IN THE TEMPLE OF SOPHANA.
One by one the lamps that flickered in the temple were extinguished by
the seer, who left burning only those two which hung on either side of
the altar. Then Raspul stood before the altar, with arms upraised, and
head thrown back so as to look through the roof-hole, apparently wrapped
in meditation. His lips moved rapidly, and at times his whole body
became convulsed. Finally, he bowed before the altar, and threw dust on
his head.
As we watched, we saw the weird figure rise up and walk slowly across
the pavement to a small door, through which it passed, and disappeared
for a while. When the seer entered the temple again, he was a changed
man. He was no longer disguised in paint, but was clothed in a long
yellow silken robe. I now for the first time saw his face clearly. It
was thin and wan, with a parchment-like skin almost of the same colour
as his robe, and clean shaven--as was also the whole of his head. Such a
face I had never seen before, and I gazed on it in wonder.
"Is this really the seer of whom you told me," I whispered to Faris,
"and the same that we thought had perished in the fire?"
"Yes," he replied, "but do not speak, for fear of breaking the spell
which is upon him."
So I remained silent, and watched intently the movements of the seer,
who was now busying himself around the massive wooden altar. From the
doorway he brought faggots, and piling them up, poured oil over them;
then he took a lighted wick from the hanging lamp, and set fire to the
pile on all sides. The burning sticks crackled, and the flames shot up
towards the hole in the roof, and we could see that the altar itself was
ablaze. Why should the man--or priest, as he evidently was--destroy his
own altar, I wondered. Could it be that the seer had become mad? Yet he
appeared to be perfectly calm, as, standing back from the heat of the
fire, he gazed on his handiwork.
He was now praying earnestly, and at times stretched out his hands
towards the altar in supplication. At first only his lips moved, and no
sound came from them; but, presently, in his fervour, he began to speak
aloud, and then slowly but clearly came the words.
"O Queen! Great Goddess-Queen! Think not that Raspul, thy slave, thy
worshipper, hath done aught to merit thy displeasure. Never had he any
intention of betraying his trust, and had not the fire come to help him,
he would have willingly died in the defence of the secret. He lied to
the tribesmen who sought the treasure, and he made false promises. For
such things, I, Raspul, humble myself before my Queen and the gods, and
seek their pardon. Manifest thyself, Immortal Sophana, and thus let thy
slave know that his deeds have not been misunderstood."
As he spoke, the seer continuously flung handfuls of incense on to the
fire, and the flames streaked upwards in varied colours, while the
temple was filled with penetrating odours. The glare, the heat, and the
heavily-perfumed air made my head throb until I thought it would burst,
and the sheik, I noticed, was equally overcome. The altar was rapidly
being consumed; the flames had died down; curls of smoke ascended; while
the massive timbers, glowing red, began to crumble away and fall to the
ground. Then, suddenly the whole structure tottered and fell with a
crash, an immense volume of smoke leaping towards the roof-hole, and
filling every corner of the temple. Nearly blinded and half-suffocated,
I began to fear that the seer was attempting to destroy us in the same
way that we had seen him destroy his three Bedouin foes.
"Let us escape," I said to Faris, as I jumped to my feet; "quick, before
we are smothered."
"Lie down flat on the floor," he replied, "and keep quiet. The smoke
will, in the course of time, all pass through the hole."
"Look!" he said presently, touching me on the arm.
I raised myself from the floor, and turned my eyes towards the spot
where the altar had been. The smoke was clearing off; and, as it
cleared, I saw, by the dim light of the single lamp, two figures among
the pieces of charred wood. One was kneeling, and I recognised in it the
form of the seer. The other was standing, and it was the figure of a
woman.
"O Goddess-Queen!" muttered the seer in a low tone, "I thank thee for
once again coming to me in my old age. It shall be as thou commandest.
It were better to destroy it for ever, than to permit it to be the cause
of further bloodshed. Maybe, its spirit shall be wafted to the palace
wherein thou now dwellest; and, Great Goddess, if it be thy pleasure,
permit the spirit of Raspul, thy slave, to pass, at the same time, into
thy service in the other world."
The smoke had by this time completely cleared away, and the sheik and I,
eager to see the better, quietly rose from the ground, and stood behind
one of the pillars. I was now able to see the figure of the goddess
distinctly. I looked intently, and it seemed to me that what I saw was a
corpse, tightly swathed in grave-clothes. It stood motionless, and as
the face was turned away from us, we were unable to distinguish its
features. Once or twice I thought that I detected a slight quiver in the
body; but I was in a state of intense nervous excitement, and was
capable of imagining almost anything. Thus, behind the shelter of the
pillar, we stood looking at the strange pair, and anxiously awaiting
developments. There was now no sound; Raspul still knelt before the
goddess, who neither spoke nor moved; and the moments that passed seemed
to us to be endless. At length, the seer rose slowly from his knees, and
stood erect, his head bent forward, and his arms hanging by his side.
