Part 12 (1/2)
”We ht”
At the ht than there was ever co, suddenly, like a great sword of flaloo Ayesha's lovely form with an unearthly splendour I only wish I could describe the wild and marvellous beauty of that sword of fire, laid across the darkness and rushi+ng ot there I do not to this moment know, but I presu cliff, through which it pierced when the setting orb was in a direct line therewith All I can say is, that the effect was the h the heart of the darkness that fla sas stabbed, and where it lay there was the ht, so vivid that even at a distance we could see the grain of the rock, while, outside of it--yes, within a few inches of its keen edge--was naught but clustering shadows
And now, by this ray of light, for which She had been waiting, and ti that at this season for thousands of years it had always struck thus at sunset, hat was before us Within eleven or twelve feet of the very tip of the tongue-like rock whereon we stood there arose, presuarloaf-shaped cone, of which the summit was exactly opposite to us But had there been a summit only it would not have helped us much, for the nearest point of its circumference was some forty feet from where ere On the lip of this summit, however, which was circular and hollow, rested a trelacier stone--perhaps it was one, for all I know to the contrary--and the end of this boulder approached to within twelve feet or so of us This huge rock was nothing -stone, accurately balanced upon the edge of the cone or lass; for, in the fierce light that played upon it and us, we could see it oscillating in the gusts of wind
”Quick!” said Ayesha; ”the plank--we one”
”Oh, Lord, sir!” groaned Job, ”surely she don't ,” as in obedience toboard towards hastlythe plank was no pleasanter to me than to him
I pushed the board on to Ayesha, who deftly ran it across the gulf so that one end of it rested on the rocking-stone, the other re her foot upon it to prevent it fro bloay, she turned to me
”Since I was last here, oh Holly,” she called, ”the support of thestone hath lessened soht or no Therefore will I cross the first, because no harhtly but fire, and in another second was standing safe upon the heaving stone
”It is safe,” she called ”See, hold thou the plank! I will stand on the farther side of the stone so that it hts Now, coht will fail us”
I struggled to my knees, and if ever I felt terrified in my life it was then, and I a back
”Surely thou art not afraid,” this strange creature called in a lull of the gale, frohest point of the rocking-stone ”Make way then for Kallikrates”
This settled hed at by such a woman; so I clenched my teeth, and in another instant I was on that horrible, narrow, bending plank, with bottoreat height, but never before did I realise the full horrors of which such a position is capable Oh, the sickening sensation of that yielding board resting on the two ht that I , andupon that stone, which rose and fell beneath me like a boat in a swell, cannot be expressed in words All I know is that briefly, but earnestly enough, I thanked Providence for preserving h he looked rather queer, he came across like a rope-dancer Ayesha stretched out her hand to clasp his own, and I heard her say, ”Bravely done, my love--bravely done! The old Greek spirit lives in thee yet!”
And now only poor Job reulf He crept up to the plank, and yelled out, ”I can't do it, sir I shall fall into that beastly place”
”Youwith inappropriate facetiousness--”youflies” I suppose that I h the expression conveys a wonderful idea of facility, as a matter of fact I know noflies--that is, in eather, unless, indeed, it is catching mosquitoes
”I can't, sir--I can't, indeed”
”Let the ht is dying! In a one!” said Ayesha
I looked She was right The sun was passing below the level of the hole or cleft in the precipice through which the ray reached us
”If you stop there, Job, you will die alone,” I called; ”the light is going”
”Come, be a man, Job,” roared Leo; ”it's quite easy”
Thus adjured, the miserable Job, with a most awful yell, precipitated himself face doards on the plank--he did not dare, small blame to him, to try to walk it, and cos hanging down on either side into the nothingness beneath
His violent jerks at the frail board reat stone, which was only balanced on a few inches of rock, oscillate in a most dreadful manner, and, toray of lurid light suddenly went out, just as though a la the whole howling wilderness of air black with darkness
”Coony of fear, while the stone, gathering , rocked so violently that it was difficult to hang on to it It was a truly awful position
”Lord have mercy on me!” cried poor Job fro!” and I heard a violent struggle, and thought that he was gone
But at that ony at the air,out all the strength that it has pleased Providence to give me in such abundance-- and toon the rock beside ainst a projecting knob of rock, and it was gone
”Great heavens!” I exclaiet back?”
”I don't know,” answered Leo, out of the gloom ”'Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof,' I ah to be here”
But Ayesha merely called to me to take her hand and creep after her
XXV
THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
I did as I was bid, and in fear and tree of the stone I sprawledto fall!” I gasped
”Nay, let thyself go, and trust to me,” answered Ayesha
Now, if the position is considered, it will be easily understood that this was a greater dee of Ayesha's character For all I knew sheme to a horrible dooe altars, and so it was now
”Let thyself go!” she cried, and, having no choice, I did
I feltsurface of the rock, and then pass into the air, and the thought flashed through my brain that I was lost But no! In another instant ainst a rocky floor, and I felt that I was standing upon so solid, and out of reach of the wind, which I could hear singing away overhead As I stood there thanking Heaven for these small mercies, there was a slip and a scuffle, and down caside of me
”Hulloa, old fellow!” he called out, ”are you there? This is getting interesting, is it not?”
