AYESHA

THE RETURN OF SHE

By H. Rider Haggard

 "Here ends this history so far as it concerns science and the outside world. What its end will be as regards Leo and myself is more than I can guess. But we feel that it is not reached. . . . Often I sit alone at night, staring with the eyes of my mind into the blackness of unborn time, and wondering in what shape and form the great drama will be finally developed, and where the scene of its next act will be laid. And when, ultimately, that _final_ development occurs, as I have no doubt it must and will occur, in obedience to a fate that never swerves and a purpose which cannot be altered, what will be the part played therein by that beautiful Egyptian Amenar-tas, the Princess of the royal house of the Pharaohs, for the love of whom the priest Kallikrates broke his vows to Isis, and, pursued by the vengeance of the outraged goddess, fled down the coast of Lybia to meet his doom at Kor?"-- _She_, Silver Library Edition, p. 277. 

DEDICATION

My dear Lang, The appointed years--alas! how many of them--are gone by, leaving Ayeshalovely and loving and ourselves alive. As it was promised in the Cavesof Kor _She_ has returned again. 

To you therefore who accepted the first, I offer this further history ofone of the various incarnations of that Immortal. 

My hope is that after you have read her record, notwithstanding hersubtleties and sins and the shortcomings of her chronicler (no easyoffice!) you may continue to wear your chain of "loyalty to our ladyAyesha. " Such, I confess, is still the fate of your old friend

H. RIDER HAGGARD. 

DITCHINGHAM, 1905. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Not with a view of conciliating those readers who on principle object tosequels, but as a matter of fact, the Author wishes to say that he doesnot so regard this book. 

Rather does he venture to ask that it should be considered as theconclusion of an imaginative tragedy (if he may so call it) whereof onehalf has been already published. 

This conclusion it was always his desire to write should he be destinedto live through those many years which, in obedience to his originaldesign, must be allowed to lapse between the events of the first andsecond parts of the romance. 

In response to many enquiries he may add that the name Ayesha, whichsince the days of the prophet Mahomet, who had a wife so called, andperhaps before them, has been common in the East, should be pronounced_Assha_. 

INTRODUCTION

Verily and indeed it is the unexpected that happens! Probably if therewas one person upon the earth from whom the Editor of this, and of acertain previous history, did not expect to hear again, that person wasLudwig Horace Holly. This, too, for a good reason; he believed him tohave taken his departure from the earth. 

When Mr. Holly last wrote, many, many years ago, it was to transmit themanuscript of _She_, and to announce that he and his ward, Leo Vincey, the beloved of the divine Ayesha, were about to travel to Central Asiain the hope, I suppose, that there she would fulfil her promise andappear to them again. 

Often I have wondered, idly enough, what happened to them there; whetherthey were dead, or perhaps droning their lives away as monks in someThibetan Lamasery, or studying magic and practising asceticism underthe tuition of the Eastern Masters trusting that thus they would build abridge by which they might pass to the side of their adored Immortal. 

Now at length, when I had not thought of them for months, without asingle warning sign, out of the blue as it were, comes the answer tothese wonderings!

To think--only to think--that I, the Editor aforesaid, from itsappearance suspecting something quite familiar and without interest, pushed aside that dingy, unregistered, brown-paper parcel directed in anunknown hand, and for two whole days let it lie forgotten. Indeed thereit might be lying now, had not another person been moved to curiosity, and opening it, found within a bundle of manuscript badly burned uponthe back, and with this two letters addressed to myself. 

Although so great a time had passed since I saw it, and it was shakynow because of the author's age or sickness, I knew the writing atonce--nobody ever made an "H" with that peculiar twirl under it exceptMr. Holly. I tore open the sealed envelope, and sure enough the firstthing my eye fell upon was the signature, _L. H. Holly_. It is longsince I read anything so eagerly as I did that letter. Here it is:--

"My dear sir, --I have ascertained that you still live, and strange tosay I still live also--for a little while. 

"As soon as I came into touch with civilization again I found a copy ofyour book _She_, or rather of my book, and read it--first of all in aHindostani translation. My host--he was a minister of some religiousbody, a man of worthy but prosaic mind--expressed surprise that a 'wildromance' should absorb me so much. I answered that those who have wideexperience of the hard facts of life often find interest in romance. Hadhe known what were the hard facts to which I alluded, I wonder what thatexcellent person would have said?

"I see that you carried out your part of the business well andfaithfully. Every instruction has been obeyed, nothing has been added ortaken away. Therefore, to you, to whom some twenty years ago I entrustedthe beginning of the history, I wish to entrust its end also. You werethe first to learn of _She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed_, who from century tocentury sat alone, clothed with unchanging loveliness in the sepulchresof Kor, waiting till her lost love was born again, and Destiny broughthim back to her. 

"It is right, therefore, that you should be the first to learn also ofAyesha, Hesea and Spirit of the Mountain, the priestess of that Oraclewhich since the time of Alexander the Great has reigned between theflaming pillars in the Sanctuary, the last holder of the sceptre of Hesor Isis upon the earth. It is right also that to you first among menI should reveal the mystic consummation of the wondrous tragedy whichbegan at Kor, or perchance far earlier in Egypt and elsewhere. 

"I am very ill; I have struggled back to this old house of mine to die, and my end is at hand. I have asked the doctor here, after all is over, to send you the Record, that is unless I change my mind and burn itfirst. You will also receive, if you receive anything at all, a casecontaining several rough sketches which may be of use to you, and a_sistrum_, the instrument that has been always used in the worship ofthe Nature goddesses of the old Egyptians, Isis and Hathor, which youwill see is as beautiful as it is ancient. I give it to you for tworeasons; as a token of my gratitude and regard, and as the only piece ofevidence that is left to me of the literal truth of what I have writtenin the accompanying manuscript, where you will find it often mentioned. Perhaps also you will value it as a souvenir of, I suppose, thestrangest and loveliest being who ever was, or rather, is. It was hersceptre, the rod of her power, with which I saw her salute the Shadowsin the Sanctuary, and her gift to me. 

"It has virtues also; some part of Ayesha's might yet haunts the symbolto which even spirits bowed, but if you should discover them, beware howthey are used. 

"I have neither the strength nor the will to write more. The Record mustspeak for itself. Do with it what you like, and believe it or not as youlike. I care nothing who know that it is true. 

"Who and what was Ayesha, nay, what _is_ Ayesha? An incarnate essence, a materialised spirit of Nature the unforeseeing, the lovely, the crueland the immortal; ensouled alone, redeemable only by Humanity and itspiteous sacrifice? Say you! I have done with speculations who depart tosolve these mysteries. 

"_I_ wish you happiness and good fortune. Farewell to you and to all. 

"L. Horace Holly. "

I laid the letter down, and, filled with sensations that it is uselessto attempt to analyse or describe, opened the second envelope, of whichI also print the contents, omitting only certain irrelevant portions, and the name of the writer as, it will be noted, he requests me to do. 

This epistle, that was dated from a remote place upon the shores ofCumberland, ran as follows:--

"Dear sir, --As the doctor who attended Mr. Holly in his last illness Iam obliged, in obedience to a promise that I made to him, to become anintermediary in a some what strange business, although in truth it isone of which I know very little, however much it may have interested me. Still I do so only on the strict understanding that no mention is tobe made of my name in connexion with the matter, or of the locality inwhich I practise. 

"About ten days ago I was called in to see Mr. Holly at an old houseupon the Cliff that for many years remained untenanted except by thecaretakers, which house was his property, and had been in his family forgenerations. The housekeeper who summoned me told me that her master hadbut just returned from abroad, somewhere in Asia, she said, and thathe was very ill with his heart--dying, she believed; both of whichsuppositions proved to be accurate. 

"I found the patient sitting up in bed (to ease his heart), and astrange-looking old man he was. He had dark eyes, small but full of fireand intelligence, a magnificent and snowy-white beard that covered achest of extraordinary breadth, and hair also white, which encroachedupon his forehead and face so much that it met the whiskers upon hischeeks. His arms were remarkable for their length and strength, thoughone of them seemed to have been much torn by some animal. He told methat a dog had done this, but if so it must have been a dog of unusualpower. He was a very ugly man, and yet, forgive the bull, beautiful. Icannot describe what I mean better than by saying that his face wasnot like the face of any ordinary mortal whom I have met in mylimited experience. Were I an artist who wished to portray a wise andbenevolent, but rather grotesque spirit, I should take that countenanceas a model. 

"Mr. Holly was somewhat vexed at my being called in, which had been donewithout his knowledge. Soon we became friendly enough, however, and heexpressed gratitude for the relief that I was able to give him, thoughI could not hope to do more. At different times he talked a good dealof the various countries in which he had travelled, apparently for verymany years, upon some strange quest that he never clearly denned tome. Twice also he became light-headed, and spoke, for the most part inlanguages that I identified as Greek and Arabic; occasionally in Englishalso, when he appeared to be addressing himself to a being who was theobject of his veneration, I might almost say of his worship. Whathe said then, however, I prefer not to repeat, for I heard it in myprofessional capacity. 

"One day he pointed to a rough box made of some foreign wood (the samethat I have now duly despatched to you by train), and, giving me yourname and address, said that without fail it was to be forwarded to youafter his death. Also he asked me to do up a manuscript, which, like thebox, was to be sent to you. 

"He saw me looking at the last sheets, which had been burned away, andsaid (I repeat his exact words)--

"'Yes, yes, that can't be helped now, it must go as it is. You see Imade up my mind to destroy it after all, and it was already on the firewhen the command came--the clear, unmistakable command--and I snatchedit off again. '

"What Mr. Holly meant by this 'command' I do not know, for he wouldspeak no more of the matter. 

"I pass on to the last scene. One night about eleven o'clock, knowingthat my patient's end was near, I went up to see him, proposing toinject some strychnine to keep the heart going a little longer. BeforeI reached the house I met the caretaker coming to seek me in a greatfright, and asked her if her master was dead. She answered No; but hewas _gone_--had got out of bed and, just as he was, barefooted, leftthe house, and was last seen by her grandson among the very Scotch firswhere we were talking. The lad, who was terrified out of his wits, forhe thought that he beheld a ghost, had told her so. 

"The moonlight was very brilliant that night, especially as fresh snowhad fallen, which reflected its rays. I was on foot, and began to searchamong the firs, till presently just outside of them I found the track ofnaked feet in the snow. Of course I followed, calling to the housekeeperto go and wake her husband, for no one else lives near by. The spoorproved very easy to trace across the clean sheet of snow. It ran up theslope of a hill behind the house. 

"Now, on the crest of this hill is an ancient monument of uprightmonoliths set there by some primeval people, known locally as theDevil's Ring--a sort of miniature Stonehenge in fact. I had seen itseveral times, and happened to have been present not long ago at ameeting of an archaeological society when its origin and purpose werediscussed. I remember that one learned but somewhat eccentric gentlemanread a short paper upon a rude, hooded bust and head that are cut withinthe chamber of a tall, flat-topped cromlech, or dolmen, which standsalone in the centre of the ring. 

"He said that it was a representation of the Egyptian goddess, Isis, andthat this place had once been sacred to some form of her worship, or atany rate to that of a Nature goddess with like attributes, a suggestionwhich the other learned gentlemen treated as absurd. They declared thatIsis had never travelled into Britain, though for my part I do not seewhy the Phoenicians, or even the Romans, who adopted her cult, moreor less, should not have brought it here. But I know nothing of suchmatters and will not discuss them. 

"I remembered also that Mr. Holly was acquainted with this place, forhe had mentioned it to me on the previous day, asking if the stones werestill uninjured as they used to be when he was young. He added also, andthe remark struck me, that yonder was where he would wish to die. When Ianswered that I feared he would never take so long a walk again, I notedthat he smiled a little. 

"Well, this conversation gave me a clue, and without troubling moreabout the footprints I went on as fast as I could to the Ring, half amile or so away. Presently I reached it, and there--yes, there--standingby the cromlech, bareheaded, and clothed in his night-things only, stood Mr. Holly in the snow, the strangest figure, I think, that ever Ibeheld. 

"Indeed never shall I forget that wild scene. The circle of rough, single stones pointing upwards to the star-strewn sky, intensely lonelyand intensely solemn: the tall trilithon towering above them in thecentre, its shadow, thrown by the bright moon behind it, lying longand black upon the dazzling sheet of snow, and, standing clear of thisshadow so that I could distinguish his every motion, and even the raptlook upon his dying face, the white-draped figure of Mr. Holly. Heappeared to be uttering some invocation--in Arabic, I think--for longbefore I reached him I could catch the tones of his full, sonorousvoice, and see his waving, outstretched arms. In his right hand he heldthe looped sceptre which, by his express wish I send to you with thedrawings. I could see the flash of the jewels strung upon the wires, andin the great stillness, hear the tinkling of its golden bells. 

"Presently, too, I seemed to become aware of another presence, and nowyou will understand why I desire and must ask that my identity shouldbe suppressed. Naturally enough I do not wish to be mixed up with asuperstitious tale which is, on the face of it, impossible and absurd. Yet under all the circumstances I think it right to tell you that I saw, or thought I saw, something gather in the shadow of the central dolmen, or emerge from its rude chamber--I know not which for certain--somethingbright and glorious which gradually took the form of a woman upon whoseforehead burned a star-like fire. 

"At any rate the vision or reflection, or whatever it was, startled meso much that I came to a halt under the lee of one of the monoliths, andfound myself unable even to call to the distraught man whom I pursued. 

"Whilst I stood thus it became clear to me that Mr. Holly also sawsomething. At least he turned towards the Radiance in the shadow, uttered one cry; a wild, glad cry, and stepped forward; then seemed tofall _through it_ on to his face. 

"When I reached the spot the light had vanished, and all I found was Mr. Holly, his arms still outstretched, and the sceptre gripped tightly inhis hand, lying quite dead in the shadow of the trilithon. "

The rest of the doctor's letter need not be quoted as it deals only withcertain very improbable explanations of the origin of this figure oflight, the details of the removal of Holly's body, and of how he managedto satisfy the coroner that no inquest was necessary. 

The box of which he speaks arrived safely. Of the drawings in it I needsay nothing, and of the _sistrum_ or sceptre only a few words. It wasfashioned of crystal to the well-known shape of the _Crux-ansata_, orthe emblem of life of the Egyptians; the rod, the cross and the loopcombined in one. From side to side of this loop ran golden wires, and onthese were strung gems of three colours, glittering diamonds, sea-bluesapphires, and blood-red rubies, while to the fourth wire, that at thetop, hung four little golden bells. 

When I took hold of it first my arm shook slightly with excitement, andthose bells began to sound; a sweet, faint music like to that of chimesheard far away at night in the silence of the sea. I thought too, butperhaps this was fancy, that a thrill passed from the hallowed andbeautiful thing into my body. 

On the mystery itself, as it is recorded in the manuscript, I make nocomment. Of it and its inner significations every reader must form hisor her own judgment. One thing alone is clear to me--on the hypothesisthat Mr. Holly tells the truth as to what he and Leo Vincey sawand experienced, which I at least believe--that though sundryinterpretations of this mystery were advanced by Ayesha and others, noneof them are quite satisfactory. 

Indeed, like Mr. Holly, I incline to the theory that She, if I may stillcall her by that name although it is seldom given to her in these pages, put forward some of them, such as the vague Isis-myth, and the wondrouspicture-story of the Mountain-fire, as mere veils to hide the truthwhich it was her purpose to reveal at last in that song she never sang. 

The Editor. 

AYESHA

The Further History of She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed

CHAPTER I

THE DOUBLE SIGN

Hard on twenty years have gone by since that night of Leo's vision--themost awful years, perhaps, which were ever endured by men--twenty yearsof search and hardship ending in soul-shaking wonder and amazement. 

My death is very near to me, and of this I am glad, for I desire topursue the quest in other realms, as it has been promised to me that Ishall do. I desire to learn the beginning and the end of the spiritualdrama of which it has been my strange lot to read some pages upon earth. 

I, Ludwig Horace Holly, have been very ill; they carried me, more deadthan alive, down those mountains whose lowest slopes I can see from mywindow, for I write this on the northern frontiers of India. Indeed anyother man had long since perished, but Destiny kept my breath in me, perhaps that a record might remain. I, must bide here a month or twotill I am strong enough to travel homewards, for I have a fancy to diein the place where I was born. So while I have strength I will put thestory down, or at least those parts of it that are most essential, formuch can, or at any rate must, be omitted. I shrink from attempting toolong a book, though my notes and memory would furnish me with sufficientmaterial for volumes. 

I will begin with the Vision. 

After Leo Vincey and I came back from Africa in 1885, desiring solitude, which indeed we needed sorely to recover from the fearful shock we hadexperienced, and to give us time and opportunity to think, we went to anold house upon the shores of Cumberland that has belonged to my familyfor many generations. This house, unless somebody has taken it believingme to be dead, is still my property and thither I travel to die. 

Those whose eyes read the words I write, if any should ever read them, may ask--What shock?

Well, I am Horace Holly, and my companion, my beloved friend, my son inthe spirit whom I reared from infancy was--nay, is--Leo Vincey. 

We are those men who, following an ancient clue, travelled to the Cavesof Kor in Central Africa, and there discovered her whom we sought, the immortal _She-who-must-be-obeyed_. In Leo she found her love, thatre-born Kallikrates, the Grecian priest of Isis whom some two thousandyears before she had slain in her jealous rage, thus executing on himthe judgment of the angry goddess. In her also I found the divinity whomI was doomed to worship from afar, not with the flesh, for that is alllost and gone from me, but, what is sorer still, because its burdenis undying, with the will and soul which animate a man throughout thecountless eons of his being. The flesh dies, or at least it changes, andits passions pass, but that other passion of the spirit--that longingfor oneness--is undying as itself. 

What crime have I committed that this sore punishment should be laidupon me? Yet, in truth, is it a punishment? May it not prove to bebut that black and terrible Gate which leads to the joyous palace ofRewards? She swore that I should ever be her friend and his and dwellwith them eternally, and I believe her. 

For how many winters did we wander among the icy hills and deserts!Still, at length, the Messenger came and led us to the Mountain, and onthe Mountain we found the Shrine, and in the Shrine the Spirit. May notthese things be an allegory prepared for our instruction? I will takecomfort. I will hope that it is so. Nay, I am sure that it is so. 

It will be remembered that in Kor we found the immortal woman. Therebefore the flashing rays and vapours of the Pillar of Life she declaredher mystic love, and then in our very sight was swept to a doom sohorrible that even now, after all which has been and gone, I shiver atits recollection. Yet what were Ayesha's last words? "_Forget menot . . . Have pity on my shame. I die not. I shall come again and shallonce more be beautiful. I swear it--it is true. _"

Well, I cannot set out that history afresh. Moreover it is written; theman whom I trusted in the matter did not fail me, and the book he madeof it seems to be known throughout the world, for I have found it herein English, yes, and read it first translated into Hindostani. To itthen I refer the curious. 

In that house upon the desolate sea-shore of Cumberland, we dwelt ayear, mourning the lost, seeking an avenue by which it might be foundagain and discovering none. Here our strength came back to us, and Leo'shair, that had been whitened in the horror of the Caves, grew again fromgrey to golden. His beauty returned to him also, so that his face was asit had been, only purified and saddened. 

Well I remember that night--and the hour of illumination. We wereheart-broken, we were in despair. We sought signs and could find none. The dead remained dead to us and no answer came to all our crying. 

It was a sullen August evening, and after we had dined we walked uponthe shore, listening to the slow surge of the waves and watching thelightning flicker from the bosom of a distant cloud. In silence wewalked, till at last Leo groaned--it was more of a sob than a groan--andclasped my arm. 

"I can bear it no longer, Horace, " he said--for so he called me now--"Iam in torment. The desire to see Ayesha once more saps my brain. Withouthope I shall go quite mad. And I am strong, I may live another fiftyyears. "

"What then can you do?" I asked. 

"I can take a short road to knowledge--or to peace, " he answeredsolemnly, "I can die, and die I will--yes, tonight. "

I turned upon him angrily, for his words filled me with fear. 

"Leo, you are a coward!" I said. "Cannot you bear your part of painas--others do?"

"You mean as you do, Horace, " he answered with a dreary laugh, "for onyou also the curse lies--with less cause. Well, you are stronger than Iam, and more tough; perhaps because you have lived longer. No, I cannotbear it. I will die. "

"It is a crime, " I said, "the greatest insult you can offer to thePower that made you, to cast back its gift of life as a thing outworn, contemptible and despised. A crime, I say, which will bring with itworse punishment than any you can dream; perhaps even the punishment ofeverlasting separation. "

"Does a man stretched in some torture-den commit a crime if he snatchesa knife and kills himself, Horace? Perhaps; but surely that sin shouldfind forgiveness--if torn flesh and quivering nerves may plead formercy. I am such a man, and I will use that knife and take my chance. She is dead, and in death at least I shall be nearer her. "

"Why so, Leo? For aught you know Ayesha may be living. "

"No; for then she would have given me some sign. My mind is made up, sotalk no more, or, if talk we must, let it be of other things. "

Then I pleaded with him, though with little hope, for I saw that what Ihad feared for long was come to pass. Leo was mad: shock and sorrowhad destroyed his reason. Were it not so, he, in his own way a veryreligious man, one who held, as I knew, strict opinions on such matters, would never have purposed to commit the wickedness of suicide. 

"Leo, " I said, "are you so heartless that you would leave me here alone?Do you pay me thus for all my love and care, and wish to drive me to mydeath? Do so if you will, and my blood be on your head. "

"Your blood! Why your blood, Horace?"

"Because that road is broad and two can travel it. We have lived longyears together and together endured much; I am sure that we shall not belong parted. "

Then the tables were turned and he grew afraid for me. But I onlyanswered, "If you die I tell you that I shall die also. It willcertainly kill me. "

So Leo gave way. "Well, " he exclaimed suddenly, "I promise you it shallnot be to-night. Let us give life another chance. "

"Good, " I answered; but I went to my bed full of fear. For I was certainthat this desire of death, having once taken hold of him, would growand grow, until at length it became too strong, and then--then I shouldwither and die who could not live on alone. In my despair I threw out mysoul towards that of her who was departed. 

"Ayesha!" I cried, "if you have any power, if in any way it ispermitted, show that you still live, and save your lover from this sinand me from a broken heart. Have pity on his sorrow and breathe hopeinto his spirit, for without hope Leo cannot live, and without him Ishall not live. "

Then, worn out, I slept. 

I was aroused by the voice of Leo speaking to me in low, excited tonesthrough the darkness. 

"Horace, " he said, "Horace, my friend, my father, listen!"

In an instant I was wide awake, every nerve and fibre of me, for thetones of his voice told me that something had happened which bore uponour destinies. 

"Let me light a candle first, " I said. 

"Never mind the candle, Horace; I would rather speak in the dark. I wentto sleep, and I dreamed the most vivid dream that ever came to me. Iseemed to stand under the vault of heaven, it was black, black, not astar shone in it, and a great loneliness possessed me. Then suddenlyhigh up in the vault, miles and miles away, I saw a little light andthought that a planet had appeared to keep me company. The light beganto descend slowly, like a floating flake of fire. Down it sank, and downand down, till it was but just above me, and I perceived that it wasshaped like a tongue or fan of flame. At the height of my head from theground it stopped and stood steady, and by its ghostly radiance I sawthat beneath was the shape of a woman and that the flame burned upon herforehead. The radiance gathered strength and now I saw the woman. 

"Horace, it was Ayesha herself, her eyes, her lovely face, her cloudyhair, and she looked at me sadly, reproachfully, I thought, as one mightwho says, 'Why did you doubt?'

"I tried to speak to her but my lips were dumb. I tried to advance andto embrace her, my arms would not move. There was a barrier between us. She lifted her hand and beckoned as though bidding me to follow her. 

"Then she glided away, and, Horace, my spirit seemed to loose itselffrom the body and to be given the power to follow. We passed swiftlyeastward, over lands and seas, and--I knew the road. At one pointshe paused and I looked downwards. Beneath, shining in the moonlight, appeared the ruined palaces of Kor, and there not far away was the gulfwe trod together. 

"Onward above the marshes, and now we stood upon the Ethiopian's Head, and gathered round, watching us earnestly, were the faces of the Arabs, our companions who drowned in the sea beneath. Job was among them also, and he smiled at me sadly and shook his head, as though he wished toaccompany us and could not. 

"Across the sea again, across the sandy deserts, across more sea, andthe shores of India lay beneath us. Then northward, ever northward, above the plains, till we reached a place of mountains capped witheternal snow. We passed them and stayed for an instant above a buildingset upon the brow of a plateau. It was a monastery, for old monks dronedprayers upon its terrace. I shall know it again, for it is built in theshape of a half-moon and in front of it sits the gigantic, ruined statueof a god who gazes everlastingly across the desert. I knew, how I cannotsay, that now we were far past the furthest borders of Thibet and thatin front of us lay untrodden lands. More mountains stretched beyond thatdesert, a sea of snowy peaks, hundreds and hundreds of them. 

"Near to the monastery, jutting out into the plain like some rockyheadland, rose a solitary hill, higher than all behind. We stood uponits snowy crest and waited, till presently, above the mountains and thedesert at our feet shot a sudden beam of light that beat upon us likesome signal flashed across the sea. On we went, floating down thebeam--on over the desert and the mountains, across a great flat landbeyond, in which were many villages and a city on a mound, till we litupon a towering peak. Then I saw that this peak was loop-shaped like thesymbol of Life of the Egyptians--the _crux-ansata_--and supported bya lava stem hundreds of feet in height. Also I saw that the fire whichshone through it rose from the crater of a volcano beyond. Upon the verycrest of this loop we rested a while, till the Shadow of Ayesha pointeddownward with its hand, smiled and vanished. Then I awoke. 

"Horace, I tell you that the sign has come to us. "

His voice died away in the darkness, but I sat still, brooding over whatI had heard. Leo groped his way to me and, seizing my arm, shook it. 

"Are you asleep?" he asked angrily. "Speak, man, speak!"

"No, " I answered, "never was I more awake. Give me time. "

Then I rose, and going to the open window, drew up the blind and stoodthere staring at the sky, which grew pearl-hued with the first fainttinge of dawn. Leo came also and leant upon the window-sill, and I couldfeel that his body was trembling as though with cold. Clearly he wasmuch moved. 

"You talk of a sign, " I said to him, "but in your sign I see nothing buta wild dream. "

"It was no dream, " he broke in fiercely; "it was a vision. "

"A vision then if you will, but there are visions true and false, andhow can we know that this is true? Listen, Leo. What is there in allthat wonderful tale which could not have been fashioned in your ownbrain, distraught as it is almost to madness with your sorrow and yourlongings? You dreamed that you were alone in the vast universe. Well, isnot every living creature thus alone? You dreamed that the shadowy shapeof Ayesha came to you. Has it ever left your side? You dreamed that sheled you over sea and land, past places haunted by your memory, above themysterious mountains of the Unknown to an undiscovered peak. Does shenot thus lead you through life to that peak which lies beyond the Gatesof Death? You dreamed----"

"Oh! no more of it, " he exclaimed. "What I saw, I saw, and that I shallfollow. Think as you will, Horace, and do what you will. To-morrow Istart for India, with you if you choose to come; if not, without you. "

"You speak roughly, Leo, " I said. "You forget that _I_ have had no sign, and that the nightmare of a man so near to insanity that but a few hoursago he was determined upon suicide, will be a poor staff to lean on whenwe are perishing in the snows of Central Asia. A mixed vision, this ofyours, Leo, with its mountain peak shaped like a _crux-ansata_ and therest. Do you suggest that Ayesha is re-incarnated in Central Asia--as afemale Grand Lama or something of that sort?"

"I never thought of it, but why not?" asked Leo quietly. "Do youremember a certain scene in the Caves of Kor yonder, when the livinglooked upon the dead, and dead and living were the same? And do youremember what Ayesha swore, that she would come again--yes, to thisworld; and how could that be except by re-birth, or, what is the samething, by the transmigration of the spirit?"

I did not answer this argument. I was struggling with myself. 

"No sign has come to me, " I said, "and yet I have had a part in theplay, humble enough, I admit, and I believe that I have still a part. "

"No, " he said, "no sign has come to you. I wish that it had. Oh! how Iwish you could be convinced as I am, Horace!"

Then we were silent for a long while, silent, with our eyes fixed uponthe sky. 

It was a stormy dawn. Clouds in fantastic masses hung upon the ocean. One of them was like a great mountain, and we watched it idly. Itchanged its shape, the crest of it grew hollow like a crater. From thiscrater sprang a projecting cloud, a rough pillar with a knob or lumpresting on its top. Suddenly the rays of the risen sun struck upon thismountain and the column and they turned white like snow. Then as thoughmelted by those fiery arrows, the centre of the excrescence above thepillar thinned out and vanished, leaving an enormous loop of inky cloud. 

"Look, " said Leo in a low, frightened voice, "that is the shape of themountain which I saw in my vision. There upon it is the black loop, andthere through it shines the fire. _It would seem that the sign is forboth of us, Horace. _"

I looked and looked again till presently the vast loop vanished into theblue of heaven. Then I turned and said--"I will come with you to CentralAsia, Leo. "

CHAPTER II

THE LAMASERY

Sixteen years had passed since that night vigil in the old Cumberlandhouse, and, behold! we two, Leo and I, were still travelling, stillsearching for that mountain peak shaped like the Symbol of Life whichnever, never could be found. 

Our adventures would fill volumes, but of what use is it to record them. Many of a similar nature are already written of in books; those that weendured were more prolonged, that is all. Five years we spent in Thibet, for the most part as guests of various monasteries, where we studied thelaw and traditions of the Lamas. Here we were once sentenced to death inpunishment for having visited a forbidden city, but escaped through thekindness of a Chinese official. 

Leaving Thibet, we wandered east and west and north, thousands andthousands of miles, sojourning amongst many tribes in Chinese territoryand elsewhere, learning many tongues, enduring much hardship. Thus wewould hear a legend of a place, say nine hundred miles away, and spendtwo years in reaching it, to find when we came there, nothing. 

And so the time went on. Yet never once did we think of giving up thequest and returning, since, before we started, we had sworn an oath thatwe would achieve or die. Indeed we ought to have died a score of times, yet always were preserved, most mysteriously preserved. 

Now we were in country where, so far as I could learn, no European hadever set a foot. In a part of the vast land called Turkestan there is agreat lake named Balhkash, of which we visited the shores. Two hundredmiles or so to the westward is a range of mighty mountains marked on themaps as Arkarty-Tau, on which we spent a year, and five hundred or so tothe eastward are other mountains called Cherga, whither we journeyed atlast, having explored the triple ranges of the Tau. 

Here it was that at last our true adventures began. On one of the spursof these awful Cherga mountains--it is unmarked on any map--we well-nighperished of starvation. The winter was coming on and we could find nogame. The last traveller we had met, hundreds of miles south, told usthat on that range was a monastery inhabited by Lamas of surpassingholiness. He said that they dwelt in this wild land, over which no powerclaimed dominion and where no tribes lived, to acquire "merit, " with noother company than that of their own pious contemplations. We did notbelieve in its existence, still we were searching for that monastery, driven onward by the blind fatalism which was our only guide throughall these endless wanderings. As we were starving and could find no"argals, " that is fuel with which to make a fire, we walked all night bythe light of the moon, driving between us a single yak--for now we hadno attendant, the last having died a year before. 

He was a noble beast, that yak, and had the best constitution of anyanimal I ever knew, though now, like his masters, he was near his end. Not that he was over-laden, for a few rifle cartridges, about a hundredand fifty, the remnant of a store which we had fortunately been able tobuy from a caravan two years before, some money in gold and silver, alittle tea and a bundle of skin rugs and sheepskin garments were hisburden. On, on we trudged across a plateau of snow, having the greatmountains on our right, till at length the yak gave a sigh and stopped. So we stopped also, because we must, and wrapping ourselves in the skinrugs, sat down in the snow to wait for daylight. 

"We shall have to kill him and eat his flesh raw, " I said, patting thepoor yak that lay patiently at our side. 

"Perhaps we may find game in the morning, " answered Leo, still hopeful. 

"And perhaps we may not, in which case we must die. "

"Very good, " he replied, "then let us die. It is the last resource offailure. We shall have done our best. "

"Certainly, Leo, we shall have done our best, if sixteen years oftramping over mountains and through eternal snows in pursuit of a dreamof the night can be called best. "

"You know what I believe, " he answered stubbornly, and there was silencebetween us, for here arguments did not avail. Also even then I could notthink that all our toils and sufferings would be in vain. 

The dawn came, and by its light we looked at one another anxiously, each of us desiring to see what strength was left to his companion. Wildcreatures we should have seemed to the eyes of any civilized person. Leo was now over forty years of age, and certainly his maturity hadfulfilled the promise of his youth, for a more magnificent man I neverknew. Very tall, although he seemed spare to the eye, his girth matchedhis height, and those many years of desert life had turned his musclesto steel. His hair had grown long, like my own, for it was a protectionfrom sun and cold, and hung upon his neck, a curling, golden mane, ashis great beard hung upon his breast, spreading outwards almost tothe massive shoulders. The face, too--what could be seen of it--wasbeautiful though burnt brown with weather; refined and full of thought, sombre almost, and in it, clear as crystal, steady as stars, shone hislarge grey eyes. 

And I--I was what I have always been--ugly and hirsute, iron-grey nowalso, but in spite of my sixty odd years, still wonderfully strong, formy strength seemed to increase with time, and my health was perfect. Infact, during all this period of rough travels, although now and againwe had met with accidents which laid us up for awhile, neither of ushad known a day of sickness. Hardship seemed to have turned ourconstitutions to iron and made them impervious to every human ailment. Or was this because we alone amongst living men had once inhaled thebreath of the Essence of Life?

Our fears relieved--for notwithstanding our foodless night, as yetneither of us showed any signs of exhaustion--we turned to contemplatethe landscape. At our feet beyond a little belt of fertile soil, begana great desert of the sort with which we were familiar--sandy, salt-encrusted, treeless, waterless, and here and there streaked withthe first snows of winter. Beyond it, eighty or a hundred miles away--inthat lucent atmosphere it was impossible to say how far exactly--rosemore mountains, a veritable sea of them, of which the white peaks soaredupwards by scores. 

As the golden rays of the rising sun touched their snows to splendour, I saw Leo's eyes become troubled. Swiftly he turned and looked along theedge of the desert. 

"See there!" he said, pointing to something dim and enormous. Presentlythe light reached it also. It was a mighty mountain not more than tenmiles away, that stood out by itself among the sands. Then he turnedonce more, and with his back to the desert stared at the slope of thehills, along the base of which we had been travelling. As yet they werein gloom, for the sun was behind them, but presently light began to flowover their crests like a flood. Down it crept, lower, and yet lower, till it reached a little plateau not three hundred yards above us. There, on the edge of the plateau, looking out solemnly across thewaste, sat a great ruined idol, a colossal Buddha, while to the rear ofthe idol, built of yellow stone, appeared the low crescent-shaped massof a monastery. 

"At last!" cried Leo, "oh, Heaven! at last!" and, flinging himself down, he buried his face in the snow as though to hide it there, lest I shouldread something written on it which he did not desire that even I shouldsee. 

I let him lie a space, understanding what was passing in his heart, and indeed in mine also. Then going to the yak that, poor brute, hadno share in these joyous emotions but only lowed and looked round withhungry eyes, I piled the sheepskin rugs on to its back. This done, Ilaid my hand on Leo's shoulder, saying, in the most matter-of-fact voiceI could command--"Come. If that place is not deserted, we may find foodand shelter there, and it is beginning to storm again. "

He rose without a word, brushed the snow from his beard and garments andcame to help me to lift the yak to its feet, for the worn-out beast wastoo stiff and weak to rise of itself. Glancing at him covertly, I sawon Leo's face a very strange and happy look; a great peace appeared topossess him. 

We plunged upwards through the snow slope, dragging the yak with us, tothe terrace whereon the monastery was built. Nobody seemed to be aboutthere, nor could I discern any footprints. Was the place but a ruin? Wehad found many such; indeed this ancient land is full of buildings thathad once served as the homes of men, learned and pious enough aftertheir own fashion, who lived and died hundreds, or even thousands, ofyears ago, long before our Western civilization came into being. 

My heart, also my stomach, which was starving, sank at the thought, but while I gazed doubtfully, a little coil of blue smoke sprang froma chimney, and never, I think, did I see a more joyful sight. In thecentre of the edifice was a large building, evidently the temple, butnearer to us I saw a small door, almost above which the smoke appeared. To this door I went and knocked, calling aloud--"Open! open, holyLamas. Strangers seek your charity. " After awhile there was a sound ofshuffling feet and the door creaked upon its hinges, revealing an old, old man, clad in tattered, yellow garments. 

"Who is it? Who is it?" he exclaimed, blinking at me through a pair ofhorn spectacles. "Who comes to disturb our solitude, the solitude of theholy Lamas of the Mountains?"

"Travellers, Sacred One, who have had enough of solitude, " I answered inhis own dialect, with which I was well acquainted. "Travellers who arestarving and who ask your charity, which, " I added, "by the Rule youcannot refuse. "

He stared at us through his horn spectacles, and, able to make nothingof our faces, let his glance fall to our garments which were as raggedas his own, and of much the same pattern. Indeed, they were those ofThibetan monks, including a kind of quilted petticoat and an outervestment not unlike an Eastern burnous. We had adopted them because wehad no others. Also they protected us from the rigours of the climateand from remark, had there been any to remark upon them. 

"Are you Lamas?" he asked doubtfully, "and if so, of what monastery?"

"Lamas sure enough, " I answered, "who belong to a monastery called theWorld, where, alas! one grows hungry. "

The reply seemed to please him, for he chuckled a little, then shook hishead, saying--"It is against our custom to admit strangers unless theybe of our own faith, which I am sure you are not. "

"And much more is it against your Rule, holy Khubilghan, " for so theseabbots are entitled, "to suffer strangers to starve"; and I quoted awell-known passage from the sayings of Buddha which fitted the pointprecisely. 

"I perceive that you are instructed in the Books, " he exclaimed withwonder on his yellow, wrinkled face, "and to such we cannot refuseshelter. Come in, brethren of the monastery called the World. But stay, there is the yak, who also has claims upon our charity, " and, turning, he struck upon a gong or bell which hung within the door. 

At the sound another man appeared, more wrinkled and to all appearanceolder than the first, who stared at us open-mouthed. 

"Brother, " said the abbot, "shut that great mouth of yours lest an evilspirit should fly down it; take this poor yak and give it fodder withthe other cattle. "

So we unstrapped our belongings from the back of the beast, and the oldfellow whose grandiloquent title was "Master of the Herds, " led it away. 

When it had gone, not too willingly--for our faithful friend dislikedparting from us and distrusted this new guide--the abbot, who wasnamed Kou-en, led us into the living room or rather the kitchen of themonastery, for it served both purposes. Here we found the rest of themonks, about twelve in all, gathered round the fire of which we had seenthe smoke, and engaged, one of them in preparing the morning meal, andthe rest in warming themselves. 

They were all old men; the youngest could not have been less thansixty-five. To these we were solemnly introduced as "Brethren of theMonastery called the World, where folk grow hungry, " for the abbotKou-en could not make up his mind to part from this little joke. 

They stared at us, they rubbed their thin hands, they bowed and wishedus well and evidently were delighted at our arrival. This was notstrange, however, seeing that ours were the first new faces which theyhad seen for four long years. 

Nor did they stop at words, for while they made water hot for us to washin, two of them went to prepare a room--and others drew off our roughhide boots and thick outer garments and brought us slippers for ourfeet. Then they led us to the guest chamber, which they informed us wasa "propitious place, " for once it had been slept in by a noted saint. Here a fire was lit, and, wonder of wonders! clean garments, includinglinen, all of them ancient and faded, but of good quality, were broughtfor us to put on. 

So we washed--yes, actually washed all over--and having arrayedourselves in the robes, which were somewhat small for Leo, struck thebell that hung in the room and were conducted by a monk who answered it, back to the kitchen, where the meal was now served. It consisted of akind of porridge, to which was added new milk brought in by the "Masterof the Herds, " dried fish from a lake, and buttered tea, the last twoluxuries produced in our special honour. Never had food tasted moredelicious to us, and, I may add, never did we eat more. Indeed, at lastI was obliged to request Leo to stop, for I saw the monks staring at himand heard the old abbot chuckling to himself. 

"Oho! The Monastery of the World, where folk grow _hungry_, " to whichanother monk, who was called the "Master of the Provisions, " replieduneasily, that if we went on like this, their store of food wouldscarcely last the winter. So we finished at length, feeling, as somebook of maxims which I can remember in my youth said all polite peopleshould do--that we could eat more, and much impressed our hosts bychanting a long Buddhist grace. 

"Their feet are in the Path! Their feet are in the Path!" they said, astonished. 

"Yes, " replied Leo, "they have been in it for sixteen years of ourpresent incarnation. But we are only beginners, for you, holy Ones, knowhow star-high, how ocean-wide and how desert-long is that path. Indeedit is to be instructed as to the right way of walking therein that wehave been miraculously directed by a dream to seek you out, as the mostpious, the most saintly and the most learned of all the Lamas in theseparts. "

"Yes, certainly we are that, " answered the abbot Kou-en, "seeing thatthere is no other monastery within five months' journey, " and again hechuckled, "though, alas!" he added with a pathetic little sigh, "ournumbers grow few. "

After this we asked leave to retire to our chamber in order to rest, andthere, upon very good imitations of beds, we slept solidly for four andtwenty hours, rising at last perfectly refreshed and well. 

Such was our introduction to the Monastery of the Mountains--for it hadno other name--where we were destined to spend the next six months ofour lives. Within a few days--for they were not long in giving us theircomplete confidence--those good-hearted and simple old monks told us alltheir history. 

It seemed that of old time there was a Lamasery here, in which dweltseveral hundred brethren. This, indeed, was obviously true, for theplace was enormous, although for the most part ruined, and, as theweather-worn statue of Buddha showed, very ancient. The story ran, according to the old abbot, that two centuries or so before, the monkshad been killed out by some fierce tribe who lived beyond the desert andacross the distant mountains, which tribe were heretics and worshippersof fire. Only a few of them escaped to bring the sad news to othercommunities, and for five generations no attempt was made to re-occupythe place. 

At length it was revealed to him, our friend Kou-en, when a young man, that he was a re-incarnation of one of the old monks of this monastery, who also was named Kou-en, and that it was his duty during his presentlife to return thither, as by so doing he would win much merit andreceive many wonderful revelations. So he gathered a band of zealotsand, with the blessing and consent of his superiors, they started out, and after many hardships and losses found and took possession of theplace, repairing it sufficiently for their needs. 

This happened about fifty years before, and here they had dwelt eversince, only communicating occasionally with the outside world. At firsttheir numbers were recruited from time to time by new brethren, butat length these ceased to come, with the result that the community wasdying out. 

"And what then?" I asked. 

"And then, " the abbot answered, "nothing. _We_ have acquired much merit;we have been blest with many revelations, and, after the repose we haveearned in Devachan, our lots in future existences will be easier. Whatmore can we ask or desire, removed as we are from all the temptations ofthe world?"

For the rest, in the intervals of their endless prayers, and still moreendless contemplations, they were husbandmen, cultivating the soil, which was fertile at the foot of the mountain, and tending their herd ofyaks. Thus they wore away their blameless lives until at last they diedof old age, and, as they believed--and who shall say that they werewrong--the eternal round repeated itself elsewhere. 

Immediately after, indeed on the very day of our arrival at themonastery the winter began in earnest with bitter cold and snowstormsso heavy and frequent that all the desert was covered deep. Very soon itbecame obvious to us that here we must stay until the spring, sinceto attempt to move in any direction would be to perish. With somemisgivings we explained this to the abbot Kou-en, offering to remove toone of the empty rooms in the ruined part of the building, supportingourselves with fish that we could catch by cutting a hole in the ice ofthe lake above the monastery, and if we were able to find any, on game, which we might trap or shoot in the scrub-like forest of stunted pinesand junipers that grew around its border. But he would listen to no suchthing. We had been sent to be their guests, he said, and their guestswe should remain for so long as might be convenient to us. Would we layupon them the burden of the sin of inhospitality? Besides, he remarkedwith his chuckle--"We who dwell alone like to hear about that othergreat monastery called the World, where the monks are not so favoured aswe who are set in this blessed situation, and where folk even go hungryin body, and, " he added, "in soul. "

Indeed, as we soon found out, the dear old man's object was to keep ourfeet in the Path until we reached the goal of Truth, or, in other words, became excellent Lamas like himself and his flock. 

So we walked in the Path, as we had done in many another Lamasery, and assisted at the long prayers in the ruined temple and studied the_Kandjur_, or "Translation of the Words" of Buddha, which is their bibleand a very long one, and generally showed that our "minds were open. "Also we expounded to them the doctrines of our own faith, and greatlydelighted were they to find so many points of similarity between it andtheirs. Indeed, I am not certain but that if we could have stopped therelong enough, say ten years, we might have persuaded some of them toaccept a new revelation of which we were the prophets. Further, in sparehours we told them many tales of "the Monastery called the World, " andit was really delightful, and in a sense piteous, to see the joy withwhich they listened to these stories of wondrous countries and new racesof men; they who knew only of Russia and China and some semi-savagetribes, inhabitants of the mountains and the deserts. 

"It is right for us to learn all this, " they declared, "for, who knows, perhaps in future incarnations we may become inhabitants of theseplaces. "

But though the time passed thus in comfort and indeed, compared to manyof our experiences, in luxury, oh! our hearts were hungry, for in themburned the consuming fire of our quest. We felt that we were on thethreshold--yes, we knew it, we knew it, and yet our wretched physicallimitations made it impossible for us to advance by a single step. Onthe desert beneath fell the snow, moreover great winds arose suddenlythat drove those snows like dust, piling them in heaps as high as trees, beneath which any unfortunate traveller would be buried. Here we mustwait, there was nothing else to be done. 

One alleviation we found, and only one. In a ruined room of themonastery was a library of many volumes, placed there, doubtless, by themonks who were massacred in times bygone. These had been more or lesscared for and re-arranged by their successors, who gave us liberty toexamine them as often as we pleased. Truly it was a strange collection, and I should imagine of priceless value, for among them were to be foundBuddhistic, Sivaistic and Shamanistic writings that we had never beforeseen or heard of, together with the lives of a multitude of Bodhisatvas, or distinguished saints, written in various tongues, some of which wedid not understand. 

What proved more interesting to us, however, was a diary in many tomesthat for generations had been kept by the Khubilghans or abbots of theold Lamasery, in which every event of importance was recorded in greatdetail. Turning over the pages of one of the last volumes of thisdiary, written apparently about two hundred and fifty years earlier, andshortly before the destruction of the monastery, we came upon anentry of which the following--for I can only quote from memory--is thesubstance--

"In the summer of this year, after a very great sandstorm, a brother(the name was given, but I forget it) found in the desert a man of thepeople who dwell beyond the Far Mountains, of whom rumours have reachedthis Lamasery from time to time. He was living, but beside him were thebodies of two of his companions who had been overwhelmed by sand andthirst. He was very fierce looking. He refused to say how he came intothe desert, telling us only that he had followed the road known to theancients before communication between his people and the outer worldceased. We gathered, however, that his brethren with whom he fled hadcommitted some crime for which they had been condemned to die, and thathe had accompanied them in their flight. He told us that there was afine country beyond the mountains, fertile, but plagued with droughtsand earthquakes, which latter, indeed, we often feel here. 

"The people of that country were, he said, warlike and very numerous butfollowed agriculture. They had always lived there, though ruled by Khanswho were descendants of the Greek king called Alexander, who conqueredmuch country to the south-west of us. This may be true, as our recordstell us that about two thousand years ago an army sent by that invaderpenetrated to these parts, though of his being with them nothing issaid. 

"The stranger-man told us also that his people worship a priestesscalled Hes or the Hesea, who is said to reign from generation togeneration. She lives in a great mountain, apart, and is feared andadored by all, but is not the queen of the country, in the governmentof which she seldom interferes. To her, however, sacrifices are offered, and he who incurs her vengeance dies, so that even the chiefs of thatland are afraid of her. Still their subjects often fight, for they hateeach other. 

"We answered that he lied when he said that this woman was immortal--forthat was what we supposed he meant--since nothing is immortal; also welaughed at his tale of her power. This made the man very angry. Indeedhe declared that our Buddha was not so strong as this priestess, andthat she would show it by being avenged upon us. 

"After this we gave him food and turned him out of the Lamasery, and hewent, saying that when he returned we should learn who spoke the truth. We do not know what became of him, and he refused to reveal to us theroad to his country, which lies beyond the desert and the Far Mountains. We think that perhaps he was an evil spirit sent to frighten us, inwhich he did not succeed. "

Such is a _precis_ of this strange entry, the discovery of which, vagueas it was, thrilled us with hope and excitement. Nothing more appearedabout the man or his country, but within a little over a year from thatdate the diary of the abbot came to a sudden end without any indicationthat unusual events had occured or were expected. 

Indeed, the last item written in the parchment book mentioned thepreparation of certain new lands to be used for the sowing of grain infuture seasons, which suggested that the brethren neither feared norexpected disturbance. We wondered whether the man from beyond themountains was as good as his word and had brought down the vengeance ofthat priestess called the Hesea upon the community which sheltered him. Also we wondered--ah! how we wondered--who and what this Hesea might be. 

On the day following this discovery we prayed the abbot, Kou-en, toaccompany us to the library, and having read him the passage, askedif he knew anything of the matter. He swayed his wise old head, whichalways reminded me of that of a tortoise, and answered--"A little. Very little, and that mostly about the army of the Greek king who ismentioned in the writing. "

We inquired what he could possibly know of this matter, whereon Kou-enreplied calmly--"In those days when the faith of the Holy One was stillyoung, I dwelt as a humble brother in this very monastery, which wasone of the first built, and I saw the army pass, that is all. That, "he added meditatively, "was in my fiftieth incarnation of this presentRound--no, I am thinking of another army--in my seventy-third. "[*]

 [*] As students of their lives and literature will be aware, it is common for Buddhist priests to state positively that they remember events which occurred during their previous incarnations. --ed. 

Here Leo began a great laugh, but I managed to kick him beneath thetable and he turned it into a sneeze. This was fortunate, as such ribaldmerriment would have hurt the old man's feelings terribly. After all, also, as Leo himself had once said, surely we were not the people tomock at the theory of re-incarnation, which, by the way, is the firstarticle of faith among nearly one quarter of the human race, and thisnot the most foolish quarter. 

"How can that be--I ask for instruction, learned One--seeing that memoryperishes with death?"

"Ah!" he answered, "Brother Holly, it may seem to do so, but oftentimesit comes back again, especially to those who are far advanced upon thePath. For instance, until you read this passage I had forgotten allabout that army, but now I see it passing, passing, and myself withother monks standing by the statue of the big Buddha in front yonder, and watching it go by. It was not a very large army, for most of thesoldiers had died, or been killed, and it was being pursued by the wildpeople who lived south of us in those days, so that it was in a greathurry to put the desert between it and them. The general of the army wasa swarthy man--I wish that I could remember his name, but I cannot. 

"Well, " he went on, "that general came up to the Lamasery and demanded asleeping place for his wife and children, also provisions and medicines, and guides across the desert. The abbot of that day told him it wasagainst our law to admit a woman under our roof, to which he answeredthat if we did not, we should have no roof left, for he would burn theplace and kill every one of us with the sword. Now, as you know, to bekilled by violence means that we must pass sundry incarnations in theforms of animals, a horrible thing, so we chose the lesser evil andgave way, and afterwards obtained absolution for our sins from the GreatLama. Myself I did not see this queen, but I saw the priestess of theirworship--alas! alas!" and Kou-en beat his breast. 

"Why alas?" I asked, as unconcernedly as I could, for this storyinterested me strangely. 

"Why? Oh! because I may have forgotten the army, but I have neverforgotten that priestess, and she has been a great hindrance to methrough many ages, delaying me upon my journey to the Other Side, to theShore of Salvation. I, as a humble Lama, was engaged in preparing herapartment when she entered and threw aside her veil; yes, and perceivinga young man, spoke to me, asking many questions, and even if I was notglad to look again upon a woman. "

"What--what was she like?" said Leo, anxiously. 

"What was she like? Oh! She was all loveliness in one shape; she waslike the dawn upon the snows; she was like the evening star above themountains; she was like the first flower of the spring. Brother, ask menot what she was like, nay, I will say no more. Oh! my sin, my sin. I amslipping backward and you draw my black shame out into the light of day. Nay, I will confess it that you may know how vile a thing I am--I whomperhaps you have thought holy--like yourselves. That woman, if womanshe were, lit a fire in my heart which will not burn out, oh! and more, more, " and Kou-en rocked himself to and fro upon his stool while tearsof contrition trickled from beneath his horn spectacles, "_she made meworship her!_ For first she asked me of my faith and listened eagerly asI expounded it, hoping that the light would come into her heart; then, after I had finished she said--"'So your Path is Renunciation and yourNirvana a most excellent Nothingness which some would think it scarceworth while to strive so hard to reach. Now _I_ will show you a morejoyous way and a goddess more worthy of your worship. '

"'What way, and what goddess?' I asked of her. 

"'The way of Love and Life!" she answered, 'that makes all the worldto be, that made _you_, O seeker of Nirvana, and the goddess calledNature!'

"Again I asked where is that goddess, and behold! she drew herself up, looking most royal, and touching her ivory breast, she said, 'I am She. Now kneel you down and do me homage!'

"My brethren, I knelt, yes, I kissed her foot, and then I fled awayshamed and broken-hearted, and as I went she laughed, and cried:'Remember me when you reach Devachan, O servant of the Budda-saint, forthough I change, I do not die, and even there I shall be with you whoonce gave me worship!'

"And it is so, my brethren, it is so; for though I obtained absolutionfor my sin and have suffered much for it through this, my nextincarnation, yet I cannot be rid of her, and for me the Utter Peace isfar, far away, " and Kou-en placed his withered hands before his face andsobbed outright. 

A ridiculous sight, truly, to see a holy Khublighan well on the wrongside of eighty, weeping like a child over a dream of a beautiful womanwhich he imagined he had once dreamt in his last life more than twothousand years ago. So the reader will say. But I, Holly, for reasonsof my own, felt deep sympathy with that poor old man, and Leo was alsosympathetic. We patted him on the back; we assured him that he wasthe victim of some evil hallucination which could never be brought upagainst him in this or any future existence, since, if sin there were, it must have been forgiven long ago, and so forth. When his calm wassomewhat restored we tried also to extract further information from him, but with poor results, so far as the priestess was concerned. 

He said that he did not know to what religion she belonged, and did notcare, but thought that it must be an evil one. She went away the nextmorning with the army, and he never saw or heard of her any more, thoughit came into his mind that he was obliged to be locked in his cell foreight days to prevent himself from following her. Yes, he had heard onething, for the abbot of that day had told the brethren. This priestesswas the real general of the army, not the king or the queen, the latterof whom hated her. It was by her will that they pushed on northwardsacross the desert to some country beyond the mountains, where shedesired to establish herself and her worship. 

We asked if there really was any country beyond the mountains, andKou-en answered wearily that he believed so. Either in this or in aprevious life he had heard that people lived there who worshipped fire. Certainly also it was true that about thirty years ago a brother who hadclimbed the great peak yonder to spend some days in solitary meditation, returned and reported that he had seen a marvellous thing, namely, ashaft of fire burning in the heavens beyond those same mountains, thoughwhether this were a vision, or what, he could not say. He recalled, however, that about that time they had felt a great earthquake. 

Then the memory of that fancied transgression again began to afflictKou-en's innocent old heart, and he crept away lamenting and was seen nomore for a week. Nor would he ever speak again to us of this matter. 

But we spoke of it much with hope and wonder, and made up our minds thatwe would at once ascend this mountain. 

CHAPTER III

THE BEACON LIGHT

A week later came our opportunity of making this ascent of the mountain, for now in mid-winter it ceased storming, and hard frost set in, whichmade it possible to walk upon the surface of the snow. Learning fromthe monks that at this season _ovis poli_ and other kinds of big-hornedsheep and game descended from the hills to take refuge in certainvalleys, where they scraped away the snow to find food, we announcedthat we were going out to hunt. The excuse we gave was that we weresuffering from confinement and needed exercise, having by the teachingof our religion no scruples about killing game. 

Our hosts replied that the adventure was dangerous, as the weather mightchange at any moment. They told us, however, that on the slopes of thisvery mountain which we desired to climb, there was a large natural cavewhere, if need be, we could take shelter, and to this cave one of them, somewhat younger and more active than the rest, offered to guide us. So, having manufactured a rougri tent from skins, and laden our old yak, nowin the best of condition, with food and garments, on one still morningwe started as soon as it was light. Under the guidance of the monk, who, notwithstanding his years, walked very well, we reached the northernslope of the peak before mid-day. Here, as he had said, we found a greatcave of which the opening was protected by an over-hanging ledge ofrock. Evidently this cave was the favourite place of shelter for game atcertain seasons of the year, since in it were heaped vast accumulationsof their droppings, which removed any fear of a lack of fuel. 

The rest of that short day we spent in setting up our tent in the cave, in front of which we lit a large fire, and in a survey of the slopes ofthe mountain, for we told the monk that we were searching for the tracksof wild sheep. Indeed, as it happened, on our way back to the cave wecame across a small herd of ewes feeding upon the mosses in a shelteredspot where in summer a streamlet ran. Of these we were so fortunate asto kill two, for no sportsman had ever come here, and they were tameenough, poor things. As meat would keep for ever in that temperature, we had now sufficient food to last us for a fortnight, and dragging theanimals down the snow slopes to the cave, we skinned them by the dyinglight. 

That evening we supped upon fresh mutton, a great luxury, which themonk enjoyed as much as we did, since, whatever might be his views as totaking life, he liked mutton. Then we turned into the tent and huddledourselves together for warmth, as the temperature must have been somedegrees below zero. The old monk rested well enough, but neither Leo norI slept over much, for wonder as to what we might see from the top ofthat mountain banished sleep. 

Next morning at the dawn, the weather being still favourable, ourcompanion returned to the monastery, whither we said we would follow himin a day or two. 

Now at last we were alone, and without wasting an instant began ourascent of the peak. It was many thousand feet high and in certain placessteep enough, but the deep, frozen snow made climbing easy, so that bymidday we reached the top. Hence the view was magnificent. Beneathus stretched the desert, and beyond it a broad belt of fantasticallyshaped, snow-clad mountains, hundreds and hundreds of them; in front, tothe right, to the left, as far as the eye could reach. 

"They are just as I saw them in my dream so many years ago, " mutteredLeo; "the same, the very same. "

"And where was the fiery light?" I asked. 

"Yonder, I think;" and he pointed north by east. 

"Well, it is not there now, " I answered, "and this place is cold. "

So, since it was dangerous to linger, lest the darkness should overtakeus on our return journey, we descended the peak again, reaching the caveabout sunset. The next four days we spent in the same way. Every morningwe crawled up those wearisome banks of snow, and every afternoon weslid and tobogganed down them again, till I grew heartily tired of theexercise. 

On the fourth night, instead of coming to sleep in the tent Leo sathimself down at the entrance to the cave. I asked him why he did this, but he answered impatiently, because he wished it, so I left him alone. I could see, indeed, that he was in a strange and irritable mood, forthe failure of our search oppressed him. Moreover, we knew, both of us, that it could not be much prolonged, since the weather might break atany moment, when ascents of the mountain would become impossible. 

In the middle of the night I was awakened by Leo shaking me andsaying--"Come here, Horace, I have something to show you. "

Reluctantly enough I crept from between the rugs and out of the tent. Todress there was no need, for we slept in all our garments. He led meto the mouth of the cave and pointed northward. I looked. The night wasvery dark; but far, far away appeared a faint patch of light upon thesky, such as might be caused by the reflection of a distant fire. 

"What do you make of it?" he asked anxiously. 

"Nothing in particular, " I answered, "it may be anything. The moon--no, there is none, dawn--no, it is too northerly, and it does not break forthree hours. Something burning, a house, or a funeral pyre, but how canthere be such things here? I give it up. "

"I think it is a reflection, and that if we were on the peak we shouldsee the light which throws it, " said Leo slowly. 

"Yes, but we are not, and cannot get there in the dark. "

"Then, Horace, we must spend a night there. "

"It will be our last in this incarnation, " I answered with a laugh, "that is if it comes on to snow. "

"We must risk it, or I will risk it. Look, the light has faded;" andthere at least he was right, for undoubtedly it had. The night was asblack as pitch. 

"Let's talk it over to-morrow, " I said, and went back to the tent, for Iwas sleepy and incredulous, but Leo sat on by the mouth of the cave. 

At dawn I awoke and found breakfast already cooked. 

"I must start early, " Leo explained. 

"Are you mad?" I asked. "How can we camp on that place?"

"I don't know, but I am going. I must go, Horace. "

"Which means that we both must go. But how about the yak?"

"Where we can climb, it can follow, " he answered. 

So we strapped the tent and other baggage, including a good supply ofcooked meat, upon the beast's back, and started. The tramp was longsince we were obliged to make some detours to avoid slopes of frozensnow in which, on our previous ascents, we had cut footholds with anaxe, for up these the laden animal could not clamber. Reaching thesummit at length, we dug a hole, and there pitched the tent, piling theexcavated snow about its sides. By this time it began to grow dark, andhaving descended into the tent, yak and all, we ate our food and waited. 

Oh! what cold was that. The frost was fearful, and at this height a windblew whose icy breath passed through all our wrappings, and seemed toburn our flesh beneath as though with hot irons. It was fortunate thatwe had brought the yak, for without the warmth from its shaggy body Ibelieve that we should have perished, even in our tent. For some hourswe watched, as indeed we must, since to sleep might mean to die, yet sawnothing save the lonely stars, and heard nothing in that awful silence, for here even the wind made no noise as it slid across the snows. Accustomed as I was to such exposure, my faculties began to grow numband my eyes to shut, when suddenly Leo said--"Look, below the red star!"

I looked, and there high in the sky was the same curious glow which wehad seen upon the previous night. There was more than this indeed, forbeneath it, almost on a line with us and just above the crests of theintervening peaks, appeared a faint sheet of fire and revealed againstit, something black. Whilst we watched, the fire widened, spread upwardsand grew in power and intensity. Now against its flaming background theblack object became clearly visible, and lo! it was the top of a soaringpillar surmounted by a loop. Yes, we could see its every outline. It wasthe _crux ansata_, the Symbol of Life itself. 

The symbol vanished, the fire sank. Again it blazed up more fiercelythan before and the loop appeared afresh, then once more disappeared. A third time the fire shone, and with such intensity, that no lightningcould surpass its brilliance. All around the heavens were lit up, and, through the black needle-shaped eye of the symbol, as from the flare ofa beacon, or the search-light of a ship, one fierce ray shot across thesea of mountain tops and the spaces of the desert, straight as an arrowto the lofty peak on which we lay. Yes, it lit upon the snow, stainingit red, and upon the wild, white faces of us who watched, though to theright and left of us spread thick darkness. My compass lay before me onthe snow, and I could even see its needle; and beyond us the shape ofa white fox that had crept near, scenting food. Then it was gone asswiftly as it came. Gone too were the symbol and the veil of flamebehind it, only the glow lingered a little on the distant sky. 

For awhile there was silence between us, then Leo said--"Do youremember, Horace, when we lay upon the Rocking Stone where _her_cloak fell upon me--" as he said the words the breath caught in histhroat--"how the ray of light was sent to us in farewell, and to show usa path of escape from the Place of Death? Now I think that it has beensent again in greeting to point out the path to the Place of Life whereAyesha dwells, whom we have lost awhile. "

"It may be so, " I answered shortly, for the matter was beyond speechor argument, beyond wonder even. But I knew then, as I know now thatwe were players in some mighty, predestined drama; that our parts werewritten and we must speak them, as our path was prepared and we musttread it to the end unknown. Fear and doubt were left behind, hope wassunk in certainty; the fore-shadowing visions of the night had found anactual fulfilment and the pitiful seed of the promise of her who died, growing unseen through all the cruel, empty years, had come to harvest. 

No, we feared no more, not even when with the dawn rose the roaringwind, through which we struggled down the mountain slopes, as it wouldseem in peril of our lives at every step; not even as hour by hour wefought our way onwards through the whirling snow-storm, that made usdeaf and blind. For we knew that those lives were charmed. We could notsee or hear, yet we were led. Clinging to the yak, we struggled downwardand homewards, till at length out of the turmoil and the gloom itsinstinct brought us unharmed to the door of the monastery, where the oldabbot embraced us in his joy, and the monks put up prayers of thanks. For they were sure that we must be dead. Through such a storm, theysaid, no man had ever lived before. 

It was still mid-winter, and oh! the awful weariness of those months ofwaiting. In our hands was the key, yonder amongst those mountains laythe door, but not yet might we set that key within its lock. For betweenus and these stretched the great desert, where the snow rolled likebillows, and until that snow melted we dared not attempt its passage. Sowe sat in the monastery, and schooled our hearts to patience. 

Still even to these frozen wilds of Central Asia spring comes at last. One evening the air felt warm, and that night there were only a fewdegrees of frost. The next the clouds banked up, and in the morningnot snow was falling from them, but rain, and we found the old monkspreparing their instruments of husbandry, as they said that the seasonof sowing was at hand. For three days it rained, while the snows meltedbefore our eyes. On the fourth torrents of water were rushing down themountain and the desert was once more brown and bare, though not forlong, for within another week it was carpeted with flowers. Then we knewthat the time had come to start. 

