CHAPTER XXVII
FATHER AND DAUGHTER
While Leonard and Otter spoke thus in their amazement, had they butknown it, a still more interesting conversation was being carried onsome three hundred yards away. Its scene was a secret chamber hollowedin the thickness of the temple wall, and the _dramatis personae_consisted of Nam, the high priest, Soa, Juanna's servant, and Saga, wifeof the Snake.
Nam was an early riser, perhaps because his conscience would not allowhim to sleep, or because on this occasion he had business of importanceto attend to. At any rate, on the morning in question, long beforethe break of dawn, he was seated in his little room alone, musing; andindeed his thoughts gave him much food for reflection. As has been said,he was a very aged man, and whatever may have been his faults, atleast he was earnestly desirous of carrying on the worship of the godsaccording to the strict letter of the customs which had descended to himfrom his forefathers, and which he himself had followed all his life.In truth, from long consideration of them, their attributes, and thetraditions concerning them, Nam had come to believe in the actualexistence of these gods, although the belief was a qualified one andsomewhat half-hearted. Or, to put it less strongly, he had never allowedhis mind to entertain active doubt of the spiritual beings whoseearthly worship was so powerful a factor in his own material rule andprosperity, and in that of his class. In its issues this half-faith ofhis had been sufficiently real to induce him to accept Otter and Juannawhen they arrived mysteriously in the land.
It had been prophesied that they should arrive thus--that was afact; and their outward appearance exactly fitted every detail of theprophecy--that was another fact; and these two facts together seemed topoint to a conclusion so irresistible that, shrewd and experienced ashe was, Nam, was unable to set it down to mere coincidence. Thereforein the first rush of his religious enthusiasm he had accorded a heartywelcome to the incarnations of the divinities whom for some eighty yearshe had worshipped as powers spiritual.
But though pious zeal had much to do with this action, as Olfan informedJuanna, it was not devoid of worldly motives. He desired the glory ofbeing the discoverer of the gods, he desired also the consolidation ofthe rule which his cruelties had shaken, that must result from theiradvent.
All this was well enough, but he had never even dreamed that the firststep of these new-born divinities would be to discard the ancientceremonial without which his office would become a sinecure and hispower a myth, and even to declare an active hostility against himself.
Were they or were they not gods? This was the question that exercisedhis mind. If there was truth in prophesies they should be gods. On theother hand he could discover nothing particularly divine about theirpersons, characters, or attributes--that is to say, nothing sufficientlydivine to deceive Nam himself, whatever impression they produced uponthe vulgar. Thus Juanna might be no more than a very beautiful womanwhite in colour, and Otter only what he knew him to be through hisspies, a somewhat dissolute dwarf.
That they had no great power was also evident, seeing that he, Nam,without incurring the heavenly vengeance, had been able to abstract,and afterwards to sacrifice comfortably, the greater number of theirservants. Another thing which pleaded against their celestial originwas that so far, instead of peace and prosperity blessing the land asit should have done immediately on their arrival, the present seasonwas proving itself the worst on record, and the country was face to facewith a prospect of famine in the ensuing winter.
And yet, if they were not gods, who were they? Would any human beingsin their senses venture among such people as the Children of the Mist,merely to play off a huge practical joke of which the finale was likelyto be so serious to themselves? The idea was preposterous, since theyhad nothing to gain by so doing, for Nam, it may be observed, wasignorant of the value of rubies, which to him were only emblems employedin their symbolical ceremonies. Think as he would, he could come to nodefinite conclusion. One thing was clear, however, that it was now verymuch to his interest to demonstrate their non-celestial origin, thoughto do so would be to stultify himself and to prove that his judgment wasnot infallible. Otherwise, did the "gods" succeed in establishing theirpower, he and his authority seemed likely to come to a sudden end inthe jaws of that monster, which his order had fostered for so manygenerations.
Thus reflected Nam in perplexity of soul, wishing to himself the whilethat he had retired from his office before he was called upon to facequestions so difficult and so dangerous.
"I must be patient," he muttered to himself at last; "time will show thetruth, or, if the weather does not change, the people will settle thematter for me."
As it chanced he had not long to wait, for just then there was a knockupon his door.
"Enter," he said, arranging his goat-skin robe about his broadshoulders.
A priest came in bearing a torch, for there was no window to thechamber, and after him two women.
"Who is this?" said Nam, pointing to the second of the women.
