The People Of The Mist: Chapter 33

Chapter 33

TRAPPED

It will be remembered that some hours before Otter found himself in
the light of day, after his conquest of the reptile god, Leonard found
himself in a very difference place, namely, in a secret passage bearing
the senseless form of Juanna in his arms, and being guided by Soa,
whither he knew not.

On they went through various tunnels, of the turnings of which Leonard
tried to keep count in his mind, till at length Soa ushered him into a
rock-hewn cell that evidently had been prepared for their reception,
for on one side of it stood a bed covered with skin blankets, and on the
other a table provided with the best food that the country could offer.
At a sign from Soa he laid Juanna down upon the bed, whereon the woman
instantly threw a blanket over her, so as to hide her face from the
eyes of the curious. Then, of a sudden Leonard felt himself seized from
behind, and while his arms were held by two of the priests, a third,
under Soa's direction, removed his revolver and hunting knife, which
weapons were carried away.

"You treacherous hag!" said Leonard to Soa, "be careful lest I kill
you."

"To kill me, Deliverer, would be to kill yourself and another. These
things are taken from you because it is not safe that you should have
them; such toys are not for angry children. Stay," she said to a fourth
priest, "search his pockets."

The man did as he was ordered, placing everything that Leonard had about
him, such as his watch, Francisco's notebook and rosary, and the great
ruby stone, in a little pile upon the table. Presently he came to the
fragment of poison which was wrapped in a square of kid-skin. Soa took
it, and after examination said:

"Why, Deliverer, you have been borrowing medicine that will bring you
bad luck if you keep it," and going to a small aperture in the wall of
the cell, she threw the tiny packet out of it, and after it a second
packet which Leonard recognised as having been taken from Juanna's hair.

"There, now you cannot hurt yourself," she added in Portuguese. "Let me
tell you something: so long as you remain quiet all will be well, but
if you attempt violence or escape, then you shall be bound and placed by
yourself, also you will bring about the death of the Shepherdess yonder.
Be warned then by me, White Man, and turn gentle, for remember that my
day has come at last and you are in my power."

"That is very clear, my estimable friend," answered Leonard, controlling
his wrath as best he might. "But for your sake I hope that the hour will
never come when you shall be in mine, for then I may remember more than
you wish. I do not in the least understand what you are aiming at, nor
do I much care so long as a certain person is protected."

"Do not fear, Deliverer, she shall be protected. As you know well, I
hate you, and yet I keep you alive because without you she might die;
therefore, for her sake be careful. Attempt no violence towards me or my
father if we visit you alone, for we shall do so in order that she may
not be discovered, and the moment that you lift a hand against us will
be the beginning of her doom. And now I must leave you for a while,
for something passes in the temple which I desire to see. If she awakes
before I return, be careful not to frighten her. Farewell!"

Then Soa went taking the priests with her, and the massive timber door
was closed upon them.

After he had restored his various belongings to his pockets, the
revolver and the knife which had been removed excepted, Leonard turned
down the rug and looked at Juanna, who appeared to be plunged in a deep
and happy sleep, for there was a smile upon her face. Next he examined
the place where they were confined. It had two doors, that by which they
had entered and a second of equal solidity. The only other opening was
the slit out of which Soa had dropped the poison. It was shaped like an
inverted loophole, the narrow end facing inward. This aperture attracted
Leonard's attention, both on account of its unusual form and because
of the sounds that reached him through it. Of these, the first and
most pervading was a noise of rushing water. Then after a while he
distinguished a roar as of a multitude shouting, that was repeated again
and again at intervals. Now he knew where they must be. They were hidden
away in the rock of the temple, somewhere in the immediate neighbourhood
of the raging pool that lay in front of the colossus, and these sounds
which he heard were the clamour of the people who watched the fate of
Otter and Francisco.

This conviction was terrible enough, but had he known that, as it
entered his mind, the body of his friend the priest was travelling on
its last journey within four feet of his eyes, Leonard might have been
even more prostrated than he was.

For an hour or more the shouting continued, then followed a silence
broken only by the everlasting murmur of the waters without.

