XVI
THE SILVER HAMMER
_Je ne m'en defends plus et je ne veux qu' aller Reconnaitre la place ou je dois l'immoler_. (Andromaque.)
It was this sort of a night when what I am going to tell you nowhappened. Toward five o'clock the sky clouded over and a sense of thecoming storm trembled in the stifling air.
I shall always remember it. It was the fifth of January, 1897.
King Hiram and Gale lay heavily on the matting of my room. Leaning onmy elbows beside Tanit-Zerga in the rock-hewn window, I spied theadvance tremors of lightning.
One by one they rose, streaking the now total darkness with theirbluish stripes. But no burst of thunder followed. The storm did notattain the peaks of Ahaggar. It passed without breaking, leaving us inour gloomy bath of sweat.
"I am going to bed," said Tanit-Zerga.
I have said that her room was above mine. Its bay window was somethirty feet above that before which I lay.
She took Gale in her arms. But King Hiram would have none of it.Digging his four paws into the matting, he whined in anger anduneasiness.
"Leave him," I finally said to Tanit-Zerga. "For once he may sleephere."
So it was that this little beast incurred his large share ofresponsibility in the events which followed.
Left alone, I became lost in my reflections. The night was black. Thewhole mountain was shrouded in silence.
It took the louder and louder growls of the leopard to rouse me frommy meditation.
King Hiram was braced against the door, digging at it with his drawnclaws. He, who had refused to follow Tanit-Zerga a while ago, nowwanted to go out. He was determined to go out.
"Be still," I said to him. "Enough of that. Lie down!"
I tried to pull him away from the door.
I succeeded only in getting a staggering blow from his paw.
Then I sat down on the divan.
My quiet was short. "Be honest with yourself," I said. "Since Morhangeabandoned you, since the day when you saw Antinea, you have had onlyone idea. What good is it to beguile yourself with the stories ofTanit-Zerga, charming as they are? This leopard is a pretext, perhapsa guide. Oh, you know that mysterious things are going to happentonight. How have you been able to keep from doing anything as long asthis?"
Immediately I made a resolve.
"If I open the door," I thought, "King Hiram will leap down thecorridor and I shall have great difficulty in following him. I mustfind some other way."
The shade of the window was worked by means of a small cord. I pulledit down. Then I tied it into a firm leash which I fastened to themetal collar of the leopard.
I half opened the door.
"There, now you can go. But quietly, quietly."
I had all the trouble in the world to curb the ardor of King Hiram whodragged me along the shadowy labyrinth of corridors. It was shortlybefore nine o'clock, and the rose-colored night lights were almostburned out in the niches. Now and then, we passed one which wascasting its last flickers. What a labyrinth! I realized that from hereon I would not recognize the way to her room. I could only follow theleopard.
At first furious, he gradually became used to towing me. He strainedahead, belly to the ground, with snuffs of joy.
Nothing is more like one black corridor than another black corridor.Doubt seized me. Suppose I should suddenly find myself in the baccaratroom! But that was unjust to King Hiram. Barred too long from the dearpresence, the good beast was taking me exactly where I wanted him totake me.
Suddenly, at a turn, the darkness ahead lifted. A rose window, faintlyglimmering red and green, appeared before us.
The leopard stopped with a low growl before the door in which the rosewindow was cut.
I recognized it as the door through which the white Targa had led methe day after my arrival, when I had been set upon by King Hiram, whenI had found myself in the presence of Antinea.
"We are much better friends to-day," I said, flattering him so that hewould not give a dangerously loud growl.
I tried to open the door. The light, coming through the window, fellupon the floor, green and red.
A simple latch, which I turned. I shortened the leash to have bettercontrol of King Hiram who was getting nervous.
The great room where I had seen Antinea for the first time wascompletely dark. But the garden on which it gave shone under aclouded moon, in a sky weighted down with the storm which did notbreak. Not a breath of air. The lake gleamed like a sheet of pewter.
I seated myself on a cushion, holding the leopard firmly between myknees. He was purring with impatience. I was thinking. Not about mygoal. For a long time that had been fixed. But about the means.
Then, I seemed to hear a distant murmur, a faint sound of voices.
King Hiram growled louder, struggled. I gave him a little more leash.He began to rub along the dark walls on the sides whence the voicesseemed to come. I followed him, stumbling as quietly as I could amongthe scattered cushions.
My eyes, become accustomed to the darkness, could see the pyramid ofcushions on which Antinea had first appeared to me.
Suddenly I stumbled. The leopard had stopped. I realized that I hadstepped on his tail. Brave beast, he did not make a sound.
Groping along the wall, I felt a second door. Quietly, very quietly, Iopened it as I had opened the preceding one. The leopard whimperedfeebly.
"King Hiram," I murmured, "be quiet."
And I put my arms about his powerful neck.
I felt his warm wet tongue on my hands. His flanks quivered. He shookwith happiness.
