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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e60529 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51915 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51915) diff --git a/old/51915-0.txt b/old/51915-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c4fbc81..0000000 --- a/old/51915-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9922 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic -Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. Morrow - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony - -Author: W. C. Morrow - -Illustrator: Maynard Dixon - -Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51915] -Last Updated: November 16, 2016 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS, THE ROMANTIC TALE OF A LOST COLONY - -By W. C. Morrow - -Illustrated by Maynard Dixon - -Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers: New York - -1908 - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - - - -LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS - - - -CHAPTER I.--On Unknown Shores. - -_Pursued by Our Dying Ship. Cast Away Among Dangers. A Pointing -Finger and a Sword. Beguiled by Savage Royalty. A Strange Girl and a -Prediction._ - - -IN range of my outlook seaward as I lay on the yellow strand was a -grotesque figure standing near and gazing inland. His powerful frame was -broad and squat; his long arms, ending with immense hands, hung loosely -at his sides; his hair was ragged; and out of his blank face blue eyes -wide apart. So accustomed was I to his habitually placid expression -that the keenness with which he was looking roused me fully out of the -lethargy into which extreme exhaustion had plunged me. - -“Well, Christopher!” I said with an attempt at cheerfulness. - -The strange look in my serving-man’s eyes did not disappear when he -turned them on me at my greeting, but my glance at the forest discovered -nothing alarming. It was useless to question Christopher; he would take -his time. - -I rose with stiffened members. The wretched, beaten colonists were prone -along the beach, all sleeping except Captain Mason and Mr. Vancouver. -With silent Christopher shambling at my heels I passed Mr. Vancouver as -he sat on the sand beside his slumbering daughter; he was watching the -sea more with his blue lips than his leaden eyes. I gave him a cheery -greeting, blinked small since it was no time to harbor old scores. The -effort failed; he only blinked at me. Already I had suspected that his -quarrel with me because Christopher had stowed away on the vessel was -merely the seizing of an opportunity to rupture the strong friendship -between Annabel and me. - -Even at a distance I had seen that Captain Mason’s spirit was hunting -the waters, as he stood apart in a splendid solitude, arms folded, and -towering in the dignity of a gladiator who might be disarmed, but not -conquered. Never had I seen a profounder pathos than his when, finding -the _Hope_ foundering and helpless, he had ordered her abandonment and -sent us into the boats. Then had come the most haunting thing that ever -a sailor experienced. - -It was the pursuit of us by the dying barkentine. What sails the last -storm had left played crazy pranks with the derelict. With no hand on -her wheel the rudder swung free. We were rowing northwestwardly, with -the wind, and thus it was that the _Hope_, thrust by wind and wave, -followed us, with wide swerves, with lungings and lurchings, now and -then making a graceful sweep up a swell and then a wallowing roll to the -trough. The fore-and-aft sails were gone, but some of the square -canvas held; and the sheets flapped with a dismal foolishness between -accidental fills. It was the drunken plunging of the hulk in deliberate -pursuit of us that appalled. She snouted the water swinishly; she reeled -and groveled under the seas that boarded her. Through it all, whether -she was coming prow first, beam on, or stern foremost, and no matter how -far she would veer, she clung to our course, shadowing us, hounding us, -as though imploring our help. - -In all the fury of the storms, from their first assaults at Cape Horn to -their beating us down in the South Seas, Captain Mason had not faltered; -he fought desperate odds with the cunning and valor of Hercules. But -this careering mad thing, stripped of the grace and dignity of a sane -ship,--this staggering, sodden monster, mortally stricken and dumbly -floundering after the master who had abandoned her that she might go -down alone into the deep,--was more than the man could bear; and he had -sat staring in the boat, Christopher and I rowing, while we dodged the -barkentine’s blind assaults. We were still bending to the work when -darkness fell. It was then that the wind died, and we saw her no more. - -Captain Mason showed relief at being dragged back into the living world -by our approach. - -“No sign of her?” I asked. - -“Not from here. The view is shut in by those promontories,” indicating -two headlands embracing our beach. - -“Then,” said I, “Christopher will scale one of them and I the other.” < - -There was a faint twinkle behind the seaman’s look, and something else, -which recalled what I had seen in Christopher’s face as he gazed at the -forest. - -“I imagine you haven’t slept much,” I said, knowing his anxiety on the -barkentine’s account. - -“How could I, Mr. Tudor, when she had been following me like that?” - -“Then you have already been up there to see if you could find her?” I -ventured. - -He looked amused as he drawled, “Not all the way,” and gave Christopher -a look that appeared to be understood. His gesture swept the heights on -either side and the richly verdured mountains that began to spring in -terraces a short distance from the beach. “This is a tropical region,” - he went on, “and those trees bear lively fruit. It is brown and carries -swords. I didn’t get all the way to the headland.” - -I understood, and inquired, “Did they speak?” - -“No. A pointing finger with a sword behind it needs no words.” - -I wondered where we could be, that armed natives should exhibit a -hostile attitude. “Where are we stranded?” I asked. - -“I don’t know. It has been weeks since I could even take a dead -reckoning, and we’ve been blown far since then. My instruments -disappeared while I was exploring this morning.” - -“And we are without food or weapons,” I added, feeling a thrill at the -prospect of measuring forces with an obscure menace. - -Mr. Vancouver had loaded the barkentine with every possible means of -defense, subsistence, and development, but we had fallen on an island -far short of the one in the Philippines which he intended to colonize. -The fate of the _Hope_ was a vital matter. Most of her precious cargo -was behind bulkheads. If she had not gone down, very likely she would -drift to this island and yield her resources to any enemies we might -encounter here. - -Christopher was gazing at the forest again. I could see only deep -shadows and brown tree-boles under the leafage. Birds of brilliant -plumage were flitting among the trees, and the warmth of the sun bathed -us in sweet, heavy odors. - -“They are coming, sir,” said Christopher. - -I observed a slow undulation in a wide arc among the shadows. A -tree-trunk in the outer edge apparently detached itself, then advanced -into the open, halted, and raised a sword. Five hundred other shapes -came forth from the wide semi-circle touching the shore at either end. -Some bore swords, others spears, and still others knotted war-clubs. The -soldiers were brown and bareheaded, and the dress of each was limited to -the loins, except that of the leader, the man who had first stepped out; -he wore a sort of tunic or light cloak, and a head-dress, both gaudily -illuminated with feathers. - -Captain Mason stood motionless. - -“What shall we do?” I impatiently cried. - -Christopher left us and rapidly roused the sleepers. He must have -dropped reassuring words, for the stir proceeded without panic, though -all could see the advancing threat, which approached with an ominous -deliberation. - -“Do you think it’s to be a slaughter, Captain?” I asked. - -He gave no answer, being evidently stunned. I turned to Christopher as -he rejoined us. Many a time since I had rescued him from a mob of boys -in a Boston street, taken him to my lodgings, and made him my servant, -his strange mind had seemed able to penetrate baffling obscurities. At -such times he had a way of listening, as though to voices which he alone -could hear; but with that was an extraordinary reticence of tongue, -and often an indirection that had tried my patience until I learned to -understand him as well as an ordinary mortal could. - -“Are they going to kill us, Christopher?” I asked. - -He was in a deep abstraction, and I knew he was listening. “Sir?” - -That was his usual way of gaining time, and I had learned to wait. - -“Are they going to kill us?” - -“Kill us, sir?” - -“Yes.” - -“You are asking me, sir?” - -“Yes. Are they going to kill us?” - -“Not now, sir,” he firmly answered. - -The glance which Captain Mason and I exchanged was one accepting -Christopher’s opinion and groping for what lay beyond it. - -With some accuracy of maneuvering, the leader aligned his soldiers, -stepped out after halting them fifty yards away, and stood waiting, -obviously for a parley. He was showing impatience as Captain Mason still -stood motionless. - -“Some one must meet him,” I said. “It will never do to show timidity. -You are the fittest.” - -“These people are strange to me,” he replied, “and I don’t know how to -proceed. They have an appearance of ferocity that I have never seen in -these seas. Many outside men must have drifted to this island, but I’ll -warrant that none ever left it, for I’ve never heard of anything that -looks just like this. I imagine it is the graveyard of the unreported -wrecks that happen in this part of the Pacific.” - -I was surprised at the grayness in his face and the glaze in his eyes. -What could our two hundred and fifty men, women, and children, helpless -as they were, do without his shrewdness and courage? - -“Then we have all the more to do,” I urged. - -He squared himself, and said: “We three will meet them. Put yourself -forward. Your height and strength will impress them.” - -It looked odd that he did not include Mr. Vancouver, the leader of our -enterprise, and Lee Rawley, the aristocratic and disdainful young lawyer -whom Mr. Vancouver hoped that Annabel would marry. - -[Illustration: 0021] - -Meanwhile, the leader of the savages, a man of commanding size and -manner, had been growing more impatient, and was putting his men through -some manual that hinted at barbarous proceeding; but when we started -he desisted, and met us with urbane gestures. Then ensued a struggle to -find a means of communication. Both Captain Mason and I knew something -of the Pacific languages, he from a sailor’s experience and I from -having fought as a first lieutenant in the Philippines during the war -with Spain; but apparently our combined resources failed. Finally we -caught a Spanish word and then a German. It remained for Christopher to -discover that the embassador spoke some pidgin-English with his tongue -and all languages with his gestures. Thus we learned that the gracious -King Rangan had sent Gato, commander-in-chief of the army, with an -escort of honor to conduit us to the imperial presence. - -Captain Mason and I carefully avoided each other’s eyes. The tomb-like -mask that Christopher knew how to wear was on his face. - -As there were two armed savages to each colonist throat, there was -nothing to do but accept. In a dismal procession guarded by the -soldiers, we labored through the sand and sank into the scented forest. - -After a walk through flagrant aisles of shade and color, we came upon a -wide sweep where the undergrowth had been cleared away; in its place -was a cluster of huts made of bamboo and thatch. The central space was -occupied by one more imposing than the others. The matting curtain -at the door was drawn aside after we had been seated before it on the -ground, and a sturdy figure, followed by a striking retinue, came forth -and took an elevated seat on a platform extending from the house. - -The king’s gorgeous robe of a light fabric adorned with feathers and -embroidered with gold was worn with a knowledge of its impressiveness. -A wide band of gold embedded with gems served for a crown; the blazing -scepter and massive wristlets and anklets were of like materials; the -ears and fingers flashed with jewels. The royal face was benignant. Gato -stepped forth to interpret, as the king’s immediate followers, dressed -in long embroidered garments of native texture, ranged about the throne. - -The attendant swinging a large feather fan over the king’s head was the -only woman discoverable. There was a striking difference between her and -the men. It was manifest in a prouder poise of the head, in a look -of higher intelligence, and in a finer definition of features. The -eagerness with which her glance ran over us, a shyness that struggled -with an impulse to a bolder scrutiny, combined with a certain refinement -of bearing to set her apart. She was raimented with no less barbaric -splendor than the king and his immediate attendants, but in better -taste. Her brown bare arms and neck were turned on the graceful lines of -youth, and her wrists and hands were small. Her hair, instead of having -the glistening blackness of the men’s, housed some of the sun’s gold; -and I was startled to discover finally that her eyes were a deep blue. - -At last her roving glance was caught and held by me. In her eyes was -a moment of hungry inquiry. She caught her breath; a break came in the -regular swing of the fan, and her eyelids drooped. - -My fascinated attention to her was diverted by a deep rumble. King -Rangan was speaking. - - - - -CHAPTER II.--The Falling of a Fong - -_A Royal Feast. The Fan-Bearer’s Significant Conduct. A Gloomy Forecast. -Had Any Before Us Escaped? The King’s Promise. Prisoned in Paradise._ - - -THE interpreter made a genuflection to the throne, and beckoned to -Captain Mason and me. I thought that Mr. Vancouver ought to be included, -but the skipper ignored my inquiring glance, and stepped forward. After -bowing, we stood waiting. - -The king gave us a shrewd look. Then his eyes blazed, and he ripped -out something to the interpreter. I discovered the cause. My faithful -Christopher had brought up his prodigious strength for a possible -emergency, and it was clear that the king was offended by the grotesque -figure. - -The interpreter hesitated, for he knew Christopher’s speech-value, and -the king snapped out another command. I knew it was an order that -some shame be put upon Christopher. At that my muscles hardened, and I -stepped protectingly before him. The fan over the king’s head abruptly -stopped. The leader raised his hand, and a dozen of his men advanced. - -Dimly aware that Captain Mason was employing some pacific measures, I -was more concerned by Annabel’s surprising act. Her eyes shining and her -cheeks aglow, she briskly came up, laid her hand on Christopher’s arm, -and sweetly said: - -“Come and stay back here with us.” - -His pathetic look went questioningly from her to me, and he held -his ground. I glanced round to see what next the king would do. With -astonishment or wonder the fan-bearer was staring at Annabel, who made -a striking picture; then she whispered into the royal ear. In a milder -voice he said something to the interpreter, who by a gesture to us -indicated that the king was satisfied. At a word from me, Christopher -came and stood beside me. - -His ostensible purpose proved to be merely a formal welcome, an -ascertainment of our origin, purpose, and disaster, and an invitation to -a feast. - -As the others of the colony were in too dull a state to give attention, -the king confined to us three a shrewd scrutiny. But Captain Mason and -I, feeling that the welcome was only a sheathed sword, held blank faces, -and did not even pass a glance of understanding; and Christopher could -be depended on under all circumstances to give no betraying sign. -The one thing to do was to show a grateful acquiescence. The time -for planning would come when our people were capable of thought and -action,--if we should be spared that long. - -It was indeed a feast. The smoke which Christopher had seen rose from -a barbecue, at which fresh meat and fowls and fish had been deliciously -cooked. The completeness of the preparations indicated that they must -have been begun immediately after our landing. Fragrant boughs were -spread on the ground near the barbecue trench, and on them we seated -ourselves. Plantain leaves made excellent platters. Roasted yams, bread -made of ground seed or grain, and fruits of many kinds, were served in -abundance. - -The effect was magical; the down-hearted took cheer, and laughter -ran through the trees. Much of the transformation was wrought by the -solicitous attentions of the servers; but more cheering was the gracious -friendliness of the king, who, besides personally directing the service, -mingled with us in a democratic way, yet with no sacrifice of dignity. - -Most fascinating to me was the fan-bearer. Whereas the warriors stood -in awe of his Majesty, she treated him with almost a flippant disregard. -She went among the colonists, keenly anxious that all should be pleased, -her face breaking into bewitching smiles, her mischievous eyes dancing, -her musical laugh rippling. The distinction in her manner as she had -stood behind the throne was augmented in the modest abandon of her rôle -of hostess. The alertness of her glance, the joyous spirits that bubbled -out of her light pose and movement, her sprite-like airiness, her -obvious efforts to restrain an instinct to play, to tease, to get into -mischief, a running over of kindness and happiness,--these and more -elusive qualities set her apart from the men and made them look dull and -sordid. - -[Illustration: 0029] - -Her greatest interest was in Annabel, the only highly cultured woman -in our party, since the colony was composed of workers in practical -industries. The two girls had no language in common, and appeared -sharply different in temperament and training; yet there was visible -between them a bond of feminine sympathy such as no man can understand. -It was curious that the savage one was not abashed before her highly -civilized sister. In the gentle eagerness with which she served Annabel, -frankly studied her, and courted her notice, was something that looked -pathetically like the yearning of a starved soul for what Annabel -had--the enjoyment of a birthright. Annabel appeared to see that -longing, and she stretched forth a friendly hand into the fan-bearer’s -darkness. - -Captain Mason, Christopher, and I formed a group. Despite the grief and -anxiety on the sailor’s face, he betrayed his share of the sunshine that -the girl bestowed on all. She came to us often, and there was a touch -of shyness not visible when she flitted among the others. Virtually -ignoring me, she gave some attention to the captain, and was -particularly solicitous toward Christopher. She stuffed him, and laughed -at him. Christopher enjoyed it, gazed up into her sparkling eyes, and -strained his ribs with the food that she coaxingly urged upon him. - -On one of her visits I smilingly handed her a little pocket toilet-case -which I carried. She took it gingerly, examined it curiously, and with -childish interest inspected its contents. Her surprise at discovering -the mirror was not so great as I had expected, and did not look quite -sincere. She held it up, made a grimace at her reflection, thrust out -at it a tongue as sweet and pink as a baby’s, tossed the kit back at me, -and went dancing off in a swirl of laughter. - -Presently she demurely returned on a pretense of looking after -Christopher’s wants, and of a sudden, brilliantly smiling, held out her -hand for the trinket. I gave it to her. Her eyes fell when I looked up -closely into them, and in agitation she thrust the case into her bosom. -I discovered that Annabel was curiously observing her. - -Captain Mason gazed thoughtfully after her as she left, and remarked: - -“That girl is going to be mixed up with our fate.” - -“What do you make of her?” - -“An eaglet hatched by buzzards.” - -Christopher’s evident regard for her was dazzled wonder. - -“You like her, Christopher?” I asked. - -He was serious at all times, and much of his gravity was sadness. He -nodded impressively. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“She has fed you well.” - -“Yes, sir.” He spread his immense hands over his stomach. - -“I’ll ask her to bring you some more,” I said. - -His face showed alarm. “Don’t, sir! I’d shorely bust.” - -“But you wouldn’t have to eat more, even if she brought it.” - -“Yes, I would, sir.” - -“Why?” - -“I’d jess _have_ to, sir.” This with a solemn helplessness. - -“He has taken her measure,” dryly remarked Captain Mason. - -He had found opportunity to study the splendid jewels so abundantly -adorning the king and the girl. - -“Those gems,” he said, “were cut by European lapidaries.” - -There was a disturbing suggestion in his words, but I could not define -it. This island had received rich treasures from civilization. Here was -a mystery. - -“How do you account for them?” I asked. - -“The typhoon makes many wrecks. There’s no knowing what shores they -crawl up on to die.” - -“Yes; but you see that although our ship was wrecked, we came ashore. -Survivors of other wrecks likely have had the same experience.” - -“No doubt.” - -“Then, why haven’t they given out news of this island? It is evidently -very rich, and----” - -He gave me an obscure look, and turned away with the remark: - -“I think you’ll find the reason in a few hours.” - -He must have felt the hurt in my silence, and opened a confidence on -another tack. - -“You have noticed, Mr. Tudor, that there are no women, children, nor -domestic animals in this village. Do you infer anything from that?” - -“What is your inference, Captain?” - -“The village is not inhabited. The natives live back of those mountains -to the west. This is merely a receiving-station for wrecks and -castaways.” - -The shrewdness of the king was not hidden by his hospitality. I did -not overlook the inquiries that he made among the colonists with Gato’s -help, nor his private colloquy with Mr. Vancouver, nor the thoughtful -look of that gentleman when it was over. - -The banquet was ended; the colony was reassembled before the throne; the -king, backed by his now sedate fan-wielder, seated himself; and Captain -Mason, Christopher, and I stood ready. We were made to understand the -following: - -We had not been invited to this island, but the misfortune that landed -us on it would be respected. Two circumstances ruled the situation. One -was that no vessels from the outside world ever put in here, and hence -our means of escape were restricted to such resources as the king might -devise; the other, that our intercourse with the people would not be -permitted beyond a certain limit. The king explained that in youth he -had gone abroad and found that the ways of white people were not suited -to the islanders, who would be demoralized should they come under our -civilization. - -At intervals he sent his people, two or three at a time, in a small -boat to the nearest islands, some hundreds of miles away, with native -products for barter. But so great had been their precautions that the -situation of the island had never been discovered. In these boats one or -two of us would be taken away at a time, and thus placed in the path of -ships that would assist us homeward. - -In order to keep us isolated from the people, we were to be conduced at -once to a pleasant valley, which would be free to us for our exclusive -use. Natives skilled in farming would be furnished us for a time as -instructors; but it would be expected that we should pledge our honor -not to make any attempt to leave the valley without permission. - -Every heart among us sank. A deep look was in Captain Mason’s eyes. It -was on the end of my tongue to say, “Captain, let him know that we can -make our own vessels and leave in them;” but a glance at him informed -me that he had forgotten nothing, and that anything but a cheerful -acceptance of the old bandit’s conditions, until we might devise and -execute plans of our own, would precipitate immediate disaster. And then -I understood why the captain had asked no question about the barkentine. - -He said to me, under his breath: - -“You have an easy tongue. We must keep our people blind for the present. -Brace them up and flatter the king.” - -The colonists were in the apathy of weariness and repletion. The glow -with which I put the situation to them was barely needed to secure their -acquiescence. - -I turned to the king. Only with difficulty could I see him clearly -through the intensely dramatic picture made by the girl. All through the -conference I had seen her intense anxiety. What did it mean? With her -sweet audacity, she might have made some sign. As I read her conduct, -it betrayed a terrible uneasiness lest we refuse or were ungracious. -Clearly she was greatly relieved by our acceptance. - -I thanked the king and gratefully accepted his proffers. He then -informed us that we should immediately be conducted to our valley, made -comfortable, and supplied with everything needful. - -The cavalcade, conduced by the armed guard, started through the -enchanted forest, and mysteries throbbed in the very air. Never had I -seen so pathetic a spectacle as this draggling procession of civilized -people marched as dumb cattle to the shambles by a horde of savages. - -Captain Mason, Christopher, and I stood apart as the others filed past. -The man of the sea was in a deep reverie. - -“If the king,” I said, “has been so careful to conceal this island from -the world, why should he plan sending us away to betray it?” - -Captain Mason gave me a slow look. - -“Do you think that he intends to send us away?” he asked. - -“If not, he hasn’t sent other castaways off, and we’ll find them here.” - -Again that slow look, but I felt that it saw too far to include me. He -shook his head, and said, as though talking to himself: - -“Now begins the great struggle. We’ll be patient--and ready. That girl -is our hope.” - -The king descended; the fan-bearer, her face mantled with content, -disappeared within the administration hut and dropped the curtain. The -rear guard were waiting for us three, and we started. After a few paces, -I turned, and saw, as I had hoped to see, a brown face watching us -through the parted curtain, and it was filled with more mysteries than -any enchanted forest ever held. - -On and up we went, and finally reached the summit. We stood on a small -open plateau, which abruptly ended in a precipice. Before us was a giant -chasm in a great tableland of lava. The floor was a thousand feet below. -We were looking down on it from the top of the great wall of columnar -basalt which enclosed it. The chasm was an irregular ellipse, some three -miles on its minor axis and five on its major. The floor was level, and, -except for some farms, was covered with a forest. A breeze sent long, -unctuous waves of lighter green rolling over it, or swirling in graceful -spirals where the wall deflected the wind and drifted it on in majestic -eddies. - -In splendid contrast to the deep, warm colors below was the gloomy black -of the mighty enclosing rampart. Near the upper end a beautiful stream, -nearly a river in size, made a wild, joyous leap over the brink. A lake -into which the water plunged sent up clouds of mist, out of which sprang -a rainbow. From the lake ran the stream of molten silver which swung -lazily on its shining way through the valley till lost in the distance. -The leader of the guard announced that the valley was our destination. -I was dumb in the grasp of its witchery, but a quiet voice brought me -back: - -“As good a prison as another.” Captain Mason had spoken. - -“Why, man,” I cried, “that is Paradise!” - -“No doubt; but the flaming sword will keep us in, not out.” - -During the march I had not failed to keep Christopher in the corner of -my eye. I had been trying to read in his face one of those flashes of -insight which his fine instinct sometimes threw into dark places. He had -held his listening attitude often since I found him standing beside me -on the sand. It had given his face a certain leaden alertness, which, -as we beheld the valley, slowly faded into the habitual blankness, and I -saw that it was useless to question him. - -We descended through a steep, narrow cleft, and were marched through a -forest to the stream. A rude bridge bore us across, and there we found -a large number of natives rapidly and skilfully building us a village of -huts made from logs, boughs, and thatch. From all indications, they must -have begun the work almost immediately after we landed. Large stores of -food and other necessities had been accumulated; nothing needed for our -comfort and sustenance had been neglected. - -As soon as the soldiers had helped us bring order to the camp and the -building of the village was finished, they and the workmen melted away -in the twilight. - - - - -CHAPTER III.--The Menace of the Face. - -_Accepting the Challenge. The Threat. What the Face Saw on the Bluff. A -Mysterious Visitor. The Fan-Bearer’s Conspiracy._ - - -CAPTAIN Mason and I occupied the same hut, but we held no converse -that night before falling into heavy slumber. Christopher insisted on -sleeping outside the door. If any of our party had thought it prudent to -appoint a watchman, no suggestion to that effect was made; but there was -no knowing what responsibilities Christopher assumed. - -The sun was looking over the great wall when we assembled for breakfast. -Every one had a brighter appearance. I had never seen men so terribly -cowed as these since the storms had beaten them down. The women had -looked beyond the hopelessness, and had tried to sustain the courage of -the colony. Every man was now beginning to hold up his head. - -Some of the despair had melted from Mr. Vancouver’s face; it was clear -that the lion in him was feebly straining. Mr. Rawley was recovering his -aplomb. Annabel, having in her bearing an added depth and sweetness, had -undoubtedly done much to accomplish that result with the two men, for -there was something pathetic in the tenacity with which they clung to -her. - -On the barkentine, before the elements became destructive, she had been -aloof toward the other women and the children; but on the beach, at the -feast, and on the weary march to the valley, she had given a cheering -smile, word, or deed to those about. The promise thus made was meeting -fulfilment this morning. She had assumed charge of the breakfast -preparations, and, seeing that Christopher yearned to do kindly service, -had made him her executive. I often caught her look of wonder at his -unfailing intelligence, patience, and gentleness in doing her bidding. - -After breakfast the men began to talk among themselves. Captain Mason -went over and said something to Mr. Vancouver, who shook his head, and -the captain returned to me. - -“Now that the men are rousing,” he said, “it is time to organize. Mr. -Vancouver declines to take the lead.” - -“You are the one for that,” I declared. - -“No. You have the military training and the tongue.” - -“But you have wisdom and a longer experience in discipline. Let’s -compromise. Take the leadership. I’ll do your talking.” - -“Very well,” he said. “There’s no need to caution you, but the others -ought to know; these trees may have ears We need organization for -defense.” - -At the end of a heartening address to the colony I called for the -selection of a president. Mr. Vancouver named Captain Mason, who -was elected. I was chosen his assistant, to Mr. Vancouver’s evident -annoyance. Dr. Preston, a young physician, was made superintendent of -the camp. - -The men squared their shoulders; the women’s faces brightened. In a -few words I urged against any restlessness, any plotting,--anything, -in fine, that would have the faintest color of mistrust or disobedience -toward the king. “Be patient. Hold together.” That was the watchword. - -Gato, the interpreter, soon appeared with a crowd of natives, and -indicated that Christopher and I, with twenty picked men, should follow -him. A short distance down the stream we came upon cleared land, and -were given our first lesson in farming. Our men winced under this and -the indefinite term of imprisonment which it implied. But the word was -passed round: “Wait. Be patient.” The one hundred and fifty intelligent -American men of us would find a way to match any ten thousand heathen -under the sun. Blessed be the American brag! It is the front of -something good behind. - -The lesson was concluded in the early afternoon, for the sun was growing -hot. Gato led us down the stream a mile to a low ridge stretching across -the valley. Not a break in the great wall enclosing the valley was -visible, except the thin cleft which had given us ingress; but I -reasoned that at the lower end there must be a gorge through which -the stream issued, although no sign of it could be seen. Gato made us -understand that this transverse ridge was the boundary of our freedom. -He pointed out two landmarks springing from the walls and marking the -terminals of the ridge. - -The one on the far side of the river was a barren bluff; opposite it, -and forming part of the wall behind, there suddenly appeared a hideous -caricature of a human face, a ferocious gargoyle, rudely fashioned by -nature from the upper front of the cliff, protruding from the rock, and -leering down horribly. It must have been a hundred feet from forelock to -chin. - -I withstood the shock badly, but was steadied by noting the deep -satisfaction in Gato’s eyes as he observed me. Unmistakably it was one -of malignant triumph, instantly gone, but almost as disconcerting as the -awful face itself. I felt that the ghastly apparition on the wall held a -significance reaching the very depths of our fate. It was the embodiment -of all the silent and implacable menaces hovering over the lethal -fairness that environed us. - -It had the blackish color of the rock, with reeking perpendicular -streaks of green alternating with dull red. The forehead and chin -receded in a simian angle; bulging eyes leered; below high cheek bones -were mummy-like recessions, and hungry shadows filled them; the nose was -flat, and the nostrils spread bestially. - -Gato, informing us that his men would be on hand the next morning, took -himself away. It gave a creepy sensation to note the snaky smoothness -with which these men could sink out of sight. - -Our party started for camp. A heaviness sat on me, and I did not wish to -talk. Christopher and I fell behind, and the others left us. I could not -bear that any but Christopher should see my perturbation. Several times -I glanced back to see the face on the wall. Its malignancy grew even -more terrible through the hazing distance, and I was glad when the -forest shut it out. If the spectacle affected me so deeply, what greater -hold must it not have had on the natives? And there was the significant -look that I had caught from Gato. - -On top of the opposite wall I discovered near the edge what appeared to -be a large stone table, or altar, and its position with reference to the -face suggested a sinister purpose. - -Now that the men were gone, hopelessness fell upon me. Never had -anything like such heavy responsibilities crept into my life. A sense of -my inadequacy grew unendurable; and, overcome by weariness of soul and -body, I flung myself on the ground and buried my face in my arm. - -Christopher presently stepped away with a sprightliness quite unusual, -but I had not the spirit to look up. Even returning footsteps and a -low murmur of voices failed to stir me. I was recalled by Christopher’s -quiet remark: - -“Some one to see you, sir.” - -I sat up, and discovered a native lad with him. His loose dress of -blouse, trousers, and straw hat was of the commonest material. He was -as unlike the native men as I had observed the fan-bearer to be, but his -manner was shy and timid, lacking the careless defiance of hers. With a -finger on his lips he beckoned us to follow him. - -In a secluded spot a little distance away, we sat down. My first -surprise was when he began to talk. In a musical voice, he groped for -words that I could understand, and in that way used a polyglot -language, some words badly pronounced, and others spoken with surprising -correctness. - -First, he enjoined secrecy, for should the king learn that he had -come----The lad finished with a grimace, and a swipe of the hand across -his throat. He made me pledge the sun to burn me up, the moon to strike -me a stark lunatic, and the stars to pierce me with their lances, should -I betray his confidence,--all this solemnly, but with a twinkle in the -back of his eye. - -Second, he was Beelo, brother of the king’s fanbearer, Lentala, a good -girl in a way, but----A droll shake of his head left her in the air. -Lentala and he were protégés of the king and queen, and enjoyed uncommon -privileges, having been members of the king’s household since childhood. -The queen was very sweet and gentle, and they were fond of her. She had -no children of her own. - -And, third, Lentala wished Beelo to come surreptitiously to me in order -to learn English. She had a special reason for that. Neither the king -nor any of the other natives must know. That was all. Would I teach him, -that he in turn might instruct her? - -Our conversation, carried on in a mixture of languages, must be here -given in English. - -“Indeed, I will, and gladly, Beelo!” I exclaimed; “but why not bring -Lentala, that I may teach you together?” I seized his hand in my joy of -this heavensent opportunity. It was a small, delicate hand. - -“She _can’t_ come,” he answered. - -“Why not?” - -“Why--she’s a girl!” - -“But she might come with you.” I was pleased with the discovery that the -savage girl had the fine instinct which establishes self-guarding and -self-respecting conventions. - -“The distance is long. Girls have to wear skirts, you know, and girls -are not as active as boys. Lentala, with her skirts, would be seen, and -the king would find out. I can slip through anywhere.” - -I nodded resignedly. Only with the greatest difficulty could I refrain -from asking him many questions; but how did I know that he was not a -spy? In establishing relations with him I was playing with every life -in the colony. I observed Christopher. His air of listening to distant -voices was not present, and I felt reassured for the moment. - -Beelo was anxious to begin; and he had his first lesson. Never had -I found so eager and sweet-tempered a pupil, and his quickness was -extraordinary. I drilled him first in the names of familiar objects. - -“What is your name?” he plumped at me. - -“Tudor.” - -“Tudor.” He caught it with a snap, as though it were a ball. “You have -another name?” - -“Yes--Joseph.” - -He began a comical struggle with the J, laboriously twisting his tongue -and lips as he pronounced the first syllable _Cho_ as the Chinese, _Yo_ -as the German, _Zho_ as the French, and _Ho_ as the Spanish; but the -English eluded him, and he gave it up, laughing sweetly. Often during -the lesson I saw in his handsome deep-blue eyes--which were maturer than -the rest of him--a dash of the mischief, the teasing, and the challenge -that gave Lentala her sparkle. - -“What is your name?” he demanded of Christopher, and pronounced it -perfectly. - -Christopher was gravely regarding the lad, who appeared disconcerted -under the scrutiny. That disturbed me; but if the boy was seeking our -undoing he would have to reckon with Christopher. - -He was curious about Annabel, and sent her affectionate messages from -Lentala. - -“Beelo,” I demanded, “where did you learn all those words from foreign -languages?” - -Taken by surprise, he was confused and a little frightened, and had the -look of a child preparing a fib. - -“Other people have been shipwrecked here,” he answered, peering at me -from under his brows. “I learned from them.” - -“What became of them?” I asked. - -He raised his head, and answered, “The king said he sent them away.” - -“Did you visit them secretly?” - -“N--o.” He began to play with twigs on the ground. - -“Were they herded in this valley?” - -“No.” His answer was firmer. “There was never more than one or a very -few at a time.” - -I sat silent so long that he looked up, and showed alarm. - -“Tell me the truth, lad,” I insisted, holding his eyes. “Where did you -learn those words?” A startling suspicion suddenly came. “The gold in -your hair, the blue in your eyes, the fine lines of your face,------” - -He began to edge away, and I saw flight in him; but I caught his wrist. - -“Tell me the truth,” I repeated. - -He gazed at me in fear and pleading, but found no yielding, and with -provoking indifference shrugged his shoulders and settled down with a -pouting, martyr-like resignation. - -“You are hurting my wrist,” he remarked. - -“Answer me,” I demanded, tightening my grip. “Hasn’t white blood mingled -with some of the native blood here?” - -His lips were compressed under the pain of my clasp, and an angry -resentment steadied his gaze. - -“Yes!” he answered, and a sudden change lit his face, as I unprisoned -the wrist. “Don’t scare me that way again,” he said, half impudently -shaking his head at me. - -It seemed best to desist from pressing the matter further, and pleasant -relations were soon re-established between us; but the matter seated -itself in a corner of my mind. - -Our lesson was delightful, and time escaped more smoothly than we knew. -Beelo glanced at the sky, and sprang to his feet. He sweetly smiled his -thanks, seized one of Christopher’s great paws and vigorously shook it, -asked me and Christopher to meet him at the same spot tomorrow at the -same hour, and was darting away. I called him back, and led him to an -opening through which the face on the cliff was visible. - -“What is that?” I asked, pointing to it. - -He caught his breath, stood rigid, and slowly turned his face up to -mine. - -“That on the cliff? It is nothing--only stone.” - -“It is more,” I insisted. “It sits there, it looks down threateningly on -the valley; it says as plainly as speech----” - -“No, no!” cried Beelo, seizing my arm with both hands, and gazing up -into my eyes. “It is one of the gods. The people invoke it--you may see -the altar fire on the opposite cliff some night when there is a great -storm and the sea is raging. The god brings fish to the king’s net.” - -He broke off abruptly, and with alarm clapped his palm to his mouth. -I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. His manner grew -composed, and he darted away and disappeared. - -On returning to camp I told Captain Mason of the adventure. He was -deeply interested, and sat in thought. - -“You’ve struck a lead,” he said. “Follow it--cautiously.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV.--Behind a Laughing Mask. - -_Captain Mason Strengthens the Defense. The Extraordinary Behavior of -Beelo. Christopher Becomes a Savage. Hidden Motives Half Disclosed. -Hope._ - - -FORSEEING the time when a visible danger would bring mob-madness to -the colony, Captain Mason gave his entire attention to strengthening -his control. To that end he kept every one engaged at something, laughed -away all fears and doubts, placed all on honor not to breed discontent, -and required that all discussions of the situation be with him alone. - -He impressed the danger of leaving the camp limits except in large -parties organized under his authority. No spying savages were ever seen -in the forest backing the camp, but I frequently found the captain using -his keen eyes in that direction. The questions weighing on him were: -When would the king ask for the first member of the colony to be sent -away? What plan would be adopted in the selection? What would really -become of the persons so taken? What should be done when the first call -was made for deportation? - -Christopher and I alone were in the president’s confidence. On the -second night he informed us that he had selected a spot which would -serve as a fortress if occasion rose, and instructed Christopher in the -art of making weapons, chiefly stone-headed clubs and blackjacks. This -work was done secretly in our cabin. - -The daily teaching of Beelo developed a new interest in the fact that, -before I was aware, I was a pupil as well as a tutor, and that Beelo was -as assiduous in instructing Christopher as me; he was evidently anxious -that we should master the native language. I was glad to humor him, -especially as I suspected an intelligent purpose. Above that was my -growing affection for him. He perfected his poor English so rapidly that -I was put on my mettle to learn the island tongue. - -It was a simple task, and we came to use it entirely. To my surprise, -Christopher learned it as readily as I. From the very start he had -helped Beelo to turn the teaching in that direction. The strangest -element of all this procedure was the quick and sure understanding that -sprang up between these two. - -Beelo one day brought a large parcel. He was particularly happy, and as -full of play as a kitten. - -“You can’t guess what I have for you,” he said with a mischievous look. - -“No, Beelo--what?” - -“You’ll see.” He was opening the parcel. “You and Christopher are going -to be Senatras.” Senatra was the name of the inhabitants. - -He produced from the parcel two native costumes. In addition were a -basin and some brown powder. The boy was in glee as he separated the -articles into one array for Christopher and the other for me. - -He ran to a little stream, fetched water in the basin, and with a -comical seriousness dissolved part of the powder. - -“Your arm, Christopher,” he demanded. At times Beelo’s manner had a -touch of imperiousness that sat oddly with his youth. - -Christopher obediently bared his powerful arm. - -“Oh!” said Beelo in delight. “You have splendid muscles,--they are like -iron; and you are very strong,--that’s good.” His finger was timid as it -touched Christopher’s arm. - -He dipped a cloth in the colored water, and rubbed the stain on -Christopher’s white skin. His care and gravity in comparing the tint -with the color of his own wrist, in shaking his head, in adding more -pigment to the water and trying again, and at last his delighted -satisfaction, were all very charming. - -“Good!” he cried. “That’s the Senatra color. Now,” addressing me, -“I’ll go away a little while. You make a Senatra of Christopher.” To -Christopher: “Take off everything. Mr. Tudor will put the color all over -you. Then you put on Senatra clothes, and whistle for me.” - -Patient Christopher would doubtless submit to any indignity that this -prankish boy might devise, but I proposed to put a stop to the nonsense. -Besides, how could I assume the ridiculous rôle that this young scamp, -in whom my indulgence had bred impudence, intended for me? - -“Christopher will do nothing of the sort,” I peremptorily said. - -The lad stopped short and looked at me curiously. - -“I want to, sir,” Christopher interposed, much to my surprise. - -“You do? You wish to submit to this foolishness?” - -“Foolishness, sir?” - -“Yes.” - -He reflected a while, and then said: - -“Perhaps it ain’t jest foolishness, sir.” - -“Very well,” I agreed, willing to humor him; “But Beelo will stay here -and put the color on you himself.” - -Alarm sprang to the boy’s face. - -“I won’t!” he answered defiantly, and was turning away, but I caught him -by the arm. - -“You will,” I said. “I’ll see that you do.” - -He slipped from my grasp and stood away, laughing. - -“I want to do it myself, sir,” meekly said Christopher. - -Beelo precipitately fled. - -Why not play with these children? A man who would not was a churl. So -Christopher was arrayed as a Senatra, and a whistle called Beelo back. - -He danced delightedly round the pitiful figure that Christopher made. -It hurt me to see not only how patiently Christopher submitted, but -how wholly he entered into the spirit of the masquerade. His pale eyes -looked ghastly in his brown face. I called Beelo’s attention to that. - -“Oh, that won’t be seen at night!” he exclaimed. The remark did not -impress me at the moment. - -He put Christopher through numerous gaits and tricks of manner peculiar -to the Senatras, and praised him for his aptness. Finally, when he -taught his pupil the art of creeping stealthily and noiselessly, the man -was so terrible that I forgot his grotesqueness. - -All through this singular performance, Beelo, even though half playful, -displayed astonishing perseverance and thoroughness, as if life itself -depended on the perfection of the drill. That might not have looked -so strange had it not been for the extraordinary care of Christopher -himself to accomplish a perfect imitation. Then the significance of it -all burst upon me. - -I had vowed a thousand times since first knowing Christopher that never -again would I underrate his wisdom, yet over and over I found myself -doing so. While he never laughed in his romping with the children of the -camp, but went into their sports with his habitual tender melancholy, -he never showed with them the hidden eagerness, the almost desperate -determination, that marked his training under Beelo. Thus I came to see -that at the very beginning Christopher had discovered a vital meaning in -Beelo’s playing. - -“And now,” cried Beelo, “you will be a Senatra, Mr. Tudor! Christopher -will dress you. Come!” - -The boy’s eyes softened in a moment under the new light that he found in -mine. - -“Beelo,” I said, taking his hand, “let’s sit down and talk.” I seated -myself, but he withdrew his hand and sat a little distance away. “No,” I -gently insisted; “here, facing me, and close.” - -He twisted himself round to the spot I indicated, and in doing so tossed -Christopher a wry mouth. I noticed more clearly how fine his features -were, and with what grace his long lashes curved. - -“Beelo, do you really wish Christopher and me to be Senatras?” I asked. - -He nodded, and, turning to Christopher, told him to go to the runnel, -wash off the stain and put on his own clothes. Christopher meekly went. -Beelo began playing with twigs on the ground, and did not look at me. - -“Did Lentala tell you to do this?” - -He nodded again--a little irritatingly, for he had a tongue. - -“Why?” I asked. - -He raised his eyes and regarded me steadily. Then, perhaps not seeing -all that he sought, he made no answer, and returned to the twigs. - -“I want to understand, Beelo, and you must trust me. Many things come to -me now. Your sister’s conduct at the feast meant that she wished us to -obey the king. She showed us sincere kindness in every look and act. -And her great difference from the other people,--her sweetness, her -grace, her beauty, her brightness of mind, her altogether adorable -charm,------” - -Beelo blazed in a way that stopped my rhapsody. He had raised his face; -his lips were apart; his eyes glowed with a proud light that moved me -strangely. - -“You like my sister?” he softly asked. - -“Who would not?” - -“But _you!_” The boy impatiently tossed his head. - -The little gesture was so pretty that I involuntarily smiled. Beelo -misunderstood. He flashed angrily, and resumed the twigs. I could only -grope. - -“I don’t understand why the king sent us here. We are prisoners, and -that is something which brave men won’t stand. We would rather die -fighting.” - -Again he studied me, and again looked down. - -“Why didn’t the king let us build boats, and leave?” - -He gave no answer, but was very busy with the twigs. I wondered if I -were rash in some of the things I was saying. Clearly the moment of -confidence had not arrived. The boy was studiedly cautious. - -“Beelo, go to your sister and beg her to come and see me. She will trust -me more than you do. I know she is our friend. She would tell us what -fate is awaiting us.” - -“No, she wouldn’t,” firmly interposed the boy. - -“She would, because she is sweet and kind.” - -“No, she loves her people, and you might do them harm.” - -“But she sends you here to disguise us as natives and to train us in the -art of deceiving and outwitting them.” - -Had his smile not been so winning I could have slapped him for his -insolence; but it was soon evident that a mighty struggle was proceeding -under his assumed carelessness. If I could only guess at its nature I -might know how to proceed. - -“Bring Lentala to me, Beelo. She would be safe with you, and she will -understand and will trust me.” - -“Why? Her skin is brown. You would not trust her.” He was closely -observing me. - -“What difference can her color make!” I impatiently retorted. “Lentala -is an angel.” - -“But a brown skin means------” A look of horror swept over his face. - -“Lentala is beautiful and kind and true. Tell her to come.” - -Beelo was silent. - -“Why should she not trust me?” I persisted. “How could I harm her?” - -The boy, nervously arranging the twigs, spoke rapidly, but did not look -up: - -“She’s afraid,--not for herself, but her people. They love her. She -would never betray them. Suppose she came,--you would be gentle to her; -you would tell her she was beautiful and--and all that nonsense. You -might try to get her to tell you things. And you would find out how -to------Yes, you might come back and plot with your men, and there would -be a great fight with my people and many would be killed. That would be -terrible.” - -I dimly understood at last: Lentala would trust her brother, not -herself, in the mysterious plan that she was working out. - -Christopher had returned. I beckoned to him to sit with us. - -“Beelo,” I said, “look at me.” He complied. “If Lentala were here she -could read my heart. All that you have said means that she mistrusts -me. I understand more than you think I do. You have already shown your -confidence and Lentala’s by offering to train me as a native. A wise and -generous purpose is in that. By means of the disguise, you wish me to -learn some things that will benefit my people, but you are held back by -your fear that I will use the knowledge to injure you.” - -“No,” he hastily interrupted; “only my people.” - -“Very well. But you have already shown trust. You simply want more -assurance that I will keep faith with you. Tell me what you want. I will -put my life in pawn,--I will give it, if that is demanded.” - -His deep eyes were profoundly fixed upon me. In that moment Beelo -disclosed a soul that had found maturity. - -“You would do all for your people!” he impatiently cried. “You think -only of them! Lentala and Beelo may do everything for you, but you never -think what you might do for--Lentala and Beelo.” - -The half-revelation in the passionate outburst brought me to my feet, -and the lad slowly came to his. - -“Beelo!” I said, “I hadn’t thought it possible. You and she are the -favorites of the king and queen. You have everything you want. I don’t -understand. Trust me! I can be a friend.” - -He was looking up at me with eyes in which a pathetic anxiety struggled -with fears. Instead of addressing me, he turned to Christopher and -confidently took his hand. - -“Christopher,” he said, “do you like me--and Lentala?” - -“Oh, yes!” - -“Very much?” - -Christopher solemnly nodded. - -“If--if we want to go away with you and your people, would you take us?” - -“Oh, yes!” - -“And be kind to us?” - -“Me?” He turned to me, and so did Beelo. - -“Yes, Christopher.” - -“_He_ will,” was the answer. - -Beelo, seized with one of his unexpected whirlwinds, threw his arms -round Christopher, and laughed. - -I turned him about, and, holding both his hands, looked smilingly into -his brilliant eyes. - -“Show me the way to serve you and your sister, Beelo,” I said. “I alone, -or Christopher and I together, will obey any instructions from you; we -will do whatever you say, go wherever you direct,--cut ourselves off -from every protection except yours. Isn’t our trust complete?” - -“Yes, Yoseph--Choseph,” he banteringly answered. Then, in a flash, “I -mean Mr. Tudor.” - -“Joseph--to you,” I returned. - -He put his mouth through contortions over the F, and finally, with a -restful gasp, blurted out: - -“Choseph!” - -His gentleness overwhelmed me, and I, being naturally affectionate, and -timid only with women, forgot my feeling of constraint toward him, and -caught him in my arms. But he did not have for me the pressure and the -laughter that he had given Christopher. On the contrary, he resisted and -then sprang away. - -I wondered what thoughts were perplexing him as he stood off, regarding -me in his odd little quizzical fashion, and was astounded when he said: - -“Lentala says that Annabel is beautiful and lovely.” I could not imagine -what had suggested Annabel to him at this particular moment, but I -hastily agreed. He seemed not altogether pleased, but went on: - -“You like her very much?” - -“Yes; very much indeed.” - -He looked a little sullen, but soon recovered, and broke out in a very -rush of gay spirits. In a short time he suddenly became grave. - -“I must go,” he said. With a gentle, pleading look at me, he asked: -“Won’t you be a Senatra? Christopher will help you.” - -“Yes, Beelo,--anything you wish.” - -“Very well. I will come every day for--maybe three days, and teach -Christopher. You will watch us. When you and Christopher are alone, he -will teach you. But you must dress every time as a Senatra!” - -“Of course.” My relief was great. For some incomprehensible reason I -did not wish the boy to train me, for that would have necessitated a -disagreeable loss of dignity before him. - -“Good! And in three or four days,”--an oddly embarrassed expression -rose in his face,--“would you like to go with me--you and dear old -Christopher--to see--the beautiful--the kind--the true--Lentala?” He was -mocking. - -“Yes!” I answered, and made an effort to catch him; but he darted away, -showering a cascade of laughter behind him. - -So I was right in supposing that Beelo had been preparing us to -penetrate the mysteries beyond the valley ramparts, and lift the veil -behind which our fate was hidden. - -“Christopher!” I cried in my joy, seizing him by the shoulder; “do you -understand?” - -“Yes, sir.” - - - - -CHAPTER V.--The Opening of a Pit. - ---Insolence and Rebellion in Camp. A Riot Averted. I Train for a -Dangerous Rôle. Plotting Among Us for the Destruction of the Colony.-- - - -WHEN Christopher began my training and pursued it with such amazing -thoroughness, my feeling of being ridiculous disappeared. My love of -adventure in these preparations was mingled with other emotions,--the -fascination of hazard, a ===wish to risk everything for the colony, -and a strong desire to see Lentala and solve the mystery of her whole -conduct. Beelo was a will-o’-the-wisp. - -Complications arose in camp. Although I had taken care to exercise my -authority in a bland way, it became necessary at times to be severe. My -greatest difficulty was inability to find the source of a disaffection -working insidiously among the young men. Captain Mason had not observed -it, lacking my opportunity, and I decided to be more positive and to -find evidence before laying the matter before him. - -I was intimately thrown with the men by directing the work on the farm. -The labor was exhausting on account of the heat. For this reason, and -because some men could bear the work better than others, and liked it, -I called out only volunteers; but selfishness on the part of some who -shirked brought grumbling. At first I had supposed that this was the -origin of the dissatisfaction, but presently a deeper cause appeared to -be in operation. As a test, and to secure fairness, I adopted a system -of levying on all the able-bodied men and requiring each to do his share -in turn. - -In that way I came down on Rawley, who had never volunteered. When I -informed him one evening that his turn in the fields would come next -day, he stared at me in insolent silence. - -That incident alone was not significant, but it made me alert, and I -instructed Christopher to keep a strict and secret watch on the camp. A -present necessity was to force the issue with Rawley, whose bearing was -a threat to the harmony and safety of the colony. - -He had not taken the trouble to absent himself from the tables when I -called out the tale of men for the fields next morning, but lounged at -indolent unconcern. Annabel was not visible. Mr. Vancouver, sitting near -Rawley, had a suspiciously waiting air. - -The young man did not rise with the others and prepare to go, but merely -stared at me. I went near and said in a low voice: - -“These men will resent your refusal.” - -“Are you threatening me?” he said under his breath. - -“Give my remark whatever construction you please,” I answered. - -He could not hide his anger and fear, for a glance showed him a -disquieting expression in the faces of the forty men waiting. Mr. -Vancouver looked surprised and irritated as he studied them. The men -in whom rebellion was stirring were such as he had always directed and -commanded,--artisans, mechanics, clerks, sturdy and spirited every one, -and loving fair play. - -“Save yourself further trouble,” Rawley drawled in an effort to be -nonchalant. “I’ll go--if I feel like it, and when I’m ready.” - -Although the men could not hear him, they understood, and a murmur -arose. One of them angrily said: “He’s too good to work.” - -Then came the outbreak. - -“Put him under arrest! Duck him in the river! The snob!” - -Annabel suddenly appeared. The men at once desisted, and she understood -the situation at a glance. Her astonishment grew as her look of angry -reproach at Rawley passed to her father and found him silent and pale, -as though for the first time he had seen the spirit of the common -American. - -She came to me and said: “Don’t make trouble now. Be patient. You can -find a way.” - -I turned to the men. - -“Gentlemen,” I said, “I must remind you that you have not been empowered -by the colony to enforce its discipline. In this instance it is my -task alone, and I propose to handle it as I think best, without your -assistance, unless I call on you for it. Your attitude and remarks -just now were rebellious, and, if allowed by those in authority, would -disrupt us and place us at the mercy of savages. Leave this matter to -me, and depend on me to see it properly adjusted. Mr. Vancouver needs -Mr. Rawley today. Now to our work.” My speech affected the men in two -quite different ways. Some, with a submissive glance at Mr. Vancouver -who was watching me curiously, were instantly satisfied; others looked -a little confused and rebellious, and were not cheerful in their -obedience. They appeared a trifle uneasy, as though something might -be afoot and they had not been informed. All of this sharpened my -alertness. - -After the day’s work I had doubts as to whether I should report the -incident to Captain Mason, who had not been present. I felt that -something of an underground nature was at work, and that Mr. Vancouver -was its focus. I could make allowance for a man shattered by adversity, -but I supposed that Mr. Vancouver might have gathered himself up during -the weeks we had been held as prisoners. - -It turned out that he had. When Christopher came to give me my drill in -the forest near the camp that day he brought disturbing information. -Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, in order to be alone, had gone into the forest -after I left for the fields, and talked. All that Christopher could -learn was that Mr. Vancouver was carrying on secret negotiations with -the king, and that a messenger from the palace was expected at a certain -place within the forest in an hour. - -My lesson was short that day. I sent Christopher to Captain Mason to -report what he had heard, and to say that I would take the place of the -native in the interview, if possible, trusting to the completeness of my -disguise as a Senatra. Christopher was to be near for an emergency. - -Skirting the spot where Mr. Vancouver was to meet the native, I -intercepted him. It sickened me to see the sly confidence with which he -approached. Meanwhile, I was aware of the great danger of discovery by -the genuine messenger, for I knew the trailing skill of the natives, -even though I led Mr. Vancouver as far from the meeting-place as -necessary. But Christopher, who had acquired the native slyness, would -know how to handle any embarrassing situation. - -The discovery of Mr. Vancouver’s seeming treachery had so disturbed me -that I had some doubt of myself in the interview. The simple solution -offered by strangling the man in the forest kept hammering at me with a -dangerous persistency. We had taken it for granted that his interest in -the colony was strong; no watch had been set on his liberty, which he -had used in plotting. - -I was measurably collected by the time we had seated ourselves on the -ground. Being totally in the dark as to what had gone before, I was -forced to extreme caution, and in addition was some danger of my -betraying myself or of his discovering that I was not a native. - -“Why didn’t the other man come?” he demanded in his old peremptory -manner. - -In confusion, not knowing what degree of proficiency in English to -assume, I gave some answer in a lame speech, the inconsistency of which -he might have detected had he been less absorbed. - -“What is the king’s plan?” he asked. - -“He wants to know yours first,” I answered. - -I was prepared for his quick, half-suspicious look. “He knows what I -want,” was the sharp return. - -“The other native didn’t know. He couldn’t tell the king very well.” - -“This is my plan,” went on Mr. Vancouver: “I make some good, strong men -think that Captain Mason does nothing, but sits down and waits for us -all to be killed. This is secret. A fellow named Hobart is my leader. -The young men are ready to go with him out of the valley. The king will -tell the guard to seize them and take them to the palace. That will get -rid of the best fighters in the colony.” - -“What will the young men think they go for?” I inquired. - -“What difference does that make,” he testily demanded, “so long as they -are out of the way?” - -“The king must know.” I was solid and firm. - -“I’ll make them think they can pass the guard; then they’ll find a way -for the colony to escape, and will come back and tell me.” - -“But they are not to come back.” - -Mr. Vancouver was silent, and his impatience grew. “You will send them -into a trap?” I persisted. Again his suspicious scrutiny. “Does the king -want them to come back?” he asked. - -“I don’t know. But he wants your plan.” - -“If they don’t come back,” Mr. Vancouver explained, “Captain Mason will -be blamed for not knowing they were to go. Then his power will be gone. -The colony will break up.” - -The ghastly perfection of the scheme overcame me for a moment, but I -must learn what benefits Mr. Vancouver expected from this wholesale -sacrifice. - -“What do you want of the king?” - -“I and my daughter and a young man named Rawley are to be taken care of, -and----” - -“You mean not killed?” - -He writhed and reddened under the question, and under my sullen -insistence. - -Instead of answering, he hurried on: “I will show the king how to work -the gold, silver, copper, diamond, and other mines, and how to make much -money out of them. I will make treaties with other countries, and build -forts, and make him a strong army. All this has to be done sooner or -later, or the island will be taken.” - -“What is to be done with the other white people?” I demanded. - -“The king knows.” - -“If I can’t tell him he’ll send me back.” - -After a struggle with his anger, Mr. Vancouver said, “The king knows -what he has done with other castaways.” - -“What do you think he has done with them?” - -He started at me in a struggle with his patience, and said nothing. - -“Do you think they were sent away?” I returned. - -His fury broke. “No!” he exclaimed, and then suddenly checked himself. - -“Then you think they are here yet?” I drove in. - -He rose in a passion. “Tell the king to send me a man who isn’t a fool!” - he stormed. - -“I will tell him,” I quietly said, rising and starting away; but he -halted me. - -“Why do you ask those questions?” he said more composedly. - -“The king told me to. He wants to know if he can trust you. If you want -these people sent away,----” - -“I don’t! That would ruin everything. They’d send armies and war-ships, -and----” - -“Then, kept here--alive?” - -“Certainly not! They’d kill me.” - -I had known this to be the answer that I would wring from him; still the -renewed impulse to strangle him was almost overpowering. - -“I will tell the king,” I duly said, and was turning away, when another -idea came. “Maybe he will first send for a man from your people. Which -one do you want to go before the young men?” - -“Tudor, Captain Mason’s assistant,” he answered with a vicious -promptness. “Then, as soon as the young men are gone, I and my daughter -and Rawley will go, and I will talk and plan with the king while the -soldiers do their work here.” - -The humor that I found in the turn, personal to me, which the situation -had taken, lightened my spirit, and I thought of something else. - -“Did the king send you any word about Lentala, his fan-bearer?” - -“I talked with the man about her. I knew there was some mystery about -her and that she was close to the king. I asked that she be sent to make -the plans with me.” - -His halt whetted my anxiety. “What did he say?” - -“That she must know nothing about it, or she would break the plot.” - -My heart choked me with its bounding. I had gained more than I had lost, -but my heart was sore for Annabel. - -“I must go,” I said. “Next time I come I will go to your hut in the -night. Don’t come into these woods again. The soldiers----” - -He understood, and looked relieved. After he had disappeared I sat down -in a daze, trying to reason out the tangle. Rawley was in the plot, but -Annabel was innocent. - -A sound made me raise my head, and I saw Christopher and Captain Mason -standing before me. Christopher’s face wore its customary vacancy, but -Captain Mason’s had a startled look, as though he had beheld what is not -good for a man to see. It appeared to have shriveled him. - -“Before Christopher summoned me,” he dully said without any preliminary, -“he found the native and sent him away. We have heard every word that -passed between you and Mr. Vancouver.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI.--Witcheries in Hand. - -_A Dangerous Mood. Annabel’s Tangled Situation. Heroism in Humble -Duties. The Miracle Worked by Gentleness. Traitors Are Threatened._ - - -NOT a word was spoken after I had dressed and we were returning to -camp, but Captain Mason’s walk lacked its usual firmness. What would -he do? There is no accounting for the rashness of a man made suddenly -desperate, and I remembered the temptation to strangle that had assailed -me. Clearly, for the present, Christopher and I must not leave him alone -for a moment. My imagination constructed this scene: Captain Mason, -assembling the colony, telling them briefly that a man among them had -been caught in the act of plotting to destroy us, turning upon Mr. -Vancouver and pointing him out as the criminal, ordering me to tell off -a squad and hang the knave in the presence of the crowd; and -Annabel----Could Christopher and I stay the flood now while the dam was -straining? I feared not; a finer hand was needed. - -We went to our hut. Captain Mason seated himself on a stool. Christopher -gave him some water, which was eagerly drunk. With a significant look at -Christopher, I left the hut. - -There was a good excuse for bringing Annabel now; I had promised Beelo -that he should see her. It was necessary to secure Captain Mason’s -assent, and I had no doubt that he would agree with me that a friendship -between her and Lentala might go farther toward solving our problems -than all our masculine wit and fighting ability. - -I reflected on the extraordinary complications in which Annabel would be -involved, and the softening pressure which she would assist in bringing -upon Captain Mason. There was no immediate danger from Mr. Vancouver. He -lay snugly in the hollow of my hand. - -Annabel was busy about the camp. - -“Where is Christopher?” she cheerily asked. “It is time for him to make -the fire for supper.” - -“Captain Mason has him,” I answered. “Won’t you come with me and call on -our president?” - -“I?” in surprise. - -“Yes.” - -A flush mottled her cheeks, but she hesitated only a moment. - -“Father won’t care, I know,” she said, and started with me. - -She was bareheaded, and the witcheries of the twilight drifted over -her. In the distance sang the deep monotone of the waterfall. Drowsy -twitterings announced that the busy little people of the trees were -content after their day’s work. From the edges of the stream rose -comfortable whispers between the water and the reeds. The lightly moving -air swung odorous censers in the trees, and every flower poured out as -perfume the sunshine which had filled its chalice. It was good to be -thus again side by side with Annabel. - -I explained tomorrow’s plan for her meeting with Beelo, and impressed -upon her the importance of keeping it secret. She showed the glee of -a quiet child in her acquiescence, but she must have wondered why her -father was not to know. - -“An adventure!” she exclaimed. “And mystery! It is delightful. Do you -men with so much freedom know how depressing it is to be cooped up in -this camp?” - -I had not thought of it, and was surprised. Annabel had always been -cheerful, and I had not observed the other women. - -“Isn’t it life,” I asked, “for men to work and women to wait, for men to -dare and women to endure?” - -“Yes,” she answered, looking up at me with a smile, “but isn’t it a -remnant of savagery?” - -“Perhaps,” I returned. “Yet Lentala, the savage, appears in her -independence to have solved some latter-day feminine problems. I hope -you will meet her soon. Then you and she can formulate a code for your -sex. We are going to see Captain Mason in order to secure his consent to -your meeting her brother. So you must exercise your subtlest graces on -our president.” - -“I--I’m afraid of him,” she declared in some trepidation. - -“Why?” - -“Because he is stern and silent and cold and----” - -“That is all on the surface. His sea-training has given it to him. -Underneath he has a woman’s gentleness and kindness. Trust him. Look for -the best in him and ignore the rest. Just now he is worried and needs -all the sunshine that you know so well how to give.” - -She smiled her thanks, but there was concern in her question: - -“Worried! Has anything special happened?” - -“Was anything special needed? His responsibilities are great.” - -Annabel was silent,--not daring, I know, to ask more questions. She -had unfolded to my comprehension what the women of our party had been -suffering patiently and silently during the dreary weeks that they had -been held in prison. Annabel must have borne more than any other; yet -she had held up her heart and her head. Dread must have sat on her -pillow through many a long hour of the night, but her soul walked forth -with the sunrise. - -Christopher was sitting on a bench outside the hut. - -“Christopher!” she cried, “the fire isn’t made yet;” but there was no -chiding in her rosy smile. - -“No, ma’am,” he answered, rising, but standing still. - -“Go and make it now, please,” she said. - -“All well, Christopher?” I asked, low. - -His slow nod held a doubt. There was always in Christopher’s manner a -suggestion that speech was largely a silly indulgence, and that animals -other than human beings made themselves intelligible without it. - -He fetched a delicious drink which he had made from wild fruit, and -served Annabel with quite an air. Her voice carried music in its thanks. - -Annabel bubbled with raillery and chatter. Presently my anxious ear -heard a stir within. I knew that the man nursing his hurt in the dusk -was aware of the invasion, and that he understood and resented my ruse -in bringing Annabel to disarm him. - -“Christopher,” she said, handing him the calabash from which she had -drunk, “please go and make the fire and start the supper. After that, -find father; ask him to come here for me.” - -Christopher mutely interrogated me, and I nodded. He shambled away. - -“Come out and join us, Captain Mason!” I called. - -It left him no choice. The darkness kindly falling veiled the grayness -of his face. A touch of decrepitude lay on him as he stepped without and -greeted Annabel with a stiff and stately courtesy, for he was shy with -women of the higher world. The unsteadiness in his manner surprised -Annabel, whose sympathies were keen and quick. I had prepared her, and, -shocked though she evidently was, she met the situation bravely. - -After some general talk, which was directed by me to show Annabel’s -suffering, her courage and helpfulness, I saw that Captain Mason was -softened. I then placed before him the plan concerning Annabel and -Beelo. It took the breath out of his body, and he peered at me in -amazement through the gloom. The perfect assurance with which I asked -for his concurrence, a hint that her discretion might be trusted, and -a casual remark that Christopher approved the idea, had effect. Annabel -impulsively rose, seized both his hands, and pleaded: - -“Please let me go, Captain Mason. Who knows what good may not come of -it?” - -I don’t think she noticed the catch in his throat. It was the final -breaking up of the ice. - -“Yes, you may go. But you’ll do nothing except as Mr. Tudor approves?” - -“Nothing whatever, Captain Mason. Thank you.” - -She released his hands and turned a beaming face to me. Pity for her -welled within me. That she and her father, between whom there was -so strong an attachment, should thus secretly proceed in opposite -directions, each deceiving the other, was a terrible thing. No human -perception could foresee the outcome, and, it gave me an uneasiness that -she must have dimly seen. - -“You don’t look glad!” she said in astonishment. - -“I am too happy for mere gladness, my friend,” I replied; “and may all -the good angels help you--and shield you!” - -She heard the note of solemnity, and turned to Captain Mason. - -“Is our situation so serious?” she asked him, a slight quaver in her -voice. - -“Life can have no serious dangers for so brave a heart as yours,” he -answered. - -Mr. Vancouver came up. I could feel a tigerish stealth in him. All -danger from an immediate clash between him and Captain Mason had been -banished by Annabel, but I knew that the future held dangers. I was -glad that she and I had become partners in the secrets and exactions -of defense. With such an ally as Christopher, and such a director as -Captain Mason, we would give an account of ourselves. - -The captain hardened when Mr. Vancouver came. That gentleman playfully -scolded Annabel for running away, and was somewhat too affable toward -the silent, unresponsive sailor. Soon he tucked Annabel’s hand under his -arm and was leaving. - -“Just a word, Mr. Vancouver,” said Captain Mason in a tone that stopped -my breathing. - -“Well?” - -“I unintentionally witnessed a scene this morning that I didn’t like. -I wish you to hear the order that I’ll give Mr. Tudor.” His voice was -ominously quiet. - -“Mr. Tudor,” he resumed, “order Rawley to fall in with the field squad -tomorrow. If he shows the slightest hesitation, clap him in irons and -send for me. There’s a rope for the neck of any man who undermines the -discipline of this colony.” - -Annabel started, and reeled where she stood. Her father’s nostrils were -spreading with a sneering smile; but, seeing her state, he seized her -arm, steadied her with a word, and in silence led her away. - - - - -CHAPTER VII.--Secrets For Two. - -_The Strange Meeting of Annabel and Beelo. Captain Mason’s Cruel -Decision. I Tell a Romantic Story and Make a Guess at Lentala’s Origin._ - - -CAPTAIN MASON and I had a serious talk in our hut that night. - -“Don’t think for a moment,” he said, “that my intentions with regard to -Vancouver have been upset by a woman’s pretty face.” - -“But she is very lovely,” I interposed, anxious to turn his thoughts -from whatever purpose he might have. - -“That is as one thinks.” I could not restrain a smile at his -ungraciousness, particularly as I saw that Annabel’s effect on him had -impaired his frankness. “For that matter,” he went on, “her father is -blindly planning her destruction.” In answer to my look he explained: -“How can a man let his avarice and cowardice make such a fool of him! -Can’t he see that the king is using him as a tool to disrupt and destroy -the camp, including him and his party?” - -I knew, as well as I knew my own thoughts, that a terrible apprehension -of a fate worse than death for us all rested on him, as on me; but we -had dared not give it tongue. Both had seen the naïve inconsistency -between the king’s desire that the island should not be discovered and -his promise to send us away one at a time, and so had Mr. Vancouver. No -foreigner straying to the island had ever left it, and none except our -colony was alive on it today. But in what dreadful manner had they been -disposed of? And why had we been spared so long? We had been prisoners -nearly two months. - -Whether these fears and speculations haunted others of the colony we -were both careful not to inquire, and were prompt in suppressing every -uncomfortable hint. Captain Mason and I understood that the perfect -cohesion of our colony, taken with our considerable numbers, offered -the sole hope for our safety; and Mr. Vancouver was secretly planning to -destroy our one means of defense. - -We had been sitting in silence after Captain Mason’s last speech. He -broke it by saying: - -“The situation is complex. Your interruption of Vancouver’s plot and -Christopher’s dismissal of the native require us to lay a counter train. -The king will infer from what Christopher told the native that Mr. -Vancouver has abandoned his scheme to betray the colony, and that we are -determined to hang together, and fight it out to the end. I imagine that -the natives are growing impatient for a victim. What do you suggest, Mr. -Tudor?” - -“I suppose I should continue in the rôle of the king’s emissary and -inform Mr. Vancouver that the sending out of the young men is postponed. -Fortunately we have stopped that.” - -“We have done nothing of the sort,” declared the president. “They shall -go out.” - -Astonishment silenced me. - -“They shall go out,” he drove into me again. - -“To their destruction--and ours?” I asked. - -“No. But they must go and take their punishment. Then they will hear -from me. You can manage it through the native boy and his sister. Let -her see that they are soundly whipped and sent back to the colony. She’s -our friend.” - -“That is unthinkable,” I protested. “The risk is too great. Lentala -can’t----” - -“Don’t underestimate her. You have your instructions, sir.” He rose. -“I’ll be on hand tomorrow when you call out the men for the fields.” - -I had risen, and stood facing a commander instead of an ally. After a -moment’s struggle with desperately rebellious emotions, I saw my own -absurdity, and abruptly left without a word, to fight for patience and -wisdom under the stars. - -***** - -The smiling ease with which Rawley stepped forth when I called his name -with the others next morning might have disarmed me had I not caught a -look of understanding between him and Mr. Vancouver, and known what it -meant. My dread had been on Annabel’s account, but she did not appear. - -Rawley worked faithfully in the fields that day, but I saw the furtive -way in which he talked now and then with certain of the men, and I noted -all whom he thus favored. None of them had a guilty manner, though -a concealing one. It was evidence of Mr. Vancouver’s shrewdness in -plotting. - -***** - -Annabel met Christopher outside the camp that afternoon and came with -him to Beelo and me. The boy betrayed a singular uneasiness as they -approached, and, drawing his hat down, stood in awkward embarrassment. -It puzzled me, for he had been anxious to see her. In a glow of -excitement, Annabel was conspicuously handsome, and though dressed in -the rougher of the two suits which she had saved from the wreck, showed -in every line the thoroughbred that she was. Seeing the lad’s confusion, -she spared him by giving him hardly more than a smiling glance with her -warm hand-clasp, and breezily said to me as she held out an exquisite -orchid: - -“See what I found on the way. Isn’t it beautiful!” I took it and was -fumbling to put it in the buttonhole of my lapel, when she stepped up -and with frank comradeship adjusted it, remarking as she did so: - -“He’s very much like his sister, but smaller, and not so pretty and -graceful.” She did not realize that he understood English. - -“I thank you--for Lentala,” he constrainedly said, staring at her as his -eyes began to burn. - -“Oh!” cried Annabel in amused surprise. “But you are quite too -good-looking for a boy, Beelo!” - -He did not smile, but studied her with a disconcerting seriousness, and -looked from her to me, as though watching for something which I guessed -to be a sly understanding between Annabel and me that might mean -ridicule of him. I saw that Annabel had innocently blundered into a -wrong start. Evidently the pleasure that the lad had expected from the -meeting had gone astray. - -As though the words were wrenched from him by the striking picture that -Annabel made, he said in a stolid, colorless voice: - -“You are more beautiful than Lentala.” - -“Hear his disloyalty to his sister!” laughingly exclaimed Annabel, but -I could see that the boy’s bearing was trying her composure. “Come!” she -added; “let’s be friends, for Lentala and I are, and I want you to tell -me about her.” She coaxingly held out her hand as to an ill-tempered -child. - -But he ignored it, and lowered his head till his hat-rim concealed his -eyes. Annabel looked at me in questioning surprise, but before I could -say anything,--being as much astonished as she,--Beelo, without raising -his head, asked half sullenly, half commandingly: - -“Have you and--Choseph known each other a long time?” - -“A year or so,” Annabel promptly answered, anxious to show her -friendliness. “He’s been very kind. I became a skilful horsewoman under -his teaching, and we’ve danced together and taken long walks in the -country. He knows a great many interesting things. You see, he was -educated at West Point, where young men are trained to be officers of -our army, and has fought in the war, and----” - -Beelo broke in with a toss of the head and a laugh that sounded much -like a sneer. - -Annabel opened her eyes and looked in wonder from the boy to me. She -was not laughing now; alarm was creeping into her face. I could think of -nothing to say, but was confident that the two fine souls would find a -way. - -Without raising his face to Annabel, Beelo slowly looked round at me, -and regarded me deeply and in silence. Sadness stole into his eyes, and -with it reproach. The mystery of it touched me as I steadily returned -his look. - -As he did not speak, I did. “Beelo,” I kindly said, “I don’t understand -you, and I don’t like your conduct. You wished to see Annabel. To please -me, she kindly took the trouble to come and tried to be friendly to you. -But you treat her rudely. You are not worthy to touch her hand.” - -He blazed and went rigid. For a moment he was choked with passion; then, -locking his hands behind him, and throwing back his head and shoulders, -he said loudly, while his nostrils quivered: - -“No! I’m not worthy to touch her hand! I’m glad of it! You send fine -words to Lentala, who has not a white friend in the world! Then you -bring the white girl to Beelo, that Beelo may see how different they are -and go back to shame Lentala. Riding! Dancing! Walking! Ah, Beelo is a -little fool,--a fool no bigger that a toad! But he can be useful,--he -can make Lentala a fool too! And Lentala can be useful. She can trick -King Rangan. She shall be the tool of the white people who want to -leave!” He paused breathless, but there was more of despair than anger -in his attitude. - -Annabel had gone very white. She gave me a glance of new amazement, and -then went forward, seized Beelo’s arm, and forcibly turned him to look -into her eyes. With a start she straightened, looking at me strangely, -as if a great light had broken. - -“There’s a misunderstanding,” she calmly said to Beelo and me as she -apologetically held the quivering figure. To me she added: “You and -Christopher please retire. I’ll call you soon.” - -We left, and when screened and beyond earshot I gave Christopher a look -of wondering inquiry. He blinked benignly at me, as a dog at his foolish -master. - -“What does it mean?” I demanded. - -“Mean, sir?” - -“Yes.” - -“You are asking me, sir?” - -“Of course.” - -He looked away, but not with a listening manner, yet the mystery -appeared to demand it. I did not happen to remember that he was the most -chivalrous and the least meddlesome man I had ever known. - -“Well, I’ll tell you, sir,” he presently said in his slow, gentle way; -“it will be all right.” - -So it apparently was when Annabel called us back, for the two were -chatting amicably as they sat on the ground. Annabel’s serious mistake, -by which she had imperiled my plans, had been turned by her to excellent -account. - -Christopher was waiting to conduct her back to camp; he would return, -for Beelo had informed me that there were matters which he wished to -tell us alone. The parting between him and Annabel was friendly and held -promise, but Beelo’s face was not wholly unclouded. Holding Annabel’s -hand and gazing into her face, he said, with a touch of sadness: - -“Anybody would love you.” - -Annabel blushed, and turned laughingly away. - -“I’ll see you again very soon!” called the boy. - -Annabel turned and blew him a smiling kiss. The lad stood and gazed long -at the spot where she was lost among the trees. - -“You like her, Beelo?” I asked. - -Much to my surprise, a little droop pulled at his mouth-corners. - -“She is very lovely,” he softly said. - -“Is that a thing to be sad about?” - -“Yes. Lentala can never be as sweet and beautiful.” - -“She is as sweet and beautiful as Annabel, and--and--what shall I -say?--more fascinating.” - -His face was turned away, and he was silent. After a while he faced me, -and said, while observing me closely: - -“But she belongs to your kind, your world.” - -“My heart finds my kind, and that is my world.” He again turned away. -In trying to find a reason why any of this mattered to him, or why he -appeared in a measure to resent Annabel, the old suspicion that had -lodged in a corner of my mind came forth. The remarkable difference -between Lentala and her brother on one hand and the natives on the other -must have some special explanation, and Beelo must have a secret which -he had a good reason for guarding. Christopher and I had probably been -the only white men to touch their lives, and there was in them that -which knew and claimed its own. It was a hungry demand, and jealous. -To see the desired companionship subject to an older claim, such as -Annabel’s, was the finding of a barrier. I determined to probe for the -secret by indirect means. - -“The soul that finds its kind finds its world, Beelo,” I said, “and -souls have neither race nor color. Would you like to hear a strange -little story?” - -“Yes!” he eagerly answered. - -I sat down, and he seated himself facing me, keenly interested. - -“A long time ago a white man--a gentleman, no doubt--was in a ship that -was sailing the seas. A great storm came on. His ship was wrecked, -and he was cast up on the beach of a beautiful tropical island. It was -decreed by the natives, who were jealous for their country, that he -should suffer the fate of all who had drifted before him to those -shores. But for some reason--that may be another story some time--he was -spared, and the king gave him a wife from among the native girls. Two -children were born to them, a girl and afterward a boy; but their father -had so strongly impressed his racial peculiarities on them that they -were in an unfortunate position,--outcasts in a way, and perhaps in -danger of their lives, by reason of the deeply planted native hatred for -the white blood. So the king, who had spared the man, took them under -his protection, and as the queen had no children, she loved them as her -own. But in time, as the children grew up, the white blood in them began -to starve for its kind, and to whisper of a far country whence it had -come. That is nature’s way. She lets us go just so far from the plan on -which she started us, and then she sends a voice that speaks deep within -us. We may not know at first what it says, but--” - -“Just a longing?” Beelo asked - -“Merely that. We want something very much, but don’t know what it is. We -are dissatisfied. That comes in youth, when the tides of life flow free, -and before the soul is fully awake. Afterward, when it has ripened and -mellowed, it finds its kind and makes its home wherever----” - -“After a while. But now!” demanded Beelo. - -I ignored him with a smile, and went back to the story. - -“At last the sister had grown to womanhood and the brother nearly to -manhood. A much larger company of white people than had ever before been -stranded on the island came to its shores. The girl and the boy had been -spoiled by the king, and they had much their own way. The girl demanded -that she be taken with the king to see the castaways. It was the voice -in her heart.” - -Beelo nodded, and then with nervous fingers began to weave a twig-house -on the sand. - -“Do you like the story?” I asked. - -He looked up in surprise. “Is that all, Choseph?” - -“Isn’t that sufficient?” - -He drew a deep breath. “She went there just to _see_ them?” he said. - -I smiled into his brilliant eyes. “I’ll tell you the rest of the story -some other time,” I remarked, satisfied, because at not a single point -had he criticized my guessing. “There is one thing more,” I went on. “Of -course the children adopted the native dress, but their father’s blood -in them had lightened their native color, and that must be overcome.” - -His eyes kindled brighter; his lips had fallen apart. There was not a -movement in his body. - -“Lad, how did you learn to stain a fair skin so well that it looks like -a native’s?” - -With that I seized the collar of his blouse, to tear it open and see the -real color of his chest before he could prevent. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.--A Crumbling Edge. - -_Beelo’s Horror at the Fate Intended for Us. My Visit in Disguise to Mr. -Vancouver. Annabel’s Dramatic Defiance, and How She Was Humbled._ - - -BEELO sprang away and scampered into the forest as though Satan -pursued. That gave me no uneasiness. I gathered up his twigs and began -laboriously to weave the hut. - -A gurgling laugh raised my head. Twenty feet away, in a direction -opposite to that in which Beelo had disappeared, I saw him lying on -the ground, kicking up his heels, and, his cheeks resting in his hands, -mischievously laughing at me. - -“You haven’t gone?” I said. “Christopher will come soon, and I have -something to say to you first.” - -He rose, came forward gingerly, and halted a safe distance away. I -sometimes wondered whether any other man would have borne with him at -all. The wretch knew that I had grown absurdly fond of him. - -“What do you want to tell me?” he asked, as he crept nearer and -contemptuously regarded my hutbuilding effort. - -In a few words I frankly told him of my experience as a Senatra with Mr. -Vancouver. He listened absorbed and aghast. - -“I didn’t know,” he breathed. “I am glad you told me. You do trust me, -don’t you?” - -“Trust you, Beelo? Have I ever failed?” - -“No, but you are always thinking of your people, never of Lentala and -Beelo.” - -“You have taught me to think of you and Lentala, else I never would have -told you about Mr. Vancouver and his plot. But don’t you see? The king -is using Mr. Vancouver to break up our colony, Beelo,” raising myself in -aggressive earnestness. “You talk of my trusting you. I have already put -my life and more than two hundred other lives in your hands. But not for -one moment have you ever trusted me.” - -He was deep in thought, and was distressed. Before I could ask him for -the cause, Christopher came up. - -“Something is going to happen very soon,” Beelo said. “Christopher, what -did you say to the native that came to see Mr. Vancouver?” - -Christopher wore his stupidest manner Beelo reached round, picked up a -stick and threatened him. - -“You know what I said. Now answer--quick!” - -“Me?” - -“Me?” mocked Beelo, and struck him. The nearest that I had ever seen to -a smile on Christopher’s face came then as a twinkle in his eyes. - -“I’ll tell you,” he answered. “I told him Mr. Vancouver didn’t never -want to see him no more.” That was a long speech for Christopher. - -“Then what happened?” impatiently demanded Beelo. - -“I done this a-way at him.” Christopher crossed his eyes and made a -grimace at Beelo. The act was so unexpected and terrifying that Beelo -started back in alarm, and then rolled on the ground in laughter. - -He sat up. “What did the man do then?” - -“This a-way.” Christopher’s face assumed a look of astonishment and fear. - -“What then?” - -“He runned away.” - -Beelo nodded thoughtfully, and said: - -“The king will think Mr. Vancouver changed his mind. Very well. Now he -won’t wait any longer. He will make a demand for one of your people.” - His manner was grave. - -He was surprised when I informed him of Captain Mason’s determination -that the young men be permitted to leave the valley, and that Lentala -should arrange for their being turned back,--I had no heart to say -anything about their rough handling by the natives. - -“I’ll tell her,” he said. “I think she can manage it.” - -“But are you sure?” I anxiously demanded. - -“Don’t worry, Choseph. You are too serious to be happy. Let’s talk about -the first man to go out when the king sends for one. Do you wish Mr. -Vancouver to go?” The question came with a keen look. - -“Not if it will expose him to any danger, or give him an opportunity to -plot against us.” - -Beelo’s look became suspicious. “What do you owe him, that he is not to -be exposed to danger?” he asked. - -Seeing the trend of his question, I was irritated, and sternly said: - -“That is my affair, and I won’t discuss it. If there’s to be anything -petty and spiteful in the matters of life and death that we are -planning, I will stop everything right here, or demand that Lentala send -some one else to me if it is impossible for her to come.” - -Beelo was staring at me in surprise. He turned inquiringly to -Christopher, and saw gentler but none the less reproving eyes. For a -second he floundered between resentment and irrepressible good-nature, -and then with a laugh threw a handful of sand at Christopher. - -“Choseph!” he cried; “I didn’t mean anything, really I didn’t. And -I’ll be good.” After reflection he asked, “Who is Mr. Vancouver’s best -friend?” - -“A man named Rawley.” - -“You think he knows Mr. Vancouver’s plan?” - -“He certainly does.” - -“Then let him be the first.” - -Darkness crouched behind all of this, but Beelo’s intelligent eyes were -a light ahead. Unquestionably his mind was working rapidly, but his -speech was slow and had silent intervals. He and Lentala were evidently -undertaking severe tasks and desperate risks the nature of which I could -not even surmise. Some profound motive must be urging them on. - -“When he is taken out of the valley,” Beelo said after a pause, “I’ll -want you and Christopher to go too, with me. Will you?” - -“We’ll do anything you wish, Beelo.” - -“As natives.” - -“Good.” - -“It will be very dangerous.” - -“That is nothing.” - -“Not a soul is to know but your captain. Not Annabel, mind you!” he -abruptly added. - -“Certainly not.” - -“And you both promise that if your lives are threatened, you will try -not to hurt or kill any one except as a last resort?” - -We promised. - -“Now,” said Beelo, “I want Christopher to go with me at once, and we’ll -make a raft. When we go out of the valley it will be by way of the -river.” - -“That is all fully agreed to, dear little brother,” I said firmly, “but -some things must be understood. The first is that no harm shall befall -any man taken out of the valley by the king’s order.” - -“You don’t trust me, Choseph,” he replied, looking hurt. - -“Far more than you trust me,” I kindly but emphatically said. “While -I know that wisdom and a noble purpose are in your and Lentala’s every -plan and act, I have heavy responsibilities, and I know that four heads -would be better than two in this matter. I have no right to go ahead in -the dark, and I demand to know what the plans are.” - -The pain in Beelo’s face deepened, but there was no resentment. - -“It isn’t that I don’t trust you, Choseph,” he said, an appealing look -in his eyes. - -“What is it, then?” - -He looked hunted, and blurted out: - -“That’s what you and Christopher are going with me for,--to keep from -harm the man whom the king will send for, and----” - -“What is the danger to him?” I insisted. - -“I don’t know! I can only imagine!” he passionately said. “It’s -horrible. I think you understand. And you are to lay plans with Lentala -for saving the colony.” - -I was about to press the matter further, but a look from Christopher -stopped me. - -“I am sorry to have pained you, dear little brother.” I took his hand. -“Will you forgive me?” - -“Yes,” with a smile. - -He rose, and his relief was shaded with anxiety. This parting was the -first sad one. I also had risen, and the boy was looking up into my -face. - -“I am trusting you,” he said, “trusting you with my life and Lentala’s, -and the lives of many others.” - -“Yes, and you’ll find me worthy, dear little brother.” - -“I know.” He withdrew his hand, took Christopher’s arm and pressed it -to his own side, and peered deep into his eyes. “Do you love me, old -Christopher?” - -“Me?” - -Beelo gently slapped Christopher’s cheek. - -“Answer! Do you love me?” - -“Yes.” - -“Christopher,” impressively, “if my life were in danger, and you could -save me by giving your own life, would you?” - -“Me?” - -“You needn’t answer if you don’t want to.” - -“Yes, I would die for you.” - -In a burst of laughter Beelo drew his big head down and laid his cheek -against it. “What an absurd old Christopher!” he cried. “Come.” - -He stepped back, and again turned to me. - -“Choseph, one thing more! As the king’s messenger will you again see Mr. -Vancouver?” - -“Yes, if you wish.’’ - -“It’s better. Tell him to send the young men out whenever he pleases, -and to take the passage by which you entered the valley.” - -“I understand.” - -“That is all. Good-bye.” He walked away slowly with Christopher, and for -the first time I noticed that he looked as though bearing a burden heavy -for his strength. - -***** - -After laying the matter before Captain Mason, I prepared my disguise and -visited Mr. Vancouver that evening. He and Rawley occupied the same hut; -Annabel slept in one adjoining. I had previously taken care to note that -as Annabel was helping a young mother with the care of an ailing infant, -she would not likely intrude on my visit. - -The two men were startled when they found me standing silently before -them. In the dim light of a nut-oil lamp I saw Rawley’s face blanch, and -I wondered how he would bear the ordeal fronting him outside the valley. - -“Well?” eagerly said Mr. Vancouver. - -After instructing him as to the sending out of the young men, I informed -him that the king was nearly ready for a man, and added that Rawley -would be acceptable. Mr. Vancouver was disappointed that he himself -could not go, but cheerfully said: - -“Certainly. Mr. Rawley will be glad to go.” - -I enjoyed the young man’s dismay. Not so Mr. Vancouver. - -“Why, man, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime!” he declared to Rawley. -“There’s no danger. The king will furnish a safe-conduct--won’t he?” he -added, turning to me. - -“I suppose so. Your friend couldn’t find the way otherwise.” - -“Of course! Brace up, Rawley, and thank your stars for your good -fortune. You’ll have important things to tell me when you return.” For -all his cheering manner, Mr. Vancouver could not conceal his contempt. -To me he said: “Give the king my thanks. Tell him that his kind offer is -gratefully accepted, and that Mr. Rawley will be ready at any time.” - -Rawley was a bluish white. - -“Very well,” he faintly said; “I’ll have to go, I suppose, but who knows -what is really to be done with me? I don’t------” With a gesture Mr. -Vancouver stopped the indiscreet speech. - -“Give the king my message of thanks and grateful acceptance,” he snapped -out in his old business-like way. “Mr. Rawley will go whenever he is -summoned.” - -I bowed, and turned to leave, but found Annabel blocking the door. Her -eyes were wide with surprise. She had never before seen natives near the -camp at night, and never one alone. With unexpected firmness she refused -to let me pass. - -“Father, Mr. Rawley, what does this mean? Where is Mr. Rawley going?” - -The men sat dumb. Annabel’s instinct told her that treachery was in the -air. - -“Does Captain Mason know about this?” she asked. - -Mr. Vancouver was the first to recover, but he underestimated his -daughter’s shrewdness. - -“Not so loud, daughter. It is all right. Let the man pass. I’ll -explain.” - -Among Annabel’s charms was a certain rashness. Here she stood between -affection and duty, and it would be interesting to observe the outcome. -I was glad that she continued to bar my escape. - -“If it’s all right,” she said, “let us three go with this man to Captain -Mason and----” - -“We’ll have no more nonsense, daughter! Are you aware what your attitude -toward me means?” - -“I don’t know, father. I--I don’t understand. You have never spoken this -way to me before. Surely----” - -“This foolishness must stop here,” her father brusquely said, rising and -advancing, with the evident intention of dragging her from the door; but -something in her face stopped him. It was time for me to interfere, lest -she spoil everything. The risk was in lending my voice to her sensitive -ear. - -“He knows,” I gruffly said. - -“Captain Mason?” - -I nodded. - -“Come with me and say that to him,” she demanded. I nodded again. -The exasperation and fear in Mr. Vancouver’s face did not escape his -daughter. - -“I won’t have it!” he nearly shouted. To me, - -“Don’t you go, or I’ll----” - -I stopped him with a knowing look, which he rightly understood to mean -that it would be well to lay her suspicions by going, and that I might -be depended on to handle the matter satisfactorily. In truth, I was -enjoying the situation too much for thought of graver things. And I had -never seen Annabel so superb. - -“Father,” she said, “you owe this to me, and I owe it to you.” - -Mr. Vancouver’s uneasy face betrayed his predicament. Might he trust my -ability to deceive Captain Mason? was his evident thought. The peril was -great. I was maliciously happy over the grinding of the man. - -Suppose I should make a slip with Captain Mason: that would mean the -hangman’s noose for Mr. Vancouver,--I knew he was thinking all that. -I could not resist the temptation to harry him. - -“I go,” I said to Annabel. - -She wavered, but her courage rose, and with reckless heroism she stepped -out without looking at her father. - -I followed in silence. She did not glance back, and I think she was -glad that the men remained in the hut. With her head held up by the high -purpose within her, she walked as though she were above the stars and -they were her stepping-stones. Once she stopped short. I was certain -that love had conquered and that she would tell me my willingness to go -satisfied her, and so would send me away; but she went desperately on. - -There was a brilliant tropical moon, and the captain was sitting in the -shine of it on the outer bench of his hut. He rose in surprise. - -“Captain Mason,” panted Annabel, “I found this native in our camp just -now, and I wondered if you knew.” - -He had recognized me, but Annabel did not see the twinkle in his eyes. -He knew that I had blundered in letting her discover me with her father. -I was amazed at the fine delicacy of the man. Instead of asking her -questions, he demanded an explanation of me. With great caution not to -betray myself, I said that I had the king’s permission to take Rawley -out, that he might see something of the island, and procure some of the -gems so abundant there. - -The moonlight revealed the shame that burned Annabel’s cheeks because -she had doubted her father. Would Captain Mason have the tact to cure -her hurt? - -“May I take your hand?” he asked. She wonderingly yielded it. As he -held it and looked down into her lovely face there came into his voice a -gentleness, a tenderness, that I am certain had been hitherto strange to -it. “This is a wonderful thing that you have done,--the noblest, bravest -thing that I have ever seen in my life. It was so not alone because it -might have meant a matter of life and death, but because it was hard to -do. I am proud to know and be trusted by such a woman.” - -Tears were slipping down her cheeks as he released her hand. - -“If you have that kindly regard for me, Captain Mason,” she said, “let -it extend to my father. He meant nothing wrong in violating the rule.” - -“He has special privileges, Miss Vancouver. I will pay no attention to -the incident.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX.--An Iron Hand Comes Down. - -_Anxiety Over Beelo’s Absence. The Runaways Return in Disgrace. Mr. -Vancouver’s Predicament. Rebellion Breeding. The Arrest. Merciless -Discipline._ - - -NEXT morning the young men in Mr. Vancouver’s plot passed secret looks -and words, and Mr. Vancouver and Rawley wore an indifferent air too -conspicuously. - -Annabel emerged late; she and Dr. Preston had been with the suffering -child that night; but she looked much more worn and depressed than the -night’s vigil warranted. I greeted her cheerily, and her quiet smile was -ready. I saw nothing to indicate that she noted anything unusual afoot. -Captain Mason gave her a pleasant bow. - -The colony had early integrated into small social groups, particularly -at meal-times. We sat on rough benches at two long tables under trees. -There was a rearrangement of groups at breakfast this morning, so as to -bring the conspirators together at an end occupied by Mr. Vancouver and -Rawley. Annabel sat with the children. The maneuver of the men did not -escape Captain Mason, who was some distance away and at the other table, -having rigidly held himself aloof from all social preferences. After -breakfast he gave me an unobtrusive look, and left. I soon followed, and -found Christopher with him in our hut. - -“You noticed, Mr. Tudor?” - -“Yes. They will go out of the valley today. Lentala will see that they -are turned back. What shall I do?” - -An amused look came into his eyes. “You may abandon your usual plan of -calling the names of those who shall go to the fields, and announce that -only volunteers need go. That will spare such of the idiots as are on -your list from sneaking out of the fields on pretense of headache. Give -them a long rope. Everything is moving beautifully to a crisis. Take -your men to the fields. Christopher will stay here.” - -With the insistence of trifles thrusting themselves into a tense -situation, every small thing of the morning marched with me back to the -tables. I must observe the progress of some insatiably hungry nestlings -in a tree, and laugh at a round scolding from their mother. Never had I -heard so many birds singing at once. The solemn cadence of the waterfall -sent a Sabbath spirit through the air. The forest shadows quivered with -mysteries and portents, and the air was drunk with the perfume of many -flowers. - -Annabel’s glance showed that she had noted our leaving the tables, but a -cheery word from me laid her uneasiness. - -Relief appeared in some faces when I announced that only volunteers -would go to the fields that day. Mr. Vancouver studied me, and Rawley -was nervous. A small crowd responded to my call, and then amused shame -swept over the men as I good-naturedly laughed at them, with the result -that a larger squad than usual came forward. I kept Mr. Vancouver -in sight, and was not surprised to catch him throwing a look at a -conspirator here and there, causing the guilty to stand forth with the -innocent. I knew that he suspected something in my departure from the -usual way lately of calling out the men. - -The work in the fields went with a smoothness that gave no hint of -trouble beneath the surface. The conspirators dropped away one after -another, with my pleasant assent. Rawley remained. That meant his want -of courage to join the daring expedition. When the remnant started for -camp I went to the spot where I expected Beelo and Christopher. - -The time for Beelo’s appearance came and passed. I had an irksome wait, -and in spite of my confidence in his skill, I grew uneasy lest he -had fallen into difficulties. Never before had he failed to keep an -appointment. His endurance and pluck had been extraordinary. From his -home at the palace to our meeting-places had been a number of miles, -without counting his trouble and ingenuity in avoiding detection, and -the hard labor of scaling the valley wall; yet he had never failed, -never complained, never mentioned the heroism for which his conduit -stood. I bitterly accused myself and Captain Mason for our selfishness -in accepting the boy’s allegiance and labors as a mere incident of our -struggle to escape. My heart went out to him now; I had been remiss in -appreciation. Had he been of a more aggressive nature, less gentle and -timid, relying more on force than ingenuity, perhaps my conscience would -have been easier. The task which it had been so easy for me to send -Lentala with reference to the malcontents, must have been severe for -her, and must have involved her brother. - -Christopher came at last, but not Beelo. The man reported all well in -camp; Annabel had been downcast until Captain Mason cheered her; Mr. -Vancouver was painfully restless; none of the conspirators had returned. - -We waited until all hope of Beelo’s arrival was futile. Christopher had -been listening, but I dreaded to question him. Finally I remarked that -we must go, as we could not expect Beelo so late. The readiness with -which Christopher acquiesced assured me that he had not expected the -lad, but I had no heart to ask him whether he thought that trouble had -been the detaining cause. We returned to camp. - -Dr. Preston had much patching of cuticle to do that night, for the young -men returned after dark. There had been an uneasy hush over the camp -all day. Upon their arrival, which was accomplished with all possible -unostentation, a buzz arose and gossip leaked. I was with Captain Mason, -who sat silent and in grim content as I told him what was going on. We -were both curious to see what Dr. Preston, a quiet young man of fine -intelligence, would deem his duty after the urgency of his offices had -passed. After a while he came, excited and a little frightened. - -He reported that there were no serious hurts, and that the men would be -about next day. - -“What account do they give?” inquired Captain Mason. The twinkle in his -eyes was lost on the earnest young physician. - -“They were peaceably exploring the valley, Captain,--just a lark, you -know, although it had the serious purpose of finding out anything that -might be useful in the escape of the colony,--when they were set upon by -an overwhelming horde of savages, the evident purpose being to take -them away by force. Our men, though so greatly outnumbered, held their -ground, but the scrimmage was close and savage. They would have won -without the fan-bearer’s interference, but her coming up with a personal -guard put an end to the affair, as she called the natives off.” - -Captain Mason’s amused attention sharpened to a keen interest. “The -king’s fan-bearer?” he echoed. - -“Yes; the one we saw at the feast.” - -The president nodded. “They have all told you the same story, I -suppose,” he remarked. - -“Yes.” - -“Thank you. That is all.” - -In leaving, Dr. Preston looked surprised that Captain Mason should -appear so indifferent. - -Captain Mason announced no plans concerning the young men that night, -and there was nothing unusual in his bearing next morning when the -colony assembled for breakfast. All watched him narrowly. When breakfast -was over, and before we had risen from the tables, he sent Christopher -for me, for I sat some distance away. As I rose, I had a strong feeling -that something extraordinary was about to fall to my hand, for I knew -Captain Mason’s nature and his trust in me. - -That brought Beelo vividly to mind. He had seen hardly more than the -gentler side of me. Indeed, it had doubtless been his own gentleness, -his innate delicacy and refinement, that had held in subjection the -ruder elements in me, so deep was my fondness for him. And it had never -been irksome, though the conduct which it had almost forced upon me was -strikingly different from that which usually governed me. While I was -glad that Beelo was not present to see what I knew was coming, still -his spirit was with me, and so strongly that it was tangible. My whole -outlook was filled with him, and I could not shake off the feeling that -he was really near and observing. - -Under the impulse, I sent a trained glance into the shadows about the -camp, and suddenly stopped, for I found his bright eyes peering at me -from the trees. A closer look discovered that underneath the almost -conscious mischief that sparkled in his eyes was apprehension. I had a -moment of anger that he should be there, and tried to give him a look -that would send him away; but he made a face at me, and with deep -misgivings I went to my duty, striving to put him out of my mind. - -“Call for order,” Captain Mason directed, “and make a complete statement -of the affair, omitting Mr. Vancouver’s connexion with it. Then tell off -twelve steady men for a guard, and have them arrest all of the young men -who disobeyed the rule. Manage the details in your own way. I’ll take -command after the arrest.” - -Obedience to authority was a law of my training, but I was aghast, and -wondered if the man realized that he might be touching a match to a -magazine. - -As Mr. Vancouver was the danger-center, I glanced at him. He had been -closely observing the president. I shall not forget the picture that he -made as I called for order and proceeded with the speech. By no -effort could he control the emotions that surged to his face,--his -consternation at the appalling correctness of my account, his ferocious -resentment and anger, his sense of being baffled and humiliated while -being spared from open shame, his white fear that at last he would be -exposed as the arch-traitor. - -I observed Annabel also, and saw her puzzled uneasiness as I reminded -the colony of the king’s injunction and the great danger of disregarding -it; her furtive glances at her father; her amazement when I hinted at -the plot for undermining Captain Mason’s authority, and spoke of its -secret working toward the destruction of the colony; the blanching of -her cheeks when I described the effort of the young men to slip out of -the valley, their being beaten and bound, and the mercy that had spared -them, whipped and wounded, to sneak back in darkness to camp; and the -lie they told to cover their treachery and shame. - -There was a tense pause when I had done, and then I called out the -names of the guilty. So overwhelming had been the presentation, that, -as Captain Mason must have foreseen, there was no time for immediate -reaction toward mutiny. I called out the guard. A death-like stillness -followed. Captain Mason was standing with the silence and firmness -of stone. I stole a glance at Beelo and saw that he had slipped round -through the trees to be nearer. - -I rapped out an order for the guard to step forward. They looked round -curiously at one another, some with a half-smile as they glanced at -Captain Mason, to see if he approved. His face was expressionless. -I repeated the order, more peremptorily, and in slowly rising they -regarded me curiously and in some wonder, as they had never seen me -with such a bearing. Whatever they saw and heard quickened their action. -There was an impressive solemnity in the proceeding, and it strengthened -them moment by moment. I did not hurry them, since it was clear that a -sense of serious responsibility was rising in them. - -“Lenardo, step forward and submit to arrest,” I sharply said to one of -the recalcitrants, a decent young carpenter. - -He paled, then flushed, and blunderingly turned to Mr. Vancouver. But -that gentleman was gazing at me with all the hate of his soul. Annabel -shrank under the significance of Lenardo’s silent appeal to her father. -Receiving no guidance from Mr. Vancouver, the young culprit sent a -fluttering, desperate look abroad, picking out his guilty associates. -All the comfort he got from them was a frightened glance in return. - -The impaled man wriggled awkwardly to his feet,--for I was giving him -time,--and with a grin and shrug made a pitiful attempt to treat the -arrest as a pleasantry. - -“Stand facing that end of the guard-line,” I ordered, pointing. - -“Come, Henry,” he said to one of the conspirators. The bravado was -clearly sham. - -“No talking!” I ripped out. - -It jerked Lenardo straight, and he came forward and stood where I had -directed. - -The young man addressed as Henry slouched up with a faint trace of -Lenardo’s swagger, but my sharp “Step lively!” electrified him into -firmer action, and his grin went sour. - -“Hobart!” I next called. I selected him for the third, for I knew his -independent, rebellious nature, his courage and pride, and wished the -severest test of the discipline to come at once. - -Because we had been good friends and he knew that I respected him, -he stared incredulously, but found me a stranger. Then a vicious look -flared in his face, and, still sitting, he fingered the handle of a -heavy iron vessel on the table while regarding me defiantly. - -I waited, and then called him again. - -“I won’t be made a fool of in this way!” he cried, rising, his face -blazing, his hold on the iron vessel tightening. - -“You two guards on the left, do your duty!” I commanded. - -They hesitatingly advanced upon him. Making a great scattering of -frightened women and children, Hobart stepped back, brandished the -vessel, and shouted: - -“I’m a free American citizen, I am! I’m a law-abiding man and I know my -rights! Stand back, there,” to the guards, “or I’ll------” - -“Two more guards from the left. Step lively!” I called. - -The advance of the four guards was checked by a diversion. Mr. -Vancouver, who had been sitting in apathetic silence, suddenly spoke out -with biting clearness: - -“Hobart, it is the duty of every one here to submit to authority.” - -The young man opened his mouth in astonishment, and instantly drooped; -the vessel clattered from his hand to the ground. - -“I won’t make trouble now,” he grumbled, “but we’ve been played low down -by somebody, and I’ll-----” - -“Silence!” I said. - -With a threatening shoulder-lift at Mr. Vancouver, which deepened that -gentleman’s pallor, Hobart sullenly fell in. I quickly called out the -other culprits; all obeyed and stood in line facing the guard. Then I -looked round at Captain Mason for orders. - - - - -CHAPTER X.--The Finding of a Man. - -_Shame and Horror Follow Disobedience. A Violent Outbreak and Its -Result. The Heads That Struck a Wall. A Frightened Face Among the -Trees._ - - -THE president said nothing, but gave a signal to Christopher, who -brought up a basket containing rope-ends and strips of cloth, of native -manufacture. I understood what I was next to do, and under ordinary -circumstances should have thought of nothing but the doing; but now -a coldness seized my heart, for I thought of Beelo, as a horrified -witness. - -There was a craning to see what the basket held, and then came a quick -drawing of the breath and afterward a hiss as the truth dawned on those -of quick perception. - -Picking up a rope-end, I stood facing the crowd in silence until perfect -stillness had come. Then I went to Lenardo, the first in line, and said -to the guard: - -“Are any of you experienced in tying a man’s hands?” - -A head-shake was the response of each. - -“Then observe how this is done,” I said. And to Lenardo, “Turn your back -and cross your wrists behind you.” - -All the blood fled his face. He glanced about with a shamed, beseeching -helplessness, his eyes wide with horror and his look an appeal for -protection from the outrage. - -“Turn, and cross your wrists,” came my command as evenly as before. - -The prisoner obeyed, his hands trembling. - -“Cross your wrists.” My tone was such as a farrier might use to a horse -he was shoeing. - -Lenardo crossed them. - -“Observe,” I repeated to the guards, as I quickly wound the cord and -knotted it. - -Hobart watched the proceeding narrowly, his face growing more livid, -his eyes bulging farther, his breathing uneven. Once he sent a flaming -glance at Mr. Vancouver, who winced under it, and sat with a sickly, -shrunken look. I knew that the supreme test of discipline lay ahead, and -I was warming to the situation. - -“Tie the next one,” I said to two of the guards, handing them a strip. -At the same time, no longer able to resist a glance at Beelo, I found -in his stricken face so strange a look that it disconcerted me for a -moment. It looked to be both horror and appeal. But my duty was plain. - -I stood by and observed the clumsy work of the two guards in tying -the second man, who, meeker than Lenardo,--although both were manly -fellows,--submitted more promptly. - -Hobart’s turn came next. He was looking about as a trapped beast, and he -swayed and muttered. It was clear that under the approaching degradation -he was letting his wits tangle. - -Some women, sickened by the scene, and fearing a tragedy from Hobart, -slipped away, a few softly crying, others very white. They hid in a -huddle behind the storehouse, the mothers taking their children. - -“One more turn. Tighter. Work faster,” I ordered the guards tying the -second man. - -They obeyed with nervous eagerness. - -Then came Hobart’s turn. I stood before him. He knew what to do without -my order, and I was silent. - -“Haven’t we any friends among you people?” he bellowed, stepping back -and hardening every muscle. “Are you all cowards, to let these brutes -ride roughshod over you?” - -“Submit, Hobart,” cut Mr. Vancouver’s voice. - -I turned upon him, but said nothing, and his cadaverous face whitened -still more under my stare. - -“We need no assistance from you, sir,” Captain Mason coldly said. - -He started; a momentary flash enlivened his sunken eyes. - -“Step up here in line,” I said to Hobart. - -He wavered toward submission under Mr. Vancouver’s order, but my prompt -suppression of that intervention thrust upon him an angry despair. “To -hell with you!” he shouted to me. “You bully! You cur! Here, fellows,” - addressing his comrades in line, “don’t be whipped dogs! We are free -American citizens, we are! Break away!” He stepped still farther back -and edged toward the table. “Stand by me! Be men! We’ll settle this -thing! Come on!” The line swayed. - -“Guard, re-form the prisoners in line,” I ordered. They stepped forward. - -“Fight, boys! Arm yourselves at the tables!” Hobart’s fierce words -thrilled the camp. - -“Lively there!” I snapped to the guards. “Seize Hobart first.” - -“The tables, boys!” shouted Hobart. “Romer,” he added to a husky young -man of the party, “tackle Captain Mason. I’ll attend to Tudor!” - -Hobart sprang at Romer, gave him a shake, and shouted, “Get to work!” - and then advanced toward me as Romer was hardening for assault. - -As Hobart had rudely calculated, the moment was snatched by the other -prisoners for a rush on the guard and the tables, and they broke on the -bound as Hobart hurled himself upon me. But he was too precipitate, and -lacked training. - -It is doubtful that any in the camp except myself saw how the next -thing happened. There was a muffled crack, and Hobart’s feet cleared -the ground, his limbs whipped the air as though he were drowning, and he -sprawled on the earth in a disorganized, quivering heap. A glance showed -me that Romer had been stopped two yards from Captain Mason by a look -such as he had never encountered before, and he stood staring like an -imbecile. - -A low cry broke from fifty feminine throats when Hobart’s body made its -impact with the ground. But the entire rush had been paralyzed; it was -clearly the impression that Hobart had been killed, and all were -staring from him to me. The guard had responded; the prisoners were in -subjugation, some by a collar-grip of the guard, others panting on the -ground under urgent knees, still others standing inert. - -“Hands off the prisoners. Re-form the line,” I ordered. - -When this had been done, the young men sullen, sheepish, and silent, and -viewing with awe the still body of Hobart on the ground, I looked round -upon the circle till I found the man I wanted. My glance had included -Captain Mason and found him stolid and motionless as he observed my -procedure. - -“Dr. Preston, come forward,” I said. - -He instantly responded. - -“Please examine Hobart’s jaw and neck,” I directed. “One or the other -may be broken.” - -As he was turning away to obey he discovered a red trickle from my right -hand. - -“Are you hurt?” he inquired. - -“No.” - -He carefully examined the heap on the ground. - -“Only a contusion and a slight brain-concussion,” he announced. - -“You two,” I promptly said to two of the guards, “buck and gag Hobart. -Do you know how?” - -They shook their heads, but under my direction accomplished what -appeared to be a disagreeable task. The process consisted in tying -Hobart’s hands and feet, flexing his knees, slipping his arms over them, -and thrusting a stick under his knees and over his arms, thus reducing -him to a helpless knot. Then they thrust a towel between his teeth and -tied it at the back of his head. - -“Shall I do anything to revive him, sir?” asked the doctor. It was -interesting to hear the “sir” slip from his tongue. - -I looked to Captain Mason for directions, but his face remained void. - -“No,” I said. Then to two of the guards, “Take him to the shade over -there, on the ground,” indicating a tree near by and in full view of the -camp. - -Meanwhile, the tying of the other prisoners had gone on rapidly and -smoothly. When it was finished, I ordered the men taken to the shade and -lined up behind Hobart, who lay on his side, the guards standing by. The -prisoners were a very sober-looking crowd. - -Then came a lull. I had regarded the subjugation of the men as merely -the lighter preparatory work for some grave procedure which Captain -Mason would direct after that was accomplished. At first I was doubtful -of my wisdom in withholding restorative measures from Hobart, but I had -done so hoping that it would have the effect both of softening Captain -Mason and of impressing the other prisoners and the camp at large. Now I -had to face unknown plans, but Captain Mason still remained mute. It was -evident that, since quiet had come, it was from him rather than me that -the camp awaited the next move; it was his crushing mastery that all -felt; it was his iron hand that lay on every heart. He quietly seated -himself, and without a glance at me waited, his face wearing the -undisturbed calm that distinguished it always in dramatic situations. - -The women in hiding peered out cautiously, and then joined those on the -scene. A slight stir, accompanied with murmurs, rose in a spot where the -women stood thickest, and a shrill voice came angrily. - -“Yes, I will! You can’t stop me! I say it’s an outrage, and I’m going to -untie that boy and take that strangling thing out of his mouth.” She was -advancing, a middle-aged woman, with a determined air, and she walked -straight toward Hobart, ignoring me as I stood near him. “I just want -to say to you, Mr. Tudor, that it was enough to knock the senses out -of him, and that it’s inhuman and brutal to keep him tied up like an -animal. If the _men_ in this camp can be bullied and scared, I’ll let -you know that there’s a _woman_ who can’t. I’m going to untie that lad, -and------” - -I had stepped forward and laid a kindly hand on her arm as she spoke, -but she threw it off. - -“Let me alone!” she cried. “If you want to strike a woman dead, you -murdering bully, do it! I dare you!” - -Nodding to two of the guards, I said: “Take her to her hut, and keep her -there. If she makes the least noise, bind and gag her.” - -“You brute! You coward!” she cried, making a dash forward. - -The guards gingerly seized her, and she talked and struggled wildly. -But they dragged her away, and no sound came from the hut. Captain Mason -gave not the slightest attention to the incident, which greatly deepened -the depression on the camp. - -Hobart’s slow, heavy breathing became regular, then fluttered; his eyes -opened, and rolled unseeing. Intelligence began to dawn in his face, and -with it came an unconscious straining at his bonds. That hastened his -recovery. A wild, clear look that roved a moment and settled malignantly -on me, showed that he had come to himself. His astonished glance at his -helpless state preceded an effort for speech that his gag turned to -a growl, and he made a mighty tug to snap the cords. That failing, he -twisted his head to see the line of prisoners standing bound. Then his -gaze found Captain Mason, who was not observing him, and he savagely -growled and champed his gag. - -I looked furtively round for Beelo, and found him staring at me as at -something strange and monstrous. It was more than I could bear, and on -looking away I discovered the gathering of clouds, and then heard low -thunder in the distance. - -Hobart’s fury wore itself out. Humiliation took its turn. Toward the end -came a humbled spirit and dumb pleading. A quickening ran through the -crowd, and eager, appealing eyes were upon me from every direction; but -I waited. From humility Hobart sank lower, for the pain of his cramped -muscles grew worse and worse, making him writhe and groan and strain. -Still the moment had not come. I knew that many a life hung on the -precision of my conduct, and Captain Mason did not interfere to the -slightest extent. At last, when Hobart’s dumb pleading had settled on my -face and did not rove, I said to Dr. Preston: - -“The gag--nothing else--may come away.” - -He removed it, and Hobart panted: - -“Thank you, Doctor. Take the others off, please.” - -The physician looked to me, but I gave no sign. That started a movement -in the crowd, and I had to quell that with a look. - -“Let him take ‘em off, Mr. Tudor,” the prisoner begged. - -I nodded, and he was free. He labored weakly to a sitting posture, Dr. -Preston assisting. His head rolled, but he breathed deeply, and steadied -himself. Dr. Preston felt his pulse. - -“May he have water and a wet towel, sir?” he asked me. - -I nodded. Hobart drank greedily. Dr. Preston mopped his head and face, -and bound the wet towel over his forehead. - -“Bring a seat for Hobart,” I said to a guard. - -Hobart was lifted to it, and thus sat facing the crowd. He had a finer -look than I had ever seen from him; he had passed through purgatory. -He looked openly at the people, and at last his glance rested on Mr. -Vancouver. It seemed to hold a deep meaning. Mr. Vancouver shrank even -more than when he had seen the iron hand come down. - -I went up to Captain Mason and reported that Hobart was conscious. - -The captain nodded, came forward, I beside him, and looked down on the -beaten man, who anxiously returned the look. - -“May I say a word, Captain?” Hobart asked. - -“Certainly.” - -Hobart turned to me. “You are a hard man,” he said, “but square and -brave. So are you, Captain Mason. I deserved what I got, and a good deal -more. But I’m sorry for what I did, and I ask you to forgive me.” - -There was frank admiration in Captain Mason’s face, for he was observing -another strong man emerge from the first hard lesson in a discipline -that the sailor had known for many a year. - -“May I say something to the boys?” asked Hobart. - -“Of course.” - -Hobart worked round to face his fellow-conspirators. In silence he -looked at one after another. - -“Boys,” he said, “we made a mistake, and are beginning to pay. I don’t -know what’s going to be done with us, but, whatever it is, we must bear -it like men. We made an agreement when we came into this valley, and -we violated it. What we did might have cost the life of every member of -this colony.” - -He paused, for he was weak, and a deep emotion tore him. - -“Boys, if I had been Captain Mason and Mr. Tudor, and had protected and -trusted the people as they have done, and they had tried to undermine -me, and to benefit themselves to the harm of the others, I would have -them taken to the nearest tree, and, God help me! I would have them -hanged.” - -Not a word of that astonishing speech missed an ear in the crowd. When -Hobart had ended, his head dropped in dejection. - -After a long minute of silence Captain Mason gave me a look. I went to -Hobart, who raised a sad face to mine. But when he saw my smile and my -extended hand, a glad surprise leaped in him, and his clasp was that of -a drowning man. - -I walked away. Dr. Preston next received Captain Mason’s glance, and the -scene was repeated. I did not observe the hint that the president must -have given; but while some of the guard came and took Hobart’s hand, -others were untying the prisoners, and they also came in their turn. - -There were tears in Hobart’s eyes, and his speech had fled by the time -Captain Mason came up and took his hand. - -“You are a man, Hobart,” said he, and without noting the effect turned -to the other conspirators. “Young men,” he went on, “you are at liberty. -The incident is closed.” - -Without a glance at the assembled colony, he turned away and went to his -hut. - -I looked for Beelo, and saw his signal to follow him. A buzzing rose -from the crowd. A hard, fixed look was in Mr. Vancouver’s ashen face. -Annabel’s head rested in her arms on the table, and she was sobbing. -From every direction I found furtive glances upon me, and wondered -whether I had become a Pariah. The idea was dispelled by the friendly -responses that my advances found, but I was uneasy on the score of -Beelo. - - - - -CHAPTER XI.--Faces Set Toward Danger. - -_Len-tala in Difficulties. The True Story of the Enterprising Young Men. -Mr. Vancouver Faces the Unknown. Beelo Takes Us on a Journey._ - - -BEELO was much excited and torn with impatience when I arrived. Despite -that, he regarded me with an odd mixture of awe and fear. - -“Choseph!” he exclaimed, “you are terrible and cruel! I couldn’t have -believed------” His breath gave out. - -“What’s the news, lad?” - -The gentle solicitude in my voice steadied him, and he looked with his -sunny smile. - -“You are dear old Choseph, aren’t you?” he said. “Oh, everything has -happened!” he flung out. “The king is terribly angry with Lentala for -interfering with the arrest of the young men yesterday. I had to stay -with her, and couldn’t come. I don’t know what trouble will come out of -it, but the king is going to bring matters to a head at once, before we -are nearly ready! Choseph! those young men ought not to have been let -out of the valley. Gato is now on his way to the colony for a man, and -you must go there immediately to attend to it. You must decide which man -is to go.” - -His news, breathlessly given, stunned me. It was essential that we both -be calm. - -“Tell me what happened to the young men,” asked. - -“They climbed the wall, and expected to slip through. Why, Senatra men -rained on them! Len-tala got there as soon as she could with her private -guard, but it was too late to save them from a terrible whipping. The -guard had them bound and were taking them to the palace when -Lentala arrived. She’s afraid now that the king will do what he has -threatened,--either lock her up or give orders that will tie her hands -so that she can’t do anything.” - -I hesitated. “If she is powerless, Beelo, there will be no one to -protect the man who will go out with Gato.” - -His distress was poignant, and he dropped to the ground in a weary -little heap. - -“Lentala is equal to any task, lad,” I quietly said. - -He looked up brightly. “Do you believe that much in her, Choseph?” - -“She’s our one hope, lad, and she’ll never falter; and she has your wise -little head and your bold heart to help her.” - -He came strongly to his feet. “She can do anything if you think _that_ -of her, Choseph,” he gently said. Another moment found him his eager, -active self. “A great deal will depend on the man you are to send out,” - he said. - -“Why? What awaits him?” - -The answer was an appealing look. His remarks about the earthquakes -and the storms had puzzled me, and while I knew that the subject was -repugnant to him, I was forced to revive it. I repeated a remark by -Captain Mason that a storm was brewing. Beelo straightened. - -“Captain Mason ought to know!” he cried. “The king’s wise men have told -him the same thing. Choseph, Choseph! It would be horrible!” - -“Why, lad? I can’t work in the dark.” - -His look was appealing. - -“I must know,” I said. “You are acting like a child, and this is work -for men. Tell me what the storm and the earthquake have to do with us, -or I’ll refuse to surrender a man to Gato, and we’ll fight.” - -“Choseph!” he exclaimed, frightened; then, after a pause: “The people -think the Black Face must have all the castaways, or it will shake the -ground with earthquakes and maybe send a volcano to destroy everything. -But if the earthquake is heavy, it terrifies the people. In that way you -might escape if Lentala’s plan fails. It was a great earthquake I was -hoping for.” - -“The Black Face must have all the castaways?” I repeated. “How?” - -“I don’t know!” he desperately cried. “Lentala doesn’t know. It has been -concealed from us. But it’s something horrible! A storm is coming, but -it may bring no castaways, and the king won’t wait any longer. He can’t -control the people.” - -“What kind of man should we send out, Beelo?” - -“One who’s brave and fears nothing,” he promptly answered, studying me -oddly. - -“Then Rawley wouldn’t do.” - -“No. Mr. Vancouver.” - -I had felt it coming. Of course he deserved any risk, any fate, but---- - -“You are thinking of Annabel,” said Beelo. - -“Yes. She is innocent. Unless Lentala can keep him away from the king -and save him from harm, I won’t----” - -“There, there, Choseph!” sweetly said the boy. “She’ll manage. You’ll -send Mr. Vancouver?” - -“Yes.” - -“Good! That will make the king think you aren’t suspicious. As soon as -he has gone with Gato, you and Christopher come here, and then we three -will go out of the valley.” - -Captain Mason’s heavy hand still lay as a hush on the camp when Gato, -the giant leader of the soldiers, arrived an hour later with a band of -his men. Christopher and I met him, and he informed us that he had -come for the man who was to be taken out. I despatched Christopher for -Captain Mason, whom I had informed of the decision to send Mr. Vancouver -out. The storm had been gathering with a slowness that indicated -destructive preparation. Mr. Vancouver was in his hut with Rawley -and Annabel. Rawley’s haggard face peered out at intervals and sent a -straining look at me such as I had seen in the faces of the condemned -peering through the cell-grate for any messenger that might bear a -reprieve. They were not aware of our decision that Mr. Vancouver should -go. - -The president, cool and serious, came with Christopher. - -“Summon Mr. Vancouver,” he said. - -The three came out. Mr. Vancouver, though pale, had a firm look, and -it went straight to Captain Mason. Rawley was ghastly. Annabel held my -attention most. Undoubtedly Mr. Vancouver had been trying to prepare her -for the contingency of his leaving, and had made poor work of it. - -Her glance first sought Captain Mason, and found a blank face with no -eyes for her. Next she looked at me, and caught something that I was -too slow in hiding. Thenceforward during the scene I knew that the ache -within me for her sake was large print to her eyes. Her bearing was an -accusation, a challenge for frankness, an appeal for protection. - -The president said: - -“Mr. Vancouver, the king has sent for one of our men. It would be my -duty to go if I could be spared. Will you go?” - -“Certainly,” came the prompt answer. - -Annabel shrank, and then bravely stepped forth. Her voice lost its -quaver as she proceeded. - -“Why send my father?” she demanded. “Are there no young men here with -the courage to volunteer?” - -She eagerly scanned the crowd, not heeding her father’s restraining hand -on her arm. Being a woman, she could never understand why not a single -man made a sign, so heavy was the weight of Captain Mason’s hand. - -“It is a shame!” she passionately exclaimed. “I had thought there were -more manliness and gratitude in the world.” She turned upon me. “Mr. -Tudor, I know _you_ will go.” - -I could not bear it. “May I tell her in confidence what I am to do?” I -asked Captain Mason under my breath. - -“Not now,” he answered. “Miss Vancouver,” he said aloud, “Mr. Tudor -cannot go. I beg to remind you that you are interfering with the -business in hand.” - -Recollection of the morning’s scene, when a woman had been sent away -under guard, must have been what whitened her face with fear and then -flushed it with anger. The lion in her father crouched at Captain Mason, -but instantly remembered. - -“Daughter,” he peremptorily said, “spare us further humiliation. I am -going.” - -“Then, I will go with you!” she exclaimed. - -The entire colony was assembled, and all were expecting another measure -of authority; but Captain Mason stood in patient silence. - -“Impossible, child!” said Mr. Vancouver. - -“Yes, I will go!” she cried. “I have a right to go, and I will!” - -Mr. Vancouver sent Captain Mason an inquiring look, and found that the -blue eyes had hardened. He knew the meaning of that; he must at once -eliminate his daughter. - -“Child,” he coaxed, enclosing her in his arms, “it is -impossible,--dangers would arise that wouldn’t come if you were absent.” - -“I can’t bear it,--I can’t bear it!” she half sobbed. She struggled to -free herself. Rawley came forward. “Don’t touch me!” she cried. “Isn’t -there a _man_----” - -A glance from Captain Mason sent Christopher to her side. - -“It’s me, ma’am.” - -Her father released her, and she turned in astonishment to Christopher. -Annabel had a sense of the ludicrous, but one of tenderness also. She -saw the angel behind the clown. Smiles went with her tears as she gave -him her hand. - -“You mustn’t go,” leaked his thin voice. - -“Why?” - -“They need you.” His gesture swept the camp. - -She was silent while she dried her eyes. - -“Yes,” she said, “but----” - -“Them there savagers ud eat you.” - -“But my father------” - -“He ain’t nice to eat.” - -Christopher had laid a daring finger on the mystery, but his words found -all unheeding except Mr. Vancouver, who looked startled. The suggestion -was evidently new to him. - -“Very well, Christopher,” Annabel said, smiling sadly, “I’ll stay. -Captain Mason,” falteringly, “I ask your pardon.” She turned to her -father and embraced him. “Father, go. I’ll pray for you.” She held him -off and looked long into his face. “You’ll come back, won’t you?” - -“Of course. I shall see the king, and I know I can arrange everything -happily for the colony.” - -Captain Mason beckoned Gato. Mr. Vancouver turned his face to the -darkness and marched away with the guard. - -When he had gone, Annabel still gazed. Rawley watched her for a look -that might permit his consoling offices, but she did not see him. Only -Christopher knew what to do. - -“It’s a-wanting of you, ma’am,” he said. - -She started. “What, Christopher?” - -“It’s mother, too.” - -“Yes, yes,--I’d forgotten.” Without a glance at any of us, she went to -the ailing child. - -The colony began to stir. After a hurried conference with Captain Mason, -Christopher and I left to keep the appointment with Beelo. We were ready -for him when he came all out of breath. It made me uneasy to note that -he studiedly avoided my eyes and made no reference to the scene in camp. - -“There’s not a moment to lose,” he said. “Come; follow me--cautiously.” - His manner betrayed a nervous haste. - -“Beelo!” I said, seeing that he was too much excited. - -He stood panting while he got himself in hand, but still kept his face -turned from me. - -“Now I’m all right,” he said. - -He threaded the jungle as though every shrub and tree and turning-place -were familiar, and held a course on that side of the valley which -brought us under the Face. - -His agility taxed me. Not so Christopher: his deftness equaled Beelo’s. -We were a silent trio. - -The transverse ridge was crossed, and we entered strange territory. -Beelo’s eyes and ears were incessantly on watch. Now and then he would -come to an abrupt halt and hold his breath, but nothing appeared. -We kept to the deepest shadows, which were further blackened by the -steadily thickening darkness of the sky. I feared a downpour. - -Without mishap we finally reached the lower end of the valley. I had -been trying to see the opening through which the stream must run, but -even when we halted near the cliff, not a break appeared. - -Beelo dropped to the ground. “We’ll rest,” said he. - -I found the adventure exciting, but was unprepared for its effect -on Christopher. His usually dull eyes had intelligent vision; his -slouchiness was gone. - -After a few moments’ rest Beelo rose, and led us to the stream. It was -deep and slow here, and crept through a dense overhanging growth. We -pushed through the tangle, and soon came to a little clearing near the -bank, but screened from it. The bamboo raft which he and Christopher had -made lay there. - -We launched it. Christopher produced a pole from another hiding-place, -boarded the raft, and knelt on the forward end. Beelo and I followed. - -“Christopher,” the lad inquired, “can you see in the dark?” - -“Yes,” and Christopher shoved off. - -The vegetation grew denser as we slipped along, and its shadows combined -with the darkness of the day to plunge us into night. Presently I -realized that we must have traversed more than the distance between the -launching-place and the wall. - -“Where are we, Beelo?” I asked, but the sound of my voice informed me -before the boy’s answer: - -“Under the mountain. We are going through.” - -To describe my sensations would be impertinent. Beelo’s reticence was -more than silence. The only sound was the swish of Christopher’s pole as -it dipped and scraped while we drifted. Beelo, sitting a little to the -rear and at one side of me, crept nearer. - -“Talk,” he begged, edging still closer, till our arms touched. - -“Very well, lad. Shall I tell you a story?” - -We must have been on the floor of a lofty cavern, for my words came -back. - -“Hush!” he whispered. - -His hand was groping for mine. Perfect blackness encompassed us. I -took his hand. A slight tremor thrilled it, and I put an arm about his -shoulders, drew him close, and pressed his head down in the hollow of my -neck. There was none of his refractory wildness now. Poor lad! For all -the pluck that he had shown in the past, the silence and the darkness of -this grew-some passage had unmanned him. It was good to hear the comfort -in his sigh, the fading of the tremor, and the firm grasp of his hand. - -Evidently Beelo had never made this trip before, but I wondered that at -least its upper end had been left unguarded and why it was not a highway -for the natives. In a whisper I asked him. - -“It is guarded,” he answered; “but when a storm or an earthquake comes, -the men are afraid that what is in here will come out; and, besides, -they think a storm is a better guard than they. But they weren’t far -away. I knew how to avoid them.” - -“Yes, but----” - -“Down!” came sharply from Christopher simultaneously with a dull blow. - -I flattened Beelo and myself. - -“Up,” said Christopher. - -Had his face or head encountered a low-hanging rock? Yet he had thought -of us. - -“Are you hurt?” I asked. - -“No, sir.” - -“Did your head strike?” - -“Arm, sir.” - -Perhaps an inscrutable power had given him the sense to raise his arm -and guard his head at the moment of peril. I finished my question to -Beelo: - -“What is in here the natives fear?” - -“The voices that send your words back.” - -“Surely they are familiar with the echo in the mountains.” - -“Not this kind, Choseph.” He had never called me that so easily. I -hugged him closer, and he nestled like a kitten. - -It was indeed a startling echo. At times even our whispers seemed to -multiply and flock on wings, and come rustling back. - -“There’s something still worse,” added Beelo. - -“What is it?” - -“I don’t know. They would never tell me.” - -...I wondered whether he had felt the sudden leap of my heart. He must, -for he snuggled closer, withdrew his hand from mine, caressed my cheek, -and whispered: - -“We’ll be brave.” - -“Yes, lad, but if we knew only a little we should be the better -prepared.” - -He was silent. - -“You know nothing about it?” I insisted. - -“Nothing at all.” - -“But natives have gone through safely, else they wouldn’t know.” - -“Some did, a long time ago. That was the last.” - -“Some did? Not all that started?” - -“Not all. The others went mad. Don’t talk about it, dear Choseph.” - -Assuredly Beelo had been driven to a desperate extremity to choose -this way of escape from the valley. It showed how closely the ordinary -outlets were guarded. - - - - -CHAPTER XII.--Dramatic Discoveries. - -_Plunged Into Mysterious Terrors. Christopher’s Obscure Powers at Work. -A Struggle for Our Lives. Stout Hearts Fail. A Dear One Lost._ - - -THE passage was crooked. The darkness was unqualified, and so dense -that it seemed resistant and hard to breathe. It was the sort of -blackness that penetrates to the heart and quenches the light there. -Matches had long ago disappeared from the colony, and I had no means -of making a light. Nor had Beelo provided against the blackness. All -time-reckoning had been lost, but our rate was slow, and I knew that the -passage must be long. - -Thus far the odors had been of the sun-sweetened water crossed with -those of the underground dank, and were pleasant. But presently a faint -pungency invaded the cold air. I knew by the change in Beelo’s breathing -that his quick sense had discovered it. It suggested things over -which my memory halted. Christopher gave no sign. With unflagging -watchfulness, aided by a perception far keener than mine, he kept the -raft free in the stream, except for occasional bumps. - -“Do you smell it, Christopher?” I asked. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“What is it?” - -“Sir?” - -“What is it?” - -There was an interval before his answer, “Fire, sir.” Beelo cowered in -my embrace. Since Christopher had mentioned it, I knew it was fire; -I cannot say how I knew, because the odor was unlike that from any -combustion I had ever known. - -“Do you know what is burning?” I asked. - -“Me, sir?” - -“Yes.” - -This silence was longer than the other; Christopher must have listened -far. - -“The world, sir.” - -Beelo shook with a silent chuckle, and squeezed my hand; but I knew that -Christopher’s words had a meaning. - -“The world?” I quietly repeated. - -“Yes, sir. I hear it.” - -Beelo and I straightened up and set our ears on a strain. - -“I hear nothing,” I said. - -“I hear it, very faint,” Beelo breathlessly returned. - -It made no difference with the steadiness of Christopher’s work. The -odor gradually grew more pronounced, and then I recalled an iron smelter -that I had seen in boyhood. Presently I too heard a distant roar as of -a furnace that ground while it burned. Beelo crept close under my -arm again. I could feel his quick heart-beats and shortened breathing -against my side. - -Creeping through these increasing sensations came the deep note of -falling water. Why ask Beelo whether he had ever heard that our stream -took a subterranean plunge? Christopher kept coolly at his task. The -sharp striking and scraping of his tireless pole had long ago informed -me that rock made our channel and shores, which were uneven and -dangerous. Now and then the raft would make a sudden swing to avoid -underwater rocks that Christopher’s soundings had discovered. At other -times it would come to a lurching halt until the man carrying our lives -in his hand had made sure of the way. - -“What do you think of that water falling, Christopher?” I asked. - -He waited a long time, and his slow answer chilled me: - -“I don’t know, sir.” - -“You’ll go slow when we come nearer?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Beelo gave me a hand-pressure intended to silence my foolish tongue. - -With a growing intensity in the odor, in the furnace roar, and in the -rumbling of the waterfall, came stealing something new and surpassingly -uncanny. It was a very dim glow, with no visible source, and without -the power to make anything seen but itself. Apparently it was but the -darkness in a more oppressive phase. In vain did I strain my eyes to see -Christopher, Beelo, the raft, the water,--anything that light could make -visible; but the glow was as impenetrable as the darkness. - -Beelo was going to pieces under the weight of this encompassing awe. -I knew that his weakness was born of his yielding to an extraneous -reliance--Christopher and me. He put his lips to my ear and whispered: - -“I’m afraid.” - -“Steady, lad. You are our guide; you are responsible for us.” - -“Yes, I know.” He made a pathetic effort to regain himself. “This -light--don’t you _feel_ it, Choseph?” - -“I do, dear lad, but my name isn’t Choseph.” - -“Yoseph!” he triumphantly said. - -“Joseph,” I insisted. - -“Mr. Tudor!” In a whirlwind he threw both arms round my neck, and -softly laughed. The old Beelo was on guard again, except that with his -recovered courage he was uncommonly gentle and affectionate. I wondered -if I should ever reach the end of the boy’s phases. - -From some indeterminate direction came the muffled sound of an -explosion. - -“Hold tight!” cried Christopher, violently lurching the raft round and -jamming it sharply against high jutting rocks on the bank. “Down!” he -added. - -A mighty rush as of many winds came tearing up the passage far ahead. -I threw Beelo face down, and flattened my body. Then came the blow, -and hurled Christopher backward upon us. In a moment he had recovered -himself. The impact must have strained Beelo’s ribs, but he lay still. - -It was a combination of atmospheric concussion and hot gases, -principally steam, that had struck us. I raised my head, gasping for -breath. Beelo was inert. I lifted him. One arm feebly groped for my -neck, and clung there. - -“We are safe!” I cheerily said. “Where is my brave little brother?” - -He only held me the closer. Indeed, speech was difficult, since the air -was packed with smothering vapors. The desire to breathe was checked by -an instinctive fear to inhale. - -Christopher cautiously pushed out, and again we drifted free, The pole -dipped and clicked and scraped. - -But a change had come. The furnace roar had ceased; the waterfall grew -louder. Most striking of all was the unearthly luminosity of the steam -filling the tunnel. That vapor, rapidly chilling in the cold of the -passage, increased in opaqueness, but glowed the more. Before long the -light became radiant and faintly illuminating, and the air sweetened. -I had known by Beelo’s breath on my cheek that his face was upturned to -mine, and near. Thus it was that after long peering I found the light in -his eyes. My arms were enclosing him. - -“I see my lad!” I said in gladness. - -A queer little movement of withdrawal began. I tried to hold him, but -found no yielding. Gradually he slipped out of my clasp, and sat alone. - -Christopher slowly took body in the haze, a ghostly Charon on the -Styx. The color of the glow grew from white to rose, with an occasional -effulgence of bluish purple. The surface of the earth knew no such tints -in fire; these were royally plutonic. The black rocks overhead and on -either hand assumed a vague, grim definition, and to my keyed fancy -displayed grotesque suggestions. Blank spaces a shade darker than the -grimacing, minatory rocks fell away; these I supposed to be cavernous -reaches out of the passage, for from them came echoed multiples of the -pole-sounds. - -The temperature began to rise as the waterfall grew louder, the light -more revealing, the haze weaker. We swung round a wide curve, and all at -once a terrifying vision sprang forth in a blood-red light. Our stream -opened into a small lake, which was violently churned by a cataract of -crimson water brilliantly illuminated and plunging out of the overhead -darkness into it. The roar was deafening. - -Beelo, scrambling in terror to his feet, his eyes blazing with the red -madness that packed the cavern, required a strong hand to subdue him. -He struggled in my grasp, pointed frantically backward with implorings -that we return, and fought my restraint with sheer animal desperation. -Christopher’s conduct, though showing extraordinary exhilaration, -betrayed no fear, but only a grimmer hold on our situation. With a -rearward glance and the discovery that I was holding Beelo securely, he -stood up, a gigantic red figure, and with all his might shot the raft -forward into the maelstrom. The frail thing plunged in the surge, but -Christopher’s eye and arm were sure. The suck of the water, curving -downward where the cataract struck the pool, was cunningly avoided as -he circled the rim of the lakelet, having as able work to do in avoiding -the dripping rocks there as in keeping out of the breakers. - -I thanked God there was light, formidable though it was; it helped me in -my control of Beelo, whose struggles were becoming weaker, and enabled -me to find a good grip on the raft, for there was danger of slipping -off. Through all the wild lurching Christopher kept a sailor’s feet; -and, although his back was toward me, I saw by his quick movements that -all his shrewd forces were in the fight. - -Whence came the light? It appeared to be in the cataract itself, a -living flame in the heart of its greatest enemy. The water was joyously, -terribly alive. - -The raft described an arc of the pool, slipped out of the boiling churn, -and, before Christopher was aware, caught an eddy and went swinging and -lurching in behind the cataract. The man so strong in both soul and body -threw up his hands in the surrender of terror, for a thing more awful -than the red light and the waterfall confronted us. He dropped the pole. -Its middle struck the edge of the raft, and our one weapon of defense -rebounded into the water. Beelo saw the catastrophe. He clutched me -frantically about the neck, nearly strangling me before I broke his -hold. - -[Illustration: 0133] - -Christopher looked about for the pole, and saw it bobbing on end as it -struggled against submergence in the down-thrust behind the fall. It -was twenty fatal feet away. The ferocity of elemental self-preservation -seized on the man and transformed him. This was not the attitude of -patient, gentle Christopher, the humble, serving Christopher, but that -of a bayed animal. My hands were tied by the necessity of Beelo’s care. - -The spectacle that had unmanned Christopher was in a profound recess -reaching indeterminately out of the cavern and behind the waterfall. It -had not been visible until we rounded the fall and went scurrying behind -it in the eddy. Apparently far back,--I cannot guess how far,--ran a -broad, high, fantastically irregular tunnel ending in a pit of boiling -lava, at an unknown depth below the level of the tunnel, which itself -was slightly above the surface of the pool. Deep rumblings issued from -it, as from a heavy ebullition, punctured with smothered detonations. -Rising from it were thin, cloud-like masses of vapor, like the -pale mauve haze of distant mountains. In its rolling it thickened -concealingly here and opened revealingly there, with constantly shifting -effects. - -The dominant color was a deep, transparent crimson of a tint such as -may be seen in the cooling iron of a foundry or in the great crater of -Kilauea; but following the detonations came leaping flames of bluish -purple. It was the red shining through the water that had made the -cataract a fall of liquid crimson when seen from the front. - -This, then, was the funnel of a volcano, with a lateral vent. Was it one -of Pluto’s cooling forges? Was its present activity transient? Was this -the beginning of a seismic convulsion that might blow the valley rampart -into the sea? - -I cannot say when those questions arose. The urgency of an immediate -threat demanded all attention. Beelo was in an ecstasy of terror, and -Christopher was desperately casting about with all his reassembled wits. -In the tumult of noises our voices were useless. We had been flung out -of the larger eddy into a smaller one swirling between the back of the -fall and the tunnel-mouth. It had a swifter and more dizzying whirl. -Soon it seemed that we were still, except for the ceaseless rolling of -our craft, and that the roaring fall and the grumbling, blazing tunnel -were swinging round us. With the rest passed the bobbing pole, a live, -insane thing, nodding this way and that, approaching the downpour -gingerly, diving under a sharp water-blow, and leaping up with malicious -sprightliness a few feet back. At any moment it might be caught sidewise -and crushed. - -There was another danger. The centrifugal force of our swing in the eddy -was carrying us out to the periphery of the swirl. On one side were -the rocks at the mouth of the tunnel; opposite was the waterfall, the -slightest blow from which (since it fell from a height of at least a -hundred feet) would mean the end. Our swinging was taking us nearer to -both those dangers. - -Something roused within, overcoming my pity for Beelo. I shook him and -slapped his cheek. Astonishment and anger blazed in his eyes, and then -with a mighty indignation he crawled away and sat glaring at me. At -another time the comical picture would have amused me, for the boy -behaved just as a proud kitten under similar treatment. Having secured -the desired result with Beelo, I worked to the edge of the raft, and -prepared to make a leap for the pole. I was waiting till the raft should -swing round and bring me nearer. Before that happened, two soft arms -were flung round me from behind, a cheek pressed mine, and I was borne -down backward. Two small, firm hands held my wrists down. For the moment -I was helpless. - -Of course, Christopher knew that our nearer approach to danger brought -us closer to hope, which lay in the pole. He was biding the moment, -and it came. He crouched on the raft, and a long arm shot out. Beelo’s -nerves were quivering till Christopher rose; then they stilled, and he -released me. - -Christopher had learned from experience, and it was a surer hand now -that gripped the pole and sent the raft spinning out of the eddy. To -keep it somewhat trimmed against Christopher’s movements had been a -small part of my task hitherto, so thoughtful of everything had he -been; but now that he saw Beelo and me better used to the situation, he -quietly gave us something of that to do, thus securing more freedom of -movement. - -He found the egress of the stream from the pool, and pushed out. Slowly -we crept through the gloomy, misty light, which paled as we went. -Christopher must have felt a dread that oppressed me--the danger of -recurrent explosions--for he worked with less extreme caution than -before, and our progress was better. After a time the light was too dim -for me to see Beelo sitting in his sullen pout; and when darkness again -fell, he crept up beside me and stole out a hand for mine. The noises -had nearly ceased, and Beelo no longer feared the weird echoes. - -“I’m glad it’s past,” he sighed, nestling against me. “Aren’t you, -Choseph?” - -“Joseph.” - -He hugged my arm and softly laughed. - -“Yes, I’m glad,” I answered. - -It seemed many hours since we had entered the passage, and I hoped we -should emerge in the morning of the day following that of our start. - -New conditions began to arise. Above the cataract the stream had -been slow, with few approaches to rapids. Those had been the worst -danger-points. Now we discovered that the current was swifter and -the rapids more numerous and turbulent. The celerity of Christopher’s -movements increased. He no longer tried to spare us the water dripping -from his pole as he repeatedly shifted it and groped for bearings. -This made me more apprehensive. I wondered whether, even with better -facilities, we could return to the valley through this passage, and how -the two hundred and fifty colonists could manage to come safely through. - -Presently I felt in the water a turgidity where the current was slow, -and heard a hoarse, growling rumble quite different from the sounds that -we had left behind. Beelo tightened his clutch and breathlessly said: - -“It has come!” - -“What has, lad?” - -“Hush!” - -Except for an unusual slapping of the water against the rocks, the -commotion had passed. I wondered if the storm had broken in the valley -and the torrent was coming; but this did not look like it. - -“It has gone, Beelo. What was it?” - -“No, it hasn’t. Hold tight. Sit hard, Christopher!” - -“Beelo,” I impatiently demanded, “you must tell me what----” - -The speech was stopped by a groaning crunch that tossed the stream, -splashed the water high on the rocks, and filled the passage with a -sound like that of crushing glass. Beelo was again in terror. - -“Be quiet, lad. There’s nothing-----” - -“Don’t talk!” he desperately commanded. “The third one will come. That’s -the worst. Wait!” - -The seconds dragged through an awful silence. Beelo’s breath struggled -spasmodically through the repression under which he tried to hold it. - -The third shock came, and then, though I had never felt one before, I -knew what it was. The whole world seemed to heave and writhe and jolt -and grind, all with a fearful noise. The earthquake, grim brother of -the boiling cauldron we had left, had us in its jaws, and its power was -manifest in the ease with which it crushed and ground the rocks about -us. Fragments of these began to splash in the water and rattle on the -raft. Just in front, a huge block plunged into the stream and dashed us -with water. - -Beelo flung himself upon me; I again bent over him to shield him. - -Another heavy stone struck the raft in the narrow space between -Christopher and us, and tore through it into the water, sending up a -geyser through the hole. - -A stiffening wave of terror overswept Beelo. He sprang to his knees and -tightly embraced my neck in both arms. - -“We are going to die!” he feebly cried, and pressed his lips to mine, -sinking inert into my arms. My fingers anxiously sought his pulse. It -was fluttering. - -“Christopher!” I called in alarm,--not realizing that the earthquake -had passed and that a dim light made visible the rocks in a turn -ahead,--“Christopher! Something has happened to Beelo!” - -“Yes, sir,” came with the steady old calm. - -“Stop! We must do something for him.” - -“We are going out, sir.” - -We swung the curve, and the blessed daylight smiled ahead. The raft slid -out of the passage in placid water, which here, as at the other end, was -deeply embowered. The glorious day, though overcast, was brilliant to -our eyes as it sifted through and rested sweetly on the water. As Beelo -was unconscious, Christopher observed extraordinary care in proceeding, -and as soon as possible secured the raft in the sheltered reach. - -I was looking down into Beelo’s face. His head had fallen back, and -although his eyes were closed, his lips were open. It came over me with -a pang that a richness and a maturity which I had not before noticed in -his face, rested there now. - -“How long has it taken us to come through?” I asked Christopher. - -“‘Mos’ four hours, sir.” - -I was surprised. It had seemed much longer. - -He came to lift Beelo out, but I myself bore him ashore and laid him on -the ground, and knelt over him. Christopher was standing near, studying -him, but showing no anxiety. - -“It is only fainting, isn’t it, Christopher?” I asked. - -“That’s all, sir.” - -To give him air, I began to open his blouse. - -“I wouldn’t, sir,” interposed Christopher. - -“Why?” I asked, looking up in surprise. - -He only regarded me in silence. At first I thought that Christopher’s -singular penetration had discovered that Beelo was lighter of color than -a full-blooded native and was delicately warning me not to invade the -carefully guarded secret. I recalled the story that I had told Beelo, -and my suspicions as to the purity of his native blood. And what harm -could come if I did learn? - -Then the truth came upon me with the overwhelming force of long -cumulation. His conduct in the tunnel, his sweetness and gentleness, -the strange conclusion of the scene with Annabel when they had met,--a -thousand memories of things that had passed unheeded in the stress -of dangers,--came as a blinding light. I do not know when Christopher -learned the truth, but in his chivalry he would have seen me go blind to -the grave without a word from him in betrayal of Beelo’s secret. - -The shock stunned me, and my head was bowed in reverence. When I again -looked into the patient face, now having for me so sweet and touching a -pathos, the deep-blue eyes were looking up into mine; then they turned -to Christopher, and all about. The old mischievous, bantering smile -parted the perfect lips. The eyes again sought mine. - -“Choseph! It’s fine to be dead!” But the voice held a different music -from that of the lad whom I had loved and who was now gone forever. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.--Preparation for the Crisis. - -_In the Enemy’s Land. The Weird Light on the Valley Wall. Mr. Vancouver. -A Visit with Lentala. She Tells a Secret Which I Already Know._ - - -I Would respect Beelo’s wish that she appear as a boy, and must keep -hammering into my mind the words, Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother. I -must not for a moment think of her otherwise. “Boy, Lad, Dear Little -Brother.” - -“What are you dreaming, Choseph, and what are those words your lips are -saying?” It was Beelo’s cheery voice. - -He was sitting up; I was beside him looking down at the gliding water. I -woke to the familiar raillery, and turned with a smile. - -“Dear lad!” I joyfully responded. - -“You had forgotten me,” he ruefully said. “And you, old Christopher! -Don’t you see I’m dying of thirst?” - -Christopher plucked two large leaves, fashioned them into a cup, and -brought the water, which Beelo eagerly drank. He held out his hand, and -I helped him up. He tried his legs. - -“That’s better,” he said. - -The perfect grace of movement, the exquisite feminine figure so artfully -concealed,---- - -“Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother.” - -“Mooning again, and talking to yourself!” cried Beelo. - -“It was a rough trip through the passage, boy. I’m a little shaken.” - -“That’s past. Shake the other way.” He was pirouetting round a tree. - -“But how are we going back, lad?” - -“This way,” he carelessly answered, making wing-motions with his arms. - -“There was an earthquake, Beelo.” - -He stopped short, and his eyes lighted deep. - -“Yes!” he softly but impressively exclaimed. - -The old caution settled in his face; he peered and listened warily, and -then came a look of assured repose. - -“That is good,” he said,--“if--” a cloud drifted over his face--“if they -felt it on the surface.” - -“They did,” interposed Christopher. - -“How do you know?” Beelo sharply demanded. - -Christopher pointed to a large rock near us, to the path that it had -freshly torn through the brush, and to a steep slope from which it had -been dislodged. - -“Good for Christopher!” said Beelo. He studied the sky, and dejectedly -added, “But the storm is coming!” After a little reflection he remarked, -as if to himself, “I don’t know whether that should change our plans or -not.” He seated himself to think it out, and began arranging twigs -on the ground. “No Senatras will be within miles of the passage,” he -ruminated. “They fear it, for the earthquake is born here, and they have -run away. So, we can make better time. Mr. Vancouver is safe today; we -won’t go _there_.” - -“Where, dear little brother?” - -Pain crossed his face. “To the clearing opposite the Face. If only -another earthquake would come, or this had come sooner!” - -“Is one usually followed by another?” - -“Often. Sometimes not. Come! The sun will be setting before long, and we -have miles to go.” - -We hid the battered raft and struck out. Our way led parallel to the -stream, which tore foaming down a gorge of steeply sloping sides. It -slipped into a pleasant valley, richly verdured. There we left it and -began the ascent of a mountain on the west. Dusk was coming on. Beelo -fearlessly pursued the trails in the darkening hours. - -Occasionally we paused to rest. The valley which we had crossed lay a -black-green sea below. Behind us the eastern sky was cut straight across -by the level summit of our valley wall. Beelo was closely studying it. - -“You see no sign of fire over there, do you?” he asked, pointing toward -the clearing opposite the Face. - -There was none, and Beelo was gratified. Our attention was diverted from -that spot by a faint purplish flash, which slipped along the crest above -the river passage, and was quickly gone. Beelo stood tense and still, -and whispered: - -“Did you see _that?_” - -“Yes.” - -We waited for its reappearance, but none came. Beelo said no more. The -light had come from the subterranean lava-pot. - -Beyond the wall was the blackest part of the sky. Under the horizon -in that direction lightning was at play, as we judged from faint -illuminations in the distant heavens, and the rumble of far thunder. - -Night had nearly fallen when we reached the summit. The descent -was rapid on the other side, for Beelo went with the sureness of -familiarity. At last we stopped at an abandoned hut, hidden in the deep -forest. Beelo paused on the door-step. - -“See,” he said, pointing to a glow a mile or less away, down the valley. -“That is the main settlement of the Senatras. The king’s palace, where -Lentala and I live, is there. We will visit it tonight,--if Lentala -agrees. You will rest here awhile and have something to eat. After the -visit to the palace you will sleep here.” - -He showed us within, closed the door, blew a flame from smothered embers -on the hearth, and lighted a nut-oil lamp. He had been very sober and -quiet all the way, but now his eyes began to dance. - -“This is your mansion!” he exclaimed. - -The place had been made clean and sweet, good beds of leaves were on the -earth floor, and fresh water stood in calabashes. Beelo dragged forward -a copper vessel, and took from it a generous food supply. - -“Isn’t she pretty good--for a girl?” he casually asked. - -“Who?” - -“Lentala. She did these things.” - -Ever since the scene at the end of the passage, sadness had sat upon me, -and I was in no mood to enjoy Beelo’s pleasantries,--this, too, while -I was deeply touched by the labor and gentle thoughtfulness with which -everything had been done for our comfort. Still, something precious was -gone from my life; my heart hungered for the lad. But he was here! In a -swirl of perversity I seized Beelo’s hands, and held him before me. - -“Dear lad,” I said, “I am walking in the dark. Believe me, little -brother, I am grateful--more grateful than any words could say--for the -skill and the kindness that we have seen from you. But my heart is sore, -and you are laughing at me.” - -Something between suspicion and embarrassment had been rapidly growing -in Beelo’s face. Of a sudden he closed my mouth with his hand and made a -brave rally of Beelo’s old flippancies. - -“Christopher,” he said, “did you ever see such a goose? Such an _old_ -goose?” - -I gently removed his hand. - -“I am serious, boy.” - -“Hush!” commanded Beelo in a whisper. - -His hunt down into me was ruthless, but the hurt there helped me to -steady my gaze. “When I fainted----” he began, and stopped, having -found my face expressionless. He turned to Christopher, who, giving no -attention to us, was setting out the supper on a mat. Beelo’s sharp eyes -came back to me. - -“Dear little brother,----” - -“No, no! Not a word!” he broke in. “I haven’t time, and you are hungry. -Come, Choseph!” - -He turned me to the supper and forced me to sit on the ground opposite -Christopher. It was pleasant to be man-handled by Beelo. His abuse of -me was always smoothed by affection. I had no appetite, but who could -resist Beelo? He played that I was an invalid and unable to help myself. -He patted my cheek, put food into my mouth, chattered nonsense as though -I were a baby, and petted me with outrageous condescension. There was -nothing to do but melt under his dear absurdities; and when he found -me re-established, he kissed me on the forehead and dashed out, calling -that he would be back before long. - -When he returned he was brilliantly alive. There seemed no end to his -vitality. - -“It’s glorious!” he cried, seizing Christopher and sending his bulk in -a twirl across the hut. “It’s splendid!” he went on, smashing my dignity -with boy’s play. “It’s just----” But his breath was gone, and he tumbled -in a panting heap on the ground. - -“What news, Beelo?” I inquired. - -He sat up, but as yet had meager breath for speech. - -“Mr. Vancouver--is safe. Doesn’t look very--happy. Hasn’t seen--the -king. Oh, no! Lentala,--who is an Angel--and Sweet--and Kind--and -Beautiful,--is just dying--to see you. And----” - -“Rest a minute,” I interrupted. - -He flung a little pout at me, and then archly demanded, “Aren’t you -good-natured yet, Choseph?” - -I shook my head. - -“You will be when you see Lentala,” he said with mock melancholy. “Don’t -you like girls?” he suddenly fired at me. - -“Y--es,” I stammered consciously. - -“You like Annabel!” with a spitfire touch on his tongue. - -“I once liked, very much, a dear lad named Beelo more than any girl.” - -“_Once_ liked Beelo!” His shining eyes were lances. - -“I like him just as much yet--when he is Beelo.” - -I knew by his start that the thin ice on which I walked was cracking. - -“And what is he when he isn’t Beelo?” - -“A little devil.” - -He laughed. “You aren’t _quite_ dead,” he said, and a briskness sprang -into his manner. “We must go. Most of the Senatras have already gone to -sleep. Come.” - -He rapidly led us into the valley, meanwhile instructing us how to -respond if greeted. The natives were not garrulous nor inquisitive, and -we passed unnoticed, until the outskirts of the settlement were reached. -There, in a dimly lighted hut, Mr. Vancouver was resting under guard, -Beelo informed us. A barely visible figure challenged Beelo. The prompt -response made the shape sink from view. - -“We haven’t time to see Mr. Vancouver now,” said the lad to us. - -A turn in a lane lined with huts brought us into a beautiful highway, -broad and white, and picketed with odorous trees which arched overhead. -The darkness would have been profound but for a diffused light which -glowed ahead upon something white. We went rapidly toward it, and found -it to be a high stone wall; the light was from two lamps on posts where -the highway swung to the left and ran at the foot of the wall. - -Instead of following the main road Beelo turned into a narrow way to the -right. The overhead growth was so dense that the light from the lamps -was soon lost, but Beelo knew the way. At last he stopped, and slipped -a key into a lock. The heavy wooden door, plated and strapped with iron, -suggested a postern in an archaic fortress. He led us within and secured -the door. - -The nearer approach of the storm brought lightning, which increased -Beelo’s caution while revealing glimpses of our environment. In the -region behind the wall the verdure was less dense and more orderly -than in the park through which we had come. The lightning made the open -spaces embarrassing to our guide, who hurried us across them to the -shadows. Finely kept paths wound and intersected, but Beelo knew shorter -routes. A rising wind assisted the stealth of our progress. - -He brought us under the shadow of a low arcade, open on one side, and -closed on the other with a long stone house. The pillars were massed -in vines. Here the darkness was intense. The stone floor gave no sound -under our tread. - -Beelo stopped us, advanced a few paces, and rapped on a door. It was -cautiously opened, but we could not see within as Beelo entered. A very -faint light barely made him visible. - -“Lentala!” he whispered, “they are here.” - -A voice fuller and mellower than Beelo’s yet much like his, answered, -“Yes? I had given you up, and was undressing for bed.” - -“You’ll dress?” Beelo spoke nervously. - -“Yes. Tell them to wait a little while. They are safe out there. Beelo, -the king is furious because you ran away tonight. He is waiting for you. -Go at once. It is something about the man from the colony.” I resented -her domineering manner toward Beelo. - -“Very well. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he answered sweetly. - -Coming back to us, he began to explain, but I told him we had heard. A -reassuring hand was given to each of us, and he was hurrying across the -garden fronting the arcade. He halted and came back. - -“Don’t stay with Lentala longer than ten minutes,” he earnestly said. -“The king may detain me. If I don’t come, can you find your way back?” - -I assured him that we could, and that even should he come, we would not -let him conduct: us to the hut. - -He gave my hand a grateful little squeeze as he slipped the gate-key -into it, and darted away, saying: - -“Wait at Lentala’s door till she opens it.” - -Presently she bade us enter. Instead of her barbarous but highly -becoming dress at the feast, with neat jacket and short skirt blazing -with gold embroidery, she now wore a plain, loose garment. It was partly -redeemed by a low cut in the neck, a splendid girdle consisting of a -heavy and elaborately linked chain of gold, and a necklace of wonderful -diamonds. - -I could not have explained why this dazzling woman, who had filled -so wide a space in my fancy, now looked a negligible quantity, an -intrusion. There was little of the sparkle that I had expected. The -childlike coquetries, the careless abandon, the subtleties that -had flitted so unconsciously through the conduct of the Lentala I -remembered,--these and a thousand other graces were absent from the -sedater young woman smiling upon us and composedly seating us. - -She had greeted us with a warning finger on her lips. - -“My servants,” she explained in a low, rich voice, “are all in bed and -asleep. But they are not far away, and we must be careful.” There was a -curious reminder of Annabel’s preciseness in this new Lentala. - -She must have felt my discomfort, for she let some of her consciousness -slip away, and a dash of her native wildness gradually returned. - -“Beelo has told me everything,” she said; “I’ll not trouble you with -questions. And we are not to discuss any plans tonight.” - -The beauty and richness of the room came forth, faint in the light of -suspended lamps, which, clouded in thin fabrics, cast no shadows and -softened all contours. A rich massing of hammered gold and silver, of -exquisite bronzes and ivories, of hangings and rugs, was softened to -grace by their perfect arrangement, and over that in turn was a fine -breath of daintiness. My astonishment grew as the significance of it -came over me. Did this girl, all seeming innocence, gentleness, and -kindness, _feel_ none of the crime and blood with which these treasures -were drenched? Yet only the sweetest of spirits could have cast upon -this charnel-house loot the cleansing that held its grisly suggestion -back. - -She had been moving about and gently chatting, and I had made empty -responses. At last I discovered that she was growing nervous. A heavy -crash of thunder brought out the cause. She looked anxious, and said: -“The storm is near. You must go before it breaks. Beela”--I noted her -odd pronunciation of the final syllable--“said that if he didn’t return -in ten minutes you must go without him, but I can’t think of that. He -has been gone much longer.” - -I tried to assure her that we could go alone, but still she was uneasy. -Christopher and I rose. She came and laid a hand on my arm. - -“Wait a little while.” She hesitated over the next words. “Do you like -Beela--Beelo?” - -“Very much,” I answered dully. - -A liquid softness entered her beautiful eyes, and with it a sparkle of -the old Lentala--and of Beelo too. - -“I am going to tell you a secret,” she went on. “You will keep it?--and -you, Christopher? And you’ll not let Beelo know?” - -We pledged ourselves. She removed her hand, looked down, and while -busying herself with a readjustment of her girdle, said, very low: - -“Beelo isn’t a boy.” - -Her fingers stopped in her acute tension. I stood silent. With an effort -she raised her eyes to mine, and hers betrayed a keen suspense. - -“Beelo is a girl,” she added, as though I had not heard. “Her name is -Beela.” She found my look coolly meeting hers. - -“You liked Beelo the boy,” she groped on; “don’t you like Beela the -girl?” - -“I--I’m not acquainted with her,” I fumbled. - -For a moment the Lentala of the feast returned in a look of mischievous -amusement, followed by one of pretended sorrow. I was enjoying the fine -play in her face.. - -“But don’t you see,” she asked, “that in knowing and liking the boy, you -knew and liked the girl?” - -It would have been impossible for me to make her understand that I was -not nimble in violent readjustments; so I held my peace. - -“She was Beela the girl all the time,” Lentala insisted. “It couldn’t -have been anything but the girl in her that you cared for.” She did not -know in the least that she was talking to the wind. - -“Of course,” agreed I, very uncomfortable. - -My tone made her turn impatiently away. With much spirit she went on as -with ease and softness she paced the floor: - -“After all she has done, too! I don’t see------” - -“Lentala!” I interrupted; “don’t misunderstand. I do like----” - -“No, you don’t!” Her voice was growing unsteady. “My poor little Beela! -I _know_ she’s a madcap, but she is good, she is kind. She _had_ to be a -boy. I _made_ her be one. She couldn’t have done what she did----” - -“Lentala, please----” - -“-----unless she _was_ a boy. And now she is shamed and humiliated! -Don’t let my sweet sister ever know that. It would break her heart. Poor -little Beela!” - -“This is all wrong. I----” - -“Even for _my_ sake you might be generous. It is----” - -Three strides brought me to her, and I was unconscious of the power in -my angry grip on her wrist, but her tongue went silent. She raised her -eyes under the compulsion of mine. - -“That is enough,” I said. - -There was a moment’s matching of our forces. A ripple of mischievous -and innocent surprise animated her, and she laughed with the glee of a -gentle child. She was very much like her sister then. - -A deepening thunder-crash came. - -“You must go--now! I’m going with you. I won’t let you----” - -“You shall not go,” I firmly said. - -“I _must_. I _want_ to. I’ll get a----” - -“No, Lentala. Good-night.” - -As I was turning away, I saw the second time in her face the look of -one whose road has stopped at a wall. When I smiled and bowed to her as -Christopher and I were passing out, she was standing where I left her, -looking blankly at me. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.---A Glimpse Into the Abyss. - -_The Fate Awaiting Mr. Vancouver. We Play a Trick on the Natives. My -Nerves Give Way. A Ghastly Hint from Christopher. A Perilous Place._ - - -THE drenching, thunder-ridden storm was so favoring that I determined -to investigate Mr. Vancouver’s circumstances, and, if possible, -ascertain the plans focusing in him; for since the discovery of Beela’s -sex, her horror and timidity concerning those intentions were explained. -I must now take the lead, since the work was not fitted to a woman. - -No guards were outside Mr. Vancouver’s hut when we arrived, and the -wetting of the ground silenced our footfalls. My impulse was to enter, -and cautiously ascertain the truth; but I realized that the risk was -great. In creeping round the hut we overheard two native men talking -near the rear wall. - -“Hush!” continued one of the voices. “He is groaning again, and may -wake.” - -In a little while the other remarked, “He is asleep. What were you -telling me?” - -“The king is very uneasy. The people all know that the white man is -here.” - -“Is there dry wood?” - -“Yes. It is stored in a thatch hut on the east side of the clearing. The -people are clamoring for the white man to be taken to the stone.” - -“That can’t be done while the storm rages.” - -“No; but the first hurricane never lasts long. The king has promised -Gato that the white man shall be sent to the fire as soon as this storm -passes. That may be tomorrow.” - -“Does the white man suspect?” - -“Undoubtedly. He frets and groans.” - -“What are these stories about the Black Face?” - -“The scouts sent by Gato say that it looks more ferocious than ever.” - -“Does the king realize that the people will rise unless he consents to -the offering?” - -“I don’t know. He is silent and deeply troubled. Danger stops any -direction that he can take. But Gato is ready.” - -A horror that I felt rather than understood came over me, and, fearing -that I should betray our presence by some rash act, I was creeping away, -when I discovered that Christopher, moving similarly, had started before -me. Every tree-branch was a tempting club with which to break a savage -head and free the prisoner. - -Instead of returning to our hut, we went to the summit of the wall -enclosing our valley. Clearly Christopher required no explanation to -understand my purpose. With slow, sure caution we took an eastwardly -course, parallel with the brink of the precipice and at a safe distance -from any men that might be patrolling it. From time to time we would -stop, creep nearer the edge, make a careful inspection, return in -silence, and go on. The violence of the storm abated somewhat, thus -making our progress swifter, but more risky. - -With true instinct Christopher went straight to what we had been -seeking,--the opening in the forest on the top of the wall fronting the -Face. The clear space was smooth, level rock. One segment of the nearly -circular opening was cut off by the sheer drop of the precipice. Near -that edge was an exquisitely built circular stone platform some four -feet high and ten in diameter. As we worked round for a nearer view, we -discovered on its top old marks of fire which the rains had not washed -off. I recognized it as the object that I had seen from the valley, -opposite the Face. There was a moon, but only a faint glow from it -filtered through the clouds; occasional flashes of lightning gave us -clearer seeing. The air was stifling. - -We edged nearer to the cliff, and stood peering across the valley as we -waited for light. It came, and revealed the Face. The sodden, sordid, -worse than bestial mask, more repulsive than ever in the gloom of -the storm, held its gaze fixed upon us. We were upon the scene of the -unthinkable tragedy awaiting Mr. Vancouver. - -We circled the eastern edge of the clearing. Soon we found a squat -structure of thatch, half hidden in the edge of the forest. It was -filled with neatly piled firewood. No surprise showed in Christopher’s -face. - -After further exploration of the vicinity, and satisfied that the place -was unguarded, we loaded ourselves with wood from the hut, and plunged -into the thicket. A short distance away I had discovered a deep cleft. -We threw our loads into it; the fall was long before the sound came from -the bottom. Thus, after many trips, we disposed of all the fuel, and -hastened back to our hut for sleep. The night was far gone. - -The storm broke afresh, and I lay sleepless, and listened to the -elemental furies at play. Every nerve ached, and sleep was a sore need. -Contingencies riding the hurricane would likely offer still heavier work -for tomorrow. Whatever innocent pranks Beela might indulge, her -profound seriousness and her appreciation of the dangerous risks in this -undertaking were genuine. - -With the swirl and dash of the rain came the roar of the tearing wind -and the mighty bellow of thunder. Flash, peal, and boom rended the -firmament. Our cabin braced itself and strained under the tug, as though -digging its claws into the ground to hold firm. Large trees on the slope -behind us fell crashing. - -This was more than a hurricane: it was a tornado; perhaps worse yet, -a typhoon. Many ships ride out the worst of these; but mentally I saw -brown men being told off to man the promontories of the bight, and -to watch for staggering, heart-broken specks on the sea as the wind -following the hurricane urged them on slowly to a pleasant beach, five -hundred swordsmen, an oily savage king and a feast, and a march over -the mountain to a guarded paradise; thence to be “sent away” to their -homes--their eternal homes--one at a time! one at a time! So far as -civilization had reached, it had strangled an unspeakable practice in -these seas. - -Not even the churn of the storm in my veins could check the cold that -ran in my blood. Was the father of Annabel to be only the first? Were we -waiting as fattening hogs, instead of being out and afield, fighting a -way to liberty, and dying, if we must, as men should?... - -I found myself off the pallet and rolling on the floor. - -“Christopher?” I called, staggering to my feet. - -“Sir?” - -I knew by the nearness of his voice that he was already beside me, but -invisible in the blackness. - -“Light the lamp. We are going to dress.” - -He obeyed without a word. I was feverishly rummaging for my clothes. - -“There, sir,” he said, pointing to my moccasins, but neglecting to fetch -them to me. - -I had forgotten that my dress was Senatra and that moccasins were the -only part of it I had removed. I made a blundering affair of putting -them on, for the clutch of my hand was shaped better for a bludgeon just -then. Christopher was observing me with a mild, exasperating patience. - -“Put yours on,” I roughly commanded. - -He made still denser the stupidity in his stare, and stood still. - -“Hurry!” I cried. - -“Sir?” - -“Hurry, I say! You are going too.” - -“Me?” - -“Yes! We are going to take Mr. Vancouver away from those beasts.” - -Without a change of expression he made a pretense of preparation. In -doing so, he edged up to the barred door, placed his wide back against -it, and calmly faced me. - -“What do you mean by that?” I demanded in a fury. - -“Sir?” - -“Stand aside, Christopher!” - -“Me, sir?” - -In exasperation I seized the copper vessel and advanced upon him. Not a -muscle of his body moved; his ape-like arms hung loose; his hands were -open. But it was not his defenselessness that stayed me. Far more potent -was the deep devotion in his eyes, which held a profounder sadness than -usual. It was a dash of cold water on my heat, but not my determination. -In all kindness I would reason with him. - -“Christopher,” I asked, “do you know what they are going to do with Mr. -Vancouver?” - -He omitted his formula, and simply gazed at me. - -Then I told him, in raw, sore words. It was the first time they had been -spoken by a member of the colony. - -I was astonished at his placidity on hearing them. - -“Do you understand?” I had to thunder the question above the outer din. - -But he was listening to sounds that the storm did not make. I waited -impatiently. - -“They won’t him, sir, if they get you.” - -“Why not?” - -“You’re younger ‘n’ fatter.” - -Like most other of Christopher’s remarks, this one dealt in a conclusive -terminal, omitting postulate and explication; but I understood. He -had told a long and dramatic story in those halting words--our blind -assault, our being beaten down and secured, and then the awful end. I -wondered at that, and longed for the power to see into the working of -his strangely luminous mind, its far light behind its frontal darkness. - -“And there ain’t no dry wood, sir.” - -The last of the ice in my blood broke and ran melting before him. I was -very tired, and found myself shifting on my feet like a drunken man. -Tongues of flame began to slip through the hut and dart hither and -thither with curious dips and turns. Some of them were purple, but the -most were crimson. A luminous vapor crept in. The boom of a waterfall -rumbled; and then came a crashing subterranean detonation. Christopher -was a gigantic ape floundering in a drowning sea of steam. - -“Christopher!” I cried, trying to catch the wall as it swung past. - -A firm, gentle arm went round me--an arm of a strength so great that -my most desperate struggles could not break its hold, yet I was a very -strong man. Slowly I was borne down on my pallet, and a thin, soothing -voice came with a hand that tenderly closed my eyes and held the lids -down. My breathing came easier. - -***** - -It was daylight, and Christopher was standing in the open door, looking -out. The rain had ceased, but the morning brightness was smothered under -the overhead lowering. The pleasant odor of coffee perfumed the hut. -Without appearing to notice my waking, Christopher served my breakfast, -but said nothing. A dull lassitude made the straw bed more inviting than -my feet. - -Beela’s cheery good-morning an hour later was checked in alarm when she -entered and found me prone; but her electric vitality palpitated through -me and brought me smiling to a sitting posture. Her inquiring look -at Christopher read nothing in the bland face. A shadow of uneasiness -drifted through her eyes, but she drove it away. - -“Good!” she said. “I’m glad you are resting. Lie down again.” She -dropped to a seat beside me on the straw, and pushed my head down. - -“That’s better,--Choseph.” Her hand was on my forehead. - -“Joseph,” I insisted. - -“You don’t like the way I talk, Ch--Dzhoseph?” banteringly, stealing sly -hands to mine and pretending to stare mockingly at me while peering into -my eyes. - -“Very well, Beelo. Did you square yourself with the king and have a good -rest last night?” - -“Of course. Do you think any king------” - -“Stop that.” - -“What?” - -“Trying to see if I’m sick. Even though I were dead, your coming would -bring me to life.” - -“My! Did you hear that, Christopher?” - -The sensible man did not answer, nor even look at her. She made a mouth -at his back, withdrew her hand, and edged away a few inches. Had I made -a slip after that confidence and caution from Lentala? I roused myself. - -“What’s the news, little brother? What game and what killing today?” - -Her face fell grave. “Something has happened with you since I saw you -last night, Choseph.” - -I told her all, and she held her breath over the audacity of our work. - -“I--I shouldn’t have dared to suggest it,” she said with charming -helplessness as she gave Christopher and me a look of wondering -admiration. “It was splendid, Choseph!” Her dear leaning girlishness, so -natural and unconscious, started a tumult in me, and it was hard for -me to keep the deception of her sex at work. “Now,” she went on, “Mr. -Vancouver is safe so long as the weather is bad; and when it clears, -time will be needed to gather dry wood. We’ll do nothing for the -present.” - -“But we must be ready,” I firmly protested, sitting up. “This matter is -in my hands and Christopher’s now, not yours, my lad, for this is work -that only men can plan and do.” - -The timidity in her look was new, but not less charming than her -surrender. - -“What are you going to do, Choseph?” she inquired with a mocking -exaggeration of a helpless reliance that was quite genuine. - -“We shall be ready to take Mr. Vancouver by stealth or force the moment -that actual danger comes near him. We will bring him to this hut and -hide him here. But a man from the colony will be needed to guard him. I -am going immediately to bring one out for that purpose.” - -Her eyes kindled with alarm. “No, no, Choseph! That would be impossible. -You couldn’t find the way nor pass the guard. I will go.” Argument and -persuasion were equally useless; she knew when to be firm. “I will -go,” was her answer to everything, and she came to her feet. “You and -Christopher come with me to the summit of the wall, and there you’ll -hide near the guard, and wait. I’ll bring the man nearly to the place -and send him ahead, and give you a signal. You must trick the guard out -of the way, and meet him; I will follow. It would ruin everything for me -to be seen.” - -I agreed, and told her to bring Hobart. - -“Beelo,” I said, “you understand that we have accomplished one of the -tasks for which you brought us out of the valley, and in doing so have -learned the fate awaiting our colony.” - -Her face at once grew pinched. “Don’t speak of it, Choseph!” she cried. -“I don’t know whether you have or not, and I don’t know what is in your -mind. Simply think of saving Mr. Vancouver.” - -“Of course, dear lad,” I agreed; “but we must be planning also for means -to leave the island, since only something awful awaits us here. You -must tell me all that I should know. I won’t dance any longer to your -mysteries and concealments.” - -It was as though I had struck her. She stared, her eyes flooding, her -lips trembling. - -“Choseph,” she answered, “there are things that you must see and -hear for yourself, and they will come tonight and tomorrow. I’ll take -you----” - -“I must know now,” I demanded, not realizing the harshness of my tone. - -“Choseph, I----” - -“Did you speak to me, sir?” came from Christopher, standing behind her. - -“No, Christopher. We’ll wait, dear little brother.” The sunshine came -swimming into her eyes again, and she made a grimace of triumph in which -was an understanding that Christopher had disciplined me. - -“You’ll be good now, won’t you, Choseph?” It was said in her most -teasing manner, and I smiled. - -We started under an angry sky through which heavy cloud-masses tumbled. -It was a cautious journey. The very air seemed filled with expectancy. -On the way we formulated a plan for tricking the guard. - -In approaching the point of egress from the valley, Beela practiced the -slyness of a lynx and the silence of a serpent. Every step was studied -lest a twig snap; the leaves on the ground had been softened by the -rain. Presently we sighted the guard--a draggled lot, unused to exposure -and dispirited by the weather. There Beela left us in hiding. I now -understood the perils that she had breasted in every trip to the valley. -If they were so difficult under these conditions, how much more they -must have been when fair weather made the guard alert and the ground -noisy under foot! - -Beela was to warn us of Hobart’s coming by giving a certain bird-call -thrice. Christopher’s answering signal would be notice to Beela that -Hobart was safe. - -The savages, not twenty paces away--at least two dozen stalwart -men--were variously squatting, sitting, and lounging. They were in a -compact group, and were talking in low voices, but with an animation -unusual to the race. I motioned Christopher to follow, and we crept -nearer. - -Some important news had just been brought by the relief guard. - -“And so the king isn’t going to wait for night,” said one, as though the -news was surprising. - -“That is true,” came the answer. “He fears that the ground will shake -at any time. Besides, the storm will likely come again tonight, and the -great fire would be impossible then.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV.--The Lash in Unwilling Hands. - -_How We Outwitted the Guard. A Sword Encounter With a Native. Rawley -Gives Me a Sensational Surprise. The Tragedy to Mr. Vancouver Delayed_. - - -I WAS absorbed in conjuring up plans for Mr. Vancouver’s rescue; but -the more I thought of it, the madder the undertaking seemed. Suppose we -should take him; would not the whole island swarm in a search? - -I had calculated that Beela and Hobart should come in four hours. More -than half that time was already gone when Christopher and I returned -to our original hiding-place. That the storm, the Black Face, and Mr. -Vancouver’s fate were interwoven, there could be no doubt. Barring -hindering contingencies, matters were rapidly drawing to a crisis. If -the necessity for urgent action on Mr. Vancouver’s account should arise -before Beela’s return with Hobart, that young man would be caught in -a trap, as there would be none but savages to meet him. In whatsoever -direction I turned, many chances for a fatal slip and added -complications appeared. - -A solution of one branch of the problem crept out of the strain,--that -of clearing the way for Hobart. I mentioned it to Christopher, and was -gratified at his acquiescence. - -“But what about Mr. Vancouver?” I asked. - -“We _have_ to wait for _her_, sir,” he answered after listening, and his -manner was final. - -The triple bird-note came. We waited. It was repeated. I slipped round -to the trail used by the guard, and openly approached them. They stared -at me in silence. Beela had told me that in an emergency Christopher -and I, to explain peculiarities of our appearance that no disguise could -conceal, should explain that we were from the western end of the island, -where some white blood had mingled with the native, producing, with -other deviations from the normal type, men of a more aggressive and -daring disposition, which gave them an advantage over the natives at -this end, and that on occasion the king called on the western men for -special services. - -“Why haven’t you done your duty?” I sternly demanded. - -The guard showed only dull surprise, none either moving or speaking. - -“Haven’t you seen the Black Face scowling?” I went on. “Go immediately -and attend to your duty, or the Face won’t wait for a white man.” - -They were impressed and frightened. “What shall we do?” asked one. - -“Clean the stone in the clearing, and so make it ready. Every one of you -go, at once. Then come back here.” - -They looked from one to another, bewildered, the order evidently being -extraordinary. “And leave the pass unguarded?” the same one inquired. - -“Am I not here? Go immediately!” - -“Did Gato send you?” asked a big fellow, advancing, sword in hand. His -weapon was held threateningly, and scraped the bushes as he came. - -Not daring to take any chances with him, and not having had sufficient -experience with these people to interpret their motive from their -conduct, I sprang past him before he could raise his weapon, snatched a -sword from an astonished native, backed away to keep the crowd before me -until I had faced the one who had advanced upon me, and went at him with -a determination that opened his eyes and instinctively brought his sword -to guard. I discovered that the sword which I held was a heavy affair, -broad and very old-fashioned. Before my inexpert antagonist knew what -had happened, my sword had twisted his from his grasp and sent it flying -into the bushes, and my point was at his breast. There was an excited -movement in the crowd, but before anything could be done I loudly said -to my captive: - -“I have a good mind to kill you. Take your squad to the clearing at -once.” - -“Yes,” he hastily agreed, staring at me in wonder, and added, as his -interest overcame his panic, “Are they coming with him soon?” - -“That is neither your affair nor mine. If you don’t go instantly I’ll -arrest the entire squad and take you all to the palace.” - -They obediently marched away. - -In returning to Christopher I made a detour, so as to pass the spot -where Hobart was to appear. I had instructed Christopher to remain a -short distance away, as it would be easier for one to meet Hobart than -two. My real reason, which I did not mention to Christopher, was that as -a native his appearance was one of singular ferocity. I did not wish to -run the risk of shocking Hobart out of his self-command. - -To my astonishment, Rawley, not Hobart, rose above the edge of the -bluff. Perhaps my angry exasperation showed in my manner, for Rawley, -after a startled glance, and seeing me alone, sprang upon me in the -moment of my hesitation. His leap was swift and stirring, but I avoided -him, and began to speak in a low voice. It had no effect. Rawley sprang -again. I caught the violent thrust of his body, and an elbow better -trained than he had expeded took him in the throat, crashed his teeth -together jarringly, and sent him reeling and strangling. - -I again spoke, but he was too dazed to hear, and came at me again, more -warily, with the glare of killing in his eyes, and still not heeding -my pacific words. The natural grace with which he began to work for -an opening gave his feline ease a threat that set me tingling. He was -desperately in earnest, and my windpipe was his objective. There was -no falter in his play, which I critically observed as I stood on the -defensive. And then it came to me that this was neither the madness of -fear nor the desperation of the cornered coward, but the awakening of -that ultimate manhood in him which for so long had been held down by an -artificial life. Even had he not forced me to silence, the game was so -fine and exciting that I should have been tempted to cease my efforts to -explain in my desire to see it through. - -As his leaps were astonishingly clever and he might land at any moment, -I began to crowd him. While moving to do so, I heard Christopher’s -signal to Beela, but did not pause to see where he was; Rawley also must -have heard it, for something spurred his activities. In order to save -Beela from the trap in which he supposed himself to have fallen, he must -finish me at once. - -I dodged his next spring, but his fingers scraped my throat. Then he -found himself crushed in my arms. The short blows which he sent into -my ribs had no effect, but they were delivered with a will. Beela rose -above the summit, and understood all at a glance. - -But, Beela-like, she saw only that it was ridiculous. Without taking -the trouble to enlighten Rawley, who desisted as soon as he saw her -laughing, she passed from surprise into unrestrained mirth. Rawley, -standing away from me, stared at her in astonishment. - -Seeing no sign of Hobart, I sharply inquired in the native tongue where -he was. - -“Captain Mason sent this one instead,” she answered after finding her -breath. - -I was aghast. “What reason did he give?” - -“None, Choseph. He thought you would understand, I suppose.” - -The blunder was incredible. Here were Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, the -arch-enemies of the colony, sent out armed with fresh opportunity for -destroying us, and we charged with the safety of their lives! The game -had been sufficiently difficult and dangerous without that. I bitterly -resented Captain Mason’s course. He was aware of the antagonism between -Rawley and me. - -“Why did Captain Mason send him?” I demanded. - -“He begged to come, Choseph.” - -That staggered me. What had happened to the man to change him so? “What -did he say?” I asked. - -“I don’t know. He said little, although he was very much in earnest. On -the way he said to himself several times, ‘She called me a coward. They -all think I’m a coward.’” - -Christopher had come up and was standing placidly by. Of a sudden Rawley -recognized me as the savage who had visited Mr. Vancouver in the camp. -He was composed, but had not yet discovered my real identity. A word -from Beela disclosed Christopher and me to him. It broke in a crash on -the young man. What reflections were belaboring him I could only guess -from the shame crimsoning his face. I took his hand. - -“Mr. Rawley,” I said, “I am sorry that this has happened between us.” - -I interrupted something that he was trying to stammer by telling Beela -how I had disposed of the guard. “They’ll soon return,” I added. “We -must leave.” - -“Yes, but we must find out first whether they discovered the loss of the -wood. Several hours would be required to bring up fresh fuel. Don’t you -think it’s very interesting, Choseph? My! how solemn you look!” - -Her careless insolence tried me, for the peril was great. - -“It’s a pity you never had any one to teach you to be serious,” I let -fly. - -“That would be the funniest thing of all,” she returned, amused. “Would -you like to try it?” - -Her sweet archness made me take a half angry, half possessing step -forward, but a look stopped me. - -“They are coming!” said she, and we hid. - -The savages were more animated than before, and they wondered among -themselves when the white man would be brought up from the settlement, -and whether all or any of themselves would be relieved from guard duty, -that they might witness the proceedings. It was clear that they had not -missed the wood. - -We slipped away. When we had come near our hut, Beela asked us to wait -while she took Rawley to that hiding-place. - -“Beelo,” I firmly said, “you don’t understand. That man and I cannot -live together.” - -She regarded me with a suspicious-looking sadness. “Enemies among -yourselves, Choseph! Is this the best that wise men with so much at -stake can do?” With a smile I took her hand. “Thank you, dear little -brother,” I said. “I will do my part.” - -Tears easily came to Beela’s eyes, and made them moist now. - -“But you and Christopher are not to stay here any longer. Wouldn’t you -like to be nearer the beautiful, the good, the angel Lentala?” - -“Explain, lad.” - -“Wait till I come back.” - -She darted to the hut with Rawley, and soon returned. - -“The first thing,” she said, “is to find out the plans for Mr. -Vancouver. Although the wood is gone, the king won’t be balked, and the -getting of more wood will be but a matter of hours. When we discover -that the preparations are really afoot, Mr. Vancouver must be taken by -you. Before that, there is plenty to do.” We struck out for the slope -overlooking the main settlement, and on the way passed near the hut -where Mr. Vancouver was held. Beela disappeared within and soon returned -with the news that the threatening weather was holding everything in -abeyance. - -Avoiding roads, we breasted the verdured heights and worked round the -suburbs. As we mounted, the view expanded. The settlement, embowered -among trees, made the fairest picture I had ever beheld. I longed to see -it under the mellow sunshine, which would make its colors more vivid; -but even without that, the scene was satisfying. It was a considerable -city, which had grown more by natural accretion than by plan. Broad, -tree-lined highways with curves instead of right lines swept lengthwise -through it. Many houses were of stone roughly laid up, and with roofs of -mud or thatch. Remarkable effects had been secured by use of the native -stone in its color variations. Of exceeding beauty was a pleasant stream -which loitered through the settlement. - -Most conspicuous was the palace of the king, with its accessory -buildings and walled grounds. Unlike all the other houses, the palace -was two stories in height, was of great size, and sat in generous -grounds enclosed with a massive stone wall. I discovered Lentala’s -quarters; they were in a wing. Hamlets with adjoining farms dotted the -farther slope and stretched up the valley; there were still more, said -Beela, in other parts of the island. - -With our further climbing, the ocean rose on the horizon, and a modern -sea-going vessel sprang up inshore in a harbor at the foot of the -settlement. My heart leaped as I studied her. - -“What ship is that, Beelo?” I exclaimed. - -“Yours, Choseph,” she answered with a bright smile. “I was waiting for -you to find it. That is what is to take your people home if a great -earthquake comes and we can bring them out of the valley. The king -wanted to destroy it, but Lentala persuaded him not only to save it, but -to put it in order, as he might need it some time.” - -That she had reserved this precious information for so dramatic a use -did not impress me at the time. Not till now did I realize that her -purely feminine instinct for the theatrical made so large a figure in -her withholdings and revelations. - -My throat filled. I seized Christopher’s arm and tried to speak, but -no words issued, and I found that he was already gazing seaward. I had -never seen in his eyes such wistfulness, so far and deep a vision, as -when he raised them to mine. - -From him I turned to Beela, and found a look of neglect and expediency. - -“Dear little brother,” I said, and extended my hand; but she pouted, and -put her arms behind her. - -“I am not your dear little brother,” she said, her lip trembling. “I am -a savage. You gave your first joy to one of your race.” The pain in her -face was deep. - -“Forgive me, lad.” I was very humble, but her swimming eyes were turned -away, and there was a swelling in her throat. What could I say? how make -her understand? “Beelo, I------” - -“It can’t be explained,” she interrupted, turning sadly away; and we -went on in silence. - -All at once, without any visible cause, she was her sunny, mischievous -self again. I was exceedingly anxious for information,--what had become -of the _Hope’s_ salvable cargo; whether her seizure by us was part of -the plan to which we were working. But I had not the courage to mention -the vessel again, lest pain come to Beela’s face. Ever since her return -from the valley I had been anxious for her report as to any plan of -action that she had arranged with Captain Mason, and I now conjectured -that she had deferred it until we should see our vessel. With a blunder -in tact I had closed her lips. - -“Now,” said she, “we’ll return and keep an eye on Mr. Vancouver. Do you -think you know the settlement now and could make your way in the night -through it?” - -“Perfectly,” wondering at her impressiveness. - -“And do you, Christopher?” - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -Unmistakably she had a very intelligent purpose in thus making us -acquainted with the topography of the settlement and the presence of our -vessel. With that idea I began to make a closer study of the approaches -and thoroughfares, although I could form no conception of means whereby -the colony might use them against the overwhelming horde of armed -natives. But Beela’s comely head was packed with shrewdness. - -The weather became more threatening with the approach of evening. At -night, Beela left us concealed near the prison hut, and went to bring -our supper. - -After she had returned and we had eaten, she suggested that Christopher -and I go and see the prisoner, and learn all that we could. Gato would -not be on duty, and the light was dim. Thence we should go to the -postern in the palace wall, and there be met by her. Then she left. - -When we were near the hut a shadow leaped out of the ground, and -challenged. I answered as Beela had instructed, and the guard stepped -aside. We entered, and the two natives sitting with the prisoner gave us -only a glance. In an authoritative manner I bade them wait outside, and -they obediently went. - -Mr. Vancouver was sitting on a stool, his head bowed in dejection, but -he quickly straightened, and drilled us with a keenly questioning look, -in which fear, anxiety, and hope were present. It was evident that he -was profoundly suspicious. He was too shrewd not to see the significance -of his being kept under guard in a hovel instead of being the king’s -guest. - -I asked him in Senatra English if he was comfortable. Over his haggard -face flashed an eager interest. - -“That is nothing,” he impatiently answered. “I want to know why I am kept -here.” - -“Do you really expect to see the king?” I asked. - -He started. “What do you mean?” he demanded. - -“What do you think you are here for?” - -“The king sent for me--for a conference.” A red light came into his -eyes. - -“A conference. Suppose he has made up his mind that he can dispose of -the white people without your help, and that you happen to be first.” - -The sallowness that already had entered his face since his imprisonment -became livid, and the red light flared. - -“To be sent away?” he thickly asked. - -“Yes. Sent away. That is as good a name for it as any other.” - -I had ignored Christopher’s gentle tug at my sleeve. A quiver ran -through Mr. Vancouver as if a knife had been slipped between his ribs. -It was with difficulty that he found breath for speech. - -“Doesn’t the king know that I can make him incredibly rich from his gold -and silver and diamond mines? Doesn’t he understand that------” - -“Perhaps he is as rich as he cares to be. Besides, he has never trusted -a white man; and why should he trust one that betrays his own friends?” - I could not avoid giving him that thrust. - -He came weakly to his feet, terror and despair in every line. - -“Did the king send you to say this?” he gasped. - -I made no answer. The man sent a wild glance about as though to measure -his strength with his prison, and to end all doubts quickly by any -means. Then I saw that his wits were gone, and that the purpose of my -talk, which was to prepare him for the revelation I had come to make, -that he might be on his guard, had miscarried. - -Christopher, in the background, edged round, keeping his back, as I -kept mine, to the feeble light. I could not imagine that Mr. Vancouver, -desperate though he was, would seize this moment to try issues with -his fate; but I had not guessed soon enough that the red light meant -madness. With a choking curse he snatched up his heavy stool and sprang -with it upraised in both hands to crush me. - -Before his leap was ended, a heavy body crashed into him, and two giant -arms were cracking his joints and sending the stool flying over my head. -The two guards came running in, but I sent them back. Christopher needed -no aid. - -The pinioned man rolled his head and eyes horribly, and cursed through -foaming lips. He made futile efforts to sink his teeth into Christopher; -he kicked wildly; he squirmed like an animal under a strangling hand. -But Christopher’s arms knew the mercy of strength, and he kept dropping -soothing words. Like a pillar sunk deep in the earth stood Christopher -while his prisoner gasped curses and put fierce energy into every -muscle. - -“I know you!” he sputtered at me. “You are the infernal native dog -that fooled me and trifled with me in camp. Let me at his throat, you -baboon!”--to Christopher. “Loose me! Let me die with my arms free!” - He called the king and me and all the natives unspeakable names. “In -decency and mercy,” he fumed, “kill me at once! I know now what you are -going to do with me,--you cannibals!” - -Christopher’s quieting tongue was as persistent as his arms, and under -them Mr. Vancouver was gradually breaking down. Christopher assured -the wretch that no harm would befall him. The man who could resist such -persuasion would be less than human and worse than mad. Mr. Vancouver’s -curses straggled off, his struggles ceased, and the red flame died in -his eyes. Christopher had coaxed reason back. - -He seated Mr. Vancouver, bathed his face, and gave him water to drink. -With a gentle touch he unlaced and removed the sufferer’s shoes, and -undressed him. The man had become a child in Christopher’s hands, and -was wholly docile when made comfortable in bed. - -There had been no personal heed of Christopher in Mr. Vancouver’s -yielding; but it evidently occurred to him at last that here was -something strangely different from the manner of the natives--something -nearer and humanly akin. He had been studying Christopher; and when he -was composed, and Christopher was turning away, Mr. Vancouver seized his -arm and held him, looking earnestly into his face, and then covering his -figure with a startled glance. His eyes opened with astonishment. - -“Who are you?” he demanded under his breath. - -“You know, sir.” - -“Christopher!” - -“Yes, sir. Speak low.” - -“What are you doing here, disguised like that?” - -“Captain Mason sent us, sir.” - -“What for?” - -“To save you, sir. Don’t talk.” - -Mr. Vancouver breathed laboredly, and the veins in his forehead bulged. - -“Who was sent with you?” he faintly asked. - -“Him, sir,” indicating me. - -I saw the knot come in the suffering man’s throat as he rolled his -bloodshot eyes upon me, half raised himself on his elbow, and stared -while his breathing rasped. - -“Who is he?” came chokingly, with a clutch on Christopher’s arm. - -“Mr. Tudor, sir.” - -A spasm caught Mr. Vancouver in the chest, and a rigor ran through -him. His eyes closed, his head swung back, his mouth fell open, and -Christopher eased the insensible man down on the pillow. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.--A Light in the Gloom. - -_Subtle Changes in Beela. A Startling Discovery in the Palace Vaults. -The Secrets of the Council Chamber Overheard. Urgent Measures Planned._ - - -YOU are late!” blithely greeted Beela when we arrived at the palace -gate after leaving Mr. Vancouver. “That shows how much you think of the -beautiful, the angel, the sweet, the good Lentala, for you are to sleep -in her quarters tonight.” - -We were just in time, for the heavens were opening, and the deluge was -at hand. - -With great caution Beela conducted us to a chamber in Lentala’s wing -of the palace. Evidently it was a sanctuary, for it was quite different -from the room in which Lentala had received us, and Beela carelessly -remarked that in giving us the room, her sister was bestowing a special -favor, since not even her servants were ever admitted. - -“Because,” Beela chattered on as she lighted the beautiful lamps, “this -is where she comes to lead alone the life that she dreams about, far, -far away, where there are no Senatras,--the life that was born in our -blood, Choseph, and that we can see very dimly, and in our dreams only. -But this room helps Lentala to dream of it. Do you remember the story -you told me one day? She has changed the room tonight merely by bringing -in these couches for you and Christopher to sleep on.” - -I felt something new in Beela’s manner,--a note of sentiment singing -low in her voice, an augmented softness and grace in her bearing. She -appeared to be struggling against it and striving to be the boy Beelo. -Some success came, but the winning note still sang in her throat. - -She opened an adjoining room, and disclosed a bath. - -“Your Senatra tint is a little damaged,” she cheerily said. “Wash it -off; you’ll not need it tonight. Here’s a fresh supply for tomorrow -morning. Don’t forget to put it on! But there’s much to do before you -sleep. I am going to take you to the Council Chamber. Dress as quickly -as possible. I have to make some changes myself. When you are ready, -give three light taps on that door.” - -“Thank you, dear little brother, but where’s Lentala?” - -“Lentala! Do you think she can sit up all night waiting for callers?” - -“We are to see her in the morning, then?” - -Beela had been bustling over finishing touches for our comfort, but my -question--perhaps my tone--stopped her. - -“Do you wish to see her?” she asked. - -“Of course.” - -“Why?” - -“Beelo! Can you ask that? Unless we see Lentala whenever we come to the -palace, the jungle is more comfortable.” - -She turned away, pretending to be hurt. - -“And so you don’t care for Beelo. It is nothing to sleep under the same -roof with him.” - -“But Beelo is a part of my life, dear lad. However far away he may -be, he is always with me. Whenever and wherever I go, my dear little -brother’s hand is in mine; and no matter when or where I sleep, his -sweet breath is on my cheek; and the touch of his light fingers on -my lids and the ring of his cheery laugh in my heart wake me in the -morning. In my dreams----” I paused, for Beela embarrassed me by the -breathless interest with which she was listening. - -“In your dreams, Choseph?” - -“Then Beelo comes with another. He leads that one by the hand, and -smiles at me, and says in his musical voice, ‘This one also you must -like, big brother, for this is Beelo’s best friend.’” - -She came close and looked up into my eyes. - -“That other one, big brother?” - -“Is Lentala.” - -Her breath caught as she moved away, and she was silent for a little -while as she gave the last touches and started to leave. At the door she -threw me a mischievous glance, and said: - -“You have funny dreams, Choseph, but I’ll tell Lentala you wish to see -her,” and was gone. - -I had already observed that no touch of native savagery rested on -this room. Every article of use or adornment was of a highly civilized -production. The barbaric splendor of the reception-room was absent here, -and a dainty, girlish simplicity was the note. Exceedingly charming -were products of her needlework and other handicraft copied from foreign -articles. There were some English books that showed signs of hard use. I -picked up one and found a dainty handkerchief within it, and felt a pity -for Lentala thus reaching out for what she could not understand. - -Beela appeared in different clothes when I rapped, and was much fresher -and smarter than I had ever seen her. She looked conscious under my -admiring glance, and expressed gratification at the improvement in my -looks. - -“Beelo, you are as pretty as a girl. Fie!” - -She pretended not to hear, and was busy lighting a lantern. - -“They are all asleep in this wing,” she said. “Now we’ll go. Listen to -the storm! Mr. Vancouver is safe for another day, I hope. And still no -earthquake.” - -I felt a twinge, but no opportunity had offered for my telling her of -the incident in the hut. The truth is, I dreaded lest she find fault -with Christopher for disclosing our identity to Mr. Vancouver and my -knowledge of his perfidy. - -It would be difficult to say in what lay the finer air of Beela’s dress. -In cut the garments had a masculine approach, but in China they might -have passed for feminine. The trousers and blouse were of fine dark-blue -cloth, and were ample. In place of the somewhat shabby straw hat was -a becoming red turban, and the shoes were Turkish, red, and richly -embroidered in gold. The blouse opened like a V at the neck, and a -negligee tie matching in shade the turban and the shoes was secured with -a splendid diamond at the bottom of the V. - -More insinuating than these outward things were the girl’s gentler voice -and manner. There was a hint of the young mother in her caressing look -and touch, and the cello note in her voice had fallen still softer and -smoother. - -In lighting the lantern, she disarranged her turban by striking it -against a piece of furniture. She straightened, and raised her arms -to readjust it. Her sleeves were wide and open, and they slipped down, -baring her arms. - -I had been trying with all my might to keep from my mind the delicious -thought of Beelo’s metamorphosis, but self-deception was no longer -possible. I _must_ revel in this new and pleasant experience. The one -duty that I must observe was the keeping of my promise to Lentala that I -would not let her little sister know that I knew. - -“Are we ready?” cheerily asked Beela, picking up the lantern and -darkening it with a cloth. “Come. No talking till I give you leave. We -must be careful in this wing, for Lentala’s servants might wake. The -noises of the storm will help us, but the veranda is drenched. We must -take the other way.” - -She opened the door through which she had entered last, and we were -in darkness when she closed it; but I had dimly seen that it was a -corridor. - -“We can’t use the lantern yet,” she whispered, slipping her hand down my -sleeve to my fingers. “Can you find your way, Christopher?” - -“Yes.” There was always something tragic in Christopher’s whisper. - -“Do you love me, Christopher?” she teasingly asked, squeezing my -fingers. - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -It required great stoicism for me to hold my hand passive and not return -the pressure, but I was amazed when she abruptly dropped my fingers. -I could see nothing except a faint glow through the cloth about the -lantern, but I peremptorily seized her sleeve, drew her arm up, took her -hand, and squeezed it hard, for reproof. She made no resistance. Beela -was very sweet in the dark,--I remembered the passage through the -mountain. - -We almost immediately turned into a much longer stretch, as I knew -by the whispering echoes of our steps; and soon the shrouded light of -Beela’s lantern made the walls visible. After leading us down a dark -stair she halted before a door, unlocked it, ushered us within, relocked -the door, and removed the cloth from the light. - -This chamber was a disordered lumber-room, filled with odds and ends of -broken things, native and foreign. I was less interested in the rubbish -than in the new picture of Beela in the ascending light from the -lantern. It made a witchery of her chin, emphasized the graceful curve -of her lips, filled her delicate nostrils, and threw her eyes into -mystical shadow. I tried to get her hand again, but failed. Beela in the -light was not the same as Beela in the dark. - -She paused, and breathed more freely. - -“We are safe for a while now,” she said. It was hard to listen -composedly to her words, so sweet was the tone of them. - -She wound and twisted through the stores, we following, and brought up -at a door which a stranger, likely, never would have found. This she -unlocked, passed us through, and secured behind us. The air was dank -and musty, and despite the lantern there were uncanny patches of -phosphorescent light on walls otherwise invisible as yet. The space was -roomy, the floor earthen. It proved to be a large cellar-like chamber -with a low ceiling supported by stone pillars groined into arches, and -was paved, furnished with grated windows, and sweet and dry. Here were -immense stores: American-tinned provisions in astonishing abundance; -bale upon bale of cloth of many kinds; modern farming implements, -and machinery and tools for sawyers, carpenters, cabinet-makers, -upholsterers, and many other useful trades; and at one side an array of -firearms and ammunition. - -Beela was watching me in my astonishment, for not the smallest item of -this store had I seen in use by the natives. - -“Don’t you know what it all is, Choseph?” she asked. - -I shook my head. - -“It is the cargo of your vessel.” - -I was speechless. Two things were clear: one, that the water-tight -bulkheads in the Hope had not given way (which accounted for her pursuit -of us instead of sinking), and the other, that the natives had carefully -repaired all the water-damage possible. The thorough care of the cargo -very likely had extended to the vessel herself. - -My emotion was profound. I wrung Beela’s hand, but something in my eyes -made her dim and floating. Only vaguely could I see the sweet uplift and -happiness in her face. Christopher was standing apart like a man of wood -except that his eyes were living. If he needed any expression from me of -the almost cruel joy that filled me, he gave no sign, but stood in the -pathetic loneliness that forever invested him. - -“We must go on,” said Beela. “It is time for the king’s privy council.” - -A devious way through another storage vault filled with things no doubt -of great value, the ascent of a stone stair, a turning into this passage -and another into that, and a short flight of steps, brought us at last -upon a curtained balcony overlooking a dimly lighted council hall of -considerable size and rich in savage appointments. The king was on a -throne facing us, and in a semi-circle before him, seated on rugs on the -stone floor, were old and elderly native men splendidly appareled. The -king was even more sumptuously robed than on the day of our reception -by him. He had no personal attendants, for this, Beela explained in a -whisper, was not a state council, but a secret one, called occasionally -for extraordinary purposes, composed of selected wise men, and generally -held late at night. The balcony where we sat was for the use of the -queen and her feminine friends at state meetings. The diaphanous -curtains, of an exquisite native texture and handsomely embroidered, -could be seen through from our side, which was in shadow, but not from -the other. - -One thing had been puzzling me exceedingly. It was that no American and -European articles looted from wrecks were in use in their original form -by any of the natives except Lentala and Beela. - -“Because,” Beela had told me in answer to my question, “the natives -don’t need them, and are more content without them. The king is wise -with his people, and they love him.” - -The council was under way. An old man had been droning something that -I did not hear, for his voice was weak and the storm noisy. The king -nodded to another, a younger man, who came to his splendid full height. -His gold-embroidered cloak of office slipped from his great right -shoulder and arm after he had risen from his obeisance. - -“What is the temper of the Senatras, Gato?” the king asked. - -“Very impatient, Sire. There are murmurings and small secret gatherings. -Rebellion is in the air.” - -The king moved uneasily. “And your soldiers?” he inquired. - -“I have them in hand as yet, but they are naturally affected by the -restlessness among the people, and are sick of waiting and of guarding -the passes. They have never been on duty so long. They love their homes -and farms, and they can’t understand the delay. If a wreck should come -with this storm, where will the people from it be held?” - -“There is plenty of room in the valley,” snapped the king, making an -impatient gesture. “And don’t our people know that the crowd we have -there is different from any castaways we have had before? Of course we -can’t let any of them leave the island, for they suspect its wealth, -and would return with soldiers and guns, and destroy us. But we have to -proceed cautiously. There are more than a hundred and fifty picked men -in the party, and their leaders, Mason and Tudor, and the giant ape -Christopher, are shrewd, bold men, and have no fear.” - -We three were sitting close together, Beela in the middle. One of her -hands stole out, took Christopher’s, squeezed it, and released it. The -other found my hand; I closed on its warm softness and kept it prisoned. - -“In some mysterious way,” Gato explained, “they have outwitted us. Our -plan was to break them up by using the old traitor Vancouver, but they -evidently discovered his treachery, and I have just learned that they -sent him out as our first offering to the Black Face, while letting him -think that he was going to betray them to us.” - -“I suppose,” said the king, “that he is as good as another for the -sacrifice. That will satisfy the people for a time, but he is the first -and the last that we’ll get from that crowd without bloody work, and I -don’t wish my subjects to be killed.” - -He paused, and the others waited. Beela’s breathing had grown quick; -there was a slight quiver in her hand. - -The king went on: - -“Mason evidently suspects that the people taken out of the valley will -not be sent away, and so he is holding them together. No doubt they have -armed themselves, and are ready to fight. Mason will be in no hurry to -precipitate an issue with us, for they can subsist indefinitely where -they are, we can’t strengthen our position against them, and time, he -reasons, may bring me to liberate them in a body.” - -It was impossible not to recognize the kindliness and benevolence in the -king’s voice and words. - -“May I speak, Sire?” - -“Yes, Gato.” - -“I fear that Vancouver is going mad.” - -The king looked his dismay. - -“He mumbles,” proceeded Gato; “his eyes are wild at times; he calls for -his daughter, and weeps like a child; he cannot eat, and his sleep is -broken with loud cries.” - -“Is there much of that?” the king asked in alarm. - -“No, Sire; only rarely. If he is taken to the sacrificial altar when he -has a lucid period,------” - -“The risk is great,” groaned the king. “The people would resent the -offering up of a madman; and we can do nothing while the storm lasts. -The people can’t assemble. We must wait. You men go among the Senatras -tomorrow and pacify them. Tell them that all will be well. Do they say -that the Face is threatening, Gato?” - -“Yes, Sire. Some fools have seen it and spread tales about it. One is -that green water streams out of its eyes, and another is that the mouth -has opened and that purple flames come forth.” - -Beela’s start thrilled me. The news brought the king to his feet. - -“Is it true, Gato,--the open mouth and the purple flame?” - -“I do not know, Sire. I have not seen it, and I do not believe it.” - -“But it may be true! Find out tomorrow morning, and let me know.” He -was leaving the throne, and although the light was poor, I could see a -totter in his step and haggardness in his face. - -The others were rising. The king turned to them, and said: - -“If _that_ is true,--” He did not finish, but stood in a daze. “The -council is ended,” he weakly added, and slowly left the chamber, the -others filing after him. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.--Disciplined by a Woman. - -_Lentala’s Odd Mistake. Beela Finds Me Refractory. The Deep-Laid Plan of -Gato. Christopher and I Charged With Service to the Old King_. - - -SLEEP held away that night. The revelations of the privy council had -been startling. Some things were clear. One was that the king was a -shrewd, easy-going, kindly man, vastly wiser than his subjects, and -finding it simpler to rule them by pampering their superstitions than by -raising them to his own understanding. Another was that he felt himself -on the edge of a crisis, saw no way to avert a possible catastrophe, and -was facing it with a paralyzing dread. - -Lentala, fresh and radiant, brought our breakfast. Except for her color, -not a trace of savagery remained about her. Her dress was a simple -house-frock of fine white linen, and of a modern style. Her hair was -done exactly like Annabel’s. - -It did not improve her appearance. Had she been white, there would have -been no touch of the incongruous. But in this fresh, sweet daintiness, -much of her savage splendor had been sunk, and I felt a keen -disappointment. The former Lentala, for all her barbarity, had never -seemed an alien, but more a bringing back to me of a deeply rooted -principle fundamental in my heritage. - -She appeared to expect a compliment; but how could I be otherwise than -sincere with her? Our greetings were pleasant; yet her clothes had set a -constraint between us. - -“You don’t like my dress, Mr. Tudor?” she ruefully asked. - -“It is exquisite, Lentala, and----” - -“I made it all myself, from a picture in a book out of your ship! I -thought you would like it. Doesn’t Annabel dress this way?” - -“Yes; but in the native dress your beautiful, rich color----” I paused -in my floundering for a delicate way in which to say it. “Annabel is -white, you know,” I blundered. - -Foreseeing my explanation, she had turned flutteringly away before my -final words came, and was still holding the empty copper tray on which -she had brought our breakfast. It fell with a clatter; her back was -turned to me when she picked it up in confusion. - -“A white woman!” She did not look at me. “Yes, she can wear dainty -things and be sweet; but a brown savage woman----” - -I had risen from my seat at the table and was advancing toward her. -She turned and faced me defiantly, backing away, her eyes flashing. In -another second, with a lightning change which showed her near kinship -with Beela, she smiled sweetly, and asked with a dash of her old -coquetry: - -“Would you like Lentala better if she were white and pink like Annabel?” - -“How could I like Lentala white more than Lentala brown, since, first -and last, it is Lentala that I like?” - -She frowned comically in an effort to puzzle some sense out of that -speech. - -“I mean,” I added, laughing at her perplexity, “that I like Lentala -because she is Lentala, not because she isn’t some one else.” - -That was another poser, and she made just such a little wry face over it -as I had seen Beela make many a time. Her face brightened as she made a -dash at a short cut out: - -“Do you like me _because_ I’m brown?” - -“That is a question! It isn’t because you aren’t white that I like you.” - -“_Could_ you like me if I were white?” She stamped impatiently. - -“I’d try to,” I sighed. - -She made a little pout, stuck up her chin, turned stiffly, and went out -with great dignity. It was the Lentala of the feast! - -Beela entered when we had finished breakfast. In her rough clothes and -tightly bound hair, she made so sharp a contrast to Lentala that, for a -moment, I could not think of her as a girl, but as the dear lad whom I -had lost. She had none of her brilliant sparkle now, and my heart ached -to see the weariness and anxiety that she tried so bravely to conceal. - -“What’s afoot for today, dear little brother?” I cheerily inquired. - -She was regarding me solemnly. “You’ve had your wish, I suppose. You’ve -seen Lentala this morning.” - -“Yes. She brought our breakfast. She’s an angel.” - -“Pooh!” Beela was bored. “I’ve seen her. She looked a fright in those -clothes. Trying to ape Annabel! She ought to have better sense. I know -you were disgusted.” - -“Beelo!” - -“Don’t talk! I know.” - -“You are tired and cross this morning, lad.” - -She flopped into a chair, very glum. “Women are _such_ fools!” she -grumbled. - -“Now I am grieved to learn that Lentala is not a woman, for she could -never be a fool.” - -Beela looked at me with sad reproach, and shook her head. - -“Just now,” I went on, “she was a rich red rose sparkling with morning -dew. Her smile started all the birds to singing. She----” - -“Choseph!” She stamped the floor, much as Lentala had done, but a smile -fringed her frown. “You _know_ she made a fright of herself trying to -look like Annabel,--and with that ugly brown face!” - -“No, no, Beelo. The only trouble was that Lentala is too modest to -realize how splendidly perfect she is as Lentala.” - -“But wasn’t she still Lentala in those silly clothes?” - -“She was as much less Lentala as her effort to be something else -succeeded in making her.” - -Beela looked puzzled exactly as Lentala had. - -“But her heart is broken!” she cried. “She says that you laughed at her, -and spoke in riddles!” - -“I laughed _with_ her, Beelo, not _at_ her; and the riddles were a bit -that I put in my mouth.” - -“Why?” - -“The temptation to say beautiful things to Lentala that might sound -insincere is strong.” - -She rose, with a confusion that was half amusement, and tried to hide -the light in her eyes. - -“Come, Choseph! There is much to do today.” - -“I must see Lentala first.” - -She could not mistake my seriousness. “Why?” in surprise. - -“I won’t have her unhappy over that trifling incident. She is too -sensitive,--she misunderstood. I must see her, lad.” I started for the -door. - -“Choseph!” came breathlessly. “Don’t!” - -I turned. - -“Don’t look at me that way!” she exclaimed in genuine alarm. Christopher -was moving round toward the door for which I had started. - -“What way?” - -“As though--as though you’d break down doors and kill anybody that -stood in your way!” - -“I want to see Lentala.” - -“You can’t! She--she’s undressed. I’ll tell her. She’ll be satisfied.” - -“Will you, lad? Thank you.” - -She began making some preparations about the room. “You ought to be kept -tied, Choseph,” she said, half to herself. “I never know what you are -going to do next.” Yet a sweet note in her voice sounded low. - -She came and stood before me, looking me straight in the eyes. - -“I was going to give you and Christopher very delicate and important -work to do this morning, Choseph, but I’m afraid you’ll do something -rash and ruin us all.” - -I felt the sting. “Trust me, little brother.” - -She shook her head in trouble. “You’re not sly, Choseph; you’re not -cunning and patient. Those are what are needed now. You have enough -courage.” - -“Trust me, lad.” - -“You are to meet King Rangan, Choseph, and you are to do everything that -he wishes you to do. You may think you ought not.” - -“If you say that I ought, I will.” - -“I do say so. If you refuse, or show temper, or do anything that a -Senatra wouldn’t do, all is lost. Do you understand?” - -“I am not a fool, Beelo.” - -“Choseph! That was temper.” - -“Trust me, lad,” I begged. - -“It is very dangerous work--terribly so if you make a mistake.” - -“There will be no mistake.” - -“The king is much broken. He is growing old, and the problem of the -colony is wearing on him. Choseph, will you think of him as kind and -gentle, and as meaning well?” - -“Yes.” - -“And will you watch Christopher? Sometimes he understands more than you -or I.” - -“I will.” - -“Very well.” Beela was much relieved. “Now I’ll explain. The king -is failing rapidly. He needs such friends as you and Christopher, -and------” - -“Such friends as _we_, when he is holding us as fattening cattle?” - -“Choseph!” Beela’s voice rang sharp, and she angrily stamped. Then came -a hopeless look. - -I took her hands. “Come, dear friend,” I pleaded. “That was the last. I -am wholly in your hands. And remember, there is always Christopher.” - -She turned away with a sigh, and began to put finishing touches to our -efforts at the restoration of neatness in the room. She was evidently -gathering herself, for presently she came and took a seat facing me, -Christopher standing. Her manner was serious. - -“This is the case,” she said: “The king has meant always to be kind to -Lentala and me, and we are grateful. We love the queen dearly. We would -lay down our lives before permitting any harm to befall them.” - -Her emotion made her pause. - -“Serious dangers are threatening them now,--more than they suspect,--and -these have come because of your people. Before that, only one or two -would be cast up from the wrecks. They gave no trouble.” - -Horror came into her face, and she looked away. - -“I always supposed that they were sent off,” she resumed. “Never once -did I suspect the truth until shortly before your party came, and then -my affection for the king died in me, and I was sick at heart. I don’t -think the queen knows the truth to this day. I think the king would -have stopped it long ago, but for Gato, who wanted to use it to keep the -natives in savagery. He is a bad man, with great power. When your -large party came, he saw a way to break the king, stir the people to -rebellion, kill the king and queen, and take the throne himself.” - -“Does Gato suspect that you know this about him?” I asked in -astonishment. - -“No. There is where our safety lies. I never should have suspected him -if he hadn’t made love to Lentala and told her that if she would marry -him she would soon be queen,--the beast! Then we watched and found out.” - -After a thoughtful pause she proceeded: - -“Gato is secretly stirring up the people. I have no doubt that he is -about ready to strike. His plan will be this, I think: The palace guard -are men whom he can trust to do his work; he will kill everybody here, -and then take the army into your valley and slaughter all but a few. He -will keep those for the sacrifices. It was he that induced the king to -use Mr. Vancouver as your traitor. But, unlike the king, he doesn’t care -how many natives might be killed in a fight with the colony when he has -made himself king.” - -She was regarding me curiously. - -“And what are Christopher and I to do?” I cheerfully asked. - -“Let me tell you some things before that,” she answered, but with -hesitancy. “You won’t be hurt with me, Choseph, and you won’t be angry?” - -“Assuredly not, dear lad.” - -“I told Captain Mason all these things when I went into the valley the -last time.” She waited anxiously. - -“I am very glad of that,” I brightly answered. - -She was much relieved, and with a sudden dash came over and squeezed my -hand. - -“You are really my dear big brother!” she said, and demurely resumed her -seat. “I told him something else,” she went on with more confidence. “It -was to have his entire colony ready to move at a moment’s notice,--not -to bring anything with them, except all the food they could carry, -but to be prepared at any time of the day or night to march in perfect -silence out of the valley.” - -“To the ship!” I exclaimed. - -She smiled. “I advised him to pick some cool, trustworthy men to take -charge of the march.” - -“He said------?” - -“That he already had his men chosen, and was glad that Hobart didn’t -have to come out with me. He said it would be the making of Rawley to -come, and that you would understand.” - -I did at last. There was something almost magical in Captain Mason’s -ability to dig the manhood out of men. - -“And now for your work and Christopher’s,” resumed Beela. “I will take -you to the king as English-speaking natives from the mountains beyond -the valley on the west, which you have not seen. As I have told you, the -natives there are wilder and fiercer than these, have little intercourse -with them, and are largely independent. Their blood has mingled with -that of a few castaways, and they are brighter. On this side is the -ancient race, simple, gentle, dull. The king is proud of it, and wishes -to keep it pure. But he will welcome the other men in this emergency, -particularly if they speak English.” - -“Has he full confidence in Gato?” I inquired. - -“I think he is growing suspicious.” - -“And we?” - -“You are to be the king’s confidential agents; to find out, -independently of Gato, all that is afoot; to be ready to protect the -king; and especially to treat with the colony if any trouble should rise -from that source. Is it all clear?” - -“Nearly. We are to guard the king and maintain his authority at any -cost?” - -Beela studied me uneasily. “Yes, at any cost,” she slowly answered. - -“I was thinking of Gato,” I explained. “We are to resort to any -measures with him, however extreme, if we have good reason to think them -necessary?” - -“Yes,” somewhat anxiously. “What do you mean, Choseph?” - -“Anything that may be wise and prudent.” - -She glanced down. She made no reply, but gave this warning, still not -looking up: - -“Take no chances with him. When you strike, which you must, sooner or -later, let the blow be swift and sure.” - -“What will become of the army when he is out of the way?” - -The question troubled her. “It is very uncertain,” she answered. “There -may be leaders under him who are in his confidence. They or one of them -may take command and lead the army against the palace.” - -She sprang to her feet and glanced about. - -“Let’s go to the king at once,” she said. “Lentala told him about -you and promised to have you there by this time. I fear that Gato has -already returned with his report of the Face with its open mouth and -purple flame.” - -“Just one thing, dear lad,” I interrupted. “I wish to see Lentala -first.” - -Her adaptability was as quick as a child’s. The seriousness which she -had worn flashed into a teasing quirk of the mouth. - -“What for?” - -“You know very well.” - -“Choseph,” she said, solemnly wagging her head at me, “how can you think -of girls at such a time as this? Lentala would have too much sense to -see you now. Come with me to the king.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.