Chapter X. The Dwellers in the Tomb
By now it was drawing towards sunset, so we made such preparations as wecould for the night. One of these was to collect dry driftwood, ofwhich an abundance lay upon the shore, to serve us for firing, thoughunfortunately we had nothing that we could cook for our meal.
While we were thus engaged we saw a canoe approaching the table-rock andperceived that in it were the chief Marama and a priest. After hoveringabout for a while they paddled the canoe near enough to allow ofconversation which, taking no notice of their presence, we left it tothem to begin.
"O, Friend-from-the-Sea," called Marama, addressing myself, "we cometo pray you and the Great Healer to return to us to be our guests asbefore. The people are covered with darkness because of the loss of yourwisdom, and the sick cry aloud for the Healer; indeed two of those whomhe has cut with knives are dying."
"And what of the Bellower?" I asked, indicating Bastin.
"We should like to see him back also, Friend-from-the-Sea, that we maysacrifice and eat him, who destroyed our god with fire and caused theHealer to kill his priest."
"That is most unjust," exclaimed Bastin. "I deeply regret the blood thatwas shed on the occasion, unnecessarily as I think."
"Then go and atone for it with your own," said Bickley, "and everybodywill be pleased."
Waving to them to be silent, I said:
"Are you mad, Marama, that you should ask us to return to sojourn amongpeople who tried to kill us, merely because the Bellower caused fire toburn an image of wood and its head to fly from its shoulders, just toshow you that it had no power to hold itself together, although you callit a god? Not so, we wash our hands of you; we leave you to go yourown way while we go ours, till perchance in a day to come, after manymisfortunes have overtaken you, you creep about our feet and withprayers and offerings beg us to return."
I paused to observe the effect of my words. It was excellent, for bothMarama and the priest wrung their hands and groaned. Then I went on:
"Meanwhile we have something to tell you. We have entered the cave whereyou said no man might set a foot, and have seen him who sits within,the true god." (Here Bastin tried to interrupt, but was suppressed byBickley.)
They looked at each other in a frightened way and groaned more loudlythan before.
"He sends you a message, which, as he told us of your approach, we cameto the shore to deliver to you."
"How can you say that?" began Bastin, but was again violently suppressedby Bickley.
"It is that he, the real Oro, rejoices that the false Oro, whose face iscopied from his face, has been destroyed. It is that he commands you dayby day to bring food in plenty and lay it upon the Rock of Offerings,not forgetting a supply of fresh fish from the sea, and with it allthose things that are stored in the house wherein we, the strangersfrom the sea, deigned to dwell awhile until we left you because in yourwickedness you wished to murder us."
"And if we refuse--what then?" asked the priest, speaking for the firsttime.
"Then Oro will send death and destruction upon you. Then your food shallfail and you shall perish of sickness and want, and the Oromatuas, thespirits of the great dead, shall haunt you in your sleep, and Oro shalleat up your souls."
At these horrible threats both of them uttered a kind of wail, afterwhich, Marama asked:
"And if we consent, what then, Friend-from-the-Sea?"
"Then, perchance," I answered, "in some day to come we may return toyou, that I may give you of my wisdom and the Great Healer may cure yoursick and the Bellower may lead you through his gate, and in his kindnessmake you to see with his eyes."
This last clause of my ultimatum did not seem to appeal to the priest,who argued a while with Marama, though what he said we could not hear.In the end he appeared to give way. At any rate Marama called out thatall should be done as we wished, and that meanwhile they prayed usto intercede with Oro in the cave, and to keep back the ghosts fromhaunting them, and to protect them from misfortune. I replied that wewould do our best, but could guarantee nothing since their offence wasvery great.
Then, to show that the conversation was at an end, we walked away withdignity, pushing Bastin in front of us, lest he should spoil the effectby some of his ill-timed and often over-true remarks.
"That's capital," said Bickley, when we were out of hearing. "The enemyhas capitulated. We can stop here as long as we like, provisioned fromthe mainland, and if for any reason we wish to leave, be sure of ourline of retreat."
"I don't know what you call capital," exclaimed Bastin. "It seems to methat all the lies which Arbuthnot has just told are sufficient to bringa judgment upon us. Indeed, I think that I will go back with Marama andexplain the truth."
