 CHAPTER VII We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead Gebritten, looking futilely down the river, to where it made an abrupt curve to the west, a quarter of a mile below us, and was lost to sight, as though we expected to see the truant returning to us with our precious launch, the thing that meant life or death to us in this unfriendly, savage world. I felt rather than saw Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward my profile, and, as mine swung to meet them, the expression upon his face recalled me to my duty and responsibility as an officer. The utter hopelessness that was reflected in his face must have been the counterpart of what I myself felt, but in that brief instant I determined to hide my own misgivings that I might bolster up the courage of the others. We are lost was written as plainly upon Taylor's face as though his features were the printed words upon an open book. He was thinking of the launch, and of the launch alone. Was I? I tried to think that I was, but a greater grief than the loss of the launch could have engendered in me, filled my heart, a sullen, knowing misery which I tried to deny, which I refused to admit, but which persisted in obsessing me, until my heart rose and filled my throat, and I could not speak when I would have uttered words of reassurance to my companions. And then rage came to my relief, rage against the vile traitor who had deserted three of his fellow countrymen in so frightful a position. I tried to feel an equal rage against the woman, but somehow I could not, and kept searching for excuses for her, her youth, her inexperience, her savagery. My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I smiled and told Taylor not to look so glum. We will follow them, I said, and the chances are that we shall overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as Snyder probably hopes. They will be forced to halt for fuel and for food, and the launch must follow the windings of the river. We can take shortcuts while they are traversing the detour. I have my map, thank God, I always carry it upon my person, and with that and the compass we will have an advantage over them. My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for starting off at once in pursuit. There was no reason why we should delay, and we set forth down the river. As we tramped along we discussed a question that was uppermost in the mind of each, what we should do with Snyder when we had captured him, for with the action of pursuit had come the optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter of fact we had to succeed. The very thought of remaining in this utter wilderness for the rest of our lives was impossible. We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of Snyder's punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, Delcart insisting that he should be hanged, while I, although fully conscious of the gravity of his offence, could not bring myself to give the death penalty. I fell to wondering what charm victory had found in such a man as Snyder, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for her, and trying to defend her indefensible act. She was nothing to me, aside from the natural gratitude I felt for her, since she had saved my life. I owed her nothing. She was a half-naked little savage, I, a gentleman, and an officer in the world's greatest navy. There could be no close bonds of interest between us. This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as the former, but, though I tried to turn my mind to other things, it persisted in returning to the vision of an oval face, suntanned, a smiling lips, revealing white and even teeth, of brave eyes that harboured no shadow of guile. And of a tumbling mass of wavy hair that crowned the loveliest picture on which my eyes had ever rested. Every time this vision presented itself, I felt myself turn cold with rage and hate against Snyder. I could forgive the launch, but if he had wronged her, he should die. He should die at my own hands. In this I was determined. For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off where we could, but confined for the most part to the game trails that paralleled the stream. One afternoon we cut across a narrow neck of land that saved us many miles, where the river wound to the west and back again. Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, and if the truth were known, I think that we had all given up hope of overtaking the launch, other than by the merest accident. We had shot a deer just before our halt, and as Taylor and Delcart were preparing it, I walked down to the water to fill our canteens. I had just finished and was straightening up, when something floating around a bend above me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe the testimony of my own senses. It was a boat. I shouted to Delcart and Taylor, who came running to my side. "'The launch!' cried Delcart, and indeed it was the launch, floating down river from above us. Where had it been? How had we passed it? And how were we to reach it now? Should Snyder and the girl discover us? It's drifting!' said Taylor. I seen no one in it. I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcart soon followed my example. I told Taylor to remain on shore with the clothing and rifles. He might also serve us better there, since it would give him an opportunity to take a shot at Snyder should the man discover us and show himself. With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the oncoming launch. Being a stronger swimmer than Delcart, I was soon far in the lead, reaching the centre of the channel, just as the launch bore down upon me. It was drifting broadside on. I seized the gun-whale, and raised myself quickly, so that my chin topped the side. I expected to blow the moment that I came within the view of the occupants. But no blow fell. Snyder lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. Even before I had clambered in and stooped above him, I knew that he was dead. After examining him further, I ran forward to the control board and pressed the starting button. To my relief the mechanism responded. The launch was uninjured. Coming about I picked up Delcart. He was astounded at the sight that met his eyes, and immediately fell to examining Snyder's body for signs of life, or an explanation of the manner in which he met his death. The fellow had been dead for hours. He was cold and still. But Delcart's search was not without results, for above Snyder's heart was a wound, a slit about an inch in length, such a slit as a sharp knife would make. And in the dead fingers of one hand was clutched a strand of long brown hair. Victory's hair was brown. They say the dead men tell no tales, but Snyder told the story of his end as clearly as though the dead lips had parted and poured forth the truth. The beast had attacked the girl, and she had defended her honour. We buried Snyder beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his last resting place. Beasts did not require headstones. Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. When I told Delcart and Taylor that I intended searching for the girl, neither had demurred. We had her wrong in our thoughts, said Delcart, and the least that we can do in expiation is to find and rescue her. We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up the river. But though we returned all the way to our former camping place, we did not find her. I then decided to retrace our journey, letting Taylor handle the launch, while Delcart and I, upon opposite sides of the river, searched for some sign of the spot where Victory had landed. We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles above the spot where I had first seen the launch drifting down toward us, and there I discovered the remnants of a recent campfire. That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that it was she who built the fire I was positive. But which way had she gone, since she stopped here? Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring herself nearer her own Grabritten, or would she have sought to search for us upstream, where she had seen us last? I had hailed Taylor and sent him across the river to take in Delcart, that the two might join me and discuss my discovery and our future plans. While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, my back toward the woods that stretched away from the east behind me. Delcart was just stepping into the launch upon the opposite side of the stream. When without the least warning, I was violently seized by both arms and about the waist. Three or four men were upon me at once. My rifle was snatched from my hands, and my revolver from my belt. I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no avail, I ceased them, and turned my head to have a look at my assailants. At the same time several others of them walked around in front of me, and to my astonishment I found myself looking upon uniformed soldiery, armed with rifles, revolvers, and sabers, but with faces as black as coal. CHAPTER 8 Delcart and Taylor were now in midstream, coming towards us, and I called to them to keep aloof, until I knew whether the intentions of my captors were friendly or otherwise. My good men wanted to come on and annihilate the blacks, but they were upward of a hundred of the latter, all well armed, and so I commanded Delcart to keep out of harm's way, and stay where he was till I needed him. A young officer called and beckoned to them, but they refused to come, and so he gave orders that resulted in my hands being secured at my back, after which the company marched away, straight toward the east. I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to me, but when, late in the afternoon, we arrived at their encampment, I discovered that my captors were cavalrymen. In the centre of a plain stood a log fort, with a blockhouse at each of its four corners. As we approached, I saw a herd of cavalry horses grazing under guard outside the walls of the post. They were small stocky horses, but the telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. The flag flying from a tall staff inside the palisade was one which I had never before seen nor heard of. We marched directly into the compound, where the company was dismissed, with the exception of a guard of four privates, who escorted me in the wake of the young officer. The latter led us across a small parade ground, where a battery of light field guns was parked, and toward a log building, in front of which rose the flagstaff. I was escorted within the building into the presence of an old negro, a fine-looking man with a dignified and military bearing. He was a colonel. I was to learn later, and to him I owe the very humane treatment that was accorded me while I remained his prisoner. He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to question me, but with no better results than the former had accomplished. Then he summoned in orderly and gave some instructions. The soldier saluted and left the room, returning in about five minutes with a hairy old white man. Just such a savage, primeval-looking fellow, as I had discovered in the woods the day that Snyder had disappeared with the launch. The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as interpreter. But when the savage addressed me, it was in a language as foreign to me as was that of the blacks. At last the old officer gave it up, and shaking his head gave instructions for my removal. From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found about fifty half-naked whites clad in the skins of wild beasts. I tried to converse with them, but not one of them could understand pan-American, nor could I make head or tail of their jargon. For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from morning to night at odd jobs about the headquarters building of the commanding officer. The other prisoners worked harder than I did, and I owe my better treatment solely to the kindness and discrimination of the old colonel. What had become a victory of Delcart of Taylor I could not know, nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn. I was most depressed, but I wild away my time in performing the duties given me to the best of my ability, and attempting to learn the language of my captors. Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me, that they were the outpost of some powerful black nation seemed likely, yet where the seat of that nation lay I could not guess. They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated us accordingly. They had a literature of their own, and many of the men, even the common soldiers, were omnivorous breeders. Every two weeks a dust-covered trooper would trot his jaded mount into the post, and deliver a bulging sack of mail at headquarters. The next day he would be away again upon a fresh horse toward the south, carrying the soldiers' letters to friends in the far-off land of mystery from whence they all had come. Troops sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post daily for what I assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the little force of a thousand men were detailed here to maintain the authority of a distant government in a conquered country. Later I learned that my surmise was correct, and this was but one of a great chain of similar posts that dotted the new frontier of the black nation into whose hands I had fallen. Daily I learned their tongue, so that I could understand what was said before me, and make myself understood. I had seen from the first that I was being treated as a slave, that all whites that fell into the hands of the blacks were thus treated. All my daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three weeks after I was brought in to the post a troop of Calvary came from the south to relieve one of the troops