"But whither go you? Whither go you?" asked the old abbot in dismay. "Are you not happy here? Do you not make great strides along the Path, as may be known by your pious conversation? Is not everything that wehave your own? Oh! why would you leave us?"

"We are wanderers, " we answered, "and when we see mountains in front ofus we must cross them. "

Kou-en looked at us shrewdly, then asked--"What do you seek beyond themountains? And, my brethren, what merit is gathered by hiding the truthfrom an old man, for such concealments are separated from falsehoods butby the length of a single barleycorn. Tell me, that at least my prayersmay accompany you. "

"Holy abbot, " I said, "awhile ago yonder in the library you made acertain confession to us. "

"Oh! remind me not of it, " he said, holding up his hands. "Why do youwish to torment me?"

"Far be the thought from us, most kind friend and virtuous man, " Ianswered. "But, as it chances, your story is very much our own, and wethink that we have experience of this same priestess. "

"Speak on, " he said, much interested. 

So I told him the outlines of our tale; for an hour or more I told itwhile he sat opposite to us swaying his head like a tortoise and sayingnothing. At length it was done. 

"Now, " I added, "let the lamp of your wisdom shine upon our darkness. Doyou not find this story wondrous, or do you perchance think that we areliars?"

"Brethren of the great monastery called the World, " Kou-en answeredwith his customary chuckle, "why should I think you liars who, from themoment my eyes fell upon you, knew you to be true men? Moreover, whyshould I hold this tale so very wondrous? You have but stumbled uponthe fringe of a truth with which we have been acquainted for many, manyages. 

"Because in a vision she showed you this monastery, and led you to aspot beyond the mountains where she vanished, you hope that this womanwhom you saw die is re-incarnated yonder. Why not? In this there isnothing impossible to those who are instructed in the truth, though thelengthening of her last life was strange and contrary to experience. Doubtless you will find her there as you expect, and doubtless her_khama_, or identity, is the same as that which in some earlier life ofhers once brought me to sin. 

"Only be not mistaken, she is no immortal; nothing is immortal. She isbut a being held back by her own pride, her own greatness if you will, upon the path towards Nirvana. That pride will be humbled, as already ithas been humbled; that brow of majesty shall be sprinkled with the dustof change and death, that sinful spirit must be purified by sorrows andby separations. Brother Leo, if you win her, it will be but to lose, andthen the ladder must be reclimbed. Brother Holly, for you as for me lossis our only gain, since thereby we are spared much woe. Oh! bide hereand pray with me. Why dash yourselves against a rock? Why labour to pourwater into a broken jar whence it must sink into the sands of profitlessexperience, and there be wasted, whilst you remain athirst?"

"Water makes the sand fertile, " I answered. "Where water falls, lifecomes, and sorrow is the seed of joy. "

"Love is the law of life, " broke in Leo; "without love there is nolife. I seek love that I may live. I believe that all these things areordained to an end which we do not know. Fate draws me on--I fulfil myfate----"

"And do but delay your freedom. Yet I will not argue with you, brother, who must follow your own road. See now, what has this woman, thispriestess of a false faith if she be so still, brought you in the past?Once in another life, or so I understand your story, you were sworn toa certain nature-goddess, who was named Isis, were you not, and to heralone? Then a woman tempted you, and you fled with her afar. And therewhat found you? The betrayed and avenging goddess who slew you, or ifnot the goddess, one who had drunk of her wisdom and was the ministerof her vengeance. Having that wisdom this minister--woman or evilspirit--refused to die because she had learned to love you, but waitedknowing that in your next life she would find you again, as indeed shewould have done more swiftly in Devachan had she died without living onalone in so much misery. And she found you, and she died, or seemed todie, and now she is re-born, as she must be, and doubtless you willmeet once more, and again there must come misery. Oh! my friends, go notacross the mountains; bide here with me and lament your sins. "

"Nay, " answered Leo, "we are sworn to a tryst, and we do not break ourword. "

"Then, brethren, go keep your tryst, and when you have reaped itsharvest think upon my sayings, for I am sure that the wine you crushfrom the vintage of your desire will run red like blood, and that in itsdrinking you shall find neither forgetfulness nor peace. Made blind bya passion of which well I know the sting and power, you seek to add afair-faced evil to your lives, thinking that from this unity there shallbe born all knowledge and great joy. 

"Rather should you desire to live alone in holiness until at length yourseparate lives are merged and lost in the Good Unspeakable, the eternalbliss that lies in the last Nothingness. Ah! you do not believe me now;you shake your heads and smile; yet a day will dawn, it may be aftermany incarnations, when you shall bow them in the dust and weep, sayingto me, 'Brother Kou-en, yours were the words of wisdom, ours the deedsof foolishness;'" and with a deep sigh the old man turned and left us. 

"A cheerful faith, truly, " said Leo, looking after him, "to dwellthrough aeons in monotonous misery in order that consciousness may beswallowed up at last in some void and formless abstraction called the'Utter Peace. ' I would rather take my share of a bad world and keep myhope of a better. Also I do not think that he knows anything of Ayeshaand her destiny. "

"So would I, " I answered, "though perhaps he is right after all. Who cantell? Moreover, what is the use of reasoning? Leo, we have no choice;we follow our fate. To what that fate may lead us we shall learn in dueseason. "

Then we went to rest, for it was late, though I found little sleep thatnight. The warnings of the ancient abbot, good and learned man as hewas, full also of ripe experience and of the foresighted wisdom thatis given to such as he, oppressed me deeply. He promised us sorrow andbloodshed beyond the mountains, ending in death and rebirths full ofmisery. Well, it might be so, but no approaching sufferings could stayour feet. And even if they could, they should not, since to see her faceagain I was ready to brave them all. And if this was my case what mustbe that of Leo!

A strange theory that of Kou-en's, that Ayesha was the goddess inold Egypt to whom Kallikrates was priest, or at the least herrepresentative. That the royal Amenartas, with whom he fled, seduced himfrom the goddess to whom he was sworn. That this goddess incarnatein Ayesha--or using the woman Ayesha and her passions as herinstruments--was avenged upon them both at Kor, and that there in anafter age the bolt she shot fell back upon her own head. 

Well, I had often thought as much myself. Only I was sure that _She_herself could be no actual divinity, though she might be a manifestationof one, a priestess, a messenger, charged to work its will, to avenge orto reward, and yet herself a human soul, with hopes and passions to besatisfied, and a destiny to fulfil. In truth, writing now, when all ispast and done with, I find much to confirm me in, and little to turn mefrom that theory, since life and powers of a quality which are more thanhuman do not alone suffice to make a soul divine. On the other hand, however, it must be borne in mind that on one occasion at any rate, Ayesha did undoubtedly suggest that in the beginning she was "a daughterof Heaven, " and that there were others, notably the old Shaman Simbri, who seemed to take it for granted that her origin was supernatural. Butof all these things I hope to speak in their season. 

Meanwhile what lay beyond the mountains? Should we find her there whoheld the sceptre and upon earth wielded the power of the outraged Isis, and with her, that other woman who wrought the wrong? And if so, wouldthe dread, inhuman struggle reach its climax around the person of thesinful priest? In a few months, a few days even, we might begin to know. 

Thrilled by this thought at length I fell asleep. 

CHAPTER IV

THE AVALANCHE

On the morning of the second day from that night the sunrise found usalready on our path across the desert. There, nearly a mile behind us, we could see the ruined statue of Buddha seated in front of the ancientmonastery, and in that clear atmosphere could even distinguish the bentform of our friend, the old abbot, Kou-en, leaning against it until wewere quite lost to sight. All the monks had wept when we parted fromthem, and Kou-en even more bitterly than the rest, for he had learned tolove us. 

"I am grieved, " he said, "much grieved, which indeed I should not be, for such emotion partakes of sin. Yet I find comfort, for I know wellthat although I must soon leave this present life, yet we shall meetagain in many future incarnations, and after you have put away thesefollies, together tread the path to perfect peace. Now take with you myblessings and my prayers and begone, forgetting not that should you liveto return"--and he shook his head, doubtfully--"here you will be everwelcome. "

So we embraced him and went sorrowfully. 

It will be remembered that when the mysterious light fell upon us on thepeak I had my compass with me and was able roughly to take its bearings. For lack of any better guide we now followed these bearings, travellingalmost due north-east, for in that direction had shone the fire. Allday in the most beautiful weather we marched across the flower-strewndesert, seeing nothing except bunches of game and one or two herds ofwild asses which had come down from the mountains to feed upon the newgrass. As evening approached we shot an antelope and made our camp--forwe had brought the yak and a tent with us--among some tamarisk scrub, ofwhich the dry stems furnished us with fuel. Nor did we lack for water, since by scraping in the sand soaked with melted snow, we found plentyof fair quality. So that night we supped in luxury upon tea and antelopemeat, which indeed we were glad to have, as it spared our little storeof dried provisions. 

The next morning we ascertained our position as well as we could, andestimated that we had crossed about a quarter of the desert, a guesswhich proved very accurate, for on the evening of the fourth day of ourjourney we reached the bottom slopes of the opposing mountains, withouthaving experienced either accident or fatigue. As Leo said, things were"going like clockwork, " but I reminded him that a good start often meanta bad finish. Nor was I wrong, for now came our hardships. To beginwith, the mountains proved to be exceeding high; it took us two daysto climb their lower slopes. Also the heat of the sun had softened thesnow, which made walking through it laborious, whilst, accustomedthough we were to such conditions through long years of travelling, itscontinual glitter affected our eyes. 

The morning of the seventh day found us in the mouth of a defile whichwound away into the heart of the mountains. As it seemed the onlypossible path, we followed it, and were much cheered to discover thathere must once have run a road. Not that we could see any road, indeed, for everything was buried in snow. But that one lay beneath our feet wewere certain, since, although we marched along the edge of precipices, our path, however steep, was always flat; moreover, the rock upon oneside of it had often been scarped by the hand of man. Of this therecould be no doubt, for as the snow did not cling here, we saw the toolmarks upon its bare surface. 

Also we came to several places where galleries had been built out fromthe mountain side, by means of beams let into it, as is still a commonpractice in Thibet. These beams of course had long since rotted away, leaving a gulf between us and the continuation of the path. When we metwith such gaps we were forced to go back and make a detour round or oversome mountain; but although much delayed thereby, as it happened, wealways managed to regain the road, if not without difficulty and danger. 

What tried us more--for here our skill and experience as mountaineerscould not help us--was the cold at night, obliged as we were to campin the severe frost at a great altitude, and to endure through the longhours of darkness penetrating and icy winds, which soughed ceaselesslydown the pass. 

At length on the tenth day we reached the end of the defile, and asnight was falling, camped there in the most bitter cold. Those weremiserable hours, for now we had no fuel with which to boil water, andmust satisfy our thirst by eating frozen snow, while our eyes smartedso sorely that we could not sleep, and notwithstanding all our wraps andthe warmth that we gathered from the yak in the little tent, the coldcaused our teeth to chatter like castanets. 

The dawn came, and, after it, the sunrise. We crept from the tent, andleaving it standing awhile, dragged our stiffened limbs a hundred yardsor so to a spot where the defile took a turn, in order that we mightthaw in the rays of the sun, which at that hour could not reach us wherewe had camped. 

Leo was round it first, and I heard him utter an exclamation. In a fewseconds I reached his side, and lo! before us lay our Promised Land. 

Far beneath us, ten thousand feet at least--for it must be rememberedthat we viewed it from the top of a mountain--it stretched away and awaytill its distances met the horizon. In character it was quite flat, analluvial plain that probably, in some primeval age, had been the bottomof one of the vast lakes of which a number exist in Central Asia, mostof them now in process of desiccation. One object only relieved thisdreary flatness, a single, snow-clad, and gigantic mountain, of whicheven at that distance--for it was very far from us--we could clearly seethe outline. Indeed we could see more, for from its rounded crest rose agreat plume of smoke, showing that it was an active volcano, and on thehither lip of the crater an enormous pillar of rock, whereof the top wasformed to the shape of a loop. 

Yes, there it stood before us, that symbol of our vision which we hadsought these many years, and at the sight of it our hearts beat fast andour breath came quickly. We noted at once that although we had not seenit during our passage of the mountains, since the peaks ahead and therocky sides of the defile hid it from view, so great was its height thatit overtopped the tallest of them. This made it clear to us how it cameto be possible that the ray of light passing through the loop could fallupon the highest snows of that towering pinnacle which we had climbedupon the further side of the desert. 

Also now we were certain of the cause of that ray, for the smoke behindthe loop explained this mystery. Doubtless, at times when the volcanowas awake, that smoke must be replaced by flame, emitting light offearful intensity, and this light it was that reached us, concentratedand directed by the loop. 

For the rest we thought that about thirty miles away we could make out awhite-roofed town set upon a mound, situated among trees upon the banksof a wide river, which flowed across the plain. Also it was evident thatthis country had a large population who cultivated the soil, for bythe aid of a pair of field glasses, one of our few remaining and mostcherished possessions, we could see the green of springing crops piercedby irrigation canals and the lines of trees that marked the limits ofthe fields. 

Yes, there before us stretched the Promised Land, and there rose themystic Mount, so that all we had to do was to march down the snow slopesand enter it where we would. 

Thus we thought in our folly, little guessing what lay before us, whatterrors and weary suffering we must endure before we stood at lengthbeneath the shadow of the Symbol of Life. 

Our fatigues forgotten, we returned to the tent, hastily swallowed someof our dried food, which we washed down with lumps of snow that gave ustoothache and chilled us inside, but which thirst compelled us to eat, dragged the poor yak to its feet, loaded it up, and started. 

All this while, so great was our haste and so occupied were each ofus with our own thoughts that, if my memory serves me, we scarcelyinterchanged a word. Down the snow slopes we marched swiftly and withouthesitation, for here the road was marked for us by means of pillars ofrock set opposite to one another at intervals. These pillars we observedwith satisfaction, for they told us that we were still upon a highwaywhich led to the Promised Land. 

Yet, as we could not help noting, it was one which seemed to have goneout of use, since with the exception of a few wild-sheep tracks and thespoor of some bears and mountain foxes, not a single sign of beast orman could we discover. This, however, was to be explained, we reflected, by the fact that doubtless the road was only used in the summer season. Or perhaps the inhabitants of the country were now stay-at-home peoplewho never travelled it at all. 

Those slopes were longer than we thought; indeed, when darkness closedin we had not reached the foot of them. So we were obliged to spendanother night in the snow, pitching our tent in the shelter ofan over-hanging rock. As we had descended many thousand feet, thetemperature proved, fortunately, a little milder; indeed, I do notthink that there were more than eighteen or twenty degrees of frost thatnight. Also here and there the heat of the sun had melted the snow insecluded places, so that we were able to find water to drink, while theyak could fill its poor old stomach with dead-looking mountain mosses, which it seemed to think better than nothing. 

Again, the still dawn came, throwing its red garment over the lonesome, endless mountains, and we dragged ourselves to our numbed feet, ate someof our remaining food, and started onwards. Now we could no longer seethe country beneath, for it and even the towering volcano were hiddenfrom us by an intervening ridge that seemed to be pierced by a singlenarrow gulley, towards which we headed. Indeed, as the pillars showedus, thither ran the buried road. By mid-day it appeared quite close tous, and we tramped on in feverish haste. As it chanced, however, therewas no need to hurry, for an hour later we learned the truth. 

Between us and the mouth of the gulley rose, or rather sank, a sheerprecipice that was apparently three or four hundred feet in depth, andat its foot we could hear the sound of water. 

Right to the edge of this precipice ran the path, for one of the stonepillars stood upon its extreme brink, and yet how could a road descendsuch a place as that? We stared aghast; then a possible solutionoccurred to us. 

"Don't you see, " said Leo, with a hollow laugh, "the gulf has openedsince this track was used: volcanic action probably. "

"Perhaps, or perhaps there was a wooden bridge or stairway which hasrotted. It does not matter. We must find another path, that is all, " Ianswered as cheerfully as I could. 

"Yes, and soon, " he said, "if we do not wish to stop here for ever. "

So we turned to the right and marched along the edge of the precipicetill, a mile or so away, we came to a small glacier, of which thesurface was sprinkled with large stones frozen into its substance. Thisglacier hung down the face of the cliff like a petrified waterfall, butwhether or no it reached the foot we could not discover. At any rate, to think of attempting its descent seemed out of the question. From thispoint onwards we could see that the precipice increased in depth and faras the eye could reach was absolutely sheer. 

So we went back again and searched to the left of our road. Here themountains receded, so that above us rose a mighty, dazzling slope ofsnow and below us lay that same pitiless, unclimbable gulf. As the lightbegan to fade we perceived, half a mile or more in front a bare-toppedhillock of rock, which stood on the verge of the precipice, and hurriedto it, thinking that from its crest we might be able to discover a wayof descent. 

When at length we had struggled to the top, it was about a hundred andfifty feet high; what we did discover was that, here also, as beyond theglacier, the gulf was infinitely deeper than at the spot where the roadended, so deep indeed that we could not see its bottom, although from itcame the sound of roaring water. Moreover, it was quite half a mile inwidth. 

Whilst we stared round us the sinking sun vanished behind a mountainand, the sky being heavy, the light went out like that of a candle. Nowthe ascent of this hillock had proved so steep, especially at one place, where we were obliged to climb a sort of rock ladder, that we scarcelycared to attempt to struggle down it again in that gloom. Therefore, remembering that there was little to choose between the top of thisknoll and the snow plain at its foot in the matter of temperature orother conveniences, and being quite exhausted, we determined to spendthe night upon it, thereby, as we were to learn, saving our lives. 

Unloading the yak, we pitched our tent under the lee of the topmost knobof rock and ate a couple of handfuls of dried fish and corn-cake. Thiswas the last of the food that we had brought with us from the Lamasery, and we reflected with dismay that unless we could shoot something, ourcommissariat was now represented by the carcass of our old friend theyak. Then we wrapped ourselves up in our thick rugs and fur garments andforgot our miseries in sleep. 

It cannot have been long before daylight when we were awakened by asudden and terrific sound like the boom of a great cannon, followed bythousands of other sounds, which might be compared to the fusillade ofmusketry. 

"Great Heaven! What is that?" I said. 

We crawled from the tent, but as yet could see nothing, whilst the yakbegan to low in a terrified manner. But if we could not see we couldhear and feel. The booming and cracking had ceased, and was followed bya soft, grinding noise, the most sickening sound, I think, to whichI ever listened. This was accompanied by a strange, steady, unnaturalwind, which seemed to press upon us as water presses. Then the dawnbroke and we saw. 

The mountain-side was moving down upon us in a vast avalanche of snow. 

Oh! what a sight was that. On from the crest of the precipitous slopesabove, two miles and more away, it came, a living thing, rolling, sliding, gliding; piling itself in long, leaping waves, hollowing itselfinto cavernous valleys, like a tempest-driven sea, whilst above itssurface hung a powdery cloud of frozen spray. 

As we watched, clinging to each other terrified, the first of thesewaves struck our hill, causing the mighty mass of solid rock to quiverlike a yacht beneath the impact of an ocean roller, or an aspen ina sudden rush of wind. It struck and slowly separated, then with amajestic motion flowed like water over the edge of the precipice oneither side, and fell with a thudding sound into the unmeasured depthsbeneath. And this was but a little thing, a mere forerunner, for afterit, with a slow, serpentine movement, rolled the body of the avalanche. 

It came in combers, it came in level floods. It piled itself against ourhill, yes, to within fifty feet of the head of it, till we thought thateven that rooted rock must be torn from its foundations and hurled likea pebble to the deeps beneath. And the turmoil of it all! The screamingof the blast caused by the compression of the air, the dull, continuousthudding of the fall of millions of tons of snow as they rushed throughspace and ended their journey in the gulf. 

Nor was this the worst of it, for as the deep snows above thinned, greatboulders that had been buried beneath them, perhaps for centuries, wereloosened from their resting-places and began to thunder down the hill. At first they moved slowly, throwing up the hard snow around them as theprow of a ship throws foam. Then gathering momentum, they sprang intothe air with leaps such as those of shells ricocheting upon water, tillin the end, singing and hurtling, many of them rushed past and even overus to vanish far beyond. Some indeed struck our little mountain with theforce of shot fired from the great guns of a battle-ship, and shatteredthere, or if they fell upon its side, tore away tons of rock and passedwith them into the chasm like a meteor surrounded by its satellites. Indeed, no bombardment devised and directed by man could have been halfso terrible or, had there been anything to destroy, half so destructive. 

The scene was appalling in its unchained and resistless might evolvedsuddenly from the completest calm. There in the lap of the quietmountains, looked down upon by the peaceful, tender sky, the powershidden in the breast of Nature were suddenly set free, and, companionedby whirlwinds and all the terrifying majesty of sound, loosed upon theheads of us two human atoms. 

At the first rush of snow we had leapt back behind our protecting peakand, lying at full length upon the ground, gripped it and clung there, fearing lest the wind should whirl us to the abyss. Long ago our tenthad gone like a dead leaf in an autumn gale, and at times it seemed asif we must follow. 

The boulders hurtled over and past us; one of them, fell full upon thelittle peak, shattering its crest and bursting into fragments, whichfled away, each singing its own wild song. We were not touched, butwhen we looked behind us it was to see the yak, which had risen in itsterror, lying dead and headless. Then in our fear we lay still, waitingfor the end, and wondering dimly whether we should be buried in thesurging snow or swept away with the hill, or crushed by the flyingrocks, or lifted and lost in the hurricane. 

How long did it last? We never knew. It may have been ten minutes ortwo hours, for in such a scene time loses its proportion. Only we becameaware that the wind had fallen, while the noise of grinding snow andhurtling boulders ceased. Very cautiously we gained our feet and looked. 

In front of us was sheer mountain side, for a depth of over two miles, the width of about a thousand yards, which had been covered with manyfeet of snow, was now bare rock. Piled up against the face of our hill, almost to its summit, lay a tongue of snow, pressed to the consistencyof ice and spotted with boulders that had lodged there. The peak itselfwas torn and shattered, so that it revealed great gleaming surfacesand pits, in which glittered mica, or some other mineral. The vast gulfbehind was half filled with the avalanche and its debris. But forthe rest, it seemed as though nothing had happened, for the sun shonesweetly overhead and the solemn snows reflected its rays from the sidesof a hundred hills. And we had endured it all and were still alive; yes, and unhurt. 

But what a position was ours! We dared not attempt to descend the mount, lest we should sink into the loose snow and be buried there. Moreover, all along the breadth of the path of the avalanche boulders from time totime still thundered down the rocky slope, and with them came patches ofsnow that had been left behind by the big slide, small in themselves, it is true, but each of them large enough to kill a hundred men. Itwas obvious, therefore, that until these conditions changed, or deathreleased us, we must abide where we were upon the crest of the hillock. 

So there we sat, foodless and frightened, wondering what our old friendKou-en would say if he could see us now. By degrees hunger mastered allour other sensations and we began to turn longing eyes upon the headlessbody of the yak. 

"Let's skin him, " said Leo, "it will be something to do, and we shallwant his hide to-night. "

So with affection, and even reverence, we performed this office for thedead companion of our journeyings, rejoicing the while that it was notwe who had brought him to his end. Indeed, long residence among peopleswho believed fully that the souls of men could pass into, or were risenfrom, the bodies of animals, had made us a little superstitious on thismatter. It would be scarcely pleasant, we reflected, in some futureincarnation, to find our faithful friend clad in human form and to hearhim bitterly reproach us for his murder. 

Being dead, however, these arguments did not apply to eating him, as wewere sure he would himself acknowledge. So we cut off little bits ofhis flesh and, rolling them in snow till they looked as though they werenicely floured, hunger compelling us, swallowed them at a gulp. It was adisgusting meal and we felt like cannibals: but what could we do?

CHAPTER V

THE GLACIER

Even that day came to an end at last, and after a few more lumps ofyak, our tent being gone, we drew his hide over us and rested as bestwe could, knowing that at least we had no more avalanches to fear. Thatnight it froze sharply, so that had it not been for the yak's hide andthe other rugs and garments, which fortunately we were wearing when thesnow-slide began, it would, I think, have gone hard with us. As it was, we suffered a great deal. 

"Horace, " said Leo at the dawn, "I am going to leave this. If we haveto die, I would rather do so moving; but I don't believe that we shalldie. "

"Very well, " I said, "let us start. If the snow won't bear us now, itnever will. "

So we tied up our rugs and the yak's hide in two bundles and, having cutoff some more of the frozen meat, began our descent. Now, although themount was under two hundred feet high, its base, fortunately for us--forotherwise it must have been swept away by the mighty pressure of theavalanche--was broad, so that there was a long expanse of piled-up snowbetween us and the level ground. 

Since, owing to the overhanging conformation of the place, it was quiteimpossible for us to descend in front where pressure had made the snowhard as stone, we were obliged to risk a march over the looser materialupon its flank. As there was nothing to be gained by waiting, offwe went, Leo leading and step by step trying the snow. To our joy wediscovered that the sharp night frost had so hardened its surface thatit would support us. About half way down, however, where the pressurehad been less, it became much softer, so that we were forced to lieupon our faces, which enabled us to distribute our weight over a largersurface, and thus slither gently down the hill. 

All went well until we were within twenty paces of the bottom, wherewe must cross a soft mound formed of the powdery dust thrown off by theavalanche in its rush. Leo slipped over safely, but I, following a yardor two to his right, of a sudden felt the hard crust yield beneathme. An ill-judged but quite natural flounder and wriggle, such as anewly-landed flat-fish gives upon the sand, completed the mischief, andwith one piercing but swiftly stifled yell, I vanished. 

Any one who has ever sunk in deep water will know that the sensationis not pleasant, but I can assure him that to go through the sameexperience in soft snow is infinitely worse; mud alone could surpass itsterrors. Down I went, and down, till at length I seemed to reach a rockwhich alone saved me from disappearing for ever. Now I felt the snowclosing above me and with it came darkness and a sense of suffocation. So soft was the drift, however, that before I was overcome I contrivedwith my arms to thrust away the powdery dust from about my head, thusforming a little hollow into which air filtered slowly. Getting my handsupon the stone, I strove to rise, but could not, the weight upon me wastoo great. 

Then I abandoned hope and prepared to die. The process proved notaltogether unpleasant. I did not see visions from my past life asdrowning men are supposed to do, but--and this shows how strong was herempire over me--my mind flew back to Ayesha. I seemed to behold her anda man at her side, standing over me in some dark, rocky gulf. She waswrapped in a long travelling cloak, and her lovely eyes were wild withfear. I rose to salute her, and make report, but she cried in a fierce, concentrated voice--"What evil thing has happened here? Thou livest;then where is my lord Leo? Speak, man, and say where thou hast hid mylord--or die. "

The vision was extraordinarily real and vivid, I remember, and, considered in connection with a certain subsequent event, in all waysmost remarkable, but it passed as swiftly as it came. 

Then my senses left me. 

I saw a light again. I heard a voice, that of Leo. "Horace, " he cried, "Horace, hold fast to the stock of the rifle. " Something was thrustagainst my outstretched hand. I gripped it despairingly, and there camea strain. It was useless, I did not move. Then, bethinking me, I drewup my legs and by chance or the mercy of Heaven, I know not, got myfeet against a ridge of the rock on which I was lying. Again I felt thestrain, and thrust with all my might. Of a sudden the snow gave, and outof that hole I shot like a fox from its earth. 

I struck something. It was Leo straining at the gun, and I knocked himbackwards. Then down the steep slope we rolled, landing at length uponthe very edge of the precipice. I sat up, drawing in the air with greatgasps, and oh! how sweet it was. My eyes fell upon my hand, and I sawthat the veins stood out on the back of it, black as ink and large ascords. Clearly I must have been near my end. 

"How long was I in there?" I gasped to Leo, who sat at my side, wipingoff the sweat that ran from his face in streams. 

"Don't know. Nearly twenty minutes, I should think. "

"Twenty minutes! It seemed like twenty centuries. How did you get meout? You could not stand upon the drift dust. "

"No; I lay upon the yak skin where the snow was harder and tunnelledtowards you through the powdery stuff with my hands, for I knew whereyou had sunk and it was not far off. At last I saw your finger tips;they were so blue that for a few seconds I took them for rock, butthrust the butt of the rifle against them. Luckily you still had lifeenough to catch hold of it, and you know the rest. Were we not both verystrong, it could never have been done. "

"Thank you, old fellow, " I said simply. 

"Why should you thank me?" he asked with one of his quick smiles. "Doyou suppose that I wished to continue this journey alone? Come, if youhave got your breath, let us be getting on. You have been sleeping in acold bed and want exercise. Look, my rifle is broken and yours islost in the snow. Well, it will save us the trouble of carrying thecartridges, " and he laughed drearily. 

Then we began our march, heading for the spot where the road ended fourmiles or so away, for to go forward seemed useless. In due course wereached it safely. Once a mass of snow as large as a church swept downjust in front of us, and once a great boulder loosened from the mountainrushed at us suddenly like an attacking lion, or the stones thrownby Polyphemus at the ship of Odysseus, and, leaping over our heads, vanished with an angry scream into the depths beneath. But we tooklittle heed of these things: our nerves were deadened, and no dangerseemed to affect them. 

There was the end of the road, and there were our own footprints and theimpress of the yak's hoofs in the snow. The sight of them affected me, for it seemed strange that we should have lived to look upon themagain. We stared over the edge of the precipice. Yes, it was sheer andabsolutely unclimbable. 

"Come to the glacier, " said Leo. 

So we went on to it, and scrambling a little way down its root, made anexamination. Here, so far as we could judge, the cliff was about fourhundred feet deep. But whether or no the tongue of ice reached to thefoot of it we were unable to tell, since about two thirds of the waydown it arched inwards, like the end of a bent bow, and the conformationof the overhanging rocks on either side was such that we could not seewhere it terminated. We climbed back again and sat down, and despairtook hold of us, bitter, black despair. 

"What are we to do?" I asked. "In front of us death. Behind us death, for how can we recross those mountains without food or guns to shootit with? Here death, for we must sit and starve. We have striven andfailed. Leo, our end is at hand. Only a miracle can save us. "

"A miracle, " he answered. "Well, what was it that led us to the top ofthe mount so that we were able to escape the avalanche? And what was itwhich put that rock in your way as you sank into the bed of dust, andgave me wit and strength to dig you out of your grave of snow? And whatis it that has preserved us through seventeen years of dangers such asfew men have known and lived? Some directing Power. Some Destiny thatwill accomplish itself in us. Why should the Power cease to guide? Whyshould the Destiny be baulked at last?"

He paused, then added fiercely, "I tell you, Horace, that even if we hadguns, food, and yaks, I would not turn back upon our spoor, since to doso would prove me a coward and unworthy of her. I will go on. "

"How?" I asked. 

"By that road, " and he pointed to the glacier. 

"It is a road to death!"

"Well, if so, Horace, it would seem that in this land men find life indeath, or so they believe. If we die now, we shall die travelling ourpath, and in the country where we perish we may be born again. At leastI am determined, so you must choose. "

"I have chosen long ago. Leo, we began this journey together and we willend it together. Perhaps Ayesha knows and will help us, " and I laugheddrearily. "If not--come, we are wasting time. "

Then we took counsel, and the end of it was that we cut a skin rug andthe yak's tough hide into strips and knotted these together into twoserviceable ropes, which we fastened about our middles, leaving one endloose, for we thought that they might help us in our descent. 

Next we bound fragments of another skin rug about our legs and kneesto protect them from the chafing of the ice and rocks, and for the samereason put on our thick leather gloves. This done, we took the remainderof our gear and heavy robes and, having placed stones in them, threwthem over the brink of the precipice, trusting to find them again, should we ever reach its foot. Now our preparations were complete, and it was time for us to start upon perhaps one of the most desperatejourneys ever undertaken by men of their own will. 

Yet we stayed a little, looking at each other in piteous fashion, forwe could not speak. Only we embraced, and I confess, I think I wepta little. It all seemed so sad and hopeless, these longings enduredthrough many years, these perpetual, weary travellings, and now--theend. I could not bear to think of that splendid man, my ward, my mostdear friend, the companion of my life, who stood before me so full ofbeauty and of vigour, but who must within a few short minutes be turnedinto a heap of quivering, mangled flesh. For myself it did not matter. I was old, it was time that I should die. I had lived innocently, if itwere innocent to follow this lovely image, this Siren of the caves, wholured us on to doom. 

No, I don't think that I thought of myself then, but I thought a greatdeal of Leo, and when I saw his determined face and flashing eyes as henerved himself to the last endeavour, I was proud of him. So in brokenaccents I blessed him and wished him well through all the aeons, prayingthat I might be his companion to the end of time. In few words and shorthe thanked me and gave me back my blessing. Then he muttered--"Come. "

So side by side we began the terrible descent. At first it was easyenough, although a slip would have hurled us to eternity. But we werestrong and skilful, accustomed to such places moreover, and made none. About a quarter of the way down we paused, standing upon a great boulderthat was embedded in the ice, and, turning round cautiously, leaned ourbacks against the glacier and looked about us. Truly it was a horribleplace, almost sheer, nor did we learn much, for beneath us, a hundredand twenty feet or more, the projecting bend cut off our view of whatlay below. 

So, feeling that our nerves would not bear a prolonged contemplation ofthat dizzy gulf, once more we set our faces to the ice and proceeded onthe downward climb. Now matters were more difficult, for the stones werefewer and once or twice we must slide to reach them, not knowing if weshould ever stop again. But the ropes which we threw over the anglesof the rocks, or salient points of ice, letting ourselves down by theirhelp and drawing them after us when we reached the next foothold, savedus from disaster. 

Thus at length we came to the bend, which was more than half way downthe precipice, being, so far as I could judge, about two hundred andfifty feet from its lip, and say one hundred and fifty from the darksomebottom of the narrow gulf. Here were no stones, but only some rough ice, on which we sat to rest. 

"We must look, " said Leo presently. 

But the question was, how to do this. Indeed, there was only one way, to hang over the bend and discover what lay below. We read each other'sthought without the need of words, and I made a motion as though I wouldstart. 

"No, " said Leo, "I am younger and stronger than you. Come, help me, " andhe began to fasten the end of his rope to a strong, projecting point ofice. "Now, " he said, "hold my ankles. "

It seemed an insanity, but there was nothing else to be done, so, fixingmy heels in a niche, I grasped them and slowly he slid forward till hisbody vanished to the middle. What he saw does not matter, for I saw itall afterwards, but what happened was that suddenly all his great weightcame upon my arms with such a jerk that his ankles were torn from mygrip. 

Or, who knows! perhaps in my terror I loosed them, obeying the naturalimpulse which prompts a man to save his own life. If so, may I beforgiven, but had I held on, I must have been jerked into the abyss. Then the rope ran out and remained taut. 

"Leo!" I screamed, "Leo!" and I heard a muffled voice saying, as Ithought, "Come. " What it really said was--"Don't come. " But indeed--andmay it go to my credit--I did not pause to think, but face outwards, just as I was sitting, began to slide and scramble down the ice. 

In two seconds I had reached the curve, in three I was over it. Beneathwas what I can only describe as a great icicle broken off short, andseparated from the cliff by about four yards of space. This icicle wasnot more than fifteen feet in length and sloped outwards, so that mydescent was not sheer. Moreover, at the end of it the trickling ofwater, or some such accident, had worn away the ice, leaving a littleledge as broad, perhaps, as a man's hand. There were roughnesses on thesurface below the curve, upon which my clothing caught, also I grippedthem desperately with my fingers. Thus it came about that I slid downquite gently and, my heels landing upon the little ledge, remainedalmost upright, with outstretched arms--like a person crucified to across of ice. 

Then I saw everything, and the sight curdled the blood within my veins. Hanging to the rope, four or five feet below the broken point, was Leo, out of reach of it, and out of reach of the cliff; as he hung turningslowly round and round, much as--for in a dreadful, inconsequent fashionthe absurd similarity struck me even then--a joint turns before thefire. Below yawned the black gulf, and at the bottom of it, far, farbeneath, appeared a faint, white sheet of snow. That is what I saw. 

Think of it! Think of it! I crucified upon the ice, my heels restingupon a little ledge; my fingers grasping excrescences on which a birdcould scarcely have found a foothold; round and below me dizzy space. To climb back whence I came was impossible, to stir even was impossible, since one slip and I must be gone. 

And below me, hung like a spider to its cord, Leo turning slowly roundand round!

I could see that rope of green hide stretch beneath his weight and thedouble knots in it slip and tighten, and I remember wondering whichwould give first, the hide or the knots, or whether it would hold tillhe dropped from the noose limb by limb. 

Oh! I have been in many a perilous place, I who sprang from the SwayingStone to the point of the Trembling Spur, and missed my aim, but never, never in such a one as this. Agony took hold of me; a cold sweat burstfrom every pore. I could feel it running down my face like tears; myhair bristled upon my head. And below, in utter silence, Leo turnedround and round, and each time he turned his up-cast eyes met mine witha look that was horrible to see. 

The silence was the worst of it, the silence and the helplessness. Ifhe had cried out, if he had struggled, it would have been better. Butto know that he was alive there, with every nerve and perception at itsutmost stretch. Oh! my God! Oh! my God!

My limbs began to ache, and yet I dared not stir a muscle. Theyached horribly, or so I thought, and beneath this torture, mental andphysical, my mind gave. 

I remembered things: remembered how, as a child, I had climbed a treeand reached a place whence I could move neither up nor down, and what Isuffered then. Remembered how once in Egypt a foolhardy friend of minehad ascended the Second Pyramid alone, and become thus crucified uponits shining cap, where he remained for a whole half hour with fourhundred feet of space beneath him. I could see him now stretching hisstockinged foot downwards in a vain attempt to reach the next crack, anddrawing it back again; could see his tortured face, a white blot uponthe red granite. 

Then that face vanished and blackness gathered round me, and inthe blackness visions: of the living, resistless avalanche, of thesnow-grave into which I had sunk--oh! years and years ago; of Ayeshademanding Leo's life at my hands. Blackness and silence, through which Icould only hear the cracking of my muscles. 

Suddenly in the blackness a flash, and in the silence a sound. The flashwas the flash of a knife which Leo had drawn. He was hacking at the cordwith it fiercely, fiercely, to make an end. And the sound was that ofthe noise he made, a ghastly noise, half shout of defiance and half yellof terror, as at the third stroke it parted. 

I saw it part. The tough hide was half cut through, and its severedportion curled upwards and downwards like the upper and lower lips of anangry dog, whilst that which was unsevered stretched out slowly, slowly, till it grew quite thin. Then it snapped, so that the rope flew upwardsand struck me across the face like the lash of a whip. 

Another instant and I heard a crackling, thudding sound. Leo had struckthe ground below. Leo was dead, a mangled mass of flesh and bone as Ihad pictured him. I could not bear it. My nerve and human dignity cameback. I would not wait until, my strength exhausted, I slid from myperch as a wounded bird falls from a tree. No, I would follow him atonce, of my own act. 

I let my arms fall against my sides, and rejoiced in the relief frompain that the movement gave me. Then balanced upon my heels, I stoodupright, took my last look at the sky, muttered my last prayer. For aninstant I remained thus poised. 

Shouting, "I come, " I raised my hands above my head and dived as abather dives, dived into the black gulf beneath. 

CHAPTER VI

IN THE GATE

Oh! that rush through space! Folk falling thus are supposed to loseconsciousness, but I can assert that this is not true. Never were mywits and perceptions more lively than while I travelled from that brokenglacier to the ground, and never did a short journey seem to take alonger time. I saw the white floor, like some living thing, leaping upthrough empty air to meet me, then--_finis!_

Crash! Why, what was this? I still lived. I was in water, for I couldfeel its chill, and going down, down, till I thought I should never riseagain. But rise I did, though my lungs were nigh to bursting first. As Ifloated up towards the top I remembered the crash, which told me thatI had passed through ice. Therefore I should meet ice at the surfaceagain. Oh! to think that after surviving so much I must be drowned likea kitten and beneath a sheet of ice. My hands touched it. There it wasabove me shining white like glass. Heaven be praised! My head brokethrough; in this low and sheltered gorge it was but a film no thickerthan a penny formed by the light frost of the previous night. So I rosefrom the deep and stared about me, treading water with my feet. 

Then I saw the gladdest sight that ever my eyes beheld, for on theright, not ten yards away, the water running from his hair and beard, was Leo. Leo alive, for he broke the thin ice with his arms as hestruggled towards the shore from the deep river. [*] He saw me also, andhis grey eyes seemed to start out of his head. 

 [*] Usually, as we learned afterwards, the river at this spot was quite shallow; only a foot or two in depth. It was the avalanche that by damming it with fallen heaps of snow had raised its level very many feet. Therefore, to this avalanche, which had threatened to destroy us, we in reality owed our lives, for had the stream stood only at its normal height we must have been dashed to pieces upon the stones. --L. H. H. 

"Still living, both of us, and the precipice passed!" he shouted in aringing, exultant voice. "I told you we were led. "

"Aye, but whither?" I answered as I too fought my way through the filmof ice. 

Then it was I became aware that we were no longer alone, for on thebank of the river, some thirty yards from us, stood two figures, a manleaning upon a long staff and a woman. He was a very old man, for hiseyes were horny, his snow-white hair and beard hung upon the bent breastand shoulders, and his sardonic, wrinkled features were yellow as wax. They might have been those of a death mask cut in marble. There, clad inan ample, monkish robe, and leaning upon the staff, he stood still asa statue and watched us. I noted it all, every detail, although at thetime I did not know that I was doing so, as we broke our way through theice towards them and afterwards the picture came back to me. Also I sawthat the woman, who was very tall, pointed to us. 

Nearer the bank, or rather to the rock edge of the river, its surfacewas free of ice, for here the stream ran very swiftly. Seeing this, wedrew close together and swam on side by side to help each other if needwere. There was much need, for in the fringe of the torrent the strengththat had served me so long seemed to desert me, and I became helpless;numbed, too, with the biting coldness of the water. Indeed, had not Leograsped my clothes I think that I should have been swept away by thecurrent to perish. Thus aided I fought on a while, till he said--"I amgoing under. Hold to the rope end. "

So I gripped the strip of yak's hide that was still fast about him, and, his hand thus freed, Leo made a last splendid effort to keep us both, cumbered as we were with the thick, soaked garments that dragged us downlike lead, from being sucked beneath the surface. Moreover, he succeededwhere any other swimmer of less strength must have failed. Still, Ibelieve that we should have drowned, since here the water ran like amill-race, had not the man upon the shore, seeing our plight and urgedthereto by the woman, run with surprising swiftness in one so aged, to apoint of rock that jutted some yards into the stream, past which we werebeing swept, and seating himself, stretched out his long stick towardsus. 

With a desperate endeavour, Leo grasped it as we went by, rolling overand over each other, and held on. Round we swung into the eddy, foundour feet, were knocked down again, rubbed and pounded on the rocks. Butstill gripping that staff of salvation, to his end of which the oldman clung like a limpet to a stone, while the woman clung to him, werecovered ourselves, and, sheltered somewhat by the rock, flounderedtowards the shore. Lying on his face--for we were still in greatdanger--the man extended his arm. We could not reach it; and worse, suddenly the staff was torn from him; we were being swept away. 

Then it was that the woman did a noble thing, for springing into thewater--yes, up to her armpits--and holding fast to the old man byher left hand, with the right she seized Leo's hair and dragged himshorewards. Now he found his feet for a moment, and throwing one armabout her slender form, steadied himself thus, while with the other hesupported me. Next followed a long confused struggle, but the end of itwas that three of us, the old man, Leo and I, rolled in a heap upon thebank and lay there gasping. 

Presently I looked up. The woman stood over us, water streaming from hergarments, staring like one in a dream at Leo's face, smothered as it waswith blood running from a deep cut in his head. Even then I noticed howstately and beautiful she was. Now she seemed to awake and, glancingat the robes that clung to her splendid shape, said something to hercompanion, then turned and ran towards the cliff. 

As we lay before him, utterly exhausted, the old man, who had risen, contemplated us solemnly with his dim eyes. He spoke, but we did notunderstand. Again he tried another language and without success. A thirdtime and our ears were opened, for the tongue he used was Greek; yes, there in Central Asia he addressed us in Greek, not very pure, it istrue, but still Greek. 

"Are you wizards, " he said, "that you have lived to reach this land?"

"Nay, " I answered in the same tongue, though in broken words--since ofGreek I had thought little for many a year--"for then we should havecome otherwise, " and I pointed to our hurts and the precipice behind us. 

"They know the ancient speech; it is as we were told from the Mountain, "he muttered to himself. Then he asked--"Strangers, what seek you?"

Now I grew cunning and did not answer, fearing lest, should he learnthe truth, he would thrust us back into the river. But Leo had no suchcaution, or rather all reason had left him; he was light-headed. 

"We seek, " he stuttered out--his Greek, which had always been feeble, now was simply barbarous and mixed with various Thibetan dialects--"weseek the land of the Fire Mountain that is crowned with the Sign ofLife. "

The man stared at us. "So you know, " he said, then broke off and added, "and _whom_ do you seek?"

"Her, " answered Leo wildly, "the Queen. " I think that he meant to saythe priestess, or the goddess, but could only think of the Greek forQueen, or rather something resembling it. Or perhaps it was because thewoman who had gone looked like a queen. 

"Oh!" said the man, "you seek a queen--then you _are_ those for whom wewere bidden to watch. Nay, how can I be sure?"

"Is this a time to put questions?" I gasped angrily. "Answer me onerather: who are you?"

"I? Strangers, my title is Guardian of the Gate, and the lady who waswith me is the Khania of Kaloon. "

At this point Leo began to faint. 

"That man is sick, " said the Guardian, "and now that you have got yourbreath again, you must have shelter, both of you, and at once. Come, help me. "

So, supporting Leo on either side, we dragged ourselves away from thataccursed cliff and Styx-like river up a narrow, winding gorge. Presentlyit opened out, and there, stretching across the glade, we saw the Gate. Of this all I observed then, for my memory of the details of this sceneand of the conversation that passed is very weak and blurred, wasthat it seemed to be a mighty wall of rock in which a pathway had beenhollowed where doubtless once passed the road. On one side of thispassage was a stair, which we began to ascend with great difficulty, forLeo was now almost senseless and scarcely moved his legs. Indeed at thehead of the first flight he sank down in a heap, nor did our strengthsuffice to lift him. 

While I wondered feebly what was to be done, I heard footsteps, andlooking up, saw the woman who had saved him descending the stair, and after her two robed men with a Tartar cast of countenance, veryimpassive; small eyes and yellowish skin. Even the sight of us didnot appear to move them to astonishment. She spoke some words to them, whereon they lifted Leo's heavy frame, apparently with ease, and carriedhim up the steps. 

We followed, and reached a room that seemed to be hewn from the rockabove the gateway, where the woman called Khania left us. From it wepassed through other rooms, one of them a kind of kitchen, in whicha fire burned, till we came to a large chamber, evidently a sleepingplace, for in it were wooden bedsteads, mattresses and rugs. Here Leowas laid down, and with the assistance of one of his servants, the oldGuardian undressed him, at the same time motioning me to take off my owngarments. This I did gladly enough for the first time during many days, though with great pain and difficulty, to find that I was a mass ofwounds and bruises. 

Presently our host blew upon a whistle, and the other servant appearedbringing hot water in a jar, with which we were washed over. Then theGuardian dressed our hurts with some soothing ointment, and wrapped usround with blankets. After this broth was brought, into which he mixedmedicine, and giving me a portion to drink where I lay upon one of thebeds, he took Leo's head upon his knee and poured the rest of it downhis throat. Instantly a wonderful warmth ran through me, and my achingbrain began to swim. Then I remembered no more. 

After this we were very, very ill. What may be the exact medicaldefinition of our sickness I do not know, but in effect it was such asfollows loss of blood, extreme exhaustion of body, paralysing shockto the nerves and extensive cuts and contusions. These taken togetherproduced a long period of semi-unconsciousness, followed by anotherperiod of fever and delirium. All that I can recall of those weeks whilewe remained the guests of the Guardian of the Gate, may be summed up inone word--dreams, that is until at last I recovered my senses. 

The dreams themselves are forgotten, which is perhaps as well, sincethey were very confused, and for the most part awful; a hotch-potch ofnightmares, reflected without doubt from vivid memories of our recentand fearsome sufferings. At times I would wake up from them a little, I suppose when food was administered to me, and receive impressionsof whatever was passing in the place. Thus I can recollect thatyellow-faced old Guardian standing over me like a ghost in themoonlight, stroking his long beard, his eyes fixed upon my face, asthough he would search out the secrets of my soul. 

"They are the men, " he muttered to himself, "without doubt they are themen, " then walked to the window and looked up long and earnestly, likeone who studies the stars. 

After this I remember a disturbance in the room, and dominating it, asit were, the rich sound of a woman's voice and the rustle of a woman'ssilks sweeping the stone floor. I opened my eyes and saw that it was shewho had helped to rescue us, who _had_ rescued us in fact, a tall andnoble-looking lady with a beauteous, weary face and liquid eyes whichseemed to burn. From the heavy cloak she wore I thought that she musthave just returned from a journey. 

She stood above me and looked at me, then turned away with a gestureof indifference, if not of disgust, speaking to the Guardian in a lowvoice. By way of answer he bowed, pointing to the other bed where Leolay, asleep, and thither she passed with slow, imperious movements. Isaw her bend down and lift the corner of a wrapping which covered hiswounded head, and heard her utter some smothered words before she turnedround to the Guardian as though to question him further. 

But he had gone, and being alone, for she thought me senseless, she drewa rough stool to the side of the bed, and seating herself studied Leo, who lay thereon, with an earnestness that was almost terrible, forher soul seemed to be concentrated in her eyes, and to find expressionthrough them. Long she gazed thus, then rose and began to walk swiftlyup and down the chamber, pressing her hands now to her bosom and nowto her brow, a certain passionate perplexity stamped upon her face, asthough she struggled to remember something and could not. 

"Where and when?" she whispered. "Oh! where and when?"

Of the end of that scene I know nothing, for although I fought hardagainst it, oblivion mastered me. After this I became aware that theregal-looking woman called Khania, was always in the room, and that sheseemed to be nursing Leo with great care and tenderness. Sometimes evenshe nursed me when Leo did not need attention, and she had nothing elseto do, or so her manner seemed to suggest. It was as though I excitedher curiosity, and she wished me to recover that it might be satisfied. 

Again I awoke, how long afterwards I cannot say. It was night, andthe room was lighted by the moon only, now shining in a clear sky. Itssteady rays entering at the window-place fell on Leo's bed, and by themI saw that the dark, imperial woman was watching at his side. Some senseof her presence must have communicated itself to him, for he began tomutter in his sleep, now in English, now in Arabic. She became intenselyinterested; as her every movement showed. Then rising suddenly sheglided across the room on tiptoe to look at me. Seeing her coming Ifeigned to be asleep, and so well that she was deceived. 

For I was also interested. Who was this lady whom the Guardian hadcalled the Khania of Kaloon? Could it be she whom we sought? Why not?And yet if I saw Ayesha, surely I should know her, surely there would beno room for doubt. 

Back she went again to the bed, kneeling down beside Leo, and in theintense silence which followed--for he had ceased his mutterings--Ithought that I could hear the beating of her heart. Now she began tospeak, very low and in that same bastard Greek tongue, mixed here andthere with Mongolian words such as are common to the dialects of CentralAsia. I could not hear or understand all she said, but some sentences Idid understand, and they frightened me not a little. 

"Man of my dreams, " she murmured, "whence come you? Who are you? Why didthe Hesea bid me to meet you?" Then some sentences I could not catch. "You sleep; in sleep the eyes are opened. Answer, I bid you; say whatis the bond between you and me? Why have I dreamt of you? Why do I knowyou? Why----?" and the sweet, rich voice died slowly from a whisper intosilence, as though she were ashamed to utter what was on her tongue. 

As she bent over him a lock of her hair broke loose from its jewelledfillet and fell across his face. At its touch Leo seemed to wake, forhe lifted his gaunt, white hand and touched the hair, then said inEnglish--"Where am I? Oh! I remember;" and their eyes met as he stroveto lift himself and could not. Then he spoke again in his broken, stumbling Greek, "You are the lady who saved me from the water. Say, areyou also that queen whom I have sought so long and endured so much tofind?"

"I know not, " she answered in a voice as sweet as honey, a low, trembling voice; "but true it is I am a queen--if a Khania be a queen. "

"Say, then, Queen, do you remember me?"

"We have met in dreams, " she answered, "I think that we have met in apast that is far away. Yes; I knew it when first I saw you there by theriver. Stranger with the well remembered face, tell me, I pray you, howyou are named?"

"Leo Vincey. "

She shook her head, whispering--"I know not the name, yet you I know. "

"You know me! How do you know me?" he said heavily, and seemed to sinkagain into slumber or swoon. 

She watched him for a while very intently. Then as though some forcethat she could not resist drew her, I saw her bend down her head overhis sleeping face. Yes; and I saw her kiss him swiftly on the lips, thenspring back crimson to the hair, as though overwhelmed with shame atthis victory of her mad passion. 

Now it was that she discovered me. 

Bewildered, fascinated, amazed, I had raised myself upon my bed, notknowing it; I suppose that I might see and hear the better. It waswrong, doubtless, but no common curiosity over-mastered me, who had myshare in all this story. More, it was foolish, but illness and wonderhad killed my reason. 

Yes, she saw me watching them, and such fury seemed to take hold of herthat I thought my hour had come. 

"Man, have you dared----?" she said in an intense whisper, and snatchingat her girdle. Now in her hand shone a knife, and I knew that it wasdestined for my heart. Then in this sore danger my wit came back to meand as she advanced I stretched out my shaking hand, saying--"Oh! ofyour pity, give me to drink. The fever burns me, it burns, " and I lookedround like one bewildered who sees not, repeating, "Give me drink, youwho are called Guardian, " and I fell back exhausted. 

She stopped like a hawk in its stoop, and swiftly sheathed the dagger. Then taking a bowl of milk that stood on a table near her, she heldit to my lips, searching my face the while with her flaming eyes, forindeed passion, rage, and fear had lit them till they seemed to flame. I drank the milk in great gulps, though never in my life did I find itmore hard to swallow. 

"You tremble, " she said; "have dreams haunted you?"

"Aye, friend, " I answered, "dreams of that fearsome precipice and of thelast leap. "

"Aught else?" she asked. 

"Nay; is it not enough? Oh! what a journey to have taken to befriend aqueen. "

"To befriend a queen, " she repeated puzzled. "What means the man? Youswear you have had no other dreams?"

"Aye, I swear by the Symbol of Life and the Mount of the Wavering Flame, and by yourself, O Queen from the ancient days. "

Then I sighed and pretended to swoon, for I could think of nothing elseto do. As I closed my eyes I saw her face that had been red as dawn turnpale as eve, for my words and all which might lie behind them, had gonehome. Moreover, she was in doubt, for I could hear her fingering thehandle of the dagger. Then she spoke aloud, words for my ears if theystill were open. 

"I am glad, " she said, "that he dreamed no other dreams, since had hedone so and babbled of them it would have been ill-omened, and I do notwish that one who has travelled far to visit us should be hurled tothe death-dogs for burial; one, moreover, who although old and hideous, still has the air of a wise and silent man. "

Now while I shivered at these unpleasant hints--though what the"death-dogs" in which people were buried might be, I could notconceive--to my intense joy I heard the foot of the Guardian on thestairs, heard him too enter the room and saw him bow before the lady. 

"How go these sick men, niece?"[*] he said in his cold voice. 

 [*] I found later that the Khania, Atene, was not Simbri's niece but his great-niece, on the mother's side. --L. H. H. 

"They swoon, both of them, " she answered. 

"Indeed, is it so? I thought otherwise. I thought they woke. "

"What have you heard, Shaman (i. E. Wizard)?" she asked angrily. 

"I? Oh! I heard the grating of a dagger in its sheath and the distantbaying of the death-hounds. "

"And what have you seen, Shaman?" she asked again, "looking through theGate you guard?"

"Strange sight, Khania, my niece. But--men awake from swoons. "

"Aye, " she answered, "so while this one sleeps, bear him to anotherchamber, for he needs change, and the lord yonder needs more space anduntainted air. "

The Guardian, whom she called "Shaman" or Magician, held a lamp in hishand, and by its light it was easy to see his face, which I watchedout of the corner of my eye. I thought that it wore a very strangeexpression, one moreover that alarmed me somewhat. From the beginningI had misdoubted me of this old man, whose cast of countenance wasvindictive as it was able; now I was afraid of him. 

"To which chamber, Khania?" he said with meaning. 

"I think, " she answered slowly, "to one that is healthful, where hewill recover. The man has wisdom, " she added as though in explanation, "moreover, having the word from the Mountain, to harm him would bedangerous. But why do you ask?"

He shrugged his shoulders. 

"I tell you I heard the death-hounds bay, that is all. Yes, with you Ithink that he has wisdom, and the bee which seeks honey should suck theflower--before it fades! Also, as you say, there are commands with whichit is ill to trifle, even if we cannot guess their meaning. "

Then going to the door he blew upon his whistle, and instantly I heardthe feet of his servants upon the stairs. He gave them an order, andgently enough they lifted the mattress on which I lay and followed himdown sundry passages and past some stairs into another chamber shapedlike that we had left, but not so large, where they placed me upon abed. 

The Guardian watched me awhile to see that I did not wake. Next hestretched out his hand and felt my heart and pulse; an examinationthe results of which seemed to _puzzle_ him, for he uttered a littleexclamation and shook his head. After this he left the room, and I heardhim bolt the door behind him. Then, being still very weak, I fell asleepin earnest. 

When I awoke it was broad daylight. My mind was clear and I felt betterthan I had done for many a day, signs by which I knew that the fever hadleft me and that I was on the high road to recovery. Now I rememberedall the events of the previous night and was able to weigh themcarefully. This, to be sure, I did for many reasons, among them that Iknew I had been and still was, in great danger. 

I had seen and heard too much, and this woman called Khania guessed thatI had seen and heard. Indeed, had it not been for my hints about theSymbol of Life and the Mount of Flame, after I had disarmed her firstrage by my artifice, I felt sure that she would have ordered the oldGuardian or Shaman to do me to death in this way or the other; sure alsothat he would not have hesitated to obey her. I had been spared partlybecause, for some unknown reason, she was afraid to kill me, and partlythat she might learn how much I knew, although the "death-hounds hadbayed, " whatever that might mean. Well, up to the present I was safe, and for the rest I must take my chance. Moreover it was necessary tobe cautious, and, if need were, to feign ignorance. So, dismissing thematter of my own fate from my mind, I fell to considering the scenewhich I had witnessed and what might be its purport. 

Was our quest at an end? Was this woman Ayesha? Leo had so dreamed, buthe was still delirious, therefore here was little on which to lean. What seemed more to the point was that she herself evidently appeared tothink that there existed some tie between her and this sick man. Whyhad she embraced him? I was sure that she could be no wanton, nor indeedwould any woman indulge for its own sake in such folly with a strangerwho hung between life and death. What she had done was done becauseirresistible impulse, born of knowledge, or at least of memories, droveher on, though mayhap the knowledge was imperfect and the memories wereundefined. Who save Ayesha could have known anything of Leo in the past?None who lived upon the earth to-day. 

And yet, why not, if what Kou-en the abbot and tens of millions of hisfellow-worshippers believed were true? If the souls of human beings werein fact strictly limited in number, and became the tenants of an endlesssuccession of physical bodies which they change from time to time as wechange our worn-out garments, why should not others have known him? Forinstance that daughter of the Pharaohs who "caused him through love tobreak the vows that he had vowed" knew a certain Kallikrates, a priestof "Isis whom the gods cherish and the demons obey;" even Amenartas, themistress of magic. 

Oh! now a light seemed to break upon me, a wonderful light. What ifAmenartas and this Khania, this woman with royalty stamped on everyfeature, should be the same? Would not that "magic of my own peoplethat I have" of which she wrote upon the Sherd, enable her to pierce thedarkness of the Past and recognize the priest whom she had bewitched tolove her, snatching him out of the very hand of the goddess? What if itwere not Ayesha, but Amenartas re-incarnate who ruled this hidden landand once more sought to make the man she loved break through his vows?If so, knowing the evil that must come, I shook even at its shadow. Thetruth must be learned, but how?

Whilst I wondered the door opened, and the sardonic, inscrutable-old-faced man, whom this Khania had called Magician, and whocalled the Khania, niece, entered and stood before me. 

CHAPTER VII

THE FIRST ORDEAL

The shaman advanced to my side and asked me courteously how I fared. 

I answered, "Better. Far better, oh, my host--but how are you named?"

"Simbri, " he answered, "and, as I told you by the water, my title isHereditary Guardian of the Gate. By profession I am the royal Physicianin this land. "

"Did you say physician or magician?" I asked carelessly, as though I hadnot caught the word. He gave me a curious look. 

"I _said_ physician, and it is well for you and your companion that Ihave some skill in my art. Otherwise I think, perhaps, you would nothave been alive to-day, O my guest--but how are _you_ named?"

"Holly, " I said. 

"O my guest, Holly. "

"Had it not been for the foresight that brought you and the lady Khaniato the edge of yonder darksome river, certainly we should _not_ havebeen alive, venerable Simbri, a foresight that seems to me to savourof magic in such a lonely place. That is why I thought you might havedescribed yourself as a magician, though it is true that you may havebeen but fishing in those waters. "

"Certainly I was fishing, stranger Holly--for men, and I caught two. "

"Fishing by chance, host Simbri?"

"Nay, by design, guest Holly. My trade of physician includes the studyof future events, for I am the chief of the Shamans or Seers of thisland, and, having been warned of your coming quite recently, I awaitedyour arrival. "

"Indeed, that is strange, most courteous also. So here physician andmagician mean the same. "

"You say it, " he answered with a grave bow; "but tell me, if you will, how did you find your way to a land whither visitors do not wander?"

"Oh!" I answered, "perhaps we are but travellers, or perhaps we alsohave studied--medicine. "

"I think that you must have studied it deeply, since otherwise you wouldnot have lived to cross those mountains in search of--now, what did youseek? Your companion, I think, spoke of a queen--yonder, on the banks ofthe torrent. "

"Did he? Did he, indeed? Well, that is strange since he seems to havefound one, for surely that royal-looking lady, named Khania, who spranginto the stream and saved us, must be a queen. "

"A queen she is, and a great one, for in our land Khania means queen, though how, friend Holly, a man who has lain senseless can have learnedthis, I do not know. Nor do I know how you come to speak our language. "

"That is simple, for the tongue you talk is very ancient, and as itchances in my own country it has been my lot to study and to teachit. It is Greek, but although it is still spoken in the world, how itreached these mountains I cannot say. "

"I will tell you, " he answered. "Many generations ago a great conquerorborn of the nation that spoke this tongue fought his way through thecountry to the south of us. He was driven back, but a general of his ofanother race advanced and crossed the mountains, and overcame thepeople of this land, bringing with him his master's language and his ownworship. Here he established his dynasty, and here it remains, for beingringed in with deserts and with pathless mountain snows, we hold noconverse with the outer world. "

"Yes, I know something of that story; the conqueror was named Alexander, was he not?" I asked. 

"He was so named, and the name of the general was Rassen, a native ofa country called Egypt, or so our records tell us. His descendants holdthe throne to this day, and the Khania is of his blood. "

"Was the goddess whom he worshipped called Isis?"

"Nay, " he answered, "she was called Hes. "

"Which, " I interrupted, "is but another title for Isis. Tell me, is herworship continued here? I ask because it is now dead in Egypt, which wasits home. "

"There is a temple on the Mountain yonder, " he replied indifferently, "and in it are priests and priestesses who practise some ancient cult. But the real god of this people now, as long before the day of Rassentheir conqueror, is the fire that dwells in this same Mountain, whichfrom time to time breaks out and slays them. "

"And does a goddess dwell in the fire?" I asked. 

Again he searched my face with his cold eyes, then answered--"StrangerHolly, I know nothing of any goddess. That Mountain is sacred, and toseek to learn its secrets is to die. Why do you ask such questions?"

"Only because I am curious in the matter of old religions, and seeingthe symbol of Life upon yonder peak, came hither to study yours, ofwhich indeed a tradition still remains among the learned. "

"Then abandon that study, friend Holly, for the road to it runs throughthe paws of the death-hounds, and the spears of savages. Nor indeed isthere anything to learn. "

"And what, Physician, are the death-hounds?"

"Certain dogs to which, according to our ancient custom, all offendersagainst the law or the will of the Khan, are cast to be torn to pieces. "

"The will of the Khan! Has this Khania of yours a husband then?"

"Aye, " he answered, "her cousin, who was the ruler of half the land. Nowthey and the land are one. But you have talked enough; I am here to saythat your food is ready, " and he turned to leave the room. 

"One more question, friend Simbri. How came I to this chamber, and whereis my companion?"

"You were borne hither in your sleep, and see, the change has betteredyou. Do you remember nothing?"

"Nothing, nothing at all, " I answered earnestly. "But what of myfriend?"

"He also is better. The Khania Atene nurses him. "

"Atene?" I said. "That is an old Egyptian name. It means the Disk of theSun, and a woman who bore it thousands of years ago was famous for herbeauty. "

"Well, and is not my niece Atene beautiful?"