"I never before knew anybody who was so anxious to be cooked and eaten,"remarked Bickley. "Moreover, you are too late, for the canoe is ahundred yards away by now, and you shan't have ours. Remember thePauline maxims, old fellow, which you are so fond of quoting, and be allthings to all men, and another that is more modern, that when you are atRome, you must do as the Romans do; also a third, that necessity has nolaw, and for the matter of that, a fourth, that all is fair in love andwar."
"I am sure, Bickley, that Paul never meant his words to bear the debasedsense which you attribute to them--" began Bastin, but at this point Ihustled him off to light a fire--a process at which I pointed out he hadshown himself an expert.
We slept that night under the overhanging rock just to one side of thecave, not in the mouth, because of the draught which drew in and outof the great place. In that soft and balmy clime this was no hardship,although we lacked blankets. And yet, tired though I was, I couldnot rest as I should have done. Bastin snored away contentedly, quiteunaffected by his escape which to him was merely an incident in theday's work; and so, too, slumbered Bickley, except that he did notsnore. But the amazement and the mystery of all that we had discoveredand of all that might be left for us to discover, held me back fromsleep.
What did it mean? What could it mean? My nerves were taut as harpstrings and seemed to vibrate to the touch of invisible fingers,although I could not interpret the music that they made. Once or twicealso I thought I heard actual music with my physical ears, and that of astrange quality. Soft and low and dreamful, it appeared to well from therecesses of the vast cave, a wailing song in an unknown tongue from thelips of women, or of a woman, multiplied mysteriously by echoes. This,however, must have been pure fancy, since there was no singer there.
Presently I dozed off, to be awakened by the sudden sound of a greatfish leaping in the lake. I sat up and stared, fearing lest it might bethe splash of a paddle, for I could not put from my mind the possibilityof attack. All I saw, however, was the low line of the distant shore,and above it the bright and setting stars that heralded the coming ofthe sun. Then I woke the others, and we washed and ate, since once thesun rose time would be precious.
At length it appeared, splendid in a cloudless sky, and, as I had hoped,directly opposite to the mouth of the cave. Taking our candles and somestout pieces of driftwood which, with our knives, we had shaped on theprevious evening to serve us as levers and rough shovels, we entered thecave. Bickley and I were filled with excitement and hope of what we knewnot, but Bastin showed little enthusiasm for our quest. His heart waswith his half-converted savages beyond the lake, and of them, quiterightly I have no doubt, he thought more than he did of all thearchaeological treasures in the whole earth. Still, he came, bearing theblackened head of Oro with him which, with unconscious humour, he hadused as a pillow through the night because, as he said, "it was afterall softer than stone." Also, I believe that in his heart he hopedthat he might find an opportunity of destroying the bigger and earlieredition of Oro in the cave, before it was discovered by the nativeswho might wish to make it an object of worship. Tommy came also, withgreater alacrity than I expected, since dogs do not as a rule like darkplaces. When we reached the statue I learned the reason; he rememberedthe smell he had detected at its base
on the previous day, whichBastin supposed to proceed from a rat, and was anxious to continue hisinvestigations.
We went straight to the statue, although Bickley passed the half-buriedmachines with evident regret. As we had hoped, the strong light ofthe rising sun fell upon it in a vivid ray, revealing all its wondrousworkmanship and the majesty--for no other word describes it--of thesomewhat terrifying countenance that appeared above the wrappings of theshroud. Indeed, I was convinced that originally this monument had beenplaced here in order that on certain days of the year the sun mightfall upon it thus, when probably worshippers assembled to adore theirhallowed symbol. After all, this was common in ancient days: witnessthe instance of the awful Three who sit in the deepest recesses of thetemple of Abu Simbel, on the Nile.
We gazed and gazed our fill, at least Bickley and I did, for Bastin wasoccupied in making a careful comparison between the head of his woodenOro and that of the statue.
"There is no doubt that they are very much alike," he said. "Why,whatever is that dog doing? I think it is going mad," and he pointed toTommy who was digging furiously at the base of the lowest step, as athome I have seen him do at roots that sheltered a rabbit.
