In Search of El Dorado

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  EARLE SETTLES A DELICATE MATTER.

  The following day was marked by two incidents, namely, a visit to Earleand Dick from the parents of Mishail, the young man who had been injuredby being thrown out of his chariot, and the presentation of the twofriends to Juda, the King of Ulua, and his granddaughter, the PrincessMyrra.

  The visit occurred shortly after the friends had finished breakfast, andthe visitors were accompanied and introduced by Kedah, the individualwho, on the previous day, had begun the task of instructing the twowhite men in the Uluan tongue.

  Kedah introduced the visitors by simply indicating them and pronouncingtheir names, that of the man whom he introduced first being Hasca, whilehe named the lady Tua.

  Judging by the deference which Kedah displayed toward them the visitorswere people of high degree; an inference which was borne out in thefirst instance by the stately dignity of their manner and the richnessof their garb, and afterwards by the sumptuousness of their abode, whichwas almost palatial in its spaciousness and the magnificence of itsfurnishing. Hasca was, in fact, one of the most powerful andinfluential nobles of Ulua, and the acquaintance which began with thisvisit was destined to have important results.

  Hasca was a very fine specimen of Uluan manhood, some forty years ofage, standing about five feet ten inches in his sandals, of swarthycomplexion, with coal-black hair, beard and eyes, the latter very keenand piercing. There was a distinct touch of hauteur in his manner toKedah; but to Dick he and his wife were friendliness itself, while toEarle they showed that deep reverence which seemed to be the invariablerule with the Uluans.

  The lady Tua seemed to be some five years younger than her husband,dark, and decidedly handsome, but, like all the Uluan women of matureage, she displayed a distinct tendency to become stout.

  Kedah undertook the task of explaining to his two pupils the object ofthe visit, and to do the old gentleman justice, he succeeded fairlywell, considering the difficulties which confronted him. He talked agood deal, but speech, of itself, naturally did not count for much. Hesupplemented his words, however, with such a wonderful wealth ofgesture, accent and tone, that the two white men found it by no meansdifficult to guess the general drift of his speech, especially as headopted the novel method of further elucidating his meaning by a numberof amazingly clever sketches produced upon a kind of papyrus, with theaid of a very fine brush and a small bottle of some kind of ink, whichhe had taken the precaution to bring with him.

  With these aids, then, he managed to make Earle and Dick understand thatthe visit was, first, one of thanks for the assistance rendered to theunfortunate Mishail on the preceding day, and next, a request that one,or both, would be so very obliging as to visit the patient, who waseither very ill, or suffering much pain--they could not quite make outwhich was meant--and see what could be done for him.

  To this request the comrades at once willingly assented, the morereadily because, having, by a piece of extraordinarily good luck,obtained entrance to what they understood was, to all intents andpurposes, a forbidden city, so far as outsiders were concerned, it wasnow good policy on their part to establish the best possible relationswith its people. Accordingly, Earle routed out his medicine case and,tucking it under his arm, signified his readiness to go at once.

  As it chanced, they had not very far to go, the Hasca residence beingsituated less than a mile from the palace, in an even more aristocraticlooking avenue than the one in which the accident had occurred. Theyfound Mishail, the patient, lodged in a sumptuous chamber, attended byhis sister Lissa, a remarkably pretty girl, some sixteen years of age.

  The patient appeared to be suffering great pain, was in a high state offever, and in a condition bordering on delirium, which indeed was notsurprising, since the unhappy youth was in a room upon the outer wall ofwhich the sun beat all day, while the shutters of the two windows wereclosed and heavy curtains drawn across them. The room, in fact, was asstifling as an oven, and Earle's first act was to draw apart the heavycurtains and throw wide the shutters, thus letting in both air andlight. Then he looked at the injured arm, which he expected to findproperly dressed, naturally supposing that upon the arrival of the ladat his home, the family physician would be summoned and the fracturecarefully attended to. To his great surprise, however, he found thelimb in exactly the same state as when he had left it, with themakeshift splints still there, but shifted out of position by therestless movements of the patient, and he afterwards learned that thiswas because they had not dared to tamper or in any way interfere withthe work of the illustrious representative of Kuhlacan!

