The Fire People

  CHAPTER XIX.

  THE NEW RULER.

  The solemn bell continued pealing out its knell; the shouts and tumultoutside were growing louder. Miela spoke hurriedly to the old man, thenturned to leave the room.

  "Your commands shall be obeyed, my husband," she said quietly.

  I felt again that sudden sense of helplessness as I saw her leave.

  "Be careful, Miela. Order every one in the castle to the roof. Here! Tellthe queen before you go. Send every one up there with me. The mob may comein. We'll make our stand up there."

  I understood Baar's plot better now. He had gathered his mob of peons tosurround the castle and make a demonstration in his favor. Then, with theking dead and the queen and her little son held by him and his men--theirlives as forfeits--he hoped to be able to treat with the men of sciencewho controlled the light-ray, and who, I did not doubt, represented thebetter element among the people.

  It seemed a mad plan at best; and now that it had gone wrong, I wonderedwhat Baar would attempt to do. Evidently he and his henchmen had all leftthe castle, fearing the light-ray, which Miela pretended I held. They wereoutside now, among the mob, I assumed. Would the mob attempt to enter?

  Miela hurried away to send every one inside the building to its roof. Thequeen, following Miela's commands unquestioningly, took the little princeby the hand and, signing to me to follow, led me upstairs.

  There was only one stairway leading to the roof, I found withsatisfaction, and it was narrow--an excellent place for defense. The roofwas broad and flat, flanked at the ends by two towers which roseconsiderably above it.

  It was a frightened little group who gathered about me--the queen and herson, two of the king's councilors, and perhaps half a dozen young girlswhom I took to be the queen's attendants. Others came up each moment.

  I sat the queen down on a little white stone bench in the center of thegarden, and bowed before her respectfully. Then I smiled upon them all. Ithink they were reassured and trusted me, and I found my commands wereobeyed without question.

  The queen was a woman of perhaps thirty-five--tall and slender, with blackhair and eyes. She was dressed in a single garment of heavy white silk, adress that fell ungathered at the waist from above her breast under thearms to her ankles. It was, I judged, her sleeping robe. Her hair hung intwo long braids over her shoulders; her feet were incased in sandals.

  She was unquestionably a beautiful woman. I remember my vague surprise, asI saw her, with her son by her side, and her long sleek wings unmutilated.And then I saw that her wings were fastened together in two places bylittle metal chains. She, then, like other married women, was notpermitted to fly, although the beauty of her wings was unspoiled.

  I sent two of the old men to stand by the head of the stairs. Miela hadgiven me her knife, and I handed it now to one of them, trying to make himunderstand that he was to bar the passage of any one who should not beallowed up. He shuddered, but he took the knife and stood where Iindicated.

  The crowd in the garden below had seen us on the roof now, and the tumultof shouts was doubled. I went to the parapet and looked over.

  The garden was full of a struggling, confused mass of people. Thosenearest the castle were mostly peons. I noticed men and a few women armedwith various implements of agriculture, and any sort of rude weapon theycould obtain. They were standing about in little groups or rushingexcitedly to and fro in aimless, uncommanded activity.

  Many of them held stones in their hands, which occasionally they cast atthe building. It was one of those mobs that gather ready for trouble, isswayed in almost any direction by any chance leadership, and mostfrequently accomplishes nothing.

  I felt a sudden sense of relief. The garden was rapidly filling up withmen and women of the more intelligent classes, who mingled with theothers, learned what had occurred--for I did not doubt but that theknowledge of the king's death had spread about--and then stood waiting tosee what would happen.

  The air was full of excited girls flying over the castle. A few alightedfor a moment on the roof, but I did not fear them. Where was Baar? I couldnot hope to distinguish him among the crowd, but still I saw no sign ofhis leadership. Had he seen the failure of his plan and, fearing theresults of his regicide, fled the vicinity? I hoped so fervently.

  As I showed myself at the parapet a great shout arose. Some of the men--Iknew at once it was those who had heard I possessed thelight-ray--scattered in terror at my appearance. I determined then, if noissue were raised that would demand my using this supposed weapon, I couldcontinue to command the situation.

