Part 55 (1/2)

CHAPTER xxxVII

”I AM REPAID, QUEEN”

Their position was terrible Soa had escaped, and Soa knew everything

Moreover, she was e on Leonard, Otter, and in a less degree on Olfan the king Had they succeeded in revealing theone well, for Otter and Juanna would certainly have been accepted as true Gods, who had passed and repassed the gates of death scatheless But now the affair was different Soa would tell the truth to the priests, who, even if they were inclined to desert her father in his extremity, must strike for their own sakes and for that of their order, which was thethe People of the Mist, and had no desire to be placed under the yoke of secular authority

It was clear to all of them that if they could not escape, they must fall very shortly into the hands of the priests, who, knowing everything, would not dare to allow them to appeal to the arood card they held was the possession of the person of Nah it rein with, there are always soh priest, also Nam had blundered so extensively in the reater part of the fraternity, whom he had involved in his mistakes, would not sorrow to see the last of him

These facts, which were perfectly well known to Olfan and guessed at by his coer in which they had been placed by Soa's resource and cunning Indeed, their escape was a matter of life and death to them and to many hundreds of their adherents If once they could reach the temple and proclaio well, for the ar violence But if they failed in this, their death-warrant was already signed, for none of theain

No wonder, then, that they hurled thely upon the stubborn doors For an hour or more they laboured, but all in vain The massive timbers of hard wood, six inches or more in thickness, could scarcely be touched by their knives and spears, nor th serve even to stir the stone bolts and bars that held the-ra down his knife in despair; ”this wood is like iron, it would take us a week to cut through it”

”Why not try fire, Baas?” suggested Otter

Accordingly they attempted to burn down the doors, with the result that they nearly stifled themselves in the smoke and th they gave up the experi blankly at each other as they listened to certain sounds which reached the the there

”Has anyone a suggestion to ame is about played”

”Baas,” answered Otter, ”I have a word to say We can all go down through that hole by which I came up to you The Water-Dweller is dead, I slew hi to fear from him

Beneath the hole runs a tunnel, and that tunnel leads to the slope of the e by which men may reach a fair country if they have a mind to”

”Then for heaven's sake let us cross it,” put in Juanna

”I have seen that bridge,” said Olfan, while the captains stared wonderingly at the ainst the ancient Snake, ”but never yet have I heard of the traveller who dared to set his foot upon it”

”It is dangerous, but it can be crossed,” replied Otter; ”at the least, it is better to try it than to stay here to be o, Leonard,” said Juanna; ”if I am to die I wish to do so in the open air Only what is to become of Nam? And perhaps Olfan and the captains would prefer to stop here?”

”Narientleman As for Olfan and his captains, they must please themselves”

”What will do you, Olfan?” asked Juanna, speaking to him for the first time since the scene in the other prison

”It seems, Queen,” he answered, with downcast eyes, ”that I have sworn to defend you to the last, and this I will do the more readily because now my life is of little value As for my brethren here, I think, like you, that they will choose to die in the open, rather than wait to be murdered by the priests”

The three captains nodded an assent to his words Then they all set to work

First they took food and drink, of which there was an a some of it, disposed the rest about their persons as best they could, for they foresaw that even if they succeeded in escaping, it was likely that they would go hungry for oat-skin cloak which he took fro the second cloak over his own shoulders, for he knew that it would be bitterly cold on the mountains Lastly, they tied Nam's arms behind hiht work none of the prepared, Otter made his rope fast to the staff and descended rapidly to the cave below As his feet touched the ground, the priests began to batter upon the doors of the cell with beams of wood, or some such heavy instruments

”Quick, Juanna!” said Leonard, ”sit in this noose and hold the line, ill let you down Hurry, those doors cannot stand for long”

Another minute and she was beside Otter, who stood beneath, a candle in his hand Then Leonard came down