CHAPTER XII.
CONDEMNED TO DIE.
In spite of all the questions put by Temple and the Doctor, Grahamresolutely refused to speak about his meeting with Volin? in thegarden, and this annoyed the Doctor especially.
"I don't like this want of confidence on your part, Graham," he said,the following day. "Not that I want to pry into a lover's secrets byany means, but our trial, as you well know, takes place in a few days,and I think, as being the leader of this expedition, recognised as suchby common consent, and the duty of defending ourselves rightly fallingon me, every fact that might be of service to us should be known to me,as well as any adverse circumstances that may resolve into evidenceagainst us, so that I may be prepared to meet it."
"Doctor," Graham answered, "I admit the justness of your remarks, butam sorry I cannot disclose what took place last night. The honour ofthe woman I love is involved; but, rest assured, I am quite prepared todefend my conduct if called upon to do so. Believe me, nothing whateverwas said respecting our position, nor did I obtain any informationlikely to be of service to us."
"But did you really see and speak to Volin? last night?" asked Temple.
"I admit that I did. Now, do rest content with that, there's goodfellows; and be assured that I am doing the best I can for us all. Thisring I wear upon my finger was given to me by her, with the solemnassurance that it was a talisman against evil."
"Fudge, Graham; you must be deep in love to believe such nonsense,"said the Doctor, testily.
"Nonsense or not, Doctor, you see I wear it, and what is more, aminclined to believe in its virtues. It may be but a lover's trifle; butsome strange instinct, call it superstition if you like, makes me feelthat it will yet be of service to us."
"Well, it is my unbroken experience that if discord or trouble comes,a woman is invariably at the bottom of it." And with this parting shotthe Doctor walked away to study his note-book.
"What a prejudice the Doctor has against the ladies, Graham!" saidTemple. "Why, he is a regular woman-hater. Depend upon it, some girlbroke his heart in the long ago."
"It is his only failing, and he is to be pitied more than blamed,"Graham answered.
Kaosp entered at this moment. His face wore a grave look, and he wasunusually silent. Graham alone guessed the cause; for he had no doubtwhatever that what took place within the garden on the previous nightwas now known to him, although he never alluded to it in any way. Hedid not stay long, and after enquiring about our health, and variouslittle matters, he shook each one of us by the hand, as was his customnow every time he went away. This mode of salutation greatly took hisfancy, after we had explained it to him, and he seemed proud of his newaccomplishment. When Graham's turn to shake hands with him came, hestarted in surprise, and, drawing back, exclaimed:
"Volin?'s talisman! How camest thou by that? Know'st thou the charm ofthat ring? Dost thou know that he whose finger carries it is safe fromevery harm that men of Gathma can work? It is a passport from Deathitself; for it is the sacred ring of Echri, the most powerful of ourpriests, before whom the King himself must bow!"
"Good Kaosp, I came by it honestly. This ring was given to me by Volin?herself, and by her its wondrous power was told to me. But these,my companions, ridicule its potency, and refuse to believe in itstalismanic properties."
"They know not what they say. I have heard and seen too much of itsvirtues to scoff at its power. But guard it jealously, for I would warnthee against its loss. No man of Gathma will dare to take it from thee;for if thou hast received it as a gift, that man is cursed who wouldseek to rob thee of it by force, or yet by stealth."
"Not very likely, Kaosp, for I will part with it only with my life,"Graham answered, as the good-natured soldier passed out.
"Well, Doctor, what do you say now?" asked Graham.
"That it's all humbug; and, from the bottom of my heart, I wish Volin?and her ring had been far away before we had the misfortune to visitEdos."
The arrival of our mid-day meal interrupted further conversation; nordid either of us allude to the subject again.
Day after day passed by, Kaosp coming in as usual; but he was reticent,his visits were shorter, and in spite of all that Graham could do,we saw that he evaded his questions. Another thing that perplexed usexceedingly was the absence of Volin?. From the day that Graham met herin the garden she had never been to see us herself, nor had she sentany of her attendants with presents. What had befallen her we knew not.All was mystery. Kaosp would not speak on the subject. This had a mostdepressing effect upon Graham; he rarely ate, and still more rarelyslept. We could see that his heart was heavy at her absence, and hisfailing to obtain any news whatever of his loved one made him morose,dispirited, and silent.
"For the love of Heaven," he said to Kaosp on the day before our trial,"will you not tell me news of her? You must know what has taken place.Has any harm befallen her?"
"I am commanded by the King to silence," he answered, not withoutsorrow in his voice. "He hath bidden me hold no further conversationwith you, his prisoners. You will know all on the morrow."
The eventful morning dawned at last that was to decide our fate; to setus free, or mete to us our doom.
