CHAPTER XVII
THE WAY TO KATHIAPUR
Gall and wormwood in his mouth, more bitter than remorse, Amber becameconscious. Or perhaps it were more true to say that he struggled out ofunconsciousness, dragging his ego back by main will-power from the deepoblivion of drugged slumber. One by one his faculties fought their waypast the barrier, until he was fully sentient, save that his memorydrowsed. His head was hot and heavy, his eyes burned in their socketslike balls of live charcoal, a dulled buzzing sounded in his ears, hisvery heart felt sore and numb; he was as one who wakes from evil dreamsto the blackness of foreknown despair.
He lay for a time without moving. Because it was dark and his memorynot working properly, time had ceased to be for him, and to-day was asyesterday and to-morrow. The ceiling-cloth above him was blood-red withlight from the sepoys' fire in the compound, and all was as it had beenwhen he had first lain down the night before. And yet....
Suddenly he raised himself upon the charpoy and called huskily for thekhansamah. Promptly the squat white figure that he remembered appearedin the doorway. "Bring lights," Amber ordered, peremptory.
"Bring lights quickly--and water." And when the man had returned with alamp, which he put on the table, Amber seized the red earthenwarewater-jug and drained it greedily. Returning it, empty, to the brownhands, he motioned to the man to wait, while he consulted his watch. Ithad run down. He thrust it back into his pocket and enquired: "What'so'clock?"
"Eight of the evening, sahib."
Amber gasped and stared. "Eight of the ... Let me think. Go and bringme food and a brandy-peg--or, hold on! Bring a bottle of soda-water anda glass only."
The khansamah withdrew. Amber fell back with his shoulders to the walland stared unwinking at the lamp. He distinctly remembered undressingbefore going to bed; he now found himself fully clothed. He felt of hispocket, and found the emerald ring there, instead of in its chamoiscase. Then it had not been a nightmare!
He had a bottle of brandy which had never been uncorked, in histravelling-kit. Rising, he found it and inspected the cork narrowly tomake sure it had not been tampered with; then he drew it.
The khansamah returned with the glass and an unopened bottle ofSchweppe's, and prepared the drink under eyes that watched himnarrowly. While Amber drank he laid a place for him at the table. Whenhe left the room a second time the Virginian produced his automaticpistol and satisfied himself that it remained loaded and in goodworking order.
In the course of a few minutes the native reappeared with a tray offood and pot of coffee. These arranged, he stood by the chair, ready toserve the guest. Then he found himself looking into the muzzle ofAmber's weapon, and became apparently rigid with terror.
"Sahib--!"
"Make no outcry, dog, and tell me no lies, if you value yourcontemptible life. Why did you drug me--at whose instance?"
"Sahib!..."
"Answer me quickly, son of vipers!"
"By Dhola Baksh, hazoor, I am innocent! Another has done thesethings--he who served you last night, belike, and whose place I havetaken."
Now the oaths of India are many and various, so that a new specimenneed not be held wonderful. But Amber sat bolt upright, his eyeswidening and his jaw dropping. "Dhola--!" he said, and brought histeeth together with an audible click, staring at the khansamah as if hewere a recrudescence of a prehistoric mammal. He caught a motion of thehead and a wave of the hand toward the window, warning him that theremight be an eavesdropper lurking without, and rose admirably to theemergency.
"That is a lie, misbegotten son of an one-eyed woman of shame! By theGateway at Kathiapur, that is a lie! Speak, brother of jackals andfather of swine, lest my temper overcome me and I make carrion of you!"
"My lord, hear me!" protested the man in an extremity of fright. "Thesebe the words of truth. If otherwise, let my head be forfeit.... Earlyin the morning you returned from the lake, heavy with sleep, and sosoundly have you slept since that hour that no effort of mine couldrouse you, though many came to the door, making inquiry. I am Ram Lal,a true man, and no trafficker in drugs and potions."
"Even so!" said Amber, ironic. "But if, on taking thought, I findyou've lied to me ... Go now and hold yourself fortunate in this, thatI am not a man of hasty judgment."
"Hazoor!" Like a shadow harried by a wind of night, the khansamahscurried from the room. But on the threshold he paused long enough tolay a significant finger upon his lips and nod toward the table.