stationed there. There was great jubilation in the encampment after the arrival of the newcomers. Old friendships were renewed and new ones made, but the happiest men were those of the troop that was to be relieved. The next morning they started away, and as they were forced upon the parade ground, we prisoners were marched from our quarters and lined up before them. A couple of long chains were brought, with rings in the links every few feet. At first I could not guess the purpose of these chains, but I was soon to learn. Couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck of a powerful white slave, and one by one the rest of us were herded to our places, and the work of shackling us neck to neck commenced. The colonel stalled watching the procedure. Presently his eyes fell upon me, and he spoke to a young officer at his side. The latter stepped toward me and motioned me to follow him. I did so, and was led back to the colonel. By this time I could understand a few words of this strange language, and when the colonel asked me if I would prefer to remain at the post as his body servant, I signified my willingness, as emphatically as possible, for I had seen enough of the brutality of the common soldiers toward their white slaves to have no desire to start out upon a march of unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on by the great whips that a score of the soldiers carried to accelerate the speed of their charges. About three hundred prisoners, who had been housed in six prisons at the post, marched out of the gates that morning, to what fate and what future I could not guess. Neither had the poor devils themselves more than the most vague conception of what lay in store for them, except that they were going elsewhere to continue in the slavery that they had known since their capture by the black conquerors, a slavery that was to continue until death released them. My position was altered at the post. From working about the headquarters office, I was transferred to the colonel's living quarters. I had greater freedom, and no longer slept in one of the prisons, but had a little room to myself off the kitchen of the colonel's log house. My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly learned the language of my captors, and much concerning them that had been a mystery to me before. His name was Abu Belik. He was a colonel in the Calvary of Abyssinia, a country of which I do not remember ever hearing, but which Colonel Belik assured me is the oldest civilised country in the world. Colonel Belik was born in Addis Abiba, the capital of the Empire, and until recently had been in command of the Emperor's palace guard. Jealousy and the ambition and intrigue of another officer had lost him the favour of his Emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier post as a mark of his sovereign's displeasure. Some fifty years before the young Emperor, Menelik, the fourteenth, was ambitious. He knew that a great world lay across the waters far to the north of his capital. Once he had crossed the desert and looked out upon the blue sea that was the northern boundary of his eminents. There lay another world to conquer. Menelik busied himself with the building of a great fleet, though his people were not a maritime race. His army crossed into Europe. It met with little resistance, and for fifty years his soldiers had been pushing his boundaries farther and farther toward the north. The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our rights here now, said the Colonel, but we shall win. We shall conquer the world, carrying Christianity to all the benighted heathen of Europe and Asia as well. You are a Christian people, I asked. He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively. I am a Christian, I said. My people are the most powerful on earth. He smiled and shook his head indulgently, as a father to a child who sets up his childish judgment against that of his elders. Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, of our army, and of our great navy. He came right back at me, asking for figures, and when he was done I had to admit that only in our navy were we numerically superior. Menelik, the fourteenth, is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of Africa, of all of ancient Europe, except the British Isles, Scandinavia and eastern Russia, and has large possessions and prosperous colonies in what once were Arabia and Turkey in Asia. He has a standing army of ten million men and his people possess slaves, white slaves, to the number of ten or fifteen million. Colonel Bellick was much surprised, however, upon his part to learn of the great nation which lay across the ocean. And when he found that I was a naval officer, he was inclined to accord me even greater consideration than formerly. It was difficult for him to believe, my assertion, that there were but few blacks in my country, and that these occupied a lower social plain than the whites. Perhaps the reverse is true in Colonel Bellick's land. He considered whites inferior beings, creatures of a lower order, and assuring me that even the few white freemen of Abyssinia were never accorded anything approximating a position of social equality with the blacks. They live in the poorer districts of the cities, in little white colonies, and a black who marries a white is socially ostracised. The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly inferior to ours, yet they are tremendously effective against the ill-armed barbarians of Europe. Their rifles are of a type similar to the magazine rifles of 20th century Pan-America, but carrying only five cartridges in the magazine, in addition to the one in the chamber. They are of extraordinary length, even those of the Calvary, and are of extreme accuracy. The Abyssinians themselves are a fine-looking race of black men, tall, muscular, with fine teeth and regular features, which incline distinctly towards Semitic mould. I refer to the full-blooded natives of Abyssinia. They are the patricians, the aristocracy. The army is officed almost exclusively by them. Among the soldiery a lower type of negro predominates, with thicker lips and broader flatter noses. These men are recruited, so the colonel told me, from among the conquered tribes of Africa. They are good soldiers, brave and loyal. They can read and write. And they are endowed with a self-confidence and pride which, from my readings of the words of ancient African explorers, must have been wanting in their earliest progenitors. On the whole it is apparent that the black race has thrived far better in the past two centuries under many of its own colour than it had under the domination of whites during all previous history. I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a month when orders came to Colonel Bellick to hasten to the eastern frontier with the major portion of his command, leaving only one troop to garrison the fort. As