SAVED BY DIROLA
Instantly the ice cavern was a scene of great uproar and confusion. The
procession broke up as soon as Dirola cried out and the intruders at the
sacrifice were observed. All, save those carrying the victim and those
guarding Andy and Washington, rushed with their long bone knives at Jack
and Mark and the two helpers from the airship.
"There are the boys!" cried Andy, trying to break away from those who
held him.
"An' Tom an' Bill is there likewise!" exclaimed Washington, who had
caught a glimpse of the two helpers. "De heathen am goin' to kill 'um!"
"We're here, Jack!" sung out the hunter. "Make the best fight you can,
for we are in terrible hands. The poor professor is done for, I guess,
and we'll soon be, too!"
His voice rang out high above the shouts and yells of the natives, who
were now in a dense circle about the two boys and their companions.
"We haven't anything to fight with!" called back Mark.
"Well, I have!" yelled Andy.
With a quick motion he snatched his arms from the encircling ones of his
captors. His fists went back. There were two quick, sharp blows, and two
of the Esquimaux who were guarding the old hunter toppled backward.
With suddenness that was startling Andy drew a brace of revolvers from
his inner pockets. He leveled them at the mass of white figures in front
of him, on whose fierce faces the colored lights gleamed and flickered.
Andy's fingers trembled on the triggers. He was about to fire.
"Lay low, boys!" he called to the _Monarch's_ crew. "I'll get rid of a
few of these savages before I go!"
"No shoot! No shoot!" screamed Dirola.
She darted from her place, broke through the circle of natives, and
rushed up to where Andy stood with leveled weapons.
"No shoot! Me save!" she cried.
She was all but too late. Andy's fingers had crooked on the triggers,
but Dirola pushed his arms upward, and when the two reports rang out the
bullets struck the icy roof of the cavern.
In the confined space the shots sounded almost like thunder. A silence
that was startling in its suddenness fell as the echoes of the reports
died away. Dirola ran toward the altar. She grasped the arms of the two
big Esquimaux, who had taken Professor Henderson from the litter with
the intention of sacrificing the old inventor.
She cried out one word in a strange tongue.
The men stopped as though she had struck them. Then, with a dramatic
gesture, she mounted to the top step of the altar.
A chorus of cries greeted her. She seemed to pay no heed. Silent and
straight she stood there on the steps of ice, her figure in dark relief
against the background of flickering lights.
The next instant Dirola, with a motion so quick the eye could scarcely
follow, slipped off her suit of black fur, and stood revealed in dress
of white fur, the exact counterpart of that worn by all the others in
the cave.
A low murmur of astonishment ran around the vast cavern. Then, as if by
common impulse, every one kneeled down, Dirola alone of all the
Esquimaux remaining upright. The cave dwellers were bowing down to one
they either feared or loved.
Then Dirola spoke. At first her words were slow. Gradually she talked
faster, until she was speaking a very torrent of sounds. She pointed,
first to the insensible body of the old inventor at her feet, next to
the group of white men and boys, and then to Andy and Washington. She
gave some command, evidently, for no sooner had she ceased than those
who had attacked Mark, Jack and the two farmers drew back, and left them
free.
At the same time, those surrounding Andy and the negro withdrew. Then
some warm furs were thrown over the cold body of the professor and he
was borne gently away.
Dirola glided to where Andy stood, not knowing what to make of it all.
"No be feared now," she said. "They take ole man way an' warm him an'
feed him. He be all right. So you be all right, an' boys an' oder mans.
No be feared now. Them do what I tell 'um!" and she motioned to the
natives, who had risen to their feet as soon as she left the ice altar.
"How in the world did you do it?" asked the old hunter.
"Me chief one--what you call 'um--queen here. Long time go. Me be take
prisoner when you found me. Me come back. Me glad. No let Ingliss mans
an' boys be hurt, nor 'um black man too. Me save. Me be queen agin!"
"How does that strike you?" went on Andy, to Mark and Jack, who had
joined him. "The luckiest thing we ever did was to pick up Dirola."
"To think we should land right among her own people, too!" spoke up
Jack. "It's just like a fairy story."
"But where in the world did you come from?" asked Andy. "We thought you
were all killed by falling from the ship."
"Not a bit," replied Jack, and he told the old hunter what had happened
to himself, Mark and the others. In turn Andy related his experiences.
"If only the poor professor comes around all right we'll be in pretty
good shape," finished the old man. "But I'm afraid he's frozen. I wonder
what they were going to do with him."
"Put him in big hole, where all ice," broke in Dirola. "That what we do
when the lights shine. But we no hurt any you now. You all safe. Me
save!"
"I guess that was their intention," muttered Andy. "They were going to
sacrifice him to the Goddess of Ice, I suppose. Well, well, we certainly
are having plenty of experiences."
Many of the natives had now left the cave. Dirola gave an order to one
of the big Esquimaux who had remained, and he went off on the run.
"We eat now," the woman remarked. "Me plenty hungry too, Professor
come back an' eat wid you."
In a few minutes Professor Henderson, warmly clad, was brought in,
leaning on the shoulder of the big man who, a little while before, had
been about to sacrifice him. The old inventor was weak, but had suffered
no serious harm. His body had been coated with thick oil before the
proposed sacrifice, as part of the ceremony, and this had served, in a
large measure, to keep the cold out.
He was warmly greeted by his friends, and then they all squatted down on
the ice, while in a few minutes a big earthen pot of hot stew was
brought in. Dirola ate with them, dipping her fingers in with the
others.
"It's the first time I ever ate with a queen," said Jack with a smile.
"Me sure queen," said the woman with a laugh. "Me tell you 'bout it."
Whereupon she related how she was of the royal house, and had, on the
death of her father, ascended to the throne. Then came the visit of the
white men, including Andre, whose strange message the adventurers had
found. He was driven, with his companions, from the land. Then the
Esquimaux of Dirola's tribe had been attacked by others living farther
south. A great battle had been fought and the queen and others were
taken prisoners. Dirola had been held captive until the advent of the
_Monarch_.
She did not know how close she was to her own people and the big
sacrificial cave, until she fell into it with the boys and farmers. Then
the procession came in and Dirola recognized Professor Henderson as the
victim. She at once resolved to declare herself, and did so, showing
that beneath the black fur she wore the white robes that none but
members of the royal household could don.
The woman also explained how the big cave was used for religious
services by her people, who worshiped the northern lights, or magnetic
fire that never burned, and she told how they sacrificed to it at times.
"Well, I hope they don't sacrifice any of us," said the professor. "I
was as near death as I ever care to go. I wonder what has become of my
airship. If we--"
"What's that?" cried Jack, starting up.
"Listen!" came from another.
Far off in the cave sounded a strange, wild, weird chant. Then came the
tramp of many feet. A little later a great concourse of people came
rushing into the cave, led by a score of the white-robed men.
"They're coming back after us!" cried Andy. "Here, take a revolver,
Professor, and defend yourself!"