Queen Sheba's Ring: Chapter 18

Chapter 18

THE BURNING OF THE PALACE

Orme was right. Maqueda's defiance did mean war, "an unequal war." This
was our position. We were shut up in a long range of buildings, of which
one end had been burned, that on account of their moat and double wall,
if defended with any vigour, could only be stormed by an enemy of great
courage and determination, prepared to face a heavy sacrifice of
life. This was a circumstance in our favour, since the Abati were not
courageous, and very much disliked the idea of being killed, or even
injured.

But here our advantage ended. Deducting those whom we had lost on
the previous night, the garrison only amounted to something over four
hundred men, of whom about fifty were wounded, some of them dangerously.
Moreover, ammunition was short, for they had shot away most of their
arrows in the battle of the square, and we had no means of obtaining
more. But, worst of all, the palace was not provisioned for a siege,
and the mountaineers had with them only three days' rations of sun-dried
beef or goat's flesh, and a hard kind of biscuit made of Indian corn
mixed with barley meal. Thus, as we saw from the beginning, unless we
could manage to secure more food our case must soon grow hopeless.

There remained yet another danger. Although the palace itself was
stone-built, its gilded domes and ornamental turrets were of timber, and
therefore liable to be fired, as indeed had already happened. The roof
also was of ancient cedar beams, thinly covered with concrete, while the
interior containing an enormous quantity of panels, or rather boarding,
cut from some resinous wood.

The Abati, on the other hand, were amply supplied with every kind of
store and weapon, and could bring a great force to blockade us, though
that force was composed of a timid and undisciplined rabble.

Well, we made the best preparations that we could, although of these I
did not see much, since all that day my time was occupied in attending
to the wounded with the help of my son and a few rough orderlies, whose
experience in doctoring had for the most part been confined to cattle.
A pitiful business it proved without the aid of an�sthetics or a proper
supply of bandages and other appliances. Although my medicine chest had
been furnished upon a liberal scale, it proved totally inadequate to the
casualties of battle. Still I did my best and saved some lives, though
many cases developed gangrene and slipped through my fingers.

Meanwhile Higgs, who worked nobly, notwithstanding his flesh wounds,
which pained him considerably, and Orme were also doing their best
with the assistance of Japhet and the other officers of the highland
regiment. The palace was thoroughly examined, and all weak places in its
defences were made good. The available force was divided into watches
and stationed to the best advantage. A number of men were set to work to
manufacture arrow shafts from cedar beams, of which there were plenty
in the wooden stables and outhouses that lay at the back of the main
building, and to point and wing the same from a supply of iron barbs and
feathers which fortunately was discovered in one of the guard-houses. A
few horses that remained in a shed were killed and salted down for food,
and so forth.

Also every possible preparation was made to repel attempts to storm,
paving stones being piled up to throw upon the heads of assailants and
fires lighted on the walls to heat pitch and oil and water for the same
purpose.

But, to our disappointment, no direct assault was delivered, such
desperate methods not commending themselves to the Abati. Their plan of
attack was to take cover wherever they could, especially among the trees
of the garden beyond the gates, and thence shoot arrows at any one who
appeared upon the walls, or even fire them in volleys at the clouds, as
the Normans did at Hastings, so that they might fall upon the heads
of persons in the courtyards. Although these cautious tactics cost us
several men, they had the advantage of furnishing us with a supply of
ammunition which we sorely needed. All the spent arrows were carefully
collected and made use of against the enemy, at whom we shot whenever
opportunity offered. We did them but little damage, however, since they
were extremely careful not to expose themselves.

In this fashion three dreary days went past, unrelieved by any incident
except a feint, for it was scarcely more, which the Abati made upon
the second night, apparently with the object of forcing the great gates
under cover of a rainstorm. The advance was discovered at once, and
repelled by two or three volleys of arrows and some rifle shots. Of
these rifles, indeed, whereof we possessed about a score, the Abati were
terribly afraid. Picking out some of the most intelligent soldiers we
taught them how to handle our spare guns, and though, of course, their
shooting was extremely erratic, the result of it, backed up by our
own more accurate marksmanship, was to force the enemy to take cover.
Indeed, after one or two experiences of the effect of bullets, not a man
would show himself in the open within five hundred yards until night had
fallen.