"This is she who is servant to Aca, Father," answered the priest.
"How comes she here?" said Nam again. "I gave no orders that she shouldbe taken."
"She comes of her own free will, Father, having somewhat to say to you."
"Fool, how can she speak to me when she does not know our tongue? Butof her presently; take her aside and watch her. Now, Saga, your report.First, what of the weather?"
"It is grey and pitiless, father. The mist is dense and no sun can beseen."
"I thought it, because of the cold," and he drew his robe closer roundhim. "A few more days of this----" and he stopped, then went on. "Tellme of Jal, your lord."
"Jal is as Jal was, merry and somewhat drunken. He speaks our languagevery ill, yet when he was last in liquor he sang a song which told ofdeeds that he, and he whom they name the Deliverer, had wrought togetherdown in the south, rescuing the goddess Aca from some who had taken hercaptive. At least, so I understood that song."
"Perhaps you understood it wrong," answered Nam. "Say, niece, do youstill worship this god?"
"I worship the god Jal, but the man, Dweller in the Waters, I hate," shesaid fiercely.
"Why, how is this? But two days gone you told me that you loved him, andthat there was no such god as this man, and no such man as this god."
"That was so, father, but since then he has thrust me aside, saying thatI weary him, and courts a handmaid of mine own, and therefore I demandthe life of that handmaiden."
Nam smiled grimly. "Perchance you demand the life of the god also?"
"Yes," she replied without hesitation, "I would see him dead if it canbe brought about."
Again Nam smiled. "Truly, niece, your temper is that of my sister, yourgrandmother, who brought three men to sacrifice because she grew jealousof them. Well, well, these are strange times, and you may live to seeyour desire satisfied by the death of the god. Now, what of that woman?How comes she to be with you?"
"She was bound by the order of Aca, father, and Jal was set to watchher; but I drugged Jal, and loosing her bonds I led her down the secretway, for she desires to speak to you."
"How can that be, niece? Can I then understand her language?"
"Nay, father, but she understands ours. Had she been bred in the landshe could not speak it better."
Nam looked astonished, and going to the door he called to the priestwithout to lead in the stranger.
"You have words to say to me," he said.
"Yes, lord, but not before these. That which I have to say is secret."
Nam hesitated.
"Have no fear, lord," said Soa, reading his thoughts. "See, I amunarmed."
Then he commanded the others to go, and when the door had closed behindthem, he looked at her inquiringly.
"Tell me, lord, who am I?" asked Soa, throwing the wrapping from herhead and turning her face to the glare of the torchlight.
"How can I know who you are, wanderer? Yet, had I met you by chance, Ishould have said that you were of our blood."
"That is so, lord, I am of your blood. Cast your mind back and think ifyou can remember a certain daughter whom you loved many years ago, butwho through the workings of your foes was chosen to be a bride to theSnake," and she paused.
"Speak on," said Nam in a low voice.
"Perchance you can recall, lord, that, moved to it by love and pity, onthe night of the sacrifice you helped that daughter to escape the fangsof the Snake."
"I remember something of it," he replied cautiously; "but tidings werebrought to me that this woman of whom you speak was overtaken by thevengeance of the god, and died on her journey."
"That is not so, lord. I am your daughter, and you are none other thanmy father. I knew you when I first saw your face, though you did notknow me."
"Prove it, and beware how you lie," he said. "Show me the secret sign,and whisper the hidden word into my ear."
Then, glancing suspiciously behind her, Soa came to him, and madesome movements with her hands in the shadow of the table. Next bendingforward, she whispered awhile into his ear. When she had finished, herfather looked up, and there were tears in his aged eyes.
"Welcome, daughter," he said. "I thought that I was alone, and that noneof my issue lived anywhere upon the earth. Welcome! Your life is forfeitto the Snake, but, forgetting my vows, I will protect you, ay, even atthe cost of my own."
Then the two embraced each other with every sign of tenderness, aspectacle that would have struck anyone acquainted with their charactersas both curious and interesting.
Presently Nam left the chamber, and having dismissed the attendantpriest and his great-niece, Saga, who were waiting outside, he returnedand prayed his daughter to explain the reason of her presence in thetrain of Aca.
"First, you shall swear an oath to me, my father," said Soa, "and if youswear it not, I will tell you no word of my story. You shall swear bythe blood of Aca that you will do nothing against the life of that Queenwith whom I journeyed hither. For the others, you may work your willupon them, but her you shall not harm."
