Queen Sheba's Ring by H. Rider Haggard
CHAPTER XV
SERGEANT QUICK HAS A PRESENTIMENT
From this time forward all of us, and especially Oliver, were guardednight and day by picked men who it was believed could not be corrupted.As a consequence, the Tsar of Russia scarcely leads a life more irksomethan ours became at Mur. Of privacy there was none left to us, sincesentries and detectives lurked at every corner, while tasters wereobliged to eat of each dish and drink from each cup before it touchedour lips, lest our fate should be that of Pharaoh, whose loss we mournedas much as though the poor dog had been some beloved human being.
Most of all was it irksome, I think, to Oliver and Maqueda, whoseopportunities of meeting were much curtailed by the exigencies of thisrigid espionage. Who can murmur sweet nothings to his adored when twosoldiers armed to the teeth have been instructed never to let him outof their sight? Particularly is this so if the adored happens to be theruler of those soldiers to whom the person guarded has no right tobe making himself agreeable. For when off duty even the most faithfulguardians are apt to talk. Of course, the result was that the pair tookrisks which did not escape observation. Indeed, their intimate relationsbecame a matter of gossip throughout the land.
Still, annoying as they might be, these precautions succeeded, for noneof us were poisoned or got our throats cut, although we were constantlythe victims of mysterious accidents. Thus, a heavy rock rolled down uponus when we sat together one evening upon the hill-side, and a flightof arrows passed between us while we were riding along the edge ofa thicket, by one of which Higgs's horse was killed. Only when themountain and the thicket were searched no one could be found. Moreover,a great plot against us was discovered in which some of the lordsand priests were implicated, but such was the state of feeling in thecountry that, beyond warning them privately that their machinations wereknown, Maqueda did not dare to take proceedings against these men.
A little later on things mended so far as we were concerned, for thefollowing reason: One day two shepherds arrived at the palace with someof their companions, saying that they had news to communicate. On beingquestioned, these peasants averred that while they were herding theirgoats upon the western cliffs many miles away, suddenly on the top ofthe hills appeared a body of fifteen Fung, who bound and blindfoldedthem, telling them in mocking language to take a message to the Counciland to the white men.
This was the message: That they had better make haste to destroy thegod Harmac, since otherwise his head would move to Mur according to theprophecy, and that when it did so, the Fung would follow as they knewhow to do. Then they set the two men on a rock where they could beseen, and on the following morning were in fact found by some of theirfellows, those who accompanied them to the Court and corroborated thisstory.
Of course the matter was duly investigated, but as I know, for I wentwith the search party, when we got to the place no trace of the Fungcould be found, except one of their spears, of which the handle had beendriven into the earth and the blade pointed toward Mur, evidentlyin threat or defiance. No other token of them remained, for, as ithappened, a heavy rain had fallen and obliterated their footprints,which in any case must have been faint on this rocky ground.
Notwithstanding the most diligent search by skilled men, their mode ofapproach and retreat remained a mystery, as, indeed, it does to thisday. The only places where it was supposed to be possible to scalethe precipice of Mur were watched continually, so that they could haveclimbed up by none of these. The inference was, therefore, that the Funghad discovered some unknown path, and, if fifteen men could climb thatpath, why not fifteen thousand!
Only, where was this path? In vain were great rewards in land andhonours offered to him who should discover it, for although suchdiscoveries were continually reported, on investigation these werefound to be inventions or mares' nests. Nothing but a bird could havetravelled by such roads.
Then at last we saw the Abati thoroughly frightened, for, withadditions, the story soon passed from mouth to mouth till the wholepeople talked of nothing else. It was as though we English learned thata huge foreign army had suddenly landed on our shores and, having cutthe wires and seized the railways, was marching upon London. The effectof such tidings upon a nation that always believed invasion to beimpossible may easily be imagined, only I hope that we should take thembetter than did the Abati.
