Prisoners of Chance

  CHAPTER XXVII

  A VENTURE IN THE DARK

  It is occasion for deep regret that I was so blind to my opportunitiesfor learning much relative to this strange people. During those hoursof trial my thoughts were so occupied with our own dangers, it wasmerely incidentally I considered anything else. No small temptationnow assails me to record many things I believe true, things I remembervaguely; but I pass the temptation by, determined to write only what Imay vouch for as of my own observation.

  I remained silent, leaning against the wall and making vigorous use ofmy pipe, a long time after De Noyan fell peacefully asleep. While thefast fading daylight clung dimly to the interior, my eyes were fastenedupon his upturned face, almost boyish in the unconsciousness of repose,and I began to feel pity for his weakness, my anger against him fadingaway. As the darkness became pronounced I remained there still, mysleepless eyes paying small heed to night, the scenes I saw being ofthe brain, memory awakening to paint with glowing colors across theblack screen. The evening was quiet,--within, no more was heard thanthe regular breathing of my companion; without, an occasional savageoutcry, mingled with the low moaning of the night wind.

  It became a lonely vigil, my thoughts unhappy. I had much to reflectupon. The extreme difficulty of our present situation, encompassed andseparated as we were: De Noyan was bewitched by a siren who had alreadybound him by silken cords to any nefarious scheme her unscrupulousdesires might compass; Cairnes was as helplessly entangled in herpower, although held to his fate by ropes of a different nature; whileMadame was scarcely less a prisoner, powerless to escape the ruthlessgrasp of a false-hearted woman whose jealousy might at any instant leadto measures of extremity. I alone of all our little company remainedsomewhat my own master. My hands and heart at least were free from allvisible bonds. Yet what hideous mockery was such freedom! I realizedthat I could venture no step beyond the door of the lodge withoutbecoming the focus of spying eyes; that all about was evidence of thedespotic power of this renegade white queen, who deigned to spare memerely because she deemed I was utterly powerless to interfere with hercruel purposes. Saint Andrew! it was an environment of evil to chillthe blood of any man, nor amid its gathering gloom could I distinguishany gleam promising dawn. About us watched impatiently a horde ofruthless savages, eager to make us victims of their torture, held backtemporarily only by the imperious will of this self-styled "Daughter ofthe Sun," who ruled through appeal to their grossest superstitions.She, I believed, in spite of fair face and evidences of culture, was asvindictive, barbarous, and relentless as the wildest in that savageband.

  Over and over I turned such unhappy thoughts in my seething brain,until the faintest sound from without had died away. I may have spenthours thus, while De Noyan slept on peacefully as a tired child. Atlast a wild desire for action overcame my lassitude, conquered alllingering discretion. There arose before me, clearly as a paintedpicture, the pleading face of her I loved. I knew that to no other wasshe looking for aid in her despair. There might be little I couldaccomplish for her succor, yet it would bring her new courage even toexchange a brief word with some faithful friend, as proof that she wasnot forgotten. Besides, I longed, as no expression can make clear, togaze again, if only for an instant, into her clear gray eyes, to listento the gentle murmur of her trustful voice. In brief, I was in themood for a desperate venture.

  I crept to the open door, peering cautiously forth into the darkness.It was a heavy night, the little basin was wrapped in shadow, and noteven a star peeped forth from the rifts of low-scudding clouds. In nodirection could I distinguish any twinkling of lights except a singlefitful flash from off the altar, where black-robed priests guarded thesacred fire or worshipped before the Puritan. Encouraged by thedarkness I crept along the outer wall, unchallenged by the skulkingguard, and finally attained the upper corner. Here I observed a secondglimmer, which I instantly recognized as coming from the other greathouse upon the summit of the mound--that house in which I understooddwelt Queen Naladi, and where De Noyan said his wife remained prisoner.

  I scarcely know what I hoped to accomplish by such a move, yet helpfulcircumstances are apt to develop when one attempts boldly to do his ownpart the best he may. It was in blind faith I crept forward throughthe dry grass, drawing ever closer toward that beckoning light. It wasa long journey and a slow one, as the tribe would guard vigilantly thedwelling-place of their Queen. At every rustle in the grass, everyflap of wing overhead, I paused, listening to the pounding of my heart.

  I clasped closely in one hand the knife, my sole weapon of defence,and, as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom and could distinguishsome things more clearly, I paused often, with uplifted head, to studysome indistinct object in the darkness. Thus advancing inch by inch,avoiding with care the least rustling of dry grass, I wriggledsnake-like forward, until I began breasting the steeper incline of themound, its summit now outlined against the lighter space of overarchingsky.

  All my rage deserted me when again in the open, actually attempting toachieve a purpose. My brain cleared as by magic, every nerve steadyingitself to meet whatsoever peril might be lurking along the path.Half-way up the mound I lay close to the earth, peering steadilythrough the gloom. There was no cover to crouch behind, the slopebeing totally bare of vegetation except for the short, dry grass, yet Ifelt reasonably secure from observation unless I entered that bar oflight. Unable to do more than guess, I concluded that the singleflame, splitting the night like the shining blade of a sword, came fromthe northern compartment, while the southern half remained wrapped insilent darkness. Outwardly this Queen's residence was constructed muchlike the building used by the priests as a temple. In the latter Irecalled two entrances opening respectively toward east and west. Werea partition run between, as in this private dwelling, the eastern doorwould open into the southern apartment. It was the west door throughwhich the light streamed, and, daring approach it no closer, my onlyrecourse lay in trying my fortune on the opposite side.

