XV
AYESHA GIVES JUDGMENT
The next thing that I remember was opening my eyes and perceiving theform of Job, who had now practically recovered from his attack of fever.He was standing in the ray of light that pierced into the cave fromthe outer air, shaking out my clothes as a makeshift for brushing them,which he could not do because there was no brush, and then folding themup neatly and laying them on the foot of the stone couch. This done, hegot my travelling dressing-case out of the Gladstone bag, and opened itready for my use. First he stood it on the foot of the couch also, then,being afraid, I suppose, that I should kick it off, he placed it on aleopard skin on the floor, and stood back a step or two to observe theeffect. It was not satisfactory, so he shut up the bag, turned it onend, and, having rested it against the foot of the couch, placed thedressing-case on it. Next he looked at the pots full of water, whichconstituted our washing apparatus. Ah! I heard him murmur, no hotwater in this beastly place. I suppose these poor creatures only use itto boil each other in, and he sighed deeply.
What is the matter, Job? I said.
Beg pardon, sir, he said, touching his hair. I thought you wereasleep, sir; and I am sure you seem as though you want it. One mightthink from the look of you that you had been having a night of it.
I only groaned by way of answer. I had, indeed, been having a night ofit, such as I hope never to have again.
How is Mr. Leo, Job?
Much the same, sir. If he don't soon mend, he'll end, sir; and that'sall about it; though I must say that that there savage, Ustane, dodo her best for him, almost like a baptised Christian. She is alwayshanging round and looking after him, and if I ventures to interfere it'sawful to see her; her hair seems to stand on end, and she curses andswears away in her heathen talk--at least I fancy she must be cursing,from the look of her.
And what do you do then?
I make her a perlite bow, and I say, 'Young woman, your position is onethat I don't quite understand, and can't recognise. Let me tell you thatI has a duty to perform to my master as is incapacitated by illness,and that I am going to perform it until I am incapacitated too,' butshe don't take no heed, not she--only curses and swears away worse thanever. Last night she put her hand under that sort of night-shirt shewears and whips out a knife with a kind of a curl in the blade, so Iwhips out my revolver, and we walks round and round each other till atlast she bursts out laughing. It isn't nice treatment for a Christianman to have to put up with from a savage, however handsome she may be,but it is what people must expect as is _fools_ enough (Job laid greatemphasis on the fools) to come to such a place to look for things noman is meant to find. It's a judgment on us, sir--that's my view; and I,for one, is of opinion that the judgment isn't half done yet, and whenit is done we shall be done too, and just stop in these beastly caveswith the ghosts and the corpseses for once and all. And now, sir, Imust be seeing about Mr. Leo's broth, if that wild cat will let me; and,perhaps, you would like to get up, sir, because it's past nine o'clock.
Job's remarks were not of an exactly cheering order to a man who hadpassed such a night as I had; and, what is more, they had the weight oftruth. Taking one thing with another, it appeared to me to be an utterimpossibility that we should escape from the place we were. Supposingthat Leo recovered, and supposing that _She_ would let us go, which wasexceedingly doubtful, and that she did not blast us in some moment ofvexation, and that we were not hot-potted by the Amahagger, it would bequite impossible for us to find our way across the network of marsheswhich, stretching for scores and scores of miles, formed a stronger andmore impassable fortification round the various Amahagger householdsthan any that could be built or designed by man. No, there was butone thing to do--face it out; and, speaking for my own part, I was sointensely interested in the whole weird story that, so far as I wasconcerned, notwithstanding the shattered state of my nerves, I askednothing better, even if my life paid forfeit to my curiosity. What manfor whom physiology has charms could forbear to study such a characteras that of this Ayesha when the opportunity of doing so presenteditself? The very terror of the pursuit added to its fascination, andbesides, as I was forced to own to myself even now in the sober light ofday, she herself had attractions that I could not forget. Not even thedreadful sight which I had witnessed during the night could drive thatfolly from my mind; and alas! that I should have to admit it, it has notbeen driven thence to this hour.
After I had dressed myself I passed into the eating, or rather embalmingchamber, and had some food, which was as before brought to me by thegirl mutes. When I had finished I went and saw poor Leo, who was quiteoff his head, and did not even know me. I asked Ustane how she thoughthe was; but she only shook her head and began to cry a little. Evidentlyher hopes were small; and I then and there made up my mind that, if itwere in any way possible, I would get _She_ to come and see him. Surelyshe would cure him if she chose--at any rate she said she could. While Iwas in the room, Billali entered, and also shook his head.
He will die at night, he said.
God forbid, my father, I answered, and turned away with a heavy heart.
_She-who-must-be-obeyed_ commands thy presence, my Baboon, said theold man as soon as we got to the curtain; but, oh my dear son, be morecareful. Yesterday I made sure in my heart that _She_ would blast theewhen thou didst not crawl upon thy stomach before her. She is sitting inthe great hall even now to do justice upon those who would have smittenthee and the Lion. Come on, my son; come swiftly.
