*CHAPTER XIII.*
*A THREATENING CALAMITY.*
And through all this J. Archibald Meigs slept placidly on. Presently aperfect roar of awe and dismay broke from thousands of word-boxes. Inthe midst of the hubbub the king could be seen waving his hands tocommand silence and attention. The glittering soldiers in the turretssounded a clarion warning and silence fell once more.
"Marvelous are the powers of these colossi!" cried the king withtrembling voice. "The sleeping thief receives my royal pardon; theoffense of his two friends, in attempting to succor him, is condoned.From now henceforth these three are my honored guests! Let all takeheed!"
I caught the professor's hand and gave it a fervent clasp.
"You saved our lives, professor," said I.
"Hardly," he returned, smiling. "It was the anti-gravity compound thatdid that. Now that we can inflate our lungs without catching ourbreath, suppose we waken Mr. Meigs."
On being aroused Meigs sat up and stared around at him. He was not longin picking up the trend of events where he had left off during thenight.
"Are they ready to--to kill us?" he asked, clasping his hands.
"They are not going to kill us, Mr. Meigs," answered the professor."The king has changed his mind, and we are now his honored guests."
"You don't mean it!" exclaimed the broker.
The professor replied that he did mean it, and went on to tell how theunexpected result had been accomplished. Before he had fairly finished,the king, clad in his robes of state and accompanied by a dozen membersof his household, could be seen approaching across the square.
Attendants followed the royal party, bearing basins of food, a chair onwhich his majesty could repose himself and a canopy to shield his augustperson from the reflected rays of the sun.
"The first thing you do, Quinn," said Meigs, while the royal party wasmaking itself comfortable, "tell the king I've got to have my clothes."
"Have patience, Mr. Meigs," answered the professor.
"Patience?" spluttered Meigs. "Merciful powers, man! How can I bepatient and cut such a figure as this?"
"Attend his majesty!" came from a word-box among the king's suite. "Ourgracious sovereign is about to speak."
Our close attention being secured, the king remarked:
"Now that these colossi have been spared they will need food. See thatit is given them."
This command was very satisfactory to me, for I was little short offamished. Presently our paddles were flying over the basins, and wewere breaking our fast in a way that made the king open his eyes.
The lord of the exchequer--a most important officer of state--drew nearhis majesty and said that if the kingdom was going to board us for anylength of time it would behoove them to till all the crown lands and getevery available acre into produce.
The king made answer that the little man with the beady eyes was awonder-worker; he had taken care of the executioner-general with a merewave of the hand, and no doubt he could, with a stamp of the foot,materialize as much food as he wanted and whenever he wanted.
The lord of the exchequer thereupon retired in much confusion.
In the midst of our repast we were startled by a voice behind us.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen! Out of your abundant store will you not have thegoodness to give me a few mouthfuls of food? I'm starving, literallystarving!"
"Markham!" cried Meigs, whirling around.
"Mr. Markham!" exclaimed the professor.
The food-trust magnate was fully clad, although his clothing showedsigns of much hard usage. His cheeks were sunken and pale, while hiseyes were round and abnormally bright. In his left hand was a metalplate, and in his right a small paddle.
Both Meigs and Quinn started toward Markham with the food that stillremained in their basins. The zet-ring, however, reared its intangiblebarrier between so that Markham could not so much as touch thereceptacles extended toward him.
It was pathetic to watch this one-time master of millions struggling toget the coveted food. He would throw himself at it and recoil tremblingfrom the mysterious force that had shocked and baffled him; he wouldsink to his knees or leap in the air, trying to reach above or below theinvisible barrier; and then he would dissemble, slink toward the basinsand make a sudden dash, as though the strong chemical was an enemy whomhe thought he could take off its guard.
At last he gave over and turned away with a despairing moan. Meigsfaced the king and began an angry outburst which the professor madehaste to interrupt.
"Your majesty," said Quinn, "this needy gentleman is also a friend ofours. Will you not supply his wants, or enable us to do so?"
"The indexograph informed me as to his character," answered the king,"and it is a law of the realm that punishment must fit the crime. Whenyour friend will truly acknowledge himself in the wrong his needs willbe plentifully supplied. Until that time he must beg his food fromhouse to house, morsel by morsel."
"And this other gentleman in the kirtle," proceeded the professor, "willyou not exercise a little clemency in his case?"
"I have already exercised a good deal of clemency," the king answered;"nor can I go any further until he also announces a change of heart."
Markham was as deaf to the word-boxes as was Meigs, and his majesty'swill was interpreted to them.
"I am not in the wrong!" declared Markham. "The principle involved is ofvital importance, and I will die for it, if need be."
"So will I," averred Meigs.
"We will eliminate your friends from our calculations for the present,"said the king. "Just now I would like to know what has become of myexecutioner-general."
"He is pinned to the roof of the under-world," said the professor.
"Can you bring him back?" asked the king, turning his eye aloft."Really, I don't see how we are to get along without him."
"Possibly I can return him to you," answered the professor. "I willtry, at least, providing you will grant a request I have to make."
This dallying with the royal prerogative was not well received by hismajesty, nor by those around him.