Amber put away his pistol, sighed from the bottom of his soul, and,seating himself, without the least misgiving, broke his long fast withravenous appetite, clearing every dish and emptying the coffee pot ofall save dregs. Then, with a long yawn of satisfaction, repletion, andrelief, he lighted a cigarette and stretched himself, happily consciousof returning strength and sanity.
From the khansamah's quarters came an occasional clash of crockery andpattering of naked feet. Outside, in the compound, the sepoys werechattering volubly; their words were indistinguishable, but from theirconstantly increasing animation Amber inferred that they were keenlyrelishing the topic of discussion. He became sure of this when, atlength, his curiosity roused, he went to the window and peered outbetween the wooden slats of the blind. The little company was squattingin a circle round the fire, and a bottle was passing from hand to hand.
He turned back, puzzled, to find the khansamah calmly seated at thetable and enjoying one of Amber's choicest cigarettes.
"Thank God," he said, with profound emotion, "for a civilised smoke!"
"Labertouche!" cried Amber.
The pseudo-khansamah rose, bowed formally, and shook hands withconsiderable cordiality. "It's good to see you whole and sound," hesaid. "I had to wait until Ram Nath's work began to show results. He'sout there, you know, keeping the bottle moving. I don't believe thosedamned sepoys will bother us much, now, but we've got no time at all tospare. Now tell me what you have to tell, omitting nothing of theslightest consequence."
Amber dropped into a chair, and the Englishman sat near to him. "I say,thank God for you, Labertouche! You don't know how I've needed you."
"I can fancy. I've had a ripping time of it myself. Sorry I couldn'tcommunicate with you safely before you left Calcutta. But we've not aminute to waste. Get into your yarn, please; explanations later, if wecan afford 'em."
Inhaling with deep enjoyment, he narrowed his dark eyes, listeningintently to Amber's concise narrative of his experiences since theirparting before the stall of Dhola Baksh in the Machua Bazaar. Not oncewas he interrupted by word or sign from Labertouche; and even when thetale was told the latter said nothing, but dropped his gazeabstractedly to the smouldering stump of his cigarette.
"And you?" demanded the Virginian. "Have pity, Labertouche! Can't yousee I'm being eaten alive by curiosity?"
Labertouche eyed him blankly for an instant. "Oh!" he said, with aneffort freeing his mind from an intense concentration of thought. "I?What's there to tell? I've been at work. That's all.... I was jostledoff to one side when the row started in the bazaar, and so lost you.There was then nothing to do but strike back to the hotel and wait fora clue. You can figure my relief when you dropped out of thatticca-ghari! I gave you the word to go on to Darjeeling, intending tojoin you _en route_. But you know why that jaunt never came off. Ifound out my mistake before morning, wired you, and left Calcuttabefore you, by the same train that conveyed his Majesty the Maharana ofKhandawar. Fortunately enough we had Ram Nath already on the ground,working up another case--I'll tell you about it some time. He's one ofour best men--a native, but loyal to the core, and wrapped up in hiswork. He'd contrived to get a billet as tonga-wallah to the Kuttarpur_bunia_ who has the dak-service contract. I myself had arranged to havethe telegraph-babu here transferred, and myself appointed in his place.So I was able to attach myself to the 'tail' of the Maharana withoutexciting comment. Miss Farrell came by the same train, but Salig Singhwas in too great a hurry to get home to pay any attention to her, andI, knowing you'd be along, arranged t
hat tonga accident with Ram Nath.He bribed his brother tonga-wallah to bring it about."
"Thank you," said Amber from his heart.
Labertouche impatiently waved the interruption aside. "I looked for youat the telegraph office this morning, but of course when you didn'tappear I knew something was up. So I concocted a message to you for anexcuse, came down, engaged the khansamah in conversation (I think hehad some idea I was an agent of the other side) and ... he is an oldman, not very strong. Once indoors, I had little trouble with him. He'snow enjoying perfect peace, with a gag to insure it, beneath his owncharpoy. Ram Nath happened along opportunely and created a diversionwith his gin-bottle. That seems to be all, and I'm afraid we mayn'ttalk much longer. I must be going--and so must you."
He glanced anxiously at his watch--a cheap and showy thing, such asnatives delight in. Both men rose.