On the third afternoon we held a council to determine what must be done,
since for the last twenty-four hours it had been obvious that things
could not continue as they were. To begin with, we had only sufficient
food left to keep our force from starvation for two more days. Also
the spirits of our soldiers, brave men enough when actual fighting
was concerned, were beginning to flag in this atmosphere of inaction.
Gathered into groups, they talked of their wives and children, and of
what would happen to them at the hands of Joshua; also of their cattle
and crops, saying that doubtless these were being ravaged and their
houses burned. In vain did Maqueda promise them five-fold their loss
when the war was ended, for evidently in their hearts they thought it
could only end one way. Moreover, as they pointed out, she could not
give them back their children if these were killed.

At this melancholy council every possible plan was discussed, to find
that these resolved themselves into two alternatives--to surrender,
or to take the bull by the horns, sally out of the palace at night and
attack Joshua. On the face of it, this latter scheme had the appearance
of suicide, but, in fact, it was not so desperate as it seemed. The
Abati being such cowards it was quite probable that they would run in
their thousands before the onset of a few hundred determined men, and
that, if once victory declared itself for the Child of Kings, the bulk
of her subjects would return to their allegiance. So we settled on it in
preference to surrender, which we knew meant death to ourselves, and for
Maqueda a choice between that last grim solution of her troubles and a
forced marriage.

But there were others to be convinced, namely, the Mountaineers. Japhet,
who had been present at the council, was sent to summon all of them
except those actually on guard, and when they were assembled in the
large inner court Maqueda went out and addressed them.

I do not remember the exact words of her speech, and I made no note of
them, but it was extremely beautiful and touching. She pointed out her
plight, and that we could halt no longer between two opinions, who must
either fight or yield. For herself she said she did not care, since,
although she was young and their ruler, she set no store upon her life,
and would give it up gladly rather than be driven into a marriage
which she considered shameful, and forced to pass beneath the yoke of
traitors.

But for us foreigners she did care. We had come to her country at her
invitation, we had served her nobly, one of us had given his life to
protect her person, and now, in violation of her safeguard and that of
the Council, we were threatened with a dreadful death. Were they, her
subjects, so lacking in honour and hospitality that they would suffer
such a thing with no blow struck to save us?

Now the majority of them shouted "No," but some were silent, and one old
captain advanced, saluted, and spoke.

"Child of Kings," he said, "let us search out the truth of this matter.
Is it not because of your love of the foreign soldier, Orme, that all
this trouble has arisen? Is not that love unlawful according to our law,
and are you not solemnly affianced to the Prince Joshua?"

Maqueda considered awhile before she replied, and said slowly:

"Friend, my heart is my own, therefore upon this point answer your
question for yourself. As regards my uncle Joshua, if there existed any
abiding contract between us it was broken when a few nights ago he sent
his servants armed to attack and drag me off I know not whither. Would
you have me marry a traitor and a coward? I have spoken."

"No," again shouted the majority of the soldiers.

Then in the silence that followed the old captain replied, with a
canniness that was almost Scotch:

"On the point raised by you, O Child of Kings, I give no opinion, since
you, being but a woman, if a high-born one, would not listen to me if I
did, but will doubtless follow that heart of yours of which you speak to
whatever end is appointed. Settle the matter with your betrothed Joshua
as you will. But we also have a matter to settle with Joshua, who is a
toad with a long tongue that if he seems slow yet never misses his fly.
We took up your cause, and have killed a great number of his people, as
he has killed some of ours. This he will not forget. Therefore it seems
to me that it will be wise that we should make what we can of the nest
that we have built, since it is better to die in battle than on the
gallows. For this reason, then, since we can stay here no longer, for
my part I am willing to go out and fight for you this night, although
Joshua's people being so many and ours so few, I shall think myself
fortunate if I live to see another sun."

This hard and reasoned speech seemed to appeal to the dissentients, with
the result that they withdrew their opposition, and it was agreed that
we should attempt to break our way through the besieging army about one
hour before the dawn, when they would be heavily asleep and most liable
to panic.