  Upon the arm being unstrapped, Earle found, as he fully expected, thatthe bone had become displaced and needed re-setting; and this he at onceproceeded to do, having first secured all that he needed in the way ofeffective splints and bandages, and put his patient under chloroform.He took care that this time the job was properly done, and the patient'sarm so securely strapped to his body that it could not be moved; and assoon as Mishail had recovered from his state of anaesthesia, Earleadministered a draught designed to reduce the fever, and, having madehis patient as comfortable as possible, left him, promising to callagain some time during the evening. And, not to dwell at undue lengthupon the incident, it may here be said that, under Earle's skilfultreatment the patient made a rapid and perfectly satisfactory recovery,to the admiration, delight, and gratitude of the entire family.

  Upon leaving Hasca's house, the two friends indulged in a walk through afew of the streets that they had not yet visited; consequently it wasafter noon when at length they got back to the palace. Here they foundBahrim, the major-domo, in their suite anxiously awaiting their return.The poor man was evidently in a state of great excitement concerningsome matter which he found himself wholly unable to explain; but by dintof signs he at length contrived to make them both understand that hedesired them to bathe, and afterwards don certain festive garments, towhich he respectfully directed their attention. Understanding at lastwhat the old fellow required of them, and also that he was in a mostdesperate hurry, the two friends disappeared, to re-appear, about aquarter of an hour later, bathed, perfumed--by their assiduous servants,who insisted upon the process--and clad in garments of so sumptuous acharacter that there could be no doubt the wearers were booked for someexceedingly important ceremony.

  They were immediately taken in charge by the obsequious Bahrim, who, byexpressive signs, invited them to follow him. Led by the major-domo,the two friends rapidly traversed several corridors until they reachedanother wing of the palace, finally halting before a closed door,outside which two soldiers, clad in golden armour and armed with swordand spear, stood on guard. Signing to the white men to remain wherethey were, Bahrim opened the door, disclosing a drawn curtain beyond it,and closed the door behind him, only to re-appear, some two minuteslater, beckoning his charges to follow him.

  Not until having received the salute of the guards as they passedthrough the re-opened doorway, and the door was closed behind them, wasthe shrouding curtain withdrawn, and then Earle and Dick foundthemselves in a small but most sumptuously furnished apartment, at thefar extremity of which were seated two people, a man and a girl.

  The man was apparently between fifty and sixty years of age--and a veryfine specimen of Uluan manhood, as the visitors presently discoveredwhen he rose to his feet. Like most Uluans, he was dark complexioned,his hair, beard and moustache, all of which he wore of patriarchallength, having been originally black, though now thickly streaked withgrey. His features were well formed, clean cut, and aristocraticlooking, as they might well be, seeing that the man was none other thanJuda, the King of Ulua, and direct descendant of a long line of kingswhose origin was lost in the mists of antiquity. He wore a long sleevedgarment, which reached from his throat to his feet, the colour of itbeing red, with a wide border containing an intricate pattern wrought inblack, white and gold braid. On his head he had a kind of turban ofred, black and gold, surrounded by a coronet that a
ppeared to be made ofiron, set with many beautiful stones, while its front was adorned withan aigrette of crimson feathers, fastened by a brooch which alsoappeared to be made of iron. A broad belt, embroidered in red, blackand gold, encircled his waist, attached to which was a greatcross-hilted sword which looked as though it might have originallybelonged to a crusader. His feet were shod with sandals of crimsonleather, and his fingers decorated with several rings, apparently ofwrought iron, each of which was set with a very fine stone, eitheremerald, sapphire, ruby, or diamond.

  Taken altogether, Juda was a remarkably imposing specimen of manhood,and a worthy progenitor of his handsome granddaughter, Myrra. She,however, unlike her grandfather, was fair as a summer's dawn, of mediumheight, with violet eyes, and an extraordinary wealth of ruddy-goldenhair which, confined to her head by a fillet of what looked like redvelvet set with precious stones, rolled thence to far below her waist ingreat waves. Her outer garment, sleeveless, might have been copied fromthose depicted on the Greek vases in the British Museum and, like hergrandfather's, was red in colour, adorned with braiding in the samecolours as his. Her sandals were of white leather, and she wore armletsand bracelets of beautifully worked iron encrusted with precious stones.

