XXVII
DOOMSDAY
Prosper's start upon Piers Minor and Nanna had been a short one, andunder ordinary circumstances he could hardly have retained hisadvantage. But in her nervous confusion Nanna made two wrong turns, andso many precious moments were wasted.
A quarter of a mile away from the citadel they were halted by the soundof a heavy explosion. Piers Minor spoke his astonishment frankly.
"Thunder on a cool night in May! Who ever heard of such a thing?"
"It is the voice of the Shining One," said Nanna to herself, and hurriedon the faster.
"Yet the lightning must have struck somewhere," persisted Piers Minor,"for the sky is red. There! look for yourself."
Half a dozen blocks away to the westward they could see flames shootingfrom the windows of a warehouse. Its contents must have been highlycombustible, for they were burning like chaff in a furnace draught. Asthey stood and watched the conflagration a second explosion occurred,and so close at hand that the ground seemed to rock beneath their feet.And with that Nanna's heart grew faint within her, for now she knewcertainly that they were too late. The Shining One had spoken, and Doomwas falling.
Piers Minor looked at his companion with troubled eyes. What was thisdevil's work?
"The Shining One," she whispered, and clung to his arm. "See how histongues of fire lick up the dust of Doom."
"But who is the Shining One?" demanded the young man, wonderingly.
"Listen!"
Deep under the crackling of the flames vibrated the diapason of thegreat dynamo. Piers Minor turned pale.
"He speaks," whispered the girl. "And now look, look!"
A little distance away stood one of the ancient telegraph-poles carryinga tangled mass of wire ends. The pole had been swaying dangerously inthe rising gale; now with a loud crack it broke off close to the groundand fell so that the wires were brought into naked contact with a coppercable suspended on the opposite side of the street. Instantly the "dead"wires awoke to life, spluttering and hissing like a bunch of snakes; acataract of yellow-blue sparks poured from the broken ends.
"The tongues of fire," said Nanna. "You may have seen them devour asingle tree in the forest or suck out a man's life with a touch, butto-night they are hungry and they are eating up the world."
A terrifying conclusion that was not so far away from the truth. Duringthe last few minutes the area of the conflagration had increasedtremendously and the whole central portion of the city, including theCitadel Square, was now a vast furnace in which no life could possiblyexist. For the moment the general direction of the wind had shifted, andthe flames were not bearing down so rapidly as before upon the twofugitives. They would be in comparative safety for some time yet unlessthe gale veered back to its former quarter.
"We can never get through to the north," said Piers Minor.
"There is no necessity," returned Nanna. "I know of a wharf on theLesser river where the shad-fishers keep their boats. We can reach itfrom here in a quarter of an hour."
"Good," said Piers Minor, and waited for her to lead the way. Then, asshe still held back, he went on, impatiently, "The wind may change atany moment, and it is foolish to wait."
"It is my sister," explained the girl. "She is here in the city--aprisoner----" Her voice shook and failed her.
"But what can we do?" asked the young man. "You do not even know--inQuinton Edge's house, you say? But that is a mile or more away, and theroad is already blocked. It is impossible."
"Yes, I know, but suppose there should be a chance--the hand that hasmoved the Shining One to strike, may it not be lifted again to repairthe evil?"
"I do not understand," said Piers Minor.
And thereupon Nanna described as clearly as she could the part thatProsper, the priest, had played in the impending tragedy. Surely hemight be prevailed upon to avert the judgment from the innocent. He whohad released the flames could as easily restrain them. Or, at least,Arcadia House might be spared.
"But where are we to find him?"
Nanna pointed down the street. "There--in the House of Power."
"Come," he said, and they went on quickly.
At the entrance to the temple of the Shining One they stopped andlistened. The air was all tremulous with the hum of the rapidlyrevolving dynamos, the thud of the reciprocating machinery, and thegrinding of the badly lubricated shafting.
Piers Minor knew that he was horribly afraid, but for very shame hecould not hold back. Together they stole a little way within the vaultedentrance and listened again. Nothing but the roar of the machinery. Thevast hall would have been in utter darkness save for the glare of theconflagration; as it was, they could see clearly that there was nobodywithin.
"The little room beyond," said Nanna, and shivered. These were forbiddensights for a woman's eyes, and the god would be very angry. Yet it mustbe done. They joined hands like two children and went forward.
Now they stood, wondering, within the little room with its low ceilingand bare white walls. Could it be that so great a god as the Shining Onecould dwell here? An empty room, save for the oak chair standing in themiddle of the floor and that curious-appearing board fixed against thewall, with its multiplicity of keys, knobs, and levers. That was all,and yet a vague terror laid its hand upon them; they remained motionlessand speechless.