I turned, and followed him down the passage, and when we reached thegreat central cave saw that many Amahagger, some robed, and some merelyclad in the sweet simplicity of a leopard skin, were hurrying alongit. We mingled with the throng, and walked up the enormous and, indeed,almost interminable cave. All the way its walls were elaboratelysculptured, and every twenty paces or so passages opened out of it atright angles, leading, Billali told me, to tombs, hollowed in the rockby the people who were before. Nobody visited those tombs now, hesaid; and I must say that my heart rejoiced when I thought of theopportunities of antiquarian research which opened out before me.
At last we came to the head of the cave, where there was a rock daïsalmost exactly similar to the one on which we had been so furiouslyattacked, a fact that proved to me that these daïs must have been usedas altars, probably for the celebration of religious ceremonies, andmore especially of rites connected with the interment of the dead. Oneither side of this daïs were passages leading, Billali informed me, toother caves full of dead bodies. Indeed, he added, the whole mountainis full of dead, and nearly all of them are perfect.
In front of the daïs were gathered a great number of people of bothsexes, who stood staring about in their peculiar gloomy fashion, whichwould have reduced Mark Tapley himself to misery in about five minutes.On the daïs was a rude chair of black wood inlaid with ivory, havinga seat made of grass fibre, and a footstool formed of a wooden slabattached to the framework of the chair.
Suddenly there was a cry of Hiya! Hiya! (_She! She!_), and thereuponthe entire crowd of spectators instantly precipitated itself upon theground, and lay still as though it were individually and collectivelystricken dead, leaving me standing there like some solitary survivor ofa massacre. As it did so a long string of guards began to defile from apassage to the left, and ranged themselves on either side of the daïs.Then followed about a score of male mutes, then as many women mutesbearing lamps, and then a tall white figure, swathed from head to foot,in whom I recognised _She_ herself. She mounted the daïs and sat downupon the chair, and spoke to me in _Greek_, I suppose because she didnot wish those present to understand what she said.
Come hither, oh Holly, she said, and sit thou at my feet, and see medo justice on those who would have slain thee. Forgive me if my Greekdoth halt like a lame man; it is so long since I have heard the sound ofit that my tongue is stiff, and will not bend rightly to the words.
I bowed, and, mounting the daïs, sat down at her feet.
How hast thou slept, my Holly? she asked.
I slept not well, oh Ayesha! I answered with perfect truth, and withan inward fear that perhaps she knew how I had passed the heart of thenight.
So, she said, with a little laugh; I, too, have not slept well. Lastnight I had dreams, and methinks that thou didst call them to me, ohHolly.
Of what didst thou dream, Ayesha? I asked indifferently.
I dreamed, she answered quickly, of one I hate and one I love, andthen, as though to turn the conversation, she addressed the captain ofher guard in Arabic: Let the men be brought before me.
The captain bowed low, for the guard and her attendants did notprostrate themselves, but had remained standing, and departed with hisunderlings down a passage to the right.
Then came a silence. _She_ leaned her swathed head upon her hand andappeared to be lost in thought, while the multitude before her continuedto grovel upon their stomachs, only screwing their heads round a littleso as to get a view of us with one eye. It seemed that their Queenso rarely appeared in public that they were willing to undergo thisinconvenience, and even graver risks, to have the opportunity of lookingon her, or rather on her garments, for no living man there except myselfhad ever seen her face. At last we caught sight of the waving of lights,and heard the tramp of men coming along the passage, and in filed theguard, and with them the survivors of our would-be murderers, to thenumber of twenty or more, on whose countenances a natural expression ofsullenness struggled with the terror that evidently filled their savagehearts. They were ranged in front of the daïs, and would have castthemselves down on the floor of the cave like the spectators, but _She_stopped them.
Nay, she said in her softest voice, stand; I pray you stand.Perchance the time will soon be when ye shall grow weary of beingstretched out, and she laughed melodiously.
I saw a cringe of terror run along the rank of the doomed wretches,and, wicked villains as they were, I felt sorry for them. Some minutes,perhaps two or three, passed before anything fresh occurred, duringwhich _She_ appeared from the movement of her head--for, of course,we could not see her eyes--to be slowly and carefully examining eachdelinquent. At last she spoke, addressing herself to me in a quiet anddeliberate tone.
Dost thou, oh my guest, recognise these men?
Ay, oh Queen, nearly all of them, I said, and I saw them glower at meas I said it.
Then tell to me, and this great company, the tale whereof I haveheard.
Thus adjured, I, in as few words as I could, related the history of thecannibal feast, and of the attempted torture of our poor servant. Thenarrative was received in perfect silence, both by the accused and bythe audience, and also by _She_ herself. When I had done, Ayesha calledupon Billali by name, and, lifting his head from the ground, but withoutrising, the old man confirmed my story. No further evidence was taken.
Ye have heard, said _She_ at length, in a cold, clear voice,very different from her usual tones--indeed, it was one of the mostremarkable things about this extraordinary creature that her voice hadthe power of suiting itself in a wonderful manner to the mood of themoment. What have ye to say, ye rebellious children, why vengeanceshould not be done upon you?