Their swagger, their self-confidence, their talk about the "rocky wallsof Mur," evaporated in an hour. Now it was only of the disciplined andterrible regiments of the Fung, among whom every man was trained to war,and of what would happen to them, the civilized and domesticated Abati,a peace-loving people who rightly enough, as they declared, had refusedall martial burdens, should these regiments suddenly appear in theirmidst. They cried out that they were betrayed--they clamoured for theblood of certain of the Councillors. That carpet knight, Joshua, lostpopularity for a while, while Maqueda, who was known always to have beenin favour of conscription and perfect readiness to repel attack, gainedwhat he had lost.
Leaving their farms, they crowded together into the towns and villages,where they made what in South Africa are called laagers. Religion, whichpractically had been dead among them, for they retained but few tracesof the Jewish faith if, indeed, they had ever really practised it,became the craze of the hour. Priests were at a premium; sheep andcattle were sacrificed; it was even said that, after the fashion oftheir foes the Fung, some human beings shared the same fate. At anyrate the Almighty was importuned hourly to destroy the hated Fung andto protect His people--the Abati--from the results of their own baseselfishness and cowardly neglect.
Well, the world has seen such exhibitions before to-day, and willdoubtless see more of them in the instance of greater peoples who allowluxury and pleasure-seeking to sap their strength and manhood.
The upshot of it all was that the Abati became obsessed with thesaying of the Fung scouts to the shepherds, which, after all, was buta repetition of that of their envoys delivered to the Council a littlewhile before: that they should hasten to destroy the idol Harmac, lesthe should move himself to Mur. How an idol of such proportions, or evenits head, could move at all they did not stop to inquire. It was obviousto them, however, that if he was destroyed there would be nothing tomove and, further, that we Gentiles were the only persons who couldpossibly effect such destruction. So we also became popular for a littlewhile. Everybody was pleasant and flattered us--everybody, even Joshua,bowed when we approached, and took a most lively interest in theprogress of our work, which many deputations and prominent individualsurged us to expedite.
Better still, the untoward accidents such as those I have mentioned,ceased. Our dogs, for we had obtained some others, were no longerpoisoned; rocks that appeared fixed did not fall; no arrows whistledamong us when we went out riding. We even found it safe occasionally todispense with our guards, since it was every one's interest to keep usalive--for the present. Still, I for one was not deceived for a singlemoment, and in season and out of season warned the others that the windwould soon blow again from a less favourable quarter.
We worked, we worked, we worked! Heaven alone knows how we did work.Think of the task, which, after all, was only one of several. A tunnelmust be bored, for I forget how far, through virgin rock, with thehelp of inadequate tools and unskilled labour, and this tunnel must befinished by a certain date. A hundred unexpected difficulties arose, andone by one were conquered. Great dangers must be run, and were avoided,while the responsibility of this tremendous engineering feat lay uponthe shoulders of a single individual, Oliver Orme, who, although he hadbeen educated as an engineer, had no great practical experience of suchenterprises.
Truly the occasion makes the man, for Orme rose to it in a way thatI can only call heroic. When he was not actually in the tunnel he waslabouring at his calculations, of which many must be made, or takinglevels with such instruments as he had. For if there proved to be theslightest error all this toil would be in vain, and result only in theblowing of a useless hole through a mass of rock. The
At last, after superhuman efforts, the mine was finished. Our stock ofconcentrated explosive, about four full camel loads of it, was set inas many separate chambers, each of them just large enough to receive thecharge, hollowed in the primaeval rock from which the idol had been hewn.
These chambers were about twenty feet from each other, although if therehad been time to prolong the tunnel, the distance should have beenat least forty in order to give the stuff a wider range of action.According to Oliver's mathematical reckoning, they were cut in the exactcentre of the base of the idol, and about thirty feet below the actualbody of the crouching sphinx. As a matter of fact this reckoning waswrong in several particulars, the charges having been set farthertoward the east or head of the sphinx and higher up in the base thanhe supposed. When it is remembered that he had found no opportunityof measuring the monument which practically we had only seen once frombehind under conditions not favourable to accuracy in such respects, orof knowing its actual length and depth, these trifling errors were notremarkable.
