. “It seems that you would save time and pains +if you threw me to these wolves of rebels, and let them end me here and +now.” + +The old man frowned on me angrily. “I am bidding you do your duty. What +reason have you for wishing to evade it?” + +“I have in my memory the words you spoke in the pyramid, when you came +in amongst the banqueters. ‘PHORENICE,’ was your cry, ‘WHILST YOU ARE +YET EMPRESS, YOU SHALL SEE THIS ROYAL PYRAMID, WHICH YOU HAVE POLLUTED +WITH YOUR DEBAUCHERIES, TORN TIER FROM TIER, AND STONE FROM STONE, +AND SCATTERED AS FEATHERS BEFORE A WIND.’ It seems that you foresee my +defeat.” + +The old man shuddered. “I cannot tell what she may force us to do. I +spoke then only what it was revealed to me must happen. Perhaps when +matters have reached that pass, she will repent and submit. But in the +meanwhile, before we use the more desperate weapons of the Gods, it is +fitting that we should expend all human power remaining to us. And so +you must go, my brother, and play your part to the utmost.” + +“It is an order. So I obey.” + +“You shall be at Phorenice’s side again by the next dawn. She has sent +for you from Yucatan as a husband, and as one who (so she thinks, +poor human conqueror) has the weight of arm necessary to prolong her +tyrannies. You are a Priest, brother, and you are a man of convincing +tongue. It will be your part to make her stubborn mind see the +invincible power that can be loosed against her, to point out to her the +utter hopelessness of prevailing against it.” + +“If it is ordered, I will do these things. But there is little enough +chance of success. I have seen Phorenice, and can gauge her will. There +will be no turning her once she has made a decision. Others have tried; +you have tried yourself; all have failed.” + +“Words that were wasted on a maiden may go home to a wife. You have been +brought here to be her husband. Well, take your place.” + +The order came to me with a pang. I had given little enough heed to +women through all of a busy life, though when I landed, the taking of +Phorenice to wife would not have been very repugnant to me if policy had +demanded it. But the matters of the last two days had put things in a +different shape. I had seen two other women who had strangely attracted +me, and one of these had stirred within me a tumult such as I had never +felt before amongst my economies. + +To lead Phorenice in marriage would mean a severance from this other +woman eternally, and I ached as I thought of it. But though these +thoughts floated through my system and gave me harsh wrenches of pain, I +did not thrust my puny likings before the command of the council of the +Priests. I bowed before Zaemon, and put his hand to my forehead. “It is +an order,” I said. “If our Lord the Sun gives me life, I will obey.” + +“Then let us begone from this place,” said Zaemon, and took me by the +arm and waved a way for us with the Symbol. No further word did I have +with Nais, fearing to embroil her with these rebels who clustered round, +but I caught one hot glance from her eyes, and that had to suffice +for farewell. The dense ranks of the crowd opened, and we walked +away between them scathless. Fiercely though they lusted for my life, +brimming with hate though they made their cries, no man dared to rush +in and raise a hand against me. Neither did they follow. When we reached +the outskirts of the crowd, and the ranks thinned, they had a mind, many +of them, to surge along in our wake; but Zaemon whirled the Symbol back +before their faces with a blaze of lurid light, and they fell to their +knees, grovelling, and pressed on us no more. + +The rain still fell, and in the light of the camp fires as we passed +them, the wet gleamed on the old man’s wasted body. And far before us +through the darkness loomed the vast bulk of the Sacred Mountain, with +the ring of eternal fires encincturing its crest. I sighed as I thought +of the old peaceful days I had spent in its temple and groves. + +But there was to be no more of that studious leisure now. There was work +to be done, work for Atlantis which did not brook delay. And so when we +had progressed far out into the waste, and there was none near to view +(save only the most High Gods), we found the place where the passage +was, whose entrance is known only to the Seven amongst the Priests; and +there we parted, Zaemon to his hermitage in the dangerous lands, and I +by this secret way back into the capital. + + + + +9. PHORENICE, GODDESS + + +Now the passage, though its entrance had been cunningly hidden by man’s +artifice, was one of those veins in which the fiery blood of our mother, +the Earth, had aforetime coursed. Long years had passed since it carried +lava streams, but the air in it was still warm and sulphurous, and there +was no inducement to linger in transit. I lit me a lamp which I found +in an appointed niche, and walked briskly along my ways, coughing, and +wishing heartily I had some of those simples which ease a throat that +has a tendency to catarrh. But, alas! all that packet of drugs which +were my sole spoil from the vice-royalty of Yucatan were lost in the +sea-fight with Dason’s navy, and since landing in Atlantis there had +been little enough time to think for the refinements of medicine. + +The network of earth-veins branched prodigiously, and if any but one of +us Seven Priests had found a way into its recesses by chance, he would +have perished hopelessly in the windings, or have fallen into one of +those pits which lead to the boil below. But I carried the chart of the +true course clearly in my head, remembering it from that old initiation +of twenty years back, when, as an appointed viceroy, I was raised to the +highest degree but one known to our Clan, and was given its secrets and +working implements. + +The way was long, the floor was monstrous uneven, and the air, as I have +said, bad; and I knew that day would be far advanced before the signs +told me that I had passed beneath the walls, and was well within +the precincts of the city. And here the vow of the Seven hampered my +progress; for it is ordained that under no circumstances, whatever the +stress, shall egress be made from this passage before mortal eye. One +branch after another did I try, but always found loiterers near the +exits. I had hoped to make my emergence by that path which came inside +the royal pyramid. But there was no chance of coming up unobserved here; +the place was humming like a hive. And so, too, with each of the +five next outlets that I visited. The city was agog with some strange +excitement. + +But I came at last to a temple of one of the lesser Gods, and stood +behind the image for a while making observation. The place was empty; +nay, from the dust which robed all the floors and the seats of the +worshippers, it had been empty long enough; so I moved all that was +needful, stepped out, and closed all entry behind me. A broom lay +unnoticed on one of the pews, and with this I soon disguised all route +of footmark, and took my way to the temple door. It was shut, and priest +though I was, the secret of its opening was beyond me. + +Here was a pretty pass. No one but the attendant priests of the temple +could move the mechanism which closed and opened the massive stone which +filled the doorway; and if all had gone out to attend this spectacle, +whatever it might be, that was stirring the city, why there I should be +no nearer enlargement than before. + +There was no sound of life within the temple precincts; there were +evidences of decay and disuse spread broadcast on every hand; but +according to the ancient law there should be eternally one at least on +watch in the priests’ dwellings, so down the passages which led to them +I made my way. It would have surprised me little to have found even +these deserted. That the old order was changed I knew, but I was only +then beginning to realise the ruthlessness with which it had been swept +away, and how much it had given place to the new. + +However, there can be some faithful men remaining even in an age of +general apostasy, and on making my way to the door of the dwelling +(which lay in the roof of the temple) I gave the call, and presently it +was opened to me. The man who stood before me, peering dully through +the gloom, had at least remained constant to his vows, and I made the +salutation before him with a feeling of respect. + +His name was Ro, and I remembered him well. We had passed through the +sacred college together, and always he had been known as the dullard. +He had capacity for learning little of the cult of the Gods, less of +the arts of ruling, less still of the handling of arms; and he had been +appointed to some lowly office in this obscure temple, and had risen to +being its second priest and one of its two custodians merely through the +desertion of all his colleagues. But it was not pleasant to think that a +fool should remain true where cleverer men abandoned the old beliefs. + +Ro did before me the greater obeisance. He wore his beard curled in the +prevailing fashion, but it was badly done. His clothing was ill-fitting +and unbrushed. He always had been a slovenly fellow. “The temple door +is shut,” he said, “and I only have the secret of its opening. My lord +comes here, therefore, by the secret way, and as one of the Seven. I am +my lord’s servant.” + +“Then I ask this small service of you. Tell me, what stirs the city?” + +“That impious Phorenice has declared herself Goddess, and declares that +she will light the sacrifice with her own divine fire. She will do it, +too. She does everything. But I wish the flames may burn her when she +calls them down. This new Empress is the bane of our Clan, Deucalion, +these latter days. The people neglect us; they bring no offerings; and +now, since these rebels have been hammering at the walls, I might have +gone hungry if I had not some small store of my own. Oh, I tell you, the +cult of the true Gods is well-nigh oozed quite out of the land.” + +“My brother, it comes to my mind that the Priests of our Clan have been +limp in their service to let these things come to pass.” + +“I suppose we have done our best. At least, we did as we were taught. +But if the people will not come to hear your exhortations, and neglect +to adore the God, what hold have you over their religion? But I tell +you, Deucalion, that the High Gods try our own faith hard. Come into the +dwelling here. Look there on my bed.” + +I saw the shape of a man, untidily swathed in reddened bandages. + +“This is all that is left of the poor priest that was my immediate +superior in this cure. It was his turn yesterday to celebrate the weekly +sacrifice to our Lord the Sun with the circle of His great stones. +Faugh! Deucalion, you should have seen how he was mangled when they +brought him back to me here.” + +“Did the people rise on him? Has it come to that?” + +“The people stayed passive,” said Ro bitterly, “what few of them had +interest to attend; but our Lord the Sun saw fit to try His minister +somewhat harshly. The wood was laid; the sacrifice was disposed upon it +according to the prescribed rites; the procession had been formed round +the altar, and the drums and the trumpets were speaking forth, to let +all men know that presently the smoke of their prayer would be wafted +up towards Those that sit in the great places in the heavens. But then, +above the noise of the ceremonial, there came the rushing sound of +wings, and from out of the sky there flew one of those great featherless +man-eating birds, of a bigness such as seldom before has been seen.” + +“An arrow shot in the eye, or a long-shafted spear receives them best.” + +“Oh, all men know what they were taught as children, Deucalion; but +these priests were unarmed, according to the rubric, which ordains that +they shall intrust themselves completely to the guardianship of the +High Gods during the hours of sacrifice. The great bird swooped down, +settling on the wood pyre, and attacked the sacrifice with beak and +talon. My poor superior here, still strong in his faith, called loudly +on our Lord the Sun to lend power to his arm, and sprang up on the altar +with naught but his teeth and his bare arms for weapons. It may be +that he expected a miracle--he has not spoke since, poor soul, in +explanation--but all he met were blows from leathery wings, and rakings +from talons which went near to disembowelling him. The bird brushed him +away as easily as we could sweep aside a fly, and there he lay bleeding +on the pavement beside the altar, whilst the sacrifice was torn and +eaten in the presence of all the people. And then, when the bird was +glutted, it flew away again to the mountains.” + +“And the people gave no help?” + +“They cried out that the thing was a portent, that our Lord the Sun +was a God no longer if He had not power or thought to guard His own +sacrifice; and some cried that there was no God remaining now, and +others would have it that there was a new God come to weigh on the +country, which had chosen to take the form of a common man-eating bird. +But a few began to shout that Phorenice stood for all the Gods now in +Atlantis, and that cry was taken up till the stones of the great +circle rang with it. Some may have made proclamations because they were +convinced; many because the cry was new, and pleased them; but I am sure +there were not a few who joined in because it was dangerous to leave +such an outburst unwelcomed. The Empress can be hard enough to those who +neglect to give her adulation.” + +“The Empress is Empress,” I said formally, “and her name carries +respect. It is not for us to question her doings.” + +“I am a priest,” said Ro, “and I speak as I have been taught, and defend +the Faith as I have been commanded. Whether there is a Faith any longer, +I am beginning to doubt. But, anyway, it yields a poor enough livelihood +nowadays. There have been no offerings at this temple this five months +past, and if I had not a few jars of corn put by, I might have starved +for anything the pious of this city cared. And I do not think that the +affair of that sacrifice is likely to put new enthusiasm into our cold +votaries.” + +“When did it happen?” + +“Twenty hours ago. To-day Phorenice conducts the sacrifice herself. +That has caused the stir you spoke about. The city is in the throes of +getting ready one of her pageants.” + +“Then I must ask you to open the temple doors and give me passage. I +must go and see this thing for myself.” + +“It is not for me to offer advice to one of the Seven,” said Ro +doubtfully. + +“It is not.” + +“But they say that the Empress is not overpleased at your absence,” he +mumbled. “I should not like harm to come in your way, Deucalion,” he +said aloud. + +“The future is in the hands of the most High Gods, Ro, and I at least +believe that They will deal out our fates to each of us as They in Their +infinite wisdom see best, though you seem to have lost your faith. And +now I must be your debtor for a passage out through the doors. Plagues! +man, it is no use your holding out your hand to me. I do not own a coin +in all the world.” + +He mumbled something about “force of habit” as he led the way down +towards the door, and I responded tartly enough about the unpleasantness +of his begging customs. “If it were not for your sort and your customs, +the Priests’ Clan would not be facing this crisis to-day.” + +“One must live,” he grumbled, as he pressed his levers, and the massive +stone in the doorway swung ajar. + +“If you had been a more capable man, I might have seen the necessity,” + said I, and passed into the open and left him. I could never bring +myself to like Ro. + +A motley crowd filled the street which ran past the front of this +obscure temple, and all were hurrying one way. With what I had been +told, it did not take much art to guess that the great stone circle of +our Lord the Sun was their mark, and it grieved me to think of how many +venerable centuries that great fane had upreared before the weather and +the earth tremors, without such profanation as it would witness to-day. +And also the thought occurred to me, “Was our Great Lord above drawing +this woman on to her destruction? Would He take some vast and final act +of vengeance when she consummated her final sacrilege?” + +But the crowd pressed on, thrilled and excited, and thinking little +(as is a crowd’s wont) on the deeper matters which lay beneath the bare +spectacle. From one quarter of the city walls the din of an attack from +the besiegers made itself clearly heard from over the house, and the +temples and the palaces intervening, but no one heeded it. They had +grown callous, these townsfolk, to the battering of rams, and the flight +of fire-darts, and the other emotions of a bombardment. Their nerves, +their hunger, their desperation, were strung to such a pitch that little +short of an actual storm could stir them into new excitement over the +siege. + +All were weaponed. The naked carried arms in the hopes of meeting some +one whom they could overcome and rob; those that had a possession walked +ready to do a battle for its ownership. There was no security, no trust; +the lesson of civilisation had dropped away from these common people as +mud is washed from the feet by rain, and in their new habits and their +thoughts they had gone back to the grade from which savages like those +of Europe have never yet emerged. It was a grim commentary on the +success of Phorenice’s rule. + +The crowd merged me into their ranks without question, and with them I +pressed forward down the winding streets, once so clean and trim, now so +foul and mud-strewn. Men and women had died of hunger in these streets +these latter years, and rotted where they lay, and we trod their bones +underfoot as we walked. Yet rising out of this squalor and this misery +were great pyramids and palaces, the like of which for splendour and +magnificence had never been seen before. It was a jarring admixture. + +In time we came to the open space in the centre of the city, which even +Phorenice had not dared to encroach upon with her ambitious building +schemes, and stood on the secular ground which surrounds the most +ancient, the most grand, and the breast of all this world’s temples. + +Since the beginning of time, when man first emerged amongst the beasts, +our Lord the Sun has always been his chiefest God, and legend says that +He raised this circle of stones Himself to be a place where votaries +should offer Him worship. It is the fashion amongst us moderns not to +take these old tales in a too literal sense, but for myself, this one +satisfies me. By our wits we can lift blocks weighing six hundred men, +and set them as the capstones of our pyramids. But to uprear the stones +of that great circle would be beyond all our art, and much more would +it be impossible to-day, to transport them from their distant quarries +across the rugged mountains. + +There were nine-and-forty of the stones, alternating with spaces, and +set in an accurate circle, and across the tops of them other stones were +set, equally huge. The stones were undressed and rugged; but the huge +massiveness of them impressed the eye more than all the temples and +daintily tooled pyramids of our wondrous city. And in the centre of the +circle was that still greater stone which formed the altar, and round +which was carved, in the rude chiselling of the ancients, the snake and +the outstretched hand. + +The crowd which bore me on came to a standstill before the circle of +stones. To trespass beyond this is death for the common people; and for +myself, although I had the right of entrance, I chose to stay where I +was for the present, unnoticed amongst the mob, and wait upon events. + +For long enough we stood there, our Lord the Sun burning high and +fiercely from the clear blue sky above our heads. The din of the rebels’ +attack upon the walls came to us clearly, even above the gabble of the +multitude, but no one gave attention to it. Excitement about what was to +befall in the circle mastered every other emotion. + +I learned afterways that so pressing was the rebels’ attack, and so +destructive the battering of their new war engines, that Phorenice had +gone off to the walls first to lend awhile her brilliant skill for its +repulse, and to put heart into the defenders. But as it was, the day had +burned out to its middle and scorched us intolerably, before the noise +of the drums and horns gave advertisement that the pageant had formed in +procession; and of those who waited in the crowd, many had fainted with +exhaustion and the heat, and not a few had died. But life was cheap in +the city of Atlantis now, and no one heeded the fallen. + +Nearer and nearer drew the drums and the braying of the other music, +and presently the head of a glittering procession began to arrive and +dispose itself in the space which had been set apart. Many a thousand +poor starving wretches sighed when they saw the wanton splendour of it. +But these lords and these courtiers of this new Atlantis had no concern +beyond their own bellies and their own backs, except for their one alien +regard--their simpering affection for Phorenice. + +I think, though, their loyalty for the Empress was real enough, and +it was not to be wondered at, since everything they had came from her +lavish hands. Indeed, the woman had a charm that cannot be denied, for +when she appeared, riding in the golden castle (where I also had ridden) +on the back of her monstrous shaggy mammoth, the starved sullen faces +of the crowd brightened as though a meal and sudden prosperity had been +bestowed upon them; and without a word of command, without a trace of +compulsion, they burst into spontaneous shouts of welcome. + +She acknowledged it with a smile of thanks. Her cheeks were a little +flushed, her movements quick, her manner high-strung, as all well +might be, seeing the horrible sacrilege she had in mind. But she was +undeniably lovely; yes, more adorably beautiful than ever with her +present thrill of excitement; and when the stair was brought, and she +walked down from the mammoth’s back to the ground, those near fell +to their knees and gave her worship, out of sheer fascination for her +beauty and charm. + +Ylga, the fan-girl, alone of all that vast multitude round the Sun +temple contained herself with her formal paces and duties. She looked +pained and troubled. It was plain to see, even from the distance where +I stood, that she carried a heavy heart under the jewels of her robe. +It was fitting, too, that this should be so. Though she had been long +enough divorced from his care and fostered by the Empress, Ylga was +a daughter of Zaemon, and he was the chiefest of our Lord the Sun’s +ministers here on earth. She could not forget her upbringing now at +this supreme moment when the highest of the old Gods was to be formally +defied. And perhaps also (having a kindness for Phorenice) she was not a +little dreadful of the consequences. + +But the Empress had no eye for one sad look amongst all that sea of +glowing faces. Boldly and proudly she strode out into the circle, as +though she had been the duly appointed priest for the sacrifice. And +after her came a knot of men, dressed as priests, and bearing the +victim. Some of these were creatures of her own, and it was easy to +forgive mere ignorant laymen, won over by the glamour of Phorenice’s +presence. But some, to their shame, were men born in the Priests’ Clan, +and brought up in the groves and colleges of the Sacred Mountain, and +for their apostasy there could be no palliation. + +The wood had already been stacked on the altar-stone in the due form +required by the ancient symbolism, and the Empress stood aside whilst +those who followed did what was needful. As they opened out, I saw that +the victim was one of the small, cloven-hoofed horses that roam the +plains--a most acceptable sacrifice. They bound its feet with metal +gyves, and put it on the pyre, where, for a while, it lay neighing. Then +they stepped aside, and left it living. Here was an innovation. + +The false priests went back to the farther side of the circle, and +Phorenice stood alone before the altar. She lifted up her voice, sweet, +tuneful, and carrying, and though the din of the siege still came from +over the city, no ear there lost a word of what was spoken. + +She raised her glance aloft, and all other eyes followed it. The heaven +was clear as the deep sea, a gorgeous blue. But as the words came from +her, so a small mist was born in the sky, wheeling and circling like a +ball, although the day was windless, and rapidly growing darker and more +compact. So dense had it become, that presently it threw a shadow on +part of the sacred circle and soothed it into twilight, though all +without where the people stood was still garish day. And in the ball of +mist were little quick stabs and splashes of noiseless flame. + +She spoke, not in the priests’ sacred tongue--though such was her wicked +cleverness, that she may very well have learned it--but in the common +speech of the people, so that all who heard might understand; and she +told of her wondrous birth (as she chose to name it), and of the +direct aid of the most High Gods, which had enabled her to work so many +marvels. And in the end she lifted both of her fair white arms towards +the blackness above, and with her lovely face set with the strain of +will, she uttered her final cry: + +“O my high Father, the Sun, I pray You now to acknowledge me as Your +very daughter. Give this people a sign that I am indeed a child of the +Gods and no frail mortal. Here is sacrifice unlit, where mortal priests +with their puny fires had weekly, since the foundation of this land, +sent savoury smoke towards the sky. I pray You send down the heavenly +fire to burn this beast here offered, in token that though You still +rule on high, You have given me Atlantis to be my kingdom, and the +people of the Earth to be my worshippers.” + +She broke off and strained towards the sky. Her face was contorted. Her +limbs shook. “O mighty Father,” she cried, “who hast made me a God and +an equal, hear me! Hear me!” + +Out of the black cloud overhead there came a blinding flash of light, +which spat downwards on to the altar. The cloven-hoofed horse gave one +shrill neigh, and one convulsion, and fell back dead. Flames crackled +out from the wood pile, and the air became rich with the smell of +burning flesh. And lo! in another moment the cloud above had melted into +nothingness, and the flames burnt pale, and the smoke went up in a thin +blue spiral towards the deeper blueness of the sky. + +Phorenice, the Empress, stood there before the great stone, and before +the snake and the outstretched hand of life which were inscribed upon +it, flushed, exultant, and once more radiantly lovely; and the knot of +priests within the circle, and the great mob of people without, fell to +the ground adoring. + +“Phorenice, Goddess!” they cried. “Phorenice, Goddess of all Atlantis!” + +But for myself I did not kneel. I would have no part in this apostasy, +so I stood there awaiting fate. + + + + +10. A WOOING + + +A murmur quickly sprang up round me, which grew into shouts. “Kneel,” + one whispered, “kneel, sir, or you will be seen.” And another cried: +“Kneel, you without beard, and do obeisance to the only Goddess, or by +the old Gods I will make myself her priest and butcher you!” And so the +shouts arose into a roar. + +But presently the word “Deucalion” began to be bandied about, and there +came a moderation in the zeal of these enthusiasts. Deucalion, the man +who had left Atlantis twenty years before to rule Yucatan, they might +know little enough about, but Deucalion, who rode not many days back +beside the Empress in the golden castle beneath the canopy of snakes, +was a person they remembered; and when they weighed up his possible +ability for vengeance, the shouts died away from them limply. + +So when the silence had grown again, and Phorenice turned and saw me +standing alone amongst all the prostrate worshippers, I stepped out from +the crowd and passed between two of the great stones, and went across +the circle to where she stood beside the altar. I did not prostrate +myself. At the prescribed distance I made the salutation which she +herself had ordered when she made me her chief minister, and then hailed +her with formal decorum as Empress. + +“Deucalion, man of ice,” she retorted. + +“I still adhere to the old Gods!” + +“I was not referring to that,” said she, and looked at me with a +sidelong smile. + +But here Ylga came up to us with a face that was white, and a hand that +shook, and made supplication for my life. “If he will not leave the old +Gods yet,” she pleaded, “surely you will pardon him? He is a strong +man, and does not become a convert easily. You may change him later. But +think, Phorenice, he is Deucalion; and if you slay him here for this +one thing, there is no other man within all the marches of Atlantis who +would so worthily serve--” + +The Empress took the words from her. “You slut,” she cried out. “I have +you near me to appoint my wardrobe, and carry my fan, and do you dare +to put a meddling finger on my policies? Back with you, outside this +circle, or I’ll have you whipped. Ay, and I’ll do more. I’ll serve you +as Zaemon served my captain, Tarca. Shall I point a finger at you, and +smite your pretty skin with a sudden leprosy?” + +The girl bowed her shoulders, and went away cowed, and Phorenice turned +to me. “My lord,” she said, “I am like a young bird in the nest that has +suddenly found its wings. Wings have so many uses that I am curious to +try them all.” + +“May each new flight they take be for the good of Atlantis.” + +“Oh,” she said, with an eye-flash, “I know what you have most at heart. +But we will go back to the pyramid, and talk this out at more leisure. I +pray you now, my lord, conduct me back to my riding beast.” + +It appeared then that I was to be condoned for not offering her worship, +and so putting public question on her deification. It appeared also that +Ylga’s interference was looked upon as untimely, and, though I could not +understand the exact reasons for either of these things, I accepted +them as they were, seeing that they forwarded the scheme that Zaemon had +bidden me carry out. + +So when the Empress lent me her fingers--warm, delicate fingers they +were, though so skilful to grasp the weapons of war--I took them +gravely, and led her out of the great circle, which she had polluted +with her trickeries. I had expected to see our Lord the Sun take +vengeance on the profanation whilst it was still in act; but none had +come: and I knew that He would choose his own good time for retribution, +and appoint what instrument He thought best, without my raising a puny +arm to guard His mighty honour. + +So I led this lovely sinful woman back to the huge red mammoth which +stood there tamely in waiting, and the smell of the sacrifice came +after us as we walked. She mounted the stair to the golden castle on the +shaggy beast’s back, and bade me mount also and take seat beside her. +But the place of the fan-girl behind was empty, and what we said as we +rode back through the streets there was none to overhear. + +She was eager to know what had befallen me after the attack on the gate, +and I told her the tale, laying stress on the worthiness of Nais, +and uttering an opinion that with care the girl might be won back to +allegiance again. Only the commands that Zaemon laid upon me when he +and I spoke together in the sacred tongue, did I withhold, as it is +not lawful to repeat these matters save only in the High Council of the +Priests itself as they sit before the Ark of the Mysteries. + +“You seem to have an unusual kindliness for this rebel Nais,” said +Phorenice. + +“She showed herself to me as more clever and thoughtful than the common +herd.” + +“Ay,” she answered, with a sigh that I think was real enough in its way, +“an Empress loses much that meaner woman gets as her common due.” + +“In what particular?” + +“She misses the honest wooing of her equals.” + +“If you set up for a Goddess--” I said. + +“Pah! I wish to be no Goddess to you, Deucalion. That was for the common +people; it gives me more power with them; it helps my schemes. All you +Seven higher priests know that trick of calling down the fire, and it +pleased me to filch it. Can you not be generous, and admit that a woman +may be as clever in finding out these natural laws as your musty elder +priests?” + +“Remains that you are Empress.” + +“Nor Empress either. Just think that there is a woman seated beside you +on this cushion, Deucalion, and look upon her, and say what words +come first to your lips. Have done with ceremonies, and have done with +statecraft. Do you wish to wait on as you are till all your manhood +withers? It is well not to hurry unduly in these matters: I am with you +there. Yet, who but a fool watches a fruit grow ripe, and then leaves it +till it is past its prime?” + +I looked on her glorious beauty, but as I live it left me cold. But I +remembered the command that had been laid upon me, and forced a smile. +“I may have been fastidious,” I said, “but I do not regret waiting this +long.” + +“Nor I. But I have played my life as a maid, time enough. I am a woman, +ripe, and full-blooded, and the day has come when I should be more than +what I have been.” + +I let my hand clench on hers. “Take me to husband then, and I will be a +good man to you. But, as I am bidden speak to Phorenice the woman now, +and not to the Empress, I offer fair warning that I will be no puppet.” + +She looked at me sidelong. “I have been master so long that I think +it will come as enjoyment to be mastered sometimes. No, Deucalion, I +promise that--you shall be no puppet. Indeed, it would take a lusty lung +to do the piping if you were to dance against your will.” + +“Then, as man and wife we will live together in the royal pyramid, and +we will rule this country with all the wit that it has pleased the High +Gods to bestow on us. These miserable differences shall be swept aside; +the rebels shall go back to their homes, and hunt, and fight the beasts +in the provinces, and the Priests’ Clan shall be pacified. Phorenice, +you and I will throw ourselves brain and soul into the government, and +we will make Atlantis rise as a nation that shall once more surpass all +the world for peace and prosperity.” + +Petulantly she drew her hand away from mine. “Oh, your conditions, and +your Atlantis! You carry a crudeness in these colonial manners of yours, +Deucalion, that palls on one after the first blunt flavour has worn +away. Am I to do all the wooing? Is there no thrill of love under all +your ice?” + +“In truth, I do not know what love may be. I have had little enough +speech with women all these busy years.” + +“We were a pair, then, when you landed, though I have heard sighs and +protestations from every man that carries a beard in all Atlantis. Some +of them tickled my fancy for the day, but none of them have moved me +deeper. No, I also have not learned what this love may be from my own +personal feelings. But, sir, I think that you will teach me soon, if you +go on with your coldness.” + +“From what I have seen, love is for the poor, and the weak, and for +those of flighty emotions.” + +“Then I would that another woman were Empress, and that I were some +ill-dressed creature of the gutter that a strong man could pick up by +force, and carry away to his home for sheer passion. Ah! How I could +revel in it! How I could respond if he caught my whim!” She laughed. +“But I should lead him a sad life of it if my liking were not so strong +as his.” + +“We are as we are made, and we cannot change our inwards which move us.” + +She looked at me with a sullen glance. “If I do not change yours, my +Deucalion, there will be more trouble brewed for this poor Atlantis +that you set such store upon. There will be ill doings in this coming +household of ours if my love grows for you, and yours remains still +unborn.” + +I believe she would have had me fondle her there in the golden castle on +the mammoth’s shabby back, before the city streets packed with curious +people. She had little enough appetite for privacy at any time. But for +the life of me I could not do it. The Gods know I was earnest enough +about my task, and They know also how it repelled me. But I was a true +priest that day, and I had put away all personal liking to carry out the +commands which the Council had laid upon me. If I had known how to set +about it, I would have fallen in with her mood. But where any of those +shallow bedizened triflers about the court would have been glibly in his +element, I stuck for lack of a dozen words. + +There was no help for it but to leave all, save what I actually felt, +unsaid. Diplomacy I was trained in, and on most matters I had a glib +enough tongue. But to palter with women was a lightness I had always +neglected, and if I had invented would-be pretty speeches out of my +clumsy inexperience, Phorenice would have seen through the fraud on the +instant. She had been nurtured during these years of her rule on a +pap of these silly protestations, and could weigh their value with an +expert’s exactness. + +Nor was it a case where honest confession would have served my purpose +better. If I had put my position to her in plain words, it would have +made relations worse. And so perforce I had to hold my tongue, and +submit to be considered a clown. + +“I had always heard,” she said, “that you colonists in Yucatan were far +ahead of those in Egypt in all the arts and graces. But you, sir, do +small credit to your vice-royalty. Why, I have had gentry from the Nile +come here, and you might almost think they had never left their native +shores.” + +“They must have made great strides this last twenty years, then. When +last I was sent to Egypt to report, the blacks were clearly masters of +the land, and our people lived there only on sufferance. Their pyramids +were puny, and their cities nothing more than forts.” + +“Oh,” she said mockingly, “they are mere exiles still, but they remember +their manners. My poor face seemed to please them, at least they all +went into raptures over it. And for ten pleasant words, one of them cut +off his own right hand. We made the bargain, my Egyptian gallant and +I, and the hand lies dried on some shelf in my apartment to-day as a +pleasant memento.” + +But here, by a lucky chance for me, an incident occurred which saved me +from further baiting. The rebels outside the walls were conducting their +day’s attack with vigour and some intelligence. More than once during +our procession the lighter missiles from their war engines had sung +up through the air, and split against a building, and thrown splinters +which wounded those who thronged the streets. Still there had been +nothing to ruffle the nerves of any one at all used to the haps of +warfare, or in any way to hinder our courtship. But presently, it seems, +they stopped hurling stones from their war engines, and took to loading +them with carcases of wood lined with the throwing fire. + +Now, against stone buildings these did little harm, save only that they +scorched horribly any poor wretch that was within splash of them when +they burst; but when they fell upon the rude wooden booths and rush +shelters of the poorer folk, they set them