"How can I tell, O uncle of the Khania, " I answered wearily, "who havescarcely seen her?"

Then he departed, and presently his yellow-faced, silent servantsbrought me my food. 

Later in the morning the door opened again, and through it, unattended, came the Khania Atene, who shut and bolted it behind her. This actiondid not reassure me, still, rising in my bed, I saluted her as best Icould, although at heart I was afraid. She seemed to read my doubts forshe said--"Lie down, and have no fear. At present you will come by noharm from me. Now, tell me what is the man called Leo to you? Your son?Nay, it cannot be, since--forgive me--light is not born of darkness. "

"I have always thought that it was so born, Khania. Yet you are right;he is but my adopted son, and a man whom I love. "

"Say, what seek you here?" she asked. 

"We seek, Khania, whatsoever Fate shall bring us on yonder Mountain, that which is crowned with flame. "

Her face paled at the words, but she answered in a steady voice--"Thenthere you will find nothing but doom, if indeed you do not find itbefore you reach its slopes, which are guarded by savage men. Yonder isthe College of Hes, and to violate its Sanctuary is death to any man, death in the ever-burning fire. "

"And who rules this college, Khania--a priestess?"

"Yes, a priestess, whose face I have never seen, for she is so old thatshe veils herself from curious eyes. "

"Ah! she veils herself, does she?" I answered, as the blood wentthrilling through my veins, I who remembered another who also was_so_ old that she veiled herself from curious eyes. "Well, veiled orunveiled, we would visit her, trusting to find that we are welcome. "

"That you shall not do, " she said, "for it is unlawful, and I will nothave your blood upon my hands. "

"Which is the stronger, " I asked of her, "you, Khania, or this priestessof the Mountain?"

"I am the stronger, Holly, for so you are named, are you not? Look you, at my need I can summon sixty thousand men in war, while she has naughtbut her priests and the fierce, untrained tribes. "

"The sword is not the only power in the world, " I answered. "Tell me, now, does this priestess ever visit the country of Kaloon?"

"Never, never, for by the ancient pact, made after the last greatstruggle long centuries ago between the College and the people of thePlain, it was decreed and sworn to that should she set her foot acrossthe river, this means war to the end between us, and rule for the victorover both. Likewise, save when unguarded they bear their dead to burial, or for some such high purpose, no Khan or Khania of Kaloon ascends theMountain. "

"Which then is the true master--the Khan of Kaloon or the head of theCollege of Hes?" I asked again. 

"In matters spiritual, the priestess of Hes, who is our Oracle and thevoice of Heaven. In matters temporal, the Khan of Kaloon. "

"The Khan. Ah! you are married, lady, are you not?"

"Aye, " she answered, her face flushing. "And I will tell you what yousoon must learn, if you have not learned it already, I am the wife of amadman, and he is--hateful to me. "

"I _have_ earned the last already, Khania. "

She looked at me with her piercing eyes. 

"What! Did my uncle, the Shaman, he who is called Guardian, tell you?Nay, you saw, as I knew you saw, and it would have been best to slay youfor, oh! what must you think of me?"

I made no answer, for in truth I did not know what to think, alsoI feared lest further rash admissions should be followed by swiftvengeance. 

"You must believe, " she went on, "that I, who have ever hated men, thatI--I swear that it is true--whose lips are purer than those mountainsnows, I, the Khania of Kaloon, whom they name Heart-of-Ice, am but ashameless thing. " And, covering her face with her hand, she moaned inthe bitterness of her distress. 

"Nay, " I said, "there may be reasons, explanations, if it pleases you togive them. "

"Wanderer, there are such reasons; and since you know so much, you shalllearn them also. Like that husband of mine, I have become mad. Whenfirst I saw the face of your companion, as I dragged him from the river, madness entered me, and I--I----"

"Loved him, " I suggested. "Well, such things have happened before topeople who were not mad. "

"Oh!" she went on, "it was more than love; I was possessed, and thatnight I knew not what I did. A Power drove me on; a Destiny compelledme, and to the end I am his, and his alone. Yes, I am his, and I swearthat he shall be mine;" and with this wild declaration dangerous enoughunder the conditions, she turned and fled the room. 

She was gone, and after the struggle, for such it was, I sank backexhausted. How came it that this sudden passion had mastered her? Whoand what was this Khania, I wondered again, and--this was more to thepoint, who and what would Leo believe her to be? If only I could be withhim before he said words or did deeds impossible to recall. 

Three days went by, during which time I saw no more of the Khania, who, or so I was informed by Simbri, the Shaman, had returned to her city tomake ready for us, her guests. I begged him to allow me to rejoin Leo, but he answered politely, though with much firmness, that my foster-sondid better without me. Now, I grew suspicious, fearing lest some harmhad come to Leo, though how to discover the truth I knew not. In myanxiety I tried to convey a note to him, written upon a leaf of awater-gained pocket-book, but the yellow-faced servant refused to touchit, and Simbri said drily that he would have naught to do with writingswhich he could not read. At length, on the third night I made up my mindthat whatever the risk, with leave or without it, I would try to findhim. 

By this time I could walk well, and indeed was almost strong again. Soabout midnight, when the moon was up, for I had no other light, I creptfrom my bed, threw on my garments, and taking a knife, which was theonly weapon I possessed, opened the door of my room and started. 

Now, when I was carried from the rock-chamber where Leo and I hadbeen together, I took note of the way. First, reckoning from mysleeping-place, there was a passage thirty paces long, for I had countedthe footfalls of my bearers. Then came a turn to the left, and ten morepaces of passage, and lastly near certain steps running to some placeunknown, another sharp turn to the right which led to our old chamber. 

Down the long passage I walked stealthily, and although it was pitchdark, found the turn to the left, and followed it till I came to thesecond sharp turn to the right, that of the gallery from which rosethe stairs. I crept round it only to retreat hastily enough, as wellI might, for at the door of Leo's room, which she was in the act oflocking on the outside, as I could see by the light of the lamp that sheheld in her hand, stood the Khania herself. 

My first thought was to fly back to my own chamber, but I abandonedit, feeling sure that I should be seen. Therefore I determined, if shediscovered me, to face the matter out and say that I was trying to findLeo, and to learn how he fared. So I crouched against the wall, andwaited with a beating heart. I heard her sweep down the passage, and--yes--begin to mount the stair. 

Now, what should I do? To try to reach Leo was useless, for she hadlocked the door with the key she held. Go back to bed? No, I wouldfollow her, and if we met would make the same excuse. Thus I might getsome tidings, or perhaps--a dagger thrust. 

So round the corner and up the steps I went, noiselessly as a snake. They were many and winding, like those of a church tower, but at lengthI came to the head of them, where was a little landing, and opening fromit a door. It was a very ancient door; the light streamed through crackswhere its panels had rotted, and from the room beyond came the sound ofvoices, those of the Shaman Simbri and the Khania. 

"Have you learned aught, my niece?" I heard him say, and also heard heranswer---"A little. A very little. "

Then in my thirst for knowledge I grew bold, and stealing to the door, looked through one of the cracks in its wood. Opposite to me, in thefull flood of light thrown by a hanging lamp, her hand resting on atable at which Simbri was seated, stood the Khania. Truly she was abeauteous sight, for she wore robes of royal purple, and on her brow alittle coronet of gold, beneath which her curling hair streamed downher shapely neck and bosom. Seeing her I guessed at once that she hadarrayed herself thus for some secret end, enhancing her loveliness byevery art and grace that is known to woman. Simbri was looking at herearnestly, with fear and doubt written on even his cold, impassivefeatures. 

"What passed between you, then?" he asked, peering at her. 

"I questioned him closely as to the reason of his coming to thisland, and wrung from him the answer that it was to seek some beauteouswoman--he would say no more. I asked him if she were more beauteous than_I_ am, and he replied with courtesy--nothing else, I think--that itwould be hard to say, but that she had been different. Then I said thatthough it behooved me not to speak of such a matter, there was no ladyin Kaloon whom men held to be so fair as I; moreover, that I was itsruler, and that I and no other had saved him from the water. Aye, and Iadded that my heart told me I was the woman whom he sought. "

"Have done, niece, " said Simbri impatiently, "I would not hear of thearts you used--well enough, doubtless. What then?"

"Then he said that it might be so, since he thought that this womanwas born again, and studied me a while, asking me if I had ever 'passedthrough fire. ' To this I replied that the only fires I had passed werethose of the spirit, and that I dwelt in them now. He said, 'Show meyour hair, ' and I placed a lock of it in his hand. Presently he letit fall, and from that satchel which he wears about his neck drew outanother tress of hair--oh! Simbri, my uncle, the loveliest hair thatever eyes beheld, for it was soft as silk, and reached from my coronetto the ground. Moreover, no raven's wing in the sunshine ever shone asdid that fragrant tress. 

"'Yours is beautiful, ' he said, 'but see, they are not the same. '

"'Mayhap, ' I answered, 'since no woman ever wore such locks. '

"'You are right, ' he replied, 'for she whom I seek was more than awoman. '

"And then--and then--though I tried him in many ways he would say nomore, so, feeling hate against this Unknown rising in my heart, andfearing lest I should utter words that were best unsaid, I left him. NowI bid you, search the books which are open to your wisdom and tell me ofthis woman whom he seeks, who she is, and where she dwells. Oh! searchthem swiftly, that I may find her and--kill her if I can. "

"Aye, if you can, " answered the Shaman, "and if she lives to kill. Butsay, where shall we begin our quest? Now, this letter from the Mountainthat the head-priest Oros sent to your court a while ago?"--and heselected a parchment from a pile which lay upon the table and looked ather. 

"Read, " she said, "I would hear it again. "

So he read: "From the Hesea of the House of Fire, to Atene, Khania ofKaloon. 

"My sister--Warning has reached me that two strangers of a westernrace journey to your land, seeking my Oracle, of which they would ask aquestion. On the first day of the next moon, I command that you and withyou Simbri, your great-uncle, the wise Shaman, Guardian of the Gate, shall be watching the river in the gulf at the foot of the ancient road, for by that steep path the strangers travel. Aid them in all things andbring them safely to the Mountain, knowing that in this matter I shallhold him and you to account. Myself I will not meet them, since to do sowould be to break the pact between our powers, which says that the Heseaof the Sanctuary visits not the territory of Kaloon, save in war. Alsotheir coming is otherwise appointed. "

"It would seem, " said Simbri, laying down the parchment, "that these areno chance wanderers, since Hes awaits them. "

"Aye, they are no chance wanderers, since my heart awaited one of themalso. Yet the Hesea cannot be that woman, for reasons which are known toyou. "

"There are many women on the Mountain, " suggested the Shaman in a dryvoice, "if indeed any woman has to do with this matter. "

"I at least have to do with it, and he shall not go to the Mountain. "

"Hes is powerful, my niece, and beneath these smooth words of hers liesa dreadful threat. I say that she is mighty from of old and has servantsin the earth and air who warned her of the coming of these men, andwill warn her of what befalls them. I know it, who hate her, and to yourroyal house of Rassen it has been known for many a generation. Thereforethwart her not lest ill befall us all, for she is a spirit and terrible. She says that it is appointed that they shall go----"

"And _I_ say it is appointed that he shall not go. Let the other go ifhe desires. "

"Atene, be plain, what will you with the man called Leo--that he shouldbecome your lover?" asked the Shaman. 

She stared him straight in the eyes, and answered boldly--"Nay, I willthat he should become my husband. "

"First he must will it too, who seems to have no mind that way. Also, how can a woman have two husbands?"

She laid her hand upon his shoulder and said--"I have no husband. Youknow it well, Simbri. _I_ charge you by the close bond of blood betweenus, brew me another draught----"

"That we may be bound yet closer in a bond of murder! Nay, Atene, I willnot; already your sin lies heavy on my head. You are very fair; take theman in your own net, if you may, or let him be, which is better far. "

"I cannot let him be. Would that I were able. I must love him as I musthate the other whom he loves, yet some power hardens his heart againstme. Oh! great Shaman, you that peep and mutter, you who can read thefuture and the past, tell me what you have learned from your stars anddivinations. "

"Already I have sought through many a secret, toilsome hour and learnedthis, Atene, " he answered. "You are right, the fate of yonder man isintertwined with yours, but between you and him there rises a mightywall that my vision cannot pierce nor my familiars climb. Yet I amtaught that in death you and he--aye, and I also, shall be very neartogether. "

"Then come death, " she exclaimed with sullen pride, "for thence at leastI'll pluck out my desire. "

"Be not so sure, " he answered, "for I think that the Power followsus even down this dark gulf of death. I think also that I feel thesleepless eyes of Hes watching our secret souls. "

"Then blind them with the dust of illusions--as you can. To-morrow, also, saying nothing of their sex, send a messenger to the Mountain andtell the Hesea that two old strangers have arrived--mark you, _old_--butthat they are very sick, that their limbs were broken in the river, andthat when they have healed again, I will send them to ask the questionof her Oracle--that is, some three moons hence. Perchance she maybelieve you, and be content to wait; or if she does not, at least nomore words. I must sleep or my brain will burst. Give me that medicinewhich brings dreamless rest, for never did I need it more, who also feeleyes upon me, " and she glanced towards the door. 

Then I left, and not too soon, for as I crept down the darksome passage, I heard it open behind me. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE DEATH-HOUNDS

It may have been ten o'clock on the following morning, or a little pastit, when the Shaman Simbri came into my room and asked me how I hadslept. 

"Like a log, " I answered, "like a log. A drugged man could not haverested more soundly. "

"Indeed, friend Holly, and yet you look fatigued. "

"My dreams troubled me somewhat, " I answered. "I suffer from suchthings. But surely by your face, friend Simbri, you cannot have slept atall, for never yet have I seen you with so weary an air. "

"I am weary, " he said, with a sigh. "Last night I spent up on mybusiness--watching at the Gates. "

"What gates?" I asked. "Those by which we entered this kingdom, for, ifso, I would rather watch than travel them. "

"The Gates of the Past and of the Future. Yes, those two which youentered, if you will; for did you not travel out of a wondrous Pasttowards a Future that you cannot _guess?_"

"But both of which interest you, " I suggested. 

"Perhaps, " he answered, then added, "I come to tell you that within anhour you are to start for the city, whither the Khania has but now goneon to make ready for you. "

"Yes; only you told me that she had gone some days ago. Well, I am soundagain and prepared to march, but say, how is my foster-son?"

"He mends, he mends. But you shall see him for yourself. It is theKhania's will. Here come the slaves bearing your robes, and with them Ileave you. "

So with their assistance I dressed myself, first in good, cleanunder-linen, then in wide woollen trousers and vest, and lastly in afur-lined camel-hair robe dyed black that was very comfortable to wear, and in appearance not unlike a long overcoat. A flat cap of the samematerial and a pair of boots made of untanned hide completed my attire. 

Scarcely was I ready when the yellow-faced servants, with many bows, took me by the hand and led me down the passages and stairs of theGate-house to its door. Here, to my great joy, I found Leo, lookingpale and troubled, but otherwise as well as I could expect after hissickness. He was attired like myself, save that his garments were of afiner quality, and the overcoat was white, with a hood to it, added, Isuppose, to protect the wound in his head from cold and the sun. Thiswhite dress I thought became him very well, also about it there wasnothing grotesque or even remarkable. He sprang to me and seized myhand, asking how I fared and where I had been hidden away, a greetingof which, as I could see, the warmth was not lost upon Simbri, who stoodby. 

I answered, well enough now that we were together again, and for therest I would tell him later. 

Then they brought us palanquins, carried, each of them, by two ponies, one of which was harnessed ahead and the other behind between longshaft-like poles. In these we seated ourselves, and at a sign fromSimbri slaves took the leading ponies by the bridle and we started, leaving behind us that grim old Gate-house through which we were thefirst strangers to pass for many a generation. 

For a mile or more our road ran down a winding, rocky gorge, tillsuddenly it took a turn, and the country of Kaloon lay stretched beforeus. At our feet was a river, probably the same with which we had madeacquaintance in the gulf, where, fed by the mountain snows, it had itssource. Here it flowed rapidly, but on the vast, alluvial landsbeneath became a broad and gentle stream that wound its way through thelimitless plains till it was lost in the blue of the distance. 

To the north, however, this smooth, monotonous expanse was broken bythat Mountain which had guided us from afar, the House of Fire. It wasa great distance from us, more than a hundred miles, I should say, yeteven so a most majestic sight in that clear air. Many leagues from thebase of its peak the ground began to rise in brown and rugged hillocks, from which sprang the holy Mountain itself, a white and dazzling pointthat soared full twenty thousand feet into the heavens. 

Yes, and there upon the nether lip of its crater stood the giganticpillar, surmounted by a yet more gigantic loop of virgin rock, whereofthe blackness stood out grimly against the blue of the sky beyond andthe blinding snow beneath. 

We gazed at it with awe, as well we might, this beacon of our hopes thatfor aught we knew might also prove their monument, feeling even thenthat yonder our fate would declare itself. I noted further that allthose with us did it reverence by bowing their heads as they caughtsight of the peak, and by laying the first finger of the right handacross the first finger of the left, a gesture, as we afterwardsdiscovered, designed to avert its evil influence. Yes, even Simbribowed, a yielding to inherited superstition of which I should scarcelyhave suspected him. 

"Have you ever journeyed to that Mountain?" asked Leo of him. 

Simbri shook his head and answered evasively. 

"The people of the Plain do not set foot upon the Mountain. Among itsslopes beyond the river which washes them, live hordes of brave and mostsavage men, with whom we are oftentimes at war; for when they are hungrythey raid our cattle and our crops. Moreover, there, when the Mountainlabours, run red streams of molten rock, and now and again hot ashesfall that slay the traveller. "

"Do the ashes ever fall in your country?" asked Leo. 

"They have been known to do so when the Spirit of the Mountain is angry, and that is why we fear her. "

"Who is this Spirit?" said Leo eagerly. 

"I do not know, lord, " he answered with impatience. "Can men see aspirit?"

"_You_ look as though you might, and had, not so long ago, " replied Leo, fixing his gaze on the old man's waxen face and uneasy eyes. For nowtheir horny calm was gone from the eyes of Simbri, which seemed asthough they had beheld some sight that haunted him. 

"You do me too much honour, lord, " he replied; "my skill and vision donot reach so far. But see, here is the landing-stage, where boats awaitus, for the rest of our journey is by water. "

These boats proved to be roomy and comfortable, having flat bows andsterns, since, although sometimes a sail was hoisted, they were designedfor towing, not to be rowed with oars. Leo and I entered the largest ofthem, and to our joy were left alone except for the steersman. 

Behind us was another boat, in which were attendants and slaves, andsome men who looked like soldiers, for they carried bows and swords. Nowthe ponies were taken from the palanquins, that were packed away, andropes of green hide, fastened to iron rings in the prows of theboats, were fixed to the towing tackle with which the animals had beenreharnessed. Then we started, the ponies, two arranged tandem fashionto each punt, trotting along a well-made towing path that was furnishedwith wooden bridges wherever canals or tributary streams entered themain river. 

"Thank Heaven, " said Leo, "we are together again at last! Do youremember, Horace, that when we entered the land of Kor it was thus, in aboat? The tale repeats itself. "

"I can quite believe it, " I answered. "I can believe anything. Leo, I say that we are but gnats meshed in a web, and yonder Khania isthe spider and Simbri the Shaman guards the net. But tell me all youremember of what has happened to you, and be quick, for I do not knowhow long they may leave us alone. "

"Well, " he said, "of course I remember our arrival at that Gate afterthe lady and the old man had pulled us out of the river, and, Horace, talking of spiders reminds me of hanging at the end of that stringof yak's hide. Not that I need much reminding, for I am not likely toforget it. Do you know I cut the rope because I felt that I was goingmad, and wished to die sane. What happened to you? Did you slip?"

"No; I jumped after you. It seemed best to end together, so that wemight begin again together. "

"Brave old Horace!" he said affectionately, the tears starting to hisgrey eyes. 

"Well, never mind all that, " I broke in; "you see you were right whenyou said that we should get through, and we have. Now for your tale. "

"It is interesting, but not very long, " he answered, colouring. "I wentto sleep, and when I woke it was to find a beautiful woman leaning overme, and Horace--at first I thought that it was--you know who, and thatshe kissed me; but perhaps it was all a dream. "

"It was no dream, " I answered. "I saw it. "

"I am sorry to hear it--very sorry. At any rate there was the beautifulwoman--the Khania--for I saw her plenty of times afterwards, and talkedto her in my best modern Greek--by the way, Ayesha knew the old Greek;that's curious. "

"She knew several of the ancient tongues, and so did other people. Goon. "

"Well, she nursed me very kindly, but, so far as I know, until lastnight there was nothing more affectionate, and I had sense enough torefuse to talk about our somewhat eventful past. I pretended not tounderstand, said that we were explorers, etc. , and kept asking her whereyou were, for I forgot to say I found that you had gone. I think thatshe grew rather angry with me, for she wanted to know something, and, asyou can guess, I wanted to know a good deal. But I could get nothing outof her except that she was the Khania--a person in authority. There wasno doubt about that, for when one of those slaves or servants came inand interrupted her while she was trying to draw the facts out of me, she called to some of her people to throw him out of the window, and heonly saved himself by going down the stairs very quickly. 

"Well, I could make nothing of her, and she could make little of me, though why she should be so tenderly interested in a stranger, I don'tknow--unless, unless--oh! who is she, Horace?"

"If you will go on I will tell you what I think presently. One tale at atime. "

"Very good. I got quite well and strong, comparatively speaking, tillthe climax last night, which upset me again. After that old prophet, Simbri, had brought me my supper, just as I was thinking of going tosleep, the Khania came in alone, dressed like a queen. I can tell youshe looked really royal, like a princess in a fairy book, with a crownon, and her chestnut black hair flowing round her. 

"Well, Horace, then she began to make love to me in a refined sort ofway, or so I thought, looked at me and sighed, saying that we had knowneach other in the past--very well indeed I gathered--and implying thatshe wished to continue our friendship. I fenced with her as best Icould; but a man feels fairly helpless lying on his back with a veryhandsome and very imperial-looking lady standing over him and paying himcompliments. 

"The end of it was that, driven to it by her questions and to stop thatsort of thing, I told her that I was looking for my wife, whom Ihad lost, for, after all, Ayesha is my wife, Horace. She smiled andsuggested that I need _not_ look far; in short, that the lost wife wasalready found--in herself, who had come to save me from death in theriver. Indeed, she spoke with such conviction that I grew sure that shewas not merely amusing herself, and felt very much inclined to believeher, for, after all, Ayesha may be changed now. 

"Then while I was at my wits' end I remembered the lock of hair--allthat remains to us of _her_, " and Leo touched his breast. "I drew itout and compared it with the Khania's, and at the sight of it she becamequite different, jealous, I suppose, for it is longer than hers, and notin the least like. 

"Horace, I tell you that the touch of that lock of hair--for she didtouch it--appeared to act upon her nature like nitric acid upon shamgold. It turned it black; all the bad in her came out. In her anger hervoice sounded coarse; yes, she grew almost vulgar, and, as you know, when Ayesha was in a rage she might be wicked as we understand it, andwas certainly terrible, but she was never either coarse or vulgar, anymore than lightning is. 

"Well, from that moment I was sure that whoever this Khania may be, shehad nothing to do with Ayesha; they are so different that they nevercould have been the same--like the hair. So I lay quiet and let hertalk, and coax, and threaten on, until at length she drew herself up andmarched from the room, and I heard her lock the door behind her. That'sall I have to tell you, and quite enough too, for I don't think that theKhania has done with me, and, to say the truth, I am afraid of her. "

"Yes, " I said, "quite enough. Now sit still, and don't start or talkloud, for that steersman is probably a spy, and I can feel old Simbri'seyes fixed upon our backs. Don't interrupt either, for our time alonemay be short. "

Then I set to work and told him everything I knew, while he listened inblank astonishment. 

"Great Heavens! what a tale, " he exclaimed as I finished. "Now, who isthis Hesea who sent the letter from the Mountain? And who, who is theKhania?"

"Who does your instinct tell you that she is, Leo?"

"Amenartas?" he whispered doubtfully. "The woman who wrote the _Sherd_, whom Ayesha said was the Egyptian princess--my wife two thousand yearsago? Amenartas re-born?"

I nodded. "I think so. Why not? As I have told you again and again, Ihave always been certain of one thing, that if we were allowed to seethe next act of the piece, we should find Amenartas, or rather thespirit of Amenartas, playing a leading part in it; you will remember Iwrote as much in that record. 

"If the old Buddhist monk Kou-en could remember _his_ past, as thousandsof them swear that they do, and be sure of his identity continued fromthat past, why should not this woman, with so much at stake, helped asshe is by the wizardry of the Shaman, her uncle, faintly remember hers?

"At any rate, Leo, why should she not still be sufficiently under itsinfluence to cause her, without any fault or seeking of her own, to fallmadly in love at first sight with a man whom, after all, she has alwaysloved?"

"The argument seems sound enough, Horace, and if so I am sorry for theKhania, who hasn't much choice in the matter--been forced into it, so tospeak. "

"Yes, but meanwhile your foot is in a trap again. Guard yourself, Leo, guard yourself. I believe that this is a trial sent to you, anddoubtless there will be more to follow. But I believe also that it wouldbe better for you to die than to make any mistake. "

"I know it well, " he answered; "and you need not be afraid. Whateverthis Khania may have been to me in the past--if she was anything atall--that story is done with. I seek Ayesha, and Ayesha alone, and Venusherself shall not tempt me from her. "

Then we began to speak with hope and fear of that mysterious Hesea whohad sent the letter from the Mountain, commanding the Shaman Simbri tomeet us: the priestess or spirit whom he declared was "mighty from ofold" and had "servants in the earth and air. "

Presently the prow of our barge bumped against the bank of the river, and looking round I saw that Simbri had left the boat in which he satand was preparing to enter ours. This he did, and, placing himselfgravely on a seat in front of us, explained that nightfall was comingon, and he wished to give us his company and protection through thedark. 

"And to see that we do not give him the slip in it, " muttered Leo. 

Then the drivers whipped up their ponies, and we went on again. 

"Look behind you, " said Simbri presently, "and you will see the citywhere you will sleep to-night. "

We turned ourselves, and there, about ten miles away, perceived aflat-roofed town of considerable, though not of very great size. Itsposition was good, for it was set upon a large island that stood ahundred feet or more above the level of the plain, the river dividinginto two branches at the foot of it, and, as we discovered afterwards, uniting again beyond. 

The vast mound upon which this city was built had the appearance ofbeing artificial, but very possibly the soil whereof it was formedhad been washed up in past ages during times of flood, so that froma mudbank in the centre of the broad river it grew by degrees to itspresent proportions. With the exception of a columned and towerededifice that crowned the city and seemed to be encircled by gardens, wecould see no great buildings in the place. 

"How is the city named?" asked Leo of Simbri. 

"Kaloon, " he answered, "as was all this land even when my fore-fathers, the conquerors, marched across the mountains and took it more than twothousand years ago. They kept the ancient title, but the territoryof the Mountain they called Hes, because they said that the loop uponyonder peak was the symbol of a goddess of this name whom their generalworshipped. "

"Priestesses still live there, do they not?" said Leo, trying in histurn to extract the truth. 

"Yes, and priests also. The College of them was established by theconquerors, who subdued all the land. Or rather, it took the place ofanother College of those who fashioned the Sanctuary and the Temple, whose god was the fire in the Mountain, as it is that of the people ofKaloon to-day. "

"Then who is worshipped there now?"

"The goddess Hes, it is said; but we know little of the matter, forbetween us and the Mountain folk there has been enmity for ages. Theykill us and we kill them, for they are jealous of their shrine, whichnone may visit save by permission, to consult the Oracle and to makeprayer or offering in times of calamity, when a Khan dies, or the watersof the river sink and the crops fail, or when ashes fall and earthquakesshake the land, or great sickness comes. Otherwise, unless they attackus, we leave them alone, for though every man is trained to arms, andcan fight if need be, we are a peaceful folk, who cultivate the soilfrom generation to generation, and thus grow rich. Look round you. Is itnot a scene of peace?"

We stood up in the boat and gazed about us at the pastoral prospect. Everywhere appeared herds of cattle feeding upon meadow lands, or troopsof mules and horses, or square fields sown with corn and outlined bytrees. Village folk, also, clad in long, grey gowns, were labouring onthe land, or, their day's toil finished, driving their beasts homewardsalong roads built upon the banks of the irrigation dykes, towards thehamlets that were placed on rising knolls amidst tall poplar groves. 

In its sharp contrast with the arid deserts and fearful mountainsamongst which we had wandered for so many years, this country struck usas most charming, and indeed, seen by the red light of the sinking sunon that spring day, even as beautiful with the same kind of beautywhich is to be found in Holland. One could understand too that theselandowners and peasant-farmers would by choice be men of peace, and whata temptation their wealth must offer to the hungry, half-savage tribesof the mountains. 

Also it was easy to guess when the survivors of Alexander's legionsunder their Egyptian general burst through the iron band of snow-cladhills and saw this sweet country, with its homes, its herds, and itsripening grass, that they must have cried with one voice, "We will marchand fight and toil no more. Here we will sit us down to live and die. "Thus doubtless they did, taking them wives from among the women of thepeople of the land which they had conquered--perhaps after a singlebattle. 

Now as the light faded the wreaths of smoke which hung over the distantFire-mountain began to glow luridly. Redder and more angry did theybecome while the darkness gathered, till at length they seemed to becharged with pulsing sheets of flame propelled from the womb of thevolcano, which threw piercing beams of light through the eye of thegiant loop that crowned its brow. Far, far fled those beams, makinga bright path across the land, and striking the white crests of thebordering wall of mountains. High in the air ran that path, over thedim roofs of the city of Kaloon, over the river, yes, straight aboveus, over the mountains, and doubtless--though there we could not followthem--across the desert to that high eminence on its farther sidewhere we had lain bathed in their radiance. It was a wondrous and mostimpressive sight, one too that filled our companions with fear, for thesteersmen in our boats and the drivers on the towing-path groaned aloudand began to utter prayers. "What do they say?" asked Leo of Simbri. 

"They say, lord, that the Spirit of the Mountain is angry, and passesdown yonder flying light that is called the Road of Hes to work someevil to our land. Therefore they pray her not to destroy them. "

"Then does that light not always shine thus?" he asked again. 

"Nay, but seldom. Once about three months ago, and now to-night, butbefore that not for years. Let us pray that it portends no misfortune toKaloon and its inhabitants. "

For some minutes this fearsome illumination continued, then it ceasedas suddenly as it had begun, and there remained of it only the dull glowabove the crest of the peak. 

Presently the moon rose, a white, shining ball, and by its rays weperceived that we drew near to the city. But there was still somethingleft for us to see before we reached its shelter. While we sat quietlyin the boat--for the silence was broken only by the lapping of the stillwaters against its sides and the occasional splash of the slackenedtow-line upon their surface--we heard a distant sound as of a hunt infull cry. 

Nearer and nearer it came, its volume swelling every moment, till itwas quite close at last. Now echoing from the trodden earth of thetowing-path--not that on which our ponies travelled, but the other onthe west bank of the river--was heard the beat of the hoofs of a horsegalloping furiously. Presently it appeared, a fine, white animal, on theback of which sat a man. It passed us like a flash, but as he went bythe man lifted himself and turned his head, so that we saw his face inthe moonlight; saw also the agony of fear that was written on it and inhis eyes. 

He had come out of the darkness. He was gone into the darkness, butafter him swelled that awful music. Look! a dog appeared, a huge, reddog, that dropped its foaming muzzle to the ground as it galloped, thenlifted it and uttered a deep-throated, bell-like bay. Others followed, and yet others: in all there must have been a hundred of them, every onebaying as it took the scent. 

"_The death-hounds!_" I muttered, clasping Leo by the arm. 

"Yes, " he answered, "they are running that poor devil. Here comes thehuntsman. "

As he spoke there appeared a second figure, splendidly mounted, a cloakstreaming from his shoulders, and in his hand a long whip, which hewaved. He was big but loosely jointed, and as he passed he turned hisface also, and we saw that it was that of a madman. There could beno doubt of it; insanity blazed in those hollow eyes and rang in thatsavage, screeching laugh. 

"The Khan! The Khan!" said Simbri, bowing, and I could see that he wasafraid. 

Now he too was gone, and after him came his guards. I counted eight ofthem, all carrying whips, with which they flogged their horses. 

"What does this mean, friend Simbri?" I asked, as the sounds grew faintin the distance. 

"It means, friend Holly, " he answered, "that the Khan does justice inhis own fashion--hunting to death one that has angered him. "

"What then is his crime? And who is that poor man?"

"He is a great lord of this land, one of the royal kinsmen, and thecrime for which he has been condemned is that he told the Khania heloved her, and offered to make war upon her husband and kill him, if shewould promise herself to him in marriage. But she hated the man, as shehates all men, and brought the matter before the Khan. That is all thestory. "

"Happy is that prince who has so virtuous a wife!" I could not helpsaying unctuously, but with meaning, and the old wretch of a Shamanturned his head at my words and began to stroke his white beard. 

It was but a little while afterwards that once more we heard the bayingof the death-hounds. Yes, they were heading straight for us, this timeacross country. Again the white horse and its rider appeared, utterlyexhausted, both of them, for the poor beast could scarcely struggle onto the towing-path. As it gained it a great red hound with a black eargripped its flank, and at the touch of the fangs it screamed aloud interror as only a horse can. The rider sprang from its back, and, to ourhorror, ran to the river's edge, thinking evidently to take refuge inour boat. But before ever he reached the water the devilish brutes wereupon him. 

What followed I will not describe, but never shall I forget the scene ofthose two heaps of worrying wolves, and of the maniac Khan, who yelledin his fiendish joy, and cheered on his death-hounds to finish their redwork. 

CHAPTER IX

THE COURT OF KALOON

Horrified, sick at heart, we continued our journey. No wonder that theKhania hated such a mad despot. And this woman was in love with Leo, and this lunatic Khan, her husband, was a victim to jealousy, which heavenged after the very unpleasant fashion that we had witnessed. Trulyan agreeable prospect for all of us! Yet, I could not help reflecting, as an object lesson that horrid scene had its advantages. 

Now we reached the place where the river forked at the end of theisland, and disembarked upon a quay. Here a guard of men commanded bysome Household officer, was waiting to receive us. They led us througha gate in the high wall, for the town was fortified, up a narrow, stone-paved street which ran between houses apparently of the usualCentral Asian type, and, so far as I could judge by moonlight, with nopretensions to architectural beauty, and not large in size. 

Clearly our arrival was expected and excited interest, for people weregathered in knots about the street to watch us pass; also at the windowsof the houses and even on their flat roofs. At the top of the longstreet was a sort of market place, crossing which, accompanied by acurious crowd who made remarks about us that we could not understand, wereached a gate in an inner wall. Here we were challenged, but at aword from Simbri it opened, and we passed through to find ourselves ingardens. Following a road or drive, we came to a large, rambling houseor palace, surmounted by high towers and very solidly built of stone ina heavy, bastard Egyptian style. 

Beyond its doorway we found ourselves in a courtyard surrounded by akind of verandah from which short passages led to different rooms. Downone of these passages we were conducted by the officer to an apartment, or rather a suite, consisting of a sitting and two bed-chambers, which were panelled, richly furnished in rather barbaric fashion, andwell-lighted with primitive oil lamps. 

Here Simbri left us, saying that the officer would wait in the outerroom to conduct us to the dining-hall as soon as we were ready. Thenwe entered the bed-chambers, where we found servants, or slaves, quiet-mannered, obsequious men. These valets changed our foot-gear, and taking off our heavy travelling robes, replaced them with othersfashioned like civilized frock-coats, but made of some white materialand trimmed with a beautiful ermine fur. 

Having dressed us in these they bowed to show that our toilette wasfinished, and led us to the large outer room where the officer awaitedus. He conducted us through several other rooms, all of them spaciousand apparently unoccupied, to a great hall lit with many lamps andwarmed--for the nights were still cold--with large peat fires. The roofof this hall was flat and supported by thick, stone columns with carvedcapitals, and its walls were hung with worked tapestries, that gave itan air of considerable comfort. 

At the head of the hall on a dais stood a long, narrow table, spreadwith a cloth and set with platters and cups of silver. Here we waitedtill butlers with wands appeared through some curtains which they drew. Then came a man beating a silver gong, and after him a dozen or morecourtiers, all dressed in white robes like ourselves, followed byperhaps as many ladies, some of them young and good-looking, and forthe most part of a fair type, with well-cut features, though others wererather yellow-skinned. They bowed to us and we to them. 

Then there was a pause while we studied one another, till a trumpet blewand heralded by footmen in a kind of yellow livery, two figures wereseen advancing down the passage beyond the curtains, preceded by theShaman Simbri and followed by other officers. They were the Khan and theKhania of Kaloon. 

No one looking at this Khan as he entered his dining-hall clad in festalwhite attire would have imagined him to be the same raving humanbrute whom we had just seen urging on his devilish hounds to tear afellow-creature and a helpless horse to fragments and devour them. Nowhe seemed a heavy, loutish man, very strongly built and not ill-looking, but with shifty eyes, evidently a person of dulled intellect, whom onewould have thought incapable of keen emotions of any kind. The Khanianeed not be described. She was as she had been in the chambers of theGate, only more weary looking; indeed her eyes had a haunted air andit was easy to see that the events of the previous night had lefttheir mark upon her mind. At the sight of us she flushed a little, thenbeckoned to us to advance, and said to her husband--"My lord, these arethe strangers of whom I have told you. "

His dull eyes fell upon me first, and my appearance seemed to amuse himvaguely, at any rate he laughed rudely, saying in barbarous Greek mixedwith words from the local patois--"What a curious old animal! I havenever seen you before, have I?"

"No, great Khan, " I answered, "but I have seen you out hunting thisnight. Did you have good sport?"

Instantly he became wide awake, and answered, rubbing hishands--"Excellent. He gave us a fine run, but my little dogs caught himat last, and then----" and he snapped his powerful jaws together. 

"Cease your brutal talk, " broke in his wife fiercely, and he slunk awayfrom her and in so doing stumbled against Leo, who was waiting to bepresented to him. 

The sight of this great, golden-bearded man seemed to astonish him, forhe stared at him, then asked--"Are you the Khania's other friendwhom she went to see in the mountains of the Gate? Then I could notunderstand why she took so much trouble, but now I do. Well, be careful, or I shall have to hunt you also. "

Now Leo grew angry and was about to reply, but I laid my hand upon hisarm and said in English--"Don't answer; the man is mad. "

"Bad, you mean, " grumbled Leo; "and if he tries to set his cursed dogson me, I will break his neck. "

Then the Khania motioned to Leo to take a seat beside her, placing meupon her other hand, between herself and her uncle, the Guardian, whilethe Khan shuffled to a chair a little way down the table, where hecalled two of the prettiest ladies to keep him company. 

Such was our introduction to the court of Kaloon. As for the meal thatfollowed, it was very plentiful, but coarse, consisting for the mostpart of fish, mutton, and sweetmeats, all of them presented upon hugesilver platters. Also much strong drink was served, a kind of spiritdistilled from grain, of which nearly all present drank more than wasgood for them. After a few words to me about our journey, the Khaniaturned to Leo and talked to him for the rest of the evening, while Idevoted myself to the old Shaman Simbri. 

Put briefly, the substance of what I learned from him then andafterwards was as follows--Trade was unknown to the people of Kaloon, for the reason that all communication with the south had been cut offfor ages, the bridges that once existed over the chasm having beenallowed to rot away. Their land, which was very large and denselyinhabited, was ringed round with unclimbable mountains, except to thenorth, where stood the great Fire-peak. The slopes of this Peak and anunvisited expanse of country behind that ran up to the confines ofa desert, were the home of ferocious mountain tribes, untamableHighlanders, who killed every stranger they caught. Consequently, although the precious and other metals were mined to a certain extentand manufactured into articles of use and ornament, money did not existamong the peoples either of the Plain or of the Mountain, all businessbeing transacted on the principle of barter, and even the revenuecollected in kind. 

Amongst the tens of thousands of the aborigines of Kaloon dwelt amere handful of a ruling class, who were said to be--and probablywere--descended from the conquerors that appeared in the time ofAlexander. Their blood, however, was now much mixed with that of thefirst inhabitants, who, to judge from their appearance and the yellowhue of their descendants must have belonged to some branch of the greatTartar race. The government, if so it could be called, was, on thewhole, of a mild though of a very despotic nature, and vested in anhereditary Khan or Khania, according as a man or a woman might be in themost direct descent. 

Of religions there were two, that of the people, who worshipped theSpirit of the Fire Mountain, and that of the rulers, who believed inmagic, ghosts and divinations. Even this shadow of a religion, if soit can be called, was dying out, like its followers, for generation bygeneration, the white lords grew less in number or became absorbed inthe bulk of the people. 

Still their rule was tolerated. I asked Simbri why, seeing that theywere so few. He shrugged his shoulders and answered, because it suitedthe country of which the natives had no ambition. Moreover, the presentKhania, our hostess, was the last of the direct line of rulers, herhusband and cousin having less of the blood royal in his veins, and assuch the people were attached to her. 

Also, as is commonly the case with bold and beautiful women, she waspopular among them, especially as she was just and very liberal tothe poor. These were many, as the country was over-populated, whichaccounted for its wonderful state of cultivation. Lastly they trusted toher skill and courage to defend them from the continual attacks of theMountain tribes who raided their crops and herds. Their one grievanceagainst her was that she had no child to whom the khanship coulddescend, which meant that after her death, as had happened after that ofher father, there would be struggles for the succession. 

"Indeed, " added Simbri, with meaning, and glancing at Leo, out of thecorners of his eyes, "the folk say openly that it would be a good thingif the Khan, who oppresses them and whom they hate, should die, so thatthe Khania might take another husband while she is still young. Althoughhe is mad, he knows this, and that is why he is so jealous of any lordwho looks at her, as, friend Holly, you saw to-night. For should such anone gain her favour, Rassen thinks that it would mean his death. "

"Also he may be attached to his wife, " I suggested, speaking in awhisper. 

"Perhaps so, " answered Simbri; "but if so, she loves not him, nor any ofthese men, " and he glanced round the hall. 

Certainly they did not look lovable, for by this time most of them werehalf drunk, while even the women seemed to have taken as much as wasgood for them. The Khan himself presented a sorry spectacle, for he wasleaning back in his chair, shouting something about his hunting, in athick voice. The arm of one of his pretty companions was round his neck, while the other gave him to drink from a gold cup; some of the contentsof which had been spilt down his white robe. 

Just then Atene looked round and saw him and an expression of hatred andcontempt gathered on her beautiful face. 

"See, " I heard her say to Leo, "see the companion of my days, and learnwhat it is to be Khania of Kaloon. "

"Then why do you not cleanse your court?" he asked. 

"Because, lord, if I did so there would be no court left. Swine will totheir mire and these men and women, who live in idleness upon the toilof the humble folk, will to their liquor and vile luxury. Well, the endis near, for it is killing them, and their children are but few; weaklyalso, for the ancient blood grows thin and stale. But you are weary andwould rest. To-morrow we will ride together, " and calling to an officer, she bade him conduct us to our rooms. 

So we rose, and, accompanied by Simbri, bowed to her and went, shestanding and gazing after us, a royal and pathetic figure in the midstof all that dissolute revelry. The Khan rose also, and in his cunningfashion understood something of the meaning of it all. 

"You think us gay, " he shouted; "and why should we not be who do notknow how long we have to live? But you yellow-haired fellow, you mustnot let Atene look at you like that. I tell you she is my wife, and ifyou do, I shall certainly have to hunt you. "

At this drunken sally the courtiers roared with laughter, but taking Leoby the arm Simbri hurried him from the hall. 

"Friend, " said Leo, when we were outside, "it seems to me that this Khanof yours threatens my life. "

"Have no fear, lord, " answered the Guardian; "so long as the Khania doesnot threaten it you are safe. She is the real ruler of this land, and Istand next to her. "

"Then I pray you, " said Leo, "keep me out of the way of that drunkenman, for, look you, if I am attacked _I_ defend myself. "

"And who can blame you?" Simbri replied with one of his slow, mysterioussmiles. 

Then we parted, and having placed both our beds in one chamber, sleptsoundly enough, for we were very tired, till we were awakened in themorning by the baying of those horrible death-hounds, being fed, Isuppose, in a place nearby. 

Now in this city of Kaloon it was our weary destiny to dwell for threelong months, one of the most hateful times, perhaps, that we ever passedin all our lives. Indeed, compared to it our endless wanderings amid theCentral Asia snows and deserts were but pleasure pilgrimages, and ourstay at the monastery beyond the mountains a sojourn in Paradise. To setout its record in full would be both tedious and useless, so I will onlytell briefly of our principal adventures. 

On the morrow of our arrival the Khania Atene sent us two beautifulwhite horses of pure and ancient blood, and at noon we mounted them andwent out to ride with her accompanied by a guard of soldiers. First sheled us to the kennels where the death-hounds were kept, great flaggedcourts surrounded by iron bars, in which were narrow, locked gates. Never had I seen brutes so large and fierce; the mastiffs of Thibet werebut as lap-dogs compared to them. They were red and black, smooth-coatedand with a blood-hound head, and the moment they saw us they cameravening and leaping at the bars as an angry wave leaps against a rock. 

These hounds were in the charge of men of certain families, who hadtended them for generations. They obeyed their keepers and the Khanreadily enough, but no stranger might venture near them. Also thesebrutes were the executioners of the land, for to them all murderers andother criminals were thrown, and with them, as we had seen, the Khanhunted any who had incurred his displeasure. Moreover, they were usedfor a more innocent purpose, the chasing of certain great bucks whichwere preserved in woods and swamps of reeds. Thus it came about thatthey were a terror to the country, since no man knew but what in theend he might be devoured by them. "Going to the dogs" is a term fullof meaning in any land, but in Kaloon it had a significance that wasterrible. 

After we had looked at the hounds, not without a prophetic shudder, we rode round the walls of the town, which were laid out as a kind ofboulevard, where the inhabitants walked and took their pleasure in theevenings. On these, however, there was not much to see except the riverbeneath and the plain beyond, moreover, though they were thick andhigh there were places in them that must be passed carefully, for, likeeverything else with which the effete ruling class had to do, they hadbeen allowed to fall into disrepair. 

The town itself was an uninteresting place also, for the most partpeopled by hangers-on of the Court. So we were not sorry when we crossedthe river by a high-pitched bridge, where in days to come I was destinedto behold one of the strangest sights ever seen by mortal man, and rodeout into the country. Here all was different, for we found ourselvesamong the husbandmen, who were the descendants of the original owners ofthe land and lived upon its produce. Every available inch of soil seemedto be cultivated by the aid of a wonderful system of irrigation. Indeedwater was lifted to levels where it would not flow naturally, by meansof wheels turned with mules, or even in some places carried up by thewomen, who bore poles on their shoulders to which were balanced buckets. 

Leo asked the Khania what happened if there was a bad season. Shereplied grimly that famine happened, in which thousands of peopleperished, and that after the famine came pestilence. These famines wereperiodical, and were it not for them, she added, the people would longago have been driven to kill each other like hungry rats, since havingno outlet and increasing so rapidly, the land, large as it was, couldnot hold them all. 

"Will this be a good year?" I asked. 

"It is feared not, " she answered, "for the river has not risen well andbut few rains have fallen. Also the light that shone last night on theFire-mountain is thought a bad omen, which means, they say, that theSpirit of the Mountain is angry and that drought will follow. Let ushope they will not say also that this is because strangers have visitedthe land, bringing with them bad luck. "

"If so, " said Leo with a laugh, "we shall have to fly to the Mountain totake refuge there. "

"Do you then wish to take refuge in death?" she asked darkly. "Of thisbe sure, my guests, that never while I live shall you be allowed tocross the river which borders the slopes of yonder peak. "

"Why not, Khania?"

"Because, my lord Leo--that is your name, is it not?--such is my will, and while I rule here my will is law. Come, let us turn homewards. "

That night we did not eat in the great hall, but in the room whichadjoined our bed-chambers. We were not left alone, however, for theKhania and her uncle, the Shaman, who always attended her, joined ourmeal. When we greeted them wondering, she said briefly that it wasarranged thus because she refused to expose us to more insults. Sheadded that a festival had begun which would last for a week, and thatshe did not wish us to see how vile were the ways of her people. 

That evening and many others which followed it--we never dined in thecentral hall again--passed pleasantly enough, for the Khania made Leotell her of England where he was born, and of the lands that he hadvisited, their peoples and customs. I spoke also of the history ofAlexander, whose general Rassen, her far-off forefather, conquered thecountry of Kaloon, and of the land of Egypt, whence the latter came, andso it went on till midnight, while Atene listened to us greedily, hereyes fixed always on Leo's face. 

Many such nights did we spend thus in the palace of the city of Kaloonwhere, in fact, we were close prisoners. But oh! the days hung heavyon our hands. If we went into the courtyard or reception rooms of thepalace, the lords and their followers gathered round us and pestered uswith questions, for, being very idle, they were also very curious. 

Also the women, some of whom were fair enough, began to talk to us onthis pretext or on that, and did their best to make love to Leo; for, in contrast with their slim, delicate-looking men, they found thisdeep-chested, yellow-haired stranger to their taste. Indeed theytroubled him much with gifts of flowers and messages sent by servants orsoldiers, making assignations with him, which of course he did not keep. 

If we went out into the streets, matters were as bad, for then thepeople ceased from their business, such as it was, and followed usabout, staring at us till we took refuge again in the palace gardens. 

There remained, therefore, only our rides in the country with theKhania, but after three or four of them, these came to an end owing tothe jealousy of the Khan, who vowed that if we went out together anymore he would follow with the death-hounds. So we must ride alone, if atall, in the centre of a large guard of soldiers sent to see that we didnot attempt to escape, and accompanied very often by a mob of peasants, who with threats and entreaties demanded that we should give back therain which they said we had taken from them. For now the great droughthad begun in earnest. 

Thus it came about that at length our only resource was making pretenceto fish in the river, where the water was so clear and low that we couldcatch nothing, watching the while the Fire-mountain, that loomed in thedistance mysterious and unreachable, and vainly racking our brains forplans to escape thither, or at least to communicate with its priestess, of whom we could learn no more. 

For two great burdens lay upon our souls. The burden of desire tocontinue our search and to meet with its reward which we were sure thatwe should pluck amid the snows of yonder peak, if we could but comethere; and the burden of approaching catastrophe at the hands of theKhania Atene. She had made no love to Leo since that night in theGateway, and, indeed, even if she had wished to, this would have beendifficult, since I took care that he was never left for one hour alone. No duenna could have clung to a Spanish princess more closely than I didto Leo. Yet I could see well that her passion was no whit abated;that it grew day by day, indeed, as the fire swells in the heart of avolcano, and that soon it must break loose and spread its ruin round. The omen of it was to be read in her words, her gestures, and her tragiceyes. 

CHAPTER X

IN THE SHAMAN'S CHAMBER

One night Simbri asked us to dine with him in his own apartments in thehighest tower of the palace--had we but known it, for us a fateful placeindeed, for here the last act of the mighty drama was destined to befulfilled. So we went, glad enough of any change. When we had eaten Leogrew very thoughtful, then said suddenly--"Friend Simbri, I wish to aska favour of you--that you will beg the Khania to let us go our ways. "

Instantly the Shaman's cunning old face became like a mask of ivory. 

"Surely you had better ask your favours of the lady herself, lord; I donot think that any in reason will be refused to you, " he replied. 

"Let us stop fencing, " said Leo, "and consider the facts. It has seemedto me that the Khania Atene is not happy with her husband. "

"Your eyes are very keen, lord, and who shall say that they havedeceived you?"

"It has seemed, further, " went on Leo, reddening, "that she has been sogood as to look on me with--some undeserved regard. "

"Ah! perhaps you guessed that in the Gate-house yonder, if you have notforgotten what most men would remember. "

"I remember certain things, Simbri, that have to do with her and you. "

The Shaman only stroked his beard and said: "Proceed!"

"There is little to add, Simbri, except that _I_ am not minded to bringscandal on the name of the first lady in your land. "

"Nobly said, lord, nobly said, though here they do not trouble muchabout such things. But how if the matter could be managed withoutscandal? If, for instance, the Khania chose to take another husband thewhole land would rejoice, for she is the last of her royal race. "

"How can she take another husband when she has one living?"

"True; indeed that is a question which I have considered, but the answerto it is that men die. It is the common lot, and the Khan has beendrinking very heavily of late. "

"You mean that men can be murdered, " said Leo angrily. "Well, I willhave nothing to do with such a crime. Do you understand me?"

As the words passed his lips I heard a rustle and turned my head. Behindus were curtains beyond which the Shaman slept, kept his instruments ofdivination and worked out his horoscopes. Now they had been drawn, andbetween them, in her royal array, stood the Khania still as a statue. 

"Who was it that spoke of crime?" she asked in a cold voice. "Was ityou, my lord Leo?"

Rising from his chair, he faced her and said--"Lady, I am glad that youhave heard my words, even if they should vex you. "

"Why should it vex me to learn that there is one honest man in thiscourt who will have naught to do with murder? Nay, I honour you forthose words. Know also that no such foul thoughts have come near to me. Yet, Leo Vincey, that which is written--is written. "

"Doubtless, Khania; but what is written?"

"Tell him, Shaman. "

Now Simbri passed behind the curtain and returned thence with a rollfrom which he read: "The heavens have declared by their signs infalliblethat before the next new moon, the Khan Rassen will lie dead at thehands of the stranger lord who came to this country from across themountains. "

"Then the heavens have declared a lie, " said Leo contemptuously. 

"That is as you will, " answered Atene; "but so it must befall, not by myhand or those of my servants, but by yours. And then?"

"Why by mine? Why not by Holly's? Yet, if so, then doubtless I shallsuffer the punishment of my crime at the hands of his mourning widow, "he replied exasperated. 

"You are pleased to mock me, Leo Vincey, well knowing what a husbandthis man is to me. "

Now I felt that the crisis had come, and so did Leo, for he looked herin the face and said--"Speak on, lady, say all you wish; perhaps it willbe better for us both. "

"I obey you, lord. Of the beginning of this fate I know nothing, butI read from the first page that is open to me. It has to do with thispresent life of mine. Learn, Leo Vincey, that from my childhood onwardsyou have haunted me. Oh! when first I saw you yonder by the river, yourface was not strange to me, for I knew it--I knew it well in dreams. When I was a little maid and slept one day amidst the flowers by theriver's brim, it came first to me--ask my uncle here if this be not so, though it is true that your face was younger then. Afterwards again andagain I saw it in my sleep and learned to know that you were mine, forthe magic of my heart taught me this. 

"Then passed the long years while I felt that you were drawing near tome, slowly, very slowly, but ever drawing nearer, wending onward andoutward through the peoples of the world; across the hills, across theplains, across the sands, across the snows, on to my side. At lengthcame the end, for one night not three moons ago, whilst this wise man, my uncle, and I sat together here studying the lore that he has taughtme and striving to wring its secrets from the past, a vision came to me. 

"Look you, I was lost in a charmed sleep which looses the spirit fromthe body and gives it strength to stray afar and to see those thingsthat have been and that are yet to be. Then I saw you and your companionclinging to a point of broken ice, over the river of the gulf. I do notlie; it is written here upon the scroll. Yes, it was you, the man ofmy dreams, and no other, and we knew the place and hurried thither andwaited by the water, thinking that perhaps beneath it you lay dead. 

"Then, while we waited, lo! two tiny figures appeared far above upon theicy tongue that no man may climb, and oh! you know the rest. Spellboundwe stood and saw you slip and hang, saw you sever the thin cord and rushdownwards, yes, and saw that brave man, Holly, leap headlong after you. 

"But mine was the hand that drew you from the torrent, where otherwiseyou must have drowned, you the love of the long past and of to-day, aye, and of all time. Yes, you and no other, Leo Vincey. It was this spiritthat foresaw your danger and this hand which delivered you from death, and--and would you refuse them now--when I, the Khania of Kaloon, proffer them to you?"

So she spoke, and leaned upon the table, looking up into his face withlips that trembled and with appealing eyes. 

"Lady, " said Leo, "you saved me, and again I thank you, though perhapsit would have been better if you had let me drown. But, forgive me thequestion, if all this tale be true, why did you marry another man?"

Now she shrank back as though a knife had pricked her. 

"Oh! blame me not, " she moaned, "it was but policy which bound me tothis madman, whom I ever loathed. They urged me to it; yes, even you, Simbri, my uncle, and for that deed accursed be your head--urged me, saying that it was necessary to end the war between Rassen's faction andmy own. That I was the last of the true race, moreover, which must becarried on; saying also that my dreams and my rememberings were butsick phantasies. So, alas! alas! I yielded, thinking to make my peoplegreat. "

"And yourself, the greatest of them, if all I hear is true, " commentedLeo bluntly, for he was determined to end this thing. "Well, I do notblame you, Khania, although now you tell me that I must cut a knotyou tied by taking the life of this husband of your own choice, for soforsooth it is decreed by fate, that fate which _you_ have shaped. Yes, I must do what you will not do, and kill him. Also your tale of thedecree of the heavens and of that vision which led you to the precipiceto save us is false. Lady, you met me by the river because the 'mighty'Hesea, the Spirit of the Mountain, so commanded you. "

"How know you that?" Atene said, springing up and facing him, while thejaw of old Simbri dropped and the eyelids blinked over his glazed eyes. 

"In the same way that I know much else. Lady, it would have been betterif you had spoken all the truth. "

Now Atene's face went ashen and her cheeks sank in. 

"Who told you?" she whispered. "Was it you, Magician?" and she turnedupon her uncle like a snake about to strike. "Oh! if so, be sure thatI shall learn it, and though we are of one blood and have loved eachother, I will pay you back in agony. "

"Atene, Atene, " Simbri broke in, holding up his claw-like hands, "youknow well it was not I. "

"Then it was you, you ape-faced wanderer, you messenger of the evilgods? Oh! why did I not kill you at the first? Well, that fault can beremedied. "

"Lady, " I said blandly, "am I also a magician?"

"Aye, " she answered, "I think that you are, and that you have a mistresswho dwells in fire. "

"Then, Khania, " I said, "such servants and such mistresses are ill tomeddle with. Say, what answer has the Hesea sent to your report of ourcoming to this land?"

"Listen, " broke in Leo before she could reply. "I go to ask a certainquestion of the Oracle on yonder mountain peak. With your will orwithout it I tell you that I go, and afterwards you can settle which isthe stronger--the Khania of Kaloon or the Hesea of the House of Fire. "

Atene listened and for a while stood silent, perhaps because she had noanswer. Then she said with a little laugh--"Is that your will? Well, Ithink that yonder are none whom you would wish to wed. There is fireand to spare, but no lovely, shameless spirit haunts it to drive men madwith evil longings;" and as though at some secret thought, a spasm ofpain crossed her face and caught her breath. Then she went on in thesame cold voice--"Wanderers, this land has its secrets, into which noforeigner must pry. I say to you yet again that while I live you set nofoot upon that Mountain. Know also, Leo Vincey, I have bared my heart toyou, and I have been told in answer that this long quest of yours isnot for me, as I was sure in my folly, but, as I think, for some demonwearing the shape of woman, whom you will never find. Now I make noprayer to you; it is not fitting, but you have learned too much. 

"Therefore, consider well to-night and before next sundown answer. Having offered, I do not go back, and tomorrow you shall tell me whetheryou will take me when the time comes, as come it must, and rule thisland and be great and happy in my love, or whether, you and yourfamiliar together, you will--die. Choose then between the vengeance ofAtene and her love, since I am not minded to be mocked in my own land asa wanton who sought a stranger and was--refused. "

Slowly, slowly, in an intense whisper she spoke the words, that fell oneby one from her lips like drops of blood from a death wound, and therefollowed silence. Never shall I forget the scene. There the old wizardwatched us through his horny eyes, that blinked like those of some nightbird. There stood the imperial woman in her royal robes, with icy ragewritten on her face and vengeance in her glance. There, facing her, wasthe great form of Leo, quiet, alert, determined, holding back his doubtsand fears with the iron hand of will. And there to the right was _I_, noting all things and wondering how long I, "the familiar, " who hadearned Atene's hate, would be left alive upon the earth. 

Thus we stood, watching each other, till suddenly I noted that the flameof the lamp above us flickered and felt a draught strike upon my face. Then I looked round, and became aware of another presence. For yonderin the shadow showed the tall form of a man. See! it shambled forwardsilently, and I saw that its feet were naked. Now it reached the ring ofthe lamplight and burst into a savage laugh. 

It was the Khan. 

Atene, his wife, looked up and saw him, and never did I admire thatpassionate woman's boldness more, who admired little else about her saveher beauty, for her face showed neither anger nor fear, but contemptonly. And yet she had some cause to be afraid, as she well knew. 

"What do you here, Rassen?" she asked, "creeping on me with your nakedfeet? Get you back to your drink and the ladies of your court. "

But he still laughed on, an hyena laugh. 

"What have you heard?" she said, "that makes you so merry?"

"What have I heard?" Rassen gurgled out between his screams of hideousglee. "Oho! I have heard the Khania, the last of the true blood, thefirst in the land, the proud princess who will not let her robes besoiled by those of the 'ladies of the court' and my wife, my wife, who asked me to marry her--mark that, you strangers--because I was hercousin and a rival ruler, and the richest lord in all the land, andthereby she thought she would increase her power--I have heard her offerherself to a nameless wanderer with a great yellow beard, and I haveheard him, who hates and would escape from her"--here he screamed withlaughter--"refuse her in such a fashion as I would not refuse the lowestwoman in the palace. 

"I have heard also--but that I always knew--that I am mad; for, strangers, I was made mad by a hate-philtre which that old Rat, " and hepointed to Simbri, "gave me in my drink--yes, at my marriage feast. Itworked well, for truly there is no one whom I hate more than the KhaniaAtene. Why, I cannot bear her touch, it makes me sick. I loathe to bein the same room with her; she taints the air; there is a smell ofsorceries about her. 

"It seems that it takes you thus also, Yellow-beard? Well, if so, askthe old Rat for a love drink; he can mix it, and then you will think hersweet and sound and fair, and spend some few months jollily enough. Man, don't be a fool, the cup that is thrust into your hands looksgoodly. Drink, drink deep. You'll never guess the liquor's bad--tillto-morrow--though it be mixed with a husband's poisoned blood, " andagain Rassen screamed in his unholy mirth. 

To all these bitter insults, venomed with the sting of truth, Atenelistened without a word. Then, she turned to us and bowed. 

"My guests, " she said, "I pray you pardon me for all I cannot help. Youhave strayed to a corrupt and evil land, and there stands its crownand flower. Khan Rassen, your doom is written, and I do not hasten it, because once for a little while we were near to each other, though youhave been naught to me for this many a year save a snake that hauntsmy house. Were it otherwise, the next cup you drank should still yourmadness, and that vile tongue of yours which gives its venom voice. Myuncle, come with me. Your hand, for I grow weak with shame and woe. "

The old Shaman hobbled forward, but when he came face to face with theKhan he stopped and looked him up and down with his dim eyes. Then hesaid--"Rassen, I saw you born, the son of an evil woman, and your fathernone knew but I. The flame flared that night upon the Fire-mountain, andthe stars hid their faces, for none of them would own you, no, not eventhose of the most evil influence. I saw you wed and rise drunken fromyour marriage feast, your arm about a wanton's neck. I have seen yourule, wasting the land for your cruel pleasure, turning the fertilefields into great parks for your game, leaving those who tilled them tostarve upon the road or drown themselves in ditches for very misery. And soon, soon I shall see you die in pain and blood, and then the chainwill fall from the neck of this noble lady whom you revile, and anothermore worthy shall take your place and rear up children to fill yourthrone, and the land shall have rest again. "

Now I listened to these words--and none who did not hear them can guessthe fearful bitterness with which they were spoken--expecting everymoment that the Khan would draw the short sword at his side and cut theold man down. But he did not; he cowered before him like a dog beforesome savage master, the weight of whose whip he knows. Yes, answeringnothing, he shrank into the corner and cowered there, while Simbri, taking Atene by the hand, went from the room. At its massive, iron-bounddoor he turned and pointing to the crouching figure with his staff, said--"Khan Rassen, I raised you up, and now I cast you down. Rememberme when you lie dying--in blood and pain. "

Their footsteps died away, and the Khan crept from his corner, lookingabout him furtively. 

"Have that Rat and the other gone?" he asked of us, wiping his damp browwith his sleeve; and I saw that fear had sobered him and that for awhilethe madness had left his eyes. 

I answered that they had gone. 

"You think me a coward, " he went on passionately, "and it is true, I amafraid of him and her--as you, Yellow-beard, will be afraid when yourturn comes. I tell you that they sapped my strength and crazed me withtheir drugged drink, making me the thing I am, for who can war againsttheir wizardries? Look you now. Once I was a prince, the lord of halfthis land, noble of form and upright of heart, and I loved her accursedbeauty as all must love it on whom she turns her eyes. And she turnedthem on me, she sought _me_ in marriage; it was that old Rat who boreher message. 

"So I stayed the great war and married the Khania and became the Khan;but better had it been for me if I had crept into her kitchen as ascullion, than into her chamber as a husband. For from the first shehated me, and the more I loved, the more she hated, till at our weddingfeast she doctored me with that poison which made me loathe her, andthus divorced us; which made me mad also, eating into my brain likefire. "

"If she hated you so sorely, Khan, " I asked, "why did she not mix astronger draught and have done with you?"

