During this colloquy, a stupendous distance had been traversed; Jupiter was now but of the apparent size of our moon; and Jack had latterly been conscious of a new influence, gentle and soothing, accompanied by warbling sounds resembling those of an æolian harp, which waxed and waned upon the ear. The dazzling whiteness of the medium surrounding them had become modified, and now took on a faint violet tinge. A delicate perfume, too, like that of wild flowers, but with a peculiar aromatic quality pervading it, was perceptible.
“Do I imagine these things, or are they real?” he asked his guide.
“Look!” was the reply.
As he spoke, the position of all three underwent an alteration. Hitherto they had been moving continually in the same course relative to the station of the earth and sun, but now they insensibly turned, as an arrow turns in the air after completing its outward flight. Immediately in front of them rose a mighty arch, with another arch defining itself above the first, and parallel with it. A minute more, and the first arch had become a complete circle, with the other surrounding it. The color of the interior sphere was a royal purple; the outer ring flashed with prismatic hues of enchanting splendor. Scattered here and there in the void around this apparition were five or six much smaller globes, each of a different tint—red, blue, yellow, green, golden and silvery. The voyagers were dropping swiftly down into the midst of this marvelous earth. It expanded until its circumference covered the entire field of sight; rivers, mountains, forests and plains were now discernible. A few breaths more, and they would alight there!
In the awe and wonder of this revelation, one thought and emotion filled Jack’s soul: Miriam! As the downward rush continued, Solarion laid a hand gently on his head; his senses swooned, a tender darkness closed his eyes; the shouting of a myriad voices seemed to vibrate in his ears for a moment, and was then hushed; and he knew nothing.
JACK was lying on his back on the ground. In the beautiful sky overhead hung what looked like a vast silvery simitar, the curved edge downward, flashing in the sun, if it were not itself the source of light. The weapon extended its arc from horizon to horizon: beautiful but menacing, it was suspended over him like a cosmic sword of Damocles, and without any visible support: were it to descend, it would not only cut Jack in twain, but the planet on which he lay, and any others of our system which might lie in its path.
Jack’s attention was especially drawn, however, to a red, globular object, at a great but incalculable height above him, and near the arch of the simitar. It had the appearance to his eyes, which were still somewhat dazed by recent events, of a huge red spider, with hostile designs upon his welfare. As he stared at it, unable to move from his position, the spider detached a scarlet thread from its body, with a tiny globule at the end of it. It swung to and fro in immense curves, and constantly lengthened its radius: it was dropping toward him with inconceivable rapidity. The globule at the end of it now assumed the aspect of a living creature or monster of some sort, clewed up there like an acrobat in an aerial flight. Nearer and nearer it came: the swinging movement of the thread to which it was attached had nearly ceased, and it was descending straight downward. In another minute the acrobatic monster would reach the ground.
It plainly behoved Jack to stand on his guard. He was convinced that the apparition meditated no good to himself. What he had done to provoke it he could imagine as little as he knew what it was, or where in the universe this event was taking place. But the proximity of danger stimulated his faculties, and by an effort of will he summoned together all his energies. He lifted himself to a sitting posture, and in another instant he was on his feet. At the same time memory, and control of his nerves, sprang into action. He remembered his flight through space: he must have landed on Saturn: and here he was, having as yet hardly drawn his first Saturnian breath, confronted by an adversary who apparently intended to prevent his drawing many more!
The red object now hung a few feet above the surface of the ground, and not more than fifty paces from where he stood. It was a sort of vehicle of hemispherical form, and out of it leaped a being in human shape, with red mantle twisted about his body, shaggy black hair, and a dark and frowning countenance. In his right hand he grasped a short truncheon. He advanced straight upon Jack, who, wholly unarmed, put himself in an attitude of defense. If it came to fist fighting or wrestling, he thought he might stand a chance, though his antagonist was a man of superb proportions and physical development. But Jack had a well-grounded confidence in his ability to tackle any man on equal terms, and to give a good account of himself. In many athletic trials and combats he had never yet met his match; and unless his present opponent took some unfair advantage, he saw no reason for doubting that he could put up a fight worth seeing.
At five paces distance, the man in the red mantle halted and addressed him.
“I will give you your choice,” he said in a deep voice, “of either becoming my slave or dying where you stand. I hold here”—he shook his truncheon threateningly—“the means of blasting you to fragments in a moment. I am Torpeon, Prince of Tor. Kneel down and do me homage!”
Jack was somewhat relieved to find that the Prince of Tor spoke American, or what seemed to be that famous language, though he afterward found reason to think that special conditions may have misled him on that point. An underlying sense of humor in him was also awakened by the grandiloquent terms in which this remarkable person launched his challenge: they reminded him of the defiance of medieval champions that he had read about in books of romance. Being aware of no ground of enmity between them, he thought it proper to make a statement on his own account.
“I am Jack Paladin of New York,” he said. “I’ve just landed here, and I’m not acquainted with any inhabitant of this planet, and therefore can have no quarrel with any. I came here in search of a young lady, a friend and countrywoman of my own, who arrived here a few days ago. When I find her, I intend to take her back to New York. I’m not looking for trouble, and I guess you have made a mistake in your man.”
This placable speech, instead of soothing, had the effect or rousing the other to even greater wrath. His features assumed a terrible expression.
“Silence! or take the consequences,” he growled raising his truncheon. “The woman you speak of, Miriam, is in my power: and I shall take her with me to Tor and make her my wife. Once more I give you the choice of either serving her and me as our slave, or of perishing on this spot. Kneel!”
But the Prince’s allusion to Miriam had put Jack into another humor. He became very grave and punctilious.
“You are evidently a footpad of some sort, and I shall have pleasure, if you insist upon it, in breaking your back across my knee. I’ll take my chances against your revolver, or whatever you call that thing in your hand: if you were not a coward and a rascal, you would throw it down and meet me with bare hands, like a gentleman. What you say about the lady is a lie, and if you don’t take it back immediately, of your own motion, I will give you the most unpleasant quarter of an hour of your life in making you swallow it. Now, then, if you’re ready, I am!”
The prince grinned a dreadful smile, and pointed his weapon at Jack’s head. The latter kept an eye fixed upon the hand that held it, prepared to dodge and make a spring for him at the proper moment.
In that moment of suspense he heard the quiet voice of Mary Faust speaking.
“The sapphire talisman will protect you from his lightnings,” she said. “Put forth your strength, and do your best!”
“Thanks: I will!” was the reply flashed back by his mind. He knew that she would hear him across the gulf of space, as he had heard her. Meanwhile, though he had been prepared for the worst, he felt decidedly encouraged by the information about the truncheon.
“Here is your end, then,” said Torpeon between his teeth.
As he spoke, a red flash issued from the end of the truncheon, which was leveled with true aim at Jack’s forehead. The result was surprising to the Prince, and highly agreeable to his antagonist.
