RIVALS MEET AGAIN.
For three days we stayed with Kios and enjoyed his hospitality. He
literally nursed us back to health and strength; making us savoury,
nourishing dishes with a hunter's cunning, and giving us a preparation
of medicinal herbs, which acted as a powerful tonic on our nerves,
and braced us exceedingly. He gave up his bed to the Doctor, and in
countless ways covered us with kindness. The day before we left his
camp, we prevailed upon him to leave us, and go down the hills into
Pamax to gain tidings of the soldiers who were in search of us. Whilst
he was away we cleaned our firearms, repacked our knapsacks, and made
all ready for starting at dawn on the following day.
Kios returned towards sunset; but eager as we were to learn his
tidings, we would not question him until he had eaten; nor did he
evince any desire to communicate them before.
"Now, good Kios, we would hear your news," said the Doctor, as we drew
round the camp fire and lit our cigars.
"It is not altogether good, as I had hoped," he began. "The people can
talk of nothing else but the men of Ramos, meaning yourselves. Their
excitement hath increased; for some traders, who had journeyed to the
lake of Kimeth, near which ye have told me ye camped, returned to Pamax
yesternight, bringing with them scraps of strange food and other refuse
ye must have left behind. The troops have started thither at dawn this
morning; and what is worse, that villain Perodii is at their head. He
will never rest until ye are all once more in his power, for he bears
ye strange and deadly hatred."
"But, Kios,----" began the Doctor.
"Nay, hear me out, men of Ramos, for I have but few more words to say.
It is fortunate for ye that the troops have gone on this fool's errand;
for they may search far and wide up there, and the time they waste ye
will profit by. Yet, when they return to Pamax, as return they surely
will, Perodii's mood will not be pleasant; and ye may be assured that
the journey to the borders of Chados will not tend to cool his wrath
against ye. Men of Ramos, ye must not linger here; I cannot answer for
your safety longer. These woods will be searched, and it may be at
daybreak. Ye must start for Helmath to-night--nay, at once."
"But we are in ignorance of the way thither, and may lose ourselves in
the darkness," said Temple.
"Trouble not yourselves; for I will guide ye a few hours' journey
hence, and put ye in the path that leads thereto."
"I am afraid, worthy Kios, we shall never be able to repay you," said
the Doctor.
"Ye saved my life; it is but well that I should seek to save yours in
return. Besides, I aim Perodii a blow, through ye--and it is always
sweet to strike one's enemies. Know ye, I was rich and noble once,
with rank and dignity almost as high as he. Through his knavery and
wickedness, I am degraded to the calling of a hunter to the palace,
banished from my home in Edos, and owe what little I now possess--even
my life itself--to the clemency of the King. Some day the truth may
prevail, and I be restored to my rights. Had Perodii honour enough left
to speak, he could accomplish this in few words; yet he remains silent;
and I suffer, because I resented the great wrong he did me. But we
waste time in needless words. Get ye ready, and let us hasten hence;
for the path is heavy, and the way is long."
We reluctantly left our comfortable quarters, and started off with Kios
through the darkness. The night was calm and beautifully fine--just one
of those delicious evenings that make the tropics of Earth so sweet,
when the broiling heat of the day is spent. Kios led us by a circuitous
route down the wooded hillside; and we passed so near to Pamax, that
the roar of its machinery sounded clearly in the night, and the glow
from its thousands of furnaces shone against the sky like a mighty
conflagration.
"The men of Pamax work late," remarked Temple, with a manufacturer's
instinct, and thinking of his own noisy looms at home on Earth.
"The wheels of their machinery are never still," answered Kios. "The
worker's lot is hard, but they are a cheerful community, if their greed
of gain is great."