  I stood there a moment looking down. At the edge of the crowd I saw a fewfigures whom I took to be members of the city's police. They were standingidle, taking no part in what was going on. There seemed nothing I could dountil Miela returned. If only I could speak to the crowd! I wondered if Idared descend among them and disperse the mob of peons. I went to the headof the stairway. Three or four of the king's councilors were standingthere.

  There was no one on the stairs; evidently every one living in the castlewas now on its roof--some thirty of them altogether. The crowd outsidequite evidently had no present intention of entering the building. The mobof peons Baar had gathered were greatly in the minority now, and I feltthat matters were steadily improving. I wondered where Miela was, and thenwhile I was standing there I saw her coming up the stairs, a man followingclose behind her.

  I think I have never been so glad to see any one as I was to see her atthis moment. Her face was grave; her demeanor calm, as before.

  "He is here," she said as she came to the head of the stairs. "This isFuero, Alan, leader of the men of science, who have the ray."

  As he came out onto the roof I saw this man was easily the most dominantpersonality I had so far encountered on Mercury. He was tall for his race,although several inches shorter than I, a man of sixty, perhaps, withiron-gray hair falling long about his ears.

  He wore sandals and a pair of the usual knee-length, wide-cut trousers.But what distinguished him in his dress was a broad panel of heavy silk,hanging from neck to knee, both in back and front, with an opening at thetop through which his head was thrust. This silken panel was some eighteeninches wide, light gray in color, and richly embroidered in gold invarious designs. It hung free, except for a slight fastening at the waistline. Beneath it the man's naked torso--and his bare arms--showedpowerfully muscled.

  His face was smooth shaven, with strong, regular features. I noticed, too,there was a slight cleft in his square chin. His forehead was high, hisblue eyes kindly, yet with a searching, piercing quality about them.

  It was not so much the man's general appearance as his bearing that mademe realize he was a forceful character. There was about him unmistakablepoise. I knew at once he felt his power, his authority. That he would useit wisely I could not doubt.

  He stood regarding me gravely--an appraising regard under which I feltmyself flushing a little. Miela spoke to him swiftly, and he inclined hishead to me by way of introduction, his glance meanwhile taking in thescene on the roof.

  With Miela as interpreter we held a hurried conversation. I learned thenthat Fuero and his associates had many years before organized a societyfor the development of the light-ray in its various forms. They had soonrealized in their experiments its diabolical power of destruction, and hadtaken oath then that they would not use it, or allow it to be used, exceptunder the most critical circumstances of the nation's welfare.

  Realizing, too, the power it gave them as individuals, they had sworn toremain men of science only, taking no part in public affairs, remainingrigidly aloof from all national affairs. Most of their work concerned thedevelopment of the light-ray for industrial purposes. In these forms itdeveloped heat, but had very little power of projection.

  All this Miela told me in a few brief sentences.

  "How did Tao get the ray?" I demanded.

  "Some members of the society proved false," she answered. "When Tao wasbanished to the Twilight Country th
ey deserted their brothers and joinedhim. There were others with him of scientific mind, and these soon learnedhow to make it, too."

  Fuero was still regarding me appraisingly. I felt suddenly very young,very inadequate as I stood there facing him. But I met his gaze squarely,and all at once he smiled.

  "He says, 'Let us speak to the people,'" said Miela.

  We went to the parapet. Only a few moments had elapsed since I had stoodthere before. The situation below was unchanged, except that the crowd hadgrown denser.

  A sudden hush fell as they saw us. Fuero turned to me and spoke quietly;his eyes seemed searching out my thoughts.

  "He asks you, my husband, if you will take oath before your God to do whatis right for our people. He wishes to trust you now in this crisis, forthere is no one else, and he believes in you."

  "I will, Miela," I said solemnly. "Before God I swear it."

  The man gazed steadily into my eyes another instant, then abruptly hethrust a small metal cylinder into my hand. I thrilled as my fingersclosed around it. He seemed to hesitate, then he turned and, slowlycrossing the rooftop, looking neither to right nor left, he descended thestairs out of our sight.

  He had done what he thought was best, and, having done it, had withdrawnimmediately from further participation in the affair.

