Queen Sheba's Ring

  CHAPTER XIX

  STARVATION

  I was right. The Abati did think that we had been burned. It neveroccurred to them that we might have escaped to the underground city.So at least I judged from the fact that they made no attempt to seekus there until they learned the truth in the fashion that I am about todescribe. If anything, this safety from our enemies added to the trialsof those hideous days and nights. Had there been assaults to repel andthe excitement of striving against overwhelming odds, at any rate weshould have found occupation for our minds and remaining energies.

  But there were none. By turns we listened at the mouth of the passagefor the echo of footsteps that never came. Nothing came to break asilence so intense that at last our ears, craving for sound, magnifiedthe soft flitter of the bats into a noise as of eagle's wings, tillat last we spoke in whispers, because the full voice of man seemed toaffront the solemn quietude, seemed intolerable to our nerves.

  Yet for the first day or two we found occupation of a sort. Of courseour first need was to secure a supply of food, of which we had only alittle originally laid up for our use in the chambers of the old temple,tinned meats that we had brought from London and so forth, now nearlyall consumed. We remembered that Maqueda had told us of corn fromher estates which was stored annually in pits to provide against thepossibility of a siege of Mur, and asked her where it was.

  She led us to a place where round stone covers with rings attached tothem were let into the floor of the cave, not unlike those which stopthe coal-shoots in a town pavement, only larger. With great difficultywe prised one of these up; to me it did not seem to have been movedsince the ancient kings ruled in Mur and, after leaving it open for along while for the air within to purify, lowered Roderick by a rope wehad to report its contents. Next moment we heard him saying: "Want tocome up, please. This place is not pleasant."

  We pulled him out and asked what he had found.

  "Nothing good to eat," he answered, "only plenty of dead bones and onerat that ran up my leg."

  We tried the next two pits with the same result--they were full of humanbones. Then we cross-examined Maqueda, who, after reflection, informedus that she now remembered that about five generations before a greatplague had fallen on Mur, which reduced its population by one-half. Shehad heard, also, that those stricken with the plague were driven intothe underground city in order that they might not infect the others,and supposed that the bones we saw were their remains. This informationcaused us to close up those pits again in a great hurry, though reallyit did not matter whether we caught the plague or no.

  Still, as she was sure that corn was buried somewhere, we went toanother group of pits in a distant chamber, and opened the first one.This time our search was rewarded, to the extent that we found at thebottom of it some mouldering dust that years ago had been grain. Theother pits, two of which had been sealed up within three years as thedate upon the wax showed, were quite empty.

  Then Maqueda understood what had happened.

  "Surely the Abati are a people of rogues," she said. "See now, theofficers appointed to store away my corn which I gave them have stolenit! Oh! may they live to lack bread even more bitterly than we doto-day."

  We went back to our sleeping-place in silence. Well might we be silent,for of food we had only enough left for a single scanty meal. Waterthere was in plenty, but no food. When we had recovered a little fromour horrible disappointment we consulted together.

  "If we could get through the mine tunnel," said Oliver, "we mightescape into the den of lions, which were probably all destroyed by theexplosion, and so out into the open country."

  "The Fung would take us there," suggested Higgs.

  "No, no," broke in Roderick, "Fung all gone, or if they do, anythingbetter than this black hole, yes, even my wife."

  "Let us look," I said, and we started.

  When we reached the passage that led from the city to the Tomb of Kings,it was to find that the wall at the end of it had been blown bodily backinto the parent cave, leaving an opening through which we could walkside by side. Of course the contents of the tomb itself were scattered.In all directions lay bones, objects of gold and other metals, oroverturned thrones. The roof and walls alone remained as they had been.

  "What vandalism!" exclaimed Higgs, indignant even in his misery. "Whywouldn't you let me move the things when I wanted to, Orme?"

  "Because they would have thought that we were stealing them, old fellow.Also those Mountaineers were superstitious, and I did not want them todesert. But what does it matter, anyway? If you had, they would havebeen burned in the palace."