"What request would you make, in case I was inclined to receive it?"asked the king.
"I would have you bring out the Bolla and allow these two gentlemen totake it in their hands."
The king gave a start, and a look of consternation overspread the facesof those in his retinue.
"Where did you hear of the Bolla?" the king asked sharply.
"In the other kingdom, your majesty," the professor replied.
The king was silent a few moments.
"We will take that matter up later," said he finally. "From whence comeyou and your friends? That point has been bothering me for some littletime."
"We come from another planet which is called the Earth," said Quinn.
"Does the planet you speak of circle around our sun?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"Is it as large as Njambai?"
"Much larger, your majesty."
"And are all the creatures on Earth two-handed, as large as you, andable to communicate thoughts without a word-box?"
"The inhabitants of Earth are just as you see us. But they do not livebeneath the crust of the planet. The sun's rays are so tempered by thetime they reach the Earth that beings are able to live in comfort on theouter shell."
The king clapped two of his hands at this, and gave other evidence ofhis pleasure on the word-box.
"Most wonderful!" he exclaimed, and launched into a series of questionsconcerning the physical attributes of our mother planet and thecharacter and institutions of its people.
Quinn answered him fully, expatiating on the progress in arts andsciences already made by the Earth dwellers. The king's wonder grewinto awe and admiration. Rising from his chair he paced back and forthin front of us, thinking deeply.
"What sort of weapons have your people?" he inquired at last.
The professor described ou
r powder-and-shot machines to the best of hisability. The king was puzzled.
"Don't they know anything about zet on your native orb?" he inquired.
"No," answered the professor. "There is no zet in our atmosphere."
"Suppose a company of my soldiers were to land on Earth, fully equippedwith zetbais. Could they be resisted?"
Quinn shuddered.
"No, your majesty, they could not be resisted. With your wonderfulzetbais you could conquer and lay waste the entire planet. Candorcompels me to tell you this, knowing full well that such a result wouldnot be possible to you."
"Why impossible?" cried the king, with wild enthusiasm. "You and yourfriends must have come hither in that strange house which fell into thecrater. Why could I not load a company of my soldiers into the houseand go back with you?"
Then, and only then, did we see what this crack-brained monarch wasdriving at. Quinn was in trepidation over the outcome.
"Such a thing is not to be thought of!" he cried. "Your majesty, let mebeg you not to give your attention to such a quixotic project!"
"I am fully resolved!" exclaimed the king, striding up and down withclinched hands. "It is a very alluring picture you give me of thisplanet called Earth. I'll conquer it, annex it and own it."
He halted and raised his word-box.
"Ho, there, Olox!" he cried.
The high chief stepped forward and made the royal salaam of four hands.
"We are going forth to conquer the solar system, Olox," paid the king ina brisk, matter-of-fact way.
"Yes, your majesty," answered Olox, as readily as though the capturingof a planet or two was an every-day occurrence.
"You have overheard what this strange two-handed creature has beentelling me?" went on the king.
"Yes, your majesty."
"Trains that burn the black blocks and need not be hauled by hand!Green vegetation, laughing rivers and babbling brooks all on the outershell! Rich cities, stores of art and heaps of yellow gold! These, andmyriad other marvelous things are on the Earth, Olox, and guarded onlyby two-handed, five-fingered colossi, who have to load a tube of ironwith black powder and round missiles before they can attack their foes!"
The king threw back his head and laughed on the word-box. Taking a cuefrom the king, Olox also laughed, and so did the others.
"And these Earth dwellers can't even see in the dark!" rippled the kingwith contemptuous fingers.
"But they are large, your majesty," ventured the high chief.
"Large and therefore awkward; not quick like our people, Olox. Thezetbai is the key to the situation. We could girdle the green star ofthese colossi, devastate it and destroy all who sought to oppose us.That is what we shall do."
"It will be a noble campaign, your majesty."
"Noble? That is not the word, Olox. It will be stupendous! We'llmonopolize everything when we get there, my dear sir--everything we canget our hands on. And I guess we can get our hands on whatever thereis--zet will clear every obstacle out of our way."
The king looked at the theoretical side. Olox, naturally, had an eye tothe practical.
"What are your orders for the campaign, your majesty?" he asked.
"I shall leave a regent to look after Baigadd," said the king, "andmyself accompany the expedition. You will be the military head, Olox."
"Yes, your majesty. We are to go in the metal house?"
"It is the only thing we have to go in. The metal house was unhurt byits fall into the crater?"
"That appears to be the case, your majesty, strange as it may seem. Itfell into the kingdom right side up and----"
"The interior is in good condition?"
"Very good, your majesty."
"My orders to the effect that nothing should be removed from it havebeen carried out?"
"The executioner-general would have that tub of white pigment. Nothingelse has been taken from the house."
"Very good. How many of our people will the house contain comfortably?"
"I should say that fifty or more could dwell in it without muchinconvenience."
"Then select fifty soldiers, the flower of the Gaddbaizets. Among yourstores be sure you have a good supply of black kaka. I want some onewho is away up in ideographs to accompany the expedition as historian."
"It will be attended to, your highness."
The king turned and aimed his word-box at the professor.
