every ten shall die, the rest shall go free. But the white man, Incubu, who slews Skraga my son, and the black man his servant who pretends to my throne, and infiduce my brother, who bruised rebellion against me, these shall die by torture as an offering to the silent ones. Such are the merciful words of Twala. After consulting with the others a little, I answered him in a loud voice, so that the soldiers might hear, thus. Go back, thou dog, to Twala, who sent thee, and say that we Ignosi, veritable king of the Kukuanas, Incubu, Buguan, and Makumazan, the wise ones from the stars who make dark the moon, infiduce of the royal house, and the chiefs, captains and people here gathered, make answer and say, that we will not surrender, that before the sun has gone down twice, Twala's corpse shall stiffen at Twala's gate, and Ignosi, whose father Twala slew, shall reign in his stead. Now go, ere we whip thee away, and beware how thou dost lift a hand against such as we are. The herald laughed loudly. Ye frighten not men with such swelling words, he cried out, Show yourselves as bold to-morrow, O ye who darken the moon. Be bold, fight, and be merry, before the crows pick your bones till they are whiter than your faces. Farewell. Perhaps we may meet in the fight. Fly not to the stars, but wait for me, I pray, white men. With this shaft of sarcasm he retired. And almost immediately the sun sank. That night was a busy one, for weary as we were, so far as was possible by the moonlight all preparations for the morrows fight were continued, and messengers were constantly coming and going from the place where we sat in council. At last, about an hour after midnight, everything that could be done was done, and the camp, save for the occasional challenge of a century, sank into silence. Sir Henry and I, accompanied by Ignosi and one of the chiefs, descended the hill and made a round of the pickets. As we went, suddenly, from all sorts of unexpected places, spears gleaned out in the moonlight, only to vanish again when we uttered the password. It was clear to us that none were sleeping at their posts. Then we returned, picking our way warily through thousands of sleeping warriors, many of whom were taking their last earthly rest. The moonlight, flickering along their spears, played upon their features and made them ghastly. The chilly night wind tossed their tall and hearse-like plumes. There they lay, in wild confusion, with arms outstretched and twisted limbs, their stern, stalwart forms looking weird and unhuman in the moonlight. How many of these do you suppose will be alive at this time tomorrow? asks Sir Henry. I shook my head and looked again at the sleeping men. And to my tired and yet excited imagination, it seemed as though death had already touched them. My mind's eye singled out those who were sealed to slaughter, and there rushed in upon my heart a great sense of the mystery of human life and an overwhelming sorrow at its futility and sadness. Night these thousands slept their healthy sleep. Tomorrow they, and many others with them, ourselves, perhaps among them, would be stiffening in the cold, their wives would be widows, their children fatherless, and their place know them no more for ever. Only the old moon would shine on serenely, the night wind would stir the grasses, and the wide earth would take its rest, even as it did eons before we were, and will do eons after we have been forgotten. Yet man dies not, whilst the world, at once his mother and his monument, remains. His name is lost indeed, but the breath he breathed still stirs the pine-tops on the mountains. The sound of the words he spoke yet echoes on through space. The thoughts his brain gave birth to we have inherited today. His passions are our cause of life. The joys and sorrows that he knew are our familiar friends. The end from which he fled aghast will surely overtake us also. Truly the universe is full of ghosts, not sheeted churchyard spectres, but the inextinguishable elements of individual life, which having been can never die, though they blend and change, and change again, for ever. All sorts of reflections of this nature pass through my mind. For as I grow older I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting ahold of me, while I stood and stared at those grim yet fantastic lines of warriors sleeping as their saying goes upon their spears. Curtis, I said, I am in a condition of pitiable fear. Sir Henry stroked his yellow beard and laughed, and he answered, I have heard you make that sort of remark before a quarter-main. Well I mean it now. Do you know, I doubt very much if one of us will be alive to-morrow night. We shall be attacked in overwhelming force, and it is quite a chance if we can hold this place. We'll give a good account of some of them at any rate. Book here, quarter-main, this business is nasty, and one with which, properly speaking, we ought not to be mixed up, but we are in for it, so we must make the best of our job. Speaking personally I had rather be killed fighting than in the other way, and now that there seems little chance of our finding my poor brother, it makes the idea easier to me. But fortune favors the brave, and we may succeed. Anyway, the battle will be awful, and having a reputation to keep up, we shall need to be in the thick of the thing. He made this last remark in a mournful voice, but there was a gleam in his eye which belied its melancholy. I have an idea Sir Henry Curtis actually likes fighting. After this we went to sleep for a couple of hours or so. Just about dawn we were awakened by Infidus, who came to say that great activity was to be observed in lieu, and that parties of the king's skirmishers were driving in our outposts. We rose and dressed ourselves for the fray, each putting on his chain armor shirt, for which garments at the present juncture we felt exceedingly thankful. Sir Henry went the whole length about the matter and dressed himself like a native warrior. When you are in Cuckoana land, do as the Cuckoanas do, he remarked. As he drew the shining steel over his broad breast, which it fitted like a glove, nor did he stop there. At his request Infidus had provided him with a complete set of native war uniform. Round his throat he fastened the leopard-skin cloak of a commanding officer. On his brows he bound the plume of black ostrich feathers worn only by generals of high rank, and about his middle a magnificent mocha of white ox-tails. A pair of sandals, a leglet of goat's hair, a heavy battle axe with a rhinoceros-horn handle, a round iron shield covered with white ox-hide, and the regulation number of twalas or throwing knives made up his equipment, to which, however, he added his revolver. The dress was, no doubt, a savage one, but I am bound to say, that I seldom saw a finer sight than Sir Henry Curtis presented in this guise. It showed off his magnificent physique to the greatest advantage, and when Ignosius arrived presently arrayed in a similar costume, I thought to myself that I had never before seen two such splendid men. As for good in myself, the armor did not suit us nearly so well. To begin with, good insisted upon keeping on his newfound trousers, and a stout, short gentleman with an eyeglass, and what half of his face shaved, arrayed in a male shirt, carefully tucked into a very seedy pair of corduroy's, looks more remarkable than imposing. In my case, the chain shirt being too big for me, I put it on over all my clothes, which caused it to bulge in a somewhat ungainly fashion. I discarded my trousers, however, retaining only my veltscoons, having determined to go into battle with bare legs in order to be the lighter for running, in case it became necessary to retire quickly. The male coat, a spear, a shield that I did not know how to use, a couple of twalas, a revolver, and a huge plume, which I pinned into the top of my shooting-hat in order to give a bloodthirsty finish to my appearance, completed my modest equipment. In addition to all these articles, of course, we had our rifles, but as ammunition was scarce, and as they would be useless in case of a charge, we arranged that they should be carried behind us by bearers. When at length we had equipped ourselves, we swallowed some food hastily, and then started out to see how things were going on. At one point in the table-land of the mountain, there was a little copy of Brownstone, which served the double purpose of headquarters and of a conning-tower. Here we found Infaduce, surrounded by his own regiment, the Grays, which was undoubtedly the finest in the Kukawana Army, and the same that we had first seen at the Outlying Corral. This regiment, now 3,500 strong, was being held in reserve, and the men were lying down on the grass in companies and watching the king's forces creep out of lieu in long, ant-like columns. There seemed to be no end to the length of these columns, three in all, and each of them numbering, as we judged, at least eleven or twelve thousand men. As soon as they were clear of the town, the regiments formed up. Then one body marched off to the right, one to the left, and the third came on slowly towards us. Ah, said Infaduce. They are going to attack us on three sides at once. This seemed rather serious news, for our position on the top of the mountain, which measured a mile and a half in circumference, being an extended one, it was important to us to concentrate our comparatively small defending force as much as possible. But since it was impossible for us to dictate in what way we should be assailed, we had to make the best of it, and accordingly sent orders to the various regiments to prepare to receive the separate onslaughts. End of CHAPTER XII. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. King Solomon's Mines By H. Ryder Haggard CHAPTER XIII The Attack Slowly and without the slightest appearance of haste or excitement, the three columns crept on. When within about five hundred yards of us, the main or center column halted at the root of a tongue of open plain, which ran up into the hill, to give time to the other divisions to circumvent our position, which was shaped more or less in the form of a horseshoe with its two points facing towards the town of Lou. The object of this maneuver was that the three-fold assault should be delivered simultaneously. Oh, for a gattling, groaned good. As he contemplated the serried phalanxes beneath us, I would clear that plain in twenty minutes. We have not got one, so it is no use yearning for it. But suppose you try a shot, quarter-main, said Sir Henry. See how near you can go to that tall fellow who appears to be in command. Two to one you miss him, and an even sovereign to be honestly paid if we ever get out of this, that you don't drop that bullet within five yards. This peaked me, so loading the express with solid ball. I waited till my friend walked some ten yards out from his force, in order to get a better view of our position, accompanied only by an orderly. Then lying down and resting the express on a rock, I covered him. The rifle, like all expresses, was only sighted to 350 yards, so to allow for the drop in trajectory I took him half way down the neck, which ought I calculated to find him in the chest. He stood quite still, and gave me every opportunity. But whether it was the excitement or the wind, or the fact of the man being a long shot, I don't know. But this was what happened. Getting dead on, as I thought, a fine sight. I pressed, and when the puff of smoke had cleared away, to my disgust, I saw my man standing there unharmed, whilst his orderly, who was at least three paces to the left, was stretched upon the ground apparently dead. Turning swiftly, the officer I had aimed at began to run towards his men in evident alarm. "'Bravo, quarter-mane!' sang out good. "'You frightened him!' This made me very angry. Or if possible to avoid it, I hate to miss in public. When a man is master of only one art, he likes to keep up his reputation in that art. Moved quite out of myself at my failure, I did a rash thing. Rapidly covering the general as he ran, I let drive with the second barrel. Instantly the poor man threw up his arms and fell forward onto his face. This time I had made no mistake, and I say it as a proof of how little we think of others when our own safety, pride or reputation is in question, I was brute enough to feel delighted at the sight. The regiments who had seen the feat cheered wildly at this exhibition of the white man's magic, which they took as an omen of success, while the force the general had belonged to, which indeed, as we ascertained afterwards, he had commanded, fell back in confusion. Sir Henry and Good now took up their rifles and began to fire. The latter industrially browning the dense mass before him with another windchester repeater, and I also had another shot or two, with the result, so far as we could judge, that we put some six or eight men, or to combat, before they were out of range. Just as we stopped firing there came an ominous roar from our far right. Then a similar roar rose on our left. The other two divisions were engaging us. At the sound the mass of men before us opened out a little and advanced towards the hill and up the spit of bare grassland at a slow trot, singing a deep-throated song as they ran.  On they came with a shout and the clashing of spears. Now they were driving in the pickets we had placed among the rocks at the foot of the hill. After that the advance was a little slower for though as yet we had offered no serious opposition the attacking forces must climb uphill, and they came slowly to save their breath. Our first line of defense was about half way down the side of the slope. Our second, fifty yards further back, while our third occupied the edge of the plateau. On they stormed, shouting their war cry, Tuala! Tuala! Chile! Chile! Tuala! Tuala! Smite! Smite! Ignosi! Ignosi! Chile! Chile! Answered our people. They were quite close now, and the Tualas are throwing knives began to flash backwards and forwards, and now with an awful yell the battle closed in. Two in fro swayed the mass of struggling warriors, men falling fast as leaves in an autumn wind. But before long the superior weight of the attacking forces began to tell, and our first line of defense was slowly pressed back till it merged into the second. Here the struggle was very fierce, but again our people were driven back and up, till at length within twenty minutes of the commencement of the fight our third line came into action. But by this time the assailants were very much exhausted, and besides had lost many men killed and wounded, and to break through that third impenetrable hedge of spears proved beyond their powers. For a while the seething lines of savages swung backwards and forwards in the fierce ebb and flow of battle, and the issue was doubtful. Sir Henry watched the desperate struggle with a kindling eye, and then without a word he rushed off, followed by good, and slung himself into the hottest of the fray. As for myself I stopped where I was. The soldiers caught sight of his tall form as he plunged into battle, and there rose a cry of Nanzia incubo, Nanzia incungo globo. Here is the elephant. Chila! Chila! From that moment the end was no longer in doubt. Inch by inch, fighting with splendid gallantry, the attacking force was pressed back down the hillside, till at last it retreated upon its reserves in something like confusion. At that instant too a messenger arrived to say that the left attack had been repulsed, and I was just beginning to congratulate myself, believing that the affair was over for the present. Then to our horror we perceived our men who had been engaged in the right defense, being driven towards us across the plain, followed by swarms of the enemy who had evidently succeeded at this point. Ignosi, who was standing by me, took in the situation at a glance and issued a rapid order. Instantly the reserve regiment around us, the greys, extended itself. Again Ignosi gave a word of command, which was taken up and repeated by the captains, and in another second, to my intense disgust, I found myself involved in a furious onslaught upon the advancing foe. Getting as much as I could behind Ignosi's huge frame I made the best of a bad job, and toddled along to be killed as though I liked it. In a minute or two we were plunging through the flying groups of our men who at once began to reform behind us, and then I am sure I do not know what happened.  