"Allow me, at least, to assist you," he said when he saw the rope we had used as a means of entry. Several of his crew had trailed after him; he instructed one to fetch some items from the pack. The Zentan soon hurried back with a rope ladder and several excellent lanterns.
Nilo had already clambered down. Vesper paused for a moment. "This gear looks familiar," she muttered to me. "In fact, it looks like ours."
They were, I assured her, standard items commonly available. We discussed it no further, as Nilo was calling for us to make haste. Dr. Helvitius climbed after me. Once we reached what I chose to call the sanctum, I directed his attention to the row of ancient figures.
Surprisingly, he showed no interest. Instead, he pulled away brusquely and went into the anteroom, where Vesper and Nilo were busily picking up the scattered chessmen.
I stood a moment, admiring once again the array of priceless statuary. In that instant, all grew clear to me. How had I failed to realize it? How had Vesper, with her keen mind, overlooked an obvious explanation? I hurried to the anteroom.
"That reprehensible bimbashil" I cried. "Dear girl, do you wonder he did all in his power to hinder us? He wanted the statues for himself. He feared we would discover those marvelous figures before he could remove them."
How easy it would be, I went on, for Zalik to sell the valuable artifacts, no questions asked, to collectors, dealers, and sad to say, respectable museum curators.
"I doubt that," said Vesper. "He might not have known about the temple. If he did know, he could have cleared it out whenever he wanted. Nothing kept him from coming up here and ransacking the place.
"No—there is something that might have stopped him," Vesper went on, pondering her own words. "He might have been told to keep away. Ordered to keep his nose out of the whole business."
That, I replied, was most unlikely. As regional commander, Zalik would follow no one's orders but his own.
"No, professor," put in Helvitius. "Miss Holly is correct. The diligent colonel has his instructions."
"Who from?" Vesper rounded on Helvitius. "Do you know?"
"I do," Helvitius replied. "The bimbashi, in fact, serves two masters. One is Ergon Pasha."
"And the other?" asked Vesper.
Dr. Helvitius smiled. "Myself."
CHAPTER 14
I have always considered myself a keen judge of character and have taken a measure of pride in my ability to perceive an individual's true nature on short acquaintance. Granted, I was wrong in the case of Nilo, Milan, Silvia, Matrona Mira, and Colonel Zalik—but under the circumstances, my mistakes were justifiable. In my estimation of Dr. Helvitius, my error was profound and unforgivable. Still, one is always reluctant to think ill of a colleague.
Even as he spoke, I could not believe my ears. Perhaps his studies had overtaxed his brain and he had gone a little mad. Dr. Helvitius, however, gave no sign of mental derangement. He remained cool and matter-of-fact, though his words implied his possible involvement in a highly unethical enterprise.
Nilo, sensing treachery and danger, started forward, at the same time reaching into his jacket. The two Zentans, having followed their employer, prevented Nilo from defending us by pointing rifles at him.
Dr. Helvitius took possession of the pistol which Nilo had been unable to draw, retained the weapon, and aimed it at us. His attitude was unmistakably threatening.
Vesper—my admiration for the dear girl's calm courage leaped to still greater heights—gave no sign of panic or dismay. Hands on hips, she stood and leveled her glance on Helvitius.
"I can't say you surprised me," declared Vesper. "I always thought you took those documents from the archives, but I never imagined you'd come chasing after us."
"I sincerely wish I had not been obliged to," said Helvitius.
"So do I," said Vesper. "Why did you?"
"When Colonel Zalik notified us that you were beyond his observation and control," replied Helvitius, "I felt that I must take a personal hand in the matter.
"Believe me, Miss Holly, I regret this unhappy outcome. Had you been kept from journeying into this region, I would have been spared the need for such direct action. Alas, the man who accosted you in the Old Town proved inefficient."
"Oh?" said Vesper, not in reproach or anger but in a tone of welcome enlightenment. "You and Ergon Pasha were the ones who tried to have me killed.^"
"Not exactly," said Helvitius. "Only to a degree."
