LOVE AND JEALOUSY.
Once more we were ushered into the large and lofty room which was to
be our prison house. Our guards withdrew, the massive door swung back,
moved by hidden automatic action, and we were left to our own sad
reflections.
"Oh, for the good _Sirius_, with everything in order!" sighed Graham.
"We would soon show these Martial hosts that we are not the poor weak
fools they take us to be."
"Tut, tut, Graham," said the Doctor, cheerily. "The game seems against
us now, but we may hold the trump cards yet, man! Besides, you have
evidently made a conquest," he continued, with sly humour, "and that
fair Martial maiden may yet prove a guardian angel."
"Ah, Doctor, sanguine as ever! What a hopeful old boy you are! But I,
for one, seem to think we are in a deuce of a hole this time," said
Temple, with just a tinge of irritation in his voice.
"I don't see the least call for any such joke at my expense, Doctor,"
said Graham, smilingly. "But there, it is best to look on the bright
side of things."
"Ah, now I was right, after all! Graham, the fair lady who seems so
grieved about us, little dreams that she has made a conquest too!"
"Doctor, I feel peckish mysel', and I ken puir old Rover misses his
supper. Surely they dinna mean starvin' o' us!"
"All in good time, Sandy; all in good time. Here's a biscuit for Rover,
I happened to put in my pocket this morning," remarked the Doctor,
good-humouredly.
"Well, Temple," he continued, "we have evidently been respited for
some reason or other. That looks as though these strange people were
not altogether unfriendly disposed towards us. We must make a lot of
allowance for them, after all. Think what a fuss five beings from Mars
would make, were they to drop from the sky into Trafalgar Square or
Palace Yard, some fine day; and that, mind you, after killing in cold
blood an innocent farm-labourer at Ealing or Hendon! Why, all London
would be wild with excitement, and a righteously incensed populace
would be clamouring for their immediate trial and execution--the
evening papers, especially! We take these inoffensive people by
surprise, and, really, we are fortunate in having been able so far to
conciliate them as to gain time--and that is all we want. We shall
be----"
But the Doctor was interrupted by the door swinging open, and Kaosp
making his appearance once more, accompanied by the two attendant
guards, and five servants bearing dishes. These dishes were of the
costliest description, evidently of fine gold, beautifully chased, with
curiously-shaped leaves and flowers, the like of which we had never
seen before. Each servant bore his dish in silent state, and placed it
upon the inlaid marble table, then, bowing low, withdrew. The guards
stationed themselves one on either side of the doorway, and then Kaosp
advanced, and in his unknown tongue, assisted by signs, conveyed to us
the fact that it was by the King's desire that this food was brought,
and that we were to sit down and eat. We began to look on Kaosp almost
as a friend; he seemed equally to be kindly disposed towards us, for he
smiled and smote his breast--evidently a salute--as he and his guards
departed.
"Come, come," said the Doctor, "this is not so bad, after all. We must
try and pick up their language, and then I have no doubt, by being able
to explain ourselves, we shall be safe with these people. Now, Sandy,
uncover our dishes, and let us see on what strange food we are expected
to fare."
"Do, Doctor, be serious!" remarked Temple. "What are you going to do?"
"Why, eat, of course, man, since these captors of ours have
condescended to supply us with the wherewithal to do so. I must
confess, in spite of our bad luck, I begin to feel uncommonly hungry,"
said the Doctor.
It was all no good, however; Temple seemed thoroughly cast down, and
all that we could do or say failed to arouse him from his despondent
mood.
Sandy was soon at work, and we found that under each larger cover was a
dish divided into compartments, in which a variety of tempting-looking
food was placed. We had flesh of various kinds, a liquor like clear
soup, fruits, and square tablets of what appeared to be bread, yet
very fruity to the taste. The large vase-like vessel contained pure
water, and round the lower rim were hung several smaller vases, which
were evidently to be used as drinking-cups. Two curious instruments
were attached to each dish, which took us some time to comprehend their
use. The larger was fashioned something like a spoon, fastened in a
carved wooden handle, yet one edge was sharp, and it was ultimately
discovered that this served the purpose of knife and spoon in one. The
other, a sharply-pointed piece of gold, also set in a handle of carved
wood, we took to be a fork, and used it as such. We found the flesh,
and one of the dishes of green vegetables, excellent, but the fruit,
and what we must call bread, was not very palatable to us.