--To the Rescue of the King. - -_Our Risky Audience With His Majesty. He Encoils Us in Allegiance. I -Open His Eyes. Gato’s Scheme of Regicide. A Bold Act by Christopher._ - - -ON our way to the royal apartments, Beela again took us through the -vaults. I used the opportunity to fix in my memory the exact places -where the arms and ammunition from our vessel were kept. The king never -permitted any of his subjects to handle firearms. - -Hard by the vaults she showed us a dungeon. Not within her memory had -it been occupied, and few, even in the palace, knew of its existence. It -was an ingeniously designed prison, a grated window for ventilation and -a little light being so placed that no sound could reach the outside; -and the door was so deadened that no beating could make a noise. - -Anxious that none of the king’s attendants should see her, Beela gave -us directions how to go and what to say and do if we were halted, -and slipped away, informing us that we might see her face at a small -curtained window high in the east wall of the room where the king would -receive us. - -One after another of the attendants whom we encountered on the way eyed -us curiously and, I thought, suspiciously, and put their heads together -after we had passed. One of them gave a low whistle; two came forward -from in front, stopped us, and demanded our identity and business. All -these men were armed. - -“The king expects us,” was my curt answer; but more effective was our -cool assurance. - -Thus we arrived at the door, which was open, a soldier on guard. More -peremptorily than the others he demanded our names and errand. - -“The king expects us,” I repeated, and was going within; but the fellow -laid a hand on me. I flung it off, and so confused him that we were -within before he could interfere. He mustered some briskness to follow, -but was too late, for the king had seen us. - -I was shocked at his appearance in the clearer light of day. At the -feast he had looked not far beyond his prime; his eyes were bright then, -and he bore himself with a commanding dignity. Now he was sinking into -decrepitude. - -“I have been expecting these men,” he said, and the guard withdrew; but -I knew that he was slyly listening at the door. - -We made an obeisance. I caught a glimpse of Beela’s encouraging face at -the window. - -The king was lounging on a divan; he had been talking with two elderly -men seated on rugs before him. They regarded us keenly as the king asked -them to withdraw. When they had gone, Christopher closed and locked the -door, and stood with his back to it. The surprised and curious scrutiny -of the king was on him, passing down his grotesque figure. From -Christopher he turned to me. - -“What do you wish?” he inquired. - -“To serve you, Sire.” - -“How?” - -“Secretly, by finding out many things, by learning the truth; and in any -other way.” - -“I have men for that.” - -“You have Lentala also, Sire. She knows that you need us, and that we -will serve you intelligently, faithfully, and without fear.” - -“Without fear of whom?” - -“Every one of account has enemies, Sire.” - -“Have I any? I want no guessing.” - -“We will find out.” - -“Does Lentala know?” - -“Not positively, perhaps; but we all love her, and she has many ways -of learning, since she is not hedged about and kept in the dark as your -Majesty can be.” The king was brightening; a faint eagerness crept into -his face. - -“Where did you learn to talk in that way?” - -“I don’t understand your Majesty.” - -“That inflexion. It isn’t pure Senatra.” - -“It is my misfortune, Sire. A long time ago a white man, an American, -escaped from the natives with the aid of a Senatra girl. She went with -him into the lonely mountains back of the village Sumanali. There -my brother,” indicating Christopher, “and I were born. We speak our -father’s language as well as our mother’s.” - -“English?” - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“I meant something else, also, in your speech,--a quickness, a -nimbleness.” - -“The white man was bright and keen, Sire.” - -“What is your name?” he asked me. - -“Joseph, Sire.” - -“And his?” - -“Christopher, Sire.” - -“Those are not Senatra names.” - -“Our father was an American, Sire.” - -He put me through a further shrewd examination, and I answered readily. -It was having a slow but conspicuous effect in heartening him. I was -evidently a new and refreshing element, perhaps bringing hope. He -appeared satisfied, and asked: - -“Have you any suspicions?” - -“I have, your Majesty.” - -“Of what? and of whom?” - -“Might it not be unjust, Sire, to express mere suspicions?” - -He reflected a moment, and asked: - -“Do you know Gato?” - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“And the Black Face?” - -“Very well.” - -“And the purple flame?” - -“Yes. I saw it two days ago.” - -“Where?” asked he in excitement, sitting erect. - -“It was slipping along the top of the valley wall, near the Face.” - -The king’s perturbation increased, but he found no wavering of my eyes -under his sharp gaze. - -“More than that, Sire; my brother and I went into the river passage -through the wall. We saw the red fire and barely missed a great -explosion.” - -The king’s astonishment brought him to his feet. - -“Tell me more!” he demanded. - -I gave him an account of all that we had seen and endured, including the -flaming waterfall, the boiling cauldron, and the earthquake. - -“You dared that passage!” he exclaimed, looking from one to the other of -us in amazement. “It was the white blood. Not another man in the kingdom -would do it. Gato could not make any of his men go; yet I was anxious to -know.” - -He was saying this partly to himself, as he aimlessly walked the floor. - -“Why did you go?” he abruptly asked. - -“We had heard that no one else was willing, and we wished to serve your -Majesty.” - -The king’s back being turned, I glanced up at the window. The curtain -parted for a moment, and Beela’s beaming face nodded and smiled. - -“Yes,” muttered the king in a profound disturbance, “it means that -an upheaval is at hand,--and a crisis!” He came and stood before me, -plumping this question at me: “Do you fear the Black Face, the flame, -and the earthquake?” - -“Not in the least, Sire,” I smilingly answered. - -“All the others do.” - -“Your Majesty has not forgotten that our father was white. He taught us -many wise things.” - -He was smitten with a look that seemed to come from his conscience, and -sank with a groan into the divan. - -“Had I only been as true to my duty, and led my people to the light!” he -exclaimed. “Lentala begged me to. Now I must pay, I must pay!” - -I needed no recalling of my pledge to Beela, for pity held me. I looked -to the window, and the radiance coming thence lighted my wits. - -“There is always hope, Sire,” I cheerfully said; “we can work and hope.” - -He gave me a haggard look. “You know,” he said, “the Senatras believe -that unless sacrifices are made of the white people in the valley there -will come no more wrecks and castaways, and that the Black Face will -therefore send the terrible earthquake and eruptions which frighten our -people into madness, sweep the island with fire, and destroy lives and -farms. But how can a sacrifice be made? The people think that to offer -up a madman would infuriate the Face and cause frightful disaster. It -is impossible to bring another white man from the valley, because -the colony would fight rather than give him up. Yet unless there is a -sacrifice the Senatras will rebel through fear of the Face, the army -will revolt, my palace will be seized, and the queen, Lentala and I, -with all our friends and servants, will be put to the sword.” - -“A leader, who must be a traitor, would be required for that, your -Majesty. That would mean a man of eminence among us; and not that alone, -but one who has already laid his plans and is ready at this moment to -strike.” - -The king was staring at me in terror. - -“You speak with a deep understanding,” he huskily said, “and you have -more to tell me. Proceed.” - -“Yes, Sire. The white people wish only to leave the island, and to go in -peace. They will do no harm if they are not opposed; if they are, they -will harm only those who oppose them.” - -“How do you know?” - -“I speak with knowledge from my white father.” - -“But if they are permitted to go, they will spread tales of great riches -here, and destroying ships and armies will come.” - -“Permit me, Sire. In the first place, with such coadjutors as Lentala, -my brother and I, you could make the island impregnable. That would be -far wiser than the risk which you are now running, for the sea, even in -my father’s time, was filling with ships, and the great countries were -hunting new possessions. At any time a ship may come without the aid of -the storms. She would see this large and beautiful island, and, though -driven off, would inform her own country, which would send vessels and -men to overwhelm us.” - -“Yes, yes. But would it be possible for us to prepare defenses?” - -“It is our duty to do all that we can, Sire. But there can be an -additional protection. So long as we keep our present backwardness we -shall be deemed the rightful prey of any nation. If we aim to be more -like the great countries, and send ambassadors to them and make treaties -with them, they will protect us against one another.” - -This mightily impressed the king. - -“That sounds reasonable,” he said with a pitiful air of wisdom, “but it -may be attended to hereafter. We are facing a present crisis. You said -that a leader of an insurrection would be required.” - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“The army could put down any trouble.” - -“With the army itself in revolt?” - -“But Gato’s control of the army is powerful.” - -“Yet it is on the edge of revolt. If Gato is all-powerful with his -men, and in spite of that fact says he can’t control them,----But your -Majesty is abler than I to draw inferences.” - -The king came nervously to his feet. - -“It is easy to understand, Sire,” I went on, “that an ambitious and -unscrupulous man would see his opportunity when the people are paralyzed -with fear of the Face or with an outburst of its wrath.” - -“Opportunity for what?” the king demanded. “What would he want, Sire? -Your throne would be a temptation, and so would Lentala to a man who -wanted a beautiful wife.” - -The king gripped the edge of a table. - -“He asked me for her,” the wretched man growled like a lion gnawing a -bone. “I refused him. She is very dear to me. I wanted her to have a -better man, of her own choosing. For I have provided that she is to rule -my people when I am gone.” - -Though greatly surprised, I refrained from looking toward the window, -and kept silence while the broken man fought out his agony. When the -urgency of his situation had measurably restored him, he began to pace -the floor, and asked: - -“Something has to be done immediately. What would you suggest?” - -“What does your Majesty understand the case to be?” - -“We are on the eve of a revolution. The task is to check it.” - -“Meanwhile, Sire, I observe that a score of Gato’s soldiers are in the -palace. Is that customary?” - -The king stopped and turned a livid look on me. - -“No. Gato suggested that it would be safer to have them here for the -present as a protection.” - -“Protection for whom, Sire?” - -The hint in the question swept the breath out of him, and he stood -staring. - -“I hadn’t suspected----” he struggled for breath to begin. Then, “I see, -I see.” - -The imminence of danger electrified his dormant forces. He hardened and -expanded, and fighting blood began to run in his veins. I said: - -“There is one thing more, your Majesty. The white people in the valley -are able, daring, and cunning. Already some of them have escaped and are -at large in the island.” - -“Impossible!” he exclaimed in consternation. - -“I have seen them myself, Sire. They are perfectly disguised as -natives.” A quick look at the window showed me a frightened but not a -reprimanding face. - -“You are positive?” - -“Absolutely, Sire.” - -“How did they come out?” - -“Either by tricking Gato’s men, or by connivance with some one, of -course.” - -A rap at the door prevented further discussion. - -“That is Gato,” the king whispered. “Hide there,” pointing to a -curtained door in the rear wall. - -We were immediately concealed. The place was an anteroom. Through the -curtain we could hear and see everything. - -Gato entered. - -“What news?” the king inquired in a friendly, business-like fashion. - -“Everything is quiet, your Majesty.” - -“How is the weather?” - -“It is beginning to clear.” - -“Good! If the storm has made any wrecks, a castaway for the sacrifice -may drift ashore. That would restore order.” - -Gato solemnly shook his head. The king reclined in silence, and then -asked: - -“How many soldiers have you in and about the palace?” - -The man was surprised. “Twenty, Sire,” he hesitatingly answered. - -“Send them to the Council Chamber, and summon Lentala.” - -“May I ask your Majesty----” - -Gato found a look that he was not accustomed to see. It was evident from -the slowness with which he proceeded to obey that he was alarmed and was -gaining time for new plans. - -Christopher and I stepped forth when Gato was gone. Beela exhibited some -fear, but I sent her a smile. - -“You,” the king commanded me, “observe his manner with his men. You,” to -Christopher, “follow him to Lentala and see that no harm befalls her; -I will show you a way. Don’t let him see either of you. Come with me to -the Council Chamber immediately after the soldiers have assembled.” - -Beela nodded to me, and dropped the curtain. The king led Christopher -into the anteroom, gave him hurried directions, opened a door leading -out of that room, dismissed Christopher, and returned. By this time I -was passing out, having observed that no one in the corridor was looking -toward me. - -Gato had formed his plan, and it contemplated swift execution, as I -judged from his prompt, incisive manner with his men. In each instance -he gave an order which I knew from the pantomime included the Council -Chamber; then, in the man’s ear, he added something which brought -a start, a stiffening of the body, and an unconscious grip of the -sword-hilt. As the men were straggling past me to assemble, the king -leisurely strolled out into the corridor, and was sauntering beyond me, -when he stopped, turned, and asked under his voice: - -“What are the signs?” - -“He has ordered them to kill you in the Council Chamber at a sign from -him.” - -“Umph!” The king passed on toward his living-apartments, which he -entered. - -When he came quietly walking back, the corridor was clear of soldiers. -He slipped a modern revolver into my hand. - -“Do you understand its use?” - -“Perfectly, Sire.” - -“May I trust your nerve and judgment to use it at the right moment and -without missing?” - -“You may, Sire.” - -“I think one shot will settle the matter. If - -“There will be three of us, your Majesty.” - -He nodded, passed on, and turned back. He had become transformed, and -appeared to look forward eagerly to the crucial moment. - -“Gato ought to be here with Lentala by this time,” he said. - -He walked slowly to the private audience-room, looked in, and strolled -back. Near me he stopped short, intently listening. - -“Did you hear that?” he asked. - -“No, Sire.” - -“It sounded like the roar of an infuriated animal.” - -His strolling began again, but with an increasing uneasiness. - -“I don’t understand it,” he said. At intervals he stopped and listened. -Finally he came back. - -“I sent for her,” he explained, “to announce that she was heir-apparent -to the throne, and vested with present authority to take any measures in -this crisis that would seem proper in her discretion.” - -I did not know before that my heart could be so touched by such a man. - -His impatience at last slipped control. “We will go and see what detains -them,” he said. - -We started down the corridor. At his own apartments he paused to send a -servant to the Council Chamber with word that he would soon appear. We -had gone but a short distance beyond, when we met Christopher. - -“Is all well?” asked the king. - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“Are Lentala and Gato coming?” - -“No, Sire.” - -“Why not?” - -“He’s in the dungeon, Sire.” - -“In the dungeon! Locked up?” - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“Who put him there?” - -“Me, Sire.” - -“What for?” - -“Your Majesty told me not to let him harm her.” - -“Harm her! Did he try to?” - -“I was there. She wants to see you.” He turned to me. “And you, sir.” - -We three hastened to her apartments, where we found her lying on a couch -and attended by a number of frightened women. - -“Lentala!” the king anxiously said; “what is the matter?” - -She forced a smile, held out one hand to the king and the other to me, -gave mine a quick, tight squeeze, released our hands, in a weak voice -bade us be seated, and with a wave of her hand dismissed the women. - -“What has happened, child?” the king insisted. - -“Gato came. I was alone. He didn’t know that Christopher was behind -him.” She was speaking with difficulty, often pausing. “He was -impatient. He said he loved me and wanted me. And if I wouldn’t marry -him, he’d... he’d strangle me here and now.... That his men were waiting -in the Council Chamber to kill you, if I refused him, and then they -would kill the queen.... I said no. I trusted Christopher. Gato’s -fingers hooked like that,” she showed with her own hands, “his eyes -glared terribly, and he came at me.... Christopher crept up, said to -me, ‘Don’t scream,’ and leaped on Gato. They grappled, and rolled on the -floor. Gato roared like a wild beast.” Lentala covered her eyes with her -hands. “I heard things crack and break. I couldn’t look. Then came an -awful squeak. Christopher said again to me, ‘Don’t scream.’ It meant he -was safe. I felt myself falling.... When I saw again, I was lying on -this divan, and my women were with me. Gato was gone. Christopher was -standing in the door. I asked him where Gato was. He said, ‘In the -dungeon.’ He would say no more, and I sent him for you.” She looked at -him, and added, “Dear old Christopher!” - -His face was blank. - -“Can I do anything for you?” the king gently asked. - -“No, thank you. I’m only a little shaken, and will be up in a few -minutes.” - -“Would you like the queen to come?” - -“No. It would distress her. Not a word of this to her!” - -The king led us out. At the door I looked back and won a smile. - -We went in silence, and the king stepped into his apartments, bidding us -wait in the corridor a minute. - -I turned a keen look on Christopher, and he met it frankly. - -“Are you hurt?” I asked. - -“No, sir.” - -“Is he badly injured?” - -“Him?” - -“Yes.” - -“He don’t need no doctor, sir.” - -“Did he go with you quietly?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“He’ll hang for this, Christopher.” - -“Sir?” - -“The king will hang him for this.” - -Christopher’s gaze wandered vacantly round the corridor, and after a -while he quietly said: - -“It won’t hurt him, sir.” - -The truth blazed through me. I had been misled by Christopher’s perfect -calm. - -“Christopher!” I cried, seizing his hand and wringing it; but he looked -bored. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX.--The Strength of the White Blood. - -_Extraordinary Discipline by the King. His Uneasiness Concerning -Our Loyalty. Lentala’s Father. We Must Help Destroy Our Friends. -Earthquakes._ - - -ALTHOUGH the king was greatly shocked when I told him what had really -happened to Gato, his gratification quickly rose, and he regarded -Christopher curiously. - -“Why didn’t you tell me at once?” he inquired. - -“That is not his way, Sire,” I explained. “He avoids talking.” - -“It was a wonderful thing to do,” his Majesty mused as we slowly went to -the Council Chamber. - -Something had given him a fearful blow, and I guessed it was the danger -to which Lentala had been exposed. His face was haggard again; his gait -was unsteady; he doddered and mumbled. - -As we neared the Council Chamber, he said: - -“Come in and stand near me, one on either side.” - -We found the soldiers in a huddle near the door, the racial dulness of -their faces somewhat keyed with expectancy. The king gave them but -a glance as he passed them and ascended the throne,--to be more -impressive, no doubt. Christopher and I stood as flanks. - -“Form a line facing me,” the king sternly commanded. - -The soldiers glanced at one another in wonder as they obeyed, and -furtively had anxious eyes and ears for Gato. They were a fine crowd, -selected for courage and dash. - -“You understand,” the king said, “that I am always in supreme command of -the army, including Gato and every other officer. Any person who may be -in immediate charge of you is serving as my agent, and is appointed and -removed by me at my pleasure. All your fealty and loyalty are for me. -You will now acknowledge that with an obeisance to your king.” - -The rascals were dazed. They might send shifting glances down the line -if they liked, and wonder and waver if they pleased, but obey they must: -every man felt it in his bones. The line went down. - -Etiquette required the maintenance of the posture until the king gave -the word to rise. The obeisance consisted in coming to the knees, -resting the elbows, well advanced, on the floor, pressing the palms -down, and rooting the floor with the forehead,--an easy performance if -quickly finished, but a torturing one if sustained. On this occasion the -king neglected the releasing command; and that was unheard of. In such a -position the men could see nothing. - -“A soldier’s first duty,” he resumed, “is to his king. In becoming -a soldier he dedicates his manhood, his strength, his life, to his -sovereign; that is to say, to his country. A true soldier is glad to die -for the happiness and safety of his king. His duties are as sacred as -those of a son to his father. A worthy son will remember the protection -that his father has given him. If he hears him defamed, he will uphold -his name; if blind, will lead him; if threatened, will defend him though -death be the reward. So it is with a soldier and his king.” - -His voice weighted his words with a deep emotion, and he spoke slowly, -with pauses. It was like listening to a passage from the Bible,--but -much better read than commonly. - -“A king may be kind to his soldiers; that will bring him their love with -their fealty, and give their duty a double force. A king may grow old -and stand in need of the strong, willing arms of young men whom he loves -and who love him. A king may totter under the burden of long service to -his people; his soldiers will then be his stay and comfort, and with joy -in their hearts will do his high will. Serpents may crawl in the weeds -about a king’s throne: his soldiers will beat the weeds clear of them.” - -The king could not have failed to see a painful writhing that wormed -through the line. His pause was long. - -“A son who hears even his brother speak ill of their father, will -reprove the brother and shame him. If that fails, he will chastise his -brother if he can; but if the brother is stronger, the dutiful one will -take the matter to their father, since the safeguard of the family is -endangered by the disaffection of a single member. If a father discovers -one of his sons jeopardizing the unity, prosperity, and safety of the -family, he will give the faithless son such treatment as the security of -the family demands.” - -The pause this time was still longer. Meanwhile, the endurance of the -men had nearly reached an end. Whatever may have been their mental -state, their physical was one of excruciating pain. - -“Some men are induced to do wrong through heedlessness or blindness, not -knowing the gravity of their deeds, and not foreseeing a dire result. -Others are weak and easily led; they are untrustworthy tools of their -leaders, and shame is their greatest punishment. Others are cruel and -wicked at heart; they will therefore be ready to betray the men who led -them to betray others. All of those are poisonous serpents in the weeds -about a king’s throne. And it is far worse in a soldier than in any one -else.” - -After another pause, he said: - -“A king who is kind and wise will be slow to believe evil of his people. -It will be natural for him to think that all will be as wise and kind -as he. Yet he must be watchful; he cannot protect the people unless he -protects himself. If he finds a scandal, he may hide it, lest it weaken -the common faith in the strength and purity of his government. If he -discovers that any are unfaithful, he will not make their treason public -by hanging them before the people, unless he knows that a warning will -stop other traitors. No; he will be merciful and keep them privately for -a time, till they may walk forth erect in their recovered manhood.” - -Here and there a gasp or a strangled groan broke the silence of the -line. The king was heeding. - -“The man at the right of the line will rise.” - -The fellow came painfully to his feet, and stretched the agony out of -his muscles. - -“Advance and lay your sword on the dais,” ordered the king. - -The man obeyed. - -“Return to your obeisance.” - -A start thrilled the soldier. He gave the king a desperate, pleading -look, but found eyes with a cold sternness that sent him to obedience. - -“The next, rise.” - -The performance was repeated with him, and with the rest in turn. - -“All rise,” said the king. They stood up. “I will now take you to a room -in the palace, where you may consider in quiet what the soldiers of a -king should be. You,” he ordered Christopher, “walk beside me at the -head, and you,” to me, “follow the soldiers.” - -The dignity of a mighty sorrow sat like a grace upon him as he slowly -led the procession. Never were prisoners more securely manacled with -steel than these men, though their members were free; and though there -was a certain pomp in the march, it was that of a funeral, and the -silence was louder than the blare of much brass. - -The king turned into the corridor that led to the vaults, and descended -the stair. This brought him and the others to the dungeon door. He -halted, and Christopher unlocked it. It swung wide. The king and -Christopher stood aside, and the men marched in. Christopher closed and -locked the door. - -“Your Majesty!” I exclaimed; “you surely have not forgotten that -Gato----” - -“My son,” he calmly answered, “what they have already endured has made -the way easier to what they will find in there.” - -Without haste the king conducted us back to the chamber in which he had -received us, and seated himself ered: on the divan. He was studying us. - -He inflated his cheeks and pursed his lips while his goggling eyes -roamed, and queer wrinkles came and went in his face. - -“The white blood,” he grunted, staring at me. “It accounts for your -keenness. The white blood never sleeps. If it is with you, good; if -against you,------” - -He rose and glared. “Which love you the more, son,” he growled, “the -white blood or the brown?” - -“Your Majesty sees our color. We came freely and offered our hearts, our -arms, and our lives to your Majesty. And it is not forgotten, Sire, that -Lentala sent us.” - -“I remember.” The growl died in him, and he brightened. With both hands -he clutched the edge of the couch. “It takes white blood to fight white -blood,” he said. “Did your father tell you that?” - -“Not that I recall, Sire.” - -“Black blood and red blood and yellow blood and brown blood always fall -before it, soon or late. He said nothing about that?” - -“I think not, Sire.” - -“You know it is true?” - -“My father told me much of the great world.” - -“Then he told you that. And I know. I saw it when I went abroad in my -youth. I learned it from Lentala’s father. Does it mean anything to you -that your mother was a Senatra?” - -“It is sufficient that your Majesty and Lentala are Senatras.” - -The king fixed a keen stare on me. - -“You mention Lentala very often,” he said. - -“She indorsed us to your Majesty.” - -“Something more is here. That is the white blood in her. In you and in -her the white blood knows its own.” - -His sudden confirmation of my surmise concerning Lentala choked the -words in my throat. - -“Why don’t you speak?” he roughly demanded. “Is it not true?” - -I could only gaze at him. - -“The white blood finds and knows its own,” he went on. “Two hundred and -fifty of those with white blood are held on this island by a great horde -of those with brown blood. I need a man of the white-blood shrewdness -and boldness and courage to manage those two hundred and fifty to the -safety of my people and my island. But if I take a man with white blood -in his veins, it will side with the white blood that threatens me.” - -“Would Lentala hand over to treason and destruction your Majesty and the -queen and all the other Senatras whom she loves, and the people to whom -she belongs and the country that has nourished her?” - -“Not wittingly, for she is a daughter of the gods; but the blood, my -son, the blood!” - -“Sire, a love early planted endures forever.” - -He rose to fight his despair, and walked up and down the room. - -“Yes, it is true,” he said at last. “Lentala has proved it. I spared -her father, a castaway, because he stopped a great plague that was -destroying my people. I myself was stricken, and he saved my life I -feared him because he was of the white blood, and because of his wisdom -and power. He held the secrets of the gods, and had no fear. I had -planted deep in my people a hatred of the white blood; and I required -that he not only disguise himself as a native, but remain within the -palace grounds. He taught me many things, but I refused to follow his -advice to instruct my subjects. He educated Lentala.” - -“Is he still alive?” I asked. - -“He died two years ago. If he were only here now! We became strong -friends. Lentala’s devotion to the islanders is returned by them almost -as idolatry. I know how the white blood can love, but I know also how it -can hate; and it knows its own.” - -He suddenly halted, and wheeled upon me. - -“You say,” he moaned, “that some of the white men are at large on the -island. What mischief are they doing? What mines digging under me? My -people are children,--I have kept them so, God help them! I need not -alone a wit and a daring to match the white people’s, but Senatra -devotion as well.” - -“Your Majesty knows Lentala.” - -He blazed on me. “Do you love Lentala?” - -A fierce tingling raced through me, and dumbness held me. - -“She is beautiful and sweet,” he went on. “She is steadfast; she is -brave and able. There never was a woman to match her. You are big and -strong and brave. She found you. Like finds like. Do you love her as a -man loves a woman?” - -I fought blindly for wit and words. - -“Yes, Sire,” came the thin, even voice of Christopher. - -We both turned in surprise. He beamed on us blandly. - -“Does she love him as a woman loves a man?” the king asked him. - -“Yes, Sire.” - -His audacity held me speechless. - -“I can trust her--and you,” the king said to me,--“so far as blood -tempered by love and loyalty may be trusted, which is farther than it -may trust itself. I am old and broken. Come, you two, and stand before -me.” - -We obeyed, I wondering. - -“I have no other men to equal you, and I need you. You must serve -me. Take time now, and remember your white blood. Remember that it is -stronger than your brown, for I have seen its dominance in you today. -Remember that when your allegiance is tested in a choice between white -blood and brown, the white will be the stronger. Only one thing can save -you and me and all my people.” - -“And that, Sire,-----?” - -“-----is your manly pride to see and know and overcome your white blood, -and serve and obey your king to the end.” - -He paused, and looked from one to the other, as though expecting us to -speak, but we were silent. - -“The white blood,” he passionately resumed, “is the most terrible thing -in the world. It is strong and shrewd; it never gives up; it pursues and -fights relentlessly to the ends of the earth; without mercy or pity it -hunts down, plunders, overwhelms, exterminates. Only one thing can hold -it in check, and that is opposing white blood. Brown blood cannot cope -with the white people in the valley, but white blood can; and for the -task, the gods have sent me white blood mingled with brown seeded in my -soil and grown to it with deep roots. That is my hope and trust.” - -His gaze of affectionate yearning was on us. - -“The duty of your Senatra blood is loyalty to your king; the task of -your white blood is to outwit and outdo the people in the valley. I will -place Lentala in command of the army. You must not take a step without -her full concurrence, and you will obey her without question. Do you -agree?” - -“Gladly, Sire.” - -“A hundred soldiers guard the passes from the val ley, and are relieved -every day. When not on duty they attend to their private affairs. I -will at once send out messengers summoning these to assemble outside the -palace wall, in the king’s highway passing the main gate. There I will -address them and turn over the command to Lentala.” - -He was profoundly studying me. His words, “to outwit and outdo the -people in the valley,” were grinding within me, and I longed to demand -an explanation. A savage ferocity was manifest through his benignity. -To outwit and outdo the people in the valley,--my people, my friends! I -would be his tool to betray and destroy them. The bottomless pit should -have him first, and the hand that he would turn to treachery and murder -would send him thither. - -My face must have shown something of what I tried to conceal; for the -king, his look growing desperate and malignant, stepped back a pace. -There came from somewhere a sharp rap, which made me start, and sent my -glance to the curtained window, to which the king had his back. I had -supposed that Beela was with Lentala; but there she was at the window, -her hand upraised in warning. It brought me instant control. - -The king also had heard, and looked round sharply, but the curtain was -down. - -“What was that?” he inquired. - -“My big toe, Sire,” answered Christopher. - -“What did you do with it?” - -“I cracked the joint.” - -“Why?” - -“It feels good, Sire.” - -His Majesty curiously regarded Christopher’s feet. “It must be a large -joint,” he said. - -Christopher stood in gentle silence. The king turned to me, and found me -docile. - -“That look of rebellion was the white blood in you,” he said. - -“Only for a moment. Your Majesty may trust me.” - -Nevertheless, he was troubled, and shook his head. - -“He won’t no more, Sire,” said Christopher. - -“How do you know?” - -“I know him.” - -“Explain.” - -“He does little things short and big things long.” - -My amused smile was fortunate, because it put an end to the king’s -tragic gravity. - -“I am satisfied,” he remarked. “Now, the first thing for you two to -do, while the army is assembling, is to go out, find, and bring to the -palace all the white men that have escaped. The next,------” - -The sentence was never concluded, for there came a rumble and a sharp, -pervading jolt. The king stiffened, looked about in fear, and groped for -the table. Following was a gentle quiver, which rapidly increased till -it became an oscillation, and with it a deep rumbling. It ended in a -mighty wrench and a violent swaying, accompanied with a hoarse explosive -sound. The stones of the palace were grinding and groaning. The table -slid a yard, stopped, and shot back as the king tried to seize it. - -I found myself plunging and lurching for a footing as the oscillation -continued, and so were the king and Christopher. They sat down on -the floor. Surely the violence would ease in a moment. Instead, the -convulsion rose to a fearful crash, which sent my feet away and my body -smashing on Christopher. He caught me with one hand and with the other -diverted the flying table from the king. - -The spasm ended abruptly, but the menacing tremble was again in play. - -“Be careful!” rasped the king; “the third is the worst.” - -As before, the quiver rose through oscillation to a heavy swaying, more -violent than ever, and ended in a tumult of jerks, which sent us sliding -and scrambling as we fought the portable things that were hurled about -the room. - -It was suddenly gone. We rose, much dazed. There was no sign of Beela at -the window. - -“It is over,” weakly said the king. “The worst in many years. And what -has it done? It has terrified my people into madness. I see them.” - He was losing self-control, and was staring as at a vision. “They are -beginning to rise from the ground. Many are digging out of their ruined -huts.... Their teeth are chattering. They look at one another in -horror. No one has a sister, a brother, a father, a mother, a friend. -All are blind and mad.... They run hither and thither. They----” - -A confused screech and roar, as of wild animals driven to a focus by a -surrounding forest fire, rang through the closed door of the room. The -king listened. - -“The palace servants,” he mumbled through quivering lips. “They are -seeking me--their father and protestor. Imagine from this how the island -is swarming and groaning, and with a terror that is half vengeance.” - -The man was beside himself. - -“Peace, Sire!” I begged, but he did not hear. - -“The terror does not abate: it increases with the freer flow of their -blood after the shock.... They are beginning to think. They look at one -another and see their kind; then kindred and friends.... ‘The Black -Face!’ says one, softly. ‘Ay, the Black Face!’ is the louder reply.” - -The king stood with clasped hands and closed eyes. - -“‘This is only the beginning,’ they say. ‘The Black Face has been denied -while it looked down on abundance.’ Who has denied it? The heavens -ring with the answer, ‘Our father whom we loved, our protector whom we -trusted, our king whom we have thought a brother of the gods. Why has -he flouted the Face and challenged its wrath? What terrors or witcheries -have been wrought by the gods of the people in the valley, that our king -has gone driveling behind his walls? ’” - -“Your Majesty!” I called, shaking him by the arm. - -He opened glazed eyes, and listened to the howling din at his door. - -“The guard are leaving the passes. The white people are wise; they -understand, and are joyful. They send scouts.... My soldiers mingle -with my roaring, mobbing people. They all push and roll through the -pools of rain-water in the highways, churning them to mud. They grind -their teeth; they laugh horribly, like imbeciles. The palace is their -aim, and their king sits grinning and mumbling there. All the trouble -has come from the people in the valley. The white blood breeds all there -is of that in the world. May ten thousand curses fall on it!” - -He was flinging his arms and lunging about. I woke to the urgency -of action, for undoubtedly in his madness he had correctly seen the -turbulence in the island, and the sweating hordes plunging over all -roads converging to the palace. A glance passed between Christopher -and me, and I nodded toward the door, which a packed, howling mass was -already straining. - -“Come,” I said, seizing the tottering king about the waist and dragging -him to the anteroom. I thrust him within, and secured the door back of -the curtain. - -When I turned, Christopher, his hand on the key of the door into the -corridor, was listening. There was no sign of Beela at the window. - -“What’s going on?” I inquired. - -“Her, sir.” - -“She’s out there?” I asked in alarm. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Open the door,” I ordered, stepping back to guard the anteroom. - -He opened it, swinging behind it against the wall. - -It was done so suddenly that those pressed against it fell into the -room. The next came tumbling on them, and more on these, squeezing -horrible sounds from the mouths of the lowermost, and bringing -unpleasant grimaces to their faces. In a second the opening was jammed -half way to the top, and still the pile grew. Behind it were frenzied -men and women, vociferating prodigiously, and fighting for the -diminishing passage to the king. - -The pressure outside being somewhat relieved, one of the more agile men -leaped on the pile and sprang with a howl to the floor; but Christopher -had emerged, and a blow from him dropped the adventurer. The next, less -active than the first, was scrambling over the heap, and paused as he -found himself grazed by the flying body of the first, for Christopher -had picked him up and tossed him over the heap into the pandemonium -beyond. The following man drew back, and slid down to the corridor -floor. - -I had been looking for Beela without, but she was not in range. - -Before another maniac could mount the pile, Christopher had dragged -a body off the squirming mass and flung it out. Another followed, and -another, and others, the succession of them so close that none dared -breast the fusillade. Christopher streamed with sweat, and the mildness -in his eyes had become a glare. - -All this had a cooling effect in the corridor. Christopher, not waiting -to look for cracked ribs at the bottom of the heap, cleared the last -away, and walked forth. None can say how much his unearthly pale eyes, -minatory expression, and extraordinary figure had to do with what -followed. I went to the door. A hush fell as he advanced on the mob, -which fell back in silent terror. With each hand he seized a man, jammed -their heads together with a murderous thwack, shook them, stood them up, -left them stunned, and immediately snatched two others and treated them -similarly. A third pair and a fourth nursed aching skulls. Christopher -swept through the groups with two long, strong arms for scythes, mowing -a wide swath as he brushed women along, sent a man spinning from a blow, -dashed another against the wall, and brought them into subjugation with -a counter-panic of his own manufacture. He came upon two men with some -appearance of character, and ordered them to finish the work and send -the people to their quarters. They obeyed him promptly. At last he -sauntered back to me, calm but puffing. - -Beela approached from the opposite direction. I stepped forward in -gladness to meet her. - - - - -CHAPTER XX.--A Habit of Concealment. - -_Beela Undergoes a Transformation. The Uprising of the People. -Contrition of Beela. I Declare Myself. An Amazing Disclosure by the -King._ - - -WHAT news, my friend?” I cheerily inquired. - -“We’ll go to the king’s reception-room and talk,” she answered, looking -at Christopher. “Dear old Christopher!” she said, deep and sweet. - -“Yes,” I remarked; “I left the king in the anteroom.” Christopher and I -followed her into the reception-room. - -“He’s not there now,” she replied, seating herself, “but with the -queen. Christopher, go and stand down the corridor, opposite the queen’s -apartments, and wait for the king. Those lunatics may break loose again -when they hear the mob outside the wall.” - -He started. - -“Christopher!” she called. He turned. “Do you love me?” - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -“That’s all.” - -I had never seen her so calm and steady, so rich in ultimate qualities, -so little the volatile, meteoric, yet wise child-woman who had been -my sunshine, my tease, my playfellow. She had become a composed and -gracious woman. It came to me with something like pain that this was the -truer and finer Beela. There was another feeling,--one of a great need -in my life. - -She wore a becoming dress that might have suited either a woman or a -man; but everything about her spoke of the sweetness and grace that only -a lovely woman can have. I was tired of the foolish Beelo sham. We had -grown too near for me longer to tolerate that absurd barrier. - -“Now for your news, dear Beela,” I asked. - -There was the slightest start when she heard that pronunciation of the -name, but she did not turn to me at once. - -“When the earthquake began,” she said, “I ran to the queen, for such -things frighten her dreadfully. After it was over there came the uproar -by the servants. I locked the queen’s apartments and kept them out. -But their noise frightened her even more than the earthquake, for they -battered her doors. It wouldn’t do to admit them. Presently the king -came by the private entrance, and although he was badly shaken, the -necessity to comfort the queen brought him composure. They are together -and quiet now. Then I came to this corridor, where the servants were -massed against the door. I could do nothing with them. For a moment I -was frightened when the door opened, but when I saw what Christopher’s -plan was, I knew that all was safe. I went then and secured the gates -opening to the palace grounds.” - -“And what’s ahead, Beela?” - -“The worst,” she quietly answered, but gave me a slow, mischievous look -over that repetition of her feminine name. “We have a little time before -the king comes,” she brightly added, “and we need it to rest.” There was -a challenge in her glance. - -“But the mob is coming!” I protested. - -“The king told me that you and Christopher and I should be quiet till it -assembles. Then he will come, for you.” - -I drew up my stool facing her, took both her hands, and said: - -“I have a confession to make, dear friend.” - -“Really, Joseph?” she exclaimed in mock alarm, pronouncing the name -perfectly. - -“You know. And you’ve been only pretending that English wasn’t perfectly -familiar to you.” - -She gave a musical, purring little laugh. Any man would deserve great -credit for self-restraint in resisting it--and the chin. Thenceforward -she spoke in English of the purest accent. - -“What’s the confession, Joseph?” - -“I’ve known something for a long time, Beela, and I’ve been deceiving -you with thinking that I didn’t know; but I did so because you evidently -wished me to be deceived. Everything might have gone wrong if I had -betrayed my knowledge to you. But it has served its time. You will -forgive me for deceiving you,--dear?” - -All that went to make her a miracle of precious womanhood was vibrant. -There was the same sweet flutter that I had seen before in her velvety -throat. Of course she enjoyed her little triumph of knowing that even -for a time her deception had prospered, and she was a-thrill with the -recollection of it. After that came contrition. A half-smile lingered on -her lips, though her eyes were rueful. - -“You are good and generous, Joseph, for not giving me a chiding word; -and I don’t think there is the least of it in your big heart.” - -“Chiding, sweet girl? I understood your feeling for the necessity of the -deception. Your wish is my law, and to serve it is less a duty than a -privilege.” - -There was a slight puzzle in the glow that flooded her heavenly eyes. - -“You found it out all by yourself, Joseph?” - -“Yes, dear.” - -“That is remarkable. Neither Christopher nor Annabel gave you the -smallest hint? They knew.” - -“Not the smallest.” The hurt of their keeping the secret from me must -have shown in my face, for Beela laughed teasingly. It restored me. -“You pledged Annabel not to tell me,” I said, “and Christopher is -silent,--and a gentleman. Is that the explanation?” - -“Yes.” A soft embarrassment crept over her, and she gently withdrew her -hands and sat regarding me in sweet content. “I also have a confession -to make, Joseph.” She tried hard to look just a trifle anxious. “What, -dear?” - -“Joseph!” she cried, frowning and stamping; “how can I think when _that_ -is in your eyes and your voice! I won’t look, and I won’t listen.” She -turned her shoulder to me. - -“What is in my eyes and my voice, dear?” - -She sat still a moment, and then slowly turned her head a trifle and -peered at me as if baffled. - -“You mustn’t tease me, Joseph.” - -She saw my smile and again turned away. - -“What is the confession?” I asked. - -“Let’s go back to the beginning. There were two real reasons why I posed -as a boy. One was that it gave me more freedom of limb for going through -the forest and for scaling the valley wall, and the other was that it -made me less conspicuous to the guards,--I could have escaped if they -had detected me. On my word, dear Joseph, I never intended to deceive -you long about that.” - -She cautiously looked round at me, for I was silent. A cheap resentment -at learning that I had been unnecessarily tricked must have betrayed -itself, for the dear girl took my hands. - -“Joseph,------” she began. - -“Then why did you keep it up, dear?” I asked. - -“Joseph, the time was when your want of perception was mistaken by me -for dulness, for obtuseness,--for such a lack of understanding as makes -a man or a woman not worth while. But I discovered that it was not -dulness at all. For a time I refused to believe that a human being could -have what I saw in you.” - -If I have ever seen wondering fondness it was in her eyes. - -“What was it, dear?” I asked uneasily. - -“Your trust which sees only the true, and, unwittingly taking into your -heart the false with the true, makes the false true with your trust.” - -I was silent with the deep thankfulness that God had sent such a woman -into the world and into my meager life. - -“So, Joseph, I prolonged that deception until all doubt of what you are -was gone. I am glad that I did, and am sorry that I can think of no more -tests.” There was a dash of her dear mischief in that speech. “And now -that this is a time of confession and understanding,--you started it, -remember,--I must say that one of the deceptions played on you------They -were really harmless, weren’t they, dear Joseph?” - -“Perfectly,” I smiled. - -“----that one of them was unnecessary. It was _such_ fun to play those -pranks on you, Joseph! I couldn’t help it. I know it was wicked, but you -were always gentle and kind, and I knew you would forgive me. Joseph, -you would forgive me _anything_, wouldn’t you?” - -“Yes, dear heart.” - -“It was delicious to see you walking so trustingly through the -complications that beset you.” - -“Dear!” I cried, my senses afloat and my arms aching for her; “I am only -human. Your sweetness----” - -She pushed back her chair before my advance. - -“And you don’t know in the least,” she went flying on, “how often I had -to leap from one of my selves to the other, and how exciting it was.” - -I was getting little out of her chatter except the music of her voice -and the picture of loveliness that she made. - -“Don’t you care to know which of the deceptions was unnecessary?” she -demanded, trying to look injured. - -“Indeed I do.” - -She came and stood beside me, gazing down into my face and clasping my -hand warmly in both her own. - -“Beela,” she answered. - -“Beela?” after a mystified pause; then, thinking that she was teasing, I -laughed. - -She appeared much relieved, and brightly said: “I’m glad you understand -and forgive me.... But you resented her at first.” - -“Beelo had become very precious, dear, and so my readjustments where you -are concerned are slow. But a new fondness grew with Beela’s coming.” - -“Poor Joseph! And _she_ wasn’t necessary. I am sorry now that I----” - -“_She?_ Who?” - -“Beela.” - -I was a little taken aback, but came to my feet with a dazzling -consciousness that all the glories of earth were packed into this -moment. - -“Not at first, dear,” I said, “but in time she became more necessary -than my life. My heart sits in gratitude at Lentala’s feet for sending -me her sweet sister.” - -She was stricken into a statue, and was staring at me as at some strange -creature from another planet. - -I stood in silent misery. How had I hurt her? - -She took a turn of the room, and flung herself on her knees at the -couch, buried her face in her arms, and went into laughter mingled with -sobs. I seated myself on the couch and laid a caressing hand on her -head. - -“Beela,” I pleaded, “forgive me. Let me know what I have done that hurt -you.” - -“No,” she cried. “I wouldn’t for all the world! My heart is breaking -with gladness!” - -Surely no other mortal could have put such startling contradictions into -so few words. My hand found hers; she caught it tight. - -“You dear old Joseph!” she said. “Choseph, Choseph!” - -It was plainly hysteria; the brave soul had been on a breaking strain -too long. I drew her to me, bent her head to my shoulder, and pressed my -cheek to hers. - -“Dear heart!” I said. - -She made no resistance, and gradually grew quiet. - -“Sweet,” I went on, “we have been through many trials together, and -there are more ahead. The days were dark till Beelo came. He stole into -my heart with hope, courage, and love. A shock came when he passed. I -don’t know, but perhaps I never should have loved you but for him. He -was the sunny highway leading to you; and now I have the daring to lay -my love and my life at your feet.” - -The sigh that drifted through her parted lips had no threat for my -anxiety, but she did not answer. Her hand gently drew mine down from her -cheek, and she rose. She studied me a moment. - -“Let’s talk, Joseph. Perhaps we have been hasty.” I noted the patient -weariness in her voice. She sat beside me, and after a short silence -resumed: “I have never loved a man till------It hasn’t been possible -here. But you have known beautiful, lovely women.” - -“Yes.” - -“And liked them very much.” - -“Very much.” - -Her glance fell, and a little quiver crossed her lips. - -“You have known Annabel a long time. You were close to her; you and she -talked long and often.” - -“Yes.” - -“She is beautiful and sweet.” - -“Exceptionally so.” - -“And accomplished--and gracious--and has good manners and a velvet -voice.” - -“All of that.” - -“And she’s kind--and gentle--and has high principles.” - -“True.” - -“She belongs to your people, your world.” - -I only smiled. - -“Joseph,” raising her sad eyes to mine, “you have loved her once, and -now love me?” - -“I have never loved Annabel, dear heart, but I do love you.” - -“Why haven’t you loved her? How could you help it?” - -“Because I was waiting for you.” - -“You have never told her that you loved her?” - -“No. But, dear Beela, I can’t discuss Annabel in this way.” - -Her eyes blazed. “She loves you!” - -“That is not true; and no one has the right to say such a thing of a -woman without knowing that her love is returned.” - -Beela bit her lip, and came stiffly to her feet. - -“You are unkind!” she exclaimed. “I have a right--a woman’s right--to -reasons for believing what is incredible without them.” - -The picture of outraged dignity that she made was so ravishing that I -feared my adoration would override the sternness which I had taken so -much trouble to set in my face. - -“What is incredible, dear?” - -She impatiently turned away. I think she did it to hide a smile, but -she was too wary to answer. Instead, she drew from her bosom the little -toilet case I had given Lentala on the day of the feast, and gravely -examined her reflection. - -“If I were beautiful like Annabel,------” she began. - -“Beela!” - -“------or Lentala, and------” - -“Beela!” - -“------and were pink and white------” - -“Beela!” - -She made exactly such a face at herself in the mirror as Lentala had, and -suddenly turned on me. - -“Joseph, Lentala used to be beautiful and good and true, and an angel.” - -“She is all of that yet.” - -She returned the case to her bosom. - -“I think you nearly loved her once.” - -My tongue was silent. Beela laughed mischievously; little devils were -dancing in her eyes. - -“Joseph, I’m serious. Reflect because it wouldn’t be wise to act hastily -now and suffer for the rest of life. Annabel would make a perfect wife. -She would play no pranks and childish deceptions. You understand her and -she knows you. I’m only a wild, uncouth savage.” - -“Anything more, dear?” I wearily asked. - -She gathered breath to resume: “And there’s Lentala. She is to be a -queen some day, and very rich. With rank and wealth, she would be a -shining woman in America, and her husband would be the happiest man in -the world; for with all of that he would have the far richer treasure of -her love.” - -“A worthy man will come to her some day, Beela.” - -“Didn’t you think she was--was fascinating?” - -“I do think so.” - -“Reflect again, Joseph: Would you prefer her poor, obscure, wild little -sister?” - -“Yes. But what right have we to make so free with Lentala’s name, -especially as she is foreign to the matter?” - -Again Beela was offended, but she controlled herself. - -“You would be ashamed of me with people of your kind.” - -“You alone are of my kind, dear Beela; and shame for you would be shame -for myself, shame for all that is precious to me.” - -“Suppose, Joseph, that I should refuse to leave this island.” - -“The highest privilege of my life would be to stay here with you.” - -She stood in a melting happiness. - -Her rosy mouth was conveniently near. I should have been a fool to let -the opportunity pass, and she was not on her guard. She drew back too -late. The dignity with which she came to her feet had a new tenderness. -I also rose. She gazed at me with a wistfulness that searched all -the hidden places in my soul. Never had she been so lovely as in this -moment. - -“Dear Joseph, take more time. There is something... you don’t know, -though I... thought you understood. Now I dare not------A great fear -fills me.” - -“Love knows no fear, sweetheart.” - -“Not for itself, but for its loved ones. Joseph, will you forgive me? -It was a foolish thing to do, and I am very, very sorry. Your trust has -shamed me. Dear Joseph, I------But first let me tell you something else. -The colony must now be marching out of the valley, for I told Captain -Mason that a severe earthquake would be his signal for starting at once. -Annabel is coming, and------” - -The door opened to the king and Christopher. His Majesty, anxious and -broken though he was, gave us an approving smile,--perhaps from what he -read in our faces. - -“My maddened people are gathering,” he said. “It was wise of you to -lock the gates, my child. When the crowd grows larger it will begin an -assault. That will be the time for me to appear. I will call out the -soldiers from the crowd and put them under your command.” - -That surprised me. “Pardon me, Sire. I understood your Majesty to say an -hour ago that _Lentala_ was to have command.” - -“So I did.” - -“But your Majesty has just said that _Beela_ is to have it.” - -“Beela? I couldn’t have said that, as I don’t know any such person.” - -I was dismayed at the king’s apparent condition, and Beela in great -perturbation was trying to speak. The man must be roused from his shaken -state. - -“This is Beela, Sire, Lentala’s sister.” - -“She has no sister,” he answered clearly, and turned sharply on Beela. -“Lentala, have you been playing one of your pranks?” He hurried her away -as she was trying to speak. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--Both Sides of the Wall. - -_A Mob at the Palace Gate. What the King Heard Through the Wall. -Lentala’s Call on Christopher to Save Her. The King Abdicates. Long Live -the Queen!_ - - -HABIT is the strongest force in animate nature. Though I was shaken, -the bent of an urgent purpose remained, and I went forward to it with -all the will at my command. - -The roar of a mob--that most horrible of sounds--smote my hearing when -Christopher and I emerged from the palace into the grounds. A turn in a -broad, curving walk through the trees brought the barred main gate into -view. It was a massive affair of wood, iron, and bolts, with a small -wicket, which was closed. - -The king, all alone, wearing his crown and his cloak of state, was -awaiting us near the gate. He beckoned us to raise a ladder to the wall. -It was done. - -“I will presently go up alone,” he said, calm but sad, “and will talk -to them. Men have gone for a heavy beam with which to ram the gate. -The crowd is densely packed here. That will make an attack on the gate -impossible for a time. It is likely that the soldiers will assemble and -clear a working space.” - -“What can we do, Sire?” I asked. - -“Nothing now. The most that I can hope for is to hold the situation -until Lentala returns.” - -“She has gone?” - -“Yes. It was something about the white people. I couldn’t keep her. She -was confident we could hold the mob.” - -“And your Majesty’s plan------?” - -“I will show myself on the wall, and talk to them. At the proper moment -I will call you up. If I am stricken down, you and your brother retreat -to the palace. Defend it by any means and at any cost.” - -His sorrow was too great to be companioned by fear, and it bore an -impressive dignity which his haggardness intensified. - -“The mob is swelling rapidly,” he said with perfect quiet. “Unless a -diversion happens soon, many will be crushed against the gate and the -wall.” - -Seeing that he stood inactive, I wondered whether he was so numbed as to -be incapacitated; but he cleared the doubt. - -“If the beam-carriers force their way through the mass, many will be -maimed or killed. I am listening to the sounds.” - -His coolness and clearness were remarkable. Christopher, unruffled, was -studying our surroundings. - -“There come the beam-carriers,” said the king. “They are much excited, -and are not working smoothly together.... One fell then; he was -stepped on and hurt.... Now they are forging ahead. They are blindly -ramming the mass before them.... A woman is hurt.” - -The king’s back was to the ladder and the wall. He was gazing into -space behind me, listening.”... Hark! Yes, that is he,--one of Gato’s -captains, a big, strong man, with a great voice. He has just arrived, -fighting his way through the crowd, and calling the soldiers, telling -them that I have murdered Gato. I have been kind to this man. On the -chance of Gato’s being out of the way, he sees his opportunity to step -into his leader’s shoes, carry out his plan, and usurp the throne.... -The soldiers are rallying. They fight ruthlessly for passage to the -captain.... It is bungling, cruel work.” - -“Isn’t this the moment for you to appear, Sire?” We had to shout. - -“No.” - -“Let me go up.” - -“No.” He was firm as well as calm. “Wait. The soldiers are unwittingly -preparing my moment. I have partisans as well as enemies there. If I -showed myself now, it would increase the frenzy. My friends and enemies -would at once begin a fight of factions. They could not, would not, hear -my voice. I will let the soldiers clear the way.” - -We waited. - -“Why don’t they scale the wall, Sire?” - -“That will come later,--by the soldiers.” - -He stood listening. That was trying to my mercurial nature, and almost -a mad desire to be over the wall in the thick of the mêlée was straining -within me. - -The king produced a key, handed it to me, and composedly said: - -“That opens the vault containing the cargo from the white people’s -vessel, including the arms. If I fall, you and your brother will know -what to do in defending the palace. But don’t be hasty. Be merciful -if you can. This outbreak will not last long. Violent earthquakes are -likely to come again at any moment, and the red fire and purple flame on -the summit make me think that there may be a volcanic eruption.” - -“What will happen then?” - -“The white people will seize the opportunity to escape from the -valley,--if they have not already started. That would mean the -annihilation of the entire party, for all the Senatras, including the -army, would fall upon them. Then my people would be satisfied, and order -would be restored.” - -My respect for his insight gave his words a crushing force. But what did -it mean that Lentala had told Captain Mason to bring the colony out? - -I was moving toward the ladder under an impulse to be in action, but a -firm grasp fell on my arm. An apologetic look of warning reminded me -that Christopher never slept when a beloved one was in danger. - -The king had noticed nothing, so deeply absorbed was he. A puzzle was -sharpening his senses and wrinkling his brow. - -“I don’t understand that,” he said. - -“What, Sire?” - -“I wish I knew that Lentala was safe.” - -“How could she be in danger, your Majesty?” - -“Her white blood. It makes her too daring.” He was looking about, but -his attitude of concentrated listening returned. “There it is again!” he -exclaimed. - -“What, your Majesty?” - -He did not answer for a while; then, “Do you hear that?” - -“Yes.” - -“It is a new trouble. It started on the outskirts of the mob, and is -drawing nearer.... I can’t make it out.” - -He was at the highest pitch of alertness, and was silent for a time. - -“Don’t you hear the voice? That is no Senatra! His cries--don’t you hear -them, man?... The people are falling away from him in terror.... Don’t -you hear?” - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“They are crying, ‘A demon sent by the Black Face! He will take our -children, and the hungry Face will devour them!’ Don’t you hear that?” - -“Something of it, Sire.” - -“The people are stricken with fear.... The women are fighting to -escape. Don’t you hear their screams?” - -“Yes, Sire. Isn’t it time to mount the wall?” - -“No. There is no foreseeing what this diversion will accomplish.” - -There was a pause. - -“He is advancing toward the gate, bellowing. Surely you hear him?” - -“Yes, Sire.” My heart bounded, for I recognized the voice. - -“He is crying in English, ‘They brought me out to eat me!’ He thinks we -are cannibals!” exclaimed the king, aghast. - -“All the white people in the valley think so, your Majesty.” - -He blazed with resentment, but his attention was again concentrated on -the proceedings without. - -“He is calling me the chief of the cannibals,” resumed the king, “and -is fighting his way to the gate. He shouts that he must be the first to -enter, and that he will find me and strangle me.... He is a maniac. -The natives have a horror of that malady. The noise is subsiding. Don’t -you notice?” - -“Yes, Sire; and now I will rescue the madman.” - -I started for the ladder, but with a fierce grip the king withheld me. - -“Would you be a fool and spoil everything?” he shouted in a sudden fury. - -He was again composed and listening. “Wonderful!” he said. “Some of the -men, seeing how easily he clears the way, are hailing him as a leader. -They are not the soldiers.... The beam-bearers are advancing again, -for the madman is opening a passage. They carry the beam on their -shoulders.... They are gradually approaching the gate. Don’t you hear -the lunatic shouting?” - -“Yes, Sire.” - -“A considerable body of soldiers must be massed at the gate, awaiting -the bearers, but they are silent. They must be consulting what to do. -They are drawing their swords.” - -“Sire!” I cried; “I won’t let that happen.” - -“Wait,” he peremptorily commanded. “What is that?” He was listening more -breathlessly than before. “Strange!... Strange!... It-----” - -“What is it?” I demanded in a rage of impatience. - -“I don’t understand,” he resumed after a pause. “What can make it? There -is no earthquake. Did you feel one?” - -“No, Sire. But I can’t------” - -“Wait.” His clutch was on my arm. “Surely it can’t be the white people -from the valley!” - -He reeled, and I seized the instant to spring upon the ladder. But I had -forgotten Christopher. He turned me round to face the king. - -The stricken monarch was standing in a tenseness sprung from unnamable -fears. But he started as something new fell on his hearing. - -“No,” he said, “not they. Something else. They are growing more -quiet.... It is a woman.... They are hailing her. She speaks. Don’t you -hear her voice?” - -I could hear only a blur of noises. - -“She is shaming the women.... And sending them away.... She is my -friend!... Do you know the voice?” He seized my arm and gazed into my -face. - -“No, Sire.” - -“She is fighting her way through the men.... -She calls them fools, cowards, ingrates.... They are dazed.... Only -one woman on all this island would have the courage to do that.” - -“Sire, if you------” - -“She is calling, pleading; she is saying that I am the kind, wise father -of them all.” - -I turned to Christopher, and found a startling transformation. No longer -was he the dull, patient, waiting man. Every nerve was strung. - -The king’s mouth was open; his eyes bulged; his clutch on my arm -tightened. - -“Listen!” he commanded. “She is------” - -“Sire, you must mount the wall. We must rescue her!” - -“No, no! She is in little danger. May the gods give her strength!... -Hush! What is that?... They are going forward with the beam. She is -standing erect upon it.... Did you hear that?” - -“What, Sire?” - -“The soldiers are advancing with drawn swords.” - -With a violent effort I broke the king’s grasp and sprang for the -ladder, but a giant hand fell on my shoulder and thrust me back. Above -the subsiding din rose a clear, unterrified call from without: - -“Christopher! Christopher!” - -He had been waiting for that. His answer rang keen and far, and he -leaped upon the ladder. - -“Come when I call,” he said to us. - -In a moment he was on the wall. In another he had deliberately sent -the ladder crashing to the ground. He studied the outer scene a moment, -crouched, and sprang into the maelstrom. - -Five thousand throats opened at the spectacle. - -“The gate, Sire! Give me the gate key!” I shouted. - -“No! It would be death. The ladder!” - -I knew that Christopher must have acted intelligently in throwing the -ladder. Had he done it merely to delay our ascent? When it was up, the -king interposed before my clutch at the rungs. - -“Your king first,” he said. - -“Mount then, Sire, in heaven’s name,” cried I, cursing inwardly at the -delay and my own impotence. - -“Stay below until I summon you,” said his Majesty. - -“Your appearance at this time may bring ruin to us all.” - -Vaguely realizing that he was in the right, I gritted my teeth and -waited. - -Meanwhile, what was happening to Christopher and Lentala in that swirl -of blind mob passion beyond the wall, and what meant the groans of men -and the clang of metal? Christopher might save her life until the king -should create a diversion, but what could a man do for himself, with a -hundred swords at his breast? - -As with dignity and deliberation King Rangan stepped upon the broad -top of the wall, the afternoon sun came forth in imperial splendor, and -wrapped him in its glory. He slowly faced the mob, raised his hand, and -held it firmly aloft. - -He had been seen before assuming the impressive attitude, and a mighty -shout of mingled adoration and derision arose; it continued jarringly -till he raised his hand; then gradually it fell into the deep roar of -breakers after a storm, and thus faded to a silence broken only by -the rumble of distant hordes moving on the palace. The king swept the -multitude with his gaze, and spoke: - -“Your king has grown old in service to his people, and now------” - -“Gato! Gato! Give us Gato!” - -“Every true subject of mine holds his life at the service of his king.” - -“Give us Gato!” - -The king stood in an iron silence. - -“Show us Gato! We must see him! We must have him!” - -Rangan raised both arms, and a hush fell. - -“Very well,” his deep voice rang out. “You shall have Gato.” - -Before I could recover from my surprise he turned to me, tossed me a -key, and in a manner that showed his perfect seriousness, ordered me to -bring Gato immediately. - -“Is all well with my brother and Lentala, Sire?” I begged. - -“Yes, but go at once!” - -I dashed through the grounds and the palace to the dungeon door, which -upon reaching I flung open, and, unable to see within, said sharply: - -“Bring Gato.” An echo as of emptiness buffeted my voice. “Be quick!” I -called. - -A stir began to rise. “What is going on?” stole a voice. - -“Bring Gato!” I shouted, with a fury in my voice that brought immediate -response. - -The shadows took dim shapes, stooped and lifted something heavy, and -shuffled hastily toward the door. - -“On my shoulder!” I rapped. - -They laid him across. I slammed the door, locked it, staggered up the -steps, and arrived at the foot of the ladder. - -The king was still addressing the mob, but his glance fell upon me in -answer to my call. - -“Bring him up,” he commanded. Again turning to the crowd, he said: “Gato -is here. You shall see him; you shall have him. From him you will learn -what it means to betray your king.” - -I was nearly at the top of the ladder, which sagged and cracked under -the double weight. The king made a detaining gesture toward me. - -“Where is the ladder that I ordered?” he asked of those without. - -“Here, Sire,” answered a liquid voice that ran sweetly over the wall and -into my heart. - -“Place it, you men. Good. Now you shall have Gato.” - -I clambered upon the top. - -“Stand him up to face the people,” directed the king for all to hear. - -I dragged the stiffening Gato to his feet, and, my breast against his -back and my arms locked round his body, turned him to the crowd. An -inability to credit the senses held them dumb at first. They looked from -one to another, horror in their eyes. His Majesty was calmly observing; -then he spoke in the awed silence, and his voice carried grief and pity. - -“You have called for Gato. Behold him! The gods have long, swift arms -for those who strike at your king and you, O my people!” - -A groan swept over the multitude; it passed, leaving a stillness -inconceivably impressive. - -“You wished to see Gato; you have seen him. You demanded him; you shall -have him.” He gave me an order. - -I raised Gato aloft, and started toward the gate, where the soldiers -were massed. In a loud voice the king cried: - -“Unfaithful soldiers of the king, take your leader!” - -[Illustration: 0253] - -I hurled Gato down among them. The heavy body struck something,--I did -not see what. Lentala was standing between the soldiers and the gate. -Neither Christopher nor Mr. Vancouver was anywhere visible. The people, -including the soldiers, were smitten deeply. - -“Lentala!” rang the king’s voice. - -A way to the foot of the ladder opened, and the king gave her a hand at -the top. Deep sadness was in her eyes, as she turned them for a moment -upon me. - -The king, still holding her hand, reached for mine also. Standing thus -between us, he addressed the throng: - -“My people, these two and the one who leaped from the wall have been -tried as by fire. They would die for their king if he but gave the word. -You have seen Gato. Behold these!” - -He gazed on the cowed soldiers, and resumed: - -“Soldiers of the king, did I but raise my hand, thousands of my loyal -and loving people would rend you where you stand. What should be done, -my children,” turning to the mob, “to honored and trusted sons who would -steal upon their father to strike him down with an assassin’s knife?” - -A murmur which rapidly swelled, and a stir which began to seethe, warned -the king. - -“Peace!” he cried. “A king can forgive. My soldiers were never bad at -heart; they were led away. Soldiers of the king, raise a hand in token -of your loyalty.” - -Every one obeyed. Besides those at the gate were many throughout the -crowd. - -“Your faithless leader gone, I appoint Lentala, my daughter, as -commander of the army.” - -There was a craning of necks. The soldiers made no concealment of their -surprise, but in their gratitude for the king’s pardon shouted their -acceptance. - -The king laid his hand on Lentala’s head. - -“I now make this proclamation: I am old and broken, and the grief of -this day has brought me near the end. To this one, true and wise, -brave and devoted, so deeply loved and trusted by us all, I resign the -ruler-ship of my people.” He removed his crown and cloak, and placed -them on her. “Obey her as you love her, and peace and security will -abide with you. This is your ruler henceforth.” He raised both arms, -and, after a pause, cried, “Obeisance and greetings to Queen Lentala!” - -A thrill ran through the gathering, and all sank to the ground. I was -on my knees at her feet, pressing her fingers to my lips and trying to -speak. - -“Joseph!” she scolded under her breath, giving my hand a little squeeze; -“don’t do that! How can I cry when you are so absurd!” Tears were -falling from her lashes. She turned, put her arms on the king’s -shoulders, and bowed her head, while mighty salvos of huzzas rent the -skies. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII.--Wit and Dash to the Fore. - -_The New Sovereign Assumes Charge. Our Plans for Escape Go Awry. Victims -Taken to the Sacrificial Altar. A Bold Act Turns a Tragic Event._ - - -IT was some time before Lentala could lift her face to her subjects. -The king’s renunciation--the finishing touch to the bold diplomacy with -which he had turned the crisis--had come to her as a bolt from heaven. I -wondered how it would affed her deeply laid plans for the rescue of -the colony; for, though it would give her extraordinary power, it would -abruptly check her irresponsible freedom of movement. Furthermore, it -had thrust upon her the necessity for swift rearrangement. Her hold on -neither the people nor the army had been firmly secured. I knew that -her quick understanding apprehended the new complications, and that she -understood the king’s wisdom fitted to the hour’s need. She gave me a -frightened look, and brightened under my smile. - -With reassuring words the old man disengaged her hands, stepped back, -and left her to face the crowd. Thus she stood alone between us. It -seemed a cruelly trying moment in which to place a girl, but she made -the fight to face her duty. It was not long. Her voice, tremulous at -first, stole out clear and fine, reaching to the limits of the crowd; -and as she proceeded it came rounder and fuller, bearing the richness -that I knew. - -“Thank you, my people. With the deepest love I accept the crown, and I -pledge my life to wear it worthily. Only love and trust me as you have -loved and trusted the good father who has ruled us so long and so -kindly, and you will find me faithful. This great change comes upon us -at a trying time. Neither a king nor a queen can govern a people without -their consent and love and confidence. Give me time to show that I am -worthy of all that from you. I shall still have the advice of the good -man who has placed upon me the crown, and of his able advisers. But I -shall trust your own hearts and heads more than all the wisdom of the -palace. I shall trust your confidence in me more than my power over you. - -“We all know that there is a special cause for the present unrest. But -be patient. The problem is not difficult, and you may depend upon me and -my advisers to solve it. Every impatient act of yours shows distrust of -your government, and if you rashly do anything to weaken the power of -the crown, you lay yourselves open to dangers. The white people in the -valley are only awaiting the moment when authority is destroyed and our -people are in disorder to come forth and work havoc among us. They stand -together as one, and are cool and not afraid. Those are the greatest -powers that human beings in community can have. If you had worked your -will today, how many of you would be alive tomorrow? Our beautiful -island would have flowed with blood--the blood of our people.” - -She ceased for a moment, to observe the effect. It ran as a low, -frightened murmur. - -“But nothing can go wrong if we ourselves keep cool and hold together -and trust to the crown. The army will camp tonight in the palace walls, -and every care will be taken to keep order in the kingdom. All will be -well if you yourselves are calm. Therefore I command you one and all to -go at once to your homes, and remain there in quiet and peace. No matter -though storms may come, or the earth tremble, or the fires under the -ground break forth, be not afraid; trust your queen and your army, for -we have no fear. Be as brave and cheerful as we. All your problems will -be solved, all your reasonable wishes will be granted, but that must be -done by your queen.” She raised her arms in the manner of Rangan, and -impressively added: “Go now, with my love and my blessing.” - -Another wave of affectionate loyalty swept over the multitude; it began -to disintegrate, and to pacify and turn back belated incomers; but a -shrill cry rose: - -“Sacrifice! Give us a sacrifice!” - -It had an instant effect. The moving crowd halted, and the cry ran to -many throats, “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” The queen turned to old Rangan, -and he almost imperceptibly nodded. Lentala hesitated as she faced the -mob again, but refrained from looking at me. She raised her hand. - -“Be patient!” she cried. - -“Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” - -“You shall have------” - -The rest was drowned in a threatening shout. Lentala stood dazed, and -in the ensuing buzzing and movement lost any opportunity she might -have desired for further speech. So she stood as the still noisy crowd -straggled off. Unrest had been rekindled, but to what extent I could not -guess. The last loiterers often stopped to gaze at the little group on -the wall, and the army stood in soldierly ranks before the gate. - -“The army will salute the queen,” commanded Lentala. - -It was finely given with the sword, and the men heartily responded to -the oath that she gave them as soldiers of the queen. With a gesture -to us that we follow, she tripped down the ladder, opened the gate, and -admitted the army to the grounds. Next, after sending to liberate the -soldiers in the dungeon, she had the palace astir with an order to -prepare for the army a feast and accommodations for the night. - -Rangan had been a silent observer of her whirlwind movements. I was not -wholly satisfied with what I saw in his face, but with whatever else -that I saw there was admiration. Obviously she was permitting him to -remain until he should be satisfied that she was capable of assuming -command of the army. As matters were quieting she asked him to go to his -wife, and he tottered away, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. - -She ordered the army to break ranks. The men showed their relief with -childish inconsequence, and scattered at will. That left us alone. -The bright look that she turned to me was a sudden change from royal -sternness to Beela’s challenge. She was my little work-mate of the -valley. - -Something had risen between us; consciousness of it showed in -her glance, and I was sore without that. To have tricked me so -unnecessarily, as to Beela seemed wanton and cruel. Unreasonable as it -may appear, I had been shocked so deeply that time for recovery would -be required. I had seen the craftiness with the gentleness of the native -blood in old Rangan. I had seen his hatred of the white man, and the -merciless savagery that his show of benevolence masked. It had made me -distrustful of the native blood, which composed half of Lentala. To the -sweet, childish Beela whom I loved had been added something that------ - -“Choseph!” - -I started, but could not bring a smile into the look that I gave her, -even though the call had been Beela’s. - -“Don’t you want to hear what has happened to me?” she asked, ignoring my -stolidity. - -“Yes, your Majesty.” - -She stiffened slightly under that address, and subtly put Beela aside -for the queen. With a hint of coldness she said: - -“At the beginning of the outbreak I foresaw that Mr. Vancouver’s guard -would decamp; so I went to look after him; but he had already gone after -being left alone. I followed him. That brought me to the crowd. When I -found myself in danger there, I called Christopher. His daring leap from -the wall and the fury with which he laid about him confused the crowd. -He was helped by some loyal subjects whom his conduct inspired. I don’t -know how many skulls he cracked, but no one was killed. I pointed out -the men for him to silence. No one could resist him. When he called for -the king to ascend, he took Mr. Vancouver in charge and slipped away.” - -I nodded, but she must have seen my gratitude for her taking such risks -on Mr. Vancouver’s account. Doubtless that was what made her eyes flash, -but at the moment I did not know why. I reflected only that two matters -of overshadowing importance must be attended to at once, and that -possibly her plans had been disarranged. - -“What has become of Christopher and Mr. Vancouver, your Majesty?” I -asked. - -“I told Christopher to take Mr. Vancouver to the hut, where Mr. Rawley -was waiting,” she answered, “and then go to meet the colony.” - -“Thank you. What is to be done with the colony, and what am I to do?” - -She raised her eyes, and there was no trace of Beela in them. “I had -asked Captain Mason,” she answered, “to have each member of the colony -bring all the food possible, and had told him that you and Christopher -would meet him in the first darkness following the earthquake, at a -certain pass just to the west of the clearing where the sacrificial -altar is, and that as the natives would be demoralized by the -earthquake, you could lead them without much risk past the settlement to -your vessel, which might be sailed away at once.” - -My wonder and gratitude at the intelligence of her plan must have shown -in my face, but her tone had no warmth when she added: - -“Fortunately, matters have turned out so that I can take the army out of -your way. The real danger lay there.” - -That was why she had admitted the soldiers to the palace grounds and -locked the gate. Could any other have given so brilliant a turn to a -threatening situation? Yet I only looked at her in silence, and her face -had not a trace of the old friendliness. Perhaps it was my own fault. -There rang in my ears the demand for a sacrifice; I recalled old -Rangan’s nod; I remembered the defenseless position of Rawley and Mr. -Vancouver; and the brown blood in the Senatra queen unaccountably looked -different from the brown blood in Beela. - -“Your Majesty,” I said, “I will go now and see that all is well with Mr. -Vancouver; then I will go and assure a clear opening for the colony, -and arrange for Mr. Vancouver and Rawley to join us as we move down the -eastern side of the settlement to the harbor.” - -“Yes,” she agreed. I was turning away, but she stopped me. “You will -reflect,” she said, “that many people in the island are ignorant of -what has taken place here today. I will send out runners, but still the -entire island can’t be covered. All know that a white man has been held -for sacrifice to the Black Face in order to stop the earthquakes and -avert an eruption. If the earthquake returns, even the people who saw -me crowned may become uncontrollable. Should that happen, I am not -sufficiently sure of the army to trust it in stopping a sacrifice. There -is just one thing to do.” - -She ceased, and regarded me waitingly. - -“What is it, your Majesty?” - -She hardened still more. “Let’s consider the situation calmly. If -some very strong diversion should arise tonight, the colony could pass -through to the vessel without risk. On the other hand, the people are -alarmed and restless; they won’t sleep soundly; many may be abroad in -every direction. If some of them should see the colony escaping, a cry -might be raised that would ring from one end of the island to the other. -That would mean the instant gathering of a mob which no power could -resist, and the colony would be annihilated.” - -“I see, your Majesty. What diversion would prevent it?” - -“The sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley.” She spoke in a cold, -business-like tone. - -My horror must have been evident. “Your Majesty,” I said with warmth, -“before that shall be submitted to, every member of our colony will die -fighting.” - -She shrugged. “That is your affair. I should hate to see any of _my_ -people killed in such a clash. It is interesting to see how jealous -you are of Mr. _Vancouver’s_ safety, when he had planned to destroy the -colony.” - -I saw the drift of her sneer, and was angry and silent. - -“He has a very charming daughter,” she went on. - -The humiliation that she was thrusting upon me was unbearable, but I -could be patient, since I carried the lives of the colony in my hands; -yet it was not pleasant to see this side of Lentala’s nature. The worst -of it was that there was no possible argument to bring against hers. Mr. -Vancouver richly deserved such a fate, and so did Rawley; their meeting -it would certainly assure our escape to the _Hope_. But Lentala could -see in my attitude nothing but consideration for Annabel, and she -misconstrued that. It was all that I could do to restrain myself. - -“I think we understand each other,” she remarked after a pause. - -“Do you mean,” I burst out in a passion, “that you are going to order -the sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley?” - -She looked at me steadily. Afterward I recalled the softening, the -suffering, the dumb pleading in her face, but I did not see it at the -time. - -“It doesn’t appear,” she quietly said, “that I am called on to tell you -any more of my plans at present. You are fully informed as to what you -may do in trying to get the colony to the ship tonight.” Her manner was -entirely that of a queen to her subject. “I think you understand to some -extent what I have done to spare the lives of your people and help them -leave the island. I will add that some trusted natives will try to make -your passage to the ship safe. But it is one thing to make plans and -another to carry them out in the face of a panic. There is no foreseeing -what may happen before morning. My scouts will keep me informed every -few minutes.” - -There came an awkward pause. Her head was down; she stood in a waiting -attitude. It seemed to me that all the world I loved had suddenly been -swept away. Behind the woman confronting me I knew that my dear Beela -stood sweet and laughing, all sunshine and dear womanliness. Only a fool -would let her go. - -“Beela!” I said. - -She started, and raised sorrowing eyes to mine. - -“Aren’t you going with us on the _Hope?_” - -“My duty is here now, and I can think of nothing but that.” - -“Does your unexpected elevation to a queenhood blot out all the past?” I -asked. - -She bit her lip. “I hadn’t expected that from you,” she said in sadness. - -“Then, is it Annabel?” I insisted. - -She did not answer at once. “You will see her again this evening,” she -gently said. - -“Of course, but------” I saw it was useless, and wondered if she was -dismissing me. “Surely I shall see you also,” I said. - -She smiled, but it was not the smile of Beela; it was that of a woman -who knows care. - -“Perhaps,” she returned; “yes, of course,--I think. Meanwhile, good-by,” - and held out her hand. - -I took it, and would not at first let her withdraw it; but with a little -sigh, which she tried to conceal, she turned away and walked slowly to -the palace. - -Heavy-hearted, but determined to see Lentala before the colony -sailed,--if it should ever have that good fortune,--I went about my -duty. - -The first task was to see that Mr. Vancouver was safe, for many -contingencies might arise to overwhelm Christopher. I went to the hut -where Beela had left Rawley, but it was vacant. Christopher must have -taken the two men to a spot near the pass, to meet the outcoming colony. -On going to the summit of the valley wall I faced the rising moon. When -I had come within a few hundred yards of the spot where the colony would -emerge,--it was the spot where Rawley had assaulted me,--I heard the low -moaning of a man, followed by his querulous, childish talk. At first I -marveled that Christopher should have left his charges in so exposed -a place, as it was immediately near the main trail to the sacrificial -stone. - -“Will she come soon?” Mr. Vancouver plaintively asked. - -“Very soon. Be patient,” kindly answered Rawley. - -The men were invisible in the gloom, but it was imprudent for them to -be speaking aloud. Yet I dared not show myself, lest Mr. Vancouver be -thrown into noisy mania. Should the natives be seeking him, it would -be easy to trail him to this spot; and the colony might be discovered -through his presence. Again Mr. Vancouver broke the silence. - -“She doesn’t suspect me, does she?” - -“She is and always will be your loyal daughter.” - -“I know.” His voice was not a madman’s. “Raise my head a little. It is -bursting. Rawley, I’m damned. The visions I’ve had! In one of them two -men came, looking like natives, but speaking English. One of them spoke -of my treachery and my death. I tried to kill him. The other prevented -me, and then I saw that they were Tudor and Christopher. And today the -one looking like Christopher rescued me from a hell of madmen. But how -could I stay in that cabin when Annabel was coming?” - -A rumbling and a quivering of the earth hurried me on. I ran to the edge -of the valley wall. This brought me nearly opposite the Black Face. I -had noticed a faint, weird light on the trees; now I saw the origin of -it,--a purple flame was issuing from an orifice below the Face. It waved -upward like an inverted streamer, wreathing the Face and lending to it a -ghastly lifelikeness. - -From below me rose faint cries of terror, quickly stilled, and soon the -vanguard of the colony arrived from the valley. The earth-trembling had -ceased; the flame was subsiding. - -There was some trouble at first in making myself known. Annabel came -up with Captain Mason and Christopher, and delayed my disclosure of the -plan for escape. - -“Where is my father?” she immediately asked. - -I informed her, and learned that Christopher had told her all that he -knew. - -“Take me to him,” she begged. - -I replied that it would be safer to bring him to her. Directing -Christopher to fetch a stretcher from which a woman had just been -lifted, I left with him as the slender procession crept to the summit. -Deep anxiety showed under Christopher’s calm exterior. - -Mr. Vancouver and Rawley were gone! A hasty search in the vicinity -failed to discover them. We worked down to the trail leading to the -clearing where the sacrifices were made. There we found a stream of -silent, soft-footed natives hurrying toward the clearing. No speech -was needed between Christopher and me to explain the situation. -Christopher’s wise plan had gone tragically awry. It had not been -difficult for the dognosed natives to trail Christopher to the hut, and -then Rawley and Mr. Vancouver to the spot where I had found them. - -I was thrown into a momentary confusion. Lentala alone had known whither -Christopher was to take Mr. Vancouver, and she had argued for his -sacrifice as the surest means to save the colony! The thought was -sickening. But it was inconceivable that _Beela_ should have the heart -for such a course,--sweet, gentle Beela! And had not Lentala nearly -forfeited her life to the mob in trying to rescue Mr. Vancouver? - -Christopher had slipped from my mind; but I observed him now, and he was -listening far. I waited, knowing that by this time the two victims were -already at the altar, and that the earthquake a few minutes ago had -lent a fierce impetus to the proceedings. I could mentally see the main -settlement and its outlying regions swarming as the whispered news flew -from mouth to mouth that two white victims for the sacrifice had been -found. - -Christopher soon turned to me. - -“They’ll have to get wood, sir,” he said. - -“Yes. That will take time, but there are many men.” - -Lentala had said that her scouts would report often; but there was a -chance that they would either conceal the present movement from her or -give her the news too late. Even should she be starting at that -moment, it would not be possible for her to arrive in time to stop the -sacrifice. Yet she should be informed. If she refused to come, then I -should know---- - -“Christopher,” I said, “go and tell the queen.” I said nothing of a -desperate plan that I had formed. - -Christopher looked at me strangely. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “And you can -save ‘em.” - -He gave me a look of dog-like love, and vanished. - -I returned to Captain Mason, avoiding Annabel, and rapidly placed the -entire situation before him. His jaws set hard in the moonlight. I -could imagine his thoughts, which no doubt agreed with Lentala’s; and I -realized the terrible risk to the colony when the fanatics should find -themselves balked in the sacrifice and should swarm in a search which -the colony could not escape--unless my plan should prove successful to -the last detail or the queen should bring up the army in time to -prevent a battle. And there was mighty Christopher, the man of courage, -resourcefulness, and prompt action. I hurled these arguments at Captain -Mason, and pointed out Annabel, standing alone and suffering as she -awaited her father. - -“You and Hobart and I will make the dash,” I urged. “It is the only -chance, and we must hurry. Dr. Preston can be taken into the secret, and -can quietly prepare the men to fight if necessary. They are all armed; -the savages are not.” - -He responded by calling Dr. Preston and charging him as I had suggested, -particularly warning him not to alarm the colony. Then he went to -Annabel and gave her some quieting explanation. I borrowed a capable -knife from a sailor, and we set out. - -We bore down to the trail, and found it still swarming with a scurrying -horde, all proceeding with a stealthy swiftness. Then I struck out on -a straight course through the tangled forest, leading Captain Mason and -Hobart a breathless pace. On arriving at the edge of the clearing and -concealing ourselves, we found hundreds of savages already assembled and -more pouring in. - -“There they are.” I said, pointing to a considerable open space between -the sacrificial stone and a packed mass of men formed in a semi-circle, -those in front sitting. Midway between the stone and the natives were -the two doomed men, dim in the moonlight. The one lying on the ground -was doubtless Mr. Vancouver, perhaps unconscious. Rawley, though his -hands were tied behind him, sat erect, calmly facing his tormentors. - -As Captain Mason and Hobart had no disguise, I alone must bring the two -men out. My companions would take them to the colony; I would remain to -face the issue and divert the pursuit. Captain Mason looked very grave, -but Hobart was all eagerness; I could guess that his sore spirit yearned -to heal itself by sharing my risk. A longing for Christopher,--for his -far-seeing eye, his steady nerve, his quick hand,--came over me. - -“I remember,” I explained in showing why I should not make the dash at -once, “that a ring was fastened in the rock about where Mr. Vancouver -and Rawley are sitting. They must be chained to it. I must wait until -they are released.” - -We knew that the delay would mean an augmentation of the crowd and the -danger. - -Of course the theft of the wood had been discovered. The hut sheltering -it had disappeared; its poles and dryer thatch were already piled on the -altar. The sacrifice was only delayed, for two-score natives were coming -in with dry wood for which they had foraged. In that pursuit one came -near us, and I made ready, but in his eagerness he passed on, unseeing. -The priest at the altar received the wood, examined it, cast out the -useless, and carefully stacked the pyre, which steadily grew. - -Silence rested on the crowd. Here was religion in its naked birth,--the -elemental man using torture and murder for prayer, with greater -reverence and faith than I have seen in some modern fashions of -placation or appeal. Fronting them across the dim chasm of the valley -was the embodied Force whose wrath must be appeased. Could the white -blood in Lentala permit this form of worship? - -We could see through the trees the indefinite black mass of the Face. At -small intervals came low subterranean growls and slight tremors of -the earth. It was as though the underground gods were gathering their -strength. - -Finally the priest’s work was done. He slowly went to the chained men, -stood over them, and raised his hand. Four men came forward, followed by -four others, who took positions back of him. Twenty more came and formed -a cordon about the altar. - -The first four knelt, and the chains fell clanking. Rawley rose without -assistance. Being speechless with a gag, he implored in dumb show for -Mr. Vancouver, offering himself alone. There was a low colloquy between -the priests and the four, at the end of which his gesture commanded that -Mr. Vancouver also be taken to the stone. As two men stooped to lift -him and two others took each an arm of Rawley, the priest began a -solemn chant in a minor key, and started the slow march to the pyre, Mr. -Vancouver on the shoulders of two men, Rawley walking firm and erect. - -At the altar the priest ceased his chant, which was taken up by the -crowd; but, though there were many hundreds of voices, they were so soft -and in such fine unison that the volume was hardly greater than that of -a dozen men. As it proceeded, the priest picked up a vessel containing -smothered coals, blew them into life, and ignited the thatch at the four -corners. Evidently the victims were to be further tied, and tossed aloft -when the fire was hot. - -As the priest stepped back to see the blaze rise, I bounded into the -open. - -I remember that the fire was hot in my face as I reached Rawley and -nipped his thongs, and that the astonishment on the priest’s face was -comical. Also, I was conscious of a numbness in my right hand. I had -used my fist perhaps more vigorously than necessary. Two or three -natives were prone when I shouldered Mr. Vancouver and called to Rawley, -and the darkness of the forest soon concealed us. - -A roar delayed by astonishment rose behind us; a thousand devils had -opened throat and were leaping to the pursuit. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII.--The Great Catastrophe. - -_A Powerless Ruler Confronts a Mutiny. Death of the Sovereign -Demanded. The Army Under My Command. Christopher’s Sacrifice. The Final -Cataclysm._ - - -AFTER a hard run, I laid Mr. Vancouver across Hobart’s shoulder. There -was no need to urge all speed to the colony. I turned back to meet the -pursuers, and ran swiftly until I encountered the foremost. Before they -had seen me I dropped to the ground and was diligently examining it when -they came up and halted, others running behind. - -“Which way?” inquired the first. - -“Stand back!” I said. “I have the trail.” - -They obeyed, but my knife was ready for a contingency. I pretended -to lose the signs, but found them again, followed a few paces, and -announced that the fugitives had turned there and headed for the trail. -“That will bring them into a trap,” I added, “for people are still -coming up the trail to the clearing. I will follow the runaways and give -the alarm. You men spread up and down here, for they may double back. -When others come from the clearing, turn them all back, for they will -spoil the trail and I never can find it again. Then you too go back if -you don’t hear from me very soon. Send a man at once to the priest, and -tell him to hold the people there, and to order up more wood and prepare -for the sacrifice. I am a Suminali man and can trail like a dog.” - -I was turning away, but paused, to make sure of them. “Have you heard -the news from the palace?” I inquired. - -“No.” - -“The king has given the crown to Lentala, and the command of the army -also.” - -It surprised them. “Where’s Gato?” asked one. - -“He disobeyed the king, and is dead,” I answered. “Tell the news to the -priest. Spread it among the crowd.” It was on my tongue to add that the -queen would soon appear with the army and disperse the crowd, but there -were dangers in it, and I held my peace. Sufficient for the present that -I had stopped the pursuit. - -[Illustration: 0275] - -On arriving at the road to the clearing I found a commotion, and learned -that the army was rapidly approaching. The people did not know how to -take that news,--whether it meant a forwarding or a breaking up of the -sacrifice. - -There came a scrambling of stragglers to escape the army, which advanced -on the trot, Christopher running in front. He saw me, wheeled, and -raised his hand. I knew that his glance at my face had told him -the whole story. My heart swelled to see Lentala, borne aloft in an -uncanopied crimson velvet palanquin emblazoned with the royal insignia. -Her dress was the one she had worn at the feast, with the addition of -the crown. In her hand she carried a naked sword, fine and lean. - -“Make way for the queen!” at intervals shouted a man running ahead of -the queen and behind Christopher. - -On seeing Christopher’s signal she raised her sword, and the palanquin -halted. She was anxiously watching the glow from the altar fire, but her -glance discovered me, and a surprised joy sprang to her face. - -“Am I too late?” she called in English. - -“No, your Majesty. All is well.” - -“Choseph!” she chokingly cried, throwing her sword away and seizing both -my hands. - -It was a public scandal. The soldiers stared. - -I gave her a warning look, and said, “Your Majesty!” - -She drew away with freezing dignity. A soldier picked up her sword, -wiped it as he would a baby’s face, knelt, and handed it to her. She -slammed it angrily into its scabbard, gave me a crushing glance, -and opened her lips to speak, but I drove the words back by suddenly -dropping in an obeisance. I would have given a good deal to see her face -in the long pause before she bade me rise. My face was grave as I met -her angry, suspicious gaze. - -“This is no time nor place to make fun of me,” she cuttingly said. - -“I beg your Majesty’s pardon.” - -She was studying me. “You have seen Annabel, I suppose?” she inquired. - -“Yes, your Majesty.” - -“And talked with her?” - -“Yes, your Majesty.” - -“You--were glad--to see each other?” - -“Very, your Majesty.” - -“She is as lovely as ever?” - -“Quite, your Majesty.” - -She examined the splendid jewel in the head of her sword-hilt, looked up -with a composed face, and demanded that I tell her what had happened. I -did so, and she beamed, forgetting Annabel. - -“I’ll take the army to the clearing,” she said, “put a stop to the -nonsense, and send the people home.” - -She said it confidently, either ignoring the danger or ignorant of it. -Evidently her purpose was the protection of the colony, but I surmised -that some power greater than hers would be required. Christopher had -been standing near, a silent listener. - -Her imposing arrival had a strong effect on the restless mob as in the -cross-light of the moon and the altar fire she stood up in the palanquin -and raised her sword for attention. She told them of her crowning, made -a plea for their confidence, and commanded them to go home. But she said -nothing about a sacrifice. - -No sign of obedience appearing in the crowd, she gave me a glance that -sought guidance. I knew that the moment was critical and the risk great, -but it seemed the only recourse. I glanced at the army. She understood, -hesitated a moment, and ordered the soldiers to clear the place. A -slight movement and a buzz ran through the ranks, but there was no -forward movement. Then rang a cry, instantly taken up till it became a -roar: - -“Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” - -Lentala sprang to the ground, waved the palanquin-bearers away, and with -a free sword confronted the soldiers, her head high, her eyes flashing. -I knew she realized that there was but one way out of the desperate -dilemma, and that she was casting about to find it without a confession -of failure. Clearly she knew that, although old Rangan had deeply -planted a sense of loyalty in the soldiers, she was hampered both by -a want of experience in handling them and by the pressure of the mob -behind her, which was swelling its demand for a sacrifice to a mutinous -outbreak that the soldiers would have no spirit to meet, they being in -sympathy with the movement. It became necessary for me to act. - -I sprang forward and prostrated myself before her. - -“Rise,” she said, extending her sword over me. - -When I had come to my feet she gave me her sword, and said, her voice -ringing clear and far: - -“I must go among my people and quiet them. You were King Rangan’s -friend; you are the man who threw Gato from the wall,--Gato, who had -been unfaithful to his sovereign. I give you command of my army while I -go among my people.” - -I took her sword and promptly faced the bewildered ranks as Lentala -drifted away; but not until I had seen that Christopher was observing; -he would understand that I had turned her over to his protection. - -It was fortunate that on the beach and during the march to the valley I -had closely observed Gato’s method of handling his men. They were crude -soldiers and their drill was childish, but my training knew the value -of discipline to any extent, and I remembered Gato’s tactics. More -important than any evolutions that they knew was the spirit of the one -commanding them. - -I rapped out an order for company formation, as the men were in loose -order. As I had expected, some of them stared at me and the others at -the rapidly growing mob spirit before them. - -It should be explained that Gato’s organization was wholly different -from that of civilized nations. While the men composing the army came -nearly to half the number of a modern regiment, and while some rude -idea of subsidiary groupings had been observed, the absence of actual -experience in warfare had made the organization hardly more than a -stolid, pompous mob, and the under-officers little besides repeaters -and enforcers of the general orders. All officers were merely the -“general’s” staff. - -I did the best I could with such a machine. Upon repeating my order in -a still sharper tone, and seeing only an uneasy, tentative pretense -of obedience, I sprang toward the officer whom I may call the -lieutenant-colonel, stung his cheek with the flat of my rapier, and sent -him spinning down the ranks. Another officer instantly found himself -treated to a similar slap, and another, as I continued to shout the -order. The fourth, a sullen brute, took the blow without wincing, and in -both hands began to raise his sword to cleave me. He never knew what it -was that sent his blade clattering to the ground; and his attention -at once became engaged in a spouting rip in his arm. That brought the -staring regiment to its senses; the under-officers all sprang to their -duty. - -Then, charging up and down the front rank while I raked the stomachs -of the soldiers with my sword, I ordered platoon formation. Under other -circumstances it would have been amusing to see the officers scrambling -for minor commands not already occupied. Evidently there had never -before been such sprightly movement required of them; my rapier -continually flashed, and men winced when it came near. - -Having thus secured control, I was in a dilemma. - -My purpose was to face them about, so that they should not see the -turbulence rapidly increasing in the mob; but that would bring them -facing the altar fire, which was burning emptily, reminding them that -the people had been cheated. But there was no choice; I must be where I -could face the storm breaking over Lentala and Christopher. There was no -time for marching to secure a back-presentation to the mob; I must risk -the awkwardness of a reverse formation. - -The command to about-face was promptly obeyed, and the soldiers appeared -to be surprised on finding me again before them. It was necessary to -keep them absorbed in maneuvers, which, of the simplest kind, such as -they could understand, I immediately put in force. - -This did not distract my attention from the turbulence centering about -Lentala. I saw the densely packed and highly excited mob crowding her; -I heard the shouts for a sacrifice, the calls to the army to join the -rebellion; I heard her clear, steady voice; I saw now and then glimpses -of Christopher standing as a rock behind her; and all the time my sword -was swinging and my orders were keeping the army at work. It would be -but a matter of time when I might turn it to the service of the queen, -but the danger was pressing alarmingly. - -Of a sudden there was a commotion about Lentala. Before I could turn -over the command to the officer next in rank and go to Lentala’s rescue, -Christopher, bearing her on his shoulder, broke through the mob, skirted -my left flank on the run, and bounded toward the altar, the flames -of which had sunk almost to a mass of glowing coals, exceedingly hot. -Without attempting to comprehend his movement, but seeing that he had -brought the queen behind the army for some purpose, I instantly opened -the order of my men, commanded swords drawn, and cried: - -“The queen’s army to her defense!” - -The command was taken up by every subordinate officer. Again the men -found me facing them as the mob came howling at my back; but the double -line stood firm as an interposing wall before the queen. Then I knew -that I had them in hand, but I dared not risk a charge, and I must see -what Christopher was doing. The tumbling mob halted before the drawn -swords. - -When Christopher reached the altar he stopped and turned, he and his -burden making a striking silhouette against the red heap of coals. She -appeared unconscious, for she hung limp over his shoulder, her arms -pendent. The halting of the mob and Christopher’s pause aided his -unexpected dash in sending a hush on the crowd. In the midst of it rose -Christopher’s voice for all to hear: - -“We’ll sacrifice the queen! The queen!” With that he flung her to the -ground and began savagely to tear her outer skirt into strips, with the -obvious purpose of binding her. - -The scene was clear to the mob through the open ranks of my men. I was -no less appalled than were the savages at the audacity of the move and -Christopher’s ferocious method of procedure. And I made no attempt to -keep the soldiers from turning their heads to see. My task was instantly -to find my cue in the drama that Christopher was playing. It came before -I was ready. As Christopher, after the binding, which required but a -moment, was carrying Lentala up to the pyre, she began to struggle, and -called: - -“My soldiers, save me!” - -I bounded through the ranks as I gave the command to about-face and -forward double-quick. But I outran the soldiers, struck Christopher -down with my sword, and caught Lentala as she was falling. The shortest -instant was needed to cut her bonds, but that was sufficient for me to -lose control of the situation. Christopher’s splendid ruse had succeeded -in saving the queen from the mob, and I knew that nothing concerning -himself mattered beyond that. Indeed, I have always thought that he -deliberately chose the time to give his life for her sake. - -As the old king had said, the natives were children, and the sudden -revulsion of feeling in favor of the queen was more even than the -soldiers, who had a little discipline, could calmly bear. A wave of -passionate devotion swept over them. It was only a mob that I faced with -my sword as I stood before Lentala. Christopher was lying face downward -on the ground as he had fallen. I knew he was unhurt and free to make a -fight for his life. None could have realized more clearly than he -that the mob would take vengeance on him, but none could have better -understood that his resistance might imperil the queen. He had simply -made the bold play for her sake, had won, and then lain down to die. - -I could not bear that, nor could Lentala, who comprehended. Without -hesitation she left me and bent over him, to receive the blow, and -was careful that he should not know her purpose. I did what I could, -shouting, commanding the soldiers to form, waving my sword menacingly. -It had a staying effect, and I cannot now say with certainty that it -would have failed. - -Suddenly, with a sickening sensation, I felt the earth tremble beneath -my feet. A strange sense of dizziness, of reeling, made my movements -waver. The soldiers also were staggering, and their purpose to rend -Christopher appeared to be relaxing; but nothing could withstand the -pressure of the mob behind them. I had barely time to snatch up Lentala -and cut a way back to the altar before Christopher, whose glance found -Lentala and me safe, began to rise as the lurching horde hurled itself -upon him. - -In a staggering run, nearly tripped at every step, I bore her to the -edge of the clearing, on the side toward the colony, and hid us both in -the shadows. When I had picked her up she buried her face in my shoulder -and clung to me with both arms round my neck. - -“What is it?” she asked. - -“A volcanic eruption.” - -“Where’s Christopher?” - -I put my hand on her lips, and she trembled as she clung closer. She was -silent as the earthquake increased in violence, and presently asked: - -“Do you see it, Choseph?” - -I had been observing it since we were seated. “Yes. It is at the river -passage. The mountain appears to be blown out there, and------” - -“Stop!” she cried, holding me closer. - -Undoubtedly the eruption had occurred at the boiling cauldron that we -had passed under the mountain. Its first violence was already spent, and -the earthquake was subsiding; but I reflected that the water from the -valley stream and from the crimson fall must be pouring into the hot -interior, and that the end was not yet. - -The ejecta of the outburst were already falling about us from the great -height to which the explosion had thrown them. Hot stones of all sizes -rained. Had not the forest been damp, it would have broken into flame at -a thousand places. - -The writhing savages in the clearing were but dimly visible. No -definiteness came out of the mass still crowded and heaped where we had -left Christopher. All sufficiently near for me to see sat staring at the -Face, which was now clearly taking its vengeance; all were moaning and -howling, and prostrated with fear. - -A deep-red flame rose with a rushing noise from the seat of the eruption -as renewed rumblings and roarings came from the quivering ground. The -rising flame plunged into a rapidly spreading canopy of smoke and ashes -from the initial explosion. The hither edge of the vast cloud was wan in -the moonlight, but the under surface reflected the crimson of the flame. -All things adopted that dreadful hue. The green foliage took it on as -the muddy purple of decay; the brown faces of the natives looked as if -beaten to a pulp. - -There came another light, and it woke a more insidious terror. Striating -the crimson column and issuing snakily from many independent orifices -distributed over a wide area of the valley rim, was the purple flame. -And now the most wonderful of all was the great Face itself. The crimson -light caught it in profile, and thus so sharpened its features as to -make it seem a living monster of inconceivable ferocity. Nor was that -the worst. The purple flame again issued from below the face with a -great augmentation. In rising and spreading it cast a thin veil over the -visage, making it ghastly. - -[Illustration: 0287] - -The falling of heavy stones ceased, but the more numerous small ones -began to pelt us. I drew my coat round Lentala’s head, and broke -tree-branches within reach to shield her body, for the stones had a -vicious sting. - -The heat was growing, both by radiation from the crimson column and by -reflection from the canopy. Flames were leaping from the forest near the -eruption, for the heat was drying the leaves. - -As the ground opened in many seams under the strain, steam found -numerous issues on the front of the opposite valley wall, near the Face. -The quaking of the earth deepened; the moans of the natives became cries -of frenzy. - -“Is it growing worse, Joseph?” - -She had been Beela since the scene at the altar, and I had nearly -forgotten Lentala. It was sweet to feel her breath on my neck as she -clung like a frightened child. - -“Be brave,” I said. “Remember, we came safely through the passage.” - -“I will, Joseph,” but I felt a sob against my breast. - -The increasing heat began to make wild mischief in the air. Little -whirlwinds had been rising, twirling leaves upward. All at once they -ceased, leaving an ominous calm. Then came a rushing, swirling roar, -with the crashing of trees,--the noises of a tornado. I looked round. -Nearly in a line with the moon rose a spinning column bearing upward -dismembered trees, liberating them far above, and sending them down -destructively. This monster, whose seizure would mean death, was -mounting the slope in its approach to the volcano, and seemingly would -sweep the clearing in its passage. I did not know what to do, and did -not wish Lentala to see what was coming, but I must unconsciously have -given an alarming sign, for she silently caught her breath and tightened -her hold. - -As I was looking about in helplessness, an extraordinary vision of -tatters and despair staggered toward us out of the forest, peering -about. Her staring eyes found me, and she stopped in fear. - -“Annabel!” I cried. - -Lentala sprang to her feet, her terror gone, and stared for a moment; -then, springing forward, she took Annabel in her arms before I had -reached her. - -“Where is my father?” begged Annabel, recognizing us both. - -“He is safe with Captain Mason at the colony, dear,” Lentala sweetly -answered. - -I confirmed the news, and because she was much more deeply shaken than -Lentala, I took her to myself and made her sit on the ground. I seated -myself beside her, took her hand, and told her cheerful things about her -father and Mr. Rawley. She had become suspicious and left the colony to -search for her father before Captain Mason’s return with him. - -She was quietly sobbing in gratefulness. A woman’s gentler offices were -needed now, and I looked round for Lentala. To my astonishment she had -disappeared. That alarmed me. In looking about for her without leaving -Annabel I discovered that the tornado had torn away the trees on the -opposite side of the clearing, and was breaking to pieces after tumbling -into the valley; but I could not guess what havoc, if any, it had -wrought in the clearing, and a profound uneasiness on Lentala’s -account made my duty to care for Annabel irksome. Even at the best, the -collections of the tornado were falling about us and on the clearing, -and an increase of the dismal howling indicated cruel results, in -which both Lentala and Christopher might be involved. And the danger -to Annabel and me was great. I did what I could to protect her from the -merciless rain of riven timber. - -It had been impossible for me to abandon hope on Christopher’s account. -Even though I believed that he had lain down in perfect content to give -his life for Lentala, the eruption had offered him an opportunity for -which he must have been ready. If he was alive and anywhere near the -zone of Lentala’s danger, she would be cared for. I could accept no -other faith than that he was. - -Annabel reasonably secure and quiet, I noted the progress of the -catastrophe, knowing that Christopher would let me hear from him soon, -if at all. The trembling of the ground had become remittent and more -violent. The cries of the natives were falling to despairing moans. -The tripping ground had made their flight impossible, even had fear not -paralyzed them. Besides, the effect of the weird light on the Face was -sufficient to hold them in a fascinated helplessness. - -The volcanic pillar of fire had shortened, for the still spreading -canopy was thickening downward. The roar was louder, with occasional -detonations from lateral explosions which smashed the mountains -environing the western end of the valley and made a still wider breach -in the opening blasted by the first outbreak. The purple flame had found -new exits, lending the opposite valley wall a cadaverous light, and, -with the spreading flame issuing from below the Face, giving the -horrible visage an unspeakable hideousness. - -Worse than all that had gone before came next. The canopy suddenly -effaced the moon, and looked like an enormous mushroom on a blood-red -stem. Violent gusts of wind fell here and there with a rending force, -working havoc in the forest and among the natives. Now and then rose a -sharp solitary cry from one struck by a falling stone or spattered by -blistering mud. At times a swarm of cries rang from the dip of scorching -gases. Clouds were gathering. Lightning flashed between them and the -canopy; the crash of near thunder swelled the tumult. I tried not to -think of the colony. - -“Where is Lentala?” cried Annabel in my ear, rousing out of a -half-stupor. - -“She has gone to the clearing,” I ventured. - -“Go and find her,” urged Annabel in fright, forcibly withdrawing from -me. - -“How can I leave you?” - -“I am safe here, and will wait for you. Go!” - -I obeyed, staggering into the clearing and falling over the kneeling or -prostrate savages. My heart presently gave a bound of joy; for, working -side by side, fearless and devoted, were Lentala and Christopher, -apparently unhurt, and doing all they could to pacify the frantic -natives, encouraging them, binding their wounds, and sending them to -the service of others, thus rapidly starting centers of control and help -that enlarged with magical rapidity. I came near, but the two who were -dear to me did not observe, so intent were they on their duty. I had -never seen so lovely a look on Lentala’s face, and I determined to let -no foolish barrier stand between us thenceforth. Christopher saw me -first, but gave no sign whatever. Then Lentala, and there was a divine -light in her startled, happy face. - -“You came to me, didn’t you, Joseph?” she said, seizing my hand. - -“Annabel discovered that you were gone, and sent me to find you.” - -Her face went blank, and she dropped my hand. Terrible though the -moment was, her childishness angered me. It was no time for coquettish -discipline. - -“She wants your Majesty,” I said. “Shall I bring her to you?” - -Her eyes flashed, but she replied, “Take me to her.” - -I tried to take her hand, in order to lead her, for the ground was -rolling and there were unpleasant things to see on the way in the red -glare; but she walked alone and as steadily as I. As we approached the -trees there came a sickening heave different from the earth-movements -before. Christopher sprang past us toward Annabel, shouting: - -“Down--on your faces!” - -I seized Lentala and lurched ahead, but before we had quite reached -Annabel and Christopher we went down in a blazing crash. - -***** - -“Shake yourself up, sir,” came in a thin voice from a great distance. - -I could open my eyes but a moment under the vigorous shaking that -Christopher gave me, for slimy, warm drops were falling on my face; but -I had met the darkness that the blind know. A painful throbbing made my -head roll as Christopher dragged me to shelter and propped me against a -tree. - -“Where are we?” I asked. My groping hands found a prone body at my left. -I opened my eyes, and the world was blotted out. - -“Keep still, sir.” - -“Are they both here?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Alive?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Choseph!” came feebly from the body under my hand. - -My arms went round her and drew her up. - -“Where’s Annabel, Christopher?” I asked. - -“On your right, sir.” - -“Unconscious?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Lentala lay collapsed in my arms. The rain of mud from the canopy -pattered and splashed about us. The ground was still, and there was -hardly a sound except the slimy drip. - -“The volcano has stopped, hasn’t it?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -I asked the next question in the conviction that I had been stricken -blind: “Is there any light at all?” - -“No, sir.” - -Lentala clutched me. “I’m glad, Choseph! I thought I was blind.” - -“What happened, Christopher?” I asked. - -“The world blew up, sir.” - -“What then?” - -“Darkness.” - -The rain had extinguished the forest fires, and the sirupy drip was -mingled with the hissing of hot stones. There was nothing to do but -wait. Wails began to creep out of the silent clearing. Lentala drew -away. - -“Poor children!” she said. “I can teach them better now. There’s a good -life ahead for me here.” Clearly she was thinking of nothing else, and -she said it with a simple earnestness. During all these dark months her -every plan and act had been for her own and our escape from the island. -I had thought that she accepted the crown as a temporary expedient to -restore order and save the colony; but now I knew that, while she still -intended to send us safely away, she had severed all other bonds and -would give her life where it was most needed. The conduct of the people -during the eruption had given the finishing touch to her decision. It -was the putting away of all her hopes and dreams; it was the dismissal -of me. - -I sat a moment in a desolate silence, and found her hand. She returned -my clasp, but it was different from any she had ever given me before. It -grew firmer, imparting a silent message of finality. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV.--The Parting Hour. - -_A Chapter of Startling Surprises. The Fate of the Black Face. A Story -of Two Girls. Wanted--a Coadjutor to the Crown. Beela Comes Back at -Last._ - - -Here was something portentously solemn in Christopher’s manner when he -came one brilliant morning with a summons from the queen to lunch with -her and Annabel. I was aware of Captain Mason’s notice to her Majesty -that in two hours the colony, which had been royally entertained in the -palace and its adjunct buildings since the great catastrophe, would file -past to bid her farewell. My absorbing duties in directing the stowing -of the _Hope’s_ cargo had kept me away from the queen and Annabel, -who had become devoted friends; but a more potent barrier had been her -Majesty’s cold reserve under her assumption of her queenly duties, which -had been exceedingly severe. The destruction of the Black Face by the -eruption had been joyously accepted as heaven’s endorsement of her -accession to the throne, and the natives idolized her. - -Nothing seemed clearer than her wish that I do my part to make as smooth -as possible her determination to forget what had passed between us. - -Confident, therefore, that she would carry off the parting pleasantly, -and appreciating her kindness in inviting me, and her tact in providing -for Annabel’s presence, I went with as stout a heart as I could command. -Christopher and I had long ago laid aside our disguise. He led me in -silence to the private room where Lentala had dreamed of a bright life -far away. A table was set daintily for three; and as there were no -native attendants, I knew that Christopher was to serve. Rangan was -near the end of his days, and Rawley gave constant attendance on deeply -stricken Mr. Vancouver. - -As I entered, I heard the queen and Annabel chatting with astonishing -gaiety in an adjoining room, the doorway into which was closed with a -curtain. Whatever they were discussing was interrupted by my entrance. - -“Choseph!” came challengingly from beyond the curtain. It was Beela’s -voice, though every trace of her had disappeared since the eruption. - -“Your Majesty,” I responded. - -“Nonsense! Aren’t you going to behave?” It was Beela’s scold and -the impatient stamp of her foot. “I’m not quite ready. Annabel will -entertain you.” - -Annabel came out. The sparkle in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks -showed that she was excited, despite her effort to appear at ease. -Christopher’s strange manner had already made me watchful, and I caught -the knowing look that Annabel gave him. My heart bounded. Could it be -that the queen had decided to renounce her kingdom and go with us? It so -deluged me that for a moment I did not heed the chatter proceeding from -the other room. - -“Choseph!” came thence; “have you neither ears nor a tongue?” The voice -rang with a cheer that even Beela’s had never known. “Here I’ve been -trying to make you guess why I’m so happy, and you don’t show the -slightest interest.” - -“I’d be glad to know,” I returned. - -“Annabel and her father and Mr. Rawley have decided not to go away, -and Annabel and Mr. Rawley are going to be married!” She hurled it -breathlessly, as a child in a hurry to tell important news. - -So that was the great secret. But why had they kept it from me? An acute -silence within accompanied my own. I was smiling at Annabel, who blushed -deliciously. - -“Christopher!” - -“Your Majesty.” - -“Don’t say that. I hate it. Do you love me?” - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -“But you are going to leave me.” She said it dolorously. - -“No, I ain’t, ma’am.” - -Something was dropped clattering to the floor within, and then came a -sudden hush. - -There was the queerest, brightest twinkle in Annabel’s eyes as she -studied me. In astonishment I glanced at Christopher. The look with -which he met mine was one of benevolent kindness. - -“Dear old Christopher!” came softly from the other room; then, after a -pause, “How can Mr. Tudor manage without you?” - -“He can’t, ma’am.” He made the audacious answer while calmly regarding -me. - -Can it be believed that I dared not see Lentala’s challenge, and that -something which I could not master held me a silent fool in the chair? -Surely there must be men besides me whom love makes humble and timid. I -have seen men love with a different measure; I have seen love make them -bold and reckless. - -Christopher had adroitly seated me with my back to the curtain. Hence -I did not see a signal that Annabel, who was facing it, must have -received, for with some excuse she withdrew, taking Christopher. - -The queen’s voice was close to the curtain as she called in a -breathless, frightened way, “Choseph!” - -“Your Majesty.” - -Before I could rise she was on me like a whirlwind, clapping her hands -over my eyes from behind and pressing me down into the seat. Her cheek -rested on my head. I thought the beating of my heart would suffocate me. - -During the silence I sat in a trance. One soft hand held my eyes closed; -the other slipped down and was pressed on my lips. I knew that Beela had -come back, and I would submit to any outrage from her. - -“Choseph,” she said in her sweet, coaxing voice, “sit still and don’t -try to speak. You are much more interesting when you don’t talk. And -then, I don’t want to be interrupted, for I’m going to tell you a story. -It is about two girls and a man. Nod if you want to hear it.” - -I nodded. - -“The girls are named Beela and Lentala. The man imagines he is or _was_ -in love with one of those girls.” The voice above my head became very -impressive. “Now, sir, you are the Man.” - -Nod. - -“We’ll easily agree that Lentala is much more dignified and reserved -than Beela.” - -Nod. - -“And never so erratic and unconventional.” - -Nod. - -“And that Beela is rude and bold, wears outlandish clothes, and adopts -scandalous disguises.” - -My head was still for a time, so happy was I in her delicious fooling; -then I nodded enthusiastically. - -I knew she was trying to suppress a laugh; she ostentatiously sighed, -and said: “You agree to that. It isn’t all. She tells fibs, and is -heartless and cruel.” I was motionless for a breathless space, and then -nodded viciously. There came a long, still pause. I could bear it no -longer. - -“Choseph! Stop! You hurt my wrist,” and again she held me prisoned. -“There. Be quiet. Well,” with a resigned sigh, “I suppose the foolish -man will keep on loving Beela and hating Lentala, and end by breaking -poor Lentala’s heart.” - -I am not positive that I entirely succeeded in suppressing my laugh. - -“It has to be Beela, then,” the sweet voice went on. “But, Choseph, -suppose the madcap should really be very different from what she ever -appeared to you, and you should discover that she had deceived you -about an important matter,--you can’t be certain that you know all her -disguises,--wouldn’t you think her unworthy of your trust and love?” - -A very decided shake, and above me a soft laugh and a little squeeze of -my head. - -“Choseph, you know you had suspicions about her skill in staining you -and Christopher.” - -I had nearly forgotten it; but as her father had been a white man -and her mother a native, her skin would require some staining to look -exactly like a native’s. I made no response to her speech. - -“Choseph, suppose a very little girl born in some other country had -been wrecked with her father on this island. She might have been yellow, -or--or almost anything. As she grew, it might have become necessary that -she be given the color of the natives.” There was a pause, and then came -the hurried question, “She’d still be the same girl, wouldn’t she?” - -I nodded, simply to please her, for her chatter meant no more to me than -that Beela was playing and teasing. - -“Think, Joseph.” She was really serious. “Once, when Lentala dressed -like Annabel, you were shocked, and said some strange things that made -her very unhappy and uneasy, and she was afraid to tell you the -whole truth. And for other reasons she thought it best to keep up the -deception. Could _anything_ new that you might learn about her change -your regard?” - -I shook my head, but was puzzled and uneasy. - -“Then,” she gently said, pressing her sweet cheek to my temple, “it -could make no difference at all what her real color is?” - -Of course I shook my head. It was impossible for me to accept the absurd -suggestion, and my simple lie could do no harm in her pretty play. - -She straightened, drawing a deep breath. “That is a promise,” she said. -“There’s something else. Now, no matter if, in showing her love and pity -for the poor grown children who need her, she permits these islanders -the harmless play of calling her their queen when they mean their -leader, their teacher, their mother,--wouldn’t she still be only Beela, -and none the worse for accepting that love and trust and duty?” - -My nod was reverential. - -“But, Joseph, she would know her utter inability to discharge that task. -She would stumble; she would fall many a time. There would come dark -hours when she yearned in bitter loneliness for the help of a wise head -and sure hand; for there is a people to civilize as well as govern. -Joseph, the heart of a woman is a woman-heart under either a toy crown -or a real one.” - -I gave no sign. There came a long pause, a deep breath, and a sudden -change of tone. - -“Joseph, suppose that some day a big, fine cavalier, with a tender heart -and a strong hand, should drift to the poor little kingdom and find its -queen torturing her soul over problems that would look so large to her -and so small to him. It seems to me that he would be moved to offer her -his services. She might make him her Prime Minister.” - -I tore myself loose, rose, and confronted her. Gazing at me was a -beautiful young white woman, frightened and blushing, a thousand -startled imps dancing in her eyes as she backed away. I was profoundly -shocked. - -“Forgive me, Joseph.” It came tenderly, wistfully, from the perfect lips -of Beela and in her dear voice. And those were her eyes; that was -her delicate, high-bred nose, and that her light hair. And she was as -daintily dressed as ever Annabel had been. - -“Choseph!” she cried, stamping in a passion as I gazed in silence. - -So overcoming a weakness assailed me that I had to catch the top of a -chair. - -“Of course I understand,” I said, unevenly, and floundered on, with -pauses: “I might have guessed, but... a cherished ideal is very real to -me. When I lost Beela and found Lentala, I lost what I had come to love. -No, not lost,--I am very foolish and blundering.” - -“No, Joseph.” Her smile was dazzling. - -“It never could be lost while I lived, and would live had she died. It -was Lentala, not Beela, who put Beela away, and then me.” - -“You know what I thought, Joseph. I meant to be kind. And I never had -the least idea until today that Annabel cared for Mr. Rawley. I thought -she loved you, and that you had been very fond of her till Beela came. I -reasoned that it would be best for you to go to your own country, marry -Annabel, and forget Beela.” - -That sweet speech explained everything, but it was not possible for me -to feel the ease in the presence of her radiant loveliness that I had -felt toward Beela, the child-woman, the sprite, who could flutter into a -man’s heart and abide forever. I managed to say bluntly: - -“I understand. And now that all is clear, may I stay and do whatever -lies in my power and devotion to help you?” - -She was regarding me curiously, and with a touch of uneasiness. “Simply -because I’ve asked you?” she demanded. - -“It is my dearest wish.” - -Still the strange look was in her eyes. I dared not interpret it as my -heart commanded; I had never loved a woman before, and needed time to -gather my courage. Of a sudden an impulse moved me to step forward, take -her hands, and look deep into her eyes. - -“Let me stay,” I begged. - -“I’d be glad and proud if you would, Joseph. You know Captain Mason is -to return with the _Hope_ as soon as he can, and will bring teachers -and a clergyman from America, and Annabel and Mr. Rawley will be married -then.” - -I do not know what it was that she saw--or that her sensitive pride made -her see--in my face that made her quickly withdraw her hands and step -back as her eyes flashed and her cheeks crimsoned. - -“Joseph! I never dreamed that you could think I meant--_that!_” - -“It was my love, my joy, dear heart. When the clergyman comes----” - -Annabel and Christopher entered. The queen flew at her, embraced her and -kissed her, and then, standing off in front of Christopher, cried in a -teasing voice: - -“Christopher, you _do_ love me, don’t you?” - -“Yes, ma’am,” he placidly answered as he set the chairs for luncheon. - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The -Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/51915-0.zip b/old/51915-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 19f6308..0000000 --- a/old/51915-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51915-8.txt b/old/51915-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ac36fa7..0000000 --- a/old/51915-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9921 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic -Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. Morrow - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony - -Author: W. C. Morrow - -Illustrator: Maynard Dixon - -Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51915] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS, THE ROMANTIC TALE OF A LOST COLONY - -By W. C. Morrow - -Illustrated by Maynard Dixon - -Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers: New York - -1908 - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - - - -LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS - - - -CHAPTER I.--On Unknown Shores. - -_Pursued by Our Dying Ship. Cast Away Among Dangers. A Pointing -Finger and a Sword. Beguiled by Savage Royalty. A Strange Girl and a -Prediction._ - - -IN range of my outlook seaward as I lay on the yellow strand was a -grotesque figure standing near and gazing inland. His powerful frame was -broad and squat; his long arms, ending with immense hands, hung loosely -at his sides; his hair was ragged; and out of his blank face blue eyes -wide apart. So accustomed was I to his habitually placid expression -that the keenness with which he was looking roused me fully out of the -lethargy into which extreme exhaustion had plunged me. - -"Well, Christopher!" I said with an attempt at cheerfulness. - -The strange look in my serving-man's eyes did not disappear when he -turned them on me at my greeting, but my glance at the forest discovered -nothing alarming. It was useless to question Christopher; he would take -his time. - -I rose with stiffened members. The wretched, beaten colonists were prone -along the beach, all sleeping except Captain Mason and Mr. Vancouver. -With silent Christopher shambling at my heels I passed Mr. Vancouver as -he sat on the sand beside his slumbering daughter; he was watching the -sea more with his blue lips than his leaden eyes. I gave him a cheery -greeting, blinked small since it was no time to harbor old scores. The -effort failed; he only blinked at me. Already I had suspected that his -quarrel with me because Christopher had stowed away on the vessel was -merely the seizing of an opportunity to rupture the strong friendship -between Annabel and me. - -Even at a distance I had seen that Captain Mason's spirit was hunting -the waters, as he stood apart in a splendid solitude, arms folded, and -towering in the dignity of a gladiator who might be disarmed, but not -conquered. Never had I seen a profounder pathos than his when, finding -the _Hope_ foundering and helpless, he had ordered her abandonment and -sent us into the boats. Then had come the most haunting thing that ever -a sailor experienced. - -It was the pursuit of us by the dying barkentine. What sails the last -storm had left played crazy pranks with the derelict. With no hand on -her wheel the rudder swung free. We were rowing northwestwardly, with -the wind, and thus it was that the _Hope_, thrust by wind and wave, -followed us, with wide swerves, with lungings and lurchings, now and -then making a graceful sweep up a swell and then a wallowing roll to the -trough. The fore-and-aft sails were gone, but some of the square -canvas held; and the sheets flapped with a dismal foolishness between -accidental fills. It was the drunken plunging of the hulk in deliberate -pursuit of us that appalled. She snouted the water swinishly; she reeled -and groveled under the seas that boarded her. Through it all, whether -she was coming prow first, beam on, or stern foremost, and no matter how -far she would veer, she clung to our course, shadowing us, hounding us, -as though imploring our help. - -In all the fury of the storms, from their first assaults at Cape Horn to -their beating us down in the South Seas, Captain Mason had not faltered; -he fought desperate odds with the cunning and valor of Hercules. But -this careering mad thing, stripped of the grace and dignity of a sane -ship,--this staggering, sodden monster, mortally stricken and dumbly -floundering after the master who had abandoned her that she might go -down alone into the deep,--was more than the man could bear; and he had -sat staring in the boat, Christopher and I rowing, while we dodged the -barkentine's blind assaults. We were still bending to the work when -darkness fell. It was then that the wind died, and we saw her no more. - -Captain Mason showed relief at being dragged back into the living world -by our approach. - -"No sign of her?" I asked. - -"Not from here. The view is shut in by those promontories," indicating -two headlands embracing our beach. - -"Then," said I, "Christopher will scale one of them and I the other." < - -There was a faint twinkle behind the seaman's look, and something else, -which recalled what I had seen in Christopher's face as he gazed at the -forest. - -"I imagine you haven't slept much," I said, knowing his anxiety on the -barkentine's account. - -"How could I, Mr. Tudor, when she had been following me like that?" - -"Then you have already been up there to see if you could find her?" I -ventured. - -He looked amused as he drawled, "Not all the way," and gave Christopher -a look that appeared to be understood. His gesture swept the heights on -either side and the richly verdured mountains that began to spring in -terraces a short distance from the beach. "This is a tropical region," -he went on, "and those trees bear lively fruit. It is brown and carries -swords. I didn't get all the way to the headland." - -I understood, and inquired, "Did they speak?" - -"No. A pointing finger with a sword behind it needs no words." - -I wondered where we could be, that armed natives should exhibit a -hostile attitude. "Where are we stranded?" I asked. - -"I don't know. It has been weeks since I could even take a dead -reckoning, and we've been blown far since then. My instruments -disappeared while I was exploring this morning." - -"And we are without food or weapons," I added, feeling a thrill at the -prospect of measuring forces with an obscure menace. - -Mr. Vancouver had loaded the barkentine with every possible means of -defense, subsistence, and development, but we had fallen on an island -far short of the one in the Philippines which he intended to colonize. -The fate of the _Hope_ was a vital matter. Most of her precious cargo -was behind bulkheads. If she had not gone down, very likely she would -drift to this island and yield her resources to any enemies we might -encounter here. - -Christopher was gazing at the forest again. I could see only deep -shadows and brown tree-boles under the leafage. Birds of brilliant -plumage were flitting among the trees, and the warmth of the sun bathed -us in sweet, heavy odors. - -"They are coming, sir," said Christopher. - -I observed a slow undulation in a wide arc among the shadows. A -tree-trunk in the outer edge apparently detached itself, then advanced -into the open, halted, and raised a sword. Five hundred other shapes -came forth from the wide semi-circle touching the shore at either end. -Some bore swords, others spears, and still others knotted war-clubs. The -soldiers were brown and bareheaded, and the dress of each was limited to -the loins, except that of the leader, the man who had first stepped out; -he wore a sort of tunic or light cloak, and a head-dress, both gaudily -illuminated with feathers. - -Captain Mason stood motionless. - -"What shall we do?" I impatiently cried. - -Christopher left us and rapidly roused the sleepers. He must have -dropped reassuring words, for the stir proceeded without panic, though -all could see the advancing threat, which approached with an ominous -deliberation. - -"Do you think it's to be a slaughter, Captain?" I asked. - -He gave no answer, being evidently stunned. I turned to Christopher as -he rejoined us. Many a time since I had rescued him from a mob of boys -in a Boston street, taken him to my lodgings, and made him my servant, -his strange mind had seemed able to penetrate baffling obscurities. At -such times he had a way of listening, as though to voices which he alone -could hear; but with that was an extraordinary reticence of tongue, -and often an indirection that had tried my patience until I learned to -understand him as well as an ordinary mortal could. - -"Are they going to kill us, Christopher?" I asked. - -He was in a deep abstraction, and I knew he was listening. "Sir?" - -That was his usual way of gaining time, and I had learned to wait. - -"Are they going to kill us?" - -"Kill us, sir?" - -"Yes." - -"You are asking me, sir?" - -"Yes. Are they going to kill us?" - -"Not now, sir," he firmly answered. - -The glance which Captain Mason and I exchanged was one accepting -Christopher's opinion and groping for what lay beyond it. - -With some accuracy of maneuvering, the leader aligned his soldiers, -stepped out after halting them fifty yards away, and stood waiting, -obviously for a parley. He was showing impatience as Captain Mason still -stood motionless. - -"Some one must meet him," I said. "It will never do to show timidity. -You are the fittest." - -"These people are strange to me," he replied, "and I don't know how to -proceed. They have an appearance of ferocity that I have never seen in -these seas. Many outside men must have drifted to this island, but I'll -warrant that none ever left it, for I've never heard of anything that -looks just like this. I imagine it is the graveyard of the unreported -wrecks that happen in this part of the Pacific." - -I was surprised at the grayness in his face and the glaze in his eyes. -What could our two hundred and fifty men, women, and children, helpless -as they were, do without his shrewdness and courage? - -"Then we have all the more to do," I urged. - -He squared himself, and said: "We three will meet them. Put yourself -forward. Your height and strength will impress them." - -It looked odd that he did not include Mr. Vancouver, the leader of our -enterprise, and Lee Rawley, the aristocratic and disdainful young lawyer -whom Mr. Vancouver hoped that Annabel would marry. - -[Illustration: 0021] - -Meanwhile, the leader of the savages, a man of commanding size and -manner, had been growing more impatient, and was putting his men through -some manual that hinted at barbarous proceeding; but when we started -he desisted, and met us with urbane gestures. Then ensued a struggle to -find a means of communication. Both Captain Mason and I knew something -of the Pacific languages, he from a sailor's experience and I from -having fought as a first lieutenant in the Philippines during the war -with Spain; but apparently our combined resources failed. Finally we -caught a Spanish word and then a German. It remained for Christopher to -discover that the embassador spoke some pidgin-English with his tongue -and all languages with his gestures. Thus we learned that the gracious -King Rangan had sent Gato, commander-in-chief of the army, with an -escort of honor to conduit us to the imperial presence. - -Captain Mason and I carefully avoided each other's eyes. The tomb-like -mask that Christopher knew how to wear was on his face. - -As there were two armed savages to each colonist throat, there was -nothing to do but accept. In a dismal procession guarded by the -soldiers, we labored through the sand and sank into the scented forest. - -After a walk through flagrant aisles of shade and color, we came upon a -wide sweep where the undergrowth had been cleared away; in its place -was a cluster of huts made of bamboo and thatch. The central space was -occupied by one more imposing than the others. The matting curtain -at the door was drawn aside after we had been seated before it on the -ground, and a sturdy figure, followed by a striking retinue, came forth -and took an elevated seat on a platform extending from the house. - -The king's gorgeous robe of a light fabric adorned with feathers and -embroidered with gold was worn with a knowledge of its impressiveness. -A wide band of gold embedded with gems served for a crown; the blazing -scepter and massive wristlets and anklets were of like materials; the -ears and fingers flashed with jewels. The royal face was benignant. Gato -stepped forth to interpret, as the king's immediate followers, dressed -in long embroidered garments of native texture, ranged about the throne. - -The attendant swinging a large feather fan over the king's head was the -only woman discoverable. There was a striking difference between her and -the men. It was manifest in a prouder poise of the head, in a look -of higher intelligence, and in a finer definition of features. The -eagerness with which her glance ran over us, a shyness that struggled -with an impulse to a bolder scrutiny, combined with a certain refinement -of bearing to set her apart. She was raimented with no less barbaric -splendor than the king and his immediate attendants, but in better -taste. Her brown bare arms and neck were turned on the graceful lines of -youth, and her wrists and hands were small. Her hair, instead of having -the glistening blackness of the men's, housed some of the sun's gold; -and I was startled to discover finally that her eyes were a deep blue. - -At last her roving glance was caught and held by me. In her eyes was -a moment of hungry inquiry. She caught her breath; a break came in the -regular swing of the fan, and her eyelids drooped. - -My fascinated attention to her was diverted by a deep rumble. King -Rangan was speaking. - - - - -CHAPTER II.--The Falling of a Fong - -_A Royal Feast. The Fan-Bearer's Significant Conduct. A Gloomy Forecast. -Had Any Before Us Escaped? The King's Promise. Prisoned in Paradise._ - - -THE interpreter made a genuflection to the throne, and beckoned to -Captain Mason and me. I thought that Mr. Vancouver ought to be included, -but the skipper ignored my inquiring glance, and stepped forward. After -bowing, we stood waiting. - -The king gave us a shrewd look. Then his eyes blazed, and he ripped -out something to the interpreter. I discovered the cause. My faithful -Christopher had brought up his prodigious strength for a possible -emergency, and it was clear that the king was offended by the grotesque -figure. - -The interpreter hesitated, for he knew Christopher's speech-value, and -the king snapped out another command. I knew it was an order that -some shame be put upon Christopher. At that my muscles hardened, and I -stepped protectingly before him. The fan over the king's head abruptly -stopped. The leader raised his hand, and a dozen of his men advanced. - -Dimly aware that Captain Mason was employing some pacific measures, I -was more concerned by Annabel's surprising act. Her eyes shining and her -cheeks aglow, she briskly came up, laid her hand on Christopher's arm, -and sweetly said: - -"Come and stay back here with us." - -His pathetic look went questioningly from her to me, and he held -his ground. I glanced round to see what next the king would do. With -astonishment or wonder the fan-bearer was staring at Annabel, who made -a striking picture; then she whispered into the royal ear. In a milder -voice he said something to the interpreter, who by a gesture to us -indicated that the king was satisfied. At a word from me, Christopher -came and stood beside me. - -His ostensible purpose proved to be merely a formal welcome, an -ascertainment of our origin, purpose, and disaster, and an invitation to -a feast. - -As the others of the colony were in too dull a state to give attention, -the king confined to us three a shrewd scrutiny. But Captain Mason and -I, feeling that the welcome was only a sheathed sword, held blank faces, -and did not even pass a glance of understanding; and Christopher could -be depended on under all circumstances to give no betraying sign. -The one thing to do was to show a grateful acquiescence. The time -for planning would come when our people were capable of thought and -action,--if we should be spared that long. - -It was indeed a feast. The smoke which Christopher had seen rose from -a barbecue, at which fresh meat and fowls and fish had been deliciously -cooked. The completeness of the preparations indicated that they must -have been begun immediately after our landing. Fragrant boughs were -spread on the ground near the barbecue trench, and on them we seated -ourselves. Plantain leaves made excellent platters. Roasted yams, bread -made of ground seed or grain, and fruits of many kinds, were served in -abundance. - -The effect was magical; the down-hearted took cheer, and laughter -ran through the trees. Much of the transformation was wrought by the -solicitous attentions of the servers; but more cheering was the gracious -friendliness of the king, who, besides personally directing the service, -mingled with us in a democratic way, yet with no sacrifice of dignity. - -Most fascinating to me was the fan-bearer. Whereas the warriors stood -in awe of his Majesty, she treated him with almost a flippant disregard. -She went among the colonists, keenly anxious that all should be pleased, -her face breaking into bewitching smiles, her mischievous eyes dancing, -her musical laugh rippling. The distinction in her manner as she had -stood behind the throne was augmented in the modest abandon of her rle -of hostess. The alertness of her glance, the joyous spirits that bubbled -out of her light pose and movement, her sprite-like airiness, her -obvious efforts to restrain an instinct to play, to tease, to get into -mischief, a running over of kindness and happiness,--these and more -elusive qualities set her apart from the men and made them look dull and -sordid. - -[Illustration: 0029] - -Her greatest interest was in Annabel, the only highly cultured woman -in our party, since the colony was composed of workers in practical -industries. The two girls had no language in common, and appeared -sharply different in temperament and training; yet there was visible -between them a bond of feminine sympathy such as no man can understand. -It was curious that the savage one was not abashed before her highly -civilized sister. In the gentle eagerness with which she served Annabel, -frankly studied her, and courted her notice, was something that looked -pathetically like the yearning of a starved soul for what Annabel -had--the enjoyment of a birthright. Annabel appeared to see that -longing, and she stretched forth a friendly hand into the fan-bearer's -darkness. - -Captain Mason, Christopher, and I formed a group. Despite the grief and -anxiety on the sailor's face, he betrayed his share of the sunshine that -the girl bestowed on all. She came to us often, and there was a touch -of shyness not visible when she flitted among the others. Virtually -ignoring me, she gave some attention to the captain, and was -particularly solicitous toward Christopher. She stuffed him, and laughed -at him. Christopher enjoyed it, gazed up into her sparkling eyes, and -strained his ribs with the food that she coaxingly urged upon him. - -On one of her visits I smilingly handed her a little pocket toilet-case -which I carried. She took it gingerly, examined it curiously, and with -childish interest inspected its contents. Her surprise at discovering -the mirror was not so great as I had expected, and did not look quite -sincere. She held it up, made a grimace at her reflection, thrust out -at it a tongue as sweet and pink as a baby's, tossed the kit back at me, -and went dancing off in a swirl of laughter. - -Presently she demurely returned on a pretense of looking after -Christopher's wants, and of a sudden, brilliantly smiling, held out her -hand for the trinket. I gave it to her. Her eyes fell when I looked up -closely into them, and in agitation she thrust the case into her bosom. -I discovered that Annabel was curiously observing her. - -Captain Mason gazed thoughtfully after her as she left, and remarked: - -"That girl is going to be mixed up with our fate." - -"What do you make of her?" - -"An eaglet hatched by buzzards." - -Christopher's evident regard for her was dazzled wonder. - -"You like her, Christopher?" I asked. - -He was serious at all times, and much of his gravity was sadness. He -nodded impressively. - -"Yes, sir." - -"She has fed you well." - -"Yes, sir." He spread his immense hands over his stomach. - -"I'll ask her to bring you some more," I said. - -His face showed alarm. "Don't, sir! I'd shorely bust." - -"But you wouldn't have to eat more, even if she brought it." - -"Yes, I would, sir." - -"Why?" - -"I'd jess _have_ to, sir." This with a solemn helplessness. - -"He has taken her measure," dryly remarked Captain Mason. - -He had found opportunity to study the splendid jewels so abundantly -adorning the king and the girl. - -"Those gems," he said, "were cut by European lapidaries." - -There was a disturbing suggestion in his words, but I could not define -it. This island had received rich treasures from civilization. Here was -a mystery. - -"How do you account for them?" I asked. - -"The typhoon makes many wrecks. There's no knowing what shores they -crawl up on to die." - -"Yes; but you see that although our ship was wrecked, we came ashore. -Survivors of other wrecks likely have had the same experience." - -"No doubt." - -"Then, why haven't they given out news of this island? It is evidently -very rich, and----" - -He gave me an obscure look, and turned away with the remark: - -"I think you'll find the reason in a few hours." - -He must have felt the hurt in my silence, and opened a confidence on -another tack. - -"You have noticed, Mr. Tudor, that there are no women, children, nor -domestic animals in this village. Do you infer anything from that?" - -"What is your inference, Captain?" - -"The village is not inhabited. The natives live back of those mountains -to the west. This is merely a receiving-station for wrecks and -castaways." - -The shrewdness of the king was not hidden by his hospitality. I did -not overlook the inquiries that he made among the colonists with Gato's -help, nor his private colloquy with Mr. Vancouver, nor the thoughtful -look of that gentleman when it was over. - -The banquet was ended; the colony was reassembled before the throne; the -king, backed by his now sedate fan-wielder, seated himself; and Captain -Mason, Christopher, and I stood ready. We were made to understand the -following: - -We had not been invited to this island, but the misfortune that landed -us on it would be respected. Two circumstances ruled the situation. One -was that no vessels from the outside world ever put in here, and hence -our means of escape were restricted to such resources as the king might -devise; the other, that our intercourse with the people would not be -permitted beyond a certain limit. The king explained that in youth he -had gone abroad and found that the ways of white people were not suited -to the islanders, who would be demoralized should they come under our -civilization. - -At intervals he sent his people, two or three at a time, in a small -boat to the nearest islands, some hundreds of miles away, with native -products for barter. But so great had been their precautions that the -situation of the island had never been discovered. In these boats one or -two of us would be taken away at a time, and thus placed in the path of -ships that would assist us homeward. - -In order to keep us isolated from the people, we were to be conduced at -once to a pleasant valley, which would be free to us for our exclusive -use. Natives skilled in farming would be furnished us for a time as -instructors; but it would be expected that we should pledge our honor -not to make any attempt to leave the valley without permission. - -Every heart among us sank. A deep look was in Captain Mason's eyes. It -was on the end of my tongue to say, "Captain, let him know that we can -make our own vessels and leave in them;" but a glance at him informed -me that he had forgotten nothing, and that anything but a cheerful -acceptance of the old bandit's conditions, until we might devise and -execute plans of our own, would precipitate immediate disaster. And then -I understood why the captain had asked no question about the barkentine. - -He said to me, under his breath: - -"You have an easy tongue. We must keep our people blind for the present. -Brace them up and flatter the king." - -The colonists were in the apathy of weariness and repletion. The glow -with which I put the situation to them was barely needed to secure their -acquiescence. - -I turned to the king. Only with difficulty could I see him clearly -through the intensely dramatic picture made by the girl. All through the -conference I had seen her intense anxiety. What did it mean? With her -sweet audacity, she might have made some sign. As I read her conduct, -it betrayed a terrible uneasiness lest we refuse or were ungracious. -Clearly she was greatly relieved by our acceptance. - -I thanked the king and gratefully accepted his proffers. He then -informed us that we should immediately be conducted to our valley, made -comfortable, and supplied with everything needful. - -The cavalcade, conduced by the armed guard, started through the -enchanted forest, and mysteries throbbed in the very air. Never had I -seen so pathetic a spectacle as this draggling procession of civilized -people marched as dumb cattle to the shambles by a horde of savages. - -Captain Mason, Christopher, and I stood apart as the others filed past. -The man of the sea was in a deep reverie. - -"If the king," I said, "has been so careful to conceal this island from -the world, why should he plan sending us away to betray it?" - -Captain Mason gave me a slow look. - -"Do you think that he intends to send us away?" he asked. - -"If not, he hasn't sent other castaways off, and we'll find them here." - -Again that slow look, but I felt that it saw too far to include me. He -shook his head, and said, as though talking to himself: - -"Now begins the great struggle. We'll be patient--and ready. That girl -is our hope." - -The king descended; the fan-bearer, her face mantled with content, -disappeared within the administration hut and dropped the curtain. The -rear guard were waiting for us three, and we started. After a few paces, -I turned, and saw, as I had hoped to see, a brown face watching us -through the parted curtain, and it was filled with more mysteries than -any enchanted forest ever held. - -On and up we went, and finally reached the summit. We stood on a small -open plateau, which abruptly ended in a precipice. Before us was a giant -chasm in a great tableland of lava. The floor was a thousand feet below. -We were looking down on it from the top of the great wall of columnar -basalt which enclosed it. The chasm was an irregular ellipse, some three -miles on its minor axis and five on its major. The floor was level, and, -except for some farms, was covered with a forest. A breeze sent long, -unctuous waves of lighter green rolling over it, or swirling in graceful -spirals where the wall deflected the wind and drifted it on in majestic -eddies. - -In splendid contrast to the deep, warm colors below was the gloomy black -of the mighty enclosing rampart. Near the upper end a beautiful stream, -nearly a river in size, made a wild, joyous leap over the brink. A lake -into which the water plunged sent up clouds of mist, out of which sprang -a rainbow. From the lake ran the stream of molten silver which swung -lazily on its shining way through the valley till lost in the distance. -The leader of the guard announced that the valley was our destination. -I was dumb in the grasp of its witchery, but a quiet voice brought me -back: - -"As good a prison as another." Captain Mason had spoken. - -"Why, man," I cried, "that is Paradise!" - -"No doubt; but the flaming sword will keep us in, not out." - -During the march I had not failed to keep Christopher in the corner of -my eye. I had been trying to read in his face one of those flashes of -insight which his fine instinct sometimes threw into dark places. He had -held his listening attitude often since I found him standing beside me -on the sand. It had given his face a certain leaden alertness, which, -as we beheld the valley, slowly faded into the habitual blankness, and I -saw that it was useless to question him. - -We descended through a steep, narrow cleft, and were marched through a -forest to the stream. A rude bridge bore us across, and there we found -a large number of natives rapidly and skilfully building us a village of -huts made from logs, boughs, and thatch. From all indications, they must -have begun the work almost immediately after we landed. Large stores of -food and other necessities had been accumulated; nothing needed for our -comfort and sustenance had been neglected. - -As soon as the soldiers had helped us bring order to the camp and the -building of the village was finished, they and the workmen melted away -in the twilight. - - - - -CHAPTER III.--The Menace of the Face. - -_Accepting the Challenge. The Threat. What the Face Saw on the Bluff. A -Mysterious Visitor. The Fan-Bearer's Conspiracy._ - - -CAPTAIN Mason and I occupied the same hut, but we held no converse -that night before falling into heavy slumber. Christopher insisted on -sleeping outside the door. If any of our party had thought it prudent to -appoint a watchman, no suggestion to that effect was made; but there was -no knowing what responsibilities Christopher assumed. - -The sun was looking over the great wall when we assembled for breakfast. -Every one had a brighter appearance. I had never seen men so terribly -cowed as these since the storms had beaten them down. The women had -looked beyond the hopelessness, and had tried to sustain the courage of -the colony. Every man was now beginning to hold up his head. - -Some of the despair had melted from Mr. Vancouver's face; it was clear -that the lion in him was feebly straining. Mr. Rawley was recovering his -aplomb. Annabel, having in her bearing an added depth and sweetness, had -undoubtedly done much to accomplish that result with the two men, for -there was something pathetic in the tenacity with which they clung to -her. - -On the barkentine, before the elements became destructive, she had been -aloof toward the other women and the children; but on the beach, at the -feast, and on the weary march to the valley, she had given a cheering -smile, word, or deed to those about. The promise thus made was meeting -fulfilment this morning. She had assumed charge of the breakfast -preparations, and, seeing that Christopher yearned to do kindly service, -had made him her executive. I often caught her look of wonder at his -unfailing intelligence, patience, and gentleness in doing her bidding. - -After breakfast the men began to talk among themselves. Captain Mason -went over and said something to Mr. Vancouver, who shook his head, and -the captain returned to me. - -"Now that the men are rousing," he said, "it is time to organize. Mr. -Vancouver declines to take the lead." - -"You are the one for that," I declared. - -"No. You have the military training and the tongue." - -"But you have wisdom and a longer experience in discipline. Let's -compromise. Take the leadership. I'll do your talking." - -"Very well," he said. "There's no need to caution you, but the others -ought to know; these trees may have ears We need organization for -defense." - -At the end of a heartening address to the colony I called for the -selection of a president. Mr. Vancouver named Captain Mason, who -was elected. I was chosen his assistant, to Mr. Vancouver's evident -annoyance. Dr. Preston, a young physician, was made superintendent of -the camp. - -The men squared their shoulders; the women's faces brightened. In a -few words I urged against any restlessness, any plotting,--anything, -in fine, that would have the faintest color of mistrust or disobedience -toward the king. "Be patient. Hold together." That was the watchword. - -Gato, the interpreter, soon appeared with a crowd of natives, and -indicated that Christopher and I, with twenty picked men, should follow -him. A short distance down the stream we came upon cleared land, and -were given our first lesson in farming. Our men winced under this and -the indefinite term of imprisonment which it implied. But the word was -passed round: "Wait. Be patient." The one hundred and fifty intelligent -American men of us would find a way to match any ten thousand heathen -under the sun. Blessed be the American brag! It is the front of -something good behind. - -The lesson was concluded in the early afternoon, for the sun was growing -hot. Gato led us down the stream a mile to a low ridge stretching across -the valley. Not a break in the great wall enclosing the valley was -visible, except the thin cleft which had given us ingress; but I -reasoned that at the lower end there must be a gorge through which -the stream issued, although no sign of it could be seen. Gato made us -understand that this transverse ridge was the boundary of our freedom. -He pointed out two landmarks springing from the walls and marking the -terminals of the ridge. - -The one on the far side of the river was a barren bluff; opposite it, -and forming part of the wall behind, there suddenly appeared a hideous -caricature of a human face, a ferocious gargoyle, rudely fashioned by -nature from the upper front of the cliff, protruding from the rock, and -leering down horribly. It must have been a hundred feet from forelock to -chin. - -I withstood the shock badly, but was steadied by noting the deep -satisfaction in Gato's eyes as he observed me. Unmistakably it was one -of malignant triumph, instantly gone, but almost as disconcerting as the -awful face itself. I felt that the ghastly apparition on the wall held a -significance reaching the very depths of our fate. It was the embodiment -of all the silent and implacable menaces hovering over the lethal -fairness that environed us. - -It had the blackish color of the rock, with reeking perpendicular -streaks of green alternating with dull red. The forehead and chin -receded in a simian angle; bulging eyes leered; below high cheek bones -were mummy-like recessions, and hungry shadows filled them; the nose was -flat, and the nostrils spread bestially. - -Gato, informing us that his men would be on hand the next morning, took -himself away. It gave a creepy sensation to note the snaky smoothness -with which these men could sink out of sight. - -Our party started for camp. A heaviness sat on me, and I did not wish to -talk. Christopher and I fell behind, and the others left us. I could not -bear that any but Christopher should see my perturbation. Several times -I glanced back to see the face on the wall. Its malignancy grew even -more terrible through the hazing distance, and I was glad when the -forest shut it out. If the spectacle affected me so deeply, what greater -hold must it not have had on the natives? And there was the significant -look that I had caught from Gato. - -On top of the opposite wall I discovered near the edge what appeared to -be a large stone table, or altar, and its position with reference to the -face suggested a sinister purpose. - -Now that the men were gone, hopelessness fell upon me. Never had -anything like such heavy responsibilities crept into my life. A sense of -my inadequacy grew unendurable; and, overcome by weariness of soul and -body, I flung myself on the ground and buried my face in my arm. - -Christopher presently stepped away with a sprightliness quite unusual, -but I had not the spirit to look up. Even returning footsteps and a -low murmur of voices failed to stir me. I was recalled by Christopher's -quiet remark: - -"Some one to see you, sir." - -I sat up, and discovered a native lad with him. His loose dress of -blouse, trousers, and straw hat was of the commonest material. He was -as unlike the native men as I had observed the fan-bearer to be, but his -manner was shy and timid, lacking the careless defiance of hers. With a -finger on his lips he beckoned us to follow him. - -In a secluded spot a little distance away, we sat down. My first -surprise was when he began to talk. In a musical voice, he groped for -words that I could understand, and in that way used a polyglot -language, some words badly pronounced, and others spoken with surprising -correctness. - -First, he enjoined secrecy, for should the king learn that he had -come----The lad finished with a grimace, and a swipe of the hand across -his throat. He made me pledge the sun to burn me up, the moon to strike -me a stark lunatic, and the stars to pierce me with their lances, should -I betray his confidence,--all this solemnly, but with a twinkle in the -back of his eye. - -Second, he was Beelo, brother of the king's fanbearer, Lentala, a good -girl in a way, but----A droll shake of his head left her in the air. -Lentala and he were protgs of the king and queen, and enjoyed uncommon -privileges, having been members of the king's household since childhood. -The queen was very sweet and gentle, and they were fond of her. She had -no children of her own. - -And, third, Lentala wished Beelo to come surreptitiously to me in order -to learn English. She had a special reason for that. Neither the king -nor any of the other natives must know. That was all. Would I teach him, -that he in turn might instruct her? - -Our conversation, carried on in a mixture of languages, must be here -given in English. - -"Indeed, I will, and gladly, Beelo!" I exclaimed; "but why not bring -Lentala, that I may teach you together?" I seized his hand in my joy of -this heavensent opportunity. It was a small, delicate hand. - -"She _can't_ come," he answered. - -"Why not?" - -"Why--she's a girl!" - -"But she might come with you." I was pleased with the discovery that the -savage girl had the fine instinct which establishes self-guarding and -self-respecting conventions. - -"The distance is long. Girls have to wear skirts, you know, and girls -are not as active as boys. Lentala, with her skirts, would be seen, and -the king would find out. I can slip through anywhere." - -I nodded resignedly. Only with the greatest difficulty could I refrain -from asking him many questions; but how did I know that he was not a -spy? In establishing relations with him I was playing with every life -in the colony. I observed Christopher. His air of listening to distant -voices was not present, and I felt reassured for the moment. - -Beelo was anxious to begin; and he had his first lesson. Never had -I found so eager and sweet-tempered a pupil, and his quickness was -extraordinary. I drilled him first in the names of familiar objects. - -"What is your name?" he plumped at me. - -"Tudor." - -"Tudor." He caught it with a snap, as though it were a ball. "You have -another name?" - -"Yes--Joseph." - -He began a comical struggle with the J, laboriously twisting his tongue -and lips as he pronounced the first syllable _Cho_ as the Chinese, _Yo_ -as the German, _Zho_ as the French, and _Ho_ as the Spanish; but the -English eluded him, and he gave it up, laughing sweetly. Often during -the lesson I saw in his handsome deep-blue eyes--which were maturer than -the rest of him--a dash of the mischief, the teasing, and the challenge -that gave Lentala her sparkle. - -"What is your name?" he demanded of Christopher, and pronounced it -perfectly. - -Christopher was gravely regarding the lad, who appeared disconcerted -under the scrutiny. That disturbed me; but if the boy was seeking our -undoing he would have to reckon with Christopher. - -He was curious about Annabel, and sent her affectionate messages from -Lentala. - -"Beelo," I demanded, "where did you learn all those words from foreign -languages?" - -Taken by surprise, he was confused and a little frightened, and had the -look of a child preparing a fib. - -"Other people have been shipwrecked here," he answered, peering at me -from under his brows. "I learned from them." - -"What became of them?" I asked. - -He raised his head, and answered, "The king said he sent them away." - -"Did you visit them secretly?" - -"N--o." He began to play with twigs on the ground. - -"Were they herded in this valley?" - -"No." His answer was firmer. "There was never more than one or a very -few at a time." - -I sat silent so long that he looked up, and showed alarm. - -"Tell me the truth, lad," I insisted, holding his eyes. "Where did you -learn those words?" A startling suspicion suddenly came. "The gold in -your hair, the blue in your eyes, the fine lines of your face,------" - -He began to edge away, and I saw flight in him; but I caught his wrist. - -"Tell me the truth," I repeated. - -He gazed at me in fear and pleading, but found no yielding, and with -provoking indifference shrugged his shoulders and settled down with a -pouting, martyr-like resignation. - -"You are hurting my wrist," he remarked. - -"Answer me," I demanded, tightening my grip. "Hasn't white blood mingled -with some of the native blood here?" - -His lips were compressed under the pain of my clasp, and an angry -resentment steadied his gaze. - -"Yes!" he answered, and a sudden change lit his face, as I unprisoned -the wrist. "Don't scare me that way again," he said, half impudently -shaking his head at me. - -It seemed best to desist from pressing the matter further, and pleasant -relations were soon re-established between us; but the matter seated -itself in a corner of my mind. - -Our lesson was delightful, and time escaped more smoothly than we knew. -Beelo glanced at the sky, and sprang to his feet. He sweetly smiled his -thanks, seized one of Christopher's great paws and vigorously shook it, -asked me and Christopher to meet him at the same spot tomorrow at the -same hour, and was darting away. I called him back, and led him to an -opening through which the face on the cliff was visible. - -"What is that?" I asked, pointing to it. - -He caught his breath, stood rigid, and slowly turned his face up to -mine. - -"That on the cliff? It is nothing--only stone." - -"It is more," I insisted. "It sits there, it looks down threateningly on -the valley; it says as plainly as speech----" - -"No, no!" cried Beelo, seizing my arm with both hands, and gazing up -into my eyes. "It is one of the gods. The people invoke it--you may see -the altar fire on the opposite cliff some night when there is a great -storm and the sea is raging. The god brings fish to the king's net." - -He broke off abruptly, and with alarm clapped his palm to his mouth. -I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. His manner grew -composed, and he darted away and disappeared. - -On returning to camp I told Captain Mason of the adventure. He was -deeply interested, and sat in thought. - -"You've struck a lead," he said. "Follow it--cautiously." - - - - -CHAPTER IV.--Behind a Laughing Mask. - -_Captain Mason Strengthens the Defense. The Extraordinary Behavior of -Beelo. Christopher Becomes a Savage. Hidden Motives Half Disclosed. -Hope._ - - -FORSEEING the time when a visible danger would bring mob-madness to -the colony, Captain Mason gave his entire attention to strengthening -his control. To that end he kept every one engaged at something, laughed -away all fears and doubts, placed all on honor not to breed discontent, -and required that all discussions of the situation be with him alone. - -He impressed the danger of leaving the camp limits except in large -parties organized under his authority. No spying savages were ever seen -in the forest backing the camp, but I frequently found the captain using -his keen eyes in that direction. The questions weighing on him were: -When would the king ask for the first member of the colony to be sent -away? What plan would be adopted in the selection? What would really -become of the persons so taken? What should be done when the first call -was made for deportation? - -Christopher and I alone were in the president's confidence. On the -second night he informed us that he had selected a spot which would -serve as a fortress if occasion rose, and instructed Christopher in the -art of making weapons, chiefly stone-headed clubs and blackjacks. This -work was done secretly in our cabin. - -The daily teaching of Beelo developed a new interest in the fact that, -before I was aware, I was a pupil as well as a tutor, and that Beelo was -as assiduous in instructing Christopher as me; he was evidently anxious -that we should master the native language. I was glad to humor him, -especially as I suspected an intelligent purpose. Above that was my -growing affection for him. He perfected his poor English so rapidly that -I was put on my mettle to learn the island tongue. - -It was a simple task, and we came to use it entirely. To my surprise, -Christopher learned it as readily as I. From the very start he had -helped Beelo to turn the teaching in that direction. The strangest -element of all this procedure was the quick and sure understanding that -sprang up between these two. - -Beelo one day brought a large parcel. He was particularly happy, and as -full of play as a kitten. - -"You can't guess what I have for you," he said with a mischievous look. - -"No, Beelo--what?" - -"You'll see." He was opening the parcel. "You and Christopher are going -to be Senatras." Senatra was the name of the inhabitants. - -He produced from the parcel two native costumes. In addition were a -basin and some brown powder. The boy was in glee as he separated the -articles into one array for Christopher and the other for me. - -He ran to a little stream, fetched water in the basin, and with a -comical seriousness dissolved part of the powder. - -"Your arm, Christopher," he demanded. At times Beelo's manner had a -touch of imperiousness that sat oddly with his youth. - -Christopher obediently bared his powerful arm. - -"Oh!" said Beelo in delight. "You have splendid muscles,--they are like -iron; and you are very strong,--that's good." His finger was timid as it -touched Christopher's arm. - -He dipped a cloth in the colored water, and rubbed the stain on -Christopher's white skin. His care and gravity in comparing the tint -with the color of his own wrist, in shaking his head, in adding more -pigment to the water and trying again, and at last his delighted -satisfaction, were all very charming. - -"Good!" he cried. "That's the Senatra color. Now," addressing me, -"I'll go away a little while. You make a Senatra of Christopher." To -Christopher: "Take off everything. Mr. Tudor will put the color all over -you. Then you put on Senatra clothes, and whistle for me." - -Patient Christopher would doubtless submit to any indignity that this -prankish boy might devise, but I proposed to put a stop to the nonsense. -Besides, how could I assume the ridiculous rle that this young scamp, -in whom my indulgence had bred impudence, intended for me? - -"Christopher will do nothing of the sort," I peremptorily said. - -The lad stopped short and looked at me curiously. - -"I want to, sir," Christopher interposed, much to my surprise. - -"You do? You wish to submit to this foolishness?" - -"Foolishness, sir?" - -"Yes." - -He reflected a while, and then said: - -"Perhaps it ain't jest foolishness, sir." - -"Very well," I agreed, willing to humor him; "But Beelo will stay here -and put the color on you himself." - -Alarm sprang to the boy's face. - -"I won't!" he answered defiantly, and was turning away, but I caught him -by the arm. - -"You will," I said. "I'll see that you do." - -He slipped from my grasp and stood away, laughing. - -"I want to do it myself, sir," meekly said Christopher. - -Beelo precipitately fled. - -Why not play with these children? A man who would not was a churl. So -Christopher was arrayed as a Senatra, and a whistle called Beelo back. - -He danced delightedly round the pitiful figure that Christopher made. -It hurt me to see not only how patiently Christopher submitted, but -how wholly he entered into the spirit of the masquerade. His pale eyes -looked ghastly in his brown face. I called Beelo's attention to that. - -"Oh, that won't be seen at night!" he exclaimed. The remark did not -impress me at the moment. - -He put Christopher through numerous gaits and tricks of manner peculiar -to the Senatras, and praised him for his aptness. Finally, when he -taught his pupil the art of creeping stealthily and noiselessly, the man -was so terrible that I forgot his grotesqueness. - -All through this singular performance, Beelo, even though half playful, -displayed astonishing perseverance and thoroughness, as if life itself -depended on the perfection of the drill. That might not have looked -so strange had it not been for the extraordinary care of Christopher -himself to accomplish a perfect imitation. Then the significance of it -all burst upon me. - -I had vowed a thousand times since first knowing Christopher that never -again would I underrate his wisdom, yet over and over I found myself -doing so. While he never laughed in his romping with the children of the -camp, but went into their sports with his habitual tender melancholy, -he never showed with them the hidden eagerness, the almost desperate -determination, that marked his training under Beelo. Thus I came to see -that at the very beginning Christopher had discovered a vital meaning in -Beelo's playing. - -"And now," cried Beelo, "you will be a Senatra, Mr. Tudor! Christopher -will dress you. Come!" - -The boy's eyes softened in a moment under the new light that he found in -mine. - -"Beelo," I said, taking his hand, "let's sit down and talk." I seated -myself, but he withdrew his hand and sat a little distance away. "No," I -gently insisted; "here, facing me, and close." - -He twisted himself round to the spot I indicated, and in doing so tossed -Christopher a wry mouth. I noticed more clearly how fine his features -were, and with what grace his long lashes curved. - -"Beelo, do you really wish Christopher and me to be Senatras?" I asked. - -He nodded, and, turning to Christopher, told him to go to the runnel, -wash off the stain and put on his own clothes. Christopher meekly went. -Beelo began playing with twigs on the ground, and did not look at me. - -"Did Lentala tell you to do this?" - -He nodded again--a little irritatingly, for he had a tongue. - -"Why?" I asked. - -He raised his eyes and regarded me steadily. Then, perhaps not seeing -all that he sought, he made no answer, and returned to the twigs. - -"I want to understand, Beelo, and you must trust me. Many things come to -me now. Your sister's conduct at the feast meant that she wished us to -obey the king. She showed us sincere kindness in every look and act. -And her great difference from the other people,--her sweetness, her -grace, her beauty, her brightness of mind, her altogether adorable -charm,------" - -Beelo blazed in a way that stopped my rhapsody. He had raised his face; -his lips were apart; his eyes glowed with a proud light that moved me -strangely. - -"You like my sister?" he softly asked. - -"Who would not?" - -"But _you!_" The boy impatiently tossed his head. - -The little gesture was so pretty that I involuntarily smiled. Beelo -misunderstood. He flashed angrily, and resumed the twigs. I could only -grope. - -"I don't understand why the king sent us here. We are prisoners, and -that is something which brave men won't stand. We would rather die -fighting." - -Again he studied me, and again looked down. - -"Why didn't the king let us build boats, and leave?" - -He gave no answer, but was very busy with the twigs. I wondered if I -were rash in some of the things I was saying. Clearly the moment of -confidence had not arrived. The boy was studiedly cautious. - -"Beelo, go to your sister and beg her to come and see me. She will trust -me more than you do. I know she is our friend. She would tell us what -fate is awaiting us." - -"No, she wouldn't," firmly interposed the boy. - -"She would, because she is sweet and kind." - -"No, she loves her people, and you might do them harm." - -"But she sends you here to disguise us as natives and to train us in the -art of deceiving and outwitting them." - -Had his smile not been so winning I could have slapped him for his -insolence; but it was soon evident that a mighty struggle was proceeding -under his assumed carelessness. If I could only guess at its nature I -might know how to proceed. - -"Bring Lentala to me, Beelo. She would be safe with you, and she will -understand and will trust me." - -"Why? Her skin is brown. You would not trust her." He was closely -observing me. - -"What difference can her color make!" I impatiently retorted. "Lentala -is an angel." - -"But a brown skin means------" A look of horror swept over his face. - -"Lentala is beautiful and kind and true. Tell her to come." - -Beelo was silent. - -"Why should she not trust me?" I persisted. "How could I harm her?" - -The boy, nervously arranging the twigs, spoke rapidly, but did not look -up: - -"She's afraid,--not for herself, but her people. They love her. She -would never betray them. Suppose she came,--you would be gentle to her; -you would tell her she was beautiful and--and all that nonsense. You -might try to get her to tell you things. And you would find out how -to------Yes, you might come back and plot with your men, and there would -be a great fight with my people and many would be killed. That would be -terrible." - -I dimly understood at last: Lentala would trust her brother, not -herself, in the mysterious plan that she was working out. - -Christopher had returned. I beckoned to him to sit with us. - -"Beelo," I said, "look at me." He complied. "If Lentala were here she -could read my heart. All that you have said means that she mistrusts -me. I understand more than you think I do. You have already shown your -confidence and Lentala's by offering to train me as a native. A wise and -generous purpose is in that. By means of the disguise, you wish me to -learn some things that will benefit my people, but you are held back by -your fear that I will use the knowledge to injure you." - -"No," he hastily interrupted; "only my people." - -"Very well. But you have already shown trust. You simply want more -assurance that I will keep faith with you. Tell me what you want. I will -put my life in pawn,--I will give it, if that is demanded." - -His deep eyes were profoundly fixed upon me. In that moment Beelo -disclosed a soul that had found maturity. - -"You would do all for your people!" he impatiently cried. "You think -only of them! Lentala and Beelo may do everything for you, but you never -think what you might do for--Lentala and Beelo." - -The half-revelation in the passionate outburst brought me to my feet, -and the lad slowly came to his. - -"Beelo!" I said, "I hadn't thought it possible. You and she are the -favorites of the king and queen. You have everything you want. I don't -understand. Trust me! I can be a friend." - -He was looking up at me with eyes in which a pathetic anxiety struggled -with fears. Instead of addressing me, he turned to Christopher and -confidently took his hand. - -"Christopher," he said, "do you like me--and Lentala?" - -"Oh, yes!" - -"Very much?" - -Christopher solemnly nodded. - -"If--if we want to go away with you and your people, would you take us?" - -"Oh, yes!" - -"And be kind to us?" - -"Me?" He turned to me, and so did Beelo. - -"Yes, Christopher." - -"_He_ will," was the answer. - -Beelo, seized with one of his unexpected whirlwinds, threw his arms -round Christopher, and laughed. - -I turned him about, and, holding both his hands, looked smilingly into -his brilliant eyes. - -"Show me the way to serve you and your sister, Beelo," I said. "I alone, -or Christopher and I together, will obey any instructions from you; we -will do whatever you say, go wherever you direct,--cut ourselves off -from every protection except yours. Isn't our trust complete?" - -"Yes, Yoseph--Choseph," he banteringly answered. Then, in a flash, "I -mean Mr. Tudor." - -"Joseph--to you," I returned. - -He put his mouth through contortions over the F, and finally, with a -restful gasp, blurted out: - -"Choseph!" - -His gentleness overwhelmed me, and I, being naturally affectionate, and -timid only with women, forgot my feeling of constraint toward him, and -caught him in my arms. But he did not have for me the pressure and the -laughter that he had given Christopher. On the contrary, he resisted and -then sprang away. - -I wondered what thoughts were perplexing him as he stood off, regarding -me in his odd little quizzical fashion, and was astounded when he said: - -"Lentala says that Annabel is beautiful and lovely." I could not imagine -what had suggested Annabel to him at this particular moment, but I -hastily agreed. He seemed not altogether pleased, but went on: - -"You like her very much?" - -"Yes; very much indeed." - -He looked a little sullen, but soon recovered, and broke out in a very -rush of gay spirits. In a short time he suddenly became grave. - -"I must go," he said. With a gentle, pleading look at me, he asked: -"Won't you be a Senatra? Christopher will help you." - -"Yes, Beelo,--anything you wish." - -"Very well. I will come every day for--maybe three days, and teach -Christopher. You will watch us. When you and Christopher are alone, he -will teach you. But you must dress every time as a Senatra!" - -"Of course." My relief was great. For some incomprehensible reason I -did not wish the boy to train me, for that would have necessitated a -disagreeable loss of dignity before him. - -"Good! And in three or four days,"--an oddly embarrassed expression -rose in his face,--"would you like to go with me--you and dear old -Christopher--to see--the beautiful--the kind--the true--Lentala?" He was -mocking. - -"Yes!" I answered, and made an effort to catch him; but he darted away, -showering a cascade of laughter behind him. - -So I was right in supposing that Beelo had been preparing us to -penetrate the mysteries beyond the valley ramparts, and lift the veil -behind which our fate was hidden. - -"Christopher!" I cried in my joy, seizing him by the shoulder; "do you -understand?" - -"Yes, sir." - - - - -CHAPTER V.--The Opening of a Pit. - ---Insolence and Rebellion in Camp. A Riot Averted. I Train for a -Dangerous Rle. Plotting Among Us for the Destruction of the Colony.-- - - -WHEN Christopher began my training and pursued it with such amazing -thoroughness, my feeling of being ridiculous disappeared. My love of -adventure in these preparations was mingled with other emotions,--the -fascination of hazard, a ===wish to risk everything for the colony, -and a strong desire to see Lentala and solve the mystery of her whole -conduct. Beelo was a will-o'-the-wisp. - -Complications arose in camp. Although I had taken care to exercise my -authority in a bland way, it became necessary at times to be severe. My -greatest difficulty was inability to find the source of a disaffection -working insidiously among the young men. Captain Mason had not observed -it, lacking my opportunity, and I decided to be more positive and to -find evidence before laying the matter before him. - -I was intimately thrown with the men by directing the work on the farm. -The labor was exhausting on account of the heat. For this reason, and -because some men could bear the work better than others, and liked it, -I called out only volunteers; but selfishness on the part of some who -shirked brought grumbling. At first I had supposed that this was the -origin of the dissatisfaction, but presently a deeper cause appeared to -be in operation. As a test, and to secure fairness, I adopted a system -of levying on all the able-bodied men and requiring each to do his share -in turn. - -In that way I came down on Rawley, who had never volunteered. When I -informed him one evening that his turn in the fields would come next -day, he stared at me in insolent silence. - -That incident alone was not significant, but it made me alert, and I -instructed Christopher to keep a strict and secret watch on the camp. A -present necessity was to force the issue with Rawley, whose bearing was -a threat to the harmony and safety of the colony. - -He had not taken the trouble to absent himself from the tables when I -called out the tale of men for the fields next morning, but lounged at -indolent unconcern. Annabel was not visible. Mr. Vancouver, sitting near -Rawley, had a suspiciously waiting air. - -The young man did not rise with the others and prepare to go, but merely -stared at me. I went near and said in a low voice: - -"These men will resent your refusal." - -"Are you threatening me?" he said under his breath. - -"Give my remark whatever construction you please," I answered. - -He could not hide his anger and fear, for a glance showed him a -disquieting expression in the faces of the forty men waiting. Mr. -Vancouver looked surprised and irritated as he studied them. The men -in whom rebellion was stirring were such as he had always directed and -commanded,--artisans, mechanics, clerks, sturdy and spirited every one, -and loving fair play. - -"Save yourself further trouble," Rawley drawled in an effort to be -nonchalant. "I'll go--if I feel like it, and when I'm ready." - -Although the men could not hear him, they understood, and a murmur -arose. One of them angrily said: "He's too good to work." - -Then came the outbreak. - -"Put him under arrest! Duck him in the river! The snob!" - -Annabel suddenly appeared. The men at once desisted, and she understood -the situation at a glance. Her astonishment grew as her look of angry -reproach at Rawley passed to her father and found him silent and pale, -as though for the first time he had seen the spirit of the common -American. - -She came to me and said: "Don't make trouble now. Be patient. You can -find a way." - -I turned to the men. - -"Gentlemen," I said, "I must remind you that you have not been empowered -by the colony to enforce its discipline. In this instance it is my -task alone, and I propose to handle it as I think best, without your -assistance, unless I call on you for it. Your attitude and remarks -just now were rebellious, and, if allowed by those in authority, would -disrupt us and place us at the mercy of savages. Leave this matter to -me, and depend on me to see it properly adjusted. Mr. Vancouver needs -Mr. Rawley today. Now to our work." My speech affected the men in two -quite different ways. Some, with a submissive glance at Mr. Vancouver -who was watching me curiously, were instantly satisfied; others looked -a little confused and rebellious, and were not cheerful in their -obedience. They appeared a trifle uneasy, as though something might -be afoot and they had not been informed. All of this sharpened my -alertness. - -After the day's work I had doubts as to whether I should report the -incident to Captain Mason, who had not been present. I felt that -something of an underground nature was at work, and that Mr. Vancouver -was its focus. I could make allowance for a man shattered by adversity, -but I supposed that Mr. Vancouver might have gathered himself up during -the weeks we had been held as prisoners. - -It turned out that he had. When Christopher came to give me my drill in -the forest near the camp that day he brought disturbing information. -Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, in order to be alone, had gone into the forest -after I left for the fields, and talked. All that Christopher could -learn was that Mr. Vancouver was carrying on secret negotiations with -the king, and that a messenger from the palace was expected at a certain -place within the forest in an hour. - -My lesson was short that day. I sent Christopher to Captain Mason to -report what he had heard, and to say that I would take the place of the -native in the interview, if possible, trusting to the completeness of my -disguise as a Senatra. Christopher was to be near for an emergency. - -Skirting the spot where Mr. Vancouver was to meet the native, I -intercepted him. It sickened me to see the sly confidence with which he -approached. Meanwhile, I was aware of the great danger of discovery by -the genuine messenger, for I knew the trailing skill of the natives, -even though I led Mr. Vancouver as far from the meeting-place as -necessary. But Christopher, who had acquired the native slyness, would -know how to handle any embarrassing situation. - -The discovery of Mr. Vancouver's seeming treachery had so disturbed me -that I had some doubt of myself in the interview. The simple solution -offered by strangling the man in the forest kept hammering at me with a -dangerous persistency. We had taken it for granted that his interest in -the colony was strong; no watch had been set on his liberty, which he -had used in plotting. - -I was measurably collected by the time we had seated ourselves on the -ground. Being totally in the dark as to what had gone before, I was -forced to extreme caution, and in addition was some danger of my -betraying myself or of his discovering that I was not a native. - -"Why didn't the other man come?" he demanded in his old peremptory -manner. - -In confusion, not knowing what degree of proficiency in English to -assume, I gave some answer in a lame speech, the inconsistency of which -he might have detected had he been less absorbed. - -"What is the king's plan?" he asked. - -"He wants to know yours first," I answered. - -I was prepared for his quick, half-suspicious look. "He knows what I -want," was the sharp return. - -"The other native didn't know. He couldn't tell the king very well." - -"This is my plan," went on Mr. Vancouver: "I make some good, strong men -think that Captain Mason does nothing, but sits down and waits for us -all to be killed. This is secret. A fellow named Hobart is my leader. -The young men are ready to go with him out of the valley. The king will -tell the guard to seize them and take them to the palace. That will get -rid of the best fighters in the colony." - -"What will the young men think they go for?" I inquired. - -"What difference does that make," he testily demanded, "so long as they -are out of the way?" - -"The king must know." I was solid and firm. - -"I'll make them think they can pass the guard; then they'll find a way -for the colony to escape, and will come back and tell me." - -"But they are not to come back." - -Mr. Vancouver was silent, and his impatience grew. "You will send them -into a trap?" I persisted. Again his suspicious scrutiny. "Does the king -want them to come back?" he asked. - -"I don't know. But he wants your plan." - -"If they don't come back," Mr. Vancouver explained, "Captain Mason will -be blamed for not knowing they were to go. Then his power will be gone. -The colony will break up." - -The ghastly perfection of the scheme overcame me for a moment, but I -must learn what benefits Mr. Vancouver expected from this wholesale -sacrifice. - -"What do you want of the king?" - -"I and my daughter and a young man named Rawley are to be taken care of, -and----" - -"You mean not killed?" - -He writhed and reddened under the question, and under my sullen -insistence. - -Instead of answering, he hurried on: "I will show the king how to work -the gold, silver, copper, diamond, and other mines, and how to make much -money out of them. I will make treaties with other countries, and build -forts, and make him a strong army. All this has to be done sooner or -later, or the island will be taken." - -"What is to be done with the other white people?" I demanded. - -"The king knows." - -"If I can't tell him he'll send me back." - -After a struggle with his anger, Mr. Vancouver said, "The king knows -what he has done with other castaways." - -"What do you think he has done with them?" - -He started at me in a struggle with his patience, and said nothing. - -"Do you think they were sent away?" I returned. - -His fury broke. "No!" he exclaimed, and then suddenly checked himself. - -"Then you think they are here yet?" I drove in. - -He rose in a passion. "Tell the king to send me a man who isn't a fool!" -he stormed. - -"I will tell him," I quietly said, rising and starting away; but he -halted me. - -"Why do you ask those questions?" he said more composedly. - -"The king told me to. He wants to know if he can trust you. If you want -these people sent away,----" - -"I don't! That would ruin everything. They'd send armies and war-ships, -and----" - -"Then, kept here--alive?" - -"Certainly not! They'd kill me." - -I had known this to be the answer that I would wring from him; still the -renewed impulse to strangle him was almost overpowering. - -"I will tell the king," I duly said, and was turning away, when another -idea came. "Maybe he will first send for a man from your people. Which -one do you want to go before the young men?" - -"Tudor, Captain Mason's assistant," he answered with a vicious -promptness. "Then, as soon as the young men are gone, I and my daughter -and Rawley will go, and I will talk and plan with the king while the -soldiers do their work here." - -The humor that I found in the turn, personal to me, which the situation -had taken, lightened my spirit, and I thought of something else. - -"Did the king send you any word about Lentala, his fan-bearer?" - -"I talked with the man about her. I knew there was some mystery about -her and that she was close to the king. I asked that she be sent to make -the plans with me." - -His halt whetted my anxiety. "What did he say?" - -"That she must know nothing about it, or she would break the plot." - -My heart choked me with its bounding. I had gained more than I had lost, -but my heart was sore for Annabel. - -"I must go," I said. "Next time I come I will go to your hut in the -night. Don't come into these woods again. The soldiers----" - -He understood, and looked relieved. After he had disappeared I sat down -in a daze, trying to reason out the tangle. Rawley was in the plot, but -Annabel was innocent. - -A sound made me raise my head, and I saw Christopher and Captain Mason -standing before me. Christopher's face wore its customary vacancy, but -Captain Mason's had a startled look, as though he had beheld what is not -good for a man to see. It appeared to have shriveled him. - -"Before Christopher summoned me," he dully said without any preliminary, -"he found the native and sent him away. We have heard every word that -passed between you and Mr. Vancouver." - - - - -CHAPTER VI.--Witcheries in Hand. - -_A Dangerous Mood. Annabel's Tangled Situation. Heroism in Humble -Duties. The Miracle Worked by Gentleness. Traitors Are Threatened._ - - -NOT a word was spoken after I had dressed and we were returning to -camp, but Captain Mason's walk lacked its usual firmness. What would -he do? There is no accounting for the rashness of a man made suddenly -desperate, and I remembered the temptation to strangle that had assailed -me. Clearly, for the present, Christopher and I must not leave him alone -for a moment. My imagination constructed this scene: Captain Mason, -assembling the colony, telling them briefly that a man among them had -been caught in the act of plotting to destroy us, turning upon Mr. -Vancouver and pointing him out as the criminal, ordering me to tell off -a squad and hang the knave in the presence of the crowd; and -Annabel----Could Christopher and I stay the flood now while the dam was -straining? I feared not; a finer hand was needed. - -We went to our hut. Captain Mason seated himself on a stool. Christopher -gave him some water, which was eagerly drunk. With a significant look at -Christopher, I left the hut. - -There was a good excuse for bringing Annabel now; I had promised Beelo -that he should see her. It was necessary to secure Captain Mason's -assent, and I had no doubt that he would agree with me that a friendship -between her and Lentala might go farther toward solving our problems -than all our masculine wit and fighting ability. - -I reflected on the extraordinary complications in which Annabel would be -involved, and the softening pressure which she would assist in bringing -upon Captain Mason. There was no immediate danger from Mr. Vancouver. He -lay snugly in the hollow of my hand. - -Annabel was busy about the camp. - -"Where is Christopher?" she cheerily asked. "It is time for him to make -the fire for supper." - -"Captain Mason has him," I answered. "Won't you come with me and call on -our president?" - -"I?" in surprise. - -"Yes." - -A flush mottled her cheeks, but she hesitated only a moment. - -"Father won't care, I know," she said, and started with me. - -She was bareheaded, and the witcheries of the twilight drifted over -her. In the distance sang the deep monotone of the waterfall. Drowsy -twitterings announced that the busy little people of the trees were -content after their day's work. From the edges of the stream rose -comfortable whispers between the water and the reeds. The lightly moving -air swung odorous censers in the trees, and every flower poured out as -perfume the sunshine which had filled its chalice. It was good to be -thus again side by side with Annabel. - -I explained tomorrow's plan for her meeting with Beelo, and impressed -upon her the importance of keeping it secret. She showed the glee of -a quiet child in her acquiescence, but she must have wondered why her -father was not to know. - -"An adventure!" she exclaimed. "And mystery! It is delightful. Do you -men with so much freedom know how depressing it is to be cooped up in -this camp?" - -I had not thought of it, and was surprised. Annabel had always been -cheerful, and I had not observed the other women. - -"Isn't it life," I asked, "for men to work and women to wait, for men to -dare and women to endure?" - -"Yes," she answered, looking up at me with a smile, "but isn't it a -remnant of savagery?" - -"Perhaps," I returned. "Yet Lentala, the savage, appears in her -independence to have solved some latter-day feminine problems. I hope -you will meet her soon. Then you and she can formulate a code for your -sex. We are going to see Captain Mason in order to secure his consent to -your meeting her brother. So you must exercise your subtlest graces on -our president." - -"I--I'm afraid of him," she declared in some trepidation. - -"Why?" - -"Because he is stern and silent and cold and----" - -"That is all on the surface. His sea-training has given it to him. -Underneath he has a woman's gentleness and kindness. Trust him. Look for -the best in him and ignore the rest. Just now he is worried and needs -all the sunshine that you know so well how to give." - -She smiled her thanks, but there was concern in her question: - -"Worried! Has anything special happened?" - -"Was anything special needed? His responsibilities are great." - -Annabel was silent,--not daring, I know, to ask more questions. She -had unfolded to my comprehension what the women of our party had been -suffering patiently and silently during the dreary weeks that they had -been held in prison. Annabel must have borne more than any other; yet -she had held up her heart and her head. Dread must have sat on her -pillow through many a long hour of the night, but her soul walked forth -with the sunrise. - -Christopher was sitting on a bench outside the hut. - -"Christopher!" she cried, "the fire isn't made yet;" but there was no -chiding in her rosy smile. - -"No, ma'am," he answered, rising, but standing still. - -"Go and make it now, please," she said. - -"All well, Christopher?" I asked, low. - -His slow nod held a doubt. There was always in Christopher's manner a -suggestion that speech was largely a silly indulgence, and that animals -other than human beings made themselves intelligible without it. - -He fetched a delicious drink which he had made from wild fruit, and -served Annabel with quite an air. Her voice carried music in its thanks. - -Annabel bubbled with raillery and chatter. Presently my anxious ear -heard a stir within. I knew that the man nursing his hurt in the dusk -was aware of the invasion, and that he understood and resented my ruse -in bringing Annabel to disarm him. - -"Christopher," she said, handing him the calabash from which she had -drunk, "please go and make the fire and start the supper. After that, -find father; ask him to come here for me." - -Christopher mutely interrogated me, and I nodded. He shambled away. - -"Come out and join us, Captain Mason!" I called. - -It left him no choice. The darkness kindly falling veiled the grayness -of his face. A touch of decrepitude lay on him as he stepped without and -greeted Annabel with a stiff and stately courtesy, for he was shy with -women of the higher world. The unsteadiness in his manner surprised -Annabel, whose sympathies were keen and quick. I had prepared her, and, -shocked though she evidently was, she met the situation bravely. - -After some general talk, which was directed by me to show Annabel's -suffering, her courage and helpfulness, I saw that Captain Mason was -softened. I then placed before him the plan concerning Annabel and -Beelo. It took the breath out of his body, and he peered at me in -amazement through the gloom. The perfect assurance with which I asked -for his concurrence, a hint that her discretion might be trusted, and -a casual remark that Christopher approved the idea, had effect. Annabel -impulsively rose, seized both his hands, and pleaded: - -"Please let me go, Captain Mason. Who knows what good may not come of -it?" - -I don't think she noticed the catch in his throat. It was the final -breaking up of the ice. - -"Yes, you may go. But you'll do nothing except as Mr. Tudor approves?" - -"Nothing whatever, Captain Mason. Thank you." - -She released his hands and turned a beaming face to me. Pity for her -welled within me. That she and her father, between whom there was -so strong an attachment, should thus secretly proceed in opposite -directions, each deceiving the other, was a terrible thing. No human -perception could foresee the outcome, and, it gave me an uneasiness that -she must have dimly seen. - -"You don't look glad!" she said in astonishment. - -"I am too happy for mere gladness, my friend," I replied; "and may all -the good angels help you--and shield you!" - -She heard the note of solemnity, and turned to Captain Mason. - -"Is our situation so serious?" she asked him, a slight quaver in her -voice. - -"Life can have no serious dangers for so brave a heart as yours," he -answered. - -Mr. Vancouver came up. I could feel a tigerish stealth in him. All -danger from an immediate clash between him and Captain Mason had been -banished by Annabel, but I knew that the future held dangers. I was -glad that she and I had become partners in the secrets and exactions -of defense. With such an ally as Christopher, and such a director as -Captain Mason, we would give an account of ourselves. - -The captain hardened when Mr. Vancouver came. That gentleman playfully -scolded Annabel for running away, and was somewhat too affable toward -the silent, unresponsive sailor. Soon he tucked Annabel's hand under his -arm and was leaving. - -"Just a word, Mr. Vancouver," said Captain Mason in a tone that stopped -my breathing. - -"Well?" - -"I unintentionally witnessed a scene this morning that I didn't like. -I wish you to hear the order that I'll give Mr. Tudor." His voice was -ominously quiet. - -"Mr. Tudor," he resumed, "order Rawley to fall in with the field squad -tomorrow. If he shows the slightest hesitation, clap him in irons and -send for me. There's a rope for the neck of any man who undermines the -discipline of this colony." - -Annabel started, and reeled where she stood. Her father's nostrils were -spreading with a sneering smile; but, seeing her state, he seized her -arm, steadied her with a word, and in silence led her away. - - - - -CHAPTER VII.--Secrets For Two. - -_The Strange Meeting of Annabel and Beelo. Captain Mason's Cruel -Decision. I Tell a Romantic Story and Make a Guess at Lentala's Origin._ - - -CAPTAIN MASON and I had a serious talk in our hut that night. - -"Don't think for a moment," he said, "that my intentions with regard to -Vancouver have been upset by a woman's pretty face." - -"But she is very lovely," I interposed, anxious to turn his thoughts -from whatever purpose he might have. - -"That is as one thinks." I could not restrain a smile at his -ungraciousness, particularly as I saw that Annabel's effect on him had -impaired his frankness. "For that matter," he went on, "her father is -blindly planning her destruction." In answer to my look he explained: -"How can a man let his avarice and cowardice make such a fool of him! -Can't he see that the king is using him as a tool to disrupt and destroy -the camp, including him and his party?" - -I knew, as well as I knew my own thoughts, that a terrible apprehension -of a fate worse than death for us all rested on him, as on me; but we -had dared not give it tongue. Both had seen the nave inconsistency -between the king's desire that the island should not be discovered and -his promise to send us away one at a time, and so had Mr. Vancouver. No -foreigner straying to the island had ever left it, and none except our -colony was alive on it today. But in what dreadful manner had they been -disposed of? And why had we been spared so long? We had been prisoners -nearly two months. - -Whether these fears and speculations haunted others of the colony we -were both careful not to inquire, and were prompt in suppressing every -uncomfortable hint. Captain Mason and I understood that the perfect -cohesion of our colony, taken with our considerable numbers, offered -the sole hope for our safety; and Mr. Vancouver was secretly planning to -destroy our one means of defense. - -We had been sitting in silence after Captain Mason's last speech. He -broke it by saying: - -"The situation is complex. Your interruption of Vancouver's plot and -Christopher's dismissal of the native require us to lay a counter train. -The king will infer from what Christopher told the native that Mr. -Vancouver has abandoned his scheme to betray the colony, and that we are -determined to hang together, and fight it out to the end. I imagine that -the natives are growing impatient for a victim. What do you suggest, Mr. -Tudor?" - -"I suppose I should continue in the rle of the king's emissary and -inform Mr. Vancouver that the sending out of the young men is postponed. -Fortunately we have stopped that." - -"We have done nothing of the sort," declared the president. "They shall -go out." - -Astonishment silenced me. - -"They shall go out," he drove into me again. - -"To their destruction--and ours?" I asked. - -"No. But they must go and take their punishment. Then they will hear -from me. You can manage it through the native boy and his sister. Let -her see that they are soundly whipped and sent back to the colony. She's -our friend." - -"That is unthinkable," I protested. "The risk is too great. Lentala -can't----" - -"Don't underestimate her. You have your instructions, sir." He rose. -"I'll be on hand tomorrow when you call out the men for the fields." - -I had risen, and stood facing a commander instead of an ally. After a -moment's struggle with desperately rebellious emotions, I saw my own -absurdity, and abruptly left without a word, to fight for patience and -wisdom under the stars. - -***** - -The smiling ease with which Rawley stepped forth when I called his name -with the others next morning might have disarmed me had I not caught a -look of understanding between him and Mr. Vancouver, and known what it -meant. My dread had been on Annabel's account, but she did not appear. - -Rawley worked faithfully in the fields that day, but I saw the furtive -way in which he talked now and then with certain of the men, and I noted -all whom he thus favored. None of them had a guilty manner, though -a concealing one. It was evidence of Mr. Vancouver's shrewdness in -plotting. - -***** - -Annabel met Christopher outside the camp that afternoon and came with -him to Beelo and me. The boy betrayed a singular uneasiness as they -approached, and, drawing his hat down, stood in awkward embarrassment. -It puzzled me, for he had been anxious to see her. In a glow of -excitement, Annabel was conspicuously handsome, and though dressed in -the rougher of the two suits which she had saved from the wreck, showed -in every line the thoroughbred that she was. Seeing the lad's confusion, -she spared him by giving him hardly more than a smiling glance with her -warm hand-clasp, and breezily said to me as she held out an exquisite -orchid: - -"See what I found on the way. Isn't it beautiful!" I took it and was -fumbling to put it in the buttonhole of my lapel, when she stepped up -and with frank comradeship adjusted it, remarking as she did so: - -"He's very much like his sister, but smaller, and not so pretty and -graceful." She did not realize that he understood English. - -"I thank you--for Lentala," he constrainedly said, staring at her as his -eyes began to burn. - -"Oh!" cried Annabel in amused surprise. "But you are quite too -good-looking for a boy, Beelo!" - -He did not smile, but studied her with a disconcerting seriousness, and -looked from her to me, as though watching for something which I guessed -to be a sly understanding between Annabel and me that might mean -ridicule of him. I saw that Annabel had innocently blundered into a -wrong start. Evidently the pleasure that the lad had expected from the -meeting had gone astray. - -As though the words were wrenched from him by the striking picture that -Annabel made, he said in a stolid, colorless voice: - -"You are more beautiful than Lentala." - -"Hear his disloyalty to his sister!" laughingly exclaimed Annabel, but -I could see that the boy's bearing was trying her composure. "Come!" she -added; "let's be friends, for Lentala and I are, and I want you to tell -me about her." She coaxingly held out her hand as to an ill-tempered -child. - -But he ignored it, and lowered his head till his hat-rim concealed his -eyes. Annabel looked at me in questioning surprise, but before I could -say anything,--being as much astonished as she,--Beelo, without raising -his head, asked half sullenly, half commandingly: - -"Have you and--Choseph known each other a long time?" - -"A year or so," Annabel promptly answered, anxious to show her -friendliness. "He's been very kind. I became a skilful horsewoman under -his teaching, and we've danced together and taken long walks in the -country. He knows a great many interesting things. You see, he was -educated at West Point, where young men are trained to be officers of -our army, and has fought in the war, and----" - -Beelo broke in with a toss of the head and a laugh that sounded much -like a sneer. - -Annabel opened her eyes and looked in wonder from the boy to me. She -was not laughing now; alarm was creeping into her face. I could think of -nothing to say, but was confident that the two fine souls would find a -way. - -Without raising his face to Annabel, Beelo slowly looked round at me, -and regarded me deeply and in silence. Sadness stole into his eyes, and -with it reproach. The mystery of it touched me as I steadily returned -his look. - -As he did not speak, I did. "Beelo," I kindly said, "I don't understand -you, and I don't like your conduct. You wished to see Annabel. To please -me, she kindly took the trouble to come and tried to be friendly to you. -But you treat her rudely. You are not worthy to touch her hand." - -He blazed and went rigid. For a moment he was choked with passion; then, -locking his hands behind him, and throwing back his head and shoulders, -he said loudly, while his nostrils quivered: - -"No! I'm not worthy to touch her hand! I'm glad of it! You send fine -words to Lentala, who has not a white friend in the world! Then you -bring the white girl to Beelo, that Beelo may see how different they are -and go back to shame Lentala. Riding! Dancing! Walking! Ah, Beelo is a -little fool,--a fool no bigger that a toad! But he can be useful,--he -can make Lentala a fool too! And Lentala can be useful. She can trick -King Rangan. She shall be the tool of the white people who want to -leave!" He paused breathless, but there was more of despair than anger -in his attitude. - -Annabel had gone very white. She gave me a glance of new amazement, and -then went forward, seized Beelo's arm, and forcibly turned him to look -into her eyes. With a start she straightened, looking at me strangely, -as if a great light had broken. - -"There's a misunderstanding," she calmly said to Beelo and me as she -apologetically held the quivering figure. To me she added: "You and -Christopher please retire. I'll call you soon." - -We left, and when screened and beyond earshot I gave Christopher a look -of wondering inquiry. He blinked benignly at me, as a dog at his foolish -master. - -"What does it mean?" I demanded. - -"Mean, sir?" - -"Yes." - -"You are asking me, sir?" - -"Of course." - -He looked away, but not with a listening manner, yet the mystery -appeared to demand it. I did not happen to remember that he was the most -chivalrous and the least meddlesome man I had ever known. - -"Well, I'll tell you, sir," he presently said in his slow, gentle way; -"it will be all right." - -So it apparently was when Annabel called us back, for the two were -chatting amicably as they sat on the ground. Annabel's serious mistake, -by which she had imperiled my plans, had been turned by her to excellent -account. - -Christopher was waiting to conduct her back to camp; he would return, -for Beelo had informed me that there were matters which he wished to -tell us alone. The parting between him and Annabel was friendly and held -promise, but Beelo's face was not wholly unclouded. Holding Annabel's -hand and gazing into her face, he said, with a touch of sadness: - -"Anybody would love you." - -Annabel blushed, and turned laughingly away. - -"I'll see you again very soon!" called the boy. - -Annabel turned and blew him a smiling kiss. The lad stood and gazed long -at the spot where she was lost among the trees. - -"You like her, Beelo?" I asked. - -Much to my surprise, a little droop pulled at his mouth-corners. - -"She is very lovely," he softly said. - -"Is that a thing to be sad about?" - -"Yes. Lentala can never be as sweet and beautiful." - -"She is as sweet and beautiful as Annabel, and--and--what shall I -say?--more fascinating." - -His face was turned away, and he was silent. After a while he faced me, -and said, while observing me closely: - -"But she belongs to your kind, your world." - -"My heart finds my kind, and that is my world." He again turned away. -In trying to find a reason why any of this mattered to him, or why he -appeared in a measure to resent Annabel, the old suspicion that had -lodged in a corner of my mind came forth. The remarkable difference -between Lentala and her brother on one hand and the natives on the other -must have some special explanation, and Beelo must have a secret which -he had a good reason for guarding. Christopher and I had probably been -the only white men to touch their lives, and there was in them that -which knew and claimed its own. It was a hungry demand, and jealous. -To see the desired companionship subject to an older claim, such as -Annabel's, was the finding of a barrier. I determined to probe for the -secret by indirect means. - -"The soul that finds its kind finds its world, Beelo," I said, "and -souls have neither race nor color. Would you like to hear a strange -little story?" - -"Yes!" he eagerly answered. - -I sat down, and he seated himself facing me, keenly interested. - -"A long time ago a white man--a gentleman, no doubt--was in a ship that -was sailing the seas. A great storm came on. His ship was wrecked, -and he was cast up on the beach of a beautiful tropical island. It was -decreed by the natives, who were jealous for their country, that he -should suffer the fate of all who had drifted before him to those -shores. But for some reason--that may be another story some time--he was -spared, and the king gave him a wife from among the native girls. Two -children were born to them, a girl and afterward a boy; but their father -had so strongly impressed his racial peculiarities on them that they -were in an unfortunate position,--outcasts in a way, and perhaps in -danger of their lives, by reason of the deeply planted native hatred for -the white blood. So the king, who had spared the man, took them under -his protection, and as the queen had no children, she loved them as her -own. But in time, as the children grew up, the white blood in them began -to starve for its kind, and to whisper of a far country whence it had -come. That is nature's way. She lets us go just so far from the plan on -which she started us, and then she sends a voice that speaks deep within -us. We may not know at first what it says, but--" - -"Just a longing?" Beelo asked - -"Merely that. We want something very much, but don't know what it is. We -are dissatisfied. That comes in youth, when the tides of life flow free, -and before the soul is fully awake. Afterward, when it has ripened and -mellowed, it finds its kind and makes its home wherever----" - -"After a while. But now!" demanded Beelo. - -I ignored him with a smile, and went back to the story. - -"At last the sister had grown to womanhood and the brother nearly to -manhood. A much larger company of white people than had ever before been -stranded on the island came to its shores. The girl and the boy had been -spoiled by the king, and they had much their own way. The girl demanded -that she be taken with the king to see the castaways. It was the voice -in her heart." - -Beelo nodded, and then with nervous fingers began to weave a twig-house -on the sand. - -"Do you like the story?" I asked. - -He looked up in surprise. "Is that all, Choseph?" - -"Isn't that sufficient?" - -He drew a deep breath. "She went there just to _see_ them?" he said. - -I smiled into his brilliant eyes. "I'll tell you the rest of the story -some other time," I remarked, satisfied, because at not a single point -had he criticized my guessing. "There is one thing more," I went on. "Of -course the children adopted the native dress, but their father's blood -in them had lightened their native color, and that must be overcome." - -His eyes kindled brighter; his lips had fallen apart. There was not a -movement in his body. - -"Lad, how did you learn to stain a fair skin so well that it looks like -a native's?" - -With that I seized the collar of his blouse, to tear it open and see the -real color of his chest before he could prevent. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.--A Crumbling Edge. - -_Beelo's Horror at the Fate Intended for Us. My Visit in Disguise to Mr. -Vancouver. Annabel's Dramatic Defiance, and How She Was Humbled._ - - -BEELO sprang away and scampered into the forest as though Satan -pursued. That gave me no uneasiness. I gathered up his twigs and began -laboriously to weave the hut. - -A gurgling laugh raised my head. Twenty feet away, in a direction -opposite to that in which Beelo had disappeared, I saw him lying on -the ground, kicking up his heels, and, his cheeks resting in his hands, -mischievously laughing at me. - -"You haven't gone?" I said. "Christopher will come soon, and I have -something to say to you first." - -He rose, came forward gingerly, and halted a safe distance away. I -sometimes wondered whether any other man would have borne with him at -all. The wretch knew that I had grown absurdly fond of him. - -"What do you want to tell me?" he asked, as he crept nearer and -contemptuously regarded my hutbuilding effort. - -In a few words I frankly told him of my experience as a Senatra with Mr. -Vancouver. He listened absorbed and aghast. - -"I didn't know," he breathed. "I am glad you told me. You do trust me, -don't you?" - -"Trust you, Beelo? Have I ever failed?" - -"No, but you are always thinking of your people, never of Lentala and -Beelo." - -"You have taught me to think of you and Lentala, else I never would have -told you about Mr. Vancouver and his plot. But don't you see? The king -is using Mr. Vancouver to break up our colony, Beelo," raising myself in -aggressive earnestness. "You talk of my trusting you. I have already put -my life and more than two hundred other lives in your hands. But not for -one moment have you ever trusted me." - -He was deep in thought, and was distressed. Before I could ask him for -the cause, Christopher came up. - -"Something is going to happen very soon," Beelo said. "Christopher, what -did you say to the native that came to see Mr. Vancouver?" - -Christopher wore his stupidest manner Beelo reached round, picked up a -stick and threatened him. - -"You know what I said. Now answer--quick!" - -"Me?" - -"Me?" mocked Beelo, and struck him. The nearest that I had ever seen to -a smile on Christopher's face came then as a twinkle in his eyes. - -"I'll tell you," he answered. "I told him Mr. Vancouver didn't never -want to see him no more." That was a long speech for Christopher. - -"Then what happened?" impatiently demanded Beelo. - -"I done this a-way at him." Christopher crossed his eyes and made a -grimace at Beelo. The act was so unexpected and terrifying that Beelo -started back in alarm, and then rolled on the ground in laughter. - -He sat up. "What did the man do then?" - -"This a-way." Christopher's face assumed a look of astonishment and fear. - -"What then?" - -"He runned away." - -Beelo nodded thoughtfully, and said: - -"The king will think Mr. Vancouver changed his mind. Very well. Now he -won't wait any longer. He will make a demand for one of your people." -His manner was grave. - -He was surprised when I informed him of Captain Mason's determination -that the young men be permitted to leave the valley, and that Lentala -should arrange for their being turned back,--I had no heart to say -anything about their rough handling by the natives. - -"I'll tell her," he said. "I think she can manage it." - -"But are you sure?" I anxiously demanded. - -"Don't worry, Choseph. You are too serious to be happy. Let's talk about -the first man to go out when the king sends for one. Do you wish Mr. -Vancouver to go?" The question came with a keen look. - -"Not if it will expose him to any danger, or give him an opportunity to -plot against us." - -Beelo's look became suspicious. "What do you owe him, that he is not to -be exposed to danger?" he asked. - -Seeing the trend of his question, I was irritated, and sternly said: - -"That is my affair, and I won't discuss it. If there's to be anything -petty and spiteful in the matters of life and death that we are -planning, I will stop everything right here, or demand that Lentala send -some one else to me if it is impossible for her to come." - -Beelo was staring at me in surprise. He turned inquiringly to -Christopher, and saw gentler but none the less reproving eyes. For a -second he floundered between resentment and irrepressible good-nature, -and then with a laugh threw a handful of sand at Christopher. - -"Choseph!" he cried; "I didn't mean anything, really I didn't. And -I'll be good." After reflection he asked, "Who is Mr. Vancouver's best -friend?" - -"A man named Rawley." - -"You think he knows Mr. Vancouver's plan?" - -"He certainly does." - -"Then let him be the first." - -Darkness crouched behind all of this, but Beelo's intelligent eyes were -a light ahead. Unquestionably his mind was working rapidly, but his -speech was slow and had silent intervals. He and Lentala were evidently -undertaking severe tasks and desperate risks the nature of which I could -not even surmise. Some profound motive must be urging them on. - -"When he is taken out of the valley," Beelo said after a pause, "I'll -want you and Christopher to go too, with me. Will you?" - -"We'll do anything you wish, Beelo." - -"As natives." - -"Good." - -"It will be very dangerous." - -"That is nothing." - -"Not a soul is to know but your captain. Not Annabel, mind you!" he -abruptly added. - -"Certainly not." - -"And you both promise that if your lives are threatened, you will try -not to hurt or kill any one except as a last resort?" - -We promised. - -"Now," said Beelo, "I want Christopher to go with me at once, and we'll -make a raft. When we go out of the valley it will be by way of the -river." - -"That is all fully agreed to, dear little brother," I said firmly, "but -some things must be understood. The first is that no harm shall befall -any man taken out of the valley by the king's order." - -"You don't trust me, Choseph," he replied, looking hurt. - -"Far more than you trust me," I kindly but emphatically said. "While -I know that wisdom and a noble purpose are in your and Lentala's every -plan and act, I have heavy responsibilities, and I know that four heads -would be better than two in this matter. I have no right to go ahead in -the dark, and I demand to know what the plans are." - -The pain in Beelo's face deepened, but there was no resentment. - -"It isn't that I don't trust you, Choseph," he said, an appealing look -in his eyes. - -"What is it, then?" - -He looked hunted, and blurted out: - -"That's what you and Christopher are going with me for,--to keep from -harm the man whom the king will send for, and----" - -"What is the danger to him?" I insisted. - -"I don't know! I can only imagine!" he passionately said. "It's -horrible. I think you understand. And you are to lay plans with Lentala -for saving the colony." - -I was about to press the matter further, but a look from Christopher -stopped me. - -"I am sorry to have pained you, dear little brother." I took his hand. -"Will you forgive me?" - -"Yes," with a smile. - -He rose, and his relief was shaded with anxiety. This parting was the -first sad one. I also had risen, and the boy was looking up into my -face. - -"I am trusting you," he said, "trusting you with my life and Lentala's, -and the lives of many others." - -"Yes, and you'll find me worthy, dear little brother." - -"I know." He withdrew his hand, took Christopher's arm and pressed it -to his own side, and peered deep into his eyes. "Do you love me, old -Christopher?" - -"Me?" - -Beelo gently slapped Christopher's cheek. - -"Answer! Do you love me?" - -"Yes." - -"Christopher," impressively, "if my life were in danger, and you could -save me by giving your own life, would you?" - -"Me?" - -"You needn't answer if you don't want to." - -"Yes, I would die for you." - -In a burst of laughter Beelo drew his big head down and laid his cheek -against it. "What an absurd old Christopher!" he cried. "Come." - -He stepped back, and again turned to me. - -"Choseph, one thing more! As the king's messenger will you again see Mr. -Vancouver?" - -"Yes, if you wish.'' - -"It's better. Tell him to send the young men out whenever he pleases, -and to take the passage by which you entered the valley." - -"I understand." - -"That is all. Good-bye." He walked away slowly with Christopher, and for -the first time I noticed that he looked as though bearing a burden heavy -for his strength. - -***** - -After laying the matter before Captain Mason, I prepared my disguise and -visited Mr. Vancouver that evening. He and Rawley occupied the same hut; -Annabel slept in one adjoining. I had previously taken care to note that -as Annabel was helping a young mother with the care of an ailing infant, -she would not likely intrude on my visit. - -The two men were startled when they found me standing silently before -them. In the dim light of a nut-oil lamp I saw Rawley's face blanch, and -I wondered how he would bear the ordeal fronting him outside the valley. - -"Well?" eagerly said Mr. Vancouver. - -After instructing him as to the sending out of the young men, I informed -him that the king was nearly ready for a man, and added that Rawley -would be acceptable. Mr. Vancouver was disappointed that he himself -could not go, but cheerfully said: - -"Certainly. Mr. Rawley will be glad to go." - -I enjoyed the young man's dismay. Not so Mr. Vancouver. - -"Why, man, it's the opportunity of a lifetime!" he declared to Rawley. -"There's no danger. The king will furnish a safe-conduct--won't he?" he -added, turning to me. - -"I suppose so. Your friend couldn't find the way otherwise." - -"Of course! Brace up, Rawley, and thank your stars for your good -fortune. You'll have important things to tell me when you return." For -all his cheering manner, Mr. Vancouver could not conceal his contempt. -To me he said: "Give the king my thanks. Tell him that his kind offer is -gratefully accepted, and that Mr. Rawley will be ready at any time." - -Rawley was a bluish white. - -"Very well," he faintly said; "I'll have to go, I suppose, but who knows -what is really to be done with me? I don't------" With a gesture Mr. -Vancouver stopped the indiscreet speech. - -"Give the king my message of thanks and grateful acceptance," he snapped -out in his old business-like way. "Mr. Rawley will go whenever he is -summoned." - -I bowed, and turned to leave, but found Annabel blocking the door. Her -eyes were wide with surprise. She had never before seen natives near the -camp at night, and never one alone. With unexpected firmness she refused -to let me pass. - -"Father, Mr. Rawley, what does this mean? Where is Mr. Rawley going?" - -The men sat dumb. Annabel's instinct told her that treachery was in the -air. - -"Does Captain Mason know about this?" she asked. - -Mr. Vancouver was the first to recover, but he underestimated his -daughter's shrewdness. - -"Not so loud, daughter. It is all right. Let the man pass. I'll -explain." - -Among Annabel's charms was a certain rashness. Here she stood between -affection and duty, and it would be interesting to observe the outcome. -I was glad that she continued to bar my escape. - -"If it's all right," she said, "let us three go with this man to Captain -Mason and----" - -"We'll have no more nonsense, daughter! Are you aware what your attitude -toward me means?" - -"I don't know, father. I--I don't understand. You have never spoken this -way to me before. Surely----" - -"This foolishness must stop here," her father brusquely said, rising and -advancing, with the evident intention of dragging her from the door; but -something in her face stopped him. It was time for me to interfere, lest -she spoil everything. The risk was in lending my voice to her sensitive -ear. - -"He knows," I gruffly said. - -"Captain Mason?" - -I nodded. - -"Come with me and say that to him," she demanded. I nodded again. -The exasperation and fear in Mr. Vancouver's face did not escape his -daughter. - -"I won't have it!" he nearly shouted. To me, - -"Don't you go, or I'll----" - -I stopped him with a knowing look, which he rightly understood to mean -that it would be well to lay her suspicions by going, and that I might -be depended on to handle the matter satisfactorily. In truth, I was -enjoying the situation too much for thought of graver things. And I had -never seen Annabel so superb. - -"Father," she said, "you owe this to me, and I owe it to you." - -Mr. Vancouver's uneasy face betrayed his predicament. Might he trust my -ability to deceive Captain Mason? was his evident thought. The peril was -great. I was maliciously happy over the grinding of the man. - -Suppose I should make a slip with Captain Mason: that would mean the -hangman's noose for Mr. Vancouver,--I knew he was thinking all that. -I could not resist the temptation to harry him. - -"I go," I said to Annabel. - -She wavered, but her courage rose, and with reckless heroism she stepped -out without looking at her father. - -I followed in silence. She did not glance back, and I think she was -glad that the men remained in the hut. With her head held up by the high -purpose within her, she walked as though she were above the stars and -they were her stepping-stones. Once she stopped short. I was certain -that love had conquered and that she would tell me my willingness to go -satisfied her, and so would send me away; but she went desperately on. - -There was a brilliant tropical moon, and the captain was sitting in the -shine of it on the outer bench of his hut. He rose in surprise. - -"Captain Mason," panted Annabel, "I found this native in our camp just -now, and I wondered if you knew." - -He had recognized me, but Annabel did not see the twinkle in his eyes. -He knew that I had blundered in letting her discover me with her father. -I was amazed at the fine delicacy of the man. Instead of asking her -questions, he demanded an explanation of me. With great caution not to -betray myself, I said that I had the king's permission to take Rawley -out, that he might see something of the island, and procure some of the -gems so abundant there. - -The moonlight revealed the shame that burned Annabel's cheeks because -she had doubted her father. Would Captain Mason have the tact to cure -her hurt? - -"May I take your hand?" he asked. She wonderingly yielded it. As he -held it and looked down into her lovely face there came into his voice a -gentleness, a tenderness, that I am certain had been hitherto strange to -it. "This is a wonderful thing that you have done,--the noblest, bravest -thing that I have ever seen in my life. It was so not alone because it -might have meant a matter of life and death, but because it was hard to -do. I am proud to know and be trusted by such a woman." - -Tears were slipping down her cheeks as he released her hand. - -"If you have that kindly regard for me, Captain Mason," she said, "let -it extend to my father. He meant nothing wrong in violating the rule." - -"He has special privileges, Miss Vancouver. I will pay no attention to -the incident." - - - - -CHAPTER IX.--An Iron Hand Comes Down. - -_Anxiety Over Beelo's Absence. The Runaways Return in Disgrace. Mr. -Vancouver's Predicament. Rebellion Breeding. The Arrest. Merciless -Discipline._ - - -NEXT morning the young men in Mr. Vancouver's plot passed secret looks -and words, and Mr. Vancouver and Rawley wore an indifferent air too -conspicuously. - -Annabel emerged late; she and Dr. Preston had been with the suffering -child that night; but she looked much more worn and depressed than the -night's vigil warranted. I greeted her cheerily, and her quiet smile was -ready. I saw nothing to indicate that she noted anything unusual afoot. -Captain Mason gave her a pleasant bow. - -The colony had early integrated into small social groups, particularly -at meal-times. We sat on rough benches at two long tables under trees. -There was a rearrangement of groups at breakfast this morning, so as to -bring the conspirators together at an end occupied by Mr. Vancouver and -Rawley. Annabel sat with the children. The maneuver of the men did not -escape Captain Mason, who was some distance away and at the other table, -having rigidly held himself aloof from all social preferences. After -breakfast he gave me an unobtrusive look, and left. I soon followed, and -found Christopher with him in our hut. - -"You noticed, Mr. Tudor?" - -"Yes. They will go out of the valley today. Lentala will see that they -are turned back. What shall I do?" - -An amused look came into his eyes. "You may abandon your usual plan of -calling the names of those who shall go to the fields, and announce that -only volunteers need go. That will spare such of the idiots as are on -your list from sneaking out of the fields on pretense of headache. Give -them a long rope. Everything is moving beautifully to a crisis. Take -your men to the fields. Christopher will stay here." - -With the insistence of trifles thrusting themselves into a tense -situation, every small thing of the morning marched with me back to the -tables. I must observe the progress of some insatiably hungry nestlings -in a tree, and laugh at a round scolding from their mother. Never had I -heard so many birds singing at once. The solemn cadence of the waterfall -sent a Sabbath spirit through the air. The forest shadows quivered with -mysteries and portents, and the air was drunk with the perfume of many -flowers. - -Annabel's glance showed that she had noted our leaving the tables, but a -cheery word from me laid her uneasiness. - -Relief appeared in some faces when I announced that only volunteers -would go to the fields that day. Mr. Vancouver studied me, and Rawley -was nervous. A small crowd responded to my call, and then amused shame -swept over the men as I good-naturedly laughed at them, with the result -that a larger squad than usual came forward. I kept Mr. Vancouver -in sight, and was not surprised to catch him throwing a look at a -conspirator here and there, causing the guilty to stand forth with the -innocent. I knew that he suspected something in my departure from the -usual way lately of calling out the men. - -The work in the fields went with a smoothness that gave no hint of -trouble beneath the surface. The conspirators dropped away one after -another, with my pleasant assent. Rawley remained. That meant his want -of courage to join the daring expedition. When the remnant started for -camp I went to the spot where I expected Beelo and Christopher. - -The time for Beelo's appearance came and passed. I had an irksome wait, -and in spite of my confidence in his skill, I grew uneasy lest he -had fallen into difficulties. Never before had he failed to keep an -appointment. His endurance and pluck had been extraordinary. From his -home at the palace to our meeting-places had been a number of miles, -without counting his trouble and ingenuity in avoiding detection, and -the hard labor of scaling the valley wall; yet he had never failed, -never complained, never mentioned the heroism for which his conduit -stood. I bitterly accused myself and Captain Mason for our selfishness -in accepting the boy's allegiance and labors as a mere incident of our -struggle to escape. My heart went out to him now; I had been remiss in -appreciation. Had he been of a more aggressive nature, less gentle and -timid, relying more on force than ingenuity, perhaps my conscience would -have been easier. The task which it had been so easy for me to send -Lentala with reference to the malcontents, must have been severe for -her, and must have involved her brother. - -Christopher came at last, but not Beelo. The man reported all well in -camp; Annabel had been downcast until Captain Mason cheered her; Mr. -Vancouver was painfully restless; none of the conspirators had returned. - -We waited until all hope of Beelo's arrival was futile. Christopher had -been listening, but I dreaded to question him. Finally I remarked that -we must go, as we could not expect Beelo so late. The readiness with -which Christopher acquiesced assured me that he had not expected the -lad, but I had no heart to ask him whether he thought that trouble had -been the detaining cause. We returned to camp. - -Dr. Preston had much patching of cuticle to do that night, for the young -men returned after dark. There had been an uneasy hush over the camp -all day. Upon their arrival, which was accomplished with all possible -unostentation, a buzz arose and gossip leaked. I was with Captain Mason, -who sat silent and in grim content as I told him what was going on. We -were both curious to see what Dr. Preston, a quiet young man of fine -intelligence, would deem his duty after the urgency of his offices had -passed. After a while he came, excited and a little frightened. - -He reported that there were no serious hurts, and that the men would be -about next day. - -"What account do they give?" inquired Captain Mason. The twinkle in his -eyes was lost on the earnest young physician. - -"They were peaceably exploring the valley, Captain,--just a lark, you -know, although it had the serious purpose of finding out anything that -might be useful in the escape of the colony,--when they were set upon by -an overwhelming horde of savages, the evident purpose being to take -them away by force. Our men, though so greatly outnumbered, held their -ground, but the scrimmage was close and savage. They would have won -without the fan-bearer's interference, but her coming up with a personal -guard put an end to the affair, as she called the natives off." - -Captain Mason's amused attention sharpened to a keen interest. "The -king's fan-bearer?" he echoed. - -"Yes; the one we saw at the feast." - -The president nodded. "They have all told you the same story, I -suppose," he remarked. - -"Yes." - -"Thank you. That is all." - -In leaving, Dr. Preston looked surprised that Captain Mason should -appear so indifferent. - -Captain Mason announced no plans concerning the young men that night, -and there was nothing unusual in his bearing next morning when the -colony assembled for breakfast. All watched him narrowly. When breakfast -was over, and before we had risen from the tables, he sent Christopher -for me, for I sat some distance away. As I rose, I had a strong feeling -that something extraordinary was about to fall to my hand, for I knew -Captain Mason's nature and his trust in me. - -That brought Beelo vividly to mind. He had seen hardly more than the -gentler side of me. Indeed, it had doubtless been his own gentleness, -his innate delicacy and refinement, that had held in subjection the -ruder elements in me, so deep was my fondness for him. And it had never -been irksome, though the conduct which it had almost forced upon me was -strikingly different from that which usually governed me. While I was -glad that Beelo was not present to see what I knew was coming, still -his spirit was with me, and so strongly that it was tangible. My whole -outlook was filled with him, and I could not shake off the feeling that -he was really near and observing. - -Under the impulse, I sent a trained glance into the shadows about the -camp, and suddenly stopped, for I found his bright eyes peering at me -from the trees. A closer look discovered that underneath the almost -conscious mischief that sparkled in his eyes was apprehension. I had a -moment of anger that he should be there, and tried to give him a look -that would send him away; but he made a face at me, and with deep -misgivings I went to my duty, striving to put him out of my mind. - -"Call for order," Captain Mason directed, "and make a complete statement -of the affair, omitting Mr. Vancouver's connexion with it. Then tell off -twelve steady men for a guard, and have them arrest all of the young men -who disobeyed the rule. Manage the details in your own way. I'll take -command after the arrest." - -Obedience to authority was a law of my training, but I was aghast, and -wondered if the man realized that he might be touching a match to a -magazine. - -As Mr. Vancouver was the danger-center, I glanced at him. He had been -closely observing the president. I shall not forget the picture that he -made as I called for order and proceeded with the speech. By no -effort could he control the emotions that surged to his face,--his -consternation at the appalling correctness of my account, his ferocious -resentment and anger, his sense of being baffled and humiliated while -being spared from open shame, his white fear that at last he would be -exposed as the arch-traitor. - -I observed Annabel also, and saw her puzzled uneasiness as I reminded -the colony of the king's injunction and the great danger of disregarding -it; her furtive glances at her father; her amazement when I hinted at -the plot for undermining Captain Mason's authority, and spoke of its -secret working toward the destruction of the colony; the blanching of -her cheeks when I described the effort of the young men to slip out of -the valley, their being beaten and bound, and the mercy that had spared -them, whipped and wounded, to sneak back in darkness to camp; and the -lie they told to cover their treachery and shame. - -There was a tense pause when I had done, and then I called out the -names of the guilty. So overwhelming had been the presentation, that, -as Captain Mason must have foreseen, there was no time for immediate -reaction toward mutiny. I called out the guard. A death-like stillness -followed. Captain Mason was standing with the silence and firmness -of stone. I stole a glance at Beelo and saw that he had slipped round -through the trees to be nearer. - -I rapped out an order for the guard to step forward. They looked round -curiously at one another, some with a half-smile as they glanced at -Captain Mason, to see if he approved. His face was expressionless. -I repeated the order, more peremptorily, and in slowly rising they -regarded me curiously and in some wonder, as they had never seen me -with such a bearing. Whatever they saw and heard quickened their action. -There was an impressive solemnity in the proceeding, and it strengthened -them moment by moment. I did not hurry them, since it was clear that a -sense of serious responsibility was rising in them. - -"Lenardo, step forward and submit to arrest," I sharply said to one of -the recalcitrants, a decent young carpenter. - -He paled, then flushed, and blunderingly turned to Mr. Vancouver. But -that gentleman was gazing at me with all the hate of his soul. Annabel -shrank under the significance of Lenardo's silent appeal to her father. -Receiving no guidance from Mr. Vancouver, the young culprit sent a -fluttering, desperate look abroad, picking out his guilty associates. -All the comfort he got from them was a frightened glance in return. - -The impaled man wriggled awkwardly to his feet,--for I was giving him -time,--and with a grin and shrug made a pitiful attempt to treat the -arrest as a pleasantry. - -"Stand facing that end of the guard-line," I ordered, pointing. - -"Come, Henry," he said to one of the conspirators. The bravado was -clearly sham. - -"No talking!" I ripped out. - -It jerked Lenardo straight, and he came forward and stood where I had -directed. - -The young man addressed as Henry slouched up with a faint trace of -Lenardo's swagger, but my sharp "Step lively!" electrified him into -firmer action, and his grin went sour. - -"Hobart!" I next called. I selected him for the third, for I knew his -independent, rebellious nature, his courage and pride, and wished the -severest test of the discipline to come at once. - -Because we had been good friends and he knew that I respected him, -he stared incredulously, but found me a stranger. Then a vicious look -flared in his face, and, still sitting, he fingered the handle of a -heavy iron vessel on the table while regarding me defiantly. - -I waited, and then called him again. - -"I won't be made a fool of in this way!" he cried, rising, his face -blazing, his hold on the iron vessel tightening. - -"You two guards on the left, do your duty!" I commanded. - -They hesitatingly advanced upon him. Making a great scattering of -frightened women and children, Hobart stepped back, brandished the -vessel, and shouted: - -"I'm a free American citizen, I am! I'm a law-abiding man and I know my -rights! Stand back, there," to the guards, "or I'll------" - -"Two more guards from the left. Step lively!" I called. - -The advance of the four guards was checked by a diversion. Mr. -Vancouver, who had been sitting in apathetic silence, suddenly spoke out -with biting clearness: - -"Hobart, it is the duty of every one here to submit to authority." - -The young man opened his mouth in astonishment, and instantly drooped; -the vessel clattered from his hand to the ground. - -"I won't make trouble now," he grumbled, "but we've been played low down -by somebody, and I'll-----" - -"Silence!" I said. - -With a threatening shoulder-lift at Mr. Vancouver, which deepened that -gentleman's pallor, Hobart sullenly fell in. I quickly called out the -other culprits; all obeyed and stood in line facing the guard. Then I -looked round at Captain Mason for orders. - - - - -CHAPTER X.