The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  of the noblest . But, to the surprise of the maidens, this seemed to be

  a most difficult and disagreeable duty. The man obeyed his leader,

  but he asked for the favour as willingly as a coward might ask for

  death . The maiden laughed at the obvious dislike, and thinking it

  was due to the seeming dishonour, and being in her nature kind and

  generous, she said, “Nay, it is not so terrible . See, I will kiss thy

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  hand first.” But the man drew back with signs of abhorrence much

  more strongly marked, and the maiden was indignant .

  The leader seemed for the moment surprised at the failure of his

  plan, and then his determination became stronger than ever . He com-

  manded the men to kneel before the maidens, and to say in the most

  distinct and emphatic manner, “We will honour all these maidens

  as we honour thee, O Thoth .” He then dismissed them, but instead

  of having been encouraged, the maidens were more alarmed than

  before .

  Thoth took Daphne aside, and said to her—

  “How comes it that thy courage is so much stronger than that

  of thy companions? We must make another attempt to gain their

  confidence.”

  He then gave an order to his men, and they brought up on deck a

  strange mechanical contrivance . In shape it was something like the

  body of a bird, and was composed principally of a kind of wicker-

  work made from some shining metal . The lower part was apparently

  solid . In a few words Thoth explained to Daphne that by means of

  this brazen bird, as he termed it, a man could be carried with the

  greatest swiftness through the air . He commanded one of the men

  to enter the machine, and, to the astonishment of the maidens, in a

  few moments the bird rose in the air . It sailed round and round the

  vessel like a sea-bird in search of food, and then at a sign from Thoth

  returned to the deck .

  Then he said to Daphne, “This aërial boat will bear with safety

  two persons . Wilt thou venture to ascend with me? Perchance that

  will give confidence to thy companions.”

  Daphne at once assented, but the rest implored her not to leave

  them, and said especially that they were afraid to be left alone in the

  vessel with Thoth’s hateful men .

  The leader smiled with hardly veiled contempt, and said, “That is

  soon provided for . See, I have but to draw this bolt, and the men are

  imprisoned below .”

  At a word the men disappeared, and the bolt was drawn .

  “Now,” said he, “enter, and in a few moments we will return .”

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  Daphne and Thoth then entered the car, and again it flew round

  and round the ship . The maidens lost their fear in admiration, and

  one said, “To what height can the bird fly?”

  Thoth replied, “To such a height that thou couldst hardly see it .

  It will mount the air like a lark .” And to Daphne he said, “Shall we

  make a trial?” and she at once assented .

  Under Thoth’s guidance the car rose straight upwards to a great

  height . Daphne looked down with wonder at the vessel beneath, so

  far off that the maidens through the distance could no longer be

  distinguished .

  * * * *

  Then suddenly she cried out in alarm to her guide . The vessel had

  disappeared beneath the waves, and there was nothing to be seen but

  a few of the maidens struggling and shrieking in the water .

  Daphne looked at Thoth . His face showed most unfeigned sur-

  prise and vexation . For the moment he seemed to lose his self-com-

  mand, but it was only for the moment .

  Apparently without an effort he became as calm and unimpas-

  sioned as before .

  “Hasten!” cried Daphne; “descend to the rescue!”

  “It is impossible,” he said . “All will be drowned before we can

  reach them; and besides this, the car can sustain no more .”

  Daphne looked with horror at the composure of this man, and

  began to suspect treachery . “Didst thou expect this catastrophe?”

  she said, trembling .

  “Nay,” said he; “nothing was further from my thoughts . I can ill

  spare my men, and my scheme has broken down at the outset . It will

  be troublesome to replace the maidens .”

  The coldness of his manner seemed to Daphne unnatural and

  inhuman . “At least,” she said, “make an effort to save their lives .”

  “It is useless,” he replied calmly; “but as thou wilt .”

  They descended, but long before they reached the spot, the sea

  had swallowed up every trace except a few remnants of floating

  wreckage .

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  “There is no time to lose,” said Thoth . “We must go direct to my

  city. The strength of my bird will just suffice to reach it.”

  Daphne sank down helpless and dismayed .

  Thoth applied to her lips a small phial, and she was powerless

  to resist. Again she tasted the strange flavour of the nepenthe, and

  again care and sorrow were dispelled from her mind . She heard

  Thoth say, as if to himself—

  “It is not possible that they would have dared to disobey and

  become traitors.… Yet they hated the women.… But what flaw was

  possible .… Truly chance is great .”

