Back of where they stood, at a word of command from Sajipona, a large
door swung open, revealing a spacious court within flooded with a clear
white light that left not a corner or angle in shadow. This light
radiated from a central shaft overhead, at first indistinguishable in
the dazzling intricacies of the ceiling that stretched away in tier
upon tier of crystalline columns above them. Advancing to the middle
of this court, under the queen's guidance, Una beheld, at the apex of
the vast dome curving upward to a seemingly immeasurable distance,
a large opening beyond which blazed a great ball of fire suspended,
apparently, from the topmost pinnacle of the outer cave. The rays from
this underground sun--for it is only as a sun that it can be adequately
described--shone with an intensity that was fairly blinding. These rays
flashed and sparkled in long, waving streamers of flame, disappearing
and suddenly renewing their radiance with a ceaseless energy similar to
that displayed by some gigantic dynamo whose emanations are produced by
a concentration of power as yet unattempted by man. Fascinated by this
splendor, Una realized that she was standing beneath the great luminous
body whose magical effects she had first witnessed while approaching the
palace with Narva. Shielding her eyes from a spectacle that wearied by
its vehemence, she turned to Sajipona. But Sajipona was not with her.
Una stood alone in the center of the great court.
At another time this sudden isolation would have been alarming. But
the many strange adventures experienced during the last few hours had
accustomed Una to danger, so that the disappearance of Sajipona served
merely to arouse her to a keener sense of her surroundings. Her faith
in this beautiful Indian, moreover, was not easily shaken, in spite of
the repellant attitude she had first assumed towards her. Treachery from
such a source, it seemed to her, was inconceivable.
Stepping back from the direct rays of the great ball of fire, the
manifestations of whose mysterious power had until then absorbed her
attention, Una found herself in the midst of a throng of people, all of
them, apparently, watching her. By their dress, simple and flowing as
that worn by the followers of Anitoo, she perceived these were cave men
and women, some forty or fifty in number, each one standing motionless
along the wall farthest from her. With heads bent forward and arms
outstretched towards the center of the court, where Una stood, they
appeared to be engaged in some sort of devotional exercise, the visible
object of which was a great round disk of gold set in the tessellated
pavement that flashed beneath the light pouring upon it from above.
Inlaid within this disk, at the outer rim of which she had been standing
a moment before, Una could now discern cabalistic figures wrought in
emeralds whose deep effulgence was in striking contrast with the haze
of golden light surrounding them. The intricate design formed by these
figures was difficult to trace, but that each figure, and the pattern
into which it was woven, bore a mystical meaning was suggested by the
reverence with which this whole glittering pool of light was regarded by
the silent throng.
Eagerly Una scanned the white-robed worshipers before her, hoping
that among them she might discover David. Not finding him, she sought
Sajipona, with the same disappointing result at first. Then her gaze,
wandering away from these strange faces, rested upon a slightly
elevated platform at one end of the court. There, beneath a gold and
gem-encrusted canopy, seated upon a massive throne of pure crystal, she
beheld the Indian queen.
From the first Una had felt the spell of her beauty, but its force
had been tempered by the flashes of anger, the suspicion, the disdain
that had alternately marked their intercourse. Now, although arrayed
and staged, as it were, in all the splendor belonging to her high
station--with crown and scepter and glittering robe of state--this proud
beauty had softened to an almost girlish loveliness, wistful, touched
with a melancholy as hopeless as it was appealing. That she was a queen,
aloof from those about her, seemed strangely pathetic. Nor did this
expression of sheer womanliness change as her eyes met Una's. Across the
width of the great presence chamber a mysterious wave of sympathy seemed
to bind these two together. Completing its wordless message, Sajipona
arose and stood expectantly while Una approached, the throng before her
silently falling back until she reached the foot of the throne. Then,
with hands clasped in greeting, the two women faced each other, the
enmity that first had sundered them apparently forgotten, or, at the
least, held in check by some subtler, purer feeling. Again Una wondered
if this could be genuine--if the suspicion with which she had been
regarded at first might not still lurk behind this outward graciousness.