"You return to the telegraph station, I presume?" said Amber.
"Not at all. It wouldn't be worth my while."
"How's that?"
"The wires haven't been working since ten this morning," saidLabertouche quietly. Amber steadied himself with the back of his chair."You mean they've been cut?"
"Something of the sort."
"And that means--"
"That this infernal conspiracy is scheduled to come to a headto-night--as you must have inferred, my dear fellow: this is the lastnight of your probation. The cutting off of Khandawar from all BritishIndia is a bold move and shows Salig Singh's confidence. It meanssimply: 'Governmental interference not desired. Hands off.' He knowswell that we've spies here, that enough has leaked out, unavoidably, tobring an army corps down on his back within twenty-four hours, if hepermitted even the most innocent-seeming message to get out of thecity."
Amber whistled with dismay. "And you--"
"I'm going to find out for myself what's towards in Kathiapur."
"You're going there--alone?"
"Not exactly; I shall have company. A gentleman of the Mohammedanpersuasion is going to change places with me for the night. No; hedoesn't know it yet, but I have reason to believe that he got anR.S.V.P. for the festive occasion and intends to put in a midnightappearance. So I purpose saving him the trouble. It's only a two-hourride."
"But the risk!"
Labertouche chuckled grimly. "It's the day's work, my boy. I'm not sureI shan't enjoy it. Besides, I mayn't hang back where my subordinateshave not feared to go. We've had a man in Kathiapur since day beforeyesterday."
"And I? What am I to do?"
"Your place is at Miss Farrell's side. No; you'd be only a hindrance tome. Get that out of your thoughts. Three years ago I found time to makea pretty thorough exploration of Kathiapur, and, being blessed with anexcellent memory, I shall be quite at home."
Amber made a gesture of surrender. "Of course you're right," he said."You're always right, confound you!"
"Exactly," agreed Labertouche, smiling. "I'm only here to help youescape to the Residency. Raikes and Colonel Farrell have already beenadvised to make preparations for a siege or for instant flight, if Igive the word. They need you far more than I shall. It would be simplemadness for you to venture to Kathiapur to-night. The case is clearenough for you to see the folly of doing anything of the sort."
"It may be clear to you...."
"See here," said Labertouche, with pardonable impatience; "I'mpresuming that you know enough of Indian history to be aware that theRutton dynasty in Khandawar is the proudest and noblest in India; ithas descended in right line from the Sun. There's not a living Hindubut will acknowledge its supremacy, be he however ambitious. That makesit plain, or ought to, why Har Dyal Rutton, the last male of his line,was--and is--considered the natural, the inevitable, leader of theSecond Mutiny. It devolved upon Salig Singh to produce him; Salig Singhpromised and--is on the point of failure. I can't say precisely whatpenalty he'll be called upon to pay, but it's safe to assume that it'llbe something everlastingly unpleasant. So he's desperate. I can'tbelieve he has deceived himself into taking you for Rutton, but whetheror no he intends by hook or crook to get you through this Gatewayaffair to-night. He's got to. Now you are--or Rutton is--known to bedisloyal to the scheme. Inevitably, then, the man who passes throughthat Gateway in his name is to be quietly eliminated before he canbetray anything--in other words, as soon as he has been put through the'Ordeal,' as they call it, for the sake of appearances and the moraleffect upon the Hindu race at large. Now I think you understand."
"I think I do, thanks," Amber returned drily. "You're quite right, as Isaid before. So I'm off to the Residency. But how to get through thatguard out there?"
He received no response. In as little time as it took him to stepbackwards from Amber, Labertouche had resumed his temporarily discardedmasquerade. Instantaneously it was the khansamah who confronted theVirginian--the native with head and shoulders submissively bended, asone who awaits an order.
Amber, surprised, stared, started to speak, received a sign, and wassilent, the excuse for Labertouche's sudden change of attitude beingsufficiently apparent in an uproar which had been raised without theleast warning in the compound. The advent of a running horse seemed tohave been responsible for it, for the clatter of hoofs as the animalwas checked abruptly in mid-stride was followed by a clamour of drunkencries, shrieks of alarm, and protests on the part of the sepoysdisturbed in the midst of their carouse. Over all this there rang thevoice of an Englishman swearing good, round, honest British oaths.