When Soa departed she had left a fragment of dip made of goat-fat
burning upon the floor, but very soon this expired, leaving them in
darkness. Now, however, light began to flow into the dungeon through the
slit in the rock, and it seemed to Leonard that the character of this
light was clearer than that to which they had been accustomed in this
gloomy land.

After a while Leonard sat down upon a stool, which he placed close to
Juanna's bed, just where the beam of light pierced the shadows,
and groaned aloud in the bitterness of his heart. It was over; the
pure-hearted martyr, Francisco, was dead, and with him Otter, his
faithful friend and servant. Except Soa, who had become an active
enemy, at least so far as he was concerned, of all who travelled to this
hellish country Juanna and he alone were left alive, and sooner or later
fate must overtake them also. The greatest and last failure of his life
was about to be consummated, and he would go down into a nameless
grave, there to be lost, having for many years suffered and toiled to no
purpose, pursuing a chimera.

Juanna still slept heavily under the influence of the drug, and he was
glad of it, for when she woke it must be to a worse misery than any
that had gone before. Partly for something to do, and partly because
the cravings of nature made themselves felt even through his sorrows,
Leonard turned to the table and ate and drank of the viands there,
though not without fear that they might be doctored. As the food took
effect upon him some share of hope and courage entered into his heart,
for it is a true saying that a full stomach makes a brave man. After all
they two still breathed and were unharmed in body, nor was it absolutely
certain that they would be called upon to give up the ghost at present.
This was much.

Moreover, he had lived long enough to win the love of the fearless
and beautiful girl who slept beside him, and though perhaps under such
circumstances love, however true and passionate, ceases to occupy a
commanding place in a man's heart, even then he felt that this was more,
and that happier days might dawn when it would be, if not everything, at
least most of all.

As he thought thus, he saw colour creep into Juanna's pale face; then
she sighed, opened her eyes, and sat up.

"Where am I?" she said, glancing round wildly. "This is not the bed on
which I lay down. Oh!" she started, "is it over?"

"Hush, dear, hush! I am with you," said Leonard, taking her hand.

"So I see. But where are the others, and what is this dreadful place?
Are we buried alive, Leonard? It looks like a tomb."

"No, we are only prisoners. Come, eat and drink something, and then I
will tell you the story."

She rose to obey him, and for the first time her eyes fell upon the robe
she wore.

"Why, this is Francisco's! Where is Francisco?"

"Eat and drink," he repeated.

She did his bidding mechanically, watching his face the while with
wondering and frightened eyes.

"Now," she said, "tell me. I can bear this no longer. Where are
Francisco and Otter?"

"Alas! Juanna, they are dead," he answered solemnly.

"Dead," she wailed, wringing her hand. "Francisco dead! Why then are we
still live?"

"Have courage and listen, Juanna. After you went to sleep in the palace,
Soa came to us with a plan which we accepted."

"What was the plan?" she asked hoarsely.

Twice he strove to tell her and twice he failed--the words would not
come.

"Go on. Why do you torment me?"

"It was this, Juanna: that Francisco should be dressed in the robe of
Aca, and offered up with Otter in your place, while you were hidden
away."

"Has it been done?" she whispered.

"I believe so," Leonard replied, bowing his head to his breast. "We are
prisoners in a secret cell beneath the feet of the statue. There has
been great noise and confusion without, and now for some time silence."

Then Juanna sprang up and stood over him with flashing eyes.

"How dared you do this?" she said. "Who gave you leave to do it? I
thought that you were a man, now I see that you are a coward."

"Juanna," said Leonard, "it is useless for you to talk like this.
Whatever was done was done for your sake, not for that of anybody else."

"Oh, yes, you say so, but I believe that you made a plot with Soa to
murder Francisco in order that you might save your own life. I have done
with you. I will never speak to you again."

