WE WITNESS A DARING DEED
Having armed ourselves with the electrites, each putting on a fresh
belt, we concealed the precious gas-jacket beneath a divan. True, there
was but one for nine of us, but it meant that one person in the party,
at least, would be able to leave the valley at will, and that counted
for a good deal with those in our present uncomfortable position. Paul
even thought the inflated jacket might be made to float two, at a pinch.
At present there was no suggestion of any one’s taking advantage of the
find to run away from his comrades; but it was a satisfaction to us all
to know we had recovered the jacket. Plenty of themlyne crystals were in
the chest left to us, and the little case attached to the jacket was
filled with them, in readiness for any emergency.
None of us slept much during the rest of that eventful night, unless it
was Pedro, who was so exhausted he needed to regain his former strength.
Next morning we foraged for breakfast, not permitting any of the priests
to enter the room lest they spy their leader as our prisoner. They were
a very subdued crowd, by this time, and gave us no trouble.
But the question was how to visit Ama in a bunch, as she had requested,
and still leave old Katalat a safe prisoner in our room. Finally we
solved the problem by deciding to take him with us.
“Now that we are armed,” said Paul, “even the Waba Pagatka will hesitate
to interfere with us. But the valley is so utterly demoralized just now
that I scarcely think we shall be attacked.”
The sky still retained its sombre hue, and Nux, who was born in a land
subject to earthquakes, shook his head and predicted more trouble for
the Vale of Tcha.
“When one quake come,” he said, “three quakes come. Each is more badder
than de odder.”
We had had two already, and anything worse than last night’s performance
was surely to be dreaded. But we were not borrowing trouble just then.
We found great confusion in the quarters of the priestesses. Their
palace had not suffered so much damage as that of the priests, but huge
stones from the mountain side littered the ground everywhere. The beauty
of this retreat was evidently spoiled for some time to come.
We had met with no interference on the way, although the priests
gathered to watch us march their leader away as our prisoner. Ama,
however, was startled to see Katalat in bonds and at once ordered us to
release him. We did so reluctantly, and when she demanded an explanation
Paul said we considered the new High Priest dangerous to us all. Katalat
smiled grimly at hearing this, but said nothing.
“He is a Tcha,” remarked Ama, proudly, “and a faithful servant of our
great and glorious god, the Sun. In his youth he was our record-keeper
and librarian, being skilled in literature and the arts. Such a one can
be dangerous only to the enemies of the Tcha.”
But she was too distressed over the condition of the valley and her dead
and suffering subjects to dwell upon this incident long, and eagerly she
begged us to advise her what to do to restore a semblance of order and
comfort as quickly as possible. Being travelers of wide experience, she
added, we ought to know how to handle such a condition better than the
Tcha, who were seemingly stunned by their misfortune—the first of its
kind that had overtaken them since they had occupied the valley
thousands of years ago.
We counseled her as well as we could, and it seemed a good omen that
just then the sun appeared in the sky and sent his warming rays to flood
the stricken valley. Of me the girl seemed much afraid, saying I had
predicted the calamity that had overtaken them, and in addition to being
a seer she imagined I might be a wizard, as well, and by diabolical arts
had wrought all this desolation. It amused me to be accorded such
powers, but I am sorry to feel that pretty Ama was afraid of me.
Paul suggested that she call a meeting of the principal inhabitants at
the great theatre, or assembly hall, and there give them instructions
what to do, as well as an encouraging speech. She caught at this plan
eagerly and dispatched her messengers at once. Meantime Chaka and
Allerton gave the girl much good advice, and Archie and Joe aided them
quite effectually. She would not listen to me at all, so I kept silent.
All this time the new High Priest stood dumbly listening to the
conservation. He took no part in the conference himself, even when the
Supreme Ruler appealed to him, and I thought his conduct that of a cad
and a cur. After Ama he held the highest rank in the Vale, and it
certainly was his duty to assist her in her present trouble. But no; he
kept his mouth shut and his wild roving eyes fixed intently on our
faces.
Presently the messengers returned to say that the people were assembling
at the theatre, and Ama immediately prepared to join them. She must deck
herself in her imperial robes, it seemed; so we were requested to meet
her just at the edge of the city and accompany her to the meeting. She
noticed our electrites but did not ask in what manner we had recovered
them. Also she noted Pedro’s presence, and that the supposed sacrifice
was still alive and well; but not a word concerning him passed her lips.
She was intent on more important matters.
While we waited in the grounds Chaka made a trip to our room and put on
the gas-jacket, covering it with his flowing tunic. This he did at
Allerton’s request. The High Priest, being now free, had rejoined his
satellites and we saw them all whispering together before they marched
away in a body to the meeting. Doubtless old Katalat meant to cause
trouble, if he could.