"I doubt not that if we live here long," remarked Graham, "we shall
acquire a taste for the other viands. We can't expect to find
everything suited to the tastes and customs of the men of Earth."
"That's true, Graham," said Temple, who was fast recovering his
spirits, and beginning to take a more cheerful view of our situation.
"It's astonishing what a difference a little food makes, in a hungry,
even in a despondent man."
Our meal was quickly finished, Sandy taking good care that Rover had a
plentiful portion of the feast. Then Graham produced his well-filled
case, and each one of us enjoyed the precious luxury of a really good
cigar--a "Bock" of the choicest quality.
"Make the most of them, my comrades," said Graham, striking a wax taper
on the end of his silver match-case. "I have but a dozen, and heaven
knows when we may get more. There's a score boxes left, at least, in
the _Sirius_, but I suppose they are lost to us for ever."
In the middle of our smoke Kaosp appeared with his guards, and great
was his and their amazement to see us smoking. This is evidently an
art unknown to the people of Mars--tobacco, apparently, being a plant
with which Earth alone is blessed. By some curious action of his, a
door in our prison opened and revealed to us another chamber, fitted
up with luxuriant couches, soft as eider-down, on which by signs the
friendly soldier informed us we might stretch our weary limbs in sleep.
We passed into this ante room, and with friendly salute Kaosp withdrew,
and the door immediately closed behind him.
It is almost needless to say that we passed a fairly comfortable night,
yet we deemed it wisest to keep watch by turns, in case of surprise.
The Martial moons shone down through the windows of our prison with
great brightness, two of them being visible together, and the planet
Earth (now much lower on the horizon than when we were in the Hall of
Justice) looked like Venus, as we often see her when fairly placed in
the sky of our own world at home.
It is unnecessary here to chronicle all the monotony of our
confinement. One day passed much as another, so far as eating,
drinking, and sleeping were concerned.
We saw a great deal of the commander, Kaosp, and from him we began to
learn the Martial tongue. The Doctor possessed a marvellous aptitude
for acquiring any new tongue on Earth, and this served him in good
stead on the planet Mars. After a week's intercourse with Kaosp he
was able to converse in a broken sort of way, in three weeks he had
mastered sufficient for all ordinary purposes. Temple found it more
difficult; Sandy only picked up a few words and phrases from his
master, but Graham proved himself an apt pupil, and was almost as good
a conversationist as the Doctor, in even less time.
From Kaosp we learned much. He was the only one who acted as our
jailor. We learned that the King had commanded him to teach us their
language, so that we might be prepared to explain ourselves and our
mission to him and his ministers at the trial, which he assured us
was to take place in forty days from the time of our capture. We also
learned that the beautiful being who sat near the King, in the Hall
of Justice, was his own daughter; that her name was Volinè; that she
was her father's idol and his people's pride. Many startling facts did
Kaosp tell us concerning his race. How their span of life averaged
five hundred years, which, as the year of Mars is twice the length of
Earth's, would be a thousand years of our time! How war was unknown
amongst them; one king and one government ruling all civilized beings;
how some parts of Mars were inhabited by savage tribes and semi-human
beasts; how their armies were kept up for protection against these
uncivilized races, and for Court pageantry; and also how one universal
language prevailed. He also told us, among other things, that this
stranger world was but thinly peopled, its inhabitants increasing
very slowly, the results of a marriage rarely producing more than
two or three offspring. That one of the most terrible scourges which
troubled the Martial world was the almost universal loss of memory that
broke out like a plague from time to time, and that owing to this the
people were exceedingly careful in keeping records of their pursuits,
history, and progress. From what we learned from Kaosp, respecting
our preliminary examination in the Hall of Justice, we concluded that
when our trial did take place we should be able to vindicate ourselves
and make friends with these people. So that we looked forward to the
event with eager interest, being most anxious to regain our liberty and
explore this strange world to our hearts' desire.
