Kitabı oku: «Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour», sayfa 9

CHAPTER XIII.
THE CRAG REMAGALOTH

The sun was slowly setting, blazing in a hundred hues through the many-coloured windows, and filling the great Hall with a mellow glory, as we were conducted back to our chamber, surrounded by an escort of twenty troopers. Kaosp led the way; we could see that his heart was heavy, and that he sympathised with us in our great trouble. We were weak and faint from want of food. The reaction had come after the excitement of the day, and not one of us spoke to the other as we walked along with drooping heads and faltering steps. It was a great relief to escape from the noisy multitude and find quietness in our own chamber, where, left alone in our sorrow, and as dying men, we could rest and be in peace. There seemed no mercy whatever for us; not the remotest chance of escape from the horrid doom to which we had been condemned. Suicide, it is true, was left, as our revolvers were still hidden in our pockets; for it was a remarkable fact that no one had shown any desire to search us since we had been made prisoners, and we were still unwatched. And yet each one in secret still hoped to escape even now, though he dared not to breathe his thoughts to the rest. Had we not three days! What could we not do in them? Oh! hope, when does man really abandon thee? Only with life. Not even the rejected lover, the ruined gambler, or the man who faces certain death – to the last we all of us cling tightly to thee, Pandora's priceless gift to trouble-burdened Man!

Food was brought to us almost immediately; and we were glad to see that Kaosp continued at his post, as commander of the guard.

"Be ye of stout heart, O men of Ramos. Be not so cast down at misfortune! Death is the portion of us all; and mark ye, the King may yet relent his anger, if he doth but see Perodii's perfidy before three more suns have set," said Kaosp cheerfully, as he shook us by the hand and went his way.

"I am afraid, Doctor, you must feel very bitterly against me," said Graham, as we sadly ate our meal. "Both you and Temple must blame me for all this misfortune. I have no regrets for myself, but it is sore grief indeed to see you fall with me."

"Regrets are useless now, Graham," said Temple. "Besides, I did all I could to further your suit with Volinè, for I believed it wise to do so; I do not blame or reproach you. But we must escape! When, or how, I know not; but, Graham, we must escape."

"Ah! all very well to say that, Mr. Temple, but we are too well guarded, and too closely watched. We had best sleep on the matter now, and consult together in the morning, when we are more refreshed."

"Graham," said the Doctor, who from the moment the King had pronounced our doom had not spoken, "Graham, if we, by any remote possibility, escape from this peril, take my advice on one thing – leave the women alone for the future. I am older than you, have had more experience, and have invariably found that they are the root of all mischief."

Graham answered not a word, but a vision of Volinè, in all her splendid beauty, rose up before him as the Doctor spoke. He saw her as she nestled in his arms, bashfully confessing her love for him in that garden of Siccoth, and in his heart he vowed that nothing but strong Death itself should tear them asunder.

The hour was now late, and we sought to drown our sorrow in slumber. Sandy had already gone to rest, and lay asleep with Rover for his pillow. The nearness of death did not seem to trouble him, for we had explained to him the King's last words of doom. Perhaps our many escapes from great peril had made him careless of danger, and inspired him with the confidence of being able to evade his enemies. Strange to say that now we knew our fate we were more inclined to rest, and speedily we sank into a deep slumber.

"Thou sleepest heavily, O man of Ramos, even with Death beside thee," whispered Kaosp, as he shook Graham roughly in his efforts to awaken him.

"Why, Kaosp, where – what seek you?" said Graham, starting up confused from sleep.

"Hush! Let silence keep thy tongue. Thy comrades sleep. Put on thy garments and follow me. Volinè would see thee!"

"Volinè! Volinè? She here? Good Kaosp, conduct me to her quickly! How can I repay or thank you for such a boon as this?"

"By holding thy peace! I hazard honour and face death to serve thee. Haste thee! Spend not thy precious fleeting moments in catechising me; for she whom thou lovest awaits thee, and thy time is short. In but an hour from now the guard is changed, and thou must be back again!"