"Stand aside, you hounds!"
Amber turned pale. "That's Farrell's voice!" he cried, guessing at thetruth.
Labertouche made no answer, but edged toward the khansamah's quarters.
The din subsided as Farrell gained the veranda. His feet rang heavilyon the boards, and a second later he thrust the door violently open andslammed breathlessly into the room, booted, spurred, his keen old facelivid, a riding-whip dangling from one wrist, a revolver in the otherhand.
He wheeled on the threshold and lifted his weapon, then, with a gasp ofamazement, dropped it. "By Heaven, sir!" he cried, "that's odd! Thosedamned sepoys tried to prevent my seeing you and now they've clearedout, every mother's son of them!"
Amber stepped to his side; to his own bewilderment, the compound wasdeserted; there was not a sepoy in sight.
"So much the better," he said quickly, the first to recover. "What'swrong, sir?"
"Wrong!" Farrell stumbled over to the table and into a chair, panting."Everything's wrong! What's gone wrong with you, that we haven't beenable to find you all day?"
"I've been lying there," Amber told him, nodding to the charpoy,"drugged. What's happened? Is Miss Farrell--?"
"Sophia!" The Political lifted his hand to his eyes and let it fall,with an effect of confusion. "In the name of charity tell me you knowwhere she is!"
"You don't mean--"
"She's gone, Amber--gone! She's disappeared, vanished, been spiritedaway! Don't you understand me? She's been kidnapped!"
In dumb torment, Amber heard a swift, sharp hiss of breath as pregnantwith meaning as a spoken word, and turned to meet Labertouche's eyes,and to see that the same thought was in both their minds. Salig Singhhad found the way to lure Amber to Kathiapur.
No spoken word was needed; their understanding was implicit on theinstant. Indeed the secret-agent dared not speak, lest he be overheardby an eavesdropper and so be the cause of his own betrayal. With aflutter of white garments he slipped noiselessly from the room, andAmber knew instinctively that if they were to meet again that night itwould be upon the farther side of the Gateway of Swords. For himself,his path of duty lay clear to the Virginian's vision; likeLabertouche's, it was the road to Kathiapur. He had no more doubt thatSophia had been conveyed thither than he had of Farrell's presencebefore him. And in his heart he cursed, not Naraini, not Salig Singh,but himself for his inept folly in bringing to India the photographwhich had been stolen from him and so had discovered to theconspirators his interest in the girl.
He thought swiftly of Dulla D
ad's parting admonition: "_You shall findbut one way to Kathiapur_."
"Well, sir? Well?" Exasperated by his silence the Political sprang tohis feet and brought the riding-crop against his leg with a smack likea gun-shot. "Have you nothing to say? Don't you realise what it meanswhen a white woman disappears in this land of devils? Good God! youstand there, doing nothing, saying nothing, like a man with a heart ofstone!"
"Speak French," Amber interposed quietly. He continued in that tongue,his tone so steady and imperative that it brought the half-franticEnglishman to his senses. "Speak French. You must know that we're spiedupon every instant; every word we speak is overheard, probably. Tell mewhat happened--how it happened--and keep cool!"
"You're right; I beg your pardon." Farrell collected himself. "There'slittle enough to go on.... You disappointed us this morning. During theday we got word from a secret but trustworthy source to look out fortrouble from the native side. Nevertheless, Raikes and I were obliged,by reason of our position, representing Government, to attend thebanquet in honor of the coronation to-morrow. We called in youngClarkson--the missionary, you know--to stay in the house during ourabsence. When we returned the Residency was deserted--only we foundClarkson bound, gagged, and nearly dead of suffocation in a closet. Hecould tell us nothing--had been set upon from behind. Not a servantremained.... But, by the way, your man Doggott came in by the eveningdak-tonga."
"Where's Raikes?"
"Gone to the palace to threaten Salig Singh with an army corps."
"You know the telegraph wires are cut?"
"Yes, but how--"
"Never mind how I know--the story's too long. The thing to do is to gettroops here without a day's delay."
"But how?"
"Take Raikes, Clarkson, and Doggott and ride like hell to BadshahJunction. Telegraph from there. The four of you ought to be able tofight your way through."