In front of us, lighted in the center, another room opened up. In themiddle six men were squatting on the matting, playing dice anddrinking coffee from tiny copper coffee cups with long stems.
They were the white Tuareg.
A lamp, hung from the ceiling, threw a circle of light over them.Everything outside that circle was in deep shadow.
The black faces, the copper cups, the white robes, the moving lightand shadow, made a strange etching.
They played with a reserved dignity, announcing the throws in raucousvoices.
Then, slowly, very slowly, I slipped the leash from the collar of theimpatient little beast.
"Go, boy."
He leapt with a sharp yelp.
And what I had foreseen happened.
The first bound of King Hiram carried him into the midst of the whiteTuareg, sowing confusion in the bodyguard. Another leap carried himinto the shadow again. I made out vaguely the shaded opening ofanother corridor on the side of the room opposite where I wasstanding.
"There!" I thought.
The confusion in the room was indescribable, but noiseless. Onerealized the restraint which nearness to a great presence imposed uponthe exasperated guards. The stakes and the dice-boxes had rolled inone direction, the copper cups, in the other.
Two of the Tuareg, doubled up with pain, were rubbing their ribs withlow oaths.
I need not say that I profited by this silent confusion to glide intothe room. I was now flattened against the wall of the second corridor,down which King Hiram had just disappeared.
At that moment a clear gong echoed in the silence. The trembling whichseized the Tuareg assured me that I had chosen the right way.
One of the six men got up. He passed me and I fell in behind him. Iwas perfectly calm. My least movement was perfectly calculated.
"All that I risk here now," I said to myself, "is being led backpolitely to my room."
The Targa lifted a curtain. I followed on his heels into the chamberof Antinea.
The room was huge and at once well lighted and very dark. While theright half, where Antinea was, gleamed under shaded lamps, the leftwas dim.
Those who have penetrated into a Mussulman home know what a _guignol_is, a kind of square niche in the wall, four feet from the floor, itsopening covered by a curtain. One mounts to it by wooden steps. Inoticed such a _guignol_ at my left. I
crept into it. My pulses beatin the shadow. But I was calm, quite calm.
There I could see and hear everything.
I was in Antinea's chamber. There was nothing singular about the room,except the great luxury of the hangings. The ceiling was in shadow,but multicolored lanterns cast a vague and gentle light over gleamingstuffs and furs.
Antinea was stretched out on a lion's skin, smoking. A little silvertray and pitcher lay beside her. King Hiram was flattened out at herfeet, licking them madly.
The Targa slave stood rigid before her, one hand on his heart, theother on his forehead, saluting.
Antinea spoke in a hard voice, without looking at the man.
"Why did you let the leopard pass? I told you that I wanted to bealone."
"He knocked us over, mistress," said the Targa humbly.
"The doors were not closed, then?"
The slave did not answer.
"Shall I take him away?" he asked.
And his eyes, fastened upon King Hiram who stared at him maliciously,expressed well enough his desire for a negative reply.
"Let him stay since he is here," said Antinea.
She tapped nervously on the little silver tray.
"What is the captain doing?" she asked.
"He dined a while ago and seemed to enjoy his food," the Targaanswered.
"Has he said nothing?"
"Yes, he asked to see his companion, the other officer."
Antinea tapped the little tray still more rapidly.
"Did he say nothing else?"
"No, mistress," said the man.
A pallor overspread the Atlantide's little forehead.
"Go get him," she said brusquely.
Bowing, the Targa left the room.
I listened to this dialogue with great anxiety. Was this Morhange? Hadhe been faithful to me, after all? Had I suspected him unjustly? Hehad wanted to see me and been unable to!
My eyes never left Antinea's.
She was no longer the haughty, mocking princess of our firstinterview. She no longer wore the golden circlet on her forehead. Nota bracelet, not a ring. She was dressed only in a full flowing tunic.Her black hair, unbound, lay in masses of ebony over her slightshoulders and her bare arms.
Her beautiful eyes were deep circled. Her divine mouth drooped. I didnot know whether I was glad or sorry to see this new quiveringCleopatra.
Flattened at her feet, King Hiram gazed submissively at her.
An immense orichalch mirror with golden reflections was set into thewall at the right. Suddenly she raised herself erect before it. I sawher nude.
A splendid and bitter sight!--A woman who thinks herself alone,standing before her mirror in expectation of the man she wishes tosubdue!
The six incense-burners scattered about the room sent up invisiblecolumns of perfume. The balsam spices of Arabia wore floating webs inwhich my shameless senses were entangled.... And, back toward me,standing straight as a lily, Antinea smiled into her mirror.
Low steps sounded in the corridor. Antinea immediately fell back intothe nonchalant pose in which I had first seen her. One had to see sucha transformation to believe it possible.
Morhange entered the room, preceded by a white Targa.
