Queen Sheba's Ring: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

QUICK LIGHTS A MATCH

"Here we begin to turn, for this cave is a great circle," said Maqueda
over her shoulder.

But Oliver, whom she addressed, had left her side and was engaged
in taking observations behind the hunchback's funeral chair with an
instrument which he had produced from his pocket.

She followed him and asked curiously what this thing might be, and why
he made use of it here.

"We call it a compass," he answered, "and it tells me that beyond us
lies the east, where the sun rises; also it shows at what height we
stand above the sea, that great water which you have never seen, O Child
of Kings. Say now, if we could walk through this rock, what should we
find out yonder?"

"The lion-headed idol of the Fung, I have been told," she answered.
"That which you saw before you blew up the gate of the city Harmac. But
how far off it may be I do not know, for I cannot see through stone.
Friend Adams, help me to refill the lamps, for they burn low, and all
these dead would be ill company in the dark. So at least my people
think, since there is not one of them that dares to enter this place.
When first we found it only a few years ago and saw the company it held,
they fled, and left me to search it alone. Look, yonder are my footsteps
in the dust."

So I refilled the shallow hand-lamps, and while I did so Orme took
some hasty observations of which he jotted down the results in his
pocket-book.

"What have you learned?" she asked, when at last he rejoined us somewhat
unwillingly, for she had been calling to him to come.

"Not so much as I should have done if you could have given me more
time," he replied, adding in explanation, "Lady, I was brought up as
an engineer, that is, one who executes works, and to do so takes
measurements and makes calculations. For instance, those dead men who
hollowed or dressed these caves must have been engineers and no mean
ones."

"We have such among us now," she said. "They raise dams and make drains
and houses, though not so good as those which were built of old. But
again I ask--what have you learned, O wise Engineer?"

"Only that here we stand not so very far above the city Harmac, of which
I chanced to take the level, and that behind yonder chair there was,
I think, once a passage which has been built up. But be pleased to say
nothing of the matter, Lady, and to ask me no more questions at present,
as I cannot answer them with certainty."

"I see that you are discreet as well as wise," she replied with some
sarcasm. "Well, since I may not be trusted with your counsel, keep it to
yourself."

Oliver bowed and obeyed this curt instruction.

Then we began our return journey, passing many more groups of skeletons
which now we scarcely troubled to look at, perhaps because the heavy air
filled with dust that once had been the flesh of men, was telling on
our energies. Only I noticed, or rather the observant Quick called my
attention to the fact, that as we went the kings in their chairs
were surrounded by fewer and fewer attendants and women, and that the
offerings placed at their feet were of an ever-lessening value. Indeed,
after we had passed another five or six of them, their murdered retinues
dwindled to a few female skeletons, doubtless those of favourite wives
who had been singled out for this particular honour.

At length there were none at all, the poor monarchs, who now were
crowded close together, being left to explore the shades alone, adorned
merely with their own jewellery and regalia. Ultimately even these were
replaced by funeral gold-foil ornaments, and the trays of treasure by
earthenware jars which appeared to have contained nothing but food and
wine, and added to these a few spears and other weapons. The last of
the occupied chairs, for there were empty ones beyond, contained bones
which, from their slenderness and the small size of the bracelets among
them, I saw at once had belonged to a woman who had been sent to the
grave without companions or any offerings at all.

"Doubtless," said Maqueda, when I pointed this out to her, "at that time
the ancients had grown weak and poor, since after so many kings they
permitted a woman to rule over them and had no wealth to waste upon her
burial. That may have been after the earthquake, when only a few people
were left in Mur before the Abati took possession of it."

"Where, then, are those of your own house buried?" asked Oliver, staring
at the empty chairs.

"Oh! not in this place," she answered; "I have told you it was
discovered but a few years ago. We rest in tombs outside, and for my
part I will sleep in the simple earth, so that I may live on in grass
and flowers, if in no other way. But enough of death and doom. Soon,
who can tell how soon? we shall be as these are," and she shuddered.
"Meanwhile, we breathe, so let us make the best of breath. You have seen
your fee, say, does it content you?"

"What fee?" he asked. "Death, the reward of Life? How can I tell until I
have passed its gate?"

Here this philosophical discussion was interrupted by the sudden decease
of Quick's lamp.

"Thought there was something wrong with the blooming thing," said the
Sergeant, "but couldn't turn it up, as it hasn't got a screw, without
which these old-fashioned colza oils never were no good. Hullo! Doctor,
there goes yours," and as he spoke, go it did.