Tommy's energy was so remarkable that at length it seriously attractedour attention. Evidently he meant that it should do so, for occasionallyhe sprang back to me barking, then returned and sniffed and scratched.Bickley knelt down and smelt at the stone.
"It is an odd thing, Humphrey," he said, "but there is a strange odourhere, a very pleasant odour like that of sandal-wood or attar of roses."
"I never heard of a rat that smelt like sandal-wood or attar of roses,"said Bastin. "Look out that it isn't a snake."
I knelt down beside Bickley, and in clearing away the deep dust fromwhat seemed to be the bottom of the step, which was perhaps four feetin height, by accident thrust my amateur spade somewhat strongly againstits base where it rested upon the rocky floor.
Next moment a wonder came to pass. The whole massive rock began to turnoutwards as though upon a pivot! I saw it coming and grabbed Bickley bythe collar, dragging him back so that we just rolled clear before thegreat block, which must have weighed several tons, fell down and crushedus. Tommy saw it too, and fled, though a little late, for the edgeof the block caught the tip of his tail and caused him to emit a mostpiercing howl. But we did not think of Tommy and his woes; we did notthink of our own escape or of anything else because of the marvel thatappeared to us. Seated there upon the ground, after our backward tumble,we could see into the space which lay behind the fallen step, for therethe light of the sun penetrated.
The first idea it gave me was that of the jewelled shrine of somemediaeval saint which, by good fortune, had escaped the plunderers;there are still such existing in the world. It shone and glittered,apparently with gold and diamonds, although, as a matter of fact, therewere no diamonds, nor was it gold which gleamed, but some ancient metal,or rather amalgam, which is now lost to the world, the same that wasused in the tubes of the air-machines. I think that it contained gold,but I do not know. At any rate, it was equally lasting and even morebeautiful, though lighter in colour.
For the rest this adorned recess which resembled that of a large funeralvault, occupying the whole space beneath the base of the statue that wassupported on its arch, was empty save for two flashing objects that layside by side but with nearly the whole width of the vault between them.
I pointed at them to Bickley with my finger, for really I could notspeak.
"Coffins, by Jove!" he whispered. "Glass or crystal coffins and peoplein them. Come on!"
A few seconds later we were crawling into that vault while Bastin, stillnursing the head of Oro as though it were a baby, stood confused outsidemuttering something about desecrating hallowed graves.
Just as we reached the interior, owing to the heightening of thesun, the light passed away, leaving us in a kind of twilight. Bickleyproduced carriage candles from his pocket and fumbled for matches. Whilehe was doing so I noticed two things--firstly, that the place really didsmell like a scent-shop, and, secondly, that the coffins seemed to glowwith a kind of phosphorescent light of their own, not very strong, butsufficient to reveal their outlines in the gloom. Then the candles burntup and we saw.
Within the coffin that stood on our left hand as we entered, for thiscrystal was as transparent as plate glass, lay a most wonderful old man,clad in a gleaming, embroidered robe. His long hair, which was partedin the middle, as we could see beneath the edge of the pearl-sewn andbroidered cap he wore, also his beard were snowy white. The man wastall, at least six feet four inches in height, and rather spare. Hishands were long and thin, very delicately made, as were his sandalledfeet.
But it was his face that fixed our gaze, for it was marvelous, like theface of a god, and, as we noticed at once, with some resemblance tothat of the statue above. Thus the brow was broad and massive, the nosestraight and long, the mouth stern and clear-cut, while the cheekboneswere rather high, and the eyebrows arched. Such are the characteristicsof many handsome old men of good blood, and as the mummies of Seti andothers show us, such they have been for thousands of years. Only thisman differed from all others because of the fearful dignity stamped uponhis features. Looking at him I began to think at once of the prophetElijah as he must have appeared rising to heaven, enhanced by themore earthly glory of Solomon, for although the appearance of thesepatriarchs is unknown, of them one conceives ideas. Only it seemedprobable that Elijah may have looked more benign. Here there was nobenignity, only terrible force and infinite wisdom.