his body servant I accompanied him, mounted upon a fiery little Abyssinian pony. We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the ancient German empire, halting when night found us in proximity to water. Often we passed small posts similar to that at which the colonel's regiment had been quartered, finding in each instance that only a single company or troop remained for defence, the balance having been withdrawn toward the northeast in the same direction in which we were moving. Naturally the colonel had not confided to me the nature of his orders, but the rapidity of our march, and the fact that all available troops were being hastened toward the northeast assured me that a matter of vital importance to the dominion of Menelik XIV in that part of Europe was threatening or had already broken. I could not believe that a single rising of the savage tribes of white would necessitate the mobilising of such a force as we presently met with converging from the south into our trail. There were large bodies of cavalry and infantry, endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, and countless horse-drawn, covered vehicles laden with camp equipage, munitions and provisions. Here for the first time I saw camels, great caravans of them, bearing all sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon miles of elephants doing similar service. It was a scene of wondrous and barbaric splendour. For the men and beasts from the south were gaily comparisoned in rich colours, in marked contrast to the grey uniformed forces of the frontier, with which I had been familiar. The rumour reached us that Menelik himself was coming, and the pitch of excitement to which this announcement raised the troops was little short of miraculous, at least to one of my race and nationality whose rulers for centuries had been but ordinary men, holding office at the will of the people for a few brief years. As I witnessed it I could not but speculate upon the moral effect upon his troops of a sovereign's presence in the midst of battle, all else being equal in war between the troops of a republic and an empire could not this exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria on the part of the imperial troops, weigh heavily against the soldiers of a president, I wonder. But if the emperor chanced to be absent, what then? Again, I wonder. On the 11th day we reached our destination, a walled frontier city of about 20,000. We passed some lakes and crossed some old canals before entering the gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, were many built of ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was told, were of material taken from the ruins of the ancient city, which once had stood upon the site of the present town. The name of the town translated from the Abyssinian is Nugonda. It stands, I am convinced, upon the ruins of ancient Berlin, the one-time capital of the old German empire. But except for the old building material used in the new town, there is no sign of the former city. The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with flags, streamers, gorgeous rugs, and banners. For the rumor had proved true. The emperor was coming. Colonel Bellick had accorded me the greatest liberty, permitting me to go where I pleased after my few duties had been performed. As a result of his kindness, I spent much time wondering about Nugonda, talking with the inhabitants and exploring the city of black men. As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore insignia indicating that I was an officer's body servant, even the blacks treated me with a species of respect, though I could see by their manner that I was really as the dirt beneath their feet. They answered my questions civilly enough, but they would not enter into conversation with me. It was from other slaves that I learned the gossip of the city. Troops were pouring in from the west and south and pouring out toward the east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping the dirt into little piles in the gutters of the street where the soldiers were going. He looked at me in surprise. Why, to fight the yellow men, of course, he said, they have crossed the border and are marching toward Nugonda. Who will win, I asked. He shrugged his shoulders. Who knows, he said. I hope it will be the yellow men, but Menelik is powerful. It will take many yellow men to defeat him. Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the emperor's entry into the city. I took my place among them, although I hate crowds, and I am glad that I did, for I witnessed such a spectacle of barbaric splendor as no other pan-American has ever looked upon. Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been the historic unto Den Linden, came a brilliant courtage. At the head rode a regiment of red-coated hussars, enormous men, black as night. There were troops of riflemen mounted on camels. The emperor rode in a golden howder upon the back of a huge elephant, so covered with rich hangings and embellished with scintillating gems that scarce more than the beast's eyes and feet were visible. Menelik was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle age, but he carried himself with an air of dignity, befitting one descended in unbroken line from the prophet, as was his claim. His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted both sensuality and cruelness. In his youth he may have been a rather fine-looking black, but when I saw him his appearance was revolting, to me at least. Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the various branches of the service. Among them batteries of field guns mounted on elephants. In the centre of the troops following the imperial elephant marched a great caravan of slaves, the old street sweeper at my elbow told me that these were the gifts brought in from the far outlying districts by the commanding officers of the frontier posts. The majority of them were women, destined, I was told, for the harems of the emperor and his favourites. It made my old companion clench his fists to see those poor white women marching past to their horrid fates, and though I shared his sentiments, I was as powerless to alter their destinies as he. For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of Nuganda, in always from the south and west, but always toward the east. Each new contingent brought its gifts to the emperor. From the south they brought rugs and ornaments and jewels. From the west slaves for the commanding officers of the western frontier posts had not else to bring. From the number of women they brought, I judged that they knew the weakness of their imperial master. And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not with the gay assurance of those who came from the south and west. No, these others came in covered wagons, blood soaked and suffering. They came at first in little parties of eight or 10, and then they came