ablaze instantly. There was +no putting out these fires. + +These things also would have given to either Phorenice or myself little +enough of concern, as they are the trivial and common incidents of +every siege; but the mammoth on which we rode had not been so properly +schooled. When the first blue whiff of smoke came to us down the +windings of the street, the huge red beast hoisted its trunk, and began +to sway its head uneasily. When the smoke drifts grew more dense, and +here and there a tongue of flame showed pale beneath the sunshine, it +stopped abruptly and began to trumpet. + +The guards who led it, tugged manfully at the chains which hung from the +jagged metal collar round its neck, so that the spikes ran deep into its +flesh, and reminded it keenly of its bondage. But the beast’s terror +at the fire, which was native to its constitution, mastered all its +new-bought habits of obedience. From time unknown men have hunted the +mammoth in the savage ground, and the mammoth has hunted men; and the +men have always used fire as a shield, and mammoths have learned to +dread fire as the most dangerous of all enemies. + +Phorenice’s brow began to darken as the great beast grew more restive, +and she shook her red curls viciously. “Some one shall lose a head for +this blundering,” said she. “I ordered to have this beast trained to +stand indifferent to drums, shouting, arrows, stones, and fire, and the +trainers assured me that all was done, and brought examples.” + +I slipped my girdle. “Here,” I said, “quick. Let me lower you to the +ground.” + +She turned on me with a gleam. “Are you afraid for my neck, then, +Deucalion?” + +“I have no mind to be bereaved before I have tasted my wedded life.” + +“Pish! There is little enough of danger. I will stay and ride it out. I +am not one of your nervous women, sir. But go you, if you please.” + +“There is little enough chance of that now.” + +Blood flowed from the mammoth’s neck where the spikes of the collar tore +it, and with each drop, so did the tameness seem to ooze out from it +also. With wild squeals and trumpetings it turned and charged viciously +down the way it had come, scattering like straws the spearmen who +tried to stop it, and mowing a great swath through the crowd with its +monstrous progress. Many must have been trodden under foot, many killed +by its murderous trunk, but only their cries came to us. The golden +castle, with its canopy of royal snakes, was swayed and tossed, so that +we two occupants had much ado not to be shot off like stones from a +catapult. But I took a brace with my feet against the front, and one +arm around a pillar, and clapped the spare arm round Phorenice, so as to +offer myself to her as a cushion. + +She lay there contentedly enough, with her lovely face just beneath my +chin, and the faint scent of her hair coming in to me with every breath +I took; and the mammoth charged madly on through the narrow streets. We +had outstripped the taint of smoke, and the original cause of fear, but +the beast seemed to have forgotten everything in its mad panic. It +held furiously on with enormous strides, carrying its trunk aloft, and +deafening us with its screams and trumpetings. We left behind us quickly +all those who had trod in that glittering pageant, and we were carried +helplessly on through the wards of the city. + +The beast was utterly beyond all control. So great was its pace that +there was no alternative but to try and cling on to the castle. Up there +we were beyond its reach. To have leapt off, even if we had avoided +having brains dashed out or limbs smashed by the fall, would have been +to put ourselves at once at a frightful disadvantage. The mammoth would +have scented us immediately, and turned (as is the custom of these +beasts), and we should have been trampled into a pulp in a dozen +seconds. + +The thought came to me that here was the High God’s answer to +Phorenice’s sacrilege. The mammoth was appointed to carry out Their +vengeance by dashing her to pieces, and I, their priest, was to be human +witness that justice had been done. But no direct revelation had been +given me on this matter, and so I took no initiative, but hung on to the +swaying castle, and held the Empress against bruises in my arms. + +There was no guiding the brute: in its insanity of madness it doubled +many times upon its course, the windings of the streets confusing it. +But by degrees we left the large palaces and pyramids behind, and got +amongst the quarters of artisans, where weavers and smiths gaped at +us from their doors as we thundered past. And then we came upon the +merchants’ quarters where men live over their storehouses that do +traffic with the people over seas, and then down an open space there +glittered before us a mirror of water. + +“Now here,” thought I, “this mad beast will come to sudden stop, and as +like as not will swerve round sharply and charge back again towards the +heart of the city.” And I braced myself to withstand the shock, and took +fresh grip upon the woman who lay against my breast. But with louder +screams and wilder trumpetings the mammoth held straight on, and +presently came to the harbour’s edge, and sent the spray sparkling in +sheets amongst the sunshine as it went with its clumsy gait into the +water. + +But at this point the pace was very quickly slackened. The great sewers, +which science devised for the health of the city in the old King’s +time, vomit their drainings into this part of the harbour, and the solid +matter which they carry is quickly deposited as an impalpable sludge. +Into this the huge beast began to sink deeper and deeper before it could +halt in its rush, and when with frightened bellowings it had come to +a stop, it was bogged irretrievably. Madly it struggled, wildly it +screamed and trumpeted. The harbour-water and the slime were churned +into one stinking compost, and the golden castle in which we clung +lurched so wildly that we were torn from it and shot far away into the +water. + +Still there, of course, we were safe, and I was pleased enough to be rid +of the bumpings. + +Phorenice laughed as she swam. “You handle yourself like a sore man, +Deucalion. I owe you something for lending me the cushion of your body. +By my face! There’s more of the gallant about you when it comes to the +test than one would guess to hear you talk. How did you like the ride, +sir? I warrant it came to you as a new experience.” + +“I’d liefer have walked.” + +“Pish, man! You’ll never be a courtier. You should have sworn that with +me in your arms you could have wished the bumping had gone on for ever. +Ho, the boat there! Hold your arrows. Deucalion, hail me those fools in +that boat. Tell them that, if they hurt so much as a hair of my mammoth, +I’ll kill them all by torture. He’ll exhaust himself directly, and when +his flurry’s done we’ll leave him where he is to consider his evil ways +for a day or so, and then haul him out with windlasses, and tame him +afresh. Pho! I could not feel myself to be Phorenice, if I had no fine, +red, shaggy mammoth to take me out for my rides.” + +The boat was a ten-slave galley which was churning up from the farther +side of the harbour as hard as well-plied whips could make oars drive +her, but at the sound of my shouts the soldiers on her foredeck stopped +their arrowshots, and the steersman swerved her off on a new course to +pick us up. Till then we had been swimming leisurely across an angle of +the harbour, so as to avoid landing where the sewers outpoured; but we +stopped now, treading the water, and were helped over the side by most +respectful hands. + +The galley belonged to the captain of the port, a mincing figure of +a mariner, whose highest appetite in life was to lick the feet of the +great, and he began to fawn and prostrate himself at once, and to wish +that his eyes had been blinded before he saw the Empress in such deadly +peril. + +“The peril may pass,” said she. “It’s nothing mortal that will ever kill +me. But I have spoiled my pretty clothes, and shed a jewel or two, and +that’s annoying enough as you say, good man.” + +The silly fellow repeated a wish that he might be blinded before the +Empress was ever put to such discomfort again. + +But it seemed she could be cloyed with flattery. “If you are tired of +your eyes,” said she, “let me tell you that you have gone the way to +have them plucked out from their sockets. Kill my mammoth, would you, +because he has shown himself a trifle frolicsome? You and your sort want +more education, my man. I shall have to teach you that port-captains and +such small creatures are very easy to come by, and very small value when +got, but that my mammoth is mine--mine, do you understand?--the property +of Goddess Phorenice, and as such is sacred.” + +The port-captain abased himself before her. “I am an ignorant fellow,” + said he, “and heaven was robbed of its brightest ornament when Phorenice +came down to Atlantis. But if reparation is permitted me, I have two +prisoners in the cabin of the boat here who shall be sacrificed to the +mammoth forthwith. Doubtless it would please him to make sport with +them, and spill out the last lees of his rage upon their bodies.” + +“Prisoners you’ve got, have you? How taken?” + +“Under cover of last night they were trying to pass in between the two +forts which guard the harbour mouth. But their boat fouled the chain, +and by the light of the torches the sentries spied them. They were +caught with ropes, and put in a dungeon. There is an order not to abuse +prisoners before they have been brought before a judgment?” + +“It was my order. Did these prisoners offer to buy their lives with +news?” + +“The man has not spoken. Indeed, I think he got his death-wound in being +taken. The woman fought like a cat also, so they said in the fort, but +she was caught without hurt. She says she has got nothing that would be +of use to tell. She says she has tired of living like a savage outside +the city, and moreover that, inside, there is a man for whose nearness +she craves most mightily.” + +“Tut!” said Phorenice. “Is this a romance we have swum to? You see what +affectionate creatures we women are, Deucalion.”--The galley was brought +up against the royal quay and made fast to its golden rings. I handed +the Empress ashore, but she turned again and faced the boat, her +garments still yielding up a slender drip of water.--“Produce your woman +prisoner, master captain, and let us see whether she is a runaway +wife, or a lovesick girl mad after her sweetheart. Then I will deliver +judgment on her, and as like as not will surprise you all with my +clemency. I am in a mood for tender romance to-day.” + +The port-captain went into the little hutch of a cabin with a white +face. It was plain that Phorenice’s pleasantries scared him. “The man +appears to be dead, Your Majesty. I see that his wounds--” + +“Bring out the woman, you fool. I asked for her. Keep your carrion where +it is.” + +I saw the fellow stoop for his knife to cut a lashing, and presently who +should he bring out to the daylight but the girl I had saved from the +cave-tigers in the circus, and who had so strangely drawn me to her +during the hours that we had spent afterwards in companionship. It was +clear, too, that the Empress recognised her also. Indeed, she made no +secret about the matter, addressing her by name, and mockingly making +inquiries about the menage of the rebels, and the success of the +prisoner’s amours. + +“This good port-captain tells me that you made a most valiant attempt to +return, Nais, and for an excuse you told that it was your love for +some man in the city here which drew you. Come, now, we are willing to +overlook much of your faults, if you will give us a reasonable chance. +Point me out your man, and if he is a proper fellow, I will see that he +weds you honestly. Yes, and I will do more for you, Nais, since this day +brings me to a husband. Seeing that all your estate is confiscate as a +penalty for your late rebellion, I will charge myself with your dowry, +and give it back to you. So come, name me the man.” + +The girl looked at her with a sullen brow. “I spoke a lie,” she said; +“there is no man.” + +I tried myself to give her advocacy. “The lady doubtless spoke what came +to her lips. When a woman is in the grip of a rude soldiery, any excuse +which can save her for the moment must serve. For myself, I should think +it like enough that she would confess to having come back to her old +allegiance, if she were asked.” + +“Sir,” said the Empress, “keep your peace. Any interest you may show in +this matter will go far to offend me. You have spoken of Nais in your +narrative before, and although your tongue was shrewd and you did not +say much, I am a woman and I could read between the lines. Now regard, +my rebel, I have no wish to be unduly hard upon you, though once +you were my fan-girl, and so your running away to these ill-kempt +malcontents, who beat their heads against my city walls, is all the +more naughty. But you must meet me halfway. You must give an excuse +for leniency. Point me out the man you would wed, and he shall be your +husband to-morrow.” + +“There is no man.” + +“Then name me one at random. Why, my pretty Nais, not ten months ago +there were a score who would have leaped at the chance of having you for +a wife. Drop your coyness, girl, and name me one of those. I warrant +you that I will be your ambassadress and will put the matter to him with +such delicacy that he will not make you blush by refusal.” + +The prisoner moistened her lips. “I am a maiden, and I have a maiden’s +modesty. I will die as you choose, but I will not do this indecency.” + +“Well, I am a maiden too, and though because I am Empress also, +questions of State have to stand before questions of my private modesty, +I can have a sympathy for yours--although in truth it did not obtrude +unduly when you were my fan-girl, Nais. No, come to think of it, you +liked a tender glance and a pretty phrase as well as any when you were +fan-girl. You have grown wild and shy, amongst these savage rebels, but +I will not punish you for that. + +“Let me call your favourites to memory now. There was Tarca, of course, +but Tarca had a difference with that ill-dressed father of yours, and +wears a leprosy on half his face instead of that beard he used to trim +so finely. And then there is Tatho, but Tatho is away overseas. Eron, +too, you liked once, but he lost an arm in fighting t’other day, and I +would not marry you to less than a whole man. Ah, by my face! I have it, +the dainty exquisite, Rota! He is the husband! How well I remember the +way he used to dress in a change of garb each day to catch your proud +fancy, girl. Well, you shall have Rota. He shall lead you to wife before +this hour to-morrow.” + +Again the prisoner moistened her lips. “I will not have Rota, and spare +me the others. I know why you mock me, Phorenice.” + +“Then there are three of us here who share one knowledge.”--She turned +her eyes upon me. Gods! who ever saw the like of Phorenice’s eyes, and +who ever saw them lit with such fire as burned within them then?--“My +lord, you are marrying me for policy; I am marrying you for policy, and +for another reason which has grown stronger of late, and which you may +guess at. Do you wish still to carry out the match?” + +I looked once at Nais, and then I looked steadily back to Phorenice. The +command given by the mouth of Zaemon from the High Council of the Sacred +Mountain had to outweigh all else, and I answered that such was my +desire. + +“Then,” said she, glowering at me with her eyes, “you shall build me up +the pretty body of Nais beneath a throne of granite as a wedding gift. +And you shall do it too with your own proper hands, my Deucalion, whilst +I watch your devotion.” + +And to Nais she turned with a cruel smile. “You lied to me, my girl, +and you spoke truth to the soldiers in the harbour forts. There is a man +here in the city you came after, and he is the one man you may not have. +Because you know me well, and my methods very thoroughly, your love for +him must be very deep, or you would not have come. And so, being here, +you shall be put beyond mischief’s reach. I am not one of those who see +luxury in fostering rivals. + +“You came for attention at the hands of Deucalion. By my face! you shall +have it. I will watch myself whilst he builds you up living.” + + + + +11. AN AFFAIR WITH THE BARBAROUS FISHERS + + +So this mighty Empress chose to be jealous of a mere woman prisoner! + +Now my mind has been trained to work with a soldierly quickness in these +moments of stress, and I decided on my proper course on the instant the +words had left her lips. I was sacrificing myself for Atlantis by +order of the High Council of the Priests, and, if needful, Nais must +be sacrificed also, although in the same flash a scheme came to me for +saving her. + +So I bowed gravely before the Empress, and said I, “In this, and in all +other things where a mere human hand is potent, I will carry out your +wishes, Phorenice.” And she on her part patted my arm, and fresh waves +of feeling welled up from the depths of her wondrous eyes. Surely the +Gods won for her half her schemes and half her battles when they gave +Phorenice her shape, and her voice, and the matters which lay within the +outlines of her face. + +By this time the merchants, and the other dwellers adjacent to this part +of the harbour, where the royal quay stands, had come down, offering +changes of raiment, and houses to retire into. Phorenice was all +graciousness, and though it was little enough I cared for mere wetness +of my coat, still that part of the harbour into which we had been thrown +by the mammoth was not over savoury, and I was glad enough to follow her +example. For myself, I said no further word to Nais, and refrained even +from giving her a glance of farewell. But a small sop like this was no +meal for Phorenice, and she gave the port-captain strict orders for the +guarding of his prisoner before she left him. + +At the house into which I was ushered they gave me a bath, and I eased +my host of the plainest garment in his store, and he was pleased enough +at getting off so cheaply. But I had an hour to spend outside on the +pavement listening to the distant din of bombardment before Phorenice +came out to me again, and I could not help feeling some grim amusement +at the face of the merchant who followed. The fellow was clearly ruined. +He had a store of jewels and gauds of the most costly kind, which were +only in fraction his own, seeing that he had bought them (as the custom +is) in partnership with other merchants. These had pleased Phorenice’s +eye, and so she had taken all and disposed them on her person. + +“Are they not pretty?” said she, showing them to me. “See how they flash +under the sun. I am quite glad now, Deucalion, that the mammoth gave us +that furious ride and that spill, since it has brought me such a bonny +present. You may tell the fellow here that some day when he has earned +some more, I will come and be his guest again. Ah! They have brought us +litters, I see. Well, send one away and do you share mine with me, sir. +We must play at being lovers to-day, even if love is a matter which will +come to us both with more certainty to-morrow. No; do not order more +bearers. My own slaves will carry us handily enough. I am glad you +are not one of your gross, overfed men, Deucalion. I am small and slim +myself, and I do not want to be husbanded by a man who will overshadow +me.” + +“Back to the royal pyramid?” I asked. + +“No, nor to the walls. I neither wish to fight nor to sit as Empress +to-day, sir. As I have told you before, it is my whim to be Phorenice, +the maiden, for a few hours, and if some one I wot of would woo me now, +as other maidens are wooed, I should esteem it a luxury. Bid the slaves +carry us round the harbour’s rim, and give word to these starers that, +if they follow, I will call down fire upon them as I did upon the +sacrifice.” + +Now, I had seen something of the unruliness of the streets myself, and +I had gathered a hint also from the officer at the gate of the royal +pyramid that night of Phorenice’s welcoming banquet. But as whatever +there was in the matter must be common knowledge to the Empress, I did +not bring it to her memory then. So I dismissed the guard which had +come up, and drove away with a few sharp words the throng of gaping +sightseers who always, silly creatures, must needs come to stare at +their betters; and then I sat in the litter in the place where I was +invited, and the bearers put their heads to the pole. + +They swung away with us along the wide pavement which runs between the +houses of the merchants and the mariner folk and the dimpling waters of +the harbour, and I thought somewhat sadly of the few ships that floated +on that splendid basin now, and of the few evidences of business that +showed themselves on the quays. Time was when the ships were berthed +so close that many had to wait in the estuary outside the walls, and +memorials had been sent to the King that the port should be doubled in +size to hold the glut of trade. And that, too, in the old days of oar +and sail, when machines drawing power from our Lord the Sun were but +rarely used to help a vessel speedily along her course. + +The Egypt voyage and a return was a matter of a year then, as against a +brace of months now, and of three ships that set out, one at least could +be reckoned upon succumbing to the dangers of the wide waters and the +terrible beasts that haunt them. But in those old days trade roared with +lusty life, and was ever growing wider and more heavy. Your merchant +then was a portly man and gave generously to the Gods. But now all +the world seemed to be in arms, and moreover trade was vulgar. Your +merchant, if he was a man of substance, forgot his merchandise, swore +that chaffering was more indelicate than blasphemy and curled his beard +after the new fashion, and became a courtier. Where his father had spent +anxious days with cargo tally and ship-master, the son wasted hours in +directing sewing men as they adorned a coat, and nights in vapouring at +a banquet. + +Of the smaller merchants who had no substance laid by, taxes and the +constant bickerings of war had wellnigh ground them into starvation. +Besides, with the country in constant uproar, there were few markets +left for most merchandise, nor was there aught made now which could be +carried abroad. If your weaver is pressed as a fire-tube man he does not +make cloth, and if your farmer is playing at rebellion, he does not buy +slaves to till his fields. Indeed, they told me that a month before my +return, as fine a cargo of slaves had been brought into harbour as ever +came out of Europe, and there was nothing for it but to set them ashore +across the estuary, and leave them free to starve or live in the wild +ground there as they chose. There was no man in all Atlantis who would +hold so much as one more slave as a gift. + +But though I was grieved at this falling away, all schemes for remedy +would be for afterwards. It would only make ill worse to speak of it as +we rode together in the litter. I was growing to know Phorenice’s moods +enough for that. Still, I think that she too had studied mine, and did +her best to interest me between her bursts of trifling. We went out to +where the westernmost harbour wall joins the land, and there the panting +bearers set us down. She led me into a little house of stone which stood +by itself, built out on a promontory where there is a constant run of +tide, and when we had been given admittance, after much unbarring, she +showed me her new gold collectors. + +In the dry knowledge taught in the colleges and groves of the Sacred +Mountain it had been a common fact to us that the metal gold was present +in a dissolved state in all sea water, but of plans for dragging it +forth into yellow hardness, none had ever been discussed. But here this +field-reared upstart of an Empress had stumbled upon the trick as though +it had been written in a book. + +She patted my arm laughingly as I stared curiously round the place. “I +tell all others in Atlantis that only the Gods have this secret,” said +she, “and that They gave it to me as one of themselves. But I am no +Goddess to you, am I, Deucalion? And, by my face! I have no other +explanation of how this plan was invented. We’ll suppose I must have +dreamed it. Look! The sea-water sluices in through that culvert, and +passes over these rough metal plates set in the floor, and then flows +out again yonder in its natural course. You see the yellow metal caught +in the ridges of the plates? That is gold. And my fellows here melt it +with fire into bars, and take it to my smith’s in the city. The tides +vary constantly, as you priests know well, as the quiet moon draws them, +and it does not take much figuring to know how much of the sea passes +through these culverts in a month and how much gold to a grain should be +caught in the plates. My fellows here at first thought to cheat me, but +I towed two of them in the water once behind a galley till the cannibal +fish ate them, and since then the others have given me credit for--for +what do you think?” + +“More divinity.” + +“I suppose it is that. But I am letting you see how it is done. Just +have the head to work out a little sum, and see what an effect can be +gained. You will be a God yet yourself, Deucalion, with these silly +Atlanteans, if only you will use your wit and cleverness.” + +Was she laughing at me? Was she in earnest? I could not tell. Sometimes +she pointed out that her success and triumphs were merely the reward +of thought and brilliancy, and next moment she gave me some impossible +explanation and left me to deduce that she must be more than mortal or +the thing could never have been found. In good truth, this little woman +with her supple mind and her supple body mystified me more and more the +longer I stayed by her side; and more and more despairing did I grow +that Atlantis could ever be restored by my agency to peace and the +ancient Gods, even after I had carried out the commands of the High +Council, and taken her to wife. + +Only one plan seemed humanly possible, and that was to curb her further +mischievousness by death and then leave the wretched country naturally +to recover. It was just a dagger-stroke, and the thing was done. Yet the +very idea of this revolted me, and when the desperate thought came to my +mind (which it did ever and anon), I hugged to myself the answer that if +it were fitting to do this thing, the High Gods in Their infinite wisdom +would surely have put definite commands upon me for its carrying out. + +Yet, such was the fascination of Phorenice, that when presently we +left her gold collectors, and stumbled into such peril, that a little +withholding of my hand would have gained her a passage to the nether +Gods, I found myself fighting when she called upon me, as seldom I have +fought before. And though, of course, some blame for this must be laid +upon that lust of battle which thrills even the coldest of us when blows +begin to whistle and war-cries start to ring, there is no doubt also +that the pleasure of protecting Phorenice, and the distaste for seeing +her pulled down by those rude, uncouth fishers put special nerve and +vehemence into my blows. + +The cause of the matter was the unrest and the prevalency to street +violence which I have spoken of above, and the desperate poverty of +the common people, which led them to take any risk if it showed them a +chance of winning the wherewithal to purchase a meal. We had once more +mounted the litter, and once more the bearers, with their heads beneath +the pole, bore us on at their accustomed swinging trot. Phorenice was +telling me about her new supplies of gold. She had made fresh sumptuary +laws, it appeared. + +“In the old days,” said she, “when yellow gold was tediously dredged up +grain by grain from river gravels in the dangerous lands, a quill +full would cost a rich man’s savings, and so none but those whose high +station fitted them to be so adorned could wear golden ornaments. But +when the sea-water gave me gold here by the double handful a day, I +found that the price of these river hoards decreased, and one day--could +you credit it?--a common fellow, who was one of my smiths, came to me +wearing a collar of yellow gold on his own common neck. Well, I had +that neck divided, as payment for his presumption; and as I promised +to repeat the division promptly on all other offenders, that special +species of forwardness seems to be checked for the time. There are many +exasperations, Deucalion, in governing these common people.” + +She had other things to say upon the matter, but at this point I saw two +clumsy boats of fishers paddling to us from over the ripples, and at the +same time amongst the narrow lanes which led between the houses on +the other side of us, savage-faced men were beginning to run after the +litter in threatening clusters. + +“With permission,” I said, “I will step out of the conveyance and +scatter this rabble.” + +“Oh, the people always cluster round me. Poor ugly souls, they seem +to take a strange delight in coming to stare at my pretty looks. But +scatter them. I have said I did not wish to be followed. I am taking +holiday now, Deucalion, am I not, whilst you learn to woo me?” + +I stepped to the ground. The rough fishers in the boats were beginning +to shout to those who dodged amongst the houses to see to it that we +did not escape, and the numbers who hemmed us in on the shore side were +increasing every moment. The prospect was unpleasant enough. We had come +out beyond the merchants’ quarters, and were level with those small +huts of mud and grass which the fishing population deem sufficient for +shelter, and which has always been a spot where turbulence might be +expected. Indeed, even in those days of peace and good government in +the old King’s time, this part of the city had rarely been without its +weekly riot. + +The life of the fisherman is the most hard that any human toilers have +to endure. Violence from the wind and waves, and pelting from firestones +out of the sky are their daily portion; the great beasts that dwell in +the seas hunt them with savage persistence, and it is a rare day when +at least some one of the fishers’ guild fails to come home to answer the +tally. + +Moreover, the manner which prevails of catching fish is not without its +risks. + +To each man there is a large sea-fowl taken as a nestling, and +trained to the work. A ring of bronze is round its neck to prevent its +swallowing the spoil for which it dives, and for each fish it takes and +flies back with to the boat, the head and tail and inwards are given to +it for a reward, the ring being removed whilst it makes the meal. + +The birds are faithful, once they have got a training, and are seldom +known to desert their owners; but, although the fishers treat them more +kindly than they do their wives, or children of their own begetting, the +life of the birds is precarious like that of their masters. The larger +beasts and fish of the sea prey on them as they prey on the smaller +fish, and so whatever care may be lavished upon them, they are most +liable to sudden cutting off. + +And here is another thing that makes the life of the fisher most +precarious: if his fishing bird be slain, and the second which he has +in training also come by ill fortune, he is left suddenly bereft of all +utensils of livelihood, and (for aught his guild-fellows care) he may go +starve. For these fishers hold that the Gods of the sea regulate their +craft, and that if one is not pleasing to Them They rob him of his +birds; after which it would be impious to have any truck or dealing +with such a fellow; and accordingly he is left to starve or rob as he +chooses. + +All of which circumstances tend to make the fishers rude, desperate +men, who have been forced into the trade because all other callings have +rejected them. They are fellows, moreover, who will spend the gains of +a month on a night’s debauch, for fear that the morrow will rob them of +life and the chance of spending; and, moreover, it is their one point of +honour to be curbed in no desire by an ordinary fear of consequences. As +will appear. + +I went quickly towards the largest knot of these people, who were +skulking behind the houses, leaving the litter halted in the path behind +me, and I bade them sharply enough to disperse. “For an employment,” + I added, “put your houses in order, and clean the fish offal from the +lanes between them. To-morrow I will come round here to inspect, and put +this quarter into a better order. But for to-day the Empress (whose name +be adored) wishes for a privacy, so cease your staring.” + +“Then give us money,” said a shrill voice from amongst the huts. + +“I will send you a torch in an hour’s time,” I said grimly, “and rig you +a gallows, if you give me more annoyance. To your kennels, you!” + +I think they would have obeyed the voice of authority if they had been +left to themselves. There was a quick stir amongst them. Those that +stood in the sunlight instinctively slipped into the shadow, and many +dodged into the houses and cowered in dark corners out of sight. But the +men in the two hide-covered fisher-boats that were paddling up, called +them back with boisterous cries. + +I signed to the litter-bearers to move on quickly along their road. +There was need of discipline here, and I was minded to deal it out +myself with a firm hand. I judged that I could prevent them following +the Empress, but if she still remained as a glittering bait for them to +rob, and I had to protect her also, it might be that my work would not +be done so effectively. + +But it seems I was presumptuous in giving an order which dealt with the +person of Phorenice. She bade the bearers stand where they were, and +stepped out, and drew her weapons from beneath the cushions. She came +towards me strapping a sword on to her hip, and carrying a well-dinted +target of gold on her left forearm. “An unfair trick,” cries she, +laughing. “If you will keep a fight to yourself now, Deucalion, where +will your greediness carry you when I am your shrinking, wistful little +wife? Are these fools truly going to stand up against us?” + +I was not coveting a fight, but it seemed as if there would be no +avoidance of it now. The robe and the glittering gauds of which +Phorenice had recently despoiled the merchant, drew the eyes of these +people with keen attraction. The fishers in the boats paddled into +the surf which edged the beach, and leaped overside and left the frail +basket-work structures to be spewed up sound or smashed, as chance +ordered. And from the houses, and from the filthy lanes between them, +poured out hordes of others, women mixed with the men, gathering round +us threateningly. + +“Have a care,” shouted one on the outskirts of the crowd. “She called +down fire for the sacrifice once to-day, and she can burn up others here +if she chooses.” + +“So much the more for those that are left,” retorted another. “She +cannot burn all.” + +“Nay, I will not burn any,” said Phorenice, “but you shall look upon my +sword-play till you are tired.” + +I heard her say that with some malicious amusement, knowing (as one of +the Seven) how she had called down the fires of the sky to burn that +cloven-hoofed horse offered in sacrifice, and knowing too, full well, +that she could bring down no fire here. But they gave us little enough +time for wordy courtesies. Their Empress never went far unattended, and, +for aught the wretches knew, an escort might be close behind. So what +pilfering they did, it behoved them to get done quickly. + +They closed in, jostling one another to be first, and the reek of their +filthy bodies made us cough. A grimy hand launched out to seize some of +the jewels which flashed on Phorenice’s breast, and I lopped it off +at the elbow, so that it fell at her feet, and a second later we were +engaged. + +“Your back to mine, comrade,” cried she, with a laugh, and then drew and +laid about her with fine dexterity. Bah! but it was mere slaughter, that +first bout. + +The crowd hustled inwards with such greediness to seize what they could, +that none had space to draw back elbow for a thrust, and we two kept a +circle round us by sheer whirling of steel. It is necessary to do one’s +work cleanly in these bouts, as wounded left on the ground unnoticed +before one are as dangerous as so many snakes. But as we circled round +in our battling I noted that all of Phorenice’s quarry lay peaceful +and still. By the Gods! but she could play a fine sword, this dainty +Empress. She touched life with every thrust. + +Yes, it was plain to see, now an example was given, that the throne of +Atlantis had been won, not by a lovely face and a subtle tongue alone; +and (as a fighter myself) I did not like Phorenice the less for the +knowledge. I could but see her out of the corner of my eye, and that +only now and again, for the fishers, despite their ill-knowledge of +fence, and the clumsiness of their weapons, had heavy numbers, and most +savage ferocity; and as they made so confident of being able to pull +us down, it required more than a little hard battling to keep them from +doing it. Ay, by the Gods! it was at times a fight my heart warmed to, +and if I had not contrived to pluck a shield from one fool who came too +vain-gloriously near me with one, I could not swear they would not have +dragged me down by sheer ravening savageness. + +And always above the burly uproar of the fight came very pleasantly to +my ears Phorenice’s cry of “Deucalion!” which she chose as her battle +shout. I knew her, of course, to be a past-mistress of the art of +compliment, and it was no new thing for me to hear the name roared out +above a battle din, but it was given there under circumstances which +were peculiar, and for the life of me I could not help being tickled by +the flattery. + +Condemn my weakness how you will, but I came very near then to liking +the Empress of Atlantis in the way she wished. And as for that other +woman who should have filled my mind, I will confess that the stress of +the moment, and the fury of the engagement, had driven both her and her +strait completely out beyond the marches of my memory. Of such frail +stuff are we made, even those of us who esteem ourselves the strongest. + +Now it is a temptation few men born to the sword can resist, to throw +themselves heart and soul into a fight for a fight’s sake, and it seems +that women can be bitten with the same fierce infection. The attack +slackened and halted. We stood in the middle of a ring of twisted dead, +and the rest of the fishers and their women who hemmed us in shrank back +out of reach of our weapons. + +It was the moment for a truce, and the moment when a few strong words +would have sent them back cowering to their huts, and given us free +passage to go where we chose. But no, this Phorenice must needs sing a +hymn to her sword and mine, gloating over our feats and invulnerability; +and then she must needs ask payment for the bearers of her litter whom +they had killed, and then speak balefully of the burnings, and the +skinnings, and the sawings asunder with which this fishers’ quarter +would be treated in the near future, till