Queen Sheba's Ring: Chapter 13

Chapter 13

THE ADVENTURES OF HIGGS

A more weary and dishevelled set of people than that which about the
hour of dawn finally emerged from the mouth of the ancient shaft on to
the cliffs of Mur it has seldom been my lot to behold. Yet with a single
exception the party was a happy one, for we had come triumphant through
great dangers, and actually effected our object--the rescue of
Higgs, which, under the circumstances most people would have thought
impossible. Yes, there he was in the flesh before us, having injured his
knee and lost his hat, but otherwise quite sound save for a few trifling
scratches inflicted by the cub, and still wearing what the natives
called his "black windows."

Even the Prince Joshua was happy, though wrapped in a piece of coarse
sacking because the lion had taken most of his posterior clothing, and
terribly sore from the deep cuts left by the claws.

Had he not dared the dangers of the den, and thus proved himself a hero
whose fame would last for generations? Had I not assured him that his
honourable wounds, though painful (as a matter of fact, after they had
set, they kept him stiff as a mummy for some days, so that unless he
stood upon his feet, he had to be carried, or lie rigid on his face)
would probably not prove fatal? And had he not actually survived to
reach the upper air again, which was more than he ever expected to do?
No wonder that he was happy.

I alone could not share in the general joy, since, although my friend
was restored to me, my son still remained a prisoner among the Fung. Yet
even in this matter things might have been worse, since I learned
that he was well treated, and in no danger. But of that I will write
presently.

Never shall I forget the scene after the arrival of Higgs in our hole,
when the swinging boulder had been closed and made secure and the lamps
lighted. There he sat on the floor, his red hair glowing like a torch,
his clothes torn and bloody, his beard ragged and stretching in a
Newgate frill to his ears. Indeed, his whole appearance, accentuated by
the blue spectacles with wire gauze side-pieces, was more disreputable
than words can tell; moreover, he smelt horribly of lion. He put his
hand into his pocket, and produced his big pipe, which had remained
unbroken in its case.

"Some tobacco, please," he said. (Those were his first words to us!) "I
have finished mine, saved up the last to smoke just before they put me
into that stinking basket."

I gave him some, and as he lit his pipe the light of the match fell upon
the face of Maqueda, who was staring at him with amused astonishment.

"What an uncommonly pretty woman," he said. "What's she doing down here,
and who is she?"

I told him, whereon he rose, or rather tried to, felt for his hat,
which, of course, had gone, with the idea of taking it off, and
instantly addressed her in his beautiful and fluent Arabic, saying how
glad he was to have this unexpected honour, and so forth.

She congratulated him on his escape, whereon his face grew serious.

"Yes, a nasty business," he said, "as yet I can hardly remember whether
my name is Daniel, or Ptolemy Higgs." Then he turned to us and added,
"Look here, you fellows, if I don't thank you it isn't because I am not
grateful, but because I can't. The truth is, I'm a bit dazed. Your son
is all right, Adams; he's a good fellow, and we grew great friends.
Safe? Oh! yes, he's safe as a church! Old Barung, he's the Sultan, and
another good fellow, although he did throw me to the lions--because the
priests made him--is very fond of him, and is going to marry him to his
daughter."

At this moment the men announced that everything was ready for our
ascent, and when I had attended to Joshua with a heart made thankful by
Higgs's news, we began that toilsome business, and, as I have already
said, at length accomplished it safely. But even then our labours were
not ended, since it was necessary to fill up the mouth of the shaft so
as to make it impossible that it should be used by the Fung, who now
knew of its existence.

Nor was this a business that could be delayed, for as we passed the
plateau whence Oliver and Japhet had crossed to the sphinx, we heard the
voices of men on the farther side of the rough wall that we had built
there. Evidently the priests, or idol guards, infuriated by the rescue
of their victim, had already managed to bridge the gulf and were
contemplating assault, a knowledge which caused us to hurry our
movements considerably. If they had got through before we passed them,
our fate would have been terrible, since at the best we must have slowly
starved in the pit below.