"Why should I swear this, daughter?" he asked.
"You shall swear it because I, whom you love, love her, and also becauseso you shall gain the greater honour."
"Who am I that I should lift my hand against the gods, daughter? I swearit by the blood of Aca, and if I break my oath, then may Jal deal withme as once he dealt with Aca."
Then Soa went on freely, for she knew that this was a vow that could notbe broken. Beginning at its commencement, she told him all the story ofher life since, forty years ago, she had fled from among the People ofthe Mist, passing on rapidly, however, to that part of it which had todo with the capture and rescue of Juanna from the slave-traders, andwith the promise that she had made to Leonard as the price of hisassistance. This promise, she was careful to explain, she had notintended to fulfil until she was forced to do so by Juanna herself.Then she gave him a minute history of the object and details of theirexpedition, down to her final quarrel with Leonard and her mistress onthe previous day.
To say that the old priest was thunderstruck at these extraordinaryrevelations would be too little; he was overwhelmed--so overwhelmed thatfor a while he could scarcely speak.
"It is fortunate for this jade of a mistress of yours, who dares tomake a mockery of our goddess that she may steal her wealth, that I havesworn to save her from harm, daughter," he gasped at length, "else shehad died, and swiftly. At least, the others remain to me," and he sprangto his feet.
"Stay awhile, father," said Soa, catching his cloak, "what is yourplan?"
"My plan? To drag them to the temple and denounce them. What else isthere to do?"
"And thereby denounce yourself also, who proclaimed them gods. I think Ihave a better."
"Tell it then, daughter."
"It is this. Do you pass in before the gods this day, speak humbly tothe gods, praying them to change the face of the heavens that the sunmay shine; telling them also that strange talk has come to your ears bythe mouth of Saga and the other women, of words that have been spokenby the god Jal, which would seem to show that he is no god, but that ofthis you believe nothing as yet. Then say to them that if the face ofthe heavens remains grey on the morrow, you will know that this talk istrue, and that they will be brought to the temple, there to be judgedand dealt with according to the finding of the people, who have heardthese things also."
"And what if the weather should change, daughter?"
"It will not change yet awhile; but if that should chance, we must makeanother plan."
"Just now I swore to you that I would not harm her whom you love, andyet, daughter, if she is proved to be a false goddess in the face of allthe multitude, how shall she escape harm, for then her end must be quickand terrible?"
"She shall escape because she will not be there, father. You have seenthe white man with her--not the Deliverer, the other. Were that mandressed in the robes of Aca, and sat on high upon the head of the statuewhen the light is low, who should say that he was not Aca?"
"Then you would give all the others to death, daughter?"
"Nay, I would save the Deliverer alive, for a while at least."
"And wherefore? You are too subtle for me."
"For this reason, father; he loves her who is named Aca, and trusts tomarry her, to marry her fully according to the custom of his people:therefore I would that he should see her given to another."
"To another! To whom then?"
"To Olfan the king, who also loves her."
Now Nam held up his hands in perplexity, saying:
"Oh! my daughter, be plain, I pray of you, for I cannot understand yourcounsels. Were it not better to give to these people the red stoneswhich they desire, and send them secretly from the land, saying thatthey had vanished into the earth again, for so it seems to me we shouldbe rid of much shame and trouble?"
"Listen, my father, and I will tell you. Were she whom I love to leavethis land, I should see her face no more, and this madness has comeupon me that I cannot live without the sight of her. Also, how can thesepeople escape the dangers of the road? But four of them are left alive,and even were they without our borders, they must journey for threemonths before they come to any place where white men live, passingthrough swamps and deserts and tribes of wild men. This they couldhardly do with arms such as those whereby the Deliverer slew thepriests, and now their arms are gone, you alone know where, my father."
"The instruments of which you speak lie in the deep waters of the templepool, daughter, for there I caused them to be cast."
"Their arms are gone," said Soa, "they are alone, here they must live ordie. Three of them I will give to death, and the fourth I would make thewife of the King, seeing that nothing better can be done for her. Lether be hidden awhile, and then let Olfan take her. As for the tale thatwe shall tell of the matter to the ears of the people, doubtless timewill show it. I say that Olfan loves her and will buy her with a greatprice, and the price which you must ask shall be that henceforth heobeys you in everything."