they learned the virtues of +deportment and genteel manners. + +“It makes your backs creep, does it?” said Phorenice. “I do not wonder. +This severity must have its unpleasant side. But why do you not put it +beyond my power to give the order? Either you must think yourselves Gods +or me no Goddess, or you would not have gone on so far. Come now, you +nasty-smelling people, follow out your theory, and if you make a good +fight of it, I swear by my face I will be lenient with those who do not +fall.” + +But there was no pressing up to meet our swords. They still ringed us +in, savage and sullen, beyond the ring of their own dead, and would +neither run back to the houses, nor give us the game of further fight. +There was a certain stubborn bravery about them that one could not but +admire, and for myself I determined that next time it became my duty +to raise troops, I would catch a handful of these men, and teach them +handiness with the utensils of war, and train them to loyalty and +faithfulness. But presently from behind their ranks a stone flew, and +though it whizzed between the Empress and myself, and struck down a +fisher, it showed that they had brought a new method into their attack, +and it behoved us to take thought and meet it. + +I looked round me up and down the beach. There was no sign of a rescue. +“Phorenice,” I said in the court tongue, which these barbarous fishers +would know little enough of, “I take it that a whiff of the sea-breeze +would come very pleasant after all this warm play. As you can show such +pretty sword work, will you cut me a way down to the beach, and I will +do my poor best to keep these creatures from snapping at our heels?” + +“Oh!” cried she. “Then I am to have a courtier for a husband after all. +Why have you kept back your flattering speeches till now? Is that your +trick to make me love you?” + +“I will think out the reason for it another time.” + +“Ah, these stern, commanding husbands,” said she, “how they do press +upon their little wives!” and with that leaped over the ring of dead +before her, and cut and stabbed a way through those that stood between +her and the waters which creamed and crashed upon the beach. Gods! +what a charge she made. It made me tingle with admiration as I followed +sideways behind her, guarding the rear. And I am a man that has spent so +many years in battling, that it takes something far out of the common to +move me to any enthusiasm in this matter. + +There were two boats creaking and washing about in the edge of the surf, +but in one, happily, the wicker-work which made its frame was crushed +by the weight of the waves into a shapeless bundle of sticks, and would +take half a day to replace. So that, let us but get the other craft +afloat, and we should be free from further embroiling. But the fishers +were quick to see the object of this new manoeuvre. “Guard the boat,” + they shouted. “Smash her; slit her skin with your knives! Tear her with +your fingers! Swim her out to sea! Oh, at least take the paddles!” + +But, if these clumsy fishers could run, Phorenice was like a legged +snake for speed. She was down beside the boat before any could reach +it, laughing and shouting out that she could beat them at every point. +Myself, I was slower of foot; and, besides, there was some that offered +me a fight on the road, and I was not wishful to baulk them; and +moreover, the fewer we left clamouring behind, the fewer there would be +to speed our going with their stones. Still I came to the beach in good +order, and laid hands on the flimsy boat and tipped her dry. + +“Fighting is no trade for, me,” I cried, “whilst you are here, +Phorenice. Guard me my back and walk out into the water.” + +I took the boat, thrusting it afloat, and wading with it till two lines +of the surf were past. The fishers swarmed round us, active as fish in +their native element, and strove mightily to get hands on the boat and +slit the hides which covered it with their eager fingers. But I had a +spare hand, and a short stabbing-knife for such close-quarter work, and +here, there, and everywhere was Phorenice the Empress, with her thirsty +dripping sword. By the Gods! I laughed with sheer delight at seeing her +art of fence. + +But the swirl of a great fish into the shallows, and the squeal of +a fisher as he was dragged down and home away into the deep, made me +mindful of foes that no skill can conquer, and no bravery avoid. Without +taking time to give the Empress a word of warning, I stooped, and flung +an arm round her, and threw her up out of the water into the boat, and +then thrust on with all my might, driving the flimsy craft out to +sea, whilst my legs crept under me for fear of the beasts which swam +invisible beneath the muddied waters. + +To the fishers, inured to these horrid perils by daily association, +the seizing of one of their number meant little, and they pressed on, +careless of their dull lives, eager only to snatch the jewels which +still flaunted on Phorenice’s breast. Of the vengeance that might come +after they recked nothing; let them but get the wherewithal for one +night’s good debauch, and they would forget that such a thing as the +morning of a morrow could have existence. + +Two fellows I caught and killed that, diving down beneath, tried to slit +the skin of the boat out of sight under the water; and Phorenice cared +for all those that tried to put a hand on the gunwales. Yes, and she did +more than that. A huge long-necked turtle that was stirred out of the +mud by the turmoil, came up to daylight, and swung its great horn-lipped +mouth to this side and that, seeking for a prey. The fishers near it +dodged and dived. I, thrusting at the stern of the boat, could only hope +it would pass me by and so offered an easy mark. It scurried towards +me, champing its noisy lips, and beating the water into spray with its +flippers. + +But Phorenice was quick with a remedy and a rescue. She passed her sword +through one of the fishers that pressed her, and then thrust the body +towards the turtle. The great neck swooped towards it; the long slimy +feelers which protruded from its head quivered and snuffled; and then +the horny green jaws crunched on it, and drew it down out of sight. + +The boat was in deep water now, and Phorenice called upon me to come in +over the side, she the while balancing nicely so that the flimsy thing +should not be overset. The fishers had given up their pursuit, finding +that they earned nothing but lopped-off arms and split faces by coming +within swing of this terrible sword of their Empress, and so contented +themselves with volleying jagged stones in the hopes of stunning us or +splitting the boat. However, Phorenice crouched in the stern, holding +the two shields--her own golden target, and the rough hide buckler I +had won--and so protected both of us whilst I paddled, and though many +stones clattered against the shields, and hit the hide covering of the +boat, so that it resounded like a drum, none of them did damage, and we +drew quickly out of their range. + + + + +12. THE DRUG OF OUR LADY THE MOON + + +Our Lord the Sun was riding towards the end of His day, and the smoke +from a burning mountain fanned black and forbidding before His face. +Phorenice wrung the water from her clothes and shivered. “Work hard with +those paddles, Deucalion, and take me in through the water-gate and let +me be restored to my comforts again. That merchant would rue if he saw +how his pretty garments were spoiled, and I rue, too, being a woman, +and remembering that he at least has no others I can take in place of +these.” She looked at me sidelong, tossing back the short red hair from +her eyes. “What think you of my wisdom in coming where we have come +without an escort?” + +“The Empress can do no wrong,” I quoted the old formula with a smile. + +“At least I have shown you that I can fight. I caught you looking your +approval of me quite pleasantly once or twice. You were a difficult man +to thaw, Deucalion, but you warm perceptibly as you keep on being near +me. La, sir, we shall be a pair of rustic sweethearts yet, if this +goes on. I am glad I thought of the device of going near those smelly +fishers.” + +So she had taken me out in the litter unattended for the plain purpose +of inviting a fight, and showing me her skill at arms, and perhaps, too, +of seeing in person how I also carried myself in a moment of stress. +Well, if we were to live on together as husband and wife, it was good +that each should know to a nicety the other’s powers; and also, I am too +much of an old battler and too much enamoured with the glorious handling +of arms to quarrel very deeply with any one who offers me a tough +upstanding fight. Still for the life of me, I could not help comparing +Phorenice with another woman. With a similar chance open before us, Nais +had robbed me of the struggle through a sheer pity for those squalid +rebels who did not even call her chieftain; whilst here was this Empress +frittering away two score of the hardiest of her subjects merely to +gratify a whim. + +Yet, loyal to my vow as a priest, and to the commands set upon me by the +high council on the Sacred Mountain, I tried to put away these wayward +thoughts and comparisons. As I rowed over the swingings of the waves +towards the forts which guard the harbour’s mouth, I sent prayers to the +High Gods to give my tongue dexterity, and They through Their love for +the country of Atlantis, and the harassed people, whom it was my deep +wish to serve, granted me that power of speech which Phorenice loved. +Her eyes glowed upon me as I talked. + +This beach of the fishers where we had had our passage at arms is safe +from ship attack from without, by reason of a chain of jagged rocks +which spring up from the deep, and run from the harbour side to the end +of the city wall. The fishers know the passes, and can oftentimes get +through to the open water beyond without touching a stone; or if they +do see a danger of hitting on the reef, leap out and carry their light +boats in their hands till the water floats them again. But here I had +neither the knowledge nor the dexterity, and, thought I, now the High +Gods will show finally if They wish this woman who has defiled them to +reign on in Atlantis, and if also They wish me to serve as her husband. + +I cried these things in my heart, and waited to receive the omen. There +was no half-answer. A great wave rose in the lagoon behind us, a wave +such as could have only been caused by an earth tremor, and on its sleek +back we were hurled forward and thrown clear of the reefs with their +seaweeds licking round us, without so much as seeing a stone of the +barrier. I bowed my head as I rowed on towards the harbour forts. It was +plain that not yet would the High Gods take vengeance for the insults +which this lovely woman had offered Them. + +The sentries in the two forts beat drums at one another in their +accustomed rotation, and in the growing dusk were going to pay little +enough attention to the fishingboat which lay against the great chain +clamouring to have it lowered. But luckily a pair of officers were +taking the air of the evening in a stone-dropping turret of the roof +of the nearer fort, and these recognised the tone of our shouts. They +silenced the drums, torches were lowered to make sure of our faces, and +then with a splash the great chain was dropped into the water to give us +passage. + +A galley lay inside, nuzzling the harbour wall, and presently the ladder +of ropes was let down from the top of the nearest fort, and a crew came +down to man the oars. There were the customary changes of raiment too, +given as presents by the officers of the fort, and these we put on in +the cabin of the galley in place of the sodden clothes we wore. There +are fevers to be gained by carrying wet clothes after sunset, and though +from personal experience I have learned that these may be warded off +with drugs, I noticed with some grim amusement that the Empress had +sufficiently little of the Goddess about her to fear very much the +ailments which are due to frail humanity. + +The galley rowed swiftly across the calm waters of the harbour, and made +fast to the rings of gold on the royal quay, and whilst we were waiting +for litters to be brought, I watched a lantern lit in the boat +which stood guard over Phorenice’s mammoth. The huge red beast stood +shoulder-deep in the harbour water, with trunk up-turned. It was tamed +now, and the light of the boat’s lantern fell on the little ripples sent +out by its tremblings. But I did not choose to intercede or ask +mercy for it. If the mammoth sank deeper in the harbour mud, and was +swallowed, I could have borne the loss with equanimity. + +To tell the truth, that ride on the great beast’s back had impressed me +unfavourably. In fact, it put into me a sense of helplessness that +was wellnigh intolerable. Perhaps circumstances have made me unduly +self-reliant: on that others must judge. But I will own to having a +preference for walking on my own proper feet, as the Gods in fashioning +our shapes most certainly intended. On my own feet I am able to guard my +own head and neck, and have done on four continents, throughout a long +and active life, and on many a thousand occasions. But on the back of +that detestable mammoth, pah! I grew as nervous as a child or a dastard. + +However, I had little enough leisure for personal megrims just then. +Whilst we waited, Phorenice asked the port-captain (who must needs come +up officiously to make his salutations) after the disposal of Nais, +and was told that she had been clapped into a dungeon beneath the royal +pyramid, and the officer of the guard there had given his bond for her +safe-keeping. + +“It is to be hoped he understands his work,” said the Empress. “That +pretty Nais knows the pyramid better than most, and it may be he will +be sent to the tormentors for putting her in a cell which had a secret +outlet. You would feel pleasure if the girl escaped, Deucalion?” + +“Assuredly,” said I, knowing how useless it would be to make a secret of +the matter. “I have no enmity against Nais.” + +“But I have,” said she viciously, “and I am still minded to lock your +faith to me by that wedding gift you know of.” + +“The thing shall be done,” I said. “Before all, the Empress of +Atlantis.” + +“Poof! Deucalion, you are too stiff and formal. You ought to be mightily +honoured that I condescend to be jealous of your favours. Your hand, +sir, please, to help me into the litter. And now come in beside me, +and keep me warm against the night air. Ho! you guards there with the +torches! Keep farther back against the street walls. The perfume you are +burning stifles me.” + +Again there was a feast that night in the royal banqueting-hall; again I +sat beside Phorenice on the raised dais which stands beneath the symbols +of the snake and the out-stretched hand. What had been taken for granted +before about our forthcoming relationship was this time proclaimed +openly; the Empress herself acknowledged me as her husband that was to +be; and all that curled and jewelled throng of courtiers hailed me as +greater than themselves, by reason of this woman’s choice. There was +method, too, in their salutation. Some rumour must have got about of my +preference for the older and simpler habits, and there was no drinking +wine to my health after the new and (as I considered) impertinent +manner. Decorously, each lord and lady there came forward, and each in +turn spilt a goblet at my feet; and when I called any up, whether man +or woman, to receive tit-bits from my platter, it was eaten simply and +thankfully, and not kissed or pocketed with any extravagant gesture. + +The flaring jets of earth-breath showed me, too, so I thought, a plainer +habit of dress, and a more sober mien amongst this thoughtless mob +of banqueters. And, indeed, it must have been plain to notice, for +Phorenice, leaning over till the ruddy curls on her shoulder brushed +my face, chided me in a playful whisper as having usurped her high +authority already. + +“Oh, sir,” she pleaded mockingly, “do not make your rule over us too +ascetic. I have given no orders for this change, but to-night there are +no perfumes in the air; the food is so plain and I have half a mind to +burn the cook; and as for the clothes and gauds of these diners, by my +face! they might have come straight from the old King’s reign before I +stepped in here to show how tasteful could be colours on a robe, or how +pretty the glint of a jewel. It’s done by no orders of mine, Deucalion. +They have swung round to this change by sheer courtier instinct. Why, +look at the beards of the men! There is not half the curl about many of +them to-day that they showed with such exquisiteness yesterday. By my +face! I believe they’d reap their chins to-morrow as smooth as yours, +if you go on setting the fashions at this prodigious rate and I do not +interfere.” + +“Why hinder them if they feel more cleanly shaven?” + +“No, sir. There shall be only one clean chin where a beard can grow in +all Atlantis, and that shall be carried by the man who is husband to the +Empress. Why, my Deucalion, would you have no sumptuary laws? Would you +have these good folk here and the common people outside imitate us in +every cut of the hair and every fold of a garment which it pleases us to +discover? Come, sir, if you and I chose to say that our sovereignty was +marked only by our superior strength of arm and wit, they would hate us +at once for our arrogance; whereas, if we keep apart to ourselves a +few mere personal decorations, these become just objects to admire and +pleasantly envy.” + +“You show me that there is more in the office of a ruler than meets the +eye.” + +“And yet they tell me, and indeed show me, that you have ruled with some +success.” + +“I employed the older method. It requires a Phorenice to invent these +nicer flights.” + +“Flatterer!” said she, and smote me playfully with the back of her +little fingers on my arm. “You are becoming as great a courtier as any +of them. You make me blush with your fine pleasantries, Deucalion, and +there is no fan-girl here to-night to cool my cheek. I must choose me +another fan-girl. But it shall not be Ylga. Ylga seems to have more of a +kindness for you than I like, and if she is wise she will go live in her +palace at the other side of the city, and there occupy herself with the +ordering of her slaves, and the makings of embroideries. I shall not +be hard on Ylga unless she forces me, but I will have no woman in this +kingdom treat you with undue civility.” + +“And how am I to act,” said I, falling in with her mood, “when I see and +hear all the men of Atlantis making their protestations before you? By +your own confession they all love you as ardently as they seem to have +loved you hopelessly.” + +“Ah, now,” she said, “you must not ask me to do impossibilities. I am +powerful if you will. But I have no force which will govern the hearts +of these poor fellows on matters such as that. But if you choose, you +make proclamation that I am given now body and inwards to you, and if +they continue to offend your pride in this matter, you may take your +culprits, and give them over to the tormentors. Indeed, Deucalion, I +think it would be a pretty attention to me if you did arrange some such +ceremony. It seems to me a present,” she added with a frown, “that the +jealousy is too much on one side.” + +“You must not expect that a man who has been divorced from love for all +of a busy life can learn all its niceties in an instant. Myself, I was +feeling proud of my progress. With any other schoolmistress than you, +Phorenice, I should not be near so forward. In fact (if one may judge by +my past record), I should not have begun to learn at all.” + +“I suppose you think I should be satisfied with that? Well, I am not. I +can be finely greedy over some matters.” + +The banquet this night did not extend to inordinate length. Phorenice +had gone through much since last she slept, and though she had declared +herself Goddess in the meantime, it seemed that her body remained mortal +as heretofore. The black rings of weariness had grown under her wondrous +eyes, and she lay back amongst the cushions of the divan with her limbs +slackened and listless. When the dancers came and postured before us, +she threw them a jewel and bade them begone before they had given a half +of their performance, and the poet, a silly swelling fellow who came to +sing the deeds of the day, she would not hear at all. + +“To-morrow,” she said wearily, “but for now grant me peace. My Lord +Deucalion has given me much food for thought this day, and presently +I go to my chamber to muse over the future policies of this State +throughout the night. To-morrow come to me again, and if your poetry is +good and short, I will pay you surprisingly. But see to it that you +are not long-winded. If there are superfluous words, I will pay you for +those with the stick.” + +She rose to her feet then, and when the banqueters had made their +salutation to us, I led her away from the banqueting-hall and down the +passages with their secret doors which led to her private chambers. +She clung on my arm, and once when we halted whilst a great stone +block swung slowly ajar to let us pass, she drooped her head against my +shoulder. Her breath came warm against my cheek, and the loveliness of +her face so close at hand surpasses the description of words. I think it +was in her mind that I should kiss the red lips which were held so near +to mine, but willing though I was to play the part appointed, I could +not bring myself to that. So when the stone block had swung, she drew +away with a sigh, and we went on without further speech. + +“May the High Gods treat you tenderly,” I said, when we came to the door +of her bed-chamber. + +“I am my own God,” said she, “in all things but one. By my face! you are +a tardy wooer, Deucalion. Where do you go now?” + +“To my own chamber.” + +“Oh, go then, go.” + +“Is there anything more I could do?” + +“Nothing that your wit or your will would prompt you to. Yes, indeed, +you are finely decorous, Deucalion, in your old-fashioned way, but you +are a mighty poor wooer. Don’t you know, my man, that a woman esteems +some things the more highly if they are taken from her by rude force?” + +“It seems I know little enough about women.” + +“You never said a truer word. Bah! And I believe your coldness brings +you more benefit in a certain matter than any show of passion could +earn. There, get you gone, if the atmosphere of a maiden’s bed-chamber +hurts your rustic modesty, and your Gods keep you, Deucalion, if that’s +the phrase, and if you think They can do it. Get you gone, man, and +leave me solitary.” + +I had taken the plan of the pyramid out of the archives before the +banquet and learned it thoroughly, and so was able to thread my way +through its angular mazes without pause or blunder. I, too, was heavily +wearied with what I had gone through since my last snatch of sleep, but +I dare set apart no time for rest just then. Nais must be sacrificed in +part for the needs of Atlantis; but a plan had come to me by which it +seemed that she need not be sacrificed wholly; and to carry this through +there was need for quick thought and action. + +Help came to me also from a quarter I did not expect. As I passed along +the tortuous way between the ponderous stones of the pyramid, which led +to the apartments that had been given me by Phorenice, a woman glided +up out of the shadows of one of the side passages, and when I lifted my +hand lamp, there was Ylga. + +She regarded me half-sullenly. “I have lost my place,” she said, “and it +seems I need never have spoken. She intended to have you all along, and +it was not a thing like that which could put her off. And you--you just +think me officious, if, indeed, you have ever given me another thought +till now.” + +“I never forget a kindness.” + +“Oh, you will learn that trick soon now. And you are going to marry her, +you! The city is ringing with it. I thought at least you were honest, +but when there is a high place to be got by merely taking a woman with +it, you are like the rest. I thought, too, that you would be one of +those men who have a distrust for ruddy hair. And, besides she is +little.” + +“Ylga,” I said, “you have taught me that these walls are full of +crannies and ears. I will listen to no word against Phorenice. But I +would have further converse with you soon. If you still have a kindness +for me, go to the chamber that is mine and wait for me there. I will +join you shortly.” + +She drooped her eyes. “What do you want of me, Deucalion?” + +“I want to say something to you. You will learn who it concerns later.” + +“But is it--is it fitting for a maiden to come to a man’s room at this +hour?” + +“I know little of your conventions here in this new Atlantis. I am +Deucalion, girl, and if you still have qualms, remembering that, do not +come.” + +She looked up at me with a sneer. “I was foolish,” she said. “My lord’s +coldness has grown into a proverb, and I should have remembered it. Yes; +I will come.” + +“Go now, then,” said I, and waited till she had passed on ahead and was +out of sight and hearing. With Ylga to help me, my tasks were somewhat +lightened, and their sequence changed. In the first instance, now, I +had got to make my way with as little delay and show as possible into a +certain sanctuary which lay within the temple of our Lady the Moon. And +here my knowledge as one of the Seven stood me in high favour. + +All the temples of the city of Atlantis are in immediate and secret +connection with the royal pyramid, but the passages are little used, +seeing that they are known only to the Seven and to the Three above +them, supposing that there are three men living at one time sufficiently +learned in the highest of the highest mysteries to be installed in that +sublime degree of the Three. And, even by these, the secret ways may +only be used on occasions of the greatest stress, so that a generation +well may pass without their being trodden by a human foot. + +It was with some trouble, and after no little experiment that I groped +my way into this secret alley; but once there, the rest was easy. I had +never trodden it before certainly, but the plan of it had been taught +me at my initiation as one of the Seven, and the course of the windings +came back to me now with easy accuracy. I walked quickly, not only +because the air in those deep crannies is always full of lurking evils, +but also because the hours were fleeting, and much must be done before +our Lord the Sun again rose to make another day. + +I came to the spy-place which commands the temple, and found the holy +place empty, and, alas! dust-covered, and showing little trace that +worshippers ever frequented it these latter years. A vast stone of +the wall swung outwards and gave me entrance, and presently (after the +solemn prayer which is needful before attempting these matters), I took +the metal stair from the place where it is kept, and climbed to the +lap of the Goddess, and then, pulling the stair after me, climbed again +upwards till my length lay against her calm mysterious face. + +A shivering seized me as I thought of what was intended, for even a +warrior hardened to horrid sights and deeds may well have qualms when +he is called upon to juggle with life and death, and years and history, +with the welfare of his country in one hand, and the future of a woman +who is as life to him in the other. But again I told myself that +the hours flew, and laid hold of the jewel which is studded into the +forehead of the image with one hand, and then stretching out, thrust at +a corner of the eyebrow with the other. With a faint creak the massive +eyeball below, a stone that I could barely have covered with my back, +swung inwards. I stepped off the stair, and climbed into the gap. Inside +was the chamber which is hollowed from the head of the Goddess. + +It was the first time I had seen this most secret place, but the aspect +of it was familiar to me from my teaching, and I knew where to find the +thing which would fill my need. Yet, occupied though I might be with the +stress of what was to befall, I could not help having a wonder and an +admiration for the cleverness with which it was hidden. + +High as I was in the learning and mysteries of the Priestly Clan, the +structure of what I had come to fetch was hidden from me. Beforetime I +had known only of their power and effect; and now that I came to handle +them, I saw only some roughly rounded balls, like nut kernels, grass +green in colour, and in hardness like the wax of bees. There were three +of these balls in the hidden place, and I took the one that was needful, +concealing the others as I had found them. It may have been a drug, it +may have been something more; what exactly it was I did not know; only +of its power and effect I was sure, as that was set forth plainly in +the teaching I had learned; and so I put it in a pouch of my garment, +returning by the way I had come, and replacing all things in due order +behind me. + +One look I took at the image of the Goddess before I left the temple. +The jet of earth-breath which burns eternally from the central altar +lit her from head to toe, and threw sparkles from the great jewel in +her forehead. Vast she was, and calm and peaceful beyond all human +imaginings, a perfect symbolism of that rest and quietness which many +sigh for so vainly on this rude earth, but which they will never attain +unless by their piety they earn a place in the hereafter, where our Lady +the Moon and the rest of the High Ones reign in Their eternal glorious +majesty. + +It was with tired dragging limbs that I made my way back again to the +royal pyramid, and at last came to my own private chamber. Ylga awaited +me there, though at first I did not see her. The suspicions of these +modern days had taken a deep hold of the girl, and she must needs crouch +in hiding till she made sure it was I who came to the chamber, and, +moreover, that I came alone. + +“Oh, frown at me if you choose,” said she sullenly, “I am past caring +now for your good opinion. I had heard so much of Deucalion, and I +thought I read honesty in you when first you came ashore; but now I know +that you are no better than the rest. Phorenice offers you a high place, +and you marry her blithely to get it. And why, indeed, should you not +marry her? People say she is pretty, and I know she can be warm. I have +seen her warm and languishing to scores of men. She is clever, too, with +her eyes, is our great Empress; I grant her that. And as for you, it +tickles you to be courted.” + +“I think you are a very silly woman,” I said. + +“If you flatter yourself it matters a rap to me whom you marry, you are +letting conceit run away with you.” + +“Listen,” I said. “I did not ask you here to make foolish speeches +which seem largely beyond my comprehension. I asked you to help me do a +service to one of your own blood-kin.” + +She stared at me wonderingly. “I do not understand.” + +“It rests largely with you as to whether Nais dies to-morrow, or whether +she is thrown into a sleep from which she may waken on some later and +more happy day.” + +“Nais!” she gasped. “My twin, Nais? She is not here. She is out in +the camp with those nasty rebels who bite against the city walls, if, +indeed, still she lives.” + +“Nais, your sister is near us in the royal pyramid this minute, and +under guard, though where I do not know.” And with that I told her all +that had passed since the girl was brought up a prisoner in the galley +of that foolish, fawning captain of the port. “The Empress has decreed +that Nais shall be buried alive under a throne of granite which I am to +build for her to-morrow, and buried she will assuredly be. Yet I have a +kindness for Nais, which you may guess at if you choose, and I am minded +to send her into a sleep such as only we higher priests know of, from +which at some future day she may possibly awaken.” + +“So it is Nais; and not Phorenice, and not--not any other?” + +“Yes; it is Nais. I marry the Empress because Zaemon, who is mouthpiece +to the High Council of the Priests, has ordered it, for the good of +Atlantis. But my inwards remain still cold towards her.” + +“Almost I hate poor Nais already.” + +“Your vengeance would be easy. Do not tell me where she is gaoled, and I +shall not dare to ask. Even to give Nais a further span of life I cannot +risk making inquiries for her cell, when there is a chance that those +who tell me might carry news to the Empress, and so cause more trouble +for this poor Atlantis.” + +“And why should I not carry the news, and so bring myself into favour +again? I tell you that being fan-girl to Phorenice and second woman in +the kingdom is a thing that not many would cast lightly aside.” + +I looked her between eyes and smiled. “I have no fear there. You will +not betray me, Ylga. Neither will you sell Nais.” + +“I seem to remember very small love for this same Nais just now,” she +said bitterly. “But you are right about that other matter. I shall not +buy myself back at your expense. Oh, I am a fool, I know, and you can +give me no thanks that I care about, but there is no other way I can +act.” + +“Then let us fritter no more time. Go you out now and find where Nais +is gaoled, and bring me news how I can say ten words to her, and press a +certain matter into her clasp.” + +She bowed her head and left the chamber, and for long enough I was +alone. I sat down on the couch, and rested wearily against the wall. +My bones ached, my eyes ached, and most of all, my inwards ached. I had +thought to myself that a man who makes his life sufficiently busy +will find no leisure for these pains which assault frailer folk; but a +philosophy like this, which carried one well in Yucatan, showed poorly +enough when one tried it here at home. But that there was duty ahead, +and the order of the High Council to be carried into effect, the +bleakness of the prospect would have daunted me, and I would have prayed +the Gods then to spare me further life, and take me unto Themselves. + +Ylga came back at last, and I got up and went quickly after her as +she led down a maze of passages and alleyways. “There has been no care +spared over her guarding,” she whispered, as we halted once to move a +stone. “The officer of the guard is an old lover of mine, and I raised +his hopes to the burning point again by a dozen words. But when I wanted +to see his prisoner, there he was as firm as brass. I told him she was +my sister, but that did not move him. I offered him--oh, Deucalion, it +makes me blush to think of the things I did offer to that man, but there +was no stirring him. He has watched the tormentors so many times, that +there is no tempting him into touch of their instruments.” + +“If you have failed, why bring me out here?” + +“Oh, I am not inveigling you into a lover’s walk with myself, sir. You +tickle yourself when you think your society is so pleasant as that.” + +“Come, girl, tell me then what it is. If my temper is short, credit it +against my weariness.” + +“I have carried out my lord’s commands in part. I know the cell where +Nais lives, and I have had speech with her, though not through the door. +And moreover, I have not seen her or touched her hand.” + +“Your riddles are beyond me, Ylga, but if there is a chance, let us get +on and have this business done.” + +“We are at the place now,” said she, with a hard little laugh, “and if +you kneel on the floor, you will find an airshaft, and Nais will answer +you from the lower end. For myself, I will leave you. I have a delicacy +in hearing what you want to say to my sister, Deucalion.” + +“I thank you,” I said. “I will not forget what you have done for me this +night.” + +“You may keep your thanks,” she said bitterly, and walked away into the +shadows. + +I knelt on the floor of the gallery, and found the air passage with my +hand, and then, putting my lips to it, whispered for Nais. + +The answer came on the instant, muffled and quiet. “I knew my lord would +come for a farewell.” + +“What the Empress said, has to be. You understand, my dear? It is for +Atlantis.” + +“Have I reproached my lord, by word or glance?” + +“I myself am bidden to place you in the hollow between the stones, and I +must do it.” + +“Then my last sleep will be a sweet one. I could not ask to be touched +by pleasanter hands.” + +“But it mayhap that a day will come when she whom you know of will be +suffered by the High Gods to live on this land of Atlantis no longer.” + +“If my lord will cherish my poor memory when he is free again, I shall +be grateful. He might, if he chose, write them on the stones: Here was +buried a maid who died gladly for the good of Atlantis, even though she +knew that the man she so dearly loved was husband to her murderess.” + +“You must not die,” I whispered. “My breast is near broken at the very +thought of it. And for respite, we must trust to the ancient knowledge, +which in its day has been sent out from the Ark of the Mysteries.”--I +took the green waxy ball in my fingers, and stretched them down the +crooked air-shaft to the full of my span.