Part 20 (1/2)
”Speak, man, speak,” she said in a terrible voice ”What hast chanced here? Thou livest, then where is my lord? Where hast thou hid my lord? Tell me-or die”
It was the vision that I sahen my senses left me in the snow of the avalanche, fulfilled to the last detail!
”Atene has taken him,” I answered
”Atene has taken him and thou art left alive?”
”Do not be wrath with me,” I answered, ”it is no fault of mine Little wonder ere deceived after thou hadst said that thou htest summon us ere dawn”
Then as briefly as I could I told the story
She listened, went to where our uards lay with unstained spears, and looked at them
”Well for these that they are dead,” she exclaimed ”Now, Holly, thou seest what is the fruit of ave my lord have failed him at his need”
Then she passed forward to the spot where Leo was captured Here lay a broken sword-Leo's-that had been the Khan Rassen's, and two dead ar their heads and faces whitened with chalk and upon their vests a rude imitation of a huhten fools with,” she said contemptuously ”But oh! that Atene should have dared to play the part of Ayesha, that she should have dared!” and she clenched her little hand ”See, surprised and overwhelht well Say! was he hurt, Holly? It comes upon me-no, tell me that I see amiss”
”Not much, I think,” I answered doubtfully, ”a little blood was running froo the stains of it upon that rock”
”For every drop I'll take a hundred lives By roan Then she cried in a ringing voice, ”Back and to horse, for I have deeds to do this day Nay, bide thou here, Holly; we go a shorter path while the arive him food and drink and bathe that hurt upon his head It is but a bruise, for his hood and hair are thick”
So while Oros rubbed so lotion on my scalp, I ate and drank as best I could till h heavy, had not fractured the bone When I was ready they brought the horses to us, andthem, sloe scrambled up the steep bed of the water-course
”See,” Ayesha said, pointing to tracks and hoof-prints on the plain at its head, ”there was a chariot awaiting him, and harnessed to it were four swift horses Atene's scherown oversure and careless, slept through it all!”
On this plain the army of the Tribes that had broken ca fast; indeed, the cavalry, if I may call them so, were assembled there to the number of about five thousand men, each of whom had a led horse Ayesha summoned the chiefs and captains, and addressed theer lord, uest, has been tricked by a false priest and, falling into a cunning snare, captured as a hostage It is necessary that I follow him fast, before harm comes-to him We move down to attack the are is forced I pass on with the horseht What sayest thou, Oros? That a second and greater army defends its walls? Man, I know it, and if there is need, that army I will destroy Nay, stare not at me Already they are as dead Horsemen, you accompany me
”Captains of the Tribes, you follow, and woe be to that s back in the hour of battle, for death and eternal shame shall be his portion, but wealth and honour to those who bear them bravely Yes, I tell you, theirs shall be the fair land of Kaloon You have your orders for the passing of yonder river I, with the horses advance”
The chiefs answered with a cheer, for they were fierce enerations Moreover, mad as seemed the enterprise, they trusted in their Oracle, the Hesea, and, like all hill peoples, were easily fired by the promise of rich plunder
An hour's steady e of the marsh lands These, as it chanced, proved no obstacle to our progress, for in that season of great drought they were quite dry, and for the same reason the shrunken river was not so impassable a defence as I feared that it would be Still, because of its rocky bottoh, while on the crests of those banks, in squadrons and cois of footht and left, the cavalry halted in the rass, now a little browned by frost, that grew on this boggy soil, and afterwards drink some water
All this time Ayesha stood silent, for she also had disraze with the others Indeed, she spoke but once, saying-”Thou thinkest this adventure mad, my Holly? Say, art afraid?”
”Not with thee for captain,” I answered ”Still, that second arale,” she replied in a low and thrilling voice ”Holly, I tell thee thou shalt see things such as no man upon the earth has ever seen Remember my words when I loose the Powers and thou followest the rent veil of Ayesha through the smitten squadrons of Kaloon Only-what if Atene should dare to murder him? Oh, if she should dare!”