Contemplating him I shivered a little and felt thankful that he wasdead. For to tell the truth I was afraid of that awesome countenancewhich, I should add, was of the whiteness of paper, although the cheeksstill showed tinges of colour, so perfect was the preservation of thecorpse.
I was still gazing at it when Bickley said in a voice of amazement:
"I say, look here, in the other coffin."
I turned, looked, and nearly collapsed on the floor of the vault, sincebeauty can sometimes strike us like a blow. Oh! there before me lay allloveliness, such loveliness that there burst from my lips an involuntarycry:
"Alas! that she should be dead!"
A young woman, I supposed, at least she looked young, perhaps five orsix and twenty years of age, or so I judged. There she lay, her tall anddelicate shape half hidden in masses of rich-hued hair in colour of aruddy blackness. I know not how else to describe it, since never have Iseen any of the same tint. Moreover, it shone with a life of its ownas though it had been dusted with gold. From between the masses ofthis hair appeared a face which I can only call divine. There was everybeauty that woman can boast, from the curving eyelashes of extraordinarylength to the sweet and human mouth. To these charms also were addeda wondrous smile and an air of kind dignity, very different from thefierce pride stamped upon the countenance of the old man who was hercompanion in death.
She was clothed in some close-fitting robe of white broidered with gold;pearls were about her neck, lying far down upon the perfect bosom, agirdle of gold and shining gems encircled her slender waist, and on herlittle feet were sandals fastened with red stones like rubies. Intruth, she was a splendid creature, and yet, I know not how, her beautysuggested more of the spirit than of the flesh. Indeed, in a way, it wasunearthly. My senses were smitten, it pulled at my heart-strings, andyet its unutterable strangeness seemed to awake memories within me,though of what I could not tell. A wild fancy came to me that I musthave known this heavenly creature in some past life.
By now Bastin had joined us, and, attracted by my exclamation and bythe attitude of Bickley, who was staring down at the coffin with a fixedlook upon his face, not unlike that of a pointer when he scents game, hebegan to contemplate the wonder within it in his slow way.
"Well, I never!" he said. "Do you think the Glittering Lady in there ishuman?"
"The Glittering Lady is dead, but I suppose that she was human in herlife," I answered in an awed whisper.
"Of course she is dead, otherwise she would not be in that glass coffin.I think I should like to read the Burial Service over her, which Idaresay was never done when she was put in there."
"How do you know she is dead?" asked Bickley in a sharp voice andspeaking for the first time. "I have seen hundreds of corpses, andmummies too, but never any that looked like these."
I stared at him. It was strange to hear Bickley, the scoffer atmiracles, suggesting that this greatest of all miracles might bepossible.
"They must have been here a long time," I said, "for although human,they are not, I think, of any people known to the world to-day; theirdress, everything, shows it, though perhaps thousands of years ago--"and I stopped.
"Quite so," answered Bickley; "I agree. That is why I suggest that theymay have belonged to a race who knew what we do not, namely, how tosuspend animation for great periods of time."
I said no more, nor did Bastin, who was now engaged in studying the oldman, and for once, wonderstruck and overcome. Bickley, however, took oneof the candles and began to make a close examination of the coffins.So did Tommy, who sniffed along the join of that of the Glittering Ladyuntil his nose reached a certain spot, where it remained, while hisblack tail began to wag in a delighted fashion. Bickley pushed him awayand investigated.
"As I thought," he said--"air-holes. See!"
I looked, and there, bored through the crystal of the coffin in a linewith the face of its occupant, were a number of little holes that eitherby accident or design outlined the shape of a human mouth.
"They are not airtight," murmured Bickley; "and if air can enter, howcan dead flesh remain like that for ages?"
Then he continued his search upon the other side.
"The lid of this coffin works on hinges," he said. "Here they are,fashioned of the crystal itself. A living person within could havepulled it down before the senses departed."
"No," I answered; "for look, here is a crystal bolt at the end and it isshot from without."
This puzzled him; then as though struck by an idea, he began to examinethe other coffin.
"I've got it!" he exclaimed presently. "The old god in here" (somehowwe all thought of this old man as not quite normal) "shut down theGlittering Lady's coffin and bolted it. His own is not bolted, althoughthe bolt exists in the same place. He just got in and pulled down thelid. Oh! what nonsense I am talking--for how can such things be? Let usget out and think."