Indeed, as soon as we reached the top and had blocked it temporarily,
Quick, weary as he was, was sent off on horseback, accompanied by
Maqueda, Shadrach, now under the terms of his contract once more a free
man, and two Mountaineers, to gallop to the palace of Mur, and fetch a
supply of explosives. The rest of us, for Higgs declined to leave, and
we had no means of carrying Joshua, remained watching the place, or
rather the Abati watched while we slept with our rifles in our hands.
Before noon Quick returned, accompanied by many men with litters and all
things needful.

Then we pulled out the stones, and Oliver, Japhet, and some others
descended to the first level and arranged blasting charges. Awhile after
he reappeared with his companions, looking somewhat pale and anxious,
and shouted to us to get back. Following our retreat to a certain
distance, unwinding a wire as he came, presently he stopped and pressed
the button of a battery which he held in his hand. There was a muffled
explosion and a tremor of the soil like to that of an earthquake, while
from the mouth of the shaft stones leapt into the air.

It was over, and all that could be noted was a sinkage in the ground
where the ancient pit had been.

"I am sorry for them," said Oliver presently, "but it had to be done."

"Sorry for whom?" I asked.

"For those Fung priests or soldiers. The levels below are full of them,
dead or alive. They were pouring up at our heels. Well, no one will
travel that road again."

Later, in the guest house at Mur, Higgs told us his story. After his
betrayal by Shadrach, which, it appeared, was meant to include us all,
for the Professor overheard the hurried talk between him and a Fung
captain, he was seized and imprisoned in the body of the great sphinx,
where many chambers and dungeons had been hollowed out by the prim�val
race that fashioned it. Here Barung the Sultan visited him and informed
him of his meeting with the rest of us, to whom apparently he had taken
a great liking, and also that we had refused to purchase a chance of his
release at the price of being false to our trust.

"You know," said Higgs, "that when first I heard this I was very angry
with you, and thought you a set of beasts. But on considering things
I saw the other side of it, and that you were right, although I never
could come to fancy the idea of being sacrificed to a sphinx by being
chucked like a piece of horse-flesh to a lot of holy lions. However,
Barung, an excellent fellow in his way, assured me that there was no
road out of the matter without giving grave offence to the priests, who
are very powerful among the Fung, and bringing a fearful curse on the
nation.

"Meanwhile, he made me as comfortable as he could. For instance, I
was allowed to walk upon the back of the idol, to associate with the
priests, a suspicious and most exclusive set, and to study their entire
religious system, from which I have no doubt that of Egypt was derived.
Indeed, I have made a great discovery which, if ever we get out of this,
will carry my name down to all generations. The forefathers of
these Fung were undoubtedly also the forefathers of the pre-dynastic
Egyptians, as is shown by the similarity of their customs and spiritual
theories. Further, intercourse was kept up between the Fung, who then
had their headquarters here in Mur, and the Egyptians in the time of
the ancient empire, till the Twentieth Dynasty, indeed, if not later.
My friends, in the dungeons in which I was confined there is an
inscription, or, rather, a _graffite_, made by a prisoner extradited to
Mur by Rameses II., after twenty years' residence in Egypt, which was
written by him on the night before he was thrown to the sacred lions,
that even in those days were an established institution. And I have got
a copy of that inscription in my pocket-book. I tell you," he added in
a scream of triumph, "I've got a certified copy of that inscription,
thanks to Shadrach, on whose dirty head be blessings!"

I congratulated him heartily upon this triumph, and before he proceeded
to give us further arch�ological details, asked him for some information
about my boy.