--“I have somewhat for you +here. Reach up and try to catch it from me.” + +I heard the faint rustle of her arm as it swept against the masonry, and +then the ball was taken over into her grasp. Gods! what a thrill went +through me when the fingers of Nais touched mine! I could not see her, +because of the crookedness of the shaft, but that faint touch of her was +exquisite. + +“I have it,” she whispered. “And what now, dear?” + +“You will hide the thing in your garment, and when to-morrow the upper +stone closes down upon you and the light is gone, then you will take it +between your lips and let it dissolve as it will. Sleep will take you, +my darling, then, and the High Gods will watch over you, even though +centuries pass before you are roused.” + +“If Deucalion does not wake me, I shall pray never again to open an eye. +And now go, my lord and my dear. They watch me here constantly, and I +would not have you harmed by being brought to notice.” + +“Yes, I must go, my sweetheart. It will not do to have our scheme +spoiled by a foolish loitering. May the most High Gods attend your rest, +and if the sacrifice we make finds favour, may They grant us meeting +here again on earth before we meet--as we must--when our time is done, +and They take us up to Their own place.” + +“Amen,” she whispered back, and then: “Kiss your fingers, dear, and +thrust them down to me.” + +I did that, and for an instant felt her fondle them down the crook of +the airshaft out of sight, and then heard her withdraw her little hand +and kiss it fondly. Then again she kissed her own fingers and stretched +them up, and I took up the virtue of that parting kiss on my finger-tips +and pressed it sacredly to my lips. + +“Living, sleeping, or dead, always my darling,” she whispered. And then, +before I could answer, she whispered again: “Go, they are coming for +me.” And so I went, knowing that I could do no more to help her then, +and knowing that all our schemes would be spilt if any eye spied upon me +as I lay there beside the air shaft. But my chest was like to have split +with the dull, helpless anguish that was in it, as I made my way back to +my chamber through the mazy alleys of the pyramid. + +“Do not look upon mine eyes, dear, when the time comes,” had been her +last command, “or they will tell a tale which Phorenice, being a woman, +would read. Remember, we make these small denials, not for our own +likings, but for Atlantis, which is mother to us all.” + + + + +13. THE BURYING ALIVE OF NAIS + + +There is no denying that the wishes of Phorenice were carried into quick +effect in the city of Atlantis. Her modern theory was that the country +and all therein existed only for the good of the Empress, and when she +had a desire, no cost could possibly be too great in its carrying out. + +She had given forth her edict concerning the burying alive of Nais, and +though the words were that I was to build the throne of stone, it was an +understood thing that the manual labour was to be done for me by others. +Heralds made the proclamation in every ward of the city, and masons, +labourers, stonecutters, sculptors, engineers, and architects took hands +from whatever was occupying them for the moment, and hastened to the +rendezvous. The architects chose a chief who gave directions, and the +lesser architects and the engineers saw these carried into effect. Any +material within the walls of the city on which they set their seal, +was taken at once without payment or compensation; and as the blocks of +stone they chose were the most monstrous that could be got, they were +forced to demolish no few buildings to give them passage. + +I have before spoken of the modern rage for erecting new palaces and +pyramids, and even though at the moment an army of rebels was battering +with war engines at the city walls, the building guilds were steadily +at work, and their skill (with Phorenice’s marvellous invention to aid +them) was constantly on the increase. True, they could not move such +massive blocks of stone as those which the early Gods planted for the +sacred circle of our Lord the Sun, but they had got rams and trucks and +cranes which could handle amazing bulks. + +The throne was to be erected in the open square before the royal +pyramid. Seven tiers of stone were there for a groundwork, each a +knee-height deep, and each cut in the front with three steps. In the +uppermost layer was a cavity made to hold the body of Nais, and above +this was poised the vast block which formed the seat of the throne +itself. + +Throughout the night, to the light of torches, relay after relay of the +stonecutters, and the masons, and the sweating labourers had toiled over +bringing up the stone and dressing it into fit shape, and laying it in +due position; and the engineers had built machines for lifting, and the +architects had proved that each stone lay in its just and perfect place. +Whips cracked, and men fainted with the labour, but so soon as one was +incapable another pressed forward into his place. No delay was brooked +when Phorenice had said her wish. + +And finally, as the square began to fill with people come to gape at the +pageant of to-day, the chippings and the scaffolding were cleared away, +and with it the bodies of some half-score of workmen who had died from +accidents or their exertions during the building, and there stood the +throne, splendid in its carvings, and all ready for completion. The +lower part stood more than two man-heights above the ground, and no +stone of its courses weighed less than twenty men; the upper part was +double the weight of any of these, and was carved so that the royal +snake encircled the chair, and the great hooded head overshadowed it. +But at present the upper part was not on its bed, being held up high by +lifting rams, for what purposes all men knew. + +It was to face this scene, then, that I came out from the royal pyramid +at the summons of the chamberlains in the cool of next morning. Each +great man who had come there before me had banner-bearers and trumpeters +to proclaim his presence; the middle classes were in all their bravery +of apparel; and even poor squalid creatures, with ribs of hunger showing +through their dusty skins, had turbans and wisps of colour wrapped about +their heads to mark the gaiety of the day. + +The trumpets proclaimed my coming, and the people shouted welcome, and +with the gorgeous chamberlains walking backwards in advance, I went +across to a scarlet awning that had been prepared, and took my seat upon +the cushions beneath it. + +And then came Phorenice, my bride that was to be that day, fresh from +sleep, and glorious in her splendid beauty. She was borne out from the +pyramid in an open litter of gold and ivory by fantastic savages from +Europe, her own refinement of feature being thrown up into all the +higher relief by contrast with their brutish ugliness. One could hear +the people draw a deep breath of delight as their eyes first fell upon +her; and it is easy to believe there was not a man in that crowd which +thronged the square who did not envy me her choice, nor was there a +soul present (unless Ylga was there somewhere veiled) who could by any +stretch imagine that I was not overjoyed in winning so lovely a wife. + +For myself, I summoned up all the iron of my training to guard the +expression of my face. We were here on ceremonial to-day; a ghastly +enough affair throughout all its acts, if you choose, but still +ceremonial; and I was minded to show Phorenice a grand manner that would +leave her nothing to cavil at. After all that had been gone through and +endured, I did not intend a great scheme to be shattered by letting my +agony and pain show themselves, in either a shaking hand or a twitching +cheek. When it came to the point, I told myself, I would lay the living +body of my love in the hollow beneath the stone as calmly, and with as +little outward emotion, as though I had been a mere priest carrying out +the burial of some dead stranger. And she, on her part, would not, +I knew, betray our secret. With her, too, it was truly “Before all +Atlantis.” + +I think it spared a pang to find that there was to be no mockery or +flippancy in what went forward. All was solemn and impressive; and, +though a certain grandeur and sombreness which bit deep into my breast +was lost to the vulgar crowd, I fancy that the outward shape of the +double sacrifice they witnessed that day would not be forgotten by any +of them, although the inner meaning of it all was completely hidden from +their minds. When it suited her fancy, none could be more strict on the +ritual of a ceremony than this many-mooded Empress, and it appeared +that on this occasion she had given command that all things were to be +carried out with the rigid exactness and pomp of the older manner. + +So she was borne up by her Europeans to the scarlet awning, and I handed +her to the ground. She seated herself on the cushions, and beckoned +me to her side, entwining her fingers with mine as has always been the +custom with rulers of Atlantis and their consorts. And there before us +as we sat, a body of soldiery marched up, and opening out showed Nais +in their midst. She had a collar of metal round her neck, with chains +depending from it firmly held by a brace of guards, so that she should +not run in upon the spears of the escort, and thus get a quick and +easy death, which is often the custom of those condemned to the more +lingering punishments. + +But it was pleasant to see that she still wore her clothing. Raiment, +whether of fabric or skin, has its value, and custom has always given +the garments of the condemned to the soldiers guarding them. So as Nais +was not stripped, I could not but see that some one had given moneys +to the guards as a recompense, and in this I thought I saw the hand of +Ylga, and felt a gratitude towards her. + +The soldiers brought her forward to the edge of the pavilion’s shade, +and she was bidden prostrate herself before the Empress, and this she +wisely did and so avoided rough handling and force. Her face was +pale, but showed neither fear nor defiance, and her eyes were calm +and natural. She was remembering what was due to Atlantis, and I was +thrilled with love and pride as I watched her. + +But outwardly I, too, was impassive as a man of stone, and though I knew +that Phorenice’s eye was on my face, there was never anything on it from +first to last that I would not have had her see. + +“Nais,” said the Empress, “you have eaten from my platter when you were +fan-girl, and drunk from my cup, and what was yours I gave you. You +should have had more than gratitude, you should have had knowledge also +that the arm of the Empress was long and her hand consummately heavy. +But it seems that you have neither of these things. And, moreover, you +have tried to take a certain matter that the Empress has set apart for +herself. You were offered pardon, on terms, and you rejected it. You +were foolish. But it is a day now when I am inclined to clemency. +Presently, seated on that carved throne of granite which he has built me +yonder, I shall take my Lord Deucalion to husband. Give me a plain word +that you are sorry, girl, and name a man whom you would choose, and I +will remember the brightness of the occasion, you shall be pardoned and +wed before we rise from these cushions.” + +“I will not wed,” she said quietly. + +“Think for the last time, Nais, of what is the other choice. You will +be taken, warm, and quick, and beautiful as you stand there this minute, +and laid in the hollow place that is made beneath the throne-stone. +Deucalion, that is to be my husband, will lay you in that awful bed, as +a symbol that so shall perish all Phorenice’s enemies, and then he will +release the rams and lower the upper stone into place, and the world +shall see your face no more. Look at the bright sky, Nais, fill your +chest with the sweet warm air, and then think of what this death will +mean. Believe me, girl, I do not want to make you an example unless you +force me.” + +“I will not wed,” said the prisoner quietly. + +The Empress loosed her fingers from my arm, and lay back against the +cushions. “If the girl presumes on our old familiarity, or thinks that I +jest, show her now, Deucalion, that I do not.” + +“The Empress is far from jesting,” I said. “I will do this thing because +it is the wish of the Empress that it should be done, and because it is +the command of the Empress that a symbol of it shall remain for ever as +an example for others. Lead your prisoner to the place.” + +The soldiers wheeled, and the two guards with the chains of the collar +which was on the neck of Nais prepared to put out force to drag her +up the steps. But she walked with them willingly, and with a colour +unchanged, and I rose from my seat, and made obeisance to the Empress +and followed them. + +Before all those ten thousand eyes, we two made no display of emotion +then, not only for Atlantis’ sake, but also because both Nais and I had +a nicety and a pride in our natures. We were not as Phorenice to flaunt +endearments before others. + +Yet, when I had bidden the guards unhasp the collar which held the +prisoner’s neck, and clapped my arms around her, showing all the +roughness of one who has no mind that his captive shall escape or even +unduly struggle, a thrill gushed through me so potent that I was like +to have fainted, and it was only by supreme strain of will that I held +unbrokenly on with the ceremonial. I, who had never embraced a woman +with aught but the arm of roughness before, now held pressed to me one +whom I loved with an infinite tenderness, and the revelation of how love +can come out and link with love was almost my undoing. Yet, outwardly, +Nais made so sign, but lay half-strangled in my arms, as any woman does +that is being borne away by a spoiler. + +I trod with her to the uppermost step, the vast throne-stone overhanging +us, and then so that all of those who were gazing from the sides of the +pyramids and the roofs of the buildings round might see, though we were +beyond Phorenice’s view, I used a force that was brutal in dragging her +across the level, and putting her down into the hollow. And yet the girl +resisted me with no one effort whatever. + +So that the victim might not struggle out and be crushed, and so gain +an easy death when the stone descended, there were brazen clamps to fit +into grooves of the stones above the hollow where she lay, and these I +fitted in place above her, and fastened one by one, doing this butcher’s +work with one hand, and still fiercely holding her down by the other. +Gods! and the sweat of agony dripped from me on to the thirsty stone as +I worked. I could not keep that in. + +I clamped and locked the last two bars in place, and took my brute’s +hand away from her throat. + +The hateful fingermarks showed as bloodless furrows in the whiteness +of her skin. For the life of me, yes, even for the fate of Atlantis, I +could not help dropping my glance upon her face. But she was stronger +than I. She gave me no last look. She kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on +the cruel stone above, and so I left her, knowing that it was best not +to tarry longer. + +I came out from under the stone, and gave the sign to the engineers who +stood by the rams. The fires were taken away from their sides, and +the metal in them began to contract, and slowly the vast bulk of the +throne-stone began to creep down towards its bed. + +But ah, so slowly! Gods! how my soul was torn as I watched and waited. + +Yet I kept my face impassive, overlooking as any officer might a piece +of work which others were carrying out under his direction, and on which +his credit rested; and I stood gravely in my place till the rams had +let the stone come down on its final resting place, and had been carried +away by the engineers; and then I went round with the master architect +with his plumbline and level, whilst he tested this last piece of the +building and declared it perfect. + +It was a useless form, this last, seeing that by calculation they knew +exactly how the stone must rest; but the guilds have their forms +and customs, and on these occasions of high ceremonial, they are +punctiliously carried out, because these middle-class people wish always +to appear mysterious and impressive to the poor vulgar folk who are +their inferiors. But perhaps I am hard there on them. A man who is +needlessly taken round to plumb and duly level the tomb where his love +lies buried living, may perhaps be excused by the assessors on high a +little spirit of bitterness. + +I had gone up the steps to do my hateful work a man full of grief, +though outwardly unmoved. As I came down again I had a feeling of +incompleteness; it seemed as though half my inwards had been left behind +with Nais in the hollow of the stone, and their place was taken by a +void which ached wearily; but still I carried a passive face, and memory +that before all these private matters stood the command of the High +Council, which sat before the Ark of the Mysteries. + +So I went and stood before Phorenice, and said the words which the +ancient forms prescribed concerning the carrying out of her wish. + +“Then, now,” she said, “I will give myself to you as wife. We are not as +others, you and I, Deucalion. There is a law and a form set down for +the marrying of these other people, but that would be useless for our +purposes. We will have neither priest nor scribe to join us and set down +the union. I am the law here in Atlantis, and you soon will be part of +me. We will not be demeaned by profaner hands. We will make the ceremony +for ourselves, and for witnesses, there are sufficient in waiting. +Afterwards, the record shall be cut deep in the granite throne you have +built for me, and the lettering filled in with gold, so that it shall +endure and remain bright for always.” + +“The Empress can do no wrong,” I said formally, and took the hand she +offered me, and helped her to rise. We walked out from the scarlet +awning into the glare of the sunshine, she leaning on me, flushing, and +so radiantly lovely that the people began to hail her with rapturous +shouts of “A Goddess; our Goddess Phorenice.” But for me they had no +welcoming word. I think the set grimness of my face both scared and +repelled them. + +We went up the steps which led to the throne, the people still shouting, +and I sat her in the royal seat beneath the snake’s outstretched head, +and she drew me down to sit beside her. + +She raised her jewelled hand, and a silence fell on that great throng, +as though the breath had been suddenly cut short for all of them. + +Then Phorenice made proclamation: + +“Hear me, O my people, and hear me, O High Gods from whom I am come. +I take this man Deucalion, to be my husband, to share with me the +prosperity of Atlantis, and join me in guarding our great possession. +May all our enemies perish as she is now perishing above whom we sit.” + And then she put her arms around my neck, and kissed me hotly on the +mouth. + +In turn I also spoke: “Hear me, O most High Gods, whose servant I am, +and hear me also, O ye people. I take this Empress, Phorenice, to +wife, to help with her the prosperity of Atlantis, and join with her in +guarding the welfare of that great possession. May all the enemies of +this country perish as they have perished in the past.” + +And then, I too, who had not been permitted by the fate to touch the +lips of my love, bestowed the first kiss I had ever given woman to +Phorenice, that was now being made my wife. + +But we were not completely linked yet. + +“A woman is one, and man is one,” she proclaimed, following for the +first time the old form of words, “but in marriage they merge, so that +wife and husband are no more separate, but one conjointly. In token of +this we will now make the symbolic joining together, so that all may see +and remember.” She took her dagger, and pricking the brawn on my forearm +till a head of blood appeared, set her red lips to it, and took it into +herself. + +“Ah,” she said, with her eyes sparkling, “now you are part of me indeed, +Deucalion, and I feel you have strengthened me already.” She pulled down +the neck of her robe. “Let me make you my return.” + +I pricked the rounded whiteness of her shoulder. Gods! when I remembered +who was beneath us as we sat on that throne, I could have driven the +blade through to her heart! And then I, too, put down my lips, and took +the drop of her blood that was yielded to me. + +My tongue was dry, my throat was parched, and my face suffused, and I +thought I should have choked. + +But the Empress, who was ordinarily so acute, was misled then. “It +thrills you?” she cried. “It burns within you like living fire? I have +just felt it. By my face! Deucalion, if I had known the pleasure it +gives to be made a wife, I do not think I should have waited this long +for you. Ah, yes; but with another man I should have had no thrill. I +might have gone through the ceremony with another, but it would have +left me cold. Well, they say this feeling comes to a woman but once in +her time, and I would not change it for the glory of all my conquests +and the whirl of all my power.” She leaned in close to me so that the +red curls of her hair swept my cheek, and her breath came hot against my +mouth. “Tasted you ever any sweet so delicious as this knowledge that we +are made one now, Deucalion, past all possible dissolving?” + +I could not lie to her any more just then. The Gods know how honestly I +had striven to play the part commanded me for Atlantis’ good, but there +is a limit to human endurance, and mine was reached. I was not all anger +towards her. I had some pity for this passion of hers, which had grown +of itself certainly, but which I had done nothing to check; and the +indecent frankness with which it was displayed was only part of the +livery of potentates who flaunt what meaner folk would coyly hide. But +always before my eyes was a picture of the girl on whom her jealousy had +taken such a bitter vengeance, and to invent spurious lover’s talk then +was a thing my tongue refused to do. + +“Words are poor things,” I said, “and I am a man unused to women, and +have but a small stock of any phrases except the dryest. Remember, +Phorenice, a week agone, I did not know what love was, and now that I +have learned the lesson, somewhat of the suddenest, the language remains +still to come to me. My inwards speak; indeed they are full of speech; +but I cannot translate into bald cold words what they say.” + +And here, surely the High Gods took pity on my tied tongue and my +misery, and made an opportunity for bringing the ceremony to an end. A +man ran into the square shouting, and showing a wound that dripped, +and presently all that vast crowd which stood on the pavements, and the +sides of the pyramids, and the roofs of the temples, took up the cry, +and began to feel for their weapons. + +“The rebels are in!” “They have burrowed a path into the city!” “They +have killed the cave-tigers and taken a gate!” “They are putting the +whole place to the storm!” “They will presently leave no poor soul of us +here alive!” + +There then was a termination of our marriage cooings. With rebels merely +biting at the walls, it was fine to put strong trust in the defences, +and easy to affect contempt for the besiegers’ powers, and to keep +the business of pageants and state craft and marryings turning on easy +wheels. But with rebel soldiers already inside the city (and hordes of +others doubtless pressing on their heels), the affairs took a different +light. It was no moment for further delay, and Phorenice was the first +to admit it. The glow that had been in her eyes changed to the glare of +the fighter, as the fellow who had run up squalled out his tidings. + +I stood and stretched my chest. I seemed in need of air. “Here,” I said, +“is work that I can understand more clearly. I will go and sweep this +rabble back to their burrows, Phorenice.” + +“But not alone, sir. I come too. It is my city still. Nay, sir, we are +too newly wed to be parted yet.” + +“Have your will,” I said, and together we went down the steps of the +throne to the pavement below. Under my breath I said a farewell to Nais. + +Our armour-bearers met us with weapons, and we stepped into litters, and +the slaves took us off hot foot. The wounded man who had first brought +the news had fallen in a faint, and no more tidings was to be got from +him, but the growing din of the fight gave us the general direction, and +presently we began to meet knots of people who dwelt near the place of +irruption, running away in wild panic, loaded down with their household +goods. + +It was useless to stop these, as fight they could not, and if they had +stayed they would merely have been slaughtered like flies, and would +in all likelihood have impeded our own soldiery. And so we let them run +screaming on their blind way, but forced the litters through them with +but very little regard for their coward convenience. + +Now the advantage of the rebels, when it came to be looked upon by a +soldier’s eye, was a thing of little enough importance. They had driven +a tunnel from behind a covering mound, beneath the walls, and had opened +it cleverly enough through the floor of a middle-class house. They had +come through into this, collecting their numbers under its shelter, and +doubtless hoping that the marriage of the Empress (of which spies had +given them information) would sap the watchfulness of the city guards. +But it seems they were discovered and attacked before they were +thoroughly ready to emerge, and, as a fine body of troops were barracked +near the spot, their extermination would have been merely a matter of +time, even if we had not come up. + +It did not take a trained eye long to decide on this, and Phorenice, +with a laugh, lay back on the cushions of the litter, and returned her +weapons to the armour-bearer who came panting up to receive them. “We +grow nervous with our married life, my Deucalion,” she said. “We are +fearful lest this new-found happiness be taken from us too suddenly.” + +But I was not to be robbed of my breathing-space in this wise. “Let me +crave a wedding gift of you,” I said. + +“It is yours before you name it.” + +“Then give me troops, and set me wide a city gate a mile away from +here.” + +“You can gather five hundred as you go from here to the gate, taking two +hundred of those that are here. If you want more, they must be fetched +from other barracks along the walls. But where is your plan?” + +“Why, my poor strategy teaches me this: these foolish rebels have set +all their hopes on this mine, and all their excitement on its present +success. If they are kept occupied here by a Phorenice, who will give +them some dainty fighting without checking them unduly, they will press +on to the attack and forget all else, and never so much as dream of a +sortie. And meanwhile, a Deucalion with his troop will march out of the +city well away from here, without tuck of drum or blare of trumpet, and +fall most unpleasantly upon their rear. After which, a Phorenice will +burn the house here at the mine’s head, which is of wood, and straw +thatched, to discourage further egress, and either go to the walls to +watch the fight from there, or sally out also and spur on the rout as +her fancy dictates.” + +“Your scheme is so pretty, I would I could rob you of it for my own +credit’s sake, and as it is, I must kiss you for your cleverness. But +you got my word first, you naughty fellow, and you shall have the men +and do as you ask. Eh, sir, this is a sad beginning of our wedded life, +if you begin to rob your little wife of all the sweets of conquest from +the outset.” + +She took back the weapons and target she had given to the armour-bearer, +and stepped over the side of the litter to the ground. “But at least,” + she said, “if you are going to fight, you shall have troops that will do +credit to my drill,” and thereupon proceeded to tell off the companies +of men-at-arms who were to accompany me. She left herself few enough to +stem the influx of rebels who poured ceaselessly in through the +tunnel; but as I had seen, with Phorenice, heavy odds added only to her +enjoyment. + +But for the Empress, I will own at the time to have given little enough +of thought. My own proper griefs were raw within me, and I thirsted for +that forgetfulness of all else which battle gives, so that for awhile I +might have a rest from their gnawings. + +It made my blood run freer to hear once more the tramp of practised +troops behind me, and when all had been collected, we marched out +through a gate of the city, and presently were charging through and +through the straggling rear of the enemy. By the Gods! for the moment +even Nais was blotted from my wearied mind. Never had I loved more to +let my fierceness run madly riot. Never have I gloated more abundantly +over the terrible joy of battle. + +Nais must forgive my weakness in seeking to forget her even for a +breathing-space. Had that opportunity been denied me, I believe the +agony of remembering would have snapped my brain-strings for always. + + + + +14. AGAIN THE GODS MAKE CHANGE + + +Now it would be tedious to tell how with a handful of highly trained +fighting men, I charged and recharged, and finally broke up that horde +of rebels which outnumbered us by fifteen times. It must be remembered +that they grew suddenly panic-stricken in finding that of all those +who went in under the city walls by the mine on which they had set such +great store, none came back, and that the sounds of panic which had +first broken out within the city soon gave way to cries of triumph and +joy. And it must be carried in memory also that these wretched rebels +were without training worthy of the name, were for the most part +weaponed very vilely, and, seeing that their silly principles made each +the equal of his neighbour, were practically without heads or leaders +also. + +So when the panic began, it spread like a malignant murrain through all +their ragged ranks, and there were none to rally the flying, none to +direct those of more desperate bravery who stayed and fought. + +My scheme of attack was simple. I hunted them without a halt. I and my +fellows never stopped to play the defensive. We turned one flank, and +charged through a centre, and then we were harrying the other flank, +and once more hacking our passage through the solid mass. And so by +constantly keeping them on the run, and in ignorance of whence would +come the next attack, panic began to grow amongst them and ferment, till +presently those in the outer lines commenced to scurry away towards +the forests and the spoiled corn-lands of the country, and those in the +inner packs were only wishful of a chance to follow them. + +It was no feat of arms this breaking up of the rebel leaguer, and no +practised soldier would wish to claim it as such. It was simply taking +advantage of the chances of the moment, and as such it was successful. +Given an open battle on their own ground, these desperate rebels would +have fought till none could stand, and by sheer ferocious numbers +would have pulled down any trained troops that the city could have sent +against them, whether they had advanced in phalanx or what formation +you will. For it must be remembered they were far removed from cowards, +being Atlantean all, just as were those within the city, and were, +moreover, spurred to extraordinary savageness and desperation by the +oppression under which they had groaned, and the wrongs they had been +forced to endure. + +Still, as I say, the poor creatures were scattered, and the siege was +raised from that moment, and it was plain to see that the rebellion +might be made to end, if no unreasonable harshness was used for its +final suppression. Too great severity, though perhaps it may be justly +their portion, only drives such malcontents to further desperations. + +Now, following up these fugitives, to make sure that there was no halt +in their retreat, and to send the lesson of panic thoroughly home to +them, had led us a long distance from the city walls; and as we had +fought all through the burning heat of the day and my men were heavily +wearied, I decided to halt where we were for the night amongst +some half-ruined houses which would make a temporary fortification. +Fortunately, a drove of little cloven-hoofed horses which had been +scared by some of the rebels in their flight happened to blunder into +our lines, and as we killed five before they were clear again, there was +a soldier’s supper for us, and quickly the fires were lit and cooking +it. + +Sentries paced the outskirts and made their cries to one another, and +the wounded sat by the fires and dressed their hurts, and with the +officers I talked over the engagements of the day, and the methods of +each charge, and the other details of the fighting. It is the special +perquisite of soldiers to dally over these matters with gusto, though +they are entirely without interest for laymen. + +The hour drew on for sleep, and snores went up from every side. It was +clear that all my officers were wearied out, and only continued the +talk through deference to their commander. Yet I had a feverish dread +of being left alone again with my thoughts, and pressed them on with +conversation remorselessly. But in the end they were saved the rudeness +of dropping off into unconsciousness during my talk. A sentry came up +and saluted. “My lord,” he reported, “there is a woman come up from the +city whom we have caught trying to come into the bivouac.” + +“How is she named?” + +“She will not say.” + +“Has she business?’ + +“She will say none. She demands only to see my lord.” + +“Bring her here to the fire,” I ordered, and then on second thoughts +remembering that the woman, whoever she might be, had news likely enough +for my private ear (or otherwise she would not have come to so uncouth +a rendezvous), I said to the sentry: “Stay,” and got up from the ground +beside the fire, and went with him to the outer line. + +“Where is she?” I asked. + +“My comrades are holding her. She might be a wench belonging to these +rebels, with designs to put a knife into my lord’s heart, and then we +sentries would suffer. The Empress,” he added simply, “seems to set +good store upon my lord at present, and we know the cleverness of her +tormentors.” + +“Your thoughtfulness is frank,” I said, and then he showed me the woman. +She was muffled up in hood and cloak, but one who loved Nais as I loved +could not mistake the form of Ylga, her twin sister, because of mere +swathings. So I told the sentries to release her without asking her for +speech, and then led her out from the bivouac beyond earshot of their +lines. + +“It is something of the most pressing that has brought you out here, +Ylga?” + +“You know me, then? There must be something warmer than the ordinary +between us two, Deucalion, if you could guess who walked beneath all +these mufflings.” + +I let that pass. “But what’s your errand, girl?” + +“Aye,” she said bitterly, “there’s my reward. All your concern’s for the +message, none for the carrier. Well, good my lord, you are husband to +the dainty Phorenice no longer.” + +“This is news.” + +“And true enough, too. She will have no more of you, divorces you, +spurns you, thrusts you from her, and, after the first splutter of wrath +is done, then come pains and penalties.” + +“The Empress can do no wrong. I will have you speak respectful words of +the Empress.” + +“Oh, be done with that old fable! It sickens me. The woman was mad for +love of you, and now she’s mad with jealousy. She knows that you gave +Nais some of your priest’s magic, and that she sleeps till you choose to +come and claim her, even though the day be a century from this. And if +you wish to know the method of her enlightenment, it is simple. There +is another airshaft next to the one down which you did your cooing and +billing, and that leads to another cell in which lay another prisoner. +The wretch heard all that passed, and thought to buy enlargement by +telling it. + +“But his news came a trifle stale. It seems that with the pressure of +the morning’s ceremonies, they forgot to bring a ration, and when at +last his gaoler did remember him, it was rather late, seeing that by +then Phorenice had tied herself publicly to a husband, and poor Nais had +doubtless eaten her green drug. However, the fools must needs try and +barter his tale for what it would fetch; and, as was natural, had such +a silly head chopped off for his pains; and after that your Phorenice +behaved as you may guess. And now you may thank me, sir, for coming to +warn you not to go back to Atlantis.” + +“But I shall go back. And if the Empress chooses to cut my head also +from its proper column, that is as the High Gods will.” + +“You are more sick of life than I thought. But I think, sir, our +Phorenice judges your case very accurately. It was permitted me to hear +the outbursting of this lady’s rage. ‘Shall I hew off his head?’ said +she. ‘Pah! Shall I give him over to my tormentors, and stand by whilst +they do their worst? He would not wrinkle his brow at their fiercest +efforts. No; he must have a heavier punishment than any of these, and +one also which will endure. I shall lop off his right hand and his left +foot, so that he may be a fighting man no longer, and then I shall drive +him forth crippled into the dangerous lands, where he may learn Fear. +The beasts shall hunt him, the fires of the ground shall spoil his rest. +He shall know hunger, and he shall breathe bad air. And all the while he +shall remember that I have Nais near me, living and locked in her coffin +of stone, to play with as I choose, and to give over to what insults may +come to my fancy.’ That is what she said, Deucalion. Now I ask you again +will you go back to meet her vengeance?” + +“No,” I said, “it is no part of my plan to be mutilated and left to +live.” + +“So, being a woman of some sense, I judged. And, moreover, having some +small kindness still left for you, I have taken it upon myself to make +a plan for your further movement which may fall in with your whim. Does +the name of Tob come back to your memory?” + +“One who was Captain of Tatho’s navy?” + +“That same Tob. A gruff, rude fellow, and smelling vile of tar, but +seeming to have a sturdy honesty of his own. Tob sails away this night +for parts unknown, presumably to found a kingdom with Tob for king. It +seems he can find little enough to earn at his craft in Atlantis these +latter days, and has scruples at seeing his wife and young ones hungry. +He told me this at the harbour side when I put my neck under the axe by +saying I wanted carriage for you, sir, and so having me under his thumb, +he was perhaps more loose-lipped than usual. You seem to have made +a fine impression on Tob, Deucalion. He said--I repeat his hearty +disrespect--you were just the recruit he wanted, but whether you joined +him or not, he would go to the nether Gods to do you service.” + +“By the fellow’s side, I gained some experience in fighting the greater +sea beasts.” + +“Well, go and do it again. Believe me, sir, it is your only chance. It +would grieve me much to hear the searing-iron hiss on your stumps. I +bargained with Tob to get clear of the harbour forts before the chain +was up for the night, and as he is a very daring fellow, with no fear of +navigating under the darkness, he himself said he would come to a point +of the shore which we agreed upon, and there await you. Come, Deucalion, +let me lead you to the place.” + +“My girl,” I said, “I see I owe you many thanks for what you have done +on my poor behalf.” + +“Oh, your thanks!” she said. “You may keep them. I did not come out here +in the dark and the dangers for mere thanks, though I knew well enough +there would be little else offered.”--She plucked at my sleeve.