*CHAPTER XIV.*
*TOM CLINCH'S STATEMENT.*
When the plaudits which greeted the strangers had subsided, and thestrenuous handshaking had come to an end, Monck, at a signal fromAlondra, conducted them from the great hall to a private suite ofapartments.
'These are assigned to you for your own use during your stay here,' heexplained. 'I may tell you, in confidence, that they have never beenoccupied by any save guests of consequence. Therefore, the fact thatthey have been allotted to you is one more proof that my royal masterdesires to pay you special honour in the eyes of his people.'
'It is very kind of him,' murmured Armeath, 'but a little embarrassing.It is likely to cause misapprehension. We are no royal visitors, youknow.'
'My master knows it also,' Monck reminded him. 'But he is not likeother monarchs. You know by this time, for instance, that he neverallows any one to address him as "your Majesty." He looks upon it asunnecessary, and resents it as he does any kind of adulation orflattery. He expects that we shall treat him with due respect as thehead of the State. If you go beyond that, so far from pleasing him, youonly offend him.'
'And if you do less,' observed Gerald, 'why then'----
'I cannot tell you what would happen,' returned Monck drily. 'So far asmy experience extends, I have never seen it attempted.'
'Truly, these are sumptuous quarters,' said Armeath, gazing round at therichly furnished rooms.
'You will find your sleeping apartments equally comfortable, with marblebaths attached, where you can have a swim before breakfast if it soplease you. Also, you will see there is an ample wardrobe from which toselect your Court dress'----
'Eh, what's that? Are we to put on Court dress, sir?' Jack stared, andlooked first at the engineer and then at his guardian in serio-comicdistress. 'Must we do that? We've never been used to that sort ofthing, you know!'
'What does that matter?' said Gerald. 'When one goes to Rome one mustdo as Rome does.'
A little while later the two chums were looking over a collection of themost gorgeous raiment they had ever set eyes upon. Gerald viewed thedazzling costumes with enthusiastic admiration; but Jack was inclined toregard them almost with disfavour.
'Beautiful! Splendid!' exclaimed Gerald. 'Just what I have seen in mysleep when I was a child, and I used to gaze at the stars and dream thatI went up into the heavens to visit them! In those dreams I went fromone star to another, and saw the most charming countries and places, andall the good people in them were dressed in clothes something likethese.'
'And how were the bad ones dressed?' asked Jack quizzically.
'There weren't any,' Gerald declared stoutly.
'What! No ogres, or giants, or bad fairies? However, it's odd, now, tothink of those old dreams of yours! I remember how you used to recountthem to us afterwards. It's curious to think how, after all, they seemto be coming true, isn't it?'
'Yes,' answered Gerald slowly, as the dreamy, far-away look came againinto his eyes. 'But this is only the beginning. If they are all comingtrue, we have experiences before us more wonderful even than anythingthat has happened yet! Perhaps it will turn out so. Who can tell?'
'Well, I've got to that state of mind now that I sha'n't be so very muchsurprised if they do; and if they don't, I 'm quite content with what wehave in hand,' said practical-minded Jack.
Their two attendants were lodged in adjacent rooms, so that they mightbe within call when wanted. Presently, Gerald looked in upon them tosee how they were getting on, and was much amused to see Reid staringblankly at a heap of clothes, much as Jack had been doing but a littlewhile before. These costumes, it is true, were much plainer and lesspretentious; but they were, nevertheless, far finer clothes than eitherof the two worthies had ever yet worn, or ever expected to.
'Why, Bob, what's the matter?' Gerald asked. 'You look as dismal as ifyou were going to have a tooth out!'
''E 's a poor sort o' creechure sometimes, be Bob Reid,' said Clinchsententiously. Tom was busy picking out the most showy dress he couldfind, and attiring himself therein. ''E often doan't seem to know when'e's in luck. What's these yer fine things sent for if we ain't t' wear'em? Take what Providence sends ye, an' be thankful! Them's mysentiments.'
As he spoke he selected a coloured hat with a very high crown and poisedit on his head, opposite a looking-glass.
'I never 'ad no 'igh 'at to wear afore, an' I ain't a-goin' t' throwthis chance away,' said Tom.--'Look at that, Bob Reid,' he continued, ashe surveyed himself in the glass and strutted to and fro. 'See 'ow itsets off yer figger, me lad!'
Gerald smiled, and was turning away, when Tom suddenly threw the hat onone side, and, looking very serious, said, 'Mr Gerald, I wants a wurdwi' ye. Ye knows as we was nearly run down a while since a-comin' up'ere?'
'Yes, Tom. Well?'
'D' ye know who was in that blunderin' pirate as tried t' send usrattlin' down on the rocks below?'
'No, I saw no one. It was a strange-looking craft, and seemed to haveno one on board; though, I suppose, the people were really boxed up andout of sight.'
Tom looked cautiously round, as if doubtful whether there were anyhidden listeners. Then he came close to Gerald, and said in a whisper,'But I see one on 'em! 'E were a-peepin' out o' a porthole! Nobody butme was lookin', an' as soon as 'e see me 'e bobbed back.'
