are from the great world without, and have doubtless mingled freely with
the teeming millions of whom ye have spoken to the late king, my beloved
grandfather. Ye have told him of the marvellous doings of those
millions, of their wonderful enterprises and inventions, and of the
rivalry that exists between them; and I doubt not that, mingling with
them, as ye must have done, ye have acquired wisdom, beside which the
wisdom of the wisest of us in Ulua will seem foolishness.
"You did right, my Lord Dick, in ordering Sachar's arrest for his
arrogant and insulting speech, but I doubt whether I should have had the
courage to take so bold a step. For I know that it will mean war
between him and me--a war of plotting and scheming, if not of actual
bloodshed--and I now wish to know whether, in the contest which I feel
to be inevitable, I may depend upon your advice and, if necessary, your
active co-operation?"
"You may, your Majesty," answered Dick and Earle in the same breath.
"I thank you with all my heart," returned the queen, glancing up at them
with a bright smile. "I feel," she continued, "that in the struggle
which I foresee, I shall have to rely upon you almost entirely, for I
believe that the members of my council will, with very few exceptions,
be against me. Go, therefore, and consult together as to the steps
which ye would recommend me to take; and then come to me again."
She presented her hand, which Dick and Earle bent over and kissed
respectfully before retiring from the presence.
Upon reaching their own suite of apartments, the two friends were
surprised to find Lyga, the Keeper of Statutes, awaiting them. There
was a look of concern, not altogether unmingled with amusement, in his
expression as he rose and advanced to meet them.
"My lords," he said, "it has just come to my ears--and I thought that
ye, and you in especial, my Lord Dick, in your capacity of
Captain-General of the Queen's Bodyguard, ought to know--that Sachar,
together with the officer and the file of soldiers into whose custody ye
delivered him, has disappeared."
"Disappeared!" echoed Dick. "How mean ye, my Lord Lyga?"
"Exactly as I have said," replied Lyga. "Sachar has not been lodged in
prison, as ye ordered, and the officer and file of soldiers are not in
their quarters, as they should be. I rather anticipated some such
occurrence, and because my sympathies are wholly with the Queen, and I
am on her side, I made it my business to leave the Council Chamber
immediately upon her Majesty's departure, and follow the route that
Sachar should have taken. I ascertained that he left the palace,
accompanied by the officer and soldiers; but he had not reached the
prison when I arrived there, and it is certain that now he will not do
so. My own conviction is that, being a man of known power and almost
unlimited wealth, he found no difficulty in bribing the officer and
soldiers to allow him to escape, and has very possibly carried them away
with him to protect them from the consequences of their treachery."
Dick and Earle regarded each other intently for a moment, and then
nodded with understanding.
"My Lord Lyga," said Dick, "I thank you for your promptitude in bringing
me this information, and also for the assurance of your sympathy with
the cause of the Queen. Doubtless ye have already recognised that we,
too, are wholly and unreservedly on her side, to such an extent, indeed,
that we are resolved not to depart from Ulua until her Majesty and her
authority are firmly established. Not only so, but we intend to do
everything in our power to bring that consummation to pass. I speak for
my Lord Earle as well as myself. You corroborate me, don't you?" he
added, turning to Earle.
Earle nodded emphatic assent, and Dick resumed:
"Is your sympathy with her Majesty strong enough to induce you to
co-operate with us in her cause, my lord?"
"Assuredly," assented Lyga, "else had I left ye to learn of Sachar's
escape at your leisure."
"Good!" approved Dick. "Being strangers among you, we are naturally to
a very great extent ignorant of the characters of Sachar and those who
are likely to take part with him against the Queen; therefore we shall
be glad to hear your opinion as to the probable outcome of Sachar's act
of defiance. How, think ye, will it end?"
"I will tell you," answered Lyga. "Knowing Sachar and his ambitions so
intimately as I do, I think this is what has happened and will happen.
