The little crowd, that was fast being augmented by new arrivals, scowled ferociously at the, to them, uncouthly clad but stalwart figure of the young doctor who had so unceremoniously forced his way in among them, but remained passive, possibly gathering, from the tone of his speech, that he proposed to succour the wounded man; nor did the officer in charge of the party offer any objection, but obediently called a halt when requested by Grosvenor to do so. A few seconds later, therefore, Dick, with Grosvenor as his assistant, was kneeling beside the wounded man, deftly bathing his terrible injury with an antiseptic lotion, prior to the more difficult and delicate task of searching for and securing the ends of the severed artery, which had been spouting blood like a fountain until Dick had applied the tourniquet. The entire operation of dressing, stitching, and binding up the wound occupied the best part of half an hour, by which time the roadway was packed with people anxiously enquiring what was amiss, and eager to get a glimpse of the benevolent young barbarians who had so strangely come among them and at so opportune a moment. Those who were favourably enough placed actually to see what was going on were filled with amazement and—despite their unreasoning hatred of strangers—admiration at the deftness with which Dick first stanched the flow of blood and then proceeded to dress the injury; for, strangely enough, this people, highly civilised though they were in some respects, possessed but the most rudimentary knowledge of medicine and surgery, pinning their faith chiefly to the virtue of charms and incantations, their knowledge being not nearly sufficient to enable them successfully to grapple with so serious an injury as that with which the young Englishman was so calmly and competently dealing. As the operation proceeded, these people, usually so cold and self- contained, reported progress to those who were less favourably situated for observation than themselves, and in this way the entire crowd were kept posted up in every step, until finally a great sigh of relief arose from them as Dick concluded his task and rose to his feet.

But the young doctor had not yet finished with his patient, by any means; he intended to see him safely into his own home before he left him, and this he did, a half-dozen of the soldiers fetching the man's bed from his house, carefully lifting him thereon, and carrying him in, under Dick's watchful care, aided by Grosvenor as interpreter. This done, he administered a soothing and fever-allaying draught; after which, upon being informed by the young officer that he would probably have no opportunity of seeing his patient again, he hypnotised the man and subjected him to a powerful mental suggestion that all danger was now past, that no complications of any kind would arise, and that he would rapidly get well without further attention. This done, he and Grosvenor rejoined the wagon and resumed their march.

The delay occasioned by this incident of the buffalo so retarded their progress that it was close upon noon before they arrived at the margin of the lake; and here they were curtly informed that they were about to be conveyed to the island, and that as it was not proposed to take the wagon or any of the animals with them, they must indicate what few articles they thought they might require during the next few days, and those articles would be conveyed across with them. There was a certain indefinable, sinister suggestiveness in the character of this communication that seemed to imply a doubt in the mind of the official who made it whether the individuals to whom it was made would require anything at all after "the next few days"; but Dick and Grosvenor, acting as usual upon the general principle of taking an optimistic view of everything, gave no sign that they detected anything of a covert character in the intimation, and calmly indicated the trunks containing their clothing, the medicine chest, their rifles and revolvers, and a case of ammunition for the same, all of which were duly placed in a large craft, in shape something between a canoe and a lighter, which they afterward discovered was propelled by sixty paddles. At the last moment it transpired that their black attendants, Mafuta, Jantje, and 'Nkuku were to be left behind on the mainland—which arrangement also appeared to bear a certain sinister significance—whereupon Grosvenor suggested the extreme importance of placing them in charge of the wagon and its remaining contents, part of which—two cases of ammunition, to wit—he explained, consisted of terribly powerful magic, any tampering with which by unauthorised persons must inevitably have the most appallingly disastrous results. This suggestion, Grosvenor was informed, would receive the most careful consideration of the authorities; and he had the satisfaction of believing that not only would this probably result in saving the lives of the blacks, at least for a time, but he also perceived that his hint respecting the "magic" had made a very distinct impression.

The preparations for the transport of the prisoners across the lake were soon made, and in about half an hour from the moment of their arrival upon the beach they were under way. A circumstance which at once struck Dick as peculiar was the fact that the craft in which they were making the passage was unprovided with sails, in consequence of which they had to depend entirely upon the exertions of the paddlers, although, as it happened, there was a gentle breeze blowing that was dead fair for them. Thus the boat, being large and of somewhat clumsy model, occupied fully two hours in her passage, of about eight miles from the mainland to the island, notwithstanding the fact that sixty stalwart men were toiling at the paddles.

But this matter was soon banished from the minds of the two young Englishmen by their growing interest in the mysterious island which they were gradually approaching. For mysterious it certainly was in several respects. In the first place its solitary situation, right in the centre of that unknown lake, invested it with a certain aspect of secrecy, and secrecy always suggests mystery. Also there seemed to be little or no traffic between the island and the mainland, for during the two hours occupied by their crossing no other boat or craft of any kind appeared upon any part of the lake. Then, as they gradually drew nearer to the island, and its various details revealed themselves, the two young Englishmen became aware that the entire island, excepting perhaps the actual soil of it, was artificial; that is to say, every square inch of its surface had apparently been arranged or modified by the hand of man, for either it bore a building, was traversed by a road, or formed part of a garden every tree and plant in which owed its existence and its precise position to human design and arrangement. All the natural features of the island seemed to have been ruthlessly swept away to make room for something forming part of a complete, comprehensive plan. And that plan bore eloquent evidence in its every feature that it owed its inception to intellects characterised by a very high degree of culture and refinement, and its execution to hands exceptionally skilled in many of those arts and sciences that are the heritage of ages of civilisation. The architecture was massive, almost heroic in its proportions, and its ornamentation was severe yet graceful, with a very strong and marked suggestion of Egyptian influence. The gardens were elaborately terraced, and consisted for the most part of wide, smooth, grassy lawns thickly dotted with flower beds cut into graceful and fanciful shapes, with trees growing only where they would afford a grateful shade either to the wayfarer or to the gardens arranged upon the flat-topped roofs of the houses. The roads were so cunningly planned that, by means of their serpentine windings, an easy gradient was everywhere maintained; and, lastly, the entire island was encompassed by a lofty and immensely solid wall, or quay, built of enormous blocks of granite the face of which had been worked to so smooth a surface as to render it absolutely unclimbable, the only means of obtaining a landing seeming to be by way of a double flight of wide stone steps leading up from the water to a wide platform which was shut off from the interior of the island by an immensely strong gateway flanked by two lofty towers.

By the time that Dick and Grosvenor had become imbued with a fairly accurate general impression of the extraordinary characteristics of the mysterious unknown island city to which they were bound, the craft that bore them was close in under the frowning protective wall which engirdled it, and a few minutes later the boat ranged up alongside one of the two flights of landing steps, the paddles were laid in, and the crew, springing to their feet, checked the vessel's way by grappling a number of large bronze mooring rings the shanks of which were deeply sunk into the face of the massive masonry. Then the officer who had arrested the prisoners, and still had them in charge, gave the word to land, and the young Englishmen stepped ashore, closely followed by half a dozen men bearing their several belongings, except their firearms, which they insisted on carrying themselves.

Ascending the long, easy flight of steps, the little procession, led by the officer, presently reached the broad platform on the top, and found themselves confronting a pair of enormous bronze doors which completely filled the gateway, and which swung slowly open, apparently by some mechanical means, to admit them. Passing through the gateway, and noting, as they went, the extraordinary strength and solidity of the doors, they found themselves in a kind of tunnel, or passage, some twenty feet long, in the structure of the gateway, with a sunlit vista of a paved street, bordered on either hand by lofty shade trees, with houses behind them, and thronged with people. Another minute and they had emerged from the archway and were in the street itself, which they now perceived to be one of the business streets of the island, for the houses on either side of it were arranged as shops, the whole of the lower part of each being open, affording a view of the various wares for sale, displayed upon a gently sloping platform, at the rear end of which sat the owner, cross-legged, Eastern fashion, arrayed in long flowing robes of brilliant hues. The fronts of the shops were unglazed, and unprotected by screen or barrier of any kind, nor did the shopkeeper make the slightest attempt to solicit custom; his property was simply protected from the ardent rays of the sun by a gaily coloured blind, or awning, and he sat silently and gravely awaiting the arrival of such customers as might chance to require the particular kind of wares that he had for disposal. These wares, it soon appeared, consisted chiefly of fruit; bread, in the form of small, fancifully shaped loaves; cakes; sweetmeats; drinks of various kinds, mostly compounded of powders while the customer waited—there seemed to be a brisk demand for these—fish, presumably from the lake, alive and swimming about in a large tank from which they were withdrawn as required by means of a hand net; light flimsy muslins, white or dyed in a number of brilliant colours; lengths of exquisite embroidery in gold, silver, or silk thread, and in some cases studded with what looked very much like uncut gems; saddlery and harness, some of it richly mounted or embroidered with gold; queershaped household utensils made of copper or some other metal that had the colour and sheen of gold; jewellery, necklaces, bracelets, armlets, anklets, earrings, and finger rings of gold, and vari-coloured stones that might or might not be gems; and articles of clothing, including sandals of all kinds, from the perfectly plain piece of board, secured by a single strap, to articles of the most elegant design and costly workmanship.