The lightning bolt-bolt, if such it were, swerved from its course at an inch or so from its mark, and slipped round Jack’s head as a jet of water would be deflected round a glass sphere. The ozone whose scent hung in the air had a reviving effect rather than otherwise. Torpeon, himself, unbalanced by the shock of astonishment, did not have opportunity for a second attempt. Jack had made his spring, catching the right wrist with his left hand. He gave it a violent wrench, causing the truncheon to drop from his grasp. The weight of Jack’s impact against Torpeon’s body caused the latter to give ground, and the two men came to earth together, Jack uppermost.
Now began a struggle of heroic dimensions. Jack was not long in becoming aware that the strength he had to contend against surpassed anything heretofore experienced. Torpeon was a giant in power, and was fighting with a fury and desperation more than tigerlike. Had he been as well trained as was Jack in the science of wrestling, in the grips and shifts which bring leverage to bear against muscle, in the surprises and swift changes of that ancient and noble art, Jack would have had a labor of Hercules indeed. But that practised skill was lacking: Torpeon secure in his magical resources, had never been at the pains to prepare himself for personal struggle.
The grip of his great arms round Jack’s ribs was a sensation to be remembered. Jack’s right arm had also been caught in the vise, but his left was free, and he applied pressure beneath the other’s bearded chin, forcing his head back slowly and surely, until the imminence of a broken neck compelled the other to relax his hold. With both arms now liberated, the champion of America, twisting his body like a serpent, got a knee under Torpeon’s right elbow, and bore down upon the right forearm with a weight and power that caused agony almost unendurable: and foam flew from the prince’s lips. At the last extremity, however, he got his other arm round Jack’s neck, and using it as a fulcrum, tore himself free and staggered to his feet. But he was panting hard, and his right arm hung temporarily useless at his side. Jack was also well-breathed, but in much the better shape of the two. He had also fought himself into a good humor, and was disposed to friendly parley.
“There’s good material in you, if you’d taught yourself how to handle it properly,” he said. “I’m a peaceable sort, and I don’t want to hurt you. I have other things to attend to besides thrashing princes: and if you’re willing, I’ll call this thing off, and we’ll both go about our business. Or, if you’re not satisfied, I’ll try you out at sparring. But you’ll have to look out for my left uppercut.”
Torpeon, out of the corner of his eye, had caught sight of his truncheon lying on the ground near by, and thought that if he could repossess himself of it, he could make good the miss of the first discharge. He had felt enough of the stamina of his adversary to prefer whatever advantage he could command: and he was edging toward the weapon in the hope of getting a chance to pick it up, covering his design with words.
“You are a valiant warrior,” he said, compelling his features to assume an amicable aspect. “I need men like you at my right hand in the government of my kingdom. With you to help me, we can conquer the inhabitants of this planet, who are pusillanimous and averse from battle, and become rulers of all the globes that surround the sun.”
“It’s a handsome offer,” replied Jack smiling; “but I was never addicted to the business of ruling. The best thing you can do is run back home and take a thorough course in athletics; and then, if you ever happen along our way, I shall take pleasure in showing you over New York, and, if you like, I’ll take you on either at boxing or wrestling for points before the Royal Referee in the Madison Square Garden arena. We hold an amateur meet every year. But first, if you please,” he added, in another tone, “I’ll trouble you to take back what you said about a certain lady. You were lying, were you not?”
He made a step forward as he spoke. Torpeon, however, had by this time got close enough to the truncheon to feel safe in making an effort for it. He made a leap backward, at the same time stooping to snatch it up. But neither of the combatants, preoccupied with each other, had noticed the advent of a third party, who was now revealed.
Taking advantage of the cover afforded by bushes and rocky projections, this individual had gradually crawled nearer and nearer, until he was now as close to the fallen truncheon as Torpeon himself. He anticipated Torpeon’s movement by the fraction of a second, and seizing the weapon, he rose to his feet, and presented it at the prince’s breast.
“Han’s up, now, or I’ll blow de guts out of yer!” he cried out. “I hol’s de winnin’ ace, and de boss an’ me, we scoops de pot. Han’s up!”
Torpeon stared in amazement. His new antagonist, grotesque, one-legged and dwarfish, appeared to have sprouted out of the ground. He was supernatural: and he had him covered with a steady hand. The odds were too great.
“Drop that thing, Jim!” called out Jack. “We don’t need any machinery to tackle this hound: what he wants is a kick!”
So saying, and incensed at the prince’s attempted treachery, Jack stepped forward with a foot prepared, as on the gridiron of former days, for execution. But Torpeon’s red chariot still hung close at hand at the end of its long thread. He made a spring for it, caught it by the rim, and swung himself aboard. Immediately the cord began to diminish its length, carrying the chariot up with it at a prodigious speed; in a few minutes it had become a mere dot in the sky, ascending toward the red spider which the prince had called his kingdom of Tor, and which, as Jack, with cleared faculties, now recognized, was one of the ten moons which accompany the great Saturnian world on its endless journey.
“Well, he’s gone home, and I think he’ll stay there for the present,” said Jack, with justifiable satisfaction. “If he’d been properly brought up, though, he’d have made a good center rush on the team.”
“Dat guy is no good for nottin’, believe me, boss,” said Jim. “He ain’t got de right sperrit: he’s not a game sport! Dis here gun of his is a bum model: I makes a bluff wid it, but I ain’t on to her workin’s. I wisht I’d busted him wid her, anyhow!”
“Better as it is,” Jack said. “So you landed here safe and sound! Have you any notion whereabouts we are, or which way we should go to find Miss Miriam?”
“Yer kin search me, boss. Say, is dat big white t’ing up dere all right? I’d not like to be roun’ when it’s her day fur droppin’ down!”
“That is Saturn’s ring, Jim,” replied Jack wearing his new-found wisdom lightly. “It’s perfectly safe: I could have shown it to you through uncle’s telescope any time.”
“Well, N’York was never like dis,” said Jim, dissatisfiedly. “I likes to see plenty of folks aroun’, and here ain’t nobody ’cept you an’ me an’ de guy what you give de hidin’ to: Say, boss, you polish him off great! Ef you’d landed on his jaw, he’d be takin’ de count yet! Me, I was rootin’ fur yer all de time!”
Jack nodded appreciatively, and then cast a glance over the landscape.
It was level and interminable: the horizon as distant as if from the top of a mountain: the arc of the ring passed out of sight beneath it on either hand. There were tracts of forest, the windings of a mighty river, expanding here and there into gleaming lakes: in another direction a chain of mountains sparkling as if formed of crystal. Flowers grew everywhere, and the color on all sides was almost as bright as if objects emitted rather than reflected light. But no sign of human life was visible: this planet, many times the size of our earth seemed to be unchanged from its primeval state.
“Robinson Crusoe thought he was lonely on his desert island,” muttered Jack. “What would he have said to a desert world! Eight hundred million miles from home, and not so much as a red Indian in sight! And my darling girl abandoned in such a place! Can it be possible that scoundrel really met her? Surely Mary Faust would have guarded her as she did me! I must find the trail at once!”
Jim had been regarding him attentively. “Where did yer get de glad rags, boss?” he inquired. “Seems like yer was togged out in fire!”
