CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE FIGHT IN THE ROAD.
The morning of the day which was to witness the imposing ceremonial ofthe obsequies of the late King Juda dawned brilliantly bright and fair,to the unqualified satisfaction of the Uluans, every one of whom countedupon witnessing some portion at least of the pageant, while the greaternumber were resolved to see practically the whole of it, and, with thatintention, arose about midnight and betook themselves along the roadleading to the royal sepulchre, which was a great cavern, situate someeight miles from the city, in the interior of which the bodies of themonarchs of Ulua had been deposited from time immemorial.
With the first appearance of dawn the streets of the city had begun toassume a festive appearance, which, to Dick and Earle at least, seemeddistinctly incongruous until it was explained to them by Lyga--who cameto them early--that the pageant was in nowise intended to be typical ofa nation mourning the loss of its monarch (the theory being that themonarch never dies), but rather of the nation doing honour to one who,after ruling them wisely and well, has laid him down to enjoy awell-earned rest.
It was not, however, to furnish this explanation that Lyga had presentedhimself at such an early hour, but rather to inquire what progress, ifany, had been made in the quest for the missing Sachar.
Dick was obliged to reply to this that, notwithstanding his utmostefforts, and in the following up of innumerable clues which had provedto be false, he had been unable to discover the whereabouts of themissing man, who indeed had disappeared as effectually as though theearth had swallowed him up.
"I feared so; I feared so," commented Lyga, in response to Dick'sexplanation. "I am inclined to the belief that he is being harboured bysome friend whose power and influence are so great that he believeshimself strong enough to defy you. And I fear that, all this time,Sachar has been using his own influence and that of his friend to plotsome scheme whereby he may secure possession of the Queen's person for asufficient length of time to compel her to marry him. Hitherto this hasbeen impossible, for the simple reason that, thus far, her Majesty hasnever left the precincts of the palace, where of course she is safe.But to-day her Majesty goes forth to render the last honours to herbeloved grandfather, and to witness, according to custom, the depositionof his body in the royal sepulchre; to-day, therefore, an opportunitymay arise for the conspirators to attempt to secure possession of theQueen's person, if they deem themselves strong enough. And if notto-day, the opportunity must soon present itself; for it is manifestlyout of the question that her Majesty shall become virtually a prisonerin her own palace. She must of necessity frequently go abroad and showherself to the people, otherwise they would soon begin to think, and tosay, that she is afraid of Sachar; and that would but strengthenSachar's hands and weaken her own.
"But mark ye this, my lords. It is in my mind that if, as I verystrongly suspect, it is Sachar's intention to secure possession of theQueen's person, the attempt is likely enough to be made to-day, for thereason that to-day all Ulua will be abroad, and therefore it will be theeasier for a large body of Sachar's adherents to assemble together, andmaybe form part of the funeral procession, without exciting comment orsuspicion."
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning when, the great wroughtcopper gates at the main entrance of the palace having been swung open,the queen's chariot emerged therefrom and was carefully piloted to itsstation immediately in the rear of the funeral car, to which, in themeantime, twelve magnificently caparisoned white horses had been yoked,the great cloths which covered the animals from head to heel being madeof purple silk, lavishly embroidered in silver thread and weighted atthe edges with heavy silver tassels. Their heads were decorated withlong plumes of the royal colours, and their bridles were fringed withpurple silk bands, scalloped and heavily embroidered in silver. All thehorses taking part in the procession, from those in the queen's chariotdown to the humble vehicle drawn by a single animal, were caparisonedexactly alike, by strict regulation. And after the chariots, some ofwhich were drawn by six horses, yoked three abreast, came those who, notbeing wealthy enough to own a chariot, must follow on foot.
The horses having been yoked to the funeral chariot, Dick Cavendishmounted his powerful charger and gave the order for the bodyguard toform round it and the queen's chariot, which was at once done, thetroopers forming a cordon six deep, which completely enveloped the twochariots. At the same moment the great doors of the temple were thrownopen, and the priests, to the number of about one hundred and fifty,clad in white robes and turbans edged with turquoise blue, filed outthrough the portals of the building, walking with slow and measuredsteps, and playing a kind of dirge upon their queer-looking musicalinstruments, of which the most numerous consisted of long curvedtrumpets formed of a kind of terra-cotta. Zorah, the high priest,marched in the van bearing aloft a pole surmounted by an effigy ofKuhlacan, the Winged Serpent, while on either side of him walkedacolytes swinging censers charged with certain aromatic substances,smouldering and throwing off thin wisps of perfumed smoke.
