Part 7 (1/2)
”And to see that we do not give him the slip in it,” muttered Leo
Then the drivers whipped up their ponies, and ent on again
”Look behind you,” said Simbri presently, ”and you will see the city where you will sleep to-night”
We turned ourselves, and there, about ten miles away, perceived a flat-roofed town of considerable, though not of very great size Its position was good, for it was set upon a large island that stood a hundred feet orinto two branches at the foot of it, and, as we discovered afterwards, uniting again beyond
The vast mound upon which this city was built had the appearance of being artificial, but very possibly the soil whereof it was for times of flood, so that frorees to its present proportions With the exception of a columned and towered edifice that crowned the city and sees in the place
”How is the city named?” asked Leo of Simbri
”Kaloon,” he answered, ”as was all this land even when my fore-fathers, the conquerors, marched across the o They kept the ancient title, but the territory of the Mountain they called Hes, because they said that the loop upon yonder peak was the syeneral worshi+pped”
”Priestesses still live there, do they not?” said Leo, trying in his turn to extract the truth
”Yes, and priests also The College of them was established by the conquerors, who subdued all the land Or rather, it took the place of another College of those who fashi+oned the Sanctuary and the Temple, whose God was the fire in the Mountain, as it is that of the people of Kaloon to-day”
”Then who is worshi+pped there now?”
”The Goddess Hes, it is said; but we know little of the matter, for between us and the Mountain folk there has been enes They kill us and we kill them, for they are jealous of their shrine, which none may visit save by per in times of calamity, when a Khan dies, or the waters of the river sink and the crops fail, or when ashes fall and earthquakes shake the land, or great sickness comes Otherwise, unless they attack us, we leave theht if need be, we are a peaceful folk, who cultivate the soil frorow rich Look round you Is it not a scene of peace?”
We stood up in the boat and gazed about us at the pastoral prospect Everywhere appeared herds of cattle feeding upon meadow lands, or troops of mules and horses, or square fields soith corn and outlined by trees Village folk, also, clad in long, grey goere labouring on the land, or, their day's toil finished, driving their beasts hoation dykes, towards the haroves
In its sharp contrast with the arid deserts and fearful st which we had wandered for so , and indeed, seen by the red light of the sinking sun on that spring day, even as beautiful with the same kind of beauty which is to be found in Holland One could understand too that these landowners and peasant-farmers would by choice be men of peace, and what a tee tribes of the uess when the survivors of Alexander's legions under their Egyptian general burst through the iron band of snow-clad hills and saw this sweet country, with its horass, that they ht and toil no more Here ill sit us down to live and die” Thus doubtless they did, taking the the women of the people of the land which they had conquered-perhaps after a single battle
Now as the light faded the wreaths of slow luridly Redder and athered, till at length they see sheets of flame propelled froht through the eye of the giant loop that crowned its brow Far, far fled those bea the white crests of the bordering wall of h in the air ran that path, over the diht above us, over the h there we could not follow theh eminence on its farther side where we had lain bathed in their radiance It was a wondrous and ht, one too that filled our companions with fear, for the steersroaned aloud and began to utter prayers ”What do they say?” asked Leo of Simbri
”They say, lord, that the Spirit of the Mountain is angry, and passes down yonder flying light that is called the Road of Hes to work some evil to our land Therefore they pray her not to destroy theht not always shi+ne thus?” he asked again
”Nay, but seldoht, but before that not for years Let us pray that it portends no misfortune to Kaloon and its inhabitants”
For some minutes this fearsome illuun, and there relow above the crest of the peak
Presently theball, and by its rays we perceived that we drew near to the city But there was still so left for us to see before we reached its shelter While we sat quietly in the boat-for the silence was broken only by the lapping of the still waters against its sides and the occasional splash of the slackened tow-line upon their surface-we heard a distant sound as of a hunt in full cry
Nearer and nearer it ca everyfro-path-not that on which our ponies travelled, but the other on the west bank of the river-was heard the beat of the hoofs of a horse galloping furiously Presently it appeared, a fine, white animal, on the back of which sat a man It passed us like a flash, but as he went by the man lifted himself and turned his head, so thathis face in the ony of fear that ritten on it and in his eyes
He had coone into the darkness, but after hie, red dog, that dropped its foaalloped, then lifted it and uttered a deep-throated, bell-like bay Others followed, and yet others: in all thereas it took the scent