What was remarkable is that his general plan of operations, founded upona mere hypothetical estimate, should have proved as accurate as it did.
At length all was prepared, and the deadly cast-iron flasks had beenpacked in sand, together with dynamite cartridges, the necessarydetonators, electric wires, and so forth, an anxious and indeed awfultask executed entirely in that stifling atmosphere by the hands of Ormeand Quick. Then began another labour, that of the filling in of thetunnels. This, it seems, was necessary, or so I understood, lest theexpanding gases, following the line of least resistance, should blowback, as it were, through the vent-hole. What made that task the moredifficult was the need of cutting a little channel in the rock tocontain the wires, and thereby lessen the risk of the fracture of thesewires in the course of the building-up process. Of course, if by anyaccident this should happen, the circuit would be severed, and noexplosion would follow when the electric battery was set to work.
The arrangement was that the mine should be fired on the night ofthat full moon on which we had been told, and spies confirmed theinformation, the feast of the marriage of Barung's daughter to my sonwould be celebrated in the city of Harmac. This date was fixed becausethe Sultan had announced that so soon as that festivity, which coincidedwith the conclusion of the harvest, was ended, he meant to deliver hisattack on Mur.
Also, we were anxious that it should be adhered to for another reason,since we knew that on this day but a small number of priests and guardswould be left in charge of the idol, and my son could not be among them.Now, whatever may have been the views of the Abati, we as Christians whobore them no malice did not at all desire to destroy an enormous numberof innocent Fung, as might have happened if we had fired our mine whenthe people were gathered to sacrifice to their god.
The fatal day arrived at last. All was completed, save for the blockingof the passage, which still went on, or, rather, was being reinforced bythe piling up of loose rocks against its mouth, at which a hundred or somen laboured incessantly. The firing wires had been led into that littlechamber in the old temple where the dog Pharaoh tore out the throat ofShadrach, and no inch of them was left unguarded for fear of accident ortreachery.
The electric batteries--two of them, in case one should fail--had beentested but not connected with the wires. There they stood upon thefloor, looking innocent enough, and we four sat round them like wizardsround their magic pot, who await the working of some spell. We were notcheerful; who could be under so intense a strain? Orme, indeed, whohad grown pale and thin with continuous labour of mind and body, seemedquite worn out. He could not eat nor smoke, and with difficulty Ipersuaded him to drink some of the native wine. He would not even go tolook at the completion of the work or to test the wires.
"You can see to it," he said; "I have done all I can. Now things musttake their chance."
After our midday meal he lay down and slept quite soundly for severalhours. About four o'clock those who were labouring at the piling up ofdebris over the mouth of the tunnel completed their task, and, in chargeof Quick, were marched out of the underground city.
Then Higgs and I took lamps and went along the length of the wires,which lay in a little trench covered over with dust, removing the dustand inspecting them at intervals. Discovering nothing amiss, we returnedto the old temple, and at its doorway met the mountaineer, Japhet, whothroughout all these proceedings had been our prop and stay. Indeed,without his help and that of his authority over the Abati the mine couldnever have been completed, at any rate within the time.
The light of the lamp showed that his face was very anxious.
"What is the matter?" I asked.
"O Physician," he answered, "I have words for the ear of the CaptainOrme. Be pleased to lead me to him."
We explained that he slept and could not be disturbed, but Japhet onlyanswered as before, adding:
"Come you with me, my words are for your ears as well as his."
So we went into the little room and awoke Oliver, who sprang up in agreat fright, thinking that something untoward had happened at the mine.
"What's wrong?" he asked of Japhet. "Have the Fung cut the wires?"
"Nay, O Orme, a worse thing; I have discovered that the Prince Joshuahas laid a plot to steal away 'Her-whose-name-is-high.'"
"What do you mean? Set out all the story, Japhet," said Oliver.