But I say it with pride I rose, or rather sank, to the occasion. It was one before which most people would have collapsed once and for all. Seeing that if I stood where I was I must be killed, as the hard apparition came I flung myself down in front of him so cleverly that, being unable to stop himself, he took a header right over my prostrate form. Before he could rise again I had risen and settled the matter from behind with my revolver. Shortly after this somebody knocked me down and I remember no more of that charge. When I came to I found myself back at the copy, with good bending over me holding some water in a gourd. How do you feel, old fellow? He asked anxiously. I got up and shook myself before replying. Pretty well, thank you, I answered. Thank heavens, when I saw them carry you in I felt quite sick. I thought you were done for.  How has it ended? They are repulsed at every point for a while. The loss is dreadfully heavy. We have quite two thousand killed and wounded, and they must have lost three. Look, there's a sight, and he pointed to the long lines of men advancing by fours. In the center of every group of four and being borne by it was a kind of hide-tree, of which a kukawana force always carries a quantity, with a loop for a handle at each end. On these trays, and their numbers seemed endless, lay wounded men, who as they arrived were hastily examined by the medicine men of whom ten were attached to a regiment. If the wound was not of a fatal character the sufferer was taken away and attended to as carefully as circumstances would allow. But if, on the other hand, the injured man's condition proved hopeless, what followed was very dreadful, though doubtless it may have been the truest mercy. One of the doctors, under pretense of carrying out an examination, swiftly opened an artery with a sharp knife, and in a minute or two the sufferer expired painlessly. There were many cases that day in which this was done. In fact, it was done in the majority of cases, when the wound was in the body, for the gash made by the entry of the enormously broad spears used by the kukawanas generally rendered recovery impossible. In most instances the poor sufferers were already unconscious, and in others the fatal nick of the artery was inflicted so swiftly and painlessly that they did not seem to notice it. Still it was a ghastly sight, and one from which we were glad to escape. Indeed I never remember anything of the kind that affected me more than seeing these gallant soldiers thus put out of pain by the red-handed medicine men. Except, indeed, on one occasion when, after an attack, I saw a force of Swazis burying their hopelessly wounded alive. Hurrying from this dreadful scene to the further side of the copy we found Sir Henry, who still held a battle axe in his hand, Ignosi, Enfadous, and one or two of the chiefs in deep consultation. Thank heaven, here you are, quarter-main. I can't quite make out what Ignosi wants to do. It seems that though we have beaten off the attack, Twili is now receiving large reinforcements and is showing a disposition to invest us with the view of starving us out. That's awkward. Yes, especially as Enfadous says that the water supply has given out. My lord, that is so, said Enfadous, the spring cannot supply the wants of so great a multitude, and it is failing rapidly. Before night we shall all be thirsty. Listen, MacUmazan, thou art wise, and hast doubtless seen many wars in the lands from once thou cameest, that is, if indeed they make wars in the stars. Now tell us, what shall we do? Twili has brought up many fresh men to take the place of those who have fallen. Yet Twili has learned his lesson. The hawk did not think to find the hare unready, but our beak has pierced his breast. He fears to strike at us again.  He will wind himself round us like a snake round a buck, and fight the fight of sit-down. I hear thee, I said. So MacUmazan, thou seeest we have no water here, and but a little food, and we must choose between these three things, to languish like a starving lion in his den, or to strive to break away towards the north, or, and here he rose and pointed towards the dense mass of our foes, to launch ourselves straight at Twili's throat. Incubu, the great warrior, for today he fought like a buffalo in a net, and Twili's soldiers went down before his axe like young corn before the hail, and with these eyes I saw it, Incubu says charge, but the elephant is ever prone to charge. Now what says MacUmazan, the wily old fox, who has seen much, and loves to bite his enemy from behind? The last word is in Ignosi, the king, for it is a king's right to speak of war. But let us hear thy voice, O MacUmazan, who watches by night, and the voice too of him of the transparent eye. What sayest thou, Ignosi? I asked. Nay, my father, answered our quantum servant, who now, clad as he was in the full panoply of savage war, looked every inch of warrior king. Do thou speak, and let me, who am but a child in wisdom, besides thee, hearken to thy words. Thus adjured, after taking hasty counsel with good, and Sir Henry, I delivered my opinion briefly to the effect that, being trapped, our best chance, especially in view of the failure of our water supply, was to initiate an attack upon Twili's forces. Then I recommended that the attack should be delivered at once, before our wounds grew stiff, and also before the sight of Twili's overpowering force caused the hearts of our soldiers to wax small like fat before a fire. Otherwise, I pointed out, some of the captains might change their minds, and making peace with Twili desert to him, or even betray us into his hands. This expression of opinion seemed, on the whole, to be favorably received. Indeed, among the Kukulanas, my utterances met with a respect which has never been accorded to them before or since. But the real decision as to our plans lay with Ignosi, who since he had been recognized as rightful king, could exercise the almost unbounded rights of sovereignty, including, of course, the final decision on matters of generalship. And it was to him that all eyes were now turned. At length, after a pause during which he appeared to be thinking deeply, he spoke. Inkubu, Magumazan, and Buguan, brave white men, and my friends, Infadus, my uncle, and chiefs. My heart is fixed.  Listen, thus will I strike. We see how the hill curves round like the half moon, and how the plane runs like a green tongue towards us within the curve. We see, I answered. Good, it is now midday, and the men eat and rest after the toil of battle. When the sun has turned and traveled a little way towards the darkness, let thy regiment, my uncle, advance with one other down to the great tongue, and it shall be that when Tuala sees it, he will hurl his force against it to crush it. But the spot is narrow, and the regiments can come against thee one at a time only. So may they be destroyed one by one, and the eyes of all Tuala's armies shall be fixed upon a struggle the like of which has not been seen by living man. And with thee, my uncle, shall go Inkubu, my friend, that when Tuala sees his battle-axe flashing in the first rank of the graves, his heart may grow faint. And I will come with the second regiment, that which follows thee, so that if ye are destroyed as it might happen, there may yet be a king left to fight for. And with me shall come Mecumazon the wise. It is well, O king, said Infidus, apparently contemplating the certainty of the complete annihilation of his regiment with perfect calmness. Truly these Cucuanas are a wonderful people. Death has no terror for them, when it is incurred in the course of duty. And whilst the eyes of the magnitude of Tuala's soldiers are thus fixed upon the fight, whenon Ignosi, behold, one-third of the men who are left alive to us, that is about six thousand, shall creep along the right horn of the hill, and fall upon the left flank of Tuala's forces. And one-third shall creep along the left horn, and fall upon Tuala's right flank. And when I see that the horns are ready to toss Tuala, then will I, with the men who remain to me, charge home in Tuala's face. And if fortune goes with us the day will be ours, and before night drives her black oxen from the mountains to the mountains, we shall sit in peace at Lu. And now let us eat and make ready, and infidus, do thou prepare, that the plan be carried out without fail, and stay, let my white father, Buguan, go with the right horn, that his shining eye may give courage to the captains. The arrangements for attack thus briefly indicated were set in motion with a rapidity that spoke well for the perfection of the Cucuanan military system. Within little more than an hour rations had been served out and devoured. The divisions were formed, the scheme of onslaught was explained to the leaders, and the whole force, numbering about eighteen thousand men, was ready to move, with the exception of a guard left in charge of the wounded. Presently good came up to Sir Henry and myself. Good-bye, you fellows, he said. I am off with the right wing according to orders. And so I have come to shake hands in case we should not meet again, you know, he added significantly. Wish you cans in silence, and not without the exhibition of as much emotion as Anglo-Saxons are want to show. It is a queer business, said Sir Henry, his deep voice shaking a little, and I confess I never expect to see tomorrow's sun. So far as I can make out the grays with whom I am to go, are to fight until they are wiped out, in order to enable the wings to slip around unawares and not flank Twalla. Well, so be it. At any rate, it will be a man's death.  I hope you will pull through and live to collar the diamonds. But if you do, take my advice and don't have anything more to do with pretenders. In another second, good had rung us both by the hand and gone. And then Infidus came up and led off Sir Henry to his place in the forefront of the grays. Whilst with many misgivings, I departed with Ignosi to my station in the second attacking regiment. End of Chapter 13 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. King Solomon's Minds By H. Ryder Haggard Chapter 14 The Last Stand of the Grays In a few more minutes the regiments destined to carry out the flanking movements had tramped off in silence, keeping carefully to the lee of the rising ground in order to conceal their advance from the keen eyes of Twala's scouts. Half an hour or more was allowed to elapse between the setting out of the horns or wings of the army before any stir was made by the grays and their supporting regiment, known as the buffaloes, which formed its chest and were destined to bear the brunt of the battle. Both of these regiments were almost perfectly fresh and of full strength, the grays having been in reserve in the morning, and having lost but a small number of men in sweeping back that part of the attack which had proved successful in breaking the line of defense on the occasion when I charged with them and was stunned for my pains. As for the buffaloes, they had formed the third line of defense on the left, and since the attacking force at that point had not succeeded in breaking through the second, they had scarcely come into action at all. Infidus, who was a wary old general and knew the absolute importance of keeping up the spirits of his men on the eve of such a desperate encounter, employed the pause in addressing his own regiment, the grays, in political language, explaining to them the honor that they were receiving in being put thus in the forefront of the battle, and in having the great white warrior from the stars to fight with them in their ranks, and promising large rewards of cattle and promotion to all who survived in the event of Ignosi's arms being successful. I looked down the long lines of waving black plumes and stern faces beneath them, and sighed to think that within one short hour most, if not all, of those magnificent veteran soldiers, not a man of whom was under forty years of age, would be laid dead or dying in the dust. It could not be otherwise. They were being condemned with that wise recklessness of human life which marks the great general, and often saves his forces and attains his ends to certain slaughter in order to give their cause and the remainder of the army a chance of success. They were for doomed to die, and they knew the truth. It was to be their task to engage regiment after regiment of Twala's army on the narrow strip of green beneath us, till they were exterminated, or till the wings found a favorable opportunity for their onslaught. And yet they never hesitated. Nor could I detect a sign of fear upon the face of a single warrior. There they were, going to certain death, about to quit the blessed light of day forever, and yet able to contemplate their doom without a tremor. Even at that moment I could not help contrasting their state of mind with my own, which was far from comfortable, and breathing a sigh of envy and admiration.  Behold, your king, indidul in Fadus, pointing to Ignosi. Go fight and fall for him, as it is the duty of brave men, and cursed and shameful forever be the name of him who shrinks from death for his king, or who turns his back to the foe. Behold your king, chiefs, captains, and soldiers. Now do your homage to the sacred snake, and then follow on, that Incubu and I may show you a road to the heart of Twala's host. There was a moment's pause, then suddenly a murmur arose from the serried phalanxes before us, a sound like the distant whisper of the sea, caused by gentle tapping of the handles of six thousand spears against the holder's shields. Slowly it swelled, till its growing volume deepened and widened into a roar of rolling noise that echoed like thunder against the mountains and filled the air with heavy waves of sound. Then it decreased, and by faint degrees died away into nothing, and suddenly outcrashed the royal salute.  