--“Now +show me your walking pace, sir. They will begin to want your countenance +in the camp directly, and we need hanker after no too narrow inquiries +for what’s along.” + +So thereon we set off, Ylga and I, leaving the lights of the bivouac +behind us, and she showed the way, whilst I carried my weapons ready to +ward off attacks whether from beasts or from men. Few words were passed +between us, except those which had concern with the dangers natural +to the way. Once only did we touch one another, and that was where +a tree-trunk bridged a rivulet of scalding water which flowed from a +boil-spring towards the sea. + +“Are you sure of footing?” I asked, for the night was dark, and the heat +of the water would peel the flesh from the bones if one slipped into it. + +“No,” she said, “I am not,” and reached out and took my hand. I helped +her over and then loosed my grip, and she sighed, and slowly slipped her +hand away. Then on again we went in silence, side by side, hour after +hour, and league after league. + +But at last we topped a rise, and below us through the trees I could see +the gleam of the great estuary on which the city of Atlantis stands. The +ground was soggy and wet beneath us, the trees were full of barbs and +spines, the way was monstrous hard. Ylga’s breath was beginning to come +in laboured pants. But when I offered to take her arm, and help her, +as some return against what she had done for me, she repulsed me rudely +enough. “I am no poor weakling,” said she, “if that is your only reason +for wanting to touch me.” + +Presently, however, we came out through the trees, and the roughest part +of our journey was done. We saw the ship riding to her anchors in +shore a mile away, and a weird enough object she was under the faint +starlight. We made our way to her along the level beaches. + +Tob was keeping a keen watch. We were challenged the moment we came +within stone or arrow shot, and bidden to halt and recite our business; +but he was civil enough when he heard we were those whom he expected. +He called a crew and slacked out his anchor-rope till his ship ground +against the shingle, and then thrust out his two steering oars to help +us clamber aboard. + +I turned to Ylga with words of thanks and farewell. “I will never forget +what you have done for me this night; and should the High Gods see fit +to bring me back to Atlantis and power, you shall taste my gratitude.” + +“I do not want to return. I am sick of this old life here.” + +“But you have your palace in the city, and your servants, and your +wealth, and Phorenice will not disturb you from their possession.” + +“Oh, as for that, I could go back and be fan-girl tomorrow. But I do not +want to go back.” + +“Let me tell you it is no time for a gently nurtured lady like yourself +to go forward. I have been viceroy of Yucatan, Ylga, and know somewhat +of making a foothold in these new countries. And that was nothing +compared with what this will be. I tell you it entails hardships, and +privations, and sufferings which you could not guess at. Few survive +who go to colonise in the beginning, and those only of the hardiest, and +they earn new scars and new batterings every day.” + +“I do not care, and, besides, I can share the work. I can cook, I can +shoot a good arrow, and I can make garments, yes, though they were +cut from the skins of beasts and had to be sewn with backbone sinews. +Because you despise fine clothes, and because you have seen me only +decked out as fan-girl, you think I am useless. Bah, Deucalion! Never +let people prate to me about your perfection. You know less about a +woman than a boy new from school.” + +“I have learned all I care to know about one woman, and because of the +memory of her, I could not presume to ask her sister to come with me +now.” + +“Aye,” she said bitterly, “kick my pride. I knew well enough it was only +second place to Nais I could get all the time I was wanting to come. Yet +no one but a boor would have reminded me of it. Gods! and to think that +half the men in Atlantis have courted me, and now I am arrived at this!” + +“I must go alone. It would have made me happier to take your esteem with +me. But as it is, I suppose I shall carry only your hate.” + +“That is the most humiliating thing of all; I cannot bring myself to +hate you. I ought to, I know, after the brutal way you have scorned me. +But I do not, and there is the truth. I seem to grow the fonder of you, +and if I thought there was a way of keeping you alive, and unmutilated, +here in Atlantis, I do not think I should point out that Tob is tired +of waiting, and will probably be off without you.” She flung her arms +suddenly about my neck, and kissed me hotly on the mouth. “There, that +is for good-bye, dear. You see I am reckless. I care not what I do now, +knowing that you cannot despise me more than you have done all along for +my forwardness.” + +She ran back from me into the edge of the trees. + +“But this is foolishness,” I said. “I must take you through the dangers +that lie between here and some gate of the city, and then come back to +the ship.” + +“You need not fear for me. The unhappy are always safe. And, besides, I +have a way. It is my solace to know that you will remember me now. You +will never forget that kiss.” + +“Fare you well, Ylga,” I cried. “May the High Gods keep you entirely in +their holy care.” + +But no reply came back. She had gone off into the forest. And so I +turned down to the beach, and splashed into the water, and climbed on +board the ship up the steering oars. Tob gave the word to haul-to the +anchor, and get her away from the beach. + +“Greeting, my lord,” said he, “but I’d have been pleased to see you +earlier. We’ve small enough force and slow enough heels in this vessel, +and it’s my idea that the sooner we’re away from here and beyond range +of pursuit, the safer it will be for my woman and brats who are in that +hutch of an after-castle. It’s long enough since I sailed in such a +small old-fashioned ship as this. She’s no machines, and she’s not even +a steering mannikin. Look at the meanness of her furniture and (in your +ear) I’ve suspicions that there’s rottenness in her bottom. But she’s +the best I’d the means to buy, and if she reaches the place at the +farther end I’ve got my eye on, we shall have to make a home there, or +be content to die, for she’ll never have strength to carry us farther +or back. She’s been a ship in the Egypt trade, and you know what that is +for getting worm and rot in the wood.” + +“You’d enough hands for your scheme before I came?” + +“Oh yes. I’ve fifty stout lads and eight women packed in the ship +somehow, and trouble enough I’ve had to get them away from the city. +That thief of a port-captain wellnigh skinned us clean before he could +see it lawful that so many useful fighting men might go out of harbour. +Times are not what they were, I tell you, and the sea trade’s about +done. All sailor men of any skill have taken a woman or two and gone +out in companies to try their fortunes in other lands. Why, I’d trouble +enough to get half a score to help me work this ship. All my balance are +just landsmen raw and simple, and if I land half of them alive at the +other end, we shall be doing well.” + +“Still with luck and a few good winds it should not take long to get +across to Europe.” + +Tob slapped his leg. “No savage Europe for me, my lord. Now, see the +advantage of being a mariner. I found once some islands to the north +of Europe, separated from the main by a strait, which I called the Tin +Islands, seeing that tin ore litters many of the beaches. I was driven +there by storm, and said no word of the find when I got back, and here +you see it comes in useful. There’s no one in all Atlantis but me knows +of those Tin Islands to-day, and we’ll go and fight honestly for our +ground, and build a town and a kingdom on it.” + +“With Tob for king?” + +“Well, I have figured it out as such for many a day, but I know when I +meet my better, and I’m content to serve under Deucalion. My lord would +have done wiser to have brought a wife with him, though, and I thought +it was understood by the good lady that spoke to me down at the harbour, +or I’d have mentioned it earlier. The savages in my Tin Islands go naked +and stain themselves blue with woad, and are very filthy and brutish to +look upon. They are sturdy, and should make good slaves, but one would +have to get blunted in the taste before one could wish to be father to +their children.” + +“I am still husband to Phorenice.” + +Tob grinned. “The Gods give you joy of her. But it is part of a +mariner’s creed--and you will grow to be a mariner here--that wedlock +does not hold across the seas. However, that matter may rest. But, +coming to my Tin Islands again: they’ll delight you. And I tell you, a +kingdom will not be so hard to carve out as it was in Egypt, or as you +found in Yucatan. There are beasts there, of course, and no one who +can hunt need ever go hungry. But the greater beasts are few. There +are cave-bears and cave-tigers in small numbers, to be sure, and some +river-horses and great snakes. But the greater lizards seem to avoid the +land; and as for birds, there is rarely seen one that can hurt a grown +man. Oh, I tell you, it will be a most desirable kingdom.” + +“Tob seems to have imagined himself king of the Tin Islands with much +reality.” + +He sighed a little. “In truth I did, and there is no denying it, and I +tell you plain, there is not another man living that I would have broken +this voyage for but Deucalion. But don’t think I regret it, and don’t +think I want to push myself above my place. This breeze and the ebb are +taking the old ship finely along her ways. See those fire baskets on the +harbour forts? We’re abreast of them now. We’ll have dropped them and +the city out of sight by daylight, and the flood will not begin to run +up till then. But I fear unless the wind hardens down with the dawn +we’ll have to bring up to an anchor when the flood makes. Tides run very +hard in these narrow seas. Aye, and there are some shrewdish tide-rips +round my Tin Islands, as you shall see when we reach them.” + +There were many fearful glances backwards when day came and showed the +waters, and the burning mountains that hemmed them in beyond the shores. +All seemed to expect some navy of Phorenice to come surging up to take +them back to servitude and starvation in the squalid wards of the city; +and I confess ingenuously that I was with them in all truth when they +swore they would fight the ship till she sank beneath them, before they +would obey another of the commands of Phorenice. However, their brave +heroics were displayed to no small purpose. For the full flow of the +tide we hung in our place, barely moving past the land, but yet not +seeing either oar or sail; and then, when the tide turned, away we went +once more with speed, mightily comforted. + +Tob’s woman must needs bring drink on deck, and bid all pour libations +to her as a future queen. But Tob cuffed her back into the after-castle, +slamming to the hatch behind her heels, and bidding the crew send the +liquor down their dusty throats. “We are done with that foolery,” said +he. “My Lord Deucalion will be king of this new kingdom we shall +build in the Tin Islands, and a right proper king he’ll make, as you +untravelled ones would know, if you’d sailed the outer seas with him as +I have done.” Beneath which I read a regret, but said nothing, having +made my plans from the moment of stepping on board, as will appear on a +later sheet. + +So on down the great estuary we made our way, and though it pleasured +the others on board when they saw that the seas were desolate of sails, +it saddened me when I recalled how once the waters had been whitened +with the glut of shipping. + +They had started off on their voyage with a bare two days’ provision +in their equipment, and so, of necessity even after leaving the great +estuary, we were forced to voyage coastwise, putting into every likely +river and sheltered beach to slay fish and meat for future victualling. +“And when the winter comes,” said Tob, “as its gales will be heavier +than this old ship can stomach, I had determined to haul up and make a +permanent camp ashore, and get a crop of grain grown and threshed before +setting sail again. It is the usual custom in these voyages. And I shall +do it still, subject to my lord’s better opinion.” + +So here, having by this time completed a two months’ leisurely journey +from the city, I saw my opportunity to speak what I had always carried +in my mind. “Tob,” I said, “I am a poor, weak, defenceless man, and I am +quite at your mercy, but what if I do not voyage all the way to the Tin +Islands, and oust you of this kingship?” + +He brightened perceptibly. “Aye,” he grunted, “you are very weak, my +lord, and mighty defenceless. We know all about that. But what’s +else? You must tell all your meaning plain. I’m a common mariner, and +understand little of your fancy talk.” + +“Why, this. That it is not my wish to leave the continent of Atlantis. +If you will put me down on any part of this side that faces Europe, I +will commend you strongly to the Gods. I would I could give you +money, or (better still) articles that would be useful to you in your +colonising; but as it is, you see me destitute.” + +“As to that, you owe me nothing, having done vastly more than your share +each time we have put in shore for the hunting. But it will not do, this +plan of yours. I will shamedly confess that the sound of that kingship +in my Tin Islands sounds sweet to me. But no, my lord, it will not do. +You are no mariner yet, and understand little of geography, but I must +tell you that the part of Atlantis there”--he jerked his thumb towards +the line of trees, and the mountains which lay beyond the fringe +of surf--“is called the Dangerous Lands, and a man must needs be a +salamander and be learned in magic (so I am told) before he can live +there.” + +I laughed. “We of the Priests’ Clan have some education, Tob, though +it may not be on the same lines as your own. In fact, I may say I was +taught in the colleges concerning the boundaries and the contents of +our continent with a nicety that would surprise you. And once ashore, my +fate will still be under the control of the most High Gods.” + +He muttered something in his profane seaman’s way about preferring to +keep his own fate under control of his own most strong right arm, but +saying that he would keep the matter in his thoughts, he excused himself +hurriedly to go and see to somewhat concerning the working of the ship, +and there left me. + +But I think the sweets of kingly rule were a strong argument in favour +of letting me have my way (which I should have had otherwise if it had +not been given peacefully), and on the third day after our talk he +put the ship inshore again for re-victualling. We lurched into a +river-mouth, half swamped over a roaring bar, and ran up against the +bank and made fast there to trees, but booming ourselves a safe distance +off with oars and poles, so that no beast could leap on board out of the +thicket. + +Fish-spearing and meat-hunting were set about with promptitude, and +on the second day we were happy enough to slay a yearling river-horse, +which gave provisions in all sufficiency. A space was cleared on the +bank, fires were lit, and the meat hung over the smoke in strips, and +when as much was cured as the ship would carry, the shipmen made a final +gorge on what remained, filled up a great stack of hollow reeds with +drinking water, and were ready to continue the voyage. + +With sturdy generosity did Tob again attempt to make me sail on with +them as their future king, and as steadfastly did I make refusal; and +at last stood alone on the bank amongst the gnawed bones of their feast, +with my weapons to bear me company, and he, and his men, and the women +stood in the little old ship, ready to drop down river with the current. + +“At least,” said Tob, “we’ll carry your memory with us, and make it big +in the Tin Islands for everlasting.” + +“Forget me,” I said, “I am nothing. I am merely an incident that has +come in your way. But if you want to carry some memory with you that +shall endure, preserve the cult of the most High Gods as it was taught +to you when you were children here in Atlantis. And afterwards, when +your colony grows in power, and has come to sufficient magnificence, you +may send to the old country for a priest.” + +“We want no priest, except one we shall make ourselves, and that will +be me. And as for the old Gods--well, I have laid my ideas before the +fellows here, and they agree to this: We are done with those old Gods +for always. They seem worn out, if one may judge from Their present lack +of usefulness in Atlantis, and, anyway, there will be no room for Them +on the Tin Islands.--Let go those warps there aft, and shove her head +out.--We are under weigh now, my lord, and beyond recall, and so I am +free to tell you what we have decided upon for our religious exercises. +We shall set up the memory of a living Hero on earth, and worship that. +And when in years to come the picture of his face grows dim, we shall +doubtless make an image of him, as accurate as our art permits, and +build him a temple for shelter, and bring there our offerings and +prayers. And as I say, my lord, I shall be priest, and when I am dead, +the sons of my body shall be priests after me, and the eldest a king +also.” + +“Let me plead with you,” I said. “This must not be.” + +The ship was drifting rapidly away with the current, and they were +hoisting sail. Tob had to shout to make himself heard. “Aye, but it +shall be. For I, too, am a strong man after my kind, and I have ordered +it so. And if you want the name of our Hero that some day shall be God, +you wear it on yourself. Deucalion shall be God for our children.” + +“This is blasphemy,” I cried. “Have a care, fool, or this impiety will +sink you.” + +“We will risk it,” he bawled back, “and consider the odds against us are +small. Regard! Here is thy last horn of wine in the ship, and my woman +has treasured it against this moment. Regard, all men, together +with Those above and Those below! I pour this wine as a libation to +Deucalion, great lord that is to-day, Hero that shall be to-morrow, God +that will be in time to come!” And then all those on the ship joined +in the acclaim till they were beyond the reach of my voice, and were +battling their way out to sea through the roaring breakers of the bar. + +Solitary I stood at the brink of the forest, looking after them and +musing sadly. Tob, despite his lowly station, was a man I cared for more +than many. Like all seamen, I knew that he paid his devotions to one +of the obscurer Gods, but till then I had supposed him devout in his +worship. His new avowal came to me as a desolating shock. If a man like +Tob could forsake all the older Gods to set up on high some poor mortal +who had momentarily caught his fancy, what could be expected from +the mere thoughtless mob, when swayed by such a brilliant tongue as +Phorenice’s? It seemed I was to begin my exile with a new dreariness +added to all the other adverse prospects of Atlantis. + +But then behind me I heard the rustle of some great beast that had +scented me, and was coming to attack through the thicket, and so I had +other matters to think upon. I had to let Tob and his ship go out over +the rim of the horizon unwatched. + + + + +15. ZAEMON’S SUMMONS + + +Since the days when man was first created upon the earth by Gods who +looked down and did their work from another place, there have always +been areas of the land ill-adapted for his maintenance, but none more so +than that part of Atlantis which lies over against the savage continents +of Europe and Africa. The common people avoid it, because of a +superstition which says that the spirits of the evil dead stalk about +there in broad daylight, and slay all those that the more open dangers +of the place might otherwise spare. And so it has happened often that +the criminals who might have fled there from justice, have returned +of their own free will, and voluntarily given themselves up to the +tormentors, rather than face its fabulous terrors. + +To the educated, many of these legends are known to be mythical; but +withal there are enough disquietudes remaining to make life very arduous +and stocked with peril. Everywhere the mountains keep their contents +on the boil; earth tremors are every day’s experience; gushes of unseen +evil vapours steal upon one with such cunningness and speed, that it is +often hard to flee in time before one is choked and killed; poisons well +up into the rivers, yet leave their colour unchanged; great cracks split +across the ground reaching down to the fires beneath, and the waters +gush into these, and are shot forth again with devastating explosion; +and always may be expected great outpourings of boiling mud or molten +rock. + +Yet with all this, there are great sombre forests in these lands, with +trees whose age is unimaginable, and fires amongst the herbage are rare. +All beneath the trees is water, and the air is full of warm steam and +wetness. For a man to live in that constant hot damp is very mortifying +to the strength. But strength is wanted, and cunning also beyond the +ordinary, for these dangerous lands are the abode of the lizards, which +of all beasts grow to the most enormous size and are the most fearsome +to deal with. + +There are countless families and species of these lizards, and with some +of them a man can contend with prospect of success. But there are others +whose hugeness no human force can battle against. One I saw, as it came +up out of a lake after gaining its day’s food, that made the wet land +shake and pulse as it trod. It could have taken Phorenice’s mammoth into +its belly,* and even a mammoth in full charge could not have harmed it. +Great horny plates covered its head and body, and on the ridge of its +back and tail and limbs were spines that tore great slivers from the +black trees as it passed amongst them. + + +* TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Professor Reeder of the Wyoming State University +has recently unearthed the skeleton of a Brontosaurus, 130 ft. in +length, which would have weighed 50 tons when alive. It was 35 ft. in +height at the hips, and 25 ft. at the shoulder, and 40 people could be +seated with comfort within its ribs. Its thigh bone was 8 ft. long. The +fossils of a whole series of these colossal lizards have been found. + + +Now and again these monsters would get caught in some vast fissuring +of the ground, but not often. Their speed of foot was great, and their +sagacity keen. They seemed to know when the worst boilings of the +mountains might be expected, and then they found safety in the deeper +lakes, or buried themselves in wallows of the mud. Moreover, they were +more kindly constituted than man to withstand one great danger of these +regions, in that the heat of the water did them no harm. Indeed, they +will lie peacefully in pools where sudden steam-bursts are making the +water leap into boiling fountains, and I have seen one run quickly +across a flow of molten rock which threatened to cut it off, and not be +so much as singed in the transit. + +In the midst of such neighbours, then, was my new life thrown, and +existence became perilous and hard to me from the outset. I came near to +knowing what Fear was, and indeed only a fervent trust in the most High +Gods, and a firm belief that my life was always under Their fostering +care, prevented me from gaining that horrid knowledge. For long enough, +till I learned somewhat of the ways of this steaming, sweltering land, +I was in as miserable a case as even Phorenice could have wished to see +me. My clothes rotted from my back with the constant wetness, till I +went as naked as a savage from Europe; my limbs were racked with agues, +and I could find no herbs to make drugs for their relief; for days +together I could find no better food than tree-grubs and leaves; and +often when I did kill beasts, knowing little of their qualities, I ate +those that gave me pain and sickness. + +But as man is born to make himself adaptable to his surroundings, so +as the months dragged on did I learn the limitation of this new life of +mine, and gather some knowledge of its resources. As example: I found +a great black tree, with a hollow core, and a hole into its middle near +the roots. Here I harboured, till one night some monstrous lizard, whose +sheer weight made the tree rock like a sapling, endeavoured to suck me +forth as a bird picks a worm from a hollow log. I escaped by the will +of the Gods--I could as much have done harm to a mountain as injure that +horny tongue with my weapons--but I gave myself warning that this chance +must not happen again. + +So I cut myself a ladder of footholes on the inside of the trunk till I +had reached a point ten man-heights from the ground, and there cut other +notches, and with tree branches made a floor on which I might rest. +Later, for luxury, I carved me arrow-slit windows in the walls of my +chamber, and even carried up sand for a hearth, so that I might cook my +victual up there instead of lighting a fire in all the dangers of the +open below. + +By degrees, too, I began to find how the large-scaled fish of the rivers +and the lesser turtles might be more readily captured, and so my ribs +threatened less to start through their proper covering of skin as the +days went on. But the lack of salads and gruels I could never overcome. +All the green meat was tainted so powerfully with the taste of tars that +never could I force my palate to accept it. And of course, too, there +remained the peril of the greater lizards and the other dangers native +to the place. + +But as the months began to mount into years, and the brute part of my +nature became more satisfied, there came other longings which it was +less easy to provide for. From the ivory of a river horse’s tooth I had +endeavoured to carve me a representative of Nais as last I had seen her. +But, though my fingers might be loving, and my will good, my art was +of the dullest, and the result--though I tried time and time again--was +always clumsy and pitiful. Still, in my eyes it carried some suggestion +of the original--a curve here, an outline there, and it made my old love +glow anew within me as I sat and ate it with my eyes. Yet it did little +to satisfy my longings for the woman I had lost; rather it whetted my +cravings to be with her again, or at least to have some knowledge of her +fate. + +Other men of the Priests’ Clan have come out and made an abode in these +Dangerous Lands, and by mortifying the flesh, have gained an intimacy +with the Higher Mysteries which has carried them far past what mere +human learning and repetition could teach. Indeed, here and there one, +who from some cause and another has returned to the abodes of men, has +carried with him a knowledge that has brought him the reputation amongst +the vulgar for the workings of magic and miracles, which--since all arts +must be allowed which aid so holy a cause--have added very materially to +the ardour with which these common people pursue the cult of the Gods. +But for myself I could not free my mind to the necessary clearness for +following these abstruse studies. During that voyage home from Yucatan I +had communed with them with growing insight; but now my mind was not my +own. Nais had a lien upon it, and refused to be ousted; and, in truth, +her sweet trespass was my chief solace. + +But at last my longing could no further be denied. Through one of +the arrow-slit windows of my tree-house I could see far away a great +mountain top whitened with perpetual snow, which our Lord the Sun dyed +with blood every night of His setting. Night after night I used to watch +that ruddy light with wide straining eyes. Night after night I used to +remember that in days agone when I was entering upon the priesthood, it +had been my duty to adore our great Lord as He rose for His day behind +the snows of that very mountain. And always the thought followed on +these musings, that from that distant crest I could see across the +continent to the Sacred Mount, which had the city below it where I had +buried my love alive. + +So at last I gave way and set out, and a perilous journey I made of it. +In the heavy mists, which hung always on the lower ground, my way lay +blind before me, and I was constantly losing it. Indeed, to say that +I traversed three times the direct distance is setting a low estimate. +Throughout all those swamps the great lizards hunted, and as the country +was new to me I did not know places of harbour, and a hundred times was +within an ace of being spied and devoured at a mouthful. But the High +Gods still desired me for Their own purposes, and blinded the great +beasts’ eyes when I slunk to cover as they passed. Twice rivers of +scalding water roared boiling across my path, and I had to delay till I +could collect enough black timber from the forests to build rafts that +would give me dry ferriage. + +It will be seen then that my journey was in a way infinitely tedious, +but to me, after all those years of waiting, the time passed on winged +feet. I had been separated from my love till I could bear the strain +no longer; let me but see from a distance the place where she lay, and +feast my eyes upon it for a while, and then I could go back to my abode +in the tree and there remain patiently awaiting the will of the Gods. + +The air grew more chilly as I began to come out above the region of +trees, on to that higher ground which glares down on the rest of the +world, and I made buskins and a coat of woven grasses to protect my body +from the cold, which began to blow upon me keenly. And later on, where +the snow lay eternally, and was blown into gullies, and frozen into +solid banks and bergs of ice, I had hard work to make any progress +amongst its perilous mazes, and was moreover so numbed by the chill, +that my natural strength was vastly weakened. Overhead, too, following +me up with forbidding swoops, and occasionally coming so close that I +had to threaten it with my weapons, was one of those huge man-eating +birds which live by pulling down and carrying off any creature that +their instincts tell them is weakly, and likely soon to die. + +But the lure ahead of me was strong enough to make these difficulties +seem small, and though the air of the mountain agreed with me ill, +causing sickness and panting, I pressed on with what speed I could +muster towards the elusive summit. Time after time I thought the next +spurt would surely bring me out to the view for which my soul yearned, +but always there seemed another bank of snow and ice yet to be climbed. +But at last I reached the crest, and gave thanks to the most High Gods +for Their protection and favour. + +Far, far away I could see the Sacred Mountain with its ring of fires +burning pale under the day, and although the splendid city which nestled +at its foot could not be seen from where I stood, I knew its position +and I knew its plan, and my soul went out to that throne of granite in +the square before the royal pyramid, where once, years before, I had +buried my love. Had Phorenice left the tomb unviolated? + +I stood there leaning on my spear, filling my eye with the prospect, +warming even to the smoke of mountains that I recognised as old +acquaintances. Gods! how my love burned within me for this woman. My +whole being seemed gone out to meet her, and to leave room for nothing +beside. For long enough a voice seemed dimly to be calling me, but +I gave it no regard. I had come out to that hoary mountain top for +communion with Nais alone, and I wanted none others to interrupt. + +But at length the voice calling my name grew too loud to be neglected, +and I pulled myself out of my sweet musing with a start to think that +here, for the first time since parting with Tob and his company, I +should see another human fellow-being. I gripped my weapon and asked who +called. The reply came clearly from up the slopes of mountain, and I saw +a man coming towards me over the snows. He was old and feeble. His body +was bent, and his hair and beard were white as the ground on which he +trod, and presently I recognised him as Zaemon. He was coming towards +me with incredible speed for a man of his years and feebleness, but he +carried in his hand the glowing Symbol of our Lord the Sun, and holy +strength from this would add largely to his powers. + +He came close to me and made the sign of the Seven, which I returned +to him, with its completion, with due form and ceremony. And then he +saluted me in the manner prescribed as messenger appointed by the High +Council of the Priests seated before the Ark of the Mysteries, and I +made humble obeisance before him. + +“In all things I will obey the orders that you put before me,” I said. + +“Such is your duty, my brother. The command is, that you return +immediately to the Sacred Mountain, so that if human means may still +prevail, you, as the most skilful general Atlantis owns within her +borders, may still save the country from final wreck and punishment. The +woman Phorenice persists in her infamies. The poor land groans under +her heel. And now she has laid siege to our Sacred Mountain itself, and +swears that not one soul shall be left alive in all Atlantis who does +not bend humbly to her will.” + +“It is a command and I obey it. But let me ask of another matter that is +intimate to both of us. What of Nais?” + +“Nais rests where you left her, untouched. Phorenice knows by her +arts--she has stolen nearly all the ancient knowledge now--that still +you live, and she keeps Nais unharmed beneath the granite throne in the +hopes that some time she may use her as a weapon against you. Little she +knows the sternness of our Priests’ creed, my brother. Why, even I, that +am the girl’s father, would sacrifice her blithely, if her death or ruin +might do a tittle of good to Atlantis.” + +“You go beyond me with your devotion.” + +The old man leaned forward at me, with glowering brow. “What!” + +“Or my old blind adherence to the ancient dogma has been sapped and +weakened by events. You must buy my full obedience, Zaemon, if you want +it. Promise me Nais--and your arts I know can snatch her--and I will be +true servant to the High Council of the Priest, and will die in the +last ditch if need be for the carrying out of order. But let me see Nais +given over to the fury of that wanton woman, and I shall have no inwards +left, except to take my vengeance, and to see Atlantis piled up in ruins +as her funeral-stone.” + +Zaemon looked at me bitterly. “And you are the man the High Council +thought to trust as they would trust one of themselves? Truly we are in +an age of weak men and faithless now. But, my lord--nay, I must call you +brother still: we cannot be too nice in our choosing to-day--you are the +best there is, and we must have you. We little thought you would ask a +price for your generalship, having once taken oath on the walls of the +Ark of the Mysteries itself that always, come what might, you would be a +servant of the High Council of the Clan without fee and without hope of +advancement. But this is the age of broken vows, and you are going no +more than trim with the fashion. Indeed, brother, perhaps I should thank +you for being no more greedy in your demands.” + +“You may spare me your taunts. You, by self-denial and profound search +into the highest of the higher Mysteries, have made yourself something +wiser than human; I have preserved my humanity, and with it its powers +and frailties; and it seems that each of us has his proper uses, or +you would not be come now here to me. Rather you would have done the +generalling yourself.” + +“You make a warm defence, my brother. But I have no leisure now to stand +before you with argument. Come to the Sacred Mountain, fight me this +wanton, upstart Empress, and by my beard you shall have your Nais as you +left her as a reward.” + +“It is a command of the High Council which shall be obeyed. I will come +with my brother now, as soon as he is rested.” + +“Nay,” said the old man, “I have no tiredness, and as for coming with +me, there you will not be able. But follow at what pace you may.” + +He turned and set off down the snowy slopes of the mountain and I +followed; but gradually he distanced me; and so he kept on, with speed +always increasing, till presently he passed out of my sight round the +spur of an ice-cliff, and I found myself alone on the mountain side. +Yes, truly alone. For his footmarks in the snow from being deep, grew +shallower, and less noticeable, so that I had to stoop to see them. And +presently they vanished entirely, and the great mountain’s flank lay +before me trackless, and untrodden by the foot of man since time began. + +I was not shaken by any great amazement. Though it was beyond my poor +art to compass this thing myself, having occupied my mind in exile more +with memories of Nais than in study of those uppermost recesses of the +Higher Mysteries in which Zaemon was so prodigiously wise, still I had +some inkling of his powers. + +Zaemon I knew would be back again in his dwelling on the Sacred +Mountain, shaken and breathless, even before I had found an end to his +tracks in the snow, and it behoved me to join him there in the quickest +possible time. I had his promise now for my reward, and I knew that he +would carry it into effect. Beforetime I had made an error. I had valued +Atlantis most, and Nais, my private love, as only second. But now it was +in my mind to be honest with others even as with myself. Though all +the world were hanging on my choice, I could but love my Nais most, and +serve her first and foremost of all. + + + + +16. SIEGE OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN + + +Now, my passage across the great continent of Atlantis, if tedious and +haunted by many dangers, need not be recounted in detail here. Only one +halt did I make of any duration, and that was unavoidable. I had killed +a stag one day, bringing it down after a long chase in an open savannah. +I scented the air carefully, to see if there was any other beast which +could do me harm within reach, and thinking that the place was safe, +set about cutting my meat, and making a sufficiency into a bundle for +carriage. + +But underfoot amongst the grasses there was a great legged worm, a +monstrous green thing, very venomous in its bite; and presently as I +moved I brushed it with my heel, and like the dart of light it swooped +with its tiny head and struck me with its fangs in the lower thigh. With +my knife I cut through its neck and it fell to writhing and struggling +and twining its hundred legs into all manner of contortions; and then, +cleaning my blade in the ground, I stabbed with it deep all round the +wound, so that the blood might flow freely and wash the venom from its +lodgement. And then with the blood trickling healthily down from my +heel, I shouldered the meat and strode off, thankful for being so well +quit of what might have made itself a very ugly adventure. + +As I walked, however, my leg began to be filled with a tightness and +throbbing which increased every hour, and presently it began to swell +also, till the skin was stretched like drawn parchment. I was taken, +too, with a sickness, that racked me violently, and if one of the +greater and more dangerous beasts had come upon me then, he would have +eaten me without a fight. With the fall of darkness I managed to haul +myself up into a tree, and there abode in the crutch of a limb, in +wakefulness and pain throughout the night. + +With the dawn, when the night beasts had gone to their lairs, I +clambered down again, and leaning heavily on my spear, limped onwards +through the sombre forests along my way. The moss which grows on the +northern side of each tree was my guide, but gradually I began to note +that I was seeing moss all round the trees, and, in fact, was growing +light-headed with the pain and the swelling of the limb. But still I +pressed onwards with my journey, my last instinct being to obey the +command of the High Council, and so procure the enlargement of Nais as +had been promised. + +My last memory was of being met by someone in the black forest who aided +me, and there my waking senses took wings into forgetfulness. + +But after an interval, wit returned, and I found myself on a bed of +leaves in a cleft between two rocks, which was furnished with some poor +skill, and fortified with stakes and buildings against the entrance of +the larger marauding beasts. My wound was dressed with a poultice of +herbs, and at the other side of the cavern there squatted a woman, +cooking a mess of wood-grubs and honey over a fire of sticks. + +“How came I here?” I asked. + +“I brought you,” said she. + +“And who are you?” + +“A nymph, they call me, and I practise as such, collecting herbs and +curing the diseases of those that come to me, telling fortunes, and +making predictions. In return I receive what each can afford, and if +they do not pay according to their means, I clap on a curse to make them +wither. It’s a lean enough living when wars and the pestilence have left +so few poor folk to live in the land.” + +“Do you visit Atlantis?” + +“Not I. Phorenice would have me boiled in brine, living, if she could +lay easy hands on me. Our dainty Empress tolerates no magic but her own. +They say she is for pulling down the Priests off their Mountain now.” + +“So you do get news of the city?” + +“Assuredly. It is my trade to get good news, or otherwise how could I +tell fortunes to the vulgar? You see, my lord, I detected your quality +by your speech, and knowing you are not one of those that come to me for +spells, and potions, I have no fear in speaking to you plainly.” + +“Tell me then: Phorenice still reigns?” + +“Most vilely.” + +“As a maiden?” + +“As the mother of twin sons. Tatho’s her husband now, and has been these +three years.” + +“Tatho! Who followed him as viceroy of Yucatan?” + +“There is no Yucatan. A vast nation of little hairy men, so the tale +goes, coming from the West overran the country. They had clubs of +wood tipped with stone as their only arm, but numbers made their chief +weapon. They had no desire for plunder, or the taking of slaves, or +the conquering of cities. To eat the flesh of Atlanteans was their only +lust, and they followed it prodigiously. Their numbers were like the +bees in a swarm. + +“They came to each of the cities of Yucatan in turn, and though +the colonists slew them in thousands, the weight of numbers always +prevailed. They ate clean each city they took, and left it to the beasts +of the forest, and went on to the next. And so in time they reached the +coast towns, and Tatho and the few that survived took ship, and +sailed home. They even ate Tatho’s wife for him. They must be curious +persevering things, these little hairy men. The Gods send they do not +get across the seas to Atlantis, or they would be worse plague to the +poor country than Phorenice.” + +Now I had heard of these little hairy creatures before, and though +indeed I had never seen them, I had gathered that they were a little +less than human and a little more than bestial; a link so to speak +between the two orders; and specially held in check by the Gods in +certain forest solitudes. Also I had learned that on occasion, when +punishment was needful, they could be set loose as a devastating army +upon men, devouring all before them. But I said nothing of this to the +nymph, she being but a vulgar woman, and indeed half silly, as is always +the case with these self-styled sorceresses who gull the ignorant, +common folk. But within myself I was bitterly grieved at the fate of +that fine colony of Yucatan, in which I had expended such an infinity of +pains to do my share of the building. + +But it did not suit my purpose to have my name and quality blazoned +abroad till the time was full, and so I said nothing to the nymph about +Yucatan, but let the talk continue upon other matters. “What about +Egypt?” I asked. + +“In its accustomed darkness, so they say. Who cares for Egypt these +latter years? Who cares for anyone or anything for that matter except +for himself and his own proper estate? Time was when the country folk +and the hunters hereabouts brought me offerings to this cave for sheer +piety’s sake. But now they never come near unless they see a way of +getting good value in return for their gifts. And, by result, instead +of living fat and hearty, I make lean meals off honey and grubs. It’s +a poor life, a nymph’s, in these latter years I tell you, my lord. It’s +the fashion for all classes to believe in no kind of mystery now.” + +“What manner of pestilence is this you spoke of?” + +“I have not seen it. Thank the Gods it has not come this way. But they +do say that it has grown from the folk Phorenice has slain, and whose +bodies remain unburied. She is always slaying, and so the bodies lie +thicker than the birds and beasts can eat them. For which of our sins, +I wonder, did the Gods let Phorenice come to reign? I wish that she and +her twins were boiled alive in brine before they came between an honest +nymph of the forest and her living. + +“They say she has put an image of herself in all the temples of the +city now, and has ordered prayers and sacrifices to be made night +and morning. She has decreed all other Gods inferior to herself +and forbidden their worship, and those of the people that are not +sufficiently devout for her taste, have their hamstrings slit by their +tormentors to aid them constantly into a devotional attitude.