"But, man, my daughter!"
"I know where to find her--or think I do. No matter which, I'll findher and bring her back to you safely, or die trying. You spoke just nowof a secret but trustworthy source of information: I work with it thisnight. I can't mention names--you know why; but that source was in thisroom ten minutes ago. He's gone after your daughter now. I follow.No--I go alone. It's the only way. I know how you feel about it, butbelieve me, the thing for you to do is to find some way to summonBritish troops. Now the quicker you go, the quicker I'm off. Ican't--daren't move while you're here."
Farrell eyed him strangely. "I'll go," he said after a pause. "But ...why can't I--"
"There are just two white men living, Colonel Farrell, who can go whereI am going to look for your daughter to-night. I'm one of them. Theother is--you know who."
"One of us is mad," said Farrell with conviction. "I think you are."
"Or else I know what I'm talking about. In either event you only hinderme now. Please go."
His manner impressed the man; for a moment Farrell lingered, doubting,then impetuously offered his hand. "I'm hanged if I understand why," hesaid, "but somehow I believe you know what you're about. Good-nightand--and God be with you, Amber."
The Virginian followed him to the doorway. Farrell's horse, a docile,well-trained animal, had come to the edge of the veranda to wait forhis master. Otherwise the compound was as empty as the night was quiet.Mounting, the Political waved a silent farewell and spurred off towardthe city. Amber passed back through the bungalow to the bund.
It was a wonderful blue night of clear moonlight, quickened by a rowdywind that rioted down the valley from the north. The roughened surfaceof the lake was dark save where the moon had blazed its trail ofshimmering golden scales. There was no boat visible, and for the firsttime Amber's heart misgave him and he doubted whether it were not bestto seek a mount from the stables of the Residency and try to reachKathiapur on his own initiative. But his ignorance of the neighbouringtopography was too great a handicap to be overcome; and now thatLabertouche had gone, he was without a friendly, guiding hand. He couldbut deliver himself into the hands of the enemy and do what he mightthereafter.
He lifted his voice and called: "_Ohe_, Dulla Dad!"
There came a soft shuffle of feet on the stones behind him, and thestunted, white-clad figure of Dulla Dad stood at his side, makingrespectful obeisance. "Hazoor!"
"You damned spying scoundrel!" Amber cried, enraged. "You've beenwaiting there by the window, listening!"
"Hazoor," the native quavered in fright, "it was cold upon the waterand you kept me waiting over-long. I landed, seeking shelter from thewind. If your talk was not for mine ears, remember that you used atongue I did not know."
"So you were listening!" Amber calmed himself. "Never mind. Where'syour boat?"
"I thought to hide it in the rushes. If the hazoor will be patient fora little moment ..." The native dropped down from the bund anddisappeared into the reedy tangle of the lake shore. A minute or solater Amber saw the boat shoot out from the shore and swing in a long,graceful curve to the steps of the bund.
"Make haste," he ordered, as he jumped in and took his place. "If Ihave kept you waiting, as you say, then I am late."
"Nay, there is time to spare." Dulla Dad spun the boat round and away."I did but think to anticipate your impatience, knowing that you wouldassuredly come."
"Ah, you knew that, Dulla Dad? How did you know?"
The man giggled softly, plying a busy paddle. "Am I not of the palace,hazoor? What are secrets in the house of kings? Gossip of herders andbazaar-women!"
"And how much more do you know, Dulla Dad?" Amber's tone was ominous.
"I, hazoor? Who am I to know aught?... Nay, this have I heard"--hepaused cunningly: "'_You shall find but one way to Kathiapur_.'"
Amber, realising that he had invited this insolence, was fair enoughnot to resent it, and held his peace until he could no longer be blindto the fact that the native was shaping a course almost exactly awayfrom the Raj Mahal. "What treachery is this, dog?" he demanded. "Thisis not the way--"
"Be not mistrustful of your slave, hazoor," whined the native. "I dothe bidding of those before whose will I am as a leaf in the wind. Itis an order that I land you on the bund of the royal summer pavilion,by the northern shore of the lake. There will you find one waiting foryou, my lord."