Down the great flight of the temple steps came the priests, and acrossthe square, until they reached the foremost files of the bodyguard, whenthey wheeled to the left and proceeded along the appointed route, thefuneral car and the rest of the procession getting into motion closebehind.
Proceeding at the solemn pace which had been set by the priests at theoutset, the funeral procession slowly wended its way along the roadtoward the place of sepulture, the route being lined on either hand by acontinuous crowd of people of the humbler classes, who knew that itwould be hopeless for them to attempt to file past the bier while itstood in the great square before the palace, the time allowed for thisbeing only sufficient to permit the nobles and the more affluent classesto pay this last tribute to their dead king; those, therefore, who couldnot do this adopted the alternative of assembling along the highway andcasting their little bouquets of flowers upon the road when the head ofthe procession approached.
The journey from the square to the great plain before the rocky cliffwhich contained the royal sepulchre occupied practically four hours, andanother two hours elapsed before the tail end of the procession arrivedand was arranged in position to witness the elaborate ceremony attendingthe consignment of the body to its last resting place; thus it was aftersunset and the brief dusk of the tropics was falling upon the plain,enveloping it in a veil of mystery and cloaking many of the movements ofthe enormous crowd assembled, when at length, after the observance ofthe final rites, the queen, followed by such nobles as were entitled tobe present, and the priests emerged from the great cavern. The funeralceremonies were over, and it now only remained for those who had takenpart in them to get back to their homes as speedily as might be.
Dick, in his capacity as Captain-General of the Queen's Bodyguard, andEarle, in the character of a highly distinguished individual closelyconnected in some mysterious fashion with the god Kuhlacan, wereawaiting her Majesty at the entrance of the cave, and immediately uponher emergence they each offered her a hand and proceeded to lead her toa chariot, which was awaiting her at some little distance, the troopersof the bodyguard closing up in the rear of the trio and thus cuttingthem off from everybody outside the cordon.
No sooner was this accomplished than Earle began hurriedly to addressthe queen in a low voice:
"Your Majesty," he said, "we have the strongest reason for suspectingthat a very formidable and determined attempt will be made to securepossession of your person to-night, during the progress of our journeytoward the city. There is no time to enter into even the most brief ofexplanations, but the point is this: My Lord Dick and I have devised aplan to frustrate this atrocious plot, and all that we need is yourMajesty's immediate and unqualified assent to enable us to put the planinto effect. It involves your trusting yourself alone with me while Itake you back to the city and the palace by a shorter but very lonelyroute. Will you do it? It is the joint plan of my Lord Dick andmyself, and it is our earnest desire and entreaty that y
ou will begraciously pleased to assent to it."
"Of course," agreed the queen, with the utmost readiness. "I will trustmyself with my Lord Dick and you anywhere."
"I greatly appreciate the confidence which your Majesty is pleased toput in me," remarked Earle. "But I fear that I have not succeeded inmaking myself quite understood. The success of our plan demands thatyou come with me _alone_. My Lord Dick cannot come with us. It isnecessary that he shall remain with the bodyguard."
"Necessary that he should remain?" objected the queen. "Nay, surelynot. Let him turn over the command for the moment, to Acor, and comewith us. It is not that I am afraid to trust myself alone with you, mylord," she added, in response to a sigh and a gesture of disappointmentfrom Earle, "but--but--"
"Oh yes, your Majesty, of course I know," responded Earle wearily, "butwhat you suggest simply cannot be done. You see--Oh! hang it all," hecontinued, breaking into English, "tell the child that she simply _must_do as we ask; that you wish it; or she'll stand here arguing untilfurther orders."
The unmistakable tone of annoyance and impatience with which Earle endedhis speech caused the queen to glance at him with big, startled eyes;but when Dick bent over her and whispered an entreaty that she wouldfall in with the plan, so that he might thus be relieved of a very heavyload of anxiety, she acquiesced without further ado, while Earletriumphantly chortled, in English:
"I told you so!"
They were by this time close to the royal chariot, near which stood adismounted trooper, holding his horse by the bridle with one hand, whileover his other arm he held unfolded the long, black military cloak inwhich officers and men alike were wont to envelop themselves at nighttime to protect their armour and accoutrements from the drenching nightdews.