Little versed in the arts of dissimulation, however, and apt to take
for current coin whatever offered of friendliness, she accepted this
unlooked-for warmth of welcome with undisguised gratitude. Sajipona drew
her gently forward until the two stood side by side on the platform
facing the great court, the silent groups of attendants below them. The
dazzling light, the flashing splendor of columned walls and vaulted
ceiling, the white-robed figures, the jeweled throne, furnished forth a
faery spectacle not easily forgotten.
"These are my people," said Sajipona proudly. "They will protect you as
they protect me."
As if in answer to her assurance the waiting courtiers, absorbed until
now in the contemplation of the mystical figures within the circle of
light at their feet, slowly turned and made grave obeisance before
the two women standing in front of the throne. Following this sign of
submission, they came forward as if expectant of some further command.
Sajipona smilingly watched the effect of this ceremony on her companion.
"Ah! it is not here as in Bogota," she said, "or in the world where you
come from, far from Bogota. You think all this that you see is unreal--a
dream, perhaps. My people are so different from yours--and all these
many years they live forgotten, unknown. I have lived in Bogota. There
they do not know of this great cave that belonged to the ancient rulers
of the mountains. They don't know that I am queen here, or of this
palace that is mine--and the light that burns like the sun. Ah! I wonder
what your wise uncle will say when he sees our sun!"
Sajipona laughed noiselessly, with the half-concealed delight that a
child hugs to itself when it hides some simple secret from the eyes of
its elders. Una, more bewildered than ever at this allusion to Leighton,
sought vainly for a reasonable explanation of the marvels surrounding
her.
"My uncle!" she exclaimed. "How do you know that he is wise--and he
is!--and that he is here? Yes, this sun of yours--what is it, where does
it come from?"
Again Sajipona laughed.
"Remember," she said, "this is not Bogota. Out there it is all very
wonderful, very great. You have the sky, the sun, the stars. The
mountains stretch away as far as the eye can see; there are plains,
cities; and there are buildings greater than any we have here. This is
a toy world, you will say, even when you think some things in it very
wonderful. But you do not guess the half of what is here. In this world
my people have lived in secret for centuries. They have discovered
things that even the wisest of your people know nothing of. We have eyes
that see everything that happens in our world of stone, eyes that pierce
through the stones themselves. I knew when you came into our kingdom;
I watched you when you passed through the great gate where the others
were fighting. But--you don't believe me. Come, I will show you."
Sajipona gave her hand to the astonished girl and the two stepped
down from the platform where they were standing and made their way to
the center of the court. Here the great circle of light cast by the
ball of fire overhead gleamed at their feet like an unruffled pool of
sun-kissed water. At the rim of this circle they halted, Sajipona gently
restraining her companion, who, in her eagerness, would have passed on.
"Look there on the floor," she said. "Your eyes may not be as ours;
perhaps you will have to wait before you can see. But it will come--you
will see."
Una remembered how she had heard--and laughed--of magicians who
pretended to read the future by gazing into a crystal globe. The
experiment to which she was now invited seemed like that, only here it
was apparently a huge mirror of reflected light that she was told to
watch, while no word had been said of finding therein a revelation of
things to come. Nor could she see anything in this mirror at first.
Waves of light, tongues of leaping flame, passed over the polished
surface of the metal, here darting off in long zigzag streaks, there
forming a sort of pool of molten, quivering fluorescence, as the
physicists call it, varying in size and color, then vanishing utterly.
Much the same appearance Una remembered having seen on the surface
of a copper kettle when subjected to intense heat. But in this case
there was no perceptible heat to account for the phenomenon, which
was rather electric in its fantastic weavings--a reduplication, on a
gigantic scale, of the wavering finger of light that she had watched
play, with such fatal results, on her uncle's electric psychometer. The
resemblance, recognized with a shudder, intensified her interest. The
succession of marvels through which she had been passing prepared her
for anything. In her present mood, nothing would have surprised her.
"What is it? What is it?" she asked eagerly.
Sajipona followed the twisting maze of figures before them with unwonted
anxiety. Her usual calm demeanor was gone. She appeared to be reading
something the purport of which was not at all to her liking.
"Look!" she exclaimed. "There he is. They have let him pass through the
gate. He is coming here. Anitoo's men are with him."
