DRORATHUSA
And so it was that we reached, there in the palace of the Droman
queen, our journey's and--certainly a stranger journey than any I ever
have heard of and one that ought to prove of even greater interest to
scientists than to the world in general.
If, however, what they tell of the region is true, an expedition to
the mysterious land that the Dromans call Grawngrograr would make our
journey to Drome look like a promenade to fairyland.
But our journey ended there in the palace, and now it is that my story
rapidly draws to a close.
Probably you will think that, there under the aegis of Lathendra
Lepraylya, we found ourselves in clover. And, in a way, this was
undoubtedly so. We were given each a splendid suite of rooms in the
palace itself, and our lives were as the lives of princes, save that
the close protective guard always kept over us was a reminder that
there was such a personage in the world as one Brendaldoombro.
If it had not been for that vulture-shadow, how wonderful those days
would have been!
But that shadow was there, and it never lifted. And the worst of it was
that everything was involved in the deepest gloom and mystery, what
with our ignorance of the Droman language. Forsooth, however, had we
been masters of that language, we could not have known the plots that
were hatching in the dark skull of Brendaldoombro.
As for the language, we were studying it with diligence, and we really
had cause to be astonished at the rapidity of our progress.
As to the high priest, crafty and consummate villain though he was,
that worthy found that Lathendra Lepraylya was quite his match and more
than his match, as, indeed, was Drorathusa. Against the queen he was,
of course, powerless to take any repressive measure; but the case was
very different with regard to Drorathusa. He could act in this way, and
he did.
She was sent to a distant, lonely, forsaken place on the very outskirts
of the kingdom, or, to be precise, queendom. According to all accounts,
that spot is really a terrible one. Drorathusa was, in fact, in exile,
though Brendaldoombro did not like to hear any one call it that. But
almost everybody did or regarded it as such, and there were murmurs,
not only amongst the Droman people, but even amongst those priestesses
and priests whom the old villain had counted upon to applaud his every
word and act.
Nor did time still those murmurs. On the contrary, they grew louder,
more persistent. Brendaldoombro was learning that it is one thing to
send a person into exile and quite another to banish that person from
the popular esteem. Nor did he stop at banishment; he had recourse to
the assassin's dagger and the arts of the poisoner. But, in all these
attempts upon the life of Drorathusa, he was thwarted by the agents of
the queen. Lepraylya knew her opponent, and had at once taken measures
to safeguard the life of the exiled priestess, who held as high a place
in the esteem of her sovereign as she did in the hearts of the people.
How strange it seems to be writing of things like these in this the
Twentieth Century, the Golden Age of Science! But, as I believe I have
already remarked, Science hasn't discovered everything yet. This is
a stranger, a more wonderful, a more mysterious old globe than even
Science herself dreams it to be.
When our acquisition of the language became a real one, we began to
learn something of the science of Drome and to impart a knowledge
of the wonderful science of our own world. Never shall I forget the
amazement of the queen and those learned men of Drome when Rhodes
brought his mathematics into play. Problems that only a Droman
Archimedes could solve and that only after much labor (what with their
awful notation) Rhodes solved, presto--just like that! So unwieldly
was the system of notation employed by these Hypogeans that even their
greatest mathematicians had been able to do no more than roughly
approximate _pi_.
When Rhodes proceed to the solution of trigonometrical problems,
their amazement knew no bounds. And, when he explained to them that
all they had to do to become masters of such problems was to discard
their cumbersome notation and adopt the simple numerals used by
ourselves--well, I do actually believe that that was the straw that
broke the back of Brendaldoombro's power! For (strange though it may
seem to a world that is more interested in any kind of abracahokum, and
especially any kind of political jiggumbob, than it is in science) that
brought over to our side virtually every learned man in Drome and a
majority of the people themselves. Nor should I forget the priestesses
and the priests. Your average Droman is much interested in all things
of a scientific nature, and no one more so than the true priestess or
priest, though there are, of course, some lamentable exceptions.
Yes, clearly we were men and not demons, else never would we have
brought such wonders as these to offer them as gifts to the Dromans.
But old Brendaldoombro had his answer ready.
"Instead," said he, "that proves that they are not men; only devils
could be such wizards!"
I have often wondered what dark thoughts would have passed through that
dark brain of his had he been there the day that Milton Rhodes showed
Lathendra Lepraylya, all those learned men and all those grand lords
and ladies (ladies and lords, a Droman would say) the marvels of a
steam-engine. Yes, there the little thing was, only two feet or so high
but perfect in all its parts, puffing away merrily, and puffing and
puffing, and all those Dromans looking on in wonder and delight.
Even as we sat there, came word that Brendaldoombro was dead. He had
died suddenly and painlessly just after placing his hand in blessing on
the head of a little child.
Well, they gave him a magnificent funeral.
Peace to his soul.
On the death of the Droman high priest (or priestess) a successor is
chosen, in the great temple in the Golden City, by a synod composed of
exactly five hundred, the majority of whom are usually priestesses. On
the very first ballot, Drorathusa (who was already on her way back from
her lonely place of exile) was chosen.
Priestesses and priests, I should perhaps remark, are free to marry,
unless they have taken the vow of celibacy. This (voluntarily, of
course) many of them do. Drorathusa, by the way, had not done so.
Came, at last, the day when Milton Rhodes told me that he was going to
be married--to Lathendra Lepraylya herself. The news, however, was not
wholly unexpected.
Well, every man of us can't marry a queen--though of queans there are
plenty.
I take the following from my journal:
"They were married today, about ten o'clock, in the great temple; and a
very grand wedding it was, too. Drorathusa herself spoke the words that
made them man and wife, for the sovereign of Drome can be married by
the high priestess or priest only.
"Now, as she proceeded with the ceremony, which was a very long one, I
thought that that pale face of Drorathusa's grew paler still and that
a distraught look was coming into her eyes. Then I told myself that it
was only a fancy. But it was not fancy. For of a sudden her lip began
to tremble, her voice faltered, the look in her eyes suddenly became
wild and helpless--and she broke down.
"A moment or two, however, and that extraordinary woman had got control
over herself again.
"She motioned the attendant priestesses and priests aside; a wan smile
touched her lips as she pressed a hand to her side and said:
"'It was just my heart--but I am better now.'
"She at once proceeded with the ceremony, voice and features under
absolute control. Again she was Drorathusa the Sibylline.
"And so they were married. And may they live happy and very happily
ever after!"
And then, after the great nuptial banquet in the palace, off went the
happy pair in the queen's barge for Lella Nuramanistherom, a lovely
royal seat some thirty miles down the river; whilst I betook myself to
the solitude of my rooms, there to ponder on the glad-sad lot of man,
to hear over and over, and over again, those low tragic words:
"It was just my heart--but I am better now."
"_Amor_," says Saint Jerome, "_ordinem nescit_."
Beautiful, Sibylline, noble, poor Drorathusa!