CHAPTER XI
BEFORE THE THRONE OF VENUS
While we were dropping down toward the city, with a great fleet of airships attending, Edmund opened his mind upon another curious difficultybesetting us.
"You, of course, noted," he said, "how close we approached at one time tothe cloud dome. The existence of that sky screen is a circumstance whichmay possibly be decisive in the determination of our fate."
"Favorable or unfavorable?" I asked.
"Unfavorable, for this reason. If these people could be made tounderstand that we are visitors from another world, and not inhabitantsof the other side of their own planet, they might treat us with greaterconsideration, and even with a certain superstitious deference. Theimagination is doubtless as active with them as with terrestrial beings,and if you can once touch the imagination, even of the most intelligentand instructed persons, you can do almost anything you choose with them.But how am I to convey to them any idea of this kind? Seeing neither sun,nor moon, nor stars, they can have no conception of such a thing asanother world than their own."
"Couldn't you persuade them," said Jack, "that we come from the upperside of the cloud dome? You could pretend that it's very fine living upthere--plenty of sunshine and good air."
Edmund laughed.
"I'm afraid, Jack, that they are too intelligent to believe that a personof your avoirdupois could walk on the clouds. You're not quite angelicenough for that. I'm sure that they know perfectly well what the domeconsists of."
"The presence of Juba with us is another difficulty," I suggested. "If,as you suppose, they recognize certain racial characteristics in him,which convince them that he belongs to the other side of Venus, then theyare sure to believe that we belong there, too."
"Certainly. But I must find some way round the difficulty. I depend uponthe intelligence of Ala. If she had been killed, nothing could have savedus. We have had an unpleasant escape from something too closelyresembling the misfortune of Oedipus."
In the meanwhile, we reached the capital and disembarked on the greattower. To our intense surprise and delight, instead of being reconductedto prison, we were led into a magnificent apartment, with open archesfacing toward the distant mountains, and a repast was spread before us.Juba, to our great contentment, was allowed to accompany us. I think thatJack was the most pleased member of the party at the sight of the food.We sat at a round table, and I observed that the eatables consisted, aswith Juba's people, exclusively of vegetables, except that there werebirds, of species unknown to us, but of most exquisite flavor, and alight, white wine, the most delicious that I ever tasted.
When we had finished eating, we fell to admiring the view, and Jackpulled out his pipe, and, aided by Edmund's pocket lamp, which possessedan attachment for cigar lighting, began to smoke, leaning backluxuriously in his seat, with as much nonchalance as if he had been inthe smoking room at the Olympus. I think I may say that we all exhibiteda _sang froid_ amidst our novel surroundings that would have astonishedus if we had stopped to analyze our feelings, but in that respect Jackwas often the coolest member of the party, although he had not the ironnerves of Edmund. On this occasion, he was not long in producing asensation. No sooner had the smoke begun to curl from his lips than theattendants in the room were thrown into a state of laughableconsternation. Evidently they thought, like the servant of WalterRaleigh, that the smoke must come from an internal fire. Their looksshowed alarm as well as astonishment.
"Keep your pipe concealed," whispered Edmund. "Take a few strong whiffs,and hide it in your pocket before they observe whence the smoke reallycomes. This may do us some good; it will, at least, serve to awake theirimagination, and that is what we need."
Jack did as requested, first filling his mouth with smoke, and thenslowly letting it out in puffs that more and more astonished theonlookers, who kept at a respectful distance, and excitedly discussed thephenomenon. Suddenly, Jack, with characteristic mobility of thought,turned to Edmund and demanded:
"Edmund, why didn't those fellows shoot us when we were running away?There were enough of them to bring us down with the wildest sort ofshooting."
"They didn't shoot," was the reply, "because they had nothing to shootwith. I have made up my mind that they are an unwarlike people. I don'tbelieve that they have the slightest idea what a gun is. Yet they are nocowards, and they'll fight if there is need of fighting, and no doubtthey have weapons of some kind; only they are not natural slaughtererslike ourselves, and I shouldn't be surprised if war is unknown on Venus.
"All the same," said Jack, "I wish I had my pistol back. I tried to hideit, but those fellows had their eyes on it, and it's confiscated. I'mglad you think they don't know how to use it."
"And I'm glad," returned Edmund, "that you haven't got your pistol.You've been altogether too handy with it. Now," he continued, "let usconsider our situation. You see at a glance that we have gained a greatdeal as a result of the parley; the way we have just been treated hereshows plainly enough that we shall, at least, have a fair trial, and wecouldn't have counted on that before. You can never make people listen toreason against their inclination unless you hold certain advantages, andour advantage was that we clearly had it in our power to continue ourflight. My only anxiety now is in regard to the means of holding them tothe agreement--for agreement it certainly was--and of impressing them notonly with a conviction of our innocence but with a sense of our reservepower, and the more mysterious I can make that power seem to them, thebetter. That is why I welcomed even the incident of Jack's smoking. Weshall surely be arraigned before a court of some kind, and I imagine thatwe shall not have long to wait. What I wish particularly is that all ofyou shall desist from every thought of resistance, and follow strictlysuch instructions as I may have occasion to give you."
