Queen Sheba's Ring

  CHAPTER VIII

  THE SHADOW OF FATE

  Our ride from the plains up the pass that led to the high tableland ofMur was long and, in its way, wonderful enough. I doubt whether in thewhole world there exists another home of men more marvellously defendedby nature. Apparently the road by which we climbed was cut in the firstinstance, not by human hands, but by the action of primaeval floods,pouring, perhaps, from the huge lake which doubtless once covered thewhole area within the circle of the mountains, although to-day it isbut a moderate-sized sheet of water, about twenty miles long by ten inbreadth. However this may be, the old inhabitants had worked on it, themarks of their tools may still be seen upon the rock.

  For the first mile or two the road is broad and the ascent so gentlethat my horse was able to gallop up it on that dreadful night when,after seeing my son's face, accident, or rather Providence, enabled meto escape the Fung. But from the spot where the lions pulled the poorbeast down, its character changes. In places it is so narrow thattravellers must advance in single file between walls of rock hundredsof feet high, where the sky above looks like a blue ribbon, and even atmidday the path below is plunged in gloom. At other spots the slope isso precipitous that beasts of burden can scarcely keep their foothold;indeed, we were soon obliged to transfer ourselves from the camels tohorses accustomed to the rocks. At others, again, it follows the brinkof a yawning precipice, an ugly place to ride or turn rectangularcorners, which half-a-dozen men could hold against an army, and twice itpasses through tunnels, though whether these are natural I do not know.

  Besides all these obstacles to an invader there were strong gates atintervals, with towers near by where guards were stationed night andday, and fosses or dry moats in front of them which could only becrossed by means of drawbridges. So the reader will easily understandhow it came about that, whatever the cowardice of the Abati, though theystrove for generations, the Fung had as yet never been able to recapturethe ancient stronghold, which, or so it is said, in the beginning theseAbati won from them by means of an Oriental trick.

  Here I should add that, although there are two other roads to theplains--that by which, in order to outflank the Fung, the camels werelet down when I started on my embassy to Egypt, and that to the northwhere the great swamps lie--these are both of them equally, if not more,impassable, at any rate to an enemy attacking from below.

  A strange cavalcade we must have seemed as we crawled up this terrificapproach. First went a body of the Abati notables on horseback, forminga long line of colour and glittering steel, who chattered as they rode,for they seemed to have no idea of discipline. Next came a company ofhorsemen armed with spears, or rather two companies in the centre ofwhich rode the Child of Kings, some of her courtiers and chief officers,and ourselves, perhaps, as Quick suggested, because infantry in theevent of surprise would find it less easy to run away than those whowere mounted upon horses. Last of all rode more cavalry, the dutyof whose rear files it was to turn from time to time, and, afterinspection, to shout out that we were not pursued.

  It cannot be said that we who occupied the centre of the advance were acheerful band. Orme, although so far he had borne up, was evidently veryill from the shock of the explosion, so much so that men had to be seton each side of him to see that he did not fall from the saddle. Alsohe was deeply depressed by the fact that honour had forced us to abandonHiggs to what seemed a certain and probably a cruel death; and if hefelt thus, what was my own case, who left not only my friend, but alsomy son, in the hands of savage heathens?

  Maqueda's face was not visible because of the thin spangled veil thatshe wore, but there was something about her attitude suggestive of shameand of despair. The droop of the head and even her back showed this, asI, who rode a little behind and on side of her, could see. I think, too,that she was anxious about Orme, for she turned toward him several timesas though studying his condition. Also I am sure that she was indignantwith Joshua and others of her officers, for when they spoke to hershe would not answer or take the slightest notice of them beyondstraightening herself in the saddle. As for the Prince himself, histemper seemed to be much ruffled, although apparently he had overcomethe hurt to his back which prevented him from accepting the Sultan'schallenge, for at a difficult spot in the road he dismounted and ranalong actively enough. At any rate, when his subordinates addressed himhe only answered them with muttered oaths, and his attitude towards usEnglishmen, especially Quick, was not amiable. Indeed, if looks couldhave killed us I am sure that we should all have been dead before everwe reached the Gate of Mur.

  This so-called gate was the upper mouth of the pass whence first wesaw, lying beneath us, the vast, mountain-ringed plain beyond. It wasa beautiful sight in the sunshine. Almost at our feet, half-hiddenin palms and other trees, lay the flat-roofed town itself, a place ofconsiderable extent, as every house of any consequence seemed to beset in a garden, since here there was no need for cramping walls anddefensive works. Beyond it to the northward, farther than the eye couldreach, stretching down a gentle slope to the far-off shores of thegreat lake of glistening water, were cultivated fields, and amongst themvillas and, here and there, hamlets.

