by Frank Aubrey
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FIGHT ON THE HILLSIDE.
It had become the custom of the two young men to go every morning,when the atmosphere was clear, to a height at one end of the valley,from which a view could be obtained over the whole country surroundingthat end of Roraima. The spot was a level table of rock under apicturesque group of fir-trees--for on the upper cliffs fir-trees werenumerous--and from it, looking in the direction farthest from themountain, the view was grand in the extreme; while, on the other sideof them was the great valley or basin in which lay the lake and thecity of Manoa.
It would be but labour lost to attempt to give an adequate idea of theprospect over which the eye could travel on a clear day, when one stoodupon this giddy height. It extended to an almost illimitable distance;for, when one looked beyond the surrounding mountains of the Roraimarange, there were no more hills to break the view till it reached thefar distant Andes, had these been visible. Indeed, it was said thatthey _were_ visible on a few days in the year; but, if that were so,it would perhaps be rather as an effect in the nature of a mirage thanwhat is usually understood by an actual view of the far-away mountains.But nearer at hand, in other directions were mountain ridges andsummits in seemingly endless succession, piled up in extraordinaryconfusion. From Roraima, as the highest of all, one could look down,to some extent, upon the others. Myrlanda was upon the other side, butMarima, and others of the strange group, lay before the eye, and onecould see the woods and lakes upon their summits; but enough couldnot be seen to enable the spectator to decide whether they might beinhabited or not.
The beauty of the expanse of tropical vegetation immediately below wasindeed marvellous. Here the explorers gazed down upon the tops of thetrees of the gloomy forest that girdled the mountain (though not thatpart through which they had made their way with so much wearying, butdogged perseverance), and lo! it was a veritable garden of flowers ofbrilliant hue! For the trees beneath which they had crept, like antsamong the stems of a field of clover, were gorgeous above in theirdisplay of blossoms, while shutting out the light from those who walkedbelow.
Here and there, amid the green, the great cascades and torrents fromthe mountain side dashed impetuously from rock to rock; the streamsthat were in fact some of the feeders of the greatest of all rivers,the mighty Amazon; that river of wondrous mysteries, that pursues itscourse of four thousand miles through the plains of Brazil, and findsits way round at last into the Atlantic, there to hurl the volume ofits waters with such force into the sea, that even the ocean waters arepushed aside to make a path for them hundreds of miles from land!
Here, upon the table of rock, in full view of one of the grandest andmost eloquent natural panoramas it is possible for the mind of manto conceive, Leonard and Templemore stood the morning following theformer's interview with Monella, looking out upon the scene. A highwind, of bracing and exhilarating freshness, blew in their faces,rushed with a roar through the branches above them, swaying the greattrees to and fro, and then, seeming to tear off across the valley atone leap, continued its wild course amongst the trees on the heightsthat lined the further side. Leonard, on turning to look across thelake, saw Ergalon advancing up the slope and making signs to him. Hedrew Jack's attention to the signals, and they both descended theterraces of rock below to meet him. Here all was quiet; they weresheltered from the gusts of wind; the roar of the gale no longer mettheir ears.
All the time they had been in the city they had had a guard. Itconsisted of a file of soldiers with an officer, and they followed thetwo young men in all their walks, movements, journeys, never thrustingthemselves on their attention, yet always ready to assist and defendthem, if occasion should arise. Monella, also, had an escort wheneverhe went out. He had particularly enjoined on the other two never tostir abroad without their rifles, and this injunction, though they didnot always see its necessity, they implicitly observed.
They had not seen much of Ergalon of late; he had attached himselfmore particularly to Monella, and had, in fact, become his particularattendant. Monella had trusted him so far as to explain to himsomething of the secrets of the firearms, and had instructed him inthe loading of them in case circumstances should arise in which hisassistance might be needed. Accordingly, when Leonard saw him coming upthe hillside and signifying that he wished to speak to them, he at oncecalled Templemore and left the ledge where they had been standing.
Soon they saw their guard approaching with Ergalon in advance of them,and, following them, Monella, who came on leisurely from ledge toledge, occasionally giving a glance behind him.
The hillside was marked out in terraces, or tables of rock, most ofthem covered with greensward and fringed at the sides with belts oftrees. Ergalon, who had taken his stand below, made signs to the twoto come down to him, and, when they had descended within hearing, headdressed them.
"The lord Monella has sent me to warn you to await him here and to beready for a contest. There is trouble afoot."
"But why wait here?" asked Jack. "We will go down to him at once."
Ergalon shook his head.
"No," he said. "He particularly desired that you would await him here."
"So be it; if you are sure you rightly understood him. But tell us,friend Ergalon, what all this means."
