Sir Jehan de Valx
FOR the remaining distance up to the chief gate of the city the land
was given over to cultivation, enclosed cornfields, reminding the
lads of their own country, predominating. Each plot or field was
comparatively small in extent, and in each enclosure was a large pile
of fuel.
"That is one of our means of defence," said Garth, in answer to the
correspondent's question. "Each field is tended by two husbandmen.
Should the signal be given that our enemies are approaching, the corn
is to be cut and carried into the city. Should the time be
insufficient, those stacks of fuel are to be fired and cast amongst
the standing wheat, so that it may be consumed."
So well were the preparations for defence carried out that no trees
were permitted to be grown within a mile of the walls, and all uneven
ground that would afford a shelter to a lurking foe had been
carefully levelled. Soon the great drawbridge spanning a deep moat
was crossed, and, passing beneath the lofty rounded archway, Reeves
and his companions found themselves within the capital of Croixilia.
The streets, narrow but well maintained, were crowded with people.
They took the greatest interest in the strangers who, though dressed
in Arab clothing, were not Moslems but members of a great white race
that none of the citizens had ever before seen.
All the houses were built in the modified Eastern style, the walls
being of considerable thickness, the windows narrow, and the roofs
flat. In every case the parapet was machicolated, thus turning the
houses into a series of fortifications, and at the same time bearing
silent testimony to the dangers to which this nation in arms was
exposed.
At length Garth halted his men in front of the palace on the Mound of
Pharamond, over which floated a white flag with a red cross--exactly
the same as the banner of St. George. Then, bidding the Englishmen
accompany him, their guide knocked upon the great brazen knocker.
Immediately the door was flung open, and the three comrades found
themselves in the courtyard of the palace, where the green turf--so
utterly unexpected in the heart of Africa--again reminded them of
the shady lawns of the ancestral homes of England. Within the
courtyard were men of all conditions--some armed, others having the
appearance of merchants; for it was the Audience Day, and Sir Jehan
denied admission to no one who desired to speak with his overlord.
Most of the persons present wore the copper cross, a few more wore
the T-shaped device, while others sported a red cross with an
additional bar above the horizontal line.
"Here is the guest chamber, where you can refresh yourselves. Water,
also, and clean raiment are at your service," said Garth. "Afterwards
Sir Jehan will be pleased to receive you."
Having bathed and clothed themselves in white robes, somewhat after
the style of those of the superior Arab class, the Englishmen set to
with a will upon tempting viands.
When they had eaten to their hearts' content, they waited till Garth
again appeared.
"I have already announced your arrival, and the general audience is
postponed," he informed them. "The overlord of Croixilia will see you
at once. But be pleased to bring your arms with you."
Passing through a broad hall and up a wide flight of stairs, the
Croixilian paused outside a lofty door, which was covered with rich
hangings. Here two men, tall in comparison with their fellows, stood
on guard, being completely equipped in chain armour and carrying
enormous axes; while another, clad in black velvet, with a cap of
maintenance on his head and a golden chain flung round his neck,
demanded the names and style of the three strangers.
"Style!" remarked Reeves to his young companions, after he had given
the official their names. "The nearest approach to style that I could
boast of was my stylo. pen, and those rascally Arabs sneaked that.
Now," he continued, dropping his banter, "keep your eye on Garth, and
do what he does--unless he makes too great a fool of himself before
this big pot."
The next instant the Englishmen found themselves in a spacious hall
built of white stone and surrounded by aisles, which were separated
from the main building by massive rounded arches springing from plain
rounded pillars.
In the middle of the tiled floor was a fountain, out of which the
water splashed melodiously into a fern-grown pond. Here and there
were heavy wooden benches, which formed the only furniture of the
hall. At the farthermost end was a dais, approached by seven stone
steps; and on it, in a massive wooden chair, resembling the letter X,
sat the overlord of Croixilia.
Sir Jehan de Valx was a burly man of middle height,
dark-complexioned, and wearing a closely-trimmed beard, after the
fashion of the majority of the men of Croixilia. He was dressed in a
kirtle of dark blue, edged with ermine, while over his shoulders was
a cloak of white samite, marked with a triple crown in red. He was
unarmed, but held a short ivory rod in his right hand. Ranged on
either side of him were about twenty men of rank, all wearing
double-lined crosses similar to those Reeves had observed in the
courtyard.
Marching with head erect up to the foot of the dais, Garth saluted,
the movement resembling a military salute performed by both hands at
the same time. Reeves and the lads did likewise, after setting their
flintlocks on the floor.
"These, then, are the men from England?" exclaimed Sir Jehan in a
deep voice. "Welcome!"