"What's a degree of being dead?" returned Vesper.
"I mean that our purpose was not to kill you," said Helvitius. "You were only to be incapacitated, prevented from pursuing your investigations, thus allowing me to pursue my own without interference.
"No, Miss Holly, we did not wish your death. Not then. Now, it may be an unfortunate necessity for all of you."
"Do I understand you, sir?" I burst out. "You contemplate murdering us?"
"I must do more than contemplate it," said Helvitius.
My heart sank. Zalik was not the one who wished to plunder the ruins, but Helvitius himself and Osman's own vizier. How greed corrupts even those of high station! Yet I did not abandon hope. I had only one resource to dissuade him.
I appealed to his better nature.
I addressed him not as a gentleman and a scholar, but at least as a gentleman, which I hoped he was. A scholar, clearly, he was not.
"Sir, you do me an injustice," Helvitius replied. "Scholarship and research rank high among my many interests. Some of your most distinguished journals have published my papers—not, of course, under my true name—in the realms of chemistry, physics, and biology. My contributions have not gone unrecognized."
The villain was actually proud of himself! I employed a most severe tone, sparing him nothing of my shock and disapproval.
"Dr. Helvitius," I said, "you claim to be a man of intellect and learning. Your behavior, nevertheless, has shown otherwise. You have lost my respect. You, sir, are no better than a common thief."
"No, Brinnie," put in Vesper. "He's a very uncommon one."
"Professor Garrett," said Helvitius, "you have assumed I seek those ancient figures. You are wrong. I recognize their value, but they hold no interest for me. I desire only one object, and that object I am resolved to possess."
He turned and directed his remarks to Vesper. "I require the chessmen which, regrettably, you discovered before I did. More precisely, I require one of them: the piece wrought in the form of King Ahmad."
"We don't have it," said Vesper. "You can see for yourself. If we did have it, I certainly wouldn't give it to you."
"Miss Holly, I remind you that your life hangs by a thread. I advise you to comply with my demand, unless you wish that thread to be snapped."
"You'll do that anyway," retorted Vesper, "whether we give you the chessman or not. You won't dare let us go now. Brinnie and I are a danger to you. There's no use promising to keep our mouths shut. You can't trust us any more than we can trust you. You'll have to get rid of us.
"But our dragoman has no part in this, he doesn't give a hoot about your schemes, whatever they are. You have no reason to harm him. Let him go."
"Lincilla," Nilo broke in, "as I told you, I do not beg or plead, even for my life, nor will I allow you to do so for me."
"I do not wish to seem uncompassionate, Miss Holly," replied Helvitius, "but the stakes are too high to allow me that luxury."
"So, you'll kill us all," said Vesper. "Then what? You still won't have the chess king."
"I shall find it," said Helvitius, "if I must upturn and sift through every stone."
"Suppose it isn't here."
"Then," said Helvitius, "I shall comb this area inch by inch, a task which will be facilitated by your permanent absence. Do not underestimate my determination. The prize is worth every effort."
"A chessman can't be that valuable," said Vesper, "not even one made of solid gold cove
red with diamonds."
"Which it is not," replied Helvitius. "Its intrinsic worth is slight. As an essential aspect of my plan, it is beyond price as the magnitude of my endeavor is beyond even your comprehension. The scale is large, Miss Holly. It encompasses the very future of Illyria.
"I refer to natural resources," Helvitius continued. "Thousands of acres of woodland for timber. Mineral wealth. The construction of railways. Ergon Pasha has agreed—for a share in the profits, naturally—that I shall be granted firmans, licenses, concessions, in all these enterprises.
"When rebellion and unrest are stamped out once and for all, I shall begin my projects in a peaceable atmosphere, unhindered by troublemakers and malcontents."
"That isn't beyond my comprehension," said Vesper. "I comprehend it very well. It's robbery. Large-scale, as you say. But robbery no matter how you look at it. I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed."
"I doubt that, Miss Holly."