The little party traversed this street for about a quarter of a mile, attracting little or no notice from the passers-by as they went, and then turned abruptly out of it into a wide road leading gradually uphill. The houses which bordered this road were all private residences, detached from each other, and each embosomed in its own spacious garden, aflame with flowers of the most brilliant hues and exquisite perfume, several of the species being quite unknown to the Englishmen. The people who were encountered in this road, or were seen passing in or out of the houses, or moving about in the gardens, appeared to be of decidedly higher caste than any that the travellers had thus far seen. Their skins were not so swarthy, their features were more refined, many of the women being exceedingly beautiful, although the good looks of the men were to a considerable extent marred by an expression which may best be described as latent, cold-blooded ferocity. All these people wore garments of exceedingly fine material, mostly white, richly trimmed with elaborate embroidery in colours or gold, the women's dress being a long, sleeveless garment reaching from the throat to the feet and confined at the waist by an ornamental belt, handsome sandals, much jewellery, and the head bare, the heavy masses of dark hair being wound upon the head very becomingly, and intertwined with ribbon or strings of coloured beads. The costumes of the men were of two kinds: the elders wore for the most part a long, flowing burnous kind of garment with enormous loose sleeves reaching to the wrists, while the younger men wore a kind of tunic confined at the waist by a belt and reaching just below the knee. All wore either sandals or buskins, and all were bareheaded, the hair of the men being exceedingly thick, allowed to grow long enough to reach the shoulder, and mostly dressed in thick clusters of tight, straight curls. The general type of countenance, as Grosvenor again took occasion to remark to Dick, was distinctly Hebraic.

The road which the party now followed twisted and turned hither and thither, apparently with the object of securing a uniform gradient, but it led continuously upward, until at length it conducted them to an enormous, massively constructed building of brown granite that towered, tier after tier, for five tiers in height; the top tier consisting of a comparatively small edifice with a metal roof which shone in the afternoon sun like burnished gold. This building somehow suggested the idea of a temple, partly, perhaps, because of the fact that it was the topmost portion of the building which occupied the extreme apex of the island; but the newcomers had scant opportunity to take in its details, for they were marched straight to a low doorway cut in the tremendously thick wall of the lower story of the building, which gave them admission to a long labyrinth of twisting passages, lighted only by the smoky flare of half a dozen torches. This network of passages they traversed for a distance which both of them estimated at fully five hundred yards, finally arriving at a small door which was flung open by a man who had accompanied the party from the outer door. The officer motioned his prisoners to enter, and, there being no alternative, they did so, the bearers following with their belongings. These last being deposited on the ground, the bearers retired, the door was slammed-to and barred on the outside, and the two adventurous young Englishmen found themselves alone in a cell or dungeon about eight feet square, devoid of every suggestion of furniture, and lighted only by a small aperture, some six inches square, pierced in an outer wall of the building which must have been at least twelve feet thick.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

THE TRIAL AND VERDICT.

"Well, Dick," exclaimed Grosvenor, as the door was closed upon them and they looked round them in the dim light percolating through the long, narrow aperture in the wall which afforded their only supply of air and illumination, "what is your present opinion of things in general?"

"Well," returned Dick reflectively, "the outstanding fact which dominates all others is that we have actually penetrated to the very heart of the mysterious country which our friend Mitchell predicted we should never reach, and have therefore triumphantly accomplished the chief object of our journey, despite all the difficulties that we have encountered. For the rest, this cell, although it is somewhat lacking in comfort and convenience as a dwelling, is at least clean, dry, and pleasantly cool compared with the temperature outside. And—that is about all I have to say on the matter at present, I think."

"Um!" retorted Grosvenor with a suspicion of peevishness in his voice; "that is not very much. What do you think they mean to do with us? That is what I am trying to get at. Of course I remember that the gist of Mitchell's homily to us was: 'Don't go, if you value your lives, because those people don't like strangers.' But if a fellow seriously considered a little matter like that, exploration would soon be a thing of the past, for I've noticed that many of the johnnies whose countries we have passed through haven't liked strangers. Yet we've contrived to pull through all right thus far; and of course I have been hoping that our luck would still hold good, and that when we arrived in this country something would happen to enable us to create a favourable impression upon the chappies, causing them to decide that we are the exceptions to the general rule, and are worthy to be treated as honoured guests and all that sort of thing—eh, what? But when I look round me and take in the details of this apartment it seems to me that things have somehow gone wrong; I can't help thinking that they must have a more comfortable guest chamber than this somewhere in this old caravanserai—eh? What do you think?"

"I have no doubt they have," returned Dick. "Yet they may consider this quite good enough for us. But I am not going to worry very greatly just yet, and I would recommend you not to do so either. It is true that so far these folk have displayed a most lamentable and disconcerting lack of appreciation of our many excellent qualities, but you must remember that we have not had much opportunity for a display of those qualities as yet. The opportunity will come no doubt, and when it does we will just make our friends outside sit up—I don't quite know how, but we will do it somehow. So cheer up, old chap; the fact that they have put us in here instead of killing us at sight, so to speak, seems to suggest to my mind the belief that, if they are displeased at our presence in their country, they at least intend to give us some sort of a trial before passing us on to the executioner."

"Oh, dash it all, old man, don't talk about executioners—!" began Grosvenor, when he was interrupted by the opening of the cell door and a man entered, bearing in one hand a pitcher of water, and in the other a loaf of bread of liberal proportions on a wooden platter. These he placed on the floor beside the prisoners, and was gone again before Grosvenor could sufficiently pull his wits together to address him.

The food and drink were most acceptable, for the prisoners had taken no refreshment since breakfast that morning, and the day was now drawing to its close, as they could tell by the rapidly diminishing light that percolated through their narrow window. They fell to upon the viands forthwith, availing themselves of the last departing daylight to find the food; and finally, after a little further desultory chat, in which each did his best to make light of the situation, they disposed themselves as comfortably as they could upon the floor, and sought such rest as might be possible under the circumstances.

The night that followed was certainly not a pleasant one, for the floor was hard, and sleep was shy of coming to them. With the first glimmerings of daylight, therefore, the two prisoners arose, weary, sore of body, and in a distinctly pessimistic frame of mind which found no amelioration in the fact that hour after hour dragged its weary length along, bringing neither visitors nor food, although the breakfast hour had long passed. Noon arrived, and still no footstep approached the door of their cell; and when at length their watches marked the hour of three in the afternoon without the arrival of food, without even so much as a visit from their jailer to ascertain whether or not all was well with them, they began to ask themselves seriously whether by any chance they had been forgotten.

The answer came about half an hour later when the door of their cell was suddenly thrown open by the man who had locked them in on the previous night, and who now gruffly summoned them to follow him.

They emerged from their place of confinement gladly enough—for they had reached that stage of discomfort when one welcomes any change, even though there should be a possibility that it may prove to be for the worse—and were at once taken into custody by a handsomely attired officer in command of ten soldiers who, armed with short, broad-bladed spears, and each carrying a flaring torch, at once closed round them. The word to march was given, and the party moved away along the labyrinth of passages, turning hither and thither in the most bewildering fashion, until at length they reached a narrow flight of stone steps that wound upward, corkscrew fashion, until they emerged into another passage which, after a journey of some fifty yards, conducted them into a spacious and lofty hall lighted at either end by a large window glazed with what, from the cursory glance which they obtained of it, they judged to be talc, or some similar substance. A number of passages led out of this hall, and down one of them the party plunged, finally passing through a doorway into a spacious chamber, lighted, like the hall, by large windows glazed with the talc-like material already mentioned. There was a peculiarity about this chamber that at once attracted the attention of the two young Englishmen, and it was this: the wall opposite the door by which they had entered was divided horizontally into two unequal parts, the lower and smaller of the two being occupied by a grille of exquisitely fine carved work executed in a kind of Greek pattern, while the upper compartment was filled in with a window reaching right across from side to side of the chamber, that threw a strong light right down upon the precise spot where they were halted. As the two prisoners came to a standstill at the word of command of the officer in charge of the party, the soldiers formed themselves into a semicircle between their charges and the door, and grounded their spears with a clank upon the black marble pavement, while, although the room was apparently empty, save for themselves, the officer advanced and, raising his spear in salute, exclaimed in a loud voice, in the quasihebrew tongue which appeared to be the common language of the people:

"Lords! the prisoners from afar are present."

"It is well," replied a deep, solemn voice from behind the grille, and the two friends suddenly realised that they were about to be put upon their trial for the offence of intruding where they were not wanted. They both directed their gaze upon the grille with greatly enhanced interest, striving to obtain a glimpse of the person or persons behind it; but a space of at least twenty feet divided them from it, and at that distance the interstices were too small to afford the faintest glimpse of anyone on the other side. There was a pause of perhaps half a minute, then the voice that had last spoken said:

"Let Benoni, the officer who arrested the strangers upon their arrival in Izreel, be summoned to give his evidence."

The officer in charge of the prisoners stepped to the door, opened it, spoke a few words to someone on the other side, apparently giving an order, then closed the door again and returned to his former position in the hall.

"Did you hear that, Dick—Benoni—Izreel? Don't those two names suggest anything to you?" murmured Grosvenor behind his hand.

"N-o, I can't say that they do, except that they seem to be not altogether unfamiliar to me," answered Dick in a like low murmur.

"Familiar!" ejaculated Grosvenor, incautiously raising his voice; "I should think they are. Why—"

"Silence!" interposed the officer sternly, at this moment. Although Grosvenor's eyes blazed at the insult, and he looked more than half- inclined to forcibly resent it, he closed his lips with a fierce snap, and obeyed the injunction, at the restraining touch of Dick's hand. A moment later the officer who had brought them to the island entered, and, closing the door behind him, advanced, saluting as he faced the grille.