--Will you +eat of my grubs and honey? There is nothing else. Your back was bloody +with carrying meat when I met you, but you had lost your load. You must +either taste this mess of mine now, or go without.” + +I harboured with that nymph in cave six days, she using her drugs and +charms to cure my leg the while, and when I was recovered, I hunted the +plains and killed her a fat cloven-hoofed horse as payment, and then +went along my ways. + +The country from there onwards had at one time carried a sturdy +population which held its own firmly, and, as its numbers grew, took in +more ground, and built more homesteads farther afield. The houses were +perched in trees for the most part, as there they were out of reach +of cave-bear and cave-tiger and the other more dangerous beasts. But +others, and these were the better ones, were built on the ground, of +logs so ponderous and so firmly clamped and dovetailed that the beasts +could not pull them down, and once inside a house of this fashion +its owners were safe, and could progue at any attackers through the +interstices between the logs, and often wound, sometimes make a kill. + +But not one in ten of these outlying settlers remained. The houses were +silent when I reached them, the fire-hearth before the door weed-grown, +and the patch of vegetables taken back by the greedy fingers of the +forest into mere scrub and jungle. And farther on, when villages began +to appear, strongly-walled as the custom is, to ward off the attacks of +beasts, the logs which aforetime had barred the gateway lay strewn in +a sprouting undergrowth, and naught but the kitchen middens remained to +prove that once they had sheltered human tenants. Phorenice’s influence +seemed to have spread as though it were some horrid blight over the +whole face of what was once a smiling and an easy-living land. + +So far I had met with little enough interference from any men I had come +across. Many had fled with their women into the depths of the forest at +the bare sight of me; some stood their ground with a threatening face, +but made no offer to attack, seeing that I did not offer them insult +first; and a few, a very few, offered me shelter and provision. But as +I neared the city, and began to come upon muddy beaten paths, I passed +through governments that were more thickly populated, and here appeared +strong chance of delay. The watcher in the tower which is set above each +village would spy me and cry: “Here is a masterless man,” and then the +people that were within would rush out with intent to spoil me of my +weapons, and afterwards to appoint me as a labourer. + +I had no desire to slay these wretched folk, being filled with pity at +the state to which they had fallen; and often words served me to make +them stand aside from the path, and stare wonderingly at my fierceness, +and let me go my ways. And when at other times words had no avail, I +strove to strike as lightly as could be, my object being to get forward +with my journey and leave no unnecessary dead behind me. Indeed, having +found the modern way of these villages, it grew to be my custom to turn +off into the forest, and make a circuit whenever I came within smell of +their garbage. + +Similarly, too, when I got farther on, and came amongst greater towns +also, I kept beyond challenge of their walls, having no mind to risk +delay from the whim of any new law which might chance to be set up by +their governors. My progress might be slinking, but my pride did not +upbraid me very loudly; indeed, the fever of haste burned within me so +hot and I had little enough carrying space for other emotions. + +But at last I found myself within a half-day’s journey the city of +Atlantis itself, with the Sacred Mountain and its ring of fires looming +high beside it, and the call for caution became trebly accentuated. +Everywhere evidences showed that the country had been drained of its +fighting men. Everywhere women prayed that the battles might end +with the rout of the Priests or the killing of Phorenice, so that the +wretched land might have peace and time to lick its wounds. + +An army was investing the Sacred Mountain, and its one approach was most +narrowly guarded. Even after having journeyed so far, it seemed as if I +should have to sit hopelessly down without being able to carry out the +orders which had been laid upon me by the High Council, and earn the +reward which had been promised. Force would be useless here. I should +have one good fight--a gorgeous fight--one man against an army, and my +usefulness would be ended.... No; this was the occasion for guile, and +I found covert in the outskirts of a wood, and lay there cudgelling my +brain for a plan. + +Across the plain before me lay the grim great walls of the city, with +the heads of its temples, and its palaces, and its pyramids showing +beyond. The step-sides of the royal pyramid held my eye. Phorenice had +expended some of her new-found store of gold in overlaying their former +whiteness with sheets of shining yellow metal. But it was not that +change that moved me. I was remembering that, in the square before the +pyramid, there stood a throne of granite carved with the snake and the +outstretched hand, and in the hollow beneath the throne was Nais, my +love, asleep these eight years now because of the drug that had been +given to her, but alive still, and waiting for me, if only I on my +part could make a way to the place where Zaemon defied the Empress, and +announce my coming. + +In that covert of the woods I lay a day and a night raging with myself +for not discovering some plan to get within the defences of the Sacred +Mountain, but in the morning which followed, there came a man towards me +running. + +“You need not threaten me with your weapons,” he cried. “I mean no harm. +It seems that you are Deucalion; though I should not have known you +myself in those rags and skins, and behind that tangle of hair and +beard. You will give me your good word I know. Believe me, I have not +loitered unduly.” + +He was a lower priest whom I knew, and held in little esteem; his name +was Ro, a greedy fellow and not overworthy of trust. “From whom do you +come?” I asked. + +“Zaemon laid a command on me. He came to my house, though how he got +there I cannot tell, seeing that Phorenice’s army blocks all possible +passage to and from the Mountain. I told him I wished to be mixed with +none of his schemings. I am a peaceful man, Deucalion, and have taken a +wife who requires nourishment. I still serve in the same temple, though +we have swept out the old Gods by order of the Empress, and put her +image in their place. The people are tidily pious nowadays, those that +are left of them, and the living is consequently easy. Yes, I tell you +there are far more offerings now than there were in the old days. And +so I had no wish to be mixed with matters which might well make me be +deprived of a snug post, and my head to boot.” + +“I can believe it all of you, Ro.” + +“But there was no denying Zaemon. He burst into one of his black furies, +and while he spoke at me, I tell you I felt as good as dead. You know +his powers?” + +“I have seen some of them.” + +“Well, the Gods alone know which are the true Gods, and which are the +others. I serve the one that gives me employment. But those that Zaemon +serves give him power, and that’s beyond denying. You see that right +hand of mine? It is dead and paralysed from the wrist, and that is +a gift of Zaemon. He bestowed it, he said, to make me collect my +attention. Then he said more hard things concerning what he was pleased +to term my apostasy, not letting me put up a word in my own defence of +how the change was forced upon me. And finally, said he, I might +either do his bidding on a certain matter to the letter, or take that +punishment which my falling away from the old Gods had earned. ‘I +shall not kill you,’ said he, ‘but I will cover all your limbs with a +paralysis, such as you have tasted already, and when at length death +reaches you in some gutter, you will welcome it.’” + +“If Zaemon said those words, he meant them. So you accepted the +alternative?” + +“Had I, with a wife depending on me, any other choice? I asked his +pleasure. It was to find you when you came in here from some distant +part of the land, and deliver to you his message. + +“‘Then tell me where is the meeting place,’ said I, ‘and when.’ + +“‘There is none appointed, nor is the day fixed,’ said he. ‘You must +watch and search always for him. But when he comes, you will be guided +to his place.’ Well, Deucalion, I think I was guided, but how, I do +not know. But now I have found you, and if there’s such a thing as +gratitude, I ask you to put in your word with Zaemon that this deadness +be taken away from my hand. It’s an awful thing for a man to be forced +to go through life like this, for no real fault of his own. And Zaemon +could cure it from where he sat, if he was so minded.” + +“You seem still to have a very full faith in some of the old Gods’ +priests,” I said. “But so far, I do not see that your errand is done. I +have had no message yet.” + +“Why, the message is so simple that I do not see why he could not have +got some one else to carry it. You are to make a great blaze. You may +fire the grasses of the plain in front of this wood if you choose. And +on the night which follows, you are to go round to that flank of the +Sacred Mountain away from the city where the rocks run down sheer, and +there they will lower a rope and haul you up to their hands above.” + +“It seems easy, and I thank you for your pains. I will ask Zaemon that +your hand may be restored to you.” + +“You shall have my prayers if it is. And look, Deucalion, it is a small +matter, and it would be less likely to slip your memory if you saw to it +at once on your landing. Later, you may be disturbed. Phorenice is bound +to pull you down off your perch up there now she has made her mind to +it. She never fails, once she has set her hand to a thing. Indeed, +if she was no Goddess at birth, she is making herself into one very +rapidly. She has got all the ancient learning of our Priests, and more +besides. She has discovered the Secret of Life these recent months--” + +“She has found that?” I cried, fairly startled. “How? Tell me how? Only +the Three know that. It is beyond our knowledge even who are members of +the Seven.” + +“I know nothing of her means. But she has the secret, and now she is as +good an immortal (so she says) as any of them. Well, Deucalion, it is +dangerous for me to be missing from my temple overlong, so I will go. +You will carry that matter we spoke of in your mind? It means much +to me.”--His eye wandered over my ragged person--“And if you think my +service is of value to you--” + +“You see me poor, my man, and practically destitute.” + +“Some small coin,” he murmured, “or even a link of bronze? I am at +great expense just now buying nourishment for my wife. Well, if you have +nothing, you cannot give. So I’ll just bid you farewell.” + +He took himself off then, and I was not sorry. I had never liked Ro. But +I wasted no more precious time then. The grass blazed up for a signal +almost before his timorous heels were clear of it, and that night when +the darkness gave me cover, I took the risk of what beasts might be +prowling, and went to the place appointed. There was no rope dangling, +but presently one came down the smooth cliff face like some slender +snake. I made a loop, slipped it over a leg, and pulled hard as a +signal. Those above began to haul, and so I went back to the Sacred +Mountain after an absence of so many toilsome and warring years. There +were none to disturb the ascent. Phorenice’s troops had no thought to +guard that gaunt, bare, seamless precipice. + +The men who hauled me up were old, and panted heavily with their task, +and, until I knew the reason, I wondered why a knot of younger priests +had not been appointed for the duty. But I put no question. With us of +the Priests’ Clan on the Sacred Mountain, it is always taken as granted +that when an order is given, it is given for the best. Besides, these +priests did not offer themselves to question. They took me off at once +to Zaemon, and that is what I could have wished. + +The old man greeted me with the royal sign. “All hail to Deucalion,” he +cried, “King of Atlantis, duly called thereto by the High Council of the +priests.” + +“Is Phorenice dead?” I asked. + +“It remains for you to slay her, and take your kingdom, if, indeed, +when all is done, there remains a man or a rood of land to govern. The +sentence has gone out that she is to die, and it shall be carried into +effect, even though we have to set loose the most dreadful powers that +are stored in the Ark of the Mysteries, and wreck this continent in our +effort. We have borne with her infamies all these years by command sent +down by the most High Gods; but now she has gone beyond endurance, and +They it is who have given the word for her cutting off.” + +“You are one of the highest Three; I am only one of the Seven; you best +know the cost.” + +“There can be no counting the cost now, my brother, and my king. It is +an order.” + +“It is an order,” I repeated formally, “so I obey.” + +“If it were not impious to do so, it would be easy to justify this +decision of the Gods. The woman has usurped the throne; yet she was +forgiven and bidden rule on wisely. She has tampered with our holy +religion; yet she was forgiven. She has killed the peoples of Atlantis +in greedy useless wars, and destroyed the country’s trade; yet she was +forgiven. She has desecrated the old temples, and latterly has set up +in them images of herself to be worshipped as a deity; yet she was +forgiven. But at last her evil cleverness has discovered to her the +tremendous Secret of Life and Death, and there she overstepped the +boundary of the High Gods’ forbearance. + +“I myself went to carry a final warning, and once more faced her in +the great banqueting-hall. Solemnly I recited to her the edict, and she +chose to take it as a challenge. She would live on eternally herself and +she would share her knowledge with those that pleased her. Tatho that +was her husband should also be immortal. Indeed, if she thought fit, she +would cry the secret aloud so that even the common people might know it, +and death from mere age would become a legend. + +“She cared no wit how she might upset the laws of Nature. She was +Phorenice, and was the highest law of all. And finally she defied me +there in that banqueting-hall and defied also the High Gods that stood +behind my mouth. ‘My magic is as strong as yours, you pompous fool,’ +she cried, ‘and presently you shall see the two stand side by side upon +their trial.’ + +“She began to collect an army from that moment, and we on our part made +our preparations. It was discovered by our arts that you still lived, +and King of Atlantis you were made by solemn election. How you were +summoned, you know as nearly as it is lawful that one of your degree +should know; how you came, you understand best yourself; but here you +are, my brother, and being King now, you must order all things as you +see best for the preservation of your high estate, and we others live +only to give you obedience.” + +“Then being King, I can speak without seeming to make use of a threat. +I must have my Queen first, or I am not strong enough to give my whole +mind to this ruling.” + +“She shall be brought here.” + +“So! Then I will be a General now, and see to the defences of this +place, and view the men who are here to stand behind them.” + +I went out of the dwelling then, Zaemon giving place and following me. +It was night still but there is no darkness on the upper part of the +Sacred Mountain. A ring of fires, fed eternally from the earth-breath +which wells up from below, burns round one-half of the crest, lighting +it always as bright as day, and in fact forming no small part of its +fortification. Indeed, it is said that, in the early dawn of history, +men first came to the Mountain as a stronghold because of the natural +defence which the fires offered. + +There is no bridging these flames or smothering them. On either side +of their line for a hundred paces the ground glows with heat, and a man +would be turned to ash who tried to cross it. Round full one-half the +mountain slopes the fires make a rampart unbreakable, and on the other +side the rock runs in one sheer precipice from the crest to the plain +which spreads beyond its foot. But it is on this farther side that there +is the only entrance way which gives passage to the crest of the Sacred +Mountain from below. Running diagonally up the steep face of the cliff +is a gigantic fissure, which succeeding ages (as man has grown more +luxurious) have made more easy to climb. + +Looking at the additions, in the ancient days, I can well imagine that +none but the most daring could have made the ascent. But one generation +has thrown a bridge over a bad gap here, and another has cut into the +living stone and widened a ledge there, till in these latter years there +is a path with cut steps and carved balustrade such as the feeblest or +most giddy might traverse with little effort or exertion. But always +when these improvers made smooth the obstacles, they were careful to +weaken in no possible way the natural defences but rather to add to +them. + +Eight gates of stone there were cutting the pathway, each commanding +a straight, steep piece of the ascent, and overhanging each gate was a +gallery secure from arrow-shot, yet so contrived that great stones could +be hurled through holes in the floor of it, in such a manner that they +must irretrievably smash to a pulp any men advancing against it from +below. And in caves dug out from the rock on either hand was a great +hoard of these stones, so that no enemy through sheer expenditure of +troops could hope to storm a gate by exhausting its ammunition. + +But though there were eight of these granite gates in the series, we had +the whole number to depend on no longer. The lowest gate was held by +a garrison of Phorenice’s troops, who had built a wall above them to +protect their occupation. The gate had been gained by no brilliant feat +of arms--it had been won by threats, bribery, and promises; or, in other +words, it had been given up by the blackest treachery. + +And here lay the keynote of the weakness in our defence. The most +perfect ramparts that brain can invent are useless without men to line +them, and it was men we lacked. Of students entering into the colleges +of the Sacred Mountain, there had been none now for many a year. The +younger generation thought little of the older Gods. Of the men that had +grown up amongst the sacred groves, and filled offices there, many had +become lukewarm in their faith and remained on only through habit, and +because an easy living stayed near them there; and these, when the siege +began, quickly made their way over to the other side. + +Phorenice was no fool to fight against unnecessary strength. Her heralds +made proclamation that peace and a good subsistence would be given to +those who chose to come out to her willingly; and as an alternative she +would kill by torture and mutilation those she caught in the place when +she took it by storm, as she most assuredly would do before she had +finished with it. And so great was the prestige of her name, that quite +one-half of these that remained on the mountain took themselves away +from the defence. + +There was no attempt to hold back these sorry priests, nor was there any +punishing them as they went. Zaemon, indeed, was minded (so he told me +with grim meaning himself) to give them some memento of their apostasy +to carry away which would not wear out, but the others of the High +Council made him stay his vengeful hand. And so when I came to the place +the garrison numbered no more than eighty, counting even feeble old +dotards who could barely walk; and of men not past their prime I could +barely command a score. + +Still, seeing the narrowness of the passages which led to each of the +gates, up which in no place could more than two men advance together, we +were by no means in desperate straits for the defence as yet; and if my +new-given kingdom was so far small, consisting as it did in effect of +the Sacred Mountain and no other part of Atlantis, at any rate there +seemed little danger of its being further contracted. + +Another of the wise precautions of the men of old stood us in good stead +then. In the ancient times, when grain first was grown as food, it came +to be looked upon as the acme of wealth. Tribute was always paid from +the people to their Priests, and presently, so the old histories say, +it was appointed that this should take the form of grain, as this was +a medium both dignified and fitting. And those of the people who had +it not, were forced to barter their other produce for grain before they +could pay this tribute. + +On the Sacred Mountain itself vast storehouses were dug in the rock, and +here the grain was teemed in great yellow heaps, and each generation of +those that were set over it, took a pride in adding to the accumulation. + +In more modern days it had been a custom amongst the younger and more +forward of the Priests to scoff at this ancient provision, and to hold +that a treasure of gold, or weapons, or jewels would have more value and +no less of dignity; and more than once it has been a close thing +lest these innovators should not be out-voted. But as it was, the old +constitution had happily been preserved, and now in these years of trial +the Clan reaped the benefit. And so with these granaries, and a series +of great tanks and cisterns which held the rainfall, there was no chance +of Phorenice reducing our stronghold by mere close investment, even +though she sat down stubbornly before it for a score of years. + +But it was the paucity of men for the defence which oppressed me most. +As I took my way about the head of the Mountain, inspecting all points, +the emptiness of the place smote me like a succession of blows. The +groves, once so trim, were now shaggy and unpruned. Wind had whirled +the leaves in upon the temple floors, and they lay there unswept. The +college of youths held no more now than a musty smell to bear witness +that men had once been grown there. The homely palaces of the higher +Priests, at one time so ardently sought after, lay many of them empty, +because not even one candidate came forward now to canvass for election. + +Evil thoughts surged up within me as I saw these things, that were +direct promptings from the nether Gods. “There must be something +wanting,” these tempters whispered, “in a religion from which so many of +its Priests fled at the first pinch of persecution.” + +I did what I could to thrust these waverings resolutely behind me; but +they refused to be altogether ousted from my brain; and so I made a +compromise with myself: First, I would with the help that might be given +me, destroy this wanton Phorenice, and regain the kingdom which had been +given me to my own proper rule; and afterwards I would call a council +of the Seven and council of the Three, and consider without prejudice +if there was any matter in which our ancient ritual could be amended +to suit the more modern requirements. But this should not be done till +Phorenice was dead and I was firmly planted in her room. I would not be +a party, even to myself, to any plan which smacked at all of surrender. + +And there as I walked through the desolate groves and beside the cold +altars, the High Gods were pleased to show their approval of my scheme, +and to give me opportunity to bind myself to it with a solemn oath and +vow. At that moment from His distant resting-place in the East, our Lord +the Sun leaped up to begin another day. For long enough from where I +stood below the crest of the Mountain, He Himself would be invisible. +But the great light of His glory spread far into the sky, and against it +the Ark of the Mysteries loomed in black outline from the highest crag +where it rested, lonely and terrible. + +For anyone unauthorised to go nearer than a thousand paces to this +storehouse of the Highest Mysteries meant instant death. On that day +when I was initiated as one of the Seven, I had been permitted to go +near and once press my lips against its ample curves; and the rank of +my degree gave me the privilege to repeat that salute again once on each +day when a new year was born. But what lay inside its great interior, +and how it was entered, that was hidden from the Seven, even as it was +from the other Priests and the common people in the city below. Only +those who had been raised to the sublime elevation of the Three had a +knowledge of the dreadful powers which were stored within it. + +I went down on my knees where I was, and Zaemon knelt beside me, and +together we recited the prayers which had been said by the Priests from +the beginning of time, giving thanks to our great Lord that He has +come to brighten another day. And then, with my eyes fixed on the black +outline of the Ark of Mysteries I vowed that, come what might, I at +least would be true servant of the High Gods to my life’s end, and that +my whole strength should be spent in restoring Their worship and glory. + + + + +17. NAIS THE REGAINED + + +Now, from where we stood together just below the crest of the Sacred +Mountain, we could see down into the city, which lay spread out below +us like a map. The harbour and the great estuary gleamed at its +farther side; and the fringe of hills beyond smoked and fumed in their +accustomed fashion; the great stone circle of our Lord the Sun stood +up grim and bare in the middle of the city; and nearer in reared up the +great mass of the royal pyramid, the gold on its sides catching new gold +from the Sun. There, too, in the square before the pyramid stood the +throne of granite, dwarfed by the distance to the size of a mole’s hill, +in which these nine years my love had lain sleeping. + +Old Zaemon followed my gaze. “Ay,” he said with a sigh, “I know where +your chief interest is. Deucalion when he landed here new from Yucatan +was a strong man. The King whom we have chosen--and who is the best we +have to choose--has his weakness.” + +“It can be turned into additional strength. Give me Nais here, living +and warm to fight for, and I am a stronger man by far than the cold +viceroy and soldier that you speak about.” + +“I have passed my word to that already, and you shall have her, but at +the cost of damaging somewhat this new kingdom of yours. Maybe too at +the same time we may rid you of this Phorenice and her brood. But I do +not think it likely. She is too wily, and once we begin our play, she is +likely to guess whence it comes, and how it will end, and so will make +an escape before harm can reach her. The High Gods, who have sent +all these trials for our refinement, have seen fit to give her some +knowledge of how these earth tremors may be set a-moving.” + +“I have seen her juggle with them. But may I hear your scheme?” + +“It will be shown you in good time enough. But for the present I would +bid you sleep. It will be your part to go into the city to-night, and +take your woman (that is my daughter) when she is set free, and bring +her here as best you can. And for that you will need all a strong man’s +strength.”--He stepped back, and looked me up and down.--“There are not +many folk that would take you for the tidy clean-chinned Deucalion now, +my brother. Your appearance will be a fine armour for you down yonder in +the city to-night when we wake it with our earth-shaking and terror. +As you stand now, you are hairy enough, and shaggy enough, and naked +enough, and dirty enough for some wild savage new landed out of Europe. +Have a care that no fine citizen down yonder takes a fancy to your +thews, and seizes upon you as his servant.” + +“I somewhat pity him in his household if he does.” + +Old Zaemon laughed. “Why, come to think of it, so do I.” + +But quickly he got grave again. Laughter and Zaemon were very rare +playmates. “Well, get you to bed, my King, and leave me to go into the +Ark of Mysteries and prepare there with another of the Three the things +that must be done. It is no light business to handle the tremendous +powers which we must put into movement this night. And there is danger +for us as there is for you. So if by chance we do not meet again till we +stand up yonder behind the stars, giving account to the Gods, fare you +well, Deucalion.” + +I slept that day as a soldier sleeps, taking full rest out of the hours, +and letting no harassing thought disturb me. It is only the weak who +permit their sleep to be broken on these occasions. And when the dark +was well set, I roused and fetched those who should attend to the rope. +Our Lady the Moon did not shine at that turn of the month: and the air +was full of a great blackness. So I was out of sight all the while they +lowered me. + +I reached the tumbled rocks that lay at the deep foot of the cliff, +and then commenced to use a nice caution, because Phorenice’s soldiers +squatted uneasily round their camp-fires, as though they had forebodings +of the coming evil. I had no mind to further stir their wakefulness. So +I crept swiftly along in the darkest of the shadows, and at last came to +the spot where that passage ends which before I had used to get beneath +the walls of the city. + +The lamp was in place, and I made my way along the windings swiftly. The +air, so it seemed to me, was even more noxious with vapours than it had +been when I was down there before, and I judged that Zaemon had already +begun to stir those internal activities which were shortly to convulse +the city. But again I had difficulty in finding an exit, and this, not +because there were people moving about at the places where I had to come +out, but because the set of the masonry was entirely changed. In olden +times the Priests’ Clan oversaw all the architects’ plans, and ruled out +anything likely to clash with their secret passages and chambers. But +in this modern day the Priests were of small account, and had no say in +this matter, and the architects often through sheer blundering sealed up +and made useless many of these outlets and hiding-places. + +As it was then, I had to get out of the network of tunnels and galleries +where I could, and not where I would, and in the event found myself at +the farther side of the city, almost up to where the outer wall joins +down to the harbour. I came out without being seen, careful even in this +moment of extremity to preserve the ordinances, and closed all traces of +exit behind me. The earth seemed to spring beneath my feet like the deck +of a ship in smooth water; and though there was no actual movement as +yet to disturb the people, and indeed these slept on in their houses and +shelters without alarm, I could feel myself that the solid deadness +of the ground was gone, and that any moment it might break out into +devastating waves of movement. + +Gods! Should I be too late to see the untombing of my love? Would she be +laid there bare to the public gaze when presently the people swarmed out +into the open spaces through fear at what the great earth tremor might +cause to fall? I could see, in fancy, their rude, cruel hands thrust +upon her as she lay there helpless, and my inwards dried up at the +thought. + +I ran madly down and down the narrow winding streets with the one +thought of coming to the square which lay in front of the royal pyramid +before these things came to pass. With exquisite cruelty I had been +forced with my own hands to place her alive in her burying-place beneath +the granite throne, and if thews and speed could do it, I would not miss +my reward of taking her forth again with the same strong hands. + +Few disturbed that furious hurry. At first here and there some wretch +who harboured in the gutter cried: “A thief! Throw a share or I pursue.” + But if any of these followed, I do not know. At any rate, my speed then +must have out-distanced anyone. Presently, too, as the swing of the +earth underfoot became more keen, and the stonework of the buildings by +the street side began to grate and groan and grit, and sent forth little +showers of dust, people began to run with scared cries from out of their +doors. But none of these had a mind to stop the ragged, shaggy, savage +man who ran so swiftly past, and flung the mud from his naked feet. + +And so in time I came to the great square, and was there none too soon. +The place was filling with people who flocked away from the narrow +streets, and it was full of darkness, and noise, and dust, and sickness. +Beneath us the ground rippled in undulations like a sea, which with +terrifying slowness grew more and more intense. + +Ever and again a house crashed down unseen in the gloom, and added to +the tumult. But the great pyramid had been planned by its old builders +to stand rude shocks. Its stones were dovetailed into one another with a +marvellous cleverness, and were further clamped and joined by ponderous +tongues of metal. It was a boast that one-half the foundations could be +dug from beneath it, and still the pyramid would stand four-square under +heaven, more enduring than the hills. + +Flickering torches showed that its great stone doors lay open, and ever +and again I saw some frightened inmate scurry out and then be lost to +sight in the gloom. But with the royal pyramid and its ultimate fate +I had little concern; I did not even care then whether Phorenice was +trapped, or whether she came out sound and fit for further mischief. +I crouched by the granite throne which stood in the middle of that +splendid square, and heard its stones grate together like the ends of a +broken bone as it rocked to the earth-waves. + +In that night of dust and darkness it was hard to see the outline of +one’s own hand, but I think that the Gods in some requital for the love +which had ached so long within me, gave me special power of sight. As +I watched, I saw the great carved rock which formed the capstone of the +throne move slightly and then move again, and then again; a tiny jerk +for each earth-pulse, but still there was an appreciable shifting; and, +moreover, the stone moved always to one side. + +There was method in Zaemon’s desperate work, and this in my blind panic +of love and haste, I had overlooked. So I went up the steps of the +throne on the side from which the great capstone was moving, and clung +there afire with expectation. + +More and more violent did the earth-swing grow, though the graduations +of its increase could not be perceived, and the din of falling houses +and the shrieks