"Oh," said Higgs, "he is a very nice young man and extremely good
looking. Indeed, I am quite proud to have such a godson. He was much
interested to hear that you were hunting for him after so many years,
quite touched indeed. He still talks English, though with a Fung accent,
and, of course, would like to escape. Meanwhile, he is having a very
good time, being chief singer to the god, for his voice is really
beautiful, an office which carries with it all sorts of privileges. I
told you, didn't I, that he is to be married to Barung's only legitimate
daughter on the night of the next full moon but one. The ceremony is
to take place in Harmac City, and will be the greatest of its sort for
generations, a feast of the entire people in short. I should very much
like to be present at it, but being an intelligent young man he has
promised to keep notes of everything, which I hope may become available
in due course."

"And is he attached to this savage lady?" I asked dismayed.

"Attached? Oh, dear no, I think he said he had never seen her, and only
knew that she was rather plain and reported to possess a haughty temper.
He is a philosophical young man, however, as might be expected from one
who has undergone so many vicissitudes, and, therefore, takes things
as they come, thanking heaven that they are no worse. You see, as
the husband of the Sultan's daughter, unless the pair quarrel very
violently, he will be safe from the lions, and he could never quite say
as much before. But we didn't go into these domestic matters very deeply
as there were so many more important things to interest us both. He
wanted to know all about you and our plans, and naturally I wanted to
know all about the Fung and the ritual and traditions connected with the
worship of Harmac, so that we were never dull for a single moment.
In fact, I wish that we could have had longer together, for we became
excellent friends. But whatever happens, I think that I have collected
the cream of his information," and he tapped a fat note-book in his
hands, adding:

"What an awful thing it would have been if a lion had eaten this. For
myself it did not matter; there may be many better Egyptologists, but I
doubt if any one of them will again have such opportunities of original
research. However, I took every possible precaution to save my notes
by leaving a copy of the most important of them written with native
ink upon sheepskin in charge of your son. Indeed, I meant to leave the
originals also, but fortunately forgot in the excitement of my very
hurried departure."

I agreed with him that his chances had been unique and that he was a
most lucky arch�ologist, and presently he went on puffing at his pipe.

"Of course, when Oliver turned up in that unexpected fashion on the back
of the idol, remembering your wishes and natural desire to recover
your son, I did my best to rescue him also. But he wasn't in the room
beneath, where I thought I should find him. The priests were there
instead, and they had heard us talking above, and you know the rest.
Well, as it happens, it didn't matter, though that descent into the
den of lions--there were two or three hundred feet of it, and the rope
seemed worn uncommonly thin with use--was a trying business to the
nerves."

"What did you think about all the time?" asked Oliver curiously.

"Think about? I didn't think much, was in too great a fright. I just
wondered whether St. Paul had the same sensations when he was let down
in a basket; wondered what the early Christian martyrs felt like in
the arena; wondered whether Barung, with whom my parting was quite
affectionate, would come in the morning and look for me as Darius did
for Daniel and how much he would find if he did; hoped that my specs
would give one of those brutes appendicitis, and so forth. My word! it
was sickening, especially that kind of school-treat swing and bump at
the end. I never could bear swinging. Still, it was all for the best, as
I shouldn't have gone a yard along that sphinx's tail without tumbling
off, tight-rope walking not being in my line; and I'll tell you what,
you are just the best three fellows in the whole world. Don't you think
I forget that because I haven't said much. And now let's have your yarn,
for I want to hear how things stand, which I never expected to do this
side of Judgment-day."

So we told him all, while he listened open-mouthed. When we came to the
description of the Tomb of the Kings his excitement could scarcely be
restrained.

"You haven't touched them," he almost screamed; "don't say you have been
vandals enough to touch them, for every article must be catalogued _in
situ_ and drawings must be made. If possible, specimen groups with their
surrounding offerings should be moved so that they can be set up again
in museums. Why, there's six months' work before me, at least. And to
think that if it hadn't been for you, by now I should be in process of
digestion by a lion, a stinking, mangy, sacred lion!"

Next morning I was awakened by Higgs limping into my room in some weird
sleeping-suit that he had contrived with the help of Quick.