Yet, as it chanced, that sortie was destined never to take place, which
perhaps was fortunate for us, since I am convinced that it would have
ended in failure. It is true that we might have forced our way through
Joshua's army, but afterwards those of us who remained alive would have
been surrounded, starved out, and, when our strength and ammunition were
exhausted taken prisoners or cut down.

However that may be, events shaped a different course for us, perhaps
because the Abati got wind of our intention and had no stomach for
a pitched battle with desperate men. As it happened, this night from
sunset on to moonrise was one of a darkness so remarkable that it was
impossible to see anything even a foot away, also a wind blowing from
the east made sounds very inaudible. Only a few of our men were on
guard, since it was necessary that they should be rested till it was
time for them to prepare for their great effort. Also, we had little
fear of any direct attack.

About eight o'clock, however, my son Roderick, one of the watch
stationed in the gateway towers, who was gifted with very quick ears,
reported that he thought he heard people moving on the farther side of
the massive wooden doors beyond the moat. Accordingly some of us went to
listen, but could distinguish nothing, and concluded therefore that he
was mistaken. So we retired to our posts and waited patiently for the
moon to rise. But as it chanced no moon rose, or rather we could not
see her, because the sky was completely covered by thick banks of
thunder-clouds presaging the break-up of a period of great heat. These,
as the wind had now died down, remained quite stationary upon the face
of the sky, blotting out all light.

Perhaps another hour had passed when, chancing to look behind me, I saw
what I thought was a meteor falling from the crest of the cliff against
which the palace was built, that cliff whither the head of the idol
Harmac had been carried by the force of the explosion.

"Look at that shooting star," I said to Oliver, who was at my side.

"It is not a shooting star, it is fire," he replied in a startled voice,
and, as he spoke, other streaks of light, scores of them, began to rain
down from the brow of the cliff and land upon the wooden buildings to
the rear of the palace that were dry as tinder with the drought, and,
what was worse, upon the gilded timber domes of the roof.

"Don't you understand the game?" he went on. "They have tied firebrands
to arrows and spears to burn us out. Sound the alarm. Sound the alarm!"

It was done, and presently the great range of buildings began to hum
like a hive of bees. The soldiers still half asleep, rushed hither
and thither shouting. The officers also, developing the characteristic
excitement of the Abati race in this hour of panic, yelled and screamed
at them, beating them with their fists and swords till some kind of
control was established.

Then attempts were made to extinguish the flames, which by this time
had got hold in half-a-dozen places. From the beginning the effort was
absolutely hopeless. It is true that there was plenty of water in the
moat, which was fed by a perennial stream that flowed down the face of
the precipice behind; but pumping engines of any sort were quite unknown
to the Abati, who, if a building took fire, just let it burn, contenting
themselves with safeguarding those in its neighbourhood. Moreover,
even in the palace, such articles as pails, jugs, or other vessels were
comparatively few and far between.

Those that we could find, however, were filled with water and passed
by lines of men to the places in most danger--that is, practically
everywhere--while other men tried to cut off the advance of the flames
by pulling down portions of the building.

But as fast as one fire was extinguished others broke out, for the rain
of burning darts and of lighted pots or lamps filled with oil descended
continuously from the cliff above. A strange and terrible sight it was
to see them flashing down through the darkness, like the fiery darts
that shall destroy the wicked in the day of Armageddon.

Still, we toiled on despairingly. On the roof we four white men, and
some soldiers under the command of Japhet, were pouring water on to
several of the gilded domes, which now were well alight. Close by,
wrapped in a dark cloak, and attended by some of her ladies, stood
Maqueda. She was quite calm, although sundry burning arrows and spears,
falling with great force from the cliff above, struck the flat roofs
close to where she stood.

Her ladies, however, were not calm. They wept and wrung their hands,
while one of them went into violent hysterics in her very natural
terror. Maqueda turned and bade them descend to the courtyard of the
gateway, where she said she would join them presently. They rushed off,
rejoicing to escape the sight of those burning arrows, one of which had
just pierced a man and set his clothes and hair on fire, causing him to
leap from the roof in his madness.