So we crept from the sepulchre in which the perfumed air had begun tooppress us and sat ourselves down upon the floor of the cave, where fora while we remained silent.
"I am very thirsty," said Bastin presently. "Those smells seem to havedried me up. I am going to get some tea--I mean water, as unfortunatelythere is no tea," and he set off towards the mouth of the cave.
We followed him, I don't quite know why, except that we wished tobreathe freely outside, also we knew that the sepulchre and its contentswould be as safe as they had been for--well, how long?
It proved to be a beautiful morning outside. We walked up and downenjoying it sub-consciously, for really our--that is Bickley's and myown--intelligences were concentrated on that sepulchre and its contents.Where Bastin's may have been I do not know, perhaps in a visionaryteapot, since I was sure that it would take him a day or two toappreciate the significance of our discoveries. At any rate, he wanderedoff, making no remarks about them, to drink water, I suppose.
Presently he began to shout to us from the end of the table-rock and wewent to see the reason of his noise. It proved to be very satisfactory,for while we were in the cave the Orofenans had brought absolutelyeverything belonging to us, together with a large supply of food fromthe main island. Not a single article was missing; even our books, a canwith the bottom out, and the broken pieces of a little pocket mirrorhad been religiously transported, and with these a few articles that hadbeen stolen from us, notably my pocket-knife. Evidently a great taboohad been laid upon all our possessions. They were now carefully arrangedin one of the grooves of the rock that Bickley supposed had been made bythe wheels of aeroplanes, which was why we had not seen them at once.
Each of us rushed for what we desired most--Bastin for one of thecanisters of tea, I for my diaries, and Bickley for his chest ofinstruments and medicines. These were removed to the mouth of the cave,and after them the other things and the food; also a bell tent and somecamp furniture that we had brought from the ship. Then Bastin made sometea of which he drank four large pannikins, having first said grace overit with unwonted fervour. Nor did we disdain our share of the beverage,although Bickley preferred cocoa and I coffee. Cocoa and coffee we hadno time to make then, and in view of that sepulchre in the cave, whathad we to do with cocoa and coffee?
So Bickley and I said to each other, and yet presently he changed hismind and in a special metal machine carefully made some extremely strongblack coffee which he poured into a thermos flask, previously warmedwith hot water, adding thereto about a claret glass of brandy. Also heextracted certain drugs from his medicine-chest, and with them, as Inoted, a hypodermic syringe, which he first boiled in a kettle and thenshut up in a little tube with a glass stopper.
These preparations finished, he called to Tommy to give him the scrapsof our meal. But there was no Tommy. The dog was missing, and though wehunted everywhere we could not find him. Finally we concluded that hehad wandered off down the beach on business of his own and would returnin due course. We could not bother about Tommy just then.
After making some further preparations and fidgeting about a little,Bickley announced that as we had now some proper paraffin lamps of thepowerful sort which are known as "hurricane," he proposed by their aidto carry out further examinations in the cave.
"I think I shall stop where I am," said Bastin, helping himself from thekettle to a fifth pannikin of tea. "Those corpses are very interesting,but I don't see any use in staring at them again at present. One canalways do that at any time. I have missed Marama once already by beingaway in that cave, and I have a lot to say to him about my people; Idon't want to be absent in case he should return."
"To wash up the things, I suppose," said Bickley with a sniff; "orperhaps to eat the tea-leaves."
"Well, as a matter of fact, I have noticed that these natives havea peculiar taste for tea-leaves. I think they believe them to be amedicine, but I don't suppose they would come so far for them, thoughperhaps they might in the hope of getting the head of Oro. Anyhow, I amgoing to stop here."
"Pray do," said Bickley. "Are you ready, Humphrey?"
I nodded, and he handed to me a felt-covered flask of the non-conductingkind, filled with boiling water, a tin of preserved milk, and a littlebottle of meat extract of a most concentrated sort. Then, having lit twoof the hurricane lamps and seen that they were full of oil, we startedback up the cave.
When the World Shook Page 10