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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..7c90d25 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67029 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67029) diff --git a/old/67029-0.txt b/old/67029-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aba3775..0000000 --- a/old/67029-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5838 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Minos of Sardanes, by Charles B. -Stilson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Minos of Sardanes - -Author: Charles B. Stilson - -Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67029] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINOS OF SARDANES *** - - - - - - MINOS OF SARDANES - - By Charles B. Stilson - - Author of "Polaris--of the Snows" - - _Copyright 1916 by Popular Publications, Inc._ - - - - CHAPTER I - - THE DRIVE AGAINST DEATH - - -Two men stood on the bridge of a speeding ship in a place of ice and -fire. A storm rode with them, a tempest that shrieked and moaned and -tore, and around the ship seethed and tossed the waters of the furious -Antarctic Sea. Ice floes cracked and crashed. Giant bergs, staggering -under the lash of the gale, added the dull thunder of their impact to -the wild din. - -Yet all the fury and clamor afloat paled in comparison with the -appalling splendor of that which was taking place on shore. - -On the port side of the vessel, a scant league across the heaving -frenzy of wave and ice, lay land. Once a stark, bleak mountain range, -rising inland from its beetling shore cliffs, now it was gashed -and quivering in the throes of a terrific volcanic outburst. Rocky -hillsides were laced with streams of molten, iridescent fire. Above -them mighty peaks tottered and crumbled. The titanic detonations of -sundered mountains, with each new outpouring of the tremendous forces -struggling for release, drowned all the strident discord of shrilling -air and booming sea. - -For a full score of miles along the inland range the mountain crests -had been riven to loose the internal torrents. Cascades of white-hot -lava poured down their calcined sides, in places streaming over the -foothills themselves, to be quenched in clouds of roaring steam where -the sea met them. Geysers of flame shot skyward from some of the more -lofty peaks, and spread out like the unfolding petals of monstrous, -unholy lilies, thrust into bloom from the underworld. - -Above them loomed masses of vapor, rolling and shifting, and were lost -in the murk of the Antarctic night. Below, the raging fires lighted -land and sea for leagues, the colors of blue and green and violet -reflected back from the myriad facets of the whirling icebergs with -dazzling magnificence. Across the churning chaos, where every wave was -a dancing flame, each mass of ice a lustrous opal, six miles to the -west, the great fires shone against the cliffs and peaks of another -shore, that lay cold and quiet and snowbound. - -Destruction, many hued and fantastic, menaced the ship in a thousand -glittering shapes, but she tore forward through the turmoil. A long -gray cruiser she was, her sides sheathed in steel, and with the Stars -and Stripes whipping from her bow. - -One of the men on the swaying bridge, a blond and youthful colossus, -clothed from head to foot in skins of the white bear, leaned toward his -companion and lifted his voice to a shout, to carry above the screaming -pandemonium. - -"Hinson, your friend spoke truly," he cried. "Here, indeed, are the -great fires." With a sweep of his arm shoreward, he indicated the long -arrays of flaming furies. - -It was the first time for hours that either of the men had spoken. -Indeed, since the ship had entered this arm of the sea and come upon -the stupendous eruption of nature's vitals, there had been little -conversation aboard, with the exception of sharp orders and a few -subdued comments among the crew. Volcanoes they had expected to find, -but no such tremendous display as here confronted and overawed them. - -"Now, this is Ross Sea. Back there to the northwest lie Mount Sabine -and Mount Melbourne. Here, where the great hills burn, is King Edward -VII Land," pursued the young man. "Yonder," he pointed ahead to the -south, "lies the pathway to Sardanes. Shall we be in time, old Zenas -Wright, or will the end have struck already?" - -Zenas Wright, member of the American Geographic Society, one of the -first geologists of his day and world famous as an authority on -volcanic phenomena, tore his gaze unwillingly from the most splendid -exhibit of his favorite science his eyes had ever seen. He shook his -shaggy, white old head slowly. - -"I can not tell, my son," he said. "Often the great changes of nature -are of slow growth, and may be months or years in the making. Again, -they are done in a day. An outburst of such violence as this one I've -never seen before. It would seem to me that the end must be at hand -down there, if not already passed. We must make haste." - -He turned his short, wide-shouldered figure. Clutching the bridge rail -with mittened hands, he settled his ears again into the protection of -his great ulster, and feasted his eyes on a sight of which he would -never tire. - - * * * * * - -From the wheelhouse another man came onto the bridge. He was tall, -lean and weather-beaten with close-set eyes above high cheekbones, -and the alert and upright carriage of a soldier. For a moment the -three conferred, the newcomer tugging impatiently at his sparse, black -mustache, while he took in the scene around him with sharp glances. - -"Speed, and speed, and more speed, Scoland," said the old scientist. - -"Aye, speed," echoed the young giant, "all the speed in your good ship, -Captain, while yet there is open water. Yonder, ahead, the ice gathers -for the drive, and there we must needs go slowly. So speed while speed -we may." - -Scoland nodded shortly and strode back to the wheelhouse. Down the -speaking-tube to the engine-room went his call: - -"Crowd her, Mac, crowd her!" - -"Aye, Meester Scoland, aye! But, mon, is she no doin' beautifully the -noo?" The grizzled MacKechnie turned from the tube in the bowels of -the cruiser, to bellow his orders among cursing, panting stokers and -sweating coal-passers. - -For this was a race with death; not the death of one man, or of a -ship's crew, but the extinction of a nation. - -Down this swirling pathway one of the men on the ship had passed once -before. No stout ship swam under his feet on that journey. He rode on a -careening iceberg. He was the fur-clad young viking on the bridge. His -name was Polaris Janess. - -Born in the wilderness of the Antarctic by one of the strangest freaks -of circumstances, Polaris had reached manhood seeing no human being -besides the father who had reared him. When that father died the young -man started to break his way to civilization. - -In his wild adventurings northward he had found Rose Emer, an -American heiress, lost in the snows. Where they made their camp an -ice floe broke up, and they were whirled down the coast to the south -again on an enormous berg. Inland, they had found the kingdom of -Sardanes--Sardanes, the mystical volcanic valley, set like an emerald -in the white fastnesses of the Antarctic, blooming with tropical -verdure, and peopled with a fragment of the ancient Greek nation, the -Hellenes, whose victories Bard Homer sang. And they were the first -people from the outer world of men to set foot there in nigh upon three -thousand years. - -There a king would have wedded the American Rose, but Polaris fought -his way out of that valley with his dogs and guns, saving the girl, and -taking with them Kalin, the young high priest of Sardanes. The priest -had died in the snow-lands, but the man and the girl had come at last -to the ship _Felix_, Scoland's ship, from which the girl had strayed. - -Long before they reached America, Rose Emer had lost a not-too-warm -admiration for the captain in a great love for the man who had saved -her. Scoland, the daring explorer, who had reached the South Pole in an -airship, saw the girl won from him by the man from the wilderness. - -Fearing lest the girl was glamoured by the strange events through which -they had passed, and might come to scorn the half barbarian that he -was, Polaris delayed to wed her for a year, which he devoted to intense -study of men and their ways. Of books he knew much, and commanded many -languages; of men he knew little. - -Before the year was ended came Zenas Wright, with a report from the -Smaley and Hinson expedition into Ross Sea, telling of a mighty -volcanic outbreak there. The scientist declared it to be an outpouring -of the fires which warmed Sardanes. With the going of those fires, he -asserted, the mystic valley was doomed to return to the wastes, and its -wonderful people to die. - -"It is fitting that the man who discovered Sardanes should be the man -to save her," said Zenas Wright to Polaris, "and without you, who know -the way and the people, the trip would be well-nigh hopeless." - -Polaris had responded to the call of what he deemed to be an almost -sacred duty. Still unwed, he said farewell to his Rose maid for another -long year, to start south and face the hardships and perils of the -Antarctic once more, and to fetch to America the two thousand or so -inhabitants of Sardanes, or as many of them as should be found alive. - -With tireless haste a relief expedition was organized. Dogs were -brought down from the upper reaches of the Yukon. Men whose lives and -callings had inured them to the perils of the colds and the tempests of -the snow-lands were enlisted for the great errand. - -Foremost among those who came to enlist for the venture was Captain -James Scoland. He came with a heart full of hot hate for the man who -had balked him, and whom he considered little more than a half-mad -barbarian. But he hid his hate well, and bided his time. With Polaris -Janess, the enmity that had been between himself and the captain was -a closed book. He had forgotten and forgiven. Scoland was a man of -unquestioned bravery, a born leader of others. Above all, he had the -knowledge of the Antarctic that made him an invaluable ally. - -Polaris accepted his proffered services gladly. - -Through the influence of Zenas Wright and of Scoland, the United States -second-class cruiser _Minnetonka_ was turned over for the use of the -expedition, and manned. All the great fortune his father had left him -Polaris had guaranteed in payment for the expenses of the expedition. -Danger and death lay before him. He would be a poor man if he returned. -He did not falter. - -He stood on the deck of the rushing ship, his topaz eyes turned toward -the blazing, thundering mountains on the shores of Ross Sea. Their -weird lights shone on his handsome, high-featured face, but at times -he saw them not. Persistently there arose before him a picture of a -quaint old New England garden, bright with its sunshine, its phlox and -marigolds and honeysuckle. He looked again into the gray eyes of the -garden-woman; long eyes, wet with tears. He felt her soft lips cling to -his. In the moaning of the wind he heard again her sad voice pleading, -"Oh, Polaris--how can I let you go?" and a great gray dog that answered -to the name of Marcus stood by them, whining and ill at ease. - -From his reverie the voice of Zenas Wright recalled him. - -"The bergs are getting thicker," the old man said. "Stout as this ship -is, we will have to slow down soon, or risk worse than we've risked -already. You say the sea narrows down there ahead?" - -"Aye, old man, it narrows, and then sweeps wide again, so wide that -from one coast you may not see the other for many a long day," Polaris -answered. When he spoke it was with the quaintness of expression that -had come to him from the pages of the "Ivanhoe" of Scott, a treasure he -had found among the few of his father's books that were not of science, -and over which he had pored and pondered lovingly through many years. A -few short months of civilization had not worn that custom from him. - -Zenas Wright gazed aft. "Well, whatever happens to me now," he said, -"I've seen a sight to-day few men have ever seen." - -He waved his old hand toward the spouting hills, which they were now -leaving behind him. "I'd like to study that eruption and write a book -on it," he added regretfully. Despite his age, and the long hours he -had spent on the bridge he left it with a vigorous springy step as he -went below. - -At racing speed, wherever the way lay clear, the stanch _Minnetonka_ -tore forward, her nose of steel pointed straight into the dark, -mysterious South, hurling her eight thousand tons through every -available gap in the ice flotilla with all the strength of her -twenty-one thousand horsepower. - -Down the seas behind the vessel, faster and ever faster, crept the dawn -of a six-months' day. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE CURSE OF ANALOS - - -On the brink of the ledge of death in the crater of the Gateway to the -Future crouched Analos, high priest in Sardanes. Two hundred feet below -him in the monstrous funnel of the crater, seethed the lake of undying -fires. Billowing vapors wafted from that troubled caldron passed upward -beyond him, an endless procession of many-hued wraiths. First mist, -smoke and sulfurous gases intermingled, spiraled and coiled in the -drafts that blew through the mountain's cone, and passed on to the vent -of the enormous flue, three hundred feet above. - -The rumble and muttering of the raging flames smote his ears -continually. Beneath his feet the solid rock of the hollow hill -vibrated and trembled. Anon as the wreaths and curtains of vapor -shifted and curled, disclosing their furious source, the weird light -shone garishly on his red vestments of office. His high-templed, crafty -face, above its black beard, turned livid in the glare. - -It was evident from the tense bearing of the man that he was himself -in the grip of an inward fire that threatened to break forth with -consuming fury. He ground his teeth, and blood ran from his bitten lips -into his beard. - -"Curse them, O Lord Hephaistos! Curse them, for thy sake and for thy -servant's!" he prayed as he prayed many times before. He stretched his -arms out over the gasping pit, raised himself on one knee and sent his -voice wailing out across the fire-shot depths. - -"Aye, curse them and spare them not! Curse him that was before me here! -May Kalin be accursed! Curse him who now opposeth my will! May Minos be -accursed! Curse her who hath flouted me, thy priest! May she be thrice -accursed! Curse them all, and for all the years to come! May they know -no rest in Sardanes or in the world! May they find no peace in that far -place beyond, whither thy gateway leadeth!" - -Panting for breath, he paused. His writhing features were hideous in -the flare from the chasm. Again he tossed his arms wildly. - -"Come to my aid, Hephaistos!" he screamed. "Aid thou thy servant! Give -me a sign, that I may know. A sign, Master, send me a sign!" - -Booming up from the depths, his answer came--a mighty diapason from -the throat of the crater that seemed to carry with it every chord of -nature's tonal gamut. As if the hammer of Hephaistos, indeed, had -smitten, the solid rock beneath him quivered to a terrific shock from -the bowels of the earth. - -Almost jarred from his foothold, the man, by a quick spring backward, -saved himself from toppling into the fiery funnel. Crawling on hands -and knees, he approached the brink of the ledge again, and there lay -flat. His eyeballs bulged and his senses swam when he gazed downward. - -He saw the fire-fretted sides of the giant crater swept free of all -their clouding vapors, every glittering vein, every projection, every -detail of their many strata, revealed in startling clearness by a -blinding flood of light. He saw the fire-lake itself surge upward in -its white-hot sheath. Up, up the sheer declivity of the crater it -crept. As it came, for yards above it the rocks glowed red. - -Another tremendous shock swayed the ledge where the priest lay. Masses -of rock, reft from the precipitous walls near the mountain summit, -hurtled past him down the chasm. Again the molten lava heaved up a -great wave. Never in all the traditions of Sardanes had the fires of -the Gateway leaped so far! From the center of that swirling maelstrom -there arose a cone twenty feet high. It opened with a shriek as of a -legion of devils released, and an appalling pillar of blue flame shot -up from it and stood like a plume. - -Although the highest reach of the flame was a full hundred feet below -him, the blast of the heat was like to burst the veins of the watching -priest. His very beard curled in it. Springing to his feet, Analos went -back to the darkness of the passage that led to the terraces on the -lower slope. Already it was hot to suffocation in the winding corridor. - -Down the spirals ahead of him Analos heard the squealing of his -affrighted priests as they scurried for the open. But Analos quaked -not. He strode forth from the lofty arch of the portal and trod the -upper terrace with the step of a master conqueror. He glanced up the -outer acclivity of the mountain. He saw its peak ablaze with a crown -of fire against the gloom of the Antarctic night--a crown which shone -there for the first time since man had made history in the valley of -Sardanes. He drew a deep breath, a breath of triumph and exaltation. - -"Master, thy sign is sent!" he cried. - -With head held high, Analos passed down the fire-lighted terraces. -As he went, he heard through the red twilight of the valley cries of -wonder and heart-rending wails of fear. - - * * * * * - -Afar on the Hunter's Road, twenty miles to the north and west of the -valley, Minos the king and eight of his hunters followed the trail -of the white bear. Two sledges they had with them, each hauled by -six-horse teams of the sturdy little Sardanian ponies. But Minos -coursed the snows more swiftly by far with a lighter sledge, whisked -over the frozen crusts by a racing chain of beasts that could outstrip -the small horses by two miles to one. _Seven great gray dogs drew the -sledge of Minos!_ - -Now, a strange thing must be related. When Polaris fought his way out -of Sardanes, along the crater ledge and through the rift in the wall of -the Gateway to the Future, his team of splendid dogs battled with him. -Their fighting fangs aided him fully as much as did his long, brown -rifle and brace of revolvers in holding Minos and his men back until it -was time to pass the rift and join Kalin the priest and the Rose maid. -One of his fiercest charges was made to avenge the dog Pallas, when she -was struck down by an ilium spear, and pitched over the brink of the -ledge. - -Although her master gave her up for lost, Pallas did not die. When -Minos the king made his way back to the valley after his last struggle -with the outlander, men came and told him that the beast lay sore -wounded and moaning on a rock-ledge in the side of the crater pit, some -score of feet below that from which she had fallen. They would have -stoned her to death, or let torches fall to drive her into the fire -lake, but Minos would not suffer it. The king himself ordered that he -be let down the crater wall with ropes. There he bound and muzzled -Pallas and brought her to the upper ledge and to his palace, and tended -her hurts, for Minos was skilled in the rude surgery of the valley. - -Analos, who succeeded Kalin as high priest in Sardanes, later demanded -the brute to be a sacrifice to Hephaistos, but Minos withstood him and -his priests, and the dog lived on. - -Some six weeks after her rescue from the pit, Pallas whined her mother -joy over six blind puppies. Twice the great darkness had fallen on the -Southland since the man of the snows had left it, and the pups had -grown tall and strong. Minos had given them much care, and it was his -whim to train them and use them as had Polaris. Now, with Pallas as the -leader, they drew the king's sledge. - -Sardanians, who had never known dogs until the advent of the strangers, -eyed them askance, but the will of Minos was an ill thing to tamper -with. - -The chase was fruitful. When the king and his hunters broke camp and -turned homeward, where the red haze of the moons of Sardanes lighted -the southern horizon, the carcasses of two monarchs of the wastes were -lashed to their sledges in token of the huntsmen's prowess. - -Three miles from the north pass into the valley they stopped to rest -and to feed their beasts. Minos was busied straightening out a kink in -a harness strap, when he heard a shout of amazement. A flash of light -shone with startling brightness across the wilderness of rocks and ice -hummocks and snow. - -The king sprang to his feet and saw a mighty, flaming pillar spread -fanwise heavenward from the summit of the looming bulk of the mountain -that lay to the left, at the northeast sweep of the oval range that -encompassed Sardanes. - -Gloomy and silent always through the centuries since their ancestors -had found the valley, now the towering peak of the Gateway to the -Future blazed with a fury that dimmed the moons of all its sister -mountains. That sight smote the Sardanians with terror. With upraised -arms, they stood among their snorting beasts, their staring, affrighted -faces ghastly in the flare. - -Beneath their feet they felt the rock-strewn bosom of the plain heave -gently, and, after a short space, again. They moaned in terror. - -Of a mold to be daunted little by natural or supernatural, Minos the -king was less moved than the others. While they groaned and called on -Hephaistos, he strode among them with a quieting word. - -"Old Mother Nature played a trick for her amusement," he said. "She -hath lighted Sardanes brighter than ever before, and now she melteth -the snows of the wilderness. Look! Never saw I such a mist!" - -He pointed to the east. Extending from the foothills below the Gateway, -northeast, as far as their eyes might see, a rolling bank of fog hung -over the snow-lands. - -"Bring in the sledges as soon as may be," Minos ordered. "There will be -many a shaken heart in Sardanes at yonder sight. I will hasten on." - -He leaped on his own sledge, gave the word to his dogs, and in a moment -the swift snow-runners had carried him around a bend in the pathway -toward the valley. As he went, he heard the dull booming of the huge -drum that hung in the hall of the Judgment House, whereon some lusty -wight was making play with all the strength of his two arms. - -So it happened that, as Analos crossed the green stone bridge over the -river, the king entered the valley through the north pass, both of them -bound in haste for the Judgment House. - -As was his custom, Minos left his sledge in a rock-built shelter at the -base of the pass cliffs, where the snows broke into bare ground and -rock. With his gray beasts in leash, he hurried through the pass and -set off across the valley at a loping, light-footed gait. Skirting the -marshes, where the river lost itself in its subterranean channels at -the lower end of the valley, the king and his shaggy companions crossed -the bridge and took a path above the main road that led them over the -slopes through groves of gigantic hymanan trees. - -The yellow-bronze and rustling foliage of the forest monarchs reflected -the radiance of the mountain moons in a shimmer of whispering gold. -Among their gnarled trunks the shadows lay thick. He was still ten -minutes' journey from the Judgment House when the gleam of a white robe -in the dusk and a subdued growl from the dogs told the king that some -one loitered in the path ahead of him. He heard a woman's voice raised -in anger, a voice that thrilled him to his heart's core. - -Silencing the muttering beasts, he went forward cautiously. - -A black-haired girl stood with her back to the bole of a tree, against -which her white arms were thrown out at each side. Her head was tilted -defiantly. Her bosom heaved and her black eyes snapped. In front of her -the dark form of a man barred her way. He was draped in a long robe, -the cowl of which obscured his features. - -"How darest thou!" Her tones bit scornfully. "How darest thou lay a -hand on the daughter of the Lord Karnaon? I care not for thy threats -of powers. I tell thee that wert thou twice what thou art, to me thou -wouldst be all that is foul and abhorrent. Mate with thee!" She laughed -shortly. "I'd sooner mate with the meanest of my father's servants than -with thee." - -Analos, for he it was whom opportunity had tempted thus to tarry, shook -his clenched fists over the head of the girl. Brave as she was, his -face turned so hideous in its leering rage that she shrank. - -"Twice hast thou flouted me, girl," he said in a choked, hard voice, -"me, the minister and mouthpiece of the Lord Hephaistos. It shall not -be so again." He tossed an arm toward the flaming crown of the mountain -whence he had come. "Yonder the god ruleth in all his splendor, and -I am his faithful servant. To the Gateway shalt thou come, whether -thou willst or no. Thither shouldst thou go this moment had I not more -pressing business elsewhere." - -A strong and open hand smote the words from the priest's lips. In an -instant he was gurgling on the ground, his neck beneath the heel of -Minos, and the dogs were sniffing about him, anxious to lay hold. - -"The Lady Memene may go her ways in peace," said the king quietly, -bowing low. - -No word of thanks got Minos for his timely coming. The girl flashed him -one quick look, and then passed by him hastily with head up. He gazed -after her, ruefully. - -"It seems that I am no more welcome than thou," he said, and dragged -Analos to his feet. "What doings are these, priest, and what passeth -yonder in the Gateway that doth so affright Sardanes? Answer, thou!" He -shook the burly priest like a refractory child. - -However wicked in spirit, Analos lacked not in bravery. He snatched -an ilium dagger from his girdle and struck fiercely at Minos's chest. -The big man saw the flash of the weapon, but made no parrying move. -Instead, he shoved the priest from him with one powerful arm, and so -violently that Analos spun many feet and brought up against the trunk -of another tree. - -Minos called the dogs back, which would have followed eagerly. - -"Wouldst thou, Analos, indeed?" said the king with a laugh. "The time -cometh, I can see it plainly, priest, when thou and I must try a fall -for place in the kingdom. Thou growest insolent. At least there be two -in Sardanes who fear thee not." He laughed again. "Now, an thou hast -naught to say, begone on that most pressing business of thine, and -cross not my path again in such pursuits as I found thee but now, lest -I be tempted to waste a spear on thy dirty carcass." - -Twice the priest essayed to answer, but each time his words were -choked. Then there burst from his throat an inarticulate bellow of -rage. He turned and dashed madly away into the shadows, his black robe -flying out behind him. - -"He groweth troublesome, as did Kalin, who opposed Helicon, my -brother," mused Minos; "but he hath not Kalin's mettle. For myself, I -did like the man Kalin passing well." - -Another burst from the great drum recalled his errand to the king, and -he hastened on. - - * * * * * - -For more than an hour had Gallando the smith smitten the drum that -hung in the pillared hall of the Judgment House until he was aweary. -Far through the valley and over the hills had its thunderous summons -rolled, calling to all Sardanes. - -Those who labored had ceased, and those who slept had wakened. They -had come until nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants of the valley were -gathered. Those abroad when the first spurt of flame had leaped from -the peak of the Gateway and the earth had quaked had let everything -fall and hastened in. Those indoors had followed soon. From the open -façade of the hall more than a thousand white faces were turned toward -the flaming hill. From the upper reaches of the valley, nearly a score -of miles away, others were coming with other tales to tell. Black fear -sat heavy upon the shoulders of all. - -"Where is Minos the king?" "Analos? Is he here?" "Doth Hephaistos -smite his people?" These and many other cries rang in the hall. One -stupendous liar swore that he had seen the shape of the god himself -outlined in fire on the crest of the Gateway--and many believed his -tale. - -Women, their high-plaited hair disheveled, tunics all awry, clung to -their husbands. Bewildered children added their shrieks to the din and -confusion. Never had Sardanes been so shaken. - -Not until the somber figure of Analos was seen ascending the marble -steps of the dais at the upper end of the hall was the clamor quieted. -The priest crossed the platform and sat himself on the black stone seat -of his predecessors. He stared gloomily out over the sputtering of the -torches in their cressets about the hall, an occasional sob or murmur -of a frightened child, the singing of the river, and the far-away -roaring of the hills. - -Some minutes passed, and from the door at the rear of the dais came -Minos. His dogs trooped in with him, bristling at sight of the -priest. The king took his seat on the ancient, raised throne of his -forefathers, with its plinth above, whereon were carved the words - - MINOEBAEIVEYETHEEAPAANHEOH - -(Minos, Basileustes Sardanes Ho Hekaton, or Minos, hundredth King of -Sardanes.) - -A number of the nobles climbed up the steps from the lower hall, and -took their stations below the throne. - -Scarcely was the king in his place when the tumult of affright again -broke forth, an unintelligible clamor of many voices. Minos raised his -hands to still it. He addressed his people calmly, with the demeanor -and smile that long before had earned for him the name of the Smiling -Prince. - -"Tradition saith, and the writings of history which the priest keep -do confirm," he said, "that in time very long ago our ancestors came -to Sardanes from a great, bright world to the north, a world wherein -they were part of a mighty people. By a strange mischance came they to -Sardanes, and might return no more whence they came. Here have their -descendants lived in peace and plenty. But a little time agone two -strangers, that Polaris--of the Snows, and the Rose girl, came among -us. They, too, told us of the outer world--a place so different from -this that we scarce could conceive of it. There the sun shineth always. -Here he is hid from us for half of each year. There all things live in -his warmth. Here are we warmed by the ring of fire-mountains, and all -without is the bleak desert of ice and snow. - -"They told us also, did the strangers, of the nature of the fires which -spout yonder, and of the mighty forces in the earth from which they are -sprung. Wherefore tremble ye now, my people? Because a hill shaketh? -Because a fire flameth anew that perhaps flamed aforetime, long before -your forefathers came? Fear not. These things be of nature, and of -nature only, and will pass. I, Minos, your king, am sure that no great -harm impendeth, and that all things will be again as they have been." - -Reassuring as were his words and his calmness, murmurs broke out anew -from the people. - -"Never hath it been so chill in the time of the great darkness as now -it is," cried a voice. - -"Hephaistos! Hephaistos! These things must be of the great god, who is -sore wroth with Sardanes. The priests have said it," called another. -Above the many-tongued murmur swelled the name of the high priest. - -"Analos! Analos! Let us hear from the wise priest of the Gateway!" they -shouted. - -With a smile of grim defiance at the king, Analos glided from his seat -and stood at the edge of the platform. He drew his long, black cloak -around him, and stood poised like a bird of dark omen, wrapped in its -sable pinions. His somber eyes glowed. - -Good actor was the priest. He spoke never a word until the silence of -death in the hall told him that he had the attention of every straining -ear. - -"Angered is the great Hephaistos," he began slowly, in hollow tones. -"And hath he not borne much? Is it a little thing that the kings of -Sardanes lead the people from their god? Aye, and that one of his own -chief ministers hath turned false? Now the god turneth his face from -the valley. Punishment falleth apace. Already hath the doom of Kalin, -the traitor priest, struck. It was revealed to me in a vision that he -and the outlanders perished in torture in the wilderness--but first -Hephaistos used the man of the snows as an instrument of vengeance -against those in high places who turned against their master. - -"Remember ye the deaths of Helicon, the king, of Morolas, his brother, -and of many others? Take warning and tremble, ye of Sardanes! A greater -vengeance is at hand--" - -He was interrupted by the clatter of flying hoofs on the roadway -down the valley from the south, and the rumbling of a two-wheeled -chariot. Four ponies driven at furious speed drew the chariot. Down -the long roadway they dashed, and brought up with clashing hoofs on -the stones of the paved court without the hall. Their driver, a tall, -black-bearded man, sprang from his car and pushed through the press in -the hall, tossing his arms wildly. - -"From the mansion of the Lord Ukalles in upper Sardanes am I come!" he -screamed as he reached the steps to the dais. "And this my message: -Quenched in darkness are the moons of Mount Helior and Mount Tanos, -and there is ice to the thickness of a man's hand on the holy river -Ukranis, where never was ice before!" - -Like standing grain in a chill wind the people quivered, as a thrill of -abject terror ran through them--a despairing murmur. - -Joy that was demoniac lighted the countenance of the priest. He leaned -far out from the verge of the dais and spread his arms with fingers -hooked and clutching at the air. - -His voice broke in on the echo of the courier's dire message. - -"Woe to fair Sardanes!" he howled. "Hephaistos smiteth and spareth not. -For the sins of the few shall the many be smitten. Woe to Sardanes! -I have read it in the Gateway that the doom shall fall until the -punishment is completed, and every soul in the valley bendeth to the -will of the ancient god!" - -Back from a hundred throats was flung the cry: - -"It shall be done!" And from a thousand: "What is the will of the god? -How may we be saved? Tell us quickly, Analos!" - -To his full height drew the priest. His face was alight with triumph. -He had chosen his words and his time well. Advantage was with him. - -He cast a glance over his shoulder at Minos. The king had come down -from his throne. The nobles were grouped around him. To this new terror -Minos had found no answer. He had no comfort to give his frenzied -people to which they would listen. Superstition and fear and the wild -words of the priest held them in thrall. Analos had full sway. - -Not for an instant was the crafty priest at a loss. His god was in the -ascendant. Now was the time to wrest into his own hands the power he -desired in the valley. With the blind faith of a fanatic, he believed -in the ancient religion; but, like many another priest in the world -before him, be invested his own person with much of the power of the -godhead he preached. - -Troubled not a whit was he by the calamity that threatened in the -valley. That was punishment merely--how dire or how long he cared not. -When it was completed Sardanes would be in the hollow of his hand. - -"Back to your homes, ye Sardanians!" he thundered. "And pray to the -Lord Hephaistos for mercy. On the third day from now shall word come -to you from the Gateway, the word of the ancient god. When the word -cometh, obey it, or he shall not spare you. Let the word go forth -through the valley that the captains of all the crafts and the nobles -of the land be assembled here in the Judgment House on the third day. -Then shall the commands of Hephaistos be made known to them. Away! -Away! Analos hath spoken." - -He threw his mantle over his head, passed out through the narrow portal -at the side of the dais, and was gone, on his way through the gloom to -the Gateway. In subdued silence the people trooped from the hall and -slipped away to their homes. - - * * * * * - -Soon the thrashing propellers of the _Minnetonka_ carried her beyond -the radius of light sent out across the sea from the bursting -volcanoes. It lay far behind, a garish bar athwart the waters. That -faded also, until only a reflection could be seen against the sky, a -waving, lambent radiance, like that of the Aurora Australis--which the -voyagers had deemed it to be when first they had sighted it on their -way into Ross Sea. - -As they passed into the gloom of the Antarctic night their perils -grew apace, and their real fighting began. Everywhere the bergs lay -about them. Now here, now there, darted the cruiser, backing, turning, -and zigzagging, seeking the safety course. Again rolling clouds made -stygian gloom, and the cruiser fought on through the unquiet seas by -the rays of her powerful searchlights. - -One good turn of fortune came when the fury of the gale was abated. But -the icebergs drove on in the clutch of a racing current, a constant -menace. A hundred times the stout ship pushed through between drifting -masses of ice that closed their scintillant, clashing jaws behind -her, thrilling those on deck with the nearness of complete disaster. -As many times were the engines reversed in furious haste, to back the -steel-clad adventurer from a closing trap that would have crushed her -like a toy. - -Here it was that the cool captain in command showed all his -resourcefulness, had need for all the splendid seamanship and the -reckless daring that had brought his ships unscathed through three -voyages into the polar zones. - -Fortunate was the foresight that had armed the ship for the dangers she -was to meet. From her bow projected an immense ram of wrought steel, -almost razor keen at its cutting edge. All around her sides she was -rimmed with a protection of triple rails of the same metal, clamped -fast to her hull, and set with powerful springs, to withstand the shock -of impact with the floating ice. Ever her twin-screw propellers whirled -within a sheltering hood of steel. She had been dismantled of many of -her trappings and remodeled to conserve the two qualities most needed -in her present straits--speed and strength. - -Useless as he was in the management of the ship, Polaris spent four -hours on deck to one in his cabin. - -"Better to meet death up here in the free air, if death be fated for -us, than to strangle down there like a trapped beast," he said to Zenas -Wright. When perils thickened, he abandoned his cabin altogether, -brought a huge bearskin on deck and slept there, when sleep he must. - -Although in life's evening, the scientist was almost as active. For -days Scoland seemed never to sleep at all. Under his guidance the -_Minnetonka_ pierced the dangers like a projectile launched from a -cannon of the gods, and directed by a calm, clear mind that lived -within it. - -When they reached the lower end of Ross Sea a pale, uncertain light -that shone in the north behind told them of the coming of the polar -day. There a new and formidable obstacle confronted them. Where the -sea narrowed to a three-mile channel, beyond which lay wider water, -great ice floes had drifted in and barred the way. They were formed of -drift and flat ice, of no great thickness, but lay acres in extent in -a mighty jam. All along the edge of that field fretted and stormed the -giant bergs that had come down with the tide. - -Back and forth across the narrowed sea the _Minnetonka_ steamed, -playing her searchlights in vain. No passage was open. Scoland called a -conference. - -"There are two things we can do," he said. "We can hew ourselves a -safe harbor and wait for the jam to break up, when we can fight our -way through the channel with the bergs; or we can smash a way through -ourselves with the ram and explosives. We can't remain as we are, for -the big fellows are getting thicker. Every hour lost adds to the danger -of being crushed in where we can't get out, perhaps of being sunk. -Which shall it be?" - -Lieutenant Everson, second in command of the _Minnetonka_, said -nothing. Zenas Wright, who was a scientist first and a sailor very far -second, said as much. - -"The snug harbor idea likes me varra weel," remarked Engineer -MacKechnie, and he peered across the glistening floes and out at the -drifting bergs with anxious eyes. - -"It may mean weeks," suggested Scoland. "What do you say, Janess?" - -Polaris glanced down the barred lane of the channel with heightened -color. "I am no man of the seas," he answered quietly, "but I say, -break through. For, look you, the wind rises again. Here all is held. -Yonder in the open sea the bergs drive on. Where we break a pathway, -no berg may follow us. When we are come through, the gale will have -cleared the waters beyond, and we shall find our sailing smooth, ahead -of the jam and behind the bergs that are gone before." - -"Aye, mon, mon, the boy is right," cut in MacKechnie. "This ship's not -a plaything. Yon is varra hard cutting, but she can do it, dinna fear." - -Scoland turned to one of the mates. "Jameson, bring up the lyddite," he -ordered. - -Where the floe fields seemed weakest and narrowest, near the left -of the channel, the captain sent men onto the ice with drills and -explosive, charge after charge of which was sunk into the floe and -exploded from a battery in one of the cruiser's boats. - -Scoland took personal charge of the mining. Under his orders, his men -blasted out a large basin in the floe, a hundred yards in from its face. - -"If we cut a channel straight in," he explained, "the pressure of the -jam is likely to close it at once, or else shut it like a vise on the -cruiser, after she is in. We will blast a narrow channel to the basin, -drive the ship in, and then make another basin farther on, and a second -channel. By zigzagging and letting the channels close in behind us, we -will avoid the danger of being nipped and held fast in the floe." - - * * * * * - -Like a watchful sentinel, the _Minnetonka_ patrolled the edge of the -floe, nosing small vagrant bergs from her way, in an endeavor to keep -cleared the spot where she would have to make her dash for the channel. -Scoland stood on the bridge, tapping its rail with a nervous hand, his -sharp eyes darting from one to another of the larger ice masses which -might be disposed to contest a passage with his ship. - -The men on the ice signaled that their lyddite train was laid and -ready. They withdrew to a distance, one of them carrying the small -battery, from which the slender connecting wires led to the sunken -charges of explosive. - -Picking up her boat, the _Minnetonka_, under reversed engines, backed -away and stood ready for the dash to the basin. Twice the captain -raised his megaphone to his lips to give the word, but each time he -hesitated. Suddenly he dropped it and sprang into the wheelhouse. -Immediately the ship lunged forward. - -Keenly alive to these proceedings, Zenas Wright and Polaris, from their -station near the forward davits, wondered at this new move. - -"Now what has happened?" questioned the scientist. "One would think we -were going into battle. See, they are manning the guns!" - -Polaris glanced down the ship's rail and saw the eager-eyed gun crews -tearing the coverings from their long-silent ordnance. Forth from their -ports crept the grim muzzles of three of the _Minnetonka's_ six-inch -guns. - -"Battle it is to be," said Polaris; "and yonder floats the enemy." He -pointed to where a huge iceberg had broken from its mooring at the edge -of the floe, and, momentarily gaining headway, was drifting in to bar -the channel way. - -The ship swung about sharply. One of her powerful searchlights played -steadily on the face of the looming ice cliffs as it came on, its -hundred towers and crags glittering and flashing in the brilliant ray, -a mass of floating silver. A sharp word of command, and the three gun -captains, bronzed and alert, bent to their levers with machinelike -precision. The crackling of the floes and the grinding of the bergs -were lost in the thunder of the guns. - -At that point-blank range, the effect of the volley was terrific. Where -the shells struck, the surface of the berg flew to pieces. The air in -the radius of the searchlight was filled with a shower of scintillating -splinters. Larger masses of ice slid from the face of the slow-moving -mountain and plunged sullenly into the tossing waves. A cavern was made -from which a thousand gleaming fissures shot into the darker body of -the ice behind. - -Working like beavers, the gunners reloaded and sent another crashing -discharge into the floating wall at its water-line. As a small chunk of -ice is parted by a few blows from an ice pick, so the repeated impact -of the exploding shells shattered the berg and sundered it. Pitching -and toppling, down came its lofty towers into the sea. Its giant menace -crumbled into scores of insignificant blocks and a spreading bank of -drift. - -Again the _Minnetonka_ backed and pointed her nose toward the floe, -whither her searchlights were concentrated. Scoland reappeared on the -bridge. - -"Fire!" he shouted frenziedly through his megaphone. - -A dark figure on the floe let its hand fall on the battery knob. A -succession of thunderous detonations followed, and from every lyddite -mine was flung skyward a column of water and glittering debris. For -many yards the mighty floe pitched and heaved. - -Her twin propellers thrashing the water to foam, the _Minnetonka_ drove -her steel-clad length through the opened gap smashing the wreckage -right and left, and came to rest in the basin beyond. She was scarcely -in before, with a long, angry roaring, the great rift closed behind her. - -As the cruiser pushed through the channel a cry of consternation rose -from the men on the ice, drowned in the turmoil of her passing, but -audible to one man on her decks whose ears were almost more than mortal -keen. Another cry came from the gunners as Polaris dashed through them -and hurled himself into the ice-strewn waters. - -One of Scoland's sailors, separated by some distance from his fellows, -had climbed to an icy eminence near the west side of the basin. In the -disturbance which followed the blasting of the channel and its closing, -the ice where he stood had parted from the floe, and, his footing riven -from under him, the poor fellow had been pitched into the dark water in -the midst of the pounding drift. - -From the deck of the cruiser, Polaris heard his despairing cry, and, -straining his eyes through the half twilight, saw his form silhouetted -for an instant against the ice before he took the plunge. - -Straight and true leaped the son of the snows. One of the things -civilization had taught him that he had never known before was the art -of swimming. The staring gunners saw his white-clad figure reappear -once many feet distant from the side of the cruiser, and then he was -gone, tearing his way with powerful strokes through the swirl of ice -and water. - -As fast as many willing hands could cast her loose, a boat was put -out from the ship. The miners on the ice rushed to the spot where -their comrade had disappeared. Across the drift one of the cruiser's -searchlights swept a long finger of light. It played on sullen waves -and heaving ice, but revealed no struggling swimmer. - -"That is the last of Janess, and the finish of this expedition," rapped -out Scoland. - -Zenas Wright, standing at the rail of the ship beside him, groaned -aloud. He did not see the fleeting, satisfied smile that accompanied -the words of Scoland. A mist that was not of the air or sea rose and -obscured his vision, and he wiped it away with his shaking old hand. - -The boat had nearly reached the edge of the basin when a strong white -arm shot up, not ten feet away from it, and laid hold of a projection -on one of the larger pieces of drift. A glad cry arose from floe and -ship as, with a lusty thrashing of feet, Polaris emerged from the water -and sprawled his length across the slippery surface. Again the shout, -when it was seen that he dragged after him a smaller darker form. -Parkerson, the sailor, was unconscious, having struck his head against -floating ice in his fall. - -When the boat returned, and Polaris still bearing the senseless man in -his arms climbed over the side, the cruiser's company cheered him as -only American sailors can cheer a hardy deed bravely done. - - * * * * * - -Minos the king left the Judgment House shortly after the going of -Analos, the high priest of Hephaistos. With the king went the nobles. - -"When ye have slept, come ye on the morrow to the palace," he bade them -"There is much to be considered, wherein I would have your counsel." - -A short way from the Judgment House, on the slopes of Mount Latmos, -stood the palace of the kings of Sardanes, a temple-like structure, -reared of the green stone from the cliff quarries and faced with lofty -pillars of white marble. Thither Minos walked slowly, pondering much. -One of his household, a lad of some eighteen years, who had tarried -when the people fled from the hall, now followed his master. - -As they ascended the path through the great trees toward the royal -hill, a scrap of conversation drifted to the ears of the king from the -porch of the stone cottage of one of the tillers of the soil. - -"The world hath rocked. Cold enters the valley. The dread high priest -threateneth the king. What will the outcome be?" A woman's voice asked -the question. - -A man made answer: "Hephaistos ruleth the priests. Analos and fear rule -the people. What can the king do?" - -Minos smiled. What, indeed? Yet there were some things that he could -and _would_ do. - -A booming stroke of the huge drum echoed through the valley, telling -that the day was done, and that one faithful soul had not forsaken its -post. The drum swung between two pillars in the center of the Hall of -Judgment. Near to it was a vase of nearly the height of a man. In the -bottom of the vase was drilled a tiny hole. The vase was filled with -water from the holy River Ukranis. Usually a lad watched it. - -When the water had seeped away and the vase was emptied, a process that -consumed some ten hours, it was the duty of the watcher to smite a blow -on the drum and to refill the vase. Then another took up the vigil. So -the Sardanians kept rude reckoning of time. - -When Minos reached his home he sent the lad to fetch parchment, brush, -and pigment. By the flaring light of a torch he wrote: - - To the Lady Memene, greeting: - - Though the syllana be a flower little in accord with thy thought, - yet when the hour shall strike that thou hast need for a friend - who will do and dare all things, wear one on thy gown. - -Folding his message, unsigned, the king called the lad. - -"Alternes, take thou this parchment to the hall of the Lord Karnaon," -he directed. "Give it into the hand of the Lady Memene, and to no -other. On thy way thither send to me Zalos and three of his men. Then -seek thou thy rest." - -Minos seated himself on the topmost step of the palace portico and -leaned his head against a pillar. His eyes roved across the shadowy -valley, where the flickering light of the mountain moons mingled with -the cold, pale radiance of the Antarctic stars. He scarcely saw it. He -had fallen into a reverie. - -Ill had gone the love-making of this king. Never, since the days when -they had played together as children, had the Lady Memene given him one -word of love, one single glance in which a lover might read joy. Ah, -those far, fair days of childhood! Then he had been but the younger -brother of the man who would be king. She had been kind then. - -Imperious, proud-spirited, disdainful was this Lady Memene in her dark -loveliness. Minos could only dream that she would soften to him, and -to him alone. Days of terror were falling on the valley. Perhaps worse -were to come. He would like to stand at her side and hold her safe. -Well, he had sent her his first love letter. He would watch for the -syllana, the peerless blue rose of Sardanes that bloomed in the months -of the long night, and, though Sardanians knew it not, bloomed nowhere -else in the world besides. It was the Sardanian symbol of love. Ah, -that she would wear it, if only to call him to her service! - -Presently came Zalos, a tall man of nearly forty years, captain of the -huntsmen, who were, even more than the nobles of the valley, close in -the affections and confidence of the king. - -"Thou hast summoned us, O king," said the hunter, raising his arm in -salute and indicating three of his men who stood back in the shadows. - -"Aye, Zalos, old friend, I would lay a trust upon thee," replied Minos. -"Set a guard about the hall of the Lord Karnaon. Let no hour pass that -thou or three of thy men are not on watch. If aught untoward befall -there, let the feet be fleet that bring the news to Minos. And if help -be needed there--I believe thou understandest--give it--even with thy -spears, and at the cost of life. I trust thee." - -"Say no more. It shall be done," answered Zalos. "The life of every -hunter in Sardanes is thine, O king, for the asking." He saluted again, -and was gone along the forest paths with his men. - -The king was aroused again by the cold muzzle of the dog Pallas thrust -against his hand. She whined inquiringly. He patted her rough head. - -"Ha, Pallas," he said, "thou art another who fearest not the darkest -the Gateway hath to send. And thou art the namesake of a goddess, if -the scrolls of the priests read truly; a mighty goddess of old, who was -the friend of this Hephaistos. Pallas Athene they did name her. A most -wise goddess she, and came not to Sardanes." He rose and led the dogs -to their quarters at the rear of the palace hall. - - * * * * * - -Far up in the side of the Mount Latmos, above the palace, a deep cave -pierced the rock. It was the granary, storehouse, and treasury of the -Sardanian kings. Thither Minos climbed after his hunters were gone on -their errand, carrying with him a smoldering torch of hymanan wood. - -At the entrance to the narrow, tortuous passage which led into the -cave he whirled the torch into flame and passed in. The cave was wide -and deep and high. Along its sides were huge bins, wherein was grain -sufficient to garrison a small army for some time. Some forty feet -within the cave a small jet of water spurted from a crevice in the -rock, ran along a well-worn channel to the mouth of the cave, and -drained away down the mountainside. - -Minos thrust the torch into a cresset in the wall. He dragged forth -from its place a bulky chest of dark, carved wood. From within it shone -the gleam of polished metal. The king took out and laid down on the -rock floor one by one the pieces of a suit of armor--greaves, corselet, -a belt with pendant leaves of metal, a rounded helm with winged crest, -and last, a shining, keen-bladed sword in its sheath and thongs. - -Aside from the battle in the crater, when Polaris Janess hewed his way -out of the kingdom, and an occasional bickering among the quarrelsome -fellows, Sardanes had never known war. Then whence this warlike gear? - -Little there was in the valley that the king had not interested -himself to learn, with the one exception of the religion preached by -the priestly crew, at which he scoffed. One of his favorite crafts -was that of the smiths who wrought in the iridescent ilium smelted -from the mountainsides. It had been his fancy to fashion this suit -of mail, beating it from the finest metal and modeling it after the -armor sculptured in the groups of statuary at the Judgment House, -representing the founders of the race, the Greeks from the blue Aegean -Sea. Each piece had Minos copied, only making them of a larger mold, -to fit a figure taller and broader than that of any Greek who ever had -trodden the valley. - -There were no arms like these in Sardanes. Those which the Greeks had -brought there had rusted into red dust centuries before. - -Minos packed the bright trappings in a sack and carried them with him -back to the palace. He had a feeling that the time was near when he -should wear them. Then he, too, sought his couch, for he was sorely -wearied. - -Ill tidings were early on the morrow. Another messenger rode down -the valley to tell that one more of the volcanic hills had yielded -up its spirit, and that a rim of white snow was creeping over the -mountainsides. - -One by one came the nobles of the valley to the house of Minos. Each -man represented an ancient house, each house one hill of the valley's -ring. All were gloomy, some of them beset by fears but little removed -from those of the terror-stricken people. The king found less of -comfort and support among them than in the company of his hunters, who, -at the least and last, would die for him to a man. - -Two there were, the oldest and the youngest, who upstood firmly for -him. - -"That which the king shall decide will Garlanes abide by," said his -old-time friend and counselor, still hale and strong despite his -grizzled crown. "I am old, and it mattereth little. If it come to an -issue, the wrath of Hephaistos shall not divide my friend and me." - -Almost insolent in his carelessness was the boy-lord Patrymion. "If -this be the end of the world, and thou promisest me a fight before the -end, then am I with thee, also, Minos the king," he laughed, "and will -kill me a fat priest or two right willingly, if so be that they will -fight. Methinks it is they and not thou who do weary their master." - -So doubtful was the mien of the remainder of the nobles that the king -did not prolong the conference, but soon dismissed them. It was agreed -that no decision as to what course to take could be made until Analos -had made known the word from the Gateway. - -More and more the king felt that he must meet what perils were before -him almost alone. His people and the nobles were slipping from him. -Well, so be it. His spirit rose to the test. - -Two more days passed slowly. Three more of the moons of Sardanes waned -from their mountain heights forever. The state of the stricken people -bordered on frenzy. All the ordinary pursuits of the valley were -abandoned. - -Then, at midday, the booming of the drum gave them a moment of wild -hope. The word of Hephaistos had come! - -Surrounded by his hunters, Minos hastened down the hillside to the -Judgment House. From upper Sardanes down to the Gateway the people were -assembled, a throng that filled the hall and overflowed in the paved -court. The captains of the crafts were gathered at the foot of the -steps to the dais. The nobles were in their places. The king ran his -eyes quickly along them. Only the Lord Karnaon was missing. - -Standing in front of the black stone throne of the high priest was a -heavily draped figure. It was not Analos, but one of his ministers. - - * * * * * - -As soon as the king had seated himself on the throne the priest -advanced from his station to the center of the dais and threw back the -robe from his face. He was Karthanon, oldest of all the priests of the -Gateway, the oldest man in all Sardanes. - -For a moment he stood with eyes fixed on the floor, and there was tense -silence in the hall and without. He folded his arms. His cracked old -voice rose shrilly: - -"Minos the king, nobles, and people of Sardanes, greeting. This word -from the Lord Hephaistos through the mouth of Analos, mightiest of his -servants. List and heed, for a terrible doom falleth, and there is but -one way in which it may be held back. - -"Let Minos the king forego his kingship. It is written that no more -shall a king rule in Sardanes! - -"Let her whom they name the Lady Memene be sent to the Gateway, the -bride of the great servant of the ancient god. - -"Let the man Minos, who hath dared to lay his sacrilegious hand of -violence on the sacred person of the mighty high priest Analos, let him -be sent to the Gateway also, where he shall be scourged with whips and -humiliated as seemeth best to the servants of the god! - -"Thus and thus only may the doom be averted, thus the god appeased. -Hephaistos hath spoken!" - -Through the pause that followed his words broke the voice of Minos. The -face of the king was smiling no longer, but fierce as a winter sea as -he leaped down from his throne: - -"This the answer of Minos to Analos. Had _he_ dared to come here with -such a message as he hath sent, Minos would have thus broken him in -two!" - -He caught from its place the black stone seat that had stood there for -many a hundred years. It was of a weight that would have troubled two -stout men to lift, but in his anger the king plucked it up and swung it -aloft like a chair of wood. Then it crashed down on the marble floor -and splintered to fragments. - -"So would I treat thee also, Karthanon, but thou art old, and after all -but the bearer of a message. Get thee back to the Gateway and tell thy -master that a king still rules in Sardanes!" - -The priest shuffled to the entrance at the side of the dais. In the -doorway he turned and lifted his hands. - -"On the people falleth the dread doom!" he cried. - -Through the moments of these happenings not a man in the hall had -stirred, save Minos and the priest. Now there was a surge forward -toward the dais. Nearest the steps stood Istos, captain of the smiths. -He sprang up on the platform. - -"Not for one man shall the whole people perish, one man and a maid. I, -for one, will strike a blow for the priest and the god!" - -Up flashed his spear and drove straight at the breast of Minos. Before -ever the king could spring aside or guard, it struck him on the breast, -struck hard and clanged and fell on the marble floor. - -Minos threw his cloak from him and leaped forward, the torchlights -glittering strangely on the suit of armor which he wore. He wrenched -from its sheath the good broad sword he had forged, and struck. The -keen blade hit the smith on the point of his shoulder and hewed -through to his ribs, so terrible was the stroke. With a scream Istos -fell and died. - -Made mad by fear and superstition, the men in the hall pressed forward. -Up the steps they sprang to avenge the smith and seize the king. Minos -met them with sword aloft and a fierce smile on his face. - -"Never thought Minos to slay his own people," he cried bitterly, "but -here be blows for the taking!" - -The unarmed nobles fled from the dais. Only Garlanes and the lad -Patrymion tarried, seeking weapons. From the rear of the throne poured -a score of Minos's hunters. - -"For the king!" they shouted, and ranged themselves at his back. - -Just as the battle hung in the balance a lad leaped through the door by -which the priest had departed. He sprang to the side of the king. - -"From Zalos I come," he gasped. "He bade me to tell thee that Karnaon -taketh his daughter, the Lady Memene, to the Gateway!" - -Three Sardanians lay dying on the steps to the dais. Those behind -shrank back from the whirling ilium blade. - -"Now here is another black game afoot!" cried Minos. He sheathed his -sword. Before the crowd in the hall could guess his purpose, he and -his hunters had dashed in hot haste from the rear door of the Judgment -House. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - THE LAUGHTER OF MEMENE - - -In the forest on the slopes above the Judgment House, Minos and his men -halted, and the king made a division of his forces. If there was to be -battle of the few against the many, he must have a fortress. - -"Imacar," he said, "take thou six men and speed on to the cave in the -side of Latmos. Hold it against all comers. Seven men may there defy a -thousand. I come hither anon, I and these others." - -In haste Imacar told off his men, and the king and the others plunged -ahead along the forest paths. Below them they could hear the clamor of -the crowd at the Judgment House, now confused and undecided whither to -pursue. - -Over to the left of the rugged heights of the Gateway mount rose the -more precipitous steeps of the Mount Zalmon. Between the two was the -notch of the northern pass that led into the Hunter's Road. At the -foot of Zalmon lay the marshes of the holy river Ukranis. Still farther -to the west, on the turn of the hill toward Mount Meor and Mount -Latmos, lay the estate and palace of the Lord Karnaon. - -As they ran, Minos questioned the lad who had come from Zalos. He -learned that two other priests of the Gateway had come down with -Karthanon the Aged. While he had gone on to the Judgment House to -deliver the message of Analos, they had proceeded to the home of -Karnaon. There a conference had been held. At its end the Lady Memene -had been summoned. With the priests, her father, and a number of -servants they had set out for the Gateway. - -"And did she not resist?" asked Minos of the lad. - -"Nay, O king, not openly, and thereat was Zalos much perplexed. He -followeth on with two men, and knoweth not whether to intervene or no." - -There was no direct way by which to reach the Gateway from the Mount -Zalmon. The pathway skirted the marshes to the green stone bridge -across the Ukranis. From the bridge a road lay straight to the foot of -the terraced hill of the god. - -Minos, his thirteen hunters, and the lad left the slopes a distance -above the marshes, crossed the tilled lands, and reached the bridge. -They were none too soon. When they reached the river they could hear -voices on the marsh path in the direction of Mount Zalmon. The king -bade his men hide in a clump of astarian bush on the river bank. - -"Bide thou there, and stir not unless I call," he ordered. Alone, he -strode on to the bridge and took his stand in the angle of the first -buttress. - -He had not long to wait. Within five minutes the party from the palace -of Karnaon hurried from the path to the road and approached the bridge. -First came the Lord Karnaon, clutching his daughter by the arm. On -either side of them walked a sable-robed priest of Hephaistos. Close in -the rear seven or eight men of the lord's household slunk along, with -many a side-long glance, fearful of they knew not what. - -The Lady Memene looked neither to right nor left, but carried herself -very straight. Her face was pale now, but her eyes blazed, and her -mouth was set in an ominous line. - -A burst of shouting came to their ears from up the valley in the -direction of the Judgment House, and the members of the party paused -at the bridge. As they hesitated, came a hollow clanking, and an -apparition moved out from the buttressed rail and confronted them in -the bridge's center--a frightening apparition in clashing armor. - -For a moment there was awed silence. Karnaon let go his hold on his -daughter's arm and stepped a pace forward, for the lord was no coward. -The two priests of the Gateway drew close together behind him. From the -servants rose a moan of terror, and they seemed ready to make a break -up the valley road. - -Not one of the party recognized Minos the king in the towering figure -on the bridge. To their startled imaginations, he seemed of more than -mortal proportions. The red glare from the heights of Zalmon and the -Gateway shimmered on his armor. His winged helm shaded his face. For -aught they guessed in their first fright, he might be a supernatural -messenger come forth to meet them from the temple of Hephaistos--if not -the god himself. - -He spoke, and broke the spell. - -"Whither in such haste goeth the Lord Karnaon, and for what purpose?" -demanded the king. - -Karnaon started, and immediately pushed forward. "Ha, 'tis but Minos, -who was the king," he growled. "Bar not our way, for we be summoned in -haste to the Gateway." - -"'Who _was_ king'?" repeated Minos sternly. "Mend thy manners, lord, -for the king still liveth, and while he liveth he ruleth." - -"Thou art no more king. Analos hath banned thee with the ban of -Hephaistos," countered Karnaon. "But I will not waste words with thee. -We must hasten." - -"Tarry a moment, Karnaon. Thou art all too hasty," Minos replied. "I -would learn the mind of the Lady Memene concerning this journey to the -Gateway, and if she knoweth its purpose, and goeth willingly." - -"What's that to thee, rash man?" said Karnaon. "My daughter doth not -wait thy word as to her goings and comings. She doeth as I, her father, -command." - -"That is only half the truth, father," broke in Lady Memene. "As thou -hast commanded, thus far indeed have I done, but there is little of my -own will in it." - - * * * * * - -As she spoke, the girl whipped her cloak aside, and the heart of Minos -leaped within him. For on the whiteness of her gown was set a splendid -syllana bloom! - -One glimpse he had of the shining petals of the blue rose, and the -cloak fell back and hid it, but in that one glimpse the mind of the -king cast all else aside. She had summoned his aid. Gladly would he -face priest or god or angry men for this woman. - -One of the priests had been whispering low among the men of Karnaon. -Now he sprang aside. - -"Seize him!" he yelled. - -Armed with spears, the men rushed at the head of the bridge. Karnaon -and the girl were thrust aside. Minos saw the flash of glittering -points before him, and leaped backward, tearing his sword from its -sheath. At the same instant Zalos and his two men, who had crept up -unobserved, leaped from the shadow of the bridge to rush in the rear of -the spearsmen. - -Minos was not minded to slay any of these poor fellows. Already his -heart was sore for the four dead men he had left in the Judgment House. -Only to save his lady and his own land would he slay. He shouted to -his hunters who lay concealed. With the giant form of the king on the -bridge in front and the seventeen determined hunters who now ranged -themselves behind them, Karnaon's men lost all stomach for fighting. -They hung back. - -"In, and bear him down!" shouted Karnaon. He snatched a spear from one -of his servants. "Fear not, here cometh aid!" It was true. Down the -valley came the clamor of running men. Karnaon set foot on the bridge. - -Minos leaped from where he stood. Spears clashed on his armor, but -he was unscathed by edge or point. Catching one of Karnaon's men by -the shoulders, Minos floored three of his fellows with the sweep of -the man's body. He broke through them in an instant. The Lord Karnaon -struck fiercely at him, but the stroke fell short. - -At the side of the bridge stood the Lady Memene. The king paused at -her side. His hunters closed in around them. By reason of his superior -height, the king could look over the heads of the men around him. -Scarce three hundred yards away on the white road were more than a -score of running Sardanians, shouting loudly as they came. - -"Choose thou, lady," he said low in the girl's ear, "and quickly, for -here come those who will make choice for us. One word, and I hold thee -against all Sardanes, and to the death." - -Here was a strange girl, truly. She looked the king in the eye coolly. -"Choose thyself, and please thyself, O king," she answered. - -"Thou wearest my flower," he replied. - -"And I bear also a gift for the priest," she interposed. "See." She -opened her cloak and showed him the hilt of a long-bladed ilium dagger. -"Little joy would he have had of the bride he did summon," she said, -and laughed a short, hard laugh. - -Karnaon's men had rallied. In a moment they would rush the hunters. On -down the roadway tore the party from the Judgment House. Minos parleyed -no longer. He stooped and caught the girl under shoulders and knees, -lifting her as a mother might lift a child. - -"To Latmos!" he shouted. "Death be the lot of anyone that stays us!" - -Thrusting his way through the hunters, he took the marsh path, running -lightly and fleetly, for all the weight of his armor and his lovely -burden. Zalos led his hunters in a short, fierce charge that turned -back the men of Karnaon, and then the hunters broke and followed fast -on the heels of their master. - -Where the tilled fields broke into the foothills of Mount Zalmon, Minos -turned, and plunged into the forest, making straight for Latmos. Before -him all was quiet, but from the rear, where Zalos and the hunters -covered his flight, the clamor and clash of arms told him that they -were hard pressed. He set the Lady Memene down and drew his sword. - -Two of the foremost hunters made a chair for the girl with their -crossed hands, and started on for the cave. Minos ran back along the -forest pathway. He found a running battle. Karnaon and his servants had -joined forces with some thirty Sardanians who had gone to the bridge -under the leadership of Gallando the smith. Finding their efforts to -win the hunters of Zalos to their aid of no avail, they were making a -desperate attempt to annihilate them. - -Already two of the stout hunters were down. A number of others bore -spear wounds, for all of the men of both the lord and the smith were -armed with spears or daggers, and several carried axes. - -Minos strode through the press of men to the center of the fighting. He -found Zalos bleeding from a gash in his cheek, growling and dealing out -blows like a wounded bear. - -"Thou has done enough here, old friend," cried the king in the -huntsman's ear. "On to the cave, thou and those with thee. 