"Benoni," said the deep voice from behind the screen, "say what you know concerning the strangers from afar whom ye yesterday brought across the water to Bethalia!"

Again Benoni saluted. Then, facing toward the centre of the grille, he proceeded to relate how, in consequence of intelligence brought to him by runners from the frontier, he proceeded in search of the strangers, and, having taken them, brought them to Bethalia, in accordance with the general order providing for such a circumstance. Then he proceeded to describe in some detail the journey, making mention of the wonderful tubes that brought distant objects near, so long as one continued to gaze through them; and, from that, passed on to describe in full the incident of the infuriated buffalo, the consternation it had created among the wayfarers upon the road along which it had charged, its persistent pursuit of himself, the wonderful magic whereby the strangers had slain the animal, from a distance, at the precise moment when it had been about to toss him into the air; and how, finally, the younger stranger of the two had insisted upon interrupting the journey to succour the man who had been grievously hurt by the animal; adding that, in obedience to orders received, he had early that morning proceeded to the mainland to enquire into the condition of the injured man, whom, to his amazement, he found to be making favourable progress toward recovery. He spoke throughout in a clear, level voice, and seemed to be concerned only to convey an absolutely truthful impression of everything to his unseen audience behind the grille.

At the conclusion of Benoni's narrative a silence ensued, lasting for nearly twenty minutes, broken only by a low sound suggestive of subdued whispering behind the grille. At length, however, even this ceased, and the silence became almost oppressive for the space of about another half-minute. Then it was broken by the voice that had before spoken, saying:

"White strangers, say now by what names are ye known?"

To which Grosvenor replied: "My name is Philip Eustace Meredith Grosvenor; and that of my friend is Richard Maitland."

This statement was followed by another brief silence, when the unseen speaker said:

"Philip Eustace Meredith Grosvenor and Richard Maitland," he boggled the names a little, especially those of Grosvenor, "ye have entered the country of the Izreelites uninvited, and without even asking permission to do so. Had ye sought permission before crossing our border, it would have been refused you, and ye would have been turned back and permitted to depart in peace. But to enter this land uninvited, and without obtaining permission, is against our law, and the punishment for the offence is the Slow Death!"

Here the speaker made an impressive pause, as though to allow the statement to be thoroughly absorbed by the understanding of those most intimately concerned. Then he resumed:

"But we learn from the officer Benoni, who brought you hither, that since entering our country ye have saved the lives of two men; and since men's lives are more valuable to the Izreelites than aught else, we have decided to mitigate your punishment to this extent: ye shall live, if ye will, upon condition that ye swear never to attempt to leave the country without the royal assent, and to devote yourselves henceforth to the service of Izreel in such manner as ye may be directed. Say now, therefore, will ye accept life, with the condition attached to the gift; or will ye go forth from hence to die the Slow Death?"

This speech Grosvenor carefully translated to Dick, finishing up by asking:

"What answer shall I give the Johnnie, Dick? On the one hand, I have no fancy for being marched out from here to die the Slow Death, whatever that may be—something pretty horrible, I have no doubt, by the sound of it—but, on the other hand, I have just as little inclination to bind myself to end my days here, among these chappies—eh, what?"

"I fully agree with you, my dear fellow, on both points," answered Dick; "but there is one broad principle upon which I invariably act, and that is, where one is confronted by a choice between two evils, always to choose the lesser of the two. In this case I think there can be no question as to which is the lesser of the two evils between which we have to choose; because if we were foolish enough to choose death it would mean the end of all things sublunary for us; whereas if we choose life, even with the condition attached, there is always a sporting chance of something happening to make matters better for us. For myself, I would rather live, even here, than die the death, whether slow or quick. My advice, therefore, is to take the life which is offered us, and make the best of it."

"Very well, then; that's agreed," returned Grosvenor, who proceeded forthwith to explain laboriously to the unseen judges that they accepted the alternative of life offered them.

The decision was received with low murmurs of what sounded like satisfaction on the part of those behind the grille. A short silence next ensued, which was followed by further mutterings among the unseen judges, who seemed to be debating some important point. Finally an intimation came from those mysterious individuals that the strangers were to be marched to the Great Hall, there to take the oath which formed the condition upon which they accepted their lives; whereupon the officer, Benoni, gave an order, and the prisoners were marched out of the Judgment Hall through the door by which they had entered.

Making their way back along the passage which they had previously traversed, the party presently found themselves in the central hall out of which all the passages in the building seemed to radiate. Traversing this, they now entered another and much wider passage, which conducted them into what was presumably the Great Hall; for it was a square apartment measuring fully a hundred feet each way, lighted on two adjacent sides by lofty windows glazed with the talc-like substance which the two friends had before observed, only in the present case the glazing glowed with rich colour, having been painted or dyed with marvellous skill into representations of various apparently symbolical subjects, as were also the lights in a great central dome which, supported by massive columns, occupied about three-fourths of the roof space of the apartment. These columns as well as the walls and flat portion of the roof of the hall, were also very elaborately decorated in colour, while the floor was composed of white marble. A long, thin rod, which might be gold, judging from its sheen and colour, depended from the great boss, or keystone, of the dome, supporting a group of seven beautifully ornate, lighted lamps, at a height of about twenty feet above the floor; and immediately beneath these there was a table covered with a cloth, woven in a most intricate and elegant pattern, apparently of very fine gold thread. Upon this table there lay a large roll of parchment manuscript, wound upon two golden rods, decorated with what looked like pine cones wrought in gold at the ends; and behind the table stood seven venerable men with long white moustaches, and beards reaching to their waists, clad in a hooded garment of finest wool, dyed black, reaching to their feet. Their hoods were drawn so far over their heads and faces that little of their features could be seen, save their eyes, which glowed out of the sombre shadow cast by their hoods.

The young Englishmen, still in the custody of the guard, were marched up to within about ten feet of the table, where they were halted; whereupon the central and apparently oldest figure of the seven said, in a deep, grave voice—which both at once recognised as that which had spoken from behind the grille:

"Draw near, strangers, and take the oath which shall free you from the ban of the law, and make you citizens of Izreel for the remainder of your lives. Lay your right hands upon this roll and, with your left hands raised toward heaven, repeat after me:—

"I swear, by the Sun, Moon, and Stars, by Light and Darkness, by the Powers of the Air, and by the Flame of the seven lamps which burn forever, that I will never seek to leave Izreel without first obtaining the royal assent, and that henceforth I will devote myself to its service in such manner as I shall be directed!"

The oath sounded formidable enough, but after all it really meant little to those who were called upon to take it, and they took it unhesitatingly, with the full intention of keeping it both in letter and in spirit—since an oath was an oath, whatever form its wording might assume—and, this done, Benoni and his guard were dismissed, and the two newly enrolled citizens of Izreel were left alone with the seven whom they subsequently came to know as the Elders.

The stern attitude of these toward the two aliens was now considerably relaxed; they invited Phil and Dick to accompany them into another and a much smaller room, where, to the great satisfaction of the Englishmen, they found a substantial meal awaiting them, and to this the entire party forthwith sat down. The appetite of the ex-prisoners was by this time brought to a fine edge by their somewhat protracted fast, and they did full justice to the fare placed before them, to the wonder and admiration of their hosts, who, it appeared, were themselves but indifferent trenchermen. The meal over, and the attendants dismissed, Malachi, the chief of the Elders, and the man who had delivered judgment in the Judgment Hall, turned to Grosvenor and said:

"And now, O Philip! the moment has arrived when we, the Elders, must decide in what manner you and he whom you call Dick may best serve Izreel. Tell me, therefore, I pray you, what ye can both best do, in order that we may assign to each of you a useful vocation."

"That is all very well," remarked Grosvenor rather ruefully, when he had translated this speech to Dick. "So far as you are concerned the matter is simple enough; you are a doctor, and when once these chappies have had an example of your skill in that line I expect they'll find you plenty to do. But what can I do? Absolutely nothing useful! I can ride, shoot, sail a yacht passably—"

"Stop!" cried Dick impulsively. "Ask these ancients whether they know what sails are. If they don't—and I'll bet they do not, or they would have used them yesterday—your vocation is cut out for you. You can teach them how to use sails, and also how to model their craft upon better lines; and by the time that you have finished that job I have no doubt another will turn up. Just talk to the old gentlemen along those lines, and see what comes of it."

And Grosvenor did, with the happiest results. He ascertained that the Izreelites knew nothing whatever about sails, or indeed how to use the wind in any way as a labour-saver; and when he told his little audience that boats could be propelled, corn ground, water pumped, and a number of other useful things done by the power of wind alone, they were at first very strongly inclined to suspect him of romancing. But when he further offered to demonstrate to them the truth of his assertion they at once agreed to afford him every facility for so doing, and cheerfully promised to place at his disposal such men and material as he might require.