--The Finding of a Man. - -_Shame and Horror Follow Disobedience. A Violent Outbreak and Its -Result. The Heads That Struck a Wall. A Frightened Face Among the -Trees._ - - -THE president said nothing, but gave a signal to Christopher, who -brought up a basket containing rope-ends and strips of cloth, of native -manufacture. I understood what I was next to do, and under ordinary -circumstances should have thought of nothing but the doing; but now -a coldness seized my heart, for I thought of Beelo, as a horrified -witness. - -There was a craning to see what the basket held, and then came a quick -drawing of the breath and afterward a hiss as the truth dawned on those -of quick perception. - -Picking up a rope-end, I stood facing the crowd in silence until perfect -stillness had come. Then I went to Lenardo, the first in line, and said -to the guard: - -"Are any of you experienced in tying a man's hands?" - -A head-shake was the response of each. - -"Then observe how this is done," I said. And to Lenardo, "Turn your back -and cross your wrists behind you." - -All the blood fled his face. He glanced about with a shamed, beseeching -helplessness, his eyes wide with horror and his look an appeal for -protection from the outrage. - -"Turn, and cross your wrists," came my command as evenly as before. - -The prisoner obeyed, his hands trembling. - -"Cross your wrists." My tone was such as a farrier might use to a horse -he was shoeing. - -Lenardo crossed them. - -"Observe," I repeated to the guards, as I quickly wound the cord and -knotted it. - -Hobart watched the proceeding narrowly, his face growing more livid, -his eyes bulging farther, his breathing uneven. Once he sent a flaming -glance at Mr. Vancouver, who winced under it, and sat with a sickly, -shrunken look. I knew that the supreme test of discipline lay ahead, and -I was warming to the situation. - -"Tie the next one," I said to two of the guards, handing them a strip. -At the same time, no longer able to resist a glance at Beelo, I found -in his stricken face so strange a look that it disconcerted me for a -moment. It looked to be both horror and appeal. But my duty was plain. - -I stood by and observed the clumsy work of the two guards in tying -the second man, who, meeker than Lenardo,--although both were manly -fellows,--submitted more promptly. - -Hobart's turn came next. He was looking about as a trapped beast, and he -swayed and muttered. It was clear that under the approaching degradation -he was letting his wits tangle. - -Some women, sickened by the scene, and fearing a tragedy from Hobart, -slipped away, a few softly crying, others very white. They hid in a -huddle behind the storehouse, the mothers taking their children. - -"One more turn. Tighter. Work faster," I ordered the guards tying the -second man. - -They obeyed with nervous eagerness. - -Then came Hobart's turn. I stood before him. He knew what to do without -my order, and I was silent. - -"Haven't we any friends among you people?" he bellowed, stepping back -and hardening every muscle. "Are you all cowards, to let these brutes -ride roughshod over you?" - -"Submit, Hobart," cut Mr. Vancouver's voice. - -I turned upon him, but said nothing, and his cadaverous face whitened -still more under my stare. - -"We need no assistance from you, sir," Captain Mason coldly said. - -He started; a momentary flash enlivened his sunken eyes. - -"Step up here in line," I said to Hobart. - -He wavered toward submission under Mr. Vancouver's order, but my prompt -suppression of that intervention thrust upon him an angry despair. "To -hell with you!" he shouted to me. "You bully! You cur! Here, fellows," -addressing his comrades in line, "don't be whipped dogs! We are free -American citizens, we are! Break away!" He stepped still farther back -and edged toward the table. "Stand by me! Be men! We'll settle this -thing! Come on!" The line swayed. - -"Guard, re-form the prisoners in line," I ordered. They stepped forward. - -"Fight, boys! Arm yourselves at the tables!" Hobart's fierce words -thrilled the camp. - -"Lively there!" I snapped to the guards. "Seize Hobart first." - -"The tables, boys!" shouted Hobart. "Romer," he added to a husky young -man of the party, "tackle Captain Mason. I'll attend to Tudor!" - -Hobart sprang at Romer, gave him a shake, and shouted, "Get to work!" -and then advanced toward me as Romer was hardening for assault. - -As Hobart had rudely calculated, the moment was snatched by the other -prisoners for a rush on the guard and the tables, and they broke on the -bound as Hobart hurled himself upon me. But he was too precipitate, and -lacked training. - -It is doubtful that any in the camp except myself saw how the next -thing happened. There was a muffled crack, and Hobart's feet cleared -the ground, his limbs whipped the air as though he were drowning, and he -sprawled on the earth in a disorganized, quivering heap. A glance showed -me that Romer had been stopped two yards from Captain Mason by a look -such as he had never encountered before, and he stood staring like an -imbecile. - -A low cry broke from fifty feminine throats when Hobart's body made its -impact with the ground. But the entire rush had been paralyzed; it was -clearly the impression that Hobart had been killed, and all were -staring from him to me. The guard had responded; the prisoners were in -subjugation, some by a collar-grip of the guard, others panting on the -ground under urgent knees, still others standing inert. - -"Hands off the prisoners. Re-form the line," I ordered. - -When this had been done, the young men sullen, sheepish, and silent, and -viewing with awe the still body of Hobart on the ground, I looked round -upon the circle till I found the man I wanted. My glance had included -Captain Mason and found him stolid and motionless as he observed my -procedure. - -"Dr. Preston, come forward," I said. - -He instantly responded. - -"Please examine Hobart's jaw and neck," I directed. "One or the other -may be broken." - -As he was turning away to obey he discovered a red trickle from my right -hand. - -"Are you hurt?" he inquired. - -"No." - -He carefully examined the heap on the ground. - -"Only a contusion and a slight brain-concussion," he announced. - -"You two," I promptly said to two of the guards, "buck and gag Hobart. -Do you know how?" - -They shook their heads, but under my direction accomplished what -appeared to be a disagreeable task. The process consisted in tying -Hobart's hands and feet, flexing his knees, slipping his arms over them, -and thrusting a stick under his knees and over his arms, thus reducing -him to a helpless knot. Then they thrust a towel between his teeth and -tied it at the back of his head. - -"Shall I do anything to revive him, sir?" asked the doctor. It was -interesting to hear the "sir" slip from his tongue. - -I looked to Captain Mason for directions, but his face remained void. - -"No," I said. Then to two of the guards, "Take him to the shade over -there, on the ground," indicating a tree near by and in full view of the -camp. - -Meanwhile, the tying of the other prisoners had gone on rapidly and -smoothly. When it was finished, I ordered the men taken to the shade and -lined up behind Hobart, who lay on his side, the guards standing by. The -prisoners were a very sober-looking crowd. - -Then came a lull. I had regarded the subjugation of the men as merely -the lighter preparatory work for some grave procedure which Captain -Mason would direct after that was accomplished. At first I was doubtful -of my wisdom in withholding restorative measures from Hobart, but I had -done so hoping that it would have the effect both of softening Captain -Mason and of impressing the other prisoners and the camp at large. Now I -had to face unknown plans, but Captain Mason still remained mute. It was -evident that, since quiet had come, it was from him rather than me that -the camp awaited the next move; it was his crushing mastery that all -felt; it was his iron hand that lay on every heart. He quietly seated -himself, and without a glance at me waited, his face wearing the -undisturbed calm that distinguished it always in dramatic situations. - -The women in hiding peered out cautiously, and then joined those on the -scene. A slight stir, accompanied with murmurs, rose in a spot where the -women stood thickest, and a shrill voice came angrily. - -"Yes, I will! You can't stop me! I say it's an outrage, and I'm going to -untie that boy and take that strangling thing out of his mouth." She was -advancing, a middle-aged woman, with a determined air, and she walked -straight toward Hobart, ignoring me as I stood near him. "I just want -to say to you, Mr. Tudor, that it was enough to knock the senses out -of him, and that it's inhuman and brutal to keep him tied up like an -animal. If the _men_ in this camp can be bullied and scared, I'll let -you know that there's a _woman_ who can't. I'm going to untie that lad, -and------" - -I had stepped forward and laid a kindly hand on her arm as she spoke, -but she threw it off. - -"Let me alone!" she cried. "If you want to strike a woman dead, you -murdering bully, do it! I dare you!" - -Nodding to two of the guards, I said: "Take her to her hut, and keep her -there. If she makes the least noise, bind and gag her." - -"You brute! You coward!" she cried, making a dash forward. - -The guards gingerly seized her, and she talked and struggled wildly. -But they dragged her away, and no sound came from the hut. Captain Mason -gave not the slightest attention to the incident, which greatly deepened -the depression on the camp. - -Hobart's slow, heavy breathing became regular, then fluttered; his eyes -opened, and rolled unseeing. Intelligence began to dawn in his face, and -with it came an unconscious straining at his bonds. That hastened his -recovery. A wild, clear look that roved a moment and settled malignantly -on me, showed that he had come to himself. His astonished glance at his -helpless state preceded an effort for speech that his gag turned to -a growl, and he made a mighty tug to snap the cords. That failing, he -twisted his head to see the line of prisoners standing bound. Then his -gaze found Captain Mason, who was not observing him, and he savagely -growled and champed his gag. - -I looked furtively round for Beelo, and found him staring at me as at -something strange and monstrous. It was more than I could bear, and on -looking away I discovered the gathering of clouds, and then heard low -thunder in the distance. - -Hobart's fury wore itself out. Humiliation took its turn. Toward the end -came a humbled spirit and dumb pleading. A quickening ran through the -crowd, and eager, appealing eyes were upon me from every direction; but -I waited. From humility Hobart sank lower, for the pain of his cramped -muscles grew worse and worse, making him writhe and groan and strain. -Still the moment had not come. I knew that many a life hung on the -precision of my conduct, and Captain Mason did not interfere to the -slightest extent. At last, when Hobart's dumb pleading had settled on my -face and did not rove, I said to Dr. Preston: - -"The gag--nothing else--may come away." - -He removed it, and Hobart panted: - -"Thank you, Doctor. Take the others off, please." - -The physician looked to me, but I gave no sign. That started a movement -in the crowd, and I had to quell that with a look. - -"Let him take 'em off, Mr. Tudor," the prisoner begged. - -I nodded, and he was free. He labored weakly to a sitting posture, Dr. -Preston assisting. His head rolled, but he breathed deeply, and steadied -himself. Dr. Preston felt his pulse. - -"May he have water and a wet towel, sir?" he asked me. - -I nodded. Hobart drank greedily. Dr. Preston mopped his head and face, -and bound the wet towel over his forehead. - -"Bring a seat for Hobart," I said to a guard. - -Hobart was lifted to it, and thus sat facing the crowd. He had a finer -look than I had ever seen from him; he had passed through purgatory. -He looked openly at the people, and at last his glance rested on Mr. -Vancouver. It seemed to hold a deep meaning. Mr. Vancouver shrank even -more than when he had seen the iron hand come down. - -I went up to Captain Mason and reported that Hobart was conscious. - -The captain nodded, came forward, I beside him, and looked down on the -beaten man, who anxiously returned the look. - -"May I say a word, Captain?" Hobart asked. - -"Certainly." - -Hobart turned to me. "You are a hard man," he said, "but square and -brave. So are you, Captain Mason. I deserved what I got, and a good deal -more. But I'm sorry for what I did, and I ask you to forgive me." - -There was frank admiration in Captain Mason's face, for he was observing -another strong man emerge from the first hard lesson in a discipline -that the sailor had known for many a year. - -"May I say something to the boys?" asked Hobart. - -"Of course." - -Hobart worked round to face his fellow-conspirators. In silence he -looked at one after another. - -"Boys," he said, "we made a mistake, and are beginning to pay. I don't -know what's going to be done with us, but, whatever it is, we must bear -it like men. We made an agreement when we came into this valley, and -we violated it. What we did might have cost the life of every member of -this colony." - -He paused, for he was weak, and a deep emotion tore him. - -"Boys, if I had been Captain Mason and Mr. Tudor, and had protected and -trusted the people as they have done, and they had tried to undermine -me, and to benefit themselves to the harm of the others, I would have -them taken to the nearest tree, and, God help me! I would have them -hanged." - -Not a word of that astonishing speech missed an ear in the crowd. When -Hobart had ended, his head dropped in dejection. - -After a long minute of silence Captain Mason gave me a look. I went to -Hobart, who raised a sad face to mine. But when he saw my smile and my -extended hand, a glad surprise leaped in him, and his clasp was that of -a drowning man. - -I walked away. Dr. Preston next received Captain Mason's glance, and the -scene was repeated. I did not observe the hint that the president must -have given; but while some of the guard came and took Hobart's hand, -others were untying the prisoners, and they also came in their turn. - -There were tears in Hobart's eyes, and his speech had fled by the time -Captain Mason came up and took his hand. - -"You are a man, Hobart," said he, and without noting the effect turned -to the other conspirators. "Young men," he went on, "you are at liberty. -The incident is closed." - -Without a glance at the assembled colony, he turned away and went to his -hut. - -I looked for Beelo, and saw his signal to follow him. A buzzing rose -from the crowd. A hard, fixed look was in Mr. Vancouver's ashen face. -Annabel's head rested in her arms on the table, and she was sobbing. -From every direction I found furtive glances upon me, and wondered -whether I had become a Pariah. The idea was dispelled by the friendly -responses that my advances found, but I was uneasy on the score of -Beelo. - - - - -CHAPTER XI.--Faces Set Toward Danger. - -_Len-tala in Difficulties. The True Story of the Enterprising Young Men. -Mr. Vancouver Faces the Unknown. Beelo Takes Us on a Journey._ - - -BEELO was much excited and torn with impatience when I arrived. Despite -that, he regarded me with an odd mixture of awe and fear. - -"Choseph!" he exclaimed, "you are terrible and cruel! I couldn't have -believed------" His breath gave out. - -"What's the news, lad?" - -The gentle solicitude in my voice steadied him, and he looked with his -sunny smile. - -"You are dear old Choseph, aren't you?" he said. "Oh, everything has -happened!" he flung out. "The king is terribly angry with Lentala for -interfering with the arrest of the young men yesterday. I had to stay -with her, and couldn't come. I don't know what trouble will come out of -it, but the king is going to bring matters to a head at once, before we -are nearly ready! Choseph! those young men ought not to have been let -out of the valley. Gato is now on his way to the colony for a man, and -you must go there immediately to attend to it. You must decide which man -is to go." - -His news, breathlessly given, stunned me. It was essential that we both -be calm. - -"Tell me what happened to the young men," asked. - -"They climbed the wall, and expected to slip through. Why, Senatra men -rained on them! Len-tala got there as soon as she could with her private -guard, but it was too late to save them from a terrible whipping. The -guard had them bound and were taking them to the palace when -Lentala arrived. She's afraid now that the king will do what he has -threatened,--either lock her up or give orders that will tie her hands -so that she can't do anything." - -I hesitated. "If she is powerless, Beelo, there will be no one to -protect the man who will go out with Gato." - -His distress was poignant, and he dropped to the ground in a weary -little heap. - -"Lentala is equal to any task, lad," I quietly said. - -He looked up brightly. "Do you believe that much in her, Choseph?" - -"She's our one hope, lad, and she'll never falter; and she has your wise -little head and your bold heart to help her." - -He came strongly to his feet. "She can do anything if you think _that_ -of her, Choseph," he gently said. Another moment found him his eager, -active self. "A great deal will depend on the man you are to send out," -he said. - -"Why? What awaits him?" - -The answer was an appealing look. His remarks about the earthquakes -and the storms had puzzled me, and while I knew that the subject was -repugnant to him, I was forced to revive it. I repeated a remark by -Captain Mason that a storm was brewing. Beelo straightened. - -"Captain Mason ought to know!" he cried. "The king's wise men have told -him the same thing. Choseph, Choseph! It would be horrible!" - -"Why, lad? I can't work in the dark." - -His look was appealing. - -"I must know," I said. "You are acting like a child, and this is work -for men. Tell me what the storm and the earthquake have to do with us, -or I'll refuse to surrender a man to Gato, and we'll fight." - -"Choseph!" he exclaimed, frightened; then, after a pause: "The people -think the Black Face must have all the castaways, or it will shake the -ground with earthquakes and maybe send a volcano to destroy everything. -But if the earthquake is heavy, it terrifies the people. In that way you -might escape if Lentala's plan fails. It was a great earthquake I was -hoping for." - -"The Black Face must have all the castaways?" I repeated. "How?" - -"I don't know!" he desperately cried. "Lentala doesn't know. It has been -concealed from us. But it's something horrible! A storm is coming, but -it may bring no castaways, and the king won't wait any longer. He can't -control the people." - -"What kind of man should we send out, Beelo?" - -"One who's brave and fears nothing," he promptly answered, studying me -oddly. - -"Then Rawley wouldn't do." - -"No. Mr. Vancouver." - -I had felt it coming. Of course he deserved any risk, any fate, but---- - -"You are thinking of Annabel," said Beelo. - -"Yes. She is innocent. Unless Lentala can keep him away from the king -and save him from harm, I won't----" - -"There, there, Choseph!" sweetly said the boy. "She'll manage. You'll -send Mr. Vancouver?" - -"Yes." - -"Good! That will make the king think you aren't suspicious. As soon as -he has gone with Gato, you and Christopher come here, and then we three -will go out of the valley." - -Captain Mason's heavy hand still lay as a hush on the camp when Gato, -the giant leader of the soldiers, arrived an hour later with a band of -his men. Christopher and I met him, and he informed us that he had -come for the man who was to be taken out. I despatched Christopher for -Captain Mason, whom I had informed of the decision to send Mr. Vancouver -out. The storm had been gathering with a slowness that indicated -destructive preparation. Mr. Vancouver was in his hut with Rawley -and Annabel. Rawley's haggard face peered out at intervals and sent a -straining look at me such as I had seen in the faces of the condemned -peering through the cell-grate for any messenger that might bear a -reprieve. They were not aware of our decision that Mr. Vancouver should -go. - -The president, cool and serious, came with Christopher. - -"Summon Mr. Vancouver," he said. - -The three came out. Mr. Vancouver, though pale, had a firm look, and -it went straight to Captain Mason. Rawley was ghastly. Annabel held my -attention most. Undoubtedly Mr. Vancouver had been trying to prepare her -for the contingency of his leaving, and had made poor work of it. - -Her glance first sought Captain Mason, and found a blank face with no -eyes for her. Next she looked at me, and caught something that I was -too slow in hiding. Thenceforward during the scene I knew that the ache -within me for her sake was large print to her eyes. Her bearing was an -accusation, a challenge for frankness, an appeal for protection. - -The president said: - -"Mr. Vancouver, the king has sent for one of our men. It would be my -duty to go if I could be spared. Will you go?" - -"Certainly," came the prompt answer. - -Annabel shrank, and then bravely stepped forth. Her voice lost its -quaver as she proceeded. - -"Why send my father?" she demanded. "Are there no young men here with -the courage to volunteer?" - -She eagerly scanned the crowd, not heeding her father's restraining hand -on her arm. Being a woman, she could never understand why not a single -man made a sign, so heavy was the weight of Captain Mason's hand. - -"It is a shame!" she passionately exclaimed. "I had thought there were -more manliness and gratitude in the world." She turned upon me. "Mr. -Tudor, I know _you_ will go." - -I could not bear it. "May I tell her in confidence what I am to do?" I -asked Captain Mason under my breath. - -"Not now," he answered. "Miss Vancouver," he said aloud, "Mr. Tudor -cannot go. I beg to remind you that you are interfering with the -business in hand." - -Recollection of the morning's scene, when a woman had been sent away -under guard, must have been what whitened her face with fear and then -flushed it with anger. The lion in her father crouched at Captain Mason, -but instantly remembered. - -"Daughter," he peremptorily said, "spare us further humiliation. I am -going." - -"Then, I will go with you!" she exclaimed. - -The entire colony was assembled, and all were expecting another measure -of authority; but Captain Mason stood in patient silence. - -"Impossible, child!" said Mr. Vancouver. - -"Yes, I will go!" she cried. "I have a right to go, and I will!" - -Mr. Vancouver sent Captain Mason an inquiring look, and found that the -blue eyes had hardened. He knew the meaning of that; he must at once -eliminate his daughter. - -"Child," he coaxed, enclosing her in his arms, "it is -impossible,--dangers would arise that wouldn't come if you were absent." - -"I can't bear it,--I can't bear it!" she half sobbed. She struggled to -free herself. Rawley came forward. "Don't touch me!" she cried. "Isn't -there a _man_----" - -A glance from Captain Mason sent Christopher to her side. - -"It's me, ma'am." - -Her father released her, and she turned in astonishment to Christopher. -Annabel had a sense of the ludicrous, but one of tenderness also. She -saw the angel behind the clown. Smiles went with her tears as she gave -him her hand. - -"You mustn't go," leaked his thin voice. - -"Why?" - -"They need you." His gesture swept the camp. - -She was silent while she dried her eyes. - -"Yes," she said, "but----" - -"Them there savagers ud eat you." - -"But my father------" - -"He ain't nice to eat." - -Christopher had laid a daring finger on the mystery, but his words found -all unheeding except Mr. Vancouver, who looked startled. The suggestion -was evidently new to him. - -"Very well, Christopher," Annabel said, smiling sadly, "I'll stay. -Captain Mason," falteringly, "I ask your pardon." She turned to her -father and embraced him. "Father, go. I'll pray for you." She held him -off and looked long into his face. "You'll come back, won't you?" - -"Of course. I shall see the king, and I know I can arrange everything -happily for the colony." - -Captain Mason beckoned Gato. Mr. Vancouver turned his face to the -darkness and marched away with the guard. - -When he had gone, Annabel still gazed. Rawley watched her for a look -that might permit his consoling offices, but she did not see him. Only -Christopher knew what to do. - -"It's a-wanting of you, ma'am," he said. - -She started. "What, Christopher?" - -"It's mother, too." - -"Yes, yes,--I'd forgotten." Without a glance at any of us, she went to -the ailing child. - -The colony began to stir. After a hurried conference with Captain Mason, -Christopher and I left to keep the appointment with Beelo. We were ready -for him when he came all out of breath. It made me uneasy to note that -he studiedly avoided my eyes and made no reference to the scene in camp. - -"There's not a moment to lose," he said. "Come; follow me--cautiously." -His manner betrayed a nervous haste. - -"Beelo!" I said, seeing that he was too much excited. - -He stood panting while he got himself in hand, but still kept his face -turned from me. - -"Now I'm all right," he said. - -He threaded the jungle as though every shrub and tree and turning-place -were familiar, and held a course on that side of the valley which -brought us under the Face. - -His agility taxed me. Not so Christopher: his deftness equaled Beelo's. -We were a silent trio. - -The transverse ridge was crossed, and we entered strange territory. -Beelo's eyes and ears were incessantly on watch. Now and then he would -come to an abrupt halt and hold his breath, but nothing appeared. -We kept to the deepest shadows, which were further blackened by the -steadily thickening darkness of the sky. I feared a downpour. - -Without mishap we finally reached the lower end of the valley. I had -been trying to see the opening through which the stream must run, but -even when we halted near the cliff, not a break appeared. - -Beelo dropped to the ground. "We'll rest," said he. - -I found the adventure exciting, but was unprepared for its effect -on Christopher. His usually dull eyes had intelligent vision; his -slouchiness was gone. - -After a few moments' rest Beelo rose, and led us to the stream. It was -deep and slow here, and crept through a dense overhanging growth. We -pushed through the tangle, and soon came to a little clearing near the -bank, but screened from it. The bamboo raft which he and Christopher had -made lay there. - -We launched it. Christopher produced a pole from another hiding-place, -boarded the raft, and knelt on the forward end. Beelo and I followed. - -"Christopher," the lad inquired, "can you see in the dark?" - -"Yes," and Christopher shoved off. - -The vegetation grew denser as we slipped along, and its shadows combined -with the darkness of the day to plunge us into night. Presently I -realized that we must have traversed more than the distance between the -launching-place and the wall. - -"Where are we, Beelo?" I asked, but the sound of my voice informed me -before the boy's answer: - -"Under the mountain. We are going through." - -To describe my sensations would be impertinent. Beelo's reticence was -more than silence. The only sound was the swish of Christopher's pole as -it dipped and scraped while we drifted. Beelo, sitting a little to the -rear and at one side of me, crept nearer. - -"Talk," he begged, edging still closer, till our arms touched. - -"Very well, lad. Shall I tell you a story?" - -We must have been on the floor of a lofty cavern, for my words came -back. - -"Hush!" he whispered. - -His hand was groping for mine. Perfect blackness encompassed us. I -took his hand. A slight tremor thrilled it, and I put an arm about his -shoulders, drew him close, and pressed his head down in the hollow of my -neck. There was none of his refractory wildness now. Poor lad! For all -the pluck that he had shown in the past, the silence and the darkness of -this grew-some passage had unmanned him. It was good to hear the comfort -in his sigh, the fading of the tremor, and the firm grasp of his hand. - -Evidently Beelo had never made this trip before, but I wondered that at -least its upper end had been left unguarded and why it was not a highway -for the natives. In a whisper I asked him. - -"It is guarded," he answered; "but when a storm or an earthquake comes, -the men are afraid that what is in here will come out; and, besides, -they think a storm is a better guard than they. But they weren't far -away. I knew how to avoid them." - -"Yes, but----" - -"Down!" came sharply from Christopher simultaneously with a dull blow. - -I flattened Beelo and myself. - -"Up," said Christopher. - -Had his face or head encountered a low-hanging rock? Yet he had thought -of us. - -"Are you hurt?" I asked. - -"No, sir." - -"Did your head strike?" - -"Arm, sir." - -Perhaps an inscrutable power had given him the sense to raise his arm -and guard his head at the moment of peril. I finished my question to -Beelo: - -"What is in here the natives fear?" - -"The voices that send your words back." - -"Surely they are familiar with the echo in the mountains." - -"Not this kind, Choseph." He had never called me that so easily. I -hugged him closer, and he nestled like a kitten. - -It was indeed a startling echo. At times even our whispers seemed to -multiply and flock on wings, and come rustling back. - -"There's something still worse," added Beelo. - -"What is it?" - -"I don't know. They would never tell me." - -...I wondered whether he had felt the sudden leap of my heart. He must, -for he snuggled closer, withdrew his hand from mine, caressed my cheek, -and whispered: - -"We'll be brave." - -"Yes, lad, but if we knew only a little we should be the better -prepared." - -He was silent. - -"You know nothing about it?" I insisted. - -"Nothing at all." - -"But natives have gone through safely, else they wouldn't know." - -"Some did, a long time ago. That was the last." - -"Some did? Not all that started?" - -"Not all. The others went mad. Don't talk about it, dear Choseph." - -Assuredly Beelo had been driven to a desperate extremity to choose -this way of escape from the valley. It showed how closely the ordinary -outlets were guarded. - - - - -CHAPTER XII.--Dramatic Discoveries. - -_Plunged Into Mysterious Terrors. Christopher's Obscure Powers at Work. -A Struggle for Our Lives. Stout Hearts Fail. A Dear One Lost._ - - -THE passage was crooked. The darkness was unqualified, and so dense -that it seemed resistant and hard to breathe. It was the sort of -blackness that penetrates to the heart and quenches the light there. -Matches had long ago disappeared from the colony, and I had no means -of making a light. Nor had Beelo provided against the blackness. All -time-reckoning had been lost, but our rate was slow, and I knew that the -passage must be long. - -Thus far the odors had been of the sun-sweetened water crossed with -those of the underground dank, and were pleasant. But presently a faint -pungency invaded the cold air. I knew by the change in Beelo's breathing -that his quick sense had discovered it. It suggested things over -which my memory halted. Christopher gave no sign. With unflagging -watchfulness, aided by a perception far keener than mine, he kept the -raft free in the stream, except for occasional bumps. - -"Do you smell it, Christopher?" I asked. - -"Yes, sir." - -"What is it?" - -"Sir?" - -"What is it?" - -There was an interval before his answer, "Fire, sir." Beelo cowered in -my embrace. Since Christopher had mentioned it, I knew it was fire; -I cannot say how I knew, because the odor was unlike that from any -combustion I had ever known. - -"Do you know what is burning?" I asked. - -"Me, sir?" - -"Yes." - -This silence was longer than the other; Christopher must have listened -far. - -"The world, sir." - -Beelo shook with a silent chuckle, and squeezed my hand; but I knew that -Christopher's words had a meaning. - -"The world?" I quietly repeated. - -"Yes, sir. I hear it." - -Beelo and I straightened up and set our ears on a strain. - -"I hear nothing," I said. - -"I hear it, very faint," Beelo breathlessly returned. - -It made no difference with the steadiness of Christopher's work. The -odor gradually grew more pronounced, and then I recalled an iron smelter -that I had seen in boyhood. Presently I too heard a distant roar as of -a furnace that ground while it burned. Beelo crept close under my -arm again. I could feel his quick heart-beats and shortened breathing -against my side. - -Creeping through these increasing sensations came the deep note of -falling water. Why ask Beelo whether he had ever heard that our stream -took a subterranean plunge? Christopher kept coolly at his task. The -sharp striking and scraping of his tireless pole had long ago informed -me that rock made our channel and shores, which were uneven and -dangerous. Now and then the raft would make a sudden swing to avoid -underwater rocks that Christopher's soundings had discovered. At other -times it would come to a lurching halt until the man carrying our lives -in his hand had made sure of the way. - -"What do you think of that water falling, Christopher?" I asked. - -He waited a long time, and his slow answer chilled me: - -"I don't know, sir." - -"You'll go slow when we come nearer?" - -"Yes, sir." - -Beelo gave me a hand-pressure intended to silence my foolish tongue. - -With a growing intensity in the odor, in the furnace roar, and in the -rumbling of the waterfall, came stealing something new and surpassingly -uncanny. It was a very dim glow, with no visible source, and without -the power to make anything seen but itself. Apparently it was but the -darkness in a more oppressive phase. In vain did I strain my eyes to see -Christopher, Beelo, the raft, the water,--anything that light could make -visible; but the glow was as impenetrable as the darkness. - -Beelo was going to pieces under the weight of this encompassing awe. -I knew that his weakness was born of his yielding to an extraneous -reliance--Christopher and me. He put his lips to my ear and whispered: - -"I'm afraid." - -"Steady, lad. You are our guide; you are responsible for us." - -"Yes, I know." He made a pathetic effort to regain himself. "This -light--don't you _feel_ it, Choseph?" - -"I do, dear lad, but my name isn't Choseph." - -"Yoseph!" he triumphantly said. - -"Joseph," I insisted. - -"Mr. Tudor!" In a whirlwind he threw both arms round my neck, and -softly laughed. The old Beelo was on guard again, except that with his -recovered courage he was uncommonly gentle and affectionate. I wondered -if I should ever reach the end of the boy's phases. - -From some indeterminate direction came the muffled sound of an -explosion. - -"Hold tight!" cried Christopher, violently lurching the raft round and -jamming it sharply against high jutting rocks on the bank. "Down!" he -added. - -A mighty rush as of many winds came tearing up the passage far ahead. -I threw Beelo face down, and flattened my body. Then came the blow, -and hurled Christopher backward upon us. In a moment he had recovered -himself. The impact must have strained Beelo's ribs, but he lay still. - -It was a combination of atmospheric concussion and hot gases, -principally steam, that had struck us. I raised my head, gasping for -breath. Beelo was inert. I lifted him. One arm feebly groped for my -neck, and clung there. - -"We are safe!" I cheerily said. "Where is my brave little brother?" - -He only held me the closer. Indeed, speech was difficult, since the air -was packed with smothering vapors. The desire to breathe was checked by -an instinctive fear to inhale. - -Christopher cautiously pushed out, and again we drifted free, The pole -dipped and clicked and scraped. - -But a change had come. The furnace roar had ceased; the waterfall grew -louder. Most striking of all was the unearthly luminosity of the steam -filling the tunnel. That vapor, rapidly chilling in the cold of the -passage, increased in opaqueness, but glowed the more. Before long the -light became radiant and faintly illuminating, and the air sweetened. -I had known by Beelo's breath on my cheek that his face was upturned to -mine, and near. Thus it was that after long peering I found the light in -his eyes. My arms were enclosing him. - -"I see my lad!" I said in gladness. - -A queer little movement of withdrawal began. I tried to hold him, but -found no yielding. Gradually he slipped out of my clasp, and sat alone. - -Christopher slowly took body in the haze, a ghostly Charon on the -Styx. The color of the glow grew from white to rose, with an occasional -effulgence of bluish purple. The surface of the earth knew no such tints -in fire; these were royally plutonic. The black rocks overhead and on -either hand assumed a vague, grim definition, and to my keyed fancy -displayed grotesque suggestions. Blank spaces a shade darker than the -grimacing, minatory rocks fell away; these I supposed to be cavernous -reaches out of the passage, for from them came echoed multiples of the -pole-sounds. - -The temperature began to rise as the waterfall grew louder, the light -more revealing, the haze weaker. We swung round a wide curve, and all at -once a terrifying vision sprang forth in a blood-red light. Our stream -opened into a small lake, which was violently churned by a cataract of -crimson water brilliantly illuminated and plunging out of the overhead -darkness into it. The roar was deafening. - -Beelo, scrambling in terror to his feet, his eyes blazing with the red -madness that packed the cavern, required a strong hand to subdue him. -He struggled in my grasp, pointed frantically backward with implorings -that we return, and fought my restraint with sheer animal desperation. -Christopher's conduct, though showing extraordinary exhilaration, -betrayed no fear, but only a grimmer hold on our situation. With a -rearward glance and the discovery that I was holding Beelo securely, he -stood up, a gigantic red figure, and with all his might shot the raft -forward into the maelstrom. The frail thing plunged in the surge, but -Christopher's eye and arm were sure. The suck of the water, curving -downward where the cataract struck the pool, was cunningly avoided as -he circled the rim of the lakelet, having as able work to do in avoiding -the dripping rocks there as in keeping out of the breakers. - -I thanked God there was light, formidable though it was; it helped me in -my control of Beelo, whose struggles were becoming weaker, and enabled -me to find a good grip on the raft, for there was danger of slipping -off. Through all the wild lurching Christopher kept a sailor's feet; -and, although his back was toward me, I saw by his quick movements that -all his shrewd forces were in the fight. - -Whence came the light? It appeared to be in the cataract itself, a -living flame in the heart of its greatest enemy. The water was joyously, -terribly alive. - -The raft described an arc of the pool, slipped out of the boiling churn, -and, before Christopher was aware, caught an eddy and went swinging and -lurching in behind the cataract. The man so strong in both soul and body -threw up his hands in the surrender of terror, for a thing more awful -than the red light and the waterfall confronted us. He dropped the pole. -Its middle struck the edge of the raft, and our one weapon of defense -rebounded into the water. Beelo saw the catastrophe. He clutched me -frantically about the neck, nearly strangling me before I broke his -hold. - -[Illustration: 0133] - -Christopher looked about for the pole, and saw it bobbing on end as it -struggled against submergence in the down-thrust behind the fall. It -was twenty fatal feet away. The ferocity of elemental self-preservation -seized on the man and transformed him. This was not the attitude of -patient, gentle Christopher, the humble, serving Christopher, but that -of a bayed animal. My hands were tied by the necessity of Beelo's care. - -The spectacle that had unmanned Christopher was in a profound recess -reaching indeterminately out of the cavern and behind the waterfall. It -had not been visible until we rounded the fall and went scurrying behind -it in the eddy. Apparently far back,--I cannot guess how far,--ran a -broad, high, fantastically irregular tunnel ending in a pit of boiling -lava, at an unknown depth below the level of the tunnel, which itself -was slightly above the surface of the pool. Deep rumblings issued from -it, as from a heavy ebullition, punctured with smothered detonations. -Rising from it were thin, cloud-like masses of vapor, like the -pale mauve haze of distant mountains. In its rolling it thickened -concealingly here and opened revealingly there, with constantly shifting -effects. - -The dominant color was a deep, transparent crimson of a tint such as -may be seen in the cooling iron of a foundry or in the great crater of -Kilauea; but following the detonations came leaping flames of bluish -purple. It was the red shining through the water that had made the -cataract a fall of liquid crimson when seen from the front. - -This, then, was the funnel of a volcano, with a lateral vent. Was it one -of Pluto's cooling forges? Was its present activity transient? Was this -the beginning of a seismic convulsion that might blow the valley rampart -into the sea? - -I cannot say when those questions arose. The urgency of an immediate -threat demanded all attention. Beelo was in an ecstasy of terror, and -Christopher was desperately casting about with all his reassembled wits. -In the tumult of noises our voices were useless. We had been flung out -of the larger eddy into a smaller one swirling between the back of the -fall and the tunnel-mouth. It had a swifter and more dizzying whirl. -Soon it seemed that we were still, except for the ceaseless rolling of -our craft, and that the roaring fall and the grumbling, blazing tunnel -were swinging round us. With the rest passed the bobbing pole, a live, -insane thing, nodding this way and that, approaching the downpour -gingerly, diving under a sharp water-blow, and leaping up with malicious -sprightliness a few feet back. At any moment it might be caught sidewise -and crushed. - -There was another danger. The centrifugal force of our swing in the eddy -was carrying us out to the periphery of the swirl. On one side were -the rocks at the mouth of the tunnel; opposite was the waterfall, the -slightest blow from which (since it fell from a height of at least a -hundred feet) would mean the end. Our swinging was taking us nearer to -both those dangers. - -Something roused within, overcoming my pity for Beelo. I shook him and -slapped his cheek. Astonishment and anger blazed in his eyes, and then -with a mighty indignation he crawled away and sat glaring at me. At -another time the comical picture would have amused me, for the boy -behaved just as a proud kitten under similar treatment. Having secured -the desired result with Beelo, I worked to the edge of the raft, and -prepared to make a leap for the pole. I was waiting till the raft should -swing round and bring me nearer. Before that happened, two soft arms -were flung round me from behind, a cheek pressed mine, and I was borne -down backward. Two small, firm hands held my wrists down. For the moment -I was helpless. - -Of course, Christopher knew that our nearer approach to danger brought -us closer to hope, which lay in the pole. He was biding the moment, -and it came. He crouched on the raft, and a long arm shot out. Beelo's -nerves were quivering till Christopher rose; then they stilled, and he -released me. - -Christopher had learned from experience, and it was a surer hand now -that gripped the pole and sent the raft spinning out of the eddy. To -keep it somewhat trimmed against Christopher's movements had been a -small part of my task hitherto, so thoughtful of everything had he -been; but now that he saw Beelo and me better used to the situation, he -quietly gave us something of that to do, thus securing more freedom of -movement. - -He found the egress of the stream from the pool, and pushed out. Slowly -we crept through the gloomy, misty light, which paled as we went. -Christopher must have felt a dread that oppressed me--the danger of -recurrent explosions--for he worked with less extreme caution than -before, and our progress was better. After a time the light was too dim -for me to see Beelo sitting in his sullen pout; and when darkness again -fell, he crept up beside me and stole out a hand for mine. The noises -had nearly ceased, and Beelo no longer feared the weird echoes. - -"I'm glad it's past," he sighed, nestling against me. "Aren't you, -Choseph?" - -"Joseph." - -He hugged my arm and softly laughed. - -"Yes, I'm glad," I answered. - -It seemed many hours since we had entered the passage, and I hoped we -should emerge in the morning of the day following that of our start. - -New conditions began to arise. Above the cataract the stream had -been slow, with few approaches to rapids. Those had been the worst -danger-points. Now we discovered that the current was swifter and -the rapids more numerous and turbulent. The celerity of Christopher's -movements increased. He no longer tried to spare us the water dripping -from his pole as he repeatedly shifted it and groped for bearings. -This made me more apprehensive. I wondered whether, even with better -facilities, we could return to the valley through this passage, and how -the two hundred and fifty colonists could manage to come safely through. - -Presently I felt in the water a turgidity where the current was slow, -and heard a hoarse, growling rumble quite different from the sounds that -we had left behind. Beelo tightened his clutch and breathlessly said: - -"It has come!" - -"What has, lad?" - -"Hush!" - -Except for an unusual slapping of the water against the rocks, the -commotion had passed. I wondered if the storm had broken in the valley -and the torrent was coming; but this did not look like it. - -"It has gone, Beelo. What was it?" - -"No, it hasn't. Hold tight. Sit hard, Christopher!" - -"Beelo," I impatiently demanded, "you must tell me what----" - -The speech was stopped by a groaning crunch that tossed the stream, -splashed the water high on the rocks, and filled the passage with a -sound like that of crushing glass. Beelo was again in terror. - -"Be quiet, lad. There's nothing-----" - -"Don't talk!" he desperately commanded. "The third one will come. That's -the worst. Wait!" - -The seconds dragged through an awful silence. Beelo's breath struggled -spasmodically through the repression under which he tried to hold it. - -The third shock came, and then, though I had never felt one before, I -knew what it was. The whole world seemed to heave and writhe and jolt -and grind, all with a fearful noise. The earthquake, grim brother of -the boiling cauldron we had left, had us in its jaws, and its power was -manifest in the ease with which it crushed and ground the rocks about -us. Fragments of these began to splash in the water and rattle on the -raft. Just in front, a huge block plunged into the stream and dashed us -with water. - -Beelo flung himself upon me; I again bent over him to shield him. - -Another heavy stone struck the raft in the narrow space between -Christopher and us, and tore through it into the water, sending up a -geyser through the hole. - -A stiffening wave of terror overswept Beelo. He sprang to his knees and -tightly embraced my neck in both arms. - -"We are going to die!" he feebly cried, and pressed his lips to mine, -sinking inert into my arms. My fingers anxiously sought his pulse. It -was fluttering. - -"Christopher!" I called in alarm,--not realizing that the earthquake -had passed and that a dim light made visible the rocks in a turn -ahead,--"Christopher! Something has happened to Beelo!" - -"Yes, sir," came with the steady old calm. - -"Stop! We must do something for him." - -"We are going out, sir." - -We swung the curve, and the blessed daylight smiled ahead. The raft slid -out of the passage in placid water, which here, as at the other end, was -deeply embowered. The glorious day, though overcast, was brilliant to -our eyes as it sifted through and rested sweetly on the water. As Beelo -was unconscious, Christopher observed extraordinary care in proceeding, -and as soon as possible secured the raft in the sheltered reach. - -I was looking down into Beelo's face. His head had fallen back, and -although his eyes were closed, his lips were open. It came over me with -a pang that a richness and a maturity which I had not before noticed in -his face, rested there now. - -"How long has it taken us to come through?" I asked Christopher. - -"'Mos' four hours, sir." - -I was surprised. It had seemed much longer. - -He came to lift Beelo out, but I myself bore him ashore and laid him on -the ground, and knelt over him. Christopher was standing near, studying -him, but showing no anxiety. - -"It is only fainting, isn't it, Christopher?" I asked. - -"That's all, sir." - -To give him air, I began to open his blouse. - -"I wouldn't, sir," interposed Christopher. - -"Why?" I asked, looking up in surprise. - -He only regarded me in silence. At first I thought that Christopher's -singular penetration had discovered that Beelo was lighter of color than -a full-blooded native and was delicately warning me not to invade the -carefully guarded secret. I recalled the story that I had told Beelo, -and my suspicions as to the purity of his native blood. And what harm -could come if I did learn? - -Then the truth came upon me with the overwhelming force of long -cumulation. His conduct in the tunnel, his sweetness and gentleness, -the strange conclusion of the scene with Annabel when they had met,--a -thousand memories of things that had passed unheeded in the stress -of dangers,--came as a blinding light. I do not know when Christopher -learned the truth, but in his chivalry he would have seen me go blind to -the grave without a word from him in betrayal of Beelo's secret. - -The shock stunned me, and my head was bowed in reverence. When I again -looked into the patient face, now having for me so sweet and touching a -pathos, the deep-blue eyes were looking up into mine; then they turned -to Christopher, and all about. The old mischievous, bantering smile -parted the perfect lips. The eyes again sought mine. - -"Choseph! It's fine to be dead!" But the voice held a different music -from that of the lad whom I had loved and who was now gone forever. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.--Preparation for the Crisis. - -_In the Enemy's Land. The Weird Light on the Valley Wall. Mr. Vancouver. -A Visit with Lentala. She Tells a Secret Which I Already Know._ - - -I Would respect Beelo's wish that she appear as a boy, and must keep -hammering into my mind the words, Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother. I -must not for a moment think of her otherwise. "Boy, Lad, Dear Little -Brother." - -"What are you dreaming, Choseph, and what are those words your lips are -saying?" It was Beelo's cheery voice. - -He was sitting up; I was beside him looking down at the gliding water. I -woke to the familiar raillery, and turned with a smile. - -"Dear lad!" I joyfully responded. - -"You had forgotten me," he ruefully said. "And you, old Christopher! -Don't you see I'm dying of thirst?" - -Christopher plucked two large leaves, fashioned them into a cup, and -brought the water, which Beelo eagerly drank. He held out his hand, and -I helped him up. He tried his legs. - -"That's better," he said. - -The perfect grace of movement, the exquisite feminine figure so artfully -concealed,---- - -"Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother." - -"Mooning again, and talking to yourself!" cried Beelo. - -"It was a rough trip through the passage, boy. I'm a little shaken." - -"That's past. Shake the other way." He was pirouetting round a tree. - -"But how are we going back, lad?" - -"This way," he carelessly answered, making wing-motions with his arms. - -"There was an earthquake, Beelo." - -He stopped short, and his eyes lighted deep. - -"Yes!" he softly but impressively exclaimed. - -The old caution settled in his face; he peered and listened warily, and -then came a look of assured repose. - -"That is good," he said,--"if--" a cloud drifted over his face--"if they -felt it on the surface." - -"They did," interposed Christopher. - -"How do you know?" Beelo sharply demanded. - -Christopher pointed to a large rock near us, to the path that it had -freshly torn through the brush, and to a steep slope from which it had -been dislodged. - -"Good for Christopher!" said Beelo. He studied the sky, and dejectedly -added, "But the storm is coming!" After a little reflection he remarked, -as if to himself, "I don't know whether that should change our plans or -not." He seated himself to think it out, and began arranging twigs -on the ground. "No Senatras will be within miles of the passage," he -ruminated. "They fear it, for the earthquake is born here, and they have -run away. So, we can make better time. Mr. Vancouver is safe today; we -won't go _there_." - -"Where, dear little brother?" - -Pain crossed his face. "To the clearing opposite the Face. If only -another earthquake would come, or this had come sooner!" - -"Is one usually followed by another?" - -"Often. Sometimes not. Come! The sun will be setting before long, and we -have miles to go." - -We hid the battered raft and struck out. Our way led parallel to the -stream, which tore foaming down a gorge of steeply sloping sides. It -slipped into a pleasant valley, richly verdured. There we left it and -began the ascent of a mountain on the west. Dusk was coming on. Beelo -fearlessly pursued the trails in the darkening hours. - -Occasionally we paused to rest. The valley which we had crossed lay a -black-green sea below. Behind us the eastern sky was cut straight across -by the level summit of our valley wall. Beelo was closely studying it. - -"You see no sign of fire over there, do you?" he asked, pointing toward -the clearing opposite the Face. - -There was none, and Beelo was gratified. Our attention was diverted from -that spot by a faint purplish flash, which slipped along the crest above -the river passage, and was quickly gone. Beelo stood tense and still, -and whispered: - -"Did you see _that?_" - -"Yes." - -We waited for its reappearance, but none came. Beelo said no more. The -light had come from the subterranean lava-pot. - -Beyond the wall was the blackest part of the sky. Under the horizon -in that direction lightning was at play, as we judged from faint -illuminations in the distant heavens, and the rumble of far thunder. - -Night had nearly fallen when we reached the summit. The descent -was rapid on the other side, for Beelo went with the sureness of -familiarity. At last we stopped at an abandoned hut, hidden in the deep -forest. Beelo paused on the door-step. - -"See," he said, pointing to a glow a mile or less away, down the valley. -"That is the main settlement of the Senatras. The king's palace, where -Lentala and I live, is there. We will visit it tonight,--if Lentala -agrees. You will rest here awhile and have something to eat. After the -visit to the palace you will sleep here." - -He showed us within, closed the door, blew a flame from smothered embers -on the hearth, and lighted a nut-oil lamp. He had been very sober and -quiet all the way, but now his eyes began to dance. - -"This is your mansion!" he exclaimed. - -The place had been made clean and sweet, good beds of leaves were on the -earth floor, and fresh water stood in calabashes. Beelo dragged forward -a copper vessel, and took from it a generous food supply. - -"Isn't she pretty good--for a girl?" he casually asked. - -"Who?" - -"Lentala. She did these things." - -Ever since the scene at the end of the passage, sadness had sat upon me, -and I was in no mood to enjoy Beelo's pleasantries,--this, too, while -I was deeply touched by the labor and gentle thoughtfulness with which -everything had been done for our comfort. Still, something precious was -gone from my life; my heart hungered for the lad. But he was here! In a -swirl of perversity I seized Beelo's hands, and held him before me. - -"Dear lad," I said, "I am walking in the dark. Believe me, little -brother, I am grateful--more grateful than any words could say--for the -skill and the kindness that we have seen from you. But my heart is sore, -and you are laughing at me." - -Something between suspicion and embarrassment had been rapidly growing -in Beelo's face. Of a sudden he closed my mouth with his hand and made a -brave rally of Beelo's old flippancies. - -"Christopher," he said, "did you ever see such a goose? Such an _old_ -goose?" - -I gently removed his hand. - -"I am serious, boy." - -"Hush!" commanded Beelo in a whisper. - -His hunt down into me was ruthless, but the hurt there helped me to -steady my gaze. "When I fainted----" he began, and stopped, having -found my face expressionless. He turned to Christopher, who, giving no -attention to us, was setting out the supper on a mat. Beelo's sharp eyes -came back to me. - -"Dear little brother,----" - -"No, no! Not a word!" he broke in. "I haven't time, and you are hungry. -Come, Choseph!" - -He turned me to the supper and forced me to sit on the ground opposite -Christopher. It was pleasant to be man-handled by Beelo. His abuse of -me was always smoothed by affection. I had no appetite, but who could -resist Beelo? He played that I was an invalid and unable to help myself. -He patted my cheek, put food into my mouth, chattered nonsense as though -I were a baby, and petted me with outrageous condescension. There was -nothing to do but melt under his dear absurdities; and when he found -me re-established, he kissed me on the forehead and dashed out, calling -that he would be back before long. - -When he returned he was brilliantly alive. There seemed no end to his -vitality. - -"It's glorious!" he cried, seizing Christopher and sending his bulk in -a twirl across the hut. "It's splendid!" he went on, smashing my dignity -with boy's play. "It's just----" But his breath was gone, and he tumbled -in a panting heap on the ground. - -"What news, Beelo?" I inquired. - -He sat up, but as yet had meager breath for speech. - -"Mr. Vancouver--is safe. Doesn't look very--happy. Hasn't seen--the -king. Oh, no! Lentala,--who is an Angel--and Sweet--and Kind--and -Beautiful,--is just dying--to see you. And----" - -"Rest a minute," I interrupted. - -He flung a little pout at me, and then archly demanded, "Aren't you -good-natured yet, Choseph?" - -I shook my head. - -"You will be when you see Lentala," he said with mock melancholy. "Don't -you like girls?" he suddenly fired at me. - -"Y--es," I stammered consciously. - -"You like Annabel!" with a spitfire touch on his tongue. - -"I once liked, very much, a dear lad named Beelo more than any girl." - -"_Once_ liked Beelo!" His shining eyes were lances. - -"I like him just as much yet--when he is Beelo." - -I knew by his start that the thin ice on which I walked was cracking. - -"And what is he when he isn't Beelo?" - -"A little devil." - -He laughed. "You aren't _quite_ dead," he said, and a briskness sprang -into his manner. "We must go. Most of the Senatras have already gone to -sleep. Come." - -He rapidly led us into the valley, meanwhile instructing us how to -respond if greeted. The natives were not garrulous nor inquisitive, and -we passed unnoticed, until the outskirts of the settlement were reached. -There, in a dimly lighted hut, Mr. Vancouver was resting under guard, -Beelo informed us. A barely visible figure challenged Beelo. The prompt -response made the shape sink from view. - -"We haven't time to see Mr. Vancouver now," said the lad to us. - -A turn in a lane lined with huts brought us into a beautiful highway, -broad and white, and picketed with odorous trees which arched overhead. -The darkness would have been profound but for a diffused light which -glowed ahead upon something white. We went rapidly toward it, and found -it to be a high stone wall; the light was from two lamps on posts where -the highway swung to the left and ran at the foot of the wall. - -Instead of following the main road Beelo turned into a narrow way to the -right. The overhead growth was so dense that the light from the lamps -was soon lost, but Beelo knew the way. At last he stopped, and slipped -a key into a lock. The heavy wooden door, plated and strapped with iron, -suggested a postern in an archaic fortress. He led us within and secured -the door. - -The nearer approach of the storm brought lightning, which increased -Beelo's caution while revealing glimpses of our environment. In the -region behind the wall the verdure was less dense and more orderly -than in the park through which we had come. The lightning made the open -spaces embarrassing to our guide, who hurried us across them to the -shadows. Finely kept paths wound and intersected, but Beelo knew shorter -routes. A rising wind assisted the stealth of our progress. - -He brought us under the shadow of a low arcade, open on one side, and -closed on the other with a long stone house. The pillars were massed -in vines. Here the darkness was intense. The stone floor gave no sound -under our tread. - -Beelo stopped us, advanced a few paces, and rapped on a door. It was -cautiously opened, but we could not see within as Beelo entered. A very -faint light barely made him visible. - -"Lentala!" he whispered, "they are here." - -A voice fuller and mellower than Beelo's yet much like his, answered, -"Yes? I had given you up, and was undressing for bed." - -"You'll dress?" Beelo spoke nervously. - -"Yes. Tell them to wait a little while. They are safe out there. Beelo, -the king is furious because you ran away tonight. He is waiting for you. -Go at once. It is something about the man from the colony." I resented -her domineering manner toward Beelo. - -"Very well. I'll be back as soon as I can," he answered sweetly. - -Coming back to us, he began to explain, but I told him we had heard. A -reassuring hand was given to each of us, and he was hurrying across the -garden fronting the arcade. He halted and came back. - -"Don't stay with Lentala longer than ten minutes," he earnestly said. -"The king may detain me. If I don't come, can you find your way back?" - -I assured him that we could, and that even should he come, we would not -let him conduct: us to the hut. - -He gave my hand a grateful little squeeze as he slipped the gate-key -into it, and darted away, saying: - -"Wait at Lentala's door till she opens it." - -Presently she bade us enter. Instead of her barbarous but highly -becoming dress at the feast, with neat jacket and short skirt blazing -with gold embroidery, she now wore a plain, loose garment. It was partly -redeemed by a low cut in the neck, a splendid girdle consisting of a -heavy and elaborately linked chain of gold, and a necklace of wonderful -diamonds. - -I could not have explained why this dazzling woman, who had filled -so wide a space in my fancy, now looked a negligible quantity, an -intrusion. There was little of the sparkle that I had expected. The -childlike coquetries, the careless abandon, the subtleties that -had flitted so unconsciously through the conduct of the Lentala I -remembered,--these and a thousand other graces were absent from the -sedater young woman smiling upon us and composedly seating us. - -She had greeted us with a warning finger on her lips. - -"My servants," she explained in a low, rich voice, "are all in bed and -asleep. But they are not far away, and we must be careful." There was a -curious reminder of Annabel's preciseness in this new Lentala. - -She must have felt my discomfort, for she let some of her consciousness -slip away, and a dash of her native wildness gradually returned. - -"Beelo has told me everything," she said; "I'll not trouble you with -questions. And we are not to discuss any plans tonight." - -The beauty and richness of the room came forth, faint in the light of -suspended lamps, which, clouded in thin fabrics, cast no shadows and -softened all contours. A rich massing of hammered gold and silver, of -exquisite bronzes and ivories, of hangings and rugs, was softened to -grace by their perfect arrangement, and over that in turn was a fine -breath of daintiness. My astonishment grew as the significance of it -came over me. Did this girl, all seeming innocence, gentleness, and -kindness, _feel_ none of the crime and blood with which these treasures -were drenched? Yet only the sweetest of spirits could have cast upon -this charnel-house loot the cleansing that held its grisly suggestion -back. - -She had been moving about and gently chatting, and I had made empty -responses. At last I discovered that she was growing nervous. A heavy -crash of thunder brought out the cause. She looked anxious, and said: -"The storm is near. You must go before it breaks. Beela"--I noted her -odd pronunciation of the final syllable--"said that if he didn't return -in ten minutes you must go without him, but I can't think of that. He -has been gone much longer." - -I tried to assure her that we could go alone, but still she was uneasy. -Christopher and I rose. She came and laid a hand on my arm. - -"Wait a little while." She hesitated over the next words. "Do you like -Beela--Beelo?" - -"Very much," I answered dully. - -A liquid softness entered her beautiful eyes, and with it a sparkle of -the old Lentala--and of Beelo too. - -"I am going to tell you a secret," she went on. "You will keep it?--and -you, Christopher? And you'll not let Beelo know?" - -We pledged ourselves. She removed her hand, looked down, and while -busying herself with a readjustment of her girdle, said, very low: - -"Beelo isn't a boy." - -Her fingers stopped in her acute tension. I stood silent. With an effort -she raised her eyes to mine, and hers betrayed a keen suspense. - -"Beelo is a girl," she added, as though I had not heard. "Her name is -Beela." She found my look coolly meeting hers. - -"You liked Beelo the boy," she groped on; "don't you like Beela the -girl?" - -"I--I'm not acquainted with her," I fumbled. - -For a moment the Lentala of the feast returned in a look of mischievous -amusement, followed by one of pretended sorrow. I was enjoying the fine -play in her face.. - -"But don't you see," she asked, "that in knowing and liking the boy, you -knew and liked the girl?" - -It would have been impossible for me to make her understand that I was -not nimble in violent readjustments; so I held my peace. - -"She was Beela the girl all the time," Lentala insisted. "It couldn't -have been anything but the girl in her that you cared for." She did not -know in the least that she was talking to the wind. - -"Of course," agreed I, very uncomfortable. - -My tone made her turn impatiently away. With much spirit she went on as -with ease and softness she paced the floor: - -"After all she has done, too! I don't see------" - -"Lentala!" I interrupted; "don't misunderstand. I do like----" - -"No, you don't!" Her voice was growing unsteady. "My poor little Beela! -I _know_ she's a madcap, but she is good, she is kind. She _had_ to be a -boy. I _made_ her be one. She couldn't have done what she did----" - -"Lentala, please----" - -"-----unless she _was_ a boy. And now she is shamed and humiliated! -Don't let my sweet sister ever know that. It would break her heart. Poor -little Beela!" - -"This is all wrong. I----" - -"Even for _my_ sake you might be generous. It is----" - -Three strides brought me to her, and I was unconscious of the power in -my angry grip on her wrist, but her tongue went silent. She raised her -eyes under the compulsion of mine. - -"That is enough," I said. - -There was a moment's matching of our forces. A ripple of mischievous -and innocent surprise animated her, and she laughed with the glee of a -gentle child. She was very much like her sister then. - -A deepening thunder-crash came. - -"You must go--now! I'm going with you. I won't let you----" - -"You shall not go," I firmly said. - -"I _must_. I _want_ to. I'll get a----" - -"No, Lentala. Good-night." - -As I was turning away, I saw the second time in her face the look of -one whose road has stopped at a wall. When I smiled and bowed to her as -Christopher and I were passing out, she was standing where I left her, -looking blankly at me. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.---A Glimpse Into the Abyss. - -_The Fate Awaiting Mr. Vancouver. We Play a Trick on the Natives. My -Nerves Give Way. A Ghastly Hint from Christopher. A Perilous Place._ - - -THE drenching, thunder-ridden storm was so favoring that I determined -to investigate Mr. Vancouver's circumstances, and, if possible, -ascertain the plans focusing in him; for since the discovery of Beela's -sex, her horror and timidity concerning those intentions were explained. -I must now take the lead, since the work was not fitted to a woman. - -No guards were outside Mr. Vancouver's hut when we arrived, and the -wetting of the ground silenced our footfalls. My impulse was to enter, -and cautiously ascertain the truth; but I realized that the risk was -great. In creeping round the hut we overheard two native men talking -near the rear wall. - -"Hush!" continued one of the voices. "He is groaning again, and may -wake." - -In a little while the other remarked, "He is asleep. What were you -telling me?" - -"The king is very uneasy. The people all know that the white man is -here." - -"Is there dry wood?" - -"Yes. It is stored in a thatch hut on the east side of the clearing. The -people are clamoring for the white man to be taken to the stone." - -"That can't be done while the storm rages." - -"No; but the first hurricane never lasts long. The king has promised -Gato that the white man shall be sent to the fire as soon as this storm -passes. That may be tomorrow." - -"Does the white man suspect?" - -"Undoubtedly. He frets and groans." - -"What are these stories about the Black Face?" - -"The scouts sent by Gato say that it looks more ferocious than ever." - -"Does the king realize that the people will rise unless he consents to -the offering?" - -"I don't know. He is silent and deeply troubled. Danger stops any -direction that he can take. But Gato is ready." - -A horror that I felt rather than understood came over me, and, fearing -that I should betray our presence by some rash act, I was creeping away, -when I discovered that Christopher, moving similarly, had started before -me. Every tree-branch was a tempting club with which to break a savage -head and free the prisoner. - -Instead of returning to our hut, we went to the summit of the wall -enclosing our valley. Clearly Christopher required no explanation to -understand my purpose. With slow, sure caution we took an eastwardly -course, parallel with the brink of the precipice and at a safe distance -from any men that might be patrolling it. From time to time we would -stop, creep nearer the edge, make a careful inspection, return in -silence, and go on. The violence of the storm abated somewhat, thus -making our progress swifter, but more risky. - -With true instinct Christopher went straight to what we had been -seeking,--the opening in the forest on the top of the wall fronting the -Face. The clear space was smooth, level rock. One segment of the nearly -circular opening was cut off by the sheer drop of the precipice. Near -that edge was an exquisitely built circular stone platform some four -feet high and ten in diameter. As we worked round for a nearer view, we -discovered on its top old marks of fire which the rains had not washed -off. I recognized it as the object that I had seen from the valley, -opposite the Face. There was a moon, but only a faint glow from it -filtered through the clouds; occasional flashes of lightning gave us -clearer seeing. The air was stifling. - -We edged nearer to the cliff, and stood peering across the valley as we -waited for light. It came, and revealed the Face. The sodden, sordid, -worse than bestial mask, more repulsive than ever in the gloom of -the storm, held its gaze fixed upon us. We were upon the scene of the -unthinkable tragedy awaiting Mr. Vancouver. - -We circled the eastern edge of the clearing. Soon we found a squat -structure of thatch, half hidden in the edge of the forest. It was -filled with neatly piled firewood. No surprise showed in Christopher's -face. - -After further exploration of the vicinity, and satisfied that the place -was unguarded, we loaded ourselves with wood from the hut, and plunged -into the thicket. A short distance away I had discovered a deep cleft. -We threw our loads into it; the fall was long before the sound came from -the bottom. Thus, after many trips, we disposed of all the fuel, and -hastened back to our hut for sleep. The night was far gone. - -The storm broke afresh, and I lay sleepless, and listened to the -elemental furies at play. Every nerve ached, and sleep was a sore need. -Contingencies riding the hurricane would likely offer still heavier work -for tomorrow. Whatever innocent pranks Beela might indulge, her -profound seriousness and her appreciation of the dangerous risks in this -undertaking were genuine. - -With the swirl and dash of the rain came the roar of the tearing wind -and the mighty bellow of thunder. Flash, peal, and boom rended the -firmament. Our cabin braced itself and strained under the tug, as though -digging its claws into the ground to hold firm. Large trees on the slope -behind us fell crashing. - -This was more than a hurricane: it was a tornado; perhaps worse yet, -a typhoon. Many ships ride out the worst of these; but mentally I saw -brown men being told off to man the promontories of the bight, and -to watch for staggering, heart-broken specks on the sea as the wind -following the hurricane urged them on slowly to a pleasant beach, five -hundred swordsmen, an oily savage king and a feast, and a march over -the mountain to a guarded paradise; thence to be "sent away" to their -homes--their eternal homes--one at a time! one at a time! So far as -civilization had reached, it had strangled an unspeakable practice in -these seas. - -Not even the churn of the storm in my veins could check the cold that -ran in my blood. Was the father of Annabel to be only the first? Were we -waiting as fattening hogs, instead of being out and afield, fighting a -way to liberty, and dying, if we must, as men should?... - -I found myself off the pallet and rolling on the floor. - -"Christopher?" I called, staggering to my feet. - -"Sir?" - -I knew by the nearness of his voice that he was already beside me, but -invisible in the blackness. - -"Light the lamp. We are going to dress." - -He obeyed without a word. I was feverishly rummaging for my clothes. - -"There, sir," he said, pointing to my moccasins, but neglecting to fetch -them to me. - -I had forgotten that my dress was Senatra and that moccasins were the -only part of it I had removed. I made a blundering affair of putting -them on, for the clutch of my hand was shaped better for a bludgeon just -then. Christopher was observing me with a mild, exasperating patience. - -"Put yours on," I roughly commanded. - -He made still denser the stupidity in his stare, and stood still. - -"Hurry!" I cried. - -"Sir?" - -"Hurry, I say! You are going too." - -"Me?" - -"Yes! We are going to take Mr. Vancouver away from those beasts." - -Without a change of expression he made a pretense of preparation. In -doing so, he edged up to the barred door, placed his wide back against -it, and calmly faced me. - -"What do you mean by that?" I demanded in a fury. - -"Sir?" - -"Stand aside, Christopher!" - -"Me, sir?" - -In exasperation I seized the copper vessel and advanced upon him. Not a -muscle of his body moved; his ape-like arms hung loose; his hands were -open. But it was not his defenselessness that stayed me. Far more potent -was the deep devotion in his eyes, which held a profounder sadness than -usual. It was a dash of cold water on my heat, but not my determination. -In all kindness I would reason with him. - -"Christopher," I asked, "do you know what they are going to do with Mr. -Vancouver?" - -He omitted his formula, and simply gazed at me. - -Then I told him, in raw, sore words. It was the first time they had been -spoken by a member of the colony. - -I was astonished at his placidity on hearing them. - -"Do you understand?" I had to thunder the question above the outer din. - -But he was listening to sounds that the storm did not make. I waited -impatiently. - -"They won't him, sir, if they get you." - -"Why not?" - -"You're younger 'n' fatter." - -Like most other of Christopher's remarks, this one dealt in a conclusive -terminal, omitting postulate and explication; but I understood. He -had told a long and dramatic story in those halting words--our blind -assault, our being beaten down and secured, and then the awful end. I -wondered at that, and longed for the power to see into the working of -his strangely luminous mind, its far light behind its frontal darkness. - -"And there ain't no dry wood, sir." - -The last of the ice in my blood broke and ran melting before him. I was -very tired, and found myself shifting on my feet like a drunken man. -Tongues of flame began to slip through the hut and dart hither and -thither with curious dips and turns. Some of them were purple, but the -most were crimson. A luminous vapor crept in. The boom of a waterfall -rumbled; and then came a crashing subterranean detonation. Christopher -was a gigantic ape floundering in a drowning sea of steam. - -"Christopher!" I cried, trying to catch the wall as it swung past. - -A firm, gentle arm went round me--an arm of a strength so great that -my most desperate struggles could not break its hold, yet I was a very -strong man. Slowly I was borne down on my pallet, and a thin, soothing -voice came with a hand that tenderly closed my eyes and held the lids -down. My breathing came easier. - -***** - -It was daylight, and Christopher was standing in the open door, looking -out. The rain had ceased, but the morning brightness was smothered under -the overhead lowering. The pleasant odor of coffee perfumed the hut. -Without appearing to notice my waking, Christopher served my breakfast, -but said nothing. A dull lassitude made the straw bed more inviting than -my feet. - -Beela's cheery good-morning an hour later was checked in alarm when she -entered and found me prone; but her electric vitality palpitated through -me and brought me smiling to a sitting posture. Her inquiring look -at Christopher read nothing in the bland face. A shadow of uneasiness -drifted through her eyes, but she drove it away. - -"Good!" she said. "I'm glad you are resting. Lie down again." She -dropped to a seat beside me on the straw, and pushed my head down. - -"That's better,--Choseph." Her hand was on my forehead. - -"Joseph," I insisted. - -"You don't like the way I talk, Ch--Dzhoseph?" banteringly, stealing sly -hands to mine and pretending to stare mockingly at me while peering into -my eyes. - -"Very well, Beelo. Did you square yourself with the king and have a good -rest last night?" - -"Of course. Do you think any king------" - -"Stop that." - -"What?" - -"Trying to see if I'm sick. Even though I were dead, your coming would -bring me to life." - -"My! Did you hear that, Christopher?" - -The sensible man did not answer, nor even look at her. She made a mouth -at his back, withdrew her hand, and edged away a few inches. Had I made -a slip after that confidence and caution from Lentala? I roused myself. - -"What's the news, little brother? What game and what killing today?" - -Her face fell grave. "Something has happened with you since I saw you -last night, Choseph." - -I told her all, and she held her breath over the audacity of our work. - -"I--I shouldn't have dared to suggest it," she said with charming -helplessness as she gave Christopher and me a look of wondering -admiration. "It was splendid, Choseph!" Her dear leaning girlishness, so -natural and unconscious, started a tumult in me, and it was hard for -me to keep the deception of her sex at work. "Now," she went on, "Mr. -Vancouver is safe so long as the weather is bad; and when it clears, -time will be needed to gather dry wood. We'll do nothing for the -present." - -"But we must be ready," I firmly protested, sitting up. "This matter is -in my hands and Christopher's now, not yours, my lad, for this is work -that only men can plan and do." - -The timidity in her look was new, but not less charming than her -surrender. - -"What are you going to do, Choseph?" she inquired with a mocking -exaggeration of a helpless reliance that was quite genuine. - -"We shall be ready to take Mr. Vancouver by stealth or force the moment -that actual danger comes near him. We will bring him to this hut and -hide him here. But a man from the colony will be needed to guard him. I -am going immediately to bring one out for that purpose." - -Her eyes kindled with alarm. "No, no, Choseph! That would be impossible. -You couldn't find the way nor pass the guard. I will go." Argument and -persuasion were equally useless; she knew when to be firm. "I will -go," was her answer to everything, and she came to her feet. "You and -Christopher come with me to the summit of the wall, and there you'll -hide near the guard, and wait. I'll bring the man nearly to the place -and send him ahead, and give you a signal. You must trick the guard out -of the way, and meet him; I will follow. It would ruin everything for me -to be seen." - -I agreed, and told her to bring Hobart. - -"Beelo," I said, "you understand that we have accomplished one of the -tasks for which you brought us out of the valley, and in doing so have -learned the fate awaiting our colony." - -Her face at once grew pinched. "Don't speak of it, Choseph!" she cried. -"I don't know whether you have or not, and I don't know what is in your -mind. Simply think of saving Mr. Vancouver." - -"Of course, dear lad," I agreed; "but we must be planning also for means -to leave the island, since only something awful awaits us here. You -must tell me all that I should know. I won't dance any longer to your -mysteries and concealments." - -It was as though I had struck her. She stared, her eyes flooding, her -lips trembling. - -"Choseph," she answered, "there are things that you must see and -hear for yourself, and they will come tonight and tomorrow. I'll take -you----" - -"I must know now," I demanded, not realizing the harshness of my tone. - -"Choseph, I----" - -"Did you speak to me, sir?" came from Christopher, standing behind her. - -"No, Christopher. We'll wait, dear little brother." The sunshine came -swimming into her eyes again, and she made a grimace of triumph in which -was an understanding that Christopher had disciplined me. - -"You'll be good now, won't you, Choseph?" It was said in her most -teasing manner, and I smiled. - -We started under an angry sky through which heavy cloud-masses tumbled. -It was a cautious journey. The very air seemed filled with expectancy. -On the way we formulated a plan for tricking the guard. - -In approaching the point of egress from the valley, Beela practiced the -slyness of a lynx and the silence of a serpent. Every step was studied -lest a twig snap; the leaves on the ground had been softened by the -rain. Presently we sighted the guard--a draggled lot, unused to exposure -and dispirited by the weather. There Beela left us in hiding. I now -understood the perils that she had breasted in every trip to the valley. -If they were so difficult under these conditions, how much more they -must have been when fair weather made the guard alert and the ground -noisy under foot! - -Beela was to warn us of Hobart's coming by giving a certain bird-call -thrice. Christopher's answering signal would be notice to Beela that -Hobart was safe. - -The savages, not twenty paces away--at least two dozen stalwart -men--were variously squatting, sitting, and lounging. They were in a -compact group, and were talking in low voices, but with an animation -unusual to the race. I motioned Christopher to follow, and we crept -nearer. - -Some important news had just been brought by the relief guard. - -"And so the king isn't going to wait for night," said one, as though the -news was surprising. - -"That is true," came the answer. "He fears that the ground will shake -at any time. Besides, the storm will likely come again tonight, and the -great fire would be impossible then." - - - - -CHAPTER XV.--The Lash in Unwilling Hands. - -_How We Outwitted the Guard. A Sword Encounter With a Native. Rawley -Gives Me a Sensational Surprise. The Tragedy to Mr. Vancouver Delayed_. - - -I WAS absorbed in conjuring up plans for Mr. Vancouver's rescue; but -the more I thought of it, the madder the undertaking seemed. Suppose we -should take him; would not the whole island swarm in a search? - -I had calculated that Beela and Hobart should come in four hours. More -than half that time was already gone when Christopher and I returned -to our original hiding-place. That the storm, the Black Face, and Mr. -Vancouver's fate were interwoven, there could be no doubt. Barring -hindering contingencies, matters were rapidly drawing to a crisis. If -the necessity for urgent action on Mr. Vancouver's account should arise -before Beela's return with Hobart, that young man would be caught in -a trap, as there would be none but savages to meet him. In whatsoever -direction I turned, many chances for a fatal slip and added -complications appeared. - -A solution of one branch of the problem crept out of the strain,--that -of clearing the way for Hobart. I mentioned it to Christopher, and was -gratified at his acquiescence. - -"But what about Mr. Vancouver?" I asked. - -"We _have_ to wait for _her_, sir," he answered after listening, and his -manner was final. - -The triple bird-note came. We waited. It was repeated. I slipped round -to the trail used by the guard, and openly approached them. They stared -at me in silence. Beela had told me that in an emergency Christopher -and I, to explain peculiarities of our appearance that no disguise could -conceal, should explain that we were from the western end of the island, -where some white blood had mingled with the native, producing, with -other deviations from the normal type, men of a more aggressive and -daring disposition, which gave them an advantage over the natives at -this end, and that on occasion the king called on the western men for -special services. - -"Why haven't you done your duty?" I sternly demanded. - -The guard showed only dull surprise, none either moving or speaking. - -"Haven't you seen the Black Face scowling?" I went on. "Go immediately -and attend to your duty, or the Face won't wait for a white man." - -They were impressed and frightened. "What shall we do?" asked one. - -"Clean the stone in the clearing, and so make it ready. Every one of you -go, at once. Then come back here." - -They looked from one to another, bewildered, the order evidently being -extraordinary. "And leave the pass unguarded?" the same one inquired. - -"Am I not here? Go immediately!" - -"Did Gato send you?" asked a big fellow, advancing, sword in hand. His -weapon was held threateningly, and scraped the bushes as he came. - -Not daring to take any chances with him, and not having had sufficient -experience with these people to interpret their motive from their -conduct, I sprang past him before he could raise his weapon, snatched a -sword from an astonished native, backed away to keep the crowd before me -until I had faced the one who had advanced upon me, and went at him with -a determination that opened his eyes and instinctively brought his sword -to guard. I discovered that the sword which I held was a heavy affair, -broad and very old-fashioned. Before my inexpert antagonist knew what -had happened, my sword had twisted his from his grasp and sent it flying -into the bushes, and my point was at his breast. There was an excited -movement in the crowd, but before anything could be done I loudly said -to my captive: - -"I have a good mind to kill you. Take your squad to the clearing at -once." - -"Yes," he hastily agreed, staring at me in wonder, and added, as his -interest overcame his panic, "Are they coming with him soon?" - -"That is neither your affair nor mine. If you don't go instantly I'll -arrest the entire squad and take you all to the palace." - -They obediently marched away. - -In returning to Christopher I made a detour, so as to pass the spot -where Hobart was to appear. I had instructed Christopher to remain a -short distance away, as it would be easier for one to meet Hobart than -two. My real reason, which I did not mention to Christopher, was that as -a native his appearance was one of singular ferocity. I did not wish to -run the risk of shocking Hobart out of his self-command. - -To my astonishment, Rawley, not Hobart, rose above the edge of the -bluff. Perhaps my angry exasperation showed in my manner, for Rawley, -after a startled glance, and seeing me alone, sprang upon me in the -moment of my hesitation. His leap was swift and stirring, but I avoided -him, and began to speak in a low voice. It had no effect. Rawley sprang -again. I caught the violent thrust of his body, and an elbow better -trained than he had expeded took him in the throat, crashed his teeth -together jarringly, and sent him reeling and strangling. - -I again spoke, but he was too dazed to hear, and came at me again, more -warily, with the glare of killing in his eyes, and still not heeding -my pacific words. The natural grace with which he began to work for -an opening gave his feline ease a threat that set me tingling. He was -desperately in earnest, and my windpipe was his objective. There was -no falter in his play, which I critically observed as I stood on the -defensive. And then it came to me that this was neither the madness of -fear nor the desperation of the cornered coward, but the awakening of -that ultimate manhood in him which for so long had been held down by an -artificial life. Even had he not forced me to silence, the game was so -fine and exciting that I should have been tempted to cease my efforts to -explain in my desire to see it through. - -As his leaps were astonishingly clever and he might land at any moment, -I began to crowd him. While moving to do so, I heard Christopher's -signal to Beela, but did not pause to see where he was; Rawley also must -have heard it, for something spurred his activities. In order to save -Beela from the trap in which he supposed himself to have fallen, he must -finish me at once. - -I dodged his next spring, but his fingers scraped my throat. Then he -found himself crushed in my arms. The short blows which he sent into -my ribs had no effect, but they were delivered with a will. Beela rose -above the summit, and understood all at a glance. - -But, Beela-like, she saw only that it was ridiculous. Without taking -the trouble to enlighten Rawley, who desisted as soon as he saw her -laughing, she passed from surprise into unrestrained mirth. Rawley, -standing away from me, stared at her in astonishment. - -Seeing no sign of Hobart, I sharply inquired in the native tongue where -he was. - -"Captain Mason sent this one instead," she answered after finding her -breath. - -I was aghast. "What reason did he give?" - -"None, Choseph. He thought you would understand, I suppose." - -The blunder was incredible. Here were Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, the -arch-enemies of the colony, sent out armed with fresh opportunity for -destroying us, and we charged with the safety of their lives! The game -had been sufficiently difficult and dangerous without that. I bitterly -resented Captain Mason's course. He was aware of the antagonism between -Rawley and me. - -"Why did Captain Mason send him?" I demanded. - -"He begged to come, Choseph." - -That staggered me. What had happened to the man to change him so? "What -did he say?" I asked. - -"I don't know. He said little, although he was very much in earnest. On -the way he said to himself several times, 'She called me a coward. They -all think I'm a coward.'" - -Christopher had come up and was standing placidly by. Of a sudden Rawley -recognized me as the savage who had visited Mr. Vancouver in the camp. -He was composed, but had not yet discovered my real identity. A word -from Beela disclosed Christopher and me to him. It broke in a crash on -the young man. What reflections were belaboring him I could only guess -from the shame crimsoning his face. I took his hand. - -"Mr. Rawley," I said, "I am sorry that this has happened between us." - -I interrupted something that he was trying to stammer by telling Beela -how I had disposed of the guard. "They'll soon return," I added. "We -must leave." - -"Yes, but we must find out first whether they discovered the loss of the -wood. Several hours would be required to bring up fresh fuel. Don't you -think it's very interesting, Choseph? My! how solemn you look!" - -Her careless insolence tried me, for the peril was great. - -"It's a pity you never had any one to teach you to be serious," I let -fly. - -"That would be the funniest thing of all," she returned, amused. "Would -you like to try it?" - -Her sweet archness made me take a half angry, half possessing step -forward, but a look stopped me. - -"They are coming!" said she, and we hid. - -The savages were more animated than before, and they wondered among -themselves when the white man would be brought up from the settlement, -and whether all or any of themselves would be relieved from guard duty, -that they might witness the proceedings. It was clear that they had not -missed the wood. - -We slipped away. When we had come near our hut, Beela asked us to wait -while she took Rawley to that hiding-place. - -"Beelo," I firmly said, "you don't understand. That man and I cannot -live together." - -She regarded me with a suspicious-looking sadness. "Enemies among -yourselves, Choseph! Is this the best that wise men with so much at -stake can do?" With a smile I took her hand. "Thank you, dear little -brother," I said. "I will do my part." - -Tears easily came to Beela's eyes, and made them moist now. - -"But you and Christopher are not to stay here any longer. Wouldn't you -like to be nearer the beautiful, the good, the angel Lentala?" - -"Explain, lad." - -"Wait till I come back." - -She darted to the hut with Rawley, and soon returned. - -"The first thing," she said, "is to find out the plans for Mr. -Vancouver. Although the wood is gone, the king won't be balked, and the -getting of more wood will be but a matter of hours. When we discover -that the preparations are really afoot, Mr. Vancouver must be taken by -you. Before that, there is plenty to do." We struck out for the slope -overlooking the main settlement, and on the way passed near the hut -where Mr. Vancouver was held. Beela disappeared within and soon returned -with the news that the threatening weather was holding everything in -abeyance. - -Avoiding roads, we breasted the verdured heights and worked round the -suburbs. As we mounted, the view expanded. The settlement, embowered -among trees, made the fairest picture I had ever beheld. I longed to see -it under the mellow sunshine, which would make its colors more vivid; -but even without that, the scene was satisfying. It was a considerable -city, which had grown more by natural accretion than by plan. Broad, -tree-lined highways with curves instead of right lines swept lengthwise -through it. Many houses were of stone roughly laid up, and with roofs of -mud or thatch. Remarkable effects had been secured by use of the native -stone in its color variations. Of exceeding beauty was a pleasant stream -which loitered through the settlement. - -Most conspicuous was the palace of the king, with its accessory -buildings and walled grounds. Unlike all the other houses, the palace -was two stories in height, was of great size, and sat in generous -grounds enclosed with a massive stone wall. I discovered Lentala's -quarters; they were in a wing. Hamlets with adjoining farms dotted the -farther slope and stretched up the valley; there were still more, said -Beela, in other parts of the island. - -With our further climbing, the ocean rose on the horizon, and a modern -sea-going vessel sprang up inshore in a harbor at the foot of the -settlement. My heart leaped as I studied her. - -"What ship is that, Beelo?" I exclaimed. - -"Yours, Choseph," she answered with a bright smile. "I was waiting for -you to find it. That is what is to take your people home if a great -earthquake comes and we can bring them out of the valley. The king -wanted to destroy it, but Lentala persuaded him not only to save it, but -to put it in order, as he might need it some time." - -That she had reserved this precious information for so dramatic a use -did not impress me at the time. Not till now did I realize that her -purely feminine instinct for the theatrical made so large a figure in -her withholdings and revelations. - -My throat filled. I seized Christopher's arm and tried to speak, but -no words issued, and I found that he was already gazing seaward. I had -never seen in his eyes such wistfulness, so far and deep a vision, as -when he raised them to mine. - -From him I turned to Beela, and found a look of neglect and expediency. - -"Dear little brother," I said, and extended my hand; but she pouted, and -put her arms behind her. - -"I am not your dear little brother," she said, her lip trembling. "I am -a savage. You gave your first joy to one of your race." The pain in her -face was deep. - -"Forgive me, lad." I was very humble, but her swimming eyes were turned -away, and there was a swelling in her throat. What could I say? how make -her understand? "Beelo, I------" - -"It can't be explained," she interrupted, turning sadly away; and we -went on in silence. - -All at once, without any visible cause, she was her sunny, mischievous -self again. I was exceedingly anxious for information,--what had become -of the _Hope's_ salvable cargo; whether her seizure by us was part of -the plan to which we were working. But I had not the courage to mention -the vessel again, lest pain come to Beela's face. Ever since her return -from the valley I had been anxious for her report as to any plan of -action that she had arranged with Captain Mason, and I now conjectured -that she had deferred it until we should see our vessel. With a blunder -in tact I had closed her lips. - -"Now," said she, "we'll return and keep an eye on Mr. Vancouver. Do you -think you know the settlement now and could make your way in the night -through it?" - -"Perfectly," wondering at her impressiveness. - -"And do you, Christopher?" - -"Yes, ma'am." - -Unmistakably she had a very intelligent purpose in thus making us -acquainted with the topography of the settlement and the presence of our -vessel. With that idea I began to make a closer study of the approaches -and thoroughfares, although I could form no conception of means whereby -the colony might use them against the overwhelming horde of armed -natives. But Beela's comely head was packed with shrewdness. - -The weather became more threatening with the approach of evening. At -night, Beela left us concealed near the prison hut, and went to bring -our supper. - -After she had returned and we had eaten, she suggested that Christopher -and I go and see the prisoner, and learn all that we could. Gato would -not be on duty, and the light was dim. Thence we should go to the -postern in the palace wall, and there be met by her. Then she left. - -When we were near the hut a shadow leaped out of the ground, and -challenged. I answered as Beela had instructed, and the guard stepped -aside. We entered, and the two natives sitting with the prisoner gave us -only a glance. In an authoritative manner I bade them wait outside, and -they obediently went. - -Mr. Vancouver was sitting on a stool, his head bowed in dejection, but -he quickly straightened, and drilled us with a keenly questioning look, -in which fear, anxiety, and hope were present. It was evident that he -was profoundly suspicious. He was too shrewd not to see the significance -of his being kept under guard in a hovel instead of being the king's -guest. - -I asked him in Senatra English if he was comfortable. Over his haggard -face flashed an eager interest. - -"That is nothing," he impatiently answered. "I want to know why I am kept -here." - -"Do you really expect to see the king?" I asked. - -He started. "What do you mean?" he demanded. - -"What do you think you are here for?" - -"The king sent for me--for a conference." A red light came into his -eyes. - -"A conference. Suppose he has made up his mind that he can dispose of -the white people without your help, and that you happen to be first." - -The sallowness that already had entered his face since his imprisonment -became livid, and the red light flared. - -"To be sent away?" he thickly asked. - -"Yes. Sent away. That is as good a name for it as any other." - -I had ignored Christopher's gentle tug at my sleeve. A quiver ran -through Mr. Vancouver as if a knife had been slipped between his ribs. -It was with difficulty that he found breath for speech. - -"Doesn't the king know that I can make him incredibly rich from his gold -and silver and diamond mines? Doesn't he understand that------" - -"Perhaps he is as rich as he cares to be. Besides, he has never trusted -a white man; and why should he trust one that betrays his own friends?" -I could not avoid giving him that thrust. - -He came weakly to his feet, terror and despair in every line. - -"Did the king send you to say this?" he gasped. - -I made no answer. The man sent a wild glance about as though to measure -his strength with his prison, and to end all doubts quickly by any -means. Then I saw that his wits were gone, and that the purpose of my -talk, which was to prepare him for the revelation I had come to make, -that he might be on his guard, had miscarried. - -Christopher, in the background, edged round, keeping his back, as I -kept mine, to the feeble light. I could not imagine that Mr. Vancouver, -desperate though he was, would seize this moment to try issues with -his fate; but I had not guessed soon enough that the red light meant -madness. With a choking curse he snatched up his heavy stool and sprang -with it upraised in both hands to crush me. - -Before his leap was ended, a heavy body crashed into him, and two giant -arms were cracking his joints and sending the stool flying over my head. -The two guards came running in, but I sent them back. Christopher needed -no aid. - -The pinioned man rolled his head and eyes horribly, and cursed through -foaming lips. He made futile efforts to sink his teeth into Christopher; -he kicked wildly; he squirmed like an animal under a strangling hand. -But Christopher's arms knew the mercy of strength, and he kept dropping -soothing words. Like a pillar sunk deep in the earth stood Christopher -while his prisoner gasped curses and put fierce energy into every -muscle. - -"I know you!" he sputtered at me. "You are the infernal native dog -that fooled me and trifled with me in camp. Let me at his throat, you -baboon!"--to Christopher. "Loose me! Let me die with my arms free!" -He called the king and me and all the natives unspeakable names. "In -decency and mercy," he fumed, "kill me at once! I know now what you are -going to do with me,--you cannibals!" - -Christopher's quieting tongue was as persistent as his arms, and under -them Mr. Vancouver was gradually breaking down. Christopher assured -the wretch that no harm would befall him. The man who could resist such -persuasion would be less than human and worse than mad. Mr. Vancouver's -curses straggled off, his struggles ceased, and the red flame died in -his eyes. Christopher had coaxed reason back. - -He seated Mr. Vancouver, bathed his face, and gave him water to drink. -With a gentle touch he unlaced and removed the sufferer's shoes, and -undressed him. The man had become a child in Christopher's hands, and -was wholly docile when made comfortable in bed. - -There had been no personal heed of Christopher in Mr. Vancouver's -yielding; but it evidently occurred to him at last that here was -something strangely different from the manner of the natives--something -nearer and humanly akin. He had been studying Christopher; and when he -was composed, and Christopher was turning away, Mr. Vancouver seized his -arm and held him, looking earnestly into his face, and then covering his -figure with a startled glance. His eyes opened with astonishment. - -"Who are you?" he demanded under his breath. - -"You know, sir." - -"Christopher!" - -"Yes, sir. Speak low." - -"What are you doing here, disguised like that?" - -"Captain Mason sent us, sir." - -"What for?" - -"To save you, sir. Don't talk." - -Mr. Vancouver breathed laboredly, and the veins in his forehead bulged. - -"Who was sent with you?" he faintly asked. - -"Him, sir," indicating me. - -I saw the knot come in the suffering man's throat as he rolled his -bloodshot eyes upon me, half raised himself on his elbow, and stared -while his breathing rasped. - -"Who is he?" came chokingly, with a clutch on Christopher's arm. - -"Mr. Tudor, sir." - -A spasm caught Mr. Vancouver in the chest, and a rigor ran through -him. His eyes closed, his head swung back, his mouth fell open, and -Christopher eased the insensible man down on the pillow. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.--A Light in the Gloom. - -_Subtle Changes in Beela. A Startling Discovery in the Palace Vaults. -The Secrets of the Council Chamber Overheard. Urgent Measures Planned._ - - -YOU are late!" blithely greeted Beela when we arrived at the palace -gate after leaving Mr. Vancouver. "That shows how much you think of the -beautiful, the angel, the sweet, the good Lentala, for you are to sleep -in her quarters tonight." - -We were just in time, for the heavens were opening, and the deluge was -at hand. - -With great caution Beela conducted us to a chamber in Lentala's wing -of the palace. Evidently it was a sanctuary, for it was quite different -from the room in which Lentala had received us, and Beela carelessly -remarked that in giving us the room, her sister was bestowing a special -favor, since not even her servants were ever admitted. - -"Because," Beela chattered on as she lighted the beautiful lamps, "this -is where she comes to lead alone the life that she dreams about, far, -far away, where there are no Senatras,--the life that was born in our -blood, Choseph, and that we can see very dimly, and in our dreams only. -But this room helps Lentala to dream of it. Do you remember the story -you told me one day? She has changed the room tonight merely by bringing -in these couches for you and Christopher to sleep on." - -I felt something new in Beela's manner,--a note of sentiment singing -low in her voice, an augmented softness and grace in her bearing. She -appeared to be struggling against it and striving to be the boy Beelo. -Some success came, but the winning note still sang in her throat. - -She opened an adjoining room, and disclosed a bath. - -"Your Senatra tint is a little damaged," she cheerily said. "Wash it -off; you'll not need it tonight. Here's a fresh supply for tomorrow -morning. Don't forget to put it on! But there's much to do before you -sleep. I am going to take you to the Council Chamber. Dress as quickly -as possible. I have to make some changes myself. When you are ready, -give three light taps on that door." - -"Thank you, dear little brother, but where's Lentala?" - -"Lentala! Do you think she can sit up all night waiting for callers?" - -"We are to see her in the morning, then?" - -Beela had been bustling over finishing touches for our comfort, but my -question--perhaps my tone--stopped her. - -"Do you wish to see her?" she asked. - -"Of course." - -"Why?" - -"Beelo! Can you ask that? Unless we see Lentala whenever we come to the -palace, the jungle is more comfortable." - -She turned away, pretending to be hurt. - -"And so you don't care for Beelo. It is nothing to sleep under the same -roof with him." - -"But Beelo is a part of my life, dear lad. However far away he may -be, he is always with me. Whenever and wherever I go, my dear little -brother's hand is in mine; and no matter when or where I sleep, his -sweet breath is on my cheek; and the touch of his light fingers on -my lids and the ring of his cheery laugh in my heart wake me in the -morning. In my dreams----" I paused, for Beela embarrassed me by the -breathless interest with which she was listening. - -"In your dreams, Choseph?" - -"Then Beelo comes with another. He leads that one by the hand, and -smiles at me, and says in his musical voice, 'This one also you must -like, big brother, for this is Beelo's best friend.'" - -She came close and looked up into my eyes. - -"That other one, big brother?" - -"Is Lentala." - -Her breath caught as she moved away, and she was silent for a little -while as she gave the last touches and started to leave. At the door she -threw me a mischievous glance, and said: - -"You have funny dreams, Choseph, but I'll tell Lentala you wish to see -her," and was gone. - -I had already observed that no touch of native savagery rested on -this room. Every article of use or adornment was of a highly civilized -production. The barbaric splendor of the reception-room was absent here, -and a dainty, girlish simplicity was the note. Exceedingly charming -were products of her needlework and other handicraft copied from foreign -articles. There were some English books that showed signs of hard use. I -picked up one and found a dainty handkerchief within it, and felt a pity -for Lentala thus reaching out for what she could not understand. - -Beela appeared in different clothes when I rapped, and was much fresher -and smarter than I had ever seen her. She looked conscious under my -admiring glance, and expressed gratification at the improvement in my -looks. - -"Beelo, you are as pretty as a girl. Fie!" - -She pretended not to hear, and was busy lighting a lantern. - -"They are all asleep in this wing," she said. "Now we'll go. Listen to -the storm! Mr. Vancouver is safe for another day, I hope. And still no -earthquake." - -I felt a twinge, but no opportunity had offered for my telling her of -the incident in the hut. The truth is, I dreaded lest she find fault -with Christopher for disclosing our identity to Mr. Vancouver and my -knowledge of his perfidy. - -It would be difficult to say in what lay the finer air of Beela's dress. -In cut the garments had a masculine approach, but in China they might -have passed for feminine. The trousers and blouse were of fine dark-blue -cloth, and were ample. In place of the somewhat shabby straw hat was -a becoming red turban, and the shoes were Turkish, red, and richly -embroidered in gold. The blouse opened like a V at the neck, and a -negligee tie matching in shade the turban and the shoes was secured with -a splendid diamond at the bottom of the V. - -More insinuating than these outward things were the girl's gentler voice -and manner. There was a hint of the young mother in her caressing look -and touch, and the cello note in her voice had fallen still softer and -smoother. - -In lighting the lantern, she disarranged her turban by striking it -against a piece of furniture. She straightened, and raised her arms -to readjust it. Her sleeves were wide and open, and they slipped down, -baring her arms. - -I had been trying with all my might to keep from my mind the delicious -thought of Beelo's metamorphosis, but self-deception was no longer -possible. I _must_ revel in this new and pleasant experience. The one -duty that I must observe was the keeping of my promise to Lentala that I -would not let her little sister know that I knew. - -"Are we ready?" cheerily asked Beela, picking up the lantern and -darkening it with a cloth. "Come. No talking till I give you leave. We -must be careful in this wing, for Lentala's servants might wake. The -noises of the storm will help us, but the veranda is drenched. We must -take the other way." - -She opened the door through which she had entered last, and we were -in darkness when she closed it; but I had dimly seen that it was a -corridor. - -"We can't use the lantern yet," she whispered, slipping her hand down my -sleeve to my fingers. "Can you find your way, Christopher?" - -"Yes." There was always something tragic in Christopher's whisper. - -"Do you love me, Christopher?" she teasingly asked, squeezing my -fingers. - -"Yes, ma'am." - -It required great stoicism for me to hold my hand passive and not return -the pressure, but I was amazed when she abruptly dropped my fingers. -I could see nothing except a faint glow through the cloth about the -lantern, but I peremptorily seized her sleeve, drew her arm up, took her -hand, and squeezed it hard, for reproof. She made no resistance. Beela -was very sweet in the dark,--I remembered the passage through the -mountain. - -We almost immediately turned into a much longer stretch, as I knew -by the whispering echoes of our steps; and soon the shrouded light of -Beela's lantern made the walls visible. After leading us down a dark -stair she halted before a door, unlocked it, ushered us within, relocked -the door, and removed the cloth from the light. - -This chamber was a disordered lumber-room, filled with odds and ends of -broken things, native and foreign. I was less interested in the rubbish -than in the new picture of Beela in the ascending light from the -lantern. It made a witchery of her chin, emphasized the graceful curve -of her lips, filled her delicate nostrils, and threw her eyes into -mystical shadow. I tried to get her hand again, but failed. Beela in the -light was not the same as Beela in the dark. - -She paused, and breathed more freely. - -"We are safe for a while now," she said. It was hard to listen -composedly to her words, so sweet was the tone of them. - -She wound and twisted through the stores, we following, and brought up -at a door which a stranger, likely, never would have found. This she -unlocked, passed us through, and secured behind us. The air was dank -and musty, and despite the lantern there were uncanny patches of -phosphorescent light on walls otherwise invisible as yet. The space was -roomy, the floor earthen. It proved to be a large cellar-like chamber -with a low ceiling supported by stone pillars groined into arches, and -was paved, furnished with grated windows, and sweet and dry. Here were -immense stores: American-tinned provisions in astonishing abundance; -bale upon bale of cloth of many kinds; modern farming implements, -and machinery and tools for sawyers, carpenters, cabinet-makers, -upholsterers, and many other useful trades; and at one side an array of -firearms and ammunition. - -Beela was watching me in my astonishment, for not the smallest item of -this store had I seen in use by the natives. - -"Don't you know what it all is, Choseph?" she asked. - -I shook my head. - -"It is the cargo of your vessel." - -I was speechless. Two things were clear: one, that the water-tight -bulkheads in the Hope had not given way (which accounted for her pursuit -of us instead of sinking), and the other, that the natives had carefully -repaired all the water-damage possible. The thorough care of the cargo -very likely had extended to the vessel herself. - -My emotion was profound. I wrung Beela's hand, but something in my eyes -made her dim and floating. Only vaguely could I see the sweet uplift and -happiness in her face. Christopher was standing apart like a man of wood -except that his eyes were living. If he needed any expression from me of -the almost cruel joy that filled me, he gave no sign, but stood in the -pathetic loneliness that forever invested him. - -"We must go on," said Beela. "It is time for the king's privy council." - -A devious way through another storage vault filled with things no doubt -of great value, the ascent of a stone stair, a turning into this passage -and another into that, and a short flight of steps, brought us at last -upon a curtained balcony overlooking a dimly lighted council hall of -considerable size and rich in savage appointments. The king was on a -throne facing us, and in a semi-circle before him, seated on rugs on the -stone floor, were old and elderly native men splendidly appareled. The -king was even more sumptuously robed than on the day of our reception -by him. He had no personal attendants, for this, Beela explained in a -whisper, was not a state council, but a secret one, called occasionally -for extraordinary purposes, composed of selected wise men, and generally -held late at night. The balcony where we sat was for the use of the -queen and her feminine friends at state meetings. The diaphanous -curtains, of an exquisite native texture and handsomely embroidered, -could be seen through from our side, which was in shadow, but not from -the other. - -One thing had been puzzling me exceedingly. It was that no American and -European articles looted from wrecks were in use in their original form -by any of the natives except Lentala and Beela. - -"Because," Beela had told me in answer to my question, "the natives -don't need them, and are more content without them. The king is wise -with his people, and they love him." - -The council was under way. An old man had been droning something that -I did not hear, for his voice was weak and the storm noisy. The king -nodded to another, a younger man, who came to his splendid full height. -His gold-embroidered cloak of office slipped from his great right -shoulder and arm after he had risen from his obeisance. - -"What is the temper of the Senatras, Gato?" the king asked. - -"Very impatient, Sire. There are murmurings and small secret gatherings. -Rebellion is in the air." - -The king moved uneasily. "And your soldiers?" he inquired. - -"I have them in hand as yet, but they are naturally affected by the -restlessness among the people, and are sick of waiting and of guarding -the passes. They have never been on duty so long. They love their homes -and farms, and they can't understand the delay. If a wreck should come -with this storm, where will the people from it be held?" - -"There is plenty of room in the valley," snapped the king, making an -impatient gesture. "And don't our people know that the crowd we have -there is different from any castaways we have had before? Of course we -can't let any of them leave the island, for they suspect its wealth, -and would return with soldiers and guns, and destroy us. But we have to -proceed cautiously. There are more than a hundred and fifty picked men -in the party, and their leaders, Mason and Tudor, and the giant ape -Christopher, are shrewd, bold men, and have no fear." - -We three were sitting close together, Beela in the middle. One of her -hands stole out, took Christopher's, squeezed it, and released it. The -other found my hand; I closed on its warm softness and kept it prisoned. - -"In some mysterious way," Gato explained, "they have outwitted us. Our -plan was to break them up by using the old traitor Vancouver, but they -evidently discovered his treachery, and I have just learned that they -sent him out as our first offering to the Black Face, while letting him -think that he was going to betray them to us." - -"I suppose," said the king, "that he is as good as another for the -sacrifice. That will satisfy the people for a time, but he is the first -and the last that we'll get from that crowd without bloody work, and I -don't wish my subjects to be killed." - -He paused, and the others waited. Beela's breathing had grown quick; -there was a slight quiver in her hand. - -The king went on: - -"Mason evidently suspects that the people taken out of the valley will -not be sent away, and so he is holding them together. No doubt they have -armed themselves, and are ready to fight. Mason will be in no hurry to -precipitate an issue with us, for they can subsist indefinitely where -they are, we can't strengthen our position against them, and time, he -reasons, may bring me to liberate them in a body." - -It was impossible not to recognize the kindliness and benevolence in the -king's voice and words. - -"May I speak, Sire?" - -"Yes, Gato." - -"I fear that Vancouver is going mad." - -The king looked his dismay. - -"He mumbles," proceeded Gato; "his eyes are wild at times; he calls for -his daughter, and weeps like a child; he cannot eat, and his sleep is -broken with loud cries." - -"Is there much of that?" the king asked in alarm. - -"No, Sire; only rarely. If he is taken to the sacrificial altar when he -has a lucid period,------" - -"The risk is great," groaned the king. "The people would resent the -offering up of a madman; and we can do nothing while the storm lasts. -The people can't assemble. We must wait. You men go among the Senatras -tomorrow and pacify them. Tell them that all will be well. Do they say -that the Face is threatening, Gato?" - -"Yes, Sire. Some fools have seen it and spread tales about it. One is -that green water streams out of its eyes, and another is that the mouth -has opened and that purple flames come forth." - -Beela's start thrilled me. The news brought the king to his feet. - -"Is it true, Gato,--the open mouth and the purple flame?" - -"I do not know, Sire. I have not seen it, and I do not believe it." - -"But it may be true! Find out tomorrow morning, and let me know." He -was leaving the throne, and although the light was poor, I could see a -totter in his step and haggardness in his face. - -The others were rising. The king turned to them, and said: - -"If _that_ is true,--" He did not finish, but stood in a daze. "The -council is ended," he weakly added, and slowly left the chamber, the -others filing after him. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.--Disciplined by a Woman. - -_Lentala's Odd Mistake. Beela Finds Me Refractory. The Deep-Laid Plan of -Gato. Christopher and I Charged With Service to the Old King_. - - -SLEEP held away that night. The revelations of the privy council had -been startling. Some things were clear. One was that the king was a -shrewd, easy-going, kindly man, vastly wiser than his subjects, and -finding it simpler to rule them by pampering their superstitions than by -raising them to his own understanding. Another was that he felt himself -on the edge of a crisis, saw no way to avert a possible catastrophe, and -was facing it with a paralyzing dread. - -Lentala, fresh and radiant, brought our breakfast. Except for her color, -not a trace of savagery remained about her. Her dress was a simple -house-frock of fine white linen, and of a modern style. Her hair was -done exactly like Annabel's. - -It did not improve her appearance. Had she been white, there would have -been no touch of the incongruous. But in this fresh, sweet daintiness, -much of her savage splendor had been sunk, and I felt a keen -disappointment. The former Lentala, for all her barbarity, had never -seemed an alien, but more a bringing back to me of a deeply rooted -principle fundamental in my heritage. - -She appeared to expect a compliment; but how could I be otherwise than -sincere with her? Our greetings were pleasant; yet her clothes had set a -constraint between us. - -"You don't like my dress, Mr. Tudor?" she ruefully asked. - -"It is exquisite, Lentala, and----" - -"I made it all myself, from a picture in a book out of your ship! I -thought you would like it. Doesn't Annabel dress this way?" - -"Yes; but in the native dress your beautiful, rich color----" I paused -in my floundering for a delicate way in which to say it. "Annabel is -white, you know," I blundered. - -Foreseeing my explanation, she had turned flutteringly away before my -final words came, and was still holding the empty copper tray on which -she had brought our breakfast. It fell with a clatter; her back was -turned to me when she picked it up in confusion. - -"A white woman!" She did not look at me. "Yes, she can wear dainty -things and be sweet; but a brown savage woman----" - -I had risen from my seat at the table and was advancing toward her. -She turned and faced me defiantly, backing away, her eyes flashing. In -another second, with a lightning change which showed her near kinship -with Beela, she smiled sweetly, and asked with a dash of her old -coquetry: - -"Would you like Lentala better if she were white and pink like Annabel?" - -"How could I like Lentala white more than Lentala brown, since, first -and last, it is Lentala that I like?" - -She frowned comically in an effort to puzzle some sense out of that -speech. - -"I mean," I added, laughing at her perplexity, "that I like Lentala -because she is Lentala, not because she isn't some one else." - -That was another poser, and she made just such a little wry face over it -as I had seen Beela make many a time. Her face brightened as she made a -dash at a short cut out: - -"Do you like me _because_ I'm brown?" - -"That is a question! It isn't because you aren't white that I like you." - -"_Could_ you like me if I were white?" She stamped impatiently. - -"I'd try to," I sighed. - -She made a little pout, stuck up her chin, turned stiffly, and went out -with great dignity. It was the Lentala of the feast! - -Beela entered when we had finished breakfast. In her rough clothes and -tightly bound hair, she made so sharp a contrast to Lentala that, for a -moment, I could not think of her as a girl, but as the dear lad whom I -had lost. She had none of her brilliant sparkle now, and my heart ached -to see the weariness and anxiety that she tried so bravely to conceal. - -"What's afoot for today, dear little brother?" I cheerily inquired. - -She was regarding me solemnly. "You've had your wish, I suppose. You've -seen Lentala this morning." - -"Yes. She brought our breakfast. She's an angel." - -"Pooh!" Beela was bored. "I've seen her. She looked a fright in those -clothes. Trying to ape Annabel! She ought to have better sense. I know -you were disgusted." - -"Beelo!" - -"Don't talk! I know." - -"You are tired and cross this morning, lad." - -She flopped into a chair, very glum. "Women are _such_ fools!" she -grumbled. - -"Now I am grieved to learn that Lentala is not a woman, for she could -never be a fool." - -Beela looked at me with sad reproach, and shook her head. - -"Just now," I went on, "she was a rich red rose sparkling with morning -dew. Her smile started all the birds to singing. She----" - -"Choseph!" She stamped the floor, much as Lentala had done, but a smile -fringed her frown. "You _know_ she made a fright of herself trying to -look like Annabel,--and with that ugly brown face!" - -"No, no, Beelo. The only trouble was that Lentala is too modest to -realize how splendidly perfect she is as Lentala." - -"But wasn't she still Lentala in those silly clothes?" - -"She was as much less Lentala as her effort to be something else -succeeded in making her." - -Beela looked puzzled exactly as Lentala had. - -"But her heart is broken!" she cried. "She says that you laughed at her, -and spoke in riddles!" - -"I laughed _with_ her, Beelo, not _at_ her; and the riddles were a bit -that I put in my mouth." - -"Why?" - -"The temptation to say beautiful things to Lentala that might sound -insincere is strong." - -She rose, with a confusion that was half amusement, and tried to hide -the light in her eyes. - -"Come, Choseph! There is much to do today." - -"I must see Lentala first." - -She could not mistake my seriousness. "Why?" in surprise. - -"I won't have her unhappy over that trifling incident. She is too -sensitive,--she misunderstood. I must see her, lad." I started for the -door. - -"Choseph!" came breathlessly. "Don't!" - -I turned. - -"Don't look at me that way!" she exclaimed in genuine alarm. Christopher -was moving round toward the door for which I had started. - -"What way?" - -"As though--as though you'd break down doors and kill anybody that -stood in your way!" - -"I want to see Lentala." - -"You can't! She--she's undressed. I'll tell her. She'll be satisfied." - -"Will you, lad? Thank you." - -She began making some preparations about the room. "You ought to be kept -tied, Choseph," she said, half to herself. "I never know what you are -going to do next." Yet a sweet note in her voice sounded low. - -She came and stood before me, looking me straight in the eyes. - -"I was going to give you and Christopher very delicate and important -work to do this morning, Choseph, but I'm afraid you'll do something -rash and ruin us all." - -I felt the sting. "Trust me, little brother." - -She shook her head in trouble. "You're not sly, Choseph; you're not -cunning and patient. Those are what are needed now. You have enough -courage." - -"Trust me, lad." - -"You are to meet King Rangan, Choseph, and you are to do everything that -he wishes you to do. You may think you ought not." - -"If you say that I ought, I will." - -"I do say so. If you refuse, or show temper, or do anything that a -Senatra wouldn't do, all is lost. Do you understand?" - -"I am not a fool, Beelo." - -"Choseph! That was temper." - -"Trust me, lad," I begged. - -"It is very dangerous work--terribly so if you make a mistake." - -"There will be no mistake." - -"The king is much broken. He is growing old, and the problem of the -colony is wearing on him. Choseph, will you think of him as kind and -gentle, and as meaning well?" - -"Yes." - -"And will you watch Christopher? Sometimes he understands more than you -or I." - -"I will." - -"Very well." Beela was much relieved. "Now I'll explain. The king -is failing rapidly. He needs such friends as you and Christopher, -and------" - -"Such friends as _we_, when he is holding us as fattening cattle?" - -"Choseph!" Beela's voice rang sharp, and she angrily stamped. Then came -a hopeless look. - -I took her hands. "Come, dear friend," I pleaded. "That was the last. I -am wholly in your hands. And remember, there is always Christopher." - -She turned away with a sigh, and began to put finishing touches to our -efforts at the restoration of neatness in the room. She was evidently -gathering herself, for presently she came and took a seat facing me, -Christopher standing. Her manner was serious. - -"This is the case," she said: "The king has meant always to be kind to -Lentala and me, and we are grateful. We love the queen dearly. We would -lay down our lives before permitting any harm to befall them." - -Her emotion made her pause. - -"Serious dangers are threatening them now,--more than they suspect,--and -these have come because of your people. Before that, only one or two -would be cast up from the wrecks. They gave no trouble." - -Horror came into her face, and she looked away. - -"I always supposed that they were sent off," she resumed. "Never once -did I suspect the truth until shortly before your party came, and then -my affection for the king died in me, and I was sick at heart. I don't -think the queen knows the truth to this day. I think the king would -have stopped it long ago, but for Gato, who wanted to use it to keep the -natives in savagery. He is a bad man, with great power. When your -large party came, he saw a way to break the king, stir the people to -rebellion, kill the king and queen, and take the throne himself." - -"Does Gato suspect that you know this about him?" I asked in -astonishment. - -"No. There is where our safety lies. I never should have suspected him -if he hadn't made love to Lentala and told her that if she would marry -him she would soon be queen,--the beast! Then we watched and found out." - -After a thoughtful pause she proceeded: - -"Gato is secretly stirring up the people. I have no doubt that he is -about ready to strike. His plan will be this, I think: The palace guard -are men whom he can trust to do his work; he will kill everybody here, -and then take the army into your valley and slaughter all but a few. He -will keep those for the sacrifices. It was he that induced the king to -use Mr. Vancouver as your traitor. But, unlike the king, he doesn't care -how many natives might be killed in a fight with the colony when he has -made himself king." - -She was regarding me curiously. - -"And what are Christopher and I to do?" I cheerfully asked. - -"Let me tell you some things before that," she answered, but with -hesitancy. "You won't be hurt with me, Choseph, and you won't be angry?" - -"Assuredly not, dear lad." - -"I told Captain Mason all these things when I went into the valley the -last time." She waited anxiously. - -"I am very glad of that," I brightly answered. - -She was much relieved, and with a sudden dash came over and squeezed my -hand. - -"You are really my dear big brother!" she said, and demurely resumed her -seat. "I told him something else," she went on with more confidence. "It -was to have his entire colony ready to move at a moment's notice,--not -to bring anything with them, except all the food they could carry, -but to be prepared at any time of the day or night to march in perfect -silence out of the valley." - -"To the ship!" I exclaimed. - -She smiled. "I advised him to pick some cool, trustworthy men to take -charge of the march." - -"He said------?" - -"That he already had his men chosen, and was glad that Hobart didn't -have to come out with me. He said it would be the making of Rawley to -come, and that you would understand." - -I did at last. There was something almost magical in Captain Mason's -ability to dig the manhood out of men. - -"And now for your work and Christopher's," resumed Beela. "I will take -you to the king as English-speaking natives from the mountains beyond -the valley on the west, which you have not seen. As I have told you, the -natives there are wilder and fiercer than these, have little intercourse -with them, and are largely independent. Their blood has mingled with -that of a few castaways, and they are brighter. On this side is the -ancient race, simple, gentle, dull. The king is proud of it, and wishes -to keep it pure. But he will welcome the other men in this emergency, -particularly if they speak English." - -"Has he full confidence in Gato?" I inquired. - -"I think he is growing suspicious." - -"And we?" - -"You are to be the king's confidential agents; to find out, -independently of Gato, all that is afoot; to be ready to protect the -king; and especially to treat with the colony if any trouble should rise -from that source. Is it all clear?" - -"Nearly. We are to guard the king and maintain his authority at any -cost?" - -Beela studied me uneasily. "Yes, at any cost," she slowly answered. - -"I was thinking of Gato," I explained. "We are to resort to any -measures with him, however extreme, if we have good reason to think them -necessary?" - -"Yes," somewhat anxiously. "What do you mean, Choseph?" - -"Anything that may be wise and prudent." - -She glanced down. She made no reply, but gave this warning, still not -looking up: - -"Take no chances with him. When you strike, which you must, sooner or -later, let the blow be swift and sure." - -"What will become of the army when he is out of the way?" - -The question troubled her. "It is very uncertain," she answered. "There -may be leaders under him who are in his confidence. They or one of them -may take command and lead the army against the palace." - -She sprang to her feet and glanced about. - -"Let's go to the king at once," she said. "Lentala told him about -you and promised to have you there by this time. I fear that Gato has -already returned with his report of the Face with its open mouth and -purple flame." - -"Just one thing, dear lad," I interrupted. "I wish to see Lentala -first." - -Her adaptability was as quick as a child's. The seriousness which she -had worn flashed into a teasing quirk of the mouth. - -"What for?" - -"You know very well." - -"Choseph," she said, solemnly wagging her head at me, "how can you think -of girls at such a time as this? Lentala would have too much sense to -see you now. Come with me to the king." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.--To the Rescue of the King. - -_Our Risky Audience With His Majesty. He Encoils Us in Allegiance. I -Open His Eyes. Gato's Scheme of Regicide. A Bold Act by Christopher._ - - -ON our way to the royal apartments, Beela again took us through the -vaults. I used the opportunity to fix in my memory the exact places -where the arms and ammunition from our vessel were kept. The king never -permitted any of his subjects to handle firearms. - -Hard by the vaults she showed us a dungeon. Not within her memory had -it been occupied, and few, even in the palace, knew of its existence. It -was an ingeniously designed prison, a grated window for ventilation and -a little light being so placed that no sound could reach the outside; -and the door was so deadened that no beating could make a noise. - -Anxious that none of the king's attendants should see her, Beela gave -us directions how to go and what to say and do if we were halted, -and slipped away, informing us that we might see her face at a small -curtained window high in the east wall of the room where the king would -receive us. - -One after another of the attendants whom we encountered on the way eyed -us curiously and, I thought, suspiciously, and put their heads together -after we had passed. One of them gave a low whistle; two came forward -from in front, stopped us, and demanded our identity and business. All -these men were armed. - -"The king expects us," was my curt answer; but more effective was our -cool assurance. - -Thus we arrived at the door, which was open, a soldier on guard. More -peremptorily than the others he demanded our names and errand. - -"The king expects us," I repeated, and was going within; but the fellow -laid a hand on me. I flung it off, and so confused him that we were -within before he could interfere. He mustered some briskness to follow, -but was too late, for the king had seen us. - -I was shocked at his appearance in the clearer light of day. At the -feast he had looked not far beyond his prime; his eyes were bright then, -and he bore himself with a commanding dignity. Now he was sinking into -decrepitude. - -"I have been expecting these men," he said, and the guard withdrew; but -I knew that he was slyly listening at the door. - -We made an obeisance. I caught a glimpse of Beela's encouraging face at -the window. - -The king was lounging on a divan; he had been talking with two elderly -men seated on rugs before him. They regarded us keenly as the king asked -them to withdraw. When they had gone, Christopher closed and locked the -door, and stood with his back to it. The surprised and curious scrutiny -of the king was on him, passing down his grotesque figure. From -Christopher he turned to me. - -"What do you wish?" he inquired. - -"To serve you, Sire." - -"How?" - -"Secretly, by finding out many things, by learning the truth; and in any -other way." - -"I have men for that." - -"You have Lentala also, Sire. She knows that you need us, and that we -will serve you intelligently, faithfully, and without fear." - -"Without fear of whom?" - -"Every one of account has enemies, Sire." - -"Have I any? I want no guessing." - -"We will find out." - -"Does Lentala know?" - -"Not positively, perhaps; but we all love her, and she has many ways -of learning, since she is not hedged about and kept in the dark as your -Majesty can be." The king was brightening; a faint eagerness crept into -his face. - -"Where did you learn to talk in that way?" - -"I don't understand your Majesty." - -"That inflexion. It isn't pure Senatra." - -"It is my misfortune, Sire. A long time ago a white man, an American, -escaped from the natives with the aid of a Senatra girl. She went with -him into the lonely mountains back of the village Sumanali. There -my brother," indicating Christopher, "and I were born. We speak our -father's language as well as our mother's." - -"English?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"I meant something else, also, in your speech,--a quickness, a -nimbleness." - -"The white man was bright and keen, Sire." - -"What is your name?" he asked me. - -"Joseph, Sire." - -"And his?" - -"Christopher, Sire." - -"Those are not Senatra names." - -"Our father was an American, Sire." - -He put me through a further shrewd examination, and I answered readily. -It was having a slow but conspicuous effect in heartening him. I was -evidently a new and refreshing element, perhaps bringing hope. He -appeared satisfied, and asked: - -"Have you any suspicions?" - -"I have, your Majesty." - -"Of what? and of whom?" - -"Might it not be unjust, Sire, to express mere suspicions?" - -He reflected a moment, and asked: - -"Do you know Gato?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"And the Black Face?" - -"Very well." - -"And the purple flame?" - -"Yes. I saw it two days ago." - -"Where?" asked he in excitement, sitting erect. - -"It was slipping along the top of the valley wall, near the Face." - -The king's perturbation increased, but he found no wavering of my eyes -under his sharp gaze. - -"More than that, Sire; my brother and I went into the river passage -through the wall. We saw the red fire and barely missed a great -explosion." - -The king's astonishment brought him to his feet. - -"Tell me more!" he demanded. - -I gave him an account of all that we had seen and endured, including the -flaming waterfall, the boiling cauldron, and the earthquake. - -"You dared that passage!" he exclaimed, looking from one to the other of -us in amazement. "It was the white blood. Not another man in the kingdom -would do it. Gato could not make any of his men go; yet I was anxious to -know." - -He was saying this partly to himself, as he aimlessly walked the floor. - -"Why did you go?" he abruptly asked. - -"We had heard that no one else was willing, and we wished to serve your -Majesty." - -The king's back being turned, I glanced up at the window. The curtain -parted for a moment, and Beela's beaming face nodded and smiled. - -"Yes," muttered the king in a profound disturbance, "it means that -an upheaval is at hand,--and a crisis!" He came and stood before me, -plumping this question at me: "Do you fear the Black Face, the flame, -and the earthquake?" - -"Not in the least, Sire," I smilingly answered. - -"All the others do." - -"Your Majesty has not forgotten that our father was white. He taught us -many wise things." - -He was smitten with a look that seemed to come from his conscience, and -sank with a groan into the divan. - -"Had I only been as true to my duty, and led my people to the light!" he -exclaimed. "Lentala begged me to. Now I must pay, I must pay!" - -I needed no recalling of my pledge to Beela, for pity held me. I looked -to the window, and the radiance coming thence lighted my wits. - -"There is always hope, Sire," I cheerfully said; "we can work and hope." - -He gave me a haggard look. "You know," he said, "the Senatras believe -that unless sacrifices are made of the white people in the valley there -will come no more wrecks and castaways, and that the Black Face will -therefore send the terrible earthquake and eruptions which frighten our -people into madness, sweep the island with fire, and destroy lives and -farms. But how can a sacrifice be made? The people think that to offer -up a madman would infuriate the Face and cause frightful disaster. It -is impossible to bring another white man from the valley, because -the colony would fight rather than give him up. Yet unless there is a -sacrifice the Senatras will rebel through fear of the Face, the army -will revolt, my palace will be seized, and the queen, Lentala and I, -with all our friends and servants, will be put to the sword." - -"A leader, who must be a traitor, would be required for that, your -Majesty. That would mean a man of eminence among us; and not that alone, -but one who has already laid his plans and is ready at this moment to -strike." - -The king was staring at me in terror. - -"You speak with a deep understanding," he huskily said, "and you have -more to tell me. Proceed." - -"Yes, Sire. The white people wish only to leave the island, and to go in -peace. They will do no harm if they are not opposed; if they are, they -will harm only those who oppose them." - -"How do you know?" - -"I speak with knowledge from my white father." - -"But if they are permitted to go, they will spread tales of great riches -here, and destroying ships and armies will come." - -"Permit me, Sire. In the first place, with such coadjutors as Lentala, -my brother and I, you could make the island impregnable. That would be -far wiser than the risk which you are now running, for the sea, even in -my father's time, was filling with ships, and the great countries were -hunting new possessions. At any time a ship may come without the aid of -the storms. She would see this large and beautiful island, and, though -driven off, would inform her own country, which would send vessels and -men to overwhelm us." - -"Yes, yes. But would it be possible for us to prepare defenses?" - -"It is our duty to do all that we can, Sire. But there can be an -additional protection. So long as we keep our present backwardness we -shall be deemed the rightful prey of any nation. If we aim to be more -like the great countries, and send ambassadors to them and make treaties -with them, they will protect us against one another." - -This mightily impressed the king. - -"That sounds reasonable," he said with a pitiful air of wisdom, "but it -may be attended to hereafter. We are facing a present crisis. You said -that a leader of an insurrection would be required." - -"Yes, Sire." - -"The army could put down any trouble." - -"With the army itself in revolt?" - -"But Gato's control of the army is powerful." - -"Yet it is on the edge of revolt. If Gato is all-powerful with his -men, and in spite of that fact says he can't control them,----But your -Majesty is abler than I to draw inferences." - -The king came nervously to his feet. - -"It is easy to understand, Sire," I went on, "that an ambitious and -unscrupulous man would see his opportunity when the people are paralyzed -with fear of the Face or with an outburst of its wrath." - -"Opportunity for what?" the king demanded. "What would he want, Sire? -Your throne would be a temptation, and so would Lentala to a man who -wanted a beautiful wife." - -The king gripped the edge of a table. - -"He asked me for her," the wretched man growled like a lion gnawing a -bone. "I refused him. She is very dear to me. I wanted her to have a -better man, of her own choosing. For I have provided that she is to rule -my people when I am gone." - -Though greatly surprised, I refrained from looking toward the window, -and kept silence while the broken man fought out his agony. When the -urgency of his situation had measurably restored him, he began to pace -the floor, and asked: - -"Something has to be done immediately. What would you suggest?" - -"What does your Majesty understand the case to be?" - -"We are on the eve of a revolution. The task is to check it." - -"Meanwhile, Sire, I observe that a score of Gato's soldiers are in the -palace. Is that customary?" - -The king stopped and turned a livid look on me. - -"No. Gato suggested that it would be safer to have them here for the -present as a protection." - -"Protection for whom, Sire?" - -The hint in the question swept the breath out of him, and he stood -staring. - -"I hadn't suspected----" he struggled for breath to begin. Then, "I see, -I see." - -The imminence of danger electrified his dormant forces. He hardened and -expanded, and fighting blood began to run in his veins. I said: - -"There is one thing more, your Majesty. The white people in the valley -are able, daring, and cunning. Already some of them have escaped and are -at large in the island." - -"Impossible!" he exclaimed in consternation. - -"I have seen them myself, Sire. They are perfectly disguised as -natives." A quick look at the window showed me a frightened but not a -reprimanding face. - -"You are positive?" - -"Absolutely, Sire." - -"How did they come out?" - -"Either by tricking Gato's men, or by connivance with some one, of -course." - -A rap at the door prevented further discussion. - -"That is Gato," the king whispered. "Hide there," pointing to a -curtained door in the rear wall. - -We were immediately concealed. The place was an anteroom. Through the -curtain we could hear and see everything. - -Gato entered. - -"What news?" the king inquired in a friendly, business-like fashion. - -"Everything is quiet, your Majesty." - -"How is the weather?" - -"It is beginning to clear." - -"Good! If the storm has made any wrecks, a castaway for the sacrifice -may drift ashore. That would restore order." - -Gato solemnly shook his head. The king reclined in silence, and then -asked: - -"How many soldiers have you in and about the palace?" - -The man was surprised. "Twenty, Sire," he hesitatingly answered. - -"Send them to the Council Chamber, and summon Lentala." - -"May I ask your Majesty----" - -Gato found a look that he was not accustomed to see. It was evident from -the slowness with which he proceeded to obey that he was alarmed and was -gaining time for new plans. - -Christopher and I stepped forth when Gato was gone. Beela exhibited some -fear, but I sent her a smile. - -"You," the king commanded me, "observe his manner with his men. You," to -Christopher, "follow him to Lentala and see that no harm befalls her; -I will show you a way. Don't let him see either of you. Come with me to -the Council Chamber immediately after the soldiers have assembled." - -Beela nodded to me, and dropped the curtain. The king led Christopher -into the anteroom, gave him hurried directions, opened a door leading -out of that room, dismissed Christopher, and returned. By this time I -was passing out, having observed that no one in the corridor was looking -toward me. - -Gato had formed his plan, and it contemplated swift execution, as I -judged from his prompt, incisive manner with his men. In each instance -he gave an order which I knew from the pantomime included the Council -Chamber; then, in the man's ear, he added something which brought -a start, a stiffening of the body, and an unconscious grip of the -sword-hilt. As the men were straggling past me to assemble, the king -leisurely strolled out into the corridor, and was sauntering beyond me, -when he stopped, turned, and asked under his voice: - -"What are the signs?" - -"He has ordered them to kill you in the Council Chamber at a sign from -him." - -"Umph!" The king passed on toward his living-apartments, which he -entered. - -When he came quietly walking back, the corridor was clear of soldiers. -He slipped a modern revolver into my hand. - -"Do you understand its use?" - -"Perfectly, Sire." - -"May I trust your nerve and judgment to use it at the right moment and -without missing?" - -"You may, Sire." - -"I think one shot will settle the matter. If - -"There will be three of us, your Majesty." - -He nodded, passed on, and turned back. He had become transformed, and -appeared to look forward eagerly to the crucial moment. - -"Gato ought to be here with Lentala by this time," he said. - -He walked slowly to the private audience-room, looked in, and strolled -back. Near me he stopped short, intently listening. - -"Did you hear that?" he asked. - -"No, Sire." - -"It sounded like the roar of an infuriated animal." - -His strolling began again, but with an increasing uneasiness. - -"I don't understand it," he said. At intervals he stopped and listened. -Finally he came back. - -"I sent for her," he explained, "to announce that she was heir-apparent -to the throne, and vested with present authority to take any measures in -this crisis that would seem proper in her discretion." - -I did not know before that my heart could be so touched by such a man. - -His impatience at last slipped control. "We will go and see what detains -them," he said. - -We started down the corridor. At his own apartments he paused to send a -servant to the Council Chamber with word that he would soon appear. We -had gone but a short distance beyond, when we met Christopher. - -"Is all well?" asked the king. - -"Yes, Sire." - -"Are Lentala and Gato coming?" - -"No, Sire." - -"Why not?" - -"He's in the dungeon, Sire." - -"In the dungeon! Locked up?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"Who put him there?" - -"Me, Sire." - -"What for?" - -"Your Majesty told me not to let him harm her." - -"Harm her! Did he try to?" - -"I was there. She wants to see you." He turned to me. "And you, sir." - -We three hastened to her apartments, where we found her lying on a couch -and attended by a number of frightened women. - -"Lentala!" the king anxiously said; "what is the matter?" - -She forced a smile, held out one hand to the king and the other to me, -gave mine a quick, tight squeeze, released our hands, in a weak voice -bade us be seated, and with a wave of her hand dismissed the women. - -"What has happened, child?" the king insisted. - -"Gato came. I was alone. He didn't know that Christopher was behind -him." She was speaking with difficulty, often pausing. "He was -impatient. He said he loved me and wanted me. And if I wouldn't marry -him, he'd... he'd strangle me here and now.... That his men were waiting -in the Council Chamber to kill you, if I refused him, and then they -would kill the queen.... I said no. I trusted Christopher. Gato's -fingers hooked like that," she showed with her own hands, "his eyes -glared terribly, and he came at me.... Christopher crept up, said to -me, 'Don't scream,' and leaped on Gato. They grappled, and rolled on the -floor. Gato roared like a wild beast." Lentala covered her eyes with her -hands. "I heard things crack and break. I couldn't look. Then came an -awful squeak. Christopher said again to me, 'Don't scream.' It meant he -was safe. I felt myself falling.... When I saw again, I was lying on -this divan, and my women were with me. Gato was gone. Christopher was -standing in the door. I asked him where Gato was. He said, 'In the -dungeon.' He would say no more, and I sent him for you." She looked at -him, and added, "Dear old Christopher!" - -His face was blank. - -"Can I do anything for you?" the king gently asked. - -"No, thank you. I'm only a little shaken, and will be up in a few -minutes." - -"Would you like the queen to come?" - -"No. It would distress her. Not a word of this to her!" - -The king led us out. At the door I looked back and won a smile. - -We went in silence, and the king stepped into his apartments, bidding us -wait in the corridor a minute. - -I turned a keen look on Christopher, and he met it frankly. - -"Are you hurt?" I asked. - -"No, sir." - -"Is he badly injured?" - -"Him?" - -"Yes." - -"He don't need no doctor, sir." - -"Did he go with you quietly?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"He'll hang for this, Christopher." - -"Sir?" - -"The king will hang him for this." - -Christopher's gaze wandered vacantly round the corridor, and after a -while he quietly said: - -"It won't hurt him, sir." - -The truth blazed through me. I had been misled by Christopher's perfect -calm. - -"Christopher!" I cried, seizing his hand and wringing it; but he looked -bored. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX.--The Strength of the White Blood. - -_Extraordinary Discipline by the King. His Uneasiness Concerning -Our Loyalty. Lentala's Father. We Must Help Destroy Our Friends. -Earthquakes._ - - -ALTHOUGH the king was greatly shocked when I told him what had really -happened to Gato, his gratification quickly rose, and he regarded -Christopher curiously. - -"Why didn't you tell me at once?" he inquired. - -"That is not his way, Sire," I explained. "He avoids talking." - -"It was a wonderful thing to do," his Majesty mused as we slowly went to -the Council Chamber. - -Something had given him a fearful blow, and I guessed it was the danger -to which Lentala had been exposed. His face was haggard again; his gait -was unsteady; he doddered and mumbled. - -As we neared the Council Chamber, he said: - -"Come in and stand near me, one on either side." - -We found the soldiers in a huddle near the door, the racial dulness of -their faces somewhat keyed with expectancy. The king gave them but -a glance as he passed them and ascended the throne,--to be more -impressive, no doubt. Christopher and I stood as flanks. - -"Form a line facing me," the king sternly commanded. - -The soldiers glanced at one another in wonder as they obeyed, and -furtively had anxious eyes and ears for Gato. They were a fine crowd, -selected for courage and dash. - -"You understand," the king said, "that I am always in supreme command of -the army, including Gato and every other officer. Any person who may be -in immediate charge of you is serving as my agent, and is appointed and -removed by me at my pleasure. All your fealty and loyalty are for me. -You will now acknowledge that with an obeisance to your king." - -The rascals were dazed. They might send shifting glances down the line -if they liked, and wonder and waver if they pleased, but obey they must: -every man felt it in his bones. The line went down. - -Etiquette required the maintenance of the posture until the king gave -the word to rise. The obeisance consisted in coming to the knees, -resting the elbows, well advanced, on the floor, pressing the palms -down, and rooting the floor with the forehead,--an easy performance if -quickly finished, but a torturing one if sustained. On this occasion the -king neglected the releasing command; and that was unheard of. In such a -position the men could see nothing. - -"A soldier's first duty," he resumed, "is to his king. In becoming -a soldier he dedicates his manhood, his strength, his life, to his -sovereign; that is to say, to his country. A true soldier is glad to die -for the happiness and safety of his king. His duties are as sacred as -those of a son to his father. A worthy son will remember the protection -that his father has given him. If he hears him defamed, he will uphold -his name; if blind, will lead him; if threatened, will defend him though -death be the reward. So it is with a soldier and his king." - -His voice weighted his words with a deep emotion, and he spoke slowly, -with pauses. It was like listening to a passage from the Bible,--but -much better read than commonly. - -"A king may be kind to his soldiers; that will bring him their love with -their fealty, and give their duty a double force. A king may grow old -and stand in need of the strong, willing arms of young men whom he loves -and who love him. A king may totter under the burden of long service to -his people; his soldiers will then be his stay and comfort, and with joy -in their hearts will do his high will. Serpents may crawl in the weeds -about a king's throne: his soldiers will beat the weeds clear of them." - -The king could not have failed to see a painful writhing that wormed -through the line. His pause was long. - -"A son who hears even his brother speak ill of their father, will -reprove the brother and shame him. If that fails, he will chastise his -brother if he can; but if the brother is stronger, the dutiful one will -take the matter to their father, since the safeguard of the family is -endangered by the disaffection of a single member. If a father discovers -one of his sons jeopardizing the unity, prosperity, and safety of the -family, he will give the faithless son such treatment as the security of -the family demands." - -The pause this time was still longer. Meanwhile, the endurance of the -men had nearly reached an end. Whatever may have been their mental -state, their physical was one of excruciating pain. - -"Some men are induced to do wrong through heedlessness or blindness, not -knowing the gravity of their deeds, and not foreseeing a dire result. -Others are weak and easily led; they are untrustworthy tools of their -leaders, and shame is their greatest punishment. Others are cruel and -wicked at heart; they will therefore be ready to betray the men who led -them to betray others. All of those are poisonous serpents in the weeds -about a king's throne. And it is far worse in a soldier than in any one -else." - -After another pause, he said: - -"A king who is kind and wise will be slow to believe evil of his people. -It will be natural for him to think that all will be as wise and kind -as he. Yet he must be watchful; he cannot protect the people unless he -protects himself. If he finds a scandal, he may hide it, lest it weaken -the common faith in the strength and purity of his government. If he -discovers that any are unfaithful, he will not make their treason public -by hanging them before the people, unless he knows that a warning will -stop other traitors. No; he will be merciful and keep them privately for -a time, till they may walk forth erect in their recovered manhood." - -Here and there a gasp or a strangled groan broke the silence of the -line. The king was heeding. - -"The man at the right of the line will rise." - -The fellow came painfully to his feet, and stretched the agony out of -his muscles. - -"Advance and lay your sword on the dais," ordered the king. - -The man obeyed. - -"Return to your obeisance." - -A start thrilled the soldier. He gave the king a desperate, pleading -look, but found eyes with a cold sternness that sent him to obedience. - -"The next, rise." - -The performance was repeated with him, and with the rest in turn. - -"All rise," said the king. They stood up. "I will now take you to a room -in the palace, where you may consider in quiet what the soldiers of a -king should be. You," he ordered Christopher, "walk beside me at the -head, and you," to me, "follow the soldiers." - -The dignity of a mighty sorrow sat like a grace upon him as he slowly -led the procession. Never were prisoners more securely manacled with -steel than these men, though their members were free; and though there -was a certain pomp in the march, it was that of a funeral, and the -silence was louder than the blare of much brass. - -The king turned into the corridor that led to the vaults, and descended -the stair. This brought him and the others to the dungeon door. He -halted, and Christopher unlocked it. It swung wide. The king and -Christopher stood aside, and the men marched in. Christopher closed and -locked the door. - -"Your Majesty!" I exclaimed; "you surely have not forgotten that -Gato----" - -"My son," he calmly answered, "what they have already endured has made -the way easier to what they will find in there." - -Without haste the king conducted us back to the chamber in which he had -received us, and seated himself ered: on the divan. He was studying us. - -He inflated his cheeks and pursed his lips while his goggling eyes -roamed, and queer wrinkles came and went in his face. - -"The white blood," he grunted, staring at me. "It accounts for your -keenness. The white blood never sleeps. If it is with you, good; if -against you,------" - -He rose and glared. "Which love you the more, son," he growled, "the -white blood or the brown?" - -"Your Majesty sees our color. We came freely and offered our hearts, our -arms, and our lives to your Majesty. And it is not forgotten, Sire, that -Lentala sent us." - -"I remember." The growl died in him, and he brightened. With both hands -he clutched the edge of the couch. "It takes white blood to fight white -blood," he said. "Did your father tell you that?" - -"Not that I recall, Sire." - -"Black blood and red blood and yellow blood and brown blood always fall -before it, soon or late. He said nothing about that?" - -"I think not, Sire." - -"You know it is true?" - -"My father told me much of the great world." - -"Then he told you that. And I know. I saw it when I went abroad in my -youth. I learned it from Lentala's father. Does it mean anything to you -that your mother was a Senatra?" - -"It is sufficient that your Majesty and Lentala are Senatras." - -The king fixed a keen stare on me. - -"You mention Lentala very often," he said. - -"She indorsed us to your Majesty." - -"Something more is here. That is the white blood in her. In you and in -her the white blood knows its own." - -His sudden confirmation of my surmise concerning Lentala choked the -words in my throat. - -"Why don't you speak?" he roughly demanded. "Is it not true?" - -I could only gaze at him. - -"The white blood finds and knows its own," he went on. "Two hundred and -fifty of those with white blood are held on this island by a great horde -of those with brown blood. I need a man of the white-blood shrewdness -and boldness and courage to manage those two hundred and fifty to the -safety of my people and my island. But if I take a man with white blood -in his veins, it will side with the white blood that threatens me." - -"Would Lentala hand over to treason and destruction your Majesty and the -queen and all the other Senatras whom she loves, and the people to whom -she belongs and the country that has nourished her?" - -"Not wittingly, for she is a daughter of the gods; but the blood, my -son, the blood!" - -"Sire, a love early planted endures forever." - -He rose to fight his despair, and walked up and down the room. - -"Yes, it is true," he said at last. "Lentala has proved it. I spared -her father, a castaway, because he stopped a great plague that was -destroying my people. I myself was stricken, and he saved my life I -feared him because he was of the white blood, and because of his wisdom -and power. He held the secrets of the gods, and had no fear. I had -planted deep in my people a hatred of the white blood; and I required -that he not only disguise himself as a native, but remain within the -palace grounds. He taught me many things, but I refused to follow his -advice to instruct my subjects. He educated Lentala." - -"Is he still alive?" I asked. - -"He died two years ago. If he were only here now! We became strong -friends. Lentala's devotion to the islanders is returned by them almost -as idolatry. I know how the white blood can love, but I know also how it -can hate; and it knows its own." - -He suddenly halted, and wheeled upon me. - -"You say," he moaned, "that some of the white men are at large on the -island. What mischief are they doing? What mines digging under me? My -people are children,--I have kept them so, God help them! I need not -alone a wit and a daring to match the white people's, but Senatra -devotion as well." - -"Your Majesty knows Lentala." - -He blazed on me. "Do you love Lentala?" - -A fierce tingling raced through me, and dumbness held me. - -"She is beautiful and sweet," he went on. "She is steadfast; she is -brave and able. There never was a woman to match her. You are big and -strong and brave. She found you. Like finds like. Do you love her as a -man loves a woman?" - -I fought blindly for wit and words. - -"Yes, Sire," came the thin, even voice of Christopher. - -We both turned in surprise. He beamed on us blandly. - -"Does she love him as a woman loves a man?" the king asked him. - -"Yes, Sire." - -His audacity held me speechless. - -"I can trust her--and you," the king said to me,--"so far as blood -tempered by love and loyalty may be trusted, which is farther than it -may trust itself. I am old and broken. Come, you two, and stand before -me." - -We obeyed, I wondering. - -"I have no other men to equal you, and I need you. You must serve -me. Take time now, and remember your white blood. Remember that it is -stronger than your brown, for I have seen its dominance in you today. -Remember that when your allegiance is tested in a choice between white -blood and brown, the white will be the stronger. Only one thing can save -you and me and all my people." - -"And that, Sire,-----?" - -"-----is your manly pride to see and know and overcome your white blood, -and serve and obey your king to the end." - -He paused, and looked from one to the other, as though expecting us to -speak, but we were silent. - -"The white blood," he passionately resumed, "is the most terrible thing -in the world. It is strong and shrewd; it never gives up; it pursues and -fights relentlessly to the ends of the earth; without mercy or pity it -hunts down, plunders, overwhelms, exterminates. Only one thing can hold -it in check, and that is opposing white blood. Brown blood cannot cope -with the white people in the valley, but white blood can; and for the -task, the gods have sent me white blood mingled with brown seeded in my -soil and grown to it with deep roots. That is my hope and trust." - -His gaze of affectionate yearning was on us. - -"The duty of your Senatra blood is loyalty to your king; the task of -your white blood is to outwit and outdo the people in the valley. I will -place Lentala in command of the army. You must not take a step without -her full concurrence, and you will obey her without question. Do you -agree?" - -"Gladly, Sire." - -"A hundred soldiers guard the passes from the val ley, and are relieved -every day. When not on duty they attend to their private affairs. I -will at once send out messengers summoning these to assemble outside the -palace wall, in the king's highway passing the main gate. There I will -address them and turn over the command to Lentala." - -He was profoundly studying me. His words, "to outwit and outdo the -people in the valley," were grinding within me, and I longed to demand -an explanation. A savage ferocity was manifest through his benignity. -To outwit and outdo the people in the valley,--my people, my friends! I -would be his tool to betray and destroy them. The bottomless pit should -have him first, and the hand that he would turn to treachery and murder -would send him thither. - -My face must have shown something of what I tried to conceal; for the -king, his look growing desperate and malignant, stepped back a pace. -There came from somewhere a sharp rap, which made me start, and sent my -glance to the curtained window, to which the king had his back. I had -supposed that Beela was with Lentala; but there she was at the window, -her hand upraised in warning. It brought me instant control. - -The king also had heard, and looked round sharply, but the curtain was -down. - -"What was that?" he inquired. - -"My big toe, Sire," answered Christopher. - -"What did you do with it?" - -"I cracked the joint." - -"Why?" - -"It feels good, Sire." - -His Majesty curiously regarded Christopher's feet. "It must be a large -joint," he said. - -Christopher stood in gentle silence. The king turned to me, and found me -docile. - -"That look of rebellion was the white blood in you," he said. - -"Only for a moment. Your Majesty may trust me." - -Nevertheless, he was troubled, and shook his head. - -"He won't no more, Sire," said Christopher. - -"How do you know?" - -"I know him." - -"Explain." - -"He does little things short and big things long." - -My amused smile was fortunate, because it put an end to the king's -tragic gravity. - -"I am satisfied," he remarked. "Now, the first thing for you two to -do, while the army is assembling, is to go out, find, and bring to the -palace all the white men that have escaped. The next,------" - -The sentence was never concluded, for there came a rumble and a sharp, -pervading jolt. The king stiffened, looked about in fear, and groped for -the table. Following was a gentle quiver, which rapidly increased till -it became an oscillation, and with it a deep rumbling. It ended in a -mighty wrench and a violent swaying, accompanied with a hoarse explosive -sound. The stones of the palace were grinding and groaning. The table -slid a yard, stopped, and shot back as the king tried to seize it. - -I found myself plunging and lurching for a footing as the oscillation -continued, and so were the king and Christopher. They sat down on -the floor. Surely the violence would ease in a moment. Instead, the -convulsion rose to a fearful crash, which sent my feet away and my body -smashing on Christopher. He caught me with one hand and with the other -diverted the flying table from the king. - -The spasm ended abruptly, but the menacing tremble was again in play. - -"Be careful!" rasped the king; "the third is the worst." - -As before, the quiver rose through oscillation to a heavy swaying, more -violent than ever, and ended in a tumult of jerks, which sent us sliding -and scrambling as we fought the portable things that were hurled about -the room. - -It was suddenly gone. We rose, much dazed. There was no sign of Beela at -the window. - -"It is over," weakly said the king. "The worst in many years. And what -has it done? It has terrified my people into madness. I see them." -He was losing self-control, and was staring as at a vision. "They are -beginning to rise from the ground. Many are digging out of their ruined -huts.... Their teeth are chattering. They look at one another in -horror. No one has a sister, a brother, a father, a mother, a friend. -All are blind and mad.... They run hither and thither. They----" - -A confused screech and roar, as of wild animals driven to a focus by a -surrounding forest fire, rang through the closed door of the room. The -king listened. - -"The palace servants," he mumbled through quivering lips. "They are -seeking me--their father and protestor. Imagine from this how the island -is swarming and groaning, and with a terror that is half vengeance." - -The man was beside himself. - -"Peace, Sire!" I begged, but he did not hear. - -"The terror does not abate: it increases with the freer flow of their -blood after the shock.... They are beginning to think. They look at one -another and see their kind; then kindred and friends.... 'The Black -Face!' says one, softly. 'Ay, the Black Face!' is the louder reply." - -The king stood with clasped hands and closed eyes. - -"'This is only the beginning,' they say. 'The Black Face has been denied -while it looked down on abundance.' Who has denied it? The heavens -ring with the answer, 'Our father whom we loved, our protector whom we -trusted, our king whom we have thought a brother of the gods. Why has -he flouted the Face and challenged its wrath? What terrors or witcheries -have been wrought by the gods of the people in the valley, that our king -has gone driveling behind his walls? '" - -"Your Majesty!" I called, shaking him by the arm. - -He opened glazed eyes, and listened to the howling din at his door. - -"The guard are leaving the passes. The white people are wise; they -understand, and are joyful. They send scouts.... My soldiers mingle -with my roaring, mobbing people. They all push and roll through the -pools of rain-water in the highways, churning them to mud. They grind -their teeth; they laugh horribly, like imbeciles. The palace is their -aim, and their king sits grinning and mumbling there. All the trouble -has come from the people in the valley. The white blood breeds all there -is of that in the world. May ten thousand curses fall on it!" - -He was flinging his arms and lunging about. I woke to the urgency -of action, for undoubtedly in his madness he had correctly seen the -turbulence in the island, and the sweating hordes plunging over all -roads converging to the palace. A glance passed between Christopher -and me, and I nodded toward the door, which a packed, howling mass was -already straining. - -"Come," I said, seizing the tottering king about the waist and dragging -him to the anteroom. I thrust him within, and secured the door back of -the curtain. - -When I turned, Christopher, his hand on the key of the door into the -corridor, was listening. There was no sign of Beela at the window. - -"What's going on?" I inquired. - -"Her, sir." - -"She's out there?" I asked in alarm. - -"Yes, sir." - -"Open the door," I ordered, stepping back to guard the anteroom. - -He opened it, swinging behind it against the wall. - -It was done so suddenly that those pressed against it fell into the -room. The next came tumbling on them, and more on these, squeezing -horrible sounds from the mouths of the lowermost, and bringing -unpleasant grimaces to their faces. In a second the opening was jammed -half way to the top, and still the pile grew. Behind it were frenzied -men and women, vociferating prodigiously, and fighting for the -diminishing passage to the king. - -The pressure outside being somewhat relieved, one of the more agile men -leaped on the pile and sprang with a howl to the floor; but Christopher -had emerged, and a blow from him dropped the adventurer. The next, less -active than the first, was scrambling over the heap, and paused as he -found himself grazed by the flying body of the first, for Christopher -had picked him up and tossed him over the heap into the pandemonium -beyond. The following man drew back, and slid down to the corridor -floor. - -I had been looking for Beela without, but she was not in range. - -Before another maniac could mount the pile, Christopher had dragged -a body off the squirming mass and flung it out. Another followed, and -another, and others, the succession of them so close that none dared -breast the fusillade. Christopher streamed with sweat, and the mildness -in his eyes had become a glare. - -All this had a cooling effect in the corridor. Christopher, not waiting -to look for cracked ribs at the bottom of the heap, cleared the last -away, and walked forth. None can say how much his unearthly pale eyes, -minatory expression, and extraordinary figure had to do with what -followed. I went to the door. A hush fell as he advanced on the mob, -which fell back in silent terror. With each hand he seized a man, jammed -their heads together with a murderous thwack, shook them, stood them up, -left them stunned, and immediately snatched two others and treated them -similarly. A third pair and a fourth nursed aching skulls. Christopher -swept through the groups with two long, strong arms for scythes, mowing -a wide swath as he brushed women along, sent a man spinning from a blow, -dashed another against the wall, and brought them into subjugation with -a counter-panic of his own manufacture. He came upon two men with some -appearance of character, and ordered them to finish the work and send -the people to their quarters. They obeyed him promptly. At last he -sauntered back to me, calm but puffing. - -Beela approached from the opposite direction. I stepped forward in -gladness to meet her. - - - - -CHAPTER XX.--A Habit of Concealment. - -_Beela Undergoes a Transformation. The Uprising of the People. -Contrition of Beela. I Declare Myself. An Amazing Disclosure by the -King._ - - -WHAT news, my friend?" I cheerily inquired. - -"We'll go to the king's reception-room and talk," she answered, looking -at Christopher. "Dear old Christopher!" she said, deep and sweet. - -"Yes," I remarked; "I left the king in the anteroom." Christopher and I -followed her into the reception-room. - -"He's not there now," she replied, seating herself, "but with the -queen. Christopher, go and stand down the corridor, opposite the queen's -apartments, and wait for the king. Those lunatics may break loose again -when they hear the mob outside the wall." - -He started. - -"Christopher!" she called. He turned. "Do you love me?" - -"Yes, ma'am." - -"That's all." - -I had never seen her so calm and steady, so rich in ultimate qualities, -so little the volatile, meteoric, yet wise child-woman who had been -my sunshine, my tease, my playfellow. She had become a composed and -gracious woman. It came to me with something like pain that this was the -truer and finer Beela. There was another feeling,--one of a great need -in my life. - -She wore a becoming dress that might have suited either a woman or a -man; but everything about her spoke of the sweetness and grace that only -a lovely woman can have. I was tired of the foolish Beelo sham. We had -grown too near for me longer to tolerate that absurd barrier. - -"Now for your news, dear Beela," I asked. - -There was the slightest start when she heard that pronunciation of the -name, but she did not turn to me at once. - -"When the earthquake began," she said, "I ran to the queen, for such -things frighten her dreadfully. After it was over there came the uproar -by the servants. I locked the queen's apartments and kept them out. -But their noise frightened her even more than the earthquake, for they -battered her doors. It wouldn't do to admit them. Presently the king -came by the private entrance, and although he was badly shaken, the -necessity to comfort the queen brought him composure. They are together -and quiet now. Then I came to this corridor, where the servants were -massed against the door. I could do nothing with them. For a moment I -was frightened when the door opened, but when I saw what Christopher's -plan was, I knew that all was safe. I went then and secured the gates -opening to the palace grounds." - -"And what's ahead, Beela?" - -"The worst," she quietly answered, but gave me a slow, mischievous look -over that repetition of her feminine name. "We have a little time before -the king comes," she brightly added, "and we need it to rest." There was -a challenge in her glance. - -"But the mob is coming!" I protested. - -"The king told me that you and Christopher and I should be quiet till it -assembles. Then he will come, for you." - -I drew up my stool facing her, took both her hands, and said: - -"I have a confession to make, dear friend." - -"Really, Joseph?" she exclaimed in mock alarm, pronouncing the name -perfectly. - -"You know. And you've been only pretending that English wasn't perfectly -familiar to you." - -She gave a musical, purring little laugh. Any man would deserve great -credit for self-restraint in resisting it--and the chin. Thenceforward -she spoke in English of the purest accent. - -"What's the confession, Joseph?" - -"I've known something for a long time, Beela, and I've been deceiving -you with thinking that I didn't know; but I did so because you evidently -wished me to be deceived. Everything might have gone wrong if I had -betrayed my knowledge to you. But it has served its time. You will -forgive me for deceiving you,--dear?" - -All that went to make her a miracle of precious womanhood was vibrant. -There was the same sweet flutter that I had seen before in her velvety -throat. Of course she enjoyed her little triumph of knowing that even -for a time her deception had prospered, and she was a-thrill with the -recollection of it. After that came contrition. A half-smile lingered on -her lips, though her eyes were rueful. - -"You are good and generous, Joseph, for not giving me a chiding word; -and I don't think there is the least of it in your big heart." - -"Chiding, sweet girl? I understood your feeling for the necessity of the -deception. Your wish is my law, and to serve it is less a duty than a -privilege." - -There was a slight puzzle in the glow that flooded her heavenly eyes. - -"You found it out all by yourself, Joseph?" - -"Yes, dear." - -"That is remarkable. Neither Christopher nor Annabel gave you the -smallest hint? They knew." - -"Not the smallest." The hurt of their keeping the secret from me must -have shown in my face, for Beela laughed teasingly. It restored me. -"You pledged Annabel not to tell me," I said, "and Christopher is -silent,--and a gentleman. Is that the explanation?" - -"Yes." A soft embarrassment crept over her, and she gently withdrew her -hands and sat regarding me in sweet content. "I also have a confession -to make, Joseph." She tried hard to look just a trifle anxious. "What, -dear?" - -"Joseph!" she cried, frowning and stamping; "how can I think when _that_ -is in your eyes and your voice! I won't look, and I won't listen." She -turned her shoulder to me. - -"What is in my eyes and my voice, dear?" - -She sat still a moment, and then slowly turned her head a trifle and -peered at me as if baffled. - -"You mustn't tease me, Joseph." - -She saw my smile and again turned away. - -"What is the confession?" I asked. - -"Let's go back to the beginning. There were two real reasons why I posed -as a boy. One was that it gave me more freedom of limb for going through -the forest and for scaling the valley wall, and the other was that it -made me less conspicuous to the guards,--I could have escaped if they -had detected me. On my word, dear Joseph, I never intended to deceive -you long about that." - -She cautiously looked round at me, for I was silent. A cheap resentment -at learning that I had been unnecessarily tricked must have betrayed -itself, for the dear girl took my hands. - -"Joseph,------" she began. - -"Then why did you keep it up, dear?" I asked. - -"Joseph, the time was when your want of perception was mistaken by me -for dulness, for obtuseness,--for such a lack of understanding as makes -a man or a woman not worth while. But I discovered that it was not -dulness at all. For a time I refused to believe that a human being could -have what I saw in you." - -If I have ever seen wondering fondness it was in her eyes. - -"What was it, dear?" I asked uneasily. - -"Your trust which sees only the true, and, unwittingly taking into your -heart the false with the true, makes the false true with your trust." - -I was silent with the deep thankfulness that God had sent such a woman -into the world and into my meager life. - -"So, Joseph, I prolonged that deception until all doubt of what you are -was gone. I am glad that I did, and am sorry that I can think of no more -tests." There was a dash of her dear mischief in that speech. "And now -that this is a time of confession and understanding,--you started it, -remember,--I must say that one of the deceptions played on you------They -were really harmless, weren't they, dear Joseph?" - -"Perfectly," I smiled. - -"----that one of them was unnecessary. It was _such_ fun to play those -pranks on you, Joseph! I couldn't help it. I know it was wicked, but you -were always gentle and kind, and I knew you would forgive me. Joseph, -you would forgive me _anything_, wouldn't you?" - -"Yes, dear heart." - -"It was delicious to see you walking so trustingly through the -complications that beset you." - -"Dear!" I cried, my senses afloat and my arms aching for her; "I am only -human. Your sweetness----" - -She pushed back her chair before my advance. - -"And you don't know in the least," she went flying on, "how often I had -to leap from one of my selves to the other, and how exciting it was." - -I was getting little out of her chatter except the music of her voice -and the picture of loveliness that she made. - -"Don't you care to know which of the deceptions was unnecessary?" she -demanded, trying to look injured. - -"Indeed I do." - -She came and stood beside me, gazing down into my face and clasping my -hand warmly in both her own. - -"Beela," she answered. - -"Beela?" after a mystified pause; then, thinking that she was teasing, I -laughed. - -She appeared much relieved, and brightly said: "I'm glad you understand -and forgive me.... But you resented her at first." - -"Beelo had become very precious, dear, and so my readjustments where you -are concerned are slow. But a new fondness grew with Beela's coming." - -"Poor Joseph! And _she_ wasn't necessary. I am sorry now that I----" - -"_She?_ Who?" - -"Beela." - -I was a little taken aback, but came to my feet with a dazzling -consciousness that all the glories of earth were packed into this -moment. - -"Not at first, dear," I said, "but in time she became more necessary -than my life. My heart sits in gratitude at Lentala's feet for sending -me her sweet sister." - -She was stricken into a statue, and was staring at me as at some strange -creature from another planet. - -I stood in silent misery. How had I hurt her? - -She took a turn of the room, and flung herself on her knees at the -couch, buried her face in her arms, and went into laughter mingled with -sobs. I seated myself on the couch and laid a caressing hand on her -head. - -"Beela," I pleaded, "forgive me. Let me know what I have done that hurt -you." - -"No," she cried. "I wouldn't for all the world! My heart is breaking -with gladness!" - -Surely no other mortal could have put such startling contradictions into -so few words. My hand found hers; she caught it tight. - -"You dear old Joseph!" she said. "Choseph, Choseph!" - -It was plainly hysteria; the brave soul had been on a breaking strain -too long. I drew her to me, bent her head to my shoulder, and pressed my -cheek to hers. - -"Dear heart!" I said. - -She made no resistance, and gradually grew quiet. - -"Sweet," I went on, "we have been through many trials together, and -there are more ahead. The days were dark till Beelo came. He stole into -my heart with hope, courage, and love. A shock came when he passed. I -don't know, but perhaps I never should have loved you but for him. He -was the sunny highway leading to you; and now I have the daring to lay -my love and my life at your feet." - -The sigh that drifted through her parted lips had no threat for my -anxiety, but she did not answer. Her hand gently drew mine down from her -cheek, and she rose. She studied me a moment. - -"Let's talk, Joseph. Perhaps we have been hasty." I noted the patient -weariness in her voice. She sat beside me, and after a short silence -resumed: "I have never loved a man till------It hasn't been possible -here. But you have known beautiful, lovely women." - -"Yes." - -"And liked them very much." - -"Very much." - -Her glance fell, and a little quiver crossed her lips. - -"You have known Annabel a long time. You were close to her; you and she -talked long and often." - -"Yes." - -"She is beautiful and sweet." - -"Exceptionally so." - -"And accomplished--and gracious--and has good manners and a velvet -voice." - -"All of that." - -"And she's kind--and gentle--and has high principles." - -"True." - -"She belongs to your people, your world." - -I only smiled. - -"Joseph," raising her sad eyes to mine, "you have loved her once, and -now love me?" - -"I have never loved Annabel, dear heart, but I do love you." - -"Why haven't you loved her? How could you help it?" - -"Because I was waiting for you." - -"You have never told her that you loved her?" - -"No. But, dear Beela, I can't discuss Annabel in this way." - -Her eyes blazed. "She loves you!" - -"That is not true; and no one has the right to say such a thing of a -woman without knowing that her love is returned." - -Beela bit her lip, and came stiffly to her feet. - -"You are unkind!" she exclaimed. "I have a right--a woman's right--to -reasons for believing what is incredible without them." - -The picture of outraged dignity that she made was so ravishing that I -feared my adoration would override the sternness which I had taken so -much trouble to set in my face. - -"What is incredible, dear?" - -She impatiently turned away. I think she did it to hide a smile, but -she was too wary to answer. Instead, she drew from her bosom the little -toilet case I had given Lentala on the day of the feast, and gravely -examined her reflection. - -"If I were beautiful like Annabel,------" she began. - -"Beela!" - -"------or Lentala, and------" - -"Beela!" - -"------and were pink and white------" - -"Beela!" - -She made exactly such a face at herself in the mirror as Lentala had, and -suddenly turned on me. - -"Joseph, Lentala used to be beautiful and good and true, and an angel." - -"She is all of that yet." - -She returned the case to her bosom. - -"I think you nearly loved her once." - -My tongue was silent. Beela laughed mischievously; little devils were -dancing in her eyes. - -"Joseph, I'm serious. Reflect because it wouldn't be wise to act hastily -now and suffer for the rest of life. Annabel would make a perfect wife. -She would play no pranks and childish deceptions. You understand her and -she knows you. I'm only a wild, uncouth savage." - -"Anything more, dear?" I wearily asked. - -She gathered breath to resume: "And there's Lentala. She is to be a -queen some day, and very rich. With rank and wealth, she would be a -shining woman in America, and her husband would be the happiest man in -the world; for with all of that he would have the far richer treasure of -her love." - -"A worthy man will come to her some day, Beela." - -"Didn't you think she was--was fascinating?" - -"I do think so." - -"Reflect again, Joseph: Would you prefer her poor, obscure, wild little -sister?" - -"Yes. But what right have we to make so free with Lentala's name, -especially as she is foreign to the matter?" - -Again Beela was offended, but she controlled herself. - -"You would be ashamed of me with people of your kind." - -"You alone are of my kind, dear Beela; and shame for you would be shame -for myself, shame for all that is precious to me." - -"Suppose, Joseph, that I should refuse to leave this island." - -"The highest privilege of my life would be to stay here with you." - -She stood in a melting happiness. - -Her rosy mouth was conveniently near. I should have been a fool to let -the opportunity pass, and she was not on her guard. She drew back too -late. The dignity with which she came to her feet had a new tenderness. -I also rose. She gazed at me with a wistfulness that searched all -the hidden places in my soul. Never had she been so lovely as in this -moment. - -"Dear Joseph, take more time. There is something... you don't know, -though I... thought you understood. Now I dare not------A great fear -fills me." - -"Love knows no fear, sweetheart." - -"Not for itself, but for its loved ones. Joseph, will you forgive me? -It was a foolish thing to do, and I am very, very sorry. Your trust has -shamed me. Dear Joseph, I------But first let me tell you something else. -The colony must now be marching out of the valley, for I told Captain -Mason that a severe earthquake would be his signal for starting at once. -Annabel is coming, and------" - -The door opened to the king and Christopher. His Majesty, anxious and -broken though he was, gave us an approving smile,--perhaps from what he -read in our faces. - -"My maddened people are gathering," he said. "It was wise of you to -lock the gates, my child. When the crowd grows larger it will begin an -assault. That will be the time for me to appear. I will call out the -soldiers from the crowd and put them under your command." - -That surprised me. "Pardon me, Sire. I understood your Majesty to say an -hour ago that _Lentala_ was to have command." - -"So I did." - -"But your Majesty has just said that _Beela_ is to have it." - -"Beela? I couldn't have said that, as I don't know any such person." - -I was dismayed at the king's apparent condition, and Beela in great -perturbation was trying to speak. The man must be roused from his shaken -state. - -"This is Beela, Sire, Lentala's sister." - -"She has no sister," he answered clearly, and turned sharply on Beela. -"Lentala, have you been playing one of your pranks?" He hurried her away -as she was trying to speak. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--Both Sides of the Wall. - -_A Mob at the Palace Gate. What the King Heard Through the Wall. -Lentala's Call on Christopher to Save Her. The King Abdicates. Long Live -the Queen!_ - - -HABIT is the strongest force in animate nature. Though I was shaken, -the bent of an urgent purpose remained, and I went forward to it with -all the will at my command. - -The roar of a mob--that most horrible of sounds--smote my hearing when -Christopher and I emerged from the palace into the grounds. A turn in a -broad, curving walk through the trees brought the barred main gate into -view. It was a massive affair of wood, iron, and bolts, with a small -wicket, which was closed. - -The king, all alone, wearing his crown and his cloak of state, was -awaiting us near the gate. He beckoned us to raise a ladder to the wall. -It was done. - -"I will presently go up alone," he said, calm but sad, "and will talk -to them. Men have gone for a heavy beam with which to ram the gate. -The crowd is densely packed here. That will make an attack on the gate -impossible for a time. It is likely that the soldiers will assemble and -clear a working space." - -"What can we do, Sire?" I asked. - -"Nothing now. The most that I can hope for is to hold the situation -until Lentala returns." - -"She has gone?" - -"Yes. It was something about the white people. I couldn't keep her. She -was confident we could hold the mob." - -"And your Majesty's plan------?" - -"I will show myself on the wall, and talk to them. At the proper moment -I will call you up. If I am stricken down, you and your brother retreat -to the palace. Defend it by any means and at any cost." - -His sorrow was too great to be companioned by fear, and it bore an -impressive dignity which his haggardness intensified. - -"The mob is swelling rapidly," he said with perfect quiet. "Unless a -diversion happens soon, many will be crushed against the gate and the -wall." - -Seeing that he stood inactive, I wondered whether he was so numbed as to -be incapacitated; but he cleared the doubt. - -"If the beam-carriers force their way through the mass, many will be -maimed or killed. I am listening to the sounds." - -His coolness and clearness were remarkable. Christopher, unruffled, was -studying our surroundings. - -"There come the beam-carriers," said the king. "They are much excited, -and are not working smoothly together.... One fell then; he was -stepped on and hurt.... Now they are forging ahead. They are blindly -ramming the mass before them.... A woman is hurt." - -The king's back was to the ladder and the wall. He was gazing into -space behind me, listening."... Hark! Yes, that is he,--one of Gato's -captains, a big, strong man, with a great voice. He has just arrived, -fighting his way through the crowd, and calling the soldiers, telling -them that I have murdered Gato. I have been kind to this man. On the -chance of Gato's being out of the way, he sees his opportunity to step -into his leader's shoes, carry out his plan, and usurp the throne.... -The soldiers are rallying. They fight ruthlessly for passage to the -captain.... It is bungling, cruel work." - -"Isn't this the moment for you to appear, Sire?" We had to shout. - -"No." - -"Let me go up." - -"No." He was firm as well as calm. "Wait. The soldiers are unwittingly -preparing my moment. I have partisans as well as enemies there. If I -showed myself now, it would increase the frenzy. My friends and enemies -would at once begin a fight of factions. They could not, would not, hear -my voice. I will let the soldiers clear the way." - -We waited. - -"Why don't they scale the wall, Sire?" - -"That will come later,--by the soldiers." - -He stood listening. That was trying to my mercurial nature, and almost -a mad desire to be over the wall in the thick of the mle was straining -within me. - -The king produced a key, handed it to me, and composedly said: - -"That opens the vault containing the cargo from the white people's -vessel, including the arms. If I fall, you and your brother will know -what to do in defending the palace. But don't be hasty. Be merciful -if you can. This outbreak will not last long. Violent earthquakes are -likely to come again at any moment, and the red fire and purple flame on -the summit make me think that there may be a volcanic eruption." - -"What will happen then?" - -"The white people will seize the opportunity to escape from the -valley,--if they have not already started. That would mean the -annihilation of the entire party, for all the Senatras, including the -army, would fall upon them. Then my people would be satisfied, and order -would be restored." - -My respect for his insight gave his words a crushing force. But what did -it mean that Lentala had told Captain Mason to bring the colony out? - -I was moving toward the ladder under an impulse to be in action, but a -firm grasp fell on my arm. An apologetic look of warning reminded me -that Christopher never slept when a beloved one was in danger. - -The king had noticed nothing, so deeply absorbed was he. A puzzle was -sharpening his senses and wrinkling his brow. - -"I don't understand that," he said. - -"What, Sire?" - -"I wish I knew that Lentala was safe." - -"How could she be in danger, your Majesty?" - -"Her white blood. It makes her too daring." He was looking about, but -his attitude of concentrated listening returned. "There it is again!" he -exclaimed. - -"What, your Majesty?" - -He did not answer for a while; then, "Do you hear that?" - -"Yes." - -"It is a new trouble. It started on the outskirts of the mob, and is -drawing nearer.... I can't make it out." - -He was at the highest pitch of alertness, and was silent for a time. - -"Don't you hear the voice? That is no Senatra! His cries--don't you hear -them, man?... The people are falling away from him in terror.... Don't -you hear?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"They are crying, 'A demon sent by the Black Face! He will take our -children, and the hungry Face will devour them!' Don't you hear that?" - -"Something of it, Sire." - -"The people are stricken with fear.... The women are fighting to -escape. Don't you hear their screams?" - -"Yes, Sire. Isn't it time to mount the wall?" - -"No. There is no foreseeing what this diversion will accomplish." - -There was a pause. - -"He is advancing toward the gate, bellowing. Surely you hear him?" - -"Yes, Sire." My heart bounded, for I recognized the voice. - -"He is crying in English, 'They brought me out to eat me!' He thinks we -are cannibals!" exclaimed the king, aghast. - -"All the white people in the valley think so, your Majesty." - -He blazed with resentment, but his attention was again concentrated on -the proceedings without. - -"He is calling me the chief of the cannibals," resumed the king, "and -is fighting his way to the gate. He shouts that he must be the first to -enter, and that he will find me and strangle me.... He is a maniac. -The natives have a horror of that malady. The noise is subsiding. Don't -you notice?" - -"Yes, Sire; and now I will rescue the madman." - -I started for the ladder, but with a fierce grip the king withheld me. - -"Would you be a fool and spoil everything?" he shouted in a sudden fury. - -He was again composed and listening. "Wonderful!" he said. "Some of the -men, seeing how easily he clears the way, are hailing him as a leader. -They are not the soldiers.... The beam-bearers are advancing again, -for the madman is opening a passage. They carry the beam on their -shoulders.... They are gradually approaching the gate. Don't you hear -the lunatic shouting?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"A considerable body of soldiers must be massed at the gate, awaiting -the bearers, but they are silent. They must be consulting what to do. -They are drawing their swords." - -"Sire!" I cried; "I won't let that happen." - -"Wait," he peremptorily commanded. "What is that?" He was listening more -breathlessly than before. "Strange!... Strange!... It-----" - -"What is it?" I demanded in a rage of impatience. - -"I don't understand," he resumed after a pause. "What can make it? There -is no earthquake. Did you feel one?" - -"No, Sire. But I can't------" - -"Wait." His clutch was on my arm. "Surely it can't be the white people -from the valley!" - -He reeled, and I seized the instant to spring upon the ladder. But I had -forgotten Christopher. He turned me round to face the king. - -The stricken monarch was standing in a tenseness sprung from unnamable -fears. But he started as something new fell on his hearing. - -"No," he said, "not they. Something else. They are growing more -quiet.... It is a woman.... They are hailing her. She speaks. Don't you -hear her voice?" - -I could hear only a blur of noises. - -"She is shaming the women.... And sending them away.... She is my -friend!... Do you know the voice?" He seized my arm and gazed into my -face. - -"No, Sire." - -"She is fighting her way through the men.... -She calls them fools, cowards, ingrates.... They are dazed.... Only -one woman on all this island would have the courage to do that." - -"Sire, if you------" - -"She is calling, pleading; she is saying that I am the kind, wise father -of them all." - -I turned to Christopher, and found a startling transformation. No longer -was he the dull, patient, waiting man. Every nerve was strung. - -The king's mouth was open; his eyes bulged; his clutch on my arm -tightened. - -"Listen!" he commanded. "She is------" - -"Sire, you must mount the wall. We must rescue her!" - -"No, no! She is in little danger. May the gods give her strength!... -Hush! What is that?... They are going forward with the beam. She is -standing erect upon it.... Did you hear that?" - -"What, Sire?" - -"The soldiers are advancing with drawn swords." - -With a violent effort I broke the king's grasp and sprang for the -ladder, but a giant hand fell on my shoulder and thrust me back. Above -the subsiding din rose a clear, unterrified call from without: - -"Christopher! Christopher!" - -He had been waiting for that. His answer rang keen and far, and he -leaped upon the ladder. - -"Come when I call," he said to us. - -In a moment he was on the wall. In another he had deliberately sent -the ladder crashing to the ground. He studied the outer scene a moment, -crouched, and sprang into the maelstrom. - -Five thousand throats opened at the spectacle. - -"The gate, Sire! Give me the gate key!" I shouted. - -"No! It would be death. The ladder!" - -I knew that Christopher must have acted intelligently in throwing the -ladder. Had he done it merely to delay our ascent? When it was up, the -king interposed before my clutch at the rungs. - -"Your king first," he said. - -"Mount then, Sire, in heaven's name," cried I, cursing inwardly at the -delay and my own impotence. - -"Stay below until I summon you," said his Majesty. - -"Your appearance at this time may bring ruin to us all." - -Vaguely realizing that he was in the right, I gritted my teeth and -waited. - -Meanwhile, what was happening to Christopher and Lentala in that swirl -of blind mob passion beyond the wall, and what meant the groans of men -and the clang of metal? Christopher might save her life until the king -should create a diversion, but what could a man do for himself, with a -hundred swords at his breast? - -As with dignity and deliberation King Rangan stepped upon the broad -top of the wall, the afternoon sun came forth in imperial splendor, and -wrapped him in its glory. He slowly faced the mob, raised his hand, and -held it firmly aloft. - -He had been seen before assuming the impressive attitude, and a mighty -shout of mingled adoration and derision arose; it continued jarringly -till he raised his hand; then gradually it fell into the deep roar of -breakers after a storm, and thus faded to a silence broken only by -the rumble of distant hordes moving on the palace. The king swept the -multitude with his gaze, and spoke: - -"Your king has grown old in service to his people, and now------" - -"Gato! Gato! Give us Gato!" - -"Every true subject of mine holds his life at the service of his king." - -"Give us Gato!" - -The king stood in an iron silence. - -"Show us Gato! We must see him! We must have him!" - -Rangan raised both arms, and a hush fell. - -"Very well," his deep voice rang out. "You shall have Gato." - -Before I could recover from my surprise he turned to me, tossed me a -key, and in a manner that showed his perfect seriousness, ordered me to -bring Gato immediately. - -"Is all well with my brother and Lentala, Sire?" I begged. - -"Yes, but go at once!" - -I dashed through the grounds and the palace to the dungeon door, which -upon reaching I flung open, and, unable to see within, said sharply: - -"Bring Gato." An echo as of emptiness buffeted my voice. "Be quick!" I -called. - -A stir began to rise. "What is going on?" stole a voice. - -"Bring Gato!" I shouted, with a fury in my voice that brought immediate -response. - -The shadows took dim shapes, stooped and lifted something heavy, and -shuffled hastily toward the door. - -"On my shoulder!" I rapped. - -They laid him across. I slammed the door, locked it, staggered up the -steps, and arrived at the foot of the ladder. - -The king was still addressing the mob, but his glance fell upon me in -answer to my call. - -"Bring him up," he commanded. Again turning to the crowd, he said: "Gato -is here. You shall see him; you shall have him. From him you will learn -what it means to betray your king." - -I was nearly at the top of the ladder, which sagged and cracked under -the double weight. The king made a detaining gesture toward me. - -"Where is the ladder that I ordered?" he asked of those without. - -"Here, Sire," answered a liquid voice that ran sweetly over the wall and -into my heart. - -"Place it, you men. Good. Now you shall have Gato." - -I clambered upon the top. - -"Stand him up to face the people," directed the king for all to hear. - -I dragged the stiffening Gato to his feet, and, my breast against his -back and my arms locked round his body, turned him to the crowd. An -inability to credit the senses held them dumb at first. They looked from -one to another, horror in their eyes. His Majesty was calmly observing; -then he spoke in the awed silence, and his voice carried grief and pity. - -"You have called for Gato. Behold him! The gods have long, swift arms -for those who strike at your king and you, O my people!" - -A groan swept over the multitude; it passed, leaving a stillness -inconceivably impressive. - -"You wished to see Gato; you have seen him. You demanded him; you shall -have him." He gave me an order. - -I raised Gato aloft, and started toward the gate, where the soldiers -were massed. In a loud voice the king cried: - -"Unfaithful soldiers of the king, take your leader!" - -[Illustration: 0253] - -I hurled Gato down among them. The heavy body struck something,--I did -not see what. Lentala was standing between the soldiers and the gate. -Neither Christopher nor Mr. Vancouver was anywhere visible. The people, -including the soldiers, were smitten deeply. - -"Lentala!" rang the king's voice. - -A way to the foot of the ladder opened, and the king gave her a hand at -the top. Deep sadness was in her eyes, as she turned them for a moment -upon me. - -The king, still holding her hand, reached for mine also. Standing thus -between us, he addressed the throng: - -"My people, these two and the one who leaped from the wall have been -tried as by fire. They would die for their king if he but gave the word. -You have seen Gato. Behold these!" - -He gazed on the cowed soldiers, and resumed: - -"Soldiers of the king, did I but raise my hand, thousands of my loyal -and loving people would rend you where you stand. What should be done, -my children," turning to the mob, "to honored and trusted sons who would -steal upon their father to strike him down with an assassin's knife?" - -A murmur which rapidly swelled, and a stir which began to seethe, warned -the king. - -"Peace!" he cried. "A king can forgive. My soldiers were never bad at -heart; they were led away. Soldiers of the king, raise a hand in token -of your loyalty." - -Every one obeyed. Besides those at the gate were many throughout the -crowd. - -"Your faithless leader gone, I appoint Lentala, my daughter, as -commander of the army." - -There was a craning of necks. The soldiers made no concealment of their -surprise, but in their gratitude for the king's pardon shouted their -acceptance. - -The king laid his hand on Lentala's head. - -"I now make this proclamation: I am old and broken, and the grief of -this day has brought me near the end. To this one, true and wise, -brave and devoted, so deeply loved and trusted by us all, I resign the -ruler-ship of my people." He removed his crown and cloak, and placed -them on her. "Obey her as you love her, and peace and security will -abide with you. This is your ruler henceforth." He raised both arms, -and, after a pause, cried, "Obeisance and greetings to Queen Lentala!" - -A thrill ran through the gathering, and all sank to the ground. I was -on my knees at her feet, pressing her fingers to my lips and trying to -speak. - -"Joseph!" she scolded under her breath, giving my hand a little squeeze; -"don't do that! How can I cry when you are so absurd!" Tears were -falling from her lashes. She turned, put her arms on the king's -shoulders, and bowed her head, while mighty salvos of huzzas rent the -skies. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII.--Wit and Dash to the Fore. - -_The New Sovereign Assumes Charge. Our Plans for Escape Go Awry. Victims -Taken to the Sacrificial Altar. A Bold Act Turns a Tragic Event._ - - -IT was some time before Lentala could lift her face to her subjects. -The king's renunciation--the finishing touch to the bold diplomacy with -which he had turned the crisis--had come to her as a bolt from heaven. I -wondered how it would affed her deeply laid plans for the rescue of -the colony; for, though it would give her extraordinary power, it would -abruptly check her irresponsible freedom of movement. Furthermore, it -had thrust upon her the necessity for swift rearrangement. Her hold on -neither the people nor the army had been firmly secured. I knew that -her quick understanding apprehended the new complications, and that she -understood the king's wisdom fitted to the hour's need. She gave me a -frightened look, and brightened under my smile. - -With reassuring words the old man disengaged her hands, stepped back, -and left her to face the crowd. Thus she stood alone between us. It -seemed a cruelly trying moment in which to place a girl, but she made -the fight to face her duty. It was not long. Her voice, tremulous at -first, stole out clear and fine, reaching to the limits of the crowd; -and as she proceeded it came rounder and fuller, bearing the richness -that I knew. - -"Thank you, my people. With the deepest love I accept the crown, and I -pledge my life to wear it worthily. Only love and trust me as you have -loved and trusted the good father who has ruled us so long and so -kindly, and you will find me faithful. This great change comes upon us -at a trying time. Neither a king nor a queen can govern a people without -their consent and love and confidence. Give me time to show that I am -worthy of all that from you. I shall still have the advice of the good -man who has placed upon me the crown, and of his able advisers. But I -shall trust your own hearts and heads more than all the wisdom of the -palace. I shall trust your confidence in me more than my power over you. - -"We all know that there is a special cause for the present unrest. But -be patient. The problem is not difficult, and you may depend upon me and -my advisers to solve it. Every impatient act of yours shows distrust of -your government, and if you rashly do anything to weaken the power of -the crown, you lay yourselves open to dangers. The white people in the -valley are only awaiting the moment when authority is destroyed and our -people are in disorder to come forth and work havoc among us. They stand -together as one, and are cool and not afraid. Those are the greatest -powers that human beings in community can have. If you had worked your -will today, how many of you would be alive tomorrow? Our beautiful -island would have flowed with blood--the blood of our people." - -She ceased for a moment, to observe the effect. It ran as a low, -frightened murmur. - -"But nothing can go wrong if we ourselves keep cool and hold together -and trust to the crown. The army will camp tonight in the palace walls, -and every care will be taken to keep order in the kingdom. All will be -well if you yourselves are calm. Therefore I command you one and all to -go at once to your homes, and remain there in quiet and peace. No matter -though storms may come, or the earth tremble, or the fires under the -ground break forth, be not afraid; trust your queen and your army, for -we have no fear. Be as brave and cheerful as we. All your problems will -be solved, all your reasonable wishes will be granted, but that must be -done by your queen." She raised her arms in the manner of Rangan, and -impressively added: "Go now, with my love and my blessing." - -Another wave of affectionate loyalty swept over the multitude; it began -to disintegrate, and to pacify and turn back belated incomers; but a -shrill cry rose: - -"Sacrifice! Give us a sacrifice!" - -It had an instant effect. The moving crowd halted, and the cry ran to -many throats, "Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" The queen turned to old Rangan, -and he almost imperceptibly nodded. Lentala hesitated as she faced the -mob again, but refrained from looking at me. She raised her hand. - -"Be patient!" she cried. - -"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" - -"You shall have------" - -The rest was drowned in a threatening shout. Lentala stood dazed, and -in the ensuing buzzing and movement lost any opportunity she might -have desired for further speech. So she stood as the still noisy crowd -straggled off. Unrest had been rekindled, but to what extent I could not -guess. The last loiterers often stopped to gaze at the little group on -the wall, and the army stood in soldierly ranks before the gate. - -"The army will salute the queen," commanded Lentala. - -It was finely given with the sword, and the men heartily responded to -the oath that she gave them as soldiers of the queen. With a gesture -to us that we follow, she tripped down the ladder, opened the gate, and -admitted the army to the grounds. Next, after sending to liberate the -soldiers in the dungeon, she had the palace astir with an order to -prepare for the army a feast and accommodations for the night. - -Rangan had been a silent observer of her whirlwind movements. I was not -wholly satisfied with what I saw in his face, but with whatever else -that I saw there was admiration. Obviously she was permitting him to -remain until he should be satisfied that she was capable of assuming -command of the army. As matters were quieting she asked him to go to his -wife, and he tottered away, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. - -She ordered the army to break ranks. The men showed their relief with -childish inconsequence, and scattered at will. That left us alone. -The bright look that she turned to me was a sudden change from royal -sternness to Beela's challenge. She was my little work-mate of the -valley. - -Something had risen between us; consciousness of it showed in -her glance, and I was sore without that. To have tricked me so -unnecessarily, as to Beela seemed wanton and cruel. Unreasonable as it -may appear, I had been shocked so deeply that time for recovery would -be required. I had seen the craftiness with the gentleness of the native -blood in old Rangan. I had seen his hatred of the white man, and the -merciless savagery that his show of benevolence masked. It had made me -distrustful of the native blood, which composed half of Lentala. To the -sweet, childish Beela whom I loved had been added something that------ - -"Choseph!" - -I started, but could not bring a smile into the look that I gave her, -even though the call had been Beela's. - -"Don't you want to hear what has happened to me?" she asked, ignoring my -stolidity. - -"Yes, your Majesty." - -She stiffened slightly under that address, and subtly put Beela aside -for the queen. With a hint of coldness she said: - -"At the beginning of the outbreak I foresaw that Mr. Vancouver's guard -would decamp; so I went to look after him; but he had already gone after -being left alone. I followed him. That brought me to the crowd. When I -found myself in danger there, I called Christopher. His daring leap from -the wall and the fury with which he laid about him confused the crowd. -He was helped by some loyal subjects whom his conduct inspired. I don't -know how many skulls he cracked, but no one was killed. I pointed out -the men for him to silence. No one could resist him. When he called for -the king to ascend, he took Mr. Vancouver in charge and slipped away." - -I nodded, but she must have seen my gratitude for her taking such risks -on Mr. Vancouver's account. Doubtless that was what made her eyes flash, -but at the moment I did not know why. I reflected only that two matters -of overshadowing importance must be attended to at once, and that -possibly her plans had been disarranged. - -"What has become of Christopher and Mr. Vancouver, your Majesty?" I -asked. - -"I told Christopher to take Mr. Vancouver to the hut, where Mr. Rawley -was waiting," she answered, "and then go to meet the colony." - -"Thank you. What is to be done with the colony, and what am I to do?" - -She raised her eyes, and there was no trace of Beela in them. "I had -asked Captain Mason," she answered, "to have each member of the colony -bring all the food possible, and had told him that you and Christopher -would meet him in the first darkness following the earthquake, at a -certain pass just to the west of the clearing where the sacrificial -altar is, and that as the natives would be demoralized by the -earthquake, you could lead them without much risk past the settlement to -your vessel, which might be sailed away at once." - -My wonder and gratitude at the intelligence of her plan must have shown -in my face, but her tone had no warmth when she added: - -"Fortunately, matters have turned out so that I can take the army out of -your way. The real danger lay there." - -That was why she had admitted the soldiers to the palace grounds and -locked the gate. Could any other have given so brilliant a turn to a -threatening situation? Yet I only looked at her in silence, and her face -had not a trace of the old friendliness. Perhaps it was my own fault. -There rang in my ears the demand for a sacrifice; I recalled old -Rangan's nod; I remembered the defenseless position of Rawley and Mr. -Vancouver; and the brown blood in the Senatra queen unaccountably looked -different from the brown blood in Beela. - -"Your Majesty," I said, "I will go now and see that all is well with Mr. -Vancouver; then I will go and assure a clear opening for the colony, -and arrange for Mr. Vancouver and Rawley to join us as we move down the -eastern side of the settlement to the harbor." - -"Yes," she agreed. I was turning away, but she stopped me. "You will -reflect," she said, "that many people in the island are ignorant of -what has taken place here today. I will send out runners, but still the -entire island can't be covered. All know that a white man has been held -for sacrifice to the Black Face in order to stop the earthquakes and -avert an eruption. If the earthquake returns, even the people who saw -me crowned may become uncontrollable. Should that happen, I am not -sufficiently sure of the army to trust it in stopping a sacrifice. There -is just one thing to do." - -She ceased, and regarded me waitingly. - -"What is it, your Majesty?" - -She hardened still more. "Let's consider the situation calmly. If -some very strong diversion should arise tonight, the colony could pass -through to the vessel without risk. On the other hand, the people are -alarmed and restless; they won't sleep soundly; many may be abroad in -every direction. If some of them should see the colony escaping, a cry -might be raised that would ring from one end of the island to the other. -That would mean the instant gathering of a mob which no power could -resist, and the colony would be annihilated." - -"I see, your Majesty. What diversion would prevent it?" - -"The sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley." She spoke in a cold, -business-like tone. - -My horror must have been evident. "Your Majesty," I said with warmth, -"before that shall be submitted to, every member of our colony will die -fighting." - -She shrugged. "That is your affair. I should hate to see any of _my_ -people killed in such a clash. It is interesting to see how jealous -you are of Mr. _Vancouver's_ safety, when he had planned to destroy the -colony." - -I saw the drift of her sneer, and was angry and silent. - -"He has a very charming daughter," she went on. - -The humiliation that she was thrusting upon me was unbearable, but I -could be patient, since I carried the lives of the colony in my hands; -yet it was not pleasant to see this side of Lentala's nature. The worst -of it was that there was no possible argument to bring against hers. Mr. -Vancouver richly deserved such a fate, and so did Rawley; their meeting -it would certainly assure our escape to the _Hope_. But Lentala could -see in my attitude nothing but consideration for Annabel, and she -misconstrued that. It was all that I could do to restrain myself. - -"I think we understand each other," she remarked after a pause. - -"Do you mean," I burst out in a passion, "that you are going to order -the sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley?" - -She looked at me steadily. Afterward I recalled the softening, the -suffering, the dumb pleading in her face, but I did not see it at the -time. - -"It doesn't appear," she quietly said, "that I am called on to tell you -any more of my plans at present. You are fully informed as to what you -may do in trying to get the colony to the ship tonight." Her manner was -entirely that of a queen to her subject. "I think you understand to some -extent what I have done to spare the lives of your people and help them -leave the island. I will add that some trusted natives will try to make -your passage to the ship safe. But it is one thing to make plans and -another to carry them out in the face of a panic. There is no foreseeing -what may happen before morning. My scouts will keep me informed every -few minutes." - -There came an awkward pause. Her head was down; she stood in a waiting -attitude. It seemed to me that all the world I loved had suddenly been -swept away. Behind the woman confronting me I knew that my dear Beela -stood sweet and laughing, all sunshine and dear womanliness. Only a fool -would let her go. - -"Beela!" I said. - -She started, and raised sorrowing eyes to mine. - -"Aren't you going with us on the _Hope?_" - -"My duty is here now, and I can think of nothing but that." - -"Does your unexpected elevation to a queenhood blot out all the past?" I -asked. - -She bit her lip. "I hadn't expected that from you," she said in sadness. - -"Then, is it Annabel?" I insisted. - -She did not answer at once. "You will see her again this evening," she -gently said. - -"Of course, but------" I saw it was useless, and wondered if she was -dismissing me. "Surely I shall see you also," I said. - -She smiled, but it was not the smile of Beela; it was that of a woman -who knows care. - -"Perhaps," she returned; "yes, of course,--I think. Meanwhile, good-by," -and held out her hand. - -I took it, and would not at first let her withdraw it; but with a little -sigh, which she tried to conceal, she turned away and walked slowly to -the palace. - -Heavy-hearted, but determined to see Lentala before the colony -sailed,--if it should ever have that good fortune,--I went about my -duty. - -The first task was to see that Mr. Vancouver was safe, for many -contingencies might arise to overwhelm Christopher. I went to the hut -where Beela had left Rawley, but it was vacant. Christopher must have -taken the two men to a spot near the pass, to meet the outcoming colony. -On going to the summit of the valley wall I faced the rising moon. When -I had come within a few hundred yards of the spot where the colony would -emerge,--it was the spot where Rawley had assaulted me,--I heard the low -moaning of a man, followed by his querulous, childish talk. At first I -marveled that Christopher should have left his charges in so exposed -a place, as it was immediately near the main trail to the sacrificial -stone. - -"Will she come soon?" Mr. Vancouver plaintively asked. - -"Very soon. Be patient," kindly answered Rawley. - -The men were invisible in the gloom, but it was imprudent for them to -be speaking aloud. Yet I dared not show myself, lest Mr. Vancouver be -thrown into noisy mania. Should the natives be seeking him, it would -be easy to trail him to this spot; and the colony might be discovered -through his presence. Again Mr. Vancouver broke the silence. - -"She doesn't suspect me, does she?" - -"She is and always will be your loyal daughter." - -"I know." His voice was not a madman's. "Raise my head a little. It is -bursting. Rawley, I'm damned. The visions I've had! In one of them two -men came, looking like natives, but speaking English. One of them spoke -of my treachery and my death. I tried to kill him. The other prevented -me, and then I saw that they were Tudor and Christopher. And today the -one looking like Christopher rescued me from a hell of madmen. But how -could I stay in that cabin when Annabel was coming?" - -A rumbling and a quivering of the earth hurried me on. I ran to the edge -of the valley wall. This brought me nearly opposite the Black Face. I -had noticed a faint, weird light on the trees; now I saw the origin of -it,--a purple flame was issuing from an orifice below the Face. It waved -upward like an inverted streamer, wreathing the Face and lending to it a -ghastly lifelikeness. - -From below me rose faint cries of terror, quickly stilled, and soon the -vanguard of the colony arrived from the valley. The earth-trembling had -ceased; the flame was subsiding. - -There was some trouble at first in making myself known. Annabel came -up with Captain Mason and Christopher, and delayed my disclosure of the -plan for escape. - -"Where is my father?" she immediately asked. - -I informed her, and learned that Christopher had told her all that he -knew. - -"Take me to him," she begged. - -I replied that it would be safer to bring him to her. Directing -Christopher to fetch a stretcher from which a woman had just been -lifted, I left with him as the slender procession crept to the summit. -Deep anxiety showed under Christopher's calm exterior. - -Mr. Vancouver and Rawley were gone! A hasty search in the vicinity -failed to discover them. We worked down to the trail leading to the -clearing where the sacrifices were made. There we found a stream of -silent, soft-footed natives hurrying toward the clearing. No speech -was needed between Christopher and me to explain the situation. -Christopher's wise plan had gone tragically awry. It had not been -difficult for the dognosed natives to trail Christopher to the hut, and -then Rawley and Mr. Vancouver to the spot where I had found them. - -I was thrown into a momentary confusion. Lentala alone had known whither -Christopher was to take Mr. Vancouver, and she had argued for his -sacrifice as the surest means to save the colony! The thought was -sickening. But it was inconceivable that _Beela_ should have the heart -for such a course,--sweet, gentle Beela! And had not Lentala nearly -forfeited her life to the mob in trying to rescue Mr. Vancouver? - -Christopher had slipped from my mind; but I observed him now, and he was -listening far. I waited, knowing that by this time the two victims were -already at the altar, and that the earthquake a few minutes ago had -lent a fierce impetus to the proceedings. I could mentally see the main -settlement and its outlying regions swarming as the whispered news flew -from mouth to mouth that two white victims for the sacrifice had been -found. - -Christopher soon turned to me. - -"They'll have to get wood, sir," he said. - -"Yes. That will take time, but there are many men." - -Lentala had said that her scouts would report often; but there was a -chance that they would either conceal the present movement from her or -give her the news too late. Even should she be starting at that -moment, it would not be possible for her to arrive in time to stop the -sacrifice. Yet she should be informed. If she refused to come, then I -should know---- - -"Christopher," I said, "go and tell the queen." I said nothing of a -desperate plan that I had formed. - -Christopher looked at me strangely. "Yes, sir," he replied. "And you can -save 'em." - -He gave me a look of dog-like love, and vanished. - -I returned to Captain Mason, avoiding Annabel, and rapidly placed the -entire situation before him. His jaws set hard in the moonlight. I -could imagine his thoughts, which no doubt agreed with Lentala's; and I -realized the terrible risk to the colony when the fanatics should find -themselves balked in the sacrifice and should swarm in a search which -the colony could not escape--unless my plan should prove successful to -the last detail or the queen should bring up the army in time to -prevent a battle. And there was mighty Christopher, the man of courage, -resourcefulness, and prompt action. I hurled these arguments at Captain -Mason, and pointed out Annabel, standing alone and suffering as she -awaited her father. - -"You and Hobart and I will make the dash," I urged. "It is the only -chance, and we must hurry. Dr. Preston can be taken into the secret, and -can quietly prepare the men to fight if necessary. They are all armed; -the savages are not." - -He responded by calling Dr. Preston and charging him as I had suggested, -particularly warning him not to alarm the colony. Then he went to -Annabel and gave her some quieting explanation. I borrowed a capable -knife from a sailor, and we set out. - -We bore down to the trail, and found it still swarming with a scurrying -horde, all proceeding with a stealthy swiftness. Then I struck out on -a straight course through the tangled forest, leading Captain Mason and -Hobart a breathless pace. On arriving at the edge of the clearing and -concealing ourselves, we found hundreds of savages already assembled and -more pouring in. - -"There they are." I said, pointing to a considerable open space between -the sacrificial stone and a packed mass of men formed in a semi-circle, -those in front sitting. Midway between the stone and the natives were -the two doomed men, dim in the moonlight. The one lying on the ground -was doubtless Mr. Vancouver, perhaps unconscious. Rawley, though his -hands were tied behind him, sat erect, calmly facing his tormentors. - -As Captain Mason and Hobart had no disguise, I alone must bring the two -men out. My companions would take them to the colony; I would remain to -face the issue and divert the pursuit. Captain Mason looked very grave, -but Hobart was all eagerness; I could guess that his sore spirit yearned -to heal itself by sharing my risk. A longing for Christopher,--for his -far-seeing eye, his steady nerve, his quick hand,--came over me. - -"I remember," I explained in showing why I should not make the dash at -once, "that a ring was fastened in the rock about where Mr. Vancouver -and Rawley are sitting. They must be chained to it. I must wait until -they are released." - -We knew that the delay would mean an augmentation of the crowd and the -danger. - -Of course the theft of the wood had been discovered. The hut sheltering -it had disappeared; its poles and dryer thatch were already piled on the -altar. The sacrifice was only delayed, for two-score natives were coming -in with dry wood for which they had foraged. In that pursuit one came -near us, and I made ready, but in his eagerness he passed on, unseeing. -The priest at the altar received the wood, examined it, cast out the -useless, and carefully stacked the pyre, which steadily grew. - -Silence rested on the crowd. Here was religion in its naked birth,--the -elemental man using torture and murder for prayer, with greater -reverence and faith than I have seen in some modern fashions of -placation or appeal. Fronting them across the dim chasm of the valley -was the embodied Force whose wrath must be appeased. Could the white -blood in Lentala permit this form of worship? - -We could see through the trees the indefinite black mass of the Face. At -small intervals came low subterranean growls and slight tremors of -the earth. It was as though the underground gods were gathering their -strength. - -Finally the priest's work was done. He slowly went to the chained men, -stood over them, and raised his hand. Four men came forward, followed by -four others, who took positions back of him. Twenty more came and formed -a cordon about the altar. - -The first four knelt, and the chains fell clanking. Rawley rose without -assistance. Being speechless with a gag, he implored in dumb show for -Mr. Vancouver, offering himself alone. There was a low colloquy between -the priests and the four, at the end of which his gesture commanded that -Mr. Vancouver also be taken to the stone. As two men stooped to lift -him and two others took each an arm of Rawley, the priest began a -solemn chant in a minor key, and started the slow march to the pyre, Mr. -Vancouver on the shoulders of two men, Rawley walking firm and erect. - -At the altar the priest ceased his chant, which was taken up by the -crowd; but, though there were many hundreds of voices, they were so soft -and in such fine unison that the volume was hardly greater than that of -a dozen men. As it proceeded, the priest picked up a vessel containing -smothered coals, blew them into life, and ignited the thatch at the four -corners. Evidently the victims were to be further tied, and tossed aloft -when the fire was hot. - -As the priest stepped back to see the blaze rise, I bounded into the -open. - -I remember that the fire was hot in my face as I reached Rawley and -nipped his thongs, and that the astonishment on the priest's face was -comical. Also, I was conscious of a numbness in my right hand. I had -used my fist perhaps more vigorously than necessary. Two or three -natives were prone when I shouldered Mr. Vancouver and called to Rawley, -and the darkness of the forest soon concealed us. - -A roar delayed by astonishment rose behind us; a thousand devils had -opened throat and were leaping to the pursuit. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII.--The Great Catastrophe. - -_A Powerless Ruler Confronts a Mutiny. Death of the Sovereign -Demanded. The Army Under My Command. Christopher's Sacrifice. The Final -Cataclysm._ - - -AFTER a hard run, I laid Mr. Vancouver across Hobart's shoulder. There -was no need to urge all speed to the colony. I turned back to meet the -pursuers, and ran swiftly until I encountered the foremost. Before they -had seen me I dropped to the ground and was diligently examining it when -they came up and halted, others running behind. - -"Which way?" inquired the first. - -"Stand back!" I said. "I have the trail." - -They obeyed, but my knife was ready for a contingency. I pretended -to lose the signs, but found them again, followed a few paces, and -announced that the fugitives had turned there and headed for the trail. -"That will bring them into a trap," I added, "for people are still -coming up the trail to the clearing. I will follow the runaways and give -the alarm. You men spread up and down here, for they may double back. -When others come from the clearing, turn them all back, for they will -spoil the trail and I never can find it again. Then you too go back if -you don't hear from me very soon. Send a man at once to the priest, and -tell him to hold the people there, and to order up more wood and prepare -for the sacrifice. I am a Suminali man and can trail like a dog." - -I was turning away, but paused, to make sure of them. "Have you heard -the news from the palace?" I inquired. - -"No." - -"The king has given the crown to Lentala, and the command of the army -also." - -It surprised them. "Where's Gato?" asked one. - -"He disobeyed the king, and is dead," I answered. "Tell the news to the -priest. Spread it among the crowd." It was on my tongue to add that the -queen would soon appear with the army and disperse the crowd, but there -were dangers in it, and I held my peace. Sufficient for the present that -I had stopped the pursuit. - -[Illustration: 0275] - -On arriving at the road to the clearing I found a commotion, and learned -that the army was rapidly approaching. The people did not know how to -take that news,--whether it meant a forwarding or a breaking up of the -sacrifice. - -There came a scrambling of stragglers to escape the army, which advanced -on the trot, Christopher running in front. He saw me, wheeled, and -raised his hand. I knew that his glance at my face had told him -the whole story. My heart swelled to see Lentala, borne aloft in an -uncanopied crimson velvet palanquin emblazoned with the royal insignia. -Her dress was the one she had worn at the feast, with the addition of -the crown. In her hand she carried a naked sword, fine and lean. - -"Make way for the queen!" at intervals shouted a man running ahead of -the queen and behind Christopher. - -On seeing Christopher's signal she raised her sword, and the palanquin -halted. She was anxiously watching the glow from the altar fire, but her -glance discovered me, and a surprised joy sprang to her face. - -"Am I too late?" she called in English. - -"No, your Majesty. All is well." - -"Choseph!" she chokingly cried, throwing her sword away and seizing both -my hands. - -It was a public scandal. The soldiers stared. - -I gave her a warning look, and said, "Your Majesty!" - -She drew away with freezing dignity. A soldier picked up her sword, -wiped it as he would a baby's face, knelt, and handed it to her. She -slammed it angrily into its scabbard, gave me a crushing glance, -and opened her lips to speak, but I drove the words back by suddenly -dropping in an obeisance. I would have given a good deal to see her face -in the long pause before she bade me rise. My face was grave as I met -her angry, suspicious gaze. - -"This is no time nor place to make fun of me," she cuttingly said. - -"I beg your Majesty's pardon." - -She was studying me. "You have seen Annabel, I suppose?" she inquired. - -"Yes, your Majesty." - -"And talked with her?" - -"Yes, your Majesty." - -"You--were glad--to see each other?" - -"Very, your Majesty." - -"She is as lovely as ever?" - -"Quite, your Majesty." - -She examined the splendid jewel in the head of her sword-hilt, looked up -with a composed face, and demanded that I tell her what had happened. I -did so, and she beamed, forgetting Annabel. - -"I'll take the army to the clearing," she said, "put a stop to the -nonsense, and send the people home." - -She said it confidently, either ignoring the danger or ignorant of it. -Evidently her purpose was the protection of the colony, but I surmised -that some power greater than hers would be required. Christopher had -been standing near, a silent listener. - -Her imposing arrival had a strong effect on the restless mob as in the -cross-light of the moon and the altar fire she stood up in the palanquin -and raised her sword for attention. She told them of her crowning, made -a plea for their confidence, and commanded them to go home. But she said -nothing about a sacrifice. - -No sign of obedience appearing in the crowd, she gave me a glance that -sought guidance. I knew that the moment was critical and the risk great, -but it seemed the only recourse. I glanced at the army. She understood, -hesitated a moment, and ordered the soldiers to clear the place. A -slight movement and a buzz ran through the ranks, but there was no -forward movement. Then rang a cry, instantly taken up till it became a -roar: - -"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" - -Lentala sprang to the ground, waved the palanquin-bearers away, and with -a free sword confronted the soldiers, her head high, her eyes flashing. -I knew she realized that there was but one way out of the desperate -dilemma, and that she was casting about to find it without a confession -of failure. Clearly she knew that, although old Rangan had deeply -planted a sense of loyalty in the soldiers, she was hampered both by -a want of experience in handling them and by the pressure of the mob -behind her, which was swelling its demand for a sacrifice to a mutinous -outbreak that the soldiers would have no spirit to meet, they being in -sympathy with the movement. It became necessary for me to act. - -I sprang forward and prostrated myself before her. - -"Rise," she said, extending her sword over me. - -When I had come to my feet she gave me her sword, and said, her voice -ringing clear and far: - -"I must go among my people and quiet them. You were King Rangan's -friend; you are the man who threw Gato from the wall,--Gato, who had -been unfaithful to his sovereign. I give you command of my army while I -go among my people." - -I took her sword and promptly faced the bewildered ranks as Lentala -drifted away; but not until I had seen that Christopher was observing; -he would understand that I had turned her over to his protection. - -It was fortunate that on the beach and during the march to the valley I -had closely observed Gato's method of handling his men. They were crude -soldiers and their drill was childish, but my training knew the value -of discipline to any extent, and I remembered Gato's tactics. More -important than any evolutions that they knew was the spirit of the one -commanding them. - -I rapped out an order for company formation, as the men were in loose -order. As I had expected, some of them stared at me and the others at -the rapidly growing mob spirit before them. - -It should be explained that Gato's organization was wholly different -from that of civilized nations. While the men composing the army came -nearly to half the number of a modern regiment, and while some rude -idea of subsidiary groupings had been observed, the absence of actual -experience in warfare had made the organization hardly more than a -stolid, pompous mob, and the under-officers little besides repeaters -and enforcers of the general orders. All officers were merely the -"general's" staff. - -I did the best I could with such a machine. Upon repeating my order in -a still sharper tone, and seeing only an uneasy, tentative pretense -of obedience, I sprang toward the officer whom I may call the -lieutenant-colonel, stung his cheek with the flat of my rapier, and sent -him spinning down the ranks. Another officer instantly found himself -treated to a similar slap, and another, as I continued to shout the -order. The fourth, a sullen brute, took the blow without wincing, and in -both hands began to raise his sword to cleave me. He never knew what it -was that sent his blade clattering to the ground; and his attention -at once became engaged in a spouting rip in his arm. That brought the -staring regiment to its senses; the under-officers all sprang to their -duty. - -Then, charging up and down the front rank while I raked the stomachs -of the soldiers with my sword, I ordered platoon formation. Under other -circumstances it would have been amusing to see the officers scrambling -for minor commands not already occupied. Evidently there had never -before been such sprightly movement required of them; my rapier -continually flashed, and men winced when it came near. - -Having thus secured control, I was in a dilemma. - -My purpose was to face them about, so that they should not see the -turbulence rapidly increasing in the mob; but that would bring them -facing the altar fire, which was burning emptily, reminding them that -the people had been cheated. But there was no choice; I must be where I -could face the storm breaking over Lentala and Christopher. There was no -time for marching to secure a back-presentation to the mob; I must risk -the awkwardness of a reverse formation. - -The command to about-face was promptly obeyed, and the soldiers appeared -to be surprised on finding me again before them. It was necessary to -keep them absorbed in maneuvers, which, of the simplest kind, such as -they could understand, I immediately put in force. - -This did not distract my attention from the turbulence centering about -Lentala. I saw the densely packed and highly excited mob crowding her; -I heard the shouts for a sacrifice, the calls to the army to join the -rebellion; I heard her clear, steady voice; I saw now and then glimpses -of Christopher standing as a rock behind her; and all the time my sword -was swinging and my orders were keeping the army at work. It would be -but a matter of time when I might turn it to the service of the queen, -but the danger was pressing alarmingly. - -Of a sudden there was a commotion about Lentala. Before I could turn -over the command to the officer next in rank and go to Lentala's rescue, -Christopher, bearing her on his shoulder, broke through the mob, skirted -my left flank on the run, and bounded toward the altar, the flames -of which had sunk almost to a mass of glowing coals, exceedingly hot. -Without attempting to comprehend his movement, but seeing that he had -brought the queen behind the army for some purpose, I instantly opened -the order of my men, commanded swords drawn, and cried: - -"The queen's army to her defense!" - -The command was taken up by every subordinate officer. Again the men -found me facing them as the mob came howling at my back; but the double -line stood firm as an interposing wall before the queen. Then I knew -that I had them in hand, but I dared not risk a charge, and I must see -what Christopher was doing. The tumbling mob halted before the drawn -swords. - -When Christopher reached the altar he stopped and turned, he and his -burden making a striking silhouette against the red heap of coals. She -appeared unconscious, for she hung limp over his shoulder, her arms -pendent. The halting of the mob and Christopher's pause aided his -unexpected dash in sending a hush on the crowd. In the midst of it rose -Christopher's voice for all to hear: - -"We'll sacrifice the queen! The queen!" With that he flung her to the -ground and began savagely to tear her outer skirt into strips, with the -obvious purpose of binding her. - -The scene was clear to the mob through the open ranks of my men. I was -no less appalled than were the savages at the audacity of the move and -Christopher's ferocious method of procedure. And I made no attempt to -keep the soldiers from turning their heads to see. My task was instantly -to find my cue in the drama that Christopher was playing. It came before -I was ready. As Christopher, after the binding, which required but a -moment, was carrying Lentala up to the pyre, she began to struggle, and -called: - -"My soldiers, save me!" - -I bounded through the ranks as I gave the command to about-face and -forward double-quick. But I outran the soldiers, struck Christopher -down with my sword, and caught Lentala as she was falling. The shortest -instant was needed to cut her bonds, but that was sufficient for me to -lose control of the situation. Christopher's splendid ruse had succeeded -in saving the queen from the mob, and I knew that nothing concerning -himself mattered beyond that. Indeed, I have always thought that he -deliberately chose the time to give his life for her sake. - -As the old king had said, the natives were children, and the sudden -revulsion of feeling in favor of the queen was more even than the -soldiers, who had a little discipline, could calmly bear. A wave of -passionate devotion swept over them. It was only a mob that I faced with -my sword as I stood before Lentala. Christopher was lying face downward -on the ground as he had fallen. I knew he was unhurt and free to make a -fight for his life. None could have realized more clearly than he -that the mob would take vengeance on him, but none could have better -understood that his resistance might imperil the queen. He had simply -made the bold play for her sake, had won, and then lain down to die. - -I could not bear that, nor could Lentala, who comprehended. Without -hesitation she left me and bent over him, to receive the blow, and -was careful that he should not know her purpose. I did what I could, -shouting, commanding the soldiers to form, waving my sword menacingly. -It had a staying effect, and I cannot now say with certainty that it -would have failed. - -Suddenly, with a sickening sensation, I felt the earth tremble beneath -my feet. A strange sense of dizziness, of reeling, made my movements -waver. The soldiers also were staggering, and their purpose to rend -Christopher appeared to be relaxing; but nothing could withstand the -pressure of the mob behind them. I had barely time to snatch up Lentala -and cut a way back to the altar before Christopher, whose glance found -Lentala and me safe, began to rise as the lurching horde hurled itself -upon him. - -In a staggering run, nearly tripped at every step, I bore her to the -edge of the clearing, on the side toward the colony, and hid us both in -the shadows. When I had picked her up she buried her face in my shoulder -and clung to me with both arms round my neck. - -"What is it?" she asked. - -"A volcanic eruption." - -"Where's Christopher?" - -I put my hand on her lips, and she trembled as she clung closer. She was -silent as the earthquake increased in violence, and presently asked: - -"Do you see it, Choseph?" - -I had been observing it since we were seated. "Yes. It is at the river -passage. The mountain appears to be blown out there, and------" - -"Stop!" she cried, holding me closer. - -Undoubtedly the eruption had occurred at the boiling cauldron that we -had passed under the mountain. Its first violence was already spent, and -the earthquake was subsiding; but I reflected that the water from the -valley stream and from the crimson fall must be pouring into the hot -interior, and that the end was not yet. - -The ejecta of the outburst were already falling about us from the great -height to which the explosion had thrown them. Hot stones of all sizes -rained. Had not the forest been damp, it would have broken into flame at -a thousand places. - -The writhing savages in the clearing were but dimly visible. No -definiteness came out of the mass still crowded and heaped where we had -left Christopher. All sufficiently near for me to see sat staring at the -Face, which was now clearly taking its vengeance; all were moaning and -howling, and prostrated with fear. - -A deep-red flame rose with a rushing noise from the seat of the eruption -as renewed rumblings and roarings came from the quivering ground. The -rising flame plunged into a rapidly spreading canopy of smoke and ashes -from the initial explosion. The hither edge of the vast cloud was wan in -the moonlight, but the under surface reflected the crimson of the flame. -All things adopted that dreadful hue. The green foliage took it on as -the muddy purple of decay; the brown faces of the natives looked as if -beaten to a pulp. - -There came another light, and it woke a more insidious terror. Striating -the crimson column and issuing snakily from many independent orifices -distributed over a wide area of the valley rim, was the purple flame. -And now the most wonderful of all was the great Face itself. The crimson -light caught it in profile, and thus so sharpened its features as to -make it seem a living monster of inconceivable ferocity. Nor was that -the worst. The purple flame again issued from below the face with a -great augmentation. In rising and spreading it cast a thin veil over the -visage, making it ghastly. - -[Illustration: 0287] - -The falling of heavy stones ceased, but the more numerous small ones -began to pelt us. I drew my coat round Lentala's head, and broke -tree-branches within reach to shield her body, for the stones had a -vicious sting. - -The heat was growing, both by radiation from the crimson column and by -reflection from the canopy. Flames were leaping from the forest near the -eruption, for the heat was drying the leaves. - -As the ground opened in many seams under the strain, steam found -numerous issues on the front of the opposite valley wall, near the Face. -The quaking of the earth deepened; the moans of the natives became cries -of frenzy. - -"Is it growing worse, Joseph?" - -She had been Beela since the scene at the altar, and I had nearly -forgotten Lentala. It was sweet to feel her breath on my neck as she -clung like a frightened child. - -"Be brave," I said. "Remember, we came safely through the passage." - -"I will, Joseph," but I felt a sob against my breast. - -The increasing heat began to make wild mischief in the air. Little -whirlwinds had been rising, twirling leaves upward. All at once they -ceased, leaving an ominous calm. Then came a rushing, swirling roar, -with the crashing of trees,--the noises of a tornado. I looked round. -Nearly in a line with the moon rose a spinning column bearing upward -dismembered trees, liberating them far above, and sending them down -destructively. This monster, whose seizure would mean death, was -mounting the slope in its approach to the volcano, and seemingly would -sweep the clearing in its passage. I did not know what to do, and did -not wish Lentala to see what was coming, but I must unconsciously have -given an alarming sign, for she silently caught her breath and tightened -her hold. - -As I was looking about in helplessness, an extraordinary vision of -tatters and despair staggered toward us out of the forest, peering -about. Her staring eyes found me, and she stopped in fear. - -"Annabel!" I cried. - -Lentala sprang to her feet, her terror gone, and stared for a moment; -then, springing forward, she took Annabel in her arms before I had -reached her. - -"Where is my father?" begged Annabel, recognizing us both. - -"He is safe with Captain Mason at the colony, dear," Lentala sweetly -answered. - -I confirmed the news, and because she was much more deeply shaken than -Lentala, I took her to myself and made her sit on the ground. I seated -myself beside her, took her hand, and told her cheerful things about her -father and Mr. Rawley. She had become suspicious and left the colony to -search for her father before Captain Mason's return with him. - -She was quietly sobbing in gratefulness. A woman's gentler offices were -needed now, and I looked round for Lentala. To my astonishment she had -disappeared. That alarmed me. In looking about for her without leaving -Annabel I discovered that the tornado had torn away the trees on the -opposite side of the clearing, and was breaking to pieces after tumbling -into the valley; but I could not guess what havoc, if any, it had -wrought in the clearing, and a profound uneasiness on Lentala's -account made my duty to care for Annabel irksome. Even at the best, the -collections of the tornado were falling about us and on the clearing, -and an increase of the dismal howling indicated cruel results, in -which both Lentala and Christopher might be involved. And the danger -to Annabel and me was great. I did what I could to protect her from the -merciless rain of riven timber. - -It had been impossible for me to abandon hope on Christopher's account. -Even though I believed that he had lain down in perfect content to give -his life for Lentala, the eruption had offered him an opportunity for -which he must have been ready. If he was alive and anywhere near the -zone of Lentala's danger, she would be cared for. I could accept no -other faith than that he was. - -Annabel reasonably secure and quiet, I noted the progress of the -catastrophe, knowing that Christopher would let me hear from him soon, -if at all. The trembling of the ground had become remittent and more -violent. The cries of the natives were falling to despairing moans. -The tripping ground had made their flight impossible, even had fear not -paralyzed them. Besides, the effect of the weird light on the Face was -sufficient to hold them in a fascinated helplessness. - -The volcanic pillar of fire had shortened, for the still spreading -canopy was thickening downward. The roar was louder, with occasional -detonations from lateral explosions which smashed the mountains -environing the western end of the valley and made a still wider breach -in the opening blasted by the first outbreak. The purple flame had found -new exits, lending the opposite valley wall a cadaverous light, and, -with the spreading flame issuing from below the Face, giving the -horrible visage an unspeakable hideousness. - -Worse than all that had gone before came next. The canopy suddenly -effaced the moon, and looked like an enormous mushroom on a blood-red -stem. Violent gusts of wind fell here and there with a rending force, -working havoc in the forest and among the natives. Now and then rose a -sharp solitary cry from one struck by a falling stone or spattered by -blistering mud. At times a swarm of cries rang from the dip of scorching -gases. Clouds were gathering. Lightning flashed between them and the -canopy; the crash of near thunder swelled the tumult. I tried not to -think of the colony. - -"Where is Lentala?" cried Annabel in my ear, rousing out of a -half-stupor. - -"She has gone to the clearing," I ventured. - -"Go and find her," urged Annabel in fright, forcibly withdrawing from -me. - -"How can I leave you?" - -"I am safe here, and will wait for you. Go!" - -I obeyed, staggering into the clearing and falling over the kneeling or -prostrate savages. My heart presently gave a bound of joy; for, working -side by side, fearless and devoted, were Lentala and Christopher, -apparently unhurt, and doing all they could to pacify the frantic -natives, encouraging them, binding their wounds, and sending them to -the service of others, thus rapidly starting centers of control and help -that enlarged with magical rapidity. I came near, but the two who were -dear to me did not observe, so intent were they on their duty. I had -never seen so lovely a look on Lentala's face, and I determined to let -no foolish barrier stand between us thenceforth. Christopher saw me -first, but gave no sign whatever. Then Lentala, and there was a divine -light in her startled, happy face. - -"You came to me, didn't you, Joseph?" she said, seizing my hand. - -"Annabel discovered that you were gone, and sent me to find you." - -Her face went blank, and she dropped my hand. Terrible though the -moment was, her childishness angered me. It was no time for coquettish -discipline. - -"She wants your Majesty," I said. "Shall I bring her to you?" - -Her eyes flashed, but she replied, "Take me to her." - -I tried to take her hand, in order to lead her, for the ground was -rolling and there were unpleasant things to see on the way in the red -glare; but she walked alone and as steadily as I. As we approached the -trees there came a sickening heave different from the earth-movements -before. Christopher sprang past us toward Annabel, shouting: - -"Down--on your faces!" - -I seized Lentala and lurched ahead, but before we had quite reached -Annabel and Christopher we went down in a blazing crash. - -***** - -"Shake yourself up, sir," came in a thin voice from a great distance. - -I could open my eyes but a moment under the vigorous shaking that -Christopher gave me, for slimy, warm drops were falling on my face; but -I had met the darkness that the blind know. A painful throbbing made my -head roll as Christopher dragged me to shelter and propped me against a -tree. - -"Where are we?" I asked. My groping hands found a prone body at my left. -I opened my eyes, and the world was blotted out. - -"Keep still, sir." - -"Are they both here?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Alive?