For nearly two hours Reeves kept the ruler of Croixilia engrossed
with the story of their adventures in the desert and the wonders of
Europe, particularly of Great Britain. Sir Jehan, Reeves noticed,
used a language that corresponded with the Anglo-Norman tongue,
subject to slight variations for which the lapse of time was
responsible. (The lads were already making vast strides in the study
of the Croixilian tongue, thanks to their fair knowledge of French
and their interest in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer.)
Sir Jehan was deeply interested in the weapons of the strangers,
especially in Reeves's automatic pistol. The correspondent begged to
be excused the pleasure of giving Sir Jehan a practical exhibition of
the pistol, on the reasonable grounds that the ammunition, if used,
could not be replaced; but, on the other hand, he fired several
rounds from the flintlocks at a number of stout planks, which were
brought into the hall for the purpose.
"By St. Michael, if we had those weapons we should be more than a
match for the Moslems!" exclaimed the knight. "Of what is that black
powder composed?"
Reeves hastened to explain the nature of the ingredients, upon which
Sir Jehan (after considerable difficulty, owing to the strange names)
elicited from his councillors that similar minerals were to be found
in the mountains of Kadir.
But when the correspondent proceeded to tell Sir Jehan of railways,
steamships, telephones, and aeroplanes, the Croixilian's face showed
unmistakable signs of disbelief, till one of the attendants reminded,
him of a prophecy uttered centuries before by a certain Peter de
Calvador, that when men should fly and fiery carriages pass over the
earth without being drawn by horses, the deliverance of Croixilia
would be at hand.
At length the audience came to an end, Sir Jehan desiring Garth to
regard the Englishmen as his honoured guests, and to provide
everything requisite for their comfort; and, having taken leave of
the head of the State, Reeves and his companions withdrew.
Before the day was done the Englishmen learned the history of this
derelict European colony. The Croixilians were, as Reeves had
anticipated, the descendants of Crusaders. Just before the capture of
Jerusalem by Saladin, several English knights, with their wives,
families, and followers, succeeded in stealing through one of the
gates, contrived to pass with little loss through the weakest part of
the besiegers' lines, and escaped southwards into Egypt. Here,
finding that their retreat to the shores of the Mediterranean was cut
off, they crossed the Isthmus of Suez, and took forcible possession
of six large galleys. Even in the twelfth century the possibility of
coasting around Africa was deemed an accepted fact, and that sorry
remnant of the Crusaders ventured upon this dangerous enterprise.
But the voyage ended disastrously, all the ships being wrecked on the
western shore of the Red Sea. For a long time the devoted band
remained in the professedly Christian country of Abyssinia, till,
influenced by a monk, they set out on a march to the interior, with
the object of regaining the sea at the Pillar of Hercules.
After many privations the adventurers found themselves on the plateau
of Khir. There, according to a vision that appeared to Peter the
Monk, the march came to an end, until the signs at which Sir Jehan's
attendant had hinted appeared.
Fairly accurate records had been kept of the history of the State of
Croixilia, and according to the manuscripts there was an almost
constant warfare between the Moslems and the Christians from the
middle of the fourteenth century down to the present date.
Nevertheless, the city of Charleton--named after its founder, Sir
Charles de Wyke--was built and put into a good state of defence.
The Croixilians were divided into three classes: the knights--the
direct descendants of the three leaders of the expedition--whose
distinctive mark was the double-lined cross; the commoners, comprised
of tradesmen, farmers, and artisans, all trained to the use of arms,
their badge being the simple cross; and the serfs, who wore the
letter T. This latter class was formed of persons who by sloth or by
crime against individuals in the State had forfeited their rights of
free citizenship. Knights and commoners found guilty after a fair
trial by their peers were relegated to this class, and on them the
menial work of the State devolved. Once a serf, there was no chance
of being restored to the former classes, unless through some valiant
deed of arms. The outward sign of the serfs signified that a portion
of the cross, representing honourable citizenship, had been taken
away from them, leaving only the T-shaped device. A few crimes
against the State--such as treason and rebellion--were punishable by
death, as well as wilful murder, apostasy, and blasphemy. With these
exceptions there was but one punishment for civil offences--a
lifelong serfdom.
Thrice it was recorded that the Arabs succeeded in entering the town,
and that on each occasion they met with a severe reverse in the
streets between the battlemented houses, the last being in 1617. But
since the use of firearms by the Arabs the scale was slowly turning
in their favour. The Croixilians found that armour and personal
courage were alike hopeless in an encounter in the open, and only the
massive walls of the city prevented the extermination of the State at
the hands of the Mohammedans.