"Why? Because of policy, for I ruled half the land. Because it suitedher also that I should live on, a thing to mock at, since while I wasalive no other husband could be forced upon her by the people. Forshe is not a woman, she is a witch, who desires to live alone, or so Ithought until to-night"--and he glowered at Leo. 

"She knew also that although I must shrink from her, I still love her inmy heart, and can still be jealous, and therefore that I should protecther from all men. It was she who set me on that lord whom my dogs toreawhile ago, because he was powerful and sought her favour and would notbe denied. But now, " and again he glowered at Leo, "now I know why shehas always seemed so cold. It is because there lived a man to melt whoseice she husbanded her fire. "

Then Leo, who all this while had stood silent, stepped forward. 

"Listen, Khan, " he said. "Did the ice seem like melting a little whileago?"

"No--unless you lied. But that was only because the fire is not yet hotenough. Wait awhile until it burns up, and melt you must, for who canmatch his will against Atene?"

"And what if the ice desires to flee the fire? Khan, they said that Ishould kill you, but I do not seek your blood. You think that I wouldrob you of your wife, yet I have no such thought towards her. We desireto escape this town of yours, but cannot, because its gates are locked, and we are prisoners, guarded night and day. Hear me, then. You have thepower to set us free and to be rid of us. "

The Khan looked at him cunningly. "And if I set you free, whither wouldyou go? You could tumble down yonder gorge, but only the birds can climbits heights. "

"To the Fire-mountain, where we have business. "

Rassen stared at him. 

"Is it I who am mad, or are you, who wish to visit the Fire-mountain?Yet that is nothing to me, save that I do not believe you. But if soyou might return again and bring others with you. Perchance, havingits lady, you wish this land also by right of conquest. It has foes upyonder. "

"It is not so, " answered Leo earnestly. "As one man to another, I tellyou it is not so. _I_ ask no smile of your wife and no acre of yoursoil. Be wise and help us to be gone, and live on undisturbed in suchfashion as may please you. "

The Khan stood still awhile, swinging his long arms vacantly, tillsomething seemed to come into his mind that moved him to merriment, forhe burst into one of his hideous laughs. 

"I am thinking, " he said, "what Atene would say if she woke up to findher sweet bird flown. She would search for you and be angry with me. "

"It seems that she cannot be angrier than she is, " I answered. "Give usa night's start and let her search never so closely, she shall not findus. "

"You forget, Wanderer, that she and her old Rat have arts. Those whoknew where to meet you might know where to seek you. And yet, and yet, it would be rare to see her rage. 'Oh, Yellow-beard, where are you, Yellow-beard?' he went on, mimicking his wife's voice. 'Come back andlet me melt your ice, Yellow-beard. '"

Again he laughed; then said suddenly--"When can you be ready?"

"In half an hour, " I answered. 

"Good. Go to your chambers and prepare. I will join you therepresently. "

So we went. 

CHAPTER XI

THE HUNT AND THE KILL

We reached our rooms, meeting no one in the passages, and there madeour preparations. First we changed our festal robes for those warmergarments in which we had travelled to the city of Kaloon. Then we ateand drank what we could of the victuals which stood in the antechamber, not knowing when we should find more food, and filled two satchels suchas these people sling about their shoulders, with the remains of themeat and liquor and a few necessaries. Also we strapped our big huntingknives about our middles and armed ourselves with short spears that weremade for the stabbing of game. 

"Perhaps he has laid a plot to murder us, and we may as well defendourselves while we can, " suggested Leo. 

I nodded, for the echoes of the Khan's last laugh still rang in my ears. It was a very evil laugh. 

"Likely enough, " I said. "I do not trust that insane brute. Still, hewishes to be rid of us. "

"Yes, but as he said, live men may return, whereas the dead do not. "

"Atene thinks otherwise, " I commented. 

"And yet she threatened us with death, " answered Leo. 

"Because her shame and passion make her mad, " I replied, after which wewere silent. 

Presently the door opened, and through it came the Khan, muffled in agreat cloak as though to disguise himself. 

"Come, " he said, "if you are ready. " Then, catching sight of the spearswe held, he added: "You will not need those things. You do not goa-hunting. "

"No, " I answered, "but who can say--we might be hunted. "

"If you believe that perhaps you had best stay where you are till theKhania wearies of Yellow-beard and opens the gates for you, " he replied, eyeing me with his cunning glance. 

"I think not, " I said, and we started, the Khan leading the way andmotioning us to be silent. 

We passed through the empty rooms on to the verandah, and from theverandah down into the courtyard, where he whispered to us to keep inthe shadow. For the moon shone very clearly that night, so clearly, Iremember, that I could see the grass which grew between the joints ofthe pavement, and the little shadows thrown by each separate blade uponthe worn surface of its stones. Now I wondered how we should pass thegate, for there a guard was stationed, which had of late been doubled byorder of the Khania. But this gate we left upon our right, taking a paththat led into the great walled garden, where Rassen brought us to adoor hidden behind a clump of shrubs, which he unlocked with a key hecarried. 

Now we were outside the palace wall, and our road ran past the kennels. As we went by these, the great, sleepless death-hounds, that wanderedto and fro like prowling lions, caught our wind and burst into a suddenchorus of terrific bays. I shivered at the sound, for it was fearful inthat silence, also I thought that it would arouse the keepers. But theKhan went to the bars and showed himself, whereon the brutes, which knewhim, ceased their noise. 

"Fear not, " he said as he returned, "the huntsmen know that they arestarved to-night, for to-morrow certain criminals will be thrown tothem. "

Now we had reached the palace gates. Here the Khan bade us hide in anarchway and departed. We looked at each other, for the same thought wasin both our minds--that he had gone to fetch the murderers who were tomake an end of us. But in this we did him wrong, for presently we heardthe sound of horses' hoofs upon the stones, and he returned leading thetwo white steeds that Atene had given us. 

"I saddled them with my own hands, " he whispered. "Who can do more tospeed the parting guest? Now mount, hide your faces in your cloaks as Ido, and follow me. "

So we mounted, and he trotted before us like a running footman, such asthe great lords of Kaloon employed when they went about their businessor their pleasure. Leaving the main street, he led us through a quarterof the town that had an evil reputation, and down its tortuous by-ways. Here we met a few revellers, while from time to time night-birds flittedfrom the doorways and, throwing aside their veils, looked at us, butas we made no sign drew back again, thinking that we passed to someassignation. We reached the deserted docks upon the river's edgeand came to a little quay, alongside of which a broad ferryboat wasfastened. 

"You must put your horses into it and row across, " Rassen said, "forthe bridges are guarded, and without discovering myself I cannot bid thesoldiers to let you pass. "

So with some little trouble we urged the horses into the boat, where Iheld them by their bridles while Leo took the oars. 

"Now go your ways, accursed wanderers, " cried the Khan as he thrust usfrom the quay, "and pray the Spirit of the Mountain that the old Rat andhis pupil--your love, Yellow-beard, your love--are not watching you intheir magic glass. For if so we may meet again. "

Then as the stream caught us, sweeping the boat out towards the centreof the river, he began to laugh that horrible laugh of his, callingafter us--"Ride fast, ride fast for safety, strangers; there is deathbehind. "

Leo put out his strength and backed water, so that the punt hung uponthe edge of the stream. 

"I think that we should do well to land again and kill that man, for hemeans mischief, " he said. 

He spoke in English, but Rassen must have caught the ring of hisvoice and guessed its meaning with the cunning of the mad. At least heshouted--"Too late, fools, " and with a last laugh turned, ran soswiftly up the quay that his cloak flew out upon the air behind him, andvanished into the shadows at its head. 

"Row on, " I said, and Leo bent himself to the oars. 

But the ferry-boat was cumbersome and the current swift, so that we wereswept down a long way before we could cross it. At length we reachedstill water near the further shore, and seeing a landing-place, managedto beach the punt and to drag our horses to the bank. Then leaving thecraft to drift, for we had no time to scuttle her, we looked to ourgirths and bridles, and mounted, heading towards the far column ofglowing smoke which showed like a beacon above the summit of the Houseof Fire. 

At first our progress was very slow, for here there seemed to be nopath, and we were obliged to pick our way across the fields, and tosearch for bridges that spanned such of the water-ditches as were toowide for us to jump. More than an hour was spent in this work, till wecame to a village wherein none were stirring, and here struck aroad which seemed to run towards the mountain, though, as we learnedafterwards, it took us very many miles out of our true path. Now for thefirst time we were able to canter, and pushed on at some speed, thoughnot too fast, for we wished to spare our horses and feared lest theymight fall in the uncertain light. 

A while before dawn the moon sank behind the Mountain, and the gloomgrew so dense that we were forced to stop, which we did, holding thehorses by their bridles and allowing them to graze a little on someyoung corn. Then the sky turned grey, the light faded from the columnof smoke that was our guide, the dawn came, blushing red upon the vastsnows of the distant peak, and shooting its arrows through the loopabove the pillar. We let the horses drink from a channel that wateredthe corn, and, mounting them, rode onward slowly. 

Now with the shadows of the night a weight of fear seemed to be liftedoff our hearts and we grew hopeful, aye, almost joyous. That hated citywas behind us. Behind us were the Khania with her surging, doom-drivenpassions and her stormy loveliness, the wizardries of her horny-eyedmentor, so old in years and secret sin, and the madness of that strangebeing, half-devil, half-martyr, at once cruel and a coward--the Khan, her husband, and his polluted court. In front lay the fire, the snow andthe mystery they hid, sought for so many empty years. Now we would solveit or we would die. So we pressed forward joyfully to meet our fate, whatever it might be. 

For many hours our road ran deviously through cultivated land, where thepeasants at their labour laid down their tools and gathered into knotsto watch us pass, and quaint, flat-roofed villages, whence the womensnatched up their children and fled at the sight of us. They believed usto be lords from the court who came to work them some harm in person orin property, and their terror told _us_ how the country smarted beneaththe rod of the oppressor. By mid-day, although the peak seemed to bebut little nearer, the character of the land had changed. Now it slopedgently upwards, and therefore could not be irrigated. 

Evidently all this great district was dependent on the fall oftimely rains, which had not come that spring. Therefore, although thepopulation was still dense and every rod of the land was under theplough or spade, the crops were failing. It was pitiful to see thegreen, uneared corn already turning yellow because of the lack ofmoisture, the beasts searching the starved pastures for food and thepoor husbandmen wandering about their fields or striving to hoe the ironsoil. 

Here the people seemed to know us as the two foreigners whose coming hadbeen noised abroad, and, the fear of famine having made them bold, theyshouted at us as we went by to give them back the rain which we hadstolen, or so we understood their words. Even the women and the childrenin the villages prostrated themselves before us, pointing first to theMountain and then to the hard, blue sky, and crying to us to send themrain. Once, indeed, we were threatened by a mob of peasants armed withspades and reaping-hooks, who seemed inclined to bar our path, so thatwe were obliged to put our horses to a gallop and pass through themwith a rush. As we went forward the country grew ever more arid and itsinhabitants more scarce, till we saw no man save a few wandering herdswho drove their cattle from place to place in search of provender. 

By evening we guessed that we had reached that border tract which washarried by the Mountain tribes, for here strong towers built of stonewere dotted about the heaths, doubtless to serve as watch-houses orplaces of refuge. Whether they were garrisoned by soldiers I do notknow, but I doubt it, for we saw none. It seems probable indeed thatthese forts were relics of days when the land of Kaloon was guarded fromattack by rulers of a very different character to that of the presentKhan and his immediate predecessors. 

At length even the watch-towers were left behind, and by sundown wefound ourselves upon a vast uninhabited plain, where we could seeno living thing. Now we made up our minds to rest our horses awhile, proposing to push forward again with the moon, for having the wrathof the Khania behind us we did not dare to linger. By this eveningdoubtless she would have discovered our escape, since before sundown, asshe had decreed, Leo must make his choice and give his answer. Then, as we were sure, she would strike swiftly. Perhaps her messengerswere already at their work rousing the country to capture us, and hersoldiers following on our path. 

We unsaddled the horses and let them refresh themselves by rollingon the sandy soil, and graze after a fashion upon the coarse tufts ofwithering herbage which grew around. There was no water here; but thisdid not so much matter, for both they and we had drunk at a little muddypool we found not more than an hour before. We were finishing our mealof the food that we had brought with us, which, indeed, we needed sorelyafter our sleepless night and long day's journey, when my horse, whichwas knee-haltered close at hand, lay down to roll again. This it couldnot do with ease because of the rope about its fore-leg, and I watchedits efforts idly, till at length, at the fourth attempt, after hangingfor a few seconds upon its back, its legs sticking straight into theair, it fell over slowly towards me as horses do. 

"Why are its hoofs so red? Has it cut itself?" asked Leo in anindifferent voice. 

As it chanced I also had just noticed this red tinge, and for the firsttime, since it was most distinct about the animal's frogs, which untilit rolled thus I had not seen. So I rose to look at them, thinking thatprobably the evening light had deceived us, or that we might have passedthrough some ruddy-coloured mud. Sure enough they _were_ red, as thougha dye had soaked into the horn and the substance of the frogs. What wasmore, they gave out a pungent, aromatic smell that was unpleasant, sucha smell as might arise from blood mixed with musk and spices. 

"It is very strange, " I said. "Let us look at your beast, Leo. "

So we did, and found that its hoofs had been similarly-treated. 

"Perhaps it is a native mixture to preserve the horn, " suggested Leo. 

I thought awhile, then a terrible idea struck me. 

"I don't want to frighten you, " I said, "but I think that we had bettersaddle up and get on. "

"Why?" he asked. 

"Because I believe that villain of a Khan has doctored our horses. "

"What for? To make them go lame?"

"No, Leo, to make them leave a strong scent upon dry ground. "

He turned pale. "Do you mean--those hounds?"

I nodded. Then wasting no more time in words, we saddled up in frantichaste. Just as I fastened the last strap of my saddle I thought that afaint sound reached my ear. 

"Listen, " I said. Again it came, and now there was no doubt about it. Itwas the sound of baying dogs. 

"By heaven! the death-hounds, " said Leo. 

"Yes, " I answered quietly enough, for at this crisis my nerves hardenedand all fear left me, "our friend the Khan is out a-hunting. That is whyhe laughed. "

"What shall we do?" asked Leo. "Leave the horses?"

I looked at the Peak. Its nearest flanks were miles and miles away. 

"Time enough to do that when we are forced. We can never reach thatmountain on foot, and after they had run down the horses, they wouldhunt us by spoor or gaze. No, man, ride as you never rode before. "

We sprang to our saddles, but before we gave rein I turned and lookedbehind me. It will be remembered that we had ridden up a long slopewhich terminated in a ridge, about three miles away, the border of thegreat plain whereon we stood. Now the sun had sunk behind that ridgeso that although it was still light the plain had fallen into shadow. Therefore, while no distant object could be seen upon the plain, anything crossing the ridge remained visible enough in that clear air, at least to persons of keen sight. 

This is what we saw. Over the ridge poured a multitude of littleobjects, and amongst the last of these galloped a man mounted on a greathorse, who led another horse by the bridle. 

"All the pack are out, " said Leo grimly, "and Rassen has brought asecond mount with him. Now I see why he wanted us to leave the spears, and I think, " he shouted as we began to gallop, "that before all is donethe Shaman may prove himself a true prophet. "

Away we sped through the gathering darkness, heading straight for thePeak. While we went I calculated our chances. Our horses, as good as anyin the land, were still strong and fresh, for although we had riddenfar we had not over-pressed them, and their condition was excellent. Butdoubtless the death-hounds were fresh also, for, meaning to run us downat night when he thought that he might catch us sleeping, Rassen wouldhave brought them along easily, following us by inquiry among thepeasants and only laying them on our spoor after the last village hadbeen left behind. 

Also he had two mounts, and for aught we knew--though afterwards thisproved not to be the case, for he wished to work his wickedness aloneand unseen--he might be followed by attendants with relays. Therefore itwould appear that unless we reached some place whither he did not dareto follow, before him--that is the slopes of the Peak many miles away, he must run us down. There remained the chance also that the dogs wouldtire and refuse to pursue the chase. 

This, however, seemed scarcely probable, for they were extraordinarilyswift and strong, and so savage that when once they had scented blood, in which doubtless our horses' hoofs were steeped, they would fall deadfrom exhaustion sooner than abandon the trail. Indeed, both the Khaniaand Simbri had often told us as much. Another chance--they might losethe scent, but seeing its nature, again this was not probable. Even anEnglish pack will carry the trail of a red herring breast high without afault for hours, and here was something stronger--a cunning compound ofwhich the tell-tale odour would hold for days. A last chance. If we wereforced to abandon our horses, we, their riders, might possibly escape, could we find any place to hide in on that great plain. If not, weshould be seen as well as scented, and then----No, the odds were allagainst us, but so they had often been before; meanwhile we had threemiles start, and perhaps help would come to us from the Mountain, somehelp unforeseen. So we set our teeth and sped away like arrows while thelight lasted. 

Very soon it failed, and whilst the moon was hidden behind the mountainsthe night grew dark. 

Now the hounds gained on us, for in the gloom, which to them wasnothing, we did not dare to ride full speed, fearing lest our horsesshould stumble and lame themselves, or fall. Then it was for the secondtime since we had dwelt in this land of Kaloon that of a sudden the fireflamed upon the Peak. When we had seen it before, it had appeared toflash across the heavens in one great lighthouse ray, concentratedthrough the loop above the pillar, and there this night also the ray ranfar above us like a lance of fire. But now that we were nearer to itsfount we found ourselves bathed in a soft, mysterious radiance like thatof the phosphorescence on a summer sea, reflected downwards perhaps fromthe clouds and massy rock roof of the column loop and diffused by thesnows beneath. 

This unearthly glimmer, faint as it was, helped us much, indeed but forit we must have been overtaken, for here the ground was very rough, fullof holes also made by burrowing marmots. Thus in our extremity help didcome to us from the Mountain, until at length the moon rose, when asquickly as they had appeared the volcanic fires vanished, leaving behindthem nothing but the accustomed pillar of dull red smoke. 

It is a commonplace to speak of the music of hounds at chase, but oftenI have wondered how that music sounds in the ears of the deer or the foxfleeing for its life. 

Now, when we filled the place of the quarry, it was my destiny to solvethis problem, and I assert with confidence that the progeny of earthcan produce no more hideous noise. It had come near to us, and in thedesolate silence of the night the hellish harmonies of its volumeseemed terrific, yet I could discern the separate notes of which it wascomposed, especially one deep, bell-like bay. 

I remembered that I had heard this bay when we sat in the boat upon theriver and saw that poor noble done to death for the crime of loving theKhania. As the hunt passed us then I observed that it burst fromthe throat of the leading hound, a huge brute, red in colour, witha coal-black ear, fangs that gleamed like ivory, and a mouth whichresembled a hot oven. I even knew the name of the beast, for afterwardsthe Khan, whose peculiar joy it was, had pointed it out to me. He calledit Master, because no dog in the pack dared fight it, and told me thatit could kill an armed man alone. 

Now, as its baying warned us, Master was not half a mile away!

The coming of the moonlight enabled us to gallop faster, especially ashere the ground was smooth, being covered with a short, dry turf, andfor the next two hours we gained upon the pack. Yes, it was only twohours, or perhaps less, but it seemed a score of centuries. The slopesof the Peak were now not more than ten miles ahead, but our horses weregiving out at last. They had borne us nobly, poor beasts, though we wereno light weights, yet their strength had its limits. The sweat ran fromthem, their sides panted like bellows, they breathed in gasps, theystumbled and would scarcely answer to the flogging of our spear-shafts. Their gallop sank to a jolting canter, and I thought that soon they mustcome to a dead stop. 

We crossed the brow of a gentle rise, from which the ground, that wassprinkled with bush and rocks, sloped downwards to where, some milesbelow us, the river ran, bounding the enormous flanks of the Mountain. When we had travelled a little way down this slope we were obliged toturn in order to pass between two heaps of rock, which brought us sideon to its brow. And there, crossing it not more than three hundred yardsaway, we saw the pack. There were fewer of them now; doubtless manyhad fallen out of the hunt, but many still remained. Moreover, not farbehind them rode the Khan, though his second mount was gone, or moreprobably he was riding it, having galloped the first to a standstill. 

Our poor horses saw them also, and the sight lent them wings, for allthe while they knew that they were running for their lives. This wecould tell from the way they quivered whenever the baying came nearto them, not as horses tremble with the pleasureable excitement of thehunt, but in an extremity of terror, as I have often seen them do whena prowling tiger roars close to their camp. On they went as though theywere fresh from the stable, nor did they fail again until another fourmiles or so were covered and the river was but a little way ahead, forwe could hear the rush of its waters. 

Then slowly but surely the pack overtook us. We passed a clump of bush, but when we had gone a couple of hundred yards or so across the openplain beyond, feeling that the horses were utterly spent, I shoutedto Leo--"Ride round back to the bush and hide there. " So we did, andscarcely had we reached it and dismounted when the hounds came past. Yes, they went within fifty yards of us, lolloping along upon our spoorand running all but mute, for now they were too weary to waste theirbreath in vain. "Run for it, " I said to Leo as soon as they had gone by, "for they will be back on the scent presently, " and we set off to theright across the line that the hounds had taken, so as not to cut ourown spoor. 

About a hundred yards away was a rock, which fortunately we were able toreach before the pack swung round upon the horses' tracks, and thereforethey did not view us. Here we stayed until following the loop, they cameto the patch of bush and passed behind it. Then we ran forward again asfar as we could go. Glancing backwards as we went, I saw our two poor, foundered beasts plunging away across the plain, happily almost in thesame line along which we had ridden from the rise. They were utterlydone, but freed from our weights and urged on by fear, could stillgallop and keep ahead of the dogs, though we knew that this would notbe for very long. I saw also that the Khan, guessing what we had donein our despair, was trying to call his hounds off the horses, but asyet without avail, for they would not leave the quarry which they hadviewed. 

All this came to my sight in a flash, but I remember the picture well. The mighty, snow-clad Peak surmounted by its column of glowing smoke andcasting its shadow for mile upon mile across the desert flats; the plainwith its isolated rocks and grey bushes; the doomed horses strugglingacross it with convulsive bounds; the trailing line of great dogs thatloped after them, and amongst these, looking small and lonely in thatvast place, the figure of the Khan and his horse, of which the blackhide was beflecked with foam. Then above, the blue and tender sky, where the round moon shone so clearly that in her quiet, level light nodetail, even the smallest, could escape the eye. 

Now youth and even middle age were far behind me, and although a verystrong man for my years, I could not run as I used to do. Also I wasmost weary, and my limbs were stiff and chafed with long riding, soI made but slow progress, and to worsen matters I struck my left footagainst a stone and hurt it much. I implored Leo to go on and leave me, for we thought that if we could once reach the river our scent would belost in the water; at any rate that it would give us a chance of life. Just then too, I heard the belling bay of the hound Master, and waitedfor the next. Yes, it was nearer to us. The Khan had made a cast andfound our line. Presently we must face the end. 

"Go, go!" I said. "I can keep them back for a few minutes and you mayescape. It is your quest, not mine. Ayesha awaits you, not me, and I amweary of life. I wish to die and have done with it. "

Thus I gasped, not all at once, but in broken words, as I hobbled alongclinging to Leo's arm. But he only answered in a low voice--"Be quiet, or they will hear you, " and on he went, dragging me with him. 

We were quite near the water now, for we could see it gleaming below us, and oh! how I longed for one deep drink. I remember that this was theuppermost desire in my mind, to drink and drink. But the hounds werenearer still to us, so near that we could hear the pattering of theirfeet on the dry ground mingled with the thud of the hoofs of the Khan'sgalloping horse. We had reached some rocks upon a little rise, justwhere the bank began, when Leo said suddenly--"No use, we can't make it. Stop and let's see the thing through. "

So we wheeled round, resting our backs against the rock. There, about ahundred yards off, were the death-hounds, but Heaven be praised! _onlythree of them_. The rest had followed the flying horses, and doubtlesswhen they caught them at last, which may have been far distant, hadstopped to gorge themselves upon them. So they were out of the fight. Only three, and the Khan, a wild figure, who galloped with them; butthose three, the black and red brute, Master, and two others almost asfierce and big. 

"It might be worse, " said Leo. "If you will try to tackle the dogs, I'lldo my best with the Khan, " and stooping down he rubbed his palms in thegrit, for they were wet as water, an example which I followed. Then wegripped the spears in our right hands and the knives in our left, andwaited. 

The dogs had seen us now and came on, growling and baying fearfully. With a rush they came, and I am not ashamed to own that I felt terriblyafraid, for the brutes seemed the size of lions and more fierce. One, it was the smallest of them, outstripped the others, and, leaping up thelittle rise, sprang straight at my throat. 

Why or how I do not know, but on the impulse of the moment I too sprangto meet it, so that its whole weight came upon the point of my spear, which was backed by my weight. The spear entered between its forelegsand such was the shock that I was knocked backwards. But when I regainedmy feet I saw the dog rolling on the ground before me and gnashing atthe spear shaft, which had been twisted from my hand. 

The other two had jumped at Leo, but failed to get hold, though one ofthem tore away a large fragment from his tunic. Foolishly enough, hehurled his spear at it but missed, for the steel passed just under itsbelly and buried itself deep in the ground. The pair of them did notcome on again at once. Perhaps the sight of their dying companion madethem pause. At any rate, they stood at a little distance snarling, where, as our spears were gone, they were safe from us. 

Now the Khan had ridden up and sat upon his horse glowering at us, andhis face was like the face of a devil. I had hoped that he might fear toattack, but the moment I saw his eyes, I knew that this would not be. Hewas quite mad with hate, jealousy, and the long-drawn excitement of thehunt, and had come to kill or be killed. Sliding from the saddle, hedrew his short sword--for either he had lost his spear or had broughtnone--and made a hissing noise to the two dogs, pointing at me with thesword. I saw them spring and I saw him rush at Leo, and after that whocan tell exactly what happened?

My knife went home to the hilt in the body of one dog--and it came tothe ground and lay there--for its hindquarters were paralysed, howling, snarling and biting at me. But the other, the fiend called Master, gotme by the right arm beneath the elbow, and I felt my bones crack in itsmighty jaws, and the agony of it, or so I suppose, caused me to drop theknife, so that I was weaponless. The brute dragged me from the rock andbegan to shake and worry me, although I kicked it in the stomach withall my strength. I fell to my knees and, as it chanced, my left handcame upon a stone of about the size of a large orange, which I gripped. I gained my feet again and pounded at its skull with the stone, butstill it did not leave go, and this was well for me, for its next holdwould have been on my throat. 

We twisted and tumbled to and fro, man and dog together. At one turnI thought that I saw Leo and the Khan rolling over and over each otherupon the ground; at another, that he, the Khan, was sitting against astone looking at me, and it came into my mind that he must have killedLeo and was watching while the dog worried me to death. 

Then just as things began to grow black, something sprang forward and Isaw the huge hound lifted from the earth. Its jaws opened, my arm camefree and fell against my side. Yes! the brute was whirling round inthe air. Leo held it by its hind legs and with all his great strengthwhirled it round and round. 

_Thud!_

He had dashed its head against the rock, and it fell and lay still, ahuddled heap of black and red. Oddly enough, I did not faint; I supposethat the pain and the shock to my nerves kept me awake, for I heardLeo say in a matter-of-fact voice between his gasps for breath--"Well, that's over, and I think that I have fulfilled the Shaman's prophecy. Let's look and make sure. "

Then he led me with him to one of the rocks, and there, resting supinelyagainst it, sat the Khan, still living but unable to move hand or foot. The madness had quite left his face and he looked at us with melancholyeyes, like the eyes of a sick child. 

"You are brave men, " he said, slowly, "strong also, to have killed thosehounds and broken my back. So it has come about as was foretold by theold Rat. After all, I should have hunted Atene, not you, though now shelives to avenge me, for her own sake, not mine. Yellow-beard, she huntsyou too and with deadlier hounds than these, those of her thwartedpassions. Forgive me and fly to the Mountain, Yellow-beard, whither I gobefore you, for there one dwells who is stronger than Atene. "

Then his jaw dropped and he was dead. 

CHAPTER XII

THE MESSENGER

"He is gone, " I panted, "and the world hasn't lost much. "

"Well, it didn't give him much, did it, poor devil, so don't let'sspeak ill of him, " answered Leo, who had thrown himself exhausted to theground. "Perhaps he was all right before they made him mad. At any ratehe had pluck, for I don't want to tackle such another. "

"How did you manage it?" I asked. 

"Dodged in beneath his sword, closed with him, threw him and smashedhim up over that lump of stone. Sheer strength, that's all. A cruelbusiness, but it was his life or mine, and there you are. It's lucky Ifinished it in time to help you before that oven-mouthed brute tore yourthroat out. Did you ever see such a dog? It looks as large as a youngdonkey. Are you much hurt, Horace?"

"Oh, my forearm is chewed to a pulp, but nothing else, I think. Let usget down to the water; if I can't drink soon I shall faint. Also therest of the pack is somewhere about, fifty or more of them. "

"I don't think they will trouble us, they have got the horses, poorbeasts. Wait a minute and I will come. "

Then he rose, found the Khan's sword, a beautiful and ancient weapon, and with a single cut of its keen edge, killed the second dog that Ihad wounded, which was still yowling and snarling at us. After this hecollected the two spears and my knife, saying that they might be useful, and without trouble caught the Khan's horse, which stood with hanginghead close by, so tired that even this desperate fight had notfrightened it away. 

"Now, " he said, "up you go, old fellow. You are not fit to walk anyfarther;" and with his help I climbed into the saddle. 

Then slipping the rein over his arm he led the horse, which walkedstiffly, on to the river, that ran within a quarter of a mile ofus, though to me, tortured as I was by pain and half delirious withexhaustion, the journey seemed long enough. 

Still we came there somehow, and, forgetting my wounds, I tumbled fromthe horse, threw myself flat and drank and drank, more, I think, than ever I did before. Not in all my life have I tasted anything sodelicious as was that long draught of water. When I had satisfied mythirst, I dipped my head and made shift to jerk my wounded arm into it, for its coolness seemed to still the pain. Presently Leo rose, the waterrunning from his face and beard, and said--"What shall we do now? Theriver seems to be wide, over a hundred yards, and it is low, but theremay be deep water in the middle. Shall we try to cross, in which case wemight drown, or stop where we are till daylight and take our chance ofthe death-hounds?"

"I can't go another foot, " I murmured faintly, "much less try to ford anunknown river. "

Now, about thirty yards from the shore was an island covered with reedsand grasses. 

"Perhaps we could reach that, " he said. "Come, get on to my back, and wewill try. "

I obeyed with difficulty, and we set out, he feeling his way with thehandle of the spear. The water proved to be quite shallow; indeed, itnever came much above his knees, so that we reached the island withouttrouble. Here Leo laid me down on the soft rushes, and, returning to themainland, brought over the black horse and the remaining weapons, andhaving unsaddled the beast, knee-haltered and turned it loose, whereonit immediately lay down, for it was too spent to feed. 

Then he set to work to doctor my wounds. Well it proved for me that thesleeve of my garment was so thick, for even through it the flesh of myforearm was torn to ribbons, moreover a bone seemed to be broken. Leocollected a double handful of some soft wet moss and, having washed thearm, wrapped it round with a handkerchief, over which he laid the moss. Then with a second handkerchief and some strips of linen torn from ourundergarments he fastened a couple of split reeds to serve as roughsplints to the wounded limb. While he was doing this I suppose that Islept or swooned. At any rate, I remember no more. 

Sometime during that night Leo had a strange dream, of which he told methe next morning. I suppose that it must have been a dream as certainlyI saw or was aware of nothing. Well, he dreamed--I use his own words asnearly as possible--that again he heard those accursed death-hounds infull cry. Nearer and nearer they came, following our spoor to the edgeof the river--all the pack that had run down the horses. At the water'sbrink they halted and were mute. Then suddenly a puff of wind broughtthe scent of us upon the island to one of them which lifted up its headand uttered a single bay. The rest clustered about it, and all at oncethey made a dash at the water. 

Leo could see and hear everything. He felt that after all our doom wasnow at hand, and yet, held in the grip of nightmare, if nightmare itwere, he was quite unable to stir or even to cry out to wake and warnme. 

Now followed the marvel of this vision. Giving tongue as they came, halfswimming and half plunging, the hounds drew near to the island where weslept. Then, suddenly Leo saw that we were no longer alone. In front ofus, on the brink of the water, stood the figure of a woman clad in somedark garment. He could not describe her face or appearance, for her backwas towards him. 

All he knew was that she stood there, like a guard, holding some objectin her raised hand, and that suddenly the advancing hounds caught sightof her. In an instant it was as though they were paralysed by fear--fortheir bays turned to fearful howlings. One or two of those that werenearest to the island seemed to lose their footing and be swept away bythe stream. The rest struggled back to the bank, and fled wildly likewhipped curs. 

Then the dark, commanding figure, which in his dream Leo took to be theguardian Spirit of the Mountain, vanished. That it left no footprintsbehind it I can vouch, for in the morning we looked to see. 

When, awakened by the sharp pangs in my arm, I opened my eyes again, thedawn was breaking. A thin mist hung over the river and the island, andthrough it I could see Leo sleeping heavily at my side and the shape ofthe black horse, which had risen and was grazing close at hand. I laystill for a while remembering all that we had undergone and wonderingthat I should live to wake, till presently above the murmuring of thewater I heard a sound which terrified me, the sound of voices. I sat upand peered through the reeds, and there upon the bank, looking enormousin the mist, I saw two figures mounted upon horses, those of a woman anda man. 

They were pointing to the ground as though they examined spoor in thesand. I heard the man say something about the dogs not daring to enterthe territory of the Mountain, a remark which came back to my mind againafter Leo had told me his dream. Then I remembered how we were placed. 

"Wake!" I whispered to Leo. "Wake, we are pursued. "

He sprang to his feet, rubbing his eyes and snatching at a spear. Nowthose upon the bank saw him, and a sweet voice spoke through the mist, saying--"Lay down that weapon, my guest, for we are not come to harmyou. "

It was the voice of the Khania Atene, and the man with her was the oldShaman Simbri. 

"What shall we do now, Horace?" asked Leo with something like a groan, for in the whole world there were no two people whom he less wished tosee. 

"Nothing, " I answered, "it is for them to play. "

"Come to us, " called the Khania across the water. "I swear that we meanno harm. Are we not alone?"

"I do not know, " answered Leo, "but it seems unlikely. Where we are westop until we are ready to march again. "

Atene spoke to Simbri. What she said we could not hear, for shewhispered, but she appeared to be arguing with him and persuading him tosome course of which he strongly disapproved. Then suddenly both ofthem put their horses at the water and rode to us through the shallows. Reaching the island, they dismounted, and we stood staring at eachother. The old man seemed very weary in body and oppressed in mind, butthe Khania was strong and beautiful as ever, nor had passion and fatigueleft any trace upon her inscrutable face. It was she who broke thesilence, saying--"You have ridden fast and far since last we met, myguests, and left an evil token to mark the path you took. Yonder amongthe rocks one lies dead. Say, how came he to his end, who has no woundupon him?"

"By these, " answered Leo, stretching out his hands. 

"I knew it, " she answered, "and I blame you not, for fate decreed thatdeath for him, and now it is fulfilled. Still, there are those to whomyou must answer for his blood, and I only can protect you from them. "

"Or betray me to them, " said Leo. "Khania, what do you seek?"

"That answer which you should have given me this twelve hours gone. Remember, before you speak, that I alone can save your life--aye, andwill do it and clothe you with that dead madman's crown and mantle. "

"You shall have your answer on yonder Mountain, " said Leo, pointing tothe peak above us, "where I seek mine. "

She paled a little and replied, "To find that it is death, for, as Ihave told you, the place is guarded by savage folk who know no pity. "

"So be it. Then Death is the answer that we seek. Come, Horace, let usgo to meet him. "

"I swear to you, " she broke in, "that there dwells not the woman of yourdreams. I am that woman, yes, even I, as you are the man of mine. "

"Then, lady, prove it yonder upon the Mountain, " Leo answered. 

"There dwells there no woman, " Atene went on hurriedly, "nothing dwellsthere. It is the home of fire and--a Voice. "

"What voice?"

"The Voice of the Oracle that speaks from the fire. The Voice of aSpirit whom no man has ever seen, or shall see. "

"Come, Horace, " said Leo, and he moved towards the horse. 

"Men, " broke in the old Shaman, "would you rush upon your doom? Listen;I have visited yonder haunted place, for it was I who according tocustom brought thither the body of the Khan Atene's father for burial, and I warn you to set no foot within its temples. "

"Which your mistress said that we should never reach, " I commented, butLeo only answered--"We thank you for your warning, " and added, "Horace, watch them while I saddle the horse, lest they do us a mischief. "

So I took the spear in my uninjured hand and stood ready. But they madeno attempt to hurt us, only fell back a little and began to talk inhurried whispers. It was evident to me that they were much perturbed. In a few minutes the horse was saddled and Leo assisted me to mount it. Then he said--"We go to accomplish our fate, whatever it may be, butbefore we part, Khania, I thank you for the kindness you have shown us, and pray you to be wise and forget that we have ever been. Through nowill of mine your husband's blood is on my hands, and that alone mustseparate us for ever. We are divided by the doors of death and destiny. Go back to your people, and pardon me if most unwillingly I have broughtyou doubt and trouble. Farewell. "

She listened with bowed head, then replied, very sadly--"I thank you foryour gentle words, but, Leo Vincey, we do not part thus easily. You havesummoned me to the Mountain, and even to the Mountain I shall followyou. Aye, and there I will meet its Spirit, as I have always known Imust and as the Shaman here has always known I must. Yes, I will matchmy strength and magic against hers, as it is decreed that I shall do. Tothe victor be that crown for which we have warred for ages. "

Then suddenly Atene sprang to her saddle, and turning her horse's headrode it back through the water to the shore, followed by old Simbri, wholifted up his crooked hands as though in woe and fear, muttering as hewent--"You have entered the forbidden river and now, Atene, the day ofdecision is upon us all--upon us and her--that predestined day of ruinand of war. "

"What do they mean?" asked Leo of me. 

"I don't know, " I answered; "but I have no doubt we shall find out soonenough and that it will be something unpleasant. Now for this river. "

Before we had struggled through it I thought more than once that the dayof drowning was upon us also, for in places there were deep rapids whichnearly swept us away. But Leo, who waded, leading the Khan's horse bythe bridle, felt his path and supported himself with the spear shaft, sothat in the end we reached the other bank safely. 

Beyond it lay a breadth of marshy lands, that doubtless were overflowedwhen the torrent was in flood. Through these we pushed our way as fastas we could, for we feared lest the Khania had gone to fetch her escort, which we thought she might have left behind the rise, and would returnwith it presently to hunt us down. At that time we did not know whatwe learned afterwards, that with its bordering river the soil of theMountain was absolutely sacred and, in practice, inviolable. True, ithad been invaded by the people of Kaloon in several wars, but on eachoccasion their army was destroyed or met with terrible disaster. Littlewonder then they had come to believe that the House of Fire was underthe protection of some unconquerable Spirit. 

Leaving the marsh, we reached a bare, rising plain, which led to thefirst slope of the Mountain three or four miles away. Here we expectedevery moment to be attacked by the savages of whom we had heard so much, but no living creature did we see. The place was a desert streaked withveins of rock that once had been molten lava. _I_ do not remember muchelse about it; indeed, the pain in my arm was so sharp that I had noeyes for physical features. At length the rise ended in a bare, broaddonga, quite destitute of vegetation, of which the bottom was buried inlava and a debris of rocks washed down by the rain or melting snows fromslopes above. This donga was bordered on the farther side by a cliff, perhaps fifty feet in height, in which we could see no opening. 

Still we descended the place, that was dark and rugged; pervaded, moreover, by an extraordinary gloom, and as we went perceived that itslava floor was sprinkled over with a multitude of white objects. Soon wecame to the first of these and found that it was the skeleton of ahuman being. Here was a veritable Valley of Dead Bones, thousands uponthousands of them; a gigantic graveyard. It seemed as though some greatarmy had perished here. 

Indeed, we found afterwards that this was the case, for on one of thoseoccasions in the far past when the people of Kaloon had attacked theMountain tribes, they were trapped and slaughtered in this gully, leaving their bones as a warning and a token. Among these sad skeletonswe wandered disconsolately, seeking a path up the opposing cliff, andfinding none, until at length we came to a halt, not knowing which wayto turn. Then it was that we met with our first strange experience onthe Mountain. 

The gulf and its mouldering relics depressed us, so that for awhilewe were silent, and, to tell the truth, somewhat afraid. Yes, eventhe horse seemed afraid, for it snorted a little, hung its head andshivered. Close by us lay a pile of bones, the remains evidently of anumber of wretched creatures that, dead or living, had been hurled downfrom the cliff above, and on the top of the pile was a little huddledheap, which we took for more bones. 

"Unless we can find a way out of this accursed charnel-house beforelong, I think that we shall add to its company, " I said, staring roundme. 

As the words left my lips it seemed to me that from the corner of my eyeI saw the heap on the top of the bones stir. I looked round. Yes, itwas stirring. It rose, it stood up, a human figure, apparently that ofa woman--but of this I could not be sure--wrapped from head to foot inwhite and wearing a hanging veil over its face, or rather a mask withcut eye-holes. It advanced towards us while we stared at it, till thehorse, catching sight of the thing, shied violently and nearly threw me. When at a distance of about ten paces it paused and beckoned with itshand, that was also swathed in white like the arm of a mummy. 

"What the devil are you?" shouted Leo, and his voice echoed drearilyamong those naked rocks. But the creature did not answer, it onlycontinued to beckon. 

Leo walked up to it to assure himself that we were not the victims ofsome hallucination. As he came it glided back to its heap of bones andstood there like a ghost of one dead arisen from amidst these grinningevidences of death, or rather a swathed corpse, for that is what itresembled. Leo followed with the intention of touching it to assurehimself of its reality, whereon it lifted its white-wrapped arm andstruck him lightly on the breast. Then as he recoiled it pointed withits hand, first upwards as though to the Peak or the sky, and next atthe wall of rock which faced us. 

He returned to me saying, "What shall we do?"

"Follow, I suppose. It may be a messenger from above, " and I noddedtoward the mountain crest. 

"From below, more likely, " Leo muttered, "for I don't like the look ofthis guide. "

Still he motioned with his hand to the creature to proceed. Apparentlyit understood, for it turned to the left and began to pick its wayamongst the stones and skeletons swiftly and without noise. We followedfor several hundred yards till it reached a shallow cleft in the rock. This cleft we had seen already, but as it appeared to end at a depth ofabout thirty feet, we passed on. The figure entered here and vanished. 

"It must be a shadow, " said Leo doubtfully. 

"Nonsense, " I answered, "shadows don't strike one. Go on. "

So he led the horse up the cleft, to find that at the end it turnedsharply to the right and that the form was standing there awaiting us. Forward it went again and we after it down a little gorge that grew evergloomier till it terminated in what might have been a cave, or a gallerycut in the rock. 

Here our guide came back to us apparently with the intention of takingthe horse by the bridle, but at this nearer sight of it the brutesnorted and reared up, so that it almost fell backwards upon me. Asit found its feet again the figure struck it on the head in the samepassionless, inhuman way that it had struck Leo, whereon the horsetrembled and burst into a sweat as though with fear, making no furtherattempt to escape or to disobey. Then it took one side of the bridlein its swathed hand and, Leo clinging to the other, we plunged into thetunnel. 

Our position was not pleasant, for we knew not whither we were being ledby this horrible conductor, and suspected that it might be to meet ourdeaths in the darkness. Moreover, I guessed that the path was narrow andbordered by some gulf, for as we went I heard stones fall, apparently toa considerable depth, while the poor horse lifted its feet gingerly andsnorted in abject fear. At length we saw daylight, and never was I moreglad of its advent, although it showed us that there _was_ a gulf on ourright, and that the path we travelled could not measure more than tenfeet in width. 

Now we were out of the tunnel, that evidently had saved us a widedetour, and standing for the first time upon the actual slope of theMountain, which stretched upwards for a great number of miles till itreached the snow-line above. Here also we saw evidences of human life, for the ground was cultivated in patches and herds of mountain sheep andcattle were visible in the distance. 

Presently we entered a gully, following a rough path that led along theedge of a raging torrent. It was a desolate place, half a mile wideor more, having hundreds of fantastic lava boulders strewn about itsslopes. Before we had gone a mile I heard a shrill whistle, and suddenlyfrom behind these boulders sprang a number of men, quite fifty of them. All we could note at the time was that they were brawny, savage-lookingfellows, for the most part red haired and bearded, although theircomplexions were rather dark, who wore cloaks of white goat skins andcarried spears and shields. I should imagine that they were not unlikethe ancient Picts and Scots as they appeared to the invading Romans. Atus they came uttering their shrill, whistling cries, evidently with theintention of spearing us on the spot. 

"Now for it, " said Leo, drawing his sword, for escape was impossible;they were all round us. "Good-bye, Horace. "

"Good-bye, " I answered rather faintly, understanding what the Khania andthe old Shaman had meant when they said that we should be killed beforewe ascended the first slope of the Mountain. 

Meanwhile our ghastly-looking guide had slipped behind a great boulder, and even then it occurred to me that her part in the tragedy beingplayed, she, if it were a woman at all, was withdrawing herself whilewe met our miserable fate. But here I did her injustice, for she had, Isuppose, come to save us from this very fate which without her presencewe must most certainly have suffered. When the savages were within a fewyards suddenly she appeared on the top of the boulder, looking like asecond Witch of Endor, and stretched out her arm. Not a word did shespeak, only stretched out her draped arm, but the effect was remarkableand instantaneous. 

At the sight of her down on to their faces went those wild men, everyone of them, as though a lightning stroke had in an instant swept themout of existence. Then she let her arm fall and beckoned, whereon agreat fellow who, I suppose, was the leader of the band, rose and crepttowards her with bowed head, submissive as a beaten dog. To him shemade signs, pointing to us, pointing to the far-off Peak, crossing anduncrossing her white-wrapped arms, but so far as I could hear, speakingno word. It was evident that the chief understood her, however, forhe said something in a guttural language. Then he uttered his shrillwhistle, whereon the band rose and departed thence at full speed, this way and the other, so that in another minute they had vanished asquickly as they came. 

Now our guide motioned to us to proceed, and led the way upward ascalmly as though nothing had happened. 

For over _two_ hours we went on thus till our path brought us from theravine on to a grassy declivity, across which it wound its way. Here, toour astonishment, we found a fire burning, and hanging above the firean earthenware pot, which was on the boil, although we could see no mantending it. The figure signalled to me to dismount, pointing to the potin token that we were to eat the food which doubtless she had orderedthe wild men to prepare for us, and very glad was _I_ to obey her. Provision had been made for the horse also, for near the fire lay agreat bundle of green forage. 

While Leo off-saddled the beast and spread the provender for it, takingwith me a spare earthen vessel that lay ready, I went to the edge of thetorrent to drink and steep my wounded arm in its ice-cold stream. Thisrelieved it greatly, though by now I was sure from various symptomsthat the brute Master's fangs had fortunately only broken or injured thesmall bone, a discovery for which I was thankful enough. Having finishedattending to it as well as I was able, I filled the jar with water. 

On my way back a thought struck me, and going to where our mysteriousguide stood still as Lot's wife after she had been turned into a pillarof salt, I offered it to her, hoping that she would unveil her face anddrink. Then for the first time she showed some sign of being human, or so I thought, for it seemed to me that she bowed ever so littlein acknowledgment of the courtesy. If so--and I may have beenmistaken--this was all, for the next instant she turned her back on meto show that it was declined. So she would not, or for aught Iknew, could not drink. Neither would she eat, for when Leo tried herafterwards with food she refused it in like fashion. 

Meanwhile he had taken the pot off the fire, and as soon as its contentsgrew cool enough we fell on them eagerly, for we were starving. Afterwe had eaten and drunk, Leo re-dressed my arm as best he could and werested awhile. Indeed, I think that, being very tired, we began to doze, for I was awakened by a shadow falling on us and looked up to see ourcorpse-like guide standing close by and pointing first to the sun, thenat the horse, as though to show us that we had far to travel. So wesaddled up and went on again somewhat refreshed, for at least we were nolonger ravenous. 

All the rest of that day we journeyed on up the grassy slopes, seeing noman, although occasionally we heard the wild whistle which told us thatwe were being watched by the Mountain savages. By sundown the characterof the country had changed, for the grass was replaced with rocks, amongst which grew stunted firs. We had left the lower slopes and werebeginning to climb the Mountain itself. 

The sun sank and we went on through the twilight. The twilight diedand we went on through the dark, our path lit only by the stars and thefaint radiance of the glowing pillar of smoke above the Peak, whichwas reflected on to us from the mighty mantle of its snows. Forward wetoiled, whilst a few paces ahead of us walked our unwearying guide. Ifshe had seemed weird and inhuman before, now she appeared a very ghost, as, clad in her graveyard white, upon which the faint light shimmered, never speaking, never looking back, she glided on noiselessly betweenthe black rocks and the twisted, dark-green firs and junipers. 

Soon we lost all count of the road. We turned this way and turned thatway, we passed an open patch and through the shadows of a grove, till atlength as the moon rose we entered a ravine, and following a paththat ran down it, came to a place which is best described as a largeamphitheatre cut by the hand of nature out of the rock of the Mountain. Evidently it was chosen as a place of defence, for its entrance wasnarrow and tortuous, built up at the end also, so that only one personcould pass its gateway at a time. Within an open space and at itsfarther side stood low, stone houses built against the rock. In frontof these houses, the moonlight shining full upon them, were gatheredseveral hundred men and women arranged in a semicircle and in alternatecompanies, who appeared to be engaged in the celebration of some rite. 

It was wild enough. In front of them, and in the exact centre of thesemi-circle, stood a gigantic, red-bearded man, who was naked exceptfor a skin girdle about his loins. He was swinging himself backwardsand forwards, his hands resting upon his hips, and as he swung, shoutingsomething like "_Ho, haha, ho!_" When he bent towards the audience itbent towards him, and every time he straightened himself it echoed hisfinal shout of "_Ho!_" in a volume of sound that made the precipicesring. Nor was this all, for perched upon his hairy head, with archedback and waving tail, stood a great white cat. 

Anything stranger, and indeed more fantastic than the general effect ofthis scene, lit by the bright moonlight and set in that wild arena, itwas never my lot to witness. The red-haired, half-naked men and women, the gigantic priest, the mystical white cat, that, gripping hisscalp with its claws, waved its tail and seemed to take a part in theperformance; the unholy chant and its volleying chorus, all helped tomake it extraordinarily impressive. This struck us the more, perhaps, because at the time we could not in the least guess its significance, though we imagined that it must be preliminary to some sacrifice oroffering. It was like the fragment of a nightmare preserved by theawakened senses in all its mad, meaningless reality. 

Now round the open space where these savages were celebrating theirworship, or whatever it might be, ran a rough stone wall about six feetin height, in which wall was a gateway. Towards this we advanced quiteunseen, for upon our side of the wall grew many stunted pines. Throughthese pines our guide led us, till in the thickest of them, somefew yards from the open gateway and a little to the right of it, shemotioned to us to stop. 

Then she went to a low place in the wall and stood there as though shewere considering the scene beyond. It seemed to us, indeed, that shesaw what she had not expected and was thereby perplexed or angered. Presently she appeared to make up her mind, for again she motioned tous to remain where we were, enjoining silence upon us by placing herswathed hand upon the mask that hid her face. Next moment she was gone. How she went, or whither, I cannot say; all we knew was that she was nolonger there. 

"What shall we do now?" whispered Leo to me. 

"Stay where we are till she comes back again or something happens, " Ianswered. 

So there being nothing else to be done, we stayed, hoping that thehorse would not betray us by neighing, or that we might not be otherwisediscovered, since we were certain that if so we should be in danger ofdeath. Very soon, however, we forgot the anxieties of our own positionin the study of the wild scene before us, which now began to develop afearful interest. 

It would seem that what has been described was but preliminary to thedrama itself, and that this drama was the trial of certain people fortheir lives. This we could guess, for after awhile the incantationceased and the crowd in front of the big man with the cat upon his headopened out, while behind him a column of smoke rose into the air, asthough light had been set to some sunk furnace. 

Into the space that had thus been cleared were now led seven persons, whose hands were tied behind them. They were of both sexes and includedan old man and a woman with a tall and handsome figure, who appearedto be quite young, scarcely more than a girl indeed. These seven wereranged in a line where they stood, clearly in great fear, for the oldman fell upon his knees and one of the women began to sob. Thus theywere left awhile, perhaps to allow the fire behind them to burn up, which it soon did with great fierceness, throwing a vivid light uponevery detail of the spectacle. 

Now all was ready, and a man brought a wooden tray to the red-beardedpriest, who was seated on a stool, the white cat upon his knees, whitherwe had seen it leap from his head a little while before. He took thetray by its handles and at a word from him the cat jumped on to it andsat there. Then amidst the most intense silence he rose and uttered someprayer, apparently to the cat, which sat facing him. This done he turnedthe tray round so that the creature's back was now towards him, and, advancing to the line of prisoners, began to walk up and down in frontof them, which he did several times, at each turn drawing a littlenearer. 

Holding out the tray, he presented it at the face of the prisoner on theleft, whereon the cat rose, arched its back and began to lift its pawsup and down. Presently he moved to the next prisoner and held it beforehim awhile, and so on till he came to the fifth, that young woman ofwhom I have spoken. Now the cat grew very angry, for in the death-likestillness we could hear it spitting and growling. At length it seemedto lift its paws and strike the girl upon the face, whereon she screamedaloud, a terrible scream. Then all the audience broke out into a shout, a single word, which we understood, for we had heard one very like itused by the people of the Plain. It was "Witch! Witch! _Witch!_"

Executioners who were waiting for the victim to be chosen in this ordealby cat, rushed forward and seizing the girl began to drag her towardsthe fire. The prisoner who was standing by her and whom we rightlyguessed to be her husband, tried to protect her, but his arms beingbound, poor fellow, he could do nothing. One of the executioners knockedhim down with a stick. For a moment his wife escaped and threw herselfupon him, but the brutes lifted her up again, haling her towards thefire, whilst all the audience shouted wildly. 

"I can't stand this, " said Leo, "it's murder--coldblooded murder, " andhe drew his sword. 

"Best leave the beasts alone, " I answered doubtfully, though my ownblood was boiling in my veins. 

Whether he heard or not I do not know, for the next thing I saw was Leorushing through the gate waving the Khan's sword and shouting at thetop of his voice. Then I struck my heels into the ribs of the horse andfollowed after him. In ten seconds we were among them. As we came thesavages fell back this way and that, staring at us amazed, for at firstI think they took us for apparitions. Thus Leo on foot and I gallopingafter him, we came to the place. 

The executioners and their victim were near the fire now--a very greatfire of resinous pine logs built in a pit that measured about eight feetacross. Close to it sat the priest upon his stool, watching the scenewith a cruel smile, and rewarding the cat with little gobbets of rawmeat, that he took from a leathern pouch at his side, occupations inwhich he was so deeply engaged that he never saw us until we were righton to him. 

Shouting, "Leave her alone, you blackguards, " Leo rushed at theexecutioners, and with a single blow of his sword severed the arm of oneof them who gripped the woman by the nape of the neck. 

With a yell of pain and rage the man sprang back and stood waving thestump towards the people and staring at it wildly. In the confusion thatfollowed I saw the victim slip from the hands of her astonished would-bemurderers and run into the darkness, where she vanished. Also I sawthe witch-doctor spring up, still holding the tray on which the cat wassitting, and heard him begin to shout a perfect torrent of furious abuseat Leo, who in reply waved his sword and cursed him roundly in Englishand many other languages. 

Then of a sudden the cat upon the tray, infuriated, I suppose, by thenoise and the interruption of its meal, sprang straight at Leo's face. He appeared to catch it in mid-air with his left hand and with all hisstrength dashed it to the ground, where it lay writhing and screeching. Then, as though by an afterthought, he stooped, picked the devilishcreature up again and hurled it into the heart of the fire, for he wasmad with rage and knew not what he did. 

At the sight of that awful sacrilege--for such it was to them whoworshipped this beast--a gasp of horror rose from the spectators, followed by a howl of execration. Then like a wave of the sea theyrushed at us. I saw Leo cut one man down, and next instant I was off thehorse and being dragged towards the furnace. At the edge of it I met Leoin like plight, but fighting furiously, for his strength was great andthey were half afraid of him. 

"Why couldn't you leave the cat alone?" I shouted at him in idioticremonstrance, for my brain had gone, and all I knew was that we wereabout to be thrown into the fiery pit. Already I was over it; I feltthe flames singe my hair and saw its red caverns awaiting me, when of asudden the brutal hands that held me were unloosed and I fell backwardsto the ground, where I lay staring upwards. 

This was what I saw. Standing in front of the fire, her draped formquivering as though with rage, was our ghostly-looking guide, whopointed with her hand at the gigantic, red-headed witch-doctor. But shewas no longer alone, for with her were a score or more of men clad inwhite robes and armed with swords; black-eyed, ascetic-looking men, withclean-shaved heads and faces, for their scalps shone in the firelight. 

At the sight of them terror had seized that multitude which, mad asgoaded bulls but a few seconds before, now fled in every direction likesheep frightened by a wolf. The leader of the white-robed priests, a manwith a gentle face, which when at rest was clothed in a perpetual smile, was addressing the medicine-man, and I understood something of his talk. 

"Dog, " he said in effect, speaking in a smooth, measured voice that yetwas terrible, "accursed dog, beast-worshipper, what were you about to doto the guests of the mighty Mother of the Mountain? Is it for this thatyou and your idolatries have been spared so long? Answer, if you haveanything to say. Answer quickly, for your time is short. "

With a groan of fear the great fellow flung himself upon his knees, notto the head-priest who questioned him, but before the quivering shape ofour guide, and to her put up half-articulate prayers for mercy. 

"Cease, " said the high-priest, "she is the Minister who judges and theSword that strikes. I am the Ears and the Voice. Speak and tellme--were you about to cast those men, whom you were commanded to receivehospitably, into yonder fire because they saved the victim of yourdevilries and killed the imp you cherished? Nay, I saw it all. Know thatit was but a trap set to catch you, who have been allowed to live toolong. "

But still the wretch writhed before the draped form and howled formercy. 

"Messenger, " said the high-priest, "with thee the power goes. Declarethy decree. "

Then our guide lifted her hand slowly and pointed to the fire. At oncethe man turned ghastly white, groaned and fell back, as I think, quitedead, slain by his own terror. 

Now many of the people had fled, but some remained, and to thesethe priest called in cold tones, bidding them approach. They obeyed, creeping towards him. 

"Look, " he said, pointing to the man, "look and tremble at the justiceof Hes the Mother. Aye, and be sure that as it is with him, so shall itbe with every one of you who dares to defy her and to practise sorceryand murder. Lift up that dead dog who was your chief. "

Some of them crept forward and did his bidding. 

"Now, cast him into the bed which he had made ready for his victims. "

Staggering forward to the edge of the flaming pit, they obeyed, and thegreat body fell with a crash amongst the burning boughs and vanishedthere. 

"Listen, you people, " said the priest, "and learn that this man deservedhis dreadful doom. Know you why he purposed to kill that woman whom thestrangers saved? Because his familiar marked her as a witch, you think. I tell you it was not so. It was because she being fair, he wouldhave taken her from her husband, as he had taken many another, and sherefused him. But the Eye saw, the Voice spoke, and the Messenger didjudgment. He is caught in his own snare, and so shall you be, every oneof you who dares to think evil in his heart or to do it with his hands. 

"Such is the just decree of the Hesea, spoken by her from her throneamidst the fires of the Mountain. "

CHAPTER XIII

BENEATH THE SHADOWING WINGS

One by one the terrified tribesmen crept away. When the last of themwere gone the priest advanced to Leo and saluted him by placing his handupon his forehead. 

"Lord, " he said, in the same corrupt Grecian dialect which was used bythe courtiers of Kaloon, "I will not ask if you are hurt, since from themoment that you entered the sacred river and set foot within this landyou and your companion were protected by a power invisible and could notbe harmed by man or spirit, however great may have seemed your danger. Yet vile hands have been laid upon you, and this is the command of theMother whom I serve, that, if you desire it, every one of those men whotouched you shall die before your eyes. Say, is that your will?"

"Nay, " answered Leo; "they were mad and blind, let no blood be shed for_us_. All we ask of you, friend--but, how are you called?"

"Name me Oros, " he answered. 

"Friend Oros--a good title for one who dwells upon the Mountain--all weask is food and shelter, and to be led swiftly into the presence of herwhom you name Mother, that Oracle whose wisdom we have travelled far toseek. "

He bowed and answered: "The food and shelter are prepared and to-morrow, when you have rested, I am commanded to conduct you whither you desireto be. Follow me, I pray you"; and he preceded us past the fiery pit toa building that stood about fifty yards away against the rock wall ofthe amphitheatre. 

It would seem that it was a guest-house, or at least had been made readyto serve that purpose, as in it lamps were lit and a fire burned, forhere the air was cold. The house was divided into two rooms, the secondof them a sleeping place, to which he led us through the first. 

"Enter, " he said, "for you will need to cleanse yourselves, andyou"--here he addressed himself to me--"to be treated for that hurt toyour arm which you had from the jaws of the great hound. "

"How know you that?" I asked. 

"It matters not if I do know and have made ready, " Oros answeredgravely. 

This second room was lighted and warmed like the first, moreover, heatedwater stood in basins of metal and on the beds were laid clean linengarments and dark-coloured hooded robes, lined with rich fur. Also upona little table were ointments, bandages, and splints, a marvellous thingto see, for it told me that the very nature of my hurt had been divined. But I asked no more questions; I was too weary; moreover, I knew that itwould be useless. 

Now the priest Oros helped me to remove my tattered robe, and, undoingthe rough bandages upon my arm, washed it gently with warm water, inwhich he mixed some spirit, and examined it with the skill of a traineddoctor. 

"The fangs rent deep, " he said, "and the small bone is broken, but youwill take no harm, save for the scars which must remain. " Then, havingtreated the wounds with ointment, he wrapped the limb with such adelicate touch that it scarcely pained me, saying that by the morrowthe swelling would have gone down and he would set the bone. This indeedhappened. 

After it was done he helped me to wash and to clothe myself in the cleangarments, and put a sling about my neck to serve as a rest for my arm. Meanwhile Leo had also dressed himself, so that we left the chambertogether very different men to the foul, blood-stained wanderers who hadentered there. In the outer room we found food prepared for us, of whichwe ate with a thankful heart and without speaking. Then, blind withweariness, we returned to the other chamber and, having removed ourouter garments, flung ourselves upon the beds and were soon plunged insleep. 

At some time in the night I awoke suddenly, at what hour I do not know, as certain people wake, I among them, when their room is entered, evenwithout the slightest noise. Before I opened my eyes I felt that someone was with us in the place. Nor was I mistaken. A little lamp stillburned in the chamber, a mere wick floating in oil, and by its lightI saw a dim, ghost-like form standing near the door. Indeed I thoughtalmost that it was a ghost, till presently I remembered, and knew it forour corpse-like guide, who appeared to be looking intently at the bed onwhich Leo lay, or so I thought, for the head was bent in that direction. 

At first she was quite still, then she moaned aloud, a low and terriblemoan, which seemed to well from the very heart. 

So the thing was not dumb, as I had believed. Evidently it could suffer, and express its suffering in a human fashion. Look! it was wringing itspadded hands as in an excess of woe. Now it would seem that Leo began tofeel its influence also, for he stirred and spoke in his sleep, so lowat first that I could only distinguish the tongue he used, which wasArabic. Presently I caught a few words. 

"Ayesha, " he said, "_Ayesha!_"

The figure glided towards him and stopped. He sat up in the bed stillfast asleep, for his eyes were shut. He stretched out his arms, asthough seeking one whom he would embrace, and spoke again in a low andpassionate voice--"Ayesha, through life and death I have sought theelong. Come to me, my goddess, my desired. "

The figure glided yet nearer, and I could see that it was trembling, andnow its arms were extended also. 

At the bedside she halted, and Leo laid himself down again. Now thecoverings had fallen back, exposing his breast, where lay the leathersatchel he always wore, that which contained the lock of Ayesha's hair. He was fast asleep, and the figure seemed to fix its eyes upon thissatchel. Presently it did more, for, with surprising deftness thosewhite-wrapped fingers opened its clasp, yes, and drew out the longtress of shining hair. Long and earnestly she gazed at it, then gentlyreplaced the relic, closed the satchel and for a little while seemed toweep. While she stood thus the dreaming Leo once more stretched out hisarms and spoke, saying, in the same passion-laden voice--"Come to me, mydarling, my beautiful, my beautiful!"

At those words, with a little muffled scream, like that of a scarednight-bird, the figure turned and flitted through the doorway. 

When I was quite certain that she had gone, I gasped aloud. 