"The wicks!" exclaimed Maqueda, "we forgot to bring new wicks, and
without them of what use is oil? Come, be swift; we are still far from
the mouth of this cave, where none except the high priests will dare to
seek us," and, taking Oliver by the hand, she began to run, leaving us
two to follow as best we could.

"Steady, Doctor," said Quick, "steady. In the presence of disaster
comrades should always stick together, as it says in the Red-book
presented by the crown to warrant officers, but paid for out of their
deferred allowance. Take my arm, Doctor. Ah! I thought so, the more
haste the less speed. Look there," and he pointed to the flying shapes
ahead, now a long way off, and with only one lamp between them.

Next instant Maqueda turned round holding up this remaining lamp and
called to us. I saw the faint light gleam upon her beautiful face and
glitter down the silver ornaments of her dress. Very wild and strange
she looked in that huge vault, seen thus for a single moment, then seen
no more, for presently where the flame had been was but a red spark, and
then nothing at all.

"Stop still till we come back to you," cried Oliver, "and shout at
intervals."

"Yes, sir," said Quick, and instantly let off a fearful yell,
which echoed backward and forward across the vault till I was quite
bewildered.

"All right, coming," answered Oliver, and his voice sounded so far to
the left that Quick thought it wise to yell again.

To cut a long story short, we next heard him on our right and then
behind us.

"Can't trust sounds here, sir, echoes are too uncertain," said the
Sergeant; "but come on, I think I've placed them now," and calling
to _them_ not to move, we headed in what we were sure was the right
direction.

The end of that adventure was that presently I tripped up over a
skeleton and found myself lying half stunned amidst trays of treasure,
affectionately clasping a skull under the impression that it was Quick's
boot.

He hauled me up again somehow, and, as we did not know what to do, we
sat down amidst the dead and listened. By now the others were apparently
so far off that the sound of Oliver's calling only reached us in faint,
mysterious notes that came from we knew not whence.

"As, like idiots, we started in such a hurry that we forgot to bring any
matches with us, there is nothing to be done, except wait," I said. "No
doubt in due course those Abati will get over their fear of ghosts and
come to look for us."

"Wish I could do the same, sir. I didn't mind those deaders in the
light, but the dark's a different matter. Can't you hear them rattling
their shanks and talking all round us?"

"Certainly I do hear something," I answered, "but I think it must be the
echo of our own voices."

"Well, let us hold our jaw, sir, and perhaps they will hold theirs, for
this kind of conversation ain't nice."

So we were silent, but the strange murmuring still went on, coming
apparently from the wall of the cave behind us, and it occurred to me
that I had once heard something like it before, though at the time I
could not think where. Afterwards I remembered that it was when, as
a boy, I had been taken to see the Whispering Gallery in St. Paul's
Cathedral in London.

Half-an-hour or so went by in this fashion, and still there were no
signs of the Abati or of our missing pair. Quick began to fumble among
his clothes. I asked him what he was doing.

"Can't help thinking I've got a wax match somewhere, Doctor. I remember
feeling it in one of the pockets of this coat on the day before we left
London, and thinking afterwards it wasn't safe to have had it packed in
a box marked 'Hold.' Now if only I could find that match, we have got
plenty of torches, for I've stuck to my bundle all through, although I
never thought of them when the lamps were going out."

Having small belief in the Sergeant's match, I made no answer, and the
search went on till presently I heard him ejaculate:

"By Jingo, here it is, in the lining. Yes, and the head feels all right.
Now, Doctor, hold two of the torches toward me; make ready, present,
fire!" and he struck the match and applied it to the heads of the
resinous torches.

Instantly these blazed up, giving an intense light in that awful
darkness. By this light, for one moment only, we saw a strange, and not
unattractive spectacle. I think I forgot to say that in the centre of
this vault stood a kind of altar, which until that moment, indeed, I
had not seen. This altar, which, doubtless, had been used for ceremonial
purposes at the funerals of the ancient Kings, consisted of a plain
block of basalt stone, whereon was cut the symbol of a human eye, the
stone being approached by steps and supported upon carved and crouching
sphinxes.

On the lowest of these steps, near enough to enable us to see them quite
clearly, were seated Oliver Orme and Maqueda, Child of Kings. They were
seated very close together; indeed, if I must tell the truth, Oliver's
arm was about Maqueda's waist, her head rested upon his shoulder, and
apparently he was engaged in kissing her upon the lips.

"Right about face," hissed the Sergeant, in a tone of command, "and mark
time!"

So we right-abouted for a decent period, then, coughing loudly--because
of the irritant smoke of the torches--advanced to cross the cavern,
and by accident stumbled upon our lost companions. I confess that I had
nothing to say, but Quick rose to the occasion nobly.