  By this time we had reached that end of the vast tomb where thehunchbacked king used to sit, and saw at once that our quest was vain.The tunnel which we had dug beyond was utterly choked with masses offallen rock that we could never hope to move, even with the aid ofexplosives, of which we had none left.

  So we returned, our last hope gone.

  Also another trouble stared us in the face; our supply of the crudemineral oil which the Abati used for lighting purposes was beginning torun low. Measurement of what remained of the store laid up for our usewhile the mine was being made, revealed the fact that there was onlyenough left to supply four lamps for about three days and nights: onefor Maqueda, one for ourselves, one for the watchman near the tunnelmouth, and one for general purposes.

  This general-purpose lamp, as a matter of fact, was mostly made use ofby Higgs. Truly, he furnished a striking instance of the ruling passionstrong in death. All through those days of starvation and utter misery,until he grew too weak and the oil gave out, he trudged backward andforward between the old temple and the Tomb of Kings carrying a largebasket on his arm. Going out with this basket empty, he would bringit back filled with gold cups and other precious objects that he hadcollected from among the bones and scattered rubbish in the Tomb. Theseobjects he laboriously catalogued in his pocket-book at night, andafterwards packed away in empty cases that had contained our supplies ofexplosive and other goods, carefully nailing them down when filled.

  "What on earth are you doing that for, Higgs?" I asked petulantly, as hefinished off another case, I think it was his twentieth.

  "I don't know, Doctor," he answered in a thin voice, for like the restof us he was growing feeble on a water-diet. "I suppose it amuses meto think how jolly it would be to open all these boxes in my rooms inLondon after a first-rate dinner of fried sole and steak cut thick," andhe smacked his poor, hungry lips. "Yes, yes," he went on, "to take themout one by one and show them to ---- and ----," and he mentioned by nameofficials of sundry great museums with whom he was at war, "and see themtear their hair with rage and jealousy, while they wondered in theirhearts if they could not manage to seize the lot for the Crown astreasure-trove, or do me out of them somehow," and he laughed a littlein his old, pleasant fashion.

  "Of course I never shall," he added sadly, "but perhaps one day someother fellow will find them here and get them to Europe, and if he isa decent chap, publish my notes and descriptions, of which I have puta duplicate in each box, and so make my name immortal. Well, I'm offagain. There are four more cases to fill before the oil gives out, andI must get that great gold head into one of them, though it is an awfuljob to carry it far at a time. Doctor, what disease is it that makesyour legs suddenly give way beneath you, so that you find yourselfsitting in a heap on the floor without knowing how you came there? Youdon't know? Well, no more do I, but I've got it bad. I tell you I'mdownright sore behind from continual and unexpected contact with therock."

  Poor old Higgs! I did not like to tell him that his disease wasstarvation.

  Well, he went on with his fetching and carrying and cataloguing andpacking. I remember that the last load he brought in was the golden headhe had spoken of, the wonderful likeness of some prehistoric king whichhas since excited so much interest throughout the world. The thing beingtoo heavy for him to carry in his weakened state, for it is much overlife-size, he was obliged to roll it before him, wh
ich accounts for thepresent somewhat damaged condition of the nose and semi-Egyptian diadem.

  Never shall I forget the sight of the Professor as he appeared out ofthe darkness, shuffling along upon his knees where his garments wereworn into holes, and by the feeble light of the lamp that he moved fromtime to time, painfully pushing the great yellow object forward, only afoot or two at each push.

  "Here it is at last," he gasped triumphantly, whilst we watched him withindifferent eyes. "Japhet, help me to wrap it up in the mat and liftit into the box. No, no, you donkey--face upward--so. Never mind thecorners, I'll fill them with ring-money and other trifles," and out ofhis wide pockets he emptied a golden shower, amongst which he siftedhandfuls of dust from the floor and anything else he could find to serveas packing, finally covering all with a goat's-hair blanket which hetook from his bed.

