of the air in the air-chambers to an almost perfect vacuum, and the
immense structure soared skyward with great rapidity. Lualamba, hearing
the shouts of his people from below, stepped to the gangway to ascertain
the cause; and it was then that, to his inexpressible dismay, he saw the
earth apparently falling from under him, and the upturned faces of his
followers rapidly dwindling until they became unrecognisable. In the
first extremity of his terror he would have flung himself headlong from
the deck had he not been prevented; failing in this he prostrated
himself, and for some time lay motionless, with his face hidden in his
hands. At length, however, somewhat reassured by the encouraging
adjurations of the professor and the apparent absence of movement in the
ship, he ventured first of all to uncover his eyes and then to rise
slowly to his feet. He glanced wildly about him, but could see nothing,
save a thick white mist which completely enveloped the ship (for she had
just plunged into the centre of the cloud), with the sun dimly visible
through it; and a fresh paroxysm of terror seized him, for the horrible
thought at once suggested itself that he had looked his last upon mother
Earth. The professor, however, speedily reassured him upon this point,
and, leading him to the guard-rail which ran round the deck, bade him
look downward. Terrified into the most servile obedience, the wretched
chief did as he was bidden, and in a few minutes, the mist growing
thinner and thinner, he once more caught sight of the earth at an
immense distance below, the gigantic ruins above which they were
hovering dwarfed to a mere sprinkling of boulders over the plain; the
trees, the clumps of bush, and the meandering streams stretching away to
the horizon in almost illimitable perspective, and to the eastward the
sea, with just one solitary sail upon it, barely visible above its
gleaming rim.
Ignorant savage though he was, Lualamba was quite intelligent enough to
appreciate the novel beauty of the scene upon which his eyes now rested;
and, forgetting for the moment all his terrors, he leaned upon the rail,
lost in wonder and admiration. And when, after a minute or two, he
became conscious that the ship was again nearing the earth, his delight
knew no bounds, for he felt that, as the hero of so unique an experience
as he was now passing through, he must henceforth be a person of much
greater consequence among his countrymen than he had ever been before.
Meanwhile the travellers had availed themselves of their recent ascent
to sharply scrutinise the face of the country immediately adjacent to
the ruins, and had at length discovered, on the summit of a distant
hill, an extensive village or settlement, strongly defended by a
circular stockade, which they shrewdly suspected to be the headquarters
of king M'Bongwele. The single street, which ran through the centre of
the village from end to end, was crowded with people all gazing skyward
at the unwonted apparition of the aerial ship; and, with the aid of
their telescopes, the travellers could see in the central square a small
group of persons (who they conjectured to be the king and his suite)
similarly engaged, surrounded and protected from the rabble by a phalanx
of armed men.
The ship swept rapidly onward until she hovered immediately over the
last-named party (just to impress upon the king a wholesome conviction
of the utter uselessness of his stockade as a protection against such a
foe as the _Flying Fish_), and then, making a majestic sweep, came
gently to earth immediately opposite the principal gate in the stockade.
"Now, go," said the professor, addressing Lualamba, "and inform king
M'Bongwele that we await him on the spot among the ruins where you found
us this morning."
The bewildered chief, scarcely able to realise the fact that he had
actually been brought safely back to _terra firma_, lost no time in
availing himself of the permission given him to depart, and, scrambling
down the ship's side and the rope-ladder, he reached the ground and
bounded off like a startled deer toward the gate, which was hastily
thrown open to admit him, and as hastily closed and barred again the
moment he had passed through. The _Flying Fish_ then rose once more
into the air and leisurely made her way back to the ruins, passing, _en
route_, the force which had been sent out to capture her, and which was
now making the best of its way back to the village to report the result
of the expedition.