"I dressed in silent haste, and followed Kaosp through the larger room out into the corridor. The worthy soldier had managed well; for not a guard was there; and we crept along until I felt his hand tighten on my arm, and heard him whisper:

"'Tarry thee one moment, for I would assure myself that all is safe. Should'st unfriendly eyes see us here, my life would be the cost.'

"He listened intently for a moment, but all was still. Then, by some means unknown to me, he slid back a panel in the side of the corridor, and a puff of cold, damp air rushed into our faces. A dark, yawning gulf was before me, and I drew back with an involuntary shudder; but Kaosp bid me enter.

"'Haste thee down these steps,' said he; 'they will take thee to a passage, which follow until thou reachest the garden of Siccoth-trees; and there Volinè awaits thee. I will meet thee here when thou returnest. But heed thee well the fleeting time.'

"In another moment Kaosp had closed the panel, and I was groping my way down the steps in perfect darkness. Thirty-four deep steps I counted, and then I came to a passage with a smooth floor, which I walked along with caution, feeling the walls on either side as I went. For fifty paces I walked thus, the damp, poisonous air well-nigh choking me; and then I could hear the playing of the fountains, and directly afterwards I beheld the bright stars shimmering before me.

"I waited and listened for a few seconds, before venturing from the passage out into the open garden; but, with the exception of the splashing fountains, all was silent as death. Then I walked stealthily onwards, with eyes striving to penetrate the gloom, now on this side, now on that, and seeking to discover her whom I loved. Presently, I saw her coming towards me with fleeting steps, down a broad pathway between the shrubs. I ran to meet her, and in another moment we were clasped in each other's arms.

"'Harry!'

"'Volinè!'

"And so we met again; and as we uttered each other's name, in our reunion joy, I rained kiss after kiss upon her soft cheeks and willing lips; and the hot, scalding tears of grief, that trickled down her white, sorrow-stricken face, ploughed, as with molten fire, across my own. Oh, the joy and yet the agony of that midnight tryst! We had met, yet only to say good-bye. I and my darling were to love no more in life, for in three fleeting days I must die. Then a great mad thought came unto me; and I planned, in a moment of time, that Volinè and I would flee – that I would take her with me to some far distant place, where we could live and love without fear.

"'Darling, we meet once more, but our lives are cloaked with sorrow. You know my fate. It is your royal father's will that I and my comrades die at sunset, three days hence. Death is dreadful to me since the hour I saw and loved you. I, who have met this grim majestic thing called Death in a hundred shapes without fear, do now see it approach with craven nerveless terror, for it comes to part me from you. Dear one, this shall not be. Let us haste away together to-night, let us fly from Edos now!'

"'Harry, thou sayest that which is impossible, which cannot be,' she sobbed. 'Knowest thou not that every way from Siccoth is guarded well; nay, doubly guarded since I prevailed upon the King, my father, to let thee and thy companions wander therein.'

"'Volinè, your words ring like knells of death and cold despair across my heart.'

"'Nay, then, give not such freedom to despair. Thou knowest I love thee; but thou must not show a woman's weakness, or, methinks, I should despise thee. Brave men know not fear, and dangers flee affrighted from advancing courage,' she answered, woman-like, striving to excite a confidence and daring she by no means felt, although cunningly concealing her fears.

'"Your words, dear one, have robbed all sting from death, and make me look fearlessly upon my doom.'

"'Harry, dear, thou shalt not meet it. The ring I gave thee shall deliver thee from death. How or where, I know not; but Echri's ring shall save thee!'

"'Truth in its virtues grows stronger and stronger within my heart. But, darling, the moments are speeding on, and we have much to say. Pray, tell me now of this braggart Perodii. He called you his affianced! He has dared to use your name as a synonym for shame, before a hundred thousand citizens of Edos, and his lying words found favour with your father.'

"'Thou speakest truly, yet heed him not. My father now knows that I would rather die than mate with him, prince and noble though he be. I have braved my father's wrath, and I laughed to scorn Perodii's cowardly blow at my honour, because I love thee! Perodii's arms have never held me thus; his lips have never met my own. When he calleth me his, he lieth; Harry, mark thee well my words – he lieth!'