Ignosi acknowledged this magnificent act of homage by lifting his battle-axe, and then the greys filed off in a triple-line formation, each line containing about one thousand fighting men exclusive of officers. When the last companies had advanced some five hundred yards, Ignosi put himself at the head of the buffaloes, which regiment was drawn up in a similar threefold formation, and gave the word to march, and off we went, I needless to say, uttering the most heartfelt prayers that I might emerge from that entertainment with a whole skin. Many a queer position have I found myself in, but never before in one quite so unpleasant as the present, or one in which my chance of coming off safe was smaller. By the time that we reached the edge of the plateau the greys were already halfway down the slope ending in the tongue of grassland that ran up into the bend of the mountain, something as the frog of a horse's foot runs up into the shoe. The excitement in Tuala's camp on the plain beyond was very great, and regiment after regiment was starting forward at a long swinging trot in order to reach the root of the tongue of land before the attacking force could emerge into the plain of Lu. This tongue, which was some four hundred yards in depth, even at its root or widest part was not more than six hundred and fifty paces across, while at its tip it scarcely measured ninety. The greys, who in passing down the side of the hill and onto the tip of the tongue had formed into a column, on reaching the spot where it broadened out again re-assumed their triple-line formation, and halted dead. Then we, that is, the buffaloes, moved down the tip of the tongue and took our stand in reserve, about one hundred yards behind the last line of the greys, and on slightly higher ground. Meanwhile we had leisure to observe Tuala's entire force, which evidently had been reinforced since the morning attack, and could not now, not withstanding their losses, number less than forty thousand, moving swiftly up towards us. But as they drew near the root of the tongue they hesitated, having discovered that only one regiment could advance into the gorge at a time, and that there some seventy yards from the mouth of it, unassailable except in front, on account of the high walls of bolder strewn ground on each side, stood the famous regiment of greys, the pride and glory of the Kukwana army, ready to hold away against their power, as the three Romans once held the bridge against thousands. They hesitated, and finally stopped their advance. There was no eagerness to cross spears with these three grim ranks of warriors who stood so firm and ready. Presently, however, a tall general, wearing the customary headdress of nodding ostrich plumes, appeared, attended by a group of chiefs and orderlies, being, I thought, none other than Tuala himself. He gave an order, and the first regiment, raising a shout, charged up towards the greys, who remained perfectly still and silent till the attacking troops were within forty yards, and a volley of Tualas or throwing knives came rattling among their ranks. Then suddenly with a bound and a roar, they sprang forward with uplifted spears, and the regiment met in deadly strife. Next second the roll of the meeting shields came to our ears like the sound of thunder, and the plane seemed to be alive with flashes of light reflected from the shimmering spears. Two and fro swung the surging mass of struggling, stabbing humanity, but not for long. Suddenly the attacking lines began to grow thinner, and then with a slow, long heave the greys passed over them, just as a great wave heaves up its bulk and passes over a sunken ridge. It was done. That regiment was completely destroyed. But the greys had but two lines left now. A third of their number were dead. Closing up shoulder to shoulder, once more they halted in silence and awaited attack. And I was rejoiced to catch sight of Sir Henry's yellow beard as he moved to and fro arranging the ranks, so he was yet alive. Meanwhile, we moved on to the ground of the encounter, which was combered by about 4,000 prostrate human beings, dead, dying, and wounded, and literally stained red with blood. Ignosi issued an order which was rapidly passed down to the ranks, to the effect that none of the enemies wounded were to be killed, and so far as we could see this command was scrupulously carried out. It would have been a shocking sight if we had found time to think of such things. But now a second regiment, distinguished by white plumes, kilts, and shields, was moving to the attack of the 2,000 remaining greys, who stood waiting in the same ominous silence as before, till the foe was within forty yards or so, when they hurled themselves with irresistible force upon them. Again there came the awful roll of the meeting shields, and as we watched the tragedy repeated itself. But this time the issue was left longer in doubt. Indeed it seemed for a while almost impossible that the greys should again prevail. The attacking regiment, which was formed of young men, fought with the utmost fury, and at first seemed by sheer weight to be driving the veterans back. The slaughter was truly awful, hundreds falling every minute, and from among the shouts of the warriors and the groans of the dying, set to the music of clashing spears, came a continuous hissing undertone of Siji, Siji, the note of triumph of each victor as he passed his assay-guy through and through the body of his fallen foe. But perfect discipline and steady and unchanging valor can do wonders, and one veteran soldier is worth two young ones, as soon became apparent in the present case. For just when we thought that it was all over with the greys, and were preparing to take their place so soon as they made room by being destroyed, I heard Sir Henry's deep voice ringing out through the din, and caught a glimpse of his circling battle-axe as he waved it high above his plumes. Then came a change, the greys ceased to give. They stood still as a rock against which the furious waves of spearmen broke again and again, only to recoil. Presently they began to move once more, forward this time. As they had no firearms there was no smoke, and we could see it all. After a minute, and the onslaught grew fainter. Ah, these are men indeed! They will conquer again, called out Dignosi, who was grinding his teeth with excitement at my side. See, it is done!" Suddenly, like puffs of smoke from the mouth of a cannon, the attacking regiment broke away in flying groups, their white headdresses streaming behind them in the wind, and left their opponents victors indeed, but alas, no more a regiment. Of the gallant triple line, which forty minutes before had gone into action three thousand men strong, they remained at most some six hundred blood-spattered men. The rest were underfoot. And yet they cheered and waved their spears in triumph, and then instead of falling back upon us as we expected, they ran forward, for a hundred yards or so, after the flying groups of foemen, took possession of a rising knoll of ground, and, resuming their triple formation, formed a three-fold ring around its base. And there, thanks be to Heaven, standing on the top of the mound for a minute, I saw Sir Henry, apparently unharmed, and with him our old friend Infidus. Then Twila's regiments rolled down upon the doomed band, and what's more the battle closed in. As those who read this history will probably long ago have gathered, I am, to be honest, a bit of a coward, and certainly in no way given to fighting, though somehow it has often been my lot to get into unpleasant situations, and to be obliged to shed man's blood. But I have always hated it, and kept my own blood, as undiminished in quantity as possible, sometimes by a judicious use of my heels. At this moment, however, for the first time in my life, I felt my bosom burned with martial ardor. Warlike fragments from the Engoldsby legends, together with numbers of sanguinary verses in the Old Testament, sprang up in my brain like mushrooms in the dark. My blood, which hitherto had been half frozen with horror, went beating through my veins, and there came upon me a savage desire to kill and spare not. I glanced round at the serried ranks of warriors behind us, and somehow, all in an instant, I began to wonder if my face looked like theirs. There they stood, their hands twitching, their lips apart, the fierce features instinct with the hungry lust of battle, and in the eyes a look like the glare of a bloodhound when after a long pursuit he cites his quarry. Only Ignosi's heart, to judge from his comparative self-possession, seemed to all appearances to beat as calmly as ever beneath his leopard skin cloak, though even he still ground his teeth. I could bear it no longer. Are we to stand here till we put out roots, Umbopa, Ignosi, I mean, while Twyla swallows our brother's yonder? I asked. Ne, Makumazan, was the answer. See, now is the ripe moment. Let us pluck it. As he spoke, a fresh regiment rushed past the ring upon the little mound, and huddling round, attacked it from the hither side. Then, lifting his battleaxe, Ignosi gave the signal to advance, and screaming the wild Kukawana war cry, the buffaloes charged home with a rush like the rush of the sea. What followed immediately on this, it is out of my power to tell. All I can remember is an irregular yet ordered advance that seemed to shake the ground, a sudden change of front and forming up on the part of the regiment against which the charge was directed. Again an awful shock, a dull roar of voices, and a continuous flashing of spears seen through a red mist of blood. When my mind cleared, I found myself standing inside the remnant of the grays near the top of the mound, and just behind, no less a person than Sir Henry himself. How I got there I had at the moment no idea, but Sir Henry afterwards told me that I was born up by the first furious charge of the buffaloes almost to his feet and then left, as they in turn were pressed back. Thereon he dashed out of the circle and dragged me into shelter. As for the fight that followed, who can describe it? Again and again the multitudes surged against our momentarily lessening circle, and again and again we beat them back. The stubborn spearmen still made good the dark impenetrable wood, each stepping where his comrade stood the instant that he fell, as someone or other beautifully says. It was a splendid thing to see those brave battalions come on time after time over the barriers of their dead, sometimes lifting corpses before them to receive our spear thrusts, only to leave their own corpses to swell the rising piles. It was a gallant sight to see that old warrior infidus, as cool as though he were on parade, shouting out orders, taunts, and even jests, to keep up the spirit of his few remaining men, and then as each charge rolled on, stepping forward to wherever the fighting was thickest, to bear his share in its repulse. And yet more gallant was the vision of Sir Henry, whose ostrich plumes had been shorn off by a spear thrust so that his long yellow hair streamed out in the breeze behind him. There he stood, the great dame, for he was nothing else, his hands, his axe, and his armor, all red with blood, and none could live before his stroke. Time after time I saw it sweeping down, as some great warrior ventured to give him battle, and as he struck it he shot it, ahoy, ahoy, like his Berserker forefathers. And the blow went crashing through shield and spear, through headdress, hair, and skull, till at last none would of their own will come near the great white Um Tagati, the wizard who killed and failed not. But suddenly there rose a cry of Tuala y Tuala, and out of the press sprang forward none other than the gigantic one-eyed king himself, also armed with battle-axe and shield, and clad in chain armor. Where art thou, Incaboo, thou white man, who slew his scrag on my son? See if thou canst slay me, he shouted. And at the same time hurled a Tuala straight at Sir Henry, who fortunately saw it coming, and caught it on his shield which it transfixed, remaining wedged in the iron plate behind the hide.  But at this time the matter went no further. For that instant there rose from the regiments pressing round us something like a shout of dismay, and on looking up I saw the cause. To the right and to the left the plane was alive, with the plumes of charging warriors. The outflanking squadrons had come to our relief. The time could not have been better chosen. All Tuala's army, as Ignosi predicted, would be the case, had fixed their attention on the bloody struggle which was raging round the remnant of the greys in that of the buffaloes, who were now carrying on a battle of their own at a little distance, which two regiments had formed the chest of our army. It was not until our horns were about to close upon them that they had dreamed of their approach, for they believed these forces to be hidden in reserve upon the crest of the moon-shaped hill. And now, before they could even assume a proper formation for defense, the outflanking impes had leapt like greyhounds on their flanks. In five minutes the fate of the battle was decided. Tuala's regiments broken on both flanks and dismayed at the awful slaughter inflicted upon them by the greys and buffaloes. Tuala's regiments broke into flight. And soon the whole plane between us and Lu was scattered with groups of running soldiers making good their retreat. As for the hosts that had so recently surrounded us and the buffaloes, they melted away as though by magic. And presently we were left standing there like a rock from which the sea has retreated. But what a sight it was! Around us the dead and dying lay in heaped-up masses, and of the gallant greys there remain but ninety-five men upon their feet. More than 3,400 had fallen in this one regiment. Most of them never to rise again. Then said Infidus calmly, as between the intervals of binding a wound on his arm he surveyed what remained to him of his core. Ye have kept up the reputation of your regiment, and this day's fighting will be well spoken of by your children's children. Then he turned round and shook Sir Henry Curtis by the hand. Thou art a great captain, Incubu, he said simply. I have lived a long time among warriors, and have known many a brave one, yet have I never seen a man like unto thee. At this moment the buffaloes began to march past our position on the road to Lou, and as they went a message was brought to us from Ignosi requesting Infidus, Sir Henry, and myself to join them. Accordingly orders having been issued to the remaining ninety men of the greys to employ themselves in collecting the wounded, we joined Ignosi, who informed us that he was pressing on to Lou to complete the victory by capturing Twala if that should be possible. Before we had gone far suddenly we discovered the figure of Good sitting on an ant heap about one hundred paces from us. Close beside him was the body of a kukawana. He must be wounded, said Sir Henry anxiously. As he made the remark an untoward thing happened. The dead body of the kukawana soldier, or rather what had appeared to be his dead body, suddenly sprang up, knocked Good head over heels off the ant heap, and began to spear him. We rushed forward in terror, and as we drew near we saw the brawny warrior making dig after dig at the prostrate Good, who at each prod jerked all his limbs into the air. Having us coming the kukawana gave one final and most vicious dig, and with a shout of take that wizard bolted away. Good did not move, and we concluded that our poor comrade was done for. Sadly we came towards him, and were astonished to find him pale and faint indeed, but with a serene smile upon his face, and his eyeglass still fixed in his eye. "'I'll armor this,' he murmured, on catching sight of our faces bending over him. How soul that beggar must have been!' And then he fainted. On examination we discovered that he had been seriously wounded in the lagged bayatola in the course of the pursuit, but that the chain armor had prevented his last assailant's spear from doing anything more than bruise him badly. It was a merciful escape. As nothing could be done for him at the moment he was placed on one of the wicker shields used for the wounded, and carried along with us. On arriving before the nearest gate of Lu we found one of our regiments watching it in obedience to orders received from Ignosi. The other regiments were in the same way guarding the different exits to the town. The officer in command of this regiment saluted Ignosi as king, and informed him that Twala's army had taken refuge in the town, whether Twala himself had also escaped. But he thought that they were thoroughly demoralized and would surrender. Thereupon Ignosi, after taking counsel with us, sent forward heralds to each gate ordering the defenders to open and promising on his royal word life and forgiveness to every soldier who laid down his arms, but saying that if they did not do so before nightfall, he would certainly burn the town and all within its gates. This message was not without its effect. Half an hour later, amid the