Meanwhile Lualamba made his way rapidly up through the village to the
king's palace (which was, after all, merely the largest hut in the
inclosure), having gained which he besought an immediate audience with
M'Bongwele on a matter of the utmost importance. The king, who had
already been made acquainted with the circumstance of the chief's
involuntary journey into the upper regions, was, of course, all
curiosity to learn the fullest details of the adventure, and the desired
audience was accordingly at once granted. Conscious of the fact that,
for the first time in his life, he had failed to execute the mission
intrusted to him, and extremely doubtful as to the reception which would
be accorded to the message of which he was the unwilling bearer,
Lualamba deemed it best on this occasion to tell a plain unvarnished
tale, and, commencing his narrative at the point where he and his
warriors had first come within sight of the huge object of which they
were in quest, he described in full detail all his subsequent
adventures, with the thoughts, feelings, and impressions resulting
therefrom, and wound up falteringly with the message.
His story was received by the king and his suite with ejaculations of
wonder and incredulity, interspersed with many sharp commands from the
monarch to repeat or to explain more fully certain passages; and when
the message was delivered a profound silence reigned for fully an hour.
King M'Bongwele was a despot, accustomed to issue his commands in the
most heedless manner and to have them executed at all costs; but to
_receive_ a command was an entirely novel and decidedly disagreeable
experience, and he was thoroughly puzzled how to act. His first feeling
was one of speechless indignation at the insolence of these audacious
strangers; his second, a wholesome fear of the consequences of
disobedience. For if these mysterious visitants had the power of
soaring into the air by a mere wave of the hand, what might it not be
possible for them to do in the event of their being seriously provoked.
Besides, he had already received a practical assurance of his impotency
so far as they were concerned; moreover, he was consumed by curiosity to
see for himself the marvels so graphically described by his lieutenant,
to receive a moiety of those magnificent gifts which the strangers
seemed prepared to lavish broadcast upon all with whom they chanced to
come into contact, and, above all, to satisfy himself with respect to
certain conjectures which had flitted through his brain whilst listening
to the astonishing narrative of Lualamba. M'Bongwele was an ignorant
savage, it is true, but he was possessed of a dauntless courage, a
persistency of purpose, and an unscrupulous craftiness and ambitiousness
of character which would have won him distinction of a certain
unenviable kind in any community. Already his brain was teeming with
vague unformed plots of the wildest and most audaciously extravagant
description, the possibility of which he was determined to ascertain for
himself, and the maturing of which he was quite prepared to leave to
time. He therefore ultimately resolved to obey the summons sent him by
the strangers; but, remembering his kingly dignity, he postponed
obedience as long as he dared, and it was not until four o'clock in the
afternoon that he set out for the ruins, attired in all his native
finery, consisting of a lion-skin mantle and magnificent gold coronet
adorned with flamingo's feathers--the emblems of his regal power--gold
bangles on his arms and ankles, a necklace of lion's teeth and claws
round his neck, and a short petticoat of leopard's skin about his loins.
He was armed with a sheaf of light javelins or assegais, he carried in
his left hand a long narrow shield of rhinoceros hide decorated with
ostrich plumes, and he was mounted on a superb black horse (which he
rode bare-backed and managed with the skill of a finished equestrian).
His followers, numbering about five hundred, were also fully armed and
excellently mounted, they being, indeed, with the exception of a few
court officials, his regiment of household cavalry, the pick of his
native warriors and the very flower of his army. He was anxious to make
the profoundest possible impression of his power and greatness upon the
mysterious beings he was about to visit; and, indeed, the cavalcade, as
it swept at a hand-gallop out through the wide gateway which formed the
principal opening in the stockade, constituted, with its tossing plumes,
its fluttering mantles, its glancing weapons, and its prancing horses, a
sight to make a soldier's heart bound with appreciative delight.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
KING M'BONGWELE IS TEMPORARILY REDUCED TO SUBMISSION.