At Oliver's request I ran to the Child of Kings to lead her to some
safer place, if it could be found. But she would not stir.

"Let me be, O Adams," she said. "If I am to die, I will die here. But
I do not think that is fated," and with her foot she kicked aside a
burning spear that had struck the cement roof, and, rebounding, fallen
quite close to her. "If my people will not fight," she went on, with
bitter sarcasm, "at least they understand the other arts of war, for
this trick of theirs is clever. They are cruel also. Listen to them
mocking us in the square. They ask whether we will roast alive or come
out and have our throats cut. Oh!" she went on, clenching her hands,
"oh! that I should have been born the head of such an accursed race. Let
Sheol take them all, for in the day of their tribulation no finger will
I lift to save them."

She was silent for a moment, and down below, near the gateway, I heard
some brute screaming, "Pretty pigeons! Pretty pigeons, are your feathers
singeing? Come then into our pie, pretty pigeons, pretty pigeons!"
followed by shouts of ribald laughter.

But it chanced it was this hound himself who went into the "pie."
Presently, when the flames were brighter, I saw him, in the midst of a
crowd of his admirers, singing his foul song, another verse of it about
Maqueda, which I will not repeat, and by good fortune managed to put a
bullet through his head. It was not a bad shot considering the light and
circumstances, and the only one I fired that night. I trust also that it
will be the last I shall ever fire at any human being.

Just as I was about to leave Maqueda and return with her message to
Orme, to the effect that she would not move, the final catastrophe
occurred. Amongst the stables was a large shed filled with dry fodder
for the palace horses and camels. Suddenly this burst into a mass of
flame that spread in all directions. Then came the last, hideous panic.
From every part of the palace, the Mountaineers, men and officers
together, rushed down to the gateway. In a minute, with the single
exception of Japhet, we four and Maqueda were left alone upon the
roof, where we stood overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. We heard
the drawbridge fall; we heard the great doors burst upon beneath the
pressure of a mob of men; we heard a coarse voice--I thought it was that
of Joshua--yell:

"Kill whom you will, my children, but death to him who harms the Child
of Kings. She is my spoil!"

Then followed terrible sights and sounds. The cunning Abati had
stretched ropes outside the doors; it was the noise they made at this
work which had reached Roderick's ears earlier during the darkness. The
terrified soldiers, flying from the fire, stumbled and fell over these
ropes, nor could they rise again because of those who pressed behind.
What happened to them all I am sure I do not know, but doubtless many
were crushed to death and many more killed by Joshua's men. I trust,
however, that some of them escaped, since, compared to the rest of the
Abati, they were as lions are to cats, although, like all their race,
they lacked the stamina to fight an uphill game.

It was at the commencement of this terrific scene that I shot the
foul-mouthed singer.

"You shouldn't have done that, old fellow," screamed Higgs in his high
voice, striving to make himself heard above the tumult, "as it will show
those swine where we are."

"I don't think they will look for us here, anyway," I answered.

Then we watched awhile in silence.

"Come," said Orme at length, taking Maqueda by the hand.

"Where are you going, O Oliver?" she asked, hanging back. "Sooner will I
burn than yield to Joshua."

"I am going to the cave city," he answered; "we have nowhere else to
go, and little time to lose. Four men with rifles can hold that place
against a thousand. Come."

"I obey," she answered, bowing her head.

We went down the stairway that led from the roof on which the
inhabitants of the palace were accustomed to spend much of their day,
and even to sleep in hot weather, as is common in the East. Another
minute and we should have been too late. The fire from one of the domes
had spread to the upper story, and was already appearing in little
tongues of flame mingled with jets of black smoke through cracks in the
crumbling partition wall.

As a matter of fact this wall fell in just as my son Roderick, the last
of us, was passing down the stairs. With the curiosity of youth he had
lingered for a few moments to watch the sad scene below, a delay which
nearly cost him his life.

On the ground floor we found ourselves out of immediate danger, since
the fire was attacking this part of the palace from above and burning
downward. We had even time to go to our respective sleeping-places and
collect such of our possessions and valuables as we were able to carry.
Fortunately, among other things, these included all our note-books,
which to-day are of priceless value. Laden with these articles, we met
again in the audience hall, which, although it was very hot, seemed as
it had always been, a huge, empty place, whereof the roof, painted with
stars, was supported upon thick cedar columns, each of them hewn from a
single tree.

