The Devil-Tree of El Dorado: A Novel

by Frank Aubrey

  CHAPTER XX.

  THE MESSAGE OF APALANO.

  The furniture in use in the city of Manoa, in material and style, wasnot unlike that found in Japan. That in the palace was of exquisitedesign and finish, much of it inlaid with gold and silver. It was sucha cabinet that Monella now unlocked: he took from it a parchment roll.

  "This," said he, "is the document I gave the king the first day hereceived us. Now, of course, it belongs to him; but I have borrowedit, temporarily, to show you. It was written by Apalano, the lastdescendant of those 'White Priests' who fled this country ages agowith the king Mellenda. In some of the old parchments in my possessionit is described how those who thus went away found the empire goingeverywhere to pieces, and falling a prey to barbaric hordes of blackor red or cruel white races; and how they eventually took refuge inthe secluded valley high up amongst the peaks of the Andes, of whichI have already spoken to you, and dwelt there through many centuries.They had brought with them, and succeeded in cultivating, the 'Plantof Life,' or 'karina'; but, notwithstanding--and albeit it made themall long-lived--the fatal disease, the 'falloa,' claimed them one afteranother, till Apalano and I alone were left. Then the 'falloa' laidits withering hand upon Apalano also; he lost his last child, and thataffected him very deeply; for, before he died, he wrote this strangeletter which tells all about myself that I know with certainty; yethints, as you will see, at still more to be learned in the future. Iwill read it to you:--

  "'TO SANAIMA, THE CHIEF WHITE PRIEST OF MANOA. OR, IF DEAD, HIS DESCENDANT OR SUCCESSOR. OR TO THE REIGNING KING OF MANOA, GREETING.

  "'I, Apalano, the last of the descendants of the White Priests who fled with the great King Mellenda, do commend to your care the bearer of this letter, he whom ye will know by the name of Monella. He is, after myself, the sole survivor of our race outside thy land of Manoa. Treat him with all courtesy, respect and confidence, for he is of royal descent, and the unsullied blood of thine ancient line of kings flows in his veins. Mark well his counsels, give heed to his warnings, and observe his rulings; for he comes to restore the true religion of the Great Spirit, and to bring peace and happiness to our land. Long years ago he did receive a grievous injury to the head in combat with a savage foe. This cast a shadow upon his memory of the past, so that he knoweth naught of what went before, and his former life is blank, save for some vague passing glimpses that, at rare times, come back to him in the guise of dreams and visions. We could have told him much of all that went before, but we have refrained;--first for that he might not have rightly comprehended what we had to tell, and next, in mercy; for he hath suffered much. It was deemed best that the recollections of his sufferings should sleep until the time for his awakening should arrive, when the work for which the Great Spirit hath appointed him shall lie before him and shall form his sorrow's antidote and comfort.

  "'The memory that hath untimely been suspended--for we know that it may not be destroyed--perchance may be restored to its full power by such an accident as wrecked it; but, failing that, there is but one sure treatment--namely, to drink of the infusion of the herb called 'trenima' that groweth in Myrlanda and nowhere else. Let the stranger Monella, that bringeth this to thee, drink of 'trenima' in accordance with the rules I have laid down for him upon another scroll; let him, for some weeks, take of it sparingly even as I have written; then more frequently, and lo! all his past life, now hidden, shall be revealed to him, the sun shall light up the recesses of his memory, and he shall know himself and what lies before him.

  "'And my dying eyes, though unable yet to pierce the future, still can see that his coming amongst you shall be in itself a sign of the truth of these my words. When he shall appear to you I know not; only that it will be at the time the Great Spirit hath appointed--not an hour sooner nor an hour behind that time--ay, not one minute. And herein ye shall read a message from the Almighty Spirit, and ye shall know that Monella's coming at that special time was marked out by the hand of Destiny. And ye shall find upon his body marks whose meaning will be known unto Sanaima, or to him on whom hath fallen his mantle.

  "'With my greeting, I bid ye now farewell--ye unto whom this scroll shall be delivered--my first and last message to the land of my forefathers, and to those that now rule there. Through many centuries we, a faithful few, have kept your memory and our love for you green in our hearts; and I and those who have been with me had hoped, as the appointed time drew near, that the Great Spirit would have deigned to grant to us to see our ancient city and our native land. But it was not to be; all have gone save me and him who brings you this; but in him I send the blessing that we have preserved and nursed for you through long years of persecution and despair.

  "'If ye would return our love and care for you, I pray you show them unto him we send. I know that he is worthy of them; and, further, that in his own breast he bears for you the sum of all the love we in our own persons would have shown, had we been spared to greet ye--I and those who have preceded me to the land of the Great Spirit.

  "'Farewell! "'APALANO.'"