'Tis time -that I, who am well protected, took a few of the knocks that are -falling. Nay, tarry not. I will hold these who follow in play for a -time." - -Up flashed his sword, and he sprang into the center of the path. The -hunters dashed by him into the shadows, and he stood alone against the -pursuers. First man to meet the king was the Lord Karnaon. Spear met -sword in midair and, straightway that spear was pointless. The keen -blade shore through its haft, cutting it like a straw. - -"Thee I will not slay, Karnaon, who wouldst slay me!" cried Minos. With -his left hand he clutched the noble by the belt, jerked him forward, -and hurled him back against the foremost of the pursuers so violently -that both men fell and lay stunned in the path. Half a dozen ilium -spears clashed on the king's armor, and one grazed his neck as he -leaped over the fallen men and met their fellows. In an instant he was -among them, swinging his weapon until it shone in the pale light of the -stars like a whirling ilium wheel. - -"Come on, thou whom the priest hath made mad," he shouted. "Minos, who -before had little to fight for, now hath much. Here lieth a short, -straight road to the Gateway." As he shouted, he struck. - -So close he was, that spears were well-nigh useless to the men who bore -them, and daggers fell harmless upon his armor. The broad, keen blade -made sore havoc among the unarmored Sardanians. Three men were down -and dead and a half dozen others were out of the fight with wounds to -nurse, when Gallando the smith faced the king. - -Gallando fought with an ax. He was a large man and powerful. Watching -his chance, he leaped to one side, just as Minos stumbled over the body -of one of the slain men. For only an instant the broad blade faltered, -and gave the smith opportunity. He swung his ax with both hands and -brought it down on the winged helm of the king. - -Minos saw the smiting danger and stooped low to avoid the stroke. It -fell on the helmet with the clang of an anvil blow. Down to his knees -sank the king, his senses swaying. Had the stroke of the smith's ax -been one jot more direct, his opponent had not risen again; but it -lacked that jot. The rounded helm turned the flow aside. The ax crashed -from it to the ground, and was buried to the haft. - -Recovering his balance, the smith poised himself for another stroke. -Minos, his head still swimming, raised his sword as if to parry, then -cast it from him suddenly, lunged forward and gripped Gallando about -the knees. He put forth his strength in a mighty tug, causing the -smith to let fall the ax. Before ever a man could move to his rescue, -Gallando found the arms of the king clipped about his waist. - -Never but once in his life had a man bested Minos at the wrestling -game. Now, fighting for his life, he crushed the burly smith to him. -Twice he contracted the muscles of his great arms. The veins of his -forehead stood out with the strain, and his helm fell from his head. -Once more he exerted all the strength of his body, bending forward to -bring his weight to bear. Something snapped like a breaking stick. -Gallando's head fell back and his body went limp in the arms of Minos. -His back was broken. - -With Gallando dead and Karnaon out of the battle, the Sardanians lacked -a leader with sufficient heart to take up the tale. They stood for a -moment with staring eyes as the corpse of the smith rolled at their -feet. Then they gave way and ran. - -Catching his helmet and sword from the ground, Minos hastened on toward -the cave. On the hillside above the palace he stopped, cupped his hands -and shouted, "Alternes!"' - -A faint hail from below told that the lad had heard the call. "Loose -the beasts," cried the king, "and then seek safety." - -He waited a few moments, and then sent down through the dusk a long, -shrill whistle. A full-throated chorus was his answer. Before he -reached the mouth of the cave, Pallas and her six gray children had -shot up the hill and were leaping about their master. - - * * * * * - -Basin after basin, channel on channel, the roaring lyddite tore in the -ice jam at the lower end of Ross Sea. Untiringly the miners of Captain -Scoland plied their drills. The steel-clad _Minnetonka_, ever restless -as a prisoner pacing his narrow cell, churned and smashed about in each -new harbor which the blasters formed for her, thus preventing the ice -forming again into a solid mass, and holding her fast. Always alert, -she dashed through each new passageway. - -Now to the right, now to the left, the cruiser advanced, as the men -blasted her zigzag channel course. As each new forward step was taken, -the pressure of the vast jam closed the way and the channel was left -behind. It was slow work, but sure. Behind the adventurers the sun came -slowly on his southern path, turning dim twilight into weak and pallid -day. - -Steadily as they worked, ten days passed and saw the blasters little -more than a third of the way across the enormous jam. - -All around them thundered and crashed the ice in the grip of the great -breaking forces. At times the uproar of smitten bergs and cracking -floes made the sound of their exploding lyddite seem a puny and futile -mockery of nature's mighty hammers. On the decks of the _Minnetonka_ -uneasy men paced restlessly, and worn by waiting and danger, cursed or -prayed, according to their natures. In their long hutches, the Alaskan -dogs, still more uneasy, snarled and howled. - -Seeking to turn the delay to some advantage, Polaris selected from the -forty-odd dogs on the ship seven of the likeliest, and, with sledge and -harness, left the ship to acquaint himself with them. It was time that -they knew the master whom they must carry both fast and far. Huskies -they were, from the finest of the Yukon strains, big and shaggy, their -coats splotched with brown and white, but they were not the equals in -size or strength of gray Marcus and his fellows, which the son of the -snows had driven aforetime. He found them not at all lacking in temper. - -On a level spot in the floe, not far from the ship, Polaris laid out -his harness, and chose his animals for the positions in which he would -have them run. Largest of all the brutes was the tawny Boris, sullen -and vicious, but intelligent. Polaris selected him as the team leader, -and the lessons began. - -Awed at first by their strange surroundings, affrighted by the -thundering ice and the occasional shuddering of the floe, the brutes -flinched and whimpered, paying little attention to the man. Then over -their backs and about their ears shrieked and cracked an eighteen-foot -lash that demanded notice. With ears laid flat, the dogs cowered into -a tense group, burning eyes alternating from the writhing whip, which -snapped above them, but fell not, to the man who wielded it. - -Urged by lash and voice, not one, but the seven as one, responded in -a concerted rush on the new master. Snarling hideously, they flung -themselves upon the man. Sailors watching from the ship set up a cry of -consternation when they saw Polaris apparently overwhelmed by a wave of -maddened dogs. But the son of the snows was a match for any dog team -that ever snaked a sledge. He met their rush with a powerful hand and a -ready whipstock, that seemed never to miss its aim. For the whip that -had only menaced before fell now in earnest, fell on tender snouts -with stinging force and a most disconcerting accuracy. Once more the -mutinous beasts cowered away, trotting in circles with bared teeth, but -loth to try conclusions with that vengeful whip-butt. - -Boris, the leader, alone was unsubdued and persistent. Again and again, -the brute gathered himself together and charged and leaped, howling -with rage. Each time the waiting whip rose up to meet him, and the -great brute, twisting his head in midair, sprang short and aside, to -circle madly on the ice for another opening. - -Soft-voiced methods were of no avail with Boris. He must be made to -feel the power of the master, must be conquered at once, or he would be -forever treacherous and useless. - -Again the dog sprang from his haunches. That time no whip seemed -waiting, but rested at the man's side. The huge brute, with a moan of -hate, launched himself straight at his adversary's throat. Crouched -low, Polaris let him come. Lightning quick, the left hand of the -man flashed out and closed on the windpipe of Boris, just below the -clashing jaws. Watching sailors on the _Minnetonka_ rubbed their eyes -and looked again in wonder. - - * * * * * - -Polaris stood rigid as a statue in steel. His left arm extended -straight in front of him, and in his grasp he held the struggling -animal, held him as he had caught him, in midair, a yard above the -ice--and Boris was no toy, but would have tipped the scales to the -weight of a powerful man. Polaris' cap had fallen to the ice in the -struggle. He wore his white bearskin garments. His yellow hair tossed -back, he seemed to the watching, wondering men the embodiment of the -wild spirit of this wild land, come into his own again. - -With a stern eye to the other dogs, he held Boris, as though in a vise, -and fear grew in the stout and sullen heart of the brute. To the terror -of those steely fingers that clutched his throat was added the terror -of the empty air, through which his four feet thrashed madly, and could -find no hold or rest. The deadly grip tightened. The dog's struggles -grew weaker and weaker. His jaws gaped wide. He gasped and gulped in -vain for one breath of air that should give him life and energy and -spirit to fight on. His struggles ceased, and he hung limp in the hand -of the master. - -Gently Polaris set the animal down on the ice, and relaxed the grim -hold on his throat. With great gasps Boris took into his lungs once -more the life-giving air. The man snaked in the long whiplash. Waiting -a few moments until the great dog's senses had fully returned, he -took a yard of the thongy tip of the lash and laid it smartly across -the flanks of Boris, not cruelly, but with sufficient sting to make -the punishment tell. The other dogs trotted uneasily about, sniffing, -whining, and eying their fallen leader. - -Presently Polaris stood up, turned his back deliberately on Boris and -walked a few steps from him, still holding the whip. He called the -dog to come to him. The huge animal arose, shook himself, glanced -shamefully at his mates, stretched himself, tossed his head with a -snort, and followed after the man. Polaris bent down and patted his -shaggy head, with a word of encouragement. At his touch, the brute -trembled slightly, but the man's voice was reassuring, and the whip -hung idle. Boris rubbed his head against the knee of Polaris and -whined. He had found his master, and he knew it. Other dogs might, and -did, turn on Polaris again, but Boris never. - -One by one, the other brutes learned their lesson of obedience, learned -that they served a wise and vigilant master, and gave in to the lash -and the harness. Soon the man was able to take them far afield, and -crossed the floe to the east for a number of long runs. - -On the twenty-ninth day from the firing of the first lyddite blasts, -the stout _Minnetonka_ shook her sides clear of the drift-ice from the -last channel, and shot southward into free water. Picking up the miners -and Polaris and his team, Scoland pointed a course some three miles -from the eastern shore, and the cruiser tore on under forced draft, so -continuously that the canny MacKechnie shook his gray head many a time -and oft over the depletion of coal-bunkers. - -"'Tis all varra weel, the gettin' on in such haste," he grumbled, -"'but, ma certes, 'twill be a long, weary drive back again, and coal -doesna grow on icebergs." - -Several days of clear going gave all on the ship opportunity to take -much needed rest, after the perils and labor that had racked both minds -and bodies. Spring and spirits returned to jaded men, and it was an -eager and hopeful crew that cheered to the echo on the day that Polaris -shouted from the bridge: - -"Steer the ship in to the left. Yonder is a point of land that my eyes -remember well, and behind it a harbor that marks the end of this -journey, I am certain." - -It was the rocky promontory across which his own ship of ice had been -broken, nearly two years before. Inland, to the north, extended the -looming barrier range, which he had sought in vain to pass. - -Polaris and old Zenas Wright stood on the bridge as the cruiser rounded -the headland. The young man clapped the geologist on the shoulder, -and pointed up the snow-covered slope, that led from the cove to the -foothills beyond. - -"There lies the way," he shouted, "straight in to the east, the way to -Sardanes!" - - * * * * * - -Near to the cave entrance on the Latmos hill King Minos found the Lord -Patrymion. The boy was sitting on a boulder, swinging his heels against -it and whistling in a minor key the bars of a Sardanian love ditty. -Leaning against the rock beside him was a long-hafted bear spear. In -his belt were thrust a dagger and a heavy-bladed hatchet. - -As the king came from among the trees, the lad stood up and saluted. -Minos saw that the arm he raised was bandaged above the elbow. The -king, whose own neck bore a slight cut, where a spear had stung as it -hummed by him in the forest mêlée, and whose tunic and armor were red -with blood not his own, smiled grimly. - -"And did the Lord Patrymion perchance fall and bruise himself in the -forest paths?" he asked. - -"Nay, nay, O king, I came by this while a-hunting," laughed the lad. - -"Hunting?" queried Minos. - -"Aye, the game we play now in Sardanes hath fulfilled a part of its -contract to my great satisfaction. Not an hour agone I did stick me the -good, fat priest whereof we talked awhile back. Right pleasantly did he -kick and squeal--" - -"Hast slain a priest of the Gateway?" Minos asked him. "I fear that is -ill done." - -"Nay, king, 'twas well done. 'Twere well, indeed, with us, were every -one of the black crew hot alight in their own fires, with Analos, the -high priest, frying merrily atop the heap. Then, perhaps, would the -people listen to reason. This fellow did come from the Gateway to my -palace on Epamon's sides, whither I had gone from the Judgment House -to arm myself. He would have haled me thence to the Gateway like an -unwilling maid. When he found me coy, he did raise mine own household -men against me. Well, he got a dagger in his midriff for his trouble. -And I got this scratch on the arm, with perchance a slit throat to -follow, were it not that I am somewhat swift of foot. My men did rage -upon me like fiends when they saw the priest down. I thought it better -to die here in good company than where I was, so I came away." - -"Hast seen Garlanes?" asked Minos. - -"Nay, nor will I," said the lad shortly. "The men of Analos slew him -on the portico of his own hall. That I had from the priest who came to -summon me. Had he not given me that word, I might have spared him." - -The king bowed his head. Garlanes had been his dear friend. - -Within the cave the warmth from the bowels of the hill was almost -oppressive. The men had lighted torches and oil lamps, and were -dressing their hurts, of which there were not a few, and discussing in -low tones the details of the fighting. - -In a carved chair of wood, just beyond the rim of light, the Lady -Memene sat. Her face, as she rested it on her hand, was almost devoid -of expression, but her black eyes, alert and lustrous, missed no detail -of the scene before her. Minos removed a part of his armor, and laved -his head and hands in the little streamlet. Although the girl appeared -to take no note of him, not a move that he made escaped her. Each time -that the king's glance strayed to her, and that was often, she appeared -to be watching the hunters or the dogs, or anything but himself. - -When he had removed the stains of battle, Minos crossed to her side. He -seated himself on an ancient chest and considered her for a time with -puzzled eyes. She made no move, nor seemed to notice that he was there. - -"Lady," he said at length, "lady of the blue rose and the keen dagger, -who reckest so little which thou usest, canst tell me now why thou hast -come here?" - -"Come here?" she echoed quickly. "Why, because thou didst carry me a -part of the way and thy friend yonder the other part. Why else?" She -flashed him an elfish smile. - -"So we did," he answered. "Wouldst go back?" - -"Not yet--unless thou sendest me," she replied cooly. "There is little -at the Gateway to stir my heart. Here--" She paused, and the king bent -forward that he might lose no word of her answer. "Here, methinks -events will pass that will be worth the watching--unless thou dost -weary of my presence and bid me go seek Analos." - -Minos straightened his back suddenly. "Lady," he said, "I find thee of -a temper like to that of the Lord of Patrymion, who would make believe -that he careth naught for tears and death and doom, and laugheth at all -alike. Yet back of all thy quips and scorns I believe there dwelleth in -thee a spirit brave and true, as there doth in him also." - -The girl inclined her head, but there was mockery in the bow. "Thou -doest me too great honor, my Lord Minos," she replied. "Count not too -greatly on thy estimate, for I fear thou hast mistaken me sadly." - -This fencing with words suited Minos not at all. "In one thing I -mistake not," he said, "and that is the heart of Minos." He hesitated, -and then asked her, gravely and slowly, "Lady Memene, wilt be the bride -of Minos?" - -A ringing peal of silvery laughter was his answer, but the girl drew -farther back into the shadows that the king might not see the red flush -on her cheeks. - -"Strange is the time thou choosest for thy wooing of a bride, O king! -Thy kingdom tottereth. Scarce a score in all the land are faithful to -thee. Thy head is target for curse of priest and spear of enemy. Mayhap -Sardanes itself dieth. Yet dost thou woo a bride." - -Up to his full height drew the king and looked down upon her. She -waited for an angry answer, but none came. - -"Nay, thou canst not provoke me, lady," he said gently. "I know not -how it is, but the love I bear thee I think is so strong that it will -endure all things and abide forever. All that thou sayest is true. In -spite of all, I wait an answer." - -Still farther into the shadows withdrew Memene. Her eyes shone -strangely. - -"The end is not yet. When that end cometh--when thou hast won or lost -all that there is to win or lose, then thou shalt have an answer, King -Minos, shouldst thou still desire it." - -"Be it so, lady, I hold thee to the end, and will seek my answer then, -though it be at the gates of death." He bowed and turned away. - - * * * * * - -Outside the cave two of the dogs were baying. Through the rifted rock -came the voice of the Lord Patrymion. - -"Here cometh the overlord of the Gateway devils. Say, king, shall I -loose the beasts on him?" - -"Nay, loose them not," called Minos. He caught up his arms and hastened -to join the lad on the hillside. - -Some forty paces down the slope stood Analos. - -Patrymion held the gray dogs by their collars. "Well would I like to -see them worry him," he grumbled. "Perhaps it is best for the brutes," -he added. "They would surely die of a stomach sickness, did they taste -him." - -"What wouldst thou of Minos, Analos of the Gateway?" demanded the king. -"Thou hast turned the valley to madness. Here we have little need for -thee. Were it not that I will slay no more except to save myself and -those with me from death, I would send a spear through thee where thou -standest, Analos. Say, what wouldst thou here?" - -"Insult me thou hast, slay me thou canst not," answered the priest, -glowering up at the king from where he stood with folded arms. -"Hephaistos protecteth his servant. I came to say to thee that the -great doom falleth apace. Mountain after mountain adown the valley -giveth up its fires. All upper Sardanes wasteth. This shall go on -until thou and those with thee are humbled and Sardanes is as one in -submission to the ancient god. - -"Beside thee standeth one who this day hath smitten a priest of the -Gateway. Give him up. Come thou with him to the Gateway, thou and the -girl. For the sake of thy people, Minos, for the sake of the very -existence of the Sardanes, yield thee to the god." - -"Analos," answered the king, "did Minos for one instant believe that -by any act of his Sardanes might be saved, in that instant he would -perform it, however bitter. But thou are a madman, thy god of thine own -distorted fancy. The things that are happening are in obedience to some -law of nature whereof we know not. They will pass, and all will be as -before, or they will continue, and Sardanes will be no more. Let that -fall out as it is fated. Minos waits the end here, and yieldeth to no -man." - -Zalos and several of the hunters had come from the cave. Analos turned -from the king to them. - -"What saith the Captain Zalos?" he demanded. "For this rash man, no -longer king of thine, and for the woman he hath stolen, art thou -prepared to die and to go cursed of Hephaistos to the torments he hath -in store for those who rebel against him? Say, wilt not give him up, he -and the maid, and save thyself and thy companions?" - -"That will I not," answered the captain. "We have eaten the king's -bread, and we are his faithful servants. Where he standeth, there stand -we. Whither he leadeth, there we follow, be it to battle, to death, or -to ghostland and its torments, if such there be. Forsake him? Not until -my breath forsaketh my body!" - -Zalos faced his men. "Is it not so?" he growled. "If there be a man -among ye who thinketh otherwise, let him speak and stand forth." He -fumbled with the dagger in his belt. - -"Needst not fret with thy dagger, Captain," laughed one of the hunters. -"We be all of one mind, and thou hast said it." - -"I thank thee, friend," said Minos. His hand fell lovingly on the -captain's shoulder. - -"After all this useless talk, methinks some diversion impendeth," -whispered the lad Patrymion. "Unless mine eyes are passing poor, spear -points gleam in the thicket yonder and men are moving." - -Minos peered keenly into the shadows beyond the priest. He, too, saw -dim, moving shapes, and caught the glint of bare blades. He tightened -his grip on his sword-hilt. - -"Zalos," he said, "slip thou within the cave and fetch me the ilium -disk that leaneth against the wall near to the spring. I think there is -like to be more fighting anon, and I am still unwearied. Take the dogs -with thee. They be of rash mettle, and I would not have them harmed." - -Analos still stood in the little clearing, eying them gloomily, his -features working. - -"An the holy rascal swelleth much more with anger he will burst, and -the foulness of the venom let loose from him surely will overcome us -all," said Patrymion with grim humor. "See how his beard waggeth." - -Zalos came from the cave and passed to the king an oval plate of -burnished ilium, nearly four feet in length and wide enough more than -to cover his broad chest. It was the shield which went with the other -arms he had fashioned. It had a broad leather arm-strap and a handhold -affixed to its concave side. - -The king slipped it onto his arm. - -With a shake of his shoulders, the priest cast his black robe from him -and stood forth in the red vestments of the office of death. He waved -his arms in air. - -"Sons of Sardanes," he roared, "do the god's will!" - -From every rock and tree near him creeping men sprang to their feet. A -swarm of yelling spearmen charged up the slope. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - BATTLE ON LATMOS - - -At the opening of the passage into the cave the way was scarcely wide -enough for two men to enter abreast. Farther in, where the entrance -curved, it was narrower yet. There Minos elected to meet the attackers. -He ordered the other men into the cave, whither Patrymion went sorely -against his will. - -"Art not going to take all the sport to thyself, king, I hope?" he -asked. "I would make claim to a share in it." - -"Thou shalt have it, and to spare, my lad," said Minos comfortingly. -"No one of us will have complaint for lack of fighting while yonder red -robe flameth in the valley." - -As he spoke the king backed into the cave-passage and took position at -the first turn, crouching low behind his shield. "Stand thou behind me -here," he directed the boy, "and into thy keeping I commend any who may -pass me." The king and the boy took their places. - -The spearsmen of Analos, fully two hundred strong, poured over the -little plateau on which the cave fronted. With a rush and yell they -came, but found no foe to fight. Only the dark riff in the rock yawned -silently before them. Strain their eyes as they might, they could not -see what danger lay in wait for them within. - -After a brief conference they decided to force the entrance, for -Sardanians, when not arrayed against their own superstitions, were -not cowards. Two by two, for the way was narrow, they crept into the -passageway. Those foremost proceeded cautiously, and with their spear -points well advanced. - -In this warfare all the advantage lay with Minos. The besiegers could -not see him, but from his position they were outlined against what -light there was without the cave, and the king could see them well. - -So it was that groping forward the spears of the first two of the -attacking party clanged against something that was not rock. A flash -in the dusk before them, a whine in the air, where the sword of Minos -sang as it flew and two of the warriors of Analos were out of the fight -forever. - -Behind them their companions sprang to their feet and thrust -desperately with their spears. So straight was the way that there was -little room for spear play. Thrust and cast alike fell on the rocky -wall or the shield of the king. Out of the darkness the strongest arm -in all Sardanes swung unceasingly, dealing blows that none could see or -parry. - -The passage became hideous with cries and groans. Only Minos fought in -grim silence. At his shoulder young Patrymion stood and laughed aloud -at death unloosed. - -Presently the king found his blows falling on empty air. Convinced that -this method of battle was of small avail, the priest's men withdrew -from the cave, dragging with them the fallen. They carried eight men -down the steep sides of Latmos, to be sent to the Gateway, and five -others were so sorely smitten by the blade that guarded the narrow way -that they were little better than corpses. - -"Now, let us out, master, and fall on them from behind," said Zalos. -"One good charge may break their spirit." - -Minos shook his head. "Nay, Zalos, we fight not save to defend -ourselves. This slaughter of my people doth grieve me much. Would that -'twere at an end!" - -"In verity, if thou grievest over long in thy present fashion, there -will be none left in Sardanes to withstand thee," put in Patrymion. "At -least let me go forth and hunt the high priest. With him dead, the rest -are easily managed." - -"Nay, he shall not be slain, and there's an end," said Minos sternly. -"He hath coupled his mad talk to these strange manifestations in -Sardanes, and so brought about all the trouble that is on foot. His -death now will mend matters but little, for he hath done his damage -among the people. When things right themselves once more (if, indeed, -they ever do come aright), it is my will that he be living witness to -his own confusion." - -"Have they gone, or do they still watch, I wonder?" said Patrymion. He -turned the passage and walked boldly to the entrance. Scarcely had he -reached it when a spear whizzed by his ear and splintered on the rock -wall. He picked the shattered weapon up with a laugh. "We are still -watched," he said, as he bore it back into the cave. - -Below in the hall of the Judgment House the stroke of the great drum -echoed through the valley, giving notice of the passing of another -day--a day fuller of events in Sardanes than any since Polaris of the -Snows had fought his great fight on the crater-rim and struck out for -the unknown North. - -Through the sleeping hours a watchful hunter stood guard at the turn -in the cave-passage, but no attempt was made to surprise the besieged. -They ate from the store of grain in the cave and took what rest they -could, undisturbed. With cloths from the king's chests the hunters -curtained off a section of the cave for the Lady Memene, and thither -she withdrew in silence, to sit with wakeful eyes through half the -slumber hours. - -On the morrow there was little rest for any. Within an hour of the -first drum-stroke, the clamor of fighting men rang through the cave -once more. - -Again Minos took up the tale, but he found his foes more wary. Not -again would they rush blindly the narrow way and the singing sword. -They built a big wood fire at the edge of the plateau, in such a -position that its flames cast their light into the passage. Six of -their strongest warriors charged the cave-mouth. Four of them engaged -the battling giant with their spears. The other two, on hands and -knees, endeavored to creep under his guard, and got near enough to pull -him down. - -Straightway the Lord Patrymion went down on all fours, and with a spear -in either hand fought between the knees of the king. As he fought, -he taunted the attackers with mocking jests more bitter than the -spear-thrusts. With his legs guarded, the strength of Minos was more -than the strength of six. Of those who charged, only two reached the -outer plateau alive. - - * * * * * - -In the respite the king turned and became aware of the Lady Memene. -Shrouded in her long cloak, she stood against the wall of the passage, -almost at his shoulder. She had watched the fighting with kindling -eyes, but when Minos turned to look at her, she assumed again the -mantle of indifference. Only behind the folds of her cloak one of her -little feet was tapping, tapping on the rocky floor. - -"Lady Memene, I pray thee, go within. Here is no place for thee," the -king said. "A chance spear might pass this guard of mine, and then were -all of Minos's fighting of no avail." - -Wordless, she turned away and disappeared among the shadows. - -Time after time the Sardanians, in stubborn fury, charged the -cave-mouth. They fetched ladders from the valley, erected them against -the cliff-face at the sides of the fissure, where the wall rose too -sheer for a foothold otherwise. From the ladders, spearsmen leaped -down, essaying to overwhelm the guardians of the pass and bear them -down. But Minos drew back to where the closing roof of the entrance -defended him from their attempts, and men who fell found the great -sword and the keen spears of Patrymion and Zalos always waiting. - -But one man, however brave and strong, cannot fight an army. Slowly, -very slowly, the warriors of the priest tired that mighty sword-arm, -although the dauntless spirit behind it flagged not. Again and again -the rock passage was choked with dead and dying. Its floor ran red with -blood. As often, the besiegers dragged the bodies of their comrades -forth and renewed the struggle with fresh men. The champions of the god -showed a fighting will even with that of Minos, laying on for his own -head and his dear lady. - -At last the king, sorely wearied, and wounded, although but slightly, -in a score of places, yielded his place to Zalos and the Lord -Patrymion. The lad took the shield of the king, and knelt with his -spear at the turn of the passage. Behind him the stout captain plied a -ponderous woodsman's ax with both hands, and the battle went on. - -An unexpected circumstance ended the conflict. Several of the -Sardanians on the cliffside with their long ladders discovered a ledge -some forty feet above the opening into the cave and scrambled to it. On -the ledge lay a number of large boulders, masses that had rolled down -and rested there perhaps an age before. - -With much labor and prying with spear-hafts, the men brought down -several of the smaller rocks to the lip of the ledge. Poising one of -them where, as nearly as they could judge, it would fall straight into -the passage below, they waited for a lull in the fight. When they saw -the pass clear of their fellows, they loosed the big stone with a shout. - -Down it crashed, but, aimed too far to the left, missed the cleft and -struck on the cliff-face with such force that a part of it flew to -splinters. The main mass bounded through the air, struck again at the -edge of the plateau, and thundered down the slope, carrying three of -Analos's fighting men with it. - -Unheeding the cries of their fellows from below to desist, the men on -the ledge poised another boulder with better aim. It smashed into the -rock corridor so near to the turn that the wind from it blew hard in -the face of the Lord Patrymion, looking forth, and it struck the spear -from his grasp and shattered it. - -Up sprang the lad with a loud laugh. - -"Now there's an end to this pleasant business of fighting," he said to -Zalos, and pointed to the fallen rock. It lay wedged in the passage, -jammed against the sides, and breast high, a natural barrier, stronger -than the shield of Minos. One active man might hold the pass against -any number, as long as he held strength to thrust, for room was left -for but one man to pass over the rock at a time, and in no position for -fighting. - -Outside the plateau the Sardanians also had seen this new guardian in -the narrow way, and reviled their fellows on the ledge for their lack -of thought. - -Nevertheless, they made one more attempt. They fetched up the slope -a long and heavy timber of hymanan wood. Fixing an ilium-bar the -thickness of two spear-hafts across the crevice, they slung the beam -from it with a stout rope. Twenty men then seized the bar and swung the -battering-ram against the boulder until they were weary. Every blow did -but fix the rock firmer. All efforts to ram it in to where it might -fall into the wider portion of the passage failed. They gave it up. - -"Here we may stay now until we be old and gray-headed, Zalos," said -Patrymion ruefully. "There can be no more fighting worth the telling. -They cannot come at us. A puny girl could withstand them all here." He -peered over the rock. "Aye, they know it, the rogues, and are going. -'Twill be but poor sport here." To himself he added: "I know a better, -even though it lasteth but a few moments. What's the odds?" - -Carried away by the love of fighting, a madness seemed to seize the -lad. He let fall the shield of Minos, caught Zalos's ax from his hand, -and before any man could hinder, he leaped over the rock. - -"'Tis a pretty weapon," he called back over his shoulder to the hunter, -and shook the ax aloft. "I will use it well." He ran out across the -plateau singing loudly. - -Unmindful of the danger, the hunter captain clambered over the rock to -follow him. It was too late. For an instant Zalos saw the lad outlined -clearly in the glare from the fire on the plateau, swinging the great -ax with both hands. Then the spearsmen closed in on him from all sides. -Four men he felled with four lightning strokes, and went down, dying as -he had lived, with careless song on his lips, making a jest of death -itself. - -A storm of spears fell about the hunter as he emerged into the light, -and he was fain to scramble back into the passage and over the rock to -save his own skin. - -Utterly exhausted, Minos, when he left the battle, had entered the cave -and thrown himself on a couch to regain breath and strength for further -combat. His hunters dressed his wounds and chafed his numbed sword-arm. -First to reach him with water and bandages was Memene, but when she saw -that his injuries were light and that he was merely tired, she gave way -to the men and went back to her carved chair. But as she sat, one of -her feet was ever tapping softly. - -After a time came Zalos, and told his story to the king. Minos stood up -and called for wine. When the beaker was fetched, he bowed low toward -the rocky entrance, raising one hand in silent salute, and drank. - -"To whom dost thou drink a toast, King Minos?" asked the girl, who -noted all with curious eyes. - -"To a brave man gone from among us," he replied gravely; "to a very -brave man, to the Lord Patrymion." - - * * * * * - -Around the rocky headland, and into the cove swung the _Minnetonka_. -The cove afforded the cruiser a safe harbor, storm-protected and free -from ice. Down swung the boats from their davits, filled with eager -men. For the first time shouting American sailors set foot on the shore -where, more than two thousand years before, the little band of Achaeans -had left the wreck of their ancient trireme, and pushed on into the -unknown wilderness to find and people Sardanes. - -Scoland, from the wireless room on the cruiser's deck, released the -electric current that sent a splitting, chattering call out along the -air-waves to the north. Nor was that call long unanswered. - -Loaded with supplies and coal, the staunch old ship _Felix_, which -Scoland had commanded on his previous polar dash, had left America -before the _Minnetonka_. The faster cruiser had passed the _Felix_ on -the sea-road, but she had toiled sturdily along, and was now in harbor -at the upper end of Ross Sea to wait what might befall; the _Felix_ and -her wireless constituted the one link that joined the Sardanian relief -expedition to the outer world. - -In the second boat to the shore went Polaris Janess and his dogs. -The son of the snows was moccasined and furred, and ready to try -conclusions with the worst that the white wildernesses had to put forth -against him, the wildernesses that once had been his home. He wore the -garments of white bearskin that had kept the warmth in his body in his -great dash to the north. - -His hair of red-gold had now grown long and hung again to his -shoulders. Except that time and the perils through which he had passed -had marked his face a thought more grave, he was the same indomitable -young man who once had fought his way across the drift-ice in this -selfsame cove, when the fiends from the sea deeps, the killer whales, -had striven in vain to make a meal of him, and his Rose maid had stood -on the snowy shore and called encouragement to him in his fight. - -Beside Polaris in the boat was seated the short, wide figure of Zenas -Wright. His white hair shone from under a shapeless cap of lynx fur -from the Hudson Bay country. He was buttoned to the ears in a suit of -mackinaw wool with a furred parka. Like the young man, he had a pair of -snowshoes slung at his back. He, too, was determined to tread the white -pathway to Sardanes. - -Polaris had done his best to dissuade the aged scientist from the -attempt, and Scoland had added his plea. The determination of the -old man to go with Polaris had seemed a particular annoyance to the -captain. Zenas Wright would listen to neither argument nor entreaty. - -"In my time I've put my name on one or two spots on the map," he said, -"but I would rather have it erased than to miss my share in this -expedition. I'm going to see this Sardanes of yours, my son, if I have -to leave my old bones there. I was responsible for your coming down -here. Now I'm going in with you. You are not going to take all the -risks alone. Don't try to stop me. My mind's made up, and I'm obstinate -as a Tennessee mule." - -Ashore with them went the ship's carpenters with tools and lumber to -establish a winter camp. A number of shacks were knocked together. -More sledges and dogs were taken ashore. Within a couple of days a -small but noisy settlement had sprung up on the bay shore. Men and -beasts, confined for many weary weeks to the cramped quarters aboard -the cruiser, were glad, indeed, to have the chance to be ashore and -move about freely, bleak as the place was. Shouts and barks arose -joyously where for untold centuries few voices had been heard except -those of many-tongued Nature herself. - -Sure that his wireless connections with the _Felix_ were in working -order, and that the crew of the supply ship had chosen a safe harbor, -where he could find them, Captain Scoland also went ashore, and threw -himself energetically into the details of camp making. - -Never a talkative man, the tall captain had grown, in the latter days -of their voyaging, more taciturn than ever. Morose and moody, for -hours at a time he never opened his lips except for the giving of -orders, and they were more sharp and stern than even was his wont. His -associates had been quick to notice those things, but laid them to the -cares and dangers of their enterprise. In one thing the captain was not -lacking. That was a great capacity for work. Scarcely a detail of the -work on board the cruiser or ashore went forward without his personal -supervision. - -Seeing that the heart of Zenas Wright was firm set on making the trip -inland to Sardanes, Polaris, with inward impatience, was forced to -delay the immediate start he had premeditated. Once started, the going -would be swift as they were capable of, and it would be a cruelty to -expect the older man, unused for years to snow travel, to keep up the -pace on snowshoes. - -While others of the party were busy with the camp building, Polaris -and the scientist spent hours on the snow slopes, and made a number of -short trips over the ridge to the east. As the young man had foreseen, -Wright's first experience with the shoes nearly crippled him. In the -course of a couple of days, however, his joints and muscles were -limbered to the labor, and he was able to make surprising progress, -proving his boast that he was an adept snow runner. - -Scoland, whom previous years in both Arctic and Antarctic regions had -made expert in the management of dogs, selected himself a team from the -huskies, and took a sudden interest in snow journeying, an activity -that nearly cost the expedition dearly. - - * * * * * - -On the second day after their arrival at the cove, a man came ashore -from the _Minnetonka_ with a message for the captain from Aronson on -the _Felix_. The message bearer failed to find Scoland at the shacks. -When Polaris and Zenas Wright came in later, at the end of their day's -exercise, the captain was still missing. They had not seen him. Dogs -and sledge which the captain had been using were missing also. - -"Either he is strayed and lost in the snow, or some manner of mishap -has befallen," said Polaris. "I will go and find him." - -Turning his own beasts, he set out at once to study the tangle of snow -trails that led inland from the camp. There had been no snow and little -wind for a number of days, so it was an easy matter for him to read the -paths. Starting from the ridge at the back of the cove, he swung out in -a long loop, whose farther curve took him five miles or more from the -camp. Four trails he crossed that were plainly back-trailed. The fifth -snow path that he came to led on into the wilderness, with no evidence -of a return, and he followed that. - -Along the foothill slopes of the icy barrier mountains the land lay -comparatively level, except for the rocky hummocks that were everywhere -sprinkled. A few miles to the south of the range, low rolling hills -began again, extending as far as eye might see. Into the hills -Scoland's trail lay. Some six miles from where Polaris first picked up -the path, he found the captain. - -Where a deep and jagged crevasse yawned beneath its treacherous -coverlet of snow crust, the trail ended. Where the crust had broken -under their weight, men and dogs and sledge had disappeared into the -depths. - -Outspanning and tethering his own team to a rock, the son of the snows -crept forward cautiously to the brink of the chasm. - -Scarcely a yard below the level of the broken snow bridge, Scoland's -sledge was caught fast between two projecting teeth of rock and hung -over the crevasse. Head downward in their harness, and frozen stiff and -dead, dangled the carcasses of two of the captain's huskies. Below them -the forward harness hung in strips. Peering into the lower deep of the -crevasse, as his eyes became accustomed to its gloom, Polaris could -make out the mass of fallen snow from the bridge. It lay forty feet -below him, on the floor of the crevasse, which extended away to either -side in an irregular corridor, rock-walled and carpeted with snow. Of -the man and the other dogs he could see nothing. - -He shouted, and his heart leaped gladly, when, faint and weak and -far-away, came an answering halloo, followed immediately by the howling -of dogs. Scoland lived! - -Lengths of thin, stout rope were part of the equipment of every sledge, -and with each a small steel pulley for hauling. Polaris sprang to his -sledge and fetched his tackle. - -Testing every inch of the rock with his utmost strength, he crept over -the lip of the crevasse, whipped a short bight of rope about one of the -rocks that held the wreck of Scoland's sledge, swung his pulley and -threaded it. Of rope he had nearly a hundred feet, so that, doubled, -it reached the floor of the crevasse, and to spare. He did his work in -haste. - -Within five minutes of the time of Scoland's answering hail from the -depths, Polaris went down the doubled rope hand under hand, and set -foot on the crevasse bottom. He shouted again, and again received -a faint answer, away to the south in the windings of the crooked -corridor. He started that way, and had gone but a few steps when, -whimpering and howling, two of the captain's dogs came floundering -through the snow to meet him. - -When Scoland broke through the crust he had been running with the dogs -ahead of his sledge. He had pitched downward with the mass of falling -snow, and landed, badly shaken but uninjured, on the floor of the -crevasse. He saw at once that it would be impossible at the point where -he fell to scale the height of the crevasse wall. The corridor-like -fissure, extending south, took an upward course. The captain followed -its windings in that direction, hoping that it would lead again to the -surface. - -Another mishap had made his case almost hopeless. A break in the rocky -floor, masked by snow, yawned across the entire width of the chasm. -In the half darkness, Scoland had reached its edge. Too late he felt -the snow slipping from beneath his feet, and fell again. He had found -himself in a pocket some eight feet deep, its sides so sheer that he -could not climb them. Vainly he explored every inch of the walls at -either side, and tore at the rocks until his hands bled, in an effort -to gain a hold. His struggles only brought exhaustion. Three of his -huskies had taken the leap, the other two remaining in the upper -corridor. - -Utterly worn out, the captain at length had curled himself up with the -beasts. The warmth of their bodies alone had held the life in his body, -for the cold was deadly. Dogs and man were waiting for slow death when -they heard the hail of Polaris. - -Flat on his stomach, Polaris crawled to the edge of the break in the -floor. Cramped and chilled, Scoland was barely able to stand and -stagger to the wall. Polaris reached down and found that he could grasp -Scoland's upstretched arms between wrists and elbows. Turning on his -back, the son of the snows exerted his mighty sinews. Scoland hung -almost a dead weight, but he raised him. Up, up, slowly, carefully, and -then over the edge, and the captain lay gasping beside him. - -On his face again, Polaris called encouragement to the huskies. Barking -loudly, the dogs sprang high, leaping repeatedly at the face of the -wall. One by one, the man caught them in the air as they leaped, and -raised them to the upper floor. - -Half carrying the exhausted Scoland, Polaris hurried along the passage -to the ropes, and made him fast. Fearing that the captain was too weak -to effect his own release from the tackle, Janess climbed the rope to -the lip of the chasm. Again he exerted his tireless strength and hauled -the other to the surface. - -Scoland rolled weakly into the snow. - -"Brandy," he muttered; "there's a flask in the back of the sledge. Can -you reach it?" - -Polaris found and fetched the flask. Scoland took a long pull at the -fiery spirit. Seeing Janess about to lower himself over the rock again, -he asked: - -"What are you going to do?" - -"Fetch up the dogs," Polaris answered. - -"Let the damned brutes go, and get me back to the camp. I'm nearly all -in." - -Polaris eyed him narrowly. - -"Not so," he said shortly. "They are good dogs. Were it not for three -of them I think you would not now be living." He slipped down the side -of the crevasse. - -Scoland sneered. He lay watching the straining rope. It seemed to -fascinate him. His hand crept to the knife at his belt. Slowly he drew -it, and laid its keen blade against the rope. A wave of weakness came -over him. Alone, he could never reach the camp. He put away the knife. - -One by one Polaris brought up the huskies. He placed Scoland on his own -sledge and drove back to the camp, leaving the wreck to be recovered -later. - -Not one word of thanks did Scoland speak to him for his deliverance. -All the way back to the camp the captain lay on the sledge with closed -eyes. All the way he cursed furiously within himself that it should be -his fortune to take his life at the hands of this one man of all men. - - * * * * * - -No more was battle done on the steep slope of Mount Latmos. Assured -that Minos and his men were holed in where they might not come at -them, the fighting men of the priest went up against the cave no more. -Although they must have known that the treasure cave was provisioned -and watered so abundantly that it would keep its small garrison for -many months, they did not give up their siege entirely. That was -discovered when one of the hunters thought to go forth by stealth in -the slumber hours, and pay a visit to his wife and children at his home -in the valley. Hardly was he over the ledge of the plateau when men -seized him in the dusk. - -His comrades in the cave above heard him scream out once and twice, and -then the minions of Analos cut his throat. - -On their part, the hunters maintained a guard of one man at all hours, -who sat behind the boulder in the passageway. - -Late in the fourth day that they had been immured in the mountainside, -Dukulon, one of Zalos's men, as he stood his turn at guard, heard a -rapping at the mouth of the pass as one who tapped gently on the wall -with a stone. - -"Who cometh?" he hailed. - -"_Sh_--it is I, Alternes," came the whispered answer. "I would have -speech with Minos the King." - -Minos came and bade the lad enter the cave. He wriggled slowly, and -with not a few groans, through the passage, and was helped over the -rock. When they took him to the light, they found that he was in evil -case. Most of his clothing had been torn from him, and he was bruised -and with dried blood on his flesh. - -"They have hunted me in the hills like a goat," he gasped, as he bent -to kiss the hand of his master. "Thy palace is a dismal ruin, O king. -Thy servants are scattered or slain. The stone with thy name on it has -been cast down from above thy seat in the Judgment House. Even thy -throne they toppled from its place and shattered." - -The king turned from him sorrowfully. The hunters gathered round, and, -as they tended the hurts of the lad, they sought news from him of their -families. - -"I can tell you naught," he said wearily, "but I believe that every -soul in the valley that stood faithful to the king hath been sent to -Hephaistos. The dead lie unburned in rows on the upper terraces of the -Gateway. For in the hill the fires of the god do wax so mighty that -none, not even his own priests, dares to come near to them. All upper -Sardanes is snow and ice. Ten of the great moons have gone dark, and as -they die the cold cometh on apace." - -Then Alternes turned his face to the wall on the couch of skins where -they had laid him, and slept long and well. - -One more attempt Analos made to bring Minos to his will. The priest -sent a delegation of all the lords of the valley to the cave-mouth. -Minos came and talked with them over the fallen rock. To his side came -the Lady Memene and leaned upon the stone, her chin upon her hands. - -Ukalles, now an outcast from his home on Tanos in upper Sardanes, was -spokesman for the nobles. - -"We are sore beset of troubles, O Minos!" he cried. "The priest saith -the land is doomed to the anger of the Lord Hephaistos, and day by day -the doom marcheth. Thou dost stand against it and lure it on the people -and on all of us, saith Analos. Wilt not yield to the god, and not let -this fair valley perish, that hath stood for ages? Consider, for the -people's sake--the people whom once thou didst love so well, and who -love thee. It is promised thee that thou shalt not die if thou dost -yield. Thou must, indeed, go to the Gateway and submit to what decree -of punishment the god maketh, but not to death. Come, ere that we hold -dear be gone, and Sardanes be blotted out." - -"Strange is the love the people bear their king," answered Minos -calmly. "Strange, indeed, when they have slain my servants, laid -my palace in ruins, and stricken my very name from the seat of my -fathers--" - -"But that was by orders of the god through his priests," broke in -Ukalles. - -"Right well I know that so ye are deluded to believe," replied the -king. "Yet were those orders from the priests carried out by hands and -hearts of those who once were my people. Minos hath no people more, -save these few faithful ones who abide with him, risking all. - -"Now list thee, Ukalles and all of those with thee, for this is the -last word of Minos. Once, before he did send his spearsmen against me, -I did tell this Analos that, were Minos convinced for one little moment -that by any sacrifice, however great, he could avert that which falleth -on the valley, that sacrifice he would make, and hesitate not. Of such -is Minos not convinced. Not of the god are the rumblings of the hills, -the dying fires and the coming of the snows." - -"Thou blasphemest," Ukalles shouted in anger, "and in thy madness -dost bring doom on us all. My curse and that of all these, and of the -people, the priests and the great Hephaistos, lieth on thee, if thou -dost not yield thee to his grace." - -"Curse on, thou fool," was Minos's answer. "I mind thy curses as little -as the wind that bloweth. If this god of thine be great and powerful, -as thou sayest, and as the priests do preach, how is it that he doth -allow me, one man alone, to stand in his divine path? Why hath he not -come hither and plucked me from my place and bent or broken me to his -will?" - -Minos raised his hand on high with the great sword shining in it. - -"I, Minos, king in Sardanes until the end, do defy this Hephaistos. -Hath he need of such as thou and Analos to do his will for him, he is -no cause for fear. Away, ye superstition-ridden dullards, and run your -mad pace through. Minos yieldeth not. He defieth all of you. Your god -cometh not, nor will come, because--_there is no god!_" - -Shaking and trembling in the fears aroused by the king's defiance, the -nobles turned to go. Only Karnaon stood out from among them. - -"Memene, my daughter, leave thou this madman and come to me," he -called. "Come, girl. Thy father commandeth thee." - -"And I, my father, do disobey thee," said the girl. - -"Then take thou thy father's bitter curse," Karnaon shouted. He stamped -his foot in his anger. - -"That thou didst give me once, O father, when thou didst send me to the -Gateway to marry the foul priest," answered Memene. "That is neither -forgotten nor forgiven thee." - -"Thou art no more daughter of mine," Karnaon said between his set -teeth. Then he, too, turned away and followed the others down the steep -hill, walking heavily. - -Slowly the nobles crossed the valley and the river and took their -tidings to Analos at the Gateway. - -At the top of the pathway to the first terrace, the high priest met -them, escorted by the black-robed company that served the mighty -altar of Hephaistos. When he saw that they brought no royal captives -with them, and heard the tale of the defiance Minos had hurled at the -ancient god, his anger rose and choked him so that he answered them -nothing. He stood and heard them through, his hands clenched under his -robe so that the nails of his fingers bit into his palms. - -For a time he stood so. Then he rent his black robe from him, tearing -it to shreds, and in his red paraphernalia of death ran up the terraces -like a flame. In a room in his own house on the upper terrace he threw -himself on the marble floor and writhed and rolled and tore at his -black beard, gone clean mad with impotent rage. When one of his priests -came to consult him, he leaped in frenzy, and slew the man with one -stroke of a stone vase, then hid the body and went forth, somewhat -calmed. - -As he passed his threshold, a roaring smote upon his ears. From the -lofty arched portal built against the side of the cliff gushed a tide -of molten lava as wide as the river Ukranis. The fire-lake had risen -until it overflowed the ledge and poured down through the spiral -passage that led from the temple of death to the upper terrace. - -Out from the carved portal flowed the fiery torrent, hissing and -snapping. Right in its path lay the rows of dead Sardanians, awaiting -the rites of Hephaistos, their quiet faces upturned and ghastly in the -baleful radiance reflected down on them from the flaming hill-crown. -One moment they lay there in their still lines, and then the seething -flood passed over them and licked them up. - -On it poured, and crept over the brink of the terrace, and down in a -fearful cascade, setting fire to the forest on the side of the holy -hill. The force of the torrent soon abated, and the lava lay as though -some terrible serpent had crept forth from the deeps of the earth and -stretched itself adown the terraces. For hours it glowed before it -cooled into dross and ashes. The fire in the forest spread, until half -the mountain was aflame, and the lower end of the valley presented a -spectacle of unearthly splendor. - -That flood of lava was a spurt of the very heart's blood of the valley. -Even as it jetted from the side of the Gateway, halfway up the valley's -rim three more of its volcanic guardians gave up their fiery ghosts, -and the cold grip of the Antarctic took hold of their gaping throats. - -Undaunted by the fury that raged on the Gateway to the Future, Analos -would not desert his post on the upper terrace. All of the other -priests he drove from him, bidding them abide below with the stricken -people until such time as he should summon them to him again. He stayed -alone with his god. - -More days of terror passed. The red priest from the flaming hill and -Minos the king from his lair on Mount Latmos watched the march of -winter down the valley. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - THE WARNING OF THE LAST MOON - - -When Nature issues a decree, the execution thereof is pitiless. She -recks naught of dynasties or nations. When she would have a clean -page on which to write, she erases, if needs be, and with inexorable -completeness, the fairest characters she may have inscribed previously. -The smallest and the greatest, the tiny grass blade, the towering -forest giant, the lowly anthill, the lofty mountain, the blind worm in -the dust, proud man, the "lord of creation"--be any or all of these in -her path. Nature breaks them, and, with her ally, Time, makes smooth -the page for her next writing. - -Only those who are wise and instructed may pore over such an erasure -and, from a faint trace here, a blur there, partly read and partly -guess at that which once was writ. - -Years uncounted, Sardanes had flourished in the wastes of the -Southland. Then, the great All-Mother, always unhurried, drew a -steadfast white finger across the valley. - -Only a fortnight elapsed from the day on which the Gateway to the -Future sent forth its first flare of fire, that followed centuries in -which it had been dark--only a brief fortnight, and the Gateway alone -of all the volcanic ring still sent fire and smoke heavenwards. All -the sister hills lay silent and lifeless, their furious spirits spent -and gone elsewhere, their seamed summits crowned with the white of -Antarctic snows. - -First to yield was the holy river Ukranis. Ice bound its sources -until it became a mere streamlet, soon paralyzed by the cold into a -glittering thread. A gray rime crept over the green velvet of the -grass, and a white pall covered it softly. The blue roses withered and -fell. The grain in the fields ceased to grow and lay lifeless. Bushes -and shrubs died. The giant trees shed their faded foliage, their roots -strangled in the chill of death, their palsied branches brittle and -breaking down under a weight of snow. The bright birds of many hues -that had flashed back and forth through the forest glades and lanes -fluttered to the ground with mournful cries and died. The hum of insect -life was stilled. On the hillsides, the little brown rabbits shivered -in their burrows, nestled together and slept forever. - -With all of these, there passed a hundred things, animate and -inanimate, that had their living like in no other spot on the whole -earth. - -Only man and his closest companions lingered. At the foot of the -terraced hill of Hephaistos all of Sardanes that still lived were -gathered--all, with the exception of Minos the king and his company on -the hill of Latmos. - -At the north end of the valley, with their backs to the last of the -flaming hills and their faces towards the encroaching snows, the -Sardanians pitched a great camp. Some few small houses that once had -been those of the tillers of the fields, were occupied by the lords -and their families. The people, nearly two thousand of them, camped on -the ground with blankets and furs and some articles of their wooden -household furniture, each little family in its own group. - -Against the creeping white enemy that had invaded the valley, they set -a barrier of flame. A hundred axmen, working in shifts, with as many -ponies, cut and dragged trees from near-by hillsides. Hour after hour -they piled the fires with wood from the hymanan forests, and kept a -blazing ring around the camp. When one party was wearied, another took -up the work. - -So, with hope departing, they kept life in their bodies for a few days. - -To that end of the valley were brought all of the small horses in the -kingdom, to the number of several hundreds. There was not enough fodder -to maintain the poor animals for long, and they died by the score. The -slopes of the Gateway swarmed with wild goats, driven thither with -all the rest by the sinister white invader that had crept to their -loftiest haunts in the cliffs, and had cut them off from their food -supplies. They and the horses were all that remained of animal life in -Sardanes, except the dogs of Minos on Latmos. - -Bitter as was the exigency, Analos the priest would not suffer the -people to ascend to the terraces of the Gateway, where was still -some warmth from within the hill. So strong was the grip of their -superstitions and his threats, that, shivering, facing death and -desperate, the people still heeded and obeyed him. - -Analos, guardian of the portals of the Gateway, dwelt alone with the -majesty of his god, save for the wild goats, which cared naught for -orders, priest or god. - -Watch was kept no longer at the mouth of the cavern where Minos and -his party lay. Well it was for them that it was so, else they had -perished of cold. No longer was the cave tenable without fire. Like the -people below in the valley, the refugees were forced to work in shifts -of axmen to keep the lives within them. In the cave a fire roared -constantly, and another without on the plateau. - -Analos had given up his battle against the king. It was by his orders -that his spearsmen kept watch at the cave no longer. His fiery spirit -was burning itself out within him, and he was turning cold, as the -lifeless hills turned cold. It seemed to him that his will roamed -through the chambers of his mind, and in them could find no more of -anger against Minos; nor could it conjure up, as it had been want to -do, more terrible behests of the god Hephaistos. Chaos had come to -Analos, and let it come, said he, for no more might he read the mind of -his mighty master and interpret his wishes. - -On the Gateway he dwelt alone and in a daze, and waited, waited, for -he knew not what. But he was to see one more vision--wild as any his -madness ever brought to him. - -He hardly ever slept. Hour by hour he paced the paths of the upper -terrace, before the carven portal of the cliff, until there came a -day when he found that he could enter the winding way that led to the -ancient temple of death on the crater ledge. - -On the stone steps of the sanctuary the priest laid himself, worn -out with his vigil, and there sleep bound him fast. For hours he -slumbered on. He awoke with a great start of horror, the fear of a -half-remembered dream, a monstrous vision. He rushed to the brink of -the sheer ledge. - - * * * * * - -Hundreds of feet below him writhed the fiery lake, wafting upwards its -roseate mists and vapors, as it had for centuries. It was once more at -its ancient level--_or was it below?