in fifties, in hundreds, and one day a thousand maimed and dying men were carted into Nuganda. It was then that Menelik XIV became uneasy. For 50 years his armies had conquered wherever they had marched. At first he had led them in person. Lately his presence within 100 miles of the battle line had been sufficient for large engagements. For minor ones only the knowledge that they were fighting for the glory of their sovereign was necessary to win victories. One morning Nuganda was awakened by the booming of cannon. It was the first intimation that the townspeople had received that the enemy was forcing the imperial troops back upon the city. Dust-covered couriers galloped in from the front, fresh troops hastened from the city, and about noon Menelik rode out surrounded by his staff. For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and the spitting of the small arms. For the battle line was scarce two legs from Nuganda. The city was filled with wounded. Just outside soldiers were engaged in throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the least enlightened that Menelik expected further reverses. And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new defences, or rather they were forced back by the enemy. Shells commenced to fall within the city. Menelik returned and took up his headquarters in the stone building that was called the palace. That night came a lull in the hostilities. A truce had been arranged. Colonel Bellick summoned me about seven o'clock to dress him for a function at the palace. In the midst of death and defeat, the emperor was about to give a great banquet to his officers. I was to accompany my master and wait upon him. I, Jefferson Turk, Lieutenant in a Pan-American Navy. In the privacy of the Colonel's quarters, I had become accustomed to my menial duties, lightened as they were by the natural kindliness of my master. But the thought of appearing in public as a common slave revolted every fine instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it but to obey. I cannot even now bring myself to a narration of the humiliation which I experienced that night as I stood behind my black master in silent civility, now pouring his wine, now cutting up his meats for him, now fanning him with a large plumed fan of feathers. As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife into him. So keenly did I feel the affront that had been put upon me. But at last the long banquet was concluded, the tables were removed, the Emperor ascended the dais at one end of the room and seated himself upon a throne. And the entertainment commenced. It was only what ancient history might have led me to expect, musicians, dancing girls, jugglers and the like. Near midnight the master of ceremonies announced that the slave women who had been presented to the Emperor since his arrival in Uganda would be exhibited, that the royal host would select such as he wished, after which he would present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, what royal generosity. A small door at one side of the room opened and the poor creatures filed in and were ranged in a long line before the throne. Their backs were toward me. I saw only an occasional profile as now and then a bolder spirit among them turned to survey the apartment and the gorgeous assemblage of officers in their brilliant dress uniforms. They were profiles of young girls and pretty, but horror was indelibly stamped upon them all. I shuddered as I contemplated their sad fate and turned my eyes away. I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate themselves before the Emperor and the sounds as they went upon their knees before him, touching their foreheads to the floor. Then came the official's voice again in sharp and peremptory command. Down, slave, he cried, make obeisance to your sovereign. I looked up attracted by the tone of the man's voice to see a single straight, slim figure standing erect in the centre of the line of prostrate girls. Her arms folded across her breast and little chin in the air. Her back was toward me. I could not see her face though. I should like to see the countenance of this savage young lioness standing there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep. Down, down, shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a step toward her and half drawing his sword. My blood boiled to stand there inactive while a knee-groove struck down that brave girl of my own race. Instinctively, I took a forward step to place myself in the man's path. But at the same instant, Menelik raised his hand in a gesture that halted the officer. The Emperor seemed interested, but in no way angered at the girl's attitude. "'Let us inquire,' he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, "'why this young woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign.' And he put the question himself directly to her. She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an accent that betrayed how recently she had acquired her slight knowledge of the tongue. "'I go on my knees to no one,' she said. "'I have no sovereign. "'I myself am sovereign in my own country.' Menelik, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed uproarously. Following his example, which seemed always the correct procedure, the assembled guests vied with one another in an effort to laugh more noisily than the Emperor. The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air. Even her back proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. Finally, Menelik restored quiet by the simple expedient of a frown, whereupon each loyal guest exchanged his mirthful mane for an emulative scowl. "'And who?' asked Menelik. "'Are you? "'And by what name is your country called?' "'I am victory, Queen of Graviton,' replied the girl, "'so quickly and so unexpectedly, "'that I gasped in astonishment.' "'End of Chapter Eight, "'Chapter Nine of the Lost Continent.' "'This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. "'Recording by Lucy LaFaro. "'The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs. "'Chapter Nine.' "'Victory! "'She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. "'Once more,' I started toward her. "'But better judgment held me back. "'I could do nothing to help her, other than by stealth. "'Could I even accomplish ought by this means? "'I did not know. "'It seemed beyond the pale of possibility, "'and yet I should try. "'And you will not bend the knee to me,' continued Menelik, "'after she had spoken. "'Victory shook her head in our most decided negation. "'You shall be my first choice, then,' said the Emperor. "'I like your spirit, "'for the breaking of it will add to my pleasure in you. "'And never fear, but that it shall be broken, "'this very night. "'Take her to my apartments.' "'And he motioned to an officer at his side. "'I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off "'in apparent quiet submission. "'I