and cries of hurt and frightened people went louder +up into the night. Thicker grew the dust that filled the air, till one +coughed and strangled in the breathing, and more black did the night +become as the dust rose and blotted the rare stars from sight. I clung +to an angle of the granite throne, crouching on the uppermost step but +one below the capstone, and could scarcely keep my place against the +violence of the earth tremors. + +But still the huge capstone that was carved with the snake and the +outstretched hand held my love fast locked in her living tomb, and I +could have bit the cold granite at the impotence which barred me from +her. The people who kept thronging into the square were mad with +terror, but their very numbers made my case more desperate every moment. +“Phorenice, Goddess, aid us now!” some cried, and when the prayer +did not bring them instant relief, they fell to yammering out the old +confessions of the faith which they had learned in childhood, turning +in this hour of their dreadful need to those old Gods, which, through +so many dishonourable years, they had spurned and deserted. It was a +curious criticism on the balance of their real religion, if one had +cared to make it. + +Louder grew the crash of falling masonry; and from the royal pyramid +itself, though indeed I could not even see its outline through the +darkness, there came sounds of grinding stones and cracking bars of +metal which told that even its superb majestic strength had a breaking +strain. There came to my mind the threat that old Zaemon had thundered +forth in that painted, perfumed banqueting-hall: “You shall see,” he had +cried to the Empress, “this royal pyramid which you have polluted +with your debaucheries torn tier from tier, and stone from stone, and +scattered as feathers spread before a wind!” + +Still heavier grew the surging of the earth, and the pavement of the +great square gaped and upheaved, and the people who thronged it screamed +still more shrilly as their feet were crushed by the grinding blocks. +And now too the great pyramid itself was commencing to split, and +gape, and topple. The roofs of its splendid chambers gave way, and the +ponderous masonry above shuttered down and filled them. In part, too, +one could see the destruction now, and not guess at it merely from the +fearful hearings of the darkness. Thunders had begun to roar through +the black night above, and add their bellowings to this devil’s +orchestration of uproar, and vivid lightning splashes lit the flying +dust-clouds. + +It was perhaps natural that she should be there, but it came as a +shock when a flare of the lightning showed me Phorenice safe out in the +square, and indeed standing not far from myself. + +She had taken her place in the middle of a great flagstone, and stood +there swaying her supple body to the shocks. Her face was calm, and its +loveliness was untouched by the years. From time to time she brushed +away the dust as it settled on the short red hair which curled about her +neck. There was no trace of fear written upon her face. There was some +weariness, some contempt, and I think a tinge of amusement. Yes, it took +more than the crumbling of her royal pyramid to impress Phorenice with +the infinite powers of those she warred against. + +Gods! How the sight of her cool indifference maddened me then. I had +it in me to have strangled her with my hands if she had come within +my reach. But as it was, she stood in her place, swaying easily to the +earth-waves as a sailor sways on a ship’s deck, and beside her, crouched +on the same great flagstone, and overcome with nausea was Ylga, who +again was raised to be her fan-girl. It came to my mind that Ylga was +twin sister to Nais, and that I owed her for an ancient kindness, but I +had leisure to do nothing for her then, and indeed it was little enough +I could have done. With each shock the great capstone of the throne to +which I clung jarred farther and farther from its bed place, and my love +was coming nearer to me. It was she who claimed all my service then. + +Once in their blind panic a knot of the people in the square thought +that the granite stone was too solid to be overturned, and saw in it +an oasis of safety. They flocked towards it, many of them dragging +themselves up the steep deep high steps on hands and knees because their +feet had been injured by the billowing flagstones of the square. + +But I was in no mood to have the place profaned by their silly +tremblings and stares: I beat at them with my hands, tearing them away, +and hurling them back down the steepness of the steps. They asked me +what was my title to the place above their own, and I answered them with +blows and gnashing teeth. I was careless as to what they thought me or +who they thought me. Only I wished them gone. And so they went, wailing +and crying that I was a devil of the night, for they had no spirit left +to defend themselves. + +Farther and farther the great stone that made the top of the throne slid +out from its bed, but its slowness of movement maddened me. A life’s +education left me in that moment, and I had no trace of stately patience +left. In my puny fury I thrust at the great block with my shoulder and +head, and clawed at it with my hands till the muscles rose on me +in great ropes and knots, and the High Gods must have laughed at my +helplessness as They looked. All was being ordered by the Three who were +Their trusted servants, in Their good time. The work of the Gods may be +done slowly, but it is done exceeding sure. + +But at last, when all the people of the city were numb with terror, +and incapable of further emotion (save only for Phorenice who still had +nerve enough to show no concern), what had been threatened came to pass. +The capstone of the throne slid out till it reached the balance, and the +next shock threw it with a roar and a clatter to the ground. And then a +strange tremor seized me. + +After all the scheming and effort, what I had so ardently prayed for had +come about; but yet my inwards sank at the thought of mounting on the +stone where I had mounted before, and taking my dear from the hollow +where my hands had laid her. I knew Phorenice’s vengefulness, and had a +high value for her cleverness. Had she left Nais to lie in peace, or had +she stolen her away to suffer indignities elsewhere? Or had she ended +her sleep with death, and (as a grisly jest) left the corpse for my +finding? I could not tell; I dared not guess. Never during a whole +hard-fighting life have my emotions been so wrenched as they were at +that moment. And, for excuse, it must be owned that love for Nais +had sapped my hardihood over a matter in which she was so privately +concerned. + +It began to come to my mind, however, that the infernal uproar of the +earth tremor was beginning to slacken somewhat, as though Zaemon knew +he had done the work that he had promised, and was minded to give the +wretched city a breathing space. So I took my fortitude in hand, and +clambered up on to the flat of the stone. The lightning flashes had +ceased and all was darkness again and stifling dust, but at any moment +the sky might be lit once more, and if I were seen in that place, shaggy +and changed though I might be, Phorenice, if she were standing near, +would not be slow to guess my name and errand. + +So changed was I for the moment, that I will finely confess that the +idea of a fight was loathsome to me then. I wanted to have my business +done and get gone from the place. + +With hands that shook, I fumbled over the face of the stone and found +the clamps and bars of metal still in position where I had clenched +them, and then reverently I let my fingers pass between these, and felt +the curves of my love’s body in its rest beneath. An exultation began +to whirl within me. I did not know if she had been touched since I last +left her; I did not know if the drug would have its due effect, and let +her be awakened to warmth and sight again; but, dead or alive, I had her +there, and she was mine, mine, mine, and I could have yelled aloud in my +joy at her possession. + +Still the earth shook beneath us, and masonry roared and crashed into +ruin. I had to cling to my place with one hand, whilst I unhasped the +clamps of metal that made the top of her prison with the other. But at +last I swung the upper half of them clear, and those which pinned down +her feet I let remain. I stooped and drew her soft body up on to the +flat of the stone beside me, and pressed my lips a hundred times to the +face I could not see. + +Some mad thought took me, I believe, that the mere fierceness and heat +of my kisses would bring her back again to life and wakefulness. Indeed +I will own plainly, that I did but sorry credit to my training in +calmness that night. But she lay in my arms cold and nerveless as a +corpse, and by degrees my sober wits returned to me. + +This was no place for either of us. Let the earth’s tremors cease (as +was plainly threatened), let daylight come, and let a few of these +nerveless people round recover from their panic, and all the great cost +that had been expended might be counted as waste. We should be seen, +and it would not be long before some one put a name to Nais; and then +it would be an easy matter to guess at Deucalion under the beard and the +shaggy hair and the browned nakedness of the savage who attended on her. +Tell of fright? By the Gods! I was scared as the veriest trembler who +blundered amongst the dust-clouds that night when the thought came to +me. + +With all that ruin spread around, it would be hopeless to think that any +of those secret galleries which tunnelled under the ground would be left +unbroken, and so it was useless to try a passage under the walls by the +old means. But I had heard shouts from that frightened mob which came to +me through the din and the darkness, that gave another idea for escape. +“The city is accursed,” they had cried: “if we stay here it will fall +on us. Let us get outside the walls where there are no buildings to bury +us.” + +If they went, I could not see. But one gate lay nearest to the royal +pyramid, and I judged that in their panic they would not go farther than +was needful. So I put the body of Nais over my shoulder (to leave my +right arm free) and blundered off as best I could through the stifling +darkness. + +It was hard to find a direction; it was hard to walk in the inky +darkness over ground that was tossed and tumbled like a frozen sea: +and as the earth still quaked and heaved, it was hard also to keep a +footing. But if I did fall myself a score of times, my dear burden got +no bruise, and presently I got to the skirts of the square, and found +a street I knew. The most venomous part of the shaking was done, and no +more buildings fell, but enough lay sprawled over the roadway to make +walking into a climb, and the sweat rolled from me as I laboured along +my way. + +There was no difficulty about passing the gate. There was no gate. There +was no wall. The Gods had driven their plough through it, and it lay +flat, and proud Atlantis stood as defenceless as the open country. +Though I knew the cause of this ruin, though, in fact, I had myself in +some measure incited it, I was almost sad at the ruthlessness with which +it had been carried out. The royal pyramid might go, houses and palaces +might be levelled, and for these I cared little enough; but when I saw +those stately ramparts also filched away, there the soldier in me woke, +and I grieved at this humbling of the mighty city that once had been my +only mistress. + +But this was only a passing regret, a mere touch of the fighting-man’s +pride. I had a different love now, that had wrapped herself round me far +deeper and more tightly, and my duty was towards her first and foremost. +The night would soon be past, and then dangers would increase. None had +interfered with us so far, though many had jostled us as I clambered +over the ruins; but this forbearance could not be reckoned upon for +long. The earth tremors had almost died away, and after the panic and +the storm, then comes the time for the spoiling. + +All men who were poor would try to seize what lay nearest to their +hands, and those of higher station, and any soldiers who could be +collected and still remained true to command, would ruthlessly stop and +strip any man they saw making off with plunder. I had no mind to clash +with these guardians of law and property, and so I fled on swiftly +through the night with my burden, using the unfrequented ways; and +crying to the few folk who did meet me that the woman had the plague, +and would they lend me the shelter of their house as ours had fallen. +And so in time we came to the place where the rope dangled from the +precipice, and after Nais had been drawn up to the safety of the Sacred +Mountain, I put my leg in the loop of the rope and followed her. + +Now came what was the keenest anxiety of all. We took the girl and laid +her on a bed in one of the houses, and there in the lit room for the +first time I saw her clearly. Her beauty was drawn and pale. Her eyes +were closed, but so thin and transparent had grown the lids that one +could almost see the brown of the pupil beneath them. Her hair had grown +to inordinate thickness and length, and lay as a cushion behind and +beside her head. + +There was no flicker of breath; there was none of that pulsing of +the body which denotes life; but still she had not the appearance of +ordinary death. The Nais I had placed nine long years before to rest in +the hollow of the stone, was a fine grown woman, full bosomed, and well +boned. The Nais that remained for me was half her weight. The old Nais +it would have puzzled me to carry for an hour: this was no burden to +impede a grown man. + +In other ways too she had altered. The nails of her fingers had grown to +such a great length that they were twisted in spirals, and the fingers +themselves and her hands were so waxy and transparent that the bony core +upon which they were built showed itself beneath the flesh in plain dull +outline. Her clay-cold lips were so white, that one sighed to remember +the full beauty of their carmine. Her shoulders and neck had lost their +comely curves, and made bony hollows now in which the dust of entombment +lodged black and thickly. + +Reverently I set about preparing those things which if all went well +should restore her. I heated water and filled a bath, and tinctured +it heavily with those essences of the life of beasts which the Priests +extract and store against times of urgent need and sickness. I laid her +chin-deep in this bath, and sat beside it to watch, maintaining that +bath at a constant blood heat. + +An hour I watched; two hours I watched; three hours--and yet she showed +no flicker of life. The heat of her body given her by the bath, was the +same as the heat of my own. But in the feel of her skin when I stroked +it with my hand, there was something lacking still. Only when our Lord +the Sun rose for His day did I break off my watching, whilst I said the +necessary prayer which is prescribed, and quickly returned again to the +gloom of the house. + +I was torn with anxiety, and as the time went on and still no sign of +life came back, the hope that had once been so high within me began to +sicken and leave me downcast and despondent. From without, came the +din of fighting. Already Phorenice had sent her troops to storm the +passageway, and the Priests who defended it were shattering them with +volleys of rocks. But these sounds of war woke no pulse within me. If +Nais did not wake, then the world for me was ended, and I had no spirit +left to care who remained uppermost. The Gods in Their due time will +doubtless smite me for this impiety. But I make a confession of it here +on these sheets, having no mind to conceal any portion of this history +for the small reason that it does me a personal discredit. + +But as the hours went on, and still no flicker of life came to lessen +the dumb agony that racked me, I grew more venturesome, and added more +essences to the bath, and drugs also such as experience had shown might +wake the disused tissues into life. I watched on with staring eyes, +rubbing her wasted body now and again, and always keeping the heat of +the bath at a constant. From the first I had barred the door against +all who would have come near to help me. With my own hands I had laid +my love to sleep, and I could not bear that others should rouse her, +if indeed roused she should ever be. But after those first offers, no +others came, and the snarl and din of fighting told of what occupied +them. + +It is hard to take note of small changes which occur with infinite +slowness when one is all the while on the tense watch, and high strung +though my senses were, I think there must have been some indication of +returning life shown before I was keen enough to notice it. For of a +sudden, as I gazed, I saw a faint rippling on the surface of the water +of the bath. Gods! Would it come back again to my love at last--this +life, this wakefulness? The ripple died out as it had come, and I +stooped my head nearer to the bath to try if I could see some faint +heaving of her bosom some small twitching of the limbs. No, she lay +there still without even a flutter of movement. But as I watched, surely +it seemed to my aching eyes that some tinge was beginning to warm that +blank whiteness of skin? + +How I filled myself with that sight. The colour was returning to her +again beyond a doubt. Once more the dried blood was becoming fluid and +beginning again to course in its old channels. Her hair floated out in +the liquid of the bath like some brown tangle of the ocean weed, and +ever and again it twitched and eddied to some impulse which in itself +was too small for the eye to see. + +She had slept for nine long years, and I knew that the wakening could +be none of the suddenest. Indeed, it came by its own gradations and +with infinite slowness, and I did not dare do more to hasten it. Further +drugs might very well stop eternally what those which had been used +already had begun. So I sat motionless where I was, and watched the +colour come back, and the waxenness go, and even the fullness of her +curves in some small measure return. And when growing strength gave +her power to endure them, and she was racked with those pains which are +inevitable to being born back again in this fashion to life, I too felt +the reflex of her agony, and writhed in loving sympathy. + +Still further, too, was I wrung by a torment of doubt as to whether life +or these rackings would in the end be conqueror. After each paroxysm +the colour ebbed back from her again, and for a while she would lie +motionless. But strength and power seemed gradually to grow, and at last +these prevailed, and drove death and sleep beneath them. Her eyelids +struggled with their fastenings. Her lips parted, and her bosom heaved. +With shivering gasps her breath began to pant between her reddening +lips. At first it rattled dryly in her throat, but soon it softened and +became more regular. And then with a last effort her eyes, her glorious +loving eyes, slowly opened. + +I leaned over and called her softly by name. + +Her eyes met mine, and a glow arose from their depths that gave me the +greatest joy I have met in all the world. + +“Deucalion, my love,” she whispered. “Oh, my dear, so you have come for +me. How I have dreamed of you! How I have been racked! But it was worth +it all for this.” + + + + +18. STORM OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN + + +It was Nais herself who sent me to attend to my sterner duties. The din +of the attack came to us in the house where I was tending her, and she +asked its meaning. As pithily as might be, for she was in no condition +for tedious listening, I gave her the history of her nine years’ sleep. + +The colour flushed more to her face. “My lord is the properest man in +all the world to be King,” she whispered. + +“I refused to touch the trade till they had given me the Queen I +desired, safe and alive, here upon the Mountain.” + +“How we poor women are made the chattels of you men! But, for myself, I +seem to like the traffic well enough. You should not have let me stand +in the way of Atlantis’ good, Deucalion. Still, it is very sweet to know +you were weak there for once, and that I was the cause of your weakness. +What is that bath over yonder? Ah! I remember; my wits seem none of the +clearest just now.” + +“You have made the beginning. Your strength will return to you by quick +degrees. But it will not bear hurrying. You must have a patience.” + +“Your ear, sir, for one moment, and then I will rest in peace. My poor +looks, are they all gone? You seem to have no mirror here. I had visions +that I should wake up wrinkled and old.” + +“You are as you were, dear, that first night I saw you--the most +beautiful woman in all the world.” + +“I am pleased you like me,” she said, and took the cup of broth I +offered her. “My hair seems to have grown; but it needs combing sadly. I +had a fancy, dear, once, that you liked ruddy hair best, and not a plain +brown.” She closed her eyes then, lying back amongst the cushions where +I had placed her, and dropped off into healthy sleep, with the smiles +still playing upon her lips. I put the coverlet over her, and kissed her +lightly, holding back my beard lest it should sweep her cheek. And then +I went out of the chamber. + +That beard had grown vastly disagreeable to me these last hours, and +then I went into a room in the house, and found instruments, and shaved +it down to the bare chin. A change of robe also I found there and took +it instead of my squalid rags. If a man is in truth a king, he owes +these things to the dignity of his office. + +But, if the din of the fighting was any guide, mine was a narrowing +kingdom. Every hour it seemed to grow fiercer and more near, and it was +clear that some of the gates in the passage up the cleft in the +cliff, impregnable though all men had thought them, had yielded to the +vehemence of Phorenice’s attack. And, indeed, it was scarcely to be +marvelled at. With all her genius spurred on to fury by the blow that +had been struck at her by wrecking so fair a part of the city, the +Empress would be no light adversary even for a strong place to resist, +and the Sacred Mountain was no longer strong. + +Defences of stone, cunningly planned and mightily built, it still +possessed, but these will not fight alone. They need men to line them, +and, moreover, abundance of men. For always in a storm of this kind, +some desperate fellows will spit at death and get to hand grips, or +slingers and archers slip in their shot, or the throwing-fire gets home, +or (as here) some newfangled machine like Phorenice’s fire-tubes, make +one in a thousand of their wavering darts find the life; and so, though +the general attacking loses his hundreds, the defenders also are not +without their dead. + +The slaughter, as it turned out, had been prodigious. As fast as the +stormers came up, the Priests who held the lowest gate remaining to us +rained down great rocks upon them till the narrow alley of the stair +was paved with their writhing dead. But Phorenice stood on a spur of the +rock below them urging on the charges, and with an insane valour company +after company marched up to hurl themselves hopelessly against the +defences. They had no machines to batter the massive gates, and their +attack was as pathetically useless as that of a child who hammers +against a wall with an orange; and meanwhile the terrible stones from +above mowed them down remorselessly. + +Company after company of the troops marched into this terrible +death-trap, and not a man of all of them ever came back. Nor was it +Phorenice’s policy that they should do so. In her lust for this final +conquest, she was minded to pour out troops till she had filled up the +passes with the slain, so that at last she might march on to a +level fight over the bridge of their poor bodies. It was no part of +Phorenice’s mood ever to count the cost. She set down the object which +was to be gained, and it was her policy that the people of Atlantis were +there to gain it for her. + +Two gates then had she carried in this dreadful fashion, slaughtering +those Priests that stood behind, them who had not been already shot +down. And here I came down from above to take my share in the fight. +There was no trumpet to announce my coming, no herald to proclaim my +quality, but the Priests as a sheer custom picked up “Deucalion!” as a +battle-cry; and some shouted that, with a King to lead, there would be +no further ground lost. + +It was clear that the name carried to the other side and bore weight +with it. A company of poor, doomed wretches who were hurrying up stopped +in their charge. The word “Deucalion!” was bandied round and handed +back down the line. I thought with some grim satisfaction, that here was +evidence I was not completely forgotten in the land. + +There came shouts to them from behind to carry on their advance; but +they did not budge; and presently a glittering officer panted up, and +commenced to strike right and left amongst them with his sword. From +where I stood on the high rampart above the gate, I could see him +plainly, and recognised him at once. + +“It matters not what they use for their battle-cry,” he was shouting. +“You have the orders of your divine Empress, and that is enough. You +should be proud to die for her wish, you cowards. And if you do not +obey, you will die afterwards under the instruments of the tormentors, +very painfully. As for Deucalion, he is dead any time these nine years.” + +“There it seems you lie, my Lord Tatho,” I shouted down to him. + +He started, and looked up at me. + +“So you are there in real truth, then? Well, old comrade, I am sorry. +But it is too late to make a composition now. You are on the side of +these mangy Priests, and the Empress has made an edict that they are to +be rooted out, and I am her most obedient servant.” + +“You used to be skilful of fence,” I said, and indeed there was little +enough to choose between us. “If it please you to stop this pitiful +killing, make yourself the champion of your side, and I will stand for +mine, and we will fight out this quarrel in some fair place, and bind +our parties to abide by the result.” + +“It would be a grand fight between us two, old friend, and it goes hard +with me to balk you of it. But I cannot pleasure you. I am general here +under Phorenice, and she has given me the strongest orders not to peril +myself. And besides, though you are a great man, Deucalion, you are not +chief. You are not even one of the Three.” + +“I am King.” + +Tatho laughed. “Few but yourself would say so, my lord.” + +“Few truly, but what there are, they are powerful. I was given the name +for the first time yesterday, and as a first blow in the campaign there +was some mischief done in the city. I was there myself, and saw how you +took it.” + +“You were in Atlantis!” + +“I went for Nais. She is on the mountain now, and to-morrow will be my +Queen. Tatho, as a priest to a priest, let me solemnly bring to your +memory the infinite power you bite against on this Sacred Mountain. Your +teaching has warned you of the weapons that are stored in the Ark of +the Mysteries. If you persist in this attack, at the best you can merely +lose; at the worst you can bring about a wreck over which even the High +Gods will shudder as They order it.” + +“You cannot scare us back now by words,” said Tatho doggedly. “And +as for magic, it will be met by magic. Phorenice has found by her own +cleverness as many powers as were ever stored up in the Ark of the +Mysteries.” + +“Yet she looked on helplessly enough last night, when her royal pyramid +was trundled into a rubbish heap. Zaemon had prophesied that this should +be so, and for a witness, why I myself stood closer to her than we two +stand now, and saw her.” + +“I will own you took her by surprise somewhat there. I do not understand +these matters myself; I was never more than one of the Seven in the old +days; and now, quite rightly, Phorenice keeps the knowledge of her magic +to herself: but it seems time is needed when one magic is to be met by +another.” + +“Well,” I said, “I know little about the business either. I leave these +matters now to those who are higher above me in the priesthood. Indeed, +having a liking for Nais, it seems I am debarred from ever being given +understanding about the highest of the higher Mysteries. So I content +myself with being a soldier, and when the appointed day comes, I shall +fall and kiss my mother the Earth for the last time. You, so I am told, +have ambition for longer life.” + +He nodded. “Phorenice has found the Great Secret, and I am to be the +first that will share it with her. We shall be as Gods upon the earth, +seeing that Death will be powerless to touch us. And the twin sons she +has borne me, will be made immortal also.” + +“Phorenice is headstrong. No, my lord, there is no need to shake your +head and try to deny it. I have had some acquaintance with her. But the +order has been made, and her immortality will be snatched from her very +rudely. Now, mark solemnly my words. I, Deucalion, have been appointed +King of Atlantis by the High Council of the Priests who are the +mouthpiece of the most High Gods, and if I do not have my reign, then +there will be no Atlantis left to carry either King or Empress. You know +me, Tatho, for a man that never lies.” + +He nodded. + +“Then save yourself before it is too late. You shall have again your +vice-royalty in Yucatan.” + +“But, man, there is no Yucatan. A great horde of little hairy creatures, +that were something less than human and something more than beasts, +swept down upon our cities and ate them out. Oh, you may sneer if you +choose! Others sneered when I came home, till the Empress stopped them. +But you know what a train of driver ants is, that you meet with in the +forests? You may light fires across their path, and they will march into +them in their blind bravery, and put them out with their bodies, and +those that are left will march on in an unbroken column, and devour +all that stands in their path. I tell you, my lord, those little hairy +creatures were like the ants--aye, for numbers, and wooden bravery, as +well as for appetite. As a result to-day, there is no Yucatan.” + +“You shall have Egypt, then.” + +He burst at me hotly. “I would not take seven Egypts and ten Yucatans. +My lord, you think more poorly of me than is kind, when you ask me to +become a traitor. In your place would you throw your Nais away, if the +doing it would save you from a danger?” + +“That is different.” + +“In no degree. You have a kindness for her. I have all that and more for +Phorenice, who is, besides, my wife and the mother of my children. If I +have qualms--and I freely confess I know you are desperate men up there, +and have dreadful powers at your command--my shiverings are for them and +not for myself. But I think, my lord, this parley is leading to nothing, +and though these common soldiers here will understand little enough of +our talk, they may be picking up a word here and there, and I do not +wish them to go on to their death (as you will see them do shortly) +and carry evil reports about me to whatever Gods they chance to come +before.” + +He saluted me with his sword and drew back, and once more the missiles +began to fly, and the doomed wretches, who had been halting beside +the steep rock walls of the pass began once more to press hopelessly +forward. They had scaling-ladders certainly, but they had no chance of +getting these planted. They could do naught but fill the narrow way with +their bodies, and to that end they had been sent, and to that end +they humbly died. Our Priests with crow and lever wrenched from their +lodging-places the great rocks which had been made ready, and sent them +crashing down, so that once more screams filled the pass, and the horrid +butchery was renewed. + +But ever and again, some arrow or some sling-stone, or some fire-tube’s +dart would find its way up from below and through the defences, and +there we would be with a man the less to carry on the fight. It was well +enough for Phorenice to be lavish with her troops; indeed, if she wished +for success, there were no two ways for it; and when those she had +levied were killed, she could readily press others into the service, +seeing that she had the whole broad face of the country under her rule. +But with us it was different. A man down on our side was a man whose +arm would bitterly be missed, and one which could in no possible way be +replaced. + +I made calculation of the chances, and saw clearly that, if we continued +the fight on the present plan, they would storm the gates one after +another as they came to them, and that by the time the uppermost gate +was reached, there would be no Priest alive to defend it. And so, not +disdaining to fashion myself on Phorenice’s newer plan, which held that +a general should at times in preference plot coldly from a place of some +safety, and not lead the thick of the fighting, I left those who stood +to the gate with some rough soldier’s words of cheer, and withdrew again +up the narrow stair of the pass. + +This one approach to the Sacred Mountain was, as I have said before, +vastly more difficult and dangerous in the olden days when it stood as +a mere bare cleft as the High Gods made it. But a chasm had been bridged +here, a shelf cut through the solid rock there, and in many places the +roadway was built up on piers from distant crags below so as to make all +uniform and easy. It came to my mind now, that if I could destroy this +path, we might gain a breathing space for further effort. + +The idea seemed good, or at least no other occurred to me which would +in any way relieve our desperate situation, and I looked around me for +means to put it into execution. Up and down, from the mountain to the +plains below, I had traversed that narrow stair of a pass some thousands +of times, and so in a manner of speaking knew every stone, and every +turn, and every cut of it by heart. But I had never looked upon it with +an eye to shaving off all roadway to the Sacred Mountain, and so now, +even in this moment of dreadful stress, I had to traverse it no less +than three times afresh before I could decide upon the best site for +demolition. + +But once the point was fixed, there was little delay in getting the +scheme in movement. Already I had sent men to the storehouses amongst +the Priests’ dwellings to fetch me rams, and crows, and acids, and +hammers, and such other material as was needed, and these stood handy +behind one of the upper gates. I put on every pair of hands that could +be spared to the work, no matter what was their age and feebleness; +yes, if Nais could have walked so far I would have pressed her for the +labour; and presently carved balustrade, and wayside statue, together +with the lettered wall-stones and the foot-worn cobbles, roared down +into the gulf below, and added their din to the shrieks and yells and +crashes of the fighting. Gods! But it was a hateful task, smashing down +that splendid handiwork of the men of the past. But it was better that +it should crash down to ruin in the abyss below, than that Phorenice +should profane it with her impious sandals. + +At first I had feared that it would be needful to sacrifice the knot of +brave men who were so valiantly defending the gate then being attacked. +It is disgusting to be forced into a measure of this kind, but in hard +warfare it is often needful to the carrying out of his schemes for a +general to leave a part of his troops to fight to a finish, and without +hope of rescue, as valiantly as they may; and all he can do for their +reward is to recommend them earnestly to the care of the Gods. But when +the work of destroying the pathway was nearly completed, I saw a chance +of retrieving them. + +We had not been content merely with breaking arches, and throwing down +the piers. We had got our rams and levers under the living rock itself +on which all the whole fabric stood; and fire stood ready to heat the +rams for their work; and when the word was given, the whole could be +sent crashing down the face of the cliffs beyond chance of repair. + +All was, I say, finally prepared in this fashion, and then I gave the +word to hold. A narrow ledge still remained undestroyed, and offered +footway, and over this I crossed. The cut we had made was immediately +below the uppermost gate of all, and below it there were three more +massive gates still unviolated, besides the one then being so vehemently +attacked. Already, the garrisons had been retired from these, and I +passed through them all in turn, unchallenged and unchecked, and came to +that busy rampart where the twelve Priests left alive worked, stripped +to the waist, at heaving down the murderous rocks. + +For awhile I busied myself at their side, stopping an occasional +fire-tube dart or arrow on my shield and passing them the tidings. The +attack was growing fiercer every minute now. The enemy had packed the +pass below well-nigh full of their dead, and our battering stones had +less distance to fall and so could do less execution. They pressed +forward more eagerly than ever with their scaling ladders, and it was +plain that soon they would inevitably put the place to the storm. Even +during the short time I was there, their sling-stones and missiles took +life from three more of the twelve who stood with me on the defence. + +So I gave the word for one more furious avalanche of rock to be pelted +down, and whilst the few living were crawling out from those killed +by the discharge, and whilst the next band of reinforcements came +scrambling up over the bodies, I sent my nine remaining men away at a +run up the steep stairway of the path, and then followed them myself. +Each of the gates in turn we passed, shutting them after us, and +breaking the bars and levers with which they were moved, and not till +we were through the last did the roar of shouts from below tell that the +besiegers had found the gate they bit against was deserted. + +One by one we balanced our way across the narrow ledge which was left +where the path had been destroyed, and one poor Priest that carried a +wound grew giddy, and lost his balance here, and toppled down to his +death in the abyss below before a hand could be stretched out to steady +him. And then, when we were all over, heat was put to the rams, and they +expanded with their resistless force, and tore the remaining ledges from +their hold in the rock. I think a pang went through us all then when +we saw for ourselves the last connecting link cut away from between the +poor remaining handful of our Sacred Clan on the Mountain, and the rest +of our great nation, who had grown so bitterly estranged to us, below. + +But here at any rate was a break in the fighting. There were no further +preparations we could make for our defence, and high though I knew +Phorenice’s genius to be, I did not see how she could very well do other +than accept the check and retire. So I set a guard on the ramparts of +the uppermost gate to watch all possible movements, and gave the word to +the others to go and find the rest which so much they needed. + +For myself, dutifully I