”The death-hounds!” ILeo by the ar that poor devil Here comes the huntsure, splendidlyfro whip, which he waved He was big but loosely jointed, and as he passed he turned his face also, andthat it was that of a madman There could be no doubt of it; insanity blazed in those hollow eyes and rang in that savage, screeching laugh
”The Khan! The Khan!” said Si, and I could see that he was afraid
Now he too was gone, and after hi whips, hich they flogged their horses
”What does this rew faint in the distance
”It means, friend Holly,” he answered, ”that the Khan does justice in his own fashi+on-hunting to death one that has angered him”
”What then is his crireat lord of this land, one of the royal kinsmen, and the crime for which he has been condemned is that he told the Khania he loved her, and offered to make war upon her husband and kill hie But she hated the ht the matter before the Khan That is all the story”
”Happy is that prince who has so virtuous a wife!” I could not help saying unctuously, but with , and the old wretch of a Shaan to stroke his white beard
It was but a little while afterwards that onceof the death-hounds Yes, they were heading straight for us, this tiain the white horse and its rider appeared, utterly exhausted, both of the-path As it gained it a great red hound with a black ear gripped its flank, and at the touch of the fangs it screa froe, thinking evidently to take refuge in our boat But before ever he reached the water the devilish brutes were upon him
What followed I will not describe, but never shall I forget the scene of those two heaps of worrying wolves, and of the maniac Khan, who yelled in his fiendish joy, and cheered on his death-hounds to finish their red work
CHAPTER IX
THE COURT OF KALOON
Horrified, sick at heart, we continued our journey No wonder that the Khania hated such a mad despot And this woman was in love with Leo, and this lunatic Khan, her husband, was a victied after the very unpleasant fashi+on that we had witnessed Truly an agreeable prospect for all of us! Yet, I could not help reflecting, as an object lesson that horrid scene had its advantages
Noe reached the place where the river forked at the end of the island, and diseuard ofto receive us They led us through a gate in the high wall, for the toas fortified, up a narrow, stone-paved street which ran between houses apparently of the usual Central Asian type, and, so far as I could judge by ht, with no pretensions to architectural beauty, and not large in size
Clearly our arrival was expected and excited interest, for people were gathered in knots about the street to watch us pass; also at the s of the houses and even on their flat roofs At the top of the long street was a sort ofwhich, accompanied by a curious croho made reate in an inner wall Here ere challenged, but at a word froh to find ourselves in gardens Following a road or drive, we cah towers and very solidly built of stone in a heavy, bastard Egyptian style
Beyond its doore found ourselves in a courtyard surrounded by a kind of verandah froes led to different rooes ere conducted by the officer to an apart and two bed-chambers, which were panelled, richly furnished in rather barbaric fashi+on, and well-lighted with pri that the officer would wait in the outer roo-hall as soon as ere ready Then we entered the bed-chambers, where we found servants, or slaves, quiet-ear, and taking off our heavy travelling robes, replaced them with others fashi+oned like civilized frock-coats, but made of some whitedressed us in these they bowed to show that our toilette was finished, and led us to the large outer rooh several other rooreat hall lit with e peat fires The roof of this hall was flat and supported by thick, stone colu orked tapestries, that gave it an air of considerable co, narrow table, spread with a cloth and set with platters and cups of silver Here aited till butlers ands appeared through so a silver gong, and after him a dozen or more courtiers, all dressed in white robes like ourselves, followed by perhaps as , and for the h others were rather yellow-skinned They bowed to us and we to them
Then there was a pause while we studied one another, till a trumpet blew and heralded by footures were seen advancing down the passage beyond the curtains, preceded by the Shaman Simbri and followed by other officers They were the Khan and the Khania of Kaloon
No one looking at this Khan as he entered his dining-hall clad in festal white attire would have i hu on his devilish hounds to tear a fellow-creature and a helpless horse to fragments and devour thely built and not ill-looking, but with shi+fty eyes, evidently a person of dulled intellect, whoht incapable of keen emotions of any kind The Khania need not be described She was as she had been in the cha; indeed her eyes had a haunted air and it was easy to see that the events of the previous night had left their ht of us she flushed a little, then beckoned to us to advance, and said to her husband-”My lord, these are the strangers of whom I have told you”
His dull eyes fell upon uely, at any rate he laughed rudely, saying in barbarous Greek mixed ords from the local patois-”What a curious old anireat Khan,” I answered, ”but I have seen you out hunting this night Did you have good sport?”
Instantly he beca his hands-”Excellent He gave us a fine run, but ht hiether