We soon passed Pamax, with its noise and fire, and reached the calm,
quiet country again. At last the forest was left behind us, and we
walked for an hour across a wide prairie, on which grew herbs of
singular odour. Then we followed the banks of a wide river, and after
passing through a dark and dangerous swampy jungle--something like the
forest of reeds in which we first descended--Kios stopped and said:
"Men of Ramos, here I must leave ye. The night will be nearly spent
ere I get back to the woods of Theloth, and there are those who must
not see me return. Look ye at yonder group of stars," pointing, as he
spoke, to a constellation something like Ursa Major, the Great Bear,
in our own heavens. "Mark ye them well; keep them straight before ye;
and in two hours' march ye will reach the sea. Strike north along the
coast a short day's journey, until ye come to a rocky creek. Follow the
stream that falls therein, skirting the base of a spent volcano; and in
three days' more easy travelling, ye will sight the great observatory
of Helmath, standing on a high hill on your right hand. Behind that
hill is the city itself. Advance ye with caution; and hold no converse
with the men of Gathma until ye reach Helmath; or swift and certain
ruin will overtake ye. Now haste away, and fare ye well."
Without waiting to hear our words of thanks for all his kindness, Kios
waved his hand to us in farewell, and walked away into the gloom. We
travelled slower without his guidance, for the way was rough; and
sometimes clouds obscured the stars, which were our beacon light, and
we had oft to wait until they had drifted by. Instead, therefore, of
reaching the coast in two hours, we were nearly six; and the day was
breaking as the grey waters of the Gathma sea spread far and wide
before us. We were both tired and hungry; and so amongst the rocks on
the beach we made a fire, and had our breakfast. Then we sat and rested
for two hours before beginning our march along the coast.
After crossing some four miles of level sand, we reached a dense
forest, which extended from the margin of the water inland beyond the
range of our vision. Here the curious vegetation was so dense that the
sun failed to penetrate the canopy of foliage; but the ground was bare
of brushwood, and walking was easy and pleasant. Some curious trees,
shaped like a mighty fungus, or an open umbrella, excited our wonder.
They bore no leaves, but threw out a thick, unbroken canopy, of the
colour and texture of an aloe plant, which curved downwards nearly to
the ground; and above this, from the centre of the stem, shot a spike
of crimson flowers, a yard or more in length. Each tree formed an
admirable tent; and many of them seemed to be of vast age; the canopy
being furrowed as with the growth of centuries, the edges torn into
dry and withered ribbons, and the stems of enormous girth. At first we
really took them to be the habitations of human beings or beasts; and
it was not until we had examined them closely that we ascertained they
were really trees.
As we went farther into the forest these curious trees increased in
number and in size; indeed, in some places they covered the ground so
thickly, that it was difficult to walk amongst them; and we found it
best and quickest to make a detour. In passing one of these groves of
vegetable umbrellas, we were startled by a perfect tumult of chattering
cries, and scores of strange beings hurried out from under them and
surrounded us, skipping and hopping about, running to and fro like
fiends in the dusky light of the forest. Had we not seen these singular
beings with our own eyes, we should never have believed in their
existence. They were fashioned much like ourselves from the feet to the
shoulders, the arms, however, being proportionately much shorter--but
there all outward resemblance ceased. Neck they had none, the shoulders
gradually tapering away to the head, which was free from hair, and the
face was intermediate in expression between that of a man, and the
higher or Simian race of beasts. Their bodies were entirely naked,
and of a chalky-brown colour, and they averaged perhaps five feet in
height. So fierce and threatening did these curious creatures become
that we fired our rifles off to frighten them, which had the desired
effect, and they fled in chattering terror, grinning and grimacing
into the trees, and we saw them no more. Whether they were gifted with
greater than brute intelligence we know not; we were too startled and
alarmed to make a closer acquaintance with them. Dr. Hermann himself
was visibly disconcerted; and the rest of us were glad when they
vanished from our sight, Sandy especially so---perhaps he dreaded the
Doctor sending him in quest of one of these curious creatures. Even our
dog refused to go near them, and lay down trembling with fright.
[Illustration: SCORES OF STRANGE BEASTS HURRIED OUT FROM UNDER THEM.]
It seemed incredible that such a race of animals could exist, so near
to so mighty and populous a town as Pamax; but we were in a world of
surprises, and things that appeared unnatural to us, were rational
enough, no doubt, to the dwellers on the land of Mars.