"Is that tub of white pigment essential to the proper equipment of themetal house?" he asked.
"Very essential," replied Quinn.
Three weeks and more in the nether kingdoms had whitened usconsiderably, but the professor's face was now a sickly grayish color.
"Then I will have it taken back to the house," said the king.
He gave orders to that end at once, and the cart was laid hold of anddrawn out of the square and down the street, Olox accompanying it.
"I had no idea," the king drummed on his word-box, "that there were anypeople in the solar system with so much wealth and so little power withwhich to guard it. I've got the other three kingdoms of Njambai prettywell under my thumb, and the regent I leave behind to boss things willhave an easy time of it. Quite possibly I may conclude not to come backto Njambai. This other star has natural advantages which we do not seemto have here, and may prove a more comfortable place in which to live."
Professor Quinn was shivering, like a man with an ague. He proceeded touse his talk-machine, and the words shook under his unsteady fingers.
"What you are thinking of, your majesty," ran the professor's words, "isonly the wildest of dreams."
"I have had dreams before, and wild ones," the king's word-box rattledoff complacently, "and I have made them come true. It shall be the samewith this. I am a conqueror, and I come of a line of conquerors."
"There are millions upon millions of people on our planet," persistedthe professor, despairingly. "They could hurl these countless numbersagainst you faster than you could slay them with your zetbais."
Key 7 of the royal word-box gave a screech of contempt.
"Suppose we draw a line of zet," the box added, when the derision haddied out, "imprison groups of those countless numbers and then wipe themout by detachments? How would that work?"
"The atmosphere of Earth is different from that of Mercury," continuedthe professor. "You cannot draw zet from the air of our planet."
"Thanks for the hint," replied the king. "We will take an ample supplywith us and charge the atmosphere with it. Then we shall have a storeat hand whenever the need develops."
While the king was using his word-box with two of his hands, he wasrubbing the other two together with ill-concealed delight.
"Conditions there are absolutely unknown to you, your majesty,"persisted the professor in a frantic endeavor to turn the king from hisdesigns. "You will be brought face to face, at every turn, withsituations that will puzzle you and be fraught with danger. All thenations of the Earth will combine against you."
"Let them combine!" was the monarch's answer. "I hope they will displaysufficient strength to make the campaign exciting. I will capture thisEarth of yours and rule over it! From one end of it to the other I willmake it mine! I have long felt that Njambai was too small for theproper exercise of my wide abilities."
"This is your world," the professor thumped angrily on his word-box,"and you have no right to meddle with any other planet."
That caused the king to turn his keen eye on the professor, and to keepit there for a full minute.
"I have the right to do whatever I see fit," snapped his talk machine."There is no will in this kingdom but mine, and no other will in thefour kingdoms, if I choose to have it so. But why are you saying suchthings on your word-box? After firing me with a kingly ambition tocapture and annex a distant planet, why do you proceed to throwdiscouragement in my way? Ha! I wonder if you have been telling me thetruth?"
"Your majesty," hummed the professor's talk machine, with dignity,
"I amnot in the habit of making misstatements."
"We'll find out whether you are or not," came from the king. "This isan important matter, and I shall take no man's word for anything. Ho,there!" and the word-box was leveled at some of the retainers; "bring anindexograph, varlets! We will settle this question of veracity here andnow."
Some of the retainers scurried away and vanished inside the palace.Presently they reappeared with the indexograph.
The professor was backward in facing the test--strangely backward, as Ithought, for a man so clear-minded and conscientious.
"The test is not necessary," he demurred.
"Your actions are far from being open and aboveboard," remarked theking. "You must submit."
The royal eye was on the machine as the professor was tried out. Theideograph told of a truthful mind, sadly perturbed. The royal word-boxchattered mirthfully.
"You are afraid I can accomplish my purpose!" laughed his majesty. "Youare worried about your planet! Such a state of mind merely enhances mydetermination, for you, if I mistake not, are a clever man. You wouldnot feel worried if you did not believe I could accomplish what I havein mind. But be at peace, my dear sir. You shall in nowise suffer. Iwill make you ruler of one of the captured kingdoms."
This was no lure for the professor. He maintained an attitude ofdignified silence, watching the king with steady eyes.
"A wise general," went on his majesty, "always looks over his ground, aswell as he may, before going out to battle. That will be advisable inthe case of my present campaign."
"What do you mean by that, your majesty?" queried the professor.
"To-night," explained the king, again, "we shall mount to the uppercrust and make a reconnoissance of this orb I am to subjugate."
"Have you any astronomical instruments?" asked Quinn.
"None whatever," replied the king. "Have you?"
"There is an instrument in the steel car which will bring the planetTerra much nearer to us than the naked eye could do."
"What is it? Describe the instrument to me and I will have it broughtout for our night's work."
The professor described the telescope, and the king dispatched amessenger after Olox in hot haste, with supplementary orders. Thereuponthe king bade us farewell and left the square, followed by his suite.
As I stood watching the royal party out of sight, I heard a gurglinggroan behind me. Facing about I saw the professor reeling unsteadily;the next moment I had caught him in my arms and saved him a fall.