“My awakening was as strange as anything which had befallen me. I lay
upon a silken bed in a pavilion which was furnished with exquisite, if
somewhat barbaric, taste.
“A silken shaded lamp hung upon a golden chain near to my couch, but it
was dimmed by the rosy light streaming in through the open door--a light
which I believed to be that of dawn. I ached in every limb and felt weak
and ill. There was a bandage about my head, too, but this great physical
weakness numbed my curiosity, and I just lay still, looking out through
the doorway into a lovely garden. I could form no impression of what had
happened, and the ceaseless throbbing in my head rendered any attempt to
do so very painful.
“I was lying there, in this curious and apathetic state, when the
curtains draped in the doorway were pulled more widely aside and a woman
came in.
“Gentlemen, I will not endeavour to describe her, except to say that she
was so darkly lovely that I doubted the evidence of my senses; tall and
lithe, with the grace of some beautiful jungle creature.
“When she saw that I was awake, she paused and lowered her head in
confusion. She wore a gossamer robe of sheeny golden silk, and, standing
there with the light of the dawn behind her, she made a picture that I
think would have driven a painter crazy.
“I am supposed to be an unimpressionable man, and perhaps it is true;
but there at that moment, as the glance of her dark eyes met the
wondering look in mine, I knew that my hour had come for good or ill.
“This is not the time nor the place for personal reminiscences. I am
here for another purpose. One of those accidents which are really due
to the hand of fate had precipitated me into the garden of the house of
Naida, and she in her great compassion had tended me and sheltered me,
keeping my presence secret from those who would have dealt with me in
summary fashion, and, indeed, who were actually on the look-out for my
arrival.
“Yes, so Naida informed me. To my great surprise she spoke almost
perfect English, and that sort of understanding sprang up between us
immediately which, in the case of a man and a beautiful woman thrown
together as we were, can only terminate in one way.
“She was some sort of priestess of the temple which I had seen from the
top of the cliff. What else she was I very shortly learned.
“In accordance with one of the many strange customs of the City of Fire,
her personal servants, or rather slaves, were blind mutes! Gentlemen,
I warned you that my story was tough. Doubtless you are beginning to
appreciate the fact that I spoke no more than the truth.
“Naida, for such was her name, told me that the Brahmin, Vadi, who had
acted as my guide, was one of the followers of the Prophet of Fire, to
whom had been given the duty of intercepting me. His failure to report
within a certain time had resulted in two of the priests of this
strange cult being sent out to obtain information. That these were the
yellow-robed mendicants who had passed me in the mountains, I did not
doubt.
“Their reports, so Naida informed me, had led to a belief that Vadi
had perished with me; but as an extra measure of precaution, that very
night--indeed, shortly after I had passed that way--a guard had been set
upon the secret entrance. Therefore, even if my strength had permitted,
I should have been unable to return by the way I had come.
“But indeed I was as weak as a child, and only to the presence of much
foliage upon the acclivity down which I had rolled, and to the fact that
I had fallen upon soft soil in a bed of flowers, can I ascribe my having
failed to break my neck.
“In this way, gentlemen, I entered upon a brief period of my life at
once more sweet and more bitter than any I had known. Next to that
strange, invisible prophet whose name was Fire-Tongue, Naida held
unquestioned sway in this secret city. Her house was separated from the
others, and she travelled to and from the temple in a covered litter. To
look upon her, as upon Fire-Tongue himself, was death. Women, I learned,
were eligible for admission to this order, and these were initiated by
Naida.
“As the days of my strange but delightful captivity wore on, I learned
more and more of the weird people who, unseen, surrounded me. There were
lodges of the Cult of Fire all over the East, all having power to make
initiates and some to pass disciples into the higher grades. Those who
aspired to the highest rank in the order, however, were compelled to
visit this secret city in the Indian hills.
“Then at last I learned a secret which Naida had for long kept back from
me. These followers of the new Zoroaster were polygamists, and she
was the first or chief wife of the mysterious personage known as
Fire-Tongue. I gathered that others had superseded her, and her lord and
master rarely visited this marble house set amid its extensive gardens.
“Her dignities remained, however, and no one had aspired to dethrone her
as high priestess of the temple. She evidently knew all the secrets of
the organization, and I gathered that she was indispensable to the group
who controlled it.
“Respecting Fire-Tongue himself, his origin, his appearance, she was
resolutely silent, a second Acte, faithful to the last. That the ends of
this cult were not only religious but political, she did not deny, but
upon this point she was very reticent. An elaborate system of espionage
was established throughout the East, Near and Far, and death was the
penalty of any breach of fidelity.