"'My precious one,' I whispered, 'your words are as strong wine unto me! Tell me also what your father says concerning us, and of our discovery by Perodii, near the arbour.'

"'His wrath,' she continued, 'was terrible to witness, and I quailed before his bitter words! I told him but the truth, that thou hadst found favour with me. But, Harry, that ring of Echri's shall save thee, although my father and his soldiers dare to defy its sacred charms. So long as that ring shall circle round thy finger, death may not strike thee in violence, therefore guard it well for my sake as well as thine!'

"'As life itself, for ever and for ever,' I whispered in her ear. 'But, dear one, it seems that I have only brought pain and trouble on you, even caused your precious name to be shrouded in dishonour among the public throng – estranged your father from you. Now, after all you sacrifice for me, our happiness is turning but to wormwood and to gall.'

"'And hadst it not been for me, thy comrades and thyself would now be free; for Kaosp tells me the King was in a pardoning humour until Perodii spoke. But the sands of the hour are nearly run, and it is time for thee to go. We must not imperil Kaosp by tarrying here. He risketh much for us.'

"As Volinè spoke, what this our parting really meant, burst upon me in all its awful nakedness, and a great sigh of agony escaped unbidden from my heart. The hour had sped, and we must part. In all human probability, we were to see each other no more! No more! I clasped her yet more tightly to me, and felt her lovely form trembling like a frightened bird's in my embrace. Her bosom heaved in sorrow, as I tenderly kissed her tears away, and smoothed her yellow tresses, which, like a web of spun gold, hung loose and careless over my arm. For a few brief moments thus together in silence, and then, as I kissed her once more, she broke gently from my embrace, and in sorrow walked slowly away, turning round as she did so, and sobbing said:

"'Keep a stout heart, dear Harry. My prayers are said for thee; for I am all thine own. Remember Echri's ring, and fare thee well. Beloved – fare – thee – well!'

"She was gone! and I, with arms stretched out in entreaty towards her, stood desolate and alone in my sore despair! For several moments I stood as though turned to stone, calling her name in the empty garden, and repeating aloud those touching words of Byron's:

 
"'Fare thee well, and if for ever,
Still for ever, fare thee well!'
 

But only the stars and the trees and the fountains heard me – she whom I addressed, was gone! Like some fair meteor she had rushed across my path, dazzled and attracted me during her fleeting stay beyond all power of resistance, and then as suddenly vanished from me, and left me in a chaos of misery and sorrow!

"'May God in His mercy to me blot out from my memory the agony of this parting in the garden of Siccoth; for I can never know happiness again so long as its terrors haunt me,' I prayed aloud in my woe, with face turned upwards to the starlit sky.

"How I got back to the archway, and crept along the passage and up the steps to the sliding panel, I know not, for I went my way as one in a walking sleep, with all strength sapped from my trembling frame.

"Kaosp was awaiting my return in great anxiety, for the hour was already gone, and every moment he dreaded to hear the tramp of the guard coming to relieve him and his men.

"'Keep silent, and follow me with haste,' he whispered, 'or too late I shall repent me of lending willing ears to a woman's supplications. By great good fortune the guard is late, or this night's work would be known to my ruin!'

"'I am really sorry, Kaosp, that I have rewarded your good nature by jeopardizing your safety and your honour – but the hour has seemed so short!'

"'Ah! 'tis always so. Lovers heed not time. But the hour with me hath seemed an age.'

"We walked stealthily back again, not meeting a living soul; and I crept to my couch without waking one of my comrades. They all slept on in ignorance, and I resolved to keep my own counsel. The episode was too sacred and too painful to take anyone into my confidence; besides, no purpose would be gained, and I had nought to tell that would be of service in our dire necessity. Kaosp shook me by the hand before he departed, and a few minutes afterwards, as I lay awake in my misery, thinking of all that had taken place within the past hour, I heard the new guard arrive and station themselves in the corridor beside the outer door!"