shouts and cheers of the buffaloes, the bridge was dropped across the fos, and the gates upon the further side were flung open. Taking due precautions against treachery, we marched on into the town. All along the roadways stood thousands of dejected warriors, their heads drooping and their shields and spears at their feet, who headed by their officers saluted Ignosi as king as he passed. On we marched straight to Twala's corral. When we reached the great space, or a day or two previously, we had seen the review and the witch-hut. We found it deserted. No, not quite deserted, for there on the further side, in front of his hut, set Twala himself with but one attendant, Gagul. It was a melancholy sight to see him seated, his battle-axe and shield by his side, his chin upon his mailed breast, with but one old crone for companion, and notwithstanding his crimes and misdeeds, a pang of compassion shot through me as I looked upon Twala, thus fallen from his high estate. Not a soldier of all his armies, not a courtier out of the hundreds who had cringed round him, not even a solitary wife, remained to share his fate or have the bitterness of his fall. Borsavage he was learning the lesson which fate teaches to most of us who live long enough, that the eyes of mankind are blind to the discredited, and that he who is defenseless and fallen finds few friends and little mercy, nor indeed, in this case, did he deserve any. Filing through the corral gate we marched across the open space to where the ex-king sat. When within about fifty yards of him the regiment was halted, and accompanied by only a small guard we advanced towards him, Gagul reviling us bitterly as we came. As we drew near Twala, for the first time, lifted his plumed head, and fixed his one eye, which seemed to flash with suppressed fury almost as brightly as the great diamond round his forehead, upon his successful rival, Ignosi. Hail, O king! he said, with bitter mockery, Thou who hast eaten of my bread, and now by the aid of the white man's magic has seduced my regiments and defeated my army, hail! What fate hast thou in store for me, O king? The fate thou gave us to my father, whose throne thou hast set on these many years, was the stern answer. It is good. I will show thee how to die, that thou mayest remember it against thine own time. See, the sun sinks in blood, and he pointed with his battle axe towards the setting orb. It is well that my son should go down in its company.  But I crave the boon of the Cucahuana royal house to die fighting. Note, it is a law amongst the Cucahuanas that no man of the direct royal blood can be put to death unless by his own consent, which is, however, never refused. He is allowed to choose a succession of antagonists to be approved by the king, with whom he fights, till one of them kills him, Alan Quartermain. Thou canst refuse it, or even those cowards who fled today will hold thee shamed. It is granted. Choose with whom wilt thou fight? Myself I cannot fight with thee, for the king fights not, except in war. Twala's somber eye ran up and down our ranks, and I felt, as for a moment it rested on myself, that the position had developed a new horror. If he chose to begin by fighting me, what chance should I have against a desperate savage six feet five high and broad in proportion? I might as well commit suicide at once. Hastily, I made up my mind to decline the combat, even if I were hooded out of Cucahuana land as a consequence. It is, I think, better to be hooded than to be quartered with a battle axe. Unfortunately Twala spoke. In quiboo, what sayest thou? Shall we end what we began today? Or shall I call thee coward, white even to the liver? Nay, interposed Ignosi hastily, thou shall not fight with Inquiboo. Not if he is afraid, said Twala. Unfortunately, Sir Henry understood this remark, and the blood flamed up in his cheeks. I will fight him, he said. He shall see if I am afraid. For heaven's sake, I entreated, don't risk your life against that of a desperate man. Anybody who saw you today will know that you are brave enough. I will fight him, was the sullen answer. No living man shall call me a coward. I am ready now. He stepped forward and lifted his axe. I wrung my hands over this absurd piece of kihotism. But if he was determined on this deed, of course I could not stop him. Fight not, my white brother, said Ignosi, laying his hand affectionately on Sir Henry's arm. Thou hast fought enough, and if ought befell thee at his hands it would cut my heart in twain. I will fight, Ignosi, was Sir Henry's answer. It is well, Incubu, thou art a brave man. It will be a good fray. Behold, Twala, the elephant is ready for thee. The ex-king laughed savagely, and stepping forward faced Curtis. For a moment they stood thus, and the light of the sinking sun caught their stalwart frames, and clothed them both in fire. They were a well-matched pair. Then they began to circle round each other. Their battle-axes raised. Suddenly Sir Henry sprang forward and struck a fearful blow at Twala, who stepped to one side. So heavy was the stroke that the striker half overbalanced himself, a circumstance of which his antagonist took a prompt advantage. Circling his massive battle-axe round his head he brought it down with tremendous force. My heart jumped into my mouth. I thought that the affair was already finished. But no, with a quick upward movement of the left arm Sir Henry interposed his shield between himself and the axe, with the result that its outer edge was shorn away, the axe falling on his left shoulder, but not heavily enough to do any serious damage. In another moment Sir Henry got in a second blow, which was also received by Twala upon his shield. Then followed blow upon blow that were in turn either received upon the shields or avoided. The excitement grew intense. The regiment which was watching the encounter forgot its discipline, and drawing near shouted and groaned at every stroke. Just at this time, too, good, who had been laid upon the ground by me, recovered from his faint, and sitting up perceived what was going on. In an instant he was up, in catching hold of my arm, hopped about from place to place on one leg, dragging me after him and yelling encouragements to Sir Henry. Go to it, old fellow, he hallowed. That was a good one! He handed him a midships, and so on. Presently Sir Henry, having caught a fresh stroke upon his shield, hid out with all his force. The blow cut through Twala's shield and threw the tough chain armor behind it, gashing him in the shoulder. With a yell of pain and fury Twala returned the blow with interest, and such was his strength, sure right through the rhinoceros' horn handle of his antagonist battle axe, sharpened as it was with bands of steel, wounding Curtis in the face. A cry of dismay rose from the buffaloes, as our hero's broad axe head fell to the ground, and Twala, again raising his weapon, flew at him with a shout.  When I opened them again it was to see Sir Henry's shield lying on the ground, and Sir Henry himself with his great arms twined round Twala's middle.  With a supreme effort Twala swung the Englishman clean off his feet, and down they came together, rolling over and over on the line paving. Twala striking out at Curtis' head with the battle axe, and Sir Henry trying to drive the tola he had drawn from his belt through Twala's armor. It was a mighty struggle, and an awful thing to see. Get his axe! yelled good, and perhaps our champion heard him. At any rate, dropping the tola, he snatched at the axe which was fastened to Twala's wrist by a strip of buffalo hide, and still rolling over and over they fought for it like wildcats, drawing their breath in heavy gasps. Suddenly the hide-string burst, and then with a great effort Sir Henry freed himself, the weapon remaining in his hand. Another second and he was upon his feet, the red blood streaming from the wound in his face, and so was Twala. Drawing the heavy tola from his belt, he reeled straight at Curtis and struck him in the breast. The stab came home true and strong, but whoever it was who made that chain armor he understood his art, for it withstood the steel. Again Twala struck out with a savage gel, and once more the sharp knife rebounded, and Sir Henry went staggering back. Once more Twala came on, and as he came our great Englishman gathered himself together, and swinging the big axe round his head with both hands, hid at him with all his force. There was a shriek of excitement from a thousand throats, and behold, Twala's head seemed to spring from his shoulders. Then it fell and came rolling and bounding along the ground towards Ignosi, stopping just at his feet. For a second the corpse stood upright. Then with a dull crash it came to the earth, and the gold torque from its neck rolled away across the pavement. As it did so Sir Henry, overpowered by faintness and loss of blood, fell heavily across the body of the dead king. In a second he was lifted up, and eager hands were pouring water on his face. Another minute, and the gray eyes opened wide, he was not dead. Then I, just as the sun sank, stepping to where Twala's head lay in the dust, unloose the diamond from the dead brows, and handed it to Ignosi. "'Take it,' I said, lawful king of the Kukuanas, king by birth, and victory.' Ignosi bound the diadem upon his brows. Then advancing he placed his foot upon the broad chest of his headless foe, and broke out into a chant, or rather a peon of triumph, so beautiful and yet so utterly savage, that I despair of being able to give an adequate version of his words. Once I heard a scholar with a fine voice read aloud from the Greek poet Homer, and I remember that the sound of the rolling lines seemed to make my blood stand still. Ignosi's chant, uttered as it was in a language as beautiful and sonorous as the old Greek, produced exactly the same effect on me, although I was exhausted with toil and many emotions. "'Now,' he began, "'now our rebellion is swallowed up in victory, and our evil doing is justified by strength.' In the morning the oppressors arose and stretched themselves. They bound on their harnesses, and made them ready to war. They rose up and tossed their spears. The soldiers called to the captains, come, lead us, and the captains cried to the king, "'Direct thou the battle!' They laughed in their pride, twenty thousand men, and yet a twenty thousand. Their plumes covered the valleys as the plumes of a bird cover her nest. They shook their shields and shouted, yea, they shook their shields in the sunlight. They lusted for battle and were glad. They came up against me. Their strong ones ran swiftly to slay me. They cried, ha, ha, he is as one already dead. Then I breathed on them, and my breath was as the breath of a wind, and lo, they were not. My lightnings pierced them. I licked up their strength with the lightning of my spears. I shook them to the ground with the thunder of my shouting. They broke. They scattered. They were gone as the mists of the morning. They are food for the kites and the foxes.  Where are the mighty ones who rose up in the morning? Where are the proud ones who tossed their spears and cried, he is as a man already dead? They bowed their heads, but not in sleep. They are stretched out, but not in sleep. They are forgotten. They have gone into the blackness. They dwell in the dead moons. Yet others shall lead away their wives, and their children shall remember them no more. And I, the king, like an eagle, I have found my ivory. Behold, far have I flown in the night season, yet have I returned to my young at the daybreak. Shelter ye under the shadow of my wings, O people, and I will comfort you, and ye shall not be dismayed. Now is the good time, the time of spoil. Mine are the cattle on the mountains. Mine are the virgins in the corrals. The winter is overpassed with storms. The summer is ready to come with flowers.  Now mercy and gladness shall dwell in the land. Rejoice, rejoice, my people, let all the stars rejoice, in that this tyranny is trodden down, in that I am the king. Ignosi ceased his song, and out of the gathering gloom came back the deep reply. Thou art the king. Thus was my prophecy to the herald fulfilled. And within the forty-eight hours Twala's headless corpse was stiffening at Twala's gate. CHAPTER XV Good falls sick. After the fight was ended, Sir Henry and Good were carried into Twala's hut, where I joined them. They were both utterly exhausted by exertion and loss of blood, and indeed my own condition was little better. I am very wiry, and can stand more fatigued than most men, probably on account of my light weight and long training. But that night I was quite done up. And as is always the case when exhausted, that old wound which the lion gave me began to pain. Also my head was aching violently from the blow I had received in the morning when I was knocked senseless. Altogether a more miserable trio than we were that evening it would have been difficult to discover, and our only comfort lay in the reflection that we were exceedingly fortunate to be there to feel miserable. Instead of being stretched dead upon the plane, as so many thousands of brave men were that night, who had risen well and strong in the morning. Somehow with the assistance of the beautiful Fulata, who since we had been the means of saving her life had constituted herself our handmaiden, and especially goods, we managed to get off the chain shirts which had certainly saved the lives of two of us that day. As I expected we found that the flesh underneath was terribly contused, for though the steel links had kept the weapons from entering they had not prevented them from bruising. Both Sir Henry and Good were a mass of contusions, and I was by no means free. As a remedy Fulata brought us some pounded green leaves with an aromatic odor which, when applied as a plaster, gave us considerable relief. But though the bruises were painful, they did not give us such anxiety as Sir Henry's and Good's wounds. Good had a hole right through the fleshy part of his beautiful white leg, from which he had lost a great deal of blood, and Sir Henry, with other hurts, had a deep cut over the jaw, inflicted by Twala's battle-axe. Luckily Good is a very decent surgeon, and so soon as his small box of medicines was forthcoming, having thoroughly cleansed the wounds he managed to stitch up, first Sir Henry's and then his own, pretty satisfactorily, considering the imperfect light given by the primitive cuckoo on a lamp in the hut. Afterwards he plentifully smeared the injured places with some antiseptic ointment, of which there was a pot in the little box, and we covered them with the remains of a pocket handkerchief which we possessed. Meanwhile Fulata had prepared us some strong broth, for we were too weary to eat. This we swallowed, and then threw ourselves down on the piles of magnificent carosses, or fur rugs, which were scattered about the dead king's great hut. By a very strange instance of the irony of fate, it was on Twala's own couch, and wrapped in Twala's own particular caross, that Sir Henry, the man who had slain him, slept that night. I say slept, but after that day's work sleep was indeed difficult. To begin with, in truth the air was full, of farewells to the dying and mornings for the dead. From every direction came the sound of the wailing of women, whose husbands, sons, and brothers had perished in the battle. No wonder that they wailed, for over twelve thousand men are nearly a fifth of the Kukwana army had been destroyed in that awful struggle. It was heart-rending to lie and listen to their cries for those who never would return, and it made me understand the full horror of the work done that day to further man's ambition. Towards midnight, however, the ceaseless crying of the women grew less frequent. At the ceaseless length the silence was