Part 6 (1/2)
”They tell me I was born of the sea,” she said, ”but I do not believe that, for I seem to remember other faces, like yours, before I cairl had been shi+pwrecked as a child, and cast upon this island It was sad to think that one so beautiful should be condees, but I reflected that my own case was no better, for it seemed unlikely I would return to civilization Melannie appeared to place full confidence in
”I a, and I must do as he tells me He makes me speak his words, but sometimes I would rather not say what he bids me”
I sympathized with her, for I could readily understand why this Ackbau, as the chief before whom I had been taken, chose her to be his mouthpiece She had becoht she could speak nothing wrong So that by using her as hisresponsibility
Whilst I was talking to the queen I could not help ad I was pleased with them she invited , where I saw such an accu the richest of old dust, and nuggets of the saainst its walls
But what caused me to rub my eyes in wonder was a slab of opal, which seemed ablaze with the fire it contained Upon this priceless table were strewn a collection of gee I had acquired in De Decker's office at Areat value, but which did not appear to be so regarded by the queen, for when she had presented me with a double handful she still seemed to consider herself in iven her I no that I had co had spoken But, alas! of what use was all this wealth, since I could not spend it in this place, and it seeo back to , which I subsequently found she seldoht, which accounted for the fairness of her skin All festivals were held at night, by ht, and what struck me as peculiar was the absence of fire Fish and shellfish were eaten raw, but rew upon the island in great profusion
The native city in which I now found s of beehive shape, thatched with grass, and usually about twelve feet high The queen's house was about three tie as the others, and was placed in the centre of the toith an avenue of trees, and a clear space before it for tribal dances or e house On the reserve around the queen's palace, the olderupon reed pipes, which furnished their sole er men s The natives in this island did not appear to understand the use of the bow and arrow, their only weapons being clubs, slings, and spears The spears were made of hard wood, polished and inlaid with pearl shell and beaten gold The slings were of plaited fibre, the stones being rounded like an egg The clubs were of various shapes, some with rounded heads, and others bent and pointed like a pick
CHAPTER XVIII
A QUEEN'S FAVOURITE
Three days afterto the Island of Gems I discovered, to arded me with more than royal favour It had been her custom to seclude herself from her people except upon occasions, but now she preferred to ith e, which arden in the valleys None molested us, for those to whom the queen showed favour were taboo to the rest of the tribe, so that as long as I retained her goodwill I was safe But ould be dependent upon a woman's whim?
”You do not love me, Peter,” she said, for I had told her my name, ”not as I love you Your blood is cold It does not run warm as mine does when I hold you to me”
I tried to pacify her, but she would not be satisfied
”You do not love ive you to the snake God Why should I keep you if you do not love me?”
This was the first tian to realize that the love she professed was ten me to some cruel death
Surely no man was placed in such a dilemma as that in which I now found myself In all my adventures I had never felt so helpless as I did when dealing with this wilful queen I dared not tell her of my love for Anna Holstein, for I knew that such a confession would quickly seal my doom Yet I could not return her love, for Anna was never out of hts Meanwhile Ackbau watched us closely, content to bide his time
The people upon this island were unlike any I had previously es past sorated to it, for that Indian blood flowed in the veins of its present inhabitants seeines, and their language contained words of Hindu origin As for the queen, I set her down for a Portuguese maiden, whosevessel, probably in search of the Island of Gems, when, by a stroke of fate, the shi+p, with all hands, had foundered, leaving Melannie the sole survivor
Ackbau seldom spoke to me, and when he did his tone was unfriendly
”The whiteof the snake God,” he said toout with the queen, and those with hihed, and had looked at me in a manner that made me speculate upon what cruel fate it was to which they, in their own ned me
Of the tortures practised by the islanders upon those who offended the in doubt There had lately been a war, so Melannie told me, between this people and those of an adjacent island in which so to custom, would be offered in sacrifice to propitiate one of the hted people worshi+p On the day of the sacrifice I was bidden to be present, and not daring to refuse, I accompanied the queen to a barren spot at the foot of the aunt trees rose out of a bed of lava Here we found Ackbau haranguing the victi to them the tortures they would shortly be called upon to suffer One of the captives had been prepared for the sacrifice, and, but for the gravity of his position, his appearance ht have excited mirth His body was encased in a kind of basket fro hiantic insect To the top of the basket, or taive it its native name, was attached a rope of flax, the end of which had been thrown over a branch of one of the trees to the height of about forty feet froan to pull upon this rope, when the victim was drawn up to the branch over his head, where Melannie told me he would be allowed to remain until, in the course of time, the rope rotted ahen the skeleton would fall to the ground The object of enclosing the vital parts of the victiht come as slowly as possible
Some would live, so the queen assured ony their faces and the exposed parts of their bodies would be devoured by ants and other venoht of these tortures, and even smiled when the poor wretch had been drawn up to his awful dooony
For that smile I felt that I could kill her
Unable to control myself in the presence of such barbarities, I abruptly left the place of execution and began to ascend the mountain, at the foot of which the sacrifices werethe natives As none offered to stay me, however, I continued my way up the steep sides, which I found to be composed of rocks and scoria, with occasional patches of coarse grass
A of metals between the crevices of the rocks I unearthed a nue as those which Melannie had given me, which I added to the collection I carried in a belt I had made for the purpose I kneas unlikely these bits of coloured crystal would ever be of value to ht be rescued, when I would return home possessed of the wealth I had coveted, and which I had risked my life to obtain