*CHAPTER XXXI.*
*AT HOME IN A VOLCANO.*
The prisoners found themselves in the middle of what they took to be avast round building, with an immense domed roof, open to the sky in thecentre. As a matter of fact, they afterwards knew it to be the interiorof the crater of an extinct volcano.
Into the open part, one of Mars' two moons was peeping, throwing down awarm, mellow light, very different from the pale silvery beams of ourown moon.
But this soft radiance was lost in the bright illumination given out bythousands of lights of some kind which were placed about within thegreat dome--some round the rocky walls, others high up in the wide,lofty roof.
Round the sides, below, were seats, rising tier upon tier, save at oneplace, where was a platform or dais, upon which were raised seats with acanopy over them. Just in front of the highest seat stood a man ofcommanding appearance, who gazed at the prisoners with a look of keen,searching scrutiny. This man, as they afterwards learned, was the chiefof whom Malto had spoken--the one who was known as Fumenta. He wasdressed as plainly as his followers--indeed, more plainly than some ofthem; but there was that in his face, in his manner, in his very pose,which singled him out from all the rest, and proclaimed the fact that hewas their leader.
That he must be old was apparent from the gray beard and the gray hairwhich showed beneath his head-covering--a kind of helmet. His face,too, was seamed and marked, and spoke eloquently of a life of hardshipand adventure. But his tall figure was upright and stalwart, andexhibited no sign of failing strength; while his dark, piercing eyeswere flashing with a fire almost as of youth.
Duralda and Landris mounted, by means of three or four steps, on to theplatform, and, after a respectful salutation, conferred in a low tonewith their leader. Meantime, those seated around--of whom there musthave been many hundreds--ceased their talk, and gazed in silence at theprisoners.
Presently, Fumenta turned from his henchmen, and, fixing his eagleglance upon the captives, began to question them. 'Who are you?' heasked. 'And what are you doing in these parts?' His voice wassonorous, and, though stern, not unpleasing. He glanced from one to theother, as if to mark the effect of his question upon each in turn; buthe evidently addressed himself more particularly to Malandris, who hadbeen pointed out by Landris.
'We were storm-tossed travellers at the time we were captured, my lord,'Malandris answered. 'We had lost our way. Apart from that, we werefugitives fleeing from'----
Fumenta's eyes flashed and his brow grew dark.
'I want a plain answer,' he interrupted warningly. 'You--you two--wearAgrando's hated livery; you are evidently his servitors--some of hismyrmidons! Woe to you if you have come here to play the part of spy forhim!'
At the mention of the words 'livery' and 'servitors,' Malto had startedand flushed. And now at the word 'spy' he seemed to lose control ofhimself. He laid a hand on Malandris, as though asking that theanswering of the questions should be left to him. Then, drawing himselfup, he said haughtily, 'Though we are your prisoners, sir, I fail to seewhy we should endure your insults without protest! It is true, alas!that I have for many years been one of Agrando's servitors--ay, even hisslave, I may almost say. But I am not the first, nor the only one, ofgentle birth, who has been forced by the tyrant to serve him thus. Atlast, however, I have escaped, and I only await the opportunity ofpicking up some other suit of clothes to throw off for ever what youaptly call his hated livery. If you are, indeed, as I suspect, thechief Fumenta of whom I have heard, I have no reason for fear, for Ihave been told of him that he is brave and just, an upright, chivalrousgentleman, though he has been sorely persecuted. I have never heard,however, that he was given to insulting his prisoners, and taunting themwith having been forced to serve a hateful tyrant.'
Alondra, who had been engaged in 'taking stock,' so to speak, ofeverything and every one around, turned and looked at Malto in surprise.The young man had suddenly come out in a new character. He was lookinghis questioner squarely in the face, his eyes flashing back glance forglance, his whole attitude full of indignant protest. Yet was there init nothing of rudeness; on the contrary, even in his defiance, there wasa subtle suggestion of that deference which a young man may always payto age without lowering his own dignity.
But what was even more noticeable was the fact that Fumenta himselfappeared to be just as much taken aback as Alondra had been. To thesurprise of every one there--his own people most of all--he showed nosign of anger, and the look he cast at the speaker, shrewd, searching,as it was, was free from all trace of irritation. There was a pause,while he eyed the young man from head to foot. He looked at him as iftrying to read his very soul. Then, for a moment, a quick, eagerexpression came into his face; but it faded again instantly, he passedhis hand over his forehead in a strange, dreamy way, and finally shookhis head.
When he spoke again his tone was gentler. 'You are bold, young sir,' hesaid. 'Few dare to speak to me as you have done. Yet if you tell thetruth your boldness will be justified, for it shall never be said thatthose who have called me a just man spoke falsely. I confess I likeyour spirit; you remind me of---- But it's useless now to speak ofthat. What is your name?'
'I have been known as Malto. But it is not my true name.'
'How so?'
'Agrando chose, for purposes of his own, that I should be called Maltowhile I was yet but a boy; and I had no choice but to submit.'
'Ha! But why, then, after serving him and submitting to him for so manyyears, did you suddenly wish to leave him?'
'Because, sir, something accidentally came to my knowledge of which Ihad previously been ignorant. It is rather a long story, but I may saybriefly that I wished to make a personal appeal to King Ivanta.Instead, however, we had to flee for our lives in the midst of the greatstorm which has but just passed, and we were carried here by the highwind.'