For some time there was no answer, but at last one of the men, a fine,broad-chested fellow, well on in middle-life, with deep-graven featuresand an eye like a hawk's, spoke, and said that the orders that they hadreceived were not to harm the white men; nothing was said of theirblack servant, so, egged on thereto by a woman who was now dead, theyproceeded to try to hot-pot him after the ancient and honourable customof their country, with a view of eating him in due course. As for theirsudden attack upon ourselves, it was made in an access of sudden fury,and they deeply regretted it. He ended by humbly praying that they mightbe banished into the swamps, to live and die as it might chance; but Isaw it written on his face that he had but little hope of mercy.
Then came a pause, and the most intense silence reigned over the wholescene, which, illuminated as it was by the flicker of the lamps strikingout broad patterns of light and shadow upon the rocky walls, was asstrange as any I ever saw, even in that unholy land. Upon the groundbefore the daïs were stretched scores of the corpselike forms of thespectators, till at last the long lines of them were lost in thegloomy background. Before this outstretched audience were the knotsof evil-doers, trying to cover up their natural terrors with a braveappearance of unconcern. On the right and left stood the silent guards,robed in white and armed with great spears and daggers, and men andwomen mutes watching with hard curious eyes. Then, seated in herbarbaric chair above them all, with myself at her feet, was the veiledwhite woman, whose loveliness and awesome power seemed to visibly shineabout her like a halo, or rather like the glow from some unseen light.Never have I seen her veiled shape look more terrible than it did inthat space, while she gathered herself up for vengeance.
At last it came.
Dogs and serpents, _She_ began in a low voice that gradually gatheredpower as she went on, till the place rang with it. Eaters of humanflesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers,being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alonedeath is your reward. But that is not all. Ye have dared to disobey me.Did I not send my word unto you by Billali, my servant, and the fatherof your household? Did I not bid you to hospitably entertain thesestrangers, whom now ye have striven to slay, and whom, had not theybeen brave and strong beyond the strength of men, ye would cruelly havemurdered? Hath it not been taught to you from childhood that the law of_She_ is an ever fixed law, and that he who breaketh it by so much asone jot or tittle shall perish? And is not my lightest word a law?Have not your fathers taught you this, I say, whilst as yet ye were butchildren? Do ye not know that as well might ye bid these great caves tofall upon you, or the sun to cease its journeying, as to hope to turnme from my courses, or make my word light or heavy, according to yourminds? Well do ye know it, ye Wicked Ones. But ye are all evil--evilto the core--the wickedness bubbles up in you like a fountain in thespring-time. Were it not for me, generations since had ye ceased to be,for of your own evil way had ye destroyed each other. And now, becauseye have done this thing, because ye have striven to put these men, myguests, to death, and yet more because ye have dared to disobey my word,this is the doom that I doom you to. That ye be taken to the cave oftorture,[*] and given over to the tormentors, and that on the going downof to-morrow's sun those of you who yet remain alive be slain, even asye would have slain the servant of this my guest.
[*] The cave of torture. I afterwards saw this dreadful place, also a legacy from the prehistoric people who lived in Kôr. The only objects in the cave itself were slabs of rock arranged in various positions to facilitate the operations of the torturers. Many of these slabs, which were of a porous stone, were stained quite dark with the blood of ancient victims that had soaked into them. Also in the centre of the room was a place for a furnace, with a cavity wherein to heat the historic pot. But the most dreadful thing about the cave was that over each slab was a sculptured illustration of the appropriate torture being applied. These sculptures were so awful that I will not harrow the reader by attempting a description of them.--L. H. H.
She ceased, and a faint murmur of horror ran round the cave. As for thevictims, as soon as they realised the full hideousness of their doom,their stoicism forsook them, and they flung themselves down upon theground, and wept and implored for mercy in a way that was dreadful tobehold. I, too, turned to Ayesha, and begged her to spare them, or atleast to mete out their fate in some less awful way. But she was hard asadamant about it.
My Holly, she said, again speaking in Greek, which, to tell the truth,although I have always been considered a better scholar of the languagethan most men, I found it rather difficult to follow, chiefly because ofthe change in the fall of the accent. Ayesha, of course, talked withthe accent of her contemporaries, whereas we have only tradition and themodern accent to guide us as to the exact pronunciation. My Holly, itcannot be. Were I to show mercy to those wolves, your lives would not besafe among this people for a day. Thou knowest them not. They are tigersto lap blood, and even now they hunger for your lives. How thinkestthou that I rule this people? I have but a regiment of guards to do mybidding, therefore it is not by force. It is by terror. My empire isof the imagination. Once in a generation mayhap I do as I have done butnow, and slay a score by torture. Believe not that I would be cruel, ortake vengeance on anything so low. What can it profit me to be avengedon such as these? Those who live long, my Holly, have no passions,save where they have interests. Though I may seem to slay in wrath,or because my mood is crossed, it is not so. Thou hast seen how in theheavens the little clouds blow this way and that without a cause, yetbehind them is the great wind sweeping on its path whither it listeth.So it is with me, oh Holly. My moods and changes are the little clouds,and fitfully these seem to turn; but behind them ever blows the greatwind of my purpose. Nay, the men must die; and die as I have said.Then, suddenly turning to the captain of the guard:--
As my word is, so be it!