In the return of the _Flying Fish_ to her former berth the subject of
the reception to be accorded to king M'Bongwele, in the event of his
obeying their summons, was somewhat anxiously discussed by the
travellers. They had already seen and heard enough to convince them
that the individual in question was a sovereign of considerable power,
as African kings go, and former experience among savages had taught them
that he would, as likely as not, prove to be a crafty, unscrupulous, and
slippery customer to deal with. To satisfactorily carry out the object
of their visit to this man's country--namely, the examination and
exploration of the mysterious and very interesting ruins which
surrounded them--it would be absolutely necessary that they should be
able to pass to and fro, freely and unmolested, between the ship and the
various points selected for examination; and, in order to secure this
perfect freedom, it would be necessary not only to conciliate this
powerful ruler and his people, but also to so thoroughly impress him and
them with the mysterious and wonderful attributes of their unbidden
guests that they should, one and all, be absolutely _afraid_ to
interfere with them. The question was, how could this be most
effectually achieved? The first part of the programme, namely the
conciliation of sovereign and subjects, appeared simple enough; the
obvious pride and delight with which Lualamba had received his flashy
presents of beads and Manchester finery furnished a key to the
satisfactory solution of this difficulty; but how was the second and
equally important part of the programme to be carried out? Lualamba, it
was true, had been effectually cowed by the simple expedient of carrying
him a few thousand feet up into the air; but something more than the
mere repetition of this experiment would be necessary to produce the
required impression upon M'Bongwele and the crowd of warriors he would
be certain to bring with him. The matter was placed in the hands of the
professor for settlement, and he promptly avowed himself to be fully
equal to the task.
"Science, my friends," he remarked, "is constantly revealing wonders
which surprise and astound even the most cultured minds of the civilised
world; how much more capable is it then of overawing the uncultured
savage, however shrewd and clever he may be in those simple matters
which affect his everyday life! Leave it to me; we have ample
scientific means at our command to quell this man and his followers, and
to reduce them to a state of the most abject and servile subjection."
Von Schalckenberg then retired to make his preparations, which were soon
complete. When next he appeared he carried upon one arm a glittering
mass of what at first sight appeared to be drapery, but which, on his
unfolding it, proved to be three suits of chain armour (minus helmet and
gauntlets), constructed of very small fine links of aethereum, light and
flexible as silk.
"I think," said he, "it will be unadvisable to make any change in our
outward appearance in preparing to receive this royal savage; any such
change would be certainly noticed, and as certainly regarded as an
indication of the importance we attach to his visit. Now, our policy is
to treat the whole affair as a matter of no moment whatever, and we will
therefore (if you agree with my views) continue to wear the white
flannel suits in which we received Lualamba this morning. But I would
recommend that each of you don a suit of this mail under your clothing
(I have already assumed mine), and we shall then be pretty well prepared
for emergencies. These savages are often exceedingly treacherous
fellows, and it is quite among the possibilities that certain of this
king's followers may have received instructions to test our supposed
invulnerability by a sly stab in the back or something of that kind; it
will be well, therefore, that we should be properly prepared for
anything of the kind. I had in view some such occasion as the present
when I arranged for the construction of these suits. There is a helmet
and gauntlets for each; but we shall scarcely need them today, I think,
and it would hardly be politic to wear any _visible_ defensive armour."
The luncheon hour arrived and passed without sign or token of the
presence of a single savage in the neighbourhood, and as the afternoon
waned with still no indication of human vicinity, the travellers--but
for the absolute impregnability of the _Flying Fish_--would have begun
to feel uneasy. About half-past four o'clock, however, as the quartette
were languidly puffing at their cigars, lolling meanwhile in the most
luxurious of deck-chairs, a huge cloud of yellow dust rising into the
air beyond the ruins announced the approach of the cavalcade, and a
minute or two later king M'Bongwele at the head of his cavalry swept
like a whirlwind into the open space occupied by the great ship, and,
charging in a solid square close up to her, suddenly wheeled right and
left into line, and came to an abrupt halt. The evolution was very
brilliantly executed, and as Lethbridge lazily scanned the performers
through the thin filmy smoke of his cigar, he could not restrain a low
murmur of admiration, followed by the remark:
"By George! what splendid soldiers those fellows would make with a
couple of months' training!"
"Y-e-s," agreed the baronet, "that was very well done; but I suppose
that particular evolution is the one in which they most excel, and of
course it was done purely for effect. Ah! the individual now
dismounting is, I suppose, our royal visitor."
