MARY MAKES A REQUEST
The cross was jade, in the shape of the medieval emblem--the Greek
cross. Before it burned a candle. Gray stared at it silently while
Timur limped forward and trimmed the wick of the candle.
"We do not remember the faith of our fathers," the old Wusun said
sadly. "But we have kept the talisman. It is not as strong as the
bronze Buddha of Wu Fang Chien. We will not give it up, although he
has asked to buy it. Truly, no man should part with what was
precious in the sight of his fathers."
Thoughts crowded in upon Gray. Was this the cross left by a
wandering missionary--one of those who followed the footsteps of
Marco Polo? Were the ancient Wusun the Christians mentioned in
medieval legends as the kingdom of Prester John, sometimes called
_Presbyter_ John? The Wusun had been warriors. Was the symbol of
the cross adapted from the hilt of a sword? Was it one of the
vagaries of fate that had brought the cross into the hands of the
Wusun, who were descendants of the Christians of Europe? Or had they
of their own accord become worshipers of the cross? What did it mean
to them?
He recalled the sunset hymn. Was this their version of the vespers
of a forgotten priest? He did not know. The problem of the cross
existing among the remnants of the Wusun remains to be solved by more
learned minds than his. It was clear, however, that beyond the
cross, they retained no vestige of their former religion.
Abruptly his head snapped up.
"I promised you, Bassalor Danek," he cried, "that this would be a
symbol. As I have promised, you will find it. We--who are of the
same fathers--have also this talisman of our God."
The Wusun stared at him. There was a ring of conviction in Gray's
words. He recalled Delabar's words that the talisman of the Wusun
had earned the captive race the hatred of the Buddhists. He saw now
how this was. Fate--or what the soldier esteemed luck--had put an
instrument into his hand. For the defense of the girl. He must make
full use of it.
He pointed to the jade cross.
"The Kha Rakcha and I are of the same blood as the Wusun. We came in
peace to seek you. The Kha Rakcha claims your protection. Will you
not grant it? Thus, I have spoken."
Bassalor Danek folded his lean arms, tiny wrinkles puckering about
his aged eyes.
"I hear," he said. "The tale of the Eyes-of-Long-Sight is a true
tale. But this thing is another tale. Have you a token to show, so
that we may know that it, also, is true?"
In the back of Gray's mind was memory of a token. Something that
Mary had mentioned. In his anxiety, he could not recall it.
Thus did Gray miss a golden opportunity. If he had been alone, his
natural quickness of thought would have found an answer to the
Gur-Khan's question. With the life of the girl he loved at stake, he
hesitated.
It was vitally important that Bassalor Danek should believe what Gray
had said about the cross. Believing, he would aid them, for he
reverenced the cross. Doubting, they would be exposed to the wiles
of Wu Fang Chien.
"If I spoke the truth in one thing, O Gur-Khan," he parried, "would I
speak lies concerning another?"
"The two things are not the same," put in Timur, logically. "The
talisman is precious--like to the gold in the sword-hilt of Gela.
Yet what is it to you?"
"It is the sign of our faith. It is the talisman of Christianity."
"I know not the word."
"You know the name of the ancient khan of the Wusun--Awang Khan?"
Gray hazarded a bold stroke, on his knowledge of the legend of
Prester John of Asia. Timur considered.
"The name is not in our speech," he announced.
Bassalor Danek looked up sagely.
"You speak of faith, O One-Who-Kills-Swiftly. Is that a word of a
priesthood?"
"Yes."
"Then," said Bassalor Danek gravely, "it is clear that your talisman
is not like to this. Nay, for the only priesthood is that of the
false Buddhists."
"Our faith is different from theirs--even as a grain of sand is
different from a drop of clear water."
The Gur-Khan's hand swept in a wide circle.
"Nay. What can we see from Sungan save the grains of sand?
Everywhere, beyond, is the Buddhist priesthood. We have seen this
thing. It is true." He lifted his head proudly. "Behold, youth,
here is the talisman of a warrior. From chieftain to chieftain, it
has been handed down. It is the token of a chieftain. Of one who
safeguards his people. None can wear it but myself, or another of
royal blood who has fought for his people."
For the first time he showed Gray a smaller cross, fashioned from
gold which hung from a chain of the same metal across his chest under
the cloak.
"Because I am khan of the Wusun, this thing is mine," he added. "If
my father and his before him had not been strong warriors, the Wusun
would have passed from the world as a candle is blown out in a strong
wind."