_ He stared; and as he gazed, it -seemed to him that, inch by inch, very slowly, the seething maelstrom -was sinking! - -Suddenly realization came to him. The flaming crown of the Gateway was -gone. The fires of the Gateway were going! - -Poised at the ledge's brink, he flung wide his arms. "Hephaistos! -Hephaistos! Master, whither goest thou?" he shrieked. The dull rumble -of the fires, the soughing of the wind in the mighty cone, the soft -curling reek of the fire mists drifting by him were his only answer. -Came the thought of those below in the valley, and he rushed from the -temple and passed down the terraces. - -Already snow was falling on their green declivity. - -His appearance on the side of the mountain was greeted with a shivering -moan from the people. When the Gateway had gone dark, and new terror -had assailed them, they still had held to the word of the priest. No -one of them set foot on the holy hill. Quaking, they crowded together -at its foot and waited the coming of Analos. A thousand eyes were upon -him as he went down the terraces--not the arrogant, masterful man they -always had known him, but a bowed and silent figure, walking with -folded arms and eyes cast down, great eyes that glowed but dimly in -their caverns. Even so, he was still the master--and still mad. - -As he paused on the lowermost terrace, they crowded closely about him. -A nation held its breath and waited for his words. He raised his head -and his gaze swept over the close ranks of the people. He held out his -arms toward them in silence for a moment before he spoke. - -"A message I bear to his people from the mighty Lord Hephaistos," he -said clearly. "Patience for but a little time, and he shall hear it. -But first I must go to Latmos. Take me thither." - -Six strong men made a litter and carried him, fighting their way -through snow almost knee-deep, to the plateau on Latmos. - -Hunters of the king, laboring at their fire on the plateau, saw the -party on its way. One of them summoned Minos. - -"The red priest hath come again from the Gateway," he shouted into the -cave. - -Armed and ready, Minos the king came forth, but laid his weapons down -when he saw only six unarmed and gloomy men. Analos clambered from his -litter and faced him. - -"Once more, and this the last time of all, cometh Analos, priest of -Hephaistos, to look upon thy face, thou Minos, who wast king," he said. -"Nay, answer me not in anger, for I speak not in anger or bitterness," -he continued quickly, when the king would have replied. "Hear me -through. That which hath passed between us, let it pass and be past. No -longer beareth Analos command of his god to do harm to thee or thine." - -He raised his arm and pointed to the south up the valley. Minos saw -that the arm trembled, and the man was swaying. - -"Sardanes lieth dead," the priest went on. "Life cometh to the valley -no more, for the god goeth hence forever, and leaveth all things behind -him as doubtless they were before he came in the ancient days and made -his home and guided hither his chosen people. - -"Yonder in the Gateway, the god tarryeth to take with him his faithful -ones. He groweth impatient, for even there the fires fall apace--" - -"How meanest thou?" Minos broke in. - -"This; that, with the passing of the god shall pass every soul in -Sardanes. Analos goeth hence to the Gateway to muster his people. With -music and singing and rejoicing shall they follow the ancient god -through the Gateway to the Future, to what new, far land of promise he -hath prepared for them." - -The king drew a quick breath, but held his peace. Leaning on the -shoulders of two of his bearers, for his strength waned, Analos turned -his somber eyes on the hunters. - -"Ye men of Minos," he said, and his voice was almost gentle, "come yet -with all the rest, I pray you. Your people await you, with your wives -and your little ones. It is in the mind of Analos that, because ye have -been faithful to your master in his folly, the punishment therefor -shall not fall on you. Much may be forgiven a loyal servant, even -though he setteth his master before his god. Analos biddeth you come, -for time groweth short, and darkness falleth. - -"And thou, O Minos, come thou also, an indeed thou wilt. I know not -what shall be meted out to thee of the god's mercy. Perchance thy -punishment shall be most passing bitter. That is in the hands of -Hephaistos, and no more in those of Analos, his servant. Analos hath -no further hate for thee in his heart, or for the maid Memene. Come ye -both, if ye are so minded, in peace and with these others. Analos hath -spoken." - -"Priest, thou art mad still," replied Minos, "but not so mad as once -thou wert. The valley lieth dead indeed, and Minos knoweth not if ever -it will bloom again. Thou mayest bend the people to thy crazed mind's -fancy. Minos bendeth not. Here will he await the end, until the end." - -Before the king had quit speaking, the priest fell wearily into his -litter, and at a sign from his hand, his men started down the slopes -through the snow. - - * * * * * - -On the day following the misadventure of Captain Scoland, Polaris and -Zenas Wright, all their preparations made, set forth on the road to -Sardanes. - -Latter-day science has contributed much to the safety and comfort of -the explorer. On the sledge of the adventurers was packed in small -space a supply of provisions for both men and animals that would last -them for a month, yet which did not constitute too great a weight for -the dogs to draw. The sledge itself was far higher than the old affair -of wood with which the son of the snows had set out on his previous -perilous trips. Wherever lightness would not detract from the strength -to withstand straining, the vehicle was constructed of aluminum. - -The travelers were armed heavily. Ill would it go with any shape of man -or beast that should cross their path with threatening intent. From the -belt of Polaris swung a brace of automatic pistols of the heaviest -caliber. Strapped handily on the sledge were three high-powered rifles. -Old Zenas Wright contented himself with one pistol, like those of his -companion. - -Not all of the trappings of the younger man were the product of -civilization. He carried in his hand a stout spear of his own -workmanship. On that, and on the long knife at his side, he depended, -in a pinch, fully as much as he did on the guns. - -Farewells were soon said at the camp, a ceremony which Scoland was not -on hand to participate in. Polaris laid out his harness, inspanned his -seven dogs, with big Boris in the lead, and cracked his long whip. From -shore and ship a cheer went up as the dogs sprang forward. The two -wayfarers responded with waves of their hands, then bent their backs to -the toil of the road, vanished over the crest of the ridge, and were -gone. - -For years more than twice the span of Polaris's life, Zenas Wright had -been an active and athletic man. He had made no empty boast when he had -said that he was a traveler of parts, and able to hold his own on any -path. If the pace they set was not quite as swift as Polaris might have -maintained alone, it was far from slow, and the old explorer kept it up -tirelessly and uncomplaining. - -Mile after mile fell behind the flying feet of the agile beasts and -gliding men. Occasionally they stopped and made brief camp, but the -pressure of their errand spurred them to the limit of endurance. -Weather favored them. They met no biting tempests with blinding snows -to confuse and delay them. Lack of clear light was their only serious -obstacle. The skies remained overcast and leaden, and no golden sun -rays came to point their way. - -"More light I could wish for gladly," said Polaris, "but I think the -very instinct within me will not let me lose this road." - -Often he scanned the horizon to the south, frequently halting the dogs -and ascending to the summit of craggy snow hummock or low hill, with -which the great plain was besprinkled. He also studied continually the -formation of the ice-clad barrier range to their left, its sinister -peaks in silhouette against the sky. - -Used for years to fix his bearings by the landmarks set by nature, -the eye of the snow dweller was photographic, his memory unerring. At -length he found the path he sought. Spying afar from the crest of a -craggy eminence, he noted the combination of contour and surroundings -that told him they were near to the end of their journey. - -He swung the dog team from the eastward course, and veered away to the -south. Soon they came to a long depression, that wound southward among -the low hills, in much the semblance of a sometime traveled highway. - -With kindling eye, Polaris pointed down the reaches of its sinuous -course. - -"Yonder, old man, stretches the Hunters' Road, and Sardanes lies at its -farther end!" he cried. "In a few more hours we shall know the best or -worst of this long trip of ours." - -Even with the aid of the powerful glasses carried by Zenas Wright, -Polaris could not pierce the distances to where the volcanic hills lay -around the valley. - -"If all were well, there should be at least some flare of fires against -this dull sky," he muttered, "yet I see none." - -Guiding the dogs into the road, Polaris urged them on at a pace faster -than any they had yet taken, for he knew that this path was free from -obstacles or pitfalls. As they came nearer to their goal, both men grew -taciturn. Zenas Wright was absorbed with the food for thought that his -eager old eyes supplied him. Polaris was oppressed with a prescience of -tragedy. Why were there no fires on the horizon, and why no signs of -travel on the white reaches of the Hunters' Road? - -Once more they camped against a bluff cliff at a turn in the road, and -then went on again. First with the glasses, and then with their eyes -alone, they picked upon the dim outlines of the Sardanian mountain -ring, dull white against the dun skies. Polaris shook his head gloomily. - -"Much my heart does misgive me, old Zenas Wright," he said, "for I fear -we are too late. Green, yon hills should be, and dark at their summits, -but they are white. The breeze blows from them to us, but is tempered -with no warmth. I fear that the great calamity which your science has -foretold is complete, and that all Sardanes is passed away." - -As they drew nearer to the mountain ring, out to their left across the -snow-fields, they saw the evidences of a mighty disturbance of the face -of the earth. Hills riven in twain, tremendous fissures and pits marked -a long, wide scar that extended from the base of the hills and reached -northward farther than they could see. - -"Some giant force has passed that way," Polaris said, "the like of -which I never saw in these lands. It is not unlike the track of a -giant's sledge across the face of the country. How do you read it?" - -"It is the path taken by the volcanic fires on their way from here to -where we found them blazing on Ross Sea," Zenas Wright answered. "As -they tore their way through the channels opened to them, they writhed -and shook the earth and rock above them, and left this appearance when -they had gone. That would have been a sight worth watching and study. -The earth out there must have pitched and tossed like waves of the sea." - -He paused, and his face was very solemn. - -"I, too, am afraid that it's all no use," he said slowly. "That seam -out there is cold, or there would be a fog above it so thick we could -not trace it. That means that the fires have been gone for some time. -It looks bad. But let us hurry on and see for ourselves." - - * * * * * - -They reached the north pass of Sardanes and found it half choked with -snow where it always had been bare. It was a comparatively easy matter -to sledge up and through it. Halfway up the pass the dogs balked and -refused to go forward. Slinking and whining, the brutes skulked in -their harness and cowered back against the sides of the sledge, nor -would word or whip urge them on. - -Hardly less keen than those of the animals themselves, the senses of -the son of the snows soon warned him of the danger's nature. He sniffed -at the air of the pass and turned smilingly to the scientist. - -"A bear," he said, and then, contemptuously; "these dogs are of a poor -spirit or we would have to hold them back rather than whip them on. -Stay you here and try to quiet them. I will go on and clear the way." - -He took a rifle from the sledge and laid down his spear, saying almost -apologetically as he did so, "Well would I love to fight him after my -old fashion and show you sport, but we haste, and have no time for -sports." - -Taking off his snowshoes and loosening the knife in his belt, Polaris -ran forward around a turn of the rock. Hardly had he disappeared when -the air reechoed to a burst of horrid howling, followed by the spitting -crack of the rifle. - -Polaris found his foe a few rods up the pass, a lean old bear, almost -toothless, his once snow-white coat rusted to a dingy yellow, his claws -well worn. He was feeling his way cautiously down the snow-covered -rocks. With the wind blowing from him, he had no warning of the -presence of an enemy until he saw Polaris kneeling scarcely fifteen -feet from him. Then he howled indeed. It was his last challenge. A -bullet from the powerful rifle, truly aimed, plowed through his shaggy -breast and found his heart. - -Whipping out his knife, Polaris cut the throat of the huge beast and -hacked a piece of flesh from its shoulder. He ran down the path again -and threw the bloody fragment before the dogs. - -"An old trick," he laughed. "They smell the blood, they taste it, and -they fear no more." - -Up through the pass the travelers drove their team, past the carcass of -the bear, and stood at the lip of the valley slope. Sardanes lay before -them. Zenas Wright groaned aloud. Polaris Janess threw wide his arms in -a gesture of sorrow, and his face grew solemn with pity. - -"_Gone_," he whispered; "men and women and children, and the wonders -they wrought--gone, and the snows have covered all!" - -As they stood there, the Antarctic sun, freed at last from its cloud -bonds, shot a sullen red ray over the hills and down the valley, and -laid bare the full measure of the ruin. From the gleaming cap of the -Gateway to the Future, to Mount Helior in upper Sardanes the valley was -banked with snow, its mansions hidden, its fields and forests buried -deep. Only on the higher slopes was evidence that life had ever been. -There the giant hymanan trees still stood against the storms, their -branches bleak and bare, thrust out above the white masses that covered -more than half their mighty trunks. Behind them loomed the cliffs of -the mountain ring, their sheer sides also splotched with white. - -Some distance down the valley, Polaris fancied he could distinguish a -mass bulking up in the snow that he deemed marked where the Judgment -House stood. - -"In the hollow of the Gateway hill, and in caves in the mountain sides, -perchance there is that which will repay your visit somewhat, old man," -Polaris said to the geologist. "All else is dead." - -Before the old man could answer the dogs became suddenly uneasy, -growling and snarling. Polaris bent forward and cupped his ear with his -hand. A long-drawn howling floated across the valley from the western -range. "More bears," he said, then started and turned a flashing eye on -his companion. - -"Come on, old Zenas Wright!" he cried. "More than bears are here. -Yonder howl dogs also. Did I not know that my gray brothers were dead -these many months, all but Marcus, I might swear I heard their own -voices. But, where dogs are, there are men also. Here is a new riddle. -Come!" - -Urging the huskies, they shot down the snow crusts of the hillside and -started across the valley. - - * * * * * - -When he reached the Gateway from his last visit to Mount Latmos, Analos -despatched four men and a pony sledge to the deserted Judgment House -to fetch to the hill of the god the huge drum of time. When it was -brought, he appeared on the steps to the first of the terraces. His -priests clustered about him in a black-robed group. - -He gazed down into the upturned faces of his people. At a signal, -both priests and people knelt. For a space the crackling of the vast -camp-fires was the only sound. Analos gathered his strength for what -was to be his last speech. Never had man an audience more breathlessly -attentive. - -"Hephaistos calleth his children," the priest began, his voice hollow -and solemn, his words falling slowly. "Through me, Analos, high priest -in Sardanes, his life-long servant, he calleth. It is not for man to -question the ways of the ancient god. Analos questioneth not. When his -master calleth, he answereth, 'Whither thou leadest me, there will I -follow on.' I am ready. Are ye also ready, my people?" - -In the pause that followed the question rose the voice of the Lord -Ukalles of upper Sardanes. "Whither calleth the god, O master? Read -thou his message to Sardanes." - -Piercing clear the voice of the high priest in answer: - -"To the Gateway to the Future calleth he his children, through the -portals of the temple of death to the glory that lieth beyond, whither -every Sardanian hath trod since the land was new." - -A shiver passed through the kneeling ranks, and a whisper, half a moan, -from two thousand human throats. Again spoke the Lord Ukalles: "Must -this thing be, master? Is this the end? Is there no other way?" - -"This thing must be," answered the red priest steadily. "There is no -other way. This is the end in Sardanes. Be ye brave, all my people. -In a far country, brighter even than the fair Sardanes ye have known, -Hephaistos will welcome you. Think; since our forefathers came up from -the seas to this place, no Sardanian ever hath lived, save one man -only, but hath passed the Gateway when his time came. Without fear and -without flinching have they passed whither the god beckoned them. And, -if they died elsewhere, faithful friends brought them hither, and still -they passed the portals. Thousands have gone this road. Will ye falter -now, when the great god doth summon you to accompany him?" - -Again he paused. From the people rose a many-voiced murmur, and its -burden was, "We are ready, master, lead thou us on." - -"The end hath struck, indeed," cried the Lord Ukalles. "Now is no time -for words or thoughts, but to do the bidding of the god. It is fitting -that the lords of Sardanes should take their proper station. Stand ye -forth, my fellow nobles of the land, ye and yours." - -In measured tones he called the roll of the mountains, omitting only -Latmos, Epamon, and Lokalian. Minos dwelt on Latmos, Patrymion of -Epamon and Garlanes of Lokalian had journeyed on before. Man by man -the nobles answered and took their places at the foot of the terrace -with their families. Brought face to face with doom, the people met it -sad-eyed and silent, but unflinching. - -"It is well," cried Analos. "The children of the god fear not. Form in -procession, my people, as for a festival. Cast wood on the fires to -light the way." - -Under this direction the huge drum was hoisted to the first terrace. - -"Beat the drum, Karthanon, while the people make ready," commanded -Analos. Karthanon the Aged bared a withered arm and laid on with -measured stroke. Below the drum gathered the trumpeters. To the blare -and boom of the music the Sardanians formed their ranks. - -"When all is ready, Analos leadeth," said the priest. He staggered to -the steps that led to the second terrace, and prostrated himself in -prayer, with his face on the lowest step. - -Across the valley from in front of the cave on Latmos, Minos and his -men and the Lady Memene watched these proceedings from afar. The -hymanan forests were down or bare, and they could see clearly by the -light of the fires that ringed the camp. When they saw the people -marshaling on the slope at the foot of the Gateway, and the first -booming stroke of the drum beat up to their ears across the intervening -space, the hunters drew apart and conferred among themselves in low -tones. - -Then came Zalos, their leader, and knelt at the feet of the king. - -Tears rolled down the face of the sturdy captain. - -"Lord Minos the king, I have served thee faithfully for many years, -thee and thy royal house," he said in a broken voice. "As long as there -was fighting to be done for thee, I and these men of mine would have -stood with thee until death found us all. But now there is no more -fighting, and here is the end of all things. Yonder go our people. With -them are our wives, our fathers and mothers and children. At the gates -of the temple of death do they stand and hold out their hands to us. -Lord, think us not disloyal. We ask thee that we may join them and die -with them. O king, if thou goest not also, let us go to them." - -He bowed his head on Minos's hand, and wet it with his tears. The king -raised him gently. - -"Zalos, old friend and comrade, faithful and true hast thou been unto -the end, thou and all these men, thy friends and mine. Now do I -absolve thee from thy allegiance and bid thee farewell. Go--go freely, -and where thy hearts are calling thee. Minos hath nothing to forgive -of thee, and much to thank. Farewell." In the flickering of the fire, -tears gleamed on the cheek of the king also. - - * * * * * - -One by one the men came to him and knelt and kissed his hand. As they -were about to depart, they heard the lad Alternes crying out within the -cave, and he climbed over the rock in the passage and staggered to the -side of the fire. He was weak with illness. His cheeks flamed and his -eyes shone bright with fever. - -"I heard the drum calling me," he cried. "Ah, look, the people gather -at the Gateway!" He pointed across the valley. "A great festival is -toward." - -"Aye, lad," said Zalos, "the festival of Death. Yonder all Sardanes is -gathered to march through the Gateway." - -For a moment the boy stared, wild-eyed. - -"Why, then, must Alternes go, too!" he said. "Take me with thee, Zalos. -Farewell, my king." He reeled toward Minos, but his strength gave way. -He pitched on his face, and a stream of blood welled from his lips. -Minos bent and laid his hand on the lad's head. At a sign, four of the -hunters picked the boy up and wrapped him in his cloak. - -"Take me with you," said the king. "It is his right.... Lady Memene, -what of thee?" he asked. "Here is the end. Thy people march to their -last long sleep before the darkness cometh. There on the Gateway are -thy father and all thy house. Goest thou also?" - -The girl gazed at him for a moment, while Zalos and the hunters waited -on her answer. She drew herself up proudly. - -"Memene goeth not," she said; "here will she await the end, whatever it -may be." - -The hunters raised their arms in silent salute to the king and the -maid, then turned, bearing the lad among them, and ran down the -hillside, the snow spurting from beneath their flying feet. - -When they arrived at the Gateway their loved ones welcomed them, only -to bid them farewell for a longer journey than any they had yet taken. -For the procession was formed and on the move. - -At its head, leaning on two of his servants, Analos the high priest -passed up the terraces. Behind him strode the others of the company of -Hephaistos. Two stalwart priests bore the drum of time, and Karthanon -the Aged walked beside, smiting it as he went. After them came the -nobles of the valley and their households, and then the concourse of -the people, marching slowly and with raised faces. - -As they set foot on the topmost terrace, the priests took up the chant -of death, softly at first, and then with increasing volume. Voice after -voice joined in the measured chant. The procession crossed the upper -terrace, entered the lofty carved arch of the portal, and wound upward -through the spiral passage to the edge of the Gateway's crater. - -On the steps of the temple of death Analos took his stand, supporting -himself against one of its pillars. The priests with the drum gathered -before him. - -"Forward without fear, children of Hephaistos!" he shouted. "Falter -not! There waiteth the ancient god." He pointed to the brink of the -ledge. - -Firmly the trumpeters marched on, the red glow of the fire mists -playing on their faces. They reached the brink, and they faltered not, -and their trumpets sounded no more. On marched the nobles and the -people, still singing as they marched. If any Sardanian, man or woman -or child, blenched or cried out that day, the press of the people -carried them on, the mighty chant drowned their voices. No coward -turned back. Even a number of the small horses entered the hill with -their masters, whinnying and nuzzling with their soft muzzles. They -passed the Gateway with the rest. - -Nearly the last of all came Zalos and his hunters. They carried with -them the corpses of Alternes, who had not lived to reach the mountain. - -At length it was done. Only the priests remained on the ledge. The -reverberations of the smitten drum and the roaring of the fires in the -fearful pit overbore their feeble chant. - -"Forward, my brothers, true servants of the god!" cried Analos. -"Forward, and I will follow you! Analos shall be the last of all, his -duty done, his work complete." - -With set faces, and bearing with them the drum of time, the members of -the black-robed company advanced. Before the last stroke of Karthanon -had ceased to echo through the hollows of the mountain, Analos stood -alone. Staggering and weak, he, too, advanced. To his disordered fancy -it seemed that the curling vapors before him were thick with passing -souls. - -Half the distance from the steps of the temple to the great hall he -stumbled and fell. Faintness numbed his limbs. - -His head swam dizzily. - -"Hephaistos! Master," he cried in terror, "desert me not here! -Strength! Grant me strength!" - -He struggled madly. He clawed at the very rock of the floor, and -dragged himself inch by inch toward the death he sought. His breath -came in gasps. His jaw fell. The iron spirit of the man held back -dissolution itself until his will was accomplished. Groping and -crawling, he reached at last the polished chute in the rock, cut there -by the priests centuries before and worn smooth by the passing of -thousands of Sardanians. - -"I thank thee, master," he sighed, content. He rolled into the chute, -and his body shot downward and outward above the fiery lake. His red -robe spread wide as he took the plunge, like the wings of some immense -crimson bird swooping downward from a flaming sky to a blazing sea. - - * * * * * - -Minos the king stood by his fire on the hill of Latmos. With folded -arms he stood, and the Lady Memene sat near to him on a log of hymanan -wood cut for the burning. Their eyes strained across the white -Sardanian valley. Both were silent. They saw the long procession of -those about to die sweep up the fire-lighted steeps of the Gateway to -the Future. They heard the chant of death from two thousand throats -as the people marched across the upper terrace and through the gloomy -portal of the cliff, to the music of the trumpeters and the booming of -the drum of time. - -When the last man had passed within, they still heard the muffled -thunder of the drum. Then that ceased also. Strong spirited as were -they both, their hearts seemed to stop with it. - -"Now art thou and I and Kalin the last Sardanians in the living world," -the king said. So he spoke, not knowing that under the rocks and the -snows, many long leagues to the northward, Kalin, the priest, lay -asleep where Polaris Janess had left him nearly two years before. - -"That end is come which the priest preached and the people feared," -he continued, "the end which Minos could not believe would come. Nor -doth he believe yet, nor will so believe, that it is wrought of a god. -Nature hath withdrawn her mercy, and all things in Sardanes die. - -"Believing not, Minos hath tarried. Now he is a king no longer. He hath -no people left to rule. Naught remaineth but a snow-swept valley which -death hath touched." - -From her seat on the log the girl arose. She stood in front of Minos, -so close that her soft breath fanned his cheek. A slow, red flush that -was not of the firelight overspread her features. Her dark eyes flashed -like jewels. She spoke, and her heart was in her voice. - -"Little of all that thou hast valued is left to thee, Lord Minos," she -said. "Thy people have turned against thee and are gone. Thy home is a -ruin. The fast-falling snows cover the land thou didst love well. Some -few friends were faithful unto the death, but death came, and they left -thee. All that thou hadst to lose, thou hast lost, save thy life, thy -dogs yonder, and one other thing, which, perchance, thou wilt value but -little. In all the world, Lord Minos, there is not one to take thee by -the hand and call thee friend. - -"This is the hour which Memene hath foreseen and awaited. Say not that -thou art no more king, my Lord Minos. Thou art _my_ king. It was my -will to stand beside thee when all the rest had passed--to tell thee -that with thee I fear no danger and no death. I love thee, Minos--" - -Like a man in a spell, Minos heard her words. Closer to him she swayed. -He felt the softness of her body against his breast. From the folds of -her cloak her white arms crept up about his neck and drew his face to -hers. Their cheeks touched. Flame answered flame. With a deep-voiced -cry, "_Memene!_" he caught her to him and crushed her lips against his -own. - -For a time they stood, locked fast in each other's arms. Then Minos -lifted his face to the scintillant stars in the pale Antarctic sky. "If -somewhere above there dwelleth a power which doth guide the destinies -of men, Minos giveth thanks," he called, exulting--"thanks for the will -within him which hath stood firm to wrest from dark days of strife and -death one moment such as this!" - -He shook his fist toward the south. "Come, thou wild spirit of the -wastes," he cried, "o'erwhelm the valley of Sardanes with thy snows and -thy tempests! Minos thou canst not daunt. Thou mayest kill, but thou -canst not take away that which this day hath given!" - -Again he bent above the girl, and saw her face all rosy and dimpled, -where before it had been cold and indifferent. Mockery dwelt there no -longer. The lights of love shone so strongly as to shake his stout -heart. - -Had he won her but to lose her? - -"Ah, Memene, Memene, loved one," he whispered, "love like ours was -never doomed to die here in the snows. There must--there shall be some -way to cheat death--" - -From within the cave the baying of Pallas and her brood interrupted -him. He started, his every nerve athrill with a new thought. - -"There _is_ a way!" he cried. "The beasts of the stranger! Whither -passed Polaris and Kalin and the Rose maid, to that far-away land they -named America, there shall we fare, also--there where is light and -warmth for love. When the long night hath passed, my princess, then -shall we journey northward!" - -Memene, nestling close to him, replied, "Would that it might be so, O -king of mine. Would that time might give us of its mercy and its years. -Then would Memene show thee how a Sardanian girl can love. But if so -much be not granted to us, and cold death cometh, Memene shall be well -content to die with thee." - -He led her gently through the passage, and with infinite tenderness -lifted her over the rock and into the cavern. When they were come -thither, Minos suddenly smacked his thigh, and a short and foolish -laugh burst from him. He looked at her, abashed. - -"What is it that maketh thee to laugh thus and look so strangely?" -asked the girl. - -"Why, lady," he said, shamefacedly, "it did strike upon my mind that -every priest in Sardanes hath gone, and there is none left to wed us." - -A flood of burning color made the face of Memene more lovely still. She -covered her hot cheeks with her hands. When she looked up again, she -met the troubled gaze of the king with a brave smile. - -"Thou knowest the words of the ancient ceremony, Minos, dost thou not?" -she asked him. - -"Aye, by rote." - -"Yonder is wine, and here be lights. Let us say it, each to the other. -I think that those who watch from above, seeing how it is with us, -shall not greatly blame." - -Minos stretched a rug on the rock floor and fetched a gleaming ilium -flagon, which he set on one of the chests. Then lover and maid knelt -before one of the flaring torches with joined hands. Sentence by -sentence, they repeated the responses of the quaint old Sardanian -marriage rite, through to the "Be thou mine and I thine until our call -cometh." They touched the wine with their lips, then rose and passed -their hands with fingers locked above the flame of the torch. - -"My bride!" Minos whispered, and gathered the girl in his arms. The -great gray dogs looked on with curious eyes. So were Minos and Memene -wed. - - * * * * * - -Within a week after the death march of the Sardanian nation, the fires -that had lingered in the crater of the Gateway to the Future had passed -away, and that hill was cold and still as any in the ring of the -valley. On its slopes the grass and herbiage withered, and the snows -fell. For a few days the steeps swarmed with goats, the hardy animals -outliving the last of the ponies; but they, too, soon died of the cold -and starvation. - -The big bonfires that the people had built around their last camp had -long since burned out to ashes. The mantle of darkness that fell over -the valley was broken only by the blaze on the hill of Latmos, which -Minos tended, laboring mightily, and hewing therefor vast quantities of -wood from the stark hymanan forests. - -The task of bringing the wood up the mountainside through the snow -overtaxed even his great strength, if he would have enough to keep -his fire big and bright. Leaving three of the younger dogs with the -Princess Memene, he took Pallas and the other three, one day, and set -off for the storehouse at the outer foothills of the north pass to -fetch his sledge. - -On his way to the pass, he stopped at the Gateway. He climbed the -rugged terraces, passed the arch and the spiral pathway, groping his -way in the darkness, and once more, and for the last time, stood within -the temple of his father's god. - -The night was clear, and the polar stars shone brightly down. Some -portion of their radiance penetrated through the open summit of the -mountain, making faint twilight within it. Fierce gusts of wind -shrieked and eddied through the giant cone, tossing with them swirls of -drifting snow. The gale clutched at the cloak of the king. The white -snow-wraiths leaped and danced. In the wild moaning of the wind, it -were easy to fancy that the ghosts of the dead Sardanians were wailing -above the ruins of their temple. In that place of gloom Minos tarried -but a little while, then went his way. - -Returning with his sledge some two hours later, the king found that a -new and powerful life had entered the valley. As he passed across the -snow-fields where once had been the marshes, he heard a far-away and -hideous howling break forth from the cliffs of the Gateway. It was -answered by the snarling of his dog-pack. The four as one turned in -their traces and strained toward the hill, mouthing their challenge -loud. From the Latmos hill echoed the baying of their three fellows. - -Well did Minos, the hunter, know the meaning of the outcry above him. -Holding back his dogs sternly, he peered up the towering mass of the -mountain. Outlined against the dark body of a cliff, he saw, or thought -he saw, two monstrous white forms roaring and striking. Cracking his -long lash above the backs of his unwilling beasts, he hurried to Latmos. - -With the far-flaming menace of the fiery hills removed, the monarchs of -the wilderness, the polar bears, had come to Sardanes, where they never -had dared to penetrate before. They had crept over the mountain rim, -and were quarreling among themselves as they tore at the carcasses of -the dead goats on the sides of the Gateway. How long would it be ere -they came up against Latmos? And should they beset his path when he -ventured on his journey northward? thought the king with sudden fear. -What then? He carried no weapons that would slay from afar, as did the -son of the snows who had gone before him. - -From that day on Minos went no more afield. With the aid of the dogs -and the sledge, he hauled huge store of wood and piled it against the -cliffs at either side of the cave entrance. Laborious as was the work, -he carried large quantities of the fuel to the interior of the cavern -and stacked it against the walls. - -Weeks grew into months. Darkness and starlight alternated, grew at -length into gray twilight, as the slow sun journeyed farther and -farther southward. Still Minos and his princess dwelt in their cavern -and kept life strong within them. With wood and skins and cloths, of -which there was an almost inexhaustible store in the cave, the king -constructed a sort of room, by walling off a gallery that branched into -the cliff from one side of the main cavity and adjoining the entrance. -That made much smaller the space he must heat and light. He abandoned -the practise of keeping a fire on the plateau, kindling it there only -when he made an excursion after more wood. In that way he cut down his -labor much. - -For food, they drew on the vast granary bins that lined the sides of -the cavern, supplemented with dried fruits and honey. In one of the -galleries of the cave was a stock of smoked meats, and that Minos -reserved for the dogs, fearing that a diet of bread alone might cause -the animals to sicken. - -His labor and forethought, his splendid struggle against odds, did not -avert the lash of calamity. Unlooked for, it dealt him a stroke that -ended all his hopes. - -He had brought a sledge load of wood up the hillside one day, and had -loosed the dogs from their harness and driven them through the passage. -Ahead of him, the lithe beasts scrambled over the rock into the cavern. -As active as they, he put a hand to the rock and leaped. A loop of the -harness he bore caught on a projection on the boulder and threw him. -He fell heavily on his face. His ax of ilium slipped from his belt and -fell beneath him, its keen-edged blade uppermost. His head struck on -it, and it bit deep into his right temple. - - * * * * * - -With his senses swaying, Minos dragged himself to his feet. He reeled -along the passage to the curtained entrance to his home. Nearly spent, -and with the bright blood coursing down his neck, he staggered -straight through the fire and fell across his couch. He heard the cry -of Memene, his loved one, but it sounded faint and far. He felt her -arms close around him, and then darkness let fall its heavy curtain -over his mind. - -Days passed while he lay in a stupor and strange dream dramas played -themselves out around his pillow. Again he stood in the narrow pass, -and stout Sardanians went down before his good sword. Again he stood on -Latmos's side and saw the stricken people march boldly to their doom, -only that time the one most loved of all went with them, and he was -chained and could not follow. - -Vainly he called out to her, "Memene! Memene!" - -With that dear name upon his lips, the king awoke. He found her head -pillowed close to his own. Her arms were around his neck. She was -weeping softly and gazing into his face, her black eyes filled with -sorrow and terror. Around the couch he heard the dogs whining and -growling. It was very cold, and only one faint ray of light struggled -through a cleft in the rock above the passage that went into the little -room. - -Minos strove to raise himself on his elbow, but found himself too weak. -"What hath befallen," he muttered, "and why is it so cold and dark?" - -"Oh, Minos, Minos," wailed the girl, "our end is come. Our fire--'tis -gone. Worn out with tending thee, for thou hast lain sick these many -days, I did give way and sleep--for but a little hour, I thought--and -when I woke our fire was gone. Not one little spark was left. Ah, -Minos, thou diest, and I myself have slain thee, my love, my love." - -With a mighty effort he raised an arm and set it about her. "Nay, fret -not for that which thou couldst not prevent," he whispered. "Minos is -content to die. It was to be. The end cometh but a little sooner, this -way." - -A burst of howling from without interrupted him and goaded the dogs to -frenzy. - -Memene shuddered. "The great white bears are there," she whispered. -"They have howled for hours. Soon will they enter and rend us. I have -tied the dogs fast so that they might not rush out and fight and be -slain--_Ah--see!_" - -Horror struck, she pointed to the passage. Overcoming by degrees his -fear of an unseen trap, one of the monsters had penetrated the pass -and was clawing at the rock. The way was narrow, but, by dint of much -writhing and squeezing, the bear reared his ponderous bulk over the -boulder. In the dusk of the passageway his shaggy head and colossal -shoulders shone white. His cruel jaws slavered as he craned his head -around the turn in the wall, swaying it slowly from side to side, as -his blazing merciless eyes sought out his prey. - -At that sight the Princess Memene turned from fear to rage. Like a -tigress with young, she leaped from the couch, caught a spear from the -wall, and dashed into the passage. - -"Thou shalt not!" she shrieked, scarce knowing what she said. "Thou -shalt not enter! My king and I shall die in peace, and not be torn by -thee!" - -As she screamed she struck furiously at the bear's head with the ilium -spear, and gashed him deeply. Wedged where he could go neither backward -nor forward without great effort, the huge animal was hard put to it to -defend himself from the attack of the infuriated woman. Dauntlessly she -faced him, thrusting with the spear. - -Minos, on his couch, strove with all his will and strength to rise up -and go to her aid, but so weak was he that all his struggling did not -lift his shoulders from his pillow. - -In the narrow confines of the cave, the howling of the bear and the -snarling of the seven dogs, gone mad at sight of their enemy and with -balked lust for fighting, made the din of an inferno. The gray snow -runners twisted and tore at their leashes, and leaped and leaped again, -only to fall back on the rock floor, as their ropes held. - -Pallas alone used method. Finding her struggles for freedom in vain, -she turned on the stout rope and rent it with her teeth. Tearing at it -furiously, she weakened it. At last it gave way, and she bounded past -the princess and leaped straight in the monster's face. - -Slashed and bleeding, with the sight of one eye nearly gone, the bear -was fully aroused. As the dog leaped, one powerful white paw swung, -armed with its spread of crescent claws. It caught Pallas in midair, -hurled her against the side of the passage, and she fell, her lifeblood -spurting from a jagged wound in her neck. Another stroke dashed the -spear from the hand of Memene. - -Gathering his hind legs under him against the rock, the bear thrust -himself forward into the cave! - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - BACK TO LIFE AND LIGHT - - -Screaming in a desperate frenzy that cast aside all fear, the Princess -Memene sprang back along the passage and caught up another spear to -replace that which the stroke of the bear had spun from her grasp. -In her veins surged up the blood that had faced death on many a -hard-fought battlefield in the years when the world was young, and -counted no odds. Pale to the lips, her eyes ablaze, she fronted her -towering antagonist. For the bear was over the rock now, reared on his -hinder legs, and advancing to make an end. - -At her feet writhed the dying dog, above her swung the crescent talons; -the roaring, slavering jaws were opening wide to rend and tear her -tender flesh. - -Came a flash of fire from the passage, a crashing report that echoed -and vibrated through the rocky corridor. The bear stiffened in every -limb and line. A shudder ran through his immense bulk. He turned half -around and, with one unearthly howl, collapsed across the floor of the -passage, his life gushing from him in a crimson torrent that jetted -from under his shoulder. - -As though in the grip of a dream, the girl saw the beast go down. She -heard the fiendish clamor of the ravening pack behind her, sounding -faint and from a distance. Then with a shout a great man clothed in -white furs strode into the passage. His cap had fallen from his head, -and long golden hair fell about his shoulders. In his hand he carried a -smoking rifle. - -For a moment he stood out to the girl's sight, clear cut as a living -cameo. The darkness fell upon her. Vainly she strove to command her -dizzying senses. Her knees gave way. With a little sigh, she pitched -forward, falling across the carcass of the bear, which still was moving -feebly in its death agony. - -Polaris leaped over the body of his fallen foe and stood, peering about -him with quick glances. As his eyes became accustomed to the half light -in the cavern, he saw the princess lying across the dying monster, her -long black hair disheveled and mingled with the snowy fur of the brute. -He stooped and caught up the girl and laid her gently to one side, -where the beast in the throes of dissolution might not do her harm. - -Looking beyond her, he saw the small room hung with skins, saw the six -gray dogs crouched in leash, every burning eye turned on him, and, at -the farther side of the room, saw the long, broad form of a man lying -loose flung across a low pallet, his head hanging over its side. All -that he saw, and then from the dusk along the wall of the passage a -gaunt, gray form reared up in his path, and he forgot all else. - -"Pallas!" he cried. "Pallas! Are you come back from the dead?" - -Taking a stiff step forward, the dog gathered all the strength in -her weakening frame and raised herself on her hind legs. She set her -forepaws against the breast of the master loved so well and, whining, -strove to look into his face. Her eyes were glazing, and the blood was -spurting fast from a ghastly wound in her neck. - -"No, my Pallas, you are no ghost--but soon will be," Polaris said with -breaking voice. "I find you, and I lose you." He steadied the dog with -his strong hands and laid her cold muzzle against his cheek. - -With each gasping breath she tried to bark her joy, but she was too -weak. A low howl burst from her lungs that carried with it a world -of glad greeting, affection, and farewell. She shuddered, her head -drooped, and her limbs relaxed. - -"Good-by, Pallas," whispered the master. He lowered the limp body to -the floor and stepped forward, wet-eyed, to explore the other wonders -of the cave. First he carried the unconscious girl into the room and -laid her on one of the large chests, drawing a blanket over her. -Crouching along the wall, where they were tied fast to a beam, the six -children of Pallas watched his every motion, their hackles erect, their -teeth bared. He ran his eyes approvingly over their powerful forms, and -noted with a smile the leathern harness that hung on the beam. - -"You serve a master who has trained you well," he muttered. "Soon you -and I shall be fast friends." - - * * * * * - -Approaching the pallet, Polaris took the man who lay there by the -shoulders and turned him over, placing his head back on its pillow. He -started with surprise when, despite the emaciation of sickness and a -ten days' growth of beard, he recognized the well-remembered features -of the Sardanian king. - -"You, too, Minos?" he exclaimed. "Truly, the ways of fate are strange." - -A touch of the hand told him that the heart of the king still beat. He -glanced around the room. The fireplace, with its dead ashes, told its -story. For the first time he realized the cold of the place. - -"A wound, sickness, the loss of fire, and no means to make one, then -the beast. I find you in evil case, indeed, Minos the king," he said. - -He hurried to the fireplace and piled wood upon the hearth. With his -keen knife he hacked splinters and set them to the wood. Producing a -box of matches from the breast of his shirt, he struck them and fired -the pile in many places. Going back to the king, he exerted his great -strength, and dragged the couch across the rocky floor to the side of -the fireplace. He spread a rug on the floor and laid the girl on it. -She showed no sign as yet of returning consciousness. - -While he was at work, he heard the voice of Zenas Wright calling him -insistently from the hill slopes outside the cave, where he had left -him to mind the dog team. - -Polaris hastened out, and met the old man in the passage. - -"I was getting worried," the scientist said. "I've unhitched those -wicked brutes of yours and given them something to chew on. They'd have -taken a chance at me if I hadn't, I guess. What's in there?" - -In a few words Polaris told him what he had found, the old geologist -tugging at his white beard and punctuating the tale with many an -exclamation of surprise. - -"Now haste you within, old man, with that flask of yours," said -Polaris, "and see if the man may be saved. The girl, I think, is sound -and well--she has only fainted--but Minos the king has been sorely -wounded, and lies so ill that his bones almost show through his flesh." - -Zenas Wright ran to the sledge and fetched a small medicine case and a -leather-covered flask of brandy. Polaris helped him to scramble over -the rock to the inner corridor. - -"'Ware the dogs," the young man cautioned. "Keep well away from them, -or they will have the clothes from off your back. There are some things -to be done out here, and then I will join you." - -The scientist hastened along the passage. By the leaping firelight he -surveyed the strangest room that ever he had seen in all his threescore -and odd years. The huge carved chests, the cloths and rugs of strange -materials, the quaint utensils, the weapons of iridescent ilium, -lighted the fires of enthusiasm in his eyes. - -"Marvelous!" he said. Well as he would have liked to stop at once, and -handle and study those curiosities, he hurried on, giving a wide berth -to the snarling brutes, which gave him no friendly greeting. He reached -the side of the couch and bent above the still form of the king. - -With expert fingers, the old man felt the wrists of Minos. "Um-m, -he's not so bad," he muttered. He unbound the bandage from the king's -head and inspected the wound in the sick man's temple. It had been a -deep gash and a wide, but it was nearly healed. Zenas Wright found a -small flagon and water, in which he mixed a draft of the fiery brandy. -Supporting the king's head on his arm, Wright forced his lips and teeth -apart and poured the strong spirit down Minos's throat. - -The sick man coughed weakly, but swallowed the liquor. Almost -immediately a line of color crept across his white face. He turned on -the old man's arm, his head wavered from side to side; then he settled -himself, and his deep, regular breathing indicated that he had passed -from swooning into sleep. - -From the king the geologist passed to the girl. He lifted the long, -dark tresses from her face. "A beauty, or would be if she was washed," -he commented. For Memene's cheeks were stained with tears, and grime -from the floor where she had fallen, and smeared with blood that had -jetted from the polar bear. - -Polaris's fire was blazing hotly, and the room was warm. Wright -loosened the girl's dress at the neck. He poured a few drops of the -brandy into her mouth. Finding a small cloth, he dipped it in water, -and laved her face and hands. Fear, rage, and despair had combined -strongly in the shock which brought about her faint, and she did not -respond at once. When he saw that her breathing was becoming easier, -the old man left her, and set about re-dressing the wound on the head -of the sick man. - -He was busy with scissors, bandages, and ointment, when he heard a -gasping cry behind him. - -Over him stood Memene. Far above her head, in the grip of both hands, -she swung the flashing ilium sword of Minos. Zenas Wright let fall his -bandages and shrank, startled fully as much by the rage of suspicion -and anger in the girl's face as by the menace of the glittering blade. - -"Drop it, foolish girl! Drop it!" he shouted hastily, recovering -himself somewhat. "Can't you see that I'm only mending your man's -broken head?" He held out the bandages and pointed to the wound in -Minos's temple and the basin and balm. - -His words meant nothing to the Sardanian princess, but she comprehended -the gestures. The suspicion left her dark eyes. Slowly she lowered -the sword. With a little cry she let it fall on the floor. In another -instant she was curled at the head of the king's couch, and her quick, -soft fingers were aiding the old man laving the wound, and picking -up for him, in turn, each article that he required, almost before he -indicated it. - -Her eyes followed every minute step of the operations. She watched -jealously every fleeting shade of expression in the old man's face. -Several times she overwhelmed him with a torrent of words that were -"Greek" indeed to him. He could only spread his hands out helplessly -and shake his head in answer. - -Clutching at his arm when the bandage was made fast, she pointed to the -sleeping man. Zenas Wright replied to the concern and the question in -her face by placing his finger first over the heart of Minos and then -on the wound, and smiling and nodding. - -Wild joy shone in the eyes of Memene. She made as if to kneel at Zenas -Wright's feet, then remembered that she was a princess. She raised her -arm in the Sardanian salute. Then the strange girl threw herself into -a chair, covered her face with her hands, and gave way to her woman's -need for tears. - - * * * * * - -On the hill slope Polaris busied himself making a camp for his huskies, -for, said he, "There would be a rare uproar, without end, did I take -them in there where the gray brood of my Pallas are." - -He stamped a circle in the snow, and made a fire of hymanan wood from -Minos's store of firewood. He found Minos's sledge and set it against -the cliff, with wooden blocks for braces. He rolled a big log into -place in front of it, screwed a number of rings which he carried for -the purpose into its side, and tethered the huskies, where they might -not come at the stores on the other sledge. Some loose robes cast into -the hollow behind the log sufficed, and the tired brutes crawled onto -them thankfully and curled up for a well-earned rest. - -So tired were they that they bolted without fighting for the food he -threw to them--and it is a tired husky, indeed, that will not try to -rob his neighbors of his rations. - -Presently the step of the son of the snows sounded in the passage to -the cave room. The Princess Memene sprang up and faced him. - -One searching look she gave him, poignant with inquiry. With hands -extended as though to ward back a danger, she stepped in front of -Minos's couch. - -"Ah, well I know thee!" she exclaimed. "Thou are that stranger from the -North come again to Sardanes. Thou wert his enemy. Thou wouldst not -harm him now? Thou canst not have the heart! See, he hath suffered much -and lieth low--" - -"Nay, nay, save thy fears, lady," Polaris answered in the ancient -tongue. "Polaris fighteth not with sick men, and would be friend to -Minos and to thee. From many a hundred leagues to the north hath he -come hither to save whom he might from the doom which this man's -knowledge told would fall on thy land." He pointed to Zenas Wright. - -"My mind recalleth thee not, lady," he continued. "Of what house art -thou, and how named?" - -"Memene, daughter of the Lord Karnaon, am I," replied the girl proudly; -and still more proudly, "I am the bride of Minos, King of Sardanes." - -"And, lady, art thou and the king the last to live in all the valley?" -asked the son of the snows eagerly. "I can see sign of none others." - -"We be the only Sardanians who have not passed the Gateway," the girl -replied, "save Kalin the priest, alone, who fared north with thee and -the Rose maid." - -"Then art thou indeed the last," Polaris said, "for Kalin died out -yonder in the snows, and these hands did bury him. - -"Now, lady, take the rest thine eyes do tell me thou needest so much. -All shall be well with thee, and thy husband lieth safe in the care of -a skilled man. An thou gainsayest me not, I will feed thy gray beasts -yonder, and clear thy doors of the carcass of the snow-wanderer there. -When thou are refreshed again, we fain would hear from thee how it went -with you, how Sardanes fell, and how it is that we found thee so." - -With the ax of Minos, Polaris hacked apart the carcass of the huge bear -and hung it in sections along the outer corridor, reserving it for food -for the beasts. Indeed, the six dogs of Minos were almost friendly with -him after they had taken a meal at his hands, receiving the fresh meat -ravenously after a long diet of smoked flesh. - -Memene slept, but with much tossing and crying out, as in her dreams -she reviewed the troubled hours that preceded slumber. Minos lay quiet -for many hours, while old Zenas Wright watched and Polaris busied -himself about the fires and explored the recesses of the cavern. When -at length the king awoke, the first thing he saw with conscious eyes -was the face of the son of the snows bent over him. Polaris saw the -leaping question in the sick man's eyes, and answered it. "I come in -peace, and as a friend to thee, O Minos, an thou wilt have it so," he -said. "See, thy princess slumbers yonder, safe and well. Thou shalt -soon be strong, and then will be time for the telling of strange tales -between us. Then shall we fare hence out of the wilderness on the -northern road." - -Minos's glance strayed from him to where Memene lay asleep, her dark -hair fallen across her cheek. The face of the king grew very wistful. - -"I understand it not," he said, his voice hardly above a breath. "The -end of all had come, and now I find thee here--and fire and light. -Almost too weak am I to think. Thou and I did fight--" - -"Vex not thy mind at present with thinking, O Minos," Polaris -interrupted. "All is well, and shall be. Here now is my friend, Zenas -Wright, with that for thee that shall put new life into thee. Eat and -rest." - -With curious interest the king studied the kindly face of the scientist -as he came to the couch with a flagon of steaming broth, brewed of -grains and flesh, laced well with wine. So weak was Minos that the old -man must raise his head from the pillow while he drank. When he had -finished, the sick man lay looking at the beloved face across from him, -and so passed again into sleep. - -Great vitality and a constitution kept hardy by years of vigorous -living responded quickly to the care he received, and within less than -a week Minos was on his feet again, still pale, but mending rapidly. - -When he was strong enough to talk, he learned the purpose of the visit -of Polaris and Wright, and he struck hands of friendship with both of -them. His great heart bore no enmity toward Polaris, who told him all -of the story of Kard the Smith, and other events which preceded his -troublous departure from Sardanes, somewhat of which had been hidden -from Minos. - -"Though thou hast slain two of my blood and more of my people, I hold -thee to no wrong for it," he said, and added simply, "Truly, had I been -so circumstanced, I should have done no less." He glanced tenderly at -Memene, who sat at his knee, and touched her dark hair with his hand. -"I, too, have fought and slain for my lady." - -Then the adventurers heard from the lips of the king of the passing -of the fires from Sardanes, the madness of Analos, the battles and -the death march of the nation through the Gateway. Polaris translated -the telling of the tale to Zenas Wright, who hung upon each word with -breathless interest. - -Some days later, when the king had become strong enough to be about -the cave and to keep the fire aglow, Polaris and Zenas Wright took -torches and journeyed across the white valley to the Gateway hill, and -paid a visit to the ancient temple of death on the ledge of the mighty -crater. There was a spot from which the old scientist scarce could tear -himself, even after he had spent hours in examination, and the torches -were nearly exhausted. - -On the wall in one of the temple chambers they found hanging a small -cross, with its ends curiously turned. It was not of the ilium of -Sardanes, but of gold. - -"Priceless!" said Zenas Wright in an awed whisper. "That ornament came -here from the Aegean Sea long before Christ was born in Judea." - -Although it seemed almost an act of sacrilege to disturb it, the old -man plucked it from its place and carried it away with him. - - * * * * * - -Three more weeks passed, and Minos the king apparently was as whole and -well as on that day when he fell over the guardian rock. Each day saw -added preparations for their journey back to the _Minnetonka_. From -the stores in the cavern Polaris replenished his sledge supplies, and -packed the load for the sled of Minos. From boughs of the tough hymanan -wood the son of the snows fashioned the frames of snowshoes and wove -their nets of sinew of the bear. For both Minos and Memene he made -them, and there was much sport when they both fared forth in the snow -to try them. After much floundering and not a little lameness, both of -the Sardanians mastered this new method of locomotion. - -Many questions Minos and his princess asked about the land to which -they were going, and its people and customs. To them, who had known -only the mountain-ringed valley and the impenetrable wilderness, it was -well-nigh incomprehensible that a land could be where the sun shone -alternately with the blackness of night, day by day, the whole year -around. The immensity of the world, as pictured to them by Polaris and -the geologist, staggered them. - -"And the ladies in thy great, far world, are they most fair," Memene -asked--"fairer than those of poor Sardanes?" - -Polaris gazed on the regal beauty of the girl, and answered dryly, -"Few, indeed," and bethought himself that her question boded ill for -the king, should he ever look too long on other charms. - -"But in this land of thine, how will it fare with me," questioned -Minos, "where possessions are valued thus and so, as thou tellest -me, and where men barter of their labor and their wit for thy medium -of exchange thou namest 'money'? Say, what shall be open to one like -Minos, who hath naught, and who is but little skilled in aught?" - -They were seated about the fireplace in the cavern room. Polaris met -the perplexed look of the king with a smile. - -"If I guess aright, that problem shall not afflict thee, O Minos," he -answered. "Thou has that, I believe, which will find an eager market, -and having which, thou shalt want for nothing all thy days." - -"How mean you?" asked Minos. - -Polaris pointed to an ilium bangle on the arm of Memene. It was set -with dull red stones, similar to those in a necklace that once had been -the gift of Kalin to the son of the snows. - -"He that wast true friend to me aforetime," he replied, "did tell me -that in Sardanes were many more stones such as those. On an occasion -when I was sore in need of aid three small gems, not half the size of -those in that bracelet, did get me friends and servants, and carry -me whither I would go. Rubies, they call them in the world. Greatly -are they prized. I judge the price in money of that one ornament thy -princess weareth would maintain her and thee in comfort all your years. -Add a few more, and thou shouldst be rich, indeed." - -Minos rose quickly from his seat. "An that be truth, then we shall all -be rich," he answered, "for here in the storehouse of my fathers are -many such." - -He dragged out from its place against the rock wall a stout chest and -threw back the lid. Stretching a rug before it, he strewed it with -every variety of ornament known to the ladies of Sardanes. Rings, -armlets, necklaces, slender crowns to be worn on the hair, girdles, -brooches, and even anklets, he added to the profusion of the glittering -heap. - -Zenas Wright gasped, his wonder and pleasure as a savant fully aroused -by that pouring forth from the treasure-chest of antiquity. The toys -were of exquisite workmanship. What would not a museum give for even -one of them to grace its showcases? - -"Many a Sardanian princess hath found delight in these," said Minos, -as he emptied the last of the contents of the chest onto the rug. -"Scarcely a child in all the valley that did not possess some ornament -set with the red stones that were dug from the hillsides. These things, -you say, may be exchanged for wealth?" - -"That they may," Polaris said. "Thou hast there enough to buy for thee -a space of land as large as this valley of Sardanes and place in it -almost what thou wilt." In English, he asked of Zenas Wright, "What say -you, old man, of the worth of the gems?" - -The explorer was on his knees, examining these new wonders. He ran -his eyes appraisingly over the heap. "I am not an expert lapidary," -he replied; "but if these are anywhere near the quality of those you -brought to America--and they seem to be even better--their value will -run into millions of dollars." - -"We shall share them," said Minos the king, nor would he listen to -protests from either of the men. "Ye did come hither at the risk of -your lives, and brought life to us," he said. "It is but a little thing -that Minos can do in return. These baubles, these red rubies from the -hills that Sardanians call _thalmi_, if they will add to your comfort -in your world, are all too little. It is the will of Minos that the -division of them shall be equal--if, indeed, there are not too many of -them to carry hence." - -He stood stubbornly to that decision, and the end was that they took -the greater part of the stones from their settings and packed them in -small sacks. Even then, so many there were of them that they threw out -any that did not give promise of being first-class gems. They were -packed securely away then on the sledge of Minos. - -By their reckoning, little more than four weeks from the day on which -they entered Sardanes, Polaris and Zenas Wright bade farewell to the -cave on the Latmos hill, and with them went the two so strangely saved -from the still white death that had settled on the ancient valley. - -They stood on the lip of the north pass to take their last look. The -Antarctic sun shone strongly on the snow reaches. Only in their minds' -eyes could the travelers recall the wonders of the lost kingdom. Except -for their own tracks in the snow on the hillside, there was naught to -tell that man had ever set foot in the valley. - -Minos raised his hand in the Sardanian salute. - -"Farewell, land of my fathers," he said aloud. "Minos leaveth thee -without regret for a larger life than thou couldst hold. All the -bitterness of parting was his when his people passed from him. He -feeleth none now." - - * * * * * - -They pressed on into the notch of the pass, Polaris keeping well ahead -with his team of huskies lest there should be fighting of dogs, for -there was no love and much hatred between the brood of Pallas and the -Alaskan brutes. - -Halfway down the north side of the pass, while they were proceeding -slowly, one of the huskies balked for an instant to burrow in the snow. -He dug up a brown object, which Polaris snatched from him. Immediately -he turned to Zenas Wright. - -"How can this be, old man?" he said. "This is none of ours, and who -else can have passed this way?" He held out the thing which the dog had -found. It was a man's shoe, a stout hunting shoe, well spiked at the -sole for snow traveling. It was torn as though by sharp teeth, and its -thongs were gone. - -While Polaris and Wright examined the shoe in wonder, the three leading -huskies, sniffing eagerly, suddenly plunged into the drift to the right -of the pass, turning the rest of the team with them. - -"There is worse than a shoe there!" cried Zenas Wright. "Stop them!" - -By main strength, Polaris tore the snarling brutes out of the bank and -whipped them into the path. They dragged with them a heavy coat, the -torn fragments of other garments, and a number of human bones, clean of -flesh. - -Zenas Wright viewed the relics with a shudder. "Some one has perished -here in the snow, and the bears have eaten him," he said. - -Polaris, exploring farther in the hole the dogs had dug, straightened -up suddenly. "Some one has been done to death here," he said sternly. -He held in his hand a ghastly skull. In it there were two holes, one at -the base, the other in the forehead--the smooth, round holes that only -a bullet leaves! - -Further examination of the snow disclosed other bones and fragments of -clothing. There was nothing in the pockets of the coat or about the -scene of the tragedy to indicate who it was that had met his death -there, or whence he had come. He had died, the bears had devoured his -remains, leaving naught but his bones and a mystery, which the snows -had shrouded from all but the keen-nosed dogs. - -From the path above them Minos drove his team down and halted it close -behind. He could not leave his dogs, and so Memene came on to find out -the cause of the delay. Polaris hastily threw snow over his grim find -so that the princess might not see it, and went back with her to tell -the Sardanian. The king could make no more of the affair than could he. - -Polaris scraped away the snow and ice from the base of the pass-cliff, -where a fissure ran up the rock, and there he laid the bones of the -stranger, placing them well within the crevice, and covering them with -the coat. He rolled a boulder to the mouth of the fissure and jammed it -fast with all his strength. - -"It is all that we can do," he said. "Whoever he was, or where from, he -sleeps, and cannot answer the least of our questions." - -"Who can have been here since we came?" Zenas Wright asked, as they -once more went on down the pass. - -"Not sure am I that he was not already here before we passed this way," -said Polaris. - -"But wouldn't the dogs have found him on the way in, in that case?" -persisted Wright. - -"It was hereabouts that we did meet the bear when we entered Sardanes," -replied Polaris. "At that time the dogs had noses only for the scent -of their enemy, and might have passed a hundred corpses and given no -sign. That poor fellow back yonder might have lain in his snow bed all -unsuspected. He might have been there for months. The snow and the cold -would have kept the bones as we found them. How it came about that a -man from the outer world did penetrate the wilderness to Sardanes, and -then was slain in her very portals, passes my comprehension." - -As the two teams passed swiftly along the reaches of the Hunters' Road, -Zenas Wright noticed that his younger companion, running with the -sledge, hesitated often, and cast many a keen glance along the path -they followed. Once or twice, Polaris halted the animals entirely, -while he knelt in the snow to scrutinize intently manifestations -which he seemed to find there, but which were beyond the ken of the -scientist. His face grew thoughtful, and there was a shadow in his -amber eyes. - -"What is it, son?" queried Wright at length, when the actions of -Polaris had aroused a curiosity which the younger man did not volunteer -to satisfy. - -"I know not yet," Polaris answered; "and would not say the thing I -think until I am wholly sure." - -"Has it something to do with the corpse we found back there?" - -"Aye, much perhaps," and the son of the snows relapsed into a moody -silence that was strange to him. - - * * * * * - -At their first camping spot, well out near the end of the Hunters' -Road, Polaris left Minos standing his turn as sentinel, and, while the -old man and the girl slept, he went forward along the way alone. He was -absent for more than two hours. He returned with overcast countenance, -and without a word as to his explorations, crawled into his sleeping -bag. For a long time he lay staring out across the surrounding snows -before he closed his eyes for a few hours of slumber. When he awoke, -Zenas Wright was on watch beside him. - -"Well, did you find anything to give you a clue?" asked the geologist. - -"I found the trail of a sledge and dogs on ahead of us," Polaris -replied; "and know not what they may mean." - -The old man regarded him sharply. "I hardly need to ask you if they -were the tracks we made coming in?" he said. - -"It was to be sure that they were not that I went on to see," said -Polaris. "If it had not snowed since we came through, some parts of the -road are so sheltered that our tracks might not have been filled in by -the drift. But what I have seen sets aside all doubt. _The tracks lead -both ways!