He had hardly ceased speaking when a number of official-looking personsentered the room where we were.
"Here come the cops," said Jack. "Now for the police court."
He was not very far wrong. We were gravely conducted to one of the littlecraft which served for elevators, and after a rapid descent, were ledthrough a maze of passages terminating in a vast and splendid apartment,apparently perfectly square in plan, and at least three hundred feet on aside. It was half filled with a brilliant throng, in which our entrycaused a sensation. Light entered through lofty windows on all foursides. The floor seemed to be of a rose-colored marble, with inlaiddiapering of lapis lazuli, and the walls and ceiling were equally rich.But that which absolutely fascinated the eye in this great apartment wasa huge circle high on the wall opposite the entrance door, like a greatclock face, or the rose window of a cathedral, from which pouredtrembling streams of colored light.
"Chromatic music, once more," said Edmund, in a subdued voice. "Do youknow, that has a strange effect upon my spirits, situated as we are. Itis a prelude that may announce our fate; it might reveal to us thecomplexion of our judges, if I could but read its meaning."
"It is too beautiful to spell tragedy," I said.
"Ah, who knows? What is so fascinating as tragedy for those who are onlylookers-on?"
"But, Edmund," I protested, "why do you, who are always the most hopeful,now fall into despondency?"
"I am not desponding," he replied, straightening up. "But this soundlessmusic thrills me with its mysterious power, and sometimes it throws meinto dejection, though I cannot tell why. To me, when what I firmlybelieve was the great anthem of this wonderful race, was played in thesky with spectral harmonies, there was, underlying all its mystic beauty,an infinite sadness, an impending sense of something tragic andterrible."
I was deeply surprised and touched by Edmund's manner, and would havequestioned him further, but we were interrupted by the officials, who nowled us across the vast apartment and to the foot of a kind of thronewhich stood directly under the great clock face. Then, for the firsttime, we recognized Ala, seated on the throne. Beside her was a person ofmajestic stature, with features like those of a statue of Zeus, and longcurling
hair of snowy whiteness. The severity of his aspect struck coldto my heart, but Ala's countenance was smiling and full of encouragement.As we were led to our places a hush fell upon the throng of attendants,and the colors ceased to play from the circle.
"Orchestra stopped," whispered the irrepressible Jack. "Curtain rises."
The pause that followed brought a fearful strain upon my nerves, but in amoment it was broken by Ala, who fixed her eyes upon Edmund's face as hestood a little in advance of the rest of us. He returned her regardunflinchingly. Every trace of the feeling which he had expressed to mewas gone. He stood erect, confident, masterful, and as I looked, I felt athrill of pride in him, pride in his genius which had brought us hither,pride in our mother earth--for were we not her far-wandering children?
"'Who and what are you, and whence do you come?'"]
I summoned all my powers in the effort to understand the tonguelessspeech which I knew was issuing from Ala's eyes. And I did understand it!Although there was not a sound, I would almost have sworn that my earsheard the words:
"Who and what are you, and whence do you come?"
Breathlessly I awaited Edmund's answer. He slowly lifted his hand andpointed upward. He was, then, going at once to proclaim our origin fromanother world; to throw over us the aegis of the earth!
The critical experiment had begun, and I shivered at the thought thathere they knew no earth; here no flag could protect us. I saw perplexityand surprise in Ala's eyes and in those of the stern Zeus beside her.Suddenly a derisive smile appeared on the latter's lips, while Ala'sconfusion continued. God! Were we to fail at the very beginning?
Edmund calmly repeated his gesture, but it met with no response; noindication appeared to show that it awakened any feeling other thanuncomprehending astonishment in one of his judges and derision in theother. And then, with a start, I caught sight of Ingra, standing closebeside the throne, his face made more ugly by the grin which overspreadit.
I was almost wild; I opened my mouth to cry I know not what, when therewas a movement behind, and Juba stepped to Edmund's side, dropped on hisknees, rose again, and fixed his great eyes upon the judges!
My heart bounded at the thoughts which now raced through my brain. Jubabelonged to their world, however remote the ancestral connection mightbe; he possessed at least the elements of their unspoken language; and_it might be a tradition among his people, who we knew worshipped theearth-star, that it was a brighter world than theirs_. Had Edmund'sgesture suddenly suggested to his mind the truth concerning us--a truthwhich the others had not his means of comprehending--and could he nowbear effective testimony in our favor?