Without saying a word, Dick at once took the cloak from the man andwrapped it round the queen, enveloping her from head to foot; next hedrew the hood over her head and so arranged it that while the girl couldsee clearly, her features were hidden in the deep shadow cast by theoverhanging hood. And, this done, he seized her beneath the arms andtossed her light as a feather, into the saddle, carefully set her feetin the stirrups, and afterwards arranged the voluminous folds of thecloak in such a fashion that the rich dress which she wore wascompletely concealed. Then, one on each side of the horse's head, Dickand Earle led the animal to the head of the troop, while at a sign fromDick, the dismounted trooper entered the royal chariot and drew thecurtains close.
It was by this time quite dark, save for the illumination afforded bythe stars, which brilliantly studded the heavens and just shed a baresufficiency of soft, sheeny light to reveal the white road, and thenearer trees and clumps of bush standing out against the opaque blackbackground of the surrounding hills. So far as could be seen, there wasnothing on the road ahead of the royal chariot and its escortingsquadrons of horsemen, for to precede them was contrary to etiquette;therefore as soon as Dick and Earle reached the head of the returningprocession they mounted their horses and gave the word to march at atrot, the two white men leading, with the queen riding between them,while the nobles, accompanied by their retinues, came closely behind,for all now seemed anxious to reach the city with as little delay aspossible. In this fashion about a mile and a half of the return journeywas accomplished, and a bend of the road was reached where a sort ofbridle path bore sharply off to the right, forming a short cut to thecity, but practicable only for horsemen or pedestrians, because of itsnarrowness, the road through the scrub being only wide enough to permitthe passage of a single horseman. Here Earle left the escort and,closely followed by the queen, plunged into the by-path, where theirforms instantly became merged in the deep shadow of the surroundingbush, while the soft, sandy character of the soil so muffled thehoof-beats of their horses as to render them inaudible above the soundscaused by the passage of the horses and chariots along the high road.Ten seconds after they had parted from the main body, Earle and hiscompanion had vanished as completely as though the earth had swallowedthem up, while none but the leading files of the escort had witnessedtheir going. Five minutes later, Dick uttered a low word of command,and a sergeant, accompanied by four files of troopers, separatedthemselves from the main body and pushed forward along the main road ata canter acting as scouts.
Scarcely had these men vanished in the distance when the sky on the leftassumed an appearance as though being overspread by a soft goldenradiance, throwing the outline of the encircling cliffs in thatdirection into sharp relief, the stars thereabout paled intoinsignificant pin points of light ere they vanished altogether, andpresently up sailed the full moon into view above the hill tops,instantly flooding the valley with her soft, mysterious effulgence,until in the course of a few minutes objects were almost as clearlyvisible as in the light of day, while the multitudinous polished metaldomes and roofs, of the distant city shimmered under the clear rays likethe waters of another lake.
Some ten minutes later, a clear, shrill whistle sounded far ahead, whichwas the preconcerted signal announcing that the scouts had come intotouch with an opposing body of some description, and Dick immediatelygave the order for the bodyguard to roll up their cloaks and holdthemselves ready for action. Scarcely had this been executed when thesergeant in command of the scouts came thundering back, with theintimation that a dense mass of footmen, armed with bow, spear andsword, occupied the road about half-a-mile ahead, completely blockingit, and that the officer in command--no less a personage than themissing Lord Sachar--contemptuously refused to budge an inch, andinsolently demanded immediate speech with the Captain-General.
"He does, does he?" ejaculated Dick. "All right, he shall have it; andmuch good may it do him!"
The incident of the sergeant's return had not for a moment interruptedthe progress of the bodyguard, that official having simply wheeled hishorse in the road and drawn in alongside Dick as the latter came up,riding a few paces in advance. Then, keeping pace with theCaptain-General, the sergeant made his brief report, before falling backinto his proper place in the troop. Five minutes later, upon rounding abend in the road, Dick found himself within fifty yards of the opposingforce, which had been posted with some skill right across the road, at apoint where the growth of scrub on either hand was so dense as to renderit impossible for either infantry or cavalry to pass through it and soexecute an outflanking movement.
"Halt!" shouted Dick to the troopers in his rear; and as the horsemenreined in and came to a standstill, he allowed his hand to drop to thebutt of one of the four automatic pistols which he had taken theprecaution to thrust into his belt before setting out from the palace inthe morning. Drawing forth the weapon and allowing the hand which heldit to drop to his side, he urged his horse forward until he was within afew yards of the front rank of the opposing force, when he drew rein,and demanded:
"Who are ye, and where is your leader? Let him stand forth and explainthe meaning of this outrage. Know ye that ye are opposing the passageof the chariot of the Queen's most excellent Majesty?"
