*CHAPTER XIX.*
*A DARING PLOT.*
In due course the travellers reached the country of Sedenia. They weremet upon--or rather over--its borders by the ruler of the realm, KingAgrando. He was accompanied by his chief councillor, Kazzaro--otherwisethe Ogre--Gorondo his chief General, and his principal officers ofState. He also had with him a number of war-airships of various sizes.
Under his conduct the travellers passed on to his capital, the city ofDyrania, a rambling town of considerable size, built upon the slopes ofa high mountain and overlooking a large lake.
The visitors left their airships, and took up their abode for the timebeing in suites of apartments assigned to them for their use in theroyal palace.
Here King Agrando dispensed his hospitality with a sort of semi-barbaricdignity. To Gerald, in particular, as may be imagined, it seemed acurious thing to find himself attending his Court as a guest. It cannotbe said that it was a pleasant experience, and he entered into it withvery mixed feelings.
So far as the outward conduct of his host went, however, he had nothingto complain of. He had come there with Prince Alondra and Monck, KingIvanta's special representative; and he, Mr Armeath, and Jack, weretreated upon that footing with the strictest regard to everything thatcourtesy and etiquette required. At the same time, try as he would, hecould not feel exactly comfortable. Every time he attended anyfunction, and saw before him King Agrando and his chief officers, therecame back to him the memory of that time when he had been brought beforethose same men as a helpless prisoner, and treated with contumely andinsult. His cheeks would flush, and the hot blood rush through hisveins even now, as he recalled how Kazzaro had prodded and pommelled himas a farmer might a bullock offered for sale, and remembered thesinister and forbidding aspect of the whole crowd as they gazed uponhim.
Still, so far as they were concerned, all this might have been a meredream. Nothing in their behaviour showed that they even recollected it.The king, indeed, in a certain fashion of his own, seemed to wish toconvey to Gerald that he desired the whole 'regrettable incident' to beforgotten.
As King Agrando plays an important part in this history, some furtherparticulars concerning him may be given here.
His had been one of the last countries to be brought under the sway ofthe all-powerful, all-conquering Ivanta. He now occupied asemi-independent position, one somewhat similar to that of some of therichest and most powerful of the native princes of India. In his timehe had himself been a great fighter and conqueror, having invaded andconquered several adjoining countries. He had ruled over these--and overhis own subjects also--with an iron hand; and at times, it was said,with tyrannical cruelty. There had been, indeed, dark rumours afloat ofterrible deeds carried out by him with the aid of the band ofcouncillors he kept about him, of whom Kazzaro was the chief. If thesetales were anywhere near the truth, then the title of Ogre, which thechums had bestowed upon Kazzaro, might have been quite as suitably givento his master.
But those days were past--or supposed to be past. Agrando was now onhis best behaviour. Ivanta had insisted that there should be no morefighting or quarrelling with his neighbours, and no more cruelty andoppression within his realm. Thus the tyrant's 'occupation was gone,'and he had little left to him to do save to occupy himself and hisselect circle with such more or less harmless amusements as thecircumstances permitted.
For one thing, he had become a great collector of curios of all kinds,animate and inanimate. That is to say, he had got together the finestcollection of curios and zoological and botanical specimens of any uponthe planet. Some of these had been contributed by Ivanta--brought byhim from distant planets, Earth and Saturn--who possibly thought it goodpolicy to encourage his restless vassal in so blameless a hobby. Thusthe gardens surrounding the palace formed a sort of glorified Zoo andKew Gardens rolled into one. His palace, too, was filled to overflowingwith the most remarkable works of art that money could buy and thecountries of his globe could produce. The fame of his collections hadspread throughout the world of Mars, and people travelled immensedistances and made long pilgrimages to see them.
It is scarcely a matter for surprise that such a man should now bebitten with a craze for diamonds, with a burning, overmasteringdesire--which later on became a determination--to become the possessorof the finest collection of jewels upon his planet.
Now, it so happened that while Agrando's desires in this direction hadbeen growing and growing until they had almost reached the length ofbecoming a sort of madness, Ivanta's thoughts had been working in anexactly opposite direction. By degrees he had come to wish he had nevertroubled himself about precious stones at all. Certainly, what he haddone had been planned with the best intentions; but his sagaciousinstinct now began to lean to the idea that for once in his life he hadmade a great mistake. Therefore, he was casting about for some plausibleexcuse for undoing what he had travelled all the way to Earth speciallyto accomplish.
Already, during the voyage home to Mars, he had noted many incidentswhich his keen insight into human nature had told him were the littleseeds likely to grow into a big crop of future trouble. He had seen,with sorrow and alarm, that even his most trusted councillors anddearest friends were beginning to give their chief thought and attentionto 'dividing up' the cargo of diamonds they were carrying back. Alreadyenvy, covetousness, and greed were raising their ugly heads where beforeall had been amiability and goodwill. And if this were so even beforethe distribution took place, what was likely to be the state of thingsafterwards?
This alteration in his views had been greatly strengthened by hisconversations with Armeath. That honest sage, also deeply experienced inhuman nature, fearlessly expressed his own opinions on the subject. Hegave Ivanta endless illustrations and 'modern instances' of the crimesand misery which a covetous greed for precious stones might be expectedto introduce into his world.
Ivanta--convinced, yet, as an honourable man, hampered by his ownpromises and undertakings--gladly jumped at Armeath's suggestion ofmaking artificial stones in such quantities as to render them as 'commonas pieces of glass.' Then, as Armeath had argued in his talk withMonck, nobody would bother himself to be the possessor of any of the'gems,' whether real or artificial. For none could tell the former fromthe latter when manufactured by Armeath's process.