"I say, old fellow," he said, "tell me some more about that girl, Walda
Nagasta. What a sweet face she's got, and what pluck! Of course, such
things ain't in my line, never looked at a woman these twenty years
past, hard enough to remember her next morning, but, by Jingo! the eyes
of that one made me feel quite queer here," and he hit the sleeping-suit
somewhere in the middle, "though perhaps it was only because she was
such a contrast to the lions."

"Ptolemy," I answered in a solemn voice, "let me tell you that she is
more dangerous to meddle with than any lion, and what's more, if you
don't want to further complicate matters with a flaming row, you had
better keep to your old habits and leave her eyes alone. I mean that
Oliver is in love with her."

"Of course he is. I never expected anything else, but what's that got to
do with it? Why shouldn't I be in love with her too? Though I admit,"
he added sadly, contemplating his rotund form, "the chances are in his
favour, especially as he's got the start."

"They are, Ptolemy, for she's in love with him," and I told him what we
had seen in the Tomb of Kings.

First he roared with laughter, then on second thoughts grew exceedingly
indignant.

"I call it scandalous of Oliver, compromising us all in this way--the
lucky dog! These selfish, amorous adventures will let us in for no end
of trouble. It is even probably, Adams, that you and I may come to a
miserable end, solely because of this young man's erotic tendencies.
Just fancy neglecting business in order to run after a pretty,
round-faced Jewess, that is if she _is_ a Jewess, which I doubt, as the
blood must have got considerably mixed by now, and the first Queen of
Sheba, if she ever existed, was an Ethiopian. As a friend almost old
enough to be his father, I shall speak to him very seriously."

"All right," I called after him as he hobbled off to take his bath,
"only if you are wise, you won't speak to Maqueda, for she might
misinterpret your motives if you go on staring at her as you did
yesterday."

That morning I was summoned to see the Prince Joshua and dress his
wounds, which, although not of a serious nature, were very painful. The
moment that I entered the man's presence I noticed a change in his face.
Like the rest of us I had always set this fellow down as a mere poltroon
and windbag, a blower of his own trumpet, as Oliver had called him. Now
I got an insight into his real nature which showed me that although
he might be these things and worse, he was also a very determined and
dangerous person, animated by ambitions which he meant to satisfy at all
hazards.

When I had done what I could for him and told him that in my opinion he
had no ill results to fear from his hurts, since the thick clothes he
was wearing at the time had probably cleaned the lion's paws of any
poison that might have been on them, he said,

"Physician, I desire private words with you."

I bowed, and he went on:

"The Child of Kings, hereditary ruler of this land, somewhat against the
advice of her Council, has thought fit to employ you and your Gentile
companions in order that by your skill and certain arts of which you are
masters you may damage its ancient enemies, the Fung, and in reward has
promised to pay you well should you succeed in your endeavours. Now, I
wish you to understand that though you think yourselves great men, and
may for aught I know be great in your own country, here you are but
servants like any other mercenaries whom it may please us to hire."

His tone was so offensive that, though it might have been wiser to keep
silent, I could not help interrupting him.

"You use hard words, Prince," I said; "let me then explain what is the
real pay for which we work and undergo some risks. Mine is the hope of
recovering a son who is the slave of your enemies. That of the Captain
Orme is the quest of adventure and war, since being a rich man in his
own country he needs no further wealth. That of him whom you call Black
Windows, but whose name is Higgs, is the pure love of learning. In
England and throughout the West he is noted for his knowledge of dead
peoples, their languages, and customs, and it is to study these that he
has undertaken so terrible a journey. As for Quick, he is Orme's man,
who has known him from childhood, an old soldier who has served with him
in war and comes hither to be with the master whom he loves."

"Ah!" said Joshua, "a servant, a person of no degree, who yet dares to
threaten me, the premier prince of the Abati, to my face."