We also learned from Kaosp that Volinè, the King's daughter, had taken
a great interest in us, and had deigned to make numerous enquiries
about us from him, he being granted an audience each day, to inform her
of whatever portion of our history he had been able to learn. The King
himself was also eager to know how his captives fared, but never once
did he come to see us in person.
On the tenth morning of our imprisonment, Kaosp brought startling news.
Nothing less than that Volinè--Volinè, the King's proud, beautiful
daughter, was coming to visit us, in our prison, some time during the
day. He told us how she had besought him to let her see us; how he had
tried to dissuade her; and how, ultimately, she had commanded him to
take her, and that he had not dared to disobey her wish.
We were all full of expectant curiosity. Attendants came, and
prepared our large room for the unusual visit; and Sandy's pocket
dressing-case--his inseparable companion, even in captivity--was in
great requisition by us all; for each of us felt it incumbent to make
himself as presentable as possible to our fair and distinguished
visitor.
[Illustration: "VOLINÈ."]
She came. The day was nearly spent; the sun, in a sea of yellow
radiance, was just about to sink behind the hills, as our prison doors
were thrown open, and Kaosp, saluting respectfully, with helmet in
hand, ushered Volinè and her attendant maidens into our presence. We
have already alluded to her marvellous beauty, as we saw her reclining
by her father's judgment-seat; but far more did her charms impress us
now, as she swept, with all queenly grace, into our apartment, with
head held high, and flowing golden tresses, mantling over her glorious
bust and shoulders, and falling in silky coils below her waist. Her
outer dress was polished black--a loosely-fitting robe, girdled at the
waist, and which clung in ravishing folds to her stately form. A diadem
of glittering purple stones, like diamonds, encircled her brow, and
her robe was fastened across her left shoulder by a jewelled buckle of
fabulous richness. Though of such commanding stature, she was grace
itself; not a part of her magnificent figure out of proportion with
the rest--a woman, yet a goddess, too. Beauty personified! Her lovely
violet eyes gave an incomparable expression of saintly beauty to her
countenance; and yet there was nothing meek or humble there; fire, and
passion, and unbending will, lurked deep down in their purple, dreamy
depths. No being in female form, whether human or divine, could have
appeared more lovely, as Volinè stood, surrounded by the subdued golden
glory of the setting sun, which poured in at the window, and threw a
halo round her. A murmur of admiration involuntarily burst from each
one of us, as we stood, in rapt astonishment, gazing upon the fair
being before us. Then we each bowed low and respectfully, as she sank
into the pillowed seat which had been provided for her. In truth, it
was an impressive scene. Two Martial maidens stood on either side,
carrying little golden vessels, suspended by chains of the same metal,
and containing a subtle perfume, which soon pervaded our chamber with
its sweetness. Two other maidens bore long, tapering, white wands in
their left hands--in their right hands they had bouquets of rare and
curious flowers.
"Strangers," she commenced in a voice that was singularly sweet and
musical--"for your names I know not--I, Volinè, daughter of the King,
give you greeting. I have bidden our trusty soldier Kaosp conduct me
hither, so that mine eyes may see that it is still well with ye, for
I feel an interest in your fate. My ears are open to any complaint,
which perchance ye may wish to make concerning your treatment in this
our palace, since my royal father and his councillors, in their great
wisdom, commanded that ye be held prisoners here. We dwellers in the
city Edos are not wanting in hospitality to the stranger; but ye are
not our people, not of our world; we know ye not, still, Volinè is your
friend."
Doctor Hermann advanced and kissed the white, ring-decked hand extended
towards him, and did his best to convey our gratitude to the generous
girl; telling her that we were friends, fashioned in the same creative
mould as her own race; and that we came from the star which is known
as Ramos, but to us, its people, as "Earth"; that we had come to study
this new world of hers, and to take back our information, if we were
spared to do so, to our fellow-men.