_" - -"Then some one has been on our trail, or, at least, over the same path, -and has gone north again." - -Polaris nodded. - -"From the ship? That seems incomprehensible." - -"That is to be told only when we reach the ship," answered Polaris; -"that, and why a dead man lies in the north pass to Sardanes with a -bullet hole through his head." - -More enigmas waited along the road to the coast, but none as gruesome -as the white bones of the unknown. - -Turning to the west from the Hunters' Road, they skirted the great -barrier range, and had made nearly half the distance to the end of -their snow journeying when they came upon the spot where a camp had -been made, and not many days before. The snow at the side of one of -the hummocks was packed down where a man, or men, and dogs had slept. -Search as they might, the adventurers could not find a trace to -indicate who it was that traveled ahead of them. - -Polaris hid from his companions as best he might a growing uneasiness, -a suspicion that he resolved should go unsaid. He was only partially -successful. The king and Memene noticed nothing, and were only passing -curious; but Zenas Wright was oppressed by forebodings as dark as those -of Janess, if not as definite. - -When they were not more than four hours' journey from the coast, a -biting blizzard of gale-driven sleet sprang up in their faces. The sun -was storm-darkened, and the tempest blew with such violence that they -could make but little headway against it. Finding a snug shelter in a -hollow between two beetling crags, they decided to make camp and wait -for the first fury of the storm to wear itself out. - -Tossing and unable to sleep, Polaris formed a sudden resolve to rid -himself of all uncertainty. He aroused Zenas Wright. - -"It is in my mind to take the five freshest of the dogs and make a -quick dash on to the ship," he said. "There I can get new beasts and -come back. I will lighten the sledge to make the going quick. In this -storm there will be no bears abroad to attack the camp, if there be any -of the animals in this neighborhood. I shall not rest until I have seen -the ship. Because of the illness of Minos, we have been over-long away, -and my coming will set many minds at rest." - -Zenas Wright nodded understandingly. He reached in his pocket for his -long-since emptied flask and handed it over. - -"You might fill this for me, if you will," he said with a smile. "This -cold chills me to the very marrow of my bones. I'd give almost the -weight of the flask in these red rubies of ours for one good nip of -cognac." - -Polaris removed a part of the load on the sledge, and routed the dogs -from their sleeping-nest. He found it no light task to whip the beasts -into the teeth of the storm, but they feared the cracking lash more -than they did the biting of the wind, and, once under way, they made -good time. - -Driving snow had wiped away all trace of the double track which the -unknown traveler had left; but he had left another trail--the trail of -blood. - -He was an hour upon his way when Polaris felt the pace of his dogs -slacken. The man swung the long lash in the air, but held his hand. -Boris, the leading husky, balked, slid on his haunches, and threw -up his nose, to emit a long and doleful howl that sung against the -shrilling of the tempest like the wail of a violin in a stormy overture. - -They were passing one of the towering rock hummocks, and the dog -plunged from the trail at its base, throwing his mates into confusion. -With a chorus of howls, the entire pack struggled into the drift at the -side of the hummock. - -Knowing from their actions that something lay there that was worthy -of investigation, Polaris waded into the drift ahead of the frantic -animals. Under the snow he found an overturned sledge and, within a -radius of a few yards, the carcasses of eight dogs, stiff and cold. A -glance told the man that each of the animals had been shot through the -head. The sledge was of the same pattern as the one he drove! The dogs -were of the same breed! - - * * * * * - -High on a jutting prominence of ice-sheathed rock, overlooking the -storm-driven, tossing waters of the furious Antarctic Ocean, stood a -man clothed in skins of the white bear, with a circle of whining dogs -at his feet. A terrific gale lashed the crests of the waves into spray -that froze as it flew, and which fretted the face of the rock as with -driven hail. So keen and bitter the blast that the hardy brutes cringed -and whimpered under its sting, yet it tore by the man unheeded. - -Towering among the shivering beasts, he stood like a man of marble. -Every line of his handsome, high-featured face seemed graven. Only -his tawny eyes smoldered. They were fixed on a small cairn, reared of -rocks at the cliff brink. The tattered remnant of a small American flag -whipped from a bit of ice-coated stick at the top of the cairn. - -Beneath it a slab of wood had been made fast in the rock, and on its -face a careful hand had carved a simple, fateful legend: - - IN MEMORIAM - - ZENAS WRIGHT, A.G.S. - POLARIS JANESS, Adventurer - JAMES PARKERSON, seaman - - Of the Sardanian Relief Expedition, Who - Perished in the Snows in November, 1923. - - Erected by orders, Captain James Scoland, - Commanding Cruiser Minnetonka - -Moment succeeded moment. Still the man stood in the biting tempest, his -eyes fixed steadfastly on the text of the simple memorial. He turned -and faced the north, whence the gale was driven. Twice he raised his -clenched fists above his head, as if presaging some fierce outburst of -spirit, but no words came. His features relaxed into a stony smile. - -"Of all puzzles, surely this is the strangest," he muttered. "Yet will -I have its answer on that day when I find Captain Scoland again, so -sure--so sure as my name is Polaris Janess!" - -He glanced again at the swirling waters in the bay below him, where -a stout cruiser should have ridden at anchor, but where no ship was; -and then, with his dogs at his back, he strode away into the shrieking -wilderness. - - * * * * * - -On the tenth day after the departure of Polaris Janess and Zenas Wright -from the camp, the crashing and grinding of bergs beyond the mouth of -the little harbor where the _Minnetonka_ lay, warned Scoland and his -men that the mighty southern drive of ice was on. The jam through which -they had smashed their perilous way was broken. Soon the bay was filled -with swirling drift that churned its surface water into a caldron of -foam. - -Close watch was kept lest one of the glittering monsters from the outer -sea enter the bay and crowd the good ship against the rocks ashore. -Once that danger was imminent, and the berg which thrust its menacing -bulk into the neck of the bay was shattered by the _Minnetonka's_ guns. - -When the passing of three weeks had brought no sign of the two men who -had penetrated into the white Antarctic fastnesses to carry the message -of salvation from the outer world to Sardanes, speculation grew into -anxiety among the members of the expedition left behind with the ship. -Several of the hardier members of the expedition, who were inured to -life in the cold places of the earth, broke their forced inactivity by -short trips inland with the sledges and dogs, in the hopes of meeting -the returning adventurers. Not even a trail was left to follow. The -drifting snows had obliterated every trace of travel. - -Most restless of all the company was the lean, dark captain, and day -by day that restlessness grew. Spurred on by his unquiet spirit, he at -length turned the command of the ship over to Lieutenant Everson, and -announced that he was determined to make a dash inland and ascertain -the fate of the two men who had gone before. He took a well-stocked -sledge, and prepared to penetrate all the way to Sardanes, providing -he could find it. With him went one sailor, that same James Parkerson -whom Polaris had snatched from the icy waters of Ross Sea when the -_Minnetonka_ made her first drive into the blasted channel of the great -jam. - -Cool, confident, and daring, Scoland had no fears in making his sortie -into the wilderness. He was equipped with a map drawn from memory by -Polaris, and had little doubt but that he could find the Sardanian -valley. He had a premonition that was more than half a conviction that, -having found the valley, he should find no living man in it. - -When he had seen the fury of the fires that had burst forth on the -shores of Ross Sea, and had considered the distance which those fires -must have traveled, he had lost faith in the ultimate success of the -relief expedition. The more he had thought of it, the more was he -convinced that the nation they sought to save had been engulfed in the -snows of the Antarctic and had perished utterly. - -Reason further told him that some serious misadventure must have -befallen Wright and Janess; else why had they not returned to the ship -long before? - -Scoland and the sailor pushed inland as nearly on a straight course -from the harbor as the conformation of the ground over which they -traveled would allow. The captain kept a keen eye on the peaks of the -barrier range, comparing them often with the map of Polaris. When he -came at length to the appearance of a trail extending to the south at a -right angle to the path he followed, Scoland had the aid of the bright -sun to determine that it was the Hunters' Road. With his glasses he -could see dimly in the southern distance the shimmering heights of the -hills that ringed Sardanes. - -Coming to the foothills, and finding in the snowdrifts the storehouse -of the Sardanian hunters, where Minos and his men were accustomed to -leave their sledges, Scoland and Parkerson knew that they had found the -place they sought. - -"No fire. Not a sign of smoke or fire," said Scoland, surveying the -towering rim of the mountain range above them. "I'm afraid our men -found nothing living here, if they found their way here at all." - -"If they got here, where can they be?" Parkerson said. "There'd be -nothing to keep them here this long, unless they met a mishap of some -sort." - -"Well, we shall soon see," Scoland replied. "Here appears to be a cut -through the hills." - -They guided the dogs up through the north pass. In another half an hour -they stood in the notch, and had their first view of Sardanes--green -Sardanes no longer, but aglitter down all its length with cold, cruel -silver and glass. - -As he gazed down that long and silent vista, the heart of Scoland -leaped furiously, and his brain was overwhelmed with a flood of -thoughts that shook even his iron control. Polaris was gone! The -outlander who had thwarted so the ambitions of the captain had -perished! The son of the wilderness who had turned Scoland's mighty -discovery into a second place achievement, who had won from him the one -woman in the world, who had broken through his fine web of painstaking -precaution, and had triumphed at every turn of the wheel, no longer -stood in his path! - -Scoland's breast swelled. His eyes glittered. He, Captain James -Scoland, should be the victor yet, in spite of all! - -He would go back to America and wrest from the heart of the girl the -phantom that now was his only rival. With that thought came the quick -resolve that, did the man of the snows still live, he must look to -himself. - -Now Scoland knew the meaning of his uneasiness. Clearly into his mind -trooped, naked and unashamed, the horde of black thoughts that for -weeks had kept him company, but that had not dared to push themselves -into the light of his brain where he might know them for what they -were. He welcomed them now. This was why he had left the ship and come -this journey through the snows. This was why he had brought one man -only with him. All in an instant his mind was fixed, his course laid. -That Polaris Janess had given him life, once, mattered not at all. - - * * * * * - -From right to left across the valley, and up and down its length, -through the powerful lenses of his field glasses, the eyes of the -captain swept. He returned them to their case with a snap. - -"There's nothing to do but go back to the ship," he said, and it was -by an effort that he curbed his voice to an ordinary tone. "Wright -and Janess never reached here. They must have perished in the snows. -Perhaps they fell into a crevasse. And here the great calamity that the -geologist prophesied has come. All is dead." - -But, kneeling in the snow with shaded eyes, Parkerson the sailor -discovered what Scoland with his glasses had failed to find. He sprang -up with a glad cry. - -"They're here! See! See the smoke! There, on the side of the third -hill!" - -He was on his feet and dancing in his excitement. - -Scoland whipped the glasses out once more. He directed them against the -snowy slopes of Mount Latmos. Under his thick, black mustache his lips -writhed as he gazed. Yes, there was no doubt of it. From a dark patch -against the whiteness of the drifts, a slender curling spiral of smoke -was ascending. - -Already Parkerson, his honest face aglow with delight, had started on -down the slope, leading the team. His heart was filled with thanks that -he should be able, in some measure, to repay the man who had saved his -life. - -With his eye Scoland measured the distance down the valley to that -spiral of smoke. No, the sound would not carry. And if it did? Well, -he was ready, and a desperate man. He unwound from his neck its thick -woolen muffler and sprang down the slope behind the sailor. Drawing his -heavy automatic from its holster and wrapping it in the scarf, he shot -Parkerson through the head. - -Scoland caught the man as he fell and threw the body on the sledge. To -turn the dogs back was the work of an instant, and in the next he was -speeding down through the north pass as though devil-driven. Halfway -down, he halted and hid the corpse in the drift at the side of the way, -kicking loose snow above it. Then he leaped on the sledge and urged the -dogs on recklessly. - -On down the pass they flew. Far out on the Hunters' Road their master -was still driving them in frenzied haste, nor stopped to camp and rest -until he had put a full score of miles between himself and the still -figure that lay beneath the snows. - -He followed his own trail back, finding it unobliterated for long -stretches in many places. When he was two hours from the ship, he drove -the team off the trail at the side of a cliff, overturned the sledge, -and shot the eight huskies, one by one, as they cowered and whimpered -in their harness. - -Taking to the road on foot, Scoland exerted his wiry strength to the -utmost, and his exhaustion of body was not all simulated when he -staggered into the winter camp of the expedition on the bay shore. -A storm had arisen, and none of the men was abroad when the captain -reached the camp. He reeled to the door of the first shack and knocked. -When the door was opened, he fell on his face within. His face was -frost-nipped, and he had purposely exposed his hands and arms to the -blasts as much as he dared, not wishing to disable himself permanently. - -Consternation thrilled through the shack on his appearance, and there -was a rush of questioning men. Brandy was poured down his throat, -and his limbs were chafed with snow as he lay in well-feigned -unconsciousness. - -When he opened his eyes again, Scoland waved the eager men aside weakly. - -"Take me to the ship," he commanded. - -Tender hands bore him to a boat. Once in his cabin on the _Minnetonka_, -he ordered Lieutenant Everson to strike the shore camp at once, and -make preparations for an immediate departure. - -"Tell the men that the Sardanian relief expedition is a complete -failure," he said wearily. "Three of our men--God rest them--have lost -their lives--" - -"What!" Everson exclaimed. "Wright and Janess! Are they gone?" - -Scoland nodded. "Yes, and Parkerson, too, poor fellow. The valley of -Sardanes--I have been there--lies buried under many feet of snow. Its -people must have perished months ago. Not one trace of humanity did I -find there, except one old stone building in the shadow of the cliffs -at the north end of the valley." - -"But the other party, and their dog team--are you sure?" Everson gasped. - -"Sure--too sure," replied Scoland. "I found their bones in the snow -beside their sledge, not five miles from the valley. They never reached -it. How they died was impossible to tell. Their bones were picked clean -by the bears. Their dogs may have gone mad with the snow distemper and -turned on them when one of them slept on his watch; the bears may have -attacked them in force; a sudden tempest may have overwhelmed them--I -could not tell. They are gone. We buried them in the snow. - -"I think probably it was the dogs. Mine turned on me. We were on the -way back, Parkerson and I. The brutes went mad. They pulled him down -before I could get them. He was on watch, and I was asleep. I--I shot -them all--but it was too late. I buried him in the snow, also, and came -on alone and on foot. My God, what a journey! - -"Tell Lennon to put up a tablet on the headland above the bay. Get up -steam and let us get away from this accursed land before some mishaps -engulfs us all." - -Groaning, he turned his swollen face to the wall. - -Everson went on deck and imparted the news to the members of the -crew. The men gathered aft, while the young lieutenant read the -burial service. Within six hours the bay shore was deserted and the -_Minnetonka_ was churning northward, a long wake of black smoke -trailing over the waters behind her. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - FOLLOWING NATURE'S TRAIL - - -Polaris drove his weary and dispirited dogs back along the trail to the -little camp. In the breast of the man burned an anger that made him -tireless, and that was proof against both the cold and the storm. - -When he arrived at the camp he found the tall form of the Sardanian -king standing on guard. The Princess Memene, who had adapted herself -to their necessities with the bravery and fortitude of the true woman, -was busy about the portable oil cook stove in the shelter tent. Zenas -Wright slumbered peacefully in his sleeping bag. - -Minos strode through the snow to meet the white-clad figure that urged -on the drooping brutes. Polaris greeted him with a strange smile. - -"What hath happened to thee, my brother?" questioned the king; -"misfortune, it seemeth, from thy mien. Hath aught befallen thy ship?" - -"This hath happened, O Minos," Polaris replied, leaning on his spear; -"the ship hath hailed into the north, and we four be left to travel -as seemeth us best for many a long hundred miles of perils, an the -tempests claim us not." - -"Sailed--the ship! What mean--" and Minos paused. Here was a matter -that defied question. - -He looked wonderingly at the son of the snows. - -"Dost find it a riddle, Minos?" said Polaris with a hard laugh. "Well, -so do I also--a riddle that much I hope I shall one day have the -reading of." His anger came upon him again, and he clenched his strong -hands on the spear shaft so that the tough wood crackled in his grip. - -"Many things might have happened, Minos. Some one thing _hath_ -happened. The ship that should have been our rescue and our refuge is -surely gone, and on a rock yonder by the sea did I find writing on a -wooden slab that told of mine own death, and that of the old man, Zenas -Wright, and that of still another man of the ship's company." - -"Another man of thy ship's company?" Minos said. His face grew stern. -"A man lay dead in the north pass of Sardanes, and who did not die of -age or sickness." The king glanced sharply at Polaris. "Couple that -with the double trail in the snow, my brother, and it is my mind that -thou art not far from reading of the riddle. Is it not so?" - -"Mayhap," answered Polaris. "Yet would I do no man injustice by giving -word to that which is not proved." - -"That, too, is well," said the king. "And now, for us, what is thy -counsel?" - -"Let us wake the old man and the three of us make a plan," Polaris -replied. He tethered and fed the dogs, and the two men entered the tent. - -Zenas Wright opened his eyes and blinked when Polaris shook him by the -shoulder. He straightway thrust out his hand. - -"The flask, my son," he said with a droll smile; "I trust you filled -it. Not that I am what you'd call a toper, but I surely dreamed of that -cognac." - -"With all the heart of me, old man, do I hope for the fulfillment of -that dream," said Polaris, and handed back the empty flask. "That it -will be soon, the chances are most slender. Every passing hour is -adding leagues to the distance between this empty bottle and the cask -with which it is acquainted." - -Zenas Wright heard the tale of the shipless harbor, and met it like a -philosopher. - -"So Scoland's gone," he said slowly. His old blue eyes narrowed a bit -as he thought, but he, too, held his tongue from his suspicions. - -They held a council, three men and a woman, one old and wise in the -ways of the world, one to whom civilization was but a foster mother, -and two true children of a prehistoric past. The other three looked by -common consent to Polaris as the guiding spirit in this extremity. - -"We are in your hands, now, my son," said the old scientist. "I guess -you are the leader of the Sardanian relief expedition. What shall it -be?" - -"Two courses be open," Polaris said. "We can go back to the cave in -Sardanes and there live our lives and die our appointed deaths, for, -truly, I think no living man will ever come and seek us there. We -can strike out for the north over that path of many dangers, which I -followed once aforetime, with the Rose. And then, when we are come up -to the great seas that lie above this frozen land, if we take that -course, we must chance a rescue by some wandering ship--a small chance, -but I speak for that risk. Death lies at the ends of all paths, and I -think it better to meet it in the midst of our strong endeavor than to -have it find us out while we lie meekly to wait for it. What say you, -friends?" - -Zenas Wright reached him a gnarled hand. "I'm with you, my lad," said -he. "I had hoped to lay a report of some moment before my colleagues -of the Geographical Society. I still have that hope. If there is a -man in the world who can guide us safely through the dangers which -face us, you are that man. And, if we fail, and leave our bones on the -road--well--I'm for the North." - -Polaris translated to the two Sardanians. "Not two courses, my brother, -but one, let us say," said Minos gravely, and he, too, put his hand -in the hand of Polaris. "Let us fare along the northern road, and win -through or die. Myself and my princess, with only our poor knowledge, -would have tried that path had we lived until the light came, if you -had not come seeking us." - -After a day's rest they turned their faces to the east and followed the -chain of the barrier range until they reached once more the Hunters' -Road. There they made a camp in the trail, while Polaris took the gray -dogs of Minos, which were stronger, and which had learned to obey him, -and drove through to Sardanes. From the cave on Mount Latmos he took -of the stores of meats and grain all that he dared to load onto the -sledge. They would need all the supplies that they might carry with -them. - -Fearless in the face of their disasters, the members of the little -party rested their hopes on the broad shoulders of the son of the -wilderness, and they began their bitter drive. That leader set his -tireless strength and will of iron to the task, with a silent tongue -and a flame in his heart--a flame and a vision of a dear face a -continent and a half away to the north, that he swore he would live to -see again. - - * * * * * - -When men had failed them and fortune had seemed to turn her face away, -a mighty friend aided them--no less a one than old Mother Nature. The -path that might have been so beset with hardships, she elected to make -smooth, and tempered even her wild winds, so that the going of the -travelers was more swift than they had dared to hope. - -Long before they came to the notch in the chain of ice mountains, -through which Polaris had passed north on his previous journey, they -reached the monstrous seam that the furious volcanic fires had left -across the southern continent when they had poured from their ancient -bed in Sardanes to rear their flaming bulwarks on the shores of Ross -Sea. - -Where the fiery torrents had burst through under the barrier range, -the mountains must have been but empty shells of volcanoes active -ages agone. One of them had collapsed. Where once it had reared its -snow-capped peak, was now a jagged gash like a broken wall. - -Through that gash the travelers went. It took them all of an arduous -day's labor to reach a spot from where they could see on ahead--labor -that was wasted, should they find that the lands beyond offered no -hope of a pathway. Most of the way the dogs were useless. The brutes -finally had been whipped into a semblance of amity, and flocked along -without fighting; more, it is true, through fear of the ready lash than -because of any love between the two breeds. With all their weights of -food and trappings the sledges were lifted by the son of the snows and -the Sardanian, and carried over many a torn and twisted scar in the -half-healed breast of the mountain. - -If the thews of Polaris were more mighty than those of the king, in -endurance the men were equal. They performed feats that perhaps no -other two men in the whole world could have accomplished. - -At last they gained a height in the pass from where the miles lay -spread out before them. As far as their eyes could see was a mark -across the land, as though a mighty iron wheel, white hot, had turned -its slow way northward, searing everything that it could not crush. Not -all the snows that had fallen had been sufficient to obliterate that -trail. - -"There, my son, lies a road that we cannot lose," said Zenas Wright -when he set eyes on it. "And we know where it leads to--straight to -Ross Sea. There, above the volcanic area, is the most likely place of -all in the Antarctic regions for a ship to come." - -"Aye, Zenas Wright, it is a good, broad roadway," Polaris said. "It -will be the play of children to follow it, set against the difficulties -of that other path to the east, which I took." - -On through the pass they struggled, and were on the plain beyond in -three days. The pathway of the fires was not so smooth to follow as it -had looked from afar, but still offered no great obstacles. Once more -the long whiplashes sang over the galloping dogs, and Polaris, who -had not sung in many weeks, lifted his voice as he ran in a lilt that -quivered across the snows and woke strange echoes from the cliffs. - -Most wonderful of all the journey was the wiry, dogged strength of -Zenas Wright. Hour by hour the old man toiled on with the younger, -seeming never to tire. When they insisted that he ride on one of the -sledges, it was always under protest that he did so. - -Often he tapped the pocket in which he still carried an empty flask. -"I'm just chasing the fellow that went north with my cognac," he would -say, or some other quip that exhibited his undaunted spirit and helped -to hearten his companions. - -Of a like spirit was the Princess Memene, and tender and gracious and -true. No hardship of the many that were her lot wrung word of complaint -from the lips of the bride of Minos. Only as they proceeded farther -north, they noticed that she seemed to tire more easily, and rode more -upon the sledge, and noticing, they were much concerned thereat. But -Memene seemed not a whit concerned, meeting their solicitude with a -brave show of strength, and smiling gently to herself ofttimes when no -one saw. - -Came a day when far on the northern horizon they saw low-hanging clouds -of curling smoke, and when a north wind brought an acrid smart to their -eyes, and a tempering of the atmosphere. - -"Yonder flame the moons of thy Sardanes," Polaris said to Minos, and -the king nodded and his eyes grew sad with memory. - -Two days' travel brought them to the foothills of the coast range of -mountains, into which the volcanic torrent had broken. Then they were -forced to make a detour inland, to seek a gap through which they might -approach Ross Sea. About them was little snow, on the mountains none at -all, and the climate was such that the members of the party had to shed -their heavy parkas. - -"Never a need to freeze here," said Polaris, "or to starve either, -while there be bears to kill." Not a single monarch of the wastes had -they encountered in all their journey, but, as they approached the -volcanoes, signs had not been lacking that bears were to be found in -the neighborhood. - -As there was lack of snow on which to sledge, Polaris deemed it best to -find out where they could best make their way through to the sea before -attempting the labor of dragging the vehicles on any needless path. - -With Minos and the old man he rolled boulders in a ring around a hollow -in the side of a cliff and set up a camp there--a welcome home for a -time at least to Zenas Wright. Now that the goal of their journeying -was near, the geologist was not ashamed to admit that he was weary. - -Several times Polaris explored without success paths that seemed -likely, and at length marked one that led, by devious turns and -detours, to the open water. Following it through to the shore, he -penetrated north along the coast a number of miles. He found that there -which sent him back to camp on flying feet. - -"Now are our troubles at an end!" he shouted. "I have found a ship!" - - * * * * * - -Scoland and his men had been a half day on their northern journey when -the _Minnetonka's_ wireless operator brought to Scoland's cabin the -following message: - - Earthquake or volcano cut ship off from sea. Fear in great danger. - - Aronson, - _Felix_. - -Directing the operator to answer that they were on their way north, -Scoland gave the orders that hurled the cruiser on with redoubled speed -to meet this new peril! - -Icebergs floated along their sea path, but in diminished numbers, and -in size far inferior to those whose menace had made the great southern -drive and jam so perilous to the ship. When they reached the lower neck -of Ross Sea, the passage that had taken twenty-nine days of weary and -dangerous labor, blasting every rod of the way through the solid ice of -the jam, was accomplished in four hours. - -Wireless exchanges kept them informed that the position of the _Felix_ -was unchanged. Scoland found her at the upper end of Ross Sea, cut off -from open water. As islands appear suddenly from the depths of the -South Pacific, so had the volcanic forces upheaved the Antarctic sea -bottom. The _Felix_ had ridden at anchor in a sheltered bay. Now she -lay in a basin, surrounded entirely by land and rocks. A strip nearly -two hundred yards across separated the ship from the tossing open -waters of the sound. So shallow was the water where the ship was that -the vessel had heeled over and lay on her starboard side, her decks -tilted at a precipitous angle. - -Scoland saw at once that his supply ship was hopeless of rescue. It -would have taken tons of explosive to blast a channel to where she -lay, and, that accomplished, there would be no water to float her. -Off the edge of the strip of sea bottom that had been thrown up by the -volcanoes, the water was some twelve fathoms. - -Scoland laid the cruiser alongside the ledge, rigged carrying tackle, -and spent two days replenishing the coal-bunkers of the _Minnetonka_, -to the great satisfaction of Engineer MacKechnie, who was assured that, -if the cruiser failed to escape from the jaws of the southland, it -would not be from lack of coal for her engines. - -Aronson and his crew, choosing between a swaying shore and a heaving -sea bottom, had left the _Felix_ and made camp among the rocks inland, -where, instead of the antarctic rigors of climate to be expected in -that latitude, they were oppressed by almost torrid heat, the result -of their volcanic surroundings. Very glad were all of them to feel the -decks of the steel cruiser beneath their heels; and would have been -willing to chance the seas with depleted coal-bunkers to hurry their -departure from a place where, as the Swedish ship's master said, "the -Almighty had put them in dry dock, and they hadn't been able to figure -out whether He was going to spill a new sea or build an island." - -Leaving the sturdy old _Felix_ mewed up to be the prey of what chance -or providence rules the ordering of volcanoes, the cruiser struck out -for the north and America. - - * * * * * - -On a blustering March morning, Captain James Scoland sat in the -reception hall of an ancient homestead in Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, -and told his story to a sad-eyed young woman, a young woman who did not -weep, but whose tightened lips and wistful gaze told of a grief that -tears could not soften or relieve. - -By cable and by wireless from South American shores, days before, -had come speeding on electric wings the tidings of the failure of -the Sardanian relief expedition. All America had been thrilled with -sorrow and pity at the news, sorrow for the famous scientist who had -lost his life on his chosen path, and for the equally famous son of -the wildernesses, Polaris Janess, who had trodden that path to death -with him; pity for the unknown nation that had been crushed out by -inexorable nature, and pity most of all for the gray-eyed girl who sat -alone in her Boston mansion, grieving for a hero-lover lost. - -The captain finished his tale. "And so there was nothing to do but to -come back," he said; "and I have come. And, Rose, is there nothing -I can say that will bring back to your eyes the light I used to know -there?" - -Rose Emer did not answer him. She sat looking at the wall, seeing -through it and beyond it. Many a thousand miles away her fancy pictured -clearly a great plain of ice and rocks and snows, storm-swept by -shrieking tempests. She saw a dismantled sledge half covered by the -drifting white, and beside it a lowly mound, the monument above all the -hopes and joy of her young life. She shuddered, and a little bitter cry -of desolation burst from her lips. At her feet a great gray dog raised -himself on his forefeet, rested his shaggy head upon her knees and -whined uneasily. - -Scoland arose and stood beside her. As if he divined the heart of the -man, gray Marcus left his place at the feet of his mistress and stalked -across the hall to the doorway, where he stood watching the visitor -with gloomy eyes of distrust and menace. The hair around the great -brute's neck was ruffled, and his powerful muscles were flexed. Neither -the man nor woman took heed of Marcus. He stood quietly, but very -watchful. - -"Rose, dear Rose, can it be that this wild man from the wilderness -held such power over you that you have forgotten all that we once were -to each other?" Scoland said, his emotions fast carrying him beyond -caution, or comprehension of the fitness of time or place. - -Rose Emer raised her head suddenly and looked into the man's burning, -brooding eyes. - -"What do you mean, Captain Scoland?" she said with quiet dignity, but -with a mounting flush on her cheeks and a flash in her eyes that boded -rising indignation. "You forget--" - -"No, Rose, I do _not_ forget," he interrupted. "I shall never forget -that you were mine first, and were stolen from me. Janess, who held you -in the glamor of romance, is gone now. We have the present to face, -with its things as they are--the future with things as they may be, if -we will them so. Is it too much for me to hope that some time--not now, -I know, but some time--we may take up our lives where they once seemed -to be shaping and live them on--together?" - -Before the girl opened her lips to speak, Scoland read her answer -in her eyes, in the angry tilt of her chin. It maddened him beyond -restraint. - -"God!" he cried, "is that accursed barbarian to stand forever at each -turn of my life and thwart me?" His voice rose into a shrill shriek. -"No! No!" he shouted. "Not to be balked like this have I risked my -eternal soul to hell fire! You were, you are, you shall be mine. Mine! -_Mine!_" - -Cast loose in his madness from all moorings of caution, he sprang at -the girl, his arms outstretched to seize her and crush her to him. - -"Stop!" The voice of Rose Emer rang out, clear and commanding. She -leaped from her chair and backed against the wall, checking him with -outstretched hand. Her deep eyes were aflame with anger. "You shall not -touch me. You have insulted a noble man who is dead. Your words are an -insult to me also. I will not listen to you. Go!" She pointed to the -door. - -Attracted by the loud voices, a gray-haired butler came hestitatingly -into the room from the back of the house. "William," said the girl, -"you will please open the door for this man." - -But Scoland did not heed. It is to be doubted if he even heard her; -and, if he did, her words fell meaningless on his ears. Whirled on -in the rush of his emotion, he thrust the chair from his way and -approached her. She struck him in the face with her clenched hands, -but without effect. His arms were closing around her. She felt his hot -breath on her cheek. - -The butler, who had stood aghast for an instant, started hastily to -cross the room to the assistance of his mistress, but he was not needed. - -An eye more keen by far than that of the aged servant had watched the -course of events, and a force more powerful than his now intervened. - -Scoland's hand had just touched the girl's shoulder when a bolt of -living fury shot across the hall and hurled him so violently against -the wall that its stout oaken panels quivered, and he went down under -the weight of gray Marcus. Over-leaping in his rage, the dog missed his -aim, which was the man's neck. The gnashing fangs closed on Scoland's -cheek below the left eye, and tore the flesh down to the chin. His -victim down, the furious animal crouched on the body, worrying it -horribly. - -Instinctively, Scoland threw up his arms to protect his throat. The -brute seized on one of his bare hands, and the bones crunched in the -grip of the iron jaws. Screaming aloud, the man sought to roll over on -his face. The sharp teeth ripped through his sleeves and deep into the -biceps of his right arm. - -Rose Emer stood paralyzed in white horror against the wall. Blood -spurted from Scoland's mangled face and stained her skirts. - -"Marcus! Back, Marcus!" she cried. - -The fighting blood of the dog was up, and she might as well have -commanded the wind. She threw her arms around the shaggy neck of the -brute and strove with all her strength to drag him from the shrieking, -slavering creature that had been James Scoland. Combe, the butler, -came to her aid, bringing a heavy oak chair, a leg of which he thrust -between the dog's jaws. Between them, the man and the girl finally -tore Marcus from his prey, and his mistress led him, still snarling -hideously, into another room and shut him in. - -With the help of Combe, Scoland dragged himself to his feet and stood -leaning heavily on a chair, his breath coming in great gasps. One -glance Rose Emer had of his ghastly, disfigured countenance, and -averted her eyes with a shudder. His punishment had been swift and -horrible, more so than she knew. It was not alone the flesh that Marcus -had marred. The brain had given way also. - -Commanding his laboring breath, Scoland shook his uninjured hand at the -shrinking girl. - -"Curse you!" he cried, his voice rising into an unnatural screech. -"Curse you and your devil-brute! May your heart rot in loneliness, -waiting for your wild man. He'll never find his way back from where I -left him. He'll die hard, for he is strong. He will starve and wander -and go blind and mad--as I am going mad, and then he'll freeze--very -slowly, and die--and come and haunt me--" - -"What are you saying!" Rose Emer sprang toward him. She forced her -unwilling eyes to look upon that terrible face. "You _left_ him, you -say? _Alive?_" - -Scoland threw back his head and laughed--the shrill, terrifying -laughter of a maniac. - -"Yes, I left him," he croaked hoarsely, "left him, alive, he and the -doddering old man. Ha! ha! ha! I reached Sardanes and found them there, -and they didn't see me. Ha! ha! I came away again, and they didn't know -I left them, with a dead man to keep them company--in frozen, dead -Sardanes--" - -He caught sight of his face in a mirror, and his voice broke. - -"_My God!_" he whispered. He held his arms out toward his reflection in -the glass. "God!" he repeated, and collapsed on the floor in a fit of -convulsions. - -Combe and other servants brought ropes and tied him. - -A little later men came and took Captain James Scoland away. - -Like a far-flung, radiant ray of dazzling sunshine, one fact -penetrated through all the horror of the moment to the heart of Rose -Emer. Polaris, her Polaris, was alive! Alive, and living, might be -saved--_must_ be saved! She left the horrors of the hall on flying feet. - -Before the madman was out of her house, Rose Emer had called up -Washington on the long-distance telephone, and had spoken with the -Secretary of the Navy. - - * * * * * - -Enough of English had the Sardanians learned to understand the words -of Polaris, when he shouted that he had found a ship, and their glad -exclamations were mingled with those of Zenas Wright, as the three -sprang to meet the returning explorer. - -"A ship, said I," Polaris said, lifting his hand, "but naught did I say -of men or rescue. 'Tis the _Felix_, caught fast in the rocks by some -mischance that is our great good fortune. She has been abandoned." He -made haste to explain how he had found the ship. "Unless Scoland found -means to empty her, which seems unlikely," he continued, "she has that -on board to keep us four in comfort for years, if need be." - -Breaking camp at once, they followed his lead through the mountain gap -to the rocky shore. - -Aye, there lay the _Felix_, right enough, and snug in her basin, but -how were they on shore to reach her? - -Polaris did not delay for long in solving that problem. Stripping -Minos's sledge of hymanan wood of all its load, he set it afloat in the -basin. It served him in lieu of a raft. For a paddle he took his long -spear and poled his improvised craft out on the still waters of the -miniature sea. It floated him safely, although his weight submerged it -so that the water lapped at his ankles. - -"Give me that flask, old Zenas Wright," he cried joyously. "I'll -warrant you wait not long for the filling of it now, even if I have to -desert this stout boat, and swim to the ship." - -In a few minutes he had poled his way to where the _Felix_ lay, her -decks far aslant, but her rail still above water. To board her, he was -forced to leap from the floating sledge. He caught the rail with his -hands and pulled himself aboard. He clambered up the tilting deck and -forced the forward hatch, which had been battened down by Scoland's -men. Below decks he found all right and tidy. A glance into the hold -discovered its stores of supplies almost intact. At least, he and his -companions faced no menace of starvation. - -Returning to the deck, he made his way aft, and opened the cabin hatch. -He found the storeroom where the ship's supply of spirits was kept, and -smashed in the door with a blow of his foot. Smiling as he did so, he -filled the flask of Zenas Wright. - -As he emerged on deck once more, he glanced shoreward. Danger, white, -cruel, and desperate, was stalking his companions and they knew it not. -From his position of vantage on the deck of the _Felix_, Polaris saw a -moving mass that showed silver against its dark background in the rocks -some hundred feet back from the shore of the basin, where his fellow -travelers were waiting for him. Gliding among the boulders, with all -the sinuous caution of a cat intent upon a group of mice, an immense -polar bear was creeping to attack them! - -Noiselessly, the great brute crept on in the cover of the rocks. The -wind blew from the party, so that the keen-nosed dogs were unaware of -the presence of a foe, and sounded no alarm. - -Across the waters Polaris sent a warning shout. "A white bear!" he -shouted, pointing. "In the rocks behind you! Ready with your guns if he -charges!" - -As he raised his voice a change in the wind or some other appeal to -their finely attuned senses, informed the dogs that their foe was near. -Gray runners and brown turned to face the rocks, every neck bristling. -Stimulated by the brave demeanor of the fearless children of Pallas the -huskies' ugly snouts were as snarlingly defiant as the others. - -Over the rocks and into the open clambered the bear. His flanks were -lean, and he was hunger-mad, to the point where numbers did not daunt -him. He stood uncertain for but a moment, then broke into a lumbering, -padded gallop, which, clumsy as it seemed, would have pressed a fleet -runner hard to distance. A menacing roar answered the ear-splitting -clamor of the dogs. - -Wright and the Sardanian seized rifles from the sledge. Sternly calling -back the dogs, they opened fire together. Minos, a novice in the use of -the weapon, missed widely at the first shot, and in his haste jammed -the lever of his rifle. The bullet of Zenas Wright, who was always an -indifferent marksman, only grazed the flank of the bear, injuring him -little and adding much to his rage. Again the geologist fired, but did -not stop the great brute. The galloping monster was close upon them. - -As he shouted his warning from the ship Polaris scrambled to the -nearest davits that swung a boat. With no time to manipulate the ropes, -he cut through them with his keen knife, and leaped for the boat as it -fell. More by good fortune than else, the craft was not swamped. The -son of the snows headed inshore, pulling so powerfully at the oars that -their oaken lengths bent to his strokes. Swiftly as moved the boat, the -drama ashore was played through before its prow touched the rocks. - -Once more the scientist pressed the trigger in desperation, but a -leaping, frenzied dog struck him from behind in the hollows of his -knees, spoiling his aim, and sending him sprawling on his face. Minos's -spear lay buried under the load that had been cast from his sledge. The -third rifle was out of order and useless. Weaponless, he stood in the -front of the charging enemy, except for his dagger and the light rifle, -which he now clubbed and swung over his shoulder--a slight defense -against the onset of the polar monster. - -As the bear reached him, it reared on its hind legs, towering far above -even the great height of the king. One vast forepaw, armed with its -formidable talons, swung high to strike. Aloft also went the steel -rifle in the grip of Minos. With the agility and eye of a trained -boxer, the bear, even as it struck out with one paw, whirled the other -with lightning quickness. The gun was torn from Minos's grasp, and spun -through the air, to fall with a splash many feet out in the waters of -the basin. - -From the falling stroke of the crescent claws the king sprang back, -snatching his dagger from his belt. Around him seethed the dogs, his -own good gray beasts, no longer to be restrained from the battle, the -huskies hanging doubtfully behind them. The white giant seemed to have -marked the Sardanian for his prey, for, paying no attention to the -dogs, he came on in a vengeful rush that they could not stop. - -With his back to the sledge, Minos bestrode the body of Zenas Wright, -who had struck his head against a rock, and lay stunned. Dark was the -outlook. A woman's hand turned the balance. Tearing in desperate haste -at the packs that had been thrown from their sledge, the Princess -Memene strove to reach the spear of Minos, but found another weapon -first. - - * * * * * - -Again the bear reared to attack, when over Minos's shoulder was thrust -a broad and shining blade of ilium. With a shout, the king let fall the -puny dagger, and gripped hard the hilt of the good sword under whose -razor edge many a stout Sardanian had fallen. Swiftly he swung the -great blade, and far out, all the weight of his shoulders behind the -stroke. - -Before the bear could strike again, the sword hit him in the side, well -below the shoulder, and so deeply that he howled in agony, and fell to -all fours. - -Immediately he was all but buried by a wave of maddened dogs. Drenched -with the blood that spurted from the sword gush, the king leaped to one -side, whirling the heavy weapon aloft. Once more the bear essayed to -rear, and to shake from him the swarming furies that hung at his sides, -and clung to his jowls. - -His mighty head, blood-bedabbled and fearful, rose out of the ruck -of dogs. It offered a fair mark to the watchful king. Down came the -glittering blade, the air whining under it, and struck on the bear's -neck. The bones parted under the stroke. So deeply had it bitten, that -the sword was wrenched from Minos's hand. - -With a last convulsive effort that threw the dogs from him, the polar -monster arose to his full height and toppled backward, crashing to -earth, stone dead. - -Zenas Wright came to his senses a few moments later, with an -unmistakable tang of cognac in his throat, and an aroma in the air that -made him smile, despite the pain of his bruised head. - -"It's a brave spirit," he gasped. Then he got up and extended his hand -to the Sardanian king. "I guess I owe my life to a braver," he added. -"My friend, I thank you." - -Minos understood a part of the remark. He grasped the proffered hand -with a deprecating shake of his head. - -Untroubled by the fears which had driven Aronson and his men from the -ship, the members of the party took up their quarters on the _Felix_, -drawing upon her inexhaustible stores for comforts which had long been -denied to them. - -For two of them, the ship was a revelation of wonders undreamed of. -Machinery, books--a hundred and one things were marvels to the two -Sardanians. They learned with an eagerness that was almost childlike, -absorbing knowledge against the coming of that time, so hoped for, when -they should become of the great world of their visions. That, having -come this far, they would reach that goal of their desires, they did -not doubt. - -To Polaris Janess and the geologist the situation was more serious. -They knew that the chances were few that any ship should penetrate into -Ross Sea, perhaps in many years. The Pole had been discovered. The -Smaley and Hinson exploring expedition had come and gone. There was no -reason of which the scientist and his companion knew to call other men -to brave the perils of the Antarctic. - -"If we are ever to get out of here, we must help ourselves, lad," Zenas -Wright said to Polaris, as they discussed their plight several days -after their coming to the ship. He shook his white head. "It seems just -about hopeless. There's only one way, and that's by water, and we're -cut off from the sea, even if we could navigate the ship, which is -doubtful." - -"But a boat--" Polaris began. - -"Suicide!" exclaimed the old man. "One of those shells wouldn't live -for five miles. Even if it should, they are not large enough to hold -the four of us and the things which it would be absolutely necessary -for us to have. Once away from this volcanic neighborhood we have a -long stretch of icy sea to traverse. The nearest land where we should -find aid is New Zealand, and that is more than two thousand miles to -the north." - -"There's a large boat with an engine and a sail," Polaris said, "but it -is in pieces." - -"What's that!" shouted Zenas Wright, "an auxiliary launch? Lead me to -it, boy! Pieces or no pieces, we can put it together. I know enough for -that, with you two strapping big fellows to help. If there's enough -gasoline aboard to run her when she's assembled, we will have to chance -her. It's our only chance." - -Without delay the two of them scrambled along the slanted decks. Aft of -the deckhouse, under her tarpaulin, they found the launch. As Polaris -had said, she was in pieces. Only the hull lay on the deck of the -_Felix_, a stout twenty-five-foot craft. Her sixty horsepower engine -and her auxiliary mast, sail, and jib were below decks. - -Zenas Wright looked her over with flashing eyes. "If there's gasoline -enough we may make it," he said. "We've _got_ to make it!" He did a -mental computation. "It's a rough two thousand miles to New Zealand. -Let's see. If you can steer, son, and I think you can, running -twenty-four hours a day, and using the sails to save gas when we can, -we can make it in a month--if we meet no obstacles; which, of course, -we will. We must provision for two months. If that doesn't take us -through, God rest our souls!" - -"Set us at work, for there is need for haste," Polaris said. "We must -be out of this place before winter closes in above us." He called the -Sardanian. - -In the paint locker and the hold they found gasoline, twenty -twenty-five gallon tanks of it--more than they could take with them. -Under Zenas Wright's directions, they coaled the donkey engine on the -forecastle head, rigged tackle to the mainmast, and hauled the engine -up through the hatch. Many hours were spent in searching for various -parts of the mechanism which they needed, but they found it all at last. - -The patient mechanical knowledge of the scientist was equal to the task -of installing the engine. With that in its place, they stepped the -mast, hauled the gasoline tanks on deck and shipped their cargo. With -spirits new in the hope their work aroused, they sang at their labors. -Memene, who had drooped, regained her usual vigor and vivacity. - -So stoutly did the two young giants set their hands to their task that -within four days of the time they started they attached the sturdy -launch to the davits and swung her over the side of the _Felix_ by aid -of the invaluable donkey engine. Zenas Wright immediately went aboard -and tried out the engine. He spent the most of another day tinkering -with the mechanism until it suited him, and then announced that they -were ready for their perilous dash for the open sea and freedom. - -The ring of rock that had made the _Felix_ prisoner did not offer the -same obstacle to the launch that it did to the greater ship. Near the -north coast of the bay was a channel deep enough so that the launch -could barely pass through to the sea. In a number of places it was so -narrow that Wright and Janess were forced to use drills and dynamite, -and blow away projecting rocks. - -It was a great regret to the voyagers that they could not take their -dogs with them. There was not room on the launch for the animals and -food for them. Zenas Wright, now formally nominated the leader of the -expedition, by right of his knowledge of navigation, compromised to the -extent of carrying along two of the gray brutes of Minos, named Kalor -and Thetis. But the old man conditioned that, if it came to a question -of food scarcity, the brutes would have to be done away with. The rest -of the animals they turned loose ashore. - -Not forgotten in their preparations for departure was the wealth of -Sardanian rubies. Finding a small leather traveling bag on board the -_Felix_, Polaris packed it with the skin sacks in which they had placed -the gems before they had left the cave on Latmos. - -At last they bade farewell to the old _Felix_, now doubly deserted, -and put out for the open seas. It was nearly three months since the -two adventurers had left the _Minnetonka_ to find Sardanes, when they -passed out of the enclosed basin and turned the bow of the launch -northward. Around them roared the volcanic mountains. They saw the last -of the _Felix_ through a falling storm of impalpable ashes, so thick -that it darkened the sunlight. - - * * * * * - -Four weeks steady progress, sailing when they could and using their -treasured gasoline sparingly, carried them well above the Circle. -Unceasing vigilance alone enabled them to make that progress, -surrounded as they were by the menace of floating ice, collision with -which would have crushed their craft like an eggshell. When they made -use of their sail, Polaris took long spells at the wheel; but when it -was necessary to put the engine into commission old Zenas Wright could -neither rest nor sleep. - -Came a day when the Princess Memene whispered briefly in the king's ear -the burden of a pretty secret that she could no longer bear to keep -from him. Close enfolded in his arms, she told him that which caused -him to flush as radiantly as she. - -"Another king is coming," Minos murmured low. "Hail to the king! But -alas, his sire hath for him no kingdom to rule, unless indeed one may -be won in the land whither we are journeying." - -"Mayhap not a king, but a princess," said Memene. - -Strong of the hope that was in him, Minos made answer. "Nay, he shall -be a king." - -And after thoughtful pause he added, "We will call him Patrymion." - -Thus was another incentive added, bidding the wanderers bend every -effort to reach with speed the friendly arms of civilization. - - * * * * * - -When they came again to the region of nights and days they were forced -to do their traveling by sunlight mostly, and at night to drift. Twice -the chill in the air warned them just in the nick of time of the -proximity of icebergs, and they escaped them by recourse to the engine. - -Then a storm came up from the southwest and hurled them north under -bare poles, with the prospect of utter destruction momentarily before -them. - -"Let it blow," said Zenas Wright grimly. "If we can only keep afloat, -it's helping us north fast enough, and, besides, it saves gas." - -North they went, and east, far out of the course they had laid for -New Zealand. For two days and nights the gale held, dying away in the -dawn of the third day. The first gray daylight found them tossing -on a choppy sea. When the light came, and Zenas Wright was able to -figure out their position, he announced that they were somewhere in -the neighborhood of the Tubuai Islands, a French possession, and they -decided to turn the prow of their boat in the direction of these -islands. - -Taking the glasses, Polaris climbed a few feet up the mast and swept -the sea. He was unable to raise land in any direction. - -What he did raise, however, sent him clattering back to the deck. - -"A ship!" he cried. "Straight ahead of us, a steamship! I can see her -smoke!" - -"Look again, lad," said the practical Wright, "and tell us which way -her smoke hangs, if you can." - -"To the north," Polaris shouted a moment later. "And she's headed this -way, too!" - -With a splendid disregard for their remaining gasoline, the scientist -forced his engine to its best efforts, and they soon were making -eighteen knots on their way toward the stranger. - -Nearer and nearer came the two craft together, and finally those on -the launch saw the steamship swing off her southerly course and point -straight toward them. - -They had been sighted. - -Suddenly Polaris, who had been studying the approaching ship through -the glasses, threw them down and sent up a great shout: - -"It's the _Minnetonka_!" - -It was. - -In another half hour they were alongside. A line was thrown them and -made fast. Canny even in that moment of excitement, Zenas Wright opened -a locker near the wheel and buckled fast to his leathern belt the -traveling bag that held the rubies of Sardanes. - -While Polaris stood by with a boat-hook, fending the launch from the -steel side of the cruiser, the other clambered up the ladder, Minos -pausing to snatch up one of the gray dogs, climbing up with the animal -tucked under his arm. Catching up the other dog, Polaris leaped into -the ladder, and the deserted launch swung away from under him and -passed out of their lives forever. - -Once safely on the deck, Minos and his bride stood clutching each -other's hands and gazing wonderingly at the scene, so different from -that of the only other ship they had ever set eyes on. Then, as the -officers and crew came forward in greeting, the Sardanian prince slid -an arm protectingly about his princess and met them hand to hand, while -Memene dimpled and blushed happily. - -On the deck stood Lieutenant Everson, his eyes alight, his hands -outstretched. Before the son of the snows could grip those outstretched -palms, came flying feet. - -"_Polaris!_" - -In his dreams he had heard that voice, ringing nearly half way round -the world. He opened his arms. His amber eyes looked into her long eyes -of grey. Their lips clung. - -"At last--my Rose Maid!" - - * * * * * - -_This novel is the second in the trilogy which began with "Polaris--of -the Snows." Each novel in the trilogy is complete in itself._ - -_The third story is "Polaris and the Goddess Glorian."_ - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINOS OF SARDANES *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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Stilson</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Minos of Sardanes</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Charles B. Stilson</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67029]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINOS OF SARDANES ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>MINOS OF SARDANES</h1> - -<h2>By Charles B. Stilson</h2> - -<p>Author of "Polaris—of the Snows"</p> - -<p><i>Copyright 1916 by Popular Publications, Inc.</i></p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> - -<h3>THE DRIVE AGAINST DEATH</h3> - - -<p>Two men stood on the bridge of a speeding ship in a place of ice and -fire. A storm rode with them, a tempest that shrieked and moaned and -tore, and around the ship seethed and tossed the waters of the furious -Antarctic Sea. Ice floes cracked and crashed. Giant bergs, staggering -under the lash of the gale, added the dull thunder of their impact to -the wild din.</p> - -<p>Yet all the fury and clamor afloat paled in comparison with the -appalling splendor of that which was taking place on shore.</p> - -<p>On the port side of the vessel, a scant league across the heaving -frenzy of wave and ice, lay land. Once a stark, bleak mountain range, -rising inland from its beetling shore cliffs, now it was gashed -and quivering in the throes of a terrific volcanic outburst. Rocky -hillsides were laced with streams of molten, iridescent fire. Above -them mighty peaks tottered and crumbled. The titanic detonations of -sundered mountains, with each new outpouring of the tremendous forces -struggling for release, drowned all the strident discord of shrilling -air and booming sea.</p> - -<p>For a full score of miles along the inland range the mountain crests -had been riven to loose the internal torrents. Cascades of white-hot -lava poured down their calcined sides, in places streaming over the -foothills themselves, to be quenched in clouds of roaring steam where -the sea met them. Geysers of flame shot skyward from some of the more -lofty peaks, and spread out like the unfolding petals of monstrous, -unholy lilies, thrust into bloom from the underworld.</p> - -<p>Above them loomed masses of vapor, rolling and shifting, and were lost -in the murk of the Antarctic night. Below, the raging fires lighted -land and sea for leagues, the colors of blue and green and violet -reflected back from the myriad facets of the whirling icebergs with -dazzling magnificence. Across the churning chaos, where every wave was -a dancing flame, each mass of ice a lustrous opal, six miles to the -west, the great fires shone against the cliffs and peaks of another -shore, that lay cold and quiet and snowbound.</p> - -<p>Destruction, many hued and fantastic, menaced the ship in a thousand -glittering shapes, but she tore forward through the turmoil. A long -gray cruiser she was, her sides sheathed in steel, and with the Stars -and Stripes whipping from her bow.</p> - -<p>One of the men on the swaying bridge, a blond and youthful colossus, -clothed from head to foot in skins of the white bear, leaned toward his -companion and lifted his voice to a shout, to carry above the screaming -pandemonium.</p> - -<p>"Hinson, your friend spoke truly," he cried. "Here, indeed, are the -great fires." With a sweep of his arm shoreward, he indicated the long -arrays of flaming furies.</p> - -<p>It was the first time for hours that either of the men had spoken. -Indeed, since the ship had entered this arm of the sea and come upon -the stupendous eruption of nature's vitals, there had been little -conversation aboard, with the exception of sharp orders and a few -subdued comments among the crew. Volcanoes they had expected to find, -but no such tremendous display as here confronted and overawed them.</p> - -<p>"Now, this is Ross Sea. Back there to the northwest lie Mount Sabine -and Mount Melbourne. Here, where the great hills burn, is King Edward -VII Land," pursued the young man. "Yonder," he pointed ahead to the -south, "lies the pathway to Sardanes. Shall we be in time, old Zenas -Wright, or will the end have struck already?"</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright, member of the American Geographic Society, one of the -first geologists of his day and world famous as an authority on -volcanic phenomena, tore his gaze unwillingly from the most splendid -exhibit of his favorite science his eyes had ever seen. He shook his -shaggy, white old head slowly.</p> - -<p>"I can not tell, my son," he said. "Often the great changes of nature -are of slow growth, and may be months or years in the making. Again, -they are done in a day. An outburst of such violence as this one I've -never seen before. It would seem to me that the end must be at hand -down there, if not already passed. We must make haste."