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Choseph!" came feebly from the body under my hand. - -My arms went round her and drew her up. - -"Where's Annabel, Christopher?" I asked. - -"On your right, sir." - -"Unconscious?" - -"Yes, sir." - -Lentala lay collapsed in my arms. The rain of mud from the canopy -pattered and splashed about us. The ground was still, and there was -hardly a sound except the slimy drip. - -"The volcano has stopped, hasn't it?" - -"Yes, sir." - -I asked the next question in the conviction that I had been stricken -blind: "Is there any light at all?" - -"No, sir." - -Lentala clutched me. "I'm glad, Choseph! I thought I was blind." - -"What happened, Christopher?" I asked. - -"The world blew up, sir." - -"What then?" - -"Darkness." - -The rain had extinguished the forest fires, and the sirupy drip was -mingled with the hissing of hot stones. There was nothing to do but -wait. Wails began to creep out of the silent clearing. Lentala drew -away. - -"Poor children!" she said. "I can teach them better now. There's a good -life ahead for me here." Clearly she was thinking of nothing else, and -she said it with a simple earnestness. During all these dark months her -every plan and act had been for her own and our escape from the island. -I had thought that she accepted the crown as a temporary expedient to -restore order and save the colony; but now I knew that, while she still -intended to send us safely away, she had severed all other bonds and -would give her life where it was most needed. The conduct of the people -during the eruption had given the finishing touch to her decision. It -was the putting away of all her hopes and dreams; it was the dismissal -of me. - -I sat a moment in a desolate silence, and found her hand. She returned -my clasp, but it was different from any she had ever given me before. It -grew firmer, imparting a silent message of finality. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV.--The Parting Hour. - -_A Chapter of Startling Surprises. The Fate of the Black Face. A Story -of Two Girls. Wanted--a Coadjutor to the Crown. Beela Comes Back at -Last._ - - -Here was something portentously solemn in Christopher's manner when he -came one brilliant morning with a summons from the queen to lunch with -her and Annabel. I was aware of Captain Mason's notice to her Majesty -that in two hours the colony, which had been royally entertained in the -palace and its adjunct buildings since the great catastrophe, would file -past to bid her farewell. My absorbing duties in directing the stowing -of the _Hope's_ cargo had kept me away from the queen and Annabel, -who had become devoted friends; but a more potent barrier had been her -Majesty's cold reserve under her assumption of her queenly duties, which -had been exceedingly severe. The destruction of the Black Face by the -eruption had been joyously accepted as heaven's endorsement of her -accession to the throne, and the natives idolized her. - -Nothing seemed clearer than her wish that I do my part to make as smooth -as possible her determination to forget what had passed between us. - -Confident, therefore, that she would carry off the parting pleasantly, -and appreciating her kindness in inviting me, and her tact in providing -for Annabel's presence, I went with as stout a heart as I could command. -Christopher and I had long ago laid aside our disguise. He led me in -silence to the private room where Lentala had dreamed of a bright life -far away. A table was set daintily for three; and as there were no -native attendants, I knew that Christopher was to serve. Rangan was -near the end of his days, and Rawley gave constant attendance on deeply -stricken Mr. Vancouver. - -As I entered, I heard the queen and Annabel chatting with astonishing -gaiety in an adjoining room, the doorway into which was closed with a -curtain. Whatever they were discussing was interrupted by my entrance. - -"Choseph!" came challengingly from beyond the curtain. It was Beela's -voice, though every trace of her had disappeared since the eruption. - -"Your Majesty," I responded. - -"Nonsense! Aren't you going to behave?" It was Beela's scold and -the impatient stamp of her foot. "I'm not quite ready. Annabel will -entertain you." - -Annabel came out. The sparkle in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks -showed that she was excited, despite her effort to appear at ease. -Christopher's strange manner had already made me watchful, and I caught -the knowing look that Annabel gave him. My heart bounded. Could it be -that the queen had decided to renounce her kingdom and go with us? It so -deluged me that for a moment I did not heed the chatter proceeding from -the other room. - -"Choseph!" came thence; "have you neither ears nor a tongue?" The voice -rang with a cheer that even Beela's had never known. "Here I've been -trying to make you guess why I'm so happy, and you don't show the -slightest interest." - -"I'd be glad to know," I returned. - -"Annabel and her father and Mr. Rawley have decided not to go away, -and Annabel and Mr. Rawley are going to be married!" She hurled it -breathlessly, as a child in a hurry to tell important news. - -So that was the great secret. But why had they kept it from me? An acute -silence within accompanied my own. I was smiling at Annabel, who blushed -deliciously. - -"Christopher!" - -"Your Majesty." - -"Don't say that. I hate it. Do you love me?" - -"Yes, ma'am." - -"But you are going to leave me." She said it dolorously. - -"No, I ain't, ma'am." - -Something was dropped clattering to the floor within, and then came a -sudden hush. - -There was the queerest, brightest twinkle in Annabel's eyes as she -studied me. In astonishment I glanced at Christopher. The look with -which he met mine was one of benevolent kindness. - -"Dear old Christopher!" came softly from the other room; then, after a -pause, "How can Mr. Tudor manage without you?" - -"He can't, ma'am." He made the audacious answer while calmly regarding -me. - -Can it be believed that I dared not see Lentala's challenge, and that -something which I could not master held me a silent fool in the chair? -Surely there must be men besides me whom love makes humble and timid. I -have seen men love with a different measure; I have seen love make them -bold and reckless. - -Christopher had adroitly seated me with my back to the curtain. Hence -I did not see a signal that Annabel, who was facing it, must have -received, for with some excuse she withdrew, taking Christopher. - -The queen's voice was close to the curtain as she called in a -breathless, frightened way, "Choseph!" - -"Your Majesty." - -Before I could rise she was on me like a whirlwind, clapping her hands -over my eyes from behind and pressing me down into the seat. Her cheek -rested on my head. I thought the beating of my heart would suffocate me. - -During the silence I sat in a trance. One soft hand held my eyes closed; -the other slipped down and was pressed on my lips. I knew that Beela had -come back, and I would submit to any outrage from her. - -"Choseph," she said in her sweet, coaxing voice, "sit still and don't -try to speak. You are much more interesting when you don't talk. And -then, I don't want to be interrupted, for I'm going to tell you a story. -It is about two girls and a man. Nod if you want to hear it." - -I nodded. - -"The girls are named Beela and Lentala. The man imagines he is or _was_ -in love with one of those girls." The voice above my head became very -impressive. "Now, sir, you are the Man." - -Nod. - -"We'll easily agree that Lentala is much more dignified and reserved -than Beela." - -Nod. - -"And never so erratic and unconventional." - -Nod. - -"And that Beela is rude and bold, wears outlandish clothes, and adopts -scandalous disguises." - -My head was still for a time, so happy was I in her delicious fooling; -then I nodded enthusiastically. - -I knew she was trying to suppress a laugh; she ostentatiously sighed, -and said: "You agree to that. It isn't all. She tells fibs, and is -heartless and cruel." I was motionless for a breathless space, and then -nodded viciously. There came a long, still pause. I could bear it no -longer. - -"Choseph! Stop! You hurt my wrist," and again she held me prisoned. -"There. Be quiet. Well," with a resigned sigh, "I suppose the foolish -man will keep on loving Beela and hating Lentala, and end by breaking -poor Lentala's heart." - -I am not positive that I entirely succeeded in suppressing my laugh. - -"It has to be Beela, then," the sweet voice went on. "But, Choseph, -suppose the madcap should really be very different from what she ever -appeared to you, and you should discover that she had deceived you -about an important matter,--you can't be certain that you know all her -disguises,--wouldn't you think her unworthy of your trust and love?" - -A very decided shake, and above me a soft laugh and a little squeeze of -my head. - -"Choseph, you know you had suspicions about her skill in staining you -and Christopher." - -I had nearly forgotten it; but as her father had been a white man -and her mother a native, her skin would require some staining to look -exactly like a native's. I made no response to her speech. - -"Choseph, suppose a very little girl born in some other country had -been wrecked with her father on this island. She might have been yellow, -or--or almost anything. As she grew, it might have become necessary that -she be given the color of the natives." There was a pause, and then came -the hurried question, "She'd still be the same girl, wouldn't she?" - -I nodded, simply to please her, for her chatter meant no more to me than -that Beela was playing and teasing. - -"Think, Joseph." She was really serious. "Once, when Lentala dressed -like Annabel, you were shocked, and said some strange things that made -her very unhappy and uneasy, and she was afraid to tell you the -whole truth. And for other reasons she thought it best to keep up the -deception. Could _anything_ new that you might learn about her change -your regard?" - -I shook my head, but was puzzled and uneasy. - -"Then," she gently said, pressing her sweet cheek to my temple, "it -could make no difference at all what her real color is?" - -Of course I shook my head. It was impossible for me to accept the absurd -suggestion, and my simple lie could do no harm in her pretty play. - -She straightened, drawing a deep breath. "That is a promise," she said. -"There's something else. Now, no matter if, in showing her love and pity -for the poor grown children who need her, she permits these islanders -the harmless play of calling her their queen when they mean their -leader, their teacher, their mother,--wouldn't she still be only Beela, -and none the worse for accepting that love and trust and duty?" - -My nod was reverential. - -"But, Joseph, she would know her utter inability to discharge that task. -She would stumble; she would fall many a time. There would come dark -hours when she yearned in bitter loneliness for the help of a wise head -and sure hand; for there is a people to civilize as well as govern. -Joseph, the heart of a woman is a woman-heart under either a toy crown -or a real one." - -I gave no sign. There came a long pause, a deep breath, and a sudden -change of tone. - -"Joseph, suppose that some day a big, fine cavalier, with a tender heart -and a strong hand, should drift to the poor little kingdom and find its -queen torturing her soul over problems that would look so large to her -and so small to him. It seems to me that he would be moved to offer her -his services. She might make him her Prime Minister." - -I tore myself loose, rose, and confronted her. Gazing at me was a -beautiful young white woman, frightened and blushing, a thousand -startled imps dancing in her eyes as she backed away. I was profoundly -shocked. - -"Forgive me, Joseph." It came tenderly, wistfully, from the perfect lips -of Beela and in her dear voice. And those were her eyes; that was -her delicate, high-bred nose, and that her light hair. And she was as -daintily dressed as ever Annabel had been. - -"Choseph!" she cried, stamping in a passion as I gazed in silence. - -So overcoming a weakness assailed me that I had to catch the top of a -chair. - -"Of course I understand," I said, unevenly, and floundered on, with -pauses: "I might have guessed, but... a cherished ideal is very real to -me. When I lost Beela and found Lentala, I lost what I had come to love. -No, not lost,--I am very foolish and blundering." - -"No, Joseph." Her smile was dazzling. - -"It never could be lost while I lived, and would live had she died. It -was Lentala, not Beela, who put Beela away, and then me." - -"You know what I thought, Joseph. I meant to be kind. And I never had -the least idea until today that Annabel cared for Mr. Rawley. I thought -she loved you, and that you had been very fond of her till Beela came. I -reasoned that it would be best for you to go to your own country, marry -Annabel, and forget Beela." - -That sweet speech explained everything, but it was not possible for me -to feel the ease in the presence of her radiant loveliness that I had -felt toward Beela, the child-woman, the sprite, who could flutter into a -man's heart and abide forever. I managed to say bluntly: - -"I understand. And now that all is clear, may I stay and do whatever -lies in my power and devotion to help you?" - -She was regarding me curiously, and with a touch of uneasiness. "Simply -because I've asked you?" she demanded. - -"It is my dearest wish." - -Still the strange look was in her eyes. I dared not interpret it as my -heart commanded; I had never loved a woman before, and needed time to -gather my courage. Of a sudden an impulse moved me to step forward, take -her hands, and look deep into her eyes. - -"Let me stay," I begged. - -"I'd be glad and proud if you would, Joseph. You know Captain Mason is -to return with the _Hope_ as soon as he can, and will bring teachers -and a clergyman from America, and Annabel and Mr. Rawley will be married -then." - -I do not know what it was that she saw--or that her sensitive pride made -her see--in my face that made her quickly withdraw her hands and step -back as her eyes flashed and her cheeks crimsoned. - -"Joseph! I never dreamed that you could think I meant--_that!_" - -"It was my love, my joy, dear heart. When the clergyman comes----" - -Annabel and Christopher entered. The queen flew at her, embraced her and -kissed her, and then, standing off in front of Christopher, cried in a -teasing voice: - -"Christopher, you _do_ love me, don't you?" - -"Yes, ma'am," he placidly answered as he set the chairs for luncheon. - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The -Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. 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C. Morrow - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony - -Author: W. C. Morrow - -Illustrator: Maynard Dixon - -Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51915] -Last Updated: November 16, 2016 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - -</pre> - - <div style="height: 8em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h1> - LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS, THE ROMANTIC TALE OF A LOST COLONY - </h1> - <h2> - By W. C. Morrow - </h2> - <h3> - Illustrated by Maynard Dixon - </h3> - <h4> - Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers: New York - </h4> - <h5> - 1908 - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0001.jpg" alt="0001 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0001.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0008.jpg" alt="0008 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0008.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - <b>CONTENTS</b> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS</b> </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.—On Unknown Shores. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II.—The Falling of a Fong </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III.—The Menace of the Face. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV.—Behind a Laughing Mask. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V.—The Opening of a Pit. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI.—Witcheries in Hand. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII.—Secrets For Two. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII.—A Crumbling Edge. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX.—An Iron Hand Comes Down. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X.—The Finding of a Man. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI.—Faces Set Toward Danger. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII.—Dramatic Discoveries. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII.—Preparation for the Crisis. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV.—-A Glimpse Into the Abyss. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV.—The Lash in Unwilling Hands. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI.—A Light in the Gloom. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII.—Disciplined by a Woman. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII.—To the Rescue of the King. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX.—The Strength of the White - Blood. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX.—A Habit of Concealment. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI—Both Sides of the Wall. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII.—Wit and Dash to the Fore. - </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII.—The Great Catastrophe. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV.—The Parting Hour. </a> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER I.—On Unknown Shores. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Pursued by Our Dying Ship. Cast Away Among Dangers. A Pointing Finger - and a Sword. Beguiled by Savage Royalty. A Strange Girl and a Prediction.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>N range of my - outlook seaward as I lay on the yellow strand was a grotesque figure - standing near and gazing inland. His powerful frame was broad and squat; - his long arms, ending with immense hands, hung loosely at his sides; his - hair was ragged; and out of his blank face blue eyes wide apart. So - accustomed was I to his habitually placid expression that the keenness - with which he was looking roused me fully out of the lethargy into which - extreme exhaustion had plunged me. - </p> - <p> - “Well, Christopher!” I said with an attempt at cheerfulness. - </p> - <p> - The strange look in my serving-man’s eyes did not disappear when he turned - them on me at my greeting, but my glance at the forest discovered nothing - alarming. It was useless to question Christopher; he would take his time. - </p> - <p> - I rose with stiffened members. The wretched, beaten colonists were prone - along the beach, all sleeping except Captain Mason and Mr. Vancouver. With - silent Christopher shambling at my heels I passed Mr. Vancouver as he sat - on the sand beside his slumbering daughter; he was watching the sea more - with his blue lips than his leaden eyes. I gave him a cheery greeting, - blinked small since it was no time to harbor old scores. The effort - failed; he only blinked at me. Already I had suspected that his quarrel - with me because Christopher had stowed away on the vessel was merely the - seizing of an opportunity to rupture the strong friendship between Annabel - and me. - </p> - <p> - Even at a distance I had seen that Captain Mason’s spirit was hunting the - waters, as he stood apart in a splendid solitude, arms folded, and - towering in the dignity of a gladiator who might be disarmed, but not - conquered. Never had I seen a profounder pathos than his when, finding the - <i>Hope</i> foundering and helpless, he had ordered her abandonment and - sent us into the boats. Then had come the most haunting thing that ever a - sailor experienced. - </p> - <p> - It was the pursuit of us by the dying barkentine. What sails the last - storm had left played crazy pranks with the derelict. With no hand on her - wheel the rudder swung free. We were rowing northwestwardly, with the - wind, and thus it was that the <i>Hope</i>, thrust by wind and wave, - followed us, with wide swerves, with lungings and lurchings, now and then - making a graceful sweep up a swell and then a wallowing roll to the - trough. The fore-and-aft sails were gone, but some of the square canvas - held; and the sheets flapped with a dismal foolishness between accidental - fills. It was the drunken plunging of the hulk in deliberate pursuit of us - that appalled. She snouted the water swinishly; she reeled and groveled - under the seas that boarded her. Through it all, whether she was coming - prow first, beam on, or stern foremost, and no matter how far she would - veer, she clung to our course, shadowing us, hounding us, as though - imploring our help. - </p> - <p> - In all the fury of the storms, from their first assaults at Cape Horn to - their beating us down in the South Seas, Captain Mason had not faltered; - he fought desperate odds with the cunning and valor of Hercules. But this - careering mad thing, stripped of the grace and dignity of a sane ship,—this - staggering, sodden monster, mortally stricken and dumbly floundering after - the master who had abandoned her that she might go down alone into the - deep,—was more than the man could bear; and he had sat staring in - the boat, Christopher and I rowing, while we dodged the barkentine’s blind - assaults. We were still bending to the work when darkness fell. It was - then that the wind died, and we saw her no more. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason showed relief at being dragged back into the living world by - our approach. - </p> - <p> - “No sign of her?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “Not from here. The view is shut in by those promontories,” indicating two - headlands embracing our beach. - </p> - <p> - “Then,” said I, “Christopher will scale one of them and I the other.” < - </p> - <p> - There was a faint twinkle behind the seaman’s look, and something else, - which recalled what I had seen in Christopher’s face as he gazed at the - forest. - </p> - <p> - “I imagine you haven’t slept much,” I said, knowing his anxiety on the - barkentine’s account. - </p> - <p> - “How could I, Mr. Tudor, when she had been following me like that?” - </p> - <p> - “Then you have already been up there to see if you could find her?” I - ventured. - </p> - <p> - He looked amused as he drawled, “Not all the way,” and gave Christopher a - look that appeared to be understood. His gesture swept the heights on - either side and the richly verdured mountains that began to spring in - terraces a short distance from the beach. “This is a tropical region,” he - went on, “and those trees bear lively fruit. It is brown and carries - swords. I didn’t get all the way to the headland.” - </p> - <p> - I understood, and inquired, “Did they speak?” - </p> - <p> - “No. A pointing finger with a sword behind it needs no words.” - </p> - <p> - I wondered where we could be, that armed natives should exhibit a hostile - attitude. “Where are we stranded?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know. It has been weeks since I could even take a dead reckoning, - and we’ve been blown far since then. My instruments disappeared while I - was exploring this morning.” - </p> - <p> - “And we are without food or weapons,” I added, feeling a thrill at the - prospect of measuring forces with an obscure menace. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver had loaded the barkentine with every possible means of - defense, subsistence, and development, but we had fallen on an island far - short of the one in the Philippines which he intended to colonize. The - fate of the <i>Hope</i> was a vital matter. Most of her precious cargo was - behind bulkheads. If she had not gone down, very likely she would drift to - this island and yield her resources to any enemies we might encounter - here. - </p> - <p> - Christopher was gazing at the forest again. I could see only deep shadows - and brown tree-boles under the leafage. Birds of brilliant plumage were - flitting among the trees, and the warmth of the sun bathed us in sweet, - heavy odors. - </p> - <p> - “They are coming, sir,” said Christopher. - </p> - <p> - I observed a slow undulation in a wide arc among the shadows. A tree-trunk - in the outer edge apparently detached itself, then advanced into the open, - halted, and raised a sword. Five hundred other shapes came forth from the - wide semi-circle touching the shore at either end. Some bore swords, - others spears, and still others knotted war-clubs. The soldiers were brown - and bareheaded, and the dress of each was limited to the loins, except - that of the leader, the man who had first stepped out; he wore a sort of - tunic or light cloak, and a head-dress, both gaudily illuminated with - feathers. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason stood motionless. - </p> - <p> - “What shall we do?” I impatiently cried. - </p> - <p> - Christopher left us and rapidly roused the sleepers. He must have dropped - reassuring words, for the stir proceeded without panic, though all could - see the advancing threat, which approached with an ominous deliberation. - </p> - <p> - “Do you think it’s to be a slaughter, Captain?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He gave no answer, being evidently stunned. I turned to Christopher as he - rejoined us. Many a time since I had rescued him from a mob of boys in a - Boston street, taken him to my lodgings, and made him my servant, his - strange mind had seemed able to penetrate baffling obscurities. At such - times he had a way of listening, as though to voices which he alone could - hear; but with that was an extraordinary reticence of tongue, and often an - indirection that had tried my patience until I learned to understand him - as well as an ordinary mortal could. - </p> - <p> - “Are they going to kill us, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He was in a deep abstraction, and I knew he was listening. “Sir?” - </p> - <p> - That was his usual way of gaining time, and I had learned to wait. - </p> - <p> - “Are they going to kill us?” - </p> - <p> - “Kill us, sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “You are asking me, sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. Are they going to kill us?” - </p> - <p> - “Not now, sir,” he firmly answered. - </p> - <p> - The glance which Captain Mason and I exchanged was one accepting - Christopher’s opinion and groping for what lay beyond it. - </p> - <p> - With some accuracy of maneuvering, the leader aligned his soldiers, - stepped out after halting them fifty yards away, and stood waiting, - obviously for a parley. He was showing impatience as Captain Mason still - stood motionless. - </p> - <p> - “Some one must meet him,” I said. “It will never do to show timidity. You - are the fittest.” - </p> - <p> - “These people are strange to me,” he replied, “and I don’t know how to - proceed. They have an appearance of ferocity that I have never seen in - these seas. Many outside men must have drifted to this island, but I’ll - warrant that none ever left it, for I’ve never heard of anything that - looks just like this. I imagine it is the graveyard of the unreported - wrecks that happen in this part of the Pacific.” - </p> - <p> - I was surprised at the grayness in his face and the glaze in his eyes. - What could our two hundred and fifty men, women, and children, helpless as - they were, do without his shrewdness and courage? - </p> - <p> - “Then we have all the more to do,” I urged. - </p> - <p> - He squared himself, and said: “We three will meet them. Put yourself - forward. Your height and strength will impress them.” - </p> - <p> - It looked odd that he did not include Mr. Vancouver, the leader of our - enterprise, and Lee Rawley, the aristocratic and disdainful young lawyer - whom Mr. Vancouver hoped that Annabel would marry. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0021.jpg" alt="0021 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0021.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - Meanwhile, the leader of the savages, a man of commanding size and manner, - had been growing more impatient, and was putting his men through some - manual that hinted at barbarous proceeding; but when we started he - desisted, and met us with urbane gestures. Then ensued a struggle to find - a means of communication. Both Captain Mason and I knew something of the - Pacific languages, he from a sailor’s experience and I from having fought - as a first lieutenant in the Philippines during the war with Spain; but - apparently our combined resources failed. Finally we caught a Spanish word - and then a German. It remained for Christopher to discover that the - embassador spoke some pidgin-English with his tongue and all languages - with his gestures. Thus we learned that the gracious King Rangan had sent - Gato, commander-in-chief of the army, with an escort of honor to conduit - us to the imperial presence. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason and I carefully avoided each other’s eyes. The tomb-like - mask that Christopher knew how to wear was on his face. - </p> - <p> - As there were two armed savages to each colonist throat, there was nothing - to do but accept. In a dismal procession guarded by the soldiers, we - labored through the sand and sank into the scented forest. - </p> - <p> - After a walk through flagrant aisles of shade and color, we came upon a - wide sweep where the undergrowth had been cleared away; in its place was a - cluster of huts made of bamboo and thatch. The central space was occupied - by one more imposing than the others. The matting curtain at the door was - drawn aside after we had been seated before it on the ground, and a sturdy - figure, followed by a striking retinue, came forth and took an elevated - seat on a platform extending from the house. - </p> - <p> - The king’s gorgeous robe of a light fabric adorned with feathers and - embroidered with gold was worn with a knowledge of its impressiveness. A - wide band of gold embedded with gems served for a crown; the blazing - scepter and massive wristlets and anklets were of like materials; the ears - and fingers flashed with jewels. The royal face was benignant. Gato - stepped forth to interpret, as the king’s immediate followers, dressed in - long embroidered garments of native texture, ranged about the throne. - </p> - <p> - The attendant swinging a large feather fan over the king’s head was the - only woman discoverable. There was a striking difference between her and - the men. It was manifest in a prouder poise of the head, in a look of - higher intelligence, and in a finer definition of features. The eagerness - with which her glance ran over us, a shyness that struggled with an - impulse to a bolder scrutiny, combined with a certain refinement of - bearing to set her apart. She was raimented with no less barbaric splendor - than the king and his immediate attendants, but in better taste. Her brown - bare arms and neck were turned on the graceful lines of youth, and her - wrists and hands were small. Her hair, instead of having the glistening - blackness of the men’s, housed some of the sun’s gold; and I was startled - to discover finally that her eyes were a deep blue. - </p> - <p> - At last her roving glance was caught and held by me. In her eyes was a - moment of hungry inquiry. She caught her breath; a break came in the - regular swing of the fan, and her eyelids drooped. - </p> - <p> - My fascinated attention to her was diverted by a deep rumble. King Rangan - was speaking. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER II.—The Falling of a Fong - </h2> - <p> - <i>A Royal Feast. The Fan-Bearer’s Significant Conduct. A Gloomy Forecast. - Had Any Before Us Escaped? The King’s Promise. Prisoned in Paradise.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE interpreter - made a genuflection to the throne, and beckoned to Captain Mason and me. I - thought that Mr. Vancouver ought to be included, but the skipper ignored - my inquiring glance, and stepped forward. After bowing, we stood waiting. - </p> - <p> - The king gave us a shrewd look. Then his eyes blazed, and he ripped out - something to the interpreter. I discovered the cause. My faithful - Christopher had brought up his prodigious strength for a possible - emergency, and it was clear that the king was offended by the grotesque - figure. - </p> - <p> - The interpreter hesitated, for he knew Christopher’s speech-value, and the - king snapped out another command. I knew it was an order that some shame - be put upon Christopher. At that my muscles hardened, and I stepped - protectingly before him. The fan over the king’s head abruptly stopped. - The leader raised his hand, and a dozen of his men advanced. - </p> - <p> - Dimly aware that Captain Mason was employing some pacific measures, I was - more concerned by Annabel’s surprising act. Her eyes shining and her - cheeks aglow, she briskly came up, laid her hand on Christopher’s arm, and - sweetly said: - </p> - <p> - “Come and stay back here with us.” - </p> - <p> - His pathetic look went questioningly from her to me, and he held his - ground. I glanced round to see what next the king would do. With - astonishment or wonder the fan-bearer was staring at Annabel, who made a - striking picture; then she whispered into the royal ear. In a milder voice - he said something to the interpreter, who by a gesture to us indicated - that the king was satisfied. At a word from me, Christopher came and stood - beside me. - </p> - <p> - His ostensible purpose proved to be merely a formal welcome, an - ascertainment of our origin, purpose, and disaster, and an invitation to a - feast. - </p> - <p> - As the others of the colony were in too dull a state to give attention, - the king confined to us three a shrewd scrutiny. But Captain Mason and I, - feeling that the welcome was only a sheathed sword, held blank faces, and - did not even pass a glance of understanding; and Christopher could be - depended on under all circumstances to give no betraying sign. The one - thing to do was to show a grateful acquiescence. The time for planning - would come when our people were capable of thought and action,—if we - should be spared that long. - </p> - <p> - It was indeed a feast. The smoke which Christopher had seen rose from a - barbecue, at which fresh meat and fowls and fish had been deliciously - cooked. The completeness of the preparations indicated that they must have - been begun immediately after our landing. Fragrant boughs were spread on - the ground near the barbecue trench, and on them we seated ourselves. - Plantain leaves made excellent platters. Roasted yams, bread made of - ground seed or grain, and fruits of many kinds, were served in abundance. - </p> - <p> - The effect was magical; the down-hearted took cheer, and laughter ran - through the trees. Much of the transformation was wrought by the - solicitous attentions of the servers; but more cheering was the gracious - friendliness of the king, who, besides personally directing the service, - mingled with us in a democratic way, yet with no sacrifice of dignity. - </p> - <p> - Most fascinating to me was the fan-bearer. Whereas the warriors stood in - awe of his Majesty, she treated him with almost a flippant disregard. She - went among the colonists, keenly anxious that all should be pleased, her - face breaking into bewitching smiles, her mischievous eyes dancing, her - musical laugh rippling. The distinction in her manner as she had stood - behind the throne was augmented in the modest abandon of her rôle of - hostess. The alertness of her glance, the joyous spirits that bubbled out - of her light pose and movement, her sprite-like airiness, her obvious - efforts to restrain an instinct to play, to tease, to get into mischief, a - running over of kindness and happiness,—these and more elusive - qualities set her apart from the men and made them look dull and sordid. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0029.jpg" alt="0029 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0029.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - Her greatest interest was in Annabel, the only highly cultured woman in - our party, since the colony was composed of workers in practical - industries. The two girls had no language in common, and appeared sharply - different in temperament and training; yet there was visible between them - a bond of feminine sympathy such as no man can understand. It was curious - that the savage one was not abashed before her highly civilized sister. In - the gentle eagerness with which she served Annabel, frankly studied her, - and courted her notice, was something that looked pathetically like the - yearning of a starved soul for what Annabel had—the enjoyment of a - birthright. Annabel appeared to see that longing, and she stretched forth - a friendly hand into the fan-bearer’s darkness. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason, Christopher, and I formed a group. Despite the grief and - anxiety on the sailor’s face, he betrayed his share of the sunshine that - the girl bestowed on all. She came to us often, and there was a touch of - shyness not visible when she flitted among the others. Virtually ignoring - me, she gave some attention to the captain, and was particularly - solicitous toward Christopher. She stuffed him, and laughed at him. - Christopher enjoyed it, gazed up into her sparkling eyes, and strained his - ribs with the food that she coaxingly urged upon him. - </p> - <p> - On one of her visits I smilingly handed her a little pocket toilet-case - which I carried. She took it gingerly, examined it curiously, and with - childish interest inspected its contents. Her surprise at discovering the - mirror was not so great as I had expected, and did not look quite sincere. - She held it up, made a grimace at her reflection, thrust out at it a - tongue as sweet and pink as a baby’s, tossed the kit back at me, and went - dancing off in a swirl of laughter. - </p> - <p> - Presently she demurely returned on a pretense of looking after - Christopher’s wants, and of a sudden, brilliantly smiling, held out her - hand for the trinket. I gave it to her. Her eyes fell when I looked up - closely into them, and in agitation she thrust the case into her bosom. I - discovered that Annabel was curiously observing her. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason gazed thoughtfully after her as she left, and remarked: - </p> - <p> - “That girl is going to be mixed up with our fate.” - </p> - <p> - “What do you make of her?” - </p> - <p> - “An eaglet hatched by buzzards.” - </p> - <p> - Christopher’s evident regard for her was dazzled wonder. - </p> - <p> - “You like her, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He was serious at all times, and much of his gravity was sadness. He - nodded impressively. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “She has fed you well.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” He spread his immense hands over his stomach. - </p> - <p> - “I’ll ask her to bring you some more,” I said. - </p> - <p> - His face showed alarm. “Don’t, sir! I’d shorely bust.” - </p> - <p> - “But you wouldn’t have to eat more, even if she brought it.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, I would, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Why?” - </p> - <p> - “I’d jess <i>have</i> to, sir.” This with a solemn helplessness. - </p> - <p> - “He has taken her measure,” dryly remarked Captain Mason. - </p> - <p> - He had found opportunity to study the splendid jewels so abundantly - adorning the king and the girl. - </p> - <p> - “Those gems,” he said, “were cut by European lapidaries.” - </p> - <p> - There was a disturbing suggestion in his words, but I could not define it. - This island had received rich treasures from civilization. Here was a - mystery. - </p> - <p> - “How do you account for them?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “The typhoon makes many wrecks. There’s no knowing what shores they crawl - up on to die.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes; but you see that although our ship was wrecked, we came ashore. - Survivors of other wrecks likely have had the same experience.” - </p> - <p> - “No doubt.” - </p> - <p> - “Then, why haven’t they given out news of this island? It is evidently - very rich, and——” - </p> - <p> - He gave me an obscure look, and turned away with the remark: - </p> - <p> - “I think you’ll find the reason in a few hours.” - </p> - <p> - He must have felt the hurt in my silence, and opened a confidence on - another tack. - </p> - <p> - “You have noticed, Mr. Tudor, that there are no women, children, nor - domestic animals in this village. Do you infer anything from that?” - </p> - <p> - “What is your inference, Captain?” - </p> - <p> - “The village is not inhabited. The natives live back of those mountains to - the west. This is merely a receiving-station for wrecks and castaways.” - </p> - <p> - The shrewdness of the king was not hidden by his hospitality. I did not - overlook the inquiries that he made among the colonists with Gato’s help, - nor his private colloquy with Mr. Vancouver, nor the thoughtful look of - that gentleman when it was over. - </p> - <p> - The banquet was ended; the colony was reassembled before the throne; the - king, backed by his now sedate fan-wielder, seated himself; and Captain - Mason, Christopher, and I stood ready. We were made to understand the - following: - </p> - <p> - We had not been invited to this island, but the misfortune that landed us - on it would be respected. Two circumstances ruled the situation. One was - that no vessels from the outside world ever put in here, and hence our - means of escape were restricted to such resources as the king might - devise; the other, that our intercourse with the people would not be - permitted beyond a certain limit. The king explained that in youth he had - gone abroad and found that the ways of white people were not suited to the - islanders, who would be demoralized should they come under our - civilization. - </p> - <p> - At intervals he sent his people, two or three at a time, in a small boat - to the nearest islands, some hundreds of miles away, with native products - for barter. But so great had been their precautions that the situation of - the island had never been discovered. In these boats one or two of us - would be taken away at a time, and thus placed in the path of ships that - would assist us homeward. - </p> - <p> - In order to keep us isolated from the people, we were to be conduced at - once to a pleasant valley, which would be free to us for our exclusive - use. Natives skilled in farming would be furnished us for a time as - instructors; but it would be expected that we should pledge our honor not - to make any attempt to leave the valley without permission. - </p> - <p> - Every heart among us sank. A deep look was in Captain Mason’s eyes. It was - on the end of my tongue to say, “Captain, let him know that we can make - our own vessels and leave in them;” but a glance at him informed me that - he had forgotten nothing, and that anything but a cheerful acceptance of - the old bandit’s conditions, until we might devise and execute plans of - our own, would precipitate immediate disaster. And then I understood why - the captain had asked no question about the barkentine. - </p> - <p> - He said to me, under his breath: - </p> - <p> - “You have an easy tongue. We must keep our people blind for the present. - Brace them up and flatter the king.” - </p> - <p> - The colonists were in the apathy of weariness and repletion. The glow with - which I put the situation to them was barely needed to secure their - acquiescence. - </p> - <p> - I turned to the king. Only with difficulty could I see him clearly through - the intensely dramatic picture made by the girl. All through the - conference I had seen her intense anxiety. What did it mean? With her - sweet audacity, she might have made some sign. As I read her conduct, it - betrayed a terrible uneasiness lest we refuse or were ungracious. Clearly - she was greatly relieved by our acceptance. - </p> - <p> - I thanked the king and gratefully accepted his proffers. He then informed - us that we should immediately be conducted to our valley, made - comfortable, and supplied with everything needful. - </p> - <p> - The cavalcade, conduced by the armed guard, started through the enchanted - forest, and mysteries throbbed in the very air. Never had I seen so - pathetic a spectacle as this draggling procession of civilized people - marched as dumb cattle to the shambles by a horde of savages. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason, Christopher, and I stood apart as the others filed past. - The man of the sea was in a deep reverie. - </p> - <p> - “If the king,” I said, “has been so careful to conceal this island from - the world, why should he plan sending us away to betray it?” - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason gave me a slow look. - </p> - <p> - “Do you think that he intends to send us away?” he asked. - </p> - <p> - “If not, he hasn’t sent other castaways off, and we’ll find them here.” - </p> - <p> - Again that slow look, but I felt that it saw too far to include me. He - shook his head, and said, as though talking to himself: - </p> - <p> - “Now begins the great struggle. We’ll be patient—and ready. That - girl is our hope.” - </p> - <p> - The king descended; the fan-bearer, her face mantled with content, - disappeared within the administration hut and dropped the curtain. The - rear guard were waiting for us three, and we started. After a few paces, I - turned, and saw, as I had hoped to see, a brown face watching us through - the parted curtain, and it was filled with more mysteries than any - enchanted forest ever held. - </p> - <p> - On and up we went, and finally reached the summit. We stood on a small - open plateau, which abruptly ended in a precipice. Before us was a giant - chasm in a great tableland of lava. The floor was a thousand feet below. - We were looking down on it from the top of the great wall of columnar - basalt which enclosed it. The chasm was an irregular ellipse, some three - miles on its minor axis and five on its major. The floor was level, and, - except for some farms, was covered with a forest. A breeze sent long, - unctuous waves of lighter green rolling over it, or swirling in graceful - spirals where the wall deflected the wind and drifted it on in majestic - eddies. - </p> - <p> - In splendid contrast to the deep, warm colors below was the gloomy black - of the mighty enclosing rampart. Near the upper end a beautiful stream, - nearly a river in size, made a wild, joyous leap over the brink. A lake - into which the water plunged sent up clouds of mist, out of which sprang a - rainbow. From the lake ran the stream of molten silver which swung lazily - on its shining way through the valley till lost in the distance. The - leader of the guard announced that the valley was our destination. I was - dumb in the grasp of its witchery, but a quiet voice brought me back: - </p> - <p> - “As good a prison as another.” Captain Mason had spoken. - </p> - <p> - “Why, man,” I cried, “that is Paradise!” - </p> - <p> - “No doubt; but the flaming sword will keep us in, not out.” - </p> - <p> - During the march I had not failed to keep Christopher in the corner of my - eye. I had been trying to read in his face one of those flashes of insight - which his fine instinct sometimes threw into dark places. He had held his - listening attitude often since I found him standing beside me on the sand. - It had given his face a certain leaden alertness, which, as we beheld the - valley, slowly faded into the habitual blankness, and I saw that it was - useless to question him. - </p> - <p> - We descended through a steep, narrow cleft, and were marched through a - forest to the stream. A rude bridge bore us across, and there we found a - large number of natives rapidly and skilfully building us a village of - huts made from logs, boughs, and thatch. From all indications, they must - have begun the work almost immediately after we landed. Large stores of - food and other necessities had been accumulated; nothing needed for our - comfort and sustenance had been neglected. - </p> - <p> - As soon as the soldiers had helped us bring order to the camp and the - building of the village was finished, they and the workmen melted away in - the twilight. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER III.—The Menace of the Face. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Accepting the Challenge. The Threat. What the Face Saw on the Bluff. A - Mysterious Visitor. The Fan-Bearer’s Conspiracy.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">C</span>APTAIN Mason and I - occupied the same hut, but we held no converse that night before falling - into heavy slumber. Christopher insisted on sleeping outside the door. If - any of our party had thought it prudent to appoint a watchman, no - suggestion to that effect was made; but there was no knowing what - responsibilities Christopher assumed. - </p> - <p> - The sun was looking over the great wall when we assembled for breakfast. - Every one had a brighter appearance. I had never seen men so terribly - cowed as these since the storms had beaten them down. The women had looked - beyond the hopelessness, and had tried to sustain the courage of the - colony. Every man was now beginning to hold up his head. - </p> - <p> - Some of the despair had melted from Mr. Vancouver’s face; it was clear - that the lion in him was feebly straining. Mr. Rawley was recovering his - aplomb. Annabel, having in her bearing an added depth and sweetness, had - undoubtedly done much to accomplish that result with the two men, for - there was something pathetic in the tenacity with which they clung to her. - </p> - <p> - On the barkentine, before the elements became destructive, she had been - aloof toward the other women and the children; but on the beach, at the - feast, and on the weary march to the valley, she had given a cheering - smile, word, or deed to those about. The promise thus made was meeting - fulfilment this morning. She had assumed charge of the breakfast - preparations, and, seeing that Christopher yearned to do kindly service, - had made him her executive. I often caught her look of wonder at his - unfailing intelligence, patience, and gentleness in doing her bidding. - </p> - <p> - After breakfast the men began to talk among themselves. Captain Mason went - over and said something to Mr. Vancouver, who shook his head, and the - captain returned to me. - </p> - <p> - “Now that the men are rousing,” he said, “it is time to organize. Mr. - Vancouver declines to take the lead.” - </p> - <p> - “You are the one for that,” I declared. - </p> - <p> - “No. You have the military training and the tongue.” - </p> - <p> - “But you have wisdom and a longer experience in discipline. Let’s - compromise. Take the leadership. I’ll do your talking.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” he said. “There’s no need to caution you, but the others - ought to know; these trees may have ears We need organization for - defense.” - </p> - <p> - At the end of a heartening address to the colony I called for the - selection of a president. Mr. Vancouver named Captain Mason, who was - elected. I was chosen his assistant, to Mr. Vancouver’s evident annoyance. - Dr. Preston, a young physician, was made superintendent of the camp. - </p> - <p> - The men squared their shoulders; the women’s faces brightened. In a few - words I urged against any restlessness, any plotting,—anything, in - fine, that would have the faintest color of mistrust or disobedience - toward the king. “Be patient. Hold together.” That was the watchword. - </p> - <p> - Gato, the interpreter, soon appeared with a crowd of natives, and - indicated that Christopher and I, with twenty picked men, should follow - him. A short distance down the stream we came upon cleared land, and were - given our first lesson in farming. Our men winced under this and the - indefinite term of imprisonment which it implied. But the word was passed - round: “Wait. Be patient.” The one hundred and fifty intelligent American - men of us would find a way to match any ten thousand heathen under the - sun. Blessed be the American brag! It is the front of something good - behind. - </p> - <p> - The lesson was concluded in the early afternoon, for the sun was growing - hot. Gato led us down the stream a mile to a low ridge stretching across - the valley. Not a break in the great wall enclosing the valley was - visible, except the thin cleft which had given us ingress; but I reasoned - that at the lower end there must be a gorge through which the stream - issued, although no sign of it could be seen. Gato made us understand that - this transverse ridge was the boundary of our freedom. He pointed out two - landmarks springing from the walls and marking the terminals of the ridge. - </p> - <p> - The one on the far side of the river was a barren bluff; opposite it, and - forming part of the wall behind, there suddenly appeared a hideous - caricature of a human face, a ferocious gargoyle, rudely fashioned by - nature from the upper front of the cliff, protruding from the rock, and - leering down horribly. It must have been a hundred feet from forelock to - chin. - </p> - <p> - I withstood the shock badly, but was steadied by noting the deep - satisfaction in Gato’s eyes as he observed me. Unmistakably it was one of - malignant triumph, instantly gone, but almost as disconcerting as the - awful face itself. I felt that the ghastly apparition on the wall held a - significance reaching the very depths of our fate. It was the embodiment - of all the silent and implacable menaces hovering over the lethal fairness - that environed us. - </p> - <p> - It had the blackish color of the rock, with reeking perpendicular streaks - of green alternating with dull red. The forehead and chin receded in a - simian angle; bulging eyes leered; below high cheek bones were mummy-like - recessions, and hungry shadows filled them; the nose was flat, and the - nostrils spread bestially. - </p> - <p> - Gato, informing us that his men would be on hand the next morning, took - himself away. It gave a creepy sensation to note the snaky smoothness with - which these men could sink out of sight. - </p> - <p> - Our party started for camp. A heaviness sat on me, and I did not wish to - talk. Christopher and I fell behind, and the others left us. I could not - bear that any but Christopher should see my perturbation. Several times I - glanced back to see the face on the wall. Its malignancy grew even more - terrible through the hazing distance, and I was glad when the forest shut - it out. If the spectacle affected me so deeply, what greater hold must it - not have had on the natives? And there was the significant look that I had - caught from Gato. - </p> - <p> - On top of the opposite wall I discovered near the edge what appeared to be - a large stone table, or altar, and its position with reference to the face - suggested a sinister purpose. - </p> - <p> - Now that the men were gone, hopelessness fell upon me. Never had anything - like such heavy responsibilities crept into my life. A sense of my - inadequacy grew unendurable; and, overcome by weariness of soul and body, - I flung myself on the ground and buried my face in my arm. - </p> - <p> - Christopher presently stepped away with a sprightliness quite unusual, but - I had not the spirit to look up. Even returning footsteps and a low murmur - of voices failed to stir me. I was recalled by Christopher’s quiet remark: - </p> - <p> - “Some one to see you, sir.” - </p> - <p> - I sat up, and discovered a native lad with him. His loose dress of blouse, - trousers, and straw hat was of the commonest material. He was as unlike - the native men as I had observed the fan-bearer to be, but his manner was - shy and timid, lacking the careless defiance of hers. With a finger on his - lips he beckoned us to follow him. - </p> - <p> - In a secluded spot a little distance away, we sat down. My first surprise - was when he began to talk. In a musical voice, he groped for words that I - could understand, and in that way used a polyglot language, some words - badly pronounced, and others spoken with surprising correctness. - </p> - <p> - First, he enjoined secrecy, for should the king learn that he had come——The - lad finished with a grimace, and a swipe of the hand across his throat. He - made me pledge the sun to burn me up, the moon to strike me a stark - lunatic, and the stars to pierce me with their lances, should I betray his - confidence,—all this solemnly, but with a twinkle in the back of his - eye. - </p> - <p> - Second, he was Beelo, brother of the king’s fanbearer, Lentala, a good - girl in a way, but——A droll shake of his head left her in the - air. Lentala and he were protégés of the king and queen, and enjoyed - uncommon privileges, having been members of the king’s household since - childhood. The queen was very sweet and gentle, and they were fond of her. - She had no children of her own. - </p> - <p> - And, third, Lentala wished Beelo to come surreptitiously to me in order to - learn English. She had a special reason for that. Neither the king nor any - of the other natives must know. That was all. Would I teach him, that he - in turn might instruct her? - </p> - <p> - Our conversation, carried on in a mixture of languages, must be here given - in English. - </p> - <p> - “Indeed, I will, and gladly, Beelo!” I exclaimed; “but why not bring - Lentala, that I may teach you together?” I seized his hand in my joy of - this heavensent opportunity. It was a small, delicate hand. - </p> - <p> - “She <i>can’t</i> come,” he answered. - </p> - <p> - “Why not?” - </p> - <p> - “Why—she’s a girl!” - </p> - <p> - “But she might come with you.” I was pleased with the discovery that the - savage girl had the fine instinct which establishes self-guarding and - self-respecting conventions. - </p> - <p> - “The distance is long. Girls have to wear skirts, you know, and girls are - not as active as boys. Lentala, with her skirts, would be seen, and the - king would find out. I can slip through anywhere.” - </p> - <p> - I nodded resignedly. Only with the greatest difficulty could I refrain - from asking him many questions; but how did I know that he was not a spy? - In establishing relations with him I was playing with every life in the - colony. I observed Christopher. His air of listening to distant voices was - not present, and I felt reassured for the moment. - </p> - <p> - Beelo was anxious to begin; and he had his first lesson. Never had I found - so eager and sweet-tempered a pupil, and his quickness was extraordinary. - I drilled him first in the names of familiar objects. - </p> - <p> - “What is your name?” he plumped at me. - </p> - <p> - “Tudor.” - </p> - <p> - “Tudor.” He caught it with a snap, as though it were a ball. “You have - another name?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes—Joseph.” - </p> - <p> - He began a comical struggle with the J, laboriously twisting his tongue - and lips as he pronounced the first syllable <i>Cho</i> as the Chinese, <i>Yo</i> - as the German, <i>Zho</i> as the French, and <i>Ho</i> as the Spanish; but - the English eluded him, and he gave it up, laughing sweetly. Often during - the lesson I saw in his handsome deep-blue eyes—which were maturer - than the rest of him—a dash of the mischief, the teasing, and the - challenge that gave Lentala her sparkle. - </p> - <p> - “What is your name?” he demanded of Christopher, and pronounced it - perfectly. - </p> - <p> - Christopher was gravely regarding the lad, who appeared disconcerted under - the scrutiny. That disturbed me; but if the boy was seeking our undoing he - would have to reckon with Christopher. - </p> - <p> - He was curious about Annabel, and sent her affectionate messages from - Lentala. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo,” I demanded, “where did you learn all those words from foreign - languages?” - </p> - <p> - Taken by surprise, he was confused and a little frightened, and had the - look of a child preparing a fib. - </p> - <p> - “Other people have been shipwrecked here,” he answered, peering at me from - under his brows. “I learned from them.” - </p> - <p> - “What became of them?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He raised his head, and answered, “The king said he sent them away.” - </p> - <p> - “Did you visit them secretly?” - </p> - <p> - “N—o.” He began to play with twigs on the ground. - </p> - <p> - “Were they herded in this valley?” - </p> - <p> - “No.” His answer was firmer. “There was never more than one or a very few - at a time.” - </p> - <p> - I sat silent so long that he looked up, and showed alarm. - </p> - <p> - “Tell me the truth, lad,” I insisted, holding his eyes. “Where did you - learn those words?” A startling suspicion suddenly came. “The gold in your - hair, the blue in your eyes, the fine lines of your face,———” - </p> - <p> - He began to edge away, and I saw flight in him; but I caught his wrist. - </p> - <p> - “Tell me the truth,” I repeated. - </p> - <p> - He gazed at me in fear and pleading, but found no yielding, and with - provoking indifference shrugged his shoulders and settled down with a - pouting, martyr-like resignation. - </p> - <p> - “You are hurting my wrist,” he remarked. - </p> - <p> - “Answer me,” I demanded, tightening my grip. “Hasn’t white blood mingled - with some of the native blood here?” - </p> - <p> - His lips were compressed under the pain of my clasp, and an angry - resentment steadied his gaze. - </p> - <p> - “Yes!” he answered, and a sudden change lit his face, as I unprisoned the - wrist. “Don’t scare me that way again,” he said, half impudently shaking - his head at me. - </p> - <p> - It seemed best to desist from pressing the matter further, and pleasant - relations were soon re-established between us; but the matter seated - itself in a corner of my mind. - </p> - <p> - Our lesson was delightful, and time escaped more smoothly than we knew. - Beelo glanced at the sky, and sprang to his feet. He sweetly smiled his - thanks, seized one of Christopher’s great paws and vigorously shook it, - asked me and Christopher to meet him at the same spot tomorrow at the same - hour, and was darting away. I called him back, and led him to an opening - through which the face on the cliff was visible. - </p> - <p> - “What is that?” I asked, pointing to it. - </p> - <p> - He caught his breath, stood rigid, and slowly turned his face up to mine. - </p> - <p> - “That on the cliff? It is nothing—only stone.” - </p> - <p> - “It is more,” I insisted. “It sits there, it looks down threateningly on - the valley; it says as plainly as speech——” - </p> - <p> - “No, no!” cried Beelo, seizing my arm with both hands, and gazing up into - my eyes. “It is one of the gods. The people invoke it—you may see - the altar fire on the opposite cliff some night when there is a great - storm and the sea is raging. The god brings fish to the king’s net.” - </p> - <p> - He broke off abruptly, and with alarm clapped his palm to his mouth. I put - my hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. His manner grew composed, - and he darted away and disappeared. - </p> - <p> - On returning to camp I told Captain Mason of the adventure. He was deeply - interested, and sat in thought. - </p> - <p> - “You’ve struck a lead,” he said. “Follow it—cautiously.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER IV.—Behind a Laughing Mask. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Captain Mason Strengthens the Defense. The Extraordinary Behavior of - Beelo. Christopher Becomes a Savage. Hidden Motives Half Disclosed. Hope.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">F</span>ORSEEING the time - when a visible danger would bring mob-madness to the colony, Captain Mason - gave his entire attention to strengthening his control. To that end he - kept every one engaged at something, laughed away all fears and doubts, - placed all on honor not to breed discontent, and required that all - discussions of the situation be with him alone. - </p> - <p> - He impressed the danger of leaving the camp limits except in large parties - organized under his authority. No spying savages were ever seen in the - forest backing the camp, but I frequently found the captain using his keen - eyes in that direction. The questions weighing on him were: When would the - king ask for the first member of the colony to be sent away? What plan - would be adopted in the selection? What would really become of the persons - so taken? What should be done when the first call was made for - deportation? - </p> - <p> - Christopher and I alone were in the president’s confidence. On the second - night he informed us that he had selected a spot which would serve as a - fortress if occasion rose, and instructed Christopher in the art of making - weapons, chiefly stone-headed clubs and blackjacks. This work was done - secretly in our cabin. - </p> - <p> - The daily teaching of Beelo developed a new interest in the fact that, - before I was aware, I was a pupil as well as a tutor, and that Beelo was - as assiduous in instructing Christopher as me; he was evidently anxious - that we should master the native language. I was glad to humor him, - especially as I suspected an intelligent purpose. Above that was my - growing affection for him. He perfected his poor English so rapidly that I - was put on my mettle to learn the island tongue. - </p> - <p> - It was a simple task, and we came to use it entirely. To my surprise, - Christopher learned it as readily as I. From the very start he had helped - Beelo to turn the teaching in that direction. The strangest element of all - this procedure was the quick and sure understanding that sprang up between - these two. - </p> - <p> - Beelo one day brought a large parcel. He was particularly happy, and as - full of play as a kitten. - </p> - <p> - “You can’t guess what I have for you,” he said with a mischievous look. - </p> - <p> - “No, Beelo—what?” - </p> - <p> - “You’ll see.” He was opening the parcel. “You and Christopher are going to - be Senatras.” Senatra was the name of the inhabitants. - </p> - <p> - He produced from the parcel two native costumes. In addition were a basin - and some brown powder. The boy was in glee as he separated the articles - into one array for Christopher and the other for me. - </p> - <p> - He ran to a little stream, fetched water in the basin, and with a comical - seriousness dissolved part of the powder. - </p> - <p> - “Your arm, Christopher,” he demanded. At times Beelo’s manner had a touch - of imperiousness that sat oddly with his youth. - </p> - <p> - Christopher obediently bared his powerful arm. - </p> - <p> - “Oh!” said Beelo in delight. “You have splendid muscles,—they are - like iron; and you are very strong,—that’s good.” His finger was - timid as it touched Christopher’s arm. - </p> - <p> - He dipped a cloth in the colored water, and rubbed the stain on - Christopher’s white skin. His care and gravity in comparing the tint with - the color of his own wrist, in shaking his head, in adding more pigment to - the water and trying again, and at last his delighted satisfaction, were - all very charming. - </p> - <p> - “Good!” he cried. “That’s the Senatra color. Now,” addressing me, “I’ll go - away a little while. You make a Senatra of Christopher.” To Christopher: - “Take off everything. Mr. Tudor will put the color all over you. Then you - put on Senatra clothes, and whistle for me.” - </p> - <p> - Patient Christopher would doubtless submit to any indignity that this - prankish boy might devise, but I proposed to put a stop to the nonsense. - Besides, how could I assume the ridiculous rôle that this young scamp, in - whom my indulgence had bred impudence, intended for me? - </p> - <p> - “Christopher will do nothing of the sort,” I peremptorily said. - </p> - <p> - The lad stopped short and looked at me curiously. - </p> - <p> - “I want to, sir,” Christopher interposed, much to my surprise. - </p> - <p> - “You do? You wish to submit to this foolishness?” - </p> - <p> - “Foolishness, sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - He reflected a while, and then said: - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps it ain’t jest foolishness, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” I agreed, willing to humor him; “But Beelo will stay here and - put the color on you himself.” - </p> - <p> - Alarm sprang to the boy’s face. - </p> - <p> - “I won’t!” he answered defiantly, and was turning away, but I caught him - by the arm. - </p> - <p> - “You will,” I said. “I’ll see that you do.” - </p> - <p> - He slipped from my grasp and stood away, laughing. - </p> - <p> - “I want to do it myself, sir,” meekly said Christopher. - </p> - <p> - Beelo precipitately fled. - </p> - <p> - Why not play with these children? A man who would not was a churl. So - Christopher was arrayed as a Senatra, and a whistle called Beelo back. - </p> - <p> - He danced delightedly round the pitiful figure that Christopher made. It - hurt me to see not only how patiently Christopher submitted, but how - wholly he entered into the spirit of the masquerade. His pale eyes looked - ghastly in his brown face. I called Beelo’s attention to that. - </p> - <p> - “Oh, that won’t be seen at night!” he exclaimed. The remark did not - impress me at the moment. - </p> - <p> - He put Christopher through numerous gaits and tricks of manner peculiar to - the Senatras, and praised him for his aptness. Finally, when he taught his - pupil the art of creeping stealthily and noiselessly, the man was so - terrible that I forgot his grotesqueness. - </p> - <p> - All through this singular performance, Beelo, even though half playful, - displayed astonishing perseverance and thoroughness, as if life itself - depended on the perfection of the drill. That might not have looked so - strange had it not been for the extraordinary care of Christopher himself - to accomplish a perfect imitation. Then the significance of it all burst - upon me. - </p> - <p> - I had vowed a thousand times since first knowing Christopher that never - again would I underrate his wisdom, yet over and over I found myself doing - so. While he never laughed in his romping with the children of the camp, - but went into their sports with his habitual tender melancholy, he never - showed with them the hidden eagerness, the almost desperate determination, - that marked his training under Beelo. Thus I came to see that at the very - beginning Christopher had discovered a vital meaning in Beelo’s playing. - </p> - <p> - “And now,” cried Beelo, “you will be a Senatra, Mr. Tudor! Christopher - will dress you. Come!” - </p> - <p> - The boy’s eyes softened in a moment under the new light that he found in - mine. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo,” I said, taking his hand, “let’s sit down and talk.” I seated - myself, but he withdrew his hand and sat a little distance away. “No,” I - gently insisted; “here, facing me, and close.” - </p> - <p> - He twisted himself round to the spot I indicated, and in doing so tossed - Christopher a wry mouth. I noticed more clearly how fine his features - were, and with what grace his long lashes curved. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo, do you really wish Christopher and me to be Senatras?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He nodded, and, turning to Christopher, told him to go to the runnel, wash - off the stain and put on his own clothes. Christopher meekly went. Beelo - began playing with twigs on the ground, and did not look at me. - </p> - <p> - “Did Lentala tell you to do this?” - </p> - <p> - He nodded again—a little irritatingly, for he had a tongue. - </p> - <p> - “Why?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He raised his eyes and regarded me steadily. Then, perhaps not seeing all - that he sought, he made no answer, and returned to the twigs. - </p> - <p> - “I want to understand, Beelo, and you must trust me. Many things come to - me now. Your sister’s conduct at the feast meant that she wished us to - obey the king. She showed us sincere kindness in every look and act. And - her great difference from the other people,—her sweetness, her - grace, her beauty, her brightness of mind, her altogether adorable charm,———” - </p> - <p> - Beelo blazed in a way that stopped my rhapsody. He had raised his face; - his lips were apart; his eyes glowed with a proud light that moved me - strangely. - </p> - <p> - “You like my sister?” he softly asked. - </p> - <p> - “Who would not?” - </p> - <p> - “But <i>you!</i>” The boy impatiently tossed his head. - </p> - <p> - The little gesture was so pretty that I involuntarily smiled. Beelo - misunderstood. He flashed angrily, and resumed the twigs. I could only - grope. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t understand why the king sent us here. We are prisoners, and that - is something which brave men won’t stand. We would rather die fighting.” - </p> - <p> - Again he studied me, and again looked down. - </p> - <p> - “Why didn’t the king let us build boats, and leave?” - </p> - <p> - He gave no answer, but was very busy with the twigs. I wondered if I were - rash in some of the things I was saying. Clearly the moment of confidence - had not arrived. The boy was studiedly cautious. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo, go to your sister and beg her to come and see me. She will trust - me more than you do. I know she is our friend. She would tell us what fate - is awaiting us.” - </p> - <p> - “No, she wouldn’t,” firmly interposed the boy. - </p> - <p> - “She would, because she is sweet and kind.” - </p> - <p> - “No, she loves her people, and you might do them harm.” - </p> - <p> - “But she sends you here to disguise us as natives and to train us in the - art of deceiving and outwitting them.” - </p> - <p> - Had his smile not been so winning I could have slapped him for his - insolence; but it was soon evident that a mighty struggle was proceeding - under his assumed carelessness. If I could only guess at its nature I - might know how to proceed. - </p> - <p> - “Bring Lentala to me, Beelo. She would be safe with you, and she will - understand and will trust me.” - </p> - <p> - “Why? Her skin is brown. You would not trust her.” He was closely - observing me. - </p> - <p> - “What difference can her color make!” I impatiently retorted. “Lentala is - an angel.” - </p> - <p> - “But a brown skin means———” A look of horror swept over - his face. - </p> - <p> - “Lentala is beautiful and kind and true. Tell her to come.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo was silent. - </p> - <p> - “Why should she not trust me?” I persisted. “How could I harm her?” - </p> - <p> - The boy, nervously arranging the twigs, spoke rapidly, but did not look - up: - </p> - <p> - “She’s afraid,—not for herself, but her people. They love her. She - would never betray them. Suppose she came,—you would be gentle to - her; you would tell her she was beautiful and—and all that nonsense. - You might try to get her to tell you things. And you would find out how to———Yes, - you might come back and plot with your men, and there would be a great - fight with my people and many would be killed. That would be terrible.” - </p> - <p> - I dimly understood at last: Lentala would trust her brother, not herself, - in the mysterious plan that she was working out. - </p> - <p> - Christopher had returned. I beckoned to him to sit with us. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo,” I said, “look at me.” He complied. “If Lentala were here she - could read my heart. All that you have said means that she mistrusts me. I - understand more than you think I do. You have already shown your - confidence and Lentala’s by offering to train me as a native. A wise and - generous purpose is in that. By means of the disguise, you wish me to - learn some things that will benefit my people, but you are held back by - your fear that I will use the knowledge to injure you.” - </p> - <p> - “No,” he hastily interrupted; “only my people.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well. But you have already shown trust. You simply want more - assurance that I will keep faith with you. Tell me what you want. I will - put my life in pawn,—I will give it, if that is demanded.” - </p> - <p> - His deep eyes were profoundly fixed upon me. In that moment Beelo - disclosed a soul that had found maturity. - </p> - <p> - “You would do all for your people!” he impatiently cried. “You think only - of them! Lentala and Beelo may do everything for you, but you never think - what you might do for—Lentala and Beelo.” - </p> - <p> - The half-revelation in the passionate outburst brought me to my feet, and - the lad slowly came to his. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo!” I said, “I hadn’t thought it possible. You and she are the - favorites of the king and queen. You have everything you want. I don’t - understand. Trust me! I can be a friend.” - </p> - <p> - He was looking up at me with eyes in which a pathetic anxiety struggled - with fears. Instead of addressing me, he turned to Christopher and - confidently took his hand. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” he said, “do you like me—and Lentala?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, yes!” - </p> - <p> - “Very much?” - </p> - <p> - Christopher solemnly nodded. - </p> - <p> - “If—if we want to go away with you and your people, would you take - us?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, yes!” - </p> - <p> - “And be kind to us?” - </p> - <p> - “Me?” He turned to me, and so did Beelo. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Christopher.” - </p> - <p> - “<i>He</i> will,” was the answer. - </p> - <p> - Beelo, seized with one of his unexpected whirlwinds, threw his arms round - Christopher, and laughed. - </p> - <p> - I turned him about, and, holding both his hands, looked smilingly into his - brilliant eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Show me the way to serve you and your sister, Beelo,” I said. “I alone, - or Christopher and I together, will obey any instructions from you; we - will do whatever you say, go wherever you direct,—cut ourselves off - from every protection except yours. Isn’t our trust complete?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Yoseph—Choseph,” he banteringly answered. Then, in a flash, “I - mean Mr. Tudor.” - </p> - <p> - “Joseph—to you,” I returned. - </p> - <p> - He put his mouth through contortions over the F, and finally, with a - restful gasp, blurted out: - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” - </p> - <p> - His gentleness overwhelmed me, and I, being naturally affectionate, and - timid only with women, forgot my feeling of constraint toward him, and - caught him in my arms. But he did not have for me the pressure and the - laughter that he had given Christopher. On the contrary, he resisted and - then sprang away. - </p> - <p> - I wondered what thoughts were perplexing him as he stood off, regarding me - in his odd little quizzical fashion, and was astounded when he said: - </p> - <p> - “Lentala says that Annabel is beautiful and lovely.” I could not imagine - what had suggested Annabel to him at this particular moment, but I hastily - agreed. He seemed not altogether pleased, but went on: - </p> - <p> - “You like her very much?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes; very much indeed.” - </p> - <p> - He looked a little sullen, but soon recovered, and broke out in a very - rush of gay spirits. In a short time he suddenly became grave. - </p> - <p> - “I must go,” he said. With a gentle, pleading look at me, he asked: “Won’t - you be a Senatra? Christopher will help you.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Beelo,—anything you wish.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well. I will come every day for—maybe three days, and teach - Christopher. You will watch us. When you and Christopher are alone, he - will teach you. But you must dress every time as a Senatra!” - </p> - <p> - “Of course.” My relief was great. For some incomprehensible reason I did - not wish the boy to train me, for that would have necessitated a - disagreeable loss of dignity before him. - </p> - <p> - “Good! And in three or four days,”—an oddly embarrassed expression - rose in his face,—“would you like to go with me—you and dear - old Christopher—to see—the beautiful—the kind—the - true—Lentala?” He was mocking. - </p> - <p> - “Yes!” I answered, and made an effort to catch him; but he darted away, - showering a cascade of laughter behind him. - </p> - <p> - So I was right in supposing that Beelo had been preparing us to penetrate - the mysteries beyond the valley ramparts, and lift the veil behind which - our fate was hidden. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” I cried in my joy, seizing him by the shoulder; “do you - understand?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER V.—The Opening of a Pit. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Insolence and Rebellion in Camp. A Riot Averted. I Train for a - Dangerous Rôle. Plotting Among Us for the Destruction of the Colony.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HEN Christopher - began my training and pursued it with such amazing thoroughness, my - feeling of being ridiculous disappeared. My love of adventure in these - preparations was mingled with other emotions,—the fascination of - hazard, a ===wish to risk everything for the colony, and a strong desire - to see Lentala and solve the mystery of her whole conduct. Beelo was a - will-o’-the-wisp. - </p> - <p> - Complications arose in camp. Although I had taken care to exercise my - authority in a bland way, it became necessary at times to be severe. My - greatest difficulty was inability to find the source of a disaffection - working insidiously among the young men. Captain Mason had not observed - it, lacking my opportunity, and I decided to be more positive and to find - evidence before laying the matter before him. - </p> - <p> - I was intimately thrown with the men by directing the work on the farm. - The labor was exhausting on account of the heat. For this reason, and - because some men could bear the work better than others, and liked it, I - called out only volunteers; but selfishness on the part of some who - shirked brought grumbling. At first I had supposed that this was the - origin of the dissatisfaction, but presently a deeper cause appeared to be - in operation. As a test, and to secure fairness, I adopted a system of - levying on all the able-bodied men and requiring each to do his share in - turn. - </p> - <p> - In that way I came down on Rawley, who had never volunteered. When I - informed him one evening that his turn in the fields would come next day, - he stared at me in insolent silence. - </p> - <p> - That incident alone was not significant, but it made me alert, and I - instructed Christopher to keep a strict and secret watch on the camp. A - present necessity was to force the issue with Rawley, whose bearing was a - threat to the harmony and safety of the colony. - </p> - <p> - He had not taken the trouble to absent himself from the tables when I - called out the tale of men for the fields next morning, but lounged at - indolent unconcern. Annabel was not visible. Mr. Vancouver, sitting near - Rawley, had a suspiciously waiting air. - </p> - <p> - The young man did not rise with the others and prepare to go, but merely - stared at me. I went near and said in a low voice: - </p> - <p> - “These men will resent your refusal.” - </p> - <p> - “Are you threatening me?” he said under his breath. - </p> - <p> - “Give my remark whatever construction you please,” I answered. - </p> - <p> - He could not hide his anger and fear, for a glance showed him a - disquieting expression in the faces of the forty men waiting. Mr. - Vancouver looked surprised and irritated as he studied them. The men in - whom rebellion was stirring were such as he had always directed and - commanded,—artisans, mechanics, clerks, sturdy and spirited every - one, and loving fair play. - </p> - <p> - “Save yourself further trouble,” Rawley drawled in an effort to be - nonchalant. “I’ll go—if I feel like it, and when I’m ready.” - </p> - <p> - Although the men could not hear him, they understood, and a murmur arose. - One of them angrily said: “He’s too good to work.” - </p> - <p> - Then came the outbreak. - </p> - <p> - “Put him under arrest! Duck him in the river! The snob!” - </p> - <p> - Annabel suddenly appeared. The men at once desisted, and she understood - the situation at a glance. Her astonishment grew as her look of angry - reproach at Rawley passed to her father and found him silent and pale, as - though for the first time he had seen the spirit of the common American. - </p> - <p> - She came to me and said: “Don’t make trouble now. Be patient. You can find - a way.” - </p> - <p> - I turned to the men. - </p> - <p> - “Gentlemen,” I said, “I must remind you that you have not been empowered - by the colony to enforce its discipline. In this instance it is my task - alone, and I propose to handle it as I think best, without your - assistance, unless I call on you for it. Your attitude and remarks just - now were rebellious, and, if allowed by those in authority, would disrupt - us and place us at the mercy of savages. Leave this matter to me, and - depend on me to see it properly adjusted. Mr. Vancouver needs Mr. Rawley - today. Now to our work.” My speech affected the men in two quite different - ways. Some, with a submissive glance at Mr. Vancouver who was watching me - curiously, were instantly satisfied; others looked a little confused and - rebellious, and were not cheerful in their obedience. They appeared a - trifle uneasy, as though something might be afoot and they had not been - informed. All of this sharpened my alertness. - </p> - <p> - After the day’s work I had doubts as to whether I should report the - incident to Captain Mason, who had not been present. I felt that something - of an underground nature was at work, and that Mr. Vancouver was its - focus. I could make allowance for a man shattered by adversity, but I - supposed that Mr. Vancouver might have gathered himself up during the - weeks we had been held as prisoners. - </p> - <p> - It turned out that he had. When Christopher came to give me my drill in - the forest near the camp that day he brought disturbing information. Mr. - Vancouver and Rawley, in order to be alone, had gone into the forest after - I left for the fields, and talked. All that Christopher could learn was - that Mr. Vancouver was carrying on secret negotiations with the king, and - that a messenger from the palace was expected at a certain place within - the forest in an hour. - </p> - <p> - My lesson was short that day. I sent Christopher to Captain Mason to - report what he had heard, and to say that I would take the place of the - native in the interview, if possible, trusting to the completeness of my - disguise as a Senatra. Christopher was to be near for an emergency. - </p> - <p> - Skirting the spot where Mr. Vancouver was to meet the native, I - intercepted him. It sickened me to see the sly confidence with which he - approached. Meanwhile, I was aware of the great danger of discovery by the - genuine messenger, for I knew the trailing skill of the natives, even - though I led Mr. Vancouver as far from the meeting-place as necessary. But - Christopher, who had acquired the native slyness, would know how to handle - any embarrassing situation. - </p> - <p> - The discovery of Mr. Vancouver’s seeming treachery had so disturbed me - that I had some doubt of myself in the interview. The simple solution - offered by strangling the man in the forest kept hammering at me with a - dangerous persistency. We had taken it for granted that his interest in - the colony was strong; no watch had been set on his liberty, which he had - used in plotting. - </p> - <p> - I was measurably collected by the time we had seated ourselves on the - ground. Being totally in the dark as to what had gone before, I was forced - to extreme caution, and in addition was some danger of my betraying myself - or of his discovering that I was not a native. - </p> - <p> - “Why didn’t the other man come?” he demanded in his old peremptory manner. - </p> - <p> - In confusion, not knowing what degree of proficiency in English to assume, - I gave some answer in a lame speech, the inconsistency of which he might - have detected had he been less absorbed. - </p> - <p> - “What is the king’s plan?” he asked. - </p> - <p> - “He wants to know yours first,” I answered. - </p> - <p> - I was prepared for his quick, half-suspicious look. “He knows what I - want,” was the sharp return. - </p> - <p> - “The other native didn’t know. He couldn’t tell the king very well.” - </p> - <p> - “This is my plan,” went on Mr. Vancouver: “I make some good, strong men - think that Captain Mason does nothing, but sits down and waits for us all - to be killed. This is secret. A fellow named Hobart is my leader. The - young men are ready to go with him out of the valley. The king will tell - the guard to seize them and take them to the palace. That will get rid of - the best fighters in the colony.” - </p> - <p> - “What will the young men think they go for?” I inquired. - </p> - <p> - “What difference does that make,” he testily demanded, “so long as they - are out of the way?” - </p> - <p> - “The king must know.” I was solid and firm. - </p> - <p> - “I’ll make them think they can pass the guard; then they’ll find a way for - the colony to escape, and will come back and tell me.” - </p> - <p> - “But they are not to come back.” - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver was silent, and his impatience grew. “You will send them - into a trap?” I persisted. Again his suspicious scrutiny. “Does the king - want them to come back?” he asked. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know. But he wants your plan.” - </p> - <p> - “If they don’t come back,” Mr. Vancouver explained, “Captain Mason will be - blamed for not knowing they were to go. Then his power will be gone. The - colony will break up.” - </p> - <p> - The ghastly perfection of the scheme overcame me for a moment, but I must - learn what benefits Mr. Vancouver expected from this wholesale sacrifice. - </p> - <p> - “What do you want of the king?” - </p> - <p> - “I and my daughter and a young man named Rawley are to be taken care of, - and——” - </p> - <p> - “You mean not killed?” - </p> - <p> - He writhed and reddened under the question, and under my sullen - insistence. - </p> - <p> - Instead of answering, he hurried on: “I will show the king how to work the - gold, silver, copper, diamond, and other mines, and how to make much money - out of them. I will make treaties with other countries, and build forts, - and make him a strong army. All this has to be done sooner or later, or - the island will be taken.” - </p> - <p> - “What is to be done with the other white people?” I demanded. - </p> - <p> - “The king knows.” - </p> - <p> - “If I can’t tell him he’ll send me back.” - </p> - <p> - After a struggle with his anger, Mr. Vancouver said, “The king knows what - he has done with other castaways.” - </p> - <p> - “What do you think he has done with them?” - </p> - <p> - He started at me in a struggle with his patience, and said nothing. - </p> - <p> - “Do you think they were sent away?” I returned. - </p> - <p> - His fury broke. “No!” he exclaimed, and then suddenly checked himself. - </p> - <p> - “Then you think they are here yet?” I drove in. - </p> - <p> - He rose in a passion. “Tell the king to send me a man who isn’t a fool!” - he stormed. - </p> - <p> - “I will tell him,” I quietly said, rising and starting away; but he halted - me. - </p> - <p> - “Why do you ask those questions?” he said more composedly. - </p> - <p> - “The king told me to. He wants to know if he can trust you. If you want - these people sent away,——” - </p> - <p> - “I don’t! That would ruin everything. They’d send armies and war-ships, - and——” - </p> - <p> - “Then, kept here—alive?” - </p> - <p> - “Certainly not! They’d kill me.” - </p> - <p> - I had known this to be the answer that I would wring from him; still the - renewed impulse to strangle him was almost overpowering. - </p> - <p> - “I will tell the king,” I duly said, and was turning away, when another - idea came. “Maybe he will first send for a man from your people. Which one - do you want to go before the young men?” - </p> - <p> - “Tudor, Captain Mason’s assistant,” he answered with a vicious promptness. - “Then, as soon as the young men are gone, I and my daughter and Rawley - will go, and I will talk and plan with the king while the soldiers do - their work here.” - </p> - <p> - The humor that I found in the turn, personal to me, which the situation - had taken, lightened my spirit, and I thought of something else. - </p> - <p> - “Did the king send you any word about Lentala, his fan-bearer?” - </p> - <p> - “I talked with the man about her. I knew there was some mystery about her - and that she was close to the king. I asked that she be sent to make the - plans with me.” - </p> - <p> - His halt whetted my anxiety. “What did he say?” - </p> - <p> - “That she must know nothing about it, or she would break the plot.” - </p> - <p> - My heart choked me with its bounding. I had gained more than I had lost, - but my heart was sore for Annabel. - </p> - <p> - “I must go,” I said. “Next time I come I will go to your hut in the night. - Don’t come into these woods again. The soldiers——” - </p> - <p> - He understood, and looked relieved. After he had disappeared I sat down in - a daze, trying to reason out the tangle. Rawley was in the plot, but - Annabel was innocent. - </p> - <p> - A sound made me raise my head, and I saw Christopher and Captain Mason - standing before me. Christopher’s face wore its customary vacancy, but - Captain Mason’s had a startled look, as though he had beheld what is not - good for a man to see. It appeared to have shriveled him. - </p> - <p> - “Before Christopher summoned me,” he dully said without any preliminary, - “he found the native and sent him away. We have heard every word that - passed between you and Mr. Vancouver.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER VI.—Witcheries in Hand. - </h2> - <p> - <i>A Dangerous Mood. Annabel’s Tangled Situation. Heroism in Humble - Duties. The Miracle Worked by Gentleness. Traitors Are Threatened.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>OT a word was - spoken after I had dressed and we were returning to camp, but Captain - Mason’s walk lacked its usual firmness. What would he do? There is no - accounting for the rashness of a man made suddenly desperate, and I - remembered the temptation to strangle that had assailed me. Clearly, for - the present, Christopher and I must not leave him alone for a moment. My - imagination constructed this scene: Captain Mason, assembling the colony, - telling them briefly that a man among them had been caught in the act of - plotting to destroy us, turning upon Mr. Vancouver and pointing him out as - the criminal, ordering me to tell off a squad and hang the knave in the - presence of the crowd; and Annabel——Could Christopher and I - stay the flood now while the dam was straining? I feared not; a finer hand - was needed. - </p> - <p> - We went to our hut. Captain Mason seated himself on a stool. Christopher - gave him some water, which was eagerly drunk. With a significant look at - Christopher, I left the hut. - </p> - <p> - There was a good excuse for bringing Annabel now; I had promised Beelo - that he should see her. It was necessary to secure Captain Mason’s assent, - and I had no doubt that he would agree with me that a friendship between - her and Lentala might go farther toward solving our problems than all our - masculine wit and fighting ability. - </p> - <p> - I reflected on the extraordinary complications in which Annabel would be - involved, and the softening pressure which she would assist in bringing - upon Captain Mason. There was no immediate danger from Mr. Vancouver. He - lay snugly in the hollow of my hand. - </p> - <p> - Annabel was busy about the camp. - </p> - <p> - “Where is Christopher?” she cheerily asked. “It is time for him to make - the fire for supper.” - </p> - <p> - “Captain Mason has him,” I answered. “Won’t you come with me and call on - our president?” - </p> - <p> - “I?” in surprise. - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - A flush mottled her cheeks, but she hesitated only a moment. - </p> - <p> - “Father won’t care, I know,” she said, and started with me. - </p> - <p> - She was bareheaded, and the witcheries of the twilight drifted over her. - In the distance sang the deep monotone of the waterfall. Drowsy - twitterings announced that the busy little people of the trees were - content after their day’s work. From the edges of the stream rose - comfortable whispers between the water and the reeds. The lightly moving - air swung odorous censers in the trees, and every flower poured out as - perfume the sunshine which had filled its chalice. It was good to be thus - again side by side with Annabel. - </p> - <p> - I explained tomorrow’s plan for her meeting with Beelo, and impressed upon - her the importance of keeping it secret. She showed the glee of a quiet - child in her acquiescence, but she must have wondered why her father was - not to know. - </p> - <p> - “An adventure!” she exclaimed. “And mystery! It is delightful. Do you men - with so much freedom know how depressing it is to be cooped up in this - camp?” - </p> - <p> - I had not thought of it, and was surprised. Annabel had always been - cheerful, and I had not observed the other women. - </p> - <p> - “Isn’t it life,” I asked, “for men to work and women to wait, for men to - dare and women to endure?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” she answered, looking up at me with a smile, “but isn’t it a - remnant of savagery?” - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps,” I returned. “Yet Lentala, the savage, appears in her - independence to have solved some latter-day feminine problems. I hope you - will meet her soon. Then you and she can formulate a code for your sex. We - are going to see Captain Mason in order to secure his consent to your - meeting her brother. So you must exercise your subtlest graces on our - president.” - </p> - <p> - “I—I’m afraid of him,” she declared in some trepidation. - </p> - <p> - “Why?” - </p> - <p> - “Because he is stern and silent and cold and——” - </p> - <p> - “That is all on the surface. His sea-training has given it to him. - Underneath he has a woman’s gentleness and kindness. Trust him. Look for - the best in him and ignore the rest. Just now he is worried and needs all - the sunshine that you know so well how to give.” - </p> - <p> - She smiled her thanks, but there was concern in her question: - </p> - <p> - “Worried! Has anything special happened?” - </p> - <p> - “Was anything special needed? His responsibilities are great.” - </p> - <p> - Annabel was silent,—not daring, I know, to ask more questions. She - had unfolded to my comprehension what the women of our party had been - suffering patiently and silently during the dreary weeks that they had - been held in prison. Annabel must have borne more than any other; yet she - had held up her heart and her head. Dread must have sat on her pillow - through many a long hour of the night, but her soul walked forth with the - sunrise. - </p> - <p> - Christopher was sitting on a bench outside the hut. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” she cried, “the fire isn’t made yet;” but there was no - chiding in her rosy smile. - </p> - <p> - “No, ma’am,” he answered, rising, but standing still. - </p> - <p> - “Go and make it now, please,” she said. - </p> - <p> - “All well, Christopher?” I asked, low. - </p> - <p> - His slow nod held a doubt. There was always in Christopher’s manner a - suggestion that speech was largely a silly indulgence, and that animals - other than human beings made themselves intelligible without it. - </p> - <p> - He fetched a delicious drink which he had made from wild fruit, and served - Annabel with quite an air. Her voice carried music in its thanks. - </p> - <p> - Annabel bubbled with raillery and chatter. Presently my anxious ear heard - a stir within. I knew that the man nursing his hurt in the dusk was aware - of the invasion, and that he understood and resented my ruse in bringing - Annabel to disarm him. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” she said, handing him the calabash from which she had - drunk, “please go and make the fire and start the supper. After that, find - father; ask him to come here for me.” - </p> - <p> - Christopher mutely interrogated me, and I nodded. He shambled away. - </p> - <p> - “Come out and join us, Captain Mason!” I called. - </p> - <p> - It left him no choice. The darkness kindly falling veiled the grayness of - his face. A touch of decrepitude lay on him as he stepped without and - greeted Annabel with a stiff and stately courtesy, for he was shy with - women of the higher world. The unsteadiness in his manner surprised - Annabel, whose sympathies were keen and quick. I had prepared her, and, - shocked though she evidently was, she met the situation bravely. - </p> - <p> - After some general talk, which was directed by me to show Annabel’s - suffering, her courage and helpfulness, I saw that Captain Mason was - softened. I then placed before him the plan concerning Annabel and Beelo. - It took the breath out of his body, and he peered at me in amazement - through the gloom. The perfect assurance with which I asked for his - concurrence, a hint that her discretion might be trusted, and a casual - remark that Christopher approved the idea, had effect. Annabel impulsively - rose, seized both his hands, and pleaded: - </p> - <p> - “Please let me go, Captain Mason. Who knows what good may not come of it?” - </p> - <p> - I don’t think she noticed the catch in his throat. It was the final - breaking up of the ice. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, you may go. But you’ll do nothing except as Mr. Tudor approves?” - </p> - <p> - “Nothing whatever, Captain Mason. Thank you.” - </p> - <p> - She released his hands and turned a beaming face to me. Pity for her - welled within me. That she and her father, between whom there was so - strong an attachment, should thus secretly proceed in opposite directions, - each deceiving the other, was a terrible thing. No human perception could - foresee the outcome, and, it gave me an uneasiness that she must have - dimly seen. - </p> - <p> - “You don’t look glad!” she said in astonishment. - </p> - <p> - “I am too happy for mere gladness, my friend,” I replied; “and may all the - good angels help you—and shield you!” - </p> - <p> - She heard the note of solemnity, and turned to Captain Mason. - </p> - <p> - “Is our situation so serious?” she asked him, a slight quaver in her - voice. - </p> - <p> - “Life can have no serious dangers for so brave a heart as yours,” he - answered. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver came up. I could feel a tigerish stealth in him. All danger - from an immediate clash between him and Captain Mason had been banished by - Annabel, but I knew that the future held dangers. I was glad that she and - I had become partners in the secrets and exactions of defense. With such - an ally as Christopher, and such a director as Captain Mason, we would - give an account of ourselves. - </p> - <p> - The captain hardened when Mr. Vancouver came. That gentleman playfully - scolded Annabel for running away, and was somewhat too affable toward the - silent, unresponsive sailor. Soon he tucked Annabel’s hand under his arm - and was leaving. - </p> - <p> - “Just a word, Mr. Vancouver,” said Captain Mason in a tone that stopped my - breathing. - </p> - <p> - “Well?” - </p> - <p> - “I unintentionally witnessed a scene this morning that I didn’t like. I - wish you to hear the order that I’ll give Mr. Tudor.” His voice was - ominously quiet. - </p> - <p> - “Mr. Tudor,” he resumed, “order Rawley to fall in with the field squad - tomorrow. If he shows the slightest hesitation, clap him in irons and send - for me. There’s a rope for the neck of any man who undermines the - discipline of this colony.” - </p> - <p> - Annabel started, and reeled where she stood. Her father’s nostrils were - spreading with a sneering smile; but, seeing her state, he seized her arm, - steadied her with a word, and in silence led her away. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER VII.—Secrets For Two. - </h2> - <p> - <i>The Strange Meeting of Annabel and Beelo. Captain Mason’s Cruel - Decision. I Tell a Romantic Story and Make a Guess at Lentala’s Origin.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">C</span>APTAIN MASON and I - had a serious talk in our hut that night. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t think for a moment,” he said, “that my intentions with regard to - Vancouver have been upset by a woman’s pretty face.” - </p> - <p> - “But she is very lovely,” I interposed, anxious to turn his thoughts from - whatever purpose he might have. - </p> - <p> - “That is as one thinks.” I could not restrain a smile at his - ungraciousness, particularly as I saw that Annabel’s effect on him had - impaired his frankness. “For that matter,” he went on, “her father is - blindly planning her destruction.” In answer to my look he explained: “How - can a man let his avarice and cowardice make such a fool of him! Can’t he - see that the king is using him as a tool to disrupt and destroy the camp, - including him and his party?” - </p> - <p> - I knew, as well as I knew my own thoughts, that a terrible apprehension of - a fate worse than death for us all rested on him, as on me; but we had - dared not give it tongue. Both had seen the naïve inconsistency between - the king’s desire that the island should not be discovered and his promise - to send us away one at a time, and so had Mr. Vancouver. No foreigner - straying to the island had ever left it, and none except our colony was - alive on it today. But in what dreadful manner had they been disposed of? - And why had we been spared so long? We had been prisoners nearly two - months. - </p> - <p> - Whether these fears and speculations haunted others of the colony we were - both careful not to inquire, and were prompt in suppressing every - uncomfortable hint. Captain Mason and I understood that the perfect - cohesion of our colony, taken with our considerable numbers, offered the - sole hope for our safety; and Mr. Vancouver was secretly planning to - destroy our one means of defense. - </p> - <p> - We had been sitting in silence after Captain Mason’s last speech. He broke - it by saying: - </p> - <p> - “The situation is complex. Your interruption of Vancouver’s plot and - Christopher’s dismissal of the native require us to lay a counter train. - The king will infer from what Christopher told the native that Mr. - Vancouver has abandoned his scheme to betray the colony, and that we are - determined to hang together, and fight it out to the end. I imagine that - the natives are growing impatient for a victim. What do you suggest, Mr. - Tudor?” - </p> - <p> - “I suppose I should continue in the rôle of the king’s emissary and inform - Mr. Vancouver that the sending out of the young men is postponed. - Fortunately we have stopped that.” - </p> - <p> - “We have done nothing of the sort,” declared the president. “They shall go - out.” - </p> - <p> - Astonishment silenced me. - </p> - <p> - “They shall go out,” he drove into me again. - </p> - <p> - “To their destruction—and ours?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “No. But they must go and take their punishment. Then they will hear from - me. You can manage it through the native boy and his sister. Let her see - that they are soundly whipped and sent back to the colony. She’s our - friend.” - </p> - <p> - “That is unthinkable,” I protested. “The risk is too great. Lentala can’t——” - </p> - <p> - “Don’t underestimate her. You have your instructions, sir.” He rose. “I’ll - be on hand tomorrow when you call out the men for the fields.” - </p> - <p> - I had risen, and stood facing a commander instead of an ally. After a - moment’s struggle with desperately rebellious emotions, I saw my own - absurdity, and abruptly left without a word, to fight for patience and - wisdom under the stars. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - The smiling ease with which Rawley stepped forth when I called his name - with the others next morning might have disarmed me had I not caught a - look of understanding between him and Mr. Vancouver, and known what it - meant. My dread had been on Annabel’s account, but she did not appear. - </p> - <p> - Rawley worked faithfully in the fields that day, but I saw the furtive way - in which he talked now and then with certain of the men, and I noted all - whom he thus favored. None of them had a guilty manner, though a - concealing one. It was evidence of Mr. Vancouver’s shrewdness in plotting. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - Annabel met Christopher outside the camp that afternoon and came with him - to Beelo and me. The boy betrayed a singular uneasiness as they - approached, and, drawing his hat down, stood in awkward embarrassment. It - puzzled me, for he had been anxious to see her. In a glow of excitement, - Annabel was conspicuously handsome, and though dressed in the rougher of - the two suits which she had saved from the wreck, showed in every line the - thoroughbred that she was. Seeing the lad’s confusion, she spared him by - giving him hardly more than a smiling glance with her warm hand-clasp, and - breezily said to me as she held out an exquisite orchid: - </p> - <p> - “See what I found on the way. Isn’t it beautiful!” I took it and was - fumbling to put it in the buttonhole of my lapel, when she stepped up and - with frank comradeship adjusted it, remarking as she did so: - </p> - <p> - “He’s very much like his sister, but smaller, and not so pretty and - graceful.” She did not realize that he understood English. - </p> - <p> - “I thank you—for Lentala,” he constrainedly said, staring at her as - his eyes began to burn. - </p> - <p> - “Oh!” cried Annabel in amused surprise. “But you are quite too - good-looking for a boy, Beelo!” - </p> - <p> - He did not smile, but studied her with a disconcerting seriousness, and - looked from her to me, as though watching for something which I guessed to - be a sly understanding between Annabel and me that might mean ridicule of - him. I saw that Annabel had innocently blundered into a wrong start. - Evidently the pleasure that the lad had expected from the meeting had gone - astray. - </p> - <p> - As though the words were wrenched from him by the striking picture that - Annabel made, he said in a stolid, colorless voice: - </p> - <p> - “You are more beautiful than Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - “Hear his disloyalty to his sister!” laughingly exclaimed Annabel, but I - could see that the boy’s bearing was trying her composure. “Come!” she - added; “let’s be friends, for Lentala and I are, and I want you to tell me - about her.” She coaxingly held out her hand as to an ill-tempered child. - </p> - <p> - But he ignored it, and lowered his head till his hat-rim concealed his - eyes. Annabel looked at me in questioning surprise, but before I could say - anything,—being as much astonished as she,—Beelo, without - raising his head, asked half sullenly, half commandingly: - </p> - <p> - “Have you and—Choseph known each other a long time?” - </p> - <p> - “A year or so,” Annabel promptly answered, anxious to show her - friendliness. “He’s been very kind. I became a skilful horsewoman under - his teaching, and we’ve danced together and taken long walks in the - country. He knows a great many interesting things. You see, he was - educated at West Point, where young men are trained to be officers of our - army, and has fought in the war, and——” - </p> - <p> - Beelo broke in with a toss of the head and a laugh that sounded much like - a sneer. - </p> - <p> - Annabel opened her eyes and looked in wonder from the boy to me. She was - not laughing now; alarm was creeping into her face. I could think of - nothing to say, but was confident that the two fine souls would find a - way. - </p> - <p> - Without raising his face to Annabel, Beelo slowly looked round at me, and - regarded me deeply and in silence. Sadness stole into his eyes, and with - it reproach. The mystery of it touched me as I steadily returned his look. - </p> - <p> - As he did not speak, I did. “Beelo,” I kindly said, “I don’t understand - you, and I don’t like your conduct. You wished to see Annabel. To please - me, she kindly took the trouble to come and tried to be friendly to you. - But you treat her rudely. You are not worthy to touch her hand.” - </p> - <p> - He blazed and went rigid. For a moment he was choked with passion; then, - locking his hands behind him, and throwing back his head and shoulders, he - said loudly, while his nostrils quivered: - </p> - <p> - “No! I’m not worthy to touch her hand! I’m glad of it! You send fine words - to Lentala, who has not a white friend in the world! Then you bring the - white girl to Beelo, that Beelo may see how different they are and go back - to shame Lentala. Riding! Dancing! Walking! Ah, Beelo is a little fool,—a - fool no bigger that a toad! But he can be useful,—he can make - Lentala a fool too! And Lentala can be useful. She can trick King Rangan. - She shall be the tool of the white people who want to leave!” He paused - breathless, but there was more of despair than anger in his attitude. - </p> - <p> - Annabel had gone very white. She gave me a glance of new amazement, and - then went forward, seized Beelo’s arm, and forcibly turned him to look - into her eyes. With a start she straightened, looking at me strangely, as - if a great light had broken. - </p> - <p> - “There’s a misunderstanding,” she calmly said to Beelo and me as she - apologetically held the quivering figure. To me she added: “You and - Christopher please retire. I’ll call you soon.” - </p> - <p> - We left, and when screened and beyond earshot I gave Christopher a look of - wondering inquiry. He blinked benignly at me, as a dog at his foolish - master. - </p> - <p> - “What does it mean?” I demanded. - </p> - <p> - “Mean, sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “You are asking me, sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Of course.” - </p> - <p> - He looked away, but not with a listening manner, yet the mystery appeared - to demand it. I did not happen to remember that he was the most chivalrous - and the least meddlesome man I had ever known. - </p> - <p> - “Well, I’ll tell you, sir,” he presently said in his slow, gentle way; “it - will be all right.” - </p> - <p> - So it apparently was when Annabel called us back, for the two were - chatting amicably as they sat on the ground. Annabel’s serious mistake, by - which she had imperiled my plans, had been turned by her to excellent - account. - </p> - <p> - Christopher was waiting to conduct her back to camp; he would return, for - Beelo had informed me that there were matters which he wished to tell us - alone. The parting between him and Annabel was friendly and held promise, - but Beelo’s face was not wholly unclouded. Holding Annabel’s hand and - gazing into her face, he said, with a touch of sadness: - </p> - <p> - “Anybody would love you.” - </p> - <p> - Annabel blushed, and turned laughingly away. - </p> - <p> - “I’ll see you again very soon!” called the boy. - </p> - <p> - Annabel turned and blew him a smiling kiss. The lad stood and gazed long - at the spot where she was lost among the trees. - </p> - <p> - “You like her, Beelo?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - Much to my surprise, a little droop pulled at his mouth-corners. - </p> - <p> - “She is very lovely,” he softly said. - </p> - <p> - “Is that a thing to be sad about?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. Lentala can never be as sweet and beautiful.” - </p> - <p> - “She is as sweet and beautiful as Annabel, and—and—what shall - I say?—more fascinating.” - </p> - <p> - His face was turned away, and he was silent. After a while he faced me, - and said, while observing me closely: - </p> - <p> - “But she belongs to your kind, your world.” - </p> - <p> - “My heart finds my kind, and that is my world.” He again turned away. In - trying to find a reason why any of this mattered to him, or why he - appeared in a measure to resent Annabel, the old suspicion that had lodged - in a corner of my mind came forth. The remarkable difference between - Lentala and her brother on one hand and the natives on the other must have - some special explanation, and Beelo must have a secret which he had a good - reason for guarding. Christopher and I had probably been the only white - men to touch their lives, and there was in them that which knew and - claimed its own. It was a hungry demand, and jealous. To see the desired - companionship subject to an older claim, such as Annabel’s, was the - finding of a barrier. I determined to probe for the secret by indirect - means. - </p> - <p> - “The soul that finds its kind finds its world, Beelo,” I said, “and souls - have neither race nor color. Would you like to hear a strange little - story?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes!” he eagerly answered. - </p> - <p> - I sat down, and he seated himself facing me, keenly interested. - </p> - <p> - “A long time ago a white man—a gentleman, no doubt—was in a - ship that was sailing the seas. A great storm came on. His ship was - wrecked, and he was cast up on the beach of a beautiful tropical island. - It was decreed by the natives, who were jealous for their country, that he - should suffer the fate of all who had drifted before him to those shores. - But for some reason—that may be another story some time—he was - spared, and the king gave him a wife from among the native girls. Two - children were born to them, a girl and afterward a boy; but their father - had so strongly impressed his racial peculiarities on them that they were - in an unfortunate position,—outcasts in a way, and perhaps in danger - of their lives, by reason of the deeply planted native hatred for the - white blood. So the king, who had spared the man, took them under his - protection, and as the queen had no children, she loved them as her own. - But in time, as the children grew up, the white blood in them began to - starve for its kind, and to whisper of a far country whence it had come. - That is nature’s way. She lets us go just so far from the plan on which - she started us, and then she sends a voice that speaks deep within us. We - may not know at first what it says, but—” - </p> - <p> - “Just a longing?” Beelo asked - </p> - <p> - “Merely that. We want something very much, but don’t know what it is. We - are dissatisfied. That comes in youth, when the tides of life flow free, - and before the soul is fully awake. Afterward, when it has ripened and - mellowed, it finds its kind and makes its home wherever——” - </p> - <p> - “After a while. But now!” demanded Beelo. - </p> - <p> - I ignored him with a smile, and went back to the story. - </p> - <p> - “At last the sister had grown to womanhood and the brother nearly to - manhood. A much larger company of white people than had ever before been - stranded on the island came to its shores. The girl and the boy had been - spoiled by the king, and they had much their own way. The girl demanded - that she be taken with the king to see the castaways. It was the voice in - her heart.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo nodded, and then with nervous fingers began to weave a twig-house on - the sand. - </p> - <p> - “Do you like the story?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He looked up in surprise. “Is that all, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - “Isn’t that sufficient?” - </p> - <p> - He drew a deep breath. “She went there just to <i>see</i> them?” he said. - </p> - <p> - I smiled into his brilliant eyes. “I’ll tell you the rest of the story - some other time,” I remarked, satisfied, because at not a single point had - he criticized my guessing. “There is one thing more,” I went on. “Of - course the children adopted the native dress, but their father’s blood in - them had lightened their native color, and that must be overcome.” - </p> - <p> - His eyes kindled brighter; his lips had fallen apart. There was not a - movement in his body. - </p> - <p> - “Lad, how did you learn to stain a fair skin so well that it looks like a - native’s?” - </p> - <p> - With that I seized the collar of his blouse, to tear it open and see the - real color of his chest before he could prevent. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER VIII.—A Crumbling Edge. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Beelo’s Horror at the Fate Intended for Us. My Visit in Disguise to Mr. - Vancouver. Annabel’s Dramatic Defiance, and How She Was Humbled.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">B</span>EELO sprang away - and scampered into the forest as though Satan pursued. That gave me no - uneasiness. I gathered up his twigs and began laboriously to weave the - hut. - </p> - <p> - A gurgling laugh raised my head. Twenty feet away, in a direction opposite - to that in which Beelo had disappeared, I saw him lying on the ground, - kicking up his heels, and, his cheeks resting in his hands, mischievously - laughing at me. - </p> - <p> - “You haven’t gone?” I said. “Christopher will come soon, and I have - something to say to you first.” - </p> - <p> - He rose, came forward gingerly, and halted a safe distance away. I - sometimes wondered whether any other man would have borne with him at all. - The wretch knew that I had grown absurdly fond of him. - </p> - <p> - “What do you want to tell me?” he asked, as he crept nearer and - contemptuously regarded my hutbuilding effort. - </p> - <p> - In a few words I frankly told him of my experience as a Senatra with Mr. - Vancouver. He listened absorbed and aghast. - </p> - <p> - “I didn’t know,” he breathed. “I am glad you told me. You do trust me, - don’t you?” - </p> - <p> - “Trust you, Beelo? Have I ever failed?” - </p> - <p> - “No, but you are always thinking of your people, never of Lentala and - Beelo.” - </p> - <p> - “You have taught me to think of you and Lentala, else I never would have - told you about Mr. Vancouver and his plot. But don’t you see? The king is - using Mr. Vancouver to break up our colony, Beelo,” raising myself in - aggressive earnestness. “You talk of my trusting you. I have already put - my life and more than two hundred other lives in your hands. But not for - one moment have you ever trusted me.” - </p> - <p> - He was deep in thought, and was distressed. Before I could ask him for the - cause, Christopher came up. - </p> - <p> - “Something is going to happen very soon,” Beelo said. “Christopher, what - did you say to the native that came to see Mr. Vancouver?” - </p> - <p> - Christopher wore his stupidest manner Beelo reached round, picked up a - stick and threatened him. - </p> - <p> - “You know what I said. Now answer—quick!” - </p> - <p> - “Me?” - </p> - <p> - “Me?” mocked Beelo, and struck him. The nearest that I had ever seen to a - smile on Christopher’s face came then as a twinkle in his eyes. - </p> - <p> - “I’ll tell you,” he answered. “I told him Mr. Vancouver didn’t never want - to see him no more.” That was a long speech for Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “Then what happened?” impatiently demanded Beelo. - </p> - <p> - “I done this a-way at him.” Christopher crossed his eyes and made a - grimace at Beelo. The act was so unexpected and terrifying that Beelo - started back in alarm, and then rolled on the ground in laughter. - </p> - <p> - He sat up. “What did the man do then?” - </p> - <p> - “This a-way.” Christopher’s face assumed a look of astonishment and fear. - </p> - <p> - “What then?” - </p> - <p> - “He runned away.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo nodded thoughtfully, and said: - </p> - <p> - “The king will think Mr. Vancouver changed his mind. Very well. Now he - won’t wait any longer. He will make a demand for one of your people.” His - manner was grave. - </p> - <p> - He was surprised when I informed him of Captain Mason’s determination that - the young men be permitted to leave the valley, and that Lentala should - arrange for their being turned back,—I had no heart to say anything - about their rough handling by the natives. - </p> - <p> - “I’ll tell her,” he said. “I think she can manage it.” - </p> - <p> - “But are you sure?” I anxiously demanded. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t worry, Choseph. You are too serious to be happy. Let’s talk about - the first man to go out when the king sends for one. Do you wish Mr. - Vancouver to go?” The question came with a keen look. - </p> - <p> - “Not if it will expose him to any danger, or give him an opportunity to - plot against us.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo’s look became suspicious. “What do you owe him, that he is not to be - exposed to danger?” he asked. - </p> - <p> - Seeing the trend of his question, I was irritated, and sternly said: - </p> - <p> - “That is my affair, and I won’t discuss it. If there’s to be anything - petty and spiteful in the matters of life and death that we are planning, - I will stop everything right here, or demand that Lentala send some one - else to me if it is impossible for her to come.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo was staring at me in surprise. He turned inquiringly to Christopher, - and saw gentler but none the less reproving eyes. For a second he - floundered between resentment and irrepressible good-nature, and then with - a laugh threw a handful of sand at Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” he cried; “I didn’t mean anything, really I didn’t. And I’ll be - good.” After reflection he asked, “Who is Mr. Vancouver’s best friend?” - </p> - <p> - “A man named Rawley.” - </p> - <p> - “You think he knows Mr. Vancouver’s plan?” - </p> - <p> - “He certainly does.” - </p> - <p> - “Then let him be the first.” - </p> - <p> - Darkness crouched behind all of this, but Beelo’s intelligent eyes were a - light ahead. Unquestionably his mind was working rapidly, but his speech - was slow and had silent intervals. He and Lentala were evidently - undertaking severe tasks and desperate risks the nature of which I could - not even surmise. Some profound motive must be urging them on. - </p> - <p> - “When he is taken out of the valley,” Beelo said after a pause, “I’ll want - you and Christopher to go too, with me. Will you?” - </p> - <p> - “We’ll do anything you wish, Beelo.” - </p> - <p> - “As natives.” - </p> - <p> - “Good.” - </p> - <p> - “It will be very dangerous.” - </p> - <p> - “That is nothing.” - </p> - <p> - “Not a soul is to know but your captain. Not Annabel, mind you!” he - abruptly added. - </p> - <p> - “Certainly not.” - </p> - <p> - “And you both promise that if your lives are threatened, you will try not - to hurt or kill any one except as a last resort?” - </p> - <p> - We promised. - </p> - <p> - “Now,” said Beelo, “I want Christopher to go with me at once, and we’ll - make a raft. When we go out of the valley it will be by way of the river.” - </p> - <p> - “That is all fully agreed to, dear little brother,” I said firmly, “but - some things must be understood. The first is that no harm shall befall any - man taken out of the valley by the king’s order.” - </p> - <p> - “You don’t trust me, Choseph,” he replied, looking hurt. - </p> - <p> - “Far more than you trust me,” I kindly but emphatically said. “While I - know that wisdom and a noble purpose are in your and Lentala’s every plan - and act, I have heavy responsibilities, and I know that four heads would - be better than two in this matter. I have no right to go ahead in the - dark, and I demand to know what the plans are.” - </p> - <p> - The pain in Beelo’s face deepened, but there was no resentment. - </p> - <p> - “It isn’t that I don’t trust you, Choseph,” he said, an appealing look in - his eyes. - </p> - <p> - “What is it, then?” - </p> - <p> - He looked hunted, and blurted out: - </p> - <p> - “That’s what you and Christopher are going with me for,—to keep from - harm the man whom the king will send for, and——” - </p> - <p> - “What is the danger to him?” I insisted. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know! I can only imagine!” he passionately said. “It’s horrible. - I think you understand. And you are to lay plans with Lentala for saving - the colony.” - </p> - <p> - I was about to press the matter further, but a look from Christopher - stopped me. - </p> - <p> - “I am sorry to have pained you, dear little brother.” I took his hand. - “Will you forgive me?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” with a smile. - </p> - <p> - He rose, and his relief was shaded with anxiety. This parting was the - first sad one. I also had risen, and the boy was looking up into my face. - </p> - <p> - “I am trusting you,” he said, “trusting you with my life and Lentala’s, - and the lives of many others.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, and you’ll find me worthy, dear little brother.” - </p> - <p> - “I know.” He withdrew his hand, took Christopher’s arm and pressed it to - his own side, and peered deep into his eyes. “Do you love me, old - Christopher?” - </p> - <p> - “Me?” - </p> - <p> - Beelo gently slapped Christopher’s cheek. - </p> - <p> - “Answer! Do you love me?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” impressively, “if my life were in danger, and you could - save me by giving your own life, would you?” - </p> - <p> - “Me?” - </p> - <p> - “You needn’t answer if you don’t want to.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, I would die for you.” - </p> - <p> - In a burst of laughter Beelo drew his big head down and laid his cheek - against it. “What an absurd old Christopher!” he cried. “Come.” - </p> - <p> - He stepped back, and again turned to me. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph, one thing more! As the king’s messenger will you again see Mr. - Vancouver?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, if you wish.‘’ - </p> - <p> - “It’s better. Tell him to send the young men out whenever he pleases, and - to take the passage by which you entered the valley.” - </p> - <p> - “I understand.” - </p> - <p> - “That is all. Good-bye.” He walked away slowly with Christopher, and for - the first time I noticed that he looked as though bearing a burden heavy - for his strength. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - After laying the matter before Captain Mason, I prepared my disguise and - visited Mr. Vancouver that evening. He and Rawley occupied the same hut; - Annabel slept in one adjoining. I had previously taken care to note that - as Annabel was helping a young mother with the care of an ailing infant, - she would not likely intrude on my visit. - </p> - <p> - The two men were startled when they found me standing silently before - them. In the dim light of a nut-oil lamp I saw Rawley’s face blanch, and I - wondered how he would bear the ordeal fronting him outside the valley. - </p> - <p> - “Well?” eagerly said Mr. Vancouver. - </p> - <p> - After instructing him as to the sending out of the young men, I informed - him that the king was nearly ready for a man, and added that Rawley would - be acceptable. Mr. Vancouver was disappointed that he himself could not - go, but cheerfully said: - </p> - <p> - “Certainly. Mr. Rawley will be glad to go.” - </p> - <p> - I enjoyed the young man’s dismay. Not so Mr. Vancouver. - </p> - <p> - “Why, man, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime!” he declared to Rawley. - “There’s no danger. The king will furnish a safe-conduct—won’t he?” - he added, turning to me. - </p> - <p> - “I suppose so. Your friend couldn’t find the way otherwise.” - </p> - <p> - “Of course! Brace up, Rawley, and thank your stars for your good fortune. - You’ll have important things to tell me when you return.” For all his - cheering manner, Mr. Vancouver could not conceal his contempt. To me he - said: “Give the king my thanks. Tell him that his kind offer is gratefully - accepted, and that Mr. Rawley will be ready at any time.” - </p> - <p> - Rawley was a bluish white. - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” he faintly said; “I’ll have to go, I suppose, but who knows - what is really to be done with me? I don’t———” With a - gesture Mr. Vancouver stopped the indiscreet speech. - </p> - <p> - “Give the king my message of thanks and grateful acceptance,” he snapped - out in his old business-like way. “Mr. Rawley will go whenever he is - summoned.” - </p> - <p> - I bowed, and turned to leave, but found Annabel blocking the door. Her - eyes were wide with surprise. She had never before seen natives near the - camp at night, and never one alone. With unexpected firmness she refused - to let me pass. - </p> - <p> - “Father, Mr. Rawley, what does this mean? Where is Mr. Rawley going?” - </p> - <p> - The men sat dumb. Annabel’s instinct told her that treachery was in the - air. - </p> - <p> - “Does Captain Mason know about this?” she asked. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver was the first to recover, but he underestimated his - daughter’s shrewdness. - </p> - <p> - “Not so loud, daughter. It is all right. Let the man pass. I’ll explain.” - </p> - <p> - Among Annabel’s charms was a certain rashness. Here she stood between - affection and duty, and it would be interesting to observe the outcome. I - was glad that she continued to bar my escape. - </p> - <p> - “If it’s all right,” she said, “let us three go with this man to Captain - Mason and——” - </p> - <p> - “We’ll have no more nonsense, daughter! Are you aware what your attitude - toward me means?” - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know, father. I—I don’t understand. You have never spoken - this way to me before. Surely——” - </p> - <p> - “This foolishness must stop here,” her father brusquely said, rising and - advancing, with the evident intention of dragging her from the door; but - something in her face stopped him. It was time for me to interfere, lest - she spoil everything. The risk was in lending my voice to her sensitive - ear. - </p> - <p> - “He knows,” I gruffly said. - </p> - <p> - “Captain Mason?” - </p> - <p> - I nodded. - </p> - <p> - “Come with me and say that to him,” she demanded. I nodded again. The - exasperation and fear in Mr. Vancouver’s face did not escape his daughter. - </p> - <p> - “I won’t have it!” he nearly shouted. To me, - </p> - <p> - “Don’t you go, or I’ll——” - </p> - <p> - I stopped him with a knowing look, which he rightly understood to mean - that it would be well to lay her suspicions by going, and that I might be - depended on to handle the matter satisfactorily. In truth, I was enjoying - the situation too much for thought of graver things. And I had never seen - Annabel so superb. - </p> - <p> - “Father,” she said, “you owe this to me, and I owe it to you.” - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver’s uneasy face betrayed his predicament. Might he trust my - ability to deceive Captain Mason? was his evident thought. The peril was - great. I was maliciously happy over the grinding of the man. - </p> - <p> - Suppose I should make a slip with Captain Mason: that would mean the - hangman’s noose for Mr. Vancouver,—I knew he was thinking all that. - I could not resist the temptation to harry him. - </p> - <p> - “I go,” I said to Annabel. - </p> - <p> - She wavered, but her courage rose, and with reckless heroism she stepped - out without looking at her father. - </p> - <p> - I followed in silence. She did not glance back, and I think she was glad - that the men remained in the hut. With her head held up by the high - purpose within her, she walked as though she were above the stars and they - were her stepping-stones. Once she stopped short. I was certain that love - had conquered and that she would tell me my willingness to go satisfied - her, and so would send me away; but she went desperately on. - </p> - <p> - There was a brilliant tropical moon, and the captain was sitting in the - shine of it on the outer bench of his hut. He rose in surprise. - </p> - <p> - “Captain Mason,” panted Annabel, “I found this native in our camp just - now, and I wondered if you knew.” - </p> - <p> - He had recognized me, but Annabel did not see the twinkle in his eyes. He - knew that I had blundered in letting her discover me with her father. I - was amazed at the fine delicacy of the man. Instead of asking her - questions, he demanded an explanation of me. With great caution not to - betray myself, I said that I had the king’s permission to take Rawley out, - that he might see something of the island, and procure some of the gems so - abundant there. - </p> - <p> - The moonlight revealed the shame that burned Annabel’s cheeks because she - had doubted her father. Would Captain Mason have the tact to cure her - hurt? - </p> - <p> - “May I take your hand?” he asked. She wonderingly yielded it. As he held - it and looked down into her lovely face there came into his voice a - gentleness, a tenderness, that I am certain had been hitherto strange to - it. “This is a wonderful thing that you have done,—the noblest, - bravest thing that I have ever seen in my life. It was so not alone - because it might have meant a matter of life and death, but because it was - hard to do. I am proud to know and be trusted by such a woman.” - </p> - <p> - Tears were slipping down her cheeks as he released her hand. - </p> - <p> - “If you have that kindly regard for me, Captain Mason,” she said, “let it - extend to my father. He meant nothing wrong in violating the rule.” - </p> - <p> - “He has special privileges, Miss Vancouver. I will pay no attention to the - incident.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER IX.—An Iron Hand Comes Down. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Anxiety Over Beelo’s Absence. The Runaways Return in Disgrace. Mr. - Vancouver’s Predicament. Rebellion Breeding. The Arrest. Merciless - Discipline.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>EXT morning the - young men in Mr. Vancouver’s plot passed secret looks and words, and Mr. - Vancouver and Rawley wore an indifferent air too conspicuously. - </p> - <p> - Annabel emerged late; she and Dr. Preston had been with the suffering - child that night; but she looked much more worn and depressed than the - night’s vigil warranted. I greeted her cheerily, and her quiet smile was - ready. I saw nothing to indicate that she noted anything unusual afoot. - Captain Mason gave her a pleasant bow. - </p> - <p> - The colony had early integrated into small social groups, particularly at - meal-times. We sat on rough benches at two long tables under trees. There - was a rearrangement of groups at breakfast this morning, so as to bring - the conspirators together at an end occupied by Mr. Vancouver and Rawley. - Annabel sat with the children. The maneuver of the men did not escape - Captain Mason, who was some distance away and at the other table, having - rigidly held himself aloof from all social preferences. After breakfast he - gave me an unobtrusive look, and left. I soon followed, and found - Christopher with him in our hut. - </p> - <p> - “You noticed, Mr. Tudor?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. They will go out of the valley today. Lentala will see that they are - turned back. What shall I do?” - </p> - <p> - An amused look came into his eyes. “You may abandon your usual plan of - calling the names of those who shall go to the fields, and announce that - only volunteers need go. That will spare such of the idiots as are on your - list from sneaking out of the fields on pretense of headache. Give them a - long rope. Everything is moving beautifully to a crisis. Take your men to - the fields. Christopher will stay here.” - </p> - <p> - With the insistence of trifles thrusting themselves into a tense - situation, every small thing of the morning marched with me back to the - tables. I must observe the progress of some insatiably hungry nestlings in - a tree, and laugh at a round scolding from their mother. Never had I heard - so many birds singing at once. The solemn cadence of the waterfall sent a - Sabbath spirit through the air. The forest shadows quivered with mysteries - and portents, and the air was drunk with the perfume of many flowers. - </p> - <p> - Annabel’s glance showed that she had noted our leaving the tables, but a - cheery word from me laid her uneasiness. - </p> - <p> - Relief appeared in some faces when I announced that only volunteers would - go to the fields that day. Mr. Vancouver studied me, and Rawley was - nervous. A small crowd responded to my call, and then amused shame swept - over the men as I good-naturedly laughed at them, with the result that a - larger squad than usual came forward. I kept Mr. Vancouver in sight, and - was not surprised to catch him throwing a look at a conspirator here and - there, causing the guilty to stand forth with the innocent. I knew that he - suspected something in my departure from the usual way lately of calling - out the men. - </p> - <p> - The work in the fields went with a smoothness that gave no hint of trouble - beneath the surface. The conspirators dropped away one after another, with - my pleasant assent. Rawley remained. That meant his want of courage to - join the daring expedition. When the remnant started for camp I went to - the spot where I expected Beelo and Christopher. - </p> - <p> - The time for Beelo’s appearance came and passed. I had an irksome wait, - and in spite of my confidence in his skill, I grew uneasy lest he had - fallen into difficulties. Never before had he failed to keep an - appointment. His endurance and pluck had been extraordinary. From his home - at the palace to our meeting-places had been a number of miles, without - counting his trouble and ingenuity in avoiding detection, and the hard - labor of scaling the valley wall; yet he had never failed, never - complained, never mentioned the heroism for which his conduit stood. I - bitterly accused myself and Captain Mason for our selfishness in accepting - the boy’s allegiance and labors as a mere incident of our struggle to - escape. My heart went out to him now; I had been remiss in appreciation. - Had he been of a more aggressive nature, less gentle and timid, relying - more on force than ingenuity, perhaps my conscience would have been - easier. The task which it had been so easy for me to send Lentala with - reference to the malcontents, must have been severe for her, and must have - involved her brother. - </p> - <p> - Christopher came at last, but not Beelo. The man reported all well in - camp; Annabel had been downcast until Captain Mason cheered her; Mr. - Vancouver was painfully restless; none of the conspirators had returned. - </p> - <p> - We waited until all hope of Beelo’s arrival was futile. Christopher had - been listening, but I dreaded to question him. Finally I remarked that we - must go, as we could not expect Beelo so late. The readiness with which - Christopher acquiesced assured me that he had not expected the lad, but I - had no heart to ask him whether he thought that trouble had been the - detaining cause. We returned to camp. - </p> - <p> - Dr. Preston had much patching of cuticle to do that night, for the young - men returned after dark. There had been an uneasy hush over the camp all - day. Upon their arrival, which was accomplished with all possible - unostentation, a buzz arose and gossip leaked. I was with Captain Mason, - who sat silent and in grim content as I told him what was going on. We - were both curious to see what Dr. Preston, a quiet young man of fine - intelligence, would deem his duty after the urgency of his offices had - passed. After a while he came, excited and a little frightened. - </p> - <p> - He reported that there were no serious hurts, and that the men would be - about next day. - </p> - <p> - “What account do they give?” inquired Captain Mason. The twinkle in his - eyes was lost on the earnest young physician. - </p> - <p> - “They were peaceably exploring the valley, Captain,—just a lark, you - know, although it had the serious purpose of finding out anything that - might be useful in the escape of the colony,—when they were set upon - by an overwhelming horde of savages, the evident purpose being to take - them away by force. Our men, though so greatly outnumbered, held their - ground, but the scrimmage was close and savage. They would have won - without the fan-bearer’s interference, but her coming up with a personal - guard put an end to the affair, as she called the natives off.” - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason’s amused attention sharpened to a keen interest. “The king’s - fan-bearer?” he echoed. - </p> - <p> - “Yes; the one we saw at the feast.” - </p> - <p> - The president nodded. “They have all told you the same story, I suppose,” - he remarked. - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “Thank you. That is all.” - </p> - <p> - In leaving, Dr. Preston looked surprised that Captain Mason should appear - so indifferent. - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason announced no plans concerning the young men that night, and - there was nothing unusual in his bearing next morning when the colony - assembled for breakfast. All watched him narrowly. When breakfast was - over, and before we had risen from the tables, he sent Christopher for me, - for I sat some distance away. As I rose, I had a strong feeling that - something extraordinary was about to fall to my hand, for I knew Captain - Mason’s nature and his trust in me. - </p> - <p> - That brought Beelo vividly to mind. He had seen hardly more than the - gentler side of me. Indeed, it had doubtless been his own gentleness, his - innate delicacy and refinement, that had held in subjection the ruder - elements in me, so deep was my fondness for him. And it had never been - irksome, though the conduct which it had almost forced upon me was - strikingly different from that which usually governed me. While I was glad - that Beelo was not present to see what I knew was coming, still his spirit - was with me, and so strongly that it was tangible. My whole outlook was - filled with him, and I could not shake off the feeling that he was really - near and observing. - </p> - <p> - Under the impulse, I sent a trained glance into the shadows about the - camp, and suddenly stopped, for I found his bright eyes peering at me from - the trees. A closer look discovered that underneath the almost conscious - mischief that sparkled in his eyes was apprehension. I had a moment of - anger that he should be there, and tried to give him a look that would - send him away; but he made a face at me, and with deep misgivings I went - to my duty, striving to put him out of my mind. - </p> - <p> - “Call for order,” Captain Mason directed, “and make a complete statement - of the affair, omitting Mr. Vancouver’s connexion with it. Then tell off - twelve steady men for a guard, and have them arrest all of the young men - who disobeyed the rule. Manage the details in your own way. I’ll take - command after the arrest.” - </p> - <p> - Obedience to authority was a law of my training, but I was aghast, and - wondered if the man realized that he might be touching a match to a - magazine. - </p> - <p> - As Mr. Vancouver was the danger-center, I glanced at him. He had been - closely observing the president. I shall not forget the picture that he - made as I called for order and proceeded with the speech. By no effort - could he control the emotions that surged to his face,—his - consternation at the appalling correctness of my account, his ferocious - resentment and anger, his sense of being baffled and humiliated while - being spared from open shame, his white fear that at last he would be - exposed as the arch-traitor. - </p> - <p> - I observed Annabel also, and saw her puzzled uneasiness as I reminded the - colony of the king’s injunction and the great danger of disregarding it; - her furtive glances at her father; her amazement when I hinted at the plot - for undermining Captain Mason’s authority, and spoke of its secret working - toward the destruction of the colony; the blanching of her cheeks when I - described the effort of the young men to slip out of the valley, their - being beaten and bound, and the mercy that had spared them, whipped and - wounded, to sneak back in darkness to camp; and the lie they told to cover - their treachery and shame. - </p> - <p> - There was a tense pause when I had done, and then I called out the names - of the guilty. So overwhelming had been the presentation, that, as Captain - Mason must have foreseen, there was no time for immediate reaction toward - mutiny. I called out the guard. A death-like stillness followed. Captain - Mason was standing with the silence and firmness of stone. I stole a - glance at Beelo and saw that he had slipped round through the trees to be - nearer. - </p> - <p> - I rapped out an order for the guard to step forward. They looked round - curiously at one another, some with a half-smile as they glanced at - Captain Mason, to see if he approved. His face was expressionless. I - repeated the order, more peremptorily, and in slowly rising they regarded - me curiously and in some wonder, as they had never seen me with such a - bearing. Whatever they saw and heard quickened their action. There was an - impressive solemnity in the proceeding, and it strengthened them moment by - moment. I did not hurry them, since it was clear that a sense of serious - responsibility was rising in them. - </p> - <p> - “Lenardo, step forward and submit to arrest,” I sharply said to one of the - recalcitrants, a decent young carpenter. - </p> - <p> - He paled, then flushed, and blunderingly turned to Mr. Vancouver. But that - gentleman was gazing at me with all the hate of his soul. Annabel shrank - under the significance of Lenardo’s silent appeal to her father. Receiving - no guidance from Mr. Vancouver, the young culprit sent a fluttering, - desperate look abroad, picking out his guilty associates. All the comfort - he got from them was a frightened glance in return. - </p> - <p> - The impaled man wriggled awkwardly to his feet,—for I was giving him - time,—and with a grin and shrug made a pitiful attempt to treat the - arrest as a pleasantry. - </p> - <p> - “Stand facing that end of the guard-line,” I ordered, pointing. - </p> - <p> - “Come, Henry,” he said to one of the conspirators. The bravado was clearly - sham. - </p> - <p> - “No talking!” I ripped out. - </p> - <p> - It jerked Lenardo straight, and he came forward and stood where I had - directed. - </p> - <p> - The young man addressed as Henry slouched up with a faint trace of - Lenardo’s swagger, but my sharp “Step lively!” electrified him into firmer - action, and his grin went sour. - </p> - <p> - “Hobart!” I next called. I selected him for the third, for I knew his - independent, rebellious nature, his courage and pride, and wished the - severest test of the discipline to come at once. - </p> - <p> - Because we had been good friends and he knew that I respected him, he - stared incredulously, but found me a stranger. Then a vicious look flared - in his face, and, still sitting, he fingered the handle of a heavy iron - vessel on the table while regarding me defiantly. - </p> - <p> - I waited, and then called him again. - </p> - <p> - “I won’t be made a fool of in this way!” he cried, rising, his face - blazing, his hold on the iron vessel tightening. - </p> - <p> - “You two guards on the left, do your duty!” I commanded. - </p> - <p> - They hesitatingly advanced upon him. Making a great scattering of - frightened women and children, Hobart stepped back, brandished the vessel, - and shouted: - </p> - <p> - “I’m a free American citizen, I am! I’m a law-abiding man and I know my - rights! Stand back, there,” to the guards, “or I’ll———” - </p> - <p> - “Two more guards from the left. Step lively!” I called. - </p> - <p> - The advance of the four guards was checked by a diversion. Mr. Vancouver, - who had been sitting in apathetic silence, suddenly spoke out with biting - clearness: - </p> - <p> - “Hobart, it is the duty of every one here to submit to authority.” - </p> - <p> - The young man opened his mouth in astonishment, and instantly drooped; the - vessel clattered from his hand to the ground. - </p> - <p> - “I won’t make trouble now,” he grumbled, “but we’ve been played low down - by somebody, and I’ll——-” - </p> - <p> - “Silence!” I said. - </p> - <p> - With a threatening shoulder-lift at Mr. Vancouver, which deepened that - gentleman’s pallor, Hobart sullenly fell in. I quickly called out the - other culprits; all obeyed and stood in line facing the guard. Then I - looked round at Captain Mason for orders. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER X.—The Finding of a Man. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Shame and Horror Follow Disobedience. A Violent Outbreak and Its - Result. The Heads That Struck a Wall. A Frightened Face Among the Trees.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE president said - nothing, but gave a signal to Christopher, who brought up a basket - containing rope-ends and strips of cloth, of native manufacture. I - understood what I was next to do, and under ordinary circumstances should - have thought of nothing but the doing; but now a coldness seized my heart, - for I thought of Beelo, as a horrified witness. - </p> - <p> - There was a craning to see what the basket held, and then came a quick - drawing of the breath and afterward a hiss as the truth dawned on those of - quick perception. - </p> - <p> - Picking up a rope-end, I stood facing the crowd in silence until perfect - stillness had come. Then I went to Lenardo, the first in line, and said to - the guard: - </p> - <p> - “Are any of you experienced in tying a man’s hands?” - </p> - <p> - A head-shake was the response of each. - </p> - <p> - “Then observe how this is done,” I said. And to Lenardo, “Turn your back - and cross your wrists behind you.” - </p> - <p> - All the blood fled his face. He glanced about with a shamed, beseeching - helplessness, his eyes wide with horror and his look an appeal for - protection from the outrage. - </p> - <p> - “Turn, and cross your wrists,” came my command as evenly as before. - </p> - <p> - The prisoner obeyed, his hands trembling. - </p> - <p> - “Cross your wrists.” My tone was such as a farrier might use to a horse he - was shoeing. - </p> - <p> - Lenardo crossed them. - </p> - <p> - “Observe,” I repeated to the guards, as I quickly wound the cord and - knotted it. - </p> - <p> - Hobart watched the proceeding narrowly, his face growing more livid, his - eyes bulging farther, his breathing uneven. Once he sent a flaming glance - at Mr. Vancouver, who winced under it, and sat with a sickly, shrunken - look. I knew that the supreme test of discipline lay ahead, and I was - warming to the situation. - </p> - <p> - “Tie the next one,” I said to two of the guards, handing them a strip. At - the same time, no longer able to resist a glance at Beelo, I found in his - stricken face so strange a look that it disconcerted me for a moment. It - looked to be both horror and appeal. But my duty was plain. - </p> - <p> - I stood by and observed the clumsy work of the two guards in tying the - second man, who, meeker than Lenardo,—although both were manly - fellows,—submitted more promptly. - </p> - <p> - Hobart’s turn came next. He was looking about as a trapped beast, and he - swayed and muttered. It was clear that under the approaching degradation - he was letting his wits tangle. - </p> - <p> - Some women, sickened by the scene, and fearing a tragedy from Hobart, - slipped away, a few softly crying, others very white. They hid in a huddle - behind the storehouse, the mothers taking their children. - </p> - <p> - “One more turn. Tighter. Work faster,” I ordered the guards tying the - second man. - </p> - <p> - They obeyed with nervous eagerness. - </p> - <p> - Then came Hobart’s turn. I stood before him. He knew what to do without my - order, and I was silent. - </p> - <p> - “Haven’t we any friends among you people?” he bellowed, stepping back and - hardening every muscle. “Are you all cowards, to let these brutes ride - roughshod over you?” - </p> - <p> - “Submit, Hobart,” cut Mr. Vancouver’s voice. - </p> - <p> - I turned upon him, but said nothing, and his cadaverous face whitened - still more under my stare. - </p> - <p> - “We need no assistance from you, sir,” Captain Mason coldly said. - </p> - <p> - He started; a momentary flash enlivened his sunken eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Step up here in line,” I said to Hobart. - </p> - <p> - He wavered toward submission under Mr. Vancouver’s order, but my prompt - suppression of that intervention thrust upon him an angry despair. “To - hell with you!” he shouted to me. “You bully! You cur! Here, fellows,” - addressing his comrades in line, “don’t be whipped dogs! We are free - American citizens, we are! Break away!” He stepped still farther back and - edged toward the table. “Stand by me! Be men! We’ll settle this thing! - Come on!” The line swayed. - </p> - <p> - “Guard, re-form the prisoners in line,” I ordered. They stepped forward. - </p> - <p> - “Fight, boys! Arm yourselves at the tables!” Hobart’s fierce words - thrilled the camp. - </p> - <p> - “Lively there!” I snapped to the guards. “Seize Hobart first.” - </p> - <p> - “The tables, boys!” shouted Hobart. “Romer,” he added to a husky young man - of the party, “tackle Captain Mason. I’ll attend to Tudor!” - </p> - <p> - Hobart sprang at Romer, gave him a shake, and shouted, “Get to work!” and - then advanced toward me as Romer was hardening for assault. - </p> - <p> - As Hobart had rudely calculated, the moment was snatched by the other - prisoners for a rush on the guard and the tables, and they broke on the - bound as Hobart hurled himself upon me. But he was too precipitate, and - lacked training. - </p> - <p> - It is doubtful that any in the camp except myself saw how the next thing - happened. There was a muffled crack, and Hobart’s feet cleared the ground, - his limbs whipped the air as though he were drowning, and he sprawled on - the earth in a disorganized, quivering heap. A glance showed me that Romer - had been stopped two yards from Captain Mason by a look such as he had - never encountered before, and he stood staring like an imbecile. - </p> - <p> - A low cry broke from fifty feminine throats when Hobart’s body made its - impact with the ground. But the entire rush had been paralyzed; it was - clearly the impression that Hobart had been killed, and all were staring - from him to me. The guard had responded; the prisoners were in - subjugation, some by a collar-grip of the guard, others panting on the - ground under urgent knees, still others standing inert. - </p> - <p> - “Hands off the prisoners. Re-form the line,” I ordered. - </p> - <p> - When this had been done, the young men sullen, sheepish, and silent, and - viewing with awe the still body of Hobart on the ground, I looked round - upon the circle till I found the man I wanted. My glance had included - Captain Mason and found him stolid and motionless as he observed my - procedure. - </p> - <p> - “Dr. Preston, come forward,” I said. - </p> - <p> - He instantly responded. - </p> - <p> - “Please examine Hobart’s jaw and neck,” I directed. “One or the other may - be broken.” - </p> - <p> - As he was turning away to obey he discovered a red trickle from my right - hand. - </p> - <p> - “Are you hurt?” he inquired. - </p> - <p> - “No.” - </p> - <p> - He carefully examined the heap on the ground. - </p> - <p> - “Only a contusion and a slight brain-concussion,” he announced. - </p> - <p> - “You two,” I promptly said to two of the guards, “buck and gag Hobart. Do - you know how?” - </p> - <p> - They shook their heads, but under my direction accomplished what appeared - to be a disagreeable task. The process consisted in tying Hobart’s hands - and feet, flexing his knees, slipping his arms over them, and thrusting a - stick under his knees and over his arms, thus reducing him to a helpless - knot. Then they thrust a towel between his teeth and tied it at the back - of his head. - </p> - <p> - “Shall I do anything to revive him, sir?” asked the doctor. It was - interesting to hear the “sir” slip from his tongue. - </p> - <p> - I looked to Captain Mason for directions, but his face remained void. - </p> - <p> - “No,” I said. Then to two of the guards, “Take him to the shade over - there, on the ground,” indicating a tree near by and in full view of the - camp. - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile, the tying of the other prisoners had gone on rapidly and - smoothly. When it was finished, I ordered the men taken to the shade and - lined up behind Hobart, who lay on his side, the guards standing by. The - prisoners were a very sober-looking crowd. - </p> - <p> - Then came a lull. I had regarded the subjugation of the men as merely the - lighter preparatory work for some grave procedure which Captain Mason - would direct after that was accomplished. At first I was doubtful of my - wisdom in withholding restorative measures from Hobart, but I had done so - hoping that it would have the effect both of softening Captain Mason and - of impressing the other prisoners and the camp at large. Now I had to face - unknown plans, but Captain Mason still remained mute. It was evident that, - since quiet had come, it was from him rather than me that the camp awaited - the next move; it was his crushing mastery that all felt; it was his iron - hand that lay on every heart. He quietly seated himself, and without a - glance at me waited, his face wearing the undisturbed calm that - distinguished it always in dramatic situations. - </p> - <p> - The women in hiding peered out cautiously, and then joined those on the - scene. A slight stir, accompanied with murmurs, rose in a spot where the - women stood thickest, and a shrill voice came angrily. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, I will! You can’t stop me! I say it’s an outrage, and I’m going to - untie that boy and take that strangling thing out of his mouth.” She was - advancing, a middle-aged woman, with a determined air, and she walked - straight toward Hobart, ignoring me as I stood near him. “I just want to - say to you, Mr. Tudor, that it was enough to knock the senses out of him, - and that it’s inhuman and brutal to keep him tied up like an animal. If - the <i>men</i> in this camp can be bullied and scared, I’ll let you know - that there’s a <i>woman</i> who can’t. I’m going to untie that lad, and———” - </p> - <p> - I had stepped forward and laid a kindly hand on her arm as she spoke, but - she threw it off. - </p> - <p> - “Let me alone!” she cried. “If you want to strike a woman dead, you - murdering bully, do it! I dare you!” - </p> - <p> - Nodding to two of the guards, I said: “Take her to her hut, and keep her - there. If she makes the least noise, bind and gag her.” - </p> - <p> - “You brute! You coward!” she cried, making a dash forward. - </p> - <p> - The guards gingerly seized her, and she talked and struggled wildly. But - they dragged her away, and no sound came from the hut. Captain Mason gave - not the slightest attention to the incident, which greatly deepened the - depression on the camp. - </p> - <p> - Hobart’s slow, heavy breathing became regular, then fluttered; his eyes - opened, and rolled unseeing. Intelligence began to dawn in his face, and - with it came an unconscious straining at his bonds. That hastened his - recovery. A wild, clear look that roved a moment and settled malignantly - on me, showed that he had come to himself. His astonished glance at his - helpless state preceded an effort for speech that his gag turned to a - growl, and he made a mighty tug to snap the cords. That failing, he - twisted his head to see the line of prisoners standing bound. Then his - gaze found Captain Mason, who was not observing him, and he savagely - growled and champed his gag. - </p> - <p> - I looked furtively round for Beelo, and found him staring at me as at - something strange and monstrous. It was more than I could bear, and on - looking away I discovered the gathering of clouds, and then heard low - thunder in the distance. - </p> - <p> - Hobart’s fury wore itself out. Humiliation took its turn. Toward the end - came a humbled spirit and dumb pleading. A quickening ran through the - crowd, and eager, appealing eyes were upon me from every direction; but I - waited. From humility Hobart sank lower, for the pain of his cramped - muscles grew worse and worse, making him writhe and groan and strain. - Still the moment had not come. I knew that many a life hung on the - precision of my conduct, and Captain Mason did not interfere to the - slightest extent. At last, when Hobart’s dumb pleading had settled on my - face and did not rove, I said to Dr. Preston: - </p> - <p> - “The gag—nothing else—may come away.” - </p> - <p> - He removed it, and Hobart panted: - </p> - <p> - “Thank you, Doctor. Take the others off, please.” - </p> - <p> - The physician looked to me, but I gave no sign. That started a movement in - the crowd, and I had to quell that with a look. - </p> - <p> - “Let him take ‘em off, Mr. Tudor,” the prisoner begged. - </p> - <p> - I nodded, and he was free. He labored weakly to a sitting posture, Dr. - Preston assisting. His head rolled, but he breathed deeply, and steadied - himself. Dr. Preston felt his pulse. - </p> - <p> - “May he have water and a wet towel, sir?” he asked me. - </p> - <p> - I nodded. Hobart drank greedily. Dr. Preston mopped his head and face, and - bound the wet towel over his forehead. - </p> - <p> - “Bring a seat for Hobart,” I said to a guard. - </p> - <p> - Hobart was lifted to it, and thus sat facing the crowd. He had a finer - look than I had ever seen from him; he had passed through purgatory. He - looked openly at the people, and at last his glance rested on Mr. - Vancouver. It seemed to hold a deep meaning. Mr. Vancouver shrank even - more than when he had seen the iron hand come down. - </p> - <p> - I went up to Captain Mason and reported that Hobart was conscious. - </p> - <p> - The captain nodded, came forward, I beside him, and looked down on the - beaten man, who anxiously returned the look. - </p> - <p> - “May I say a word, Captain?” Hobart asked. - </p> - <p> - “Certainly.” - </p> - <p> - Hobart turned to me. “You are a hard man,” he said, “but square and brave. - So are you, Captain Mason. I deserved what I got, and a good deal more. - But I’m sorry for what I did, and I ask you to forgive me.” - </p> - <p> - There was frank admiration in Captain Mason’s face, for he was observing - another strong man emerge from the first hard lesson in a discipline that - the sailor had known for many a year. - </p> - <p> - “May I say something to the boys?” asked Hobart. - </p> - <p> - “Of course.” - </p> - <p> - Hobart worked round to face his fellow-conspirators. In silence he looked - at one after another. - </p> - <p> - “Boys,” he said, “we made a mistake, and are beginning to pay. I don’t - know what’s going to be done with us, but, whatever it is, we must bear it - like men. We made an agreement when we came into this valley, and we - violated it. What we did might have cost the life of every member of this - colony.” - </p> - <p> - He paused, for he was weak, and a deep emotion tore him. - </p> - <p> - “Boys, if I had been Captain Mason and Mr. Tudor, and had protected and - trusted the people as they have done, and they had tried to undermine me, - and to benefit themselves to the harm of the others, I would have them - taken to the nearest tree, and, God help me! I would have them hanged.” - </p> - <p> - Not a word of that astonishing speech missed an ear in the crowd. When - Hobart had ended, his head dropped in dejection. - </p> - <p> - After a long minute of silence Captain Mason gave me a look. I went to - Hobart, who raised a sad face to mine. But when he saw my smile and my - extended hand, a glad surprise leaped in him, and his clasp was that of a - drowning man. - </p> - <p> - I walked away. Dr. Preston next received Captain Mason’s glance, and the - scene was repeated. I did not observe the hint that the president must - have given; but while some of the guard came and took Hobart’s hand, - others were untying the prisoners, and they also came in their turn. - </p> - <p> - There were tears in Hobart’s eyes, and his speech had fled by the time - Captain Mason came up and took his hand. - </p> - <p> - “You are a man, Hobart,” said he, and without noting the effect turned to - the other conspirators. “Young men,” he went on, “you are at liberty. The - incident is closed.” - </p> - <p> - Without a glance at the assembled colony, he turned away and went to his - hut. - </p> - <p> - I looked for Beelo, and saw his signal to follow him. A buzzing rose from - the crowd. A hard, fixed look was in Mr. Vancouver’s ashen face. Annabel’s - head rested in her arms on the table, and she was sobbing. From every - direction I found furtive glances upon me, and wondered whether I had - become a Pariah. The idea was dispelled by the friendly responses that my - advances found, but I was uneasy on the score of Beelo. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XI.—Faces Set Toward Danger. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Len-tala in Difficulties. The True Story of the Enterprising Young Men. - Mr. Vancouver Faces the Unknown. Beelo Takes Us on a Journey.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">B</span>EELO was much - excited and torn with impatience when I arrived. Despite that, he regarded - me with an odd mixture of awe and fear. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” he exclaimed, “you are terrible and cruel! I couldn’t have - believed———” His breath gave out. - </p> - <p> - “What’s the news, lad?” - </p> - <p> - The gentle solicitude in my voice steadied him, and he looked with his - sunny smile. - </p> - <p> - “You are dear old Choseph, aren’t you?” he said. “Oh, everything has - happened!” he flung out. “The king is terribly angry with Lentala for - interfering with the arrest of the young men yesterday. I had to stay with - her, and couldn’t come. I don’t know what trouble will come out of it, but - the king is going to bring matters to a head at once, before we are nearly - ready! Choseph! those young men ought not to have been let out of the - valley. Gato is now on his way to the colony for a man, and you must go - there immediately to attend to it. You must decide which man is to go.” - </p> - <p> - His news, breathlessly given, stunned me. It was essential that we both be - calm. - </p> - <p> - “Tell me what happened to the young men,” asked. - </p> - <p> - “They climbed the wall, and expected to slip through. Why, Senatra men - rained on them! Len-tala got there as soon as she could with her private - guard, but it was too late to save them from a terrible whipping. The - guard had them bound and were taking them to the palace when Lentala - arrived. She’s afraid now that the king will do what he has threatened,—either - lock her up or give orders that will tie her hands so that she can’t do - anything.” - </p> - <p> - I hesitated. “If she is powerless, Beelo, there will be no one to protect - the man who will go out with Gato.” - </p> - <p> - His distress was poignant, and he dropped to the ground in a weary little - heap. - </p> - <p> - “Lentala is equal to any task, lad,” I quietly said. - </p> - <p> - He looked up brightly. “Do you believe that much in her, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - “She’s our one hope, lad, and she’ll never falter; and she has your wise - little head and your bold heart to help her.” - </p> - <p> - He came strongly to his feet. “She can do anything if you think <i>that</i> - of her, Choseph,” he gently said. Another moment found him his eager, - active self. “A great deal will depend on the man you are to send out,” he - said. - </p> - <p> - “Why? What awaits him?” - </p> - <p> - The answer was an appealing look. His remarks about the earthquakes and - the storms had puzzled me, and while I knew that the subject was repugnant - to him, I was forced to revive it. I repeated a remark by Captain Mason - that a storm was brewing. Beelo straightened. - </p> - <p> - “Captain Mason ought to know!” he cried. “The king’s wise men have told - him the same thing. Choseph, Choseph! It would be horrible!” - </p> - <p> - “Why, lad? I can’t work in the dark.” - </p> - <p> - His look was appealing. - </p> - <p> - “I must know,” I said. “You are acting like a child, and this is work for - men. Tell me what the storm and the earthquake have to do with us, or I’ll - refuse to surrender a man to Gato, and we’ll fight.” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” he exclaimed, frightened; then, after a pause: “The people - think the Black Face must have all the castaways, or it will shake the - ground with earthquakes and maybe send a volcano to destroy everything. - But if the earthquake is heavy, it terrifies the people. In that way you - might escape if Lentala’s plan fails. It was a great earthquake I was - hoping for.” - </p> - <p> - “The Black Face must have all the castaways?” I repeated. “How?” - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know!” he desperately cried. “Lentala doesn’t know. It has been - concealed from us. But it’s something horrible! A storm is coming, but it - may bring no castaways, and the king won’t wait any longer. He can’t - control the people.” - </p> - <p> - “What kind of man should we send out, Beelo?” - </p> - <p> - “One who’s brave and fears nothing,” he promptly answered, studying me - oddly. - </p> - <p> - “Then Rawley wouldn’t do.” - </p> - <p> - “No. Mr. Vancouver.” - </p> - <p> - I had felt it coming. Of course he deserved any risk, any fate, but—— - </p> - <p> - “You are thinking of Annabel,” said Beelo. - </p> - <p> - “Yes. She is innocent. Unless Lentala can keep him away from the king and - save him from harm, I won’t——” - </p> - <p> - “There, there, Choseph!” sweetly said the boy. “She’ll manage. You’ll send - Mr. Vancouver?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “Good! That will make the king think you aren’t suspicious. As soon as he - has gone with Gato, you and Christopher come here, and then we three will - go out of the valley.” - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason’s heavy hand still lay as a hush on the camp when Gato, the - giant leader of the soldiers, arrived an hour later with a band of his - men. Christopher and I met him, and he informed us that he had come for - the man who was to be taken out. I despatched Christopher for Captain - Mason, whom I had informed of the decision to send Mr. Vancouver out. The - storm had been gathering with a slowness that indicated destructive - preparation. Mr. Vancouver was in his hut with Rawley and Annabel. - Rawley’s haggard face peered out at intervals and sent a straining look at - me such as I had seen in the faces of the condemned peering through the - cell-grate for any messenger that might bear a reprieve. They were not - aware of our decision that Mr. Vancouver should go. - </p> - <p> - The president, cool and serious, came with Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “Summon Mr. Vancouver,” he said. - </p> - <p> - The three came out. Mr. Vancouver, though pale, had a firm look, and it - went straight to Captain Mason. Rawley was ghastly. Annabel held my - attention most. Undoubtedly Mr. Vancouver had been trying to prepare her - for the contingency of his leaving, and had made poor work of it. - </p> - <p> - Her glance first sought Captain Mason, and found a blank face with no eyes - for her. Next she looked at me, and caught something that I was too slow - in hiding. Thenceforward during the scene I knew that the ache within me - for her sake was large print to her eyes. Her bearing was an accusation, a - challenge for frankness, an appeal for protection. - </p> - <p> - The president said: - </p> - <p> - “Mr. Vancouver, the king has sent for one of our men. It would be my duty - to go if I could be spared. Will you go?” - </p> - <p> - “Certainly,” came the prompt answer. - </p> - <p> - Annabel shrank, and then bravely stepped forth. Her voice lost its quaver - as she proceeded. - </p> - <p> - “Why send my father?” she demanded. “Are there no young men here with the - courage to volunteer?” - </p> - <p> - She eagerly scanned the crowd, not heeding her father’s restraining hand - on her arm. Being a woman, she could never understand why not a single man - made a sign, so heavy was the weight of Captain Mason’s hand. - </p> - <p> - “It is a shame!” she passionately exclaimed. “I had thought there were - more manliness and gratitude in the world.” She turned upon me. “Mr. - Tudor, I know <i>you</i> will go.” - </p> - <p> - I could not bear it. “May I tell her in confidence what I am to do?” I - asked Captain Mason under my breath. - </p> - <p> - “Not now,” he answered. “Miss Vancouver,” he said aloud, “Mr. Tudor cannot - go. I beg to remind you that you are interfering with the business in - hand.” - </p> - <p> - Recollection of the morning’s scene, when a woman had been sent away under - guard, must have been what whitened her face with fear and then flushed it - with anger. The lion in her father crouched at Captain Mason, but - instantly remembered. - </p> - <p> - “Daughter,” he peremptorily said, “spare us further humiliation. I am - going.” - </p> - <p> - “Then, I will go with you!” she exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - The entire colony was assembled, and all were expecting another measure of - authority; but Captain Mason stood in patient silence. - </p> - <p> - “Impossible, child!” said Mr. Vancouver. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, I will go!” she cried. “I have a right to go, and I will!” - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver sent Captain Mason an inquiring look, and found that the - blue eyes had hardened. He knew the meaning of that; he must at once - eliminate his daughter. - </p> - <p> - “Child,” he coaxed, enclosing her in his arms, “it is impossible,—dangers - would arise that wouldn’t come if you were absent.” - </p> - <p> - “I can’t bear it,—I can’t bear it!” she half sobbed. She struggled - to free herself. Rawley came forward. “Don’t touch me!” she cried. “Isn’t - there a <i>man</i>——” - </p> - <p> - A glance from Captain Mason sent Christopher to her side. - </p> - <p> - “It’s me, ma’am.” - </p> - <p> - Her father released her, and she turned in astonishment to Christopher. - Annabel had a sense of the ludicrous, but one of tenderness also. She saw - the angel behind the clown. Smiles went with her tears as she gave him her - hand. - </p> - <p> - “You mustn’t go,” leaked his thin voice. - </p> - <p> - “Why?” - </p> - <p> - “They need you.” His gesture swept the camp. - </p> - <p> - She was silent while she dried her eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” she said, “but——” - </p> - <p> - “Them there savagers ud eat you.” - </p> - <p> - “But my father———” - </p> - <p> - “He ain’t nice to eat.” - </p> - <p> - Christopher had laid a daring finger on the mystery, but his words found - all unheeding except Mr. Vancouver, who looked startled. The suggestion - was evidently new to him. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, Christopher,” Annabel said, smiling sadly, “I’ll stay. Captain - Mason,” falteringly, “I ask your pardon.” She turned to her father and - embraced him. “Father, go. I’ll pray for you.” She held him off and looked - long into his face. “You’ll come back, won’t you?” - </p> - <p> - “Of course. I shall see the king, and I know I can arrange everything - happily for the colony.” - </p> - <p> - Captain Mason beckoned Gato. Mr. Vancouver turned his face to the darkness - and marched away with the guard. - </p> - <p> - When he had gone, Annabel still gazed. Rawley watched her for a look that - might permit his consoling offices, but she did not see him. Only - Christopher knew what to do. - </p> - <p> - “It’s a-wanting of you, ma’am,” he said. - </p> - <p> - She started. “What, Christopher?” - </p> - <p> - “It’s mother, too.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, yes,—I’d forgotten.” Without a glance at any of us, she went - to the ailing child. - </p> - <p> - The colony began to stir. After a hurried conference with Captain Mason, - Christopher and I left to keep the appointment with Beelo. We were ready - for him when he came all out of breath. It made me uneasy to note that he - studiedly avoided my eyes and made no reference to the scene in camp. - </p> - <p> - “There’s not a moment to lose,” he said. “Come; follow me—cautiously.” - His manner betrayed a nervous haste. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo!” I said, seeing that he was too much excited. - </p> - <p> - He stood panting while he got himself in hand, but still kept his face - turned from me. - </p> - <p> - “Now I’m all right,” he said. - </p> - <p> - He threaded the jungle as though every shrub and tree and turning-place - were familiar, and held a course on that side of the valley which brought - us under the Face. - </p> - <p> - His agility taxed me. Not so Christopher: his deftness equaled Beelo’s. We - were a silent trio. - </p> - <p> - The transverse ridge was crossed, and we entered strange territory. - Beelo’s eyes and ears were incessantly on watch. Now and then he would - come to an abrupt halt and hold his breath, but nothing appeared. We kept - to the deepest shadows, which were further blackened by the steadily - thickening darkness of the sky. I feared a downpour. - </p> - <p> - Without mishap we finally reached the lower end of the valley. I had been - trying to see the opening through which the stream must run, but even when - we halted near the cliff, not a break appeared. - </p> - <p> - Beelo dropped to the ground. “We’ll rest,” said he. - </p> - <p> - I found the adventure exciting, but was unprepared for its effect on - Christopher. His usually dull eyes had intelligent vision; his slouchiness - was gone. - </p> - <p> - After a few moments’ rest Beelo rose, and led us to the stream. It was - deep and slow here, and crept through a dense overhanging growth. We - pushed through the tangle, and soon came to a little clearing near the - bank, but screened from it. The bamboo raft which he and Christopher had - made lay there. - </p> - <p> - We launched it. Christopher produced a pole from another hiding-place, - boarded the raft, and knelt on the forward end. Beelo and I followed. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” the lad inquired, “can you see in the dark?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” and Christopher shoved off. - </p> - <p> - The vegetation grew denser as we slipped along, and its shadows combined - with the darkness of the day to plunge us into night. Presently I realized - that we must have traversed more than the distance between the - launching-place and the wall. - </p> - <p> - “Where are we, Beelo?” I asked, but the sound of my voice informed me - before the boy’s answer: - </p> - <p> - “Under the mountain. We are going through.” - </p> - <p> - To describe my sensations would be impertinent. Beelo’s reticence was more - than silence. The only sound was the swish of Christopher’s pole as it - dipped and scraped while we drifted. Beelo, sitting a little to the rear - and at one side of me, crept nearer. - </p> - <p> - “Talk,” he begged, edging still closer, till our arms touched. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, lad. Shall I tell you a story?” - </p> - <p> - We must have been on the floor of a lofty cavern, for my words came back. - </p> - <p> - “Hush!” he whispered. - </p> - <p> - His hand was groping for mine. Perfect blackness encompassed us. I took - his hand. A slight tremor thrilled it, and I put an arm about his - shoulders, drew him close, and pressed his head down in the hollow of my - neck. There was none of his refractory wildness now. Poor lad! For all the - pluck that he had shown in the past, the silence and the darkness of this - grew-some passage had unmanned him. It was good to hear the comfort in his - sigh, the fading of the tremor, and the firm grasp of his hand. - </p> - <p> - Evidently Beelo had never made this trip before, but I wondered that at - least its upper end had been left unguarded and why it was not a highway - for the natives. In a whisper I asked him. - </p> - <p> - “It is guarded,” he answered; “but when a storm or an earthquake comes, - the men are afraid that what is in here will come out; and, besides, they - think a storm is a better guard than they. But they weren’t far away. I - knew how to avoid them.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, but——” - </p> - <p> - “Down!” came sharply from Christopher simultaneously with a dull blow. - </p> - <p> - I flattened Beelo and myself. - </p> - <p> - “Up,” said Christopher. - </p> - <p> - Had his face or head encountered a low-hanging rock? Yet he had thought of - us. - </p> - <p> - “Are you hurt?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “No, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Did your head strike?” - </p> - <p> - “Arm, sir.” - </p> - <p> - Perhaps an inscrutable power had given him the sense to raise his arm and - guard his head at the moment of peril. I finished my question to Beelo: - </p> - <p> - “What is in here the natives fear?” - </p> - <p> - “The voices that send your words back.” - </p> - <p> - “Surely they are familiar with the echo in the mountains.” - </p> - <p> - “Not this kind, Choseph.” He had never called me that so easily. I hugged - him closer, and he nestled like a kitten. - </p> - <p> - It was indeed a startling echo. At times even our whispers seemed to - multiply and flock on wings, and come rustling back. - </p> - <p> - “There’s something still worse,” added Beelo. - </p> - <p> - “What is it?” - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know. They would never tell me.” - </p> - <p> - ...I wondered whether he had felt the sudden leap of my heart. He must, - for he snuggled closer, withdrew his hand from mine, caressed my cheek, - and whispered: - </p> - <p> - “We’ll be brave.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, lad, but if we knew only a little we should be the better prepared.” - </p> - <p> - He was silent. - </p> - <p> - “You know nothing about it?” I insisted. - </p> - <p> - “Nothing at all.” - </p> - <p> - “But natives have gone through safely, else they wouldn’t know.” - </p> - <p> - “Some did, a long time ago. That was the last.” - </p> - <p> - “Some did? Not all that started?” - </p> - <p> - “Not all. The others went mad. Don’t talk about it, dear Choseph.” - </p> - <p> - Assuredly Beelo had been driven to a desperate extremity to choose this - way of escape from the valley. It showed how closely the ordinary outlets - were guarded. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XII.—Dramatic Discoveries. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Plunged Into Mysterious Terrors. Christopher’s Obscure Powers at Work. - A Struggle for Our Lives. Stout Hearts Fail. A Dear One Lost.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE passage was - crooked. The darkness was unqualified, and so dense that it seemed - resistant and hard to breathe. It was the sort of blackness that - penetrates to the heart and quenches the light there. Matches had long ago - disappeared from the colony, and I had no means of making a light. Nor had - Beelo provided against the blackness. All time-reckoning had been lost, - but our rate was slow, and I knew that the passage must be long. - </p> - <p> - Thus far the odors had been of the sun-sweetened water crossed with those - of the underground dank, and were pleasant. But presently a faint pungency - invaded the cold air. I knew by the change in Beelo’s breathing that his - quick sense had discovered it. It suggested things over which my memory - halted. Christopher gave no sign. With unflagging watchfulness, aided by a - perception far keener than mine, he kept the raft free in the stream, - except for occasional bumps. - </p> - <p> - “Do you smell it, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “What is it?” - </p> - <p> - “Sir?” - </p> - <p> - “What is it?” - </p> - <p> - There was an interval before his answer, “Fire, sir.” Beelo cowered in my - embrace. Since Christopher had mentioned it, I knew it was fire; I cannot - say how I knew, because the odor was unlike that from any combustion I had - ever known. - </p> - <p> - “Do you know what is burning?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “Me, sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - This silence was longer than the other; Christopher must have listened - far. - </p> - <p> - “The world, sir.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo shook with a silent chuckle, and squeezed my hand; but I knew that - Christopher’s words had a meaning. - </p> - <p> - “The world?” I quietly repeated. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir. I hear it.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo and I straightened up and set our ears on a strain. - </p> - <p> - “I hear nothing,” I said. - </p> - <p> - “I hear it, very faint,” Beelo breathlessly returned. - </p> - <p> - It made no difference with the steadiness of Christopher’s work. The odor - gradually grew more pronounced, and then I recalled an iron smelter that I - had seen in boyhood. Presently I too heard a distant roar as of a furnace - that ground while it burned. Beelo crept close under my arm again. I could - feel his quick heart-beats and shortened breathing against my side. - </p> - <p> - Creeping through these increasing sensations came the deep note of falling - water. Why ask Beelo whether he had ever heard that our stream took a - subterranean plunge? Christopher kept coolly at his task. The sharp - striking and scraping of his tireless pole had long ago informed me that - rock made our channel and shores, which were uneven and dangerous. Now and - then the raft would make a sudden swing to avoid underwater rocks that - Christopher’s soundings had discovered. At other times it would come to a - lurching halt until the man carrying our lives in his hand had made sure - of the way. - </p> - <p> - “What do you think of that water falling, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He waited a long time, and his slow answer chilled me: - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “You’ll go slow when we come nearer?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - Beelo gave me a hand-pressure intended to silence my foolish tongue. - </p> - <p> - With a growing intensity in the odor, in the furnace roar, and in the - rumbling of the waterfall, came stealing something new and surpassingly - uncanny. It was a very dim glow, with no visible source, and without the - power to make anything seen but itself. Apparently it was but the darkness - in a more oppressive phase. In vain did I strain my eyes to see - Christopher, Beelo, the raft, the water,—anything that light could - make visible; but the glow was as impenetrable as the darkness. - </p> - <p> - Beelo was going to pieces under the weight of this encompassing awe. I - knew that his weakness was born of his yielding to an extraneous reliance—Christopher - and me. He put his lips to my ear and whispered: - </p> - <p> - “I’m afraid.” - </p> - <p> - “Steady, lad. You are our guide; you are responsible for us.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, I know.” He made a pathetic effort to regain himself. “This light—don’t - you <i>feel</i> it, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - “I do, dear lad, but my name isn’t Choseph.” - </p> - <p> - “Yoseph!” he triumphantly said. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph,” I insisted. - </p> - <p> - “Mr. Tudor!” In a whirlwind he threw both arms round my neck, and softly - laughed. The old Beelo was on guard again, except that with his recovered - courage he was uncommonly gentle and affectionate. I wondered if I should - ever reach the end of the boy’s phases. - </p> - <p> - From some indeterminate direction came the muffled sound of an explosion. - </p> - <p> - “Hold tight!” cried Christopher, violently lurching the raft round and - jamming it sharply against high jutting rocks on the bank. “Down!” he - added. - </p> - <p> - A mighty rush as of many winds came tearing up the passage far ahead. I - threw Beelo face down, and flattened my body. Then came the blow, and - hurled Christopher backward upon us. In a moment he had recovered himself. - The impact must have strained Beelo’s ribs, but he lay still. - </p> - <p> - It was a combination of atmospheric concussion and hot gases, principally - steam, that had struck us. I raised my head, gasping for breath. Beelo was - inert. I lifted him. One arm feebly groped for my neck, and clung there. - </p> - <p> - “We are safe!” I cheerily said. “Where is my brave little brother?” - </p> - <p> - He only held me the closer. Indeed, speech was difficult, since the air - was packed with smothering vapors. The desire to breathe was checked by an - instinctive fear to inhale. - </p> - <p> - Christopher cautiously pushed out, and again we drifted free, The pole - dipped and clicked and scraped. - </p> - <p> - But a change had come. The furnace roar had ceased; the waterfall grew - louder. Most striking of all was the unearthly luminosity of the steam - filling the tunnel. That vapor, rapidly chilling in the cold of the - passage, increased in opaqueness, but glowed the more. Before long the - light became radiant and faintly illuminating, and the air sweetened. I - had known by Beelo’s breath on my cheek that his face was upturned to - mine, and near. Thus it was that after long peering I found the light in - his eyes. My arms were enclosing him. - </p> - <p> - “I see my lad!” I said in gladness. - </p> - <p> - A queer little movement of withdrawal began. I tried to hold him, but - found no yielding. Gradually he slipped out of my clasp, and sat alone. - </p> - <p> - Christopher slowly took body in the haze, a ghostly Charon on the Styx. - The color of the glow grew from white to rose, with an occasional - effulgence of bluish purple. The surface of the earth knew no such tints - in fire; these were royally plutonic. The black rocks overhead and on - either hand assumed a vague, grim definition, and to my keyed fancy - displayed grotesque suggestions. Blank spaces a shade darker than the - grimacing, minatory rocks fell away; these I supposed to be cavernous - reaches out of the passage, for from them came echoed multiples of the - pole-sounds. - </p> - <p> - The temperature began to rise as the waterfall grew louder, the light more - revealing, the haze weaker. We swung round a wide curve, and all at once a - terrifying vision sprang forth in a blood-red light. Our stream opened - into a small lake, which was violently churned by a cataract of crimson - water brilliantly illuminated and plunging out of the overhead darkness - into it. The roar was deafening. - </p> - <p> - Beelo, scrambling in terror to his feet, his eyes blazing with the red - madness that packed the cavern, required a strong hand to subdue him. He - struggled in my grasp, pointed frantically backward with implorings that - we return, and fought my restraint with sheer animal desperation. - Christopher’s conduct, though showing extraordinary exhilaration, betrayed - no fear, but only a grimmer hold on our situation. With a rearward glance - and the discovery that I was holding Beelo securely, he stood up, a - gigantic red figure, and with all his might shot the raft forward into the - maelstrom. The frail thing plunged in the surge, but Christopher’s eye and - arm were sure. The suck of the water, curving downward where the cataract - struck the pool, was cunningly avoided as he circled the rim of the - lakelet, having as able work to do in avoiding the dripping rocks there as - in keeping out of the breakers. - </p> - <p> - I thanked God there was light, formidable though it was; it helped me in - my control of Beelo, whose struggles were becoming weaker, and enabled me - to find a good grip on the raft, for there was danger of slipping off. - Through all the wild lurching Christopher kept a sailor’s feet; and, - although his back was toward me, I saw by his quick movements that all his - shrewd forces were in the fight. - </p> - <p> - Whence came the light? It appeared to be in the cataract itself, a living - flame in the heart of its greatest enemy. The water was joyously, terribly - alive. - </p> - <p> - The raft described an arc of the pool, slipped out of the boiling churn, - and, before Christopher was aware, caught an eddy and went swinging and - lurching in behind the cataract. The man so strong in both soul and body - threw up his hands in the surrender of terror, for a thing more awful than - the red light and the waterfall confronted us. He dropped the pole. Its - middle struck the edge of the raft, and our one weapon of defense - rebounded into the water. Beelo saw the catastrophe. He clutched me - frantically about the neck, nearly strangling me before I broke his hold. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0133.jpg" alt="0133 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0133.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - Christopher looked about for the pole, and saw it bobbing on end as it - struggled against submergence in the down-thrust behind the fall. It was - twenty fatal feet away. The ferocity of elemental self-preservation seized - on the man and transformed him. This was not the attitude of patient, - gentle Christopher, the humble, serving Christopher, but that of a bayed - animal. My hands were tied by the necessity of Beelo’s care. - </p> - <p> - The spectacle that had unmanned Christopher was in a profound recess - reaching indeterminately out of the cavern and behind the waterfall. It - had not been visible until we rounded the fall and went scurrying behind - it in the eddy. Apparently far back,—I cannot guess how far,—ran - a broad, high, fantastically irregular tunnel ending in a pit of boiling - lava, at an unknown depth below the level of the tunnel, which itself was - slightly above the surface of the pool. Deep rumblings issued from it, as - from a heavy ebullition, punctured with smothered detonations. Rising from - it were thin, cloud-like masses of vapor, like the pale mauve haze of - distant mountains. In its rolling it thickened concealingly here and - opened revealingly there, with constantly shifting effects. - </p> - <p> - The dominant color was a deep, transparent crimson of a tint such as may - be seen in the cooling iron of a foundry or in the great crater of - Kilauea; but following the detonations came leaping flames of bluish - purple. It was the red shining through the water that had made the - cataract a fall of liquid crimson when seen from the front. - </p> - <p> - This, then, was the funnel of a volcano, with a lateral vent. Was it one - of Pluto’s cooling forges? Was its present activity transient? Was this - the beginning of a seismic convulsion that might blow the valley rampart - into the sea? - </p> - <p> - I cannot say when those questions arose. The urgency of an immediate - threat demanded all attention. Beelo was in an ecstasy of terror, and - Christopher was desperately casting about with all his reassembled wits. - In the tumult of noises our voices were useless. We had been flung out of - the larger eddy into a smaller one swirling between the back of the fall - and the tunnel-mouth. It had a swifter and more dizzying whirl. Soon it - seemed that we were still, except for the ceaseless rolling of our craft, - and that the roaring fall and the grumbling, blazing tunnel were swinging - round us. With the rest passed the bobbing pole, a live, insane thing, - nodding this way and that, approaching the downpour gingerly, diving under - a sharp water-blow, and leaping up with malicious sprightliness a few feet - back. At any moment it might be caught sidewise and crushed. - </p> - <p> - There was another danger. The centrifugal force of our swing in the eddy - was carrying us out to the periphery of the swirl. On one side were the - rocks at the mouth of the tunnel; opposite was the waterfall, the - slightest blow from which (since it fell from a height of at least a - hundred feet) would mean the end. Our swinging was taking us nearer to - both those dangers. - </p> - <p> - Something roused within, overcoming my pity for Beelo. I shook him and - slapped his cheek. Astonishment and anger blazed in his eyes, and then - with a mighty indignation he crawled away and sat glaring at me. At - another time the comical picture would have amused me, for the boy behaved - just as a proud kitten under similar treatment. Having secured the desired - result with Beelo, I worked to the edge of the raft, and prepared to make - a leap for the pole. I was waiting till the raft should swing round and - bring me nearer. Before that happened, two soft arms were flung round me - from behind, a cheek pressed mine, and I was borne down backward. Two - small, firm hands held my wrists down. For the moment I was helpless. - </p> - <p> - Of course, Christopher knew that our nearer approach to danger brought us - closer to hope, which lay in the pole. He was biding the moment, and it - came. He crouched on the raft, and a long arm shot out. Beelo’s nerves - were quivering till Christopher rose; then they stilled, and he released - me. - </p> - <p> - Christopher had learned from experience, and it was a surer hand now that - gripped the pole and sent the raft spinning out of the eddy. To keep it - somewhat trimmed against Christopher’s movements had been a small part of - my task hitherto, so thoughtful of everything had he been; but now that he - saw Beelo and me better used to the situation, he quietly gave us - something of that to do, thus securing more freedom of movement. - </p> - <p> - He found the egress of the stream from the pool, and pushed out. Slowly we - crept through the gloomy, misty light, which paled as we went. Christopher - must have felt a dread that oppressed me—the danger of recurrent - explosions—for he worked with less extreme caution than before, and - our progress was better. After a time the light was too dim for me to see - Beelo sitting in his sullen pout; and when darkness again fell, he crept - up beside me and stole out a hand for mine. The noises had nearly ceased, - and Beelo no longer feared the weird echoes. - </p> - <p> - “I’m glad it’s past,” he sighed, nestling against me. “Aren’t you, - Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - “Joseph.” - </p> - <p> - He hugged my arm and softly laughed. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, I’m glad,” I answered. - </p> - <p> - It seemed many hours since we had entered the passage, and I hoped we - should emerge in the morning of the day following that of our start. - </p> - <p> - New conditions began to arise. Above the cataract the stream had been - slow, with few approaches to rapids. Those had been the worst - danger-points. Now we discovered that the current was swifter and the - rapids more numerous and turbulent. The celerity of Christopher’s - movements increased. He no longer tried to spare us the water dripping - from his pole as he repeatedly shifted it and groped for bearings. This - made me more apprehensive. I wondered whether, even with better - facilities, we could return to the valley through this passage, and how - the two hundred and fifty colonists could manage to come safely through. - </p> - <p> - Presently I felt in the water a turgidity where the current was slow, and - heard a hoarse, growling rumble quite different from the sounds that we - had left behind. Beelo tightened his clutch and breathlessly said: - </p> - <p> - “It has come!” - </p> - <p> - “What has, lad?” - </p> - <p> - “Hush!” - </p> - <p> - Except for an unusual slapping of the water against the rocks, the - commotion had passed. I wondered if the storm had broken in the valley and - the torrent was coming; but this did not look like it. - </p> - <p> - “It has gone, Beelo. What was it?” - </p> - <p> - “No, it hasn’t. Hold tight. Sit hard, Christopher!” - </p> - <p> - “Beelo,” I impatiently demanded, “you must tell me what——” - </p> - <p> - The speech was stopped by a groaning crunch that tossed the stream, - splashed the water high on the rocks, and filled the passage with a sound - like that of crushing glass. Beelo was again in terror. - </p> - <p> - “Be quiet, lad. There’s nothing——-” - </p> - <p> - “Don’t talk!” he desperately commanded. “The third one will come. That’s - the worst. Wait!” - </p> - <p> - The seconds dragged through an awful silence. Beelo’s breath struggled - spasmodically through the repression under which he tried to hold it. - </p> - <p> - The third shock came, and then, though I had never felt one before, I knew - what it was. The whole world seemed to heave and writhe and jolt and - grind, all with a fearful noise. The earthquake, grim brother of the - boiling cauldron we had left, had us in its jaws, and its power was - manifest in the ease with which it crushed and ground the rocks about us. - Fragments of these began to splash in the water and rattle on the raft. - Just in front, a huge block plunged into the stream and dashed us with - water. - </p> - <p> - Beelo flung himself upon me; I again bent over him to shield him. - </p> - <p> - Another heavy stone struck the raft in the narrow space between - Christopher and us, and tore through it into the water, sending up a - geyser through the hole. - </p> - <p> - A stiffening wave of terror overswept Beelo. He sprang to his knees and - tightly embraced my neck in both arms. - </p> - <p> - “We are going to die!” he feebly cried, and pressed his lips to mine, - sinking inert into my arms. My fingers anxiously sought his pulse. It was - fluttering. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” I called in alarm,—not realizing that the earthquake - had passed and that a dim light made visible the rocks in a turn ahead,—“Christopher! - Something has happened to Beelo!” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir,” came with the steady old calm. - </p> - <p> - “Stop! We must do something for him.” - </p> - <p> - “We are going out, sir.” - </p> - <p> - We swung the curve, and the blessed daylight smiled ahead. The raft slid - out of the passage in placid water, which here, as at the other end, was - deeply embowered. The glorious day, though overcast, was brilliant to our - eyes as it sifted through and rested sweetly on the water. As Beelo was - unconscious, Christopher observed extraordinary care in proceeding, and as - soon as possible secured the raft in the sheltered reach. - </p> - <p> - I was looking down into Beelo’s face. His head had fallen back, and - although his eyes were closed, his lips were open. It came over me with a - pang that a richness and a maturity which I had not before noticed in his - face, rested there now. - </p> - <p> - “How long has it taken us to come through?” I asked Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “‘Mos’ four hours, sir.” - </p> - <p> - I was surprised. It had seemed much longer. - </p> - <p> - He came to lift Beelo out, but I myself bore him ashore and laid him on - the ground, and knelt over him. Christopher was standing near, studying - him, but showing no anxiety. - </p> - <p> - “It is only fainting, isn’t it, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “That’s all, sir.” - </p> - <p> - To give him air, I began to open his blouse. - </p> - <p> - “I wouldn’t, sir,” interposed Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “Why?” I asked, looking up in surprise. - </p> - <p> - He only regarded me in silence. At first I thought that Christopher’s - singular penetration had discovered that Beelo was lighter of color than a - full-blooded native and was delicately warning me not to invade the - carefully guarded secret. I recalled the story that I had told Beelo, and - my suspicions as to the purity of his native blood. And what harm could - come if I did learn? - </p> - <p> - Then the truth came upon me with the overwhelming force of long - cumulation. His conduct in the tunnel, his sweetness and gentleness, the - strange conclusion of the scene with Annabel when they had met,—a - thousand memories of things that had passed unheeded in the stress of - dangers,—came as a blinding light. I do not know when Christopher - learned the truth, but in his chivalry he would have seen me go blind to - the grave without a word from him in betrayal of Beelo’s secret. - </p> - <p> - The shock stunned me, and my head was bowed in reverence. When I again - looked into the patient face, now having for me so sweet and touching a - pathos, the deep-blue eyes were looking up into mine; then they turned to - Christopher, and all about. The old mischievous, bantering smile parted - the perfect lips. The eyes again sought mine. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph! It’s fine to be dead!” But the voice held a different music from - that of the lad whom I had loved and who was now gone forever. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XIII.—Preparation for the Crisis. - </h2> - <p> - <i>In the Enemy’s Land. The Weird Light on the Valley Wall. Mr. Vancouver. - A Visit with Lentala. She Tells a Secret Which I Already Know.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span> Would respect - Beelo’s wish that she appear as a boy, and must keep hammering into my - mind the words, Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother. I must not for a moment - think of her otherwise. “Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother.” - </p> - <p> - “What are you dreaming, Choseph, and what are those words your lips are - saying?” It was Beelo’s cheery voice. - </p> - <p> - He was sitting up; I was beside him looking down at the gliding water. I - woke to the familiar raillery, and turned with a smile. - </p> - <p> - “Dear lad!” I joyfully responded. - </p> - <p> - “You had forgotten me,” he ruefully said. “And you, old Christopher! Don’t - you see I’m dying of thirst?” - </p> - <p> - Christopher plucked two large leaves, fashioned them into a cup, and - brought the water, which Beelo eagerly drank. He held out his hand, and I - helped him up. He tried his legs. - </p> - <p> - “That’s better,” he said. - </p> - <p> - The perfect grace of movement, the exquisite feminine figure so artfully - concealed,—— - </p> - <p> - “Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother.” - </p> - <p> - “Mooning again, and talking to yourself!” cried Beelo. - </p> - <p> - “It was a rough trip through the passage, boy. I’m a little shaken.” - </p> - <p> - “That’s past. Shake the other way.” He was pirouetting round a tree. - </p> - <p> - “But how are we going back, lad?” - </p> - <p> - “This way,” he carelessly answered, making wing-motions with his arms. - </p> - <p> - “There was an earthquake, Beelo.” - </p> - <p> - He stopped short, and his eyes lighted deep. - </p> - <p> - “Yes!” he softly but impressively exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - The old caution settled in his face; he peered and listened warily, and - then came a look of assured repose. - </p> - <p> - “That is good,” he said,—“if—” a cloud drifted over his face—“if - they felt it on the surface.” - </p> - <p> - “They did,” interposed Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “How do you know?” Beelo sharply demanded. - </p> - <p> - Christopher pointed to a large rock near us, to the path that it had - freshly torn through the brush, and to a steep slope from which it had - been dislodged. - </p> - <p> - “Good for Christopher!” said Beelo. He studied the sky, and dejectedly - added, “But the storm is coming!” After a little reflection he remarked, - as if to himself, “I don’t know whether that should change our plans or - not.” He seated himself to think it out, and began arranging twigs on the - ground. “No Senatras will be within miles of the passage,” he ruminated. - “They fear it, for the earthquake is born here, and they have run away. - So, we can make better time. Mr. Vancouver is safe today; we won’t go <i>there</i>.” - </p> - <p> - “Where, dear little brother?” - </p> - <p> - Pain crossed his face. “To the clearing opposite the Face. If only another - earthquake would come, or this had come sooner!” - </p> - <p> - “Is one usually followed by another?” - </p> - <p> - “Often. Sometimes not. Come! The sun will be setting before long, and we - have miles to go.” - </p> - <p> - We hid the battered raft and struck out. Our way led parallel to the - stream, which tore foaming down a gorge of steeply sloping sides. It - slipped into a pleasant valley, richly verdured. There we left it and - began the ascent of a mountain on the west. Dusk was coming on. Beelo - fearlessly pursued the trails in the darkening hours. - </p> - <p> - Occasionally we paused to rest. The valley which we had crossed lay a - black-green sea below. Behind us the eastern sky was cut straight across - by the level summit of our valley wall. Beelo was closely studying it. - </p> - <p> - “You see no sign of fire over there, do you?” he asked, pointing toward - the clearing opposite the Face. - </p> - <p> - There was none, and Beelo was gratified. Our attention was diverted from - that spot by a faint purplish flash, which slipped along the crest above - the river passage, and was quickly gone. Beelo stood tense and still, and - whispered: - </p> - <p> - “Did you see <i>that?</i>” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - We waited for its reappearance, but none came. Beelo said no more. The - light had come from the subterranean lava-pot. - </p> - <p> - Beyond the wall was the blackest part of the sky. Under the horizon in - that direction lightning was at play, as we judged from faint - illuminations in the distant heavens, and the rumble of far thunder. - </p> - <p> - Night had nearly fallen when we reached the summit. The descent was rapid - on the other side, for Beelo went with the sureness of familiarity. At - last we stopped at an abandoned hut, hidden in the deep forest. Beelo - paused on the door-step. - </p> - <p> - “See,” he said, pointing to a glow a mile or less away, down the valley. - “That is the main settlement of the Senatras. The king’s palace, where - Lentala and I live, is there. We will visit it tonight,—if Lentala - agrees. You will rest here awhile and have something to eat. After the - visit to the palace you will sleep here.” - </p> - <p> - He showed us within, closed the door, blew a flame from smothered embers - on the hearth, and lighted a nut-oil lamp. He had been very sober and - quiet all the way, but now his eyes began to dance. - </p> - <p> - “This is your mansion!” he exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - The place had been made clean and sweet, good beds of leaves were on the - earth floor, and fresh water stood in calabashes. Beelo dragged forward a - copper vessel, and took from it a generous food supply. - </p> - <p> - “Isn’t she pretty good—for a girl?” he casually asked. - </p> - <p> - “Who?” - </p> - <p> - “Lentala. She did these things.” - </p> - <p> - Ever since the scene at the end of the passage, sadness had sat upon me, - and I was in no mood to enjoy Beelo’s pleasantries,—this, too, while - I was deeply touched by the labor and gentle thoughtfulness with which - everything had been done for our comfort. Still, something precious was - gone from my life; my heart hungered for the lad. But he was here! In a - swirl of perversity I seized Beelo’s hands, and held him before me. - </p> - <p> - “Dear lad,” I said, “I am walking in the dark. Believe me, little brother, - I am grateful—more grateful than any words could say—for the - skill and the kindness that we have seen from you. But my heart is sore, - and you are laughing at me.” - </p> - <p> - Something between suspicion and embarrassment had been rapidly growing in - Beelo’s face. Of a sudden he closed my mouth with his hand and made a - brave rally of Beelo’s old flippancies. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” he said, “did you ever see such a goose? Such an <i>old</i> - goose?” - </p> - <p> - I gently removed his hand. - </p> - <p> - “I am serious, boy.” - </p> - <p> - “Hush!” commanded Beelo in a whisper. - </p> - <p> - His hunt down into me was ruthless, but the hurt there helped me to steady - my gaze. “When I fainted——” he began, and stopped, having - found my face expressionless. He turned to Christopher, who, giving no - attention to us, was setting out the supper on a mat. Beelo’s sharp eyes - came back to me. - </p> - <p> - “Dear little brother,——” - </p> - <p> - “No, no! Not a word!” he broke in. “I haven’t time, and you are hungry. - Come, Choseph!” - </p> - <p> - He turned me to the supper and forced me to sit on the ground opposite - Christopher. It was pleasant to be man-handled by Beelo. His abuse of me - was always smoothed by affection. I had no appetite, but who could resist - Beelo? He played that I was an invalid and unable to help myself. He - patted my cheek, put food into my mouth, chattered nonsense as though I - were a baby, and petted me with outrageous condescension. There was - nothing to do but melt under his dear absurdities; and when he found me - re-established, he kissed me on the forehead and dashed out, calling that - he would be back before long. - </p> - <p> - When he returned he was brilliantly alive. There seemed no end to his - vitality. - </p> - <p> - “It’s glorious!” he cried, seizing Christopher and sending his bulk in a - twirl across the hut. “It’s splendid!” he went on, smashing my dignity - with boy’s play. “It’s just——” But his breath was gone, and he - tumbled in a panting heap on the ground. - </p> - <p> - “What news, Beelo?” I inquired. - </p> - <p> - He sat up, but as yet had meager breath for speech. - </p> - <p> - “Mr. Vancouver—is safe. Doesn’t look very—happy. Hasn’t seen—the - king. Oh, no! Lentala,—who is an Angel—and Sweet—and - Kind—and Beautiful,—is just dying—to see you. And——” - </p> - <p> - “Rest a minute,” I interrupted. - </p> - <p> - He flung a little pout at me, and then archly demanded, “Aren’t you - good-natured yet, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - I shook my head. - </p> - <p> - “You will be when you see Lentala,” he said with mock melancholy. “Don’t - you like girls?” he suddenly fired at me. - </p> - <p> - “Y—es,” I stammered consciously. - </p> - <p> - “You like Annabel!” with a spitfire touch on his tongue. - </p> - <p> - “I once liked, very much, a dear lad named Beelo more than any girl.” - </p> - <p> - “<i>Once</i> liked Beelo!” His shining eyes were lances. - </p> - <p> - “I like him just as much yet—when he is Beelo.” - </p> - <p> - I knew by his start that the thin ice on which I walked was cracking. - </p> - <p> - “And what is he when he isn’t Beelo?” - </p> - <p> - “A little devil.” - </p> - <p> - He laughed. “You aren’t <i>quite</i> dead,” he said, and a briskness - sprang into his manner. “We must go. Most of the Senatras have already - gone to sleep. Come.” - </p> - <p> - He rapidly led us into the valley, meanwhile instructing us how to respond - if greeted. The natives were not garrulous nor inquisitive, and we passed - unnoticed, until the outskirts of the settlement were reached. There, in a - dimly lighted hut, Mr. Vancouver was resting under guard, Beelo informed - us. A barely visible figure challenged Beelo. The prompt response made the - shape sink from view. - </p> - <p> - “We haven’t time to see Mr. Vancouver now,” said the lad to us. - </p> - <p> - A turn in a lane lined with huts brought us into a beautiful highway, - broad and white, and picketed with odorous trees which arched overhead. - The darkness would have been profound but for a diffused light which - glowed ahead upon something white. We went rapidly toward it, and found it - to be a high stone wall; the light was from two lamps on posts where the - highway swung to the left and ran at the foot of the wall. - </p> - <p> - Instead of following the main road Beelo turned into a narrow way to the - right. The overhead growth was so dense that the light from the lamps was - soon lost, but Beelo knew the way. At last he stopped, and slipped a key - into a lock. The heavy wooden door, plated and strapped with iron, - suggested a postern in an archaic fortress. He led us within and secured - the door. - </p> - <p> - The nearer approach of the storm brought lightning, which increased - Beelo’s caution while revealing glimpses of our environment. In the region - behind the wall the verdure was less dense and more orderly than in the - park through which we had come. The lightning made the open spaces - embarrassing to our guide, who hurried us across them to the shadows. - Finely kept paths wound and intersected, but Beelo knew shorter routes. A - rising wind assisted the stealth of our progress. - </p> - <p> - He brought us under the shadow of a low arcade, open on one side, and - closed on the other with a long stone house. The pillars were massed in - vines. Here the darkness was intense. The stone floor gave no sound under - our tread. - </p> - <p> - Beelo stopped us, advanced a few paces, and rapped on a door. It was - cautiously opened, but we could not see within as Beelo entered. A very - faint light barely made him visible. - </p> - <p> - “Lentala!” he whispered, “they are here.” - </p> - <p> - A voice fuller and mellower than Beelo’s yet much like his, answered, - “Yes? I had given you up, and was undressing for bed.” - </p> - <p> - “You’ll dress?” Beelo spoke nervously. - </p> - <p> - “Yes. Tell them to wait a little while. They are safe out there. Beelo, - the king is furious because you ran away tonight. He is waiting for you. - Go at once. It is something about the man from the colony.” I resented her - domineering manner toward Beelo. - </p> - <p> - “Very well. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he answered sweetly. - </p> - <p> - Coming back to us, he began to explain, but I told him we had heard. A - reassuring hand was given to each of us, and he was hurrying across the - garden fronting the arcade. He halted and came back. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t stay with Lentala longer than ten minutes,” he earnestly said. “The - king may detain me. If I don’t come, can you find your way back?” - </p> - <p> - I assured him that we could, and that even should he come, we would not - let him conduct: us to the hut. - </p> - <p> - He gave my hand a grateful little squeeze as he slipped the gate-key into - it, and darted away, saying: - </p> - <p> - “Wait at Lentala’s door till she opens it.” - </p> - <p> - Presently she bade us enter. Instead of her barbarous but highly becoming - dress at the feast, with neat jacket and short skirt blazing with gold - embroidery, she now wore a plain, loose garment. It was partly redeemed by - a low cut in the neck, a splendid girdle consisting of a heavy and - elaborately linked chain of gold, and a necklace of wonderful diamonds. - </p> - <p> - I could not have explained why this dazzling woman, who had filled so wide - a space in my fancy, now looked a negligible quantity, an intrusion. There - was little of the sparkle that I had expected. The childlike coquetries, - the careless abandon, the subtleties that had flitted so unconsciously - through the conduct of the Lentala I remembered,—these and a - thousand other graces were absent from the sedater young woman smiling - upon us and composedly seating us. - </p> - <p> - She had greeted us with a warning finger on her lips. - </p> - <p> - “My servants,” she explained in a low, rich voice, “are all in bed and - asleep. But they are not far away, and we must be careful.” There was a - curious reminder of Annabel’s preciseness in this new Lentala. - </p> - <p> - She must have felt my discomfort, for she let some of her consciousness - slip away, and a dash of her native wildness gradually returned. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo has told me everything,” she said; “I’ll not trouble you with - questions. And we are not to discuss any plans tonight.” - </p> - <p> - The beauty and richness of the room came forth, faint in the light of - suspended lamps, which, clouded in thin fabrics, cast no shadows and - softened all contours. A rich massing of hammered gold and silver, of - exquisite bronzes and ivories, of hangings and rugs, was softened to grace - by their perfect arrangement, and over that in turn was a fine breath of - daintiness. My astonishment grew as the significance of it came over me. - Did this girl, all seeming innocence, gentleness, and kindness, <i>feel</i> - none of the crime and blood with which these treasures were drenched? Yet - only the sweetest of spirits could have cast upon this charnel-house loot - the cleansing that held its grisly suggestion back. - </p> - <p> - She had been moving about and gently chatting, and I had made empty - responses. At last I discovered that she was growing nervous. A heavy - crash of thunder brought out the cause. She looked anxious, and said: “The - storm is near. You must go before it breaks. Beela”—I noted her odd - pronunciation of the final syllable—“said that if he didn’t return - in ten minutes you must go without him, but I can’t think of that. He has - been gone much longer.” - </p> - <p> - I tried to assure her that we could go alone, but still she was uneasy. - Christopher and I rose. She came and laid a hand on my arm. - </p> - <p> - “Wait a little while.” She hesitated over the next words. “Do you like - Beela—Beelo?” - </p> - <p> - “Very much,” I answered dully. - </p> - <p> - A liquid softness entered her beautiful eyes, and with it a sparkle of the - old Lentala—and of Beelo too. - </p> - <p> - “I am going to tell you a secret,” she went on. “You will keep it?—and - you, Christopher? And you’ll not let Beelo know?” - </p> - <p> - We pledged ourselves. She removed her hand, looked down, and while busying - herself with a readjustment of her girdle, said, very low: - </p> - <p> - “Beelo isn’t a boy.” - </p> - <p> - Her fingers stopped in her acute tension. I stood silent. With an effort - she raised her eyes to mine, and hers betrayed a keen suspense. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo is a girl,” she added, as though I had not heard. “Her name is - Beela.” She found my look coolly meeting hers. - </p> - <p> - “You liked Beelo the boy,” she groped on; “don’t you like Beela the girl?” - </p> - <p> - “I—I’m not acquainted with her,” I fumbled. - </p> - <p> - For a moment the Lentala of the feast returned in a look of mischievous - amusement, followed by one of pretended sorrow. I was enjoying the fine - play in her face.. - </p> - <p> - “But don’t you see,” she asked, “that in knowing and liking the boy, you - knew and liked the girl?” - </p> - <p> - It would have been impossible for me to make her understand that I was not - nimble in violent readjustments; so I held my peace. - </p> - <p> - “She was Beela the girl all the time,” Lentala insisted. “It couldn’t have - been anything but the girl in her that you cared for.” She did not know in - the least that she was talking to the wind. - </p> - <p> - “Of course,” agreed I, very uncomfortable. - </p> - <p> - My tone made her turn impatiently away. With much spirit she went on as - with ease and softness she paced the floor: - </p> - <p> - “After all she has done, too! I don’t see———” - </p> - <p> - “Lentala!” I interrupted; “don’t misunderstand. I do like——” - </p> - <p> - “No, you don’t!” Her voice was growing unsteady. “My poor little Beela! I - <i>know</i> she’s a madcap, but she is good, she is kind. She <i>had</i> - to be a boy. I <i>made</i> her be one. She couldn’t have done what she did——” - </p> - <p> - “Lentala, please——” - </p> - <p> - “——-unless she <i>was</i> a boy. And now she is shamed and - humiliated! Don’t let my sweet sister ever know that. It would break her - heart. Poor little Beela!” - </p> - <p> - “This is all wrong. I——” - </p> - <p> - “Even for <i>my</i> sake you might be generous. It is——” - </p> - <p> - Three strides brought me to her, and I was unconscious of the power in my - angry grip on her wrist, but her tongue went silent. She raised her eyes - under the compulsion of mine. - </p> - <p> - “That is enough,” I said. - </p> - <p> - There was a moment’s matching of our forces. A ripple of mischievous and - innocent surprise animated her, and she laughed with the glee of a gentle - child. She was very much like her sister then. - </p> - <p> - A deepening thunder-crash came. - </p> - <p> - “You must go—now! I’m going with you. I won’t let you——” - </p> - <p> - “You shall not go,” I firmly said. - </p> - <p> - “I <i>must</i>. I <i>want</i> to. I’ll get a——” - </p> - <p> - “No, Lentala. Good-night.” - </p> - <p> - As I was turning away, I saw the second time in her face the look of one - whose road has stopped at a wall. When I smiled and bowed to her as - Christopher and I were passing out, she was standing where I left her, - looking blankly at me. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XIV.—-A Glimpse Into the Abyss. - </h2> - <p> - <i>The Fate Awaiting Mr. Vancouver. We Play a Trick on the Natives. My - Nerves Give Way. A Ghastly Hint from Christopher. A Perilous Place.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE drenching, - thunder-ridden storm was so favoring that I determined to investigate Mr. - Vancouver’s circumstances, and, if possible, ascertain the plans focusing - in him; for since the discovery of Beela’s sex, her horror and timidity - concerning those intentions were explained. I must now take the lead, - since the work was not fitted to a woman. - </p> - <p> - No guards were outside Mr. Vancouver’s hut when we arrived, and the - wetting of the ground silenced our footfalls. My impulse was to enter, and - cautiously ascertain the truth; but I realized that the risk was great. In - creeping round the hut we overheard two native men talking near the rear - wall. - </p> - <p> - “Hush!” continued one of the voices. “He is groaning again, and may wake.” - </p> - <p> - In a little while the other remarked, “He is asleep. What were you telling - me?” - </p> - <p> - “The king is very uneasy. The people all know that the white man is here.” - </p> - <p> - “Is there dry wood?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. It is stored in a thatch hut on the east side of the clearing. The - people are clamoring for the white man to be taken to the stone.” - </p> - <p> - “That can’t be done while the storm rages.” - </p> - <p> - “No; but the first hurricane never lasts long. The king has promised Gato - that the white man shall be sent to the fire as soon as this storm passes. - That may be tomorrow.” - </p> - <p> - “Does the white man suspect?” - </p> - <p> - “Undoubtedly. He frets and groans.” - </p> - <p> - “What are these stories about the Black Face?” - </p> - <p> - “The scouts sent by Gato say that it looks more ferocious than ever.” - </p> - <p> - “Does the king realize that the people will rise unless he consents to the - offering?” - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know. He is silent and deeply troubled. Danger stops any - direction that he can take. But Gato is ready.” - </p> - <p> - A horror that I felt rather than understood came over me, and, fearing - that I should betray our presence by some rash act, I was creeping away, - when I discovered that Christopher, moving similarly, had started before - me. Every tree-branch was a tempting club with which to break a savage - head and free the prisoner. - </p> - <p> - Instead of returning to our hut, we went to the summit of the wall - enclosing our valley. Clearly Christopher required no explanation to - understand my purpose. With slow, sure caution we took an eastwardly - course, parallel with the brink of the precipice and at a safe distance - from any men that might be patrolling it. From time to time we would stop, - creep nearer the edge, make a careful inspection, return in silence, and - go on. The violence of the storm abated somewhat, thus making our progress - swifter, but more risky. - </p> - <p> - With true instinct Christopher went straight to what we had been seeking,—the - opening in the forest on the top of the wall fronting the Face. The clear - space was smooth, level rock. One segment of the nearly circular opening - was cut off by the sheer drop of the precipice. Near that edge was an - exquisitely built circular stone platform some four feet high and ten in - diameter. As we worked round for a nearer view, we discovered on its top - old marks of fire which the rains had not washed off. I recognized it as - the object that I had seen from the valley, opposite the Face. There was a - moon, but only a faint glow from it filtered through the clouds; - occasional flashes of lightning gave us clearer seeing. The air was - stifling. - </p> - <p> - We edged nearer to the cliff, and stood peering across the valley as we - waited for light. It came, and revealed the Face. The sodden, sordid, - worse than bestial mask, more repulsive than ever in the gloom of the - storm, held its gaze fixed upon us. We were upon the scene of the - unthinkable tragedy awaiting Mr. Vancouver. - </p> - <p> - We circled the eastern edge of the clearing. Soon we found a squat - structure of thatch, half hidden in the edge of the forest. It was filled - with neatly piled firewood. No surprise showed in Christopher’s face. - </p> - <p> - After further exploration of the vicinity, and satisfied that the place - was unguarded, we loaded ourselves with wood from the hut, and plunged - into the thicket. A short distance away I had discovered a deep cleft. We - threw our loads into it; the fall was long before the sound came from the - bottom. Thus, after many trips, we disposed of all the fuel, and hastened - back to our hut for sleep. The night was far gone. - </p> - <p> - The storm broke afresh, and I lay sleepless, and listened to the elemental - furies at play. Every nerve ached, and sleep was a sore need. - Contingencies riding the hurricane would likely offer still heavier work - for tomorrow. Whatever innocent pranks Beela might indulge, her profound - seriousness and her appreciation of the dangerous risks in this - undertaking were genuine. - </p> - <p> - With the swirl and dash of the rain came the roar of the tearing wind and - the mighty bellow of thunder. Flash, peal, and boom rended the firmament. - Our cabin braced itself and strained under the tug, as though digging its - claws into the ground to hold firm. Large trees on the slope behind us - fell crashing. - </p> - <p> - This was more than a hurricane: it was a tornado; perhaps worse yet, a - typhoon. Many ships ride out the worst of these; but mentally I saw brown - men being told off to man the promontories of the bight, and to watch for - staggering, heart-broken specks on the sea as the wind following the - hurricane urged them on slowly to a pleasant beach, five hundred - swordsmen, an oily savage king and a feast, and a march over the mountain - to a guarded paradise; thence to be “sent away” to their homes—their - eternal homes—one at a time! one at a time! So far as civilization - had reached, it had strangled an unspeakable practice in these seas. - </p> - <p> - Not even the churn of the storm in my veins could check the cold that ran - in my blood. Was the father of Annabel to be only the first? Were we - waiting as fattening hogs, instead of being out and afield, fighting a way - to liberty, and dying, if we must, as men should?... - </p> - <p> - I found myself off the pallet and rolling on the floor. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher?” I called, staggering to my feet. - </p> - <p> - “Sir?” - </p> - <p> - I knew by the nearness of his voice that he was already beside me, but - invisible in the blackness. - </p> - <p> - “Light the lamp. We are going to dress.” - </p> - <p> - He obeyed without a word. I was feverishly rummaging for my clothes. - </p> - <p> - “There, sir,” he said, pointing to my moccasins, but neglecting to fetch - them to me. - </p> - <p> - I had forgotten that my dress was Senatra and that moccasins were the only - part of it I had removed. I made a blundering affair of putting them on, - for the clutch of my hand was shaped better for a bludgeon just then. - Christopher was observing me with a mild, exasperating patience. - </p> - <p> - “Put yours on,” I roughly commanded. - </p> - <p> - He made still denser the stupidity in his stare, and stood still. - </p> - <p> - “Hurry!” I cried. - </p> - <p> - “Sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Hurry, I say! You are going too.” - </p> - <p> - “Me?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes! We are going to take Mr. Vancouver away from those beasts.” - </p> - <p> - Without a change of expression he made a pretense of preparation. In doing - so, he edged up to the barred door, placed his wide back against it, and - calmly faced me. - </p> - <p> - “What do you mean by that?” I demanded in a fury. - </p> - <p> - “Sir?” - </p> - <p> - “Stand aside, Christopher!” - </p> - <p> - “Me, sir?” - </p> - <p> - In exasperation I seized the copper vessel and advanced upon him. Not a - muscle of his body moved; his ape-like arms hung loose; his hands were - open. But it was not his defenselessness that stayed me. Far more potent - was the deep devotion in his eyes, which held a profounder sadness than - usual. It was a dash of cold water on my heat, but not my determination. - In all kindness I would reason with him. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” I asked, “do you know what they are going to do with Mr. - Vancouver?” - </p> - <p> - He omitted his formula, and simply gazed at me. - </p> - <p> - Then I told him, in raw, sore words. It was the first time they had been - spoken by a member of the colony. - </p> - <p> - I was astonished at his placidity on hearing them. - </p> - <p> - “Do you understand?” I had to thunder the question above the outer din. - </p> - <p> - But he was listening to sounds that the storm did not make. I waited - impatiently. - </p> - <p> - “They won’t him, sir, if they get you.” - </p> - <p> - “Why not?” - </p> - <p> - “You’re younger ‘n’ fatter.” - </p> - <p> - Like most other of Christopher’s remarks, this one dealt in a conclusive - terminal, omitting postulate and explication; but I understood. He had - told a long and dramatic story in those halting words—our blind - assault, our being beaten down and secured, and then the awful end. I - wondered at that, and longed for the power to see into the working of his - strangely luminous mind, its far light behind its frontal darkness. - </p> - <p> - “And there ain’t no dry wood, sir.” - </p> - <p> - The last of the ice in my blood broke and ran melting before him. I was - very tired, and found myself shifting on my feet like a drunken man. - Tongues of flame began to slip through the hut and dart hither and thither - with curious dips and turns. Some of them were purple, but the most were - crimson. A luminous vapor crept in. The boom of a waterfall rumbled; and - then came a crashing subterranean detonation. Christopher was a gigantic - ape floundering in a drowning sea of steam. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” I cried, trying to catch the wall as it swung past. - </p> - <p> - A firm, gentle arm went round me—an arm of a strength so great that - my most desperate struggles could not break its hold, yet I was a very - strong man. Slowly I was borne down on my pallet, and a thin, soothing - voice came with a hand that tenderly closed my eyes and held the lids - down. My breathing came easier. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - It was daylight, and Christopher was standing in the open door, looking - out. The rain had ceased, but the morning brightness was smothered under - the overhead lowering. The pleasant odor of coffee perfumed the hut. - Without appearing to notice my waking, Christopher served my breakfast, - but said nothing. A dull lassitude made the straw bed more inviting than - my feet. - </p> - <p> - Beela’s cheery good-morning an hour later was checked in alarm when she - entered and found me prone; but her electric vitality palpitated through - me and brought me smiling to a sitting posture. Her inquiring look at - Christopher read nothing in the bland face. A shadow of uneasiness drifted - through her eyes, but she drove it away. - </p> - <p> - “Good!” she said. “I’m glad you are resting. Lie down again.” She dropped - to a seat beside me on the straw, and pushed my head down. - </p> - <p> - “That’s better,—Choseph.” Her hand was on my forehead. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph,” I insisted. - </p> - <p> - “You don’t like the way I talk, Ch—Dzhoseph?” banteringly, stealing - sly hands to mine and pretending to stare mockingly at me while peering - into my eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, Beelo. Did you square yourself with the king and have a good - rest last night?” - </p> - <p> - “Of course. Do you think any king———” - </p> - <p> - “Stop that.” - </p> - <p> - “What?” - </p> - <p> - “Trying to see if I’m sick. Even though I were dead, your coming would - bring me to life.” - </p> - <p> - “My! Did you hear that, Christopher?” - </p> - <p> - The sensible man did not answer, nor even look at her. She made a mouth at - his back, withdrew her hand, and edged away a few inches. Had I made a - slip after that confidence and caution from Lentala? I roused myself. - </p> - <p> - “What’s the news, little brother? What game and what killing today?” - </p> - <p> - Her face fell grave. “Something has happened with you since I saw you last - night, Choseph.” - </p> - <p> - I told her all, and she held her breath over the audacity of our work. - </p> - <p> - “I—I shouldn’t have dared to suggest it,” she said with charming - helplessness as she gave Christopher and me a look of wondering - admiration. “It was splendid, Choseph!” Her dear leaning girlishness, so - natural and unconscious, started a tumult in me, and it was hard for me to - keep the deception of her sex at work. “Now,” she went on, “Mr. Vancouver - is safe so long as the weather is bad; and when it clears, time will be - needed to gather dry wood. We’ll do nothing for the present.” - </p> - <p> - “But we must be ready,” I firmly protested, sitting up. “This matter is in - my hands and Christopher’s now, not yours, my lad, for this is work that - only men can plan and do.” - </p> - <p> - The timidity in her look was new, but not less charming than her - surrender. - </p> - <p> - “What are you going to do, Choseph?” she inquired with a mocking - exaggeration of a helpless reliance that was quite genuine. - </p> - <p> - “We shall be ready to take Mr. Vancouver by stealth or force the moment - that actual danger comes near him. We will bring him to this hut and hide - him here. But a man from the colony will be needed to guard him. I am - going immediately to bring one out for that purpose.” - </p> - <p> - Her eyes kindled with alarm. “No, no, Choseph! That would be impossible. - You couldn’t find the way nor pass the guard. I will go.” Argument and - persuasion were equally useless; she knew when to be firm. “I will go,” - was her answer to everything, and she came to her feet. “You and - Christopher come with me to the summit of the wall, and there you’ll hide - near the guard, and wait. I’ll bring the man nearly to the place and send - him ahead, and give you a signal. You must trick the guard out of the way, - and meet him; I will follow. It would ruin everything for me to be seen.” - </p> - <p> - I agreed, and told her to bring Hobart. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo,” I said, “you understand that we have accomplished one of the - tasks for which you brought us out of the valley, and in doing so have - learned the fate awaiting our colony.” - </p> - <p> - Her face at once grew pinched. “Don’t speak of it, Choseph!” she cried. “I - don’t know whether you have or not, and I don’t know what is in your mind. - Simply think of saving Mr. Vancouver.” - </p> - <p> - “Of course, dear lad,” I agreed; “but we must be planning also for means - to leave the island, since only something awful awaits us here. You must - tell me all that I should know. I won’t dance any longer to your mysteries - and concealments.” - </p> - <p> - It was as though I had struck her. She stared, her eyes flooding, her lips - trembling. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph,” she answered, “there are things that you must see and hear for - yourself, and they will come tonight and tomorrow. I’ll take you——” - </p> - <p> - “I must know now,” I demanded, not realizing the harshness of my tone. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph, I——” - </p> - <p> - “Did you speak to me, sir?” came from Christopher, standing behind her. - </p> - <p> - “No, Christopher. We’ll wait, dear little brother.” The sunshine came - swimming into her eyes again, and she made a grimace of triumph in which - was an understanding that Christopher had disciplined me. - </p> - <p> - “You’ll be good now, won’t you, Choseph?” It was said in her most teasing - manner, and I smiled. - </p> - <p> - We started under an angry sky through which heavy cloud-masses tumbled. It - was a cautious journey. The very air seemed filled with expectancy. On the - way we formulated a plan for tricking the guard. - </p> - <p> - In approaching the point of egress from the valley, Beela practiced the - slyness of a lynx and the silence of a serpent. Every step was studied - lest a twig snap; the leaves on the ground had been softened by the rain. - Presently we sighted the guard—a draggled lot, unused to exposure - and dispirited by the weather. There Beela left us in hiding. I now - understood the perils that she had breasted in every trip to the valley. - If they were so difficult under these conditions, how much more they must - have been when fair weather made the guard alert and the ground noisy - under foot! - </p> - <p> - Beela was to warn us of Hobart’s coming by giving a certain bird-call - thrice. Christopher’s answering signal would be notice to Beela that - Hobart was safe. - </p> - <p> - The savages, not twenty paces away—at least two dozen stalwart men—were - variously squatting, sitting, and lounging. They were in a compact group, - and were talking in low voices, but with an animation unusual to the race. - I motioned Christopher to follow, and we crept nearer. - </p> - <p> - Some important news had just been brought by the relief guard. - </p> - <p> - “And so the king isn’t going to wait for night,” said one, as though the - news was surprising. - </p> - <p> - “That is true,” came the answer. “He fears that the ground will shake at - any time. Besides, the storm will likely come again tonight, and the great - fire would be impossible then.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XV.—The Lash in Unwilling Hands. - </h2> - <p> - <i>How We Outwitted the Guard. A Sword Encounter With a Native. Rawley - Gives Me a Sensational Surprise. The Tragedy to Mr. Vancouver Delayed</i>. - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span> WAS absorbed in - conjuring up plans for Mr. Vancouver’s rescue; but the more I thought of - it, the madder the undertaking seemed. Suppose we should take him; would - not the whole island swarm in a search? - </p> - <p> - I had calculated that Beela and Hobart should come in four hours. More - than half that time was already gone when Christopher and I returned to - our original hiding-place. That the storm, the Black Face, and Mr. - Vancouver’s fate were interwoven, there could be no doubt. Barring - hindering contingencies, matters were rapidly drawing to a crisis. If the - necessity for urgent action on Mr. Vancouver’s account should arise before - Beela’s return with Hobart, that young man would be caught in a trap, as - there would be none but savages to meet him. In whatsoever direction I - turned, many chances for a fatal slip and added complications appeared. - </p> - <p> - A solution of one branch of the problem crept out of the strain,—that - of clearing the way for Hobart. I mentioned it to Christopher, and was - gratified at his acquiescence. - </p> - <p> - “But what about Mr. Vancouver?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “We <i>have</i> to wait for <i>her</i>, sir,” he answered after listening, - and his manner was final. - </p> - <p> - The triple bird-note came. We waited. It was repeated. I slipped round to - the trail used by the guard, and openly approached them. They stared at me - in silence. Beela had told me that in an emergency Christopher and I, to - explain peculiarities of our appearance that no disguise could conceal, - should explain that we were from the western end of the island, where some - white blood had mingled with the native, producing, with other deviations - from the normal type, men of a more aggressive and daring disposition, - which gave them an advantage over the natives at this end, and that on - occasion the king called on the western men for special services. - </p> - <p> - “Why haven’t you done your duty?” I sternly demanded. - </p> - <p> - The guard showed only dull surprise, none either moving or speaking. - </p> - <p> - “Haven’t you seen the Black Face scowling?” I went on. “Go immediately and - attend to your duty, or the Face won’t wait for a white man.” - </p> - <p> - They were impressed and frightened. “What shall we do?” asked one. - </p> - <p> - “Clean the stone in the clearing, and so make it ready. Every one of you - go, at once. Then come back here.” - </p> - <p> - They looked from one to another, bewildered, the order evidently being - extraordinary. “And leave the pass unguarded?” the same one inquired. - </p> - <p> - “Am I not here? Go immediately!” - </p> - <p> - “Did Gato send you?” asked a big fellow, advancing, sword in hand. His - weapon was held threateningly, and scraped the bushes as he came. - </p> - <p> - Not daring to take any chances with him, and not having had sufficient - experience with these people to interpret their motive from their conduct, - I sprang past him before he could raise his weapon, snatched a sword from - an astonished native, backed away to keep the crowd before me until I had - faced the one who had advanced upon me, and went at him with a - determination that opened his eyes and instinctively brought his sword to - guard. I discovered that the sword which I held was a heavy affair, broad - and very old-fashioned. Before my inexpert antagonist knew what had - happened, my sword had twisted his from his grasp and sent it flying into - the bushes, and my point was at his breast. There was an excited movement - in the crowd, but before anything could be done I loudly said to my - captive: - </p> - <p> - “I have a good mind to kill you. Take your squad to the clearing at once.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” he hastily agreed, staring at me in wonder, and added, as his - interest overcame his panic, “Are they coming with him soon?” - </p> - <p> - “That is neither your affair nor mine. If you don’t go instantly I’ll - arrest the entire squad and take you all to the palace.” - </p> - <p> - They obediently marched away. - </p> - <p> - In returning to Christopher I made a detour, so as to pass the spot where - Hobart was to appear. I had instructed Christopher to remain a short - distance away, as it would be easier for one to meet Hobart than two. My - real reason, which I did not mention to Christopher, was that as a native - his appearance was one of singular ferocity. I did not wish to run the - risk of shocking Hobart out of his self-command. - </p> - <p> - To my astonishment, Rawley, not Hobart, rose above the edge of the bluff. - Perhaps my angry exasperation showed in my manner, for Rawley, after a - startled glance, and seeing me alone, sprang upon me in the moment of my - hesitation. His leap was swift and stirring, but I avoided him, and began - to speak in a low voice. It had no effect. Rawley sprang again. I caught - the violent thrust of his body, and an elbow better trained than he had - expeded took him in the throat, crashed his teeth together jarringly, and - sent him reeling and strangling. - </p> - <p> - I again spoke, but he was too dazed to hear, and came at me again, more - warily, with the glare of killing in his eyes, and still not heeding my - pacific words. The natural grace with which he began to work for an - opening gave his feline ease a threat that set me tingling. He was - desperately in earnest, and my windpipe was his objective. There was no - falter in his play, which I critically observed as I stood on the - defensive. And then it came to me that this was neither the madness of - fear nor the desperation of the cornered coward, but the awakening of that - ultimate manhood in him which for so long had been held down by an - artificial life. Even had he not forced me to silence, the game was so - fine and exciting that I should have been tempted to cease my efforts to - explain in my desire to see it through. - </p> - <p> - As his leaps were astonishingly clever and he might land at any moment, I - began to crowd him. While moving to do so, I heard Christopher’s signal to - Beela, but did not pause to see where he was; Rawley also must have heard - it, for something spurred his activities. In order to save Beela from the - trap in which he supposed himself to have fallen, he must finish me at - once. - </p> - <p> - I dodged his next spring, but his fingers scraped my throat. Then he found - himself crushed in my arms. The short blows which he sent into my ribs had - no effect, but they were delivered with a will. Beela rose above the - summit, and understood all at a glance. - </p> - <p> - But, Beela-like, she saw only that it was ridiculous. Without taking the - trouble to enlighten Rawley, who desisted as soon as he saw her laughing, - she passed from surprise into unrestrained mirth. Rawley, standing away - from me, stared at her in astonishment. - </p> - <p> - Seeing no sign of Hobart, I sharply inquired in the native tongue where he - was. - </p> - <p> - “Captain Mason sent this one instead,” she answered after finding her - breath. - </p> - <p> - I was aghast. “What reason did he give?” - </p> - <p> - “None, Choseph. He thought you would understand, I suppose.” - </p> - <p> - The blunder was incredible. Here were Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, the - arch-enemies of the colony, sent out armed with fresh opportunity for - destroying us, and we charged with the safety of their lives! The game had - been sufficiently difficult and dangerous without that. I bitterly - resented Captain Mason’s course. He was aware of the antagonism between - Rawley and me. - </p> - <p> - “Why did Captain Mason send him?” I demanded. - </p> - <p> - “He begged to come, Choseph.” - </p> - <p> - That staggered me. What had happened to the man to change him so? “What - did he say?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t know. He said little, although he was very much in earnest. On - the way he said to himself several times, ‘She called me a coward. They - all think I’m a coward.’” - </p> - <p> - Christopher had come up and was standing placidly by. Of a sudden Rawley - recognized me as the savage who had visited Mr. Vancouver in the camp. He - was composed, but had not yet discovered my real identity. A word from - Beela disclosed Christopher and me to him. It broke in a crash on the - young man. What reflections were belaboring him I could only guess from - the shame crimsoning his face. I took his hand. - </p> - <p> - “Mr. Rawley,” I said, “I am sorry that this has happened between us.” - </p> - <p> - I interrupted something that he was trying to stammer by telling Beela how - I had disposed of the guard. “They’ll soon return,” I added. “We must - leave.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, but we must find out first whether they discovered the loss of the - wood. Several hours would be required to bring up fresh fuel. Don’t you - think it’s very interesting, Choseph? My! how solemn you look!” - </p> - <p> - Her careless insolence tried me, for the peril was great. - </p> - <p> - “It’s a pity you never had any one to teach you to be serious,” I let fly. - </p> - <p> - “That would be the funniest thing of all,” she returned, amused. “Would - you like to try it?” - </p> - <p> - Her sweet archness made me take a half angry, half possessing step - forward, but a look stopped me. - </p> - <p> - “They are coming!” said she, and we hid. - </p> - <p> - The savages were more animated than before, and they wondered among - themselves when the white man would be brought up from the settlement, and - whether all or any of themselves would be relieved from guard duty, that - they might witness the proceedings. It was clear that they had not missed - the wood. - </p> - <p> - We slipped away. When we had come near our hut, Beela asked us to wait - while she took Rawley to that hiding-place. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo,” I firmly said, “you don’t understand. That man and I cannot live - together.” - </p> - <p> - She regarded me with a suspicious-looking sadness. “Enemies among - yourselves, Choseph! Is this the best that wise men with so much at stake - can do?” With a smile I took her hand. “Thank you, dear little brother,” I - said. “I will do my part.” - </p> - <p> - Tears easily came to Beela’s eyes, and made them moist now. - </p> - <p> - “But you and Christopher are not to stay here any longer. Wouldn’t you - like to be nearer the beautiful, the good, the angel Lentala?” - </p> - <p> - “Explain, lad.” - </p> - <p> - “Wait till I come back.” - </p> - <p> - She darted to the hut with Rawley, and soon returned. - </p> - <p> - “The first thing,” she said, “is to find out the plans for Mr. Vancouver. - Although the wood is gone, the king won’t be balked, and the getting of - more wood will be but a matter of hours. When we discover that the - preparations are really afoot, Mr. Vancouver must be taken by you. Before - that, there is plenty to do.” We struck out for the slope overlooking the - main settlement, and on the way passed near the hut where Mr. Vancouver - was held. Beela disappeared within and soon returned with the news that - the threatening weather was holding everything in abeyance. - </p> - <p> - Avoiding roads, we breasted the verdured heights and worked round the - suburbs. As we mounted, the view expanded. The settlement, embowered among - trees, made the fairest picture I had ever beheld. I longed to see it - under the mellow sunshine, which would make its colors more vivid; but - even without that, the scene was satisfying. It was a considerable city, - which had grown more by natural accretion than by plan. Broad, tree-lined - highways with curves instead of right lines swept lengthwise through it. - Many houses were of stone roughly laid up, and with roofs of mud or - thatch. Remarkable effects had been secured by use of the native stone in - its color variations. Of exceeding beauty was a pleasant stream which - loitered through the settlement. - </p> - <p> - Most conspicuous was the palace of the king, with its accessory buildings - and walled grounds. Unlike all the other houses, the palace was two - stories in height, was of great size, and sat in generous grounds enclosed - with a massive stone wall. I discovered Lentala’s quarters; they were in a - wing. Hamlets with adjoining farms dotted the farther slope and stretched - up the valley; there were still more, said Beela, in other parts of the - island. - </p> - <p> - With our further climbing, the ocean rose on the horizon, and a modern - sea-going vessel sprang up inshore in a harbor at the foot of the - settlement. My heart leaped as I studied her. - </p> - <p> - “What ship is that, Beelo?” I exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - “Yours, Choseph,” she answered with a bright smile. “I was waiting for you - to find it. That is what is to take your people home if a great earthquake - comes and we can bring them out of the valley. The king wanted to destroy - it, but Lentala persuaded him not only to save it, but to put it in order, - as he might need it some time.” - </p> - <p> - That she had reserved this precious information for so dramatic a use did - not impress me at the time. Not till now did I realize that her purely - feminine instinct for the theatrical made so large a figure in her - withholdings and revelations. - </p> - <p> - My throat filled. I seized Christopher’s arm and tried to speak, but no - words issued, and I found that he was already gazing seaward. I had never - seen in his eyes such wistfulness, so far and deep a vision, as when he - raised them to mine. - </p> - <p> - From him I turned to Beela, and found a look of neglect and expediency. - </p> - <p> - “Dear little brother,” I said, and extended my hand; but she pouted, and - put her arms behind her. - </p> - <p> - “I am not your dear little brother,” she said, her lip trembling. “I am a - savage. You gave your first joy to one of your race.” The pain in her face - was deep. - </p> - <p> - “Forgive me, lad.” I was very humble, but her swimming eyes were turned - away, and there was a swelling in her throat. What could I say? how make - her understand? “Beelo, I———” - </p> - <p> - “It can’t be explained,” she interrupted, turning sadly away; and we went - on in silence. - </p> - <p> - All at once, without any visible cause, she was her sunny, mischievous - self again. I was exceedingly anxious for information,—what had - become of the <i>Hope’s</i> salvable cargo; whether her seizure by us was - part of the plan to which we were working. But I had not the courage to - mention the vessel again, lest pain come to Beela’s face. Ever since her - return from the valley I had been anxious for her report as to any plan of - action that she had arranged with Captain Mason, and I now conjectured - that she had deferred it until we should see our vessel. With a blunder in - tact I had closed her lips. - </p> - <p> - “Now,” said she, “we’ll return and keep an eye on Mr. Vancouver. Do you - think you know the settlement now and could make your way in the night - through it?” - </p> - <p> - “Perfectly,” wondering at her impressiveness. - </p> - <p> - “And do you, Christopher?