Notwithstanding the fact that Lafayette Smith had so recently
visualized this very emergency and had, as it were, rehearsed his part
in it, now that he stood face to face with the lion he did none of
the things exactly as he had pictured. He was not at all cool when he
saw the carnivore appear at the turn in the fissure; he did not face
him calmly, draw a deadly bead, and fire. Nothing was in the least as
he had imagined it would be. In the first place the distance between
them seemed entirely inadequate and the lion much larger than he had
supposed any lion could be, while his revolver seemed to shrink to
proportions that represented utter futility.
All this, however, was encompassed in a single, instantaneous and
overwhelming conception. No appreciable time elapsed, therefore,
between the instant that he perceived the lion and that at which he
commenced to jerk the trigger of his pistol, which he accomplished,
without aiming, while in the act of turning to flee.
Running headlong over the jumbled rocks Lafayette Smith fled
precipitately into the unknown depths of the ancient rift, at his elbow
the ghastly fear that beyond each successive turn would loom the rocky
terminus of his flight, while just behind him he pictured the ravenous
carnivore thirsting for his blood. The fall of swiftly moving padded
feet close behind him urged him to greater speed, the hot breath of the
lion surged from the savage lungs to pound upon his ears like surf upon
an ocean beach.
Such is the power of imagination. It is true that Numa was bounding
along the bottom of the rift, but in the opposite direction to that in
which Lafayette Smith bounded. Fortunately, for Lafayette, none of his
wild shots had struck the lion; but the booming reverberation of the
explosions in the narrow fissure had so surprised and unnerved him that
he had wheeled and fled even as the man had.
Had the pursuit been as real as Lafayette imagined it, it could have
urged him to no greater speed, nor could the consequent terror have
nerved him to greater endurance; but physical powers have their limits,
and presently the realization that his had about reached theirs forced
itself upon Lafayette's consciousness and with it realization of the
futility of further flight.
It was then that he turned to make his stand. He was trembling, but
with fatigue rather than fear; and inwardly he was cool as he reloaded
his revolver. He was surprised to discover that the lion was not on top
of him, but he expected momentarily to see him appear where the fissure
turned from his sight. Seating himself on a flat rock he waited the
coming of the carnivore while he rested, and as the minutes passed and
no lion came his wonderment increased.
Presently his scientific eye commenced to note the structure of the
fissure's walls about him, and as his interest grew in the geologic
facts revealed or suggested his interest in the lion waned, until,
once again, the carnivore was relegated to the background of his
consciousness, while in its place returned the momentarily forgotten
plan to explore the rift to its farthest extent.
Recovered from the excessive fatigue of his strenuous exertion he
undertook once more the exploration so rudely interrupted. Regained
was the keen pleasure of discovery; forgotten, hunger, fatigue, and
personal safety as he advanced along this mysterious path of adventure.
Presently the floor of the rift dropped rapidly until it was inclined
at an angle that made progress difficult; and at the same time it
narrowed, giving evidence that it might be rapidly pinching out. There
was now barely width for him to squeeze forward between the walls when
the fissure ahead of him became suddenly shrouded in gloom. Glancing up
in search of an explanation of this new phenomenon Lafayette discovered
that the walls far above were converging, until directly above him
there was only a small streak of sky visible while ahead the rift was
evidently closed entirely at the top.
As he pushed on, the going, while still difficult because of the
steepness of the floor of the fissure, was improved to some extent
by the absence of jumbled rocks underfoot, the closed ceiling of the
corridor having offered no crumbling rim to the raging elements of the
ages; but presently another handicap made itself evident--darkness,
increasing steadily with each few yards until the man was groping his
way blindly, though none the less determinedly, toward the unknown
that lay ahead.
That an abyss might yawn beyond his next step may have occurred to
him, but so impractical was he in all worldly matters while his
scientific entity was in the ascendancy that he ignored the simplest
considerations of safety. However, no abyss yawned; and presently, at a
turning, daylight showed ahead. It was only a small patch of daylight;
and when he reached the opening through which it shone it appeared, at
first, that he had achieved the end of his quest--that he could proceed
no farther.
Dropping to his hands and knees he essayed the feat of worming his
way through the aperture, which he then discovered was amply large to
accommodate his body; and a moment later he stood erect in astonished
contemplation of the scene before him.
He found himself standing near the base of a lofty escarpment
overlooking a valley that his practised eye recognized immediately as
the crater of a long extinct volcano. Below him spread a panorama of
rolling, tree-dotted landscape, broken by occasional huge out-croppings
of weathered lava rock; and in the center, a blue lake danced in the
rays of an afternoon sun.