And when he came to speak of Dick's qualifications as a healer of all manner of diseases and injury to the human anatomy, they were even more greatly surprised and delighted, for, astonishing as it may appear in the case of a people so highly civilised in many respects as were the Izreelites, they knew practically nothing of either medicine or surgery, and pinned their faith entirely to the efficacy of charms and incantations. Moreover, it soon transpired that they had a particular as well as a general reason for rejoicing at the fact that a physician of real and proved ability had come among them; for, after a considerable amount of discussion among themselves, Grosvenor was informed that the whole nation was racked with anxiety concerning the health of the young Queen Myra, who seemed gradually becoming deranged; the especial significance of their anxiety being explained by the fact— stated with the utmost gravity—that an ancient prophecy, in which they placed the most implicit faith, foretold that should ever a monarch die without issue, the fall of the nation and its absorption by its savage neighbours would immediately follow. The point of it all lay in the fact that the Queen was unwedded, and insisted on remaining so, while the savages who surrounded Izreel on every side were daily becoming more aggressive!

"Now, here is your chance, Dick," explained Grosvenor delightedly, when he had translated the above particulars to his friend. "You sail in with your pills and potions, cure the Queen, marry her, make me your Prime Minister, and we all live happily ever afterwards, like the people in the fairy tales—eh, what? Shall I tell these chappies that they need not worry any further about their Queen, for that you are prepared to cure her, whatever her malady may happen to be?"

"Of course not," answered Dick seriously. "But you may say, if you like, that I shall be very pleased to see Her Majesty and do what I can for her. And pray try to be serious, Phil, for once in a way; frivolity is well enough at a proper time, and in its proper place, but it will not improve these people's opinion of us if they see us laughing and obviously joking over a matter that seems to be a serious enough one for them, and may be sufficiently serious for us, too, in the long run."

"Yes—yes—of course," assented Grosvenor, completely sobered by his friend's grave words; "I quite see what you mean, old chap, and I promise you there shall be no further ill-timed attempts at jocularity on my part. The poor old chappies look a bit put out as it is; but I'll soon make it all right with them."

Therewith he proceeded to explain to the Elders that, while his friend could not promise anything definite without first seeing the Queen, he was willing to have an interview with her at once, or at Her Majesty's earliest convenience, and would do everything in his power to restore her to perfect health.

This announcement at once banished the glum looks which Grosvenor's ill- timed levity of demeanour had called up, and restored matters to the favourable condition that had been momentarily endangered. A brief consultation was held, and at its conclusion Malachi, the chief Elder, hurried away to seek an audience of the Queen with the object of endeavouring to secure her consent to an interview with the wonderful doctor from afar. Meanwhile the two Englishmen were conducted up a magnificently wide marble staircase to the building that formed the second story, as it were, of the immense edifice in which they had been brought to trial, and which they now learned was the Government building in which the business of the nation generally was transacted, and the chief officials of the Government had lodging, the topmost story of all being a temple to which the Elders were wont to resort in times of especial national stress and danger, and where they were supposed to seek—and obtain—inspiration and guidance enabling them to successfully grapple with the crisis.

The second story of this curious building, which was part legislative palace and part temple, was the portion especially devoted to the lodgment of the Government officials, and it was a gratifying indication to the two friends of their future status in their new country that they were now assigned apartments in this portion of the building. These apartments consisted of two large and exceedingly lofty rooms, one to serve as a sleeping chamber, and the other as a sitting- and working- room combined. Each room was lighted by an exceptionally large window that opened like a door and gave access to the projecting roof of the story below, which was some sixty feet wider, each way, than the story immediately above it. This roof was flat, and was beautifully laid out as a flower garden, with winding walks through a level lawn thickly studded with beds of beautiful, sweet-scented flowers. The garden was protected all round by a breast-high parapet, and commanded a magnificent view, not only of the entire island, but also of the lake and the encircling hills. The Elder who installed the newcomers in this sumptuous suite of apartments having enquired whether their lodging was to their liking, and received a reply in the affirmative, informed them that, that being the case, the belongings which they had brought with them to the island would at once be placed in their new lodging. Then, having asked whether he could do anything more for their immediate comfort, and being answered in the negative, he indicated an immense copper gong on the landing outside their door, informed them that a single stroke upon it would at once bring the attendant who had been appointed to wait upon them, and so bowed himself out.

Meanwhile, Malachi, the chief Elder, was having a rather difficult time with the self-willed young Queen. First of all she positively refused to grant him an audience at all; and when at length he succeeded in obtaining admission to her apartments by his persistent representations that the matter upon which he desired to see her was of the most vital importance, she at once angrily ordered him out again as soon as she understood that he had found a new physician whom he desired her to see. But if the Queen was self-willed, Malachi was the very incarnation of pertinacity; he protested, wheedled, entreated, and was indignant by turns, but all to no purpose until he happened to mention that the physician in question was a stranger from a far country beyond the Great Water; when, first commanding him to repeat his statement all over again, she suddenly developed a sweet reasonableness, that caused the astonished Malachi to doubt the evidence of his senses, by announcing that she would see the stranger, who was to be brought into her presence forthwith.



CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

DICK AND PHIL PROSPER.

Determined to afford Her Majesty neither time nor opportunity to repent of her sudden decision, Malachi hastened out of the palace as speedily as his poor old limbs would carry him, and, making the best of his way back to the enormous building in which the strangers were lodged, presented himself in their apartment, which he found them in the act of returning to by way of the window after a stroll round the roof garden outside. Almost incoherent from want of breath and his eagerness to impress upon the pair the necessity to seize the present favourable opportunity, the Elder hastily explained that his mission to the Queen had been successful, and entreated Dick and Grosvenor to accompany him to the palace forthwith; with which request they were of course perfectly ready to comply. The palace was but a bare hundred yards from the larger building, both in fact being built on the same plot of ground, and a few minutes sufficed the trio to pass from the one building to the other, to traverse the noble entrance hall of the palace, and to make their way to the Queen's private suite of apartments, outside the door of which two soldiers armed with spear and target stood on guard. The next moment they were in the presence of the Queen, who, surrounded by some half a dozen ladies, reclined listlessly upon a couch of solid gold gorgeously upholstered in richly embroidered silk.

As the trio entered and bowed low before her, the young Queen glanced listlessly at her visitors for a moment, and then a look of interest crept into her eyes, such as Malachi had not seen there for months, causing his heart to leap within him as he wondered whether this young doctor had indeed the power to perform a miracle and effect the cure of the lovely young creature upon whom the hopes of the whole nation depended.

For lovely the Queen most certainly was, indeed it is the only word which adequately expresses the perfection of her charms. The Izreelite women were, as the young Englishmen had already had opportunity to observe, mostly of more than prepossessing appearance, tall, stately, statuesque creatures of Juno-like proportions, with melting dark eyes, and luxuriant tresses of dark, curly hair. But Queen Myra's beauty was of a totally different type, for she was petite yet exquisitely formed, fair as the dawn of a summer's day, with golden-brown locks, and eyes as blue as the sapphire sky overhead. So lovely indeed was she that Grosvenor, surprised out of his manners, whistled softly, and remarked to Dick, in quite audible tones:

"Phew! Dick, my boy, did you ever see such a beauty in all your born days? No wonder that these old jossers the Elders are anxious to keep the darling alive—eh, what?"

As he spoke the faintest suspicion of a smile seemed to flicker for a moment in the eyes of the Queen, but Dick, who noticed it, thought it must have been provoked by Malachi's genuflexions as he performed the ceremony of introduction, pointing to Dick first as the physician, and then to Grosvenor as the friend who had journeyed with him across the Great Water, and who, happening in some mysterious way—which he, Malachi, did not pretend to understand—to possess some slight knowledge of the Izreelite tongue, would act as interpreter between Her Majesty and the physician.

By the time that Malachi had finished his speech the terrible listlessness and indifference of the Queen's manner, which had for so many months been a source of anxiety to the nation in general and the Elders and nobles in particular, had completely vanished, and she electrified the chief Elder by raising herself upon her couch and bidding him imperiously to be gone and to leave her alone with her ladies and the two strangers. The poor old gentleman, his head dizzy with many conflicting emotions, hastily bowed himself out, and was halfway back to his own quarters in the Legislature before he well knew whether he was on his head or his heels.

The door had no sooner closed upon Malachi than an extraordinary change took place in the appearance and demeanour of the Queen; the languor of her attitude and the absolute listlessness and indifference with which she had regarded her chief Elder vanished as if by magic. Her eyes lit up eagerly, a wave of colour suffused her hitherto marble-white cheeks and brow, and, turning to her two visitors, she astounded them by exclaiming in excellent English, with only a trace of accent, as she stretched out her hands toward them:

"Gentlemen—gentlemen, are you indeed English, or has my poor brain at last given way under the strain of my terrible trouble?"

For a moment the friends were literally smitten speechless by astonishment; then Grosvenor, who was the first to recover full possession of his faculties, sprang forward and, sinking upon one knee, raised one of the little outstretched hands respectfully to his lips.

"Madam," he said, absent-mindedly retaining the Queen's hand in his own as he still knelt before her, "we are indeed Englishmen, and entirely at your service. There are but two of us, as you see; but you have only to command us, and whatever two Englishmen in the midst of thousands of enemies can do, that will we do for you. Isn't that so, Dick?"

"It is, indeed," answered Dick, smiling at the passionate fervour of his friend's speech. "Your Majesty has but to explain to us the nature of your trouble, and it shall go hard indeed with us if we do not devise some means to help you, especially as, unless I am entirely mistaken, you are a countrywoman of our own. Get up, Phil, and let Her Majesty tell us her story. And mind your 'P's' and 'Q's', old man," he added in a low tone; "don't let your sympathy and enthusiasm run away with you, or you will be apt to excite possibly awkward comment on the part of Her Majesty's ladies. You have made some of them open their eyes pretty wide already, I can assure you."