Then, turning in our direction, as if suddenly remembering our presence,
he spoke in a solemn, impressive voice which resounded through the whole
temple.
"Faris-ibn-Feyzul and that other man," he said, "listen to the command
of the Great Goddess Sophana. When you leave this her temple, if you
ever leave it alive, you must banish from your minds aught that you have
witnessed herein. You will not move from the spot whereon you are now
standing until the goddess grants you permission to do so. Should you
disobey, then will the curse of the gods be upon you, and by their fires
shall you perish. These are the words of the Beloved of the Gods, that
Immortal Sophana, who during her sojourn in this world was Queen of the
Assyrians. I, Raspul, her slave, have said it."
Having delivered himself of this warning, to which neither of us
replied, the seer turned again towards the goddess, and raising his robe
took from his waist a roll of silk. Sweeping clean a small space on the
floor, he laid the roll upon it, and then began to unwind fold after
fold of silk wrappings, and it was soon apparent that a belt was hidden
within. Have I lived another life, in another world? I kept saying to
myself, as I watched what was taking place. I had, perhaps, dreamed of
it; but certainly I had somewhere before seen it all clearly enough. I
knew exactly what was going to happen, and that which I expected did
actually happen. The last fold of silk was unwound, and there lay in
Raspul's hands the GOLDEN GIRDLE. I was not astonished, but the sight
of it made me shiver with excitement, until my teeth chattered, and so
close was I standing to the sheik that I could feel that he was in much
the same state as myself. Even he, the immovable Bedouin, was showing
emotion.
"The Serpent Belt," he gasped out in an undertone.
"Yes," I whispered in reply, "it is good to have lived even to have seen
it. But what will he do with it?"
"Hush," said the sheik, "let us wait and see."
We were not left long in suspense as to forthcoming events, for no
sooner did the seer expose the belt to view than, kissing it reverently,
he clasped it round the waist of his goddess. Then, kneeling once more
before her, he prayed aloud.
"To the Immortal Goddess," he said, "I, her servant, return that which
in her worldly existence ever bore her to victory, and which, when she
was taken to rule over the gods, remained behind to become the curse of
the covetous inhabitants of the world. It was at thy command, Great
Goddess-Queen, that I caused the last man who ever saw it to re-inter it
in its abiding-place. It was at thy command that death afterwards came
to him. It was at thy command that I, Raspul the seer, recovered it, and
by none other than thyself, Sophana Great Goddess-Queen, was I appointed
its guardian. The time has now, doubtless, come when it is meet that I
should quit this world and pass into the service of the gods. For that
reason I willingly obey the behest of my mistress, who ordereth that,
through fire, the spirit of the Sacred Belt shall soar into the realms
of the Great Unknown."
Much more he said, but he spoke in an undertone and we could only catch
a word here and there. I now feared the worst. He was evidently going to
destroy the Golden Girdle; and the thought that all my hopes of
obtaining it were about to be dashed to the ground made me forget
fatigue, hardship, fear, and everything else. I quietly drew my
revolver, hardly knowing what I intended to do, but Faris saw the
movement, and seized my wrist.
"Fool," said he, "would you murder a priest in the presence of his
goddess, in her own temple? Tush! it were madness."
I knew that it would be so; yet, was I to stand by and see the whole
object of my journey, the one thing that I imagined that I lived for,
destroyed before my very eyes? There was the Golden Girdle almost within
my grasp--barely twenty paces from me. I could see each serpent that
composed it clearly outlined on the white figure of the goddess. One
shot from my revolver would secure the treasure. But the sheik's grip
brought me to my senses and saved me from being a murderer.
"Speak to him, then," I said, in a state of agitation. "Offer him a
price for the Serpent Belt."
"It would be useless," answered Faris. "He is possessed, and cannot
control his actions. See, he is preparing the fire which is to consume
it."
The seer had already brought cakes of bitumen and charcoal, and had
kindled a small but hot fire. With difficulty he placed a heavy iron
vessel over it, and then, blowing on it through a hollow bamboo, watched
the fuel ignite and grow red. Every now and then, he prostrated himself
before the goddess, and besought her to give heat to the fire, which, it
seemed to me, she must have done; for, before long the iron vessel began
to glow, and was soon red hot. That the end was near I realised; and as
Raspul, after examining the vessel carefully, moved towards the goddess,
my hand again sought my revolver--but only again to be arrested by my
companion.
[Illustration: "HE PROSTRATED HIMSELF BEFORE THE GODDESS, AND BESOUGHT
HER TO GIVE HEAT TO THE FIRE"]
Then Raspul knelt, and began to unclasp the belt, while I held my
breath. It was undone. The seer took it in his hands, turned it over,
and fondled it. Great beads of perspiration stood out on my forehead as
I saw the glitter of the golden serpents, which seemed to writhe and
twist about as if alive. Faris grew impatient and, to my horror, stamped
his foot on the ground.