Sachar doubtless went direct from the Council Chamber to his own home,
provided himself with all the money he could lay his hands upon at the
moment, and then probably proceeded to the house of Nimri, the husband
of his sister, where, having explained the happenings of this morning,
he has arranged with Nimri to manage his affairs for him, collect his
moneys, and provide him with such funds as he may need, from time to
time. These arrangements made, Sachar will almost certainly go into
hiding, and, from his place of concealment, endeavour to organise a
revolt against the Queen's authority, with the object of either
dethroning her, or--if the people will not permit that--compelling her
to marry him."
"So," said Dick, "that means something very like civil war, does it
not?"
"It does," agreed Lyga, tersely.
"And, in such an event, how think ye will it go?" demanded Earle.
Lyga considered deeply. "It is a difficult matter to forecast," he
presently replied. "On the one hand, such a thing as a revolt against
the royal house has never yet occurred in Ulua, and, broadly speaking,
the Uluans, as a people, will be opposed to it. For it would be an
upsetting of one of Ulua's fundamental laws, and the people at large
will naturally argue that if it is possible to upset one law, it will be
possible to upset others, with consequences which no man can foresee.
On the other hand, Sachar is, far and away, the most powerful and
influential man in the kingdom. There are few, if any, who love him,
but there are many who, believing in his power, may be prepared to help
him in the hope of being lavishly rewarded in the event of his being
successful, while there are many more--probably thousands--who, directly
or indirectly, are so dependent upon his favour that they will feel they
have no choice but to help him, if called upon. And you may rest
assured that he _will_ call upon every man who is in the least degree
under his influence. I fear it will be found that he will have a very
large following."
"In that case," said Dick, "it appears to me that prompt and energetic
action is called for. And right here, my Lord Lyga, is where you can be
of the utmost service. I know little or nothing of the laws by which
Ulua is governed, while you, I understand, have them at your fingers'
ends. Tell me, therefore, how far does my authority, as Captain-General
of the Queen's Bodyguard, extend?"
"It extends just as far as her Majesty may be pleased to permit,"
answered Lyga. "You are entitled, even without obtaining her Majesty's
express permission, to take whatever steps you may deem necessary for
the protection of the Queen's person; and, beyond that, you have only to
obtain her Majesty's permission to render lawful any act performed by
you in the maintenance of law and order."
"I see," returned Dick. "It would appear, then, that my powers are
tolerably wide. Are they wide enough, think you, to justify me in
seizing, on behalf of the Queen, all property belonging to Sachar?"
"With what object?" demanded Lyga.
"Primarily, to deprive him of what we English term `the sinews of war,'"
replied Dick, "or, in other words, the means to organise a campaign; and
secondarily, with the object of impressing upon all whom it may concern
that we who are taking the side of the Queen are fully prepared to
suppress with a strong hand any attempt to deprive her of any of her
rights or of her liberty."
"By Kuhlacan!" ejaculated Lyga. "Are ye prepared to adopt such
stringent measures? We Uluans are a little apt to deprecate force, a
little apt to parley and bargain, to compromise. I think that, as a
people, we are so timorous that we would concede almost anything in
order to avoid strong measures. And that is where Sachar has already
the advantage. He is not timorous; on the contrary, he is bold,
courageous, overbearing--he frightens people into surrendering to his
will. And if ye also are prepared to be firm, resolute, fearless, I
believe ye will conquer; for if once the people can be brought to
realise that your determination is as strong and unshrinking as that of
Sachar, there are many who will fear to join him, lest he fall and they
fall with him. But it will not be well that the Queen shall be
personally involved in the struggle which I foresee. She must remain
personally aloof, passive and detached from it. The issues will be of
too grim and strenuous a character for her to be brought into personal
contact with them. She is too young, too inexperienced, too
tender-hearted to grapple successfully with them; at a critical moment
when perhaps her throne, her liberty, possibly even her very life, may
be hanging in the balance, she might be tempted to yield, rather than
fight for what is rightfully her own, in order to avert bloodshed. That
is a trait of her character upon which Sachar will confidently reckon,
therefore we who have her interests at heart must safeguard her from the
effects of untimely weakness by inducing her to invest you with full
power and authority to act in her behalf as may seem to you best,
without being obliged first to submit the point to her. Thus, you and
Sachar, not she, will be responsible for what may happen. Does such a
prospect make you shrink?"