  As the two white men, intuitively guessing the identity of those inwhose presence they found themselves, walked slowly up the room, Judaand Myrra rose to their feet and stood gazing with the utmost interestat their visitors. Juda's eyes were intently fixed upon the amuletwhich Earle now habitually wore fully exposed to view; but after thefirst glance, Myrra seemed far more interested in Dick, with hisstalwart frame and good-looking features.

  Arrived within some half-a-dozen paces of the two august figures, Earleand Dick came to a halt and bowed, while Bahrim, who had been bowingalmost to the earth during his progress up the hall, now knelt down,touched the marble pavement three times with his forehead, and then,rising to his feet, introduced the visitors in a long speech, which wasof course utterly unintelligible to the white men, though they gatheredfrom certain of Bahrim's movements and gestures that the incident of therunaway horses, of Dick stopping them, and of Earle's attentions toMishail, the injured charioteer, formed part of the speech.

  The two royal personages listened with the closest attention to Bahrim'slong speech, the king nodding emphatic approval as the major-domo, withmuch appropriate gesture, described Dick's dash into the road andstoppage of the runaway horses, while the eyes of the princess flashedand sparkled with excitement and undisguised admiration at what, fromthe expression of the listeners, seemed to be a deed of mostunparalleled heroism. The speech came to an end at last; and then, asBahrim stepped back with the air of a man who has performed his dutywell, Juda advanced to Earle and fixed his eyes upon the amulet,intently examining its every detail. Then, to the amazement of the twowhite men, he turned to the princess, addressed a few words to her,beckoned her to his side, and the next moment the royal pair hadprostrated themselves at Earle's feet, with their foreheads humbly bowedto the pavement. They remained thus for nearly five minutes, untilEarle, fearing that they were never going to rise from their humbleposture, bent forward, touched each lightly upon the shoulder and,extending his hands, raised them gently to their feet, when, first Juda,and then the princess, reverently took the amulet in their hands, raisedit to their foreheads, and bowing low, backed to their seats. The kingthen drew a handsome ring from his finger and, beckoning to Dick to drawnear, slipped it on to the corresponding finger of the youngEnglishman's hand, while the princess, following suit, transferred oneof her bracelets to Dick's wrist, each with a polite little speech,which Cavendish greatly regretted his inability to understand. Thislittle ceremony performed, Juda bowed his dismissal of his visitors,and, led by Bahrim, the pair retired to their own quarters, a good dealpuzzled by, yet very much pleased with, all that had passed.

  As they went Earle turned to Dick and remarked:

  "Gee! Dick, I guess this is some amulet, eh, when even a king and aprincess of the blood royal do homage to it. Seems to me that I'm themost important personage in this realm; and as soon as we are able tounderstand the language a bit, and get the hang of things, I mean to usethe power and influence which it bestows for the abolition of a few ofthe evils which are sure to exist, either in the religion or thegovernment of the country."

  "If you take my advice, you will leave this people's religion andpolitics alone," remarked Dick.

  "I will," agreed Earle, "if there is nothing to find fault with, but nototherwise. Gee! What's the good of possessing such power as mine, if Idon't make use of it? And, civilised as these people are in somerespects, they are centuries behind the rest of the world in others; andI'm prepared to bet that, when we begin to understand things a bit, weshall find that there is plenty of room for improvement in a good manydirections. And it is entirely against my principles not to do goodwhen the opportunity offers. But--well, we shall see."

