CHAPTER XII
Sir Jehan de Valx
FOR the remaining distance up to the chief gate of the city the landwas given over to cultivation, enclosed cornfields, reminding thelads of their own country, predominating. Each plot or field wascomparatively small in extent, and in each enclosure was a large pileof fuel.
"That is one of our means of defence," said Garth, in answer to thecorrespondent's question. "Each field is tended by two husbandmen.Should the signal be given that our enemies are approaching, the cornis to be cut and carried into the city. Should the time beinsufficient, those stacks of fuel are to be fired and cast amongstthe standing wheat, so that it may be consumed."
So well were the preparations for defence carried out that no treeswere permitted to be grown within a mile of the walls, and all unevenground that would afford a shelter to a lurking foe had beencarefully levelled. Soon the great drawbridge spanning a deep moatwas crossed, and, passing beneath the lofty rounded archway, Reevesand his companions found themselves within the capital of Croixilia.The streets, narrow but well maintained, were crowded with people.They took the greatest interest in the strangers who, though dressedin Arab clothing, were not Moslems but members of a great white racethat none of the citizens had ever before seen.
All the houses were built in the modified Eastern style, the wallsbeing of considerable thickness, the windows narrow, and the roofsflat. In every case the parapet was machicolated, thus turning thehouses into a series of fortifications, and at the same time bearingsilent testimony to the dangers to which this nation in arms wasexposed.
At length Garth halted his men in front of the palace on the Mound ofPharamond, over which floated a white flag with a red cross--exactlythe same as the banner of St. George. Then, bidding the Englishmenaccompany him, their guide knocked upon the great brazen knocker.
Immediately the door was flung open, and the three comrades foundthemselves in the courtyard of the palace, where the green turf--soutterly unexpected in the heart of Africa--again reminded them ofthe shady lawns of the ancestral homes of England. Within thecourtyard were men of all conditions--some armed, others having theappearance of merchants; for it was the Audience Day, and Sir Jehandenied admission to no one who desired to speak with his overlord.
Most of the persons present wore the copper cross, a few more worethe T-shaped device, while others sported a red cross with anadditional bar above the horizontal line.
"Here is the guest chamber, where you can refresh yourselves. Water,also, and clean raiment are at your service," said Garth. "AfterwardsSir Jehan will be pleased to receive you."
Having bathed and clothed themselves in white robes, somewhat afterthe style of those of the superior Arab class, the Englishmen set towith a will upon tempting viands.
When they had eaten to their hearts' content, they waited till Garthagain appeared.
"I have already announced your arrival, and the general audience ispostponed," he informed them. "The overlord of Croixilia will see youat once. But be pleased to bring your arms with you."
Passing through a broad hall and up a wide flight of stairs, theCroixilian paused outside a lofty door, which was covered with richhangings. Here two men, tall in comparison with their fellows, stoodon guard, being completely equipped in chain armour and carryingenormous axes; while another, clad in black velvet, with a cap ofmaintenance on his head and a golden chain flung round his neck,demanded the names and style of the three strangers.
"Style!" remarked Reeves to his young companions, after he had giventhe official their names. "The nearest approach to style that I couldboast of was my stylo. pen, and those rascally Arabs sneaked that.Now," he continued, dropping his banter, "keep your eye on Garth, anddo what he does--unless he makes too great a fool of himself beforethis big pot."
The next instant the Englishmen found themselves in a spacious hallbuilt of white stone and surrounded by aisles, which were separatedfrom the main building by massive rounded arches springing from plainrounded pillars.
In the middle of the tiled floor was a fountain, out of which thewater splashed melodiously into a fern-grown pond. Here and therewere heavy wooden benches, which formed the only furniture of thehall. At the farthermost end was a dais, approached by seven stonesteps; and on it, in a massive wooden chair, resembling the letter X,sat the overlord of Croixilia.
Sir Jehan de Valx was a burly man of middle height,dark-complexioned, and wearing a closely-trimmed beard, after thefashion of the majority of the men of Croixilia. He was dressed in akirtle of dark blue, edged with ermine, while over his shoulders wasa cloak of white samite, marked with a triple crown in red. He wasunarmed, but held a short ivory rod in his right hand. Ranged oneither side of him were about twenty men of rank, all wearingdouble-lined crosses similar to those Reeves had observed in thecourtyard.
Marching with head erect up to the foot of the dais, Garth saluted,the movement resembling a military salute performed by both hands atthe same time. Reeves and the lads did likewise, after setting theirflintlocks on the floor.
"These, then, are the men from England?" exclaimed Sir Jehan in adeep voice. "Welcome!"