  Then very slowly he found the lid of the box and nailed it down, restingbetween every few strokes of the hammer whilst we watched him in ourintent, but idle, fashion, wondering at the strange form of his madness.

  At length the last nail was driven, and seated on the box he put hishand into an inner pocket to find his note-book, then incontinentlyfainted. I struggled to my feet and sprinkled water over his face tillhe revived and rolled on to the floor, where presently he sank intosleep or torpor. As he did so the first lamp gave out.

  "Light it, Japhet," said Maqueda, "it is dark in this place."

  "O Child of Kings," answered the man, "I would obey if I could, butthere is no more oil."

  Half-an-hour later the second lamp went out. By the light that remainedwe made such arrangements as we could, knowing that soon darkness wouldbe on us. They were few and simple: the fetching of a jar or twoof water, the placing of arms and ammunition to our hands, and thespreading out of some blankets on which to lie down side by side uponwhat I for one believed would be our bed of death.

  While we were thus engaged, Japhet crawled into our circle from theouter gloom. Suddenly I saw his haggard face appear, looking like thatof a spirit rising from the grave.

  "My lamp is burned out," he moaned; "it began to fail whilst I wason watch at the tunnel mouth, and before I was half-way here it diedaltogether. Had it not been for the wire of the 'thing-that-speaks'which guided me, I could never have reached you. I should have been lostin the darkness of the city and perished alone among the ghosts."

  "Well, you are here now," said Oliver. "Have you anything to report?"

  "Nothing, lord, or at least very little. I moved some of the small rocksthat we piled up, and crept down the hole till I came to a place wherethe blessed light of day fell upon me, only one little ray of it, butstill the light of day. I think that something has fallen upon thetunnel and broken it, perhaps one of the outer walls of the palace.At least I looked through a crack and saw everywhere ruins--ruins thatstill smoke. From among them I heard the voices of men shouting to eachother.

  "One of them called to his companion that it was strange, if theGentiles and the Child of Kings had perished in the fire, that they hadnot found their bones which would be known by the guns they carried. Hisfriend answered that it was strange indeed, but being magicians, perhapsthey had hidden away somewhere. For his part he hoped so, as then sooneror later they would be found and put to death slowly, as they deserved,who had led astray the Child of Kings and brought so many of theheaven-descended Abati to their death. Then fearing lest they shouldfind and kill me, for they drew near as I could tell by their voices, Icrept back again, and that is all my story."

  We said nothing; there seemed to be nothing to say, but sat in our sadcircle and watched the dying lamp. When it began to flicker, leaping upand down like a thing alive, a sudden panic seized poor Japhet.

  "O Walda Nagasta," he cried, throwing himself at her feet, "you havecalled me a brave man, but I am only brave where the sun and the starsshine. Here in the dark amongst so many angry spirits, and with hungergnawing at my bowels, I am a great coward; Joshua himself is not such acoward as I. Let us go out into the light while there is yet time. Letus give ourselves up to the Prince. Perhaps he will be merciful andspare our lives, or at least he will spare yours, and if we die, it willbe with the sun shining on us."

  But Maqueda only shook her head, whereon he turned to Orme and went on:

  "Lord, would you have the blood of the Child of Kings upon your hands?Is it thus that you repay her for her love? Lead her forth. No harm willcome to her who otherwise must perish here in misery."

  "You hear what the man says, Maqueda?" said Orme heavily. "There is sometruth in it. It really does not matter to us whether we die in the powerof the Abati or here of starvation; in fact, I think that we shouldprefer the former end, and doubtless no hand will be laid on you. Willyou go?"

  "Nay," she answered passionately. "A hand would be laid on me, the handof Joshua, and rather than that he should touch me I will die a hundreddeaths. Let fate take its course, for as I have told you, I believe thatthen it will open to us some gate we cannot see. And if I believe invain, why there is another gate which we can pass together, O Oliver,and beyond that gate lies peace. Bid the man be silent, or drive himaway. Let him trouble me no more."