  CHAPTER VI

  A STRANGE WELCOME

  When Daphne awoke from her trance, she found herself lying on

  a couch in a luxurious apartment looking on to a beautiful garden

  The scene was peaceful in the highest degree . The sun was high

  in the heavens, and the air was laden with sweet odours . Strange

  coloured birds flitted through the trees, and seemed quite fearless.

  For some time Daphne lay drowsily looking at the garden, hardly

  conscious of the journey she had made . The past seemed a dream,

  and the present a dream within a dream . At last her curiosity led her

  to examine the details of her chamber, and she rose up . Hardly had

  she done so, when she heard in an ante-room at the farther end a

  clamour of voices as soft and thin as those of little children, and yet

  with a strange resemblance to those of grown people in the fulness

  and quickness of the articulation .

  Suddenly, through the opening of the curtain which half con-

  cealed the aperture, a troop of tiny little people rushed and ran up

  to Daphne, kissed the ground before her, and then stood still, as if

  waiting for her commands . She then saw they were really men and

  women of the true pigmy race. They were finely shaped, and had

  pretty, well-cut features, and without exception the most pleasant of

  countenances . They looked up to her just like dogs waiting for some

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  notice to be taken of them, with glances full of suppressed friendli-

  ness . It was very gratifying to her, after the strange dangers through

  which she had passed, to meet with such spontaneous affection from

  the little people . At a venture she spoke to them in Greek, and asked

  for food and water, and one of them immediately gave orders to the

  rest in the sa
me old Greek dialect which Thoth had used .

  In a very short time a table was covered with all kinds of delica-

  cies . The pigmies, Daphne observed, were very strong, and with

  incredible agility they avoided any inconveniences due to their

  smallness of stature, leaping on one another’s shoulders, and climb-

  ing with the agility of monkeys .

  As soon as Daphne had finished her repast, her little servants

  conducted her through a series of apartments, all appointed in a very

  elegant manner, and they showed her with pride everything which

  seemed to them most beautiful and useful . They watched with dent

  glee, and yet in a perfectly deferential manner, for her surprise when

  they revealed some new wonder .

  Her greatest desire, however, was to know who the little men

  and women were, and this wish was only gratified to a very small

  extent . Their position seemed to them so natural, that they did not

  understand the meaning of her questions . In each answer everything

  seemed to depend on Thoth . To say that Thoth had commanded such

  and such a thing, seemed to them final. They could no more explain

  why they obeyed and revered Thoth as an altogether superior being,

  than they could say why the sun gave light, or a stone fell to the

  earth . One thing alone was quite clear—they were absolutely under

  the sway of Thoth, and yet the relationship was one of thorough

  love and confidence. They had evidently been told to treat Daphne

  in the same manner, and they did so with the greatest joyfulness .

  They were indeed models of affectionate servants, and examples of

  perfect obedience .

  The admiration of the pigmies for Daphne was immensely in-

  creased when another of their tribe entered, and in an obsequious

  manner asked her if she would permit Thoth to pay her a visit, or

  if she would prefer to rest and recover her spirits . The little people

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  were evidently amazed that she should be treated by Thoth with

  such respect, but they were too well trained to have any doubt as to

  its being right It was Thoth’s message, and that was enough for their

  simple, affectionate hearts .

  Daphne was anxious to see her preserver . The vague sense of

  fear which hitherto his presence had always aroused was dissipated

  by the atmosphere of kindly veneration in which the pigmies lived .

  Thoth, she thought, could not be very terrible when he was regarded

  with so much affection by these childlike men and women .

  On the contrary, he must be a kind and gentle master, in spite of

  the example he had given her of his violence at their first meeting.

  Accordingly, Daphne answered with alacrity that she would be

  glad to receive her host, and immediately after Thoth entered and

  saluted her with profound respect .

  Yet, in spite of herself, a shudder passed through the maiden .

  She looked through his eyes, but could not see his thoughts . She

  was not afraid of any treachery or violence . She believed his respect

  was real, and yet a nameless, causeless dread seized her for the mo-

  ment . The little people, however, showed such undoubted pleasure

  at being in his company that Daphne’s anxiety vanished, and she

  ascribed her fear simply to the strangeness of the situation .

  Thoth lost no time in explaining the reason of his visit . He dis-

  missed the little servants, and reminded Daphne, with all the caln-

  mess and dignity of an experienced ambassador, of the real object

  of her journey . He repeated again and again that no pressure of any

  kind would be put upon her, and that after she had become acquaint-

  ed with the city and its people and governors, if she did not like to

  remain and to form a queenly alliance, she would be conveyed back

  to any place she chose . In the meantime she was at liberty to use the

  apartments and gardens as she pleased, and whenever she wished

  she could explore the city under his guidance .

