*CHAPTER IV.*
*GERALD CARRIED OFF.*
Several days went by after the adventure recorded in the last chapterwithout anything further being seen of the strangers. The friends kepta watch upon their curious-looking abode from the shore, and sometimesfrom the water; but the voyagers gave no sign. At times a muffledhammering and clanging could be heard from inside, 'which,' as TomClinch expressed it, 'confirmed Mr Armeath's 'pinion as there's summatwrong with the works.'
To the impatient youngsters the time seemed to drag by slowly, and evenMr Armeath himself did not conceal the curiosity he felt.
'I confess,' said he, 'that I am waiting with the most intense interestto see what developments are in store for us. Before these people couldhave constructed such a machine, they must have made many wonderfuldiscoveries in the sciences. What marvels they will be able to show us!'
But Gerald's feelings in the matter went beyond mere scientificcuriosity. He had been most strangely attracted by the face and generalappearance of the man whose life he had saved. The recollection of hiscountenance, the expression of lofty nobility, and wondrous, indefinablegraciousness which he had read there, had fascinated him, and now seemedto haunt him. He looked forward with eager expectation to meeting thiswonderful being again, and longed for an opportunity of becomingfriendly with him.
Under the influence of these feelings, Gerald became more restless fromday to day. He could not sleep at night, and took to staying out uponthe beach instead. There he passed the time marching to and froopposite to the great dark mass which, sphinx-like, remained silent andinscrutable, and refused to divulge any more of its mysterious secrets.
One night, as he thus paced up and down in the darkness, he suddenly sawone part of the structure light up as though screens inside had beenremoved. He heard voices, and dimly saw a gangway open, after whichsomething which looked like a boat was pushed out quietly and smoothlyon to the water. Then shadowy figures stepped into her, and began torow or paddle towards the shore.
'At last! At last!' thought Gerald, highly pleased. 'They are comingashore at last! I will go forward to greet them!'
Had he not been so taken up with the expectation of meeting again theone who had so attracted his interest, he would probably have felt somedistrust at the fact that these strangers should be coming ashore thusstealthily in the darkness instead of in the daylight. No suspicion,however, entered his mind, and he ran forward to welcome them just asthe boat grounded on the sand. From her stepped out three figures, whocame towards him.
What happened next he was never able to say with certainty. He wasconscious of a quick movement on the part of one of the three, and hefelt a slight pricking sensation in one of his hands, somewhat as thoughhe had been touched by a very sharp needle.
Then a giddiness seized him, his legs seemed to give way under him, andhe sank, rather than fell, to the ground, and rolled over. When hetried to rise he found that he had no sort of control over his muscles;they refused to act, and he was unable to move so much as a finger.Even his voice refused to obey his will, for he vainly tried to cry out;no sound issued from his lips.
Two of the dark figures who had just landed came forward, picked him up,and carried him to the waiting boat. There he was thrown down very muchas if he had been a deer which had been captured. He next felt thecraft moving through the water, he heard the _lap, lap_ of the rippleagainst the sides, followed by a bump when it reached the end of itsshort voyage.
Then he was hauled up through the air and carried some distance throughseemingly interminable passages, which he knew were well-lighted; for,though he could not move, he was quite conscious, and could not onlyhear but could see whatever came within the range of his eyes.
Presently he was cast down upon the floor of a small chamber, where hewas left to himself, his captors closing the door with noisyaccompaniments which sounded like the turning of keys and the shootingof bolts into their sockets.
And there he lay, utterly unable to move, in an agony of mind which canbe better conceived than described. He was like one in a trance; andwild, weird tales came into his mind of persons who had fallen into asimilar state, and had been believed to be dead when they were reallystill alive. Did the people who had brought him there think he wasdead, he wondered, or were they aware of the true state of the case?The question suggested terrible possibilities. These strangers must beformidable beings indeed! Seemingly, they possessed dread powers andstrange secrets. It looked as though they could throw an enemy at willinto this terrible condition. But why they should regard him as anenemy to be treated thus, more especially after what he had been able todo for the one who had fallen into the sea, poor Gerald was at a loss toguess.
In his helplessness and dread of what the end might be, he prayedearnestly for help and deliverance. It seemed as though no earthlyfriends could aid him, but he did not lose faith in the power of the oneGreat Friend above, and to Him his prayers were many and fervent. Andafter a while it seemed as though those supplications were heard.Slowly, but surely, feeling crept back into his useless muscles, and thepower to use them returned. Little by little the control over his limbsreturned, until at last, with a long breath of relief and a gratefulprayer of thankfulness, he was able to stand up and move about hisprison-chamber.
First he examined himself to see if there was any wound which wouldaccount for what had happened to him; but he could find nothing save aslight mark on the right hand. He remembered that he had felt apricking sensation there just before he had collapsed upon the beach;after which there had been a tingling which had spread quickly all overhis body. And that was all he knew.
Ere, however, he could carry his memory and his speculations further,the door of the chamber was opened, and several persons entered abruptlyand stood for a while regarding him in silence.