What might this mean, I wondered, in a very agony of bewilderment. Thiscould certainly be no dream: it was real, for I was wide awake. Indeed, what did it all mean? Who was the ghastly, mummy-like thing which hadguided us unharmed through such terrible dangers; the Messenger that allmen feared, who could strike down a brawny savage with a motion of itshand? Why did it creep into the place thus at dead of night, like aspirit revisiting one beloved? Why did its presence cause me to awakeand Leo to dream? Why did it draw out the tress; indeed, how knew itthat this tress was hidden there? And why--oh! why, at those tender andpassionate words did it flit away at last like some scared bat?

The priest Oros had called our guide Minister, and Sword, that is, onewho carries out decrees. But what if they were its own decrees? What ifthis thing should be she whom we sought, _Ayesha herself?_ Why should Itremble at the thought, seeing that if so, our quest was ended, we hadachieved? Oh! it must be because about this being there was somethingterrible, something un-human and appalling. If Ayesha lived withinthose mummy-cloths, then it was a different Ayesha whom we had knownand worshipped. Well could I remember the white-draped form of_She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed_, and how, long before she revealed her gloriousface to us, we guessed the beauty and the majesty hidden beneath thatveil by which her radiant life and loveliness incarnate could not bedisguised. 

But what of this creature? I would not pursue the thought. I wasmistaken. Doubtless she was what the priest Oros had said--somehalf-supernatural being to whom certain powers were given, and, doubtless, she had come to spy on us in our rest that she might makereport to the giver of those powers. 

Comforting myself thus I fell asleep again, for fatigue overcame evensuch doubts and fears. In the morning, when they were naturally lessvivid, I made up my mind that, for various reasons, it would be wisestto say nothing of what I had seen to Leo. Nor, indeed, did I do so untilsome days had gone by. 

When I awoke the full light was pouring into the chamber, and by it Isaw the priest Oros standing at my bedside. I sat up and asked him whattime it was, to which he answered with a smile, but in a low voice, thatit lacked but two hours of mid-day, adding that he had come to set myarm. Now I saw why he spoke low, for Leo was still fast asleep. 

"Let him rest on, " he said, as he undid the wrappings on my arm, "forhe has suffered much, and, " he continued significantly, "may still havemore to suffer. "

"What do you mean, friend Oros?" I asked sharply. "I thought you told usthat we were safe upon this Mountain. "

"I told you, friend----" and he looked at me. 

"Holly is my name----"

"--friend Holly, that your bodies are safe. I said nothing of all therest of you. Man is more than flesh and blood. He is mind and spirit aswell, and these can be injured also. "

"Who is there that would injure them?" I asked. 

"Friend, " he answered, gravely, "you and your companion have come to ahaunted land, not as mere wanderers, for then you would be dead ere now, but of set purpose, seeking to lift the veil from mysteries which havebeen hid for ages. Well, your aim is known and it may chance that itwill be achieved. But if this veil is lifted, it may chance also thatyou will find what shall send your souls shivering to despair andmadness. Say, are you not afraid?"

"Somewhat, " I answered. "Yet my foster-son and I have seen strangethings and lived. We have seen the very Light of Life roll by inmajesty; we have been the guests of an Immortal, and watched Death seemto conquer her and leave us untouched. Think you then that we will turncowards now? Nay, we march on to fulfil our destinies. "

At these words Oros showed neither curiosity nor surprise; it was asthough I told him only what he knew. 

"Good, " he replied, smiling, and with a courteous bow of his shavenhead, "within an hour you shall march on--to fulfil your destinies. IfI have warned you, forgive me, for I was bidden so to do, perhaps totry your mettle. Is it needful that I should repeat this warning to thelord----" and again he looked at me. 

"Leo Vincey, " I said. 

"Leo Vincey, yes, Leo Vincey, " he repeated, as though the name werefamiliar to him but had slipped his mind. "But you have not answered myquestion. Is it needful that I should repeat the warning?"

"Not in the least; but you can do so if you wish when he awakes. "

"Nay, I think with you, that it would be but waste of words, for--forgive the comparison;--what the wolf dares"--and he looked atme--"the tiger does not flee from, " and he nodded towards Leo. "There, see how much better are the wounds upon your arm, which is no longerswollen. Now I will bandage it, and within some few weeks the bone willbe as sound again as it was before you met the Khan Rassen hunting inthe Plains. By the way, you will see him again soon, and his fair wifewith him. "

"See him again? Do the dead, then, come to life upon this Mountain?"

"Nay, but certain of them are brought hither for burial. It is theprivilege of the rulers of Kaloon; also, I think, that the Khania hasquestions to ask of its Oracle. "

"Who is its Oracle?" I asked with eagerness. 

"The Oracle, " he replied darkly, "is a Voice. It was ever so, was itnot?"

"Yes; I have heard that from Atene, but a voice implies a speaker. Isthis speaker she whom you name Mother?"

"Perhaps, friend Holly. "

"And is this Mother a spirit?"

"It is a point that has been much debated. They told you so in thePlains, did they not? Also the Tribes think it on the Mountain. Indeed, the thing seems reasonable, seeing that all of us who live are flesh andspirit. But you will form your own judgment and then we can discuss thematter. There, your arm is finished. Be careful now not to strike it orto fall, and look, your companion awakes. "

Something over an hour later we started upon our upward journey. I wasagain mounted on the Khan's horse, which having been groomed and fedwas somewhat rested, while to Leo a litter had been offered. This hedeclined, however, saying that he had now recovered and would not becarried like a woman. So he walked by the side of my horse, using hisspear as a staff. We passed the fire-pit--now full of dead, whiteashes, among which were mixed those of the witch-finder and his horriblecat--preceded by our dumb guide, at the sight of whom, in her palewrappings, the people of the tribe who had returned to their villageprostrated themselves, and so remained until she was gone by. 

One of them, however, rose again and, breaking through our escort ofpriests, ran to Leo, knelt before him and kissed his hand. It was thatyoung woman whose life he had saved, a noble-looking girl, with massesof red hair, and by her was her husband, the marks of his bonds stillshowing on his arms. Our guide seemed to see this incident, though howshe did so I do not know. At any rate she turned and made some signwhich the priest interpreted. 

Calling the woman to him he asked her sternly how she dared to touchthe person of this stranger with her vile lips. She answered that it wasbecause her heart was grateful. Oros said that for this reason she wasforgiven; moreover, that in reward for what they had suffered he wascommanded to lift up her husband to be the ruler of that tribe duringthe pleasure of the Mother. He gave notice, moreover, that all shouldobey the new chief in his place, according to their customs, and if hedid any evil, make report that he might suffer punishment. Then wavingthe pair aside, without listening to their thanks or the acclamations ofthe crowd, he passed on. 

As we went down the ravine by which we had approached the village on theprevious night, a sound of chanting struck our ears. Presently the pathturned, and we saw a solemn procession advancing up that dismal, sunlessgorge. At the head of it rode none other than the beautiful Khania, followed by her great-uncle, the old Shaman, and after these came acompany of shaven priests in their white robes, bearing between them abier, upon which, its face uncovered, lay the body of the Khan, drapedin a black garment. Yet he looked better thus than he had ever done, fornow death had touched this insane and dissolute man with something ofthe dignity which he lacked in life. 

Thus then we met. At the sight of our guide's white form, the horsewhich the Khania rode reared up so violently that I thought it wouldhave thrown her. But she mastered the animal with her whip and voice, and called out--"Who is this draped hag of the Mountain that stops thepath of the Khania Atene and her dead lord? My guests, I find you in illcompany, for it seems that you are conducted by an evil spirit to meetan evil fate. That guide of yours must surely be something hateful andhideous, for were she a wholesome woman she would not fear to show herface. "

Now the Shaman plucked his mistress by the sleeve, and the priestOros, bowing to her, prayed her to be silent and cease to speak suchill-omened words into the air, which might carry them she knew notwhither. But some instinctive hate seemed to bubble up in Atene, andshe would not be silent, for she addressed our guide using the direct"thou, " a manner of speech that we found was very usual on the Mountainthough rare upon the Plains. 

"Let the air carry them whither it will, " she cried. "Sorceress, stripoff thy rags, fit only for a corpse too vile to view. Show us what thouart, thou flitting night-owl, who thinkest to frighten me with thatlivery of death, which only serves to hide the death within. "

"Cease, I pray lady, cease, " said Oros, stirred for once out of hisimperturbable calm. "She is the Minister, none other, and with her goesthe Power. "

"Then it goes not against Atene, Khania of Kaloon, " she answered, "or soI think. Power, forsooth! Let her show her power. If she has any it isnot her own, but that of the Witch of the Mountain, who feigns to be aspirit, and by her sorceries has drawn away my guests"--and she pointedto us--"thus bringing my husband to his death. "

"Niece, be silent!" said the old Shaman, whose wrinkled face was whitewith terror, whilst Oros held up his hands as though in supplicationto some unseen Strength, saying--"O thou that hearest and seest, bemerciful, I beseech thee, and forgive this woman her madness, lest theblood of a guest should stain the hands of thy servants, and the ancienthonour of our worship be brought low in the eyes of men. "

Thus he prayed, but although his hands were uplifted, it seemed to methat his eyes were fixed upon our guide, as ours were. While he spoke, I saw her hand raised, as she had raised it when she slew or rathersentenced the witchdoctor. Then she seemed to reflect, and stayed it inmid air, so that it pointed at the Khania. She did not move, she madeno sound, only she pointed, and, the angry words died upon Atene's lips, the fury left her eyes, and the colour her face. Yes, she grew whiteand silent as the corpse upon the bier behind her. Then, cowed by thatinvisible power, she struck her horse so fiercely that it bounded by usonward towards the village, at which the funeral company were to restawhile. 

As the Shaman Simbri followed the Khania, the priest Oros caught hishorse's bridle and said to him--"Magician, we have met before, forinstance, when your lady's father was brought to his funeral. Warn her, then, you that know something of the truth and of her power to speakmore gently of the ruler of this land. Say to her, from me, that had shenot been the ambassadress of death, and, therefore, inviolate, surelyere now she would have shared her husband's bier. Farewell, tomorrow wewill speak again, " and, loosing the Shaman's bridle, Oros passed on. 

Soon we had left the melancholy procession behind us and, issuing fromthe gorge, turned up the Mountain slope towards the edge of the brightsnows that lay not far above. It was as we came out of this darksomevalley, where the overhanging pine trees almost eclipsed the light, thatsuddenly we missed our guide. 

"Has she gone back to--to reason with the Khania?" I asked of Oros. 

"Nay!" he answered, with a slight smile, "I think that she has goneforward to give warning that the Hesea's guests draw near. "

"Indeed, " I answered, staring hard at the bare slope of mountain, up which not a mouse could have passed without being seen. "Iunderstand--she has gone forward, " and the matter dropped. But whatI did _not_ understand was--how she had gone. As the Mountain washoneycombed with caves and galleries, I suppose, however, that sheentered one of them. 

All the rest of that day we marched upwards, gradually drawing nearer tothe snow-line, as we went gathering what information we could from thepriest Oros. This was the sum of it--From the beginning of the world, as he expressed it, that is, from thousands and thousands of years ago, this Mountain had been the home of a peculiar fire-worship, of which thehead heirophant was a woman. About twenty centuries before, however, theinvading general named Rassen, had made himself Khan of Kaloon. Rassenestablished a new priestess on the Mountain, a worshipper of theEgyptian goddess, Hes, or Isis. This priestess had introduced certainmodifications in the ancient doctrines, superseding the cult of fire, pure and simple, by a new faith, which, while holding to some of the oldceremonies, revered as its head the Spirit of Life or Nature, of whomthey looked upon their priestess as the earthly representative. 

Of this priestess Oros would only tell us that she was "ever present, "although we gathered that when one priestess died or was "taken tothe fire, " as he put it, her child, whether in fact or by adoption, succeeded her and was known by the same names, those of "Hes" or the"Hesea" and "Mother. " We asked if we should see this Mother, to which heanswered that she manifested herself very rarely. As to her appearanceand attributes he would say nothing, except that the former changed fromtime to time and that when she chose to use it she had "all power. "

The priests of her College, he informed us, numbered three hundred, never more nor less, and there were also three hundred priestesses. Certain of those who desired it were allowed to marry, and fromamong their children were reared up the new generation of priestsand priestesses. Thus they were a people apart from all others, withdistinct racial characteristics. This, indeed, was evident, for ourescort were all exceedingly like to each other, very handsome andrefined in appearance, with dark eyes, clean-cut features and olive-huedskins; such a people as might well have descended from Easterns of highblood, with a dash of that of the Egyptians and Greeks thrown in. 

We asked him whether the mighty looped pillar that towered from thetopmost cup of the Mountain was the work of men. He answered, No; thehand of Nature had fashioned it, and that the light shining through itcame from the fires which burned in the crater of the volcano. The firstpriestess, having recognized in this gigantic column the familiar Symbolof Life of the Egyptian worship, established her altars beneath itsshadow. 

For the rest, the Mountain with its mighty slopes and borderlands waspeopled by a multitude of half-savage folk, who accepted the rule of theHesea, bringing her tribute of all things necessary, such as food andmetals. Much of the meat and grain however the priests raised themselveson sheltered farms, and the metals they worked with their own hands. This rule, however, was of a moral nature, since for centuries theCollege had sought no conquests and the Mother contented herself withpunishing crime in some such fashion as we had seen. For the pettywars between the Tribes and the people of the Plain they were notresponsible, and those chiefs who carried them on were deposed, unlessthey had themselves been attacked. All the Tribes, however, were swornto the defence of the Hesea and the College, and, however much theymight quarrel amongst themselves, if need arose, were ready to die forher to the last man. That war must one day break out again betweenthe priests of the Mountain and the people of Kaloon was recognized;therefore they endeavoured to be prepared for that great and finalstruggle. 

Such was the gist of his history, which, as we learned afterwards, proved to be true in every particular. 

Towards sundown we came to a vast cup extending over many thousandacres, situated beneath the snow-line of the peak and filled with richsoil washed down, I suppose, from above. So sheltered was the place byits configuration and the over-hanging mountain that, facing south-westas it did, notwithstanding its altitude it produced corn and othertemperate crops in abundance. Here the College had its farms, and verywell cultivated these seemed to be. This great cup, which could notbe seen from below, we entered through a kind of natural gateway, thatmight be easily defended against a host. 

There were other peculiarities, but it is not necessary to describe themfurther than to say that I think the soil benefited by the natural heatof the volcano, and that when this erupted, as happened occasionally, the lava streams always passed to the north and south of the cup ofland. Indeed, it was these lava streams that had built up the protectingcliffs. 

Crossing the garden-like lands, we came to a small town beautifullybuilt of lava rock. Here dwelt the priests, except those who were onduty, no man of the Tribes or other stranger being allowed to set footwithin the place. 

Following the main street of this town, we arrived at the face of theprecipice beyond, and found ourselves in front of a vast archway, closedwith massive iron gates fantastically wrought. Here, taking my horsewith them, our escort left us alone with Oros. As we drew near the greatgates swung back upon their hinges. We passed them--with what sensationsI cannot describe--and groped our way down a short corridor which endedin tall, iron-covered doors. These also rolled open at our approach, andnext instant we staggered back amazed and half-blinded by the intenseblaze of light within. 

Imagine, you who read, the nave of the vastest cathedral with which youare acquainted. Then double or treble its size, and you will have someconception of that temple in which we found ourselves. Perhaps in thebeginning it had been a cave, who can say? but now its sheer walls, itsmultitudinous columns springing to the arched roof far above us, had allbeen worked on and fashioned by the labour of men long dead; doubtlessthe old fire-worshippers of thousands of years ago. 

You will wonder how so great a place was lighted, but I think that neverwould you guess. Thus--by twisted columns of living flame! I countedeighteen of them, but there may have been others. They sprang from thefloor at regular intervals along the lines of what in a cathedral wouldbe the aisles. Right to the roof they sprang, of even height and girth, so fierce was the force of the natural gas that drove them, and therewere lost, I suppose, through chimneys bored in the thickness of therock. Nor did they give off smell or smoke, or in that great, coldplace, any heat which could be noticed, only an intense white light likethat of molten iron, and a sharp hissing noise as of a million angrysnakes. 

The huge temple was utterly deserted, and, save for this sybilant, pervading sound, utterly silent; an awesome, an overpowering place. 

"Do these candles of yours ever go out?" asked Leo of Oros, placing hishand before his dazzled eyes. 

"How can they, " replied the priest, in his smooth, matter-of-fact voice, "seeing that they rise from the eternal fire which the builders of thishall worshipped? Thus they have burned from the beginning, and thusthey will burn for ever, though, if we wish it, we can shut off theirlight. [*] Be pleased to follow me: you will see greater things. "

 [*] This, as I ascertained afterwards, was done by thrusting a broad stone of great thickness over the apertures through which the gas or fire rushed and thus cutting off the air. These stones were worked to and fro by means of pulleys connected with iron rods. --L. H. H. 

So in awed silence we followed, and, oh! how small and miserable wethree human beings looked alone in that vast temple illuminated by thislightning radiance. We reached the end of it at length, only to findthat to right and left ran transepts on a like gigantic scale and lit inthe same amazing fashion. Here Oros bade us halt, and we waited a littlewhile, till presently, from either transept arose a sound of chanting, and we perceived two white-robed processions advancing towards us fromtheir depths. 

On they came, very slowly, and we saw that the procession to the rightwas a company of priests, and that to the left a company of priestesses, a hundred or so of them in all. 

Now the men ranged themselves in front of us, while the women rangedthemselves behind, and at a signal from Oros, all of them still chantingsome wild and thrilling hymn, once more we started forward, this timealong a narrow gallery closed at the end with double wooden doors. Asour procession reached these they opened, and before us lay the crowningwonder of this marvellous fane, a vast, ellipse-shaped apse. Now weunderstood. The plan of the temple was the plan of the looped pillarwhich stood upon the brow of the Peak, and as we rightly guessed, itsdimensions were the same. 

At intervals around this ellipse the fiery columns flared, but otherwisethe place was empty. 

No, not quite, for at the head of the apse, almost between two of theflame columns, stood a plain, square altar of the size of a small room, in front of which, as we saw when we drew nearer, were hung curtains ofwoven silver thread. On this altar was placed a large statue of silver, that, backed as it was by the black rock, seemed to concentrate andreflect from its burnished surface the intense light of the two blazingpillars. 

It was a lovely thing, but to describe it is hard indeed. The figure, which was winged, represented a draped woman of mature years, and purebut gracious form, half hidden by the forward-bending wings. Shelteredby these, yet shown between them, appeared the image of a male child, clasped to its bearer's breast with her left arm, while the right wasraised toward the sky. A study of Motherhood, evidently, but how shall Iwrite of all that was conveyed by those graven faces?

To begin with the child. It was that of a sturdy boy, full of health andthe joy of life. Yet he had been sleeping, and in his sleep some terrorhad over-shadowed him with the dark shades of death and evil. There wasfear in the lines of his sweet mouth and on the lips and cheeks, thatseemed to quiver. He had thrown his little arm about his mother's neck, and, pressing close against her breast, looked up to her for safety, hisright hand and outstretched finger pointing downwards and behind him, asthough to indicate whence the danger came. Yet it was passing, alreadyhalf-forgotten, for the upturned eyes expressed confidence renewed, peace of soul attained. 

And the mother. She did not seem to mock or chide his fears, forher lovely face was anxious and alert. Yet upon it breathed a veryatmosphere of unchanging tenderness and power invincible; care for thehelpless, strength to shelter it from every harm. The great, calm eyestold their story, the parted lips were whispering some tale of hope, sure and immortal; the raised hand revealed whence that hope arose. Alllove seemed to be concentrated in the brooding figure, so human, yet socelestial; all heaven seemed to lie an open path before those quiveringwings. And see, the arching instep, the upward-springing foot, suggestedthat thither those wings were bound, bearing their God-given burden farfrom the horror of the earth, deep into the bosom of a changeless restabove. 

The statue was only that of an affrighted child in its mother'sarms; its interpretation made clear even to the dullest by the simplesymbolism of some genius--Humanity saved by the Divine. 

While we gazed at its enchanting beauty, the priests and priestesses, filing away to right and left, arranged themselves alternately, first aman and then a woman, within the ring of the columns of fire that burnedaround the loop-shaped shrine. So great was its circumference that thewhole hundred of them must stand wide apart one from another, and, toour sight, resembled little lonely children clad in gleaming garments, while their chant of worship reached us only like echoes thrown froma far precipice. In short, the effect of this holy shrine and itsoccupants was superb yet overwhelming, at least I know that it filled mewith a feeling akin to fear. 

Oros waited till the last priest had reached his appointed place. Thenhe turned and said, in his gentle, reverent tones--"Draw nigh, now, OWanderers well-beloved, and give greeting to the Mother, " and he pointedtowards the statue. 

"Where is she?" asked Leo, in a whisper, for here we scarcely dared tospeak aloud. "I see no one. "

"The Hesea dwells yonder, " he answered, and, taking each of us by thehand, he led us forward across the great emptiness of the apse to thealtar at its head. 

As we drew near the distant chant of the priests gathered in volume, assuming a glad, triumphant note, and it seemed to me--though this, perhaps was fancy--that the light from the twisted columns of flame greweven brighter. 

At length we were there, and, Oros, loosing our hands, prostratedhimself thrice before the altar. Then he rose again, and, falling behindus, stood in silence with bent head and folded fingers. We stood silentalso, our hearts filled with mingled hope and fear like a cup with wine. 

Were our labours ended? Had we found her whom we sought, or were we, perchance, but enmeshed in the web of some marvellous mummery andabout to make acquaintance with the secret of another new and mysticalworship? For years and years we had searched, enduring every hardness offlesh and spirit that man can suffer, and now we were to learn whetherwe had endured in vain. Yes, and Leo would learn if the promise wasto be fulfilled to him, or whether she whom he adored had become but adeparted dream to be sought for only beyond the gate of Death. Littlewonder that he trembled and turned white in the agony of that greatsuspense. 

Long, long was the time. Hours, years, ages, aeons, seemed to flow overus as we stood there before glittering silver curtains that hid thefront of the black altar beneath the mystery of the sphinx-like faceof the glorious image which was its guardian, clothed with that frozensmile of eternal love and pity. All the past went before us as westruggled in those dark waters of our doubt. Item by item, event byevent, we rehearsed the story which began in the Caves of Kor, for ourthoughts, so long attuned, were open to each other and flashed from soulto soul. 

Oh! now we knew, they were open also to _another_ soul. We could seenothing save the Altar and the Effigy, we could only hear the slow chantof the priests and priestesses and the snake-like hiss of the rushingfires. Yet we knew that our hearts were as an open book to One whowatched beneath the Mother's shadowing wings. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE COURT OF DEATH

Now the curtains were open. Before us appeared a chamber hollowed fromthe thickness of the altar, and in its centre a throne, and on thethrone a figure clad in waves of billowy white flowing from the headover the arms of the throne down to its marble steps. We could see nomore in the comparative darkness of that place, save that beneath thefolds of the drapery the Oracle held in its hand a loop-shaped, jewelledsceptre. 

Moved by some impulse, we did as Oros had done, prostrating ourselves, and there remained upon our knees. At length we heard a tinkling as oflittle bells, and, looking up, saw that the sistrum-shaped sceptre wasstretched towards us by the draped arm which held it. Then a thin, clearvoice spoke, and I thought that it trembled a little. It spoke in Greek, but in a much purer Greek than all these people used. 

"I greet you, Wanderers, who have journeyed so far to visit this mostancient shrine, and although doubtless of some other faith, are notashamed to do reverence to that unworthy one who is for this time itsOracle and the guardian of its mysteries. Rise now and have no fear ofme; for have I not sent my Messenger and servants to conduct you to thisSanctuary?"

Slowly we rose, and stood silent, not knowing what to say. 

"I greet you, Wanderers, " the voice repeated. "Tell me thou"--and thesceptre pointed towards Leo--"how art thou named?"

"I am named Leo Vincey, " he answered. 

"Leo Vincey! I like the name, which to me well befits a man so goodly. And thou, the companion of--Leo Vincey?"

"I am named Horace Holly. "

"So. Then tell me, Leo Vincey and Horace Holly, what came ye so far toseek?"

We looked at each other, and I said--"The tale is long and strange. O--but by what title must we address thee?"

"By the name which I bear here, Hes. "

"O Hes, " I said, wondering what name she bore elsewhere. 

"Yet I desire to hear that tale, " she went on, and to me her voicesounded eager. "Nay, not all to-night, for I know that you both areweary; a little of it only. In sooth, Strangers, there is a sameness inthis home of contemplations, and no heart can feed only on the past, ifsuch a thing there be. Therefore I welcome a new history from the worldwithout. Tell it me, thou, Leo, as briefly as thou wilt, so that thoutell the truth, for in the Presence of which I am a Minister, maynothing else be uttered. "

"Priestess, " he said, in his curt fashion, "I obey. Many years ago whenI was young, my friend and foster-father and I, led by records of thepast, travelled to a wild land, and there found a certain divine womanwho had conquered time. "

"Then that woman must have been both aged and hideous. "

"I said, Priestess, that she had conquered time, not suffered it, forthe gift of immortal youth was hers. Also she was not hideous; she wasbeauty itself. "

"Therefore stranger, thou didst worship her for her beauty's sake, as aman does. "

"I did not worship her; I loved her, which is another thing. The priestOros here worships thee, whom he calls Mother. I loved that immortalwoman. "

"Then thou shouldst love her still. Yet, not so, since love is verymortal. "

"I love her still, " he answered, "although she died. "

"Why, how is that? Thou saidst she was immortal. "

"Perchance she only seemed to die; perchance she changed. At least Ilost her, and what I lost I seek, and have sought this many a year. "

"Why dost thou seek her in my Mountain, Leo Vincey?"

"Because a vision led me to ask counsel of its Oracle. I am come hitherto learn tidings of my lost love, since here alone these may be found. "

"And thou, Holly, didst thou also love an immortal woman whoseimmortality, it seems, must bow to death?"

"Priestess, " I answered, "I am sworn to this quest, and where myfoster-son goes I follow. He follows beauty that is dead----"

"And thou dost follow him. Therefore both of you follow beauty as menhave ever done, being blind and mad. "

"Nay, " I answered, "if they were blind, beauty would be naught to themwho could not see it, and if they were mad, they would not know it whenit was seen. Knowledge and vision belong to the wise, O Hes. "

"Thou art quick of wit and tongue, Holly, as----" and she checkedherself, then of a sudden, said, "Tell me, did my servant the Khania ofKaloon entertain both of you hospitably in her city, and speed you onyour journey hither, as I commanded her?"

"We knew not that she was thy servant, " I replied. "Hospitality wehad and to spare, but we were sped from her Court hitherward by thedeath-hounds of the Khan, her husband. Tell us, Priestess, what thouknowest of this journey of ours. "

"A little, " she answered carelessly. "More than three moons ago myspies saw you upon the far mountains, and, creeping very close to you atnight, heard you speak together of the object of your wanderings, then, returning thence swiftly, made report to me. Thereon I bade the KhaniaAtene, and that old magician her great-uncle, who is Guardian of theGate, go down to the ancient gates of Kaloon to receive you and bringyou hither with all speed. Yet for men who burned to learn the answer toa riddle, you have been long in coming. "

"We came as fast as we might, O Hes, " said Leo; "and if thy spies couldvisit those mountains, where no man was, and find a path down thathideous precipice, they must have been able also to tell thee the reasonof our delay. Therefore I pray, ask it not of us. "

"Nay, I will ask it of Atene herself, and she shall surely answer me, for she stands without, " replied the Hesea in a cold voice. "Oros, leadthe Khania hither and be swift. "

The priest turned and walking quickly to the wooden doors by which wehad entered the shrine, vanished there. 

"Now, " said Leo to me nervously in the silence that followed, andspeaking in English, "now I wish we were somewhere else, for I thinkthat there will be trouble. "

"I don't think, I am sure, " I answered; "but the more the better, for out of trouble may come the truth, which we need sorely. " Then Istopped, reflecting that the strange woman before us said that her spieshad overheard our talk upon the mountains, where we had spoken nothingbut English. 

As it proved, I was wise, for quite quietly the Hesea repeated afterme--"Thou hast experience, Holly, for out of trouble comes the truth, asout of wine. "

Then she was silent, and, needless to say, I did not pursue theconversation. 

The doors swung open, and through them came a procession clad in black, followed by the Shaman Simbri, who walked in front of a bier, upon whichlay the body of the Khan, carried by eight priests. Behind it was Atene, draped in a black veil from head to foot, and after her marched anothercompany of priests. In front of the altar the bier was set down and thepriests fell back, leaving Atene and her uncle standing alone before thecorpse. 

"What seeks my vassal, the Khania of Kaloon?" asked the Hesea in a coldvoice. 

Now Atene advanced and bent the knee, but with little graciousness. 

"Ancient Mother, Mother from of old, I do reverence to thy holy Office, as my forefathers have done for many a generation, " and again shecurtseyed. "Mother, this dead man asks of thee that right of sepulchrein the fires of the holy Mountain which from the beginning has beenaccorded to the royal departed who went before him. "

"It has been accorded as thou sayest, " answered the Hesea, "by thosepriestesses who filled my place before me, nor shall it be refused tothy dead lord--or to thee Atene--when thy time comes. "

"I thank thee, O Hes, and I pray that this decree may be written down, for the snows of age have gathered on thy venerable head and soon thoumust leave us for awhile. Therefore bid thy scribes that it be writtendown, so that the Hesea who rules after thee may fulfil it in itsseason. "

"Cease, " said the Hesea, "cease to pour out thy bitterness at that whichshould command thy reverence, oh! thou foolish child, who dost not knowbut that to-morrow the fire shall claim the frail youth and beauty whichare thy boast. I bid thee cease, and tell me how did death find thislord of thine?"

"Ask those wanderers yonder, that were his guests, for his blood is ontheir heads and cries for vengeance at thy hands. "

"I killed him, " said Leo, "to save my own life. He tried to hunt us downwith his dogs, and there are the marks of them, " and he pointed to myarm. "The priest Oros knows, for he dressed the hurts. "

"How did this chance?" asked the Hesea of Atene. 

"My lord was mad, " she answered boldly, "and such was his cruel sport. "

"So. And was thy lord jealous also? Nay, keep back the falsehood I seerising to thy lips. Leo Vincey, answer thou me. Yet, I will not ask theeto lay bare the secrets of a woman who has offered thee her love. Thou, Holly, speak, and let it be the truth. "

"It is this, O Hes, " I answered. "Yonder lady and her uncle the ShamanSimbri saved us from death in the waters of the river that boundsthe precipices of Kaloon. Afterwards we were ill, and they treated uskindly, but the Khania became enamoured of my foster-son. "

Here the figure of the Priestess stirred beneath its gauzy wrappings, and the Voice asked--"And did thy foster-son become enamoured of theKhania, as being a man he may well have done, for without doubt she isfair?"

"He can answer that question for himself, O Hes. All I know is that hestrove to escape from her, and that in the end she gave him a day tochoose between death and marriage with her, when her lord should bedead. So, helped by the Khan, her husband, who was jealous of him, wefled towards this Mountain, which we desired to reach. Then the Khan sethis hounds upon us, for he was mad and false-hearted. We killed him andcame on in spite of this lady, his wife, and her uncle, who would haveprevented us, and were met in a Place of Bones by a certain veiledguide, who led us up the Mountain and twice saved us from death. That isall the story. "

"Woman, what hast thou to say?" asked the Hesea in a menacing voice. 

"But little, " Atene answered, without flinching. "For years I have beenbound to a madman and a brute, and if my fancy wandered towards this manand his fancy wandered towards me--well, Nature spoke to us, and that isall. Afterwards it seems that he grew afraid of the vengeance of Rassen, or this Holly, whom I would that the hounds had torn bone from bone, grew afraid. So they strove to escape the land, and perchance wanderedto thy Mountain. But I weary of this talk, and ask thy leave to restbefore to-morrow's rite. "

"Thou sayest, Atene, " said the Hesea, "that Nature spoke to this manand to thee, and that his heart is thine; but that, fearing thy lord'svengeance, he fled from thee, he who seems no coward. Tell me, then, is that tress he hides in the satchel on his breast thy gage of love tohim?"

"I know nothing of what he hides in the satchel, " answered the Khaniasullenly. 

"And yet, yonder in the Gatehouse when he lay so sick he set the lockagainst thine own--ah, dost remember now?"

"So, O Hes, already he has told thee all our secrets, though theybe such as most men hide within their breasts;" and she lookedcontemptuously at Leo. 

"I told her nothing of the matter, Khania, " Leo said in an angry voice. 

"Nay, _thou_ toldest me nothing, Wanderer; my watching wisdom told me. Oh, didst thou think, Atene, that thou couldst hide the truth from theall-seeing Hesea of the Mountain? If so, spare thy breath, for I knowall, and have known it from the first. I passed thy disobedience by; ofthy false messages I took no heed. For my own purposes I, to whom timeis naught, suffered even that thou shouldst hold these, my guests, thyprisoners whilst thou didst strive by threats and force to win a lovedenied. "

She paused, then went on coldly: "Woman, I tell thee that, to completethy sin, thou hast even dared to lie to me here, in my very Sanctuary. "

"If so, what of it?" was the bold answer. "Dost thou love the manthyself? Nay, it is monstrous. Nature would cry aloud at such a shame. Oh! tremble not with rage. Hes, I know thy evil powers, but I know alsothat I am thy guest, and that in this hallowed place, beneath yondersymbol of eternal Love, thou may'st shed no blood. More, thou canst notharm me, Hes, who am thy equal. "

"Atene, " replied the measured Voice, "did I desire it, I could destroythee where thou art. Yet thou art right, I shall not harm thee, thoufaithless servant. Did not my writ bid thee through yonder searcherof the stars, thy uncle, to meet these guests of mine and bring themstraight to my shrine? Tell me, for I seek to know, how comes it thatthou didst disobey me?"

"Have then thy desire, " answered Atene in a new and earnest voice, devoid now of bitterness and falsehood. "I disobeyed because that man isnot thine, but mine, and no other woman's; because I love him and haveloved him from of old. Aye, since first our souls sprang into life Ihave loved him, as he has loved me. My own heart tells me so; the magicof my uncle here tells me so, though how and where and when these thingshave been I know not. Therefore I come to thee, Mother of Mysteries, Guardian of the secrets of the past, to learn the truth. At least _thou_canst not lie at thine own altar, and I charge thee, by the dread nameof that Power to which thou also must render thy account, that thouanswer now and here. 

"Who is this man to whom my being yearns? What has he been to me? Whathas he to do with thee? Speak, O Oracle and make the secret clear. Speak, I command, even though afterwards thou dost slay me--if thoucanst. "

"Aye, speak! speak!" said Leo, "for know I am in sore suspense. I alsoam bewildered by memories and rent with hopes and fears. "

And I too echoed, "Speak!"

"Leo Vincey, " asked the Hesea, after she had thought awhile, "whom dostthou believe me to be?"

"I believe, " he answered solemnly, "that thou art that Ayesha at whosehands I died of old in the Caves of Kor in Africa. I believe thou artthat Ayesha whom not twenty years ago I found and loved in those sameCaves of Kor, and there saw perish miserably, swearing that thou wouldstreturn again. "

"See now, how madness can mislead a man, " broke in Atene triumphantly. "'Not twenty years ago, ' he said, whereas I know well that more thaneighty summers have gone by since my grandsire in his youth saw thissame priestess sitting on the Mother's throne. "

"And whom dost thou believe me to be, O Holly?" the Priestess asked, taking no note of the Khania's words. 

"What he believes I believe, " I answered. "The dead come back tolife--sometimes. Yet alone thou knowest the truth, and by thee only itcan be revealed. "

"Aye, " she said, as though musing, "the dead come back tolife--sometimes--and in strange shape, and, mayhap, I know the truth. To-morrow when yonder body is borne on high for burial we will speakof it again. Till then rest you all, and prepare to face that fearfulthing--the Truth. "

While the Hesea still spoke the silvery curtains swung to their placeas mysteriously as they had opened. Then, as though at some signal, theblack-robed priests advanced. Surrounding Atene, they led her from theSanctuary, accompanied by her uncle the Shaman, who, as it seemed to me, either through fatigue or fear, could scarcely stand upon his feet, butstood blinking his dim eyes as though the light dazed him. When thesewere gone, the priests and priestesses, who all this time had beenranged round the walls, far out of hearing of our talk, gatheredthemselves into their separate companies, and still chanting, departedalso, leaving us alone with Oros and the corpse of the Khan, whichremained where it had been set down. 

Now the head-priest Oros beckoned to us to follow him, and we wentalso. Nor was I sorry to leave the place, for its death-likeloneliness--enhanced, strangely enough, as it was, by the flood of lightthat filled it; a loneliness which was concentrated and expressed in theawful figure stretched upon the bier, oppressed and overcame us, whosenerves were broken by all that we had undergone. Thankful enough was Iwhen, having passed the transepts and down the length of the vast nave, we came to the iron doors, the rock passage, and the outer gates, which, as before, opened to let us through, and so at last into the sweet, coldair of the night at that hour which precedes the dawn. 

Oros led us to a house well-built and furnished, where at his bidding, like men in a dream, we drank of some liquor which he gave us. I thinkthat drink was drugged, at least after swallowing it I remembered nomore till I awoke to find myself lying on a bed and feeling wonderfullystrong and well. This I thought strange, for a lamp burning in the roomshowed me that it was still dark, and therefore that I could have restedbut a little time. 

I tried to sleep again, but was not able, so fell to thinking till Igrew weary of the task. For here thoughts would not help me; nothingcould help, except the truth, "that fearful thing, " as the veiledPriestess had called it. 

Oh! what if she should prove not the Ayesha whom we desired, but some"fearful thing"? What were the meaning of the Khania's hints and ofher boldness, that surely had been inspired by the strength of a hiddenknowledge? What if--nay, it could not be--I would rise and dress my arm. Or I would wake Leo and make him dress it--anything to occupy my minduntil the appointed hour, when we must learn--the best--or the worst. 

I sat up in the bed and saw a figure advancing towards me. It was Oros, who bore a lamp in his hand. 

"You have slept long, friend Holly, " he said, "and now it is time to beup and doing. "

"Long?" I answered testily. "How can that be, when it is still dark?"

"Because, friend, the dark is that of a new night. Many hours have goneby since you lay down upon this bed. Well, you were wise to rest youwhile you may, for who knows when you will sleep again! Come, let mebathe your arm. "

"Tell me, " I broke in----"Nay, friend, " he interrupted firmly, "I willtell you nothing, except that soon you must start to be present atthe funeral of the Khan, and, perchance, to learn the answer to yourquestions. "

Ten minutes later he led me to the eating-chamber of the house, where Ifound Leo already dressed, for Oros had awakened him before he came tome and bidden him to prepare himself. Oros told us here that the Heseahad not suffered us to be disturbed until the night came again since wehad much to undergo that day. So presently we started. 

Once more we were led through the flame-lit hall till we came to theloop-shaped apse. The place was empty now, even the corpse of the Khanhad gone, and no draped Oracle sat in the altar shrine, for its silvercurtains were drawn, and we saw that it was untenanted. 

"The Mother has departed to do honour to the dead, according to theancient custom, " Oros explained to us. 

Then we passed the altar, and behind the statue found a door in therock wall of the apse, and beyond the door a passage, and a hall as of ahouse, for out of it opened other doors leading to chambers. These, ourguide told us, were the dwelling-places of the Hesea and her maidens. He added that they ran to the side of the Mountain and had windows thatopened on to gardens and let in the light and air. In this hall sixpriests were waiting, each of whom carried a bundle of torches beneathhis arm and held in his hand a lighted lamp. 

"Our road runs through the dark, " said Oros, "though were it day wemight climb the outer snows, but this at night it is dangerous to do. "

Then taking torches, he lit them at a lamp and gave one to each of us. 

Now our climb began. Up endless sloping galleries we went, hewn withinconceivable labour by the primeval fire-worshippers from the livingrock of the Mountain. It seemed to me that they stretched for miles, andindeed this was so, since, although the slope was always gentle, it tookus more than an hour to climb them. At length we came to the foot of agreat stair. 

"Rest awhile here, my lord, " Oros said, bowing to Leo with the reverencethat he had shown him from the first, "for this stair is steep and long. Now we stand upon the Mountain's topmost lip, and are about to climbthat tall looped column which soars above. "

So we sat down in the vault-like place and let the sharp draught of airrushing to and from the passages play upon us, for we were heated withjourneying up those close galleries. As we sat thus I heard a roaringsound and asked Oros what it might be. He answered that we were verynear to the crater of the volcano, and that what we heard through thethickness of the rock was the rushing of its everlasting fires. Then theascent commenced. 

It was not dangerous though very wearisome, for there were nearly sixhundred of those steps. The climb of the passages had reminded me ofthat of the gallery of the Great Pyramid drawn out for whole furlongs;that of the pillar was like the ascent of a cathedral spire, or ratherof several spires piled one upon another. 

Resting from time to time, we dragged ourselves up the steep steps, eachof them quite a foot in height, till the pillar was climbed and only theloop remained. Up it we went also, Oros leading us, and glad was I thatthe stairway still ran within the substance of the rock, for I couldfeel the needle's mighty eye quiver in the rush of the winds which sweptabout its sides. 

At length we saw light before us, and in another twenty steps emergedupon a platform. As Leo, who went in front of me, walked from thestairway I saw Oros and another priest seize him by the arms, and calledto him to ask what they were doing. 

"Nothing, " he cried back, "except that this is a dizzy place and theyfeared lest I should fall. Mind how you come, Horace, " and he stretchedout his hand to me. 

Now I was clear of the tunnel, and I believe that had it not been forthat hand I should have sunk to the rocky floor, for the sight before meseemed to paralyse my brain. Nor was this to be wondered at, for I doubtwhether the world can show such another. 

We stood upon the very apex of the loop, a flat space of rock abouteighty yards in length by some thirty in breadth, with the star-strewnsky above us. To the south, twenty thousand feet or more below, stretched the dim Plain of Kaloon, and to the east and west thesnow-clad shoulders of the peak and the broad brown slopes beneath. To the north was a different sight, and one more awesome. There, rightunder us as it seemed, for the pillar bent inwards, lay the vast craterof the volcano, and in the centre of it a wide lake of fire that brokeinto bubbles and flowers of sudden flame or spouted, writhed and twistedlike an angry sea. 

From the surface of this lake rose smoke and gases that took fire asthey floated upwards, and, mingling together, formed a gigantic sheet ofliving light. Right opposite to us burned this sheet and, the flare ofit passing through the needle-eye of the pillar under us, sped away inone dazzling beam across the country of Kaloon, across the mountainsbeyond, till it was lost on the horizon. 

The wind blew from south to north, being sucked in towards the hotcrater of the volcano, and its fierce breath, that screamed through theeye of the pillar and against its rugged surface, bent the long crestof the sheet of flame, as an ocean roller is bent over by the gale, andtore from it fragments of fire, that floated away to leeward like theblown-out sails of a burning ship. 

Had it not been for this strong and steady wind indeed, no creaturecould have lived upon the pillar, for the vapours would have poisonedhim; but its unceasing blast drove these all away towards the north. Forthe same reason, in the thin air of that icy place the heat was not toogreat to be endured. 

Appalled by that terrific spectacle, which seemed more appropriate tothe terrors of the Pit than to this earth of ours, and fearful lest theblast should whirl me like a dead leaf into the glowing gulf beneath, Ifell on to my sound hand and my knees, shouting to Leo to do likewise, and looked about me. Now I observed lines of priests wrapped in greatcapes, kneeling upon the face of the rock and engaged apparently inprayer, but of Hes the Mother, or of Atene, or of the corpse of the deadKhan I could see nothing. 

Whilst I wondered where they might be, Oros, upon whose nerves thisdread scene appeared to have no effect, and some of our attendantpriests surrounded us and led us onwards by a path that ran perilouslynear to the rounded edge of the rock. A few downward steps and we foundthat we were under shelter, for the gale was roaring over us. Twentymore paces and we came to a recess cut, I suppose, by man in the faceof the loop, in such fashion that a lava roof was left projecting halfacross its width. 

This recess, or rock chamber, which was large enough to shelter a greatnumber of people, we reached safely, to discover that it was alreadytenanted. Seated in a chair hewn from the rock was the Hesea, wearinga broidered, purple mantle above her gauzy wrappings that envelopedher from head to foot. There, too, standing near to her were the KhaniaAtene and her uncle the old Shaman, who looked but ill at ease, andlastly, stretched upon his funeral couch, the fiery light beating uponhis stark form and face, lay the dead Khan, Rassen. 

We advanced to the throne and bowed to her who sat thereon. The Hesealifted her hooded head, which seemed to have been sunk upon her breastas though she were overcome by thought or care, and addressed Oros thepriest. For in the shelter of those massive walls by comparison therewas silence and folk could hear each other speak. 

"So thou hast brought them safely, my servant, " she said, "and I amglad, for to those that know it not this road is fearful. My guests, what say you of the burying-pit of the Children of Hes?"

"Our faith tells us of a hell, lady, " answered Leo, "and I think thatyonder cauldron looks like its mouth. "

"Nay, " she answered, "there is no hell, save that which from life tolife we fashion for ourselves within the circle of this little star. LeoVincey, I tell thee that hell is here, aye, _here_, " and she struck herhand upon her breast, while once more her head drooped forward as thoughbowed down beneath some load of secret misery. 

Thus she stayed awhile, then lifted it and spoke again, saying--"Midnight is past, and much must be done and suffered before thedawn. Aye, the darkness must be turned to light, or perchance the lightto eternal darkness. "

"Royal woman, " she went on, addressing Atene, "as is his right, thouhast brought thy dead lord hither for burial in this consecrated place, where the ashes of all who went before him have become fuel for theholy fires. Oros, my priest, summon thou the Accuser and him who makesdefence, and let the books be opened that I may pass my judgment on thedead, and call his soul to live again, or pray that from it the breathof life may be withheld. 

"Priest, I say the Court of Death is open. "

CHAPTER XV

THE SECOND ORDEAL

Oros bowed and left the place, whereon the Hesea signed to us to standupon her right and to Atene to stand upon her left. Presently fromeither side the hooded priests and priestesses stole into the chamber, and to the number of fifty or more ranged themselves along its walls. Then came two figures draped in black and masked, who bore parchmentbooks in their hands, and placed themselves on either side of thecorpse, while Oros stood at its feet, facing the Hesea. 

Now she lifted the sistrum that she held, and in obedience to the signalOros said--"Let the books be opened. "

Thereon the masked Accuser to the right broke the seal of his book andbegan to read its pages. It was a tale of the sins of this dead manentered as fully as though that officer were his own conscience givenlife and voice. In cold and horrible detail it told of the evil doingsof his childhood, of his youth, and of his riper years, and thus massedtogether the record was black indeed. 

I listened amazed, wondering what spy had been set upon the deeds ofyonder man throughout his days; thinking also with a shudder of howheavy would be the tale against any one of us, if such a spy shouldcompanion him from the cradle to the grave; remembering too thatfull surely this count is kept by scribes even more watchful than theministers of Hes. 

At length the long story drew to its close. Lastly it told of the murderof that noble upon the banks of the river; it told of the plot againstour lives for no just cause; it told of our cruel hunting with thedeath-hounds, and of its end. Then the Accuser shut his book and cast iton the ground, saying--"Such is the record, O Mother. Sum it up as thouhast been given wisdom. "

Without speaking, the Hesea pointed with her sistrum to the Defender, who thereon broke the seal of his book and began to read. 

Its tale spoke of all the good that the dead man had done; of everynoble word that he had said, of every kind action; of plans which he hadmade for the welfare of his vassals; of temptations to ill that he hadresisted; of the true love that he had borne to the woman who became hiswife; of the prayers which he had made and of the offerings which he hadsent to the temple of Hes. 

Making no mention of her name, it told of how that wife of his had hatedhim, of how she and the magician, who had fostered and educated her, andwas her relative and guide, had set other women to lead him astray thatshe might be free of him. Of how too they had driven him mad with apoisonous drink which took away his judgment, unchained all the evil inhis heart, and caused him by its baneful influence to shrink unnaturallyfrom her whose love he still desired. 

Also it set out that the heaviest of his crimes were inspired by thiswife of his, who sought to befoul his name in the ears of the peoplewhom she led him to oppress, and how bitter jealousy drove him to cruelacts, the last and worst of which caused him foully to violate the lawof hospitality, and in attempting to bring about the death of blamelessguests at their hands to find his own. 

Thus the Defender read, and having read, closed the book and threw iton the ground, saying--"Such is the record, O Mother, sum it up as thouhast been given wisdom. "

Then the Khania, who all this time had stood cold and impassive, steppedforward to speak, and with her her uncle, the Shaman Simbri. But beforea word passed Atene's lips the Hesea raised her sceptre and forbadethem, saying--"Thy day of trial is not yet, nor have we aught to do withthee. When thou liest where he lies and the books of thy deeds are readaloud to her who sits in judgment, then let thine advocate make answerfor these things. "

"So be it, " answered Atene haughtily and fell back. 

Now it was the turn of the high-priest Oros. "Mother, " he said, "thouhast heard. Balance the writings, assess the truth, and according to thywisdom, issue thy commands. Shall we hurl him who was Rassen feet firstinto the fiery gulf, that he may walk again in the paths of life, orhead first, in token that he is dead indeed?"

Then while all waited in a hushed expectancy, the great Priestessdelivered her verdict. 

"I hear, I balance, I assess, but judge I do not, who claim no suchpower. Let the Spirit who sent him forth, to whom he is returned again, pass judgment on his spirit. This dead one has sinned deeply, yet hashe been more deeply sinned against. Nor against that man can be reckonedthe account of his deeds of madness. Cast him then to his grave feetfirst that his name may be whitened in the ears of those unborn, andthat thence he may return again at the time appointed. It is spoken. "

Now the Accuser lifted the book of his accusations from the ground and, advancing, hurled it into the gulf in token that it was blotted out. Then he turned and vanished from the chamber; while the Advocate, takingup his book, gave it into the keeping of the priest Oros, that it mightbe preserved in the archives of the temple for ever. This done, thepriests began a funeral chant and a solemn invocation to the great Lordof the Under-world that he would receive this spirit and acquit it thereas here it had been acquitted by the Hesea, his minister. 

Ere their dirge ended certain of the priests, advancing with slow steps, lifted the bier and carried it to the edge of the gulf; then at a signfrom the Mother, hurled it feet foremost into the fiery lake below, whilst all watched to see how it struck the flame. For this they held tobe an omen, since should the body turn over in its descent it was takenas a sign that the judgment of mortal men had been refused in the Placeof the Immortals. It did not turn; it rushed downwards straight as aplummet and plunged into the fire hundreds of feet below, and therefor ever vanished. This indeed was not strange since, as we discoveredafterwards, the feet were weighted. 

In fact this solemn rite was but a formula that, down to the exactwords of judgment and committal, had been practised here from unknownantiquity over the bodies of the priests and priestesses of theMountain, and of certain of the great ones of the Plain. So it was inancient Egypt, whence without doubt this ceremony of the trial of thedead was derived, and so it continued to be in the land of Hes, for nopriestess ever ventured to condemn the soul of one departed. 

The real interest of the custom, apart from its solemnity and awfulsurroundings, centred in the accurate knowledge displayed by the maskedAccuser and Advocate of the life-deeds of the deceased. It showed thatalthough the College of Hes affected to be indifferent to the doings andpolitics of the people of the Plain that they once ruled and over which, whilst secretly awaiting an opportunity of re-conquest, they stillclaimed a spiritual authority, the attitude was assumed rather thanreal. Moreover it suggested a system of espionage so piercing andextraordinary that it was difficult to believe it unaided by thehabitual exercise of some gift of clairvoyance. 

The service, if I may call it so, was finished; the dead man hadfollowed the record of his sins into that lurid sea of fire, and bynow was but a handful of charred dust. But if his book had closed, oursremained open and at its strangest chapter. We knew it, all of us, andwaited, our nerves thrilled, with expectancy. 

The Hesea sat brooding on her rocky throne. She also knew that the hourhad come. Presently she sighed, then motioned with her sceptre and spokea word or two, dismissing the priests and priestesses, who departedand were seen no more. Two of them remained however, Oros and the headpriestess who was called Papave, a young woman of a noble countenance. 

"Listen, my servants, " she said. "Great things are about to happen, which have to do with the coming of yonder strangers, for whom I havewaited these many years as is well known to you. Nor can I tell theissue since to me, to whom power is given so freely, foresight of thefuture is denied. It well may happen, therefore, that this seat willsoon be empty and this frame but food for the eternal fires. Nay, grievenot, grieve not, for I do not die and if so, the spirit shall returnagain. 

"Hearken, Papave. Thou art of the blood, and to thee alone have I openedall the doors of wisdom. If I pass now or at any time, take thou theancient power, fill thou my place, and in all things do as I haveinstructed thee, that from this Mountain light may shine upon the world. Further I command thee, and thee also, Oros my priest, that if I besummoned hence you entertain these strangers hospitably until it ispossible to escort them from the land, whether by the road they came oracross the northern hills and deserts. Should the Khania Atene attemptto detain them against their will, then raise the Tribes upon her in thename of the Hesea; depose her from her seat, conquer her land and holdit. Hear and obey. "

"Mother, we hear and we will obey, " answered Oros and Papave as with asingle voice. 

She waved her hand to show that this matter was finished; then afterlong thought spoke again, addressing herself to the Khania. 

"Atene, last night thou didst ask me a question--why thou dost love thisman, " and she pointed to Leo. "To that the answer would be easy, for ishe not one who might well stir passion in the breast of a woman such asthou art? But thou didst say also that thine own heart and the wisdom ofyonder magician, thy uncle, told thee that since thy soul first sprangto life thou hadst loved him, and didst adjure me by the Power to whom Imust give my account to draw the curtain from the past and let the truthbe known. 

"Woman, the hour has come, and I obey thy summons--not because thoudost command but because it is my will. Of the beginning I can tell theenothing, who am still human and no goddess. I know not why we threeare wrapped in this coil of fate; I know not the destinies to which wejourney up the ladder of a thousand lives, with grief and pain climbingthe endless stair of circumstance, or, if I know, I may not say. Therefore I take up the tale where my own memory gives me light. "

The Hesea paused, and we saw her frame shake as though beneath somefearful inward effort of the will. "Look now behind you, " she cried, throwing her arms wide. 

We turned, and at first saw nothing save the great curtain of fire thatrose from the abyss of the volcano, whereof, as I have told, the crestwas bent over by the wind like the crest of a breaking billow. Butpresently, as we watched, in the depths of this red veil, Nature's awfullamp-flame, a picture began to form as it forms in the seer's magiccrystal. 

Behold! a temple set amid sands and washed by a wide, palm-borderedriver, and across its pyloned court processions of priests, who passto and fro with flaunting banners. The court empties; I could see theshadow of a falcon's wings that fled across its sunlit floor. A man cladin a priest's white robe, shaven-headed, and barefooted, enters throughthe southern pylon gate and walks slowly towards a painted graniteshrine, in which sits the image of a woman crowned with the doublecrown of Egypt, surmounted by a lotus bloom, and holding in her hand thesacred sistrum. Now, as though he heard some sound, he halts and lookstowards us, and by the heaven above me, his face is the face of LeoVincey in his youth, the face too of that Kallikrates whose corpse wehad seen in the Caves of Kor!

"Look, look!" gasped Leo, catching me by the arm; but I only nodded myhead in answer. 

The man walks on again, and kneeling before the goddess in the shrine, embraces her feet and makes his prayer to her. Now the gates roll open, and a procession enters, headed by a veiled, noble-looking woman, whobears offerings, which she sets on the table before the shrine, bendingher knee to the effigy of the goddess. Her oblations made, she turnsto depart, and as she goes brushes her hand against the hand of thewatching priest, who hesitates, then follows her. 

When all her company have passed the gate she lingers alone in theshadow of the pylon, whispering to the priest and pointing to the riverand the southern land beyond. He is disturbed; he reasons with her, till, after one swift glance round, she lets drop her veil, bendingtowards him and--their lips meet. 

As time flies her face is turned towards us, and lo! it is the face ofAtene, and amid her dusky hair the aura is reflected in jewelled gold, the symbol of her royal rank. She looks at the shaven priest; she laughsas though in triumph; she points to the westering sun and to the river, and is gone. 

Aye, and that laugh of long ago is echoed by Atene at our side, for shealso laughs in triumph and cries aloud to the old Shaman--"True divinerswere my heart and thou! Behold how I won him in the past. "

Then, like ice on fire fell the cold voice of the Hesea. 

"Be silent, woman, and see how thou didst lose him in the past. "

Lo! the scene changes, and on a couch a lovely shape lies sleeping. She dreams; she is afraid; and over her bends and whispers in her ear ashadowy form clad with the emblems of the goddess in the shrine, but nowwearing upon her head the vulture cap. The woman wakes from her dreamand looks round, and oh! the face is the face of Ayesha as it was seenof us when first she loosed her veil in the Caves of Kor. 

A sigh went up from us; we could not speak who thus fearfully once morebeheld her loveliness. 

Again she sleeps, again the awful form bends over her and whispers. Itpoints, the distance opens. Lo! on a stormy sea a boat, and in the boattwo wrapped in each other's arms, the priest and the royal woman, whileover them like a Vengeance, raw-necked and ragged-pinioned, hovers afollowing vulture, such a vulture as the goddess wore for headdress. 

That picture fades from its burning frame, leaving the vast sheetof fire empty as the noonday sky. Then another forms. First a great, smooth-walled cave carpeted with sand, a cave that we remembered well. Then lying on the sand, now no longer shaven, but golden-haired, thecorpse of the priest staring upwards with his glazed eyes, his whiteskin streaked with blood, and standing over him two women. One holdsa javelin in her hand and is naked except for her flowing hair, andbeautiful, beautiful beyond imagining. The other, wrapped in a darkcloak, beats the air with her hands, casting up her eyes as though tocall the curse of Heaven upon her rival's head. And those women are sheinto whose sleeping ear the shadow had whispered, and the royal Egyptianwho had kissed her lover beneath the pylon gate. 

Slowly all the figures faded; it was as though the fire ate them up, forfirst they became thin and white as ashes; then vanished. The Hesea, whohad been leaning forward, sank backwards in her chair, as if weary withthe toil of her own magic. 

For a while confused pictures flitted rapidly to and fro across the vastmirror of the flame, such as might be reflected from an intelligencecrowded with the memories of over two thousand years which it was tooexhausted to separate and define. 

Wild scenes, multitudes of people, great caves, and in them faces, amongst others our own, starting up distorted and enormous, to growtiny in an instant and depart; stark imaginations of Forms towering anddivine; of Things monstrous and inhuman; armies marching, illimitablebattle-fields, and corpses rolled in blood, and hovering over them thespirits of the slain. 

These pictures died as the others had died, and the fire was blankagain. 

Then the Hesea spoke in a voice very faint at first, that by slowdegrees grew stronger. 

"Is thy question answered, O Atene?"

"I have seen strange sights, Mother, mighty limnings worthy of thymagic, but how know I that they are more than vapours of thine own braincast upon yonder fire to deceive and mock us?"[*]

 [*] Considered in the light of subsequent revelations, vouchsafed to us by Ayesha herself, I am inclined to believe that Atene's shrewd surmise was accurate, and that these fearful pictures, although founded on events that had happened in the past, were in the main "vapours" cast upon the crater fire; visions raised in our minds to "deceive and mock us. "--L. H. H. 

"Listen then, " said the Hesea, in her weary voice, "to theinterpretation of the writing, and cease to trouble me with thy doubts. Many an age ago, but shortly after I began to live this last, long lifeof mine, Isis, the great goddess of Egypt, had her Holy House at Behbit, near the Nile. It is a ruin now, and Isis has departed from Egypt, though still under the Power that fashioned it and her: she rules theworld, for she is Nature's self. Of that shrine a certain man, a Greek, Kallikrates by name, was chief priest, chosen for her service by thefavour of the goddess, vowed to her eternally and to her alone, by thedreadful oath that might not be broken without punishment as eternal. 

"In the flame thou sawest that priest, and here at thy side he stands, re-born, to fulfil his destiny and ours. 

"There lived also a daughter of Pharaoh's house, one Amenartas, who casteyes of love upon this Kallikrates, and, wrapping him in her spells--forthen as now she practised witcheries--caused him to break his oaths andfly with her, as thou sawest written in the flame. Thou, Atene, wastthat Amenartas. 

"Lastly there lived a certain Arabian, named Ayesha, a wise and lovelywoman, who, in the emptiness of her heart, and the sorrow of muchknowledge, had sought refuge in the service of the universal Mother, thinking there to win the true wisdom which ever fled from her. ThatAyesha, as thou sawest also, the goddess visited in a dream, bidding herto follow those faithless ones, and work Heaven's vengeance on them, and promising her in reward victory over death upon the earth and beautysuch as had not been known in woman. 

"She followed far; she awaited them where they wandered. Guided by asage named Noot, one who from the beginning had been appointed to herservice and that of another--thou, O Holly, wast that man--she foundthe essence in which to bathe is to outlive Generations, Faiths, andEmpires, saying--"'I will slay these guilty ones. I will slay thempresently, as I am commanded. '

"Yet Ayesha slew not, for now their sin was her sin, since she who hadnever loved came to desire this man. She led them to the Place of Life, purposing there to clothe him and herself with immortality, and let thewoman die. But it was not so fated, for then the goddess smote. Thelife was Ayesha's as had been sworn, but in its first hour, blinded withjealous rage because he shrank from her unveiled glory to the mortalwoman at his side, this Ayesha brought him to his death, and alas! alas!left herself undying. 

"Thus did the angry goddess work woe upon her faithless ministers, giving to the priest swift doom, to the priestess Ayesha, long remorseand misery, and to the royal Amenartas jealousy more bitter than lifeor death, and the fate of unending effort to win back that love which, defying Heaven, she had dared to steal, but to be bereft thereof again. 

"Lo! now the ages pass, and, at the time appointed, to that undyingAyesha who, whilst awaiting his re-birth, from century to centurymourned his loss, and did bitter penance for her sins, came back theman, her heart's desire. Then, whilst all went well for her and him, again the goddess smote and robbed her of her reward. Before her lover'sliving eyes, sunk in utter shame and misery, the beautiful becamehideous, the undying seemed to die. 

"Yet, O Kallikrates, I tell thee that she died not. Did not Ayesha swearto thee yonder in the Caves of Kor that she would come again? for evenin that awful hour this comfort kissed her soul. Thereafter, Leo Vincey, who art Killikrates, did not her spirit lead thee in thy sleep and standwith thee upon this very pinnacle which should be thy beacon light toguide thee back to her? And didst thou not search these many years, notknowing that she companioned thy every step and strove to guard thee inevery danger, till at length in the permitted hour thou earnest back toher?"

She paused, and looked towards Leo, as though awaiting his reply. 

"Of the first part of the tale, except from the writing on the Sherd, Iknow nothing, Lady, " he said; "of the rest I, or rather we, know that itis true. Yet I would ask a question, and I pray thee of thy charity letthy answer be swift and short. Thou sayest that in the permitted hourI came back to Ayesha. Where then is Ayesha? Art thou Ayesha? And if sowhy is thy voice changed? Why art thou less in stature? Oh! in the nameof whatever god thou dost worship, tell me art thou Ayesha?"

"_I am Ayesha_" she answered solemnly, "that very Ayesha to whom thoudidst pledge thyself eternally. "

"She lies, she lies, " broke in Atene. "I tell thee, husband--for suchwith her own lips she declares thou art to me--that yonder woman whosays that she parted from thee young and beautiful, less than twentyyears ago, is none other than the aged priestess who for a century atleast has borne rule in these halls of Hes. Let her deny it if she can. "

"Oros, " said the Mother, "tell thou the tale of the death of thatpriestess of whom the Khania speaks. "

The priest bowed, and in his usual calm voice, as though he werenarrating some event of every day, said mechanically, and in a fashionthat carried no conviction to my mind--"Eighteen years ago, on thefourth night of the first month of the winter in the year 2333 of thefounding of the worship of Hes on this Mountain, the priestess of whomthe Khania Atene speaks, died of old age in my presence in the hundredand eighth year of her rule. Three hours later we went to lift her fromthe throne on which she died, to prepare her corpse for burial in thisfire, according to the ancient custom. Lo! a miracle, for she livedagain, the same, yet very changed. 

"Thinking this a work of evil magic, the Priests and Priestesses of theCollege rejected her, and would have driven her from the throne. Thereonthe Mountain blazed and thundered, the light from the fiery pillarsdied, and great terror fell upon the souls of men. Then from the deepdarkness above the altar where stands the statue of the Mother of Men, the voice of the living goddess spoke, saying--"'Accept ye her whomI have set to rule over you, that my judgments and my purposes may befulfilled. '

"The Voice ceased, the fiery torches burnt again, and we bowed the kneeto the new Hesea, and named her Mother in the ears of all. That is thetale to which hundreds can bear witness. "

"Thou hearest, Atene, " said the Hesea. "Dost thou still doubt?"

"Aye, " answered the Khania, "for I hold that Oros also lies, or if helies not, then he dreams, or perchance that voice he heard was thineown. Now if thou art this undying woman, this Ayesha, let proof bemade of it to these two men who knew thee in the past. Tear away thosewrappings that guard thy loveliness thus jealously. Let thy shapedivine, thy beauty incomparable, shine out upon our dazzled sight. Surely thy lover will not forget such charms; surely he will know thee, and bow the knee, saying, 'This is my Immortal, and no other woman. '

"Then, and not till then, will I believe that thou art even what thoudeclarest thyself to be, an evil spirit, who bought undying life withmurder and used thy demon loveliness to bewitch the souls of men. "

Now the Hesea on the throne seemed to be much troubled, for she rockedherself to and fro, and wrung her white-draped hands. 