All day we passed through this wonderful forest, now catching a
glimpse of broad daylight as the trees grew less closely together,
then entering a world of shadows and steamy gloom as the canopy became
denser once more. We saw trees that were nothing but bare poles,
tapering to a point far up in the sky, without branch or leaf, except a
little green cup at the summit; others were draped in curiously-curled
foliage; others, yet again, decked in noble, fan-shaped leaves a dozen
feet across. Some put us in mind of the earthly tropics; but the great
majority were entirely new, both in growth and form. The vegetable
wonders around us made us forget our fatigue, and even our hunger. We
never once thought to halt and rest throughout the livelong day; and
we continued walking on and on through the forest until we reached the
creek which Kios had told us we should find at the end of our day's
journey.
It was a wild, lonely spot, enclosed with tall cliffs on either side,
and perhaps half a mile across. The forest continued on the other side
at the top of the rocks, as it ceased on this. We had little trouble
in finding a suitable camping-place by the side of a tiny stream which
tumbled over the cliffs in a shower of spray into the creek below, and
furnished us with fresh water, that of the sea being salt and bitter
to the taste. Here we formed a rude hut of branches, made our fire,
and cooked some of the dried meat that Kios had insisted we should
take when we left his forest-home the previous evening. To-night we
decided that one of us should keep watch while the others slept, in
case of our retreat being discovered by enemies. But the night passed
uneventfully away, nothing occurring to disturb our slumbers or to
break our peace.
We were moving early, and off on our way by sunrise. For the first hour
or so we followed the creek through the depths of the forest; but when
we reached the river the aspect of the country changed considerably. It
was now an undulating park-like land, with groves of scarlet-foliaged
trees.
Far away on the horizon loomed the towering heights of the exhausted
volcano, round whose base was the path we had to follow. The scenery
was very beautiful, but somehow we had not the heart to admire it,
for we felt like fugitives flying to a castle of refuge, through a
land teeming with unknown perils and hidden enemies. We left the
river, as the banks were too steep and uneven to follow, and gradually
ascended the lower spurs of the mountain, that being by far the
easiest route. By noon we halted under the towering crest of the dead
volcano. The sides were steep and rocky, though covered with many
kinds of vegetation, notably a large tree with leaves and flowers
like a rhododendron. Here a deep hollow had become a small lake,
fringed with curious rushes, over whose placid waters a large troop of
white, legless birds, similar to those we saw before, were disporting
themselves.
Here we made a fire, and cooked some food. As we were quietly eating
our meal, we were startled by an exclamation from Graham.
"Look! look!" he cried in an excited tone. "The troops! the troops
from Edos! We are discovered, surrounded!"
The peril of our position was only too true. Stealthily our pursuers
had spread themselves in a wide semicircle from the river, extending
their flanks round either side of the mountain; and, though still
nearly a mile away, they were closing upon us with frightful haste.
"Leave all but the firearms and ammunition, and follow me," shouted the
Doctor, leading the way up the hillside amongst the dense brushwood.
Our movement was noticed at once by the approaching soldiers, and with
a lusty shout they came on in hot pursuit. But the way was rough and
steep, and we had the advantage of being much higher up the mountain
slope than they. For quite two miles we struggled on, without losing
ground or gaining it, until we reached a part of the mountain-side
which was strewn with huge boulders of pumice. Here we lost sight of
our pursuers, although we could hear their shouts and trumpet-calls
below us, and sank down to rest a moment and get our breath. We had not
tarried here for more than half a minute, when Sandy's practised eye
caught sight of a hole in the ground, twenty paces lower down the hill.
We went to examine it, and found that it was a crevice in the side of
the volcano, just large enough at the entrance to squeeze our bodies
through, but soon becoming much larger inside.
"Quick!" said the Doctor, "help me to roll this block of pumice to the
entrance. We can hide in this hole; at any rate, it is a chance--our
only chance. We will place the stone so that, once inside, we can roll
it over the opening, and by this means conceal the hole from view,
should the soldiers happen to pass over the spot."
The huge mass of pumice was exceedingly light, and we found no
difficulty in doing what the Doctor had suggested. One after the other
we scrambled into the hillside crevice, and then Graham, he being the
strongest, managed to pull the stone over us, and we were immediately
in darkness. Now, for the first time, we missed poor Rover; in our
anxiety and excitement we had not noticed him near us for some time;
nor did we ever see the faithful old dog again!