"I don't," said Vesper. "You've forgotten one thing. Ergon Pasha doesn't have the last word in handing out concessions and trade licenses. Osman does."
"I am aware of it."
"Then you ought to be aware that he'll never agree. He told me so himself. Osman will never turn Illyria over to foreign interests. He knows they'd milk the country dry. You've been wasting your time."
"I think not," said Helvitius. "You, Miss Holly, assume that King Osman will continue to occupy the throne."
These words astonished even Vesper. She stood silent a long moment.
"Of course. That's it," she said at last. "It's logical. You'll have to kill Osman, too."
"Say, rather, a reorganization of government," replied Helvitius. "When the time is ripe, King Osman will be eliminated and replaced by a more compliant monarch. One who appreciates our efforts and will graciously accept a share in the benefits. Simple statecraft. Miss Holly. It has happened elsewhere and often."
"You'll never manage it," returned Vesper. "I'm sure Osman's very well guarded."
"Guarded from all but those closest to his person and least suspected. His barber. Miss Holly, and his tailor.
"It has already been arranged. Those two have been handsomely paid to serve us. Further, when their task is done, they have been instructed to leave unmistakable indications that the heinous crime was perpetrated by Illyrian ethnics."
Nilo, at this, broke into a number of comments regarding Zentan perfidy. Helvitius, though, had been correct. Conspiracies of this sort are far from unknown in history. However, that a gentleman, let alone a king, might not be safe in the hands of his own tailor and barber—this was monstrous past belief.
"Your knowledge of our plan. Miss Holly, now enhances the need to dispose of you," said Helvitius. "As you would be the first to recognize, we have no choice."
"Murderous villain!" I cried. "You mean to shoot us down in cold blood!"
"Indeed not," Helvitius calmly replied. "You shall remain here. It would be unwise if you vanished entirely. It would lead to a search that might prove inconvenient to me and raise embarrassing questions if your bodies were discovered with signs of deliberate violence. I shall arrange a fate more plausible and less suspicious.
"Ancient structures are notoriously unreliable. This temple has already suffered damage. What could be more natural than for all of you to perish in a further collapse of these chambers? I should then conduct an excavation in the forlorn hope of finding you alive. A hope, of course, which will not be fulfilled."
Helvitius turned on his heel and made his way to the rope ladder and, with great agility, climbed up.
The Zentans also withdrew, still training their rifles on us. Moments later, the ladder itself was hauled upward.
"Dear child," I cried, "we must escape from this place!"
"No question about that, Brinnie," said Vesper. "If there's another way out, we'd better find it." She hesitated. "I still don't see what the chess king has to do with this. I should have asked Helvitius when I had the chance."
Vesper and Nilo cast about for any unsuspected egress. I went hastily to examine the farther end of the passage, hoping there might be a fissure in the walls, a branching tunnel, or anything that might lead us to safety. I found nothing. Even if I had, the vile Helvitius and his crew were still above us.
"Brinnie, get away from there!"
Vesper and Nilo were racing toward me. I glanced back to see the object of their concern.
Though I recognize and applaud the benefits of Herr Alfred Nobel's invention applied to mining operations, dam building, and other types of useful construction, at that moment I wished the illustrious Swede had never set foot in a laboratory.
With sputtering fuse attached, a bundle of dynamite had come hurtling down the shaft.
CHAPTER 15
"Brinnie, get back! Move!" cried Vesper as I stood rooted to the spot, appalled by the method Helvitius had adopted for our destruction. Killing us was, in itself, criminal in the extreme; to do so with deliberate disregard for a noble monument to antiquity was nothing less than heartless vandalism. The fuse, meantime crackling and sparking, grew alarmingly shorter every second.
Nilo would have thrown himself on this infernal device in an attempt to snuff out the fuse or to shield us with his own person. Realizing his gallant but lunatic intention, Vesper seized him, spun him around, and sent us all stumbling through the first available portal—the entry to the sanctum-There, we flung ourselves to the ground, covered our heads with our arms as the shock of the blast jolted into the chamber. The ceiling shuddered, a supporting beam groaned and cracked, showering dirt and gravel upon us. Ancient dust filled the air. Blessedly, one of our lanterns had been left in the sanctum, though its light offered only a glimmer in the reeking cloud.