"In the presence of death all men are equal, Prince. You acted in a
fashion that might have brought his lord, who was daring a desperate
deed, to a hideous doom."

"And what do I care about his lord's desperate deeds, Physician? I see
that you set store by such things, and think those who accomplish them
great and wonderful. Well, we do not. There is no savage among the
barbarous Fung would not do all that your Orme does, and more, just
because he is a savage. We who are civilized, we who are cultivated,
we who are wise, know better. Our lives were given us to enjoy, not to
throw away or to lose at the sword's point, and, therefore, no doubt,
you would call us cowards."

"Yet, Prince, those who bear that title of coward which you hold one of
honour, are apt to perish 'at the sword's point.' The Fung wait without
your gates, O Prince."

"And therefore, O Gentile, we hire you to fight the Fung. Still, I
bear no grudge against your servant, Quick, who is himself but a
white-skinned Fung, for he acted according to his nature, and I forgive
him; only in the future let him beware! And now--for a greater matter.
The Child of Kings is beautiful, she is young and high spirited; a new
face from another land may perchance touch her fancy. But," he added
meaningly, "let the owner of that face remember who she is and what
he is; let him remember that for any outside the circle of the ancient
blood to lift his eyes to the daughter of Solomon is to earn death,
death slow and cruel for himself and all who aid and abet him. Let him
remember, lastly, that this high-born lady to whom he, an unknown and
vagrant Gentile, dares to talk as equal to equal, has from childhood
been my affianced, who will shortly be my wife, although it may please
her to seem to flout me after the fashion of maidens, and that we Abati
are jealous of the honour of our women. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Prince," I answered, for by now my temper was roused. "But I would
have you understand something also--that we are men of a high race whose
arm stretches over half the world, and that we differ from the little
tribe of the Abati, whose fame is not known to us, in this--that we are
jealous of our own honour, and do not need to hire strangers to fight
the foes we fear to face. Next time I come to attend to your wounds,
O Prince, I trust that they will be in front, and not behind. One word
more, if you will be advised by me you will not threaten that Captain
whom you call a Gentile and a mercenary, lest you should learn that it
is not always well to be a coward, of blood however ancient."

Then, in a towering rage, I left him, feeling that I had made a thorough
fool of myself. But the truth was that I could not sit still and hear
men such as my companions, to say nothing of myself, spoken of thus by
a bloated cur, who called himself a prince and boasted of his own
poltroonery. He glowered at me as I went, and the men of his party who
hung about the end of the great room and in his courts, glowered at
me also. Clearly he was a very dangerous cur, and I almost wished that
instead of threatening to slap his face down in the tunnel, Quick had
broken his neck and made an end of him.

So did the others when I told them the story, although I think it opened
their eyes, and especially those of Oliver, to the grave and growing
dangers of the situation. Afterward he informed me that he had spoken of
the matter with Maqueda, and that she was much frightened for our sakes,
and somewhat for her own. Joshua, she said, was a man capable of any
crime, who had at his back the great majority of the Abati; a jealous,
mean and intolerant race who made up in cunning for what they lacked in
courage.

Yet, as I saw well, the peril of their situation did nothing to separate
this pair or to lessen their love. Indeed, rather did it seem to bind
them closer together, and to make them more completely one. In short,
the tragedy took its appointed course, whilst we stood by and watched it
helplessly.

On the afternoon of my angry interview with Joshua we were summoned to
a meeting of the Council, whither we went, not without some trepidation,
expecting trouble. Trouble there was, but of a different sort to that
which we feared. Scarcely had we entered the great room where the Child
of Kings was seated in her chair of state surrounded by all the pomp and
ceremony of her mimic court, when the big doors at the end of it were
opened, and through them marched three gray-bearded men in white robes
whom we saw at once were heralds or ambassadors from the Fung. These
men bowed to the veiled Maqueda and, turning toward where we stood in a
little group apart, bowed to us also.