  When Monella had finished reading this strange letter, he leaned hischin upon his hand and fell into a reverie, Leonard and Templemoremeanwhile looking on in silence. Presently Monella roused himself, and,with a deep-drawn sigh, passed his hand across his forehead with a lookof pain. His action was as though he had half-caught some flittingthought or memory, that had, after all, eluded him; and that the effortto retain it had cost him mental pain. After a short interval he said,with one of his rare smiles and in the musical voice that captivatedevery one, so full were they of kindliness,

  "Now you know as much about me as I know myself. I did not show youthis before, because I had been charged to hand it only to those towhom it was addressed; and this is the first opportunity I have sincehad, for the king sent it to Sanaima, who returned it only a day ortwo ago. But, since you must now consider seriously the question ofyour going or remaining, it is right that you should know all I cantell you of myself. It is very little; yet sufficient to explain mypresent feelings. You can understand, now that you have read thatletter, that I am now, with all my heart and soul, one with thesepeople. I look at everything from their point of view; I consider onlytheir interest, their welfare, their safety, their advantage. If youshall elect to remain with us--to become one of us--you shall find meever a staunch friend who will do all he can to make you feel at homeamongst us, and will place you in positions of great honour. If, on theother hand, you prefer to leave us, you shall not go without such marksof the king's favour as are beyond, perhaps, your dreams. These are thealternatives that lie before you. Take time to ponder them; there is,as I have already told you, no need for an immediate decision."

  When, after leaving Monella, the two were once more alone together,Leonard burst out with the thought that filled his mind,

  "I scarcely know how to express my feelings. I am full of sadness andyet of joy, and I know not which predominates."

  "I know what it will be," said Jack gloomily. "You will stay, and Ishall have to return alone. What excuse I shall give to people forleaving you here--dead to them and to the world for ever--or whetherI shall ever be forgiven for appearing to have deserted you, God onlyknows. I wish you would think a little upon all this. For the rest,I congratulate you with all my heart. To be the future king of soancient and remarkable a nation, is a piece of 'luck' that does notfall to everybody. By Jove!" he exclaimed with increasing earnestness,"upon my word I don't wonder at your going in for it--indeed, if--thatis--well, if I had not already set my mind upon something else, Iwould chuck up the world in general and throw in my lot with you andbe your--your Prime Minister--or State Engineer--or some other highfunctionary." And he laughed good-naturedly at the ideas the suggestioncalled up in his mind.

  "Don't let us meet trouble half way," said Leonard hopefully. "The timeof parting is not yet; who knows what may turn up? Monella may make ussome concession that will m
eet the case. And now look here. I have beenthinking of a plan for sending a message home."

  Jack stared.

  "How on earth?" he asked.

  "It won't be much of a message, and perhaps it will never reach home;but we can try. Let us find a place where we can get a view in thedirection of 'Monella Lodge' and watch at night for camp fires out onthe far savanna. We must find a spot screened from observation on thisside. Then we will bring some powder up from our stores, and flash somesignals as Monella had arranged."

  "But what good will that do? Even if they are seen it will only be byIndians who will not understand them."

  "Never mind. If any Indians see them they are sure to spread the newsabout; and probably the first place to hear of it will be Daranato, theIndian village where my old nurse Carenna lives. Matava may have toldher about the signals, or even other Indians. At any rate, she will bepretty sure to hear of them and let Matava know when he returns; orperhaps even send a message down by some one going to the coast, to saythat signals had been seen that showed we were alive on the summit ofRoraima."

  Jack reflected.

  "Yes!" he presently said slowly. "Yes. There is something in the idea.We will try it; it can do no harm. But, to be of any good, we shallhave to signal frequently; once or twice would not be of much use."

  "Precisely. Before long, Matava will be back from the coast, and willhear of them, and will come out on to the savanna at night to see themfor himself. And he would watch night after night with an Indian'spatience till he saw them."

  "Yes; I suppose Monella won't object? We ought not to do it withouthis consent. But for that awful forest, we might even go farther; wemight make an expedition for a week or two, and get to 'Monella Lodge'and leave a letter there; or even to Daranato, and leave letters to betaken to the coast by the first Indians going that way."

  "No, we can't manage that, nor would Monella like us to be away solong. You never know what trouble might turn up here with these priestsand their vile crew. And that reminds me of that letter Monella readto-day. What did you think of it?"

  "An extraordinary letter! Really, I feel almost inclined to go back tomy former idea that Monella and his friends were all mad together!"

  Leonard stared aghast.

  "What! You speak of that again?" he exclaimed, real indignation in histones. "After the way everything has come out--after all Monella'skindness----"

  Jack stopped him with a smile and a touch of his hand on the other'sarm.