"Ay, right well do we know it, since that is our purpose," replied aman, stepping forth in response to Dick's challenge. He was dressed ina suit of complete gold armour; but since the Uluan helmet has no visor,and the light of the moon, now almost as brilliant as that of day, fellfull upon his face, Dick at once recognised him as the recalcitrantSachar.
"So it is thou, my Lord Sachar," remarked Dick. "Hast heard that thereis a reward set upon thy head, and art come forth at this untimely hourto surrender thyself?"
"Nay, not so," answered Sachar, "but to make two demands have I come,bringing with me these my faithful followers and servitors, that I mayhave the power to enforce my demands.
"I demand, first, the surrender of the Queen's person into my care andkeeping; and second, I demand the surrender of yourself and the otherstranger, your companion, in order that ye may be brought to trial forthe crimes of exercising undue and pernicious influence upon the mind ofthe Queen, and the abolition of certain ancient rites and customsconnected with
the worship and honour of the great god Kuhlacan. And Iwarn ye beforehand, oh insolent white stranger, that it will be uselessfor ye to resist my demands; for though ye have some five hundredsoldiers at your back, I have here as many thousands to support me,while in your rear there are thousands more who are pledged to help me.Therefore, seeing that ye are hemmed in, front and rear, and cannotpossibly escape, I call upon the soldiers of the Queen's bodyguard tosurrender at discretion, and thus avert the shedding of much innocentblood."
"Have ye finished?" demanded Dick. "Then--" as Sachar made noreply--"now hearken all of you unto me. Ye know that this man Sachar,once a Uluan noble, is now outlawed and a price set upon his head forthreatening her most gracious Majesty, Queen Myrra--whom may God grant along and prosperous reign--" Here the soldiers of the bodyguard broke inwith loud and enthusiastic cheers. "And," continued Dick, when silencewas once more restored, "ye have also now heard his audacious andtreasonable demand that the Queen shall be surrendered, a prisoner, intohis keeping, that he may work his wicked will upon her. Know,therefore, that, rather than concede this outlaw's treasonable demands,I will die here in the road fighting in defence of the Queen's personand liberty, and so will every man who wears her Majesty's uniform--"Here fresh cheers from the bodyguard again interrupted him. "Ye hearthose cheers?" resumed Dick, as the shouts died into silence. "And knowye what they mean, oh misguided adherents of the outlawed Sachar? Theymean death to you! For your own sakes, therefore, I counsel you toreturn to your allegiance to the Queen, surrendering Sachar to me, aprisoner, to be tried and dealt with for his offence as the law of Uluadirects. Those of you who are willing to save your lives, face aboutand retire with all speed, lest evil befall you."
"So!" roared Sachar, advancing upon Dick with uplifted sword, "ye wouldpervert my followers and terrify them into deserting me!" And he aimeda mighty blow at Dick as the pair rushed at each other. But Dick,anticipating something of the sort, had already dropped the bridle uponhis charger's neck, thrust his automatic back into his belt, and whippedout the good steel sword that he had that morning deemed it advisable tosubstitute for the handsome but comparatively useless weapon that wentwith his uniform, and the next instant the two blades clashed together.The result was precisely what Dick had anticipated, the steel shatteredthe hardened and toughened copper blade as though the latter had beenglass, and before Sachar in the least realised what had happened Dickhad driven his sword hilt into his antagonist's face, causing the Uluannoble to stagger so that he would have fallen, had not Dick leanedforward in his saddle and gripped the man by the arm.
"Sergeant Mato," he called, "take this man back to the centre of thetroop, bind him hand and foot, and see to it that he does not escapeyou. Now, followers of Sachar," he continued, "your leader is aprisoner. Will ye--"
But at that moment he was interrupted by a confused din of angryshouting, the trampling of horses, and the clinking of blade upon bladecoming from the rear, showing that the armed retainers of some at leastof the nobles who had attended the interment had fallen upon thebodyguard. The sounds also reached the ears of Sachar's followers and,encouraged thereby, they in their turn raised a great shout and rushedforward, with the result that in a moment a fierce battle was raging inthe road, with the bodyguard attacked front and rear, while it soonbecame evident that the aim of the assailants was to reach the queen'schariot, doubtless in the hope of being able to secure possession of itand drive it off through the melee.