John Temple was then commanded by Volinè to come forward and salute
her, a mark of royal favour of which he was not slow to avail himself,
as what man would not when the donor was so ravishingly beautiful
as she! Then Sandy was called for, and bidden to bring Rover, too.
Volinè was deeply interested, and asked many questions, through Kaosp,
concerning the Scotsman and his dog.
Volinè's voice was distinctly less commanding in its tone, even
tender, when with some slight hesitation she asked that Graham might
be presented to her; and as he came forward and pressed her hand to
his lips for a moment, we all noticed a blush steal over her lovely
face. As a special mark of her favour, she bade one of her attendant
maidens hand to him the flowers she was carrying. Graham already was,
evidently, held high in her esteem. He was so utterly confounded by
such an unexpected mark of royal favour that, beyond kissing the
hand held out to him, he was unable to utter a word of gratitude, of
compliment, or thanks. Very soon after this the interview came to an
end, and Volinè with her attendants withdrew, leaving us to recover
ourselves as if from some delicious dream. We had had no feminine
society for years, and if the Doctor and Sandy did not miss it,
certainly Graham and Temple did, and appreciated the visit of this
peerless maiden to the uttermost.
Graham had to run the gauntlet of the Doctor's and Temple's chaff
over Volinè's very marked notice of him; but for the first time since
we left Earth he failed to enter into the spirit of our jokes, and
every now and then we caught him as though engaged in deep and earnest
thought. The magic spell of a first love was beginning to work within
him, and from this time forth he would never be the same man again!
"Come, come, Graham, my boy," said Temple on the following day, as the
two sat together after our morning meal; "what is the matter with you?
Why so melancholy? Surely, Volinè's is not the first pretty face you
have seen?"
"Mr. Temple," answered Graham, "your last stray shot has hit the mark.
No woman on Earth, you know as well as I, is so incomparably beautiful
as she. Volinè is a goddess; the soul of Beauty! Would any fellow,
especially situated as I am, fancy free, in the pride of early manhood,
escape from such seductive attractions unscathed? From the moment that
my eyes first fell upon her, I became conscious that I had found my
ideal of female beauty at last--found it, alas! under circumstances
which admit of no hope, however remote, to become ultimately its proud
possessor. I have tried to conceal my feeling from you all; but Love
ever betrays itself. She has filled my thoughts by day, and my dreams
by night. Yes, I love her! and it is at least consoling to be able to
confess my secret to such an old and tried friend as you. It relieves
my feelings in some measure to tell them to another who can show some
sympathy."
"Why, Graham, you must be hard hit indeed! But your chance is not by
any means a hopeless one. From what we can see, Volinè is certainly
interested in us, and in you particularly so."
"But look at the differences of our race and station--ah! and my
position, too, a prisoner, whose very life is threatened," Graham
sighed.
"All the more need for you to put matters in their best light. Go
in and win, man. By doing so, you may gain your heart's desire, and
save us from death. Volinè is all-powerful. Her word is second to the
King's, and she is his only daughter. She looks upon you with decided
favour already; and when once you get that far with a woman, the rest
is easy--it is certainly so with the ladies of Earth; and if we believe
in Doctor Hermann's theory of Universality, the maidens of Mars must be
made of much the same material," answered Temple, laughing.
"What you say, Mr. Temple, certainly puts matters in a different light.
That flickering phantom men call Hope, once more appears before me and
bids me follow; but whither she may lead me is very doubtful."
"I say, Temple and Graham, you two appear to have a very serious topic
for your conversation this morning," said the Doctor, rising from his
seat at the other end of the room, where he had been busy writing
memoranda in his pocket-book.
The Doctor was here interrupted by a visit from Kaosp, who spent the
remainder of the morning with us, helping us to acquire the Martial
language.