"Aye," amended Timur. "It is a sign of the rank of the Gur-Khan.
Has it not always been thus?"
Both men nodded their heads, as at an unalterable truth. Age and
isolation had made their conceptions rigid. The safety of the Wusun
was their sole care.
"Your sign is not like to ours," said they. "Is the moon kindred to
the sun because both live in the sky?"
"There is but one Cross," cried Gray.
They shook their heads. How were they to alter the small store of
belief that had been their meager heritage of wisdom?
"You are not kin to us, but the Kha Rakcha is a woman, and so may
become kin to the Wusun," announced Bassalor Danek. "Go now, for we
must weigh well our answer to Wu Fang Chien."
Gray rose, his lips hard.
"Be it so," he said slowly. "If it is in your mind that you must
yield to Wu Fang Chien, give me up into his hands. I will take a
sword and go to seek him. Keep the Kha Rakcha safe within Sungan.
She is, as you have seen, the White Spirit. Her beauty is not less
than the light of the sun. Guard her well."
Gray had spoken bitterly, feeling that he had failed in his plea. He
had not sensed the full meaning of the other's words. He knew that
his own death would be the most serious loss to the girl. Without
him she was defenseless.
He did not want to leave her. She had been so childlike in her
reliance upon his protection. And he was so helpless to aid her.
But Gray had weighed the odds with the cold precision that never left
him. There was a slight chance that he might be able to kill Wu Fang
Chien, and if so, Mary might be safeguarded.
He walked away from the shrine, and, unconsciously, bent his steps
toward the house of Bassalor Danek where the girl was. Then he
turned back, resolutely. He could not see Mary now. She would guess
instantly--so quick was the woman's instinct--that something was
wrong.
Gray retraced his steps to the tower and to his own chamber where he
would await the decision of the Gur-Khan.
For the space of several hours the two Wusun debated together. They
glanced from time to time at a water clock which creaked dismally in
the corner furthest from the shrine. Their brows were furrowed by
anxiety as they talked.
Outside the sun was already past its highest point, and the sands
burned with reflected heat. The people of Sungan had taken shelter
under the canal trees and in the underground buildings. Even the
dogs and the lepers were no longer to be seen. Quiet prevailed in
Sungan, and in the armed camps of the guards without the wall.
No glimmer of sunlight penetrated into the shrine of Bassalor Danek.
The attendant lighted fresh candles and stood motionless. Then he
stirred and advanced to the doorway. He uttered a gruff exclamation.
Mary Hastings pushed past him and stood gazing at the two Wusun.
"Timur!" she cried. "Where is the One-Who-Kills-Swiftly?"
The councilor of Sungan glanced at her wonderingly. She was flushed,
and breathing quickly. Her bronze hair had fallen to her slim
shoulders. Tall and proud and imperious, she faced him--a lovely
picture in the dim chamber.
"He said that he would return to me," she repeated. "And he has not
come. Well do I know that this could only be because of something
evil that has happened. Where is he?"
The two were stoically silent. She approached them fearlessly. To
the guard's amazement, she stamped an angry foot, her eyes wide with
anxiety.
This, to the guard, was something that should not be permitted in the
high presence of the Gur-Khan. He laid a warning hand on her
shoulder. Startled, the girl drew back and struck down his arm.
Abashed by her flaming displeasure, the warrior glanced at Bassalor
Danek.
The Gur-Khan frowned.
"Touch not the Kha Rakcha, dog!" he growled "Soon the woman is to be
allied to me by blood." Then to Mary: "It is not fitting, maiden,
the even one such as you should come to this place in anger. Cover
then the flame of spirit with the ashes of respect."
Timur interpreted his stately speech. But the girl was wrought up by
fear for Gray. Not until he had failed to rejoin her did she realize
how much his coming had meant.
So she was not minded to respect the dignity of the two aged men.
Mary Hastings had been mistress of native servants. She knew how to
exact obedience.
"Tell the chieftain," she cried, "to answer when I speak. Am I one
to hide the fire of spirit under the cloak of humiliation? Speak!
What has become of the white man?"
Timur rendered the Gur-Khan's reply in Turki.
"The tall warrior has offered his body to cool the anger of Wu Fang
Chien, who demands him."
The girl paled.
"How? When?"
"He will take a sword that we will give him this night and go to seek
the ruler of the Buddhists. Even so shall it be. We have decided,
in council. In this way Wu Fang Chien will be appeased, and the
Wusun will drink of the solace of peace in their trouble.