Passing down that splendid apartment, which an hour later had ceased to
exist, lamps in hand, for these we had found time to fetch and light,
we reached the mouth of the passage that led to the underground city
without meeting a single human being.

Had the Abati been a different race they could perfectly well have
dashed in and made us prisoners, for the drawbridge was still intact.
But their cowardice was our salvation, for they feared lest they should
be trapped by the fire. So I think at least, but justice compels me to
add that, on the spur of the moment, they may have found it impossible
to clear the gateways of the mass of fallen or dead soldiers over which
it would have been difficult to climb.

Such, at any rate, was the explanation that we heard afterwards.

We reached the mouth of the vast cave in perfect safety, and clambered
through the little orifice which was left between the rocks rolled
thither by the force of the explosion, or shaken down from the roof.
This hole, for it was nothing more, we proceeded to stop with a few
stones in such a fashion that it could not be forced without much toil
and considerable noise, only leaving one little tortuous channel through
which, if necessary, a man could creep.

The labour of rock-carrying, in which even Maqueda shared, occupied our
minds for awhile, and induced a kind of fictitious cheerfulness. But
when it was done, and the chilly silence of that enormous cave, so
striking in comparison with the roar of the flames and the hideous human
tumult which we had left without, fell upon us like sudden cold and
blinding night upon a wanderer in windy, sunlit mountains, all our
excitement perished. In a flash, we understood our terrible position,
we who had but escaped from the red fire to perish slowly in the black
darkness.

Still we strove to keep our spirits as best we could. Leaving Higgs to
watch the blocked passage, a somewhat superfluous task, since the fire
without was our best watchman, the rest of us threaded our way up the
cave, following the telephone wire which poor Quick had laid on the
night of the blowing-up of the god Harmac, till we came to what had been
our headquarters during the digging of the mine. Into the room which
was Oliver's, whence we had escaped with so much difficulty after
that event, we could not enter because of the transom that blocked the
doorway. Still, there were plenty of others at hand in the old temple,
although they were foul with the refuse of the bats that wheeled about
us in thousands, for these creatures evidently had some unknown access
to the open air. One of these rooms had served as our store-chamber, and
after a few rough preparations we assigned it to Maqueda.

"Friends," she said, as she surveyed its darksome entrance, "it looks
like the door of a tomb. Well, in the tomb there is rest, and rest I
must have. Leave me to sleep, who, were it not for you, O Oliver, would
pray that I might never wake again.

"Man," she added passionately, before us all, for now in face of the
last peril every false shame and wish to conceal the truth had left her;
"man, why were you born to bring woe upon my head and joy to my heart?
Well, well, the joy outweighs the woe, and even if the angel who led you
hither is named Azrael, still I shall bless him who has revealed to me
my soul. Yet for you I weep, and if only your life could be spared to
fulfil itself in happiness in the land that bore you, oh! for you I
would gladly die."

Now Oliver, who seemed deeply moved, stepped to her and began to whisper
into her ear, evidently making some proposal of which I think I can
guess the nature. She listened to him, smiling sadly, and made a motion
with her hand as though to thrust him away.

"Not so," she said, "it is nobly offered, but did I accept, through
whatever universes I may wander, those who came after me would know me
by my trail of blood, the blood of him who loved me. Perhaps, too, by
that crime I should be separated from you for ever. Moreover, I tell
you that though all seems black as this thick darkness, I believe that
things will yet end well for you and me--in this world or another."

Then she was gone, leaving Orme staring after her like a man in a
trance.

"I daresay they will," remarked Higgs _sotto voce_ to me, "and that's
first-rate so far as they are concerned. But what I should jolly well
like to know is how they are going to end for _us_ who haven't got a
charming lady to see us across the Styx."

"You needn't puzzle your brain over that," I answered gloomily, "for
I think there will soon be a few more skeletons in this beastly cave,
that's all. Don't you see that those Abati will believe we are burned in
the palace?"

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