Curiously enough, Croixilia made little progress compared with her
parent nation. This was, as Reeves had suggested, owing to a lack of
intercourse with other peoples. Firearms the men could not
understand, printing was unknown, the domestic arts and crafts were
still mediaeval. In short, the State was almost exactly in the same
position as England was in the twelfth century--steeped in
superstition and prejudice.
Yet it was kept fully alive by its military organization. Every man
could use some weapon. The knights relied upon lance, sword, and
mace; the commoners were expert in the use of the crossbow, longbow,
and sword; while the serfs were armed with spears and short swords.
A few weeks prior to the Englishmen's arrival, a powerful combination
of the Arab tribes lying to the east and west of Croixilia had
threatened the city, and outposts were formed on all sides. The north
side was fairly secure from assault, owing to the natural defences
afforded by the river and the "plain of pitfalls", but in order to be
warned of a possible junction of the enemy on that side, the
Croixilian outposts had been advanced well into the desert; and it
was at this station that the English fugitives had fallen in with
Garth and his comrades.
For the next week or two Reeves and the two lads were received in
daily audience by Sir Jehan, who began to realize that their
knowledge of the modern science of war was an asset that would be of
immense value to him in the threatened invasion.
For his part, Reeves readily consented to do his best for his
entertainer. He realized that, with the Arabs holding the western
plains, any attempt to follow the river would be hopeless; and until
the way was clear it would be well to remain in comparative security
in Charleton, rather than risk a tedious journey through an unknown
and hostile country.
One of his first acts was to establish a powder factory, sulphur and
saltpetre being found in the hills lying to the south of the city.
Under direct supervision the serfs proved excellent and intelligent
workmen, and soon Reeves had the satisfaction of knowing that there
was a sufficient quantity of explosives to last throughout a
protracted siege.
His next thought was to provide firearms. Up to the present the total
number available amounted to four--the three flintlocks and the
automatic pistol. For the latter only thirty-five cartridges
remained, and, failing a proper capping machine, the correspondent
realized that a further supply of ammunition was unobtainable.
He therefore directed his attention to the manufacture of flintlock
guns; but here he was foiled. Although he took to pieces one of the
weapons, and carefully explained the working parts, the artisans
replied that the work was beyond them. Flints, too, were
unobtainable, so Reeves decided to construct a number of small
cannons, and mount them at convenient positions upon the wall.
This was accordingly done, for the Croixilians were fairly expert in
bell-founding, and were able to construct moulds to the plans that
Reeves drew for their guidance. Day and night the great wood-fed
forges were kept constantly at work, till forty pieces of
muzzle-loading, smooth-bore, firing a six-pound ball, were ready for
use.
Still not satisfied, the indefatigable Englishman directed his
attention to the manufacture of cast-iron shells, which were filled
with a rough-and-ready fuse composed of thin folds of damp cotton
sprinkled with powder.
The first experimental shot turned out disastrously, the shell
bursting almost as soon as it left the muzzle. Three men were
seriously wounded by the flying fragments, while those who served the
gun were thrown into such a state of consternation that they could
not be induced to come within twenty yards of the weapon.
"Well, Hugh," exclaimed the newly-appointed director of ordnance, "it
can't be said that our shells are ineffective. I think I see what's
wrong: the exploding of the charge in the gun drives the fuse into
the bursting charge of the shell. I'll make allowances for that."
Next day, in the presence of Sir Jehan and his knights and most of
the principal inhabitants, one of the guns was again brought out for
trial. This time Reeves and the two lads were obliged to do the work
of loading and firing; but, dreading a repetition of the previous
failure, even the correspondent felt "jumpy" when he applied the
linstock.
There was a blinding flash and a deafening roar as the gun leapt
backwards with the recoil. Anxiously Reeves watched the flight of the
projectile, till at a distance of over a mile it burst with a loud
detonation.
"'Tis full five arrow flights!" exclaimed Sir Jehan in utter
astonishment. "The Moslems will fare badly if they appear before our
walls."
"I hope to do better than that," replied Reeves; "but, since I cannot
serve forty pieces of cannon, I must have assistance from your men."
[Illustration: THE SECOND GUN TEST]
"Assistance you must have," agreed Sir Jehan, and straightway he
ordered some of the archers to man the guns. The fellows obeyed
quickly, yet in evident anticipation of going to their doom; but
after a few shots, finding that they were still unharmed, they warmed
to their work, and soon showed great promise.
Still there was a lot to be done. The right amount of powder required
to give the best results had to be determined, and sights to each gun
fitted according to its peculiarities, some firing with less
trajectory than others.
At length the warlike preparations were justified, when shortly after
daybreak one morning the outposts on the eastern side of the
Croixilian territory rode in with the intelligence that a vast horde
of Arabs was approaching.