Here for half an hour we remained motionless, huddled together, and
not daring to speak in voices higher than a whisper. We heard shout
after shout from the troopers, and signal after signal from their
loud-mouthed trumpets, and we knew our enemies were baffled, for
we whom they sought so eagerly had utterly vanished! We heard them
clambering over the boulders and dislodging the smaller stones as they
wandered hither and thither round the place where we were concealed:
and once a big warrior, panting for breath, actually came and leaned
against the block of pumice that concealed our hiding-place, and then
went his way! At last, all became still near at hand; we could hear
our enemies in the distance, but the sound they made grew fainter
and fainter, and then ceased altogether. They were gone, and for the
present, at least, we were saved!
Meantime we had not been idle. As soon as we dared move without the
possibility of the soldiers hearing us, we began to explore our
refuge. The rift extended downwards and inwards towards the centre of
the mountain, but the jagged rocks and the darkness made our progress
most perilous, and at last we had to give up in despair. We struck
a few wax-vestas Graham chanced to have in one of his pockets, but
their feeble flame only served to render the surrounding darkness
more hideous and profound. There was nothing for it but to return to
the entrance, and there we waited and waited all the afternoon until
sunset, fearful to go out until the night should cloak our movements
from the view of any enemies still lurking near. As the short twilight
was coming to an end, the Doctor said in a low tone:
"One of us must go back to the camp by the lake, for our knapsacks. We
must have food, if by any possible good fortune these troops have left
our things undisturbed. The rest must stay here; for I think we could
not find safer quarters for a day or so, until our enemies have grown
weary of the search, and depart to try elsewhere. I am ready----"
"No, Doctor," broke in Graham. "I will not hear of what you were about
to propose. I volunteer the task of going back myself. You are far from
strong yet, and the fatigue is too much for you."
"But I am willing to go," said Temple.
"Let me go, Doctor! I can be back in no time, I am more used to the
hills than any o' ye," pleaded Sandy.
"Enough, comrades; the task, after all, is a trivial one. You remain
here; I will go," Graham answered; and pushing the block aside as
he spoke, he scrambled out into the evening gloom, and we heard his
cautious footsteps sounding fainter and fainter as he went his way.
He picked a path down the steep hillside, and struggled through the
thickets, every now and then stopping to listen. In half an hour he
reached the lake; but, owing to the darkness, he had mistaken the path
and gone nearly a mile to the east of the spot where our camp had been.
Perhaps it was fortunate that he did so; for across the water he saw
the blazing fires of a great encampment, and dusky figures passing
to and fro before them. So the troops of Edos had not given up the
search so readily; and Perodii, evidently, was determined on revenge.
Cautiously Graham made a detour, and reached the big rock where we had
eaten our last meal; and there to his joy he found our knapsacks by the
side of the blackened ashes of the fire. Strong man as he was, he did
not feel able to carry the four heavy packages. He therefore hid two
under a heap of pumice stones, and trudged off back up the hill with
the rest. He experienced great difficulty in getting back again, and
even more in finding the block of stone that concealed our retreat.
Indeed, it is doubtful if he ever would have found it at all, had we
not heard him stumbling about the stones, and guided him to the cave by
our signal whistles.
We were glad Graham had got back safely, and to see that he had brought
so much of our belongings; but the news that he had seen the camp-fires
of our enemies sank like cold despair into our hearts. We had a
bitterly relentless foe to deal with, and our situation seemed growing
more and more hopeless.
"I am very glad you brought my knapsack, Graham," said the Doctor, "as
it contains my electric lamp. We will now go further into the cave, as
it is important that we should know the extent of our resources when
the hour of need comes."
By the light from wax tapers, burnt one after the other, we got the
package undone, and soon had the lamp in working order. Its brilliant
rays lit-up the cavity so well that we could see many yards before us.