Thrilling to an identical reaction such as doubtless dominated Balboa
as he stood upon the heights of Darien overlooking the broad Pacific,
Lafayette Smith experienced that spiritual elation that is, perhaps,
the greatest reward of the explorer. Forgotten, for the moment, was
the scientific interest of the geologist, submerged by intriguing
speculation upon the history of this lost valley, upon which, perhaps,
the eyes of no other white man had ever gazed.
Unfortunately for the permanency of this beatific state of mind two
other thoughts rudely obtruded themselves, as thoughts will. One
appertained to the camp, for which he was supposed to be searching,
while the other involved the lion, which was supposedly searching for
him. The latter reminded him that he was standing directly in front of
the mouth of the fissure, at the very spot where the lion would emerge
were he following; and this suggested the impracticability of the
fissure as an avenue of return to the opposite side of the crater wall.
A hundred yards away Smith espied a tree, and toward this he walked as
offering the nearest sanctuary in the event the lion should reappear.
Here, too, he might rest while considering plans for the future; and,
that he might enjoy uninterrupted peace of mind while so engaged, he
climbed up into the tree, where, straddling a limb, he leaned his back
against the bole.
It was a tree of meager foliage, thus affording him an almost
unobstructed view of the scene before him, and as his eyes wandered
across the landscape they were arrested by something at the foot of the
southern wall of the crater--something that did not perfectly harmonize
with its natural surroundings. Here his gaze remained fixed as he
sought to identify the thing that had attracted his attention. What it
looked like he was positive that it could not be, so definite had his
preconception of the inaccessibility of the valley to man impressed
itself upon his mind; yet the longer he looked the more convinced he
became that what he saw was a small village of thatched huts.
And what thoughts did this recognition inspire? What noble and
aesthetic emotions were aroused within his breast by the sight of this
lonely village in the depths of the great crater which should, by all
the proofs that he had seen, have been inaccessible to man?
No, you are wrong again. What it suggested was food. For the first
time since he had become lost Lafayette Smith was acutely conscious of
hunger, and when he recalled that it had been more than twenty-four
hours since he had eaten anything more substantial than a few
chocolates his appetite waxed ravenous. Furthermore, he suddenly
realized that he was actually suffering from thirst.
At a little distance lay the lake. Glancing back toward the entrance to
the fissure he discovered no lion; and so he dropped to the ground and
set off in the direction of the water, laying his course so that at no
time was he at any great distance from a tree.
The water was cool and refreshing; and when he had drunk his fill
he became acutely conscious for the first time during the day, of an
over-powering weariness. The water had temporarily relieved the pangs
of hunger, and he determined to rest a few minutes before continuing on
toward the distant village. Once again he assured himself that there
was no pursuing lion in evidence; and then he stretched himself at full
length in the deep grass that grew near the edge of the lake, and with
a low tree as protection from the hot sun relaxed his tired muscles in
much needed rest.
He had not intended to sleep; but his fatigue was greater than he had
supposed, so that, with relaxation, unconsciousness crept upon him
unawares. Insects buzzed lazily about him, a bird alighted in the tree
beneath which he lay and surveyed him critically, the sun dropped lower
toward the western rim, and Lafayette Smith slept on.
He dreamed that a lion was creeping toward him through high grass. He
tried to rise, but he was powerless. The horror of the situation was
intolerable. He tried to cry out and frighten the lion away, but no
sound issued from his throat. Then he made a final supreme effort,
and the shriek that resulted awakened him. He sat up, dripping with
perspiration, and looked quickly and fearfully about him. There was no
lion. "Whew!" he exclaimed. "What a relief."
Then he glanced at the sun and realized that he had slept away the
greater part of the afternoon. Now his hunger returned and with it
recollection of the distant village. Rising, he drank again at the
lake, and then started on his journey toward the base of the southern
rim, where he hoped he would find friendly natives and food.
The way led for the greater part around the edge of the lake; and as
dusk settled and then darkness it became more and more difficult to
move except at a slow and cautious pace, since the ground was often
strewn with fragments of lava that were not visible in the darkness.
Night brought the cheering sight of fires in the village; and these,
seeming nearer than they really were buoyed his spirits by the
assurance that his journey was nearing completion. Yet, as he stumbled
onward, the conviction arose that he was pursuing a will-o'-the-wisp,
as the firelight appeared to retreat as rapidly as he advanced.
At last, however, the outlines of mean huts, illumined by the fires,
became distinguishable and then the figures of people clustered about
them. It was not until he was almost within the village that he saw
with astonishment that the people were white, and then he saw something
else that brought him to a sudden halt. Upon two crosses, raised above
the heads of the villagers, were two girls. The firelight played upon
their faces, and he saw that both were beautiful.
