CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
VAE VICTIS!
For the rest of the night Grenville lay racked with mental agony.Before another dawn came stealing over the Eastern Mountains he was todie a violent death; still, the thought of that did not trouble himnearly so much as the loss of his faithful Zulu friend. The fact thathe himself had been unable to lift one finger to assist Myzukulwaagainst the common foe was gall and wormwood to Grenville. Again andagain he pictured to himself the anguish of those at the plateau whenthey learned not only of the entire failure of the plot for his ownrelease, and the consequent necessity of abandoning him to his fate, butalso of the death of one of their trusty defenders. Had the Mormonsbeen now aware that Winfield was dead, Grenville felt sure they wouldhave delivered an immediate and probably overwhelming attack upon thespot occupied by the little band of invaders; and he could find it inhis heart to wish that a few more explosive shells had fallen into thehands of his party, whose position would then have been impregnable.
Soon after dawn the prisoner fell into a troubled sleep, from which hesoon awoke to find himself crying and moaning bitterly. Directly afterthis, however, nature re-asserted her claims, and he slept long andpeacefully, dreaming that all had ended quite satisfactorily, and thathe, poor fellow, was at liberty. When aroused to eat his breakfast,this impression was strong upon him, and he astounded the guards byasking if the order for his release had come down.
They first smiled, and then said significantly that _he must not expectthat before sundown_.
Grenville then asked where he was to be executed, and was told about adozen miles from East Utah, near to the western bridge.
"Why there?" he inquired.
"Oh! only because our graveyard is there, and we first bury the HolyThree," was the answer, which certainly appeared the reverse ofreassuring.
"Will you bury me when dead?" asked the prisoner, who seemed to take agruesome interest in all the details of his own fate.
"Of course we shall," replied a guard; "what did you think we'd do?"
"I was afraid you'd crucify me like those poor devils near the greatstairway; and I didn't enjoy the idea," was the reply.
The men looked wonderingly at one another, and, as Grenville thought,with awed faces, as if asking what new and unknown horror this was; butnot one of them had a word to say.
The prisoner now inquiring who in East Utah was at the head of affairs,was soon apprised of the fact that it was Ishmael Warden's own brother,a man as much feared and hated for his cruel villainies as that worthyhimself had been. Clearly there was no mercy to be looked for from him,and one of the guards, who appeared well disposed to Grenville, told himas much.
"I see," replied he. "Well, if he is such a scoundrel as it's easy tosee you think him, I hope my friends will wipe him out for you at anearly opportunity. I'd make another attack on the plateau if I wereyou, and get Brother Warden to take a front place and try the quality ofthose excellent bomb-shells of ours. A little knowledge is a dangerousthing, my friend; I should never have tried on such an unsportsmanlikegame, unless you had first treated me to it, and the result just servesyou right."
In the afternoon Grenville was led out; his fetters, much to hisdelight, were taken off; and, escorted by a guard of a hundred men, hewas marched away to the place of execution.
Arrived there, the prisoner found it to be a perfectly level forestglade about half a mile across--open sward in the centre, with theforest fringing it on all sides but one. The one remaining side was,however, guarded by the dreadful River of Death, which at this pointflowed with a slow hoarse murmur between rugged cliffs which, nearlythree hundred feet above, seemed to brood over the stream as it glidedbeneath. If it be an accepted fact that still waters run deep, then thedepth of the River (the chasm being some thirty feet across) must atthis point have been considerable; whilst, to add to the drearysolemnity of the place, the dark shadows of the trees in the backgroundseemed to keep friendly and untiring watch over the graves of the Mormondead.
On looking round him, Grenville came to the conclusion that positivelythe entire community of both sexes had assembled in this forest glade,partly to swell the funeral cortege of the Holy Three, and partly, nodoubt, drawn by curiosity, or by vengeful feelings, to see the very lastof himself personally.
Of the burial rites our friend saw but little, as his guards kept theunbelieving Gentile at a respectful distance from the remains of theholy dead; but the moment the funeral was over, there arose from thewhole of that vast crowd one mighty earth-shaking yell for vengeance onthe common foe. Men, women, and children alike lent their voices tothis fearful cry; and well, in sooth, they might, for there were fewfamilies in the comparatively small community of the latter day Saintswhich had not recently been rendered houses of mourning by one action oranother of the prisoner or his friends.
On hearing the cry of the people thirsting for his blood, Grenvillestarted; then, drawing himself up proudly, he took a long farewellglance at the setting sun, the distant mountains, the dense dark forest,and the green and rolling veldt, and then, walking to the spot indicatedby his guards, the prisoner folded his arms across his breast and facedhis executioners with haughty contempt in every line of his expressiveand handsome countenance.