Jack cast a glance over himself, and emitted a grunt of astonishment. His whole body except for his hands, and presumably his face was attired in little flickering flames, forming a complete suit or tunic and leggings, of becoming hues of green and brown. The flames, not more than half an inch in length, evidently proceeded from his flesh, though with no unpleasant effects—quite the contrary. Nor was this all. The herbage on which he stood was similarly on fire; the holes of the trees were alive with inner flames, and their leaves were individual tongues of colored fire. The very rocks that pushed up from the ground sparkled with an interior glow: and yet, in this universal conflagration, nothing was consumed, but only rendered brighter and more beautiful. Jim alone stood there unchanged, in what looked to be the identical suit of threadbare jacket and breeches he had worn in New York.
“Of course, Jim,” said Jack after some thought, “we should expect things to be different on a different planet. We know that physical life is a sort of combustion, and here we can see it as well as know it—that’s all. This is the way Saturnians dress, I suppose. But I wish we could see a few of them!”
“We’d best be humpin’ oursel’s, den,” Jim suggested. “What’s de course?”
“Suppose we try going west?”
This good young-American resolution was however delayed by the difficulty that there was no apparent way of determining which direction west was. The sun—where was the sun—too remote to be of avail; one could not say even whether it were day or night. Saturn, with its rings, lighted itself!
“Let’s go straight ahead,” decided Jack.
“Sure,” assented Jim, and before they had gone a dozen paces, the gnome’s sharp eyes had made a discovery. He pointed across the plain.
“A guy is headin’ toward us, boss,” he said. “Let’s clear the decks fur action, till we fin’s what he wants!”
THE newcomer was a pleasant-looking young fellow, of about Jack’s age, and similarly attired, though in different colors. He came swiftly forward, with arm upraised in a friendly greeting. “Welcome, Jack!” exclaimed he. He laid his right hand on Jack’s breast, over the heart—apparently the Saturnian mode of accost. “And this must be Jim,” he added, smiling at the urchin: “you are welcome, both. Lamara, our highest, sent me to find and attend you. My name is Argon. I would have reached you sooner, but Torpeon, the arch mischief-maker, deflected your course hither, so that you landed far from the point where we were looking for you. Has he annoyed you?”
“We had a little argument,” replied Jack modestly. “But he made an assertion as to a lady in whom I am interested, which gave me some anxiety.”
“Miriam: yes!” answered the other. “She arrived here safely a few days ago, and Lamara assigned my sister Zarga to take care of her: Zarga is the best-loved and most trusted handmaid of the Highest. But Torpeon seems to have got information about her from some source yet undiscovered; there is even reason to suspect treason, and an investigation is being made. At any rate, he succeeded in gaining access to her at a moment when she was alone, and though he inflicted no actual injury, he was able to put his mark on her, which may suffice to put her to some inconvenience. Otherwise she is well, and eager, I needn’t say, to meet her friend from New York.”
“His mark!” repeated Jack, frowning. “What is that, and how does it affect her?”
“Torpeon is a skilful magician,” said Argon. “Magic, among us, is condemned and forbidden as an evil; but we have learned to control nature by studying and adapting her laws. But magic is dominant on Tor: the Torides are an unruly and turbulent people, and for many generations they have been hostile to us. We never make war but we have means of passive resistance which are effective; so that though long ago the Torides used to make raids on us occasionally, they have now mostly given them up. Torpeon himself, however, sometimes comes here: and though he can do no hurt to us Saturnians, he is always on the watch for some visitor from another planet, who would be more subject to his arts. Miriam had come to us unexpectedly, and he laid a plot to kidnap her, with the idea, I presume, that she might be of use to him in his designs, which are very ambitious.”
While Argon thus discoursed, he was leading his friends in the direction of a long, bright line upon the horizon, which might be the ocean.
“But the mark!” repeated Jack insistently.
“Torpeon carries with him a wand, which he uses for various purposes,” said Argon, “and he succeeded in touching Miriam once with it on the forehead. The effect it to put her, for an hour every day, into a sort of trance, during which he can communicate with her. The rest of the time she is herself, and her own mistress.”
“And what is the hour?” demanded Jack.
“That is as Torpeon pleases: it may be any hour: we cannot control it, though our scientific men, under the guidance of Aunion, the chief, are studying means of dissolving the spell. But it seems very difficult.
Jack looked very gloomy. “I believe I know something of his wand,” he remarked, indicating the truncheon which Jim still carried. “He fired a shot at me with it, but thanks to Mary Faust, it went astray. I wish I’d tried it on him.”
“It would probably have been ineffective in any hands but his,” said Argon taking the truncheon and examining it. “It is tuned to accord with the person using it. Your capture of it is a remarkable feat; but he no doubt has others. Mary Faust,” he added, “is well known and greatly honored here. You are well protected.”
“I’m not worrying about myself,” returned Jack, “but Miriam.”
“I feel sure that with reasonable precautions that will turn out all right,” said the other. “Lamara will talk with you about it, and of course you will see Miriam. I hope you will like us and our world,” he continued cordially.
“It’s beautiful,” said Jack trying to throw off his preoccupation. “I wonder it has so few inhabitants.”
“Oh, there are plenty of us,” answered Argon with a smile; “but we have no cities, as you do, and our habitations come and go as we need them: the permanence of your dwelling and structures seems to us strange and burdensome. My sister and I have made a special study of conditions on your earth. But as to our population, if you’ll lift the visor of your cap, you will see some of them.”
Jack had not been aware of a cap: but on turning back the visor he was startled to see that they were moving amid many groups of persons scattered over the landscape. They were cheerfully engaged in various occupations and amusements, and there was a number of pretty rustic houses, simple but commodious: but some of these, even while he looked at them, melted out of sight or disentangled themselves, as it were, from the special forms imposed on them by human design, and returned to the forest boughs, waving grass or other natural objects of which they had been composed.
“Is not this magic?” he exclaimed.
“No: only honest science. We have some control of the ether, and have solved a few other problems, so that our bodily needs are met with small labor. You will soon become used to us. Our discovery of invisibility was very welcome. It’s only a matter, as you see, of reversing the direction of the flames, which are controlled by the cap. It put an end to the raids of the Torides: they find nothing but an empty desert.”
“What sort of a place is Tor?” Jack asked, with a view to possible future adventures.
“Different from this: parts of it savage and dangerous, none of it beautiful. The greater part of the population is barbarous: the others, though highly trained in certain ways, live under a severe despotism. I have never been there myself; but it happens that my sister Zarga and I are descendants of one of the Torides, who remained behind here after one of their raids. That was many generations ago.”
Jack’s mind listened, but his heart, which was perhaps the greater part of him, was bent toward Miriam. He could find interest in nothing else. That one hour of each day under Torpeon’s influence seemed to his lover’s jealousy to lengthen itself into eternities. The passions of love and of hate raged within him.