"It is short, lord. I have some friends, one of whom--he is of my ownblood, but ask me not his name--is in the service of the Prince. Wedrank a cup of wine together, which I needed, and I suppose it loosedhis tongue. At any rate, he told me, and I believed him. This is thestory. For his own sake and that of the people the Prince desires thatyou should destroy the idol of Fung, and therefore he has kept hishands off you of late. Yet should you succeed, he does not know what mayhappen. He fears lest the Abati in their gratitude should set you up asgreat men."
"Then he is an ass!" interrupted Quick; "for the Abati have nogratitude."
"He fears," went on Japhet, "other things also. For instance, that theChild of Kings may express that gratitude by a mark of her signal favourtoward one of you," and he stared at Orme, who turned his head aside."Now, the Prince is affianced to this great lady, whom he desires to wedfor two reasons: First, because this marriage will make him the chiefman amongst the Abati, and, secondly, because of late he has come tothink that he loves her whom he is afraid that he may lose. So he hasset a snare."
"What snare?" asked one of us, for Japhet paused.
"I don't know," answered Japhet, "and I do not think that my friend kneweither, or, if he did, he would not tell me. But I understand the plotis that the Child of Kings is to be carried off to the Prince Joshua'scastle at the other end of the lake, six hours' ride away, and there beforced to marry him at once."
"Indeed," said Orme, "and when is all this to happen?"
"I don't know, lord. I know nothing except what my friend told me, whichI thought it right to communicate to you instantly. I asked him thetime, however, and he said that he believed the date was fixed for onenight after next Sabbath."
"Next Sabbath is five days hence, so that this matter does not seem tobe very pressing," remarked Oliver with a sigh of relief. "Are you surethat you can trust your friend, Japhet?"
"No, lord, I am not sure, especially as I have always known him to be aliar. Still, I thought that I ought to tell you."
"Very kind of you, Japhet, but I wish that you had let me have my sleepout first. Now go down the line and see that all is right, then returnand report."
Japhet saluted in his native fashion and went.
"What do you think of this story?" asked Oliver, as soon as he was outof hearing.
"All bosh," answered Higgs; "the place is
He paused and looked at me.
"Oh!" I said, "I agree with Higgs. If Japhet's friend had reallyanything to tell he would have told it in more detail. I daresay thereare a good many things Joshua would like to do, but I expect he willstop there, at any rate, for the present. If you take my advice you willsay nothing of the matter, especially to Maqueda."
"Then we are all agreed. But what are you thinking of, Sergeant?"asked Oliver, addressing Quick, who stood in a corner of the room, lostapparently in contemplation of the floor.
"I, Captain," he replied, coming to attention. "Well, begging theirpardon, I was thinking that I don't hold with these gentlemen, except inso far that I should say nothing of this job to our Lady, who has plentyto bother her just now, and won't need to be frightened as well. Still,there may be something in it, for though that Japhet is stupid, he'shonest, and honest men sometimes get hold of the right end of the stick.At least, he believes there is something, and that's what weighs withme."
"Well, if that's your opinion, what's best to be done Sergeant? I agreethat the Child of Kings should not be told, and I shan't leave thisplace till after ten o'clock to-night at the earliest, if we stick toour plans, as we had better do, for all that stuff in the tunnel wantsa little time to settle, and for other reasons. What are you drawingthere?" and he pointed to the floor, in the dust of which Quick wastracing something with his finger.
"A plan of our Lady's private rooms, Captain. She told you she was goingto rest at sundown, didn't she, or earlier, for she was up most of lastnight, and wanted to get a few hours' sleep before--something happens.Well, her bed-chamber is there, isn't it? and another before it, inwhich her maids sleep, and nothing behind except a high wall and a ditchwhich cannot be climbed."
"That's quite true," interrupted Higgs. "I got leave to make a planof the palace, only there is a passage six feet wide and twenty longleading from the guard chamber to the ladies' anteroom."
"Just so, Professor, and that passage has a turn in it, if I rememberright, so that two well-armed men could hold it against quite a lot.Supposing now that you and I, Professor, should go and take a nap inthat guard-room, which will be empty, for the watch is set at the palacegate. We shan't be wanted here, since if the Captain can't touch offthat mine, no one can, with the Doctor to help him just in case anythinggoes wrong, and Japhet guarding the line. I daresay there's nothingin this yarn, but who knows? There might be, and then we should blameourselves. What do you say, Professor?"
