In the Wonderful Land of Hez; or, The Mystery of the Fountain of Youth

by Cornelius Shea

  CHAPTER XIV. AZURMA SUFFERS THE PENALTY OF HER CRIME.

  The next morning the swamp explorers were up bright and early.

  They had been invited to be present at the execution of the murderess,Azurma, and though none of them were bloodthirsty enough to long forsuch sights, the novelty of the thing caused them to make up theirminds to see it out.

  That Leo was very much put out about the affair was certain. Heconsidered that he was the direct cause of the whole trouble, and whilethe fair girl deserved punishment for her rash and bloody act, he madeup his mind that a jury in any civilized portion of the world wouldhardly find her guilty of murder in the first degree. She might receivea sentence of imprisonment for life, and probably not as bad as that.

  He concluded to speak to the queen about it, and got Dick to accompanyhim to the palace just before the procession was ready to start for theplace of execution.

  She granted him an audience readily enough, but would not listen tohis appeal that she might be a little more lenient with Azurma.

  “No,” said she, with a decided shake of her head; “she must die asI have ordered. I cannot; nor would not if I could, countermand myorders. We are ready to start now, tell the rest of your companions tofall in line, and be sure to go with us to see the vile murderess takeher death ride into the Devil’s Kingdom!”

  There was no getting over it, so our friends promptly fell into linewith nearly the entire population of Hez.

  Azurma was then brought forth by two men, and she cast a look ofdefiance at Queen Olive and the rest of the women.

  The word was given, and the procession filed away, the swamp explorerskeeping near the doomed girl, and marveling at the fortitude shepossessed.

  Torches were lighted, and they passed through the dark passage into themagic chamber.

  Here Azurma turned her gaze upon Leo, and said:

  “It was in this place that I first met you, my Leo. Then I thought youwould be mine, but they robbed me of you. But I promise, that thoughthey kill me, I will meet you in another world, and then we will behappy. This I swear!”

  At this point the girl was hustled on, and deeply impressed by herwords, Leo and his companions followed with the crowd.

  In a short time the spot that overlooked the place dubbed the Devil’sKingdom was reached, and the party came to a halt.

  A shudder came over Azurma as she surveyed the horrible place below,but in an instant she had regained her composure and was as calm asever.

  The puffs of fire and smoke roared and hissed below them, and thestream which flowed through the place seemed to rush along with unusualspeed.

  “I am ready to suffer the penalty of my crime, O queen! It is sweet todie for those we love!”

  It was the doomed girl that spoke, and as she turned her eyes upon theassemblage her face looked more beautiful than ever.

  “If you have anything to say, out with it at once,” said the queen.“According to our ancient laws you must die, and our laws must not bebroken.”

  “I will say this much,” replied Azurma, advancing to the very edge ofthe steep, rocky slant: “The women of Hez have robbed me of the one Ilove, and now, as I stand upon the very brink of death, I set my curseupon all who took part in it. And, furthermore, I do swear that I willreturn from the undiscovered country into which I am now to be hurled,and heap destruction upon all Hez. This I promise you; and if I doleave this country to find a haven of rest in another more beautifulone--as I firmly believe I shall--I will do my best to get the peopleof that country to follow me to Hez and aid me in accomplishing myrevenge.”

  She paused for a moment and looked keenly around to see the effect ofher words.

  She was evidently satisfied, for a smile broke over her beautiful face.

  Then, directing her gaze upon Leo, her lips parted.

  “Farewell, my Leo; forget not what I said in the magic chamber.”

  The next instant, to the astonishment of all hands, she turned andsprang over the verge of the awful place and went gliding toward theflame and smoke below!

  She had cheated the executioners from throwing her into the Devil’sKingdom by committing the deed herself.

  Down--down the horrible descent she glided until the lurid flames hidher from view, and then, with a mighty splash, the beautiful murderessplunged into the rushing stream.

  A shudder crept over everyone in the party, and one and all they turnedtheir heads.

  For fully a minute a deep silence reigned.

  At length it was broken by Queen Olive.

  “Come,” said she, in a strange, unnatural tone, “let’s go back.”

  Everybody seemed to be willing, so they started at once.

  As soon as they arrived at the village, our friends sought theseclusion of their own dwelling to talk over the startling events thathad so recently occurred.

  About an hour after darkness set in the younger population of Hezbegan moving toward the magic chamber, and among them were Dick, theprofessor, Haypole and Lucky.

  Each of these escorted the fair one to whom he had been engaged, andthe Yankee and the transformed darky presented an amusing spectacle asthey made their way along in the procession.

  Dick was more or less elated at being at the head of the line with thebeautiful queen at his side, and for the time being he forgot all aboutLeo.

  When they reached the magic chamber, he found it was lighted by anumber of brightly burning torches, stuck in niches in the rocky walls.

  Almost as soon as he and Queen Olive entered a strain of music struckup, he knew not from where, and he found his partner and himselfleading a fantastic, weird march.

  Back and forth, through the roomy cavern, they made their way, the boydoing as the queen directed him.

  At length, after about ten minutes of this sort of thing, the musicsuddenly ceased and everybody came to a halt.

  Then it again struck up, and the opening dance began.

  It was very similar to the old-fashioned Virginia reel, and our friendshad little or no difficulty in going through the figures.

  Prof. Easy seemed to be in his seventh heaven.

  He danced about like a wild man of the woods, and laughed like a childin possession of a new toy.

  And Martin Haypole. He swung his long legs around regardless of anymischief he might do, and forgot all the cares and troubles of his life.

  Lucky was probably the most nimble-footed male on the floor, and hesoon laid all the rest in the shade.

  When the first dance came to an end, Queen Olive informed Dick that anumber of the girls would give the dance of death--the same that ourfriends had witnessed on their arrival in Hez.

  This, she informed him, was always indulged in by those who were notfortunate enough to have a partner for life, or a chance of soon havingone, at every occasion like this.

  Now that they knew what was coming, the four were anxious to see it,and they took seats with those who were not to participate in it on thestone floor of the cavern.

  It was but a repetition of what they had seen before, but it wasentrancing, for all that.

  The graceful, undulating movements of the gaudily bedecked creaturesseemed to move as if by a strange mechanism, and when their skeletonpartners dropped down from above, the scene was complete.

  As before, when the thing wound up, a crowd of figures resemblinganimals rushed in and seized the girls, and the skeletons disappeared.

  At the same instant the lights went out and all was in total darkness.

  This was evidently not on the program, for the audience gave a cry ofalarm, and a number hastened to light up the scene again. When theyhad done so it was found that both Dick and the queen had mysteriouslydisappeared.