The Doctor led the way, lamp in hand, and following him, we climbed
down deeper and deeper, and further and further, into the very bowels
of the dead volcano. The cavern now began to reach an enormous size,
and our light was powerless to pierce the great blackness around us,
comparatively speaking, for any distance. At first the lamp illuminated
the rugged walls of this ancient furnace, and the rocks, in every
conceivable fantastic shape, looked grim and ghostly in the blue
electric light; but as we went on and on these jagged cliffs, moulded
by the molten fires of long-passed ages, gradually receded from the
penetrating light, until at last the rough ground beneath us was all
that was visible, and the vast immeasurable dome of the extinct crater
loomed in dark weird mystery around us, our lamp but as a feeble star
within its profound unknown depths. We must have travelled nearly
a mile into the mountain, when we were surprised beyond measure to
see the starry vault of heaven through a vast rent in the top of the
cavern, thousands of feet above our heads. The crater, the entire
mountain, was hollow, and the hole in the shell above us had been the
vent for its now long-ago burnt-out fire! We were actually in the
very core of a volcano. We proceeded but a few more steps, when the
rays from our lamp revealed a vast yawning chasm before us, the light
reflecting on a gulf of blackness, and not being powerful enough to
illumine the furthermost edge of the pit. We shuddered as we looked
at the awful abyss, and pictured to ourselves our ghastly fate if we
had by some fatality walked over its terrible edge. An immense block
of stone, that Graham and Sandy rolled down the steep declivity which
led to the actual chasm, pitched into the blackness, and we heard it
thundering down into the dizzy depths, first striking on one side,
and then on the other, as it rebounded in its awful leaps like a mere
pebble, the sounds echoing and re-echoing through the hollow dome
around us. Then the blows sounded fainter and fainter to our ears, and
finally died completely away, as if the boulder had leaped into another
vaulted cavern still lower down, or been ground to dust by the force of
its fall, and we heard no more!
Here under the very crest of the mountain, amongst the very roots of
this rugged volcano, we lay down to rest; but not one of us could
sleep. The grandeur of the surroundings kept us awake, even though we
had put out our lamp, and the only ray of light in the pitchy darkness
was the opening above us to the sky. All night we lay here watching the
scintillating stars, like fiery gems, until one by one they became wan
and indistinct with the coming dawn, and gradually the space around us
was illumined as with a twilight brightness. The sun had risen, and
the outer world was bathed in warmth; yet only a sickly reflection of
the day penetrated into our magnificently grand, if cold and dismal
refuge!
Anon the sun in his course across the sky shone down the mouth of the
crater, and the light became stronger. We seated ourselves in the
circle of his rays, and here we ate our cheerless meal--the remainder
of the flesh we had had from Kios, and a few biscuits. Fortunately, our
water supply was ample; the precious liquid dropped incessantly from
far up in the rugged heights of the hollow mountain's roof; it trickled
along the ground, and accumulated in little pools among the pumice
stones at our feet. As we ate our meal, and tried to warm our chilled
bodies in the faint sunshine, a great mass of rock came hurtling down
from the very summit, and leaped with an awful rushing sound into the
chasm, and for long we heard its terrific progress into the uttermost
depths of the volcano. We looked up in terror and sprang to our feet,
expecting each moment to be our last, and that the mountain itself was
going to collapse and bury us like moles beneath its tottering ruins!
But even a worse fate than that threatened us, for boldly outlined
against the sky, with helmets glinting in the sun, peering down into
the gloomy depths were several of the troops from Edos, in the very act
of hurling another piece of rock upon us. We started back in horror,
and hurried out of the focus of that death-dealing aperture, burying
ourselves from sight in the surrounding gloom.
"So our hiding-place is discovered, and we may expect no mercy from the
bloodhounds," said Graham.
"We will fight for liberty this time," rejoined the Doctor, in a cool
and resolute voice. "Fight, and die fighting," he continued, "rather
than fall into the power of those merciless, cold-blooded people of
Edos again."
Temple and Sandy were equally determined to fight to the last, and we
began to prepare ourselves for the coming fray. We again turned on our
electric lamp, and retreated into the darkest depths of the cavern in
search of some spot where we might advantageously fight our foes. We
discovered a small mound of broken rocks on the floor of the mountain,
and on the summit of this we built up a rough rampart, behind which we
might find some shelter when firing. Then, by the light of the lamp,
we carefully examined our rifles and revolvers, and made ready our
ammunition. We agreed that Graham and Sandy should fire, they being the
best shots, and that the Doctor and Temple should load and hand the
weapons. If we came to close quarters, each was to use his own revolver
as best he could.