He, too, seemed rather pale. But I was most struck by the expressionof serene peace on that face which I thought I knew so well. I feltthat I never had understood what manner of man Morhange was, never.
He stood erect before Antinea without seeming to notice her gestureinviting him to be seated.
She smiled at him.
"You are surprised, perhaps," she said finally, "that I should sendfor you at so late an hour."
Morhange did not move an eyelash.
"Have you considered it well?" she demanded.
Morhange smiled gravely, but did not reply.
I could read in Antinea's face the effort it cost her to continuesmiling; I admired the self-control of these two beings.
"I sent for you," she continued. "You do not guess why?... Well, it isto tell you something that you do not expect. It will be no surpriseto you if I say that I never met a man like you. During yourcaptivity, you have expressed only one wish. Do you recall it?"
"I asked your permission to see my friend before I died," saidMorhange simply.
I do not know what stirred me more on hearing these words: delight atMorhange's formal tone in speaking to Antinea, or emotion at hearingthe one wish he had expressed.
But Antinea continued calmly:
"That is why I sent for you--to tell you that you are going to see himagain. And I am going to do something else. You will perhaps scorn meeven more when you realize that you had only to oppose me to bend meto your will--I, who have bent all other wills to mine. But, howeverthat may be, it is decided: I give you both your liberty. TomorrowCegheir-ben-Cheikh will lead you past the fifth enclosure. Are yousatisfied?"
"I am," said Morhange with a mocking smile.
"That will give me a chance," he continued, "to make better plans forthe next trip I intend to make this way. For you need not doubt that Ishall feel bound to return to express my gratitude. Only, next time,to render so great a queen the honors due her, I shall ask mygovernment to furnish me with two or three hundred European soldiersand several cannon."
Antinea was standing up, very pale.
"What are you saying?"
"I am saying," said Morhange coldly, "that I foresaw this. Firstthreats, then promises."
Antinea stepped toward him. He had folded his arms. He looked at herwith a sort of grave pity.
"I will make you die in the most atrocious agonies," she said finally.
"I am your prisoner," Morhange replied.
"You shall suffer things that you cannot even imagine."
"I am your prisoner," repeated Morhange in the same sad calm.
Antinea paced the room like a beast in a cage. She advanced toward mycompanion and, no longer mistress of herself, struck him in the face.
He smiled and caught hold of her, drawing her little wrists togetherwith a strange mixture of force and gentleness.
King Hiram growled. I thought he was about to leap. But the cold eyesof Morhange held him fascinated.
"I will have your comrade killed before your eyes," gasped Antinea.
It seemed to me that Morhange paled, but only for a second. I wasovercome by the nobility and insight of his reply.
"My companion is brave. He does not fear death. And, in any case, hewould prefer death to life purchased at the price you name."
So saying, he let go Antinea's wrists. Her pallor was terrible. Fromthe expression of her mouth I felt that this would be her last word tohim.
"Listen," she said.
How beautiful she was, in her scorned majesty, her beauty powerlessfor the first time!
"Listen," she continued. "Listen. For the last time. Remember that Ihold the gates of this palace, that I have supreme power over yourlife. Remember that you breathe only at my pleasure. Remember...."
"I have remembered all that," said Morhange.
"A last time," she repeated.
The serenity of Morhange's face was so powerful that I scarcelynoticed his opponent. In that transfigured countenance, no trace ofworldliness remained.
"A last time," came Antinea's voice, almost breaking.
Morhange was not even looking at her.
"As you will," she said.
Her gong resounded. She had struck the silver disc. The white Targaappeared.
"Leave the room!"
Morhange, his head held high, went out.
Now Antinea is in my arms. This is no haughty, voluptuous woman whomI am pressing to my heart. It is only an unhappy, scorned little girl.
So great was her trouble that she showed no surprise when I steppedout beside her. Her head is on my shoulder. Like the crescent moon inthe black clouds, I see her clear little bird-like profile amid hermass of hair. Her warm arms hold me convulsively.... _O tremblantcoeur humain_....
Who could
resist such an embrace, amid the soft perfumes, in thelangorous night? I feel myself a being without will. Is this my voice,the voice which is murmuring:
"Ask me what you will, and I will do it, I will do it."
My senses are sharpened, tenfold keen. My head rests against a soft,nervous little knee. Clouds of odors whirl about me. Suddenly it seemsas if the golden lanterns are waving from the ceiling like giantcensers. Is this my voice, the voice repeating in a dream:
"Ask me what you will, and I will do it. I will do it."
Antinea's face is almost touching mine. A strange light flickers inher great eyes.
Beyond, I see the gleaming eyes of King Hiram. Beside him, there is alittle table of Kairouan, blue and gold. On that table I see the gongwith which Antinea summons the slaves. I see the hammer with which shestruck it just now, a hammer with a long ebony handle, a heavy silverhead ... the hammer with which little Lieutenant Kaine dealt death....
I see nothing more....