tried to find Zaemon first, going on the errand +my proper self, for there was little enough of kingly state observed on +the Sacred Mountain, although the name and title had been given me. +But Zaemon was not to be come at. He was engaged inside the Ark of the +Mysteries with another of the Three, and being myself only one of the +Seven, I had not rank enough in the priesthood to break in upon their +workings. And so I was free to turn where my likings would have led me +first, and that was to the house which sheltered Nais. + +She waked as I came in over the threshold, and her eyes filled with a +welcome for me. I went across and knelt where she lay, putting my +face on the pillow beside her. She was full of tender talk and sweet +endearments. Gods! What an infinity of delight I had missed by not +knowing my Nais earlier! But she had a will of her own through it all, +and some quaint conceits which made her all the more adorable. She +rallied me on the new cleanness of my chin, and on the robe which I had +taken as a covering. She professed a pretty awe for my kingship, and +vowed that had she known of my coming dignities she would never have +dared to discover a love for me. But about my marriage with Phorenice +she spoke with less lightness. She put out her thin white hand, and drew +my face to her lips. + +“It is weak of me to have a jealousy,” she murmured, “knowing how +completely my lord is mine alone; but I cannot help it. You have said +you were her husband for awhile. It gives me a pang to think that I +shall not be the first to lie in your arms, Deucalion.” + +“Then you may gaily throw your pang away,” I whispered back. “I was +husband to Phorenice in mere word for how long I do not precisely know. +But in anything beyond, I was never her husband at all. She married +me by a form she prescribed herself, ignoring all the old rites and +ceremonies, and whether it would hold as legal or not, we need not +trouble to inquire. She herself has most nicely and completely annulled +that marriage as I have told you. Tatho is her husband now, and father +to her children, and he seems to have a fondness for her which does him +credit.” + +We said other things too in that chamber, those small repetitions +of endearments which are so precious to lovers, and so beyond the +comprehension of other folk, but they are not to be set down on these +sheets. They are a mere private matter which can have no concern to +any one beyond our two selves, and more weighty subjects are piling +themselves up in deep index for the historian. + +Phorenice, it seemed, had more rage against the Priests’ Clan on the +Mountain and more bright genius to help her to a vengeance than I had +credited. Her troops stormed easily the gates we had left to them, and +swarmed up till they stood where the pathway was broken down. In the +fierceness of their rush, the foremost were thrust over the brink by +those pressing up behind, before the advance could be halted, and these +went screaming to a horrid death in the great gulf below. But it was no +position here that a lavish spending of men could take, and presently +all were drawn off, save for some half-score who stood as outpost +sentries, and dodged out of arrow-shot behind angles of the rock. + +It seems, too, that the Empress herself reconnoitered the place, using +due caution and quickness, and so got for herself a full plan of its +requirements without being obliged to trust the measuring of another +eye. With extraordinary nimbleness she must have planned an engine such +as was necessary to suit her purposes, and given orders for its making; +for even with the vast force and resources at her disposal, the speed +with which it was built was prodigious. + +There was very little noise made to tell of what was afoot. All the +woodwork and metalwork was cut, and tongued, and forged, and fitted +first by skilled craftsmen below, in the plain at the foot of the cleft; +and when each ponderous balk and each crosspiece, and each plank was +dragged up the steep pass through the conquered gates, it was ready +instantly for fitting into its appointed place in the completed machine. + +The cleft was straight where they set about their building, and there +was no curve or spur of the cliff to hide their handiwork from those of +the Priests who watched from the ramparts above our one remaining gate. +But Phorenice had a coyness lest her engine should be seen before it +was completed, and so to screen it she had a vast fire built at the +uppermost point where the causeway was broken off, and fed diligently +with wet sedge and green wood, so that a great smoke poured out, rising +like a curtain that shut out all view. And so though the Priests on the +rampart above the gate picked off now and again some of those who tended +the fire, they could do the besiegers no further injury, and remained up +to the last quite in ignorance of their tactics. + +The passage up the cleft was in shadow during the night hours, for, +though all the crest of the Sacred Mountain was always lit brightly by +the eternal fires which made its defence on the farther side, their glow +threw no gleam down that flank where the cliff ran sheer to the plains +beneath. And so it was under cover of the darkness that Phorenice +brought up her engine into position for attack. + +Planking had been laid down for its wheels, and the wheels themselves +well greased, and it may be that she hoped to march in upon us whilst +all slept. But there was a certain creaking and groaning of timbers, +and laboured panting of men, which gave advertisement that something was +being attempted, and the alarm was spread quietly in the hope that if a +surprise had been planned, the real surprise might be turned the other +way. + +A messenger came to me running, where I sat in the house at the side of +my love, and she, like the soldier’s wife she was made to be, kissed me +and bade me go quickly and care for my honour, and bring back my wounds +for her to mend. + +On the rampart above the gate all was silence, save for the faint rustle +of armed men, and out of the black darkness ahead, and from the other +side of the broken causeway, came the sounds of which the messenger bad +warned me. + +The captain of the gate came to me and whispered: “We have made no light +till the King came, not knowing the King’s will in the matter. Is it +wished I send some of the throwing-fire down yonder, on the chance that +it does some harm, and at the same time lights up the place? Or is it +willed that we wait for their surprise?” + +“Send the fire,” I said, “or we may find that Phorenice’s brain has been +one too many for us.” + +The captain of the gate took one of the balls in his hand, lit the fuse, +and hurled it. The horrid thing burst amongst a mass of men who were +labouring with a huge engine, sputtering them with its deadly fire, and +lighting their garments. The plan of the engine showed itself plainly. +They had built them a vast great tower, resting on wheels at its base, +so that it might by pushed forward from behind, and slanting at its foot +to allow for the steepness of the path and leave it always upright. + +It was storeyed inside, with ladders joining each floor, and through +slits in the side which faced us bowmen could cover an attack. From its +top a great bridge reared high above it, being carried vertically till +the tower was brought near enough for its use. The bridge was hinged at +the third storey of the tower, and fastened with ropes to its extreme +top; but, once the ropes were cut, the bridge would fall, and light upon +whatever came within its swing, and be held there by the spikes with +which it was studded beneath. + +I saw, and inwardly felt myself conquered. The cleverness of Phorenice +had been too strong for my defence. No war-engine of which we had +command could overset the tower. The whole of its massive timbers +were hung with the wet new-stripped skins of beasts, so that even the +throwing-fire could not destroy it. What puny means we had to impede +those who pushed it forward would have little effect. Presently it would +come to the place appointed, and the ropes would be cut, and the bridge +would thunder down on the rampart above our last gate, and the stormers +would pour out to their final success. + +Well, life had loomed very pleasant for me these few days with a warm +and loving Nais once more in touch of my arms, but the High Gods in +Their infinite wisdom knew best always, and I was no rebel to stay +stiff-necked against their decision. But it is ever a soldier’s +privilege, come what may, to warm over a fight, and the most exquisitely +fierce joy of all is that final fight of a man who knows that he must +die, and who lusts only to make his bed of slain high enough to carry a +due memory of his powers with those who afterwards come to gaze upon it. +I gripped my axe, and the muscles of my arms stood out in knots at the +thought of it. Would Tatho come to give me sport? I feared not. They +would send only the common soldiers first to the storm, and I must be +content to do my killing on those. + +And Nais, what of her? I had a quiet mind there. When any spoilers came +to the house where she lay, she would know that Deucalion had been taken +up to the Gods, and she would not be long in following him. She had her +dagger. No, I had no fears of being parted long from Nais now. + + + + +19. DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS + + +A tottering old Priest came up and touched me on the shoulder. + +“Well?” I said sharply, having small taste for interruption just now. + +“News has been carried to the Three, my King, of what is threatened.” + +“Then they will know that I stand here now, brother, to enjoy the finest +fight of my life. When it is finished I shall go to the Gods, and be +there standing behind the stars to welcome them when presently they also +arrive. They have my regrets that they are too old and too feeble to die +and look upon a fine killing themselves.” + +“I have commands from them, my King, to lay upon you, which I fear you +will like but slenderly. You are forbidden to find your death here in +the fighting. They have a further use for you yet.” + +I turned on the old man angrily enough. “I shall take no such order, +my brother. I am not going to believe it was ever given. You must have +misunderstood. If I am a man, if I am a Priest, if I am a soldier, if +I am a King, then it stands to my honour that no enemy should pass this +gate whilst yet I live. And you may go back and throw that message at +their teeth.” + +The old man smiled enviously. He, too, had been a keen soldier in his +day. “I told them you would not easily believe such a message, and asked +them for a sign, and they bore with me, and gave me one. I was to give +you this jewel, my King.” + +“How came they by that? It is a bracelet from the elbow of Nais.” + +“They must have stripped her of it. I did not know it came from Nais. +The word I was to bring you said that the owner of the jewel was inside +the Ark of the Mysteries, and waited you there. The use which the Three +have for you further concerns her also.” + +Even when I heard that, I will freely confess that my obedience was +sorely tried, and I have the less shame in setting it down on these +sheets, because I know that all true soldiers will feel a sympathy for +my plight. Indeed, the promise of the battle was very tempting. But in +the end my love for Nais prevailed, and I gave the salutation that was +needful in token that I heard the order and obeyed it. + +To the knot of Priests who were left for the defence, I turned and made +my farewells. “You will have what I shall miss, my brothers,” I said. “I +envy you that fight. But, though I am King of Atlantis, still I am only +one of the Seven, and so am the servant of the Three and must obey their +order. They speak in words the will of the most High Gods, and we must +do as they command. You will stand behind the stars before I come, and +I ask of you that you will commend me to Those you meet there. It is not +my own will that I shall not appear there by your side.” + +They heard my words with smiles, and very courteously saluted me with +their weapons, and there we parted. I did not see the fight, but I know +it was good, from the time which passed before Phorenice’s hordes broke +out on to the crest of the Mountain. They died hard, that last remnant +of the lesser Priests of Atlantis. + +With a sour enough feeling I went up to the head of the pass, and then +through the groves, and between the temples and colleges and houses +which stood on the upper slopes of the Sacred Mountain, till I reached +that boundary, beyond which in milder days it was death for any but the +privileged few to pass. But the time, it appeared to me, was past for +conventions, and, moreover, my own temper was hot; and it is likely +that I should have strode on with little scruple if I had not been +interrupted. But in the temple which marked the boundary, there was old +Zaemon waiting; and he, with due solemnity of words, and with the whole +of some ancient ritual ordained for that purpose, sought dispensation +from the High Gods for my trespass, and would not give me way till he +was through with his ceremony. + +Already Phorenice’s tower and bridge were in position, for the clash and +yelling of a fight told that the small handful of Priests on the rampart +of the last gate were bartering their lives for the highest return in +dead that they could earn. They were trained fighting men all, but old +and feeble, and the odds against them were too enormous to be stemmed +for over long. In a very short time the place would be put to the storm, +and the roof of the Sacred Mountain would be at the open mercy of the +invader. If there was any further thing to be done, it was well that it +should be set about quickly whilst peace remained. It seemed to me +that the moment for prompt action, and the time for lengthy pompous +ceremonial was done for good. + +But Zaemon was minded otherwise. He led me up to the Ark of the +Mysteries, and chided my impatience, and waited till I had given it my +reverential kiss, and then he called aloud, and another old man came +out of the opening which is in the top of the Ark, and climbed painfully +down by the battens which are fixed on its sides. He was a man I had +never seen before, hoary, frail, and emaciated, and he and Zaemon were +then the only two remaining Priests who had been raised to the highest +degree known to our Clan, and who alone had knowledge of the highest +secrets and powers and mysteries. + +“Look!” cried Zaemon, in his shrill old voice, and swept a trembling +finger over the shattered city, and the great spread of sea and country +which lay in view of us below. I followed his pointing and looked, and a +chill began to crawl through me. All was plainly shown. Our Lord the Sun +burned high overhead in a sky of cloudless blue, and day shimmered in +His heat. All below seemed from that distance peaceful and warm and +still, save only that the mountains smoked more than ordinary, and some +spouted fires, and that the sea boiled with some strange disorder. + +But it was the significance of the sea that troubled me most. Far out on +the distant coast it surged against the rocks in enormous rolls of surf; +and up the great estuary, at the head of which the city of Atlantis +stands, it gushed in successive waves of enormous height which never +returned. Already the lower lands on either side were blotted out +beneath tumultuous waters, the harbour walls were drowned out of sight, +and the flood was creeping up into the lower wards of the great city +itself. + +“You have seen?” asked Zaemon. + +“I have seen.” + +“You understand?” + +“In part.” + +“Then let me tell you all. This is the beginning, and the end will +follow swiftly. The most High Gods, that sit behind the stars, have a +limit to even Their sublime patience; and that has been passed. The city +of Atlantis, the great continent that is beyond, and all that are in +them are doomed to unutterable destruction. Of old it was foreseen that +this great wiping-out would happen through the sins of men, and to this +end the Ark of the Mysteries was built under the direction of the Gods. +No mortal implements can so much as scratch its surface, no waves or +rocks wreck it. Inside is stored on sheets of the ancient writing all +that is known in the world of learning that is not shared by the +common people, also there is grain in a store, and sweet water in tanks +sufficient for two persons for the space of four years, together with +seeds, weapons, and all such other matters as were deemed fit. + +“Out of all this vast country it has been decreed by the High Gods that +two shall not perish. Two shall be chosen, a man and a woman, who are +fit and proper persons to carry away with them the ancient learning to +dispose of it as they see best, and afterwards to rear up a race who +shall in time build another kingdom and do honour to our Lord the +Sun and the other Gods in another place. The woman is within the Ark +already, and seated in the place appointed for her, and though she is a +daughter of mine, the burden of her choosing is with you. For the man, +the choice has fallen upon yourself.” + +I was half numb with the shock of what was befalling. “I do not know +that I care to be a survivor.” + +“You are not asked for your wishes,” said the old man. “You are given an +order from the High Gods, who know you to be Their faithful servant.” + +Habit rode strong upon me. I made salutation in the required form, and +said that I heard and would obey. + +“Then it remains to raise you to the sublime degree of the Three, and if +your learning is so small that you will not understand the keys to many +of the Powers, and the highest of the Mysteries, when they are handed to +you, that fault cannot be remedied now.” + +Certainly the time remaining was short enough. The fight still raged +down at the gate in the pass, though it was a wonder how the handful of +Priests had held their ground so long. But the ocean rolled in upon the +land in an ever-increasing flood, and the mountains smoked and belched +forth more volleys of rock as the weight increased on their lower parts, +and presently those that besieged the Mountain could not fail to see +the fate that threatened them. Then there would be no withholding their +rush. In their mad fury and panic they would sweep all obstruction +resistlessly before them, and those who stood in their path might look +to themselves. + +But there was no hurrying Zaemon and his fellow sage. They were without +temple for the ceremony, without sacrifice or incense to decorate it. +They had but the sky for a roof to make their echoes, and the Gods +themselves for witnesses. But they went through the work of raising +me to their own degree, with all the grand and majestic form which has +gathered dignity from the ages, and by no one sentence did they curtail +it. A burning mountain burst with a bellowing roar as the incoming +waters met its fires, but gravely they went on, in turn reciting their +sentences. Phorenice’s troops broke down the last resistance, and poured +in a frenzied stream amongst the groves and temples, but still they +quavered never in the ritual. + +It had been said that this ceremony is the grandest and the most +impressive of all those connected with our holy religion; and certainly +I found it so; and I speak as one intimate with all the others. Even the +tremendous circumstances which hemmed them in could do nothing to make +these frail old men forget the deference which was due to the highest +order of the Clan. + +For myself, I will freely own I was less rapt. I stood there bareheaded +in the heat, a man trying to concentrate himself, and yet torn the while +by a thousand foreign emotions. The awful thing that was happening all +around compelled some of my attention. A continent was in the very act +and article of meeting with complete destruction, and if Zaemon and +the other Priest were strong enough to give their minds wholly up to a +matter parochial to the priesthood, I was not so stoical. And moreover, +I was filled with other anxieties and thoughts concerning Nais. Yet I +managed to preserve a decent show of attention to the ceremony; making +all those responses which were required of me; and trying as well as +might be to preserve in my mind those sentences which were the keys to +power and learning, and not mere phrasings of grandeur and devotion. + +But it became clear that if the ceremony of my raising did not soon +arrive at its natural end, it would be cut short presently with +something of suddenness. Phorenice’s conquering legions swarmed out +on to the crest of the Mountain, and now carried full knowledge of the +dreadful thing that was come upon the country. They were out of all +control, and ran about like men distracted; but knowing full well that +the Priests would have brought this terrible wreck to pass by virtue of +the powers which were stored within the Ark of the Mysteries, it would +be their natural impulse to pour out a final vengeance upon any of these +same Priests they could come across before it was too late. + +It began to come to my mind that if the ceremony did not very shortly +terminate, the further part of the plan would stand very small chance +of completion, and I should come by my death after all by fighting to a +finish, as I had pictured to myself before. My flickering attention saw +the soldiers coming always nearer in their frantic wanderings, and saw +also the sea below rolling deeper and deeper in upon the land. + +The fires, too, which ringed in half the mountain, spurted up to +double their old height, and burned with an unceasing roar. But for all +distraction these things gave to the two old Priests who were raising +me, we might have been in the quietness of some ancient temple, with no +so much as a fly to buzz an interruption. + +But at last an end came to the ceremony. “Kneel,” cried Zaemon, “and +make obeisance to your mother the Earth, and swear by the High Gods that +you will never make improper use of the powers over Her which this day +you have been granted.” + +When I had done that, he bade me rise as a fully installed and duly +initiated member of the Three. “You will have no opportunity to practise +the workings of this degree with either of us, my brother,” said he, +“for presently our other brother and I go to stand before the Gods to +deliver to Them an account of our trust, and of how we have carried it +out. But what items you remember here and there may turn of use to you +hereafter. And now we two give you our farewells, and promise to commend +you highly to the Gods when soon we meet Them in Their place behind +the stars. Climb now into the Ark, and be ready to shut the door which +guards it, if there is any attempt by these raging people to invade that +also. Remember, my brother, it is the Gods’ direct will that you and the +woman Nais go from this place living and sound, and you are expressly +forbidden to accept challenge or provocation to fight on any pretext +whatever. But as long as may be done in safety, you may look out upon +Atlantis in her death-throes. It is very fitting that one of the only +two who are sent hence alive, should carry the full tale of what has +befallen.” + +I went to the top of the Ark of Mysteries then, climbing there by the +battens which are fastened to the sides, and then descended by the stair +which is inside and found Nais in a little chamber waiting for me. + +“I was bidden stay here by Zaemon,” she said, “who forced me to this +place by threats and also by promises that my lord would follow. He is +very ungentle, that father of mine, but I think he has a kindness for us +both, and any way he is my father and I cannot help loving him. Is there +no chance to save him from what is going to happen?” + +“He will not come into this Ark, for I asked him. It has been ordained +from the ancient time when first the Ark was built, that when the day +for its purpose came, one woman and one man should be its only tenants, +and they are here already. Zaemon’s will in the matter is not to be +twisted by you or by me. He has a message to be delivered to the Gods, +and (if I know him at all), he grudges every minute that is lost in +carrying it to them.” + +I left her then, and went out again up the stair, and stood once more on +the roof of the Ark. On the Mountain top men still ran about distracted, +but gradually they were coming to where the Ark rested on the highest +point. For the moment, however, I passed them lightly. The drowning of +the great continent that had been spread out below filled the eye. Ocean +roared in upon it with still more furious waves. The plains and the +level lands were foaming lakes. The great city of Atlantis had vanished +eternally. The mountains alone kept their heads above the flood, and +spewed out rocks, and steam, and boiling stone, or burst when the waters +reached them and created great whirlpools of surging sea, and twisted +trees, and bubbling mud. + +In the space of a few breaths every living creature that dwelt in the +lower grounds had been smothered by the waters, save for a few who +huddled in a pair of galleys that were driven oarless inland, over what +had once been black forest and hunting land for the beasts. And even as +I watched, these also were swallowed up by the horrid turmoil of sea, +and nothing but the sea beasts, and those of the greater lizards which +can live in such outrageous waters, could have survived even that +state of the destruction. Indeed, none but those men who had now found +standing-ground on the upper slopes of the Sacred Mountain survived, +and it was plain that their span was short, for the great mass of the +continent sank deeper and more deep every minute before our aching eyes, +beneath the boiling inrush of the seas. + +But though the great mass of the soldiery were dazed and maddened at the +prospect of the overwhelming which threatened them, there were some with +a strength of mind too valiant to give any outward show of discomposure. +Presently a compact little body of people came from out the houses and +the temples, and headed directly across the open ground towards the Ark. +On the outside marched Phorenice’s personal guards with their weapons +new blooded. They had been forced to fight a way through their own +fellow soldiers. The poor demented creatures had thought it was every +one for himself now, till these guards (by their mistress’s order) +proved to them that Phorenice still came first. + +And in the middle of them, borne in a litter of gold and ivory by her +grotesque European slaves, rode the Empress, still calm, still lovely, +and seemingly divided in her sentiments between contempt and amusement. +Her two children lay in the litter at her feet. On her right hand +marched Tatho gorgeously apparelled, and with a beard curled and plaited +into a thousand ringlets. On the other side, plying her industry with +unruffled defence, walked Ylga, once again fan-girl, and so still second +lady in this dwindling kingdom. + +The party of them halted half a score of paces from the Ark by +Phorenice’s order. “Do not go nearer to those unclean old men. They +carry a rank odour with them, and for the moment we are short of +essences to sweeten the air of their neighbourhood.” She lifted her +eyebrows and looked up at me. “Truly a quiet little gathering of old +acquaintances. Why, there is Deucalion, that once I took the flavour of +and threw aside when he cloyed me.” + +“I have Nais here,” I said, “and presently we two will be all that are +left alive of this nation.” + +“Nais is quite welcome to my leavings,” she laughed. “I will look down +upon your country cooings when presently I go back to the Place behind +the stars from which I came. You are a very rustic person, Deucalion. +They tell me too that three or four of these smelling old men up +here have named you King. Did you swell much with dignity? Or did +you remember that there was a pretty Empress left that would still be +Empress so long as there was an Atlantis to govern? Come, sir, find your +tongue. By my face! you must have hungered for me very madly these years +we have been parted, if new-grown ruggedness of feature is an evidence.” + +“Have your gibe. I do not gibe back at a woman who presently will die.” + +“Bah! Deucalion, you will live behind the times. Have they not told you +that I know the Great Secret and am indeed a Goddess now? My arts can +make life run on eternally.” + +“Then the waters will presently test them hard,” I said, but there the +talk was taken into other lips. Zaemon went forward to the front of +the litter with the Symbol of our Lord the Sun glowing in his hand, and +burst into a flow of cursing. It was hard for me to hear his words. The +roar of the waters which poured up over the land, and beat in vast waves +against the Sacred Mountain itself, grew nearer and more loud. But the +old man had his say. + +Phorenice gave orders to her guards for his killing; yes, tried even to +rise from the litter and do the work herself; but Zaemon held the Symbol +to his front, and its power in that supreme moment mastered all the arts +that could be brought against it. The majesty of the most High Gods +was vindicated, and that splendid Empress knew it and lay back sullenly +amongst the cushions of her litter, a beaten woman. + +Only one person in that rigid knot of people found power to leave the +rest, and that was Ylga. She came out to the side of the Ark, and leaned +up, and cried me a farewell through the gathering roar of the flood. + +“I would I might save you and take you with us,” I said. + +“As for that,” she said, with a gesture, “I would not come if you asked +me. I am not a woman that will take anything less than all. But I shall +meet what comes presently with the memory that you will have me always +somewhere in your recollection. I know somewhat of men, even men of your +stamp, Deucalion, and you will never forget that you came very near to +loving me once.” + +I think, too, she said something further, concerning Nais, but the +bellowing rush of the waters drowned all other words. A great mist made +from the stream sent up by the swamped burning mountains stopped all +accurate view, though the blaze from the fires lit it like gold. But +I had a last sight of a horde of soldiery rushing up the slopes of the +Mountain, with a scum of surge billowing at their heels, and licking +many of them back in its clutch. And then my eye fell on old Zaemon +waving to me with the Symbol to shut down the door in the roof of the +Ark. + +I obeyed his last command, and went down the stair, and closed all +ingress behind me. There were bolts placed ready, and I shot these into +their sockets, and there were Nais and I alone, and cut off from all the +rest of our world that remained. + +I went to the place where she lay, and put my arms tightly around her. +Without, we heard men beating desperately on the Ark with their weapons, +and some even climbed by the battens to the top and wrenched to try and +move the door from its fastenings. The end was coming very nearly to +them now, and the great crowd of them were mad with terror. + +I would have given much to have known how Phorenice fared in that final +tumult, and how she faced it. I could see her, with her lovely face, and +her wondrous eyes, and her ruddy hair curling about her neck, and by +all the Gods! I thought more of her at that last moment than of the +poor land she had conquered, and misgoverned, and brought to this horrid +destruction. There is no denying the fascination which Phorenice carried +with her. + +But the end did not dally long with its coming. There was a little surge +that lifted the Ark a hand’s breadth or so in its cradle, and set it +back again with a jar and a quiver. The blows from axes and weapons +ceased on its lower part, but redoubled into frenzied batterings on its +rounded roof. There were some screams and cries also which came to +us but dully through the thickness of its ponderous sheathing, though +likely enough they were sent forth at the full pitch of human lungs +outside. And when another surge came, roaring and thundering, which +picked up the great vessel as though it had been a feather, and spun it +giddily; and after that we touched earth or rock no more. + +We tossed about on the crest and troughs of delirious seas, a sport for +the greedy Gods of the ocean. The lamp had fallen, and we crouched there +in darkness, dully weighed with the burden of knowledge that we alone +were saved out of what was yesterday a mighty nation. + + + + +20. ON THE BOSOM OF THE DEEP + + +The Ark was rudderless, oarless, and machineless, and could travel only +where the High Gods chose. The inside was dark, and full of an ancient +smell, and crowded with groanings and noise. I could not find the +fire-box to relight the fallen lamp, and so we had to endure blindly +what was dealt out to us. The waves tossed us in merciless sport, and I +clung on by the side of Nais, holding her to the bed. We did not speak +much, but there was full companionship in our bereavement and our +silence. + +When Atlantis sank to form new ocean bed, she left great whirlpools and +spoutings from her drowned fires as a fleeting legacy to the Gods of the +Sea. And then, I think (though in the black belly of the Ark we could +not see these things), a vast hurricane of wind must have come on next +so as to leave no piece of the desolation incomplete. For seven nights +and seven days did this dreadful turmoil continue, as counted for us +afterwards by the reckoner of hours which hung within the Ark, and then +the howling of the wind departed, and only the roll of a long still +swell remained. It was regular and it was oily, as I could tell by the +difference of the motion, and then for the first time I dared to go up +the stair, and open the door which stood in the roof of the Ark. + +The sweet air came gushing down to freshen the foulness within, and as +the Ark rode dryly over the seas, I went below and brought up Nais to +gain refreshment from the curing rays of our Lord the Sun. Duly the pair +of us adored Him, and gave thanks for His great mercy in coming to light +another day, and then we laid ourselves down where we were to doze, and +take that easy rest which we so urgently needed. + +Yet, though I was tired beyond words, for long enough sleep would not +visit me. Wearily I stared out over the oily sunlit waters. No blur +of land met the eye. The ring of ocean was unbroken on every side, and +overhead the vault of heaven remained unchanged. The bosom of the deep +was littered with the poor wreckage of Atlantis, to remind one, if there +had been a need, that what had come about was fact, and not some horrid +dream. Trees, squared timber, a smashed and upturned boat of hides, and +here and there the rounded corpse of a man or beast shouldered over the +swells, and kept convoy with our Ark as she drifted on in charge of the +Gods and the current. + +But sleep came to me at last, and I dropped off into unconsciousness, +holding the hand of Nais in mine, and when next I woke, I found her +open-eyed also and watching me tenderly. We were finely rested, both of +us, and rest and strength bring one complacency. We were more ready +now to accept the station which the High Gods had made for us without +repining, and so we went below again into the belly of the Ark to eat +and drink and maintain strength for the new life which lay before us. + +A wonderful vessel was this Ark, now we were able to see it at leisure +and intimately. Although for the first time now in all its centuries +of life it swam upon the waters, it showed no leak or suncrack. Inside, +even its floor was bone dry. That it was built from some wood, one could +see by the grainings, but nowhere could one find suture or joint. The +living timbers had been put in place and then grown together by an +art which we have lost to-day, but which the Ancients knew with much +perfection; and afterwards some treatment, which is also a secret +of those forgotten builders, had made the wood as hard as metal and +impervious to all attacks of the weather. + +In the gloomy cave of its belly were stored many matters. At one end, in +great tanks on either side of central alley, was a prodigious store of +grain. Sweet water was in other tanks at the other end. In another place +were drugs and samples, and essences of the life of beasts; all these +things being for use whilst the Ark roamed under the guidance of the +Gods on the bosom of the deep. On all the walls of the Ark, and on all +the partitions of the tanks and the other woodwork, there were carved +in the rude art of bygone time representations of all the beasts which +lived in Atlantis; and on these I looked with a hunter’s interest, as +some of them were strange to me, and had died out with the men who had +perpetuated them in these sculptures. There was a good store of weapons +too and the tools for handicrafts. + +Now, for many weeks, our life endured in this Ark as the Gods drove it +about here and there across the face of the waters. We had no government +over direction; we could not by so much as a hair’s breadth a day +increase her speed. The High Gods that had chosen the two of us to be +the only ones saved out of all Atlantis, had sole control of our fate, +and into Their hands we cheerfully resigned our future direction. + +Of that land which we reached in due time, and where we made our abiding +place, and where our children were born, I shall tell of in its place; +but since this chronicle has proceeded so far in an exact order of the +events as they came to pass, it is necessary first to narrate how we +came by the sheets on which it is written. + +In a great coffer, in the centre of the Ark’s floor, the whole of the +Mysteries learned during the study of ages were set down in accurate +writing. I read through some of them during the days which passed, and +the awfulness of the Powers over which they gave control appalled me. I +had seen some of these Powers set loose in Atlantis, and was a witness +of her destruction. But here were Powers far higher than those; here was +the great Secret of Life and Death which Phorenice also had found, and +for which she had been destroyed; and there were other things also of +which I cannot even bring my stylo to scribe. + +The thought of being custodian of these writings was more than I could +endure, and the more the matter rested in my mind, the more intolerable +became the burden. And at last I took hot irons, and with them seared +the wax on the sheets till every letter of the old writings was +obliterated. If I did wrong, the High Gods in Their infinite justice +will give me punishment; if it is well that these great secrets should +endure on earth, They in their infinite power will dictate them afresh +to some fitting scribes; but I destroyed them there as the Ark swayed +with us over the waves; and later, when we came to land, I rewrote upon +the sheets the matters which led to great Atlantis being dragged to her +death-throes. + +Nais, that I love so tenderly-- + +[TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The remaining sheets are too broken to be legible.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s The Lost Continent, by C. J. 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