'Well, who was it?' Gerald asked, impressed by Tom's manner. 'Any onewe--you or I--know?'
Tom nodded portentously.
'Ay, ay, sir; one who ain't no frien' o' yourn--the one ye call theOgre--an' a jolly good name for 'im too!'
'Are you sure--quite sure, Tom? This may be a serious matter! Youshould not say such a thing unless you are absolutely certain.'
'As sure as I am that me 'ead be on me shoulders, sir. The ugly swab!As if anybody could mistake 'is phizog!'
Gerald reflected a while, then said, 'Say nothing to any one else aboutthis, Tom. Keep your own counsel. There may be nothing in it, and ifyou talk it may get you into trouble.'
'Ay, ay, sir! I shall be dumb about it onless ye tells me t' speak.'
Presently a loud flourish of trumpets and sounds of shouting and ageneral commotion announced that the king himself was approaching.Monck led the visitors to a post of vantage outside the palace, fromwhich they could obtain a good view.
The sun was near to setting, and its beams cast a lurid glow over thescene--redder than any sunset they had ever seen on Earth.
Below them was a vast plain with a few low hills, upon and round whichwas the great city of Ivenia, looking vast and glorious, withmagnificent buildings extending in one direction pile upon pile almostas far as the eye could see. On the other side lay the sea, glisteninglike molten copper.
The king's air-yacht--larger and more beautiful even than the one theyhad come in--was seen rising majestically towards them, surrounded byhundreds of smaller air-craft, their decorations glittering andsparkling in the sun's red beams. There was no booming of cannon, aswould be the case with us, but a loud, musical, humming sound, which wascuriously agreeable to the ear.
When in due course Ivanta landed upon the height, a few of the craftaccompanying him landed also, and from them poured out a stream ofpeople splendidly arrayed, who trooped after him in procession to attendthe reception in the palace.
This was a repetition upon a larger scale, so to speak, of the functionat which Prince Alondra had presided, Ivanta this time occupying thethrone himself, with the young prince beside him. As before, places ofhonour were given to the strangers, amongst whom the Zuanstrooms werenow included; and the proceedings were even more enthusiastic and oflonger duration, winding up with a grand banquet. It would take toolong to describe all that followed. It must suffice to say that the twochums voted it the most wonderful entertainment that they had ever heardof or that imagination could picture; and when at last they lay downtogether for their night's rest they were both about tired out.
/> Now, however, that the dazzling excitement of this wonderful day wasover, and they were once more alone and quiet, the memory of theirnarrow escape from death and of what Tom Clinch had said came back toGerald's mind like the proverbial skeleton of the feast.
He had had a talk with Monck about it, and had been rather snubbed forhis pains. The engineer said he had seen Kazzaro go with his master onboard the large ex-warship which he had pointed out as serving now asAgrando's private yacht. Therefore, the Ogre could not possibly havebeen where Clinch said he was.
And Monck had ended the talk by rather curtly advising Gerald not tohunt for mares' nests, and warning him to be careful not to mention suchsuspicions to any one else.
'We shall make inquiries and find out who the people were who so nearlyran us down,' Monck assured him; 'and they will be called to account fortheir reckless navigation of the air. But I do not myself believe thatthere was anything more than carelessness, nor that Kazzaro could havebeen on board.'
Gerald felt a little sore at the engineer's blunt refusal to believehonest Tom Clinch; and Jack sympathised with him, and tried to comforthim by declaring that he agreed with his view.
'Depend upon it, Tom would not be likely to make a mistake in such amatter,' Jack agreed. 'He is an old sailor, and is as sharp as a needlein a case of emergency like that. My own opinion--strictly, of course,between ourselves--is that that imp of evil we call the Ogre was there,and that he deliberately tried to run us down and to kill us all,including the king's son. You will remember my saying I believed thatsome understanding existed between the Ogre and Zuanstroom. I am stillpositive that I was right, and that there is some sinister mischiefbrewing. Mr Monck may disbelieve it and laugh at the idea if he choosesto, but don't you feel sore, old chap. I am afraid he will wishby-and-by that he had treated our hints more seriously.'
Gerald shivered. 'I would rather it should turn out that it is Monckwho is right and we who are wrong,' he returned. 'It's horrible tothink that we have come all this way, and incurred so many risks, onlyto meet with plots and murderous attempts. It used not to be so in mydreams,' he added moodily. 'I wonder why it should be so now? Mr Monckgave us to understand that we were coming to a place where there were nomore wars, where King Ivanta reigned in peace and security, beloved byall his subjects. Why does it not seem to be as he led us to believe?Are we the cause? Is it due simply to the fact that the Zuanstroomsdon't like us--that they are angry because we came, or jealous becausethe king shows more favour to you than he does to Silas?'
'No; I don't think it is our fault,' said Jack, with decision.'Zuanstroom has brought with him the biggest cargo of diamonds everseen; and, as Mr Armeath said, trouble was sure to follow. Now, dismissit from your thoughts, old chap, and go to sleep.'
'I will; and perhaps some of the old dreams about the stars will comeback to me,' Gerald finished, with a sigh. 'I hope, if they do, therewill be no diamonds there!'