What weird, unholy rite was this? What strange race inhabited this lost
valley? Who were the girls? That they were not of the same race as
the villagers was apparent at the first casual glance at the degraded
features of the latter.
Lafayette Smith hesitated. It was evident that he was witnessing some
sort of religious rite or pageant; and he assumed that to interrupt it
would prove far from a satisfactory introduction to these people, whose
faces, which had already repelled him, impressed him so unfavorably
that he questioned the friendliness of his reception even under the
most favorable auspices.
And then a movement of the crowd opened for a moment an avenue to the
center of the circle where the crosses stood; and the man was horrified
by what was revealed for an instant to his amazed eyes, for he saw the
dry brush and the faggots piled about the bottoms of the crosses and
the young men with the flaming torches ready to ignite the inflammable
piles.
An old man was intoning a prayer. Here and there villagers writhed upon
the ground in what Smith thought were evidences of religious ecstasy.
And then the old man gave a signal, and the torch bearers applied the
flames to the dry brush.
Lafayette Smith waited to see no more. Leaping forward he thrust
surprised villagers from his path and sprang into the circle before the
crosses. With a booted foot he kicked the already burning brush aside;
and then, with his little .32 shining in his hand, he turned and faced
the astonished and angry crowd.
For a moment Abraham, the son of Abraham, was paralyzed by surprise.
Here was a creature beyond his experience or his ken. It might be a
celestial messenger; but the old man had gone so far now, and his
crazed mind was so thoroughly imbued with the lust for torture, that he
might even have defied Jehovah Himself rather than forego the pleasures
of the spectacle he had arranged.
At last he found his voice. "What blasphemy is this?" he screamed. "Set
upon this infidel, and tear him limb from limb."
"You will have to shoot, now," said an English voice at Smith's back,
"for if you don't they will kill you."
He realized that it was one of the girls upon the crosses--another
astonishing mystery in this village of mysteries, that cool English
voice. Then one of the torch bearers rushed him with a maniacal
shriek, and Smith fired. With a scream the fellow clutched his chest
and sprawled at the American's feet; and at the report of the pistol
and the sudden collapse of their fellow the others, who had been
moving forward upon the intruder, fell back, while upon all sides
the over-excited creatures succumbed to the curse that had descended
to them from Angustus the Ephesian, until the ground was strewn with
contorted forms.
Realizing that the villagers were, for the moment at least, too
disconcerted and overawed by the death of their fellow to press their
attack, Smith turned his attention at once to the two girls. Replacing
his pistol in its holster, he cut their bonds with his pocket knife
before Abraham, the son of Abraham, could collect his scattered wits
and attempt to urge his followers to a renewed attack.
It was more than the work of a moment to liberate the two captives
as, after he had cut the bonds that held their feet Smith had been
compelled to partially support each with one arm as he severed the
fibres that secured their wrists to the cross arms, lest a bone be
broken or a muscle wrenched as the full weight of the victim was thrown
suddenly upon one wrist.
He had cut Lady Barbara down first; and she was assisting him with
Jezebel, who, having been crucified for a longer time, was unable to
stand alone, when Abraham, the son of Abraham, regained sufficient
composure to permit him to think and act.
Both Lady Barbara and Smith were supporting Jezebel into whose numbed
feet the blood was again beginning to circulate. Their backs were
toward the Prophet; and, taking advantage of their preoccupation, the
old man was creeping stealthily upon them from the rear. In his hand
was a crude knife, but none the less formidable for its crudeness.
It was the blood stained sacrificial knife of this terrible old high
priest of the Midians, more terrible now because of the rage and hatred
that animated the cruel, defective mind that directed the claw-like
hand that wielded it.
All of his rage, all of his hatred were directed against the person
of Lady Barbara, in whom he saw the author of his humiliation and
his thwarted desires. Stealthily he crept upon her from behind while
his followers, frozen to silence by his terrible glances, watched in
breathless anticipation.
Occupied with the half-fainting Jezebel none of the three at the
crosses saw the repulsive figure of the avenger as he towered suddenly
behind the English girl, his right hand raised high to drive the blade
deeply into her back; but they heard his sudden, choking, gasping
scream and turned in time to see the knife fall from his nerveless
fingers as they clutched at his throat, and to witness his collapse.
Angustus the Ephesian had reached out of a grave digged two thousand
years before, to save the life of Lady Barbara Collis--though doubtless
he would have turned over in that same grave had he realized the fact.