only broken at intervals of a few minutes by a long, piercing howl that came from a hut in our immediate rear, which, as I afterwards discovered, proceeded from Gagool, caning over the dead king Twala. After that I got a little fitful sleep, only to wake from time to time with a start, thinking that I was once more an actor in the terrible events of the last twenty-four hours. Now I seemed to see that warrior whom my hand had sent to his last account charging at me on the mountaintop. Now I was once more in that glorious ring of grays, which made its immortal stand against all Twala's regiments upon the little mound. And now again I saw Twala's plumed and gory head roll past my feet, with gnashing teeth and glaring eyes. At last, somehow or other, the night passed away. But when dawn broke I found that my companions had slept no better than myself. Good indeed was in a high fever, and very soon afterwards began to grow lightheaded, and also to my alarm to spit blood, the result no doubt of some internal injury inflicted during the desperate efforts made by the Kukwana warrior on the previous day to force his big spear through the chain armor. Sir Henry, however, seemed pretty fresh, not withstanding his wound on the face, which made eating difficult and laughter an impossibility, though he was so sore and stiff that he could scarcely stir. About eight o'clock we had a visit from Infidus, who appeared but little the worse, tough old warrior than he was, for his exertions in the battle, although he informed us that he had been up all night. He was delighted to see us but much grieved at Good's condition, and shook our hands cordially. I noticed, however, that he addressed Sir Henry with a kind of reverence, as though he were something more than man, and indeed as we afterwards found out, the great Englishman was looked on throughout Kukwana land as a supernatural being. No man, the soldiers said, could have fought as he fought, or at the end of a day of such toil and bloodshed, could have slain Twala, who in addition to being the king, was supposed to be the strongest warrior in the country, in single combat, shearing through his bull-neck at a stroke. Indeed that stroke became proverbial in Kukwana land, and any extraordinary blow or feat of strength was henceforth known as Incubus Blow. Infidus told us also that all Twala's regiments had submitted to Ignosi, and that like submissions were beginning to arrive from chiefs in the outlying country. Twala's death at the hands of Sir Henry had put an end to all further chances of disturbances, for Skraga had been his only legitimate son. So there was no rival claimant to the throne left alive. I remarked that Ignosi had swum to power through blood. The old chief shrugged his shoulders. Yes, he answered, but the Kukwana people can only be kept cool by letting their blood flow sometimes. Many are killed indeed, but the women are left, and others must soon grow up to take the places of the fallen. After this the land would be quiet for a while. Afterwards in the course of the morning we had a short visit from Ignosi, on whose browse the royal diadem was now bound. As I contemplated him advancing with kingly dignity, an obsequious guard following his steps, I could not help recalling to my mind the tall Zulu who had presented himself to us at Durban some months back, asking to be taken into our service, and reflecting on the strange revolutions of the Wheel of Fortune. Hail, O king, I said, rising. Yes, Makumazan, king at last, by the might of your three right hands was the ready answer. All was, he said, going well. And he hoped to arrange a great feast in two weeks' time in order to show himself to the people. I asked him what he had settled to do with Gagul. She is the evil genius of the land, he answered. And I shall kill her. And all the witch-doctors with her she has lived so long that none can remember when she was not very old. And she it is who has always changed the witch-hunters, and made the land wicked in the sight of the heavens above. Yet she knows much, I replied. It is easier to destroy knowledge, Ignosi, than to gather it. That is so, he said thoughtfully. She and only she knows the secret of the three witches yonder, whether the great road runs, where the kings are buried and the silent ones sit. Yes, and the diamonds are. Forget not, thy promise, Ignosi, thou must lead us to the mines, even if thou hast to spare Gagul alive to show the way. I will not forget Makumazan, and I will think on what thou sayest. After Ignosi's visit I went to see Good, and found him quite delirious. The fever set up by his wound seemed to have taken a firm hold of his system, and to be complicated with an internal injury. For four or five days his condition was most critical. Indeed, I believe it firmly that had it not been for Fulantas' indefatigable nursing he must have died. Women are women all the world over, whatever their color. Yet somehow it seemed curious to watch this dusky beauty bending night and day over the fevered man's couch, and performing all the merciful errands of a sick room swiftly, gently, and with as fine an instinct as that of a trained hospital nurse. For the first night or two I tried to help her, and so did Sir Henry as soon as his stiffness allowed him to move. But Fulata bore our interference with impatience and finally insisted upon our leaving him to her, saying that our movements made him restless, which I think was true. Day and night she watched him and tended him, giving him his only medicine, a native cooling drink made of milk in which was infused juice from the bulb of a species of tulip, and keeping the flies from settling on him. I can see the whole picture now as it appeared night after night by the light of our primitive lamp. Good tossing to and fro, his features emaciated, his eyes shining large and luminous, and jabbering nonsense by the yard. And seated on the ground by his side, her back resting against the wall of the hut. The soft-eyed, shapely cuckoo on a beauty. Her face, weary as it was with her long vigil, animated by a look of infinite compassion. Or was it something more than compassion? For two days we thought that he must die, and crept about with heavy hearts. Only Fulata would not believe it. He will live, she said. For three hundred yards or more, around Twala's chief hut, where the sufferer lay. There was silence, for by the king's order all who lived in the habitations behind it, except Sir Henry and myself, had been removed lest any noise should come to the sick man's ears. One night it was the fifth of Good's illness, as was my habit. I went across to see how he was doing before turning in for a few hours. I entered the hut carefully. The lamp placed upon the floor showed the figure of Good tossing no more but lying quite still, so it had come at last. In the bitterness of my heart I gave something like a sob. Hush! came from the patch of dark shadow behind Good's head. Then creeping closer I saw that he was not dead but sleeping soundly.  The crisis had passed, and he would live. He slept like that for eighteen hours, and I scarcely like to say it for I fear I should not be believed, but during the entire period did this devoted girl sit by him, fearing that if she moved and drew away her hand it would wake him. What she must have suffered from cramp and weariness to say nothing of want of food nobody will ever know. But it is the fact that when at last he woke she had to be carried away her limbs were so stiff that she could not move them. After the turn had once been taken Good's recovery was rapid and complete. It was not till he was nearly well that Sir Henry told him all he owed to Fulata, and when he came to the story of how she sat by his side for eighteen hours, fearing lest by moving she would wake him, the honest sailor's eyes filled with tears. He turned and went straight to the hut where Fulata was preparing the midday meal, for we were back in our old quarters now, taking me with him to interpret in case he could not make his meaning clear to her, though I am bound to say that she understood him marvelously as a rule, hearing how extremely limited was his foreign vocabulary.  I interpreted, and under her dark skin she actually seemed to blush, turning to him with one of those swift and graceful motions that in her always reminded me of the flight of a wild bird.  Nay, my lord! My lord forgets! Did he not save my life? And am I not my lord's handmaiden? It will be observed that the young lady appeared entirely to have forgotten the share which Sir Henry and myself had taken in her preservation from Twala's clutches. But that is the way of women! I remember my dear wife was just the same. Well, I retired from that little interview sad at heart. I did not like Miss Fulata's soft glances, for I knew the fatal amorous propensities of sailors in general, and of good in particular. There are two things in the world, as I have found out, which cannot be prevented. You cannot keep a zulu from fighting, or a sailor from falling in love upon the slightest provocation. It was a few days after this last occurrence that Ignosi held his great indaba, or council, and was formally recognized as king by the Indunas, or headmen, of Kukuanaland. The spectacle was a most imposing one, including as it did a grand review of troops. On this day the remaining fragments of the graves were formally paraded, and in the face of the army thanked for their splendid conduct in battle. To each man the king made a large present of cattle, promoting them one and all to the rank of officers in the new core of greys, which was in process of formation. An order was also promulgated throughout the length and breadth of Kukuanaland, that whilst we honored the country by our presence we three were to be greeted with the royal salute, and to be treated with the same ceremony and respect that was by custom accorded to the king.  Ignosi too, in the presence of his people, reaffirmed the promises which he had made, to the effect that no man's blood should be shed without trial, and that witch hunting should cease in the land. When the ceremony was over we waited upon Ignosi, and informed him that we were now anxious to investigate the mystery of the mines to which Solomon's road ran, asking him if he had discovered anything about them. My friends, he answered, I have discovered this. It is there that the three great figures sit, who here are called the silent ones, and to whom Twala would have offered the girl Fulata as a sacrifice. It is there, too, in a great cave deep in the mountain, that the kings of the land are buried. There ye shall find Twala's body, sitting with those who went before him. There also is a deep pit which at some time long dead men dug out. May hap for the stones ye speak of, such as I have heard men in Natal tell of at Kimberley. There, too, in the place of death is a secret chamber, known to none but the king and Gagul. But Twala, who knew it, is dead, and I know it not. Nor know I what is in it. Yet there is a legend in the land that once, many generations ago, a white man crossed the mountains, and was led by a woman to the secret chamber, and shown the wealth hidden in it. But before he could take it she betrayed him, and he was driven by the king of that day back to the mountains. And since then no man has entered the place. The story is surely true, Ignosi, for on the mountains we found the white man, I said. Yes, we found him, and now I have promised you that if you can come to that chamber, and the stones are there. The gem upon thy forehead proves they are there, I put in, pointing to the great diamond I had taken from Twala's dead brows. May have, if they are there, he said, ye shall have as many as ye can take hence, if indeed ye would leave me, my brothers. First we must find the chamber, said I. There is but one who can show it to thee, Gagul. And if she will not, then she must die, said Ignosi sternly. I have saved her alive but for this. Stay, she shall choose. And calling to a messenger he ordered Gagul to be brought before him. In a few minutes she came, hurried along by two guards, whom she was cursing as she walked. Leave her, said the king to the guards. But as soon as their support was withdrawn, the withered old bundle, for she looked more like a bundle than anything else, out of which her two bright and wicked eyes gleamed like those of a snake, sank in a heap onto the floor. What will ye with me, Ignosi? she piped. Ye dare not touch me. If ye touch me, I will slay you as ye sit. Beware of my magic. Thy magic could not save Twala, old she-wolf, and it cannot hurt me, was the answer. Listen, I will this of thee, that thou reveal to us the chamber where are the shining stones. Ha-ha! she piped. None know its secret but I, and I will never tell thee. The white devil shall go hence empty-handed. Thou shalt tell me. I will make thee tell me. How, oh king, thou art great, but can thy power ring the truth from a woman? It is difficult, yet will I do so. How, oh king! Nay, thus, if thou tell us not, thou shalt slowly die. Die! she shrieked in terror and fury. Ye dare not touch me. Man ye know not who I am. How old think ye am I? I know your fathers, and your fathers, fathers, fathers. When the country was young, I was here. When the country grows old, I shall still be here. I cannot die unless I be killed by chance. For none dare slay me. It will I slay thee. See, gagool, mother of evil, thou art so old, that thou canst no longer love thy life. What can life be to such a hag as thou, who has no shape, nor form, nor hair, nor teeth? Has not saved wickedness and evil eyes. It will be mercy to make an end to thee, gagool. Thou fool! shrieked the old fiend. Thou accursed fool! Deem us thou that life is sweet only to the young? It is not so, and not thou knowest of the heart of man to think it. To the young indeed, death is sometimes welcome, for the young can feel. They love and suffer, and it rings them to see their beloved past to the land of shadows. But the old feel not. They love not, and they laugh to see another go out into the dark. They laugh to see the evil that is done under the stars. All they love is life, the warm, warm sun, and the sweet, sweet air. They are afraid of the cold, afraid of the cold in the dark. And the old hag writhed at ghastly merriment on the ground. Peace thine evil talk, and answer me, said Ignosi angrily. Wilt thou show the place where the stones are, or wilt thou not? If thou wilt not thou dieest even now? And he seized a spear, and held it over her.  He who slays me will be accursed for ever! Only Ignosi brought down the spear, till it pricked the prostrate heap of rags. With a wild yell Gagool sprang to her feet, then fell again, and rolled upon the floor. Nay, I will show thee only let me live, let me sit in the sun, and have a bit of meat to suck, and I will show thee—it is well, I thought, that I should find a way to reason with thee. So, shalt thou go with infidus and my white brothers to the place, and beware how thou failest, for if thou showest it not, then thou shalt slowly die. I have spoken. I will not fail, Ignosi, I always keep my word. Once before a woman showed the chamber to a white man, and behold, evil befell him. And hear her wicked eyes glinted. Her name was Gagool also, perchance I was that woman. Thou liest, I said, that was ten generations ago. May hap, may hap, when one lives long one forgets. Perhaps it was my mother's mother who told me, surely her name was Gagool also.  The man filled that bag, but he never took it away. Evil befell him. I say, evil befell him.  We can see the bodies of those who died in the battle as we go. Their eyes will be gone by now, and their ribs will be hollow. 