With a muttered ejaculation Grosvenor hastily scrambled to his feet, while the Queen, beckoning to two of her ladies, directed them to place a couple of settees for her visitors close to her couch. Upon these the two Englishmen seated themselves, in obedience to a sign from Her Majesty, who thereupon addressed them:

"I fear," said she, "that I shall find it quite impossible to make you understand how astonished and how glad I am to see you both. I am astonished, because it is a law of this land that no aliens are ever permitted to enter it—and live; and I am glad because you, like myself, are English, and my dear mother taught me to believe that Englishmen are always ready to help their countrywomen in distress under all circumstances. And I am in distress, the greatest distress that I suppose it is possible for a woman to be in. But let me tell you my story—it will not take long—and then perhaps you will understand.

"I am twenty-three years of age, and of English parentage. My father was an officer in the Indian army, and for nearly four years my mother resided with him at a little frontier post called Bipur. Then trouble arose; the hill tribes in the neighbourhood of Bipur committed certain excesses, and an expedition was dispatched under my father's command. Fighting ensued, and my father was killed in one of the earliest engagements that took place. There was now nothing to keep my mother in India, therefore, as the climate did not suit her, she made immediate arrangements to return to England, taking passage in a sailing ship that was proceeding home by way of the Cape, a long sea voyage having been prescribed for the benefit of her health.

"I do not know how it happened, nor did my mother, but the ship was wrecked on the African coast, and many lives were lost. My mother, however, happened to be one of the saved; and she, with the rest of the survivors, fell into the hands of certain natives who surprised their camp on the beach in the dead of night. The men of the party were all slain; and what became of the few women who survived I do not know, for my mother never told me; but she was brought by her captors to this country and presented to King Geshuri, who made her his queen. Two months later I was born; and my mother never had any other children.

"Five years ago King Geshuri died; and my mother became the reigning monarch of the country, in accordance with the Izreelite law. But she was never strong; and three years ago she, too, died, leaving me absolutely alone to govern this fierce, headstrong people as best I could."

Here the Queen's emotion overcame her for a moment, and she hid her face in her hands, while the tears welled over and trickled through her fingers. Her distress moved the young Englishmen powerfully, and they began to murmur expressions of sympathy and assurances of help. But, quickly recovering her composure, the Queen resumed her narrative.

"That, however, is not what is troubling me, for my mother, realising that I must one day become a queen, devoted herself entirely to educating me in such a manner as to prepare me, as well as she could, for the discharge of my difficult duties. Unfortunately, we had no books, so my mother was compelled to rely entirely upon her own knowledge and experience in the matter of my education and training; but she not only taught me the English language, but also how to read and write it, spending many hours in printing with her own hand long passages containing maxims for my guidance, simply that I might have the means of learning to read English books, should ever any such fall into my hands.

"And now I come to the matter that is troubling me. The Elders tell me that the time has arrived when I must take to myself a husband; and they have suggested—oh, I cannot tell you how many men!—Izreelite nobles, of course—from whom I may make my choice. But I do not like any of them; there is not one among them all whom I do not thoroughly detest, for they are all fierce, arrogant, overbearing men who do not even pretend that they have any desire to make me happy. All they want is to be king, so that they may enjoy the absolute power and authority of a monarch; for, if I marry, my husband will at once become the ruler of the country, according to the Izreelite law, and I shall merely be his wife. Fortunately, I cannot be compelled to marry, and I won't—I won't," with a passionate little stamp of the foot, "until I meet with a man whom I can—can—love. But I know I shall have no peace until I consent to marry somebody; the Elders are wild with anxiety that I should choose a husband; they worry me every day, ay, and almost every hour of the day, about it, until I am driven very nearly out of my senses by the thought that, sooner or later, I shall be constrained to become the wife of some man whom I detest. That is my trouble, gentlemen; I wonder if you are clever enough to devise a means of helping me."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we are," answered Dick confidently. "I don't say that we already have a plan; for that would be asserting far too much. But you have told us the nature of your trouble, which of course is the first thing that it is necessary for us to know; and now we will lose no time in thinking out a remedy. Trust to us, madam; we will not fail you. We have practically pledged ourselves to spend the remainder of our lives in your country—your Elders compelled us to do that—and the removal of your trouble and the securing of your happiness shall have precedence of every other consideration with us."

The Queen's gratitude was so great that she seemed scarcely able to find words in which to express herself adequately; it was almost painful to witness, so eloquently did it testify to the desperation with which she had been compelled to combat the suggestions of unwelcome alliances with which she had been perpetually harassed; but she contrived to make it quite clear that the arrival of the two Englishmen filled her with renewed hope and a revived zest in life. "I know," she said, "that it must sound unkind of me to say so, but I cannot help being glad that you are here; for now at last I feel that I have two friends who will stand by me and help me to the utmost of their ability. Besides," she added delightedly, as the thought came to her, "you will be companions for me. I have been utterly lonely and friendless since my mother died; but you will come to see me often—every day—won't you? And we can walk and talk together, and I can again be happy."

"Of course," answered Grosvenor eagerly. "You may absolutely depend upon us both to do anything and everything that you may ask of us. I believe we are each to be assigned certain duties, which I suppose we shall be expected to perform; but our first duty is to you, our first care must be for your happiness, and, so far as we can prevent it, you shall never again be worried by those old jossers the Elders, or anybody else. We have a few books among our baggage, and as soon as it is delivered to us I will turn them out and bring them over to you; and as to coming to see you, why of course we shall be delighted to do so; we will come over every evening after our day's work is over. Eh, Dick?"

"Certainly," answered Dick; "or at least as often as it may be prudent to do so. And now, madam," he continued, addressing the Queen, "I think it will be well that we should retire, for above all things else we must carefully avoid anything and everything that may excite suspicion or jealousy, and I imagine that both might easily be aroused by a too- sudden appearance of friendship between ourselves and Your Majesty. Besides, Malachi the Elder will be anxiously awaiting our report. But, as my friend has said, you may absolutely rely upon our loyal friendship and our best help at all times and seasons. Possibly we may be able to arrange another call before the day is over; meanwhile I crave Your Majesty's permission for us to retire."

As Dick anticipated, they found the chief Elder anxiously awaiting their return, eager to learn the young doctor's opinion relative to the mental and physical condition of the Queen; and Dick, with Phil for his interpreter, was not slow to give it. Of course, to his practised eye it had at once been evident that Queen Myra was simply being worried and badgered and terrified out of her senses by these old men who, with that idiotic prophecy dominating their minds, desired one thing and one only, namely to see the Queen married as speedily as possible to somebody; but to whom it seemed that they cared very little. Dick intended to put a stop to that at once; he therefore directed Grosvenor to inform the Elder, Malachi, that the Queen was in a most critical condition, but that he could cure her, provided that his instructions were all implicitly obeyed, but not otherwise. This last statement set the poor old Elder absolutely quivering with apprehension; but Dick was not worrying overmuch about him or anybody else save the Queen, and he contrived to frighten the unhappy Elder so thoroughly that at length he unreservedly promised, both for himself and everybody else, that the word "marriage" should never again be spoken in Her Majesty's presence until Dick gave permission; and he also agreed that Dick should have an absolutely free hand with regard to the Queen's treatment, the visitors she should receive, the exercise she should take, and so on; thus providing for Dick's and Grosvenor's free admission to the palace and the Queen's presence as often as they chose.

This important matter settled, the friends retired to their own quarters to talk matters over. They found that all their various belongings had been brought from the cell in which they had passed the previous night, and were now carefully arranged in their own private apartment. Grosvenor at once went to his trunk, opened it, bundled its contents upon the floor, and feverishly proceeded to sort out the half-dozen books—novels, and two volumes of poems—which it contained, exhorting Dick to do the same, in order that "that poor girl" might be provided with a new form of amusement with the least possible delay. It was easy for Dick to perceive, from his companion's talk, that the latter had been profoundly impressed by the charms and the lonely state of the young Queen; and Maitland quietly chuckled, as he reflected that Grosvenor would never have seen her had he not fled to South Africa for distraction from the smart of a heart severely lacerated by some fickle fair one, who, by the way, seemed now to be completely forgotten. But he shook his head with sudden gravity, as his thoughts travelled on into the future and he foresaw the possibility of a mutual attachment springing up between Phil and the Queen. That would be a complication with a vengeance, and he determined quietly to do everything in his power to prevent it.

————————————————————————————————————

The ensuing six months passed with the rapidity of a dream; for no sooner had the two Englishmen arranged matters relating to the Queen upon a satisfactory basis than they discovered that there was another cause for anxiety of the gravest character in the behaviour of the savage nations that hemmed in Izreel on every side. Hitherto these had been too busily engaged in fighting each other to do more than make desultory war upon the Izreelites; but now news of an apparently reliable character came to Bethalia, the island city, to the effect that a certain king, named Mokatto—a very shrewd fellow by all accounts—had entered into friendly communication with the rulers of the other nations whose countries bordered on Izreel, and had pointed out the folly of fighting each other for no particular reason, when, by uniting their forces, they could attack the Izreelites, overwhelm them, and divide their country equally among the victors. This counsel, there was every reason to believe, had been accepted; for reports were almost daily coming to hand of preparations which pointed to nothing less than an impending attack upon Izreel by the confederated kingdoms.