“Respecting the tests to which candidates were put, she spoke with more
freedom. Those who, having reached the second grade, aspired to the
first, were submitted to three very severe ones, to make trial of their
courage, purity, and humility. Failure in any of these trials resulted
in instant death, and the final test, the trial by fire, which took
place in a subterranean chamber of the great temple, resulted in a
candidate whose courage failed him being precipitated into that lake of
flame which I have already described--a dreadful form of death, which by
accident I had witnessed.
“Gentlemen, realizing what the existence of such an organization meant,
what a menace to the peace of the world must lie here, what dreadful
things were almost hourly happening about me at behest of this invisible
monster known as Fire-Tongue, I yet confess--for I am here to speak the
truth--that, although I had now fully recovered my strength, I lingered
on in a delicious idleness, which you who hear me must find it hard to
understand.
“I have the reputation of being a cold, hard man. So had Antony before
he met Cleopatra. But seven years ago, under the Indian moon, I learned
tolerance for the human weakness which forgets the world for the smiles
of a woman.
“It had to end. Sooner or later, discovery was inevitable. One night I
told Naida that I must go. Over the scene that followed I will pass in
silence. It needed all the strength of a fairly straight, hard life to
help me keep to my decision.
“She understood at last, and consented to release me. But there were
obstacles--big ones. The snow on the lower mountain slopes had begun to
melt, and the water-gate in the valley by which I had entered was now
impassable. As a result, I must use another gate, which opened into a
mountain path, but which was always guarded. At first, on hearing this,
I gave myself up for lost, but Naida had a plan.
“Removing a bangle which she always wore, she showed me the secret mark
of Fire-Tongue branded upon the creamy skin.
“‘I will put this mark upon your arm,’ she said. ‘In no other way can
you escape. I will teach you some of the passwords by which the brethren
know one another, and if you are ever questioned you will say that you
were admitted to the order by the Master of the Bombay Lodge, news of
whose death has just reached us.’
“‘But,’ said I, ‘how can I hope to pass for an Oriental?’
“‘It does not matter,’ Naida replied. ‘There are some who are not
Orientals among us!’
“Gentlemen, those words staggered me, opening up a possibility which had
seemed only shadowy before. But Naida, who had tremendous strength of
character, definitely refused to discuss this aspect of the matter,
merely assuring me that it was so.
“‘Those who have successfully passed the ordeal of fire,’ she said, ‘are
put under a vow of silence for one month, and from moon to moon must
speak to no living creature. Therefore, once you bear the mark of
the Fiery Tongue, you may safely pass the gate, except that there are
certain signs which it is necessary you should know. Afterward, if you
should ever be in danger of discovery anywhere in the East, you will
remember the passwords, which I shall teach you.’
“So I was branded with the mark of Fire-Tongue, and I spent my last
night with Naida learning from her lips the words by which members of
this order were enabled to recognize one another. In vain I entreated
Naida to accompany me. She would allow herself to love and be loved; but
the vows of this singular priesthood were to her inviolable.
“She exacted an oath from me that I would never divulge anything which I
had seen or heard in the City of Fire. She urged that I must leave India
as quickly as possible. I had already learned that this remote society
was closely in touch with the affairs of the outside world. And, because
I knew I was leaving my heart behind there in the Indian hills, I
recognized that this dreadful parting must be final.
“Therefore I scarcely heeded her when she assured me that, should I ever
be in danger because of what had happened, a message in the Times
of India would reach her. I never intended to insert such a message,
gentlemen. I knew that it would need all my strength to close this door
which I had opened.
“I will spare you and myself the details of our parting. I passed out
from the City of Fire in the darkest hour of the night, through a long
winding tunnel, half a mile in length. I had protested to Naida that the
secret mark might be painted upon my arm and not branded, but she had
assured me that the latter was a necessity, and this now became evident;
for, not only three times was it subjected to scrutiny, but by the last
of the guards, posted near the outer end of the tunnel, it was tested
with some kind of solution.
“Silence and the salutation with the moistened finger tips, together
with the brand upon my arm, won me freedom from the abode of
Fire-Tongue.
“From a village situated upon one of the tributaries of the Ganges I
readily obtained a guide, to whom such silent, yellow-robed figures as
mine were evidently not unfamiliar; and, crossing the east of Nepal,
I entered Bengal, bearing a strange secret. I found myself in an empty
world--a world which had nothing to offer me. For every step south took
me farther from all that made life worth living.”