"Kallikrates, " she said in a voice that sounded like a moan, "is thisthy will? For if it be, know that I must obey. Yet I pray thee commandit not, for the time is not yet come; the promise unbreakable is not yetfulfilled. _I am somewhat changed_, Kallikrates, since I kissed thee onthe brow and named thee mine, yonder in the Caves of Kor. "

Leo looked about him desperately, till his eyes fell upon the mockingface of Atene, who cried--"Bid her unveil, my lord. I swear to thee I'llnot be jealous. "

At that taunt he took fire. 

"Aye, " he said, "I bid her unveil, that I may learn the best or worst, who otherwise must die of this suspense. Howsoever changed, if she beAyesha I shall know her, and if she be Ayesha, I shall love her. "

"Bold words, Kallikrates, " answered the Hesea; "yet from my very heart Ithank thee for them: those sweet words of trust and faithfulness to thouknowest not what. Learn now the truth, for I may keep naught back fromthee. When I unveil it is decreed that thou must make thy choice forthe last time on this earth between yonder woman, my rival from thebeginning, and that Ayesha to whom thou art sworn. Thou canst reject meif thou wilt, and no ill shall come to thee, but many a blessing, asmen reckon them--power and wealth and love. Only then thou must tear mymemory from thy heart, for then I leave thee to follow thy fate alone, till at the last the purpose of these deeds and sufferings is madeclear. 

"Be warned. No light ordeal lies before thee. Be warned. I can promisethee naught save such love as woman never gave to man, love thatperchance--I know not--must yet remain unsatisfied upon the earth. "

Then she turned to me and said:

"Oh! thou, Holly, thou true friend, thou guardian from of old, thou, next to him most beloved by me, to thy clear and innocent spiritperchance wisdom may be given that is denied to us, the little childrenwhom thine arms protect. Counsel thou him, my Holly, with the counselthat is given thee, and I will obey thy words and his, and, whateverbefalls, will bless thee from my soul. Aye, and should he cast me off, then in the Land beyond the lands, in the Star appointed, where allearthly passions fade, together will we dwell eternally in a friendshipglorious, thou and I alone. 

"For _thou_ wilt not reject; thy steel, forged in the furnace of puretruth and power, shall not lose its temper in these small fires oftemptation and become a rusted chain to bind thee to another woman'sbreast--until it canker to her heart and thine. "

"Ayesha, I thank thee for thy words, " I answered simply, "and by themand that promise of thine, I, thy poor friend--for more I never thoughtto be--am a thousandfold repaid for many sufferings. This I will add, that for my part I know that thou art She whom we have lost, since, whatever the lips that speak them, those thoughts and words are Ayesha'sand hers alone. "

Thus I spoke, not knowing what else to say, for I was filled with agreat joy, a calm and ineffable satisfaction, which broke thus feeblyfrom my heart. For now I knew that I was dear to Ayesha as I had alwaysbeen dear to Leo; the closest of friends, from whom she never would beparted. What more could I desire?

We fell back; we spoke together, whilst they watched us silently. Whatwe said I do not quite remember, but the end of it was that, as theHesea had done, Leo bade me judge and choose. Then into my mind therecame a clear command, from my own conscience or otherwhere, who cansay? This was the command, that I should bid her to unveil, and let fatedeclare its purposes. 

"Decide, " said Leo, "I cannot bear much more. Like that woman, whoevershe may be, whatever happens, I will not blame you, Horace. "

"Good, " I answered, "I have decided, " and, stepping forward, I said: "Wehave taken counsel, Hes, and it is our will, who would learn the truthand be at rest, that thou shouldst unveil before us, here and now. "

"I hear and obey, " the Priestess answered, in a voice like to that of adying woman, "only, I beseech you both, be pitiful to me, spare me yourmockeries; add not the coals of your hate and scorn to the fires of asoul in hell, for whate'er I am, I became it for thy sake, Kallikrates. Yet, yet I also am athirst for knowledge; for though I know all wisdom, although I wield much power, one thing remains to me to learn--what isthe worth of the love of man, and if, indeed, it can live beyond thehorrors of the grave?"

Then, rising slowly, the Hesea walked, or rather tottered to theunroofed open space in front of the rock chamber, and stood there quitenear to the brink of the flaming gulf beneath. 

"Come hither, Papave, and loose these veils, " she cried in a shrill, thin voice. 

Papave advanced, and with a look of awe upon her handsome face began thetask. She was not a tall woman, yet as she bent over her I noted thatshe seemed to tower above her mistress, the Hesea. 

The outer veils fell revealing more within. These fell also, and nowbefore us stood the mummy-like shape, although it seemed to be of lessstature, of that strange being who had met us in the Place of Bones. Soit would seem that our mysterious guide and the high priestess Hes werethe same. 

Look! Length by length the wrappings sank from her. Would theynever end? How small grew the frame within? She was very short now, unnaturally short for a full-grown woman, and oh! I grew sick at heart. The last bandages uncoiled themselves like shavings from a stick;two wrinkled hands appeared, if hands they could be called. Then thefeet--once I had seen such on the mummy of a princess of Egypt, and evennow by some fantastic play of the mind, I remembered that on her coffinthis princess was named "The Beautiful. "

Everything was gone now, except a shift and a last inner veil about thehead. Hes waved back the priestess Papave, who fell half fainting tothe ground and lay there covering her eyes with her hand. Then utteringsomething like a scream she gripped this veil in her thin talons, toreit away, and with a gesture of uttermost despair, turned and faced us. 

Oh! she was--nay, I will not describe her. I knew her at once, for thushad I seen her last before the Fire of Life, and, strangely enough, through the mask of unutterable age, through that cloak of humanity'slast decay, still shone some resemblance to the glorious and superhumanAyesha: the shape of the face, the air of defiant pride that for aninstant bore her up--I know not what. 

Yes, there she stood, and the fierce light of the heartless fires beatupon her, revealing every shame. 

There was a dreadful silence. I saw Leo's lips turn white and his kneesbegin to give; but by some effort he recovered himself, and stayed stilland upright like a dead man held by a wire. Also I saw Atene--and thisis to her credit--turn her head away. She had desired to see her rivalhumiliated, but that horrible sight shocked her; some sense of theircommon womanhood for the moment touched her pity. Only Simbri, who, Ithink, knew what to expect, and Oros remained quite unmoved; indeed, inthat ghastly silence the latter spoke, and ever afterwards I loved himfor his words. 

"What of the vile vessel, rotted in the grave of time? What of the fleshthat perishes?" he said. "Look through the ruined lamp to the eternallight which burns within. Look through its covering carrion to theinextinguishable soul. "

My heart applauded these noble sentiments. I was of one mind with Oros, but oh, Heaven! I felt that my brain was going, and I wished that itwould go, so that I might hear and see no more. 

That look which gathered on Ayesha's mummy face? At first there had beena little hope, but the hope died, and anguish, anguish, _anguish_ tookits place. 

Something must be done, this could not endure. My lips clave together, no word would come; my feet refused to move. 

I began to contemplate the scenery. How wonderful were that sheet offlame, and the ripples which ran up and down its height. How awesome itsbillowy crest. It would be warm lying in yonder red gulf below with thedead Rassen, but oh! I wished that I shared his bed and had finishedwith these agonies. 

Thank Heaven, Atene was speaking. She had stepped to the side of thenaked-headed Thing, and stood by it in all the pride of her rich beautyand perfect womanhood. 

"Leo Vincey, or Kallikrates, " said Atene, "take which name thou wilt;thou thinkest ill of me perhaps, but know that at least I scorn to mocka rival in her mortal shame. She told us a wild tale but now, a taletrue or false, but more false than true, I think, of how I robbeda goddess of a votary, and of how that goddess--Ayesha's selfperchance--was avenged upon me for the crime of yielding to the man Iloved. Well, let goddesses--if such indeed there be--take their way andwork their will upon the helpless, and I, a mortal, will take mineuntil the clutch of doom closes round my throat and chokes out life andmemory, and I too am a goddess--or a clod. 

"Meanwhile, thou man, I shame not to say it before all these witnesses, I love thee, and it seems that this--this woman or goddess--loves theealso, and she has told us that now, _now_ thou must choose between usonce and for ever. She has told us too that if I sinned against Isis, whose minister be it remembered she declares herself, herself she sinnedyet more. For she would have taken thee both from a heavenly mistressand from an earthly bride, and yet snatch that guerdon of immortalitywhich is hers to-day. Therefore if I am evil, she is worse, nor does theflame that burns within the casket whereof Oros spoke shine so very pureand bright. 

"Choose thou then Leo Vincey, and let there be an end. I vaunt notmyself; thou knowest what I have been and seest what I am. Yet I cangive thee love and happiness and, mayhap, children to follow after thee, and with them some place and power. What yonder witch can give thee thoucanst guess. Tales of the past, pictures on the flame, wise maxims andhoneyed words, and after thou art dead once more, promises perhaps, ofjoy to come when that terrible goddess whom she serves so closely shallbe appeased. I have spoken. Yet I will add a word:

"O thou for whom, if the Hesea's tale be true, I did once lay down myroyal rank and dare the dangers of an unsailed sea; O thou whom in agesgone I would have sheltered with my frail body from the sorceries ofthis cold, self-seeking witch; O thou whom but a little while ago at myown life's risk I drew from death in yonder river, choose, choose!"

To all this speech, so moderate yet so cruel, so well-reasoned andyet so false, because of its glosses and omissions, the huddled Ayeshaseemed to listen with a fierce intentness. Yet she made no answer, nota single word, not a sign even; she who had said her say and scorned toplead her part. 

I looked at Leo's ashen face. He leaned towards Atene, drawn perhaps bythe passion shining in her beauteous eyes, then of a sudden straightenedhimself, shook his head and sighed. The colour flamed to his brow, andhis eyes grew almost happy. 

"After all, " he said, thinking aloud rather than speaking, "I have to donot with unknowable pasts or with mystic futures, but with the thingsof my own life. Ayesha waited for me through two thousand years; Atenecould marry a man she hated for power's sake, and then could poison him, as perhaps she would poison me when I wearied her. I know not what oathsI swore to Amenartas, if such a woman lived. I remember the oaths Iswore to Ayesha. If I shrink from her now, why then my life is a lie andmy belief a fraud; then love will not endure the touch of age and nevercan survive the grave. 

"Nay, remembering what Ayesha was I take her as she is, in faith andhope of what she shall be. At least love is immortal and if it must, whylet it feed on memory alone till death sets free the soul. "

Then stepping to where stood the dreadful, shrivelled form, Leo kneltdown before it and kissed her on the brow. 

Yes, he kissed the trembling horror of that wrinkled head, and I thinkit was one of the greatest, bravest acts ever done by man. 

"Thou hast chosen, " said Atene in a cold voice, "and I tell thee, LeoVincey, that the manner of thy choice makes me mourn my loss the more. Take now thy--thy bride and let me hence. "

But Ayesha still said no word and made no sign, till presently she sankupon her bony knees and began to pray aloud. These were the words ofher prayer, as I heard them, though the exact Power to which it wasaddressed is not very easy to determine, as I never discovered who orwhat it was that she worshipped in her heart--"O Thou minister of thealmighty Will, thou sharp sword in the hand of Doom, thou inevitable Lawthat art named Nature; thou who wast crowned as Isis of the Egyptians, but art the goddess of all climes and ages; thou that leadest the manto the maid, and layest the infant on his mother's breast, that bringestour dust to its kindred dust, that givest life to death, and into thedark of death breathest the light of life again; thou who causest theabundant earth to bear, whose smile is Spring, whose laugh is the rippleof the sea, whose noontide rest is drowsy Summer, and whose sleep isWinter's night, hear thou the supplication of thy chosen child andminister:

"Of old thou gavest me thine own strength with deathless days, andbeauty above every daughter of this Star. But I sinned against theesore, and for my sin I paid in endless centuries of solitude, in thevileness that makes me loathsome to my lover's eyes, and for its diademof perfect power sets upon my brow this crown of naked mockery. Yet inthy breath, the swift essence that brought me light, that brought megloom, thou didst vow to me that I who cannot die should once more pluckthe lost flower of my immortal loveliness from this foul slime of shame. 

"Therefore, merciful Mother that bore me, to thee I make my prayer. Oh, let his true love atone my sin; or, if it may not be, then give medeath, the last and most blessed of thy boons!"

CHAPTER XVI

THE CHANGE

She ceased, and there was a long, long silence. Leo and I looked ateach other in dismay. We had hoped against hope that this beautifuland piteous prayer, addressed apparently to the great, dumb spirit ofNature, would be answered. That meant a miracle, but what of it? Theprolongation of the life of Ayesha was a miracle, though it is true thatsome humble reptiles are said to live as long as she had done. 

The transference of her spirit from the Caves of Kor to this temple wasa miracle, that is, to our western minds, though the dwellers in theseparts of Central Asia would not hold it so. That she should re-appearwith the same hideous body was a miracle. But was it the same body? Wasit not the body of the last Hesea? One very ancient woman is much likeanother, and eighteen years of the working of the soul or identitywithin might well wear away their trivial differences and give to theborrowed form some resemblance to that which it had left. 

At least the figures on that mirror of the flame were a miracle. Nay, why so? A hundred clairvoyants in a hundred cities can produce or seetheir like in water and in crystal, the difference being only oneof size. They were but reflections of scenes familiar to the mind ofAyesha, or perhaps not so much as that. Perhaps they were only phantasmscalled up in _our_ minds by her mesmeric force. 

Nay, none of these things were true miracles, since all, howeverstrange, might be capable of explanation. What right then had we toexpect a marvel now?

Such thoughts as these rose in our minds as the endless minutes wereborn and died and--nothing happened. 

Yes, at last one thing did happen. The light from the sheet of flamedied gradually away as the flame itself sank downwards into the abyssesof the pit. But about this in itself there was nothing wonderful, foras we had seen with our own eyes from afar this fire varied much, andindeed it was customary for it to die down at the approach of dawn, which now drew very near. 

Still that onward-creeping darkness added to the terrors of the scene. By the last rays of the lurid light we saw Ayesha rise and advance somefew paces to that little tongue of rock at the edge of the pit offwhich the body of Rassen had been hurled; saw her standing on it, also, looking like some black, misshapen imp against the smoky glow whichstill rose from the depths beneath. 

Leo would have gone forward to her, for he believed that she was aboutto hurl herself to doom, which indeed I thought was her design. But thepriest Oros, and the priestess Papave, obeying, I suppose, some secretcommand that reached them I know not how, sprang to him and seizing hisarms, held him back. Then it became quite dark, and through the darknesswe could hear Ayesha chanting a dirge-like hymn in some secret, holytongue which was unknown to us. 

A great flake of fire floated through the gloom, rocking to and fro likesome vast bird upon its pinions. We had seen many such that night, tornby the gale from the crest of the blazing curtain as I have described. But--but--"Horace, " whispered Leo through his chattering teeth, "thatflame is coming up _against the wind!_"

"Perhaps the wind has changed, " I answered, though I knew well that ithad not; that it blew stronger than ever from the south. 

Nearer and nearer sailed the rocking flame, two enormous wings was theshape of it, with something dark between them. It reached the littlepromontory. The wings appeared to fold themselves about the dwarfedfigure that stood thereon--illuminating it for a moment. Then the lightwent out of them and they vanished--everything vanished. 

A while passed, it may have been one minute or ten, when suddenly thepriestess Papave, in obedience to some summons which we could not hear, crept by me. I knew that it was she because her woman's garments touchedme as she went. Another space of silence and of deep darkness, duringwhich I heard Papave return, breathing in short, sobbing gasps like onewho is very frightened. 

Ah! I thought, Ayesha has cast herself into the pit. The tragedy isfinished!

Then it was that the wondrous music came. Of course it _may_ have beenonly the sound of priests chanting beyond us, but I do not think so, since its quality was quite different to any that I heard in the templebefore or afterwards: to any indeed that ever I heard upon the earth. 

I cannot describe it, but it was awful to listen to, yet mostentrancing. From the black, smoke-veiled pit where the fire had burnedit welled and echoed--now a single heavenly voice, now a sweet chorus, and now an air-shaking thunder as of a hundred organs played to time. 

That diverse and majestic harmony seemed to include, to expressevery human emotion, and I have often thought since then that in itsall-embracing scope and range, this, the song or paean of her re-birthwas symbolical of the infinite variety of Ayesha's spirit. Yet like thatspirit it had its master notes; power, passion, suffering, mystery andloveliness. Also there could be no doubt as to the general significanceof the chant by whomsoever it was sung. It was the changeful story of amighty soul; it was worship, worship, worship of a queen divine!

Like slow clouds of incense fading to the bannered roof of some highchoir, the bursts of unearthly melodies grew faint; in the far distanceof the hollow pit they wailed themselves away. 

Look! from the east a single ray of upward-springing light. 

"Behold the dawn, " said the quiet voice of Oros. 

That ray pierced the heavens above our heads, a very sword of flame. Itsank downwards, swiftly. Suddenly it fell, not upon us, for as yetthe rocky walls of our chamber warded it away, but on to the littlepromontory at its edge. 

Oh! and there--a Glory covered with a single garment--stood a shapecelestial. It seemed to be asleep, since the eyes were shut. Or was itdead, for at first that face was a face of death? Look, the sunlightplayed upon her, shining through the thin veil, the dark eyes openedlike the eyes of a wondering child; the blood of life flowed up theivory bosom into the pallid cheeks; the raiment of black and curlingtresses wavered in the wind; the head of the jewelled snake that heldthem sparkled beneath her breast. 

Was it an illusion, or was this Ayesha as she had been when she enteredthe rolling flame in the caverns of Kor? Our knees gave way beneath us, and down, our arms about each other's necks, Leo and I sank till welay upon the ground. Then a voice sweeter than honey, softer than thewhisper of a twilight breeze among the reeds, spoke near to us, andthese were the words it said--"_Come hither to me, Kallikrates, whowould pay thee back that redeeming kiss of faith and love thou gavest mebut now!_"

Leo struggled to his feet. Like a drunken man he staggered to whereAyesha stood, then overcome, sank before her on his knees. 

"Arise, " she said, "it is I who should kneel to thee, " and she stretchedout her hand to raise him, whispering in his ear the while. 

Still he would not, or could not rise, so very slowly she bent over himand touched him with her lips upon the brow. Next she beckoned to me. Icame and would have knelt also, but she suffered it not. 

"Nay, " she said, in her rich, remembered voice, "thou art no suitor; itshall not be. Of lovers and worshippers henceforth as before, I can finda plenty if I will, or even if I will it not. But where shall I findanother friend like to thee, O Holly, whom thus I greet?" and leaningtowards me, with her lips she touched me also on the brow--just touchedme, and no more. 

Fragrant was Ayesha's breath as roses, the odour of roses clung to herlovely hair; her sweet body gleamed like some white sea-pearl; a faintbut palpable radiance crowned her head; no sculptor ever fashioned sucha marvel as the arm with which she held her veil about her; no stars inheaven ever shone more purely bright than did her calm, entranced eyes. 

Yet it is true, even with her lips upon me, all I felt for her was alove divine into which no human passion entered. Once, I acknowledge tomy shame, it was otherwise, but I am an old man now and have done withsuch frailties. Moreover, had not Ayesha named me Guardian, Protector, Friend, and sworn to me that with her and Leo I should ever dwell whereall earthly passions fail. I repeat: what more could I desire?

Taking Leo by the hand Ayesha returned with him into the shelter of therock-hewn chamber and when she entered its shadows, shivered a little asthough with cold. I rejoiced at this I remember, for it seemed to showme that she still was human, divine as she might appear. Here her priestand priestess prostrated themselves before her new-born splendour, butshe motioned to them to rise, laying a hand upon the head of each asthough in blessing. "I am cold, " she said, "give me my mantle, " andPapave threw the purple-broidered garment upon her shoulders, whence nowit hung royally, like a coronation robe. 

"Nay, " she went on, "it is not this long-lost shape of mine, which inhis kiss my lord gave back to me, that shivers in the icy wind, it is myspirit's self bared to the bitter breath of Destiny. O my love, mylove, offended Powers are not easily appeased, even when they appear topardon, and though I shall no more be made a mockery in thy sight, howlong is given us together upon the world I know not; but a little hourperchance. Well, ere we pass otherwhere, we will make it glorious, drinking as deeply of the cup of joy as we have drunk of those ofsorrows and of shame. This place is hateful to me, for here I havesuffered more than ever woman did on earth or phantom in the deepesthell. It is hateful, it is ill-omened. I pray that never again may Ibehold it. 

"Say, what is it passes in thy mind, magician?" and of a sudden sheturned fiercely upon the Shaman Simbri who stood near, his arms crossedupon his breast. 

"Only, thou Beautiful, " he answered, "a dim shadow of things to come. Ihave what thou dost lack with all thy wisdom, the gift of foresight, andhere I see a dead man lying----"

"Another word, " she broke in with fury born of some dark fear, "and thoushalt be that man. Fool, put me not in mind that now I have strengthagain to rid me of the ancient foes I hate, lest I should use a swordthou thrustest to my hand, " and her eyes that had been so calm andhappy, blazed upon him like fire. 

The old wizard felt their fearsome might and shrank from it till thewall stayed him. 

"Great One! now as ever I salute thee. Yes, now as at the firstbeginning whereof we know alone, " he stammered. "I had no more to say;the face of that dead man was not revealed to me. I saw only that somecrowned Khan of Kaloon to be shall lie here, as he whom the flame hastaken lay an hour ago. "

"Doubtless many a Khan of Kaloon will lie here, " she answered coldly. "Fear not, Shaman, my wrath is past, yet be wise, mine enemy, andprophesy no more evil to the great. Come, let us hence. "

So, still led by Leo, she passed from that chamber and stood presentlyupon the apex of the soaring pillar. The sun was up now, flooding theMountain flanks, the plains of Kaloon far beneath and the distant, misty peaks with a sheen of gold. Ayesha stood considering the mightyprospect, then addressing Leo, she said--"The world is very fair; I giveit all to thee. "

Now Atene spoke for the first time. 

"Dost thou mean Hes--if thou art still the Hesea and not a demonarisen from the Pit--that thou offerest my territories to this man as alove-gift? If so, I tell thee that first thou must conquer them. "

"Ungentle are thy words and mien, " answered Ayesha, "yet I forgive themboth, for I also can scorn to mock a rival in my hour of victory. Whenthou wast the fairer, thou didst proffer him these very lands, but say, who is the fairer now? Look at us, all of you, and judge, " and she stoodby Atene and smiled. 

The Khania was a lovely woman. Never to my knowledge have I seen onelovelier, but oh! how coarse and poor she showed beside the wild, ethereal beauty of Ayesha born again. For that beauty was not altogetherhuman, far less so indeed than it had been in the Caves of Kor; now itwas the beauty of a spirit. 

The little light that always shone upon Ayesha's brow; the wide-set, maddening eyes which were filled sometimes with the fire of the starsand sometimes with the blue darkness of the heavens wherein they float;the curved lips, so wistful yet so proud; the tresses fine as glossysilk that still spread and rippled as though with a separate life; thegeneral air, not so much of majesty as of some secret power hard tobe restrained, which strove in that delicate body and proclaimed itspresence to the most careless; that flame of the soul within whereofOros had spoken, shining now through no "vile vessel, " but in a vaseof alabaster and of pearl--none of these things and qualities werealtogether human. I felt it and was afraid, and Atene felt it also, forshe answered--"I am but a woman. What thou art, thou knowest best. Stilla taper cannot shine midst yonder fires or a glow-worm against a fallenstar; nor can my mortal flesh compare with the glory thou hast earnedfrom hell in payment for thy gifts and homage to the lord of ill. Yet aswoman I am thy equal, and as spirit I shall be thy mistress, when robbedof these borrowed beauties thou, Ayesha, standest naked and ashamedbefore the Judge of all whom thou hast deserted and defied; yes, as thoustoodest but now upon yonder brink above the burning pit where thou yetshalt wander wailing thy lost love. For this I know, mine enemy, that_man and spirit cannot mate_, " and Atene ceased, choking in her bitterrage and jealousy. 

Now watching Ayesha, I saw her wince a little beneath these evil-omenedwords, saw also a tinge of grey touch the carmine of her lips and herdeep eyes grow dark and troubled. But in a moment her fears had gone andshe was asking in a voice that rang clear as silver bells--"Why ravestthou, Atene, like some short-lived summer torrent against the barrierof a seamless cliff? Dost think, poor creature of an hour, to sweep awaythe rock of my eternal strength with foam and bursting bubbles? Havedone and listen. I do not seek thy petty rule, who, if I will it, cantake the empire of the world. Yet learn, thou holdest it of my hand. More--I purpose soon to visit thee in thy city--choose thou if it shallbe in peace or war! Therefore, Khania, purge thy court and amend thylaws, that when I come I may find contentment in the land which now itlacks, and confirm thee in thy government. My counsel to thee also isthat thou choose some worthy man to husband, let him be whom thou wilt, if only he is just and upright and one upon whom thou mayest rest, needing wise guidance as thou dost, Atene. Come, now, my guests, letus hence, " and she walked past the Khania, stepping fearlessly upon thevery edge of the wind-swept, rounded peak. 

In a second the attempt had been made and failed, so quickly indeed thatit was not until Leo and I compared our impressions afterwards that wecould be sure of what had happened. As Ayesha passed her, the maddenedKhania drew a hidden dagger and struck with all her force at her rival'sback. I saw the knife vanish to the hilt in her body, as I thought, butthis cannot have been so since it fell to the ground, and she who shouldhave been dead, took no hurt at all. 

Feeling that she had failed, with a movement like the sudden lurch ofa ship, Atene thrust at Ayesha, proposing to hurl her to destructionin the depths beneath. Lo! her outstretched arms went past her althoughAyesha never seemed to stir. Yes it was Atene who would have fallen, Atene who already fell, had not Ayesha put out her hand and caughther by the wrist, bearing all her backward-swaying weight as easily asthough she were but an infant, and without effort drawing her to safety. 

"Foolish woman!" she said in pitying tones. "Wast thou so vexed thatthou wouldst strip thyself of the pleasant shape which heaven hasgiven thee? Surely this is madness, Atene, for how knowest thou in whatlikeness thou mightest be sent to tread the earth again? As no queenperhaps, but as a peasant's child, deformed, unsightly; for such reward, it is said, is given to those that achieve self-murder. Or even, as manythink, shaped like a beast--a snake, a cat, a tigress! Why, see, " andshe picked the dagger from the ground and cast it into the air, "thatpoint was poisoned. Had it but pricked thee now!" and she smiled at herand shook her head. 

But Atene could bear no more of this mockery, more venomed than her ownsteel. 

"Thou art not mortal, " she wailed. "How can I prevail against thee? ToHeaven I leave thy punishment, " and there upon the rocky peak Atene sankdown and wept. 

Leo stood nearest to her, and the sight of this royal woman in hermisery proved too much for him to bear. Stepping to her side he stoopedand lifted her to her feet, muttering some kind words. For a moment sherested on his arm, then shook herself free of him and took the profferedhand of her old uncle Simbri. 

"I see, " said Ayesha, "that as ever, thou art courteous, my lord Leo, but it is best that her own servant should take charge of her, for--shemay hide more daggers. Come, the day grows, and surely we need rest. "

CHAPTER XVII

THE BETROTHAL

Together we descended the multitudinous steps and passed the endless, rock-hewn passages till we came to the door of the dwelling of thehigh-priestess and were led through it into a hall beyond. Here Ayeshaparted from us saying that she was outworn, as indeed she seemed to bewith an utter weariness, not of the body, but of the spirit. For herdelicate form drooped like a rain-laden lily, her eyes grew dim as thoseof a person in a trance, and her voice came in a soft, sweet whisper, the voice of one speaking in her sleep. 

"Good-bye, " she said to us. "Oros will guard you both, and lead you tome at the appointed time. Rest you well. "

So she went and the priest led us into a beautiful apartment that openedon to a sheltered garden. So overcome were we also by all that we hadendured and seen, that we could scarcely speak, much less discuss thesemarvellous events. 

"My brain swims, " said Leo to Oros, "I desire to sleep. "

He bowed and conducted us to a chamber where were beds, and on these weflung ourselves down and slept, dreamlessly, like little children. 

When we awoke it was afternoon. We rose and bathed, then saying thatwe wished to be alone, went together into the garden where even atthis altitude, now, at the end of August, the air was still mild andpleasant. Behind a rock by a bed of campanulas and other mountainflowers and ferns, was a bench near to the banks of a little stream, onwhich we seated ourselves. 

"What have you to say, Horace?" asked Leo laying his hand upon my arm. 

"Say?" I answered. "That things have come about most marvellously; thatwe have dreamed aright and laboured not in vain; that you are the mostfortunate of men and should be the most happy. "

He looked at me somewhat strangely, and answered--"Yes, of course;she is lovely, is she not--but, " and his voice dropped to its lowestwhisper, "I wish, Horace, that Ayesha were a little more human, even ashuman as she was in the Caves of Kor. I don't think she is quite fleshand blood, I felt it when she kissed me--if you can call it a kiss--forshe barely touched my hair. Indeed how can she be who changed thus in anhour? Flesh and blood are not born of flame, Horace. "

"Are you sure that she was so born?" I asked. "Like the visions on thefire, may not that hideous shape have been but an illusion of our minds?May she not be still the same Ayesha whom we knew in Kor, not re-born, but wafted hither by some mysterious agency?"

"Perhaps. Horace, we do not know--I think that we shall never know. But I admit that to me the thing is terrifying. I am drawn to her byan infinite attraction, her eyes set my blood on fire, the touch of herhand is as that of a wand of madness laid upon my brain. And yet betweenus there is some wall, invisible, still present. Or perhaps it is onlyfancy. But, Horace, I think that she is afraid of Atene. Why, in theold days the Khania would have been dead and forgotten in an hour--youremember Ustane?"

"Perhaps she may have grown more gentle, Leo, who, like ourselves, haslearned hard lessons. "

"Yes, " he answered, "I hope that is so. At any rate she has grown moredivine--only, Horace, what kind of a husband shall I be for that brightbeing, if ever I get so far?"

"Why should you not get so far?" I asked angrily, for his words jarredupon my tense nerves. 

"I don't know, " he answered, "but on general principles do you thinkthat such fortune will be allowed to a man? Also, what did Atene meanwhen she said that man and spirit cannot mate--and--other things?"

"She meant that she _hoped_ they could not, I imagine, and, Leo, it isuseless to trouble yourself with forebodings that are more fitted to myyears than yours, and probably are based on nothing. Be a philosopher, Leo. You have striven by wonderful ways such as are unknown in thehistory of the world; you have attained. Take the goods the gods provideyou--the glory, the love and the power--and let the future look toitself. "

Before he could answer Oros appeared from round the rock, and, bowingwith more than his usual humility to Leo, said that the Hesea desiredour presence at a service in the Sanctuary. Rejoiced at the prospectof seeing her again before he had hoped to do so, Leo sprang up and weaccompanied him back to our apartment. 

Here priests were waiting, who, somewhat against his will, trimmed hishair and beard, and would have done the same for me had I not refusedtheir offices. Then they placed gold-embroidered sandals on our feet andwrapped Leo in a magnificent, white robe, also richly worked with goldand purple; a somewhat similar robe but of less ornate design beinggiven to me. Lastly, a silver sceptre was thrust into his hand and intomine a plain wand. This sceptre was shaped like a crook, and the sightof it gave me some clue to the nature of the forthcoming ceremony. 

"The crook of Osiris!" I whispered to Leo. 

"Look here, " he answered, "I don't want to impersonate any Egyptian god, or to be mixed up in their heathen idolatries; in fact, I won't. "

"Better go through with it, " I suggested, "probably it is only somethingsymbolical. "

But Leo, who, notwithstanding the strange circumstances connected withhis life, retained the religious principles in which I had educated him, very strongly indeed, refused to move an inch until the nature of thisservice was made clear to him. Indeed he expressed himself upon thesubject with vigour to Oros. At first the priest seemed puzzled what todo, then explained that the forthcoming ceremony was one of betrothal. 

On learning this Leo raised no further objections, asking only with somenervousness whether the Khania would be present. Oros answered "No, " asshe had already departed to Kaloon, vowing war and vengeance. 

Then we were led through long passages, till finally we emerged into thegallery immediately in front of the great wooden doors of the apse. Atour approach these swung open and we entered it, Oros going first, thenLeo, then myself, and following us, the procession of attendant priests. 

As soon as our eyes became accustomed to the dazzling glare of theflaming pillars, we saw that some great rite was in progress in thetemple, for in front of the divine statue of Motherhood, white-robedand arranged in serried ranks, stood the company of the priests tothe number of over two hundred, and behind these the company of thepriestesses. Facing this congregation and a little in advance of the twopillars of fire that flared on either side of the shrine, Ayesha herselfwas seated in a raised chair so that she could be seen of all, while toher right stood a similar chair of which I could guess the purpose. 

She was unveiled and gorgeously apparelled, though save for the whitebeneath, her robes were those of a queen rather than of a priestess. About her radiant brow ran a narrow band of gold, whence rose the headof a hooded asp cut out of a single, crimson jewel, beneath which inendless profusion the glorious waving hair flowed down and around, hiding even the folds of her purple cloak. 

This cloak, opening in front, revealed an undertunic of white silk cutlow upon her bosom and kept in place by a golden girdle, a double-headedsnake, so like to that which She had worn in Kor that it might have beenthe same. Her naked arms were bare of ornament, and in her right handshe held the jewelled sistrum set with its gems and bells. 

No empress could have looked more royal and no woman was ever half solovely, for to Ayesha's human beauty was added a spiritual glory, her heritage alone. Seeing her we could see naught else. The rhythmicmovement of the bodies of the worshippers, the rolling grandeur of theirchant of welcome echoed from the mighty roof, the fearful torches ofliving flame; all these things were lost on us. For there re-born, enthroned, her arms stretched out in gracious welcome, sat that perfectand immortal woman, the appointed bride of one of us, the friend andlady of the other, her divine presence breathing power, mystery andlove. 

On we marched between the ranks of hierophants, till Oros and thepriests left us and we stood alone face to face with Ayesha. Now shelifted her sceptre and the chant ceased. In the midst of the followingsilence, she rose from her seat and gliding down its steps, came towhere Leo stood and touched him on the forehead with her sistrum, cryingin a loud, sweet voice--"Behold the Chosen of the Hesea!" whereon allthat audience echoed in a shout of thunder--"Welcome to the Chosen ofthe Hesea!"

Then while the echoes of that glad cry yet rang round the rocky walls, Ayesha motioned to me to stand at her side, and taking Leo by the handdrew him towards her, so that now he faced the white-robed company. Holding him thus she began to speak in clear and silvery tones. 

"Priests and priestesses of Hes, servants with her of the Mother of theworld, hear me. Now for the first time I appear among you as _I_ am, youwho heretofore have looked but on a hooded shape, not knowing its formor fashion. Learn now the reason that I draw my veil. Ye see this man, whom ye believed a stranger that with his companion had wandered toour shrine. I tell you that he is no stranger; that of old, in livesforgotten, he was my lord who now comes to seek his love again. Say, isit not so, Kallikrates?"

"It is so, " answered Leo. 

"Priests and priestesses of Hes, as ye know, from the beginning it hasbeen the right and custom of her who holds my place to choose one to beher lord. Is it not so?"

"It is so, O Hes, " they answered. 

She paused a while, then with a gesture of infinite sweetness turned toLeo, bent towards him thrice and slowly sank upon her knee. 

"Say thou, " Ayesha said, looking up at him with her wondrous eyes, "saybefore these here gathered, and all those witnesses whom thou canst notsee, dost thou again accept me as thy affianced bride?"

"Aye, Lady, " he answered, in a deep but shaken voice, "now and forever. "

Then while all watched, in the midst of a great silence, Ayesha rose, cast down her sistrum sceptre that rang upon the rocky floor, andstretched out her arms towards him. 

Leo also bent towards her, and would have kissed her upon the lips. ButI who watched, saw his face grow white as it drew near to hers. Whilethe radiance crept from her brow to his, turning his bright hair togold, I saw also that this strong man trembled like a reed and seemed asthough he were about to fall. 

I think that Ayesha noted it too, for ere ever their lips met, shethrust him from her and again that grey mist of fear gathered on herface. 

In an instant it passed. She had slipped from him and with her hand heldhis hand as though to support him. Thus they stood till his feet grewfirm and his strength returned. 

Oros restored the sceptre to her, and lifting it she said--"O love andlord, take thou the place prepared for thee, where thou shalt sit forever at my side, for with myself I give thee more than thou canst knowor than I will tell thee now. Mount thy throne, O Affianced of Hes, andreceive the worship of thy priests. "

"Nay, " he answered with a start as that word fell upon his ears. "Hereand now I say it once and for all. I am but a man who know nothing ofstrange gods, their attributes and ceremonials. None shall bow the kneeto me and on earth, Ayesha, I bow mine to thee alone. "

Now at this bold speech some of those who heard it looked astonished andwhispered to each other, while a voice called--"Beware, thou Chosen, ofthe anger of the Mother!"

Again for a moment Ayesha looked afraid, then with a little laugh, sweptthe thing aside, saying--"Surely with that I should be content. For me, O Love, thy adoration for thee the betrothal song, no more. "

So having no choice Leo mounted the throne, where notwithstanding hissplendid presence, enhanced as it was by those glittering robes, helooked ill enough at ease, as indeed must any man of his faith andrace. Happily however, if some act of semi-idolatrous homage had beenproposed, Ayesha found a means to prevent its celebration, and soon allsuch matters were forgotten both by the singers who sang, and us wholistened to the majestic chant that followed. 

Of its words unfortunately we were able to understand but little, bothbecause of the volume of sound and of the secret, priestly language inwhich it was given, though its general purport could not be mistaken. 

The female voices began it, singing very low, and conveying a strangeimpression of time and distance. Now followed bursts of gladnessalternating with melancholy chords suggesting sighs and tears andsorrows long endured, and at the end a joyous, triumphant paean thrownto and fro between the men and women singers, terminating in oneunited chorus repeated again and again, louder and yet louder, till itculminated in a veritable crash of melody, then of a sudden ceased. 

Ayesha rose and waved her sceptre, whereon all the company bowed thrice, then turned and breaking into some sweet, low chant that sounded like alullaby, marched, rank after rank, across the width of the Sanctuary andthrough the carven doors which closed behind the last of them. 

When all had gone, leaving us alone, save for the priest Oros and thepriestess Papave, who remained in attendance on their mistress, Ayesha, who sat gazing before her with dreaming, empty eyes, seemed to awake, for she rose and said--"A noble chant, is it not, and an ancient? It wasthe wedding song of the feast of Isis and Osiris at Behbit in Egypt, andthere I heard it before ever I saw the darksome Caves of Kor. Often haveI observed, my Holly, that music lingers longer than aught else in thischangeful world, though it is rare that the very words should remainunvaried. Come, beloved--tell me, by what name shall I call thee? Thouart Kallikrates and yet----"

"Call me Leo, Ayesha, " he answered, "as I was christened in the onlylife of which I have any knowledge. This Kallikrates seems to have beenan unlucky man, and the deeds he did, if in truth he was aught otherthan a tool in the hand of destiny, have bred no good to the inheritorsof his body--or his spirit, whichever it may be--or to those women withwhom his life was intertwined. Call me Leo, then, for of Kallikrates Ihave had enough since that night when I looked upon the last of him inKor. "

"Ah! I remember, " she answered, "when thou sawest thyself lying in thatnarrow bed, and I sang thee a song, did I not, of the past and of thefuture? I can recall two lines of it; the rest I have forgotten--

 "'Onward, never weary, clad with splendour for a robe! Till accomplished be our fate, and the night is rushing down. '

"Yes, my Leo, now indeed we are 'clad with splendour for a robe, ' andnow our fate draws near to its accomplishment. Then perchance will comethe down-rushing of the night;" and she sighed, looked up tenderly andsaid, "See, I am talking to thee in Arabic. Hast thou forgotten it?"

"No. "

"Then let it be our tongue, for I love it best of all, who lisped it atmy mother's knee. Now leave me here alone awhile; I would think. Also, "she added thoughtfully, and speaking with a strange and impressiveinflexion of the voice, "there are some to whom I must give audience. "

So we went, all of us, supposing that Ayesha was about to receive adeputation of the Chiefs of the Mountain Tribes who came to felicitateher upon her betrothal. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE THIRD ORDEAL

An hour, two hours passed, while we strove to rest in our sleepingplace, but could not, for some influence disturbed us. 

"Why does not Ayesha come?" asked Leo at length, pausing in his walk upand down the room. "I want to see her again; I cannot bear to be apartfrom her. I feel as though she were drawing me to her. "

"How can I tell you? Ask Oros; he is outside the door. "

So he went and asked him, but Oros only smiled, and answered that theHesea had not entered her chamber, so doubtless she must still remain inthe Sanctuary. 

"Then I am going to look for her. Come, Oros, and you too, Horace. "

Oros bowed, but declined, saying that he was bidden to bide at our door, adding that we, "to whom all the paths were open, " could return to theSanctuary if we thought well. 

"I do think well, " replied Leo sharply. "Will you come, Horace, or shallI go without you?"

I hesitated. The Sanctuary was a public place, it is true, but Ayeshahad said that she desired to be alone there for awhile. Without morewords, however, Leo shrugged his shoulders and started. 

"You will never find your way, " I said, and followed him. 

We went down the long passages that were dimly lighted with lamps andcame to the gallery. Here we found no lamps; still we groped our wayto the great wooden doors. They were shut, but Leo pushed upon themimpatiently, and one of them swung open a little, so that we couldsqueeze ourselves between them. As we passed it closed noiselesslybehind us. 

Now we should have been in the Sanctuary, and in the full blaze ofthose awful columns of living fire. But they were out, or we had strayedelsewhere; at least the darkness was intense. We tried to work our wayback to the doors again, but could not. We were lost. 

More, something oppressed us; we did not dare to speak. We went on a fewpaces and stopped, for we became aware that we were not alone. Indeed, it seemed to me that we stood in the midst of a thronging multitude, but not of men and women. Beings pressed about us; we could feel theirrobes, yet could not touch them; we could feel their breath, but it was_cold_. The air stirred all round us as they passed to and fro, passedin endless numbers. It was as though we had entered a cathedral filledwith the vast congregation of all the dead who once had worshippedthere. We grew afraid--my face was damp with fear, the hair stood upupon my head. We seemed to have wandered into a hall of the Shades. 

At length light appeared far away, and we saw that it emanated from thetwo pillars of fire which had burned on either side of the Shrine, thatof a sudden became luminous. So we were in the Sanctuary, and stillnear to the doors. Now those pillars were not bright; they were lowand lurid; the rays from them scarcely reached us standing in the denseshadow. 

But if we could not be seen in them we still could see. Look! Yonder satAyesha on a throne, and oh! she was awful in her death-like majesty. The blue light of the sunken columns played upon her, and in it shesat erect, with such a face and mien of pride as no human creature everwore. Power seemed to flow from her; yes, it flowed from those wide-set, glittering eyes like light from jewels. 

She seemed a Queen of Death receiving homage from the dead. More, she_was_ receiving homage from dead or living--I know not which--for, as Ithought it, a shadowy Shape arose before the throne and bent the knee toher, then another, and another, and another. 

As each vague Being appeared and bowed its starry head she raised hersceptre in answering salutation. We could hear the distant tinkle of thesistrum bells, the only sound in all that place, yes, and see herlips move, though no whisper reached us from them. Surely spirits wereworshipping her!

We gripped each other. We shrank back and found the door. It gave toour push. Now we were in the passages again, and now we had reached ourroom. 

At its entrance Oros was standing as we had left him. He greeted us withhis fixed smile, taking no note of the terror written on our faces. Wepassed him, and entering the room stared at each other. 

"What is she?" gasped Leo. "An angel?"

"Yes, " I answered, "something of that sort. " But to myself I thoughtthat there are doubtless many kinds of angels. 

"And what were those--those _shadows_--doing?" he asked again. 

"Welcoming her after her transformation, I suppose. But perhaps theywere not shadows--only priests disguised and conducting some secretceremonial!"

Leo shrugged his shoulders but made no other answer. 

At length the door opened, and Oros, entering, said that the Heseacommanded our presence in her chamber. 

So, still oppressed with fear and wonder--for what we had seen wasperhaps more dreadful than anything that had gone before--we went, tofind Ayesha seated and looking somewhat weary, but otherwise unchanged. With her was the priestess Papave, who had just unrobed her of the royalmantle which she wore in the Sanctuary. 

Ayesha beckoned Leo to her, taking his hand and searching his face withher eyes, not without anxiety as I thought. 

Now I turned, purposing to leave them alone, but she saw, and said tome, smiling--"Why wouldst thou forsake us, Holly? To go back to theSanctuary once more?" and she looked at me with meaning in her glance. "Hast thou questions to ask of the statue of the Mother yonder that thoulovest the place so much? They say it speaks, telling of the future tothose who dare to kneel beside it uncompanioned from night till dawn. Yet I have often done so, but to me it has never spoken, though nonelong to learn the future more. "

I made no answer, nor did she seem to expect any, for she went on atonce--"Nay, bide here and let us have done with all sad and solemnthoughts. We three will sup together as of old, and for awhile forgetour fears and cares, and be happy as children who know not sin anddeath, or that change which is death indeed. Oros, await my lordwithout. Papave, I will call thee later to disrobe me. Till then letnone disturb us. "

The room that Ayesha inhabited was not very large, as we saw by thehanging lamps with which it was lighted. It was plainly though richlyfurnished, the rock walls being covered with tapestries, and the tablesand chairs inlaid with silver, but the only token that here a woman hadher home was that about it stood several bowls of flowers. One of these, I remember, was filled with the delicate harebells I had admired, dug uproots and all, and set in moss. 

"A poor place, " said Ayesha, "yet better than that in which I dweltthose two thousand years awaiting thy coming, Leo, for, see, beyondit is a garden, wherein I sit, " and she sank down upon a couch by thetable, motioning to us to take our places opposite to her. 

The meal was simple; for us, eggs boiled hard and cold venison; for her, milk, some little cakes of flour, and mountain berries. 

Presently Leo rose and threw off his gorgeous, purple-broidered robe, which he still wore, and cast upon a chair the crook-headed sceptrethat Oros had again thrust into his hand. Ayesha smiled as he did so, saying--"It would seem that thou holdest these sacred emblems in butsmall respect. "

"Very small, " he answered. "Thou heardest my words in the Sanctuary, Ayesha, so let us make a pact. Thy religion I do not understand, but Iunderstand my own, and not even for thy sake will I take part in what Ihold to be idolatry. "

Now I thought that she would be angered by this plain speaking, but sheonly bowed her head and answered meekly--"Thy will is mine, Leo, thoughit will not be easy always to explain thy absence from the ceremonies inthe temple. Yet thou hast a right to thine own faith, which doubtless ismine also. "

"How can that be?" he asked, looking up. 

"Because all great Faiths are the same, changed a little to suit theneeds of passing times and peoples. What taught that of Egypt, which, in a fashion, we still follow here? That hidden in a multitude ofmanifestations, one Power great and good, rules all the universes: thatthe holy shall inherit a life eternal and the vile, eternal death: thatmen shall be shaped and judged by their own hearts and deeds, and hereand hereafter drink of the cup which they have brewed: that their realhome is not on earth, but beyond the earth, where all riddles shall beanswered and all sorrows cease. Say, dost thou believe these things, asI do?"

"Aye, Ayesha, but Hes or Isis is thy goddess, for hast thou not toldus tales of thy dealings with her in the past, and did we not hear theemake thy prayer to her? Who, then, is this goddess Hes?"

"Know, Leo, that she is what I named her--Nature's soul, no divinity, but the secret spirit of the world; that universal Motherhood, whosesymbol thou hast seen yonder, and in whose mysteries lie hid all earthlylife and knowledge. "

"Does, then, this merciful Motherhood follow her votaries with deathand evil, as thou sayest she has followed thee for thy disobedience, andme--and another--because of some unnatural vows broken long ago?" Leoasked quietly. 

Resting her arm upon the table, Ayesha looked at him with sombre eyesand answered--"In that Faith of thine of which thou speakest are thereperchance two gods, each having many ministers: a god of good and a godof evil, an Osiris and a Set?"

He nodded. 

"I thought it. And the god of ill is strong, is he not, and can puton the shape of good? Tell me, then, Leo, in the world that is to-day, whereof I know so little, hast thou ever heard of frail souls who forsome earthly bribe have sold themselves to that evil one, or to hisminister, and been paid their price in bitterness and anguish?"

"All wicked folk do as much in this form or in that, " he answered. 

"And if once there lived a woman who was mad with the thirst for beauty, for life, for wisdom, and for love, might she not--oh! might she notperchance----"

"Sell herself to the god called Set, or one of his angels? Ayesha, dost thou mean"--and Leo rose, speaking in a voice that was full offear--"that thou art such a woman?"

"And if so?" she asked, also rising and drawing slowly near to him. 

"If so, " he answered hoarsely, "if so, I think that perhaps we had bestfulfil our fates apart----"

"Ah!" she said, with a little scream of pain as though a knife hadstabbed her, "wouldst thou away to Atene? I tell thee that thou canstnot leave me. I have power--above all men thou shouldst know it, whomonce I slew. Nay, thou hast no memory, poor creature of a breath, andI--I remember too well. I will not hold thee dead again--I'll holdthee living. Look now on my beauty, Leo"--and she bent her swayingform towards him, compelling him with her glorious, alluring eyes--"andbegone if thou canst. Why, thou drawest nearer to me. Man, that is notthe path of flight. 

"Nay, I will not tempt thee with these common lures. Go, Leo, if thouwilt. Go, my love, and leave me to my loneliness and my sin. Now--atonce. Atene will shelter thee till spring, when thou canst cross themountains and return to thine own world again, and to those things ofcommon life which are thy joy. See, Leo, I veil myself that thou mayestnot be tempted, " and she flung the corner of her cloak about her head, then asked a sudden question through it--"Didst thou not but now returnto the Sanctuary with Holly after I bade thee leave me there alone?Methought I saw the two of you standing by its doors. "

"Yes, we came to seek thee, " he answered. 

"And found more than ye sought, as often chances to the bold--is it notso? Well, I willed that ye should come and see, and protected you whereothers might have died. "

"What didst thou there upon the throne, and whose were those forms whichwe saw bending before thee?" he asked coldly. 

"I have ruled in many shapes and lands, Leo. Perchance they were ancientcompanions and servitors of mine come to greet me once again and to hearmy tidings. Or perchance they were but shadows of thy brain, pictureslike those upon the fire, that it pleased me to summon to thy sight, totry thy strength and constancy. 

"Leo Vincey, know now the truth; that all things are illusions, eventhat there exists no future and no past, that what has been and whatshall be already _is_ eternally. Know that I, Ayesha, am but a magicwraith, foul when thou seest me foul, fair when thou seest me fair; aspirit-bubble reflecting a thousand lights in the sunshine of thy smile, grey as dust and gone in the shadow of thy frown. Think of the thronedQueen before whom the shadowy Powers bowed and worship, for that is I. Think of the hideous, withered Thing thou sawest naked on the rock, andflee away, for that is I. Or keep me lovely, and adore, knowing all evilcentred in my spirit, for that is I. Now, Leo, thou hast the truth. Putme from thee for ever and for ever if thou wilt, and be safe; or claspme, clasp me to thy heart, and in payment for my lips and love take mysin upon thy head! Nay, Holly, be thou silent, for now he must judgealone. "

Leo turned, as I thought, at first, to find the door. But it was not so, for he did but walk up and down the room awhile. Then he came back towhere Ayesha stood, and spoke quite simply and in a very quiet voice, such as men of his nature often assume in moments of great emotion. 

"Ayesha, " he said, "when I saw thee as thou wast, aged and--thou knowesthow--I clung to thee. Now, when thou hast told me the secret of thisunholy pact of thine, when with my eyes, at least, I have seen theereigning a mistress of spirits good or ill, yet I cling to thee. Let thysin, great or little--whate'er it is--be my sin also. In truth, I feelits weight sink to my soul and become a part of me, and although I haveno vision or power of prophecy, I am sure that I shall not escape itspunishment. Well, though I be innocent, let me bear it for thy sake. Iam content. "

Ayesha heard, the cloak slipped from her head, and for a moment shestood silent like one amazed, then burst into a passion of sudden tears. Down she went before him, and clinging to his garments, she bowed herstately shape until her forehead touched the ground. Yes, that proudbeing, who was more than mortal, whose nostrils but now had drunk theincense of the homage of ghosts or spirits, humbled herself at thisman's feet. 

With an exclamation of horror, half-maddened at the piteous sight, Leosprang to one side, then stooping, lifted and led her still weeping tothe couch. 

"Thou knowest not what thou hast done, " Ayesha said at last. "Let allthou sawest on the Mountain's crest or in the Sanctuary be but visionsof the night; let that tale of an offended goddess be a parable, afable, if thou wilt. This at least is true, that ages since I sinned forthee and against thee and another; that ages since I bought beauty andlife indefinite wherewith I might win thee and endow thee at a costwhich few would dare; that I have paid interest on the debt, in mockery, utter loneliness, and daily pain which scarce could be endured, untilthe bond fell due at last and must be satisfied. 

"Yes, how I may not tell thee, thou and thou alone stoodst between meand the full discharge of this most dreadful debt--for know that inmercy it is given to us to redeem one another. "

Now he would have spoken, but with a motion of her hand she bade him besilent, and continued--"See now, Leo, three great dangers has thybody passed of late upon its journey to my side; the Death-hounds, the Mountains, and the Precipice. Know that these were but types andordained foreshadowings of the last threefold trial of thy soul. Fromthe pursuing passions of Atene which must have undone us both, thou hastescaped victorious. Thou hast endured the desert loneliness of thesands and snows starving for a comfort that never came. Even when theavalanche thundered round thee thy faith stood fast as it stood abovethe Pit of flame, while after bitter years of doubt a rushing floodof horror swallowed up thy hopes. As thou didst descend the glacier'ssteep, not knowing what lay beneath that fearful path, so but now and ofthine own choice, for very love of me, thou hast plunged headlong intoan abyss that is deeper far, to share its terrors with my spirit. Dostthou understand at last?"

"Something, not all, I think, " he answered slowly. 

"Surely thou art wrapped in a double veil of blindness, " she criedimpatiently. "Listen again:

"Hadst thou yielded to Nature's crying and rejected me but yesterday, in that foul shape I must perchance have lingered for uncounted time, playing the poor part of priestess of a forgotten faith. This was thefirst temptation, the ordeal of thy flesh--nay, not the first--thesecond, for Atene and her lurings were the first. But thou wast loyal, and in the magic of thy conquering love my beauty and my womanhood werere-born. 

"Hadst thou rejected me to-night, when, as I was bidden to do, I showedthee that vision in the Sanctuary and confessed to thee my soul's blackcrime, then hopeless and helpless, unshielded by my earthly power, Imust have wandered on into the deep and endless night of solitude. This was the third appointed test, the trial of thy spirit, and by thysteadfastness, Leo, thou hast loosed the hand of Destiny from about mythroat. Now I am regenerate in thee--through thee may hope again forsome true life beyond, which thou shalt share. And yet, and yet, if thoushouldst suffer, as well may chance----"

"Then I suffer, and there's an end, " broke in Leo serenely. "Save fora few things my mind is clear, and there must be justice for us all atlast. If I have broken the bond that bound thee, if I have freed theefrom some threatening, spiritual ill by taking a risk upon my head, well, I have not lived, and if need be, shall not die in vain. So let ushave done with all these problems, or rather first answer thou me one. Ayesha, how wast thou changed upon that peak?"

"In flame I left thee, Leo, and in flame I did return, as in flame, mayhap, we shall both depart. Or perhaps the change was in the eyes ofall of you who watched, and not in this shape of mine. I have answered. Seek to learn no more. "

"One thing I do still seek to learn. Ayesha, we were betrothed to-night. When wilt thou marry me?"

"Not yet, not yet, " she answered hurriedly, her voice quivering as shespoke. "Leo, thou must put that hope from thy thoughts awhile, and forsome few months, a year perchance, be content to play the part of friendand lover. "

"Why so?" he asked, with bitter disappointment. "Ayesha, those partshave been mine for many a day; more, I grow no younger, and, unlikethee, shall soon be old. Also, life is fleeting, and sometimes I thinkthat I near its end. "

"Speak no such evil-omened words, " she said, springing from the couchand stamping her sandalled foot upon the ground in anger born of fear. "Yet thou sayest truth; thou art unfortified against the accidents oftime and chance. Oh! horrible, horrible; thou mightest die again, andleave me living. "

"Then give me of thy life, Ayesha. "

"That would I gladly, all of it, couldst thou but repay me with the boonof death to come. 

"Oh! ye poor mortals, " she went on, with a sudden burst of passion; "yebeseech your gods for the gift of many years, being ignorant that yewould sow a seed within your breasts whence ye must garner ten thousandmiseries. Know ye not that this world is indeed the wide house of hell, in whose chambers from time to time the spirit tarries a little while, then, weary and aghast, speeds wailing to the peace that it has won. 

"Think then what it is to live on here eternally and yet be human; toage in soul and see our beloved die and pass to lands whither we maynot hope to follow; to wait while drop by drop the curse of the longcenturies falls upon our imperishable being, like water slow dripping ona diamond that it cannot wear, till they be born anew forgetful of us, and again sink from our helpless arms into the void unknowable. 

"Think what it is to see the sins we sin, the tempting look, the wordidle or unkind--aye, even the selfish thought or struggle, multipliedten thousandfold and more eternal than ourselves, spring up upon theuniversal bosom of the earth to be the bane of a million destinies, whilst the everlasting Finger writes its endless count, and a coldvoice of Justice cries in our conscience-haunted solitude, 'Oh! soulunshriven, behold the ripening harvest thy wanton hand did scatter, andlong in vain for the waters of forgetfulness. '

"Think what it is to have every earthly wisdom, yet to burn unsatisfiedfor the deeper and forbidden draught; to gather up all wealth and powerand let them slip again, like children weary of a painted toy; to sweepthe harp of fame, and, maddened by its jangling music, to stamp it smallbeneath our feet; to snatch at pleasure's goblet and find its wine issand, and at length, outworn, to cast us down and pray the pitiless godswith whose stolen garment we have wrapped ourselves, to take it backagain, and suffer us to slink naked to the grave. 

"Such is the life thou askest, Leo. Say, wilt thou have it now?"

"If it may be shared with thee, " he answered. "These woes are born ofloneliness, but then our perfect fellowship would turn them into joy. "

"Aye, " she said, "while it was permitted to endure. So be it, Leo. Inthe spring, when the snows melt, we will journey together to Libya, andthere thou shalt be bathed in the Fount of Life, that forbidden Essenceof which once thou didst fear to drink. Afterwards I will wed thee. "

"That place is closed for ever, Ayesha. "

"Not to my feet and thine, " she answered. "Fear not, my love, were thismountain heaped thereon, I would blast a path through it with mine eyesand lay its secret bare. Oh! would that thou wast as I am, for thenbefore tomorrow's sun we'd watch the rolling pillar thunder by, and thoushouldst taste its glory. 

"But it may not be. Hunger or cold can starve thee, and waters drown;swords can slay thee, or sickness sap away thy strength. Had it not beenfor the false Atene, who disobeyed my words, as it was foredoomedthat she should do, by this day we were across the mountains, or hadtravelled northward through the frozen desert and the rivers. Now wemust await the melting of the snows, for winter is at hand, and in it, as thou knowest, no man can live upon their heights. "

"Eight months till April before we can start, and how long to crossthe mountains and all the vast distances beyond, and the seas, and theswamps of Kor? Why, at the best, Ayesha, two years must go by before wecan even find the place;" and he fell to entreating her to let them bewed at once and journey afterwards. 

But she said, Nay, and nay, and nay, it should not be, till at length, as though fearing his pleading, or that of her own heart, she rose anddismissed us. 

"Ah! my Holly, " she said to me as we three parted, "I promised thee andmyself some few hours of rest and of the happiness of quiet, and thouseest how my desire has been fulfilled. Those old Egyptians were wontto share their feasts with one grizzly skeleton, but here I counted fourto-night that you both could see, and they are named Fear, Suspense, Foreboding, and Love-denied. Doubtless also, when these are buriedothers will come to haunt us, and snatch the poor morsel from our lips. 

"So hath it ever been with me, whose feet misfortune dogs. Yet I hopeon, and now many a barrier lies behind us; and Leo, thou hast beentried in the appointed, triple fires and yet proved true. Sweet be thyslumbers, O my love, and sweeter still thy dreams, for know, my soulshall share them. I vow to thee that to-morrow we'll be happy, aye, to-morrow without fail. "

"Why will she not marry me at once?" asked Leo, when we were alone inour chamber. "Because she is afraid, " I answered. 

CHAPTER XIX

LEO AND THE LEOPARD

During the weeks that followed these momentous days often and often Iwondered to myself whether a more truly wretched being had ever livedthan the woman, or the spirit, whom we knew as She, Hes, and Ayesha. Whether in fact also, or in our imagination only, she had arisen fromthe ashes of her hideous age into the full bloom of perpetual life andbeauty inconceivable. 

These things at least were certain: Ayesha had achieved the secret ofan existence so enduring that for all human purposes it might be calledunending. Within certain limitations--such as her utter inability toforesee the future--undoubtedly also, she was endued with powers thatcan only be described as supernatural. 

Her rule over the strange community amongst whom she lived was absolute;indeed, its members regarded her as a goddess, and as such she wasworshipped. After marvellous adventures, the man who was her very life, I might almost say her soul, whose being was so mysteriously intertwinedwith hers, whom she loved also with the intensest human passion of whichwoman can be capable, had sought her out in this hidden corner of theworld. 

More, thrice he had proved his unalterable fidelity to her. First, by his rejection of the royal and beautiful, if undisciplined, Atene. Secondly, by clinging to Ayesha when she seemed to be repulsive to everynatural sense. Thirdly, after that homage scene in the Sanctuary--thoughwith her unutterable perfections before his eyes this did not appear tobe so wonderful--by steadfastness in the face of her terrible avowal, true or false, that she had won her gifts and him through somedim, unholy pact with the powers of evil, in the unknown fruitsand consequences of which he must be involved as the price of herpossession. 

Yet Ayesha was miserable. Even in her lightest moods it was clear tome that those skeletons at the feast of which she had spoken were hercontinual companions. Indeed, when we were alone she would acknowledgeit in dark hints and veiled allegories or allusions. Crushed though herrival the Khania Atene might be, also she was still jealous of her. 

Perhaps "afraid" would be a better word, for some instinct seemed towarn Ayesha that soon or late her hour would come to Atene again, andthat then it would be her own turn to drink of the bitter waters ofdespair. 

What troubled her more a thousandfold, however, were her fears for Leo. As may well be understood, to stand in his intimate relationship to thishalf divine and marvellous being, and yet not to be allowed so much asto touch her lips, did not conduce to his physical or mental well-being, especially as he knew that the wall of separation must not be climbedfor at least two years. Little wonder that Leo lost appetite, grew thinand pale, and could not sleep, or that he implored her continually torescind her decree and marry him. 

But on this point Ayesha was immovable. Instigated thereto by Leo, andI may add my own curiosity, when we were alone I questioned her againas to the reasons of this self-denying ordinance. All she would tell me, however, was that between them rose the barrier of Leo's mortality, andthat until his physical being had been impregnated with the mysteriousvirtue of the Vapour of Life, it was not wise that she should take himas a husband. 

I asked her why, seeing that though a long-lived one, she was still awoman, whereon her face assumed a calm but terrifying smile, and sheanswered--"Art so sure, my Holly? Tell me, do your women wear suchjewels as that set upon my brow?" and she pointed to the faint butlambent light which glowed about her forehead. 

More, she began slowly to stroke her abundant hair, then her breast andbody. Wherever her fingers passed the mystic light was born, until inthat darkened room--for the dusk was gathering--she shimmered from headto foot like the water of a phosphorescent sea, a being glorious yetfearful to behold. Then she waved her hand, and, save for the gentleradiance on her brow, became as she had been. 

"Art so sure, my Holly?" Ayesha repeated. "Nay, shrink not; that flamewill not burn thee. Mayhap thou didst but imagine it, as I have notedthou dost imagine many things; for surely no woman could clothe herselfin light and live, nor has so much as the smell of fire passed upon mygarments. "

Then at length my patience was outworn, and I grew angry. 

"I am sure of nothing, Ayesha, " I answered, "except that thou wilt makeus mad with all these tricks and changes. Say, art thou a spirit then?"

"We are all spirits, " she said reflectively, "and I, perhaps, more thansome. Who can be certain?"

"Not I, " I answered. "Yet I implore, woman or spirit, tell me one thing. Tell me the truth. In the beginning what wast thou to Leo, and what washe to thee?"

She looked at me very solemnly and answered--"Does my memory deceiveme, Holly, or is it written in the first book of the Law of the Hebrews, which once I used to study, that the sons of Heaven came down to thedaughters of men, and found that they were fair?"

"It is so written, " I answered. 