Argon, perhaps divining his thoughts, said in a friendly manner, “Saturnians believe that the secret of happiness and power is power over one’s self—self-command in all things. That leads to control over both matter and spirit. You, and Miriam also, are probably just now moved by strong feelings and wishes—personal impulses. So far as you yield to them, the influence of creatures like Torpeon finds access to you. Our wise men say that war against evil and wrong is always right, but that war against individuals who do wrong and evil is always a mistake: we must distinguish between the man and the evil in him. Then, he cannot harm us: otherwise, he may. It’s a simple rule, but it needs discipline to observe it.”
“It isn’t so hard to bear trouble for one’s self,” said Jack, “but to bear it when some one you care for is concerned is another matter. If ever I get my hands on Torpeon again, I shall take a short way with him!”
“After all, he is more his own enemy than you are,” replied Argon. “But I must confess I sympathize with your feeling. We will prevent him somehow. But—here we are!”
By some means not evident to Jack at that time, they had covered a great space of ground in a short while. They were now on a high, level space near the borders of the sea; a few miles from shore appeared a wooded island, with a tower showing above the trees: near at hand was an edifice of noble proportions, in front of which was assembled a small group of persons, foremost among them a tall young woman clothed in white.
“That is our Highest, Lamara,” said Argon, in a reverential tone.
“But I don’t see Miriam!” rejoined Jack, his face falling.
Argon made no reply, and they went forward.
LAMARA’S countenance was youthful, but luminous with intelligence, and her stately grace gave an impression of dignity and superiority. She was exceedingly lovely. She gave him the Saturnian greeting, together with a look of such amity and understanding as made him feel as if she had known him all his life.
“I wish your Uncle Sam and Terence Mayne had come with you,” she unexpectedly said. “Mary Faust is always near us. Miriam is within.” She turned to a lofty man of middle age beside her: “This is our chief councilor, Aunion: and this is my beloved Zarga, who lives close to my heart: I have chosen her to be with Miriam.”
The girl thus designated was slight, and of striking beauty, with cobweb-fine hair of red gold hue, and dark eyes, which she had from the first fixed steadfastly on Jack. She was clothed in amethyst flames, like flickering violet petals. Jack, looking into those strange eyes, had a sensation of insecurity: mystery and fascination were in their unknown depths. But any misgivings as to Miriam’s picked companion must be baseless. As her hand touched his breast, the light contact gave him the feeling that it had left an imprint there. She said, in a voice surprisingly deep, “I hope to make you happy!” and stepped back: but he was still aware that she observed him.
“You know too much of me not to know my errand here,” he said to Lamara. “I hope your majesty will help me!”
“With all my heart!” said she, smiling. “We should be glad to have you and Miriam always with us: but your older friends need you. Argon will have told you of Miriam’s mishap, which we hope is slight: we do not yet know how it happened.”
She glanced at Zarga as she spoke. The girl addressed him.
“Miriam will tell you better than I: she had learned of your setting out hither, and when I was preparing the pavilion for her, she must have gone to the Planetary Mirror to get a glimpse of you. That exposed her, and Torpeon was on the watch.”
“This mark—is it painful?” Jack demanded.
“It inflicts no physical pain,” said Aunion, answering him in a kindly tone. “The chief effect, aside from the recurring periods of trance, lies in its rendering her less secure against further attacks. The results of a second act of indiscretion on her part might be serious. I found the mark resists ordinary means used to eradicate it: but if you and she are circumspect and patient, the spell will be overcome.”
“We will go in,” said Lamara, taking Jack’s hand with a sympathizing look. “Zarga, go before, and find whether Miriam is ready to receive us.”
Zarga slipped through the doorway and disappeared: the others followed. The room which they entered seemed large, but was so woven across with shafts of iridescent light as to disguise its dimensions: the semitransparent walls had the luster of mother-of-pearl. As they seated themselves on a divan, the light-shafts became denser until the party appeared to be enclosed in a pentagonal chamber of moderate size and great beauty. Lamara, observing Jack’s bewilderment, laughed as might a child who had pleasantly surprised a friend.
“It’s the same natural process that makes flowers grow,” she said. “Add to earth and light something human from yourself, and deserts may become fertile and lovely. Such things as these, formed for the need of an hour, return of themselves to what they came from when the need passes. Our homes grow with us, never quite the same from one day to another. Science married to love works wonders.”
She was interrupted by a cry from within, and in a moment Zarga appeared, her hair flying about her like a ruddy mist, and her eyes wide and ominous.
“The trance has come again!” was her announcement.
Jack sprang to his feet; but Lamara laid a reassuring hand on his arm.
“It is nothing,” she said quietly. “Torpeon cannot pass the bounds of his license, though he may use it maliciously. He has chosen an hour close upon the last, but it will be the longer before he can disturb us again. Come, let us visit her.”
She led the way to an interior apartment. In a room of oval shape, permeated with golden light, the form of a woman lay on a cushioned lounge, deep asleep. Her face was turned upward: her abundant black hair lay beneath her: the soft flames which draped her were of the hue of moss roses. In the center of her forehead was a small circular mark with a star in it center, red as blood. Her face was pale.
“Miriam!” Jack cried out, and was springing toward her: but Lamara restrained him.
“Do not touch her while she is in this state!” she said urgently. “For you to do so would be especially dangerous, because the results might be spiritual as well as physical. As you know, we have not yet solved the nature of the spell. This may be a trick of the magician to tempt you to involve her still deeper.”
“But I love her! We love each other!” cried Jack; “Isn’t love strong enough to overcome anything?”
“Love is unconquerable because it is an immortal spirit: but passion is mixed with earth, and seeks itself in the other. Power over evil is always from above.”
The look and voice of Lamara, more than the veiled purport of her words, prevailed over the young lover. They carried conviction of truth. He mastered himself, and stood gazing with longing eyes at the motionless figure. He hated the material bonds that withheld him from communion with her soul.
“It is only for an hour!” said Lamara encouragingly. “When she wakens, we will all take counsel together. You overcame Torpeon; it will be more fruitful victory to overcome yourself.”
“I must at least stay here beside her,” Jack returned. “He might attempt something else: and it’s my right to defend her.”
“I will trust you,” said Lamara, “because I perceive that there is more of spirit than of earth in your love: but there is earth, too, and remember that it is through earth that your enemy is strong! We will leave you here for a while: there are many things to be done to clear the way for your return to your world. Zarga will remain within call. Be faithful and patient!”
She withdrew, with Argon and Aunion. Zarga crouched beside the couch, her strange eyes dwelling upon the face of the unconscious figure. The beautiful features had the serenity and almost the pallor of death, but the slight rise and fall of the bosom was evidence that she lived. Jack cautiously bent over to scrutinize the mark on her brow.
“It seems a slight thing to have so deep an effect!” he muttered.
“All magic is pretense,” said Zarga looking up at him. “We may be deceived in the efficiency of this spell. Torpeon may count on that!”
“Can Lamara, you Highest, be deceived?” exclaimed Jack, surprised.
“You heard her say that the nature of the spell had not been solved. She is wise and prudent: but perhaps gives too much weight to Aunion’s opinions. He, too, is wise, but age has made him timid. In their presence it didn’t become me to speak.”
“Do you know something they do not?”