  And now, something like a month passed without anything occurring worthyof detailed record. Kedah, the instructor told off to teach the twowhite men the Uluan language, was indefatigable in the execution of hisrather difficult task, while his pupils were equally indefatigable intheir efforts to master the tongue spoken by all around them, with theresult that they made excellent progress and were no longer obliged toremain dumb when addressed. They made a good many acquaintances, andnot a few friends, chief among whom were the king and the princess,whose demeanour toward the white men was, like that of everybody else,indeed, a curious mingling of reverence and friendliness. They spent agood deal of time walking and riding about the city and its outskirts,thus in the course of time becoming intimately acquainted with everystreet, road, alley and by-way; while Dick early found an outlet for hissuperabundant energies among the shipbuilders, whose ideas concerningthe most desirable model for their craft were of the crudest possiblecharacter. He also discovered that they knew nothing about sails andhow to use them, and he enjoyed himself immensely in rigging one oftheir most suitable lighters as a fore-and-aft schooner, and thenwatching the crew's amazement and delight as he navigated her across thelake and back in about a quarter of the time usually occupied upon thetrip.

  It was about this time, when their progress under the tuition of Kedahwas so far advanced that they were able to catch a glimmer of themeaning of what was said to them or in their hearing, that the two whitemen began to sense a suggestion of steadily growing excitement among thepopulace generally, accompanied, on the part of those with whom theywere more intimately acquainted, by a continually increasing curiosity,not unmingled with anxiety, concerning themselves and something withwhich, in some mysterious manner, they (Dick and Earle) seemed to beintimately connected. They became aware that they were being keenlywatched, and their slightest words and actions carefully noted, asthough some word or action of extreme significance or importance ontheir part was being eagerly expected and watched for. Moreparticularly was this the case with regard to Earle; but although thetwo friends frequently exchanged ideas upon the subject, neither of themcaught the slightest clue to the mystery until Zorah, the high priest,one day sought Earle and, with the assistance of Kedah, the tutor,broached the subject of the approaching great Septennial Festival inhonour of Kuhlacan, the Winged Serpent, god of the Uluans, who wassupposed to have his abode at the bottom of the lake.

  This was the first that either Earle or Dick had heard of the festival,but bearing in mind the fact that the amulet which he wore bore the"sign" of Kuhlacan, and that it was undoubtedly the possession of thisamulet which, from the first, had inspired the Uluans with that profoundreverence which had everywhere been shown him, the American at oncebegan to suspect that the Uluans were in some way connecting hispresence in the country with the approaching festival, and possiblyexpecting him either to take a leading part in it, or it might be, toissue some definite pronouncement in connection with it. Therefore, assoon as Earle clearly realised the attitude of the people toward him,and realised also that one or more important
, perhaps vital, issues hungin the balance awaiting his pronouncement, he assumed what he deemed tobe the correct oracular pose, in accordance with which he now bade Zorahset forth his statement, or propound his questions, withoutcircumlocution.

  Then the whole terrible truth came out, though it had to be wrung fromZorah bit by bit, the high priest using his utmost endeavours to induceEarle to endorse certain generalities put forward by the wilyecclesiastic. But Zorah, clever and astute as he was, was no match forthe American, who simply listened to the priest's statements as he madethem, one by one, and then, without comment, bade the man pass on to thenext point. Earle's imperfect knowledge of the Uluan language, coupledwith Zorah's rapid, excited speech, made anything like a clearunderstanding of the case exceedingly difficult. But Earle was in nohurry; no sooner did he get an inkling of the actual object of the highpriest's visit than he determined to arrive at a perfectly clear anddefinite understanding of the whole case; and in this he was ablyseconded by Kedah, who spared no pains to make every point advanced byZorah intelligible.

  Condensed into a few words the issue raised was as follows:

  On a certain date, the anniversary of which was now rapidly approaching,an annual festival was held in honour of Kuhlacan, in the course ofwhich offerings were made to the god by every Uluan, who, embarking in agaily-decorated boat, proceeded to the middle of the lake and there castinto the depths the most precious thing in his possession, usually somecostly article of jewellery made especially for the purpose. But everyseventh year the festival assumed a much more serious and importantcharacter, inasmuch as that, in addition to the offerings above referredto, the nation as a whole was accustomed to make a joint offering; suchoffering consisting of the seven most beautiful maidens, between theages of twelve and twenty, in Ulua, who, on this great day, were dressedin magnificent garments, loaded with jewels, until they could scarcelystand for the weight of them, and then taken to the middle of the lake,where, with much ceremony, and to the accompaniment of prayers and hymnschanted by the priests, they plunged into the lake, one by one, and wereof course never again seen.