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, ma’am.” - </p> - <p> - Unmistakably she had a very intelligent purpose in thus making us - acquainted with the topography of the settlement and the presence of our - vessel. With that idea I began to make a closer study of the approaches - and thoroughfares, although I could form no conception of means whereby - the colony might use them against the overwhelming horde of armed natives. - But Beela’s comely head was packed with shrewdness. - </p> - <p> - The weather became more threatening with the approach of evening. At - night, Beela left us concealed near the prison hut, and went to bring our - supper. - </p> - <p> - After she had returned and we had eaten, she suggested that Christopher - and I go and see the prisoner, and learn all that we could. Gato would not - be on duty, and the light was dim. Thence we should go to the postern in - the palace wall, and there be met by her. Then she left. - </p> - <p> - When we were near the hut a shadow leaped out of the ground, and - challenged. I answered as Beela had instructed, and the guard stepped - aside. We entered, and the two natives sitting with the prisoner gave us - only a glance. In an authoritative manner I bade them wait outside, and - they obediently went. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver was sitting on a stool, his head bowed in dejection, but he - quickly straightened, and drilled us with a keenly questioning look, in - which fear, anxiety, and hope were present. It was evident that he was - profoundly suspicious. He was too shrewd not to see the significance of - his being kept under guard in a hovel instead of being the king’s guest. - </p> - <p> - I asked him in Senatra English if he was comfortable. Over his haggard - face flashed an eager interest. - </p> - <p> - “That is nothing,” he impatiently answered. “I want to know why I am kept - here.” - </p> - <p> - “Do you really expect to see the king?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - He started. “What do you mean?” he demanded. - </p> - <p> - “What do you think you are here for?” - </p> - <p> - “The king sent for me—for a conference.” A red light came into his - eyes. - </p> - <p> - “A conference. Suppose he has made up his mind that he can dispose of the - white people without your help, and that you happen to be first.” - </p> - <p> - The sallowness that already had entered his face since his imprisonment - became livid, and the red light flared. - </p> - <p> - “To be sent away?” he thickly asked. - </p> - <p> - “Yes. Sent away. That is as good a name for it as any other.” - </p> - <p> - I had ignored Christopher’s gentle tug at my sleeve. A quiver ran through - Mr. Vancouver as if a knife had been slipped between his ribs. It was with - difficulty that he found breath for speech. - </p> - <p> - “Doesn’t the king know that I can make him incredibly rich from his gold - and silver and diamond mines? Doesn’t he understand that———” - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps he is as rich as he cares to be. Besides, he has never trusted a - white man; and why should he trust one that betrays his own friends?” I - could not avoid giving him that thrust. - </p> - <p> - He came weakly to his feet, terror and despair in every line. - </p> - <p> - “Did the king send you to say this?” he gasped. - </p> - <p> - I made no answer. The man sent a wild glance about as though to measure - his strength with his prison, and to end all doubts quickly by any means. - Then I saw that his wits were gone, and that the purpose of my talk, which - was to prepare him for the revelation I had come to make, that he might be - on his guard, had miscarried. - </p> - <p> - Christopher, in the background, edged round, keeping his back, as I kept - mine, to the feeble light. I could not imagine that Mr. Vancouver, - desperate though he was, would seize this moment to try issues with his - fate; but I had not guessed soon enough that the red light meant madness. - With a choking curse he snatched up his heavy stool and sprang with it - upraised in both hands to crush me. - </p> - <p> - Before his leap was ended, a heavy body crashed into him, and two giant - arms were cracking his joints and sending the stool flying over my head. - The two guards came running in, but I sent them back. Christopher needed - no aid. - </p> - <p> - The pinioned man rolled his head and eyes horribly, and cursed through - foaming lips. He made futile efforts to sink his teeth into Christopher; - he kicked wildly; he squirmed like an animal under a strangling hand. But - Christopher’s arms knew the mercy of strength, and he kept dropping - soothing words. Like a pillar sunk deep in the earth stood Christopher - while his prisoner gasped curses and put fierce energy into every muscle. - </p> - <p> - “I know you!” he sputtered at me. “You are the infernal native dog that - fooled me and trifled with me in camp. Let me at his throat, you baboon!”—to - Christopher. “Loose me! Let me die with my arms free!” He called the king - and me and all the natives unspeakable names. “In decency and mercy,” he - fumed, “kill me at once! I know now what you are going to do with me,—you - cannibals!” - </p> - <p> - Christopher’s quieting tongue was as persistent as his arms, and under - them Mr. Vancouver was gradually breaking down. Christopher assured the - wretch that no harm would befall him. The man who could resist such - persuasion would be less than human and worse than mad. Mr. Vancouver’s - curses straggled off, his struggles ceased, and the red flame died in his - eyes. Christopher had coaxed reason back. - </p> - <p> - He seated Mr. Vancouver, bathed his face, and gave him water to drink. - With a gentle touch he unlaced and removed the sufferer’s shoes, and - undressed him. The man had become a child in Christopher’s hands, and was - wholly docile when made comfortable in bed. - </p> - <p> - There had been no personal heed of Christopher in Mr. Vancouver’s - yielding; but it evidently occurred to him at last that here was something - strangely different from the manner of the natives—something nearer - and humanly akin. He had been studying Christopher; and when he was - composed, and Christopher was turning away, Mr. Vancouver seized his arm - and held him, looking earnestly into his face, and then covering his - figure with a startled glance. His eyes opened with astonishment. - </p> - <p> - “Who are you?” he demanded under his breath. - </p> - <p> - “You know, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir. Speak low.” - </p> - <p> - “What are you doing here, disguised like that?” - </p> - <p> - “Captain Mason sent us, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “What for?” - </p> - <p> - “To save you, sir. Don’t talk.” - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver breathed laboredly, and the veins in his forehead bulged. - </p> - <p> - “Who was sent with you?” he faintly asked. - </p> - <p> - “Him, sir,” indicating me. - </p> - <p> - I saw the knot come in the suffering man’s throat as he rolled his - bloodshot eyes upon me, half raised himself on his elbow, and stared while - his breathing rasped. - </p> - <p> - “Who is he?” came chokingly, with a clutch on Christopher’s arm. - </p> - <p> - “Mr. Tudor, sir.” - </p> - <p> - A spasm caught Mr. Vancouver in the chest, and a rigor ran through him. - His eyes closed, his head swung back, his mouth fell open, and Christopher - eased the insensible man down on the pillow. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XVI.—A Light in the Gloom. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Subtle Changes in Beela. A Startling Discovery in the Palace Vaults. - The Secrets of the Council Chamber Overheard. Urgent Measures Planned.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">Y</span>OU are late!” - blithely greeted Beela when we arrived at the palace gate after leaving - Mr. Vancouver. “That shows how much you think of the beautiful, the angel, - the sweet, the good Lentala, for you are to sleep in her quarters - tonight.” - </p> - <p> - We were just in time, for the heavens were opening, and the deluge was at - hand. - </p> - <p> - With great caution Beela conducted us to a chamber in Lentala’s wing of - the palace. Evidently it was a sanctuary, for it was quite different from - the room in which Lentala had received us, and Beela carelessly remarked - that in giving us the room, her sister was bestowing a special favor, - since not even her servants were ever admitted. - </p> - <p> - “Because,” Beela chattered on as she lighted the beautiful lamps, “this is - where she comes to lead alone the life that she dreams about, far, far - away, where there are no Senatras,—the life that was born in our - blood, Choseph, and that we can see very dimly, and in our dreams only. - But this room helps Lentala to dream of it. Do you remember the story you - told me one day? She has changed the room tonight merely by bringing in - these couches for you and Christopher to sleep on.” - </p> - <p> - I felt something new in Beela’s manner,—a note of sentiment singing - low in her voice, an augmented softness and grace in her bearing. She - appeared to be struggling against it and striving to be the boy Beelo. - Some success came, but the winning note still sang in her throat. - </p> - <p> - She opened an adjoining room, and disclosed a bath. - </p> - <p> - “Your Senatra tint is a little damaged,” she cheerily said. “Wash it off; - you’ll not need it tonight. Here’s a fresh supply for tomorrow morning. - Don’t forget to put it on! But there’s much to do before you sleep. I am - going to take you to the Council Chamber. Dress as quickly as possible. I - have to make some changes myself. When you are ready, give three light - taps on that door.” - </p> - <p> - “Thank you, dear little brother, but where’s Lentala?” - </p> - <p> - “Lentala! Do you think she can sit up all night waiting for callers?” - </p> - <p> - “We are to see her in the morning, then?” - </p> - <p> - Beela had been bustling over finishing touches for our comfort, but my - question—perhaps my tone—stopped her. - </p> - <p> - “Do you wish to see her?” she asked. - </p> - <p> - “Of course.” - </p> - <p> - “Why?” - </p> - <p> - “Beelo! Can you ask that? Unless we see Lentala whenever we come to the - palace, the jungle is more comfortable.” - </p> - <p> - She turned away, pretending to be hurt. - </p> - <p> - “And so you don’t care for Beelo. It is nothing to sleep under the same - roof with him.” - </p> - <p> - “But Beelo is a part of my life, dear lad. However far away he may be, he - is always with me. Whenever and wherever I go, my dear little brother’s - hand is in mine; and no matter when or where I sleep, his sweet breath is - on my cheek; and the touch of his light fingers on my lids and the ring of - his cheery laugh in my heart wake me in the morning. In my dreams——” - I paused, for Beela embarrassed me by the breathless interest with which - she was listening. - </p> - <p> - “In your dreams, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - “Then Beelo comes with another. He leads that one by the hand, and smiles - at me, and says in his musical voice, ‘This one also you must like, big - brother, for this is Beelo’s best friend.’” - </p> - <p> - She came close and looked up into my eyes. - </p> - <p> - “That other one, big brother?” - </p> - <p> - “Is Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - Her breath caught as she moved away, and she was silent for a little while - as she gave the last touches and started to leave. At the door she threw - me a mischievous glance, and said: - </p> - <p> - “You have funny dreams, Choseph, but I’ll tell Lentala you wish to see - her,” and was gone. - </p> - <p> - I had already observed that no touch of native savagery rested on this - room. Every article of use or adornment was of a highly civilized - production. The barbaric splendor of the reception-room was absent here, - and a dainty, girlish simplicity was the note. Exceedingly charming were - products of her needlework and other handicraft copied from foreign - articles. There were some English books that showed signs of hard use. I - picked up one and found a dainty handkerchief within it, and felt a pity - for Lentala thus reaching out for what she could not understand. - </p> - <p> - Beela appeared in different clothes when I rapped, and was much fresher - and smarter than I had ever seen her. She looked conscious under my - admiring glance, and expressed gratification at the improvement in my - looks. - </p> - <p> - “Beelo, you are as pretty as a girl. Fie!” - </p> - <p> - She pretended not to hear, and was busy lighting a lantern. - </p> - <p> - “They are all asleep in this wing,” she said. “Now we’ll go. Listen to the - storm! Mr. Vancouver is safe for another day, I hope. And still no - earthquake.” - </p> - <p> - I felt a twinge, but no opportunity had offered for my telling her of the - incident in the hut. The truth is, I dreaded lest she find fault with - Christopher for disclosing our identity to Mr. Vancouver and my knowledge - of his perfidy. - </p> - <p> - It would be difficult to say in what lay the finer air of Beela’s dress. - In cut the garments had a masculine approach, but in China they might have - passed for feminine. The trousers and blouse were of fine dark-blue cloth, - and were ample. In place of the somewhat shabby straw hat was a becoming - red turban, and the shoes were Turkish, red, and richly embroidered in - gold. The blouse opened like a V at the neck, and a negligee tie matching - in shade the turban and the shoes was secured with a splendid diamond at - the bottom of the V. - </p> - <p> - More insinuating than these outward things were the girl’s gentler voice - and manner. There was a hint of the young mother in her caressing look and - touch, and the cello note in her voice had fallen still softer and - smoother. - </p> - <p> - In lighting the lantern, she disarranged her turban by striking it against - a piece of furniture. She straightened, and raised her arms to readjust - it. Her sleeves were wide and open, and they slipped down, baring her - arms. - </p> - <p> - I had been trying with all my might to keep from my mind the delicious - thought of Beelo’s metamorphosis, but self-deception was no longer - possible. I <i>must</i> revel in this new and pleasant experience. The one - duty that I must observe was the keeping of my promise to Lentala that I - would not let her little sister know that I knew. - </p> - <p> - “Are we ready?” cheerily asked Beela, picking up the lantern and darkening - it with a cloth. “Come. No talking till I give you leave. We must be - careful in this wing, for Lentala’s servants might wake. The noises of the - storm will help us, but the veranda is drenched. We must take the other - way.” - </p> - <p> - She opened the door through which she had entered last, and we were in - darkness when she closed it; but I had dimly seen that it was a corridor. - </p> - <p> - “We can’t use the lantern yet,” she whispered, slipping her hand down my - sleeve to my fingers. “Can you find your way, Christopher?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” There was always something tragic in Christopher’s whisper. - </p> - <p> - “Do you love me, Christopher?” she teasingly asked, squeezing my fingers. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, ma’am.” - </p> - <p> - It required great stoicism for me to hold my hand passive and not return - the pressure, but I was amazed when she abruptly dropped my fingers. I - could see nothing except a faint glow through the cloth about the lantern, - but I peremptorily seized her sleeve, drew her arm up, took her hand, and - squeezed it hard, for reproof. She made no resistance. Beela was very - sweet in the dark,—I remembered the passage through the mountain. - </p> - <p> - We almost immediately turned into a much longer stretch, as I knew by the - whispering echoes of our steps; and soon the shrouded light of Beela’s - lantern made the walls visible. After leading us down a dark stair she - halted before a door, unlocked it, ushered us within, relocked the door, - and removed the cloth from the light. - </p> - <p> - This chamber was a disordered lumber-room, filled with odds and ends of - broken things, native and foreign. I was less interested in the rubbish - than in the new picture of Beela in the ascending light from the lantern. - It made a witchery of her chin, emphasized the graceful curve of her lips, - filled her delicate nostrils, and threw her eyes into mystical shadow. I - tried to get her hand again, but failed. Beela in the light was not the - same as Beela in the dark. - </p> - <p> - She paused, and breathed more freely. - </p> - <p> - “We are safe for a while now,” she said. It was hard to listen composedly - to her words, so sweet was the tone of them. - </p> - <p> - She wound and twisted through the stores, we following, and brought up at - a door which a stranger, likely, never would have found. This she - unlocked, passed us through, and secured behind us. The air was dank and - musty, and despite the lantern there were uncanny patches of - phosphorescent light on walls otherwise invisible as yet. The space was - roomy, the floor earthen. It proved to be a large cellar-like chamber with - a low ceiling supported by stone pillars groined into arches, and was - paved, furnished with grated windows, and sweet and dry. Here were immense - stores: American-tinned provisions in astonishing abundance; bale upon - bale of cloth of many kinds; modern farming implements, and machinery and - tools for sawyers, carpenters, cabinet-makers, upholsterers, and many - other useful trades; and at one side an array of firearms and ammunition. - </p> - <p> - Beela was watching me in my astonishment, for not the smallest item of - this store had I seen in use by the natives. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t you know what it all is, Choseph?” she asked. - </p> - <p> - I shook my head. - </p> - <p> - “It is the cargo of your vessel.” - </p> - <p> - I was speechless. Two things were clear: one, that the water-tight - bulkheads in the Hope had not given way (which accounted for her pursuit - of us instead of sinking), and the other, that the natives had carefully - repaired all the water-damage possible. The thorough care of the cargo - very likely had extended to the vessel herself. - </p> - <p> - My emotion was profound. I wrung Beela’s hand, but something in my eyes - made her dim and floating. Only vaguely could I see the sweet uplift and - happiness in her face. Christopher was standing apart like a man of wood - except that his eyes were living. If he needed any expression from me of - the almost cruel joy that filled me, he gave no sign, but stood in the - pathetic loneliness that forever invested him. - </p> - <p> - “We must go on,” said Beela. “It is time for the king’s privy council.” - </p> - <p> - A devious way through another storage vault filled with things no doubt of - great value, the ascent of a stone stair, a turning into this passage and - another into that, and a short flight of steps, brought us at last upon a - curtained balcony overlooking a dimly lighted council hall of considerable - size and rich in savage appointments. The king was on a throne facing us, - and in a semi-circle before him, seated on rugs on the stone floor, were - old and elderly native men splendidly appareled. The king was even more - sumptuously robed than on the day of our reception by him. He had no - personal attendants, for this, Beela explained in a whisper, was not a - state council, but a secret one, called occasionally for extraordinary - purposes, composed of selected wise men, and generally held late at night. - The balcony where we sat was for the use of the queen and her feminine - friends at state meetings. The diaphanous curtains, of an exquisite native - texture and handsomely embroidered, could be seen through from our side, - which was in shadow, but not from the other. - </p> - <p> - One thing had been puzzling me exceedingly. It was that no American and - European articles looted from wrecks were in use in their original form by - any of the natives except Lentala and Beela. - </p> - <p> - “Because,” Beela had told me in answer to my question, “the natives don’t - need them, and are more content without them. The king is wise with his - people, and they love him.” - </p> - <p> - The council was under way. An old man had been droning something that I - did not hear, for his voice was weak and the storm noisy. The king nodded - to another, a younger man, who came to his splendid full height. His - gold-embroidered cloak of office slipped from his great right shoulder and - arm after he had risen from his obeisance. - </p> - <p> - “What is the temper of the Senatras, Gato?” the king asked. - </p> - <p> - “Very impatient, Sire. There are murmurings and small secret gatherings. - Rebellion is in the air.” - </p> - <p> - The king moved uneasily. “And your soldiers?” he inquired. - </p> - <p> - “I have them in hand as yet, but they are naturally affected by the - restlessness among the people, and are sick of waiting and of guarding the - passes. They have never been on duty so long. They love their homes and - farms, and they can’t understand the delay. If a wreck should come with - this storm, where will the people from it be held?” - </p> - <p> - “There is plenty of room in the valley,” snapped the king, making an - impatient gesture. “And don’t our people know that the crowd we have there - is different from any castaways we have had before? Of course we can’t let - any of them leave the island, for they suspect its wealth, and would - return with soldiers and guns, and destroy us. But we have to proceed - cautiously. There are more than a hundred and fifty picked men in the - party, and their leaders, Mason and Tudor, and the giant ape Christopher, - are shrewd, bold men, and have no fear.” - </p> - <p> - We three were sitting close together, Beela in the middle. One of her - hands stole out, took Christopher’s, squeezed it, and released it. The - other found my hand; I closed on its warm softness and kept it prisoned. - </p> - <p> - “In some mysterious way,” Gato explained, “they have outwitted us. Our - plan was to break them up by using the old traitor Vancouver, but they - evidently discovered his treachery, and I have just learned that they sent - him out as our first offering to the Black Face, while letting him think - that he was going to betray them to us.” - </p> - <p> - “I suppose,” said the king, “that he is as good as another for the - sacrifice. That will satisfy the people for a time, but he is the first - and the last that we’ll get from that crowd without bloody work, and I - don’t wish my subjects to be killed.” - </p> - <p> - He paused, and the others waited. Beela’s breathing had grown quick; there - was a slight quiver in her hand. - </p> - <p> - The king went on: - </p> - <p> - “Mason evidently suspects that the people taken out of the valley will not - be sent away, and so he is holding them together. No doubt they have armed - themselves, and are ready to fight. Mason will be in no hurry to - precipitate an issue with us, for they can subsist indefinitely where they - are, we can’t strengthen our position against them, and time, he reasons, - may bring me to liberate them in a body.” - </p> - <p> - It was impossible not to recognize the kindliness and benevolence in the - king’s voice and words. - </p> - <p> - “May I speak, Sire?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Gato.” - </p> - <p> - “I fear that Vancouver is going mad.” - </p> - <p> - The king looked his dismay. - </p> - <p> - “He mumbles,” proceeded Gato; “his eyes are wild at times; he calls for - his daughter, and weeps like a child; he cannot eat, and his sleep is - broken with loud cries.” - </p> - <p> - “Is there much of that?” the king asked in alarm. - </p> - <p> - “No, Sire; only rarely. If he is taken to the sacrificial altar when he - has a lucid period,———” - </p> - <p> - “The risk is great,” groaned the king. “The people would resent the - offering up of a madman; and we can do nothing while the storm lasts. The - people can’t assemble. We must wait. You men go among the Senatras - tomorrow and pacify them. Tell them that all will be well. Do they say - that the Face is threatening, Gato?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire. Some fools have seen it and spread tales about it. One is that - green water streams out of its eyes, and another is that the mouth has - opened and that purple flames come forth.” - </p> - <p> - Beela’s start thrilled me. The news brought the king to his feet. - </p> - <p> - “Is it true, Gato,—the open mouth and the purple flame?” - </p> - <p> - “I do not know, Sire. I have not seen it, and I do not believe it.” - </p> - <p> - “But it may be true! Find out tomorrow morning, and let me know.” He was - leaving the throne, and although the light was poor, I could see a totter - in his step and haggardness in his face. - </p> - <p> - The others were rising. The king turned to them, and said: - </p> - <p> - “If <i>that</i> is true,—” He did not finish, but stood in a daze. - “The council is ended,” he weakly added, and slowly left the chamber, the - others filing after him. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XVII.—Disciplined by a Woman. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Lentala’s Odd Mistake. Beela Finds Me Refractory. The Deep-Laid Plan of - Gato. Christopher and I Charged With Service to the Old King</i>. - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>LEEP held away - that night. The revelations of the privy council had been startling. Some - things were clear. One was that the king was a shrewd, easy-going, kindly - man, vastly wiser than his subjects, and finding it simpler to rule them - by pampering their superstitions than by raising them to his own - understanding. Another was that he felt himself on the edge of a crisis, - saw no way to avert a possible catastrophe, and was facing it with a - paralyzing dread. - </p> - <p> - Lentala, fresh and radiant, brought our breakfast. Except for her color, - not a trace of savagery remained about her. Her dress was a simple - house-frock of fine white linen, and of a modern style. Her hair was done - exactly like Annabel’s. - </p> - <p> - It did not improve her appearance. Had she been white, there would have - been no touch of the incongruous. But in this fresh, sweet daintiness, - much of her savage splendor had been sunk, and I felt a keen - disappointment. The former Lentala, for all her barbarity, had never - seemed an alien, but more a bringing back to me of a deeply rooted - principle fundamental in my heritage. - </p> - <p> - She appeared to expect a compliment; but how could I be otherwise than - sincere with her? Our greetings were pleasant; yet her clothes had set a - constraint between us. - </p> - <p> - “You don’t like my dress, Mr. Tudor?” she ruefully asked. - </p> - <p> - “It is exquisite, Lentala, and——” - </p> - <p> - “I made it all myself, from a picture in a book out of your ship! I - thought you would like it. Doesn’t Annabel dress this way?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes; but in the native dress your beautiful, rich color——” I - paused in my floundering for a delicate way in which to say it. “Annabel - is white, you know,” I blundered. - </p> - <p> - Foreseeing my explanation, she had turned flutteringly away before my - final words came, and was still holding the empty copper tray on which she - had brought our breakfast. It fell with a clatter; her back was turned to - me when she picked it up in confusion. - </p> - <p> - “A white woman!” She did not look at me. “Yes, she can wear dainty things - and be sweet; but a brown savage woman——” - </p> - <p> - I had risen from my seat at the table and was advancing toward her. She - turned and faced me defiantly, backing away, her eyes flashing. In another - second, with a lightning change which showed her near kinship with Beela, - she smiled sweetly, and asked with a dash of her old coquetry: - </p> - <p> - “Would you like Lentala better if she were white and pink like Annabel?” - </p> - <p> - “How could I like Lentala white more than Lentala brown, since, first and - last, it is Lentala that I like?” - </p> - <p> - She frowned comically in an effort to puzzle some sense out of that - speech. - </p> - <p> - “I mean,” I added, laughing at her perplexity, “that I like Lentala - because she is Lentala, not because she isn’t some one else.” - </p> - <p> - That was another poser, and she made just such a little wry face over it - as I had seen Beela make many a time. Her face brightened as she made a - dash at a short cut out: - </p> - <p> - “Do you like me <i>because</i> I’m brown?” - </p> - <p> - “That is a question! It isn’t because you aren’t white that I like you.” - </p> - <p> - “<i>Could</i> you like me if I were white?” She stamped impatiently. - </p> - <p> - “I’d try to,” I sighed. - </p> - <p> - She made a little pout, stuck up her chin, turned stiffly, and went out - with great dignity. It was the Lentala of the feast! - </p> - <p> - Beela entered when we had finished breakfast. In her rough clothes and - tightly bound hair, she made so sharp a contrast to Lentala that, for a - moment, I could not think of her as a girl, but as the dear lad whom I had - lost. She had none of her brilliant sparkle now, and my heart ached to see - the weariness and anxiety that she tried so bravely to conceal. - </p> - <p> - “What’s afoot for today, dear little brother?” I cheerily inquired. - </p> - <p> - She was regarding me solemnly. “You’ve had your wish, I suppose. You’ve - seen Lentala this morning.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. She brought our breakfast. She’s an angel.” - </p> - <p> - “Pooh!” Beela was bored. “I’ve seen her. She looked a fright in those - clothes. Trying to ape Annabel! She ought to have better sense. I know you - were disgusted.” - </p> - <p> - “Beelo!” - </p> - <p> - “Don’t talk! I know.” - </p> - <p> - “You are tired and cross this morning, lad.” - </p> - <p> - She flopped into a chair, very glum. “Women are <i>such</i> fools!” she - grumbled. - </p> - <p> - “Now I am grieved to learn that Lentala is not a woman, for she could - never be a fool.” - </p> - <p> - Beela looked at me with sad reproach, and shook her head. - </p> - <p> - “Just now,” I went on, “she was a rich red rose sparkling with morning - dew. Her smile started all the birds to singing. She——” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” She stamped the floor, much as Lentala had done, but a smile - fringed her frown. “You <i>know</i> she made a fright of herself trying to - look like Annabel,—and with that ugly brown face!” - </p> - <p> - “No, no, Beelo. The only trouble was that Lentala is too modest to realize - how splendidly perfect she is as Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - “But wasn’t she still Lentala in those silly clothes?” - </p> - <p> - “She was as much less Lentala as her effort to be something else succeeded - in making her.” - </p> - <p> - Beela looked puzzled exactly as Lentala had. - </p> - <p> - “But her heart is broken!” she cried. “She says that you laughed at her, - and spoke in riddles!” - </p> - <p> - “I laughed <i>with</i> her, Beelo, not <i>at</i> her; and the riddles were - a bit that I put in my mouth.” - </p> - <p> - “Why?” - </p> - <p> - “The temptation to say beautiful things to Lentala that might sound - insincere is strong.” - </p> - <p> - She rose, with a confusion that was half amusement, and tried to hide the - light in her eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Come, Choseph! There is much to do today.” - </p> - <p> - “I must see Lentala first.” - </p> - <p> - She could not mistake my seriousness. “Why?” in surprise. - </p> - <p> - “I won’t have her unhappy over that trifling incident. She is too - sensitive,—she misunderstood. I must see her, lad.” I started for - the door. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” came breathlessly. “Don’t!” - </p> - <p> - I turned. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t look at me that way!” she exclaimed in genuine alarm. Christopher - was moving round toward the door for which I had started. - </p> - <p> - “What way?” - </p> - <p> - “As though—as though you’d break down doors and kill anybody that - stood in your way!” - </p> - <p> - “I want to see Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - “You can’t! She—she’s undressed. I’ll tell her. She’ll be - satisfied.” - </p> - <p> - “Will you, lad? Thank you.” - </p> - <p> - She began making some preparations about the room. “You ought to be kept - tied, Choseph,” she said, half to herself. “I never know what you are - going to do next.” Yet a sweet note in her voice sounded low. - </p> - <p> - She came and stood before me, looking me straight in the eyes. - </p> - <p> - “I was going to give you and Christopher very delicate and important work - to do this morning, Choseph, but I’m afraid you’ll do something rash and - ruin us all.” - </p> - <p> - I felt the sting. “Trust me, little brother.” - </p> - <p> - She shook her head in trouble. “You’re not sly, Choseph; you’re not - cunning and patient. Those are what are needed now. You have enough - courage.” - </p> - <p> - “Trust me, lad.” - </p> - <p> - “You are to meet King Rangan, Choseph, and you are to do everything that - he wishes you to do. You may think you ought not.” - </p> - <p> - “If you say that I ought, I will.” - </p> - <p> - “I do say so. If you refuse, or show temper, or do anything that a Senatra - wouldn’t do, all is lost. Do you understand?” - </p> - <p> - “I am not a fool, Beelo.” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph! That was temper.” - </p> - <p> - “Trust me, lad,” I begged. - </p> - <p> - “It is very dangerous work—terribly so if you make a mistake.” - </p> - <p> - “There will be no mistake.” - </p> - <p> - “The king is much broken. He is growing old, and the problem of the colony - is wearing on him. Choseph, will you think of him as kind and gentle, and - as meaning well?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “And will you watch Christopher? Sometimes he understands more than you or - I.” - </p> - <p> - “I will.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well.” Beela was much relieved. “Now I’ll explain. The king is - failing rapidly. He needs such friends as you and Christopher, and———” - </p> - <p> - “Such friends as <i>we</i>, when he is holding us as fattening cattle?” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” Beela’s voice rang sharp, and she angrily stamped. Then came a - hopeless look. - </p> - <p> - I took her hands. “Come, dear friend,” I pleaded. “That was the last. I am - wholly in your hands. And remember, there is always Christopher.” - </p> - <p> - She turned away with a sigh, and began to put finishing touches to our - efforts at the restoration of neatness in the room. She was evidently - gathering herself, for presently she came and took a seat facing me, - Christopher standing. Her manner was serious. - </p> - <p> - “This is the case,” she said: “The king has meant always to be kind to - Lentala and me, and we are grateful. We love the queen dearly. We would - lay down our lives before permitting any harm to befall them.” - </p> - <p> - Her emotion made her pause. - </p> - <p> - “Serious dangers are threatening them now,—more than they suspect,—and - these have come because of your people. Before that, only one or two would - be cast up from the wrecks. They gave no trouble.” - </p> - <p> - Horror came into her face, and she looked away. - </p> - <p> - “I always supposed that they were sent off,” she resumed. “Never once did - I suspect the truth until shortly before your party came, and then my - affection for the king died in me, and I was sick at heart. I don’t think - the queen knows the truth to this day. I think the king would have stopped - it long ago, but for Gato, who wanted to use it to keep the natives in - savagery. He is a bad man, with great power. When your large party came, - he saw a way to break the king, stir the people to rebellion, kill the - king and queen, and take the throne himself.” - </p> - <p> - “Does Gato suspect that you know this about him?” I asked in astonishment. - </p> - <p> - “No. There is where our safety lies. I never should have suspected him if - he hadn’t made love to Lentala and told her that if she would marry him - she would soon be queen,—the beast! Then we watched and found out.” - </p> - <p> - After a thoughtful pause she proceeded: - </p> - <p> - “Gato is secretly stirring up the people. I have no doubt that he is about - ready to strike. His plan will be this, I think: The palace guard are men - whom he can trust to do his work; he will kill everybody here, and then - take the army into your valley and slaughter all but a few. He will keep - those for the sacrifices. It was he that induced the king to use Mr. - Vancouver as your traitor. But, unlike the king, he doesn’t care how many - natives might be killed in a fight with the colony when he has made - himself king.” - </p> - <p> - She was regarding me curiously. - </p> - <p> - “And what are Christopher and I to do?” I cheerfully asked. - </p> - <p> - “Let me tell you some things before that,” she answered, but with - hesitancy. “You won’t be hurt with me, Choseph, and you won’t be angry?” - </p> - <p> - “Assuredly not, dear lad.” - </p> - <p> - “I told Captain Mason all these things when I went into the valley the - last time.” She waited anxiously. - </p> - <p> - “I am very glad of that,” I brightly answered. - </p> - <p> - She was much relieved, and with a sudden dash came over and squeezed my - hand. - </p> - <p> - “You are really my dear big brother!” she said, and demurely resumed her - seat. “I told him something else,” she went on with more confidence. “It - was to have his entire colony ready to move at a moment’s notice,—not - to bring anything with them, except all the food they could carry, but to - be prepared at any time of the day or night to march in perfect silence - out of the valley.” - </p> - <p> - “To the ship!” I exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - She smiled. “I advised him to pick some cool, trustworthy men to take - charge of the march.” - </p> - <p> - “He said———?” - </p> - <p> - “That he already had his men chosen, and was glad that Hobart didn’t have - to come out with me. He said it would be the making of Rawley to come, and - that you would understand.” - </p> - <p> - I did at last. There was something almost magical in Captain Mason’s - ability to dig the manhood out of men. - </p> - <p> - “And now for your work and Christopher’s,” resumed Beela. “I will take you - to the king as English-speaking natives from the mountains beyond the - valley on the west, which you have not seen. As I have told you, the - natives there are wilder and fiercer than these, have little intercourse - with them, and are largely independent. Their blood has mingled with that - of a few castaways, and they are brighter. On this side is the ancient - race, simple, gentle, dull. The king is proud of it, and wishes to keep it - pure. But he will welcome the other men in this emergency, particularly if - they speak English.” - </p> - <p> - “Has he full confidence in Gato?” I inquired. - </p> - <p> - “I think he is growing suspicious.” - </p> - <p> - “And we?” - </p> - <p> - “You are to be the king’s confidential agents; to find out, independently - of Gato, all that is afoot; to be ready to protect the king; and - especially to treat with the colony if any trouble should rise from that - source. Is it all clear?” - </p> - <p> - “Nearly. We are to guard the king and maintain his authority at any cost?” - </p> - <p> - Beela studied me uneasily. “Yes, at any cost,” she slowly answered. - </p> - <p> - “I was thinking of Gato,” I explained. “We are to resort to any measures - with him, however extreme, if we have good reason to think them - necessary?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” somewhat anxiously. “What do you mean, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - “Anything that may be wise and prudent.” - </p> - <p> - She glanced down. She made no reply, but gave this warning, still not - looking up: - </p> - <p> - “Take no chances with him. When you strike, which you must, sooner or - later, let the blow be swift and sure.” - </p> - <p> - “What will become of the army when he is out of the way?” - </p> - <p> - The question troubled her. “It is very uncertain,” she answered. “There - may be leaders under him who are in his confidence. They or one of them - may take command and lead the army against the palace.” - </p> - <p> - She sprang to her feet and glanced about. - </p> - <p> - “Let’s go to the king at once,” she said. “Lentala told him about you and - promised to have you there by this time. I fear that Gato has already - returned with his report of the Face with its open mouth and purple - flame.” - </p> - <p> - “Just one thing, dear lad,” I interrupted. “I wish to see Lentala first.” - </p> - <p> - Her adaptability was as quick as a child’s. The seriousness which she had - worn flashed into a teasing quirk of the mouth. - </p> - <p> - “What for?” - </p> - <p> - “You know very well.” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph,” she said, solemnly wagging her head at me, “how can you think - of girls at such a time as this? Lentala would have too much sense to see - you now. Come with me to the king.” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XVIII.—To the Rescue of the King. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Our Risky Audience With His Majesty. He Encoils Us in Allegiance. I - Open His Eyes. Gato’s Scheme of Regicide. A Bold Act by Christopher.</i> - </p> - <p> - ON our way to the royal apartments, Beela again took us through the - vaults. I used the opportunity to fix in my memory the exact places where - the arms and ammunition from our vessel were kept. The king never - permitted any of his subjects to handle firearms. - </p> - <p> - Hard by the vaults she showed us a dungeon. Not within her memory had it - been occupied, and few, even in the palace, knew of its existence. It was - an ingeniously designed prison, a grated window for ventilation and a - little light being so placed that no sound could reach the outside; and - the door was so deadened that no beating could make a noise. - </p> - <p> - Anxious that none of the king’s attendants should see her, Beela gave us - directions how to go and what to say and do if we were halted, and slipped - away, informing us that we might see her face at a small curtained window - high in the east wall of the room where the king would receive us. - </p> - <p> - One after another of the attendants whom we encountered on the way eyed us - curiously and, I thought, suspiciously, and put their heads together after - we had passed. One of them gave a low whistle; two came forward from in - front, stopped us, and demanded our identity and business. All these men - were armed. - </p> - <p> - “The king expects us,” was my curt answer; but more effective was our cool - assurance. - </p> - <p> - Thus we arrived at the door, which was open, a soldier on guard. More - peremptorily than the others he demanded our names and errand. - </p> - <p> - “The king expects us,” I repeated, and was going within; but the fellow - laid a hand on me. I flung it off, and so confused him that we were within - before he could interfere. He mustered some briskness to follow, but was - too late, for the king had seen us. - </p> - <p> - I was shocked at his appearance in the clearer light of day. At the feast - he had looked not far beyond his prime; his eyes were bright then, and he - bore himself with a commanding dignity. Now he was sinking into - decrepitude. - </p> - <p> - “I have been expecting these men,” he said, and the guard withdrew; but I - knew that he was slyly listening at the door. - </p> - <p> - We made an obeisance. I caught a glimpse of Beela’s encouraging face at - the window. - </p> - <p> - The king was lounging on a divan; he had been talking with two elderly men - seated on rugs before him. They regarded us keenly as the king asked them - to withdraw. When they had gone, Christopher closed and locked the door, - and stood with his back to it. The surprised and curious scrutiny of the - king was on him, passing down his grotesque figure. From Christopher he - turned to me. - </p> - <p> - “What do you wish?” he inquired. - </p> - <p> - “To serve you, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “How?” - </p> - <p> - “Secretly, by finding out many things, by learning the truth; and in any - other way.” - </p> - <p> - “I have men for that.” - </p> - <p> - “You have Lentala also, Sire. She knows that you need us, and that we will - serve you intelligently, faithfully, and without fear.” - </p> - <p> - “Without fear of whom?” - </p> - <p> - “Every one of account has enemies, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “Have I any? I want no guessing.” - </p> - <p> - “We will find out.” - </p> - <p> - “Does Lentala know?” - </p> - <p> - “Not positively, perhaps; but we all love her, and she has many ways of - learning, since she is not hedged about and kept in the dark as your - Majesty can be.” The king was brightening; a faint eagerness crept into - his face. - </p> - <p> - “Where did you learn to talk in that way?” - </p> - <p> - “I don’t understand your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “That inflexion. It isn’t pure Senatra.” - </p> - <p> - “It is my misfortune, Sire. A long time ago a white man, an American, - escaped from the natives with the aid of a Senatra girl. She went with him - into the lonely mountains back of the village Sumanali. There my brother,” - indicating Christopher, “and I were born. We speak our father’s language - as well as our mother’s.” - </p> - <p> - “English?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “I meant something else, also, in your speech,—a quickness, a - nimbleness.” - </p> - <p> - “The white man was bright and keen, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “What is your name?” he asked me. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “And his?” - </p> - <p> - “Christopher, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “Those are not Senatra names.” - </p> - <p> - “Our father was an American, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - He put me through a further shrewd examination, and I answered readily. It - was having a slow but conspicuous effect in heartening him. I was - evidently a new and refreshing element, perhaps bringing hope. He appeared - satisfied, and asked: - </p> - <p> - “Have you any suspicions?” - </p> - <p> - “I have, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “Of what? and of whom?” - </p> - <p> - “Might it not be unjust, Sire, to express mere suspicions?” - </p> - <p> - He reflected a moment, and asked: - </p> - <p> - “Do you know Gato?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “And the Black Face?” - </p> - <p> - “Very well.” - </p> - <p> - “And the purple flame?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. I saw it two days ago.” - </p> - <p> - “Where?” asked he in excitement, sitting erect. - </p> - <p> - “It was slipping along the top of the valley wall, near the Face.” - </p> - <p> - The king’s perturbation increased, but he found no wavering of my eyes - under his sharp gaze. - </p> - <p> - “More than that, Sire; my brother and I went into the river passage - through the wall. We saw the red fire and barely missed a great - explosion.” - </p> - <p> - The king’s astonishment brought him to his feet. - </p> - <p> - “Tell me more!” he demanded. - </p> - <p> - I gave him an account of all that we had seen and endured, including the - flaming waterfall, the boiling cauldron, and the earthquake. - </p> - <p> - “You dared that passage!” he exclaimed, looking from one to the other of - us in amazement. “It was the white blood. Not another man in the kingdom - would do it. Gato could not make any of his men go; yet I was anxious to - know.” - </p> - <p> - He was saying this partly to himself, as he aimlessly walked the floor. - </p> - <p> - “Why did you go?” he abruptly asked. - </p> - <p> - “We had heard that no one else was willing, and we wished to serve your - Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - The king’s back being turned, I glanced up at the window. The curtain - parted for a moment, and Beela’s beaming face nodded and smiled. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” muttered the king in a profound disturbance, “it means that an - upheaval is at hand,—and a crisis!” He came and stood before me, - plumping this question at me: “Do you fear the Black Face, the flame, and - the earthquake?” - </p> - <p> - “Not in the least, Sire,” I smilingly answered. - </p> - <p> - “All the others do.” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty has not forgotten that our father was white. He taught us - many wise things.” - </p> - <p> - He was smitten with a look that seemed to come from his conscience, and - sank with a groan into the divan. - </p> - <p> - “Had I only been as true to my duty, and led my people to the light!” he - exclaimed. “Lentala begged me to. Now I must pay, I must pay!” - </p> - <p> - I needed no recalling of my pledge to Beela, for pity held me. I looked to - the window, and the radiance coming thence lighted my wits. - </p> - <p> - “There is always hope, Sire,” I cheerfully said; “we can work and hope.” - </p> - <p> - He gave me a haggard look. “You know,” he said, “the Senatras believe that - unless sacrifices are made of the white people in the valley there will - come no more wrecks and castaways, and that the Black Face will therefore - send the terrible earthquake and eruptions which frighten our people into - madness, sweep the island with fire, and destroy lives and farms. But how - can a sacrifice be made? The people think that to offer up a madman would - infuriate the Face and cause frightful disaster. It is impossible to bring - another white man from the valley, because the colony would fight rather - than give him up. Yet unless there is a sacrifice the Senatras will rebel - through fear of the Face, the army will revolt, my palace will be seized, - and the queen, Lentala and I, with all our friends and servants, will be - put to the sword.” - </p> - <p> - “A leader, who must be a traitor, would be required for that, your - Majesty. That would mean a man of eminence among us; and not that alone, - but one who has already laid his plans and is ready at this moment to - strike.” - </p> - <p> - The king was staring at me in terror. - </p> - <p> - “You speak with a deep understanding,” he huskily said, “and you have more - to tell me. Proceed.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire. The white people wish only to leave the island, and to go in - peace. They will do no harm if they are not opposed; if they are, they - will harm only those who oppose them.” - </p> - <p> - “How do you know?” - </p> - <p> - “I speak with knowledge from my white father.” - </p> - <p> - “But if they are permitted to go, they will spread tales of great riches - here, and destroying ships and armies will come.” - </p> - <p> - “Permit me, Sire. In the first place, with such coadjutors as Lentala, my - brother and I, you could make the island impregnable. That would be far - wiser than the risk which you are now running, for the sea, even in my - father’s time, was filling with ships, and the great countries were - hunting new possessions. At any time a ship may come without the aid of - the storms. She would see this large and beautiful island, and, though - driven off, would inform her own country, which would send vessels and men - to overwhelm us.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, yes. But would it be possible for us to prepare defenses?” - </p> - <p> - “It is our duty to do all that we can, Sire. But there can be an - additional protection. So long as we keep our present backwardness we - shall be deemed the rightful prey of any nation. If we aim to be more like - the great countries, and send ambassadors to them and make treaties with - them, they will protect us against one another.” - </p> - <p> - This mightily impressed the king. - </p> - <p> - “That sounds reasonable,” he said with a pitiful air of wisdom, “but it - may be attended to hereafter. We are facing a present crisis. You said - that a leader of an insurrection would be required.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “The army could put down any trouble.” - </p> - <p> - “With the army itself in revolt?” - </p> - <p> - “But Gato’s control of the army is powerful.” - </p> - <p> - “Yet it is on the edge of revolt. If Gato is all-powerful with his men, - and in spite of that fact says he can’t control them,——But - your Majesty is abler than I to draw inferences.” - </p> - <p> - The king came nervously to his feet. - </p> - <p> - “It is easy to understand, Sire,” I went on, “that an ambitious and - unscrupulous man would see his opportunity when the people are paralyzed - with fear of the Face or with an outburst of its wrath.” - </p> - <p> - “Opportunity for what?” the king demanded. “What would he want, Sire? Your - throne would be a temptation, and so would Lentala to a man who wanted a - beautiful wife.” - </p> - <p> - The king gripped the edge of a table. - </p> - <p> - “He asked me for her,” the wretched man growled like a lion gnawing a - bone. “I refused him. She is very dear to me. I wanted her to have a - better man, of her own choosing. For I have provided that she is to rule - my people when I am gone.” - </p> - <p> - Though greatly surprised, I refrained from looking toward the window, and - kept silence while the broken man fought out his agony. When the urgency - of his situation had measurably restored him, he began to pace the floor, - and asked: - </p> - <p> - “Something has to be done immediately. What would you suggest?” - </p> - <p> - “What does your Majesty understand the case to be?” - </p> - <p> - “We are on the eve of a revolution. The task is to check it.” - </p> - <p> - “Meanwhile, Sire, I observe that a score of Gato’s soldiers are in the - palace. Is that customary?” - </p> - <p> - The king stopped and turned a livid look on me. - </p> - <p> - “No. Gato suggested that it would be safer to have them here for the - present as a protection.” - </p> - <p> - “Protection for whom, Sire?” - </p> - <p> - The hint in the question swept the breath out of him, and he stood - staring. - </p> - <p> - “I hadn’t suspected——” he struggled for breath to begin. Then, - “I see, I see.” - </p> - <p> - The imminence of danger electrified his dormant forces. He hardened and - expanded, and fighting blood began to run in his veins. I said: - </p> - <p> - “There is one thing more, your Majesty. The white people in the valley are - able, daring, and cunning. Already some of them have escaped and are at - large in the island.” - </p> - <p> - “Impossible!” he exclaimed in consternation. - </p> - <p> - “I have seen them myself, Sire. They are perfectly disguised as natives.” - A quick look at the window showed me a frightened but not a reprimanding - face. - </p> - <p> - “You are positive?” - </p> - <p> - “Absolutely, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “How did they come out?” - </p> - <p> - “Either by tricking Gato’s men, or by connivance with some one, of - course.” - </p> - <p> - A rap at the door prevented further discussion. - </p> - <p> - “That is Gato,” the king whispered. “Hide there,” pointing to a curtained - door in the rear wall. - </p> - <p> - We were immediately concealed. The place was an anteroom. Through the - curtain we could hear and see everything. - </p> - <p> - Gato entered. - </p> - <p> - “What news?” the king inquired in a friendly, business-like fashion. - </p> - <p> - “Everything is quiet, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “How is the weather?” - </p> - <p> - “It is beginning to clear.” - </p> - <p> - “Good! If the storm has made any wrecks, a castaway for the sacrifice may - drift ashore. That would restore order.” - </p> - <p> - Gato solemnly shook his head. The king reclined in silence, and then - asked: - </p> - <p> - “How many soldiers have you in and about the palace?” - </p> - <p> - The man was surprised. “Twenty, Sire,” he hesitatingly answered. - </p> - <p> - “Send them to the Council Chamber, and summon Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - “May I ask your Majesty——” - </p> - <p> - Gato found a look that he was not accustomed to see. It was evident from - the slowness with which he proceeded to obey that he was alarmed and was - gaining time for new plans. - </p> - <p> - Christopher and I stepped forth when Gato was gone. Beela exhibited some - fear, but I sent her a smile. - </p> - <p> - “You,” the king commanded me, “observe his manner with his men. You,” to - Christopher, “follow him to Lentala and see that no harm befalls her; I - will show you a way. Don’t let him see either of you. Come with me to the - Council Chamber immediately after the soldiers have assembled.” - </p> - <p> - Beela nodded to me, and dropped the curtain. The king led Christopher into - the anteroom, gave him hurried directions, opened a door leading out of - that room, dismissed Christopher, and returned. By this time I was passing - out, having observed that no one in the corridor was looking toward me. - </p> - <p> - Gato had formed his plan, and it contemplated swift execution, as I judged - from his prompt, incisive manner with his men. In each instance he gave an - order which I knew from the pantomime included the Council Chamber; then, - in the man’s ear, he added something which brought a start, a stiffening - of the body, and an unconscious grip of the sword-hilt. As the men were - straggling past me to assemble, the king leisurely strolled out into the - corridor, and was sauntering beyond me, when he stopped, turned, and asked - under his voice: - </p> - <p> - “What are the signs?” - </p> - <p> - “He has ordered them to kill you in the Council Chamber at a sign from - him.” - </p> - <p> - “Umph!” The king passed on toward his living-apartments, which he entered. - </p> - <p> - When he came quietly walking back, the corridor was clear of soldiers. He - slipped a modern revolver into my hand. - </p> - <p> - “Do you understand its use?” - </p> - <p> - “Perfectly, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “May I trust your nerve and judgment to use it at the right moment and - without missing?” - </p> - <p> - “You may, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “I think one shot will settle the matter. If - </p> - <p> - “There will be three of us, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - He nodded, passed on, and turned back. He had become transformed, and - appeared to look forward eagerly to the crucial moment. - </p> - <p> - “Gato ought to be here with Lentala by this time,” he said. - </p> - <p> - He walked slowly to the private audience-room, looked in, and strolled - back. Near me he stopped short, intently listening. - </p> - <p> - “Did you hear that?” he asked. - </p> - <p> - “No, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “It sounded like the roar of an infuriated animal.” - </p> - <p> - His strolling began again, but with an increasing uneasiness. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t understand it,” he said. At intervals he stopped and listened. - Finally he came back. - </p> - <p> - “I sent for her,” he explained, “to announce that she was heir-apparent to - the throne, and vested with present authority to take any measures in this - crisis that would seem proper in her discretion.” - </p> - <p> - I did not know before that my heart could be so touched by such a man. - </p> - <p> - His impatience at last slipped control. “We will go and see what detains - them,” he said. - </p> - <p> - We started down the corridor. At his own apartments he paused to send a - servant to the Council Chamber with word that he would soon appear. We had - gone but a short distance beyond, when we met Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “Is all well?” asked the king. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “Are Lentala and Gato coming?” - </p> - <p> - “No, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “Why not?” - </p> - <p> - “He’s in the dungeon, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “In the dungeon! Locked up?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “Who put him there?” - </p> - <p> - “Me, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “What for?” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty told me not to let him harm her.” - </p> - <p> - “Harm her! Did he try to?” - </p> - <p> - “I was there. She wants to see you.” He turned to me. “And you, sir.” - </p> - <p> - We three hastened to her apartments, where we found her lying on a couch - and attended by a number of frightened women. - </p> - <p> - “Lentala!” the king anxiously said; “what is the matter?” - </p> - <p> - She forced a smile, held out one hand to the king and the other to me, - gave mine a quick, tight squeeze, released our hands, in a weak voice bade - us be seated, and with a wave of her hand dismissed the women. - </p> - <p> - “What has happened, child?” the king insisted. - </p> - <p> - “Gato came. I was alone. He didn’t know that Christopher was behind him.” - She was speaking with difficulty, often pausing. “He was impatient. He - said he loved me and wanted me. And if I wouldn’t marry him, he’d... he’d - strangle me here and now.... That his men were waiting in the Council - Chamber to kill you, if I refused him, and then they would kill the - queen.... I said no. I trusted Christopher. Gato’s fingers hooked like - that,” she showed with her own hands, “his eyes glared terribly, and he - came at me.... Christopher crept up, said to me, ‘Don’t scream,’ and - leaped on Gato. They grappled, and rolled on the floor. Gato roared like a - wild beast.” Lentala covered her eyes with her hands. “I heard things - crack and break. I couldn’t look. Then came an awful squeak. Christopher - said again to me, ‘Don’t scream.’ It meant he was safe. I felt myself - falling.... When I saw again, I was lying on this divan, and my women were - with me. Gato was gone. Christopher was standing in the door. I asked him - where Gato was. He said, ‘In the dungeon.’ He would say no more, and I - sent him for you.” She looked at him, and added, “Dear old Christopher!” - </p> - <p> - His face was blank. - </p> - <p> - “Can I do anything for you?” the king gently asked. - </p> - <p> - “No, thank you. I’m only a little shaken, and will be up in a few - minutes.” - </p> - <p> - “Would you like the queen to come?” - </p> - <p> - “No. It would distress her. Not a word of this to her!” - </p> - <p> - The king led us out. At the door I looked back and won a smile. - </p> - <p> - We went in silence, and the king stepped into his apartments, bidding us - wait in the corridor a minute. - </p> - <p> - I turned a keen look on Christopher, and he met it frankly. - </p> - <p> - “Are you hurt?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “No, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Is he badly injured?” - </p> - <p> - “Him?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “He don’t need no doctor, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Did he go with you quietly?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “He’ll hang for this, Christopher.” - </p> - <p> - “Sir?” - </p> - <p> - “The king will hang him for this.” - </p> - <p> - Christopher’s gaze wandered vacantly round the corridor, and after a while - he quietly said: - </p> - <p> - “It won’t hurt him, sir.” - </p> - <p> - The truth blazed through me. I had been misled by Christopher’s perfect - calm. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” I cried, seizing his hand and wringing it; but he looked - bored. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XIX.—The Strength of the White Blood. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Extraordinary Discipline by the King. His Uneasiness Concerning Our - Loyalty. Lentala’s Father. We Must Help Destroy Our Friends. Earthquakes.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>LTHOUGH the king - was greatly shocked when I told him what had really happened to Gato, his - gratification quickly rose, and he regarded Christopher curiously. - </p> - <p> - “Why didn’t you tell me at once?” he inquired. - </p> - <p> - “That is not his way, Sire,” I explained. “He avoids talking.” - </p> - <p> - “It was a wonderful thing to do,” his Majesty mused as we slowly went to - the Council Chamber. - </p> - <p> - Something had given him a fearful blow, and I guessed it was the danger to - which Lentala had been exposed. His face was haggard again; his gait was - unsteady; he doddered and mumbled. - </p> - <p> - As we neared the Council Chamber, he said: - </p> - <p> - “Come in and stand near me, one on either side.” - </p> - <p> - We found the soldiers in a huddle near the door, the racial dulness of - their faces somewhat keyed with expectancy. The king gave them but a - glance as he passed them and ascended the throne,—to be more - impressive, no doubt. Christopher and I stood as flanks. - </p> - <p> - “Form a line facing me,” the king sternly commanded. - </p> - <p> - The soldiers glanced at one another in wonder as they obeyed, and - furtively had anxious eyes and ears for Gato. They were a fine crowd, - selected for courage and dash. - </p> - <p> - “You understand,” the king said, “that I am always in supreme command of - the army, including Gato and every other officer. Any person who may be in - immediate charge of you is serving as my agent, and is appointed and - removed by me at my pleasure. All your fealty and loyalty are for me. You - will now acknowledge that with an obeisance to your king.” - </p> - <p> - The rascals were dazed. They might send shifting glances down the line if - they liked, and wonder and waver if they pleased, but obey they must: - every man felt it in his bones. The line went down. - </p> - <p> - Etiquette required the maintenance of the posture until the king gave the - word to rise. The obeisance consisted in coming to the knees, resting the - elbows, well advanced, on the floor, pressing the palms down, and rooting - the floor with the forehead,—an easy performance if quickly - finished, but a torturing one if sustained. On this occasion the king - neglected the releasing command; and that was unheard of. In such a - position the men could see nothing. - </p> - <p> - “A soldier’s first duty,” he resumed, “is to his king. In becoming a - soldier he dedicates his manhood, his strength, his life, to his - sovereign; that is to say, to his country. A true soldier is glad to die - for the happiness and safety of his king. His duties are as sacred as - those of a son to his father. A worthy son will remember the protection - that his father has given him. If he hears him defamed, he will uphold his - name; if blind, will lead him; if threatened, will defend him though death - be the reward. So it is with a soldier and his king.” - </p> - <p> - His voice weighted his words with a deep emotion, and he spoke slowly, - with pauses. It was like listening to a passage from the Bible,—but - much better read than commonly. - </p> - <p> - “A king may be kind to his soldiers; that will bring him their love with - their fealty, and give their duty a double force. A king may grow old and - stand in need of the strong, willing arms of young men whom he loves and - who love him. A king may totter under the burden of long service to his - people; his soldiers will then be his stay and comfort, and with joy in - their hearts will do his high will. Serpents may crawl in the weeds about - a king’s throne: his soldiers will beat the weeds clear of them.” - </p> - <p> - The king could not have failed to see a painful writhing that wormed - through the line. His pause was long. - </p> - <p> - “A son who hears even his brother speak ill of their father, will reprove - the brother and shame him. If that fails, he will chastise his brother if - he can; but if the brother is stronger, the dutiful one will take the - matter to their father, since the safeguard of the family is endangered by - the disaffection of a single member. If a father discovers one of his sons - jeopardizing the unity, prosperity, and safety of the family, he will give - the faithless son such treatment as the security of the family demands.” - </p> - <p> - The pause this time was still longer. Meanwhile, the endurance of the men - had nearly reached an end. Whatever may have been their mental state, - their physical was one of excruciating pain. - </p> - <p> - “Some men are induced to do wrong through heedlessness or blindness, not - knowing the gravity of their deeds, and not foreseeing a dire result. - Others are weak and easily led; they are untrustworthy tools of their - leaders, and shame is their greatest punishment. Others are cruel and - wicked at heart; they will therefore be ready to betray the men who led - them to betray others. All of those are poisonous serpents in the weeds - about a king’s throne. And it is far worse in a soldier than in any one - else.” - </p> - <p> - After another pause, he said: - </p> - <p> - “A king who is kind and wise will be slow to believe evil of his people. - It will be natural for him to think that all will be as wise and kind as - he. Yet he must be watchful; he cannot protect the people unless he - protects himself. If he finds a scandal, he may hide it, lest it weaken - the common faith in the strength and purity of his government. If he - discovers that any are unfaithful, he will not make their treason public - by hanging them before the people, unless he knows that a warning will - stop other traitors. No; he will be merciful and keep them privately for a - time, till they may walk forth erect in their recovered manhood.” - </p> - <p> - Here and there a gasp or a strangled groan broke the silence of the line. - The king was heeding. - </p> - <p> - “The man at the right of the line will rise.” - </p> - <p> - The fellow came painfully to his feet, and stretched the agony out of his - muscles. - </p> - <p> - “Advance and lay your sword on the dais,” ordered the king. - </p> - <p> - The man obeyed. - </p> - <p> - “Return to your obeisance.” - </p> - <p> - A start thrilled the soldier. He gave the king a desperate, pleading look, - but found eyes with a cold sternness that sent him to obedience. - </p> - <p> - “The next, rise.” - </p> - <p> - The performance was repeated with him, and with the rest in turn. - </p> - <p> - “All rise,” said the king. They stood up. “I will now take you to a room - in the palace, where you may consider in quiet what the soldiers of a king - should be. You,” he ordered Christopher, “walk beside me at the head, and - you,” to me, “follow the soldiers.” - </p> - <p> - The dignity of a mighty sorrow sat like a grace upon him as he slowly led - the procession. Never were prisoners more securely manacled with steel - than these men, though their members were free; and though there was a - certain pomp in the march, it was that of a funeral, and the silence was - louder than the blare of much brass. - </p> - <p> - The king turned into the corridor that led to the vaults, and descended - the stair. This brought him and the others to the dungeon door. He halted, - and Christopher unlocked it. It swung wide. The king and Christopher stood - aside, and the men marched in. Christopher closed and locked the door. - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty!” I exclaimed; “you surely have not forgotten that Gato——” - </p> - <p> - “My son,” he calmly answered, “what they have already endured has made the - way easier to what they will find in there.” - </p> - <p> - Without haste the king conducted us back to the chamber in which he had - received us, and seated himself ered: on the divan. He was studying us. - </p> - <p> - He inflated his cheeks and pursed his lips while his goggling eyes roamed, - and queer wrinkles came and went in his face. - </p> - <p> - “The white blood,” he grunted, staring at me. “It accounts for your - keenness. The white blood never sleeps. If it is with you, good; if - against you,———” - </p> - <p> - He rose and glared. “Which love you the more, son,” he growled, “the white - blood or the brown?” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty sees our color. We came freely and offered our hearts, our - arms, and our lives to your Majesty. And it is not forgotten, Sire, that - Lentala sent us.” - </p> - <p> - “I remember.” The growl died in him, and he brightened. With both hands he - clutched the edge of the couch. “It takes white blood to fight white - blood,” he said. “Did your father tell you that?” - </p> - <p> - “Not that I recall, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “Black blood and red blood and yellow blood and brown blood always fall - before it, soon or late. He said nothing about that?” - </p> - <p> - “I think not, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “You know it is true?” - </p> - <p> - “My father told me much of the great world.” - </p> - <p> - “Then he told you that. And I know. I saw it when I went abroad in my - youth. I learned it from Lentala’s father. Does it mean anything to you - that your mother was a Senatra?” - </p> - <p> - “It is sufficient that your Majesty and Lentala are Senatras.” - </p> - <p> - The king fixed a keen stare on me. - </p> - <p> - “You mention Lentala very often,” he said. - </p> - <p> - “She indorsed us to your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “Something more is here. That is the white blood in her. In you and in her - the white blood knows its own.” - </p> - <p> - His sudden confirmation of my surmise concerning Lentala choked the words - in my throat. - </p> - <p> - “Why don’t you speak?” he roughly demanded. “Is it not true?” - </p> - <p> - I could only gaze at him. - </p> - <p> - “The white blood finds and knows its own,” he went on. “Two hundred and - fifty of those with white blood are held on this island by a great horde - of those with brown blood. I need a man of the white-blood shrewdness and - boldness and courage to manage those two hundred and fifty to the safety - of my people and my island. But if I take a man with white blood in his - veins, it will side with the white blood that threatens me.” - </p> - <p> - “Would Lentala hand over to treason and destruction your Majesty and the - queen and all the other Senatras whom she loves, and the people to whom - she belongs and the country that has nourished her?” - </p> - <p> - “Not wittingly, for she is a daughter of the gods; but the blood, my son, - the blood!” - </p> - <p> - “Sire, a love early planted endures forever.” - </p> - <p> - He rose to fight his despair, and walked up and down the room. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, it is true,” he said at last. “Lentala has proved it. I spared her - father, a castaway, because he stopped a great plague that was destroying - my people. I myself was stricken, and he saved my life I feared him - because he was of the white blood, and because of his wisdom and power. He - held the secrets of the gods, and had no fear. I had planted deep in my - people a hatred of the white blood; and I required that he not only - disguise himself as a native, but remain within the palace grounds. He - taught me many things, but I refused to follow his advice to instruct my - subjects. He educated Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - “Is he still alive?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “He died two years ago. If he were only here now! We became strong - friends. Lentala’s devotion to the islanders is returned by them almost as - idolatry. I know how the white blood can love, but I know also how it can - hate; and it knows its own.” - </p> - <p> - He suddenly halted, and wheeled upon me. - </p> - <p> - “You say,” he moaned, “that some of the white men are at large on the - island. What mischief are they doing? What mines digging under me? My - people are children,—I have kept them so, God help them! I need not - alone a wit and a daring to match the white people’s, but Senatra devotion - as well.” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty knows Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - He blazed on me. “Do you love Lentala?” - </p> - <p> - A fierce tingling raced through me, and dumbness held me. - </p> - <p> - “She is beautiful and sweet,” he went on. “She is steadfast; she is brave - and able. There never was a woman to match her. You are big and strong and - brave. She found you. Like finds like. Do you love her as a man loves a - woman?” - </p> - <p> - I fought blindly for wit and words. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire,” came the thin, even voice of Christopher. - </p> - <p> - We both turned in surprise. He beamed on us blandly. - </p> - <p> - “Does she love him as a woman loves a man?” the king asked him. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - His audacity held me speechless. - </p> - <p> - “I can trust her—and you,” the king said to me,—“so far as - blood tempered by love and loyalty may be trusted, which is farther than - it may trust itself. I am old and broken. Come, you two, and stand before - me.” - </p> - <p> - We obeyed, I wondering. - </p> - <p> - “I have no other men to equal you, and I need you. You must serve me. Take - time now, and remember your white blood. Remember that it is stronger than - your brown, for I have seen its dominance in you today. Remember that when - your allegiance is tested in a choice between white blood and brown, the - white will be the stronger. Only one thing can save you and me and all my - people.” - </p> - <p> - “And that, Sire,——-?” - </p> - <p> - “——-is your manly pride to see and know and overcome your - white blood, and serve and obey your king to the end.” - </p> - <p> - He paused, and looked from one to the other, as though expecting us to - speak, but we were silent. - </p> - <p> - “The white blood,” he passionately resumed, “is the most terrible thing in - the world. It is strong and shrewd; it never gives up; it pursues and - fights relentlessly to the ends of the earth; without mercy or pity it - hunts down, plunders, overwhelms, exterminates. Only one thing can hold it - in check, and that is opposing white blood. Brown blood cannot cope with - the white people in the valley, but white blood can; and for the task, the - gods have sent me white blood mingled with brown seeded in my soil and - grown to it with deep roots. That is my hope and trust.” - </p> - <p> - His gaze of affectionate yearning was on us. - </p> - <p> - “The duty of your Senatra blood is loyalty to your king; the task of your - white blood is to outwit and outdo the people in the valley. I will place - Lentala in command of the army. You must not take a step without her full - concurrence, and you will obey her without question. Do you agree?” - </p> - <p> - “Gladly, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “A hundred soldiers guard the passes from the val ley, and are relieved - every day. When not on duty they attend to their private affairs. I will - at once send out messengers summoning these to assemble outside the palace - wall, in the king’s highway passing the main gate. There I will address - them and turn over the command to Lentala.” - </p> - <p> - He was profoundly studying me. His words, “to outwit and outdo the people - in the valley,” were grinding within me, and I longed to demand an - explanation. A savage ferocity was manifest through his benignity. To - outwit and outdo the people in the valley,—my people, my friends! I - would be his tool to betray and destroy them. The bottomless pit should - have him first, and the hand that he would turn to treachery and murder - would send him thither. - </p> - <p> - My face must have shown something of what I tried to conceal; for the - king, his look growing desperate and malignant, stepped back a pace. There - came from somewhere a sharp rap, which made me start, and sent my glance - to the curtained window, to which the king had his back. I had supposed - that Beela was with Lentala; but there she was at the window, her hand - upraised in warning. It brought me instant control. - </p> - <p> - The king also had heard, and looked round sharply, but the curtain was - down. - </p> - <p> - “What was that?” he inquired. - </p> - <p> - “My big toe, Sire,” answered Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “What did you do with it?” - </p> - <p> - “I cracked the joint.” - </p> - <p> - “Why?” - </p> - <p> - “It feels good, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - His Majesty curiously regarded Christopher’s feet. “It must be a large - joint,” he said. - </p> - <p> - Christopher stood in gentle silence. The king turned to me, and found me - docile. - </p> - <p> - “That look of rebellion was the white blood in you,” he said. - </p> - <p> - “Only for a moment. Your Majesty may trust me.” - </p> - <p> - Nevertheless, he was troubled, and shook his head. - </p> - <p> - “He won’t no more, Sire,” said Christopher. - </p> - <p> - “How do you know?” - </p> - <p> - “I know him.” - </p> - <p> - “Explain.” - </p> - <p> - “He does little things short and big things long.” - </p> - <p> - My amused smile was fortunate, because it put an end to the king’s tragic - gravity. - </p> - <p> - “I am satisfied,” he remarked. “Now, the first thing for you two to do, - while the army is assembling, is to go out, find, and bring to the palace - all the white men that have escaped. The next,———” - </p> - <p> - The sentence was never concluded, for there came a rumble and a sharp, - pervading jolt. The king stiffened, looked about in fear, and groped for - the table. Following was a gentle quiver, which rapidly increased till it - became an oscillation, and with it a deep rumbling. It ended in a mighty - wrench and a violent swaying, accompanied with a hoarse explosive sound. - The stones of the palace were grinding and groaning. The table slid a - yard, stopped, and shot back as the king tried to seize it. - </p> - <p> - I found myself plunging and lurching for a footing as the oscillation - continued, and so were the king and Christopher. They sat down on the - floor. Surely the violence would ease in a moment. Instead, the convulsion - rose to a fearful crash, which sent my feet away and my body smashing on - Christopher. He caught me with one hand and with the other diverted the - flying table from the king. - </p> - <p> - The spasm ended abruptly, but the menacing tremble was again in play. - </p> - <p> - “Be careful!” rasped the king; “the third is the worst.” - </p> - <p> - As before, the quiver rose through oscillation to a heavy swaying, more - violent than ever, and ended in a tumult of jerks, which sent us sliding - and scrambling as we fought the portable things that were hurled about the - room. - </p> - <p> - It was suddenly gone. We rose, much dazed. There was no sign of Beela at - the window. - </p> - <p> - “It is over,” weakly said the king. “The worst in many years. And what has - it done? It has terrified my people into madness. I see them.” He was - losing self-control, and was staring as at a vision. “They are beginning - to rise from the ground. Many are digging out of their ruined huts.... - Their teeth are chattering. They look at one another in horror. No one has - a sister, a brother, a father, a mother, a friend. All are blind and - mad.... They run hither and thither. They——” - </p> - <p> - A confused screech and roar, as of wild animals driven to a focus by a - surrounding forest fire, rang through the closed door of the room. The - king listened. - </p> - <p> - “The palace servants,” he mumbled through quivering lips. “They are - seeking me—their father and protestor. Imagine from this how the - island is swarming and groaning, and with a terror that is half - vengeance.” - </p> - <p> - The man was beside himself. - </p> - <p> - “Peace, Sire!” I begged, but he did not hear. - </p> - <p> - “The terror does not abate: it increases with the freer flow of their - blood after the shock.... They are beginning to think. They look at one - another and see their kind; then kindred and friends.... ‘The Black Face!’ - says one, softly. ‘Ay, the Black Face!’ is the louder reply.” - </p> - <p> - The king stood with clasped hands and closed eyes. - </p> - <p> - “‘This is only the beginning,’ they say. ‘The Black Face has been denied - while it looked down on abundance.’ Who has denied it? The heavens ring - with the answer, ‘Our father whom we loved, our protector whom we trusted, - our king whom we have thought a brother of the gods. Why has he flouted - the Face and challenged its wrath? What terrors or witcheries have been - wrought by the gods of the people in the valley, that our king has gone - driveling behind his walls? ‘” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty!” I called, shaking him by the arm. - </p> - <p> - He opened glazed eyes, and listened to the howling din at his door. - </p> - <p> - “The guard are leaving the passes. The white people are wise; they - understand, and are joyful. They send scouts.... My soldiers mingle with - my roaring, mobbing people. They all push and roll through the pools of - rain-water in the highways, churning them to mud. They grind their teeth; - they laugh horribly, like imbeciles. The palace is their aim, and their - king sits grinning and mumbling there. All the trouble has come from the - people in the valley. The white blood breeds all there is of that in the - world. May ten thousand curses fall on it!” - </p> - <p> - He was flinging his arms and lunging about. I woke to the urgency of - action, for undoubtedly in his madness he had correctly seen the - turbulence in the island, and the sweating hordes plunging over all roads - converging to the palace. A glance passed between Christopher and me, and - I nodded toward the door, which a packed, howling mass was already - straining. - </p> - <p> - “Come,” I said, seizing the tottering king about the waist and dragging - him to the anteroom. I thrust him within, and secured the door back of the - curtain. - </p> - <p> - When I turned, Christopher, his hand on the key of the door into the - corridor, was listening. There was no sign of Beela at the window. - </p> - <p> - “What’s going on?” I inquired. - </p> - <p> - “Her, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “She’s out there?” I asked in alarm. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Open the door,” I ordered, stepping back to guard the anteroom. - </p> - <p> - He opened it, swinging behind it against the wall. - </p> - <p> - It was done so suddenly that those pressed against it fell into the room. - The next came tumbling on them, and more on these, squeezing horrible - sounds from the mouths of the lowermost, and bringing unpleasant grimaces - to their faces. In a second the opening was jammed half way to the top, - and still the pile grew. Behind it were frenzied men and women, - vociferating prodigiously, and fighting for the diminishing passage to the - king. - </p> - <p> - The pressure outside being somewhat relieved, one of the more agile men - leaped on the pile and sprang with a howl to the floor; but Christopher - had emerged, and a blow from him dropped the adventurer. The next, less - active than the first, was scrambling over the heap, and paused as he - found himself grazed by the flying body of the first, for Christopher had - picked him up and tossed him over the heap into the pandemonium beyond. - The following man drew back, and slid down to the corridor floor. - </p> - <p> - I had been looking for Beela without, but she was not in range. - </p> - <p> - Before another maniac could mount the pile, Christopher had dragged a body - off the squirming mass and flung it out. Another followed, and another, - and others, the succession of them so close that none dared breast the - fusillade. Christopher streamed with sweat, and the mildness in his eyes - had become a glare. - </p> - <p> - All this had a cooling effect in the corridor. Christopher, not waiting to - look for cracked ribs at the bottom of the heap, cleared the last away, - and walked forth. None can say how much his unearthly pale eyes, minatory - expression, and extraordinary figure had to do with what followed. I went - to the door. A hush fell as he advanced on the mob, which fell back in - silent terror. With each hand he seized a man, jammed their heads together - with a murderous thwack, shook them, stood them up, left them stunned, and - immediately snatched two others and treated them similarly. A third pair - and a fourth nursed aching skulls. Christopher swept through the groups - with two long, strong arms for scythes, mowing a wide swath as he brushed - women along, sent a man spinning from a blow, dashed another against the - wall, and brought them into subjugation with a counter-panic of his own - manufacture. He came upon two men with some appearance of character, and - ordered them to finish the work and send the people to their quarters. - They obeyed him promptly. At last he sauntered back to me, calm but - puffing. - </p> - <p> - Beela approached from the opposite direction. I stepped forward in - gladness to meet her. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XX.—A Habit of Concealment. - </h2> - <p> - <i>Beela Undergoes a Transformation. The Uprising of the People. - Contrition of Beela. I Declare Myself. An Amazing Disclosure by the King.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HAT news, my - friend?” I cheerily inquired. - </p> - <p> - “We’ll go to the king’s reception-room and talk,” she answered, looking at - Christopher. “Dear old Christopher!” she said, deep and sweet. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” I remarked; “I left the king in the anteroom.” Christopher and I - followed her into the reception-room. - </p> - <p> - “He’s not there now,” she replied, seating herself, “but with the queen. - Christopher, go and stand down the corridor, opposite the queen’s - apartments, and wait for the king. Those lunatics may break loose again - when they hear the mob outside the wall.” - </p> - <p> - He started. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” she called. He turned. “Do you love me?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, ma’am.” - </p> - <p> - “That’s all.” - </p> - <p> - I had never seen her so calm and steady, so rich in ultimate qualities, so - little the volatile, meteoric, yet wise child-woman who had been my - sunshine, my tease, my playfellow. She had become a composed and gracious - woman. It came to me with something like pain that this was the truer and - finer Beela. There was another feeling,—one of a great need in my - life. - </p> - <p> - She wore a becoming dress that might have suited either a woman or a man; - but everything about her spoke of the sweetness and grace that only a - lovely woman can have. I was tired of the foolish Beelo sham. We had grown - too near for me longer to tolerate that absurd barrier. - </p> - <p> - “Now for your news, dear Beela,” I asked. - </p> - <p> - There was the slightest start when she heard that pronunciation of the - name, but she did not turn to me at once. - </p> - <p> - “When the earthquake began,” she said, “I ran to the queen, for such - things frighten her dreadfully. After it was over there came the uproar by - the servants. I locked the queen’s apartments and kept them out. But their - noise frightened her even more than the earthquake, for they battered her - doors. It wouldn’t do to admit them. Presently the king came by the - private entrance, and although he was badly shaken, the necessity to - comfort the queen brought him composure. They are together and quiet now. - Then I came to this corridor, where the servants were massed against the - door. I could do nothing with them. For a moment I was frightened when the - door opened, but when I saw what Christopher’s plan was, I knew that all - was safe. I went then and secured the gates opening to the palace - grounds.” - </p> - <p> - “And what’s ahead, Beela?” - </p> - <p> - “The worst,” she quietly answered, but gave me a slow, mischievous look - over that repetition of her feminine name. “We have a little time before - the king comes,” she brightly added, “and we need it to rest.” There was a - challenge in her glance. - </p> - <p> - “But the mob is coming!” I protested. - </p> - <p> - “The king told me that you and Christopher and I should be quiet till it - assembles. Then he will come, for you.” - </p> - <p> - I drew up my stool facing her, took both her hands, and said: - </p> - <p> - “I have a confession to make, dear friend.” - </p> - <p> - “Really, Joseph?” she exclaimed in mock alarm, pronouncing the name - perfectly. - </p> - <p> - “You know. And you’ve been only pretending that English wasn’t perfectly - familiar to you.” - </p> - <p> - She gave a musical, purring little laugh. Any man would deserve great - credit for self-restraint in resisting it—and the chin. - Thenceforward she spoke in English of the purest accent. - </p> - <p> - “What’s the confession, Joseph?” - </p> - <p> - “I’ve known something for a long time, Beela, and I’ve been deceiving you - with thinking that I didn’t know; but I did so because you evidently - wished me to be deceived. Everything might have gone wrong if I had - betrayed my knowledge to you. But it has served its time. You will forgive - me for deceiving you,—dear?” - </p> - <p> - All that went to make her a miracle of precious womanhood was vibrant. - There was the same sweet flutter that I had seen before in her velvety - throat. Of course she enjoyed her little triumph of knowing that even for - a time her deception had prospered, and she was a-thrill with the - recollection of it. After that came contrition. A half-smile lingered on - her lips, though her eyes were rueful. - </p> - <p> - “You are good and generous, Joseph, for not giving me a chiding word; and - I don’t think there is the least of it in your big heart.” - </p> - <p> - “Chiding, sweet girl? I understood your feeling for the necessity of the - deception. Your wish is my law, and to serve it is less a duty than a - privilege.” - </p> - <p> - There was a slight puzzle in the glow that flooded her heavenly eyes. - </p> - <p> - “You found it out all by yourself, Joseph?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, dear.” - </p> - <p> - “That is remarkable. Neither Christopher nor Annabel gave you the smallest - hint? They knew.” - </p> - <p> - “Not the smallest.” The hurt of their keeping the secret from me must have - shown in my face, for Beela laughed teasingly. It restored me. “You - pledged Annabel not to tell me,” I said, “and Christopher is silent,—and - a gentleman. Is that the explanation?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” A soft embarrassment crept over her, and she gently withdrew her - hands and sat regarding me in sweet content. “I also have a confession to - make, Joseph.” She tried hard to look just a trifle anxious. “What, dear?” - </p> - <p> - “Joseph!” she cried, frowning and stamping; “how can I think when <i>that</i> - is in your eyes and your voice! I won’t look, and I won’t listen.” She - turned her shoulder to me. - </p> - <p> - “What is in my eyes and my voice, dear?” - </p> - <p> - She sat still a moment, and then slowly turned her head a trifle and - peered at me as if baffled. - </p> - <p> - “You mustn’t tease me, Joseph.” - </p> - <p> - She saw my smile and again turned away. - </p> - <p> - “What is the confession?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “Let’s go back to the beginning. There were two real reasons why I posed - as a boy. One was that it gave me more freedom of limb for going through - the forest and for scaling the valley wall, and the other was that it made - me less conspicuous to the guards,—I could have escaped if they had - detected me. On my word, dear Joseph, I never intended to deceive you long - about that.” - </p> - <p> - She cautiously looked round at me, for I was silent. A cheap resentment at - learning that I had been unnecessarily tricked must have betrayed itself, - for the dear girl took my hands. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph,———” she began. - </p> - <p> - “Then why did you keep it up, dear?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph, the time was when your want of perception was mistaken by me for - dulness, for obtuseness,—for such a lack of understanding as makes a - man or a woman not worth while. But I discovered that it was not dulness - at all. For a time I refused to believe that a human being could have what - I saw in you.” - </p> - <p> - If I have ever seen wondering fondness it was in her eyes. - </p> - <p> - “What was it, dear?” I asked uneasily. - </p> - <p> - “Your trust which sees only the true, and, unwittingly taking into your - heart the false with the true, makes the false true with your trust.” - </p> - <p> - I was silent with the deep thankfulness that God had sent such a woman - into the world and into my meager life. - </p> - <p> - “So, Joseph, I prolonged that deception until all doubt of what you are - was gone. I am glad that I did, and am sorry that I can think of no more - tests.” There was a dash of her dear mischief in that speech. “And now - that this is a time of confession and understanding,—you started it, - remember,—I must say that one of the deceptions played on you———They - were really harmless, weren’t they, dear Joseph?” - </p> - <p> - “Perfectly,” I smiled. - </p> - <p> - “——that one of them was unnecessary. It was <i>such</i> fun to - play those pranks on you, Joseph! I couldn’t help it. I know it was - wicked, but you were always gentle and kind, and I knew you would forgive - me. Joseph, you would forgive me <i>anything</i>, wouldn’t you?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, dear heart.” - </p> - <p> - “It was delicious to see you walking so trustingly through the - complications that beset you.” - </p> - <p> - “Dear!” I cried, my senses afloat and my arms aching for her; “I am only - human. Your sweetness——” - </p> - <p> - She pushed back her chair before my advance. - </p> - <p> - “And you don’t know in the least,” she went flying on, “how often I had to - leap from one of my selves to the other, and how exciting it was.” - </p> - <p> - I was getting little out of her chatter except the music of her voice and - the picture of loveliness that she made. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t you care to know which of the deceptions was unnecessary?” she - demanded, trying to look injured. - </p> - <p> - “Indeed I do.” - </p> - <p> - She came and stood beside me, gazing down into my face and clasping my - hand warmly in both her own. - </p> - <p> - “Beela,” she answered. - </p> - <p> - “Beela?” after a mystified pause; then, thinking that she was teasing, I - laughed. - </p> - <p> - She appeared much relieved, and brightly said: “I’m glad you understand - and forgive me.... But you resented her at first.” - </p> - <p> - “Beelo had become very precious, dear, and so my readjustments where you - are concerned are slow. But a new fondness grew with Beela’s coming.” - </p> - <p> - “Poor Joseph! And <i>she</i> wasn’t necessary. I am sorry now that I——” - </p> - <p> - “<i>She?</i> Who?” - </p> - <p> - “Beela.” - </p> - <p> - I was a little taken aback, but came to my feet with a dazzling - consciousness that all the glories of earth were packed into this moment. - </p> - <p> - “Not at first, dear,” I said, “but in time she became more necessary than - my life. My heart sits in gratitude at Lentala’s feet for sending me her - sweet sister.” - </p> - <p> - She was stricken into a statue, and was staring at me as at some strange - creature from another planet. - </p> - <p> - I stood in silent misery. How had I hurt her? - </p> - <p> - She took a turn of the room, and flung herself on her knees at the couch, - buried her face in her arms, and went into laughter mingled with sobs. I - seated myself on the couch and laid a caressing hand on her head. - </p> - <p> - “Beela,” I pleaded, “forgive me. Let me know what I have done that hurt - you.” - </p> - <p> - “No,” she cried. “I wouldn’t for all the world! My heart is breaking with - gladness!” - </p> - <p> - Surely no other mortal could have put such startling contradictions into - so few words. My hand found hers; she caught it tight. - </p> - <p> - “You dear old Joseph!” she said. “Choseph, Choseph!” - </p> - <p> - It was plainly hysteria; the brave soul had been on a breaking strain too - long. I drew her to me, bent her head to my shoulder, and pressed my cheek - to hers. - </p> - <p> - “Dear heart!” I said. - </p> - <p> - She made no resistance, and gradually grew quiet. - </p> - <p> - “Sweet,” I went on, “we have been through many trials together, and there - are more ahead. The days were dark till Beelo came. He stole into my heart - with hope, courage, and love. A shock came when he passed. I don’t know, - but perhaps I never should have loved you but for him. He was the sunny - highway leading to you; and now I have the daring to lay my love and my - life at your feet.” - </p> - <p> - The sigh that drifted through her parted lips had no threat for my - anxiety, but she did not answer. Her hand gently drew mine down from her - cheek, and she rose. She studied me a moment. - </p> - <p> - “Let’s talk, Joseph. Perhaps we have been hasty.” I noted the patient - weariness in her voice. She sat beside me, and after a short silence - resumed: “I have never loved a man till———It hasn’t been - possible here. But you have known beautiful, lovely women.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “And liked them very much.” - </p> - <p> - “Very much.” - </p> - <p> - Her glance fell, and a little quiver crossed her lips. - </p> - <p> - “You have known Annabel a long time. You were close to her; you and she - talked long and often.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “She is beautiful and sweet.” - </p> - <p> - “Exceptionally so.” - </p> - <p> - “And accomplished—and gracious—and has good manners and a - velvet voice.” - </p> - <p> - “All of that.” - </p> - <p> - “And she’s kind—and gentle—and has high principles.” - </p> - <p> - “True.” - </p> - <p> - “She belongs to your people, your world.” - </p> - <p> - I only smiled. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph,” raising her sad eyes to mine, “you have loved her once, and now - love me?” - </p> - <p> - “I have never loved Annabel, dear heart, but I do love you.” - </p> - <p> - “Why haven’t you loved her? How could you help it?” - </p> - <p> - “Because I was waiting for you.” - </p> - <p> - “You have never told her that you loved her?” - </p> - <p> - “No. But, dear Beela, I can’t discuss Annabel in this way.” - </p> - <p> - Her eyes blazed. “She loves you!” - </p> - <p> - “That is not true; and no one has the right to say such a thing of a woman - without knowing that her love is returned.” - </p> - <p> - Beela bit her lip, and came stiffly to her feet. - </p> - <p> - “You are unkind!” she exclaimed. “I have a right—a woman’s right—to - reasons for believing what is incredible without them.” - </p> - <p> - The picture of outraged dignity that she made was so ravishing that I - feared my adoration would override the sternness which I had taken so much - trouble to set in my face. - </p> - <p> - “What is incredible, dear?” - </p> - <p> - She impatiently turned away. I think she did it to hide a smile, but she - was too wary to answer. Instead, she drew from her bosom the little toilet - case I had given Lentala on the day of the feast, and gravely examined her - reflection. - </p> - <p> - “If I were beautiful like Annabel,———” she began. - </p> - <p> - “Beela!” - </p> - <p> - “———or Lentala, and———” - </p> - <p> - “Beela!” - </p> - <p> - “———and were pink and white———” - </p> - <p> - “Beela!” - </p> - <p> - She made exactly such a face at herself in the mirror as Lentala had, and - suddenly turned on me. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph, Lentala used to be beautiful and good and true, and an angel.” - </p> - <p> - “She is all of that yet.” - </p> - <p> - She returned the case to her bosom. - </p> - <p> - “I think you nearly loved her once.” - </p> - <p> - My tongue was silent. Beela laughed mischievously; little devils were - dancing in her eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph, I’m serious. Reflect because it wouldn’t be wise to act hastily - now and suffer for the rest of life. Annabel would make a perfect wife. - She would play no pranks and childish deceptions. You understand her and - she knows you. I’m only a wild, uncouth savage.” - </p> - <p> - “Anything more, dear?” I wearily asked. - </p> - <p> - She gathered breath to resume: “And there’s Lentala. She is to be a queen - some day, and very rich. With rank and wealth, she would be a shining - woman in America, and her husband would be the happiest man in the world; - for with all of that he would have the far richer treasure of her love.” - </p> - <p> - “A worthy man will come to her some day, Beela.” - </p> - <p> - “Didn’t you think she was—was fascinating?” - </p> - <p> - “I do think so.” - </p> - <p> - “Reflect again, Joseph: Would you prefer her poor, obscure, wild little - sister?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. But what right have we to make so free with Lentala’s name, - especially as she is foreign to the matter?” - </p> - <p> - Again Beela was offended, but she controlled herself. - </p> - <p> - “You would be ashamed of me with people of your kind.” - </p> - <p> - “You alone are of my kind, dear Beela; and shame for you would be shame - for myself, shame for all that is precious to me.” - </p> - <p> - “Suppose, Joseph, that I should refuse to leave this island.” - </p> - <p> - “The highest privilege of my life would be to stay here with you.” - </p> - <p> - She stood in a melting happiness. - </p> - <p> - Her rosy mouth was conveniently near. I should have been a fool to let the - opportunity pass, and she was not on her guard. She drew back too late. - The dignity with which she came to her feet had a new tenderness. I also - rose. She gazed at me with a wistfulness that searched all the hidden - places in my soul. Never had she been so lovely as in this moment. - </p> - <p> - “Dear Joseph, take more time. There is something... you don’t know, though - I... thought you understood. Now I dare not———A great - fear fills me.” - </p> - <p> - “Love knows no fear, sweetheart.” - </p> - <p> - “Not for itself, but for its loved ones. Joseph, will you forgive me? It - was a foolish thing to do, and I am very, very sorry. Your trust has - shamed me. Dear Joseph, I———But first let me tell you - something else. The colony must now be marching out of the valley, for I - told Captain Mason that a severe earthquake would be his signal for - starting at once. Annabel is coming, and———” - </p> - <p> - The door opened to the king and Christopher. His Majesty, anxious and - broken though he was, gave us an approving smile,—perhaps from what - he read in our faces. - </p> - <p> - “My maddened people are gathering,” he said. “It was wise of you to lock - the gates, my child. When the crowd grows larger it will begin an assault. - That will be the time for me to appear. I will call out the soldiers from - the crowd and put them under your command.” - </p> - <p> - That surprised me. “Pardon me, Sire. I understood your Majesty to say an - hour ago that <i>Lentala</i> was to have command.” - </p> - <p> - “So I did.” - </p> - <p> - “But your Majesty has just said that <i>Beela</i> is to have it.” - </p> - <p> - “Beela? I couldn’t have said that, as I don’t know any such person.” - </p> - <p> - I was dismayed at the king’s apparent condition, and Beela in great - perturbation was trying to speak. The man must be roused from his shaken - state. - </p> - <p> - “This is Beela, Sire, Lentala’s sister.” - </p> - <p> - “She has no sister,” he answered clearly, and turned sharply on Beela. - “Lentala, have you been playing one of your pranks?” He hurried her away - as she was trying to speak. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XXI—Both Sides of the Wall. - </h2> - <p> - <i>A Mob at the Palace Gate. What the King Heard Through the Wall. - Lentala’s Call on Christopher to Save Her. The King Abdicates. Long Live - the Queen!</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">H</span>ABIT is the - strongest force in animate nature. Though I was shaken, the bent of an - urgent purpose remained, and I went forward to it with all the will at my - command. - </p> - <p> - The roar of a mob—that most horrible of sounds—smote my - hearing when Christopher and I emerged from the palace into the grounds. A - turn in a broad, curving walk through the trees brought the barred main - gate into view. It was a massive affair of wood, iron, and bolts, with a - small wicket, which was closed. - </p> - <p> - The king, all alone, wearing his crown and his cloak of state, was - awaiting us near the gate. He beckoned us to raise a ladder to the wall. - It was done. - </p> - <p> - “I will presently go up alone,” he said, calm but sad, “and will talk to - them. Men have gone for a heavy beam with which to ram the gate. The crowd - is densely packed here. That will make an attack on the gate impossible - for a time. It is likely that the soldiers will assemble and clear a - working space.” - </p> - <p> - “What can we do, Sire?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “Nothing now. The most that I can hope for is to hold the situation until - Lentala returns.” - </p> - <p> - “She has gone?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes. It was something about the white people. I couldn’t keep her. She - was confident we could hold the mob.” - </p> - <p> - “And your Majesty’s plan———?” - </p> - <p> - “I will show myself on the wall, and talk to them. At the proper moment I - will call you up. If I am stricken down, you and your brother retreat to - the palace. Defend it by any means and at any cost.” - </p> - <p> - His sorrow was too great to be companioned by fear, and it bore an - impressive dignity which his haggardness intensified. - </p> - <p> - “The mob is swelling rapidly,” he said with perfect quiet. “Unless a - diversion happens soon, many will be crushed against the gate and the - wall.” - </p> - <p> - Seeing that he stood inactive, I wondered whether he was so numbed as to - be incapacitated; but he cleared the doubt. - </p> - <p> - “If the beam-carriers force their way through the mass, many will be - maimed or killed. I am listening to the sounds.” - </p> - <p> - His coolness and clearness were remarkable. Christopher, unruffled, was - studying our surroundings. - </p> - <p> - “There come the beam-carriers,” said the king. “They are much excited, and - are not working smoothly together.... One fell then; he was stepped on and - hurt.... Now they are forging ahead. They are blindly ramming the mass - before them.... A woman is hurt.” - </p> - <p> - The king’s back was to the ladder and the wall. He was gazing into space - behind me, listening.”... Hark! Yes, that is he,—one of Gato’s - captains, a big, strong man, with a great voice. He has just arrived, - fighting his way through the crowd, and calling the soldiers, telling them - that I have murdered Gato. I have been kind to this man. On the chance of - Gato’s being out of the way, he sees his opportunity to step into his - leader’s shoes, carry out his plan, and usurp the throne.... The soldiers - are rallying. They fight ruthlessly for passage to the captain.... It is - bungling, cruel work.” - </p> - <p> - “Isn’t this the moment for you to appear, Sire?” We had to shout. - </p> - <p> - “No.” - </p> - <p> - “Let me go up.” - </p> - <p> - “No.” He was firm as well as calm. “Wait. The soldiers are unwittingly - preparing my moment. I have partisans as well as enemies there. If I - showed myself now, it would increase the frenzy. My friends and enemies - would at once begin a fight of factions. They could not, would not, hear - my voice. I will let the soldiers clear the way.” - </p> - <p> - We waited. - </p> - <p> - “Why don’t they scale the wall, Sire?” - </p> - <p> - “That will come later,—by the soldiers.” - </p> - <p> - He stood listening. That was trying to my mercurial nature, and almost a - mad desire to be over the wall in the thick of the mêlée was straining - within me. - </p> - <p> - The king produced a key, handed it to me, and composedly said: - </p> - <p> - “That opens the vault containing the cargo from the white people’s vessel, - including the arms. If I fall, you and your brother will know what to do - in defending the palace. But don’t be hasty. Be merciful if you can. This - outbreak will not last long. Violent earthquakes are likely to come again - at any moment, and the red fire and purple flame on the summit make me - think that there may be a volcanic eruption.” - </p> - <p> - “What will happen then?” - </p> - <p> - “The white people will seize the opportunity to escape from the valley,—if - they have not already started. That would mean the annihilation of the - entire party, for all the Senatras, including the army, would fall upon - them. Then my people would be satisfied, and order would be restored.” - </p> - <p> - My respect for his insight gave his words a crushing force. But what did - it mean that Lentala had told Captain Mason to bring the colony out? - </p> - <p> - I was moving toward the ladder under an impulse to be in action, but a - firm grasp fell on my arm. An apologetic look of warning reminded me that - Christopher never slept when a beloved one was in danger. - </p> - <p> - The king had noticed nothing, so deeply absorbed was he. A puzzle was - sharpening his senses and wrinkling his brow. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t understand that,” he said. - </p> - <p> - “What, Sire?” - </p> - <p> - “I wish I knew that Lentala was safe.” - </p> - <p> - “How could she be in danger, your Majesty?” - </p> - <p> - “Her white blood. It makes her too daring.” He was looking about, but his - attitude of concentrated listening returned. “There it is again!” he - exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - “What, your Majesty?” - </p> - <p> - He did not answer for a while; then, “Do you hear that?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes.” - </p> - <p> - “It is a new trouble. It started on the outskirts of the mob, and is - drawing nearer.... I can’t make it out.” - </p> - <p> - He was at the highest pitch of alertness, and was silent for a time. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t you hear the voice? That is no Senatra! His cries—don’t you - hear them, man?... The people are falling away from him in terror.... - Don’t you hear?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “They are crying, ‘A demon sent by the Black Face! He will take our - children, and the hungry Face will devour them!’ Don’t you hear that?” - </p> - <p> - “Something of it, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “The people are stricken with fear.... The women are fighting to escape. - Don’t you hear their screams?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire. Isn’t it time to mount the wall?” - </p> - <p> - “No. There is no foreseeing what this diversion will accomplish.” - </p> - <p> - There was a pause. - </p> - <p> - “He is advancing toward the gate, bellowing. Surely you hear him?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” My heart bounded, for I recognized the voice. - </p> - <p> - “He is crying in English, ‘They brought me out to eat me!’ He thinks we - are cannibals!” exclaimed the king, aghast. - </p> - <p> - “All the white people in the valley think so, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - He blazed with resentment, but his attention was again concentrated on the - proceedings without. - </p> - <p> - “He is calling me the chief of the cannibals,” resumed the king, “and is - fighting his way to the gate. He shouts that he must be the first to - enter, and that he will find me and strangle me.... He is a maniac. The - natives have a horror of that malady. The noise is subsiding. Don’t you - notice?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire; and now I will rescue the madman.” - </p> - <p> - I started for the ladder, but with a fierce grip the king withheld me. - </p> - <p> - “Would you be a fool and spoil everything?” he shouted in a sudden fury. - </p> - <p> - He was again composed and listening. “Wonderful!” he said. “Some of the - men, seeing how easily he clears the way, are hailing him as a leader. - They are not the soldiers.... The beam-bearers are advancing again, for - the madman is opening a passage. They carry the beam on their - shoulders.... They are gradually approaching the gate. Don’t you hear the - lunatic shouting?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “A considerable body of soldiers must be massed at the gate, awaiting the - bearers, but they are silent. They must be consulting what to do. They are - drawing their swords.” - </p> - <p> - “Sire!” I cried; “I won’t let that happen.” - </p> - <p> - “Wait,” he peremptorily commanded. “What is that?” He was listening more - breathlessly than before. “Strange!... Strange!... It——-” - </p> - <p> - “What is it?” I demanded in a rage of impatience. - </p> - <p> - “I don’t understand,” he resumed after a pause. “What can make it? There - is no earthquake. Did you feel one?” - </p> - <p> - “No, Sire. But I can’t———” - </p> - <p> - “Wait.” His clutch was on my arm. “Surely it can’t be the white people - from the valley!” - </p> - <p> - He reeled, and I seized the instant to spring upon the ladder. But I had - forgotten Christopher. He turned me round to face the king. - </p> - <p> - The stricken monarch was standing in a tenseness sprung from unnamable - fears. But he started as something new fell on his hearing. - </p> - <p> - “No,” he said, “not they. Something else. They are growing more quiet.... - It is a woman.... They are hailing her. She speaks. Don’t you hear her - voice?” - </p> - <p> - I could hear only a blur of noises. - </p> - <p> - “She is shaming the women.... And sending them away.... She is my - friend!... Do you know the voice?” He seized my arm and gazed into my - face. - </p> - <p> - “No, Sire.” - </p> - <p> - “She is fighting her way through the men.... She calls them fools, - cowards, ingrates.... They are dazed.... Only one woman on all this island - would have the courage to do that.” - </p> - <p> - “Sire, if you———” - </p> - <p> - “She is calling, pleading; she is saying that I am the kind, wise father - of them all.” - </p> - <p> - I turned to Christopher, and found a startling transformation. No longer - was he the dull, patient, waiting man. Every nerve was strung. - </p> - <p> - The king’s mouth was open; his eyes bulged; his clutch on my arm - tightened. - </p> - <p> - “Listen!” he commanded. “She is———” - </p> - <p> - “Sire, you must mount the wall. We must rescue her!” - </p> - <p> - “No, no! She is in little danger. May the gods give her strength!... Hush! - What is that?... They are going forward with the beam. She is standing - erect upon it.... Did you hear that?” - </p> - <p> - “What, Sire?” - </p> - <p> - “The soldiers are advancing with drawn swords.” - </p> - <p> - With a violent effort I broke the king’s grasp and sprang for the ladder, - but a giant hand fell on my shoulder and thrust me back. Above the - subsiding din rose a clear, unterrified call from without: - </p> - <p> - “Christopher! Christopher!” - </p> - <p> - He had been waiting for that. His answer rang keen and far, and he leaped - upon the ladder. - </p> - <p> - “Come when I call,” he said to us. - </p> - <p> - In a moment he was on the wall. In another he had deliberately sent the - ladder crashing to the ground. He studied the outer scene a moment, - crouched, and sprang into the maelstrom. - </p> - <p> - Five thousand throats opened at the spectacle. - </p> - <p> - “The gate, Sire! Give me the gate key!” I shouted. - </p> - <p> - “No! It would be death. The ladder!” - </p> - <p> - I knew that Christopher must have acted intelligently in throwing the - ladder. Had he done it merely to delay our ascent? When it was up, the - king interposed before my clutch at the rungs. - </p> - <p> - “Your king first,” he said. - </p> - <p> - “Mount then, Sire, in heaven’s name,” cried I, cursing inwardly at the - delay and my own impotence. - </p> - <p> - “Stay below until I summon you,” said his Majesty. - </p> - <p> - “Your appearance at this time may bring ruin to us all.” - </p> - <p> - Vaguely realizing that he was in the right, I gritted my teeth and waited. - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile, what was happening to Christopher and Lentala in that swirl of - blind mob passion beyond the wall, and what meant the groans of men and - the clang of metal? Christopher might save her life until the king should - create a diversion, but what could a man do for himself, with a hundred - swords at his breast? - </p> - <p> - As with dignity and deliberation King Rangan stepped upon the broad top of - the wall, the afternoon sun came forth in imperial splendor, and wrapped - him in its glory. He slowly faced the mob, raised his hand, and held it - firmly aloft. - </p> - <p> - He had been seen before assuming the impressive attitude, and a mighty - shout of mingled adoration and derision arose; it continued jarringly till - he raised his hand; then gradually it fell into the deep roar of breakers - after a storm, and thus faded to a silence broken only by the rumble of - distant hordes moving on the palace. The king swept the multitude with his - gaze, and spoke: - </p> - <p> - “Your king has grown old in service to his people, and now———” - </p> - <p> - “Gato! Gato! Give us Gato!” - </p> - <p> - “Every true subject of mine holds his life at the service of his king.” - </p> - <p> - “Give us Gato!” - </p> - <p> - The king stood in an iron silence. - </p> - <p> - “Show us Gato! We must see him! We must have him!” - </p> - <p> - Rangan raised both arms, and a hush fell. - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” his deep voice rang out. “You shall have Gato.” - </p> - <p> - Before I could recover from my surprise he turned to me, tossed me a key, - and in a manner that showed his perfect seriousness, ordered me to bring - Gato immediately. - </p> - <p> - “Is all well with my brother and Lentala, Sire?” I begged. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, but go at once!” - </p> - <p> - I dashed through the grounds and the palace to the dungeon door, which - upon reaching I flung open, and, unable to see within, said sharply: - </p> - <p> - “Bring Gato.” An echo as of emptiness buffeted my voice. “Be quick!” I - called. - </p> - <p> - A stir began to rise. “What is going on?” stole a voice. - </p> - <p> - “Bring Gato!” I shouted, with a fury in my voice that brought immediate - response. - </p> - <p> - The shadows took dim shapes, stooped and lifted something heavy, and - shuffled hastily toward the door. - </p> - <p> - “On my shoulder!” I rapped. - </p> - <p> - They laid him across. I slammed the door, locked it, staggered up the - steps, and arrived at the foot of the ladder. - </p> - <p> - The king was still addressing the mob, but his glance fell upon me in - answer to my call. - </p> - <p> - “Bring him up,” he commanded. Again turning to the crowd, he said: “Gato - is here. You shall see him; you shall have him. From him you will learn - what it means to betray your king.” - </p> - <p> - I was nearly at the top of the ladder, which sagged and cracked under the - double weight. The king made a detaining gesture toward me. - </p> - <p> - “Where is the ladder that I ordered?” he asked of those without. - </p> - <p> - “Here, Sire,” answered a liquid voice that ran sweetly over the wall and - into my heart. - </p> - <p> - “Place it, you men. Good. Now you shall have Gato.” - </p> - <p> - I clambered upon the top. - </p> - <p> - “Stand him up to face the people,” directed the king for all to hear. - </p> - <p> - I dragged the stiffening Gato to his feet, and, my breast against his back - and my arms locked round his body, turned him to the crowd. An inability - to credit the senses held them dumb at first. They looked from one to - another, horror in their eyes. His Majesty was calmly observing; then he - spoke in the awed silence, and his voice carried grief and pity. - </p> - <p> - “You have called for Gato. Behold him! The gods have long, swift arms for - those who strike at your king and you, O my people!” - </p> - <p> - A groan swept over the multitude; it passed, leaving a stillness - inconceivably impressive. - </p> - <p> - “You wished to see Gato; you have seen him. You demanded him; you shall - have him.” He gave me an order. - </p> - <p> - I raised Gato aloft, and started toward the gate, where the soldiers were - massed. In a loud voice the king cried: - </p> - <p> - “Unfaithful soldiers of the king, take your leader!” - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0253.jpg" alt="0253 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0253.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - I hurled Gato down among them. The heavy body struck something,—I - did not see what. Lentala was standing between the soldiers and the gate. - Neither Christopher nor Mr. Vancouver was anywhere visible. The people, - including the soldiers, were smitten deeply. - </p> - <p> - “Lentala!” rang the king’s voice. - </p> - <p> - A way to the foot of the ladder opened, and the king gave her a hand at - the top. Deep sadness was in her eyes, as she turned them for a moment - upon me. - </p> - <p> - The king, still holding her hand, reached for mine also. Standing thus - between us, he addressed the throng: - </p> - <p> - “My people, these two and the one who leaped from the wall have been tried - as by fire. They would die for their king if he but gave the word. You - have seen Gato. Behold these!” - </p> - <p> - He gazed on the cowed soldiers, and resumed: - </p> - <p> - “Soldiers of the king, did I but raise my hand, thousands of my loyal and - loving people would rend you where you stand. What should be done, my - children,” turning to the mob, “to honored and trusted sons who would - steal upon their father to strike him down with an assassin’s knife?” - </p> - <p> - A murmur which rapidly swelled, and a stir which began to seethe, warned - the king. - </p> - <p> - “Peace!” he cried. “A king can forgive. My soldiers were never bad at - heart; they were led away. Soldiers of the king, raise a hand in token of - your loyalty.” - </p> - <p> - Every one obeyed. Besides those at the gate were many throughout the - crowd. - </p> - <p> - “Your faithless leader gone, I appoint Lentala, my daughter, as commander - of the army.” - </p> - <p> - There was a craning of necks. The soldiers made no concealment of their - surprise, but in their gratitude for the king’s pardon shouted their - acceptance. - </p> - <p> - The king laid his hand on Lentala’s head. - </p> - <p> - “I now make this proclamation: I am old and broken, and the grief of this - day has brought me near the end. To this one, true and wise, brave and - devoted, so deeply loved and trusted by us all, I resign the ruler-ship of - my people.” He removed his crown and cloak, and placed them on her. “Obey - her as you love her, and peace and security will abide with you. This is - your ruler henceforth.” He raised both arms, and, after a pause, cried, - “Obeisance and greetings to Queen Lentala!” - </p> - <p> - A thrill ran through the gathering, and all sank to the ground. I was on - my knees at her feet, pressing her fingers to my lips and trying to speak. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph!” she scolded under her breath, giving my hand a little squeeze; - “don’t do that! How can I cry when you are so absurd!” Tears were falling - from her lashes. She turned, put her arms on the king’s shoulders, and - bowed her head, while mighty salvos of huzzas rent the skies. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XXII.—Wit and Dash to the Fore. - </h2> - <p> - <i>The New Sovereign Assumes Charge. Our Plans for Escape Go Awry. Victims - Taken to the Sacrificial Altar. A Bold Act Turns a Tragic Event.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T was some time - before Lentala could lift her face to her subjects. The king’s - renunciation—the finishing touch to the bold diplomacy with which he - had turned the crisis—had come to her as a bolt from heaven. I - wondered how it would affed her deeply laid plans for the rescue of the - colony; for, though it would give her extraordinary power, it would - abruptly check her irresponsible freedom of movement. Furthermore, it had - thrust upon her the necessity for swift rearrangement. Her hold on neither - the people nor the army had been firmly secured. I knew that her quick - understanding apprehended the new complications, and that she understood - the king’s wisdom fitted to the hour’s need. She gave me a frightened - look, and brightened under my smile. - </p> - <p> - With reassuring words the old man disengaged her hands, stepped back, and - left her to face the crowd. Thus she stood alone between us. It seemed a - cruelly trying moment in which to place a girl, but she made the fight to - face her duty. It was not long. Her voice, tremulous at first, stole out - clear and fine, reaching to the limits of the crowd; and as she proceeded - it came rounder and fuller, bearing the richness that I knew. - </p> - <p> - “Thank you, my people. With the deepest love I accept the crown, and I - pledge my life to wear it worthily. Only love and trust me as you have - loved and trusted the good father who has ruled us so long and so kindly, - and you will find me faithful. This great change comes upon us at a trying - time. Neither a king nor a queen can govern a people without their consent - and love and confidence. Give me time to show that I am worthy of all that - from you. I shall still have the advice of the good man who has placed - upon me the crown, and of his able advisers. But I shall trust your own - hearts and heads more than all the wisdom of the palace. I shall trust - your confidence in me more than my power over you. - </p> - <p> - “We all know that there is a special cause for the present unrest. But be - patient. The problem is not difficult, and you may depend upon me and my - advisers to solve it. Every impatient act of yours shows distrust of your - government, and if you rashly do anything to weaken the power of the - crown, you lay yourselves open to dangers. The white people in the valley - are only awaiting the moment when authority is destroyed and our people - are in disorder to come forth and work havoc among us. They stand together - as one, and are cool and not afraid. Those are the greatest powers that - human beings in community can have. If you had worked your will today, how - many of you would be alive tomorrow? Our beautiful island would have - flowed with blood—the blood of our people.” - </p> - <p> - She ceased for a moment, to observe the effect. It ran as a low, - frightened murmur. - </p> - <p> - “But nothing can go wrong if we ourselves keep cool and hold together and - trust to the crown. The army will camp tonight in the palace walls, and - every care will be taken to keep order in the kingdom. All will be well if - you yourselves are calm. Therefore I command you one and all to go at once - to your homes, and remain there in quiet and peace. No matter though - storms may come, or the earth tremble, or the fires under the ground break - forth, be not afraid; trust your queen and your army, for we have no fear. - Be as brave and cheerful as we. All your problems will be solved, all your - reasonable wishes will be granted, but that must be done by your queen.” - She raised her arms in the manner of Rangan, and impressively added: “Go - now, with my love and my blessing.” - </p> - <p> - Another wave of affectionate loyalty swept over the multitude; it began to - disintegrate, and to pacify and turn back belated incomers; but a shrill - cry rose: - </p> - <p> - “Sacrifice! Give us a sacrifice!” - </p> - <p> - It had an instant effect. The moving crowd halted, and the cry ran to many - throats, “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” The queen turned to old Rangan, and he - almost imperceptibly nodded. Lentala hesitated as she faced the mob again, - but refrained from looking at me. She raised her hand. - </p> - <p> - “Be patient!” she cried. - </p> - <p> - “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” - </p> - <p> - “You shall have———” - </p> - <p> - The rest was drowned in a threatening shout. Lentala stood dazed, and in - the ensuing buzzing and movement lost any opportunity she might have - desired for further speech. So she stood as the still noisy crowd - straggled off. Unrest had been rekindled, but to what extent I could not - guess. The last loiterers often stopped to gaze at the little group on the - wall, and the army stood in soldierly ranks before the gate. - </p> - <p> - “The army will salute the queen,” commanded Lentala. - </p> - <p> - It was finely given with the sword, and the men heartily responded to the - oath that she gave them as soldiers of the queen. With a gesture to us - that we follow, she tripped down the ladder, opened the gate, and admitted - the army to the grounds. Next, after sending to liberate the soldiers in - the dungeon, she had the palace astir with an order to prepare for the - army a feast and accommodations for the night. - </p> - <p> - Rangan had been a silent observer of her whirlwind movements. I was not - wholly satisfied with what I saw in his face, but with whatever else that - I saw there was admiration. Obviously she was permitting him to remain - until he should be satisfied that she was capable of assuming command of - the army. As matters were quieting she asked him to go to his wife, and he - tottered away, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. - </p> - <p> - She ordered the army to break ranks. The men showed their relief with - childish inconsequence, and scattered at will. That left us alone. The - bright look that she turned to me was a sudden change from royal sternness - to Beela’s challenge. She was my little work-mate of the valley. - </p> - <p> - Something had risen between us; consciousness of it showed in her glance, - and I was sore without that. To have tricked me so unnecessarily, as to - Beela seemed wanton and cruel. Unreasonable as it may appear, I had been - shocked so deeply that time for recovery would be required. I had seen the - craftiness with the gentleness of the native blood in old Rangan. I had - seen his hatred of the white man, and the merciless savagery that his show - of benevolence masked. It had made me distrustful of the native blood, - which composed half of Lentala. To the sweet, childish Beela whom I loved - had been added something that——— - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” - </p> - <p> - I started, but could not bring a smile into the look that I gave her, even - though the call had been Beela’s. - </p> - <p> - “Don’t you want to hear what has happened to me?” she asked, ignoring my - stolidity. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - She stiffened slightly under that address, and subtly put Beela aside for - the queen. With a hint of coldness she said: - </p> - <p> - “At the beginning of the outbreak I foresaw that Mr. Vancouver’s guard - would decamp; so I went to look after him; but he had already gone after - being left alone. I followed him. That brought me to the crowd. When I - found myself in danger there, I called Christopher. His daring leap from - the wall and the fury with which he laid about him confused the crowd. He - was helped by some loyal subjects whom his conduct inspired. I don’t know - how many skulls he cracked, but no one was killed. I pointed out the men - for him to silence. No one could resist him. When he called for the king - to ascend, he took Mr. Vancouver in charge and slipped away.” - </p> - <p> - I nodded, but she must have seen my gratitude for her taking such risks on - Mr. Vancouver’s account. Doubtless that was what made her eyes flash, but - at the moment I did not know why. I reflected only that two matters of - overshadowing importance must be attended to at once, and that possibly - her plans had been disarranged. - </p> - <p> - “What has become of Christopher and Mr. Vancouver, your Majesty?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “I told Christopher to take Mr. Vancouver to the hut, where Mr. Rawley was - waiting,” she answered, “and then go to meet the colony.” - </p> - <p> - “Thank you. What is to be done with the colony, and what am I to do?” - </p> - <p> - She raised her eyes, and there was no trace of Beela in them. “I had asked - Captain Mason,” she answered, “to have each member of the colony bring all - the food possible, and had told him that you and Christopher would meet - him in the first darkness following the earthquake, at a certain pass just - to the west of the clearing where the sacrificial altar is, and that as - the natives would be demoralized by the earthquake, you could lead them - without much risk past the settlement to your vessel, which might be - sailed away at once.” - </p> - <p> - My wonder and gratitude at the intelligence of her plan must have shown in - my face, but her tone had no warmth when she added: - </p> - <p> - “Fortunately, matters have turned out so that I can take the army out of - your way. The real danger lay there.” - </p> - <p> - That was why she had admitted the soldiers to the palace grounds and - locked the gate. Could any other have given so brilliant a turn to a - threatening situation? Yet I only looked at her in silence, and her face - had not a trace of the old friendliness. Perhaps it was my own fault. - There rang in my ears the demand for a sacrifice; I recalled old Rangan’s - nod; I remembered the defenseless position of Rawley and Mr. Vancouver; - and the brown blood in the Senatra queen unaccountably looked different - from the brown blood in Beela. - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty,” I said, “I will go now and see that all is well with Mr. - Vancouver; then I will go and assure a clear opening for the colony, and - arrange for Mr. Vancouver and Rawley to join us as we move down the - eastern side of the settlement to the harbor.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” she agreed. I was turning away, but she stopped me. “You will - reflect,” she said, “that many people in the island are ignorant of what - has taken place here today. I will send out runners, but still the entire - island can’t be covered. All know that a white man has been held for - sacrifice to the Black Face in order to stop the earthquakes and avert an - eruption. If the earthquake returns, even the people who saw me crowned - may become uncontrollable. Should that happen, I am not sufficiently sure - of the army to trust it in stopping a sacrifice. There is just one thing - to do.” - </p> - <p> - She ceased, and regarded me waitingly. - </p> - <p> - “What is it, your Majesty?” - </p> - <p> - She hardened still more. “Let’s consider the situation calmly. If some - very strong diversion should arise tonight, the colony could pass through - to the vessel without risk. On the other hand, the people are alarmed and - restless; they won’t sleep soundly; many may be abroad in every direction. - If some of them should see the colony escaping, a cry might be raised that - would ring from one end of the island to the other. That would mean the - instant gathering of a mob which no power could resist, and the colony - would be annihilated.” - </p> - <p> - “I see, your Majesty. What diversion would prevent it?” - </p> - <p> - “The sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley.” She spoke in a cold, - business-like tone. - </p> - <p> - My horror must have been evident. “Your Majesty,” I said with warmth, - “before that shall be submitted to, every member of our colony will die - fighting.” - </p> - <p> - She shrugged. “That is your affair. I should hate to see any of <i>my</i> - people killed in such a clash. It is interesting to see how jealous you - are of Mr. <i>Vancouver’s</i> safety, when he had planned to destroy the - colony.” - </p> - <p> - I saw the drift of her sneer, and was angry and silent. - </p> - <p> - “He has a very charming daughter,” she went on. - </p> - <p> - The humiliation that she was thrusting upon me was unbearable, but I could - be patient, since I carried the lives of the colony in my hands; yet it - was not pleasant to see this side of Lentala’s nature. The worst of it was - that there was no possible argument to bring against hers. Mr. Vancouver - richly deserved such a fate, and so did Rawley; their meeting it would - certainly assure our escape to the <i>Hope</i>. But Lentala could see in - my attitude nothing but consideration for Annabel, and she misconstrued - that. It was all that I could do to restrain myself. - </p> - <p> - “I think we understand each other,” she remarked after a pause. - </p> - <p> - “Do you mean,” I burst out in a passion, “that you are going to order the - sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley?” - </p> - <p> - She looked at me steadily. Afterward I recalled the softening, the - suffering, the dumb pleading in her face, but I did not see it at the - time. - </p> - <p> - “It doesn’t appear,” she quietly said, “that I am called on to tell you - any more of my plans at present. You are fully informed as to what you may - do in trying to get the colony to the ship tonight.” Her manner was - entirely that of a queen to her subject. “I think you understand to some - extent what I have done to spare the lives of your people and help them - leave the island. I will add that some trusted natives will try to make - your passage to the ship safe. But it is one thing to make plans and - another to carry them out in the face of a panic. There is no foreseeing - what may happen before morning. My scouts will keep me informed every few - minutes.” - </p> - <p> - There came an awkward pause. Her head was down; she stood in a waiting - attitude. It seemed to me that all the world I loved had suddenly been - swept away. Behind the woman confronting me I knew that my dear Beela - stood sweet and laughing, all sunshine and dear womanliness. Only a fool - would let her go. - </p> - <p> - “Beela!” I said. - </p> - <p> - She started, and raised sorrowing eyes to mine. - </p> - <p> - “Aren’t you going with us on the <i>Hope?</i>” - </p> - <p> - “My duty is here now, and I can think of nothing but that.” - </p> - <p> - “Does your unexpected elevation to a queenhood blot out all the past?” I - asked. - </p> - <p> - She bit her lip. “I hadn’t expected that from you,” she said in sadness. - </p> - <p> - “Then, is it Annabel?” I insisted. - </p> - <p> - She did not answer at once. “You will see her again this evening,” she - gently said. - </p> - <p> - “Of course, but———” I saw it was useless, and wondered - if she was dismissing me. “Surely I shall see you also,” I said. - </p> - <p> - She smiled, but it was not the smile of Beela; it was that of a woman who - knows care. - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps,” she returned; “yes, of course,—I think. Meanwhile, - good-by,” and held out her hand. - </p> - <p> - I took it, and would not at first let her withdraw it; but with a little - sigh, which she tried to conceal, she turned away and walked slowly to the - palace. - </p> - <p> - Heavy-hearted, but determined to see Lentala before the colony sailed,—if - it should ever have that good fortune,—I went about my duty. - </p> - <p> - The first task was to see that Mr. Vancouver was safe, for many - contingencies might arise to overwhelm Christopher. I went to the hut - where Beela had left Rawley, but it was vacant. Christopher must have - taken the two men to a spot near the pass, to meet the outcoming colony. - On going to the summit of the valley wall I faced the rising moon. When I - had come within a few hundred yards of the spot where the colony would - emerge,—it was the spot where Rawley had assaulted me,—I heard - the low moaning of a man, followed by his querulous, childish talk. At - first I marveled that Christopher should have left his charges in so - exposed a place, as it was immediately near the main trail to the - sacrificial stone. - </p> - <p> - “Will she come soon?” Mr. Vancouver plaintively asked. - </p> - <p> - “Very soon. Be patient,” kindly answered Rawley. - </p> - <p> - The men were invisible in the gloom, but it was imprudent for them to be - speaking aloud. Yet I dared not show myself, lest Mr. Vancouver be thrown - into noisy mania. Should the natives be seeking him, it would be easy to - trail him to this spot; and the colony might be discovered through his - presence. Again Mr. Vancouver broke the silence. - </p> - <p> - “She doesn’t suspect me, does she?” - </p> - <p> - “She is and always will be your loyal daughter.” - </p> - <p> - “I know.” His voice was not a madman’s. “Raise my head a little. It is - bursting. Rawley, I’m damned. The visions I’ve had! In one of them two men - came, looking like natives, but speaking English. One of them spoke of my - treachery and my death. I tried to kill him. The other prevented me, and - then I saw that they were Tudor and Christopher. And today the one looking - like Christopher rescued me from a hell of madmen. But how could I stay in - that cabin when Annabel was coming?” - </p> - <p> - A rumbling and a quivering of the earth hurried me on. I ran to the edge - of the valley wall. This brought me nearly opposite the Black Face. I had - noticed a faint, weird light on the trees; now I saw the origin of it,—a - purple flame was issuing from an orifice below the Face. It waved upward - like an inverted streamer, wreathing the Face and lending to it a ghastly - lifelikeness. - </p> - <p> - From below me rose faint cries of terror, quickly stilled, and soon the - vanguard of the colony arrived from the valley. The earth-trembling had - ceased; the flame was subsiding. - </p> - <p> - There was some trouble at first in making myself known. Annabel came up - with Captain Mason and Christopher, and delayed my disclosure of the plan - for escape. - </p> - <p> - “Where is my father?” she immediately asked. - </p> - <p> - I informed her, and learned that Christopher had told her all that he - knew. - </p> - <p> - “Take me to him,” she begged. - </p> - <p> - I replied that it would be safer to bring him to her. Directing - Christopher to fetch a stretcher from which a woman had just been lifted, - I left with him as the slender procession crept to the summit. Deep - anxiety showed under Christopher’s calm exterior. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Vancouver and Rawley were gone! A hasty search in the vicinity failed - to discover them. We worked down to the trail leading to the clearing - where the sacrifices were made. There we found a stream of silent, - soft-footed natives hurrying toward the clearing. No speech was needed - between Christopher and me to explain the situation. Christopher’s wise - plan had gone tragically awry. It had not been difficult for the dognosed - natives to trail Christopher to the hut, and then Rawley and Mr. Vancouver - to the spot where I had found them. - </p> - <p> - I was thrown into a momentary confusion. Lentala alone had known whither - Christopher was to take Mr. Vancouver, and she had argued for his - sacrifice as the surest means to save the colony! The thought was - sickening. But it was inconceivable that <i>Beela</i> should have the - heart for such a course,—sweet, gentle Beela! And had not Lentala - nearly forfeited her life to the mob in trying to rescue Mr. Vancouver? - </p> - <p> - Christopher had slipped from my mind; but I observed him now, and he was - listening far. I waited, knowing that by this time the two victims were - already at the altar, and that the earthquake a few minutes ago had lent a - fierce impetus to the proceedings. I could mentally see the main - settlement and its outlying regions swarming as the whispered news flew - from mouth to mouth that two white victims for the sacrifice had been - found. - </p> - <p> - Christopher soon turned to me. - </p> - <p> - “They’ll have to get wood, sir,” he said. - </p> - <p> - “Yes. That will take time, but there are many men.” - </p> - <p> - Lentala had said that her scouts would report often; but there was a - chance that they would either conceal the present movement from her or - give her the news too late. Even should she be starting at that moment, it - would not be possible for her to arrive in time to stop the sacrifice. Yet - she should be informed. If she refused to come, then I should know—— - </p> - <p> - “Christopher,” I said, “go and tell the queen.” I said nothing of a - desperate plan that I had formed. - </p> - <p> - Christopher looked at me strangely. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “And you can - save ‘em.” - </p> - <p> - He gave me a look of dog-like love, and vanished. - </p> - <p> - I returned to Captain Mason, avoiding Annabel, and rapidly placed the - entire situation before him. His jaws set hard in the moonlight. I could - imagine his thoughts, which no doubt agreed with Lentala’s; and I realized - the terrible risk to the colony when the fanatics should find themselves - balked in the sacrifice and should swarm in a search which the colony - could not escape—unless my plan should prove successful to the last - detail or the queen should bring up the army in time to prevent a battle. - And there was mighty Christopher, the man of courage, resourcefulness, and - prompt action. I hurled these arguments at Captain Mason, and pointed out - Annabel, standing alone and suffering as she awaited her father. - </p> - <p> - “You and Hobart and I will make the dash,” I urged. “It is the only - chance, and we must hurry. Dr. Preston can be taken into the secret, and - can quietly prepare the men to fight if necessary. They are all armed; the - savages are not.” - </p> - <p> - He responded by calling Dr. Preston and charging him as I had suggested, - particularly warning him not to alarm the colony. Then he went to Annabel - and gave her some quieting explanation. I borrowed a capable knife from a - sailor, and we set out. - </p> - <p> - We bore down to the trail, and found it still swarming with a scurrying - horde, all proceeding with a stealthy swiftness. Then I struck out on a - straight course through the tangled forest, leading Captain Mason and - Hobart a breathless pace. On arriving at the edge of the clearing and - concealing ourselves, we found hundreds of savages already assembled and - more pouring in. - </p> - <p> - “There they are.” I said, pointing to a considerable open space between - the sacrificial stone and a packed mass of men formed in a semi-circle, - those in front sitting. Midway between the stone and the natives were the - two doomed men, dim in the moonlight. The one lying on the ground was - doubtless Mr. Vancouver, perhaps unconscious. Rawley, though his hands - were tied behind him, sat erect, calmly facing his tormentors. - </p> - <p> - As Captain Mason and Hobart had no disguise, I alone must bring the two - men out. My companions would take them to the colony; I would remain to - face the issue and divert the pursuit. Captain Mason looked very grave, - but Hobart was all eagerness; I could guess that his sore spirit yearned - to heal itself by sharing my risk. A longing for Christopher,—for - his far-seeing eye, his steady nerve, his quick hand,—came over me. - </p> - <p> - “I remember,” I explained in showing why I should not make the dash at - once, “that a ring was fastened in the rock about where Mr. Vancouver and - Rawley are sitting. They must be chained to it. I must wait until they are - released.” - </p> - <p> - We knew that the delay would mean an augmentation of the crowd and the - danger. - </p> - <p> - Of course the theft of the wood had been discovered. The hut sheltering it - had disappeared; its poles and dryer thatch were already piled on the - altar. The sacrifice was only delayed, for two-score natives were coming - in with dry wood for which they had foraged. In that pursuit one came near - us, and I made ready, but in his eagerness he passed on, unseeing. The - priest at the altar received the wood, examined it, cast out the useless, - and carefully stacked the pyre, which steadily grew. - </p> - <p> - Silence rested on the crowd. Here was religion in its naked birth,—the - elemental man using torture and murder for prayer, with greater reverence - and faith than I have seen in some modern fashions of placation or appeal. - Fronting them across the dim chasm of the valley was the embodied Force - whose wrath must be appeased. Could the white blood in Lentala permit this - form of worship? - </p> - <p> - We could see through the trees the indefinite black mass of the Face. At - small intervals came low subterranean growls and slight tremors of the - earth. It was as though the underground gods were gathering their - strength. - </p> - <p> - Finally the priest’s work was done. He slowly went to the chained men, - stood over them, and raised his hand. Four men came forward, followed by - four others, who took positions back of him. Twenty more came and formed a - cordon about the altar. - </p> - <p> - The first four knelt, and the chains fell clanking. Rawley rose without - assistance. Being speechless with a gag, he implored in dumb show for Mr. - Vancouver, offering himself alone. There was a low colloquy between the - priests and the four, at the end of which his gesture commanded that Mr. - Vancouver also be taken to the stone. As two men stooped to lift him and - two others took each an arm of Rawley, the priest began a solemn chant in - a minor key, and started the slow march to the pyre, Mr. Vancouver on the - shoulders of two men, Rawley walking firm and erect. - </p> - <p> - At the altar the priest ceased his chant, which was taken up by the crowd; - but, though there were many hundreds of voices, they were so soft and in - such fine unison that the volume was hardly greater than that of a dozen - men. As it proceeded, the priest picked up a vessel containing smothered - coals, blew them into life, and ignited the thatch at the four corners. - Evidently the victims were to be further tied, and tossed aloft when the - fire was hot. - </p> - <p> - As the priest stepped back to see the blaze rise, I bounded into the open. - </p> - <p> - I remember that the fire was hot in my face as I reached Rawley and nipped - his thongs, and that the astonishment on the priest’s face was comical. - Also, I was conscious of a numbness in my right hand. I had used my fist - perhaps more vigorously than necessary. Two or three natives were prone - when I shouldered Mr. Vancouver and called to Rawley, and the darkness of - the forest soon concealed us. - </p> - <p> - A roar delayed by astonishment rose behind us; a thousand devils had - opened throat and were leaping to the pursuit. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XXIII.—The Great Catastrophe. - </h2> - <p> - <i>A Powerless Ruler Confronts a Mutiny. Death of the Sovereign Demanded. - The Army Under My Command. Christopher’s Sacrifice. The Final Cataclysm.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>FTER a hard run, I - laid Mr. Vancouver across Hobart’s shoulder. There was no need to urge all - speed to the colony. I turned back to meet the pursuers, and ran swiftly - until I encountered the foremost. Before they had seen me I dropped to the - ground and was diligently examining it when they came up and halted, - others running behind. - </p> - <p> - “Which way?” inquired the first. - </p> - <p> - “Stand back!” I said. “I have the trail.” - </p> - <p> - They obeyed, but my knife was ready for a contingency. I pretended to lose - the signs, but found them again, followed a few paces, and announced that - the fugitives had turned there and headed for the trail. “That will bring - them into a trap,” I added, “for people are still coming up the trail to - the clearing. I will follow the runaways and give the alarm. You men - spread up and down here, for they may double back. When others come from - the clearing, turn them all back, for they will spoil the trail and I - never can find it again. Then you too go back if you don’t hear from me - very soon. Send a man at once to the priest, and tell him to hold the - people there, and to order up more wood and prepare for the sacrifice. I - am a Suminali man and can trail like a dog.” - </p> - <p> - I was turning away, but paused, to make sure of them. “Have you heard the - news from the palace?” I inquired. - </p> - <p> - “No.” - </p> - <p> - “The king has given the crown to Lentala, and the command of the army - also.” - </p> - <p> - It surprised them. “Where’s Gato?” asked one. - </p> - <p> - “He disobeyed the king, and is dead,” I answered. “Tell the news to the - priest. Spread it among the crowd.” It was on my tongue to add that the - queen would soon appear with the army and disperse the crowd, but there - were dangers in it, and I held my peace. Sufficient for the present that I - had stopped the pursuit. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0275.jpg" alt="0275 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0275.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - On arriving at the road to the clearing I found a commotion, and learned - that the army was rapidly approaching. The people did not know how to take - that news,—whether it meant a forwarding or a breaking up of the - sacrifice. - </p> - <p> - There came a scrambling of stragglers to escape the army, which advanced - on the trot, Christopher running in front. He saw me, wheeled, and raised - his hand. I knew that his glance at my face had told him the whole story. - My heart swelled to see Lentala, borne aloft in an uncanopied crimson - velvet palanquin emblazoned with the royal insignia. Her dress was the one - she had worn at the feast, with the addition of the crown. In her hand she - carried a naked sword, fine and lean. - </p> - <p> - “Make way for the queen!” at intervals shouted a man running ahead of the - queen and behind Christopher. - </p> - <p> - On seeing Christopher’s signal she raised her sword, and the palanquin - halted. She was anxiously watching the glow from the altar fire, but her - glance discovered me, and a surprised joy sprang to her face. - </p> - <p> - “Am I too late?” she called in English. - </p> - <p> - “No, your Majesty. All is well.” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” she chokingly cried, throwing her sword away and seizing both - my hands. - </p> - <p> - It was a public scandal. The soldiers stared. - </p> - <p> - I gave her a warning look, and said, “Your Majesty!” - </p> - <p> - She drew away with freezing dignity. A soldier picked up her sword, wiped - it as he would a baby’s face, knelt, and handed it to her. She slammed it - angrily into its scabbard, gave me a crushing glance, and opened her lips - to speak, but I drove the words back by suddenly dropping in an obeisance. - I would have given a good deal to see her face in the long pause before - she bade me rise. My face was grave as I met her angry, suspicious gaze. - </p> - <p> - “This is no time nor place to make fun of me,” she cuttingly said. - </p> - <p> - “I beg your Majesty’s pardon.” - </p> - <p> - She was studying me. “You have seen Annabel, I suppose?” she inquired. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “And talked with her?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “You—were glad—to see each other?” - </p> - <p> - “Very, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “She is as lovely as ever?” - </p> - <p> - “Quite, your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - She examined the splendid jewel in the head of her sword-hilt, looked up - with a composed face, and demanded that I tell her what had happened. I - did so, and she beamed, forgetting Annabel. - </p> - <p> - “I’ll take the army to the clearing,” she said, “put a stop to the - nonsense, and send the people home.” - </p> - <p> - She said it confidently, either ignoring the danger or ignorant of it. - Evidently her purpose was the protection of the colony, but I surmised - that some power greater than hers would be required. Christopher had been - standing near, a silent listener. - </p> - <p> - Her imposing arrival had a strong effect on the restless mob as in the - cross-light of the moon and the altar fire she stood up in the palanquin - and raised her sword for attention. She told them of her crowning, made a - plea for their confidence, and commanded them to go home. But she said - nothing about a sacrifice. - </p> - <p> - No sign of obedience appearing in the crowd, she gave me a glance that - sought guidance. I knew that the moment was critical and the risk great, - but it seemed the only recourse. I glanced at the army. She understood, - hesitated a moment, and ordered the soldiers to clear the place. A slight - movement and a buzz ran through the ranks, but there was no forward - movement. Then rang a cry, instantly taken up till it became a roar: - </p> - <p> - “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” - </p> - <p> - Lentala sprang to the ground, waved the palanquin-bearers away, and with a - free sword confronted the soldiers, her head high, her eyes flashing. I - knew she realized that there was but one way out of the desperate dilemma, - and that she was casting about to find it without a confession of failure. - Clearly she knew that, although old Rangan had deeply planted a sense of - loyalty in the soldiers, she was hampered both by a want of experience in - handling them and by the pressure of the mob behind her, which was - swelling its demand for a sacrifice to a mutinous outbreak that the - soldiers would have no spirit to meet, they being in sympathy with the - movement. It became necessary for me to act. - </p> - <p> - I sprang forward and prostrated myself before her. - </p> - <p> - “Rise,” she said, extending her sword over me. - </p> - <p> - When I had come to my feet she gave me her sword, and said, her voice - ringing clear and far: - </p> - <p> - “I must go among my people and quiet them. You were King Rangan’s friend; - you are the man who threw Gato from the wall,—Gato, who had been - unfaithful to his sovereign. I give you command of my army while I go - among my people.” - </p> - <p> - I took her sword and promptly faced the bewildered ranks as Lentala - drifted away; but not until I had seen that Christopher was observing; he - would understand that I had turned her over to his protection. - </p> - <p> - It was fortunate that on the beach and during the march to the valley I - had closely observed Gato’s method of handling his men. They were crude - soldiers and their drill was childish, but my training knew the value of - discipline to any extent, and I remembered Gato’s tactics. More important - than any evolutions that they knew was the spirit of the one commanding - them. - </p> - <p> - I rapped out an order for company formation, as the men were in loose - order. As I had expected, some of them stared at me and the others at the - rapidly growing mob spirit before them. - </p> - <p> - It should be explained that Gato’s organization was wholly different from - that of civilized nations. While the men composing the army came nearly to - half the number of a modern regiment, and while some rude idea of - subsidiary groupings had been observed, the absence of actual experience - in warfare had made the organization hardly more than a stolid, pompous - mob, and the under-officers little besides repeaters and enforcers of the - general orders. All officers were merely the “general’s” staff. - </p> - <p> - I did the best I could with such a machine. Upon repeating my order in a - still sharper tone, and seeing only an uneasy, tentative pretense of - obedience, I sprang toward the officer whom I may call the - lieutenant-colonel, stung his cheek with the flat of my rapier, and sent - him spinning down the ranks. Another officer instantly found himself - treated to a similar slap, and another, as I continued to shout the order. - The fourth, a sullen brute, took the blow without wincing, and in both - hands began to raise his sword to cleave me. He never knew what it was - that sent his blade clattering to the ground; and his attention at once - became engaged in a spouting rip in his arm. That brought the staring - regiment to its senses; the under-officers all sprang to their duty. - </p> - <p> - Then, charging up and down the front rank while I raked the stomachs of - the soldiers with my sword, I ordered platoon formation. Under other - circumstances it would have been amusing to see the officers scrambling - for minor commands not already occupied. Evidently there had never before - been such sprightly movement required of them; my rapier continually - flashed, and men winced when it came near. - </p> - <p> - Having thus secured control, I was in a dilemma. - </p> - <p> - My purpose was to face them about, so that they should not see the - turbulence rapidly increasing in the mob; but that would bring them facing - the altar fire, which was burning emptily, reminding them that the people - had been cheated. But there was no choice; I must be where I could face - the storm breaking over Lentala and Christopher. There was no time for - marching to secure a back-presentation to the mob; I must risk the - awkwardness of a reverse formation. - </p> - <p> - The command to about-face was promptly obeyed, and the soldiers appeared - to be surprised on finding me again before them. It was necessary to keep - them absorbed in maneuvers, which, of the simplest kind, such as they - could understand, I immediately put in force. - </p> - <p> - This did not distract my attention from the turbulence centering about - Lentala. I saw the densely packed and highly excited mob crowding her; I - heard the shouts for a sacrifice, the calls to the army to join the - rebellion; I heard her clear, steady voice; I saw now and then glimpses of - Christopher standing as a rock behind her; and all the time my sword was - swinging and my orders were keeping the army at work. It would be but a - matter of time when I might turn it to the service of the queen, but the - danger was pressing alarmingly. - </p> - <p> - Of a sudden there was a commotion about Lentala. Before I could turn over - the command to the officer next in rank and go to Lentala’s rescue, - Christopher, bearing her on his shoulder, broke through the mob, skirted - my left flank on the run, and bounded toward the altar, the flames of - which had sunk almost to a mass of glowing coals, exceedingly hot. Without - attempting to comprehend his movement, but seeing that he had brought the - queen behind the army for some purpose, I instantly opened the order of my - men, commanded swords drawn, and cried: - </p> - <p> - “The queen’s army to her defense!” - </p> - <p> - The command was taken up by every subordinate officer. Again the men found - me facing them as the mob came howling at my back; but the double line - stood firm as an interposing wall before the queen. Then I knew that I had - them in hand, but I dared not risk a charge, and I must see what - Christopher was doing. The tumbling mob halted before the drawn swords. - </p> - <p> - When Christopher reached the altar he stopped and turned, he and his - burden making a striking silhouette against the red heap of coals. She - appeared unconscious, for she hung limp over his shoulder, her arms - pendent. The halting of the mob and Christopher’s pause aided his - unexpected dash in sending a hush on the crowd. In the midst of it rose - Christopher’s voice for all to hear: - </p> - <p> - “We’ll sacrifice the queen! The queen!” With that he flung her to the - ground and began savagely to tear her outer skirt into strips, with the - obvious purpose of binding her. - </p> - <p> - The scene was clear to the mob through the open ranks of my men. I was no - less appalled than were the savages at the audacity of the move and - Christopher’s ferocious method of procedure. And I made no attempt to keep - the soldiers from turning their heads to see. My task was instantly to - find my cue in the drama that Christopher was playing. It came before I - was ready. As Christopher, after the binding, which required but a moment, - was carrying Lentala up to the pyre, she began to struggle, and called: - </p> - <p> - “My soldiers, save me!” - </p> - <p> - I bounded through the ranks as I gave the command to about-face and - forward double-quick. But I outran the soldiers, struck Christopher down - with my sword, and caught Lentala as she was falling. The shortest instant - was needed to cut her bonds, but that was sufficient for me to lose - control of the situation. Christopher’s splendid ruse had succeeded in - saving the queen from the mob, and I knew that nothing concerning himself - mattered beyond that. Indeed, I have always thought that he deliberately - chose the time to give his life for her sake. - </p> - <p> - As the old king had said, the natives were children, and the sudden - revulsion of feeling in favor of the queen was more even than the - soldiers, who had a little discipline, could calmly bear. A wave of - passionate devotion swept over them. It was only a mob that I faced with - my sword as I stood before Lentala. Christopher was lying face downward on - the ground as he had fallen. I knew he was unhurt and free to make a fight - for his life. None could have realized more clearly than he that the mob - would take vengeance on him, but none could have better understood that - his resistance might imperil the queen. He had simply made the bold play - for her sake, had won, and then lain down to die. - </p> - <p> - I could not bear that, nor could Lentala, who comprehended. Without - hesitation she left me and bent over him, to receive the blow, and was - careful that he should not know her purpose. I did what I could, shouting, - commanding the soldiers to form, waving my sword menacingly. It had a - staying effect, and I cannot now say with certainty that it would have - failed. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly, with a sickening sensation, I felt the earth tremble beneath my - feet. A strange sense of dizziness, of reeling, made my movements waver. - The soldiers also were staggering, and their purpose to rend Christopher - appeared to be relaxing; but nothing could withstand the pressure of the - mob behind them. I had barely time to snatch up Lentala and cut a way back - to the altar before Christopher, whose glance found Lentala and me safe, - began to rise as the lurching horde hurled itself upon him. - </p> - <p> - In a staggering run, nearly tripped at every step, I bore her to the edge - of the clearing, on the side toward the colony, and hid us both in the - shadows. When I had picked her up she buried her face in my shoulder and - clung to me with both arms round my neck. - </p> - <p> - “What is it?” she asked. - </p> - <p> - “A volcanic eruption.” - </p> - <p> - “Where’s Christopher?” - </p> - <p> - I put my hand on her lips, and she trembled as she clung closer. She was - silent as the earthquake increased in violence, and presently asked: - </p> - <p> - “Do you see it, Choseph?” - </p> - <p> - I had been observing it since we were seated. “Yes. It is at the river - passage. The mountain appears to be blown out there, and———” - </p> - <p> - “Stop!” she cried, holding me closer. - </p> - <p> - Undoubtedly the eruption had occurred at the boiling cauldron that we had - passed under the mountain. Its first violence was already spent, and the - earthquake was subsiding; but I reflected that the water from the valley - stream and from the crimson fall must be pouring into the hot interior, - and that the end was not yet. - </p> - <p> - The ejecta of the outburst were already falling about us from the great - height to which the explosion had thrown them. Hot stones of all sizes - rained. Had not the forest been damp, it would have broken into flame at a - thousand places. - </p> - <p> - The writhing savages in the clearing were but dimly visible. No - definiteness came out of the mass still crowded and heaped where we had - left Christopher. All sufficiently near for me to see sat staring at the - Face, which was now clearly taking its vengeance; all were moaning and - howling, and prostrated with fear. - </p> - <p> - A deep-red flame rose with a rushing noise from the seat of the eruption - as renewed rumblings and roarings came from the quivering ground. The - rising flame plunged into a rapidly spreading canopy of smoke and ashes - from the initial explosion. The hither edge of the vast cloud was wan in - the moonlight, but the under surface reflected the crimson of the flame. - All things adopted that dreadful hue. The green foliage took it on as the - muddy purple of decay; the brown faces of the natives looked as if beaten - to a pulp. - </p> - <p> - There came another light, and it woke a more insidious terror. Striating - the crimson column and issuing snakily from many independent orifices - distributed over a wide area of the valley rim, was the purple flame. And - now the most wonderful of all was the great Face itself. The crimson light - caught it in profile, and thus so sharpened its features as to make it - seem a living monster of inconceivable ferocity. Nor was that the worst. - The purple flame again issued from below the face with a great - augmentation. In rising and spreading it cast a thin veil over the visage, - making it ghastly. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0287.jpg" alt="0287 " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0287.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - The falling of heavy stones ceased, but the more numerous small ones began - to pelt us. I drew my coat round Lentala’s head, and broke tree-branches - within reach to shield her body, for the stones had a vicious sting. - </p> - <p> - The heat was growing, both by radiation from the crimson column and by - reflection from the canopy. Flames were leaping from the forest near the - eruption, for the heat was drying the leaves. - </p> - <p> - As the ground opened in many seams under the strain, steam found numerous - issues on the front of the opposite valley wall, near the Face. The - quaking of the earth deepened; the moans of the natives became cries of - frenzy. - </p> - <p> - “Is it growing worse, Joseph?” - </p> - <p> - She had been Beela since the scene at the altar, and I had nearly - forgotten Lentala. It was sweet to feel her breath on my neck as she clung - like a frightened child. - </p> - <p> - “Be brave,” I said. “Remember, we came safely through the passage.” - </p> - <p> - “I will, Joseph,” but I felt a sob against my breast. - </p> - <p> - The increasing heat began to make wild mischief in the air. Little - whirlwinds had been rising, twirling leaves upward. All at once they - ceased, leaving an ominous calm. Then came a rushing, swirling roar, with - the crashing of trees,—the noises of a tornado. I looked round. - Nearly in a line with the moon rose a spinning column bearing upward - dismembered trees, liberating them far above, and sending them down - destructively. This monster, whose seizure would mean death, was mounting - the slope in its approach to the volcano, and seemingly would sweep the - clearing in its passage. I did not know what to do, and did not wish - Lentala to see what was coming, but I must unconsciously have given an - alarming sign, for she silently caught her breath and tightened her hold. - </p> - <p> - As I was looking about in helplessness, an extraordinary vision of tatters - and despair staggered toward us out of the forest, peering about. Her - staring eyes found me, and she stopped in fear. - </p> - <p> - “Annabel!” I cried. - </p> - <p> - Lentala sprang to her feet, her terror gone, and stared for a moment; - then, springing forward, she took Annabel in her arms before I had reached - her. - </p> - <p> - “Where is my father?” begged Annabel, recognizing us both. - </p> - <p> - “He is safe with Captain Mason at the colony, dear,” Lentala sweetly - answered. - </p> - <p> - I confirmed the news, and because she was much more deeply shaken than - Lentala, I took her to myself and made her sit on the ground. I seated - myself beside her, took her hand, and told her cheerful things about her - father and Mr. Rawley. She had become suspicious and left the colony to - search for her father before Captain Mason’s return with him. - </p> - <p> - She was quietly sobbing in gratefulness. A woman’s gentler offices were - needed now, and I looked round for Lentala. To my astonishment she had - disappeared. That alarmed me. In looking about for her without leaving - Annabel I discovered that the tornado had torn away the trees on the - opposite side of the clearing, and was breaking to pieces after tumbling - into the valley; but I could not guess what havoc, if any, it had wrought - in the clearing, and a profound uneasiness on Lentala’s account made my - duty to care for Annabel irksome. Even at the best, the collections of the - tornado were falling about us and on the clearing, and an increase of the - dismal howling indicated cruel results, in which both Lentala and - Christopher might be involved. And the danger to Annabel and me was great. - I did what I could to protect her from the merciless rain of riven timber. - </p> - <p> - It had been impossible for me to abandon hope on Christopher’s account. - Even though I believed that he had lain down in perfect content to give - his life for Lentala, the eruption had offered him an opportunity for - which he must have been ready. If he was alive and anywhere near the zone - of Lentala’s danger, she would be cared for. I could accept no other faith - than that he was. - </p> - <p> - Annabel reasonably secure and quiet, I noted the progress of the - catastrophe, knowing that Christopher would let me hear from him soon, if - at all. The trembling of the ground had become remittent and more violent. - The cries of the natives were falling to despairing moans. The tripping - ground had made their flight impossible, even had fear not paralyzed them. - Besides, the effect of the weird light on the Face was sufficient to hold - them in a fascinated helplessness. - </p> - <p> - The volcanic pillar of fire had shortened, for the still spreading canopy - was thickening downward. The roar was louder, with occasional detonations - from lateral explosions which smashed the mountains environing the western - end of the valley and made a still wider breach in the opening blasted by - the first outbreak. The purple flame had found new exits, lending the - opposite valley wall a cadaverous light, and, with the spreading flame - issuing from below the Face, giving the horrible visage an unspeakable - hideousness. - </p> - <p> - Worse than all that had gone before came next. The canopy suddenly effaced - the moon, and looked like an enormous mushroom on a blood-red stem. - Violent gusts of wind fell here and there with a rending force, working - havoc in the forest and among the natives. Now and then rose a sharp - solitary cry from one struck by a falling stone or spattered by blistering - mud. At times a swarm of cries rang from the dip of scorching gases. - Clouds were gathering. Lightning flashed between them and the canopy; the - crash of near thunder swelled the tumult. I tried not to think of the - colony. - </p> - <p> - “Where is Lentala?” cried Annabel in my ear, rousing out of a half-stupor. - </p> - <p> - “She has gone to the clearing,” I ventured. - </p> - <p> - “Go and find her,” urged Annabel in fright, forcibly withdrawing from me. - </p> - <p> - “How can I leave you?” - </p> - <p> - “I am safe here, and will wait for you. Go!” - </p> - <p> - I obeyed, staggering into the clearing and falling over the kneeling or - prostrate savages. My heart presently gave a bound of joy; for, working - side by side, fearless and devoted, were Lentala and Christopher, - apparently unhurt, and doing all they could to pacify the frantic natives, - encouraging them, binding their wounds, and sending them to the service of - others, thus rapidly starting centers of control and help that enlarged - with magical rapidity. I came near, but the two who were dear to me did - not observe, so intent were they on their duty. I had never seen so lovely - a look on Lentala’s face, and I determined to let no foolish barrier stand - between us thenceforth. Christopher saw me first, but gave no sign - whatever. Then Lentala, and there was a divine light in her startled, - happy face. - </p> - <p> - “You came to me, didn’t you, Joseph?” she said, seizing my hand. - </p> - <p> - “Annabel discovered that you were gone, and sent me to find you.” - </p> - <p> - Her face went blank, and she dropped my hand. Terrible though the moment - was, her childishness angered me. It was no time for coquettish - discipline. - </p> - <p> - “She wants your Majesty,” I said. “Shall I bring her to you?” - </p> - <p> - Her eyes flashed, but she replied, “Take me to her.” - </p> - <p> - I tried to take her hand, in order to lead her, for the ground was rolling - and there were unpleasant things to see on the way in the red glare; but - she walked alone and as steadily as I. As we approached the trees there - came a sickening heave different from the earth-movements before. - Christopher sprang past us toward Annabel, shouting: - </p> - <p> - “Down—on your faces!” - </p> - <p> - I seized Lentala and lurched ahead, but before we had quite reached - Annabel and Christopher we went down in a blazing crash. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - “Shake yourself up, sir,” came in a thin voice from a great distance. - </p> - <p> - I could open my eyes but a moment under the vigorous shaking that - Christopher gave me, for slimy, warm drops were falling on my face; but I - had met the darkness that the blind know. A painful throbbing made my head - roll as Christopher dragged me to shelter and propped me against a tree. - </p> - <p> - “Where are we?” I asked. My groping hands found a prone body at my left. I - opened my eyes, and the world was blotted out. - </p> - <p> - “Keep still, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Are they both here?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Alive?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” came feebly from the body under my hand. - </p> - <p> - My arms went round her and drew her up. - </p> - <p> - “Where’s Annabel, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “On your right, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “Unconscious?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - Lentala lay collapsed in my arms. The rain of mud from the canopy pattered - and splashed about us. The ground was still, and there was hardly a sound - except the slimy drip. - </p> - <p> - “The volcano has stopped, hasn’t it?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir.” - </p> - <p> - I asked the next question in the conviction that I had been stricken - blind: “Is there any light at all?” - </p> - <p> - “No, sir.” - </p> - <p> - Lentala clutched me. “I’m glad, Choseph! I thought I was blind.” - </p> - <p> - “What happened, Christopher?” I asked. - </p> - <p> - “The world blew up, sir.” - </p> - <p> - “What then?” - </p> - <p> - “Darkness.” - </p> - <p> - The rain had extinguished the forest fires, and the sirupy drip was - mingled with the hissing of hot stones. There was nothing to do but wait. - Wails began to creep out of the silent clearing. Lentala drew away. - </p> - <p> - “Poor children!” she said. “I can teach them better now. There’s a good - life ahead for me here.” Clearly she was thinking of nothing else, and she - said it with a simple earnestness. During all these dark months her every - plan and act had been for her own and our escape from the island. I had - thought that she accepted the crown as a temporary expedient to restore - order and save the colony; but now I knew that, while she still intended - to send us safely away, she had severed all other bonds and would give her - life where it was most needed. The conduct of the people during the - eruption had given the finishing touch to her decision. It was the putting - away of all her hopes and dreams; it was the dismissal of me. - </p> - <p> - I sat a moment in a desolate silence, and found her hand. She returned my - clasp, but it was different from any she had ever given me before. It grew - firmer, imparting a silent message of finality. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - CHAPTER XXIV.—The Parting Hour. - </h2> - <p> - <i>A Chapter of Startling Surprises. The Fate of the Black Face. A Story - of Two Girls. Wanted—a Coadjutor to the Crown. Beela Comes Back at - Last.</i> - </p> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">H</span>ere was something - portentously solemn in Christopher’s manner when he came one brilliant - morning with a summons from the queen to lunch with her and Annabel. I was - aware of Captain Mason’s notice to her Majesty that in two hours the - colony, which had been royally entertained in the palace and its adjunct - buildings since the great catastrophe, would file past to bid her - farewell. My absorbing duties in directing the stowing of the <i>Hope’s</i> - cargo had kept me away from the queen and Annabel, who had become devoted - friends; but a more potent barrier had been her Majesty’s cold reserve - under her assumption of her queenly duties, which had been exceedingly - severe. The destruction of the Black Face by the eruption had been - joyously accepted as heaven’s endorsement of her accession to the throne, - and the natives idolized her. - </p> - <p> - Nothing seemed clearer than her wish that I do my part to make as smooth - as possible her determination to forget what had passed between us. - </p> - <p> - Confident, therefore, that she would carry off the parting pleasantly, and - appreciating her kindness in inviting me, and her tact in providing for - Annabel’s presence, I went with as stout a heart as I could command. - Christopher and I had long ago laid aside our disguise. He led me in - silence to the private room where Lentala had dreamed of a bright life far - away. A table was set daintily for three; and as there were no native - attendants, I knew that Christopher was to serve. Rangan was near the end - of his days, and Rawley gave constant attendance on deeply stricken Mr. - Vancouver. - </p> - <p> - As I entered, I heard the queen and Annabel chatting with astonishing - gaiety in an adjoining room, the doorway into which was closed with a - curtain. Whatever they were discussing was interrupted by my entrance. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” came challengingly from beyond the curtain. It was Beela’s - voice, though every trace of her had disappeared since the eruption. - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty,” I responded. - </p> - <p> - “Nonsense! Aren’t you going to behave?” It was Beela’s scold and the - impatient stamp of her foot. “I’m not quite ready. Annabel will entertain - you.” - </p> - <p> - Annabel came out. The sparkle in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks - showed that she was excited, despite her effort to appear at ease. - Christopher’s strange manner had already made me watchful, and I caught - the knowing look that Annabel gave him. My heart bounded. Could it be that - the queen had decided to renounce her kingdom and go with us? It so - deluged me that for a moment I did not heed the chatter proceeding from - the other room. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” came thence; “have you neither ears nor a tongue?” The voice - rang with a cheer that even Beela’s had never known. “Here I’ve been - trying to make you guess why I’m so happy, and you don’t show the - slightest interest.” - </p> - <p> - “I’d be glad to know,” I returned. - </p> - <p> - “Annabel and her father and Mr. Rawley have decided not to go away, and - Annabel and Mr. Rawley are going to be married!” She hurled it - breathlessly, as a child in a hurry to tell important news. - </p> - <p> - So that was the great secret. But why had they kept it from me? An acute - silence within accompanied my own. I was smiling at Annabel, who blushed - deliciously. - </p> - <p> - “Christopher!” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - “Don’t say that. I hate it. Do you love me?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, ma’am.” - </p> - <p> - “But you are going to leave me.” She said it dolorously. - </p> - <p> - “No, I ain’t, ma’am.” - </p> - <p> - Something was dropped clattering to the floor within, and then came a - sudden hush. - </p> - <p> - There was the queerest, brightest twinkle in Annabel’s eyes as she studied - me. In astonishment I glanced at Christopher. The look with which he met - mine was one of benevolent kindness. - </p> - <p> - “Dear old Christopher!” came softly from the other room; then, after a - pause, “How can Mr. Tudor manage without you?” - </p> - <p> - “He can’t, ma’am.” He made the audacious answer while calmly regarding me. - </p> - <p> - Can it be believed that I dared not see Lentala’s challenge, and that - something which I could not master held me a silent fool in the chair? - Surely there must be men besides me whom love makes humble and timid. I - have seen men love with a different measure; I have seen love make them - bold and reckless. - </p> - <p> - Christopher had adroitly seated me with my back to the curtain. Hence I - did not see a signal that Annabel, who was facing it, must have received, - for with some excuse she withdrew, taking Christopher. - </p> - <p> - The queen’s voice was close to the curtain as she called in a breathless, - frightened way, “Choseph!” - </p> - <p> - “Your Majesty.” - </p> - <p> - Before I could rise she was on me like a whirlwind, clapping her hands - over my eyes from behind and pressing me down into the seat. Her cheek - rested on my head. I thought the beating of my heart would suffocate me. - </p> - <p> - During the silence I sat in a trance. One soft hand held my eyes closed; - the other slipped down and was pressed on my lips. I knew that Beela had - come back, and I would submit to any outrage from her. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph,” she said in her sweet, coaxing voice, “sit still and don’t try - to speak. You are much more interesting when you don’t talk. And then, I - don’t want to be interrupted, for I’m going to tell you a story. It is - about two girls and a man. Nod if you want to hear it.” - </p> - <p> - I nodded. - </p> - <p> - “The girls are named Beela and Lentala. The man imagines he is or <i>was</i> - in love with one of those girls.” The voice above my head became very - impressive. “Now, sir, you are the Man.” - </p> - <p> - Nod. - </p> - <p> - “We’ll easily agree that Lentala is much more dignified and reserved than - Beela.” - </p> - <p> - Nod. - </p> - <p> - “And never so erratic and unconventional.” - </p> - <p> - Nod. - </p> - <p> - “And that Beela is rude and bold, wears outlandish clothes, and adopts - scandalous disguises.” - </p> - <p> - My head was still for a time, so happy was I in her delicious fooling; - then I nodded enthusiastically. - </p> - <p> - I knew she was trying to suppress a laugh; she ostentatiously sighed, and - said: “You agree to that. It isn’t all. She tells fibs, and is heartless - and cruel.” I was motionless for a breathless space, and then nodded - viciously. There came a long, still pause. I could bear it no longer. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph! Stop! You hurt my wrist,” and again she held me prisoned. - “There. Be quiet. Well,” with a resigned sigh, “I suppose the foolish man - will keep on loving Beela and hating Lentala, and end by breaking poor - Lentala’s heart.” - </p> - <p> - I am not positive that I entirely succeeded in suppressing my laugh. - </p> - <p> - “It has to be Beela, then,” the sweet voice went on. “But, Choseph, - suppose the madcap should really be very different from what she ever - appeared to you, and you should discover that she had deceived you about - an important matter,—you can’t be certain that you know all her - disguises,—wouldn’t you think her unworthy of your trust and love?” - </p> - <p> - A very decided shake, and above me a soft laugh and a little squeeze of my - head. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph, you know you had suspicions about her skill in staining you and - Christopher.” - </p> - <p> - I had nearly forgotten it; but as her father had been a white man and her - mother a native, her skin would require some staining to look exactly like - a native’s. I made no response to her speech. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph, suppose a very little girl born in some other country had been - wrecked with her father on this island. She might have been yellow, or—or - almost anything. As she grew, it might have become necessary that she be - given the color of the natives.” There was a pause, and then came the - hurried question, “She’d still be the same girl, wouldn’t she?” - </p> - <p> - I nodded, simply to please her, for her chatter meant no more to me than - that Beela was playing and teasing. - </p> - <p> - “Think, Joseph.” She was really serious. “Once, when Lentala dressed like - Annabel, you were shocked, and said some strange things that made her very - unhappy and uneasy, and she was afraid to tell you the whole truth. And - for other reasons she thought it best to keep up the deception. Could <i>anything</i> - new that you might learn about her change your regard?” - </p> - <p> - I shook my head, but was puzzled and uneasy. - </p> - <p> - “Then,” she gently said, pressing her sweet cheek to my temple, “it could - make no difference at all what her real color is?” - </p> - <p> - Of course I shook my head. It was impossible for me to accept the absurd - suggestion, and my simple lie could do no harm in her pretty play. - </p> - <p> - She straightened, drawing a deep breath. “That is a promise,” she said. - “There’s something else. Now, no matter if, in showing her love and pity - for the poor grown children who need her, she permits these islanders the - harmless play of calling her their queen when they mean their leader, - their teacher, their mother,—wouldn’t she still be only Beela, and - none the worse for accepting that love and trust and duty?” - </p> - <p> - My nod was reverential. - </p> - <p> - “But, Joseph, she would know her utter inability to discharge that task. - She would stumble; she would fall many a time. There would come dark hours - when she yearned in bitter loneliness for the help of a wise head and sure - hand; for there is a people to civilize as well as govern. Joseph, the - heart of a woman is a woman-heart under either a toy crown or a real one.” - </p> - <p> - I gave no sign. There came a long pause, a deep breath, and a sudden - change of tone. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph, suppose that some day a big, fine cavalier, with a tender heart - and a strong hand, should drift to the poor little kingdom and find its - queen torturing her soul over problems that would look so large to her and - so small to him. It seems to me that he would be moved to offer her his - services. She might make him her Prime Minister.” - </p> - <p> - I tore myself loose, rose, and confronted her. Gazing at me was a - beautiful young white woman, frightened and blushing, a thousand startled - imps dancing in her eyes as she backed away. I was profoundly shocked. - </p> - <p> - “Forgive me, Joseph.” It came tenderly, wistfully, from the perfect lips - of Beela and in her dear voice. And those were her eyes; that was her - delicate, high-bred nose, and that her light hair. And she was as daintily - dressed as ever Annabel had been. - </p> - <p> - “Choseph!” she cried, stamping in a passion as I gazed in silence. - </p> - <p> - So overcoming a weakness assailed me that I had to catch the top of a - chair. - </p> - <p> - “Of course I understand,” I said, unevenly, and floundered on, with - pauses: “I might have guessed, but... a cherished ideal is very real to - me. When I lost Beela and found Lentala, I lost what I had come to love. - No, not lost,—I am very foolish and blundering.” - </p> - <p> - “No, Joseph.” Her smile was dazzling. - </p> - <p> - “It never could be lost while I lived, and would live had she died. It was - Lentala, not Beela, who put Beela away, and then me.” - </p> - <p> - “You know what I thought, Joseph. I meant to be kind. And I never had the - least idea until today that Annabel cared for Mr. Rawley. I thought she - loved you, and that you had been very fond of her till Beela came. I - reasoned that it would be best for you to go to your own country, marry - Annabel, and forget Beela.” - </p> - <p> - That sweet speech explained everything, but it was not possible for me to - feel the ease in the presence of her radiant loveliness that I had felt - toward Beela, the child-woman, the sprite, who could flutter into a man’s - heart and abide forever. I managed to say bluntly: - </p> - <p> - “I understand. And now that all is clear, may I stay and do whatever lies - in my power and devotion to help you?” - </p> - <p> - She was regarding me curiously, and with a touch of uneasiness. “Simply - because I’ve asked you?” she demanded. - </p> - <p> - “It is my dearest wish.” - </p> - <p> - Still the strange look was in her eyes. I dared not interpret it as my - heart commanded; I had never loved a woman before, and needed time to - gather my courage. Of a sudden an impulse moved me to step forward, take - her hands, and look deep into her eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Let me stay,” I begged. - </p> - <p> - “I’d be glad and proud if you would, Joseph. You know Captain Mason is to - return with the <i>Hope</i> as soon as he can, and will bring teachers and - a clergyman from America, and Annabel and Mr. Rawley will be married - then.” - </p> - <p> - I do not know what it was that she saw—or that her sensitive pride - made her see—in my face that made her quickly withdraw her hands and - step back as her eyes flashed and her cheeks crimsoned. - </p> - <p> - “Joseph! I never dreamed that you could think I meant—<i>that!</i>” - </p> - <p> - “It was my love, my joy, dear heart. When the clergyman comes——” - </p> - <p> - Annabel and Christopher entered. The queen flew at her, embraced her and - kissed her, and then, standing off in front of Christopher, cried in a - teasing voice: - </p> - <p> - “Christopher, you <i>do</i> love me, don’t you?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, ma’am,” he placidly answered as he set the chairs for luncheon. - </p> - <div style="height: 6em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The -Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. 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C. Morrow - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony - -Author: W. C. Morrow - -Illustrator: Maynard Dixon - -Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51915] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS, THE ROMANTIC TALE OF A LOST COLONY - -By W. C. Morrow - -Illustrated by Maynard Dixon - -Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers: New York - -1908 - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - - - -LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS - - - -CHAPTER I.--On Unknown Shores. - -_Pursued by Our Dying Ship. Cast Away Among Dangers. A Pointing -Finger and a Sword. Beguiled by Savage Royalty. A Strange Girl and a -Prediction._ - - -IN range of my outlook seaward as I lay on the yellow strand was a -grotesque figure standing near and gazing inland. His powerful frame was -broad and squat; his long arms, ending with immense hands, hung loosely -at his sides; his hair was ragged; and out of his blank face blue eyes -wide apart. So accustomed was I to his habitually placid expression -that the keenness with which he was looking roused me fully out of the -lethargy into which extreme exhaustion had plunged me. - -"Well, Christopher!" I said with an attempt at cheerfulness. - -The strange look in my serving-man's eyes did not disappear when he -turned them on me at my greeting, but my glance at the forest discovered -nothing alarming. It was useless to question Christopher; he would take -his time. - -I rose with stiffened members. The wretched, beaten colonists were prone -along the beach, all sleeping except Captain Mason and Mr. Vancouver. -With silent Christopher shambling at my heels I passed Mr. Vancouver as -he sat on the sand beside his slumbering daughter; he was watching the -sea more with his blue lips than his leaden eyes. I gave him a cheery -greeting, blinked small since it was no time to harbor old scores. The -effort failed; he only blinked at me. Already I had suspected that his -quarrel with me because Christopher had stowed away on the vessel was -merely the seizing of an opportunity to rupture the strong friendship -between Annabel and me. - -Even at a distance I had seen that Captain Mason's spirit was hunting -the waters, as he stood apart in a splendid solitude, arms folded, and -towering in the dignity of a gladiator who might be disarmed, but not -conquered. Never had I seen a profounder pathos than his when, finding -the _Hope_ foundering and helpless, he had ordered her abandonment and -sent us into the boats. Then had come the most haunting thing that ever -a sailor experienced. - -It was the pursuit of us by the dying barkentine. What sails the last -storm had left played crazy pranks with the derelict. With no hand on -her wheel the rudder swung free. We were rowing northwestwardly, with -the wind, and thus it was that the _Hope_, thrust by wind and wave, -followed us, with wide swerves, with lungings and lurchings, now and -then making a graceful sweep up a swell and then a wallowing roll to the -trough. The fore-and-aft sails were gone, but some of the square -canvas held; and the sheets flapped with a dismal foolishness between -accidental fills. It was the drunken plunging of the hulk in deliberate -pursuit of us that appalled. She snouted the water swinishly; she reeled -and groveled under the seas that boarded her. Through it all, whether -she was coming prow first, beam on, or stern foremost, and no matter how -far she would veer, she clung to our course, shadowing us, hounding us, -as though imploring our help. - -In all the fury of the storms, from their first assaults at Cape Horn to -their beating us down in the South Seas, Captain Mason had not faltered; -he fought desperate odds with the cunning and valor of Hercules. But -this careering mad thing, stripped of the grace and dignity of a sane -ship,--this staggering, sodden monster, mortally stricken and dumbly -floundering after the master who had abandoned her that she might go -down alone into the deep,--was more than the man could bear; and he had -sat staring in the boat, Christopher and I rowing, while we dodged the -barkentine's blind assaults. We were still bending to the work when -darkness fell. It was then that the wind died, and we saw her no more. - -Captain Mason showed relief at being dragged back into the living world -by our approach. - -"No sign of her?" I asked. - -"Not from here. The view is shut in by those promontories," indicating -two headlands embracing our beach. - -"Then," said I, "Christopher will scale one of them and I the other." < - -There was a faint twinkle behind the seaman's look, and something else, -which recalled what I had seen in Christopher's face as he gazed at the -forest. - -"I imagine you haven't slept much," I said, knowing his anxiety on the -barkentine's account. - -"How could I, Mr. Tudor, when she had been following me like that?" - -"Then you have already been up there to see if you could find her?" I -ventured. - -He looked amused as he drawled, "Not all the way," and gave Christopher -a look that appeared to be understood. His gesture swept the heights on -either side and the richly verdured mountains that began to spring in -terraces a short distance from the beach. "This is a tropical region," -he went on, "and those trees bear lively fruit. It is brown and carries -swords. I didn't get all the way to the headland." - -I understood, and inquired, "Did they speak?" - -"No. A pointing finger with a sword behind it needs no words." - -I wondered where we could be, that armed natives should exhibit a -hostile attitude. "Where are we stranded?" I asked. - -"I don't know. It has been weeks since I could even take a dead -reckoning, and we've been blown far since then. My instruments -disappeared while I was exploring this morning." - -"And we are without food or weapons," I added, feeling a thrill at the -prospect of measuring forces with an obscure menace. - -Mr. Vancouver had loaded the barkentine with every possible means of -defense, subsistence, and development, but we had fallen on an island -far short of the one in the Philippines which he intended to colonize. -The fate of the _Hope_ was a vital matter. Most of her precious cargo -was behind bulkheads. If she had not gone down, very likely she would -drift to this island and yield her resources to any enemies we might -encounter here. - -Christopher was gazing at the forest again. I could see only deep -shadows and brown tree-boles under the leafage. Birds of brilliant -plumage were flitting among the trees, and the warmth of the sun bathed -us in sweet, heavy odors. - -"They are coming, sir," said Christopher. - -I observed a slow undulation in a wide arc among the shadows. A -tree-trunk in the outer edge apparently detached itself, then advanced -into the open, halted, and raised a sword. Five hundred other shapes -came forth from the wide semi-circle touching the shore at either end. -Some bore swords, others spears, and still others knotted war-clubs. The -soldiers were brown and bareheaded, and the dress of each was limited to -the loins, except that of the leader, the man who had first stepped out; -he wore a sort of tunic or light cloak, and a head-dress, both gaudily -illuminated with feathers. - -Captain Mason stood motionless. - -"What shall we do?" I impatiently cried. - -Christopher left us and rapidly roused the sleepers. He must have -dropped reassuring words, for the stir proceeded without panic, though -all could see the advancing threat, which approached with an ominous -deliberation. - -"Do you think it's to be a slaughter, Captain?" I asked. - -He gave no answer, being evidently stunned. I turned to Christopher as -he rejoined us. Many a time since I had rescued him from a mob of boys -in a Boston street, taken him to my lodgings, and made him my servant, -his strange mind had seemed able to penetrate baffling obscurities. At -such times he had a way of listening, as though to voices which he alone -could hear; but with that was an extraordinary reticence of tongue, -and often an indirection that had tried my patience until I learned to -understand him as well as an ordinary mortal could. - -"Are they going to kill us, Christopher?" I asked. - -He was in a deep abstraction, and I knew he was listening. "Sir?" - -That was his usual way of gaining time, and I had learned to wait. - -"Are they going to kill us?" - -"Kill us, sir?" - -"Yes." - -"You are asking me, sir?" - -"Yes. Are they going to kill us?" - -"Not now, sir," he firmly answered. - -The glance which Captain Mason and I exchanged was one accepting -Christopher's opinion and groping for what lay beyond it. - -With some accuracy of maneuvering, the leader aligned his soldiers, -stepped out after halting them fifty yards away, and stood waiting, -obviously for a parley. He was showing impatience as Captain Mason still -stood motionless. - -"Some one must meet him," I said. "It will never do to show timidity. -You are the fittest." - -"These people are strange to me," he replied, "and I don't know how to -proceed. They have an appearance of ferocity that I have never seen in -these seas. Many outside men must have drifted to this island, but I'll -warrant that none ever left it, for I've never heard of anything that -looks just like this. I imagine it is the graveyard of the unreported -wrecks that happen in this part of the Pacific." - -I was surprised at the grayness in his face and the glaze in his eyes. -What could our two hundred and fifty men, women, and children, helpless -as they were, do without his shrewdness and courage? - -"Then we have all the more to do," I urged. - -He squared himself, and said: "We three will meet them. Put yourself -forward. Your height and strength will impress them." - -It looked odd that he did not include Mr. Vancouver, the leader of our -enterprise, and Lee Rawley, the aristocratic and disdainful young lawyer -whom Mr. Vancouver hoped that Annabel would marry. - -[Illustration: 0021] - -Meanwhile, the leader of the savages, a man of commanding size and -manner, had been growing more impatient, and was putting his men through -some manual that hinted at barbarous proceeding; but when we started -he desisted, and met us with urbane gestures. Then ensued a struggle to -find a means of communication. Both Captain Mason and I knew something -of the Pacific languages, he from a sailor's experience and I from -having fought as a first lieutenant in the Philippines during the war -with Spain; but apparently our combined resources failed. Finally we -caught a Spanish word and then a German. It remained for Christopher to -discover that the embassador spoke some pidgin-English with his tongue -and all languages with his gestures. Thus we learned that the gracious -King Rangan had sent Gato, commander-in-chief of the army, with an -escort of honor to conduit us to the imperial presence. - -Captain Mason and I carefully avoided each other's eyes. The tomb-like -mask that Christopher knew how to wear was on his face. - -As there were two armed savages to each colonist throat, there was -nothing to do but accept. In a dismal procession guarded by the -soldiers, we labored through the sand and sank into the scented forest. - -After a walk through flagrant aisles of shade and color, we came upon a -wide sweep where the undergrowth had been cleared away; in its place -was a cluster of huts made of bamboo and thatch. The central space was -occupied by one more imposing than the others. The matting curtain -at the door was drawn aside after we had been seated before it on the -ground, and a sturdy figure, followed by a striking retinue, came forth -and took an elevated seat on a platform extending from the house. - -The king's gorgeous robe of a light fabric adorned with feathers and -embroidered with gold was worn with a knowledge of its impressiveness. -A wide band of gold embedded with gems served for a crown; the blazing -scepter and massive wristlets and anklets were of like materials; the -ears and fingers flashed with jewels. The royal face was benignant. Gato -stepped forth to interpret, as the king's immediate followers, dressed -in long embroidered garments of native texture, ranged about the throne. - -The attendant swinging a large feather fan over the king's head was the -only woman discoverable. There was a striking difference between her and -the men. It was manifest in a prouder poise of the head, in a look -of higher intelligence, and in a finer definition of features. The -eagerness with which her glance ran over us, a shyness that struggled -with an impulse to a bolder scrutiny, combined with a certain refinement -of bearing to set her apart. She was raimented with no less barbaric -splendor than the king and his immediate attendants, but in better -taste. Her brown bare arms and neck were turned on the graceful lines of -youth, and her wrists and hands were small. Her hair, instead of having -the glistening blackness of the men's, housed some of the sun's gold; -and I was startled to discover finally that her eyes were a deep blue. - -At last her roving glance was caught and held by me. In her eyes was -a moment of hungry inquiry. She caught her breath; a break came in the -regular swing of the fan, and her eyelids drooped. - -My fascinated attention to her was diverted by a deep rumble. King -Rangan was speaking. - - - - -CHAPTER II.--The Falling of a Fong - -_A Royal Feast. The Fan-Bearer's Significant Conduct. A Gloomy Forecast. -Had Any Before Us Escaped? The King's Promise. Prisoned in Paradise._ - - -THE interpreter made a genuflection to the throne, and beckoned to -Captain Mason and me. I thought that Mr. Vancouver ought to be included, -but the skipper ignored my inquiring glance, and stepped forward. After -bowing, we stood waiting. - -The king gave us a shrewd look. Then his eyes blazed, and he ripped -out something to the interpreter. I discovered the cause. My faithful -Christopher had brought up his prodigious strength for a possible -emergency, and it was clear that the king was offended by the grotesque -figure. - -The interpreter hesitated, for he knew Christopher's speech-value, and -the king snapped out another command. I knew it was an order that -some shame be put upon Christopher. At that my muscles hardened, and I -stepped protectingly before him. The fan over the king's head abruptly -stopped. The leader raised his hand, and a dozen of his men advanced. - -Dimly aware that Captain Mason was employing some pacific measures, I -was more concerned by Annabel's surprising act. Her eyes shining and her -cheeks aglow, she briskly came up, laid her hand on Christopher's arm, -and sweetly said: - -"Come and stay back here with us." - -His pathetic look went questioningly from her to me, and he held -his ground. I glanced round to see what next the king would do. With -astonishment or wonder the fan-bearer was staring at Annabel, who made -a striking picture; then she whispered into the royal ear. In a milder -voice he said something to the interpreter, who by a gesture to us -indicated that the king was satisfied. At a word from me, Christopher -came and stood beside me. - -His ostensible purpose proved to be merely a formal welcome, an -ascertainment of our origin, purpose, and disaster, and an invitation to -a feast. - -As the others of the colony were in too dull a state to give attention, -the king confined to us three a shrewd scrutiny. But Captain Mason and -I, feeling that the welcome was only a sheathed sword, held blank faces, -and did not even pass a glance of understanding; and Christopher could -be depended on under all circumstances to give no betraying sign. -The one thing to do was to show a grateful acquiescence. The time -for planning would come when our people were capable of thought and -action,--if we should be spared that long. - -It was indeed a feast. The smoke which Christopher had seen rose from -a barbecue, at which fresh meat and fowls and fish had been deliciously -cooked. The completeness of the preparations indicated that they must -have been begun immediately after our landing. Fragrant boughs were -spread on the ground near the barbecue trench, and on them we seated -ourselves. Plantain leaves made excellent platters. Roasted yams, bread -made of ground seed or grain, and fruits of many kinds, were served in -abundance. - -The effect was magical; the down-hearted took cheer, and laughter -ran through the trees. Much of the transformation was wrought by the -solicitous attentions of the servers; but more cheering was the gracious -friendliness of the king, who, besides personally directing the service, -mingled with us in a democratic way, yet with no sacrifice of dignity. - -Most fascinating to me was the fan-bearer. Whereas the warriors stood -in awe of his Majesty, she treated him with almost a flippant disregard. -She went among the colonists, keenly anxious that all should be pleased, -her face breaking into bewitching smiles, her mischievous eyes dancing, -her musical laugh rippling. The distinction in her manner as she had -stood behind the throne was augmented in the modest abandon of her role -of hostess. The alertness of her glance, the joyous spirits that bubbled -out of her light pose and movement, her sprite-like airiness, her -obvious efforts to restrain an instinct to play, to tease, to get into -mischief, a running over of kindness and happiness,--these and more -elusive qualities set her apart from the men and made them look dull and -sordid. - -[Illustration: 0029] - -Her greatest interest was in Annabel, the only highly cultured woman -in our party, since the colony was composed of workers in practical -industries. The two girls had no language in common, and appeared -sharply different in temperament and training; yet there was visible -between them a bond of feminine sympathy such as no man can understand. -It was curious that the savage one was not abashed before her highly -civilized sister. In the gentle eagerness with which she served Annabel, -frankly studied her, and courted her notice, was something that looked -pathetically like the yearning of a starved soul for what Annabel -had--the enjoyment of a birthright. Annabel appeared to see that -longing, and she stretched forth a friendly hand into the fan-bearer's -darkness. - -Captain Mason, Christopher, and I formed a group. Despite the grief and -anxiety on the sailor's face, he betrayed his share of the sunshine that -the girl bestowed on all. She came to us often, and there was a touch -of shyness not visible when she flitted among the others. Virtually -ignoring me, she gave some attention to the captain, and was -particularly solicitous toward Christopher. She stuffed him, and laughed -at him. Christopher enjoyed it, gazed up into her sparkling eyes, and -strained his ribs with the food that she coaxingly urged upon him. - -On one of her visits I smilingly handed her a little pocket toilet-case -which I carried. She took it gingerly, examined it curiously, and with -childish interest inspected its contents. Her surprise at discovering -the mirror was not so great as I had expected, and did not look quite -sincere. She held it up, made a grimace at her reflection, thrust out -at it a tongue as sweet and pink as a baby's, tossed the kit back at me, -and went dancing off in a swirl of laughter. - -Presently she demurely returned on a pretense of looking after -Christopher's wants, and of a sudden, brilliantly smiling, held out her -hand for the trinket. I gave it to her. Her eyes fell when I looked up -closely into them, and in agitation she thrust the case into her bosom. -I discovered that Annabel was curiously observing her. - -Captain Mason gazed thoughtfully after her as she left, and remarked: - -"That girl is going to be mixed up with our fate." - -"What do you make of her?" - -"An eaglet hatched by buzzards." - -Christopher's evident regard for her was dazzled wonder. - -"You like her, Christopher?" I asked. - -He was serious at all times, and much of his gravity was sadness. He -nodded impressively. - -"Yes, sir." - -"She has fed you well." - -"Yes, sir." He spread his immense hands over his stomach. - -"I'll ask her to bring you some more," I said. - -His face showed alarm. "Don't, sir! I'd shorely bust." - -"But you wouldn't have to eat more, even if she brought it." - -"Yes, I would, sir." - -"Why?" - -"I'd jess _have_ to, sir." This with a solemn helplessness. - -"He has taken her measure," dryly remarked Captain Mason. - -He had found opportunity to study the splendid jewels so abundantly -adorning the king and the girl. - -"Those gems," he said, "were cut by European lapidaries." - -There was a disturbing suggestion in his words, but I could not define -it. This island had received rich treasures from civilization. Here was -a mystery. - -"How do you account for them?" I asked. - -"The typhoon makes many wrecks. There's no knowing what shores they -crawl up on to die." - -"Yes; but you see that although our ship was wrecked, we came ashore. -Survivors of other wrecks likely have had the same experience." - -"No doubt." - -"Then, why haven't they given out news of this island? It is evidently -very rich, and----" - -He gave me an obscure look, and turned away with the remark: - -"I think you'll find the reason in a few hours." - -He must have felt the hurt in my silence, and opened a confidence on -another tack. - -"You have noticed, Mr. Tudor, that there are no women, children, nor -domestic animals in this village. Do you infer anything from that?" - -"What is your inference, Captain?" - -"The village is not inhabited. The natives live back of those mountains -to the west. This is merely a receiving-station for wrecks and -castaways." - -The shrewdness of the king was not hidden by his hospitality. I did -not overlook the inquiries that he made among the colonists with Gato's -help, nor his private colloquy with Mr. Vancouver, nor the thoughtful -look of that gentleman when it was over. - -The banquet was ended; the colony was reassembled before the throne; the -king, backed by his now sedate fan-wielder, seated himself; and Captain -Mason, Christopher, and I stood ready. We were made to understand the -following: - -We had not been invited to this island, but the misfortune that landed -us on it would be respected. Two circumstances ruled the situation. One -was that no vessels from the outside world ever put in here, and hence -our means of escape were restricted to such resources as the king might -devise; the other, that our intercourse with the people would not be -permitted beyond a certain limit. The king explained that in youth he -had gone abroad and found that the ways of white people were not suited -to the islanders, who would be demoralized should they come under our -civilization. - -At intervals he sent his people, two or three at a time, in a small -boat to the nearest islands, some hundreds of miles away, with native -products for barter. But so great had been their precautions that the -situation of the island had never been discovered. In these boats one or -two of us would be taken away at a time, and thus placed in the path of -ships that would assist us homeward. - -In order to keep us isolated from the people, we were to be conduced at -once to a pleasant valley, which would be free to us for our exclusive -use. Natives skilled in farming would be furnished us for a time as -instructors; but it would be expected that we should pledge our honor -not to make any attempt to leave the valley without permission. - -Every heart among us sank. A deep look was in Captain Mason's eyes. It -was on the end of my tongue to say, "Captain, let him know that we can -make our own vessels and leave in them;" but a glance at him informed -me that he had forgotten nothing, and that anything but a cheerful -acceptance of the old bandit's conditions, until we might devise and -execute plans of our own, would precipitate immediate disaster. And then -I understood why the captain had asked no question about the barkentine. - -He said to me, under his breath: - -"You have an easy tongue. We must keep our people blind for the present. -Brace them up and flatter the king." - -The colonists were in the apathy of weariness and repletion. The glow -with which I put the situation to them was barely needed to secure their -acquiescence. - -I turned to the king. Only with difficulty could I see him clearly -through the intensely dramatic picture made by the girl. All through the -conference I had seen her intense anxiety. What did it mean? With her -sweet audacity, she might have made some sign. As I read her conduct, -it betrayed a terrible uneasiness lest we refuse or were ungracious. -Clearly she was greatly relieved by our acceptance. - -I thanked the king and gratefully accepted his proffers. He then -informed us that we should immediately be conducted to our valley, made -comfortable, and supplied with everything needful. - -The cavalcade, conduced by the armed guard, started through the -enchanted forest, and mysteries throbbed in the very air. Never had I -seen so pathetic a spectacle as this draggling procession of civilized -people marched as dumb cattle to the shambles by a horde of savages. - -Captain Mason, Christopher, and I stood apart as the others filed past. -The man of the sea was in a deep reverie. - -"If the king," I said, "has been so careful to conceal this island from -the world, why should he plan sending us away to betray it?" - -Captain Mason gave me a slow look. - -"Do you think that he intends to send us away?" he asked. - -"If not, he hasn't sent other castaways off, and we'll find them here." - -Again that slow look, but I felt that it saw too far to include me. He -shook his head, and said, as though talking to himself: - -"Now begins the great struggle. We'll be patient--and ready. That girl -is our hope." - -The king descended; the fan-bearer, her face mantled with content, -disappeared within the administration hut and dropped the curtain. The -rear guard were waiting for us three, and we started. After a few paces, -I turned, and saw, as I had hoped to see, a brown face watching us -through the parted curtain, and it was filled with more mysteries than -any enchanted forest ever held. - -On and up we went, and finally reached the summit. We stood on a small -open plateau, which abruptly ended in a precipice. Before us was a giant -chasm in a great tableland of lava. The floor was a thousand feet below. -We were looking down on it from the top of the great wall of columnar -basalt which enclosed it. The chasm was an irregular ellipse, some three -miles on its minor axis and five on its major. The floor was level, and, -except for some farms, was covered with a forest. A breeze sent long, -unctuous waves of lighter green rolling over it, or swirling in graceful -spirals where the wall deflected the wind and drifted it on in majestic -eddies. - -In splendid contrast to the deep, warm colors below was the gloomy black -of the mighty enclosing rampart. Near the upper end a beautiful stream, -nearly a river in size, made a wild, joyous leap over the brink. A lake -into which the water plunged sent up clouds of mist, out of which sprang -a rainbow. From the lake ran the stream of molten silver which swung -lazily on its shining way through the valley till lost in the distance. -The leader of the guard announced that the valley was our destination. -I was dumb in the grasp of its witchery, but a quiet voice brought me -back: - -"As good a prison as another." Captain Mason had spoken. - -"Why, man," I cried, "that is Paradise!" - -"No doubt; but the flaming sword will keep us in, not out." - -During the march I had not failed to keep Christopher in the corner of -my eye. I had been trying to read in his face one of those flashes of -insight which his fine instinct sometimes threw into dark places. He had -held his listening attitude often since I found him standing beside me -on the sand. It had given his face a certain leaden alertness, which, -as we beheld the valley, slowly faded into the habitual blankness, and I -saw that it was useless to question him. - -We descended through a steep, narrow cleft, and were marched through a -forest to the stream. A rude bridge bore us across, and there we found -a large number of natives rapidly and skilfully building us a village of -huts made from logs, boughs, and thatch. From all indications, they must -have begun the work almost immediately after we landed. Large stores of -food and other necessities had been accumulated; nothing needed for our -comfort and sustenance had been neglected. - -As soon as the soldiers had helped us bring order to the camp and the -building of the village was finished, they and the workmen melted away -in the twilight. - - - - -CHAPTER III.--The Menace of the Face. - -_Accepting the Challenge. The Threat. What the Face Saw on the Bluff. A -Mysterious Visitor. The Fan-Bearer's Conspiracy._ - - -CAPTAIN Mason and I occupied the same hut, but we held no converse -that night before falling into heavy slumber. Christopher insisted on -sleeping outside the door. If any of our party had thought it prudent to -appoint a watchman, no suggestion to that effect was made; but there was -no knowing what responsibilities Christopher assumed. - -The sun was looking over the great wall when we assembled for breakfast. -Every one had a brighter appearance. I had never seen men so terribly -cowed as these since the storms had beaten them down. The women had -looked beyond the hopelessness, and had tried to sustain the courage of -the colony. Every man was now beginning to hold up his head. - -Some of the despair had melted from Mr. Vancouver's face; it was clear -that the lion in him was feebly straining. Mr. Rawley was recovering his -aplomb. Annabel, having in her bearing an added depth and sweetness, had -undoubtedly done much to accomplish that result with the two men, for -there was something pathetic in the tenacity with which they clung to -her. - -On the barkentine, before the elements became destructive, she had been -aloof toward the other women and the children; but on the beach, at the -feast, and on the weary march to the valley, she had given a cheering -smile, word, or deed to those about. The promise thus made was meeting -fulfilment this morning. She had assumed charge of the breakfast -preparations, and, seeing that Christopher yearned to do kindly service, -had made him her executive. I often caught her look of wonder at his -unfailing intelligence, patience, and gentleness in doing her bidding. - -After breakfast the men began to talk among themselves. Captain Mason -went over and said something to Mr. Vancouver, who shook his head, and -the captain returned to me. - -"Now that the men are rousing," he said, "it is time to organize. Mr. -Vancouver declines to take the lead." - -"You are the one for that," I declared. - -"No. You have the military training and the tongue." - -"But you have wisdom and a longer experience in discipline. Let's -compromise. Take the leadership. I'll do your talking." - -"Very well," he said. "There's no need to caution you, but the others -ought to know; these trees may have ears We need organization for -defense." - -At the end of a heartening address to the colony I called for the -selection of a president. Mr. Vancouver named Captain Mason, who -was elected. I was chosen his assistant, to Mr. Vancouver's evident -annoyance. Dr. Preston, a young physician, was made superintendent of -the camp. - -The men squared their shoulders; the women's faces brightened. In a -few words I urged against any restlessness, any plotting,--anything, -in fine, that would have the faintest color of mistrust or disobedience -toward the king. "Be patient. Hold together." That was the watchword. - -Gato, the interpreter, soon appeared with a crowd of natives, and -indicated that Christopher and I, with twenty picked men, should follow -him. A short distance down the stream we came upon cleared land, and -were given our first lesson in farming. Our men winced under this and -the indefinite term of imprisonment which it implied. But the word was -passed round: "Wait. Be patient." The one hundred and fifty intelligent -American men of us would find a way to match any ten thousand heathen -under the sun. Blessed be the American brag! It is the front of -something good behind. - -The lesson was concluded in the early afternoon, for the sun was growing -hot. Gato led us down the stream a mile to a low ridge stretching across -the valley. Not a break in the great wall enclosing the valley was -visible, except the thin cleft which had given us ingress; but I -reasoned that at the lower end there must be a gorge through which -the stream issued, although no sign of it could be seen. Gato made us -understand that this transverse ridge was the boundary of our freedom. -He pointed out two landmarks springing from the walls and marking the -terminals of the ridge. - -The one on the far side of the river was a barren bluff; opposite it, -and forming part of the wall behind, there suddenly appeared a hideous -caricature of a human face, a ferocious gargoyle, rudely fashioned by -nature from the upper front of the cliff, protruding from the rock, and -leering down horribly. It must have been a hundred feet from forelock to -chin. - -I withstood the shock badly, but was steadied by noting the deep -satisfaction in Gato's eyes as he observed me. Unmistakably it was one -of malignant triumph, instantly gone, but almost as disconcerting as the -awful face itself. I felt that the ghastly apparition on the wall held a -significance reaching the very depths of our fate. It was the embodiment -of all the silent and implacable menaces hovering over the lethal -fairness that environed us. - -It had the blackish color of the rock, with reeking perpendicular -streaks of green alternating with dull red. The forehead and chin -receded in a simian angle; bulging eyes leered; below high cheek bones -were mummy-like recessions, and hungry shadows filled them; the nose was -flat, and the nostrils spread bestially. - -Gato, informing us that his men would be on hand the next morning, took -himself away. It gave a creepy sensation to note the snaky smoothness -with which these men could sink out of sight. - -Our party started for camp. A heaviness sat on me, and I did not wish to -talk. Christopher and I fell behind, and the others left us. I could not -bear that any but Christopher should see my perturbation. Several times -I glanced back to see the face on the wall. Its malignancy grew even -more terrible through the hazing distance, and I was glad when the -forest shut it out. If the spectacle affected me so deeply, what greater -hold must it not have had on the natives? And there was the significant -look that I had caught from Gato. - -On top of the opposite wall I discovered near the edge what appeared to -be a large stone table, or altar, and its position with reference to the -face suggested a sinister purpose. - -Now that the men were gone, hopelessness fell upon me. Never had -anything like such heavy responsibilities crept into my life. A sense of -my inadequacy grew unendurable; and, overcome by weariness of soul and -body, I flung myself on the ground and buried my face in my arm. - -Christopher presently stepped away with a sprightliness quite unusual, -but I had not the spirit to look up. Even returning footsteps and a -low murmur of voices failed to stir me. I was recalled by Christopher's -quiet remark: - -"Some one to see you, sir." - -I sat up, and discovered a native lad with him. His loose dress of -blouse, trousers, and straw hat was of the commonest material. He was -as unlike the native men as I had observed the fan-bearer to be, but his -manner was shy and timid, lacking the careless defiance of hers. With a -finger on his lips he beckoned us to follow him. - -In a secluded spot a little distance away, we sat down. My first -surprise was when he began to talk. In a musical voice, he groped for -words that I could understand, and in that way used a polyglot -language, some words badly pronounced, and others spoken with surprising -correctness. - -First, he enjoined secrecy, for should the king learn that he had -come----The lad finished with a grimace, and a swipe of the hand across -his throat. He made me pledge the sun to burn me up, the moon to strike -me a stark lunatic, and the stars to pierce me with their lances, should -I betray his confidence,--all this solemnly, but with a twinkle in the -back of his eye. - -Second, he was Beelo, brother of the king's fanbearer, Lentala, a good -girl in a way, but----A droll shake of his head left her in the air. -Lentala and he were proteges of the king and queen, and enjoyed uncommon -privileges, having been members of the king's household since childhood. -The queen was very sweet and gentle, and they were fond of her. She had -no children of her own. - -And, third, Lentala wished Beelo to come surreptitiously to me in order -to learn English. She had a special reason for that. Neither the king -nor any of the other natives must know. That was all. Would I teach him, -that he in turn might instruct her? - -Our conversation, carried on in a mixture of languages, must be here -given in English. - -"Indeed, I will, and gladly, Beelo!" I exclaimed; "but why not bring -Lentala, that I may teach you together?" I seized his hand in my joy of -this heavensent opportunity. It was a small, delicate hand. - -"She _can't_ come," he answered. - -"Why not?" - -"Why--she's a girl!" - -"But she might come with you." I was pleased with the discovery that the -savage girl had the fine instinct which establishes self-guarding and -self-respecting conventions. - -"The distance is long. Girls have to wear skirts, you know, and girls -are not as active as boys. Lentala, with her skirts, would be seen, and -the king would find out. I can slip through anywhere." - -I nodded resignedly. Only with the greatest difficulty could I refrain -from asking him many questions; but how did I know that he was not a -spy? In establishing relations with him I was playing with every life -in the colony. I observed Christopher. His air of listening to distant -voices was not present, and I felt reassured for the moment. - -Beelo was anxious to begin; and he had his first lesson. Never had -I found so eager and sweet-tempered a pupil, and his quickness was -extraordinary. I drilled him first in the names of familiar objects. - -"What is your name?" he plumped at me. - -"Tudor." - -"Tudor." He caught it with a snap, as though it were a ball. "You have -another name?" - -"Yes--Joseph." - -He began a comical struggle with the J, laboriously twisting his tongue -and lips as he pronounced the first syllable _Cho_ as the Chinese, _Yo_ -as the German, _Zho_ as the French, and _Ho_ as the Spanish; but the -English eluded him, and he gave it up, laughing sweetly. Often during -the lesson I saw in his handsome deep-blue eyes--which were maturer than -the rest of him--a dash of the mischief, the teasing, and the challenge -that gave Lentala her sparkle. - -"What is your name?" he demanded of Christopher, and pronounced it -perfectly. - -Christopher was gravely regarding the lad, who appeared disconcerted -under the scrutiny. That disturbed me; but if the boy was seeking our -undoing he would have to reckon with Christopher. - -He was curious about Annabel, and sent her affectionate messages from -Lentala. - -"Beelo," I demanded, "where did you learn all those words from foreign -languages?" - -Taken by surprise, he was confused and a little frightened, and had the -look of a child preparing a fib. - -"Other people have been shipwrecked here," he answered, peering at me -from under his brows. "I learned from them." - -"What became of them?" I asked. - -He raised his head, and answered, "The king said he sent them away." - -"Did you visit them secretly?" - -"N--o." He began to play with twigs on the ground. - -"Were they herded in this valley?" - -"No." His answer was firmer. "There was never more than one or a very -few at a time." - -I sat silent so long that he looked up, and showed alarm. - -"Tell me the truth, lad," I insisted, holding his eyes. "Where did you -learn those words?" A startling suspicion suddenly came. "The gold in -your hair, the blue in your eyes, the fine lines of your face,------" - -He began to edge away, and I saw flight in him; but I caught his wrist. - -"Tell me the truth," I repeated. - -He gazed at me in fear and pleading, but found no yielding, and with -provoking indifference shrugged his shoulders and settled down with a -pouting, martyr-like resignation. - -"You are hurting my wrist," he remarked. - -"Answer me," I demanded, tightening my grip. "Hasn't white blood mingled -with some of the native blood here?" - -His lips were compressed under the pain of my clasp, and an angry -resentment steadied his gaze. - -"Yes!" he answered, and a sudden change lit his face, as I unprisoned -the wrist. "Don't scare me that way again," he said, half impudently -shaking his head at me. - -It seemed best to desist from pressing the matter further, and pleasant -relations were soon re-established between us; but the matter seated -itself in a corner of my mind. - -Our lesson was delightful, and time escaped more smoothly than we knew. -Beelo glanced at the sky, and sprang to his feet. He sweetly smiled his -thanks, seized one of Christopher's great paws and vigorously shook it, -asked me and Christopher to meet him at the same spot tomorrow at the -same hour, and was darting away. I called him back, and led him to an -opening through which the face on the cliff was visible. - -"What is that?" I asked, pointing to it. - -He caught his breath, stood rigid, and slowly turned his face up to -mine. - -"That on the cliff? It is nothing--only stone." - -"It is more," I insisted. "It sits there, it looks down threateningly on -the valley; it says as plainly as speech----" - -"No, no!" cried Beelo, seizing my arm with both hands, and gazing up -into my eyes. "It is one of the gods. The people invoke it--you may see -the altar fire on the opposite cliff some night when there is a great -storm and the sea is raging. The god brings fish to the king's net." - -He broke off abruptly, and with alarm clapped his palm to his mouth. -I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. His manner grew -composed, and he darted away and disappeared. - -On returning to camp I told Captain Mason of the adventure. He was -deeply interested, and sat in thought. - -"You've struck a lead," he said. "Follow it--cautiously." - - - - -CHAPTER IV.--Behind a Laughing Mask. - -_Captain Mason Strengthens the Defense. The Extraordinary Behavior of -Beelo. Christopher Becomes a Savage. Hidden Motives Half Disclosed. -Hope._ - - -FORSEEING the time when a visible danger would bring mob-madness to -the colony, Captain Mason gave his entire attention to strengthening -his control. To that end he kept every one engaged at something, laughed -away all fears and doubts, placed all on honor not to breed discontent, -and required that all discussions of the situation be with him alone. - -He impressed the danger of leaving the camp limits except in large -parties organized under his authority. No spying savages were ever seen -in the forest backing the camp, but I frequently found the captain using -his keen eyes in that direction. The questions weighing on him were: -When would the king ask for the first member of the colony to be sent -away? What plan would be adopted in the selection? What would really -become of the persons so taken? What should be done when the first call -was made for deportation? - -Christopher and I alone were in the president's confidence. On the -second night he informed us that he had selected a spot which would -serve as a fortress if occasion rose, and instructed Christopher in the -art of making weapons, chiefly stone-headed clubs and blackjacks. This -work was done secretly in our cabin. - -The daily teaching of Beelo developed a new interest in the fact that, -before I was aware, I was a pupil as well as a tutor, and that Beelo was -as assiduous in instructing Christopher as me; he was evidently anxious -that we should master the native language. I was glad to humor him, -especially as I suspected an intelligent purpose. Above that was my -growing affection for him. He perfected his poor English so rapidly that -I was put on my mettle to learn the island tongue. - -It was a simple task, and we came to use it entirely. To my surprise, -Christopher learned it as readily as I. From the very start he had -helped Beelo to turn the teaching in that direction. The strangest -element of all this procedure was the quick and sure understanding that -sprang up between these two. - -Beelo one day brought a large parcel. He was particularly happy, and as -full of play as a kitten. - -"You can't guess what I have for you," he said with a mischievous look. - -"No, Beelo--what?" - -"You'll see." He was opening the parcel. "You and Christopher are going -to be Senatras." Senatra was the name of the inhabitants. - -He produced from the parcel two native costumes. In addition were a -basin and some brown powder. The boy was in glee as he separated the -articles into one array for Christopher and the other for me. - -He ran to a little stream, fetched water in the basin, and with a -comical seriousness dissolved part of the powder. - -"Your arm, Christopher," he demanded. At times Beelo's manner had a -touch of imperiousness that sat oddly with his youth. - -Christopher obediently bared his powerful arm. - -"Oh!" said Beelo in delight. "You have splendid muscles,--they are like -iron; and you are very strong,--that's good." His finger was timid as it -touched Christopher's arm. - -He dipped a cloth in the colored water, and rubbed the stain on -Christopher's white skin. His care and gravity in comparing the tint -with the color of his own wrist, in shaking his head, in adding more -pigment to the water and trying again, and at last his delighted -satisfaction, were all very charming. - -"Good!" he cried. "That's the Senatra color. Now," addressing me, -"I'll go away a little while. You make a Senatra of Christopher." To -Christopher: "Take off everything. Mr. Tudor will put the color all over -you. Then you put on Senatra clothes, and whistle for me." - -Patient Christopher would doubtless submit to any indignity that this -prankish boy might devise, but I proposed to put a stop to the nonsense. -Besides, how could I assume the ridiculous role that this young scamp, -in whom my indulgence had bred impudence, intended for me? - -"Christopher will do nothing of the sort," I peremptorily said. - -The lad stopped short and looked at me curiously. - -"I want to, sir," Christopher interposed, much to my surprise. - -"You do? You wish to submit to this foolishness?" - -"Foolishness, sir?" - -"Yes." - -He reflected a while, and then said: - -"Perhaps it ain't jest foolishness, sir." - -"Very well," I agreed, willing to humor him; "But Beelo will stay here -and put the color on you himself." - -Alarm sprang to the boy's face. - -"I won't!" he answered defiantly, and was turning away, but I caught him -by the arm. - -"You will," I said. "I'll see that you do." - -He slipped from my grasp and stood away, laughing. - -"I want to do it myself, sir," meekly said Christopher. - -Beelo precipitately fled. - -Why not play with these children? A man who would not was a churl. So -Christopher was arrayed as a Senatra, and a whistle called Beelo back. - -He danced delightedly round the pitiful figure that Christopher made. -It hurt me to see not only how patiently Christopher submitted, but -how wholly he entered into the spirit of the masquerade. His pale eyes -looked ghastly in his brown face. I called Beelo's attention to that. - -"Oh, that won't be seen at night!" he exclaimed. The remark did not -impress me at the moment. - -He put Christopher through numerous gaits and tricks of manner peculiar -to the Senatras, and praised him for his aptness. Finally, when he -taught his pupil the art of creeping stealthily and noiselessly, the man -was so terrible that I forgot his grotesqueness. - -All through this singular performance, Beelo, even though half playful, -displayed astonishing perseverance and thoroughness, as if life itself -depended on the perfection of the drill. That might not have looked -so strange had it not been for the extraordinary care of Christopher -himself to accomplish a perfect imitation. Then the significance of it -all burst upon me. - -I had vowed a thousand times since first knowing Christopher that never -again would I underrate his wisdom, yet over and over I found myself -doing so. While he never laughed in his romping with the children of the -camp, but went into their sports with his habitual tender melancholy, -he never showed with them the hidden eagerness, the almost desperate -determination, that marked his training under Beelo. Thus I came to see -that at the very beginning Christopher had discovered a vital meaning in -Beelo's playing. - -"And now," cried Beelo, "you will be a Senatra, Mr. Tudor! Christopher -will dress you. Come!" - -The boy's eyes softened in a moment under the new light that he found in -mine. - -"Beelo," I said, taking his hand, "let's sit down and talk." I seated -myself, but he withdrew his hand and sat a little distance away. "No," I -gently insisted; "here, facing me, and close." - -He twisted himself round to the spot I indicated, and in doing so tossed -Christopher a wry mouth. I noticed more clearly how fine his features -were, and with what grace his long lashes curved. - -"Beelo, do you really wish Christopher and me to be Senatras?" I asked. - -He nodded, and, turning to Christopher, told him to go to the runnel, -wash off the stain and put on his own clothes. Christopher meekly went. -Beelo began playing with twigs on the ground, and did not look at me. - -"Did Lentala tell you to do this?" - -He nodded again--a little irritatingly, for he had a tongue. - -"Why?" I asked. - -He raised his eyes and regarded me steadily. Then, perhaps not seeing -all that he sought, he made no answer, and returned to the twigs. - -"I want to understand, Beelo, and you must trust me. Many things come to -me now. Your sister's conduct at the feast meant that she wished us to -obey the king. She showed us sincere kindness in every look and act. -And her great difference from the other people,--her sweetness, her -grace, her beauty, her brightness of mind, her altogether adorable -charm,------" - -Beelo blazed in a way that stopped my rhapsody. He had raised his face; -his lips were apart; his eyes glowed with a proud light that moved me -strangely. - -"You like my sister?" he softly asked. - -"Who would not?" - -"But _you!_" The boy impatiently tossed his head. - -The little gesture was so pretty that I involuntarily smiled. Beelo -misunderstood. He flashed angrily, and resumed the twigs. I could only -grope. - -"I don't understand why the king sent us here. We are prisoners, and -that is something which brave men won't stand. We would rather die -fighting." - -Again he studied me, and again looked down. - -"Why didn't the king let us build boats, and leave?" - -He gave no answer, but was very busy with the twigs. I wondered if I -were rash in some of the things I was saying. Clearly the moment of -confidence had not arrived. The boy was studiedly cautious. - -"Beelo, go to your sister and beg her to come and see me. She will trust -me more than you do. I know she is our friend. She would tell us what -fate is awaiting us." - -"No, she wouldn't," firmly interposed the boy. - -"She would, because she is sweet and kind." - -"No, she loves her people, and you might do them harm." - -"But she sends you here to disguise us as natives and to train us in the -art of deceiving and outwitting them." - -Had his smile not been so winning I could have slapped him for his -insolence; but it was soon evident that a mighty struggle was proceeding -under his assumed carelessness. If I could only guess at its nature I -might know how to proceed. - -"Bring Lentala to me, Beelo. She would be safe with you, and she will -understand and will trust me." - -"Why? Her skin is brown. You would not trust her." He was closely -observing me. - -"What difference can her color make!" I impatiently retorted. "Lentala -is an angel." - -"But a brown skin means------" A look of horror swept over his face. - -"Lentala is beautiful and kind and true. Tell her to come." - -Beelo was silent. - -"Why should she not trust me?" I persisted. "How could I harm her?" - -The boy, nervously arranging the twigs, spoke rapidly, but did not look -up: - -"She's afraid,--not for herself, but her people. They love her. She -would never betray them. Suppose she came,--you would be gentle to her; -you would tell her she was beautiful and--and all that nonsense. You -might try to get her to tell you things. And you would find out how -to------Yes, you might come back and plot with your men, and there would -be a great fight with my people and many would be killed. That would be -terrible." - -I dimly understood at last: Lentala would trust her brother, not -herself, in the mysterious plan that she was working out. - -Christopher had returned. I beckoned to him to sit with us. - -"Beelo," I said, "look at me." He complied. "If Lentala were here she -could read my heart. All that you have said means that she mistrusts -me. I understand more than you think I do. You have already shown your -confidence and Lentala's by offering to train me as a native. A wise and -generous purpose is in that. By means of the disguise, you wish me to -learn some things that will benefit my people, but you are held back by -your fear that I will use the knowledge to injure you." - -"No," he hastily interrupted; "only my people." - -"Very well. But you have already shown trust. You simply want more -assurance that I will keep faith with you. Tell me what you want. I will -put my life in pawn,--I will give it, if that is demanded." - -His deep eyes were profoundly fixed upon me. In that moment Beelo -disclosed a soul that had found maturity. - -"You would do all for your people!" he impatiently cried. "You think -only of them! Lentala and Beelo may do everything for you, but you never -think what you might do for--Lentala and Beelo." - -The half-revelation in the passionate outburst brought me to my feet, -and the lad slowly came to his. - -"Beelo!" I said, "I hadn't thought it possible. You and she are the -favorites of the king and queen. You have everything you want. I don't -understand. Trust me! I can be a friend." - -He was looking up at me with eyes in which a pathetic anxiety struggled -with fears. Instead of addressing me, he turned to Christopher and -confidently took his hand. - -"Christopher," he said, "do you like me--and Lentala?" - -"Oh, yes!" - -"Very much?" - -Christopher solemnly nodded. - -"If--if we want to go away with you and your people, would you take us?" - -"Oh, yes!" - -"And be kind to us?" - -"Me?" He turned to me, and so did Beelo. - -"Yes, Christopher." - -"_He_ will," was the answer. - -Beelo, seized with one of his unexpected whirlwinds, threw his arms -round Christopher, and laughed. - -I turned him about, and, holding both his hands, looked smilingly into -his brilliant eyes. - -"Show me the way to serve you and your sister, Beelo," I said. "I alone, -or Christopher and I together, will obey any instructions from you; we -will do whatever you say, go wherever you direct,--cut ourselves off -from every protection except yours. Isn't our trust complete?" - -"Yes, Yoseph--Choseph," he banteringly answered. Then, in a flash, "I -mean Mr. Tudor." - -"Joseph--to you," I returned. - -He put his mouth through contortions over the F, and finally, with a -restful gasp, blurted out: - -"Choseph!" - -His gentleness overwhelmed me, and I, being naturally affectionate, and -timid only with women, forgot my feeling of constraint toward him, and -caught him in my arms. But he did not have for me the pressure and the -laughter that he had given Christopher. On the contrary, he resisted and -then sprang away. - -I wondered what thoughts were perplexing him as he stood off, regarding -me in his odd little quizzical fashion, and was astounded when he said: - -"Lentala says that Annabel is beautiful and lovely." I could not imagine -what had suggested Annabel to him at this particular moment, but I -hastily agreed. He seemed not altogether pleased, but went on: - -"You like her very much?" - -"Yes; very much indeed." - -He looked a little sullen, but soon recovered, and broke out in a very -rush of gay spirits. In a short time he suddenly became grave. - -"I must go," he said. With a gentle, pleading look at me, he asked: -"Won't you be a Senatra? Christopher will help you." - -"Yes, Beelo,--anything you wish." - -"Very well. I will come every day for--maybe three days, and teach -Christopher. You will watch us. When you and Christopher are alone, he -will teach you. But you must dress every time as a Senatra!" - -"Of course." My relief was great. For some incomprehensible reason I -did not wish the boy to train me, for that would have necessitated a -disagreeable loss of dignity before him. - -"Good! And in three or four days,"--an oddly embarrassed expression -rose in his face,--"would you like to go with me--you and dear old -Christopher--to see--the beautiful--the kind--the true--Lentala?" He was -mocking. - -"Yes!" I answered, and made an effort to catch him; but he darted away, -showering a cascade of laughter behind him. - -So I was right in supposing that Beelo had been preparing us to -penetrate the mysteries beyond the valley ramparts, and lift the veil -behind which our fate was hidden. - -"Christopher!" I cried in my joy, seizing him by the shoulder; "do you -understand?" - -"Yes, sir." - - - - -CHAPTER V.--The Opening of a Pit. - ---Insolence and Rebellion in Camp. A Riot Averted. I Train for a -Dangerous Role. Plotting Among Us for the Destruction of the Colony.