To Una the words were meaningless. Yet she knew that her companion was
reading, or, rather, witnessing something that was passing before her
own eyes, and that hence should have been quite as visible to her--if
only she had the clew. But this she did not have. She recognized the
hint of danger. She knew that in some way Sajipona had caught a glimpse
of some one whom she counted an enemy. She felt that this person was in
some way connected with her own party; and then the thought of Raoul
Arthur flashed across her mind, at the same time that his veritable
image--so it seemed--stood forth in wavering lines of light at her feet.
"Save David from him!" she cried involuntarily.
"You see him--you know him!"
"He came in with us. He is there--look! I don't know by what invisible
power you have conjured up this apparition, but it is real. He is the
one man I have feared--and he is coming here!"
Sajipona laughed softly to herself.
"Ah!" she cried, "now you have our secret. Here in this ancient hall,
under this sun we have worshiped for countless ages, nothing is hidden.
But the man you fear, that you see there, will bring freedom to us
both."
Whatever Sajipona meant by her enigmatical words, the fact was there,
the living, moving likeness of Raoul Arthur, in the light-woven tapestry
at Una's feet. Eagerly she watched him. It was certainly Raoul, Raoul
hurrying towards her, growing more distinct, more threatening with
every moment. Behind him streamed a shadowy line of men--swiftly,
confidently--following a trail amid the jagged rocks and precipices
of the cave that might well have daunted the boldest spirits, but
which seemed powerless to retard their progress. As Una's eyes became
accustomed to the shifting panorama before her, sundry details came into
view that at first had been unnoticed. She was familiar with the curious
phenomena wrought by the camera obscura, and this singular portrayal on
the gleaming floor of Sajipona's palace seemed at first not unlike that
simple method of reproducing objects invisible to the spectator. But as
the present picture grew and then faded away, to be followed by others
in this magic pool of light, she knew that what she now beheld was
quite beyond the power of the cunningly placed lens used in experiments
with the camera obscura to portray. The latter, she remembered, could
reproduce objects only when they came within a certain definite
distance from the lens itself. But here Raoul Arthur and his companions
moved across a constantly changing, lengthening space. Moreover, she
recognized the path they were following as the one over which she had
traveled at a point far away from the palace. They had reached, indeed,
the very spot where she and Narva had first caught sight of that topmost
pinnacle of the cave, behind and above which flamed the great ball of
fire, the sun of this subterranean world. As Sajipona's palace stood at
the base of this pinnacle, she calculated, from her own experience of
the journey, that Raoul and his followers were coming directly towards
them.
"There is nothing to fear," resumed Sajipona, as if in answer to her
thoughts. "Be glad of their coming. But--for your own people I am
afraid."
"Ah, my poor uncle! I have brought him into all this danger," exclaimed
Una. "Where is he? How can I save him?"
"Look!"
Eagerly studying the portion of the picture indicated, Una suddenly
found, to her horror, that Raoul, with that vague, shadowy rabble at his
heels, was approaching another group of people, just ahead, among whom
she recognized the gaunt figure of Narva, evidently exasperated by the
inability of the others to keep pace with her. Even in the uncertain
lines of the picture the scorn darkening the features of the old sibyl
was easily discernible. Behind her tottered Mrs. Quayle, waving her
arms in helpless protest, supported by the faithful Andrew, whose face
showed an even greater degree of woe and alarm than usual. They were
closely followed by Leighton, imperturbable as ever, and Miranda, whose
irascible rocketing from one side to the other of the narrow trail, and
whose violent gesticulations manifested all too plainly his indignation.
Had it not been for her companions Narva could easily have outstripped
her pursuers; but with so timorous a person as Mrs. Quayle this seemed
impossible. The hopelessness of it, in spite of all his scolding and
prodding, had evidently convinced Miranda of the necessity for a change
of tactics. Further flight being a mere waste of energy, there was left
the alternative of parleying with the enemy. Hence, without stopping to
consult with General Herran, who still suffered, apparently, from his
wound, and who plodded patiently along immediately behind Leighton, the
doctor suddenly came to a standstill. This unexpected halt very nearly
toppled over the others, who were pressing on as hard as they could go
and found it difficult to stop on the instant. But Miranda did not heed
the ludicrous disorder into which he had thrown them. Facing quickly
about, and with arms impressively folded, he bestrode the narrow path
as if defying any one who might be foolhardy enough to challenge him.