</p> - -<p>He turned his short, wide-shouldered figure. Clutching the bridge rail -with mittened hands, he settled his ears again into the protection of -his great ulster, and feasted his eyes on a sight of which he would -never tire.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>From the wheelhouse another man came onto the bridge. He was tall, -lean and weather-beaten with close-set eyes above high cheekbones, -and the alert and upright carriage of a soldier. For a moment the -three conferred, the newcomer tugging impatiently at his sparse, black -mustache, while he took in the scene around him with sharp glances.</p> - -<p>"Speed, and speed, and more speed, Scoland," said the old scientist.</p> - -<p>"Aye, speed," echoed the young giant, "all the speed in your good ship, -Captain, while yet there is open water. Yonder, ahead, the ice gathers -for the drive, and there we must needs go slowly. So speed while speed -we may."</p> - -<p>Scoland nodded shortly and strode back to the wheelhouse. Down the -speaking-tube to the engine-room went his call:</p> - -<p>"Crowd her, Mac, crowd her!"</p> - -<p>"Aye, Meester Scoland, aye! But, mon, is she no doin' beautifully the -noo?" The grizzled MacKechnie turned from the tube in the bowels of -the cruiser, to bellow his orders among cursing, panting stokers and -sweating coal-passers.</p> - -<p>For this was a race with death; not the death of one man, or of a -ship's crew, but the extinction of a nation.</p> - -<p>Down this swirling pathway one of the men on the ship had passed once -before. No stout ship swam under his feet on that journey. He rode on a -careening iceberg. He was the fur-clad young viking on the bridge. His -name was Polaris Janess.</p> - -<p>Born in the wilderness of the Antarctic by one of the strangest freaks -of circumstances, Polaris had reached manhood seeing no human being -besides the father who had reared him. When that father died the young -man started to break his way to civilization.</p> - -<p>In his wild adventurings northward he had found Rose Emer, an -American heiress, lost in the snows. Where they made their camp an -ice floe broke up, and they were whirled down the coast to the south -again on an enormous berg. Inland, they had found the kingdom of -Sardanes—Sardanes, the mystical volcanic valley, set like an emerald -in the white fastnesses of the Antarctic, blooming with tropical -verdure, and peopled with a fragment of the ancient Greek nation, the -Hellenes, whose victories Bard Homer sang. And they were the first -people from the outer world of men to set foot there in nigh upon three -thousand years.</p> - -<p>There a king would have wedded the American Rose, but Polaris fought -his way out of that valley with his dogs and guns, saving the girl, and -taking with them Kalin, the young high priest of Sardanes. The priest -had died in the snow-lands, but the man and the girl had come at last -to the ship <i>Felix</i>, Scoland's ship, from which the girl had strayed.</p> - -<p>Long before they reached America, Rose Emer had lost a not-too-warm -admiration for the captain in a great love for the man who had saved -her. Scoland, the daring explorer, who had reached the South Pole in an -airship, saw the girl won from him by the man from the wilderness.</p> - -<p>Fearing lest the girl was glamoured by the strange events through which -they had passed, and might come to scorn the half barbarian that he -was, Polaris delayed to wed her for a year, which he devoted to intense -study of men and their ways. Of books he knew much, and commanded many -languages; of men he knew little.</p> - -<p>Before the year was ended came Zenas Wright, with a report from the -Smaley and Hinson expedition into Ross Sea, telling of a mighty -volcanic outbreak there. The scientist declared it to be an outpouring -of the fires which warmed Sardanes. With the going of those fires, he -asserted, the mystic valley was doomed to return to the wastes, and its -wonderful people to die.</p> - -<p>"It is fitting that the man who discovered Sardanes should be the man -to save her," said Zenas Wright to Polaris, "and without you, who know -the way and the people, the trip would be well-nigh hopeless."</p> - -<p>Polaris had responded to the call of what he deemed to be an almost -sacred duty. Still unwed, he said farewell to his Rose maid for another -long year, to start south and face the hardships and perils of the -Antarctic once more, and to fetch to America the two thousand or so -inhabitants of Sardanes, or as many of them as should be found alive.</p> - -<p>With tireless haste a relief expedition was organized. Dogs were -brought down from the upper reaches of the Yukon. Men whose lives and -callings had inured them to the perils of the colds and the tempests of -the snow-lands were enlisted for the great errand.</p> - -<p>Foremost among those who came to enlist for the venture was Captain -James Scoland. He came with a heart full of hot hate for the man who -had balked him, and whom he considered little more than a half-mad -barbarian. But he hid his hate well, and bided his time. With Polaris -Janess, the enmity that had been between himself and the captain was -a closed book. He had forgotten and forgiven. Scoland was a man of -unquestioned bravery, a born leader of others. Above all, he had the -knowledge of the Antarctic that made him an invaluable ally.</p> - -<p>Polaris accepted his proffered services gladly.</p> - -<p>Through the influence of Zenas Wright and of Scoland, the United States -second-class cruiser <i>Minnetonka</i> was turned over for the use of the -expedition, and manned. All the great fortune his father had left him -Polaris had guaranteed in payment for the expenses of the expedition. -Danger and death lay before him. He would be a poor man if he returned. -He did not falter.</p> - -<p>He stood on the deck of the rushing ship, his topaz eyes turned toward -the blazing, thundering mountains on the shores of Ross Sea. Their -weird lights shone on his handsome, high-featured face, but at times -he saw them not. Persistently there arose before him a picture of a -quaint old New England garden, bright with its sunshine, its phlox and -marigolds and honeysuckle. He looked again into the gray eyes of the -garden-woman; long eyes, wet with tears. He felt her soft lips cling to -his. In the moaning of the wind he heard again her sad voice pleading, -"Oh, Polaris—how can I let you go?" and a great gray dog that answered -to the name of Marcus stood by them, whining and ill at ease.</p> - -<p>From his reverie the voice of Zenas Wright recalled him.</p> - -<p>"The bergs are getting thicker," the old man said. "Stout as this ship -is, we will have to slow down soon, or risk worse than we've risked -already. You say the sea narrows down there ahead?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, old man, it narrows, and then sweeps wide again, so wide that -from one coast you may not see the other for many a long day," Polaris -answered. When he spoke it was with the quaintness of expression that -had come to him from the pages of the "Ivanhoe" of Scott, a treasure he -had found among the few of his father's books that were not of science, -and over which he had pored and pondered lovingly through many years. A -few short months of civilization had not worn that custom from him.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright gazed aft. "Well, whatever happens to me now," he said, -"I've seen a sight to-day few men have ever seen."</p> - -<p>He waved his old hand toward the spouting hills, which they were now -leaving behind him. "I'd like to study that eruption and write a book -on it," he added regretfully. Despite his age, and the long hours he -had spent on the bridge he left it with a vigorous springy step as he -went below.</p> - -<p>At racing speed, wherever the way lay clear, the stanch <i>Minnetonka</i> -tore forward, her nose of steel pointed straight into the dark, -mysterious South, hurling her eight thousand tons through every -available gap in the ice flotilla with all the strength of her -twenty-one thousand horsepower.</p> - -<p>Down the seas behind the vessel, faster and ever faster, crept the dawn -of a six-months' day.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> - -<h3>THE CURSE OF ANALOS</h3> - - -<p>On the brink of the ledge of death in the crater of the Gateway to the -Future crouched Analos, high priest in Sardanes. Two hundred feet below -him in the monstrous funnel of the crater, seethed the lake of undying -fires. Billowing vapors wafted from that troubled caldron passed upward -beyond him, an endless procession of many-hued wraiths. First mist, -smoke and sulfurous gases intermingled, spiraled and coiled in the -drafts that blew through the mountain's cone, and passed on to the vent -of the enormous flue, three hundred feet above.</p> - -<p>The rumble and muttering of the raging flames smote his ears -continually. Beneath his feet the solid rock of the hollow hill -vibrated and trembled. Anon as the wreaths and curtains of vapor -shifted and curled, disclosing their furious source, the weird light -shone garishly on his red vestments of office. His high-templed, crafty -face, above its black beard, turned livid in the glare.</p> - -<p>It was evident from the tense bearing of the man that he was himself -in the grip of an inward fire that threatened to break forth with -consuming fury. He ground his teeth, and blood ran from his bitten lips -into his beard.</p> - -<p>"Curse them, O Lord Hephaistos! Curse them, for thy sake and for thy -servant's!" he prayed as he prayed many times before. He stretched his -arms out over the gasping pit, raised himself on one knee and sent his -voice wailing out across the fire-shot depths.</p> - -<p>"Aye, curse them and spare them not! Curse him that was before me here! -May Kalin be accursed! Curse him who now opposeth my will! May Minos be -accursed! Curse her who hath flouted me, thy priest! May she be thrice -accursed! Curse them all, and for all the years to come! May they know -no rest in Sardanes or in the world! May they find no peace in that far -place beyond, whither thy gateway leadeth!"</p> - -<p>Panting for breath, he paused. His writhing features were hideous in -the flare from the chasm. Again he tossed his arms wildly.</p> - -<p>"Come to my aid, Hephaistos!" he screamed. "Aid thou thy servant! Give -me a sign, that I may know. A sign, Master, send me a sign!"</p> - -<p>Booming up from the depths, his answer came—a mighty diapason from -the throat of the crater that seemed to carry with it every chord of -nature's tonal gamut. As if the hammer of Hephaistos, indeed, had -smitten, the solid rock beneath him quivered to a terrific shock from -the bowels of the earth.</p> - -<p>Almost jarred from his foothold, the man, by a quick spring backward, -saved himself from toppling into the fiery funnel. Crawling on hands -and knees, he approached the brink of the ledge again, and there lay -flat. His eyeballs bulged and his senses swam when he gazed downward.</p> - -<p>He saw the fire-fretted sides of the giant crater swept free of all -their clouding vapors, every glittering vein, every projection, every -detail of their many strata, revealed in startling clearness by a -blinding flood of light. He saw the fire-lake itself surge upward in -its white-hot sheath. Up, up the sheer declivity of the crater it -crept. As it came, for yards above it the rocks glowed red.</p> - -<p>Another tremendous shock swayed the ledge where the priest lay. Masses -of rock, reft from the precipitous walls near the mountain summit, -hurtled past him down the chasm. Again the molten lava heaved up a -great wave. Never in all the traditions of Sardanes had the fires of -the Gateway leaped so far! From the center of that swirling maelstrom -there arose a cone twenty feet high. It opened with a shriek as of a -legion of devils released, and an appalling pillar of blue flame shot -up from it and stood like a plume.</p> - -<p>Although the highest reach of the flame was a full hundred feet below -him, the blast of the heat was like to burst the veins of the watching -priest. His very beard curled in it. Springing to his feet, Analos went -back to the darkness of the passage that led to the terraces on the -lower slope. Already it was hot to suffocation in the winding corridor.</p> - -<p>Down the spirals ahead of him Analos heard the squealing of his -affrighted priests as they scurried for the open. But Analos quaked -not. He strode forth from the lofty arch of the portal and trod the -upper terrace with the step of a master conqueror. He glanced up the -outer acclivity of the mountain. He saw its peak ablaze with a crown -of fire against the gloom of the Antarctic night—a crown which shone -there for the first time since man had made history in the valley of -Sardanes. He drew a deep breath, a breath of triumph and exaltation.</p> - -<p>"Master, thy sign is sent!" he cried.</p> - -<p>With head held high, Analos passed down the fire-lighted terraces. -As he went, he heard through the red twilight of the valley cries of -wonder and heart-rending wails of fear.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Afar on the Hunter's Road, twenty miles to the north and west of the -valley, Minos the king and eight of his hunters followed the trail -of the white bear. Two sledges they had with them, each hauled by -six-horse teams of the sturdy little Sardanian ponies. But Minos -coursed the snows more swiftly by far with a lighter sledge, whisked -over the frozen crusts by a racing chain of beasts that could outstrip -the small horses by two miles to one. <i>Seven great gray dogs drew the -sledge of Minos!</i></p> - -<p>Now, a strange thing must be related. When Polaris fought his way out -of Sardanes, along the crater ledge and through the rift in the wall of -the Gateway to the Future, his team of splendid dogs battled with him. -Their fighting fangs aided him fully as much as did his long, brown -rifle and brace of revolvers in holding Minos and his men back until it -was time to pass the rift and join Kalin the priest and the Rose maid. -One of his fiercest charges was made to avenge the dog Pallas, when she -was struck down by an ilium spear, and pitched over the brink of the -ledge.</p> - -<p>Although her master gave her up for lost, Pallas did not die. When -Minos the king made his way back to the valley after his last struggle -with the outlander, men came and told him that the beast lay sore -wounded and moaning on a rock-ledge in the side of the crater pit, some -score of feet below that from which she had fallen. They would have -stoned her to death, or let torches fall to drive her into the fire -lake, but Minos would not suffer it. The king himself ordered that he -be let down the crater wall with ropes. There he bound and muzzled -Pallas and brought her to the upper ledge and to his palace, and tended -her hurts, for Minos was skilled in the rude surgery of the valley.</p> - -<p>Analos, who succeeded Kalin as high priest in Sardanes, later demanded -the brute to be a sacrifice to Hephaistos, but Minos withstood him and -his priests, and the dog lived on.</p> - -<p>Some six weeks after her rescue from the pit, Pallas whined her mother -joy over six blind puppies. Twice the great darkness had fallen on the -Southland since the man of the snows had left it, and the pups had -grown tall and strong. Minos had given them much care, and it was his -whim to train them and use them as had Polaris. Now, with Pallas as the -leader, they drew the king's sledge.</p> - -<p>Sardanians, who had never known dogs until the advent of the strangers, -eyed them askance, but the will of Minos was an ill thing to tamper -with.</p> - -<p>The chase was fruitful. When the king and his hunters broke camp and -turned homeward, where the red haze of the moons of Sardanes lighted -the southern horizon, the carcasses of two monarchs of the wastes were -lashed to their sledges in token of the huntsmen's prowess.</p> - -<p>Three miles from the north pass into the valley they stopped to rest -and to feed their beasts. Minos was busied straightening out a kink in -a harness strap, when he heard a shout of amazement. A flash of light -shone with startling brightness across the wilderness of rocks and ice -hummocks and snow.</p> - -<p>The king sprang to his feet and saw a mighty, flaming pillar spread -fanwise heavenward from the summit of the looming bulk of the mountain -that lay to the left, at the northeast sweep of the oval range that -encompassed Sardanes.</p> - -<p>Gloomy and silent always through the centuries since their ancestors -had found the valley, now the towering peak of the Gateway to the -Future blazed with a fury that dimmed the moons of all its sister -mountains. That sight smote the Sardanians with terror. With upraised -arms, they stood among their snorting beasts, their staring, affrighted -faces ghastly in the flare.</p> - -<p>Beneath their feet they felt the rock-strewn bosom of the plain heave -gently, and, after a short space, again. They moaned in terror.</p> - -<p>Of a mold to be daunted little by natural or supernatural, Minos the -king was less moved than the others. While they groaned and called on -Hephaistos, he strode among them with a quieting word.</p> - -<p>"Old Mother Nature played a trick for her amusement," he said. "She -hath lighted Sardanes brighter than ever before, and now she melteth -the snows of the wilderness. Look! Never saw I such a mist!"</p> - -<p>He pointed to the east. Extending from the foothills below the Gateway, -northeast, as far as their eyes might see, a rolling bank of fog hung -over the snow-lands.</p> - -<p>"Bring in the sledges as soon as may be," Minos ordered. "There will be -many a shaken heart in Sardanes at yonder sight. I will hasten on."</p> - -<p>He leaped on his own sledge, gave the word to his dogs, and in a moment -the swift snow-runners had carried him around a bend in the pathway -toward the valley. As he went, he heard the dull booming of the huge -drum that hung in the hall of the Judgment House, whereon some lusty -wight was making play with all the strength of his two arms.</p> - -<p>So it happened that, as Analos crossed the green stone bridge over the -river, the king entered the valley through the north pass, both of them -bound in haste for the Judgment House.</p> - -<p>As was his custom, Minos left his sledge in a rock-built shelter at the -base of the pass cliffs, where the snows broke into bare ground and -rock. With his gray beasts in leash, he hurried through the pass and -set off across the valley at a loping, light-footed gait. Skirting the -marshes, where the river lost itself in its subterranean channels at -the lower end of the valley, the king and his shaggy companions crossed -the bridge and took a path above the main road that led them over the -slopes through groves of gigantic hymanan trees.</p> - -<p>The yellow-bronze and rustling foliage of the forest monarchs reflected -the radiance of the mountain moons in a shimmer of whispering gold. -Among their gnarled trunks the shadows lay thick. He was still ten -minutes' journey from the Judgment House when the gleam of a white robe -in the dusk and a subdued growl from the dogs told the king that some -one loitered in the path ahead of him. He heard a woman's voice raised -in anger, a voice that thrilled him to his heart's core.</p> - -<p>Silencing the muttering beasts, he went forward cautiously.</p> - -<p>A black-haired girl stood with her back to the bole of a tree, against -which her white arms were thrown out at each side. Her head was tilted -defiantly. Her bosom heaved and her black eyes snapped. In front of her -the dark form of a man barred her way. He was draped in a long robe, -the cowl of which obscured his features.</p> - -<p>"How darest thou!" Her tones bit scornfully. "How darest thou lay a -hand on the daughter of the Lord Karnaon? I care not for thy threats -of powers. I tell thee that wert thou twice what thou art, to me thou -wouldst be all that is foul and abhorrent. Mate with thee!" She laughed -shortly. "I'd sooner mate with the meanest of my father's servants than -with thee."</p> - -<p>Analos, for he it was whom opportunity had tempted thus to tarry, shook -his clenched fists over the head of the girl. Brave as she was, his -face turned so hideous in its leering rage that she shrank.</p> - -<p>"Twice hast thou flouted me, girl," he said in a choked, hard voice, -"me, the minister and mouthpiece of the Lord Hephaistos. It shall not -be so again." He tossed an arm toward the flaming crown of the mountain -whence he had come. "Yonder the god ruleth in all his splendor, and -I am his faithful servant. To the Gateway shalt thou come, whether -thou willst or no. Thither shouldst thou go this moment had I not more -pressing business elsewhere."</p> - -<p>A strong and open hand smote the words from the priest's lips. In an -instant he was gurgling on the ground, his neck beneath the heel of -Minos, and the dogs were sniffing about him, anxious to lay hold.</p> - -<p>"The Lady Memene may go her ways in peace," said the king quietly, -bowing low.</p> - -<p>No word of thanks got Minos for his timely coming. The girl flashed him -one quick look, and then passed by him hastily with head up. He gazed -after her, ruefully.</p> - -<p>"It seems that I am no more welcome than thou," he said, and dragged -Analos to his feet. "What doings are these, priest, and what passeth -yonder in the Gateway that doth so affright Sardanes? Answer, thou!" He -shook the burly priest like a refractory child.</p> - -<p>However wicked in spirit, Analos lacked not in bravery. He snatched -an ilium dagger from his girdle and struck fiercely at Minos's chest. -The big man saw the flash of the weapon, but made no parrying move. -Instead, he shoved the priest from him with one powerful arm, and so -violently that Analos spun many feet and brought up against the trunk -of another tree.</p> - -<p>Minos called the dogs back, which would have followed eagerly.</p> - -<p>"Wouldst thou, Analos, indeed?" said the king with a laugh. "The time -cometh, I can see it plainly, priest, when thou and I must try a fall -for place in the kingdom. Thou growest insolent. At least there be two -in Sardanes who fear thee not." He laughed again. "Now, an thou hast -naught to say, begone on that most pressing business of thine, and -cross not my path again in such pursuits as I found thee but now, lest -I be tempted to waste a spear on thy dirty carcass."</p> - -<p>Twice the priest essayed to answer, but each time his words were -choked. Then there burst from his throat an inarticulate bellow of -rage. He turned and dashed madly away into the shadows, his black robe -flying out behind him.</p> - -<p>"He groweth troublesome, as did Kalin, who opposed Helicon, my -brother," mused Minos; "but he hath not Kalin's mettle. For myself, I -did like the man Kalin passing well."</p> - -<p>Another burst from the great drum recalled his errand to the king, and -he hastened on.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>For more than an hour had Gallando the smith smitten the drum that -hung in the pillared hall of the Judgment House until he was aweary. -Far through the valley and over the hills had its thunderous summons -rolled, calling to all Sardanes.</p> - -<p>Those who labored had ceased, and those who slept had wakened. They -had come until nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants of the valley were -gathered. Those abroad when the first spurt of flame had leaped from -the peak of the Gateway and the earth had quaked had let everything -fall and hastened in. Those indoors had followed soon. From the open -façade of the hall more than a thousand white faces were turned toward -the flaming hill. From the upper reaches of the valley, nearly a score -of miles away, others were coming with other tales to tell. Black fear -sat heavy upon the shoulders of all.</p> - -<p>"Where is Minos the king?" "Analos? Is he here?" "Doth Hephaistos -smite his people?" These and many other cries rang in the hall. One -stupendous liar swore that he had seen the shape of the god himself -outlined in fire on the crest of the Gateway—and many believed his -tale.</p> - -<p>Women, their high-plaited hair disheveled, tunics all awry, clung to -their husbands. Bewildered children added their shrieks to the din and -confusion. Never had Sardanes been so shaken.</p> - -<p>Not until the somber figure of Analos was seen ascending the marble -steps of the dais at the upper end of the hall was the clamor quieted. -The priest crossed the platform and sat himself on the black stone seat -of his predecessors. He stared gloomily out over the sputtering of the -torches in their cressets about the hall, an occasional sob or murmur -of a frightened child, the singing of the river, and the far-away -roaring of the hills.</p> - -<p>Some minutes passed, and from the door at the rear of the dais came -Minos. His dogs trooped in with him, bristling at sight of the -priest. The king took his seat on the ancient, raised throne of his -forefathers, with its plinth above, whereon were carved the words</p> - -<p class="ph1">MINOEBAEIVEYETHEEAPAANHEOH</p> - -<p>(Minos, Basileustes Sardanes Ho Hekaton, or Minos, hundredth King of -Sardanes.)</p> - -<p>A number of the nobles climbed up the steps from the lower hall, and -took their stations below the throne.</p> - -<p>Scarcely was the king in his place when the tumult of affright again -broke forth, an unintelligible clamor of many voices. Minos raised his -hands to still it. He addressed his people calmly, with the demeanor -and smile that long before had earned for him the name of the Smiling -Prince.</p> - -<p>"Tradition saith, and the writings of history which the priest keep -do confirm," he said, "that in time very long ago our ancestors came -to Sardanes from a great, bright world to the north, a world wherein -they were part of a mighty people. By a strange mischance came they to -Sardanes, and might return no more whence they came. Here have their -descendants lived in peace and plenty. But a little time agone two -strangers, that Polaris—of the Snows, and the Rose girl, came among -us. They, too, told us of the outer world—a place so different from -this that we scarce could conceive of it. There the sun shineth always. -Here he is hid from us for half of each year. There all things live in -his warmth. Here are we warmed by the ring of fire-mountains, and all -without is the bleak desert of ice and snow.</p> - -<p>"They told us also, did the strangers, of the nature of the fires which -spout yonder, and of the mighty forces in the earth from which they are -sprung. Wherefore tremble ye now, my people? Because a hill shaketh? -Because a fire flameth anew that perhaps flamed aforetime, long before -your forefathers came? Fear not. These things be of nature, and of -nature only, and will pass. I, Minos, your king, am sure that no great -harm impendeth, and that all things will be again as they have been."</p> - -<p>Reassuring as were his words and his calmness, murmurs broke out anew -from the people.</p> - -<p>"Never hath it been so chill in the time of the great darkness as now -it is," cried a voice.</p> - -<p>"Hephaistos! Hephaistos! These things must be of the great god, who is -sore wroth with Sardanes. The priests have said it," called another. -Above the many-tongued murmur swelled the name of the high priest.</p> - -<p>"Analos! Analos! Let us hear from the wise priest of the Gateway!" they -shouted.</p> - -<p>With a smile of grim defiance at the king, Analos glided from his seat -and stood at the edge of the platform. He drew his long, black cloak -around him, and stood poised like a bird of dark omen, wrapped in its -sable pinions. His somber eyes glowed.</p> - -<p>Good actor was the priest. He spoke never a word until the silence of -death in the hall told him that he had the attention of every straining -ear.</p> - -<p>"Angered is the great Hephaistos," he began slowly, in hollow tones. -"And hath he not borne much? Is it a little thing that the kings of -Sardanes lead the people from their god? Aye, and that one of his own -chief ministers hath turned false? Now the god turneth his face from -the valley. Punishment falleth apace. Already hath the doom of Kalin, -the traitor priest, struck. It was revealed to me in a vision that he -and the outlanders perished in torture in the wilderness—but first -Hephaistos used the man of the snows as an instrument of vengeance -against those in high places who turned against their master.</p> - -<p>"Remember ye the deaths of Helicon, the king, of Morolas, his brother, -and of many others? Take warning and tremble, ye of Sardanes! A greater -vengeance is at hand—"</p> - -<p>He was interrupted by the clatter of flying hoofs on the roadway -down the valley from the south, and the rumbling of a two-wheeled -chariot. Four ponies driven at furious speed drew the chariot. Down -the long roadway they dashed, and brought up with clashing hoofs on -the stones of the paved court without the hall. Their driver, a tall, -black-bearded man, sprang from his car and pushed through the press in -the hall, tossing his arms wildly.</p> - -<p>"From the mansion of the Lord Ukalles in upper Sardanes am I come!" he -screamed as he reached the steps to the dais. "And this my message: -Quenched in darkness are the moons of Mount Helior and Mount Tanos, -and there is ice to the thickness of a man's hand on the holy river -Ukranis, where never was ice before!"</p> - -<p>Like standing grain in a chill wind the people quivered, as a thrill of -abject terror ran through them—a despairing murmur.</p> - -<p>Joy that was demoniac lighted the countenance of the priest. He leaned -far out from the verge of the dais and spread his arms with fingers -hooked and clutching at the air.</p> - -<p>His voice broke in on the echo of the courier's dire message.</p> - -<p>"Woe to fair Sardanes!" he howled. "Hephaistos smiteth and spareth not. -For the sins of the few shall the many be smitten. Woe to Sardanes! -I have read it in the Gateway that the doom shall fall until the -punishment is completed, and every soul in the valley bendeth to the -will of the ancient god!"</p> - -<p>Back from a hundred throats was flung the cry:</p> - -<p>"It shall be done!" And from a thousand: "What is the will of the god? -How may we be saved? Tell us quickly, Analos!"</p> - -<p>To his full height drew the priest. His face was alight with triumph. -He had chosen his words and his time well. Advantage was with him.</p> - -<p>He cast a glance over his shoulder at Minos. The king had come down -from his throne. The nobles were grouped around him. To this new terror -Minos had found no answer. He had no comfort to give his frenzied -people to which they would listen. Superstition and fear and the wild -words of the priest held them in thrall. Analos had full sway.</p> - -<p>Not for an instant was the crafty priest at a loss. His god was in the -ascendant. Now was the time to wrest into his own hands the power he -desired in the valley. With the blind faith of a fanatic, he believed -in the ancient religion; but, like many another priest in the world -before him, be invested his own person with much of the power of the -godhead he preached.</p> - -<p>Troubled not a whit was he by the calamity that threatened in the -valley. That was punishment merely—how dire or how long he cared not. -When it was completed Sardanes would be in the hollow of his hand.</p> - -<p>"Back to your homes, ye Sardanians!" he thundered. "And pray to the -Lord Hephaistos for mercy. On the third day from now shall word come -to you from the Gateway, the word of the ancient god. When the word -cometh, obey it, or he shall not spare you. Let the word go forth -through the valley that the captains of all the crafts and the nobles -of the land be assembled here in the Judgment House on the third day. -Then shall the commands of Hephaistos be made known to them. Away! -Away! Analos hath spoken."</p> - -<p>He threw his mantle over his head, passed out through the narrow portal -at the side of the dais, and was gone, on his way through the gloom to -the Gateway. In subdued silence the people trooped from the hall and -slipped away to their homes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Soon the thrashing propellers of the <i>Minnetonka</i> carried her beyond -the radius of light sent out across the sea from the bursting -volcanoes. It lay far behind, a garish bar athwart the waters. That -faded also, until only a reflection could be seen against the sky, a -waving, lambent radiance, like that of the Aurora Australis—which the -voyagers had deemed it to be when first they had sighted it on their -way into Ross Sea.</p> - -<p>As they passed into the gloom of the Antarctic night their perils -grew apace, and their real fighting began. Everywhere the bergs lay -about them. Now here, now there, darted the cruiser, backing, turning, -and zigzagging, seeking the safety course. Again rolling clouds made -stygian gloom, and the cruiser fought on through the unquiet seas by -the rays of her powerful searchlights.</p> - -<p>One good turn of fortune came when the fury of the gale was abated. But -the icebergs drove on in the clutch of a racing current, a constant -menace. A hundred times the stout ship pushed through between drifting -masses of ice that closed their scintillant, clashing jaws behind -her, thrilling those on deck with the nearness of complete disaster. -As many times were the engines reversed in furious haste, to back the -steel-clad adventurer from a closing trap that would have crushed her -like a toy.</p> - -<p>Here it was that the cool captain in command showed all his -resourcefulness, had need for all the splendid seamanship and the -reckless daring that had brought his ships unscathed through three -voyages into the polar zones.</p> - -<p>Fortunate was the foresight that had armed the ship for the dangers she -was to meet. From her bow projected an immense ram of wrought steel, -almost razor keen at its cutting edge. All around her sides she was -rimmed with a protection of triple rails of the same metal, clamped -fast to her hull, and set with powerful springs, to withstand the shock -of impact with the floating ice. Ever her twin-screw propellers whirled -within a sheltering hood of steel. She had been dismantled of many of -her trappings and remodeled to conserve the two qualities most needed -in her present straits—speed and strength.</p> - -<p>Useless as he was in the management of the ship, Polaris spent four -hours on deck to one in his cabin.</p> - -<p>"Better to meet death up here in the free air, if death be fated for -us, than to strangle down there like a trapped beast," he said to Zenas -Wright. When perils thickened, he abandoned his cabin altogether, -brought a huge bearskin on deck and slept there, when sleep he must.</p> - -<p>Although in life's evening, the scientist was almost as active. For -days Scoland seemed never to sleep at all. Under his guidance the -<i>Minnetonka</i> pierced the dangers like a projectile launched from a -cannon of the gods, and directed by a calm, clear mind that lived -within it.</p> - -<p>When they reached the lower end of Ross Sea a pale, uncertain light -that shone in the north behind told them of the coming of the polar -day. There a new and formidable obstacle confronted them. Where the -sea narrowed to a three-mile channel, beyond which lay wider water, -great ice floes had drifted in and barred the way. They were formed of -drift and flat ice, of no great thickness, but lay acres in extent in -a mighty jam. All along the edge of that field fretted and stormed the -giant bergs that had come down with the tide.</p> - -<p>Back and forth across the narrowed sea the <i>Minnetonka</i> steamed, -playing her searchlights in vain. No passage was open. Scoland called a -conference.</p> - -<p>"There are two things we can do," he said. "We can hew ourselves a -safe harbor and wait for the jam to break up, when we can fight our -way through the channel with the bergs; or we can smash a way through -ourselves with the ram and explosives. We can't remain as we are, for -the big fellows are getting thicker. Every hour lost adds to the danger -of being crushed in where we can't get out, perhaps of being sunk. -Which shall it be?"</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Everson, second in command of the <i>Minnetonka</i>, said -nothing. Zenas Wright, who was a scientist first and a sailor very far -second, said as much.</p> - -<p>"The snug harbor idea likes me varra weel," remarked Engineer -MacKechnie, and he peered across the glistening floes and out at the -drifting bergs with anxious eyes.</p> - -<p>"It may mean weeks," suggested Scoland. "What do you say, Janess?"</p> - -<p>Polaris glanced down the barred lane of the channel with heightened -color. "I am no man of the seas," he answered quietly, "but I say, -break through. For, look you, the wind rises again. Here all is held. -Yonder in the open sea the bergs drive on. Where we break a pathway, -no berg may follow us. When we are come through, the gale will have -cleared the waters beyond, and we shall find our sailing smooth, ahead -of the jam and behind the bergs that are gone before."</p> - -<p>"Aye, mon, mon, the boy is right," cut in MacKechnie. "This ship's not -a plaything. Yon is varra hard cutting, but she can do it, dinna fear."</p> - -<p>Scoland turned to one of the mates. "Jameson, bring up the lyddite," he -ordered.</p> - -<p>Where the floe fields seemed weakest and narrowest, near the left -of the channel, the captain sent men onto the ice with drills and -explosive, charge after charge of which was sunk into the floe and -exploded from a battery in one of the cruiser's boats.</p> - -<p>Scoland took personal charge of the mining. Under his orders, his men -blasted out a large basin in the floe, a hundred yards in from its face.</p> - -<p>"If we cut a channel straight in," he explained, "the pressure of the -jam is likely to close it at once, or else shut it like a vise on the -cruiser, after she is in. We will blast a narrow channel to the basin, -drive the ship in, and then make another basin farther on, and a second -channel. By zigzagging and letting the channels close in behind us, we -will avoid the danger of being nipped and held fast in the floe."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Like a watchful sentinel, the <i>Minnetonka</i> patrolled the edge of the -floe, nosing small vagrant bergs from her way, in an endeavor to keep -cleared the spot where she would have to make her dash for the channel. -Scoland stood on the bridge, tapping its rail with a nervous hand, his -sharp eyes darting from one to another of the larger ice masses which -might be disposed to contest a passage with his ship.</p> - -<p>The men on the ice signaled that their lyddite train was laid and -ready. They withdrew to a distance, one of them carrying the small -battery, from which the slender connecting wires led to the sunken -charges of explosive.</p> - -<p>Picking up her boat, the <i>Minnetonka</i>, under reversed engines, backed -away and stood ready for the dash to the basin. Twice the captain -raised his megaphone to his lips to give the word, but each time he -hesitated. Suddenly he dropped it and sprang into the wheelhouse. -Immediately the ship lunged forward.</p> - -<p>Keenly alive to these proceedings, Zenas Wright and Polaris, from their -station near the forward davits, wondered at this new move.</p> - -<p>"Now what has happened?" questioned the scientist. "One would think we -were going into battle. See, they are manning the guns!"</p> - -<p>Polaris glanced down the ship's rail and saw the eager-eyed gun crews -tearing the coverings from their long-silent ordnance. Forth from their -ports crept the grim muzzles of three of the <i>Minnetonka's</i> six-inch -guns.</p> - -<p>"Battle it is to be," said Polaris; "and yonder floats the enemy." He -pointed to where a huge iceberg had broken from its mooring at the edge -of the floe, and, momentarily gaining headway, was drifting in to bar -the channel way.</p> - -<p>The ship swung about sharply. One of her powerful searchlights played -steadily on the face of the looming ice cliffs as it came on, its -hundred towers and crags glittering and flashing in the brilliant ray, -a mass of floating silver. A sharp word of command, and the three gun -captains, bronzed and alert, bent to their levers with machinelike -precision. The crackling of the floes and the grinding of the bergs -were lost in the thunder of the guns.</p> - -<p>At that point-blank range, the effect of the volley was terrific. Where -the shells struck, the surface of the berg flew to pieces. The air in -the radius of the searchlight was filled with a shower of scintillating -splinters. Larger masses of ice slid from the face of the slow-moving -mountain and plunged sullenly into the tossing waves. A cavern was made -from which a thousand gleaming fissures shot into the darker body of -the ice behind.</p> - -<p>Working like beavers, the gunners reloaded and sent another crashing -discharge into the floating wall at its water-line. As a small chunk of -ice is parted by a few blows from an ice pick, so the repeated impact -of the exploding shells shattered the berg and sundered it. Pitching -and toppling, down came its lofty towers into the sea. Its giant menace -crumbled into scores of insignificant blocks and a spreading bank of -drift.</p> - -<p>Again the <i>Minnetonka</i> backed and pointed her nose toward the floe, -whither her searchlights were concentrated. Scoland reappeared on the -bridge.</p> - -<p>"Fire!" he shouted frenziedly through his megaphone.</p> - -<p>A dark figure on the floe let its hand fall on the battery knob. A -succession of thunderous detonations followed, and from every lyddite -mine was flung skyward a column of water and glittering debris. For -many yards the mighty floe pitched and heaved.</p> - -<p>Her twin propellers thrashing the water to foam, the <i>Minnetonka</i> drove -her steel-clad length through the opened gap smashing the wreckage -right and left, and came to rest in the basin beyond. She was scarcely -in before, with a long, angry roaring, the great rift closed behind her.</p> - -<p>As the cruiser pushed through the channel a cry of consternation rose -from the men on the ice, drowned in the turmoil of her passing, but -audible to one man on her decks whose ears were almost more than mortal -keen. Another cry came from the gunners as Polaris dashed through them -and hurled himself into the ice-strewn waters.</p> - -<p>One of Scoland's sailors, separated by some distance from his fellows, -had climbed to an icy eminence near the west side of the basin. In the -disturbance which followed the blasting of the channel and its closing, -the ice where he stood had parted from the floe, and, his footing riven -from under him, the poor fellow had been pitched into the dark water in -the midst of the pounding drift.</p> - -<p>From the deck of the cruiser, Polaris heard his despairing cry, and, -straining his eyes through the half twilight, saw his form silhouetted -for an instant against the ice before he took the plunge.</p> - -<p>Straight and true leaped the son of the snows. One of the things -civilization had taught him that he had never known before was the art -of swimming. The staring gunners saw his white-clad figure reappear -once many feet distant from the side of the cruiser, and then he was -gone, tearing his way with powerful strokes through the swirl of ice -and water.</p> - -<p>As fast as many willing hands could cast her loose, a boat was put -out from the ship. The miners on the ice rushed to the spot where -their comrade had disappeared. Across the drift one of the cruiser's -searchlights swept a long finger of light. It played on sullen waves -and heaving ice, but revealed no struggling swimmer.</p> - -<p>"That is the last of Janess, and the finish of this expedition," rapped -out Scoland.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright, standing at the rail of the ship beside him, groaned -aloud. He did not see the fleeting, satisfied smile that accompanied -the words of Scoland. A mist that was not of the air or sea rose and -obscured his vision, and he wiped it away with his shaking old hand.</p> - -<p>The boat had nearly reached the edge of the basin when a strong white -arm shot up, not ten feet away from it, and laid hold of a projection -on one of the larger pieces of drift. A glad cry arose from floe and -ship as, with a lusty thrashing of feet, Polaris emerged from the water -and sprawled his length across the slippery surface. Again the shout, -when it was seen that he dragged after him a smaller darker form. -Parkerson, the sailor, was unconscious, having struck his head against -floating ice in his fall.</p> - -<p>When the boat returned, and Polaris still bearing the senseless man in -his arms climbed over the side, the cruiser's company cheered him as -only American sailors can cheer a hardy deed bravely done.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Minos the king left the Judgment House shortly after the going of -Analos, the high priest of Hephaistos. With the king went the nobles.</p> - -<p>"When ye have slept, come ye on the morrow to the palace," he bade them -"There is much to be considered, wherein I would have your counsel."</p> - -<p>A short way from the Judgment House, on the slopes of Mount Latmos, -stood the palace of the kings of Sardanes, a temple-like structure, -reared of the green stone from the cliff quarries and faced with lofty -pillars of white marble. Thither Minos walked slowly, pondering much. -One of his household, a lad of some eighteen years, who had tarried -when the people fled from the hall, now followed his master.</p> - -<p>As they ascended the path through the great trees toward the royal -hill, a scrap of conversation drifted to the ears of the king from the -porch of the stone cottage of one of the tillers of the soil.</p> - -<p>"The world hath rocked. Cold enters the valley. The dread high priest -threateneth the king. What will the outcome be?" A woman's voice asked -the question.</p> - -<p>A man made answer: "Hephaistos ruleth the priests. Analos and fear rule -the people. What can the king do?"</p> - -<p>Minos smiled. What, indeed? Yet there were some things that he could -and <i>would</i> do.</p> - -<p>A booming stroke of the huge drum echoed through the valley, telling -that the day was done, and that one faithful soul had not forsaken its -post. The drum swung between two pillars in the center of the Hall of -Judgment. Near to it was a vase of nearly the height of a man. In the -bottom of the vase was drilled a tiny hole. The vase was filled with -water from the holy River Ukranis. Usually a lad watched it.</p> - -<p>When the water had seeped away and the vase was emptied, a process that -consumed some ten hours, it was the duty of the watcher to smite a blow -on the drum and to refill the vase. Then another took up the vigil. So -the Sardanians kept rude reckoning of time.</p> - -<p>When Minos reached his home he sent the lad to fetch parchment, brush, -and pigment. By the flaring light of a torch he wrote:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>To the Lady Memene, greeting:</p> - -<p>Though the syllana be a flower little in accord with thy thought, yet -when the hour shall strike that thou hast need for a friend who will -do and dare all things, wear one on thy gown.</p></div> - -<p>Folding his message, unsigned, the king called the lad.</p> - -<p>"Alternes, take thou this parchment to the hall of the Lord Karnaon," -he directed. "Give it into the hand of the Lady Memene, and to no -other. On thy way thither send to me Zalos and three of his men. Then -seek thou thy rest."</p> - -<p>Minos seated himself on the topmost step of the palace portico and -leaned his head against a pillar. His eyes roved across the shadowy -valley, where the flickering light of the mountain moons mingled with -the cold, pale radiance of the Antarctic stars. He scarcely saw it. He -had fallen into a reverie.</p> - -<p>Ill had gone the love-making of this king. Never, since the days when -they had played together as children, had the Lady Memene given him one -word of love, one single glance in which a lover might read joy. Ah, -those far, fair days of childhood! Then he had been but the younger -brother of the man who would be king. She had been kind then.</p> - -<p>Imperious, proud-spirited, disdainful was this Lady Memene in her dark -loveliness. Minos could only dream that she would soften to him, and -to him alone. Days of terror were falling on the valley. Perhaps worse -were to come. He would like to stand at her side and hold her safe. -Well, he had sent her his first love letter. He would watch for the -syllana, the peerless blue rose of Sardanes that bloomed in the months -of the long night, and, though Sardanians knew it not, bloomed nowhere -else in the world besides. It was the Sardanian symbol of love. Ah, -that she would wear it, if only to call him to her service!</p> - -<p>Presently came Zalos, a tall man of nearly forty years, captain of the -huntsmen, who were, even more than the nobles of the valley, close in -the affections and confidence of the king.</p> - -<p>"Thou hast summoned us, O king," said the hunter, raising his arm in -salute and indicating three of his men who stood back in the shadows.</p> - -<p>"Aye, Zalos, old friend, I would lay a trust upon thee," replied Minos. -"Set a guard about the hall of the Lord Karnaon. Let no hour pass that -thou or three of thy men are not on watch. If aught untoward befall -there, let the feet be fleet that bring the news to Minos. And if help -be needed there—I believe thou understandest—give it—even with thy -spears, and at the cost of life. I trust thee."</p> - -<p>"Say no more. It shall be done," answered Zalos. "The life of every -hunter in Sardanes is thine, O king, for the asking." He saluted again, -and was gone along the forest paths with his men.</p> - -<p>The king was aroused again by the cold muzzle of the dog Pallas thrust -against his hand. She whined inquiringly. He patted her rough head.</p> - -<p>"Ha, Pallas," he said, "thou art another who fearest not the darkest -the Gateway hath to send. And thou art the namesake of a goddess, if -the scrolls of the priests read truly; a mighty goddess of old, who was -the friend of this Hephaistos. Pallas Athene they did name her. A most -wise goddess she, and came not to Sardanes." He rose and led the dogs -to their quarters at the rear of the palace hall.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Far up in the side of the Mount Latmos, above the palace, a deep cave -pierced the rock. It was the granary, storehouse, and treasury of the -Sardanian kings. Thither Minos climbed after his hunters were gone on -their errand, carrying with him a smoldering torch of hymanan wood.</p> - -<p>At the entrance to the narrow, tortuous passage which led into the -cave he whirled the torch into flame and passed in. The cave was wide -and deep and high. Along its sides were huge bins, wherein was grain -sufficient to garrison a small army for some time. Some forty feet -within the cave a small jet of water spurted from a crevice in the -rock, ran along a well-worn channel to the mouth of the cave, and -drained away down the mountainside.</p> - -<p>Minos thrust the torch into a cresset in the wall. He dragged forth -from its place a bulky chest of dark, carved wood. From within it shone -the gleam of polished metal. The king took out and laid down on the -rock floor one by one the pieces of a suit of armor—greaves, corselet, -a belt with pendant leaves of metal, a rounded helm with winged crest, -and last, a shining, keen-bladed sword in its sheath and thongs.</p> - -<p>Aside from the battle in the crater, when Polaris Janess hewed his way -out of the kingdom, and an occasional bickering among the quarrelsome -fellows, Sardanes had never known war. Then whence this warlike gear?</p> - -<p>Little there was in the valley that the king had not interested -himself to learn, with the one exception of the religion preached by -the priestly crew, at which he scoffed. One of his favorite crafts -was that of the smiths who wrought in the iridescent ilium smelted -from the mountainsides. It had been his fancy to fashion this suit -of mail, beating it from the finest metal and modeling it after the -armor sculptured in the groups of statuary at the Judgment House, -representing the founders of the race, the Greeks from the blue Aegean -Sea. Each piece had Minos copied, only making them of a larger mold, -to fit a figure taller and broader than that of any Greek who ever had -trodden the valley.</p> - -<p>There were no arms like these in Sardanes. Those which the Greeks had -brought there had rusted into red dust centuries before.</p> - -<p>Minos packed the bright trappings in a sack and carried them with him -back to the palace. He had a feeling that the time was near when he -should wear them. Then he, too, sought his couch, for he was sorely -wearied.</p> - -<p>Ill tidings were early on the morrow. Another messenger rode down -the valley to tell that one more of the volcanic hills had yielded -up its spirit, and that a rim of white snow was creeping over the -mountainsides.</p> - -<p>One by one came the nobles of the valley to the house of Minos. Each -man represented an ancient house, each house one hill of the valley's -ring. All were gloomy, some of them beset by fears but little removed -from those of the terror-stricken people. The king found less of -comfort and support among them than in the company of his hunters, who, -at the least and last, would die for him to a man.</p> - -<p>Two there were, the oldest and the youngest, who upstood firmly for -him.</p> - -<p>"That which the king shall decide will Garlanes abide by," said his -old-time friend and counselor, still hale and strong despite his -grizzled crown. "I am old, and it mattereth little. If it come to an -issue, the wrath of Hephaistos shall not divide my friend and me."</p> - -<p>Almost insolent in his carelessness was the boy-lord Patrymion. "If -this be the end of the world, and thou promisest me a fight before the -end, then am I with thee, also, Minos the king," he laughed, "and will -kill me a fat priest or two right willingly, if so be that they will -fight. Methinks it is they and not thou who do weary their master."</p> - -<p>So doubtful was the mien of the remainder of the nobles that the king -did not prolong the conference, but soon dismissed them. It was agreed -that no decision as to what course to take could be made until Analos -had made known the word from the Gateway.</p> - -<p>More and more the king felt that he must meet what perils were before -him almost alone. His people and the nobles were slipping from him. -Well, so be it. His spirit rose to the test.</p> - -<p>Two more days passed slowly. Three more of the moons of Sardanes waned -from their mountain heights forever. The state of the stricken people -bordered on frenzy. All the ordinary pursuits of the valley were -abandoned.</p> - -<p>Then, at midday, the booming of the drum gave them a moment of wild -hope. The word of Hephaistos had come!</p> - -<p>Surrounded by his hunters, Minos hastened down the hillside to the -Judgment House. From upper Sardanes down to the Gateway the people were -assembled, a throng that filled the hall and overflowed in the paved -court. The captains of the crafts were gathered at the foot of the -steps to the dais. The nobles were in their places. The king ran his -eyes quickly along them. Only the Lord Karnaon was missing.</p> - -<p>Standing in front of the black stone throne of the high priest was a -heavily draped figure. It was not Analos, but one of his ministers.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As soon as the king had seated himself on the throne the priest -advanced from his station to the center of the dais and threw back the -robe from his face. He was Karthanon, oldest of all the priests of the -Gateway, the oldest man in all Sardanes.</p> - -<p>For a moment he stood with eyes fixed on the floor, and there was tense -silence in the hall and without. He folded his arms. His cracked old -voice rose shrilly:</p> - -<p>"Minos the king, nobles, and people of Sardanes, greeting. This word -from the Lord Hephaistos through the mouth of Analos, mightiest of his -servants. List and heed, for a terrible doom falleth, and there is but -one way in which it may be held back.</p> - -<p>"Let Minos the king forego his kingship. It is written that no more -shall a king rule in Sardanes!</p> - -<p>"Let her whom they name the Lady Memene be sent to the Gateway, the -bride of the great servant of the ancient god.</p> - -<p>"Let the man Minos, who hath dared to lay his sacrilegious hand of -violence on the sacred person of the mighty high priest Analos, let him -be sent to the Gateway also, where he shall be scourged with whips and -humiliated as seemeth best to the servants of the god!</p> - -<p>"Thus and thus only may the doom be averted, thus the god appeased. -Hephaistos hath spoken!"</p> - -<p>Through the pause that followed his words broke the voice of Minos. The -face of the king was smiling no longer, but fierce as a winter sea as -he leaped down from his throne:</p> - -<p>"This the answer of Minos to Analos. Had <i>he</i> dared to come here with -such a message as he hath sent, Minos would have thus broken him in -two!"</p> - -<p>He caught from its place the black stone seat that had stood there for -many a hundred years. It was of a weight that would have troubled two -stout men to lift, but in his anger the king plucked it up and swung it -aloft like a chair of wood. Then it crashed down on the marble floor -and splintered to fragments.</p> - -<p>"So would I treat thee also, Karthanon, but thou art old, and after all -but the bearer of a message. Get thee back to the Gateway and tell thy -master that a king still rules in Sardanes!"</p> - -<p>The priest shuffled to the entrance at the side of the dais. In the -doorway he turned and lifted his hands.</p> - -<p>"On the people falleth the dread doom!" he cried.</p> - -<p>Through the moments of these happenings not a man in the hall had -stirred, save Minos and the priest. Now there was a surge forward -toward the dais. Nearest the steps stood Istos, captain of the smiths. -He sprang up on the platform.</p> - -<p>"Not for one man shall the whole people perish, one man and a maid. I, -for one, will strike a blow for the priest and the god!"</p> - -<p>Up flashed his spear and drove straight at the breast of Minos. Before -ever the king could spring aside or guard, it struck him on the breast, -struck hard and clanged and fell on the marble floor.</p> - -<p>Minos threw his cloak from him and leaped forward, the torchlights -glittering strangely on the suit of armor which he wore. He wrenched -from its sheath the good broad sword he had forged, and struck. The -keen blade hit the smith on the point of his shoulder and hewed -through to his ribs, so terrible was the stroke. With a scream Istos -fell and died.</p> - -<p>Made mad by fear and superstition, the men in the hall pressed forward. -Up the steps they sprang to avenge the smith and seize the king. Minos -met them with sword aloft and a fierce smile on his face.</p> - -<p>"Never thought Minos to slay his own people," he cried bitterly, "but -here be blows for the taking!"</p> - -<p>The unarmed nobles fled from the dais. Only Garlanes and the lad -Patrymion tarried, seeking weapons. From the rear of the throne poured -a score of Minos's hunters.</p> - -<p>"For the king!" they shouted, and ranged themselves at his back.</p> - -<p>Just as the battle hung in the balance a lad leaped through the door by -which the priest had departed. He sprang to the side of the king.</p> - -<p>"From Zalos I come," he gasped. "He bade me to tell thee that Karnaon -taketh his daughter, the Lady Memene, to the Gateway!"</p> - -<p>Three Sardanians lay dying on the steps to the dais. Those behind -shrank back from the whirling ilium blade.</p> - -<p>"Now here is another black game afoot!" cried Minos. He sheathed his -sword. Before the crowd in the hall could guess his purpose, he and -his hunters had dashed in hot haste from the rear door of the Judgment -House.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> - -<h3>THE LAUGHTER OF MEMENE</h3> - - -<p>In the forest on the slopes above the Judgment House, Minos and his men -halted, and the king made a division of his forces. If there was to be -battle of the few against the many, he must have a fortress.</p> - -<p>"Imacar," he said, "take thou six men and speed on to the cave in the -side of Latmos. Hold it against all comers. Seven men may there defy a -thousand. I come hither anon, I and these others."</p> - -<p>In haste Imacar told off his men, and the king and the others plunged -ahead along the forest paths. Below them they could hear the clamor of -the crowd at the Judgment House, now confused and undecided whither to -pursue.</p> - -<p>Over to the left of the rugged heights of the Gateway mount rose the -more precipitous steeps of the Mount Zalmon. Between the two was the -notch of the northern pass that led into the Hunter's Road. At the -foot of Zalmon lay the marshes of the holy river Ukranis. Still farther -to the west, on the turn of the hill toward Mount Meor and Mount -Latmos, lay the estate and palace of the Lord Karnaon.</p> - -<p>As they ran, Minos questioned the lad who had come from Zalos. He -learned that two other priests of the Gateway had come down with -Karthanon the Aged. While he had gone on to the Judgment House to -deliver the message of Analos, they had proceeded to the home of -Karnaon. There a conference had been held. At its end the Lady Memene -had been summoned. With the priests, her father, and a number of -servants they had set out for the Gateway.</p> - -<p>"And did she not resist?" asked Minos of the lad.</p> - -<p>"Nay, O king, not openly, and thereat was Zalos much perplexed. He -followeth on with two men, and knoweth not whether to intervene or no."</p> - -<p>There was no direct way by which to reach the Gateway from the Mount -Zalmon. The pathway skirted the marshes to the green stone bridge -across the Ukranis. From the bridge a road lay straight to the foot of -the terraced hill of the god.</p> - -<p>Minos, his thirteen hunters, and the lad left the slopes a distance -above the marshes, crossed the tilled lands, and reached the bridge. -They were none too soon. When they reached the river they could hear -voices on the marsh path in the direction of Mount Zalmon. The king -bade his men hide in a clump of astarian bush on the river bank.</p> - -<p>"Bide thou there, and stir not unless I call," he ordered. Alone, he -strode on to the bridge and took his stand in the angle of the first -buttress.</p> - -<p>He had not long to wait. Within five minutes the party from the palace -of Karnaon hurried from the path to the road and approached the bridge. -First came the Lord Karnaon, clutching his daughter by the arm. On -either side of them walked a sable-robed priest of Hephaistos. Close in -the rear seven or eight men of the lord's household slunk along, with -many a side-long glance, fearful of they knew not what.</p> - -<p>The Lady Memene looked neither to right nor left, but carried herself -very straight. Her face was pale now, but her eyes blazed, and her -mouth was set in an ominous line.</p> - -<p>A burst of shouting came to their ears from up the valley in the -direction of the Judgment House, and the members of the party paused -at the bridge. As they hesitated, came a hollow clanking, and an -apparition moved out from the buttressed rail and confronted them in -the bridge's center—a frightening apparition in clashing armor.</p> - -<p>For a moment there was awed silence. Karnaon let go his hold on his -daughter's arm and stepped a pace forward, for the lord was no coward. -The two priests of the Gateway drew close together behind him. From the -servants rose a moan of terror, and they seemed ready to make a break -up the valley road.</p> - -<p>Not one of the party recognized Minos the king in the towering figure -on the bridge. To their startled imaginations, he seemed of more than -mortal proportions. The red glare from the heights of Zalmon and the -Gateway shimmered on his armor. His winged helm shaded his face. For -aught they guessed in their first fright, he might be a supernatural -messenger come forth to meet them from the temple of Hephaistos—if not -the god himself.</p> - -<p>He spoke, and broke the spell.</p> - -<p>"Whither in such haste goeth the Lord Karnaon, and for what purpose?" -demanded the king.</p> - -<p>Karnaon started, and immediately pushed forward. "Ha, 'tis but Minos, -who was the king," he growled. "Bar not our way, for we be summoned in -haste to the Gateway."</p> - -<p>"'Who <i>was</i> king'?" repeated Minos sternly. "Mend thy manners, lord, -for the king still liveth, and while he liveth he ruleth."</p> - -<p>"Thou art no more king. Analos hath banned thee with the ban of -Hephaistos," countered Karnaon. "But I will not waste words with thee. -We must hasten."</p> - -<p>"Tarry a moment, Karnaon. Thou art all too hasty," Minos replied. "I -would learn the mind of the Lady Memene concerning this journey to the -Gateway, and if she knoweth its purpose, and goeth willingly."</p> - -<p>"What's that to thee, rash man?" said Karnaon. "My daughter doth not -wait thy word as to her goings and comings. She doeth as I, her father, -command."</p> - -<p>"That is only half the truth, father," broke in Lady Memene. "As thou -hast commanded, thus far indeed have I done, but there is little of my -own will in it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As she spoke, the girl whipped her cloak aside, and the heart of Minos -leaped within him. For on the whiteness of her gown was set a splendid -syllana bloom!</p> - -<p>One glimpse he had of the shining petals of the blue rose, and the -cloak fell back and hid it, but in that one glimpse the mind of the -king cast all else aside. She had summoned his aid. Gladly would he -face priest or god or angry men for this woman.</p> - -<p>One of the priests had been whispering low among the men of Karnaon. -Now he sprang aside.</p> - -<p>"Seize him!" he yelled.</p> - -<p>Armed with spears, the men rushed at the head of the bridge. Karnaon -and the girl were thrust aside. Minos saw the flash of glittering -points before him, and leaped backward, tearing his sword from its -sheath. At the same instant Zalos and his two men, who had crept up -unobserved, leaped from the shadow of the bridge to rush in the rear of -the spearsmen.</p> - -<p>Minos was not minded to slay any of these poor fellows. Already his -heart was sore for the four dead men he had left in the Judgment House. -Only to save his lady and his own land would he slay. He shouted to -his hunters who lay concealed. With the giant form of the king on the -bridge in front and the seventeen determined hunters who now ranged -themselves behind them, Karnaon's men lost all stomach for fighting. -They hung back.</p> - -<p>"In, and bear him down!" shouted Karnaon. He snatched a spear from one -of his servants. "Fear not, here cometh aid!" It was true. Down the -valley came the clamor of running men. Karnaon set foot on the bridge.</p> - -<p>Minos leaped from where he stood. Spears clashed on his armor, but -he was unscathed by edge or point. Catching one of Karnaon's men by -the shoulders, Minos floored three of his fellows with the sweep of -the man's body. He broke through them in an instant. The Lord Karnaon -struck fiercely at him, but the stroke fell short.</p> - -<p>At the side of the bridge stood the Lady Memene. The king paused at -her side. His hunters closed in around them. By reason of his superior -height, the king could look over the heads of the men around him. -Scarce three hundred yards away on the white road were more than a -score of running Sardanians, shouting loudly as they came.</p> - -<p>"Choose thou, lady," he said low in the girl's ear, "and quickly, for -here come those who will make choice for us. One word, and I hold thee -against all Sardanes, and to the death."</p> - -<p>Here was a strange girl, truly. She looked the king in the eye coolly. -"Choose thyself, and please thyself, O king," she answered.</p> - -<p>"Thou wearest my flower," he replied.</p> - -<p>"And I bear also a gift for the priest," she interposed. "See." She -opened her cloak and showed him the hilt of a long-bladed ilium dagger. -"Little joy would he have had of the bride he did summon," she said, -and laughed a short, hard laugh.</p> - -<p>Karnaon's men had rallied. In a moment they would rush the hunters. On -down the roadway tore the party from the Judgment House. Minos parleyed -no longer. He stooped and caught the girl under shoulders and knees, -lifting her as a mother might lift a child.</p> - -<p>"To Latmos!" he shouted. "Death be the lot of anyone that stays us!"