For nearly two hours Reeves kept the ruler of Croixilia engrossedwith the story of their adventures in the desert and the wonders ofEurope, particularly of Great Britain. Sir Jehan, Reeves noticed,used a language that corresponded with the Anglo-Norman tongue,subject to slight variations for which the lapse of time wasresponsible. (The lads were already making vast strides in the studyof the Croixilian tongue, thanks to their fair knowledge of Frenchand their interest in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer.)
Sir Jehan was deeply interested in the weapons of the strangers,especially in Reeves's automatic pistol. The correspondent begged tobe excused the pleasure of giving Sir Jehan a practical exhibition ofthe pistol, on the reasonable grounds that the ammunition, if used,could not be replaced; but, on the other hand, he fired severalrounds from the flintlocks at a number of stout planks, which werebrought into the hall for the purpose.
"By St. Michael, if we had those weapons we should be more than amatch for the Moslems!" exclaimed the knight. "Of what is that blackpowder composed?"
Reeves hastened to explain the nature of the ingredients, upon whichSir Jehan (after considerable difficulty, owing to the strange names)elicited from his councillors that similar minerals were to be foundin the mountains of Kadir.
But when the correspondent proceeded to tell Sir Jehan of railways,steamships, telephones, and aeroplanes, the Croixilian's face showedunmistakable signs of disbelief, till one of the attendants reminded,him of a prophecy uttered centuries before by a certain Peter deCalvador, that when men should fly and fiery carriages pass over theearth without being drawn by horses, the deliverance of Croixiliawould be at hand.
At length the audience came to an end, Sir Jehan desiring Garth toregard the Englishmen as his honoured guests, and to provideeverything requisite for their comfort; and, having taken leave ofthe head of the State, Reeves and his companions withdrew.
Before the day was done the Englishmen learned the history of thisderelict European colony. The Croixilians were, as Reeves hadanticipated, the descendants of Crusaders. Just before the capture ofJerusalem by Saladin, several English knights, with their wives,families, and followers, succeeded in stealing through one of thegates, contrived to pass with little loss through the weakest part ofthe besiegers' lines, and escaped southwards into Egypt. Here,finding that their retreat to the shores of the Mediterranean was cutoff, they crossed the Isthmus of Suez, and took forcible possessionof six large galleys. Even in the twelfth century the possibility ofcoasting around Africa was deemed an accepted fact, and that sorryremnant of the Crusaders ventured upon this dangerous enterprise.
But the voyage ended disastrously, all the ships being wrecked on thewestern shore of the Red Sea. For a long time the devoted bandremained in the professedly Christian country of Abyssinia, till,influenced by a monk, they set out on a march to the interior, withthe object of
regaining the sea at the Pillar of Hercules.
After many privations the adventurers found themselves on the plateauof Khir. There, according to a vision that appeared to Peter theMonk, the march came to an end, until the signs at which Sir Jehan'sattendant had hinted appeared.
Fairly accurate records had been kept of the history of the State ofCroixilia, and according to the manuscripts there was an almostconstant warfare between the Moslems and the Christians from themiddle of the fourteenth century down to the present date.Nevertheless, the city of Charleton--named after its founder, SirCharles de Wyke--was built and put into a good state of defence.
The Croixilians were divided into three classes: the knights--thedirect descendants of the three leaders of the expedition--whosedistinctive mark was the double-lined cross; the commoners, comprisedof tradesmen, farmers, and artisans, all trained to the use of arms,their badge being the simple cross; and the serfs, who wore theletter T. This latter class was formed of persons who by sloth or bycrime against individuals in the State had forfeited their rights offree citizenship. Knights and commoners found guilty after a fairtrial by their peers were relegated to this class, and on them themenial work of the State devolved. Once a serf, there was no chanceof being restored to the former classes, unless through some valiantdeed of arms. The outward sign of the serfs signified that a portionof the cross, representing honourable citizenship, had been takenaway from them, leaving only the T-shaped device. A few crimesagainst the State--such as treason and rebellion--were punishable bydeath, as well as wilful murder, apostasy, and blasphemy. With theseexceptions there was but one punishment for civil offences--alifelong serfdom.
Thrice it was recorded that the Arabs succeeded in entering the town,and that on each occasion they met with a severe reverse in thestreets between the battlemented houses, the last being in 1617. Butsince the use of firearms by the Arabs the scale was slowly turningin their favour. The Croixilians found that armour and personalcourage were alike hopeless in an encounter in the open, and only themassive walls of the city prevented the extermination of the State atthe hands of the Mohammedans.
