AMONG THE LO-GROLLAS.
How to escape from our perilous position on the banks of a pestilential
stream, haunted by catawampodes and other fell birds of prey, now
became a subject for consideration. Our object, of course, was to reach
the people of the Lo-grollas, through whose region, according to the
prophecy, we must pass before finding the Magician that should guide us
to the mummy. Our perplexity was only increased by the discovery that
we were surrounded on every side by the walls and houses of a gigantic
city. Stealing out by the canal as we had entered, we found to our
comfort that this must be the very city mentioned by Theodolite. As the
seeress had declared, a deep and noisome night always prevailed, only
broken here and there as a wanderer scratched one of Bryant & May's
matches and painfully endeavoured to decipher the number on the door of
his house. The streets, moreover, were strewn and interwoven with long
strings of iron fallen from the sky.
'_The people who wire themselves with wires_,' whispered Leonora; 'what
do you think of my interpretation _now_?'
'I shall inquire,' I answered, and I _did_ inquire for the land of the
Lo-grollas, but in vain.
Happily we chanced to meet an old man, clothed in a whitish robe of
some unknown substance, not unlike paper. This fluttering vesture was
marked with strange characters, in black and red, which Leonora was
able to interpret. She read them thus. They were but fragmentary.
[Illustration:
+-----------------------+
| SP" "AL |
| |
| VORCE C"SE. |
| |
| WAR "" "URKEY. |
| |
| P"L ""LL ""ZETTE. |
+-----------------------+
]
On the fragments the words, 'Tragedy,' 'Awful Revelations,' 'Purity,'
and other apparently inconsistent hieroglyphics might be deciphered.
He had a large and ragged staff; on his back he carried a vast Budget,
and he was always asking everybody, 'Won't you put something in the
Budget?'
'Father,' said Leonora, in a respectful tone, 'canst thou tell us the
way to the land of the people called Lo-grolla, and the place of the
Rolling of Logs.'
He stroked his beautiful white beard, and smiled faintly.
'Indeed, child, we not only know it, but ourselves discovered it and
wrote it up--we mean, sent our representative,' he answered.
It was a peculiarity of this man that he always spoke, like royalty, in
the first person plural.
'And if a daughter may ask,' said Leonora, 'what is the name of my
father?'
Stedfastly regarding her, he answered, 'Our name is Pellmelli.'
'And whither go we, my father?'
'That you shall see--as soon, that is, as the fog lifts, or as our
representative has made interest with a gas company.'
With these words he furnished an unequalled supply of litter, which
came, he said, 'from the office,' where there was plenty, and we were
borne rapidly in a westward direction.
As we journeyed, old Pellmelli gave us a good deal of information about
the Lo-grollas, whom he did not seem to like.
They were, he said, a savage and treacherous tribe, inhabiting for the
most part the ruined abodes of some kingly race of old.
The names of their chief dwellings, he told us, were still called, in
some ancient and long-lost speech,
'The Academy,' and 'The Athenaeum.'
Leonora, whose knowledge of languages was extensive and peculiar, told
Pellmelli that these names were derived from the old Greek.
'Ah,' said he, 'you have clearly drunk of the wisdom of the past, and
thy hands have held the water of the world's knowledge. Know you Latin
also?'
'Yes, O Pellmelli,' replied Leonora, and Pellmelli said he preferred
modern tongues, though it would often be useful to him if he did in his
dealings with the Lo-grollas.
'However, if our Greek is a little to seek, our Russian is O.K.,' he
said proudly.
He was very bitter against the Lo-grollas.
The Lo-grollas' favourite weapon, he told us, was the club, and he even
proposed to show us this instrument.
Our litter presently stopped outside a stately palace.
The street was dark, as always in this strange city, but old Pellmelli
paused, sniffed, and, bending his ear to the ground, listened intently.
'I smell the incense,' he said, 'and hear the melodious Rolling of the
Logs. But they shall know their master!'
Thus speaking, he led us into a vast hall, where the Lo-grollas were
sitting or standing, 'offering each other incense,' as Pellmelli
remarked, from thin tubes of paper, which smoked at one end.
'Now listen,' said Pellmelli, and he cried aloud the name of a poet
known to the Lo-grollas.
Instantly we heard, from I know not what recess, a rolling fire of
applause and admiration, which swept past us with stately and solemn
music, like a hymn of praise.
'_There_,' said Pellmelli, 'I told you so. This is the place of the
Rolling of Logs, and yourselves have heard it.'
Leonora said she did not mind how often she heard it, as she quite
agreed with the sentiments.
'Not so!' said Pellmelli; and he cried aloud another name--the name of
a poetaster--which was almost strange to us.
Then followed through that vasty hall a sharp and rattling crash, as of
the descent of innumerable slates.
'Great heavens!' whispered Leonora, 'remember the writing; _the place
where they slate strangers_!'
As _we_ were strangers, and wholly unknown to the Lo-grollas, we
thought they might slate _us_, and, beating a hasty retreat, soon found
ourselves with Pellmelli in the dark outer air.
'They are a desperate lot,' said he; 'they won't ever put anything in
the Budget.'
He was quivering with indignation; and Leonora, to soothe him, told him
the story of our quest for the mummy, and asked him if he could help
us.
'We are your man,' said he. 'We propose to-morrow to send our
representative to interview a magician who has just arrived in this
country. He is a mysterious character; his name is Asher,[21] and it is
said that he is the Wandering Jew, or, at all events, has lived for
many centuries. He, if any one, can direct you in your search.'
[21]
Pronounced _Assha_.--ED.
He then appointed a place where his representative should meet us next
day, and we separated, Pellmelli taking his staff, and going off to
lead an excursion against the Ama-Tory, a brutal and licentious tribe.