  This ceremony, known as the Sacrifice of the Maidens, had been observed,it appeared, from time immemorial, and was regarded by the priests--who,being celibates, had no daughters to lose--as of the utmost importanceand sanctity, to such an extent, indeed, that even the slightestapproach to a murmur or protest against it was denounced as anunpardonable sin. Yet, as may be easily understood, the approach ofevery Septennial Festival was a time of infinite anxiety to all thosewho happened to have daughters eligible for the sacrifice, the more sothat no family, not even royalty itself, was exempt, while the choice ofthe maidens rested with the priests, from whose decision there was noappeal. And the barbarity of the custom was accentuated in thisparticular year, from the fact that Princess Myrra was both by age andher remarkable beauty, to be certainly reckoned among the eligibles,while an impression had arisen, rightly or wrongly, that the priesthood,in order to manifest and assert their power, would assuredly so arrangematters that she should be included among the fatal seven.

  It is supposed that the king's opposition to the immemorial customreally took definite shape on the day upon which his orphangranddaughter entered upon her thirteenth year. Be this as it may, itwas not long afterwards that Juda, pious monarch as he was, ventured tohint to Zorah his opinion that the time had arrived when the Sacrificeof the Maidens might very well be abolished. But Zorah, a zealot ofzealots, would not hear of such a thing, possibly because, among otherreasons, the abolition would rob him of an appreciable amount of thepower which he now possessed, and which power, it was hinted, had beenmore than once wielded to secure--for a substantial consideration--theelimination of a name from the list of the chosen. Juda, of course,might have approached the high priest with a similar proposal on behalfof his granddaughter; but there were several reasons against it, one ofwhich was that the king was, according to his lights, a just monarch,and would have scorned to secure the princess's exemption by any suchmeans, while another was that he shrewdly suspected Zorah would refuseto forgo such a marked demonstration of his power and, in addition, givehimself away even at the cost of an enormous bribe.

  Under these circumstances the king, while not actually revolting openlyfrom the dictum of the high priest, had instituted among the people apractice of private prayer that the Septennial Sacrifice of the Maidensmight be dispensed with; and when during the actual year of theSeptennial Festival Earle had unexpectedly appeared, wearing an amuletbearing the "sign" of Kuhlacan, and demanding admission to Ulua, it isnot to be wondered at if all who were in any way interested in theburning question should regard his appearance as, in one form oranother, an answer to their petition. Whether that answer was to be inthe affirmative or the negative was what everybody, and especiallyZorah, were now particularly anxious to learn.

  For Earle, with his as yet imperfect knowledge of the Uluan tongue toget a clear comprehension of a somewhat intricate case, took some time,and taxed Kedah's ingenuity to its utmost extent; but Kedah happened tobe a vitally interested party, and believing, in common with everybodyelse, that Earle was in some mysterious fashion, either the incarnationof Kuhlacan, or an ambassador and representative of the god, hedetermined that, by hook or by crook, the white man should be madeclearly to understand every point of the case, and he succeeded.

  On the other hand, as point after point was unfolded and made clear tohim, the quick-witted American began to realise that there was far morein the case than, at a first glance, met the eye; it quickly resolveditself, in fact, into a struggle between the priesthood and the laity;and it needed but a single glance at the fanatical high priest's stern,inflexible expression to assure oneself that he was not at all the sortof person to yield without a struggle. To add to the difficulty, Earlehad no means of knowing what sort of a backing the priests would belikely to have, should the struggle for supremacy become an open one,which was by no means improbable. There was one point, however, uponwhich Earle's mind was very quickly made up, since the decision seemedto be left in his hands; let the consequences be what they might, thebarbarous custom of human sacrifice must be abolished. Otherdevelopments must be left to take their course; but naturally, hisinfluence, whatever it might amount to, would be thrown into the scaleon the side of right and justice.