Amber contented himself with a fresh examination of his pistol; it wasall one to him, whatever the route by which he was to reach Kathiapur,so long as the change involved no delay. But this way across the waterwas so much longer than that which he had anticipated that he had timeto work himself into a state of fuming impatience before the boatfinally ranged alongside a pretentious marble bund backed by raggedplantations of palms and bananas. To the left the white-columned facadeof the Maharana's stately pleasure-house glimmered spectral in themoonlight. It showed no lights, and Amber very naturally concluded thatit was unoccupied.
He landed on the steps of the bund and waited for Dulla Dad to joinhim; but when, hearing a splash of the paddle, he looked round, it wasto find that the native had already put a considerable distance betweenhimself and the shore. Amber called after him angrily, and Dulla Dadrested upon his paddle.
"Nay, Heaven-born!" he replied. "Here doth my responsibility end.Another will presently appear to be your guide. Go you up to the junglypath leading from the bund."
The Virginian lifted his shoulders indifferently, and ascended todiscover a wide footpath running inland between dark walls ofshrubbery, but quite deserted. He stopped with a whistle of vexation,peering to right and left. "What the deuce!" he said aloud. "Is thisanother of their confounded tricks?"
A low and marvellously sweet laugh sounded at his elbow, and he turnedwith a start and a flutter of his pulses. "Naraini!" he cried.
It had been impossible to mistake the gracious lines of that slight,round figure, cloaked though it was in many thicknesses of whiteveiling. She had stolen upon him without a sound, and seemed pleasedwith the completeness of his surprise, for she laughed again before hespoke.
"Tell me
not thou art disappointed, O my king!" she said, placing asoft hand firmly upon his arm. "Didst thou hope to meet another here?"
"Nay, how should I expect thee?" His voice was gentle though he steeledhis heart against her fascinations; for now he had a use for her. "HadDulla Dad conveyed me to the palace, then I should have remembered thypromise to ride with me to Kathiapur. But, being brought to this place..."
"Then thou didst wish to ride with me?" She nodded approval andsatisfaction. "That is altogether as I would have it be, Lord of myHeart. By this have I proven thee, for thou hast consented to approachthe Gateway, not altogether because the Voice hath summoned thee, butlikewise, I think, because thine own heart urged thee. Nay, but tellme, King of my Soul, did it not leap a little at the thought of meetingme?"
With a quick gesture she threw her veil aside and lifted herincomparably fair face to his, and he was conscious that he trembled alittle, and that his voice shook as he answered evasively: "Thoushouldst know, Ranee."
"_Ahi!_ Then am I a happy woman, to think that, though thou wert inopen mutiny against the Voice, when I called, thou didst yield.... Andthou art ready?"
"Am I not here?"
"Now of a verity do I know that thou art a man, my king!--a Rajput, ason of kings, and ... my husband!" Pitched to a minor, thrilling key,her accents were as musical as the singing of a 'cello. "For thou dostknow what thou must dare this night of nights, and he is a brave manwho can dare so much, unfaltering. Tell me thou art not afraid, myking?"
"Why should I be?"
"Thou wilt not draw back in the end?" Her arms clipped him softly aboutthe neck and drew his head down so that her breath was fragrant in hisface, her lips a sweet peril beneath his own. "Thou wilt brave whatevermay be prepared for thy testing, for the sake of Naraini, who awaitsthee beyond the Gateway; O my Beloved?"
"I shall not be found wanting."
Lithe as a snake, she slipped from his arms. "Nay, I trust thee not!"she laughed, a quiver of tenderness in her merriment. "Let my lips bemine alone until thou hast proven thyself worthy of them." She raisedher voice, calling: "_Ohe_, Runjit Singh!"
The cry rang bell-clear in the stillness, and its silver echo had notdied before it was answered by one who stepped out from the blackshadow of a spreading banian, some distance away, and came toward them,leading three horses. As the moonlight fell upon him, Amber recognisedthe uniform the man wore as that of the Imperial Household Guard ofKhandawar, while the horses seemed to be the stallions he had seen inthe palace yard, with another but little their inferior in mettle orbeauty.
"Now," announced the woman in tones of deep contentment, "we willride!"
She turned to Amber, who took her up in his arms and set her in thesaddle of one of the stallions; who, his bridle being released by thetrooper, promptly leaped away and danced a spirited saraband with hisshadow, until Naraini, with a strength that seemed incredible when onerecalled the slightness of her wrists, curbed him in and taught himsobriety.