Just as the last few rifles which alone remained loaded in East Utahwere about to be discharged at him, at one dozen paces, he suddenly heldup his hand, and his clear voice went ringing across the veldt and intothe silent forest glades.
"I, a subject of her Britannic Majesty, Queen Victoria, hereby protestagainst this murderous outrage committed against the English flag, underwhich I and my friends have fought since our entry into this country."
Again there was a death-like silence, almost instantly broken by theincisive words of command--
"Ready! Present!"
Grenville now gazed unflinchingly right into the muzzles of the rifles;an unearthly calm had come over him, and briefly, yet earnestly,commending his soul to God, he waited the fatal word, blind and deaf toall else but the rifles, which seemed to exercise a curious fascinationupon him.
Then, just as he heard the final word of command, "Fire!" he wasconscious of a shriek, and someone seized him round the neck, threwtheir person upon his breast, and endeavoured to drag him down.
Too late! Ah, God, too late! The fatal tubes vomited a sheet of angryflame; the deadly messengers sped forth upon their cruel errand; and abody, lately instinct with life and health, lay writhing on thegreensward, gasping in the death agony.
But whose body? Bewildered and confused, called back to life when hebelieved himself already dead, Grenville bent over the person who had sonobly and uselessly given a precious life for him, and uttered a wildand bitter cry of anguish as he recognised the lovely Rose of Sharon.Dropping on his knees, he raised the apparently inanimate corpse in hisarms, crying--
"Rose! Rose! speak to me, my darling."
And instantly her eyes opened, and a sweet and radiantly lovely smileseemed to break up the stony countenance before him--to chase away thevery shadows of death and leave her face even as that of an angel.
"Dick, dear Dick," she panted, "I have saved you. Kiss me, my own dearlove, and--good-bye."
And even as poor Grenville bent over her the sweet young girl's facestiffened; there was one brief spasm, and all was over.
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, and the spirit to God who gave it. Weepon, brave heart, thou shalt go to her, but she shall not come back tothee. Yet, even so it is well, and hereafter thou shalt know that forthee and for her all roads lead alike to peace and rest.
Reverently Grenville kissed the marble forehead of this loveliest flowerof East Utah, and then drew himself up, facing his judge andexecutioners; and dashing the scalding tears from his eyes, he threwback his head, and his face became as the face of an angry lion, whilsthis voice rang over the darkening plain and echoed amongst the forest'ssecret aisles.
"Cowards and traitors," he cried, "villains who shoot and cruc
ify theirwomenkind, Richard Grenville is not dead yet--nor will he die untilevery craven soul in East Utah has died miserably. Ay! for every dropof blood shed by yonder innocent girl ye shall die a thousand horrid andfearful deaths. I swear it, by the Eternal God above us."
Then, dashing from the spot, he threw himself upon the quagga, whichRose had left close by, and, riding up to Brother Warden, struck him aheavy blow across the face with his open hand, and next, as the wholeMormon nation went at him, sent his strange mount flying down the veldt,and headed directly for the yawning chasm.
A wild astonished cry broke from the crowd behind the escaped prisoneras they saw him urge the quagga to speed, and put it fairly at the awfulleap before it. The gallant little brute seemed to know what wasexpected of it, and went at the chasm with the most unflinching pluck.In the rays of the setting sun man and horse could for one moment beseen outlined against the sky, and for a brief instant there was a deadsilence, broken by one tremendous shout, "Over--he's over!"
No! one more struggle, gallant brute--one more effort, brave Grenville!Alas! it was not to be.
The quagga reached the further bank with its fore hoofs, sank graduallyback, and, in spite of all its rider could do, was sliding down, downinto the yawning gulf, when Grenville flung himself from its back,grasping at a bush which overhung the edge of the precipice, and inanother second the sure-footed, nimble little animal was trotting awayover the veldt, unharmed.
But Grenville? Alas! it was hopeless; he felt the bush tearing out byits roots, and realised in one bitter instant that Rose's sublimesacrifice had been all in vain. At this moment he swung face outwards,and in the gathering gloom confronted his enemies on the opposite sideof the chasm. Unrelenting to the last, he shook his fist at them ingrim defiance, and the next instant the Mormons saw his body cutting theair feet downwards as it passed with the speed of lightning the threehundred feet which lay between it and the awful horror of destructionbelow. Just then the sun went out, and plunged everything into uttertangible darkness.