CHAPTER XXXIX
PRINCESS ZARA'S TERMS
Geoffrey had no reason to fear anything from his adventure in the way ofcatching cold, seeing that beyond his feet he was not in the least wet.But the exertion had brought the great beads to his forehead, and he layat the entrance to the cave exhausted.
Meanwhile Tchigorsky had appeared again clad in the long Oriental robesthat suited him so well. Even in the strong light that filtered througha crack on to his face Geoffrey found it impossible to recognize him.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked.
"All right," Geoffrey gasped. "I'm a little bit pumped, of course."Tchigorsky pointed to the boat pulled over the ledge of rock.
"Then oblige me by shoving her off and letting her sink in shallowwater," he said. "It is not pleasant and may cause your friends a greatdeal of anxiety, but for a little while it will be necessary for theworld to regard you as one who has met with a watery grave."
"But surely this does not apply to my family?" Geoffrey asked anxiously.
"To your family most of all," said Tchigorsky coolly. "It is all part ofthe scheme.
"My dear boy, I am the last man in the world to cause unnecessarysuffering--goodness knows I have had enough of my own--but one must becruel to be kind sometimes. I have worked out the scheme; I have seenthe enemy's cards, and I am playing mine accordingly. I tell you thestep is imperative."
"But Vera," Geoffrey groaned. "It will kill Vera. In normalcircumstances the shock would be great; with a girl who has been soawfully tried the news may mean loss of reason."
"I have thought of that," Tchigorsky said. "At least your uncle Ralphand I have worked it out between us. Miss Vera is not to know anythingof our scheme, but she is to know that you are safe and well. Come, Ifancy you can trust Ralph Ravenspur."
Geoffrey nodded. He felt easier in his mind. Not that he was satisfied,but it would be flying in the face of Providence to interfere with thedelicate and deeply laid scheme of a man like Tchigorsky.
"All right," he said. "I'll do as you desire."
"Then push the boat off without further delay. You will understand why Idon't want to be seen in the matter. Go, before any one comes along."
Geoffrey went obediently. He had not much fear of anybody passing.Nevertheless he did not neglect proper precautions. As he reached thecave again he found Tchigorsky lying on a heap of dry seaweed smoking acigarette.
"I suppose I have to thank Mrs. May for this?" Geoffrey asked.
"For this and other things," Tchigorsky nodded. "I knew it was coming;in fact, very little can happen now that I am not in a position todiscount. My ruse succeeded capitally. Behold in me Ben Heer, one of thetwo miscreants who succeeded in destroying Voski. My colleague perishedin the attempt."
"The princess is convinced of that?"
"Absolutely. She is certain that I, Sergius Tchigorsky, have gone overto the great majority. Besides, I have placed proofs of my alleged crimein her hand--the Garuda stone all the fuss was about. It is a cleverimitation, but that is beside the question."
"So you have been taken into her confidence?"
"Well, not exactly that. But every new scheme is relegated so far asdetails are concerned to some of us, and therefore I am in a positionto discount the future. In ordinary circumstances I should simply havewarned you against going fishing to-day, and thus checkmated the foeagain; but that would have been inartistic.
"Besides, I wanted the princess to regard you as another victim, hencethe whole of this rather cheap dramatic business. You will come to lifeagain in a few hours--when we shall have to be guided by events."
"Who was it who tampered with the boat?"
"You will learn in good time. Let us meanwhile assume that it was thework of one of my dusky companions. For the present you and I remainwhere we are--till dark probably--when it will be possible to smuggleyou up to your uncle's room. I have not been regardless of your creaturecomforts. Here are cold meat and a bottle of champagne. We dinetogether."
Geoffrey accepted his portion with resignation. And Tchigorsky was anentertaining companion. There was no dullness in his presence.
"Very well," Geoffrey said as he lighted a cigarette. "We are safe here.Now's the time for a further recital of your thrilling adventures inLassa."
"Agreed," Tchigorsky cried. "Where did I leave off?"
"You had been gagged and bound at the instigation of the princess."