16 The Place of Death It was already dark on the third day after the scene described in the previous chapter when we camped in some huts at the foot of the three witches, as the Triangle of Mountains is called to which Solomon's Great Road runs. Our party consisted of our three selves and Thulada, who waited on us, especially on good. Infadous, Gagool, who was born along in a litter, inside which she could be heard muttering and cursing all day long, and a party of guards and attendants. The mountains, or rather the three peaks of the mountain, for the mass was evidently the result of a solitary upheaval, were, as I have said, in the form of a Triangle, of which the base was towards us, one peak being on our right, one on our left, and one straight in front of us. Never shall I forget the sight afforded by those three towering peaks in the early sunlight of the following morning, high, high above us, up into the blue air, soared their twisted snow wreaths. Beneath the snow-line the peaks were purple with heaths, and so were the wild moors that ran up the slope towards them. Straight before us the white ribbon of Solomon's great road stretched away uphill to the foot of the center peak, about five miles from us, and there stopped. It was its terminus. I had better leave the feelings of intense excitement with which we set out on our march that morning to the imagination of those who read this history. At last we were drawing near to the wonderful mines that had been the cause of the miserable death of the old Portuguese Dom three centuries ago, of my poor friend, his ill-starred descendant, and also, as we feared, of George Curtis, Sir Henry's brother. Were we destined, after all, that we had gone through, to fare any better? Evil befell them, as that old-themed gagool said. Would it also befall us? Somehow, as we were marching up that last stretch of beautiful road, I could not help feeling a little superstitious about the matter. And so, I think, did good answer Henry. For an hour and a half or more we tramped on up the heather-fringed way, going so fast in our excitement that the bearers of Gagool's hammock could scarcely keep pace with us, and its occupant piped out to us to stop.  Why will you run to meet the evil that shall befall you ye seekers after treasure? And she laughed that horrible laugh which always sent a cold shiver down my back, and for a while quite took the enthusiasm out of us. Whereon we went, till we saw before us, and between ourselves and the peak, a vast circular hole with sloping sides, three hundred feet or more in depth, and quite half a mile around. Can't you guess what this is? I said to Sir Henry, in good, who were staring in astonishment at the awful pit before us. They shook their heads. Then it is clear that you have never seen the diamond-diggings at Kimberley. You may depend on it that this is Solomon's diamond mine, pointing to the strata of stiff blue clay which were yet to be seen among the grass and bushes that clothed the sides of the pit. The formation is the same. I'll be bound that if we went down there we should find pipes of soapy, brecciated rock. Look, too! And I pointed to a series of worn flat slabs of stone that were placed on a gentle slope below the level of a water course which in some past age had been cut out of the solid rock. If those are not tables once used to wash the stuff, I'm a Dutchman. At the edge of this vast hole, which was none other than the pit marked on the old Dom's map, the great road branched into two and circumvented it. In many places, by the way, this surrounding road was built entirely out of blocks of stone, apparently with the object of supporting the edges of the pit and preventing falls of reef. Along this path we pressed, driven by curiosity, to see what were the three towering objects which we could discern from the hither side of the great gulf. As we drew near we perceived that they were colossi of some sort or another, and rightly conjectured that before us sat the three silent ones that are held in such awe by the Kukawana people. But it was not until we were quite close to them that we recognized the full majesty of these silent ones. There upon huge pedestals of dark rock, sculptured with rude emblems of the phallic worship, separated from each other by a distance of forty paces, and looking down the road which crossed some sixty miles of plain to Lou, were three colossal seated forms, two male and one female, each measuring about thirty feet from the crown of its head to the pedestal. The female form, which was nude, was of great though severe beauty. But unfortunately the features had been injured by centuries of exposure to the weather. Rising from either side of her head were the points of a crescent. The two male colossi, on the contrary, were draped, and presented a terrifying cast of features, especially the one to our right which had the face of a devil. That to our left was serene incontinence, but the calm upon it seemed dreadful. It was the calm of that inhuman cruelty, Sir Henry remarked, which the ancients attributed to being potent for good, who could yet watch the sufferings of humanity, if not without rejoicing, at least without sorrow. These three statues form a most awe-inspiring trinity, as they sit there in their solitude and gaze out across the plain, forever. Contemplating these silent ones, as the Cucuanas call them, an intense curiosity again seized us to know whose were the hands which had shaped them, who was it that had dug the pit and made the road. Whilst I was gazing and wondering, suddenly it occurred to me, being familiar with the Old Testament, that Solomon went astray after strange gods. The names of three of whom I remembered, Ashtarath, the goddess of the Zedonians, Kemos, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the children of Ammon. And I suggested to my companions that the figures before us might represent these false and exploded divinities. Hmm! said Sir Henry, who is a scholar, having taken a high degree in classics at college. There may be something in that. Ashtarath of the Hebrews was the Astarte of the Phoenicians, who were the great traders of Solomon's time. Astarte, who afterwards became the Aphrodite of the Greeks, was represented with horns like the half-moon, and there on the brow of the female figure are distinct horns. Perhaps these colossi were designed by some Phoenician official who managed the mines. Who can say? Note, compare Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1. With these in troop came Ashtarath, whom the Phoenicians called Astarte, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horns. To whose bright image nightly by the moon Sedonian Virgins paid their vows and songs. Before we had finished examining these extraordinary relics of remote antiquity, Infidus came up, and having saluted the silent ones by lifting his spear, asked us if we intended entering the place of death at once, or if we would wait till after we had taken food at midday. If we were ready to go at once, Gagul had announced her willingness to guide us. As it was not later than eleven o'clock, driven to it by a burning curiosity, we announced our intention of proceeding instantly, and I suggested that in case we should be detained in the cave we should take some food with us. Accordingly Gagul's litter was brought up, and that lady herself assisted out of it. Meanwhile, Phulata, at my request, stored some builtong, or dried game-flesh, together with a couple of gourds of water, and a reed basket with a hinged cover. Straight in front of us, at a distance of some fifty paces from the backs of the colossi, rose a sheer wall of rock, eighty feet or more in height, that gradually sloped upwards till it formed the base of the lofty, snow-wreathed peak which soared into the air three thousand feet above us.  We followed her till we came to a narrow portal, solidly arched, that looked like the opening of a gallery of a mine. Here Gagul was waiting for us, still with that evil grin upon her horrid face. Now, white man from the stars, she piped great warriors, Incubu, Buguan, and Makumazon, the wise. Are you ready? Behold, I am here to do the bidding of my lord the king, and to show you the store of bright stones. We are ready, I said. Good! Good! Make strong your hearts to bear what ye shall see. Be as thou, too, Infiduce, thou who didst betray thy master. Infiduce frowned, as he answered. Nay, I come not, it is not for me to enter there. But thou, Gagul, curb thy tongue, and beware how thou dealest with my lords. At thy hands will I require them, and if a hair of them be hurt, Gagul, be as thou fifty times of which. Thou shalt die, here is thou. I hear, Infiduce, I know thee, Thou did ever love big words. When Thou'st was a babe, I remember Thou'st did threaten thine own mother. That was but the other day. But fear not, fear not, I live only to do the bidding of the king. I have done the bidding of many kings, Infiduce, till in the end they did mine.  Come on, come on, here is the lamp!  Art thou coming, Fulotta? In his villainous kitchen cuckoo-wanna, in which he had been improving himself under that young lady's tuition. I fear, my lord! the girl answered timidly. Then give me the basket. Nay, my lord, whither thou goest, there I go also. The douche you will, thought I to myself. That may be rather awkward if we ever get out of this. Without further ado, Gagul plunged into the passage, which was wide enough to admit of two walking abreast, and quite dark. We followed the sound of her voice as she piped to us to come on, in some fear and trembling, which was not allayed by the flutter of a sudden rush of wings. Hello! what's that? hallowed good. Somebody hit me in the face!  Then so far as we could judge, we had gone some fifty paces. We perceived that the passage was growing faintly light. Another minute, and we were in perhaps the most wonderful place that the eyes of living man had beheld. Let the reader picture to himself the hall of the vastest cathedral he ever stood in, windowless indeed, but dimly lighted from above, presumably by shafts connected with the outer air, and driven in the roof, which arched away a hundred feet above our heads. And he will get some idea of the size of the enormous cave in which we found ourselves, with the difference that this cathedral designed by nature was loftier and wider than any built by man. But its stupendous size was the least of the wonders of the place, for running in rows down its length were gigantic pillars of what looked like ice, but were in reality huge stalactites. It is impossible for me to convey any idea of the overpowering beauty and grandeur of these pillars of white spar, some of which were not less than twenty feet in diameter at the base, and sprang up in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheared to the distant roof. Others again were in process of formation. On the rock floor there was in these cases what looked, Sir Henry said, exactly like a broken column in an old Grecian temple, whilst high above, depending from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. Even as we gazed we could hear the process going on. For presently with a tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far off icicle onto the column below. On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes, and in these cases it would be an interesting calculation to discover how long at that rate of dripping it would take to form a pillar, say eighty feet by ten in diameter. That the process, in at least one instance, was incalculably slow. The following example will suffice to show. Cut on one of these pillars we discovered the crude likeness of a mummy, by the head of which sat what appeared to be the figure of an Egyptian god, doubtless the handiwork of some old world laborer in the mine. This work of art was executed at the natural height at which an idol fellow, be he Phoenician workman or British cad, is in the habit of trying to immortalize himself at the expense of nature's master pieces, namely about five feet from the ground. But at the time that we saw it, which must have been nearly three thousand years after the date of the execution of the carving, the column was only eight feet high, and was still in process of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a thousand years, or an inch in a fraction to a century. This we knew because as we were standing by it we heard a drop of water fall. Sometimes the stalagmites took strange forms, presumably where the dropping of the water had not always been on the same spot. Thus one huge mass, which must have weighed a hundred tons or so, was in the shape of a pulpit, beautifully fretted over outside with a design that looked like lace. Others resembled strange beasts, and on the sides of the cave were fan-like ivory tracings, such as the frost leaves upon a mountain. Out of the vast main isle there opened here and there smaller caves, exactly, Sir Henry said, as chapels open out of great cathedrals. Some were large, but one or two, and this is a wonderful instance of how nature carries out her handiwork by the same unvarying laws, utterly irrespective of size, were tiny. One little nook, for instance, was no larger than an unusually big doll's house, and yet it might have been a model for the whole place for the water-dropped, tiny icicles hung, and spar columns were forming in just the same way. We had not, however, enough time to examine this beautiful cavern so thoroughly as we should have liked to do, since, unfortunately, gagool seemed to be indifferent as to stalagmites, and only anxious to get her business over. This annoyed me the more, as I was particularly anxious to discover, if possible, by what system the light was admitted into the cave, and whether it was done by the hand of man, or by that of nature that this was done. Also if the place had been used in any way in ancient times, as seemed probable. However, we consoled ourselves with the idea that we would investigate it thoroughly on our way back, and followed on at the heels of our uncanny guide. On she led us, straight to the top of the vast and silent cave, where we found another doorway, not arched as the first was, but square at the top, something like the doorways of Egyptian temples. Are ye prepared to enter the place of death, white men? Asked gagool, evidently with a view to making us feel uncomfortable. Lead on, McDuff, said good solemnly, trying to look as though he was not at all alarmed, as indeed we all did, except Fulata, who caught good by the arm for protection. This is getting rather ghastly, said Sir Henry, peeping into the dark passageway. Come on, quarter-main, senorus prioress. We mustn't keep the old lady waiting. And he politely made way for me to lead the van, for which inwardly I did not bless him.  