"Thank Heaven!" said Graham, earnestly, "all will soon be decided. Thissilence, this suspense, is slowly killing me."
Outside we could hear that something unusual was taking place. Theheavy tramp of troops echoed from the distance in muffled tones;trumpet blasts at intervals sounded afar off, as if an army was beingmarshalled; and from time to time the noise of hurrying feet was heardin the corridor outside. For the first time Kaosp failed to visit us.New guards came attending the servants that brought us our morningmeal. We were all too excited to eat, and the dishes were taken awayalmost untouched.
"One last word to you all," said the Doctor. "Whatever may be theresult of this trial, be sure not to exhibit any anger. It will be notime, nor place, to strike for freedom in yonder Hall of Justice; forsuch could only end in failure. Keep cool, I implore you, whatever thedecision may be. We must wait and watch our opportunity."
A few minutes before ten o'clock our prison doors were opened, andwe were commanded by Kaosp and the guards to follow them. We went insingle file, our dog bringing up the rear, passing along the corridors,which were lined with Martial troops on either side, through doorwayafter doorway until we reached an ante-room which we had not visitedbefore. Here we were detained for a few moments; then, amidst a fanfareof trumpets, we passed onward and entered the Great Hall of Justice.
The brilliant scene was much the same as on our previous visit, butmore solemnity seemed to pervade the vast gathering. We heard the humof voices before we reached the Hall; but as we entered a great silencefell upon the assembled throng, and every eye was turned towards us aswe slowly wended our way to the platform, and stepped one by one uponit. A hundred thousand Martials of both sexes, and apparently of thehighest grade of society, filled that vast Hall; and from the tumultwe could hear outside, as many more must have been clustering round ineager curiosity. The King and his ministers sat in their old places,and below them were a hundred scribes, whose business appeared to be totake down in writing all that was said. We noticed more soldiers thanbefore, and the guard immediately surrounding us had been considerablyaugmented.
Directly we got upon the platform, Graham's eyes wandered round thecircle where the King and his ministers sat. His search was for Volin?;but his quest was vain, for the luxurious throne upon which she hadreclined was empty. The vacant seat was the last drop in the cup of hisbitterness, and his face reflected the great sorrow that ate like acanker into his heart. Deserted and lonely, even more so than we were,his sufferings were deeper than those of his comrades, and he faced hisjudges like one in a dream.
The proceedings were commenced at once by the King, who from his thronecommanded that the evidence against us should be given. The same agedminister, amid a deathlike silence, rose, and, bowing to the King,arraigned us thus:
"Great and
mighty Ruler, King of Gathma, and father of its people, wehave assembled here in this our Justice Hall to conduct the strangestproceedings that have ever taken place between its ancient walls. Weare here to mete out fair and impartial justice to Beings who belongnot to the world on which we live, but have come unbidden amongst usfrom a region so remote that it appears but a bright and wanderingplanet in our heavens; for have they not said that they are from thestar Ramos, which they call Earth? Beyond our own moons Ramos is thenearest orb to us, but its distance is so vast that no man of sciencein Gathma hath yet been bold enough to say the space between our worldand this can ever be traversed by men in mortal shape who shall survivethe journey. This being so, we can only look upon these strangers aspractisers of some magic art which they may ultimately employ to thedanger of our people. They came here borne in a carriage of curiousform and cunning workmanship, dropping from the sky to the east ofEdos. Their arrival is immediately celebrated in bloodshed; for theinoffensive Osa, a tiller of the soil, was killed by some explosivemachine carried in their hand, which was turned upon him (here a greattrooper, clad in armour, stepped forward and pointed with his weaponto Sandy), and his wife and children are even now mourning sorely forhis death. When pressed, they fled to their curious carriage, andescaped into the sky, whither no one of Gathma could follow them;but instead of leaving us in peace, they had the temerity to advancethrough the air towards our city Edos, and to descend therein, in thevery precincts of thy royal palace. They speak a strange tongue; theirdress, their manners, and customs are mysterious; their mission hereseems one of blood. Hath not holy Echri foretold a great calamity toour people, heralded by signs and appearances in the heavens, fromwhich we may escape if we only act with courage and promptitude?Methinks these strangers are this sign. Then we must take heed of holyEchri's words of warning, and so destroy these men of Ramos that nota trace of them shall be left. Let them and their evil carriage behurled into the Lake of Melag, from the crag Remagaloth, so that allmay be consumed in living fire, and we may see them no more. Oh! mightyKing and father, I beseech thee in thy wisdom to heed the words of thyfaithful servant, whose hair hath grown hoary with the work of threehundred years in thy illustrious service. Justice shall be done, Osa beavenged, and Gathma saved, if thou shalt only bid these strangers die!"