This was precisely what the Izreelites had always feared more than any other earthly thing; and when authentic intelligence began to arrive, pointing to the conclusion that the long-feared attack was about to be made, the Izreelites grew almost crazy with panic, some of them contending that their gods were angry at the admission of two aliens into the country, and that the only way by which their anger could be appeased was by offering the strangers as a sacrifice upon the great altar of the temple which formed the top story of the Legislative building. This theory took a very strong hold upon certain of the most influential of the nobles, who quickly developed extreme jealousy of the two strangers, whom they vaguely suspected of being in some unexplained way inimical to them and their interests; and for a time Dick and Grosvenor undoubtedly went in danger of their lives.

At length, however, this peril became so imminent that the pair agreed to take the bull by the horns and deal with it forthwith. They accordingly convened a meeting of the Seven Elders and all the nobility, at which Dick delivered an address, graphically describing the danger in which the nation stood, and boldly asserting that only he and Grosvenor could possibly avert it.

This, of course, was rather a staggering statement, and one which the Izreelites were not at all disposed to accept unquestioningly, or without proof. But Dick was equal to the occasion. He and Grosvenor had discussed the matter together, had decided upon their plan of campaign, and the Opposition were silenced by his first question.

"What do you suppose would happen to your Queen," he demanded, "if you were unwise enough to put us to death? I will tell you. She is now on the highroad to recovery; but, deprived of our ministrations, she would suffer an immediate relapse, and die! Do you need to be reminded of what would follow upon that? If there is any truth in your ancient prophecy the very thing that you most dread would immediately happen. In other words, our destruction would immediately be followed by that of the entire nation.

"But, apart from that, our destruction would be the gravest mistake that you could possibly make; for we, who are natives of the greatest fighting nation that the world has ever known, can teach you much in the art of war, your knowledge of which is of the slightest. Your weapons are poor and inefficient, and you know nothing of strategy and generalship; but we can instruct you in those important matters, and also teach you how to make new and powerful weapons, by means of which you will be able effectually to subjugate the nations which now threaten you. Say, then, will you destroy us, and so involve yourselves in irretrievable ruin? Or shall we teach you how to emerge victoriously from the coming struggle with your enemies?"

There could be but one answer to such a question; the jealousy of the nobles gave way to fear. They no longer clamoured for the death of the Englishmen, but, on the contrary, were as willing as the rest that the strangers should be afforded every opportunity to make good their boast, and from that moment Dick and Grosvenor became virtually the Dictators of the nation.

Their victory was perhaps the easier from the fact that during the six months of their sojourn they had already accomplished much. The Queen, for example, enlivened and encouraged by the intimate companionship of her two fellow countrymen, had gradually thrown off the incubus of her terror, and was now almost her former self again; while Grosvenor had found congenial occupation in fitting the few craft upon the lake with sails, and designing and building other craft of greatly improved model, including half a dozen cutters of the racing-yacht type, which he conceived would be exceedingly useful should the savages ever again attempt, as they had done on several previous occasions, to attack the island city. As for Dick, the densely populated city alone provided him with more patients than he could conveniently deal with; and he had effected many remarkable cures.

One of the first things that particularly attracted the attention of the two friends immediately upon their arrival in Izreel was the inadequacy of the weapons—a spear, or sheaf of spears, and a small round shield or target—with which the people were armed; and this they now proceeded to rectify by the general introduction of bows and arrows as an auxiliary to the spear and shield. There was an abundance of suitable wood for bows to be found in a forest on the inner slope of the mountains on the mainland, while reeds suitable for the shafts of arrows grew in inexhaustible quantities along the margin of the lake; and when once a pattern bow and arrow had been made, and a sufficiency of wood and reeds provided, the furnishing of every man with a good bow and quiverful of arrows was speedily accomplished. There had at first been a difficulty in the matter of arrowheads, but this had been overcome by the discovery of an enormous deposit of flints—in searching for which a rich mine of diamonds had come to light.

The construction of his fleet and the training of their crews having been accomplished, Grosvenor next took the army in hand and proceeded to train it in the use of the bow, succeeding at length, by dint of indefatigable perseverance, in converting the soldiers into an army of really brilliant marksmen.

This achievement brought the time on to nearly nine months from the date of the adventurers' arrival in Izreel, during the first eight months of which information had come in from time to time which left no room to doubt that the savages of the adjoining nations had combined together and were making the most elaborate preparations for a simultaneous attack upon Izreel from all sides. Then the sources of information seemed to suddenly dry up, and no news of any description relative to the movements of the savages could be obtained.

The Izreelites were disposed to regard this as a favourable omen, many even asserting their conviction that the savages had quarrelled among themselves, and that attack from them was no longer to be feared; but Dick and Grosvenor took quite another view of the matter. They regarded the cessation of news as ominous in the extreme, and dispatched imperative orders to the frontier for the maintenance of the utmost vigilance, night and day. They also organised strong relays of swift runners, radiating from various points along the shore of the lake to those points where attack might first be expected, in order that intelligence of an invasion might be brought to the capital with the utmost promptitude. The strength of the garrisons in the outlying blockhouses was also doubled, which were put under the command of the most resolute and intelligent captains that could be found, with instructions that each post was to be stubbornly defended until the enemy should threaten to surround it, when it was to be abandoned, and the garrison—or what might remain of it—was to retire inward to the next post, and so on; the various garrisons contesting every inch of ground, cutting up the enemy as severely as possible, and gradually retiring inward toward the lake and Bethalia if they could not maintain their ground. These preparations did not take long to make, since it was merely a matter of marching supplementary troops to the frontier, and the provisioning of the various blockhouses, fortified farms, castles, and strongholds generally; and as the preparations had all been made beforehand, a week sufficed to place the entire nation on the defensive.

Still the task was accomplished none too soon, for on the very day succeeding that upon which the preparations for defence were completed, news arrived in Bethalia that large bodies of savages had been seen massing upon various parts of the border, while the next day brought intelligence of attacks upon almost every one of the outlying blockhouses, and of the retirement of their respective garrisons after severe fighting in which heavy loss had been sustained by both sides. The invasion of Izreel had begun, and was being prosecuted with relentless determination and energy.



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

VICTORY, TRIUMPH, AND—THE END.

This grave news created the utmost consternation and dismay among the Elders and nobles of Bethalia; for they had, almost with one accord, persisted in believing that at the last moment the savages had shrunk from the contest. There was, however, one solitary crumb of comfort in the news that now came almost hourly from the front, which was that, severely as the Izreelites had suffered, the enemy had suffered ten times more severely, having been kept completely at arm's length, so long as the defenders' stock of arrows had lasted, and that it was only when these had become exhausted that the savages had succeeded in storming the blockhouses and driving out the defenders. This contained a lesson that Grosvenor and Dick were quick to profit by, and no sooner did the news come to hand than every available person was set to work manufacturing arrows, thousands of which were daily dispatched to the front.

Thus far the two Englishmen had remained at Bethalia, receiving news and directing operations from there, at the urgent request of the Elders; but as intelligence continued to arrive from the front reporting the presence of the enemy in overwhelming numbers, and the retirement of garrison after garrison, with details of terrific fighting in every direction, it was not to be supposed that Dick and Grosvenor would consent to remain tamely pent up in the city, while the chance of their lives was beckoning them from a distance that could now be covered on horseback in a couple of days' smart riding. They consequently induced the armourers of the town to knock them out a couple of makeshift sabres, which they intended to take with them in addition to their revolvers and magazine rifles, and announced their intention of proceeding forthwith to the front.

But had a bombshell exploded and blown to pieces the temple that formed the top story of the House of Legislature, or unroofed the palace, it could scarcely have produced a more tremendous effect, or created greater consternation, than did this simple announcement. The Elders were convinced that if the guiding spirits of the campaign were ever permitted to take the field they would inevitably be slain and the end of all things would come. The nobles were animated by pretty much the same uncomfortable conviction; and as for the Queen, when, despite the remonstrances and entreaties of the Elders and nobles, Dick and Grosvenor presented themselves at the palace to bid Her Majesty farewell, she promptly ordered the arrest of the pair, and gave them their choice of being confined close prisoners, or pledging their word of honour to abandon their intention! It was in vain that the culprits pleaded, argued, and drew the most harrowing pictures of what must inevitably happen if they were not allowed to proceed to the front and personally supervise operations. The Queen turned a deaf ear to all that they said; positively refused to give her consent; entreated and upbraided in her turn; and, finally, bursting into a passion of tears, declared that if anything were to happen to Phil she would die! At which statement Grosvenor incontinently took the young lady in his arms, kissed her, soothed her back into self-possession again, and vowed with ardour that if that was how she felt about it he was more than content to remain behind and look after her, provided that she would allow Dick to go. To which compromise she at once smilingly assented. For such is the selfishness of lovers!

The murder was out at last, and the precise thing had happened which Dick had foreseen, and had vowed to prevent, if possible, because of the terrible complications which, as he believed, must inevitably ensue. These two had fallen in love with each other, and the chances were that, as soon as the news reached the ears of the already jealous nobles, Grosvenor and Dick would be "removed", either openly or privately, while the Queen would at once be ruthlessly forced into the kind of marriage that she had all along regarded with such utter dread and detestation.