Come, get on, old fellow, said good, or we shall lose our fair guide. Thus adjured I started down the passage, and after about twenty paces found myself in a gloomy apartment, some forty feet long by thirty broad and thirty high, which in some past age evidently had been hallowed by hand labor out of the mountain. This apartment was not nearly so well lighted as the vast stalactite anti-cave, and at the first glance all I could discern was a massive stone table running down its length, with a colossal white figure at its head, and life-sized white figures all round it. Next I discovered a brown thing seated on the table in the center, and in another moment my eyes grew accustomed to the light and I saw what all these things were, and was tailing out of the place as hard as my legs could carry me. I am not a nervous man in the general way, and very little troubled with superstitions of which I have lived to see the folly. But I am free to own that this sight quite upset me, and had it not been that Sir Henry caught me by the collar and held me I do honestly believe that in another five minutes I should have been outside the stalactite cave, and that a promise of all the diamonds in Kimberley would not have induced me to enter it again. But he held me tight, so I stopped because I could not help myself. For a second, however, his eyes became accustomed to the light, and he let go of me, and began to mop the perspiration off his forehead. As for good he swore feebly, while Fulhara threw her arms around his neck and shrieked. Only gagool chuckled loud and long. It was a ghastly sight. There at the end of the long stone table, holding in his skeleton fingers a great white spear, sat death himself, draped in the form of a colossal human skeleton fifteen feet or more in height. High above his head he held the spear, as though in the act to strike. One boney hand rested on the stone table before him. In the position a man assumes on rising from his seat. Whilst his frame was bent forward so that the vertebrae of the neck and the grinning gleaming skull projected towards us and fixed its hollow eye-places upon us, the jaws a little open as though it were about to speak. "'Great heavens,' said I faintly at last. What can it be?' "'And what are those things?' asked Good, pointing to the white company round the table. "'And what on earth is that thing?' said Sir Henry, pointing to the brown creature seated on the table. "'Hee-hee-hee!' laughed Gagool. "'To those who enter the hall of the dead evil comes. Hee-hee-hee! Ha-ha! Come, inkiboo, brave in battle, come and see him, thou sluist!' And the old creature caught Curtis's coat at her skinny fingers and led him towards the table. We followed. Presently she stopped and pointed at the brown object seated on the table. Sir Henry looked and started back with an exclamation, and no wonder for they are quite naked. The head which Curtis's battle-axe had shorn from the body resting on its knees was the gaunt corpse of Twala, the last king of the Kukuanas. Yes, there, the head perched upon the knees it sat in all its ugliness, the vertebrae projecting a full inch above the level of the shrunken flesh of the neck, for all the world like a black double of Hamilton to gay. Now hast ye my handmaidens, haste and see how he sits there in glowers with his head on his knee. Over the surface of the corpse there was gathered a thin glassy film that made its appearance yet more appalling, for which we were at the moment quite unable to account. Till presently we observe that from the roof of the chamber the water fell steadily. Drip. Drop. Drip. Into the neck of the corpse, once it ran down over the entire surface, and finally escaped into the rock through a tiny hole in the table. Then I guessed what the film was. Twala's body was being transformed into a stalactite. A look at the white forms seated on the stone bench which ran round that ghastly board confirmed this view. They were human bodies indeed, or rather they had been human. Now they were stalactites. This was the way in which the Kukawana people had from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. They petrified them. What the exact system might be, if there was any, beyond the placing of them for a long period of years under the drip. I never discovered, but there they sat, iced over and preserved forever, by the sillacious fluid. Anything more awe-inspiring than the spectacle of this long line of departed royalties there were twenty-seven of them, the last being Ignosi's father. Wrapped each of them in a shroud of ice-like spar, through which the features could be dimly discovered, and seated round that inhospitable board with death himself for a host, it is impossible to imagine. That the practice of thus preserving their kings must have been an ancient one is evident from the number, which, allowing for an average reign of fifteen years, supposing that every king who reigned was placed here, an improbable thing as some are sure to have perished in battle far from home, would fix the date of its commencement at four and a quarter centuries back, but the colossal death, who sits at the head of this board, is far older than that, and, unless I am mistaken, owes his origin to the same artist who designed the three colossi. He is hewn out of a single stalactite, and, looked at as a work of art, is most admirably conceived and executed. Good who understands such things declared that, so far as he could see, the anatomical design of the skeleton is perfect down to the smallest bones. My own idea is that this terrific object was a freak of fancy on the part of some old-world sculptor, and that its presence had suggested to the Kukulans the idea of placing their royal dead under its awful presidency. Or perhaps it was set there to frighten away any marauders who might have designs upon the treasure chamber beyond. I cannot say. All I can do is describe it as it is, and the reader must form his own conclusion. Such at any rate was the white death, and such were the white dead. End of Chapter 16 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. King Solomon's Minds By H. Ryder Haggard Chapter 17 Solomon's Treasure Chamber While we were engaged in recovering from our fright and in examining the grisly wonders of the place of death, Gagul had been differently occupied. Somehow or other, for she was marvelously active when she chose, she had scrambled on to the great table and made her way to where our departed friend Twala was placed, under the drip, to see suggested good how he was pickling, or for some dark purpose of her own. Then after bending down to kiss his icy lips as though in affectionate greeting, she hobbled back, stopping now and again to address the remark the tenor of which I could not catch. To one or other of the shrouded forms, just as you or I might welcome an old acquaintance. Having gone through this mysterious and horrible ceremony, she squatted herself down on the table immediately under the white death, and began, so far as I could make out, to offer up prayers. The spectacle of this wicked creature pouring out supplications, evil ones no doubt, to the arch-enemy of mankind, was so uncanny that it caused us to hasten our inspection. Now Gagul, said I, in a low voice, somehow one did not dare to speak above a whisper in that place. Lead us to the chamber, the old witch promptly scrambled down from the table. My lords are not afraid, she said, leering up into my face. Lead on. Good my lords! And she hobbled round to the back of the great death. Here is the chamber, let my lords light the lamp and enter. And she placed the gourd full of oil upon the floor, and leaned herself against the side of the cave. I took out a match, of which we still had a few in a box, and lit a rush wick, and then looked for the doorway. But there was nothing before us except the solid rock. Gagul grinned. The way is there, my lords! Do not jest with us, I said sternly. I jest not, my lords, see! And she pointed at the rock. As she did so, on holding up the lamp, we perceived that a mass of stone was rising slowly from the floor and vanishing into the rock above, where doubtless there is a good cavity prepared to receive it. The mass was of the width of a good-sized door, about ten feet high and not less than five feet thick. It must have weighed at least twenty or thirty tons, and was clearly moved upon some simple balance principle of counterweights. Probably the same as that by which the opening and shutting of an ordinary modern window is arranged. How the principle was set in motion, of course none of us saw. Gagul was careful to avoid this, but I have little doubt that there was some very simple lever which was moved ever so little by pressure at a secret spot, thereby throwing additional weight onto the hidden counterbalances and causing the monolith to be lifted from the ground.  Our excitement was so intense, as we saw the way to Solomon's treasure-chamber thrown open at last, that I for one began to tremble and shake. Would it prove a hoax after all, I wondered. Our was Old Da Sylvestra right. Were there vast hordes of wealth hidden in that dark place? Hordes which would make us the richest men in the whole world. We should know in a minute or two. "'Antare white men from the stars,' said Gagul, advancing into the doorway. "'But first hear your servant, Gagul, the old. The bright stones that ye will see were dug out of the pit over which the silent ones are set, and stored here. I know not by whom, for that was done longer ago than even I remember. But once has this place been entered since the time that those who hid the stones departed in haste, leaving them behind. The reports of the treasure went down indeed among the people who lived in the country from age to age, but none knew where the chamber was nor the secret of the door. But it happened that a white man reached this country from over the mountains. Perchance he too came from the stars, and was well received by the king of that day. He it is who sits yonder, and she pointed to the fifth king at the table of the dead. And it came to pass that he and a woman of the country who was with him journeyed to this place, and that by chance the woman learned the secret of the door. A thousand years might ye search, but ye should never find that secret. Then the white man entered with the woman, and found the stones, and filled with stones the skin of a small goat which the woman had with her to hold food. And as he was going from the chamber he took up one more stone, a large one, and held it in his hand. Here she paused. Well, I asked, breathless with interest as we all were, what happened to Da Sylvestra? The old hag started at the mention of his name. How knowest thou the dead man's name? She asked sharply. And then without waiting for an answer went on. None can tell what happened, but it came about that the white man was frightened, for he flung down the goat's skin with the stones, and fled out with only the one stone in his hand. And that the king took, and it is the stone which thou, Makumazan, didst take from Twala's brow. Have none entered here since? I asked, peering again down the dark passage. None, my lords, only the secret of the door has been kept, and every king has opened it, though he has not entered.  And therefore the kings do not enter. Ha-ha! Mine are true words!  How did the old hag know all these things? Enter, my lords, if I speak truth the goat's skin with the stones will lie upon the floor. And if there is truth as to whether it is death to enter here, that ye will learn afterwards. Ha-ha-ha! Then she hobbled through the doorway, bearing the light with her. But I confessed that once more I hesitated about following. Oh, confound it all, said Good! Here goes! I am not going to be frightened by that old devil! And followed by Fulada, who, however, evidently did not at all like the business, for she was shivering with fear. He plunged into the passage after Gagul, an example which we quickly followed. A few yards down the passage, in the narrow way hewn out of the living-rock, Gagul had paused and was waiting for us. See, my lords! She said, holding the light before her. Those who stored the treasure here fled in haste and bethought them to guard against any who should find the secret of the door, but had not the time. Once she pointed to the large square blocks of stone, which to the height of two courses, about two feet three, had been placed across the passage with a view to walling it up. Along the side of the passage were similar blocks ready for use, and most curious of all a heap of mortar and a couple of trowels, which tools so far as we had time to examine them, appeared to be of a similar shape and make to those used by workmen to this day. Here Fulatha, who had been in a state of great fear and agitation throughout, said that she felt faint and could go no farther, but would wait there. Accordingly we sat her down on the unfinished wall, placing the basket of provisions by her side, and left her to recover. Following the passage for about fifteen paces farther, we came suddenly to an elaborately painted wooden door. It was standing wide open.   He-he, white man, sniggered Gagool, as the light from the lamp fell upon it.  Good stooped down and lifted it. It was heavy and jingled. By Jove I believe it's full of diamonds, he said, in an odd whisper.  Go on, said Sir Henry impatiently. Here, old lady, give me the lamp. And taking it from Gagool's hand he stepped through the doorway and held it high above his head. We pressed in after him, forgetful for the moment of the bag of diamonds, and found ourselves in King Solomon's treasure chamber. At first all that the somewhat faint light given by the lamp revealed was a room hewn out of the living rock, and apparently not more than ten feet square. Next there came into sight, stored one on the other to the arch of the roof, a splendid collection of elephant tusks. How many of them there were we did not know, for of course we could not see to what depth they went. But there could not have been less than the ends of four or five hundred tusks of the first quality visible to our eyes. There alone was enough ivory to make a man wealthy for life. Perhaps, I thought, it was from this very store that Solomon drew the raw material for his great throne of ivory, of which there was not the light made in any kingdom. On the opposite side of the chamber were about a score of wooden boxes, something like Martini Henry ammunition boxes, only rather larger and painted red. There are the diamonds, cried I, bring the light. Sir Henry did so, holding it close to the top box, of which the lid, rendered rotten by time even in that dry place, appeared to have been smashed in, probably by Dosselvestre himself. Pushing my hand through the hole in the lid I drew it out full, not of diamonds but of gold pieces, of a shape that none of us had seen before, and with what looked like Hebrew characters stamped upon them. Ah! I said, replacing the coin. We shan't go back empty-handed, anyhow. There must be a couple of thousand pieces in each box, and there are eighteen boxes. I suppose this was the money to pay the workmen and merchants. Well, put in good. I think that is the lot. I don't see any diamonds, unless the old Portuguese put them all into his bag. Let my lords look yonder where it is darkest if they would find the stones, said Gagool, interpreting our looks. There my lords will find a nook, and three stone chests in the nook, two sealed and one open. Before translating this to Sir Henry, who carried the light, I could not resist asking how she knew these things if no one had entered the place since the white man generations ago. Ah! my kumazan, the watcher by night, was the mocking answer. Ye who dwell in the stars, do ye not know that some live long, and that some have eyes which can see through rock? Look in that corner, Curtis, I said, indicating the spot Gagool had pointed out. Hello, you fellows! He cried. Here's a recess. Great Heaven, see here! We hurried up to where he was standing in a nook, shaped something like a small bow window. Against the wall of this recess were placed three stone chests, each about two feet square. Two were fitted with stone lids, the lid of the third rested against the side of the chest which was open. See! he repeated hoarsely, holding the lamp over the open chest. We looked, and for a moment could make nothing out, on account of a silvery sheen which dazzled us. When our eyes grew used to it, we saw that the chest was three parts full of uncut diamonds, most of them of considerable size.  