“The blood of the Torides is in my veins,” replied Zarga, “and it gives me an understanding of their nature which a pure Saturnian could not have. It led me, out of curiosity, to make a study of their magic, though secretly. We hold it to be unlawful, and instead of mastering its methods, we confine ourselves to seeking antidotes against it. I am foolish to have told you this—but I believe you are too noble to denounce me. My only wish is to serve you and Miriam, if I may. I think this mark could be easily annulled. Your own intuition about it was truer than our science.” She met his troubled gaze for a moment, and added, “You said that love is enough!”
“Tell me all in your mind—you need have no fears!”
“Give me your hand,” said Zarga. She took it between her own, pressing her left palm against his, and continuing to look into his eyes. He was conscious of a keen thrill or vibration that passed from her hand to his heart, and again from his eyes to hers, establishing a circuit between them. There was something sweet in it, but also perilous. He felt that there had been a disclosure, which might better have been avoided; and yet what could he apprehend from this girl? Lamara trusted her.
“You are what I thought,” she said after a while, relinquishing his hand, with an enigmatic smile. “I will tell you my belief, and you can weigh its value in your own mind. Every moment that this mark remains on Miriam’s forehead, its roots grow deeper, and the harder it will prove to take it off. Before Aunion’s science can reach it, it will have become part of her being, which it would be death to disturb. Each swoon into which she sinks makes her more Torpeon’s, and less yours. No one but the man who loves her can break the spell: and the time to break it is now! If the prince wins her from you, you can never win her back. Even her love for you will be destroyed!”
“That cannot be true!” answered he drawing back.
“Love is immortal: Lamara said it, and I know it!”
“I know nothing of immortality,” Zarga replied, with a touch of scorn. “But whatever it be, I would not, if I were a man, wish to give the woman I loved to another during this life of earth!”
Jack’s face flushed. “We can both die!” he said.
“Love wants life, not death!” the girl exclaimed. “Love has a body as well as a soul! Do you know that, while we sat here, Torpeon is with her? An hour of trance is his hour of possession! And how long will a woman love a man who stays inactive while she is in his rival’s arms? Women love the possessor!”
He stood up, tense and trembling. The thought of his promise to Lamara fought with the passions that Zarga had aroused. But if Zarga’s view were right, Lamara would withdraw her warning. What should he do?
Zarga seemed to read his mind. “It’s not for a girl such as I to tell a lover what to do to save the woman he loves,” she said. “But I warn you, if you touch her, Torpeon will exert his whole power to keep her. And don’t think you can baffle him again as you did once! He will come with his legions behind him!”
Love, jealousy, and the pride of a man’s valor against his foe, were temptations too strong: and at that moment Miriam stirred in her trance, her eyelids quivered and her lips moved. There came a muffled whisper.
“Jack—beloved—drive him away—save me—take me!”
She relapsed into immobility.
He was strung to the high pitch now. With love and wrath at once tingling through his nerves, he stooped to take Miriam in his arms: that mark—a kiss would obliterate it!
A shrill shout, which brought an incongruous image of Jim to mind, rang in his ears. A swirl of dark vapor filled the air. It seemed to him, however, that he held Miriam: he clasped her close. In the darkness, strange faces glared out at him and vanished. The woman responded to his embrace: she clung passionately to him. Yet there were both fire and ice in her contact, and Miriam seemed lost. Soft, fiery lips touched his, and fastened to them, they took his breath: he was buffeted, and staggered as if in a whirlwind. In the obscurity he had glimpses of other figures, and shafts of light, like swords, blindingly bright, struck through the dark. There were howlings and fierce outcries, receding and growing fainter, and a chilling gust dissipated the obscurity. The beautiful palace had disappeared: the scene was bleak and desolate; gravel and sand were underfoot and clumps of thorny bushes and stunted trees surrounded him. But he still held the form of the woman in his arms: they had failed to tear her from him; at least he so believed.
But she pressed her hands against his breast and writhed like a serpent to free herself. The cloud of hair that floated out from her in the wind was ruddy like fire. This slender, subtle face with its wild dark eyes—this was not Miriam! This was Zarga!
His arms relaxed and fell to his sides. She leaped away from him, and stood for a moment, throwing out her arms and screaming words which he could not distinguish: then she turned and fled away like a fantom, vanishing behind the thorny bushes.
He was alone in the wilderness. He took a step forward, and fell heavily on his face.
“IS Miriam safe?” asked Lamara.
“She is safe for the present. But Zarga herself was the traitor,” replied Aunion.
“The fault was mine! She seemed so lovable that I left her too much to her own unfolding. Why should she turn against us? And at such a time!”
“A spirit undisciplined—in whom impulses of nature, blameless in themselves, are prone under temptation to unite with the evil. Torpeon, as we now know, working on the kinship between them, long since began his appeals to her vanity and ambition; and the coming of these two strangers was his opportunity to strike. Miriam for him; Jack, in exchange, for her; and the stimulus of rivalry fired the inclination which she had already conceived for him. But for the warning given us by that singular little being, Jim, the plot would have succeeded; we arrived barely in season; and much mischief was wrought, not easily to be repaired.”
“Where is Jack?”
“His transgression has isolated him; Argon is searching for him, with the more zeal because of his sister’s treason. But we must face the facts: Torpeon’s access to Miriam is easier than it was and more difficult for us to trace and prevent. Zarga, of course, is in hiding, and must be henceforth regarded as Torpeon’s chief fellow conspirator.”
“The strangers have at least one safeguard—they truly love each other!” said Lamara, after a silence.
“Else there were no hope! But the youth is prone to outbursts of lawless passion which the enemy will ever seek to provoke. We cannot constrain—only try to lead him. The conflict must proceed, with the odds on the Torides’s side. Impotent though they are against us, against these two lovers, their arts and strategy are formidable.”
“I believe Zarga can be redeemed!” said Lamara, meeting his eyes and speaking firmly. Aunion sighed. “The constitution of our state is based on love and faith, and for many ages past there has been no provision for treason. Our strength is also our weakness. A thoughtless girl may sap the corner pillar and undo the growth of centuries. ” “If the temple fall, it is that God may build a better!”
Aunion let his gaze wander over the scene around them. They were standing on the rocky promontory of an island near the mainland; the sea was calm and mirrored the great arch of the ring. Groups of heavy-foliaged trees shadowed the soft turf; the music of their leaves mingled with birdsongs; staglike animals moved here and there in the glades, and more rarely other shapes, swift and graceful and semihuman, peeped shyly forth from shade to light. Beyond, above the trees, rose the dome of a summer pavilion. Over all the island passed breathings of wild-flower perfume like fairy music.
“God indeed has enabled us to incarnate the substance of our minds,” Aunion said musingly; “to shape them after our thought and to color them with our emotions. Others painfully toil against the obduracy of things to accomplish what we may do and undo with the flowing of a breath. Their works, rude parodies of even the crude conceptions that inspired them, crumble slowly back into unsightly dust. They have never called upon what is above to interpret what is below; they exalt the slave into the despot, and fight one another for monopoly of what closes life against them and opens death. And yet these blind ones survive, while our Eden may be blighted by the guile of a serpent and a girl’s folly!”