  “Tell me,” she said, “is this the land of the pigmies, and art thou

  the king?”

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  “I am not the king; yet in truth I might call myself vice-regent,

  and say that I have all the power of the king . As for the people pres-

  ently, methinks, thou wilt wonder if this is the land of giants .”

  “Will the giants be as friendly as the pigmies? Perchance they

  will frighten me . Are they huge and dreadful like Polyphemus?”

  “Nay,” he replied; “though I said giants, they are indeed but full-

  grown men . Believe once for all that in all our land there is nothing

  magical or contrary to nature. Thou wilt find the giants as docile and

  amiable as the pigmies, but their duties are different . Come with

  me and see them; and it will be more pleasant for thee if thou wilt

  assume a disguise such as mine .”

  Thoth then put on a mask, and wrapped himself round in an am-

  ple garment . Daphne did the same; and but for being a little shorter

  in height, she seemed indistinguishable from her guide . Thus they

  sallied forth to view the city .

  Thoth carried in his hand a golden staff richly ornamented with

  sparkling gems .

  CHAPTER VII

  THE WONDERS OF THE CITY

  At the palace-gate was a lightly built carriage with two beautiful

  horses, for Thoth informed his companion he wished to show her the

  city itself before he made her further acquainted with the inhabit-

  ants . By a winding road shaded with trees he conducted her to the

  summit of a little hill, and bade her look round .

  She saw at the first glance that the city was built in a curious

  rocky oasis in the midst of an illimitable desert . At her feet were

  buildings and gardens forming a large city . The buildings were

  widely scattered, and the whole place was about twenty leagues in

  circumference . It was surrounded by lofty walls, and beyond the

  walls, as far as the eye could reach, there was nothing but a burning

  flat of barren sand.

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  The green spot on which the city stood, with the exception of the

  little hill, appeared to Daphne hollowed out like a cup; and it seemed

  as if the ocean of sand might at any time engulf it There were no

  gates, and the country seemed completely isolated .

  A sense of forlornness seized on Daphne, and in spite of her cour-

  age she wept as she thought of Athens .

  Her guide at once divined her thoughts, and assured her that she

  had only to command him, and once more to be bold enough to

  mount with him into the air, and in a few hours she would find her-

  self in Greece .

  Thus he comforted her, and her heart warmed to him for his kind-

  ness .

  They then drove through the city, and Daphne was amazed at

  the magnificence and beauty of the buildings and the luxuriance of

  the gardens . She saw very few people, and those were clearly of

  an inferior rank . They were of an ordinary stature and olive-tinged

  complexion .

  They stood still and saluted the masks with the most profound re-


  spect; and Daphne observed that the jewelled staff carried by Thoth

  especially commanded their reverence .

  All the buildings, roads, and gardens seemed in the most admi-

  rable state of preservation and good order . The city was evidently

  inhabited by people in the height of prosperity; and the thing which

  most surprised Daphne was the apparent sparseness of the popula-

  tion . Her curiosity was aroused, and she asked Thoth if this place

  had also been ravaged by the plague; but he replied that no city in

  the world was so healthy, and that never in the memory of man had

  it been visited by a pestilence .

  The answer reminded Daphne of the speech of Thoth to the

  people of Athens, in which he told them that their indifference to the

  plague arose from familiarity .

  The reminiscence of the untruth was vivid and unpleasant, and

  she said to Thoth: “Which word of thine am I to believe? This agrees

  not with thy saying in Athens .”

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  He simply replied, “That was before my promise; but in reality

  both statements are true . We have had particular cases of diseases

  like the plague, but never throughout the whole population . Our

  wise men are great physicians—in time thou shalt know all .”

  “But how many people are there?”

  “The total number of men, women, and children does not exceed

  twenty thousand .”

  “And is this the only city in thy dominion?”

  “Yes .”

  “How, then, canst thou boast of conquering the world?—and

  thou didst say so . Thine oath was soon forgotten .”

  “We have long since learned that safety and power are not in

  multitudes, but in wisdom and skill . Our archers, few as they are, are

  equal almost to Apollo . Thou hast seen that we can ride through the

  air, and thou shalt learn that we can perform other wonders unknown

  to the rest of the world . But it is best to begin with the simplest

  things . I will show thee our lowest class of workers .”

  They drove to a distant part of the city, and as they passed along,

  the signs of life became much more abundant . The dwellings, though

  still large, were smaller and much closer together . The people also

  were different in appearance, and the farther they advanced the more

  they increased in stature .

  At length Daphne understood that the great mass of the people