Yes, there was no doubt of it, there was the unmistakable soapy feel about them. I fairly gasped as I dropped them. We are the richest men in the whole world, I said. Pentechristo was a fool to us. We shall flood the market with diamonds, said Good. Got to get them there, first, suggested Sir Henry. We stood still with pale faces and stared at each other, the lantern in the middle and the glittering gyms below, as though we were conspirators about to commit a crime, instead of being, as we thought, the most fortunate man on earth. He he he! Cacoldole gagool behind us, as she flitted about like a vampire bat. There are the bright stones ye love, white men, as many as ye will take them, run them through your fingers, eat of them, he he, drink of them, ha ha! At that moment there was something so ridiculous to my mind at the idea of eating and drinking diamonds that I began to laugh outrageously, an example which the others followed, without knowing why. There we stood and shrieked with laughter over the gyms that were ours, which had been found for us thousands of years ago by the patient delvers in the great hole yonder, and stored for us by Solomon's long dead overseer, whose name, perchance, was written in the characters stamped on the faded wax that yet adhered to the lids of the chest. Solomon never got them, nor David, or Dasovestra, nor anybody else. We had got them. There before us were millions of pounds worth of diamonds, and thousands of pounds worth of gold and ivory only waiting to be taken away. Suddenly the fit passed off, and we stopped laughing. Open the other chests, white men!" croaked Gagool. "'There are surely more therein.  Ha ha! Take your fill!' Thus adjured we set to work to pull up the stone lids on the other two, first, not without a feeling of sacrilege, breaking the seals that fastened them. Hurrah! They were full too, full to the brim. At least the second one was. No wretched, burglarious Dasovestra had been filling goat-skins out of that. As for the third chest it was only about a fourth full, but the stones were all picked ones, none less than twenty carats, and some of them as large as pigeon eggs. A good many of these bigger ones, however, we could see by holding them up to the light, were a little yellow, off-colored, as they call it at Kimberley. What we did not see, however, was the look of fearful malevolence that old Gagool favored us with, as she crept, crept like a snake, out of the treasure chamber, and down the passage towards the door of solid rock. "'Hark!' cry upon cry, comes ringing up the vaulted path, at his fulata's voice. "'O beguan, help! Help! The stone falls!' Give go, girl, then! "'Help! Help! She has stabbed me!' By now we are running down the passage, and this is what the light from the lamp shows us. The door of the rock is closing down slowly. It is not three feet from the floor. Near it struggle fulata and Gagool. The red blood of the former runs to her knee, but still the brave girl holds the old witch, who fights like a wild cat. Ah, she is free! Fulata falls, and Gagool throws herself on the ground, to twist like a snake through the crack of the closing stone. She is under. Ah! God! Too late! Too late! The stone nips her, and she yells in agony. Down down it comes all the thirty tons of it, slowly pressing her old body against the rock below. Shriek upon shriek, such as we have never heard. Then along sickening crunch, and the door was shut, just as, rushing down the passage, we hurled ourselves against it. It was all done in four seconds. Then we turned to fulata. The poor girl was stabbed in the body, and I saw that she could not live long. Ah, Bu'guan! I die! gasped the beautiful creature. She crept out, Gagool. I did not see her. I was faint, and the door began to fall. Then she came back, and was looking up the path. I saw her come in through the slowly falling door, and caught her, and held her, and she stabbed me. And I die, Bu'guan.  Good cried in his distress. And then, as he could do nothing else, he fell to kissing her. Bu'guan! she said after a pause. Is Makumazan there? It grows so dark, I cannot see. Here I am fulata. Makumazan, be my tongue for a moment. I pray thee, for Bu'guan cannot understand me. And before I go into the darkness, I would speak to him a word. Sayon fulata, I will render it. Say to my Lord Bu'guan that I love him, and that I am glad to die, because I know that he cannot cumber his life with such as I am. For the sun may not mate with the darkness, nor the white with the black. Say that since I saw him, at times I have felt as though there were a bird in my bosom, which would one day fly hence, and sing elsewhere. Even now, though I cannot lift my hand, and my brain grows cold, I do not feel as though my heart were dying. It is so full of love that it could live ten thousand years, and yet be young. Say that if I live again, may Hap I shall see him in the stars, and that I will search them all. Though perchance there I should still be black, and he would still be white. Say, name Akumizan, say no more, save that I love, or hold me closer, Bu'guan. I cannot feel thine arms, she is dead, she is dead, muttered good, rising in grief. The tears running down his honest face. You need not let that trouble you old fellow, said Sir Henry. Eh! exclaimed good, what do you mean? I mean that you will soon be in a position to join her. Man, don't you see that we are buried alive? Until Sir Henry uttered these words I do not think that the full horror of what had happened had come home to us, preoccupied as we were with the sight of poor Fulata's end. But now we understood. The ponderous mass of rock had closed, probably for ever, for the only brain which knew its secret was crushed to powder beneath its weight. This was a door that none could hope to force with anything short of dynamite at large quantities, and we were on the wrong side. For a few minutes we stood horrified, there over the corpse of Fulata. All the manhood seemed to have gone out of us. The first shock of this idea of the slow and miserable end that awaited us was overpowering. We saw it all now. That fiend Gagool had planned this snare for us from the first. It would have been just the jest that her evil mind would have rejoiced in. The idea of the three white men, whom for some reason of her own she had always hated, slowly perishing of thirst and hunger in the company of the treasure they had coveted. Now I saw the point of that snare of hers about eating and drinking the diamonds. Probably somebody had tried to serve the poor old Dom in the same way when he abandoned the skin full of jewels. This will never do, said Sir Henry, hoarsely. The lamp will soon go out. Let us see if we can't find the spring that works the rock.  But no knob or spring could we discover. Depend on it, I said, it does not work from the inside. If it did, Gogol would not have risked trying to crawl underneath the stone. It was the knowledge of this that made her try to escape at all hazards, curse her. At all events, said Sir Henry, with a hard little laugh, retribution was swift. Hers was almost as awful an end as ours is likely to be. We can do nothing with the door. Let us go back to the treasure room. We returned and went. And as we passed it, I perceived by the unfinished wall across the passage the basket of food which poor Fulana had carried. I took it up and brought it with me to the accursed treasure chamber that was to be our grave. Then we returned and reverently bore in Fulana's corpse, laying it on the floor by the boxes of coin. As we seated ourselves, leaning our backs against the three stone chests, which contained the priceless treasure, let us divide the food, said Sir Henry, so as to make it last as long as possible. Accordingly we did so. It would, we reckoned, make four infinitesimally small meals for each of us. Enough say to support life for a couple of days. As the billtong or dried game flesh, there were two gourds of water, each of which held not more than a quart.  We each ate a small portion of the billtong and drank a sip of water. Needless to say we had but little appetite, though we were sadly in need of food and felt better after swallowing it. Then we got up and made a systematic examination of the walls of our prison house, in the faint hope of finding some means of exit, sounding them and the floor carefully. There was none. It was not probable that there would be any to a treasure chamber. The lamp began to burn dim. The fat was nearly exhausted. Quartermain, said Sir Henry, what is the time? Your watch goes? I drew it out and looked at it. It was six o'clock. We had entered the cave at eleven. Infiduce will miss us, I suggested. If we did not return to night he will search for us in the morning, Curtis. He may search in vain. He does not know the secret of the door nor even where it is. No living person knew it yesterday except Gagool. Today no one knows it. Even if he found the door he could not break it down. All the Kukawana army could not break through five feet of living rock. My friends I see nothing for it but to bow ourselves to the will of the Almighty. The search for treasure has brought many to a bad end. We shall go to swell their number. The lamp grew dimmer yet. Finally it flared up and showed the whole scene in strong relief. The great mass of white tusks, the boxes of gold, the corpse of the poor Fulata stretched before them, the goatskin full of treasure, the dim glimmer of the diamonds and the wild wand faces of us three white men seated there awaiting death by starvation. Then the flame sank and expired. CHAPTER 18 WE ABANDON HOPE I can give no adequate description of the horrors of the night which followed. Mercifully they were to some extent mitigated by sleep, for even in such a position as ours weary nature will sometimes assert itself. But I at any rate found it impossible to sleep much, putting aside the terrifying thought of our impending doom, for the bravest man on earth might well quail from such a fate as awaited us, and I never made any pretensions to be brave. The silence itself was too great to allow of it. Reader, you may have lain awake at night and thought the quiet oppressive, but I say with confidence that you can have no idea what a vivid, tangible thing is perfect stillness. On the surface of the earth there is always some sound or motion, and though it may in itself be imperceptible, yet it deadens the sharp edge of absolute silence. But here there was none. We were buried in the bowels of a huge snow-clad peak. Thousands of feet above us the fresh air rushed over the white snow, but no sound of it reached us. We were separated by a long tunnel and five feet of rock, even from the awful chamber of the dead, and the dead make no noise. Did we not know it who lay by poor fulotta's side? The crashing of all the artillery of earth and heaven could not have come to our ears in our living tomb. We were cut off from every echo of the world. We were, as men, already in the grave. Then the irony of the situation forced itself upon me. Here around us lay treasures enough to pay off a moderate national debt, or to bill the fleet of ironclads, and yet we would have bartered them all gladly for the faintest chance of escape. Soon doubtless we would be rejoiced to exchange them for a bite of food or a cup of water, and after that even for the privilege of a speedy close to our sufferings. Only wealth, which men spend their lives in acquiring, is a valueless thing at the last. And so the night wore on. Good! said Sir Henry's voice at last, and it sounded awful in the intense stillness. How many matches have you in the box? Eight, Curtis. Strike one then and let us see the time. He did so, and in contrast to the dense darkness the flame nearly blinded us. It was five o'clock by my watch. The beautiful dawn was now blushing on the snow wreaths far over our heads, and the breeze would be stirring the night mists in the hollows. We'd better eat something and keep up our strength, I suggested. What is the good of eating? answered Good. The sooner we die and get it over with the better. While there is life there is hope, said Sir Henry. Accordingly we ate and sip some water, and another period of time elapsed. Then Sir Henry suggested that it might be well to get as near the door as possible, and hello on the faint chance of somebody catching a sound outside. Accordingly Good, who from long practice at sea has a fine piercing note, groped his way down the passage and set to work. I must say that he made a most diabolical noise. I never heard such yells, but it might have been a mosquito buzzing for all the effect they produced. After a while he gave it up and came back very thirsty and had to drink. Then we stopped yelling, as it encroached on the supply of water. So we sat down once more against the chests of useless diamonds in that dreaded inaction, which is one of the hardest circumstances of our fate. And I am bound to say that, for my part, I gave way in despair. Laying my head against Sir Henry's broad shoulder I burst into tears, and I think that I heard Good gulping away on the other side and swearing hoarsely at himself for doing it. Ah, how good and brave that great man was! Had we been to frighten children, and he our nurse, he could not have treated us more tenderly. Forgetting his own share of miseries, he did all he could to soothe our broken nerves, telling stories of men who had been in somewhat similar circumstances and miraculously escaped. And when these failed to cheer us, pointing out how, after all, it was only anticipating an end, which must come to us all, that it would soon be over and that death from exhaustion was a merciful one, which is not true. Then in a diffident sort of way, as once before I had heard him do, he suggested that we should throw ourselves on the mercy of a higher power, which for my part I did with great vigor. This is a beautiful character, very quiet, but very strong. And so somehow the day went as the night had gone, if indeed one can use these terms when all was dense as night, and when I lit a match to see the time it was seven o'clock. Once more we ate and drank, and as we did so an idea occurred to me. How is it, said I, that the air in this place keeps fresh? It is thick and heavy, but it is perfectly fresh. Good heavens! said Good starting up. I never thought of that. It can't come through the stone door for its airtight, if ever a door was. It must come from somewhere. If there were no current of air in the place we should have been stifled or poisoned when we first came in. Let us have a look. It was wonderful what a change this mere spark of hope wrought in us. In a moment we were all three groping about on our hands and knees, feeling for the slightest indication of a draft. Presently my ardor received a check. I put my hand on something cold. It was dead Fulotta's face. For an hour or more we went on feeling about till at last Sir Henry and I gave it up in despair, having been considerably hurt by constantly knocking our heads against tusks, chests, and the sides of the chamber. But Good still persevered, saying with an approach to cheerfulness that it was better than doing nothing. I say, you fellows, he said presently, in a constrained sort of voice. Come here! Needless to say we scrambled towards him quickly enough. Quartermain, put your hand here where mine is. Now do you feel anything? I think I feel air coming up. Now listen! He rose and stamped upon the place, and a flame of hope shot up in our hearts. It rang hollow. With trembling hands I lit a match. I had only three left, and we saw we were in the angle of the far corner of the chamber, a fact that accounted for our not having noticed the hollow sound of the place during our former exhaustive examination. As the match burnt we scrutinized the spot. There was a join in the solid rock floor, and great heavens there, let it level with the rock, was a stone ring. We said no word, we were too excited, and our hearts beat too wildly with hope to allow us to speak. Good had a knife, at the back of which was one of those hooks that are made to extract stones from horse's hooves. He opened i