“But these blind ones fight toward the light!” rejoined she, with a touch of reproof in her tone. “Their serpent is ours too, and they, grappling with it in blood and tears, bear our burdens as well as their own. God’s meanings are manifested according to the measure of the eye that sees; but He never misleads! He will not punish the misstep of a child by the banishment of a people!”
“I have perhaps lived too long,” said Aunion sadly. “The inspirations of your heart are more trustworthy than the speculations of my brain. What do you now intend?”
“I shall stay by Miriam and incline her toward the deeper consciousness where Torpeon cannot penetrate. Argon will inform me here of his fortune in the search of Jack.”
“I will hold myself in readiness to aid either of you,” said Aunion; and with a reverent obeisance he parted from her.
Lamara took a path to the pavilion. The island, and all on it, was the place of private retreat for the young sovereign of Saturn, and was guarded by influences framed to repel all unauthorized intruders; only the initiates could enter. Thither, accordingly, Miriam had been conveyed from the scene of the conflict between Jack and the powers swayed by Torpeon. The prompt putting forth of exceptional resources had been required to accomplish this without injury to her; for had her trance been broken before the lapse of its period grave harm might have resulted. The situation, as it now stood, was perplexing; but Lamara felt confident that time and prudence would bring a happy solution. The conspirators had failed of their main object; and it was not to be supposed that Zarga would venture to cooperate in any further designs. Jack, though wofully misled, was still strong in his unalterable fidelity, and he would find redemption at last.
It was the revelation of Zarga’s perfidy that wounded Lamara most. Some rare quality in this girl’s soul had induced Lamara to give her her fullest confidence; her faults had seemed trivial and superficial. A certain adventurous independence of thought sometimes perceptible in her had given Lamara no uneasiness; it was due, she fancied, to the abounding in her of life too vivid to submit unquestioningly to the guidance of an elder experience. There was in the somewhat tumultuous nature of her youth the making of a great and noble character; and Lamara had often forborne reproof in the belief that Zarga’s own afterthought would administer a severer chiding. Yet now she stood convicted of an unpardonable crime.
No human soul, however, could sin beyond the limits of Lamara’s forgiveness. She might have harbored hopes even for Torpeon. And she would not divest herself of the belief that her favorite Zarga would yet repent and make amends.
At the spot on which the pavilion stood a spring gushed out of the ground, the abundant waters of which had been curiously led to run into architectural surfaces and forms—a plastic crystal forever flowing away with a pleasant murmur. The changing lights of day united with it to create continually shifting hues, and the gentle coolness which always reigned in its chambers aided to make it Lamara’s favorite place for rest and meditation.
Here, as being beyond all likelihood of disturbance, she had caused Miriam to be conveyed; no invader from Tor would dare to set foot on any part of the island, still less to violate the sanctities of the pavilion itself. The hour during which the trance prevailed was now for some time passed; but she had wished her visitor to awake alone in the translucent solitude, and to recollect herself under its soothing influence. She had planned that her own approach should take place at a moment when the girl should begin to feel anxiety as to what had befallen her.
Passing the threshold of the edifice she entered a small atrium, opening at the other side into an enclosed court. In the center of this played a fountain, whose upgush assumed successively various forms, treelike, animal or human. Several chambers surrounded the court, and in the central one of these Miriam had been laid.
Stepping lightly and smiling with pleasant anticipation, Lamara advanced to the door of this chamber and looked within. It was empty!
She repressed her first impulse of surprise and uneasiness, telling herself that Miriam must be somewhere in the pavilion; or might, at most, have wandered out along the winding paths that threaded the surrounding coppices and glades. She prosecuted her search with ever-increasing misgiving. The pavilion was untenanted. She came out into the garden, passing hastily through its lovely intricacies, but found no trace of the fugitive. The birds flitted after her with their songs, the fawns gamboled about her, and the shy little nature-people smiled and beckoned to her from nooks and leafy recesses. All things loved Lamara, and she loved all; but the beautiful earth-girl was nowhere to be seen.
Only initiates of the mysteries could either enter or leave the island unaccompanied. Only Aunion and herself had been there that day with Miriam. Yet Miriam had vanished.
What could have happened?
MIRIAM’S trance was physical only; and the disjunction of spirit from body was not so complete as to prevent occasional gleams of consciousness from passing from one to the other. But normal cooperation was suspended. The spirit, however, was beyond Torpeon’s reach, and his power over the body was limited to reducing its functions to quiescence. A far greater effort would be required to bring the living and conscious woman herself under his control. Such an effort, in the Saturnian environment, must prove futile; and all his art and ingenuity were therefore bent upon the enterprise of transferring her to his own place.
The plan of his attempt at the palace had been well and boldly laid, and Zarga had played her part efficiently. But in failing to consider an element in the problem so apparently humble as Jim they had committed a radical error. His devotion to Jack and Miriam was single-hearted and unreserved, and it had sharpened his insight into possible sources of danger. Zarga had aroused his suspicions from the first; and the fact that she was trusted so implicitly by the others served to render his own watchfulness only the more keen.
He had observed, while Lamara and her party were preparing for departure, leaving Jack and Zarga alone with Miriam, that one of the attendants, at Lamara’s direction, had transmitted a signal to the island through a certain instrument attached to a pillar of the portico of the palace. His fondness for mechanical devices had caused him to examine this contrivance after they were gone, and though the principle on which it worked was unlike anything he had seen on his own earth, he perceived readily enough by what means it was operated. He now applied himself, without compunction, to observing as well as he could what was going on between Jack and Zarga in Miriam’s chamber; and what he saw and heard augmented his suspicions of the girl’s good faith. He had almost made up his mind to send a signal to the island, on the chance that it might bring assistance, when, happening to glance upward, he saw the red planet Tor directly in the zenith, and, detaching itself therefrom, an object bearing some resemblance to a parachute, which sped toward Saturn with the swiftness of a meteorite. He delayed no longer, but with all his force pushed in the rod or plunger which had seen the attendant use. At the same time he gave vent to the scream, which Jack had overheard. The next instant he was bowled head over heels by what seemed to be a blast of fiery air; and he did not recover his senses until after the ensuing conflict was over.
We follow the movements of Zarga. Terrified and enraged at the miscarriage of the attempt, and at the ruin involved to her personal hopes, she had fled away, not heeding whither she went, until she was arrested by the towering figure of Torpeon in her path.
“Back to Tor, Prince!” she cried, “and take me with you. All is lost here!” “No; now is our best chance for success!” he returned, with fierce resolution. “The moment to strike home is when the enemy believes you defeated. The youth shall be my care; do you follow the woman. She has been take to the island, where they believe her secure; none can enter there but the initiates; but you are of the inner circle, and your privilege has not yet been canceled. Hear my instructions and follow them, and every end we aimed at will be gained. Throw aside all scruples; your career on Saturn is closed forever; you have nothing more to lose here. But I will make you great on Tor, and the man you love shall be at your feet. You are of my blood; be worthy of your lineage!”