"I? Oh, I'll do anything you wish, though I should rather have liked toclimb the cliff and watch what happens."
"You'd see nothing, Higgs," interrupted Oliver, "except perhaps thereflection of a flash in the sky; so, if you don't mind, I wish youwould go with the Sergeant. Somehow, although I am quite certain thatwe ought not to alarm Maqueda, I am not easy about her, and if you twofellows were there, I should know she was all right, and it would be aweight off my mind."
"That settles it," said Higgs; "we'll be off presently. Look here, giveus that portable telephone, which is of no use anywhere else now. Thewire will reach to the palace, and if the machine works all right we cantalk to you and tell each other how things are going on."
Ten minutes later they had made their preparations. Quick stepped up toOliver and stood at attention, saying:
"Ready to march. Any more orders, Captain?"
"I think not, Sergeant," he answered, lifting his eyes from the littlebatteries that he was watching as though they were live things. "Youknow the arrangements. At ten o'clock--that is about two hours hence--Itouch this switch. Whatever happens it must not be done before, for fearlest the Doctor's son should not have left the idol, to say nothing ofall the other poor beggars. The spies say that the marriage feast willnot be celebrated until at least three hours after moonrise."
"And that's what I heard when I was a prisoner," interrupted Higgs.
"I daresay," answered Orme; "but it is always well to allow a marginin case the procession should be delayed, or something. So until teno'clock I've got to stop where I am, and you may be sure, Doctor, thatunder no circumstances shall I fire the mine before that hour, as indeedyou will be here to see. After that I can't say what will happen, butif we don't appear, you two had better come to look for us--in caseof accidents, you know. Do your best at your end according tocircumstances; the Doctor and I will do our best at ours. I think thatis all, Sergeant. Report yourselves by the telephone if the wire is longenough and it will work, which I daresay it won't, and, anyway, look outfor us about half-past ten. Good-bye!"
"Good-bye, Captain," answered Quick, then stretched out his hand,shook that of Orme, and without another word took his lamp and left thechamber.
An impulse prompted me to follow him, leaving Orme and Higgs discussingsomething before they parted. When he had walked about fifty yards inthe awful silence of that vast underground town, of which the ruinedtenements yawned on either side of us, the Sergeant stopped and saidsuddenly:
"You don't believe in presentiments, do you, Doctor?"
"Not a bit," I answered.
"Glad of it, Doctor. Still, I have got a bad one now, and it is that Ishan't see the Captain or you any more."
"Then that's a poor look-out for us, Quick."
"No, Doctor, for me. I think you are both all right, and the Professor,too. It's my name they are calling up aloft, or so it seems to me. Well,I don't care much, for, though no saint, I have tried to do my duty,and if it is done, it's done. If it's written, it's got to come to pass,hasn't it? For everything is written down for us long before we begin,or so I've always thought. Still, I'll grieve to part from the Captain,seeing that I nursed him as a child, and I'd have liked to know him wellout of this hole, and safely married to that sweet lady first, though Idon't doubt that it will be so."
"Nonsense, Sergeant," I said sharply; "you are not yourself; all thiswork and anxiety has got on your nerves."
"As it well might, Doctor, not but I daresay that's true. Anyhow, if theother is the true thing, and you should all see old England again withsome of the stuff in that dead-house, I've got three nieces living downat home whom you might remember. Don't say nothing of what I told you tothe Captain till this night's game is played, seeing that it might upsethim, and he'll need to keep cool up to ten o'clock, and afterwards too,perhaps. Only if we shouldn't meet again, say that Samuel Quick sent himhis duty and God's blessing. And the same on yourself, Doctor, and yourson, too. And now here comes the Professor, so good-bye."
A minute later they had left me, and I stood watching them until the twostars of light from their lanterns vanished into the blackness.