For a few minutes the bodyguard were fighting at a serious disadvantage,being all jammed up tightly together round the queen's chariot, so thatonly a dozen or so in front and rear were able to strike a blow. ButDick and Earle, while discussing the probabilities of attack, hadforeseen just such a state of affairs as now obtained, and had issuedtheir orders accordingly. These orders were now being faithfullyexecuted by the several officers, with the result that the troopers weregradually forcing their powerful horses through the foremost ranks ofthe attacking bodies, both front and rear, while other troopers closelyfollowed them up, sabreing right and left with a full determination tomake the traitors pay dearly for their treachery. As for Dick, whatwith his sword of steel, which sheared through copper weapons and goldenarmour as though they had been paper, his snapping automatics which slewpeople at a distance, and his fiercely plunging horse, goaded forward byan unsparing use of the spur, he seemed to the simple Uluans like theincarnation of the god of death and destruction, and after beholdingsome eight or ten luckless wights go down beneath his sword, they simplyturned and fled from him, shrieking with terror. This, added to theconfusion occasioned by the fierce onslaught of the troopers whofollowed closely in his rear, presently proved too much for Sachar's ownparticular body of retainers, and after some ten minutes of fiercefighting they broke and fled, hotly pursued by the two leading squadronsof the bodyguard.
Nor were those who attacked the bodyguard from the rear in much bettercase; for although they outnumbered the soldiers by something like tento one, the cramped width of the road in which they fought nullifiedthis advantage, while their untrained methods of fighting allowed thetrained soldiers to ride and mow them down like grass, with the resultthat after a few minutes of strenuous fighting their courage evaporatedand they, too, were seized with such overpowering panic that, to escapethe vengeful sabres of the bodyguard, they sought to fly, and finding noway of escape, turned their weapons upon their own comrades and leaders,speedily inducing a state of abject panic in them also. The result wasthat very soon the rear attack, like that in front, ceased and becameconverted into a headlong flight, leaving the bodyguard victorious.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS.
Dick's first act on the following morning, was to dispatch to the sceneof the fight a strong body of men, whose duty it would be to collect theslain and bury them in a common grave by the roadside, after the officerin command of the party had ascertained, by means of the dead men'suniforms, the names of their chiefs. Then he proceeded in person to thelarge building which had been hastily converted into a temporaryhospital, to which the wounded had been conveyed, and took the necessarysteps to discover the names of their chiefs also. The final result ofthis investigation was the discovery that at least five of the Councilof Nobles, in addition to Sachar, had been implicated in the previousnight's attack upon the Queen's Bodyguard, in the attempt to securepossession of the queen's person. Dick's next act was to dispatch tothe houses of the implicated five a sergeant's guard, with instructionsto the officer in command to arrest the owner--if he could be found, andto seize his property. To do the last was simple enough, but Dick wasnot greatly surprised to learn that, in each case, the "wanted" noblehad failed to return home on the previous night, and that nobody wasable to give the slightest hint as to his probable whereabouts. This,however, did not very greatly trouble the young captain-general; Sachar,the instigator and leader of the whole treasonable conspiracy, wassafely lodged in durance vile, under conditions which rendered hisescape a practical impossibility, the victory of the queen's troops overthe rebels had been signal and complete, the queen herself was safe andsound, and Dick was disposed to think that, under the circumstances, hewould have no great difficulty in stamping out the smouldering remainsof the rebellion.
Nor was he mistaken, as circumstances soon proved. He proclaimed themissing nobles outlaws, announced the confiscation of their property,and offered a substantial reward for their persons, dead or alive,which, with the terrible threats against all who should dare to harbouror help them directly or indirectly, produced such a wholesome effectthat, within four days, every one of the missing men had beenignominiously brought in and surrendered. And now, each man anxiousonly to save his own skin, not only did the five--of whom Nimri,Sachar's brother-in-law was one--proceed to lay the blame of the wholeaffair upon Sachar, accusing him of influencing them by alternate bribesand threats, but they also testified against certain other nobles who,but for this, might have gone scot free and unsuspected
; so thatultimately no less than eleven of Ulua's most powerful and ambitiousnobles found themselves in danger of losing their heads in consequenceof their ambition having o'erleaped itself.
And now, Dick and Earle found themselves confronted with a difficulty,for there were no such things as civil or criminal courts of justice inUlua, criminals being in the usual course haled before the _shiref_ ofthe particular district in which the crime was committed, and summarilysentenced by him to such punishment as he, in his wisdom, might deemmeet and adequate; while, if the crime was of a specially seriouscharacter--as in the present case--it was the monarch who pronouncedjudgment and determined the nature of the punishment.