”Be cohtof the Powers ”I think that she loves him too well”
”I bless thee for the words, Holly, yet-I knoill refuse her, and then her hate for e may overcome her love for hieance? Eat and drink again, Holly-nay, I touch no food until I sit in the palace of Kaloon-and look well to girth and bridle, for thou ridest far and on a wild errand Mount thee on Leo's horse, which is swift and sure; if it dies the guards will bring thee others”
I obeyed her as best I could, and once more bathedsoaked in the linih Indeed, the , and so of the terrible wonders that were about to befall,staring upwards, so that although I could not see her veiled face, I guessed that her eyes must be fixed on the sky above theher fearful will upon an unknown object, for her whole frame quivered like a reed shaken in the wind
It was a very strange -cold and clear, yet curiously still, and with a heaviness in the air such as precedes a great fall of snow, although for much snow the season was yet too early Once or twice, too, in that utter cal shudder; not the ordinary tre seemed to be of the ath all Nature around us were a living creature which is very aze, I perceived that thick, s one by one in the clear sky above the peak, and that they were edged, each of the these fantastic and ominous clouds, I ventured to say to her that it looked as though the weather would change-not a very original reested
”Aye,” she answered, ”ere night the weather will be wilder even than er shall they cry for water in Kaloon! Mount, Holly,to the saddle of the ht her
Then, in the midst of the five thousand horsemen, we moved down upon the ford As we reached its brink I noted that the two divisions of tribesht and left of us Of what befell theh I learned later that they forced it after great slaughter on both sides
In front of us was gathered the iments upon the further bank, while hundreds of pickedto spear or ha their wild, whistling cry, our leading co us upon the bank, and soon were engaged hotly with the footmen in midstream While this fray went on, Oros came to Ayesha, told her a spy had reported that Leo, bound in a theeled carriage and accoh the ene furiously towards Kaloon
”Spare thy words, I know it,” she answered, and he fell back behind her
Our squadrons gained the bank, having destroyed most of the ed them and drove them back with loss Thrice they returned to the attack, and thrice were repulsed in this fashi+on At length Ayesha grew iive them one,” she said ”Come with me, my Holly,” and, followed by the main body of the horsemen, she rode a little way into the river, and there waited until the shattered troops had fallen back upon us Oros whispered to me-”It is madness, the Hesea will be slain”
”Thinkest thou so?” I answered ”More like that we shall be slain,” a saying at which he sed his shoulders, since for all his soft ways, Oros was a bravethat his mistress would take no harm
Ayesha held up her hand, in which there was no weapon, and waved it forwards A great cheer answered that signal to advance, and in the midst of it this frail, white-robed woed deep into the water
Twoabout us so thickly that they seeht and left, but nothing touched me or the white robes that floated a yard or two ahead Fivethe further bank, and there the worst fight began
It was fierce indeed, yet never an inch did the white robes give back, and where they went men would follow them or fall We were up the bank and the eneh theh an adverse sea that buffets but cannot stay it Yes, further and further, till at last the lines ahead grew thin as the living wedge of horserew thin, broke and vanished
We had passed through the heart of the host, and leaving the tribesments, rode on half a mile or so and mustered Many were dead and more were hurt, but the command was issued that all sore-wounded ive their horses to replace those that had been killed
This was done, and presently wefor Kaloon The trot grew to a canter, and the canter to a gallop, as we rushed forward across that endless plain, till at midday, or a little after-for this route was far shorter than that taken by Leo and ht from Rassen and his death-hounds-we dimly saw the city of Kaloon set upon its hill
Now a halt was ordered, for here was a reservoir in which was still some water, whereof the horses drank, while the men ate of the food they carried with them; dried meat and barley reat ares, and that to attack it with our little force would mean destruction But Ayesha took no heed of their words; indeed, she scarcely seemed to hear them Only she ordered that all wearied horses should be abandoned and fresh ones ain for hour after hour, in perfect silence save for the thunder of our horses' hoofs No word spoke Ayesha, nor did her wild escort speak, only from time to time they looked over their shoulders and pointed with their red spears at the red sky behind
I looked also, nor shall I forget its aspect The dreadful, fire-edged clouds had grown and gathered so that beneath their shadows the plain lay almost black They marched above us like an army in the heavens, while from time to time vaporous points shot forward, thin like swords, orhorse
Under theh the earth lay dead beneath their pall
Kaloon, lit in a lurid light, grew nearer The pickets of the foe flew ho laughter reached us in hollow echoes No the vast array, posted rank on rank with silken banners drooping in that stirless air, flanked and screened by glittering regiments of horse
An enal of Ayesha's uplifted arm we halted It was headed by a lord of the court whose face I knew He pulled rein and spoke boldly
”Listen, Hes, to the words of Atene Ere now the stranger lord, thy darling, is prisoner in her palace Advance, and we destroy thee and thy little band; but if by any one to thy Mountain fastness and the Khania gives thee peace, and thy people their lives What answer to the words of the Khania?”
Ayesha whispered to Oros, who called aloud-”There is no answer Go, if ye love life, for death draws near to you”