In the afternoon we had another visit from Volinè and her maidens. Her
attention to Graham became even more pronounced, and she never seemed
to tire of hearing him tell to her the story of Earth. Indeed, so
much did she appear to enjoy his company, that the Doctor and Temple
felt completely _de trop_. The Doctor appeared annoyed at Graham for
encouraging this flirtation; but Temple was secretly pleased, for he
saw in it a possible escape from captivity.
That night Graham retired to rest earlier than usual, pleading a
headache for excuse. We now had complete use of the two apartments,
thanks to Kaosp, the door separating them having been made to open
and close at our will. The Doctor and Temple remained up, discussing
one thing and another, until a late hour, the conversation eventually
turning to the subject of Volinè and Graham.
"Doctor, I think it is rather a mistake on your part to show such an
aversion to Graham's conduct with Volinè. You were the first to express
an opinion, and even to hint that this girl might be of service."
"How so? It's bound to end in trouble, not only to him, but to us. And
as for the latter part of your remarks, why, it was only a silly joke
on my part."
"I differ from you, Doctor. This woman is all-powerful here. The King
may govern his people, but his daughter governs him; although he may
not know it--what man ever does? And if we can once gain her good
word, say even through her betrothal to Graham, we are absolutely safe!"
"All very well; all very well, Temple, if things would turn out so; but
when do things turn out exactly as we want them? There is much to be
said on the other side of the question. Kings have peculiar ideas as to
rank and station; princesses, even in the nineteenth century, may not
choose their own partners; at least, as far as our world is concerned.
I dare say the King has his own views respecting his daughter, and then
when this foolish affair becomes known, as it surely will, we shall
only incur a still larger amount of royal anger than we do at present.
It is too risky a business, and I will be no party to it. Pray let us
drop the subject, Temple; the hour is late, and we had better go to
rest."
"As you will, Doctor, but as sure as I am sitting here I am convinced
that a love affair between Graham and Volinè is our only chance."
"We shall see, Temple. It is playing a dangerous game with our own
lives as well as his own, and I am just as certain that it will end in
disaster."
Volinè's visits became more and more frequent. Rarely a day passed now
that she did not either come in person, or send one of her attendant
maids with flowers or fruits for the captives, but these gifts were
really meant for Graham alone. She exercised her royal prerogative and
showed her marked preference for him in many ways. We were also allowed
more liberty, presumably through her intercession, and were now even
permitted to walk for a short time each day in an enclosed garden below
our prison windows. This was a great boon, as the close confinement
was beginning to tell upon us greatly, seasoned as we were to the lack
of exercise through our long sojourn in the _Sirius_.
We had been in prison five weeks, when the love affair between
Graham and Volinè assumed a more decided phase. Volinè and he were
lovers; more to each other than either thought or knew. Fierce and
uncontrollable love was smouldering in each heart, requiring but
some accidental spark to set the whole aflame. This was not long in
coming. A secret meeting was arranged between them. Kaosp being Love's
ambassador, he conveyed the welcome news to Graham that Volinè wished
to see him in the grounds. Needless to say, the Doctor was highly
displeased at this; but being in the minority he had the good sense to
let matters take their own course, satisfying himself by warning Graham
of the risk he ran.
Kaosp, too, showed some reluctance to be a party to this meeting. He
feared discovery, and the King's anger; but pressure had evidently
been put upon him, and as the dusk of evening deepened, he came,
and secretly conducted Graham to the garden below. Graham must, of
necessity, tell this portion of our narrative in his own words:
"I followed Kaosp, at his bidding, down the silent, deserted corridors,
and at last felt the cool, refreshing night air beat against my face,
as we passed under an arched gateway of the palace, into the open
grounds. Here he left me, telling me to keep along a narrow pathway,
until I came to an arbour where I was to wait until Volinè joined me.
The night was gloriously fine; the Martial moons were beaming in a
cloudless sky; the stars scintillated sharp as swords in the heavens;
the far-away Earth shone with a dazzling fairness--the star of the
evening. Flowers threw off delicious fragrance, though I could not see
them; here and there a tall, tapering tree, towering far above the
lower vegetation of this wondrous garden, shone out clearly against
the green-hued sky; whilst distant fountains sang their soothing song.