"Then, Holly, might it not have chanced that once a daughter of Heavencame down to a man of Earth and loved him well? Might it not chance thatfor her great sin, she, this high, fallen star, who had befouled herimmortal state for him, was doomed to suffer till at length his love, made divine by pain and faithful even to a memory, was permitted toredeem her?"

Now at length I saw light and sprang up eagerly, but in a cold voice sheadded:

"Nay, Holly, cease to question me, for there are things of which I canbut speak to thee in figures and in parables, not to mock and bewilderthee, but because I must. Interpret them as thou wilt. Still, Atenethought me no mortal, since she told us that man and spirit may notmate; and there are matters in which I let her judgment weigh with me, as without doubt now, as in other lives, she and that old Shaman, heruncle, have wisdom, aye, and foresight. So bid my lord press me no moreto wed him, for it gives me pain to say him nay--ah! thou knowest nothow much. 

"Moreover, I will declare myself to thee, old friend; whatever elseI be, at least I am too womanly to listen to the pleadings of my bestbeloved and not myself be moved. See, I have set a curb upon desireand drawn it until my heart bleeds; but if he pursues me with continualwords and looks of burning love, who knoweth but that I shall kindle inhis flame and throw the reins of reason to the winds?

"Oh, then together we might race adown our passions' steep; togetherdare the torrent that rages at its foot, and there perchance be whelmedor torn asunder. Nay, nay, another space of journeying, but a littlespace, and we reach the bridge my wisdom found, and cross it safely, andbeyond for ever ride on at ease through the happy meadows of our love. "

Then she was silent, nor would she speak more upon the matter. Also--andthis was the worst of it--even now I was not sure that she told me thetruth, or, at any rate, all of it, for to Ayesha's mind truth seemedmany coloured as are the rays of light thrown from the different facesof a cut jewel. We never could be certain which shade of it she waspleased to present, who, whether by preference or of necessity, asshe herself had said, spoke of such secrets in figures of speech andparables. 

It is a fact that to this hour I do not know whether Ayesha is spiritor woman, or, as I suspect, a blend of both. I do not know the limits ofher powers, or if that elaborate story of the beginning of her love forLeo was true--which personally I doubt--or but a fable, invented by hermind, and through it, as she had hinted, pictured on the flame for herown hidden purposes. 

I do not know whether when first we saw her on the Mountain she wasreally old and hideous, or did but put on that shape in our eyes inorder to test her lover. I do not know whether, as the priest Oros borewitness--which he may well have been bidden to do--her spirit passedinto the body of the dead priestess of Hes, or whether when sheseemed to perish there so miserably, her body and her soul were waftedstraightway from the Caves of Kor to this Central Asian peak. 

I do not know why, as she was so powerful, she did not come to seek us, instead of leaving us to seek her through so many weary years, though Isuggest that some superior force forbade her to do more than companionus unseen, watching our every act, reading our every thought, until atlength we reached the predestined place and hour. Also, as will appear, there were other things of which this is not the time to speak, wherebyI am still more tortured and perplexed. 

In short, I know nothing, except that my existence has been intertangledwith one of the great mysteries of the world; that the glorious beingcalled Ayesha won the secret of life from whatever power holds it in itskeeping; that she alleged--although of this, remember, we have no actualproof--such life was to be attained by bathing in a certain emanation, vapour or essence; that she was possessed by a passion not easy tounderstand, but terrific in its force and immortal in its nature, concentrated upon one other being and one alone. That through thispassion also some angry fate smote her again, again, and yet again, making of her countless days a burden, and leading the power and thewisdom which knew all but could foreknow nothing, into abysses ofanguish, suspense, and disappointment such as--Heaven be thanked!--wecommon men and women are not called upon to plumb. 

For the rest, should human eyes ever fall upon it, each reader mustform his own opinion of this history, its true interpretation andsignificance. These and the exact parts played by Atene and myself inits development I hope to solve shortly, though not here. 

Well, as I have said, the upshot of it all was that Ayesha was devouredwith anxiety about Leo. Except in this matter of marriage, his everywish was satisfied, and indeed forestalled. Thus he was never againasked to share in any of the ceremonies of the Sanctuary, though, indeed, stripped of its rites and spiritual symbols, the religion ofthe College of Hes proved pure and harmless enough. It was but a dilutedversion of the Osiris and Isis worship of old Egypt, from which ithad been inherited, mixed with the Central Asian belief in thetransmigration or reincarnation of souls and the possibility of drawingnear to the ultimate Godhead by holiness of thought and life. 

In fact, the head priestess and Oracle was only worshipped as arepresentative of the Divinity, while the temporal aims of the Collegein practice were confined to good works, although it is true that theystill sighed for their lost authority over the country of Kaloon. Thusthey had hospitals, and during the long and severe winters, whenthe Tribes of the Mountain slopes were often driven to the verge ofstarvation, gave liberally to the destitute from their stores of food. 

Leo liked to be with Ayesha continually, so we spent each evening in hercompany, and much of the day also, until she found that this inactivitytold upon him who for years had been accustomed to endure every rigourof climate in the open air. After this came home to her--although shewas always haunted by terror lest any accident should befall him--Ayeshainsisted upon his going out to kill the wild sheep and the ibex, whichlived in numbers on the mountain ridges, placing him in the charge ofthe chiefs and huntsmen of the Tribes, with whom thus he became wellacquainted. In this exercise, however, I accompanied him but rarely, as, if used too much, my arm still gave me pain. 

Once indeed such an accident did happen. I was seated in the gardenwith Ayesha and watching her. Her head rested on her hand, and she waslooking with her wide eyes, across which the swift thoughts passedlike clouds over a windy sky, or dreams through the mind of asleeper--looking out vacantly towards the mountain snows. Seen thus herloveliness was inexpressible, amazing; merely to gaze upon it was anintoxication. Contemplating it, I understood indeed that, like to thatof the fabled Helen, this gift of hers alone--and it was but one ofmany--must have caused infinite sorrows, had she ever been permitted todisplay it to the world. It would have driven humanity to madness: themen with longings and the women with jealousy and hate. 

And yet in what did her surpassing beauty lie? Ayesha's face and formwere perfect, it is true; but so are those of some other women. Not inthese then did it live alone, but rather, I think, especially while whatI may call her human moods were on her, in the soft mystery that dweltupon her features and gathered and changed in her splendid eyes. Somesuch mystery may be seen, however faintly, on the faces of certain ofthe masterpieces of the Greek sculptors, but Ayesha it clothed likean ever-present atmosphere, suggesting a glory that was not of earth, making her divine. 

As I gazed at her and wondered thus, of a sudden she became terriblyagitated, and, pointing to a shoulder of the Mountain miles and milesaway, said--"Look!"

I looked, but saw nothing except a sheet of distant snow. 

"Blind fool, canst thou not see that my lord is in danger of his life?"she cried. "Nay, I forgot, thou hast no vision. Take it now from me andlook again;" and laying her hand, from which a strange, numbing currentseemed to flow, upon my head, she muttered some swift words. 

Instantly my eyes were opened, and, not upon the distant Mountain, butin the air before me as it were, I saw Leo rolling over and over atgrips with a great snow-leopard, whilst the chief and huntsmen with himran round and round, seeking an opportunity to pierce the savage brutewith their spears and yet leave him unharmed. 

Ayesha, rigid with terror, swayed to and fro at my side, till presentlythe end came, for I could see Leo drive his long knife into the bowelsof the leopard, which at once grew limp, separated from him, and aftera struggle or two in the bloodstained snow, lay still. Then he rose, laughing and pointing to his rent garments, whilst one of the huntsmencame forward and began to bandage some wounds in his hands and thighwith strips of linen torn from his under-robe. 

The vision vanished suddenly as it had come, and I felt Ayesha leaningheavily upon my shoulder like any other frightened woman, and heard hergasp--"That danger also has passed by, but how many are there to follow?Oh! tormented heart, how long canst thou endure!"

Then her wrath flamed up against the chief and his huntsmen, andshe summoned messengers and sent them out at speed with a litter andointments, bidding them to bear back the lord Leo and to bring hiscompanions to her very presence. 

"Thou seest what days are mine, my Holly, aye, and have been these manyyears, " she said; "but those hounds shall pay me for this agony. "

Nor would she suffer me to reason with her. 

Four hours later Leo returned, limping after the litter in which, instead of himself, for whom it was sent, lay a mountain sheep and theskin of the snow-leopard that he had placed there to save the huntsmenthe labour of carrying them. Ayesha was waiting for him in the hall ofher dwelling, and gliding to him--I cannot say she walked--overwhelmedhim with mingled solicitude and reproaches. He listened awhile, thenasked--"How dost thou know anything of this matter? The leopard skin hasnot yet been brought to thee. "

"I know because I saw, " she answered. "The worst hurt was above thyknee; hast thou dressed it with the salve I sent?"

"Not I, " he said. "But thou hast not left this Sanctuary; how didst thousee? By thy magic?"

"If thou wilt, at least I saw, and Holly also saw thee rolling in thesnow with that fierce brute, while those curs ran round like scaredchildren. "

"I am weary of this magic, " interrupted Leo crossly. "Cannot a man beleft alone for an hour even with a leopard of the mountain? As for thosebrave men----"

At this moment Oros entered and whispered something, bowing low. 

"As for those 'brave men, ' I will deal with them, " said Ayesha withbitter emphasis, and covering herself--for she never appeared unveiledto the people of the Mountain--she swept from the place. 

"Where has she gone, Horace?" asked Leo. "To one of her services in theSanctuary?"

"I don't know, " I answered; "but if so, I think it will be that chief'sburial service. "

"Will it?" he exclaimed, and instantly limped after her. 

A minute or two later I thought it wise to follow. In the Sanctuary acurious scene was in progress. Ayesha was seated in front of the statue. Before her, very much frightened, knelt a brawny, red-haired chieftainand five of his followers, who still carried their hunting spears, whilewith folded arms and an exceedingly grim look upon his face, Leo, who, as I learned afterwards, had already interfered and been silenced, stoodupon one side listening to what passed. At a little distance behind werea dozen or more of the temple guards, men armed with swords and pickedfor their strength and stature. 

Ayesha, in her sweetest voice, was questioning the men as to how theleopard, of which the skin lay before her, had come to attack Leo. Thechief answered that they had tracked the brute to its lair between tworocks; that one of them had gone in and wounded it, whereon it sprangupon him and struck him down; that then the lord Leo had engaged itwhile the man escaped, and was also struck down, after which, rollingwith it on the ground, he stabbed and slew the animal. That was all. 

"No, not all, " said Ayesha; "for you forget, cowards that you are, that, keeping yourselves in safety, you left my lord to the fury of thisbeast. Good. Drive them out on to the Mountain, there to perish also atthe fangs of beasts, and make it known that he who gives them food orshelter dies. "

Offering no prayer for pity or excuse, the chief and his followers rose, bowed, and turned to go. 

"Stay a moment, comrades, " said Leo, "and, chief, give me your arm;my scratch grows stiff; I cannot walk fast. We will finish this hunttogether. "

"What doest thou? Art mad?" asked Ayesha. 

"I know not whether I am mad, " he answered, "but I know that thouart wicked and unjust. Look now, than these hunters none braver everbreathed. That man"--and he pointed to the one whom the leopard hadstruck down--"took my place and went in before me because I ordered thatwe should attack the creature, and thus was felled. As thou seest all, thou mightest have seen this also. Then it sprang on me, and the rest ofthese, my friends, ran round waiting a chance to strike, which at firstthey could not do unless they would have killed me with it, since Iand the brute rolled over and over in the snow. As it was, one of themseized it with his bare hands: look at the teeth marks on his arm. So ifthey are to perish on the Mountain, I, who am the man to blame, perishwith them. "

Now, while the hunters looked at him with fervent gratitude in theireyes, Ayesha thought a little, then said cleverly enough--"In truth, my lord Leo, had I known all the tale, well mightest thou have namedme wicked and unjust; but I knew only what I saw, and out of their ownmouths did I condemn them. My servants, my lord here has pleaded foryou, and you are forgiven; more, he who rushed in upon the leopard andhe who seized it with his hands shall be rewarded and advanced. Go; butI warn you if you suffer my lord to come into more danger, you shall notescape so easily again. "

So they bowed and went, still blessing Leo with their eyes, sincedeath by exposure on the Mountain snows was the most terrible form ofpunishment known to these people, and one only inflicted by the directorder of Hes upon murderers or other great criminals. 

When we had left the Sanctuary and were alone again in the hall, thestorm that I had seen gathering upon Leo's face broke in earnest. Ayesharenewed her inquiries about his wounds, and wished to call Oros, thephysician, to dress them, and as he refused this, offered to do soherself. He begged that she would leave his wounds alone, and then, hisgreat beard bristling with wrath, asked her solmenly if he was a childin arms, a query so absurd that I could not help laughing. 

Then he scolded her--yes, he scolded Ayesha! Wishing to know what shemeant (1) by spying upon him with her magic, an evil gift that he hadalways disliked and mistrusted; (2) by condemning brave and excellentmen, his good friends, to a death of fiendish cruelty upon suchevidence, or rather out of temper, on no evidence at all; and (3) bygiving him into charge of them, as though he were a little boy, andtelling them that they would have to answer for it if he were hurt: hewho, in his time, had killed every sort of big game known and passedthrough some perils and encounters?

Thus he beat her with his words, and, wonderful to say, Ayesha, thisbeing more than woman, submitted to the chastisement meekly. Yet had anyother man dared to address her with roughness even, I doubt not that hisspeech and his life would have come to a swift and simultaneous end, for I knew that now, as of old, she could slay by the mere effort ofher will. But she did not slay; she did not even threaten, only, as anyother loving woman might have done, she began to cry. Yes, great tearsgathered in those lovely eyes of hers and, rolling one by one down herface, fell--for her head was bent humbly forward--like heavy raindropson the marble floor. 

At the sight of this touching evidence of her human, loving heart allLeo's anger melted. Now it was he who grew penitent and prayedher pardon humbly. She gave him her hand in token of forgiveness, saying--"Let others speak to me as they will" (sorry should I have beento try it!) "but from thee, Leo, I cannot bear harsh words. Oh, thou artcruel, cruel. In what have I offended? Can I help it if my spirit keepsits watch upon thee, as indeed, though thou knewest it not, it has doneever since we parted yonder in the Place of Life? Can I help it if, likesome mother who sees her little child at play upon a mountain's edge, mysoul is torn with agony when I know thee in dangers that I am powerlessto prevent or share? What are the lives of a few half-wild huntsmen thatI should let them weigh for a single breath against thy safety, seeingthat if I slew these, others would be more careful of thee? Whereas if Islay them not, they or their fellows may even lead thee into perils thatwould bring about--thy _death_, " and she gasped with horror at the word. 

"Listen, beloved, " said Leo. "The life of the humblest of those men isof as much value to him as mine is to me, and thou hast no more right tokill him than thou hast to kill me. It is evil that because thou carestfor me thou shouldst suffer thy love to draw thee into cruelty andcrime. If thou art afraid for me, then clothe me with that immortalityof thine, which, although I dread it somewhat, holding it a thingunholy, and, on this earth, not permitted by my Faith, I should stillrejoice to inherit for thy dear sake, knowing that then we could nevermore be parted. Or, if as thou sayest, this as yet thou canst not do, then let us be wed and take what fortune gives us. All men must die;but at least before I die I shall have been happy with thee for awhile--yes, if only for a single hour. "

"Would that I dared, " Ayesha answered with a little piteous motion ofher hand. "Oh! urge me no more, Leo, lest that at last I should take therisk and lead thee down a dreadful road. Leo, hast thou never heard ofthe love which slays, or of the poison that may lurk in a cup of joy tooperfect?"

Then, as though she feared herself, Ayesha turned from him and fled. 

Thus this matter ended. In itself it was not a great one, for Leo'shurts were mere scratches, and the hunters, instead of being killed, were promoted to be members of his body-guard. Yet it told us manythings. For instance, that whenever she chose to do so, Ayesha hadthe power of perceiving all Leo's movements from afar, and even ofcommunicating her strength of mental vision to others, although to helphim in any predicament she appeared to have no power, which, of course, accounted for the hideous and ever-present might of her anxiety. 

Think what it would be to any one of us were we mysteriously acquaintedwith every open danger, every risk of sickness, every secret perilthrough which our best-beloved must pass. To see the rock trembling toits fall and they loitering beneath it; to see them drink of water andknow it full of foulest poison; to see them embark upon a ship and beaware that it was doomed to sink, but not to be able to warn them or toprevent them. Surely no mortal brain could endure such constant terrors, since hour by hour the arrows of death flit unseen and unheard past thebreasts of each of us, till at length one finds its home there. 

What then must Ayesha have suffered, watching with her spirit's eyes allthe hair-breadth escapes of our journeyings? When, for instance, in thebeginning she saw Leo at my house in Cumberland about to kill himselfin his madness and despair, and by some mighty effort of her superhumanwill, wrung from whatever Power it was that held her in its fearfulthraldom, the strength to hurl her soul across the world and thereby inhis sleep reveal to him the secret of the hiding-place where he wouldfind her. 

Or to take one more example out of many--when she saw him hanging bythat slender thread of yak's hide from the face of the waterfall of iceand herself remained unable to save him, or even to look forward fora single moment and learn whether or no he was about to meet a hideousdeath, in which event she must live on alone until in some dim age hewas born again. 

Nor can her sorrows have ended with these more material fears, sinceothers as piercing must have haunted her. Imagine, for instance, theagonies of her jealous heart when she knew her lover to be exposed tothe temptations incident to his solitary existence, and more especiallyto those of her ancient rival Atene, who, by Ayesha's own account, hadonce been his wife. Imagine also her fears lest time and human changeshould do their natural work on him, so that by degrees the memory ofher wisdom and her strength, and the image of her loveliness faded fromhis thought, and with them his desire for her company; thus leaving herwho had endured so long, forgotten and alone at last. 

Truly, the Power that limited our perceptions did so in purest mercy, for were it otherwise with us, our race would go mad and perish ravingin its terrors. 

Thus it would seem that Ayesha, great tormented soul, thinking to winlife and love eternal and most glorious, was in truth but another blindPandora. From her stolen casket of beauty and super-human power hadleapt into her bosom, there to dwell unceasingly, a hundred torturingdemons, of whose wings mere mortal kind do but feel the far-off, icyshadowing. 

Yes; and that the parallel might be complete, Hope alone still lingeredin that rifled chest. 

CHAPTER XX

AYESHA'S ALCHEMY

It was shortly after this incident of the snow-leopard that one of thesedemon familiars of Ayesha's, her infinite ambition, made its formidableappearance. When we had dined with her in the evening, Ayesha's habitwas to discuss plans for our mighty and unending future, that awfulinheritance which she had promised to us. 

Here I must explain, if I have not done so already, that she hadgraciously informed me that notwithstanding my refusal in past yearsof such a priceless opportunity, I also was to be allowed to bathe mysuperannuated self in the vital fires, though in what guise I shouldemerge from them, like Herodotus when he treats of the mysteries of oldEgypt, if she knew, she did not think it lawful to reveal. 

Secretly I hoped that my outward man might change for the better, as theprospect of being fixed for ever in the shape of my present and somewhatunpleasing personality, did not appeal to me as attractive. In truth, sofar as I was concerned, the matter had an academic rather than an actualinterest, such as we take in a fairy tale, since I did not believe thatI should ever put on this kind of immortality. Nor, I may add, now asbefore, was I at all certain that I wished to do so. 

These plans of Ayesha's were far reaching and indeed terrific. Her acquaintance with the modern world, its political and socialdevelopments, was still strictly limited; for if she had the power tofollow its growth and activities, certainly it was one of which she madeno use. 

In practice her knowledge seemed to be confined to what she had gatheredduring the few brief talks which took place between us upon this subjectin past time at Kor. Now her thirst for information proved insatiable, although it is true that ours was scarcely up to date, seeing that eversince we lost touch with the civilized peoples, namely, for the lastfifteen years or so, we had been as much buried as she was herself. 

Still we were able to describe to her the condition of the nations andtheir affairs as they were at the period when we bade them farewell, and, more or less incorrectly, to draw maps of the various countries andtheir boundaries, over which she pondered long. 

The Chinese were the people in whom she proved to be most interested, perhaps because she was acquainted with the Mongolian type, and likeourselves, understood a good many of their dialects. Also she had amotive for her studies, which one night she revealed to us in the mostmatter-of-fact fashion. 

Those who have read the first part of her history, which I left inEngland to be published, may remember that when we found her at Kor, _She_ horrified us by expressing a determination to possess herself ofGreat Britain, for the simple reason that we belonged to that country. Now, however, like her powers, her ideas had grown, for she purposed tomake Leo the absolute monarch of the world. In vain did he assure hermost earnestly that he desired no such empire. She merely laughed at himand said--"If I arise amidst the Peoples, I must rule the Peoples, forhow can Ayesha take a second place among mortal men? And thou, my Leo, rulest me, yes, mark the truth, thou art my master! Therefore it isplain that thou wilt be the master of this earth, aye, and perchance ofothers which do not yet appear, for of these also I know something, and, I think, can reach them if I will, though hitherto I have had no mindthat way. My true life has not yet begun. Its little space within thisworld has been filled with thought and care for thee; in waiting tillthou wast born again, and during these last years of separation, untilthou didst return. 

"But now a few more months, and the days of preparation past, endowedwith energy eternal, with all the wisdom of the ages, and with astrength that can bend the mountains or turn the ocean from its bed, and we begin to be. Oh! how I sicken for that hour when first, like twinstars new to the firmament of heaven, we break in our immortal splendourupon the astonished sight of men. It will please me, I tell thee, Leo, it will please me, to see Powers, Principalities and Dominions, marshalled by their kings and governors, bow themselves before ourthrones and humbly crave the liberty to do our will. At least, " sheadded, "it will please me for a little time, until we seek higherthings. "

So she spoke, while the radiance upon her brow increased and spreaditself, gleaming above her like a golden fan, and her slumbrous eyestook fire from it till, to my thought, they became glowing mirrors inwhich I saw pomp enthroned and suppliant peoples pass. 

"And how, " asked Leo, with something like a groan--for this vision ofuniversal rule viewed from afar did not seem to charm him--"how, Ayesha, wilt thou bring these things about?"

"How, my Leo? Why, easily enough. For many nights I have listened tothe wise discourses of our Holly here, at least he thinks them wise whostill has so much to learn, and pored over his crooked maps, comparingthem with those that are written in my memory, who of late have hadno time for the study of such little matters. Also I have weighed andpondered your reports of the races of this world; their various follies, their futile struggling for wealth and small supremacies, and I havedetermined that it would be wise and kind to weld them to one whole, setting ourselves at the head of them to direct their destinies, andcause wars, sickness, and poverty to cease, so that these creatures ofa little day (ephemeridae was the word she used) may live happy from thecradle to the grave. 

"Now, were it not because of thy strange shrinking from bloodshed, however politic and needful--for my Leo, as yet thou art no truephilosopher--this were quickly done, since I can command a weapon whichwould crush their armouries and whelm their navies in the deep; yes, I, whom even the lightnings and Nature's elemental powers must obey. Butthou shrinkest from the sight of death, and thou believest that Heavenwould be displeased because I make myself--or am chosen--the instrumentof Heaven. Well, so let it be, for thy will is mine, and therefore wewill tread a gentler path. "

"And how wilt thou persuade the kings of the earth to place their crownsupon thy head?" I asked, astonished. 

"By causing their peoples to offer them to us, " she answered suavely. "Oh! Holly, Holly, how narrow is thy mind, how strained the quality ofthine imagination! Set its poor gates ajar, I pray, and bethink thee. When we appear among men, scattering gold to satisfy their want, cladin terrifying power, in dazzling beauty and in immortality of days, willthey not cry, 'Be ye our monarchs and rule over us!'"

"Perhaps, " I answered dubiously, "but where wilt thou appear?"

She took a map of the eastern hemisphere which I had drawn and, placingher finger upon Pekin, said--"There is the place that shall be our homefor some few centuries, say three, or five, or seven, should it take solong to shape this people to my liking and our purposes. I havechosen these Chinese because thou tellest me that their numbers areuncountable, that they are brave, subtle, and patient, and though nowpowerless because ill-ruled and untaught, able with their multitudes toflood the little western nations. Therefore among them we will begin ourreign and for some few ages be at rest while they learn wisdom from us, and thou, my Holly, makest their armies unconquerable and givest theirland good government, wealth, peace, and a new religion. "

What the new religion was to be I did not ask. It seemed unnecessary, since I was convinced that in practice it would prove a form ofAyesha-worship, Indeed, my mind was so occupied with conjectures, someof them quaint and absurd enough, as to what would happen at the firstappearance of Ayesha in China that I forgot this subsidiary developmentof our future rule. 

"And if the 'little western nations' will not wait to be flooded?"suggested Leo with irritation, for her contemptuous tone angered him, one of a prominent western nation. "If they combine, for instance, andattack thee first?"

"Ah!" she said, with a flash of her eyes. "I have thought of it, and formy part hope that it will chance, since then thou canst not blame me ifI put out my strength. Oh! then the East, that has slept so long, shallawake--shall awake, and upon battlefield after battlefield such ashistory cannot tell of, thou shalt see my flaming standards sweep on tovictory. One by one thou shalt watch the nations fall and perish, untilat length I build thy throne upon the hecatombs of their countless deadand crown thee emperor of a world regenerate in blood and fire. "

Leo, whom this new gospel of regeneration seemed to appall, who was, in fact, a hater of absolute monarchies and somewhat republican in hisviews and sympathies, continued the argument, but I took no furtherheed. The thing was grotesque in its tremendous and fantastic absurdity;Ayesha's ambitions were such as no imperial-minded madman couldconceive. 

Yet--here came the rub--I had not the slightest doubt but that she waswell able to put them into practice and carry them to some marvellousand awful conclusion. Why not? Death could not touch her; she hadtriumphed over death. Her beauty--that "cup of madness" in her eyes, asshe named it once to me--and her reckless will would compel the hosts ofmen to follow her. Her piercing intelligence would enable her to inventnew weapons with which the most highly-trained army could not possiblycompete. Indeed, it might be as she said, and as I for one believed, with good reason, it proved, that she held at her command the elementalforces of Nature, such as those that lie hid in electricity, which wouldgive all living beings to her for a prey. 

Ayesha was still woman enough to have worldly ambitions, and the mostdread circumstance about her superhuman powers was that they appeared tobe unrestrained by any responsibility to God or man. She was as we mightwell imagine a fallen angel to be, if indeed, as she herself once hintedand as Atene and the old Shaman believed, this were not her true placein creation. By only two things that I was able to discover could she bemoved--her love for Leo and, in a very small degree, her friendship formyself. 

Yet her devouring passion for this one man, inexplicable in itsendurance and intensity, would, I felt sure even then, in the future asin the past, prove to be her heel of Achilles. When Ayesha was dipped inthe waters of Dominion and Deathlessness, this human love left her heartmortal, that through it she might be rendered harmless as a child, whootherwise would have devastated the universe. 

I was right. 

Whilst I was still indulging myself in these reflections and hopingthat Ayesha would not take the trouble to read them in my mind, I becameaware that Oros was bowing to the earth before her. 

"Thy business, priest?" she asked sharply; for when she was with LeoAyesha did not like to be disturbed. 

"Hes, the spies are returned. "

"Why didst thou send them out?" she asked indifferently. "What need haveI of thy spies?"

"Hes, thou didst command me. "

"Well, their report?"

"Hes, it is most grave. The people of Kaloon are desperate because ofthe drought which has caused their crops to fail, so that starvationstares them in the eyes, and this they lay to the charge of thestrangers who came into their land and fled to thee. The Khania Atenealso is mad with rage against thee and our holy College. Labouring nightand day, she has gathered two great armies, one of forty, and one oftwenty thousand men, and the latter of these she sends against theMountain under the command of her uncle, Simbri the Shaman. In case itshould be defeated she purposes to remain with the second and greaterarmy on the plains about Kaloon. "

"Tidings indeed, " said Ayesha with a scornful laugh. "Has her hatemade this woman mad that she dares thus to match herself against me? MyHolly, it crossed thy mind but now that it was I who am mad, boastingof what I have no power to perform. Well, within six days thou shaltlearn--oh! verily thou shalt learn, and, though the issue be so verysmall, in such a fashion that thou wilt doubt no more for ever. Stay, I will look, though the effort of it wearies me, for those spies may bebut victims to their own fears, or to the falsehoods of Atene. "

Then suddenly, as was common with her when thus Ayesha threw her sightafar, which either from indolence, or because, as she said, it exhaustedher, she did but rarely, her lovely face grew rigid like that of aperson in a trance; the light faded from her brow, and the great pupilsof her eyes contracted themselves and lost their colour. 

In a little while, five minutes perhaps, she sighed like one awakeningfrom a deep sleep, passed her hand across her forehead and was as shehad been, though somewhat languid, as though strength had left her. 

"It is true enough, " she said, "and soon I must be stirring lest manyof my people should be killed. My lord, wouldst thou see war? Nay, thou shalt bide here in safety whilst I go forward--to visit Atene as Ipromised. "

"Where thou goest, I go, " said Leo angrily, his face flushing to theroots of his hair with shame. 

"I pray thee not, I pray thee not, " she answered, yet without venturingto forbid him. "We will talk of it hereafter. Oros, away! Send round theFire of Hes to every chief. Three nights hence at the moonrise bidthe Tribes gather--nay, not all, twenty thousand of their best will beenough, the rest shall stay to guard the Mountain and this Sanctuary. Let them bring food with them for fifteen days. I join them at thefollowing dawn. Go. "

He bowed and went, whereon, dismissing the matter from her mind, Ayeshabegan to question me again about the Chinese and their customs. 

It was in course of a somewhat similar conversation on the followingnight, of which, however, I forget the exact details, that a remark ofLeo's led to another exhibition of Ayesha's marvellous powers. 

Leo--who had been considering her plans for conquest, and againcombating them as best he could, for they were entirely repugnant to hisreligious, social and political views--said suddenly that after all theymust break down, since they would involve the expenditure of sums ofmoney so vast that even Ayesha herself would be unable to providethem by any known methods of taxation. She looked at him and laughed alittle. 

"Verily, Leo, " she said, "to thee, yes; and to Holly here I must seem assome madcap girl blown to and fro by every wind of fancy, and buildingme a palace wherein to dwell out of dew and vapours, or from thesubstance of the sunset fires. Thinkest thou then that I would enter onthis war--one woman against all the world"--and as she spoke her shapegrew royal and in her awful eyes there came a look that chilled myblood--"and make no preparation for its necessities? Why, since last wespoke upon this matter, foreseeing all, I have considered in my mind, and now thou shalt learn how, without cost to those we rule--and forthat reason alone shall they love us dearly--I will glut the treasuriesof the Empress of the Earth. 

"Dost remember, Leo, how in Kor I found but a single pleasure during allthose weary ages--that of forcing my mother Nature one by one to yieldme up her choicest secrets; I, who am a student of all things which areand of the forces that cause them to be born. Now follow me, both ofyou, and ye shall look on what mortal eyes have not yet beheld. "

"What are we to see?" I asked doubtfully, having a lively recollectionof Ayesha's powers as a chemist. 

"That thou shalt learn, or shalt not learn if it pleases thee to staybehind. Come, Leo, my love, my love, and leave this wise philosopherfirst to find his riddle and next to guess it. "

Then turning her back to me she smiled on him so sweetly that althoughreally he was more loth to go than I, Leo would have followed herthrough a furnace door, as indeed, had he but known it, he was about todo. 

So they started, and I accompanied them since with Ayesha it wasuseless to indulge in any foolish pride, or to make oneself a victim toconsistency. Also I was anxious to see her new marvel, and did not careto rely for an account of it upon Leo's descriptive skill, which at itsbest was never more than moderate. 

She took us down passages that we had not passed before, to a door whichshe signed to Leo to open. He obeyed, and from the cave within issued aflood of light. As we guessed at once, the place was her laboratory, for about it stood metal flasks and various strange-shaped instruments. Moreover, there was a furnace in it, one of the best conceivable, for itneeded neither fuel nor stoking, whose gaseous fires, like those of thetwisted columns in the Sanctuary, sprang from the womb of the volcanobeneath our feet. 

When we entered two priests were at work there: one of them stirring acauldron with an iron rod and the other receiving its molten contentsinto a mould of clay. They stopped to salute Ayesha, but she bade themto continue their task, asking them if all went well. 

"Very well, O Hes, " they answered; and we passed through that cave andsundry doors and passages to a little chamber cut in the rock. Therewas no lamp or flame of fire in it, and yet the place was filled with agentle light which seemed to flow from the opposing wall. 

"What were those priests doing?" I said, more to break the silence thanfor any other reason. 

"Why waste breath upon foolish questions?" she replied. "Are no metalssmelted in thy country, O Holly? Now hadst thou sought to know what I amdoing--But that, without seeing, thou wouldst not believe, so, Doubter, thou shalt see. "

Then she pointed to and bade us don, two strange garments that hung uponthe wall, made of a material which seemed to be half cloth and half woodand having headpieces not unlike a diver's helmet. 

So under her directions Leo helped me into mine, lacing it up behind, after which, or so I gathered from the sounds--for no light came throughthe helmet--she did the same service for him. 

"I seem very much in the dark, " I said presently; for now there wassilence again, and beneath this extinguisher I felt alarmed and wishedto be sure that I was not left alone. 

"Aye Holly, " I heard Ayesha's mocking voice make answer, "in the dark, as thou wast ever, the thick dark of ignorance and unbelief. Well, now, as ever also, I will give thee light. " As she spoke I heard somethingroll back; I suppose that it must have been a stone door. 

Then, indeed, there was light, yes, even through the thicknesses of thatprepared garment, such light as seemed to blind me. By it I saw that thewall opposite to us had opened and that we were all three of us, on thethreshold of another chamber. At the end of it stood something likea little altar of hard, black stone, and on this altar lay a mass ofsubstance of the size of a child's head, but fashioned, I suppose fromfantasy, to the oblong shape of a human eye. 

Out of this eye there poured that blistering and intolerable light. Itwas shut round by thick, funnel-shaped screens of a material that lookedlike fire-brick, yet it pierced them as though they were but muslin. More, the rays thus directed upwards struck full upon a lump of metalheld in place above them by a massive frame-work. 

And what rays they were! If all the cut diamonds of the world werebrought together and set beneath a mighty burning-glass, the lightflashed from them would not have been a thousandth part so brilliant. They scorched my eyes and caused the skin of my face and limbs to smart, yet Ayesha stood there unshielded from them. Aye, she even went down thelength of the room and, throwing back her veil, bent over them, as itseemed a woman of molten steel in whose body the bones were visible, andexamined the mass that was supported by the hanging cradle. 

"It is ready and somewhat sooner than I thought, " she said. Then asthough it were but a feather weight, she lifted the lump in herbare hands and glided back with it to where we stood, laughing andsaying--"Tell me now, O thou well-read Holly, if thou hast ever heard ofa better alchemist than this poor priestess of a forgotten faith?" Andshe thrust the glowing substance up almost to the mask that hid my face. 

Then I turned and ran, or rather waddled, for in that gear I could notrun, out of the chamber until the rock wall beyond stayed me, and there, with my back towards her, thrust my helmeted head against it, for I feltas though red-hot bradawls had been plunged into my eyes. So I stoodwhile she laughed and mocked behind me until at length I heard the doorclose and the blessed darkness came like a gift from Heaven. 

Then Ayesha began to loose Leo from his ray-proof armour, if so it canbe called, and he in turn loosed me; and there in that gentle radiancewe stood blinking at each other like owls in the sunlight, while thetears streamed down our faces. 

"Well, art satisfied, my Holly?" she asked. 

"Satisfied with what?" I answered angrily, for the smarting of myeyes was unbearable. "Yes, with burnings and bedevilments I am wellsatisfied. "

"And I also, " grumbled Leo, who was swearing softly but continuously tohimself in the other corner of the place. 

But Ayesha only laughed, oh! she laughed until she seemed the goddessof all merriment come to earth, laughed till she also wept, thensaid--"Why, what ingratitude is this? Thou, my Leo, didst wish to seethe wonders that I work, and thou, O Holly, didst come unbidden after Ibade thee stay behind, and now both of you are rude and angry, aye, andweeping like a child with a burnt finger. Here take this, " and she gaveus some salve that stood upon a shelf, "and rub it on your eyes and thesmart will pass away. "

So we did, and the pain went from them, though, for hours afterwards, mine remained red as blood. 

"And what are these wonders?" I asked her presently. "If thou meanestthat unbearable flame----"

"Nay, I mean what is born of the flame, as, in thine ignorance thou dostcall that mighty agent. Look now;" and she pointed to the metallic lumpshe had brought with her, which, still gleaming faintly, lay upon thefloor. "Nay, it has no heat. Thinkest thou that I would wish to burn mytender hands and so make them unsightly? Touch it, Holly. "

But I would not, who thought to myself that Ayesha might be wellaccustomed to the hottest fires, and feared her impish mischief. Ilooked, however, long and earnestly. 

"Well, what is it, Holly?"

"Gold, " I said, then corrected myself and added, "Copper, " for the dull, red glow might have been that of either metal. 

"Nay, nay, " she answered, "it is gold, pure gold. "

"The ore in this place must be rich, " said Leo, incredulously, for Iwould not speak any more. 

"Yes, my Leo, the iron ore is rich. "

"Iron ore?" and he looked at her. 

"Surely, " she answered, "for from what mine do men dig out gold in suchgreat masses? Iron ore, beloved, that by my alchemy I change to gold, which soon shall serve us in our need. "

Now Leo stared and I groaned, for I did not believe that it was gold, and still less that she could make that metal. Then, reading my thought, with one of those sudden changes of mood that were common to her, Ayeshagrew very angry. 

"By Nature's self!" she cried; "wert thou not my friend, Holly, the foolwhom it pleases me to cherish, I would bind that right hand of thinein those secret rays till the very bones within it were turned to gold. Nay, why should I be vexed with thee, who art both blind and deaf?Yet thou _shalt_ be persuaded, " and leaving us, she passed down thepassages, called something to the priests who were labouring in theworkshop, then returned to us. 

Presently they followed her, carrying on a kind of stretcher betweenthem an ingot of iron ore that seemed to be as much as they could lift. 

"Now, " she said, "how wilt thou that I mark this mass which as thou mustadmit is only iron? With the sign of Life? Good, " and at her bidding thepriests took cold-chisels and hammers and roughly cut upon its surfacethe symbol of the looped cross--the _crux ansata_. 

"It is not enough, " she said when they had finished. "Holly, lend methat knife of thine, to-morrow I will return it to thee, and of morevalue. "

So I drew my hunting knife, an Indian-made thing, that had a handle ofplated iron, and gave it her. 

"Thou knowest the marks on it, " and she pointed to various dents and tothe maker's name upon the blade; for though the hilt was Indian work thesteel was of Sheffield manufacture. 

I nodded. Then she bade the priests put on the ray-proof armour thatwe had discarded, and told us to go without the chamber and lie in thedarkness of the passage with our faces against the floor. 

This we did, and remained so until, a few minutes later, she called usagain. We rose and returned into the chamber to find the priests, whohad removed the protecting garments, gasping and rubbing the salve upontheir eyes; to find also that the lump of iron ore and my knife weregone. Next she commanded them to place the block of gold-coloured metalupon their stretcher and to bring it with them. They obeyed, and wenoted that, although those priests were both of them strong men theygroaned beneath its weight. 

"How came it, " said Leo, "that thou, a woman, couldst carry what thesemen find so heavy?"

"It is one of the properties of that force which thou callest fire, " sheanswered sweetly, "to make what has been exposed to it, if for a littlewhile only, as light as thistle-down. Else, how could I, who am sofrail, have borne yonder block of gold?"

"Quite so! I understand now, " answered Leo. 

Well, that was the end of it. The lump of metal was hid away in a kindof rock pit, with an iron cover, and we returned to Ayesha's apartments. 

"So all wealth is thine, as well as all power, " said Leo, presently, forremembering Ayesha's awful threat I scarcely dared to open my mouth. 

"It seems so, " she answered wearily, "since centuries ago I discoveredthat great secret, though until ye came I had put it to no use. Hollyhere, after his common fashion, believes that this is magic, but I tellthee again that there is no magic, only knowledge which I have chancedto win. "

"Of course, " said Leo, "looked at in the right way, that is in thy way, the thing is simple. " I think he would have liked to add, "as lying, "but as the phrase would have involved explanations, did not. "Yet, Ayesha, " he went on, "hast thou thought that this discovery of thinewill wreck the world?"

"Leo, " she answered, "is there then nothing that I can do which willnot wreck this world, for which thou hast such tender care, who shouldstkeep all thy care--for me?"

I smiled, but remembering in time, turned the smile into a frown atLeo, then fearing lest that also might anger her, made my countenance asblank as possible. 

"If so, " she continued, "well, let the world be wrecked. But whatmeanest thou? Oh! my lord, Leo, forgive me if I am so dull that I cannotalways follow thy quick thought--I who have lived these many yearsalone, without converse with nobler minds, or even those to which mineown is equal. "

"It pleases thee to mock me, " said Leo, in a vexed voice, "and that isnot too brave. "

Now Ayesha turned on him fiercely, and I looked towards the door. Buthe did not shrink, only folded his arms and stared her straight inthe face. She contemplated him a little, then said--"After that greatordained reason which thou dost not know, I think, Leo, that why I lovethee so madly is that thou alone art not afraid of me. Not like Hollythere, who, ever since I threatened to turn his bones to gold--which, indeed, I was minded to do, " and she laughed--"trembles at my footstepsand cowers beneath my softest glance. 

"Oh! my lord, how good thou art to me, how patient with my moods andwoman's weaknesses, " and she made as though she were about to embracehim. Then suddenly remembering herself, with a little start that somehowconveyed more than the most tragic gesture, she pointed to the couchin token that he should seat himself. When he had done so she drew afootstool to his feet and sank upon it, looking up into his face withattentive eyes, like a child who listens for a story. 

"Thy reasons, Leo, give me thy reasons. Doubtless they are good, and, oh! be sure I'll weigh them well. "

"Here they are in brief, " he answered. "The world, as thou knewest inthy--" and he stopped. 

"Thy earlier wanderings there, " she suggested. 

"Yes--thy earlier wanderings there, has set up gold as the standard ofits wealth. On it all civilizations are founded. Make it as common as itseems thou canst, and these must fall to pieces. Credit will fail and, like their savage forefathers, men must once more take to barter tosupply their needs as they do in Kaloon to-day. "

"Why not?" she asked. "It would be more simple and bring them closer tothe time when they were good and knew not luxury and greed. "

"And smashed in each other's heads with stone axes, " added Leo. 

"Who now pierce each other's hearts with steel, or those leaden missilesof which thou hast told me. Oh! Leo, when the nations are beggared andtheir golden god is down; when the usurer and the fat merchant trembleand turn white as chalk because their hoards are but useless dross;when I have made the bankrupt Exchanges of the world my mock, and laughacross the ruin of its richest markets, why, then, will not true worthcome to its heritage again?

"What of it if I do discomfort those who think more of pelf than ofcourage and of virtue; those who, as that Hebrew prophet wrote, layfield to field and house to house, until the wretched whom they haverobbed find no place left whereon to dwell? What if I proved your sagestchapmen fools, and gorge your greedy moneychangers with the gold thatthey desire until they loathe its very sight and touch? What if I upholdthe cause of the poor and the oppressed against the ravening lusts ofMammon? Why, will not this world of yours be happier then?"

"I do not know, " answered Leo. "All that I know is that it would be adifferent world, one shaped upon a new plan, governed by untried lawsand seeking other ends. In so strange a place who can say what might ormight not chance?"

"That we shall learn in its season, Leo. Or, rather, if it be againstthy wish, we will not turn this hidden page. Since thou dost desire it, that old evil, the love of lucre, shall still hold its mastery upon theearth. Let the peoples keep their yellow king, I'll not crown anotherin his place, as I was minded--such as that living Strength thou sawestburning eternally but now; that Power whereof I am the mistress, whichcan give health to men, or even change the character of metals, and intruth, if I so desire, obedient to my word, destroy a city or rend thisMountain from its roots. 

"But see, Holly is wearied with much wondering and needs his rest. Oh, Holly! thou wast born a critic of things done, not a doer of them. Iknow thy tribe for even in my day the colleges of Alexandria echoed withtheir wranglings and already the winds blew thick with the dust of theirforgotten bones. Holly, I tell thee that at times those who create andact are impatient of such petty doubts and cavillings. Yet fear not, oldfriend, nor take my anger ill. Already thy heart is gold without alloy, so what need have I to gild thy bones?"

I thanked Ayesha for her compliment, and went to my bed wondering whichwas real, her kindness or her wrath, or if both were but assumed. AlsoI wondered in what way she had fallen foul of the critics of Alexandria. Perhaps once she had published a poem or a system of philosophy and beenroughly handled by them! It is quite possible, only if Ayesha had everwritten poetry I think that it would have endured, like Sappho's. 

In the morning I discovered that whatever else about her might be false, Ayesha was a true chemist, the very greatest, I suppose, who everlived. For as I dressed myself, those priests whom we had seen inthe laboratory, staggered into the room carrying between them a heavyburden, that was covered with a cloth, and, directed by Oros, placed itupon the floor. 

"What is that?" I asked of Oros. 

"A peace-offering sent by the Hesea, " he said, "with whom, as I am told, you dared to quarrel yesterday. "

Then he withdrew the cloth, and there beneath it shone that great lumpof metal which, in the presence of myself and Leo, had been marked withthe Symbol of Life, that still appeared upon its surface. Only now itwas gold, not iron, gold so good and soft that I could write my nameupon it with a nail. My knife lay with it also, and of that too thehandle, though not the blade, had been changed from iron into gold. 

Ayesha asked to see this afterwards and was but ill-pleased with theresult of her experiment. She pointed out to me that lines and blotchesof gold ran for an inch or more down the substance of the steel, whichshe feared that they might weaken or distemper, whereas it had been herpurpose that the hilt only should be altered. [*]

 [*] I proved in after days how real were Ayesha's alchemy, and the knowledge which enabled her to solve the secret that chemists have hunted for in vain, and, like Nature's self, to transmute the commonest into the most precious of the metals. At the first town that I reached on the frontiers of India, I took this knife to a jeweller, a native, who was as clever as he proved dishonest, and asked him to test the handle. He did so with acids and by other means, and told me that it was of very pure gold, twenty-four carats, I think he said. Also he pointed out that this gold became gradually merged into the steel of the blade in a way which was quite inexplicable to him, and asked me to clear up the matter. Of course I could not, but at his request I left the knife in his shop to give him an opportunity of examining it further. The next day I was taken ill with one of the heart-attacks to which I have been liable of late, and when I became able to move about again a while afterwards, I found that this jeweller had gone, none knew whither. So had my knife. --L. H. H. 

Often since that time I have marvelled how Ayesha performed thismiracle, and from what substances she gathered or compounded thelightning-like material, which was her servant in the work; also, whether or no it had been impregnated with the immortalizing fire ofLife that burned in the caves of Kor. [*] Yet to this hour I have foundno answer to the problem, for it is beyond my guessing. 

 [*] Recent discoveries would appear to suggest that this mysterious "Fire of Life, " which, whatever else it may have been, was evidently a force and no true fire, since it did not burn, owed its origin to the emanations from radium, or some kindred substance. Although in the year 1885, Mr. Holly would have known nothing of the properties of these marvellous rays or emanations, doubtless Ayesha was familiar with them and their enormous possibilities, of which our chemists and scientific men have, at present, but explored the fringe. --Editor. 

I suppose that, in preparation for her conquest of the inhabitants ofthis globe--to which, indeed, it would have sufficed unaided by anyother power--the manufacture of gold from iron went on in the caveunceasingly. 

However this may be, during the few days that we remained togetherAyesha never so much as spoke of it again. It seemed to have served herpurpose for the while, or in the press of other and more urgent mattersto have been forgotten or thrust from her mind. Still, amongst others, of which I have said nothing, since it is necessary to select, I recordthis strange incident, and our conversations concerning it at length, for the reason that it made a great impression upon me and furnishes astriking example of Ayesha's dominion over the hidden forces of Naturewhereof we were soon to experience a more fearful instance. 

CHAPTER XXI

THE PROPHECY OF ATENE

On the day following this strange experience of the iron that was turnedto gold some great service was held in the Sanctuary, as we understood, "to consecrate the war. " We did not attend it, but that night we atetogether as usual. Ayesha was moody at the meal, that is, she variedfrom sullenness to laughter. 

"Know you, " she said, "that to-day I was an Oracle, and those fools ofthe Mountain sent their medicine-men to ask of the Hesea how the battlewould go and which of them would be slain, and which gain honour. AndI--I could not tell them, but juggled with my words, so that they mighttake them as they would. How the battle will go I know well, for Ishall direct it, but the future--ah! that I cannot read better than thoucanst, my Holly, and that is ill indeed. For me the past and all thepresent lie bathed in light reflected from that black wall--the future. "

Then she fell to brooding, and looking up at length with an air ofentreaty, said to Leo--"Wilt thou not hear my prayer and bide where thouart for some few days, or even go a-hunting? Do so, and I will stay withthee, and send Holly and Oros to command the Tribes in this petty fray. "

"I will not, " answered Leo, trembling with indignation, for this planof hers that I should be sent out to war, while he bided in safety in atemple, moved him, a man brave to rashness, who, although he disapprovedof it in theory, loved fighting for its own sake also, to absolute rage. 

"I say, Ayesha, that I will not, " he repeated; "moreover, that if thouleavest me here I will find my way down the mountain alone, and join thebattle. "

"Then come, " she answered, "and on thine own head be it. Nay, not onthine beloved, on mine, on mine. "

After this, by some strange reaction, she became like a merry girl, laughing more than I have ever seen her do, and telling us many tales ofthe far, far past, but none that were sad or tragic. It was very strangeto sit and listen to her while she spoke of people, one or two of themknown as names in history and many others who never have been heardof, that had trod this earth and with whom she was familiar over twothousand years ago. Yet she told us anecdotes of their loves and hates, their strength or weaknesses, all of them touched with some tinge ofhumorous satire, or illustrating the comic vanity of human aims andaspirations. 

At length her talk took a deeper and more personal note. She spoke ofher searchings after truth; of how, aching for wisdom, she had exploredthe religions of her day and refused them one by one; of how she hadpreached in Jerusalem and been stoned by the Doctors of the Law. Ofhow also she had wandered back to Arabia and, being rejected by her ownpeople as a reformer, had travelled on to Egypt, and at the court of thePharaoh of that time met a famous magician, half charlatan and halfseer who, because she was far-seeing, 'clairvoyante' we should call it, instructed her in his art so well that soon she became his master andforced him to obey her. 

Then, as though she were unwilling to reveal too much, suddenly Ayesha'shistory passed from Egypt to Kor. She spoke to Leo of his arrival there, a wanderer who was named Kallikrates, hunted by savages and accompaniedby the Egyptian Amenartas, whom she appeared to have known and hated inher own country, and of how she entertained them. Yes, she even told ofa supper that the three of them had eaten together on the evening beforethey started to discover the Place of Life, and of an evil prophecy thatthis royal Amenartas had made as to the issue of their journey. 

"Aye, " Ayesha said, "it was such a silent night as this and such ameal as this we ate, and Leo, not so greatly changed, save that he wasbeardless then and younger, was at my side. Where thou sittest, Holly, sat the royal Amenartas, a very fair woman; yes, even more beautifulthan I before I dipped me in the Essence, fore-sighted also, though notso learned as I had grown. From the first we hated each other, and morethan ever now, when she guessed how I had learned to look upon thee, herlover, Leo; for her husband thou never wast, who didst flee too fast formarriage. She knew also that the struggle between us which had begun ofold and afar was for centuries and generations, and that until the endshould declare itself neither of us could harm the other, who both hadsinned to win thee, that wast appointed by fate to be the lodestoneof our souls. Then Amenartas spoke and said--"'Lo! to my sight, Kallikrates, the wine in thy cup is turned to blood, and that knife inthy hand, O daughter of Yarab'--for so she named me--'drips red blood. Aye, and this place is a sepulchre, and thou, O Kallikrates, sleepesthere, nor can she, thy murderess, kiss back the breath of life intothose cold lips of thine. '

"So indeed it came about as was ordained, " added Ayesha reflectively, "for I slew thee in yonder Place of Life, yes, in my madness I slew theebecause thou wouldst not or couldst not understand the change that hadcome over me, and shrankest from my loveliness like a blind bat fromthe splendour of flame, hiding thy face in the tresses of her duskyhair--Why, what is it now, thou Oros? Can I never be rid of thee for anhour?"

"O Hes, a writing from the Khania Atene, " the priest said with hisdeprecating bow. 

"Break the seal and read, " she answered carelessly. "Perchance she hasrepented of her folly and makes submission. "

So he read--

"To the Hesea of the College on the Mountain, known as Ayesha uponearth, and in the household of the Over-world whence she has beenpermitted to wander, as 'Star-that-hath-fallen--'"

"A pretty sounding name, forsooth, " broke in Ayesha; "ah! but, Atene, set stars rise again--even from the Under-world. Read on, thou Oros. "

"Greetings, O Ayesha. Thou who art very old, hast gathered much wisdomin the passing of the centuries, and with other powers, that of makingthyself seem fair in the eyes of men blinded by thine arts. Yet onething thou lackest that I have--vision of those happenings which are notyet. Know, O Ayesha, that I and my uncle, the great seer, have searchedthe heavenly books to learn what is written there of the issue of thiswar. 

"This is written:--For me, death, whereat I rejoice. For thee a spearcast by thine own hand. For the land of Kaloon blood and ruin bred ofthee!

"Atene, "Khania of Kaloon. "

Ayesha listened in silence, but her lips did not tremble, nor her cheekpale. To Oros she said proudly--"Say to the messenger of Atene that Ihave received her message, and ere long will answer it, face to facewith her in her palace of Kaloon. Go, priest, and disturb me no more. "

When Oros had departed she turned to us and said--"That tale of mine oflong ago was well fitted to this hour, for as Amenartas prophesied ofill, so does Atene prophesy of ill, and Amenartas and Atene are one. Well, let the spear fall, if fall it must, and I will not flinch fromit who know that I shall surely triumph at the last. Perhaps the Khaniadoes but think to frighten me with a cunning lie, but if she has readaright, then be sure, beloved, that it is still well with us, since nonecan escape their destiny, nor can our bond of union which was fashionedwith the universe that bears us, ever be undone. "

She paused awhile then went on with a sudden outburst of poetic thoughtand imagery. 

"I tell thee, Leo, that out of the confusions of our lives and deathsorder shall yet be born. Behind the mask of cruelty shine Mercy'stender eyes; and the wrongs of this rough and twisted world are buthot, blinding sparks which stream from the all-righting sword of pure, eternal Justice. The heavy lives we see and know are only links in agolden chain that shall draw us safe to the haven of our rest; steepand painful steps are they whereby we climb to the alloted palace ofour joy. Henceforth I fear no more, and fight no more against that whichmust befall. For I say we are but winged seeds blown down the gales offate and change to the appointed garden where we shall grow, filling itsblest air with the immortal fragrance of our bloom. 

"Leave me now, Leo, and sleep awhile, for we ride at dawn. "

It was midday on the morrow when we moved down the mountain-side withthe army of the Tribes, fierce and savage-looking men. The scouts wereout before us, then came the great body of their cavalry mounted on wiryhorses, while to right and left and behind, the foot soldiers marched inregiments, each under the command of its own chief. 

Ayesha, veiled now--for she would not show her beauty to these wildfolk--rode in the midst of the horse-men on a white mare of matchlessspeed and shape. With her went Leo and myself, Leo on the Khan's blackhorse, and I on another not unlike it, though thicker built. About uswere a bodyguard of armed priests and a regiment of chosen soldiers, among them those hunters that Leo had saved from Ayesha's wrath, and whowere now attached to his person. 

We were merry, all of us, for in the crisp air of late autumn floodedwith sunlight, the fears and forebodings that had haunted us in thosegloomy, firelit caves were forgotten. Moreover, the tramp of thousandsof armed men and the excitement of coming battle thrilled our nerves. 

Not for many a day had I seen Leo look so vigorous and happy. Of latehe had grown somewhat thin and pale, probably from causes that I havesuggested, but now his cheeks were red and his eyes shone bright again. Ayesha also seemed joyous, for the moods of this strange woman were asfickle as those of Nature's self, and varied as a landscape varies underthe sunshine or the shadow. Now she was noon and now dark night; nowdawn, now evening, and now thoughts came and went in the blue depths ofher eyes like vapours wafted across the summer sky, and in the pressof them her sweet face changed and shimmered as broken water shimmersbeneath the beaming stars. 

"Too long, " she said, with a little thrilling laugh, "have I been shutin the bowels of sombre mountains, accompanied only by mutes and savagesor by melancholy, chanting priests, and now I am glad to look upon theworld again. How beautiful are the snows above, and the brown slopesbelow, and the broad plains beyond that roll away to those borderinghills! How glorious is the sun, eternal as myself; how sweet the keenair of heaven. 

"Believe me, Leo, more than twenty centuries have gone by since I wasseated on a steed, and yet thou seest I have not forgot my horsemanship, though this beast cannot match those Arabs that I rode in the widedeserts of Arabia. Oh! I remember how at my father's side I gallopeddown to war against the marauding Bedouins, and how with my own hand Ispeared their chieftain and made him cry for mercy. One day I will tellthee of that father of mine, for I was his darling, and though we havebeen long apart, I hold his memory dear and look forward to our meeting. 

"See, yonder is the mouth of that gorge where lived the cat-worshippingsorcerer, who would have murdered both of you because thou, Leo, didstthrow his familiar to the fire. It is strange, but several of the tribesof this Mountain and of the lands behind it make cats their gods ordivine by means of them. I think that the first Rassen, the generalof Alexander, must have brought the practice here from Egypt. Ofthis Macedonian Alexander I could tell thee much, for he was almost acontemporary of mine, and when I last was born the world still rang withthe fame of his great deeds. 

"It was Rassen who on the Mountain supplanted the primeval fire-worshipwhereof the flaming pillars which light its Sanctuary remain asmonuments, by that of Hes, or Isis, or rather blended the two in one. Doubtless among the priests in his army were some of Pasht or Sekket theCat-headed, and these brought with them their secret cult, that to-dayhas dwindled down to the vulgar divinations of savage sorcerers. IndeedI remember dimly that it was so, for I was the first Hesea of thisTemple, and journeyed hither with that same general Rassen, a relativeof mine. "

Now both Leo and I looked at her wonderingly, and I could see that shewas watching us through her veil. As usual, however, it was I whom shereproved, since Leo might think and do what he willed and still escapeher anger. 

"Thou, Holly, " she said quickly, "who art ever of a cavilling andsuspicious mind, remembering what I said but now, believest that I lieto thee. "

I protested that I was only reflecting upon an apparent variationbetween two statements. 

"Play not with words, " she answered; "in thy heart thou didst write medown a liar, and I take that ill. Know, foolish man, that when I saidthat the Macedonian Alexander lived before me, I meant before thispresent life of mine. In the existence that preceded it, though Ioutlasted him by thirty years, we were born in the same summer, andI knew him well, for I was the Oracle whom he consulted most upon hiswars, and to my wisdom he owed his victories. Afterwards we quarrelled, and I left him and pushed forward with Rassen. From that day thebright star of Alexander began to wane. " At this Leo made a sound thatresembled a whistle. In a very agony of apprehension, beating back thecriticisms and certain recollections of the strange tale of the oldabbot, Kou-en, which would rise within me, I asked quickly--"And dostthou, Ayesha, remember well all that befell thee in this former life?"

"Nay, not well, " she answered, meditatively, "only the greater facts, and those I have for the most part recovered by that study of secretthings which thou callest vision or magic. For instance, my Holly, Irecall that thou wast living in that life. Indeed I seem to see anugly philosopher clad in a dirty robe and filled both with wine and thelearning of others, who disputed with Alexander till he grew wroth withhim and caused him to be banished, or drowned: I forget which. "

"I suppose that I was not called Diogenes?" I asked tartly, suspecting, perhaps not without cause, that Ayesha was amusing herself by foolingme. 

"No, " she replied gravely, "I do not think that was thy name. TheDiogenes thou speakest of was a much more famous man, one of real ifcrabbed wisdom; moreover, he did not indulge in wine. I am mindful ofvery little of that life, however, not of more indeed than are many ofthe followers of the prophet Buddha, whose doctrines I have studied andof whom thou, Holly, hast spoken to me so much. Maybe we did not meetwhile it endured. Still I recollect that the Valley of Bones, whereI found thee, my Leo, was the place where a great battle was foughtbetween the Fire-priests with their vassals, the Tribes of the Mountainand the army of Rassen aided by the people of Kaloon. For between theseand the Mountain, in old days as now, there was enmity, since in thispresent war history does but rewrite itself. "

"So thou thyself wast our guide, " said Leo, looking at her sharply. 

"Aye, Leo, who else? though it is not wonderful that thou didst not knowme beneath those deathly wrappings. I was minded to wait and receivethee in the Sanctuary, yet when I learned that at length both of you hadescaped Atene and drew near, I could restrain myself no more, but cameforth thus hideously disguised. Yes, I was with you even at the river'sbank, and though you saw me not, there sheltered you from harm. 

"Leo, I yearned to look upon thee and to be certain that thy heart hadnot changed, although until the alloted time thou mightest not hear myvoice or see my face who wert doomed to undergo that sore trial of thyfaith. Of Holly also I desired to learn whether his wisdom could piercethrough my disguise, and how near he stood to truth. It was for thisreason that I suffered him to see me draw the lock from the satchel onthy breast and to hear me wail over thee yonder in the Rest-house. Well he did not guess so ill, but thou, thou knewest me--in thysleep--knewest me as I am, and not as I seemed to be, yes, " she addedsoftly, "and didst say certain sweet words which I remember well. "

"Then beneath that shroud was thine own face, " asked Leo again, for hewas very curious on this point, "the same lovely face I see to-day?"

"Mayhap--as thou wilt, " she answered coldly; "also it is the spirit thatmatters, not the outward seeming, though men in their blindness thinkotherwise. Perchance my face is but as thy heart fashions it, or as mywill presents it to the sight and fancy of its beholders. But hark! Thescouts have touched. "

As Ayesha spoke a sound of distant shouting was borne upon the wind, and presently we saw a fringe of horsemen falling back slowly upon ourforemost line. It was only to report, however, that the skirmishers ofAtene were in full retreat. Indeed, a prisoner whom they brought withthem, on being questioned by the priests, confessed at once that theKhania had no mind to meet us upon the holy Mountain. She proposed togive battle on the river's farther bank, having for a defence its waterswhich we must ford, a decision that showed good military judgment. 

So it happened that on this day there was no fighting. 

All that afternoon we descended the slopes of the Mountain, more swiftlyby far than we had climbed them after our long flight from the city ofKaloon. Before sunset we came to our prepared camping ground, a wide andsloping plain that ended at the crest of the Valley of Dead Bones, wherein past days we had met our mysterious guide. This, however, we did notreach through the secret mountain tunnel along which she had led us, theshortest way by miles, as Ayesha told us now, since it was unsuited tothe passage of an army. 

Bending to the left, we circled round a number of unclimbable koppies, beneath which that tunnel passed, and so at length arrived upon the browof the dark ravine where we could sleep safe from attack by night. 

Here a tent was pitched for Ayesha, but as it was the only one, Leoand I with our guard bivouacked among some rocks at a distance of afew hundred yards. When she found that this must be so, Ayesha was veryangry and spoke bitter words to the chief who had charge of the food andbaggage, although, he, poor man, knew nothing of tents. 

Also she blamed Oros, who replied meekly that he had thought us captainsaccustomed to war and its hardships. But most of all she was angry withherself, who had forgotten this detail, and until Leo stopped her with alaugh of vexation, went on to suggest that we should sleep in the tent, since she had no fear of the rigours of the mountain cold. 

The end of it was that we supped together outside, or rather Leo and Isupped, for as there were guards around us Ayesha did not even lift herveil. 

That evening Ayesha was disturbed and ill at ease, as though new fearswhich she could not overcome assailed her. At length she seemed toconquer them by some effort of her will and announced that she wasminded to sleep and thus refresh her soul; the only part of her, Ithink, which ever needed rest. Her last words to us were--"Sleep youalso, sleep sound, but be not astonished, my Leo, if I send to summonboth of you during the night, since in my slumbers I may find newcounsels and need to speak of them to thee ere we break camp at dawn. "

Thus we parted, but ah! little did we guess how and where the three ofus would meet again. 

We were weary and soon fell fast asleep beside our camp-fire, for, knowing that the whole army guarded us, we had no fear. I rememberwatching the bright stars which shone in the immense vault above meuntil they paled in the pure light of the risen moon, now somewhat pasther full, and hearing Leo mutter drowsily from beneath his fur rug thatAyesha was quite right, and that it was pleasant to be in the open airagain, as he was tired of caves. 

After that I knew no more until I was awakened by the challenge of asentry in the distance; then after a pause, a second challenge fromthe officer of our own guard. Another pause, and a priest stood bowingbefore us, the flickering light from the fire playing upon his shavenhead and face, which I seemed to recognize. 