"Glad to see you, Captain," he said to Oliver. "Was getting very anxious
about you, sir, until by good luck I found a match in the lining of my
coat. If the Professor had been here he'd have had plenty, which is an
argument in favour of continuous smoking, even when ladies are present.
Ah! no wonder her Majesty is faint in this hot place, poor young thing.
It's lucky you didn't leave hold of her, sir. Do you think you could
manage to support her, sir, as we ought to be moving. Can't offer to do
so myself, as I have lamed my foot with the tooth of a dead king, also
my arms are full of torches. But if you prefer the Doctor--what do you
say, sir? That you _can_ manage? There is such an echo in this vault
that it is difficult to hear--very well, let us go on, for these torches
won't last for ever, and you wouldn't like us to have to spend a whole
night here with the lady in such a delicate condition, would you,
especially as those nasty-tempered Abati might say that you had done
it on purpose? Take her Majesty's arm, Doctor, and let us trek. I'll go
ahead with the torches."

To all this artless harangue Oliver answered not a single word, but
glared at us suspiciously over the shape of Maqueda, who apparently had
fainted. Only when I ventured to offer her some professional assistance
she recovered, and said that she could get on quite well alone, which
meant upon Orme's arm.

Well, the end of it was that she got on, and so did we, for the torches
lasted until we reached the narrow, sloping passage, and, rounding the
corner, saw the lantern burning in the hole in the wall, after which, of
course, things were easy.

"Doctor," said Oliver to me in a voice of studied nonchalance that
night, as we were preparing to turn in, "did you notice anything in the
Vault of Kings this afternoon?"

"Oh, yes," I answered, "lots! Of course, myself, I am not given to
arch�ology, like poor Higgs, but the sight struck me as absolutely
unique. If I were inclined to moralize, for instance, what a contrast
between those dead rulers and their young and beautiful successor, full
of life and love"--here he looked at me sharply--"love of her people,
such as I have no doubt in their day----"

"Oh, shut it, Adams! I don't want a philosophical lecture with
historical comparisons. Did you notice anything except bones and gold
when that unutterable ass, Quick, suddenly turned on the lights--I mean
struck the match which unfortunately he had with him."

Now I gave it up and faced the situation.

"Well, if you want the truth," I said, "not _very_ much myself, for
my sight isn't as good as it used to be. But the Sergeant, who has
extraordinarily sharp eyes, thought that he saw you kissing Maqueda,
a supposition that your relative attitudes seemed to confirm, which
explains, moreover, some of the curious sounds we heard before he lit
the torches. That's why he asked me to turn my back. But, of course, we
may have been mistaken. Do I understand you to say that the Sergeant was
mistaken?"

Oliver consigned the Sergeant's eyes to an ultimate fate worse than
that which befell those of Peeping Tom; then, in a burst of candour, for
subterfuge never was his forte, owned up:

"You made no mistake," he said, "we love each other, and it came out
suddenly in the dark. I suppose that the unusual surroundings acted on
our nerves."

"From a moral point of view I am glad that you love each other," I
remarked, "since embraces that are merely nervous cannot be commended.
But from every other, in our circumstances the resulting situation
strikes me as a little short of awful, although Quick, a most observant
man, warned me to expect it from the first."

"Curse Quick," said Oliver again, with the utmost energy. "I'll give him
a month's notice this very night."

"Don't," I said, "for then you'll oblige him to take service with
Barung, where he would be most dangerous. Look here, Orme, to drop
chaff, this is a pretty mess."

"Why? What's wrong about it, Doctor?" he asked indignantly. "Of course,
she's a Jew of some diluted sort or other, and I'm a Christian; but
those things adapt themselves. Of course, too, she's my superior, but
after all hers is a strictly local rank, and in Europe we should be
on much the same footing. As for her being an Eastern, what does that
matter? Surely it is not an objection which should have weight with
_you_. And for the rest, did you ever see her equal?"

"Never, never, _never_!" I answered with enthusiasm. "The young lady
to whom any gentleman has just engaged himself is always absolutely
unequalled, and, let me admit at once that this is perhaps the most
original and charming that I have ever met in all Central Africa. Only,
whatever may be the case with you, I don't know whether this fact will
console me and Quick when our throats are being cut. Look here, Orme," I
added, "didn't I tell you long ago that the one thing you must _not_ do
was to make love to the Child of Kings?"

"Did you? Really, I forget; you told me such a lot of things, Doctor,"
he answered coolly enough, only unfortunately the colour that rose in
his cheeks betrayed his lips.