Ergalon explained that Coryon had unexpectedly dispatched a largeforce of his soldiers to capture the three strangers. They had hopedto surprise them without giving time for others of the king's soldiersto lend their aid. But he (Ergalon) had, through a former comrade whowas still one of Coryon's people, attained intimation of the intendedmovement, and had been able thus to warn Monella.
"So the lord Monella," he explained, "sent on your guard in advance,and then himself walked up the hill towards you that they might seehim. Thus he hoped to draw Coryon's people away from the palace and thehouses to this place, where, he says, it will be better to make a standand fight them, since thus no other persons will be injured in theencounter."
It was strange, but all who spoke of Monella, or to him, gave him sometitle of honour or respect. Ergalon called him 'lord.' Even Dakla,at the meeting in the king's council chamber--spite of his insolentswagger towards the king--had been awed by this man's look intoaddressing him by the equivalent in their language of 'sir.'
"How many are there of them?" asked Jack.
"Oh, a hundred--or perhaps more. But the lord Monella has said theirnumber matters not; and he sent me to the king to beg that none of hissoldiers should interfere. 'They would only be in the way,' he said.He sent these extra things for you. See." And he showed a parcel ofcartridges he had brought with him.
"Good," said Jack. "He is quite right. That's all we wanted; we cananswer for the rest. More soldiers would only be in the way; and someof them would be pretty sure to get hurt, if not killed outright--andall for nothing. I think I see Monella's idea. It is"--turning toElwood--"to take up our position here and shoot them down as they comeacross this wide terrace just below us. Not a man of them will evercross that stretch alive."
"Here are your guards," observed Ergalon. "The lord Monella desiredthat you should place them somewhere where they would be out of theway, but within call."
"Let them get on to this next ledge, then, just behind us. There theywill have a fine view of everything. Did these people think to surpriseus, do you think, friend Ergalon?"
"No doubt. Your habit of coming here of a morning has been noted, Isuspect, and they had intended, I imagine, to creep round and get upthrough the woods unseen. But the lord Monella, being warned by me,went up on a high rock, where he could see them in the distance; whenthey saw they were observed by him, they gave up that plan and camestraight on."
"I see. Well, we owe you something for having warned us, friend."
"It is nothing," Ergalon answered simply. "My life was forfeited thatday, and you spared me; and through the lord Monella and the princess,I gained the king's pardon. I owe you all my service."
By this time the guards and their officer had a
rrived, and were placedby Ergalon on a terrace above and behind that on which the two werestanding.
"We like it not, this mode of yours--putting us in the background, outof danger, while you stand up in front," observed the officer; "weconsent only because the lord Monella so desires it. They are many, butwe should not shrink; and others from the king's palace would soon cometo our assistance."
"Yes, yes, good Abla. We have no misgivings of your courage. But youcould do no good with so few men--they are more than ten to one, Ihear--and your men would but impede us. Besides, it will give them alesson for the future, if we deal with them ourselves, unaided."
Abla bowed and walked away unwillingly, as one who is bound to obeyorders, but does so against his will.
Monella now came in view, and was soon standing by their side. After afew words of explanation, he said gravely,
"They thought to have surprised us all three up here; but, when theysaw they had failed in that, they took a bold course and came straighton. Now that means, in effect, an open challenge to the king. Itmeans," he continued with increased earnestness, "civil war. Civil war,you understand, has therefore broken out in the land--unless we nip itin the bud, _here, now_, as we can, if we show no untimely hesitation.These men are scoundrels of the serpent's brood; cruel, bloodthirstytools of the human fiends behind them. They deserve no mercy, noconsideration. Let none be shown to them! My plan is simply to shootthem down the instant they appear on that ledge below us. They _must_climb up in front; there is no way round it, nor any means of gettingto the height above us. Therefore, they must cross that piece of openground. One word more. The chief, Dakla, leads them. Do not fire athim. I wish to take him alive, if possible; he will make our bestambassador hereafter."
Under such conditions the battle could not be a long one. Monella hadchosen his ground skilfully, so as to make the utmost of the advantagefirearms gave him. The black-coated myrmidons of Coryon scaled thefatal terrace only to be shot down the moment that they came in sight.There were only four or five places where they could climb up and, atthese, not more than two men could pass together. Those who reached thetop and escaped a bullet, turned back when they heard the explosions ofthe firearms, saw the flashes and the smoke, saw also their comradesfall. Others of those below who could see nothing of what was going on,swarmed up in their places, only to fall or turn back at once in likemanner; till, in a short time, every man had been up and witnessed theghastly sight of the dead and wounded lying around, and had satisfiedhimself that not one could cross that level piece of rock to come neartheir foes. Finally, the survivors were all seized with panic when oneof the last to show his head above the ridge came back crying out that"the white demons were coming down after them." At this, all those whowere unhurt turned and fled. But many had fallen, dead or wounded, andlay at the foot of the rock they had climbed up only to be instantlyshot down. Above, on the terrace itself, but at one side, stood Daklaand one of his subordinates. These had been amongst the first to appearabove the ledge, and had moved aside to let the men form into line upon the rock; but now they were left alone, and, when Monella quietlydescended from the rock above, they had the mortification of seeing alltheir men who were capable of running disappear in frantic terror downthe hillside.