"By Har!" she panted, "but I think he must know that he carriesto-night the destinies of empire! Mount, mount, my lord, and bear mecompany if this son of Eblis tries to run away with me!"
The sowar surrendered to Amber the reins of the other stallion, andstepped hastily aside. The Virginian took the saddle with a flyingleap, and a thought later was digging his knees into the brute's sleekflanks and sawing on the bits, while the path flowed beneath him,dappled with moonlight and shadow, like a ribbon of grey-green silk,and trees and shrubbery streaked back on either hand in a rush ofmelting blacks and greys.
Swerving acutely, the path ran into the dusty high-road. Amber heard arush of hoofs behind him, and then slowly the gauze-wrapped figure ofthe queen drew alongside.
"_Maro!_ Let him run, my king! The way is not far for such as he. Haveno fear lest he tire!"
But Amber set his teeth and wrought with the reins until his mountcomprehended the fact that he had met a master, and, moderating hisfirst furious burst of speed, settled down into a league-devouringstride, crest low, limbs gathering and stretching with the elegantprecision of clockwork. His rider, regaining his poise, found time tolook about him and began to enjoy, for all his cares, this wild racethrough the blue-white night.
Behind them, carbine on saddle-bow, the sowar thundered in pursuit, atan interval of about a hundred yards--often greater, when the stallionswould have it so and spent their temper in brief, brisk contests forthe leadership. On Amber's left the woman rode as one to the saddleborn, her face turned eagerly to the open road, smiling a little withexcitement beneath the tissue of thin veiling which the speed-bredbreeze moulded cunningly to the contour of her flawless features. Thefire in her blood shone lambent in the eyes that now and again metAmber's. More than once he heard her laugh low, with a lilt ofhappiness.
For himself he was drunk with the spirit of adventure. Bred of themoonlit sky and the far shy stars, of the flooding moonlight breakingcrisply against impenetrable shadows like surf against black rocks, ofthe tune of hoofs, of the singing wind and sighing waters, a wild andreckless humor possessed him, ran molten in his veins, swam in hisbrain like fumes of wine.
As the tale of miles increased, the valley opened out, and presentlythey swung to the west from the northerly track, branching off into arougher way through a wilder countryside. Rugged hilltops marchedbeside them, looming stark black against the silvered purple of thesky. They met no one, their road winding through a land whose grandeurwas enhanced by its positive desolation--a land tenanted only by amillion devils of loneliness with naught to do save to fling backmocking echoes of the road-song of the flying hoofs....
Toward the close of the second hour the valleys began to widen, thehills to be less lofty and precipitous. The horses swung up gentlerascents, down slopes less sharp. The road ran for a time along the bankof a broad and placid river, then crossed it by a massive arch ofmasonry as old as history. They circled finally a great, round,grassless hillside, and pulled rein in the notch of a gigantic V formedby two long, prow-like spurs running out upon a plain whose sole, vagueboundary was the vast arc of the horizon.
Before them loomed dead Kathiapur, an island of stone girdled by theshallow silver river. Like the rugged pedestal of some mammoth column,its cliffs rose sheer threescore feet from the water's edge to the footof the outermost of its triple walls. From the notch in the hills agreat stone causeway climbed with a long and easy grade to the level ofthe first great gate, spanning the chasm over the river by means of acrazy wooden bridge.
Above the broken rim of the three-fold walls the moon's unearthlysplendor made visible a vast confusion of crumbling cornices, blankwalls, turrets, domes, and towers, the gnarled limbs of dead trees, theluxuriant dark foliage of banian and pepal, palm and acacia. Butnothing moved and there was not a light to be seen. These things withthe silence told the tale of death. With the cessation of the ringinghoofbeats the stillness had closed down upon the riders like a spell tobreak the which were to invite the wrath of the undying godsthemselves. Other than the silken breathing of the horses, anoccasional muffled thud or the jingle of a bridle-chain as one pawedthe earth or tossed his head, they heard no sound. The unending hum ofa living city was not there. Sister of Babylon, Nineveh and Tyre, kinto Chitor and that proud city of the plains that Jai Singh abandonedwhen he built him his City of Victory, Kathiapur is as Tadmor--dead.The shell remains; the soul has flown.