"It does not, friend Lyga," answered Dick.
"I am glad to hear you say so," returned Lyga, "for your view accurately
coincides with my own. Would that I were young enough actively to
support you! But what matters? My brain will be worth more to you than
thews and sinews, and I tell you, my Lord Dick, that the best my brain
can offer is and shall be at all times freely yours. I am ready, if
need be, to back my wisdom and cunning against Sachar's courage and
strength. And now, see ye, I advise that ye take immediate steps to
seize every item of Sachar's property and goods that ye can lay hands
upon. Give the matter into the hands of Acor, who met ye at the gate
when ye first entered Ulua; he is a good man, staunch and--I believe--
faithful, and such orders as ye may give him he will execute.
Meanwhile, I will retire to mine own quarters and will there prepare a
parchment investing you with full power to act as you may deem necessary
in defence of the Queen's peace. And to-morrow you and I will go
together and beseech her Majesty to sign it."
"Jove! the plot is thickening, with a vengeance," exclaimed Dick, when
Lyga had left them. "But," he continued, "what puzzles me is, how it
comes that _I_ am suddenly boosted to the front and the top in such an
extraordinary manner. What I mean is, that up to the present _you_ have
been _persona grata_ here, and now, without rhyme or reason, it seems to
me, I am pitch-forked--"
Earle smiled as he laid his hand on Dick's shoulder.
"My dear chap," he said, "if, as you say, I have thus far been the more
important individual of the two here in Ulua, you know as well as I do
that it has been solely by virtue of this Kuhlacan amulet that I wear.
But you have only to glance into one of those mirrors which reflect our
images to understand in a moment why a young girl like Queen Myrra
should instinctively turn to you, rather than to me when--"
"Oh, I say! that's the most utter rot, you know--" began Dick, blushing
furiously. But Earle again interrupted him.
"Rot, or not, my young friend," he said, "it is human nature, which,
take my word for it, is pretty much the same all the world over.
Besides, you must remember that it was you who intervened so vigorously
when that bounder, Sachar, threatened the Queen; therefore it was but
natural that when those other johnnies began to protest against the
illegality of your order for Sachar's arrest, her Majesty should at once
invest you with the necessary authority to legalise your order. And,
having made you Captain-General of her bodyguard, she will of course
look to you to discharge the functions of the post. And as for me, I
tell you frankly that I think, in choosing you, she showed herself to be
a very wise little woman; for you are accustomed to responsibility and
command. You go ahead, youngster, and fear nothing. I'll back you up
to the last cent, whatever you do; and always remember that whenever you
feel in need of information or advice, you have wise old Lyga to fall
back upon, and he is a host in himself."
Thus reassured, Dick Cavendish summoned a servant and forthwith
dispatched him to the adjacent barracks in which the officers and men of
the bodyguard were lodged, with a message requesting Captain Acor's
immediate attendance. And when, about a quarter of an hour later, Acor
put in an appearance, Dick briefly recounted to him the morning's
happenings, and wound up by directing him to tell off a sufficient
number of men and with them proceed to search for and arrest Sachar, to
take possession of and occupy not only Sachar's residence, but every
other building belonging to the man, and to seize and lodge in a place
of security all Sachar's horses, slaves, and other property capable of
being moved. Acor readily undertook to do this, assuring Dick that he
believed he could enumerate every item of property belonging to Sachar,
and that he would permit nothing to escape him. But he expressed some
doubt as to his ability to arrest Sachar, who, he doubted not, had
already found a secure hiding place. Dick was greatly gratified to
observe that Acor seemed ready to take orders from him without evincing
the slightest symptom of envy or jealousy at the fact of Dick being put
over him, for he had rather feared something of the kind from all the
officers of the bodyguard.