-- - - -WHEN Christopher began my training and pursued it with such amazing -thoroughness, my feeling of being ridiculous disappeared. My love of -adventure in these preparations was mingled with other emotions,--the -fascination of hazard, a ===wish to risk everything for the colony, -and a strong desire to see Lentala and solve the mystery of her whole -conduct. Beelo was a will-o'-the-wisp. - -Complications arose in camp. Although I had taken care to exercise my -authority in a bland way, it became necessary at times to be severe. My -greatest difficulty was inability to find the source of a disaffection -working insidiously among the young men. Captain Mason had not observed -it, lacking my opportunity, and I decided to be more positive and to -find evidence before laying the matter before him. - -I was intimately thrown with the men by directing the work on the farm. -The labor was exhausting on account of the heat. For this reason, and -because some men could bear the work better than others, and liked it, -I called out only volunteers; but selfishness on the part of some who -shirked brought grumbling. At first I had supposed that this was the -origin of the dissatisfaction, but presently a deeper cause appeared to -be in operation. As a test, and to secure fairness, I adopted a system -of levying on all the able-bodied men and requiring each to do his share -in turn. - -In that way I came down on Rawley, who had never volunteered. When I -informed him one evening that his turn in the fields would come next -day, he stared at me in insolent silence. - -That incident alone was not significant, but it made me alert, and I -instructed Christopher to keep a strict and secret watch on the camp. A -present necessity was to force the issue with Rawley, whose bearing was -a threat to the harmony and safety of the colony. - -He had not taken the trouble to absent himself from the tables when I -called out the tale of men for the fields next morning, but lounged at -indolent unconcern. Annabel was not visible. Mr. Vancouver, sitting near -Rawley, had a suspiciously waiting air. - -The young man did not rise with the others and prepare to go, but merely -stared at me. I went near and said in a low voice: - -"These men will resent your refusal." - -"Are you threatening me?" he said under his breath. - -"Give my remark whatever construction you please," I answered. - -He could not hide his anger and fear, for a glance showed him a -disquieting expression in the faces of the forty men waiting. Mr. -Vancouver looked surprised and irritated as he studied them. The men -in whom rebellion was stirring were such as he had always directed and -commanded,--artisans, mechanics, clerks, sturdy and spirited every one, -and loving fair play. - -"Save yourself further trouble," Rawley drawled in an effort to be -nonchalant. "I'll go--if I feel like it, and when I'm ready." - -Although the men could not hear him, they understood, and a murmur -arose. One of them angrily said: "He's too good to work." - -Then came the outbreak. - -"Put him under arrest! Duck him in the river! The snob!" - -Annabel suddenly appeared. The men at once desisted, and she understood -the situation at a glance. Her astonishment grew as her look of angry -reproach at Rawley passed to her father and found him silent and pale, -as though for the first time he had seen the spirit of the common -American. - -She came to me and said: "Don't make trouble now. Be patient. You can -find a way." - -I turned to the men. - -"Gentlemen," I said, "I must remind you that you have not been empowered -by the colony to enforce its discipline. In this instance it is my -task alone, and I propose to handle it as I think best, without your -assistance, unless I call on you for it. Your attitude and remarks -just now were rebellious, and, if allowed by those in authority, would -disrupt us and place us at the mercy of savages. Leave this matter to -me, and depend on me to see it properly adjusted. Mr. Vancouver needs -Mr. Rawley today. Now to our work." My speech affected the men in two -quite different ways. Some, with a submissive glance at Mr. Vancouver -who was watching me curiously, were instantly satisfied; others looked -a little confused and rebellious, and were not cheerful in their -obedience. They appeared a trifle uneasy, as though something might -be afoot and they had not been informed. All of this sharpened my -alertness. - -After the day's work I had doubts as to whether I should report the -incident to Captain Mason, who had not been present. I felt that -something of an underground nature was at work, and that Mr. Vancouver -was its focus. I could make allowance for a man shattered by adversity, -but I supposed that Mr. Vancouver might have gathered himself up during -the weeks we had been held as prisoners. - -It turned out that he had. When Christopher came to give me my drill in -the forest near the camp that day he brought disturbing information. -Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, in order to be alone, had gone into the forest -after I left for the fields, and talked. All that Christopher could -learn was that Mr. Vancouver was carrying on secret negotiations with -the king, and that a messenger from the palace was expected at a certain -place within the forest in an hour. - -My lesson was short that day. I sent Christopher to Captain Mason to -report what he had heard, and to say that I would take the place of the -native in the interview, if possible, trusting to the completeness of my -disguise as a Senatra. Christopher was to be near for an emergency. - -Skirting the spot where Mr. Vancouver was to meet the native, I -intercepted him. It sickened me to see the sly confidence with which he -approached. Meanwhile, I was aware of the great danger of discovery by -the genuine messenger, for I knew the trailing skill of the natives, -even though I led Mr. Vancouver as far from the meeting-place as -necessary. But Christopher, who had acquired the native slyness, would -know how to handle any embarrassing situation. - -The discovery of Mr. Vancouver's seeming treachery had so disturbed me -that I had some doubt of myself in the interview. The simple solution -offered by strangling the man in the forest kept hammering at me with a -dangerous persistency. We had taken it for granted that his interest in -the colony was strong; no watch had been set on his liberty, which he -had used in plotting. - -I was measurably collected by the time we had seated ourselves on the -ground. Being totally in the dark as to what had gone before, I was -forced to extreme caution, and in addition was some danger of my -betraying myself or of his discovering that I was not a native. - -"Why didn't the other man come?" he demanded in his old peremptory -manner. - -In confusion, not knowing what degree of proficiency in English to -assume, I gave some answer in a lame speech, the inconsistency of which -he might have detected had he been less absorbed. - -"What is the king's plan?" he asked. - -"He wants to know yours first," I answered. - -I was prepared for his quick, half-suspicious look. "He knows what I -want," was the sharp return. - -"The other native didn't know. He couldn't tell the king very well." - -"This is my plan," went on Mr. Vancouver: "I make some good, strong men -think that Captain Mason does nothing, but sits down and waits for us -all to be killed. This is secret. A fellow named Hobart is my leader. -The young men are ready to go with him out of the valley. The king will -tell the guard to seize them and take them to the palace. That will get -rid of the best fighters in the colony." - -"What will the young men think they go for?" I inquired. - -"What difference does that make," he testily demanded, "so long as they -are out of the way?" - -"The king must know." I was solid and firm. - -"I'll make them think they can pass the guard; then they'll find a way -for the colony to escape, and will come back and tell me." - -"But they are not to come back." - -Mr. Vancouver was silent, and his impatience grew. "You will send them -into a trap?" I persisted. Again his suspicious scrutiny. "Does the king -want them to come back?" he asked. - -"I don't know. But he wants your plan." - -"If they don't come back," Mr. Vancouver explained, "Captain Mason will -be blamed for not knowing they were to go. Then his power will be gone. -The colony will break up." - -The ghastly perfection of the scheme overcame me for a moment, but I -must learn what benefits Mr. Vancouver expected from this wholesale -sacrifice. - -"What do you want of the king?" - -"I and my daughter and a young man named Rawley are to be taken care of, -and----" - -"You mean not killed?" - -He writhed and reddened under the question, and under my sullen -insistence. - -Instead of answering, he hurried on: "I will show the king how to work -the gold, silver, copper, diamond, and other mines, and how to make much -money out of them. I will make treaties with other countries, and build -forts, and make him a strong army. All this has to be done sooner or -later, or the island will be taken." - -"What is to be done with the other white people?" I demanded. - -"The king knows." - -"If I can't tell him he'll send me back." - -After a struggle with his anger, Mr. Vancouver said, "The king knows -what he has done with other castaways." - -"What do you think he has done with them?" - -He started at me in a struggle with his patience, and said nothing. - -"Do you think they were sent away?" I returned. - -His fury broke. "No!" he exclaimed, and then suddenly checked himself. - -"Then you think they are here yet?" I drove in. - -He rose in a passion. "Tell the king to send me a man who isn't a fool!" -he stormed. - -"I will tell him," I quietly said, rising and starting away; but he -halted me. - -"Why do you ask those questions?" he said more composedly. - -"The king told me to. He wants to know if he can trust you. If you want -these people sent away,----" - -"I don't! That would ruin everything. They'd send armies and war-ships, -and----" - -"Then, kept here--alive?" - -"Certainly not! They'd kill me." - -I had known this to be the answer that I would wring from him; still the -renewed impulse to strangle him was almost overpowering. - -"I will tell the king," I duly said, and was turning away, when another -idea came. "Maybe he will first send for a man from your people. Which -one do you want to go before the young men?" - -"Tudor, Captain Mason's assistant," he answered with a vicious -promptness. "Then, as soon as the young men are gone, I and my daughter -and Rawley will go, and I will talk and plan with the king while the -soldiers do their work here." - -The humor that I found in the turn, personal to me, which the situation -had taken, lightened my spirit, and I thought of something else. - -"Did the king send you any word about Lentala, his fan-bearer?" - -"I talked with the man about her. I knew there was some mystery about -her and that she was close to the king. I asked that she be sent to make -the plans with me." - -His halt whetted my anxiety. "What did he say?" - -"That she must know nothing about it, or she would break the plot." - -My heart choked me with its bounding. I had gained more than I had lost, -but my heart was sore for Annabel. - -"I must go," I said. "Next time I come I will go to your hut in the -night. Don't come into these woods again. The soldiers----" - -He understood, and looked relieved. After he had disappeared I sat down -in a daze, trying to reason out the tangle. Rawley was in the plot, but -Annabel was innocent. - -A sound made me raise my head, and I saw Christopher and Captain Mason -standing before me. Christopher's face wore its customary vacancy, but -Captain Mason's had a startled look, as though he had beheld what is not -good for a man to see. It appeared to have shriveled him. - -"Before Christopher summoned me," he dully said without any preliminary, -"he found the native and sent him away. We have heard every word that -passed between you and Mr. Vancouver." - - - - -CHAPTER VI.--Witcheries in Hand. - -_A Dangerous Mood. Annabel's Tangled Situation. Heroism in Humble -Duties. The Miracle Worked by Gentleness. Traitors Are Threatened._ - - -NOT a word was spoken after I had dressed and we were returning to -camp, but Captain Mason's walk lacked its usual firmness. What would -he do? There is no accounting for the rashness of a man made suddenly -desperate, and I remembered the temptation to strangle that had assailed -me. Clearly, for the present, Christopher and I must not leave him alone -for a moment. My imagination constructed this scene: Captain Mason, -assembling the colony, telling them briefly that a man among them had -been caught in the act of plotting to destroy us, turning upon Mr. -Vancouver and pointing him out as the criminal, ordering me to tell off -a squad and hang the knave in the presence of the crowd; and -Annabel----Could Christopher and I stay the flood now while the dam was -straining? I feared not; a finer hand was needed. - -We went to our hut. Captain Mason seated himself on a stool. Christopher -gave him some water, which was eagerly drunk. With a significant look at -Christopher, I left the hut. - -There was a good excuse for bringing Annabel now; I had promised Beelo -that he should see her. It was necessary to secure Captain Mason's -assent, and I had no doubt that he would agree with me that a friendship -between her and Lentala might go farther toward solving our problems -than all our masculine wit and fighting ability. - -I reflected on the extraordinary complications in which Annabel would be -involved, and the softening pressure which she would assist in bringing -upon Captain Mason. There was no immediate danger from Mr. Vancouver. He -lay snugly in the hollow of my hand. - -Annabel was busy about the camp. - -"Where is Christopher?" she cheerily asked. "It is time for him to make -the fire for supper." - -"Captain Mason has him," I answered. "Won't you come with me and call on -our president?" - -"I?" in surprise. - -"Yes." - -A flush mottled her cheeks, but she hesitated only a moment. - -"Father won't care, I know," she said, and started with me. - -She was bareheaded, and the witcheries of the twilight drifted over -her. In the distance sang the deep monotone of the waterfall. Drowsy -twitterings announced that the busy little people of the trees were -content after their day's work. From the edges of the stream rose -comfortable whispers between the water and the reeds. The lightly moving -air swung odorous censers in the trees, and every flower poured out as -perfume the sunshine which had filled its chalice. It was good to be -thus again side by side with Annabel. - -I explained tomorrow's plan for her meeting with Beelo, and impressed -upon her the importance of keeping it secret. She showed the glee of -a quiet child in her acquiescence, but she must have wondered why her -father was not to know. - -"An adventure!" she exclaimed. "And mystery! It is delightful. Do you -men with so much freedom know how depressing it is to be cooped up in -this camp?" - -I had not thought of it, and was surprised. Annabel had always been -cheerful, and I had not observed the other women. - -"Isn't it life," I asked, "for men to work and women to wait, for men to -dare and women to endure?" - -"Yes," she answered, looking up at me with a smile, "but isn't it a -remnant of savagery?" - -"Perhaps," I returned. "Yet Lentala, the savage, appears in her -independence to have solved some latter-day feminine problems. I hope -you will meet her soon. Then you and she can formulate a code for your -sex. We are going to see Captain Mason in order to secure his consent to -your meeting her brother. So you must exercise your subtlest graces on -our president." - -"I--I'm afraid of him," she declared in some trepidation. - -"Why?" - -"Because he is stern and silent and cold and----" - -"That is all on the surface. His sea-training has given it to him. -Underneath he has a woman's gentleness and kindness. Trust him. Look for -the best in him and ignore the rest. Just now he is worried and needs -all the sunshine that you know so well how to give." - -She smiled her thanks, but there was concern in her question: - -"Worried! Has anything special happened?" - -"Was anything special needed? His responsibilities are great." - -Annabel was silent,--not daring, I know, to ask more questions. She -had unfolded to my comprehension what the women of our party had been -suffering patiently and silently during the dreary weeks that they had -been held in prison. Annabel must have borne more than any other; yet -she had held up her heart and her head. Dread must have sat on her -pillow through many a long hour of the night, but her soul walked forth -with the sunrise. - -Christopher was sitting on a bench outside the hut. - -"Christopher!" she cried, "the fire isn't made yet;" but there was no -chiding in her rosy smile. - -"No, ma'am," he answered, rising, but standing still. - -"Go and make it now, please," she said. - -"All well, Christopher?" I asked, low. - -His slow nod held a doubt. There was always in Christopher's manner a -suggestion that speech was largely a silly indulgence, and that animals -other than human beings made themselves intelligible without it. - -He fetched a delicious drink which he had made from wild fruit, and -served Annabel with quite an air. Her voice carried music in its thanks. - -Annabel bubbled with raillery and chatter. Presently my anxious ear -heard a stir within. I knew that the man nursing his hurt in the dusk -was aware of the invasion, and that he understood and resented my ruse -in bringing Annabel to disarm him. - -"Christopher," she said, handing him the calabash from which she had -drunk, "please go and make the fire and start the supper. After that, -find father; ask him to come here for me." - -Christopher mutely interrogated me, and I nodded. He shambled away. - -"Come out and join us, Captain Mason!" I called. - -It left him no choice. The darkness kindly falling veiled the grayness -of his face. A touch of decrepitude lay on him as he stepped without and -greeted Annabel with a stiff and stately courtesy, for he was shy with -women of the higher world. The unsteadiness in his manner surprised -Annabel, whose sympathies were keen and quick. I had prepared her, and, -shocked though she evidently was, she met the situation bravely. - -After some general talk, which was directed by me to show Annabel's -suffering, her courage and helpfulness, I saw that Captain Mason was -softened. I then placed before him the plan concerning Annabel and -Beelo. It took the breath out of his body, and he peered at me in -amazement through the gloom. The perfect assurance with which I asked -for his concurrence, a hint that her discretion might be trusted, and -a casual remark that Christopher approved the idea, had effect. Annabel -impulsively rose, seized both his hands, and pleaded: - -"Please let me go, Captain Mason. Who knows what good may not come of -it?" - -I don't think she noticed the catch in his throat. It was the final -breaking up of the ice. - -"Yes, you may go. But you'll do nothing except as Mr. Tudor approves?" - -"Nothing whatever, Captain Mason. Thank you." - -She released his hands and turned a beaming face to me. Pity for her -welled within me. That she and her father, between whom there was -so strong an attachment, should thus secretly proceed in opposite -directions, each deceiving the other, was a terrible thing. No human -perception could foresee the outcome, and, it gave me an uneasiness that -she must have dimly seen. - -"You don't look glad!" she said in astonishment. - -"I am too happy for mere gladness, my friend," I replied; "and may all -the good angels help you--and shield you!" - -She heard the note of solemnity, and turned to Captain Mason. - -"Is our situation so serious?" she asked him, a slight quaver in her -voice. - -"Life can have no serious dangers for so brave a heart as yours," he -answered. - -Mr. Vancouver came up. I could feel a tigerish stealth in him. All -danger from an immediate clash between him and Captain Mason had been -banished by Annabel, but I knew that the future held dangers. I was -glad that she and I had become partners in the secrets and exactions -of defense. With such an ally as Christopher, and such a director as -Captain Mason, we would give an account of ourselves. - -The captain hardened when Mr. Vancouver came. That gentleman playfully -scolded Annabel for running away, and was somewhat too affable toward -the silent, unresponsive sailor. Soon he tucked Annabel's hand under his -arm and was leaving. - -"Just a word, Mr. Vancouver," said Captain Mason in a tone that stopped -my breathing. - -"Well?" - -"I unintentionally witnessed a scene this morning that I didn't like. -I wish you to hear the order that I'll give Mr. Tudor." His voice was -ominously quiet. - -"Mr. Tudor," he resumed, "order Rawley to fall in with the field squad -tomorrow. If he shows the slightest hesitation, clap him in irons and -send for me. There's a rope for the neck of any man who undermines the -discipline of this colony." - -Annabel started, and reeled where she stood. Her father's nostrils were -spreading with a sneering smile; but, seeing her state, he seized her -arm, steadied her with a word, and in silence led her away. - - - - -CHAPTER VII.--Secrets For Two. - -_The Strange Meeting of Annabel and Beelo. Captain Mason's Cruel -Decision. I Tell a Romantic Story and Make a Guess at Lentala's Origin._ - - -CAPTAIN MASON and I had a serious talk in our hut that night. - -"Don't think for a moment," he said, "that my intentions with regard to -Vancouver have been upset by a woman's pretty face." - -"But she is very lovely," I interposed, anxious to turn his thoughts -from whatever purpose he might have. - -"That is as one thinks." I could not restrain a smile at his -ungraciousness, particularly as I saw that Annabel's effect on him had -impaired his frankness. "For that matter," he went on, "her father is -blindly planning her destruction." In answer to my look he explained: -"How can a man let his avarice and cowardice make such a fool of him! -Can't he see that the king is using him as a tool to disrupt and destroy -the camp, including him and his party?" - -I knew, as well as I knew my own thoughts, that a terrible apprehension -of a fate worse than death for us all rested on him, as on me; but we -had dared not give it tongue. Both had seen the naive inconsistency -between the king's desire that the island should not be discovered and -his promise to send us away one at a time, and so had Mr. Vancouver. No -foreigner straying to the island had ever left it, and none except our -colony was alive on it today. But in what dreadful manner had they been -disposed of? And why had we been spared so long? We had been prisoners -nearly two months. - -Whether these fears and speculations haunted others of the colony we -were both careful not to inquire, and were prompt in suppressing every -uncomfortable hint. Captain Mason and I understood that the perfect -cohesion of our colony, taken with our considerable numbers, offered -the sole hope for our safety; and Mr. Vancouver was secretly planning to -destroy our one means of defense. - -We had been sitting in silence after Captain Mason's last speech. He -broke it by saying: - -"The situation is complex. Your interruption of Vancouver's plot and -Christopher's dismissal of the native require us to lay a counter train. -The king will infer from what Christopher told the native that Mr. -Vancouver has abandoned his scheme to betray the colony, and that we are -determined to hang together, and fight it out to the end. I imagine that -the natives are growing impatient for a victim. What do you suggest, Mr. -Tudor?" - -"I suppose I should continue in the role of the king's emissary and -inform Mr. Vancouver that the sending out of the young men is postponed. -Fortunately we have stopped that." - -"We have done nothing of the sort," declared the president. "They shall -go out." - -Astonishment silenced me. - -"They shall go out," he drove into me again. - -"To their destruction--and ours?" I asked. - -"No. But they must go and take their punishment. Then they will hear -from me. You can manage it through the native boy and his sister. Let -her see that they are soundly whipped and sent back to the colony. She's -our friend." - -"That is unthinkable," I protested. "The risk is too great. Lentala -can't----" - -"Don't underestimate her. You have your instructions, sir." He rose. -"I'll be on hand tomorrow when you call out the men for the fields." - -I had risen, and stood facing a commander instead of an ally. After a -moment's struggle with desperately rebellious emotions, I saw my own -absurdity, and abruptly left without a word, to fight for patience and -wisdom under the stars. - -***** - -The smiling ease with which Rawley stepped forth when I called his name -with the others next morning might have disarmed me had I not caught a -look of understanding between him and Mr. Vancouver, and known what it -meant. My dread had been on Annabel's account, but she did not appear. - -Rawley worked faithfully in the fields that day, but I saw the furtive -way in which he talked now and then with certain of the men, and I noted -all whom he thus favored. None of them had a guilty manner, though -a concealing one. It was evidence of Mr. Vancouver's shrewdness in -plotting. - -***** - -Annabel met Christopher outside the camp that afternoon and came with -him to Beelo and me. The boy betrayed a singular uneasiness as they -approached, and, drawing his hat down, stood in awkward embarrassment. -It puzzled me, for he had been anxious to see her. In a glow of -excitement, Annabel was conspicuously handsome, and though dressed in -the rougher of the two suits which she had saved from the wreck, showed -in every line the thoroughbred that she was. Seeing the lad's confusion, -she spared him by giving him hardly more than a smiling glance with her -warm hand-clasp, and breezily said to me as she held out an exquisite -orchid: - -"See what I found on the way. Isn't it beautiful!" I took it and was -fumbling to put it in the buttonhole of my lapel, when she stepped up -and with frank comradeship adjusted it, remarking as she did so: - -"He's very much like his sister, but smaller, and not so pretty and -graceful." She did not realize that he understood English. - -"I thank you--for Lentala," he constrainedly said, staring at her as his -eyes began to burn. - -"Oh!" cried Annabel in amused surprise. "But you are quite too -good-looking for a boy, Beelo!" - -He did not smile, but studied her with a disconcerting seriousness, and -looked from her to me, as though watching for something which I guessed -to be a sly understanding between Annabel and me that might mean -ridicule of him. I saw that Annabel had innocently blundered into a -wrong start. Evidently the pleasure that the lad had expected from the -meeting had gone astray. - -As though the words were wrenched from him by the striking picture that -Annabel made, he said in a stolid, colorless voice: - -"You are more beautiful than Lentala." - -"Hear his disloyalty to his sister!" laughingly exclaimed Annabel, but -I could see that the boy's bearing was trying her composure. "Come!" she -added; "let's be friends, for Lentala and I are, and I want you to tell -me about her." She coaxingly held out her hand as to an ill-tempered -child. - -But he ignored it, and lowered his head till his hat-rim concealed his -eyes. Annabel looked at me in questioning surprise, but before I could -say anything,--being as much astonished as she,--Beelo, without raising -his head, asked half sullenly, half commandingly: - -"Have you and--Choseph known each other a long time?" - -"A year or so," Annabel promptly answered, anxious to show her -friendliness. "He's been very kind. I became a skilful horsewoman under -his teaching, and we've danced together and taken long walks in the -country. He knows a great many interesting things. You see, he was -educated at West Point, where young men are trained to be officers of -our army, and has fought in the war, and----" - -Beelo broke in with a toss of the head and a laugh that sounded much -like a sneer. - -Annabel opened her eyes and looked in wonder from the boy to me. She -was not laughing now; alarm was creeping into her face. I could think of -nothing to say, but was confident that the two fine souls would find a -way. - -Without raising his face to Annabel, Beelo slowly looked round at me, -and regarded me deeply and in silence. Sadness stole into his eyes, and -with it reproach. The mystery of it touched me as I steadily returned -his look. - -As he did not speak, I did. "Beelo," I kindly said, "I don't understand -you, and I don't like your conduct. You wished to see Annabel. To please -me, she kindly took the trouble to come and tried to be friendly to you. -But you treat her rudely. You are not worthy to touch her hand." - -He blazed and went rigid. For a moment he was choked with passion; then, -locking his hands behind him, and throwing back his head and shoulders, -he said loudly, while his nostrils quivered: - -"No! I'm not worthy to touch her hand! I'm glad of it! You send fine -words to Lentala, who has not a white friend in the world! Then you -bring the white girl to Beelo, that Beelo may see how different they are -and go back to shame Lentala. Riding! Dancing! Walking! Ah, Beelo is a -little fool,--a fool no bigger that a toad! But he can be useful,--he -can make Lentala a fool too! And Lentala can be useful. She can trick -King Rangan. She shall be the tool of the white people who want to -leave!" He paused breathless, but there was more of despair than anger -in his attitude. - -Annabel had gone very white. She gave me a glance of new amazement, and -then went forward, seized Beelo's arm, and forcibly turned him to look -into her eyes. With a start she straightened, looking at me strangely, -as if a great light had broken. - -"There's a misunderstanding," she calmly said to Beelo and me as she -apologetically held the quivering figure. To me she added: "You and -Christopher please retire. I'll call you soon." - -We left, and when screened and beyond earshot I gave Christopher a look -of wondering inquiry. He blinked benignly at me, as a dog at his foolish -master. - -"What does it mean?" I demanded. - -"Mean, sir?" - -"Yes." - -"You are asking me, sir?" - -"Of course." - -He looked away, but not with a listening manner, yet the mystery -appeared to demand it. I did not happen to remember that he was the most -chivalrous and the least meddlesome man I had ever known. - -"Well, I'll tell you, sir," he presently said in his slow, gentle way; -"it will be all right." - -So it apparently was when Annabel called us back, for the two were -chatting amicably as they sat on the ground. Annabel's serious mistake, -by which she had imperiled my plans, had been turned by her to excellent -account. - -Christopher was waiting to conduct her back to camp; he would return, -for Beelo had informed me that there were matters which he wished to -tell us alone. The parting between him and Annabel was friendly and held -promise, but Beelo's face was not wholly unclouded. Holding Annabel's -hand and gazing into her face, he said, with a touch of sadness: - -"Anybody would love you." - -Annabel blushed, and turned laughingly away. - -"I'll see you again very soon!" called the boy. - -Annabel turned and blew him a smiling kiss. The lad stood and gazed long -at the spot where she was lost among the trees. - -"You like her, Beelo?" I asked. - -Much to my surprise, a little droop pulled at his mouth-corners. - -"She is very lovely," he softly said. - -"Is that a thing to be sad about?" - -"Yes. Lentala can never be as sweet and beautiful." - -"She is as sweet and beautiful as Annabel, and--and--what shall I -say?--more fascinating." - -His face was turned away, and he was silent. After a while he faced me, -and said, while observing me closely: - -"But she belongs to your kind, your world." - -"My heart finds my kind, and that is my world." He again turned away. -In trying to find a reason why any of this mattered to him, or why he -appeared in a measure to resent Annabel, the old suspicion that had -lodged in a corner of my mind came forth. The remarkable difference -between Lentala and her brother on one hand and the natives on the other -must have some special explanation, and Beelo must have a secret which -he had a good reason for guarding. Christopher and I had probably been -the only white men to touch their lives, and there was in them that -which knew and claimed its own. It was a hungry demand, and jealous. -To see the desired companionship subject to an older claim, such as -Annabel's, was the finding of a barrier. I determined to probe for the -secret by indirect means. - -"The soul that finds its kind finds its world, Beelo," I said, "and -souls have neither race nor color. Would you like to hear a strange -little story?" - -"Yes!" he eagerly answered. - -I sat down, and he seated himself facing me, keenly interested. - -"A long time ago a white man--a gentleman, no doubt--was in a ship that -was sailing the seas. A great storm came on. His ship was wrecked, -and he was cast up on the beach of a beautiful tropical island. It was -decreed by the natives, who were jealous for their country, that he -should suffer the fate of all who had drifted before him to those -shores. But for some reason--that may be another story some time--he was -spared, and the king gave him a wife from among the native girls. Two -children were born to them, a girl and afterward a boy; but their father -had so strongly impressed his racial peculiarities on them that they -were in an unfortunate position,--outcasts in a way, and perhaps in -danger of their lives, by reason of the deeply planted native hatred for -the white blood. So the king, who had spared the man, took them under -his protection, and as the queen had no children, she loved them as her -own. But in time, as the children grew up, the white blood in them began -to starve for its kind, and to whisper of a far country whence it had -come. That is nature's way. She lets us go just so far from the plan on -which she started us, and then she sends a voice that speaks deep within -us. We may not know at first what it says, but--" - -"Just a longing?" Beelo asked - -"Merely that. We want something very much, but don't know what it is. We -are dissatisfied. That comes in youth, when the tides of life flow free, -and before the soul is fully awake. Afterward, when it has ripened and -mellowed, it finds its kind and makes its home wherever----" - -"After a while. But now!" demanded Beelo. - -I ignored him with a smile, and went back to the story. - -"At last the sister had grown to womanhood and the brother nearly to -manhood. A much larger company of white people than had ever before been -stranded on the island came to its shores. The girl and the boy had been -spoiled by the king, and they had much their own way. The girl demanded -that she be taken with the king to see the castaways. It was the voice -in her heart." - -Beelo nodded, and then with nervous fingers began to weave a twig-house -on the sand. - -"Do you like the story?" I asked. - -He looked up in surprise. "Is that all, Choseph?" - -"Isn't that sufficient?" - -He drew a deep breath. "She went there just to _see_ them?" he said. - -I smiled into his brilliant eyes. "I'll tell you the rest of the story -some other time," I remarked, satisfied, because at not a single point -had he criticized my guessing. "There is one thing more," I went on. "Of -course the children adopted the native dress, but their father's blood -in them had lightened their native color, and that must be overcome." - -His eyes kindled brighter; his lips had fallen apart. There was not a -movement in his body. - -"Lad, how did you learn to stain a fair skin so well that it looks like -a native's?" - -With that I seized the collar of his blouse, to tear it open and see the -real color of his chest before he could prevent. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.--A Crumbling Edge. - -_Beelo's Horror at the Fate Intended for Us. My Visit in Disguise to Mr. -Vancouver. Annabel's Dramatic Defiance, and How She Was Humbled._ - - -BEELO sprang away and scampered into the forest as though Satan -pursued. That gave me no uneasiness. I gathered up his twigs and began -laboriously to weave the hut. - -A gurgling laugh raised my head. Twenty feet away, in a direction -opposite to that in which Beelo had disappeared, I saw him lying on -the ground, kicking up his heels, and, his cheeks resting in his hands, -mischievously laughing at me. - -"You haven't gone?" I said. "Christopher will come soon, and I have -something to say to you first." - -He rose, came forward gingerly, and halted a safe distance away. I -sometimes wondered whether any other man would have borne with him at -all. The wretch knew that I had grown absurdly fond of him. - -"What do you want to tell me?" he asked, as he crept nearer and -contemptuously regarded my hutbuilding effort. - -In a few words I frankly told him of my experience as a Senatra with Mr. -Vancouver. He listened absorbed and aghast. - -"I didn't know," he breathed. "I am glad you told me. You do trust me, -don't you?" - -"Trust you, Beelo? Have I ever failed?" - -"No, but you are always thinking of your people, never of Lentala and -Beelo." - -"You have taught me to think of you and Lentala, else I never would have -told you about Mr. Vancouver and his plot. But don't you see? The king -is using Mr. Vancouver to break up our colony, Beelo," raising myself in -aggressive earnestness. "You talk of my trusting you. I have already put -my life and more than two hundred other lives in your hands. But not for -one moment have you ever trusted me." - -He was deep in thought, and was distressed. Before I could ask him for -the cause, Christopher came up. - -"Something is going to happen very soon," Beelo said. "Christopher, what -did you say to the native that came to see Mr. Vancouver?" - -Christopher wore his stupidest manner Beelo reached round, picked up a -stick and threatened him. - -"You know what I said. Now answer--quick!" - -"Me?" - -"Me?" mocked Beelo, and struck him. The nearest that I had ever seen to -a smile on Christopher's face came then as a twinkle in his eyes. - -"I'll tell you," he answered. "I told him Mr. Vancouver didn't never -want to see him no more." That was a long speech for Christopher. - -"Then what happened?" impatiently demanded Beelo. - -"I done this a-way at him." Christopher crossed his eyes and made a -grimace at Beelo. The act was so unexpected and terrifying that Beelo -started back in alarm, and then rolled on the ground in laughter. - -He sat up. "What did the man do then?" - -"This a-way." Christopher's face assumed a look of astonishment and fear. - -"What then?" - -"He runned away." - -Beelo nodded thoughtfully, and said: - -"The king will think Mr. Vancouver changed his mind. Very well. Now he -won't wait any longer. He will make a demand for one of your people." -His manner was grave. - -He was surprised when I informed him of Captain Mason's determination -that the young men be permitted to leave the valley, and that Lentala -should arrange for their being turned back,--I had no heart to say -anything about their rough handling by the natives. - -"I'll tell her," he said. "I think she can manage it." - -"But are you sure?" I anxiously demanded. - -"Don't worry, Choseph. You are too serious to be happy. Let's talk about -the first man to go out when the king sends for one. Do you wish Mr. -Vancouver to go?" The question came with a keen look. - -"Not if it will expose him to any danger, or give him an opportunity to -plot against us." - -Beelo's look became suspicious. "What do you owe him, that he is not to -be exposed to danger?" he asked. - -Seeing the trend of his question, I was irritated, and sternly said: - -"That is my affair, and I won't discuss it. If there's to be anything -petty and spiteful in the matters of life and death that we are -planning, I will stop everything right here, or demand that Lentala send -some one else to me if it is impossible for her to come." - -Beelo was staring at me in surprise. He turned inquiringly to -Christopher, and saw gentler but none the less reproving eyes. For a -second he floundered between resentment and irrepressible good-nature, -and then with a laugh threw a handful of sand at Christopher. - -"Choseph!" he cried; "I didn't mean anything, really I didn't. And -I'll be good." After reflection he asked, "Who is Mr. Vancouver's best -friend?" - -"A man named Rawley." - -"You think he knows Mr. Vancouver's plan?" - -"He certainly does." - -"Then let him be the first." - -Darkness crouched behind all of this, but Beelo's intelligent eyes were -a light ahead. Unquestionably his mind was working rapidly, but his -speech was slow and had silent intervals. He and Lentala were evidently -undertaking severe tasks and desperate risks the nature of which I could -not even surmise. Some profound motive must be urging them on. - -"When he is taken out of the valley," Beelo said after a pause, "I'll -want you and Christopher to go too, with me. Will you?" - -"We'll do anything you wish, Beelo." - -"As natives." - -"Good." - -"It will be very dangerous." - -"That is nothing." - -"Not a soul is to know but your captain. Not Annabel, mind you!" he -abruptly added. - -"Certainly not." - -"And you both promise that if your lives are threatened, you will try -not to hurt or kill any one except as a last resort?" - -We promised. - -"Now," said Beelo, "I want Christopher to go with me at once, and we'll -make a raft. When we go out of the valley it will be by way of the -river." - -"That is all fully agreed to, dear little brother," I said firmly, "but -some things must be understood. The first is that no harm shall befall -any man taken out of the valley by the king's order." - -"You don't trust me, Choseph," he replied, looking hurt. - -"Far more than you trust me," I kindly but emphatically said. "While -I know that wisdom and a noble purpose are in your and Lentala's every -plan and act, I have heavy responsibilities, and I know that four heads -would be better than two in this matter. I have no right to go ahead in -the dark, and I demand to know what the plans are." - -The pain in Beelo's face deepened, but there was no resentment. - -"It isn't that I don't trust you, Choseph," he said, an appealing look -in his eyes. - -"What is it, then?" - -He looked hunted, and blurted out: - -"That's what you and Christopher are going with me for,--to keep from -harm the man whom the king will send for, and----" - -"What is the danger to him?" I insisted. - -"I don't know! I can only imagine!" he passionately said. "It's -horrible. I think you understand. And you are to lay plans with Lentala -for saving the colony." - -I was about to press the matter further, but a look from Christopher -stopped me. - -"I am sorry to have pained you, dear little brother." I took his hand. -"Will you forgive me?" - -"Yes," with a smile. - -He rose, and his relief was shaded with anxiety. This parting was the -first sad one. I also had risen, and the boy was looking up into my -face. - -"I am trusting you," he said, "trusting you with my life and Lentala's, -and the lives of many others." - -"Yes, and you'll find me worthy, dear little brother." - -"I know." He withdrew his hand, took Christopher's arm and pressed it -to his own side, and peered deep into his eyes. "Do you love me, old -Christopher?" - -"Me?" - -Beelo gently slapped Christopher's cheek. - -"Answer! Do you love me?" - -"Yes." - -"Christopher," impressively, "if my life were in danger, and you could -save me by giving your own life, would you?" - -"Me?" - -"You needn't answer if you don't want to." - -"Yes, I would die for you." - -In a burst of laughter Beelo drew his big head down and laid his cheek -against it. "What an absurd old Christopher!" he cried. "Come." - -He stepped back, and again turned to me. - -"Choseph, one thing more! As the king's messenger will you again see Mr. -Vancouver?" - -"Yes, if you wish.'' - -"It's better. Tell him to send the young men out whenever he pleases, -and to take the passage by which you entered the valley." - -"I understand." - -"That is all. Good-bye." He walked away slowly with Christopher, and for -the first time I noticed that he looked as though bearing a burden heavy -for his strength. - -***** - -After laying the matter before Captain Mason, I prepared my disguise and -visited Mr. Vancouver that evening. He and Rawley occupied the same hut; -Annabel slept in one adjoining. I had previously taken care to note that -as Annabel was helping a young mother with the care of an ailing infant, -she would not likely intrude on my visit. - -The two men were startled when they found me standing silently before -them. In the dim light of a nut-oil lamp I saw Rawley's face blanch, and -I wondered how he would bear the ordeal fronting him outside the valley. - -"Well?" eagerly said Mr. Vancouver. - -After instructing him as to the sending out of the young men, I informed -him that the king was nearly ready for a man, and added that Rawley -would be acceptable. Mr. Vancouver was disappointed that he himself -could not go, but cheerfully said: - -"Certainly. Mr. Rawley will be glad to go." - -I enjoyed the young man's dismay. Not so Mr. Vancouver. - -"Why, man, it's the opportunity of a lifetime!" he declared to Rawley. -"There's no danger. The king will furnish a safe-conduct--won't he?" he -added, turning to me. - -"I suppose so. Your friend couldn't find the way otherwise." - -"Of course! Brace up, Rawley, and thank your stars for your good -fortune. You'll have important things to tell me when you return." For -all his cheering manner, Mr. Vancouver could not conceal his contempt. -To me he said: "Give the king my thanks. Tell him that his kind offer is -gratefully accepted, and that Mr. Rawley will be ready at any time." - -Rawley was a bluish white. - -"Very well," he faintly said; "I'll have to go, I suppose, but who knows -what is really to be done with me? I don't------" With a gesture Mr. -Vancouver stopped the indiscreet speech. - -"Give the king my message of thanks and grateful acceptance," he snapped -out in his old business-like way. "Mr. Rawley will go whenever he is -summoned." - -I bowed, and turned to leave, but found Annabel blocking the door. Her -eyes were wide with surprise. She had never before seen natives near the -camp at night, and never one alone. With unexpected firmness she refused -to let me pass. - -"Father, Mr. Rawley, what does this mean? Where is Mr. Rawley going?" - -The men sat dumb. Annabel's instinct told her that treachery was in the -air. - -"Does Captain Mason know about this?" she asked. - -Mr. Vancouver was the first to recover, but he underestimated his -daughter's shrewdness. - -"Not so loud, daughter. It is all right. Let the man pass. I'll -explain." - -Among Annabel's charms was a certain rashness. Here she stood between -affection and duty, and it would be interesting to observe the outcome. -I was glad that she continued to bar my escape. - -"If it's all right," she said, "let us three go with this man to Captain -Mason and----" - -"We'll have no more nonsense, daughter! Are you aware what your attitude -toward me means?" - -"I don't know, father. I--I don't understand. You have never spoken this -way to me before. Surely----" - -"This foolishness must stop here," her father brusquely said, rising and -advancing, with the evident intention of dragging her from the door; but -something in her face stopped him. It was time for me to interfere, lest -she spoil everything. The risk was in lending my voice to her sensitive -ear. - -"He knows," I gruffly said. - -"Captain Mason?" - -I nodded. - -"Come with me and say that to him," she demanded. I nodded again. -The exasperation and fear in Mr. Vancouver's face did not escape his -daughter. - -"I won't have it!" he nearly shouted. To me, - -"Don't you go, or I'll----" - -I stopped him with a knowing look, which he rightly understood to mean -that it would be well to lay her suspicions by going, and that I might -be depended on to handle the matter satisfactorily. In truth, I was -enjoying the situation too much for thought of graver things. And I had -never seen Annabel so superb. - -"Father," she said, "you owe this to me, and I owe it to you." - -Mr. Vancouver's uneasy face betrayed his predicament. Might he trust my -ability to deceive Captain Mason? was his evident thought. The peril was -great. I was maliciously happy over the grinding of the man. - -Suppose I should make a slip with Captain Mason: that would mean the -hangman's noose for Mr. Vancouver,--I knew he was thinking all that. -I could not resist the temptation to harry him. - -"I go," I said to Annabel. - -She wavered, but her courage rose, and with reckless heroism she stepped -out without looking at her father. - -I followed in silence. She did not glance back, and I think she was -glad that the men remained in the hut. With her head held up by the high -purpose within her, she walked as though she were above the stars and -they were her stepping-stones. Once she stopped short. I was certain -that love had conquered and that she would tell me my willingness to go -satisfied her, and so would send me away; but she went desperately on. - -There was a brilliant tropical moon, and the captain was sitting in the -shine of it on the outer bench of his hut. He rose in surprise. - -"Captain Mason," panted Annabel, "I found this native in our camp just -now, and I wondered if you knew." - -He had recognized me, but Annabel did not see the twinkle in his eyes. -He knew that I had blundered in letting her discover me with her father. -I was amazed at the fine delicacy of the man. Instead of asking her -questions, he demanded an explanation of me. With great caution not to -betray myself, I said that I had the king's permission to take Rawley -out, that he might see something of the island, and procure some of the -gems so abundant there. - -The moonlight revealed the shame that burned Annabel's cheeks because -she had doubted her father. Would Captain Mason have the tact to cure -her hurt? - -"May I take your hand?" he asked. She wonderingly yielded it. As he -held it and looked down into her lovely face there came into his voice a -gentleness, a tenderness, that I am certain had been hitherto strange to -it. "This is a wonderful thing that you have done,--the noblest, bravest -thing that I have ever seen in my life. It was so not alone because it -might have meant a matter of life and death, but because it was hard to -do. I am proud to know and be trusted by such a woman." - -Tears were slipping down her cheeks as he released her hand. - -"If you have that kindly regard for me, Captain Mason," she said, "let -it extend to my father. He meant nothing wrong in violating the rule." - -"He has special privileges, Miss Vancouver. I will pay no attention to -the incident." - - - - -CHAPTER IX.--An Iron Hand Comes Down. - -_Anxiety Over Beelo's Absence. The Runaways Return in Disgrace. Mr. -Vancouver's Predicament. Rebellion Breeding. The Arrest. Merciless -Discipline._ - - -NEXT morning the young men in Mr. Vancouver's plot passed secret looks -and words, and Mr. Vancouver and Rawley wore an indifferent air too -conspicuously. - -Annabel emerged late; she and Dr. Preston had been with the suffering -child that night; but she looked much more worn and depressed than the -night's vigil warranted. I greeted her cheerily, and her quiet smile was -ready. I saw nothing to indicate that she noted anything unusual afoot. -Captain Mason gave her a pleasant bow. - -The colony had early integrated into small social groups, particularly -at meal-times. We sat on rough benches at two long tables under trees. -There was a rearrangement of groups at breakfast this morning, so as to -bring the conspirators together at an end occupied by Mr. Vancouver and -Rawley. Annabel sat with the children. The maneuver of the men did not -escape Captain Mason, who was some distance away and at the other table, -having rigidly held himself aloof from all social preferences. After -breakfast he gave me an unobtrusive look, and left. I soon followed, and -found Christopher with him in our hut. - -"You noticed, Mr. Tudor?" - -"Yes. They will go out of the valley today. Lentala will see that they -are turned back. What shall I do?" - -An amused look came into his eyes. "You may abandon your usual plan of -calling the names of those who shall go to the fields, and announce that -only volunteers need go. That will spare such of the idiots as are on -your list from sneaking out of the fields on pretense of headache. Give -them a long rope. Everything is moving beautifully to a crisis. Take -your men to the fields. Christopher will stay here." - -With the insistence of trifles thrusting themselves into a tense -situation, every small thing of the morning marched with me back to the -tables. I must observe the progress of some insatiably hungry nestlings -in a tree, and laugh at a round scolding from their mother. Never had I -heard so many birds singing at once. The solemn cadence of the waterfall -sent a Sabbath spirit through the air. The forest shadows quivered with -mysteries and portents, and the air was drunk with the perfume of many -flowers. - -Annabel's glance showed that she had noted our leaving the tables, but a -cheery word from me laid her uneasiness. - -Relief appeared in some faces when I announced that only volunteers -would go to the fields that day. Mr. Vancouver studied me, and Rawley -was nervous. A small crowd responded to my call, and then amused shame -swept over the men as I good-naturedly laughed at them, with the result -that a larger squad than usual came forward. I kept Mr. Vancouver -in sight, and was not surprised to catch him throwing a look at a -conspirator here and there, causing the guilty to stand forth with the -innocent. I knew that he suspected something in my departure from the -usual way lately of calling out the men. - -The work in the fields went with a smoothness that gave no hint of -trouble beneath the surface. The conspirators dropped away one after -another, with my pleasant assent. Rawley remained. That meant his want -of courage to join the daring expedition. When the remnant started for -camp I went to the spot where I expected Beelo and Christopher. - -The time for Beelo's appearance came and passed. I had an irksome wait, -and in spite of my confidence in his skill, I grew uneasy lest he -had fallen into difficulties. Never before had he failed to keep an -appointment. His endurance and pluck had been extraordinary. From his -home at the palace to our meeting-places had been a number of miles, -without counting his trouble and ingenuity in avoiding detection, and -the hard labor of scaling the valley wall; yet he had never failed, -never complained, never mentioned the heroism for which his conduit -stood. I bitterly accused myself and Captain Mason for our selfishness -in accepting the boy's allegiance and labors as a mere incident of our -struggle to escape. My heart went out to him now; I had been remiss in -appreciation. Had he been of a more aggressive nature, less gentle and -timid, relying more on force than ingenuity, perhaps my conscience would -have been easier. The task which it had been so easy for me to send -Lentala with reference to the malcontents, must have been severe for -her, and must have involved her brother. - -Christopher came at last, but not Beelo. The man reported all well in -camp; Annabel had been downcast until Captain Mason cheered her; Mr. -Vancouver was painfully restless; none of the conspirators had returned. - -We waited until all hope of Beelo's arrival was futile. Christopher had -been listening, but I dreaded to question him. Finally I remarked that -we must go, as we could not expect Beelo so late. The readiness with -which Christopher acquiesced assured me that he had not expected the -lad, but I had no heart to ask him whether he thought that trouble had -been the detaining cause. We returned to camp. - -Dr. Preston had much patching of cuticle to do that night, for the young -men returned after dark. There had been an uneasy hush over the camp -all day. Upon their arrival, which was accomplished with all possible -unostentation, a buzz arose and gossip leaked. I was with Captain Mason, -who sat silent and in grim content as I told him what was going on. We -were both curious to see what Dr. Preston, a quiet young man of fine -intelligence, would deem his duty after the urgency of his offices had -passed. After a while he came, excited and a little frightened. - -He reported that there were no serious hurts, and that the men would be -about next day. - -"What account do they give?" inquired Captain Mason. The twinkle in his -eyes was lost on the earnest young physician. - -"They were peaceably exploring the valley, Captain,--just a lark, you -know, although it had the serious purpose of finding out anything that -might be useful in the escape of the colony,--when they were set upon by -an overwhelming horde of savages, the evident purpose being to take -them away by force. Our men, though so greatly outnumbered, held their -ground, but the scrimmage was close and savage. They would have won -without the fan-bearer's interference, but her coming up with a personal -guard put an end to the affair, as she called the natives off." - -Captain Mason's amused attention sharpened to a keen interest. "The -king's fan-bearer?" he echoed. - -"Yes; the one we saw at the feast." - -The president nodded. "They have all told you the same story, I -suppose," he remarked. - -"Yes." - -"Thank you. That is all." - -In leaving, Dr. Preston looked surprised that Captain Mason should -appear so indifferent. - -Captain Mason announced no plans concerning the young men that night, -and there was nothing unusual in his bearing next morning when the -colony assembled for breakfast. All watched him narrowly. When breakfast -was over, and before we had risen from the tables, he sent Christopher -for me, for I sat some distance away. As I rose, I had a strong feeling -that something extraordinary was about to fall to my hand, for I knew -Captain Mason's nature and his trust in me. - -That brought Beelo vividly to mind. He had seen hardly more than the -gentler side of me. Indeed, it had doubtless been his own gentleness, -his innate delicacy and refinement, that had held in subjection the -ruder elements in me, so deep was my fondness for him. And it had never -been irksome, though the conduct which it had almost forced upon me was -strikingly different from that which usually governed me. While I was -glad that Beelo was not present to see what I knew was coming, still -his spirit was with me, and so strongly that it was tangible. My whole -outlook was filled with him, and I could not shake off the feeling that -he was really near and observing. - -Under the impulse, I sent a trained glance into the shadows about the -camp, and suddenly stopped, for I found his bright eyes peering at me -from the trees. A closer look discovered that underneath the almost -conscious mischief that sparkled in his eyes was apprehension. I had a -moment of anger that he should be there, and tried to give him a look -that would send him away; but he made a face at me, and with deep -misgivings I went to my duty, striving to put him out of my mind. - -"Call for order," Captain Mason directed, "and make a complete statement -of the affair, omitting Mr. Vancouver's connexion with it. Then tell off -twelve steady men for a guard, and have them arrest all of the young men -who disobeyed the rule. Manage the details in your own way. I'll take -command after the arrest." - -Obedience to authority was a law of my training, but I was aghast, and -wondered if the man realized that he might be touching a match to a -magazine. - -As Mr. Vancouver was the danger-center, I glanced at him. He had been -closely observing the president. I shall not forget the picture that he -made as I called for order and proceeded with the speech. By no -effort could he control the emotions that surged to his face,--his -consternation at the appalling correctness of my account, his ferocious -resentment and anger, his sense of being baffled and humiliated while -being spared from open shame, his white fear that at last he would be -exposed as the arch-traitor. - -I observed Annabel also, and saw her puzzled uneasiness as I reminded -the colony of the king's injunction and the great danger of disregarding -it; her furtive glances at her father; her amazement when I hinted at -the plot for undermining Captain Mason's authority, and spoke of its -secret working toward the destruction of the colony; the blanching of -her cheeks when I described the effort of the young men to slip out of -the valley, their being beaten and bound, and the mercy that had spared -them, whipped and wounded, to sneak back in darkness to camp; and the -lie they told to cover their treachery and shame. - -There was a tense pause when I had done, and then I called out the -names of the guilty. So overwhelming had been the presentation, that, -as Captain Mason must have foreseen, there was no time for immediate -reaction toward mutiny. I called out the guard. A death-like stillness -followed. Captain Mason was standing with the silence and firmness -of stone. I stole a glance at Beelo and saw that he had slipped round -through the trees to be nearer. - -I rapped out an order for the guard to step forward. They looked round -curiously at one another, some with a half-smile as they glanced at -Captain Mason, to see if he approved. His face was expressionless. -I repeated the order, more peremptorily, and in slowly rising they -regarded me curiously and in some wonder, as they had never seen me -with such a bearing. Whatever they saw and heard quickened their action. -There was an impressive solemnity in the proceeding, and it strengthened -them moment by moment. I did not hurry them, since it was clear that a -sense of serious responsibility was rising in them. - -"Lenardo, step forward and submit to arrest," I sharply said to one of -the recalcitrants, a decent young carpenter. - -He paled, then flushed, and blunderingly turned to Mr. Vancouver. But -that gentleman was gazing at me with all the hate of his soul. Annabel -shrank under the significance of Lenardo's silent appeal to her father. -Receiving no guidance from Mr. Vancouver, the young culprit sent a -fluttering, desperate look abroad, picking out his guilty associates. -All the comfort he got from them was a frightened glance in return. - -The impaled man wriggled awkwardly to his feet,--for I was giving him -time,--and with a grin and shrug made a pitiful attempt to treat the -arrest as a pleasantry. - -"Stand facing that end of the guard-line," I ordered, pointing. - -"Come, Henry," he said to one of the conspirators. The bravado was -clearly sham. - -"No talking!" I ripped out. - -It jerked Lenardo straight, and he came forward and stood where I had -directed. - -The young man addressed as Henry slouched up with a faint trace of -Lenardo's swagger, but my sharp "Step lively!" electrified him into -firmer action, and his grin went sour. - -"Hobart!" I next called. I selected him for the third, for I knew his -independent, rebellious nature, his courage and pride, and wished the -severest test of the discipline to come at once. - -Because we had been good friends and he knew that I respected him, -he stared incredulously, but found me a stranger. Then a vicious look -flared in his face, and, still sitting, he fingered the handle of a -heavy iron vessel on the table while regarding me defiantly. - -I waited, and then called him again. - -"I won't be made a fool of in this way!" he cried, rising, his face -blazing, his hold on the iron vessel tightening. - -"You two guards on the left, do your duty!" I commanded. - -They hesitatingly advanced upon him. Making a great scattering of -frightened women and children, Hobart stepped back, brandished the -vessel, and shouted: - -"I'm a free American citizen, I am! I'm a law-abiding man and I know my -rights! Stand back, there," to the guards, "or I'll------" - -"Two more guards from the left. Step lively!" I called. - -The advance of the four guards was checked by a diversion. Mr. -Vancouver, who had been sitting in apathetic silence, suddenly spoke out -with biting clearness: - -"Hobart, it is the duty of every one here to submit to authority." - -The young man opened his mouth in astonishment, and instantly drooped; -the vessel clattered from his hand to the ground. - -"I won't make trouble now," he grumbled, "but we've been played low down -by somebody, and I'll-----" - -"Silence!" I said. - -With a threatening shoulder-lift at Mr. Vancouver, which deepened that -gentleman's pallor, Hobart sullenly fell in. I quickly called out the -other culprits; all obeyed and stood in line facing the guard. Then I -looked round at Captain Mason for orders. - - - - -CHAPTER X.--The Finding of a Man. - -_Shame and Horror Follow Disobedience. A Violent Outbreak and Its -Result. The Heads That Struck a Wall. A Frightened Face Among the -Trees._ - - -THE president said nothing, but gave a signal to Christopher, who -brought up a basket containing rope-ends and strips of cloth, of native -manufacture. I understood what I was next to do, and under ordinary -circumstances should have thought of nothing but the doing; but now -a coldness seized my heart, for I thought of Beelo, as a horrified -witness. - -There was a craning to see what the basket held, and then came a quick -drawing of the breath and afterward a hiss as the truth dawned on those -of quick perception. - -Picking up a rope-end, I stood facing the crowd in silence until perfect -stillness had come. Then I went to Lenardo, the first in line, and said -to the guard: - -"Are any of you experienced in tying a man's hands?" - -A head-shake was the response of each. - -"Then observe how this is done," I said. And to Lenardo, "Turn your back -and cross your wrists behind you." - -All the blood fled his face. He glanced about with a shamed, beseeching -helplessness, his eyes wide with horror and his look an appeal for -protection from the outrage. - -"Turn, and cross your wrists," came my command as evenly as before. - -The prisoner obeyed, his hands trembling. - -"Cross your wrists." My tone was such as a farrier might use to a horse -he was shoeing. - -Lenardo crossed them. - -"Observe," I repeated to the guards, as I quickly wound the cord and -knotted it. - -Hobart watched the proceeding narrowly, his face growing more livid, -his eyes bulging farther, his breathing uneven. Once he sent a flaming -glance at Mr. Vancouver, who winced under it, and sat with a sickly, -shrunken look. I knew that the supreme test of discipline lay ahead, and -I was warming to the situation. - -"Tie the next one," I said to two of the guards, handing them a strip. -At the same time, no longer able to resist a glance at Beelo, I found -in his stricken face so strange a look that it disconcerted me for a -moment. It looked to be both horror and appeal. But my duty was plain. - -I stood by and observed the clumsy work of the two guards in tying -the second man, who, meeker than Lenardo,--although both were manly -fellows,--submitted more promptly. - -Hobart's turn came next. He was looking about as a trapped beast, and he -swayed and muttered. It was clear that under the approaching degradation -he was letting his wits tangle. - -Some women, sickened by the scene, and fearing a tragedy from Hobart, -slipped away, a few softly crying, others very white. They hid in a -huddle behind the storehouse, the mothers taking their children. - -"One more turn. Tighter. Work faster," I ordered the guards tying the -second man. - -They obeyed with nervous eagerness. - -Then came Hobart's turn. I stood before him. He knew what to do without -my order, and I was silent. - -"Haven't we any friends among you people?" he bellowed, stepping back -and hardening every muscle. "Are you all cowards, to let these brutes -ride roughshod over you?" - -"Submit, Hobart," cut Mr. Vancouver's voice. - -I turned upon him, but said nothing, and his cadaverous face whitened -still more under my stare. - -"We need no assistance from you, sir," Captain Mason coldly said. - -He started; a momentary flash enlivened his sunken eyes. - -"Step up here in line," I said to Hobart. - -He wavered toward submission under Mr. Vancouver's order, but my prompt -suppression of that intervention thrust upon him an angry despair. "To -hell with you!" he shouted to me. "You bully! You cur! Here, fellows," -addressing his comrades in line, "don't be whipped dogs! We are free -American citizens, we are! Break away!" He stepped still farther back -and edged toward the table. "Stand by me! Be men! We'll settle this -thing! Come on!" The line swayed. - -"Guard, re-form the prisoners in line," I ordered. They stepped forward. - -"Fight, boys! Arm yourselves at the tables!" Hobart's fierce words -thrilled the camp. - -"Lively there!" I snapped to the guards. "Seize Hobart first." - -"The tables, boys!" shouted Hobart. "Romer," he added to a husky young -man of the party, "tackle Captain Mason. I'll attend to Tudor!" - -Hobart sprang at Romer, gave him a shake, and shouted, "Get to work!" -and then advanced toward me as Romer was hardening for assault. - -As Hobart had rudely calculated, the moment was snatched by the other -prisoners for a rush on the guard and the tables, and they broke on the -bound as Hobart hurled himself upon me. But he was too precipitate, and -lacked training. - -It is doubtful that any in the camp except myself saw how the next -thing happened. There was a muffled crack, and Hobart's feet cleared -the ground, his limbs whipped the air as though he were drowning, and he -sprawled on the earth in a disorganized, quivering heap. A glance showed -me that Romer had been stopped two yards from Captain Mason by a look -such as he had never encountered before, and he stood staring like an -imbecile. - -A low cry broke from fifty feminine throats when Hobart's body made its -impact with the ground. But the entire rush had been paralyzed; it was -clearly the impression that Hobart had been killed, and all were -staring from him to me. The guard had responded; the prisoners were in -subjugation, some by a collar-grip of the guard, others panting on the -ground under urgent knees, still others standing inert. - -"Hands off the prisoners. Re-form the line," I ordered. - -When this had been done, the young men sullen, sheepish, and silent, and -viewing with awe the still body of Hobart on the ground, I looked round -upon the circle till I found the man I wanted. My glance had included -Captain Mason and found him stolid and motionless as he observed my -procedure. - -"Dr. Preston, come forward," I said. - -He instantly responded. - -"Please examine Hobart's jaw and neck," I directed. "One or the other -may be broken." - -As he was turning away to obey he discovered a red trickle from my right -hand. - -"Are you hurt?" he inquired. - -"No." - -He carefully examined the heap on the ground. - -"Only a contusion and a slight brain-concussion," he announced. - -"You two," I promptly said to two of the guards, "buck and gag Hobart. -Do you know how?" - -They shook their heads, but under my direction accomplished what -appeared to be a disagreeable task. The process consisted in tying -Hobart's hands and feet, flexing his knees, slipping his arms over them, -and thrusting a stick under his knees and over his arms, thus reducing -him to a helpless knot. Then they thrust a towel between his teeth and -tied it at the back of his head. - -"Shall I do anything to revive him, sir?" asked the doctor. It was -interesting to hear the "sir" slip from his tongue. - -I looked to Captain Mason for directions, but his face remained void. - -"No," I said. Then to two of the guards, "Take him to the shade over -there, on the ground," indicating a tree near by and in full view of the -camp. - -Meanwhile, the tying of the other prisoners had gone on rapidly and -smoothly. When it was finished, I ordered the men taken to the shade and -lined up behind Hobart, who lay on his side, the guards standing by. The -prisoners were a very sober-looking crowd. - -Then came a lull. I had regarded the subjugation of the men as merely -the lighter preparatory work for some grave procedure which Captain -Mason would direct after that was accomplished. At first I was doubtful -of my wisdom in withholding restorative measures from Hobart, but I had -done so hoping that it would have the effect both of softening Captain -Mason and of impressing the other prisoners and the camp at large. Now I -had to face unknown plans, but Captain Mason still remained mute. It was -evident that, since quiet had come, it was from him rather than me that -the camp awaited the next move; it was his crushing mastery that all -felt; it was his iron hand that lay on every heart. He quietly seated -himself, and without a glance at me waited, his face wearing the -undisturbed calm that distinguished it always in dramatic situations. - -The women in hiding peered out cautiously, and then joined those on the -scene. A slight stir, accompanied with murmurs, rose in a spot where the -women stood thickest, and a shrill voice came angrily. - -"Yes, I will! You can't stop me! I say it's an outrage, and I'm going to -untie that boy and take that strangling thing out of his mouth." She was -advancing, a middle-aged woman, with a determined air, and she walked -straight toward Hobart, ignoring me as I stood near him. "I just want -to say to you, Mr. Tudor, that it was enough to knock the senses out -of him, and that it's inhuman and brutal to keep him tied up like an -animal. If the _men_ in this camp can be bullied and scared, I'll let -you know that there's a _woman_ who can't. I'm going to untie that lad, -and------" - -I had stepped forward and laid a kindly hand on her arm as she spoke, -but she threw it off. - -"Let me alone!" she cried. "If you want to strike a woman dead, you -murdering bully, do it! I dare you!" - -Nodding to two of the guards, I said: "Take her to her hut, and keep her -there. If she makes the least noise, bind and gag her." - -"You brute! You coward!" she cried, making a dash forward. - -The guards gingerly seized her, and she talked and struggled wildly. -But they dragged her away, and no sound came from the hut. Captain Mason -gave not the slightest attention to the incident, which greatly deepened -the depression on the camp. - -Hobart's slow, heavy breathing became regular, then fluttered; his eyes -opened, and rolled unseeing. Intelligence began to dawn in his face, and -with it came an unconscious straining at his bonds. That hastened his -recovery. A wild, clear look that roved a moment and settled malignantly -on me, showed that he had come to himself. His astonished glance at his -helpless state preceded an effort for speech that his gag turned to -a growl, and he made a mighty tug to snap the cords. That failing, he -twisted his head to see the line of prisoners standing bound. Then his -gaze found Captain Mason, who was not observing him, and he savagely -growled and champed his gag. - -I looked furtively round for Beelo, and found him staring at me as at -something strange and monstrous. It was more than I could bear, and on -looking away I discovered the gathering of clouds, and then heard low -thunder in the distance. - -Hobart's fury wore itself out. Humiliation took its turn. Toward the end -came a humbled spirit and dumb pleading. A quickening ran through the -crowd, and eager, appealing eyes were upon me from every direction; but -I waited. From humility Hobart sank lower, for the pain of his cramped -muscles grew worse and worse, making him writhe and groan and strain. -Still the moment had not come. I knew that many a life hung on the -precision of my conduct, and Captain Mason did not interfere to the -slightest extent. At last, when Hobart's dumb pleading had settled on my -face and did not rove, I said to Dr. Preston: - -"The gag--nothing else--may come away." - -He removed it, and Hobart panted: - -"Thank you, Doctor. Take the others off, please." - -The physician looked to me, but I gave no sign. That started a movement -in the crowd, and I had to quell that with a look. - -"Let him take 'em off, Mr. Tudor," the prisoner begged. - -I nodded, and he was free. He labored weakly to a sitting posture, Dr. -Preston assisting. His head rolled, but he breathed deeply, and steadied -himself. Dr. Preston felt his pulse. - -"May he have water and a wet towel, sir?" he asked me. - -I nodded. Hobart drank greedily. Dr. Preston mopped his head and face, -and bound the wet towel over his forehead. - -"Bring a seat for Hobart," I said to a guard. - -Hobart was lifted to it, and thus sat facing the crowd. He had a finer -look than I had ever seen from him; he had passed through purgatory. -He looked openly at the people, and at last his glance rested on Mr. -Vancouver. It seemed to hold a deep meaning. Mr. Vancouver shrank even -more than when he had seen the iron hand come down. - -I went up to Captain Mason and reported that Hobart was conscious. - -The captain nodded, came forward, I beside him, and looked down on the -beaten man, who anxiously returned the look. - -"May I say a word, Captain?" Hobart asked. - -"Certainly." - -Hobart turned to me. "You are a hard man," he said, "but square and -brave. So are you, Captain Mason. I deserved what I got, and a good deal -more. But I'm sorry for what I did, and I ask you to forgive me." - -There was frank admiration in Captain Mason's face, for he was observing -another strong man emerge from the first hard lesson in a discipline -that the sailor had known for many a year. - -"May I say something to the boys?" asked Hobart. - -"Of course." - -Hobart worked round to face his fellow-conspirators. In silence he -looked at one after another. - -"Boys," he said, "we made a mistake, and are beginning to pay. I don't -know what's going to be done with us, but, whatever it is, we must bear -it like men. We made an agreement when we came into this valley, and -we violated it. What we did might have cost the life of every member of -this colony." - -He paused, for he was weak, and a deep emotion tore him. - -"Boys, if I had been Captain Mason and Mr. Tudor, and had protected and -trusted the people as they have done, and they had tried to undermine -me, and to benefit themselves to the harm of the others, I would have -them taken to the nearest tree, and, God help me! I would have them -hanged." - -Not a word of that astonishing speech missed an ear in the crowd. When -Hobart had ended, his head dropped in dejection. - -After a long minute of silence Captain Mason gave me a look. I went to -Hobart, who raised a sad face to mine. But when he saw my smile and my -extended hand, a glad surprise leaped in him, and his clasp was that of -a drowning man. - -I walked away. Dr. Preston next received Captain Mason's glance, and the -scene was repeated. I did not observe the hint that the president must -have given; but while some of the guard came and took Hobart's hand, -others were untying the prisoners, and they also came in their turn. - -There were tears in Hobart's eyes, and his speech had fled by the time -Captain Mason came up and took his hand. - -"You are a man, Hobart," said he, and without noting the effect turned -to the other conspirators. "Young men," he went on, "you are at liberty. -The incident is closed." - -Without a glance at the assembled colony, he turned away and went to his -hut. - -I looked for Beelo, and saw his signal to follow him. A buzzing rose -from the crowd. A hard, fixed look was in Mr. Vancouver's ashen face. -Annabel's head rested in her arms on the table, and she was sobbing. -From every direction I found furtive glances upon me, and wondered -whether I had become a Pariah. The idea was dispelled by the friendly -responses that my advances found, but I was uneasy on the score of -Beelo. - - - - -CHAPTER XI.--Faces Set Toward Danger. - -_Len-tala in Difficulties. The True Story of the Enterprising Young Men. -Mr. Vancouver Faces the Unknown. Beelo Takes Us on a Journey._ - - -BEELO was much excited and torn with impatience when I arrived. Despite -that, he regarded me with an odd mixture of awe and fear. - -"Choseph!" he exclaimed, "you are terrible and cruel! I couldn't have -believed------" His breath gave out. - -"What's the news, lad?" - -The gentle solicitude in my voice steadied him, and he looked with his -sunny smile. - -"You are dear old Choseph, aren't you?" he said. "Oh, everything has -happened!" he flung out. "The king is terribly angry with Lentala for -interfering with the arrest of the young men yesterday. I had to stay -with her, and couldn't come. I don't know what trouble will come out of -it, but the king is going to bring matters to a head at once, before we -are nearly ready! Choseph! those young men ought not to have been let -out of the valley. Gato is now on his way to the colony for a man, and -you must go there immediately to attend to it. You must decide which man -is to go." - -His news, breathlessly given, stunned me. It was essential that we both -be calm. - -"Tell me what happened to the young men," asked. - -"They climbed the wall, and expected to slip through. Why, Senatra men -rained on them! Len-tala got there as soon as she could with her private -guard, but it was too late to save them from a terrible whipping. The -guard had them bound and were taking them to the palace when -Lentala arrived. She's afraid now that the king will do what he has -threatened,--either lock her up or give orders that will tie her hands -so that she can't do anything." - -I hesitated. "If she is powerless, Beelo, there will be no one to -protect the man who will go out with Gato." - -His distress was poignant, and he dropped to the ground in a weary -little heap. - -"Lentala is equal to any task, lad," I quietly said. - -He looked up brightly. "Do you believe that much in her, Choseph?" - -"She's our one hope, lad, and she'll never falter; and she has your wise -little head and your bold heart to help her." - -He came strongly to his feet. "She can do anything if you think _that_ -of her, Choseph," he gently said. Another moment found him his eager, -active self. "A great deal will depend on the man you are to send out," -he said. - -"Why? What awaits him?" - -The answer was an appealing look. His remarks about the earthquakes -and the storms had puzzled me, and while I knew that the subject was -repugnant to him, I was forced to revive it. I repeated a remark by -Captain Mason that a storm was brewing. Beelo straightened. - -"Captain Mason ought to know!" he cried. "The king's wise men have told -him the same thing. Choseph, Choseph! It would be horrible!" - -"Why, lad? I can't work in the dark." - -His look was appealing. - -"I must know," I said. "You are acting like a child, and this is work -for men. Tell me what the storm and the earthquake have to do with us, -or I'll refuse to surrender a man to Gato, and we'll fight." - -"Choseph!" he exclaimed, frightened; then, after a pause: "The people -think the Black Face must have all the castaways, or it will shake the -ground with earthquakes and maybe send a volcano to destroy everything. -But if the earthquake is heavy, it terrifies the people. In that way you -might escape if Lentala's plan fails. It was a great earthquake I was -hoping for." - -"The Black Face must have all the castaways?" I repeated. "How?" - -"I don't know!" he desperately cried. "Lentala doesn't know. It has been -concealed from us. But it's something horrible! A storm is coming, but -it may bring no castaways, and the king won't wait any longer. He can't -control the people." - -"What kind of man should we send out, Beelo?" - -"One who's brave and fears nothing," he promptly answered, studying me -oddly. - -"Then Rawley wouldn't do." - -"No. Mr. Vancouver." - -I had felt it coming. Of course he deserved any risk, any fate, but---- - -"You are thinking of Annabel," said Beelo. - -"Yes. She is innocent. Unless Lentala can keep him away from the king -and save him from harm, I won't----" - -"There, there, Choseph!" sweetly said the boy. "She'll manage. You'll -send Mr. Vancouver?" - -"Yes." - -"Good! That will make the king think you aren't suspicious. As soon as -he has gone with Gato, you and Christopher come here, and then we three -will go out of the valley." - -Captain Mason's heavy hand still lay as a hush on the camp when Gato, -the giant leader of the soldiers, arrived an hour later with a band of -his men. Christopher and I met him, and he informed us that he had -come for the man who was to be taken out. I despatched Christopher for -Captain Mason, whom I had informed of the decision to send Mr. Vancouver -out. The storm had been gathering with a slowness that indicated -destructive preparation. Mr. Vancouver was in his hut with Rawley -and Annabel. Rawley's haggard face peered out at intervals and sent a -straining look at me such as I had seen in the faces of the condemned -peering through the cell-grate for any messenger that might bear a -reprieve. They were not aware of our decision that Mr. Vancouver should -go. - -The president, cool and serious, came with Christopher. - -"Summon Mr. Vancouver," he said. - -The three came out. Mr. Vancouver, though pale, had a firm look, and -it went straight to Captain Mason. Rawley was ghastly. Annabel held my -attention most. Undoubtedly Mr. Vancouver had been trying to prepare her -for the contingency of his leaving, and had made poor work of it. - -Her glance first sought Captain Mason, and found a blank face with no -eyes for her. Next she looked at me, and caught something that I was -too slow in hiding. Thenceforward during the scene I knew that the ache -within me for her sake was large print to her eyes. Her bearing was an -accusation, a challenge for frankness, an appeal for protection. - -The president said: - -"Mr. Vancouver, the king has sent for one of our men. It would be my -duty to go if I could be spared. Will you go?" - -"Certainly," came the prompt answer. - -Annabel shrank, and then bravely stepped forth. Her voice lost its -quaver as she proceeded. - -"Why send my father?" she demanded. "Are there no young men here with -the courage to volunteer?" - -She eagerly scanned the crowd, not heeding her father's restraining hand -on her arm. Being a woman, she could never understand why not a single -man made a sign, so heavy was the weight of Captain Mason's hand. - -"It is a shame!" she passionately exclaimed. "I had thought there were -more manliness and gratitude in the world." She turned upon me. "Mr. -Tudor, I know _you_ will go." - -I could not bear it. "May I tell her in confidence what I am to do?" I -asked Captain Mason under my breath. - -"Not now," he answered. "Miss Vancouver," he said aloud, "Mr. Tudor -cannot go. I beg to remind you that you are interfering with the -business in hand." - -Recollection of the morning's scene, when a woman had been sent away -under guard, must have been what whitened her face with fear and then -flushed it with anger. The lion in her father crouched at Captain Mason, -but instantly remembered. - -"Daughter," he peremptorily said, "spare us further humiliation. I am -going." - -"Then, I will go with you!" she exclaimed. - -The entire colony was assembled, and all were expecting another measure -of authority; but Captain Mason stood in patient silence. - -"Impossible, child!" said Mr. Vancouver. - -"Yes, I will go!" she cried. "I have a right to go, and I will!" - -Mr. Vancouver sent Captain Mason an inquiring look, and found that the -blue eyes had hardened. He knew the meaning of that; he must at once -eliminate his daughter. - -"Child," he coaxed, enclosing her in his arms, "it is -impossible,--dangers would arise that wouldn't come if you were absent." - -"I can't bear it,--I can't bear it!" she half sobbed. She struggled to -free herself. Rawley came forward. "Don't touch me!" she cried. "Isn't -there a _man_----" - -A glance from Captain Mason sent Christopher to her side. - -"It's me, ma'am." - -Her father released her, and she turned in astonishment to Christopher. -Annabel had a sense of the ludicrous, but one of tenderness also. She -saw the angel behind the clown. Smiles went with her tears as she gave -him her hand. - -"You mustn't go," leaked his thin voice. - -"Why?" - -"They need you." His gesture swept the camp. - -She was silent while she dried her eyes. - -"Yes," she said, "but----" - -"Them there savagers ud eat you." - -"But my father------" - -"He ain't nice to eat." - -Christopher had laid a daring finger on the mystery, but his words found -all unheeding except Mr. Vancouver, who looked startled. The suggestion -was evidently new to him. - -"Very well, Christopher," Annabel said, smiling sadly, "I'll stay. -Captain Mason," falteringly, "I ask your pardon." She turned to her -father and embraced him. "Father, go. I'll pray for you." She held him -off and looked long into his face. "You'll come back, won't you?" - -"Of course. I shall see the king, and I know I can arrange everything -happily for the colony." - -Captain Mason beckoned Gato. Mr. Vancouver turned his face to the -darkness and marched away with the guard. - -When he had gone, Annabel still gazed. Rawley watched her for a look -that might permit his consoling offices, but she did not see him. Only -Christopher knew what to do. - -"It's a-wanting of you, ma'am," he said. - -She started. "What, Christopher?" - -"It's mother, too." - -"Yes, yes,--I'd forgotten." Without a glance at any of us, she went to -the ailing child. - -The colony began to stir. After a hurried conference with Captain Mason, -Christopher and I left to keep the appointment with Beelo. We were ready -for him when he came all out of breath. It made me uneasy to note that -he studiedly avoided my eyes and made no reference to the scene in camp. - -"There's not a moment to lose," he said. "Come; follow me--cautiously." -His manner betrayed a nervous haste. - -"Beelo!" I said, seeing that he was too much excited. - -He stood panting while he got himself in hand, but still kept his face -turned from me. - -"Now I'm all right," he said. - -He threaded the jungle as though every shrub and tree and turning-place -were familiar, and held a course on that side of the valley which -brought us under the Face. - -His agility taxed me. Not so Christopher: his deftness equaled Beelo's. -We were a silent trio. - -The transverse ridge was crossed, and we entered strange territory. -Beelo's eyes and ears were incessantly on watch. Now and then he would -come to an abrupt halt and hold his breath, but nothing appeared. -We kept to the deepest shadows, which were further blackened by the -steadily thickening darkness of the sky. I feared a downpour. - -Without mishap we finally reached the lower end of the valley. I had -been trying to see the opening through which the stream must run, but -even when we halted near the cliff, not a break appeared. - -Beelo dropped to the ground. "We'll rest," said he. - -I found the adventure exciting, but was unprepared for its effect -on Christopher. His usually dull eyes had intelligent vision; his -slouchiness was gone. - -After a few moments' rest Beelo rose, and led us to the stream. It was -deep and slow here, and crept through a dense overhanging growth. We -pushed through the tangle, and soon came to a little clearing near the -bank, but screened from it. The bamboo raft which he and Christopher had -made lay there. - -We launched it. Christopher produced a pole from another hiding-place, -boarded the raft, and knelt on the forward end. Beelo and I followed. - -"Christopher," the lad inquired, "can you see in the dark?" - -"Yes," and Christopher shoved off. - -The vegetation grew denser as we slipped along, and its shadows combined -with the darkness of the day to plunge us into night. Presently I -realized that we must have traversed more than the distance between the -launching-place and the wall. - -"Where are we, Beelo?" I asked, but the sound of my voice informed me -before the boy's answer: - -"Under the mountain. We are going through." - -To describe my sensations would be impertinent. Beelo's reticence was -more than silence. The only sound was the swish of Christopher's pole as -it dipped and scraped while we drifted. Beelo, sitting a little to the -rear and at one side of me, crept nearer. - -"Talk," he begged, edging still closer, till our arms touched. - -"Very well, lad. Shall I tell you a story?" - -We must have been on the floor of a lofty cavern, for my words came -back. - -"Hush!" he whispered. - -His hand was groping for mine. Perfect blackness encompassed us. I -took his hand. A slight tremor thrilled it, and I put an arm about his -shoulders, drew him close, and pressed his head down in the hollow of my -neck. There was none of his refractory wildness now. Poor lad! For all -the pluck that he had shown in the past, the silence and the darkness of -this grew-some passage had unmanned him. It was good to hear the comfort -in his sigh, the fading of the tremor, and the firm grasp of his hand. - -Evidently Beelo had never made this trip before, but I wondered that at -least its upper end had been left unguarded and why it was not a highway -for the natives. In a whisper I asked him. - -"It is guarded," he answered; "but when a storm or an earthquake comes, -the men are afraid that what is in here will come out; and, besides, -they think a storm is a better guard than they. But they weren't far -away. I knew how to avoid them." - -"Yes, but----" - -"Down!" came sharply from Christopher simultaneously with a dull blow. - -I flattened Beelo and myself. - -"Up," said Christopher. - -Had his face or head encountered a low-hanging rock? Yet he had thought -of us. - -"Are you hurt?" I asked. - -"No, sir." - -"Did your head strike?" - -"Arm, sir." - -Perhaps an inscrutable power had given him the sense to raise his arm -and guard his head at the moment of peril. I finished my question to -Beelo: - -"What is in here the natives fear?" - -"The voices that send your words back." - -"Surely they are familiar with the echo in the mountains." - -"Not this kind, Choseph." He had never called me that so easily. I -hugged him closer, and he nestled like a kitten. - -It was indeed a startling echo. At times even our whispers seemed to -multiply and flock on wings, and come rustling back. - -"There's something still worse," added Beelo. - -"What is it?" - -"I don't know. They would never tell me." - -...I wondered whether he had felt the sudden leap of my heart. He must, -for he snuggled closer, withdrew his hand from mine, caressed my cheek, -and whispered: - -"We'll be brave." - -"Yes, lad, but if we knew only a little we should be the better -prepared." - -He was silent. - -"You know nothing about it?" I insisted. - -"Nothing at all." - -"But natives have gone through safely, else they wouldn't know." - -"Some did, a long time ago. That was the last." - -"Some did? Not all that started?" - -"Not all. The others went mad. Don't talk about it, dear Choseph." - -Assuredly Beelo had been driven to a desperate extremity to choose -this way of escape from the valley. It showed how closely the ordinary -outlets were guarded. - - - - -CHAPTER XII.--Dramatic Discoveries. - -_Plunged Into Mysterious Terrors. Christopher's Obscure Powers at Work. -A Struggle for Our Lives. Stout Hearts Fail. A Dear One Lost._ - - -THE passage was crooked. The darkness was unqualified, and so dense -that it seemed resistant and hard to breathe. It was the sort of -blackness that penetrates to the heart and quenches the light there. -Matches had long ago disappeared from the colony, and I had no means -of making a light. Nor had Beelo provided against the blackness. All -time-reckoning had been lost, but our rate was slow, and I knew that the -passage must be long. - -Thus far the odors had been of the sun-sweetened water crossed with -those of the underground dank, and were pleasant. But presently a faint -pungency invaded the cold air. I knew by the change in Beelo's breathing -that his quick sense had discovered it. It suggested things over -which my memory halted. Christopher gave no sign. With unflagging -watchfulness, aided by a perception far keener than mine, he kept the -raft free in the stream, except for occasional bumps. - -"Do you smell it, Christopher?" I asked. - -"Yes, sir." - -"What is it?" - -"Sir?" - -"What is it?" - -There was an interval before his answer, "Fire, sir." Beelo cowered in -my embrace. Since Christopher had mentioned it, I knew it was fire; -I cannot say how I knew, because the odor was unlike that from any -combustion I had ever known. - -"Do you know what is burning?" I asked. - -"Me, sir?" - -"Yes." - -This silence was longer than the other; Christopher must have listened -far. - -"The world, sir." - -Beelo shook with a silent chuckle, and squeezed my hand; but I knew that -Christopher's words had a meaning. - -"The world?" I quietly repeated. - -"Yes, sir. I hear it." - -Beelo and I straightened up and set our ears on a strain. - -"I hear nothing," I said. - -"I hear it, very faint," Beelo breathlessly returned. - -It made no difference with the steadiness of Christopher's work. The -odor gradually grew more pronounced, and then I recalled an iron smelter -that I had seen in boyhood. Presently I too heard a distant roar as of -a furnace that ground while it burned. Beelo crept close under my -arm again. I could feel his quick heart-beats and shortened breathing -against my side. - -Creeping through these increasing sensations came the deep note of -falling water. Why ask Beelo whether he had ever heard that our stream -took a subterranean plunge? Christopher kept coolly at his task. The -sharp striking and scraping of his tireless pole had long ago informed -me that rock made our channel and shores, which were uneven and -dangerous. Now and then the raft would make a sudden swing to avoid -underwater rocks that Christopher's soundings had discovered. At other -times it would come to a lurching halt until the man carrying our lives -in his hand had made sure of the way. - -"What do you think of that water falling, Christopher?" I asked. - -He waited a long time, and his slow answer chilled me: - -"I don't know, sir." - -"You'll go slow when we come nearer?" - -"Yes, sir." - -Beelo gave me a hand-pressure intended to silence my foolish tongue. - -With a growing intensity in the odor, in the furnace roar, and in the -rumbling of the waterfall, came stealing something new and surpassingly -uncanny. It was a very dim glow, with no visible source, and without -the power to make anything seen but itself. Apparently it was but the -darkness in a more oppressive phase. In vain did I strain my eyes to see -Christopher, Beelo, the raft, the water,--anything that light could make -visible; but the glow was as impenetrable as the darkness. - -Beelo was going to pieces under the weight of this encompassing awe. -I knew that his weakness was born of his yielding to an extraneous -reliance--Christopher and me. He put his lips to my ear and whispered: - -"I'm afraid." - -"Steady, lad. You are our guide; you are responsible for us." - -"Yes, I know." He made a pathetic effort to regain himself. "This -light--don't you _feel_ it, Choseph?" - -"I do, dear lad, but my name isn't Choseph." - -"Yoseph!" he triumphantly said. - -"Joseph," I insisted. - -"Mr. Tudor!" In a whirlwind he threw both arms round my neck, and -softly laughed. The old Beelo was on guard again, except that with his -recovered courage he was uncommonly gentle and affectionate. I wondered -if I should ever reach the end of the boy's phases. - -From some indeterminate direction came the muffled sound of an -explosion. - -"Hold tight!" cried Christopher, violently lurching the raft round and -jamming it sharply against high jutting rocks on the bank. "Down!" he -added. - -A mighty rush as of many winds came tearing up the passage far ahead. -I threw Beelo face down, and flattened my body. Then came the blow, -and hurled Christopher backward upon us. In a moment he had recovered -himself. The impact must have strained Beelo's ribs, but he lay still. - -It was a combination of atmospheric concussion and hot gases, -principally steam, that had struck us. I raised my head, gasping for -breath. Beelo was inert. I lifted him. One arm feebly groped for my -neck, and clung there. - -"We are safe!" I cheerily said. "Where is my brave little brother?" - -He only held me the closer. Indeed, speech was difficult, since the air -was packed with smothering vapors. The desire to breathe was checked by -an instinctive fear to inhale. - -Christopher cautiously pushed out, and again we drifted free, The pole -dipped and clicked and scraped. - -But a change had come. The furnace roar had ceased; the waterfall grew -louder. Most striking of all was the unearthly luminosity of the steam -filling the tunnel. That vapor, rapidly chilling in the cold of the -passage, increased in opaqueness, but glowed the more. Before long the -light became radiant and faintly illuminating, and the air sweetened. -I had known by Beelo's breath on my cheek that his face was upturned to -mine, and near. Thus it was that after long peering I found the light in -his eyes. My arms were enclosing him. - -"I see my lad!" I said in gladness. - -A queer little movement of withdrawal began. I tried to hold him, but -found no yielding. Gradually he slipped out of my clasp, and sat alone. - -Christopher slowly took body in the haze, a ghostly Charon on the -Styx. The color of the glow grew from white to rose, with an occasional -effulgence of bluish purple. The surface of the earth knew no such tints -in fire; these were royally plutonic. The black rocks overhead and on -either hand assumed a vague, grim definition, and to my keyed fancy -displayed grotesque suggestions. Blank spaces a shade darker than the -grimacing, minatory rocks fell away; these I supposed to be cavernous -reaches out of the passage, for from them came echoed multiples of the -pole-sounds. - -The temperature began to rise as the waterfall grew louder, the light -more revealing, the haze weaker. We swung round a wide curve, and all at -once a terrifying vision sprang forth in a blood-red light. Our stream -opened into a small lake, which was violently churned by a cataract of -crimson water brilliantly illuminated and plunging out of the overhead -darkness into it. The roar was deafening. - -Beelo, scrambling in terror to his feet, his eyes blazing with the red -madness that packed the cavern, required a strong hand to subdue him. -He struggled in my grasp, pointed frantically backward with implorings -that we return, and fought my restraint with sheer animal desperation. -Christopher's conduct, though showing extraordinary exhilaration, -betrayed no fear, but only a grimmer hold on our situation. With a -rearward glance and the discovery that I was holding Beelo securely, he -stood up, a gigantic red figure, and with all his might shot the raft -forward into the maelstrom. The frail thing plunged in the surge, but -Christopher's eye and arm were sure. The suck of the water, curving -downward where the cataract struck the pool, was cunningly avoided as -he circled the rim of the lakelet, having as able work to do in avoiding -the dripping rocks there as in keeping out of the breakers. - -I thanked God there was light, formidable though it was; it helped me in -my control of Beelo, whose struggles were becoming weaker, and enabled -me to find a good grip on the raft, for there was danger of slipping -off. Through all the wild lurching Christopher kept a sailor's feet; -and, although his back was toward me, I saw by his quick movements that -all his shrewd forces were in the fight. - -Whence came the light? It appeared to be in the cataract itself, a -living flame in the heart of its greatest enemy. The water was joyously, -terribly alive. - -The raft described an arc of the pool, slipped out of the boiling churn, -and, before Christopher was aware, caught an eddy and went swinging and -lurching in behind the cataract. The man so strong in both soul and body -threw up his hands in the surrender of terror, for a thing more awful -than the red light and the waterfall confronted us. He dropped the pole. -Its middle struck the edge of the raft, and our one weapon of defense -rebounded into the water. Beelo saw the catastrophe. He clutched me -frantically about the neck, nearly strangling me before I broke his -hold. - -[Illustration: 0133] - -Christopher looked about for the pole, and saw it bobbing on end as it -struggled against submergence in the down-thrust behind the fall. It -was twenty fatal feet away. The ferocity of elemental self-preservation -seized on the man and transformed him. This was not the attitude of -patient, gentle Christopher, the humble, serving Christopher, but that -of a bayed animal. My hands were tied by the necessity of Beelo's care. - -The spectacle that had unmanned Christopher was in a profound recess -reaching indeterminately out of the cavern and behind the waterfall. It -had not been visible until we rounded the fall and went scurrying behind -it in the eddy. Apparently far back,--I cannot guess how far,--ran a -broad, high, fantastically irregular tunnel ending in a pit of boiling -lava, at an unknown depth below the level of the tunnel, which itself -was slightly above the surface of the pool. Deep rumblings issued from -it, as from a heavy ebullition, punctured with smothered detonations. -Rising from it were thin, cloud-like masses of vapor, like the -pale mauve haze of distant mountains. In its rolling it thickened -concealingly here and opened revealingly there, with constantly shifting -effects. - -The dominant color was a deep, transparent crimson of a tint such as -may be seen in the cooling iron of a foundry or in the great crater of -Kilauea; but following the detonations came leaping flames of bluish -purple. It was the red shining through the water that had made the -cataract a fall of liquid crimson when seen from the front. - -This, then, was the funnel of a volcano, with a lateral vent. Was it one -of Pluto's cooling forges? Was its present activity transient? Was this -the beginning of a seismic convulsion that might blow the valley rampart -into the sea? - -I cannot say when those questions arose. The urgency of an immediate -threat demanded all attention. Beelo was in an ecstasy of terror, and -Christopher was desperately casting about with all his reassembled wits. -In the tumult of noises our voices were useless. We had been flung out -of the larger eddy into a smaller one swirling between the back of the -fall and the tunnel-mouth. It had a swifter and more dizzying whirl. -Soon it seemed that we were still, except for the ceaseless rolling of -our craft, and that the roaring fall and the grumbling, blazing tunnel -were swinging round us. With the rest passed the bobbing pole, a live, -insane thing, nodding this way and that, approaching the downpour -gingerly, diving under a sharp water-blow, and leaping up with malicious -sprightliness a few feet back. At any moment it might be caught sidewise -and crushed. - -There was another danger. The centrifugal force of our swing in the eddy -was carrying us out to the periphery of the swirl. On one side were -the rocks at the mouth of the tunnel; opposite was the waterfall, the -slightest blow from which (since it fell from a height of at least a -hundred feet) would mean the end. Our swinging was taking us nearer to -both those dangers. - -Something roused within, overcoming my pity for Beelo. I shook him and -slapped his cheek. Astonishment and anger blazed in his eyes, and then -with a mighty indignation he crawled away and sat glaring at me. At -another time the comical picture would have amused me, for the boy -behaved just as a proud kitten under similar treatment. Having secured -the desired result with Beelo, I worked to the edge of the raft, and -prepared to make a leap for the pole. I was waiting till the raft should -swing round and bring me nearer. Before that happened, two soft arms -were flung round me from behind, a cheek pressed mine, and I was borne -down backward. Two small, firm hands held my wrists down. For the moment -I was helpless. - -Of course, Christopher knew that our nearer approach to danger brought -us closer to hope, which lay in the pole. He was biding the moment, -and it came. He crouched on the raft, and a long arm shot out. Beelo's -nerves were quivering till Christopher rose; then they stilled, and he -released me. - -Christopher had learned from experience, and it was a surer hand now -that gripped the pole and sent the raft spinning out of the eddy. To -keep it somewhat trimmed against Christopher's movements had been a -small part of my task hitherto, so thoughtful of everything had he -been; but now that he saw Beelo and me better used to the situation, he -quietly gave us something of that to do, thus securing more freedom of -movement. - -He found the egress of the stream from the pool, and pushed out. Slowly -we crept through the gloomy, misty light, which paled as we went. -Christopher must have felt a dread that oppressed me--the danger of -recurrent explosions--for he worked with less extreme caution than -before, and our progress was better. After a time the light was too dim -for me to see Beelo sitting in his sullen pout; and when darkness again -fell, he crept up beside me and stole out a hand for mine. The noises -had nearly ceased, and Beelo no longer feared the weird echoes. - -"I'm glad it's past," he sighed, nestling against me. "Aren't you, -Choseph?" - -"Joseph." - -He hugged my arm and softly laughed. - -"Yes, I'm glad," I answered. - -It seemed many hours since we had entered the passage, and I hoped we -should emerge in the morning of the day following that of our start. - -New conditions began to arise. Above the cataract the stream had -been slow, with few approaches to rapids. Those had been the worst -danger-points. Now we discovered that the current was swifter and -the rapids more numerous and turbulent. The celerity of Christopher's -movements increased. He no longer tried to spare us the water dripping -from his pole as he repeatedly shifted it and groped for bearings. -This made me more apprehensive. I wondered whether, even with better -facilities, we could return to the valley through this passage, and how -the two hundred and fifty colonists could manage to come safely through. - -Presently I felt in the water a turgidity where the current was slow, -and heard a hoarse, growling rumble quite different from the sounds that -we had left behind. Beelo tightened his clutch and breathlessly said: - -"It has come!" - -"What has, lad?" - -"Hush!" - -Except for an unusual slapping of the water against the rocks, the -commotion had passed. I wondered if the storm had broken in the valley -and the torrent was coming; but this did not look like it. - -"It has gone, Beelo. What was it?" - -"No, it hasn't. Hold tight. Sit hard, Christopher!" - -"Beelo," I impatiently demanded, "you must tell me what----" - -The speech was stopped by a groaning crunch that tossed the stream, -splashed the water high on the rocks, and filled the passage with a -sound like that of crushing glass. Beelo was again in terror. - -"Be quiet, lad. There's nothing-----" - -"Don't talk!" he desperately commanded. "The third one will come. That's -the worst. Wait!" - -The seconds dragged through an awful silence. Beelo's breath struggled -spasmodically through the repression under which he tried to hold it. - -The third shock came, and then, though I had never felt one before, I -knew what it was. The whole world seemed to heave and writhe and jolt -and grind, all with a fearful noise. The earthquake, grim brother of -the boiling cauldron we had left, had us in its jaws, and its power was -manifest in the ease with which it crushed and ground the rocks about -us. Fragments of these began to splash in the water and rattle on the -raft. Just in front, a huge block plunged into the stream and dashed us -with water. - -Beelo flung himself upon me; I again bent over him to shield him. - -Another heavy stone struck the raft in the narrow space between -Christopher and us, and tore through it into the water, sending up a -geyser through the hole. - -A stiffening wave of terror overswept Beelo. He sprang to his knees and -tightly embraced my neck in both arms. - -"We are going to die!" he feebly cried, and pressed his lips to mine, -sinking inert into my arms. My fingers anxiously sought his pulse. It -was fluttering. - -"Christopher!" I called in alarm,--not realizing that the earthquake -had passed and that a dim light made visible the rocks in a turn -ahead,--"Christopher! Something has happened to Beelo!" - -"Yes, sir," came with the steady old calm. - -"Stop! We must do something for him." - -"We are going out, sir." - -We swung the curve, and the blessed daylight smiled ahead. The raft slid -out of the passage in placid water, which here, as at the other end, was -deeply embowered. The glorious day, though overcast, was brilliant to -our eyes as it sifted through and rested sweetly on the water. As Beelo -was unconscious, Christopher observed extraordinary care in proceeding, -and as soon as possible secured the raft in the sheltered reach. - -I was looking down into Beelo's face. His head had fallen back, and -although his eyes were closed, his lips were open. It came over me with -a pang that a richness and a maturity which I had not before noticed in -his face, rested there now. - -"How long has it taken us to come through?" I asked Christopher. - -"'Mos' four hours, sir." - -I was surprised. It had seemed much longer. - -He came to lift Beelo out, but I myself bore him ashore and laid him on -the ground, and knelt over him. Christopher was standing near, studying -him, but showing no anxiety. - -"It is only fainting, isn't it, Christopher?" I asked. - -"That's all, sir." - -To give him air, I began to open his blouse. - -"I wouldn't, sir," interposed Christopher. - -"Why?" I asked, looking up in surprise. - -He only regarded me in silence. At first I thought that Christopher's -singular penetration had discovered that Beelo was lighter of color than -a full-blooded native and was delicately warning me not to invade the -carefully guarded secret. I recalled the story that I had told Beelo, -and my suspicions as to the purity of his native blood. And what harm -could come if I did learn? - -Then the truth came upon me with the overwhelming force of long -cumulation. His conduct in the tunnel, his sweetness and gentleness, -the strange conclusion of the scene with Annabel when they had met,--a -thousand memories of things that had passed unheeded in the stress -of dangers,--came as a blinding light. I do not know when Christopher -learned the truth, but in his chivalry he would have seen me go blind to -the grave without a word from him in betrayal of Beelo's secret. - -The shock stunned me, and my head was bowed in reverence. When I again -looked into the patient face, now having for me so sweet and touching a -pathos, the deep-blue eyes were looking up into mine; then they turned -to Christopher, and all about. The old mischievous, bantering smile -parted the perfect lips. The eyes again sought mine. - -"Choseph! It's fine to be dead!" But the voice held a different music -from that of the lad whom I had loved and who was now gone forever. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.--Preparation for the Crisis. - -_In the Enemy's Land. The Weird Light on the Valley Wall. Mr. Vancouver. -A Visit with Lentala. She Tells a Secret Which I Already Know._ - - -I Would respect Beelo's wish that she appear as a boy, and must keep -hammering into my mind the words, Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother. I -must not for a moment think of her otherwise. "Boy, Lad, Dear Little -Brother." - -"What are you dreaming, Choseph, and what are those words your lips are -saying?" It was Beelo's cheery voice. - -He was sitting up; I was beside him looking down at the gliding water. I -woke to the familiar raillery, and turned with a smile. - -"Dear lad!" I joyfully responded. - -"You had forgotten me," he ruefully said. "And you, old Christopher! -Don't you see I'm dying of thirst?" - -Christopher plucked two large leaves, fashioned them into a cup, and -brought the water, which Beelo eagerly drank. He held out his hand, and -I helped him up. He tried his legs. - -"That's better," he said. - -The perfect grace of movement, the exquisite feminine figure so artfully -concealed,---- - -"Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother." - -"Mooning again, and talking to yourself!" cried Beelo. - -"It was a rough trip through the passage, boy. I'm a little shaken." - -"That's past. Shake the other way." He was pirouetting round a tree. - -"But how are we going back, lad?" - -"This way," he carelessly answered, making wing-motions with his arms. - -"There was an earthquake, Beelo." - -He stopped short, and his eyes lighted deep. - -"Yes!" he softly but impressively exclaimed. - -The old caution settled in his face; he peered and listened warily, and -then came a look of assured repose. - -"That is good," he said,--"if--" a cloud drifted over his face--"if they -felt it on the surface." - -"They did," interposed Christopher. - -"How do you know?" Beelo sharply demanded. - -Christopher pointed to a large rock near us, to the path that it had -freshly torn through the brush, and to a steep slope from which it had -been dislodged. - -"Good for Christopher!" said Beelo. He studied the sky, and dejectedly -added, "But the storm is coming!" After a little reflection he remarked, -as if to himself, "I don't know whether that should change our plans or -not." He seated himself to think it out, and began arranging twigs -on the ground. "No Senatras will be within miles of the passage," he -ruminated. "They fear it, for the earthquake is born here, and they have -run away. So, we can make better time. Mr. Vancouver is safe today; we -won't go _there_." - -"Where, dear little brother?" - -Pain crossed his face. "To the clearing opposite the Face. If only -another earthquake would come, or this had come sooner!" - -"Is one usually followed by another?" - -"Often. Sometimes not. Come! The sun will be setting before long, and we -have miles to go." - -We hid the battered raft and struck out. Our way led parallel to the -stream, which tore foaming down a gorge of steeply sloping sides. It -slipped into a pleasant valley, richly verdured. There we left it and -began the ascent of a mountain on the west. Dusk was coming on. Beelo -fearlessly pursued the trails in the darkening hours. - -Occasionally we paused to rest. The valley which we had crossed lay a -black-green sea below. Behind us the eastern sky was cut straight across -by the level summit of our valley wall. Beelo was closely studying it. - -"You see no sign of fire over there, do you?" he asked, pointing toward -the clearing opposite the Face. - -There was none, and Beelo was gratified. Our attention was diverted from -that spot by a faint purplish flash, which slipped along the crest above -the river passage, and was quickly gone. Beelo stood tense and still, -and whispered: - -"Did you see _that?_" - -"Yes." - -We waited for its reappearance, but none came. Beelo said no more. The -light had come from the subterranean lava-pot. - -Beyond the wall was the blackest part of the sky. Under the horizon -in that direction lightning was at play, as we judged from faint -illuminations in the distant heavens, and the rumble of far thunder. - -Night had nearly fallen when we reached the summit. The descent -was rapid on the other side, for Beelo went with the sureness of -familiarity. At last we stopped at an abandoned hut, hidden in the deep -forest. Beelo paused on the door-step. - -"See," he said, pointing to a glow a mile or less away, down the valley. -"That is the main settlement of the Senatras. The king's palace, where -Lentala and I live, is there. We will visit it tonight,--if Lentala -agrees. You will rest here awhile and have something to eat. After the -visit to the palace you will sleep here." - -He showed us within, closed the door, blew a flame from smothered embers -on the hearth, and lighted a nut-oil lamp. He had been very sober and -quiet all the way, but now his eyes began to dance. - -"This is your mansion!" he exclaimed. - -The place had been made clean and sweet, good beds of leaves were on the -earth floor, and fresh water stood in calabashes. Beelo dragged forward -a copper vessel, and took from it a generous food supply. - -"Isn't she pretty good--for a girl?" he casually asked. - -"Who?" - -"Lentala. She did these things." - -Ever since the scene at the end of the passage, sadness had sat upon me, -and I was in no mood to enjoy Beelo's pleasantries,--this, too, while -I was deeply touched by the labor and gentle thoughtfulness with which -everything had been done for our comfort. Still, something precious was -gone from my life; my heart hungered for the lad. But he was here! In a -swirl of perversity I seized Beelo's hands, and held him before me. - -"Dear lad," I said, "I am walking in the dark. Believe me, little -brother, I am grateful--more grateful than any words could say--for the -skill and the kindness that we have seen from you. But my heart is sore, -and you are laughing at me." - -Something between suspicion and embarrassment had been rapidly growing -in Beelo's face. Of a sudden he closed my mouth with his hand and made a -brave rally of Beelo's old flippancies. - -"Christopher," he said, "did you ever see such a goose? Such an _old_ -goose?" - -I gently removed his hand. - -"I am serious, boy." - -"Hush!" commanded Beelo in a whisper. - -His hunt down into me was ruthless, but the hurt there helped me to -steady my gaze. "When I fainted----" he began, and stopped, having -found my face expressionless. He turned to Christopher, who, giving no -attention to us, was setting out the supper on a mat. Beelo's sharp eyes -came back to me. - -"Dear little brother,----" - -"No, no! Not a word!" he broke in. "I haven't time, and you are hungry. -Come, Choseph!" - -He turned me to the supper and forced me to sit on the ground opposite -Christopher. It was pleasant to be man-handled by Beelo. His abuse of -me was always smoothed by affection. I had no appetite, but who could -resist Beelo? He played that I was an invalid and unable to help myself. -He patted my cheek, put food into my mouth, chattered nonsense as though -I were a baby, and petted me with outrageous condescension. There was -nothing to do but melt under his dear absurdities; and when he found -me re-established, he kissed me on the forehead and dashed out, calling -that he would be back before long. - -When he returned he was brilliantly alive. There seemed no end to his -vitality. - -"It's glorious!" he cried, seizing Christopher and sending his bulk in -a twirl across the hut. "It's splendid!" he went on, smashing my dignity -with boy's play. "It's just----" But his breath was gone, and he tumbled -in a panting heap on the ground. - -"What news, Beelo?" I inquired. - -He sat up, but as yet had meager breath for speech. - -"Mr. Vancouver--is safe. Doesn't look very--happy. Hasn't seen--the -king. Oh, no! Lentala,--who is an Angel--and Sweet--and Kind--and -Beautiful,--is just dying--to see you. And----" - -"Rest a minute," I interrupted. - -He flung a little pout at me, and then archly demanded, "Aren't you -good-natured yet, Choseph?" - -I shook my head. - -"You will be when you see Lentala," he said with mock melancholy. "Don't -you like girls?" he suddenly fired at me. - -"Y--es," I stammered consciously. - -"You like Annabel!" with a spitfire touch on his tongue. - -"I once liked, very much, a dear lad named Beelo more than any girl." - -"_Once_ liked Beelo!" His shining eyes were lances. - -"I like him just as much yet--when he is Beelo." - -I knew by his start that the thin ice on which I walked was cracking. - -"And what is he when he isn't Beelo?" - -"A little devil." - -He laughed. "You aren't _quite_ dead," he said, and a briskness sprang -into his manner. "We must go. Most of the Senatras have already gone to -sleep. Come." - -He rapidly led us into the valley, meanwhile instructing us how to -respond if greeted. The natives were not garrulous nor inquisitive, and -we passed unnoticed, until the outskirts of the settlement were reached. -There, in a dimly lighted hut, Mr. Vancouver was resting under guard, -Beelo informed us. A barely visible figure challenged Beelo. The prompt -response made the shape sink from view. - -"We haven't time to see Mr. Vancouver now," said the lad to us. - -A turn in a lane lined with huts brought us into a beautiful highway, -broad and white, and picketed with odorous trees which arched overhead. -The darkness would have been profound but for a diffused light which -glowed ahead upon something white. We went rapidly toward it, and found -it to be a high stone wall; the light was from two lamps on posts where -the highway swung to the left and ran at the foot of the wall. - -Instead of following the main road Beelo turned into a narrow way to the -right. The overhead growth was so dense that the light from the lamps -was soon lost, but Beelo knew the way. At last he stopped, and slipped -a key into a lock. The heavy wooden door, plated and strapped with iron, -suggested a postern in an archaic fortress. He led us within and secured -the door. - -The nearer approach of the storm brought lightning, which increased -Beelo's caution while revealing glimpses of our environment. In the -region behind the wall the verdure was less dense and more orderly -than in the park through which we had come. The lightning made the open -spaces embarrassing to our guide, who hurried us across them to the -shadows. Finely kept paths wound and intersected, but Beelo knew shorter -routes. A rising wind assisted the stealth of our progress. - -He brought us under the shadow of a low arcade, open on one side, and -closed on the other with a long stone house. The pillars were massed -in vines. Here the darkness was intense. The stone floor gave no sound -under our tread. - -Beelo stopped us, advanced a few paces, and rapped on a door. It was -cautiously opened, but we could not see within as Beelo entered. A very -faint light barely made him visible. - -"Lentala!" he whispered, "they are here." - -A voice fuller and mellower than Beelo's yet much like his, answered, -"Yes? I had given you up, and was undressing for bed." - -"You'll dress?" Beelo spoke nervously. - -"Yes. Tell them to wait a little while. They are safe out there. Beelo, -the king is furious because you ran away tonight. He is waiting for you. -Go at once. It is something about the man from the colony." I resented -her domineering manner toward Beelo. - -"Very well. I'll be back as soon as I can," he answered sweetly. - -Coming back to us, he began to explain, but I told him we had heard. A -reassuring hand was given to each of us, and he was hurrying across the -garden fronting the arcade. He halted and came back. - -"Don't stay with Lentala longer than ten minutes," he earnestly said. -"The king may detain me. If I don't come, can you find your way back?" - -I assured him that we could, and that even should he come, we would not -let him conduct: us to the hut. - -He gave my hand a grateful little squeeze as he slipped the gate-key -into it, and darted away, saying: - -"Wait at Lentala's door till she opens it." - -Presently she bade us enter. Instead of her barbarous but highly -becoming dress at the feast, with neat jacket and short skirt blazing -with gold embroidery, she now wore a plain, loose garment. It was partly -redeemed by a low cut in the neck, a splendid girdle consisting of a -heavy and elaborately linked chain of gold, and a necklace of wonderful -diamonds. - -I could not have explained why this dazzling woman, who had filled -so wide a space in my fancy, now looked a negligible quantity, an -intrusion. There was little of the sparkle that I had expected. The -childlike coquetries, the careless abandon, the subtleties that -had flitted so unconsciously through the conduct of the Lentala I -remembered,--these and a thousand other graces were absent from the -sedater young woman smiling upon us and composedly seating us. - -She had greeted us with a warning finger on her lips. - -"My servants," she explained in a low, rich voice, "are all in bed and -asleep. But they are not far away, and we must be careful." There was a -curious reminder of Annabel's preciseness in this new Lentala. - -She must have felt my discomfort, for she let some of her consciousness -slip away, and a dash of her native wildness gradually returned. - -"Beelo has told me everything," she said; "I'll not trouble you with -questions. And we are not to discuss any plans tonight." - -The beauty and richness of the room came forth, faint in the light of -suspended lamps, which, clouded in thin fabrics, cast no shadows and -softened all contours. A rich massing of hammered gold and silver, of -exquisite bronzes and ivories, of hangings and rugs, was softened to -grace by their perfect arrangement, and over that in turn was a fine -breath of daintiness. My astonishment grew as the significance of it -came over me. Did this girl, all seeming innocence, gentleness, and -kindness, _feel_ none of the crime and blood with which these treasures -were drenched? Yet only the sweetest of spirits could have cast upon -this charnel-house loot the cleansing that held its grisly suggestion -back. - -She had been moving about and gently chatting, and I had made empty -responses. At last I discovered that she was growing nervous. A heavy -crash of thunder brought out the cause. She looked anxious, and said: -"The storm is near. You must go before it breaks. Beela"--I noted her -odd pronunciation of the final syllable--"said that if he didn't return -in ten minutes you must go without him, but I can't think of that. He -has been gone much longer." - -I tried to assure her that we could go alone, but still she was uneasy. -Christopher and I rose. She came and laid a hand on my arm. - -"Wait a little while." She hesitated over the next words. "Do you like -Beela--Beelo?" - -"Very much," I answered dully. - -A liquid softness entered her beautiful eyes, and with it a sparkle of -the old Lentala--and of Beelo too. - -"I am going to tell you a secret," she went on. "You will keep it?--and -you, Christopher? And you'll not let Beelo know?" - -We pledged ourselves. She removed her hand, looked down, and while -busying herself with a readjustment of her girdle, said, very low: - -"Beelo isn't a boy." - -Her fingers stopped in her acute tension. I stood silent. With an effort -she raised her eyes to mine, and hers betrayed a keen suspense. - -"Beelo is a girl," she added, as though I had not heard. "Her name is -Beela." She found my look coolly meeting hers. - -"You liked Beelo the boy," she groped on; "don't you like Beela the -girl?" - -"I--I'm not acquainted with her," I fumbled. - -For a moment the Lentala of the feast returned in a look of mischievous -amusement, followed by one of pretended sorrow. I was enjoying the fine -play in her face.. - -"But don't you see," she asked, "that in knowing and liking the boy, you -knew and liked the girl?" - -It would have been impossible for me to make her understand that I was -not nimble in violent readjustments; so I held my peace. - -"She was Beela the girl all the time," Lentala insisted. "It couldn't -have been anything but the girl in her that you cared for." She did not -know in the least that she was talking to the wind. - -"Of course," agreed I, very uncomfortable. - -My tone made her turn impatiently away. With much spirit she went on as -with ease and softness she paced the floor: - -"After all she has done, too! I don't see------" - -"Lentala!" I interrupted; "don't misunderstand. I do like----" - -"No, you don't!" Her voice was growing unsteady. "My poor little Beela! -I _know_ she's a madcap, but she is good, she is kind. She _had_ to be a -boy. I _made_ her be one. She couldn't have done what she did----" - -"Lentala, please----" - -"-----unless she _was_ a boy. And now she is shamed and humiliated! -Don't let my sweet sister ever know that. It would break her heart. Poor -little Beela!" - -"This is all wrong. I----" - -"Even for _my_ sake you might be generous. It is----" - -Three strides brought me to her, and I was unconscious of the power in -my angry grip on her wrist, but her tongue went silent. She raised her -eyes under the compulsion of mine. - -"That is enough," I said. - -There was a moment's matching of our forces. A ripple of mischievous -and innocent surprise animated her, and she laughed with the glee of a -gentle child. She was very much like her sister then. - -A deepening thunder-crash came. - -"You must go--now! I'm going with you. I won't let you----" - -"You shall not go," I firmly said. - -"I _must_. I _want_ to. I'll get a----" - -"No, Lentala. Good-night." - -As I was turning away, I saw the second time in her face the look of -one whose road has stopped at a wall. When I smiled and bowed to her as -Christopher and I were passing out, she was standing where I left her, -looking blankly at me. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.---A Glimpse Into the Abyss. - -_The Fate Awaiting Mr. Vancouver. We Play a Trick on the Natives. My -Nerves Give Way. A Ghastly Hint from Christopher. A Perilous Place._ - - -THE drenching, thunder-ridden storm was so favoring that I determined -to investigate Mr. Vancouver's circumstances, and, if possible, -ascertain the plans focusing in him; for since the discovery of Beela's -sex, her horror and timidity concerning those intentions were explained. -I must now take the lead, since the work was not fitted to a woman. - -No guards were outside Mr. Vancouver's hut when we arrived, and the -wetting of the ground silenced our footfalls. My impulse was to enter, -and cautiously ascertain the truth; but I realized that the risk was -great. In creeping round the hut we overheard two native men talking -near the rear wall. - -"Hush!" continued one of the voices. "He is groaning again, and may -wake." - -In a little while the other remarked, "He is asleep. What were you -telling me?" - -"The king is very uneasy. The people all know that the white man is -here." - -"Is there dry wood?" - -"Yes. It is stored in a thatch hut on the east side of the clearing. The -people are clamoring for the white man to be taken to the stone." - -"That can't be done while the storm rages." - -"No; but the first hurricane never lasts long. The king has promised -Gato that the white man shall be sent to the fire as soon as this storm -passes. That may be tomorrow." - -"Does the white man suspect?" - -"Undoubtedly. He frets and groans." - -"What are these stories about the Black Face?" - -"The scouts sent by Gato say that it looks more ferocious than ever." - -"Does the king realize that the people will rise unless he consents to -the offering?" - -"I don't know. He is silent and deeply troubled. Danger stops any -direction that he can take. But Gato is ready." - -A horror that I felt rather than understood came over me, and, fearing -that I should betray our presence by some rash act, I was creeping away, -when I discovered that Christopher, moving similarly, had started before -me. Every tree-branch was a tempting club with which to break a savage -head and free the prisoner. - -Instead of returning to our hut, we went to the summit of the wall -enclosing our valley. Clearly Christopher required no explanation to -understand my purpose. With slow, sure caution we took an eastwardly -course, parallel with the brink of the precipice and at a safe distance -from any men that might be patrolling it. From time to time we would -stop, creep nearer the edge, make a careful inspection, return in -silence, and go on. The violence of the storm abated somewhat, thus -making our progress swifter, but more risky. - -With true instinct Christopher went straight to what we had been -seeking,--the opening in the forest on the top of the wall fronting the -Face. The clear space was smooth, level rock. One segment of the nearly -circular opening was cut off by the sheer drop of the precipice. Near -that edge was an exquisitely built circular stone platform some four -feet high and ten in diameter. As we worked round for a nearer view, we -discovered on its top old marks of fire which the rains had not washed -off. I recognized it as the object that I had seen from the valley, -opposite the Face. There was a moon, but only a faint glow from it -filtered through the clouds; occasional flashes of lightning gave us -clearer seeing. The air was stifling. - -We edged nearer to the cliff, and stood peering across the valley as we -waited for light. It came, and revealed the Face. The sodden, sordid, -worse than bestial mask, more repulsive than ever in the gloom of -the storm, held its gaze fixed upon us. We were upon the scene of the -unthinkable tragedy awaiting Mr. Vancouver. - -We circled the eastern edge of the clearing. Soon we found a squat -structure of thatch, half hidden in the edge of the forest. It was -filled with neatly piled firewood. No surprise showed in Christopher's -face. - -After further exploration of the vicinity, and satisfied that the place -was unguarded, we loaded ourselves with wood from the hut, and plunged -into the thicket. A short distance away I had discovered a deep cleft. -We threw our loads into it; the fall was long before the sound came from -the bottom. Thus, after many trips, we disposed of all the fuel, and -hastened back to our hut for sleep. The night was far gone. - -The storm broke afresh, and I lay sleepless, and listened to the -elemental furies at play. Every nerve ached, and sleep was a sore need. -Contingencies riding the hurricane would likely offer still heavier work -for tomorrow. Whatever innocent pranks Beela might indulge, her -profound seriousness and her appreciation of the dangerous risks in this -undertaking were genuine. - -With the swirl and dash of the rain came the roar of the tearing wind -and the mighty bellow of thunder. Flash, peal, and boom rended the -firmament. Our cabin braced itself and strained under the tug, as though -digging its claws into the ground to hold firm. Large trees on the slope -behind us fell crashing. - -This was more than a hurricane: it was a tornado; perhaps worse yet, -a typhoon. Many ships ride out the worst of these; but mentally I saw -brown men being told off to man the promontories of the bight, and -to watch for staggering, heart-broken specks on the sea as the wind -following the hurricane urged them on slowly to a pleasant beach, five -hundred swordsmen, an oily savage king and a feast, and a march over -the mountain to a guarded paradise; thence to be "sent away" to their -homes--their eternal homes--one at a time! one at a time! So far as -civilization had reached, it had strangled an unspeakable practice in -these seas. - -Not even the churn of the storm in my veins could check the cold that -ran in my blood. Was the father of Annabel to be only the first? Were we -waiting as fattening hogs, instead of being out and afield, fighting a -way to liberty, and dying, if we must, as men should?... - -I found myself off the pallet and rolling on the floor. - -"Christopher?" I called, staggering to my feet. - -"Sir?" - -I knew by the nearness of his voice that he was already beside me, but -invisible in the blackness. - -"Light the lamp. We are going to dress." - -He obeyed without a word. I was feverishly rummaging for my clothes. - -"There, sir," he said, pointing to my moccasins, but neglecting to fetch -them to me. - -I had forgotten that my dress was Senatra and that moccasins were the -only part of it I had removed. I made a blundering affair of putting -them on, for the clutch of my hand was shaped better for a bludgeon just -then. Christopher was observing me with a mild, exasperating patience. - -"Put yours on," I roughly commanded. - -He made still denser the stupidity in his stare, and stood still. - -"Hurry!" I cried. - -"Sir?" - -"Hurry, I say! You are going too." - -"Me?" - -"Yes! We are going to take Mr. Vancouver away from those beasts." - -Without a change of expression he made a pretense of preparation. In -doing so, he edged up to the barred door, placed his wide back against -it, and calmly faced me. - -"What do you mean by that?" I demanded in a fury. - -"Sir?" - -"Stand aside, Christopher!" - -"Me, sir?" - -In exasperation I seized the copper vessel and advanced upon him. Not a -muscle of his body moved; his ape-like arms hung loose; his hands were -open. But it was not his defenselessness that stayed me. Far more potent -was the deep devotion in his eyes, which held a profounder sadness than -usual. It was a dash of cold water on my heat, but not my determination. -In all kindness I would reason with him. - -"Christopher," I asked, "do you know what they are going to do with Mr. -Vancouver?" - -He omitted his formula, and simply gazed at me. - -Then I told him, in raw, sore words. It was the first time they had been -spoken by a member of the colony. - -I was astonished at his placidity on hearing them. - -"Do you understand?" I had to thunder the question above the outer din. - -But he was listening to sounds that the storm did not make. I waited -impatiently. - -"They won't him, sir, if they get you." - -"Why not?" - -"You're younger 'n' fatter." - -Like most other of Christopher's remarks, this one dealt in a conclusive -terminal, omitting postulate and explication; but I understood. He -had told a long and dramatic story in those halting words--our blind -assault, our being beaten down and secured, and then the awful end. I -wondered at that, and longed for the power to see into the working of -his strangely luminous mind, its far light behind its frontal darkness. - -"And there ain't no dry wood, sir." - -The last of the ice in my blood broke and ran melting before him. I was -very tired, and found myself shifting on my feet like a drunken man. -Tongues of flame began to slip through the hut and dart hither and -thither with curious dips and turns. Some of them were purple, but the -most were crimson. A luminous vapor crept in. The boom of a waterfall -rumbled; and then came a crashing subterranean detonation. Christopher -was a gigantic ape floundering in a drowning sea of steam. - -"Christopher!" I cried, trying to catch the wall as it swung past. - -A firm, gentle arm went round me--an arm of a strength so great that -my most desperate struggles could not break its hold, yet I was a very -strong man. Slowly I was borne down on my pallet, and a thin, soothing -voice came with a hand that tenderly closed my eyes and held the lids -down. My breathing came easier. - -***** - -It was daylight, and Christopher was standing in the open door, looking -out. The rain had ceased, but the morning brightness was smothered under -the overhead lowering. The pleasant odor of coffee perfumed the hut. -Without appearing to notice my waking, Christopher served my breakfast, -but said nothing. A dull lassitude made the straw bed more inviting than -my feet. - -Beela's cheery good-morning an hour later was checked in alarm when she -entered and found me prone; but her electric vitality palpitated through -me and brought me smiling to a sitting posture. Her inquiring look -at Christopher read nothing in the bland face. A shadow of uneasiness -drifted through her eyes, but she drove it away. - -"Good!" she said. "I'm glad you are resting. Lie down again." She -dropped to a seat beside me on the straw, and pushed my head down. - -"That's better,--Choseph." Her hand was on my forehead. - -"Joseph," I insisted. - -"You don't like the way I talk, Ch--Dzhoseph?" banteringly, stealing sly -hands to mine and pretending to stare mockingly at me while peering into -my eyes. - -"Very well, Beelo. Did you square yourself with the king and have a good -rest last night?" - -"Of course. Do you think any king------" - -"Stop that." - -"What?" - -"Trying to see if I'm sick. Even though I were dead, your coming would -bring me to life." - -"My! Did you hear that, Christopher?" - -The sensible man did not answer, nor even look at her. She made a mouth -at his back, withdrew her hand, and edged away a few inches. Had I made -a slip after that confidence and caution from Lentala? I roused myself. - -"What's the news, little brother? What game and what killing today?" - -Her face fell grave. "Something has happened with you since I saw you -last night, Choseph." - -I told her all, and she held her breath over the audacity of our work. - -"I--I shouldn't have dared to suggest it," she said with charming -helplessness as she gave Christopher and me a look of wondering -admiration. "It was splendid, Choseph!" Her dear leaning girlishness, so -natural and unconscious, started a tumult in me, and it was hard for -me to keep the deception of her sex at work. "Now," she went on, "Mr. -Vancouver is safe so long as the weather is bad; and when it clears, -time will be needed to gather dry wood. We'll do nothing for the -present." - -"But we must be ready," I firmly protested, sitting up. "This matter is -in my hands and Christopher's now, not yours, my lad, for this is work -that only men can plan and do." - -The timidity in her look was new, but not less charming than her -surrender. - -"What are you going to do, Choseph?" she inquired with a mocking -exaggeration of a helpless reliance that was quite genuine. - -"We shall be ready to take Mr. Vancouver by stealth or force the moment -that actual danger comes near him. We will bring him to this hut and -hide him here. But a man from the colony will be needed to guard him. I -am going immediately to bring one out for that purpose." - -Her eyes kindled with alarm. "No, no, Choseph! That would be impossible. -You couldn't find the way nor pass the guard. I will go." Argument and -persuasion were equally useless; she knew when to be firm. "I will -go," was her answer to everything, and she came to her feet. "You and -Christopher come with me to the summit of the wall, and there you'll -hide near the guard, and wait. I'll bring the man nearly to the place -and send him ahead, and give you a signal. You must trick the guard out -of the way, and meet him; I will follow. It would ruin everything for me -to be seen." - -I agreed, and told her to bring Hobart. - -"Beelo," I said, "you understand that we have accomplished one of the -tasks for which you brought us out of the valley, and in doing so have -learned the fate awaiting our colony." - -Her face at once grew pinched. "Don't speak of it, Choseph!" she cried. -"I don't know whether you have or not, and I don't know what is in your -mind. Simply think of saving Mr. Vancouver." - -"Of course, dear lad," I agreed; "but we must be planning also for means -to leave the island, since only something awful awaits us here. You -must tell me all that I should know. I won't dance any longer to your -mysteries and concealments." - -It was as though I had struck her. She stared, her eyes flooding, her -lips trembling. - -"Choseph," she answered, "there are things that you must see and -hear for yourself, and they will come tonight and tomorrow. I'll take -you----" - -"I must know now," I demanded, not realizing the harshness of my tone. - -"Choseph, I----" - -"Did you speak to me, sir?" came from Christopher, standing behind her. - -"No, Christopher. We'll wait, dear little brother." The sunshine came -swimming into her eyes again, and she made a grimace of triumph in which -was an understanding that Christopher had disciplined me. - -"You'll be good now, won't you, Choseph?" It was said in her most -teasing manner, and I smiled. - -We started under an angry sky through which heavy cloud-masses tumbled. -It was a cautious journey. The very air seemed filled with expectancy. -On the way we formulated a plan for tricking the guard. - -In approaching the point of egress from the valley, Beela practiced the -slyness of a lynx and the silence of a serpent. Every step was studied -lest a twig snap; the leaves on the ground had been softened by the -rain. Presently we sighted the guard--a draggled lot, unused to exposure -and dispirited by the weather. There Beela left us in hiding. I now -understood the perils that she had breasted in every trip to the valley. -If they were so difficult under these conditions, how much more they -must have been when fair weather made the guard alert and the ground -noisy under foot! - -Beela was to warn us of Hobart's coming by giving a certain bird-call -thrice. Christopher's answering signal would be notice to Beela that -Hobart was safe. - -The savages, not twenty paces away--at least two dozen stalwart -men--were variously squatting, sitting, and lounging. They were in a -compact group, and were talking in low voices, but with an animation -unusual to the race. I motioned Christopher to follow, and we crept -nearer. - -Some important news had just been brought by the relief guard. - -"And so the king isn't going to wait for night," said one, as though the -news was surprising. - -"That is true," came the answer. "He fears that the ground will shake -at any time. Besides, the storm will likely come again tonight, and the -great fire would be impossible then." - - - - -CHAPTER XV.--The Lash in Unwilling Hands. - -_How We Outwitted the Guard. A Sword Encounter With a Native. Rawley -Gives Me a Sensational Surprise. The Tragedy to Mr. Vancouver Delayed_. - - -I WAS absorbed in conjuring up plans for Mr. Vancouver's rescue; but -the more I thought of it, the madder the undertaking seemed. Suppose we -should take him; would not the whole island swarm in a search? - -I had calculated that Beela and Hobart should come in four hours. More -than half that time was already gone when Christopher and I returned -to our original hiding-place. That the storm, the Black Face, and Mr. -Vancouver's fate were interwoven, there could be no doubt. Barring -hindering contingencies, matters were rapidly drawing to a crisis. If -the necessity for urgent action on Mr. Vancouver's account should arise -before Beela's return with Hobart, that young man would be caught in -a trap, as there would be none but savages to meet him. In whatsoever -direction I turned, many chances for a fatal slip and added -complications appeared. - -A solution of one branch of the problem crept out of the strain,--that -of clearing the way for Hobart. I mentioned it to Christopher, and was -gratified at his acquiescence. - -"But what about Mr. Vancouver?" I asked. - -"We _have_ to wait for _her_, sir," he answered after listening, and his -manner was final. - -The triple bird-note came. We waited. It was repeated. I slipped round -to the trail used by the guard, and openly approached them. They stared -at me in silence. Beela had told me that in an emergency Christopher -and I, to explain peculiarities of our appearance that no disguise could -conceal, should explain that we were from the western end of the island, -where some white blood had mingled with the native, producing, with -other deviations from the normal type, men of a more aggressive and -daring disposition, which gave them an advantage over the natives at -this end, and that on occasion the king called on the western men for -special services. - -"Why haven't you done your duty?" I sternly demanded. - -The guard showed only dull surprise, none either moving or speaking. - -"Haven't you seen the Black Face scowling?" I went on. "Go immediately -and attend to your duty, or the Face won't wait for a white man." - -They were impressed and frightened. "What shall we do?" asked one. - -"Clean the stone in the clearing, and so make it ready. Every one of you -go, at once. Then come back here." - -They looked from one to another, bewildered, the order evidently being -extraordinary. "And leave the pass unguarded?" the same one inquired. - -"Am I not here? Go immediately!" - -"Did Gato send you?" asked a big fellow, advancing, sword in hand. His -weapon was held threateningly, and scraped the bushes as he came. - -Not daring to take any chances with him, and not having had sufficient -experience with these people to interpret their motive from their -conduct, I sprang past him before he could raise his weapon, snatched a -sword from an astonished native, backed away to keep the crowd before me -until I had faced the one who had advanced upon me, and went at him with -a determination that opened his eyes and instinctively brought his sword -to guard. I discovered that the sword which I held was a heavy affair, -broad and very old-fashioned. Before my inexpert antagonist knew what -had happened, my sword had twisted his from his grasp and sent it flying -into the bushes, and my point was at his breast. There was an excited -movement in the crowd, but before anything could be done I loudly said -to my captive: - -"I have a good mind to kill you. Take your squad to the clearing at -once." - -"Yes," he hastily agreed, staring at me in wonder, and added, as his -interest overcame his panic, "Are they coming with him soon?" - -"That is neither your affair nor mine. If you don't go instantly I'll -arrest the entire squad and take you all to the palace." - -They obediently marched away. - -In returning to Christopher I made a detour, so as to pass the spot -where Hobart was to appear. I had instructed Christopher to remain a -short distance away, as it would be easier for one to meet Hobart than -two. My real reason, which I did not mention to Christopher, was that as -a native his appearance was one of singular ferocity. I did not wish to -run the risk of shocking Hobart out of his self-command. - -To my astonishment, Rawley, not Hobart, rose above the edge of the -bluff. Perhaps my angry exasperation showed in my manner, for Rawley, -after a startled glance, and seeing me alone, sprang upon me in the -moment of my hesitation. His leap was swift and stirring, but I avoided -him, and began to speak in a low voice. It had no effect. Rawley sprang -again. I caught the violent thrust of his body, and an elbow better -trained than he had expeded took him in the throat, crashed his teeth -together jarringly, and sent him reeling and strangling. - -I again spoke, but he was too dazed to hear, and came at me again, more -warily, with the glare of killing in his eyes, and still not heeding -my pacific words. The natural grace with which he began to work for -an opening gave his feline ease a threat that set me tingling. He was -desperately in earnest, and my windpipe was his objective. There was -no falter in his play, which I critically observed as I stood on the -defensive. And then it came to me that this was neither the madness of -fear nor the desperation of the cornered coward, but the awakening of -that ultimate manhood in him which for so long had been held down by an -artificial life. Even had he not forced me to silence, the game was so -fine and exciting that I should have been tempted to cease my efforts to -explain in my desire to see it through. - -As his leaps were astonishingly clever and he might land at any moment, -I began to crowd him. While moving to do so, I heard Christopher's -signal to Beela, but did not pause to see where he was; Rawley also must -have heard it, for something spurred his activities. In order to save -Beela from the trap in which he supposed himself to have fallen, he must -finish me at once. - -I dodged his next spring, but his fingers scraped my throat. Then he -found himself crushed in my arms. The short blows which he sent into -my ribs had no effect, but they were delivered with a will. Beela rose -above the summit, and understood all at a glance. - -But, Beela-like, she saw only that it was ridiculous. Without taking -the trouble to enlighten Rawley, who desisted as soon as he saw her -laughing, she passed from surprise into unrestrained mirth. Rawley, -standing away from me, stared at her in astonishment. - -Seeing no sign of Hobart, I sharply inquired in the native tongue where -he was. - -"Captain Mason sent this one instead," she answered after finding her -breath. - -I was aghast. "What reason did he give?" - -"None, Choseph. He thought you would understand, I suppose." - -The blunder was incredible. Here were Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, the -arch-enemies of the colony, sent out armed with fresh opportunity for -destroying us, and we charged with the safety of their lives! The game -had been sufficiently difficult and dangerous without that. I bitterly -resented Captain Mason's course. He was aware of the antagonism between -Rawley and me. - -"Why did Captain Mason send him?" I demanded. - -"He begged to come, Choseph." - -That staggered me. What had happened to the man to change him so? "What -did he say?" I asked. - -"I don't know. He said little, although he was very much in earnest. On -the way he said to himself several times, 'She called me a coward. They -all think I'm a coward.'" - -Christopher had come up and was standing placidly by. Of a sudden Rawley -recognized me as the savage who had visited Mr. Vancouver in the camp. -He was composed, but had not yet discovered my real identity. A word -from Beela disclosed Christopher and me to him. It broke in a crash on -the young man. What reflections were belaboring him I could only guess -from the shame crimsoning his face. I took his hand. - -"Mr. Rawley," I said, "I am sorry that this has happened between us." - -I interrupted something that he was trying to stammer by telling Beela -how I had disposed of the guard. "They'll soon return," I added. "We -must leave." - -"Yes, but we must find out first whether they discovered the loss of the -wood. Several hours would be required to bring up fresh fuel. Don't you -think it's very interesting, Choseph? My! how solemn you look!" - -Her careless insolence tried me, for the peril was great. - -"It's a pity you never had any one to teach you to be serious," I let -fly. - -"That would be the funniest thing of all," she returned, amused. "Would -you like to try it?" - -Her sweet archness made me take a half angry, half possessing step -forward, but a look stopped me. - -"They are coming!" said she, and we hid. - -The savages were more animated than before, and they wondered among -themselves when the white man would be brought up from the settlement, -and whether all or any of themselves would be relieved from guard duty, -that they might witness the proceedings. It was clear that they had not -missed the wood. - -We slipped away. When we had come near our hut, Beela asked us to wait -while she took Rawley to that hiding-place. - -"Beelo," I firmly said, "you don't understand. That man and I cannot -live together." - -She regarded me with a suspicious-looking sadness. "Enemies among -yourselves, Choseph! Is this the best that wise men with so much at -stake can do?" With a smile I took her hand. "Thank you, dear little -brother," I said. "I will do my part." - -Tears easily came to Beela's eyes, and made them moist now. - -"But you and Christopher are not to stay here any longer. Wouldn't you -like to be nearer the beautiful, the good, the angel Lentala?" - -"Explain, lad." - -"Wait till I come back." - -She darted to the hut with Rawley, and soon returned. - -"The first thing," she said, "is to find out the plans for Mr. -Vancouver. Although the wood is gone, the king won't be balked, and the -getting of more wood will be but a matter of hours. When we discover -that the preparations are really afoot, Mr. Vancouver must be taken by -you. Before that, there is plenty to do." We struck out for the slope -overlooking the main settlement, and on the way passed near the hut -where Mr. Vancouver was held. Beela disappeared within and soon returned -with the news that the threatening weather was holding everything in -abeyance. - -Avoiding roads, we breasted the verdured heights and worked round the -suburbs. As we mounted, the view expanded. The settlement, embowered -among trees, made the fairest picture I had ever beheld. I longed to see -it under the mellow sunshine, which would make its colors more vivid; -but even without that, the scene was satisfying. It was a considerable -city, which had grown more by natural accretion than by plan. Broad, -tree-lined highways with curves instead of right lines swept lengthwise -through it. Many houses were of stone roughly laid up, and with roofs of -mud or thatch. Remarkable effects had been secured by use of the native -stone in its color variations. Of exceeding beauty was a pleasant stream -which loitered through the settlement. - -Most conspicuous was the palace of the king, with its accessory -buildings and walled grounds. Unlike all the other houses, the palace -was two stories in height, was of great size, and sat in generous -grounds enclosed with a massive stone wall. I discovered Lentala's -quarters; they were in a wing. Hamlets with adjoining farms dotted the -farther slope and stretched up the valley; there were still more, said -Beela, in other parts of the island. - -With our further climbing, the ocean rose on the horizon, and a modern -sea-going vessel sprang up inshore in a harbor at the foot of the -settlement. My heart leaped as I studied her. - -"What ship is that, Beelo?" I exclaimed. - -"Yours, Choseph," she answered with a bright smile. "I was waiting for -you to find it. That is what is to take your people home if a great -earthquake comes and we can bring them out of the valley. The king -wanted to destroy it, but Lentala persuaded him not only to save it, but -to put it in order, as he might need it some time." - -That she had reserved this precious information for so dramatic a use -did not impress me at the time. Not till now did I realize that her -purely feminine instinct for the theatrical made so large a figure in -her withholdings and revelations. - -My throat filled. I seized Christopher's arm and tried to speak, but -no words issued, and I found that he was already gazing seaward. I had -never seen in his eyes such wistfulness, so far and deep a vision, as -when he raised them to mine. - -From him I turned to Beela, and found a look of neglect and expediency. - -"Dear little brother," I said, and extended my hand; but she pouted, and -put her arms behind her. - -"I am not your dear little brother," she said, her lip trembling. "I am -a savage. You gave your first joy to one of your race." The pain in her -face was deep. - -"Forgive me, lad." I was very humble, but her swimming eyes were turned -away, and there was a swelling in her throat. What could I say? how make -her understand? "Beelo, I------" - -"It can't be explained," she interrupted, turning sadly away; and we -went on in silence. - -All at once, without any visible cause, she was her sunny, mischievous -self again. I was exceedingly anxious for information,--what had become -of the _Hope's_ salvable cargo; whether her seizure by us was part of -the plan to which we were working. But I had not the courage to mention -the vessel again, lest pain come to Beela's face. Ever since her return -from the valley I had been anxious for her report as to any plan of -action that she had arranged with Captain Mason, and I now conjectured -that she had deferred it until we should see our vessel. With a blunder -in tact I had closed her lips. - -"Now," said she, "we'll return and keep an eye on Mr. Vancouver. Do you -think you know the settlement now and could make your way in the night -through it?" - -"Perfectly," wondering at her impressiveness. - -"And do you, Christopher?" - -"Yes, ma'am." - -Unmistakably she had a very intelligent purpose in thus making us -acquainted with the topography of the settlement and the presence of our -vessel. With that idea I began to make a closer study of the approaches -and thoroughfares, although I could form no conception of means whereby -the colony might use them against the overwhelming horde of armed -natives. But Beela's comely head was packed with shrewdness. - -The weather became more threatening with the approach of evening. At -night, Beela left us concealed near the prison hut, and went to bring -our supper. - -After she had returned and we had eaten, she suggested that Christopher -and I go and see the prisoner, and learn all that we could. Gato would -not be on duty, and the light was dim. Thence we should go to the -postern in the palace wall, and there be met by her. Then she left. - -When we were near the hut a shadow leaped out of the ground, and -challenged. I answered as Beela had instructed, and the guard stepped -aside. We entered, and the two natives sitting with the prisoner gave us -only a glance. In an authoritative manner I bade them wait outside, and -they obediently went. - -Mr. Vancouver was sitting on a stool, his head bowed in dejection, but -he quickly straightened, and drilled us with a keenly questioning look, -in which fear, anxiety, and hope were present. It was evident that he -was profoundly suspicious. He was too shrewd not to see the significance -of his being kept under guard in a hovel instead of being the king's -guest. - -I asked him in Senatra English if he was comfortable. Over his haggard -face flashed an eager interest. - -"That is nothing," he impatiently answered. "I want to know why I am kept -here." - -"Do you really expect to see the king?" I asked. - -He started. "What do you mean?" he demanded. - -"What do you think you are here for?" - -"The king sent for me--for a conference." A red light came into his -eyes. - -"A conference. Suppose he has made up his mind that he can dispose of -the white people without your help, and that you happen to be first." - -The sallowness that already had entered his face since his imprisonment -became livid, and the red light flared. - -"To be sent away?" he thickly asked. - -"Yes. Sent away. That is as good a name for it as any other." - -I had ignored Christopher's gentle tug at my sleeve. A quiver ran -through Mr. Vancouver as if a knife had been slipped between his ribs. -It was with difficulty that he found breath for speech. - -"Doesn't the king know that I can make him incredibly rich from his gold -and silver and diamond mines? Doesn't he understand that------" - -"Perhaps he is as rich as he cares to be. Besides, he has never trusted -a white man; and why should he trust one that betrays his own friends?" -I could not avoid giving him that thrust. - -He came weakly to his feet, terror and despair in every line. - -"Did the king send you to say this?" he gasped. - -I made no answer. The man sent a wild glance about as though to measure -his strength with his prison, and to end all doubts quickly by any -means. Then I saw that his wits were gone, and that the purpose of my -talk, which was to prepare him for the revelation I had come to make, -that he might be on his guard, had miscarried. - -Christopher, in the background, edged round, keeping his back, as I -kept mine, to the feeble light. I could not imagine that Mr. Vancouver, -desperate though he was, would seize this moment to try issues with -his fate; but I had not guessed soon enough that the red light meant -madness. With a choking curse he snatched up his heavy stool and sprang -with it upraised in both hands to crush me. - -Before his leap was ended, a heavy body crashed into him, and two giant -arms were cracking his joints and sending the stool flying over my head. -The two guards came running in, but I sent them back. Christopher needed -no aid. - -The pinioned man rolled his head and eyes horribly, and cursed through -foaming lips. He made futile efforts to sink his teeth into Christopher; -he kicked wildly; he squirmed like an animal under a strangling hand. -But Christopher's arms knew the mercy of strength, and he kept dropping -soothing words. Like a pillar sunk deep in the earth stood Christopher -while his prisoner gasped curses and put fierce energy into every -muscle. - -"I know you!" he sputtered at me. "You are the infernal native dog -that fooled me and trifled with me in camp. Let me at his throat, you -baboon!"--to Christopher. "Loose me! Let me die with my arms free!" -He called the king and me and all the natives unspeakable names. "In -decency and mercy," he fumed, "kill me at once! I know now what you are -going to do with me,--you cannibals!" - -Christopher's quieting tongue was as persistent as his arms, and under -them Mr. Vancouver was gradually breaking down. Christopher assured -the wretch that no harm would befall him. The man who could resist such -persuasion would be less than human and worse than mad. Mr. Vancouver's -curses straggled off, his struggles ceased, and the red flame died in -his eyes. Christopher had coaxed reason back. - -He seated Mr. Vancouver, bathed his face, and gave him water to drink. -With a gentle touch he unlaced and removed the sufferer's shoes, and -undressed him. The man had become a child in Christopher's hands, and -was wholly docile when made comfortable in bed. - -There had been no personal heed of Christopher in Mr. Vancouver's -yielding; but it evidently occurred to him at last that here was -something strangely different from the manner of the natives--something -nearer and humanly akin. He had been studying Christopher; and when he -was composed, and Christopher was turning away, Mr. Vancouver seized his -arm and held him, looking earnestly into his face, and then covering his -figure with a startled glance. His eyes opened with astonishment. - -"Who are you?" he demanded under his breath. - -"You know, sir." - -"Christopher!" - -"Yes, sir. Speak low." - -"What are you doing here, disguised like that?" - -"Captain Mason sent us, sir." - -"What for?" - -"To save you, sir. Don't talk." - -Mr. Vancouver breathed laboredly, and the veins in his forehead bulged. - -"Who was sent with you?" he faintly asked. - -"Him, sir," indicating me. - -I saw the knot come in the suffering man's throat as he rolled his -bloodshot eyes upon me, half raised himself on his elbow, and stared -while his breathing rasped. - -"Who is he?" came chokingly, with a clutch on Christopher's arm. - -"Mr. Tudor, sir." - -A spasm caught Mr. Vancouver in the chest, and a rigor ran through -him. His eyes closed, his head swung back, his mouth fell open, and -Christopher eased the insensible man down on the pillow. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.--A Light in the Gloom. - -_Subtle Changes in Beela. A Startling Discovery in the Palace Vaults. -The Secrets of the Council Chamber Overheard. Urgent Measures Planned._ - - -YOU are late!" blithely greeted Beela when we arrived at the palace -gate after leaving Mr. Vancouver. "That shows how much you think of the -beautiful, the angel, the sweet, the good Lentala, for you are to sleep -in her quarters tonight." - -We were just in time, for the heavens were opening, and the deluge was -at hand. - -With great caution Beela conducted us to a chamber in Lentala's wing -of the palace. Evidently it was a sanctuary, for it was quite different -from the room in which Lentala had received us, and Beela carelessly -remarked that in giving us the room, her sister was bestowing a special -favor, since not even her servants were ever admitted. - -"Because," Beela chattered on as she lighted the beautiful lamps, "this -is where she comes to lead alone the life that she dreams about, far, -far away, where there are no Senatras,--the life that was born in our -blood, Choseph, and that we can see very dimly, and in our dreams only. -But this room helps Lentala to dream of it. Do you remember the story -you told me one day? She has changed the room tonight merely by bringing -in these couches for you and Christopher to sleep on." - -I felt something new in Beela's manner,--a note of sentiment singing -low in her voice, an augmented softness and grace in her bearing. She -appeared to be struggling against it and striving to be the boy Beelo. -Some success came, but the winning note still sang in her throat. - -She opened an adjoining room, and disclosed a bath. - -"Your Senatra tint is a little damaged," she cheerily said. "Wash it -off; you'll not need it tonight. Here's a fresh supply for tomorrow -morning. Don't forget to put it on! But there's much to do before you -sleep. I am going to take you to the Council Chamber. Dress as quickly -as possible. I have to make some changes myself. When you are ready, -give three light taps on that door." - -"Thank you, dear little brother, but where's Lentala?" - -"Lentala! Do you think she can sit up all night waiting for callers?" - -"We are to see her in the morning, then?" - -Beela had been bustling over finishing touches for our comfort, but my -question--perhaps my tone--stopped her. - -"Do you wish to see her?" she asked. - -"Of course." - -"Why?" - -"Beelo! Can you ask that? Unless we see Lentala whenever we come to the -palace, the jungle is more comfortable." - -She turned away, pretending to be hurt. - -"And so you don't care for Beelo. It is nothing to sleep under the same -roof with him." - -"But Beelo is a part of my life, dear lad. However far away he may -be, he is always with me. Whenever and wherever I go, my dear little -brother's hand is in mine; and no matter when or where I sleep, his -sweet breath is on my cheek; and the touch of his light fingers on -my lids and the ring of his cheery laugh in my heart wake me in the -morning. In my dreams----" I paused, for Beela embarrassed me by the -breathless interest with which she was listening. - -"In your dreams, Choseph?" - -"Then Beelo comes with another. He leads that one by the hand, and -smiles at me, and says in his musical voice, 'This one also you must -like, big brother, for this is Beelo's best friend.'" - -She came close and looked up into my eyes. - -"That other one, big brother?" - -"Is Lentala." - -Her breath caught as she moved away, and she was silent for a little -while as she gave the last touches and started to leave. At the door she -threw me a mischievous glance, and said: - -"You have funny dreams, Choseph, but I'll tell Lentala you wish to see -her," and was gone. - -I had already observed that no touch of native savagery rested on -this room. Every article of use or adornment was of a highly civilized -production. The barbaric splendor of the reception-room was absent here, -and a dainty, girlish simplicity was the note. Exceedingly charming -were products of her needlework and other handicraft copied from foreign -articles. There were some English books that showed signs of hard use. I -picked up one and found a dainty handkerchief within it, and felt a pity -for Lentala thus reaching out for what she could not understand. - -Beela appeared in different clothes when I rapped, and was much fresher -and smarter than I had ever seen her. She looked conscious under my -admiring glance, and expressed gratification at the improvement in my -looks. - -"Beelo, you are as pretty as a girl. Fie!" - -She pretended not to hear, and was busy lighting a lantern. - -"They are all asleep in this wing," she said. "Now we'll go. Listen to -the storm! Mr. Vancouver is safe for another day, I hope. And still no -earthquake." - -I felt a twinge, but no opportunity had offered for my telling her of -the incident in the hut. The truth is, I dreaded lest she find fault -with Christopher for disclosing our identity to Mr. Vancouver and my -knowledge of his perfidy. - -It would be difficult to say in what lay the finer air of Beela's dress. -In cut the garments had a masculine approach, but in China they might -have passed for feminine. The trousers and blouse were of fine dark-blue -cloth, and were ample. In place of the somewhat shabby straw hat was -a becoming red turban, and the shoes were Turkish, red, and richly -embroidered in gold. The blouse opened like a V at the neck, and a -negligee tie matching in shade the turban and the shoes was secured with -a splendid diamond at the bottom of the V. - -More insinuating than these outward things were the girl's gentler voice -and manner. There was a hint of the young mother in her caressing look -and touch, and the cello note in her voice had fallen still softer and -smoother. - -In lighting the lantern, she disarranged her turban by striking it -against a piece of furniture. She straightened, and raised her arms -to readjust it. Her sleeves were wide and open, and they slipped down, -baring her arms. - -I had been trying with all my might to keep from my mind the delicious -thought of Beelo's metamorphosis, but self-deception was no longer -possible. I _must_ revel in this new and pleasant experience. The one -duty that I must observe was the keeping of my promise to Lentala that I -would not let her little sister know that I knew. - -"Are we ready?" cheerily asked Beela, picking up the lantern and -darkening it with a cloth. "Come. No talking till I give you leave. We -must be careful in this wing, for Lentala's servants might wake. The -noises of the storm will help us, but the veranda is drenched. We must -take the other way." - -She opened the door through which she had entered last, and we were -in darkness when she closed it; but I had dimly seen that it was a -corridor. - -"We can't use the lantern yet," she whispered, slipping her hand down my -sleeve to my fingers. "Can you find your way, Christopher?" - -"Yes." There was always something tragic in Christopher's whisper. - -"Do you love me, Christopher?" she teasingly asked, squeezing my -fingers. - -"Yes, ma'am." - -It required great stoicism for me to hold my hand passive and not return -the pressure, but I was amazed when she abruptly dropped my fingers. -I could see nothing except a faint glow through the cloth about the -lantern, but I peremptorily seized her sleeve, drew her arm up, took her -hand, and squeezed it hard, for reproof. She made no resistance. Beela -was very sweet in the dark,--I remembered the passage through the -mountain. - -We almost immediately turned into a much longer stretch, as I knew -by the whispering echoes of our steps; and soon the shrouded light of -Beela's lantern made the walls visible. After leading us down a dark -stair she halted before a door, unlocked it, ushered us within, relocked -the door, and removed the cloth from the light. - -This chamber was a disordered lumber-room, filled with odds and ends of -broken things, native and foreign. I was less interested in the rubbish -than in the new picture of Beela in the ascending light from the -lantern. It made a witchery of her chin, emphasized the graceful curve -of her lips, filled her delicate nostrils, and threw her eyes into -mystical shadow. I tried to get her hand again, but failed. Beela in the -light was not the same as Beela in the dark. - -She paused, and breathed more freely. - -"We are safe for a while now," she said. It was hard to listen -composedly to her words, so sweet was the tone of them. - -She wound and twisted through the stores, we following, and brought up -at a door which a stranger, likely, never would have found. This she -unlocked, passed us through, and secured behind us. The air was dank -and musty, and despite the lantern there were uncanny patches of -phosphorescent light on walls otherwise invisible as yet. The space was -roomy, the floor earthen. It proved to be a large cellar-like chamber -with a low ceiling supported by stone pillars groined into arches, and -was paved, furnished with grated windows, and sweet and dry. Here were -immense stores: American-tinned provisions in astonishing abundance; -bale upon bale of cloth of many kinds; modern farming implements, -and machinery and tools for sawyers, carpenters, cabinet-makers, -upholsterers, and many other useful trades; and at one side an array of -firearms and ammunition. - -Beela was watching me in my astonishment, for not the smallest item of -this store had I seen in use by the natives. - -"Don't you know what it all is, Choseph?" she asked. - -I shook my head. - -"It is the cargo of your vessel." - -I was speechless. Two things were clear: one, that the water-tight -bulkheads in the Hope had not given way (which accounted for her pursuit -of us instead of sinking), and the other, that the natives had carefully -repaired all the water-damage possible. The thorough care of the cargo -very likely had extended to the vessel herself. - -My emotion was profound. I wrung Beela's hand, but something in my eyes -made her dim and floating. Only vaguely could I see the sweet uplift and -happiness in her face. Christopher was standing apart like a man of wood -except that his eyes were living. If he needed any expression from me of -the almost cruel joy that filled me, he gave no sign, but stood in the -pathetic loneliness that forever invested him. - -"We must go on," said Beela. "It is time for the king's privy council." - -A devious way through another storage vault filled with things no doubt -of great value, the ascent of a stone stair, a turning into this passage -and another into that, and a short flight of steps, brought us at last -upon a curtained balcony overlooking a dimly lighted council hall of -considerable size and rich in savage appointments. The king was on a -throne facing us, and in a semi-circle before him, seated on rugs on the -stone floor, were old and elderly native men splendidly appareled. The -king was even more sumptuously robed than on the day of our reception -by him. He had no personal attendants, for this, Beela explained in a -whisper, was not a state council, but a secret one, called occasionally -for extraordinary purposes, composed of selected wise men, and generally -held late at night. The balcony where we sat was for the use of the -queen and her feminine friends at state meetings. The diaphanous -curtains, of an exquisite native texture and handsomely embroidered, -could be seen through from our side, which was in shadow, but not from -the other. - -One thing had been puzzling me exceedingly. It was that no American and -European articles looted from wrecks were in use in their original form -by any of the natives except Lentala and Beela. - -"Because," Beela had told me in answer to my question, "the natives -don't need them, and are more content without them. The king is wise -with his people, and they love him." - -The council was under way. An old man had been droning something that -I did not hear, for his voice was weak and the storm noisy. The king -nodded to another, a younger man, who came to his splendid full height. -His gold-embroidered cloak of office slipped from his great right -shoulder and arm after he had risen from his obeisance. - -"What is the temper of the Senatras, Gato?" the king asked. - -"Very impatient, Sire. There are murmurings and small secret gatherings. -Rebellion is in the air." - -The king moved uneasily. "And your soldiers?" he inquired. - -"I have them in hand as yet, but they are naturally affected by the -restlessness among the people, and are sick of waiting and of guarding -the passes. They have never been on duty so long. They love their homes -and farms, and they can't understand the delay. If a wreck should come -with this storm, where will the people from it be held?" - -"There is plenty of room in the valley," snapped the king, making an -impatient gesture. "And don't our people know that the crowd we have -there is different from any castaways we have had before? Of course we -can't let any of them leave the island, for they suspect its wealth, -and would return with soldiers and guns, and destroy us. But we have to -proceed cautiously. There are more than a hundred and fifty picked men -in the party, and their leaders, Mason and Tudor, and the giant ape -Christopher, are shrewd, bold men, and have no fear." - -We three were sitting close together, Beela in the middle. One of her -hands stole out, took Christopher's, squeezed it, and released it. The -other found my hand; I closed on its warm softness and kept it prisoned. - -"In some mysterious way," Gato explained, "they have outwitted us. Our -plan was to break them up by using the old traitor Vancouver, but they -evidently discovered his treachery, and I have just learned that they -sent him out as our first offering to the Black Face, while letting him -think that he was going to betray them to us." - -"I suppose," said the king, "that he is as good as another for the -sacrifice. That will satisfy the people for a time, but he is the first -and the last that we'll get from that crowd without bloody work, and I -don't wish my subjects to be killed." - -He paused, and the others waited. Beela's breathing had grown quick; -there was a slight quiver in her hand. - -The king went on: - -"Mason evidently suspects that the people taken out of the valley will -not be sent away, and so he is holding them together. No doubt they have -armed themselves, and are ready to fight. Mason will be in no hurry to -precipitate an issue with us, for they can subsist indefinitely where -they are, we can't strengthen our position against them, and time, he -reasons, may bring me to liberate them in a body." - -It was impossible not to recognize the kindliness and benevolence in the -king's voice and words. - -"May I speak, Sire?" - -"Yes, Gato." - -"I fear that Vancouver is going mad." - -The king looked his dismay. - -"He mumbles," proceeded Gato; "his eyes are wild at times; he calls for -his daughter, and weeps like a child; he cannot eat, and his sleep is -broken with loud cries." - -"Is there much of that?" the king asked in alarm. - -"No, Sire; only rarely. If he is taken to the sacrificial altar when he -has a lucid period,------" - -"The risk is great," groaned the king. "The people would resent the -offering up of a madman; and we can do nothing while the storm lasts. -The people can't assemble. We must wait. You men go among the Senatras -tomorrow and pacify them. Tell them that all will be well. Do they say -that the Face is threatening, Gato?" - -"Yes, Sire. Some fools have seen it and spread tales about it. One is -that green water streams out of its eyes, and another is that the mouth -has opened and that purple flames come forth." - -Beela's start thrilled me. The news brought the king to his feet. - -"Is it true, Gato,--the open mouth and the purple flame?" - -"I do not know, Sire. I have not seen it, and I do not believe it." - -"But it may be true! Find out tomorrow morning, and let me know." He -was leaving the throne, and although the light was poor, I could see a -totter in his step and haggardness in his face. - -The others were rising. The king turned to them, and said: - -"If _that_ is true,--" He did not finish, but stood in a daze. "The -council is ended," he weakly added, and slowly left the chamber, the -others filing after him. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.--Disciplined by a Woman. - -_Lentala's Odd Mistake. Beela Finds Me Refractory. The Deep-Laid Plan of -Gato. Christopher and I Charged With Service to the Old King_. - - -SLEEP held away that night. The revelations of the privy council had -been startling. Some things were clear. One was that the king was a -shrewd, easy-going, kindly man, vastly wiser than his subjects, and -finding it simpler to rule them by pampering their superstitions than by -raising them to his own understanding. Another was that he felt himself -on the edge of a crisis, saw no way to avert a possible catastrophe, and -was facing it with a paralyzing dread. - -Lentala, fresh and radiant, brought our breakfast. Except for her color, -not a trace of savagery remained about her. Her dress was a simple -house-frock of fine white linen, and of a modern style. Her hair was -done exactly like Annabel's. - -It did not improve her appearance. Had she been white, there would have -been no touch of the incongruous. But in this fresh, sweet daintiness, -much of her savage splendor had been sunk, and I felt a keen -disappointment. The former Lentala, for all her barbarity, had never -seemed an alien, but more a bringing back to me of a deeply rooted -principle fundamental in my heritage. - -She appeared to expect a compliment; but how could I be otherwise than -sincere with her? Our greetings were pleasant; yet her clothes had set a -constraint between us. - -"You don't like my dress, Mr. Tudor?" she ruefully asked. - -"It is exquisite, Lentala, and----" - -"I made it all myself, from a picture in a book out of your ship! I -thought you would like it. Doesn't Annabel dress this way?" - -"Yes; but in the native dress your beautiful, rich color----" I paused -in my floundering for a delicate way in which to say it. "Annabel is -white, you know," I blundered. - -Foreseeing my explanation, she had turned flutteringly away before my -final words came, and was still holding the empty copper tray on which -she had brought our breakfast. It fell with a clatter; her back was -turned to me when she picked it up in confusion. - -"A white woman!" She did not look at me. "Yes, she can wear dainty -things and be sweet; but a brown savage woman----" - -I had risen from my seat at the table and was advancing toward her. -She turned and faced me defiantly, backing away, her eyes flashing. In -another second, with a lightning change which showed her near kinship -with Beela, she smiled sweetly, and asked with a dash of her old -coquetry: - -"Would you like Lentala better if she were white and pink like Annabel?" - -"How could I like Lentala white more than Lentala brown, since, first -and last, it is Lentala that I like?" - -She frowned comically in an effort to puzzle some sense out of that -speech. - -"I mean," I added, laughing at her perplexity, "that I like Lentala -because she is Lentala, not because she isn't some one else." - -That was another poser, and she made just such a little wry face over it -as I had seen Beela make many a time. Her face brightened as she made a -dash at a short cut out: - -"Do you like me _because_ I'm brown?" - -"That is a question! It isn't because you aren't white that I like you." - -"_Could_ you like me if I were white?" She stamped impatiently. - -"I'd try to," I sighed. - -She made a little pout, stuck up her chin, turned stiffly, and went out -with great dignity. It was the Lentala of the feast! - -Beela entered when we had finished breakfast. In her rough clothes and -tightly bound hair, she made so sharp a contrast to Lentala that, for a -moment, I could not think of her as a girl, but as the dear lad whom I -had lost. She had none of her brilliant sparkle now, and my heart ached -to see the weariness and anxiety that she tried so bravely to conceal. - -"What's afoot for today, dear little brother?" I cheerily inquired. - -She was regarding me solemnly. "You've had your wish, I suppose. You've -seen Lentala this morning." - -"Yes. She brought our breakfast. She's an angel." - -"Pooh!" Beela was bored. "I've seen her. She looked a fright in those -clothes. Trying to ape Annabel! She ought to have better sense. I know -you were disgusted." - -"Beelo!" - -"Don't talk! I know." - -"You are tired and cross this morning, lad." - -She flopped into a chair, very glum. "Women are _such_ fools!" she -grumbled. - -"Now I am grieved to learn that Lentala is not a woman, for she could -never be a fool." - -Beela looked at me with sad reproach, and shook her head. - -"Just now," I went on, "she was a rich red rose sparkling with morning -dew. Her smile started all the birds to singing. She----" - -"Choseph!" She stamped the floor, much as Lentala had done, but a smile -fringed her frown. "You _know_ she made a fright of herself trying to -look like Annabel,--and with that ugly brown face!" - -"No, no, Beelo. The only trouble was that Lentala is too modest to -realize how splendidly perfect she is as Lentala." - -"But wasn't she still Lentala in those silly clothes?" - -"She was as much less Lentala as her effort to be something else -succeeded in making her." - -Beela looked puzzled exactly as Lentala had. - -"But her heart is broken!" she cried. "She says that you laughed at her, -and spoke in riddles!" - -"I laughed _with_ her, Beelo, not _at_ her; and the riddles were a bit -that I put in my mouth." - -"Why?" - -"The temptation to say beautiful things to Lentala that might sound -insincere is strong." - -She rose, with a confusion that was half amusement, and tried to hide -the light in her eyes. - -"Come, Choseph! There is much to do today." - -"I must see Lentala first." - -She could not mistake my seriousness. "Why?" in surprise. - -"I won't have her unhappy over that trifling incident. She is too -sensitive,--she misunderstood. I must see her, lad." I started for the -door. - -"Choseph!" came breathlessly. "Don't!" - -I turned. - -"Don't look at me that way!" she exclaimed in genuine alarm. Christopher -was moving round toward the door for which I had started. - -"What way?" - -"As though--as though you'd break down doors and kill anybody that -stood in your way!" - -"I want to see Lentala." - -"You can't! She--she's undressed. I'll tell her. She'll be satisfied." - -"Will you, lad? Thank you." - -She began making some preparations about the room. "You ought to be kept -tied, Choseph," she said, half to herself. "I never know what you are -going to do next." Yet a sweet note in her voice sounded low. - -She came and stood before me, looking me straight in the eyes. - -"I was going to give you and Christopher very delicate and important -work to do this morning, Choseph, but I'm afraid you'll do something -rash and ruin us all." - -I felt the sting. "Trust me, little brother." - -She shook her head in trouble. "You're not sly, Choseph; you're not -cunning and patient. Those are what are needed now. You have enough -courage." - -"Trust me, lad." - -"You are to meet King Rangan, Choseph, and you are to do everything that -he wishes you to do. You may think you ought not." - -"If you say that I ought, I will." - -"I do say so. If you refuse, or show temper, or do anything that a -Senatra wouldn't do, all is lost. Do you understand?" - -"I am not a fool, Beelo." - -"Choseph! That was temper." - -"Trust me, lad," I begged. - -"It is very dangerous work--terribly so if you make a mistake." - -"There will be no mistake." - -"The king is much broken. He is growing old, and the problem of the -colony is wearing on him. Choseph, will you think of him as kind and -gentle, and as meaning well?" - -"Yes." - -"And will you watch Christopher? Sometimes he understands more than you -or I." - -"I will." - -"Very well." Beela was much relieved. "Now I'll explain. The king -is failing rapidly. He needs such friends as you and Christopher, -and------" - -"Such friends as _we_, when he is holding us as fattening cattle?" - -"Choseph!" Beela's voice rang sharp, and she angrily stamped. Then came -a hopeless look. - -I took her hands. "Come, dear friend," I pleaded. "That was the last. I -am wholly in your hands. And remember, there is always Christopher." - -She turned away with a sigh, and began to put finishing touches to our -efforts at the restoration of neatness in the room. She was evidently -gathering herself, for presently she came and took a seat facing me, -Christopher standing. Her manner was serious. - -"This is the case," she said: "The king has meant always to be kind to -Lentala and me, and we are grateful. We love the queen dearly. We would -lay down our lives before permitting any harm to befall them." - -Her emotion made her pause. - -"Serious dangers are threatening them now,--more than they suspect,--and -these have come because of your people. Before that, only one or two -would be cast up from the wrecks. They gave no trouble." - -Horror came into her face, and she looked away. - -"I always supposed that they were sent off," she resumed. "Never once -did I suspect the truth until shortly before your party came, and then -my affection for the king died in me, and I was sick at heart. I don't -think the queen knows the truth to this day. I think the king would -have stopped it long ago, but for Gato, who wanted to use it to keep the -natives in savagery. He is a bad man, with great power. When your -large party came, he saw a way to break the king, stir the people to -rebellion, kill the king and queen, and take the throne himself." - -"Does Gato suspect that you know this about him?" I asked in -astonishment. - -"No. There is where our safety lies. I never should have suspected him -if he hadn't made love to Lentala and told her that if she would marry -him she would soon be queen,--the beast! Then we watched and found out." - -After a thoughtful pause she proceeded: - -"Gato is secretly stirring up the people. I have no doubt that he is -about ready to strike. His plan will be this, I think: The palace guard -are men whom he can trust to do his work; he will kill everybody here, -and then take the army into your valley and slaughter all but a few. He -will keep those for the sacrifices. It was he that induced the king to -use Mr. Vancouver as your traitor. But, unlike the king, he doesn't care -how many natives might be killed in a fight with the colony when he has -made himself king." - -She was regarding me curiously. - -"And what are Christopher and I to do?" I cheerfully asked. - -"Let me tell you some things before that," she answered, but with -hesitancy. "You won't be hurt with me, Choseph, and you won't be angry?" - -"Assuredly not, dear lad." - -"I told Captain Mason all these things when I went into the valley the -last time." She waited anxiously. - -"I am very glad of that," I brightly answered. - -She was much relieved, and with a sudden dash came over and squeezed my -hand. - -"You are really my dear big brother!" she said, and demurely resumed her -seat. "I told him something else," she went on with more confidence. "It -was to have his entire colony ready to move at a moment's notice,--not -to bring anything with them, except all the food they could carry, -but to be prepared at any time of the day or night to march in perfect -silence out of the valley." - -"To the ship!" I exclaimed. - -She smiled. "I advised him to pick some cool, trustworthy men to take -charge of the march." - -"He said------?" - -"That he already had his men chosen, and was glad that Hobart didn't -have to come out with me. He said it would be the making of Rawley to -come, and that you would understand." - -I did at last. There was something almost magical in Captain Mason's -ability to dig the manhood out of men. - -"And now for your work and Christopher's," resumed Beela. "I will take -you to the king as English-speaking natives from the mountains beyond -the valley on the west, which you have not seen. As I have told you, the -natives there are wilder and fiercer than these, have little intercourse -with them, and are largely independent. Their blood has mingled with -that of a few castaways, and they are brighter. On this side is the -ancient race, simple, gentle, dull. The king is proud of it, and wishes -to keep it pure. But he will welcome the other men in this emergency, -particularly if they speak English." - -"Has he full confidence in Gato?" I inquired. - -"I think he is growing suspicious." - -"And we?" - -"You are to be the king's confidential agents; to find out, -independently of Gato, all that is afoot; to be ready to protect the -king; and especially to treat with the colony if any trouble should rise -from that source. Is it all clear?" - -"Nearly. We are to guard the king and maintain his authority at any -cost?" - -Beela studied me uneasily. "Yes, at any cost," she slowly answered. - -"I was thinking of Gato," I explained. "We are to resort to any -measures with him, however extreme, if we have good reason to think them -necessary?" - -"Yes," somewhat anxiously. "What do you mean, Choseph?" - -"Anything that may be wise and prudent." - -She glanced down. She made no reply, but gave this warning, still not -looking up: - -"Take no chances with him. When you strike, which you must, sooner or -later, let the blow be swift and sure." - -"What will become of the army when he is out of the way?" - -The question troubled her. "It is very uncertain," she answered. "There -may be leaders under him who are in his confidence. They or one of them -may take command and lead the army against the palace." - -She sprang to her feet and glanced about. - -"Let's go to the king at once," she said. "Lentala told him about -you and promised to have you there by this time. I fear that Gato has -already returned with his report of the Face with its open mouth and -purple flame." - -"Just one thing, dear lad," I interrupted. "I wish to see Lentala -first." - -Her adaptability was as quick as a child's. The seriousness which she -had worn flashed into a teasing quirk of the mouth. - -"What for?" - -"You know very well." - -"Choseph," she said, solemnly wagging her head at me, "how can you think -of girls at such a time as this? Lentala would have too much sense to -see you now. Come with me to the king." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.--To the Rescue of the King. - -_Our Risky Audience With His Majesty. He Encoils Us in Allegiance. I -Open His Eyes. Gato's Scheme of Regicide. A Bold Act by Christopher._ - - -ON our way to the royal apartments, Beela again took us through the -vaults. I used the opportunity to fix in my memory the exact places -where the arms and ammunition from our vessel were kept. The king never -permitted any of his subjects to handle firearms. - -Hard by the vaults she showed us a dungeon. Not within her memory had -it been occupied, and few, even in the palace, knew of its existence. It -was an ingeniously designed prison, a grated window for ventilation and -a little light being so placed that no sound could reach the outside; -and the door was so deadened that no beating could make a noise. - -Anxious that none of the king's attendants should see her, Beela gave -us directions how to go and what to say and do if we were halted, -and slipped away, informing us that we might see her face at a small -curtained window high in the east wall of the room where the king would -receive us. - -One after another of the attendants whom we encountered on the way eyed -us curiously and, I thought, suspiciously, and put their heads together -after we had passed. One of them gave a low whistle; two came forward -from in front, stopped us, and demanded our identity and business. All -these men were armed. - -"The king expects us," was my curt answer; but more effective was our -cool assurance. - -Thus we arrived at the door, which was open, a soldier on guard. More -peremptorily than the others he demanded our names and errand. - -"The king expects us," I repeated, and was going within; but the fellow -laid a hand on me. I flung it off, and so confused him that we were -within before he could interfere. He mustered some briskness to follow, -but was too late, for the king had seen us. - -I was shocked at his appearance in the clearer light of day. At the -feast he had looked not far beyond his prime; his eyes were bright then, -and he bore himself with a commanding dignity. Now he was sinking into -decrepitude. - -"I have been expecting these men," he said, and the guard withdrew; but -I knew that he was slyly listening at the door. - -We made an obeisance. I caught a glimpse of Beela's encouraging face at -the window. - -The king was lounging on a divan; he had been talking with two elderly -men seated on rugs before him. They regarded us keenly as the king asked -them to withdraw. When they had gone, Christopher closed and locked the -door, and stood with his back to it. The surprised and curious scrutiny -of the king was on him, passing down his grotesque figure. From -Christopher he turned to me. - -"What do you wish?" he inquired. - -"To serve you, Sire." - -"How?" - -"Secretly, by finding out many things, by learning the truth; and in any -other way." - -"I have men for that." - -"You have Lentala also, Sire. She knows that you need us, and that we -will serve you intelligently, faithfully, and without fear." - -"Without fear of whom?" - -"Every one of account has enemies, Sire." - -"Have I any? I want no guessing." - -"We will find out." - -"Does Lentala know?" - -"Not positively, perhaps; but we all love her, and she has many ways -of learning, since she is not hedged about and kept in the dark as your -Majesty can be." The king was brightening; a faint eagerness crept into -his face. - -"Where did you learn to talk in that way?" - -"I don't understand your Majesty." - -"That inflexion. It isn't pure Senatra." - -"It is my misfortune, Sire. A long time ago a white man, an American, -escaped from the natives with the aid of a Senatra girl. She went with -him into the lonely mountains back of the village Sumanali. There -my brother," indicating Christopher, "and I were born. We speak our -father's language as well as our mother's." - -"English?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"I meant something else, also, in your speech,--a quickness, a -nimbleness." - -"The white man was bright and keen, Sire." - -"What is your name?" he asked me. - -"Joseph, Sire." - -"And his?" - -"Christopher, Sire." - -"Those are not Senatra names." - -"Our father was an American, Sire." - -He put me through a further shrewd examination, and I answered readily. -It was having a slow but conspicuous effect in heartening him. I was -evidently a new and refreshing element, perhaps bringing hope. He -appeared satisfied, and asked: - -"Have you any suspicions?" - -"I have, your Majesty." - -"Of what? and of whom?" - -"Might it not be unjust, Sire, to express mere suspicions?" - -He reflected a moment, and asked: - -"Do you know Gato?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"And the Black Face?" - -"Very well." - -"And the purple flame?" - -"Yes. I saw it two days ago." - -"Where?" asked he in excitement, sitting erect. - -"It was slipping along the top of the valley wall, near the Face." - -The king's perturbation increased, but he found no wavering of my eyes -under his sharp gaze. - -"More than that, Sire; my brother and I went into the river passage -through the wall. We saw the red fire and barely missed a great -explosion." - -The king's astonishment brought him to his feet. - -"Tell me more!" he demanded. - -I gave him an account of all that we had seen and endured, including the -flaming waterfall, the boiling cauldron, and the earthquake. - -"You dared that passage!" he exclaimed, looking from one to the other of -us in amazement. "It was the white blood. Not another man in the kingdom -would do it. Gato could not make any of his men go; yet I was anxious to -know." - -He was saying this partly to himself, as he aimlessly walked the floor. - -"Why did you go?" he abruptly asked. - -"We had heard that no one else was willing, and we wished to serve your -Majesty." - -The king's back being turned, I glanced up at the window. The curtain -parted for a moment, and Beela's beaming face nodded and smiled. - -"Yes," muttered the king in a profound disturbance, "it means that -an upheaval is at hand,--and a crisis!" He came and stood before me, -plumping this question at me: "Do you fear the Black Face, the flame, -and the earthquake?" - -"Not in the least, Sire," I smilingly answered. - -"All the others do." - -"Your Majesty has not forgotten that our father was white. He taught us -many wise things." - -He was smitten with a look that seemed to come from his conscience, and -sank with a groan into the divan. - -"Had I only been as true to my duty, and led my people to the light!" he -exclaimed. "Lentala begged me to. Now I must pay, I must pay!" - -I needed no recalling of my pledge to Beela, for pity held me. I looked -to the window, and the radiance coming thence lighted my wits. - -"There is always hope, Sire," I cheerfully said; "we can work and hope." - -He gave me a haggard look. "You know," he said, "the Senatras believe -that unless sacrifices are made of the white people in the valley there -will come no more wrecks and castaways, and that the Black Face will -therefore send the terrible earthquake and eruptions which frighten our -people into madness, sweep the island with fire, and destroy lives and -farms. But how can a sacrifice be made? The people think that to offer -up a madman would infuriate the Face and cause frightful disaster. It -is impossible to bring another white man from the valley, because -the colony would fight rather than give him up. Yet unless there is a -sacrifice the Senatras will rebel through fear of the Face, the army -will revolt, my palace will be seized, and the queen, Lentala and I, -with all our friends and servants, will be put to the sword." - -"A leader, who must be a traitor, would be required for that, your -Majesty. That would mean a man of eminence among us; and not that alone, -but one who has already laid his plans and is ready at this moment to -strike." - -The king was staring at me in terror. - -"You speak with a deep understanding," he huskily said, "and you have -more to tell me. Proceed." - -"Yes, Sire. The white people wish only to leave the island, and to go in -peace. They will do no harm if they are not opposed; if they are, they -will harm only those who oppose them." - -"How do you know?" - -"I speak with knowledge from my white father." - -"But if they are permitted to go, they will spread tales of great riches -here, and destroying ships and armies will come." - -"Permit me, Sire. In the first place, with such coadjutors as Lentala, -my brother and I, you could make the island impregnable. That would be -far wiser than the risk which you are now running, for the sea, even in -my father's time, was filling with ships, and the great countries were -hunting new possessions. At any time a ship may come without the aid of -the storms. She would see this large and beautiful island, and, though -driven off, would inform her own country, which would send vessels and -men to overwhelm us." - -"Yes, yes. But would it be possible for us to prepare defenses?" - -"It is our duty to do all that we can, Sire. But there can be an -additional protection. So long as we keep our present backwardness we -shall be deemed the rightful prey of any nation. If we aim to be more -like the great countries, and send ambassadors to them and make treaties -with them, they will protect us against one another." - -This mightily impressed the king. - -"That sounds reasonable," he said with a pitiful air of wisdom, "but it -may be attended to hereafter. We are facing a present crisis. You said -that a leader of an insurrection would be required." - -"Yes, Sire." - -"The army could put down any trouble." - -"With the army itself in revolt?" - -"But Gato's control of the army is powerful." - -"Yet it is on the edge of revolt. If Gato is all-powerful with his -men, and in spite of that fact says he can't control them,----But your -Majesty is abler than I to draw inferences." - -The king came nervously to his feet. - -"It is easy to understand, Sire," I went on, "that an ambitious and -unscrupulous man would see his opportunity when the people are paralyzed -with fear of the Face or with an outburst of its wrath." - -"Opportunity for what?" the king demanded. "What would he want, Sire? -Your throne would be a temptation, and so would Lentala to a man who -wanted a beautiful wife." - -The king gripped the edge of a table. - -"He asked me for her," the wretched man growled like a lion gnawing a -bone. "I refused him. She is very dear to me. I wanted her to have a -better man, of her own choosing. For I have provided that she is to rule -my people when I am gone." - -Though greatly surprised, I refrained from looking toward the window, -and kept silence while the broken man fought out his agony. When the -urgency of his situation had measurably restored him, he began to pace -the floor, and asked: - -"Something has to be done immediately. What would you suggest?" - -"What does your Majesty understand the case to be?" - -"We are on the eve of a revolution. The task is to check it." - -"Meanwhile, Sire, I observe that a score of Gato's soldiers are in the -palace. Is that customary?" - -The king stopped and turned a livid look on me. - -"No. Gato suggested that it would be safer to have them here for the -present as a protection." - -"Protection for whom, Sire?" - -The hint in the question swept the breath out of him, and he stood -staring. - -"I hadn't suspected----" he struggled for breath to begin. Then, "I see, -I see." - -The imminence of danger electrified his dormant forces. He hardened and -expanded, and fighting blood began to run in his veins. I said: - -"There is one thing more, your Majesty. The white people in the valley -are able, daring, and cunning. Already some of them have escaped and are -at large in the island." - -"Impossible!" he exclaimed in consternation. - -"I have seen them myself, Sire. They are perfectly disguised as -natives." A quick look at the window showed me a frightened but not a -reprimanding face. - -"You are positive?" - -"Absolutely, Sire." - -"How did they come out?" - -"Either by tricking Gato's men, or by connivance with some one, of -course." - -A rap at the door prevented further discussion. - -"That is Gato," the king whispered. "Hide there," pointing to a -curtained door in the rear wall. - -We were immediately concealed. The place was an anteroom. Through the -curtain we could hear and see everything. - -Gato entered. - -"What news?" the king inquired in a friendly, business-like fashion. - -"Everything is quiet, your Majesty." - -"How is the weather?" - -"It is beginning to clear." - -"Good! If the storm has made any wrecks, a castaway for the sacrifice -may drift ashore. That would restore order." - -Gato solemnly shook his head. The king reclined in silence, and then -asked: - -"How many soldiers have you in and about the palace?" - -The man was surprised. "Twenty, Sire," he hesitatingly answered. - -"Send them to the Council Chamber, and summon Lentala." - -"May I ask your Majesty----" - -Gato found a look that he was not accustomed to see. It was evident from -the slowness with which he proceeded to obey that he was alarmed and was -gaining time for new plans. - -Christopher and I stepped forth when Gato was gone. Beela exhibited some -fear, but I sent her a smile. - -"You," the king commanded me, "observe his manner with his men. You," to -Christopher, "follow him to Lentala and see that no harm befalls her; -I will show you a way. Don't let him see either of you. Come with me to -the Council Chamber immediately after the soldiers have assembled." - -Beela nodded to me, and dropped the curtain. The king led Christopher -into the anteroom, gave him hurried directions, opened a door leading -out of that room, dismissed Christopher, and returned. By this time I -was passing out, having observed that no one in the corridor was looking -toward me. - -Gato had formed his plan, and it contemplated swift execution, as I -judged from his prompt, incisive manner with his men. In each instance -he gave an order which I knew from the pantomime included the Council -Chamber; then, in the man's ear, he added something which brought -a start, a stiffening of the body, and an unconscious grip of the -sword-hilt. As the men were straggling past me to assemble, the king -leisurely strolled out into the corridor, and was sauntering beyond me, -when he stopped, turned, and asked under his voice: - -"What are the signs?" - -"He has ordered them to kill you in the Council Chamber at a sign from -him." - -"Umph!" The king passed on toward his living-apartments, which he -entered. - -When he came quietly walking back, the corridor was clear of soldiers. -He slipped a modern revolver into my hand. - -"Do you understand its use?" - -"Perfectly, Sire." - -"May I trust your nerve and judgment to use it at the right moment and -without missing?" - -"You may, Sire." - -"I think one shot will settle the matter. If - -"There will be three of us, your Majesty." - -He nodded, passed on, and turned back. He had become transformed, and -appeared to look forward eagerly to the crucial moment. - -"Gato ought to be here with Lentala by this time," he said. - -He walked slowly to the private audience-room, looked in, and strolled -back. Near me he stopped short, intently listening. - -"Did you hear that?" he asked. - -"No, Sire." - -"It sounded like the roar of an infuriated animal." - -His strolling began again, but with an increasing uneasiness. - -"I don't understand it," he said. At intervals he stopped and listened. -Finally he came back. - -"I sent for her," he explained, "to announce that she was heir-apparent -to the throne, and vested with present authority to take any measures in -this crisis that would seem proper in her discretion." - -I did not know before that my heart could be so touched by such a man. - -His impatience at last slipped control. "We will go and see what detains -them," he said. - -We started down the corridor. At his own apartments he paused to send a -servant to the Council Chamber with word that he would soon appear. We -had gone but a short distance beyond, when we met Christopher. - -"Is all well?" asked the king. - -"Yes, Sire." - -"Are Lentala and Gato coming?" - -"No, Sire." - -"Why not?" - -"He's in the dungeon, Sire." - -"In the dungeon! Locked up?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"Who put him there?" - -"Me, Sire." - -"What for?" - -"Your Majesty told me not to let him harm her." - -"Harm her! Did he try to?" - -"I was there. She wants to see you." He turned to me. "And you, sir." - -We three hastened to her apartments, where we found her lying on a couch -and attended by a number of frightened women. - -"Lentala!" the king anxiously said; "what is the matter?" - -She forced a smile, held out one hand to the king and the other to me, -gave mine a quick, tight squeeze, released our hands, in a weak voice -bade us be seated, and with a wave of her hand dismissed the women. - -"What has happened, child?" the king insisted. - -"Gato came. I was alone. He didn't know that Christopher was behind -him." She was speaking with difficulty, often pausing. "He was -impatient. He said he loved me and wanted me. And if I wouldn't marry -him, he'd... he'd strangle me here and now.... That his men were waiting -in the Council Chamber to kill you, if I refused him, and then they -would kill the queen.... I said no. I trusted Christopher. Gato's -fingers hooked like that," she showed with her own hands, "his eyes -glared terribly, and he came at me.... Christopher crept up, said to -me, 'Don't scream,' and leaped on Gato. They grappled, and rolled on the -floor. Gato roared like a wild beast." Lentala covered her eyes with her -hands. "I heard things crack and break. I couldn't look. Then came an -awful squeak. Christopher said again to me, 'Don't scream.' It meant he -was safe. I felt myself falling.... When I saw again, I was lying on -this divan, and my women were with me. Gato was gone. Christopher was -standing in the door. I asked him where Gato was. He said, 'In the -dungeon.' He would say no more, and I sent him for you." She looked at -him, and added, "Dear old Christopher!" - -His face was blank. - -"Can I do anything for you?" the king gently asked. - -"No, thank you. I'm only a little shaken, and will be up in a few -minutes." - -"Would you like the queen to come?" - -"No. It would distress her. Not a word of this to her!" - -The king led us out. At the door I looked back and won a smile. - -We went in silence, and the king stepped into his apartments, bidding us -wait in the corridor a minute. - -I turned a keen look on Christopher, and he met it frankly. - -"Are you hurt?" I asked. - -"No, sir." - -"Is he badly injured?" - -"Him?" - -"Yes." - -"He don't need no doctor, sir." - -"Did he go with you quietly?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"He'll hang for this, Christopher." - -"Sir?" - -"The king will hang him for this." - -Christopher's gaze wandered vacantly round the corridor, and after a -while he quietly said: - -"It won't hurt him, sir." - -The truth blazed through me. I had been misled by Christopher's perfect -calm. - -"Christopher!" I cried, seizing his hand and wringing it; but he looked -bored. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX.--The Strength of the White Blood. - -_Extraordinary Discipline by the King. His Uneasiness Concerning -Our Loyalty. Lentala's Father. We Must Help Destroy Our Friends. -Earthquakes._ - - -ALTHOUGH the king was greatly shocked when I told him what had really -happened to Gato, his gratification quickly rose, and he regarded -Christopher curiously. - -"Why didn't you tell me at once?" he inquired. - -"That is not his way, Sire," I explained. "He avoids talking." - -"It was a wonderful thing to do," his Majesty mused as we slowly went to -the Council Chamber. - -Something had given him a fearful blow, and I guessed it was the danger -to which Lentala had been exposed. His face was haggard again; his gait -was unsteady; he doddered and mumbled. - -As we neared the Council Chamber, he said: - -"Come in and stand near me, one on either side." - -We found the soldiers in a huddle near the door, the racial dulness of -their faces somewhat keyed with expectancy. The king gave them but -a glance as he passed them and ascended the throne,--to be more -impressive, no doubt. Christopher and I stood as flanks. - -"Form a line facing me," the king sternly commanded. - -The soldiers glanced at one another in wonder as they obeyed, and -furtively had anxious eyes and ears for Gato. They were a fine crowd, -selected for courage and dash. - -"You understand," the king said, "that I am always in supreme command of -the army, including Gato and every other officer. Any person who may be -in immediate charge of you is serving as my agent, and is appointed and -removed by me at my pleasure. All your fealty and loyalty are for me. -You will now acknowledge that with an obeisance to your king." - -The rascals were dazed. They might send shifting glances down the line -if they liked, and wonder and waver if they pleased, but obey they must: -every man felt it in his bones. The line went down. - -Etiquette required the maintenance of the posture until the king gave -the word to rise. The obeisance consisted in coming to the knees, -resting the elbows, well advanced, on the floor, pressing the palms -down, and rooting the floor with the forehead,--an easy performance if -quickly finished, but a torturing one if sustained. On this occasion the -king neglected the releasing command; and that was unheard of. In such a -position the men could see nothing. - -"A soldier's first duty," he resumed, "is to his king. In becoming -a soldier he dedicates his manhood, his strength, his life, to his -sovereign; that is to say, to his country. A true soldier is glad to die -for the happiness and safety of his king. His duties are as sacred as -those of a son to his father. A worthy son will remember the protection -that his father has given him. If he hears him defamed, he will uphold -his name; if blind, will lead him; if threatened, will defend him though -death be the reward. So it is with a soldier and his king." - -His voice weighted his words with a deep emotion, and he spoke slowly, -with pauses. It was like listening to a passage from the Bible,--but -much better read than commonly. - -"A king may be kind to his soldiers; that will bring him their love with -their fealty, and give their duty a double force. A king may grow old -and stand in need of the strong, willing arms of young men whom he loves -and who love him. A king may totter under the burden of long service to -his people; his soldiers will then be his stay and comfort, and with joy -in their hearts will do his high will. Serpents may crawl in the weeds -about a king's throne: his soldiers will beat the weeds clear of them." - -The king could not have failed to see a painful writhing that wormed -through the line. His pause was long. - -"A son who hears even his brother speak ill of their father, will -reprove the brother and shame him. If that fails, he will chastise his -brother if he can; but if the brother is stronger, the dutiful one will -take the matter to their father, since the safeguard of the family is -endangered by the disaffection of a single member. If a father discovers -one of his sons jeopardizing the unity, prosperity, and safety of the -family, he will give the faithless son such treatment as the security of -the family demands." - -The pause this time was still longer. Meanwhile, the endurance of the -men had nearly reached an end. Whatever may have been their mental -state, their physical was one of excruciating pain. - -"Some men are induced to do wrong through heedlessness or blindness, not -knowing the gravity of their deeds, and not foreseeing a dire result. -Others are weak and easily led; they are untrustworthy tools of their -leaders, and shame is their greatest punishment. Others are cruel and -wicked at heart; they will therefore be ready to betray the men who led -them to betray others. All of those are poisonous serpents in the weeds -about a king's throne. And it is far worse in a soldier than in any one -else." - -After another pause, he said: - -"A king who is kind and wise will be slow to believe evil of his people. -It will be natural for him to think that all will be as wise and kind -as he. Yet he must be watchful; he cannot protect the people unless he -protects himself. If he finds a scandal, he may hide it, lest it weaken -the common faith in the strength and purity of his government. If he -discovers that any are unfaithful, he will not make their treason public -by hanging them before the people, unless he knows that a warning will -stop other traitors. No; he will be merciful and keep them privately for -a time, till they may walk forth erect in their recovered manhood." - -Here and there a gasp or a strangled groan broke the silence of the -line. The king was heeding. - -"The man at the right of the line will rise." - -The fellow came painfully to his feet, and stretched the agony out of -his muscles. - -"Advance and lay your sword on the dais," ordered the king. - -The man obeyed. - -"Return to your obeisance." - -A start thrilled the soldier. He gave the king a desperate, pleading -look, but found eyes with a cold sternness that sent him to obedience. - -"The next, rise." - -The performance was repeated with him, and with the rest in turn. - -"All rise," said the king. They stood up. "I will now take you to a room -in the palace, where you may consider in quiet what the soldiers of a -king should be. You," he ordered Christopher, "walk beside me at the -head, and you," to me, "follow the soldiers." - -The dignity of a mighty sorrow sat like a grace upon him as he slowly -led the procession. Never were prisoners more securely manacled with -steel than these men, though their members were free; and though there -was a certain pomp in the march, it was that of a funeral, and the -silence was louder than the blare of much brass. - -The king turned into the corridor that led to the vaults, and descended -the stair. This brought him and the others to the dungeon door. He -halted, and Christopher unlocked it. It swung wide. The king and -Christopher stood aside, and the men marched in. Christopher closed and -locked the door. - -"Your Majesty!" I exclaimed; "you surely have not forgotten that -Gato----" - -"My son," he calmly answered, "what they have already endured has made -the way easier to what they will find in there." - -Without haste the king conducted us back to the chamber in which he had -received us, and seated himself ered: on the divan. He was studying us. - -He inflated his cheeks and pursed his lips while his goggling eyes -roamed, and queer wrinkles came and went in his face. - -"The white blood," he grunted, staring at me. "It accounts for your -keenness. The white blood never sleeps. If it is with you, good; if -against you,------" - -He rose and glared. "Which love you the more, son," he growled, "the -white blood or the brown?" - -"Your Majesty sees our color. We came freely and offered our hearts, our -arms, and our lives to your Majesty. And it is not forgotten, Sire, that -Lentala sent us." - -"I remember." The growl died in him, and he brightened. With both hands -he clutched the edge of the couch. "It takes white blood to fight white -blood," he said. "Did your father tell you that?" - -"Not that I recall, Sire." - -"Black blood and red blood and yellow blood and brown blood always fall -before it, soon or late. He said nothing about that?" - -"I think not, Sire." - -"You know it is true?" - -"My father told me much of the great world." - -"Then he told you that. And I know. I saw it when I went abroad in my -youth. I learned it from Lentala's father. Does it mean anything to you -that your mother was a Senatra?" - -"It is sufficient that your Majesty and Lentala are Senatras." - -The king fixed a keen stare on me. - -"You mention Lentala very often," he said. - -"She indorsed us to your Majesty." - -"Something more is here. That is the white blood in her. In you and in -her the white blood knows its own." - -His sudden confirmation of my surmise concerning Lentala choked the -words in my throat. - -"Why don't you speak?" he roughly demanded. "Is it not true?" - -I could only gaze at him. - -"The white blood finds and knows its own," he went on. "Two hundred and -fifty of those with white blood are held on this island by a great horde -of those with brown blood. I need a man of the white-blood shrewdness -and boldness and courage to manage those two hundred and fifty to the -safety of my people and my island. But if I take a man with white blood -in his veins, it will side with the white blood that threatens me." - -"Would Lentala hand over to treason and destruction your Majesty and the -queen and all the other Senatras whom she loves, and the people to whom -she belongs and the country that has nourished her?" - -"Not wittingly, for she is a daughter of the gods; but the blood, my -son, the blood!" - -"Sire, a love early planted endures forever." - -He rose to fight his despair, and walked up and down the room. - -"Yes, it is true," he said at last. "Lentala has proved it. I spared -her father, a castaway, because he stopped a great plague that was -destroying my people. I myself was stricken, and he saved my life I -feared him because he was of the white blood, and because of his wisdom -and power. He held the secrets of the gods, and had no fear. I had -planted deep in my people a hatred of the white blood; and I required -that he not only disguise himself as a native, but remain within the -palace grounds. He taught me many things, but I refused to follow his -advice to instruct my subjects. He educated Lentala." - -"Is he still alive?" I asked. - -"He died two years ago. If he were only here now! We became strong -friends. Lentala's devotion to the islanders is returned by them almost -as idolatry. I know how the white blood can love, but I know also how it -can hate; and it knows its own." - -He suddenly halted, and wheeled upon me. - -"You say," he moaned, "that some of the white men are at large on the -island. What mischief are they doing? What mines digging under me? My -people are children,--I have kept them so, God help them! I need not -alone a wit and a daring to match the white people's, but Senatra -devotion as well." - -"Your Majesty knows Lentala." - -He blazed on me. "Do you love Lentala?" - -A fierce tingling raced through me, and dumbness held me. - -"She is beautiful and sweet," he went on. "She is steadfast; she is -brave and able. There never was a woman to match her. You are big and -strong and brave. She found you. Like finds like. Do you love her as a -man loves a woman?" - -I fought blindly for wit and words. - -"Yes, Sire," came the thin, even voice of Christopher. - -We both turned in surprise. He beamed on us blandly. - -"Does she love him as a woman loves a man?" the king asked him. - -"Yes, Sire." - -His audacity held me speechless. - -"I can trust her--and you," the king said to me,--"so far as blood -tempered by love and loyalty may be trusted, which is farther than it -may trust itself. I am old and broken. Come, you two, and stand before -me." - -We obeyed, I wondering. - -"I have no other men to equal you, and I need you. You must serve -me. Take time now, and remember your white blood. Remember that it is -stronger than your brown, for I have seen its dominance in you today. -Remember that when your allegiance is tested in a choice between white -blood and brown, the white will be the stronger. Only one thing can save -you and me and all my people." - -"And that, Sire,-----?" - -"-----is your manly pride to see and know and overcome your white blood, -and serve and obey your king to the end." - -He paused, and looked from one to the other, as though expecting us to -speak, but we were silent. - -"The white blood," he passionately resumed, "is the most terrible thing -in the world. It is strong and shrewd; it never gives up; it pursues and -fights relentlessly to the ends of the earth; without mercy or pity it -hunts down, plunders, overwhelms, exterminates. Only one thing can hold -it in check, and that is opposing white blood. Brown blood cannot cope -with the white people in the valley, but white blood can; and for the -task, the gods have sent me white blood mingled with brown seeded in my -soil and grown to it with deep roots. That is my hope and trust." - -His gaze of affectionate yearning was on us. - -"The duty of your Senatra blood is loyalty to your king; the task of -your white blood is to outwit and outdo the people in the valley. I will -place Lentala in command of the army. You must not take a step without -her full concurrence, and you will obey her without question. Do you -agree?" - -"Gladly, Sire." - -"A hundred soldiers guard the passes from the val ley, and are relieved -every day. When not on duty they attend to their private affairs. I -will at once send out messengers summoning these to assemble outside the -palace wall, in the king's highway passing the main gate. There I will -address them and turn over the command to Lentala." - -He was profoundly studying me. His words, "to outwit and outdo the -people in the valley," were grinding within me, and I longed to demand -an explanation. A savage ferocity was manifest through his benignity. -To outwit and outdo the people in the valley,--my people, my friends! I -would be his tool to betray and destroy them. The bottomless pit should -have him first, and the hand that he would turn to treachery and murder -would send him thither. - -My face must have shown something of what I tried to conceal; for the -king, his look growing desperate and malignant, stepped back a pace. -There came from somewhere a sharp rap, which made me start, and sent my -glance to the curtained window, to which the king had his back. I had -supposed that Beela was with Lentala; but there she was at the window, -her hand upraised in warning. It brought me instant control. - -The king also had heard, and looked round sharply, but the curtain was -down. - -"What was that?" he inquired. - -"My big toe, Sire," answered Christopher. - -"What did you do with it?" - -"I cracked the joint." - -"Why?" - -"It feels good, Sire." - -His Majesty curiously regarded Christopher's feet. "It must be a large -joint," he said. - -Christopher stood in gentle silence. The king turned to me, and found me -docile. - -"That look of rebellion was the white blood in you," he said. - -"Only for a moment. Your Majesty may trust me." - -Nevertheless, he was troubled, and shook his head. - -"He won't no more, Sire," said Christopher. - -"How do you know?" - -"I know him." - -"Explain." - -"He does little things short and big things long." - -My amused smile was fortunate, because it put an end to the king's -tragic gravity. - -"I am satisfied," he remarked. "Now, the first thing for you two to -do, while the army is assembling, is to go out, find, and bring to the -palace all the white men that have escaped. The next,------" - -The sentence was never concluded, for there came a rumble and a sharp, -pervading jolt. The king stiffened, looked about in fear, and groped for -the table. Following was a gentle quiver, which rapidly increased till -it became an oscillation, and with it a deep rumbling. It ended in a -mighty wrench and a violent swaying, accompanied with a hoarse explosive -sound. The stones of the palace were grinding and groaning. The table -slid a yard, stopped, and shot back as the king tried to seize it. - -I found myself plunging and lurching for a footing as the oscillation -continued, and so were the king and Christopher. They sat down on -the floor. Surely the violence would ease in a moment. Instead, the -convulsion rose to a fearful crash, which sent my feet away and my body -smashing on Christopher. He caught me with one hand and with the other -diverted the flying table from the king. - -The spasm ended abruptly, but the menacing tremble was again in play. - -"Be careful!" rasped the king; "the third is the worst." - -As before, the quiver rose through oscillation to a heavy swaying, more -violent than ever, and ended in a tumult of jerks, which sent us sliding -and scrambling as we fought the portable things that were hurled about -the room. - -It was suddenly gone. We rose, much dazed. There was no sign of Beela at -the window. - -"It is over," weakly said the king. "The worst in many years. And what -has it done? It has terrified my people into madness. I see them." -He was losing self-control, and was staring as at a vision. "They are -beginning to rise from the ground. Many are digging out of their ruined -huts.... Their teeth are chattering. They look at one another in -horror. No one has a sister, a brother, a father, a mother, a friend. -All are blind and mad.... They run hither and thither. They----" - -A confused screech and roar, as of wild animals driven to a focus by a -surrounding forest fire, rang through the closed door of the room. The -king listened. - -"The palace servants," he mumbled through quivering lips. "They are -seeking me--their father and protestor. Imagine from this how the island -is swarming and groaning, and with a terror that is half vengeance." - -The man was beside himself. - -"Peace, Sire!" I begged, but he did not hear. - -"The terror does not abate: it increases with the freer flow of their -blood after the shock.... They are beginning to think. They look at one -another and see their kind; then kindred and friends.... 'The Black -Face!' says one, softly. 'Ay, the Black Face!' is the louder reply." - -The king stood with clasped hands and closed eyes. - -"'This is only the beginning,' they say. 'The Black Face has been denied -while it looked down on abundance.' Who has denied it? The heavens -ring with the answer, 'Our father whom we loved, our protector whom we -trusted, our king whom we have thought a brother of the gods. Why has -he flouted the Face and challenged its wrath? What terrors or witcheries -have been wrought by the gods of the people in the valley, that our king -has gone driveling behind his walls? '" - -"Your Majesty!" I called, shaking him by the arm. - -He opened glazed eyes, and listened to the howling din at his door. - -"The guard are leaving the passes. The white people are wise; they -understand, and are joyful. They send scouts.... My soldiers mingle -with my roaring, mobbing people. They all push and roll through the -pools of rain-water in the highways, churning them to mud. They grind -their teeth; they laugh horribly, like imbeciles. The palace is their -aim, and their king sits grinning and mumbling there. All the trouble -has come from the people in the valley. The white blood breeds all there -is of that in the world. May ten thousand curses fall on it!" - -He was flinging his arms and lunging about. I woke to the urgency -of action, for undoubtedly in his madness he had correctly seen the -turbulence in the island, and the sweating hordes plunging over all -roads converging to the palace. A glance passed between Christopher -and me, and I nodded toward the door, which a packed, howling mass was -already straining. - -"Come," I said, seizing the tottering king about the waist and dragging -him to the anteroom. I thrust him within, and secured the door back of -the curtain. - -When I turned, Christopher, his hand on the key of the door into the -corridor, was listening. There was no sign of Beela at the window. - -"What's going on?" I inquired. - -"Her, sir." - -"She's out there?" I asked in alarm. - -"Yes, sir." - -"Open the door," I ordered, stepping back to guard the anteroom. - -He opened it, swinging behind it against the wall. - -It was done so suddenly that those pressed against it fell into the -room. The next came tumbling on them, and more on these, squeezing -horrible sounds from the mouths of the lowermost, and bringing -unpleasant grimaces to their faces. In a second the opening was jammed -half way to the top, and still the pile grew. Behind it were frenzied -men and women, vociferating prodigiously, and fighting for the -diminishing passage to the king. - -The pressure outside being somewhat relieved, one of the more agile men -leaped on the pile and sprang with a howl to the floor; but Christopher -had emerged, and a blow from him dropped the adventurer. The next, less -active than the first, was scrambling over the heap, and paused as he -found himself grazed by the flying body of the first, for Christopher -had picked him up and tossed him over the heap into the pandemonium -beyond. The following man drew back, and slid down to the corridor -floor. - -I had been looking for Beela without, but she was not in range. - -Before another maniac could mount the pile, Christopher had dragged -a body off the squirming mass and flung it out. Another followed, and -another, and others, the succession of them so close that none dared -breast the fusillade. Christopher streamed with sweat, and the mildness -in his eyes had become a glare. - -All this had a cooling effect in the corridor. Christopher, not waiting -to look for cracked ribs at the bottom of the heap, cleared the last -away, and walked forth. None can say how much his unearthly pale eyes, -minatory expression, and extraordinary figure had to do with what -followed. I went to the door. A hush fell as he advanced on the mob, -which fell back in silent terror. With each hand he seized a man, jammed -their heads together with a murderous thwack, shook them, stood them up, -left them stunned, and immediately snatched two others and treated them -similarly. A third pair and a fourth nursed aching skulls. Christopher -swept through the groups with two long, strong arms for scythes, mowing -a wide swath as he brushed women along, sent a man spinning from a blow, -dashed another against the wall, and brought them into subjugation with -a counter-panic of his own manufacture. He came upon two men with some -appearance of character, and ordered them to finish the work and send -the people to their quarters. They obeyed him promptly. At last he -sauntered back to me, calm but puffing. - -Beela approached from the opposite direction. I stepped forward in -gladness to meet her. - - - - -CHAPTER XX.--A Habit of Concealment. - -_Beela Undergoes a Transformation. The Uprising of the People. -Contrition of Beela. I Declare Myself. An Amazing Disclosure by the -King._ - - -WHAT news, my friend?" I cheerily inquired. - -"We'll go to the king's reception-room and talk," she answered, looking -at Christopher. "Dear old Christopher!" she said, deep and sweet. - -"Yes," I remarked; "I left the king in the anteroom." Christopher and I -followed her into the reception-room. - -"He's not there now," she replied, seating herself, "but with the -queen. Christopher, go and stand down the corridor, opposite the queen's -apartments, and wait for the king. Those lunatics may break loose again -when they hear the mob outside the wall." - -He started. - -"Christopher!" she called. He turned. "Do you love me?" - -"Yes, ma'am." - -"That's all." - -I had never seen her so calm and steady, so rich in ultimate qualities, -so little the volatile, meteoric, yet wise child-woman who had been -my sunshine, my tease, my playfellow. She had become a composed and -gracious woman. It came to me with something like pain that this was the -truer and finer Beela. There was another feeling,--one of a great need -in my life. - -She wore a becoming dress that might have suited either a woman or a -man; but everything about her spoke of the sweetness and grace that only -a lovely woman can have. I was tired of the foolish Beelo sham. We had -grown too near for me longer to tolerate that absurd barrier. - -"Now for your news, dear Beela," I asked. - -There was the slightest start when she heard that pronunciation of the -name, but she did not turn to me at once. - -"When the earthquake began," she said, "I ran to the queen, for such -things frighten her dreadfully. After it was over there came the uproar -by the servants. I locked the queen's apartments and kept them out. -But their noise frightened her even more than the earthquake, for they -battered her doors. It wouldn't do to admit them. Presently the king -came by the private entrance, and although he was badly shaken, the -necessity to comfort the queen brought him composure. They are together -and quiet now. Then I came to this corridor, where the servants were -massed against the door. I could do nothing with them. For a moment I -was frightened when the door opened, but when I saw what Christopher's -plan was, I knew that all was safe. I went then and secured the gates -opening to the palace grounds." - -"And what's ahead, Beela?" - -"The worst," she quietly answered, but gave me a slow, mischievous look -over that repetition of her feminine name. "We have a little time before -the king comes," she brightly added, "and we need it to rest." There was -a challenge in her glance. - -"But the mob is coming!" I protested. - -"The king told me that you and Christopher and I should be quiet till it -assembles. Then he will come, for you." - -I drew up my stool facing her, took both her hands, and said: - -"I have a confession to make, dear friend." - -"Really, Joseph?" she exclaimed in mock alarm, pronouncing the name -perfectly. - -"You know. And you've been only pretending that English wasn't perfectly -familiar to you." - -She gave a musical, purring little laugh. Any man would deserve great -credit for self-restraint in resisting it--and the chin. Thenceforward -she spoke in English of the purest accent. - -"What's the confession, Joseph?" - -"I've known something for a long time, Beela, and I've been deceiving -you with thinking that I didn't know; but I did so because you evidently -wished me to be deceived. Everything might have gone wrong if I had -betrayed my knowledge to you. But it has served its time. You will -forgive me for deceiving you,--dear?" - -All that went to make her a miracle of precious womanhood was vibrant. -There was the same sweet flutter that I had seen before in her velvety -throat. Of course she enjoyed her little triumph of knowing that even -for a time her deception had prospered, and she was a-thrill with the -recollection of it. After that came contrition. A half-smile lingered on -her lips, though her eyes were rueful. - -"You are good and generous, Joseph, for not giving me a chiding word; -and I don't think there is the least of it in your big heart." - -"Chiding, sweet girl? I understood your feeling for the necessity of the -deception. Your wish is my law, and to serve it is less a duty than a -privilege." - -There was a slight puzzle in the glow that flooded her heavenly eyes. - -"You found it out all by yourself, Joseph?" - -"Yes, dear." - -"That is remarkable. Neither Christopher nor Annabel gave you the -smallest hint? They knew." - -"Not the smallest." The hurt of their keeping the secret from me must -have shown in my face, for Beela laughed teasingly. It restored me. -"You pledged Annabel not to tell me," I said, "and Christopher is -silent,--and a gentleman. Is that the explanation?" - -"Yes." A soft embarrassment crept over her, and she gently withdrew her -hands and sat regarding me in sweet content. "I also have a confession -to make, Joseph." She tried hard to look just a trifle anxious. "What, -dear?" - -"Joseph!" she cried, frowning and stamping; "how can I think when _that_ -is in your eyes and your voice! I won't look, and I won't listen." She -turned her shoulder to me. - -"What is in my eyes and my voice, dear?" - -She sat still a moment, and then slowly turned her head a trifle and -peered at me as if baffled. - -"You mustn't tease me, Joseph." - -She saw my smile and again turned away. - -"What is the confession?" I asked. - -"Let's go back to the beginning. There were two real reasons why I posed -as a boy. One was that it gave me more freedom of limb for going through -the forest and for scaling the valley wall, and the other was that it -made me less conspicuous to the guards,--I could have escaped if they -had detected me. On my word, dear Joseph, I never intended to deceive -you long about that." - -She cautiously looked round at me, for I was silent. A cheap resentment -at learning that I had been unnecessarily tricked must have betrayed -itself, for the dear girl took my hands. - -"Joseph,------" she began. - -"Then why did you keep it up, dear?" I asked. - -"Joseph, the time was when your want of perception was mistaken by me -for dulness, for obtuseness,--for such a lack of understanding as makes -a man or a woman not worth while. But I discovered that it was not -dulness at all. For a time I refused to believe that a human being could -have what I saw in you." - -If I have ever seen wondering fondness it was in her eyes. - -"What was it, dear?" I asked uneasily. - -"Your trust which sees only the true, and, unwittingly taking into your -heart the false with the true, makes the false true with your trust." - -I was silent with the deep thankfulness that God had sent such a woman -into the world and into my meager life. - -"So, Joseph, I prolonged that deception until all doubt of what you are -was gone. I am glad that I did, and am sorry that I can think of no more -tests." There was a dash of her dear mischief in that speech. "And now -that this is a time of confession and understanding,--you started it, -remember,--I must say that one of the deceptions played on you------They -were really harmless, weren't they, dear Joseph?" - -"Perfectly," I smiled. - -"----that one of them was unnecessary. It was _such_ fun to play those -pranks on you, Joseph! I couldn't help it. I know it was wicked, but you -were always gentle and kind, and I knew you would forgive me. Joseph, -you would forgive me _anything_, wouldn't you?" - -"Yes, dear heart." - -"It was delicious to see you walking so trustingly through the -complications that beset you." - -"Dear!" I cried, my senses afloat and my arms aching for her; "I am only -human. Your sweetness----" - -She pushed back her chair before my advance. - -"And you don't know in the least," she went flying on, "how often I had -to leap from one of my selves to the other, and how exciting it was." - -I was getting little out of her chatter except the music of her voice -and the picture of loveliness that she made. - -"Don't you care to know which of the deceptions was unnecessary?" she -demanded, trying to look injured. - -"Indeed I do." - -She came and stood beside me, gazing down into my face and clasping my -hand warmly in both her own. - -"Beela," she answered. - -"Beela?" after a mystified pause; then, thinking that she was teasing, I -laughed. - -She appeared much relieved, and brightly said: "I'm glad you understand -and forgive me.... But you resented her at first." - -"Beelo had become very precious, dear, and so my readjustments where you -are concerned are slow. But a new fondness grew with Beela's coming." - -"Poor Joseph! And _she_ wasn't necessary. I am sorry now that I----" - -"_She?_ Who?" - -"Beela." - -I was a little taken aback, but came to my feet with a dazzling -consciousness that all the glories of earth were packed into this -moment. - -"Not at first, dear," I said, "but in time she became more necessary -than my life. My heart sits in gratitude at Lentala's feet for sending -me her sweet sister." - -She was stricken into a statue, and was staring at me as at some strange -creature from another planet. - -I stood in silent misery. How had I hurt her? - -She took a turn of the room, and flung herself on her knees at the -couch, buried her face in her arms, and went into laughter mingled with -sobs. I seated myself on the couch and laid a caressing hand on her -head. - -"Beela," I pleaded, "forgive me. Let me know what I have done that hurt -you." - -"No," she cried. "I wouldn't for all the world! My heart is breaking -with gladness!" - -Surely no other mortal could have put such startling contradictions into -so few words. My hand found hers; she caught it tight. - -"You dear old Joseph!" she said. "Choseph, Choseph!" - -It was plainly hysteria; the brave soul had been on a breaking strain -too long. I drew her to me, bent her head to my shoulder, and pressed my -cheek to hers. - -"Dear heart!" I said. - -She made no resistance, and gradually grew quiet. - -"Sweet," I went on, "we have been through many trials together, and -there are more ahead. The days were dark till Beelo came. He stole into -my heart with hope, courage, and love. A shock came when he passed. I -don't know, but perhaps I never should have loved you but for him. He -was the sunny highway leading to you; and now I have the daring to lay -my love and my life at your feet." - -The sigh that drifted through her parted lips had no threat for my -anxiety, but she did not answer. Her hand gently drew mine down from her -cheek, and she rose. She studied me a moment. - -"Let's talk, Joseph. Perhaps we have been hasty." I noted the patient -weariness in her voice. She sat beside me, and after a short silence -resumed: "I have never loved a man till------It hasn't been possible -here. But you have known beautiful, lovely women." - -"Yes." - -"And liked them very much." - -"Very much." - -Her glance fell, and a little quiver crossed her lips. - -"You have known Annabel a long time. You were close to her; you and she -talked long and often." - -"Yes." - -"She is beautiful and sweet." - -"Exceptionally so." - -"And accomplished--and gracious--and has good manners and a velvet -voice." - -"All of that." - -"And she's kind--and gentle--and has high principles." - -"True." - -"She belongs to your people, your world." - -I only smiled. - -"Joseph," raising her sad eyes to mine, "you have loved her once, and -now love me?" - -"I have never loved Annabel, dear heart, but I do love you." - -"Why haven't you loved her? How could you help it?" - -"Because I was waiting for you." - -"You have never told her that you loved her?" - -"No. But, dear Beela, I can't discuss Annabel in this way." - -Her eyes blazed. "She loves you!" - -"That is not true; and no one has the right to say such a thing of a -woman without knowing that her love is returned." - -Beela bit her lip, and came stiffly to her feet. - -"You are unkind!" she exclaimed. "I have a right--a woman's right--to -reasons for believing what is incredible without them." - -The picture of outraged dignity that she made was so ravishing that I -feared my adoration would override the sternness which I had taken so -much trouble to set in my face. - -"What is incredible, dear?" - -She impatiently turned away. I think she did it to hide a smile, but -she was too wary to answer. Instead, she drew from her bosom the little -toilet case I had given Lentala on the day of the feast, and gravely -examined her reflection. - -"If I were beautiful like Annabel,------" she began. - -"Beela!" - -"------or Lentala, and------" - -"Beela!" - -"------and were pink and white------" - -"Beela!" - -She made exactly such a face at herself in the mirror as Lentala had, and -suddenly turned on me. - -"Joseph, Lentala used to be beautiful and good and true, and an angel." - -"She is all of that yet." - -She returned the case to her bosom. - -"I think you nearly loved her once." - -My tongue was silent. Beela laughed mischievously; little devils were -dancing in her eyes. - -"Joseph, I'm serious. Reflect because it wouldn't be wise to act hastily -now and suffer for the rest of life. Annabel would make a perfect wife. -She would play no pranks and childish deceptions. You understand her and -she knows you. I'm only a wild, uncouth savage." - -"Anything more, dear?" I wearily asked. - -She gathered breath to resume: "And there's Lentala. She is to be a -queen some day, and very rich. With rank and wealth, she would be a -shining woman in America, and her husband would be the happiest man in -the world; for with all of that he would have the far richer treasure of -her love." - -"A worthy man will come to her some day, Beela." - -"Didn't you think she was--was fascinating?" - -"I do think so." - -"Reflect again, Joseph: Would you prefer her poor, obscure, wild little -sister?" - -"Yes. But what right have we to make so free with Lentala's name, -especially as she is foreign to the matter?" - -Again Beela was offended, but she controlled herself. - -"You would be ashamed of me with people of your kind." - -"You alone are of my kind, dear Beela; and shame for you would be shame -for myself, shame for all that is precious to me." - -"Suppose, Joseph, that I should refuse to leave this island." - -"The highest privilege of my life would be to stay here with you." - -She stood in a melting happiness. - -Her rosy mouth was conveniently near. I should have been a fool to let -the opportunity pass, and she was not on her guard. She drew back too -late. The dignity with which she came to her feet had a new tenderness. -I also rose. She gazed at me with a wistfulness that searched all -the hidden places in my soul. Never had she been so lovely as in this -moment. - -"Dear Joseph, take more time. There is something... you don't know, -though I... thought you understood. Now I dare not------A great fear -fills me." - -"Love knows no fear, sweetheart." - -"Not for itself, but for its loved ones. Joseph, will you forgive me? -It was a foolish thing to do, and I am very, very sorry. Your trust has -shamed me. Dear Joseph, I------But first let me tell you something else. -The colony must now be marching out of the valley, for I told Captain -Mason that a severe earthquake would be his signal for starting at once. -Annabel is coming, and------" - -The door opened to the king and Christopher. His Majesty, anxious and -broken though he was, gave us an approving smile,--perhaps from what he -read in our faces. - -"My maddened people are gathering," he said. "It was wise of you to -lock the gates, my child. When the crowd grows larger it will begin an -assault. That will be the time for me to appear. I will call out the -soldiers from the crowd and put them under your command." - -That surprised me. "Pardon me, Sire. I understood your Majesty to say an -hour ago that _Lentala_ was to have command." - -"So I did." - -"But your Majesty has just said that _Beela_ is to have it." - -"Beela? I couldn't have said that, as I don't know any such person." - -I was dismayed at the king's apparent condition, and Beela in great -perturbation was trying to speak. The man must be roused from his shaken -state. - -"This is Beela, Sire, Lentala's sister." - -"She has no sister," he answered clearly, and turned sharply on Beela. -"Lentala, have you been playing one of your pranks?" He hurried her away -as she was trying to speak. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--Both Sides of the Wall. - -_A Mob at the Palace Gate. What the King Heard Through the Wall. -Lentala's Call on Christopher to Save Her. The King Abdicates. Long Live -the Queen!_ - - -HABIT is the strongest force in animate nature. Though I was shaken, -the bent of an urgent purpose remained, and I went forward to it with -all the will at my command. - -The roar of a mob--that most horrible of sounds--smote my hearing when -Christopher and I emerged from the palace into the grounds. A turn in a -broad, curving walk through the trees brought the barred main gate into -view. It was a massive affair of wood, iron, and bolts, with a small -wicket, which was closed. - -The king, all alone, wearing his crown and his cloak of state, was -awaiting us near the gate. He beckoned us to raise a ladder to the wall. -It was done. - -"I will presently go up alone," he said, calm but sad, "and will talk -to them. Men have gone for a heavy beam with which to ram the gate. -The crowd is densely packed here. That will make an attack on the gate -impossible for a time. It is likely that the soldiers will assemble and -clear a working space." - -"What can we do, Sire?" I asked. - -"Nothing now. The most that I can hope for is to hold the situation -until Lentala returns." - -"She has gone?" - -"Yes. It was something about the white people. I couldn't keep her. She -was confident we could hold the mob." - -"And your Majesty's plan------?" - -"I will show myself on the wall, and talk to them. At the proper moment -I will call you up. If I am stricken down, you and your brother retreat -to the palace. Defend it by any means and at any cost." - -His sorrow was too great to be companioned by fear, and it bore an -impressive dignity which his haggardness intensified. - -"The mob is swelling rapidly," he said with perfect quiet. "Unless a -diversion happens soon, many will be crushed against the gate and the -wall." - -Seeing that he stood inactive, I wondered whether he was so numbed as to -be incapacitated; but he cleared the doubt. - -"If the beam-carriers force their way through the mass, many will be -maimed or killed. I am listening to the sounds." - -His coolness and clearness were remarkable. Christopher, unruffled, was -studying our surroundings. - -"There come the beam-carriers," said the king. "They are much excited, -and are not working smoothly together.... One fell then; he was -stepped on and hurt.... Now they are forging ahead. They are blindly -ramming the mass before them.... A woman is hurt." - -The king's back was to the ladder and the wall. He was gazing into -space behind me, listening."... Hark! Yes, that is he,--one of Gato's -captains, a big, strong man, with a great voice. He has just arrived, -fighting his way through the crowd, and calling the soldiers, telling -them that I have murdered Gato. I have been kind to this man. On the -chance of Gato's being out of the way, he sees his opportunity to step -into his leader's shoes, carry out his plan, and usurp the throne.... -The soldiers are rallying. They fight ruthlessly for passage to the -captain.... It is bungling, cruel work." - -"Isn't this the moment for you to appear, Sire?" We had to shout. - -"No." - -"Let me go up." - -"No." He was firm as well as calm. "Wait. The soldiers are unwittingly -preparing my moment. I have partisans as well as enemies there. If I -showed myself now, it would increase the frenzy. My friends and enemies -would at once begin a fight of factions. They could not, would not, hear -my voice. I will let the soldiers clear the way." - -We waited. - -"Why don't they scale the wall, Sire?" - -"That will come later,--by the soldiers." - -He stood listening. That was trying to my mercurial nature, and almost -a mad desire to be over the wall in the thick of the melee was straining -within me. - -The king produced a key, handed it to me, and composedly said: - -"That opens the vault containing the cargo from the white people's -vessel, including the arms. If I fall, you and your brother will know -what to do in defending the palace. But don't be hasty. Be merciful -if you can. This outbreak will not last long. Violent earthquakes are -likely to come again at any moment, and the red fire and purple flame on -the summit make me think that there may be a volcanic eruption." - -"What will happen then?" - -"The white people will seize the opportunity to escape from the -valley,--if they have not already started. That would mean the -annihilation of the entire party, for all the Senatras, including the -army, would fall upon them. Then my people would be satisfied, and order -would be restored." - -My respect for his insight gave his words a crushing force. But what did -it mean that Lentala had told Captain Mason to bring the colony out? - -I was moving toward the ladder under an impulse to be in action, but a -firm grasp fell on my arm. An apologetic look of warning reminded me -that Christopher never slept when a beloved one was in danger. - -The king had noticed nothing, so deeply absorbed was he. A puzzle was -sharpening his senses and wrinkling his brow. - -"I don't understand that," he said. - -"What, Sire?" - -"I wish I knew that Lentala was safe." - -"How could she be in danger, your Majesty?" - -"Her white blood. It makes her too daring." He was looking about, but -his attitude of concentrated listening returned. "There it is again!" he -exclaimed. - -"What, your Majesty?" - -He did not answer for a while; then, "Do you hear that?" - -"Yes." - -"It is a new trouble. It started on the outskirts of the mob, and is -drawing nearer.... I can't make it out." - -He was at the highest pitch of alertness, and was silent for a time. - -"Don't you hear the voice? That is no Senatra! His cries--don't you hear -them, man?... The people are falling away from him in terror.... Don't -you hear?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"They are crying, 'A demon sent by the Black Face! He will take our -children, and the hungry Face will devour them!' Don't you hear that?" - -"Something of it, Sire." - -"The people are stricken with fear.... The women are fighting to -escape. Don't you hear their screams?" - -"Yes, Sire. Isn't it time to mount the wall?" - -"No. There is no foreseeing what this diversion will accomplish." - -There was a pause. - -"He is advancing toward the gate, bellowing. Surely you hear him?" - -"Yes, Sire." My heart bounded, for I recognized the voice. - -"He is crying in English, 'They brought me out to eat me!' He thinks we -are cannibals!" exclaimed the king, aghast. - -"All the white people in the valley think so, your Majesty." - -He blazed with resentment, but his attention was again concentrated on -the proceedings without. - -"He is calling me the chief of the cannibals," resumed the king, "and -is fighting his way to the gate. He shouts that he must be the first to -enter, and that he will find me and strangle me.... He is a maniac. -The natives have a horror of that malady. The noise is subsiding. Don't -you notice?" - -"Yes, Sire; and now I will rescue the madman." - -I started for the ladder, but with a fierce grip the king withheld me. - -"Would you be a fool and spoil everything?" he shouted in a sudden fury. - -He was again composed and listening. "Wonderful!" he said. "Some of the -men, seeing how easily he clears the way, are hailing him as a leader. -They are not the soldiers.... The beam-bearers are advancing again, -for the madman is opening a passage. They carry the beam on their -shoulders.... They are gradually approaching the gate. Don't you hear -the lunatic shouting?