Then he who stood by Dakla made a rush at Monella with uplifted sword,thinking, since he seemed to be unarmed, that he would fall an easyprey; but the man fell with a pistol ball in his breast ere he had gonehalf way to meet Monella.
"Now yield, Dakla," Monella called to the other. "It is useless eitherto fight or run."
"We will see to that," Dakla exclaimed savagely. "If thou be man, andnot demon, this sword shall find thine heart." And he too made a suddenrush. But, before he had gone three yards, the sword flew from his handand his arm dropped useless by his side. Monella had shot him in thearm.
"Thou see'st," he said coldly, as he now approached the crestfallenchief, "how ill-advised thou hast been not to give heed to all mywarnings. I could have slain thee earlier in the fight; I could havekilled thee now, as I did thy friend there; but I have spared thy life.It is not for thine own sake, but that thou mayest bear a message tothy master, and witness to him of that which thou hast seen and warnhim once more of the futility of warring against us, the allies of theking. Dost thou understand?"
The other cast a murderous scowl upon Monella, but made no answer fora moment. Then, after reflection, he said in a dogged, surly tone,
"So be it. But thou must give thy message quickly and let me go; forthou hast hurt me sore and the blood flows fast----"
"We will see to thy wound," Monella replied composedly. "Let me bind itup till we get to the king's palace; there it shall be seen to farther."
And Dakla, reluctantly, and with an ill grace, submitted to have hiswound bound up by his enemy, who, before commencing, took away theother's dagger.
"I cannot trust thee with these playthings," he observed. "Thou art ofthe wolf tribe, Dakla."
Meanwhile, the officer and men of their guard had come down to thelower terrace, with Templemore and Elwood, and were looking in awe andhorror upon the outcome of the fight--if so one-sided an encountercould be so called. On Monella and the two young men they gazed inwonder; and, gradually, they drew away from them in fear, from thatmoment treating them with even greater deference than before.
Monella despatched Abla to summon more soldiers from the king's palaceto bring down the dead and wounded; and himself set about attending tothe latter, first handing Dakla over to Templemore.
"Look you!" said Jack to his prisoner, "if you attempt to escape, Ishall not kill you, but hurt your other arm; and, if that does not stopyou, I shall hurt your leg, and I know that that _will_. Do you followme?"
Dakla nodded a sour assent; then stood looking with evident surprise atthe trouble Monella was now taking with some of his late enemies. Suchsingular behaviour he did not understand, and he shrugged his shouldersin contempt.
When, after a time, more soldiers, with some officers, arrived uponthe scene, these were at once set to work to bear the dead and woundeddown the hill. Monella followed with his friends and Dakla. The noiseof the firing had brought out great crowds of people, who were nowmassed about the palace waiting to receive them. They had watched theprecipitate flight of the survivors of the soldiers of Coryon, andrejoiced greatly at their defeat. But, when they saw the dead andwounded, and that Dakla was himself a prisoner, and heard that not onehad been hurt upon the other side, their astonishment was complete.
The king himself, with some of his ministers and officials, came outto meet the victors; and his gratitude and emotion, when he noted allthese things and greeted Monella and his friends, were profuse andheartfelt.
"Ye have indeed rendered us a service," he exclaimed, "and taughtCoryon a lesson he will do well to take to heart. I feared me greatlythat harm would come to ye, and that war would follow in the land."
"Nay, we have laid the dogs of war, I trust, at any rate, for thepresent," Monella returned, with a grave smile. "They will not attackus further, I opine, nor brave thee in the future in this rebelliousfashion."
Then they entered the palace, and Ulama came forward to welcome them,with Zonella and many more.
"We have been in such trouble about you," she said, the tears standingin her tender eyes, "ever since they told us that over a hundred ofCoryon's people had gone up the rocks to take you. And we heard thenoise of the thunder-wands, and were in great fear, till they told usthat your enemies were fleeing. Then we looked out and saw them rushingmadly down the hill, throwing away their spears, and their helmets, andeven fighting one another in their haste to scramble down the rocks.Then Abla came and told us you were all safe, and then----"
"Then," said Zonella, "you sat down and wept." And at that Ulamalaughed.
"I fear it is true," she said.