The great difficulty now seemed to be to get a sufficient quantity ofthe necessary mineral; and to do this Ivanta would have to pay a visitto Saturn, that being the only place he knew of where it could beobtained.
Meantime, Ivanta had decided to keep the cargo he had brought locked up;and to postpone its distribution until his return from his projectedjourney.
Unfortunately, however, the mischief had already been done; the seeds ofserious trouble had been sown, and were now growing to a far largerextent than King Ivanta knew of.
King Agrando, in particular, was hatching a double plot, which, if itsucceeded, was not only to gratify his newly-born craze for a bigcollection of jewels, but to restore him to his former position ofindependent ruler. Even, perhaps--who could tell?--it might raise himto the position now occupied by Ivanta himself!
Into this conspiracy Zuanstroom had entered. That, at first sight, mayappear a little strange; but the so-called Diamond King had newlyawakened ambitions of his own. He saw that, as the owner of this greatcargo of precious stones, he was in a position which was absolutelyunique in the world of Mars. Upon Earth he had only been the DiamondKing in a relative sense; here he was actually entitled to that name.But why should he stop there? Why should he not use his unique positionto make himself a king in actual fact? Upon Earth, even with the helpof all his diamonds, he could never aspire to such a height; but here itwas different. Ivanta, he knew, would never fall in with such an idea;but Agrando, if approached in the right way, might--and he did.
The result of the conferences between the two plotters may be summed upthus: Agrando had said, 'Let us use your diamonds t
o depose Ivanta andput me in his shoes, and give me the biggest share of the treasure; andI will then put you into a position similar to that I now myself occupy.You shall be king over a large tract of country, subject only to me asyour overlord.'
And Zuanstroom's ambition and unscrupulous nature had determined him toseal the compact and risk the consequences.
The visitors to Agrando found plenty to amuse and interest them duringtheir stay. The palace gardens alone were a never-ending source ofwonder and delight to the two chums. Rumour had not exaggerated when ithad spread reports of the marvels to be seen there. The friends spent agood deal of their time exploring and investigating--for the gardenswere of very great extent--and every day they came upon something fresh.
At the beginning, Monck had given them this curious warning: 'Kazzarohas asked me to put you on your guard,' said he. 'King Agrandoremembers the dangers which you, Gerald, so narrowly escaped during ourjourney in the _Ivenia_; and he does not wish that a similar unhappyoccurrence should cast a reflection upon any of his people here. So hehas instructed Kazzaro to remind me that there are many specimens andscientific curiosities in the gardens which may be dangerous tostrangers unacquainted with their characteristics--not merely among theanimals, and reptiles, and so on, he says, but even amongst the treesand plants. For King Agrando has devoted an immense amount of money andtrouble to collecting and cultivating specimens of most out-of-the-waykinds, some of them with qualities never known or heard of before.Apart from this consideration, you have the king's permission to goabout freely wherever you choose!'
Later on, Gerald asked Jack his private opinion of this warning. 'Whatdoes it mean?' he asked doubtfully. 'Is it genuine, do you think, ordoes it conceal some crafty trick?'
'Sounds straightforward enough!' Jack declared. 'Where can the trickcome in?'
'I don't know,' Gerald mused. 'I have no right, perhaps, to suspect anytrickery; yet, somehow, I don't trust the Ogre!'
'No more do I, for that matter! We'll keep our eyes open!' said Jack.
A few days later, Alondra, wandering alone in the gardens, one morning,came upon an immense round glass-house, the door of which, he noticed,was standing open for the first time. He had paused at the place two orthree times before; but the door had always been shut and locked.Moreover, there was a label upon it, which read: 'Private. ContentsDangerous.'
Naturally, such a placard had aroused his curiosity, and he had madeattempts to see what was inside; but everywhere the glass was screenedoff within, and he could discover nothing. Here, this morning, was anopportunity to see for himself what the mysterious 'contents' were. Hehad his trident with him--he had carried it every day in consequence ofthe warning that had been given--so what had he to fear?
He passed through the open door, and came to a second door at one side.Opening this, he made his way amongst a lot of thick shrubs, and cameout in an open space paved with white marble. In the centre was a largemarble pool, with steps leading down into it. In the pool a fountainwas playing; the whole looking very cool and inviting. It had theappearance of a plunge-bath; and seemed to tempt the stranger to take adive into its bubbling waters.
Alondra looked round. Nothing was to be seen on any side but floweringshrubs, the scent of which filled the air. But the most beautifulblooms of all, he noticed, were some large white lilies growing amongstclusters of immense leaves in the pool.
Surprised and fascinated at the extreme beauty of these blooms, the likeof which he had never seen before, he walked down the steps as far asthe edge of the water, and put his hand amongst the green leaves topluck a flower. Immediately the leaf curled over upon his hand, and tohis astonishment and dismay he found he could not withdraw it! Not onlythat, but the leaf was exercising a distinct pulling power; it wassteadily dragging him towards the water! Then he put the other handdown to try to free the first one, when another leaf curled round it,and he found himself held as though his hands had been tied togetherwith a strong rope. He struggled hard, but he could not cast off thatdeadly grip; and, little by little, the horrible leaves dragged himforward until he was forced into the pool. Other leaves then began tocurl round his body, and forced him down, down, step by step, until thewater encircled his neck!