"The scheme is good, daughter; at the least, bearing my oath in mind, Ihave none better, though were it not for my oath, either I should killthem all or set them free. Yet who can say that it shall succeed? It isin the hands of fate, let it go as fate wills. And now follow me, that Imay place you where you shall dwell in comfort, then after we have eatenI will speak with these gods whom you have let loose upon us."
That morning passed heavily enough to the four wretched prisoners inthe palace. For some hours they sat together in the throne-room almostsilent, for they were crushed by misfortune and fear; the toils wereclosing on them, and they knew it, nor could they lift a finger to savethemselves.
Francisco knelt and prayed, Leonard and Juanna sat hand in handlistening to him, while Otter wandered to and fro like an unquietspirit, cursing Soa, Saga, and all women in many languages and with aresource and vigour that struck his hearers as unparalleled. At lengthhe vanished through the curtains, to get drunk probably, Leonardreflected.
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br /> However, the dwarf sought not drink, but vengeance. A few minuteslater, hearing screams in the courtyard, Leonard ran out to find himselfwitness to a curious scene. There on the ground, surrounded by a groupof other women, her companions, who were laughing at her discomfiture,lay the stately Saga, bride of the Snake. Over her stood her lord andmaster, the god Jal, his left hand twisted in her long hair, while withhis right, in which he grasped a leather thong, despite her screams andentreaties, he administered to her one of the soundest and, be it added,best deserved thrashings that ever fell to the lot of erring woman.
"What are you doing?" said Leonard.
"I am teaching this wife of mine that it is not well to drug a god,Baas," gasped Otter; then added with a final and most ferocious cut,"There, get you gone, witch, and let me see your ugly face no more."
The woman rose and went, cursing and weeping, while the dwarf followedLeonard back into the throne-room.
"You have done it now, Otter," said Leonard. "Well, it does not muchmatter. I fancy she is gone for good, any way."
"Yes, Baas, she has gone, and she has gone sore," replied Otter with afaint grin.
At that moment a messenger arrived announcing that Nam was withoutwaiting for an audience.
"Let him be admitted," said Juanna with a sigh, and seated herself onone of the thrones, Otter clambering into the other.
They had scarcely taken their places when the curtains were thrownback and the ancient priest entered, attended by about a score of hisfellows. He bowed himself humbly before Juanna and the dwarf and thenspoke.
"Oh! ye gods," he said, "I come in the name of the People of the Mistto take counsel with you. Why it is we do not know, but things have goneamiss in the land: the sun does not shine as in past years before youcame to bless us, neither does the grain spring. Therefore your peopleare threatened with a famine, and they pray that you may comfort themout of the store of your wisdom."
"And if we have no comfort to give, Nam?"
"Then, Queen, the people ask that you will be pleased to meet themto-morrow in the temple at the moon-rise, when the night is one hourold, that they may talk with you there through the mouth of me, yourservant."
"And if we weary of your temple and will not come, Nam?" asked Juanna.
"Then this is the command of the people, O Aca: that we bring youthither, and it is a command that may not be disobeyed," answered thehigh priest slowly.
"Beware, Nam," replied Juanna; "strange things happen here that call forvengeance. Our servants pass away like shadows, and in their place wefind such weapons as you carry," and she pointed to the priests' knives."We will come to-morrow night at the rising of the moon, but again I sayto you, beware, for now our mercy is but as a frayed rope, and it werewell for you all that the cord should not break."
"Ye know best whither your servants have wandered, O Aca," said thepriest, stretching out his hands in deprecation, and speaking in a toneof which the humility did not veil the insolence, "for true gods such asye are can guard their servants. We thank you for your words, O ye gods,and we pray you to be merciful to us, for the threats of true gods arevery terrible. And now one little word. I ask justice of you, O ye gods.She who was given to be bride of the Snake, my niece who is named Saga,has been cruelly beaten by some evil-doer here in the palace, as I know,for but now I met her bruised and weeping. I ask of you then thatye search out this evil-doer and punish him with death or stripes.Farewell, O ye high gods."
Leonard looked at the priest as he bowed humbly before the thrones, anda desire to take Otter's advice and kill him entered his heart, for heknew that he had come to drag them to their trial and perhaps to doom.He still had his revolver, and it would have been easy to shoot him, forNam's broad breast was a target that few could miss. And yet, what couldit help them to shed his blood? There were many to fill his place ifhe died, and violence would certainly be answered with violence. No, hewould let him be, and they must bide their fate.
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