At a distance, and without hearing the torrent of abuse with which he
evidently greeted his pursuers, the fiery doctor resembled a small
terrier disputing the right of way with a pack of hounds hot on their
quarry. What he lacked in physical presence, however, Miranda made up in
energy. Undaunted he stood his ground, the men whom he addressed halting
with astonishment depicted on their faces. Then, most amazing of all, he
wheeled about, placed himself at their head and, waving them forward,
strutted along as if he had been their chosen leader.
Amused and impressed by his boldness, the men were apparently willing
at first to accept Miranda for their commander. He furnished them with
a new kind of entertainment, and for the moment, and just because
they did not understand him, it seemed as if they recognized in him
a superiority they were not loath to follow. But Raoul's leadership
was not to be so easily superseded. Quickly thrusting Miranda aside,
breathless and triumphant from his exertions, the wiry American angrily
harangued his troops. He threatened the foremost of them with a pike
that he held in his hand, and by their downcast looks and passive
demeanor, it was evident that his words and gestures had brought them
back to a recognition of his authority. Miranda, still shouting and
gesticulating, was ignominiously left to shift for himself, while the
cavemen, obeying Raoul's command, swept onward until they reached the
stupefied group of explorers ahead of them. Here another halt was
ordered, and Raoul pointed out Mrs. Quayle to his men. Four of the
latter promptly left the ranks of their comrades, went forward at
a round trot, seized the horrified lady, and swung her up to their
shoulders before she knew what was happening, or had time to defend
herself. Thus carried by two of the men and held in place by the other
two, she was speedily brought into line not far behind Raoul. Leighton
evidently protested against the sudden capture of Mrs. Quayle, for
whose safety he felt peculiarly responsible. But his appeal was waved
scornfully aside. The rest of the explorers, Miranda included, seeing
that further resistance was futile, and that they were virtually Raoul's
prisoners, hopelessly resigned themselves to their fate and followed
along with the others. A signal was then given, and the entire throng
marched rapidly down the trail to the palace. Narva, however, was not
among them. In the commotion that took place during the altercation with
Miranda, and the subsequent seizure of Mrs. Quayle, she had disappeared.
As the last figures in this strange picture faded from view, Sajipona
seized Una's arm. The waving streams of light reflected on the floor
had again become meaningless. It was as if a dream had suddenly passed
before them, leaving them, as sleepers awakening, uncertain of the
reality of what they had witnessed.
"Who is he?" asked Sajipona--"the stout man who so nearly captured these
traitors?"
"A friend, a doctor, who came with us."
"He is brave! But it is strange that this Raoul Arthur could free
himself so easily from Anitoo. He must have killed my poor Anitoo to
do that. But your friend was nearly too much for him! Never mind if he
failed. They will soon be here. Let us be ready!"
Then, turning to her attendants who stood in a circle at a distance from
them, she cried:
"Open the door!"
Obeying her command, two of the cavemen hurried to the farther end of
the hall. There was a muffled sound of grating stone, and then the two
leaves of the great portal swung slowly open, revealing the glittering,
silent garden of the palace beyond.
XIX
A QUEEN'S CONQUEST
Surrounded by her people, the ancient diadem of the Chibchas, with its
great, smouldering emerald, on her head, Sajipona waited at the entrance
to the court. Without, the motionless flowers and shrubbery of the
garden were steeped in a pale, quivering light outlining every object
with a weird intensity sharper, yet more indefinable than gleams from
moon-drenched skies. In this spectral scene the cavemen stood in rows,
like carven statues; even Sajipona, mobile, versatile of mood, seemed a
woman of marble.
But Una, stirred profoundly by the picture she had seen, doubtful of its
reality, not altogether sure of her own ground, aware of the dangers
that threatened, but ignorant of their exact character, could not hide
her anxiety. Seizing Sajipona's hand, her eyes were eloquent of unspoken
questioning. Her mute appeal was answered by a wistful smile, a glance
at once gracious and sorrowful.
"For you there is no danger," said the queen. "For me--yes, for me there
is, perhaps, danger."
"How can that be?"
"You fear this Raoul Arthur. It is not for you, it is for me he has
come. For three years he has plotted to do this thing. My own kinsman,
Rafael Segurra, was in league with him. Before now he has attempted to
force his way here. The two together found their opportunity in your
coming. And now--Arthur has escaped from his captors and again seems to
have found traitors among my people."