  Therefore when at length Zorah, the high priest, had fully stated hiscase, and was expectantly awaiting an answer, Earle turned to him andsaid:

  "Know, O Zorah, high priest of the god whom the people of Ulua callKuhlacan, that to settle this important question of human sacrifice isone of the reasons for my presence in this country; and it was mypurpose to have made the Divine Will known as soon as I had sufficientlymastered the intricacies of your tongue to render myself intelligible;but ye have forestalled me. The matter is urgent, I know, seeing thatthe Septennial Festival is at hand; yet, in virtue of the `sign' which Ibear"--here he lightly touched the amulet--"it would have been betterhad ye abided in patience until it was convenient for me to speak. Letthat pass, however; your impatience was the outcome of your zeal, and itis therefore forgiven.

  "Now in the olden time the Deity whom all worship ordained that aportion of His worship should consist in the offering of sacrificesinvolving the shedding of blood; and, for a time, such sacrifices,accompanied of course with prayer and praise, and the living of anupright life sufficed.

  "But the sacrifices of which I have just spoken were merely the figure,reminder of, and substitute for, a still greater sacrifice which in thefulness of time was made, but news of which I am the first to bring ye;and that sacrifice has rendered all others involving the shedding ofblood and the destruction of life unnecessary; hence it is the will ofHim whom all worship, that the Sacrifice of the Maidens shall cease forever. I have spoken."

  Evidently this was not at all the kind of pronouncement which Zorah hadanticipated; he looked not only greatly surprised, but also profoundlydisappointed; and there was also something in the e
xpression of hisstrongly marked features which seemed to indicate that he was by nomeans prepared to accept Earle's dictum unless supported by proof ofsome sort. For a minute or more he stood silent and thoughtful, turningover the problem which presented itself to him. Then, looking up, hepropounded his question.

  "Lord," he said, "thou sayest that sacrifice is no longer necessary.How then shall we henceforth worship, seeing that the very essence ofour worship is sacrifice?"

  "Nay," answered Earle; "ye mistake me, Zorah. I said not that sacrificeis no longer necessary; but that sacrifices involving the taking of lifeare no longer required. Ye are accustomed to slay and burn animals uponyour altars; but that is an easy thing for ye to do, involving no realsacrifice indeed, since it is only the animals who suffer. And ye makeannual sacrifice by casting into the lake the most precious thing yepossess. But even that is not sufficient; ye must make sacrifices thatare still more difficult, and cost ye more than that. Ye muststeadfastly resist every temptation to do evil, to injure an enemy, torob, defraud, to utter untruths, to do anything which ye know to bewrong. And ye must do this, not only at stated times set apart forworship, but ye must do it always, whenever the impulse to do evilcomes. So shall ye offer the most acceptable sacrifice which it ispossible for man to render to his God."

  Again Zorah bent his mind to the full comprehension of all that Earle'swords meant.

  "Then," said he at length, "the festivals will be as heretofore,excepting that the Sacrifice of the Maidens is forbidden?"

  "Even so," agreed Earle, "but with a further difference. Ye areaccustomed every year to cast some very precious thing into the lake.That sacrifice also is unnecessary, since Kuhlacan has no need of jewelsor ornaments of any kind. Yet, sacrifice, being an act of worship andan expression of gratitude for mercies and benefits received, is good,and therefore shall be continued, but in a different form. Here inUlua, as elsewhere, ye have poor and sick; and henceforth your sacrificeshall take the form of ministering to them and providing them with thosethings necessary to their comfort and welfare which, by reason of theirpoverty, they are unable to provide for themselves. Therefore,henceforward it shall be that every person desiring to offer sacrificeshall, instead of casting some precious thing into the waters of thelake, take its value in money to the temple, and present it to thepriests, who in their turn shall expend it in the manner which I haveindicated."

  Zorah nodded. "The plan seems good," he said; "yet I foresee manydifficulties in the way. We shall need continual guidance from thee,lord, if the innovation is to be successfully accomplished."

  "True," assented Earle. "And ye shall have all the guidance that yeneed. I will speak to thee again of this. Now go in peace."