Nedra
CHAPTER XXXI
_THE WEDDING RING_
The six months passed and the strange wedding was near at hand. Theunderlying hope that they might be discovered and restored to the lifethat seemed so remotely far behind them was overshadowed, obliterated bythe conditions and preparations attending their nuptials. Sincerity ofpurpose and the force of their passion justified beyond all question themanner in which they were to become man and wife in this heathen landof Nedra.
Wedding garments had been woven in the most artistic and approvedfashion. Lady Tennys's trousseau was most elaborate, far more extensivethan even the most lavish desires of civilization could have produced.
Their subjects vied with each other in the work of decorating theiridols for the ceremony. Never before had native ingenuity and nativeendurance been put to such a test. Worship was the master workman andenergy its slave.
"If they keep on bringing in clothes, dear, we'll have a bargain-daystock to dispose of some time. We'd have to live two hundred years inorder to try 'em on and thereby set the fashion in exclusive weddinggarments." Hugh made this comment as they stood surveying the latestconsignment of robes, which reposed with considerable reverence on thespecially constructed tables in the new part of Tennys Court. Amusedperplexity revealed itself in the faces of the couple.
"I think this last pair of trousers, if you should ever wear them, willrevolutionize the habits of the island. You will look especially killingin green, Hugh."
"That seashell parasol of yours is unique, but I imagine it will be tooheavy for you to carry in Piccadilly. I observed that it required twoable-bodied men to bring it here, and they seemed immensely relievedwhen it was off their shoulders--to say nothing of their hands. How doyou like this crocodile skin necktie of mine?"
"It is particularly becoming to you--as a belt."
"I'm glad we're to be married soon, Tennys," said he with a grin. "If weput it off a month longer there won't be enough material on land or seato supply the demand for ready-made garments. As it is, I'm afraid thepoor devils will have to go naked themselves until a new crop springsup. I saw one of Pootoo's wives patching his best suit of breech clothesto-day, so he must be hard put for wearing apparel."
"I wonder if it would offend them if we were to distribute what we can'tuse among the poor."
"I am sure it would please the poor as much as it would please us.They'll all be poor, you know. I have two hundred and eighty-three pairsof trousers and only seven shirts. If I could trade in two hundred andfifty pants for an extra shirt or two, I'd be a much happierbridegroom."
"I dare say they can cut down some of my kimonas to fit you. I have atleast three hundred."
"I'd like that blue one and the polka dot up there. They'd make corkingshirts. I'll trade you twelve of my umbrellas for one of those grassbonnets of yours. They've been showing too much partiality. Here you'vegot nearly one hundred suits of pajamas and I have but eleven."
"Yes, but think of the suits of armor they've made for you and not onefor me."
"But I wouldn't have time to change armor during a battle, would I? Onesuit is enough for me. By George, they look worse than football suits,don't they? One couldn't drive a javelin through this chunk of stuffwith a battering ram."
Everywhere about them were proofs of the indefatigable but lamentableindustry of their dusky friends. Articles inconceivable in more waysthan one were heaped in the huge room. Nondescript is no word todescribe the heterogeneous collection of things supposed to be useful aswell as ornamental. Household utensils, pieces of furniture, bric-a-bracof the most appalling design, knickknacks and gewgaws without end orpurpose stared the bewildered white people in the face with an intensitythat confused and embarrassed them beyond power of expression.
Shortly after their strange betrothal, Lady Tennys had become a strongadvocate of dress reform for women on the island of Nedra. Neat, looseand convenient pajamas succeeded the cumbersome petticoats of everydaylife. She, as well as her subjects, made use of these thrifty garmentsat all times except on occasions of state. They were cooler, morerational--particularly becoming--and less troublesome than skirts, andtheir advent created great rejoicing among the natives, who, prior tothe arrival of their white leaders, had worn little more than nothingand yet had been quite fashionable.
Tennys was secretly rehearsing the marriage ceremony in the privacy ofher chamber, prompted and praised by her faithful handmaidens. To her,this startling wedding meant but one thing: the resignation of allintent to leave the island. The day she and Hugh Ridgeway were unitedaccording to the custom sacred to these people, their fate was to besealed forever. It was to bind them irrevocably to Nedra, closingforever to them the chance of returning to the civilization they hadknown and were relinquishing.
Ridgeway daily inventoried his rapidly increasing stock of warimplements, proud of the prowess that had made him a war-god. He soberlyprohibited the construction of a great boat which might have carried himand his fair companion back to the old world.
"If we are rescued before the wedding, dear, all well and good; but ifnot, then we want no boat, either of our own or other construction, tocarry us away. Our wedding day will make us citizens of Ridgehunt untildeath ends the regime. Our children may depart, but we are the Izors ofNedra to the last hour of life."
"Yes," she said simply.
The fortnight immediately prior to the day set for the wedding was anexciting one for the bride and groom-to-be. Celebration of the greatevent was already under way by the natives. Great feasts were plannedand executed; war dances and riots of worship took place, growing infervor and splendor as the day approached; preparations never flaggedbut went on as if the future existence of the whole world dependedentirely upon the outcome of this great ceremony.
"Yesterday it was a week, now it is but six days," said Hugh early onemorning as they set forth to watch their adorers at work on the greatceremonial temple with its "wedding ring." The new temple was a hugeaffair, large enough to accommodate the entire populace.
"To-morrow it will be but five days," she said; "but how long the daysare growing." They sat beside the spring on the hillside and musinglysurveyed the busy architects on the plain below.
"How are the rehearsals progressing?" he asked.
"Excellently, but I am far from being a perfect savage. It doesn't seempossible that I shall ever learn how to fall gracefully into that ring.I believe I shall insist that you turn your head at the particularjuncture, for I know you'll laugh at me," she said with a great showof concern.
"I don't like that part of the service. It's a shame for me to stand byand to see you tumble at my feet. Firstly, it's not your place;secondly, it's liable to hurt you; lastly, I'd feel a most unmanlybrute. Wonder if we can't modify that part of it somehow?"
"I might be carried in on a litter and set down in the ring, or we mightstretch a hammock," she said, laughing merrily.
"I'm determined on one point and that is in regard to the pile of softgrass. Pootoo promised to cut a lot of it and put it in the ring. Youshan't break any bones if I can help it."
"Pootoo is to be master of ceremonies in every sense of the word, I cansee. I am the ward of a king."
At last the day arrived.
They were to enter the ceremonial temple at high noon and in their earswere to be the sound of timbrels and brass, trumpets and drums and theglad though raucous songs of a kingdom.
Early in the day Tennys Huntingford submitted herself to be arrayed forthe ceremony by her proud, jealous maidens. She remained alone andobscure in her chamber, awaiting the moment when King Pootoo should comefor her. Her gown was of the purest white. It was her own handiwork, theloving labor of months. True, it would have looked odd in St. James orin the cathedral, but no bride ever walked to those chancels in morebecoming raiment--no bride was ever more beautiful, no woman ever moreto be coveted. Her heart was singing with love and joy; the dreams ofmonths were coming true in these strangely wakeful hours.
Ridgeway wandered ne
rvously through the village, watching the sun as itcrept nearer and nearer to the middle of its daily reign--would theminutes never end? Why had the sun stopped in its course across the sky?Why was time so tantalizing?
At last! The sudden clangor of weird instruments filled his ears. Heheld his hand to his throbbing heart as he turned his gaze toward thedoor through which she was to come.
Inside the great temple the people of Nedra were singing and chantingwith anticipant joy; outside the world was smiling benignly. All Nedragathered about the circle of earth in which Tennys Huntingford was tocast herself at the feet of her husband and lord for all time.
Hugh had not seen her since the night before, and his eyes were starvingfor the vision. She came forth, her white hand in the great broad palmof King Pootoo, and she smiled gloriously upon the man who stood belowand waited for her to come to him. Together they were to approach thecircle. The priests were there to receive them--Hugh first and then hisbride; the people were shouting, the instruments were jangling with afiercer fervor, the sun was passing across the line with his fairestsmile and wedding bells were ringing in two red, full hearts.
But even as she came up to him and touched his arm, outside the templedoors, the hand of Fate was lifted and a rigid finger stayed them onthe verge.
A mighty intonation, sharp and deafening, came to their ears like a clapof thunder from a clear sky!
Paralysis, stupefaction, fell upon the multitude. There was a silence asof death. Every sound ceased, every heart stood still and every sensewas numb. It seemed an hour before Hugh Ridgeway's stiff lips muttered:
"A gun! A ship's gun!"