  Whatever might be the faults of the Abati, evidently they were skilledhusbandsmen, such as their reputed forefathers, the old inhabitants ofJudaea, must have been before them, for of that strain presumably sometrace was still present in their veins. However far he may have driftedfrom such pursuits, originally the Jew was a tiller of the soil, andhere, where many of his other characteristics had evaporated underpressure of circumstances--notably the fierce courage that Titusknew--this taste remained to him, if only by tradition.

  Indeed, having no other outlet for their energies and none with whom totrade, the interests of the Abati were centred in the land. For andby the land they lived and died, and, since the amount available waslimited by the mountain wall, he who had most land was great amongstthem, he who had little land was small, he who had no land waspractically a slave. Their law was in its essentials a law of theland; their ambitions, their crimes, everything to do with them, wereconcerned with the land, upon the produce of which they existed and grewrich, some of them, by means of a system of barter. They had no coinage,their money being measures of corn or other produce, horses, camels,acres of their equivalent of soil, and so forth.

  And yet, oddly enough, their country is the richest in gold and othermetals that I have ever heard of even in Africa--so rich that, accordingto Higgs, the old Egyptians drew bullion from it to the value ofmillions of pounds every year. This, indeed, I can well believe, for Ihave seen the ancient mines which were worked, for the most part asopen quarries, still showing plenty of visible gold on the face of theslopes. Yet to these alleged Jews this gold was of no account. Imagineit; as Quick said, such a topsy-turvy state of things was enough to makea mere Christian feel cold down the back and go to bed thinking that theworld must be coming to an end.

  To return, the prince Joshua, who appeared to be generalissimo of thearmy, in what was evidently a set phrase, exhorted the guards at thelast gates to be brave and, if need were, deal with the heathen as someone or other dealt with Og, King of Bashan, and other unlucky personsof a different faith. In reply he received their earnest congratulationsupon his escape from the frightful dangers of our journey.

  These formalities concluded, casting off the iron discipline of war,we descended a joyous mob, or rather the Abati did, to partake of thedelights of peace. Really, conquerors returning from some desperateadventure could not have been more warmly greeted. As we entered thesuburbs of the town, women, some of them very handsome, ran out andembraced their lords or lovers, holding up babies for them to kiss, anda little farther on children appeared, throwing roses and pomegranateflowers before their triumphant feet. And all this because these gallantmen had ridden to the bottom of a pass and back again!

  "Heavens! Doctor," exclaimed the sardonic Quick, after taking note ofthese demonstrations, "Heavens! what a hero I feel myself to be. Andto think tha
t when I got back from the war with them Boers, after beingleft for dead on Spion Kop with a bullet through my lung and mentionedin a dispatch--yes, I, Sergeant Quick, mentioned in a dispatch by thebiggest ass of a general as ever I clapped eyes on, for a job thatI won't detail, no one in my native village ever took no note ofme, although I had written to the parish clerk, who happens to be mybrother-in-law, and told him the train I was coming by. I tell you,Doctor, no one so much as stood me a pint of beer, let alone wine," andhe pointed to a lady who was proffering that beverage to some one whomshe admired.

  "And as for chucking their arms round my neck and kissing me," andhe indicated another episode, "all my old mother said--she was alivethen--was that she 'hoped I'd done fooling about furrin' parts as Icalled soldiering, and come home to live respectable, better late thannever.' Well, Doctor, circumstances alter cases, or blood and climatedo, which is the same thing, and I didn't miss what I never expected,why should I when others like the Captain there, who had done so muchmore, fared worse? But, Lord! these Abati are a sickening lot, and Iwish we were clear of them. Old Barung's the boy for me."

  Passing down the main street of this charming town of Mur, accompaniedby these joyous demonstrators, we came at last to its central square, alarge, open space where, in the moist and genial climate, for the highsurrounding mountains attracted plentiful showers of rain, trees andflowers grew luxuriantly. At the head of this square stood a long,low building with white-washed walls and gilded domes, backed by thetowering cliff, but at a little distance from it, and surrounded bydouble walls with a moat of water between them, dug for purposes ofdefence.