I staggered, coughing, to my feet. Vesper and Nilo had picked themselves up, neither of them hurt; all of us, though, were equally stunned and deafened.
As my head ceased reeling and my thoughts grew more coherent, I hurriedly proposed what seemed our only course of action. We had not explored beyond our immediate vicinity. Other chambers doubtless lay farther down the passageway. What they might give in the way of protection, I could not guess. In any event, we would be no worse off than we already were.
Vesper snatched up the lantern. Instead of following me to the doorway, she turned back toward the rank of statues, which had remained upright in spite of the blast.
I pleaded for her to join us. This was not the moment to think of salvaging old Illyrian artifacts, no matter what their value. Helvitius, beyond a doubt, would bombard us again and continue doing so until satisfied he had reduced us, and the temple, to rubble. The villain even now was probably setting new explosive charges.
"He wants the chess king," Vesper called over her shoulder. "If it's so important, we mustn't let him have it."
"Lincilla, this no longer matters," insisted Nilo. "We have no time to search. Whether you find it or not, none of us may escape with our lives."
Vesper's optimism astonished me. The dear child simply refused to consider the likelihood of this chamber becoming, at any instant, our tomb.
"The village dancers," Vesper said, "the months, the seasons changing in the pattern of their dance. They were a human calendar."
I broke in impatiently to reply that I quite understood it; the ritual was found in many cultures, and a discussion of comparative mythologies now would cost us precious time. Finding an air shaft, even an animal's burrow, might be our only hope.
"These figures," Vesper went on. "Something about them jangled me. I couldn't put my finger on it until I saw them again. I knew they were January, February, and all the rest. Helvitius never noticed. He was too busy looking for the chess king.
"Don't you see, Brinnie?" Vesper said, as if that obscure Illyrian ceremony were crystal clear to any observer and the statuary itself held the key to the ancient riddle.
I admitted I had no idea
what she meant.
"The thirteenth month."
Vesper scrambled onto the ledge, picked up a figure, and sprang back to the ground.
"Thirteen, Brinnie, instead of twelve." She held up a statue some dozen inches tall, like the others. "When the Zentans were attacked, I'd guess that one of them must have hidden the piece where nobody would think of looking—with all the other statues. Who'd notice one among a crowd?"
The object which Vesper showed me was a Zentan king in full royal regalia. Though I could not attest that it bore any actual likeness to King Ahmad, I had no doubts whatever: This was the prize Helvitius sought. It had been under his very nose, in plain sight; he had fallen victim to his own mental nearsightedness. Cold comfort, given our present situation.
Vesper's explanation was not the calm, reflective discourse it may have seemed from the foregoing account.
Nilo kept breaking in impatiently, tugging at Vesper's arm, urging her to lose no more time. Finally, he resorted to taking hold of her and hauling her almost bodily to the sanctum doorway.
He could not have chosen a worse moment. Helvitius touched off another explosive charge. The beams and pillars framing the portal broke and toppled. The blast threw me backward. Regaining my feet, I stared horror-stricken. Vesper and Nilo had disappeared beneath the rubble.
I can give no clear description of my actions immediately following this catastrophe. My thoughts were only of Vesper. I was dimly aware, then, of flinging myself on the debris, scrabbling at the loose stones, casting aside shattered fragments.
Where and how I found strength for a task that would have daunted me in other circumstances, I do not know. Shouting Vesper's name, I plunged bare-handed against what appeared a pile of giant jackstraws, bending every effort yet, at the same time, fearful that my work would result in further collapse of the surrounding structure.
Heaving away one jagged stone, I saw Vesper's face, begrimed and dust-streaked, grinning broadly at me. Her marmalade hair was sprinkled with dirt and gravel.
The Illyrian Adventure Page 8