"You can please yourself about that," answered Leonard, who by now was
thoroughly enraged, "but I am going to speak to you. Look here, you have
said words to me for which, were you a man, I would do my best to be
avenged upon you. But as you are a woman I can only answer them, and
then wash my hands of you. As you must know, or will know when you come
to your right mind, I would gladly have taken Francisco's place. But it
was impossible, for had I attempted to dress myself up in the robe of
Aca, I should instantly have been discovered, and _you_ would have paid
the price of my folly. We all knew this, and after we had consulted,
things were arranged as I have told you. I only consented to your being
brought here on the condition that I was allowed to accompany you for
your protection. Now I wish that I had left it alone and gone with
Francisco, then perhaps I should have found peace instead of bitter
words and reproaches. However, do not be afraid, for I think it probable
that I shall soon follow him. I know that you were very fond of this
man--this hero--and also, either by accident or design, that you had
succeeded in making him a great deal too fond of you for his peace of
mind; therefore I make excuses for your conduct, which, with all such
deductions, still remains perfectly intolerable."

He paused and looked at her as she sat on the edge of the couch, biting
her lip and glancing towards him now and again with a curious expression
on her beautiful face, in which grief, pride, and anger all had their
share. Yet at that moment Juanna was thinking not of Francisco and his
sacrifice, but of the man before her whom she had never loved so well
as now, when he spoke to her thus bitterly, paying her back in her own
coin.

"I cannot pretend to match you in scolding and violence," she said,
"therefore I will give up argument. Perhaps, however, when _you_ come
to your right mind, you will remember that my life is my own, and that I
gave nobody permission to save it at the cost of another person's."

"What is done, is done," answered Leonard moodily, for his anger had
burnt out. "Another time I will not interfere without your express wish.
By the way, my poor friend asked me to give you these," and he handed
her the rosary and the notebook; "he has written something for you to
read on the last sheet of the journal, and he bade me say that, should
you live to escape, he hoped that you will wear these in memory of him,"
and he touched the beads, "and also that you would not forget him in
your prayers."

Juanna took the journal, and holding it to the light, opened it at
hazard. The first thing that she saw was her own name, for in truth it
contained, among many other matters, a record of the priest's unhappy
infatuation from the first moment of their meeting, and also of his
pious efforts to overcome it. Turning the pages rapidly she came to the
last on which there was any writing. It ran as follows:

"Senora, of the circumstances under which I write these words you will
learn in due course. The pages of this journal, should you deign to
study them, will reveal to you my shameful weakness. But if I am a
priest I am also a man--who soon shall be neither, but, as I hope,
an immortal spirit--and the man in me, following those desires of the
spirit that find expression through the flesh, has sinned and loved you.
Forgive me this crime, as I trust it will be forgiven elsewhere, though
myself I cannot pardon it. Be happy with that noble gentleman who has
won your heart and who himself worships you as you deserve. May you be
protected from all the dangers that now surround you, as I think you
will, and may the blessing of Heaven be with you and about you for
many peaceful years, till at length you come to the peace that passeth
understanding! And when from time to time you think of me, may you in
your heart couple my name with certain holy words: 'Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' Senora,
pardon me and farewell."

Juanna read this touching and noble-hearted adieu with an ever-growing
wonder, and when she had finished it, put down the book crying aloud,

"Oh! what have I done to deserve such devotion as this?" Then with a
strange and bewildering inconsequence she flung herself into Leonard's
arms, and burying her head upon his breast she began to weep.

When she was somewhat calmer he also read the letter and closed the
book, saying:

"The world is poorer by a perfect gentleman. He was too good for any of
us, Juanna."

"I think so," she answered.

Just then they heard a sound without the door; it opened, and Nam
entered accompanied by Soa.

"Deliverer," said the aged priest, whose countenance and troubled eyes
bore traces of many conflicting emotions, "and you, Shepherdess, I come
to speak with you. As you see, I am alone, except for this woman, but
should you attempt any violence towards her or me, that will be the
signal for your deaths. With much toil and at no little risk to myself
I have spared the life of the Shepherdess, causing the white man, your
companion, to be offered up in her place."

"Has that offering been accomplished?" broke in Leonard, who could not
restrain his anxiety to learn what had happened.