"True. It is also true that but for the intervention of the sameprincess we should have been torn to pieces on the spot; and,incidentally, I may mention that that would have resulted in theabsolute extinction of the house of Ravenspur. The men who a momentbefore had been grave, reserved priests were transformed instantly intoraging fiends.
"Had they been possessed by devils they could not have flamed out moresuddenly. They were mad to know that the secrets of all ages had passedinto the hands of Christian dogs--dogs who had defiled their altars. Andyet much the same kind of barbarous fanaticism has been displayed incivilized dominions. They were not any worse than the bigots who burnedyour English martyrs.
"We should have been torn to pieces on the spot, as I told you, but forthe authority of the princess. So commonplace a death did not suit herideas of the eternal fitness of things. Many and many a time afterwards,when racked by agony, I deeply deplored that supposed act of clemency.It would have been a far more merciful death.
"Well, we were spared for the moment and cast into a loathsome dungeon,where we were overrun with vermin, great rats which we had constantly todrive off, and spiders whose bite was very painful.
"How long we lay without food I don't know; anyway, it seemed days.Perhaps it was only so many hours. Try lying in the pitch dark fightingwith nameless unseen terrors and see how many bitter years can becrammed into a minute. And yet we knew there was far worse to come. Butfor the fact that we were together and could cheer the black hours withthe sound of each other's voices we should have gone mad. One moment wewere cast down in the depths of gloom, the next we prayed for death;anon we laughed and sang sketches of gay songs. We were not insane, butwere treading perilously near to the borderland.
"Then, after many years--or so it seemed to us--they fetched us again.We were not led into the banqueting hall, but to a long, low vault-likeplace on the floor of which were two shallow tanks or baths covered overwith a frame of iron, and from the frame of iron ran long sliding rodsfor all the world like a bird cage, only the sliding wires of the cageran far into the room.
"Around these cages were glowing charcoal fires, the greater part of thesliding bars or wires growing red and crocus blue from the heat. Whatdid it mean?
"I wondered. Ah! I was very soon to know."
Tchigorsky drew a deep breath and a shudder passed over his powerfulframe. The moisture on his forehead was not due to the heat alone.
"On a throne of stone the princess was seated. A few of the higher gradepriests were grouped around her. Evidently they had been discussing us,and had made up their minds. We were not going to be tried even.
On a throne of stone the princess was seated, a few ofthe higher grade priests grouped around her.--Page 215.]
"'Stand there!' the princess commanded! 'Dogs, do you want to live?'
"Ralph Ravenspur said nothing. He was ever a man of few words.
"'We have no desire to die,' I replied. 'Nothing that breathes ever has.Even if I were an old man with one foot in the grave the desire for lifewould be as strong upon me as it is now!'
"The princess smiled. I will not try to describe that smile. If you hadseen it you would have given ten years of your life to forget it again.
"It is in your hands to live,' the woman said; 'it is for you to saywhether or not you return to your people. But you shall not carry ourcherished secrets to the West. You shall live, you shall go free, butyou shall take no memory of the past with you!'
"I guessed at once what she meant. There were attendants upon thepriests, poor fools who fetched and carried, wh
o would undertake errandsone at a time, but who had no reasoning powers, no wits of their own.
"They were not born idiots; they had been made so. They are put underdrugs, a portion of the scalp is removed, and then some small fragmentof the brain is destroyed. We could have our liberty if we chose, but atwhat price! We could go free, but for the rest of our lives we shouldnever know the blessed light of reason again.
"I tell you it came to me like a cold shock and turned me faint andgiddy. As I glanced at my companion I saw that he was ghastly as myself.What use was life to us under such conditions! And the fiends wereequal to the cruelty of getting us to consent to this operation andthen detaining us afterwards. We should be a mockery among them and awarning to others.
"There was no reason to discuss this defined cruelty, this vile offer.We glanced at each other and shook our heads. Far better death thanthis. We knew how to die; we could have drawn our revolvers and shoteach other then and there. But we did not. While there was life therewas hope."