But the two white men felt that it would never do to permit the youngqueen to be saddled with the responsibility of judging eleven rebelsagainst her sovereign authority, and with the onus of personallydetermining what amount of punishment they should receive; theytherefore put their heads together and, without very much difficulty,drafted a scheme for the establishment of courts of justice, somewhatsimilar in character to those in England, wherein criminals could betried and sentenced by duly qualified judges; though they decided thatthe Uluans were not yet ripe for the introduction of the jury system.This scheme they first submitted to Lyga, who, after suggesting certainmodifications calculated to adapt it more closely to the requirementsand peculiarities of the Uluan character, fully approved of it andagreed to recommend it to the queen for acceptance and embodiment uponthe Statute Book. This was done, and, the idea having been fullyexplained to the queen by Lyga, was approved by her and in due coursebecame one of the laws of the land. Then, a court having beenestablished, and men of suitable attainments found to serve as judges,the prisoners were in due course tried, found guilty, and sentenced. Noattempt was made to clear any of the prisoners by means of cleveradvocacy or specious argument, the questions before the court were thestraightforward ones whether or not the accused were guilty ofconspiracy, and, if guilty, to what extent; and in every case theverdict was the same, every prisoner was found guilty, but not all tothe same extent, some of them being able to show that, owing to thepower and influence wielded by Sachar, they were practically compelledto throw in their lot with him, whether or not they approved of hisdesigns. The result of the trial was, under the circumstances,eminently satisfactory, considering that it was the first of the kindever held in Ulua; for the judges, instructed by Earle and Dick, devotedthemselves wholeheartedly to the task of administering strict justice,without regard to the position or personality of the accused; and thetrial terminated with the condemnation of Sachar, Nimri, and two othersto death, with the confiscation of all their property, while theremaining seven were punished in varying degrees, some by heavy fines,and others by more or less lengthy periods of penal labour.
It was with considerable anxiety that Dick and Earle awaited and watchedfor the effect upon the populace of this innovation in the judicialmethods of Ulua; but they had not long to wait before it became apparentthat the formality and solemnity of public trial were far more effectiveas a deterrent than the former rough and ready methods, under which aculprit was haled before a _shiref_ and summarily punished, with nobodybut himself and his immediate connections being a penny the wiser;publicity and its attendant disgrace soon became more wholesomelydreaded than even fine or imprisonment, and when a period of threemonths had elapsed without the smallest sign of any recurrentrestiveness on the part of the Council of Nobles, the two white men feltthat Queen Myrra was firmly enough established upon her throne to be inno further need of their services; they therefore announced theirintention to make an early departure, and proceeded to make theirpreparations for the return journey.
It is not putting the matter any too strongly to say that theannouncement of the impending departure of the two white men from Uluawas productive of the utmost consternation and dismay. So thoroughlyhad the two identified themselves with every movement having for itsobject the improvement of previous conditions, and so far-reaching andwholesome had been their influence generally, that the inhabitants ofthe city had insensibly grown to regard them as heaven-sent reformers,permanently settled among them for their benefit and advantage by theespecial favour of Kuhlacan, and the news that the pair were about toleave them fell upon the Uluans with something of the effect of a boltfrom the blue.
And upon no one did the intelligence seem to produce so stunning andgrievous an effect as upon the young queen. When, upon a certainmorning, Dick and Earle, having craved audience of her Majesty, made themomentous announcement and asked her permission to depart, they wereshocked and astounded at the manner in which she received theintimation. She went as white as death, sank back in the throne-likechair upon which she was seated, closed her eyes, and for a moment itlooked as though she had fainted.
And then, at the sight of the queen's manifest distress, a mostextraordinary revulsion of feeling swept over Dick Cavendish. Up tothat moment he had regarded the projected return to civilisation asmerely part and parcel of the fulfilment of his contract with Earle, assomething which he had undertaken and must therefore of necessity carryout; yet now he was fully conscious for the first time that it wasEarle, and not he, who had broached the subject of return, and he wasconscious, moreover, of the fact that he had viewed the prospect ofdeparture from Ulua with a singular lack of enthusiasm.
This illumination, however, remained with him only long enough toimpress itself upon his mind as a flash of lightning impresses itselfupon the sight, and was instantly succeeded by a rush of mostextraordinary and tumultuous emotion at the young queen's extremedistress. An overwhelming sense of her utter isolation andfriendlessness, a sudden realisation of her as the centre and victim ofa thousand ambitious plots by unscrupulous nobles like Sachar, and ofher bitter need of a strong arm and a cool head to keep and protect herin the multitudinous trials incidental to her exalted position, a quickappreciation of her extraordinary beauty, physical and mental, and--someother exquisitely sweet and tender feeling which he had no time toanalyse, swept over him like a flood, causing him to forget everythingbut the utterly irresistible desire to comfort her and alleviate herdistress; and, acting as irresponsibly as though he were in a dream,forgetful alike of Earle's presence and that of the ladies-in-waiting atthe far end of the room, he sprang forward, flung himself upon his kneesbeside the girl, took her in his arms, and proceeded to pour forth aflood of tender incoherences, mingled with caresses, that very speedilybrought back the colour to her Majesty's lips and cheeks and the lightinto her eyes.