With what trembling anxiety I watched his movements! Edmund, too, lookedat him with mingled surprise and interest in his face. Presently heraised his long arm, as Edmund had done, and pointed upward. A momentarychill of disappointment ran through me--could he do no more than that?But he _did_ more. Half unconsciously I had stepped forward where I couldsee his face. _His eyes were speaking._ I knew it. And, thank God! therewas a gleam of intelligence answering him from the eyes of our judges.
He had made his point; he had suggested to them a thought of which theyhad never dreamed!
They did not thoroughly comprehend him; I could see that, for he musthave been for them like one speaking a different dialect, to say nothingof the fundamental difficulty of the idea that he was trying to convey,but yet the meaning did not escape, and as he continued his strangecommunication, the wonder spread from face to face, for it was not onlythe judges who had grasped the general sense of what he was telling them.Even at that critical moment there came over me a feeling of admirationfor a language like this; a truly universal language, not limited byrules of speech or hampered by grammatical structure. At length it becameevident that Juba had finished, but he continued standing at Edmund'sside.
Ala and her white-headed companion looked at one another, and I tried toread their thoughts. In her face, I believed that I could detect everysign of hope for us. Occasionally she glanced with a smile at Edmund. Butthe old judge was more implacable, or more incredulous. There was nokindness in his looks, and slowly it became clear that Ala and he wereopposed in their opinion.
Suddenly she placed her hand upon her breast, where the bullet must havegrazed her, and made an energetic gesture, including us in its sweep,which I interpreted to mean that she had no umbrage against those who hadunintentionally injured her. It was plain that she insisted upon thispoint, making it a matter personal to herself, and my hopes rose when Ithought that I detected signs of yielding on the part of the other. Atthis moment, when the decision seemed to hang in the balance, a newelement was introduced into the case with dramatic suddenness andoverwhelming force.
For several minutes I had seen nothing of Ingra, but my thoughts had beentoo much occupied with more important things to take heed of hismovements. Now he appeared at the left of the throne, leading a file offellows bearing a burden. They went direct to the foot of the throne, anddeposited their burden within a yard of the place where Edmund wasstanding. They drew off a covering, and I could not repress a cry ofconsternation.
It was the body of one of their compatriots, and a glance at it sufficedto show the manner in which death had been inflicted. It had been crushedin a way which could probably mean nothing else than a fearful fall. Thetruth flashed upon me like a gleaming sword. The victim must have beenprecipitated from the air ship which we had struck at the beginning ofour flight!
And there stood our enemy, Ingra, with exultation written on hisfeatures. He had made a master stroke, like a skillful prosecutor.
"Hang him!" I heard Jack mutter between his teeth. "Oh, if I only had mypistol!"
"Then you would make matters a hundred times worse," I whispered. "Keepyour head, and remember Edmund's injunction."
The behavior of the latter again awoke my utmost admiration.Contemptuously turning his back upon Ingra, he faced Ala and old Zeus,and as their regards mingled, I knew well what he was trying to express.This time, since his meaning involved no conception lying utterly beyondtheir experience, he was more successful. He told them that the death ofthis person was a fact hitherto unknown to us, and that, like the injuryto Ala, it had been inflicted without our volition. I believed that thisplea, too, was accepted as valid by Ala; but not so with the other. Heunderstood it perfectly, and he rejected it on the instant. My reasontold me that nothing else could have been expected of him, for, truly,this was drawing it rather strong--to claim twice in succession immunityfor evils which had undeniably originated from us.
Our case looked blacker and blacker, as it became evident that theopposition between our two judges had broken out again, and was now moredecided than before. The features of the old man grew fearfully stern,and he rejected all the apparent overtures of Ala. He had been willing topardon the injury and insult to her person, since she herself insistedupon pardon, but now the affair was entirely different. Whether purposelyor not, we had caused the death of a subject of the realm, and he was notto be swerved aside from what he regarded as his duty. My nerves shook atthe thought that we knew absolutely nothing about the social laws of thispeople, and that, among them, the rule of an eye for an eye, and bloodfor blood, might be more inviolable than it had ever been on the earth.
As the discussion proceeded, with an intensity which spoken words couldnot have imparted to it, Ala's cheeks began to glow, and her eyes toglitter with strange light. One could see the resistance in them risingto passion, and, at last, as the aged judge again shook his head, withgreater emphasis than ever, she rose, as if suddenly transformed. Themajestic splendor of her countenance was thrilling. Lifting her jeweledarm with an imperious gesture, she commanded the attendants to remove thebier, and was instantly obeyed. Then she beckoned to Edmund, and withoutan instant's hesitation, he stepped upon the lower stage of the throne.With the stride of a queen, she descended to his side, and, resting herhand on his shoulder, looked about her with a manner which said, as nowords could have done:
/> "It is the power of my protection which encircles him!"