tried to follow that I might be near her against, "'some opportunity to speak with her "'or assist in her escape. "'But after I had followed them from the throne room, "'through several other apartments "'and down a long corridor, "'I found my further progress barred by a soldier "'who stood guard before a doorway "'through which the officer conducted Victory. "'Almost immediately, the officer reappeared "'and started back in the direction of the throne room. "'I had been hiding in a doorway "'after the guard had turned me back, "'having taken refuge there while his back was turned. "'And as the officer approached me, "'I withdrew into the room beyond, "'which was in darkness. "'There I remained for a long time, "'watching the sentry before the door of the room "'in which Victory was a prisoner "'and awaiting some favourable circumstance, "'which would give me entry to her. "'I have not attempted to fully describe "'my sensations at the moment are recognised, Victory, "'because I can assure you they were entirely indescribable. "'I should never have imagined "'that the sight of any human being "'could affect me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory "'in the same room in which I was. "'While I had thought of her for weeks, "'either as dead or at best hundreds of miles to the West, "'and as irretrievably lost to me "'as though she were in truth dead, "'I was filled with a strange, mad impulse "'to be near her. "'It was not enough merely to assist her or protect her. "'I desired to touch her, to take her in my arms. "'I was astounded at myself. "'Another thing puzzled me. "'It was my incomprehensible feeling of elation "'since I had again seen her. "'With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, "'and with the knowledge that I should probably die "'defending her within the hour, "'I was still happier than I had been for weeks "'and all because I had seen again for a few brief minutes "'the figure of a little heathen maiden. "'I couldn't account for it, and it angered me. "'I had never before felt any such sensations "'in the presence of a woman. "'And I had made love to some very beautiful ones "'in my time. "'It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway "'in the ill-lit corridor of the palace of Menelaque XIV. "'A sickly gas-jet cast a sad parlor "'upon the black face of the sentry. "'The fellow seemed rooted to the spot. "'Evidently he would never leave or turn his back again. "'I had been in hiding but a short time "'when I heard the sound of distant cannon. "'The truce had ended "'and the battle had been resumed. "'Very shortly thereafter the earth shook "'to the explosion of a shell within the city. "'And from time to time thereafter "'other shells burst at no great distance from the palace. "'The yellow men were bombarding Nugonda again. "'Presently officers and slaves "'commenced to traverse the corridor "'on matters pertaining to their duties. "'And then came the emperor, scowling and wrathful. "'He was followed by a few personal attendants, "'whom he dismissed at the doorway of his apartments, "'the same doorway through which victory had been taken. "'I chafed to follow him, "'but the corridor was filled with people. "'At last they betook themselves to their own apartments, "'which lay upon either side of the corridor. "'An officer and a slave entered the very room "'in which I hid, "'forcing me to flatten myself to one side in the darkness "'until they had passed. "'Then the slave made a light, "'and I knew that I must find another hiding-place. "'Stepping boldly into the corridor, "'I saw that it was now empty, "'save for the single century before the emperor's door. "'He glanced up as I emerged from the room, "'the occupants of which had not seen me. "'I walked straight toward the soldier, "'my mind made up in an instant. "'I tried to simulate an expression of cringing civility, "'and I must have succeeded, "'for I entirely threw the man off his guard "'so that he permitted me to approach "'within reach of his rifle before stopping me. "'Then it was too late for him. "'Without a word or a warning, "'I snatched the peace from his grasp, "'and at the same time struck him a terrific blow "'between the eyes with my clenched fist. "'He staggered back in surprise, "'too dumbfounded even to cry out. "'And then I clubbed his rifle "'and felled him with a single mighty blow. "'A moment later I had burst into the room beyond. "'It was empty. "'I gazed about, mad with disappointment. "'Two doors opened from this to other rooms. "'I ran to the nearest and listened. "'Yes, voices were coming from beyond. "'And one was a woman's level "'and cold and filled with scorn. "'There was no terror in it. "'It was victories. "'I turned the knob and pushed the door inward "'just in time to see Melick seize the girl "'and drag her toward the far end of the apartment. "'At the same instant, "'there was a deafening roar just outside the palace. "'A shell had struck much nearer "'than any of its predecessors. "'The noise of it drowned my rapid rush across the room. "'But in her struggles, victory turned to Melick about "'so that he saw me. "'She was striking him in the face with her clenched fist "'and now he was choking her. "'At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger. "'What means this slave?' he cried, "'Out of here, out of here, quick before I kill you. "'But for answer I rushed upon him, "'striking him with the butt of the rifle. "'He staggered back, dropping victory to the floor. "'And then he cried aloud for the guard and came at me. "'Again and again I struck him, "'but his thick skull might have been armor plate. "'For all the damage I did it. "'He tried to close with me, "'seizing the rifle, but I was stronger than he, "'and wrenching the weapon from his grasp, "'tost it aside and made for his throat "'with my bare hands. "'I had not dared fire the weapon for fear that its rapport "'would bring the large guard stationed at the fire "'the end of the corridor. "'We struggled about the room, striking one another, "'knocking over furniture and rolling upon the floor. "'Menelik was a powerful man, "'and he was fighting for his life. "'Continually he kept calling for the guard "'until I succeeded in getting a grip upon his throat. "'But it was too late. "'His cries had been heard, "'and suddenly the door burst open, "'and a score of armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. "'Victory seized the rifle from the floor "'and leapt between me and them. "'I had the black emperor upon his back, "'and both my hands were at his throat, "'choking the life from him. "'The rest happened in the fraction of a second. "'There was a rending crash above us, "'then a deafening explosion within the chamber. "'Smoke and powder fumes filled the room. "'Half stunned arose from the lifeless body "'of my antagonist, just in time, "'to see victory staggered to her feet and turned toward me. "'Slowly the