*CHAPTER XVIII.*
*A ROYAL PROGRESS.*
'There are the famous canals--the great waterways which the astronomersof the Earth have seen through their telescopes and puzzled over for somany years. The curious thing is that the scientists of Mars havepuzzled over them almost as much, and can tell you practically just aslittle about them.'
Thus spoke Monck, as the _Lokris_ sailed through the upper air on herway to the country of King Agrando.
Below them the voyagers saw seas and continents spread out as upon anenormous map. And there, quite plain to the eye, were the strangechannels Monck had referred to. They looked like great arms of the sea;but there was that in their regular shape which proclaimed, even to theunscientific eye, that they must have been constructed artificially.
'Their origin is lost in the mists of past ages,' Monck explained.'Some mighty race in the past must have made them at a time when to beable to travel by water was all-important.'
Jack, who was looking through a powerful telescope, exclaimed insurprise, 'I can see vessels going about on them! The curious thing isthat in one channel they are all going one way, and in the other channelthey are all moving along in the opposite direction.'
'Exactly!' Monck replied. 'And that, you perceive, seems to suggest areason for their construction. There are strong currents runningthrough them just as you see the vessels going--that is to say, inopposite directions. It is supposed that the ancients, in the daysbefore mechanical propulsion was invented, saw in that fact an easy wayof getting about. At any rate, that is the general suppositionnowadays. Of course, it is only a guess.'
The _Lokris_ had been at this time two days and nights on her journey.She was accompanied by several airships, forming, in effect, a smallsquadron. 'Escorted' would be perhaps a more fitting term, for severalof them were war-vessels, while others again were craft in attendance,carrying supplies.
The progress of the whole fleet was methodical, and was conducted with agood deal of ceremony. It was all ordered very much as would be the casewith the fleet of one of the Great Powers on Earth escorting the yachtcarrying the son of a powerful monarch on a visit or tour to a distantrealm. One of the war-vessels carried the Diamond King and his party;while Armeath and his wards travelled with Prince Alondra in his yacht.
As they continued their journey they passed over various cities andcountries. Sometimes strange war-vessels, seeing from a distance that asmall fleet was approaching, came soaring up to inquire who and whatthey were. Continually, all day long, other craft, of every size andkind, passed them. Some were great liners, carrying passengers, goingswiftly to and fro like our greyhounds of the Atlantic; some wereprivate yachts; and others again war-craft, alone, or in twos andthrees. All, as they went by, ran up signals; and when they learnt fromthe answering signals who the illustrious travellers were, saluted intoken of respect.
Their progress was leisurely, and there were many halts. There werecertain places where their coming was expected, and preparations hadbeen made to give them a brilliant reception. Airships, splendidlydecorated, came up to welcome them, and beg them to descend to receiveaddresses.
Then it was that the strangers saw how much diversity it was possible tointroduce into the decoration of the various air-craft, and how theiroutward appearance could be varied and altered according to the tasteand ingenuity of the owners. Every kind of bird was imitated upon alarge scale. There were gigantic swans, eagles, swallows, and otherbirds such as are familiar to us upon Earth, and a number of strangebird-forms which exist only on Mars. There were grotesque creatures,too, representations of beasts and fish, and uncanny-looking monsters,some of the latter resembling what we know as dragons, griffins,wyverns, and so on.
At night there would be fetes, when all these creatures were lighted upin curious and ingenious fashion, revealing to the astonished anddelighted travellers most weird and marvellous effects, as theyperformed intricate evolutions and manoeuvres in the air in the dark.Then there were fireworks such as have probably never been dreamed of byeven our most skilful pyrotechnists. Illuminated airships soared up intothe heavens and formed brilliant constellations of huge coloured stars,or rained down showers of fire, like colossal, inverted, fieryfountains. Chariots of fire sailed to and fro and engaged in races,contests, or in sham-fights upon a grand scale. Fiery monsters, whichleft long, shining trails of light behind them like the tails of comets,darted to and fro with a roar which startled those who heard it for thefirst time. Luminous clouds--red, yellow, blue, or green--formedmysteriously, and aeronauts played hide-and-seek amongst them with theirlighted cars, vanishing suddenly into them and reappearing quiteunexpectedly in a different place.