Oh, how can I express the expectant rapture that filled my soul, as
I watched and waited for my darling! With leaden-flighted wings the
moments dragged along; and yet she came not. Was all a dream? If so,
oh God! then let me dream for ever! for the suspense of waiting for
Volinè in that garden fair would be Paradise, compared with the pain of
awaking and finding that all had vanished with my opening eyes.
"Soft, yet distant footsteps at last fell upon my eager ears, and she
for whom I waited came stealthily along towards our trysting-place.
We met as lovers of long standing, even though no single word of love
had passed between us; the kiss I reverently pressed upon her white,
upturned brow, was the first I had ever given her. But the language
of love is universal--neither race nor dialect forms a barrier to the
communication of its sweet secrets one to the other.
"'Volinè, beloved,' I whispered, trembling with joy. 'You, for whom I
have waited so long, have come to me at last!'
"'Oh! man of Ramos, I am so happy to be with thee,' she answered, as I
drew her gently within the shelter of the arbour, and sat down by her
side.
"'Nay, Volinè, will you not call me "Harry"? I ask it as a royal
favour.'
"'But "Harry" is not thy name. Still, to please thee, I will grant thy
request. "Harry!"--"Harry!" is much prettier, too; I had not thought of
that.'
"'But I had, Volinè, and have been longing to hear my name fall from
your sweet lips.'
"'I fear, Harry, that I shall incur my father's anger in coming thus.
I have dared his wrath, because I like thee and thy companions much,
and because I would save thee and them from all harm. Now tell me all
concerning thyself, for my soul is curious to know. Tell me, Harry,
more of that mystic world from whence you came. Are the women of that
world more fair, more beautiful than we? Doth no maid of Ramos hold
thy heart in bondage? Hath not that power you tell me the sons and
daughters of earth call Love, yet had no resting-place in thy soul?'
And as she spoke these last words, Volinè laid her head upon my breast
and gazed up into my face with her radiant love-lit eyes, as though she
would read the innermost depths of my soul.
"'Ah! Volinè, Volinè, of a truth I tell you no woman has yet moved my
heart like you have done,' I answered, gazing down into her peerless
face, my pulses thrilled by the magnetic touch of her soft white hand
resting trustfully in my own, and by the vision of her marvellous
beauty. Her breath intoxicated me with its warm, rich fragrance; her
throbbing heart against my own filled my senses with the wild delirium
of passionate ecstasy.
"'Volinè,' I whispered--'Volinè, the maidens of that Earth Star yonder,
glimmering serenely fair in the evening sky, are good and pure, and
with no mean measure of beauty--even, Volinè, as you are good, and as
you are pure; but such beauty as yours is unknown amongst them. Man
only knows of beauty such as yours in the holy legends of his heaven;
only the angels of his faith are decked in such graces as are yours;
but in his mortal life he knows them not, save by imagination, and as
they have been revealed to him. Such peerless, queenly beauty as yours,
Volinè, no mortal man beheld before; such winning grace, such maidenly
charm, are what we men of Earth would call immortal and divine!'
"'Harry, thy words are sweet unto me, and I feel that they flow from
thy heart; but I would have thee tell me more of that Love, by which
these men of Earth enslave her daughters. Thy words are full of
flattery of my bodily form. Is there nought else to charm thee, and
bind thee closer to me, to unite thine immortal soul to mine?'
"My arm stole gently round Volinè's shapely waist without
resistance--what bliss!--and I drew her yet nearer to me ere I made
reply.
"'Volinè, my darling, I know nothing from experience of this Love of
which you bid me tell, and of which you are so curious to hear. No
woman on that star-world yonder has won it from my heart. Until I saw
you I knew not love; but now its fires consume me. Volinè, I love you
as never man loved woman yet. For you I would die, and in dying glorify
and exalt that love you have inspired! Say, Volinè, that you return my
love, and make my happiness complete.'