Whether Raspul and his goddess heard that stamp no man can say; but, as
if in response to it, there occurred the most fearful noise that has
ever fallen on my ears. With a terrific crash, huge portions of the roof
surrounding the hole rained down on the head of the unfortunate seer,
who must have been instantly killed. Enormous masses of masonry hurtled
on to the goddess, who, however, stood unmoved. At first, I imagined
that the wrath of the gods had overtaken Faris and myself for my
companion's thoughtless stamp, but why the faithful Raspul should have
suffered I could not understand. All this, and many other thoughts,
passed through my mind in the space of a second; for, no sooner did we
see the seer stricken down than we forgot all dread of the consequences
and rushed to his assistance. Yet, barely had we advanced a couple of
steps into the actual temple, before another portion of the roof fell,
and with it the lamp which provided the only light. Suddenly we heard a
chorus of voices above us; and, looking up at the great gap in the roof,
we could see that day was just dawning, and that a number of men were
peering down into the temple.
"Stand quiet," said the sheik, softly. "Get your revolver ready, and we
will fall on them when they enter. By their speech I take them for some
of the twice-accursed Shammar."
Then, by the scanty light coming through the hole, we saw a rope lowered
from above, and immediately a man descended to the ground. In another
second he gave a shout, and before we realised what was taking place, he
was swiftly hauled up again through the gaping roof. We waited for
others to descend, but no others came. Presently, we heard a wild shout
of exultation, and the sounds of many feet hurrying over the roof. Then
all was quiet.
"What is it that has happened?" I asked the sheik, when I could find my
tongue.
"Allah alone knows," said he. "It may be that the Shammar came to avenge
their three friends whom the seer caused to perish by fire. They are
satisfied, and have gone. But, come, there is light enough now, let us
see if the unfortunate man is truly dead."
Over the pile of fallen masonry, in the fast growing light, we clambered
to the spot where Raspul lay. There we found his body, with the life
crushed out of it by great heaps of stone and brickwork. Close by stood
the goddess, beautifully sculptured in white stone, but broken and
chipped by the avalanche that had recently descended on it. Faris looked
at the figure with a certain amount of reverence, then sat on some
stones in silence--a silence which I, for my part, felt no inclination
to break. I had passed through enough in the last few hours to desire
nothing but quiet, so, sinking on to the ground, I endeavoured to
collect my thoughts.
After a while, the sheik suddenly turned to me, and looked steadily into
my face.
"You are a great magician," he said, "to have caused all this to happen.
I told you once that your magic could not prevail against that of
Raspul. I spoke foolishly, for he lies dead before you."
"Sheik," I replied, vehemently, "I have denied to you that I am a
magician. I swear it before my God, before Allah, and before the gods of
the heathen. I have had no hand in these terrible events. I possess no
power to work good or ill; and I beseech you to believe my words."
"Then I will believe you," he replied, holding out his hand and grasping
mine; "for, under such circumstances as these, I doubt if any living man
would dare to speak otherwise than truly. But what is done is done, and
we cannot alter it. It was Raspul's fate to die thus, and from what we
heard him say, he knew that he was to die soon. His spirit has doubtless
gone whither he wished it to go, but he cannot have taken the Golden
Serpents with him. That will be your reward for all that you have passed
through."
It seemed to me that there would be something of sacrilege in taking the
belt from the hands of the dead seer, lying at the feet of the image of
his goddess. I did not like the idea of it--in fact my heart failed me.
I argued with myself on the folly of neglecting the opportunity now that
it had come; but the longer I reflected the less inclined did I feel to
have anything to do with the mysterious girdle. I brought to mind all
that the sheik had told me of its strange history, and I remembered that
so long as it remained wound round with silk it was harmless. Here with
my own eyes I had seen a dire calamity follow the unwinding of the silk
wrappings, and the exposure of the shining metal. Superstition had
seized hold of me, and I dreaded to touch the thing. I confessed my
misgivings to Faris, and I saw him smile.
"You are a Christian," he said, "yet you fear the wrath of the gods of
the heathen! I myself will take the serpent belt, and if evil befalls me
then I shall count it my fate. I do not want the belt, nor the money
that it is worth, but if I can but obtain the shoe of Shahzadi, as a
reward for sending it to the big house of which you spoke, then shall I
go down to my grave in happiness."
He stepped across to the pile of rubbish under which Raspul was almost
buried, and I felt impelled to follow. We looked on the ground among the
debris, but could not see the object of our search. Removing the stones
and bricks from the body of the seer, we placed it gently on a bench in
one of the alcoves. The belt was not in his hand, as we imagined that it
would have been; neither could we discover it anywhere near the spot
where he had fallen. I became as excited as did the sheik, and together
we removed the stones, and hunted everywhere for the lost treasure. At
last we desisted, and looked at one another in bewilderment.
The Golden Girdle had disappeared.