It is unnecessary, for the purposes of this narrative, to record our doings during the three days of grace that were allowed us. We neither saw or heard anything of the King, Volinè, or Perodii. We were entirely shut off from all outside affairs, and we knew nothing of what was being done either in the palace or among the people of Edos. We were treated precisely the same as before our trial, with the exception of being allowed to walk in the garden of Siccoth. That privilege was denied, and we were kept close prisoners to our rooms.

Two things occurred, however, which call for special notice. The first was the withdrawal of Kaosp and his men; he and they being replaced by an entirely new set of guards. The reason we could not discover. We sorely missed our old friend and his cheerful ways; and Graham, at least, had some misgivings at his absence. Had Kaosp's breach of trust in aiding Volinè and himself to meet after the trial become known, and his treachery punished? We could not get any information from our new warders. Each one of them maintained a stolid silence, and never addressed a single word to either of us during those three dreadful days of suspense. The second thing worthy of mention was the fact that we were now watched day and night incessantly. There were always two guards with us, and every movement on our part was closely observed. But in spite of all this extra precaution we were never searched, and our little personal belongings remained untouched.

Wearily the days passed on, and we were filled with an agony of suspense, as our last few hours of life ebbed slowly yet surely away. Not one of us appeared fully to realise the awfulness of our impending fate, for each in secret was buoyed up with the hope that our doom by some means would be averted. We hoped and hoped as the time slipped on; yet nothing occurred to warrant even the remotest thought that we should be saved. As usual, the Doctor was most cheerful; Temple and Sandy were becoming exceedingly cast down; Graham had secret faith in Volinè and her mystic ring, which he still wore upon his finger.

The fatal day dawned at last. But our guards exhibited precisely the same stolid demeanour, and breakfast was served to us as usual. We ate little, but drank deeply of a liquor somewhat resembling still hock, the effects of which were exceedingly stimulating and comforting. We had only had this "wine" at our noonday meals before, and we concluded that our captors had been kind enough to furnish us with this liquor to brace us for the coming ordeal at sunset. We little suspected that the "wine" was drugged, and had been given to us for a purpose!

Half an hour after the meal was over, each one of us felt a sickly stupor creeping over him, numbing his sense of feeling, and in subtle sureness robbing him of all use of his limbs. The early effects of the poison were by no means unpleasant. We were filled with a luxurious languor; a delicious feeling of rest, of freedom from anxiety came over us, but soon the poison had other effects, and we became speechless; the brain seemed a mass of molten fire; we appeared to be swelling into absolute giants; everything around us grew distorted, and every muscle seemed to become scorched and withered, until we sank into a complete state of coma!

From this moment we remembered no more until we were awoke by a cool, fresh wind blowing on our faces, and a hum and roar, like that from some excited multitude, dinning as distant thunder in our ears. We tried to rise, but in vain; for every limb was draped in brass chains, and we were bound and helpless in the hands of our remorseless enemies!

Graham and Sandy recovered quickly from the effects of the drug when once we regained consciousness, but we must have lain for many hours in a helpless state of stupor. We found ourselves in a tent, the entrance to which was folded back, but only the sky was visible, and this was hidden every few moments as the giant form of a soldier passed to and fro on guard outside.

"Curses on the refinement of their cruelty," said Graham, as he looked round at his helpless comrades, and felt the brass fetters on his own legs and wrists.

"Damn their cunning! Why could not they lead us out like men? Upon my soul, it's something to be proud o'! They must ha' feared us, or they wouldna' ha' done this, Mr. Graham," said Sandy, in rage.

Temple and the Doctor did not speak. The drug seemed to have blunted all their powers of perception, and they lay helpless and still, as in a waking dream.

"If we could only break these, Mr. Graham, we would at least die fighting, and show the incarnate devils that we dinna' fear death," said Sandy, as he tore savagely at his chains; but, strong man as he was, their polished links only clanged and jingled in mockery.