"Oh, my Lord Dick," she murmured, placing her hands upon Dick'sshoulders as she gazed with dilated eyes into his, "What is this yousay? That you are about to leave me? Why? What have I done, andwherein have I failed in hospitality, that you should desire to go fromme?"
"Nay, your Majesty," answered Dick, "nay, it is not that at all, on mysoul. It is simply that we have done what we came to do in Ulua, andnow, I suppose--I fear--we must--Earle and I--"
"My dear chap, don't worry about me," broke in Earle, in English, with agrin. "I am quite capable of making the return journey alone, if thatis what you are thinking about; indeed, to be candid, I have for sometime been contemplating such a possibility, for I foresaw all this.Why, can't you see what is the matter with the Queen? She has fallen inlove with you--and you with her, though perhaps you scarcely realise itas yet--"
"By Jove! I do, though," retorted Dick, "and if I thought there was theslightest chance of what you say being true, I'll be hanged if Iwouldn't stay behind and--"
"Well, ask her, man; ask her, and see what she says," returned Earle.
And Dick _did_ ask her, there and then; and very simply, very sweetly,and very frankly, Myrra confessed that the idea of Dick ever leaving herwas intolerable, and that if he would only consent to remain, she wouldgladly marry him, and defy all the nobles of Ulua to say her nay, ifneed be.
This understanding of course involved a considerable delay of Earle'sdeparture, for he at once announced his determin
ation not to leave Uluauntil he had seen all prospective difficulties removed, and Dick, asMyrra's husband, securely seated upon the throne of Ulua.
And difficulties to overcome there certainly were, for to the moreambitious among the Uluan nobles the idea of the queen's marriage to analien was distasteful in the extreme, and a very determined effort wasmade to stir up a popular demonstration against it. But Lyga, theKeeper of Statutes, pronounced unreservedly in favour of it, and hisinfluence was far-reaching. The populace generally also looked upon theproject with undisguised favour, for Dick had contrived in a quiet wayto become exceedingly popular by the frank warmth and geniality of hismanner, no less than by his conspicuous gallantry upon the occasion ofthe fight on the night of the late king's interment. Lastly, thenobles, finding that opposition would have no chance of success,reconciled themselves to the inevitable, each consoling himself with thereflection that although the queen had had the bad taste to reject him,she had at least had the good taste not to accept either of his rivals.
When, having come to an understanding with the queen, Dick and Earlewithdrew from her Majesty's presence, Cavendish scarcely knew whether hewas standing on his head or his feet; for with a few impetuous words hehad completely altered his entire outlook upon life, and changed hisworldly prospects to an extent which he had never thought possible, evenin his wildest dreams. No more of the sea life for him; he must bid adefinite and final good-bye to that once cherished hope of one daycommanding another such ship as the _Everest_; and--worst of all--therewas now the possibility that he might never more set eyes upon hisbeloved sister, Grace. In the whirlwind of tumultuous feeling that hadtemporarily swept him off his feet, he had momentarily forgotten her,and, but for what Earle had once in a burst of confidence confided tohim upon that subject, he would now have suffered several very severequalms of conscience. But he knew Earle by this time, knew himthoroughly, not only as the soul of honour, but as the man to whom,above all others, he would and could most safely confide Grace'shappiness, and although the dear girl would doubtless shed a few tearsfor her lost brother, Dick felt he could trust Earle to quickly drythem.
Then again, as to the abandonment of his most cherished ambitions, Dickfelt that he was but exchanging them for others of an even moreimportant character. For he had not dwelt among the Uluans for so longwithout perceiving that, young and comparatively inexperienced though hewas, his knowledge of the outer world fitted him to rule and govern theremarkable people among whom he had mingled, far better and more wiselythan any of the ignorant, bigoted, and narrow-minded nobles whom he hadmet.