</p> - -<p>Thrusting his way through the hunters, he took the marsh path, running -lightly and fleetly, for all the weight of his armor and his lovely -burden. Zalos led his hunters in a short, fierce charge that turned -back the men of Karnaon, and then the hunters broke and followed fast -on the heels of their master.</p> - -<p>Where the tilled fields broke into the foothills of Mount Zalmon, Minos -turned, and plunged into the forest, making straight for Latmos. Before -him all was quiet, but from the rear, where Zalos and the hunters -covered his flight, the clamor and clash of arms told him that they -were hard pressed. He set the Lady Memene down and drew his sword.</p> - -<p>Two of the foremost hunters made a chair for the girl with their -crossed hands, and started on for the cave. Minos ran back along the -forest pathway. He found a running battle. Karnaon and his servants had -joined forces with some thirty Sardanians who had gone to the bridge -under the leadership of Gallando the smith. Finding their efforts to -win the hunters of Zalos to their aid of no avail, they were making a -desperate attempt to annihilate them.</p> - -<p>Already two of the stout hunters were down. A number of others bore -spear wounds, for all of the men of both the lord and the smith were -armed with spears or daggers, and several carried axes.</p> - -<p>Minos strode through the press of men to the center of the fighting. He -found Zalos bleeding from a gash in his cheek, growling and dealing out -blows like a wounded bear.</p> - -<p>"Thou has done enough here, old friend," cried the king in the -huntsman's ear. "On to the cave, thou and those with thee. 'Tis time -that I, who am well protected, took a few of the knocks that are -falling. Nay, tarry not. I will hold these who follow in play for a -time."</p> - -<p>Up flashed his sword, and he sprang into the center of the path. The -hunters dashed by him into the shadows, and he stood alone against the -pursuers. First man to meet the king was the Lord Karnaon. Spear met -sword in midair and, straightway that spear was pointless. The keen -blade shore through its haft, cutting it like a straw.</p> - -<p>"Thee I will not slay, Karnaon, who wouldst slay me!" cried Minos. With -his left hand he clutched the noble by the belt, jerked him forward, -and hurled him back against the foremost of the pursuers so violently -that both men fell and lay stunned in the path. Half a dozen ilium -spears clashed on the king's armor, and one grazed his neck as he -leaped over the fallen men and met their fellows. In an instant he was -among them, swinging his weapon until it shone in the pale light of the -stars like a whirling ilium wheel.</p> - -<p>"Come on, thou whom the priest hath made mad," he shouted. "Minos, who -before had little to fight for, now hath much. Here lieth a short, -straight road to the Gateway." As he shouted, he struck.</p> - -<p>So close he was, that spears were well-nigh useless to the men who bore -them, and daggers fell harmless upon his armor. The broad, keen blade -made sore havoc among the unarmored Sardanians. Three men were down -and dead and a half dozen others were out of the fight with wounds to -nurse, when Gallando the smith faced the king.</p> - -<p>Gallando fought with an ax. He was a large man and powerful. Watching -his chance, he leaped to one side, just as Minos stumbled over the body -of one of the slain men. For only an instant the broad blade faltered, -and gave the smith opportunity. He swung his ax with both hands and -brought it down on the winged helm of the king.</p> - -<p>Minos saw the smiting danger and stooped low to avoid the stroke. It -fell on the helmet with the clang of an anvil blow. Down to his knees -sank the king, his senses swaying. Had the stroke of the smith's ax -been one jot more direct, his opponent had not risen again; but it -lacked that jot. The rounded helm turned the flow aside. The ax crashed -from it to the ground, and was buried to the haft.</p> - -<p>Recovering his balance, the smith poised himself for another stroke. -Minos, his head still swimming, raised his sword as if to parry, then -cast it from him suddenly, lunged forward and gripped Gallando about -the knees. He put forth his strength in a mighty tug, causing the -smith to let fall the ax. Before ever a man could move to his rescue, -Gallando found the arms of the king clipped about his waist.</p> - -<p>Never but once in his life had a man bested Minos at the wrestling -game. Now, fighting for his life, he crushed the burly smith to him. -Twice he contracted the muscles of his great arms. The veins of his -forehead stood out with the strain, and his helm fell from his head. -Once more he exerted all the strength of his body, bending forward to -bring his weight to bear. Something snapped like a breaking stick. -Gallando's head fell back and his body went limp in the arms of Minos. -His back was broken.</p> - -<p>With Gallando dead and Karnaon out of the battle, the Sardanians lacked -a leader with sufficient heart to take up the tale. They stood for a -moment with staring eyes as the corpse of the smith rolled at their -feet. Then they gave way and ran.</p> - -<p>Catching his helmet and sword from the ground, Minos hastened on toward -the cave. On the hillside above the palace he stopped, cupped his hands -and shouted, "Alternes!"'</p> - -<p>A faint hail from below told that the lad had heard the call. "Loose -the beasts," cried the king, "and then seek safety."</p> - -<p>He waited a few moments, and then sent down through the dusk a long, -shrill whistle. A full-throated chorus was his answer. Before he -reached the mouth of the cave, Pallas and her six gray children had -shot up the hill and were leaping about their master.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Basin after basin, channel on channel, the roaring lyddite tore in the -ice jam at the lower end of Ross Sea. Untiringly the miners of Captain -Scoland plied their drills. The steel-clad <i>Minnetonka</i>, ever restless -as a prisoner pacing his narrow cell, churned and smashed about in each -new harbor which the blasters formed for her, thus preventing the ice -forming again into a solid mass, and holding her fast. Always alert, -she dashed through each new passageway.</p> - -<p>Now to the right, now to the left, the cruiser advanced, as the men -blasted her zigzag channel course. As each new forward step was taken, -the pressure of the vast jam closed the way and the channel was left -behind. It was slow work, but sure. Behind the adventurers the sun came -slowly on his southern path, turning dim twilight into weak and pallid -day.</p> - -<p>Steadily as they worked, ten days passed and saw the blasters little -more than a third of the way across the enormous jam.</p> - -<p>All around them thundered and crashed the ice in the grip of the great -breaking forces. At times the uproar of smitten bergs and cracking -floes made the sound of their exploding lyddite seem a puny and futile -mockery of nature's mighty hammers. On the decks of the <i>Minnetonka</i> -uneasy men paced restlessly, and worn by waiting and danger, cursed or -prayed, according to their natures. In their long hutches, the Alaskan -dogs, still more uneasy, snarled and howled.</p> - -<p>Seeking to turn the delay to some advantage, Polaris selected from the -forty-odd dogs on the ship seven of the likeliest, and, with sledge and -harness, left the ship to acquaint himself with them. It was time that -they knew the master whom they must carry both fast and far. Huskies -they were, from the finest of the Yukon strains, big and shaggy, their -coats splotched with brown and white, but they were not the equals in -size or strength of gray Marcus and his fellows, which the son of the -snows had driven aforetime. He found them not at all lacking in temper.</p> - -<p>On a level spot in the floe, not far from the ship, Polaris laid out -his harness, and chose his animals for the positions in which he would -have them run. Largest of all the brutes was the tawny Boris, sullen -and vicious, but intelligent. Polaris selected him as the team leader, -and the lessons began.</p> - -<p>Awed at first by their strange surroundings, affrighted by the -thundering ice and the occasional shuddering of the floe, the brutes -flinched and whimpered, paying little attention to the man. Then over -their backs and about their ears shrieked and cracked an eighteen-foot -lash that demanded notice. With ears laid flat, the dogs cowered into -a tense group, burning eyes alternating from the writhing whip, which -snapped above them, but fell not, to the man who wielded it.</p> - -<p>Urged by lash and voice, not one, but the seven as one, responded in -a concerted rush on the new master. Snarling hideously, they flung -themselves upon the man. Sailors watching from the ship set up a cry of -consternation when they saw Polaris apparently overwhelmed by a wave of -maddened dogs. But the son of the snows was a match for any dog team -that ever snaked a sledge. He met their rush with a powerful hand and a -ready whipstock, that seemed never to miss its aim. For the whip that -had only menaced before fell now in earnest, fell on tender snouts -with stinging force and a most disconcerting accuracy. Once more the -mutinous beasts cowered away, trotting in circles with bared teeth, but -loth to try conclusions with that vengeful whip-butt.</p> - -<p>Boris, the leader, alone was unsubdued and persistent. Again and again, -the brute gathered himself together and charged and leaped, howling -with rage. Each time the waiting whip rose up to meet him, and the -great brute, twisting his head in midair, sprang short and aside, to -circle madly on the ice for another opening.</p> - -<p>Soft-voiced methods were of no avail with Boris. He must be made to -feel the power of the master, must be conquered at once, or he would be -forever treacherous and useless.</p> - -<p>Again the dog sprang from his haunches. That time no whip seemed -waiting, but rested at the man's side. The huge brute, with a moan of -hate, launched himself straight at his adversary's throat. Crouched -low, Polaris let him come. Lightning quick, the left hand of the -man flashed out and closed on the windpipe of Boris, just below the -clashing jaws. Watching sailors on the <i>Minnetonka</i> rubbed their eyes -and looked again in wonder.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Polaris stood rigid as a statue in steel. His left arm extended -straight in front of him, and in his grasp he held the struggling -animal, held him as he had caught him, in midair, a yard above the -ice—and Boris was no toy, but would have tipped the scales to the -weight of a powerful man. Polaris' cap had fallen to the ice in the -struggle. He wore his white bearskin garments. His yellow hair tossed -back, he seemed to the watching, wondering men the embodiment of the -wild spirit of this wild land, come into his own again.</p> - -<p>With a stern eye to the other dogs, he held Boris, as though in a vise, -and fear grew in the stout and sullen heart of the brute. To the terror -of those steely fingers that clutched his throat was added the terror -of the empty air, through which his four feet thrashed madly, and could -find no hold or rest. The deadly grip tightened. The dog's struggles -grew weaker and weaker. His jaws gaped wide. He gasped and gulped in -vain for one breath of air that should give him life and energy and -spirit to fight on. His struggles ceased, and he hung limp in the hand -of the master.</p> - -<p>Gently Polaris set the animal down on the ice, and relaxed the grim -hold on his throat. With great gasps Boris took into his lungs once -more the life-giving air. The man snaked in the long whiplash. Waiting -a few moments until the great dog's senses had fully returned, he -took a yard of the thongy tip of the lash and laid it smartly across -the flanks of Boris, not cruelly, but with sufficient sting to make -the punishment tell. The other dogs trotted uneasily about, sniffing, -whining, and eying their fallen leader.</p> - -<p>Presently Polaris stood up, turned his back deliberately on Boris and -walked a few steps from him, still holding the whip. He called the -dog to come to him. The huge animal arose, shook himself, glanced -shamefully at his mates, stretched himself, tossed his head with a -snort, and followed after the man. Polaris bent down and patted his -shaggy head, with a word of encouragement. At his touch, the brute -trembled slightly, but the man's voice was reassuring, and the whip -hung idle. Boris rubbed his head against the knee of Polaris and -whined. He had found his master, and he knew it. Other dogs might, and -did, turn on Polaris again, but Boris never.</p> - -<p>One by one, the other brutes learned their lesson of obedience, learned -that they served a wise and vigilant master, and gave in to the lash -and the harness. Soon the man was able to take them far afield, and -crossed the floe to the east for a number of long runs.</p> - -<p>On the twenty-ninth day from the firing of the first lyddite blasts, -the stout <i>Minnetonka</i> shook her sides clear of the drift-ice from the -last channel, and shot southward into free water. Picking up the miners -and Polaris and his team, Scoland pointed a course some three miles -from the eastern shore, and the cruiser tore on under forced draft, so -continuously that the canny MacKechnie shook his gray head many a time -and oft over the depletion of coal-bunkers.</p> - -<p>"'Tis all varra weel, the gettin' on in such haste," he grumbled, -"'but, ma certes, 'twill be a long, weary drive back again, and coal -doesna grow on icebergs."</p> - -<p>Several days of clear going gave all on the ship opportunity to take -much needed rest, after the perils and labor that had racked both minds -and bodies. Spring and spirits returned to jaded men, and it was an -eager and hopeful crew that cheered to the echo on the day that Polaris -shouted from the bridge:</p> - -<p>"Steer the ship in to the left. Yonder is a point of land that my eyes -remember well, and behind it a harbor that marks the end of this -journey, I am certain."</p> - -<p>It was the rocky promontory across which his own ship of ice had been -broken, nearly two years before. Inland, to the north, extended the -looming barrier range, which he had sought in vain to pass.</p> - -<p>Polaris and old Zenas Wright stood on the bridge as the cruiser rounded -the headland. The young man clapped the geologist on the shoulder, -and pointed up the snow-covered slope, that led from the cove to the -foothills beyond.</p> - -<p>"There lies the way," he shouted, "straight in to the east, the way to -Sardanes!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Near to the cave entrance on the Latmos hill King Minos found the Lord -Patrymion. The boy was sitting on a boulder, swinging his heels against -it and whistling in a minor key the bars of a Sardanian love ditty. -Leaning against the rock beside him was a long-hafted bear spear. In -his belt were thrust a dagger and a heavy-bladed hatchet.</p> - -<p>As the king came from among the trees, the lad stood up and saluted. -Minos saw that the arm he raised was bandaged above the elbow. The -king, whose own neck bore a slight cut, where a spear had stung as it -hummed by him in the forest mêlée, and whose tunic and armor were red -with blood not his own, smiled grimly.</p> - -<p>"And did the Lord Patrymion perchance fall and bruise himself in the -forest paths?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nay, nay, O king, I came by this while a-hunting," laughed the lad.</p> - -<p>"Hunting?" queried Minos.</p> - -<p>"Aye, the game we play now in Sardanes hath fulfilled a part of its -contract to my great satisfaction. Not an hour agone I did stick me the -good, fat priest whereof we talked awhile back. Right pleasantly did he -kick and squeal—"</p> - -<p>"Hast slain a priest of the Gateway?" Minos asked him. "I fear that is -ill done."</p> - -<p>"Nay, king, 'twas well done. 'Twere well, indeed, with us, were every -one of the black crew hot alight in their own fires, with Analos, the -high priest, frying merrily atop the heap. Then, perhaps, would the -people listen to reason. This fellow did come from the Gateway to my -palace on Epamon's sides, whither I had gone from the Judgment House -to arm myself. He would have haled me thence to the Gateway like an -unwilling maid. When he found me coy, he did raise mine own household -men against me. Well, he got a dagger in his midriff for his trouble. -And I got this scratch on the arm, with perchance a slit throat to -follow, were it not that I am somewhat swift of foot. My men did rage -upon me like fiends when they saw the priest down. I thought it better -to die here in good company than where I was, so I came away."</p> - -<p>"Hast seen Garlanes?" asked Minos.</p> - -<p>"Nay, nor will I," said the lad shortly. "The men of Analos slew him -on the portico of his own hall. That I had from the priest who came to -summon me. Had he not given me that word, I might have spared him."</p> - -<p>The king bowed his head. Garlanes had been his dear friend.</p> - -<p>Within the cave the warmth from the bowels of the hill was almost -oppressive. The men had lighted torches and oil lamps, and were -dressing their hurts, of which there were not a few, and discussing in -low tones the details of the fighting.</p> - -<p>In a carved chair of wood, just beyond the rim of light, the Lady -Memene sat. Her face, as she rested it on her hand, was almost devoid -of expression, but her black eyes, alert and lustrous, missed no detail -of the scene before her. Minos removed a part of his armor, and laved -his head and hands in the little streamlet. Although the girl appeared -to take no note of him, not a move that he made escaped her. Each time -that the king's glance strayed to her, and that was often, she appeared -to be watching the hunters or the dogs, or anything but himself.</p> - -<p>When he had removed the stains of battle, Minos crossed to her side. He -seated himself on an ancient chest and considered her for a time with -puzzled eyes. She made no move, nor seemed to notice that he was there.</p> - -<p>"Lady," he said at length, "lady of the blue rose and the keen dagger, -who reckest so little which thou usest, canst tell me now why thou hast -come here?"</p> - -<p>"Come here?" she echoed quickly. "Why, because thou didst carry me a -part of the way and thy friend yonder the other part. Why else?" She -flashed him an elfish smile.</p> - -<p>"So we did," he answered. "Wouldst go back?"</p> - -<p>"Not yet—unless thou sendest me," she replied cooly. "There is little -at the Gateway to stir my heart. Here—" She paused, and the king bent -forward that he might lose no word of her answer. "Here, methinks -events will pass that will be worth the watching—unless thou dost -weary of my presence and bid me go seek Analos."</p> - -<p>Minos straightened his back suddenly. "Lady," he said, "I find thee of -a temper like to that of the Lord of Patrymion, who would make believe -that he careth naught for tears and death and doom, and laugheth at all -alike. Yet back of all thy quips and scorns I believe there dwelleth in -thee a spirit brave and true, as there doth in him also."</p> - -<p>The girl inclined her head, but there was mockery in the bow. "Thou -doest me too great honor, my Lord Minos," she replied. "Count not too -greatly on thy estimate, for I fear thou hast mistaken me sadly."</p> - -<p>This fencing with words suited Minos not at all. "In one thing I -mistake not," he said, "and that is the heart of Minos." He hesitated, -and then asked her, gravely and slowly, "Lady Memene, wilt be the bride -of Minos?"</p> - -<p>A ringing peal of silvery laughter was his answer, but the girl drew -farther back into the shadows that the king might not see the red flush -on her cheeks.</p> - -<p>"Strange is the time thou choosest for thy wooing of a bride, O king! -Thy kingdom tottereth. Scarce a score in all the land are faithful to -thee. Thy head is target for curse of priest and spear of enemy. Mayhap -Sardanes itself dieth. Yet dost thou woo a bride."</p> - -<p>Up to his full height drew the king and looked down upon her. She -waited for an angry answer, but none came.</p> - -<p>"Nay, thou canst not provoke me, lady," he said gently. "I know not -how it is, but the love I bear thee I think is so strong that it will -endure all things and abide forever. All that thou sayest is true. In -spite of all, I wait an answer."</p> - -<p>Still farther into the shadows withdrew Memene. Her eyes shone -strangely.</p> - -<p>"The end is not yet. When that end cometh—when thou hast won or lost -all that there is to win or lose, then thou shalt have an answer, King -Minos, shouldst thou still desire it."</p> - -<p>"Be it so, lady, I hold thee to the end, and will seek my answer then, -though it be at the gates of death." He bowed and turned away.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Outside the cave two of the dogs were baying. Through the rifted rock -came the voice of the Lord Patrymion.</p> - -<p>"Here cometh the overlord of the Gateway devils. Say, king, shall I -loose the beasts on him?"</p> - -<p>"Nay, loose them not," called Minos. He caught up his arms and hastened -to join the lad on the hillside.</p> - -<p>Some forty paces down the slope stood Analos.</p> - -<p>Patrymion held the gray dogs by their collars. "Well would I like to -see them worry him," he grumbled. "Perhaps it is best for the brutes," -he added. "They would surely die of a stomach sickness, did they taste -him."</p> - -<p>"What wouldst thou of Minos, Analos of the Gateway?" demanded the king. -"Thou hast turned the valley to madness. Here we have little need for -thee. Were it not that I will slay no more except to save myself and -those with me from death, I would send a spear through thee where thou -standest, Analos. Say, what wouldst thou here?"</p> - -<p>"Insult me thou hast, slay me thou canst not," answered the priest, -glowering up at the king from where he stood with folded arms. -"Hephaistos protecteth his servant. I came to say to thee that the -great doom falleth apace. Mountain after mountain adown the valley -giveth up its fires. All upper Sardanes wasteth. This shall go on -until thou and those with thee are humbled and Sardanes is as one in -submission to the ancient god.</p> - -<p>"Beside thee standeth one who this day hath smitten a priest of the -Gateway. Give him up. Come thou with him to the Gateway, thou and the -girl. For the sake of thy people, Minos, for the sake of the very -existence of the Sardanes, yield thee to the god."</p> - -<p>"Analos," answered the king, "did Minos for one instant believe that -by any act of his Sardanes might be saved, in that instant he would -perform it, however bitter. But thou are a madman, thy god of thine own -distorted fancy. The things that are happening are in obedience to some -law of nature whereof we know not. They will pass, and all will be as -before, or they will continue, and Sardanes will be no more. Let that -fall out as it is fated. Minos waits the end here, and yieldeth to no -man."</p> - -<p>Zalos and several of the hunters had come from the cave. Analos turned -from the king to them.</p> - -<p>"What saith the Captain Zalos?" he demanded. "For this rash man, no -longer king of thine, and for the woman he hath stolen, art thou -prepared to die and to go cursed of Hephaistos to the torments he hath -in store for those who rebel against him? Say, wilt not give him up, he -and the maid, and save thyself and thy companions?"</p> - -<p>"That will I not," answered the captain. "We have eaten the king's -bread, and we are his faithful servants. Where he standeth, there stand -we. Whither he leadeth, there we follow, be it to battle, to death, or -to ghostland and its torments, if such there be. Forsake him? Not until -my breath forsaketh my body!"</p> - -<p>Zalos faced his men. "Is it not so?" he growled. "If there be a man -among ye who thinketh otherwise, let him speak and stand forth." He -fumbled with the dagger in his belt.</p> - -<p>"Needst not fret with thy dagger, Captain," laughed one of the hunters. -"We be all of one mind, and thou hast said it."</p> - -<p>"I thank thee, friend," said Minos. His hand fell lovingly on the -captain's shoulder.</p> - -<p>"After all this useless talk, methinks some diversion impendeth," -whispered the lad Patrymion. "Unless mine eyes are passing poor, spear -points gleam in the thicket yonder and men are moving."</p> - -<p>Minos peered keenly into the shadows beyond the priest. He, too, saw -dim, moving shapes, and caught the glint of bare blades. He tightened -his grip on his sword-hilt.</p> - -<p>"Zalos," he said, "slip thou within the cave and fetch me the ilium -disk that leaneth against the wall near to the spring. I think there is -like to be more fighting anon, and I am still unwearied. Take the dogs -with thee. They be of rash mettle, and I would not have them harmed."</p> - -<p>Analos still stood in the little clearing, eying them gloomily, his -features working.</p> - -<p>"An the holy rascal swelleth much more with anger he will burst, and -the foulness of the venom let loose from him surely will overcome us -all," said Patrymion with grim humor. "See how his beard waggeth."</p> - -<p>Zalos came from the cave and passed to the king an oval plate of -burnished ilium, nearly four feet in length and wide enough more than -to cover his broad chest. It was the shield which went with the other -arms he had fashioned. It had a broad leather arm-strap and a handhold -affixed to its concave side.</p> - -<p>The king slipped it onto his arm.</p> - -<p>With a shake of his shoulders, the priest cast his black robe from him -and stood forth in the red vestments of the office of death. He waved -his arms in air.</p> - -<p>"Sons of Sardanes," he roared, "do the god's will!"</p> - -<p>From every rock and tree near him creeping men sprang to their feet. A -swarm of yelling spearmen charged up the slope.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> - -<h3>BATTLE ON LATMOS</h3> - - -<p>At the opening of the passage into the cave the way was scarcely wide -enough for two men to enter abreast. Farther in, where the entrance -curved, it was narrower yet. There Minos elected to meet the attackers. -He ordered the other men into the cave, whither Patrymion went sorely -against his will.</p> - -<p>"Art not going to take all the sport to thyself, king, I hope?" he -asked. "I would make claim to a share in it."</p> - -<p>"Thou shalt have it, and to spare, my lad," said Minos comfortingly. -"No one of us will have complaint for lack of fighting while yonder red -robe flameth in the valley."</p> - -<p>As he spoke the king backed into the cave-passage and took position at -the first turn, crouching low behind his shield. "Stand thou behind me -here," he directed the boy, "and into thy keeping I commend any who may -pass me." The king and the boy took their places.</p> - -<p>The spearsmen of Analos, fully two hundred strong, poured over the -little plateau on which the cave fronted. With a rush and yell they -came, but found no foe to fight. Only the dark riff in the rock yawned -silently before them. Strain their eyes as they might, they could not -see what danger lay in wait for them within.</p> - -<p>After a brief conference they decided to force the entrance, for -Sardanians, when not arrayed against their own superstitions, were -not cowards. Two by two, for the way was narrow, they crept into the -passageway. Those foremost proceeded cautiously, and with their spear -points well advanced.</p> - -<p>In this warfare all the advantage lay with Minos. The besiegers could -not see him, but from his position they were outlined against what -light there was without the cave, and the king could see them well.</p> - -<p>So it was that groping forward the spears of the first two of the -attacking party clanged against something that was not rock. A flash -in the dusk before them, a whine in the air, where the sword of Minos -sang as it flew and two of the warriors of Analos were out of the fight -forever.</p> - -<p>Behind them their companions sprang to their feet and thrust -desperately with their spears. So straight was the way that there was -little room for spear play. Thrust and cast alike fell on the rocky -wall or the shield of the king. Out of the darkness the strongest arm -in all Sardanes swung unceasingly, dealing blows that none could see or -parry.</p> - -<p>The passage became hideous with cries and groans. Only Minos fought in -grim silence. At his shoulder young Patrymion stood and laughed aloud -at death unloosed.</p> - -<p>Presently the king found his blows falling on empty air. Convinced that -this method of battle was of small avail, the priest's men withdrew -from the cave, dragging with them the fallen. They carried eight men -down the steep sides of Latmos, to be sent to the Gateway, and five -others were so sorely smitten by the blade that guarded the narrow way -that they were little better than corpses.</p> - -<p>"Now, let us out, master, and fall on them from behind," said Zalos. -"One good charge may break their spirit."</p> - -<p>Minos shook his head. "Nay, Zalos, we fight not save to defend -ourselves. This slaughter of my people doth grieve me much. Would that -'twere at an end!"</p> - -<p>"In verity, if thou grievest over long in thy present fashion, there -will be none left in Sardanes to withstand thee," put in Patrymion. "At -least let me go forth and hunt the high priest. With him dead, the rest -are easily managed."</p> - -<p>"Nay, he shall not be slain, and there's an end," said Minos sternly. -"He hath coupled his mad talk to these strange manifestations in -Sardanes, and so brought about all the trouble that is on foot. His -death now will mend matters but little, for he hath done his damage -among the people. When things right themselves once more (if, indeed, -they ever do come aright), it is my will that he be living witness to -his own confusion."</p> - -<p>"Have they gone, or do they still watch, I wonder?" said Patrymion. He -turned the passage and walked boldly to the entrance. Scarcely had he -reached it when a spear whizzed by his ear and splintered on the rock -wall. He picked the shattered weapon up with a laugh. "We are still -watched," he said, as he bore it back into the cave.</p> - -<p>Below in the hall of the Judgment House the stroke of the great drum -echoed through the valley, giving notice of the passing of another -day—a day fuller of events in Sardanes than any since Polaris of the -Snows had fought his great fight on the crater-rim and struck out for -the unknown North.</p> - -<p>Through the sleeping hours a watchful hunter stood guard at the turn -in the cave-passage, but no attempt was made to surprise the besieged. -They ate from the store of grain in the cave and took what rest they -could, undisturbed. With cloths from the king's chests the hunters -curtained off a section of the cave for the Lady Memene, and thither -she withdrew in silence, to sit with wakeful eyes through half the -slumber hours.</p> - -<p>On the morrow there was little rest for any. Within an hour of the -first drum-stroke, the clamor of fighting men rang through the cave -once more.</p> - -<p>Again Minos took up the tale, but he found his foes more wary. Not -again would they rush blindly the narrow way and the singing sword. -They built a big wood fire at the edge of the plateau, in such a -position that its flames cast their light into the passage. Six of -their strongest warriors charged the cave-mouth. Four of them engaged -the battling giant with their spears. The other two, on hands and -knees, endeavored to creep under his guard, and got near enough to pull -him down.</p> - -<p>Straightway the Lord Patrymion went down on all fours, and with a spear -in either hand fought between the knees of the king. As he fought, -he taunted the attackers with mocking jests more bitter than the -spear-thrusts. With his legs guarded, the strength of Minos was more -than the strength of six. Of those who charged, only two reached the -outer plateau alive.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the respite the king turned and became aware of the Lady Memene. -Shrouded in her long cloak, she stood against the wall of the passage, -almost at his shoulder. She had watched the fighting with kindling -eyes, but when Minos turned to look at her, she assumed again the -mantle of indifference. Only behind the folds of her cloak one of her -little feet was tapping, tapping on the rocky floor.</p> - -<p>"Lady Memene, I pray thee, go within. Here is no place for thee," the -king said. "A chance spear might pass this guard of mine, and then were -all of Minos's fighting of no avail."</p> - -<p>Wordless, she turned away and disappeared among the shadows.</p> - -<p>Time after time the Sardanians, in stubborn fury, charged the -cave-mouth. They fetched ladders from the valley, erected them against -the cliff-face at the sides of the fissure, where the wall rose too -sheer for a foothold otherwise. From the ladders, spearsmen leaped -down, essaying to overwhelm the guardians of the pass and bear them -down. But Minos drew back to where the closing roof of the entrance -defended him from their attempts, and men who fell found the great -sword and the keen spears of Patrymion and Zalos always waiting.</p> - -<p>But one man, however brave and strong, cannot fight an army. Slowly, -very slowly, the warriors of the priest tired that mighty sword-arm, -although the dauntless spirit behind it flagged not. Again and again -the rock passage was choked with dead and dying. Its floor ran red with -blood. As often, the besiegers dragged the bodies of their comrades -forth and renewed the struggle with fresh men. The champions of the god -showed a fighting will even with that of Minos, laying on for his own -head and his dear lady.</p> - -<p>At last the king, sorely wearied, and wounded, although but slightly, -in a score of places, yielded his place to Zalos and the Lord -Patrymion. The lad took the shield of the king, and knelt with his -spear at the turn of the passage. Behind him the stout captain plied a -ponderous woodsman's ax with both hands, and the battle went on.</p> - -<p>An unexpected circumstance ended the conflict. Several of the -Sardanians on the cliffside with their long ladders discovered a ledge -some forty feet above the opening into the cave and scrambled to it. On -the ledge lay a number of large boulders, masses that had rolled down -and rested there perhaps an age before.</p> - -<p>With much labor and prying with spear-hafts, the men brought down -several of the smaller rocks to the lip of the ledge. Poising one of -them where, as nearly as they could judge, it would fall straight into -the passage below, they waited for a lull in the fight. When they saw -the pass clear of their fellows, they loosed the big stone with a shout.</p> - -<p>Down it crashed, but, aimed too far to the left, missed the cleft and -struck on the cliff-face with such force that a part of it flew to -splinters. The main mass bounded through the air, struck again at the -edge of the plateau, and thundered down the slope, carrying three of -Analos's fighting men with it.</p> - -<p>Unheeding the cries of their fellows from below to desist, the men on -the ledge poised another boulder with better aim. It smashed into the -rock corridor so near to the turn that the wind from it blew hard in -the face of the Lord Patrymion, looking forth, and it struck the spear -from his grasp and shattered it.</p> - -<p>Up sprang the lad with a loud laugh.</p> - -<p>"Now there's an end to this pleasant business of fighting," he said to -Zalos, and pointed to the fallen rock. It lay wedged in the passage, -jammed against the sides, and breast high, a natural barrier, stronger -than the shield of Minos. One active man might hold the pass against -any number, as long as he held strength to thrust, for room was left -for but one man to pass over the rock at a time, and in no position for -fighting.</p> - -<p>Outside the plateau the Sardanians also had seen this new guardian in -the narrow way, and reviled their fellows on the ledge for their lack -of thought.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, they made one more attempt. They fetched up the slope -a long and heavy timber of hymanan wood. Fixing an ilium-bar the -thickness of two spear-hafts across the crevice, they slung the beam -from it with a stout rope. Twenty men then seized the bar and swung the -battering-ram against the boulder until they were weary. Every blow did -but fix the rock firmer. All efforts to ram it in to where it might -fall into the wider portion of the passage failed. They gave it up.</p> - -<p>"Here we may stay now until we be old and gray-headed, Zalos," said -Patrymion ruefully. "There can be no more fighting worth the telling. -They cannot come at us. A puny girl could withstand them all here." He -peered over the rock. "Aye, they know it, the rogues, and are going. -'Twill be but poor sport here." To himself he added: "I know a better, -even though it lasteth but a few moments. What's the odds?"</p> - -<p>Carried away by the love of fighting, a madness seemed to seize the -lad. He let fall the shield of Minos, caught Zalos's ax from his hand, -and before any man could hinder, he leaped over the rock.</p> - -<p>"'Tis a pretty weapon," he called back over his shoulder to the hunter, -and shook the ax aloft. "I will use it well." He ran out across the -plateau singing loudly.</p> - -<p>Unmindful of the danger, the hunter captain clambered over the rock to -follow him. It was too late. For an instant Zalos saw the lad outlined -clearly in the glare from the fire on the plateau, swinging the great -ax with both hands. Then the spearsmen closed in on him from all sides. -Four men he felled with four lightning strokes, and went down, dying as -he had lived, with careless song on his lips, making a jest of death -itself.</p> - -<p>A storm of spears fell about the hunter as he emerged into the light, -and he was fain to scramble back into the passage and over the rock to -save his own skin.</p> - -<p>Utterly exhausted, Minos, when he left the battle, had entered the cave -and thrown himself on a couch to regain breath and strength for further -combat. His hunters dressed his wounds and chafed his numbed sword-arm. -First to reach him with water and bandages was Memene, but when she saw -that his injuries were light and that he was merely tired, she gave way -to the men and went back to her carved chair. But as she sat, one of -her feet was ever tapping softly.</p> - -<p>After a time came Zalos, and told his story to the king. Minos stood up -and called for wine. When the beaker was fetched, he bowed low toward -the rocky entrance, raising one hand in silent salute, and drank.</p> - -<p>"To whom dost thou drink a toast, King Minos?" asked the girl, who -noted all with curious eyes.</p> - -<p>"To a brave man gone from among us," he replied gravely; "to a very -brave man, to the Lord Patrymion."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Around the rocky headland, and into the cove swung the <i>Minnetonka</i>. -The cove afforded the cruiser a safe harbor, storm-protected and free -from ice. Down swung the boats from their davits, filled with eager -men. For the first time shouting American sailors set foot on the shore -where, more than two thousand years before, the little band of Achaeans -had left the wreck of their ancient trireme, and pushed on into the -unknown wilderness to find and people Sardanes.</p> - -<p>Scoland, from the wireless room on the cruiser's deck, released the -electric current that sent a splitting, chattering call out along the -air-waves to the north. Nor was that call long unanswered.</p> - -<p>Loaded with supplies and coal, the staunch old ship <i>Felix</i>, which -Scoland had commanded on his previous polar dash, had left America -before the <i>Minnetonka</i>. The faster cruiser had passed the <i>Felix</i> on -the sea-road, but she had toiled sturdily along, and was now in harbor -at the upper end of Ross Sea to wait what might befall; the <i>Felix</i> and -her wireless constituted the one link that joined the Sardanian relief -expedition to the outer world.</p> - -<p>In the second boat to the shore went Polaris Janess and his dogs. -The son of the snows was moccasined and furred, and ready to try -conclusions with the worst that the white wildernesses had to put forth -against him, the wildernesses that once had been his home. He wore the -garments of white bearskin that had kept the warmth in his body in his -great dash to the north.</p> - -<p>His hair of red-gold had now grown long and hung again to his -shoulders. Except that time and the perils through which he had passed -had marked his face a thought more grave, he was the same indomitable -young man who once had fought his way across the drift-ice in this -selfsame cove, when the fiends from the sea deeps, the killer whales, -had striven in vain to make a meal of him, and his Rose maid had stood -on the snowy shore and called encouragement to him in his fight.</p> - -<p>Beside Polaris in the boat was seated the short, wide figure of Zenas -Wright. His white hair shone from under a shapeless cap of lynx fur -from the Hudson Bay country. He was buttoned to the ears in a suit of -mackinaw wool with a furred parka. Like the young man, he had a pair of -snowshoes slung at his back. He, too, was determined to tread the white -pathway to Sardanes.</p> - -<p>Polaris had done his best to dissuade the aged scientist from the -attempt, and Scoland had added his plea. The determination of the -old man to go with Polaris had seemed a particular annoyance to the -captain. Zenas Wright would listen to neither argument nor entreaty.</p> - -<p>"In my time I've put my name on one or two spots on the map," he said, -"but I would rather have it erased than to miss my share in this -expedition. I'm going to see this Sardanes of yours, my son, if I have -to leave my old bones there. I was responsible for your coming down -here. Now I'm going in with you. You are not going to take all the -risks alone. Don't try to stop me. My mind's made up, and I'm obstinate -as a Tennessee mule."</p> - -<p>Ashore with them went the ship's carpenters with tools and lumber to -establish a winter camp. A number of shacks were knocked together. -More sledges and dogs were taken ashore. Within a couple of days a -small but noisy settlement had sprung up on the bay shore. Men and -beasts, confined for many weary weeks to the cramped quarters aboard -the cruiser, were glad, indeed, to have the chance to be ashore and -move about freely, bleak as the place was. Shouts and barks arose -joyously where for untold centuries few voices had been heard except -those of many-tongued Nature herself.</p> - -<p>Sure that his wireless connections with the <i>Felix</i> were in working -order, and that the crew of the supply ship had chosen a safe harbor, -where he could find them, Captain Scoland also went ashore, and threw -himself energetically into the details of camp making.</p> - -<p>Never a talkative man, the tall captain had grown, in the latter days -of their voyaging, more taciturn than ever. Morose and moody, for -hours at a time he never opened his lips except for the giving of -orders, and they were more sharp and stern than even was his wont. His -associates had been quick to notice those things, but laid them to the -cares and dangers of their enterprise. In one thing the captain was not -lacking. That was a great capacity for work. Scarcely a detail of the -work on board the cruiser or ashore went forward without his personal -supervision.</p> - -<p>Seeing that the heart of Zenas Wright was firm set on making the trip -inland to Sardanes, Polaris, with inward impatience, was forced to -delay the immediate start he had premeditated. Once started, the going -would be swift as they were capable of, and it would be a cruelty to -expect the older man, unused for years to snow travel, to keep up the -pace on snowshoes.</p> - -<p>While others of the party were busy with the camp building, Polaris -and the scientist spent hours on the snow slopes, and made a number of -short trips over the ridge to the east. As the young man had foreseen, -Wright's first experience with the shoes nearly crippled him. In the -course of a couple of days, however, his joints and muscles were -limbered to the labor, and he was able to make surprising progress, -proving his boast that he was an adept snow runner.</p> - -<p>Scoland, whom previous years in both Arctic and Antarctic regions had -made expert in the management of dogs, selected himself a team from the -huskies, and took a sudden interest in snow journeying, an activity -that nearly cost the expedition dearly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On the second day after their arrival at the cove, a man came ashore -from the <i>Minnetonka</i> with a message for the captain from Aronson on -the <i>Felix</i>. The message bearer failed to find Scoland at the shacks. -When Polaris and Zenas Wright came in later, at the end of their day's -exercise, the captain was still missing. They had not seen him. Dogs -and sledge which the captain had been using were missing also.</p> - -<p>"Either he is strayed and lost in the snow, or some manner of mishap -has befallen," said Polaris. "I will go and find him."</p> - -<p>Turning his own beasts, he set out at once to study the tangle of snow -trails that led inland from the camp. There had been no snow and little -wind for a number of days, so it was an easy matter for him to read the -paths. Starting from the ridge at the back of the cove, he swung out in -a long loop, whose farther curve took him five miles or more from the -camp. Four trails he crossed that were plainly back-trailed. The fifth -snow path that he came to led on into the wilderness, with no evidence -of a return, and he followed that.</p> - -<p>Along the foothill slopes of the icy barrier mountains the land lay -comparatively level, except for the rocky hummocks that were everywhere -sprinkled. A few miles to the south of the range, low rolling hills -began again, extending as far as eye might see. Into the hills -Scoland's trail lay. Some six miles from where Polaris first picked up -the path, he found the captain.</p> - -<p>Where a deep and jagged crevasse yawned beneath its treacherous -coverlet of snow crust, the trail ended. Where the crust had broken -under their weight, men and dogs and sledge had disappeared into the -depths.</p> - -<p>Outspanning and tethering his own team to a rock, the son of the snows -crept forward cautiously to the brink of the chasm.</p> - -<p>Scarcely a yard below the level of the broken snow bridge, Scoland's -sledge was caught fast between two projecting teeth of rock and hung -over the crevasse. Head downward in their harness, and frozen stiff and -dead, dangled the carcasses of two of the captain's huskies. Below them -the forward harness hung in strips. Peering into the lower deep of the -crevasse, as his eyes became accustomed to its gloom, Polaris could -make out the mass of fallen snow from the bridge. It lay forty feet -below him, on the floor of the crevasse, which extended away to either -side in an irregular corridor, rock-walled and carpeted with snow. Of -the man and the other dogs he could see nothing.</p> - -<p>He shouted, and his heart leaped gladly, when, faint and weak and -far-away, came an answering halloo, followed immediately by the howling -of dogs. Scoland lived!</p> - -<p>Lengths of thin, stout rope were part of the equipment of every sledge, -and with each a small steel pulley for hauling. Polaris sprang to his -sledge and fetched his tackle.</p> - -<p>Testing every inch of the rock with his utmost strength, he crept over -the lip of the crevasse, whipped a short bight of rope about one of the -rocks that held the wreck of Scoland's sledge, swung his pulley and -threaded it. Of rope he had nearly a hundred feet, so that, doubled, -it reached the floor of the crevasse, and to spare. He did his work in -haste.</p> - -<p>Within five minutes of the time of Scoland's answering hail from the -depths, Polaris went down the doubled rope hand under hand, and set -foot on the crevasse bottom. He shouted again, and again received -a faint answer, away to the south in the windings of the crooked -corridor. He started that way, and had gone but a few steps when, -whimpering and howling, two of the captain's dogs came floundering -through the snow to meet him.</p> - -<p>When Scoland broke through the crust he had been running with the dogs -ahead of his sledge. He had pitched downward with the mass of falling -snow, and landed, badly shaken but uninjured, on the floor of the -crevasse. He saw at once that it would be impossible at the point where -he fell to scale the height of the crevasse wall. The corridor-like -fissure, extending south, took an upward course. The captain followed -its windings in that direction, hoping that it would lead again to the -surface.</p> - -<p>Another mishap had made his case almost hopeless. A break in the rocky -floor, masked by snow, yawned across the entire width of the chasm. -In the half darkness, Scoland had reached its edge. Too late he felt -the snow slipping from beneath his feet, and fell again. He had found -himself in a pocket some eight feet deep, its sides so sheer that he -could not climb them. Vainly he explored every inch of the walls at -either side, and tore at the rocks until his hands bled, in an effort -to gain a hold. His struggles only brought exhaustion. Three of his -huskies had taken the leap, the other two remaining in the upper -corridor.</p> - -<p>Utterly worn out, the captain at length had curled himself up with the -beasts. The warmth of their bodies alone had held the life in his body, -for the cold was deadly. Dogs and man were waiting for slow death when -they heard the hail of Polaris.</p> - -<p>Flat on his stomach, Polaris crawled to the edge of the break in the -floor. Cramped and chilled, Scoland was barely able to stand and -stagger to the wall. Polaris reached down and found that he could grasp -Scoland's upstretched arms between wrists and elbows. Turning on his -back, the son of the snows exerted his mighty sinews. Scoland hung -almost a dead weight, but he raised him. Up, up, slowly, carefully, and -then over the edge, and the captain lay gasping beside him.</p> - -<p>On his face again, Polaris called encouragement to the huskies. Barking -loudly, the dogs sprang high, leaping repeatedly at the face of the -wall. One by one, the man caught them in the air as they leaped, and -raised them to the upper floor.</p> - -<p>Half carrying the exhausted Scoland, Polaris hurried along the passage -to the ropes, and made him fast. Fearing that the captain was too weak -to effect his own release from the tackle, Janess climbed the rope to -the lip of the chasm. Again he exerted his tireless strength and hauled -the other to the surface.</p> - -<p>Scoland rolled weakly into the snow.</p> - -<p>"Brandy," he muttered; "there's a flask in the back of the sledge. Can -you reach it?"</p> - -<p>Polaris found and fetched the flask. Scoland took a long pull at the -fiery spirit. Seeing Janess about to lower himself over the rock again, -he asked:</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do?"</p> - -<p>"Fetch up the dogs," Polaris answered.</p> - -<p>"Let the damned brutes go, and get me back to the camp. I'm nearly all -in."</p> - -<p>Polaris eyed him narrowly.</p> - -<p>"Not so," he said shortly. "They are good dogs. Were it not for three -of them I think you would not now be living." He slipped down the side -of the crevasse.</p> - -<p>Scoland sneered. He lay watching the straining rope. It seemed to -fascinate him. His hand crept to the knife at his belt. Slowly he drew -it, and laid its keen blade against the rope. A wave of weakness came -over him. Alone, he could never reach the camp. He put away the knife.</p> - -<p>One by one Polaris brought up the huskies. He placed Scoland on his own -sledge and drove back to the camp, leaving the wreck to be recovered -later.</p> - -<p>Not one word of thanks did Scoland speak to him for his deliverance. -All the way back to the camp the captain lay on the sledge with closed -eyes. All the way he cursed furiously within himself that it should be -his fortune to take his life at the hands of this one man of all men.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>No more was battle done on the steep slope of Mount Latmos. Assured -that Minos and his men were holed in where they might not come at -them, the fighting men of the priest went up against the cave no more. -Although they must have known that the treasure cave was provisioned -and watered so abundantly that it would keep its small garrison for -many months, they did not give up their siege entirely. That was -discovered when one of the hunters thought to go forth by stealth in -the slumber hours, and pay a visit to his wife and children at his home -in the valley. Hardly was he over the ledge of the plateau when men -seized him in the dusk.</p> - -<p>His comrades in the cave above heard him scream out once and twice, and -then the minions of Analos cut his throat.</p> - -<p>On their part, the hunters maintained a guard of one man at all hours, -who sat behind the boulder in the passageway.</p> - -<p>Late in the fourth day that they had been immured in the mountainside, -Dukulon, one of Zalos's men, as he stood his turn at guard, heard a -rapping at the mouth of the pass as one who tapped gently on the wall -with a stone.</p> - -<p>"Who cometh?" he hailed.</p> - -<p>"<i>Sh</i>—it is I, Alternes," came the whispered answer. "I would have -speech with Minos the King."</p> - -<p>Minos came and bade the lad enter the cave. He wriggled slowly, and -with not a few groans, through the passage, and was helped over the -rock. When they took him to the light, they found that he was in evil -case. Most of his clothing had been torn from him, and he was bruised -and with dried blood on his flesh.</p> - -<p>"They have hunted me in the hills like a goat," he gasped, as he bent -to kiss the hand of his master. "Thy palace is a dismal ruin, O king. -Thy servants are scattered or slain. The stone with thy name on it has -been cast down from above thy seat in the Judgment House. Even thy -throne they toppled from its place and shattered."</p> - -<p>The king turned from him sorrowfully. The hunters gathered round, and, -as they tended the hurts of the lad, they sought news from him of their -families.</p> - -<p>"I can tell you naught," he said wearily, "but I believe that every -soul in the valley that stood faithful to the king hath been sent to -Hephaistos. The dead lie unburned in rows on the upper terraces of the -Gateway. For in the hill the fires of the god do wax so mighty that -none, not even his own priests, dares to come near to them. All upper -Sardanes is snow and ice. Ten of the great moons have gone dark, and as -they die the cold cometh on apace."</p> - -<p>Then Alternes turned his face to the wall on the couch of skins where -they had laid him, and slept long and well.</p> - -<p>One more attempt Analos made to bring Minos to his will. The priest -sent a delegation of all the lords of the valley to the cave-mouth. -Minos came and talked with them over the fallen rock. To his side came -the Lady Memene and leaned upon the stone, her chin upon her hands.</p> - -<p>Ukalles, now an outcast from his home on Tanos in upper Sardanes, was -spokesman for the nobles.</p> - -<p>"We are sore beset of troubles, O Minos!" he cried. "The priest saith -the land is doomed to the anger of the Lord Hephaistos, and day by day -the doom marcheth. Thou dost stand against it and lure it on the people -and on all of us, saith Analos. Wilt not yield to the god, and not let -this fair valley perish, that hath stood for ages? Consider, for the -people's sake—the people whom once thou didst love so well, and who -love thee. It is promised thee that thou shalt not die if thou dost -yield. Thou must, indeed, go to the Gateway and submit to what decree -of punishment the god maketh, but not to death. Come, ere that we hold -dear be gone, and Sardanes be blotted out."</p> - -<p>"Strange is the love the people bear their king," answered Minos -calmly. "Strange, indeed, when they have slain my servants, laid -my palace in ruins, and stricken my very name from the seat of my -fathers—"</p> - -<p>"But that was by orders of the god through his priests," broke in -Ukalles.</p> - -<p>"Right well I know that so ye are deluded to believe," replied the -king. "Yet were those orders from the priests carried out by hands and -hearts of those who once were my people. Minos hath no people more, -save these few faithful ones who abide with him, risking all.</p> - -<p>"Now list thee, Ukalles and all of those with thee, for this is the -last word of Minos. Once, before he did send his spearsmen against me, -I did tell this Analos that, were Minos convinced for one little moment -that by any sacrifice, however great, he could avert that which falleth -on the valley, that sacrifice he would make, and hesitate not. Of such -is Minos not convinced. Not of the god are the rumblings of the hills, -the dying fires and the coming of the snows."</p> - -<p>"Thou blasphemest," Ukalles shouted in anger, "and in thy madness -dost bring doom on us all. My curse and that of all these, and of the -people, the priests and the great Hephaistos, lieth on thee, if thou -dost not yield thee to his grace."</p> - -<p>"Curse on, thou fool," was Minos's answer. "I mind thy curses as little -as the wind that bloweth. If this god of thine be great and powerful, -as thou sayest, and as the priests do preach, how is it that he doth -allow me, one man alone, to stand in his divine path? Why hath he not -come hither and plucked me from my place and bent or broken me to his -will?"</p> - -<p>Minos raised his hand on high with the great sword shining in it.</p> - -<p>"I, Minos, king in Sardanes until the end, do defy this Hephaistos. -Hath he need of such as thou and Analos to do his will for him, he is -no cause for fear. Away, ye superstition-ridden dullards, and run your -mad pace through. Minos yieldeth not. He defieth all of you. Your god -cometh not, nor will come, because—<i>there is no god!</i>"</p> - -<p>Shaking and trembling in the fears aroused by the king's defiance, the -nobles turned to go. Only Karnaon stood out from among them.</p> - -<p>"Memene, my daughter, leave thou this madman and come to me," he -called. "Come, girl. Thy father commandeth thee."</p> - -<p>"And I, my father, do disobey thee," said the girl.</p> - -<p>"Then take thou thy father's bitter curse," Karnaon shouted. He stamped -his foot in his anger.</p> - -<p>"That thou didst give me once, O father, when thou didst send me to the -Gateway to marry the foul priest," answered Memene. "That is neither -forgotten nor forgiven thee."</p> - -<p>"Thou art no more daughter of mine," Karnaon said between his set -teeth. Then he, too, turned away and followed the others down the steep -hill, walking heavily.</p> - -<p>Slowly the nobles crossed the valley and the river and took their -tidings to Analos at the Gateway.</p> - -<p>At the top of the pathway to the first terrace, the high priest met -them, escorted by the black-robed company that served the mighty -altar of Hephaistos. When he saw that they brought no royal captives -with them, and heard the tale of the defiance Minos had hurled at the -ancient god, his anger rose and choked him so that he answered them -nothing. He stood and heard them through, his hands clenched under his -robe so that the nails of his fingers bit into his palms.</p> - -<p>For a time he stood so. Then he rent his black robe from him, tearing -it to shreds, and in his red paraphernalia of death ran up the terraces -like a flame. In a room in his own house on the upper terrace he threw -himself on the marble floor and writhed and rolled and tore at his -black beard, gone clean mad with impotent rage. When one of his priests -came to consult him, he leaped in frenzy, and slew the man with one -stroke of a stone vase, then hid the body and went forth, somewhat -calmed.</p> - -<p>As he passed his threshold, a roaring smote upon his ears. From the -lofty arched portal built against the side of the cliff gushed a tide -of molten lava as wide as the river Ukranis. The fire-lake had risen -until it overflowed the ledge and poured down through the spiral -passage that led from the temple of death to the upper terrace.</p> - -<p>Out from the carved portal flowed the fiery torrent, hissing and -snapping. Right in its path lay the rows of dead Sardanians, awaiting -the rites of Hephaistos, their quiet faces upturned and ghastly in the -baleful radiance reflected down on them from the flaming hill-crown. -One moment they lay there in their still lines, and then the seething -flood passed over them and licked them up.</p> - -<p>On it poured, and crept over the brink of the terrace, and down in a -fearful cascade, setting fire to the forest on the side of the holy -hill. The force of the torrent soon abated, and the lava lay as though -some terrible serpent had crept forth from the deeps of the earth and -stretched itself adown the terraces. For hours it glowed before it -cooled into dross and ashes. The fire in the forest spread, until half -the mountain was aflame, and the lower end of the valley presented a -spectacle of unearthly splendor.</p> - -<p>That flood of lava was a spurt of the very heart's blood of the valley. -Even as it jetted from the side of the Gateway, halfway up the valley's -rim three more of its volcanic guardians gave up their fiery ghosts, -and the cold grip of the Antarctic took hold of their gaping throats.</p> - -<p>Undaunted by the fury that raged on the Gateway to the Future, Analos -would not desert his post on the upper terrace. All of the other -priests he drove from him, bidding them abide below with the stricken -people until such time as he should summon them to him again. He stayed -alone with his god.</p> - -<p>More days of terror passed. The red priest from the flaming hill and -Minos the king from his lair on Mount Latmos watched the march of -winter down the valley.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> - -<h2>THE WARNING OF THE LAST MOON</h2> - - -<p>When Nature issues a decree, the execution thereof is pitiless. She -recks naught of dynasties or nations. When she would have a clean -page on which to write, she erases, if needs be, and with inexorable -completeness, the fairest characters she may have inscribed previously. -The smallest and the greatest, the tiny grass blade, the towering -forest giant, the lowly anthill, the lofty mountain, the blind worm in -the dust, proud man, the "lord of creation"—be any or all of these in -her path. Nature breaks them, and, with her ally, Time, makes smooth -the page for her next writing.</p> - -<p>Only those who are wise and instructed may pore over such an erasure -and, from a faint trace here, a blur there, partly read and partly -guess at that which once was writ.</p> - -<p>Years uncounted, Sardanes had flourished in the wastes of the -Southland. Then, the great All-Mother, always unhurried, drew a -steadfast white finger across the valley.</p> - -<p>Only a fortnight elapsed from the day on which the Gateway to the -Future sent forth its first flare of fire, that followed centuries in -which it had been dark—only a brief fortnight, and the Gateway alone -of all the volcanic ring still sent fire and smoke heavenwards. All -the sister hills lay silent and lifeless, their furious spirits spent -and gone elsewhere, their seamed summits crowned with the white of -Antarctic snows.</p> - -<p>First to yield was the holy river Ukranis. Ice bound its sources -until it became a mere streamlet, soon paralyzed by the cold into a -glittering thread. A gray rime crept over the green velvet of the -grass, and a white pall covered it softly. The blue roses withered and -fell. The grain in the fields ceased to grow and lay lifeless. Bushes -and shrubs died. The giant trees shed their faded foliage, their roots -strangled in the chill of death, their palsied branches brittle and -breaking down under a weight of snow. The bright birds of many hues -that had flashed back and forth through the forest glades and lanes -fluttered to the ground with mournful cries and died. The hum of insect -life was stilled. On the hillsides, the little brown rabbits shivered -in their burrows, nestled together and slept forever.</p> - -<p>With all of these, there passed a hundred things, animate and -inanimate, that had their living like in no other spot on the whole -earth.</p> - -<p>Only man and his closest companions lingered. At the foot of the -terraced hill of Hephaistos all of Sardanes that still lived were -gathered—all, with the exception of Minos the king and his company on -the hill of Latmos.</p> - -<p>At the north end of the valley, with their backs to the last of the -flaming hills and their faces towards the encroaching snows, the -Sardanians pitched a great camp. Some few small houses that once had -been those of the tillers of the fields, were occupied by the lords -and their families. The people, nearly two thousand of them, camped on -the ground with blankets and furs and some articles of their wooden -household furniture, each little family in its own group.</p> - -<p>Against the creeping white enemy that had invaded the valley, they set -a barrier of flame. A hundred axmen, working in shifts, with as many -ponies, cut and dragged trees from near-by hillsides. Hour after hour -they piled the fires with wood from the hymanan forests, and kept a -blazing ring around the camp. When one party was wearied, another took -up the work.</p> - -<p>So, with hope departing, they kept life in their bodies for a few days.</p> - -<p>To that end of the valley were brought all of the small horses in the -kingdom, to the number of several hundreds. There was not enough fodder -to maintain the poor animals for long, and they died by the score. The -slopes of the Gateway swarmed with wild goats, driven thither with -all the rest by the sinister white invader that had crept to their -loftiest haunts in the cliffs, and had cut them off from their food -supplies. They and the horses were all that remained of animal life in -Sardanes, except the dogs of Minos on Latmos.</p> - -<p>Bitter as was the exigency, Analos the priest would not suffer the -people to ascend to the terraces of the Gateway, where was still -some warmth from within the hill. So strong was the grip of their -superstitions and his threats, that, shivering, facing death and -desperate, the people still heeded and obeyed him.</p> - -<p>Analos, guardian of the portals of the Gateway, dwelt alone with the -majesty of his god, save for the wild goats, which cared naught for -orders, priest or god.</p> - -<p>Watch was kept no longer at the mouth of the cavern where Minos and -his party lay. Well it was for them that it was so, else they had -perished of cold. No longer was the cave tenable without fire. Like the -people below in the valley, the refugees were forced to work in shifts -of axmen to keep the lives within them. In the cave a fire roared -constantly, and another without on the plateau.</p> - -<p>Analos had given up his battle against the king. It was by his orders -that his spearsmen kept watch at the cave no longer. His fiery spirit -was burning itself out within him, and he was turning cold, as the -lifeless hills turned cold. It seemed to him that his will roamed -through the chambers of his mind, and in them could find no more of -anger against Minos; nor could it conjure up, as it had been want to -do, more terrible behests of the god Hephaistos. Chaos had come to -Analos, and let it come, said he, for no more might he read the mind of -his mighty master and interpret his wishes.</p> - -<p>On the Gateway he dwelt alone and in a daze, and waited, waited, for -he knew not what. But he was to see one more vision—wild as any his -madness ever brought to him.</p> - -<p>He hardly ever slept. Hour by hour he paced the paths of the upper -terrace, before the carven portal of the cliff, until there came a -day when he found that he could enter the winding way that led to the -ancient temple of death on the crater ledge.</p> - -<p>On the stone steps of the sanctuary the priest laid himself, worn -out with his vigil, and there sleep bound him fast. For hours he -slumbered on. He awoke with a great start of horror, the fear of a -half-remembered dream, a monstrous vision. He rushed to the brink of -the sheer ledge.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Hundreds of feet below him writhed the fiery lake, wafting upwards its -roseate mists and vapors, as it had for centuries. It was once more at -its ancient level—<i>or was it below?</i> He stared; and as he gazed, it -seemed to him that, inch by inch, very slowly, the seething maelstrom -was sinking!</p> - -<p>Suddenly realization came to him. The flaming crown of the Gateway was -gone. The fires of the Gateway were going!