The baronet was quite right in his conjecture. As the party halted,
some ten or a dozen individuals, including Lualamba, flung themselves
from their horses, and, advancing reverentially, grouped themselves
about the royal charger. Two of them then stepped to the creature's
head and grasped the bridle, whilst two more assisted the king to
dismount. The horse was then handed over to the care of a warrior, and
the king, closely followed by the members of his suite, advanced to the
foot of the rope-ladder, which had been lowered for their accommodation;
the professor at the same time stepping to the gangway and inviting the
party to ascend.
M'Bongwele looked somewhat doubtfully at the swaying ladder for a moment
or two, and then essayed the ascent; but the oscillation set up by his
movements proved too much for his nerves--or his dignity--and, much
chagrined, he was obliged to desist. The professor then in compassion
suggested the steadying of the ladder at its foot, when the king,
promptly giving the necessary order to his suite, ascended to the deck,
leaving those who followed him to manage as best they could.
The first glance of the travellers satisfied them that in king
M'Bongwele they had a man of more than ordinary intelligence to deal
with. The colour of his skin and complexion was a rich deep brown, he
stood nearly six feet high on his naked feet, and, but for his somewhat
excessive corpulence, he would have been a man of magnificent
proportions. His lips were rather thick, and his nose somewhat
flattened, but not nearly as much so as in the case of the genuine
negro. His forehead was broad and lofty, though receding, his eyes
keen, restless, and piercing, and there was a crafty, cruel, resolute
look about the lower part of his face which taught his hosts that they
would have to be exceedingly cautious in their dealings with him. He
was accommodated with a chair between Sir Reginald and the professor,
the former being flanked by Lethbridge (Mildmay, in accordance with
previous arrangements, had ensconced himself in the pilothouse);
Lualamba and the rest of the suite were quietly allowed to squat in a
semicircle before them on the deck.
The king opened the conversation by somewhat abruptly demanding the
reason for the strangers' visit to his dominions; to which the professor
replied by pointing to the ruins, explaining that they were believed to
be the remains of a great city built many ages ago by a very interesting
race of people of whom but little was known, and he and his companions
were anxious to minutely examine and explore what was left, in the hope
of discovering some sculptured or other record bearing upon the origin,
habits, and history of the builders.
A few minutes of profound meditation on the part of the king followed
this announcement, and then he suddenly demanded where the travellers
had come from. The professor replied by a comprehensive sweep of the
hand skyward.
"But," objected M'Bongwele, "if you are spirits you should know all that
you want to know about these ruins without coming here to investigate.
The spirits know everything."
A low murmur of applause from the king's adherents followed this
enunciation, showing that they evidently considered their monarch to be
getting the better of the strangers, and a smile of gratification
flickered for an instant over M'Bongwele's features.
"Not everything," corrected the professor. "We know a great many
things, but not everything. And what we know we have been obliged to
find out by investigation. We spend the greater part of our existence
in passing from place to place investigating and finding out things."
"Then I have been misinformed, and the spirits are neither so wise nor
so powerful as I thought them to be," retorted the king.
"Perhaps so," quietly remarked the professor. "Nevertheless we are very
powerful--sufficiently so to destroy you and your whole army in a
moment, should we choose to do so. Would you like to witness a specimen
or two of our power?"
M'Bongwele glanced somewhat nervously about him for a second or two, and
then with an obvious effort answered:
"Yes."
"I see that some of your followers here are armed with bows," continued
the professor. "Are they good marksmen?"
"The best in the world," answered the king proudly.
The professor in his turn hesitated an instant; he was about to make a
dangerous experiment. Then he drew from his pocket a small crimson silk
rosette, and, placing it in M'Bongwele's hand, said:
"I will attach this to any part of my dress you choose to point out;
then order one of your archers to shoot an arrow at it, and observe the
result."
The king took the rosette in his hand, examined it carefully, and passed
it round among his suite for inspection. On receiving it back he
suddenly wheeled round in his chair, and, reaching over, laid his finger
on Lethbridge's breast exactly over the heart.
"Fasten it _there_," he said with a scornful smile, "and I will shoot at
it myself."
The professor was disconcerted. The danger of the experiment consisted
in the possibility that the archer, instead of aiming at the rosette,
would select an eye or some part of the head for a mark, in which case
the result would be fatal. He was quite willing to incur the risk
himself, trusting that the archer's vanity would impel him to aim at the
right spot; but he had never contemplated the turn which affairs had now
taken.