"'Harry, thou art dearer to me than all men. Nobles and princes of high
degree have sought to woo me; but until I knew thee, I knew not the
secret of my own heart.'
"'Bless you, dear one, for those precious words,' I answered, trembling
in my great new-found joy. The love that is born of Desire is sweet;
but the mysterious power that welds two hearts together, making them
throb as one, and bringing perfect harmony to both, is sweeter still.
In willing rapture I yielded to the captivity of her arms, which like
bonds of ivory whiteness held me. I felt her smooth cheek against my
own, burning with modesty and love, and in my new-found happiness I
rained hot kisses on her upturned, willing lips. Closer and closer we
stole into each other's arms; our sighs mingled together; time for us
had now no measure; we lived but for each other; and in silent ecstasy
we drank those pleasures that mutual love alone distils.
"'Harken, Harry, someone approaches! I shall die of shame to be
discovered thus, and my father's wrath will be terrible.'
"'Courage, darling; no one shall harm you while I am by your side.' And
I gripped with my right hand my revolver.
"But no one came to disturb the measure of our happiness, and the
joyful moments, all too fleeting, slipped rapidly away.
"'Harry, now I must bid thee leave me; the hour is getting late, and my
absence may be discovered.'
"'Stay, Volinè. On Earth, among my English race, when man makes love
unto a woman, he pledges his troth to her with a ring of gold, set with
jewels or precious stones, which she, the object of his choice, wears
as a token upon the fourth finger of her left hand. So take this ring
of mine as our love-pledge; let me place it on your finger--so--and
promise me to wear it always there for my sake.'
"'Thy words are strange, Harry, for no such custom is known to us. But
what a pretty idea, though! I will take thy ring and wear it as thou
sayest. But thou must have one of mine in return'; and as she spoke,
Volinè slipped a ring of curious workmanship from her finger, and
placed it on my own.
"'Prize it, as thou wouldst prize me; guard it, as thou wouldst guard
thy life; for it is a precious talisman, and was given to my mother by
Echri, the most sacred of our priests. No man of Gathma dare harm or
slay thee, if he knows that ring is on thy hand.'
"'My darling, I will part with it only with my life! Now, one more fond
embrace ere you go; and with it I would crave your promise to meet me
here again at the same hour----'
"But the sentence was never finished, for a Martial, who by his dress
and mien I judged to be someone of high degree, stepped out from the
arbour's shadow into the moonlight, saying in a contemptuous voice as
he came:
"'So, Volinè, it is thee! Meeting one of thy father's base-born
prisoners here, at this hour and alone, to bestow thy favours and to
lose thy honour. Edos shall ring with thy shame before another sun hath
set, and this evil stranger from the star-world Ramos, and all his foul
companions, shall pay with their lives for his insolent temerity this
night.'
"With a scream of terror, Volinè tore herself away from my embrace and
fled towards the palace, leaving me alone with the stranger.
"'Pray, who are you,' I asked, 'to question Volinè's right to meet
whomsoever she may please?'
"'Who am I? Why should I gratify thy curiosity, thou dirt of Ramos? For
little, I would kill thee where thou standest! Get thee back to thy
prison cell, and prepare to die, for die thou surely shalt.'
"'Dirt, am I, you Martial bully? That insult shall be wiped away at
another time and in another place. But by what right do you dictate to
her? Breathe her name in scandal to a living soul, and I will thrash
you like the cur you are. Nay, more, the lying shame you bring upon her
shall be washed away in your own worthless blood.'
"'By the right of being her affianced lover,' he hissed, rather than
spoke, and turning round, walked quickly away into the gloom.
"'Liar,' I shouted, as I watched his retreating form, for a moment
half-inclined to shoot him as he went; but prudence forbade such a
course, and slowly I returned to the arched doorway, where I found
Kaosp anxiously waiting to conduct me back again. Not a word did
I breathe to anyone of my adventure in the garden, although I lay
awake until the yellow dawn, thinking of Volinè and of my rival, and
wondering greatly what the future would bring."