</p> - -<p>Poised at the ledge's brink, he flung wide his arms. "Hephaistos! -Hephaistos! Master, whither goest thou?" he shrieked. The dull rumble -of the fires, the soughing of the wind in the mighty cone, the soft -curling reek of the fire mists drifting by him were his only answer. -Came the thought of those below in the valley, and he rushed from the -temple and passed down the terraces.</p> - -<p>Already snow was falling on their green declivity.</p> - -<p>His appearance on the side of the mountain was greeted with a shivering -moan from the people. When the Gateway had gone dark, and new terror -had assailed them, they still had held to the word of the priest. No -one of them set foot on the holy hill. Quaking, they crowded together -at its foot and waited the coming of Analos. A thousand eyes were upon -him as he went down the terraces—not the arrogant, masterful man they -always had known him, but a bowed and silent figure, walking with -folded arms and eyes cast down, great eyes that glowed but dimly in -their caverns. Even so, he was still the master—and still mad.</p> - -<p>As he paused on the lowermost terrace, they crowded closely about him. -A nation held its breath and waited for his words. He raised his head -and his gaze swept over the close ranks of the people. He held out his -arms toward them in silence for a moment before he spoke.</p> - -<p>"A message I bear to his people from the mighty Lord Hephaistos," he -said clearly. "Patience for but a little time, and he shall hear it. -But first I must go to Latmos. Take me thither."</p> - -<p>Six strong men made a litter and carried him, fighting their way -through snow almost knee-deep, to the plateau on Latmos.</p> - -<p>Hunters of the king, laboring at their fire on the plateau, saw the -party on its way. One of them summoned Minos.</p> - -<p>"The red priest hath come again from the Gateway," he shouted into the -cave.</p> - -<p>Armed and ready, Minos the king came forth, but laid his weapons down -when he saw only six unarmed and gloomy men. Analos clambered from his -litter and faced him.</p> - -<p>"Once more, and this the last time of all, cometh Analos, priest of -Hephaistos, to look upon thy face, thou Minos, who wast king," he said. -"Nay, answer me not in anger, for I speak not in anger or bitterness," -he continued quickly, when the king would have replied. "Hear me -through. That which hath passed between us, let it pass and be past. No -longer beareth Analos command of his god to do harm to thee or thine."</p> - -<p>He raised his arm and pointed to the south up the valley. Minos saw -that the arm trembled, and the man was swaying.</p> - -<p>"Sardanes lieth dead," the priest went on. "Life cometh to the valley -no more, for the god goeth hence forever, and leaveth all things behind -him as doubtless they were before he came in the ancient days and made -his home and guided hither his chosen people.</p> - -<p>"Yonder in the Gateway, the god tarryeth to take with him his faithful -ones. He groweth impatient, for even there the fires fall apace—"</p> - -<p>"How meanest thou?" Minos broke in.</p> - -<p>"This; that, with the passing of the god shall pass every soul in -Sardanes. Analos goeth hence to the Gateway to muster his people. With -music and singing and rejoicing shall they follow the ancient god -through the Gateway to the Future, to what new, far land of promise he -hath prepared for them."</p> - -<p>The king drew a quick breath, but held his peace. Leaning on the -shoulders of two of his bearers, for his strength waned, Analos turned -his somber eyes on the hunters.</p> - -<p>"Ye men of Minos," he said, and his voice was almost gentle, "come yet -with all the rest, I pray you. Your people await you, with your wives -and your little ones. It is in the mind of Analos that, because ye have -been faithful to your master in his folly, the punishment therefor -shall not fall on you. Much may be forgiven a loyal servant, even -though he setteth his master before his god. Analos biddeth you come, -for time groweth short, and darkness falleth.</p> - -<p>"And thou, O Minos, come thou also, an indeed thou wilt. I know not -what shall be meted out to thee of the god's mercy. Perchance thy -punishment shall be most passing bitter. That is in the hands of -Hephaistos, and no more in those of Analos, his servant. Analos hath -no further hate for thee in his heart, or for the maid Memene. Come ye -both, if ye are so minded, in peace and with these others. Analos hath -spoken."</p> - -<p>"Priest, thou art mad still," replied Minos, "but not so mad as once -thou wert. The valley lieth dead indeed, and Minos knoweth not if ever -it will bloom again. Thou mayest bend the people to thy crazed mind's -fancy. Minos bendeth not. Here will he await the end, until the end."</p> - -<p>Before the king had quit speaking, the priest fell wearily into his -litter, and at a sign from his hand, his men started down the slopes -through the snow.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On the day following the misadventure of Captain Scoland, Polaris and -Zenas Wright, all their preparations made, set forth on the road to -Sardanes.</p> - -<p>Latter-day science has contributed much to the safety and comfort of -the explorer. On the sledge of the adventurers was packed in small -space a supply of provisions for both men and animals that would last -them for a month, yet which did not constitute too great a weight for -the dogs to draw. The sledge itself was far higher than the old affair -of wood with which the son of the snows had set out on his previous -perilous trips. Wherever lightness would not detract from the strength -to withstand straining, the vehicle was constructed of aluminum.</p> - -<p>The travelers were armed heavily. Ill would it go with any shape of man -or beast that should cross their path with threatening intent. From the -belt of Polaris swung a brace of automatic pistols of the heaviest -caliber. Strapped handily on the sledge were three high-powered rifles. -Old Zenas Wright contented himself with one pistol, like those of his -companion.</p> - -<p>Not all of the trappings of the younger man were the product of -civilization. He carried in his hand a stout spear of his own -workmanship. On that, and on the long knife at his side, he depended, -in a pinch, fully as much as he did on the guns.</p> - -<p>Farewells were soon said at the camp, a ceremony which Scoland was not -on hand to participate in. Polaris laid out his harness, inspanned his -seven dogs, with big Boris in the lead, and cracked his long whip. From -shore and ship a cheer went up as the dogs sprang forward. The two -wayfarers responded with waves of their hands, then bent their backs to -the toil of the road, vanished over the crest of the ridge, and were -gone.</p> - -<p>For years more than twice the span of Polaris's life, Zenas Wright had -been an active and athletic man. He had made no empty boast when he had -said that he was a traveler of parts, and able to hold his own on any -path. If the pace they set was not quite as swift as Polaris might have -maintained alone, it was far from slow, and the old explorer kept it up -tirelessly and uncomplaining.</p> - -<p>Mile after mile fell behind the flying feet of the agile beasts and -gliding men. Occasionally they stopped and made brief camp, but the -pressure of their errand spurred them to the limit of endurance. -Weather favored them. They met no biting tempests with blinding snows -to confuse and delay them. Lack of clear light was their only serious -obstacle. The skies remained overcast and leaden, and no golden sun -rays came to point their way.</p> - -<p>"More light I could wish for gladly," said Polaris, "but I think the -very instinct within me will not let me lose this road."</p> - -<p>Often he scanned the horizon to the south, frequently halting the dogs -and ascending to the summit of craggy snow hummock or low hill, with -which the great plain was besprinkled. He also studied continually the -formation of the ice-clad barrier range to their left, its sinister -peaks in silhouette against the sky.</p> - -<p>Used for years to fix his bearings by the landmarks set by nature, -the eye of the snow dweller was photographic, his memory unerring. At -length he found the path he sought. Spying afar from the crest of a -craggy eminence, he noted the combination of contour and surroundings -that told him they were near to the end of their journey.</p> - -<p>He swung the dog team from the eastward course, and veered away to the -south. Soon they came to a long depression, that wound southward among -the low hills, in much the semblance of a sometime traveled highway.</p> - -<p>With kindling eye, Polaris pointed down the reaches of its sinuous -course.</p> - -<p>"Yonder, old man, stretches the Hunters' Road, and Sardanes lies at its -farther end!" he cried. "In a few more hours we shall know the best or -worst of this long trip of ours."</p> - -<p>Even with the aid of the powerful glasses carried by Zenas Wright, -Polaris could not pierce the distances to where the volcanic hills lay -around the valley.</p> - -<p>"If all were well, there should be at least some flare of fires against -this dull sky," he muttered, "yet I see none."</p> - -<p>Guiding the dogs into the road, Polaris urged them on at a pace faster -than any they had yet taken, for he knew that this path was free from -obstacles or pitfalls. As they came nearer to their goal, both men grew -taciturn. Zenas Wright was absorbed with the food for thought that his -eager old eyes supplied him. Polaris was oppressed with a prescience of -tragedy. Why were there no fires on the horizon, and why no signs of -travel on the white reaches of the Hunters' Road?</p> - -<p>Once more they camped against a bluff cliff at a turn in the road, and -then went on again. First with the glasses, and then with their eyes -alone, they picked upon the dim outlines of the Sardanian mountain -ring, dull white against the dun skies. Polaris shook his head gloomily.</p> - -<p>"Much my heart does misgive me, old Zenas Wright," he said, "for I fear -we are too late. Green, yon hills should be, and dark at their summits, -but they are white. The breeze blows from them to us, but is tempered -with no warmth. I fear that the great calamity which your science has -foretold is complete, and that all Sardanes is passed away."</p> - -<p>As they drew nearer to the mountain ring, out to their left across the -snow-fields, they saw the evidences of a mighty disturbance of the face -of the earth. Hills riven in twain, tremendous fissures and pits marked -a long, wide scar that extended from the base of the hills and reached -northward farther than they could see.</p> - -<p>"Some giant force has passed that way," Polaris said, "the like of -which I never saw in these lands. It is not unlike the track of a -giant's sledge across the face of the country. How do you read it?"</p> - -<p>"It is the path taken by the volcanic fires on their way from here to -where we found them blazing on Ross Sea," Zenas Wright answered. "As -they tore their way through the channels opened to them, they writhed -and shook the earth and rock above them, and left this appearance when -they had gone. That would have been a sight worth watching and study. -The earth out there must have pitched and tossed like waves of the sea."</p> - -<p>He paused, and his face was very solemn.</p> - -<p>"I, too, am afraid that it's all no use," he said slowly. "That seam -out there is cold, or there would be a fog above it so thick we could -not trace it. That means that the fires have been gone for some time. -It looks bad. But let us hurry on and see for ourselves."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They reached the north pass of Sardanes and found it half choked with -snow where it always had been bare. It was a comparatively easy matter -to sledge up and through it. Halfway up the pass the dogs balked and -refused to go forward. Slinking and whining, the brutes skulked in -their harness and cowered back against the sides of the sledge, nor -would word or whip urge them on.</p> - -<p>Hardly less keen than those of the animals themselves, the senses of -the son of the snows soon warned him of the danger's nature. He sniffed -at the air of the pass and turned smilingly to the scientist.</p> - -<p>"A bear," he said, and then, contemptuously; "these dogs are of a poor -spirit or we would have to hold them back rather than whip them on. -Stay you here and try to quiet them. I will go on and clear the way."</p> - -<p>He took a rifle from the sledge and laid down his spear, saying almost -apologetically as he did so, "Well would I love to fight him after my -old fashion and show you sport, but we haste, and have no time for -sports."</p> - -<p>Taking off his snowshoes and loosening the knife in his belt, Polaris -ran forward around a turn of the rock. Hardly had he disappeared when -the air reechoed to a burst of horrid howling, followed by the spitting -crack of the rifle.</p> - -<p>Polaris found his foe a few rods up the pass, a lean old bear, almost -toothless, his once snow-white coat rusted to a dingy yellow, his claws -well worn. He was feeling his way cautiously down the snow-covered -rocks. With the wind blowing from him, he had no warning of the -presence of an enemy until he saw Polaris kneeling scarcely fifteen -feet from him. Then he howled indeed. It was his last challenge. A -bullet from the powerful rifle, truly aimed, plowed through his shaggy -breast and found his heart.</p> - -<p>Whipping out his knife, Polaris cut the throat of the huge beast and -hacked a piece of flesh from its shoulder. He ran down the path again -and threw the bloody fragment before the dogs.</p> - -<p>"An old trick," he laughed. "They smell the blood, they taste it, and -they fear no more."</p> - -<p>Up through the pass the travelers drove their team, past the carcass of -the bear, and stood at the lip of the valley slope. Sardanes lay before -them. Zenas Wright groaned aloud. Polaris Janess threw wide his arms in -a gesture of sorrow, and his face grew solemn with pity.</p> - -<p>"<i>Gone</i>," he whispered; "men and women and children, and the wonders -they wrought—gone, and the snows have covered all!"</p> - -<p>As they stood there, the Antarctic sun, freed at last from its cloud -bonds, shot a sullen red ray over the hills and down the valley, and -laid bare the full measure of the ruin. From the gleaming cap of the -Gateway to the Future, to Mount Helior in upper Sardanes the valley was -banked with snow, its mansions hidden, its fields and forests buried -deep. Only on the higher slopes was evidence that life had ever been. -There the giant hymanan trees still stood against the storms, their -branches bleak and bare, thrust out above the white masses that covered -more than half their mighty trunks. Behind them loomed the cliffs of -the mountain ring, their sheer sides also splotched with white.</p> - -<p>Some distance down the valley, Polaris fancied he could distinguish a -mass bulking up in the snow that he deemed marked where the Judgment -House stood.</p> - -<p>"In the hollow of the Gateway hill, and in caves in the mountain sides, -perchance there is that which will repay your visit somewhat, old man," -Polaris said to the geologist. "All else is dead."</p> - -<p>Before the old man could answer the dogs became suddenly uneasy, -growling and snarling. Polaris bent forward and cupped his ear with his -hand. A long-drawn howling floated across the valley from the western -range. "More bears," he said, then started and turned a flashing eye on -his companion.</p> - -<p>"Come on, old Zenas Wright!" he cried. "More than bears are here. -Yonder howl dogs also. Did I not know that my gray brothers were dead -these many months, all but Marcus, I might swear I heard their own -voices. But, where dogs are, there are men also. Here is a new riddle. -Come!"</p> - -<p>Urging the huskies, they shot down the snow crusts of the hillside and -started across the valley.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When he reached the Gateway from his last visit to Mount Latmos, Analos -despatched four men and a pony sledge to the deserted Judgment House -to fetch to the hill of the god the huge drum of time. When it was -brought, he appeared on the steps to the first of the terraces. His -priests clustered about him in a black-robed group.</p> - -<p>He gazed down into the upturned faces of his people. At a signal, -both priests and people knelt. For a space the crackling of the vast -camp-fires was the only sound. Analos gathered his strength for what -was to be his last speech. Never had man an audience more breathlessly -attentive.</p> - -<p>"Hephaistos calleth his children," the priest began, his voice hollow -and solemn, his words falling slowly. "Through me, Analos, high priest -in Sardanes, his life-long servant, he calleth. It is not for man to -question the ways of the ancient god. Analos questioneth not. When his -master calleth, he answereth, 'Whither thou leadest me, there will I -follow on.' I am ready. Are ye also ready, my people?"</p> - -<p>In the pause that followed the question rose the voice of the Lord -Ukalles of upper Sardanes. "Whither calleth the god, O master? Read -thou his message to Sardanes."</p> - -<p>Piercing clear the voice of the high priest in answer:</p> - -<p>"To the Gateway to the Future calleth he his children, through the -portals of the temple of death to the glory that lieth beyond, whither -every Sardanian hath trod since the land was new."</p> - -<p>A shiver passed through the kneeling ranks, and a whisper, half a moan, -from two thousand human throats. Again spoke the Lord Ukalles: "Must -this thing be, master? Is this the end? Is there no other way?"</p> - -<p>"This thing must be," answered the red priest steadily. "There is no -other way. This is the end in Sardanes. Be ye brave, all my people. -In a far country, brighter even than the fair Sardanes ye have known, -Hephaistos will welcome you. Think; since our forefathers came up from -the seas to this place, no Sardanian ever hath lived, save one man -only, but hath passed the Gateway when his time came. Without fear and -without flinching have they passed whither the god beckoned them. And, -if they died elsewhere, faithful friends brought them hither, and still -they passed the portals. Thousands have gone this road. Will ye falter -now, when the great god doth summon you to accompany him?"</p> - -<p>Again he paused. From the people rose a many-voiced murmur, and its -burden was, "We are ready, master, lead thou us on."</p> - -<p>"The end hath struck, indeed," cried the Lord Ukalles. "Now is no time -for words or thoughts, but to do the bidding of the god. It is fitting -that the lords of Sardanes should take their proper station. Stand ye -forth, my fellow nobles of the land, ye and yours."</p> - -<p>In measured tones he called the roll of the mountains, omitting only -Latmos, Epamon, and Lokalian. Minos dwelt on Latmos, Patrymion of -Epamon and Garlanes of Lokalian had journeyed on before. Man by man -the nobles answered and took their places at the foot of the terrace -with their families. Brought face to face with doom, the people met it -sad-eyed and silent, but unflinching.</p> - -<p>"It is well," cried Analos. "The children of the god fear not. Form in -procession, my people, as for a festival. Cast wood on the fires to -light the way."</p> - -<p>Under this direction the huge drum was hoisted to the first terrace.</p> - -<p>"Beat the drum, Karthanon, while the people make ready," commanded -Analos. Karthanon the Aged bared a withered arm and laid on with -measured stroke. Below the drum gathered the trumpeters. To the blare -and boom of the music the Sardanians formed their ranks.</p> - -<p>"When all is ready, Analos leadeth," said the priest. He staggered to -the steps that led to the second terrace, and prostrated himself in -prayer, with his face on the lowest step.</p> - -<p>Across the valley from in front of the cave on Latmos, Minos and his -men and the Lady Memene watched these proceedings from afar. The -hymanan forests were down or bare, and they could see clearly by the -light of the fires that ringed the camp. When they saw the people -marshaling on the slope at the foot of the Gateway, and the first -booming stroke of the drum beat up to their ears across the intervening -space, the hunters drew apart and conferred among themselves in low -tones.</p> - -<p>Then came Zalos, their leader, and knelt at the feet of the king.</p> - -<p>Tears rolled down the face of the sturdy captain.</p> - -<p>"Lord Minos the king, I have served thee faithfully for many years, -thee and thy royal house," he said in a broken voice. "As long as there -was fighting to be done for thee, I and these men of mine would have -stood with thee until death found us all. But now there is no more -fighting, and here is the end of all things. Yonder go our people. With -them are our wives, our fathers and mothers and children. At the gates -of the temple of death do they stand and hold out their hands to us. -Lord, think us not disloyal. We ask thee that we may join them and die -with them. O king, if thou goest not also, let us go to them."</p> - -<p>He bowed his head on Minos's hand, and wet it with his tears. The king -raised him gently.</p> - -<p>"Zalos, old friend and comrade, faithful and true hast thou been unto -the end, thou and all these men, thy friends and mine. Now do I -absolve thee from thy allegiance and bid thee farewell. Go—go freely, -and where thy hearts are calling thee. Minos hath nothing to forgive -of thee, and much to thank. Farewell." In the flickering of the fire, -tears gleamed on the cheek of the king also.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>One by one the men came to him and knelt and kissed his hand. As they -were about to depart, they heard the lad Alternes crying out within the -cave, and he climbed over the rock in the passage and staggered to the -side of the fire. He was weak with illness. His cheeks flamed and his -eyes shone bright with fever.</p> - -<p>"I heard the drum calling me," he cried. "Ah, look, the people gather -at the Gateway!" He pointed across the valley. "A great festival is -toward."</p> - -<p>"Aye, lad," said Zalos, "the festival of Death. Yonder all Sardanes is -gathered to march through the Gateway."</p> - -<p>For a moment the boy stared, wild-eyed.</p> - -<p>"Why, then, must Alternes go, too!" he said. "Take me with thee, Zalos. -Farewell, my king." He reeled toward Minos, but his strength gave way. -He pitched on his face, and a stream of blood welled from his lips. -Minos bent and laid his hand on the lad's head. At a sign, four of the -hunters picked the boy up and wrapped him in his cloak.</p> - -<p>"Take me with you," said the king. "It is his right.... Lady Memene, -what of thee?" he asked. "Here is the end. Thy people march to their -last long sleep before the darkness cometh. There on the Gateway are -thy father and all thy house. Goest thou also?"</p> - -<p>The girl gazed at him for a moment, while Zalos and the hunters waited -on her answer. She drew herself up proudly.</p> - -<p>"Memene goeth not," she said; "here will she await the end, whatever it -may be."</p> - -<p>The hunters raised their arms in silent salute to the king and the -maid, then turned, bearing the lad among them, and ran down the -hillside, the snow spurting from beneath their flying feet.</p> - -<p>When they arrived at the Gateway their loved ones welcomed them, only -to bid them farewell for a longer journey than any they had yet taken. -For the procession was formed and on the move.</p> - -<p>At its head, leaning on two of his servants, Analos the high priest -passed up the terraces. Behind him strode the others of the company of -Hephaistos. Two stalwart priests bore the drum of time, and Karthanon -the Aged walked beside, smiting it as he went. After them came the -nobles of the valley and their households, and then the concourse of -the people, marching slowly and with raised faces.</p> - -<p>As they set foot on the topmost terrace, the priests took up the chant -of death, softly at first, and then with increasing volume. Voice after -voice joined in the measured chant. The procession crossed the upper -terrace, entered the lofty carved arch of the portal, and wound upward -through the spiral passage to the edge of the Gateway's crater.</p> - -<p>On the steps of the temple of death Analos took his stand, supporting -himself against one of its pillars. The priests with the drum gathered -before him.</p> - -<p>"Forward without fear, children of Hephaistos!" he shouted. "Falter -not! There waiteth the ancient god." He pointed to the brink of the -ledge.</p> - -<p>Firmly the trumpeters marched on, the red glow of the fire mists -playing on their faces. They reached the brink, and they faltered not, -and their trumpets sounded no more. On marched the nobles and the -people, still singing as they marched. If any Sardanian, man or woman -or child, blenched or cried out that day, the press of the people -carried them on, the mighty chant drowned their voices. No coward -turned back. Even a number of the small horses entered the hill with -their masters, whinnying and nuzzling with their soft muzzles. They -passed the Gateway with the rest.</p> - -<p>Nearly the last of all came Zalos and his hunters. They carried with -them the corpses of Alternes, who had not lived to reach the mountain.</p> - -<p>At length it was done. Only the priests remained on the ledge. The -reverberations of the smitten drum and the roaring of the fires in the -fearful pit overbore their feeble chant.</p> - -<p>"Forward, my brothers, true servants of the god!" cried Analos. -"Forward, and I will follow you! Analos shall be the last of all, his -duty done, his work complete."</p> - -<p>With set faces, and bearing with them the drum of time, the members of -the black-robed company advanced. Before the last stroke of Karthanon -had ceased to echo through the hollows of the mountain, Analos stood -alone. Staggering and weak, he, too, advanced. To his disordered fancy -it seemed that the curling vapors before him were thick with passing -souls.</p> - -<p>Half the distance from the steps of the temple to the great hall he -stumbled and fell. Faintness numbed his limbs.</p> - -<p>His head swam dizzily.</p> - -<p>"Hephaistos! Master," he cried in terror, "desert me not here! -Strength! Grant me strength!"</p> - -<p>He struggled madly. He clawed at the very rock of the floor, and -dragged himself inch by inch toward the death he sought. His breath -came in gasps. His jaw fell. The iron spirit of the man held back -dissolution itself until his will was accomplished. Groping and -crawling, he reached at last the polished chute in the rock, cut there -by the priests centuries before and worn smooth by the passing of -thousands of Sardanians.</p> - -<p>"I thank thee, master," he sighed, content. He rolled into the chute, -and his body shot downward and outward above the fiery lake. His red -robe spread wide as he took the plunge, like the wings of some immense -crimson bird swooping downward from a flaming sky to a blazing sea.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Minos the king stood by his fire on the hill of Latmos. With folded -arms he stood, and the Lady Memene sat near to him on a log of hymanan -wood cut for the burning. Their eyes strained across the white -Sardanian valley. Both were silent. They saw the long procession of -those about to die sweep up the fire-lighted steeps of the Gateway to -the Future. They heard the chant of death from two thousand throats -as the people marched across the upper terrace and through the gloomy -portal of the cliff, to the music of the trumpeters and the booming of -the drum of time.</p> - -<p>When the last man had passed within, they still heard the muffled -thunder of the drum. Then that ceased also. Strong spirited as were -they both, their hearts seemed to stop with it.</p> - -<p>"Now art thou and I and Kalin the last Sardanians in the living world," -the king said. So he spoke, not knowing that under the rocks and the -snows, many long leagues to the northward, Kalin, the priest, lay -asleep where Polaris Janess had left him nearly two years before.</p> - -<p>"That end is come which the priest preached and the people feared," -he continued, "the end which Minos could not believe would come. Nor -doth he believe yet, nor will so believe, that it is wrought of a god. -Nature hath withdrawn her mercy, and all things in Sardanes die.</p> - -<p>"Believing not, Minos hath tarried. Now he is a king no longer. He hath -no people left to rule. Naught remaineth but a snow-swept valley which -death hath touched."</p> - -<p>From her seat on the log the girl arose. She stood in front of Minos, -so close that her soft breath fanned his cheek. A slow, red flush that -was not of the firelight overspread her features. Her dark eyes flashed -like jewels. She spoke, and her heart was in her voice.</p> - -<p>"Little of all that thou hast valued is left to thee, Lord Minos," she -said. "Thy people have turned against thee and are gone. Thy home is a -ruin. The fast-falling snows cover the land thou didst love well. Some -few friends were faithful unto the death, but death came, and they left -thee. All that thou hadst to lose, thou hast lost, save thy life, thy -dogs yonder, and one other thing, which, perchance, thou wilt value but -little. In all the world, Lord Minos, there is not one to take thee by -the hand and call thee friend.</p> - -<p>"This is the hour which Memene hath foreseen and awaited. Say not that -thou art no more king, my Lord Minos. Thou art <i>my</i> king. It was my -will to stand beside thee when all the rest had passed—to tell thee -that with thee I fear no danger and no death. I love thee, Minos—"</p> - -<p>Like a man in a spell, Minos heard her words. Closer to him she swayed. -He felt the softness of her body against his breast. From the folds of -her cloak her white arms crept up about his neck and drew his face to -hers. Their cheeks touched. Flame answered flame. With a deep-voiced -cry, "<i>Memene!</i>" he caught her to him and crushed her lips against his -own.</p> - -<p>For a time they stood, locked fast in each other's arms. Then Minos -lifted his face to the scintillant stars in the pale Antarctic sky. "If -somewhere above there dwelleth a power which doth guide the destinies -of men, Minos giveth thanks," he called, exulting—"thanks for the will -within him which hath stood firm to wrest from dark days of strife and -death one moment such as this!"</p> - -<p>He shook his fist toward the south. "Come, thou wild spirit of the -wastes," he cried, "o'erwhelm the valley of Sardanes with thy snows and -thy tempests! Minos thou canst not daunt. Thou mayest kill, but thou -canst not take away that which this day hath given!"</p> - -<p>Again he bent above the girl, and saw her face all rosy and dimpled, -where before it had been cold and indifferent. Mockery dwelt there no -longer. The lights of love shone so strongly as to shake his stout -heart.</p> - -<p>Had he won her but to lose her?</p> - -<p>"Ah, Memene, Memene, loved one," he whispered, "love like ours was -never doomed to die here in the snows. There must—there shall be some -way to cheat death—"</p> - -<p>From within the cave the baying of Pallas and her brood interrupted -him. He started, his every nerve athrill with a new thought.</p> - -<p>"There <i>is</i> a way!" he cried. "The beasts of the stranger! Whither -passed Polaris and Kalin and the Rose maid, to that far-away land they -named America, there shall we fare, also—there where is light and -warmth for love. When the long night hath passed, my princess, then -shall we journey northward!"</p> - -<p>Memene, nestling close to him, replied, "Would that it might be so, O -king of mine. Would that time might give us of its mercy and its years. -Then would Memene show thee how a Sardanian girl can love. But if so -much be not granted to us, and cold death cometh, Memene shall be well -content to die with thee."</p> - -<p>He led her gently through the passage, and with infinite tenderness -lifted her over the rock and into the cavern. When they were come -thither, Minos suddenly smacked his thigh, and a short and foolish -laugh burst from him. He looked at her, abashed.</p> - -<p>"What is it that maketh thee to laugh thus and look so strangely?" -asked the girl.</p> - -<p>"Why, lady," he said, shamefacedly, "it did strike upon my mind that -every priest in Sardanes hath gone, and there is none left to wed us."</p> - -<p>A flood of burning color made the face of Memene more lovely still. She -covered her hot cheeks with her hands. When she looked up again, she -met the troubled gaze of the king with a brave smile.</p> - -<p>"Thou knowest the words of the ancient ceremony, Minos, dost thou not?" -she asked him.</p> - -<p>"Aye, by rote."</p> - -<p>"Yonder is wine, and here be lights. Let us say it, each to the other. -I think that those who watch from above, seeing how it is with us, -shall not greatly blame."</p> - -<p>Minos stretched a rug on the rock floor and fetched a gleaming ilium -flagon, which he set on one of the chests. Then lover and maid knelt -before one of the flaring torches with joined hands. Sentence by -sentence, they repeated the responses of the quaint old Sardanian -marriage rite, through to the "Be thou mine and I thine until our call -cometh." They touched the wine with their lips, then rose and passed -their hands with fingers locked above the flame of the torch.</p> - -<p>"My bride!" Minos whispered, and gathered the girl in his arms. The -great gray dogs looked on with curious eyes. So were Minos and Memene -wed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Within a week after the death march of the Sardanian nation, the fires -that had lingered in the crater of the Gateway to the Future had passed -away, and that hill was cold and still as any in the ring of the -valley. On its slopes the grass and herbiage withered, and the snows -fell. For a few days the steeps swarmed with goats, the hardy animals -outliving the last of the ponies; but they, too, soon died of the cold -and starvation.</p> - -<p>The big bonfires that the people had built around their last camp had -long since burned out to ashes. The mantle of darkness that fell over -the valley was broken only by the blaze on the hill of Latmos, which -Minos tended, laboring mightily, and hewing therefor vast quantities of -wood from the stark hymanan forests.</p> - -<p>The task of bringing the wood up the mountainside through the snow -overtaxed even his great strength, if he would have enough to keep -his fire big and bright. Leaving three of the younger dogs with the -Princess Memene, he took Pallas and the other three, one day, and set -off for the storehouse at the outer foothills of the north pass to -fetch his sledge.</p> - -<p>On his way to the pass, he stopped at the Gateway. He climbed the -rugged terraces, passed the arch and the spiral pathway, groping his -way in the darkness, and once more, and for the last time, stood within -the temple of his father's god.</p> - -<p>The night was clear, and the polar stars shone brightly down. Some -portion of their radiance penetrated through the open summit of the -mountain, making faint twilight within it. Fierce gusts of wind -shrieked and eddied through the giant cone, tossing with them swirls of -drifting snow. The gale clutched at the cloak of the king. The white -snow-wraiths leaped and danced. In the wild moaning of the wind, it -were easy to fancy that the ghosts of the dead Sardanians were wailing -above the ruins of their temple. In that place of gloom Minos tarried -but a little while, then went his way.</p> - -<p>Returning with his sledge some two hours later, the king found that a -new and powerful life had entered the valley. As he passed across the -snow-fields where once had been the marshes, he heard a far-away and -hideous howling break forth from the cliffs of the Gateway. It was -answered by the snarling of his dog-pack. The four as one turned in -their traces and strained toward the hill, mouthing their challenge -loud. From the Latmos hill echoed the baying of their three fellows.</p> - -<p>Well did Minos, the hunter, know the meaning of the outcry above him. -Holding back his dogs sternly, he peered up the towering mass of the -mountain. Outlined against the dark body of a cliff, he saw, or thought -he saw, two monstrous white forms roaring and striking. Cracking his -long lash above the backs of his unwilling beasts, he hurried to Latmos.</p> - -<p>With the far-flaming menace of the fiery hills removed, the monarchs of -the wilderness, the polar bears, had come to Sardanes, where they never -had dared to penetrate before. They had crept over the mountain rim, -and were quarreling among themselves as they tore at the carcasses of -the dead goats on the sides of the Gateway. How long would it be ere -they came up against Latmos? And should they beset his path when he -ventured on his journey northward? thought the king with sudden fear. -What then? He carried no weapons that would slay from afar, as did the -son of the snows who had gone before him.</p> - -<p>From that day on Minos went no more afield. With the aid of the dogs -and the sledge, he hauled huge store of wood and piled it against the -cliffs at either side of the cave entrance. Laborious as was the work, -he carried large quantities of the fuel to the interior of the cavern -and stacked it against the walls.</p> - -<p>Weeks grew into months. Darkness and starlight alternated, grew at -length into gray twilight, as the slow sun journeyed farther and -farther southward. Still Minos and his princess dwelt in their cavern -and kept life strong within them. With wood and skins and cloths, of -which there was an almost inexhaustible store in the cave, the king -constructed a sort of room, by walling off a gallery that branched into -the cliff from one side of the main cavity and adjoining the entrance. -That made much smaller the space he must heat and light. He abandoned -the practise of keeping a fire on the plateau, kindling it there only -when he made an excursion after more wood. In that way he cut down his -labor much.</p> - -<p>For food, they drew on the vast granary bins that lined the sides of -the cavern, supplemented with dried fruits and honey. In one of the -galleries of the cave was a stock of smoked meats, and that Minos -reserved for the dogs, fearing that a diet of bread alone might cause -the animals to sicken.</p> - -<p>His labor and forethought, his splendid struggle against odds, did not -avert the lash of calamity. Unlooked for, it dealt him a stroke that -ended all his hopes.</p> - -<p>He had brought a sledge load of wood up the hillside one day, and had -loosed the dogs from their harness and driven them through the passage. -Ahead of him, the lithe beasts scrambled over the rock into the cavern. -As active as they, he put a hand to the rock and leaped. A loop of the -harness he bore caught on a projection on the boulder and threw him. -He fell heavily on his face. His ax of ilium slipped from his belt and -fell beneath him, its keen-edged blade uppermost. His head struck on -it, and it bit deep into his right temple.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>With his senses swaying, Minos dragged himself to his feet. He reeled -along the passage to the curtained entrance to his home. Nearly spent, -and with the bright blood coursing down his neck, he staggered -straight through the fire and fell across his couch. He heard the cry -of Memene, his loved one, but it sounded faint and far. He felt her -arms close around him, and then darkness let fall its heavy curtain -over his mind.</p> - -<p>Days passed while he lay in a stupor and strange dream dramas played -themselves out around his pillow. Again he stood in the narrow pass, -and stout Sardanians went down before his good sword. Again he stood on -Latmos's side and saw the stricken people march boldly to their doom, -only that time the one most loved of all went with them, and he was -chained and could not follow.</p> - -<p>Vainly he called out to her, "Memene! Memene!"</p> - -<p>With that dear name upon his lips, the king awoke. He found her head -pillowed close to his own. Her arms were around his neck. She was -weeping softly and gazing into his face, her black eyes filled with -sorrow and terror. Around the couch he heard the dogs whining and -growling. It was very cold, and only one faint ray of light struggled -through a cleft in the rock above the passage that went into the little -room.</p> - -<p>Minos strove to raise himself on his elbow, but found himself too weak. -"What hath befallen," he muttered, "and why is it so cold and dark?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Minos, Minos," wailed the girl, "our end is come. Our fire—'tis -gone. Worn out with tending thee, for thou hast lain sick these many -days, I did give way and sleep—for but a little hour, I thought—and -when I woke our fire was gone. Not one little spark was left. Ah, -Minos, thou diest, and I myself have slain thee, my love, my love."</p> - -<p>With a mighty effort he raised an arm and set it about her. "Nay, fret -not for that which thou couldst not prevent," he whispered. "Minos is -content to die. It was to be. The end cometh but a little sooner, this -way."</p> - -<p>A burst of howling from without interrupted him and goaded the dogs to -frenzy.</p> - -<p>Memene shuddered. "The great white bears are there," she whispered. -"They have howled for hours. Soon will they enter and rend us. I have -tied the dogs fast so that they might not rush out and fight and be -slain—<i>Ah—see!</i>"</p> - -<p>Horror struck, she pointed to the passage. Overcoming by degrees his -fear of an unseen trap, one of the monsters had penetrated the pass -and was clawing at the rock. The way was narrow, but, by dint of much -writhing and squeezing, the bear reared his ponderous bulk over the -boulder. In the dusk of the passageway his shaggy head and colossal -shoulders shone white. His cruel jaws slavered as he craned his head -around the turn in the wall, swaying it slowly from side to side, as -his blazing merciless eyes sought out his prey.</p> - -<p>At that sight the Princess Memene turned from fear to rage. Like a -tigress with young, she leaped from the couch, caught a spear from the -wall, and dashed into the passage.</p> - -<p>"Thou shalt not!" she shrieked, scarce knowing what she said. "Thou -shalt not enter! My king and I shall die in peace, and not be torn by -thee!"</p> - -<p>As she screamed she struck furiously at the bear's head with the ilium -spear, and gashed him deeply. Wedged where he could go neither backward -nor forward without great effort, the huge animal was hard put to it to -defend himself from the attack of the infuriated woman. Dauntlessly she -faced him, thrusting with the spear.</p> - -<p>Minos, on his couch, strove with all his will and strength to rise up -and go to her aid, but so weak was he that all his struggling did not -lift his shoulders from his pillow.</p> - -<p>In the narrow confines of the cave, the howling of the bear and the -snarling of the seven dogs, gone mad at sight of their enemy and with -balked lust for fighting, made the din of an inferno. The gray snow -runners twisted and tore at their leashes, and leaped and leaped again, -only to fall back on the rock floor, as their ropes held.</p> - -<p>Pallas alone used method. Finding her struggles for freedom in vain, -she turned on the stout rope and rent it with her teeth. Tearing at it -furiously, she weakened it. At last it gave way, and she bounded past -the princess and leaped straight in the monster's face.</p> - -<p>Slashed and bleeding, with the sight of one eye nearly gone, the bear -was fully aroused. As the dog leaped, one powerful white paw swung, -armed with its spread of crescent claws. It caught Pallas in midair, -hurled her against the side of the passage, and she fell, her lifeblood -spurting from a jagged wound in her neck. Another stroke dashed the -spear from the hand of Memene.</p> - -<p>Gathering his hind legs under him against the rock, the bear thrust -himself forward into the cave!</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> - -<h3>BACK TO LIFE AND LIGHT</h3> - - -<p>Screaming in a desperate frenzy that cast aside all fear, the Princess -Memene sprang back along the passage and caught up another spear to -replace that which the stroke of the bear had spun from her grasp. -In her veins surged up the blood that had faced death on many a -hard-fought battlefield in the years when the world was young, and -counted no odds. Pale to the lips, her eyes ablaze, she fronted her -towering antagonist. For the bear was over the rock now, reared on his -hinder legs, and advancing to make an end.</p> - -<p>At her feet writhed the dying dog, above her swung the crescent talons; -the roaring, slavering jaws were opening wide to rend and tear her -tender flesh.</p> - -<p>Came a flash of fire from the passage, a crashing report that echoed -and vibrated through the rocky corridor. The bear stiffened in every -limb and line. A shudder ran through his immense bulk. He turned half -around and, with one unearthly howl, collapsed across the floor of the -passage, his life gushing from him in a crimson torrent that jetted -from under his shoulder.</p> - -<p>As though in the grip of a dream, the girl saw the beast go down. She -heard the fiendish clamor of the ravening pack behind her, sounding -faint and from a distance. Then with a shout a great man clothed in -white furs strode into the passage. His cap had fallen from his head, -and long golden hair fell about his shoulders. In his hand he carried a -smoking rifle.</p> - -<p>For a moment he stood out to the girl's sight, clear cut as a living -cameo. The darkness fell upon her. Vainly she strove to command her -dizzying senses. Her knees gave way. With a little sigh, she pitched -forward, falling across the carcass of the bear, which still was moving -feebly in its death agony.</p> - -<p>Polaris leaped over the body of his fallen foe and stood, peering about -him with quick glances. As his eyes became accustomed to the half light -in the cavern, he saw the princess lying across the dying monster, her -long black hair disheveled and mingled with the snowy fur of the brute. -He stooped and caught up the girl and laid her gently to one side, -where the beast in the throes of dissolution might not do her harm.</p> - -<p>Looking beyond her, he saw the small room hung with skins, saw the six -gray dogs crouched in leash, every burning eye turned on him, and, at -the farther side of the room, saw the long, broad form of a man lying -loose flung across a low pallet, his head hanging over its side. All -that he saw, and then from the dusk along the wall of the passage a -gaunt, gray form reared up in his path, and he forgot all else.</p> - -<p>"Pallas!" he cried. "Pallas! Are you come back from the dead?"</p> - -<p>Taking a stiff step forward, the dog gathered all the strength in -her weakening frame and raised herself on her hind legs. She set her -forepaws against the breast of the master loved so well and, whining, -strove to look into his face. Her eyes were glazing, and the blood was -spurting fast from a ghastly wound in her neck.</p> - -<p>"No, my Pallas, you are no ghost—but soon will be," Polaris said with -breaking voice. "I find you, and I lose you." He steadied the dog with -his strong hands and laid her cold muzzle against his cheek.</p> - -<p>With each gasping breath she tried to bark her joy, but she was too -weak. A low howl burst from her lungs that carried with it a world -of glad greeting, affection, and farewell. She shuddered, her head -drooped, and her limbs relaxed.</p> - -<p>"Good-by, Pallas," whispered the master. He lowered the limp body to -the floor and stepped forward, wet-eyed, to explore the other wonders -of the cave. First he carried the unconscious girl into the room and -laid her on one of the large chests, drawing a blanket over her. -Crouching along the wall, where they were tied fast to a beam, the six -children of Pallas watched his every motion, their hackles erect, their -teeth bared. He ran his eyes approvingly over their powerful forms, and -noted with a smile the leathern harness that hung on the beam.</p> - -<p>"You serve a master who has trained you well," he muttered. "Soon you -and I shall be fast friends."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Approaching the pallet, Polaris took the man who lay there by the -shoulders and turned him over, placing his head back on its pillow. He -started with surprise when, despite the emaciation of sickness and a -ten days' growth of beard, he recognized the well-remembered features -of the Sardanian king.</p> - -<p>"You, too, Minos?" he exclaimed. "Truly, the ways of fate are strange."</p> - -<p>A touch of the hand told him that the heart of the king still beat. He -glanced around the room. The fireplace, with its dead ashes, told its -story. For the first time he realized the cold of the place.</p> - -<p>"A wound, sickness, the loss of fire, and no means to make one, then -the beast. I find you in evil case, indeed, Minos the king," he said.</p> - -<p>He hurried to the fireplace and piled wood upon the hearth. With his -keen knife he hacked splinters and set them to the wood. Producing a -box of matches from the breast of his shirt, he struck them and fired -the pile in many places. Going back to the king, he exerted his great -strength, and dragged the couch across the rocky floor to the side of -the fireplace. He spread a rug on the floor and laid the girl on it. -She showed no sign as yet of returning consciousness.</p> - -<p>While he was at work, he heard the voice of Zenas Wright calling him -insistently from the hill slopes outside the cave, where he had left -him to mind the dog team.</p> - -<p>Polaris hastened out, and met the old man in the passage.</p> - -<p>"I was getting worried," the scientist said. "I've unhitched those -wicked brutes of yours and given them something to chew on. They'd have -taken a chance at me if I hadn't, I guess. What's in there?"</p> - -<p>In a few words Polaris told him what he had found, the old geologist -tugging at his white beard and punctuating the tale with many an -exclamation of surprise.</p> - -<p>"Now haste you within, old man, with that flask of yours," said -Polaris, "and see if the man may be saved. The girl, I think, is sound -and well—she has only fainted—but Minos the king has been sorely -wounded, and lies so ill that his bones almost show through his flesh."</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright ran to the sledge and fetched a small medicine case and a -leather-covered flask of brandy. Polaris helped him to scramble over -the rock to the inner corridor.</p> - -<p>"'Ware the dogs," the young man cautioned. "Keep well away from them, -or they will have the clothes from off your back. There are some things -to be done out here, and then I will join you."</p> - -<p>The scientist hastened along the passage. By the leaping firelight he -surveyed the strangest room that ever he had seen in all his threescore -and odd years. The huge carved chests, the cloths and rugs of strange -materials, the quaint utensils, the weapons of iridescent ilium, -lighted the fires of enthusiasm in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Marvelous!" he said. Well as he would have liked to stop at once, and -handle and study those curiosities, he hurried on, giving a wide berth -to the snarling brutes, which gave him no friendly greeting. He reached -the side of the couch and bent above the still form of the king.</p> - -<p>With expert fingers, the old man felt the wrists of Minos. "Um-m, -he's not so bad," he muttered. He unbound the bandage from the king's -head and inspected the wound in the sick man's temple. It had been a -deep gash and a wide, but it was nearly healed. Zenas Wright found a -small flagon and water, in which he mixed a draft of the fiery brandy. -Supporting the king's head on his arm, Wright forced his lips and teeth -apart and poured the strong spirit down Minos's throat.</p> - -<p>The sick man coughed weakly, but swallowed the liquor. Almost -immediately a line of color crept across his white face. He turned on -the old man's arm, his head wavered from side to side; then he settled -himself, and his deep, regular breathing indicated that he had passed -from swooning into sleep.</p> - -<p>From the king the geologist passed to the girl. He lifted the long, -dark tresses from her face. "A beauty, or would be if she was washed," -he commented. For Memene's cheeks were stained with tears, and grime -from the floor where she had fallen, and smeared with blood that had -jetted from the polar bear.</p> - -<p>Polaris's fire was blazing hotly, and the room was warm. Wright -loosened the girl's dress at the neck. He poured a few drops of the -brandy into her mouth. Finding a small cloth, he dipped it in water, -and laved her face and hands. Fear, rage, and despair had combined -strongly in the shock which brought about her faint, and she did not -respond at once. When he saw that her breathing was becoming easier, -the old man left her, and set about re-dressing the wound on the head -of the sick man.</p> - -<p>He was busy with scissors, bandages, and ointment, when he heard a -gasping cry behind him.</p> - -<p>Over him stood Memene. Far above her head, in the grip of both hands, -she swung the flashing ilium sword of Minos. Zenas Wright let fall his -bandages and shrank, startled fully as much by the rage of suspicion -and anger in the girl's face as by the menace of the glittering blade.</p> - -<p>"Drop it, foolish girl! Drop it!" he shouted hastily, recovering -himself somewhat. "Can't you see that I'm only mending your man's -broken head?" He held out the bandages and pointed to the wound in -Minos's temple and the basin and balm.</p> - -<p>His words meant nothing to the Sardanian princess, but she comprehended -the gestures. The suspicion left her dark eyes. Slowly she lowered -the sword. With a little cry she let it fall on the floor. In another -instant she was curled at the head of the king's couch, and her quick, -soft fingers were aiding the old man laving the wound, and picking -up for him, in turn, each article that he required, almost before he -indicated it.</p> - -<p>Her eyes followed every minute step of the operations. She watched -jealously every fleeting shade of expression in the old man's face. -Several times she overwhelmed him with a torrent of words that were -"Greek" indeed to him. He could only spread his hands out helplessly -and shake his head in answer.</p> - -<p>Clutching at his arm when the bandage was made fast, she pointed to the -sleeping man. Zenas Wright replied to the concern and the question in -her face by placing his finger first over the heart of Minos and then -on the wound, and smiling and nodding.</p> - -<p>Wild joy shone in the eyes of Memene. She made as if to kneel at Zenas -Wright's feet, then remembered that she was a princess. She raised her -arm in the Sardanian salute. Then the strange girl threw herself into -a chair, covered her face with her hands, and gave way to her woman's -need for tears.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On the hill slope Polaris busied himself making a camp for his huskies, -for, said he, "There would be a rare uproar, without end, did I take -them in there where the gray brood of my Pallas are."</p> - -<p>He stamped a circle in the snow, and made a fire of hymanan wood from -Minos's store of firewood. He found Minos's sledge and set it against -the cliff, with wooden blocks for braces. He rolled a big log into -place in front of it, screwed a number of rings which he carried for -the purpose into its side, and tethered the huskies, where they might -not come at the stores on the other sledge. Some loose robes cast into -the hollow behind the log sufficed, and the tired brutes crawled onto -them thankfully and curled up for a well-earned rest.</p> - -<p>So tired were they that they bolted without fighting for the food he -threw to them—and it is a tired husky, indeed, that will not try to -rob his neighbors of his rations.</p> - -<p>Presently the step of the son of the snows sounded in the passage to -the cave room. The Princess Memene sprang up and faced him.</p> - -<p>One searching look she gave him, poignant with inquiry. With hands -extended as though to ward back a danger, she stepped in front of -Minos's couch.</p> - -<p>"Ah, well I know thee!" she exclaimed. "Thou are that stranger from the -North come again to Sardanes. Thou wert his enemy. Thou wouldst not -harm him now? Thou canst not have the heart! See, he hath suffered much -and lieth low—"</p> - -<p>"Nay, nay, save thy fears, lady," Polaris answered in the ancient -tongue. "Polaris fighteth not with sick men, and would be friend to -Minos and to thee. From many a hundred leagues to the north hath he -come hither to save whom he might from the doom which this man's -knowledge told would fall on thy land." He pointed to Zenas Wright.</p> - -<p>"My mind recalleth thee not, lady," he continued. "Of what house art -thou, and how named?"</p> - -<p>"Memene, daughter of the Lord Karnaon, am I," replied the girl proudly; -and still more proudly, "I am the bride of Minos, King of Sardanes."</p> - -<p>"And, lady, art thou and the king the last to live in all the valley?" -asked the son of the snows eagerly. "I can see sign of none others."</p> - -<p>"We be the only Sardanians who have not passed the Gateway," the girl -replied, "save Kalin the priest, alone, who fared north with thee and -the Rose maid."</p> - -<p>"Then art thou indeed the last," Polaris said, "for Kalin died out -yonder in the snows, and these hands did bury him.</p> - -<p>"Now, lady, take the rest thine eyes do tell me thou needest so much. -All shall be well with thee, and thy husband lieth safe in the care of -a skilled man. An thou gainsayest me not, I will feed thy gray beasts -yonder, and clear thy doors of the carcass of the snow-wanderer there. -When thou are refreshed again, we fain would hear from thee how it went -with you, how Sardanes fell, and how it is that we found thee so."</p> - -<p>With the ax of Minos, Polaris hacked apart the carcass of the huge bear -and hung it in sections along the outer corridor, reserving it for food -for the beasts. Indeed, the six dogs of Minos were almost friendly with -him after they had taken a meal at his hands, receiving the fresh meat -ravenously after a long diet of smoked flesh.</p> - -<p>Memene slept, but with much tossing and crying out, as in her dreams -she reviewed the troubled hours that preceded slumber. Minos lay quiet -for many hours, while old Zenas Wright watched and Polaris busied -himself about the fires and explored the recesses of the cavern. When -at length the king awoke, the first thing he saw with conscious eyes -was the face of the son of the snows bent over him. Polaris saw the -leaping question in the sick man's eyes, and answered it. "I come in -peace, and as a friend to thee, O Minos, an thou wilt have it so," he -said. "See, thy princess slumbers yonder, safe and well. Thou shalt -soon be strong, and then will be time for the telling of strange tales -between us. Then shall we fare hence out of the wilderness on the -northern road."</p> - -<p>Minos's glance strayed from him to where Memene lay asleep, her dark -hair fallen across her cheek. The face of the king grew very wistful.</p> - -<p>"I understand it not," he said, his voice hardly above a breath. "The -end of all had come, and now I find thee here—and fire and light. -Almost too weak am I to think. Thou and I did fight—"</p> - -<p>"Vex not thy mind at present with thinking, O Minos," Polaris -interrupted. "All is well, and shall be. Here now is my friend, Zenas -Wright, with that for thee that shall put new life into thee. Eat and -rest."</p> - -<p>With curious interest the king studied the kindly face of the scientist -as he came to the couch with a flagon of steaming broth, brewed of -grains and flesh, laced well with wine. So weak was Minos that the old -man must raise his head from the pillow while he drank. When he had -finished, the sick man lay looking at the beloved face across from him, -and so passed again into sleep.</p> - -<p>Great vitality and a constitution kept hardy by years of vigorous -living responded quickly to the care he received, and within less than -a week Minos was on his feet again, still pale, but mending rapidly.</p> - -<p>When he was strong enough to talk, he learned the purpose of the visit -of Polaris and Wright, and he struck hands of friendship with both of -them. His great heart bore no enmity toward Polaris, who told him all -of the story of Kard the Smith, and other events which preceded his -troublous departure from Sardanes, somewhat of which had been hidden -from Minos.</p> - -<p>"Though thou hast slain two of my blood and more of my people, I hold -thee to no wrong for it," he said, and added simply, "Truly, had I been -so circumstanced, I should have done no less." He glanced tenderly at -Memene, who sat at his knee, and touched her dark hair with his hand. -"I, too, have fought and slain for my lady."</p> - -<p>Then the adventurers heard from the lips of the king of the passing -of the fires from Sardanes, the madness of Analos, the battles and -the death march of the nation through the Gateway. Polaris translated -the telling of the tale to Zenas Wright, who hung upon each word with -breathless interest.</p> - -<p>Some days later, when the king had become strong enough to be about -the cave and to keep the fire aglow, Polaris and Zenas Wright took -torches and journeyed across the white valley to the Gateway hill, and -paid a visit to the ancient temple of death on the ledge of the mighty -crater. There was a spot from which the old scientist scarce could tear -himself, even after he had spent hours in examination, and the torches -were nearly exhausted.</p> - -<p>On the wall in one of the temple chambers they found hanging a small -cross, with its ends curiously turned. It was not of the ilium of -Sardanes, but of gold.</p> - -<p>"Priceless!" said Zenas Wright in an awed whisper. "That ornament came -here from the Aegean Sea long before Christ was born in Judea."</p> - -<p>Although it seemed almost an act of sacrilege to disturb it, the old -man plucked it from its place and carried it away with him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Three more weeks passed, and Minos the king apparently was as whole and -well as on that day when he fell over the guardian rock. Each day saw -added preparations for their journey back to the <i>Minnetonka</i>. From -the stores in the cavern Polaris replenished his sledge supplies, and -packed the load for the sled of Minos. From boughs of the tough hymanan -wood the son of the snows fashioned the frames of snowshoes and wove -their nets of sinew of the bear. For both Minos and Memene he made -them, and there was much sport when they both fared forth in the snow -to try them. After much floundering and not a little lameness, both of -the Sardanians mastered this new method of locomotion.</p> - -<p>Many questions Minos and his princess asked about the land to which -they were going, and its people and customs. To them, who had known -only the mountain-ringed valley and the impenetrable wilderness, it was -well-nigh incomprehensible that a land could be where the sun shone -alternately with the blackness of night, day by day, the whole year -around. The immensity of the world, as pictured to them by Polaris and -the geologist, staggered them.</p> - -<p>"And the ladies in thy great, far world, are they most fair," Memene -asked—"fairer than those of poor Sardanes?"</p> - -<p>Polaris gazed on the regal beauty of the girl, and answered dryly, -"Few, indeed," and bethought himself that her question boded ill for -the king, should he ever look too long on other charms.</p> - -<p>"But in this land of thine, how will it fare with me," questioned -Minos, "where possessions are valued thus and so, as thou tellest -me, and where men barter of their labor and their wit for thy medium -of exchange thou namest 'money'? Say, what shall be open to one like -Minos, who hath naught, and who is but little skilled in aught?"</p> - -<p>They were seated about the fireplace in the cavern room. Polaris met -the perplexed look of the king with a smile.</p> - -<p>"If I guess aright, that problem shall not afflict thee, O Minos," he -answered. "Thou has that, I believe, which will find an eager market, -and having which, thou shalt want for nothing all thy days."</p> - -<p>"How mean you?" asked Minos.</p> - -<p>Polaris pointed to an ilium bangle on the arm of Memene. It was set -with dull red stones, similar to those in a necklace that once had been -the gift of Kalin to the son of the snows.</p> - -<p>"He that wast true friend to me aforetime," he replied, "did tell me -that in Sardanes were many more stones such as those. On an occasion -when I was sore in need of aid three small gems, not half the size of -those in that bracelet, did get me friends and servants, and carry -me whither I would go. Rubies, they call them in the world. Greatly -are they prized. I judge the price in money of that one ornament thy -princess weareth would maintain her and thee in comfort all your years. -Add a few more, and thou shouldst be rich, indeed."</p> - -<p>Minos rose quickly from his seat. "An that be truth, then we shall all -be rich," he answered, "for here in the storehouse of my fathers are -many such."</p> - -<p>He dragged out from its place against the rock wall a stout chest and -threw back the lid. Stretching a rug before it, he strewed it with -every variety of ornament known to the ladies of Sardanes. Rings, -armlets, necklaces, slender crowns to be worn on the hair, girdles, -brooches, and even anklets, he added to the profusion of the glittering -heap.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright gasped, his wonder and pleasure as a savant fully aroused -by that pouring forth from the treasure-chest of antiquity. The toys -were of exquisite workmanship. What would not a museum give for even -one of them to grace its showcases?</p> - -<p>"Many a Sardanian princess hath found delight in these," said Minos, -as he emptied the last of the contents of the chest onto the rug. -"Scarcely a child in all the valley that did not possess some ornament -set with the red stones that were dug from the hillsides. These things, -you say, may be exchanged for wealth?"</p> - -<p>"That they may," Polaris said. "Thou hast there enough to buy for thee -a space of land as large as this valley of Sardanes and place in it -almost what thou wilt." In English, he asked of Zenas Wright, "What say -you, old man, of the worth of the gems?"</p> - -<p>The explorer was on his knees, examining these new wonders. He ran -his eyes appraisingly over the heap. "I am not an expert lapidary," -he replied; "but if these are anywhere near the quality of those you -brought to America—and they seem to be even better—their value will -run into millions of dollars."</p> - -<p>"We shall share them," said Minos the king, nor would he listen to -protests from either of the men. "Ye did come hither at the risk of -your lives, and brought life to us," he said. "It is but a little thing -that Minos can do in return. These baubles, these red rubies from the -hills that Sardanians call <i>thalmi</i>, if they will add to your comfort -in your world, are all too little. It is the will of Minos that the -division of them shall be equal—if, indeed, there are not too many of -them to carry hence."</p> - -<p>He stood stubbornly to that decision, and the end was that they took -the greater part of the stones from their settings and packed them in -small sacks. Even then, so many there were of them that they threw out -any that did not give promise of being first-class gems. They were -packed securely away then on the sledge of Minos.</p> - -<p>By their reckoning, little more than four weeks from the day on which -they entered Sardanes, Polaris and Zenas Wright bade farewell to the -cave on the Latmos hill, and with them went the two so strangely saved -from the still white death that had settled on the ancient valley.</p> - -<p>They stood on the lip of the north pass to take their last look. The -Antarctic sun shone strongly on the snow reaches. Only in their minds' -eyes could the travelers recall the wonders of the lost kingdom. Except -for their own tracks in the snow on the hillside, there was naught to -tell that man had ever set foot in the valley.</p> - -<p>Minos raised his hand in the Sardanian salute.</p> - -<p>"Farewell, land of my fathers," he said aloud. "Minos leaveth thee -without regret for a larger life than thou couldst hold. All the -bitterness of parting was his when his people passed from him. He -feeleth none now."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They pressed on into the notch of the pass, Polaris keeping well ahead -with his team of huskies lest there should be fighting of dogs, for -there was no love and much hatred between the brood of Pallas and the -Alaskan brutes.</p> - -<p>Halfway down the north side of the pass, while they were proceeding -slowly, one of the huskies balked for an instant to burrow in the snow. -He dug up a brown object, which Polaris snatched from him. Immediately -he turned to Zenas Wright.