Curiously enough, Croixilia made little progress compared with herparent nation. This was, as Reeves had suggested, owing to a lack ofintercourse with other peoples. Firearms the men could notunderstand, printing was unknown, the domestic arts and crafts werestill mediaeval. In short, the State was almost exactly in the sameposition as England was in the twelfth century--steeped insuperstition and prejudice.
Yet it was kept fully alive by its military organization. Every mancould use some weapon. The knights relied upon lance, sword, andmace; the commoners were expert in the use of the crossbow, longbow,and sword; while the serfs were armed with spears and short swords.
A few weeks prior to the Englishmen's arrival, a powerful combinationof the Arab tribes lying to the east and west of Croixilia hadthreatened the city, and outposts were formed on all sides. The northside was fairly secure from assault, owing to the natural defencesafforded by the river and the "plain of pitfalls", but in order to bewarned of a possible junction of the enemy on that side, theCroixilian outposts had been advanced well into the desert; and itwas at this station that the English fugitives had fallen in withGarth and his comrades.
For the next week or two Reeves and the two lads were received indaily audience by Sir Jehan, who began to realize that theirknowledge of the modern science of war was an asset that would be ofimmense value to him in the threatened invasion.
For his part, Reeves readily consented to do his best for hisentertainer. He realized that, with the Arabs holding the westernplains, any attempt to follow the river would be hopeless; and untilthe way was clear it would be well to remain in comparative securityin Charleton, rather than risk a tedious journey through an unknownand hostile country.
One of his first acts was to establish a powder factory, sulphur andsaltpetre being found in the hills lying to the south of the city.Under direct supervision the serfs proved excellent and intelligentworkmen, and soon Reeves had the satisfaction of knowing that therewas a sufficient quantity of explosives to last throughout aprotracted siege.
His next thought was to provide firearms. Up to the present the totalnumber available amounted to four--the three flintlocks and theautomatic pistol. For the latter only thirty-five cartridgesremained, and, failing a proper capping machine, the correspondentrealized that a further supply of ammunition was unobtainable.
He therefore directed his attention to the manufacture of flintlockguns; but here he was foiled. Although he took to pieces one of theweapons, and carefully explained the working parts, the artisansreplied that the work was beyond them. Flints, too, wereunobtainable, so Reeves decided to construct a number of smallcannons, and mount them at convenient positions upon the wall.
This was accordingly done, for the Croixilians were fairly expert inbell-founding, and were able to construct moulds to the plans thatReeves drew for their guidance. Day and night the great wood-fedforges were kept constantly at work, till forty pieces ofmuzzle-loading, smooth-bore, firing a six-pound ball, were ready foruse.
Still not satisfied, the indefatigable Englishman directed hisattention to the manufacture of cast-iron shells, which were filledwith a rough-and-ready fuse composed of thin folds of damp cottonsprinkled with powder.
The first experimental shot turned out disastrously, the shellbursting almost as soon as it left the muzzle. Three men wereseriously wounded by the flying fragments, while those who served thegun were thrown into such a state of consternation that they couldnot be induced to come within twenty yards of the weapon.
"Well, Hugh," exclaimed the newly-appointed director of ordnance, "itcan't be said that our shells are ineffective. I think I see what'swrong: the exploding of the charge in the gun drives the fuse intothe bursting charge of the shell. I'll make allowances for that."
Next day, in the presence of Sir Jehan and his knights and most ofthe principal inhabitants, one of the guns was again brought out fortrial. This time Reeves and the two lads were obliged to do the workof loading and firing; but, dreading a repetition of the previousfailure, even the correspondent felt "jumpy" when he applied thelinstock.
There was a blinding flash and a deafening roar as the gun leaptbackwards with the recoil. Anxiously Reeves watched the flight of theprojectile, till at a distance of over a mile it burst with a louddetonation.
"'Tis full five arrow flights!" exclaimed Sir Jehan in utterastonishment. "The Moslems will fare badly if they appear before ourwalls."
"I hope to do better than that," replied Reeves; "but, since I cannotserve forty pieces of cannon, I must have assistance from your men."
THE SECOND GUN TEST]
"Assistance you must have," agreed Sir Jehan, and straightway heordered some of the archers to man the guns. The fellows obeyedquickly, yet in evident anticipation of going to their doom; butafter a few shots, finding that they were still unharmed, they warmedto their work, and soon showed great promise.
Still there was a lot to be done. The right amount of powder requiredto give the best results had to be determined, and sights to each gunfitted according to its peculiarities, some firing with lesstrajectory than others.
At length the warlike preparations were justified, when shortly afterdaybreak one morning the outposts on the eastern side of theCroixilian territory rode in with the intelligence that a vast hordeof Arabs was approaching.