"I will be frank with you, Deliverer," answered the high-priest, when
Juanna had translated his question, "since the truth cannot hurt me, for
now we know too much of one another's secrets to waste time in bandying
lies. I know, for instance, that the Shepherdess and the dwarf are
no gods, but mortal like ourselves; and you know that I have dared to
affront the true gods by changing the victim whom they had chosen. The
sacrifice has been accomplished, but with so many signs and wonders that
I am bewildered; the People of the Mist are bewildered also, so that
none know what to think. The white man, your companion, was hurled
fainting into the waters when the dawn had broken upon the mountain and
was seen to be grey; but the dwarf, your servant, did not wait to have
that office done for him, for he sprang thither himself, ay, and took
one with him."

"Bravo, Otter!" cried Leonard; "I knew that you would die hard."

"Hard did he die indeed, Deliverer," said Nam with a sigh, "so hard that
even now many swear that he was a god and not a man. Scarcely had they
all vanished into the pool when a wonder chanced such as has not
been told of in our records: Deliverer, the white dawn turned to red,
perchance, as I cried to calm the people, because the false gods had met
their doom."

"Then the true ones must be singularly blind," said Juanna, "seeing that
I, whom you dare to call a false god, am still alive."

This argument silenced Nam for a moment, but presently he answered.

"Yes, Shepherdess, you are still alive," he said, laying a curious
emphasis on the "still." "And, indeed," he added hastily, "if you are
not foolish you may long remain so, both of you, for I have no desire to
shed your blood who only seek to end my last days in peace. But listen
to the end of the tale: While the people wondered at the omen of the
changed dawn, it was seen that the dwarf, your servant, was not dead
there in the pool. Yes! this was seen, Deliverer: to and fro in the
troubled waters rushed the great Water Dweller, and after him, keeping
pace with him, went that dwarf who was named Otter. Ay, round and round
and down to the lowest depths, though how it could be that a man might
swim with the Snake none can say."

"Oh, bravo, Otter!" said Leonard again, bethinking him of an explanation
of the mystery which he did not reveal to Nam. "Well, what was the end
of it?"

"That none know for certain, Deliverer," answered the priest
perplexedly. "At last the Water Dweller, from whose mouth poured blood,
was seen to sink with the dwarf; then he rose again and entered the
cave, his home. But whether the dwarf entered with him, or no, I cannot
say, for some swear one thing and some another, and in the foam and
shadow it was hard to see; moreover, none will venture there to learn
the truth."

"Well, dead or alive, he made a good fight for it," said Leonard. "And
now, Nam, what is your business with us?"

This question appeared to puzzle the priest a little, for, to speak
truth, he did not care to disclose the exact nature of his business,
which was to separate Leonard from Juanna, without force if possible.

"I came here, Deliverer," he answered, "to tell you what had happened."

"Exactly," said Leonard, "to tell me that you have murdered my best
friend, and one who was but lately your god. I thank you for your news,
Nam, and now, if I might make bold to ask it, what are your plans with
reference to ourselves--I mean until it suits you to send us after our
companions?"

"Believe me, Deliverer, my plan is to save your lives. If the others
have been sacrificed it was no fault of mine, for there are forces
behind me that I cannot control even when I guide them. The land is in
confusion and full of strange rumours. I know not what may happen during
the next few days, but till they are over you must lie hid. This is a
poor place in which to dwell, but there is none other safe and secret.
Still, here is another chamber which you can use; perchance you have
already seen it," and placing his hand upon what appeared to be a
latch, he opened the second door which Leonard had noticed previously,
revealing a cell of very similar construction to that in which they
were, and of somewhat larger size.

"See, Deliverer," he went on, "here is the place," and he stepped
forward to enter the cell, then drew back as though in courtesy to allow
Leonard to pass in before him.

For once Leonard's caution forsook him, for at the moment he was
thinking of other things. Almost mechanically he passed the threshold.
Scarcely were his feet over it when he remembered the character of his
host and the lodging, and turned quickly to come back.

It was too late, for even as he turned the heavy timber door closed in
his face with a crash, and he was caged.

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