But of Joshua, who was there supported by two servants, for he could not
yet stand alone, and the other notables and priests of the Abati, they
took not the slightest heed.

"Speak," said Maqueda.

"Lady," answered the spokesman of the embassy, "we are sent by our
Sultan, Barung, son of Barung, Ruler of the Fung nation. These are the
words of Barung: O Walda Nagasta! 'By the hands and the wit of the white
lords whom you have called to your aid, you have of late done much evil
to the god Harmac and to me his servant. You have destroyed one of the
gates of my city, and with it many of my people. You have rescued a
prisoner out of my hands, robbing Harmac of his sacrifice and thereby
bringing his wrath upon us. You have slain sundry of the sacred beasts
that are the mouth of sacrifice, you have killed certain of the priests
and guards of Harmac in a hole of the rocks. Moreover my spies tell me
that you plan further ills against the god and against me. Now I send
to tell you that for these and other offences I will make an end of the
people of the Abati, whom hitherto I have spared. In a little while I
marry my daughter to the white man, that priest of Harmac who is called
Singer of Egypt, and who is said to be the son of the physician in
your service, but after I have celebrated this feast and my people have
finished the hoeing of their crops, I take up the sword in earnest, nor
will I lay it down again until the Abati are no more.

"'Learn that last night after the holy beasts had been slain and
the sacrifice snatched away, the god Harmac spoke to his priests in
prophecy. And this was his prophecy; that before the gathering in of the
harvest his _head_ should sleep above the plain of Mur. We know not the
interpretation of the saying, but this I know, that before the gathering
of the harvest I, or those who rule after me, will lie down to sleep
within my city of Mur.'

"'Now, choose--surrender forthwith and, save for the dog, Joshua, who
the other day tried to entrap me against the custom of peoples, and ten
others whom I shall name, I will spare the lives of all of you, though
Joshua and these ten I will hang, since they are not worthy to die by
the sword. Or resist, and by Harmac himself I swear that every man among
the Abati shall die save the white lords whom I honour because they are
brave, and that servant of yours who stood with them last night in the
den of lions, and that every woman shall be made a slave, save you, O
Walda Nagasta, because of your great heart. Your answer, O Lady of the
Abati!'"

Now Maqueda looked around the faces of her Council, and saw fear written
upon them all. Indeed, as we noted, many of them shook in their terror.

"My answer will be short, ambassadors of Barung," she replied, "still, I
am but one woman, and it is fitting that those who represent the people
should speak for the people. My uncle, Joshua, you are the first of my
Council, what have you to say? Are you willing to give up your life with
ten others whose names I do not know, that there may be peace between us
and the Fung?"

"What?" answered Joshua, with a splutter of rage, "do I live to hear a
Walda Nagasta suggest that the first prince of the land, her uncle and
affianced husband, should be surrendered to our hereditary foes to be
hanged like a worn-out hound, and do you, O unknown ten, who doubtless
stand in this chamber, live to hear it also?"

"My uncle, you do not. I asked if such was your wish, that is all."

"Then I answer that it is not my wish, nor the wish of the ten, nor the
wish of the Abati. Nay, we will fight the Fung and destroy them, and
of their beast-headed idol Harmac we will make blocks to build our
synagogues and stones to pave our roads. Do you hear, savages of Fung?"
and assisted by his two servants he hobbled towards them, grinning in
their faces.

The envoys looked him up and down with their quiet eyes. "We hear and we
are very glad to hear," their spokesman answered, "since we Fung love
to settle our quarrels with the sword and not by treaty. But to you,
Joshua, we say: Make haste to die before we enter Mur, since the rope is
not the only means of death whereof we know."

Very solemnly the three ambassadors saluted, first the Child of Kings
and next ourselves, then turned to go.

"Kill them!" shouted Joshua, "they have threatened and insulted me, the
Prince!"

But no one lifted a hand against the men, who passed safely out of the
palace to the square, where an escort waited with their horses.

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