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -"A considerable body of soldiers must be massed at the gate, awaiting -the bearers, but they are silent. They must be consulting what to do. -They are drawing their swords." - -"Sire!" I cried; "I won't let that happen." - -"Wait," he peremptorily commanded. "What is that?" He was listening more -breathlessly than before. "Strange!... Strange!... It-----" - -"What is it?" I demanded in a rage of impatience. - -"I don't understand," he resumed after a pause. "What can make it? There -is no earthquake. Did you feel one?" - -"No, Sire. But I can't------" - -"Wait." His clutch was on my arm. "Surely it can't be the white people -from the valley!" - -He reeled, and I seized the instant to spring upon the ladder. But I had -forgotten Christopher. He turned me round to face the king. - -The stricken monarch was standing in a tenseness sprung from unnamable -fears. But he started as something new fell on his hearing. - -"No," he said, "not they. Something else. They are growing more -quiet.... It is a woman.... They are hailing her. She speaks. Don't you -hear her voice?" - -I could hear only a blur of noises. - -"She is shaming the women.... And sending them away.... She is my -friend!... Do you know the voice?" He seized my arm and gazed into my -face. - -"No, Sire." - -"She is fighting her way through the men.... -She calls them fools, cowards, ingrates.... They are dazed.... Only -one woman on all this island would have the courage to do that." - -"Sire, if you------" - -"She is calling, pleading; she is saying that I am the kind, wise father -of them all." - -I turned to Christopher, and found a startling transformation. No longer -was he the dull, patient, waiting man. Every nerve was strung. - -The king's mouth was open; his eyes bulged; his clutch on my arm -tightened. - -"Listen!" he commanded. "She is------" - -"Sire, you must mount the wall. We must rescue her!" - -"No, no! She is in little danger. May the gods give her strength!... -Hush! What is that?... They are going forward with the beam. She is -standing erect upon it.... Did you hear that?" - -"What, Sire?" - -"The soldiers are advancing with drawn swords." - -With a violent effort I broke the king's grasp and sprang for the -ladder, but a giant hand fell on my shoulder and thrust me back. Above -the subsiding din rose a clear, unterrified call from without: - -"Christopher! Christopher!" - -He had been waiting for that. His answer rang keen and far, and he -leaped upon the ladder. - -"Come when I call," he said to us. - -In a moment he was on the wall. In another he had deliberately sent -the ladder crashing to the ground. He studied the outer scene a moment, -crouched, and sprang into the maelstrom. - -Five thousand throats opened at the spectacle. - -"The gate, Sire! Give me the gate key!" I shouted. - -"No! It would be death. The ladder!" - -I knew that Christopher must have acted intelligently in throwing the -ladder. Had he done it merely to delay our ascent? When it was up, the -king interposed before my clutch at the rungs. - -"Your king first," he said. - -"Mount then, Sire, in heaven's name," cried I, cursing inwardly at the -delay and my own impotence. - -"Stay below until I summon you," said his Majesty. - -"Your appearance at this time may bring ruin to us all." - -Vaguely realizing that he was in the right, I gritted my teeth and -waited. - -Meanwhile, what was happening to Christopher and Lentala in that swirl -of blind mob passion beyond the wall, and what meant the groans of men -and the clang of metal? Christopher might save her life until the king -should create a diversion, but what could a man do for himself, with a -hundred swords at his breast? - -As with dignity and deliberation King Rangan stepped upon the broad -top of the wall, the afternoon sun came forth in imperial splendor, and -wrapped him in its glory. He slowly faced the mob, raised his hand, and -held it firmly aloft. - -He had been seen before assuming the impressive attitude, and a mighty -shout of mingled adoration and derision arose; it continued jarringly -till he raised his hand; then gradually it fell into the deep roar of -breakers after a storm, and thus faded to a silence broken only by -the rumble of distant hordes moving on the palace. The king swept the -multitude with his gaze, and spoke: - -"Your king has grown old in service to his people, and now------" - -"Gato! Gato! Give us Gato!" - -"Every true subject of mine holds his life at the service of his king." - -"Give us Gato!" - -The king stood in an iron silence. - -"Show us Gato! We must see him! We must have him!" - -Rangan raised both arms, and a hush fell. - -"Very well," his deep voice rang out. "You shall have Gato." - -Before I could recover from my surprise he turned to me, tossed me a -key, and in a manner that showed his perfect seriousness, ordered me to -bring Gato immediately. - -"Is all well with my brother and Lentala, Sire?" I begged. - -"Yes, but go at once!" - -I dashed through the grounds and the palace to the dungeon door, which -upon reaching I flung open, and, unable to see within, said sharply: - -"Bring Gato." An echo as of emptiness buffeted my voice. "Be quick!" I -called. - -A stir began to rise. "What is going on?" stole a voice. - -"Bring Gato!" I shouted, with a fury in my voice that brought immediate -response. - -The shadows took dim shapes, stooped and lifted something heavy, and -shuffled hastily toward the door. - -"On my shoulder!" I rapped. - -They laid him across. I slammed the door, locked it, staggered up the -steps, and arrived at the foot of the ladder. - -The king was still addressing the mob, but his glance fell upon me in -answer to my call. - -"Bring him up," he commanded. Again turning to the crowd, he said: "Gato -is here. You shall see him; you shall have him. From him you will learn -what it means to betray your king." - -I was nearly at the top of the ladder, which sagged and cracked under -the double weight. The king made a detaining gesture toward me. - -"Where is the ladder that I ordered?" he asked of those without. - -"Here, Sire," answered a liquid voice that ran sweetly over the wall and -into my heart. - -"Place it, you men. Good. Now you shall have Gato." - -I clambered upon the top. - -"Stand him up to face the people," directed the king for all to hear. - -I dragged the stiffening Gato to his feet, and, my breast against his -back and my arms locked round his body, turned him to the crowd. An -inability to credit the senses held them dumb at first. They looked from -one to another, horror in their eyes. His Majesty was calmly observing; -then he spoke in the awed silence, and his voice carried grief and pity. - -"You have called for Gato. Behold him! The gods have long, swift arms -for those who strike at your king and you, O my people!" - -A groan swept over the multitude; it passed, leaving a stillness -inconceivably impressive. - -"You wished to see Gato; you have seen him. You demanded him; you shall -have him." He gave me an order. - -I raised Gato aloft, and started toward the gate, where the soldiers -were massed. In a loud voice the king cried: - -"Unfaithful soldiers of the king, take your leader!" - -[Illustration: 0253] - -I hurled Gato down among them. The heavy body struck something,--I did -not see what. Lentala was standing between the soldiers and the gate. -Neither Christopher nor Mr. Vancouver was anywhere visible. The people, -including the soldiers, were smitten deeply. - -"Lentala!" rang the king's voice. - -A way to the foot of the ladder opened, and the king gave her a hand at -the top. Deep sadness was in her eyes, as she turned them for a moment -upon me. - -The king, still holding her hand, reached for mine also. Standing thus -between us, he addressed the throng: - -"My people, these two and the one who leaped from the wall have been -tried as by fire. They would die for their king if he but gave the word. -You have seen Gato. Behold these!" - -He gazed on the cowed soldiers, and resumed: - -"Soldiers of the king, did I but raise my hand, thousands of my loyal -and loving people would rend you where you stand. What should be done, -my children," turning to the mob, "to honored and trusted sons who would -steal upon their father to strike him down with an assassin's knife?" - -A murmur which rapidly swelled, and a stir which began to seethe, warned -the king. - -"Peace!" he cried. "A king can forgive. My soldiers were never bad at -heart; they were led away. Soldiers of the king, raise a hand in token -of your loyalty." - -Every one obeyed. Besides those at the gate were many throughout the -crowd. - -"Your faithless leader gone, I appoint Lentala, my daughter, as -commander of the army." - -There was a craning of necks. The soldiers made no concealment of their -surprise, but in their gratitude for the king's pardon shouted their -acceptance. - -The king laid his hand on Lentala's head. - -"I now make this proclamation: I am old and broken, and the grief of -this day has brought me near the end. To this one, true and wise, -brave and devoted, so deeply loved and trusted by us all, I resign the -ruler-ship of my people." He removed his crown and cloak, and placed -them on her. "Obey her as you love her, and peace and security will -abide with you. This is your ruler henceforth." He raised both arms, -and, after a pause, cried, "Obeisance and greetings to Queen Lentala!" - -A thrill ran through the gathering, and all sank to the ground. I was -on my knees at her feet, pressing her fingers to my lips and trying to -speak. - -"Joseph!" she scolded under her breath, giving my hand a little squeeze; -"don't do that! How can I cry when you are so absurd!" Tears were -falling from her lashes. She turned, put her arms on the king's -shoulders, and bowed her head, while mighty salvos of huzzas rent the -skies. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII.--Wit and Dash to the Fore. - -_The New Sovereign Assumes Charge. Our Plans for Escape Go Awry. Victims -Taken to the Sacrificial Altar. A Bold Act Turns a Tragic Event._ - - -IT was some time before Lentala could lift her face to her subjects. -The king's renunciation--the finishing touch to the bold diplomacy with -which he had turned the crisis--had come to her as a bolt from heaven. I -wondered how it would affed her deeply laid plans for the rescue of -the colony; for, though it would give her extraordinary power, it would -abruptly check her irresponsible freedom of movement. Furthermore, it -had thrust upon her the necessity for swift rearrangement. Her hold on -neither the people nor the army had been firmly secured. I knew that -her quick understanding apprehended the new complications, and that she -understood the king's wisdom fitted to the hour's need. She gave me a -frightened look, and brightened under my smile. - -With reassuring words the old man disengaged her hands, stepped back, -and left her to face the crowd. Thus she stood alone between us. It -seemed a cruelly trying moment in which to place a girl, but she made -the fight to face her duty. It was not long. Her voice, tremulous at -first, stole out clear and fine, reaching to the limits of the crowd; -and as she proceeded it came rounder and fuller, bearing the richness -that I knew. - -"Thank you, my people. With the deepest love I accept the crown, and I -pledge my life to wear it worthily. Only love and trust me as you have -loved and trusted the good father who has ruled us so long and so -kindly, and you will find me faithful. This great change comes upon us -at a trying time. Neither a king nor a queen can govern a people without -their consent and love and confidence. Give me time to show that I am -worthy of all that from you. I shall still have the advice of the good -man who has placed upon me the crown, and of his able advisers. But I -shall trust your own hearts and heads more than all the wisdom of the -palace. I shall trust your confidence in me more than my power over you. - -"We all know that there is a special cause for the present unrest. But -be patient. The problem is not difficult, and you may depend upon me and -my advisers to solve it. Every impatient act of yours shows distrust of -your government, and if you rashly do anything to weaken the power of -the crown, you lay yourselves open to dangers. The white people in the -valley are only awaiting the moment when authority is destroyed and our -people are in disorder to come forth and work havoc among us. They stand -together as one, and are cool and not afraid. Those are the greatest -powers that human beings in community can have. If you had worked your -will today, how many of you would be alive tomorrow? Our beautiful -island would have flowed with blood--the blood of our people." - -She ceased for a moment, to observe the effect. It ran as a low, -frightened murmur. - -"But nothing can go wrong if we ourselves keep cool and hold together -and trust to the crown. The army will camp tonight in the palace walls, -and every care will be taken to keep order in the kingdom. All will be -well if you yourselves are calm. Therefore I command you one and all to -go at once to your homes, and remain there in quiet and peace. No matter -though storms may come, or the earth tremble, or the fires under the -ground break forth, be not afraid; trust your queen and your army, for -we have no fear. Be as brave and cheerful as we. All your problems will -be solved, all your reasonable wishes will be granted, but that must be -done by your queen." She raised her arms in the manner of Rangan, and -impressively added: "Go now, with my love and my blessing." - -Another wave of affectionate loyalty swept over the multitude; it began -to disintegrate, and to pacify and turn back belated incomers; but a -shrill cry rose: - -"Sacrifice! Give us a sacrifice!" - -It had an instant effect. The moving crowd halted, and the cry ran to -many throats, "Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" The queen turned to old Rangan, -and he almost imperceptibly nodded. Lentala hesitated as she faced the -mob again, but refrained from looking at me. She raised her hand. - -"Be patient!" she cried. - -"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" - -"You shall have------" - -The rest was drowned in a threatening shout. Lentala stood dazed, and -in the ensuing buzzing and movement lost any opportunity she might -have desired for further speech. So she stood as the still noisy crowd -straggled off. Unrest had been rekindled, but to what extent I could not -guess. The last loiterers often stopped to gaze at the little group on -the wall, and the army stood in soldierly ranks before the gate. - -"The army will salute the queen," commanded Lentala. - -It was finely given with the sword, and the men heartily responded to -the oath that she gave them as soldiers of the queen. With a gesture -to us that we follow, she tripped down the ladder, opened the gate, and -admitted the army to the grounds. Next, after sending to liberate the -soldiers in the dungeon, she had the palace astir with an order to -prepare for the army a feast and accommodations for the night. - -Rangan had been a silent observer of her whirlwind movements. I was not -wholly satisfied with what I saw in his face, but with whatever else -that I saw there was admiration. Obviously she was permitting him to -remain until he should be satisfied that she was capable of assuming -command of the army. As matters were quieting she asked him to go to his -wife, and he tottered away, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. - -She ordered the army to break ranks. The men showed their relief with -childish inconsequence, and scattered at will. That left us alone. -The bright look that she turned to me was a sudden change from royal -sternness to Beela's challenge. She was my little work-mate of the -valley. - -Something had risen between us; consciousness of it showed in -her glance, and I was sore without that. To have tricked me so -unnecessarily, as to Beela seemed wanton and cruel. Unreasonable as it -may appear, I had been shocked so deeply that time for recovery would -be required. I had seen the craftiness with the gentleness of the native -blood in old Rangan. I had seen his hatred of the white man, and the -merciless savagery that his show of benevolence masked. It had made me -distrustful of the native blood, which composed half of Lentala. To the -sweet, childish Beela whom I loved had been added something that------ - -"Choseph!" - -I started, but could not bring a smile into the look that I gave her, -even though the call had been Beela's. - -"Don't you want to hear what has happened to me?" she asked, ignoring my -stolidity. - -"Yes, your Majesty." - -She stiffened slightly under that address, and subtly put Beela aside -for the queen. With a hint of coldness she said: - -"At the beginning of the outbreak I foresaw that Mr. Vancouver's guard -would decamp; so I went to look after him; but he had already gone after -being left alone. I followed him. That brought me to the crowd. When I -found myself in danger there, I called Christopher. His daring leap from -the wall and the fury with which he laid about him confused the crowd. -He was helped by some loyal subjects whom his conduct inspired. I don't -know how many skulls he cracked, but no one was killed. I pointed out -the men for him to silence. No one could resist him. When he called for -the king to ascend, he took Mr. Vancouver in charge and slipped away." - -I nodded, but she must have seen my gratitude for her taking such risks -on Mr. Vancouver's account. Doubtless that was what made her eyes flash, -but at the moment I did not know why. I reflected only that two matters -of overshadowing importance must be attended to at once, and that -possibly her plans had been disarranged. - -"What has become of Christopher and Mr. Vancouver, your Majesty?" I -asked. - -"I told Christopher to take Mr. Vancouver to the hut, where Mr. Rawley -was waiting," she answered, "and then go to meet the colony." - -"Thank you. What is to be done with the colony, and what am I to do?" - -She raised her eyes, and there was no trace of Beela in them. "I had -asked Captain Mason," she answered, "to have each member of the colony -bring all the food possible, and had told him that you and Christopher -would meet him in the first darkness following the earthquake, at a -certain pass just to the west of the clearing where the sacrificial -altar is, and that as the natives would be demoralized by the -earthquake, you could lead them without much risk past the settlement to -your vessel, which might be sailed away at once." - -My wonder and gratitude at the intelligence of her plan must have shown -in my face, but her tone had no warmth when she added: - -"Fortunately, matters have turned out so that I can take the army out of -your way. The real danger lay there." - -That was why she had admitted the soldiers to the palace grounds and -locked the gate. Could any other have given so brilliant a turn to a -threatening situation? Yet I only looked at her in silence, and her face -had not a trace of the old friendliness. Perhaps it was my own fault. -There rang in my ears the demand for a sacrifice; I recalled old -Rangan's nod; I remembered the defenseless position of Rawley and Mr. -Vancouver; and the brown blood in the Senatra queen unaccountably looked -different from the brown blood in Beela. - -"Your Majesty," I said, "I will go now and see that all is well with Mr. -Vancouver; then I will go and assure a clear opening for the colony, -and arrange for Mr. Vancouver and Rawley to join us as we move down the -eastern side of the settlement to the harbor." - -"Yes," she agreed. I was turning away, but she stopped me. "You will -reflect," she said, "that many people in the island are ignorant of -what has taken place here today. I will send out runners, but still the -entire island can't be covered. All know that a white man has been held -for sacrifice to the Black Face in order to stop the earthquakes and -avert an eruption. If the earthquake returns, even the people who saw -me crowned may become uncontrollable. Should that happen, I am not -sufficiently sure of the army to trust it in stopping a sacrifice. There -is just one thing to do." - -She ceased, and regarded me waitingly. - -"What is it, your Majesty?" - -She hardened still more. "Let's consider the situation calmly. If -some very strong diversion should arise tonight, the colony could pass -through to the vessel without risk. On the other hand, the people are -alarmed and restless; they won't sleep soundly; many may be abroad in -every direction. If some of them should see the colony escaping, a cry -might be raised that would ring from one end of the island to the other. -That would mean the instant gathering of a mob which no power could -resist, and the colony would be annihilated." - -"I see, your Majesty. What diversion would prevent it?" - -"The sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley." She spoke in a cold, -business-like tone. - -My horror must have been evident. "Your Majesty," I said with warmth, -"before that shall be submitted to, every member of our colony will die -fighting." - -She shrugged. "That is your affair. I should hate to see any of _my_ -people killed in such a clash. It is interesting to see how jealous -you are of Mr. _Vancouver's_ safety, when he had planned to destroy the -colony." - -I saw the drift of her sneer, and was angry and silent. - -"He has a very charming daughter," she went on. - -The humiliation that she was thrusting upon me was unbearable, but I -could be patient, since I carried the lives of the colony in my hands; -yet it was not pleasant to see this side of Lentala's nature. The worst -of it was that there was no possible argument to bring against hers. Mr. -Vancouver richly deserved such a fate, and so did Rawley; their meeting -it would certainly assure our escape to the _Hope_. But Lentala could -see in my attitude nothing but consideration for Annabel, and she -misconstrued that. It was all that I could do to restrain myself. - -"I think we understand each other," she remarked after a pause. - -"Do you mean," I burst out in a passion, "that you are going to order -the sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley?" - -She looked at me steadily. Afterward I recalled the softening, the -suffering, the dumb pleading in her face, but I did not see it at the -time. - -"It doesn't appear," she quietly said, "that I am called on to tell you -any more of my plans at present. You are fully informed as to what you -may do in trying to get the colony to the ship tonight." Her manner was -entirely that of a queen to her subject. "I think you understand to some -extent what I have done to spare the lives of your people and help them -leave the island. I will add that some trusted natives will try to make -your passage to the ship safe. But it is one thing to make plans and -another to carry them out in the face of a panic. There is no foreseeing -what may happen before morning. My scouts will keep me informed every -few minutes." - -There came an awkward pause. Her head was down; she stood in a waiting -attitude. It seemed to me that all the world I loved had suddenly been -swept away. Behind the woman confronting me I knew that my dear Beela -stood sweet and laughing, all sunshine and dear womanliness. Only a fool -would let her go. - -"Beela!" I said. - -She started, and raised sorrowing eyes to mine. - -"Aren't you going with us on the _Hope?_" - -"My duty is here now, and I can think of nothing but that." - -"Does your unexpected elevation to a queenhood blot out all the past?" I -asked. - -She bit her lip. "I hadn't expected that from you," she said in sadness. - -"Then, is it Annabel?" I insisted. - -She did not answer at once. "You will see her again this evening," she -gently said. - -"Of course, but------" I saw it was useless, and wondered if she was -dismissing me. "Surely I shall see you also," I said. - -She smiled, but it was not the smile of Beela; it was that of a woman -who knows care. - -"Perhaps," she returned; "yes, of course,--I think. Meanwhile, good-by," -and held out her hand. - -I took it, and would not at first let her withdraw it; but with a little -sigh, which she tried to conceal, she turned away and walked slowly to -the palace. - -Heavy-hearted, but determined to see Lentala before the colony -sailed,--if it should ever have that good fortune,--I went about my -duty. - -The first task was to see that Mr. Vancouver was safe, for many -contingencies might arise to overwhelm Christopher. I went to the hut -where Beela had left Rawley, but it was vacant. Christopher must have -taken the two men to a spot near the pass, to meet the outcoming colony. -On going to the summit of the valley wall I faced the rising moon. When -I had come within a few hundred yards of the spot where the colony would -emerge,--it was the spot where Rawley had assaulted me,--I heard the low -moaning of a man, followed by his querulous, childish talk. At first I -marveled that Christopher should have left his charges in so exposed -a place, as it was immediately near the main trail to the sacrificial -stone. - -"Will she come soon?" Mr. Vancouver plaintively asked. - -"Very soon. Be patient," kindly answered Rawley. - -The men were invisible in the gloom, but it was imprudent for them to -be speaking aloud. Yet I dared not show myself, lest Mr. Vancouver be -thrown into noisy mania. Should the natives be seeking him, it would -be easy to trail him to this spot; and the colony might be discovered -through his presence. Again Mr. Vancouver broke the silence. - -"She doesn't suspect me, does she?" - -"She is and always will be your loyal daughter." - -"I know." His voice was not a madman's. "Raise my head a little. It is -bursting. Rawley, I'm damned. The visions I've had! In one of them two -men came, looking like natives, but speaking English. One of them spoke -of my treachery and my death. I tried to kill him. The other prevented -me, and then I saw that they were Tudor and Christopher. And today the -one looking like Christopher rescued me from a hell of madmen. But how -could I stay in that cabin when Annabel was coming?" - -A rumbling and a quivering of the earth hurried me on. I ran to the edge -of the valley wall. This brought me nearly opposite the Black Face. I -had noticed a faint, weird light on the trees; now I saw the origin of -it,--a purple flame was issuing from an orifice below the Face. It waved -upward like an inverted streamer, wreathing the Face and lending to it a -ghastly lifelikeness. - -From below me rose faint cries of terror, quickly stilled, and soon the -vanguard of the colony arrived from the valley. The earth-trembling had -ceased; the flame was subsiding. - -There was some trouble at first in making myself known. Annabel came -up with Captain Mason and Christopher, and delayed my disclosure of the -plan for escape. - -"Where is my father?" she immediately asked. - -I informed her, and learned that Christopher had told her all that he -knew. - -"Take me to him," she begged. - -I replied that it would be safer to bring him to her. Directing -Christopher to fetch a stretcher from which a woman had just been -lifted, I left with him as the slender procession crept to the summit. -Deep anxiety showed under Christopher's calm exterior. - -Mr. Vancouver and Rawley were gone! A hasty search in the vicinity -failed to discover them. We worked down to the trail leading to the -clearing where the sacrifices were made. There we found a stream of -silent, soft-footed natives hurrying toward the clearing. No speech -was needed between Christopher and me to explain the situation. -Christopher's wise plan had gone tragically awry. It had not been -difficult for the dognosed natives to trail Christopher to the hut, and -then Rawley and Mr. Vancouver to the spot where I had found them. - -I was thrown into a momentary confusion. Lentala alone had known whither -Christopher was to take Mr. Vancouver, and she had argued for his -sacrifice as the surest means to save the colony! The thought was -sickening. But it was inconceivable that _Beela_ should have the heart -for such a course,--sweet, gentle Beela! And had not Lentala nearly -forfeited her life to the mob in trying to rescue Mr. Vancouver? - -Christopher had slipped from my mind; but I observed him now, and he was -listening far. I waited, knowing that by this time the two victims were -already at the altar, and that the earthquake a few minutes ago had -lent a fierce impetus to the proceedings. I could mentally see the main -settlement and its outlying regions swarming as the whispered news flew -from mouth to mouth that two white victims for the sacrifice had been -found. - -Christopher soon turned to me. - -"They'll have to get wood, sir," he said. - -"Yes. That will take time, but there are many men." - -Lentala had said that her scouts would report often; but there was a -chance that they would either conceal the present movement from her or -give her the news too late. Even should she be starting at that -moment, it would not be possible for her to arrive in time to stop the -sacrifice. Yet she should be informed. If she refused to come, then I -should know---- - -"Christopher," I said, "go and tell the queen." I said nothing of a -desperate plan that I had formed. - -Christopher looked at me strangely. "Yes, sir," he replied. "And you can -save 'em." - -He gave me a look of dog-like love, and vanished. - -I returned to Captain Mason, avoiding Annabel, and rapidly placed the -entire situation before him. His jaws set hard in the moonlight. I -could imagine his thoughts, which no doubt agreed with Lentala's; and I -realized the terrible risk to the colony when the fanatics should find -themselves balked in the sacrifice and should swarm in a search which -the colony could not escape--unless my plan should prove successful to -the last detail or the queen should bring up the army in time to -prevent a battle. And there was mighty Christopher, the man of courage, -resourcefulness, and prompt action. I hurled these arguments at Captain -Mason, and pointed out Annabel, standing alone and suffering as she -awaited her father. - -"You and Hobart and I will make the dash," I urged. "It is the only -chance, and we must hurry. Dr. Preston can be taken into the secret, and -can quietly prepare the men to fight if necessary. They are all armed; -the savages are not." - -He responded by calling Dr. Preston and charging him as I had suggested, -particularly warning him not to alarm the colony. Then he went to -Annabel and gave her some quieting explanation. I borrowed a capable -knife from a sailor, and we set out. - -We bore down to the trail, and found it still swarming with a scurrying -horde, all proceeding with a stealthy swiftness. Then I struck out on -a straight course through the tangled forest, leading Captain Mason and -Hobart a breathless pace. On arriving at the edge of the clearing and -concealing ourselves, we found hundreds of savages already assembled and -more pouring in. - -"There they are." I said, pointing to a considerable open space between -the sacrificial stone and a packed mass of men formed in a semi-circle, -those in front sitting. Midway between the stone and the natives were -the two doomed men, dim in the moonlight. The one lying on the ground -was doubtless Mr. Vancouver, perhaps unconscious. Rawley, though his -hands were tied behind him, sat erect, calmly facing his tormentors. - -As Captain Mason and Hobart had no disguise, I alone must bring the two -men out. My companions would take them to the colony; I would remain to -face the issue and divert the pursuit. Captain Mason looked very grave, -but Hobart was all eagerness; I could guess that his sore spirit yearned -to heal itself by sharing my risk. A longing for Christopher,--for his -far-seeing eye, his steady nerve, his quick hand,--came over me. - -"I remember," I explained in showing why I should not make the dash at -once, "that a ring was fastened in the rock about where Mr. Vancouver -and Rawley are sitting. They must be chained to it. I must wait until -they are released." - -We knew that the delay would mean an augmentation of the crowd and the -danger. - -Of course the theft of the wood had been discovered. The hut sheltering -it had disappeared; its poles and dryer thatch were already piled on the -altar. The sacrifice was only delayed, for two-score natives were coming -in with dry wood for which they had foraged. In that pursuit one came -near us, and I made ready, but in his eagerness he passed on, unseeing. -The priest at the altar received the wood, examined it, cast out the -useless, and carefully stacked the pyre, which steadily grew. - -Silence rested on the crowd. Here was religion in its naked birth,--the -elemental man using torture and murder for prayer, with greater -reverence and faith than I have seen in some modern fashions of -placation or appeal. Fronting them across the dim chasm of the valley -was the embodied Force whose wrath must be appeased. Could the white -blood in Lentala permit this form of worship? - -We could see through the trees the indefinite black mass of the Face. At -small intervals came low subterranean growls and slight tremors of -the earth. It was as though the underground gods were gathering their -strength. - -Finally the priest's work was done. He slowly went to the chained men, -stood over them, and raised his hand. Four men came forward, followed by -four others, who took positions back of him. Twenty more came and formed -a cordon about the altar. - -The first four knelt, and the chains fell clanking. Rawley rose without -assistance. Being speechless with a gag, he implored in dumb show for -Mr. Vancouver, offering himself alone. There was a low colloquy between -the priests and the four, at the end of which his gesture commanded that -Mr. Vancouver also be taken to the stone. As two men stooped to lift -him and two others took each an arm of Rawley, the priest began a -solemn chant in a minor key, and started the slow march to the pyre, Mr. -Vancouver on the shoulders of two men, Rawley walking firm and erect. - -At the altar the priest ceased his chant, which was taken up by the -crowd; but, though there were many hundreds of voices, they were so soft -and in such fine unison that the volume was hardly greater than that of -a dozen men. As it proceeded, the priest picked up a vessel containing -smothered coals, blew them into life, and ignited the thatch at the four -corners. Evidently the victims were to be further tied, and tossed aloft -when the fire was hot. - -As the priest stepped back to see the blaze rise, I bounded into the -open. - -I remember that the fire was hot in my face as I reached Rawley and -nipped his thongs, and that the astonishment on the priest's face was -comical. Also, I was conscious of a numbness in my right hand. I had -used my fist perhaps more vigorously than necessary. Two or three -natives were prone when I shouldered Mr. Vancouver and called to Rawley, -and the darkness of the forest soon concealed us. - -A roar delayed by astonishment rose behind us; a thousand devils had -opened throat and were leaping to the pursuit. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII.--The Great Catastrophe. - -_A Powerless Ruler Confronts a Mutiny. Death of the Sovereign -Demanded. The Army Under My Command. Christopher's Sacrifice. The Final -Cataclysm._ - - -AFTER a hard run, I laid Mr. Vancouver across Hobart's shoulder. There -was no need to urge all speed to the colony. I turned back to meet the -pursuers, and ran swiftly until I encountered the foremost. Before they -had seen me I dropped to the ground and was diligently examining it when -they came up and halted, others running behind. - -"Which way?" inquired the first. - -"Stand back!" I said. "I have the trail." - -They obeyed, but my knife was ready for a contingency. I pretended -to lose the signs, but found them again, followed a few paces, and -announced that the fugitives had turned there and headed for the trail. -"That will bring them into a trap," I added, "for people are still -coming up the trail to the clearing. I will follow the runaways and give -the alarm. You men spread up and down here, for they may double back. -When others come from the clearing, turn them all back, for they will -spoil the trail and I never can find it again. Then you too go back if -you don't hear from me very soon. Send a man at once to the priest, and -tell him to hold the people there, and to order up more wood and prepare -for the sacrifice. I am a Suminali man and can trail like a dog." - -I was turning away, but paused, to make sure of them. "Have you heard -the news from the palace?" I inquired. - -"No." - -"The king has given the crown to Lentala, and the command of the army -also." - -It surprised them. "Where's Gato?" asked one. - -"He disobeyed the king, and is dead," I answered. "Tell the news to the -priest. Spread it among the crowd." It was on my tongue to add that the -queen would soon appear with the army and disperse the crowd, but there -were dangers in it, and I held my peace. Sufficient for the present that -I had stopped the pursuit. - -[Illustration: 0275] - -On arriving at the road to the clearing I found a commotion, and learned -that the army was rapidly approaching. The people did not know how to -take that news,--whether it meant a forwarding or a breaking up of the -sacrifice. - -There came a scrambling of stragglers to escape the army, which advanced -on the trot, Christopher running in front. He saw me, wheeled, and -raised his hand. I knew that his glance at my face had told him -the whole story. My heart swelled to see Lentala, borne aloft in an -uncanopied crimson velvet palanquin emblazoned with the royal insignia. -Her dress was the one she had worn at the feast, with the addition of -the crown. In her hand she carried a naked sword, fine and lean. - -"Make way for the queen!" at intervals shouted a man running ahead of -the queen and behind Christopher. - -On seeing Christopher's signal she raised her sword, and the palanquin -halted. She was anxiously watching the glow from the altar fire, but her -glance discovered me, and a surprised joy sprang to her face. - -"Am I too late?" she called in English. - -"No, your Majesty. All is well." - -"Choseph!" she chokingly cried, throwing her sword away and seizing both -my hands. - -It was a public scandal. The soldiers stared. - -I gave her a warning look, and said, "Your Majesty!" - -She drew away with freezing dignity. A soldier picked up her sword, -wiped it as he would a baby's face, knelt, and handed it to her. She -slammed it angrily into its scabbard, gave me a crushing glance, -and opened her lips to speak, but I drove the words back by suddenly -dropping in an obeisance. I would have given a good deal to see her face -in the long pause before she bade me rise. My face was grave as I met -her angry, suspicious gaze. - -"This is no time nor place to make fun of me," she cuttingly said. - -"I beg your Majesty's pardon." - -She was studying me. "You have seen Annabel, I suppose?" she inquired. - -"Yes, your Majesty." - -"And talked with her?" - -"Yes, your Majesty." - -"You--were glad--to see each other?" - -"Very, your Majesty." - -"She is as lovely as ever?" - -"Quite, your Majesty." - -She examined the splendid jewel in the head of her sword-hilt, looked up -with a composed face, and demanded that I tell her what had happened. I -did so, and she beamed, forgetting Annabel. - -"I'll take the army to the clearing," she said, "put a stop to the -nonsense, and send the people home." - -She said it confidently, either ignoring the danger or ignorant of it. -Evidently her purpose was the protection of the colony, but I surmised -that some power greater than hers would be required. Christopher had -been standing near, a silent listener. - -Her imposing arrival had a strong effect on the restless mob as in the -cross-light of the moon and the altar fire she stood up in the palanquin -and raised her sword for attention. She told them of her crowning, made -a plea for their confidence, and commanded them to go home. But she said -nothing about a sacrifice. - -No sign of obedience appearing in the crowd, she gave me a glance that -sought guidance. I knew that the moment was critical and the risk great, -but it seemed the only recourse. I glanced at the army. She understood, -hesitated a moment, and ordered the soldiers to clear the place. A -slight movement and a buzz ran through the ranks, but there was no -forward movement. Then rang a cry, instantly taken up till it became a -roar: - -"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" - -Lentala sprang to the ground, waved the palanquin-bearers away, and with -a free sword confronted the soldiers, her head high, her eyes flashing. -I knew she realized that there was but one way out of the desperate -dilemma, and that she was casting about to find it without a confession -of failure. Clearly she knew that, although old Rangan had deeply -planted a sense of loyalty in the soldiers, she was hampered both by -a want of experience in handling them and by the pressure of the mob -behind her, which was swelling its demand for a sacrifice to a mutinous -outbreak that the soldiers would have no spirit to meet, they being in -sympathy with the movement. It became necessary for me to act. - -I sprang forward and prostrated myself before her. - -"Rise," she said, extending her sword over me. - -When I had come to my feet she gave me her sword, and said, her voice -ringing clear and far: - -"I must go among my people and quiet them. You were King Rangan's -friend; you are the man who threw Gato from the wall,--Gato, who had -been unfaithful to his sovereign. I give you command of my army while I -go among my people." - -I took her sword and promptly faced the bewildered ranks as Lentala -drifted away; but not until I had seen that Christopher was observing; -he would understand that I had turned her over to his protection. - -It was fortunate that on the beach and during the march to the valley I -had closely observed Gato's method of handling his men. They were crude -soldiers and their drill was childish, but my training knew the value -of discipline to any extent, and I remembered Gato's tactics. More -important than any evolutions that they knew was the spirit of the one -commanding them. - -I rapped out an order for company formation, as the men were in loose -order. As I had expected, some of them stared at me and the others at -the rapidly growing mob spirit before them. - -It should be explained that Gato's organization was wholly different -from that of civilized nations. While the men composing the army came -nearly to half the number of a modern regiment, and while some rude -idea of subsidiary groupings had been observed, the absence of actual -experience in warfare had made the organization hardly more than a -stolid, pompous mob, and the under-officers little besides repeaters -and enforcers of the general orders. All officers were merely the -"general's" staff. - -I did the best I could with such a machine. Upon repeating my order in -a still sharper tone, and seeing only an uneasy, tentative pretense -of obedience, I sprang toward the officer whom I may call the -lieutenant-colonel, stung his cheek with the flat of my rapier, and sent -him spinning down the ranks. Another officer instantly found himself -treated to a similar slap, and another, as I continued to shout the -order. The fourth, a sullen brute, took the blow without wincing, and in -both hands began to raise his sword to cleave me. He never knew what it -was that sent his blade clattering to the ground; and his attention -at once became engaged in a spouting rip in his arm. That brought the -staring regiment to its senses; the under-officers all sprang to their -duty. - -Then, charging up and down the front rank while I raked the stomachs -of the soldiers with my sword, I ordered platoon formation. Under other -circumstances it would have been amusing to see the officers scrambling -for minor commands not already occupied. Evidently there had never -before been such sprightly movement required of them; my rapier -continually flashed, and men winced when it came near. - -Having thus secured control, I was in a dilemma. - -My purpose was to face them about, so that they should not see the -turbulence rapidly increasing in the mob; but that would bring them -facing the altar fire, which was burning emptily, reminding them that -the people had been cheated. But there was no choice; I must be where I -could face the storm breaking over Lentala and Christopher. There was no -time for marching to secure a back-presentation to the mob; I must risk -the awkwardness of a reverse formation. - -The command to about-face was promptly obeyed, and the soldiers appeared -to be surprised on finding me again before them. It was necessary to -keep them absorbed in maneuvers, which, of the simplest kind, such as -they could understand, I immediately put in force. - -This did not distract my attention from the turbulence centering about -Lentala. I saw the densely packed and highly excited mob crowding her; -I heard the shouts for a sacrifice, the calls to the army to join the -rebellion; I heard her clear, steady voice; I saw now and then glimpses -of Christopher standing as a rock behind her; and all the time my sword -was swinging and my orders were keeping the army at work. It would be -but a matter of time when I might turn it to the service of the queen, -but the danger was pressing alarmingly. - -Of a sudden there was a commotion about Lentala. Before I could turn -over the command to the officer next in rank and go to Lentala's rescue, -Christopher, bearing her on his shoulder, broke through the mob, skirted -my left flank on the run, and bounded toward the altar, the flames -of which had sunk almost to a mass of glowing coals, exceedingly hot. -Without attempting to comprehend his movement, but seeing that he had -brought the queen behind the army for some purpose, I instantly opened -the order of my men, commanded swords drawn, and cried: - -"The queen's army to her defense!" - -The command was taken up by every subordinate officer. Again the men -found me facing them as the mob came howling at my back; but the double -line stood firm as an interposing wall before the queen. Then I knew -that I had them in hand, but I dared not risk a charge, and I must see -what Christopher was doing. The tumbling mob halted before the drawn -swords. - -When Christopher reached the altar he stopped and turned, he and his -burden making a striking silhouette against the red heap of coals. She -appeared unconscious, for she hung limp over his shoulder, her arms -pendent. The halting of the mob and Christopher's pause aided his -unexpected dash in sending a hush on the crowd. In the midst of it rose -Christopher's voice for all to hear: - -"We'll sacrifice the queen! The queen!" With that he flung her to the -ground and began savagely to tear her outer skirt into strips, with the -obvious purpose of binding her. - -The scene was clear to the mob through the open ranks of my men. I was -no less appalled than were the savages at the audacity of the move and -Christopher's ferocious method of procedure. And I made no attempt to -keep the soldiers from turning their heads to see. My task was instantly -to find my cue in the drama that Christopher was playing. It came before -I was ready. As Christopher, after the binding, which required but a -moment, was carrying Lentala up to the pyre, she began to struggle, and -called: - -"My soldiers, save me!" - -I bounded through the ranks as I gave the command to about-face and -forward double-quick. But I outran the soldiers, struck Christopher -down with my sword, and caught Lentala as she was falling. The shortest -instant was needed to cut her bonds, but that was sufficient for me to -lose control of the situation. Christopher's splendid ruse had succeeded -in saving the queen from the mob, and I knew that nothing concerning -himself mattered beyond that. Indeed, I have always thought that he -deliberately chose the time to give his life for her sake. - -As the old king had said, the natives were children, and the sudden -revulsion of feeling in favor of the queen was more even than the -soldiers, who had a little discipline, could calmly bear. A wave of -passionate devotion swept over them. It was only a mob that I faced with -my sword as I stood before Lentala. Christopher was lying face downward -on the ground as he had fallen. I knew he was unhurt and free to make a -fight for his life. None could have realized more clearly than he -that the mob would take vengeance on him, but none could have better -understood that his resistance might imperil the queen. He had simply -made the bold play for her sake, had won, and then lain down to die. - -I could not bear that, nor could Lentala, who comprehended. Without -hesitation she left me and bent over him, to receive the blow, and -was careful that he should not know her purpose. I did what I could, -shouting, commanding the soldiers to form, waving my sword menacingly. -It had a staying effect, and I cannot now say with certainty that it -would have failed. - -Suddenly, with a sickening sensation, I felt the earth tremble beneath -my feet. A strange sense of dizziness, of reeling, made my movements -waver. The soldiers also were staggering, and their purpose to rend -Christopher appeared to be relaxing; but nothing could withstand the -pressure of the mob behind them. I had barely time to snatch up Lentala -and cut a way back to the altar before Christopher, whose glance found -Lentala and me safe, began to rise as the lurching horde hurled itself -upon him. - -In a staggering run, nearly tripped at every step, I bore her to the -edge of the clearing, on the side toward the colony, and hid us both in -the shadows. When I had picked her up she buried her face in my shoulder -and clung to me with both arms round my neck. - -"What is it?" she asked. - -"A volcanic eruption." - -"Where's Christopher?" - -I put my hand on her lips, and she trembled as she clung closer. She was -silent as the earthquake increased in violence, and presently asked: - -"Do you see it, Choseph?" - -I had been observing it since we were seated. "Yes. It is at the river -passage. The mountain appears to be blown out there, and------" - -"Stop!" she cried, holding me closer. - -Undoubtedly the eruption had occurred at the boiling cauldron that we -had passed under the mountain. Its first violence was already spent, and -the earthquake was subsiding; but I reflected that the water from the -valley stream and from the crimson fall must be pouring into the hot -interior, and that the end was not yet. - -The ejecta of the outburst were already falling about us from the great -height to which the explosion had thrown them. Hot stones of all sizes -rained. Had not the forest been damp, it would have broken into flame at -a thousand places. - -The writhing savages in the clearing were but dimly visible. No -definiteness came out of the mass still crowded and heaped where we had -left Christopher. All sufficiently near for me to see sat staring at the -Face, which was now clearly taking its vengeance; all were moaning and -howling, and prostrated with fear. - -A deep-red flame rose with a rushing noise from the seat of the eruption -as renewed rumblings and roarings came from the quivering ground. The -rising flame plunged into a rapidly spreading canopy of smoke and ashes -from the initial explosion. The hither edge of the vast cloud was wan in -the moonlight, but the under surface reflected the crimson of the flame. -All things adopted that dreadful hue. The green foliage took it on as -the muddy purple of decay; the brown faces of the natives looked as if -beaten to a pulp. - -There came another light, and it woke a more insidious terror. Striating -the crimson column and issuing snakily from many independent orifices -distributed over a wide area of the valley rim, was the purple flame. -And now the most wonderful of all was the great Face itself. The crimson -light caught it in profile, and thus so sharpened its features as to -make it seem a living monster of inconceivable ferocity. Nor was that -the worst. The purple flame again issued from below the face with a -great augmentation. In rising and spreading it cast a thin veil over the -visage, making it ghastly. - -[Illustration: 0287] - -The falling of heavy stones ceased, but the more numerous small ones -began to pelt us. I drew my coat round Lentala's head, and broke -tree-branches within reach to shield her body, for the stones had a -vicious sting. - -The heat was growing, both by radiation from the crimson column and by -reflection from the canopy. Flames were leaping from the forest near the -eruption, for the heat was drying the leaves. - -As the ground opened in many seams under the strain, steam found -numerous issues on the front of the opposite valley wall, near the Face. -The quaking of the earth deepened; the moans of the natives became cries -of frenzy. - -"Is it growing worse, Joseph?" - -She had been Beela since the scene at the altar, and I had nearly -forgotten Lentala. It was sweet to feel her breath on my neck as she -clung like a frightened child. - -"Be brave," I said. "Remember, we came safely through the passage." - -"I will, Joseph," but I felt a sob against my breast. - -The increasing heat began to make wild mischief in the air. Little -whirlwinds had been rising, twirling leaves upward. All at once they -ceased, leaving an ominous calm. Then came a rushing, swirling roar, -with the crashing of trees,--the noises of a tornado. I looked round. -Nearly in a line with the moon rose a spinning column bearing upward -dismembered trees, liberating them far above, and sending them down -destructively. This monster, whose seizure would mean death, was -mounting the slope in its approach to the volcano, and seemingly would -sweep the clearing in its passage. I did not know what to do, and did -not wish Lentala to see what was coming, but I must unconsciously have -given an alarming sign, for she silently caught her breath and tightened -her hold. - -As I was looking about in helplessness, an extraordinary vision of -tatters and despair staggered toward us out of the forest, peering -about. Her staring eyes found me, and she stopped in fear. - -"Annabel!" I cried. - -Lentala sprang to her feet, her terror gone, and stared for a moment; -then, springing forward, she took Annabel in her arms before I had -reached her. - -"Where is my father?" begged Annabel, recognizing us both. - -"He is safe with Captain Mason at the colony, dear," Lentala sweetly -answered. - -I confirmed the news, and because she was much more deeply shaken than -Lentala, I took her to myself and made her sit on the ground. I seated -myself beside her, took her hand, and told her cheerful things about her -father and Mr. Rawley. She had become suspicious and left the colony to -search for her father before Captain Mason's return with him. - -She was quietly sobbing in gratefulness. A woman's gentler offices were -needed now, and I looked round for Lentala. To my astonishment she had -disappeared. That alarmed me. In looking about for her without leaving -Annabel I discovered that the tornado had torn away the trees on the -opposite side of the clearing, and was breaking to pieces after tumbling -into the valley; but I could not guess what havoc, if any, it had -wrought in the clearing, and a profound uneasiness on Lentala's -account made my duty to care for Annabel irksome. Even at the best, the -collections of the tornado were falling about us and on the clearing, -and an increase of the dismal howling indicated cruel results, in -which both Lentala and Christopher might be involved. And the danger -to Annabel and me was great. I did what I could to protect her from the -merciless rain of riven timber. - -It had been impossible for me to abandon hope on Christopher's account. -Even though I believed that he had lain down in perfect content to give -his life for Lentala, the eruption had offered him an opportunity for -which he must have been ready. If he was alive and anywhere near the -zone of Lentala's danger, she would be cared for. I could accept no -other faith than that he was. - -Annabel reasonably secure and quiet, I noted the progress of the -catastrophe, knowing that Christopher would let me hear from him soon, -if at all. The trembling of the ground had become remittent and more -violent. The cries of the natives were falling to despairing moans. -The tripping ground had made their flight impossible, even had fear not -paralyzed them. Besides, the effect of the weird light on the Face was -sufficient to hold them in a fascinated helplessness. - -The volcanic pillar of fire had shortened, for the still spreading -canopy was thickening downward. The roar was louder, with occasional -detonations from lateral explosions which smashed the mountains -environing the western end of the valley and made a still wider breach -in the opening blasted by the first outbreak. The purple flame had found -new exits, lending the opposite valley wall a cadaverous light, and, -with the spreading flame issuing from below the Face, giving the -horrible visage an unspeakable hideousness. - -Worse than all that had gone before came next. The canopy suddenly -effaced the moon, and looked like an enormous mushroom on a blood-red -stem. Violent gusts of wind fell here and there with a rending force, -working havoc in the forest and among the natives. Now and then rose a -sharp solitary cry from one struck by a falling stone or spattered by -blistering mud. At times a swarm of cries rang from the dip of scorching -gases. Clouds were gathering. Lightning flashed between them and the -canopy; the crash of near thunder swelled the tumult. I tried not to -think of the colony. - -"Where is Lentala?" cried Annabel in my ear, rousing out of a -half-stupor. - -"She has gone to the clearing," I ventured. - -"Go and find her," urged Annabel in fright, forcibly withdrawing from -me. - -"How can I leave you?" - -"I am safe here, and will wait for you. Go!" - -I obeyed, staggering into the clearing and falling over the kneeling or -prostrate savages. My heart presently gave a bound of joy; for, working -side by side, fearless and devoted, were Lentala and Christopher, -apparently unhurt, and doing all they could to pacify the frantic -natives, encouraging them, binding their wounds, and sending them to -the service of others, thus rapidly starting centers of control and help -that enlarged with magical rapidity. I came near, but the two who were -dear to me did not observe, so intent were they on their duty. I had -never seen so lovely a look on Lentala's face, and I determined to let -no foolish barrier stand between us thenceforth. Christopher saw me -first, but gave no sign whatever. Then Lentala, and there was a divine -light in her startled, happy face. - -"You came to me, didn't you, Joseph?" she said, seizing my hand. - -"Annabel discovered that you were gone, and sent me to find you." - -Her face went blank, and she dropped my hand. Terrible though the -moment was, her childishness angered me. It was no time for coquettish -discipline. - -"She wants your Majesty," I said. "Shall I bring her to you?" - -Her eyes flashed, but she replied, "Take me to her." - -I tried to take her hand, in order to lead her, for the ground was -rolling and there were unpleasant things to see on the way in the red -glare; but she walked alone and as steadily as I. As we approached the -trees there came a sickening heave different from the earth-movements -before. Christopher sprang past us toward Annabel, shouting: - -"Down--on your faces!" - -I seized Lentala and lurched ahead, but before we had quite reached -Annabel and Christopher we went down in a blazing crash. - -***** - -"Shake yourself up, sir," came in a thin voice from a great distance. - -I could open my eyes but a moment under the vigorous shaking that -Christopher gave me, for slimy, warm drops were falling on my face; but -I had met the darkness that the blind know. A painful throbbing made my -head roll as Christopher dragged me to shelter and propped me against a -tree. - -"Where are we?" I asked. My groping hands found a prone body at my left. -I opened my eyes, and the world was blotted out. - -"Keep still, sir." - -"Are they both here?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Alive?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Choseph!" came feebly from the body under my hand. - -My arms went round her and drew her up. - -"Where's Annabel, Christopher?" I asked. - -"On your right, sir." - -"Unconscious?" - -"Yes, sir." - -Lentala lay collapsed in my arms. The rain of mud from the canopy -pattered and splashed about us. The ground was still, and there was -hardly a sound except the slimy drip. - -"The volcano has stopped, hasn't it?" - -"Yes, sir." - -I asked the next question in the conviction that I had been stricken -blind: "Is there any light at all?" - -"No, sir." - -Lentala clutched me. "I'm glad, Choseph! I thought I was blind." - -"What happened, Christopher?" I asked. - -"The world blew up, sir." - -"What then?" - -"Darkness." - -The rain had extinguished the forest fires, and the sirupy drip was -mingled with the hissing of hot stones. There was nothing to do but -wait. Wails began to creep out of the silent clearing. Lentala drew -away. - -"Poor children!" she said. "I can teach them better now. There's a good -life ahead for me here." Clearly she was thinking of nothing else, and -she said it with a simple earnestness. During all these dark months her -every plan and act had been for her own and our escape from the island. -I had thought that she accepted the crown as a temporary expedient to -restore order and save the colony; but now I knew that, while she still -intended to send us safely away, she had severed all other bonds and -would give her life where it was most needed. The conduct of the people -during the eruption had given the finishing touch to her decision. It -was the putting away of all her hopes and dreams; it was the dismissal -of me. - -I sat a moment in a desolate silence, and found her hand. She returned -my clasp, but it was different from any she had ever given me before. It -grew firmer, imparting a silent message of finality. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV.--The Parting Hour. - -_A Chapter of Startling Surprises. The Fate of the Black Face. A Story -of Two Girls. Wanted--a Coadjutor to the Crown. Beela Comes Back at -Last._ - - -Here was something portentously solemn in Christopher's manner when he -came one brilliant morning with a summons from the queen to lunch with -her and Annabel. I was aware of Captain Mason's notice to her Majesty -that in two hours the colony, which had been royally entertained in the -palace and its adjunct buildings since the great catastrophe, would file -past to bid her farewell. My absorbing duties in directing the stowing -of the _Hope's_ cargo had kept me away from the queen and Annabel, -who had become devoted friends; but a more potent barrier had been her -Majesty's cold reserve under her assumption of her queenly duties, which -had been exceedingly severe. The destruction of the Black Face by the -eruption had been joyously accepted as heaven's endorsement of her -accession to the throne, and the natives idolized her. - -Nothing seemed clearer than her wish that I do my part to make as smooth -as possible her determination to forget what had passed between us. - -Confident, therefore, that she would carry off the parting pleasantly, -and appreciating her kindness in inviting me, and her tact in providing -for Annabel's presence, I went with as stout a heart as I could command. -Christopher and I had long ago laid aside our disguise. He led me in -silence to the private room where Lentala had dreamed of a bright life -far away. A table was set daintily for three; and as there were no -native attendants, I knew that Christopher was to serve. Rangan was -near the end of his days, and Rawley gave constant attendance on deeply -stricken Mr. Vancouver. - -As I entered, I heard the queen and Annabel chatting with astonishing -gaiety in an adjoining room, the doorway into which was closed with a -curtain. Whatever they were discussing was interrupted by my entrance. - -"Choseph!" came challengingly from beyond the curtain. It was Beela's -voice, though every trace of her had disappeared since the eruption. - -"Your Majesty," I responded. - -"Nonsense! Aren't you going to behave?" It was Beela's scold and -the impatient stamp of her foot. "I'm not quite ready. Annabel will -entertain you." - -Annabel came out. The sparkle in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks -showed that she was excited, despite her effort to appear at ease. -Christopher's strange manner had already made me watchful, and I caught -the knowing look that Annabel gave him. My heart bounded. Could it be -that the queen had decided to renounce her kingdom and go with us? It so -deluged me that for a moment I did not heed the chatter proceeding from -the other room. - -"Choseph!" came thence; "have you neither ears nor a tongue?" The voice -rang with a cheer that even Beela's had never known. "Here I've been -trying to make you guess why I'm so happy, and you don't show the -slightest interest." - -"I'd be glad to know," I returned. - -"Annabel and her father and Mr. Rawley have decided not to go away, -and Annabel and Mr. Rawley are going to be married!" She hurled it -breathlessly, as a child in a hurry to tell important news. - -So that was the great secret. But why had they kept it from me? An acute -silence within accompanied my own. I was smiling at Annabel, who blushed -deliciously. - -"Christopher!" - -"Your Majesty." - -"Don't say that. I hate it. Do you love me?" - -"Yes, ma'am." - -"But you are going to leave me." She said it dolorously. - -"No, I ain't, ma'am." - -Something was dropped clattering to the floor within, and then came a -sudden hush. - -There was the queerest, brightest twinkle in Annabel's eyes as she -studied me. In astonishment I glanced at Christopher. The look with -which he met mine was one of benevolent kindness. - -"Dear old Christopher!" came softly from the other room; then, after a -pause, "How can Mr. Tudor manage without you?" - -"He can't, ma'am." He made the audacious answer while calmly regarding -me. - -Can it be believed that I dared not see Lentala's challenge, and that -something which I could not master held me a silent fool in the chair? -Surely there must be men besides me whom love makes humble and timid. I -have seen men love with a different measure; I have seen love make them -bold and reckless. - -Christopher had adroitly seated me with my back to the curtain. Hence -I did not see a signal that Annabel, who was facing it, must have -received, for with some excuse she withdrew, taking Christopher. - -The queen's voice was close to the curtain as she called in a -breathless, frightened way, "Choseph!" - -"Your Majesty." - -Before I could rise she was on me like a whirlwind, clapping her hands -over my eyes from behind and pressing me down into the seat. Her cheek -rested on my head. I thought the beating of my heart would suffocate me. - -During the silence I sat in a trance. One soft hand held my eyes closed; -the other slipped down and was pressed on my lips. I knew that Beela had -come back, and I would submit to any outrage from her. - -"Choseph," she said in her sweet, coaxing voice, "sit still and don't -try to speak. You are much more interesting when you don't talk. And -then, I don't want to be interrupted, for I'm going to tell you a story. -It is about two girls and a man. Nod if you want to hear it." - -I nodded. - -"The girls are named Beela and Lentala. The man imagines he is or _was_ -in love with one of those girls." The voice above my head became very -impressive. "Now, sir, you are the Man." - -Nod. - -"We'll easily agree that Lentala is much more dignified and reserved -than Beela." - -Nod. - -"And never so erratic and unconventional." - -Nod. - -"And that Beela is rude and bold, wears outlandish clothes, and adopts -scandalous disguises." - -My head was still for a time, so happy was I in her delicious fooling; -then I nodded enthusiastically. - -I knew she was trying to suppress a laugh; she ostentatiously sighed, -and said: "You agree to that. It isn't all. She tells fibs, and is -heartless and cruel." I was motionless for a breathless space, and then -nodded viciously. There came a long, still pause. I could bear it no -longer. - -"Choseph! Stop! You hurt my wrist," and again she held me prisoned. -"There. Be quiet. Well," with a resigned sigh, "I suppose the foolish -man will keep on loving Beela and hating Lentala, and end by breaking -poor Lentala's heart." - -I am not positive that I entirely succeeded in suppressing my laugh. - -"It has to be Beela, then," the sweet voice went on. "But, Choseph, -suppose the madcap should really be very different from what she ever -appeared to you, and you should discover that she had deceived you -about an important matter,--you can't be certain that you know all her -disguises,--wouldn't you think her unworthy of your trust and love?" - -A very decided shake, and above me a soft laugh and a little squeeze of -my head. - -"Choseph, you know you had suspicions about her skill in staining you -and Christopher." - -I had nearly forgotten it; but as her father had been a white man -and her mother a native, her skin would require some staining to look -exactly like a native's. I made no response to her speech. - -"Choseph, suppose a very little girl born in some other country had -been wrecked with her father on this island. She might have been yellow, -or--or almost anything. As she grew, it might have become necessary that -she be given the color of the natives." There was a pause, and then came -the hurried question, "She'd still be the same girl, wouldn't she?" - -I nodded, simply to please her, for her chatter meant no more to me than -that Beela was playing and teasing. - -"Think, Joseph." She was really serious. "Once, when Lentala dressed -like Annabel, you were shocked, and said some strange things that made -her very unhappy and uneasy, and she was afraid to tell you the -whole truth. And for other reasons she thought it best to keep up the -deception. Could _anything_ new that you might learn about her change -your regard?" - -I shook my head, but was puzzled and uneasy. - -"Then," she gently said, pressing her sweet cheek to my temple, "it -could make no difference at all what her real color is?" - -Of course I shook my head. It was impossible for me to accept the absurd -suggestion, and my simple lie could do no harm in her pretty play. - -She straightened, drawing a deep breath. "That is a promise," she said. -"There's something else. Now, no matter if, in showing her love and pity -for the poor grown children who need her, she permits these islanders -the harmless play of calling her their queen when they mean their -leader, their teacher, their mother,--wouldn't she still be only Beela, -and none the worse for accepting that love and trust and duty?" - -My nod was reverential. - -"But, Joseph, she would know her utter inability to discharge that task. -She would stumble; she would fall many a time. There would come dark -hours when she yearned in bitter loneliness for the help of a wise head -and sure hand; for there is a people to civilize as well as govern. -Joseph, the heart of a woman is a woman-heart under either a toy crown -or a real one." - -I gave no sign. There came a long pause, a deep breath, and a sudden -change of tone. - -"Joseph, suppose that some day a big, fine cavalier, with a tender heart -and a strong hand, should drift to the poor little kingdom and find its -queen torturing her soul over problems that would look so large to her -and so small to him. It seems to me that he would be moved to offer her -his services. She might make him her Prime Minister." - -I tore myself loose, rose, and confronted her. Gazing at me was a -beautiful young white woman, frightened and blushing, a thousand -startled imps dancing in her eyes as she backed away. I was profoundly -shocked. - -"Forgive me, Joseph." It came tenderly, wistfully, from the perfect lips -of Beela and in her dear voice. And those were her eyes; that was -her delicate, high-bred nose, and that her light hair. And she was as -daintily dressed as ever Annabel had been. - -"Choseph!" she cried, stamping in a passion as I gazed in silence. - -So overcoming a weakness assailed me that I had to catch the top of a -chair. - -"Of course I understand," I said, unevenly, and floundered on, with -pauses: "I might have guessed, but... a cherished ideal is very real to -me. When I lost Beela and found Lentala, I lost what I had come to love. -No, not lost,--I am very foolish and blundering." - -"No, Joseph." Her smile was dazzling. - -"It never could be lost while I lived, and would live had she died. It -was Lentala, not Beela, who put Beela away, and then me." - -"You know what I thought, Joseph. I meant to be kind. And I never had -the least idea until today that Annabel cared for Mr. Rawley. I thought -she loved you, and that you had been very fond of her till Beela came. I -reasoned that it would be best for you to go to your own country, marry -Annabel, and forget Beela." - -That sweet speech explained everything, but it was not possible for me -to feel the ease in the presence of her radiant loveliness that I had -felt toward Beela, the child-woman, the sprite, who could flutter into a -man's heart and abide forever. I managed to say bluntly: - -"I understand. And now that all is clear, may I stay and do whatever -lies in my power and devotion to help you?" - -She was regarding me curiously, and with a touch of uneasiness. "Simply -because I've asked you?" she demanded. - -"It is my dearest wish." - -Still the strange look was in her eyes. I dared not interpret it as my -heart commanded; I had never loved a woman before, and needed time to -gather my courage. Of a sudden an impulse moved me to step forward, take -her hands, and look deep into her eyes. - -"Let me stay," I begged. - -"I'd be glad and proud if you would, Joseph. You know Captain Mason is -to return with the _Hope_ as soon as he can, and will bring teachers -and a clergyman from America, and Annabel and Mr. Rawley will be married -then." - -I do not know what it was that she saw--or that her sensitive pride made -her see--in my face that made her quickly withdraw her hands and step -back as her eyes flashed and her cheeks crimsoned. - -"Joseph! I never dreamed that you could think I meant--_that!_" - -"It was my love, my joy, dear heart. When the clergyman comes----" - -Annabel and Christopher entered. The queen flew at her, embraced her and -kissed her, and then, standing off in front of Christopher, cried in a -teasing voice: - -"Christopher, you _do_ love me, don't you?" - -"Yes, ma'am," he placidly answered as he set the chairs for luncheon. - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The -Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. 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- <head>
- <title>
- Lentala of the South Seas, The Romantic Tale Of a Lost Colony, by W. C.
- Morrow
- </title>
- <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" />
- <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic
-Tale of a Lost Colony, by W. C. Morrow
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: Lentala of The South Seas, The Romantic Tale of a Lost Colony
-
-Author: W. C. Morrow
-
-Illustrator: Maynard Dixon
-
-Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51915]
-Last Updated: November 16, 2016
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by David Widger from page images generously
-provided by the Internet Archive
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
- <div style="height: 8em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h1>
- LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS, THE ROMANTIC TALE OF A LOST COLONY
- </h1>
- <h2>
- By W. C. Morrow
- </h2>
- <h3>
- Illustrated by Maynard Dixon
- </h3>
- <h4>
- Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers: New York
- </h4>
- <h5>
- 1908
- </h5>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0001.jpg" alt="0001 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0001.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0008.jpg" alt="0008 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0008.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <p>
- <b>CONTENTS</b>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS</b> </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.—On Unknown Shores. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II.—The Falling of a Fong </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III.—The Menace of the Face. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV.—Behind a Laughing Mask. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V.—The Opening of a Pit. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI.—Witcheries in Hand. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII.—Secrets For Two. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII.—A Crumbling Edge. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX.—An Iron Hand Comes Down. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X.—The Finding of a Man. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI.—Faces Set Toward Danger. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII.—Dramatic Discoveries. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII.—Preparation for the Crisis.
- </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV.—-A Glimpse Into the Abyss.
- </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV.—The Lash in Unwilling Hands.
- </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI.—A Light in the Gloom. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII.—Disciplined by a Woman. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII.—To the Rescue of the King.
- </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX.—The Strength of the White
- Blood. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX.—A Habit of Concealment. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI—Both Sides of the Wall. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII.—Wit and Dash to the Fore.
- </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII.—The Great Catastrophe. </a>
- </p>
- <p class="toc">
- <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV.—The Parting Hour. </a>
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- LENTALA OF THE SOUTH SEAS
- </h2>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER I.—On Unknown Shores.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Pursued by Our Dying Ship. Cast Away Among Dangers. A Pointing Finger
- and a Sword. Beguiled by Savage Royalty. A Strange Girl and a Prediction.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>N range of my
- outlook seaward as I lay on the yellow strand was a grotesque figure
- standing near and gazing inland. His powerful frame was broad and squat;
- his long arms, ending with immense hands, hung loosely at his sides; his
- hair was ragged; and out of his blank face blue eyes wide apart. So
- accustomed was I to his habitually placid expression that the keenness
- with which he was looking roused me fully out of the lethargy into which
- extreme exhaustion had plunged me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Well, Christopher!” I said with an attempt at cheerfulness.
- </p>
- <p>
- The strange look in my serving-man’s eyes did not disappear when he turned
- them on me at my greeting, but my glance at the forest discovered nothing
- alarming. It was useless to question Christopher; he would take his time.
- </p>
- <p>
- I rose with stiffened members. The wretched, beaten colonists were prone
- along the beach, all sleeping except Captain Mason and Mr. Vancouver. With
- silent Christopher shambling at my heels I passed Mr. Vancouver as he sat
- on the sand beside his slumbering daughter; he was watching the sea more
- with his blue lips than his leaden eyes. I gave him a cheery greeting,
- blinked small since it was no time to harbor old scores. The effort
- failed; he only blinked at me. Already I had suspected that his quarrel
- with me because Christopher had stowed away on the vessel was merely the
- seizing of an opportunity to rupture the strong friendship between Annabel
- and me.
- </p>
- <p>
- Even at a distance I had seen that Captain Mason’s spirit was hunting the
- waters, as he stood apart in a splendid solitude, arms folded, and
- towering in the dignity of a gladiator who might be disarmed, but not
- conquered. Never had I seen a profounder pathos than his when, finding the
- <i>Hope</i> foundering and helpless, he had ordered her abandonment and
- sent us into the boats. Then had come the most haunting thing that ever a
- sailor experienced.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was the pursuit of us by the dying barkentine. What sails the last
- storm had left played crazy pranks with the derelict. With no hand on her
- wheel the rudder swung free. We were rowing northwestwardly, with the
- wind, and thus it was that the <i>Hope</i>, thrust by wind and wave,
- followed us, with wide swerves, with lungings and lurchings, now and then
- making a graceful sweep up a swell and then a wallowing roll to the
- trough. The fore-and-aft sails were gone, but some of the square canvas
- held; and the sheets flapped with a dismal foolishness between accidental
- fills. It was the drunken plunging of the hulk in deliberate pursuit of us
- that appalled. She snouted the water swinishly; she reeled and groveled
- under the seas that boarded her. Through it all, whether she was coming
- prow first, beam on, or stern foremost, and no matter how far she would
- veer, she clung to our course, shadowing us, hounding us, as though
- imploring our help.
- </p>
- <p>
- In all the fury of the storms, from their first assaults at Cape Horn to
- their beating us down in the South Seas, Captain Mason had not faltered;
- he fought desperate odds with the cunning and valor of Hercules. But this
- careering mad thing, stripped of the grace and dignity of a sane ship,—this
- staggering, sodden monster, mortally stricken and dumbly floundering after
- the master who had abandoned her that she might go down alone into the
- deep,—was more than the man could bear; and he had sat staring in
- the boat, Christopher and I rowing, while we dodged the barkentine’s blind
- assaults. We were still bending to the work when darkness fell. It was
- then that the wind died, and we saw her no more.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason showed relief at being dragged back into the living world by
- our approach.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No sign of her?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not from here. The view is shut in by those promontories,” indicating two
- headlands embracing our beach.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then,” said I, “Christopher will scale one of them and I the other.” <
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a faint twinkle behind the seaman’s look, and something else,
- which recalled what I had seen in Christopher’s face as he gazed at the
- forest.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I imagine you haven’t slept much,” I said, knowing his anxiety on the
- barkentine’s account.
- </p>
- <p>
- “How could I, Mr. Tudor, when she had been following me like that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then you have already been up there to see if you could find her?” I
- ventured.
- </p>
- <p>
- He looked amused as he drawled, “Not all the way,” and gave Christopher a
- look that appeared to be understood. His gesture swept the heights on
- either side and the richly verdured mountains that began to spring in
- terraces a short distance from the beach. “This is a tropical region,” he
- went on, “and those trees bear lively fruit. It is brown and carries
- swords. I didn’t get all the way to the headland.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I understood, and inquired, “Did they speak?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. A pointing finger with a sword behind it needs no words.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I wondered where we could be, that armed natives should exhibit a hostile
- attitude. “Where are we stranded?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know. It has been weeks since I could even take a dead reckoning,
- and we’ve been blown far since then. My instruments disappeared while I
- was exploring this morning.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And we are without food or weapons,” I added, feeling a thrill at the
- prospect of measuring forces with an obscure menace.
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver had loaded the barkentine with every possible means of
- defense, subsistence, and development, but we had fallen on an island far
- short of the one in the Philippines which he intended to colonize. The
- fate of the <i>Hope</i> was a vital matter. Most of her precious cargo was
- behind bulkheads. If she had not gone down, very likely she would drift to
- this island and yield her resources to any enemies we might encounter
- here.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher was gazing at the forest again. I could see only deep shadows
- and brown tree-boles under the leafage. Birds of brilliant plumage were
- flitting among the trees, and the warmth of the sun bathed us in sweet,
- heavy odors.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They are coming, sir,” said Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- I observed a slow undulation in a wide arc among the shadows. A tree-trunk
- in the outer edge apparently detached itself, then advanced into the open,
- halted, and raised a sword. Five hundred other shapes came forth from the
- wide semi-circle touching the shore at either end. Some bore swords,
- others spears, and still others knotted war-clubs. The soldiers were brown
- and bareheaded, and the dress of each was limited to the loins, except
- that of the leader, the man who had first stepped out; he wore a sort of
- tunic or light cloak, and a head-dress, both gaudily illuminated with
- feathers.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason stood motionless.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What shall we do?” I impatiently cried.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher left us and rapidly roused the sleepers. He must have dropped
- reassuring words, for the stir proceeded without panic, though all could
- see the advancing threat, which approached with an ominous deliberation.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you think it’s to be a slaughter, Captain?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He gave no answer, being evidently stunned. I turned to Christopher as he
- rejoined us. Many a time since I had rescued him from a mob of boys in a
- Boston street, taken him to my lodgings, and made him my servant, his
- strange mind had seemed able to penetrate baffling obscurities. At such
- times he had a way of listening, as though to voices which he alone could
- hear; but with that was an extraordinary reticence of tongue, and often an
- indirection that had tried my patience until I learned to understand him
- as well as an ordinary mortal could.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are they going to kill us, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He was in a deep abstraction, and I knew he was listening. “Sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- That was his usual way of gaining time, and I had learned to wait.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are they going to kill us?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Kill us, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are asking me, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. Are they going to kill us?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not now, sir,” he firmly answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- The glance which Captain Mason and I exchanged was one accepting
- Christopher’s opinion and groping for what lay beyond it.
- </p>
- <p>
- With some accuracy of maneuvering, the leader aligned his soldiers,
- stepped out after halting them fifty yards away, and stood waiting,
- obviously for a parley. He was showing impatience as Captain Mason still
- stood motionless.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Some one must meet him,” I said. “It will never do to show timidity. You
- are the fittest.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “These people are strange to me,” he replied, “and I don’t know how to
- proceed. They have an appearance of ferocity that I have never seen in
- these seas. Many outside men must have drifted to this island, but I’ll
- warrant that none ever left it, for I’ve never heard of anything that
- looks just like this. I imagine it is the graveyard of the unreported
- wrecks that happen in this part of the Pacific.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was surprised at the grayness in his face and the glaze in his eyes.
- What could our two hundred and fifty men, women, and children, helpless as
- they were, do without his shrewdness and courage?
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then we have all the more to do,” I urged.
- </p>
- <p>
- He squared himself, and said: “We three will meet them. Put yourself
- forward. Your height and strength will impress them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- It looked odd that he did not include Mr. Vancouver, the leader of our
- enterprise, and Lee Rawley, the aristocratic and disdainful young lawyer
- whom Mr. Vancouver hoped that Annabel would marry.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0021.jpg" alt="0021 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0021.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- Meanwhile, the leader of the savages, a man of commanding size and manner,
- had been growing more impatient, and was putting his men through some
- manual that hinted at barbarous proceeding; but when we started he
- desisted, and met us with urbane gestures. Then ensued a struggle to find
- a means of communication. Both Captain Mason and I knew something of the
- Pacific languages, he from a sailor’s experience and I from having fought
- as a first lieutenant in the Philippines during the war with Spain; but
- apparently our combined resources failed. Finally we caught a Spanish word
- and then a German. It remained for Christopher to discover that the
- embassador spoke some pidgin-English with his tongue and all languages
- with his gestures. Thus we learned that the gracious King Rangan had sent
- Gato, commander-in-chief of the army, with an escort of honor to conduit
- us to the imperial presence.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason and I carefully avoided each other’s eyes. The tomb-like
- mask that Christopher knew how to wear was on his face.
- </p>
- <p>
- As there were two armed savages to each colonist throat, there was nothing
- to do but accept. In a dismal procession guarded by the soldiers, we
- labored through the sand and sank into the scented forest.
- </p>
- <p>
- After a walk through flagrant aisles of shade and color, we came upon a
- wide sweep where the undergrowth had been cleared away; in its place was a
- cluster of huts made of bamboo and thatch. The central space was occupied
- by one more imposing than the others. The matting curtain at the door was
- drawn aside after we had been seated before it on the ground, and a sturdy
- figure, followed by a striking retinue, came forth and took an elevated
- seat on a platform extending from the house.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king’s gorgeous robe of a light fabric adorned with feathers and
- embroidered with gold was worn with a knowledge of its impressiveness. A
- wide band of gold embedded with gems served for a crown; the blazing
- scepter and massive wristlets and anklets were of like materials; the ears
- and fingers flashed with jewels. The royal face was benignant. Gato
- stepped forth to interpret, as the king’s immediate followers, dressed in
- long embroidered garments of native texture, ranged about the throne.
- </p>
- <p>
- The attendant swinging a large feather fan over the king’s head was the
- only woman discoverable. There was a striking difference between her and
- the men. It was manifest in a prouder poise of the head, in a look of
- higher intelligence, and in a finer definition of features. The eagerness
- with which her glance ran over us, a shyness that struggled with an
- impulse to a bolder scrutiny, combined with a certain refinement of
- bearing to set her apart. She was raimented with no less barbaric splendor
- than the king and his immediate attendants, but in better taste. Her brown
- bare arms and neck were turned on the graceful lines of youth, and her
- wrists and hands were small. Her hair, instead of having the glistening
- blackness of the men’s, housed some of the sun’s gold; and I was startled
- to discover finally that her eyes were a deep blue.
- </p>
- <p>
- At last her roving glance was caught and held by me. In her eyes was a
- moment of hungry inquiry. She caught her breath; a break came in the
- regular swing of the fan, and her eyelids drooped.
- </p>
- <p>
- My fascinated attention to her was diverted by a deep rumble. King Rangan
- was speaking.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER II.—The Falling of a Fong
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>A Royal Feast. The Fan-Bearer’s Significant Conduct. A Gloomy Forecast.
- Had Any Before Us Escaped? The King’s Promise. Prisoned in Paradise.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE interpreter
- made a genuflection to the throne, and beckoned to Captain Mason and me. I
- thought that Mr. Vancouver ought to be included, but the skipper ignored
- my inquiring glance, and stepped forward. After bowing, we stood waiting.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king gave us a shrewd look. Then his eyes blazed, and he ripped out
- something to the interpreter. I discovered the cause. My faithful
- Christopher had brought up his prodigious strength for a possible
- emergency, and it was clear that the king was offended by the grotesque
- figure.
- </p>
- <p>
- The interpreter hesitated, for he knew Christopher’s speech-value, and the
- king snapped out another command. I knew it was an order that some shame
- be put upon Christopher. At that my muscles hardened, and I stepped
- protectingly before him. The fan over the king’s head abruptly stopped.
- The leader raised his hand, and a dozen of his men advanced.
- </p>
- <p>
- Dimly aware that Captain Mason was employing some pacific measures, I was
- more concerned by Annabel’s surprising act. Her eyes shining and her
- cheeks aglow, she briskly came up, laid her hand on Christopher’s arm, and
- sweetly said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come and stay back here with us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His pathetic look went questioningly from her to me, and he held his
- ground. I glanced round to see what next the king would do. With
- astonishment or wonder the fan-bearer was staring at Annabel, who made a
- striking picture; then she whispered into the royal ear. In a milder voice
- he said something to the interpreter, who by a gesture to us indicated
- that the king was satisfied. At a word from me, Christopher came and stood
- beside me.
- </p>
- <p>
- His ostensible purpose proved to be merely a formal welcome, an
- ascertainment of our origin, purpose, and disaster, and an invitation to a
- feast.
- </p>
- <p>
- As the others of the colony were in too dull a state to give attention,
- the king confined to us three a shrewd scrutiny. But Captain Mason and I,
- feeling that the welcome was only a sheathed sword, held blank faces, and
- did not even pass a glance of understanding; and Christopher could be
- depended on under all circumstances to give no betraying sign. The one
- thing to do was to show a grateful acquiescence. The time for planning
- would come when our people were capable of thought and action,—if we
- should be spared that long.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was indeed a feast. The smoke which Christopher had seen rose from a
- barbecue, at which fresh meat and fowls and fish had been deliciously
- cooked. The completeness of the preparations indicated that they must have
- been begun immediately after our landing. Fragrant boughs were spread on
- the ground near the barbecue trench, and on them we seated ourselves.
- Plantain leaves made excellent platters. Roasted yams, bread made of
- ground seed or grain, and fruits of many kinds, were served in abundance.
- </p>
- <p>
- The effect was magical; the down-hearted took cheer, and laughter ran
- through the trees. Much of the transformation was wrought by the
- solicitous attentions of the servers; but more cheering was the gracious
- friendliness of the king, who, besides personally directing the service,
- mingled with us in a democratic way, yet with no sacrifice of dignity.
- </p>
- <p>
- Most fascinating to me was the fan-bearer. Whereas the warriors stood in
- awe of his Majesty, she treated him with almost a flippant disregard. She
- went among the colonists, keenly anxious that all should be pleased, her
- face breaking into bewitching smiles, her mischievous eyes dancing, her
- musical laugh rippling. The distinction in her manner as she had stood
- behind the throne was augmented in the modest abandon of her rôle of
- hostess. The alertness of her glance, the joyous spirits that bubbled out
- of her light pose and movement, her sprite-like airiness, her obvious
- efforts to restrain an instinct to play, to tease, to get into mischief, a
- running over of kindness and happiness,—these and more elusive
- qualities set her apart from the men and made them look dull and sordid.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0029.jpg" alt="0029 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0029.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- Her greatest interest was in Annabel, the only highly cultured woman in
- our party, since the colony was composed of workers in practical
- industries. The two girls had no language in common, and appeared sharply
- different in temperament and training; yet there was visible between them
- a bond of feminine sympathy such as no man can understand. It was curious
- that the savage one was not abashed before her highly civilized sister. In
- the gentle eagerness with which she served Annabel, frankly studied her,
- and courted her notice, was something that looked pathetically like the
- yearning of a starved soul for what Annabel had—the enjoyment of a
- birthright. Annabel appeared to see that longing, and she stretched forth
- a friendly hand into the fan-bearer’s darkness.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason, Christopher, and I formed a group. Despite the grief and
- anxiety on the sailor’s face, he betrayed his share of the sunshine that
- the girl bestowed on all. She came to us often, and there was a touch of
- shyness not visible when she flitted among the others. Virtually ignoring
- me, she gave some attention to the captain, and was particularly
- solicitous toward Christopher. She stuffed him, and laughed at him.
- Christopher enjoyed it, gazed up into her sparkling eyes, and strained his
- ribs with the food that she coaxingly urged upon him.
- </p>
- <p>
- On one of her visits I smilingly handed her a little pocket toilet-case
- which I carried. She took it gingerly, examined it curiously, and with
- childish interest inspected its contents. Her surprise at discovering the
- mirror was not so great as I had expected, and did not look quite sincere.
- She held it up, made a grimace at her reflection, thrust out at it a
- tongue as sweet and pink as a baby’s, tossed the kit back at me, and went
- dancing off in a swirl of laughter.
- </p>
- <p>
- Presently she demurely returned on a pretense of looking after
- Christopher’s wants, and of a sudden, brilliantly smiling, held out her
- hand for the trinket. I gave it to her. Her eyes fell when I looked up
- closely into them, and in agitation she thrust the case into her bosom. I
- discovered that Annabel was curiously observing her.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason gazed thoughtfully after her as she left, and remarked:
- </p>
- <p>
- “That girl is going to be mixed up with our fate.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you make of her?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “An eaglet hatched by buzzards.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher’s evident regard for her was dazzled wonder.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You like her, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He was serious at all times, and much of his gravity was sadness. He
- nodded impressively.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She has fed you well.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.” He spread his immense hands over his stomach.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ll ask her to bring you some more,” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- His face showed alarm. “Don’t, sir! I’d shorely bust.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But you wouldn’t have to eat more, even if she brought it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, I would, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’d jess <i>have</i> to, sir.” This with a solemn helplessness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He has taken her measure,” dryly remarked Captain Mason.
- </p>
- <p>
- He had found opportunity to study the splendid jewels so abundantly
- adorning the king and the girl.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Those gems,” he said, “were cut by European lapidaries.”
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a disturbing suggestion in his words, but I could not define it.
- This island had received rich treasures from civilization. Here was a
- mystery.
- </p>
- <p>
- “How do you account for them?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The typhoon makes many wrecks. There’s no knowing what shores they crawl
- up on to die.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes; but you see that although our ship was wrecked, we came ashore.
- Survivors of other wrecks likely have had the same experience.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No doubt.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then, why haven’t they given out news of this island? It is evidently
- very rich, and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- He gave me an obscure look, and turned away with the remark:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I think you’ll find the reason in a few hours.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He must have felt the hurt in my silence, and opened a confidence on
- another tack.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have noticed, Mr. Tudor, that there are no women, children, nor
- domestic animals in this village. Do you infer anything from that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is your inference, Captain?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The village is not inhabited. The natives live back of those mountains to
- the west. This is merely a receiving-station for wrecks and castaways.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The shrewdness of the king was not hidden by his hospitality. I did not
- overlook the inquiries that he made among the colonists with Gato’s help,
- nor his private colloquy with Mr. Vancouver, nor the thoughtful look of
- that gentleman when it was over.
- </p>
- <p>
- The banquet was ended; the colony was reassembled before the throne; the
- king, backed by his now sedate fan-wielder, seated himself; and Captain
- Mason, Christopher, and I stood ready. We were made to understand the
- following:
- </p>
- <p>
- We had not been invited to this island, but the misfortune that landed us
- on it would be respected. Two circumstances ruled the situation. One was
- that no vessels from the outside world ever put in here, and hence our
- means of escape were restricted to such resources as the king might
- devise; the other, that our intercourse with the people would not be
- permitted beyond a certain limit. The king explained that in youth he had
- gone abroad and found that the ways of white people were not suited to the
- islanders, who would be demoralized should they come under our
- civilization.
- </p>
- <p>
- At intervals he sent his people, two or three at a time, in a small boat
- to the nearest islands, some hundreds of miles away, with native products
- for barter. But so great had been their precautions that the situation of
- the island had never been discovered. In these boats one or two of us
- would be taken away at a time, and thus placed in the path of ships that
- would assist us homeward.
- </p>
- <p>
- In order to keep us isolated from the people, we were to be conduced at
- once to a pleasant valley, which would be free to us for our exclusive
- use. Natives skilled in farming would be furnished us for a time as
- instructors; but it would be expected that we should pledge our honor not
- to make any attempt to leave the valley without permission.
- </p>
- <p>
- Every heart among us sank. A deep look was in Captain Mason’s eyes. It was
- on the end of my tongue to say, “Captain, let him know that we can make
- our own vessels and leave in them;” but a glance at him informed me that
- he had forgotten nothing, and that anything but a cheerful acceptance of
- the old bandit’s conditions, until we might devise and execute plans of
- our own, would precipitate immediate disaster. And then I understood why
- the captain had asked no question about the barkentine.
- </p>
- <p>
- He said to me, under his breath:
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have an easy tongue. We must keep our people blind for the present.
- Brace them up and flatter the king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The colonists were in the apathy of weariness and repletion. The glow with
- which I put the situation to them was barely needed to secure their
- acquiescence.
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned to the king. Only with difficulty could I see him clearly through
- the intensely dramatic picture made by the girl. All through the
- conference I had seen her intense anxiety. What did it mean? With her
- sweet audacity, she might have made some sign. As I read her conduct, it
- betrayed a terrible uneasiness lest we refuse or were ungracious. Clearly
- she was greatly relieved by our acceptance.
- </p>
- <p>
- I thanked the king and gratefully accepted his proffers. He then informed
- us that we should immediately be conducted to our valley, made
- comfortable, and supplied with everything needful.
- </p>
- <p>
- The cavalcade, conduced by the armed guard, started through the enchanted
- forest, and mysteries throbbed in the very air. Never had I seen so
- pathetic a spectacle as this draggling procession of civilized people
- marched as dumb cattle to the shambles by a horde of savages.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason, Christopher, and I stood apart as the others filed past.
- The man of the sea was in a deep reverie.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If the king,” I said, “has been so careful to conceal this island from
- the world, why should he plan sending us away to betray it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason gave me a slow look.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you think that he intends to send us away?” he asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If not, he hasn’t sent other castaways off, and we’ll find them here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Again that slow look, but I felt that it saw too far to include me. He
- shook his head, and said, as though talking to himself:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now begins the great struggle. We’ll be patient—and ready. That
- girl is our hope.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king descended; the fan-bearer, her face mantled with content,
- disappeared within the administration hut and dropped the curtain. The
- rear guard were waiting for us three, and we started. After a few paces, I
- turned, and saw, as I had hoped to see, a brown face watching us through
- the parted curtain, and it was filled with more mysteries than any
- enchanted forest ever held.
- </p>
- <p>
- On and up we went, and finally reached the summit. We stood on a small
- open plateau, which abruptly ended in a precipice. Before us was a giant
- chasm in a great tableland of lava. The floor was a thousand feet below.
- We were looking down on it from the top of the great wall of columnar
- basalt which enclosed it. The chasm was an irregular ellipse, some three
- miles on its minor axis and five on its major. The floor was level, and,
- except for some farms, was covered with a forest. A breeze sent long,
- unctuous waves of lighter green rolling over it, or swirling in graceful
- spirals where the wall deflected the wind and drifted it on in majestic
- eddies.
- </p>
- <p>
- In splendid contrast to the deep, warm colors below was the gloomy black
- of the mighty enclosing rampart. Near the upper end a beautiful stream,
- nearly a river in size, made a wild, joyous leap over the brink. A lake
- into which the water plunged sent up clouds of mist, out of which sprang a
- rainbow. From the lake ran the stream of molten silver which swung lazily
- on its shining way through the valley till lost in the distance. The
- leader of the guard announced that the valley was our destination. I was
- dumb in the grasp of its witchery, but a quiet voice brought me back:
- </p>
- <p>
- “As good a prison as another.” Captain Mason had spoken.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why, man,” I cried, “that is Paradise!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No doubt; but the flaming sword will keep us in, not out.”
- </p>
- <p>
- During the march I had not failed to keep Christopher in the corner of my
- eye. I had been trying to read in his face one of those flashes of insight
- which his fine instinct sometimes threw into dark places. He had held his
- listening attitude often since I found him standing beside me on the sand.
- It had given his face a certain leaden alertness, which, as we beheld the
- valley, slowly faded into the habitual blankness, and I saw that it was
- useless to question him.
- </p>
- <p>
- We descended through a steep, narrow cleft, and were marched through a
- forest to the stream. A rude bridge bore us across, and there we found a
- large number of natives rapidly and skilfully building us a village of
- huts made from logs, boughs, and thatch. From all indications, they must
- have begun the work almost immediately after we landed. Large stores of
- food and other necessities had been accumulated; nothing needed for our
- comfort and sustenance had been neglected.
- </p>
- <p>
- As soon as the soldiers had helped us bring order to the camp and the
- building of the village was finished, they and the workmen melted away in
- the twilight.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER III.—The Menace of the Face.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Accepting the Challenge. The Threat. What the Face Saw on the Bluff. A
- Mysterious Visitor. The Fan-Bearer’s Conspiracy.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">C</span>APTAIN Mason and I
- occupied the same hut, but we held no converse that night before falling
- into heavy slumber. Christopher insisted on sleeping outside the door. If
- any of our party had thought it prudent to appoint a watchman, no
- suggestion to that effect was made; but there was no knowing what
- responsibilities Christopher assumed.
- </p>
- <p>
- The sun was looking over the great wall when we assembled for breakfast.
- Every one had a brighter appearance. I had never seen men so terribly
- cowed as these since the storms had beaten them down. The women had looked
- beyond the hopelessness, and had tried to sustain the courage of the
- colony. Every man was now beginning to hold up his head.
- </p>
- <p>
- Some of the despair had melted from Mr. Vancouver’s face; it was clear
- that the lion in him was feebly straining. Mr. Rawley was recovering his
- aplomb. Annabel, having in her bearing an added depth and sweetness, had
- undoubtedly done much to accomplish that result with the two men, for
- there was something pathetic in the tenacity with which they clung to her.
- </p>
- <p>
- On the barkentine, before the elements became destructive, she had been
- aloof toward the other women and the children; but on the beach, at the
- feast, and on the weary march to the valley, she had given a cheering
- smile, word, or deed to those about. The promise thus made was meeting
- fulfilment this morning. She had assumed charge of the breakfast
- preparations, and, seeing that Christopher yearned to do kindly service,
- had made him her executive. I often caught her look of wonder at his
- unfailing intelligence, patience, and gentleness in doing her bidding.
- </p>
- <p>
- After breakfast the men began to talk among themselves. Captain Mason went
- over and said something to Mr. Vancouver, who shook his head, and the
- captain returned to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now that the men are rousing,” he said, “it is time to organize. Mr.
- Vancouver declines to take the lead.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are the one for that,” I declared.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. You have the military training and the tongue.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But you have wisdom and a longer experience in discipline. Let’s
- compromise. Take the leadership. I’ll do your talking.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well,” he said. “There’s no need to caution you, but the others
- ought to know; these trees may have ears We need organization for
- defense.”
- </p>
- <p>
- At the end of a heartening address to the colony I called for the
- selection of a president. Mr. Vancouver named Captain Mason, who was
- elected. I was chosen his assistant, to Mr. Vancouver’s evident annoyance.
- Dr. Preston, a young physician, was made superintendent of the camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- The men squared their shoulders; the women’s faces brightened. In a few
- words I urged against any restlessness, any plotting,—anything, in
- fine, that would have the faintest color of mistrust or disobedience
- toward the king. “Be patient. Hold together.” That was the watchword.
- </p>
- <p>
- Gato, the interpreter, soon appeared with a crowd of natives, and
- indicated that Christopher and I, with twenty picked men, should follow
- him. A short distance down the stream we came upon cleared land, and were
- given our first lesson in farming. Our men winced under this and the
- indefinite term of imprisonment which it implied. But the word was passed
- round: “Wait. Be patient.” The one hundred and fifty intelligent American
- men of us would find a way to match any ten thousand heathen under the
- sun. Blessed be the American brag! It is the front of something good
- behind.
- </p>
- <p>
- The lesson was concluded in the early afternoon, for the sun was growing
- hot. Gato led us down the stream a mile to a low ridge stretching across
- the valley. Not a break in the great wall enclosing the valley was
- visible, except the thin cleft which had given us ingress; but I reasoned
- that at the lower end there must be a gorge through which the stream
- issued, although no sign of it could be seen. Gato made us understand that
- this transverse ridge was the boundary of our freedom. He pointed out two
- landmarks springing from the walls and marking the terminals of the ridge.
- </p>
- <p>
- The one on the far side of the river was a barren bluff; opposite it, and
- forming part of the wall behind, there suddenly appeared a hideous
- caricature of a human face, a ferocious gargoyle, rudely fashioned by
- nature from the upper front of the cliff, protruding from the rock, and
- leering down horribly. It must have been a hundred feet from forelock to
- chin.
- </p>
- <p>
- I withstood the shock badly, but was steadied by noting the deep
- satisfaction in Gato’s eyes as he observed me. Unmistakably it was one of
- malignant triumph, instantly gone, but almost as disconcerting as the
- awful face itself. I felt that the ghastly apparition on the wall held a
- significance reaching the very depths of our fate. It was the embodiment
- of all the silent and implacable menaces hovering over the lethal fairness
- that environed us.
- </p>
- <p>
- It had the blackish color of the rock, with reeking perpendicular streaks
- of green alternating with dull red. The forehead and chin receded in a
- simian angle; bulging eyes leered; below high cheek bones were mummy-like
- recessions, and hungry shadows filled them; the nose was flat, and the
- nostrils spread bestially.
- </p>
- <p>
- Gato, informing us that his men would be on hand the next morning, took
- himself away. It gave a creepy sensation to note the snaky smoothness with
- which these men could sink out of sight.
- </p>
- <p>
- Our party started for camp. A heaviness sat on me, and I did not wish to
- talk. Christopher and I fell behind, and the others left us. I could not
- bear that any but Christopher should see my perturbation. Several times I
- glanced back to see the face on the wall. Its malignancy grew even more
- terrible through the hazing distance, and I was glad when the forest shut
- it out. If the spectacle affected me so deeply, what greater hold must it
- not have had on the natives? And there was the significant look that I had
- caught from Gato.
- </p>
- <p>
- On top of the opposite wall I discovered near the edge what appeared to be
- a large stone table, or altar, and its position with reference to the face
- suggested a sinister purpose.
- </p>
- <p>
- Now that the men were gone, hopelessness fell upon me. Never had anything
- like such heavy responsibilities crept into my life. A sense of my
- inadequacy grew unendurable; and, overcome by weariness of soul and body,
- I flung myself on the ground and buried my face in my arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher presently stepped away with a sprightliness quite unusual, but
- I had not the spirit to look up. Even returning footsteps and a low murmur
- of voices failed to stir me. I was recalled by Christopher’s quiet remark:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Some one to see you, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I sat up, and discovered a native lad with him. His loose dress of blouse,
- trousers, and straw hat was of the commonest material. He was as unlike
- the native men as I had observed the fan-bearer to be, but his manner was
- shy and timid, lacking the careless defiance of hers. With a finger on his
- lips he beckoned us to follow him.
- </p>
- <p>
- In a secluded spot a little distance away, we sat down. My first surprise
- was when he began to talk. In a musical voice, he groped for words that I
- could understand, and in that way used a polyglot language, some words
- badly pronounced, and others spoken with surprising correctness.
- </p>
- <p>
- First, he enjoined secrecy, for should the king learn that he had come——The
- lad finished with a grimace, and a swipe of the hand across his throat. He
- made me pledge the sun to burn me up, the moon to strike me a stark
- lunatic, and the stars to pierce me with their lances, should I betray his
- confidence,—all this solemnly, but with a twinkle in the back of his
- eye.
- </p>
- <p>
- Second, he was Beelo, brother of the king’s fanbearer, Lentala, a good
- girl in a way, but——A droll shake of his head left her in the
- air. Lentala and he were protégés of the king and queen, and enjoyed
- uncommon privileges, having been members of the king’s household since
- childhood. The queen was very sweet and gentle, and they were fond of her.
- She had no children of her own.
- </p>
- <p>
- And, third, Lentala wished Beelo to come surreptitiously to me in order to
- learn English. She had a special reason for that. Neither the king nor any
- of the other natives must know. That was all. Would I teach him, that he
- in turn might instruct her?
- </p>
- <p>
- Our conversation, carried on in a mixture of languages, must be here given
- in English.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Indeed, I will, and gladly, Beelo!” I exclaimed; “but why not bring
- Lentala, that I may teach you together?” I seized his hand in my joy of
- this heavensent opportunity. It was a small, delicate hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She <i>can’t</i> come,” he answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why not?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why—she’s a girl!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But she might come with you.” I was pleased with the discovery that the
- savage girl had the fine instinct which establishes self-guarding and
- self-respecting conventions.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The distance is long. Girls have to wear skirts, you know, and girls are
- not as active as boys. Lentala, with her skirts, would be seen, and the
- king would find out. I can slip through anywhere.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded resignedly. Only with the greatest difficulty could I refrain
- from asking him many questions; but how did I know that he was not a spy?
- In establishing relations with him I was playing with every life in the
- colony. I observed Christopher. His air of listening to distant voices was
- not present, and I felt reassured for the moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo was anxious to begin; and he had his first lesson. Never had I found
- so eager and sweet-tempered a pupil, and his quickness was extraordinary.
- I drilled him first in the names of familiar objects.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is your name?” he plumped at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tudor.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tudor.” He caught it with a snap, as though it were a ball. “You have
- another name?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes—Joseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He began a comical struggle with the J, laboriously twisting his tongue
- and lips as he pronounced the first syllable <i>Cho</i> as the Chinese, <i>Yo</i>
- as the German, <i>Zho</i> as the French, and <i>Ho</i> as the Spanish; but
- the English eluded him, and he gave it up, laughing sweetly. Often during
- the lesson I saw in his handsome deep-blue eyes—which were maturer
- than the rest of him—a dash of the mischief, the teasing, and the
- challenge that gave Lentala her sparkle.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is your name?” he demanded of Christopher, and pronounced it
- perfectly.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher was gravely regarding the lad, who appeared disconcerted under
- the scrutiny. That disturbed me; but if the boy was seeking our undoing he
- would have to reckon with Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- He was curious about Annabel, and sent her affectionate messages from
- Lentala.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo,” I demanded, “where did you learn all those words from foreign
- languages?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Taken by surprise, he was confused and a little frightened, and had the
- look of a child preparing a fib.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Other people have been shipwrecked here,” he answered, peering at me from
- under his brows. “I learned from them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What became of them?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He raised his head, and answered, “The king said he sent them away.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did you visit them secretly?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “N—o.” He began to play with twigs on the ground.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Were they herded in this valley?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No.” His answer was firmer. “There was never more than one or a very few
- at a time.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I sat silent so long that he looked up, and showed alarm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tell me the truth, lad,” I insisted, holding his eyes. “Where did you
- learn those words?” A startling suspicion suddenly came. “The gold in your
- hair, the blue in your eyes, the fine lines of your face,———”
- </p>
- <p>
- He began to edge away, and I saw flight in him; but I caught his wrist.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tell me the truth,” I repeated.
- </p>
- <p>
- He gazed at me in fear and pleading, but found no yielding, and with
- provoking indifference shrugged his shoulders and settled down with a
- pouting, martyr-like resignation.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are hurting my wrist,” he remarked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Answer me,” I demanded, tightening my grip. “Hasn’t white blood mingled
- with some of the native blood here?”
- </p>
- <p>
- His lips were compressed under the pain of my clasp, and an angry
- resentment steadied his gaze.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes!” he answered, and a sudden change lit his face, as I unprisoned the
- wrist. “Don’t scare me that way again,” he said, half impudently shaking
- his head at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- It seemed best to desist from pressing the matter further, and pleasant
- relations were soon re-established between us; but the matter seated
- itself in a corner of my mind.
- </p>
- <p>
- Our lesson was delightful, and time escaped more smoothly than we knew.
- Beelo glanced at the sky, and sprang to his feet. He sweetly smiled his
- thanks, seized one of Christopher’s great paws and vigorously shook it,
- asked me and Christopher to meet him at the same spot tomorrow at the same
- hour, and was darting away. I called him back, and led him to an opening
- through which the face on the cliff was visible.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is that?” I asked, pointing to it.
- </p>
- <p>
- He caught his breath, stood rigid, and slowly turned his face up to mine.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That on the cliff? It is nothing—only stone.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is more,” I insisted. “It sits there, it looks down threateningly on
- the valley; it says as plainly as speech——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, no!” cried Beelo, seizing my arm with both hands, and gazing up into
- my eyes. “It is one of the gods. The people invoke it—you may see
- the altar fire on the opposite cliff some night when there is a great
- storm and the sea is raging. The god brings fish to the king’s net.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He broke off abruptly, and with alarm clapped his palm to his mouth. I put
- my hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. His manner grew composed,
- and he darted away and disappeared.
- </p>
- <p>
- On returning to camp I told Captain Mason of the adventure. He was deeply
- interested, and sat in thought.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You’ve struck a lead,” he said. “Follow it—cautiously.”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER IV.—Behind a Laughing Mask.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Captain Mason Strengthens the Defense. The Extraordinary Behavior of
- Beelo. Christopher Becomes a Savage. Hidden Motives Half Disclosed. Hope.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">F</span>ORSEEING the time
- when a visible danger would bring mob-madness to the colony, Captain Mason
- gave his entire attention to strengthening his control. To that end he
- kept every one engaged at something, laughed away all fears and doubts,
- placed all on honor not to breed discontent, and required that all
- discussions of the situation be with him alone.
- </p>
- <p>
- He impressed the danger of leaving the camp limits except in large parties
- organized under his authority. No spying savages were ever seen in the
- forest backing the camp, but I frequently found the captain using his keen
- eyes in that direction. The questions weighing on him were: When would the
- king ask for the first member of the colony to be sent away? What plan
- would be adopted in the selection? What would really become of the persons
- so taken? What should be done when the first call was made for
- deportation?
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher and I alone were in the president’s confidence. On the second
- night he informed us that he had selected a spot which would serve as a
- fortress if occasion rose, and instructed Christopher in the art of making
- weapons, chiefly stone-headed clubs and blackjacks. This work was done
- secretly in our cabin.
- </p>
- <p>
- The daily teaching of Beelo developed a new interest in the fact that,
- before I was aware, I was a pupil as well as a tutor, and that Beelo was
- as assiduous in instructing Christopher as me; he was evidently anxious
- that we should master the native language. I was glad to humor him,
- especially as I suspected an intelligent purpose. Above that was my
- growing affection for him. He perfected his poor English so rapidly that I
- was put on my mettle to learn the island tongue.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was a simple task, and we came to use it entirely. To my surprise,
- Christopher learned it as readily as I. From the very start he had helped
- Beelo to turn the teaching in that direction. The strangest element of all
- this procedure was the quick and sure understanding that sprang up between
- these two.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo one day brought a large parcel. He was particularly happy, and as
- full of play as a kitten.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You can’t guess what I have for you,” he said with a mischievous look.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Beelo—what?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You’ll see.” He was opening the parcel. “You and Christopher are going to
- be Senatras.” Senatra was the name of the inhabitants.
- </p>
- <p>
- He produced from the parcel two native costumes. In addition were a basin
- and some brown powder. The boy was in glee as he separated the articles
- into one array for Christopher and the other for me.
- </p>
- <p>
- He ran to a little stream, fetched water in the basin, and with a comical
- seriousness dissolved part of the powder.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your arm, Christopher,” he demanded. At times Beelo’s manner had a touch
- of imperiousness that sat oddly with his youth.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher obediently bared his powerful arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Oh!” said Beelo in delight. “You have splendid muscles,—they are
- like iron; and you are very strong,—that’s good.” His finger was
- timid as it touched Christopher’s arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- He dipped a cloth in the colored water, and rubbed the stain on
- Christopher’s white skin. His care and gravity in comparing the tint with
- the color of his own wrist, in shaking his head, in adding more pigment to
- the water and trying again, and at last his delighted satisfaction, were
- all very charming.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good!” he cried. “That’s the Senatra color. Now,” addressing me, “I’ll go
- away a little while. You make a Senatra of Christopher.” To Christopher:
- “Take off everything. Mr. Tudor will put the color all over you. Then you
- put on Senatra clothes, and whistle for me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Patient Christopher would doubtless submit to any indignity that this
- prankish boy might devise, but I proposed to put a stop to the nonsense.
- Besides, how could I assume the ridiculous rôle that this young scamp, in
- whom my indulgence had bred impudence, intended for me?
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher will do nothing of the sort,” I peremptorily said.
- </p>
- <p>
- The lad stopped short and looked at me curiously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I want to, sir,” Christopher interposed, much to my surprise.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You do? You wish to submit to this foolishness?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Foolishness, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He reflected a while, and then said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perhaps it ain’t jest foolishness, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well,” I agreed, willing to humor him; “But Beelo will stay here and
- put the color on you himself.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Alarm sprang to the boy’s face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I won’t!” he answered defiantly, and was turning away, but I caught him
- by the arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You will,” I said. “I’ll see that you do.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He slipped from my grasp and stood away, laughing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I want to do it myself, sir,” meekly said Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo precipitately fled.
- </p>
- <p>
- Why not play with these children? A man who would not was a churl. So
- Christopher was arrayed as a Senatra, and a whistle called Beelo back.
- </p>
- <p>
- He danced delightedly round the pitiful figure that Christopher made. It
- hurt me to see not only how patiently Christopher submitted, but how
- wholly he entered into the spirit of the masquerade. His pale eyes looked
- ghastly in his brown face. I called Beelo’s attention to that.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Oh, that won’t be seen at night!” he exclaimed. The remark did not
- impress me at the moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- He put Christopher through numerous gaits and tricks of manner peculiar to
- the Senatras, and praised him for his aptness. Finally, when he taught his
- pupil the art of creeping stealthily and noiselessly, the man was so
- terrible that I forgot his grotesqueness.
- </p>
- <p>
- All through this singular performance, Beelo, even though half playful,
- displayed astonishing perseverance and thoroughness, as if life itself
- depended on the perfection of the drill. That might not have looked so
- strange had it not been for the extraordinary care of Christopher himself
- to accomplish a perfect imitation. Then the significance of it all burst
- upon me.
- </p>
- <p>
- I had vowed a thousand times since first knowing Christopher that never
- again would I underrate his wisdom, yet over and over I found myself doing
- so. While he never laughed in his romping with the children of the camp,
- but went into their sports with his habitual tender melancholy, he never
- showed with them the hidden eagerness, the almost desperate determination,
- that marked his training under Beelo. Thus I came to see that at the very
- beginning Christopher had discovered a vital meaning in Beelo’s playing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And now,” cried Beelo, “you will be a Senatra, Mr. Tudor! Christopher
- will dress you. Come!”
- </p>
- <p>
- The boy’s eyes softened in a moment under the new light that he found in
- mine.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo,” I said, taking his hand, “let’s sit down and talk.” I seated
- myself, but he withdrew his hand and sat a little distance away. “No,” I
- gently insisted; “here, facing me, and close.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He twisted himself round to the spot I indicated, and in doing so tossed
- Christopher a wry mouth. I noticed more clearly how fine his features
- were, and with what grace his long lashes curved.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo, do you really wish Christopher and me to be Senatras?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He nodded, and, turning to Christopher, told him to go to the runnel, wash
- off the stain and put on his own clothes. Christopher meekly went. Beelo
- began playing with twigs on the ground, and did not look at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did Lentala tell you to do this?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He nodded again—a little irritatingly, for he had a tongue.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He raised his eyes and regarded me steadily. Then, perhaps not seeing all
- that he sought, he made no answer, and returned to the twigs.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I want to understand, Beelo, and you must trust me. Many things come to
- me now. Your sister’s conduct at the feast meant that she wished us to
- obey the king. She showed us sincere kindness in every look and act. And
- her great difference from the other people,—her sweetness, her
- grace, her beauty, her brightness of mind, her altogether adorable charm,———”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo blazed in a way that stopped my rhapsody. He had raised his face;
- his lips were apart; his eyes glowed with a proud light that moved me
- strangely.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You like my sister?” he softly asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Who would not?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But <i>you!</i>” The boy impatiently tossed his head.
- </p>
- <p>
- The little gesture was so pretty that I involuntarily smiled. Beelo
- misunderstood. He flashed angrily, and resumed the twigs. I could only
- grope.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t understand why the king sent us here. We are prisoners, and that
- is something which brave men won’t stand. We would rather die fighting.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Again he studied me, and again looked down.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why didn’t the king let us build boats, and leave?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He gave no answer, but was very busy with the twigs. I wondered if I were
- rash in some of the things I was saying. Clearly the moment of confidence
- had not arrived. The boy was studiedly cautious.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo, go to your sister and beg her to come and see me. She will trust
- me more than you do. I know she is our friend. She would tell us what fate
- is awaiting us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, she wouldn’t,” firmly interposed the boy.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She would, because she is sweet and kind.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, she loves her people, and you might do them harm.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But she sends you here to disguise us as natives and to train us in the
- art of deceiving and outwitting them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Had his smile not been so winning I could have slapped him for his
- insolence; but it was soon evident that a mighty struggle was proceeding
- under his assumed carelessness. If I could only guess at its nature I
- might know how to proceed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Bring Lentala to me, Beelo. She would be safe with you, and she will
- understand and will trust me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why? Her skin is brown. You would not trust her.” He was closely
- observing me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What difference can her color make!” I impatiently retorted. “Lentala is
- an angel.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But a brown skin means———” A look of horror swept over
- his face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala is beautiful and kind and true. Tell her to come.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo was silent.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why should she not trust me?” I persisted. “How could I harm her?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The boy, nervously arranging the twigs, spoke rapidly, but did not look
- up:
- </p>
- <p>
- “She’s afraid,—not for herself, but her people. They love her. She
- would never betray them. Suppose she came,—you would be gentle to
- her; you would tell her she was beautiful and—and all that nonsense.
- You might try to get her to tell you things. And you would find out how to———Yes,
- you might come back and plot with your men, and there would be a great
- fight with my people and many would be killed. That would be terrible.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I dimly understood at last: Lentala would trust her brother, not herself,
- in the mysterious plan that she was working out.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher had returned. I beckoned to him to sit with us.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo,” I said, “look at me.” He complied. “If Lentala were here she
- could read my heart. All that you have said means that she mistrusts me. I
- understand more than you think I do. You have already shown your
- confidence and Lentala’s by offering to train me as a native. A wise and
- generous purpose is in that. By means of the disguise, you wish me to
- learn some things that will benefit my people, but you are held back by
- your fear that I will use the knowledge to injure you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No,” he hastily interrupted; “only my people.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well. But you have already shown trust. You simply want more
- assurance that I will keep faith with you. Tell me what you want. I will
- put my life in pawn,—I will give it, if that is demanded.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His deep eyes were profoundly fixed upon me. In that moment Beelo
- disclosed a soul that had found maturity.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You would do all for your people!” he impatiently cried. “You think only
- of them! Lentala and Beelo may do everything for you, but you never think
- what you might do for—Lentala and Beelo.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The half-revelation in the passionate outburst brought me to my feet, and
- the lad slowly came to his.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo!” I said, “I hadn’t thought it possible. You and she are the
- favorites of the king and queen. You have everything you want. I don’t
- understand. Trust me! I can be a friend.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was looking up at me with eyes in which a pathetic anxiety struggled
- with fears. Instead of addressing me, he turned to Christopher and
- confidently took his hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” he said, “do you like me—and Lentala?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Oh, yes!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very much?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher solemnly nodded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If—if we want to go away with you and your people, would you take
- us?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Oh, yes!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And be kind to us?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me?” He turned to me, and so did Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Christopher.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “<i>He</i> will,” was the answer.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo, seized with one of his unexpected whirlwinds, threw his arms round
- Christopher, and laughed.
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned him about, and, holding both his hands, looked smilingly into his
- brilliant eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Show me the way to serve you and your sister, Beelo,” I said. “I alone,
- or Christopher and I together, will obey any instructions from you; we
- will do whatever you say, go wherever you direct,—cut ourselves off
- from every protection except yours. Isn’t our trust complete?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Yoseph—Choseph,” he banteringly answered. Then, in a flash, “I
- mean Mr. Tudor.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph—to you,” I returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- He put his mouth through contortions over the F, and finally, with a
- restful gasp, blurted out:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!”
- </p>
- <p>
- His gentleness overwhelmed me, and I, being naturally affectionate, and
- timid only with women, forgot my feeling of constraint toward him, and
- caught him in my arms. But he did not have for me the pressure and the
- laughter that he had given Christopher. On the contrary, he resisted and
- then sprang away.
- </p>
- <p>
- I wondered what thoughts were perplexing him as he stood off, regarding me
- in his odd little quizzical fashion, and was astounded when he said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala says that Annabel is beautiful and lovely.” I could not imagine
- what had suggested Annabel to him at this particular moment, but I hastily
- agreed. He seemed not altogether pleased, but went on:
- </p>
- <p>
- “You like her very much?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes; very much indeed.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He looked a little sullen, but soon recovered, and broke out in a very
- rush of gay spirits. In a short time he suddenly became grave.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I must go,” he said. With a gentle, pleading look at me, he asked: “Won’t
- you be a Senatra? Christopher will help you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Beelo,—anything you wish.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well. I will come every day for—maybe three days, and teach
- Christopher. You will watch us. When you and Christopher are alone, he
- will teach you. But you must dress every time as a Senatra!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course.” My relief was great. For some incomprehensible reason I did
- not wish the boy to train me, for that would have necessitated a
- disagreeable loss of dignity before him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good! And in three or four days,”—an oddly embarrassed expression
- rose in his face,—“would you like to go with me—you and dear
- old Christopher—to see—the beautiful—the kind—the
- true—Lentala?” He was mocking.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes!” I answered, and made an effort to catch him; but he darted away,
- showering a cascade of laughter behind him.
- </p>
- <p>
- So I was right in supposing that Beelo had been preparing us to penetrate
- the mysteries beyond the valley ramparts, and lift the veil behind which
- our fate was hidden.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!” I cried in my joy, seizing him by the shoulder; “do you
- understand?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER V.—The Opening of a Pit.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Insolence and Rebellion in Camp. A Riot Averted. I Train for a
- Dangerous Rôle. Plotting Among Us for the Destruction of the Colony.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HEN Christopher
- began my training and pursued it with such amazing thoroughness, my
- feeling of being ridiculous disappeared. My love of adventure in these
- preparations was mingled with other emotions,—the fascination of
- hazard, a ===wish to risk everything for the colony, and a strong desire
- to see Lentala and solve the mystery of her whole conduct. Beelo was a
- will-o’-the-wisp.
- </p>
- <p>
- Complications arose in camp. Although I had taken care to exercise my
- authority in a bland way, it became necessary at times to be severe. My
- greatest difficulty was inability to find the source of a disaffection
- working insidiously among the young men. Captain Mason had not observed
- it, lacking my opportunity, and I decided to be more positive and to find
- evidence before laying the matter before him.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was intimately thrown with the men by directing the work on the farm.
- The labor was exhausting on account of the heat. For this reason, and
- because some men could bear the work better than others, and liked it, I
- called out only volunteers; but selfishness on the part of some who
- shirked brought grumbling. At first I had supposed that this was the
- origin of the dissatisfaction, but presently a deeper cause appeared to be
- in operation. As a test, and to secure fairness, I adopted a system of
- levying on all the able-bodied men and requiring each to do his share in
- turn.
- </p>
- <p>
- In that way I came down on Rawley, who had never volunteered. When I
- informed him one evening that his turn in the fields would come next day,
- he stared at me in insolent silence.
- </p>
- <p>
- That incident alone was not significant, but it made me alert, and I
- instructed Christopher to keep a strict and secret watch on the camp. A
- present necessity was to force the issue with Rawley, whose bearing was a
- threat to the harmony and safety of the colony.
- </p>
- <p>
- He had not taken the trouble to absent himself from the tables when I
- called out the tale of men for the fields next morning, but lounged at
- indolent unconcern. Annabel was not visible. Mr. Vancouver, sitting near
- Rawley, had a suspiciously waiting air.
- </p>
- <p>
- The young man did not rise with the others and prepare to go, but merely
- stared at me. I went near and said in a low voice:
- </p>
- <p>
- “These men will resent your refusal.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are you threatening me?” he said under his breath.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Give my remark whatever construction you please,” I answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- He could not hide his anger and fear, for a glance showed him a
- disquieting expression in the faces of the forty men waiting. Mr.
- Vancouver looked surprised and irritated as he studied them. The men in
- whom rebellion was stirring were such as he had always directed and
- commanded,—artisans, mechanics, clerks, sturdy and spirited every
- one, and loving fair play.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Save yourself further trouble,” Rawley drawled in an effort to be
- nonchalant. “I’ll go—if I feel like it, and when I’m ready.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Although the men could not hear him, they understood, and a murmur arose.
- One of them angrily said: “He’s too good to work.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Then came the outbreak.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Put him under arrest! Duck him in the river! The snob!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel suddenly appeared. The men at once desisted, and she understood
- the situation at a glance. Her astonishment grew as her look of angry
- reproach at Rawley passed to her father and found him silent and pale, as
- though for the first time he had seen the spirit of the common American.
- </p>
- <p>
- She came to me and said: “Don’t make trouble now. Be patient. You can find
- a way.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned to the men.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Gentlemen,” I said, “I must remind you that you have not been empowered
- by the colony to enforce its discipline. In this instance it is my task
- alone, and I propose to handle it as I think best, without your
- assistance, unless I call on you for it. Your attitude and remarks just
- now were rebellious, and, if allowed by those in authority, would disrupt
- us and place us at the mercy of savages. Leave this matter to me, and
- depend on me to see it properly adjusted. Mr. Vancouver needs Mr. Rawley
- today. Now to our work.” My speech affected the men in two quite different
- ways. Some, with a submissive glance at Mr. Vancouver who was watching me
- curiously, were instantly satisfied; others looked a little confused and
- rebellious, and were not cheerful in their obedience. They appeared a
- trifle uneasy, as though something might be afoot and they had not been
- informed. All of this sharpened my alertness.
- </p>
- <p>
- After the day’s work I had doubts as to whether I should report the
- incident to Captain Mason, who had not been present. I felt that something
- of an underground nature was at work, and that Mr. Vancouver was its
- focus. I could make allowance for a man shattered by adversity, but I
- supposed that Mr. Vancouver might have gathered himself up during the
- weeks we had been held as prisoners.
- </p>
- <p>
- It turned out that he had. When Christopher came to give me my drill in
- the forest near the camp that day he brought disturbing information. Mr.
- Vancouver and Rawley, in order to be alone, had gone into the forest after
- I left for the fields, and talked. All that Christopher could learn was
- that Mr. Vancouver was carrying on secret negotiations with the king, and
- that a messenger from the palace was expected at a certain place within
- the forest in an hour.
- </p>
- <p>
- My lesson was short that day. I sent Christopher to Captain Mason to
- report what he had heard, and to say that I would take the place of the
- native in the interview, if possible, trusting to the completeness of my
- disguise as a Senatra. Christopher was to be near for an emergency.
- </p>
- <p>
- Skirting the spot where Mr. Vancouver was to meet the native, I
- intercepted him. It sickened me to see the sly confidence with which he
- approached. Meanwhile, I was aware of the great danger of discovery by the
- genuine messenger, for I knew the trailing skill of the natives, even
- though I led Mr. Vancouver as far from the meeting-place as necessary. But
- Christopher, who had acquired the native slyness, would know how to handle
- any embarrassing situation.
- </p>
- <p>
- The discovery of Mr. Vancouver’s seeming treachery had so disturbed me
- that I had some doubt of myself in the interview. The simple solution
- offered by strangling the man in the forest kept hammering at me with a
- dangerous persistency. We had taken it for granted that his interest in
- the colony was strong; no watch had been set on his liberty, which he had
- used in plotting.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was measurably collected by the time we had seated ourselves on the
- ground. Being totally in the dark as to what had gone before, I was forced
- to extreme caution, and in addition was some danger of my betraying myself
- or of his discovering that I was not a native.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why didn’t the other man come?” he demanded in his old peremptory manner.
- </p>
- <p>
- In confusion, not knowing what degree of proficiency in English to assume,
- I gave some answer in a lame speech, the inconsistency of which he might
- have detected had he been less absorbed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is the king’s plan?” he asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He wants to know yours first,” I answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was prepared for his quick, half-suspicious look. “He knows what I
- want,” was the sharp return.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The other native didn’t know. He couldn’t tell the king very well.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “This is my plan,” went on Mr. Vancouver: “I make some good, strong men
- think that Captain Mason does nothing, but sits down and waits for us all
- to be killed. This is secret. A fellow named Hobart is my leader. The
- young men are ready to go with him out of the valley. The king will tell
- the guard to seize them and take them to the palace. That will get rid of
- the best fighters in the colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What will the young men think they go for?” I inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What difference does that make,” he testily demanded, “so long as they
- are out of the way?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king must know.” I was solid and firm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ll make them think they can pass the guard; then they’ll find a way for
- the colony to escape, and will come back and tell me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But they are not to come back.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver was silent, and his impatience grew. “You will send them
- into a trap?” I persisted. Again his suspicious scrutiny. “Does the king
- want them to come back?” he asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know. But he wants your plan.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “If they don’t come back,” Mr. Vancouver explained, “Captain Mason will be
- blamed for not knowing they were to go. Then his power will be gone. The
- colony will break up.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The ghastly perfection of the scheme overcame me for a moment, but I must
- learn what benefits Mr. Vancouver expected from this wholesale sacrifice.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you want of the king?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I and my daughter and a young man named Rawley are to be taken care of,
- and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You mean not killed?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He writhed and reddened under the question, and under my sullen
- insistence.
- </p>
- <p>
- Instead of answering, he hurried on: “I will show the king how to work the
- gold, silver, copper, diamond, and other mines, and how to make much money
- out of them. I will make treaties with other countries, and build forts,
- and make him a strong army. All this has to be done sooner or later, or
- the island will be taken.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is to be done with the other white people?” I demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king knows.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “If I can’t tell him he’ll send me back.”
- </p>
- <p>
- After a struggle with his anger, Mr. Vancouver said, “The king knows what
- he has done with other castaways.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you think he has done with them?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He started at me in a struggle with his patience, and said nothing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you think they were sent away?” I returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- His fury broke. “No!” he exclaimed, and then suddenly checked himself.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then you think they are here yet?” I drove in.
- </p>
- <p>
- He rose in a passion. “Tell the king to send me a man who isn’t a fool!”
- he stormed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I will tell him,” I quietly said, rising and starting away; but he halted
- me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why do you ask those questions?” he said more composedly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king told me to. He wants to know if he can trust you. If you want
- these people sent away,——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t! That would ruin everything. They’d send armies and war-ships,
- and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then, kept here—alive?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Certainly not! They’d kill me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had known this to be the answer that I would wring from him; still the
- renewed impulse to strangle him was almost overpowering.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I will tell the king,” I duly said, and was turning away, when another
- idea came. “Maybe he will first send for a man from your people. Which one
- do you want to go before the young men?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tudor, Captain Mason’s assistant,” he answered with a vicious promptness.
- “Then, as soon as the young men are gone, I and my daughter and Rawley
- will go, and I will talk and plan with the king while the soldiers do
- their work here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The humor that I found in the turn, personal to me, which the situation
- had taken, lightened my spirit, and I thought of something else.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did the king send you any word about Lentala, his fan-bearer?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I talked with the man about her. I knew there was some mystery about her
- and that she was close to the king. I asked that she be sent to make the
- plans with me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His halt whetted my anxiety. “What did he say?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That she must know nothing about it, or she would break the plot.”
- </p>
- <p>
- My heart choked me with its bounding. I had gained more than I had lost,
- but my heart was sore for Annabel.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I must go,” I said. “Next time I come I will go to your hut in the night.
- Don’t come into these woods again. The soldiers——”
- </p>
- <p>
- He understood, and looked relieved. After he had disappeared I sat down in
- a daze, trying to reason out the tangle. Rawley was in the plot, but
- Annabel was innocent.
- </p>
- <p>
- A sound made me raise my head, and I saw Christopher and Captain Mason
- standing before me. Christopher’s face wore its customary vacancy, but
- Captain Mason’s had a startled look, as though he had beheld what is not
- good for a man to see. It appeared to have shriveled him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Before Christopher summoned me,” he dully said without any preliminary,
- “he found the native and sent him away. We have heard every word that
- passed between you and Mr. Vancouver.”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER VI.—Witcheries in Hand.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>A Dangerous Mood. Annabel’s Tangled Situation. Heroism in Humble
- Duties. The Miracle Worked by Gentleness. Traitors Are Threatened.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>OT a word was
- spoken after I had dressed and we were returning to camp, but Captain
- Mason’s walk lacked its usual firmness. What would he do? There is no
- accounting for the rashness of a man made suddenly desperate, and I
- remembered the temptation to strangle that had assailed me. Clearly, for
- the present, Christopher and I must not leave him alone for a moment. My
- imagination constructed this scene: Captain Mason, assembling the colony,
- telling them briefly that a man among them had been caught in the act of
- plotting to destroy us, turning upon Mr. Vancouver and pointing him out as
- the criminal, ordering me to tell off a squad and hang the knave in the
- presence of the crowd; and Annabel——Could Christopher and I
- stay the flood now while the dam was straining? I feared not; a finer hand
- was needed.
- </p>
- <p>
- We went to our hut. Captain Mason seated himself on a stool. Christopher
- gave him some water, which was eagerly drunk. With a significant look at
- Christopher, I left the hut.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a good excuse for bringing Annabel now; I had promised Beelo
- that he should see her. It was necessary to secure Captain Mason’s assent,
- and I had no doubt that he would agree with me that a friendship between
- her and Lentala might go farther toward solving our problems than all our
- masculine wit and fighting ability.
- </p>
- <p>
- I reflected on the extraordinary complications in which Annabel would be
- involved, and the softening pressure which she would assist in bringing
- upon Captain Mason. There was no immediate danger from Mr. Vancouver. He
- lay snugly in the hollow of my hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel was busy about the camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where is Christopher?” she cheerily asked. “It is time for him to make
- the fire for supper.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Captain Mason has him,” I answered. “Won’t you come with me and call on
- our president?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I?” in surprise.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A flush mottled her cheeks, but she hesitated only a moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Father won’t care, I know,” she said, and started with me.
- </p>
- <p>
- She was bareheaded, and the witcheries of the twilight drifted over her.
- In the distance sang the deep monotone of the waterfall. Drowsy
- twitterings announced that the busy little people of the trees were
- content after their day’s work. From the edges of the stream rose
- comfortable whispers between the water and the reeds. The lightly moving
- air swung odorous censers in the trees, and every flower poured out as
- perfume the sunshine which had filled its chalice. It was good to be thus
- again side by side with Annabel.
- </p>
- <p>
- I explained tomorrow’s plan for her meeting with Beelo, and impressed upon
- her the importance of keeping it secret. She showed the glee of a quiet
- child in her acquiescence, but she must have wondered why her father was
- not to know.
- </p>
- <p>
- “An adventure!” she exclaimed. “And mystery! It is delightful. Do you men
- with so much freedom know how depressing it is to be cooped up in this
- camp?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had not thought of it, and was surprised. Annabel had always been
- cheerful, and I had not observed the other women.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Isn’t it life,” I asked, “for men to work and women to wait, for men to
- dare and women to endure?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” she answered, looking up at me with a smile, “but isn’t it a
- remnant of savagery?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perhaps,” I returned. “Yet Lentala, the savage, appears in her
- independence to have solved some latter-day feminine problems. I hope you
- will meet her soon. Then you and she can formulate a code for your sex. We
- are going to see Captain Mason in order to secure his consent to your
- meeting her brother. So you must exercise your subtlest graces on our
- president.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I—I’m afraid of him,” she declared in some trepidation.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Because he is stern and silent and cold and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is all on the surface. His sea-training has given it to him.
- Underneath he has a woman’s gentleness and kindness. Trust him. Look for
- the best in him and ignore the rest. Just now he is worried and needs all
- the sunshine that you know so well how to give.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She smiled her thanks, but there was concern in her question:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Worried! Has anything special happened?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Was anything special needed? His responsibilities are great.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel was silent,—not daring, I know, to ask more questions. She
- had unfolded to my comprehension what the women of our party had been
- suffering patiently and silently during the dreary weeks that they had
- been held in prison. Annabel must have borne more than any other; yet she
- had held up her heart and her head. Dread must have sat on her pillow
- through many a long hour of the night, but her soul walked forth with the
- sunrise.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher was sitting on a bench outside the hut.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!” she cried, “the fire isn’t made yet;” but there was no
- chiding in her rosy smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, ma’am,” he answered, rising, but standing still.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Go and make it now, please,” she said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “All well, Christopher?” I asked, low.
- </p>
- <p>
- His slow nod held a doubt. There was always in Christopher’s manner a
- suggestion that speech was largely a silly indulgence, and that animals
- other than human beings made themselves intelligible without it.
- </p>
- <p>
- He fetched a delicious drink which he had made from wild fruit, and served
- Annabel with quite an air. Her voice carried music in its thanks.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel bubbled with raillery and chatter. Presently my anxious ear heard
- a stir within. I knew that the man nursing his hurt in the dusk was aware
- of the invasion, and that he understood and resented my ruse in bringing
- Annabel to disarm him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” she said, handing him the calabash from which she had
- drunk, “please go and make the fire and start the supper. After that, find
- father; ask him to come here for me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher mutely interrogated me, and I nodded. He shambled away.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come out and join us, Captain Mason!” I called.
- </p>
- <p>
- It left him no choice. The darkness kindly falling veiled the grayness of
- his face. A touch of decrepitude lay on him as he stepped without and
- greeted Annabel with a stiff and stately courtesy, for he was shy with
- women of the higher world. The unsteadiness in his manner surprised
- Annabel, whose sympathies were keen and quick. I had prepared her, and,
- shocked though she evidently was, she met the situation bravely.
- </p>
- <p>
- After some general talk, which was directed by me to show Annabel’s
- suffering, her courage and helpfulness, I saw that Captain Mason was
- softened. I then placed before him the plan concerning Annabel and Beelo.
- It took the breath out of his body, and he peered at me in amazement
- through the gloom. The perfect assurance with which I asked for his
- concurrence, a hint that her discretion might be trusted, and a casual
- remark that Christopher approved the idea, had effect. Annabel impulsively
- rose, seized both his hands, and pleaded:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Please let me go, Captain Mason. Who knows what good may not come of it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I don’t think she noticed the catch in his throat. It was the final
- breaking up of the ice.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, you may go. But you’ll do nothing except as Mr. Tudor approves?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Nothing whatever, Captain Mason. Thank you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She released his hands and turned a beaming face to me. Pity for her
- welled within me. That she and her father, between whom there was so
- strong an attachment, should thus secretly proceed in opposite directions,
- each deceiving the other, was a terrible thing. No human perception could
- foresee the outcome, and, it gave me an uneasiness that she must have
- dimly seen.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You don’t look glad!” she said in astonishment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am too happy for mere gladness, my friend,” I replied; “and may all the
- good angels help you—and shield you!”
- </p>
- <p>
- She heard the note of solemnity, and turned to Captain Mason.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is our situation so serious?” she asked him, a slight quaver in her
- voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Life can have no serious dangers for so brave a heart as yours,” he
- answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver came up. I could feel a tigerish stealth in him. All danger
- from an immediate clash between him and Captain Mason had been banished by
- Annabel, but I knew that the future held dangers. I was glad that she and
- I had become partners in the secrets and exactions of defense. With such
- an ally as Christopher, and such a director as Captain Mason, we would
- give an account of ourselves.
- </p>
- <p>
- The captain hardened when Mr. Vancouver came. That gentleman playfully
- scolded Annabel for running away, and was somewhat too affable toward the
- silent, unresponsive sailor. Soon he tucked Annabel’s hand under his arm
- and was leaving.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Just a word, Mr. Vancouver,” said Captain Mason in a tone that stopped my
- breathing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Well?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I unintentionally witnessed a scene this morning that I didn’t like. I
- wish you to hear the order that I’ll give Mr. Tudor.” His voice was
- ominously quiet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mr. Tudor,” he resumed, “order Rawley to fall in with the field squad
- tomorrow. If he shows the slightest hesitation, clap him in irons and send
- for me. There’s a rope for the neck of any man who undermines the
- discipline of this colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel started, and reeled where she stood. Her father’s nostrils were
- spreading with a sneering smile; but, seeing her state, he seized her arm,
- steadied her with a word, and in silence led her away.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER VII.—Secrets For Two.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>The Strange Meeting of Annabel and Beelo. Captain Mason’s Cruel
- Decision. I Tell a Romantic Story and Make a Guess at Lentala’s Origin.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">C</span>APTAIN MASON and I
- had a serious talk in our hut that night.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t think for a moment,” he said, “that my intentions with regard to
- Vancouver have been upset by a woman’s pretty face.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But she is very lovely,” I interposed, anxious to turn his thoughts from
- whatever purpose he might have.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is as one thinks.” I could not restrain a smile at his
- ungraciousness, particularly as I saw that Annabel’s effect on him had
- impaired his frankness. “For that matter,” he went on, “her father is
- blindly planning her destruction.” In answer to my look he explained: “How
- can a man let his avarice and cowardice make such a fool of him! Can’t he
- see that the king is using him as a tool to disrupt and destroy the camp,
- including him and his party?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I knew, as well as I knew my own thoughts, that a terrible apprehension of
- a fate worse than death for us all rested on him, as on me; but we had
- dared not give it tongue. Both had seen the naïve inconsistency between
- the king’s desire that the island should not be discovered and his promise
- to send us away one at a time, and so had Mr. Vancouver. No foreigner
- straying to the island had ever left it, and none except our colony was
- alive on it today. But in what dreadful manner had they been disposed of?
- And why had we been spared so long? We had been prisoners nearly two
- months.
- </p>
- <p>
- Whether these fears and speculations haunted others of the colony we were
- both careful not to inquire, and were prompt in suppressing every
- uncomfortable hint. Captain Mason and I understood that the perfect
- cohesion of our colony, taken with our considerable numbers, offered the
- sole hope for our safety; and Mr. Vancouver was secretly planning to
- destroy our one means of defense.
- </p>
- <p>
- We had been sitting in silence after Captain Mason’s last speech. He broke
- it by saying:
- </p>
- <p>
- “The situation is complex. Your interruption of Vancouver’s plot and
- Christopher’s dismissal of the native require us to lay a counter train.
- The king will infer from what Christopher told the native that Mr.
- Vancouver has abandoned his scheme to betray the colony, and that we are
- determined to hang together, and fight it out to the end. I imagine that
- the natives are growing impatient for a victim. What do you suggest, Mr.
- Tudor?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I suppose I should continue in the rôle of the king’s emissary and inform
- Mr. Vancouver that the sending out of the young men is postponed.
- Fortunately we have stopped that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We have done nothing of the sort,” declared the president. “They shall go
- out.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Astonishment silenced me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They shall go out,” he drove into me again.
- </p>
- <p>
- “To their destruction—and ours?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. But they must go and take their punishment. Then they will hear from
- me. You can manage it through the native boy and his sister. Let her see
- that they are soundly whipped and sent back to the colony. She’s our
- friend.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is unthinkable,” I protested. “The risk is too great. Lentala can’t——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t underestimate her. You have your instructions, sir.” He rose. “I’ll
- be on hand tomorrow when you call out the men for the fields.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had risen, and stood facing a commander instead of an ally. After a
- moment’s struggle with desperately rebellious emotions, I saw my own
- absurdity, and abruptly left without a word, to fight for patience and
- wisdom under the stars.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <p>
- The smiling ease with which Rawley stepped forth when I called his name
- with the others next morning might have disarmed me had I not caught a
- look of understanding between him and Mr. Vancouver, and known what it
- meant. My dread had been on Annabel’s account, but she did not appear.
- </p>
- <p>
- Rawley worked faithfully in the fields that day, but I saw the furtive way
- in which he talked now and then with certain of the men, and I noted all
- whom he thus favored. None of them had a guilty manner, though a
- concealing one. It was evidence of Mr. Vancouver’s shrewdness in plotting.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel met Christopher outside the camp that afternoon and came with him
- to Beelo and me. The boy betrayed a singular uneasiness as they
- approached, and, drawing his hat down, stood in awkward embarrassment. It
- puzzled me, for he had been anxious to see her. In a glow of excitement,
- Annabel was conspicuously handsome, and though dressed in the rougher of
- the two suits which she had saved from the wreck, showed in every line the
- thoroughbred that she was. Seeing the lad’s confusion, she spared him by
- giving him hardly more than a smiling glance with her warm hand-clasp, and
- breezily said to me as she held out an exquisite orchid:
- </p>
- <p>
- “See what I found on the way. Isn’t it beautiful!” I took it and was
- fumbling to put it in the buttonhole of my lapel, when she stepped up and
- with frank comradeship adjusted it, remarking as she did so:
- </p>
- <p>
- “He’s very much like his sister, but smaller, and not so pretty and
- graceful.” She did not realize that he understood English.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I thank you—for Lentala,” he constrainedly said, staring at her as
- his eyes began to burn.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Oh!” cried Annabel in amused surprise. “But you are quite too
- good-looking for a boy, Beelo!”
- </p>
- <p>
- He did not smile, but studied her with a disconcerting seriousness, and
- looked from her to me, as though watching for something which I guessed to
- be a sly understanding between Annabel and me that might mean ridicule of
- him. I saw that Annabel had innocently blundered into a wrong start.
- Evidently the pleasure that the lad had expected from the meeting had gone
- astray.
- </p>
- <p>
- As though the words were wrenched from him by the striking picture that
- Annabel made, he said in a stolid, colorless voice:
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are more beautiful than Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hear his disloyalty to his sister!” laughingly exclaimed Annabel, but I
- could see that the boy’s bearing was trying her composure. “Come!” she
- added; “let’s be friends, for Lentala and I are, and I want you to tell me
- about her.” She coaxingly held out her hand as to an ill-tempered child.
- </p>
- <p>
- But he ignored it, and lowered his head till his hat-rim concealed his
- eyes. Annabel looked at me in questioning surprise, but before I could say
- anything,—being as much astonished as she,—Beelo, without
- raising his head, asked half sullenly, half commandingly:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Have you and—Choseph known each other a long time?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A year or so,” Annabel promptly answered, anxious to show her
- friendliness. “He’s been very kind. I became a skilful horsewoman under
- his teaching, and we’ve danced together and taken long walks in the
- country. He knows a great many interesting things. You see, he was
- educated at West Point, where young men are trained to be officers of our
- army, and has fought in the war, and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo broke in with a toss of the head and a laugh that sounded much like
- a sneer.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel opened her eyes and looked in wonder from the boy to me. She was
- not laughing now; alarm was creeping into her face. I could think of
- nothing to say, but was confident that the two fine souls would find a
- way.
- </p>
- <p>
- Without raising his face to Annabel, Beelo slowly looked round at me, and
- regarded me deeply and in silence. Sadness stole into his eyes, and with
- it reproach. The mystery of it touched me as I steadily returned his look.
- </p>
- <p>
- As he did not speak, I did. “Beelo,” I kindly said, “I don’t understand
- you, and I don’t like your conduct. You wished to see Annabel. To please
- me, she kindly took the trouble to come and tried to be friendly to you.
- But you treat her rudely. You are not worthy to touch her hand.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He blazed and went rigid. For a moment he was choked with passion; then,
- locking his hands behind him, and throwing back his head and shoulders, he
- said loudly, while his nostrils quivered:
- </p>
- <p>
- “No! I’m not worthy to touch her hand! I’m glad of it! You send fine words
- to Lentala, who has not a white friend in the world! Then you bring the
- white girl to Beelo, that Beelo may see how different they are and go back
- to shame Lentala. Riding! Dancing! Walking! Ah, Beelo is a little fool,—a
- fool no bigger that a toad! But he can be useful,—he can make
- Lentala a fool too! And Lentala can be useful. She can trick King Rangan.
- She shall be the tool of the white people who want to leave!” He paused
- breathless, but there was more of despair than anger in his attitude.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel had gone very white. She gave me a glance of new amazement, and
- then went forward, seized Beelo’s arm, and forcibly turned him to look
- into her eyes. With a start she straightened, looking at me strangely, as
- if a great light had broken.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There’s a misunderstanding,” she calmly said to Beelo and me as she
- apologetically held the quivering figure. To me she added: “You and
- Christopher please retire. I’ll call you soon.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We left, and when screened and beyond earshot I gave Christopher a look of
- wondering inquiry. He blinked benignly at me, as a dog at his foolish
- master.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What does it mean?” I demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mean, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are asking me, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He looked away, but not with a listening manner, yet the mystery appeared
- to demand it. I did not happen to remember that he was the most chivalrous
- and the least meddlesome man I had ever known.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Well, I’ll tell you, sir,” he presently said in his slow, gentle way; “it
- will be all right.”
- </p>
- <p>
- So it apparently was when Annabel called us back, for the two were
- chatting amicably as they sat on the ground. Annabel’s serious mistake, by
- which she had imperiled my plans, had been turned by her to excellent
- account.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher was waiting to conduct her back to camp; he would return, for
- Beelo had informed me that there were matters which he wished to tell us
- alone. The parting between him and Annabel was friendly and held promise,
- but Beelo’s face was not wholly unclouded. Holding Annabel’s hand and
- gazing into her face, he said, with a touch of sadness:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Anybody would love you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel blushed, and turned laughingly away.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ll see you again very soon!” called the boy.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel turned and blew him a smiling kiss. The lad stood and gazed long
- at the spot where she was lost among the trees.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You like her, Beelo?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- Much to my surprise, a little droop pulled at his mouth-corners.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is very lovely,” he softly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is that a thing to be sad about?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. Lentala can never be as sweet and beautiful.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is as sweet and beautiful as Annabel, and—and—what shall
- I say?—more fascinating.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His face was turned away, and he was silent. After a while he faced me,
- and said, while observing me closely:
- </p>
- <p>
- “But she belongs to your kind, your world.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “My heart finds my kind, and that is my world.” He again turned away. In
- trying to find a reason why any of this mattered to him, or why he
- appeared in a measure to resent Annabel, the old suspicion that had lodged
- in a corner of my mind came forth. The remarkable difference between
- Lentala and her brother on one hand and the natives on the other must have
- some special explanation, and Beelo must have a secret which he had a good
- reason for guarding. Christopher and I had probably been the only white
- men to touch their lives, and there was in them that which knew and
- claimed its own. It was a hungry demand, and jealous. To see the desired
- companionship subject to an older claim, such as Annabel’s, was the
- finding of a barrier. I determined to probe for the secret by indirect
- means.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The soul that finds its kind finds its world, Beelo,” I said, “and souls
- have neither race nor color. Would you like to hear a strange little
- story?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes!” he eagerly answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- I sat down, and he seated himself facing me, keenly interested.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A long time ago a white man—a gentleman, no doubt—was in a
- ship that was sailing the seas. A great storm came on. His ship was
- wrecked, and he was cast up on the beach of a beautiful tropical island.
- It was decreed by the natives, who were jealous for their country, that he
- should suffer the fate of all who had drifted before him to those shores.
- But for some reason—that may be another story some time—he was
- spared, and the king gave him a wife from among the native girls. Two
- children were born to them, a girl and afterward a boy; but their father
- had so strongly impressed his racial peculiarities on them that they were
- in an unfortunate position,—outcasts in a way, and perhaps in danger
- of their lives, by reason of the deeply planted native hatred for the
- white blood. So the king, who had spared the man, took them under his
- protection, and as the queen had no children, she loved them as her own.
- But in time, as the children grew up, the white blood in them began to
- starve for its kind, and to whisper of a far country whence it had come.
- That is nature’s way. She lets us go just so far from the plan on which
- she started us, and then she sends a voice that speaks deep within us. We
- may not know at first what it says, but—”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Just a longing?” Beelo asked
- </p>
- <p>
- “Merely that. We want something very much, but don’t know what it is. We
- are dissatisfied. That comes in youth, when the tides of life flow free,
- and before the soul is fully awake. Afterward, when it has ripened and
- mellowed, it finds its kind and makes its home wherever——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “After a while. But now!” demanded Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- I ignored him with a smile, and went back to the story.
- </p>
- <p>
- “At last the sister had grown to womanhood and the brother nearly to
- manhood. A much larger company of white people than had ever before been
- stranded on the island came to its shores. The girl and the boy had been
- spoiled by the king, and they had much their own way. The girl demanded
- that she be taken with the king to see the castaways. It was the voice in
- her heart.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo nodded, and then with nervous fingers began to weave a twig-house on
- the sand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you like the story?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He looked up in surprise. “Is that all, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Isn’t that sufficient?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He drew a deep breath. “She went there just to <i>see</i> them?” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- I smiled into his brilliant eyes. “I’ll tell you the rest of the story
- some other time,” I remarked, satisfied, because at not a single point had
- he criticized my guessing. “There is one thing more,” I went on. “Of
- course the children adopted the native dress, but their father’s blood in
- them had lightened their native color, and that must be overcome.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His eyes kindled brighter; his lips had fallen apart. There was not a
- movement in his body.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lad, how did you learn to stain a fair skin so well that it looks like a
- native’s?”
- </p>
- <p>
- With that I seized the collar of his blouse, to tear it open and see the
- real color of his chest before he could prevent.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER VIII.—A Crumbling Edge.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Beelo’s Horror at the Fate Intended for Us. My Visit in Disguise to Mr.
- Vancouver. Annabel’s Dramatic Defiance, and How She Was Humbled.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">B</span>EELO sprang away
- and scampered into the forest as though Satan pursued. That gave me no
- uneasiness. I gathered up his twigs and began laboriously to weave the
- hut.
- </p>
- <p>
- A gurgling laugh raised my head. Twenty feet away, in a direction opposite
- to that in which Beelo had disappeared, I saw him lying on the ground,
- kicking up his heels, and, his cheeks resting in his hands, mischievously
- laughing at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You haven’t gone?” I said. “Christopher will come soon, and I have
- something to say to you first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He rose, came forward gingerly, and halted a safe distance away. I
- sometimes wondered whether any other man would have borne with him at all.
- The wretch knew that I had grown absurdly fond of him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you want to tell me?” he asked, as he crept nearer and
- contemptuously regarded my hutbuilding effort.
- </p>
- <p>
- In a few words I frankly told him of my experience as a Senatra with Mr.
- Vancouver. He listened absorbed and aghast.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I didn’t know,” he breathed. “I am glad you told me. You do trust me,
- don’t you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Trust you, Beelo? Have I ever failed?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, but you are always thinking of your people, never of Lentala and
- Beelo.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have taught me to think of you and Lentala, else I never would have
- told you about Mr. Vancouver and his plot. But don’t you see? The king is
- using Mr. Vancouver to break up our colony, Beelo,” raising myself in
- aggressive earnestness. “You talk of my trusting you. I have already put
- my life and more than two hundred other lives in your hands. But not for
- one moment have you ever trusted me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was deep in thought, and was distressed. Before I could ask him for the
- cause, Christopher came up.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Something is going to happen very soon,” Beelo said. “Christopher, what
- did you say to the native that came to see Mr. Vancouver?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher wore his stupidest manner Beelo reached round, picked up a
- stick and threatened him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know what I said. Now answer—quick!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me?” mocked Beelo, and struck him. The nearest that I had ever seen to a
- smile on Christopher’s face came then as a twinkle in his eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ll tell you,” he answered. “I told him Mr. Vancouver didn’t never want
- to see him no more.” That was a long speech for Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then what happened?” impatiently demanded Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I done this a-way at him.” Christopher crossed his eyes and made a
- grimace at Beelo. The act was so unexpected and terrifying that Beelo
- started back in alarm, and then rolled on the ground in laughter.
- </p>
- <p>
- He sat up. “What did the man do then?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “This a-way.” Christopher’s face assumed a look of astonishment and fear.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What then?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He runned away.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo nodded thoughtfully, and said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king will think Mr. Vancouver changed his mind. Very well. Now he
- won’t wait any longer. He will make a demand for one of your people.” His
- manner was grave.
- </p>
- <p>
- He was surprised when I informed him of Captain Mason’s determination that
- the young men be permitted to leave the valley, and that Lentala should
- arrange for their being turned back,—I had no heart to say anything
- about their rough handling by the natives.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ll tell her,” he said. “I think she can manage it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But are you sure?” I anxiously demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t worry, Choseph. You are too serious to be happy. Let’s talk about
- the first man to go out when the king sends for one. Do you wish Mr.
- Vancouver to go?” The question came with a keen look.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not if it will expose him to any danger, or give him an opportunity to
- plot against us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo’s look became suspicious. “What do you owe him, that he is not to be
- exposed to danger?” he asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- Seeing the trend of his question, I was irritated, and sternly said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is my affair, and I won’t discuss it. If there’s to be anything
- petty and spiteful in the matters of life and death that we are planning,
- I will stop everything right here, or demand that Lentala send some one
- else to me if it is impossible for her to come.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo was staring at me in surprise. He turned inquiringly to Christopher,
- and saw gentler but none the less reproving eyes. For a second he
- floundered between resentment and irrepressible good-nature, and then with
- a laugh threw a handful of sand at Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” he cried; “I didn’t mean anything, really I didn’t. And I’ll be
- good.” After reflection he asked, “Who is Mr. Vancouver’s best friend?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A man named Rawley.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You think he knows Mr. Vancouver’s plan?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He certainly does.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then let him be the first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Darkness crouched behind all of this, but Beelo’s intelligent eyes were a
- light ahead. Unquestionably his mind was working rapidly, but his speech
- was slow and had silent intervals. He and Lentala were evidently
- undertaking severe tasks and desperate risks the nature of which I could
- not even surmise. Some profound motive must be urging them on.
- </p>
- <p>
- “When he is taken out of the valley,” Beelo said after a pause, “I’ll want
- you and Christopher to go too, with me. Will you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We’ll do anything you wish, Beelo.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “As natives.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It will be very dangerous.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is nothing.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not a soul is to know but your captain. Not Annabel, mind you!” he
- abruptly added.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Certainly not.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And you both promise that if your lives are threatened, you will try not
- to hurt or kill any one except as a last resort?”
- </p>
- <p>
- We promised.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now,” said Beelo, “I want Christopher to go with me at once, and we’ll
- make a raft. When we go out of the valley it will be by way of the river.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is all fully agreed to, dear little brother,” I said firmly, “but
- some things must be understood. The first is that no harm shall befall any
- man taken out of the valley by the king’s order.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You don’t trust me, Choseph,” he replied, looking hurt.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Far more than you trust me,” I kindly but emphatically said. “While I
- know that wisdom and a noble purpose are in your and Lentala’s every plan
- and act, I have heavy responsibilities, and I know that four heads would
- be better than two in this matter. I have no right to go ahead in the
- dark, and I demand to know what the plans are.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The pain in Beelo’s face deepened, but there was no resentment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It isn’t that I don’t trust you, Choseph,” he said, an appealing look in
- his eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it, then?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He looked hunted, and blurted out:
- </p>
- <p>
- “That’s what you and Christopher are going with me for,—to keep from
- harm the man whom the king will send for, and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is the danger to him?” I insisted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know! I can only imagine!” he passionately said. “It’s horrible.
- I think you understand. And you are to lay plans with Lentala for saving
- the colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was about to press the matter further, but a look from Christopher
- stopped me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am sorry to have pained you, dear little brother.” I took his hand.
- “Will you forgive me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” with a smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- He rose, and his relief was shaded with anxiety. This parting was the
- first sad one. I also had risen, and the boy was looking up into my face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am trusting you,” he said, “trusting you with my life and Lentala’s,
- and the lives of many others.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, and you’ll find me worthy, dear little brother.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I know.” He withdrew his hand, took Christopher’s arm and pressed it to
- his own side, and peered deep into his eyes. “Do you love me, old
- Christopher?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo gently slapped Christopher’s cheek.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Answer! Do you love me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” impressively, “if my life were in danger, and you could
- save me by giving your own life, would you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You needn’t answer if you don’t want to.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, I would die for you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- In a burst of laughter Beelo drew his big head down and laid his cheek
- against it. “What an absurd old Christopher!” he cried. “Come.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He stepped back, and again turned to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph, one thing more! As the king’s messenger will you again see Mr.
- Vancouver?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, if you wish.‘’
- </p>
- <p>
- “It’s better. Tell him to send the young men out whenever he pleases, and
- to take the passage by which you entered the valley.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I understand.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is all. Good-bye.” He walked away slowly with Christopher, and for
- the first time I noticed that he looked as though bearing a burden heavy
- for his strength.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <p>
- After laying the matter before Captain Mason, I prepared my disguise and
- visited Mr. Vancouver that evening. He and Rawley occupied the same hut;
- Annabel slept in one adjoining. I had previously taken care to note that
- as Annabel was helping a young mother with the care of an ailing infant,
- she would not likely intrude on my visit.
- </p>
- <p>
- The two men were startled when they found me standing silently before
- them. In the dim light of a nut-oil lamp I saw Rawley’s face blanch, and I
- wondered how he would bear the ordeal fronting him outside the valley.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Well?” eagerly said Mr. Vancouver.
- </p>
- <p>
- After instructing him as to the sending out of the young men, I informed
- him that the king was nearly ready for a man, and added that Rawley would
- be acceptable. Mr. Vancouver was disappointed that he himself could not
- go, but cheerfully said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Certainly. Mr. Rawley will be glad to go.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I enjoyed the young man’s dismay. Not so Mr. Vancouver.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why, man, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime!” he declared to Rawley.
- “There’s no danger. The king will furnish a safe-conduct—won’t he?”
- he added, turning to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I suppose so. Your friend couldn’t find the way otherwise.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course! Brace up, Rawley, and thank your stars for your good fortune.
- You’ll have important things to tell me when you return.” For all his
- cheering manner, Mr. Vancouver could not conceal his contempt. To me he
- said: “Give the king my thanks. Tell him that his kind offer is gratefully
- accepted, and that Mr. Rawley will be ready at any time.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Rawley was a bluish white.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well,” he faintly said; “I’ll have to go, I suppose, but who knows
- what is really to be done with me? I don’t———” With a
- gesture Mr. Vancouver stopped the indiscreet speech.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Give the king my message of thanks and grateful acceptance,” he snapped
- out in his old business-like way. “Mr. Rawley will go whenever he is
- summoned.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I bowed, and turned to leave, but found Annabel blocking the door. Her
- eyes were wide with surprise. She had never before seen natives near the
- camp at night, and never one alone. With unexpected firmness she refused
- to let me pass.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Father, Mr. Rawley, what does this mean? Where is Mr. Rawley going?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The men sat dumb. Annabel’s instinct told her that treachery was in the
- air.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does Captain Mason know about this?” she asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver was the first to recover, but he underestimated his
- daughter’s shrewdness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not so loud, daughter. It is all right. Let the man pass. I’ll explain.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Among Annabel’s charms was a certain rashness. Here she stood between
- affection and duty, and it would be interesting to observe the outcome. I
- was glad that she continued to bar my escape.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If it’s all right,” she said, “let us three go with this man to Captain
- Mason and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We’ll have no more nonsense, daughter! Are you aware what your attitude
- toward me means?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know, father. I—I don’t understand. You have never spoken
- this way to me before. Surely——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “This foolishness must stop here,” her father brusquely said, rising and
- advancing, with the evident intention of dragging her from the door; but
- something in her face stopped him. It was time for me to interfere, lest
- she spoil everything. The risk was in lending my voice to her sensitive
- ear.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He knows,” I gruffly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Captain Mason?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come with me and say that to him,” she demanded. I nodded again. The
- exasperation and fear in Mr. Vancouver’s face did not escape his daughter.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I won’t have it!” he nearly shouted. To me,
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t you go, or I’ll——”
- </p>
- <p>
- I stopped him with a knowing look, which he rightly understood to mean
- that it would be well to lay her suspicions by going, and that I might be
- depended on to handle the matter satisfactorily. In truth, I was enjoying
- the situation too much for thought of graver things. And I had never seen
- Annabel so superb.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Father,” she said, “you owe this to me, and I owe it to you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver’s uneasy face betrayed his predicament. Might he trust my
- ability to deceive Captain Mason? was his evident thought. The peril was
- great. I was maliciously happy over the grinding of the man.
- </p>
- <p>
- Suppose I should make a slip with Captain Mason: that would mean the
- hangman’s noose for Mr. Vancouver,—I knew he was thinking all that.
- I could not resist the temptation to harry him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I go,” I said to Annabel.
- </p>
- <p>
- She wavered, but her courage rose, and with reckless heroism she stepped
- out without looking at her father.
- </p>
- <p>
- I followed in silence. She did not glance back, and I think she was glad
- that the men remained in the hut. With her head held up by the high
- purpose within her, she walked as though she were above the stars and they
- were her stepping-stones. Once she stopped short. I was certain that love
- had conquered and that she would tell me my willingness to go satisfied
- her, and so would send me away; but she went desperately on.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a brilliant tropical moon, and the captain was sitting in the
- shine of it on the outer bench of his hut. He rose in surprise.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Captain Mason,” panted Annabel, “I found this native in our camp just
- now, and I wondered if you knew.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He had recognized me, but Annabel did not see the twinkle in his eyes. He
- knew that I had blundered in letting her discover me with her father. I
- was amazed at the fine delicacy of the man. Instead of asking her
- questions, he demanded an explanation of me. With great caution not to
- betray myself, I said that I had the king’s permission to take Rawley out,
- that he might see something of the island, and procure some of the gems so
- abundant there.
- </p>
- <p>
- The moonlight revealed the shame that burned Annabel’s cheeks because she
- had doubted her father. Would Captain Mason have the tact to cure her
- hurt?
- </p>
- <p>
- “May I take your hand?” he asked. She wonderingly yielded it. As he held
- it and looked down into her lovely face there came into his voice a
- gentleness, a tenderness, that I am certain had been hitherto strange to
- it. “This is a wonderful thing that you have done,—the noblest,
- bravest thing that I have ever seen in my life. It was so not alone
- because it might have meant a matter of life and death, but because it was
- hard to do. I am proud to know and be trusted by such a woman.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Tears were slipping down her cheeks as he released her hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If you have that kindly regard for me, Captain Mason,” she said, “let it
- extend to my father. He meant nothing wrong in violating the rule.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He has special privileges, Miss Vancouver. I will pay no attention to the
- incident.”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER IX.—An Iron Hand Comes Down.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Anxiety Over Beelo’s Absence. The Runaways Return in Disgrace. Mr.
- Vancouver’s Predicament. Rebellion Breeding. The Arrest. Merciless
- Discipline.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>EXT morning the
- young men in Mr. Vancouver’s plot passed secret looks and words, and Mr.
- Vancouver and Rawley wore an indifferent air too conspicuously.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel emerged late; she and Dr. Preston had been with the suffering
- child that night; but she looked much more worn and depressed than the
- night’s vigil warranted. I greeted her cheerily, and her quiet smile was
- ready. I saw nothing to indicate that she noted anything unusual afoot.
- Captain Mason gave her a pleasant bow.
- </p>
- <p>
- The colony had early integrated into small social groups, particularly at
- meal-times. We sat on rough benches at two long tables under trees. There
- was a rearrangement of groups at breakfast this morning, so as to bring
- the conspirators together at an end occupied by Mr. Vancouver and Rawley.
- Annabel sat with the children. The maneuver of the men did not escape
- Captain Mason, who was some distance away and at the other table, having
- rigidly held himself aloof from all social preferences. After breakfast he
- gave me an unobtrusive look, and left. I soon followed, and found
- Christopher with him in our hut.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You noticed, Mr. Tudor?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. They will go out of the valley today. Lentala will see that they are
- turned back. What shall I do?”
- </p>
- <p>
- An amused look came into his eyes. “You may abandon your usual plan of
- calling the names of those who shall go to the fields, and announce that
- only volunteers need go. That will spare such of the idiots as are on your
- list from sneaking out of the fields on pretense of headache. Give them a
- long rope. Everything is moving beautifully to a crisis. Take your men to
- the fields. Christopher will stay here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- With the insistence of trifles thrusting themselves into a tense
- situation, every small thing of the morning marched with me back to the
- tables. I must observe the progress of some insatiably hungry nestlings in
- a tree, and laugh at a round scolding from their mother. Never had I heard
- so many birds singing at once. The solemn cadence of the waterfall sent a
- Sabbath spirit through the air. The forest shadows quivered with mysteries
- and portents, and the air was drunk with the perfume of many flowers.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel’s glance showed that she had noted our leaving the tables, but a
- cheery word from me laid her uneasiness.
- </p>
- <p>
- Relief appeared in some faces when I announced that only volunteers would
- go to the fields that day. Mr. Vancouver studied me, and Rawley was
- nervous. A small crowd responded to my call, and then amused shame swept
- over the men as I good-naturedly laughed at them, with the result that a
- larger squad than usual came forward. I kept Mr. Vancouver in sight, and
- was not surprised to catch him throwing a look at a conspirator here and
- there, causing the guilty to stand forth with the innocent. I knew that he
- suspected something in my departure from the usual way lately of calling
- out the men.
- </p>
- <p>
- The work in the fields went with a smoothness that gave no hint of trouble
- beneath the surface. The conspirators dropped away one after another, with
- my pleasant assent. Rawley remained. That meant his want of courage to
- join the daring expedition. When the remnant started for camp I went to
- the spot where I expected Beelo and Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- The time for Beelo’s appearance came and passed. I had an irksome wait,
- and in spite of my confidence in his skill, I grew uneasy lest he had
- fallen into difficulties. Never before had he failed to keep an
- appointment. His endurance and pluck had been extraordinary. From his home
- at the palace to our meeting-places had been a number of miles, without
- counting his trouble and ingenuity in avoiding detection, and the hard
- labor of scaling the valley wall; yet he had never failed, never
- complained, never mentioned the heroism for which his conduit stood. I
- bitterly accused myself and Captain Mason for our selfishness in accepting
- the boy’s allegiance and labors as a mere incident of our struggle to
- escape. My heart went out to him now; I had been remiss in appreciation.
- Had he been of a more aggressive nature, less gentle and timid, relying
- more on force than ingenuity, perhaps my conscience would have been
- easier. The task which it had been so easy for me to send Lentala with
- reference to the malcontents, must have been severe for her, and must have
- involved her brother.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher came at last, but not Beelo. The man reported all well in
- camp; Annabel had been downcast until Captain Mason cheered her; Mr.
- Vancouver was painfully restless; none of the conspirators had returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- We waited until all hope of Beelo’s arrival was futile. Christopher had
- been listening, but I dreaded to question him. Finally I remarked that we
- must go, as we could not expect Beelo so late. The readiness with which
- Christopher acquiesced assured me that he had not expected the lad, but I
- had no heart to ask him whether he thought that trouble had been the
- detaining cause. We returned to camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- Dr. Preston had much patching of cuticle to do that night, for the young
- men returned after dark. There had been an uneasy hush over the camp all
- day. Upon their arrival, which was accomplished with all possible
- unostentation, a buzz arose and gossip leaked. I was with Captain Mason,
- who sat silent and in grim content as I told him what was going on. We
- were both curious to see what Dr. Preston, a quiet young man of fine
- intelligence, would deem his duty after the urgency of his offices had
- passed. After a while he came, excited and a little frightened.
- </p>
- <p>
- He reported that there were no serious hurts, and that the men would be
- about next day.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What account do they give?” inquired Captain Mason. The twinkle in his
- eyes was lost on the earnest young physician.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They were peaceably exploring the valley, Captain,—just a lark, you
- know, although it had the serious purpose of finding out anything that
- might be useful in the escape of the colony,—when they were set upon
- by an overwhelming horde of savages, the evident purpose being to take
- them away by force. Our men, though so greatly outnumbered, held their
- ground, but the scrimmage was close and savage. They would have won
- without the fan-bearer’s interference, but her coming up with a personal
- guard put an end to the affair, as she called the natives off.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason’s amused attention sharpened to a keen interest. “The king’s
- fan-bearer?” he echoed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes; the one we saw at the feast.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The president nodded. “They have all told you the same story, I suppose,”
- he remarked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Thank you. That is all.”
- </p>
- <p>
- In leaving, Dr. Preston looked surprised that Captain Mason should appear
- so indifferent.
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason announced no plans concerning the young men that night, and
- there was nothing unusual in his bearing next morning when the colony
- assembled for breakfast. All watched him narrowly. When breakfast was
- over, and before we had risen from the tables, he sent Christopher for me,
- for I sat some distance away. As I rose, I had a strong feeling that
- something extraordinary was about to fall to my hand, for I knew Captain
- Mason’s nature and his trust in me.
- </p>
- <p>
- That brought Beelo vividly to mind. He had seen hardly more than the
- gentler side of me. Indeed, it had doubtless been his own gentleness, his
- innate delicacy and refinement, that had held in subjection the ruder
- elements in me, so deep was my fondness for him. And it had never been
- irksome, though the conduct which it had almost forced upon me was
- strikingly different from that which usually governed me. While I was glad
- that Beelo was not present to see what I knew was coming, still his spirit
- was with me, and so strongly that it was tangible. My whole outlook was
- filled with him, and I could not shake off the feeling that he was really
- near and observing.
- </p>
- <p>
- Under the impulse, I sent a trained glance into the shadows about the
- camp, and suddenly stopped, for I found his bright eyes peering at me from
- the trees. A closer look discovered that underneath the almost conscious
- mischief that sparkled in his eyes was apprehension. I had a moment of
- anger that he should be there, and tried to give him a look that would
- send him away; but he made a face at me, and with deep misgivings I went
- to my duty, striving to put him out of my mind.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Call for order,” Captain Mason directed, “and make a complete statement
- of the affair, omitting Mr. Vancouver’s connexion with it. Then tell off
- twelve steady men for a guard, and have them arrest all of the young men
- who disobeyed the rule. Manage the details in your own way. I’ll take
- command after the arrest.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Obedience to authority was a law of my training, but I was aghast, and
- wondered if the man realized that he might be touching a match to a
- magazine.
- </p>
- <p>
- As Mr. Vancouver was the danger-center, I glanced at him. He had been
- closely observing the president. I shall not forget the picture that he
- made as I called for order and proceeded with the speech. By no effort
- could he control the emotions that surged to his face,—his
- consternation at the appalling correctness of my account, his ferocious
- resentment and anger, his sense of being baffled and humiliated while
- being spared from open shame, his white fear that at last he would be
- exposed as the arch-traitor.
- </p>
- <p>
- I observed Annabel also, and saw her puzzled uneasiness as I reminded the
- colony of the king’s injunction and the great danger of disregarding it;
- her furtive glances at her father; her amazement when I hinted at the plot
- for undermining Captain Mason’s authority, and spoke of its secret working
- toward the destruction of the colony; the blanching of her cheeks when I
- described the effort of the young men to slip out of the valley, their
- being beaten and bound, and the mercy that had spared them, whipped and
- wounded, to sneak back in darkness to camp; and the lie they told to cover
- their treachery and shame.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a tense pause when I had done, and then I called out the names
- of the guilty. So overwhelming had been the presentation, that, as Captain
- Mason must have foreseen, there was no time for immediate reaction toward
- mutiny. I called out the guard. A death-like stillness followed. Captain
- Mason was standing with the silence and firmness of stone. I stole a
- glance at Beelo and saw that he had slipped round through the trees to be
- nearer.
- </p>
- <p>
- I rapped out an order for the guard to step forward. They looked round
- curiously at one another, some with a half-smile as they glanced at
- Captain Mason, to see if he approved. His face was expressionless. I
- repeated the order, more peremptorily, and in slowly rising they regarded
- me curiously and in some wonder, as they had never seen me with such a
- bearing. Whatever they saw and heard quickened their action. There was an
- impressive solemnity in the proceeding, and it strengthened them moment by
- moment. I did not hurry them, since it was clear that a sense of serious
- responsibility was rising in them.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lenardo, step forward and submit to arrest,” I sharply said to one of the
- recalcitrants, a decent young carpenter.
- </p>
- <p>
- He paled, then flushed, and blunderingly turned to Mr. Vancouver. But that
- gentleman was gazing at me with all the hate of his soul. Annabel shrank
- under the significance of Lenardo’s silent appeal to her father. Receiving
- no guidance from Mr. Vancouver, the young culprit sent a fluttering,
- desperate look abroad, picking out his guilty associates. All the comfort
- he got from them was a frightened glance in return.
- </p>
- <p>
- The impaled man wriggled awkwardly to his feet,—for I was giving him
- time,—and with a grin and shrug made a pitiful attempt to treat the
- arrest as a pleasantry.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stand facing that end of the guard-line,” I ordered, pointing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come, Henry,” he said to one of the conspirators. The bravado was clearly
- sham.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No talking!” I ripped out.
- </p>
- <p>
- It jerked Lenardo straight, and he came forward and stood where I had
- directed.
- </p>
- <p>
- The young man addressed as Henry slouched up with a faint trace of
- Lenardo’s swagger, but my sharp “Step lively!” electrified him into firmer
- action, and his grin went sour.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hobart!” I next called. I selected him for the third, for I knew his
- independent, rebellious nature, his courage and pride, and wished the
- severest test of the discipline to come at once.
- </p>
- <p>
- Because we had been good friends and he knew that I respected him, he
- stared incredulously, but found me a stranger. Then a vicious look flared
- in his face, and, still sitting, he fingered the handle of a heavy iron
- vessel on the table while regarding me defiantly.
- </p>
- <p>
- I waited, and then called him again.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I won’t be made a fool of in this way!” he cried, rising, his face
- blazing, his hold on the iron vessel tightening.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You two guards on the left, do your duty!” I commanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- They hesitatingly advanced upon him. Making a great scattering of
- frightened women and children, Hobart stepped back, brandished the vessel,
- and shouted:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’m a free American citizen, I am! I’m a law-abiding man and I know my
- rights! Stand back, there,” to the guards, “or I’ll———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Two more guards from the left. Step lively!” I called.
- </p>
- <p>
- The advance of the four guards was checked by a diversion. Mr. Vancouver,
- who had been sitting in apathetic silence, suddenly spoke out with biting
- clearness:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hobart, it is the duty of every one here to submit to authority.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The young man opened his mouth in astonishment, and instantly drooped; the
- vessel clattered from his hand to the ground.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I won’t make trouble now,” he grumbled, “but we’ve been played low down
- by somebody, and I’ll——-”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Silence!” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- With a threatening shoulder-lift at Mr. Vancouver, which deepened that
- gentleman’s pallor, Hobart sullenly fell in. I quickly called out the
- other culprits; all obeyed and stood in line facing the guard. Then I
- looked round at Captain Mason for orders.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER X.—The Finding of a Man.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Shame and Horror Follow Disobedience. A Violent Outbreak and Its
- Result. The Heads That Struck a Wall. A Frightened Face Among the Trees.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE president said
- nothing, but gave a signal to Christopher, who brought up a basket
- containing rope-ends and strips of cloth, of native manufacture. I
- understood what I was next to do, and under ordinary circumstances should
- have thought of nothing but the doing; but now a coldness seized my heart,
- for I thought of Beelo, as a horrified witness.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a craning to see what the basket held, and then came a quick
- drawing of the breath and afterward a hiss as the truth dawned on those of
- quick perception.
- </p>
- <p>
- Picking up a rope-end, I stood facing the crowd in silence until perfect
- stillness had come. Then I went to Lenardo, the first in line, and said to
- the guard:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are any of you experienced in tying a man’s hands?”
- </p>
- <p>
- A head-shake was the response of each.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then observe how this is done,” I said. And to Lenardo, “Turn your back
- and cross your wrists behind you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- All the blood fled his face. He glanced about with a shamed, beseeching
- helplessness, his eyes wide with horror and his look an appeal for
- protection from the outrage.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Turn, and cross your wrists,” came my command as evenly as before.
- </p>
- <p>
- The prisoner obeyed, his hands trembling.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Cross your wrists.” My tone was such as a farrier might use to a horse he
- was shoeing.
- </p>
- <p>
- Lenardo crossed them.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Observe,” I repeated to the guards, as I quickly wound the cord and
- knotted it.
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart watched the proceeding narrowly, his face growing more livid, his
- eyes bulging farther, his breathing uneven. Once he sent a flaming glance
- at Mr. Vancouver, who winced under it, and sat with a sickly, shrunken
- look. I knew that the supreme test of discipline lay ahead, and I was
- warming to the situation.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tie the next one,” I said to two of the guards, handing them a strip. At
- the same time, no longer able to resist a glance at Beelo, I found in his
- stricken face so strange a look that it disconcerted me for a moment. It
- looked to be both horror and appeal. But my duty was plain.
- </p>
- <p>
- I stood by and observed the clumsy work of the two guards in tying the
- second man, who, meeker than Lenardo,—although both were manly
- fellows,—submitted more promptly.
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart’s turn came next. He was looking about as a trapped beast, and he
- swayed and muttered. It was clear that under the approaching degradation
- he was letting his wits tangle.
- </p>
- <p>
- Some women, sickened by the scene, and fearing a tragedy from Hobart,
- slipped away, a few softly crying, others very white. They hid in a huddle
- behind the storehouse, the mothers taking their children.
- </p>
- <p>
- “One more turn. Tighter. Work faster,” I ordered the guards tying the
- second man.
- </p>
- <p>
- They obeyed with nervous eagerness.
- </p>
- <p>
- Then came Hobart’s turn. I stood before him. He knew what to do without my
- order, and I was silent.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Haven’t we any friends among you people?” he bellowed, stepping back and
- hardening every muscle. “Are you all cowards, to let these brutes ride
- roughshod over you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Submit, Hobart,” cut Mr. Vancouver’s voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned upon him, but said nothing, and his cadaverous face whitened
- still more under my stare.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We need no assistance from you, sir,” Captain Mason coldly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- He started; a momentary flash enlivened his sunken eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Step up here in line,” I said to Hobart.
- </p>
- <p>
- He wavered toward submission under Mr. Vancouver’s order, but my prompt
- suppression of that intervention thrust upon him an angry despair. “To
- hell with you!” he shouted to me. “You bully! You cur! Here, fellows,”
- addressing his comrades in line, “don’t be whipped dogs! We are free
- American citizens, we are! Break away!” He stepped still farther back and
- edged toward the table. “Stand by me! Be men! We’ll settle this thing!
- Come on!” The line swayed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Guard, re-form the prisoners in line,” I ordered. They stepped forward.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Fight, boys! Arm yourselves at the tables!” Hobart’s fierce words
- thrilled the camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lively there!” I snapped to the guards. “Seize Hobart first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The tables, boys!” shouted Hobart. “Romer,” he added to a husky young man
- of the party, “tackle Captain Mason. I’ll attend to Tudor!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart sprang at Romer, gave him a shake, and shouted, “Get to work!” and
- then advanced toward me as Romer was hardening for assault.
- </p>
- <p>
- As Hobart had rudely calculated, the moment was snatched by the other
- prisoners for a rush on the guard and the tables, and they broke on the
- bound as Hobart hurled himself upon me. But he was too precipitate, and
- lacked training.
- </p>
- <p>
- It is doubtful that any in the camp except myself saw how the next thing
- happened. There was a muffled crack, and Hobart’s feet cleared the ground,
- his limbs whipped the air as though he were drowning, and he sprawled on
- the earth in a disorganized, quivering heap. A glance showed me that Romer
- had been stopped two yards from Captain Mason by a look such as he had
- never encountered before, and he stood staring like an imbecile.
- </p>
- <p>
- A low cry broke from fifty feminine throats when Hobart’s body made its
- impact with the ground. But the entire rush had been paralyzed; it was
- clearly the impression that Hobart had been killed, and all were staring
- from him to me. The guard had responded; the prisoners were in
- subjugation, some by a collar-grip of the guard, others panting on the
- ground under urgent knees, still others standing inert.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hands off the prisoners. Re-form the line,” I ordered.
- </p>
- <p>
- When this had been done, the young men sullen, sheepish, and silent, and
- viewing with awe the still body of Hobart on the ground, I looked round
- upon the circle till I found the man I wanted. My glance had included
- Captain Mason and found him stolid and motionless as he observed my
- procedure.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dr. Preston, come forward,” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- He instantly responded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Please examine Hobart’s jaw and neck,” I directed. “One or the other may
- be broken.”
- </p>
- <p>
- As he was turning away to obey he discovered a red trickle from my right
- hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are you hurt?” he inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He carefully examined the heap on the ground.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Only a contusion and a slight brain-concussion,” he announced.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You two,” I promptly said to two of the guards, “buck and gag Hobart. Do
- you know how?”
- </p>
- <p>
- They shook their heads, but under my direction accomplished what appeared
- to be a disagreeable task. The process consisted in tying Hobart’s hands
- and feet, flexing his knees, slipping his arms over them, and thrusting a
- stick under his knees and over his arms, thus reducing him to a helpless
- knot. Then they thrust a towel between his teeth and tied it at the back
- of his head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Shall I do anything to revive him, sir?” asked the doctor. It was
- interesting to hear the “sir” slip from his tongue.
- </p>
- <p>
- I looked to Captain Mason for directions, but his face remained void.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No,” I said. Then to two of the guards, “Take him to the shade over
- there, on the ground,” indicating a tree near by and in full view of the
- camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- Meanwhile, the tying of the other prisoners had gone on rapidly and
- smoothly. When it was finished, I ordered the men taken to the shade and
- lined up behind Hobart, who lay on his side, the guards standing by. The
- prisoners were a very sober-looking crowd.
- </p>
- <p>
- Then came a lull. I had regarded the subjugation of the men as merely the
- lighter preparatory work for some grave procedure which Captain Mason
- would direct after that was accomplished. At first I was doubtful of my
- wisdom in withholding restorative measures from Hobart, but I had done so
- hoping that it would have the effect both of softening Captain Mason and
- of impressing the other prisoners and the camp at large. Now I had to face
- unknown plans, but Captain Mason still remained mute. It was evident that,
- since quiet had come, it was from him rather than me that the camp awaited
- the next move; it was his crushing mastery that all felt; it was his iron
- hand that lay on every heart. He quietly seated himself, and without a
- glance at me waited, his face wearing the undisturbed calm that
- distinguished it always in dramatic situations.
- </p>
- <p>
- The women in hiding peered out cautiously, and then joined those on the
- scene. A slight stir, accompanied with murmurs, rose in a spot where the
- women stood thickest, and a shrill voice came angrily.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, I will! You can’t stop me! I say it’s an outrage, and I’m going to
- untie that boy and take that strangling thing out of his mouth.” She was
- advancing, a middle-aged woman, with a determined air, and she walked
- straight toward Hobart, ignoring me as I stood near him. “I just want to
- say to you, Mr. Tudor, that it was enough to knock the senses out of him,
- and that it’s inhuman and brutal to keep him tied up like an animal. If
- the <i>men</i> in this camp can be bullied and scared, I’ll let you know
- that there’s a <i>woman</i> who can’t. I’m going to untie that lad, and———”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had stepped forward and laid a kindly hand on her arm as she spoke, but
- she threw it off.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let me alone!” she cried. “If you want to strike a woman dead, you
- murdering bully, do it! I dare you!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Nodding to two of the guards, I said: “Take her to her hut, and keep her
- there. If she makes the least noise, bind and gag her.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You brute! You coward!” she cried, making a dash forward.
- </p>
- <p>
- The guards gingerly seized her, and she talked and struggled wildly. But
- they dragged her away, and no sound came from the hut. Captain Mason gave
- not the slightest attention to the incident, which greatly deepened the
- depression on the camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart’s slow, heavy breathing became regular, then fluttered; his eyes
- opened, and rolled unseeing. Intelligence began to dawn in his face, and
- with it came an unconscious straining at his bonds. That hastened his
- recovery. A wild, clear look that roved a moment and settled malignantly
- on me, showed that he had come to himself. His astonished glance at his
- helpless state preceded an effort for speech that his gag turned to a
- growl, and he made a mighty tug to snap the cords. That failing, he
- twisted his head to see the line of prisoners standing bound. Then his
- gaze found Captain Mason, who was not observing him, and he savagely
- growled and champed his gag.
- </p>
- <p>
- I looked furtively round for Beelo, and found him staring at me as at
- something strange and monstrous. It was more than I could bear, and on
- looking away I discovered the gathering of clouds, and then heard low
- thunder in the distance.
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart’s fury wore itself out. Humiliation took its turn. Toward the end
- came a humbled spirit and dumb pleading. A quickening ran through the
- crowd, and eager, appealing eyes were upon me from every direction; but I
- waited. From humility Hobart sank lower, for the pain of his cramped
- muscles grew worse and worse, making him writhe and groan and strain.
- Still the moment had not come. I knew that many a life hung on the
- precision of my conduct, and Captain Mason did not interfere to the
- slightest extent. At last, when Hobart’s dumb pleading had settled on my
- face and did not rove, I said to Dr. Preston:
- </p>
- <p>
- “The gag—nothing else—may come away.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He removed it, and Hobart panted:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Thank you, Doctor. Take the others off, please.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The physician looked to me, but I gave no sign. That started a movement in
- the crowd, and I had to quell that with a look.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let him take ‘em off, Mr. Tudor,” the prisoner begged.
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded, and he was free. He labored weakly to a sitting posture, Dr.
- Preston assisting. His head rolled, but he breathed deeply, and steadied
- himself. Dr. Preston felt his pulse.
- </p>
- <p>
- “May he have water and a wet towel, sir?” he asked me.
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded. Hobart drank greedily. Dr. Preston mopped his head and face, and
- bound the wet towel over his forehead.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Bring a seat for Hobart,” I said to a guard.
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart was lifted to it, and thus sat facing the crowd. He had a finer
- look than I had ever seen from him; he had passed through purgatory. He
- looked openly at the people, and at last his glance rested on Mr.
- Vancouver. It seemed to hold a deep meaning. Mr. Vancouver shrank even
- more than when he had seen the iron hand come down.
- </p>
- <p>
- I went up to Captain Mason and reported that Hobart was conscious.
- </p>
- <p>
- The captain nodded, came forward, I beside him, and looked down on the
- beaten man, who anxiously returned the look.
- </p>
- <p>
- “May I say a word, Captain?” Hobart asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Certainly.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart turned to me. “You are a hard man,” he said, “but square and brave.
- So are you, Captain Mason. I deserved what I got, and a good deal more.
- But I’m sorry for what I did, and I ask you to forgive me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- There was frank admiration in Captain Mason’s face, for he was observing
- another strong man emerge from the first hard lesson in a discipline that
- the sailor had known for many a year.
- </p>
- <p>
- “May I say something to the boys?” asked Hobart.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Hobart worked round to face his fellow-conspirators. In silence he looked
- at one after another.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Boys,” he said, “we made a mistake, and are beginning to pay. I don’t
- know what’s going to be done with us, but, whatever it is, we must bear it
- like men. We made an agreement when we came into this valley, and we
- violated it. What we did might have cost the life of every member of this
- colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He paused, for he was weak, and a deep emotion tore him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Boys, if I had been Captain Mason and Mr. Tudor, and had protected and
- trusted the people as they have done, and they had tried to undermine me,
- and to benefit themselves to the harm of the others, I would have them
- taken to the nearest tree, and, God help me! I would have them hanged.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Not a word of that astonishing speech missed an ear in the crowd. When
- Hobart had ended, his head dropped in dejection.
- </p>
- <p>
- After a long minute of silence Captain Mason gave me a look. I went to
- Hobart, who raised a sad face to mine. But when he saw my smile and my
- extended hand, a glad surprise leaped in him, and his clasp was that of a
- drowning man.
- </p>
- <p>
- I walked away. Dr. Preston next received Captain Mason’s glance, and the
- scene was repeated. I did not observe the hint that the president must
- have given; but while some of the guard came and took Hobart’s hand,
- others were untying the prisoners, and they also came in their turn.
- </p>
- <p>
- There were tears in Hobart’s eyes, and his speech had fled by the time
- Captain Mason came up and took his hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are a man, Hobart,” said he, and without noting the effect turned to
- the other conspirators. “Young men,” he went on, “you are at liberty. The
- incident is closed.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Without a glance at the assembled colony, he turned away and went to his
- hut.
- </p>
- <p>
- I looked for Beelo, and saw his signal to follow him. A buzzing rose from
- the crowd. A hard, fixed look was in Mr. Vancouver’s ashen face. Annabel’s
- head rested in her arms on the table, and she was sobbing. From every
- direction I found furtive glances upon me, and wondered whether I had
- become a Pariah. The idea was dispelled by the friendly responses that my
- advances found, but I was uneasy on the score of Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XI.—Faces Set Toward Danger.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Len-tala in Difficulties. The True Story of the Enterprising Young Men.
- Mr. Vancouver Faces the Unknown. Beelo Takes Us on a Journey.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">B</span>EELO was much
- excited and torn with impatience when I arrived. Despite that, he regarded
- me with an odd mixture of awe and fear.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” he exclaimed, “you are terrible and cruel! I couldn’t have
- believed———” His breath gave out.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What’s the news, lad?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The gentle solicitude in my voice steadied him, and he looked with his
- sunny smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are dear old Choseph, aren’t you?” he said. “Oh, everything has
- happened!” he flung out. “The king is terribly angry with Lentala for
- interfering with the arrest of the young men yesterday. I had to stay with
- her, and couldn’t come. I don’t know what trouble will come out of it, but
- the king is going to bring matters to a head at once, before we are nearly
- ready! Choseph! those young men ought not to have been let out of the
- valley. Gato is now on his way to the colony for a man, and you must go
- there immediately to attend to it. You must decide which man is to go.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His news, breathlessly given, stunned me. It was essential that we both be
- calm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tell me what happened to the young men,” asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They climbed the wall, and expected to slip through. Why, Senatra men
- rained on them! Len-tala got there as soon as she could with her private
- guard, but it was too late to save them from a terrible whipping. The
- guard had them bound and were taking them to the palace when Lentala
- arrived. She’s afraid now that the king will do what he has threatened,—either
- lock her up or give orders that will tie her hands so that she can’t do
- anything.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I hesitated. “If she is powerless, Beelo, there will be no one to protect
- the man who will go out with Gato.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His distress was poignant, and he dropped to the ground in a weary little
- heap.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala is equal to any task, lad,” I quietly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- He looked up brightly. “Do you believe that much in her, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She’s our one hope, lad, and she’ll never falter; and she has your wise
- little head and your bold heart to help her.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He came strongly to his feet. “She can do anything if you think <i>that</i>
- of her, Choseph,” he gently said. Another moment found him his eager,
- active self. “A great deal will depend on the man you are to send out,” he
- said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why? What awaits him?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The answer was an appealing look. His remarks about the earthquakes and
- the storms had puzzled me, and while I knew that the subject was repugnant
- to him, I was forced to revive it. I repeated a remark by Captain Mason
- that a storm was brewing. Beelo straightened.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Captain Mason ought to know!” he cried. “The king’s wise men have told
- him the same thing. Choseph, Choseph! It would be horrible!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why, lad? I can’t work in the dark.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His look was appealing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I must know,” I said. “You are acting like a child, and this is work for
- men. Tell me what the storm and the earthquake have to do with us, or I’ll
- refuse to surrender a man to Gato, and we’ll fight.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” he exclaimed, frightened; then, after a pause: “The people
- think the Black Face must have all the castaways, or it will shake the
- ground with earthquakes and maybe send a volcano to destroy everything.
- But if the earthquake is heavy, it terrifies the people. In that way you
- might escape if Lentala’s plan fails. It was a great earthquake I was
- hoping for.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The Black Face must have all the castaways?” I repeated. “How?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know!” he desperately cried. “Lentala doesn’t know. It has been
- concealed from us. But it’s something horrible! A storm is coming, but it
- may bring no castaways, and the king won’t wait any longer. He can’t
- control the people.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What kind of man should we send out, Beelo?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “One who’s brave and fears nothing,” he promptly answered, studying me
- oddly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then Rawley wouldn’t do.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. Mr. Vancouver.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had felt it coming. Of course he deserved any risk, any fate, but——
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are thinking of Annabel,” said Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. She is innocent. Unless Lentala can keep him away from the king and
- save him from harm, I won’t——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “There, there, Choseph!” sweetly said the boy. “She’ll manage. You’ll send
- Mr. Vancouver?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good! That will make the king think you aren’t suspicious. As soon as he
- has gone with Gato, you and Christopher come here, and then we three will
- go out of the valley.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason’s heavy hand still lay as a hush on the camp when Gato, the
- giant leader of the soldiers, arrived an hour later with a band of his
- men. Christopher and I met him, and he informed us that he had come for
- the man who was to be taken out. I despatched Christopher for Captain
- Mason, whom I had informed of the decision to send Mr. Vancouver out. The
- storm had been gathering with a slowness that indicated destructive
- preparation. Mr. Vancouver was in his hut with Rawley and Annabel.
- Rawley’s haggard face peered out at intervals and sent a straining look at
- me such as I had seen in the faces of the condemned peering through the
- cell-grate for any messenger that might bear a reprieve. They were not
- aware of our decision that Mr. Vancouver should go.
- </p>
- <p>
- The president, cool and serious, came with Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Summon Mr. Vancouver,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- The three came out. Mr. Vancouver, though pale, had a firm look, and it
- went straight to Captain Mason. Rawley was ghastly. Annabel held my
- attention most. Undoubtedly Mr. Vancouver had been trying to prepare her
- for the contingency of his leaving, and had made poor work of it.
- </p>
- <p>
- Her glance first sought Captain Mason, and found a blank face with no eyes
- for her. Next she looked at me, and caught something that I was too slow
- in hiding. Thenceforward during the scene I knew that the ache within me
- for her sake was large print to her eyes. Her bearing was an accusation, a
- challenge for frankness, an appeal for protection.
- </p>
- <p>
- The president said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mr. Vancouver, the king has sent for one of our men. It would be my duty
- to go if I could be spared. Will you go?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Certainly,” came the prompt answer.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel shrank, and then bravely stepped forth. Her voice lost its quaver
- as she proceeded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why send my father?” she demanded. “Are there no young men here with the
- courage to volunteer?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She eagerly scanned the crowd, not heeding her father’s restraining hand
- on her arm. Being a woman, she could never understand why not a single man
- made a sign, so heavy was the weight of Captain Mason’s hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is a shame!” she passionately exclaimed. “I had thought there were
- more manliness and gratitude in the world.” She turned upon me. “Mr.
- Tudor, I know <i>you</i> will go.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I could not bear it. “May I tell her in confidence what I am to do?” I
- asked Captain Mason under my breath.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not now,” he answered. “Miss Vancouver,” he said aloud, “Mr. Tudor cannot
- go. I beg to remind you that you are interfering with the business in
- hand.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Recollection of the morning’s scene, when a woman had been sent away under
- guard, must have been what whitened her face with fear and then flushed it
- with anger. The lion in her father crouched at Captain Mason, but
- instantly remembered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Daughter,” he peremptorily said, “spare us further humiliation. I am
- going.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then, I will go with you!” she exclaimed.
- </p>
- <p>
- The entire colony was assembled, and all were expecting another measure of
- authority; but Captain Mason stood in patient silence.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Impossible, child!” said Mr. Vancouver.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, I will go!” she cried. “I have a right to go, and I will!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver sent Captain Mason an inquiring look, and found that the
- blue eyes had hardened. He knew the meaning of that; he must at once
- eliminate his daughter.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Child,” he coaxed, enclosing her in his arms, “it is impossible,—dangers
- would arise that wouldn’t come if you were absent.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I can’t bear it,—I can’t bear it!” she half sobbed. She struggled
- to free herself. Rawley came forward. “Don’t touch me!” she cried. “Isn’t
- there a <i>man</i>——”
- </p>
- <p>
- A glance from Captain Mason sent Christopher to her side.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It’s me, ma’am.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her father released her, and she turned in astonishment to Christopher.
- Annabel had a sense of the ludicrous, but one of tenderness also. She saw
- the angel behind the clown. Smiles went with her tears as she gave him her
- hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You mustn’t go,” leaked his thin voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “They need you.” His gesture swept the camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- She was silent while she dried her eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” she said, “but——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Them there savagers ud eat you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But my father———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He ain’t nice to eat.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher had laid a daring finger on the mystery, but his words found
- all unheeding except Mr. Vancouver, who looked startled. The suggestion
- was evidently new to him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well, Christopher,” Annabel said, smiling sadly, “I’ll stay. Captain
- Mason,” falteringly, “I ask your pardon.” She turned to her father and
- embraced him. “Father, go. I’ll pray for you.” She held him off and looked
- long into his face. “You’ll come back, won’t you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course. I shall see the king, and I know I can arrange everything
- happily for the colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Captain Mason beckoned Gato. Mr. Vancouver turned his face to the darkness
- and marched away with the guard.
- </p>
- <p>
- When he had gone, Annabel still gazed. Rawley watched her for a look that
- might permit his consoling offices, but she did not see him. Only
- Christopher knew what to do.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It’s a-wanting of you, ma’am,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- She started. “What, Christopher?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It’s mother, too.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, yes,—I’d forgotten.” Without a glance at any of us, she went
- to the ailing child.
- </p>
- <p>
- The colony began to stir. After a hurried conference with Captain Mason,
- Christopher and I left to keep the appointment with Beelo. We were ready
- for him when he came all out of breath. It made me uneasy to note that he
- studiedly avoided my eyes and made no reference to the scene in camp.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There’s not a moment to lose,” he said. “Come; follow me—cautiously.”
- His manner betrayed a nervous haste.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo!” I said, seeing that he was too much excited.
- </p>
- <p>
- He stood panting while he got himself in hand, but still kept his face
- turned from me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now I’m all right,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- He threaded the jungle as though every shrub and tree and turning-place
- were familiar, and held a course on that side of the valley which brought
- us under the Face.
- </p>
- <p>
- His agility taxed me. Not so Christopher: his deftness equaled Beelo’s. We
- were a silent trio.
- </p>
- <p>
- The transverse ridge was crossed, and we entered strange territory.
- Beelo’s eyes and ears were incessantly on watch. Now and then he would
- come to an abrupt halt and hold his breath, but nothing appeared. We kept
- to the deepest shadows, which were further blackened by the steadily
- thickening darkness of the sky. I feared a downpour.
- </p>
- <p>
- Without mishap we finally reached the lower end of the valley. I had been
- trying to see the opening through which the stream must run, but even when
- we halted near the cliff, not a break appeared.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo dropped to the ground. “We’ll rest,” said he.
- </p>
- <p>
- I found the adventure exciting, but was unprepared for its effect on
- Christopher. His usually dull eyes had intelligent vision; his slouchiness
- was gone.
- </p>
- <p>
- After a few moments’ rest Beelo rose, and led us to the stream. It was
- deep and slow here, and crept through a dense overhanging growth. We
- pushed through the tangle, and soon came to a little clearing near the
- bank, but screened from it. The bamboo raft which he and Christopher had
- made lay there.
- </p>
- <p>
- We launched it. Christopher produced a pole from another hiding-place,
- boarded the raft, and knelt on the forward end. Beelo and I followed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” the lad inquired, “can you see in the dark?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” and Christopher shoved off.
- </p>
- <p>
- The vegetation grew denser as we slipped along, and its shadows combined
- with the darkness of the day to plunge us into night. Presently I realized
- that we must have traversed more than the distance between the
- launching-place and the wall.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where are we, Beelo?” I asked, but the sound of my voice informed me
- before the boy’s answer:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Under the mountain. We are going through.”