Late in the evening, Acor returned to the palace and reported that he
had seized every particle of Sachar's property, but had been unable to
discover the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the man himself, all
his inquiries being met with the assurance that none of his relatives
had seen anything of him since his departure from his house, that
morning, to attend the meeting of the Council of Nobles. Acor added
that, while he had not the slightest doubt that this statement was in
the main true, he had just as little doubt that certain of the persons
whom he questioned had lied, and among them he strongly suspected
Sachar's major-domo, and the Lord Nimri, Sachar's brother-in-law. The
former of these, however, as Acor pointed out, could render no further
assistance to his master, since he and his fellow servants were now
under the strict surveillance of the officer who had been put in
possession of Sachar's principal dwelling; while, as for Nimri, he too
was under surveillance, Acor having instructed two smart, keen servants
of his own to relieve each other in maintaining a strict watch upon the
noble's movements and to follow him whithersoever he might go, reporting
to Acor regularly as they went off duty.
At the moment it appeared to both Dick and Earle that these precautions
would prove sufficient, and would doubtless lead, in the course of a day
or two, to the arrest of the recalcitrant noble; but when three days had
passed bringing no news of Sachar, they decided upon the adoption of
further measures and, having in the meantime, with Lyga's assistance,
obtained the Queen's signature to the document giving Dick _carte
blanche_ to act in any manner that he might deem fit, Cavendish
published a Proclamation declaring Sachar an outlaw, offering a
substantial reward for such information as should lead to his arrest,
and pronouncing outlawry against any and all who might be found to have
afforded him refuge or succour of any kind.
This drastic step, they fully believed, would result in Sachar's
discovery and arrest, especially as every house belonging to Sachar, and
every person suspected of being in the slightest degree likely to help
or even sympathise with him, was being strictly watched; but day after
day went by with no discovery made, no smallest scrap of information
coming to hand; and meanwhile the preparations for the state obsequies
of the late king were so far advanced that at length the date was fixed
for the ceremonial, which was to be of unparalleled pomp and
magnificence.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE FIGHT IN THE ROAD.
The morning of the day which was to witness the imposing ceremonial of
the obsequies of the late King Juda dawned brilliantly bright and fair,
to the unqualified satisfaction of the Uluans, every one of whom counted
upon witnessing some portion at least of the pageant, while the greater
number were resolved to see practically the whole of it, and, with that
intention, arose about midnight and betook themselves along the road
leading to the royal sepulchre, which was a great cavern, situate some
eight miles from the city, in the interior of which the bodies of the
monarchs of Ulua had been deposited from time immemorial.
With the first appearance of dawn the streets of the city had begun to
assume a festive appearance, which, to Dick and Earle at least, seemed
distinctly incongruous until it was explained to them by Lyga--who came
to them early--that the pageant was in nowise intended to be typical of
a nation mourning the loss of its monarch (the theory being that the
monarch never dies), but rather of the nation doing honour to one who,
after ruling them wisely and well, has laid him down to enjoy a
well-earned rest.
It was not, however, to furnish this explanation that Lyga had presented
himself at such an early hour, but rather to inquire what progress, if
any, had been made in the quest for the missing Sachar.
Dick was obliged to reply to this that, notwithstanding his utmost
efforts, and in the following up of innumerable clues which had proved
to be false, he had been unable to discover the whereabouts of the
missing man, who indeed had disappeared as effectually as though the
earth had swallowed him up.
"I feared so; I feared so," commented Lyga, in response to Dick's
explanation. "I am inclined to the belief that he is being harboured by
some friend whose power and influence are so great that he believes
himself strong enough to defy you. And I fear that, all this time,
Sachar has been using his own influence and that of his friend to plot
some scheme whereby he may secure possession of the Queen's person for a
sufficient length of time to compel her to marry him. Hitherto this has
been impossible, for the simple reason that, thus far, her Majesty has
never left the precincts of the palace, where of course she is safe.
But to-day her Majesty goes forth to render the last honours to her
beloved grandfather, and to witness, according to custom, the deposition
of his body in the royal sepulchre; to-day, therefore, an opportunity
may arise for the conspirators to attempt to secure possession of the
Queen's person, if they deem themselves strong enough. And if not
to-day, the opportunity must soon present itself; for it is manifestly
out of the question that her Majesty shall become virtually a prisoner
in her own palace. She must of necessity frequently go abroad and show
herself to the people, otherwise they would soon begin to think, and to
say, that she is afraid of Sachar; and that would but strengthen
Sachar's hands and weaken her own.