Such were some--only a few--of the spectacles with which the travellersfrom our Earth were entertained by the hospitable inhabitants of thecountries over which they passed in the course of their journey toSedenia. It would require too much space to describe all the marvelloussights they gazed upon, the novelties they met with, the quaintcostumes, manners, and customs of the various nations they encountered,or the numerous zoological curiosities which were brought under theirnotice. Weeks were occupied in this manner, and it may safely be saidthat each day brought some fresh surprise, something which was new,unexpected, or curiously interesting to the visitors.
Altogether, the two chums and their guardian had a memorablejourney--one to be remembered with delight and wonder for the rest oftheir lives, one which was in every sense a truly royal progress. Notthe least interesting part of it consisted in the frank curiositydisplayed by the inhabitants in themselves as natives of another world.Many showed great surprise at finding that they were just human beings,very much the same as the Martians were, neither more nor less.
'I suppose,' remarked Gerald, 'they expected that we should turn out tobe monsters like those which that philosopher of theirs, whose book Iwas reading on the way here, declared us to be: "ape-like creatures,with blue skins covered with green hair."'
But whatever the expectations of the Martians had been, they soondemonstrated that they were well pleased with the reality, for theyoverwhelmed the visitors with the most lavish hospitality, and accordedthem places of great honour at every public function.
One note there was, however, not exactly of discord, but a jarringnote--an undercurrent--of disappointment and dissatisfaction,nevertheless. In every place at which they arrived, one of the firstquestions addressed to Monck was: 'Have you brought the diamonds?' or'When are the diamonds to be offered for sale?' These, or some similarinquiries concerning the great shipload of gems which it was now knownthroughout the Martian world had been brought by King Ivanta from the'evening star,' met them at every halting-place.
It was evident that the answer which Monck, as the king's messenger, wascompelled to make to these queries, caused considerable surprise anddisappointment. In certain extreme cases they even threw a certain airof restraint into the exhibitions of public rejoicings.
'What has been done with the diamonds, Mr Monck?' asked Jack one day.'What is going to be done with them? If they were brought here to beoffered for sale to those who could afford to buy them, why are theykept back?'
'At present they are under lock and key--that is to say, they aredeposited in the strong room of the treasury in the city of Ivenia.'
'When are they going to be brought out again?'
'That is more than I can say, young sir. It is at present a secretknown only to my royal master.'
'It's no business of mine, sir,' Jack went on modestly, 'and perhaps youwill think I have no right to say anything; but I can't help seeing thatkeeping them locked up is causing a great deal of ill-feeling. I knowthat Mr Armeath thinks--and I feel sure that he is right--that it is apity they were ever brought here at all. But since they have beenbrought, it does seem a bit funny that so much time should be allowed togo by without any one being allowed even to see them.'
'It is the king's will,
and that is all I can tell you. I may just hintto you privately, however, that I have an idea--it is only my own guess,mind you--that the king wishes to defer taking any decided step tillafter his return from his visit to Kondris--that is, to the planet youknow as Saturn.'
Jack whistled. 'Oh, oh!' he cried, nodding his head shrewdly. 'I see!Then he is really bent on making that trip?'
'Undoubtedly. At least, I believe he is now completing the necessarypreparations.'
'Mr Zuanstroom--he won't like that, will he?'
'He will have to wait the king's pleasure.'
'I suppose he will; but he won't like it. And you will find he willbegin to kick if something isn't done soon. I have heard hints to thateffect. Silas let it out in an indiscreet moment.'
'My royal master has a way of doing what he chooses without regard tothe opinions of private individuals,' was Monck's answer; and it wasgiven in a tone which effectually closed the conversation.