This speech made a profound sensation, and was greeted with a thunderof applause from the surrounding multitude, as the aged councillorbowed low and returned to his seat. Clearly, popular opinion was onhis side, and we feared that our doom was sealed. Graham alone feltrelieved when the speech was done, for to his great, though secret joy,Volin?'s name had not been mentioned, and evidently the King and hiscouncillors were in ignorance of his love for her, and the untowardoccurrence in the garden. His rival had not dared to do as he hadthreatened, after all.
"Now, strangers from Ramos," said the King, "have you aught to say tovindicate yourselves? No man shall be judged unfairly, or condemnedunheard. Speak, so that we may know your history, and learn if therebe aught to swing the balance of Justice in your favour. Kaosp hathinformed me that you are now able to converse in our tongue, andtherefore to understand the charges that have been laid against you."
Hereupon Doctor Hermann, with note-book in hand, stepped forward,amidst a breathless silence, and said:--
"King of Gathma, and citizens of Edos, I and my companions appearbefore you under circumstances which place us, unfortunately, at agreat disadvantage. We came to visit your world, bearing tidings ofPeace, and bringing news of your brothers out yonder on the starRamos, hoping to return to them in due season as messengers of yourgoodwill, and partakers of your hospitality and kindness. But evilfortune overtook us as soon as we descended upon your soil, and to oureverlasting regret our first intercourse with your people has endedfatally for one of your subjects. Believe it or not, O King, but thishusbandman, whom you call Osa, threatened us with a deadly weapon,with which he had already slain some beast to intimidate us and toprove his prowess, and we purely in self-defence drew our firearms andstruck him dead. We came here to Gathma only as explorers and men ofscience, in quest of knowledge. We have no desire to slay your peoplenor to work them harm; of magic we know nothing; we are flesh and bloodas yourselves--seekers after truth, who have braved the perils of afrightful voyage across the realms of space, with no other motive thanto extend the philosophy of Man. My life has been spent in solvingthe secrets that barred Man's way across the noble pathway of theplanets; my companions have assisted me by their labour, and by theirriches, to make that attempt which we thought we had crowned with suchbrilliant success. For more than two long years have we sped onwardsand onwards across the silent sky, threatened by dangers so awful, thatwe recall them even now with horror. And yet we find enemies in thisnew world, instead of friends; our bodies are weary and fain wouldrest, yet we only meet with strife; and we are condemned to die themost horrible of deaths because we did what any of you, placed as wewere, would have done in self-defence. We are not cowards; we are notafraid to die; but in the name of Science we plead for, nay, demand ourlives, so that we may return to Earth and tell our brothers yonder ofthe wonders of this new world."
The Doctor sat down amid a murmur of voices, but whether of approval ordissent we were unable to say. Then the King, with a wave of his hand,made silence, and in a more friendly voice he said:
"Wilt not thy companions speak to us as well? Have they got nought tosay?"
"Say what you can, in Martial, Temple. It seems to be expected of us,"said the Doctor, in an undertone.
"King and citizens of Edos," said Temple, "the words I shall say arefew, for my tongue is not so fluent of your language as that of myfriend who has already spoken. His words are my words. But I wouldask you to let his great attainments as a man of Science plead in hisfavour. His name is justly honoured among the men of Earth; and he hastriumphed over the secrets of the universe in a manner which shouldclaim the respect and gratitude of such a wise and highly-culturedpeople as yourselves, rather than your hatred. I can only say that thecrime for which we stand on trial to-day was justifiable, and needsno penalty to purge it. We shall be willing to live amongst you for aseason, and to teach you much that cannot fail to be of inestimableservice to your race. In condemning us to die you rob yourselves, andbecome guilty of a crime that a just God will visit with punishment."
As Temple withdrew Sandy came to the front, and in excited Englishasked that mercy might be shown to his companions. "If ye want tomurder somebody, murder me. These gentlemen here had no hand inshooting that farmer chap. I did it mysel'; for the fellow was aftermurderin' o' us. There wa' mischief lurking in his ugly een. I tell ye,they be as innocent as the lambs on the hillsides. I did it mysel', andam ready to dee for the deed; but let innocent men alone."
He had spoken so far, although not a word was understood, save by us,and perhaps by Kaosp, before Graham could quieten him.
"Hold your tongue, Sandy," he said, "they can't understand you. Leaveit to us. We will do all we can for your sake as well as our own."
"That's true, Mr. Graham, but the blood o' the Cam'bells within meboils wi' honest indignation when I see innocent men treated ascriminals."
Graham now came to the front of the platform to speak. We all feltproud of him, as he stood erect and defiant before the multitude, talland strong, but with face pale and furrowed with nights of sleeplessanxiety over the fate of Volin?. The King scanned him closely, andseemed impressed by his bold and manly bearing; and we noticed many ofthe ladies near us--women fair and well-formed as goddesses, each oneof them--scrutinizing him closely, and whispering one to the other.