"It's no good, Sandy," Graham answered; "these brass chains were made to hold stronger men than you or I – "

"Men of Ramos, the sun is setting, and the hour approaches when ye must die," said an officer, as he pushed the tent-door still wider open and walked towards us, followed by half-a-dozen soldiers. "Troopers," he continued, "strike off the fetters from their feet and bring these prisoners forth."

Our feet and legs were soon set free, and we were bidden to rise. Graham and Sandy were on their feet directly; but when the Doctor and Temple tried to stand up they reeled like drunken men, and had to be assisted out of the tent by the guards.

One by one we passed through the doorway out into the open air. Were we still unconscious? Were we still under the influence of a subtle poison? What wondrous magic, what enchantment was this? Edos, the palace, the well-known gardens of Siccoth – all had changed, as in the twinkling of an eye to us, and we found ourselves transported to the midst of a savage wilderness. How we had come hither we knew not; whilst drugged and helpless and unconscious we had been borne to this terrible place to die.

We stood on a steep rugged hillside, some twenty yards or so from the summit. Below us was a vast multitude of people, congregated in the form of a horseshoe round the mountain; around us was a cordon of soldiers, whilst at the very top of the mountain we saw the Sirius, how or when conveyed thither we knew not. Escape seemed utterly hopeless, and for the first time we realized that we were really about to die.

The wild grandeur of that sunset scene can never fade from our memory. All round us were mountains whose rugged peaks were illuminated by the rays of the sinking sun, the snow gleaming on some of them like sheets of polished silver. A volcano, with a thin wreath of blue smoke curling gently skywards crowned the sides of the distant valley, and the ground all round us, and as far as we could see below us, was strewn with fantastic shaped boulders and masses of rock, but not a trace of vegetation could be seen amongst them. Everything was desolate in that vale of bitterness and death; hideous the doom that condemned this strange place to barrenness and ruin. The face of the mountain was scarred and furrowed as with a vast despair, and the grey ghostly plain below seemed full of a horrid phantasm. No streams of water trickled down the hillsides; not a living thing was nourished by the barren, fruitless soil! Beyond the summit, at a much higher elevation, hung a vast bank of gloomy vapour, like a bitter teardrop on the face of the desert wilderness, its surface gleaming in gold and frowning in grey as the lights and shadows played upon its constantly changing surface.

As soon as we had all got out of the tent we were conducted up the mountain-side towards the Sirius, which stood boldly outlined against the sky at the summit. When we got to the top the scene was even more awful, enough to curdle the blood of the stoutest-hearted with horror. We stood upon the crag Remagaloth, a jutting rock which arched and overhung in awful grandeur a vast lake of seething molten fire! Five thousand feet below, in one clear terrible plunge, the cruel cliffs dipped down to this lake of flame; and on the brink of that rugged crag, jutting out like an index finger above the gulf, was the Sirius, looking as if the slightest touch would overbalance her, and hurl her downwards into the fiery depths.

The surface of this molten lake was remarkably still; here and there a tongue of flame shot upwards, and then sank again; here and there the seething mass heaved gently, as though simmering and swelling in sullen rage. The reflection lit up the surrounding rocks, and gleamed upon the armour and the faces of the troops, making them look like fiends in human guise.

What words can describe our feelings as we stood chained and helpless on the brink of Melag, awaiting our hideous doom! The sun already was half-hidden below the mountain-tops behind us in the distant west, and the plain of desolation below was fast cloaking its horrors in the gloom of night. Earth shone as a pale star in the clear sky, and our eyes looked out with yearning love across the realms of space towards her, our home! Alas, home no more! In a few more fleeting moments all would be over! We thought with horror of the death before us, of the actual time when the Sirius, after falling five thousand feet like a winged and helpless bird, would strike with a dull gurgling sound the molten lake below; and then of what we should experience in that one brief, dreadful moment between life and death, when the ocean of living fire should surge over us in its pitiless embrace.

We had little time for thought, however, for almost directly we reached the jutting crag the same commander stepped forward and said —

"Men of Ramos, it is here that by the King's commands ye are to die. It is his royal will that this strange carriage in which ye came to Gathma shall be consumed with ye; so that ye and your evil works may be entirely destroyed."