Lethbridge, however, with a languid smile and a shrug of the shoulders,
rose to his feet, and, nonchalantly flicking the ash off the end of his
cigar, waited for the professor to affix the rosette.
A happy inspiration just then occurred to von Schalckenberg. "It is a
very small mark," he murmured confidentially to M'Bongwele; "I do not
believe you can hit it. Shall I get something larger?"
The king would not listen to any such proposal; he was evidently anxious
to exhibit his skill; and the professor, reassured, attached the rosette
to Lethbridge's coat in the exact spot indicated, M'Bongwele and his
companions watching the operation with the keenest interest.
The colonel, glancing round for a good background against which to place
himself, noticed a large clump of trees with olive-green foliage growing
at a short distance directly astern of the ship. Against these his
white-clad figure would stand out in strong relief. He accordingly
stepped leisurely out to a suitable position on the deck, and, with one
hand in his pocket and his smouldering cigar in the other, patiently
awaited the decisive moment. M'Bongwele in the meantime snatched a bow
from one of his followers, and, selecting a long straight arrow from the
sheaf, retired to the other end of the deck, a distance of about one
hundred and fifty feet from his living target. He strung the bow
carefully, adjusted the arrow to the string with the utmost nicety, drew
it to the head, and then paused for a full minute, apparently waiting
for some indication of flinching on Lethbridge's part. In this,
however, he was disappointed, not the faintest suggestion of uneasiness
could be detected in the colonel's face--indeed, he seemed to be
absorbed in a critical contemplation of the smoke which lazily wreathed
upward from the end of the cigar. Suddenly the bow twanged loudly, the
arrow whizzed through the air, and, striking fair upon the rosette, fell
in splinters to the deck. Lethbridge somewhat contemptuously kicked the
fragments aside, unpinned the rosette from the breast of his coat, and
sauntered back to his former seat. The group of chiefs gathered on the
deck glanced at each other and uttered suppressed ejaculations of
dismay. As for M'Bongwele, he was thoroughly discomfited; he had been
shrewd enough to suspect in the professor's proposal some preconcerted
arrangement, which he flattered himself he had skilfully baffled;
instead of which his _ruse_ had simply redounded to his own more
complete confusion.
The professor rose and picked up the pierced rosette, which he handed to
the king.
"You are very skilful," he remarked, pointing to the puncture; "I
compliment you." Then, changing his tone, he continued: "We have
allowed you to do this in order that you may be thoroughly convinced of
the impossibility of injuring us. Now you shall have a further example
of our power. Order your warriors to dismount and try their best to
lift this ship from off the ground."
The king turned to Lualamba and gave him the necessary order; whereupon
the chief, descending the ladder to the ground, advanced to the troops,
and, dismounting them, assembled them all round the hull; then, at a
given signal, the entire body exerted themselves to the utmost to lift
the immense fabric from the ground--of course without effect, as her
chambers were full of air.
"Now," said the professor when the savages had pretty well exhausted
themselves, "let all but one man retire."
This was done, Mildmay meanwhile exhausting the chambers until the gauge
showed that the ship weighed only a few pounds. The professor glanced
carelessly at the pilot-house, caught the signal that all was in
readiness, and said to the king:
"Now order that man to lift the ship on to his shoulders."
M'Bongwele duly repeated the order, without the slightest expectation
that it would be fulfilled; and the man--who would have plunged into a
blazing bonfire if he had been so ordered--advanced, and, to the
unutterable astonishment of himself, the king, and in fact the whole
concourse of natives, raised the gigantic structure to his shoulders and
held it there with scarcely an effort.
"Now, tell him to toss us into the air," commanded von Schalckenberg,
shouting down from the gangway to Lualamba.
And in another second the terrified king and his suite felt a slight
movement, and saw the earth sinking far away beneath them. This was
altogether too much for the suite, who grovelled on the deck in mortal
fear; and even king M'Bongwele felt his courage rapidly oozing away as
he sat uneasily in his deck-chair convulsively gripping its arms and
glancing anxiously about him.