  I began a winding advance along the sloping side of the hill, but sanksuddenly to earth as a spectral figure moved forth from the darkness,stood a moment in the bright glare, and then strode past, vanishingwithin the gloom like a shadow. It was an Indian, spear in hand, oneof the body-guard of the Queen. With renewed caution, my imminentdanger being manifest, I barely lifted my head from the level of thegrass, and began to work onward, reaching out until I got firm grasp ona bunch of grass, then drawing my body forward the full extent of myarms. The progress was slow, involving much labor, and it required afull half-hour to attain the other side of the mound. I could now lookabove, perceiving nothing except the black shadow of the house. IfEloise was within, and if this door led to her prison, it was scarcelypossible that it was unguarded. Naladi had special reasons for lookingcarefully after the safe keeping of this captive, and was not likely toforget. I discovered no outward signs of life, but was too thoroughlyversed in wilderness ways to count upon that, knowing that each darkshadow along the wall might conceal some crouching stealthy figure,ready to pounce forth. With utmost care, anxiously scanning the silenthillside, I drew myself forward, hardly venturing upon a full breath,until I finally rested on my breast barely three paces from where Ibelieved the entrance must be.

  I dreaded any attempt to advance into the unknown, yet I had nointention of withdrawing until I had accomplished that end for which Icame. To retreat was foreign to my nature; indeed, I was now so closeto Eloise, it required an effort of will to restrain a desire to rushblindly forward. But long training overcame this rash impulse. Irested there, silent as a savage, seeking to trace each detail of whatwas barely beyond my hand. It was little enough I could distinguish,straining my eyes to the utmost; and finally, despairing of learningmore, I advanced my hands, silently groping for something to grasp,when I was instantly frozen into a recumbent statue by a slightmovement of something directly in front. This was so faint that, hadnot my every nerve been tense, I should scarcely have noted
it at all.Yet there could be no doubt--some one had given a slight shiver, asthough from the chill of the night air; whoever it might be, the personwas not three paces from my out-stretched hands, and, as near as Icould judge, must be sitting on the very threshold of the entrance.

  I was in an awkward position. How I had succeeded in arriving therewithout attracting attention was little short of miraculous. I durstnot venture on any retrograde movement; I even pressed my mouth againstthe hard earth, the better to deaden the sound of breathing. I knownot how long I remained thus; it was until my strained muscles appearedto cord themselves, and I could scarcely keep back a moan of pain. Yetno other sound came from that mysterious presence. Intently as Ilistened, not so much as the faint sound of breathing reached me.Still I could not have been deceived; there assuredly had beenmovement; I distinctly felt a consciousness of other presence, so thatevery nerve tingled, and it required the utmost self-control to hold mestill. I fairly throbbed with insane impulses to leap forward andsolve the mystery.

  Who could be lurking there in such silence? It must assuredly be anenemy, a guard stationed to watch over the fair prisoner within;doubtless, he would remain until relieved by some other. What hope forsuccessful advance held me in such agony of mind and body? I felt thatI must relieve my cramped limbs or else scream aloud in spite of everyeffort at control. Slowly I drew back, my outspread hands searchingfor some hummock of grass against which I might press, to force my bodysilently downward, but discovered none. Then there sounded, slightlyto my left, the soft rustle of a moccasoned foot, and a low, gutturalvoice muttered some indistinct sentences. The lurking form in my frontappeared to rise, and there was a brief grunt as if in response tocommand. Then a huge warrior stalked past so close that his moccasonedfoot planted itself fairly between my outstretched arms. Instantly hefaded away within the enveloping gloom, and with hardly the hesitationof a moment I was on hands and knees creeping toward my goal. Withgroping fingers I touched the riven trunk that formed the threshold,and, reaching upward, noted with a thrill of delight that merely aheavy curtain of woven straw guarded the interior. There was no timefor hesitancy; at any instant the savage guard might return to hisdeserted post. Pushing the slight barrier noiselessly aside, I gainedthe interior, dropped the mat behind me, and, for the first time,ventured to pause and survey my surroundings.

  The single partition did not extend to the roof by a foot or more, sosufficient light found passage through the narrow aperture to renderdimly visible the principal features of this apartment into which I hadventured. It was evidently a sleeping-chamber, handsomely furnished inbarbaric fashion, the faint light gleaming on numerous burnishedornaments, while a carpet of soft skins concealed the floor. To this Igave brief attention, my anxious glance falling almost instantly uponthe draped figure of a woman, vaguely defined in the dimness, lyingoutstretched on a slightly raised cushioned couch, her face concealedby the denser shadows of the wall, sound asleep.

  Cautiously I crept forward, hesitating to touch her lest so sudden anawakening might cause alarm. It seemed safer to trust in speech, asthen she would recognize at once who was by her side.

  "Madame," I whispered softly, my lips as close as possible to her tinyear, "I seek brief word with you to-night."

  She must have slept lightly, for at my faint whisper I perceived thather wide-opened eyes were scrutinizing my face.

  "'Tis I, Madame, Geoffrey Benteen. I beg you make no noise."

  "You need have no fear," returned a soft voice in purest Spanish. "Youdo me honor by so unexpected a visit; I bid you welcome, GeoffreyBenteen."