As he spoke a loud tumultuous shout of approbation rose from the assembled hosts below us, and then a silence as of death came over the expectant throng as they watched in breathless excitement the closing scene of this awful execution. Once more our feet were chained, so that we were utterly helpless.

Not one of us spoke as we were assisted up the ladder into the Sirius. As we entered one by one we noticed a score or more stalwart troopers standing round, evidently waiting for the signal to hurl us over into the lake as soon as all was prepared. Sandy and his dog were taken first, then Graham, then Temple, and last of all the Doctor. As Graham was going up the ladder, Perodii stepped forward. We had not noticed him before, but he had come to see the death of his rival, and to mock and triumph over him in his helpless agony.

"See, thou boasting fool, Volinè hath deserted thee in thy hour of need! She comes not to see thee enter eternal fire! Her shame is deeper than her love; and even her magic ring cannot help thee now! That silly, soul-saving Echri, and his wondrous magic are impotent before a few brass chains and stalwart troopers!"

"Coward! Breathe not her dear name to me, and keep your blasphemy for those who may appreciate it. Were but my fetters loose, I would make carrion of your carcase; and I die breathing curses on your lying tongue," Graham answered with wonderful coolness.

"Begone! Leap thee into Hell, and take thy punishment for meddling with things that concerned thee not," Perodii continued, unable to conceal his mortification at his vain effort to rouse Graham into a display of open anger.

Graham was stung to madness by Perodii's bitter taunts, and as soon as he got inside the Sirius he tore at his chains like one possessed. The muscles of his arms swelled out like knotted ropes, and the veins on his hands seemed about to burst as he wrestled with the strong brass fetters. His strength seemed supernatural, and at last with a mighty wrench he snapped the links asunder, and with a cry of joy rushed down to the engine-room. Already we heard the signal being given; the Sirius was toppling over, but instead of falling, the motors sped round and we rose upwards towards the clouds, triumphant over our enemies. A terrible cry of rage and disappointment came from the spectators. In his excitement Graham forgot his manacled companions, and hurried out on to the balcony to taunt the baffled crowd below. As the Sirius slowly mounted through the air, a shout rose up from the cowed and frightened soldiers —

"It is Echri's magic ring that hath worked this marvel, and delivered these men of Ramos out of our hands. Woe, woe unto us for defying him!"

"We shall meet again, Perodii," shouted Graham at the top of his voice, "and when we do I'll make you answer to me for all the evil you have wrought."

The voices of the crowd were now only as a distant murmur, and soon after we were too far away to hear any sounds at all. Graham soon found tools and released us from our fetters.

"Thank God, for once again delivering us from peril," said Temple reverently.

"The ring, the ring you all despised and scoffed at, has saved us," said Graham; "for the hand which carried it found more than a giant's strength. Call it superstition, if you will, but I solemnly swear that my unaided strength was not equal to those chains."

"The best thing to do," said the Doctor slowly, and with some impatience in his voice, for he was yet feeling dazed and weak, "is to settle where we are going. I am certain the Sirius cannot carry us three hundred miles."

"Let us put as much distance as possible between Edos and ourselves," Temple suggested.

"Very true, Temple, but unfortunately we know not in which direction Edos lies," the Doctor answered.

And so we sped on, we knew not whither, but keeping a sharp look-out. Our course was nearly due north, a point or so east. The country, so far as we could judge in the deepening gloom, was forbidding in appearance, and the reflection from the lake of molten fire shone on the heavens for a vast distance. We seemed to have left all fertile lands behind us, and were hastening into regions of desert barrenness.

Two hours after our escape from Remagaloth, our stock of electricity showed signs of becoming exhausted. We had not the wherewithal to generate more. We were now quite two hundred miles away to the north-eastward of the fire-lake, and here we were compelled to descend. We dropped gently down on what seemed to be a vast plain, barren of vegetation; and there, safe in the Sirius, we ate a hearty meal, enjoyed the luxury of a cigar, and went to sleep, all eager for the dawn to disclose to us the nature of the country we had entered.