  This was the palace, which on my previous visit I had only entered onceor twice when I was received by the Child of Kings in formal audience.Round the rest of this square, each placed in its own garden, were thehouses of the great nobles and officials, and at its western end, amongother public buildings, a synagogue or temple which looked like a modelof that built by Solomon in Jerusalem, from the description of which ithad indeed been copied, though, of course, upon a small scale.

  At the gate of the palace we halted, and Joshua, riding up, askedMaqueda sulkily whether he should conduct "the Gentiles," for that washis polite description of us, to the lodging for pilgrims in the westerntown.

  "No, my uncle," answered Maqueda; "these foreign lords will be housed inthe guest-wing of the palace."

  "In the guest-wing of the palace? It is not usual," gobbled Joshua,swelling himself out like a great turkey cock. "Remember, O niece, thatyou are still unmarried. I do not yet dwell in the palace to protectyou."

  "So I found out in the plain yonder," she replied; "still, I managedto protect myself. Now, I pray you, no words. I think it necessary thatthese my guests should be where their goods already are, in the safestplace in Mur. You, my uncle, as you told us, are badly hurt, by whichaccident you were prevented from accepting the challenge of the Sultanof the Fung. Go, then, and rest; I will send the court physician toyou at once. Good-night, my uncle; when you are recovered we will meetagain, for we have much that we must discuss. Nay, nay, you are mostkind, but I will not detain you another minute. Seek your bed, my uncle,and forget not to thank God for your escape from many perils."

  At this polite mockery Joshua turned perfectly pale with rage, like theturkey cock when his wattles fade from scarlet into white. Before hecould make any answer, however, Maqueda had vanished under the archway,so his only resource was to curse us, and especially Quick, who hadcaused him to fall from his horse. Unfortunately the Sergeant understoodquite enough Arabic to be aware of the tenor of his remarks, which heresented and returned:

  "Shut it, Porpoise," he said, "and keep your eyes where Nature put 'em,or they'll fall out."

  "What says the Gentile?" spluttered Joshua, whereon Orme, waking up fromone of his fits of lethargy, replied in Arabic:

  "He says that he prays you, O Prince of princes, to close your noblemouth and to keep your high-bred eyes within their sockets lest youshould lose them"; at which words those who were listening broke intoa fit of laughter, for one redeeming characteristic among the Abati wasthat they had a sense of humour.

  After this I do not quite know what happened for Orme showed signs offainting, and I had to attend to him. When I looked round again thegates were shut and we were being conducted toward the guest-wing of thepalace by a number of gaily dressed attendants.

  They took us to our rooms--cool, lofty chambers ornamented with glazedtiles of quaint colour and beautiful design, and furnished somewhatscantily with articles made of rich-hued woods. This guest-wing of thepalace, where these rooms were situated, formed, we noted, a separatehouse, having its own gateway, but, so far as we could see, no passageor other connection joining it to the main building. In front of it wasa small garden, and at its back a courtyard with buildings, in which wewere informed our camels had been stabled. At the time we noted no more,for night was falling, and, even if it had not been, we were too wornout to make researches.

  Moreover, Orme was now desperately ill--so ill that he could scarcelywalk leaning even on our shoulders. Still, he would not be satisfiedtill he was sure that our stores were safe, and, before he could bepersuaded to lie down, insisted upon being supported to a vault withcopper-bound doors, which the officers opened, revealing the packagesthat had been taken from the camels.

  "Count them, Sergeant," he said, and Quick obeyed by the light of a lampthat the officer held at the open door. "All correct, sir," he said, "sofar as I can make out."

  "Very good, Sergeant. Lock the door and take the keys."

  Again he obeyed, and, when the officer demurred to their surrender,turned on him so fiercely that the man thought better of it and departedwith a shrug of his shoulders, as I supposed to make report to hissuperiors.

  Then at length we got Orme to bed, and, as he complained of intolerablepains in his head and would take nothing but some milk and water, havingfirst ascertained that he had no serious physical injuries that I coulddiscover, I administered to him a strong sleeping-draught from my littletravelling medicine case. To our great relief this took effect upon himin about twenty minutes, causing him to sink into a stupor from which hedid not awake for many hours.

  Quick and I washed ourselves, ate some food that was brought to us, andthen took turns to watch Orme throughout the night. When I was at mypost about six o'clock on the following morning he woke up and asked fordrink, which I gave to him. After swallowing it he began to wander inhis mind, and, on taking his temperature, I found that he had over fivedegrees of fever. The end of it was that he went off to sleep again,only waking up from time to time and asking for more drink.