We followed them slowly, halting just without the circle of buildings to
wait for Ama. I thought she would come in the golden electric chariot
she used on state occasions, but because of the rocks and debris that
cluttered the way she was obliged to walk.
The High Priestess and her escort made an impressive appearance,
nevertheless. First came six young girls swinging censers; then Ama
alone. Following her were the Virgins of the Sun in their snow-white
gowns.
At her signal we went ahead and were approaching near to the theatre
when the final calamity overtook this devoted land.
The clear sky had nothing to do with the third earthquake. It came
unheralded, without an instant’s warning. A sound as of a heavy sea
dashing against breakers was followed by so mighty a crash that every
living creature in the Vale of Tcha reeled and fell headlong.
It was all over, then. A mere instant had wrecked the beautiful city and
buried hundreds in its ruins. More than that, as we rose dazed and
trembling to our feet we saw that the south end of the huge mountain had
split in twain, and through the rift we could look far out upon the
plains toward the Great Lake and the City of Itza.
But now another horror confronted us. The ground of the valley had
likewise split into big cracks, one of them almost at our feet. The
censer girls had disappeared; the Virgins had likewise been swallowed up
or had rushed back to firmer land. But there, upon a tiny island formed
by two irregular chasms, stood Ama, erect and motionless, while the bit
of ground that supported her slight and beautiful form swayed visibly to
and fro, as if hesitating which way to plunge its fair burden into the
black gulf below.
I saw a flash and felt a rush of air past me as Chaka made a great leap
and alighted at the girl’s feet. For a moment I thought they were both
about to be engulfed, but he steadied her with one hand as he knelt
beside her, while with the other he fumbled with the valve of the
themlyne case. He had cast aside his tunic before he made that wonderful
leap, and as we stood spellbound, watching him with throbbing hearts, we
could see the gas-jacket slowly swell as the powerful gas was generated
and rushed into it.
It seemed a desperate chance to take; there was scarcely any foundation
to support the swaying bit of ground, which was crumbling away before
our very eyes. A few seconds now would end it all, and we stared
helplessly, with a sickening dread of the impending tragedy.
Chaka straightened up, gained his feet and passed an arm around Ama’s
waist. She appeared not to notice him; her face was white and set, her
eyes turned steadily ahead to the spot where Paul stood with clasped
hands, praying as he had never before prayed in all his life.
Chaka and Ama swayed with the little island, which toppled and fell with
a roar into the abyss. Slowly—slowly but surely—they two sank after it,
the girl clasped tightly in the atkayma’s arms, and disappeared from our
view.
Archie and I caught Allerton as he sank unconscious and inert to the
ground. Joe had run away, for some reason. I was scarcely able to stand,
myself, and the cry of horror from the throng of people who, rushing
from the theatre, had witnessed this scene, conspired to unman me still
further.
But a sudden revulsion of feeling came, for above the huge crack
appeared Chaka’s head—rising, gradually rising, an inch at a time—until
he was again in full view, the girl still clasped in his arms. She had
fainted, and lay with her golden red hair streaming over the atkayma’s
shoulder.
We shouted for joy, then, and all the Tcha behind us echoed the shout,
for once startled out of their inbred apathy.
Straight up, to some twenty feet above the chasm’s edge floated Chaka,
and then remained stationary. The gas-jacket was inflated to its fullest
extent, but was not light enough to carry the double burden higher. No
air stirred; here was no way to succor the pair, it seemed, or bring
them to firm ground.
We had reckoned without Joe, however. I never knew where the boy found
that rope, or how he came to think of running search of it. But now the
line shot into the air, in true sailor- or cowboy-fashion, and Chaka
managed to grab it with one hand while he clung to Ama with the other.
Then Joe slowly and steadily drew them away from their dangerous
position to where we stood with outstretched arms eager to receive them.
The assistance came none too soon, for the gas was escaping through a
defect in the valve and without the aid of the rope Chaka would soon
have made a second and final descent into the gulf. As it was, he was
barely above the edge when we drew him in.
The Maya was as calm and cool as if no danger had threatened him. Some
Tcha women brought water and took charge of Paul and the High Priestess,
trying to restore them to consciousness. While they worked, without
warning the crack came together with a sound like a thunder-clap, the
impact throwing us all upon our faces again. Only an uneven ridge of
crumpled earth marked the line where the great jagged opening had
extended half way across the valley.
Chaka, standing beside me, gave an involuntary shudder.
“There was fire below us,” he said in an awed tone, “and that was what
caused Ama to faint. Under this mountain is a great volcano. It has been
burning for countless ages, biding its time, and the people knew it not
until the crouching monster rose to-day in its might and vanquished
them.”
“See!” I exclaimed. “The cleft in the mountain side is still open.
Beyond is your own country, Chaka.”
“Yes,” he replied, with an accent of sadness; “the hidden city is hidden
no longer.”