  "Put the brake on, old man," he said. "I don't mean anythingdisrespectful. But if Monella, who already seems to have been aboutthe world and to have seen as much as three ordinary men of threescore years and ten--if the point to which his memory reaches is onlya portion of his life--why, you see, he must be Methuselah, or theWandering Jew himself, or some other mythical being. Already, he haspuzzled me, times enough, with his extraordinary tales; at the sametime you cannot doubt his absolute sincerity. So that if his 'complete'memory is to go back farther still, why--Heaven help us!--we sha'n'tknow whether we are on our heads or our heels."

  After a short silence Leonard spoke.

  "But, if they had this 'Plant of Life' with them--those he waswith--would that not in part account for it?"

  "It might; but it is making large demands on one's credulity. But whatI really mean is this. I am inclined, at times, to think Monella a bitmad. He has a religious mania; he has persuaded himself--and evidently,from that letter, has been encouraged by others to believe it--thathe has a religious mission to these people. Well, no harm in _that_,you say. No; and that he is honourable, upright, sincere, I feel verycertain. Still, he may be self-deceived. He seems to me to be one ofthose fervidly religious mystics who can persuade themselves intoalmost anything."

  "Yet he is no fanatic. See how mild and gentle he can be; how slow toanger, how just in his discrimination between right and wrong!"

  "I admit all that. Still, I repeat, he might easily deceive himself."

  That afternoon Leonard sought out Ulama and asked to be allowed to rowher on the lake; and to this she smiled a glad assent. When he hadrowed the boat out a long distance from the shore, he laid down theoars, and let her drift. A gentle breeze was blowing, and this servedto temper the ardour of the waning sun.

  "Do you remember the last time we were thus alone, Ulama?" presently heasked her.

  "Indeed I do," she answered, her cheek, that had of late been verypale, now glowing with a rosy flush. "But I began to think _you_ hadforgotten, and were never going to take me out again."

  "Ah! It was not my fault, Ulama."

  "Whose else could it be?" she asked.

  "Well--I cannot tell you now. But, if you remember the occasion, do youremember also what we spoke of?"

  The colour deepened in the maiden's face. She bent her head and fixedher eyes dreamily upon the water; and one hand dropped over the boat'sside, as on that day of which he had reminded her.

  "I then said," he went on, "that I loved you dearly, and askedyou whether you could love me in return. And you said you did notunderstand such love as I described to you. Do you remember?"

  "Yes; I remember," she said softly. "But then I said I could scarcecredit such sudden love for me; and that you might change. And it seemsyou have, for, since then, you have never told me that you loved me."

  He seized her hand.

  "No, Ulama," he cried passionately, "it was not so. I have not altered.But I feared--that--well, that your father might be angered. 'Twas forthat reason that I spoke no more to you of love."

  "In that you did my father wrong," she answered frankly. "My fatherloves me far too well to cause me pain and----"

  "Ah! Then--would it pain you were I to go away from here and never seeyou more?"

  She started, and a look of mingled fear and grief came into her eyes.

  "You are--not--going away?" she faltered anxiously.

  "Not if you bid me stay, Ulama. If you but whisper in my ear thatyou may come to love me--if only a little--then I will stay--stayon always--forget my country, my own people, my friends; give upeverything, and live for you--for you alone, my sweet, my gentle Ulama;my beloved Ulama!"

  Gradually her head sank until it rested on her hand; her colourdeepened, she made no reply, but still gazed pensively into the water.

  "Tell me, Ulama--am I to stay or go? Oh, say that you will try to loveme!"

  He still retained her hand, and now he passed his own gently over it,she making no effort to withdraw it. Thus answered, he pressed his lipsupon it, and at this, also, she showed no resentment.

  "I would have you stay," she presently murmured softly; "but indeed Ifear it is too late for me to try to love you, for my heart tells meyou have my love already."

  And the boat drifted aimlessly in the evening light. The sun had set,and the moon, the witness of so many lovers' vows--both true andfalse--had shown her silvery light above the surrounding cliffs; andstill the two sat on and scarcely spoke, yet, in speechless eloquence,recounting to each other the old, old tale.

  And, when the sweet Ulama left the boat, her heart could scarce containthe joy that filled it; and in her eye there was a light that it hadlacked before, so that the king, her father, drew her affectionately tohim and asked her what had wrought this wondrous change.

  She shyly bent her head and answered him,

  "To-morrow thou shalt know, my father." Then she hid her blushing faceupon his shoulder. "I have a favour to ask of thee; but--I would fainnot speak of it this evening."

  Then, as though fearing that he would wrest from her the secret of herjoy, she stole swiftly to her room, and from her window looked acrossthe lake, now shimmering in the silver moonbeams.

  For long she sat there motionless, dreaming youth's fond dreams;dwelling, in loving tenderness, on every word and look she could recallof Leonard while the boat had drifted here and there, and the lap,lap, lap, of the ripples against the sides had kept up a soft musicalaccompaniment to the rhythm of love's heart-beats.

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