"But mark ye this, my lords. It is in my mind that if, as I very
strongly suspect, it is Sachar's intention to secure possession of the
Queen's person, the attempt is likely enough to be made to-day, for the
reason that to-day all Ulua will be abroad, and therefore it will be the
easier for a large body of Sachar's adherents to assemble together, and
maybe form part of the funeral procession, without exciting comment or
suspicion."
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning when, the great wrought
copper gates at the main entrance of the palace having been swung open,
the queen's chariot emerged therefrom and was carefully piloted to its
station immediately in the rear of the funeral car, to which, in the
meantime, twelve magnificently caparisoned white horses had been yoked,
the great cloths which covered the animals from head to heel being made
of purple silk, lavishly embroidered in silver thread and weighted at
the edges with heavy silver tassels. Their heads were decorated with
long plumes of the royal colours, and their bridles were fringed with
purple silk bands, scalloped and heavily embroidered in silver. All the
horses taking part in the procession, from those in the queen's chariot
down to the humble vehicle drawn by a single animal, were caparisoned
exactly alike, by strict regulation. And after the chariots, some of
which were drawn by six horses, yoked three abreast, came those who, not
being wealthy enough to own a chariot, must follow on foot.
The horses having been yoked to the funeral chariot, Dick Cavendish
mounted his powerful charger and gave the order for the bodyguard to
form round it and the queen's chariot, which was at once done, the
troopers forming a cordon six deep, which completely enveloped the two
chariots. At the same moment the great doors of the temple were thrown
open, and the priests, to the number of about one hundred and fifty,
clad in white robes and turbans edged with turquoise blue, filed out
through the portals of the building, walking with slow and measured
steps, and playing a kind of dirge upon their queer-looking musical
instruments, of which the most numerous consisted of long curved
trumpets formed of a kind of terra-cotta. Zorah, the high priest,
marched in the van bearing aloft a pole surmounted by an effigy of
Kuhlacan, the Winged Serpent, while on either side of him walked
acolytes swinging censers charged with certain aromatic substances,
smouldering and throwing off thin wisps of perfumed smoke.
Down the great flight of the temple steps came the priests, and across
the square, until they reached the foremost files of the bodyguard, when
they wheeled to the left and proceeded along the appointed route, the
funeral car and the rest of the procession getting into motion close
behind.
Proceeding at the solemn pace which had been set by the priests at the
outset, the funeral procession slowly wended its way along the road
toward the place of sepulture, the route being lined on either hand by a
continuous crowd of people of the humbler classes, who knew that it
would be hopeless for them to attempt to file past the bier while it
stood in the great square before the palace, the time allowed for this
being only sufficient to permit the nobles and the more affluent classes
to pay this last tribute to their dead king; those, therefore, who could
not do this adopted the alternative of assembling along the highway and
casting their little bouquets of flowers upon the road when the head of
the procession approached.
The journey from the square to the great plain before the rocky cliff
which contained the royal sepulchre occupied practically four hours, and
another two hours elapsed before the tail end of the procession arrived
and was arranged in position to witness the elaborate ceremony attending
the consignment of the body to its last resting place; thus it was after
sunset and the brief dusk of the tropics was falling upon the plain,
enveloping it in a veil of mystery and cloaking many of the movements of
the enormous crowd assembled, when at length, after the observance of
the final rites, the queen, followed by such nobles as were entitled to
be present, and the priests emerged from the great cavern. The funeral
ceremonies were over, and it now only remained for those who had taken
part in them to get back to their homes as speedily as might be.
Dick, in his capacity as Captain-General of the Queen's Bodyguard, and
Earle, in the character of a highly distinguished individual closely
connected in some mysterious fashion with the god Kuhlacan, were
awaiting her Majesty at the entrance of the cave, and immediately upon
her emergence they each offered her a hand and proceeded to lead her to
a chariot, which was awaiting her at some little distance, the troopers
of the bodyguard closing up in the rear of the trio and thus cutting
them off from everybody outside the cordon.
No sooner was this accomplished than Earle began hurriedly to address
the queen in a low voice: