CHAPTER XXXIV.
SAVED BY A MUSK-DEER.--STORIES OF WONDERFUL MOUNTAINS.
Relief came, but so imperceptibly that it stole over them. A perfume sostrong filled the air that the animals coughed, the great snake writhed,and approached nearer to them; they were lost; no, the perfume hadentered the nostrils of the reptile; its movement was languid, anothersecond, and their deliverer appeared. It was a musk-deer, or roe-buck,who had pursued the serpent till it had lost it in the fissure for a fewminutes only, when, recovering its trail, the deer had pursued it to theplatform, where, with one grip at its neck, it killed it, when, startledat the cavalcade, it retraced its steps, not at all to the regret ofNicholas, for, valuable as the musk animal was, his gratitude was toogreat to have killed it. Having crossed the platform, Nicholas saw thepredicament of Chow, who was still employed in keeping the wolves atbay. He had fired many arrows, yet had killed but three, while otherssat crouching, as if neither liking to recede or advance, waiting, infact, for the boy's back to be turned, before they made an attack; sokeeping poor Chow in one terrible position, not daring to turn his backor to fire his last remaining arrow, for fear that it should miss. Thetables, however, were turned, when Nicholas, followed by the guide, bothwith fixed bows, came to his rescue; one flight more from the threebows, and the now terrified beasts scampered off, when Chow returned tothe other side of the platform with Nicholas, and the whole partyoffered up thanks to Heaven for their miraculous preservation.
It is in the mountains of Pe-tche-Lee that the musk-deer is generallyfound by hunters, who find a good market, not only for the musk, but thebody, which is in great esteem; and that I may account to you in areasonable manner for the providential escape of the travelers, I musttell you that the flesh of serpents is the favorite and most common foodof this roe-buck, who kills them with ease, however large or numerous;for no sooner does he come near than the serpent becomes overpoweredwith the scent of the musk; and so well is this fact known to themountaineers, that when they go to cut wood or make charcoal in themountains, they carry about their persons a few grains of this musk, andrest and sleep without fear from the venomous snakes, which mightotherwise destroy them.
The travelers resumed their journey, and continued till it became dark,when they pitched their tents upon an open plain, lighted a circle offire around their encampment, and remained for the night; so, for atleast three months, they continued this tedious journey, keeping withina few miles of the sea-coast, through mountains, plains and forests,till they reached a small village, at the base of the mountain chain ofLao-yang, where they were once more enabled to rest beneath the roof ofa house, without fear of traitors, for Lao-yang was the head-quarters ofthe governor and general of the province, Woo-san-Kwei.
As they were passing the ridges of these mountains, the guide kept hiseyes fixed upon their green sides, as if in deep thought. "Surely mybrother can see nothing wonderful in these tree-growing hills," saidChow.
"Thy mean servant was dreaming of his native province, of which thesemountains reminded him, although compared with those of my nativeChen-si they are dirt heaps."
"The mountains of my brother's province of Chen-si are doubtless great,but they are mole-hills to those of Fokien, where thy unworthy brotherwas born," said Chow.
"Why, what words are these? Does not the whole world know that Chen-sihas a mountain of the shape of a cock, and which sometimes crows so loudthat it may be heard for ten miles?"
"Fokien has a mountain which is so high that its summit can not be seen,and foretells storms by moving its great body to and fro like a treewith the wind."
"It is a dirt-hill compared to another in Chen-si, that at the sound ofa drum breathes forth fire and flame."
"Rat's flesh! thy mountain is nothing to the good hill of Fokien, whichmakes thieves so giddy when they gaze upon it, that they drop down theirplunder and run for their lives," said Chow.
"That may be useful, my brother, but how can its qualities be comparedto another of my mountains, which has the power of conferringimmortality upon all who live thereon?" replied the guide.
"It is even of doubtful merit compared to the mountain of Fokien, whichhas grown into the exact shape of the god Fo, and is so large that itseyes are three miles round, and its nose ten miles long." The guidehaving no other on his list, turned sulkily aside, and so ended thisconversation, which, I may tell you, did not spring from theimaginations of either, for the assertions on both sides are accreditedby the people of China.
Delighted at the probability of their being near the end of theirjourney, and as much so at the prospect of a few days' rest, you mayimagine the dismay of the party at being awakened early the next morningby a great tumult. What could it mean? They were not long in doubt, forthe master of the inn came to them with tears in his eyes. "Arise, Oworthy strangers, this is an unfortunate day for us all; the thieves,the rats of the ocean have landed," said he.
"What words are these, O worthy friend?" said Nicholas, jumping to hisfeet.
"The Emperor Li is marching a great army to beseige Lao-yang, where thegreat Woo-san-Kwei is encamped; but far worse, the sea wasps havelanded within a day's journey, and are scouring the country, joined bythe rogues and thieves of the province, and the people are flying withwhat goods they can collect to the places of refuge; if the noblestranger is wise he will follow," said the man, leaving the room to makepreparation for the departure of himself and family.
Of the places of refuge, of which the man spoke, there were many in theprovince of Leao-tong. Some were in the open plains, encompassed bystrong walls, and entrenched ditches of great depth; others were erectedupon the summits of mountain crags, and approachable only by greatladders, or secret steps in the rock.
Fearing for the safety of the princess, Nicholas lost no time insecuring the aid of the innkeeper, who, for a handsome present, and incompassion for the ladies, offered to secure them a safe asylum. So whenthe greater portion of the terrified inhabitants of the little hamlethad fled to their different places of refuge, taking with them the bulkof their property, the innkeeper, placing his wife and daughter in acart, led the way through a defile of the mountain, and many times washe stopped by his flying neighbors, who implored of him to seek a saferplace than the open mountains, where the rogues could so easily follow.Keeping steadily along the ridge, while they were in sight, the last hadno sooner disappeared than he turned through a great cleft, just largeenough for the cart and camel to pass, when, pointing to a crag whichhung over the summit, at a great height, he said, "The rogues will notreach us there."
"Are we birds, that we can fly?" said Chow, with astonishment.
When they had proceeded some distance through the opening, they came toanother and narrower cleft, cut out of its sides, to pass through whichthey were compelled to unharness the mules and camel, when they entereda wide, open space, like a courtyard.
"Even now we want wings, my brother," said Chow, shuddering, as he gazedupward at the great height.
"Our wings are here," said the man, turning aside what appeared to be ahuge block of rock, but was only an ingenious imitation, when beforethem there was a flight of steps, steep, and so narrow, that they lookedas if the ascent would squeeze a fat man a foot taller.
However, pleased at the discovery of such a place of refuge, they didnot stop to examine it, but passed onward; the princess first, and theother women followed by the men, who carried articles of food, fuel, orraiment with them. Having reached the uppermost step, they crept througha hole large enough only for one person, and found themselves in onelarge room, the roof of which was indeed the summit of the rock. In thewalls were small loopholes, from which could be seen many miles ofcountry; there was also a large space in one side for a fire, which wasimmediately made use of by Chow, who had carried the fuel. Then theguide was sent to fetch other matters, after which they all sat downupon their mats, and partook of hot tea and rice cakes.
"Truly this is a wonderful place," said Nicholas, who, although he kne
wthat places of refuge were common in all the frontier provinces, had nonotion of their real strength and security.
"See," said the man, pointing to some huge stones near the entrance, andsome heavy bars of iron hanging upon the walls, "should the dogsdiscover our retreat, they may be crushed as small as tea-dust."
"Truly they could but starve us out."
"Not so, noble youth," said the man pointing to a massive slab of rock;and adding, "This is a door and leads to another part of the mountain."
"Truly our ancestors were wise."
"Necessity made them so, O youth; for two thousand years this borderprovince has been invaded at intervals by the Tartar barbarians."
When night came on, the men of the party descended to the cavernbeneath, the women kept to the turret, and were rocked to sleep by theroaring wind, which brought to them the flame, smoke, and sparks, frombelow. They, however, were secure, although the enraged rogues had madea bonfire of their village--and they slept.