Furthermore----"
"Stay!" The girl drew a quick breath. She guessed why Gray had not
come to her. The knowledge of his danger steadied her tumultuous
thoughts. The danger was worse than she feared. But--such was the
woman's strength of soul when the man she loved was menaced--she
became strangely calm.
She had not admitted to herself until now that she loved the
American. With the understanding of the fresh sacrifice he was
prepared to make for her, she could no more deny the truth of her
love than she could question the fact of her own life.
"Will you give me up as well?" she asked scornfully.
"Nay. You will have a place by the side of the Gur-Khan, because of
your beauty which--so said the One-Who-Kills-Swiftly--is like to the
sun. The Wusun will safeguard the Kha Rakcha, even as he demanded."
Mary Hastings sighed softly. Then lifted her head stubbornly. She
flushed rosily.
"The white man is precious in my sight," she said dearly. "His life
is like to the warmth of the sun, and if he dies, my life would pass,
even as water vanishes when it is poured upon the sands."
"Verily," pondered Timur, stroking his beard, "is he a brave man.
But how then may Wu Fang Chien be appeased?"
Anger flashed into the girl's expressive face.
"So the Wusun are weak of soul," she accused. "Their heart is like
the soul of a gully jackal. They would give up the warrior who came
to be their friend, to buy their own comfort! _Aie_! Are you such
men?"
Timur stared, confronted for perhaps the first time in his life with
the scorn of a woman who thought as a man.
"Think you I will buy my comfort, upon such terms?" she continued
mercilessly. "Or remain in the shadow of those who are not men but
jackals?"
Timur raised his hand. The decision of the leaders of the Wusun had
been actuated by their jealous care of their people, not by selfish
motives. But the girl's swift words had sadly confused him.
"If you yield him up," said Mary Hastings, "I also will go. I will
not part from him."
And she would not. If Gray was to face the Chinese, she would be at
his side. How often do men judge correctly the true strength of a
woman's devotion?
"We have planned otherwise," pointed out Timur. "For you----"
"I have spoken, you have heard."
Bassalor Danek questioned the councilor as to what had been said.
Then the chieftain rose.
"Say to the woman," he announced, "that I, the leader of the Wusun,
have decided. What my wisdom decides, she cannot alter by hot words.
Who is she, but a fair woman? I am master of the talisman of the
Wusun."
He pointed to the altar. Mary, intent upon his face, followed his
gesture swiftly. She gave a little cry at seeing for the first time
the cross. She caught Timur's arm.
"What is that?" she begged. "What--does it mean?"
Timur explained the symbol.
"It is the sign of the Gur-Khan alone," he concluded. "None but
those of a chieftain's rank bear it." He touched the smaller cross
lying upon the broad shoulders of Bassalor Khan.
Radiantly the girl's face brightened. She smiled, drawing nearer to
the two old men. No need for a woman's wit to reason logically!
She drew back the throat of her jacket, revealing the tiny gold cross
which had been her sole belonging left by the avaricious Buddhists.
If Wu Fang Chien had known of the token, he would have torn it from
her.
"See," she said softly. "I also am a bearer of the cross."
The Wusun stared from her excited face to the glittering symbol on
her breast.
To their limited intelligence two things were plain. The girl's
talisman had not been in Sungan before she came. So it was clearly
hers. Also, she wore it as by right.
They recalled her pride, and her angry words. Verily, she wore the
sign of rank by right. Timur stepped back and bent his head.
"O, Queen," he said, "I was blind. Will you pardon the dog who was
blind?"
Bassalor Danek had been frowning, somewhat jealously. But as he
stared into the woman's open face, his brow cleared.
"It is well, Kha Rakcha," he observed slowly. "This is truly the
token that witnesses the truth of your coming. None but a woman
royal-born can wear such a talisman as this. It is well."
He touched the cross curiously, comparing it with his own. Timur
bent over his hand, watching. The girl was silent, holding her
breath in suspense.
The minds of the Wusun were wise in their way, but their wisdom was
that of simplicity.
"None but a queen may carry this on her breast," they assured each
other. "So in very truth this _is_ a woman royal-born."
She seized swiftly upon her advantage.
"Then you know that I am one who commands."
"Aye," they said, each in his tongue, "we were as blind dogs before."
"Guard then," she said, her lips trembling, for she felt the strain,
"the life of the One-Who-Kills-Swiftly. For he is of my blood."
Bassalor Danek pondered, and spoke with grave decision.
"We will safeguard him within Sungan. Wu Fang Chien will ask in
vain."