  Twice during the night and early morning Maqueda sent to inquire as tohis condition, and, apparently not satisfied with the replies, about tenin the forenoon arrived herself, accompanied by two waiting-ladies and along-bearded old gentleman who, I understood, was the court physician.

  "May I see him?" she asked anxiously.

  I answered yes, if she and those with her were quite quiet. Then I ledthem into the darkened room where Quick stood like a statue at the headof the bed, only acknowledging her presence with a silent salute. Shegazed at Oliver's flushed face and the forehead blackened where thegases from the explosion had struck him, and as she gazed I saw herbeautiful violet eyes fill with tears. Then abruptly she turned andleft the sick-chamber. Outside its doors she waved back her attendantsimperiously and asked me in a whisper:

  "Will he live?"

  "I do not know," I answered, for I thought it best that she should learnthe truth. "If he is only suffering from shock, fatigue, and fever, Ithink so, but if the explosion or the blow on his head where it cut hasfractured the skull, then----"

  "Save him," she muttered. "I will give you all I--nay, pardon me; whatneed is there to tempt you, his friend, with reward? Only save him, savehim."

  "I will do what I can, Lady, but the issue is in other hands than mine,"I answered, and just then her attendants came up and put an end to theconvers
ation.

  To this day the memory of that old rabbi, the court physician, affectsme like a nightmare, for of all the medical fools that ever I met hewas by far the most pre-eminent. All about the place he followed mesuggesting remedies that would have been absurd even in the Middle Ages.The least harmful of them, I remember, was that poor Orme's head shouldbe plastered with a compound of butter and the bones of a still-bornchild, and that he should be given some filthy compound to drink whichhad been specially blessed by the priests. Others there were also thatwould certainly have killed him in half-an-hour.

  Well, I got rid of him at last for the time, and returned to my vigil.It was melancholy work, since no skill that I had could tell me whethermy patient would live or die. Nowadays the young men might know, orsay that they did, but it must be remembered that, as a doctor, I amentirely superannuated. How could it be otherwise, seeing that I havepassed the best of my life in the desert without any opportunity ofkeeping up with the times.

  Three days went by in this fashion, and very anxious days they were. Formy part, although I said nothing of it to any one, I believed that therewas some injury to the patient's skull and that he would die, or at bestbe paralyzed. Quick, however, had a different opinion. He said that hehad seen two men in this state before from the concussion caused bythe bursting of large shells near to them, and that they both recoveredalthough one of them became an idiot.

  But it was Maqueda who first gave me any definite hope. On the thirdevening she came and sat by Orme for awhile, her attendants standingat a little distance. When she left him there was a new look upon herface--a very joyful look--which caused me to ask her what had happened.

  "Oh! he will live," she answered.

  I inquired what made her think so.

  "This," she replied, blushing. "Suddenly he looked up and in my owntongue asked me of what colour were my eyes. I answered that it dependedupon the light in which they might be seen.

  "'Not at all,' he said. 'They are always _vi-o-let_, whether the curtainis drawn or no.' Now, physician Adams, tell me what is this colour_vi-o-let_?"

  "That of a little wild flower which grows in the West in the spring, OMaqueda--a very beautiful and sweet-scented flower which is dark bluelike your eyes."

  "Indeed, Physician," she said. "Well, I do not know this flower, butwhat of that? Your friend will live and be sane. A dying man does nottrouble about the colour of a lady's eyes, and one who is mad does notgive that colour right."

  "Are you glad, O Child of Kings?" I asked.

  "Of course," she answered, "seeing that I am told that this captainalone can handle the firestuffs which you have brought with you, and,therefore, that it is necessary to me that he should not die."

  "I understand," I replied. "Let us pray that we may keep him alive. Butthere are many kinds of firestuffs, O Maqueda, and of one of themwhich chances to give out violet flames I am not sure that my friend ismaster. Yet in this country it may be the most dangerous of all."

  Now when she heard these words the Child of Kings looked me up and downangrily. Then suddenly she laughed a little in a kind of silent way thatis peculiar to her, and, without saying anything, beckoned to her ladiesand left the place.

  "Very variegated thing, woman, sir," remarked Quick, who was watching.(I think he meant to say "variable.") "This one, for instance, comes upthat passage like a tired horse--shuffle, shuffle, shuffle--for I couldhear the heels of her slippers on the floor. But now she goes out likea buck seeking its mate--head in air and hoof lifted. How do you explainit, Doctor?"