Before we had finished all our preparations, the great mountain vault
began to echo with the steps of advancing troops. Clearly they knew
of this wondrous cavern, and must have been aware of other and easier
ways of entrance than the one we had chanced to discover. They were
searching every nook and corner of the mountain as they came, and we
could now form some idea of the vastness of the cavern by the length
of the advancing line of troops. What astonished us most was their
method of illuminating their path through the darkness. As seen from
the distance of a mile, the movements of the coming troops were marked
by a line of little fire-balls, irregularly dancing and bobbing to and
fro; and as the soldiers came nearer we saw that each one had what
appeared to be an incandescent lamp attached to his left ankle, which
lit up the ground before him for a few yards! We held our breath in our
great excitement, and curiously watched the foe. Then Sandy and Graham
each took their trusty rifles and knelt behind the rough rampart, ready
to fire the moment a good opportunity occurred. It was no use waiting
until the troops advanced, because discovery was certain; their line
of coming searchers were bound to cross the hill on which we were
entrenched!
Our hiding-place was still undiscovered, and the troops were not more
than two hundred yards away. We watched the line of lights break into
two and circle round the yawning gulf; we saw a few troopers advance
into the subdued light below the crater's mouth, and then disappear
again into the darkness. Then Graham covered one of the dusky forms,
and after taking careful aim, pulled the trigger and missed! The
line was unbroken. A second afterwards, Sandy's piece went off with
no better luck, the light being too uncertain for accurate aim. The
awful echoes that our exploding rifles raised are beyond the powers
of language to describe them. The vast vault seemed to be cracking in
twain, and the reverberations appeared never going to subside. For a
moment the troops were filled with panic; but we heard voices as of
commanders cheering and encouraging their faltering men, and a moment
after we were literally blinded by a vivid flood of brilliant light
which gleamed out from behind us. Dazzled and blinded though we were,
we saw at once that we were surrounded by enemies, another detachment
having surprised us from the rear. We were now as exposed to view as
if we had been in the open air, under the blazing sun of noonday, and
before one of us could recover from his astonishment and fire a shot in
defence, our position was stormed, our rifles and revolvers wrenched
from our hands, and we were helpless as babes in the power of our
enemies.
What the light really was, whence it came, or how it was produced, we
knew not, but it continued burning until we and our captors reached the
open air. The wild, savage scene of grandeur, revealed when the hollow
mountain was made to disclose its hidden splendour by the penetrating
light, can never fade from our memory. Though captives, and bowed down
with hopeless despair, we were compelled to look, nay, even to admire!
The misery of our position was forgotten in the glory of that cave,
whose appearance bore eloquent and silent testimony to the stupendous
forces of volcanic action. The brilliant light lit up even the very
highest parts of the lofty mountain dome, showing hollows, and jagged
points, and enormous icicle-shaped masses of gold and silver, and other
richly-coloured but, to us, unknown metals, which had formed there as
the molten interior of the volcano had suddenly cooled in rest. Some of
the half-burnt rocks scintillated with unconsumable crystals; others
were ground smooth as marble by the troubled action of a seething
sea; and great masses formed of a dozen different metals were to be
seen here and there, wedged in between the ruin of rocks. So rugged
and loose was the roof in some places, that it looked as if the very
echoes of our footsteps would dislodge acres of boulders and send them
tumbling down in mad confusion. But we were marched as quickly as
possible out of the mountain, and, in spite of our cruel fate, in our
hearts we were thankful to leave this terrible chasm behind us, and
once more to find ourselves under the canopy of heaven, in the full and
blessed light of day.
We were immediately manacled, and conducted to the camp by the lake,
where, in a spacious tent, Perodii sat in state. A gleam of intense
hatred passed over his dark and savagely handsome face as we were
marshalled into his presence. All Graham's courageous spirit seemed
to return as he looked once more upon his rival and his enemy, and he
returned Perodii's glances with a look of withering and defiant scorn.