Just then, with a terrific yell, Job arrived right on the top of us, knocking us both down By the ti aht the lamps, which fortunately reot out my box of wax matches, and they struck as merrily, there, in that awful place, as they could have done in a London drawing-rooht and revealed a curious scene We were huddled together in a rocky chah we looked; that is, except Ayesha, as standing cal for the lamps to burn up The chamber appeared to be partly natural, and partly hollowed out of the top of the cone The roof of the natural part was for stone, and that of the back part of the chamber, which sloped doards, was hewn from the live rock For the rest, the place ariddy pinnacle above, and the quivering spur that shot out to meet it in h once I feared that the rocking stone would fall with you, and precipitate you into the bottooeth down to the very womb of the world The rock whereon the stone resteth hath cru towards Job, as sitting on the floor, feebly wiping his forehead with a red cotton pocket-handkerchief, ”who is he stupid, hath let fall the plank, it will not be easy to return across the gulf, and to that end must I make a plan But now rest a while, and look upon this place What think ye that it is?”
”We know not,” I answered
”Wouldst thou believe, oh Holly, that once a man did choose this airy nest for a daily habitation, and did here endure forit only but one day in every twelve to seek food and water and oil that the people brought,in the h which we passed hither?”
We looked up wonderingly, and she continued-- ”Yet so it was There was a h he lived in the latter days, had of the wisdom of the sons of Kor A herreatly skilled in the secrets of Nature, and he it ho discovered the Fire that I shall show you, which is Nature's blood and life, and also that he who bathed therein, and breathed thereof, should live while Nature lives But like unto thee, oh Holly, this e to account 'Ill,' he said, 'was it for man to live, for man was born to die' Therefore did he tell his secret to none, and therefore did he come and live here, where the seeker after Life er of the day as holy, and a hermit And when first I came to this country--knowest thou how I came, Kallikrates? Another tie tale--I heard of this philosopher, and waited for him when he careatly did I fear to tread the gulf Then did I beguile hiue, so that he led me down and showed me the Fire, and told me the secrets of the Fire, but he would not sufferlest he should slaythat thelearned from him all that he knew of the wonderful Spirit of the World, and that was much, for the man ise and very ancient, and by purity and abstinence, and the contemplations of his innocent mind, had worn thin the veil between that which we see and the great invisible truths, the whisper of whose wings at tiross air of the world Then--it was but a very few days after, I met thee, my Kallikrates, who hadst wandered hither with the beautiful Egyptian Amenartas, and I learned to love for the first and last time, once and for ever, so that it entered into ift of Life for thee and yptian ould not be left behind, and, behold, we found the oldbut newly dead There he lay, and his white beard covered hiar; ”but surely he hath long since crumbled into dust, and the wind hath borne his ashes hence”
Here I put out ers touched so It was a human tooth, very yellow, but sound I held it up and showed it to Ayesha, who laughed
”Yes,” she said, ”it is his without a doubt Behold what remaineth of Noot, and the wisdom of Noot--one little tooth! And yet that man had all life at his command, and for his conscience' sake would have none of it Well, he lay there newly dead, and we descended whither I shall lead you, and then, gathering up all lorious a crown of life, I stepped into the flames, and behold! life such as ye can never know until ye feel it also, flowed intoThen did I stretch out mine arms to thee, Kallikrates, and bid thee take thine immortal bride, and behold, as I spoke, thou, blinded by my beauty, didst turn from me, and throw thine arreat fury filled me, and made me mad, and I seized the javelin that thou didst bear, and stabbed thee, so that there, at o down into death I knew not then that I had strength to slay with mine eyes and by the power of my will, therefore in my madness sleith the javelin[]
[] It will be observed that Ayesha's account of the death of Kallikrates differs materially fro on the sherd says, ”Then in her rage did she sic, and he died” We never ascertained which was the correct version, but it will be remembered that the body of Kallikrates had a spear-wound in the breast, which seems conclusive, unless, indeed, it was inflicted after death Another thing that we never ascertained was how the toyptian Amenartas--were able to bear the corpse of thethe shaking spur What a spectacle the two distracted creatures rief and loveliness as they toiled along that awful place with the dead e was easier then--L H H
”And when thou wast dead, ah! I wept, because I was undying and thou wast dead I wept there in the place of Life so that had I been mortal any yptian--she cursed me by her Gods By Osiris did she curse me and by Isis, by Nephthys and by Anubis, by Sekhet, the cat-headed, and by Set, calling down evil ondesolation Ah! I can see her dark face noering o'er me like a storm, but she could not hurt me, and I--I know not if I could hurt her I did not try; it was naught to ether we bore thee hence And afterwards I sent her--the Egyptian--away through the swamps, and it seems that she lived to bear a son and to write the tale that should lead thee, her husband, back to me, her rival and thy murderess