"King and people of Gathma," he commenced "my comrades and myselfhave listened in sorrow more than anger to the words of your learnedcouncillor; and we fain would ask you, O King, in your royal wisdom,to set such bigoted utterances aside, and to decide our case on itssimple merits. We came to your world as friends; but we are treatedas the vilest of enemies, because we killed one who in another momentwould have s
lain us. Your weapons are more deadly than our own, as wehad ample testimony before we struck a blow; and this Osa treated us inno friendly spirit, giving us no opportunity of explaining ourselves tohim. Right gladly would we have done so. That we killed him we do notdeny, but to say that the deed was premeditated and done in malice, isto say that which is false. We did not seek to escape the consequencesof our act, or we could readily have done so in the carriage thatbore us hither. We came to this city at once, and yielded ourselvesto your authority without resistance, as Kaosp, a worthy captain ofyour troops, can bear testimony. We are anxious to be friends, to knittogether the peoples of Earth and Gathma in tranquil unity. We hold outthe hand of brotherhood, the olive branch of peace, from our world toyours. Grasp it in the same spirit in which it is extended towards you,and let each race, strangers now no more, reap the rich harvest ofmutual benefits my comrades and myself have dared and done so much tosow!"
Graham's words produced a marked impression in our favour with theKing, which he was not unwilling to show; but before he uttered thewords we could see he was about to speak, a Martial, dressed in theuniform of a prince or noble, rose to his feet and in a voice ofthunder said:
"Enough! These men of Ramos have spoken well, and with an oily tongue,O King, but hearken to my tidings before thy Majesty decides theirfate. One of them standing here before thee hath stained his handswith the innocent blood of thy subject, Osa; but what is Osa's bloodcompared with the dignity of a mighty monarch, and the honour of thatmonarch's daughter? The tallest of these men of Ramos here before thee,he who with his persuasive tongue addressed thee last, hath dared tohold private converse with thy daughter Volin?; to steal her heart,and to mantle her with shame! With mine own ears I heard the sweet yetpoisoned words of yon seducer poured into thy innocent daughter's ears;with mine own eyes did I see them locked in tight embrace within anarbour in thy garden of Siccoth-trees, at an hour when no maiden shouldwander forth unattended! If my words are lies, why is not Volin? hereby her father's side, as is her unvarying custom? why doth she shun ourcompany? And why doth yonder stripling from Ramos carry the sacred ringof Echri upon his finger?--a gift from her! Why?"----
"Base, craven-hearted bully," Graham shouted, unable to control hisanger longer--"coward, who would seek to rob a woman of all thatis dearer to her than life--you lie! Volin? is as pure and as freefrom sin as a babe unborn; her soul is whiter than the snows on yourmountains' highest points; and the day shall yet come when I--yes,_I_--will make you proclaim her innocence as loudly as you now havecried her shame!"
"By God! Mr. Graham, and if ye want any help, Sandy Cam'bell will bethere," shouted Sandy, carried away in his excitement at the prospectof a fight, yet understanding little of what was being said.
Graham was prevented by a dozen guards from saying more; but we noticedthat not a man amongst them treated him roughly. Did the ring he worepossess the magic power of which we had been told?
The King was now filled with rage. Anger so hot and violent filled hisheart, that we could see he controlled it with the greatest effort; andthe multitude of spectators were worked up into a state of frenzy bywhat had just been said. No language can express our amazement as weheard the damning words. Graham alone could understand them, and ourhearts were filled with despair.
"Say now, O King, if these men of Ramos do not justly perish?"continued the Prince, with a voice in which triumph and revenge weremingled. "Shall they go free who spill innocent blood; yea, sully awoman of thy peerless race, and she thy daughter?"
Stung to madness by this bitter taunt, the King waved his hand towardsthe speaker, and in a stern and angry voice cried out:----
"Peace, Peace, Perodii. Thou thyself hath fanned our wrath inproclaiming thus publicly our shame; and I bid thee retire at once tomy privy chamber, whither I will hold consultation with thee. Heedwell thy words, Perodii, for strongest proof of what thou sayest willbe required of thee." Then, addressing the officers and ministers ofState, the King continued:
"Let these four men of Ramos be taken back and guarded well. Each oneof them shall die. Their blood shall wash away our dishonour. Threedays hence, at setting of the sun, let them meet their doom withoutprayer or priest, and be consumed with their handiwork within thefiery depths of Melag, hurled therein from the crag Remagaloth. Leadthem hence, and let me see them no more; for they have covered me withhumiliation before my people, and bowed mine aged head in naked shame!"
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