  It may have been the absence of his dominant personality, or the grasp ofmy hand about this little metal cylinder, but now I felt a renewed senseof responsibility, and with it a feeling of power that swept aside alldoubts and all fears. Now I could command, could guide and control, thedestiny of this nation, and could, thank God, save my own world.

  "Miela," I said, "tell the queen her son shall be king. I am about toproclaim him king before the people, and I, as regent, will rule. Tell herthat, and bring him here now to me."

  The queen made no answer, save a slight inclination of her head. But I sawthat she had recovered composure. She pushed her son gently away fromher, and I strode forward to meet him.

  "Tell him, Miela, he is a man now, and must have no fear, for he is thegreatest man in all this land."

  I patted his shoulder as he stood beside me, and he looked up into my faceand smiled bravely.

  The top of the parapet was flat and broad. I raised the little boy up andstood him upon it. Instantly another tumult of shouts arose.

  I looked down and saw the figure of Fuero as he stalked unheeding acrossthe garden, the people respectfully opening up a path before his advance.

  Approval and derision seemed mingled in the cries that greeted theappearance of the little prince.

  "Quiet them if you can, Miela," I said. "Speak to them."

  I steadied the boy with my hand, and he stood there unafraid, a sturdy,manly little figure.

  Miela raised her voice and began speaking. The shouts partially ceased,then suddenly a stone struck the parapet almost in front of us.

  A sudden rage possessed me. I fumbled at the cylinder I held. It was verymuch like a little hand flashlight, and seemed to have a knob at my thumb.Miela stopped speaking and turned to me.

  "There--press that, Alan. Careful! Aim it there! See! Over there againstthose palms."

  I held the thing up and pointed it toward the huge royal palms, aiming attheir graceful fronds high over the heads of the people. My hand pressedthe knob; the little cylinder seemed to thrill in my grasp. A tiny beam oflight shot out-quite plainly visible--a green, shading into red. It struckthe palm branches, and silently yet rapidly, as though they were undersome giant blow-torch, they shriveled, crackled, and burst into flame.

  Miela's fingers bit into my arm. "Enough, Alan! Stop!"

  My thumb yielded to the upward pressure of the tiny knob against it, andabruptly the light vanished. A narrow swath had been cut through thepalms--a furrow of death plowed by the pressure of my thumb against a bitof metal!

  The crowd had frozen into the immobility of terror. Now, as the dreadedray vanished as suddenly as it had sprung forth, they turned with cries offright to escape. No one had been hurt. I shuddered as I realized now thatmany girls had been in the air, and through no thought or skill of minehad they escaped.

  "Speak to them, Alan," Miela cried. "There must be no panic. Here mustthey stay and listen to what you have to say. Speak to them; stop themnow."

  I handed her the cylinder, lest the diabolical thing spit forth again itsfire from my unskillful fingers, and leaped to the top of the parapet.

  "Stop!" I shouted at the top of my voice. "Stop--all of you! At once!"

  I waved my arms violently: I knew my words meant nothing, but my voicecarried far. The excitement continued. But a few stopped and stared at me;then others, and gradually there was less confusion.

  Miela turned and shouted something to the girls on the rooftop. Instantlythey spread their wings and flew, down, circling close over the heads ofthe people.

  "Wait, Alan. A moment now and there will be quiet. The girls are tellingthem not to fear, but to wait and listen to what you have to say."

  Miela stood now upon the parapet top, with the little prince between us.She had concealed the tiny metal cylinder in her belt; her open palms wereflung out before her, and her wings, spread and flapping slowly, raisedher on tiptoe. Every line of her graceful body was tense; her attitudebespoke power, dominance, authority. And then she began to talk in a voicevibrant with emotion. Once she laid her hand lightly upon the curly headof the little boy, and a tremulous, uncertain cheer answered her frombelow.

  "I have told them of the king's death, Alan," she said a moment later,"and that here is their little king standing before them; And now, ofyou--what shall I say?"

  "Tell them that until the king is older, I--the man from earth--shall rulethem as regent. Tell them if they obey me all will be well, for I shallrule them wisely."

  I stood while Miela translated this amid dead silence from the crowd. Asshe finished I raised myself to full height and stared down at themthreateningly.