  "You had better ask the lady herself, Quick. Did the Captain take thatsoup she brought him?"

  "Every drop, sir, and tried to kiss her hand afterward, being stilldazed, poor man, poor man! I saw him do it, knowing no better. He'll besorry enough when he comes to himself."

  "No doubt, Sergeant. But meanwhile let us be glad that both theirspirits seem to have improved, and if she brings any more soup when Iam not there, I should let him have it. It is always well to humourinvalids and women."

  "Yes, Doctor; but," he added, with a sudden fall of face, "invalidsrecover sometimes, and then how about the women."

  "Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof," I answered; "you had bettergo out for exercise; it is my watch." But to myself I thought that Fatewas already throwing its ominous shadow before, and that it lay deep inMaqueda's violet eyes.

  Well, to cut a long story short, this was the turning-point of Orme'sillness, and from that day he recovered rapidly, for, as it proved,there was no secret injury to the skull, and he was suffering fromnothing except shock and fever. During his convalescence the Child ofKings came to see him several times, or to be accurate, if my memoryserves me right, every afternoon. Of course, her visits were those ofceremony--that is to say, she was always accompanied by several ofher ladies, that thorn in my flesh, the old doctor, and one or twosecretaries and officers-in-waiting.

  But as Oliver was now moved by day into a huge reception room, and thesepeople of the court were expected to stop at one end of it while sheconversed with him at the other, to all intents and purposes, save forthe presence of myself and Quick, her calls were of a private nature.Nor were we always present, since, now that my patient was out of dangerthe Sergeant and I went out riding a good deal--investigating Mur andits surroundings.

  It may be asked what they talked about on these occasions. I can onlyanswer that, so far as I heard, the general subject was the politicsof Mur and its perpetual war with the Fung. Still, there must have beenother topics which I did not hear, since incidently I discovered thatOrme was acquainted with many of Maqueda's private affairs whereof hecould only have learned from her lips.

  Thus when I ventured to remark that perhaps it was not altogetherwise for a young man in his position to become so intimate with thehereditary ruler of an exclusive tribe like the Abati, he repliedcheerfully that this did not in the least matter, as, of course,according to their ancient laws, she could only marry with one of herown family, a fact which made all complications impossible. I inquiredwhich of her cousins, of whom I knew she had several, was the happy man.He replied:

  "None of them. As a matter of fact, I believe that she is officiallyaffianced to that fat uncle of hers, the fellow who blows his owntrumpet so much, but I needn't add that this is only a form to which shesubmits in order to keep the others off."

  "Ah!" I said. "I wonder if Prince Joshua thinks it only a form?"

  "Don't know what he thinks, and don't care," he replied, yawning; "Ionly know that things stand as I say, and that the porpoise-man has asmuch chance of becoming the husband of Maqueda as you have of marryingthe Empress of China. And now, to drop this matrimonial conversation andcome to something more important, have you heard anything about Higgsand your son?"

  "You are more in the way of learning state secrets than I am, Orme," Ianswered sarcastically, being rather irritated at the course of eventsand his foolishness. "What have you heard?"

  "This, old fellow. I can't say how she knows it, but Maqueda says thatthey are both in good health and well treated. Only our friend Barungsticks to his word and proposes to sacrifice poor old Higgs on this dayfortnight. Now, of course, that must be prevented somehow, and preventedit shall be if it costs me my life. Don't you suppose that I have beenthinking about myself all the time, for it isn't so, only the trouble isthat I can't find any plan of rescue which will hold water."

  "Then what's to be done, Orme? I haven't spoken much of the matterbefore for fear of upsetting you when you were still weak, but now thatyou are all right again we must come to some decision."

  "I know, I know," he answered earnestly; "and I tell you this, thatrather than let Higgs die alone there, I will give myself up to Barung,and, if I can't save him, suffer with him, or for him if I can. Listen:there is to be a great council held by the Child of Kings on the dayafter to-morrow which we must attend, for it has only been postponeduntil I was well enough. At this council that rogue Shadrach is to beput upon his trial, and will,
I believe, be condemned to death. Also weare formally to return Sheba's ring which Maqueda lent to you to be usedin proof of her story. Well, we may learn something then, or at any ratemust make up our minds to definite action. And now I am to have my firstride, am I not? Come on, Pharaoh," he added to the dog, which had stuckat his bedside all through his illness so closely that it was difficultto entice him away even to eat; "we are going for a ride, Pharaoh; doyou hear that, you faithful beast?"