At this moment, Quick, who had entered the room unobserved, gave a dry
cough, and remarked:

"Don't blame the Captain, Doctor, because he don't remember. There's
nothing like shock from an explosion for upsetting the memory. I've
seen that often in the Boer war, when, after a big shell had gone off
somewhere near them, the very bravest soldiers would clean forget that
it was their duty to stand still and not run like rabbits; indeed, it
happened to me myself."

I laughed, and Oliver said something which I could not hear, but Quick
went on imperturbably:

"Still, truth is truth, and if the Captain has forgotten, the more
reason that we should remind him. That evening at the Professor's house
in London you did warn him, sir, and he answered that you needn't bother
your head about the fascinations of a nigger woman----"

"Nigger woman," broke out Oliver; "I never used such words; I never
even thought them, and you are an impertinent fellow to put them into my
mouth. Nigger woman! Good heavens! It's desecration."

"Very sorry, Captain, now I come to think of it, I believe you said
black woman, speaking in your haste. Yes and I begged you not to brag,
seeing that if you did we might live to see you crawling after her, with
myself, Samuel Quick bringing up the rear. Well, there it is we are, and
the worst of it is that I can't blame you, being as anticipated in the
prophecy--for that's what it was though I didn't know it myself at
the time--exactly in the same state myself, though, of course, at a
distance, bringing up the rear respectfully, as said."

"You don't mean that you are in love with the Child of Kings?" said
Oliver, staring at the Sergeant's grim and battered figure.

"Begging your pardon, Captain, that is exactly what I do mean. If a cat
may look at a queen, why mayn't a man love her? Howsoever, my kind of
love ain't likely to interfere with yours. My kind means sentry-go and
perhaps a knife in my gizzard; yours--well, we saw what yours means
this afternoon, though what it will all lead to we didn't see. Still,
Captain, speaking as one who hasn't been keen on the sex heretofore,
I say--sail in, since it's worth it, even if you've got to sink
afterwards, for this lady, although she is half a Jew, and I never
could abide Jews, is the sweetest and the loveliest and the best and the
bravest little woman that ever walked God's earth."

At this point Oliver seized his hand and shook it warmly, and I may
mention that I think some report of Quick's summary of her character
must have reached Maqueda's ears. At any rate, thenceforward until the
end she always treated the old fellow with what the French call the
"most distinguished consideration."

But, as I was not in love, no one shook my hand, so, leaving the other
two to discuss the virtues and graces of the Child of Kings, I went off
to bed filled with the gloomiest forbodings. What a fool I had been not
to insist that whatever expert accompanied Higgs should be a married
man. And yet, now when I came to think of it, that might not have
bettered matters, and perhaps would only have added to the transaction
a degree of moral turpitude which at present was lacking, since even
married men are sometimes weak.

The truth was that Maqueda's attractions were extraordinarily great. To
her remarkable beauty she added a wonderful charm of manner and force
of mind. Also her situation must touch the heart and pity of any man,
so helpless was she in the midst of all her hollow grandeur, so lonely
amongst a nation of curs whom she strove in vain to save, and should
she escape destruction with them, doomed to so sad and repulsive a fate,
namely to become the wife of a fat poltroon who was her own uncle. Well,
we know to what emotion pity is akin, and the catastrophe had occurred a
little sooner than I had expected, that was all.

Doubtless to her, in comparison with the men to whom she was accustomed
and allowed by etiquette to take as her associates, this brave and
handsome young Englishman, who had come into her care sick and shattered
after the doing of a great deed, must have seemed a veritable fairy
prince. And she had helped to nurse him, and he had shown himself
grateful for her kindness and condescension, and--the rest followed, as
surely as the day follows the night.

But how would it end? Sooner or later the secret must come out, for
already the Abati nobles, if I may call them so for want of a better
name, and especially Joshua, were bitterly jealous of the favour their
lady showed to the foreigner, and watched them both. Then what--what
would happen? Under the Abati law it was death for any one outside of
the permitted degree of relationship to tamper with the affections of
the Child of Kings. Nor was this wonderful, since that person held her
seat in virtue of her supposed direct descent from Solomon and the first
Maqueda, Queen of Sheba, and therefore the introduction of any alien
blood could not be tolerated.

Moreover, Orme, having sworn an oath of allegiance, had become subject
to those laws. Lastly, I could not in the least hope from the character
of the pair concerned that this was but a passing flirtation.

Oh! without a doubt these two had signed their own death-warrant yonder
in the Cave of Death, and incidentally ours also. This must be the end
of our adventure and my long search for the son whom I had lost.

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