"What is it he wants?"
"You ask that--you who know David!"
For a moment the anger and suspicion with which she had first regarded
Una kindled in Sajipona's eyes. But the mood vanished as quickly as it
came.
"Surely, you remember what Narva said," she went on. "He seeks treasure.
He sought it with David three years ago, the poor treasure belonging to
what is left of my people. Segurra told him where it was, how to get
it."
"Ah, yes!" exclaimed Una. "Now I know! The treasure of Guatavita, of El
Dorado, it is here."
"It is here--it is mine!" said Sajipona sternly. "It will never be
his. Always your people have fought for it, have sinned and died to
make it theirs. They have driven us off the face of the earth, to hide
for centuries in this cave and in that other land that as yet you know
nothing of. Here we have made our world--and we will keep what is ours,
unless David----"
The words died on Sajipona's lips. At the far end of the garden the
heavy branches of spectral shrubbery swayed and parted, revealing a
majestic figure hastening toward them. It was Narva. Gliding along
the pathway, she showed an agitation contrasting strangely with
her accustomed reserve. Reaching the entrance to the palace, she
pointed behind her, at the same time addressing the queen in words
unintelligible to Una.
"Yes, they are coming," said Sajipona, smiling composedly. "It is well.
There is nothing to fear."
Narva had arrived none too soon. As she spoke to the queen, shouts were
heard in the distance, and then the tramp of approaching footsteps.
Sajipona advanced to the threshold of the palace, where, signing to the
others to remain behind, she stood alone, awaiting the noisy intruders.
Her defenseless position brought bitter protest from Narva that was
supported by a movement among the others to protect their queen. This
was quickly rebuked; and when Raoul, his followers and the explorers
poured into the garden they were confronted by a group of men and women
who gave no sign of uneasiness at their arrival.
It should be noted here that, in spite of his defeat, pictured in
the pool of light, Miranda had by no means relinquished his efforts
to gain control of Raoul's men. He had followed along at their side,
irrepressible in his attempts to hold their attention--a sort of
gadfly whose persistent teasing nothing can stop. Raoul would have put
an end to him, once and for all; but in this he found that his men,
pacific by nature and training, would not uphold him. Miranda's rotund
figure, vehemence, spasmodic energy, the unmitigated scorn with which
he regarded all who differed from him, delighted them. He enjoyed the
sort of immunity from punishment granted the old-time court jester. The
cavemen liked him because they could never tell what he was going to do
next. The novelty of so dynamic a personality appealed to their sense
of humor. Thus, when they were all assembled in the garden, the little
doctor's next move was awaited with eagerness. To their astonishment,
the flourish expected of him was not forthcoming. Instead, he stood
stock still, folded his arms across his chest with all the Napoleonic
dignity he could muster, and glared at Raoul.
This extreme composure, however, was not shared by the rest of the
explorers. At the first glimpse of Una, standing immediately behind
Sajipona, Mrs. Quayle gave a shriek of joy and collapsed into the arms
of the schoolmaster, whose own emotions made him a sorry support at
the best. Leighton, on the contrary, accompanied by Herran, strode
quickly forward and would have reached the threshold of the palace,
had he not been waved imperiously aside by Raoul, who now summoned his
followers about him, formed them into a close phalanx and advanced
rapidly across the garden. When they were within a hundred yards of
the palace, they were suddenly met by two men of gigantic stature,
who calmly ordered them to halt. Raoul was less intimidated than his
followers, who recognized in this unexpected challenge an authority they
were accustomed to obey. The two men confronting them evidently belonged
to the priesthood. They were distinguished from the rest of Sajipona's
courtiers by their dress, adorned by various symbolical figures
embroidered in red and gold, and by two wands, each surmounted by an
emerald, which they carried in their hands. Although without military
backing, weaponless except for these wands, Raoul saw with dismay that
the mere presence of these men excited the respect, and even the homage,
of those about him. Many bowed before them; a few showed an unmistakable
disposition to abandon their enterprise altogether and take refuge in
flight. Before this movement could become general, however, they were
arrested by the appearance of Sajipona in their midst.