  "But if there is trouble--if any one defies my authority--then, Miela,tell them I shall use the light-ray, for I shall brook no interference."

  The silence from below continued.

  I spread my hands out before me and smiled.

  "But there will be no trouble. I am with the Light Country, heart andsoul. Its interests are my interests, for I have married one of its women,and now I too am one of its people.

  "Tao shall be overthrown--tell them that, Miela. The Twilight People neveragain shall threaten our cities. If more land is wanted by our people ofthe Light Country, tell them they shall have it. All the land they desireshall be theirs. For when Tao is vanquished I shall build great cars suchas he is building, and all who wish may go to my earth peacefully, and wewill make them welcome as I have been made welcome here."

  A cheer arose as Miela translated this; and now for the first time I heardno cries of dissent.

  "Say to them again I shall rule them wisely. Say I shall look to them--allof them, rich and poor alike--for help in what we have to do. All musthelp me, for I am only one, and I need them all. When this work we have todo is over, when our nation is freed forever from this menace from acrossthe sea, tell them that then I will give my every thought to the detailsof their welfare. All that they wish--if it lays in my power--shall bedone."

  A girl alighted for an instant on the parapet near me; another, darteddownward in her flight, evidently to avoid the disrespect of passingdirectly in front of me. The thought flashed through my mind that I mightmention the virgins and promise them reversal of the law they so abhorred,but I felt it would be impolitic to raise that question at such a time asthis.

  "Tell them now to leave the grounds, quietly," I concluded. "When I wishthem again they will be sent for. All that I do will be known throughpublic proclamation."

  I lifted the little prince in my arms, and then, with the cheers of thepeople ringing in my ears, jumped backward with him to the roof below.

  Thus, by swift moving circumstances which could not have been foreseen,was I m
ade ruler of the Light Country. The crowd dispersed quietly. Wesent the queen and her waiting maids back to her apartments, the agedcouncilors to theirs, and soon Miela and I were alone in one of the castlerooms.

  Now that the nervous excitement under which I had been laboring was over,I felt utterly exhausted. I dropped wearily into a seat, and Miela sat onthe floor at my feet with her arms on my knees.

  I stroked her glossy black hair idly.

  "I'm tired, girl. I'm all in. Aren't you?"

  We had not slept since the afternoon before, and so much had happenedsince.

  Suddenly I remembered Lua.

  "Miela--your mother. We must find her." I started to my feet, then satdown again.

  There was no use of my rushing away on some aimless search over a citylike this.

  "Where is the head of the city's police, Miela?"

  "I have sent for him. He should be here now to see you."

  "I must have him search the city. Lua must be found. The castle guards--wemust appoint others, Miela. I must have a council, too--not doddering oldmen, but others that we shall select. Who collects the taxes? Where is themoney? Who handles it?"

  The questions piled upon me faster than I could voice them, and all thewhile my tired brain and weary, aching body called only for rest--forsleep.

  I thought of Mercer and Anina. They should be back by now.

  "We must send home and have them told we are here, Miela. And that slavewoman of Baar's--she will be there, too. She must be sent here to usalso."

  We had decided to live in the castle.

  "When Mercer and Anina return, we must arrange to go to the Water City.The disturbance there must be quelled. All the cities must be told of ouractions here. I must visit them all, Miela."

  My voice seemed trailing off as though I were talking to myself. Athousand problems rushed in confusion through my mind. I felt I wastalking almost incoherently. A knock on the door of our room brought me tomyself.

  A young girl stood respectfully on the threshold. Miela listened to whatshe had to say, questioned her swiftly, and then turned to me. Her facehad gone suddenly white.

  "The girls have returned from over the sea, Alan. This is one of them. ButAnina and our friend Ollie have stayed there."

  "Stayed there?" I cried. "Why?"

  "They set free Tao's men as we planned. They were on their way back whenthe earth-man suddenly bid Anina return. Something was wrong, he said.This girl does not understand what. But they went back. And Anina andOllie they left there, standing on the shore together. We are to go overto the same place to-night, if we can, and get them. That is all the girlknows."

  The girl withdrew after a moment.

  Mercer and Anina left in the Twilight Country! Miela and I stared at eachother blankly.