'With these companions?' asked Fumenta. For the first time he seemed tonotice the prince's rich dress. Malto's personality had so attractedhis attention that for the time being he had troubled little about theothers. Now he seemed suddenly interested in Alondra. 'And who, youngsir, are you?' he queried.
Alondra drew himself up, and proudly answered, 'My name is Alondra, sonof King Ivanta!'
The words had a marvellous effect; they seemed to electrify theassembly. Till then every one had been silent, content to await quietlythe result of their chief's questioning, and anxious to hear all thatwas said. Now there burst out a great commotion. Every one presentsprang up in amazement. Some simply stood and stared in helplessastonishment; some leaned forward to gaze upon the youth as thoughscarcely able to believe their ears; others, again, turned to theirnearest neighbours, and began talking and gesticulating excitedly.
Exclamations were heard, some of which gave a clue to the cause of thisexcitement: 'What a piece of luck for us!' 'What a hostage!' 'Now KingIvanta must listen to us; we can compel him!'
It was obvious that these outlaws regarded the young prince as a greatprize--one which they meant to turn to account in negotiating withIvanta.
As to Fumenta, he, it was easy to perceive, was nearly as muchastonished by the statement as were his followers. He seemed, indeed,almost too surprised for speech, and for a few minutes exhibited somesigns of incredulity. Then, suddenly making up his mind, he bent hishead courteously, and said, 'It is a pity we did not know this sooner.Had you told my people at first who you were, Prince, they would havehandled you a little more gently, I expect. They are rough fellows; thelife we lead has made them so.'
'I have not complained,' said Alondra, with one of his good-naturedsmiles. 'But certainly I wish now that I had spoken sooner, if it wouldhave been better for these friends of mine. They are my royal father'sguests, and are supposed to be under his protection. But Agrando hassuddenly revolted. We went there on a peaceful visit, and he made atreacherous attack upon my whole party, and sought to take usprisoners.'
r /> Fumenta started, while from the listening throng came loud exclamations.Every one strained his ears in eager excitement.
'What do you tell me?' exclaimed Fumenta, evidently utterly amazed.'Agrando in revolt! Tried to seize you and your party! Is that, then,the reason you are fleeing from him?'
'Truly, we had no other course open to us, as we were situated. Imyself and these companions were cut off from my followers, and we hadto make our escape as and how we could. It was a desperate venture, asyou know, to cast ourselves loose in the air in such a storm. But it wasour only chance. Had we not taken the risk we should have beenAgrando's prisoners. I do not even now know how his traitorous attackturned out. I don't know whether my followers have got away or havebeen captured. But this I do know,' he concluded, looking roundproudly, 'there will be a heavy reckoning for all this. My father KingIvanta will be already on his way, by this time, to look for us, and topunish Agrando and his treacherous crew.'
To the astonishment of Alondra and those with him, this speech wasreceived by the whole assembly with a great burst of cheering. Againand again, and yet again, did it ring out. And the shouters, aftercheering themselves hoarse, pressed forward and crowded round the'prisoners,' seeking eagerly to kiss the prince's hand, or, failingthat, to shake hands with one or another of his companions.
Gerald and Jack found themselves suddenly treated with exuberantfriendliness by those whom they had regarded but a few minutes before asdangerous enemies. They stared about them, bewildered, notunderstanding such a sudden change. Alondra was as perplexed as therest, and his face showed it.
Fumenta smiled, and proceeded to explain: 'These followers of mine,rough fellows though they are, to whom Agrando and his tools have givena bad name, are really honest patriots who have been driven into exileto escape from the tyrant,' he said. 'We have fought against him, andagainst his bloodthirsty followers, it is true; but otherwise we haveharmed no man. And, above all, we have no quarrel with King Ivanta,save in so far as he had been led--by false representations,doubtless--to espouse Agrando's cause against us. Now, therefore, thatyou have told us that Agrando has revolted, my friends are delighted,because they know it must lead to the tyrant's overthrow and to his justpunishment. As to the rest, you can command us all, Prince. Every manhere will join your standard and fight for you against Agrando. We areready to offer our aid, our lives, to King Ivanta. We will fight to thedeath for him against that cruel monster.'
'We will! We will!' cried the shouting crowd. 'Long live King Ivanta!''Long live Prince Alondra!'
Just then a messenger entered in breathless haste, and saluting Fumenta,spoke to him aside.
There was a brief colloquy between the two, after which Fumenta spokealoud, so that all might hear: 'Some airships have been sighted in thedistance, seemingly coming this way. All lights must be extinguished.'Then, addressing Alondra more particularly, he continued, 'There are twosquadrons, it seems; but our scouts could not tell whose ships they are.They may carry your enemies or your friends, or a party of each, one inchase of the other. At the same time, a thick mist is rising, as isoften the case here after such a storm as we have had, and most likelythe airships will disappear in the fog and we shall see no more ofthem.'
'But that would be a bad thing if some of them are my friends,' saidAlondra. 'Your people took charge of the motor-wings we brought withus; let us go out in them to reconnoitre. If we meet with friends wewill all join together; but if we discover that they are enemies, andthey do not look like going away, we will return and warn you.'
Fumenta considered for a few minutes, then answered, 'Very well; so beit.'
By this time all lights had been put out, and the whole vast interiorwas in black darkness, save for the opening in the centre, where somerays of moonlight were still feebly struggling through the thickeningvapours.
Through this opening, a little later, Alondra and his companions rose,flying like spectres on silent wings, and disappearing into the mist.