Here was a pretty kettle of fish! and occurring, too, at such a terribly inopportune moment. Yet, as Dick moodily reflected, while being ferried across to the mainland in one of Grosvenor's new, fast-sailing cutters, perhaps the moment might not be so very inopportune after all. It was a fact that, under the able leadership of Mokatto, the savages were pressing Izreel as it had never before been pressed within its recorded history. Izreel was now literally fighting for its life, its very existence; and if, through the help of the two Englishmen, the country should by any chance win out and achieve a decisive victory over her combined enemies, it was just possible that gratitude, that rarest of human sentiments, might take the form of forgiveness, if nothing more; in which case there was perhaps a bare possibility that Grosvenor and Dick might be released from their oath and permitted to return to their own country. But it was doubtful, Dick decided, very doubtful; and his meditations assumed a distinctly gloomy tone as, having arrived on the mainland, he hunted up Mafuta and explained to that jubilant savage that they were about to proceed to the front and take part in the fighting.

To attempt anything even remotely resembling a detailed account of Dick Maitland's adventures during the ensuing three weeks would be impossible, for they were numerous and exciting enough to demand an entire volume to do justice to them. It must suffice to say that during that eventful period the youngster saw enough fighting to satisfy him for the remainder of his life—desperate, ferocious, hand-to-hand fighting, in which neither side ever dreamed of asking or giving quarter, in which a disabling wound was immediately followed by death upon the spear-points of the enemy, and the salient characteristics of which were continuous ear-splitting yells, the shrill whistling of the savages, the rumbling thunder of thousands of fiercely rushing feet, blinding clouds of dust through which there appeared a phantasmagoria of ferocious countenances, gnashing teeth, glaring eyeballs, the ruddy flash of ensanguined spear-points, hurtling knobkerries and whirling war-clubs, upthrown arms, clenched fists, reeling bodies, the shout of triumph and the short, quick gasp that followed the home-thrust of the stabbing spear. This was the kind of thing that marked the end of each day's fight when, the stock of the Izreelites, arrows being exhausted, it became necessary at last to evacuate a stubbornly held position and to retire before the overwhelming hordes of savages that, despite the frightful losses sustained by them in the course of each day's fighting, seemed daily to increase in numbers as the encircling cloud of them contracted with the daily retirement of the defenders towards the lake.

As for Dick, he seemed to bear a charmed life; for although he fearlessly exposed himself, day after day, wherever the fighting happened to be fiercest and most stubborn, he had thus far received no hurt more serious than a mere scratch or two, and a rather severe contusion from the blow of a knobkerrie that had all but unhorsed him; but this immunity may have been due, at least in part, to the fact that Mafuta was always unobtrusively close at hand, ready to guard his beloved young master, ay, and even to lay down his life for him, if necessary.

Those were strenuous days indeed for all concerned, and especially for the defenders; for the fighting usually began with the dawn, and continued all through the day as long as there was light enough to distinguish friend from foe; while, so far as the Izreelites were concerned, they were obliged to maintain a watch all through the hours of darkness, in order to be prepared for the surprise night attacks which the savages sprang upon them from time to time, with the obvious purpose of exhausting the defenders' strength.

But while Mokatto and the other savage kings who had thrown in their lot with him for the purpose of "eating up" the Izreelites, and partitioning their country, were solacing themselves with the assurance that, despite their frightful daily losses in men, they were winning all along the line, Dick was artfully drawing them after him into the heart of the chain of mountains that encircled the lake and the island city of Bethalia. These mountains, or hills rather—for they were scarcely lofty enough to be worthy of the more imposing appellation—were of an exceptionally rugged and precipitous character, to such an extent, indeed, that they were absolutely impassable except at four points, where the natural features had been so far improved upon that passes of a sort—narrow ledges for the most part, bounded on one side by a vertical, unclimbable face of rock and upon the other by an appalling chasm—had been painfully hewn out of the stubborn granite; and it was in the direction of these four passes that young Maitland was now retiring in excellent order, and enticing the enemy to follow him. For it was in these passes that he expected to win the victory which he intended to convert finally into a complete, disastrous, panic-stricken rout of the enemy. To this end he had already made certain preparations, for news of the completion of which he was anxiously waiting. And at length the news came; whereupon, having dispatched to the commanders at the other three points identical sets of instructions, of a sufficiently elastic character to leave plenty of scope for initiative on the part of the leaders, he summoned the commanders of his own division to his tent as soon as the day's fighting was over, and, having carefully and fully explained his plans to them, gave them explicit instructions regarding their conduct upon the following day, and dismissed them. Then, mounting his tired horse, Dick rode off up the pass at a foot-pace, closely followed by the faithful Mafuta, who, dog-tired though he was after many long days of strenuous fighting, chuckled grimly as his young master unfolded his plan of campaign.

The fighting which began with dawn upon the following morning was of a somewhat different character from that of the preceding days; for hitherto the Izreelites had always begun the day behind the shelter of stone walls of some sort, from which it had taken the best part of the day to dislodge them, and from which, when dislodged, they had been wont to retreat in more or less good order to the next stronghold in their rear. But now the last of these fortified positions had been abandoned and the Izreelite armies had retired—or been driven back, as the enemy firmly believed—into the mouths of the four passes which led across the hills to the lake and Bethalia. They had not only entered the mouths of the passes, but had retired into them, until they had reached certain spots where the natural configuration of the surrounding hills was of such a character as to constitute the position a natural fortress capable of being held and defended by a comparatively small body of men; and here they halted and lighted their watch fires. The enemy also halted, about half a mile lower down the pass, and, as soon as it was dark, sent out a number of scouts with instructions to search for a way by which the savages might slip past during the night, and get round to the rear of the Izreelites. Some of those scouts never returned to their camp; those who did reported that the task assigned to them had proved an impossible one, for that, after climbing laboriously and at the risk of their necks for varying distances, they had all, without exception, arrived at a point where farther progress was impossible and retreat scarcely less so. Meanwhile, the Izreelite watch fires, the foremost line of which happened to be at a turn of the pass, just where they were well within sight of the enemy, were kept brilliantly burning all through the night, evidencing an untiring vigilance on the part of the Izreelite outposts, who could be seen, by the light of the fires, moving about from time to time.

But when at length the first rays of the morning sun smote the topmost ridges of the hills and came stealing down their sides, arousing the combatants to another day of sanguinary strife, behold! there were no Izreelites to be seen in the neighbourhood of the still briskly blazing fires, nor could the fresh scouts which were promptly sent out find any trace of them. Then Mokatto, suspecting an ambush, sent forward other scouts, in relays, with orders to advance up the pass—each relay keeping the one next before it in sight—until the leading band should regain touch with the enemy, when a single scout was to return with the intelligence. But, strange to say, the single scout did not return; and when at length the fiery chief, losing patience at the absence of all news, gave orders for a general advance up the pass, the impi who led the way soon discovered the reason, for they came upon the bodies of those scouts, one after the other, lying in the narrowing roadway, each with an arrow through his heart, evidently shot from some spot near at hand, but quite inaccessible from the roadway itself.

Yet still no enemy was to be seen, no sign of his presence to be discovered, until Mokatto, leading his contingent and advancing with the utmost caution, reached the summit of the pass, when he found that the narrow roadway, at a point where it turned sharply round an elbow, had been broken down for a distance of some fifty feet, until only space enough was left for men to pass in single file. And as the first man essayed the passage of this perilous path and attempted to work his precarious way round the perpendicular buttress of rock that formed the elbow, a spear, wielded by an unseen hand, was observed to dart forward and bury itself deep in his naked breast, and the next moment he went hurtling downward off the narrow ledge into the ghastly abyss that yawned beside him. And as it was with the first man so was it with those who followed him in the desperate attempt to round that fatal elbow, until even Mokatto himself, fearless and resolute warrior as he was, was fain reluctantly to admit that farther progress, by that way at least, was impossible.

There was nothing for it but to call a halt, and consider what was the next thing to be done. To advance was impossible; to retreat was equivalent to an acknowledgment of defeat, which, after the frightful losses already sustained by the savages, would probably result in them rising upon their leaders and slaying them in revenge for having fomented so disastrous a war; while a very brief inspection of their surroundings sufficed to convince them that nothing without wings could possibly surmount that vertical rock on the one hand, or descend that awful precipice on the other. Yet, as they looked, the savage warriors became aware that somewhere there must be a path to the top of the rock, for they caught sight first of one, then of another, and then of many Izreelites peering down upon them from above. Then, suddenly, there came hurtling down from the summit of the rock, some five hundred feet above the heads of the savages, a shower of stones, not very big, yet big enough, falling from that height, to dash a man's brains out, smash an arm or a leg like a dried twig, or send him reeling off the narrow pathway to the depths below.

The word was given to retire. There was no other course open to the invaders, for obviously it was worse than useless to stand huddled helplessly together upon that narrow pathway and suffer themselves to be destroyed without the ability to strike a blow in self-defence—and the retreat down the pass began. Then, with the first rearward movement, the air, pent in between the rocky walls of that savage gorge, began to vibrate with a most dreadful outcry of shrieks, shouts, and yells of dismay and panic; for, as though at some preconcerted signal, a devastating shower of great boulders came pouring over the crest of the cliff above the pass, crushing men into unrecognisable fragments or hurling them by hundreds over the edge of the narrow pathway. Moreover this state of affairs prevailed not at one isolated spot only, but all along the road, as far as it was occupied by the battalions of the savages. There was a moment of helpless confusion, during which those who were fortunate enough to have escaped the first effects of that terrible shower stood, stricken motionless and dumb, gazing as in a dream at the frightful, overwhelming destruction that had come upon them in that awful gorge. Then blind, raging panic seized upon the survivors, who turned and fled shrieking down the pass, intent only upon escaping from the ceaseless pounding of that merciless hail of boulders, madly fighting for precedence with their equally panic-stricken comrades, savagely grappling with those who happened to be in front of them impeding their passage, and either hurling them, or being themselves hurled, into the ravine that gaped to receive them.