- </p>
- <p>
- To describe my sensations would be impertinent. Beelo’s reticence was more
- than silence. The only sound was the swish of Christopher’s pole as it
- dipped and scraped while we drifted. Beelo, sitting a little to the rear
- and at one side of me, crept nearer.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Talk,” he begged, edging still closer, till our arms touched.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well, lad. Shall I tell you a story?”
- </p>
- <p>
- We must have been on the floor of a lofty cavern, for my words came back.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hush!” he whispered.
- </p>
- <p>
- His hand was groping for mine. Perfect blackness encompassed us. I took
- his hand. A slight tremor thrilled it, and I put an arm about his
- shoulders, drew him close, and pressed his head down in the hollow of my
- neck. There was none of his refractory wildness now. Poor lad! For all the
- pluck that he had shown in the past, the silence and the darkness of this
- grew-some passage had unmanned him. It was good to hear the comfort in his
- sigh, the fading of the tremor, and the firm grasp of his hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- Evidently Beelo had never made this trip before, but I wondered that at
- least its upper end had been left unguarded and why it was not a highway
- for the natives. In a whisper I asked him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is guarded,” he answered; “but when a storm or an earthquake comes,
- the men are afraid that what is in here will come out; and, besides, they
- think a storm is a better guard than they. But they weren’t far away. I
- knew how to avoid them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, but——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Down!” came sharply from Christopher simultaneously with a dull blow.
- </p>
- <p>
- I flattened Beelo and myself.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Up,” said Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- Had his face or head encountered a low-hanging rock? Yet he had thought of
- us.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are you hurt?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did your head strike?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Arm, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Perhaps an inscrutable power had given him the sense to raise his arm and
- guard his head at the moment of peril. I finished my question to Beelo:
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is in here the natives fear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The voices that send your words back.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Surely they are familiar with the echo in the mountains.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not this kind, Choseph.” He had never called me that so easily. I hugged
- him closer, and he nestled like a kitten.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was indeed a startling echo. At times even our whispers seemed to
- multiply and flock on wings, and come rustling back.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There’s something still worse,” added Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know. They would never tell me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- ...I wondered whether he had felt the sudden leap of my heart. He must,
- for he snuggled closer, withdrew his hand from mine, caressed my cheek,
- and whispered:
- </p>
- <p>
- “We’ll be brave.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, lad, but if we knew only a little we should be the better prepared.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was silent.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know nothing about it?” I insisted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Nothing at all.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But natives have gone through safely, else they wouldn’t know.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Some did, a long time ago. That was the last.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Some did? Not all that started?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not all. The others went mad. Don’t talk about it, dear Choseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Assuredly Beelo had been driven to a desperate extremity to choose this
- way of escape from the valley. It showed how closely the ordinary outlets
- were guarded.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XII.—Dramatic Discoveries.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Plunged Into Mysterious Terrors. Christopher’s Obscure Powers at Work.
- A Struggle for Our Lives. Stout Hearts Fail. A Dear One Lost.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE passage was
- crooked. The darkness was unqualified, and so dense that it seemed
- resistant and hard to breathe. It was the sort of blackness that
- penetrates to the heart and quenches the light there. Matches had long ago
- disappeared from the colony, and I had no means of making a light. Nor had
- Beelo provided against the blackness. All time-reckoning had been lost,
- but our rate was slow, and I knew that the passage must be long.
- </p>
- <p>
- Thus far the odors had been of the sun-sweetened water crossed with those
- of the underground dank, and were pleasant. But presently a faint pungency
- invaded the cold air. I knew by the change in Beelo’s breathing that his
- quick sense had discovered it. It suggested things over which my memory
- halted. Christopher gave no sign. With unflagging watchfulness, aided by a
- perception far keener than mine, he kept the raft free in the stream,
- except for occasional bumps.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you smell it, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- There was an interval before his answer, “Fire, sir.” Beelo cowered in my
- embrace. Since Christopher had mentioned it, I knew it was fire; I cannot
- say how I knew, because the odor was unlike that from any combustion I had
- ever known.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you know what is burning?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- This silence was longer than the other; Christopher must have listened
- far.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The world, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo shook with a silent chuckle, and squeezed my hand; but I knew that
- Christopher’s words had a meaning.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The world?” I quietly repeated.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir. I hear it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo and I straightened up and set our ears on a strain.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I hear nothing,” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I hear it, very faint,” Beelo breathlessly returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- It made no difference with the steadiness of Christopher’s work. The odor
- gradually grew more pronounced, and then I recalled an iron smelter that I
- had seen in boyhood. Presently I too heard a distant roar as of a furnace
- that ground while it burned. Beelo crept close under my arm again. I could
- feel his quick heart-beats and shortened breathing against my side.
- </p>
- <p>
- Creeping through these increasing sensations came the deep note of falling
- water. Why ask Beelo whether he had ever heard that our stream took a
- subterranean plunge? Christopher kept coolly at his task. The sharp
- striking and scraping of his tireless pole had long ago informed me that
- rock made our channel and shores, which were uneven and dangerous. Now and
- then the raft would make a sudden swing to avoid underwater rocks that
- Christopher’s soundings had discovered. At other times it would come to a
- lurching halt until the man carrying our lives in his hand had made sure
- of the way.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you think of that water falling, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He waited a long time, and his slow answer chilled me:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You’ll go slow when we come nearer?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo gave me a hand-pressure intended to silence my foolish tongue.
- </p>
- <p>
- With a growing intensity in the odor, in the furnace roar, and in the
- rumbling of the waterfall, came stealing something new and surpassingly
- uncanny. It was a very dim glow, with no visible source, and without the
- power to make anything seen but itself. Apparently it was but the darkness
- in a more oppressive phase. In vain did I strain my eyes to see
- Christopher, Beelo, the raft, the water,—anything that light could
- make visible; but the glow was as impenetrable as the darkness.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo was going to pieces under the weight of this encompassing awe. I
- knew that his weakness was born of his yielding to an extraneous reliance—Christopher
- and me. He put his lips to my ear and whispered:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’m afraid.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Steady, lad. You are our guide; you are responsible for us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, I know.” He made a pathetic effort to regain himself. “This light—don’t
- you <i>feel</i> it, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I do, dear lad, but my name isn’t Choseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yoseph!” he triumphantly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph,” I insisted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mr. Tudor!” In a whirlwind he threw both arms round my neck, and softly
- laughed. The old Beelo was on guard again, except that with his recovered
- courage he was uncommonly gentle and affectionate. I wondered if I should
- ever reach the end of the boy’s phases.
- </p>
- <p>
- From some indeterminate direction came the muffled sound of an explosion.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hold tight!” cried Christopher, violently lurching the raft round and
- jamming it sharply against high jutting rocks on the bank. “Down!” he
- added.
- </p>
- <p>
- A mighty rush as of many winds came tearing up the passage far ahead. I
- threw Beelo face down, and flattened my body. Then came the blow, and
- hurled Christopher backward upon us. In a moment he had recovered himself.
- The impact must have strained Beelo’s ribs, but he lay still.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was a combination of atmospheric concussion and hot gases, principally
- steam, that had struck us. I raised my head, gasping for breath. Beelo was
- inert. I lifted him. One arm feebly groped for my neck, and clung there.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We are safe!” I cheerily said. “Where is my brave little brother?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He only held me the closer. Indeed, speech was difficult, since the air
- was packed with smothering vapors. The desire to breathe was checked by an
- instinctive fear to inhale.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher cautiously pushed out, and again we drifted free, The pole
- dipped and clicked and scraped.
- </p>
- <p>
- But a change had come. The furnace roar had ceased; the waterfall grew
- louder. Most striking of all was the unearthly luminosity of the steam
- filling the tunnel. That vapor, rapidly chilling in the cold of the
- passage, increased in opaqueness, but glowed the more. Before long the
- light became radiant and faintly illuminating, and the air sweetened. I
- had known by Beelo’s breath on my cheek that his face was upturned to
- mine, and near. Thus it was that after long peering I found the light in
- his eyes. My arms were enclosing him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I see my lad!” I said in gladness.
- </p>
- <p>
- A queer little movement of withdrawal began. I tried to hold him, but
- found no yielding. Gradually he slipped out of my clasp, and sat alone.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher slowly took body in the haze, a ghostly Charon on the Styx.
- The color of the glow grew from white to rose, with an occasional
- effulgence of bluish purple. The surface of the earth knew no such tints
- in fire; these were royally plutonic. The black rocks overhead and on
- either hand assumed a vague, grim definition, and to my keyed fancy
- displayed grotesque suggestions. Blank spaces a shade darker than the
- grimacing, minatory rocks fell away; these I supposed to be cavernous
- reaches out of the passage, for from them came echoed multiples of the
- pole-sounds.
- </p>
- <p>
- The temperature began to rise as the waterfall grew louder, the light more
- revealing, the haze weaker. We swung round a wide curve, and all at once a
- terrifying vision sprang forth in a blood-red light. Our stream opened
- into a small lake, which was violently churned by a cataract of crimson
- water brilliantly illuminated and plunging out of the overhead darkness
- into it. The roar was deafening.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo, scrambling in terror to his feet, his eyes blazing with the red
- madness that packed the cavern, required a strong hand to subdue him. He
- struggled in my grasp, pointed frantically backward with implorings that
- we return, and fought my restraint with sheer animal desperation.
- Christopher’s conduct, though showing extraordinary exhilaration, betrayed
- no fear, but only a grimmer hold on our situation. With a rearward glance
- and the discovery that I was holding Beelo securely, he stood up, a
- gigantic red figure, and with all his might shot the raft forward into the
- maelstrom. The frail thing plunged in the surge, but Christopher’s eye and
- arm were sure. The suck of the water, curving downward where the cataract
- struck the pool, was cunningly avoided as he circled the rim of the
- lakelet, having as able work to do in avoiding the dripping rocks there as
- in keeping out of the breakers.
- </p>
- <p>
- I thanked God there was light, formidable though it was; it helped me in
- my control of Beelo, whose struggles were becoming weaker, and enabled me
- to find a good grip on the raft, for there was danger of slipping off.
- Through all the wild lurching Christopher kept a sailor’s feet; and,
- although his back was toward me, I saw by his quick movements that all his
- shrewd forces were in the fight.
- </p>
- <p>
- Whence came the light? It appeared to be in the cataract itself, a living
- flame in the heart of its greatest enemy. The water was joyously, terribly
- alive.
- </p>
- <p>
- The raft described an arc of the pool, slipped out of the boiling churn,
- and, before Christopher was aware, caught an eddy and went swinging and
- lurching in behind the cataract. The man so strong in both soul and body
- threw up his hands in the surrender of terror, for a thing more awful than
- the red light and the waterfall confronted us. He dropped the pole. Its
- middle struck the edge of the raft, and our one weapon of defense
- rebounded into the water. Beelo saw the catastrophe. He clutched me
- frantically about the neck, nearly strangling me before I broke his hold.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0133.jpg" alt="0133 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0133.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- Christopher looked about for the pole, and saw it bobbing on end as it
- struggled against submergence in the down-thrust behind the fall. It was
- twenty fatal feet away. The ferocity of elemental self-preservation seized
- on the man and transformed him. This was not the attitude of patient,
- gentle Christopher, the humble, serving Christopher, but that of a bayed
- animal. My hands were tied by the necessity of Beelo’s care.
- </p>
- <p>
- The spectacle that had unmanned Christopher was in a profound recess
- reaching indeterminately out of the cavern and behind the waterfall. It
- had not been visible until we rounded the fall and went scurrying behind
- it in the eddy. Apparently far back,—I cannot guess how far,—ran
- a broad, high, fantastically irregular tunnel ending in a pit of boiling
- lava, at an unknown depth below the level of the tunnel, which itself was
- slightly above the surface of the pool. Deep rumblings issued from it, as
- from a heavy ebullition, punctured with smothered detonations. Rising from
- it were thin, cloud-like masses of vapor, like the pale mauve haze of
- distant mountains. In its rolling it thickened concealingly here and
- opened revealingly there, with constantly shifting effects.
- </p>
- <p>
- The dominant color was a deep, transparent crimson of a tint such as may
- be seen in the cooling iron of a foundry or in the great crater of
- Kilauea; but following the detonations came leaping flames of bluish
- purple. It was the red shining through the water that had made the
- cataract a fall of liquid crimson when seen from the front.
- </p>
- <p>
- This, then, was the funnel of a volcano, with a lateral vent. Was it one
- of Pluto’s cooling forges? Was its present activity transient? Was this
- the beginning of a seismic convulsion that might blow the valley rampart
- into the sea?
- </p>
- <p>
- I cannot say when those questions arose. The urgency of an immediate
- threat demanded all attention. Beelo was in an ecstasy of terror, and
- Christopher was desperately casting about with all his reassembled wits.
- In the tumult of noises our voices were useless. We had been flung out of
- the larger eddy into a smaller one swirling between the back of the fall
- and the tunnel-mouth. It had a swifter and more dizzying whirl. Soon it
- seemed that we were still, except for the ceaseless rolling of our craft,
- and that the roaring fall and the grumbling, blazing tunnel were swinging
- round us. With the rest passed the bobbing pole, a live, insane thing,
- nodding this way and that, approaching the downpour gingerly, diving under
- a sharp water-blow, and leaping up with malicious sprightliness a few feet
- back. At any moment it might be caught sidewise and crushed.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was another danger. The centrifugal force of our swing in the eddy
- was carrying us out to the periphery of the swirl. On one side were the
- rocks at the mouth of the tunnel; opposite was the waterfall, the
- slightest blow from which (since it fell from a height of at least a
- hundred feet) would mean the end. Our swinging was taking us nearer to
- both those dangers.
- </p>
- <p>
- Something roused within, overcoming my pity for Beelo. I shook him and
- slapped his cheek. Astonishment and anger blazed in his eyes, and then
- with a mighty indignation he crawled away and sat glaring at me. At
- another time the comical picture would have amused me, for the boy behaved
- just as a proud kitten under similar treatment. Having secured the desired
- result with Beelo, I worked to the edge of the raft, and prepared to make
- a leap for the pole. I was waiting till the raft should swing round and
- bring me nearer. Before that happened, two soft arms were flung round me
- from behind, a cheek pressed mine, and I was borne down backward. Two
- small, firm hands held my wrists down. For the moment I was helpless.
- </p>
- <p>
- Of course, Christopher knew that our nearer approach to danger brought us
- closer to hope, which lay in the pole. He was biding the moment, and it
- came. He crouched on the raft, and a long arm shot out. Beelo’s nerves
- were quivering till Christopher rose; then they stilled, and he released
- me.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher had learned from experience, and it was a surer hand now that
- gripped the pole and sent the raft spinning out of the eddy. To keep it
- somewhat trimmed against Christopher’s movements had been a small part of
- my task hitherto, so thoughtful of everything had he been; but now that he
- saw Beelo and me better used to the situation, he quietly gave us
- something of that to do, thus securing more freedom of movement.
- </p>
- <p>
- He found the egress of the stream from the pool, and pushed out. Slowly we
- crept through the gloomy, misty light, which paled as we went. Christopher
- must have felt a dread that oppressed me—the danger of recurrent
- explosions—for he worked with less extreme caution than before, and
- our progress was better. After a time the light was too dim for me to see
- Beelo sitting in his sullen pout; and when darkness again fell, he crept
- up beside me and stole out a hand for mine. The noises had nearly ceased,
- and Beelo no longer feared the weird echoes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’m glad it’s past,” he sighed, nestling against me. “Aren’t you,
- Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He hugged my arm and softly laughed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, I’m glad,” I answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- It seemed many hours since we had entered the passage, and I hoped we
- should emerge in the morning of the day following that of our start.
- </p>
- <p>
- New conditions began to arise. Above the cataract the stream had been
- slow, with few approaches to rapids. Those had been the worst
- danger-points. Now we discovered that the current was swifter and the
- rapids more numerous and turbulent. The celerity of Christopher’s
- movements increased. He no longer tried to spare us the water dripping
- from his pole as he repeatedly shifted it and groped for bearings. This
- made me more apprehensive. I wondered whether, even with better
- facilities, we could return to the valley through this passage, and how
- the two hundred and fifty colonists could manage to come safely through.
- </p>
- <p>
- Presently I felt in the water a turgidity where the current was slow, and
- heard a hoarse, growling rumble quite different from the sounds that we
- had left behind. Beelo tightened his clutch and breathlessly said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “It has come!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What has, lad?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hush!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Except for an unusual slapping of the water against the rocks, the
- commotion had passed. I wondered if the storm had broken in the valley and
- the torrent was coming; but this did not look like it.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It has gone, Beelo. What was it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, it hasn’t. Hold tight. Sit hard, Christopher!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo,” I impatiently demanded, “you must tell me what——”
- </p>
- <p>
- The speech was stopped by a groaning crunch that tossed the stream,
- splashed the water high on the rocks, and filled the passage with a sound
- like that of crushing glass. Beelo was again in terror.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Be quiet, lad. There’s nothing——-”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t talk!” he desperately commanded. “The third one will come. That’s
- the worst. Wait!”
- </p>
- <p>
- The seconds dragged through an awful silence. Beelo’s breath struggled
- spasmodically through the repression under which he tried to hold it.
- </p>
- <p>
- The third shock came, and then, though I had never felt one before, I knew
- what it was. The whole world seemed to heave and writhe and jolt and
- grind, all with a fearful noise. The earthquake, grim brother of the
- boiling cauldron we had left, had us in its jaws, and its power was
- manifest in the ease with which it crushed and ground the rocks about us.
- Fragments of these began to splash in the water and rattle on the raft.
- Just in front, a huge block plunged into the stream and dashed us with
- water.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo flung himself upon me; I again bent over him to shield him.
- </p>
- <p>
- Another heavy stone struck the raft in the narrow space between
- Christopher and us, and tore through it into the water, sending up a
- geyser through the hole.
- </p>
- <p>
- A stiffening wave of terror overswept Beelo. He sprang to his knees and
- tightly embraced my neck in both arms.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We are going to die!” he feebly cried, and pressed his lips to mine,
- sinking inert into my arms. My fingers anxiously sought his pulse. It was
- fluttering.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!” I called in alarm,—not realizing that the earthquake
- had passed and that a dim light made visible the rocks in a turn ahead,—“Christopher!
- Something has happened to Beelo!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir,” came with the steady old calm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stop! We must do something for him.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We are going out, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We swung the curve, and the blessed daylight smiled ahead. The raft slid
- out of the passage in placid water, which here, as at the other end, was
- deeply embowered. The glorious day, though overcast, was brilliant to our
- eyes as it sifted through and rested sweetly on the water. As Beelo was
- unconscious, Christopher observed extraordinary care in proceeding, and as
- soon as possible secured the raft in the sheltered reach.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was looking down into Beelo’s face. His head had fallen back, and
- although his eyes were closed, his lips were open. It came over me with a
- pang that a richness and a maturity which I had not before noticed in his
- face, rested there now.
- </p>
- <p>
- “How long has it taken us to come through?” I asked Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “‘Mos’ four hours, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was surprised. It had seemed much longer.
- </p>
- <p>
- He came to lift Beelo out, but I myself bore him ashore and laid him on
- the ground, and knelt over him. Christopher was standing near, studying
- him, but showing no anxiety.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is only fainting, isn’t it, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That’s all, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- To give him air, I began to open his blouse.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I wouldn’t, sir,” interposed Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?” I asked, looking up in surprise.
- </p>
- <p>
- He only regarded me in silence. At first I thought that Christopher’s
- singular penetration had discovered that Beelo was lighter of color than a
- full-blooded native and was delicately warning me not to invade the
- carefully guarded secret. I recalled the story that I had told Beelo, and
- my suspicions as to the purity of his native blood. And what harm could
- come if I did learn?
- </p>
- <p>
- Then the truth came upon me with the overwhelming force of long
- cumulation. His conduct in the tunnel, his sweetness and gentleness, the
- strange conclusion of the scene with Annabel when they had met,—a
- thousand memories of things that had passed unheeded in the stress of
- dangers,—came as a blinding light. I do not know when Christopher
- learned the truth, but in his chivalry he would have seen me go blind to
- the grave without a word from him in betrayal of Beelo’s secret.
- </p>
- <p>
- The shock stunned me, and my head was bowed in reverence. When I again
- looked into the patient face, now having for me so sweet and touching a
- pathos, the deep-blue eyes were looking up into mine; then they turned to
- Christopher, and all about. The old mischievous, bantering smile parted
- the perfect lips. The eyes again sought mine.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph! It’s fine to be dead!” But the voice held a different music from
- that of the lad whom I had loved and who was now gone forever.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XIII.—Preparation for the Crisis.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>In the Enemy’s Land. The Weird Light on the Valley Wall. Mr. Vancouver.
- A Visit with Lentala. She Tells a Secret Which I Already Know.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span> Would respect
- Beelo’s wish that she appear as a boy, and must keep hammering into my
- mind the words, Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother. I must not for a moment
- think of her otherwise. “Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What are you dreaming, Choseph, and what are those words your lips are
- saying?” It was Beelo’s cheery voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- He was sitting up; I was beside him looking down at the gliding water. I
- woke to the familiar raillery, and turned with a smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear lad!” I joyfully responded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You had forgotten me,” he ruefully said. “And you, old Christopher! Don’t
- you see I’m dying of thirst?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher plucked two large leaves, fashioned them into a cup, and
- brought the water, which Beelo eagerly drank. He held out his hand, and I
- helped him up. He tried his legs.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That’s better,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- The perfect grace of movement, the exquisite feminine figure so artfully
- concealed,——
- </p>
- <p>
- “Boy, Lad, Dear Little Brother.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mooning again, and talking to yourself!” cried Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It was a rough trip through the passage, boy. I’m a little shaken.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That’s past. Shake the other way.” He was pirouetting round a tree.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But how are we going back, lad?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “This way,” he carelessly answered, making wing-motions with his arms.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There was an earthquake, Beelo.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He stopped short, and his eyes lighted deep.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes!” he softly but impressively exclaimed.
- </p>
- <p>
- The old caution settled in his face; he peered and listened warily, and
- then came a look of assured repose.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is good,” he said,—“if—” a cloud drifted over his face—“if
- they felt it on the surface.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “They did,” interposed Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “How do you know?” Beelo sharply demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher pointed to a large rock near us, to the path that it had
- freshly torn through the brush, and to a steep slope from which it had
- been dislodged.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good for Christopher!” said Beelo. He studied the sky, and dejectedly
- added, “But the storm is coming!” After a little reflection he remarked,
- as if to himself, “I don’t know whether that should change our plans or
- not.” He seated himself to think it out, and began arranging twigs on the
- ground. “No Senatras will be within miles of the passage,” he ruminated.
- “They fear it, for the earthquake is born here, and they have run away.
- So, we can make better time. Mr. Vancouver is safe today; we won’t go <i>there</i>.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where, dear little brother?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Pain crossed his face. “To the clearing opposite the Face. If only another
- earthquake would come, or this had come sooner!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is one usually followed by another?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Often. Sometimes not. Come! The sun will be setting before long, and we
- have miles to go.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We hid the battered raft and struck out. Our way led parallel to the
- stream, which tore foaming down a gorge of steeply sloping sides. It
- slipped into a pleasant valley, richly verdured. There we left it and
- began the ascent of a mountain on the west. Dusk was coming on. Beelo
- fearlessly pursued the trails in the darkening hours.
- </p>
- <p>
- Occasionally we paused to rest. The valley which we had crossed lay a
- black-green sea below. Behind us the eastern sky was cut straight across
- by the level summit of our valley wall. Beelo was closely studying it.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You see no sign of fire over there, do you?” he asked, pointing toward
- the clearing opposite the Face.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was none, and Beelo was gratified. Our attention was diverted from
- that spot by a faint purplish flash, which slipped along the crest above
- the river passage, and was quickly gone. Beelo stood tense and still, and
- whispered:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did you see <i>that?</i>”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We waited for its reappearance, but none came. Beelo said no more. The
- light had come from the subterranean lava-pot.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beyond the wall was the blackest part of the sky. Under the horizon in
- that direction lightning was at play, as we judged from faint
- illuminations in the distant heavens, and the rumble of far thunder.
- </p>
- <p>
- Night had nearly fallen when we reached the summit. The descent was rapid
- on the other side, for Beelo went with the sureness of familiarity. At
- last we stopped at an abandoned hut, hidden in the deep forest. Beelo
- paused on the door-step.
- </p>
- <p>
- “See,” he said, pointing to a glow a mile or less away, down the valley.
- “That is the main settlement of the Senatras. The king’s palace, where
- Lentala and I live, is there. We will visit it tonight,—if Lentala
- agrees. You will rest here awhile and have something to eat. After the
- visit to the palace you will sleep here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He showed us within, closed the door, blew a flame from smothered embers
- on the hearth, and lighted a nut-oil lamp. He had been very sober and
- quiet all the way, but now his eyes began to dance.
- </p>
- <p>
- “This is your mansion!” he exclaimed.
- </p>
- <p>
- The place had been made clean and sweet, good beds of leaves were on the
- earth floor, and fresh water stood in calabashes. Beelo dragged forward a
- copper vessel, and took from it a generous food supply.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Isn’t she pretty good—for a girl?” he casually asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Who?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala. She did these things.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Ever since the scene at the end of the passage, sadness had sat upon me,
- and I was in no mood to enjoy Beelo’s pleasantries,—this, too, while
- I was deeply touched by the labor and gentle thoughtfulness with which
- everything had been done for our comfort. Still, something precious was
- gone from my life; my heart hungered for the lad. But he was here! In a
- swirl of perversity I seized Beelo’s hands, and held him before me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear lad,” I said, “I am walking in the dark. Believe me, little brother,
- I am grateful—more grateful than any words could say—for the
- skill and the kindness that we have seen from you. But my heart is sore,
- and you are laughing at me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Something between suspicion and embarrassment had been rapidly growing in
- Beelo’s face. Of a sudden he closed my mouth with his hand and made a
- brave rally of Beelo’s old flippancies.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” he said, “did you ever see such a goose? Such an <i>old</i>
- goose?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I gently removed his hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am serious, boy.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hush!” commanded Beelo in a whisper.
- </p>
- <p>
- His hunt down into me was ruthless, but the hurt there helped me to steady
- my gaze. “When I fainted——” he began, and stopped, having
- found my face expressionless. He turned to Christopher, who, giving no
- attention to us, was setting out the supper on a mat. Beelo’s sharp eyes
- came back to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear little brother,——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, no! Not a word!” he broke in. “I haven’t time, and you are hungry.
- Come, Choseph!”
- </p>
- <p>
- He turned me to the supper and forced me to sit on the ground opposite
- Christopher. It was pleasant to be man-handled by Beelo. His abuse of me
- was always smoothed by affection. I had no appetite, but who could resist
- Beelo? He played that I was an invalid and unable to help myself. He
- patted my cheek, put food into my mouth, chattered nonsense as though I
- were a baby, and petted me with outrageous condescension. There was
- nothing to do but melt under his dear absurdities; and when he found me
- re-established, he kissed me on the forehead and dashed out, calling that
- he would be back before long.
- </p>
- <p>
- When he returned he was brilliantly alive. There seemed no end to his
- vitality.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It’s glorious!” he cried, seizing Christopher and sending his bulk in a
- twirl across the hut. “It’s splendid!” he went on, smashing my dignity
- with boy’s play. “It’s just——” But his breath was gone, and he
- tumbled in a panting heap on the ground.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What news, Beelo?” I inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- He sat up, but as yet had meager breath for speech.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mr. Vancouver—is safe. Doesn’t look very—happy. Hasn’t seen—the
- king. Oh, no! Lentala,—who is an Angel—and Sweet—and
- Kind—and Beautiful,—is just dying—to see you. And——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Rest a minute,” I interrupted.
- </p>
- <p>
- He flung a little pout at me, and then archly demanded, “Aren’t you
- good-natured yet, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I shook my head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You will be when you see Lentala,” he said with mock melancholy. “Don’t
- you like girls?” he suddenly fired at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Y—es,” I stammered consciously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You like Annabel!” with a spitfire touch on his tongue.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I once liked, very much, a dear lad named Beelo more than any girl.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “<i>Once</i> liked Beelo!” His shining eyes were lances.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I like him just as much yet—when he is Beelo.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I knew by his start that the thin ice on which I walked was cracking.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And what is he when he isn’t Beelo?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A little devil.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He laughed. “You aren’t <i>quite</i> dead,” he said, and a briskness
- sprang into his manner. “We must go. Most of the Senatras have already
- gone to sleep. Come.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He rapidly led us into the valley, meanwhile instructing us how to respond
- if greeted. The natives were not garrulous nor inquisitive, and we passed
- unnoticed, until the outskirts of the settlement were reached. There, in a
- dimly lighted hut, Mr. Vancouver was resting under guard, Beelo informed
- us. A barely visible figure challenged Beelo. The prompt response made the
- shape sink from view.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We haven’t time to see Mr. Vancouver now,” said the lad to us.
- </p>
- <p>
- A turn in a lane lined with huts brought us into a beautiful highway,
- broad and white, and picketed with odorous trees which arched overhead.
- The darkness would have been profound but for a diffused light which
- glowed ahead upon something white. We went rapidly toward it, and found it
- to be a high stone wall; the light was from two lamps on posts where the
- highway swung to the left and ran at the foot of the wall.
- </p>
- <p>
- Instead of following the main road Beelo turned into a narrow way to the
- right. The overhead growth was so dense that the light from the lamps was
- soon lost, but Beelo knew the way. At last he stopped, and slipped a key
- into a lock. The heavy wooden door, plated and strapped with iron,
- suggested a postern in an archaic fortress. He led us within and secured
- the door.
- </p>
- <p>
- The nearer approach of the storm brought lightning, which increased
- Beelo’s caution while revealing glimpses of our environment. In the region
- behind the wall the verdure was less dense and more orderly than in the
- park through which we had come. The lightning made the open spaces
- embarrassing to our guide, who hurried us across them to the shadows.
- Finely kept paths wound and intersected, but Beelo knew shorter routes. A
- rising wind assisted the stealth of our progress.
- </p>
- <p>
- He brought us under the shadow of a low arcade, open on one side, and
- closed on the other with a long stone house. The pillars were massed in
- vines. Here the darkness was intense. The stone floor gave no sound under
- our tread.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beelo stopped us, advanced a few paces, and rapped on a door. It was
- cautiously opened, but we could not see within as Beelo entered. A very
- faint light barely made him visible.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala!” he whispered, “they are here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A voice fuller and mellower than Beelo’s yet much like his, answered,
- “Yes? I had given you up, and was undressing for bed.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You’ll dress?” Beelo spoke nervously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. Tell them to wait a little while. They are safe out there. Beelo,
- the king is furious because you ran away tonight. He is waiting for you.
- Go at once. It is something about the man from the colony.” I resented her
- domineering manner toward Beelo.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he answered sweetly.
- </p>
- <p>
- Coming back to us, he began to explain, but I told him we had heard. A
- reassuring hand was given to each of us, and he was hurrying across the
- garden fronting the arcade. He halted and came back.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t stay with Lentala longer than ten minutes,” he earnestly said. “The
- king may detain me. If I don’t come, can you find your way back?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I assured him that we could, and that even should he come, we would not
- let him conduct: us to the hut.
- </p>
- <p>
- He gave my hand a grateful little squeeze as he slipped the gate-key into
- it, and darted away, saying:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Wait at Lentala’s door till she opens it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Presently she bade us enter. Instead of her barbarous but highly becoming
- dress at the feast, with neat jacket and short skirt blazing with gold
- embroidery, she now wore a plain, loose garment. It was partly redeemed by
- a low cut in the neck, a splendid girdle consisting of a heavy and
- elaborately linked chain of gold, and a necklace of wonderful diamonds.
- </p>
- <p>
- I could not have explained why this dazzling woman, who had filled so wide
- a space in my fancy, now looked a negligible quantity, an intrusion. There
- was little of the sparkle that I had expected. The childlike coquetries,
- the careless abandon, the subtleties that had flitted so unconsciously
- through the conduct of the Lentala I remembered,—these and a
- thousand other graces were absent from the sedater young woman smiling
- upon us and composedly seating us.
- </p>
- <p>
- She had greeted us with a warning finger on her lips.
- </p>
- <p>
- “My servants,” she explained in a low, rich voice, “are all in bed and
- asleep. But they are not far away, and we must be careful.” There was a
- curious reminder of Annabel’s preciseness in this new Lentala.
- </p>
- <p>
- She must have felt my discomfort, for she let some of her consciousness
- slip away, and a dash of her native wildness gradually returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo has told me everything,” she said; “I’ll not trouble you with
- questions. And we are not to discuss any plans tonight.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The beauty and richness of the room came forth, faint in the light of
- suspended lamps, which, clouded in thin fabrics, cast no shadows and
- softened all contours. A rich massing of hammered gold and silver, of
- exquisite bronzes and ivories, of hangings and rugs, was softened to grace
- by their perfect arrangement, and over that in turn was a fine breath of
- daintiness. My astonishment grew as the significance of it came over me.
- Did this girl, all seeming innocence, gentleness, and kindness, <i>feel</i>
- none of the crime and blood with which these treasures were drenched? Yet
- only the sweetest of spirits could have cast upon this charnel-house loot
- the cleansing that held its grisly suggestion back.
- </p>
- <p>
- She had been moving about and gently chatting, and I had made empty
- responses. At last I discovered that she was growing nervous. A heavy
- crash of thunder brought out the cause. She looked anxious, and said: “The
- storm is near. You must go before it breaks. Beela”—I noted her odd
- pronunciation of the final syllable—“said that if he didn’t return
- in ten minutes you must go without him, but I can’t think of that. He has
- been gone much longer.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I tried to assure her that we could go alone, but still she was uneasy.
- Christopher and I rose. She came and laid a hand on my arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Wait a little while.” She hesitated over the next words. “Do you like
- Beela—Beelo?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very much,” I answered dully.
- </p>
- <p>
- A liquid softness entered her beautiful eyes, and with it a sparkle of the
- old Lentala—and of Beelo too.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am going to tell you a secret,” she went on. “You will keep it?—and
- you, Christopher? And you’ll not let Beelo know?”
- </p>
- <p>
- We pledged ourselves. She removed her hand, looked down, and while busying
- herself with a readjustment of her girdle, said, very low:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo isn’t a boy.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her fingers stopped in her acute tension. I stood silent. With an effort
- she raised her eyes to mine, and hers betrayed a keen suspense.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo is a girl,” she added, as though I had not heard. “Her name is
- Beela.” She found my look coolly meeting hers.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You liked Beelo the boy,” she groped on; “don’t you like Beela the girl?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I—I’m not acquainted with her,” I fumbled.
- </p>
- <p>
- For a moment the Lentala of the feast returned in a look of mischievous
- amusement, followed by one of pretended sorrow. I was enjoying the fine
- play in her face..
- </p>
- <p>
- “But don’t you see,” she asked, “that in knowing and liking the boy, you
- knew and liked the girl?”
- </p>
- <p>
- It would have been impossible for me to make her understand that I was not
- nimble in violent readjustments; so I held my peace.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She was Beela the girl all the time,” Lentala insisted. “It couldn’t have
- been anything but the girl in her that you cared for.” She did not know in
- the least that she was talking to the wind.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course,” agreed I, very uncomfortable.
- </p>
- <p>
- My tone made her turn impatiently away. With much spirit she went on as
- with ease and softness she paced the floor:
- </p>
- <p>
- “After all she has done, too! I don’t see———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala!” I interrupted; “don’t misunderstand. I do like——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, you don’t!” Her voice was growing unsteady. “My poor little Beela! I
- <i>know</i> she’s a madcap, but she is good, she is kind. She <i>had</i>
- to be a boy. I <i>made</i> her be one. She couldn’t have done what she did——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala, please——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “——-unless she <i>was</i> a boy. And now she is shamed and
- humiliated! Don’t let my sweet sister ever know that. It would break her
- heart. Poor little Beela!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “This is all wrong. I——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Even for <i>my</i> sake you might be generous. It is——”
- </p>
- <p>
- Three strides brought me to her, and I was unconscious of the power in my
- angry grip on her wrist, but her tongue went silent. She raised her eyes
- under the compulsion of mine.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is enough,” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a moment’s matching of our forces. A ripple of mischievous and
- innocent surprise animated her, and she laughed with the glee of a gentle
- child. She was very much like her sister then.
- </p>
- <p>
- A deepening thunder-crash came.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You must go—now! I’m going with you. I won’t let you——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You shall not go,” I firmly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I <i>must</i>. I <i>want</i> to. I’ll get a——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Lentala. Good-night.”
- </p>
- <p>
- As I was turning away, I saw the second time in her face the look of one
- whose road has stopped at a wall. When I smiled and bowed to her as
- Christopher and I were passing out, she was standing where I left her,
- looking blankly at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XIV.—-A Glimpse Into the Abyss.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>The Fate Awaiting Mr. Vancouver. We Play a Trick on the Natives. My
- Nerves Give Way. A Ghastly Hint from Christopher. A Perilous Place.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE drenching,
- thunder-ridden storm was so favoring that I determined to investigate Mr.
- Vancouver’s circumstances, and, if possible, ascertain the plans focusing
- in him; for since the discovery of Beela’s sex, her horror and timidity
- concerning those intentions were explained. I must now take the lead,
- since the work was not fitted to a woman.
- </p>
- <p>
- No guards were outside Mr. Vancouver’s hut when we arrived, and the
- wetting of the ground silenced our footfalls. My impulse was to enter, and
- cautiously ascertain the truth; but I realized that the risk was great. In
- creeping round the hut we overheard two native men talking near the rear
- wall.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hush!” continued one of the voices. “He is groaning again, and may wake.”
- </p>
- <p>
- In a little while the other remarked, “He is asleep. What were you telling
- me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king is very uneasy. The people all know that the white man is here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is there dry wood?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. It is stored in a thatch hut on the east side of the clearing. The
- people are clamoring for the white man to be taken to the stone.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That can’t be done while the storm rages.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No; but the first hurricane never lasts long. The king has promised Gato
- that the white man shall be sent to the fire as soon as this storm passes.
- That may be tomorrow.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does the white man suspect?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Undoubtedly. He frets and groans.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What are these stories about the Black Face?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The scouts sent by Gato say that it looks more ferocious than ever.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does the king realize that the people will rise unless he consents to the
- offering?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know. He is silent and deeply troubled. Danger stops any
- direction that he can take. But Gato is ready.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A horror that I felt rather than understood came over me, and, fearing
- that I should betray our presence by some rash act, I was creeping away,
- when I discovered that Christopher, moving similarly, had started before
- me. Every tree-branch was a tempting club with which to break a savage
- head and free the prisoner.
- </p>
- <p>
- Instead of returning to our hut, we went to the summit of the wall
- enclosing our valley. Clearly Christopher required no explanation to
- understand my purpose. With slow, sure caution we took an eastwardly
- course, parallel with the brink of the precipice and at a safe distance
- from any men that might be patrolling it. From time to time we would stop,
- creep nearer the edge, make a careful inspection, return in silence, and
- go on. The violence of the storm abated somewhat, thus making our progress
- swifter, but more risky.
- </p>
- <p>
- With true instinct Christopher went straight to what we had been seeking,—the
- opening in the forest on the top of the wall fronting the Face. The clear
- space was smooth, level rock. One segment of the nearly circular opening
- was cut off by the sheer drop of the precipice. Near that edge was an
- exquisitely built circular stone platform some four feet high and ten in
- diameter. As we worked round for a nearer view, we discovered on its top
- old marks of fire which the rains had not washed off. I recognized it as
- the object that I had seen from the valley, opposite the Face. There was a
- moon, but only a faint glow from it filtered through the clouds;
- occasional flashes of lightning gave us clearer seeing. The air was
- stifling.
- </p>
- <p>
- We edged nearer to the cliff, and stood peering across the valley as we
- waited for light. It came, and revealed the Face. The sodden, sordid,
- worse than bestial mask, more repulsive than ever in the gloom of the
- storm, held its gaze fixed upon us. We were upon the scene of the
- unthinkable tragedy awaiting Mr. Vancouver.
- </p>
- <p>
- We circled the eastern edge of the clearing. Soon we found a squat
- structure of thatch, half hidden in the edge of the forest. It was filled
- with neatly piled firewood. No surprise showed in Christopher’s face.
- </p>
- <p>
- After further exploration of the vicinity, and satisfied that the place
- was unguarded, we loaded ourselves with wood from the hut, and plunged
- into the thicket. A short distance away I had discovered a deep cleft. We
- threw our loads into it; the fall was long before the sound came from the
- bottom. Thus, after many trips, we disposed of all the fuel, and hastened
- back to our hut for sleep. The night was far gone.
- </p>
- <p>
- The storm broke afresh, and I lay sleepless, and listened to the elemental
- furies at play. Every nerve ached, and sleep was a sore need.
- Contingencies riding the hurricane would likely offer still heavier work
- for tomorrow. Whatever innocent pranks Beela might indulge, her profound
- seriousness and her appreciation of the dangerous risks in this
- undertaking were genuine.
- </p>
- <p>
- With the swirl and dash of the rain came the roar of the tearing wind and
- the mighty bellow of thunder. Flash, peal, and boom rended the firmament.
- Our cabin braced itself and strained under the tug, as though digging its
- claws into the ground to hold firm. Large trees on the slope behind us
- fell crashing.
- </p>
- <p>
- This was more than a hurricane: it was a tornado; perhaps worse yet, a
- typhoon. Many ships ride out the worst of these; but mentally I saw brown
- men being told off to man the promontories of the bight, and to watch for
- staggering, heart-broken specks on the sea as the wind following the
- hurricane urged them on slowly to a pleasant beach, five hundred
- swordsmen, an oily savage king and a feast, and a march over the mountain
- to a guarded paradise; thence to be “sent away” to their homes—their
- eternal homes—one at a time! one at a time! So far as civilization
- had reached, it had strangled an unspeakable practice in these seas.
- </p>
- <p>
- Not even the churn of the storm in my veins could check the cold that ran
- in my blood. Was the father of Annabel to be only the first? Were we
- waiting as fattening hogs, instead of being out and afield, fighting a way
- to liberty, and dying, if we must, as men should?...
- </p>
- <p>
- I found myself off the pallet and rolling on the floor.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher?” I called, staggering to my feet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I knew by the nearness of his voice that he was already beside me, but
- invisible in the blackness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Light the lamp. We are going to dress.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He obeyed without a word. I was feverishly rummaging for my clothes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There, sir,” he said, pointing to my moccasins, but neglecting to fetch
- them to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- I had forgotten that my dress was Senatra and that moccasins were the only
- part of it I had removed. I made a blundering affair of putting them on,
- for the clutch of my hand was shaped better for a bludgeon just then.
- Christopher was observing me with a mild, exasperating patience.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Put yours on,” I roughly commanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- He made still denser the stupidity in his stare, and stood still.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hurry!” I cried.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Hurry, I say! You are going too.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes! We are going to take Mr. Vancouver away from those beasts.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Without a change of expression he made a pretense of preparation. In doing
- so, he edged up to the barred door, placed his wide back against it, and
- calmly faced me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you mean by that?” I demanded in a fury.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stand aside, Christopher!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me, sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- In exasperation I seized the copper vessel and advanced upon him. Not a
- muscle of his body moved; his ape-like arms hung loose; his hands were
- open. But it was not his defenselessness that stayed me. Far more potent
- was the deep devotion in his eyes, which held a profounder sadness than
- usual. It was a dash of cold water on my heat, but not my determination.
- In all kindness I would reason with him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” I asked, “do you know what they are going to do with Mr.
- Vancouver?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He omitted his formula, and simply gazed at me.
- </p>
- <p>
- Then I told him, in raw, sore words. It was the first time they had been
- spoken by a member of the colony.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was astonished at his placidity on hearing them.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you understand?” I had to thunder the question above the outer din.
- </p>
- <p>
- But he was listening to sounds that the storm did not make. I waited
- impatiently.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They won’t him, sir, if they get you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why not?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You’re younger ‘n’ fatter.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Like most other of Christopher’s remarks, this one dealt in a conclusive
- terminal, omitting postulate and explication; but I understood. He had
- told a long and dramatic story in those halting words—our blind
- assault, our being beaten down and secured, and then the awful end. I
- wondered at that, and longed for the power to see into the working of his
- strangely luminous mind, its far light behind its frontal darkness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And there ain’t no dry wood, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The last of the ice in my blood broke and ran melting before him. I was
- very tired, and found myself shifting on my feet like a drunken man.
- Tongues of flame began to slip through the hut and dart hither and thither
- with curious dips and turns. Some of them were purple, but the most were
- crimson. A luminous vapor crept in. The boom of a waterfall rumbled; and
- then came a crashing subterranean detonation. Christopher was a gigantic
- ape floundering in a drowning sea of steam.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!” I cried, trying to catch the wall as it swung past.
- </p>
- <p>
- A firm, gentle arm went round me—an arm of a strength so great that
- my most desperate struggles could not break its hold, yet I was a very
- strong man. Slowly I was borne down on my pallet, and a thin, soothing
- voice came with a hand that tenderly closed my eyes and held the lids
- down. My breathing came easier.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <p>
- It was daylight, and Christopher was standing in the open door, looking
- out. The rain had ceased, but the morning brightness was smothered under
- the overhead lowering. The pleasant odor of coffee perfumed the hut.
- Without appearing to notice my waking, Christopher served my breakfast,
- but said nothing. A dull lassitude made the straw bed more inviting than
- my feet.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela’s cheery good-morning an hour later was checked in alarm when she
- entered and found me prone; but her electric vitality palpitated through
- me and brought me smiling to a sitting posture. Her inquiring look at
- Christopher read nothing in the bland face. A shadow of uneasiness drifted
- through her eyes, but she drove it away.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good!” she said. “I’m glad you are resting. Lie down again.” She dropped
- to a seat beside me on the straw, and pushed my head down.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That’s better,—Choseph.” Her hand was on my forehead.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph,” I insisted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You don’t like the way I talk, Ch—Dzhoseph?” banteringly, stealing
- sly hands to mine and pretending to stare mockingly at me while peering
- into my eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well, Beelo. Did you square yourself with the king and have a good
- rest last night?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course. Do you think any king———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stop that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Trying to see if I’m sick. Even though I were dead, your coming would
- bring me to life.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “My! Did you hear that, Christopher?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The sensible man did not answer, nor even look at her. She made a mouth at
- his back, withdrew her hand, and edged away a few inches. Had I made a
- slip after that confidence and caution from Lentala? I roused myself.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What’s the news, little brother? What game and what killing today?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her face fell grave. “Something has happened with you since I saw you last
- night, Choseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I told her all, and she held her breath over the audacity of our work.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I—I shouldn’t have dared to suggest it,” she said with charming
- helplessness as she gave Christopher and me a look of wondering
- admiration. “It was splendid, Choseph!” Her dear leaning girlishness, so
- natural and unconscious, started a tumult in me, and it was hard for me to
- keep the deception of her sex at work. “Now,” she went on, “Mr. Vancouver
- is safe so long as the weather is bad; and when it clears, time will be
- needed to gather dry wood. We’ll do nothing for the present.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But we must be ready,” I firmly protested, sitting up. “This matter is in
- my hands and Christopher’s now, not yours, my lad, for this is work that
- only men can plan and do.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The timidity in her look was new, but not less charming than her
- surrender.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What are you going to do, Choseph?” she inquired with a mocking
- exaggeration of a helpless reliance that was quite genuine.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We shall be ready to take Mr. Vancouver by stealth or force the moment
- that actual danger comes near him. We will bring him to this hut and hide
- him here. But a man from the colony will be needed to guard him. I am
- going immediately to bring one out for that purpose.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her eyes kindled with alarm. “No, no, Choseph! That would be impossible.
- You couldn’t find the way nor pass the guard. I will go.” Argument and
- persuasion were equally useless; she knew when to be firm. “I will go,”
- was her answer to everything, and she came to her feet. “You and
- Christopher come with me to the summit of the wall, and there you’ll hide
- near the guard, and wait. I’ll bring the man nearly to the place and send
- him ahead, and give you a signal. You must trick the guard out of the way,
- and meet him; I will follow. It would ruin everything for me to be seen.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I agreed, and told her to bring Hobart.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo,” I said, “you understand that we have accomplished one of the
- tasks for which you brought us out of the valley, and in doing so have
- learned the fate awaiting our colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her face at once grew pinched. “Don’t speak of it, Choseph!” she cried. “I
- don’t know whether you have or not, and I don’t know what is in your mind.
- Simply think of saving Mr. Vancouver.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course, dear lad,” I agreed; “but we must be planning also for means
- to leave the island, since only something awful awaits us here. You must
- tell me all that I should know. I won’t dance any longer to your mysteries
- and concealments.”
- </p>
- <p>
- It was as though I had struck her. She stared, her eyes flooding, her lips
- trembling.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph,” she answered, “there are things that you must see and hear for
- yourself, and they will come tonight and tomorrow. I’ll take you——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I must know now,” I demanded, not realizing the harshness of my tone.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph, I——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did you speak to me, sir?” came from Christopher, standing behind her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Christopher. We’ll wait, dear little brother.” The sunshine came
- swimming into her eyes again, and she made a grimace of triumph in which
- was an understanding that Christopher had disciplined me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You’ll be good now, won’t you, Choseph?” It was said in her most teasing
- manner, and I smiled.
- </p>
- <p>
- We started under an angry sky through which heavy cloud-masses tumbled. It
- was a cautious journey. The very air seemed filled with expectancy. On the
- way we formulated a plan for tricking the guard.
- </p>
- <p>
- In approaching the point of egress from the valley, Beela practiced the
- slyness of a lynx and the silence of a serpent. Every step was studied
- lest a twig snap; the leaves on the ground had been softened by the rain.
- Presently we sighted the guard—a draggled lot, unused to exposure
- and dispirited by the weather. There Beela left us in hiding. I now
- understood the perils that she had breasted in every trip to the valley.
- If they were so difficult under these conditions, how much more they must
- have been when fair weather made the guard alert and the ground noisy
- under foot!
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela was to warn us of Hobart’s coming by giving a certain bird-call
- thrice. Christopher’s answering signal would be notice to Beela that
- Hobart was safe.
- </p>
- <p>
- The savages, not twenty paces away—at least two dozen stalwart men—were
- variously squatting, sitting, and lounging. They were in a compact group,
- and were talking in low voices, but with an animation unusual to the race.
- I motioned Christopher to follow, and we crept nearer.
- </p>
- <p>
- Some important news had just been brought by the relief guard.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And so the king isn’t going to wait for night,” said one, as though the
- news was surprising.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is true,” came the answer. “He fears that the ground will shake at
- any time. Besides, the storm will likely come again tonight, and the great
- fire would be impossible then.”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XV.—The Lash in Unwilling Hands.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>How We Outwitted the Guard. A Sword Encounter With a Native. Rawley
- Gives Me a Sensational Surprise. The Tragedy to Mr. Vancouver Delayed</i>.
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span> WAS absorbed in
- conjuring up plans for Mr. Vancouver’s rescue; but the more I thought of
- it, the madder the undertaking seemed. Suppose we should take him; would
- not the whole island swarm in a search?
- </p>
- <p>
- I had calculated that Beela and Hobart should come in four hours. More
- than half that time was already gone when Christopher and I returned to
- our original hiding-place. That the storm, the Black Face, and Mr.
- Vancouver’s fate were interwoven, there could be no doubt. Barring
- hindering contingencies, matters were rapidly drawing to a crisis. If the
- necessity for urgent action on Mr. Vancouver’s account should arise before
- Beela’s return with Hobart, that young man would be caught in a trap, as
- there would be none but savages to meet him. In whatsoever direction I
- turned, many chances for a fatal slip and added complications appeared.
- </p>
- <p>
- A solution of one branch of the problem crept out of the strain,—that
- of clearing the way for Hobart. I mentioned it to Christopher, and was
- gratified at his acquiescence.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But what about Mr. Vancouver?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We <i>have</i> to wait for <i>her</i>, sir,” he answered after listening,
- and his manner was final.
- </p>
- <p>
- The triple bird-note came. We waited. It was repeated. I slipped round to
- the trail used by the guard, and openly approached them. They stared at me
- in silence. Beela had told me that in an emergency Christopher and I, to
- explain peculiarities of our appearance that no disguise could conceal,
- should explain that we were from the western end of the island, where some
- white blood had mingled with the native, producing, with other deviations
- from the normal type, men of a more aggressive and daring disposition,
- which gave them an advantage over the natives at this end, and that on
- occasion the king called on the western men for special services.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why haven’t you done your duty?” I sternly demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- The guard showed only dull surprise, none either moving or speaking.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Haven’t you seen the Black Face scowling?” I went on. “Go immediately and
- attend to your duty, or the Face won’t wait for a white man.”
- </p>
- <p>
- They were impressed and frightened. “What shall we do?” asked one.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Clean the stone in the clearing, and so make it ready. Every one of you
- go, at once. Then come back here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- They looked from one to another, bewildered, the order evidently being
- extraordinary. “And leave the pass unguarded?” the same one inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Am I not here? Go immediately!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did Gato send you?” asked a big fellow, advancing, sword in hand. His
- weapon was held threateningly, and scraped the bushes as he came.
- </p>
- <p>
- Not daring to take any chances with him, and not having had sufficient
- experience with these people to interpret their motive from their conduct,
- I sprang past him before he could raise his weapon, snatched a sword from
- an astonished native, backed away to keep the crowd before me until I had
- faced the one who had advanced upon me, and went at him with a
- determination that opened his eyes and instinctively brought his sword to
- guard. I discovered that the sword which I held was a heavy affair, broad
- and very old-fashioned. Before my inexpert antagonist knew what had
- happened, my sword had twisted his from his grasp and sent it flying into
- the bushes, and my point was at his breast. There was an excited movement
- in the crowd, but before anything could be done I loudly said to my
- captive:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have a good mind to kill you. Take your squad to the clearing at once.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” he hastily agreed, staring at me in wonder, and added, as his
- interest overcame his panic, “Are they coming with him soon?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is neither your affair nor mine. If you don’t go instantly I’ll
- arrest the entire squad and take you all to the palace.”
- </p>
- <p>
- They obediently marched away.
- </p>
- <p>
- In returning to Christopher I made a detour, so as to pass the spot where
- Hobart was to appear. I had instructed Christopher to remain a short
- distance away, as it would be easier for one to meet Hobart than two. My
- real reason, which I did not mention to Christopher, was that as a native
- his appearance was one of singular ferocity. I did not wish to run the
- risk of shocking Hobart out of his self-command.
- </p>
- <p>
- To my astonishment, Rawley, not Hobart, rose above the edge of the bluff.
- Perhaps my angry exasperation showed in my manner, for Rawley, after a
- startled glance, and seeing me alone, sprang upon me in the moment of my
- hesitation. His leap was swift and stirring, but I avoided him, and began
- to speak in a low voice. It had no effect. Rawley sprang again. I caught
- the violent thrust of his body, and an elbow better trained than he had
- expeded took him in the throat, crashed his teeth together jarringly, and
- sent him reeling and strangling.
- </p>
- <p>
- I again spoke, but he was too dazed to hear, and came at me again, more
- warily, with the glare of killing in his eyes, and still not heeding my
- pacific words. The natural grace with which he began to work for an
- opening gave his feline ease a threat that set me tingling. He was
- desperately in earnest, and my windpipe was his objective. There was no
- falter in his play, which I critically observed as I stood on the
- defensive. And then it came to me that this was neither the madness of
- fear nor the desperation of the cornered coward, but the awakening of that
- ultimate manhood in him which for so long had been held down by an
- artificial life. Even had he not forced me to silence, the game was so
- fine and exciting that I should have been tempted to cease my efforts to
- explain in my desire to see it through.
- </p>
- <p>
- As his leaps were astonishingly clever and he might land at any moment, I
- began to crowd him. While moving to do so, I heard Christopher’s signal to
- Beela, but did not pause to see where he was; Rawley also must have heard
- it, for something spurred his activities. In order to save Beela from the
- trap in which he supposed himself to have fallen, he must finish me at
- once.
- </p>
- <p>
- I dodged his next spring, but his fingers scraped my throat. Then he found
- himself crushed in my arms. The short blows which he sent into my ribs had
- no effect, but they were delivered with a will. Beela rose above the
- summit, and understood all at a glance.
- </p>
- <p>
- But, Beela-like, she saw only that it was ridiculous. Without taking the
- trouble to enlighten Rawley, who desisted as soon as he saw her laughing,
- she passed from surprise into unrestrained mirth. Rawley, standing away
- from me, stared at her in astonishment.
- </p>
- <p>
- Seeing no sign of Hobart, I sharply inquired in the native tongue where he
- was.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Captain Mason sent this one instead,” she answered after finding her
- breath.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was aghast. “What reason did he give?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “None, Choseph. He thought you would understand, I suppose.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The blunder was incredible. Here were Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, the
- arch-enemies of the colony, sent out armed with fresh opportunity for
- destroying us, and we charged with the safety of their lives! The game had
- been sufficiently difficult and dangerous without that. I bitterly
- resented Captain Mason’s course. He was aware of the antagonism between
- Rawley and me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why did Captain Mason send him?” I demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He begged to come, Choseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- That staggered me. What had happened to the man to change him so? “What
- did he say?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t know. He said little, although he was very much in earnest. On
- the way he said to himself several times, ‘She called me a coward. They
- all think I’m a coward.’”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher had come up and was standing placidly by. Of a sudden Rawley
- recognized me as the savage who had visited Mr. Vancouver in the camp. He
- was composed, but had not yet discovered my real identity. A word from
- Beela disclosed Christopher and me to him. It broke in a crash on the
- young man. What reflections were belaboring him I could only guess from
- the shame crimsoning his face. I took his hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mr. Rawley,” I said, “I am sorry that this has happened between us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I interrupted something that he was trying to stammer by telling Beela how
- I had disposed of the guard. “They’ll soon return,” I added. “We must
- leave.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, but we must find out first whether they discovered the loss of the
- wood. Several hours would be required to bring up fresh fuel. Don’t you
- think it’s very interesting, Choseph? My! how solemn you look!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her careless insolence tried me, for the peril was great.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It’s a pity you never had any one to teach you to be serious,” I let fly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That would be the funniest thing of all,” she returned, amused. “Would
- you like to try it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her sweet archness made me take a half angry, half possessing step
- forward, but a look stopped me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They are coming!” said she, and we hid.
- </p>
- <p>
- The savages were more animated than before, and they wondered among
- themselves when the white man would be brought up from the settlement, and
- whether all or any of themselves would be relieved from guard duty, that
- they might witness the proceedings. It was clear that they had not missed
- the wood.
- </p>
- <p>
- We slipped away. When we had come near our hut, Beela asked us to wait
- while she took Rawley to that hiding-place.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo,” I firmly said, “you don’t understand. That man and I cannot live
- together.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She regarded me with a suspicious-looking sadness. “Enemies among
- yourselves, Choseph! Is this the best that wise men with so much at stake
- can do?” With a smile I took her hand. “Thank you, dear little brother,” I
- said. “I will do my part.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Tears easily came to Beela’s eyes, and made them moist now.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But you and Christopher are not to stay here any longer. Wouldn’t you
- like to be nearer the beautiful, the good, the angel Lentala?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Explain, lad.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Wait till I come back.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She darted to the hut with Rawley, and soon returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The first thing,” she said, “is to find out the plans for Mr. Vancouver.
- Although the wood is gone, the king won’t be balked, and the getting of
- more wood will be but a matter of hours. When we discover that the
- preparations are really afoot, Mr. Vancouver must be taken by you. Before
- that, there is plenty to do.” We struck out for the slope overlooking the
- main settlement, and on the way passed near the hut where Mr. Vancouver
- was held. Beela disappeared within and soon returned with the news that
- the threatening weather was holding everything in abeyance.
- </p>
- <p>
- Avoiding roads, we breasted the verdured heights and worked round the
- suburbs. As we mounted, the view expanded. The settlement, embowered among
- trees, made the fairest picture I had ever beheld. I longed to see it
- under the mellow sunshine, which would make its colors more vivid; but
- even without that, the scene was satisfying. It was a considerable city,
- which had grown more by natural accretion than by plan. Broad, tree-lined
- highways with curves instead of right lines swept lengthwise through it.
- Many houses were of stone roughly laid up, and with roofs of mud or
- thatch. Remarkable effects had been secured by use of the native stone in
- its color variations. Of exceeding beauty was a pleasant stream which
- loitered through the settlement.
- </p>
- <p>
- Most conspicuous was the palace of the king, with its accessory buildings
- and walled grounds. Unlike all the other houses, the palace was two
- stories in height, was of great size, and sat in generous grounds enclosed
- with a massive stone wall. I discovered Lentala’s quarters; they were in a
- wing. Hamlets with adjoining farms dotted the farther slope and stretched
- up the valley; there were still more, said Beela, in other parts of the
- island.
- </p>
- <p>
- With our further climbing, the ocean rose on the horizon, and a modern
- sea-going vessel sprang up inshore in a harbor at the foot of the
- settlement. My heart leaped as I studied her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What ship is that, Beelo?” I exclaimed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yours, Choseph,” she answered with a bright smile. “I was waiting for you
- to find it. That is what is to take your people home if a great earthquake
- comes and we can bring them out of the valley. The king wanted to destroy
- it, but Lentala persuaded him not only to save it, but to put it in order,
- as he might need it some time.”
- </p>
- <p>
- That she had reserved this precious information for so dramatic a use did
- not impress me at the time. Not till now did I realize that her purely
- feminine instinct for the theatrical made so large a figure in her
- withholdings and revelations.
- </p>
- <p>
- My throat filled. I seized Christopher’s arm and tried to speak, but no
- words issued, and I found that he was already gazing seaward. I had never
- seen in his eyes such wistfulness, so far and deep a vision, as when he
- raised them to mine.
- </p>
- <p>
- From him I turned to Beela, and found a look of neglect and expediency.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear little brother,” I said, and extended my hand; but she pouted, and
- put her arms behind her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am not your dear little brother,” she said, her lip trembling. “I am a
- savage. You gave your first joy to one of your race.” The pain in her face
- was deep.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Forgive me, lad.” I was very humble, but her swimming eyes were turned
- away, and there was a swelling in her throat. What could I say? how make
- her understand? “Beelo, I———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It can’t be explained,” she interrupted, turning sadly away; and we went
- on in silence.
- </p>
- <p>
- All at once, without any visible cause, she was her sunny, mischievous
- self again. I was exceedingly anxious for information,—what had
- become of the <i>Hope’s</i> salvable cargo; whether her seizure by us was
- part of the plan to which we were working. But I had not the courage to
- mention the vessel again, lest pain come to Beela’s face. Ever since her
- return from the valley I had been anxious for her report as to any plan of
- action that she had arranged with Captain Mason, and I now conjectured
- that she had deferred it until we should see our vessel. With a blunder in
- tact I had closed her lips.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now,” said she, “we’ll return and keep an eye on Mr. Vancouver. Do you
- think you know the settlement now and could make your way in the night
- through it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perfectly,” wondering at her impressiveness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And do you, Christopher?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, ma’am.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Unmistakably she had a very intelligent purpose in thus making us
- acquainted with the topography of the settlement and the presence of our
- vessel. With that idea I began to make a closer study of the approaches
- and thoroughfares, although I could form no conception of means whereby
- the colony might use them against the overwhelming horde of armed natives.
- But Beela’s comely head was packed with shrewdness.
- </p>
- <p>
- The weather became more threatening with the approach of evening. At
- night, Beela left us concealed near the prison hut, and went to bring our
- supper.
- </p>
- <p>
- After she had returned and we had eaten, she suggested that Christopher
- and I go and see the prisoner, and learn all that we could. Gato would not
- be on duty, and the light was dim. Thence we should go to the postern in
- the palace wall, and there be met by her. Then she left.
- </p>
- <p>
- When we were near the hut a shadow leaped out of the ground, and
- challenged. I answered as Beela had instructed, and the guard stepped
- aside. We entered, and the two natives sitting with the prisoner gave us
- only a glance. In an authoritative manner I bade them wait outside, and
- they obediently went.
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver was sitting on a stool, his head bowed in dejection, but he
- quickly straightened, and drilled us with a keenly questioning look, in
- which fear, anxiety, and hope were present. It was evident that he was
- profoundly suspicious. He was too shrewd not to see the significance of
- his being kept under guard in a hovel instead of being the king’s guest.
- </p>
- <p>
- I asked him in Senatra English if he was comfortable. Over his haggard
- face flashed an eager interest.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is nothing,” he impatiently answered. “I want to know why I am kept
- here.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you really expect to see the king?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- He started. “What do you mean?” he demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you think you are here for?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king sent for me—for a conference.” A red light came into his
- eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A conference. Suppose he has made up his mind that he can dispose of the
- white people without your help, and that you happen to be first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The sallowness that already had entered his face since his imprisonment
- became livid, and the red light flared.
- </p>
- <p>
- “To be sent away?” he thickly asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. Sent away. That is as good a name for it as any other.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had ignored Christopher’s gentle tug at my sleeve. A quiver ran through
- Mr. Vancouver as if a knife had been slipped between his ribs. It was with
- difficulty that he found breath for speech.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Doesn’t the king know that I can make him incredibly rich from his gold
- and silver and diamond mines? Doesn’t he understand that———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perhaps he is as rich as he cares to be. Besides, he has never trusted a
- white man; and why should he trust one that betrays his own friends?” I
- could not avoid giving him that thrust.
- </p>
- <p>
- He came weakly to his feet, terror and despair in every line.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did the king send you to say this?” he gasped.
- </p>
- <p>
- I made no answer. The man sent a wild glance about as though to measure
- his strength with his prison, and to end all doubts quickly by any means.
- Then I saw that his wits were gone, and that the purpose of my talk, which
- was to prepare him for the revelation I had come to make, that he might be
- on his guard, had miscarried.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher, in the background, edged round, keeping his back, as I kept
- mine, to the feeble light. I could not imagine that Mr. Vancouver,
- desperate though he was, would seize this moment to try issues with his
- fate; but I had not guessed soon enough that the red light meant madness.
- With a choking curse he snatched up his heavy stool and sprang with it
- upraised in both hands to crush me.
- </p>
- <p>
- Before his leap was ended, a heavy body crashed into him, and two giant
- arms were cracking his joints and sending the stool flying over my head.
- The two guards came running in, but I sent them back. Christopher needed
- no aid.
- </p>
- <p>
- The pinioned man rolled his head and eyes horribly, and cursed through
- foaming lips. He made futile efforts to sink his teeth into Christopher;
- he kicked wildly; he squirmed like an animal under a strangling hand. But
- Christopher’s arms knew the mercy of strength, and he kept dropping
- soothing words. Like a pillar sunk deep in the earth stood Christopher
- while his prisoner gasped curses and put fierce energy into every muscle.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I know you!” he sputtered at me. “You are the infernal native dog that
- fooled me and trifled with me in camp. Let me at his throat, you baboon!”—to
- Christopher. “Loose me! Let me die with my arms free!” He called the king
- and me and all the natives unspeakable names. “In decency and mercy,” he
- fumed, “kill me at once! I know now what you are going to do with me,—you
- cannibals!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher’s quieting tongue was as persistent as his arms, and under
- them Mr. Vancouver was gradually breaking down. Christopher assured the
- wretch that no harm would befall him. The man who could resist such
- persuasion would be less than human and worse than mad. Mr. Vancouver’s
- curses straggled off, his struggles ceased, and the red flame died in his
- eyes. Christopher had coaxed reason back.
- </p>
- <p>
- He seated Mr. Vancouver, bathed his face, and gave him water to drink.
- With a gentle touch he unlaced and removed the sufferer’s shoes, and
- undressed him. The man had become a child in Christopher’s hands, and was
- wholly docile when made comfortable in bed.
- </p>
- <p>
- There had been no personal heed of Christopher in Mr. Vancouver’s
- yielding; but it evidently occurred to him at last that here was something
- strangely different from the manner of the natives—something nearer
- and humanly akin. He had been studying Christopher; and when he was
- composed, and Christopher was turning away, Mr. Vancouver seized his arm
- and held him, looking earnestly into his face, and then covering his
- figure with a startled glance. His eyes opened with astonishment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Who are you?” he demanded under his breath.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir. Speak low.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What are you doing here, disguised like that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Captain Mason sent us, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What for?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “To save you, sir. Don’t talk.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver breathed laboredly, and the veins in his forehead bulged.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Who was sent with you?” he faintly asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Him, sir,” indicating me.
- </p>
- <p>
- I saw the knot come in the suffering man’s throat as he rolled his
- bloodshot eyes upon me, half raised himself on his elbow, and stared while
- his breathing rasped.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Who is he?” came chokingly, with a clutch on Christopher’s arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mr. Tudor, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A spasm caught Mr. Vancouver in the chest, and a rigor ran through him.
- His eyes closed, his head swung back, his mouth fell open, and Christopher
- eased the insensible man down on the pillow.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XVI.—A Light in the Gloom.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Subtle Changes in Beela. A Startling Discovery in the Palace Vaults.
- The Secrets of the Council Chamber Overheard. Urgent Measures Planned.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">Y</span>OU are late!”
- blithely greeted Beela when we arrived at the palace gate after leaving
- Mr. Vancouver. “That shows how much you think of the beautiful, the angel,
- the sweet, the good Lentala, for you are to sleep in her quarters
- tonight.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We were just in time, for the heavens were opening, and the deluge was at
- hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- With great caution Beela conducted us to a chamber in Lentala’s wing of
- the palace. Evidently it was a sanctuary, for it was quite different from
- the room in which Lentala had received us, and Beela carelessly remarked
- that in giving us the room, her sister was bestowing a special favor,
- since not even her servants were ever admitted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Because,” Beela chattered on as she lighted the beautiful lamps, “this is
- where she comes to lead alone the life that she dreams about, far, far
- away, where there are no Senatras,—the life that was born in our
- blood, Choseph, and that we can see very dimly, and in our dreams only.
- But this room helps Lentala to dream of it. Do you remember the story you
- told me one day? She has changed the room tonight merely by bringing in
- these couches for you and Christopher to sleep on.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I felt something new in Beela’s manner,—a note of sentiment singing
- low in her voice, an augmented softness and grace in her bearing. She
- appeared to be struggling against it and striving to be the boy Beelo.
- Some success came, but the winning note still sang in her throat.
- </p>
- <p>
- She opened an adjoining room, and disclosed a bath.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Senatra tint is a little damaged,” she cheerily said. “Wash it off;
- you’ll not need it tonight. Here’s a fresh supply for tomorrow morning.
- Don’t forget to put it on! But there’s much to do before you sleep. I am
- going to take you to the Council Chamber. Dress as quickly as possible. I
- have to make some changes myself. When you are ready, give three light
- taps on that door.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Thank you, dear little brother, but where’s Lentala?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala! Do you think she can sit up all night waiting for callers?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We are to see her in the morning, then?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela had been bustling over finishing touches for our comfort, but my
- question—perhaps my tone—stopped her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you wish to see her?” she asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo! Can you ask that? Unless we see Lentala whenever we come to the
- palace, the jungle is more comfortable.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She turned away, pretending to be hurt.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And so you don’t care for Beelo. It is nothing to sleep under the same
- roof with him.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But Beelo is a part of my life, dear lad. However far away he may be, he
- is always with me. Whenever and wherever I go, my dear little brother’s
- hand is in mine; and no matter when or where I sleep, his sweet breath is
- on my cheek; and the touch of his light fingers on my lids and the ring of
- his cheery laugh in my heart wake me in the morning. In my dreams——”
- I paused, for Beela embarrassed me by the breathless interest with which
- she was listening.
- </p>
- <p>
- “In your dreams, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then Beelo comes with another. He leads that one by the hand, and smiles
- at me, and says in his musical voice, ‘This one also you must like, big
- brother, for this is Beelo’s best friend.’”
- </p>
- <p>
- She came close and looked up into my eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That other one, big brother?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her breath caught as she moved away, and she was silent for a little while
- as she gave the last touches and started to leave. At the door she threw
- me a mischievous glance, and said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have funny dreams, Choseph, but I’ll tell Lentala you wish to see
- her,” and was gone.
- </p>
- <p>
- I had already observed that no touch of native savagery rested on this
- room. Every article of use or adornment was of a highly civilized
- production. The barbaric splendor of the reception-room was absent here,
- and a dainty, girlish simplicity was the note. Exceedingly charming were
- products of her needlework and other handicraft copied from foreign
- articles. There were some English books that showed signs of hard use. I
- picked up one and found a dainty handkerchief within it, and felt a pity
- for Lentala thus reaching out for what she could not understand.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela appeared in different clothes when I rapped, and was much fresher
- and smarter than I had ever seen her. She looked conscious under my
- admiring glance, and expressed gratification at the improvement in my
- looks.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo, you are as pretty as a girl. Fie!”
- </p>
- <p>
- She pretended not to hear, and was busy lighting a lantern.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They are all asleep in this wing,” she said. “Now we’ll go. Listen to the
- storm! Mr. Vancouver is safe for another day, I hope. And still no
- earthquake.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I felt a twinge, but no opportunity had offered for my telling her of the
- incident in the hut. The truth is, I dreaded lest she find fault with
- Christopher for disclosing our identity to Mr. Vancouver and my knowledge
- of his perfidy.
- </p>
- <p>
- It would be difficult to say in what lay the finer air of Beela’s dress.
- In cut the garments had a masculine approach, but in China they might have
- passed for feminine. The trousers and blouse were of fine dark-blue cloth,
- and were ample. In place of the somewhat shabby straw hat was a becoming
- red turban, and the shoes were Turkish, red, and richly embroidered in
- gold. The blouse opened like a V at the neck, and a negligee tie matching
- in shade the turban and the shoes was secured with a splendid diamond at
- the bottom of the V.
- </p>
- <p>
- More insinuating than these outward things were the girl’s gentler voice
- and manner. There was a hint of the young mother in her caressing look and
- touch, and the cello note in her voice had fallen still softer and
- smoother.
- </p>
- <p>
- In lighting the lantern, she disarranged her turban by striking it against
- a piece of furniture. She straightened, and raised her arms to readjust
- it. Her sleeves were wide and open, and they slipped down, baring her
- arms.
- </p>
- <p>
- I had been trying with all my might to keep from my mind the delicious
- thought of Beelo’s metamorphosis, but self-deception was no longer
- possible. I <i>must</i> revel in this new and pleasant experience. The one
- duty that I must observe was the keeping of my promise to Lentala that I
- would not let her little sister know that I knew.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are we ready?” cheerily asked Beela, picking up the lantern and darkening
- it with a cloth. “Come. No talking till I give you leave. We must be
- careful in this wing, for Lentala’s servants might wake. The noises of the
- storm will help us, but the veranda is drenched. We must take the other
- way.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She opened the door through which she had entered last, and we were in
- darkness when she closed it; but I had dimly seen that it was a corridor.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We can’t use the lantern yet,” she whispered, slipping her hand down my
- sleeve to my fingers. “Can you find your way, Christopher?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.” There was always something tragic in Christopher’s whisper.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you love me, Christopher?” she teasingly asked, squeezing my fingers.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, ma’am.”
- </p>
- <p>
- It required great stoicism for me to hold my hand passive and not return
- the pressure, but I was amazed when she abruptly dropped my fingers. I
- could see nothing except a faint glow through the cloth about the lantern,
- but I peremptorily seized her sleeve, drew her arm up, took her hand, and
- squeezed it hard, for reproof. She made no resistance. Beela was very
- sweet in the dark,—I remembered the passage through the mountain.
- </p>
- <p>
- We almost immediately turned into a much longer stretch, as I knew by the
- whispering echoes of our steps; and soon the shrouded light of Beela’s
- lantern made the walls visible. After leading us down a dark stair she
- halted before a door, unlocked it, ushered us within, relocked the door,
- and removed the cloth from the light.
- </p>
- <p>
- This chamber was a disordered lumber-room, filled with odds and ends of
- broken things, native and foreign. I was less interested in the rubbish
- than in the new picture of Beela in the ascending light from the lantern.
- It made a witchery of her chin, emphasized the graceful curve of her lips,
- filled her delicate nostrils, and threw her eyes into mystical shadow. I
- tried to get her hand again, but failed. Beela in the light was not the
- same as Beela in the dark.
- </p>
- <p>
- She paused, and breathed more freely.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We are safe for a while now,” she said. It was hard to listen composedly
- to her words, so sweet was the tone of them.
- </p>
- <p>
- She wound and twisted through the stores, we following, and brought up at
- a door which a stranger, likely, never would have found. This she
- unlocked, passed us through, and secured behind us. The air was dank and
- musty, and despite the lantern there were uncanny patches of
- phosphorescent light on walls otherwise invisible as yet. The space was
- roomy, the floor earthen. It proved to be a large cellar-like chamber with
- a low ceiling supported by stone pillars groined into arches, and was
- paved, furnished with grated windows, and sweet and dry. Here were immense
- stores: American-tinned provisions in astonishing abundance; bale upon
- bale of cloth of many kinds; modern farming implements, and machinery and
- tools for sawyers, carpenters, cabinet-makers, upholsterers, and many
- other useful trades; and at one side an array of firearms and ammunition.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela was watching me in my astonishment, for not the smallest item of
- this store had I seen in use by the natives.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t you know what it all is, Choseph?” she asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- I shook my head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is the cargo of your vessel.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was speechless. Two things were clear: one, that the water-tight
- bulkheads in the Hope had not given way (which accounted for her pursuit
- of us instead of sinking), and the other, that the natives had carefully
- repaired all the water-damage possible. The thorough care of the cargo
- very likely had extended to the vessel herself.
- </p>
- <p>
- My emotion was profound. I wrung Beela’s hand, but something in my eyes
- made her dim and floating. Only vaguely could I see the sweet uplift and
- happiness in her face. Christopher was standing apart like a man of wood
- except that his eyes were living. If he needed any expression from me of
- the almost cruel joy that filled me, he gave no sign, but stood in the
- pathetic loneliness that forever invested him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We must go on,” said Beela. “It is time for the king’s privy council.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A devious way through another storage vault filled with things no doubt of
- great value, the ascent of a stone stair, a turning into this passage and
- another into that, and a short flight of steps, brought us at last upon a
- curtained balcony overlooking a dimly lighted council hall of considerable
- size and rich in savage appointments. The king was on a throne facing us,
- and in a semi-circle before him, seated on rugs on the stone floor, were
- old and elderly native men splendidly appareled. The king was even more
- sumptuously robed than on the day of our reception by him. He had no
- personal attendants, for this, Beela explained in a whisper, was not a
- state council, but a secret one, called occasionally for extraordinary
- purposes, composed of selected wise men, and generally held late at night.
- The balcony where we sat was for the use of the queen and her feminine
- friends at state meetings. The diaphanous curtains, of an exquisite native
- texture and handsomely embroidered, could be seen through from our side,
- which was in shadow, but not from the other.
- </p>
- <p>
- One thing had been puzzling me exceedingly. It was that no American and
- European articles looted from wrecks were in use in their original form by
- any of the natives except Lentala and Beela.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Because,” Beela had told me in answer to my question, “the natives don’t
- need them, and are more content without them. The king is wise with his
- people, and they love him.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The council was under way. An old man had been droning something that I
- did not hear, for his voice was weak and the storm noisy. The king nodded
- to another, a younger man, who came to his splendid full height. His
- gold-embroidered cloak of office slipped from his great right shoulder and
- arm after he had risen from his obeisance.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is the temper of the Senatras, Gato?” the king asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very impatient, Sire. There are murmurings and small secret gatherings.
- Rebellion is in the air.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king moved uneasily. “And your soldiers?” he inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have them in hand as yet, but they are naturally affected by the
- restlessness among the people, and are sick of waiting and of guarding the
- passes. They have never been on duty so long. They love their homes and
- farms, and they can’t understand the delay. If a wreck should come with
- this storm, where will the people from it be held?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “There is plenty of room in the valley,” snapped the king, making an
- impatient gesture. “And don’t our people know that the crowd we have there
- is different from any castaways we have had before? Of course we can’t let
- any of them leave the island, for they suspect its wealth, and would
- return with soldiers and guns, and destroy us. But we have to proceed
- cautiously. There are more than a hundred and fifty picked men in the
- party, and their leaders, Mason and Tudor, and the giant ape Christopher,
- are shrewd, bold men, and have no fear.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We three were sitting close together, Beela in the middle. One of her
- hands stole out, took Christopher’s, squeezed it, and released it. The
- other found my hand; I closed on its warm softness and kept it prisoned.
- </p>
- <p>
- “In some mysterious way,” Gato explained, “they have outwitted us. Our
- plan was to break them up by using the old traitor Vancouver, but they
- evidently discovered his treachery, and I have just learned that they sent
- him out as our first offering to the Black Face, while letting him think
- that he was going to betray them to us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I suppose,” said the king, “that he is as good as another for the
- sacrifice. That will satisfy the people for a time, but he is the first
- and the last that we’ll get from that crowd without bloody work, and I
- don’t wish my subjects to be killed.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He paused, and the others waited. Beela’s breathing had grown quick; there
- was a slight quiver in her hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king went on:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mason evidently suspects that the people taken out of the valley will not
- be sent away, and so he is holding them together. No doubt they have armed
- themselves, and are ready to fight. Mason will be in no hurry to
- precipitate an issue with us, for they can subsist indefinitely where they
- are, we can’t strengthen our position against them, and time, he reasons,
- may bring me to liberate them in a body.”
- </p>
- <p>
- It was impossible not to recognize the kindliness and benevolence in the
- king’s voice and words.
- </p>
- <p>
- “May I speak, Sire?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Gato.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I fear that Vancouver is going mad.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king looked his dismay.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He mumbles,” proceeded Gato; “his eyes are wild at times; he calls for
- his daughter, and weeps like a child; he cannot eat, and his sleep is
- broken with loud cries.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is there much of that?” the king asked in alarm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Sire; only rarely. If he is taken to the sacrificial altar when he
- has a lucid period,———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The risk is great,” groaned the king. “The people would resent the
- offering up of a madman; and we can do nothing while the storm lasts. The
- people can’t assemble. We must wait. You men go among the Senatras
- tomorrow and pacify them. Tell them that all will be well. Do they say
- that the Face is threatening, Gato?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire. Some fools have seen it and spread tales about it. One is that
- green water streams out of its eyes, and another is that the mouth has
- opened and that purple flames come forth.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela’s start thrilled me. The news brought the king to his feet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is it true, Gato,—the open mouth and the purple flame?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I do not know, Sire. I have not seen it, and I do not believe it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But it may be true! Find out tomorrow morning, and let me know.” He was
- leaving the throne, and although the light was poor, I could see a totter
- in his step and haggardness in his face.
- </p>
- <p>
- The others were rising. The king turned to them, and said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “If <i>that</i> is true,—” He did not finish, but stood in a daze.
- “The council is ended,” he weakly added, and slowly left the chamber, the
- others filing after him.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XVII.—Disciplined by a Woman.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Lentala’s Odd Mistake. Beela Finds Me Refractory. The Deep-Laid Plan of
- Gato. Christopher and I Charged With Service to the Old King</i>.
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>LEEP held away
- that night. The revelations of the privy council had been startling. Some
- things were clear. One was that the king was a shrewd, easy-going, kindly
- man, vastly wiser than his subjects, and finding it simpler to rule them
- by pampering their superstitions than by raising them to his own
- understanding. Another was that he felt himself on the edge of a crisis,
- saw no way to avert a possible catastrophe, and was facing it with a
- paralyzing dread.
- </p>
- <p>
- Lentala, fresh and radiant, brought our breakfast. Except for her color,
- not a trace of savagery remained about her. Her dress was a simple
- house-frock of fine white linen, and of a modern style. Her hair was done
- exactly like Annabel’s.
- </p>
- <p>
- It did not improve her appearance. Had she been white, there would have
- been no touch of the incongruous. But in this fresh, sweet daintiness,
- much of her savage splendor had been sunk, and I felt a keen
- disappointment. The former Lentala, for all her barbarity, had never
- seemed an alien, but more a bringing back to me of a deeply rooted
- principle fundamental in my heritage.
- </p>
- <p>
- She appeared to expect a compliment; but how could I be otherwise than
- sincere with her? Our greetings were pleasant; yet her clothes had set a
- constraint between us.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You don’t like my dress, Mr. Tudor?” she ruefully asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is exquisite, Lentala, and——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I made it all myself, from a picture in a book out of your ship! I
- thought you would like it. Doesn’t Annabel dress this way?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes; but in the native dress your beautiful, rich color——” I
- paused in my floundering for a delicate way in which to say it. “Annabel
- is white, you know,” I blundered.
- </p>
- <p>
- Foreseeing my explanation, she had turned flutteringly away before my
- final words came, and was still holding the empty copper tray on which she
- had brought our breakfast. It fell with a clatter; her back was turned to
- me when she picked it up in confusion.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A white woman!” She did not look at me. “Yes, she can wear dainty things
- and be sweet; but a brown savage woman——”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had risen from my seat at the table and was advancing toward her. She
- turned and faced me defiantly, backing away, her eyes flashing. In another
- second, with a lightning change which showed her near kinship with Beela,
- she smiled sweetly, and asked with a dash of her old coquetry:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Would you like Lentala better if she were white and pink like Annabel?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “How could I like Lentala white more than Lentala brown, since, first and
- last, it is Lentala that I like?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She frowned comically in an effort to puzzle some sense out of that
- speech.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I mean,” I added, laughing at her perplexity, “that I like Lentala
- because she is Lentala, not because she isn’t some one else.”
- </p>
- <p>
- That was another poser, and she made just such a little wry face over it
- as I had seen Beela make many a time. Her face brightened as she made a
- dash at a short cut out:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you like me <i>because</i> I’m brown?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is a question! It isn’t because you aren’t white that I like you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “<i>Could</i> you like me if I were white?” She stamped impatiently.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’d try to,” I sighed.
- </p>
- <p>
- She made a little pout, stuck up her chin, turned stiffly, and went out
- with great dignity. It was the Lentala of the feast!
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela entered when we had finished breakfast. In her rough clothes and
- tightly bound hair, she made so sharp a contrast to Lentala that, for a
- moment, I could not think of her as a girl, but as the dear lad whom I had
- lost. She had none of her brilliant sparkle now, and my heart ached to see
- the weariness and anxiety that she tried so bravely to conceal.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What’s afoot for today, dear little brother?” I cheerily inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- She was regarding me solemnly. “You’ve had your wish, I suppose. You’ve
- seen Lentala this morning.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. She brought our breakfast. She’s an angel.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Pooh!” Beela was bored. “I’ve seen her. She looked a fright in those
- clothes. Trying to ape Annabel! She ought to have better sense. I know you
- were disgusted.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t talk! I know.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are tired and cross this morning, lad.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She flopped into a chair, very glum. “Women are <i>such</i> fools!” she
- grumbled.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now I am grieved to learn that Lentala is not a woman, for she could
- never be a fool.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela looked at me with sad reproach, and shook her head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Just now,” I went on, “she was a rich red rose sparkling with morning
- dew. Her smile started all the birds to singing. She——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” She stamped the floor, much as Lentala had done, but a smile
- fringed her frown. “You <i>know</i> she made a fright of herself trying to
- look like Annabel,—and with that ugly brown face!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, no, Beelo. The only trouble was that Lentala is too modest to realize
- how splendidly perfect she is as Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But wasn’t she still Lentala in those silly clothes?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She was as much less Lentala as her effort to be something else succeeded
- in making her.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela looked puzzled exactly as Lentala had.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But her heart is broken!” she cried. “She says that you laughed at her,
- and spoke in riddles!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I laughed <i>with</i> her, Beelo, not <i>at</i> her; and the riddles were
- a bit that I put in my mouth.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The temptation to say beautiful things to Lentala that might sound
- insincere is strong.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She rose, with a confusion that was half amusement, and tried to hide the
- light in her eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come, Choseph! There is much to do today.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I must see Lentala first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She could not mistake my seriousness. “Why?” in surprise.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I won’t have her unhappy over that trifling incident. She is too
- sensitive,—she misunderstood. I must see her, lad.” I started for
- the door.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” came breathlessly. “Don’t!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t look at me that way!” she exclaimed in genuine alarm. Christopher
- was moving round toward the door for which I had started.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What way?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “As though—as though you’d break down doors and kill anybody that
- stood in your way!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I want to see Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You can’t! She—she’s undressed. I’ll tell her. She’ll be
- satisfied.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Will you, lad? Thank you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She began making some preparations about the room. “You ought to be kept
- tied, Choseph,” she said, half to herself. “I never know what you are
- going to do next.” Yet a sweet note in her voice sounded low.
- </p>
- <p>
- She came and stood before me, looking me straight in the eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I was going to give you and Christopher very delicate and important work
- to do this morning, Choseph, but I’m afraid you’ll do something rash and
- ruin us all.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I felt the sting. “Trust me, little brother.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She shook her head in trouble. “You’re not sly, Choseph; you’re not
- cunning and patient. Those are what are needed now. You have enough
- courage.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Trust me, lad.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are to meet King Rangan, Choseph, and you are to do everything that
- he wishes you to do. You may think you ought not.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “If you say that I ought, I will.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I do say so. If you refuse, or show temper, or do anything that a Senatra
- wouldn’t do, all is lost. Do you understand?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am not a fool, Beelo.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph! That was temper.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Trust me, lad,” I begged.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is very dangerous work—terribly so if you make a mistake.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “There will be no mistake.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king is much broken. He is growing old, and the problem of the colony
- is wearing on him. Choseph, will you think of him as kind and gentle, and
- as meaning well?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And will you watch Christopher? Sometimes he understands more than you or
- I.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I will.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well.” Beela was much relieved. “Now I’ll explain. The king is
- failing rapidly. He needs such friends as you and Christopher, and———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Such friends as <i>we</i>, when he is holding us as fattening cattle?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” Beela’s voice rang sharp, and she angrily stamped. Then came a
- hopeless look.
- </p>
- <p>
- I took her hands. “Come, dear friend,” I pleaded. “That was the last. I am
- wholly in your hands. And remember, there is always Christopher.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She turned away with a sigh, and began to put finishing touches to our
- efforts at the restoration of neatness in the room. She was evidently
- gathering herself, for presently she came and took a seat facing me,
- Christopher standing. Her manner was serious.
- </p>
- <p>
- “This is the case,” she said: “The king has meant always to be kind to
- Lentala and me, and we are grateful. We love the queen dearly. We would
- lay down our lives before permitting any harm to befall them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her emotion made her pause.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Serious dangers are threatening them now,—more than they suspect,—and
- these have come because of your people. Before that, only one or two would
- be cast up from the wrecks. They gave no trouble.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Horror came into her face, and she looked away.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I always supposed that they were sent off,” she resumed. “Never once did
- I suspect the truth until shortly before your party came, and then my
- affection for the king died in me, and I was sick at heart. I don’t think
- the queen knows the truth to this day. I think the king would have stopped
- it long ago, but for Gato, who wanted to use it to keep the natives in
- savagery. He is a bad man, with great power. When your large party came,
- he saw a way to break the king, stir the people to rebellion, kill the
- king and queen, and take the throne himself.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does Gato suspect that you know this about him?” I asked in astonishment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. There is where our safety lies. I never should have suspected him if
- he hadn’t made love to Lentala and told her that if she would marry him
- she would soon be queen,—the beast! Then we watched and found out.”
- </p>
- <p>
- After a thoughtful pause she proceeded:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Gato is secretly stirring up the people. I have no doubt that he is about
- ready to strike. His plan will be this, I think: The palace guard are men
- whom he can trust to do his work; he will kill everybody here, and then
- take the army into your valley and slaughter all but a few. He will keep
- those for the sacrifices. It was he that induced the king to use Mr.
- Vancouver as your traitor. But, unlike the king, he doesn’t care how many
- natives might be killed in a fight with the colony when he has made
- himself king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She was regarding me curiously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And what are Christopher and I to do?” I cheerfully asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let me tell you some things before that,” she answered, but with
- hesitancy. “You won’t be hurt with me, Choseph, and you won’t be angry?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Assuredly not, dear lad.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I told Captain Mason all these things when I went into the valley the
- last time.” She waited anxiously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am very glad of that,” I brightly answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- She was much relieved, and with a sudden dash came over and squeezed my
- hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are really my dear big brother!” she said, and demurely resumed her
- seat. “I told him something else,” she went on with more confidence. “It
- was to have his entire colony ready to move at a moment’s notice,—not
- to bring anything with them, except all the food they could carry, but to
- be prepared at any time of the day or night to march in perfect silence
- out of the valley.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “To the ship!” I exclaimed.
- </p>
- <p>
- She smiled. “I advised him to pick some cool, trustworthy men to take
- charge of the march.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He said———?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That he already had his men chosen, and was glad that Hobart didn’t have
- to come out with me. He said it would be the making of Rawley to come, and
- that you would understand.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I did at last. There was something almost magical in Captain Mason’s
- ability to dig the manhood out of men.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And now for your work and Christopher’s,” resumed Beela. “I will take you
- to the king as English-speaking natives from the mountains beyond the
- valley on the west, which you have not seen. As I have told you, the
- natives there are wilder and fiercer than these, have little intercourse
- with them, and are largely independent. Their blood has mingled with that
- of a few castaways, and they are brighter. On this side is the ancient
- race, simple, gentle, dull. The king is proud of it, and wishes to keep it
- pure. But he will welcome the other men in this emergency, particularly if
- they speak English.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Has he full confidence in Gato?” I inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I think he is growing suspicious.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And we?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are to be the king’s confidential agents; to find out, independently
- of Gato, all that is afoot; to be ready to protect the king; and
- especially to treat with the colony if any trouble should rise from that
- source. Is it all clear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Nearly. We are to guard the king and maintain his authority at any cost?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela studied me uneasily. “Yes, at any cost,” she slowly answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I was thinking of Gato,” I explained. “We are to resort to any measures
- with him, however extreme, if we have good reason to think them
- necessary?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” somewhat anxiously. “What do you mean, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Anything that may be wise and prudent.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She glanced down. She made no reply, but gave this warning, still not
- looking up:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Take no chances with him. When you strike, which you must, sooner or
- later, let the blow be swift and sure.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What will become of the army when he is out of the way?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The question troubled her. “It is very uncertain,” she answered. “There
- may be leaders under him who are in his confidence. They or one of them
- may take command and lead the army against the palace.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She sprang to her feet and glanced about.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let’s go to the king at once,” she said. “Lentala told him about you and
- promised to have you there by this time. I fear that Gato has already
- returned with his report of the Face with its open mouth and purple
- flame.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Just one thing, dear lad,” I interrupted. “I wish to see Lentala first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her adaptability was as quick as a child’s. The seriousness which she had
- worn flashed into a teasing quirk of the mouth.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What for?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know very well.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph,” she said, solemnly wagging her head at me, “how can you think
- of girls at such a time as this? Lentala would have too much sense to see
- you now. Come with me to the king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XVIII.—To the Rescue of the King.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Our Risky Audience With His Majesty. He Encoils Us in Allegiance. I
- Open His Eyes. Gato’s Scheme of Regicide. A Bold Act by Christopher.</i>
- </p>
- <p>
- ON our way to the royal apartments, Beela again took us through the
- vaults. I used the opportunity to fix in my memory the exact places where
- the arms and ammunition from our vessel were kept. The king never
- permitted any of his subjects to handle firearms.
- </p>
- <p>
- Hard by the vaults she showed us a dungeon. Not within her memory had it
- been occupied, and few, even in the palace, knew of its existence. It was
- an ingeniously designed prison, a grated window for ventilation and a
- little light being so placed that no sound could reach the outside; and
- the door was so deadened that no beating could make a noise.
- </p>
- <p>
- Anxious that none of the king’s attendants should see her, Beela gave us
- directions how to go and what to say and do if we were halted, and slipped
- away, informing us that we might see her face at a small curtained window
- high in the east wall of the room where the king would receive us.
- </p>
- <p>
- One after another of the attendants whom we encountered on the way eyed us
- curiously and, I thought, suspiciously, and put their heads together after
- we had passed. One of them gave a low whistle; two came forward from in
- front, stopped us, and demanded our identity and business. All these men
- were armed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king expects us,” was my curt answer; but more effective was our cool
- assurance.
- </p>
- <p>
- Thus we arrived at the door, which was open, a soldier on guard. More
- peremptorily than the others he demanded our names and errand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king expects us,” I repeated, and was going within; but the fellow
- laid a hand on me. I flung it off, and so confused him that we were within
- before he could interfere. He mustered some briskness to follow, but was
- too late, for the king had seen us.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was shocked at his appearance in the clearer light of day. At the feast
- he had looked not far beyond his prime; his eyes were bright then, and he
- bore himself with a commanding dignity. Now he was sinking into
- decrepitude.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have been expecting these men,” he said, and the guard withdrew; but I
- knew that he was slyly listening at the door.
- </p>
- <p>
- We made an obeisance. I caught a glimpse of Beela’s encouraging face at
- the window.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king was lounging on a divan; he had been talking with two elderly men
- seated on rugs before him. They regarded us keenly as the king asked them
- to withdraw. When they had gone, Christopher closed and locked the door,
- and stood with his back to it. The surprised and curious scrutiny of the
- king was on him, passing down his grotesque figure. From Christopher he
- turned to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What do you wish?” he inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “To serve you, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “How?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Secretly, by finding out many things, by learning the truth; and in any
- other way.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have men for that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have Lentala also, Sire. She knows that you need us, and that we will
- serve you intelligently, faithfully, and without fear.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Without fear of whom?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Every one of account has enemies, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Have I any? I want no guessing.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We will find out.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does Lentala know?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not positively, perhaps; but we all love her, and she has many ways of
- learning, since she is not hedged about and kept in the dark as your
- Majesty can be.” The king was brightening; a faint eagerness crept into
- his face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where did you learn to talk in that way?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t understand your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That inflexion. It isn’t pure Senatra.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is my misfortune, Sire. A long time ago a white man, an American,
- escaped from the natives with the aid of a Senatra girl. She went with him
- into the lonely mountains back of the village Sumanali. There my brother,”
- indicating Christopher, “and I were born. We speak our father’s language
- as well as our mother’s.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “English?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I meant something else, also, in your speech,—a quickness, a
- nimbleness.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The white man was bright and keen, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is your name?” he asked me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And his?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Those are not Senatra names.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Our father was an American, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He put me through a further shrewd examination, and I answered readily. It
- was having a slow but conspicuous effect in heartening him. I was
- evidently a new and refreshing element, perhaps bringing hope. He appeared
- satisfied, and asked:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Have you any suspicions?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of what? and of whom?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Might it not be unjust, Sire, to express mere suspicions?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He reflected a moment, and asked:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you know Gato?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And the Black Face?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And the purple flame?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. I saw it two days ago.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where?” asked he in excitement, sitting erect.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It was slipping along the top of the valley wall, near the Face.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king’s perturbation increased, but he found no wavering of my eyes
- under his sharp gaze.
- </p>
- <p>
- “More than that, Sire; my brother and I went into the river passage
- through the wall. We saw the red fire and barely missed a great
- explosion.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king’s astonishment brought him to his feet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Tell me more!” he demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- I gave him an account of all that we had seen and endured, including the
- flaming waterfall, the boiling cauldron, and the earthquake.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You dared that passage!” he exclaimed, looking from one to the other of
- us in amazement. “It was the white blood. Not another man in the kingdom
- would do it. Gato could not make any of his men go; yet I was anxious to
- know.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was saying this partly to himself, as he aimlessly walked the floor.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why did you go?” he abruptly asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We had heard that no one else was willing, and we wished to serve your
- Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king’s back being turned, I glanced up at the window. The curtain
- parted for a moment, and Beela’s beaming face nodded and smiled.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” muttered the king in a profound disturbance, “it means that an
- upheaval is at hand,—and a crisis!” He came and stood before me,
- plumping this question at me: “Do you fear the Black Face, the flame, and
- the earthquake?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not in the least, Sire,” I smilingly answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “All the others do.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty has not forgotten that our father was white. He taught us
- many wise things.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was smitten with a look that seemed to come from his conscience, and
- sank with a groan into the divan.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Had I only been as true to my duty, and led my people to the light!” he
- exclaimed. “Lentala begged me to. Now I must pay, I must pay!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I needed no recalling of my pledge to Beela, for pity held me. I looked to
- the window, and the radiance coming thence lighted my wits.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There is always hope, Sire,” I cheerfully said; “we can work and hope.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He gave me a haggard look. “You know,” he said, “the Senatras believe that
- unless sacrifices are made of the white people in the valley there will
- come no more wrecks and castaways, and that the Black Face will therefore
- send the terrible earthquake and eruptions which frighten our people into
- madness, sweep the island with fire, and destroy lives and farms. But how
- can a sacrifice be made? The people think that to offer up a madman would
- infuriate the Face and cause frightful disaster. It is impossible to bring
- another white man from the valley, because the colony would fight rather
- than give him up. Yet unless there is a sacrifice the Senatras will rebel
- through fear of the Face, the army will revolt, my palace will be seized,
- and the queen, Lentala and I, with all our friends and servants, will be
- put to the sword.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A leader, who must be a traitor, would be required for that, your
- Majesty. That would mean a man of eminence among us; and not that alone,
- but one who has already laid his plans and is ready at this moment to
- strike.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king was staring at me in terror.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You speak with a deep understanding,” he huskily said, “and you have more
- to tell me. Proceed.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire. The white people wish only to leave the island, and to go in
- peace. They will do no harm if they are not opposed; if they are, they
- will harm only those who oppose them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “How do you know?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I speak with knowledge from my white father.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But if they are permitted to go, they will spread tales of great riches
- here, and destroying ships and armies will come.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Permit me, Sire. In the first place, with such coadjutors as Lentala, my
- brother and I, you could make the island impregnable. That would be far
- wiser than the risk which you are now running, for the sea, even in my
- father’s time, was filling with ships, and the great countries were
- hunting new possessions. At any time a ship may come without the aid of
- the storms. She would see this large and beautiful island, and, though
- driven off, would inform her own country, which would send vessels and men
- to overwhelm us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, yes. But would it be possible for us to prepare defenses?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is our duty to do all that we can, Sire. But there can be an
- additional protection. So long as we keep our present backwardness we
- shall be deemed the rightful prey of any nation. If we aim to be more like
- the great countries, and send ambassadors to them and make treaties with
- them, they will protect us against one another.”
- </p>
- <p>
- This mightily impressed the king.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That sounds reasonable,” he said with a pitiful air of wisdom, “but it
- may be attended to hereafter. We are facing a present crisis. You said
- that a leader of an insurrection would be required.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The army could put down any trouble.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “With the army itself in revolt?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But Gato’s control of the army is powerful.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yet it is on the edge of revolt. If Gato is all-powerful with his men,
- and in spite of that fact says he can’t control them,——But
- your Majesty is abler than I to draw inferences.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king came nervously to his feet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is easy to understand, Sire,” I went on, “that an ambitious and
- unscrupulous man would see his opportunity when the people are paralyzed
- with fear of the Face or with an outburst of its wrath.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Opportunity for what?” the king demanded. “What would he want, Sire? Your
- throne would be a temptation, and so would Lentala to a man who wanted a
- beautiful wife.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king gripped the edge of a table.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He asked me for her,” the wretched man growled like a lion gnawing a
- bone. “I refused him. She is very dear to me. I wanted her to have a
- better man, of her own choosing. For I have provided that she is to rule
- my people when I am gone.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Though greatly surprised, I refrained from looking toward the window, and
- kept silence while the broken man fought out his agony. When the urgency
- of his situation had measurably restored him, he began to pace the floor,
- and asked:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Something has to be done immediately. What would you suggest?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What does your Majesty understand the case to be?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “We are on the eve of a revolution. The task is to check it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Meanwhile, Sire, I observe that a score of Gato’s soldiers are in the
- palace. Is that customary?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king stopped and turned a livid look on me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. Gato suggested that it would be safer to have them here for the
- present as a protection.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Protection for whom, Sire?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The hint in the question swept the breath out of him, and he stood
- staring.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I hadn’t suspected——” he struggled for breath to begin. Then,
- “I see, I see.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The imminence of danger electrified his dormant forces. He hardened and
- expanded, and fighting blood began to run in his veins. I said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “There is one thing more, your Majesty. The white people in the valley are
- able, daring, and cunning. Already some of them have escaped and are at
- large in the island.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Impossible!” he exclaimed in consternation.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have seen them myself, Sire. They are perfectly disguised as natives.”
- A quick look at the window showed me a frightened but not a reprimanding
- face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are positive?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Absolutely, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “How did they come out?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Either by tricking Gato’s men, or by connivance with some one, of
- course.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A rap at the door prevented further discussion.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is Gato,” the king whispered. “Hide there,” pointing to a curtained
- door in the rear wall.
- </p>
- <p>
- We were immediately concealed. The place was an anteroom. Through the
- curtain we could hear and see everything.
- </p>
- <p>
- Gato entered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What news?” the king inquired in a friendly, business-like fashion.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Everything is quiet, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “How is the weather?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is beginning to clear.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Good! If the storm has made any wrecks, a castaway for the sacrifice may
- drift ashore. That would restore order.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Gato solemnly shook his head. The king reclined in silence, and then
- asked:
- </p>
- <p>
- “How many soldiers have you in and about the palace?”
- </p>
- <p>
- The man was surprised. “Twenty, Sire,” he hesitatingly answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Send them to the Council Chamber, and summon Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “May I ask your Majesty——”
- </p>
- <p>
- Gato found a look that he was not accustomed to see. It was evident from
- the slowness with which he proceeded to obey that he was alarmed and was
- gaining time for new plans.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher and I stepped forth when Gato was gone. Beela exhibited some
- fear, but I sent her a smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You,” the king commanded me, “observe his manner with his men. You,” to
- Christopher, “follow him to Lentala and see that no harm befalls her; I
- will show you a way. Don’t let him see either of you. Come with me to the
- Council Chamber immediately after the soldiers have assembled.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela nodded to me, and dropped the curtain. The king led Christopher into
- the anteroom, gave him hurried directions, opened a door leading out of
- that room, dismissed Christopher, and returned. By this time I was passing
- out, having observed that no one in the corridor was looking toward me.
- </p>
- <p>
- Gato had formed his plan, and it contemplated swift execution, as I judged
- from his prompt, incisive manner with his men. In each instance he gave an
- order which I knew from the pantomime included the Council Chamber; then,
- in the man’s ear, he added something which brought a start, a stiffening
- of the body, and an unconscious grip of the sword-hilt. As the men were
- straggling past me to assemble, the king leisurely strolled out into the
- corridor, and was sauntering beyond me, when he stopped, turned, and asked
- under his voice:
- </p>
- <p>
- “What are the signs?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He has ordered them to kill you in the Council Chamber at a sign from
- him.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Umph!” The king passed on toward his living-apartments, which he entered.
- </p>
- <p>
- When he came quietly walking back, the corridor was clear of soldiers. He
- slipped a modern revolver into my hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you understand its use?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perfectly, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “May I trust your nerve and judgment to use it at the right moment and
- without missing?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You may, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I think one shot will settle the matter. If
- </p>
- <p>
- “There will be three of us, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He nodded, passed on, and turned back. He had become transformed, and
- appeared to look forward eagerly to the crucial moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Gato ought to be here with Lentala by this time,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- He walked slowly to the private audience-room, looked in, and strolled
- back. Near me he stopped short, intently listening.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did you hear that?” he asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It sounded like the roar of an infuriated animal.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His strolling began again, but with an increasing uneasiness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t understand it,” he said. At intervals he stopped and listened.
- Finally he came back.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I sent for her,” he explained, “to announce that she was heir-apparent to
- the throne, and vested with present authority to take any measures in this
- crisis that would seem proper in her discretion.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I did not know before that my heart could be so touched by such a man.
- </p>
- <p>
- His impatience at last slipped control. “We will go and see what detains
- them,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- We started down the corridor. At his own apartments he paused to send a
- servant to the Council Chamber with word that he would soon appear. We had
- gone but a short distance beyond, when we met Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is all well?” asked the king.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are Lentala and Gato coming?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why not?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He’s in the dungeon, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “In the dungeon! Locked up?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Who put him there?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Me, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What for?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty told me not to let him harm her.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Harm her! Did he try to?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I was there. She wants to see you.” He turned to me. “And you, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We three hastened to her apartments, where we found her lying on a couch
- and attended by a number of frightened women.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala!” the king anxiously said; “what is the matter?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She forced a smile, held out one hand to the king and the other to me,
- gave mine a quick, tight squeeze, released our hands, in a weak voice bade
- us be seated, and with a wave of her hand dismissed the women.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What has happened, child?” the king insisted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Gato came. I was alone. He didn’t know that Christopher was behind him.”
- She was speaking with difficulty, often pausing. “He was impatient. He
- said he loved me and wanted me. And if I wouldn’t marry him, he’d... he’d
- strangle me here and now.... That his men were waiting in the Council
- Chamber to kill you, if I refused him, and then they would kill the
- queen.... I said no. I trusted Christopher. Gato’s fingers hooked like
- that,” she showed with her own hands, “his eyes glared terribly, and he
- came at me.... Christopher crept up, said to me, ‘Don’t scream,’ and
- leaped on Gato. They grappled, and rolled on the floor. Gato roared like a
- wild beast.” Lentala covered her eyes with her hands. “I heard things
- crack and break. I couldn’t look. Then came an awful squeak. Christopher
- said again to me, ‘Don’t scream.’ It meant he was safe. I felt myself
- falling.... When I saw again, I was lying on this divan, and my women were
- with me. Gato was gone. Christopher was standing in the door. I asked him
- where Gato was. He said, ‘In the dungeon.’ He would say no more, and I
- sent him for you.” She looked at him, and added, “Dear old Christopher!”
- </p>
- <p>
- His face was blank.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Can I do anything for you?” the king gently asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, thank you. I’m only a little shaken, and will be up in a few
- minutes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Would you like the queen to come?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. It would distress her. Not a word of this to her!”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king led us out. At the door I looked back and won a smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- We went in silence, and the king stepped into his apartments, bidding us
- wait in the corridor a minute.
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned a keen look on Christopher, and he met it frankly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are you hurt?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is he badly injured?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Him?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He don’t need no doctor, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Did he go with you quietly?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He’ll hang for this, Christopher.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sir?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king will hang him for this.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher’s gaze wandered vacantly round the corridor, and after a while
- he quietly said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “It won’t hurt him, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The truth blazed through me. I had been misled by Christopher’s perfect
- calm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!” I cried, seizing his hand and wringing it; but he looked
- bored.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XIX.—The Strength of the White Blood.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Extraordinary Discipline by the King. His Uneasiness Concerning Our
- Loyalty. Lentala’s Father. We Must Help Destroy Our Friends. Earthquakes.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>LTHOUGH the king
- was greatly shocked when I told him what had really happened to Gato, his
- gratification quickly rose, and he regarded Christopher curiously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why didn’t you tell me at once?” he inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is not his way, Sire,” I explained. “He avoids talking.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It was a wonderful thing to do,” his Majesty mused as we slowly went to
- the Council Chamber.
- </p>
- <p>
- Something had given him a fearful blow, and I guessed it was the danger to
- which Lentala had been exposed. His face was haggard again; his gait was
- unsteady; he doddered and mumbled.
- </p>
- <p>
- As we neared the Council Chamber, he said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come in and stand near me, one on either side.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We found the soldiers in a huddle near the door, the racial dulness of
- their faces somewhat keyed with expectancy. The king gave them but a
- glance as he passed them and ascended the throne,—to be more
- impressive, no doubt. Christopher and I stood as flanks.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Form a line facing me,” the king sternly commanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- The soldiers glanced at one another in wonder as they obeyed, and
- furtively had anxious eyes and ears for Gato. They were a fine crowd,
- selected for courage and dash.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You understand,” the king said, “that I am always in supreme command of
- the army, including Gato and every other officer. Any person who may be in
- immediate charge of you is serving as my agent, and is appointed and
- removed by me at my pleasure. All your fealty and loyalty are for me. You
- will now acknowledge that with an obeisance to your king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The rascals were dazed. They might send shifting glances down the line if
- they liked, and wonder and waver if they pleased, but obey they must:
- every man felt it in his bones. The line went down.
- </p>
- <p>
- Etiquette required the maintenance of the posture until the king gave the
- word to rise. The obeisance consisted in coming to the knees, resting the
- elbows, well advanced, on the floor, pressing the palms down, and rooting
- the floor with the forehead,—an easy performance if quickly
- finished, but a torturing one if sustained. On this occasion the king
- neglected the releasing command; and that was unheard of. In such a
- position the men could see nothing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A soldier’s first duty,” he resumed, “is to his king. In becoming a
- soldier he dedicates his manhood, his strength, his life, to his
- sovereign; that is to say, to his country. A true soldier is glad to die
- for the happiness and safety of his king. His duties are as sacred as
- those of a son to his father. A worthy son will remember the protection
- that his father has given him. If he hears him defamed, he will uphold his
- name; if blind, will lead him; if threatened, will defend him though death
- be the reward. So it is with a soldier and his king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His voice weighted his words with a deep emotion, and he spoke slowly,
- with pauses. It was like listening to a passage from the Bible,—but
- much better read than commonly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A king may be kind to his soldiers; that will bring him their love with
- their fealty, and give their duty a double force. A king may grow old and
- stand in need of the strong, willing arms of young men whom he loves and
- who love him. A king may totter under the burden of long service to his
- people; his soldiers will then be his stay and comfort, and with joy in
- their hearts will do his high will. Serpents may crawl in the weeds about
- a king’s throne: his soldiers will beat the weeds clear of them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king could not have failed to see a painful writhing that wormed
- through the line. His pause was long.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A son who hears even his brother speak ill of their father, will reprove
- the brother and shame him. If that fails, he will chastise his brother if
- he can; but if the brother is stronger, the dutiful one will take the
- matter to their father, since the safeguard of the family is endangered by
- the disaffection of a single member. If a father discovers one of his sons
- jeopardizing the unity, prosperity, and safety of the family, he will give
- the faithless son such treatment as the security of the family demands.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The pause this time was still longer. Meanwhile, the endurance of the men
- had nearly reached an end. Whatever may have been their mental state,
- their physical was one of excruciating pain.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Some men are induced to do wrong through heedlessness or blindness, not
- knowing the gravity of their deeds, and not foreseeing a dire result.
- Others are weak and easily led; they are untrustworthy tools of their
- leaders, and shame is their greatest punishment. Others are cruel and
- wicked at heart; they will therefore be ready to betray the men who led
- them to betray others. All of those are poisonous serpents in the weeds
- about a king’s throne. And it is far worse in a soldier than in any one
- else.”
- </p>
- <p>
- After another pause, he said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “A king who is kind and wise will be slow to believe evil of his people.
- It will be natural for him to think that all will be as wise and kind as
- he. Yet he must be watchful; he cannot protect the people unless he
- protects himself. If he finds a scandal, he may hide it, lest it weaken
- the common faith in the strength and purity of his government. If he
- discovers that any are unfaithful, he will not make their treason public
- by hanging them before the people, unless he knows that a warning will
- stop other traitors. No; he will be merciful and keep them privately for a
- time, till they may walk forth erect in their recovered manhood.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Here and there a gasp or a strangled groan broke the silence of the line.
- The king was heeding.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The man at the right of the line will rise.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The fellow came painfully to his feet, and stretched the agony out of his
- muscles.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Advance and lay your sword on the dais,” ordered the king.
- </p>
- <p>
- The man obeyed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Return to your obeisance.”
- </p>
- <p>
- A start thrilled the soldier. He gave the king a desperate, pleading look,
- but found eyes with a cold sternness that sent him to obedience.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The next, rise.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The performance was repeated with him, and with the rest in turn.
- </p>
- <p>
- “All rise,” said the king. They stood up. “I will now take you to a room
- in the palace, where you may consider in quiet what the soldiers of a king
- should be. You,” he ordered Christopher, “walk beside me at the head, and
- you,” to me, “follow the soldiers.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The dignity of a mighty sorrow sat like a grace upon him as he slowly led
- the procession. Never were prisoners more securely manacled with steel
- than these men, though their members were free; and though there was a
- certain pomp in the march, it was that of a funeral, and the silence was
- louder than the blare of much brass.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king turned into the corridor that led to the vaults, and descended
- the stair. This brought him and the others to the dungeon door. He halted,
- and Christopher unlocked it. It swung wide. The king and Christopher stood
- aside, and the men marched in. Christopher closed and locked the door.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty!” I exclaimed; “you surely have not forgotten that Gato——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “My son,” he calmly answered, “what they have already endured has made the
- way easier to what they will find in there.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Without haste the king conducted us back to the chamber in which he had
- received us, and seated himself ered: on the divan. He was studying us.
- </p>
- <p>
- He inflated his cheeks and pursed his lips while his goggling eyes roamed,
- and queer wrinkles came and went in his face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The white blood,” he grunted, staring at me. “It accounts for your
- keenness. The white blood never sleeps. If it is with you, good; if
- against you,———”
- </p>
- <p>
- He rose and glared. “Which love you the more, son,” he growled, “the white
- blood or the brown?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty sees our color. We came freely and offered our hearts, our
- arms, and our lives to your Majesty. And it is not forgotten, Sire, that
- Lentala sent us.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I remember.” The growl died in him, and he brightened. With both hands he
- clutched the edge of the couch. “It takes white blood to fight white
- blood,” he said. “Did your father tell you that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not that I recall, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Black blood and red blood and yellow blood and brown blood always fall
- before it, soon or late. He said nothing about that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I think not, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know it is true?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “My father told me much of the great world.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then he told you that. And I know. I saw it when I went abroad in my
- youth. I learned it from Lentala’s father. Does it mean anything to you
- that your mother was a Senatra?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is sufficient that your Majesty and Lentala are Senatras.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king fixed a keen stare on me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You mention Lentala very often,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She indorsed us to your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Something more is here. That is the white blood in her. In you and in her
- the white blood knows its own.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His sudden confirmation of my surmise concerning Lentala choked the words
- in my throat.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why don’t you speak?” he roughly demanded. “Is it not true?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I could only gaze at him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The white blood finds and knows its own,” he went on. “Two hundred and
- fifty of those with white blood are held on this island by a great horde
- of those with brown blood. I need a man of the white-blood shrewdness and
- boldness and courage to manage those two hundred and fifty to the safety
- of my people and my island. But if I take a man with white blood in his
- veins, it will side with the white blood that threatens me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Would Lentala hand over to treason and destruction your Majesty and the
- queen and all the other Senatras whom she loves, and the people to whom
- she belongs and the country that has nourished her?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not wittingly, for she is a daughter of the gods; but the blood, my son,
- the blood!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sire, a love early planted endures forever.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He rose to fight his despair, and walked up and down the room.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, it is true,” he said at last. “Lentala has proved it. I spared her
- father, a castaway, because he stopped a great plague that was destroying
- my people. I myself was stricken, and he saved my life I feared him
- because he was of the white blood, and because of his wisdom and power. He
- held the secrets of the gods, and had no fear. I had planted deep in my
- people a hatred of the white blood; and I required that he not only
- disguise himself as a native, but remain within the palace grounds. He
- taught me many things, but I refused to follow his advice to instruct my
- subjects. He educated Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is he still alive?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He died two years ago. If he were only here now! We became strong
- friends. Lentala’s devotion to the islanders is returned by them almost as
- idolatry. I know how the white blood can love, but I know also how it can
- hate; and it knows its own.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He suddenly halted, and wheeled upon me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You say,” he moaned, “that some of the white men are at large on the
- island. What mischief are they doing? What mines digging under me? My
- people are children,—I have kept them so, God help them! I need not
- alone a wit and a daring to match the white people’s, but Senatra devotion
- as well.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty knows Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He blazed on me. “Do you love Lentala?”
- </p>
- <p>
- A fierce tingling raced through me, and dumbness held me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is beautiful and sweet,” he went on. “She is steadfast; she is brave
- and able. There never was a woman to match her. You are big and strong and
- brave. She found you. Like finds like. Do you love her as a man loves a
- woman?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I fought blindly for wit and words.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire,” came the thin, even voice of Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- We both turned in surprise. He beamed on us blandly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does she love him as a woman loves a man?” the king asked him.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His audacity held me speechless.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I can trust her—and you,” the king said to me,—“so far as
- blood tempered by love and loyalty may be trusted, which is farther than
- it may trust itself. I am old and broken. Come, you two, and stand before
- me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We obeyed, I wondering.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have no other men to equal you, and I need you. You must serve me. Take
- time now, and remember your white blood. Remember that it is stronger than
- your brown, for I have seen its dominance in you today. Remember that when
- your allegiance is tested in a choice between white blood and brown, the
- white will be the stronger. Only one thing can save you and me and all my
- people.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And that, Sire,——-?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “——-is your manly pride to see and know and overcome your
- white blood, and serve and obey your king to the end.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He paused, and looked from one to the other, as though expecting us to
- speak, but we were silent.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The white blood,” he passionately resumed, “is the most terrible thing in
- the world. It is strong and shrewd; it never gives up; it pursues and
- fights relentlessly to the ends of the earth; without mercy or pity it
- hunts down, plunders, overwhelms, exterminates. Only one thing can hold it
- in check, and that is opposing white blood. Brown blood cannot cope with
- the white people in the valley, but white blood can; and for the task, the
- gods have sent me white blood mingled with brown seeded in my soil and
- grown to it with deep roots. That is my hope and trust.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His gaze of affectionate yearning was on us.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The duty of your Senatra blood is loyalty to your king; the task of your
- white blood is to outwit and outdo the people in the valley. I will place
- Lentala in command of the army. You must not take a step without her full
- concurrence, and you will obey her without question. Do you agree?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Gladly, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A hundred soldiers guard the passes from the val ley, and are relieved
- every day. When not on duty they attend to their private affairs. I will
- at once send out messengers summoning these to assemble outside the palace
- wall, in the king’s highway passing the main gate. There I will address
- them and turn over the command to Lentala.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was profoundly studying me. His words, “to outwit and outdo the people
- in the valley,” were grinding within me, and I longed to demand an
- explanation. A savage ferocity was manifest through his benignity. To
- outwit and outdo the people in the valley,—my people, my friends! I
- would be his tool to betray and destroy them. The bottomless pit should
- have him first, and the hand that he would turn to treachery and murder
- would send him thither.
- </p>
- <p>
- My face must have shown something of what I tried to conceal; for the
- king, his look growing desperate and malignant, stepped back a pace. There
- came from somewhere a sharp rap, which made me start, and sent my glance
- to the curtained window, to which the king had his back. I had supposed
- that Beela was with Lentala; but there she was at the window, her hand
- upraised in warning. It brought me instant control.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king also had heard, and looked round sharply, but the curtain was
- down.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What was that?” he inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “My big toe, Sire,” answered Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What did you do with it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I cracked the joint.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It feels good, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His Majesty curiously regarded Christopher’s feet. “It must be a large
- joint,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher stood in gentle silence. The king turned to me, and found me
- docile.
- </p>
- <p>
- “That look of rebellion was the white blood in you,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Only for a moment. Your Majesty may trust me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Nevertheless, he was troubled, and shook his head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He won’t no more, Sire,” said Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- “How do you know?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I know him.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Explain.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He does little things short and big things long.”
- </p>
- <p>
- My amused smile was fortunate, because it put an end to the king’s tragic
- gravity.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am satisfied,” he remarked. “Now, the first thing for you two to do,
- while the army is assembling, is to go out, find, and bring to the palace
- all the white men that have escaped. The next,———”
- </p>
- <p>
- The sentence was never concluded, for there came a rumble and a sharp,
- pervading jolt. The king stiffened, looked about in fear, and groped for
- the table. Following was a gentle quiver, which rapidly increased till it
- became an oscillation, and with it a deep rumbling. It ended in a mighty
- wrench and a violent swaying, accompanied with a hoarse explosive sound.
- The stones of the palace were grinding and groaning. The table slid a
- yard, stopped, and shot back as the king tried to seize it.
- </p>
- <p>
- I found myself plunging and lurching for a footing as the oscillation
- continued, and so were the king and Christopher. They sat down on the
- floor. Surely the violence would ease in a moment. Instead, the convulsion
- rose to a fearful crash, which sent my feet away and my body smashing on
- Christopher. He caught me with one hand and with the other diverted the
- flying table from the king.
- </p>
- <p>
- The spasm ended abruptly, but the menacing tremble was again in play.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Be careful!” rasped the king; “the third is the worst.”
- </p>
- <p>
- As before, the quiver rose through oscillation to a heavy swaying, more
- violent than ever, and ended in a tumult of jerks, which sent us sliding
- and scrambling as we fought the portable things that were hurled about the
- room.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was suddenly gone. We rose, much dazed. There was no sign of Beela at
- the window.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is over,” weakly said the king. “The worst in many years. And what has
- it done? It has terrified my people into madness. I see them.” He was
- losing self-control, and was staring as at a vision. “They are beginning
- to rise from the ground. Many are digging out of their ruined huts....
- Their teeth are chattering. They look at one another in horror. No one has
- a sister, a brother, a father, a mother, a friend. All are blind and
- mad.... They run hither and thither. They——”
- </p>
- <p>
- A confused screech and roar, as of wild animals driven to a focus by a
- surrounding forest fire, rang through the closed door of the room. The
- king listened.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The palace servants,” he mumbled through quivering lips. “They are
- seeking me—their father and protestor. Imagine from this how the
- island is swarming and groaning, and with a terror that is half
- vengeance.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The man was beside himself.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Peace, Sire!” I begged, but he did not hear.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The terror does not abate: it increases with the freer flow of their
- blood after the shock.... They are beginning to think. They look at one
- another and see their kind; then kindred and friends.... ‘The Black Face!’
- says one, softly. ‘Ay, the Black Face!’ is the louder reply.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king stood with clasped hands and closed eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “‘This is only the beginning,’ they say. ‘The Black Face has been denied
- while it looked down on abundance.’ Who has denied it? The heavens ring
- with the answer, ‘Our father whom we loved, our protector whom we trusted,
- our king whom we have thought a brother of the gods. Why has he flouted
- the Face and challenged its wrath? What terrors or witcheries have been
- wrought by the gods of the people in the valley, that our king has gone
- driveling behind his walls? ‘”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty!” I called, shaking him by the arm.
- </p>
- <p>
- He opened glazed eyes, and listened to the howling din at his door.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The guard are leaving the passes. The white people are wise; they
- understand, and are joyful. They send scouts.... My soldiers mingle with
- my roaring, mobbing people. They all push and roll through the pools of
- rain-water in the highways, churning them to mud. They grind their teeth;
- they laugh horribly, like imbeciles. The palace is their aim, and their
- king sits grinning and mumbling there. All the trouble has come from the
- people in the valley. The white blood breeds all there is of that in the
- world. May ten thousand curses fall on it!”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was flinging his arms and lunging about. I woke to the urgency of
- action, for undoubtedly in his madness he had correctly seen the
- turbulence in the island, and the sweating hordes plunging over all roads
- converging to the palace. A glance passed between Christopher and me, and
- I nodded toward the door, which a packed, howling mass was already
- straining.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come,” I said, seizing the tottering king about the waist and dragging
- him to the anteroom. I thrust him within, and secured the door back of the
- curtain.
- </p>
- <p>
- When I turned, Christopher, his hand on the key of the door into the
- corridor, was listening. There was no sign of Beela at the window.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What’s going on?” I inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Her, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She’s out there?” I asked in alarm.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Open the door,” I ordered, stepping back to guard the anteroom.
- </p>
- <p>
- He opened it, swinging behind it against the wall.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was done so suddenly that those pressed against it fell into the room.
- The next came tumbling on them, and more on these, squeezing horrible
- sounds from the mouths of the lowermost, and bringing unpleasant grimaces
- to their faces. In a second the opening was jammed half way to the top,
- and still the pile grew. Behind it were frenzied men and women,
- vociferating prodigiously, and fighting for the diminishing passage to the
- king.
- </p>
- <p>
- The pressure outside being somewhat relieved, one of the more agile men
- leaped on the pile and sprang with a howl to the floor; but Christopher
- had emerged, and a blow from him dropped the adventurer. The next, less
- active than the first, was scrambling over the heap, and paused as he
- found himself grazed by the flying body of the first, for Christopher had
- picked him up and tossed him over the heap into the pandemonium beyond.
- The following man drew back, and slid down to the corridor floor.
- </p>
- <p>
- I had been looking for Beela without, but she was not in range.
- </p>
- <p>
- Before another maniac could mount the pile, Christopher had dragged a body
- off the squirming mass and flung it out. Another followed, and another,
- and others, the succession of them so close that none dared breast the
- fusillade. Christopher streamed with sweat, and the mildness in his eyes
- had become a glare.
- </p>
- <p>
- All this had a cooling effect in the corridor. Christopher, not waiting to
- look for cracked ribs at the bottom of the heap, cleared the last away,
- and walked forth. None can say how much his unearthly pale eyes, minatory
- expression, and extraordinary figure had to do with what followed. I went
- to the door. A hush fell as he advanced on the mob, which fell back in
- silent terror. With each hand he seized a man, jammed their heads together
- with a murderous thwack, shook them, stood them up, left them stunned, and
- immediately snatched two others and treated them similarly. A third pair
- and a fourth nursed aching skulls. Christopher swept through the groups
- with two long, strong arms for scythes, mowing a wide swath as he brushed
- women along, sent a man spinning from a blow, dashed another against the
- wall, and brought them into subjugation with a counter-panic of his own
- manufacture. He came upon two men with some appearance of character, and
- ordered them to finish the work and send the people to their quarters.
- They obeyed him promptly. At last he sauntered back to me, calm but
- puffing.
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela approached from the opposite direction. I stepped forward in
- gladness to meet her.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XX.—A Habit of Concealment.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>Beela Undergoes a Transformation. The Uprising of the People.
- Contrition of Beela. I Declare Myself. An Amazing Disclosure by the King.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HAT news, my
- friend?” I cheerily inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We’ll go to the king’s reception-room and talk,” she answered, looking at
- Christopher. “Dear old Christopher!” she said, deep and sweet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” I remarked; “I left the king in the anteroom.” Christopher and I
- followed her into the reception-room.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He’s not there now,” she replied, seating herself, “but with the queen.
- Christopher, go and stand down the corridor, opposite the queen’s
- apartments, and wait for the king. Those lunatics may break loose again
- when they hear the mob outside the wall.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He started.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!” she called. He turned. “Do you love me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, ma’am.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That’s all.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had never seen her so calm and steady, so rich in ultimate qualities, so
- little the volatile, meteoric, yet wise child-woman who had been my
- sunshine, my tease, my playfellow. She had become a composed and gracious
- woman. It came to me with something like pain that this was the truer and
- finer Beela. There was another feeling,—one of a great need in my
- life.
- </p>
- <p>
- She wore a becoming dress that might have suited either a woman or a man;
- but everything about her spoke of the sweetness and grace that only a
- lovely woman can have. I was tired of the foolish Beelo sham. We had grown
- too near for me longer to tolerate that absurd barrier.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Now for your news, dear Beela,” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was the slightest start when she heard that pronunciation of the
- name, but she did not turn to me at once.
- </p>
- <p>
- “When the earthquake began,” she said, “I ran to the queen, for such
- things frighten her dreadfully. After it was over there came the uproar by
- the servants. I locked the queen’s apartments and kept them out. But their
- noise frightened her even more than the earthquake, for they battered her
- doors. It wouldn’t do to admit them. Presently the king came by the
- private entrance, and although he was badly shaken, the necessity to
- comfort the queen brought him composure. They are together and quiet now.
- Then I came to this corridor, where the servants were massed against the
- door. I could do nothing with them. For a moment I was frightened when the
- door opened, but when I saw what Christopher’s plan was, I knew that all
- was safe. I went then and secured the gates opening to the palace
- grounds.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And what’s ahead, Beela?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The worst,” she quietly answered, but gave me a slow, mischievous look
- over that repetition of her feminine name. “We have a little time before
- the king comes,” she brightly added, “and we need it to rest.” There was a
- challenge in her glance.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But the mob is coming!” I protested.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king told me that you and Christopher and I should be quiet till it
- assembles. Then he will come, for you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I drew up my stool facing her, took both her hands, and said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have a confession to make, dear friend.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Really, Joseph?” she exclaimed in mock alarm, pronouncing the name
- perfectly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know. And you’ve been only pretending that English wasn’t perfectly
- familiar to you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She gave a musical, purring little laugh. Any man would deserve great
- credit for self-restraint in resisting it—and the chin.
- Thenceforward she spoke in English of the purest accent.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What’s the confession, Joseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ve known something for a long time, Beela, and I’ve been deceiving you
- with thinking that I didn’t know; but I did so because you evidently
- wished me to be deceived. Everything might have gone wrong if I had
- betrayed my knowledge to you. But it has served its time. You will forgive
- me for deceiving you,—dear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- All that went to make her a miracle of precious womanhood was vibrant.
- There was the same sweet flutter that I had seen before in her velvety
- throat. Of course she enjoyed her little triumph of knowing that even for
- a time her deception had prospered, and she was a-thrill with the
- recollection of it. After that came contrition. A half-smile lingered on
- her lips, though her eyes were rueful.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are good and generous, Joseph, for not giving me a chiding word; and
- I don’t think there is the least of it in your big heart.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Chiding, sweet girl? I understood your feeling for the necessity of the
- deception. Your wish is my law, and to serve it is less a duty than a
- privilege.”
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a slight puzzle in the glow that flooded her heavenly eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You found it out all by yourself, Joseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, dear.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is remarkable. Neither Christopher nor Annabel gave you the smallest
- hint? They knew.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not the smallest.” The hurt of their keeping the secret from me must have
- shown in my face, for Beela laughed teasingly. It restored me. “You
- pledged Annabel not to tell me,” I said, “and Christopher is silent,—and
- a gentleman. Is that the explanation?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.” A soft embarrassment crept over her, and she gently withdrew her
- hands and sat regarding me in sweet content. “I also have a confession to
- make, Joseph.” She tried hard to look just a trifle anxious. “What, dear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph!” she cried, frowning and stamping; “how can I think when <i>that</i>
- is in your eyes and your voice! I won’t look, and I won’t listen.” She
- turned her shoulder to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is in my eyes and my voice, dear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She sat still a moment, and then slowly turned her head a trifle and
- peered at me as if baffled.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You mustn’t tease me, Joseph.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She saw my smile and again turned away.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is the confession?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let’s go back to the beginning. There were two real reasons why I posed
- as a boy. One was that it gave me more freedom of limb for going through
- the forest and for scaling the valley wall, and the other was that it made
- me less conspicuous to the guards,—I could have escaped if they had
- detected me. On my word, dear Joseph, I never intended to deceive you long
- about that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She cautiously looked round at me, for I was silent. A cheap resentment at
- learning that I had been unnecessarily tricked must have betrayed itself,
- for the dear girl took my hands.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph,———” she began.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then why did you keep it up, dear?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph, the time was when your want of perception was mistaken by me for
- dulness, for obtuseness,—for such a lack of understanding as makes a
- man or a woman not worth while. But I discovered that it was not dulness
- at all. For a time I refused to believe that a human being could have what
- I saw in you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- If I have ever seen wondering fondness it was in her eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What was it, dear?” I asked uneasily.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your trust which sees only the true, and, unwittingly taking into your
- heart the false with the true, makes the false true with your trust.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was silent with the deep thankfulness that God had sent such a woman
- into the world and into my meager life.
- </p>
- <p>
- “So, Joseph, I prolonged that deception until all doubt of what you are
- was gone. I am glad that I did, and am sorry that I can think of no more
- tests.” There was a dash of her dear mischief in that speech. “And now
- that this is a time of confession and understanding,—you started it,
- remember,—I must say that one of the deceptions played on you———They
- were really harmless, weren’t they, dear Joseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perfectly,” I smiled.
- </p>
- <p>
- “——that one of them was unnecessary. It was <i>such</i> fun to
- play those pranks on you, Joseph! I couldn’t help it. I know it was
- wicked, but you were always gentle and kind, and I knew you would forgive
- me. Joseph, you would forgive me <i>anything</i>, wouldn’t you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, dear heart.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It was delicious to see you walking so trustingly through the
- complications that beset you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear!” I cried, my senses afloat and my arms aching for her; “I am only
- human. Your sweetness——”
- </p>
- <p>
- She pushed back her chair before my advance.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And you don’t know in the least,” she went flying on, “how often I had to
- leap from one of my selves to the other, and how exciting it was.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was getting little out of her chatter except the music of her voice and
- the picture of loveliness that she made.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t you care to know which of the deceptions was unnecessary?” she
- demanded, trying to look injured.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Indeed I do.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She came and stood beside me, gazing down into my face and clasping my
- hand warmly in both her own.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela,” she answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela?” after a mystified pause; then, thinking that she was teasing, I
- laughed.
- </p>
- <p>
- She appeared much relieved, and brightly said: “I’m glad you understand
- and forgive me.... But you resented her at first.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beelo had become very precious, dear, and so my readjustments where you
- are concerned are slow. But a new fondness grew with Beela’s coming.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Poor Joseph! And <i>she</i> wasn’t necessary. I am sorry now that I——”
- </p>
- <p>
- “<i>She?</i> Who?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was a little taken aback, but came to my feet with a dazzling
- consciousness that all the glories of earth were packed into this moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not at first, dear,” I said, “but in time she became more necessary than
- my life. My heart sits in gratitude at Lentala’s feet for sending me her
- sweet sister.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She was stricken into a statue, and was staring at me as at some strange
- creature from another planet.
- </p>
- <p>
- I stood in silent misery. How had I hurt her?
- </p>
- <p>
- She took a turn of the room, and flung herself on her knees at the couch,
- buried her face in her arms, and went into laughter mingled with sobs. I
- seated myself on the couch and laid a caressing hand on her head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela,” I pleaded, “forgive me. Let me know what I have done that hurt
- you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No,” she cried. “I wouldn’t for all the world! My heart is breaking with
- gladness!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Surely no other mortal could have put such startling contradictions into
- so few words. My hand found hers; she caught it tight.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You dear old Joseph!” she said. “Choseph, Choseph!”
- </p>
- <p>
- It was plainly hysteria; the brave soul had been on a breaking strain too
- long. I drew her to me, bent her head to my shoulder, and pressed my cheek
- to hers.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear heart!” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- She made no resistance, and gradually grew quiet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sweet,” I went on, “we have been through many trials together, and there
- are more ahead. The days were dark till Beelo came. He stole into my heart
- with hope, courage, and love. A shock came when he passed. I don’t know,
- but perhaps I never should have loved you but for him. He was the sunny
- highway leading to you; and now I have the daring to lay my love and my
- life at your feet.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The sigh that drifted through her parted lips had no threat for my
- anxiety, but she did not answer. Her hand gently drew mine down from her
- cheek, and she rose. She studied me a moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let’s talk, Joseph. Perhaps we have been hasty.” I noted the patient
- weariness in her voice. She sat beside me, and after a short silence
- resumed: “I have never loved a man till———It hasn’t been
- possible here. But you have known beautiful, lovely women.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And liked them very much.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very much.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her glance fell, and a little quiver crossed her lips.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have known Annabel a long time. You were close to her; you and she
- talked long and often.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is beautiful and sweet.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Exceptionally so.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And accomplished—and gracious—and has good manners and a
- velvet voice.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “All of that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And she’s kind—and gentle—and has high principles.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “True.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She belongs to your people, your world.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I only smiled.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph,” raising her sad eyes to mine, “you have loved her once, and now
- love me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I have never loved Annabel, dear heart, but I do love you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why haven’t you loved her? How could you help it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Because I was waiting for you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have never told her that you loved her?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. But, dear Beela, I can’t discuss Annabel in this way.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her eyes blazed. “She loves you!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That is not true; and no one has the right to say such a thing of a woman
- without knowing that her love is returned.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Beela bit her lip, and came stiffly to her feet.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You are unkind!” she exclaimed. “I have a right—a woman’s right—to
- reasons for believing what is incredible without them.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The picture of outraged dignity that she made was so ravishing that I
- feared my adoration would override the sternness which I had taken so much
- trouble to set in my face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is incredible, dear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She impatiently turned away. I think she did it to hide a smile, but she
- was too wary to answer. Instead, she drew from her bosom the little toilet
- case I had given Lentala on the day of the feast, and gravely examined her
- reflection.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If I were beautiful like Annabel,———” she began.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “———or Lentala, and———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “———and were pink and white———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela!”
- </p>
- <p>
- She made exactly such a face at herself in the mirror as Lentala had, and
- suddenly turned on me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph, Lentala used to be beautiful and good and true, and an angel.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is all of that yet.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She returned the case to her bosom.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I think you nearly loved her once.”
- </p>
- <p>
- My tongue was silent. Beela laughed mischievously; little devils were
- dancing in her eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph, I’m serious. Reflect because it wouldn’t be wise to act hastily
- now and suffer for the rest of life. Annabel would make a perfect wife.
- She would play no pranks and childish deceptions. You understand her and
- she knows you. I’m only a wild, uncouth savage.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Anything more, dear?” I wearily asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- She gathered breath to resume: “And there’s Lentala. She is to be a queen
- some day, and very rich. With rank and wealth, she would be a shining
- woman in America, and her husband would be the happiest man in the world;
- for with all of that he would have the far richer treasure of her love.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A worthy man will come to her some day, Beela.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Didn’t you think she was—was fascinating?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I do think so.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Reflect again, Joseph: Would you prefer her poor, obscure, wild little
- sister?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. But what right have we to make so free with Lentala’s name,
- especially as she is foreign to the matter?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Again Beela was offended, but she controlled herself.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You would be ashamed of me with people of your kind.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You alone are of my kind, dear Beela; and shame for you would be shame
- for myself, shame for all that is precious to me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Suppose, Joseph, that I should refuse to leave this island.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The highest privilege of my life would be to stay here with you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She stood in a melting happiness.
- </p>
- <p>
- Her rosy mouth was conveniently near. I should have been a fool to let the
- opportunity pass, and she was not on her guard. She drew back too late.
- The dignity with which she came to her feet had a new tenderness. I also
- rose. She gazed at me with a wistfulness that searched all the hidden
- places in my soul. Never had she been so lovely as in this moment.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear Joseph, take more time. There is something... you don’t know, though
- I... thought you understood. Now I dare not———A great
- fear fills me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Love knows no fear, sweetheart.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Not for itself, but for its loved ones. Joseph, will you forgive me? It
- was a foolish thing to do, and I am very, very sorry. Your trust has
- shamed me. Dear Joseph, I———But first let me tell you
- something else. The colony must now be marching out of the valley, for I
- told Captain Mason that a severe earthquake would be his signal for
- starting at once. Annabel is coming, and———”
- </p>
- <p>
- The door opened to the king and Christopher. His Majesty, anxious and
- broken though he was, gave us an approving smile,—perhaps from what
- he read in our faces.
- </p>
- <p>
- “My maddened people are gathering,” he said. “It was wise of you to lock
- the gates, my child. When the crowd grows larger it will begin an assault.
- That will be the time for me to appear. I will call out the soldiers from
- the crowd and put them under your command.”
- </p>
- <p>
- That surprised me. “Pardon me, Sire. I understood your Majesty to say an
- hour ago that <i>Lentala</i> was to have command.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “So I did.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But your Majesty has just said that <i>Beela</i> is to have it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela? I couldn’t have said that, as I don’t know any such person.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was dismayed at the king’s apparent condition, and Beela in great
- perturbation was trying to speak. The man must be roused from his shaken
- state.
- </p>
- <p>
- “This is Beela, Sire, Lentala’s sister.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She has no sister,” he answered clearly, and turned sharply on Beela.
- “Lentala, have you been playing one of your pranks?” He hurried her away
- as she was trying to speak.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XXI—Both Sides of the Wall.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>A Mob at the Palace Gate. What the King Heard Through the Wall.
- Lentala’s Call on Christopher to Save Her. The King Abdicates. Long Live
- the Queen!</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">H</span>ABIT is the
- strongest force in animate nature. Though I was shaken, the bent of an
- urgent purpose remained, and I went forward to it with all the will at my
- command.
- </p>
- <p>
- The roar of a mob—that most horrible of sounds—smote my
- hearing when Christopher and I emerged from the palace into the grounds. A
- turn in a broad, curving walk through the trees brought the barred main
- gate into view. It was a massive affair of wood, iron, and bolts, with a
- small wicket, which was closed.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king, all alone, wearing his crown and his cloak of state, was
- awaiting us near the gate. He beckoned us to raise a ladder to the wall.
- It was done.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I will presently go up alone,” he said, calm but sad, “and will talk to
- them. Men have gone for a heavy beam with which to ram the gate. The crowd
- is densely packed here. That will make an attack on the gate impossible
- for a time. It is likely that the soldiers will assemble and clear a
- working space.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What can we do, Sire?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Nothing now. The most that I can hope for is to hold the situation until
- Lentala returns.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She has gone?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. It was something about the white people. I couldn’t keep her. She
- was confident we could hold the mob.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And your Majesty’s plan———?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I will show myself on the wall, and talk to them. At the proper moment I
- will call you up. If I am stricken down, you and your brother retreat to
- the palace. Defend it by any means and at any cost.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His sorrow was too great to be companioned by fear, and it bore an
- impressive dignity which his haggardness intensified.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The mob is swelling rapidly,” he said with perfect quiet. “Unless a
- diversion happens soon, many will be crushed against the gate and the
- wall.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Seeing that he stood inactive, I wondered whether he was so numbed as to
- be incapacitated; but he cleared the doubt.
- </p>
- <p>
- “If the beam-carriers force their way through the mass, many will be
- maimed or killed. I am listening to the sounds.”
- </p>
- <p>
- His coolness and clearness were remarkable. Christopher, unruffled, was
- studying our surroundings.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There come the beam-carriers,” said the king. “They are much excited, and
- are not working smoothly together.... One fell then; he was stepped on and
- hurt.... Now they are forging ahead. They are blindly ramming the mass
- before them.... A woman is hurt.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king’s back was to the ladder and the wall. He was gazing into space
- behind me, listening.”... Hark! Yes, that is he,—one of Gato’s
- captains, a big, strong man, with a great voice. He has just arrived,
- fighting his way through the crowd, and calling the soldiers, telling them
- that I have murdered Gato. I have been kind to this man. On the chance of
- Gato’s being out of the way, he sees his opportunity to step into his
- leader’s shoes, carry out his plan, and usurp the throne.... The soldiers
- are rallying. They fight ruthlessly for passage to the captain.... It is
- bungling, cruel work.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Isn’t this the moment for you to appear, Sire?” We had to shout.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let me go up.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No.” He was firm as well as calm. “Wait. The soldiers are unwittingly
- preparing my moment. I have partisans as well as enemies there. If I
- showed myself now, it would increase the frenzy. My friends and enemies
- would at once begin a fight of factions. They could not, would not, hear
- my voice. I will let the soldiers clear the way.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We waited.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Why don’t they scale the wall, Sire?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “That will come later,—by the soldiers.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He stood listening. That was trying to my mercurial nature, and almost a
- mad desire to be over the wall in the thick of the mêlée was straining
- within me.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king produced a key, handed it to me, and composedly said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “That opens the vault containing the cargo from the white people’s vessel,
- including the arms. If I fall, you and your brother will know what to do
- in defending the palace. But don’t be hasty. Be merciful if you can. This
- outbreak will not last long. Violent earthquakes are likely to come again
- at any moment, and the red fire and purple flame on the summit make me
- think that there may be a volcanic eruption.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What will happen then?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The white people will seize the opportunity to escape from the valley,—if
- they have not already started. That would mean the annihilation of the
- entire party, for all the Senatras, including the army, would fall upon
- them. Then my people would be satisfied, and order would be restored.”
- </p>
- <p>
- My respect for his insight gave his words a crushing force. But what did
- it mean that Lentala had told Captain Mason to bring the colony out?
- </p>
- <p>
- I was moving toward the ladder under an impulse to be in action, but a
- firm grasp fell on my arm. An apologetic look of warning reminded me that
- Christopher never slept when a beloved one was in danger.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king had noticed nothing, so deeply absorbed was he. A puzzle was
- sharpening his senses and wrinkling his brow.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t understand that,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What, Sire?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I wish I knew that Lentala was safe.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “How could she be in danger, your Majesty?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Her white blood. It makes her too daring.” He was looking about, but his
- attitude of concentrated listening returned. “There it is again!” he
- exclaimed.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What, your Majesty?”
- </p>
- <p>
- He did not answer for a while; then, “Do you hear that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is a new trouble. It started on the outskirts of the mob, and is
- drawing nearer.... I can’t make it out.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He was at the highest pitch of alertness, and was silent for a time.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t you hear the voice? That is no Senatra! His cries—don’t you
- hear them, man?... The people are falling away from him in terror....
- Don’t you hear?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “They are crying, ‘A demon sent by the Black Face! He will take our
- children, and the hungry Face will devour them!’ Don’t you hear that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Something of it, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The people are stricken with fear.... The women are fighting to escape.
- Don’t you hear their screams?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire. Isn’t it time to mount the wall?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No. There is no foreseeing what this diversion will accomplish.”
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a pause.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He is advancing toward the gate, bellowing. Surely you hear him?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.” My heart bounded, for I recognized the voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He is crying in English, ‘They brought me out to eat me!’ He thinks we
- are cannibals!” exclaimed the king, aghast.
- </p>
- <p>
- “All the white people in the valley think so, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He blazed with resentment, but his attention was again concentrated on the
- proceedings without.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He is calling me the chief of the cannibals,” resumed the king, “and is
- fighting his way to the gate. He shouts that he must be the first to
- enter, and that he will find me and strangle me.... He is a maniac. The
- natives have a horror of that malady. The noise is subsiding. Don’t you
- notice?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire; and now I will rescue the madman.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I started for the ladder, but with a fierce grip the king withheld me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Would you be a fool and spoil everything?” he shouted in a sudden fury.
- </p>
- <p>
- He was again composed and listening. “Wonderful!” he said. “Some of the
- men, seeing how easily he clears the way, are hailing him as a leader.
- They are not the soldiers.... The beam-bearers are advancing again, for
- the madman is opening a passage. They carry the beam on their
- shoulders.... They are gradually approaching the gate. Don’t you hear the
- lunatic shouting?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “A considerable body of soldiers must be massed at the gate, awaiting the
- bearers, but they are silent. They must be consulting what to do. They are
- drawing their swords.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sire!” I cried; “I won’t let that happen.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Wait,” he peremptorily commanded. “What is that?” He was listening more
- breathlessly than before. “Strange!... Strange!... It——-”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it?” I demanded in a rage of impatience.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I don’t understand,” he resumed after a pause. “What can make it? There
- is no earthquake. Did you feel one?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Sire. But I can’t———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Wait.” His clutch was on my arm. “Surely it can’t be the white people
- from the valley!”
- </p>
- <p>
- He reeled, and I seized the instant to spring upon the ladder. But I had
- forgotten Christopher. He turned me round to face the king.
- </p>
- <p>
- The stricken monarch was standing in a tenseness sprung from unnamable
- fears. But he started as something new fell on his hearing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No,” he said, “not they. Something else. They are growing more quiet....
- It is a woman.... They are hailing her. She speaks. Don’t you hear her
- voice?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I could hear only a blur of noises.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is shaming the women.... And sending them away.... She is my
- friend!... Do you know the voice?” He seized my arm and gazed into my
- face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Sire.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is fighting her way through the men.... She calls them fools,
- cowards, ingrates.... They are dazed.... Only one woman on all this island
- would have the courage to do that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sire, if you———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is calling, pleading; she is saying that I am the kind, wise father
- of them all.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I turned to Christopher, and found a startling transformation. No longer
- was he the dull, patient, waiting man. Every nerve was strung.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king’s mouth was open; his eyes bulged; his clutch on my arm
- tightened.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Listen!” he commanded. “She is———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sire, you must mount the wall. We must rescue her!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, no! She is in little danger. May the gods give her strength!... Hush!
- What is that?... They are going forward with the beam. She is standing
- erect upon it.... Did you hear that?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What, Sire?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The soldiers are advancing with drawn swords.”
- </p>
- <p>
- With a violent effort I broke the king’s grasp and sprang for the ladder,
- but a giant hand fell on my shoulder and thrust me back. Above the
- subsiding din rose a clear, unterrified call from without:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher! Christopher!”
- </p>
- <p>
- He had been waiting for that. His answer rang keen and far, and he leaped
- upon the ladder.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Come when I call,” he said to us.
- </p>
- <p>
- In a moment he was on the wall. In another he had deliberately sent the
- ladder crashing to the ground. He studied the outer scene a moment,
- crouched, and sprang into the maelstrom.
- </p>
- <p>
- Five thousand throats opened at the spectacle.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The gate, Sire! Give me the gate key!” I shouted.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No! It would be death. The ladder!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I knew that Christopher must have acted intelligently in throwing the
- ladder. Had he done it merely to delay our ascent? When it was up, the
- king interposed before my clutch at the rungs.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your king first,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Mount then, Sire, in heaven’s name,” cried I, cursing inwardly at the
- delay and my own impotence.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stay below until I summon you,” said his Majesty.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your appearance at this time may bring ruin to us all.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Vaguely realizing that he was in the right, I gritted my teeth and waited.
- </p>
- <p>
- Meanwhile, what was happening to Christopher and Lentala in that swirl of
- blind mob passion beyond the wall, and what meant the groans of men and
- the clang of metal? Christopher might save her life until the king should
- create a diversion, but what could a man do for himself, with a hundred
- swords at his breast?
- </p>
- <p>
- As with dignity and deliberation King Rangan stepped upon the broad top of
- the wall, the afternoon sun came forth in imperial splendor, and wrapped
- him in its glory. He slowly faced the mob, raised his hand, and held it
- firmly aloft.
- </p>
- <p>
- He had been seen before assuming the impressive attitude, and a mighty
- shout of mingled adoration and derision arose; it continued jarringly till
- he raised his hand; then gradually it fell into the deep roar of breakers
- after a storm, and thus faded to a silence broken only by the rumble of
- distant hordes moving on the palace. The king swept the multitude with his
- gaze, and spoke:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your king has grown old in service to his people, and now———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Gato! Gato! Give us Gato!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Every true subject of mine holds his life at the service of his king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Give us Gato!”
- </p>
- <p>
- The king stood in an iron silence.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Show us Gato! We must see him! We must have him!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Rangan raised both arms, and a hush fell.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very well,” his deep voice rang out. “You shall have Gato.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Before I could recover from my surprise he turned to me, tossed me a key,
- and in a manner that showed his perfect seriousness, ordered me to bring
- Gato immediately.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is all well with my brother and Lentala, Sire?” I begged.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, but go at once!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I dashed through the grounds and the palace to the dungeon door, which
- upon reaching I flung open, and, unable to see within, said sharply:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Bring Gato.” An echo as of emptiness buffeted my voice. “Be quick!” I
- called.
- </p>
- <p>
- A stir began to rise. “What is going on?” stole a voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Bring Gato!” I shouted, with a fury in my voice that brought immediate
- response.
- </p>
- <p>
- The shadows took dim shapes, stooped and lifted something heavy, and
- shuffled hastily toward the door.
- </p>
- <p>
- “On my shoulder!” I rapped.
- </p>
- <p>
- They laid him across. I slammed the door, locked it, staggered up the
- steps, and arrived at the foot of the ladder.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king was still addressing the mob, but his glance fell upon me in
- answer to my call.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Bring him up,” he commanded. Again turning to the crowd, he said: “Gato
- is here. You shall see him; you shall have him. From him you will learn
- what it means to betray your king.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was nearly at the top of the ladder, which sagged and cracked under the
- double weight. The king made a detaining gesture toward me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where is the ladder that I ordered?” he asked of those without.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Here, Sire,” answered a liquid voice that ran sweetly over the wall and
- into my heart.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Place it, you men. Good. Now you shall have Gato.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I clambered upon the top.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stand him up to face the people,” directed the king for all to hear.
- </p>
- <p>
- I dragged the stiffening Gato to his feet, and, my breast against his back
- and my arms locked round his body, turned him to the crowd. An inability
- to credit the senses held them dumb at first. They looked from one to
- another, horror in their eyes. His Majesty was calmly observing; then he
- spoke in the awed silence, and his voice carried grief and pity.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You have called for Gato. Behold him! The gods have long, swift arms for
- those who strike at your king and you, O my people!”
- </p>
- <p>
- A groan swept over the multitude; it passed, leaving a stillness
- inconceivably impressive.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You wished to see Gato; you have seen him. You demanded him; you shall
- have him.” He gave me an order.
- </p>
- <p>
- I raised Gato aloft, and started toward the gate, where the soldiers were
- massed. In a loud voice the king cried:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Unfaithful soldiers of the king, take your leader!”
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0253.jpg" alt="0253 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0253.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- I hurled Gato down among them. The heavy body struck something,—I
- did not see what. Lentala was standing between the soldiers and the gate.
- Neither Christopher nor Mr. Vancouver was anywhere visible. The people,
- including the soldiers, were smitten deeply.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Lentala!” rang the king’s voice.
- </p>
- <p>
- A way to the foot of the ladder opened, and the king gave her a hand at
- the top. Deep sadness was in her eyes, as she turned them for a moment
- upon me.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king, still holding her hand, reached for mine also. Standing thus
- between us, he addressed the throng:
- </p>
- <p>
- “My people, these two and the one who leaped from the wall have been tried
- as by fire. They would die for their king if he but gave the word. You
- have seen Gato. Behold these!”
- </p>
- <p>
- He gazed on the cowed soldiers, and resumed:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Soldiers of the king, did I but raise my hand, thousands of my loyal and
- loving people would rend you where you stand. What should be done, my
- children,” turning to the mob, “to honored and trusted sons who would
- steal upon their father to strike him down with an assassin’s knife?”
- </p>
- <p>
- A murmur which rapidly swelled, and a stir which began to seethe, warned
- the king.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Peace!” he cried. “A king can forgive. My soldiers were never bad at
- heart; they were led away. Soldiers of the king, raise a hand in token of
- your loyalty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Every one obeyed. Besides those at the gate were many throughout the
- crowd.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your faithless leader gone, I appoint Lentala, my daughter, as commander
- of the army.”
- </p>
- <p>
- There was a craning of necks. The soldiers made no concealment of their
- surprise, but in their gratitude for the king’s pardon shouted their
- acceptance.
- </p>
- <p>
- The king laid his hand on Lentala’s head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I now make this proclamation: I am old and broken, and the grief of this
- day has brought me near the end. To this one, true and wise, brave and
- devoted, so deeply loved and trusted by us all, I resign the ruler-ship of
- my people.” He removed his crown and cloak, and placed them on her. “Obey
- her as you love her, and peace and security will abide with you. This is
- your ruler henceforth.” He raised both arms, and, after a pause, cried,
- “Obeisance and greetings to Queen Lentala!”
- </p>
- <p>
- A thrill ran through the gathering, and all sank to the ground. I was on
- my knees at her feet, pressing her fingers to my lips and trying to speak.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph!” she scolded under her breath, giving my hand a little squeeze;
- “don’t do that! How can I cry when you are so absurd!” Tears were falling
- from her lashes. She turned, put her arms on the king’s shoulders, and
- bowed her head, while mighty salvos of huzzas rent the skies.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XXII.—Wit and Dash to the Fore.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>The New Sovereign Assumes Charge. Our Plans for Escape Go Awry. Victims
- Taken to the Sacrificial Altar. A Bold Act Turns a Tragic Event.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T was some time
- before Lentala could lift her face to her subjects. The king’s
- renunciation—the finishing touch to the bold diplomacy with which he
- had turned the crisis—had come to her as a bolt from heaven. I
- wondered how it would affed her deeply laid plans for the rescue of the
- colony; for, though it would give her extraordinary power, it would
- abruptly check her irresponsible freedom of movement. Furthermore, it had
- thrust upon her the necessity for swift rearrangement. Her hold on neither
- the people nor the army had been firmly secured. I knew that her quick
- understanding apprehended the new complications, and that she understood
- the king’s wisdom fitted to the hour’s need. She gave me a frightened
- look, and brightened under my smile.
- </p>
- <p>
- With reassuring words the old man disengaged her hands, stepped back, and
- left her to face the crowd. Thus she stood alone between us. It seemed a
- cruelly trying moment in which to place a girl, but she made the fight to
- face her duty. It was not long. Her voice, tremulous at first, stole out
- clear and fine, reaching to the limits of the crowd; and as she proceeded
- it came rounder and fuller, bearing the richness that I knew.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Thank you, my people. With the deepest love I accept the crown, and I
- pledge my life to wear it worthily. Only love and trust me as you have
- loved and trusted the good father who has ruled us so long and so kindly,
- and you will find me faithful. This great change comes upon us at a trying
- time. Neither a king nor a queen can govern a people without their consent
- and love and confidence. Give me time to show that I am worthy of all that
- from you. I shall still have the advice of the good man who has placed
- upon me the crown, and of his able advisers. But I shall trust your own
- hearts and heads more than all the wisdom of the palace. I shall trust
- your confidence in me more than my power over you.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We all know that there is a special cause for the present unrest. But be
- patient. The problem is not difficult, and you may depend upon me and my
- advisers to solve it. Every impatient act of yours shows distrust of your
- government, and if you rashly do anything to weaken the power of the
- crown, you lay yourselves open to dangers. The white people in the valley
- are only awaiting the moment when authority is destroyed and our people
- are in disorder to come forth and work havoc among us. They stand together
- as one, and are cool and not afraid. Those are the greatest powers that
- human beings in community can have. If you had worked your will today, how
- many of you would be alive tomorrow? Our beautiful island would have
- flowed with blood—the blood of our people.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She ceased for a moment, to observe the effect. It ran as a low,
- frightened murmur.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But nothing can go wrong if we ourselves keep cool and hold together and
- trust to the crown. The army will camp tonight in the palace walls, and
- every care will be taken to keep order in the kingdom. All will be well if
- you yourselves are calm. Therefore I command you one and all to go at once
- to your homes, and remain there in quiet and peace. No matter though
- storms may come, or the earth tremble, or the fires under the ground break
- forth, be not afraid; trust your queen and your army, for we have no fear.
- Be as brave and cheerful as we. All your problems will be solved, all your
- reasonable wishes will be granted, but that must be done by your queen.”
- She raised her arms in the manner of Rangan, and impressively added: “Go
- now, with my love and my blessing.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Another wave of affectionate loyalty swept over the multitude; it began to
- disintegrate, and to pacify and turn back belated incomers; but a shrill
- cry rose:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sacrifice! Give us a sacrifice!”
- </p>
- <p>
- It had an instant effect. The moving crowd halted, and the cry ran to many
- throats, “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” The queen turned to old Rangan, and he
- almost imperceptibly nodded. Lentala hesitated as she faced the mob again,
- but refrained from looking at me. She raised her hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Be patient!” she cried.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You shall have———”
- </p>
- <p>
- The rest was drowned in a threatening shout. Lentala stood dazed, and in
- the ensuing buzzing and movement lost any opportunity she might have
- desired for further speech. So she stood as the still noisy crowd
- straggled off. Unrest had been rekindled, but to what extent I could not
- guess. The last loiterers often stopped to gaze at the little group on the
- wall, and the army stood in soldierly ranks before the gate.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The army will salute the queen,” commanded Lentala.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was finely given with the sword, and the men heartily responded to the
- oath that she gave them as soldiers of the queen. With a gesture to us
- that we follow, she tripped down the ladder, opened the gate, and admitted
- the army to the grounds. Next, after sending to liberate the soldiers in
- the dungeon, she had the palace astir with an order to prepare for the
- army a feast and accommodations for the night.
- </p>
- <p>
- Rangan had been a silent observer of her whirlwind movements. I was not
- wholly satisfied with what I saw in his face, but with whatever else that
- I saw there was admiration. Obviously she was permitting him to remain
- until he should be satisfied that she was capable of assuming command of
- the army. As matters were quieting she asked him to go to his wife, and he
- tottered away, shaking his head and mumbling to himself.
- </p>
- <p>
- She ordered the army to break ranks. The men showed their relief with
- childish inconsequence, and scattered at will. That left us alone. The
- bright look that she turned to me was a sudden change from royal sternness
- to Beela’s challenge. She was my little work-mate of the valley.
- </p>
- <p>
- Something had risen between us; consciousness of it showed in her glance,
- and I was sore without that. To have tricked me so unnecessarily, as to
- Beela seemed wanton and cruel. Unreasonable as it may appear, I had been
- shocked so deeply that time for recovery would be required. I had seen the
- craftiness with the gentleness of the native blood in old Rangan. I had
- seen his hatred of the white man, and the merciless savagery that his show
- of benevolence masked. It had made me distrustful of the native blood,
- which composed half of Lentala. To the sweet, childish Beela whom I loved
- had been added something that———
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I started, but could not bring a smile into the look that I gave her, even
- though the call had been Beela’s.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t you want to hear what has happened to me?” she asked, ignoring my
- stolidity.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She stiffened slightly under that address, and subtly put Beela aside for
- the queen. With a hint of coldness she said:
- </p>
- <p>
- “At the beginning of the outbreak I foresaw that Mr. Vancouver’s guard
- would decamp; so I went to look after him; but he had already gone after
- being left alone. I followed him. That brought me to the crowd. When I
- found myself in danger there, I called Christopher. His daring leap from
- the wall and the fury with which he laid about him confused the crowd. He
- was helped by some loyal subjects whom his conduct inspired. I don’t know
- how many skulls he cracked, but no one was killed. I pointed out the men
- for him to silence. No one could resist him. When he called for the king
- to ascend, he took Mr. Vancouver in charge and slipped away.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded, but she must have seen my gratitude for her taking such risks on
- Mr. Vancouver’s account. Doubtless that was what made her eyes flash, but
- at the moment I did not know why. I reflected only that two matters of
- overshadowing importance must be attended to at once, and that possibly
- her plans had been disarranged.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What has become of Christopher and Mr. Vancouver, your Majesty?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I told Christopher to take Mr. Vancouver to the hut, where Mr. Rawley was
- waiting,” she answered, “and then go to meet the colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Thank you. What is to be done with the colony, and what am I to do?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She raised her eyes, and there was no trace of Beela in them. “I had asked
- Captain Mason,” she answered, “to have each member of the colony bring all
- the food possible, and had told him that you and Christopher would meet
- him in the first darkness following the earthquake, at a certain pass just
- to the west of the clearing where the sacrificial altar is, and that as
- the natives would be demoralized by the earthquake, you could lead them
- without much risk past the settlement to your vessel, which might be
- sailed away at once.”
- </p>
- <p>
- My wonder and gratitude at the intelligence of her plan must have shown in
- my face, but her tone had no warmth when she added:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Fortunately, matters have turned out so that I can take the army out of
- your way. The real danger lay there.”
- </p>
- <p>
- That was why she had admitted the soldiers to the palace grounds and
- locked the gate. Could any other have given so brilliant a turn to a
- threatening situation? Yet I only looked at her in silence, and her face
- had not a trace of the old friendliness. Perhaps it was my own fault.
- There rang in my ears the demand for a sacrifice; I recalled old Rangan’s
- nod; I remembered the defenseless position of Rawley and Mr. Vancouver;
- and the brown blood in the Senatra queen unaccountably looked different
- from the brown blood in Beela.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty,” I said, “I will go now and see that all is well with Mr.
- Vancouver; then I will go and assure a clear opening for the colony, and
- arrange for Mr. Vancouver and Rawley to join us as we move down the
- eastern side of the settlement to the harbor.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes,” she agreed. I was turning away, but she stopped me. “You will
- reflect,” she said, “that many people in the island are ignorant of what
- has taken place here today. I will send out runners, but still the entire
- island can’t be covered. All know that a white man has been held for
- sacrifice to the Black Face in order to stop the earthquakes and avert an
- eruption. If the earthquake returns, even the people who saw me crowned
- may become uncontrollable. Should that happen, I am not sufficiently sure
- of the army to trust it in stopping a sacrifice. There is just one thing
- to do.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She ceased, and regarded me waitingly.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it, your Majesty?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She hardened still more. “Let’s consider the situation calmly. If some
- very strong diversion should arise tonight, the colony could pass through
- to the vessel without risk. On the other hand, the people are alarmed and
- restless; they won’t sleep soundly; many may be abroad in every direction.
- If some of them should see the colony escaping, a cry might be raised that
- would ring from one end of the island to the other. That would mean the
- instant gathering of a mob which no power could resist, and the colony
- would be annihilated.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I see, your Majesty. What diversion would prevent it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley.” She spoke in a cold,
- business-like tone.
- </p>
- <p>
- My horror must have been evident. “Your Majesty,” I said with warmth,
- “before that shall be submitted to, every member of our colony will die
- fighting.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She shrugged. “That is your affair. I should hate to see any of <i>my</i>
- people killed in such a clash. It is interesting to see how jealous you
- are of Mr. <i>Vancouver’s</i> safety, when he had planned to destroy the
- colony.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I saw the drift of her sneer, and was angry and silent.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He has a very charming daughter,” she went on.
- </p>
- <p>
- The humiliation that she was thrusting upon me was unbearable, but I could
- be patient, since I carried the lives of the colony in my hands; yet it
- was not pleasant to see this side of Lentala’s nature. The worst of it was
- that there was no possible argument to bring against hers. Mr. Vancouver
- richly deserved such a fate, and so did Rawley; their meeting it would
- certainly assure our escape to the <i>Hope</i>. But Lentala could see in
- my attitude nothing but consideration for Annabel, and she misconstrued
- that. It was all that I could do to restrain myself.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I think we understand each other,” she remarked after a pause.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you mean,” I burst out in a passion, “that you are going to order the
- sacrifice of Mr. Vancouver and Rawley?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She looked at me steadily. Afterward I recalled the softening, the
- suffering, the dumb pleading in her face, but I did not see it at the
- time.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It doesn’t appear,” she quietly said, “that I am called on to tell you
- any more of my plans at present. You are fully informed as to what you may
- do in trying to get the colony to the ship tonight.” Her manner was
- entirely that of a queen to her subject. “I think you understand to some
- extent what I have done to spare the lives of your people and help them
- leave the island. I will add that some trusted natives will try to make
- your passage to the ship safe. But it is one thing to make plans and
- another to carry them out in the face of a panic. There is no foreseeing
- what may happen before morning. My scouts will keep me informed every few
- minutes.”
- </p>
- <p>
- There came an awkward pause. Her head was down; she stood in a waiting
- attitude. It seemed to me that all the world I loved had suddenly been
- swept away. Behind the woman confronting me I knew that my dear Beela
- stood sweet and laughing, all sunshine and dear womanliness. Only a fool
- would let her go.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Beela!” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- She started, and raised sorrowing eyes to mine.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Aren’t you going with us on the <i>Hope?</i>”
- </p>
- <p>
- “My duty is here now, and I can think of nothing but that.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Does your unexpected elevation to a queenhood blot out all the past?” I
- asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- She bit her lip. “I hadn’t expected that from you,” she said in sadness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then, is it Annabel?” I insisted.
- </p>
- <p>
- She did not answer at once. “You will see her again this evening,” she
- gently said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course, but———” I saw it was useless, and wondered
- if she was dismissing me. “Surely I shall see you also,” I said.
- </p>
- <p>
- She smiled, but it was not the smile of Beela; it was that of a woman who
- knows care.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Perhaps,” she returned; “yes, of course,—I think. Meanwhile,
- good-by,” and held out her hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- I took it, and would not at first let her withdraw it; but with a little
- sigh, which she tried to conceal, she turned away and walked slowly to the
- palace.
- </p>
- <p>
- Heavy-hearted, but determined to see Lentala before the colony sailed,—if
- it should ever have that good fortune,—I went about my duty.
- </p>
- <p>
- The first task was to see that Mr. Vancouver was safe, for many
- contingencies might arise to overwhelm Christopher. I went to the hut
- where Beela had left Rawley, but it was vacant. Christopher must have
- taken the two men to a spot near the pass, to meet the outcoming colony.
- On going to the summit of the valley wall I faced the rising moon. When I
- had come within a few hundred yards of the spot where the colony would
- emerge,—it was the spot where Rawley had assaulted me,—I heard
- the low moaning of a man, followed by his querulous, childish talk. At
- first I marveled that Christopher should have left his charges in so
- exposed a place, as it was immediately near the main trail to the
- sacrificial stone.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Will she come soon?” Mr. Vancouver plaintively asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very soon. Be patient,” kindly answered Rawley.
- </p>
- <p>
- The men were invisible in the gloom, but it was imprudent for them to be
- speaking aloud. Yet I dared not show myself, lest Mr. Vancouver be thrown
- into noisy mania. Should the natives be seeking him, it would be easy to
- trail him to this spot; and the colony might be discovered through his
- presence. Again Mr. Vancouver broke the silence.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She doesn’t suspect me, does she?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is and always will be your loyal daughter.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I know.” His voice was not a madman’s. “Raise my head a little. It is
- bursting. Rawley, I’m damned. The visions I’ve had! In one of them two men
- came, looking like natives, but speaking English. One of them spoke of my
- treachery and my death. I tried to kill him. The other prevented me, and
- then I saw that they were Tudor and Christopher. And today the one looking
- like Christopher rescued me from a hell of madmen. But how could I stay in
- that cabin when Annabel was coming?”
- </p>
- <p>
- A rumbling and a quivering of the earth hurried me on. I ran to the edge
- of the valley wall. This brought me nearly opposite the Black Face. I had
- noticed a faint, weird light on the trees; now I saw the origin of it,—a
- purple flame was issuing from an orifice below the Face. It waved upward
- like an inverted streamer, wreathing the Face and lending to it a ghastly
- lifelikeness.
- </p>
- <p>
- From below me rose faint cries of terror, quickly stilled, and soon the
- vanguard of the colony arrived from the valley. The earth-trembling had
- ceased; the flame was subsiding.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was some trouble at first in making myself known. Annabel came up
- with Captain Mason and Christopher, and delayed my disclosure of the plan
- for escape.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where is my father?” she immediately asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- I informed her, and learned that Christopher had told her all that he
- knew.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Take me to him,” she begged.
- </p>
- <p>
- I replied that it would be safer to bring him to her. Directing
- Christopher to fetch a stretcher from which a woman had just been lifted,
- I left with him as the slender procession crept to the summit. Deep
- anxiety showed under Christopher’s calm exterior.
- </p>
- <p>
- Mr. Vancouver and Rawley were gone! A hasty search in the vicinity failed
- to discover them. We worked down to the trail leading to the clearing
- where the sacrifices were made. There we found a stream of silent,
- soft-footed natives hurrying toward the clearing. No speech was needed
- between Christopher and me to explain the situation. Christopher’s wise
- plan had gone tragically awry. It had not been difficult for the dognosed
- natives to trail Christopher to the hut, and then Rawley and Mr. Vancouver
- to the spot where I had found them.
- </p>
- <p>
- I was thrown into a momentary confusion. Lentala alone had known whither
- Christopher was to take Mr. Vancouver, and she had argued for his
- sacrifice as the surest means to save the colony! The thought was
- sickening. But it was inconceivable that <i>Beela</i> should have the
- heart for such a course,—sweet, gentle Beela! And had not Lentala
- nearly forfeited her life to the mob in trying to rescue Mr. Vancouver?
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher had slipped from my mind; but I observed him now, and he was
- listening far. I waited, knowing that by this time the two victims were
- already at the altar, and that the earthquake a few minutes ago had lent a
- fierce impetus to the proceedings. I could mentally see the main
- settlement and its outlying regions swarming as the whispered news flew
- from mouth to mouth that two white victims for the sacrifice had been
- found.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher soon turned to me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “They’ll have to get wood, sir,” he said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes. That will take time, but there are many men.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Lentala had said that her scouts would report often; but there was a
- chance that they would either conceal the present movement from her or
- give her the news too late. Even should she be starting at that moment, it
- would not be possible for her to arrive in time to stop the sacrifice. Yet
- she should be informed. If she refused to come, then I should know——
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher,” I said, “go and tell the queen.” I said nothing of a
- desperate plan that I had formed.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher looked at me strangely. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “And you can
- save ‘em.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He gave me a look of dog-like love, and vanished.
- </p>
- <p>
- I returned to Captain Mason, avoiding Annabel, and rapidly placed the
- entire situation before him. His jaws set hard in the moonlight. I could
- imagine his thoughts, which no doubt agreed with Lentala’s; and I realized
- the terrible risk to the colony when the fanatics should find themselves
- balked in the sacrifice and should swarm in a search which the colony
- could not escape—unless my plan should prove successful to the last
- detail or the queen should bring up the army in time to prevent a battle.
- And there was mighty Christopher, the man of courage, resourcefulness, and
- prompt action. I hurled these arguments at Captain Mason, and pointed out
- Annabel, standing alone and suffering as she awaited her father.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You and Hobart and I will make the dash,” I urged. “It is the only
- chance, and we must hurry. Dr. Preston can be taken into the secret, and
- can quietly prepare the men to fight if necessary. They are all armed; the
- savages are not.”
- </p>
- <p>
- He responded by calling Dr. Preston and charging him as I had suggested,
- particularly warning him not to alarm the colony. Then he went to Annabel
- and gave her some quieting explanation. I borrowed a capable knife from a
- sailor, and we set out.
- </p>
- <p>
- We bore down to the trail, and found it still swarming with a scurrying
- horde, all proceeding with a stealthy swiftness. Then I struck out on a
- straight course through the tangled forest, leading Captain Mason and
- Hobart a breathless pace. On arriving at the edge of the clearing and
- concealing ourselves, we found hundreds of savages already assembled and
- more pouring in.
- </p>
- <p>
- “There they are.” I said, pointing to a considerable open space between
- the sacrificial stone and a packed mass of men formed in a semi-circle,
- those in front sitting. Midway between the stone and the natives were the
- two doomed men, dim in the moonlight. The one lying on the ground was
- doubtless Mr. Vancouver, perhaps unconscious. Rawley, though his hands
- were tied behind him, sat erect, calmly facing his tormentors.
- </p>
- <p>
- As Captain Mason and Hobart had no disguise, I alone must bring the two
- men out. My companions would take them to the colony; I would remain to
- face the issue and divert the pursuit. Captain Mason looked very grave,
- but Hobart was all eagerness; I could guess that his sore spirit yearned
- to heal itself by sharing my risk. A longing for Christopher,—for
- his far-seeing eye, his steady nerve, his quick hand,—came over me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I remember,” I explained in showing why I should not make the dash at
- once, “that a ring was fastened in the rock about where Mr. Vancouver and
- Rawley are sitting. They must be chained to it. I must wait until they are
- released.”
- </p>
- <p>
- We knew that the delay would mean an augmentation of the crowd and the
- danger.
- </p>
- <p>
- Of course the theft of the wood had been discovered. The hut sheltering it
- had disappeared; its poles and dryer thatch were already piled on the
- altar. The sacrifice was only delayed, for two-score natives were coming
- in with dry wood for which they had foraged. In that pursuit one came near
- us, and I made ready, but in his eagerness he passed on, unseeing. The
- priest at the altar received the wood, examined it, cast out the useless,
- and carefully stacked the pyre, which steadily grew.
- </p>
- <p>
- Silence rested on the crowd. Here was religion in its naked birth,—the
- elemental man using torture and murder for prayer, with greater reverence
- and faith than I have seen in some modern fashions of placation or appeal.
- Fronting them across the dim chasm of the valley was the embodied Force
- whose wrath must be appeased. Could the white blood in Lentala permit this
- form of worship?
- </p>
- <p>
- We could see through the trees the indefinite black mass of the Face. At
- small intervals came low subterranean growls and slight tremors of the
- earth. It was as though the underground gods were gathering their
- strength.
- </p>
- <p>
- Finally the priest’s work was done. He slowly went to the chained men,
- stood over them, and raised his hand. Four men came forward, followed by
- four others, who took positions back of him. Twenty more came and formed a
- cordon about the altar.
- </p>
- <p>
- The first four knelt, and the chains fell clanking. Rawley rose without
- assistance. Being speechless with a gag, he implored in dumb show for Mr.
- Vancouver, offering himself alone. There was a low colloquy between the
- priests and the four, at the end of which his gesture commanded that Mr.
- Vancouver also be taken to the stone. As two men stooped to lift him and
- two others took each an arm of Rawley, the priest began a solemn chant in
- a minor key, and started the slow march to the pyre, Mr. Vancouver on the
- shoulders of two men, Rawley walking firm and erect.
- </p>
- <p>
- At the altar the priest ceased his chant, which was taken up by the crowd;
- but, though there were many hundreds of voices, they were so soft and in
- such fine unison that the volume was hardly greater than that of a dozen
- men. As it proceeded, the priest picked up a vessel containing smothered
- coals, blew them into life, and ignited the thatch at the four corners.
- Evidently the victims were to be further tied, and tossed aloft when the
- fire was hot.
- </p>
- <p>
- As the priest stepped back to see the blaze rise, I bounded into the open.
- </p>
- <p>
- I remember that the fire was hot in my face as I reached Rawley and nipped
- his thongs, and that the astonishment on the priest’s face was comical.
- Also, I was conscious of a numbness in my right hand. I had used my fist
- perhaps more vigorously than necessary. Two or three natives were prone
- when I shouldered Mr. Vancouver and called to Rawley, and the darkness of
- the forest soon concealed us.
- </p>
- <p>
- A roar delayed by astonishment rose behind us; a thousand devils had
- opened throat and were leaping to the pursuit.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XXIII.—The Great Catastrophe.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>A Powerless Ruler Confronts a Mutiny. Death of the Sovereign Demanded.
- The Army Under My Command. Christopher’s Sacrifice. The Final Cataclysm.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>FTER a hard run, I
- laid Mr. Vancouver across Hobart’s shoulder. There was no need to urge all
- speed to the colony. I turned back to meet the pursuers, and ran swiftly
- until I encountered the foremost. Before they had seen me I dropped to the
- ground and was diligently examining it when they came up and halted,
- others running behind.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Which way?” inquired the first.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stand back!” I said. “I have the trail.”
- </p>
- <p>
- They obeyed, but my knife was ready for a contingency. I pretended to lose
- the signs, but found them again, followed a few paces, and announced that
- the fugitives had turned there and headed for the trail. “That will bring
- them into a trap,” I added, “for people are still coming up the trail to
- the clearing. I will follow the runaways and give the alarm. You men
- spread up and down here, for they may double back. When others come from
- the clearing, turn them all back, for they will spoil the trail and I
- never can find it again. Then you too go back if you don’t hear from me
- very soon. Send a man at once to the priest, and tell him to hold the
- people there, and to order up more wood and prepare for the sacrifice. I
- am a Suminali man and can trail like a dog.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I was turning away, but paused, to make sure of them. “Have you heard the
- news from the palace?” I inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “The king has given the crown to Lentala, and the command of the army
- also.”
- </p>
- <p>
- It surprised them. “Where’s Gato?” asked one.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He disobeyed the king, and is dead,” I answered. “Tell the news to the
- priest. Spread it among the crowd.” It was on my tongue to add that the
- queen would soon appear with the army and disperse the crowd, but there
- were dangers in it, and I held my peace. Sufficient for the present that I
- had stopped the pursuit.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0275.jpg" alt="0275 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0275.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- On arriving at the road to the clearing I found a commotion, and learned
- that the army was rapidly approaching. The people did not know how to take
- that news,—whether it meant a forwarding or a breaking up of the
- sacrifice.
- </p>
- <p>
- There came a scrambling of stragglers to escape the army, which advanced
- on the trot, Christopher running in front. He saw me, wheeled, and raised
- his hand. I knew that his glance at my face had told him the whole story.
- My heart swelled to see Lentala, borne aloft in an uncanopied crimson
- velvet palanquin emblazoned with the royal insignia. Her dress was the one
- she had worn at the feast, with the addition of the crown. In her hand she
- carried a naked sword, fine and lean.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Make way for the queen!” at intervals shouted a man running ahead of the
- queen and behind Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- On seeing Christopher’s signal she raised her sword, and the palanquin
- halted. She was anxiously watching the glow from the altar fire, but her
- glance discovered me, and a surprised joy sprang to her face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Am I too late?” she called in English.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, your Majesty. All is well.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” she chokingly cried, throwing her sword away and seizing both
- my hands.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was a public scandal. The soldiers stared.
- </p>
- <p>
- I gave her a warning look, and said, “Your Majesty!”
- </p>
- <p>
- She drew away with freezing dignity. A soldier picked up her sword, wiped
- it as he would a baby’s face, knelt, and handed it to her. She slammed it
- angrily into its scabbard, gave me a crushing glance, and opened her lips
- to speak, but I drove the words back by suddenly dropping in an obeisance.
- I would have given a good deal to see her face in the long pause before
- she bade me rise. My face was grave as I met her angry, suspicious gaze.
- </p>
- <p>
- “This is no time nor place to make fun of me,” she cuttingly said.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I beg your Majesty’s pardon.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She was studying me. “You have seen Annabel, I suppose?” she inquired.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “And talked with her?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You—were glad—to see each other?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Very, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “She is as lovely as ever?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Quite, your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She examined the splendid jewel in the head of her sword-hilt, looked up
- with a composed face, and demanded that I tell her what had happened. I
- did so, and she beamed, forgetting Annabel.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’ll take the army to the clearing,” she said, “put a stop to the
- nonsense, and send the people home.”
- </p>
- <p>
- She said it confidently, either ignoring the danger or ignorant of it.
- Evidently her purpose was the protection of the colony, but I surmised
- that some power greater than hers would be required. Christopher had been
- standing near, a silent listener.
- </p>
- <p>
- Her imposing arrival had a strong effect on the restless mob as in the
- cross-light of the moon and the altar fire she stood up in the palanquin
- and raised her sword for attention. She told them of her crowning, made a
- plea for their confidence, and commanded them to go home. But she said
- nothing about a sacrifice.
- </p>
- <p>
- No sign of obedience appearing in the crowd, she gave me a glance that
- sought guidance. I knew that the moment was critical and the risk great,
- but it seemed the only recourse. I glanced at the army. She understood,
- hesitated a moment, and ordered the soldiers to clear the place. A slight
- movement and a buzz ran through the ranks, but there was no forward
- movement. Then rang a cry, instantly taken up till it became a roar:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!”
- </p>
- <p>
- Lentala sprang to the ground, waved the palanquin-bearers away, and with a
- free sword confronted the soldiers, her head high, her eyes flashing. I
- knew she realized that there was but one way out of the desperate dilemma,
- and that she was casting about to find it without a confession of failure.
- Clearly she knew that, although old Rangan had deeply planted a sense of
- loyalty in the soldiers, she was hampered both by a want of experience in
- handling them and by the pressure of the mob behind her, which was
- swelling its demand for a sacrifice to a mutinous outbreak that the
- soldiers would have no spirit to meet, they being in sympathy with the
- movement. It became necessary for me to act.
- </p>
- <p>
- I sprang forward and prostrated myself before her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Rise,” she said, extending her sword over me.
- </p>
- <p>
- When I had come to my feet she gave me her sword, and said, her voice
- ringing clear and far:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I must go among my people and quiet them. You were King Rangan’s friend;
- you are the man who threw Gato from the wall,—Gato, who had been
- unfaithful to his sovereign. I give you command of my army while I go
- among my people.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I took her sword and promptly faced the bewildered ranks as Lentala
- drifted away; but not until I had seen that Christopher was observing; he
- would understand that I had turned her over to his protection.
- </p>
- <p>
- It was fortunate that on the beach and during the march to the valley I
- had closely observed Gato’s method of handling his men. They were crude
- soldiers and their drill was childish, but my training knew the value of
- discipline to any extent, and I remembered Gato’s tactics. More important
- than any evolutions that they knew was the spirit of the one commanding
- them.
- </p>
- <p>
- I rapped out an order for company formation, as the men were in loose
- order. As I had expected, some of them stared at me and the others at the
- rapidly growing mob spirit before them.
- </p>
- <p>
- It should be explained that Gato’s organization was wholly different from
- that of civilized nations. While the men composing the army came nearly to
- half the number of a modern regiment, and while some rude idea of
- subsidiary groupings had been observed, the absence of actual experience
- in warfare had made the organization hardly more than a stolid, pompous
- mob, and the under-officers little besides repeaters and enforcers of the
- general orders. All officers were merely the “general’s” staff.
- </p>
- <p>
- I did the best I could with such a machine. Upon repeating my order in a
- still sharper tone, and seeing only an uneasy, tentative pretense of
- obedience, I sprang toward the officer whom I may call the
- lieutenant-colonel, stung his cheek with the flat of my rapier, and sent
- him spinning down the ranks. Another officer instantly found himself
- treated to a similar slap, and another, as I continued to shout the order.
- The fourth, a sullen brute, took the blow without wincing, and in both
- hands began to raise his sword to cleave me. He never knew what it was
- that sent his blade clattering to the ground; and his attention at once
- became engaged in a spouting rip in his arm. That brought the staring
- regiment to its senses; the under-officers all sprang to their duty.
- </p>
- <p>
- Then, charging up and down the front rank while I raked the stomachs of
- the soldiers with my sword, I ordered platoon formation. Under other
- circumstances it would have been amusing to see the officers scrambling
- for minor commands not already occupied. Evidently there had never before
- been such sprightly movement required of them; my rapier continually
- flashed, and men winced when it came near.
- </p>
- <p>
- Having thus secured control, I was in a dilemma.
- </p>
- <p>
- My purpose was to face them about, so that they should not see the
- turbulence rapidly increasing in the mob; but that would bring them facing
- the altar fire, which was burning emptily, reminding them that the people
- had been cheated. But there was no choice; I must be where I could face
- the storm breaking over Lentala and Christopher. There was no time for
- marching to secure a back-presentation to the mob; I must risk the
- awkwardness of a reverse formation.
- </p>
- <p>
- The command to about-face was promptly obeyed, and the soldiers appeared
- to be surprised on finding me again before them. It was necessary to keep
- them absorbed in maneuvers, which, of the simplest kind, such as they
- could understand, I immediately put in force.
- </p>
- <p>
- This did not distract my attention from the turbulence centering about
- Lentala. I saw the densely packed and highly excited mob crowding her; I
- heard the shouts for a sacrifice, the calls to the army to join the
- rebellion; I heard her clear, steady voice; I saw now and then glimpses of
- Christopher standing as a rock behind her; and all the time my sword was
- swinging and my orders were keeping the army at work. It would be but a
- matter of time when I might turn it to the service of the queen, but the
- danger was pressing alarmingly.
- </p>
- <p>
- Of a sudden there was a commotion about Lentala. Before I could turn over
- the command to the officer next in rank and go to Lentala’s rescue,
- Christopher, bearing her on his shoulder, broke through the mob, skirted
- my left flank on the run, and bounded toward the altar, the flames of
- which had sunk almost to a mass of glowing coals, exceedingly hot. Without
- attempting to comprehend his movement, but seeing that he had brought the
- queen behind the army for some purpose, I instantly opened the order of my
- men, commanded swords drawn, and cried:
- </p>
- <p>
- “The queen’s army to her defense!”
- </p>
- <p>
- The command was taken up by every subordinate officer. Again the men found
- me facing them as the mob came howling at my back; but the double line
- stood firm as an interposing wall before the queen. Then I knew that I had
- them in hand, but I dared not risk a charge, and I must see what
- Christopher was doing. The tumbling mob halted before the drawn swords.
- </p>
- <p>
- When Christopher reached the altar he stopped and turned, he and his
- burden making a striking silhouette against the red heap of coals. She
- appeared unconscious, for she hung limp over his shoulder, her arms
- pendent. The halting of the mob and Christopher’s pause aided his
- unexpected dash in sending a hush on the crowd. In the midst of it rose
- Christopher’s voice for all to hear:
- </p>
- <p>
- “We’ll sacrifice the queen! The queen!” With that he flung her to the
- ground and began savagely to tear her outer skirt into strips, with the
- obvious purpose of binding her.
- </p>
- <p>
- The scene was clear to the mob through the open ranks of my men. I was no
- less appalled than were the savages at the audacity of the move and
- Christopher’s ferocious method of procedure. And I made no attempt to keep
- the soldiers from turning their heads to see. My task was instantly to
- find my cue in the drama that Christopher was playing. It came before I
- was ready. As Christopher, after the binding, which required but a moment,
- was carrying Lentala up to the pyre, she began to struggle, and called:
- </p>
- <p>
- “My soldiers, save me!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I bounded through the ranks as I gave the command to about-face and
- forward double-quick. But I outran the soldiers, struck Christopher down
- with my sword, and caught Lentala as she was falling. The shortest instant
- was needed to cut her bonds, but that was sufficient for me to lose
- control of the situation. Christopher’s splendid ruse had succeeded in
- saving the queen from the mob, and I knew that nothing concerning himself
- mattered beyond that. Indeed, I have always thought that he deliberately
- chose the time to give his life for her sake.
- </p>
- <p>
- As the old king had said, the natives were children, and the sudden
- revulsion of feeling in favor of the queen was more even than the
- soldiers, who had a little discipline, could calmly bear. A wave of
- passionate devotion swept over them. It was only a mob that I faced with
- my sword as I stood before Lentala. Christopher was lying face downward on
- the ground as he had fallen. I knew he was unhurt and free to make a fight
- for his life. None could have realized more clearly than he that the mob
- would take vengeance on him, but none could have better understood that
- his resistance might imperil the queen. He had simply made the bold play
- for her sake, had won, and then lain down to die.
- </p>
- <p>
- I could not bear that, nor could Lentala, who comprehended. Without
- hesitation she left me and bent over him, to receive the blow, and was
- careful that he should not know her purpose. I did what I could, shouting,
- commanding the soldiers to form, waving my sword menacingly. It had a
- staying effect, and I cannot now say with certainty that it would have
- failed.
- </p>
- <p>
- Suddenly, with a sickening sensation, I felt the earth tremble beneath my
- feet. A strange sense of dizziness, of reeling, made my movements waver.
- The soldiers also were staggering, and their purpose to rend Christopher
- appeared to be relaxing; but nothing could withstand the pressure of the
- mob behind them. I had barely time to snatch up Lentala and cut a way back
- to the altar before Christopher, whose glance found Lentala and me safe,
- began to rise as the lurching horde hurled itself upon him.
- </p>
- <p>
- In a staggering run, nearly tripped at every step, I bore her to the edge
- of the clearing, on the side toward the colony, and hid us both in the
- shadows. When I had picked her up she buried her face in my shoulder and
- clung to me with both arms round my neck.
- </p>
- <p>
- “What is it?” she asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “A volcanic eruption.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where’s Christopher?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I put my hand on her lips, and she trembled as she clung closer. She was
- silent as the earthquake increased in violence, and presently asked:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Do you see it, Choseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had been observing it since we were seated. “Yes. It is at the river
- passage. The mountain appears to be blown out there, and———”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Stop!” she cried, holding me closer.
- </p>
- <p>
- Undoubtedly the eruption had occurred at the boiling cauldron that we had
- passed under the mountain. Its first violence was already spent, and the
- earthquake was subsiding; but I reflected that the water from the valley
- stream and from the crimson fall must be pouring into the hot interior,
- and that the end was not yet.
- </p>
- <p>
- The ejecta of the outburst were already falling about us from the great
- height to which the explosion had thrown them. Hot stones of all sizes
- rained. Had not the forest been damp, it would have broken into flame at a
- thousand places.
- </p>
- <p>
- The writhing savages in the clearing were but dimly visible. No
- definiteness came out of the mass still crowded and heaped where we had
- left Christopher. All sufficiently near for me to see sat staring at the
- Face, which was now clearly taking its vengeance; all were moaning and
- howling, and prostrated with fear.
- </p>
- <p>
- A deep-red flame rose with a rushing noise from the seat of the eruption
- as renewed rumblings and roarings came from the quivering ground. The
- rising flame plunged into a rapidly spreading canopy of smoke and ashes
- from the initial explosion. The hither edge of the vast cloud was wan in
- the moonlight, but the under surface reflected the crimson of the flame.
- All things adopted that dreadful hue. The green foliage took it on as the
- muddy purple of decay; the brown faces of the natives looked as if beaten
- to a pulp.
- </p>
- <p>
- There came another light, and it woke a more insidious terror. Striating
- the crimson column and issuing snakily from many independent orifices
- distributed over a wide area of the valley rim, was the purple flame. And
- now the most wonderful of all was the great Face itself. The crimson light
- caught it in profile, and thus so sharpened its features as to make it
- seem a living monster of inconceivable ferocity. Nor was that the worst.
- The purple flame again issued from below the face with a great
- augmentation. In rising and spreading it cast a thin veil over the visage,
- making it ghastly.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008"> </a>
- </p>
- <div class="fig" style="width:50%;">
- <img src="images/0287.jpg" alt="0287 " width="100%" /><br />
- </div>
- <h5>
- <a href="images/0287.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
- </h5>
- <p>
- The falling of heavy stones ceased, but the more numerous small ones began
- to pelt us. I drew my coat round Lentala’s head, and broke tree-branches
- within reach to shield her body, for the stones had a vicious sting.
- </p>
- <p>
- The heat was growing, both by radiation from the crimson column and by
- reflection from the canopy. Flames were leaping from the forest near the
- eruption, for the heat was drying the leaves.
- </p>
- <p>
- As the ground opened in many seams under the strain, steam found numerous
- issues on the front of the opposite valley wall, near the Face. The
- quaking of the earth deepened; the moans of the natives became cries of
- frenzy.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Is it growing worse, Joseph?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She had been Beela since the scene at the altar, and I had nearly
- forgotten Lentala. It was sweet to feel her breath on my neck as she clung
- like a frightened child.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Be brave,” I said. “Remember, we came safely through the passage.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I will, Joseph,” but I felt a sob against my breast.
- </p>
- <p>
- The increasing heat began to make wild mischief in the air. Little
- whirlwinds had been rising, twirling leaves upward. All at once they
- ceased, leaving an ominous calm. Then came a rushing, swirling roar, with
- the crashing of trees,—the noises of a tornado. I looked round.
- Nearly in a line with the moon rose a spinning column bearing upward
- dismembered trees, liberating them far above, and sending them down
- destructively. This monster, whose seizure would mean death, was mounting
- the slope in its approach to the volcano, and seemingly would sweep the
- clearing in its passage. I did not know what to do, and did not wish
- Lentala to see what was coming, but I must unconsciously have given an
- alarming sign, for she silently caught her breath and tightened her hold.
- </p>
- <p>
- As I was looking about in helplessness, an extraordinary vision of tatters
- and despair staggered toward us out of the forest, peering about. Her
- staring eyes found me, and she stopped in fear.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Annabel!” I cried.
- </p>
- <p>
- Lentala sprang to her feet, her terror gone, and stared for a moment;
- then, springing forward, she took Annabel in her arms before I had reached
- her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where is my father?” begged Annabel, recognizing us both.
- </p>
- <p>
- “He is safe with Captain Mason at the colony, dear,” Lentala sweetly
- answered.
- </p>
- <p>
- I confirmed the news, and because she was much more deeply shaken than
- Lentala, I took her to myself and made her sit on the ground. I seated
- myself beside her, took her hand, and told her cheerful things about her
- father and Mr. Rawley. She had become suspicious and left the colony to
- search for her father before Captain Mason’s return with him.
- </p>
- <p>
- She was quietly sobbing in gratefulness. A woman’s gentler offices were
- needed now, and I looked round for Lentala. To my astonishment she had
- disappeared. That alarmed me. In looking about for her without leaving
- Annabel I discovered that the tornado had torn away the trees on the
- opposite side of the clearing, and was breaking to pieces after tumbling
- into the valley; but I could not guess what havoc, if any, it had wrought
- in the clearing, and a profound uneasiness on Lentala’s account made my
- duty to care for Annabel irksome. Even at the best, the collections of the
- tornado were falling about us and on the clearing, and an increase of the
- dismal howling indicated cruel results, in which both Lentala and
- Christopher might be involved. And the danger to Annabel and me was great.
- I did what I could to protect her from the merciless rain of riven timber.
- </p>
- <p>
- It had been impossible for me to abandon hope on Christopher’s account.
- Even though I believed that he had lain down in perfect content to give
- his life for Lentala, the eruption had offered him an opportunity for
- which he must have been ready. If he was alive and anywhere near the zone
- of Lentala’s danger, she would be cared for. I could accept no other faith
- than that he was.
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel reasonably secure and quiet, I noted the progress of the
- catastrophe, knowing that Christopher would let me hear from him soon, if
- at all. The trembling of the ground had become remittent and more violent.
- The cries of the natives were falling to despairing moans. The tripping
- ground had made their flight impossible, even had fear not paralyzed them.
- Besides, the effect of the weird light on the Face was sufficient to hold
- them in a fascinated helplessness.
- </p>
- <p>
- The volcanic pillar of fire had shortened, for the still spreading canopy
- was thickening downward. The roar was louder, with occasional detonations
- from lateral explosions which smashed the mountains environing the western
- end of the valley and made a still wider breach in the opening blasted by
- the first outbreak. The purple flame had found new exits, lending the
- opposite valley wall a cadaverous light, and, with the spreading flame
- issuing from below the Face, giving the horrible visage an unspeakable
- hideousness.
- </p>
- <p>
- Worse than all that had gone before came next. The canopy suddenly effaced
- the moon, and looked like an enormous mushroom on a blood-red stem.
- Violent gusts of wind fell here and there with a rending force, working
- havoc in the forest and among the natives. Now and then rose a sharp
- solitary cry from one struck by a falling stone or spattered by blistering
- mud. At times a swarm of cries rang from the dip of scorching gases.
- Clouds were gathering. Lightning flashed between them and the canopy; the
- crash of near thunder swelled the tumult. I tried not to think of the
- colony.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where is Lentala?” cried Annabel in my ear, rousing out of a half-stupor.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She has gone to the clearing,” I ventured.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Go and find her,” urged Annabel in fright, forcibly withdrawing from me.
- </p>
- <p>
- “How can I leave you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I am safe here, and will wait for you. Go!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I obeyed, staggering into the clearing and falling over the kneeling or
- prostrate savages. My heart presently gave a bound of joy; for, working
- side by side, fearless and devoted, were Lentala and Christopher,
- apparently unhurt, and doing all they could to pacify the frantic natives,
- encouraging them, binding their wounds, and sending them to the service of
- others, thus rapidly starting centers of control and help that enlarged
- with magical rapidity. I came near, but the two who were dear to me did
- not observe, so intent were they on their duty. I had never seen so lovely
- a look on Lentala’s face, and I determined to let no foolish barrier stand
- between us thenceforth. Christopher saw me first, but gave no sign
- whatever. Then Lentala, and there was a divine light in her startled,
- happy face.
- </p>
- <p>
- “You came to me, didn’t you, Joseph?” she said, seizing my hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Annabel discovered that you were gone, and sent me to find you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her face went blank, and she dropped my hand. Terrible though the moment
- was, her childishness angered me. It was no time for coquettish
- discipline.
- </p>
- <p>
- “She wants your Majesty,” I said. “Shall I bring her to you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Her eyes flashed, but she replied, “Take me to her.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I tried to take her hand, in order to lead her, for the ground was rolling
- and there were unpleasant things to see on the way in the red glare; but
- she walked alone and as steadily as I. As we approached the trees there
- came a sickening heave different from the earth-movements before.
- Christopher sprang past us toward Annabel, shouting:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Down—on your faces!”
- </p>
- <p>
- I seized Lentala and lurched ahead, but before we had quite reached
- Annabel and Christopher we went down in a blazing crash.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <p>
- “Shake yourself up, sir,” came in a thin voice from a great distance.
- </p>
- <p>
- I could open my eyes but a moment under the vigorous shaking that
- Christopher gave me, for slimy, warm drops were falling on my face; but I
- had met the darkness that the blind know. A painful throbbing made my head
- roll as Christopher dragged me to shelter and propped me against a tree.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where are we?” I asked. My groping hands found a prone body at my left. I
- opened my eyes, and the world was blotted out.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Keep still, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Are they both here?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Alive?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” came feebly from the body under my hand.
- </p>
- <p>
- My arms went round her and drew her up.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Where’s Annabel, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “On your right, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Unconscious?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Lentala lay collapsed in my arms. The rain of mud from the canopy pattered
- and splashed about us. The ground was still, and there was hardly a sound
- except the slimy drip.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The volcano has stopped, hasn’t it?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I asked the next question in the conviction that I had been stricken
- blind: “Is there any light at all?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Lentala clutched me. “I’m glad, Choseph! I thought I was blind.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What happened, Christopher?” I asked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The world blew up, sir.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “What then?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Darkness.”
- </p>
- <p>
- The rain had extinguished the forest fires, and the sirupy drip was
- mingled with the hissing of hot stones. There was nothing to do but wait.
- Wails began to creep out of the silent clearing. Lentala drew away.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Poor children!” she said. “I can teach them better now. There’s a good
- life ahead for me here.” Clearly she was thinking of nothing else, and she
- said it with a simple earnestness. During all these dark months her every
- plan and act had been for her own and our escape from the island. I had
- thought that she accepted the crown as a temporary expedient to restore
- order and save the colony; but now I knew that, while she still intended
- to send us safely away, she had severed all other bonds and would give her
- life where it was most needed. The conduct of the people during the
- eruption had given the finishing touch to her decision. It was the putting
- away of all her hopes and dreams; it was the dismissal of me.
- </p>
- <p>
- I sat a moment in a desolate silence, and found her hand. She returned my
- clasp, but it was different from any she had ever given me before. It grew
- firmer, imparting a silent message of finality.
- </p>
- <p>
- <br /><br />
- </p>
- <hr />
- <p>
- <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> </a>
- </p>
- <div style="height: 4em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
- <h2>
- CHAPTER XXIV.—The Parting Hour.
- </h2>
- <p>
- <i>A Chapter of Startling Surprises. The Fate of the Black Face. A Story
- of Two Girls. Wanted—a Coadjutor to the Crown. Beela Comes Back at
- Last.</i>
- </p>
- <p class="pfirst">
- <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">H</span>ere was something
- portentously solemn in Christopher’s manner when he came one brilliant
- morning with a summons from the queen to lunch with her and Annabel. I was
- aware of Captain Mason’s notice to her Majesty that in two hours the
- colony, which had been royally entertained in the palace and its adjunct
- buildings since the great catastrophe, would file past to bid her
- farewell. My absorbing duties in directing the stowing of the <i>Hope’s</i>
- cargo had kept me away from the queen and Annabel, who had become devoted
- friends; but a more potent barrier had been her Majesty’s cold reserve
- under her assumption of her queenly duties, which had been exceedingly
- severe. The destruction of the Black Face by the eruption had been
- joyously accepted as heaven’s endorsement of her accession to the throne,
- and the natives idolized her.
- </p>
- <p>
- Nothing seemed clearer than her wish that I do my part to make as smooth
- as possible her determination to forget what had passed between us.
- </p>
- <p>
- Confident, therefore, that she would carry off the parting pleasantly, and
- appreciating her kindness in inviting me, and her tact in providing for
- Annabel’s presence, I went with as stout a heart as I could command.
- Christopher and I had long ago laid aside our disguise. He led me in
- silence to the private room where Lentala had dreamed of a bright life far
- away. A table was set daintily for three; and as there were no native
- attendants, I knew that Christopher was to serve. Rangan was near the end
- of his days, and Rawley gave constant attendance on deeply stricken Mr.
- Vancouver.
- </p>
- <p>
- As I entered, I heard the queen and Annabel chatting with astonishing
- gaiety in an adjoining room, the doorway into which was closed with a
- curtain. Whatever they were discussing was interrupted by my entrance.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” came challengingly from beyond the curtain. It was Beela’s
- voice, though every trace of her had disappeared since the eruption.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty,” I responded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Nonsense! Aren’t you going to behave?” It was Beela’s scold and the
- impatient stamp of her foot. “I’m not quite ready. Annabel will entertain
- you.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel came out. The sparkle in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks
- showed that she was excited, despite her effort to appear at ease.
- Christopher’s strange manner had already made me watchful, and I caught
- the knowing look that Annabel gave him. My heart bounded. Could it be that
- the queen had decided to renounce her kingdom and go with us? It so
- deluged me that for a moment I did not heed the chatter proceeding from
- the other room.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” came thence; “have you neither ears nor a tongue?” The voice
- rang with a cheer that even Beela’s had never known. “Here I’ve been
- trying to make you guess why I’m so happy, and you don’t show the
- slightest interest.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’d be glad to know,” I returned.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Annabel and her father and Mr. Rawley have decided not to go away, and
- Annabel and Mr. Rawley are going to be married!” She hurled it
- breathlessly, as a child in a hurry to tell important news.
- </p>
- <p>
- So that was the great secret. But why had they kept it from me? An acute
- silence within accompanied my own. I was smiling at Annabel, who blushed
- deliciously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Don’t say that. I hate it. Do you love me?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, ma’am.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “But you are going to leave me.” She said it dolorously.
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, I ain’t, ma’am.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Something was dropped clattering to the floor within, and then came a
- sudden hush.
- </p>
- <p>
- There was the queerest, brightest twinkle in Annabel’s eyes as she studied
- me. In astonishment I glanced at Christopher. The look with which he met
- mine was one of benevolent kindness.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Dear old Christopher!” came softly from the other room; then, after a
- pause, “How can Mr. Tudor manage without you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “He can’t, ma’am.” He made the audacious answer while calmly regarding me.
- </p>
- <p>
- Can it be believed that I dared not see Lentala’s challenge, and that
- something which I could not master held me a silent fool in the chair?
- Surely there must be men besides me whom love makes humble and timid. I
- have seen men love with a different measure; I have seen love make them
- bold and reckless.
- </p>
- <p>
- Christopher had adroitly seated me with my back to the curtain. Hence I
- did not see a signal that Annabel, who was facing it, must have received,
- for with some excuse she withdrew, taking Christopher.
- </p>
- <p>
- The queen’s voice was close to the curtain as she called in a breathless,
- frightened way, “Choseph!”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Your Majesty.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Before I could rise she was on me like a whirlwind, clapping her hands
- over my eyes from behind and pressing me down into the seat. Her cheek
- rested on my head. I thought the beating of my heart would suffocate me.
- </p>
- <p>
- During the silence I sat in a trance. One soft hand held my eyes closed;
- the other slipped down and was pressed on my lips. I knew that Beela had
- come back, and I would submit to any outrage from her.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph,” she said in her sweet, coaxing voice, “sit still and don’t try
- to speak. You are much more interesting when you don’t talk. And then, I
- don’t want to be interrupted, for I’m going to tell you a story. It is
- about two girls and a man. Nod if you want to hear it.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “The girls are named Beela and Lentala. The man imagines he is or <i>was</i>
- in love with one of those girls.” The voice above my head became very
- impressive. “Now, sir, you are the Man.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Nod.
- </p>
- <p>
- “We’ll easily agree that Lentala is much more dignified and reserved than
- Beela.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Nod.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And never so erratic and unconventional.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Nod.
- </p>
- <p>
- “And that Beela is rude and bold, wears outlandish clothes, and adopts
- scandalous disguises.”
- </p>
- <p>
- My head was still for a time, so happy was I in her delicious fooling;
- then I nodded enthusiastically.
- </p>
- <p>
- I knew she was trying to suppress a laugh; she ostentatiously sighed, and
- said: “You agree to that. It isn’t all. She tells fibs, and is heartless
- and cruel.” I was motionless for a breathless space, and then nodded
- viciously. There came a long, still pause. I could bear it no longer.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph! Stop! You hurt my wrist,” and again she held me prisoned.
- “There. Be quiet. Well,” with a resigned sigh, “I suppose the foolish man
- will keep on loving Beela and hating Lentala, and end by breaking poor
- Lentala’s heart.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I am not positive that I entirely succeeded in suppressing my laugh.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It has to be Beela, then,” the sweet voice went on. “But, Choseph,
- suppose the madcap should really be very different from what she ever
- appeared to you, and you should discover that she had deceived you about
- an important matter,—you can’t be certain that you know all her
- disguises,—wouldn’t you think her unworthy of your trust and love?”
- </p>
- <p>
- A very decided shake, and above me a soft laugh and a little squeeze of my
- head.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph, you know you had suspicions about her skill in staining you and
- Christopher.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I had nearly forgotten it; but as her father had been a white man and her
- mother a native, her skin would require some staining to look exactly like
- a native’s. I made no response to her speech.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph, suppose a very little girl born in some other country had been
- wrecked with her father on this island. She might have been yellow, or—or
- almost anything. As she grew, it might have become necessary that she be
- given the color of the natives.” There was a pause, and then came the
- hurried question, “She’d still be the same girl, wouldn’t she?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I nodded, simply to please her, for her chatter meant no more to me than
- that Beela was playing and teasing.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Think, Joseph.” She was really serious. “Once, when Lentala dressed like
- Annabel, you were shocked, and said some strange things that made her very
- unhappy and uneasy, and she was afraid to tell you the whole truth. And
- for other reasons she thought it best to keep up the deception. Could <i>anything</i>
- new that you might learn about her change your regard?”
- </p>
- <p>
- I shook my head, but was puzzled and uneasy.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Then,” she gently said, pressing her sweet cheek to my temple, “it could
- make no difference at all what her real color is?”
- </p>
- <p>
- Of course I shook my head. It was impossible for me to accept the absurd
- suggestion, and my simple lie could do no harm in her pretty play.
- </p>
- <p>
- She straightened, drawing a deep breath. “That is a promise,” she said.
- “There’s something else. Now, no matter if, in showing her love and pity
- for the poor grown children who need her, she permits these islanders the
- harmless play of calling her their queen when they mean their leader,
- their teacher, their mother,—wouldn’t she still be only Beela, and
- none the worse for accepting that love and trust and duty?”
- </p>
- <p>
- My nod was reverential.
- </p>
- <p>
- “But, Joseph, she would know her utter inability to discharge that task.
- She would stumble; she would fall many a time. There would come dark hours
- when she yearned in bitter loneliness for the help of a wise head and sure
- hand; for there is a people to civilize as well as govern. Joseph, the
- heart of a woman is a woman-heart under either a toy crown or a real one.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I gave no sign. There came a long pause, a deep breath, and a sudden
- change of tone.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph, suppose that some day a big, fine cavalier, with a tender heart
- and a strong hand, should drift to the poor little kingdom and find its
- queen torturing her soul over problems that would look so large to her and
- so small to him. It seems to me that he would be moved to offer her his
- services. She might make him her Prime Minister.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I tore myself loose, rose, and confronted her. Gazing at me was a
- beautiful young white woman, frightened and blushing, a thousand startled
- imps dancing in her eyes as she backed away. I was profoundly shocked.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Forgive me, Joseph.” It came tenderly, wistfully, from the perfect lips
- of Beela and in her dear voice. And those were her eyes; that was her
- delicate, high-bred nose, and that her light hair. And she was as daintily
- dressed as ever Annabel had been.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Choseph!” she cried, stamping in a passion as I gazed in silence.
- </p>
- <p>
- So overcoming a weakness assailed me that I had to catch the top of a
- chair.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Of course I understand,” I said, unevenly, and floundered on, with
- pauses: “I might have guessed, but... a cherished ideal is very real to
- me. When I lost Beela and found Lentala, I lost what I had come to love.
- No, not lost,—I am very foolish and blundering.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “No, Joseph.” Her smile was dazzling.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It never could be lost while I lived, and would live had she died. It was
- Lentala, not Beela, who put Beela away, and then me.”
- </p>
- <p>
- “You know what I thought, Joseph. I meant to be kind. And I never had the
- least idea until today that Annabel cared for Mr. Rawley. I thought she
- loved you, and that you had been very fond of her till Beela came. I
- reasoned that it would be best for you to go to your own country, marry
- Annabel, and forget Beela.”
- </p>
- <p>
- That sweet speech explained everything, but it was not possible for me to
- feel the ease in the presence of her radiant loveliness that I had felt
- toward Beela, the child-woman, the sprite, who could flutter into a man’s
- heart and abide forever. I managed to say bluntly:
- </p>
- <p>
- “I understand. And now that all is clear, may I stay and do whatever lies
- in my power and devotion to help you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- She was regarding me curiously, and with a touch of uneasiness. “Simply
- because I’ve asked you?” she demanded.
- </p>
- <p>
- “It is my dearest wish.”
- </p>
- <p>
- Still the strange look was in her eyes. I dared not interpret it as my
- heart commanded; I had never loved a woman before, and needed time to
- gather my courage. Of a sudden an impulse moved me to step forward, take
- her hands, and look deep into her eyes.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Let me stay,” I begged.
- </p>
- <p>
- “I’d be glad and proud if you would, Joseph. You know Captain Mason is to
- return with the <i>Hope</i> as soon as he can, and will bring teachers and
- a clergyman from America, and Annabel and Mr. Rawley will be married
- then.”
- </p>
- <p>
- I do not know what it was that she saw—or that her sensitive pride
- made her see—in my face that made her quickly withdraw her hands and
- step back as her eyes flashed and her cheeks crimsoned.
- </p>
- <p>
- “Joseph! I never dreamed that you could think I meant—<i>that!</i>”
- </p>
- <p>
- “It was my love, my joy, dear heart. When the clergyman comes——”
- </p>
- <p>
- Annabel and Christopher entered. The queen flew at her, embraced her and
- kissed her, and then, standing off in front of Christopher, cried in a
- teasing voice:
- </p>
- <p>
- “Christopher, you <i>do</i> love me, don’t you?”
- </p>
- <p>
- “Yes, ma’am,” he placidly answered as he set the chairs for luncheon.
- </p>
- <div style="height: 6em;">
- <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
- </div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lentala of The South Seas, The
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