“I fear nothing, because I hope nothing,” replied the girl gloomily; “but I am willing to make one trial more. He will never love me; but to part him from the woman he loves will be some consolation. Tell me your plan.”
“With beauty such as yours, and opportunity, no man can resist you,” said Torpeon; “you will need no help from me; but in serving you I shall serve myself. Listen to me and I will show you how fortune fights for those who defy her!”
After conferring together they separated, and Zarga made her way toward the seashore. Torpeon, after some minutes of intense thought, betook himself in another direction.
Miriam, in the soft silence and seclusion of the pavilion, drew a long breath and opened her eyes. Her first thought was of Jack, whom she had been preparing to meet at the time the trance overtook her. But this room, with its silvery gleams, was different from the one which she last remembered. She turned her mind back over the sequence of events since her arrival on Saturn. She recalled Zarga’s having told her of the planetary mirror, in which distant events were reflected; it might show her her lover, who was even then on his way to seek her. Unaware of the conditions under which alone the mirror could be safely consulted, she had unhesitatingly entered a small domed structure sunk in the solid rock which Zarga had designated. There, in the darkness, she had first discerned nothing; but presently she had seen, set in a metal frame, an oval object having the appearance of a giant eye, mysteriously luminous, the inner circle of the pupil black, and enlarging its diameter as she gazed into it. In those depths there were indistinct movements, evolutions, glimpse of things approaching and withdrawing, wide wastes of space; and the shining out of stars; the waving of trees in the wind; the foam of falling waters. Suddenly the circle of the pupil was filled with a ruddy glare, and seemed to grow immense; she was looking on the surface of a planet, wild chasms and pinnacles, the spouting of volcanoes, the rush of boiling waters. The figure of a man with shaggy black hair and fierce eyes appeared in the midst of it, sweeping toward her with incomprehensible velocity, a scarlet mantle waving out from his herculean shoulders. Now, apparently his actual self stood before her, his gaze meeting hers; in his right hand he carried a short staff that glowed like molten metal. He pointed it at her forehead; she felt a sensation like the touch of flame; she had seemed to sink down, and knew no more.
After an interval, of what duration she knew not, she had revived to see faces bending over her—Lamara, Aunion, Zarga, Argon; Zarga wringing her hands distressfully and speaking volubly; the others compassionate and sympathetic. What had happened?—some inadvertent transgression, some catastrophe; Torpeon’s Mark! She had put her fingers to her forehead and felt the circle there. “It is not irreparable—it will pass away!” she heard Lamara say, in her gentle, reassuring tones.
After that a kaleidoscope of minor occurrences, ending with news of Jack’s arrival, and his expected appearance at the palace. She was awaiting the moment of meeting; Zarga had entered. “He is here; come!” She had joyfully started up and had taken a step forward, when all at once blankness had closed around her, and her next consciousness had been of this wakening in the island pavilion. What had intervened? And Jack—where was he? She sat up and looked about her.
From her present position she could see the fountain in the court, the singular movements of which concentrated her attention.
The clear waters were molding themselves into the likeness of two human figures, which appeared as if locked in a desperate struggle. They might have been carved by a master-hand out of pure crystal, except for the constant and lifelike contortions and writhings that they exhibited. At first she had no thought of recognizing in these effigies any resemblance to persons she had seen before; but as the struggle continued a suggestion—a persuasion—possessed her mind that she knew them—they represented Jack and that shaggy giant who had confronted her out of the planetary mirror! They were engaged in a life-and-death battle; and it seemed that the giant was gaining the advantage.
No sooner had this impression become fixed than the two figures dissolved into the natural flow of the fountain, which, for a time, appeared no otherwise than an ordinary water-jet. But ere long it began to assume another form, this time of a woman—a young girl, of lightsome and graceful form who, with arms outthrown and floating hair, seemed to be dancing joyously toward her. Surely this apparition too was familiar! It could be no other than her friend Zarga!
What caused these moldings and transformations, Miriam, of course, could not conjecture, though she knew something of Saturnian powers; but the second presentation relieved her somewhat of the forebodings stirred by the first. She had never been made aware of any reason for distrusting Zarga—quite the reverse; and it seemed probable that if these watery creations bore any relation to real persons and event, Zarga’s lighthearted mood portended some beneficent sequel to the menace of the first scene.
But, on the other hand, perhaps her imagination had altogether beguiled her! And now the fountain relapsed once more into formlessness.
A snatch of song echoed through the court, and Miriam turned to see Zarga herself come tripping airily into view.
“Come, come, come!” she sang; “all is ready, and I am sent to fetch you! The boat is prepared; Jack is waiting for you to get aboard; the others are assembled to bid you farewell. So fair a day might not come again in a lifetime! But we must make haste! Come, come!”
Miriam had involuntarily risen, and Zarga, taking her by the hand, was drawing her toward the door of the pavilion. “We must make haste!” she repeated.
“But how did this happen?” she asked. “Does Lamara know?”
“Lamara! Does she not know everything?” exclaimed the girl, laughing. “And isn’t this a wonderful adventure! I wish you could have stayed with us longer—or I wish I might go back with you to your earth! Would any man there love me and marry me, do you think? Are there any men there like your Jack?”
“Many men might wish to marry you,” replied Miriam; “but there can never be but one Jack! Is he well and happy?”
“He will be happy when he sees you; just now he is very impatient!” answered the other. They had left the pavilion and traversed a deeply-shadowed path, while these remarks were passing, and were now descending a slope which led to a flight of steps cut out of the rock. These terminated in a cavern.
“Why, we are underground!” exclaimed Miriam, drawing back. “Where are you taking me? Can this be the right way?”
“It is the shortest,” said Zarga, urging her forward. “They are awaiting us at the other end.”
The cavern was a natural excavation in the rock, winding to right and left, now narrow and low, now high, expanding into great chambers columned with stalactite and stalagmite, and sometimes resounding with noise of subterranean waters. The rocks emitted a dim light, sufficient to dispel the darkness and enable them to go forward rapidly. But Miriam could not help a sensation of disquiet; this was a strange beginning of a journey through space! She observed a feverish excitement in Zarga’s bearing. She was about to remonstrate when the path, which had hitherto either descended or proceeded on a level, took an upward inclination, and a draft of warmer air set steadily against them.
“We’re near the end,” said Zarga; and hollowing her hand before her mouth she sent forth a long call. It was caught and reduplicated by innumerable echoes, floating away, to be again and again renewed, as if prolonged by a myriad vocalists. When it had finally died away there came an answering note, deeper and stronger, falling upon the ear in rising and subsiding cadences. Zarga glanced back over her shoulder.
“Your lover answers us!” she said.
The answer had not seemed to Miriam to have the quality of Jack’s voice; but the echoes might have disguised it. The passage widened out, and the unmistakable light of day flowed in. But as Miriam lifted her eyes the first object that met them was the red globe of Tor suspended up yonder in the sky.
“Are you sure there is no danger?” she asked, halting.
“Come, come!” cried Zarga, dragging her upward almost with violence. “We are late already! There’s not a moment to lose! Come!”
But a conviction that something was amiss suddenly came over Miriam.