A gasp from the woman and an oath from the sowar startled Amber out ofsomber apprehensions into which he had been plunged by contemplation ofthis impregnable fortress of desolation. Gone was his lust for peril,gone his high, heedless joy of adventure, gone the intoxication whichhad been his who had drunk deep of the cup of Romance; there remainedonly the knowledge that he, alone and single-handed, was to pit hiswits against the invisible and mighty forces that lurked in hidingwithin those walls, to seem to submit to their designs and so find hisway to the woman of his love, tear her from the grasp of the unseen,and with her escape...
Naraini had, indee
d, no need to cry aloud or clutch his hand in orderto apprise him that the Eye was vigilant. He himself had seen it breakforth, a lurid star of emerald light suspended high above the darkheart of the city--high in the air where the moment gone there had beennothing; so powerful that it shaded with sickly pallor the face of thewoman, who clung shuddering to Amber; so unpresaged its appearance andso malign its augury that it shook even the skepticism of him whosereason had been nourished by the materialism of the Occident.
Slowly, while they watched, the star descended, foot by foot droppinguntil the topmost pinnacle of a hidden temple seemed to support it; andthere it rested, throbbing with light, now bright, now dull.
Amber shook himself impatiently. "Silly charlatanry!" he muttered,irritated by his own susceptibility to its sinister suggestion.... "I'dlike to know how they manage it, though; the light itself'scomprehensible enough, but their control of it.... If there were enoughwind, I'd suspect a kite...."
"Thou art not dismayed, my king?"
He laughed, not quite as successfully as he could have wished, and,"Not I, Naraini," he returned in English: a tongue which seemed somehowbetter suited for service in combating the esoteric influences at workupon his mind. "What's the next turn on the programme?"
"I like not that tone, nor yet that tongue." The woman shivered. "Evenas the Eye seeth, my lord, so doth the Ear hear. Is it meet and wise tospeak with levity of that in whose power thou shalt shortly be?"
"Perhaps not," he admitted, thoughtful. "'In whose power I shallshortly be.' ... Well, of course!"
"And thou wilt go on? Thou art not minded to withdraw thy hand?"
"Not so that you'd notice it, Naraini."
"For the sake of the reward Naraini offers thee?" she persisteddangerously.
"I don't mind telling you that you'd turn 'most any man's head, mydear," he said cheerfully, and let her interpret the words as shepleased.
She was not pleased, for her acquaintance with English was moreintimate than she had chosen to admit; but if she felt any chagrin shedissimulated with her never-failing art. "Then bid me farewell, O mysoul, and go!"
"Up there?" he enquired, lifting his brows.
"Aye, up the causeway and over the bridge, into the city of death."
"Alone?"
"Aye, alone and afoot, my king."
"Pleasant prospect, thanks." Amber whistled, a trifle dashed. "Andthen, when I get up there--?"
"One will meet thee. Go with him, fearing naught."
"And what will you do, meanwhile?"
"When thou shalt have passed the Gateway, my lord, Naraini will bewaiting for thee."
"Very well." Amber threw a leg over the crupper, handed the stallion'sreins to the sowar, who had dismounted and drawn near, and dropped uponhis feet.
Naraini nodded to the sowar, who led the animal away. When he was outof earshot the woman leaned from the saddle, her glorious eyes toAmber's. "My king!" she breathed intensely.
But the thought of Sophia Farrell and what she might be suffering atthat very moment was uppermost--obtruded itself like a wall betweenhimself and the woman. He had no further inclination for make-believe,and he saw Naraini with eyes that nothing illuded. Quite as casually asthough she had been no more to him than a chance acquaintance, hereached up, took her hand, and gave it a perfunctory shake.
"Good-night, my dear," he said amiably; and, turning, made off towardthe foot of the causeway.
When he had gained it, he looked back to see her riding off at a wideangle from the causeway, heading out into the plain. When he lookedagain, some two or three minutes later, Naraini, the sowar, and thehorses had vanished as completely as if the earth had opened to receivethem. He rubbed his eyes, stared, and gave it up.
So he was alone!... With a shrug, he plodded on.