The scene was appalling beyond all possibility of description; it was not a defeat only, it was not even merely a disastrous rout, it was practically annihilation; for of the thousands of savages who entered that pass—that awful death-trap—on that fatal day, only hundreds emerged from it again; and they were so utterly demoralised and unnerved with terror that no thought of rallying or making a stand ever entered their minds; they simply ran blindly ahead until they fell exhausted, and there lay, absolutely heedless of what might befall them. And as it was with Mokatto and his legions in the one pass, so was it with the chiefs and those who followed them in the other three passes; many of the leaders—Mokatto himself among others—were numbered among the slain; and there seemed to be nobody to take the lead or to assume command. The invading armies had been practically wiped out, and the few survivors had degenerated into a flying, panic-stricken mob dominated only by the one idea of escape into the comparative safety of their own land.

As for the Izreelites, infuriated at the wanton invasion of their country, and fully realising what would have been their own fate had the savages chanced to have been the victors, they relentlessly pursued the flying enemy during the whole of their retreat down the passes, and would doubtless have destroyed them to the very last man had not Dick personally, and by means of imperative messages persistently reiterated, stayed the slaughter, by pointing out that the victory was too decisive and complete for further aggression to ever again become a possibility; and that a too relentless pursuit of already desperate men could but result in a further loss of life among the Izreelites themselves. Even this representation, forcibly as it appealed to a people who regarded the lives of their men-kind as the most precious possession of the nation, scarcely sufficed to curb their lust for further slaughter, for they had become, for the moment, human tigers who, having tasted blood, abandoned their prey only with the utmost reluctance and with much savage snarling of discontent and disappointment. But at length the obvious soundness of Dick's reasoning gained recognition and acceptance by the Izreelite chiefs, who finally persuaded their followers to content themselves with the mere ejectment of the insignificant remnants of the enemy beyond the frontier.

Meanwhile Dick, having paid a flying visit to Bethalia, to satisfy himself that all was well in that quarter, made arrangements for the immediate reconstruction of those portions of the roads through the passes that had been broken down, in order to check the advance of the invaders. This was temporarily accomplished by the building of rough bridges across the gaps; but, fully recognising how important a part had been played by those gaps, he sketched out a scheme whereby they should be made permanent, spanned by substantial drawbridges, and defended at the inner extremity by strongly fortified gateways. This scheme he laid before the Elders, who immediately approved of it, and ultimately the work was carried out.

But long before that many things had happened. In the first place the victorious Izreelites, having shepherded the last of the fugitives over the border, had returned in triumph, each to his own home, and had set to work to repair the devastation wrought by the fighting on the lands that lay outside the circle of the protecting hills. This was considerably less than had been anticipated; for, so certain had Mokatto and his colleagues been of victory that they had issued the most stringent orders against any wanton destruction of property, the result being that such damage as had accrued had only amounted to what was inevitable in the course of a stubbornly contested fight; and that did not amount to very much where neither of the combatants possessed guns or other battering paraphernalia of any description.

The return of the triumphant army to Bethalia was a pageant exceeding in gorgeousness of display and general enthusiasm anything that had ever before occurred within the memory of any living inhabitant of the city. The regular troops were comparatively few in number, every male Izreelite being armed and liable to be called upon for active service, should occasion for such service arise; but the paucity of numbers was an altogether insignificant detail; the one thing that was of importance, and counted, was that they had fought and signally defeated a force of overwhelming numerical superiority, and inflicted upon their immemorial enemy a blow of such crushing severity that a lasting peace was now assured. Little wonder that the people so recently hag-ridden with a perpetual fear, that often approached perilously close to panic, scarcely knew how to give adequate expression to the feeling of joy and relief that now possessed them, and were just a little inclined to become extravagantly demonstrative.

The troops, conveyed across from the mainland in boats, and landed at the one grand flight of steps which afforded the solitary means of access to the island, were marched through the city to the palace and the House of Legislature, where they received the thanks of the Queen and the Elders for their gallantry; and at the last moment it was made known to Dick—to his secret but profound annoyance and discomfiture— that nothing would satisfy the populace but that he, as the one hero, par excellence, of the brief but sanguinary war, must head the troops, mounted on the horse that had carried him so gallantly and well in the press of battle! He would willingly have avoided the distinction if it had been possible, and had indeed fully intended to absent himself from all active participation in the pageant; but a note from Grosvenor, informing him that the idea had really originated with Queen Myra, and that Her Majesty would be intensely disappointed if he refused, caused him good-naturedly to set his own feelings on one side for the nonce and consent to become a puppet for once in a way. Accordingly he was the first warrior to pass through the gateway which gave access to the interior of the town, and as he emerged from the shadow of the arch into the dazzling sunshine that flooded the streets he was met by a choir of some sixty young women arrayed in gala attire, crowned with roses, and wearing garlands of flowers round their necks, who, forming up at the head of the procession, led the way, some singing a hymn of triumph, rejoicing, and glorification of the victors, while others accompanied them on flutes, flageolets, and cymbals. But this was not all. As Dick, blushing furiously and feeling more uncomfortable than he ever before remembered, emerged from the gateway, two maidens stepped forward, one from each side of the way, and while one deftly twined a garland of roses round the horse's neck, the other, catching the lad's hand, gently drew him down and caused him to bend in the saddle sufficiently to permit her to cast a similar garland round his neck!

It was a distinctly embarrassing situation for a modest young Englishman to find himself in, but as he heard the shouts of greeting and acclamation that rang out from the throats of the jubilant crowd who thronged the streets, and realised that all this was but the outward expression of a very real and deep feeling of gratitude for important services rendered, he put his embarrassment on one side, and bowed and smiled his acknowledgments, to the frantic delight of the spectators.

In this fashion, then, the troops paraded the principal streets of the city, while young girls and tiny children strewed flowers before them in the roadway, and the populace cheered and applauded, until the spacious park in which stood the palace and the House of Legislature was reached, when a halt was called before the principal entrance of the palace, where the Queen, once more in radiant health, came forth and, in a few well-chosen words, expressed her fervent gratitude to all the brave men who had borne themselves so nobly and gallantly in the defence of their country, winding up with an expression of admiration and sorrow for the fallen, and of sympathy for those whom the relentless cruelty of war had bereaved of their nearest and dearest.

Then Malachi and his fellow Elders appeared and pronounced a long oration of a very similar character, but going somewhat more into detail. He dwelt particularly upon the fierce, undying animosity with which the savages of the surrounding nations had regarded the presence of the Izreelites in the country from time immemorial, reminded his hearers of the state of almost perpetual warfare in which the nation had lived through the ages, and described the recent attack as the most virulent and determined that they had ever experienced, being nothing less than a carefully elaborated and well-ordered plan for their complete extermination. Then he touched upon the arrival of the two young Englishmen in the country, spoke of the law prohibiting the admission of strangers, and fully explained the reasons which had led to an exception being made in their case, and congratulated himself and everybody else upon the happy issue of that exception, going on to say that but for the warlike knowledge and skill of the visitors, and the superlative importance of the parts which they had played in planning and carrying out the scheme of defence, that day of triumph and glory for Izreel would never have dawned. And he wound up by saying that, in acknowledgment and recognition of the enormously important and valuable services which these young men had rendered to the nation, he and his fellow Elders had felt it to be their duty to recommend the Queen to confer upon both the honour and distinction accompanying the title of Princes.

A roar of delighted approval greeted this peroration; and if perchance there happened to be here and there a noble or two who regarded with disapprobation the bestowal of this unique honour upon aliens, they were too prudent to permit that disapprobation to be suspected, in view of the apparently universal popularity of the act.

The Queen, acutely conscious of the fact that she contemplated a step, the effect of the announcement of which it was utterly impossible to foresee, and quick to recognise that the popularity of Grosvenor and Dick would probably never be greater than it was at that moment, determined to make the utmost of the opportunity; and, upon the occasion of the public investiture of the newly created princes, electrified everybody present by calmly announcing—in a manner which seemed to suggest that she was doing something which she was certain would meet with the full and unanimous approval of her people—that it was her intention to espouse Prince Philip as soon as the necessary preparations for the ceremony could be made!

The announcement was followed by silence so tense that, to make use of a much hackneyed expression, one might have heard a pin drop, and it lasted so long that the Queen grew white to the lips, and her eyes began to glitter ominously. Was it possible that the nobles—who but for the military genius of Phil and Dick would now in all probability have been, with herself, captives in the hands of the savages—were going to show themselves so selfishly ungrateful as to disapprove of her choice? An impatient stamp of her little foot on the dais, and a defiant upward toss of her head seemed to threaten an outburst that would probably have caused the ears of those present to tingle, when somebody—whose identity was never established—began to applaud vociferously. The applause was almost instantly taken up by another, and another, and others, until within a moment or two the vast chamber was ringing and vibrant with the expressions of approval and rejoicing. The verdict, though delayed, perhaps, a second or two too long for Her Majesty's entire liking, was decisive, unmistakable, and not to be gainsaid; and if there were any present who recognised that it meant the final collapse of certain cherished ambitions of their own, they were wise enough to say nothing about it.