</p> - -<p>"How can this be, old man?" he said. "This is none of ours, and who -else can have passed this way?" He held out the thing which the dog had -found. It was a man's shoe, a stout hunting shoe, well spiked at the -sole for snow traveling. It was torn as though by sharp teeth, and its -thongs were gone.</p> - -<p>While Polaris and Wright examined the shoe in wonder, the three leading -huskies, sniffing eagerly, suddenly plunged into the drift to the right -of the pass, turning the rest of the team with them.</p> - -<p>"There is worse than a shoe there!" cried Zenas Wright. "Stop them!"</p> - -<p>By main strength, Polaris tore the snarling brutes out of the bank and -whipped them into the path. They dragged with them a heavy coat, the -torn fragments of other garments, and a number of human bones, clean of -flesh.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright viewed the relics with a shudder. "Some one has perished -here in the snow, and the bears have eaten him," he said.</p> - -<p>Polaris, exploring farther in the hole the dogs had dug, straightened -up suddenly. "Some one has been done to death here," he said sternly. -He held in his hand a ghastly skull. In it there were two holes, one at -the base, the other in the forehead—the smooth, round holes that only -a bullet leaves!</p> - -<p>Further examination of the snow disclosed other bones and fragments of -clothing. There was nothing in the pockets of the coat or about the -scene of the tragedy to indicate who it was that had met his death -there, or whence he had come. He had died, the bears had devoured his -remains, leaving naught but his bones and a mystery, which the snows -had shrouded from all but the keen-nosed dogs.</p> - -<p>From the path above them Minos drove his team down and halted it close -behind. He could not leave his dogs, and so Memene came on to find out -the cause of the delay. Polaris hastily threw snow over his grim find -so that the princess might not see it, and went back with her to tell -the Sardanian. The king could make no more of the affair than could he.</p> - -<p>Polaris scraped away the snow and ice from the base of the pass-cliff, -where a fissure ran up the rock, and there he laid the bones of the -stranger, placing them well within the crevice, and covering them with -the coat. He rolled a boulder to the mouth of the fissure and jammed it -fast with all his strength.</p> - -<p>"It is all that we can do," he said. "Whoever he was, or where from, he -sleeps, and cannot answer the least of our questions."</p> - -<p>"Who can have been here since we came?" Zenas Wright asked, as they -once more went on down the pass.</p> - -<p>"Not sure am I that he was not already here before we passed this way," -said Polaris.</p> - -<p>"But wouldn't the dogs have found him on the way in, in that case?" -persisted Wright.</p> - -<p>"It was hereabouts that we did meet the bear when we entered Sardanes," -replied Polaris. "At that time the dogs had noses only for the scent -of their enemy, and might have passed a hundred corpses and given no -sign. That poor fellow back yonder might have lain in his snow bed all -unsuspected. He might have been there for months. The snow and the cold -would have kept the bones as we found them. How it came about that a -man from the outer world did penetrate the wilderness to Sardanes, and -then was slain in her very portals, passes my comprehension."</p> - -<p>As the two teams passed swiftly along the reaches of the Hunters' Road, -Zenas Wright noticed that his younger companion, running with the -sledge, hesitated often, and cast many a keen glance along the path -they followed. Once or twice, Polaris halted the animals entirely, -while he knelt in the snow to scrutinize intently manifestations -which he seemed to find there, but which were beyond the ken of the -scientist. His face grew thoughtful, and there was a shadow in his -amber eyes.</p> - -<p>"What is it, son?" queried Wright at length, when the actions of -Polaris had aroused a curiosity which the younger man did not volunteer -to satisfy.</p> - -<p>"I know not yet," Polaris answered; "and would not say the thing I -think until I am wholly sure."</p> - -<p>"Has it something to do with the corpse we found back there?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, much perhaps," and the son of the snows relapsed into a moody -silence that was strange to him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At their first camping spot, well out near the end of the Hunters' -Road, Polaris left Minos standing his turn as sentinel, and, while the -old man and the girl slept, he went forward along the way alone. He was -absent for more than two hours. He returned with overcast countenance, -and without a word as to his explorations, crawled into his sleeping -bag. For a long time he lay staring out across the surrounding snows -before he closed his eyes for a few hours of slumber. When he awoke, -Zenas Wright was on watch beside him.</p> - -<p>"Well, did you find anything to give you a clue?" asked the geologist.</p> - -<p>"I found the trail of a sledge and dogs on ahead of us," Polaris -replied; "and know not what they may mean."</p> - -<p>The old man regarded him sharply. "I hardly need to ask you if they -were the tracks we made coming in?" he said.</p> - -<p>"It was to be sure that they were not that I went on to see," said -Polaris. "If it had not snowed since we came through, some parts of the -road are so sheltered that our tracks might not have been filled in by -the drift. But what I have seen sets aside all doubt. <i>The tracks lead -both ways!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Then some one has been on our trail, or, at least, over the same path, -and has gone north again."</p> - -<p>Polaris nodded.</p> - -<p>"From the ship? That seems incomprehensible."</p> - -<p>"That is to be told only when we reach the ship," answered Polaris; -"that, and why a dead man lies in the north pass to Sardanes with a -bullet hole through his head."</p> - -<p>More enigmas waited along the road to the coast, but none as gruesome -as the white bones of the unknown.</p> - -<p>Turning to the west from the Hunters' Road, they skirted the great -barrier range, and had made nearly half the distance to the end of -their snow journeying when they came upon the spot where a camp had -been made, and not many days before. The snow at the side of one of -the hummocks was packed down where a man, or men, and dogs had slept. -Search as they might, the adventurers could not find a trace to -indicate who it was that traveled ahead of them.</p> - -<p>Polaris hid from his companions as best he might a growing uneasiness, -a suspicion that he resolved should go unsaid. He was only partially -successful. The king and Memene noticed nothing, and were only passing -curious; but Zenas Wright was oppressed by forebodings as dark as those -of Janess, if not as definite.</p> - -<p>When they were not more than four hours' journey from the coast, a -biting blizzard of gale-driven sleet sprang up in their faces. The sun -was storm-darkened, and the tempest blew with such violence that they -could make but little headway against it. Finding a snug shelter in a -hollow between two beetling crags, they decided to make camp and wait -for the first fury of the storm to wear itself out.</p> - -<p>Tossing and unable to sleep, Polaris formed a sudden resolve to rid -himself of all uncertainty. He aroused Zenas Wright.</p> - -<p>"It is in my mind to take the five freshest of the dogs and make a -quick dash on to the ship," he said. "There I can get new beasts and -come back. I will lighten the sledge to make the going quick. In this -storm there will be no bears abroad to attack the camp, if there be any -of the animals in this neighborhood. I shall not rest until I have seen -the ship. Because of the illness of Minos, we have been over-long away, -and my coming will set many minds at rest."</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright nodded understandingly. He reached in his pocket for his -long-since emptied flask and handed it over.</p> - -<p>"You might fill this for me, if you will," he said with a smile. "This -cold chills me to the very marrow of my bones. I'd give almost the -weight of the flask in these red rubies of ours for one good nip of -cognac."</p> - -<p>Polaris removed a part of the load on the sledge, and routed the dogs -from their sleeping-nest. He found it no light task to whip the beasts -into the teeth of the storm, but they feared the cracking lash more -than they did the biting of the wind, and, once under way, they made -good time.</p> - -<p>Driving snow had wiped away all trace of the double track which the -unknown traveler had left; but he had left another trail—the trail of -blood.</p> - -<p>He was an hour upon his way when Polaris felt the pace of his dogs -slacken. The man swung the long lash in the air, but held his hand. -Boris, the leading husky, balked, slid on his haunches, and threw -up his nose, to emit a long and doleful howl that sung against the -shrilling of the tempest like the wail of a violin in a stormy overture.</p> - -<p>They were passing one of the towering rock hummocks, and the dog -plunged from the trail at its base, throwing his mates into confusion. -With a chorus of howls, the entire pack struggled into the drift at the -side of the hummock.</p> - -<p>Knowing from their actions that something lay there that was worthy -of investigation, Polaris waded into the drift ahead of the frantic -animals. Under the snow he found an overturned sledge and, within a -radius of a few yards, the carcasses of eight dogs, stiff and cold. A -glance told the man that each of the animals had been shot through the -head. The sledge was of the same pattern as the one he drove! The dogs -were of the same breed!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>High on a jutting prominence of ice-sheathed rock, overlooking the -storm-driven, tossing waters of the furious Antarctic Ocean, stood a -man clothed in skins of the white bear, with a circle of whining dogs -at his feet. A terrific gale lashed the crests of the waves into spray -that froze as it flew, and which fretted the face of the rock as with -driven hail. So keen and bitter the blast that the hardy brutes cringed -and whimpered under its sting, yet it tore by the man unheeded.</p> - -<p>Towering among the shivering beasts, he stood like a man of marble. -Every line of his handsome, high-featured face seemed graven. Only -his tawny eyes smoldered. They were fixed on a small cairn, reared of -rocks at the cliff brink. The tattered remnant of a small American flag -whipped from a bit of ice-coated stick at the top of the cairn.</p> - -<p>Beneath it a slab of wood had been made fast in the rock, and on its -face a careful hand had carved a simple, fateful legend:</p> - -<p class="ph1">IN MEMORIAM</p> - -<p class="ph1">ZENAS WRIGHT, A.G.S.<br /> -POLARIS JANESS, Adventurer<br /> -JAMES PARKERSON, seaman</p> - -<p class="ph1">Of the Sardanian Relief Expedition, Who<br /> -Perished in the Snows in November, 1923.</p> - -<p class="ph1">Erected by orders, Captain James Scoland,<br /> -Commanding Cruiser Minnetonka</p> - -<p>Moment succeeded moment. Still the man stood in the biting tempest, his -eyes fixed steadfastly on the text of the simple memorial. He turned -and faced the north, whence the gale was driven. Twice he raised his -clenched fists above his head, as if presaging some fierce outburst of -spirit, but no words came. His features relaxed into a stony smile.</p> - -<p>"Of all puzzles, surely this is the strangest," he muttered. "Yet will -I have its answer on that day when I find Captain Scoland again, so -sure—so sure as my name is Polaris Janess!"</p> - -<p>He glanced again at the swirling waters in the bay below him, where -a stout cruiser should have ridden at anchor, but where no ship was; -and then, with his dogs at his back, he strode away into the shrieking -wilderness.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On the tenth day after the departure of Polaris Janess and Zenas Wright -from the camp, the crashing and grinding of bergs beyond the mouth of -the little harbor where the <i>Minnetonka</i> lay, warned Scoland and his -men that the mighty southern drive of ice was on. The jam through which -they had smashed their perilous way was broken. Soon the bay was filled -with swirling drift that churned its surface water into a caldron of -foam.</p> - -<p>Close watch was kept lest one of the glittering monsters from the outer -sea enter the bay and crowd the good ship against the rocks ashore. -Once that danger was imminent, and the berg which thrust its menacing -bulk into the neck of the bay was shattered by the <i>Minnetonka's</i> guns.</p> - -<p>When the passing of three weeks had brought no sign of the two men who -had penetrated into the white Antarctic fastnesses to carry the message -of salvation from the outer world to Sardanes, speculation grew into -anxiety among the members of the expedition left behind with the ship. -Several of the hardier members of the expedition, who were inured to -life in the cold places of the earth, broke their forced inactivity by -short trips inland with the sledges and dogs, in the hopes of meeting -the returning adventurers. Not even a trail was left to follow. The -drifting snows had obliterated every trace of travel.</p> - -<p>Most restless of all the company was the lean, dark captain, and day -by day that restlessness grew. Spurred on by his unquiet spirit, he at -length turned the command of the ship over to Lieutenant Everson, and -announced that he was determined to make a dash inland and ascertain -the fate of the two men who had gone before. He took a well-stocked -sledge, and prepared to penetrate all the way to Sardanes, providing -he could find it. With him went one sailor, that same James Parkerson -whom Polaris had snatched from the icy waters of Ross Sea when the -<i>Minnetonka</i> made her first drive into the blasted channel of the great -jam.</p> - -<p>Cool, confident, and daring, Scoland had no fears in making his sortie -into the wilderness. He was equipped with a map drawn from memory by -Polaris, and had little doubt but that he could find the Sardanian -valley. He had a premonition that was more than half a conviction that, -having found the valley, he should find no living man in it.</p> - -<p>When he had seen the fury of the fires that had burst forth on the -shores of Ross Sea, and had considered the distance which those fires -must have traveled, he had lost faith in the ultimate success of the -relief expedition. The more he had thought of it, the more was he -convinced that the nation they sought to save had been engulfed in the -snows of the Antarctic and had perished utterly.</p> - -<p>Reason further told him that some serious misadventure must have -befallen Wright and Janess; else why had they not returned to the ship -long before?</p> - -<p>Scoland and the sailor pushed inland as nearly on a straight course -from the harbor as the conformation of the ground over which they -traveled would allow. The captain kept a keen eye on the peaks of the -barrier range, comparing them often with the map of Polaris. When he -came at length to the appearance of a trail extending to the south at a -right angle to the path he followed, Scoland had the aid of the bright -sun to determine that it was the Hunters' Road. With his glasses he -could see dimly in the southern distance the shimmering heights of the -hills that ringed Sardanes.</p> - -<p>Coming to the foothills, and finding in the snowdrifts the storehouse -of the Sardanian hunters, where Minos and his men were accustomed to -leave their sledges, Scoland and Parkerson knew that they had found the -place they sought.</p> - -<p>"No fire. Not a sign of smoke or fire," said Scoland, surveying the -towering rim of the mountain range above them. "I'm afraid our men -found nothing living here, if they found their way here at all."</p> - -<p>"If they got here, where can they be?" Parkerson said. "There'd be -nothing to keep them here this long, unless they met a mishap of some -sort."</p> - -<p>"Well, we shall soon see," Scoland replied. "Here appears to be a cut -through the hills."</p> - -<p>They guided the dogs up through the north pass. In another half an hour -they stood in the notch, and had their first view of Sardanes—green -Sardanes no longer, but aglitter down all its length with cold, cruel -silver and glass.</p> - -<p>As he gazed down that long and silent vista, the heart of Scoland -leaped furiously, and his brain was overwhelmed with a flood of -thoughts that shook even his iron control. Polaris was gone! The -outlander who had thwarted so the ambitions of the captain had -perished! The son of the wilderness who had turned Scoland's mighty -discovery into a second place achievement, who had won from him the one -woman in the world, who had broken through his fine web of painstaking -precaution, and had triumphed at every turn of the wheel, no longer -stood in his path!</p> - -<p>Scoland's breast swelled. His eyes glittered. He, Captain James -Scoland, should be the victor yet, in spite of all!</p> - -<p>He would go back to America and wrest from the heart of the girl the -phantom that now was his only rival. With that thought came the quick -resolve that, did the man of the snows still live, he must look to -himself.</p> - -<p>Now Scoland knew the meaning of his uneasiness. Clearly into his mind -trooped, naked and unashamed, the horde of black thoughts that for -weeks had kept him company, but that had not dared to push themselves -into the light of his brain where he might know them for what they -were. He welcomed them now. This was why he had left the ship and come -this journey through the snows. This was why he had brought one man -only with him. All in an instant his mind was fixed, his course laid. -That Polaris Janess had given him life, once, mattered not at all.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>From right to left across the valley, and up and down its length, -through the powerful lenses of his field glasses, the eyes of the -captain swept. He returned them to their case with a snap.</p> - -<p>"There's nothing to do but go back to the ship," he said, and it was -by an effort that he curbed his voice to an ordinary tone. "Wright -and Janess never reached here. They must have perished in the snows. -Perhaps they fell into a crevasse. And here the great calamity that the -geologist prophesied has come. All is dead."</p> - -<p>But, kneeling in the snow with shaded eyes, Parkerson the sailor -discovered what Scoland with his glasses had failed to find. He sprang -up with a glad cry.</p> - -<p>"They're here! See! See the smoke! There, on the side of the third -hill!"</p> - -<p>He was on his feet and dancing in his excitement.</p> - -<p>Scoland whipped the glasses out once more. He directed them against the -snowy slopes of Mount Latmos. Under his thick, black mustache his lips -writhed as he gazed. Yes, there was no doubt of it. From a dark patch -against the whiteness of the drifts, a slender curling spiral of smoke -was ascending.</p> - -<p>Already Parkerson, his honest face aglow with delight, had started on -down the slope, leading the team. His heart was filled with thanks that -he should be able, in some measure, to repay the man who had saved his -life.</p> - -<p>With his eye Scoland measured the distance down the valley to that -spiral of smoke. No, the sound would not carry. And if it did? Well, -he was ready, and a desperate man. He unwound from his neck its thick -woolen muffler and sprang down the slope behind the sailor. Drawing his -heavy automatic from its holster and wrapping it in the scarf, he shot -Parkerson through the head.</p> - -<p>Scoland caught the man as he fell and threw the body on the sledge. To -turn the dogs back was the work of an instant, and in the next he was -speeding down through the north pass as though devil-driven. Halfway -down, he halted and hid the corpse in the drift at the side of the way, -kicking loose snow above it. Then he leaped on the sledge and urged the -dogs on recklessly.</p> - -<p>On down the pass they flew. Far out on the Hunters' Road their master -was still driving them in frenzied haste, nor stopped to camp and rest -until he had put a full score of miles between himself and the still -figure that lay beneath the snows.</p> - -<p>He followed his own trail back, finding it unobliterated for long -stretches in many places. When he was two hours from the ship, he drove -the team off the trail at the side of a cliff, overturned the sledge, -and shot the eight huskies, one by one, as they cowered and whimpered -in their harness.</p> - -<p>Taking to the road on foot, Scoland exerted his wiry strength to the -utmost, and his exhaustion of body was not all simulated when he -staggered into the winter camp of the expedition on the bay shore. -A storm had arisen, and none of the men was abroad when the captain -reached the camp. He reeled to the door of the first shack and knocked. -When the door was opened, he fell on his face within. His face was -frost-nipped, and he had purposely exposed his hands and arms to the -blasts as much as he dared, not wishing to disable himself permanently.</p> - -<p>Consternation thrilled through the shack on his appearance, and there -was a rush of questioning men. Brandy was poured down his throat, -and his limbs were chafed with snow as he lay in well-feigned -unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>When he opened his eyes again, Scoland waved the eager men aside weakly.</p> - -<p>"Take me to the ship," he commanded.</p> - -<p>Tender hands bore him to a boat. Once in his cabin on the <i>Minnetonka</i>, -he ordered Lieutenant Everson to strike the shore camp at once, and -make preparations for an immediate departure.</p> - -<p>"Tell the men that the Sardanian relief expedition is a complete -failure," he said wearily. "Three of our men—God rest them—have lost -their lives—"</p> - -<p>"What!" Everson exclaimed. "Wright and Janess! Are they gone?"</p> - -<p>Scoland nodded. "Yes, and Parkerson, too, poor fellow. The valley of -Sardanes—I have been there—lies buried under many feet of snow. Its -people must have perished months ago. Not one trace of humanity did I -find there, except one old stone building in the shadow of the cliffs -at the north end of the valley."</p> - -<p>"But the other party, and their dog team—are you sure?" Everson gasped.</p> - -<p>"Sure—too sure," replied Scoland. "I found their bones in the snow -beside their sledge, not five miles from the valley. They never reached -it. How they died was impossible to tell. Their bones were picked clean -by the bears. Their dogs may have gone mad with the snow distemper and -turned on them when one of them slept on his watch; the bears may have -attacked them in force; a sudden tempest may have overwhelmed them—I -could not tell. They are gone. We buried them in the snow.</p> - -<p>"I think probably it was the dogs. Mine turned on me. We were on the -way back, Parkerson and I. The brutes went mad. They pulled him down -before I could get them. He was on watch, and I was asleep. I—I shot -them all—but it was too late. I buried him in the snow, also, and came -on alone and on foot. My God, what a journey!</p> - -<p>"Tell Lennon to put up a tablet on the headland above the bay. Get up -steam and let us get away from this accursed land before some mishaps -engulfs us all."</p> - -<p>Groaning, he turned his swollen face to the wall.</p> - -<p>Everson went on deck and imparted the news to the members of the -crew. The men gathered aft, while the young lieutenant read the -burial service. Within six hours the bay shore was deserted and the -<i>Minnetonka</i> was churning northward, a long wake of black smoke -trailing over the waters behind her.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> - -<h3>FOLLOWING NATURE'S TRAIL</h3> - - -<p>Polaris drove his weary and dispirited dogs back along the trail to the -little camp. In the breast of the man burned an anger that made him -tireless, and that was proof against both the cold and the storm.</p> - -<p>When he arrived at the camp he found the tall form of the Sardanian -king standing on guard. The Princess Memene, who had adapted herself -to their necessities with the bravery and fortitude of the true woman, -was busy about the portable oil cook stove in the shelter tent. Zenas -Wright slumbered peacefully in his sleeping bag.</p> - -<p>Minos strode through the snow to meet the white-clad figure that urged -on the drooping brutes. Polaris greeted him with a strange smile.</p> - -<p>"What hath happened to thee, my brother?" questioned the king; -"misfortune, it seemeth, from thy mien. Hath aught befallen thy ship?"</p> - -<p>"This hath happened, O Minos," Polaris replied, leaning on his spear; -"the ship hath hailed into the north, and we four be left to travel -as seemeth us best for many a long hundred miles of perils, an the -tempests claim us not."</p> - -<p>"Sailed—the ship! What mean—" and Minos paused. Here was a matter -that defied question.</p> - -<p>He looked wonderingly at the son of the snows.</p> - -<p>"Dost find it a riddle, Minos?" said Polaris with a hard laugh. "Well, -so do I also—a riddle that much I hope I shall one day have the -reading of." His anger came upon him again, and he clenched his strong -hands on the spear shaft so that the tough wood crackled in his grip.</p> - -<p>"Many things might have happened, Minos. Some one thing <i>hath</i> -happened. The ship that should have been our rescue and our refuge is -surely gone, and on a rock yonder by the sea did I find writing on a -wooden slab that told of mine own death, and that of the old man, Zenas -Wright, and that of still another man of the ship's company."</p> - -<p>"Another man of thy ship's company?" Minos said. His face grew stern. -"A man lay dead in the north pass of Sardanes, and who did not die of -age or sickness." The king glanced sharply at Polaris. "Couple that -with the double trail in the snow, my brother, and it is my mind that -thou art not far from reading of the riddle. Is it not so?"</p> - -<p>"Mayhap," answered Polaris. "Yet would I do no man injustice by giving -word to that which is not proved."</p> - -<p>"That, too, is well," said the king. "And now, for us, what is thy -counsel?"</p> - -<p>"Let us wake the old man and the three of us make a plan," Polaris -replied. He tethered and fed the dogs, and the two men entered the tent.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright opened his eyes and blinked when Polaris shook him by the -shoulder. He straightway thrust out his hand.</p> - -<p>"The flask, my son," he said with a droll smile; "I trust you filled -it. Not that I am what you'd call a toper, but I surely dreamed of that -cognac."</p> - -<p>"With all the heart of me, old man, do I hope for the fulfillment of -that dream," said Polaris, and handed back the empty flask. "That it -will be soon, the chances are most slender. Every passing hour is -adding leagues to the distance between this empty bottle and the cask -with which it is acquainted."</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright heard the tale of the shipless harbor, and met it like a -philosopher.</p> - -<p>"So Scoland's gone," he said slowly. His old blue eyes narrowed a bit -as he thought, but he, too, held his tongue from his suspicions.</p> - -<p>They held a council, three men and a woman, one old and wise in the -ways of the world, one to whom civilization was but a foster mother, -and two true children of a prehistoric past. The other three looked by -common consent to Polaris as the guiding spirit in this extremity.</p> - -<p>"We are in your hands, now, my son," said the old scientist. "I guess -you are the leader of the Sardanian relief expedition. What shall it -be?"</p> - -<p>"Two courses be open," Polaris said. "We can go back to the cave in -Sardanes and there live our lives and die our appointed deaths, for, -truly, I think no living man will ever come and seek us there. We -can strike out for the north over that path of many dangers, which I -followed once aforetime, with the Rose. And then, when we are come up -to the great seas that lie above this frozen land, if we take that -course, we must chance a rescue by some wandering ship—a small chance, -but I speak for that risk. Death lies at the ends of all paths, and I -think it better to meet it in the midst of our strong endeavor than to -have it find us out while we lie meekly to wait for it. What say you, -friends?"</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright reached him a gnarled hand. "I'm with you, my lad," said -he. "I had hoped to lay a report of some moment before my colleagues -of the Geographical Society. I still have that hope. If there is a -man in the world who can guide us safely through the dangers which -face us, you are that man. And, if we fail, and leave our bones on the -road—well—I'm for the North."</p> - -<p>Polaris translated to the two Sardanians. "Not two courses, my brother, -but one, let us say," said Minos gravely, and he, too, put his hand -in the hand of Polaris. "Let us fare along the northern road, and win -through or die. Myself and my princess, with only our poor knowledge, -would have tried that path had we lived until the light came, if you -had not come seeking us."</p> - -<p>After a day's rest they turned their faces to the east and followed the -chain of the barrier range until they reached once more the Hunters' -Road. There they made a camp in the trail, while Polaris took the gray -dogs of Minos, which were stronger, and which had learned to obey him, -and drove through to Sardanes. From the cave on Mount Latmos he took -of the stores of meats and grain all that he dared to load onto the -sledge. They would need all the supplies that they might carry with -them.</p> - -<p>Fearless in the face of their disasters, the members of the little -party rested their hopes on the broad shoulders of the son of the -wilderness, and they began their bitter drive. That leader set his -tireless strength and will of iron to the task, with a silent tongue -and a flame in his heart—a flame and a vision of a dear face a -continent and a half away to the north, that he swore he would live to -see again.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When men had failed them and fortune had seemed to turn her face away, -a mighty friend aided them—no less a one than old Mother Nature. The -path that might have been so beset with hardships, she elected to make -smooth, and tempered even her wild winds, so that the going of the -travelers was more swift than they had dared to hope.</p> - -<p>Long before they came to the notch in the chain of ice mountains, -through which Polaris had passed north on his previous journey, they -reached the monstrous seam that the furious volcanic fires had left -across the southern continent when they had poured from their ancient -bed in Sardanes to rear their flaming bulwarks on the shores of Ross -Sea.</p> - -<p>Where the fiery torrents had burst through under the barrier range, -the mountains must have been but empty shells of volcanoes active -ages agone. One of them had collapsed. Where once it had reared its -snow-capped peak, was now a jagged gash like a broken wall.</p> - -<p>Through that gash the travelers went. It took them all of an arduous -day's labor to reach a spot from where they could see on ahead—labor -that was wasted, should they find that the lands beyond offered no -hope of a pathway. Most of the way the dogs were useless. The brutes -finally had been whipped into a semblance of amity, and flocked along -without fighting; more, it is true, through fear of the ready lash than -because of any love between the two breeds. With all their weights of -food and trappings the sledges were lifted by the son of the snows and -the Sardanian, and carried over many a torn and twisted scar in the -half-healed breast of the mountain.</p> - -<p>If the thews of Polaris were more mighty than those of the king, in -endurance the men were equal. They performed feats that perhaps no -other two men in the whole world could have accomplished.</p> - -<p>At last they gained a height in the pass from where the miles lay -spread out before them. As far as their eyes could see was a mark -across the land, as though a mighty iron wheel, white hot, had turned -its slow way northward, searing everything that it could not crush. Not -all the snows that had fallen had been sufficient to obliterate that -trail.</p> - -<p>"There, my son, lies a road that we cannot lose," said Zenas Wright -when he set eyes on it. "And we know where it leads to—straight to -Ross Sea. There, above the volcanic area, is the most likely place of -all in the Antarctic regions for a ship to come."</p> - -<p>"Aye, Zenas Wright, it is a good, broad roadway," Polaris said. "It -will be the play of children to follow it, set against the difficulties -of that other path to the east, which I took."</p> - -<p>On through the pass they struggled, and were on the plain beyond in -three days. The pathway of the fires was not so smooth to follow as it -had looked from afar, but still offered no great obstacles. Once more -the long whiplashes sang over the galloping dogs, and Polaris, who -had not sung in many weeks, lifted his voice as he ran in a lilt that -quivered across the snows and woke strange echoes from the cliffs.</p> - -<p>Most wonderful of all the journey was the wiry, dogged strength of -Zenas Wright. Hour by hour the old man toiled on with the younger, -seeming never to tire. When they insisted that he ride on one of the -sledges, it was always under protest that he did so.</p> - -<p>Often he tapped the pocket in which he still carried an empty flask. -"I'm just chasing the fellow that went north with my cognac," he would -say, or some other quip that exhibited his undaunted spirit and helped -to hearten his companions.</p> - -<p>Of a like spirit was the Princess Memene, and tender and gracious and -true. No hardship of the many that were her lot wrung word of complaint -from the lips of the bride of Minos. Only as they proceeded farther -north, they noticed that she seemed to tire more easily, and rode more -upon the sledge, and noticing, they were much concerned thereat. But -Memene seemed not a whit concerned, meeting their solicitude with a -brave show of strength, and smiling gently to herself ofttimes when no -one saw.</p> - -<p>Came a day when far on the northern horizon they saw low-hanging clouds -of curling smoke, and when a north wind brought an acrid smart to their -eyes, and a tempering of the atmosphere.</p> - -<p>"Yonder flame the moons of thy Sardanes," Polaris said to Minos, and -the king nodded and his eyes grew sad with memory.</p> - -<p>Two days' travel brought them to the foothills of the coast range of -mountains, into which the volcanic torrent had broken. Then they were -forced to make a detour inland, to seek a gap through which they might -approach Ross Sea. About them was little snow, on the mountains none at -all, and the climate was such that the members of the party had to shed -their heavy parkas.</p> - -<p>"Never a need to freeze here," said Polaris, "or to starve either, -while there be bears to kill." Not a single monarch of the wastes had -they encountered in all their journey, but, as they approached the -volcanoes, signs had not been lacking that bears were to be found in -the neighborhood.</p> - -<p>As there was lack of snow on which to sledge, Polaris deemed it best to -find out where they could best make their way through to the sea before -attempting the labor of dragging the vehicles on any needless path.</p> - -<p>With Minos and the old man he rolled boulders in a ring around a hollow -in the side of a cliff and set up a camp there—a welcome home for a -time at least to Zenas Wright. Now that the goal of their journeying -was near, the geologist was not ashamed to admit that he was weary.</p> - -<p>Several times Polaris explored without success paths that seemed -likely, and at length marked one that led, by devious turns and -detours, to the open water. Following it through to the shore, he -penetrated north along the coast a number of miles. He found that there -which sent him back to camp on flying feet.</p> - -<p>"Now are our troubles at an end!" he shouted. "I have found a ship!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Scoland and his men had been a half day on their northern journey when -the <i>Minnetonka's</i> wireless operator brought to Scoland's cabin the -following message:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Earthquake or volcano cut ship off from sea. Fear in great danger.</p> - -<p class="ph2">Aronson,<br /> -<i>Felix</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Directing the operator to answer that they were on their way north, -Scoland gave the orders that hurled the cruiser on with redoubled speed -to meet this new peril!</p> - -<p>Icebergs floated along their sea path, but in diminished numbers, and -in size far inferior to those whose menace had made the great southern -drive and jam so perilous to the ship. When they reached the lower neck -of Ross Sea, the passage that had taken twenty-nine days of weary and -dangerous labor, blasting every rod of the way through the solid ice of -the jam, was accomplished in four hours.</p> - -<p>Wireless exchanges kept them informed that the position of the <i>Felix</i> -was unchanged. Scoland found her at the upper end of Ross Sea, cut off -from open water. As islands appear suddenly from the depths of the -South Pacific, so had the volcanic forces upheaved the Antarctic sea -bottom. The <i>Felix</i> had ridden at anchor in a sheltered bay. Now she -lay in a basin, surrounded entirely by land and rocks. A strip nearly -two hundred yards across separated the ship from the tossing open -waters of the sound. So shallow was the water where the ship was that -the vessel had heeled over and lay on her starboard side, her decks -tilted at a precipitous angle.</p> - -<p>Scoland saw at once that his supply ship was hopeless of rescue. It -would have taken tons of explosive to blast a channel to where she -lay, and, that accomplished, there would be no water to float her. -Off the edge of the strip of sea bottom that had been thrown up by the -volcanoes, the water was some twelve fathoms.</p> - -<p>Scoland laid the cruiser alongside the ledge, rigged carrying tackle, -and spent two days replenishing the coal-bunkers of the <i>Minnetonka</i>, -to the great satisfaction of Engineer MacKechnie, who was assured that, -if the cruiser failed to escape from the jaws of the southland, it -would not be from lack of coal for her engines.</p> - -<p>Aronson and his crew, choosing between a swaying shore and a heaving -sea bottom, had left the <i>Felix</i> and made camp among the rocks inland, -where, instead of the antarctic rigors of climate to be expected in -that latitude, they were oppressed by almost torrid heat, the result -of their volcanic surroundings. Very glad were all of them to feel the -decks of the steel cruiser beneath their heels; and would have been -willing to chance the seas with depleted coal-bunkers to hurry their -departure from a place where, as the Swedish ship's master said, "the -Almighty had put them in dry dock, and they hadn't been able to figure -out whether He was going to spill a new sea or build an island."</p> - -<p>Leaving the sturdy old <i>Felix</i> mewed up to be the prey of what chance -or providence rules the ordering of volcanoes, the cruiser struck out -for the north and America.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On a blustering March morning, Captain James Scoland sat in the -reception hall of an ancient homestead in Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, -and told his story to a sad-eyed young woman, a young woman who did not -weep, but whose tightened lips and wistful gaze told of a grief that -tears could not soften or relieve.</p> - -<p>By cable and by wireless from South American shores, days before, -had come speeding on electric wings the tidings of the failure of -the Sardanian relief expedition. All America had been thrilled with -sorrow and pity at the news, sorrow for the famous scientist who had -lost his life on his chosen path, and for the equally famous son of -the wildernesses, Polaris Janess, who had trodden that path to death -with him; pity for the unknown nation that had been crushed out by -inexorable nature, and pity most of all for the gray-eyed girl who sat -alone in her Boston mansion, grieving for a hero-lover lost.</p> - -<p>The captain finished his tale. "And so there was nothing to do but to -come back," he said; "and I have come. And, Rose, is there nothing -I can say that will bring back to your eyes the light I used to know -there?"</p> - -<p>Rose Emer did not answer him. She sat looking at the wall, seeing -through it and beyond it. Many a thousand miles away her fancy pictured -clearly a great plain of ice and rocks and snows, storm-swept by -shrieking tempests. She saw a dismantled sledge half covered by the -drifting white, and beside it a lowly mound, the monument above all the -hopes and joy of her young life. She shuddered, and a little bitter cry -of desolation burst from her lips. At her feet a great gray dog raised -himself on his forefeet, rested his shaggy head upon her knees and -whined uneasily.</p> - -<p>Scoland arose and stood beside her. As if he divined the heart of the -man, gray Marcus left his place at the feet of his mistress and stalked -across the hall to the doorway, where he stood watching the visitor -with gloomy eyes of distrust and menace. The hair around the great -brute's neck was ruffled, and his powerful muscles were flexed. Neither -the man nor woman took heed of Marcus. He stood quietly, but very -watchful.</p> - -<p>"Rose, dear Rose, can it be that this wild man from the wilderness -held such power over you that you have forgotten all that we once were -to each other?" Scoland said, his emotions fast carrying him beyond -caution, or comprehension of the fitness of time or place.</p> - -<p>Rose Emer raised her head suddenly and looked into the man's burning, -brooding eyes.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, Captain Scoland?" she said with quiet dignity, but -with a mounting flush on her cheeks and a flash in her eyes that boded -rising indignation. "You forget—"</p> - -<p>"No, Rose, I do <i>not</i> forget," he interrupted. "I shall never forget -that you were mine first, and were stolen from me. Janess, who held you -in the glamor of romance, is gone now. We have the present to face, -with its things as they are—the future with things as they may be, if -we will them so. Is it too much for me to hope that some time—not now, -I know, but some time—we may take up our lives where they once seemed -to be shaping and live them on—together?"</p> - -<p>Before the girl opened her lips to speak, Scoland read her answer -in her eyes, in the angry tilt of her chin. It maddened him beyond -restraint.</p> - -<p>"God!" he cried, "is that accursed barbarian to stand forever at each -turn of my life and thwart me?" His voice rose into a shrill shriek. -"No! No!" he shouted. "Not to be balked like this have I risked my -eternal soul to hell fire! You were, you are, you shall be mine. Mine! -<i>Mine!</i>"</p> - -<p>Cast loose in his madness from all moorings of caution, he sprang at -the girl, his arms outstretched to seize her and crush her to him.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" The voice of Rose Emer rang out, clear and commanding. She -leaped from her chair and backed against the wall, checking him with -outstretched hand. Her deep eyes were aflame with anger. "You shall not -touch me. You have insulted a noble man who is dead. Your words are an -insult to me also. I will not listen to you. Go!" She pointed to the -door.</p> - -<p>Attracted by the loud voices, a gray-haired butler came hestitatingly -into the room from the back of the house. "William," said the girl, -"you will please open the door for this man."</p> - -<p>But Scoland did not heed. It is to be doubted if he even heard her; -and, if he did, her words fell meaningless on his ears. Whirled on -in the rush of his emotion, he thrust the chair from his way and -approached her. She struck him in the face with her clenched hands, -but without effect. His arms were closing around her. She felt his hot -breath on her cheek.</p> - -<p>The butler, who had stood aghast for an instant, started hastily to -cross the room to the assistance of his mistress, but he was not needed.</p> - -<p>An eye more keen by far than that of the aged servant had watched the -course of events, and a force more powerful than his now intervened.</p> - -<p>Scoland's hand had just touched the girl's shoulder when a bolt of -living fury shot across the hall and hurled him so violently against -the wall that its stout oaken panels quivered, and he went down under -the weight of gray Marcus. Over-leaping in his rage, the dog missed his -aim, which was the man's neck. The gnashing fangs closed on Scoland's -cheek below the left eye, and tore the flesh down to the chin. His -victim down, the furious animal crouched on the body, worrying it -horribly.</p> - -<p>Instinctively, Scoland threw up his arms to protect his throat. The -brute seized on one of his bare hands, and the bones crunched in the -grip of the iron jaws. Screaming aloud, the man sought to roll over on -his face. The sharp teeth ripped through his sleeves and deep into the -biceps of his right arm.</p> - -<p>Rose Emer stood paralyzed in white horror against the wall. Blood -spurted from Scoland's mangled face and stained her skirts.</p> - -<p>"Marcus! Back, Marcus!" she cried.</p> - -<p>The fighting blood of the dog was up, and she might as well have -commanded the wind. She threw her arms around the shaggy neck of the -brute and strove with all her strength to drag him from the shrieking, -slavering creature that had been James Scoland. Combe, the butler, -came to her aid, bringing a heavy oak chair, a leg of which he thrust -between the dog's jaws. Between them, the man and the girl finally -tore Marcus from his prey, and his mistress led him, still snarling -hideously, into another room and shut him in.</p> - -<p>With the help of Combe, Scoland dragged himself to his feet and stood -leaning heavily on a chair, his breath coming in great gasps. One -glance Rose Emer had of his ghastly, disfigured countenance, and -averted her eyes with a shudder. His punishment had been swift and -horrible, more so than she knew. It was not alone the flesh that Marcus -had marred. The brain had given way also.</p> - -<p>Commanding his laboring breath, Scoland shook his uninjured hand at the -shrinking girl.</p> - -<p>"Curse you!" he cried, his voice rising into an unnatural screech. -"Curse you and your devil-brute! May your heart rot in loneliness, -waiting for your wild man. He'll never find his way back from where I -left him. He'll die hard, for he is strong. He will starve and wander -and go blind and mad—as I am going mad, and then he'll freeze—very -slowly, and die—and come and haunt me—"</p> - -<p>"What are you saying!" Rose Emer sprang toward him. She forced her -unwilling eyes to look upon that terrible face. "You <i>left</i> him, you -say? <i>Alive?</i>"</p> - -<p>Scoland threw back his head and laughed—the shrill, terrifying -laughter of a maniac.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I left him," he croaked hoarsely, "left him, alive, he and the -doddering old man. Ha! ha! ha! I reached Sardanes and found them there, -and they didn't see me. Ha! ha! I came away again, and they didn't know -I left them, with a dead man to keep them company—in frozen, dead -Sardanes—"</p> - -<p>He caught sight of his face in a mirror, and his voice broke.</p> - -<p>"<i>My God!</i>" he whispered. He held his arms out toward his reflection in -the glass. "God!" he repeated, and collapsed on the floor in a fit of -convulsions.</p> - -<p>Combe and other servants brought ropes and tied him.</p> - -<p>A little later men came and took Captain James Scoland away.</p> - -<p>Like a far-flung, radiant ray of dazzling sunshine, one fact -penetrated through all the horror of the moment to the heart of Rose -Emer. Polaris, her Polaris, was alive! Alive, and living, might be -saved—<i>must</i> be saved! She left the horrors of the hall on flying feet.</p> - -<p>Before the madman was out of her house, Rose Emer had called up -Washington on the long-distance telephone, and had spoken with the -Secretary of the Navy.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Enough of English had the Sardanians learned to understand the words -of Polaris, when he shouted that he had found a ship, and their glad -exclamations were mingled with those of Zenas Wright, as the three -sprang to meet the returning explorer.</p> - -<p>"A ship, said I," Polaris said, lifting his hand, "but naught did I say -of men or rescue. 'Tis the <i>Felix</i>, caught fast in the rocks by some -mischance that is our great good fortune. She has been abandoned." He -made haste to explain how he had found the ship. "Unless Scoland found -means to empty her, which seems unlikely," he continued, "she has that -on board to keep us four in comfort for years, if need be."</p> - -<p>Breaking camp at once, they followed his lead through the mountain gap -to the rocky shore.</p> - -<p>Aye, there lay the <i>Felix</i>, right enough, and snug in her basin, but -how were they on shore to reach her?</p> - -<p>Polaris did not delay for long in solving that problem. Stripping -Minos's sledge of hymanan wood of all its load, he set it afloat in the -basin. It served him in lieu of a raft. For a paddle he took his long -spear and poled his improvised craft out on the still waters of the -miniature sea. It floated him safely, although his weight submerged it -so that the water lapped at his ankles.</p> - -<p>"Give me that flask, old Zenas Wright," he cried joyously. "I'll -warrant you wait not long for the filling of it now, even if I have to -desert this stout boat, and swim to the ship."</p> - -<p>In a few minutes he had poled his way to where the <i>Felix</i> lay, her -decks far aslant, but her rail still above water. To board her, he was -forced to leap from the floating sledge. He caught the rail with his -hands and pulled himself aboard. He clambered up the tilting deck and -forced the forward hatch, which had been battened down by Scoland's -men. Below decks he found all right and tidy. A glance into the hold -discovered its stores of supplies almost intact. At least, he and his -companions faced no menace of starvation.</p> - -<p>Returning to the deck, he made his way aft, and opened the cabin hatch. -He found the storeroom where the ship's supply of spirits was kept, and -smashed in the door with a blow of his foot. Smiling as he did so, he -filled the flask of Zenas Wright.</p> - -<p>As he emerged on deck once more, he glanced shoreward. Danger, white, -cruel, and desperate, was stalking his companions and they knew it not. -From his position of vantage on the deck of the <i>Felix</i>, Polaris saw a -moving mass that showed silver against its dark background in the rocks -some hundred feet back from the shore of the basin, where his fellow -travelers were waiting for him. Gliding among the boulders, with all -the sinuous caution of a cat intent upon a group of mice, an immense -polar bear was creeping to attack them!</p> - -<p>Noiselessly, the great brute crept on in the cover of the rocks. The -wind blew from the party, so that the keen-nosed dogs were unaware of -the presence of a foe, and sounded no alarm.</p> - -<p>Across the waters Polaris sent a warning shout. "A white bear!" he -shouted, pointing. "In the rocks behind you! Ready with your guns if he -charges!"</p> - -<p>As he raised his voice a change in the wind or some other appeal to -their finely attuned senses, informed the dogs that their foe was near. -Gray runners and brown turned to face the rocks, every neck bristling. -Stimulated by the brave demeanor of the fearless children of Pallas the -huskies' ugly snouts were as snarlingly defiant as the others.</p> - -<p>Over the rocks and into the open clambered the bear. His flanks were -lean, and he was hunger-mad, to the point where numbers did not daunt -him. He stood uncertain for but a moment, then broke into a lumbering, -padded gallop, which, clumsy as it seemed, would have pressed a fleet -runner hard to distance. A menacing roar answered the ear-splitting -clamor of the dogs.</p> - -<p>Wright and the Sardanian seized rifles from the sledge. Sternly calling -back the dogs, they opened fire together. Minos, a novice in the use of -the weapon, missed widely at the first shot, and in his haste jammed -the lever of his rifle. The bullet of Zenas Wright, who was always an -indifferent marksman, only grazed the flank of the bear, injuring him -little and adding much to his rage. Again the geologist fired, but did -not stop the great brute. The galloping monster was close upon them.</p> - -<p>As he shouted his warning from the ship Polaris scrambled to the -nearest davits that swung a boat. With no time to manipulate the ropes, -he cut through them with his keen knife, and leaped for the boat as it -fell. More by good fortune than else, the craft was not swamped. The -son of the snows headed inshore, pulling so powerfully at the oars that -their oaken lengths bent to his strokes. Swiftly as moved the boat, the -drama ashore was played through before its prow touched the rocks.</p> - -<p>Once more the scientist pressed the trigger in desperation, but a -leaping, frenzied dog struck him from behind in the hollows of his -knees, spoiling his aim, and sending him sprawling on his face. Minos's -spear lay buried under the load that had been cast from his sledge. The -third rifle was out of order and useless. Weaponless, he stood in the -front of the charging enemy, except for his dagger and the light rifle, -which he now clubbed and swung over his shoulder—a slight defense -against the onset of the polar monster.</p> - -<p>As the bear reached him, it reared on its hind legs, towering far above -even the great height of the king. One vast forepaw, armed with its -formidable talons, swung high to strike. Aloft also went the steel -rifle in the grip of Minos. With the agility and eye of a trained -boxer, the bear, even as it struck out with one paw, whirled the other -with lightning quickness. The gun was torn from Minos's grasp, and spun -through the air, to fall with a splash many feet out in the waters of -the basin.</p> - -<p>From the falling stroke of the crescent claws the king sprang back, -snatching his dagger from his belt. Around him seethed the dogs, his -own good gray beasts, no longer to be restrained from the battle, the -huskies hanging doubtfully behind them. The white giant seemed to have -marked the Sardanian for his prey, for, paying no attention to the -dogs, he came on in a vengeful rush that they could not stop.</p> - -<p>With his back to the sledge, Minos bestrode the body of Zenas Wright, -who had struck his head against a rock, and lay stunned. Dark was the -outlook. A woman's hand turned the balance. Tearing in desperate haste -at the packs that had been thrown from their sledge, the Princess -Memene strove to reach the spear of Minos, but found another weapon -first.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Again the bear reared to attack, when over Minos's shoulder was thrust -a broad and shining blade of ilium. With a shout, the king let fall the -puny dagger, and gripped hard the hilt of the good sword under whose -razor edge many a stout Sardanian had fallen. Swiftly he swung the -great blade, and far out, all the weight of his shoulders behind the -stroke.</p> - -<p>Before the bear could strike again, the sword hit him in the side, well -below the shoulder, and so deeply that he howled in agony, and fell to -all fours.</p> - -<p>Immediately he was all but buried by a wave of maddened dogs. Drenched -with the blood that spurted from the sword gush, the king leaped to one -side, whirling the heavy weapon aloft. Once more the bear essayed to -rear, and to shake from him the swarming furies that hung at his sides, -and clung to his jowls.</p> - -<p>His mighty head, blood-bedabbled and fearful, rose out of the ruck -of dogs. It offered a fair mark to the watchful king. Down came the -glittering blade, the air whining under it, and struck on the bear's -neck. The bones parted under the stroke. So deeply had it bitten, that -the sword was wrenched from Minos's hand.</p> - -<p>With a last convulsive effort that threw the dogs from him, the polar -monster arose to his full height and toppled backward, crashing to -earth, stone dead.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright came to his senses a few moments later, with an -unmistakable tang of cognac in his throat, and an aroma in the air that -made him smile, despite the pain of his bruised head.</p> - -<p>"It's a brave spirit," he gasped. Then he got up and extended his hand -to the Sardanian king. "I guess I owe my life to a braver," he added. -"My friend, I thank you."</p> - -<p>Minos understood a part of the remark. He grasped the proffered hand -with a deprecating shake of his head.</p> - -<p>Untroubled by the fears which had driven Aronson and his men from the -ship, the members of the party took up their quarters on the <i>Felix</i>, -drawing upon her inexhaustible stores for comforts which had long been -denied to them.</p> - -<p>For two of them, the ship was a revelation of wonders undreamed of. -Machinery, books—a hundred and one things were marvels to the two -Sardanians. They learned with an eagerness that was almost childlike, -absorbing knowledge against the coming of that time, so hoped for, when -they should become of the great world of their visions. That, having -come this far, they would reach that goal of their desires, they did -not doubt.</p> - -<p>To Polaris Janess and the geologist the situation was more serious. -They knew that the chances were few that any ship should penetrate into -Ross Sea, perhaps in many years. The Pole had been discovered. The -Smaley and Hinson exploring expedition had come and gone. There was no -reason of which the scientist and his companion knew to call other men -to brave the perils of the Antarctic.</p> - -<p>"If we are ever to get out of here, we must help ourselves, lad," Zenas -Wright said to Polaris, as they discussed their plight several days -after their coming to the ship. He shook his white head. "It seems just -about hopeless. There's only one way, and that's by water, and we're -cut off from the sea, even if we could navigate the ship, which is -doubtful."</p> - -<p>"But a boat—" Polaris began.</p> - -<p>"Suicide!" exclaimed the old man. "One of those shells wouldn't live -for five miles. Even if it should, they are not large enough to hold -the four of us and the things which it would be absolutely necessary -for us to have. Once away from this volcanic neighborhood we have a -long stretch of icy sea to traverse. The nearest land where we should -find aid is New Zealand, and that is more than two thousand miles to -the north."</p> - -<p>"There's a large boat with an engine and a sail," Polaris said, "but it -is in pieces."</p> - -<p>"What's that!" shouted Zenas Wright, "an auxiliary launch? Lead me to -it, boy! Pieces or no pieces, we can put it together. I know enough for -that, with you two strapping big fellows to help. If there's enough -gasoline aboard to run her when she's assembled, we will have to chance -her. It's our only chance."</p> - -<p>Without delay the two of them scrambled along the slanted decks. Aft of -the deckhouse, under her tarpaulin, they found the launch. As Polaris -had said, she was in pieces. Only the hull lay on the deck of the -<i>Felix</i>, a stout twenty-five-foot craft. Her sixty horsepower engine -and her auxiliary mast, sail, and jib were below decks.</p> - -<p>Zenas Wright looked her over with flashing eyes. "If there's gasoline -enough we may make it," he said. "We've <i>got</i> to make it!" He did a -mental computation. "It's a rough two thousand miles to New Zealand. -Let's see. If you can steer, son, and I think you can, running -twenty-four hours a day, and using the sails to save gas when we can, -we can make it in a month—if we meet no obstacles; which, of course, -we will. We must provision for two months. If that doesn't take us -through, God rest our souls!"</p> - -<p>"Set us at work, for there is need for haste," Polaris said. "We must -be out of this place before winter closes in above us." He called the -Sardanian.</p> - -<p>In the paint locker and the hold they found gasoline, twenty -twenty-five gallon tanks of it—more than they could take with them. -Under Zenas Wright's directions, they coaled the donkey engine on the -forecastle head, rigged tackle to the mainmast, and hauled the engine -up through the hatch. Many hours were spent in searching for various -parts of the mechanism which they needed, but they found it all at last.</p> - -<p>The patient mechanical knowledge of the scientist was equal to the task -of installing the engine. With that in its place, they stepped the -mast, hauled the gasoline tanks on deck and shipped their cargo. With -spirits new in the hope their work aroused, they sang at their labors. -Memene, who had drooped, regained her usual vigor and vivacity.</p> - -<p>So stoutly did the two young giants set their hands to their task that -within four days of the time they started they attached the sturdy -launch to the davits and swung her over the side of the <i>Felix</i> by aid -of the invaluable donkey engine. Zenas Wright immediately went aboard -and tried out the engine. He spent the most of another day tinkering -with the mechanism until it suited him, and then announced that they -were ready for their perilous dash for the open sea and freedom.</p> - -<p>The ring of rock that had made the <i>Felix</i> prisoner did not offer the -same obstacle to the launch that it did to the greater ship. Near the -north coast of the bay was a channel deep enough so that the launch -could barely pass through to the sea. In a number of places it was so -narrow that Wright and Janess were forced to use drills and dynamite, -and blow away projecting rocks.</p> - -<p>It was a great regret to the voyagers that they could not take their -dogs with them. There was not room on the launch for the animals and -food for them. Zenas Wright, now formally nominated the leader of the -expedition, by right of his knowledge of navigation, compromised to the -extent of carrying along two of the gray brutes of Minos, named Kalor -and Thetis. But the old man conditioned that, if it came to a question -of food scarcity, the brutes would have to be done away with. The rest -of the animals they turned loose ashore.</p> - -<p>Not forgotten in their preparations for departure was the wealth of -Sardanian rubies. Finding a small leather traveling bag on board the -<i>Felix</i>, Polaris packed it with the skin sacks in which they had placed -the gems before they had left the cave on Latmos.</p> - -<p>At last they bade farewell to the old <i>Felix</i>, now doubly deserted, -and put out for the open seas. It was nearly three months since the -two adventurers had left the <i>Minnetonka</i> to find Sardanes, when they -passed out of the enclosed basin and turned the bow of the launch -northward. Around them roared the volcanic mountains. They saw the last -of the <i>Felix</i> through a falling storm of impalpable ashes, so thick -that it darkened the sunlight.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Four weeks steady progress, sailing when they could and using their -treasured gasoline sparingly, carried them well above the Circle. -Unceasing vigilance alone enabled them to make that progress, -surrounded as they were by the menace of floating ice, collision with -which would have crushed their craft like an eggshell. When they made -use of their sail, Polaris took long spells at the wheel; but when it -was necessary to put the engine into commission old Zenas Wright could -neither rest nor sleep.</p> - -<p>Came a day when the Princess Memene whispered briefly in the king's ear -the burden of a pretty secret that she could no longer bear to keep -from him. Close enfolded in his arms, she told him that which caused -him to flush as radiantly as she.</p> - -<p>"Another king is coming," Minos murmured low. "Hail to the king! But -alas, his sire hath for him no kingdom to rule, unless indeed one may -be won in the land whither we are journeying."</p> - -<p>"Mayhap not a king, but a princess," said Memene.</p> - -<p>Strong of the hope that was in him, Minos made answer. "Nay, he shall -be a king."</p> - -<p>And after thoughtful pause he added, "We will call him Patrymion."</p> - -<p>Thus was another incentive added, bidding the wanderers bend every -effort to reach with speed the friendly arms of civilization.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When they came again to the region of nights and days they were forced -to do their traveling by sunlight mostly, and at night to drift. Twice -the chill in the air warned them just in the nick of time of the -proximity of icebergs, and they escaped them by recourse to the engine.</p> - -<p>Then a storm came up from the southwest and hurled them north under -bare poles, with the prospect of utter destruction momentarily before -them.</p> - -<p>"Let it blow," said Zenas Wright grimly. "If we can only keep afloat, -it's helping us north fast enough, and, besides, it saves gas."</p> - -<p>North they went, and east, far out of the course they had laid for -New Zealand. For two days and nights the gale held, dying away in the -dawn of the third day. The first gray daylight found them tossing -on a choppy sea. When the light came, and Zenas Wright was able to -figure out their position, he announced that they were somewhere in -the neighborhood of the Tubuai Islands, a French possession, and they -decided to turn the prow of their boat in the direction of these -islands.</p> - -<p>Taking the glasses, Polaris climbed a few feet up the mast and swept -the sea. He was unable to raise land in any direction.</p> - -<p>What he did raise, however, sent him clattering back to the deck.</p> - -<p>"A ship!" he cried. "Straight ahead of us, a steamship! I can see her -smoke!"</p> - -<p>"Look again, lad," said the practical Wright, "and tell us which way -her smoke hangs, if you can."</p> - -<p>"To the north," Polaris shouted a moment later. "And she's headed this -way, too!"</p> - -<p>With a splendid disregard for their remaining gasoline, the scientist -forced his engine to its best efforts, and they soon were making -eighteen knots on their way toward the stranger.</p> - -<p>Nearer and nearer came the two craft together, and finally those on -the launch saw the steamship swing off her southerly course and point -straight toward them.</p> - -<p>They had been sighted.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Polaris, who had been studying the approaching ship through -the glasses, threw them down and sent up a great shout:</p> - -<p>"It's the <i>Minnetonka</i>!"</p> - -<p>It was.</p> - -<p>In another half hour they were alongside. A line was thrown them and -made fast. Canny even in that moment of excitement, Zenas Wright opened -a locker near the wheel and buckled fast to his leathern belt the -traveling bag that held the rubies of Sardanes.</p> - -<p>While Polaris stood by with a boat-hook, fending the launch from the -steel side of the cruiser, the other clambered up the ladder, Minos -pausing to snatch up one of the gray dogs, climbing up with the animal -tucked under his arm. Catching up the other dog, Polaris leaped into -the ladder, and the deserted launch swung away from under him and -passed out of their lives forever.</p> - -<p>Once safely on the deck, Minos and his bride stood clutching each -other's hands and gazing wonderingly at the scene, so different from -that of the only other ship they had ever set eyes on. Then, as the -officers and crew came forward in greeting, the Sardanian prince slid -an arm protectingly about his princess and met them hand to hand, while -Memene dimpled and blushed happily.</p> - -<p>On the deck stood Lieutenant Everson, his eyes alight, his hands -outstretched. Before the son of the snows could grip those outstretched -palms, came flying feet.</p> - -<p>"<i>Polaris!</i>"</p> - -<p>In his dreams he had heard that voice, ringing nearly half way round -the world. He opened his arms. His amber eyes looked into her long eyes -of grey. Their lips clung.</p> - -<p>"At last—my Rose Maid!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="ph1"><i>This novel is the second in the trilogy which began with "Polaris—of -the Snows." Each novel in the trilogy is complete in itself.</i></p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>The third story is "Polaris and the Goddess Glorian."</i></p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINOS OF SARDANES ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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