Gerald, on his side, looked back at them curiously, and he was not byany means favourably impressed by his first survey of them. He decidedat once that they were soldiers, though their dress and accoutrementswere very different from anything he had ever seen before. They allwore beards, and were dark, both as to their hair and their complexions.
Their costumes, which were a curious dull-gray in tint, had thatpeculiar, shimmering sheen which he had noted in the dress of thestranger who had fallen into the sea. The fashion, too, was much thesame, the principal garment being the tunic, with a belt, and thepicturesque head-dress.
These people all bore shields, which, strange to say, seemed to be ofglass, for they were perfectly transparent; and by way of arms each hadan odd-looking twisted pole or spear, which looked like two rods ofpolished steel entwined together. At the top was a flat, spear-shapedpiece of light-coloured silvery metal, with three points or prongsinstead of one. Stuck into the belt of each, as people might stickpistols, were two or three smaller articles. One of them looked like ahunting-knife or dagger; but regarding the others, Gerald could form nosort of idea as to their use or meaning, and could only vaguely guessthat they were probably weapons of a kind unknown to dwellers upon theEarth.
One of these men, who appeared to be their officer, motioned to Geraldto follow him, and turned and led the way. Outside there were half adozen more men in waiting, all similarly dressed. The officer signed toGerald to follow a couple of these, while he himself, with the others,fell in behind; and thus they all marched onwards in double file, like asquad of soldiers.
They traversed many passages and galleries, where Gerald saw plenty toattract attention and excite wonder. They passed also people standingabout in small groups, and these looked as curiously at theprisoner--for such he felt himself to be--as did he at them. There was,however, no time or opportunity for more than a fleeting glance; he washurried onwards, till suddenly there came a great surprise.
Passing through an entrance, which in massiveness and design seemed tothe wondering captive more like the gateway to a medieval castle than adoorway one m
ight expect to find in such a place, they emerged into alarge open space.
Gerald looked round, and as he did so, a gasp of astonishment escapedhim. He found himself in what had all the appearance of a spacious,lofty hall, with a domed roof, around which glittered numerous lights.
But his attention was at once drawn to the other end of the room. Herewas a dais, and upon it were several persons. They were seated, for themost part, on handsomely carved and upholstered armchairs; but two ofthe latter were higher and larger than the rest, so that they partookrather of the character of thrones, and of these one again was largerand more important-looking than the other. Very strange affairs werethese two high seats, ornamented as they were with carvings representingheads of the queerest-looking creatures that can well be imagined. Thehigh backs curled over above, fashioned again in the shapes of heads ofmost horrible, fantastic monsters; smaller heads, vying with them infrightful ugliness, formed the ends of the arms.
Behind this array of chairs hung a curtain on which was worked weirdpictures of the chase. They depicted men hunting, and the creatures theywere in pursuit of were again strange beasts, such as, Gerald thought,seemed rather the outcome of a bad nightmare than the representation ofanything which had ever lived. Over all was a canopy with more carvedheads as corner-pieces.
Noting these details in two or three quick glances, Gerald turned hisattention to the occupants of the chairs; and as he did so his spiritsfell considerably.
He had hoped--expected indeed.--that he was about to be ushered into thepresence of the man whom he had rescued from the sea. Gerald hadalready made up his mind to like this man of the noble countenance, andtherefore, notwithstanding that the treatment he had received had notbeen over friendly, he had felt no great anxiety or misgiving as to whatwas in store for him.
But now, as he looked round, he very quickly perceived that the one hehad hoped to meet was not there. Instead, upon the large chairs orthrones, he saw two dark, bearded men, who returned his looks withanything but friendly gaze, and whose general appearance filled him withfeelings of dislike and alarm. Looking round the semicircle, he foundit was much the same with the others. There were no friendly glances atall; they gazed at him in solemn, gloomy silence; and the expressionupon their faces was at the best merely a sort of contemptuouscuriosity.
As to one of them in the centre--the one who sat upon the second highestseat--Gerald thought he had never looked upon a more unprepossessingbeing. His frame was large and muscular, his head massive; but hisdark, bearded face seemed full of brooding evil. His eyes were crafty,and lighted now and then with cruel, cunning gleams. He reminded Geraldsomehow of ancient tales of horrible old ogres, whose principalamusement might consist in planning new tortures for the unfortunatevictims who fell into their power.
Nor was his master--as Gerald judged him to be, the one seated upon theprincipal seat--much more attractive. His, too, was a huge figure, andhis countenance was dark and forbidding; but it was relieved by acertain air of haughty authority and natural ease, imparting to hisbearing a dignity which was lacking in the case of the other.
The more Gerald looked at the men before him the more he wondered at theinnocent, open-hearted expectation with which he and his friends on theisland had welcomed the coming of this wonderful 'chariot of the skies.'Had they known--he now bitterly reflected--had they but known the sortof beings it was peopled with, they would certainly have regarded itsadvent with very different feelings!
What evil fate, he vaguely and sadly wondered, had they in store forhim?