Something of all this he confided to Earle when at length the two foundthemselves once more in the seclusion of their own apartments. ButEarle soon put the youngster upon better terms with himself; he stoutlymaintained that, in acting as Dick had acted, he had done the rightthing, not only for the queen, but for himself as well. He pointed outat length the immense power for good which Dick, as King of the Uluans,would wield, the many reforms which it would be possible for him tointroduce, the many evils which he could abolish, and, with the instinctfor business characteristic of the American, he rapidly sketched out thenumerous advantages to the Uluans which must result from the opening ofcommunication between them and the outer world--an easy matter toaccomplish, with the vast wealth at their command. And, as to Grace, hepooh-poohed the idea that she and Dick were never again to meet; indeed,in his enthusiasm, he more than half promised that his and Grace'shoneymoon tour should include a visit to Ulua. And lastly, he touched,with the warmth and delicacy of a true friend and gentleman, upon themanifold perfections and virtues of the girl queen, and especially uponher frank and whole-hearted affection for Dick--to say nothing of hisfor her; so that, before their chat was over, every one of Dick's doubtsand fears was dissipated and he felt free to regard himself, as indeedhe was, one of the most fortunate young men in the world.
"Come to think of it, you know, Dick," remarked Earle, when at lengththey were able to get back naturally to more mundane matters, "this isthe most lucky thing that could possibly have happened for both of us.For I have had that emerald mine of ours upon my mind for some time, andhave felt a bit puzzled as to how it was to be worked to our mutualadvantage. But with you as King of Ulua, the thing will be as simple asfalling off a log. You will be on the spot, so to speak--for, afterall, in actual mileage, the mine is really not very far from here--andit will be an easy matter for you to arrange with our friends, theMangeromas, to work the mine and bring in the emeralds to you. Then, Ihave been studying my map, and according to it and our observations, Icalculate that we are here only some four hundred miles from the town ofCerro de Pasco, in Peru, which appears to be connected by railway withLima and Callao. I propose to return home by that route, roughlysurveying the ground as I go, and I think it not improbable that I maydiscover a practicable road between the two places, by means of whichyou may be able to communicate with the outer world and perhapsestablish a profitable trade with it. With your permission, I will takealong half-a-dozen or so of good, reliable Uluans with me, sending themback to you with a detailed report of the results of my exploration assoon as I reach civilisation; then, if you think it worth while, you canget to work to make a proper road. But we can discuss all these littlebusiness matters more at length, later on. There will be plenty oftime, now, before I go."
This is not a love story, but a yarn of adventure, pure and simple; allthat need be said, therefore, in connection with Cavendish's wedding, isthat the preparations for it, upon a scale of unusual magnificence, evenfor Ulua--the circumstances connected with it being in themselves veryunusual--went smoothly forward, and in due time culminated, as suchpreparations should, in a ceremony, the splendour of which will lingerlong in the memory of those who were privileged to witness it. Thewedding ceremony, which was performed in the temple, was immediatelyfollowed by the crowning of Dick as King, in strict accordance withUluan precedent and usage; and thereupon Dick entered upon his newduties as a practically despotic monarch with the zest and thoroughnesswhich had always characterised his actions, yet with a discretion andmoderation which speedily lifted him to the zenith of popularity withhis subjects.
Earle remained on in Ulua for a full month after the celebration of theroyal wedding, and then, satisfied that all was going well with hischum, completed his preparations for departure, and finally badefarewell to Ulua and his many friends therein on the anniversary--as ithappened--of the departure of himself and Dick from New York on theexpedition which was destined to produce such extraordinary andfar-reaching results.
He departed, laden with costly gifts from Dick, Myrra, and numerousother friends, for it turned out that the mountains which hemmed in thevalley and lake of Ulua were fabulously rich in gold and preciousstones, and the value of those which he took away with him amounted initself to a princely fortune. Also he took a long letter from Dick toGrace, containing, among other items, a cordial invitation from theroyal pair to visit Ulua as often and for as long a time as she pleased,together with a parcel of priceless rubies as a joint wedding gift fromDick and Myrra. A dozen, instead of half-a-dozen, Uluans accompaniedEarle as far as Cerro de Pasco, in addition to Peter and the Indians whohad formed part of the original expedition. The Uluans returned to thecity after an absence of a trifle over three months, bringing with thema long and detailed report, accompanied by a map, from Earle, from whichit appeared that the American, during an eventful journey, packed withadventure, had discovered a practicable route from Ulua into Peru; andwhen last heard from, Dick was busily engaged upon the task of improvingthis route, with a view to establishing regular communication betweenUlua and the sea.
THE END.
ss="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
In Search of El Dorado Page 17