"So, man of Ramos, with all thy cunning and with all thy magic arts
thou hast fallen once more into my power," said Perodii in a sarcastic
voice, addressing Graham alone, and seeming not to notice the rest
of us at all. 'We shall meet again,' thou saidst at Remagaloth, and
we have done so. And now thou shalt bitterly repent thy insolent
behaviour, and to ME shalt thou cry aloud in thy woe for mercy. Thou
shalt beg for death, yet shalt not die; thou shalt crave a speedy doom,
yet shalt linger on and on in burning pain; but I will laugh at thy
agony and scoff at thy prayers, thou low-born knave, thou seed of
evil, who hath sought to steal the favours of the woman I desired."
"You speak the words of a coward! Strike off these cursed chains, I
say, you lying scoundrel, and let fair combat decide between us. I fear
no braggart such as you, who can only heap insults upon a fettered and
a helpless man. Strike off these chains, I say, and then----"
"Hold thy peace! or I will have thy noisy tongue cut out," Perodii
answered, stung by Graham's bitter words. "Back to Edos shalt thou go;
and the lake of Melag shall be a couch of flowers compared with the
bed of thorny agony on which thou now shalt slowly die. Perodii hates
thee: and--take heed of what thou sayest--hates thee for thy cursed
interference with the woman he would have favoured, and might have wed!"
"Wife! Wife! Volinè your wife! Know that she despises you as much as
she loves and favours me, and long has she known your designs of evil
upon at least one maiden's innocence. You, a scoundrel such as you,
whose name is but another word for villainy throughout all Edos, take
Volinè to wife!----"
"Take heed of what thou sayest, or thy death shall be made more
terrible than the one I have already planned for thee," said Perodii,
starting to his feet in rage, and half drawing the heavy knife which
hung sheathed from his girdle.
"My words are true, as you will know," continued Graham, his voice
getting louder as he went on. "Volinè is mine! Coward, do you hear
me?--is MINE! Behold this ring--her ring--upon my finger, a pledge and
token of her love, and a talisman to preserve its wearer from a violent
death!"--and as he spoke he held out his fettered hand, in triumph, to
show his treasured gift.
"Then, when she weds thee, she shall have a corpse for her groom. Ha!
Ha! Methinks Volinè, much as thou sayest she loves thee, will shun thee
in death! Death is but a sorry mate upon a bridal couch!"
"Your threats are but empty words. My comrades' lives and my own are in
the King's keeping. He speaks, and we may die; he says the word, and we
go free. Already Echri's displeasure has been shown by our miraculous
escape from Remagaloth. The King--yea, even the King--will not tempt
his holy wrath a second time!"
"For little I would strip this ring from off thy hand."
"You dare not! Know you not that he who seeks to take it by force, or
by stealth, is cursed? And braver men than you would hesitate before
risking their souls' damnation!" said Graham calmly.
"Faugh! I want not thy paltry bauble. Old Echri is but a woman's
comforter, and turns their pretty heads with his ghostly nonsense."
"So long as I wear it, Perodii, it is beyond your power to harm me, try
as you will----"
"Enough! I forget myself in holding argument with such as thee,"
retorted Perodii, who then, addressing the guards standing round us,
said:
"Take this boasting fool from my presence, or by my eternal soul I may
repent me my hatred, and by slaying him at once, cheat myself of the
pleasure of witnessing his lingering agony."
"Perodii, the boasting is all with you----"
Graham's sentence was never finished, for he was hurried from the tent
at once, and we quickly followed, surrounded by guards. Graham was
manacled heavier than the rest of us, stooping under the weight of his
brazen fetters, and was confined by himself in the watchful keeping of
a double guard. That night we were taken some distance across country,
perhaps thirty miles, until we reached a large building standing by
itself on an open plain. In this was a deep shaft which we descended
by a winding stair; and there at the bottom we found waiting for us a
curious carriage which passed through a tunnel or tube, fitting tightly
as a piston-rod in a cylinder. This was worked either by some system
of pneumatics or by electric currents, we could not say which, as our
departure was so hurried. In two hours, as near as we could judge,
travelling through this tube at a speed which put us in mind of the
_Sirius_, we reached another and similar building, and, ascending a
spiral stair, came to the surface. To our utter astonishment we had
reached Edos, and were marched through the silent, deserted streets
in the dead of night, back to our old prison in the King of Gathma's
Palace!