smoke cleared to reveal "'the shattered remnants of the guard. "'A shell had fallen through the palace roof "'and exploded just in the rear "'of the detachment of guardsmen, "'who were coming to the rescue of the emperor. "'Why neither victory nor I was struck is a miracle. "'The room was a wreck, "'a great jagged hole was torn in the ceiling, "'and the wall toward the corridor "'had been blown entirely out. "'As I rose, victory had risen to and started toward me. "'But when she saw that I was uninjured, she stopped "'and stood there in the centre "'of the demolished apartment looking at me. "'Her expression was inscrutable. "'I could not guess whether she was glad to see me or not. "'Victory,' I cried, "'thank God that you were safe. "'And I approached her, a greater gladness in my heart "'than I had felt since the moment that I knew "'the cold water must be swept beyond 30. "'There was no answering gladness in her eyes. "'Instead, she stamped her little foot in anger. "'Why did it have to be you who saved me?' she exclaimed. "'I hate you.' "'Hate me?' I asked. "'Why should you hate me, victory? "'I do not hate you. "'I—I—' "'What was I about to say? "'I was very close to her as a great light broke over me. "'Why had I never realised it before? "'The truth accounted for a great many, "'he had two inexplicable moods. "'They had claimed me from time to time, "'since first I had seen victory. "'Why should I hate you?' she repeated. "'Because Snyder told me. "'He told me that you had promised me to him, "'but he did not get me. "'I killed him, as I should like to kill you.' "'Snyder lied,' I cried. "'And then I seized her and held her in my arms "'and made her listen to me, "'though she struggled and fought like a young lioness. "'I love you, victory. "'You must know that I love you, "'that I have always loved you, "'and that I never could have made so base a promise.' "'She seized her struggles, just a trifle, "'but still tried to push me from her. "'You called me a barbarian,' she said. "'Ah, so that was it. "'That still rankled. "'I crushed her to me. "'You could not love a barbarian,' she went on, "'but she had ceased to struggle. "'But I do love a barbarian victory,' I cried, "'the dearest barbarian in the world.' "'She raised her eyes to mine, "'and then her smooth brown arms encircled my neck "'and drew my lips down to hers. "'I love you, I have loved you always,' she said. "'And then she buried her face upon my shoulder and sobbed. "'I have been so unhappy,' she said, "'but I could not die while I thought that you might live. "'As we stood there momentarily forgetful of all else "'than our newfound happiness, "'the ferocity of the bombardment increased "'until scarce thirty seconds elapsed "'between the shells that rained about the palace. "'To remain long would be to invite certain death. "'We could not escape the way that we had entered the apartment, "'for not only was the corridor now choked with debris, "'but beyond the corridor there were doubtless many members "'of the emperor's household who would stop us. "'Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, "'and toward this I led the way. "'It opened into a third apartment "'with windows overlooking and in a court. "'From one of these windows I surveyed the courtyard. "'Apparently it was empty, "'and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted. "'Assisting victory to the open I followed, "'and together we crossed the court, "'discovering upon the opposite side "'a number of wide wooden doors "'set in the wall of the palace, "'with small windows between. "'As we stood close behind one of the doors, "'listening, a horse within nade. "'The stables, I whispered, "'and a moment later had pushed back a door and entered. "'From the city about us we could hear the din "'of great commotion, "'and quite close the sounds of battle. "'The crack of thousands of rifles, "'the yells of the soldiers, "'the horse commands of officers, "'and the blare of bugles. "'The bombardment had ceased as suddenly "'as it had commenced. "'I judged that the enemy was storming the city, "'for the sounds we heard were the sounds "'of hand-to-hand combat. "'Within the stables I groped about "'until I had found saddles and bridles for two horses. "'But afterward, in the darkness, "'I could find but a single mount. "'The doors of the opposite side, "'leading to the street were open, "'and we could see great multitudes of men, "'women and children fleeing toward the west. "'Soldiers afoot and mounted were joining the Mad Exodus. "'Now and then a camel or an elephant would pass "'bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. "'It was evident that the city would fall at any moment, "'a fact which was amply proclaimed "'by the terror-stricken haste of the fear-mad mob. "'Horse, camel, and elephant "'tried helpless women and children beneath their feet. "'A common soldier dragged a general from his mount "'and, leaving to the animal's back, "'fled down the packed street toward the west. "'A woman seized a gun and brained a court dignitary, "'whose horse had trampled her child to death. "'Shrinks, curses, commands, supplications filled the air. "'It was a frightful scene, "'one that will be burned upon my memory forever. "'I had saddled and bridled the single horse "'which had evidently been overlooked "'by the royal household in its flight. "'And, standing a little back in the shadow "'of the stable's interior, "'Victory and I watched the surging throng without. "'To have entered it would have been "'to have courted greater danger than we were already in. "'We decided to wait until the stress of blacks thinned, "'and for more than an hour we stood there "'while the sounds of battle raged upon the eastern side "'of the city, and the population flew toward the west. "'More and more numerous became the uniformed soldiers "'among the fleeing throng, "'until toward the last the street was packed with them. "'It was no orderly retreat, "'but a rout, complete and terrible. "'The fighting was steadily approaching us now "'until the crack of rifles "'sounded in the very street upon which we were looking. "'And then came a handful of brave men, "'a little rear guard backing slowly toward the west, "'working their smoking rifles in feverish haste, "'as they fired volley after volley at the foe we could not see. "'But these were pressed back and back "'until the first line of the enemy came opposite our shelter. "'They were men of medium height, "'with olive complexions and almond eyes. "'In them I recognised the descendants "'of the ancient Chinese race. "'They were well uniformed and superbly armed, "'and they fought bravely and under perfect discipline. "'So rapt was I in the exciting events transpiring in the street "'that I did not hear the approach of a body of men from behind. "'It was a party of the conquerors who had entered the palace "'and were searching it. "'They came upon us so unexpectedly "'that we were prisoners before we realised what had happened. "'That night we were held under a strong guard "'just outside the eastern wall of the city, "'and the next morning we started upon a long march toward the east. "'Our captors were not unkind to us "'and treated the women prisoners with respect. "'We marched for many days, so many that I lost count of them. "'And at last we came to another city, "'a Chinese city this time, "'which stands upon the site of ancient Moscow. "'It is only a small frontier city, "'but it is well built and well kept. "'Here, a large military force is maintained "'and here also is a terminus of the railroad "'that crosses modern China to the Pacific. "'There was every evidence of a high civilisation "'in all that we saw within the city, "'which, in connection with the humane treatment "'that had been accorded all prisoners "'upon the long and tiresome march, "'encouraging me to hope that I might appeal "'to some high officer here "'for the treatment which my rank and birth merited. "'We could converse with our captors "'only through the medium of interpreters "'who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. "'But there were many of these, "'and shortly after we reached the city, "'I persuaded one of them to carry a verbal message "'to the officer who had commanded the troops "'during the return from Uganda, "'asking that I might be given a hearing "'by some high official. "'The reply to my request was a summons to appear "'before the officer to whom I had addressed my appeal. "'A sergeant came for me along with the interpreter, "'and I managed to obtain his permission "'to let victory accompany me. "'I had never left her alone "'with the prisoners since we had been captured. "'To my delight, I found that the officer "'in whose presence we were conducted "'spoke Abyssinian fluently. "'He was astounded when I told him "'that I was a Pan-American. "'Unlike all others whom I had spoken with "'since my arrival in Europe, "'he was well acquainted with ancient history, "'was familiar with 20th-century conditions "'in Pan-America, "'and after putting a half-dozen questions to me, "'was satisfied that I spoke the truth. "'When I told him that victory was Queen of England, "'he showed little surprise, "'telling me that in their recent explorations "'in ancient Russia, "'they had found many descendants "'of the old nobility and royalty. "'He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, "'furnished us with servants and with money, "'and in other ways showed us "'every attention and kindness. "'He told me that he would telegraph "'his emperor at once, "'and the result was that we were presently commanded "'to repair to P. King "'and present ourselves before the ruler. "'We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage "'through a country which, as we travelled farther toward the east, "'showed increasing evidence of prosperity and wealth. "'At the Imperial Court, "'we were received with great kindness, "'the emperor being most inquisitive "'about the state of modern Pan-America. "'He told me that while he personally deplored "'the existence of the strict regulations, "'which had raised a barrier between the east and the west, "'he had felt, as had his predecessors, "'that recognition of the wishes of the great Pan-American Federation "'would be most conducive "'to the continued peace of the world. "'His empire includes all of Asia "'and the islands of the Pacific as far west "'as 175 D.W. "'The Empire of Japan no longer exists, "'having been conquered and absorbed by China "'over a hundred years ago. "'The Philippines are well-administered "'and constitute one of the most progressive colonies "'of the Chinese Empire. "'The emperor told me that the building of this great empire "'and the spreading of enlightenment "'among its diversified and savage peoples "'had required all the best efforts of nearly 200 years. "'Upon his accession to the throne, "'he had found the labor well-nigh-perfected "'and had turned his attention to the reclamation of Europe. "'His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks "'and then to attempt the work of elevating its fallen peoples "'to the highest state from which the Great War precipitated them. "'I asked him who was victorious in that war, "'and he shook his head sadly as he replied. "'Pan America, perhaps, and China, "'with the blacks of Abyssinia,' he said. "'Those who did not fight were the only ones "'to reap any of the rewards that are supposed "'to belong to victory. "'The combatants reaped naught but annihilation. "'You have seen better than any man. "'You must realize that there was no victory "'for any nation embroiled in that frightful war. "'When did it end?' I asked him. "'Again he shook his head. "'It has not ended yet. "'There has never been a formal peace declared in Europe. "'After a while there were none left to make peace, "'and the rude tribes which sprang from the survivors "'continued to fight among themselves "'because they knew no better condition of society. "'War raised the works of man. "'War and pestilence raised man. "'God give that there shall never be such another war.' "'You all know how Porphyrio Johnson returned to Pan America "'with John Alvarez in chains. "'How Alvarez's trial raised a popular demonstration "'that the government could not ignore. "'His eloquent appeal, not for himself but for me, "'is historic, as are its results. "'You know how a fleet was sent across the Atlantic "'to search for me, "'how the restrictions against crossing 30 to 175 "'were removed forever, "'and how the officers were brought to Peking, "'arriving upon the very day "'that Victory and I were married at the Imperial Court. "'My return to Pan America was very different "'from anything I could possibly have imagined a year before. "'Instead of being received as a trader to my country, "'I was acclaimed a hero. "'It was good to get back again, "'good to witness the kindly treatment "'that was accorded my dear Victory. "'And when I learned that Delcart and Taylor "'had been found at the mouth of the Rhine "'and were already back in Pan America, "'my joy was unalloyed. "'And now we are going back, Victory and I, "'with the men and the munitions and power "'to reclaim England for her Queen. "'Again I shall cross 30, "'but under what altered conditions?' "'A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, "'with enlightened China on the east "'and enlightened Pan America on the west. "'The two great peace powers whom God has preserved "'to regenerate chastened and forgiven Europe. "'I have been through much, I have suffered much, "'but I have won two great laurel wreaths beyond 30. "'One is the opportunity to rescue Europe from barbarism. "'The other is a little barbarian "'and the greater of these is Victory.'" End of Chapter 9. End of The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Recording by Lucy LaFaro, Australia.