"I"--and he gave a name that was familiar to me, but which I forget--"amsent, my lords, by Oros, who commands me to say that the Hesea wouldspeak with you both and at once. "

Now Leo sat up yawning and asked what was the matter. I told him, whereon he said he wished that Ayesha could have waited till daylight, then added--"Well, there is no help for it. Come on, Horace, " and herose to follow the messenger. 

The priest bowed again and said--"The commands of the Hesea are that mylords should bring their weapons and their guard. "

"What, " grumbled Leo, "to protect us for a walk of a hundred yardsthrough the heart of an army?"

"The Hesea, " explained the man, "has left her tent; she is in the gorgeyonder, studying the line of advance. "

"How do you know that?" I asked. 

"I do not know it, " he replied. "Oros told me so, that is all, andtherefore the Hesea bade my lords bring their guard, for she is alone. "

"Is she mad, " ejaculated Leo, "to wander about in such a place atmidnight? Well, it is like her. "

I too thought it was like her, who did nothing that others would havedone, and yet I hesitated. Then I remembered that Ayesha had said shemight send for us; also I was sure that if any trick had been intendedwe should not have been warned to bring an escort. So we called theguard--there were twelve of them--took our spears and swords andstarted. 

We were challenged by both the first and second lines of sentries, and Inoticed that as we gave them the password the last picket, who of courserecognized us, looked astonished. Still, if they had doubts they did notdare to express them. So we went on. 

Now we began to descend the sides of the ravine by a very steep path, with which the priest, our guide, seemed to be curiously familiar, forhe went down it as though it were the stairway of his own house. 

"A strange place to take us to at night, " said Leo doubtfully, whenwe were near the bottom and the chief of the bodyguard, that greatred-bearded hunter who had been mixed up in the matter of thesnow-leopard also muttered some words of remonstrance. Whilst I wastrying to catch what he said, of a sudden something white walked intothe patch of moonlight at the foot of the ravine, and we saw that itwas the veiled figure of Ayesha herself. The chief saw her also and saidcontentedly--"Hes! Hes!"

"Look at her, " grumbled Leo, "strolling about in that haunted hole asthough it were Hyde Park;" and on he went at a run. 

The figure turned and beckoned to us to follow her as she glidedforward, picking her way through the skeletons which were scatteredabout upon the lava bed of the cleft. Thus she went on into the shadowof the opposing cliff that the moonlight did not reach. Here in the wetseason a stream trickled down a path which it had cut through the rockin the course of centuries, and the grit that it had brought with itwas spread about the lava floor of the ravine, so that many of the boneswere almost completely buried in the sand. 

These, I noticed, as we stepped into the shadow, were more numerous thanusual just here, for on all sides I saw the white crowns of skulls, orthe projecting ends of ribs and thigh bones. Doubtless, I thought tomyself, that streamway made a road to the plain above, and in some pastbattle, the fighting around it was very fierce and the slaughter great. 

Here Ayesha had halted and was engaged in the contemplation of thisboulder-strewn path, as though she meditated making use of it that day. Now we drew near to her, and the priest who guided us fell back with ourguard, leaving us to go forward alone, since they dared not approach theHesea unbidden. Leo was somewhat in advance of me, seven or eight yardsperhaps, and I heard him say--"Why dost thou venture into such places atnight, Ayesha, unless indeed it is not possible for any harm to come tothee?"

She made no answer, only turned and opened her arms wide, then let themfall to her side again. Whilst I wondered what this signal of hers mightmean, from the shadows about us came a strange, rustling sound. 

I looked, and lo! everywhere the skeletons were rising from their sandybeds. I saw their white skulls, their gleaming arm and leg bones, theirhollow ribs. The long-slain army had come to life again, and look! intheir hands were the ghosts of spears. 

Of course I knew at once that this was but another manifestation ofAyesha's magic powers, which some whim of hers had drawn us from ourbeds to witness. Yet I confess that I felt frightened. Even the boldestof men, however free from superstition, might be excused should theirnerve fail them if, when standing in a churchyard at midnight, suddenlyon every side they saw the dead arising from their graves. Also oursurroundings were wilder and more eerie than those of any civilizedburying-place. 

"What new devilment of thine is this?" cried Leo in a scared and angryvoice. But Ayesha made no answer. I heard a noise behind me and lookedround. The skeletons were springing upon our body-guard, who for theirpart, poor men, paralysed with terror, had thrown down their weapons andfallen, some of them, to their knees. Now the ghosts began to stab atthem with their phantom spears, and I saw that beneath the blows theyrolled over. The veiled figure above me pointed with her hand at Leo andsaid--"Seize him, but I charge you, harm him not. "

I knew the voice; _it was that of Atene!_

Then too late I understood the trap into which we had fallen. 

"Treachery!" I began to cry, and before the word was out of my lips, aparticularly able-bodied skeleton silenced me with a violent blow uponthe head. But though I could not speak, my senses still stayed withme for a little. I saw Leo fighting furiously with a number of men whostrove to pull him down, so furiously, indeed that his frightful effortscaused the blood to gush out of his mouth from some burst vessel in thelungs. 

Then sight and hearing failed me, and thinking that this was death, Ifell and remembered no more. 

Why I was not killed outright I do not know, unless in their hurry thedisguised soldiers thought me already dead, or perhaps that my life wasto be spared also. At least, beyond the knock upon the head I receivedno injury. 

CHAPTER XXII

THE LOOSING OF THE POWERS

When I came to myself again, it was daylight. I saw the calm, gentleface of Qros bending over me as he poured some strong fluid down mythroat that seemed to shoot through all my body, and melt a curtain inmy mind. I saw also that beside him stood Ayesha. 

"Speak, man, speak, " she said in a terrible voice. "What hast chancedhere? Thou livest, then where is my lord? Where hast thou hid my lord?Tell me--or die. "

It was the vision that I saw when my senses left me in the snow of theavalanche, fulfilled to the last detail!

"Atene has taken him, " I answered. 

"Atene has taken him and thou art left alive?"

"Do not be wrath with me, " I answered, "it is no fault of mine. Littlewonder we were deceived after thou hadst said that thou mightest summonus ere dawn. "

Then as briefly as I could I told the story. 

She listened, went to where our murdered guards lay with unstainedspears, and looked at them. 

"Well for these that they are dead, " she exclaimed. "Now, Holly, thouseest what is the fruit of mercy. The men whose lives I gave my lordhave failed him at his need. "

Then she passed forward to the spot where Leo was captured. Here lay abroken sword--Leo's--that had been the Khan Rassen's, and two dead men. Both of these were clothed in some tight-fitting black garments, havingtheir heads and faces whitened with chalk and upon their vests a rudeimitation of a human skeleton, also daubed in chalk. 

"A trick fit to frighten fools with, " she said contemptuously. "But oh!that Atene should have dared to play the part of Ayesha, that she shouldhave dared!" and she clenched her little hand. "See, surprised andoverwhelmed, yet he fought well. Say! was he hurt, Holly? It comes uponme--no, tell me that I see amiss. "

"Not much, I think, " I answered doubtfully, "a little blood was runningfrom his mouth, no more. Look, there go the stains of it upon thatrock. "

"For every drop I'll take a hundred lives. By myself I swear it, " Ayeshamuttered with a groan. Then she cried in a ringing voice, "Back and to horse, for I have deeds to do this day. Nay, bide thouhere, Holly; we go a shorter path while the army skirts the gorge. Oros, give him food and drink and bathe that hurt upon his head. It is but abruise, for his hood and hair are thick. "

So while Oros rubbed some stinging lotion on my scalp, I ate and drankas best I could till my brain ceased to swim, for the blow, thoughheavy, had not fractured the bone. When I was ready they brought thehorses to us, and mounting them, slowly we scrambled up the steep bed ofthe water-course. 

"See, " Ayesha said, pointing to tracks and hoof-prints on the plain atits head, "there was a chariot awaiting him, and harnessed to it werefour swift horses. Atene's scheme was clever and well laid, and I, grownoversure and careless, slept through it all!"

On this plain the army of the Tribes that had broken camp before thedawn was already gathering fast; indeed, the cavalry, if I may call themso, were assembled there to the number of about five thousand men, eachof whom had a led horse. Ayesha summoned the chiefs and captains, andaddressed them. "Servants of Hes, " she said, "the stranger lord, mybetrothed and guest, has been tricked by a false priest and, fallinginto a cunning snare, captured as a hostage. It is necessary that Ifollow him fast, before harm comes--to him. We move down to attack thearmy of the Khania beyond the river. When its passage is forced I passon with the horsemen, for I must sleep in the city of Kaloon to-night. What sayest thou, Oros? That a second and greater army defends itswalls? Man, I know it, and if there is need, that army I will destroy. Nay, stare not at me. Already they are as dead. Horsemen, you accompanyme. 

"Captains of the Tribes, you follow, and woe be to that man who hangsback in the hour of battle, for death and eternal shame shall be hisportion, but wealth and honour to those who bear them bravely. Yes, Itell you, theirs shall be the fair land of Kaloon. You have your ordersfor the passing of yonder river. I, with the horsemen, take the centralford. Let the wings advance. "

The chiefs answered with a cheer, for they were fierce men whoseancestors had loved war for generations. Moreover, mad as seemed theenterprise, they trusted in their Oracle, the Hesea, and, like all hillpeoples, were easily fired by the promise of rich plunder. 

An hour's steady march down the slopes brought the army to the edgeof the marsh lands. These, as it chanced, proved no obstacle to ourprogress, for in that season of great drought they were quite dry, andfor the same reason the shrunken river was not so impassable a defenceas I feared that it would be. Still, because of its rocky bottom andsteep, opposing banks, it looked formidable enough, while on the crestsof those banks, in squadrons and companies of horse and foot, weregathered the regiments of Atene. 

While the wings of footmen deployed to right and left, the cavalryhalted in the marshes and let their horses fill themselves with the longgrass, now a little browned by frost, that grew on this boggy soil, andafterwards drink some water. 

All this time Ayesha stood silent, for she also had dismounted, thatthe mare she rode and her two led horses might graze with the others. Indeed, she spoke but once, saying--"Thou thinkest this adventure mad, my Holly? Say, art afraid?"

"Not with thee for captain, " I answered. "Still, that second army----"

"Shall melt before me like mist before the gale, " she replied in a lowand thrilling voice. "Holly, I tell thee thou shalt see things such asno man upon the earth has ever seen. Remember my words when I _loose thePowers_ and thou followest the rent veil of Ayesha through the smittensquadrons of Kaloon. Only--what if Atene should dare to murder him? Oh, if she should dare!"

"Be comforted, " I replied, wondering what she might mean by this loosingof the Powers. "I think that she loves him too well. "

"I bless thee for the words, Holly, yet--I know he will refuse her, andthen her hate for me and her jealous rage may overcome her love for him. Should this be so, what will avail my vengeance? Eat and drink again, Holly--nay, I touch no food until I sit in the palace of Kaloon--andlook well to girth and bridle, for thou ridest far and on a wild errand. Mount thee on Leo's horse, which is swift and sure; if it dies theguards will bring thee others. "

I obeyed her as best I could, and once more bathed my head in a pool, and with the help of Oros tied a rag soaked in the liniment on thebruise, after which I felt sound enough. Indeed, the mad excitement ofthose minutes of waiting, and some foreshadowing of the terrible wondersthat were about to befall, made me forget my hurts. 

Now, Ayesha was standing staring upwards, so that although I could notsee her veiled face, I guessed that her eyes must be fixed on the skyabove the mountain top. I was certain, also, that she was concentratingher fearful will upon an unknown object, for her whole frame quiveredlike a reed shaken in the wind. 

It was a very strange morning--cold and clear, yet curiously still, and with a heaviness in the air such as precedes a great fall of snow, although for much snow the season was yet too early. Once or twice, too, in that utter calm, I thought that I felt everything shudder; not theordinary trembling of earthquake, however, for the shuddering seemed tobe of the atmosphere quite as much as of the land. It was as though allNature around us were a living creature which is very much afraid. 

Following Ayesha's earnest gaze, I perceived that thick, smoky cloudswere gathering one by one in the clear sky above the peak, and that theywere edged, each of them, with a fiery rim. Watching these fantastic andominous clouds, I ventured to say to her that it looked as though theweather would change--not a very original remark, but one which thecircumstances suggested. 

"Aye, " she answered, "ere night the weather will be wilder even thanmy heart. No longer shall they cry for water in Kaloon! Mount, Holly, mount! The advance begins!" and unaided she sprang to the saddle of themare that Oros brought her. 

Then, in the midst of the five thousand horsemen, we moved down uponthe ford. As we reached its brink I noted that the two divisions oftribesmen were already entering the stream half a mile to the right andleft of us. Of what befell them I can tell nothing from observation, although I learned later that they forced it after great slaughter onboth sides. 

In front of us was gathered the main body of the Khania's army, massedby regiments upon the further bank, while hundreds of picked men stoodup to their middles in the water, waiting to spear or hamstring ourhorses as we advanced. 

Now, uttering their wild, whistling cry, our leading companies dashedinto the river, leaving us upon the bank, and soon were engaged hotlywith the footmen in midstream. While this fray went on, Oros came toAyesha, told her a spy had reported that Leo, bound in a two-wheeledcarriage and accompanied by Atene, Simbri and a guard, had passedthrough the enemy's camp at night, galloping furiously towards Kaloon. 

"Spare thy words, I know it, " she answered, and he fell back behind her. 

Our squadrons gained the bank, having destroyed most of the men in thewater, but as they set foot upon it the enemy charged them and drovethem back with loss. Thrice they returned to the attack, and thrice wererepulsed in this fashion. At length Ayesha grew impatient. 

"They need a leader, and I will give them one, " she said. "Come with me, my Holly, " and, followed by the main body of the horsemen, she rode alittle way into the river, and there waited until the shattered troopshad fallen back upon us. Oros whispered to me--"It is madness, the Heseawill be slain. "

"Thinkest thou so?" I answered. "More like that we shall be slain, "a saying at which he smiled a little more than usual and shrugged hisshoulders, since for all his soft ways, Oros was a brave man. Also Ibelieve that he spoke to try me, knowing that his mistress would take noharm. 

Ayesha held up her hand, in which there was no weapon, and waved itforwards. A great cheer answered that signal to advance, and in themidst of it this frail, white-robed woman spoke to her horse, so that itplunged deep into the water. 

Two minutes later, and spears and arrows were flying about us so thicklythat they seemed to darken the sky. I saw men and horses fall to rightand left, but nothing touched me or the white robes that floated a yardor two ahead. Five minutes and we were gaining the further bank, andthere the worst fight began. 

It was fierce indeed, yet never an inch did the white robes give back, and where they went men would follow them or fall. We were up the bankand the enemy was packed about us, but through them we passed slowly, like a boat through an adverse sea that buffets but cannot stay it. Yes, further and further, till at last the lines ahead grew thin as theliving wedge of horsemen forced its path between them--grew thin, brokeand vanished. 

We had passed through the heart of the host, and leaving the tribesmenwho followed to deal with its flying fragments, rode on half a mile orso and mustered. Many were dead and more were hurt, but the command wasissued that all sore-wounded men should fall out and give their horsesto replace those that had been killed. 

This was done, and presently we moved on, three thousand of us now, notmore, heading for Kaloon. The trot grew to a canter, and the canter to agallop, as we rushed forward across that endless plain, till at midday, or a little after--for this route was far shorter than that taken by Leoand myself in our devious flight from Rassen and his death-hounds--wedimly saw the city of Kaloon set upon its hill. 

Now a halt was ordered, for here was a reservoir in which was stillsome water, whereof the horses drank, while the men ate of the food theycarried with them; dried meat and barley meal. Here, too, more spies metus, who said that the great army of Atene was posted guarding thecity bridges, and that to attack it with our little force would meandestruction. But Ayesha took no heed of their words; indeed, shescarcely seemed to hear them. Only she ordered that all wearied horsesshould be abandoned and fresh ones mounted. 

Forward again for hour after hour, in perfect silence save for thethunder of our horses' hoofs. No word spoke Ayesha, nor did her wildescort speak, only from time to time they looked over their shouldersand pointed with their red spears at the red sky behind. 

I looked also, nor shall I forget its aspect. The dreadful, fire-edgedclouds had grown and gathered so that beneath their shadows the plainlay almost black. They marched above us like an army in the heavens, while from time to time vaporous points shot forward, thin like swords, or massed like charging horse. 

Under them a vast stillness reigned. It was as though the earth lay deadbeneath their pall. 

Kaloon, lit in a lurid light, grew nearer. The pickets of the foe flewhomeward before us, shaking their javelins, and their mocking laughterreached us in hollow echoes. Now we saw the vast array, posted rankon rank with silken banners drooping in that stirless air, flanked andscreened by glittering regiments of horse. 

An embassy approached us, and at the signal of Ayesha's uplifted armwe halted. It was headed by a lord of the court whose face I knew. Hepulled rein and spoke boldly. 

"Listen, Hes, to the words of Atene. Ere now the stranger lord, thydarling, is prisoner in her palace. Advance, and we destroy thee and thylittle band; but if by any miracle thou shouldst conquer, then he dies. Get thee gone to thy Mountain fastness and the Khania gives thee peace, and thy people their lives. What answer to the words of the Khania?"

Ayesha whispered to Oros, who called aloud--"There is no answer. Go, ifye love life, for death draws near to you. "

So they went fast as their swift steeds would carry them, but for alittle while Ayesha still sat lost in thought. 

Presently she turned and through her thin veil I saw that her facewas white and terrible and that the eyes in it glowed like those ofa lioness at night. She said to, me--hissing the words between herclenched teeth--"Holly, prepare thyself to look into the mouth of hell. I desired to spare them if I could, I swear it, but my heart bids me bebold, to put off human pity, and use all my secret might if I would seeLeo living. Holly, I tell thee they are about _to murder him!_"

Then she cried aloud, "Fear nothing, Captains. Ye are but few, yet withyou goes the strength of ten thousand thousand. Now follow the Hesea, and whate'er ye meet, be not dismayed. Repeat it to the soldiers, thatfearing nothing they follow the Hesea through yonder host and across thebridge and into the city of Kaloon. "

So the chiefs rode hither and thither, crying out her words, and thesavage tribesmen answered--"Aye, we who followed through the water, willfollow across the plain. Onward, Hes, for darkness swallows us. "

Now some orders were given, and the companies fell into a formation thatresembled a great wedge, Ayesha herself being its very point and apex, for though Oros and I rode on either side of her, spur as we would, ourhorses' heads never passed her saddle bow. In front of that dark massshe shone a single spot of white--one snowy feather on a black torrent'sbreast. 

A screaming bugle note--and, like giant arms, from the shelter of somegroves of poplar trees, curved horns of cavalry shot out to surroundus, while the broad bosom of the opposing army, shimmering with spears, rolled forward as a wave rolls crowned with sunlit foam, and behind it, line upon line, uncountable, lay a surging sea of men. 

Our end was near. We were lost, or so it seemed. 

Ayesha tore off her veil and held it on high, flowing from her likea pennon, and lo! upon her brow blazed that wide and mystic diadem oflight which once only I had seen before. 

Denser and denser grew the rushing clouds above; brighter and brightergleamed the unearthly star of light beneath. Louder and louder beat thesound of the falling hoofs of ten thousand horses. From the Mountainpeak behind us went up sudden sheets of flame; it spouted fire as awhale spouts foam. 

The scene was dreadful. In front, the towers of Kaloon lurid in amonstrous sunset. Above, a gloom as of an eclipse. Around the darkling, sunburnt plain. On it Atene's advancing army, and our rushing wedge ofhorsemen destined, it would appear, to inevitable doom. 

Ayesha let fall her rein. She tossed her arms, waving the torn, whiteveil as though it were a signal cast to heaven. 

Instantly from the churning jaws of the unholy night above belched ablaze of answering flame, that also wavered like a rent and shaken veilin the grasp of a black hand of cloud. 

Then did Ayesha roll the thunder of her might upon the Children ofKaloon. Then she called, and the Terror came, such as men had never seenand perchance never more will see. Awful bursts of wind tore past us, lifting the very stones and soil before them, and with the wind wenthail and level, hissing rain, made visible by the arrows of perpetuallightnings that leapt downwards from the sky and upwards from the earth. 

It was as she had warned me. It was as though hell had broken loose uponthe world, yet through that hell we rushed on unharmed. For always thesefuries passed before us. No arrow flew, no javelin was stained. Thejagged hail was a herald of our coming; the levens that smote andstabbed were our sword and spear, while ever the hurricane roared andscreamed with a million separate voices which blended to one yell ofsound, hideous and indescribable. 

As for the hosts about us they melted and were gone. 

Now the darkness was dense, like to that of thickest night; yet in thefierce flares of the lightnings I saw them run this way and that, andamidst the volleying, elemental voices I heard their shouts of horrorand of agony. I saw horses and riders roll confused upon the ground;like storm-drifted leaves I saw their footmen piled in high and whirlingheaps, while the brands of heaven struck and struck them till they sanktogether and grew still. 

I saw the groves of trees bend, shrivel up and vanish. I saw the highwalls of Kaloon blown in and flee away, while the houses within thewalls took fire, to go out beneath the torrents of the driving rain, and again take fire. I saw blackness sweep over us with great wings, andwhen I looked, lo! those wide wings were flame, floods of pulsing flamethat flew upon the tormented air. 

Blackness, utter blackness; turmoil, doom, dismay! Beneath me thelabouring horse; at my side the steady crest of light which sat onAyesha's brow, and through the tumult a clear, exultant voice thatsang--"I promised thee wild weather! Now, Holly, dost thou believe thatI can loose the prisoned Powers of the world?"

Lo! all was past and gone, and above us shone the quiet evening sky, and before us lay the empty bridge, and beyond it the flaming city ofKaloon. But the armies of Atene, where were they? Go, ask of those greatcairns that hide their bones. Go, ask it of her widowed land. 

Yet of our wild company of horsemen not one was lost. After us theygalloped trembling, white-lipped, like men who face to face had foughtand conquered Death, but triumphant--ah, triumphant!

On the high head of the bridge Ayesha wheeled her horse, and so forone proud moment stood to welcome them. At the sight of her glorious, star-crowned countenance, which now her Tribes beheld for the first timeand the last, there went up such a shout as men have seldom heard. 

"_The Goddess!_" that shout thundered. "Worship the Goddess!"

Then she turned her horse's head again, and they followed on through thelong straight street of the burning city, up to the palace on its crest. 

As the sun set we sped beneath its gateway. Silence in the courtyard, silence everywhere, save for the distant roar of fire and the scaredhowlings of the death-hounds in their kennel. 

Ayesha sprang from her horse, and waving back all save Oros and myself, swept through the open doors into the halls beyond. 

They were empty, every one--all were fled or dead. Yet she never pausedor doubted, but so swiftly that we scarce could follow her, flitted upthe wide stone stair that led to the topmost tower. Up, still up, untilwe reached the chamber where had dwelt Simbri the Shaman, that samechamber whence he was wont to watch his stars, in which Atene hadthreatened us with death. 

Its door was shut and barred; still, at Ayesha's coming, yes, beforethe mere breath of her presence, the iron bolts snapped like twigs, thelocks flew back, and inward burst that massive portal. 

Now we were within the lamp-lit chamber, and this is what we saw. Seatedin a chair, pale-faced, bound, yet proud and defiant-looking, was Leo. Over him, a dagger in his withered hand--yes, about to strike, in thevery act--stood the old Shaman, and on the floor hard by, gazing upwardwith wide-set eyes, dead and still majestic in her death, lay Atene, Khania of Kaloon. 

Ayesha waved her arm and the knife fell from Simbri's hand, clatteringon the marble, while in an instant he who had held it was smitten tostillness and became like a man turned to stone. 

She stooped, lifted the dagger, and with a swift stroke severed Leo'sbonds; then, as though overcome at last, sank on to a bench in silence. Leo rose, looking about him bewildered, and said in the strained voiceof one who is weak with much suffering--"But just in time, Ayesha. Another second, and that murderous dog"--and he pointed to theShaman--"well, it was in time. But how went the battle, and how earnestthou here through that awful hurricane? And, oh, Horace, thank heaventhey did not kill you after all!"

"The battle went ill for some, " Ayesha answered, "and I came not throughthe hurricane, but on its wings. Tell me now, what has befallen theesince we parted?"

"Trapped, overpowered, bound, brought here, told that I must write tothee and stop thy advance, or die--refused, of course, and then----" andhe glanced at the dead body on the floor. 

"And then?" repeated Ayesha. 

"Then that fearful tempest, which seemed to drive me mad. Oh! if thoucouldst have heard the wind howling round these battlements, tearingoff their stones as though they were dry leaves; if thou hadst seen thelightnings falling thick and fast as rain----"

"They were my messengers. I sent them to save thee, " said Ayesha simply. 

Leo stared at her, making no comment, but after a pause, as though hewere thinking the matter over, he went on--"Atene said as much, but Idid not believe her. I thought the end of the world had come, that wasall. Well, she returned just now more mad even than I was, and told methat her people were destroyed and that she could not fight against thestrength of hell, but that she could send me thither, and took a knifeto kill me. 

"I said, 'Kill on, ' for I knew that wherever I went thou wouldst follow, and I was sick with the loss of blood from some hurt I had in thatstruggle, and weary of it all. So I shut my eyes waiting for the stroke, but instead I felt her lips pressed upon my forehead, and heard hersay--"'Nay, I will not do it. Fare thee well; fulfil thou thine owndestiny, as I fulfil mine. For this cast the dice have fallen againstme; elsewhere it may be otherwise. I go to load them if I may. '

"I opened my eyes and looked. There Atene stood, a glass in herhand--see, it lies beside her. 

"'Defeated, yet I win, ' she cried, 'for I do but pass before thee toprepare the path that thou shalt tread, and to make ready thy place inthe Under-world. Till we meet again I pledge thee, for I am destroyed. Ayesha's horsemen are in my streets, and, clothed in lightnings at theirhead, rides Ayesha's avenging self. '

"So she drank, and fell dead--but now. Look, her breast still quivers. Afterwards, that old man would have murdered me, for, being roped, Icould not resist him, but the door burst in and thou camest. Spare him, he is of her blood, and he loved her. "

Then Leo sank back into the chair where we had discovered him bound, andseemed to fall into a kind of torpor, for of a sudden he grew to looklike an old man. 

"Thou art sick, " said Ayesha anxiously. "Oros, thy medicine, the draughtI bade thee bring! Be swift, I say. "

The priest bowed, and from some pocket in his ample robe produced aphial which he opened and gave to Leo, saying--"Drink, my lord; thisstuff will give thee back thy health, for it is strong. "

"The stronger the better, " answered Leo, rousing himself, and withsomething like his old, cheerful laugh. "I am thirsty who have touchednothing since last night, and have fought hard and been carried far, yes--and lived through that hellish storm. "

Then he took the draught and emptied it. There must have been virtuein that potion; at least, the change which it produced in him waswonderful. Within a minute his eyes grew bright again, and the colourreturned into his cheeks. 

"Thy medicines are very good, as I have learned of old, " he said toAyesha; "but the best of all of them is to see thee safe and victoriousbefore me, and to know that I, who looked for death, yet live to greetthee, my beloved. There is food, " and he pointed to a board upon whichwere meats, "say, may I eat of them, for I starve?"

"Aye, " she answered softly, "eat, and, my Holly, eat thou also. "

So we fell to, yes, we fell to and ate even in the presence of that deadwoman who looked so royal in her death; of the old magician who stoodthere powerless, like a man petrified, and of Ayesha, the wondrous beingthat could destroy an army with the fearful weapons which were servantto her will. 

Only Oros ate nothing, but remained where he was, smiling at usbenignantly, nor did Ayesha touch any food. 

CHAPTER XXIII

THE YIELDING OF AYESHA

When I had satisfied myself, Leo was still at his meal, for loss ofblood or the effects of the tremendous nerve tonic which Ayesha orderedto be administered to him, had made him ravenous. 

I watched his face and became aware of a curious change in it, noimmediate change indeed, but one, I think, that had come upon himgradually, although I only fully appreciated it now, after our shortseparation. In addition to the thinness of which I have spoken, hishandsome countenance had grown more ethereal; his eyes were full of theshadows of things that were to come. 

His aspect pained me, I knew not why. It was no longer that of theLeo with whom I was familiar, the deep-chested, mighty-limbed, jovial, upright traveller, hunter and fighting-man who had chanced to love andbe loved of a spiritual power incarnated in a mould of perfect womanhoodand armed with all the might of Nature's self. These things were stillpresent indeed, but the man was changed, and I felt sure that thischange came from Ayesha, since the look upon his face had becomeexceeding like to that which often hovered upon hers at rest. 

She also was watching him, with speculative, dreamy eyes, tillpresently, as some thought swept through her, I saw those eyes blaze up, and the red blood pour to cheek and brow. Yes, the mighty Ayesha whosedead, slain for him, lay strewn by the thousand on yonder plain, blushedand trembled like a maiden at her first lover's kiss. 

Leo rose from the table. "I would that I had been with thee in thefray, " he said. 

"At the drift there was fighting, " she answered, "afterwards none. Myministers of Fire, Earth and Air smote, no more; I waked them from theirsleep and at my command they smote for thee and saved thee. "

"Many lives to take for one man's safety, " Leo said solemnly, as thoughthe thought pained him. 

"Had they been millions and not thousands, I would have spent them everyone. On my head be their deaths, not on thine. Or rather on hers, " andshe pointed to the dead Atene. "Yes, on hers who made this war. At leastshe should thank me who have sent so royal a host to guard her throughthe darkness. "

"Yet it is terrible, " said Leo, "to think of thee, beloved, red to thehair with slaughter. "

"What reck I?" she answered with a splendid pride. "Let their bloodsuffice to wash the stain of thy blood from off these cruel hands thatonce did murder thee. "

"Who am I that I should blame thee?" Leo went on as though arguingwith himself, "I who but yesterday killed two men--to save myself fromtreachery. "

"Speak not of it, " she exclaimed in cold rage. "I saw the place and, Holly, thou knowest how I swore that a hundred lives should pay forevery drop of that dear blood of thine, and I, who lie not, have keptthe oath. Look now on that man who stands yonder struck by my will tostone, dead yet living, and say again what was he about to do to theewhen I entered here?"

"To take vengeance on me for the doom of his queen and of her armies, "answered Leo, "and Ayesha, how knowest thou that a Power higher thanthine own will not demand it yet?"

As he spoke a pale shadow flickered on Leo's face, such a shadow asmight fall from Death's advancing wing, and in the fixed eyes of theShaman there shone a stony smile. 

For a moment terror seemed to take Ayesha, then it was gone as quicklyas it came. 

"Nay, " she said. "I ordain that it shall not be, and save One wholisteth not, what power reigns in this wide earth that dare defy mywill?"

So she spoke, and as her words of awful pride--for they were veryawful--rang round that stone-built chamber, a vision came to me--Holly. 

I saw illimitable space peopled with shining suns, and sunk in theinfinite void above them one vast Countenance clad in a calm so terrificthat at its aspect my spirit sank to nothingness. Yes, and I knew thatthis was Destiny enthroned above the spheres. Those lips moved andobedient worlds rushed upon their course. They moved again and theserolling chariots of the heavens were turned or stayed, appeared ordisappeared. I knew also that against this calm Majesty the being, womanor spirit, at my side had dared to hurl her passion and her strength. Mysoul reeled. I was afraid. 

The dread phantasm passed, and when my mind cleared again Ayesha wasspeaking in new, triumphant tones. 

"Nay, nay, " she cried. "Past is the night of dread; dawns the day ofvictory! Look!" and she pointed through the window-places shattered bythe hurricane, to the flaming town beneath, whence rose one continualwail of misery, the wail of women mourning their countless slain whilethe fire roared through their homes like some unchained and rejoicingdemon. "Look Leo on the smoke of the first sacrifice that I offer to thyroyal state and listen to its music. Perchance thou deemst it naught. Why then I'll give thee others. Thou lovest war. Good! we will go downto war and the rebellious cities of the earth shall be the torches ofour march. "

She paused a moment, her delicate nostrils quivering, and her facealight with the prescience of ungarnered splendours; then like aswooping swallow flitted to where, by dead Atene, the gold circletfallen from the Khania's hair lay upon the floor. 

She stooped, lifted it, and coming to Leo held it high above his head. Slowly she let her hand fall until the glittering coronet rested for aninstant on his brow. Then she spoke, in her glorious voice that rolledout rich and low, a very paean of triumph and of power. 

"By this poor, earthly symbol I create thee King of Earth; yea in itsround for thee is gathered all her rule. Be thou its king, and mine!"

Again the coronet was held aloft, again it sank, and again she said orrather chanted--"With this unbroken ring, token of eternity, I swear tothee the boon of endless days. Endure thou while the world endures, andbe its lord, and mine. "

A third time the coronet touched his brow. 

"By this golden round I do endow thee with Wisdom's perfect golduncountable, that is the talisman whereat all nature's secret pathsshall open to thy feet. Victorious, victorious, tread thou her wondrousways with me, till from her topmost peak at last she wafts us to ourimmortal throne whereof the columns twain are Life and Death. "

Then Ayesha cast away the crown and lo! it fell upon the breast of thelost Atene and rested there. 

"Art content with these gifts of mine, my lord?" she cried. 

Leo looked at her sadly and shook his head. 

"What more wilt thou then? Ask and I swear it shall be thine. "

"Thou swearest; but wilt thou keep the oath?"

"Aye, by myself I swear; by myself and by the Strength that bred me. If it be ought that I can grant--then if I refuse it to thee, may suchdestruction fall upon me as will satisfy even Atene's watching soul. "

I heard and I think that another heard also, at least once more thestony smile shone in the eyes of the Shaman. 

"I ask of thee nothing that thou canst not give. Ayesha, I ask ofthee thyself--not at some distant time when I have been bathed in amysterious fire, but now, now this night. "

She shrank back from him a little, as though dismayed. 

"Surely, " she said slowly, "I am like that foolish philosopher who, walking abroad to read the destinies of nations in the stars, fell downa pitfall dug by idle children and broke his bones and perished there. Never did I guess that with all these glories stretched before theelike mountain top on glittering mountain top, making a stairway for thymortal feet to the very dome of heaven, thou wouldst still clutch at thynative earth and seek of it--but the common boon of woman's love. 

"Oh! Leo, I thought that thy soul was set upon nobler aims, that thouwouldst pray me for wider powers, for a more vast dominion; that asthough they were but yonder fallen door of wood and iron, I should breakfor thee the bars of Hades, and like the Eurydice of old fable draw theeliving down the steeps of Death, or throne thee midst the fires of thefurthest sun to watch its subject worlds at play. 

"Or I thought that thou wouldst bid me reveal what no woman ever told, the bitter, naked truth--all my sins and sorrows, all the wanderingfancies of my fickle thought; even what thou knowest not and perchancene'er shalt know, _who I am and whence I came_, and how to thy charmedeyes I seemed to change from foul to fair, and what is the purpose ofmy love for thee, and what the meaning of that tale of an angrygoddess--who never was except in dreams. 

"I thought--nay, no matter what I thought, save that thou wert far otherthan thou art, my Leo, and in so high a moment that thou wouldst seek topass the mystic gates my glory can throw wide and with me tread an airsupernal to the hidden heart of things. Yet thy prayer is but the samethat the whole world whispers beneath the silent moon, in the palace andthe cottage, among the snows and on the burning desert's waste. 'Oh! mylove, thy lips, thy lips. Oh! my love, be mine, now, now, beneath themoon, beneath the moon!'

"Leo, I thought better, higher, of thee. "

"Mayhap, Ayesha, thou wouldest have thought worse of me had I beencontent with thy suns and constellations and spiritual gifts anddominations that I neither desire nor understand. 

"If I had said to thee: Be thou my angel, not my wife; divide the oceanthat I may walk its bed; pierce the firmament and show me how grow thestars; tell me the origins of being and of death and instruct me intheir issues; give up the races of mankind to my sword, and the wealthof all the earth to fill my treasuries. Teach me also how to drivethe hurricane as thou canst do, and to bend the laws of nature to mypurpose: on earth make me half a god--as thou art. 

"But Ayesha, I am no god; I am a man, and as a man I seek the woman whomI love. Oh! divest thyself of all these wrappings of thy power--thatpower which strews thy path with dead and keeps me apart from thee. Ifonly for one short night forget the ambition that gnaws unceasingly atthy soul; I say forget thy greatness and be a woman and--my wife. "

She made no answer, only looked at him and shook her head, causing herglorious hair to ripple like water beneath a gentle breeze. 

"Thou deniest me, " he went on with gathering strength, "and that thoucanst not do, that thou mayest not do, for Ayesha, thou hast sworn, andI demand the fulfilment of thine oath. 

"Hark thou. I refuse thy gifts; I will have none of thy rule who ask noPharaoh's throne and wish to do good to men and not to kill them--thatthe world may profit. I will not go with thee to Kor, nor be bathed inthe breath of Life. I will leave thee and cross the mountains, or perishon them, nor with all thy strength canst thou hold me to thy side, whoindeed needest me not. No longer will I endure this daily torment, the torment of thy presence and thy sweet words; thy loving looks, thypromises for next year, next year--next year. So keep thine oath or letme begone. "

Still Ayesha stood silent, only now her head drooped and her breastbegan to heave. Then Leo stepped forward; he seized her in his arms andkissed her. She broke from his embrace, I know not how, for though shereturned it was close enough, and again stood before him but at a littledistance. 

"Did I not warn Holly, " she whispered with a sigh, "to bid thee bewarelest I should catch thy human fire? Man, I say to thee, it begins tosmoulder in my heart, and should it grow to flame----"

"Why then, " he answered laughing, "we will be happy for a little while. "

"Aye, Leo, but how long? Why wert thou sole lord of this loveliness ofmine and not set above their harming, night and day a hundred jealousdaggers would seek thy heart and--find it. "

"How long, Ayesha? A lifetime, a year, a month, a minute--I neither knownor care, and while thou art true to me I fear no stabs of envy. "

"Is it so? Wilt take the risk? I can promise thee nothing. Thoumightest--yes, in this way or in that, thou mightest--die. "

"And if I die, what then? Shall we be separated?"

"Nay, nay, Leo, that is not possible. We never can be severed, of thisI am sure; it is sworn to me. But then through other lives and otherspheres, higher lives and higher spheres mayhap, our fates must force apainful path to their last goal of union. "

"Why then I take the hazard, Ayesha. Shall the life that I can risk toslay a leopard or a lion in the sport of an idle hour, be too great aprice to offer for the splendours of thy breast? Thine oath! Ayesha, Iclaim thine oath. "

Then it was that in Ayesha there began the most mysterious and thrillingof her many changes. Yet how to describe it I know not unless it be bysimile. 

Once in Thibet we were imprisoned for months by snows that stretcheddown from the mountain slopes into the valleys and oh! how weary did wegrow of those arid, aching fields of purest white. At length rain setin, and blinding mists in which it was not safe to wander, that made thedark nights darker yet. 

So it was, until there came a morning when seeing the sun shine, we wentto our door and looked out. Behold a miracle! Gone were the snows thatchoked the valley and in the place of them appeared vivid springinggrass, starred everywhere with flowers, and murmuring brooks and birdsthat sang and nested in the willows. Gone was the frowning sky and allthe blue firmament seemed one tender smile. Gone were the austerities ofwinter with his harsh winds, and in their place spring, companioned byher zephyrs, glided down the vale singing her song of love and life. 

There in this high chamber, in the presence of the living and the dead, while the last act of the great tragedy unrolled itself before me, looking on Ayesha that forgotten scene sprang into my mind. For on herface just such a change had come. Hitherto, with all her loveliness, the heart of Ayesha had seemed like that winter mountain wrapped inits unapproachable snow and before her pure brow and icy self-command, aspirations sank abashed and desires died. 

She swore she loved and her love fulfilled itself in death and many amysterious way. Yet it was hard to believe that this passion of hers wasmore than a spoken part, for how can the star seek the moth although themoth may seek the star? Though the man may worship the goddess, for allher smiles divine, how can the goddess love the man?

But now everything was altered! Look! Ayesha grew human; I could seeher heart beat beneath her robes and hear her breath come in soft, sweetsobs, while o'er her upturned face and in her alluring eyes there spreaditself that look which is born of love alone. Radiant and more radiantdid she seem to grow, sweeter and more sweet, no longer the veiledHermit of the Caves, no longer the Oracle of the Sanctuary, no longerthe Valkyrie of the battle-plain, but only the loveliest and most happybride that ever gladdened a husband's eyes. 

She spoke, and it was of little things, for thus Ayesha proclaimed theconquest of herself. 

"Fie!" she said, showing her white robes torn with spears and stained bythe dust and dew of war; "Fie, my lord, what marriage garments are thesein which at last I come to thee, who would have been adorned in regalgems and raiment befitting to my state and thine?"

"I seek the woman not her garment, " said Leo, his burning eyes fixedupon her face. 

"Thou seekest the woman. Ah! there it lies. Tell me, Leo, am I womanor spirit? Say that I am woman, for now the prophecy of this dead Atenelies heavy on my soul, Atene who said that mortal and immortal may notmate. "

"Thou must be woman, or thou wouldst not have tormented me as thou hastdone these many weeks. "

"I thank thee for the comfort of thy words. Yet, was it _woman_ whosebreath wrought destruction upon yonder plain? Was it to a _woman_ thatBlast and Lightning bowed and said, 'We are here: Command us, we obey'?Did that dead thing (and she pointed to the shattered door) break inwardat a _woman's_ will? Or could a _woman_ charm this man to stone?

"Oh! Leo, would that I were woman! I tell thee that I'd lay all mygrandeur down, a wedding offering at thy feet, could I be sure that forone short year I should be naught but _woman_ and--thy happy wife. 

"Thou sayest that I did torment thee, but it is I who have knowntorment, I who desired to yield and dared not. Aye, I tell thee, Leo, were I not sure that thy little stream of life is draining dry into thegreat ocean of my life, drawn thither as the sea draws its rivers, oras the sun draws mists, e'en now I would not yield. But I know, for mywisdom tells it me, ere ever we could reach the shores of Libya, the illwork would be done, and thou dead of thine own longing, thou dead and Iwidowed who never was a wife. 

"Therefore see! like lost Atene I take the dice and cast them, notknowing how they shall fall. Not knowing how they shall fall, for goodor ill I cast, " and she made a wild motion as of some desperate gamesterthrowing his last throw. 

"So, " Ayesha went on, "the thing is done and the number summed for aye, though it be hidden from my sight. I have made an end of doubts andfears, and come death, come life, I'll meet it bravely. 

"Say, how shall we be wed? I have it. Holly here must join our hands;who else? He that ever was our guide shall give me unto thee, and theeto me. This burning city is our altar, the dead and living are ourwitnesses on earth and heaven. In place of rites and ceremonials forthis first time I lay my lips on thine, and when 'tis done, for musicI'll sing thee a nuptial chant of love such as mortal poet has notwritten nor have mortal lovers heard. 

"Come, Holly, do now thy part and give this maiden to this man. "

Like one in a dream I obeyed her and took Ayesha's outstretched handand Leo's. As I held them thus, I tell the truth:--it was as though somefire rushed through my veins from her to him, shaking and shattering mewith swift waves of burning and unearthly Bliss. With the fire too cameglorious visions and sounds of mighty music, and a sense as though mybrain, filled with over-flowing life, must burst asunder beneath itsweight. 

I joined their hands; I know not how; I blessed them, I know not in whatwords. Then I reeled back against the wall and watched. 

This is what I saw. 

With an abandonment and a passion so splendid and intense that it seemedmore than human, with a murmured cry of "Husband!" Ayesha cast her armsabout her lover's neck and drawing down his head to hers so that thegold hair was mingled with her raven locks, she kissed him on the lips. 

Thus they clung a little while, and as they clung the gentle diademof light from her brow spread to his brow also, and through the whitewrappings of her robe became visible her perfect shape shining withfaint fire. With a little happy laugh she left him, saying, "Thus, Leo Vincey, oh! thus for the second time do I give myself tothee, and with this flesh and spirit all I swore to thee, there in thedim Caves of Kor and here in the palace of Kaloon. Know thou this, comewhat may, never, never more shall we be separate who are ordained one. Whilst thou livest I live at thy side, and when thou diest, if die thymust, I'll follow thee through worlds and firmaments, nor shall all thedoors of heaven or hell avail against my love. Where thou goest, thitherI will go. When thou sleepest, with thee will I sleep and it is my voicethat thou shalt hear murmuring through the dreams of life and death; myvoice that shall summon thee to awaken in the last hour of everlastingdawn, when all this night of misery hath furled her wings for aye. 

"Listen now while I sing to thee and hear that song aright, for in itsmelody at length thou shalt learn the truth, which unwed I might nottell to thee. Thou shalt learn who and what _I_ am, and who and what_thou_ art, and of the high purposes of our love, and this dead woman'shate, and of all that I have hid from thee in veiled, bewildering wordsand visions. 

"Listen then, my love and lord, to the burden of the Song of Fate. "

She ceased speaking and gazed heavenwards with a rapt look as though shewaited for some inspiration to fall upon her, and never, never--not evenin the fires of Kor had Ayesha seemed so divine as she did now in thismoment of the ripe harvest of her love. 

My eyes wandered from her to Leo, who stood before her pale and still, still as the death-like figure of the Shaman, still as the Khania'sicy shape which stared upwards from the ground. What was passing in hismind, I wondered, that he could remain thus insensible while in all hermight and awful beauty this proud being worshipped him. 

Hark! she began to sing in a voice so rich and perfect that its honiednotes seemed to cloy my blood and stop my breath. 

 "The world was not, was not, and in the womb of Silence Slept the souls of men. Yet I was and thou----"

Suddenly Ayesha stopped, and I felt rather than saw the horror on herface. 

Look! Leo swayed to and fro as though the stones beneath him were buta rocking boat. To and fro he swayed, stretched out his blind arms toclasp her--then suddenly fell backwards, and lay still. 

Oh! what a shriek was that she gave! Surely it must have wakened thevery corpses upon the plain. Surely it must have echoed in the stars. One shriek only--then throbbing silence. 

I sprang to him, and there, withered in Ayesha's kiss, slain by the fireof her love, Leo lay dead--lay dead upon the breast of dead Atene!

CHAPTER XXIV

THE PASSING OF AYESHA

I heard Ayesha say presently, and the words struck me as dreadfulin their hopeless acceptance of a doom against which even she had nostrength to struggle. 

"It seems that my lord has left me for awhile; I must hasten to my lordafar. "

After that I do not quite know what happened. I had lost the man who wasall in all to me, friend and child in one, and I was crushed as I hadnever been before. It seemed so sad that I, old and outworn, shouldstill live on whilst he in the flower of his age, snatched from joy andgreatness such as no man hath known, lay thus asleep. 

I think that by an afterthought, Ayesha and Oros tried to restore him, tried without result, for here her powers were of no avail. Indeed myconviction is that although some lingering life still kept him on hisfeet, Leo had really died at the moment of her embrace, since when Ilooked at him before he fell, his face was that of a dead man. 

Yes, I believe that last speech of hers, although she knew it not, wasaddressed to his spirit, for in her burning kiss his flesh had perished. 

When at length I recovered myself a little, it was to hear Ayesha ina cold, calm voice--her face I could not see for she had veiledherself--commanding certain priests who had been summoned to "bear awaythe body of that accursed woman and bury her as befits her rank. " Eventhen I bethought me, I remember, of the tale of Jehu and Jezebel. 

Leo, looking strangely calm and happy, lay now upon a couch, the armsfolded on his breast. When the priests had tramped away carrying theirroyal burden, Ayesha, who sat by his body brooding, seemed to awake, forshe rose and said--"I need a messenger, and for no common journey, since he must search out the habitations of the Shades, " and she turnedherself towards Oros and appeared to look at him. 

Now for the first time I saw that priest change countenance a little, for the eternal smile, of which even this scene had not quite rid it, left his face and he grew pale and trembled. 

"Thou art afraid, " she said contemptuously. "Be at rest, Oros, I willnot send one who is afraid. Holly, wilt thou go for me--and him?"

"Aye, " I answered. "I am weary of life and desire no other end. Only letit be swift and painless. "

She mused a while, then said--"Nay, thy time is not yet, thou still hastwork to do. Endure, my Holly, 'tis only for a breath. "

Then she looked at the Shaman, the man turned to stone who all thiswhile had stood there as a statue stands, and cried--"Awake!"

Instantly he seemed to thaw into life, his limbs relaxed, his breastheaved, he was as he had always been: ancient, gnarled, malevolent. 

"I hear thee, mistress, " he said, bowing as a man bows to the power thathe hates. 

"Thou seest, Simbri, " and she waved her hand. 

"I see. Things have befallen as Atene and I foretold, have they not?'Ere long the corpse of a new-crowned Khan of Kaloon, '" and he pointedto the gold circlet that Ayesha had set on Leo's brow, "'will lie uponthe brink of the Pit of Flame'--as I foretold. " An evil smile crept intohis eyes and he went on--"Hadst thou not smote me dumb, I who watchedcould have warned thee that they would so befall; but, great mistress, it pleased thee to smite me dumb. And so it seems, O Hes, that thou hastovershot thyself and liest broken at the foot of that pinnacle whichstep by step thou hast climbed for more than two thousand weary years. See what thou hast bought at the price of countless lives that nowbefore the throne of Judgment bring accusations against thy powersmisused, and cry out for justice on thy head, " and he looked at the deadform of Leo. 

"I sorrow for them, yet, Simbri, they were well spent, " Ayesha answeredreflectively, "who by their forewritten doom, as it was decreed, held thy knife from falling and thus won me my husband. Aye and I amhappy--happier than such blind bats as thou can see or guess. For knowthat now with him I have re-wed my wandering soul divorced by sin fromme, and that of our marriage kiss which burned his life away there shallstill be born to us children of Forgiveness and eternal Grace and allthings that are pure and fair. 

"Look thou, Simbri, I will honour thee. Thou shalt be my messenger, andbeware! beware I say how thou dost fulfil thine office, since of everysyllable thou must render an account. 

"Go thou down the dark paths of Death, and, since even my thought maynot reach to where he sleeps tonight, search out my lord and say to himthat the feet of his spouse Ayesha are following fast. Bid him have nofear for me who by this last sorrow have atoned my crimes and am in hisembrace regenerate. Tell him that thus it was appointed, and thus isbest, since now he is dipped indeed in the eternal Flame of Life; nowfor him the mortal night is done and the everlasting day arises. Commandhim that he await me in the Gate of Death where it is granted that Igreet him presently. Thou hearest?"

"I hear, O Queen, Mighty-from-of-Old. "

"One message more. Say to Atene that I forgive her. Her heart was highand greatly did she play her part. There in the Gates we will balanceour account. Thou hearest?"

"I hear, O Eternal Star that hath conquered Night. "

"Then, man, _begone!_"

As the word left Ayesha's lips Simbri leapt from the floor, grasping atthe air as though he would clutch his own departing soul, staggered backagainst the board where Leo and I had eaten, overthrowing it, and amid aruin of gold and silver vessels, fell down and died. 

She looked at him, then said to me--"See, though he ever hated me, thismagician who has known Ayesha from the first, did homage to my ancientmajesty at last, when lies and defiance would serve his end no more. No longer now do I hear the name that his dead mistress gave to me. The 'Star-that-hath-fallen' in his lips and in very truth is become the'Star-which-hath-burst-the-bonds-of-Night, ' and, re-arisen, shines forever--shines with its twin immortal to set no more--my Holly. Well, he is gone, and ere now, those that serve me in the Under-world--dostremember?--thou sawest their captains in the Sanctuary--bend the head atgreat Ayesha's word and make her place ready near her spouse. 

"But oh, what folly has been mine. When even here my wrath can show suchpower, how could I hope that my lord would outlive the fires of my love?Still it was better so, for he sought not the pomp I would have givenhim, nor desired the death of men. Yet such pomp must have been hisportion in this poor shadow of a world, and the steps that encircle anusurper's throne are ever slippery with blood. 

"Thou art weary, my Holly, go rest thee. To-morrow night we journey tothe Mountain, there to celebrate these obsequies. "

I crept into the room adjoining--it had been Simbri's--and laid me downupon his bed, but to sleep I was not able. Its door was open, and in thelight of the burning city that shone through the casements I couldsee Ayesha watching by her dead. Hour after hour she watched, her headresting on her hand, silent, stirless. She wept not, no sigh escapedher; only watched as a tender woman watches a slumbering babe that sheknows will awake at dawn. 

Her face was unveiled and I perceived that it had greatly changed. Allpride and anger were departed from it; it was grown soft, wistful, yetfull of confidence and quietness. For a while I could not think of whatit reminded me, till suddenly I remembered. Now it was like, indeed thecounterpart almost, of the holy and majestic semblance of the statueof the Mother in the Sanctuary. Yes, with just such a look of love andpower as that mother cast upon her frightened child new-risen from itsdream of death, did Ayesha gaze upon her dead, while her parted lipsalso seemed to whisper "some tale of hope, sure and immortal. "

At length she rose and came into my chamber. 

"Thou thinkest me fallen and dost grieve for me, my Holly, " she said ina gentle voice, "knowing my fears lest some such fate should overtake mylord. "

"Ay, Ayesha, I grieve for thee as for myself. "

"Spare then thy pity, Holly, since although the human part of me wouldhave kept him on the earth, now my spirit doth rejoice that for a whilehe has burst his mortal bonds. For many an age, although I knew it not, in my proud defiance of the Universal Law, I have fought against histrue weal and mine. Thrice have I and the angel wrestled, matchingstrength with strength, and thrice has he conquered me. Yet as he boreaway his prize this night he whispered wisdom in my ear. This was hismessage: That in death is love's home, in death its strength; that fromthe charnel-house of life this love springs again glorified and pure, toreign a conqueror forever. Therefore I wipe away my tears and, crownedonce more a queen of peace, I go to join him whom we have lost, therewhere he awaits us, as it is granted to me that I shall do. 

"But I am selfish, and forgot. Thou needest rest. Sleep, friend, I bidthee sleep. "

And I slept wondering as my eyes closed whence Ayesha drew this strangeconfidence and comfort. I know not but it was there, real and notassumed. I can only suppose therefore that some illumination had fallenon her soul, and that, as she stated, the love and end of Leo in a wayunknown, did suffice to satisfy her court of sins. 

At the least those sins and all the load of death that lay at her doornever seemed to trouble her at all. She appeared to look upon themmerely as events which were destined to occur, as inevitable fruits ofa seed sowed long ago by the hand of Fate for whose workings she was notresponsible. The fears and considerations which weigh with mortals didnot affect or oppress her. In this as in other matters, Ayesha was a lawunto herself. 

When I awoke it was day, and through the window-place I saw the rainthat the people of Kaloon had so long desired falling in one straightsheet. I saw also that Ayesha, seated by the shrouded form of Leo, wasgiving orders to her priests and captains and to some nobles, who hadsurvived the slaughter of Kaloon, as to the new government of the land. Then I slept again. 

It was evening, and Ayesha stood at my bedside. 

"All is prepared, " she said. "Awake and ride with me. "

So we went, escorted by a thousand cavalry, for the rest stayed tooccupy, or perchance to plunder, the land of Kaloon. In front the bodyof Leo was borne by relays of priests, and behind it rode the veiledAyesha, I at her side. 

Strange was the contrast between this departure, and our arrival. 

Then the rushing squadrons, the elements that raved, the perpetual sheenof lightnings seen through the swinging curtains of the hail; the voicesof despair from an army rolled in blood beneath the chariot wheels ofthunder. 

Now the white-draped corpse, the slow-pacing horses, the riders withtheir spears reversed, and on either side, seen in that melancholymoonlight, the women of Kaloon burying their innumerable dead. 

And Ayesha herself, yesterday a Valkyrie crested with the star of flame, to-day but a bereaved woman humbly following her husband to the tomb. 

Yet how they feared her! Some widow standing on the grave mould shehad dug, pointed as we passed to the body of Leo, uttering bitter wordswhich I could not catch. Thereon her companions flung themselves uponher and felling her with fist and spade, prostrated themselves upon theground, throwing dust on their hair in token of their submission to thepriestess of Death. 

Ayesha saw them, and said to me with something of her ancient fire andpride--"I tread the plain of Kaloon no more, yet as a parting gift haveI read this high-stomached people a lesson that they needed long. Notfor many a generation, O Holly, will they dare to lift spear against theCollege of Hes and its subject Tribes. "

Again it was night, and where once lay that of the Khan, the man whom hehad killed, flanked by the burning pillars, the bier of Leo stood inthe inmost Sanctuary before the statue of the Mother whose gentle, unchanging eyes seemed to search his quiet face. 

On her throne sat the veiled Hesea, giving commands to her priests andpriestesses. 

"I am weary, " she said, "and it may be that I leave you for a while torest--beyond the mountains. A year, or a thousand years--I cannot say. If so, let Papave, with Oros as her counsellor and husband and theirseed, hold my place till I return again. 

"Priests and priestesses of the College of Hes, over new territorieshave I held my hand; take them as an heritage from me, and rule themwell and gently. Henceforth let the Hesea of the Mountain be also theKhania of Kaloon. 

"Priests and priestesses of our ancient faith, learn to look through itsrites and tokens, outward and visible, to the in-forming Spirit. If Hesthe goddess never ruled on earth, still pitying Nature rules. If thename of Isis never rang through the courts of heaven, still in heaven, with all love fulfilled, nursing her human children on her breast, dwells the mighty Motherhood where of this statue is the symbol, thatMotherhood which bore us, and, unforgetting, faithful, will receive usat the end. 

"For of the bread of bitterness we shall not always eat, of the waterof tears we shall not always drink. Beyond the night the royal suns rideon; ever the rainbow shines around the rain. Though they slip from ourclutching hands like melted snow, the lives we lose shall yet be foundimmortal, and from the burnt-out fires of our human hopes will spring aheavenly star. "

She paused and waved her hand as though to dismiss them, then added byan after-thought, pointing to myself--"This man is my beloved friend andguest. Let him be yours also. It is my will that you tend and guard himhere, and when the snows have melted and summer is at hand, thatyou fashion a way for him through the gulf and bring him across themountains by which he came, till you leave him in safety. Hear andforget not, for be sure that to me you shall give account of him. "

The night drew towards the dawn, and we stood upon the peak above thegulf of fire, four of us only--Ayesha and I, and Oros and Papave. Forthe bearers had laid down the body of Leo upon its edge and gone theirway. The curtain of flame flared in front of us, its crest bent overlike a billow in the gale, and to leeward, one by one, floated thetorn-off clouds and pinnacles of fire. By the dead Leo knelt Ayesha, gazing at that icy, smiling face, but speaking no single word. At lengthshe rose, and said, --"Darkness draws near, my Holly, that deep darknesswhich foreruns the glory of the dawn. Now fare thee well for one littlehour. When thou art about to die, but not before, call me, and I willcome to thee. Stir not and speak not till all be done, lest when I am nolonger here to be thy guard some Presence should pass on and slay thee. 

"Think not that I am conquered, for now my name is Victory! Think notthat Ayesha's strength is spent or her tale is done, for of it thoureadest but a single page. Think not even that I am today that thing ofsin and pride, the Ayesha thou didst adore and fear, I who in my lord'slove and sacrifice have again conceived my soul. For know that now oncemore as at the beginning, his soul and mine are _one_. "

She thought awhile and added, "Friend take this sceptre in memory of me, but beware how thou usest itsave at the last to summon me, for it has virtues, " and she gave me thejewelled Sistrum that she bore--then said, "So kiss his brow, stand back, and be still. "

Now as once before the darkness gathered on the pit, and presently, although I heard no prayer, though now no mighty music broke upon thesilence, through that darkness, beating up the gale, came the two-wingedflame and hovered where Ayesha stood. 

It appeared, it vanished, and one by one the long minutes crept awayuntil the first spear of dawn lit upon the point of rock. 

Lo! it was empty, utterly empty and lonesome. Gone was the corpse ofLeo, and gone too was Ayesha the imperial, the divine. 

Whither had she gone? I know not. But this I know, that as the lightreturned and the broad sheet of flame flared out to meet it, I seemed tosee two glorious shapes sweeping upward on its bosom, and the faces thatthey wore were those of Leo and of Ayesha. 

Often and often during the weary months that followed, whilst I wanderedthrough the temple or amid the winter snows upon the Mountain side, didI seek to solve this question--Whither had She gone? I asked it of myheart; I asked it of the skies; I asked it of the spirit of Leo whichoften was so near to me. 

But no sure answer ever came, nor will I hazard one. As mystery wrappedAyesha's origin and lives--for the truth of these things I neverlearned--so did mystery wrap her deaths, or rather her departings, forI cannot think her dead. Surely she still is, if not on earth, then insome other sphere?

So I believe; and when my own hour comes, and it draws near swiftly, Ishall know whether I believe in vain, or whether she will appear to bemy guide as, with her last words, she swore that she would do. Then, too, I shall learn what she was about to reveal to Leo when he died, thepurposes of their being and of their love. 

So I can wait in patience who must not wait for long, though my heart isbroken and I am desolate. 

Oros and all the priests were very good to me. Indeed, even had it beentheir wish, they would have feared to be otherwise, who remembered andwere sure that in some time to come they must render an account of thismatter to their dread queen. By way of return, I helped them as Iwas best able to draw up a scheme for the government of the conqueredcountry of Kaloon, and with my advice upon many other questions. 

And so at length the long months wore away, till at the approach ofsummer the snows melted. Then I said that I must be gone. They gave meof their treasures in precious stones, lest I should need money for myfaring, since the gold of which I had such plenty was too heavy to becarried by one man alone. They led me across the plains of Kaloon, wherenow the husbandmen, those that were left of them, ploughed the land andscattered seed, and so on to its city. But amidst those blackened ruinsover which Atene's palace still frowned unharmed, I would not enter, for to me it was, and always must remain, a home of death. So I campedoutside the walls by the river just where Leo and I had landed afterthat poor mad Khan set us free, or rather loosed us to be hunted by hisdeath-hounds. 

Next day we took boat and rowed up the river, past the place where wehad seen Atene's cousin murdered, till we came to the Gate-house. Hereonce again I slept, or rather did not sleep. 

On the following morning I went down into the ravine and found to mysurprise that the rapid torrent--shallow enough now--had been roughlybridged, and that in preparation for my coming rude but sufficientladders were built on the face of the opposing precipice. At the foot ofthese I bade farewell to Oros, who at our parting smiled benignantly ason the day we met. 

"We have seen strange things together, " I said to him, not knowing whatelse to say. 

"Very strange, " he answered. 

"At least, friend Oros, " I went on awkwardly enough, "events have shapedthemselves to your advantage, for you inherit a royal mantle. "

"I wrap myself in a mantle of borrowed royalty, " he answered withprecision, "of which doubtless one day I shall be stripped. "

"You mean that the great Ayesha is not dead?"

"I mean that She never dies. She changes, that is all. As the wind blowsnow hence, now hither, so she comes and goes, and who can tell at whatspot upon the earth, or beyond it, for a while that wind lies sleeping?But at sunset or at dawn, at noon or at midnight, it will begin to blowagain, and then woe to those who stand across its path. 

"Remember the dead heaped upon the plains of Kaloon. Remember thedeparting of the Shaman Simbri with his message and the words that shespoke then. Remember the passing of the Hesea from the Mountain point. Stranger from the West, surely as to-morrow's sun must rise, as shewent, so she will return again, and in my borrowed garment I await heradvent. "

"I also await her advent, " I answered, and thus we parted. 

Accompanied by twenty picked men bearing provisions and arms, I climbedthe ladders easily enough, and now that I had food and shelter, crossedthe mountains without mishap. They even escorted me through the desertbeyond, till one night we camped within sight of the gigantic Buddhathat sits before the monastery, gazing eternally across the sands andsnows. 

When I awoke next morning the priests were gone. So I took up my packand pursued my journey alone, and walking slowly came at sunset to thedistant lamasery. At its door an ancient figure, wrapped in a tatteredcloak, was sitting, engaged apparently in contemplation of the skies. Itwas our old friend Kou-en. Adjusting his horn spectacles on his nose helooked at me. 

"I was awaiting you, brother of the Monastery called 'the World, '" hesaid in a voice, measured, very ineffectually, to conceal his evidentdelight. "Have you grown hungry there that you return to this poorplace?"

"Aye, most excellent Kou-en, " I answered, "hungry for rest. "

"It shall be yours for all the days of this incarnation. But say, whereis the other brother?"

"Dead, " I answered. 

"And therefore re-born elsewhere or perhaps, dreaming in Devachan fora while. Well, doubtless we shall meet him later on. Come, eat, andafterwards tell me your story. "

So I ate, and that night I told him all. Kou-en listened with respectfulattention, but the tale, strange as it might seem to most people, excited no particular wonder in his mind. Indeed, he explained it to meat such length by aid of some marvellous theory of re-incarnations, thatat last I began to doze. 

"At least, " I said sleepily, "it would seem that we are all winningmerit on the Everlasting Plane, " for I thought that favourite catchwordwould please him. 

"Yes, brother of the Monastery called the World, " Kou-en answered ina severe voice, "doubtless you are all winning merit, but, if I mayventure to say so, you are winning it very slowly, especially thewoman--or the sorceress--or the mighty evil spirit--whose names Iunderstand you to tell me are She, Hes, and Ayesha upon earth and in_Avitchi_, Star-that-hath-Fallen----"

_(Here Mr. Holly's manuscript ends, its outer sheets having been burntwhen he threw it on to the fire at his house in Cumberland. )_