Something, some one had entered the room--slow footsteps and the rustleof trailing garments. Then the sound of a lever snapped to itsconnecting points, and the great, shining face flamed out of thedarkness. In his intense absorption, the old priest saw nothing of thetwo who also waited there. Advancing to the centre of the room, he stoodand looked upon the countenance of the Shining One, while a man mightcount twoscore. Then he spoke, slowly and hesitatingly, as one whoexcuses himself of grievous fault:
"Let the Shining One be content--it is accomplished. And now, O father,have mercy. For the sins of thy people--a sacrifice----"
With unfaltering step he walked to the great chair and seated himself.Then, in a clear voice, "Lord--if indeed thou art lord----" There wasthe click of a switch-key; the man's body half rose from its seat andsank back again.
Piers Minor felt the girl's dead weight thrown suddenly upon him."Nanna!" he cried, and she responded bravely, fighting with all herstrength against the inflowing tide of faintness. One forward step,taken with infinite precaution, and then another. The stillness remainedunbroken.
The great chair stood with its back towards them, and they could not seethe seated figure. But Piers Minor caught one glimpse of a hand grippedhard upon the chair arm, and he saw that it was burned hard and black asa coal. Now the door was within reach and they passed out. In the littleroom, Prosper, the priest, sat upon the knees of the Shining One, andthe great, white face looked down upon him.
* * * * *
Not an instant too soon had Piers Minor and Nanna reached the openstreet. The wind had shifted back to the northwest, and the fire,breaking out in one place after another from the gale-scattered brands,was coming down upon them in great bounds, as though it were somegigantic beast of prey. A suffocating smoke choked their throats andnostrils; they could neither speak nor breathe. Then, by the mercy ofGod, a fierce counter-current drove the smoke back a little way; theyran at full speed towards the south-east. Now they stopped an instant torefill their panting lungs, then on again, for the air about them wasfull of flying sparks that stung the unprotected flesh and even burnedholes in their clothing of stout woollen. On and on, till their headsfelt light as a child's toy balloon and the blood in their ears poundedlike a mill-wheel. Piers Minor stumbled and fell.
"I am blind," he gasped. "Leave me." But Nanna would not give over,tugging at the man's weight until she had him to his feet again, with aconvenient railing at his back. She picked up some water from the gutterwith her hands held cup-wise, and dashed the liquid in his face. PiersMinor straightened up, and from his eyes the darkness cleared away.
"Courage!" she said, and he smiled b
ack at her.
There was the shining of the river; now they could see the pier and theboats of the shad-fishers lying alongside. Piers Minor cast off thelargest and most seaworthy-looking of the lot, and, without troubling tobail out the standing water, he brought the craft broadside to the wharfand held out his hand to Nanna. But she, looking to the northward, wherethe gilded cupola of Arcadia House shone out against the sky, neithermoved nor spoke.
"Come," he said.
The girl turned. "She is there," she said, and pointed to the north. "Imust go to her--my little sister."
Piers Minor swung himself up on the wharf and seized her.
"You shall not," he said.
She tried to wrench herself free; she struck him full in the face. ButPiers Minor only smiled grimly and held on the tighter. And then, to hisastonishment, this tiger-cat became suddenly metamorphosed into a dove.Her breast heaved, and she turned her head away; he knew that she wasweeping just like any other woman. Whereat Piers Minor smiled again, butnot grimly, and held her a little closer.
"Listen," he said, and forced her gently to look at him. "It isimpossible to reach Arcadia House; even now the fire is there beforeyou. You must believe that Constans received the message and was able toget there in time. Believe it, because it is I who tell you."
She did believe, but, being a woman, she hesitated again--at the verybrink of surrender.
"Let me go," she said, in a low tone, and Piers Minor was so astonishedthat he immediately complied, and stood looking at her helplessly. Butwhen, coloring like a rose and with downcast eyes, she would have passedhim, the masculine instinct of possession awoke again; he barred the waydeterminedly.
A little distance away an enormous brick storehouse was burningfiercely. A tremendous explosion threw a roof bodily into the air; ashower of incandescent particles descended and drove directly at thefugitives. Nanna felt herself lifted bodily off her feet and swept witha rush down the wharf. One little gulp of regret for her lostindependence and she yielded--deliciously. The boat rocked from side toside, then it shot out upon the open river.
Piers Minor had stopped rowing, for the sparks no longer fell aboutthem. The spectacle of the burning city was a magnificent one. Theinverted bowl of the sky shone as though it were made of copper, and thegale had flattened out the flames horizontally so that they resembledthe flying masses of a woman's unbound hair.
Nanna's eyes filled with tears.
"It was my world," she said, softly, "the only one I knew."
"Nanna!" said Piers Minor. She let her hand rest in his, and the boatfloated on.