“I will go no further!” she said.
But her determination came too late. They were now within a few paces of the entrance; and there appeared before her the figure, not of Jack, or of any of her other friends, but of him whom she could not fail to recognize as Torpeon. He smiled as their eyes encountered, and extended toward her the truncheon in his hand. She felt the mark on her forehead burn, and power to resist forsook her. She was drawn forward in spite of herself.
The aspect of the prince was stately and stern, intellect mingled with passion in his imperious countenance. His expression softened as she drew near, and conveyed a desire, the intensity of which made her tremble.
But indignation at the ruse played upon her kindled her to defiance.
“You may make my body obey you,” she said; “but not my soul!”
“I know the limits of my power,” he replied. “I had no means but this. If I fail to prove my right to you, I am too much a king to take what is not given. Come to my kingdom, learn to know me, and decide.”
“I can never love you; do not make me hate you,” said Miriam.
His heavy brows quivered for a moment.
“Love or hate—we will prove which is stronger; come!”
Disdaining futile resistance she stepped into the car that awaited them; he took his place beside her, and they rose in air, headed for the red planet. Zarga, left below, gazed at them till they were out of sight; then, with a mocking wave of her hand toward the island she went inland.
JACK’S subjection to the power of mortification and despair did not last long. He raised himself from the ground and stared about him. The first thing he saw was Jim squatting before him.
“We was sure up ag’in a tight squeeze dat time, boss,” remarked his retainer. “Did yer hear de yell I let loose? Dat big guy in the red sweater was a comin’ head-on! But our folks had heard de alarm, an’ before I gits knocked out I seen ’em hot-footin’ up de trail. I guess dere was some scrap; but which side gits de decision is more’n I knows. But say, boss, I ain’t got much use fer dat yaller-haired kid. Looks ter me like she double-crossed yer. Ain’t dat right?”
“Jim,” said Jack, getting on his feet “what we must find out is, what became of Miriam. Did you see anything of her?”
“Not me, boss; I was takin’ de count.”
“We’re worse off than we were before,” remarked Jack. ‘I suppose I behaved like a fool; but things are puzzling here. If Argon, or somebody, would help us out!”
“Mebbe dat’s him now!” said Jim, pointing across the desert.
Jack wheeled round and looked. Something was approaching and at a good pace. It had the look of a vehicle of some sort. Jim, after eying it intently, shook his head.
“Dere ain’t a traffic-cop on Fif’ Av’noo would stan’ fer dat outfit!” he declared.
As it drew near its make-up was revealed. The vehicle somewhat resembled the two-wheeled chariot of classic times: the driver stood in front; but instead of a pair of horses the shafts were attached to a metal sphere about four feet in diameter, which rolled and bounded onward, in obedience to a motive-power apparently contained in the sphere itself. The vehicle drew up beside them, and the driver, an odd-looking creature, with a big head, staring eyes, and a copper-colored skin covered with course hair, motioned to them to get aboard.
“Say pal, where did yer blow in from?” Jim inquired.
The driver shook his head and pointed to his mouth, which he opened widely. There was no tongue in it.
“The fellow is dumb!” ejaculated Jack.
“It don’t look right ter me,” observed Jim. “Let’s side-step it!”
“He is evidently sent to fetch us somewhere,” returned Jack. “We can’t be more lost than we are; and who but Lamara can have sent it? We may as well get in—there’s nothing else in sight.”
“It’s up ter you, boss,” said Jim doubtingly, “but it sure is a phony rig! I’d like ter know what dat there ball has inside it!”
Jack had already climbed into the vehicle. He reached out a hand for Jim, but the driver had set the contrivance going, and it was only by an active leap that the little cripple succeeded in making the connection. They were off at full speed.
“Talk about speed-laws!” said Jim, after a moment; “dere ain’t no limit on dis geezer! What you got dere, pal—a balloon?”
“Something of that kind, I should say,” observed Jack quietly. In fact, the car drawn by the metal sphere was actually rising from the ground. They were soon several hundred feet aloft, and still on an up-grade.
“No doubt it’s all right,” Jack added; “he’s getting his bearings like a carrier pigeon; he’ll make a slant for home presently.”
The driver, however, was not following a straight course, but was bearing continually to the left. It soon became evident that they were mounting on a spiral. The planet was fast dropping away beneath them.
“What is the dumb beast doing?” muttered Jack in surprise. “Does he think he lives in the air? He must come to earth sooner or later.”
Jim had been taking observations on his own account. He now plucked Jack by the arm and reached up to whisper in his ear:
“Boss, dis slob ain’t comin’ down at all. D’yer know where he’s takin’ us? He ain’t no Sattum guy whatever. He’s one of Torpy’s gang, and he’s elopin’ wid us to where Torpy come from!”
At this startling suggestion Jack looked upward and beheld the red moon which was Torpeon’s habitation directly above them. He had been fooled again; it was a plain case of kidnaping! Had he been aware that Miriam was at the same moment being unwillingly borne in the same direction he would probably have been content to let the flight proceed; as it was, he thought it was time to take an active part in the transaction.
He seized the driver by the shoulder with a powerful grasp.
“Put about!” he shouted. “Get back to earth! Reverse your machine this instant or I’ll throw you out!”
The driver, however, was strong as a gorilla. He squirmed out of the grip of Jack’s hand with comparative ease and gave a twist to the rod which connected with the sphere and served him as reins, with the effect of making the mysterious motor ascend more swiftly than ever. They were now at least a mile about the surface.
“Dis ain’t no healthy place for wrastlin’, boss,” Jim suggested. “Better lay low a while and catch him when he ain’t watchin’ out.”
But Jack’s blood was thoroughly up, and he was in no mood for procrastination. The question in dispute should be settled then and there.
“Hold on tight, boy,” he said to Jim; “I’m going to teach this gentleman better manners. He may be a better man than either Torpeon or I, but he’ll have to prove it.”
Without further preface he sprang upon the copper-colored driver, and a furious fight began. The creature struggled like a wild beast. All limitations of civilized, and even of human warfare, were abandoned; if his tongue were missing, his teeth were like those of a cave bear; and both hands and feet were armed with nails that looked like the talons of a griffin, and were used as such. He shrieked, bit and tore, leaped up and down, threw himself into unimaginable positions, got his shoulder under Jack’s thigh, and fought frantically to throw him on his back. Failing this, he got him round the body with his gorilla arms and, disregarding the tremendous blows which Jack dealt him, strove to fasten his fangs into his throat. The car, meanwhile, swayed from side to side like a skiff in a hurricane, and threatened to overturn every moment. Just then a swinging blow, driven with all the power of Jack’s arm which might have felled an ox, caught him fair on the jaw and broke it; and at the same time a vigorous thrust from Jim’s crutch, which he had been watching his chance to deliver, struck him in the left eye, and doubtless put it out of service.
With a hideous screech the monster relinquished his hold of his adversary and flung himself out of the car. It looked like suicide; but that was not the design of the gorilla from Tor. He came face down upon the metal sphere, and gripping it fast between his knees, disconnected with his left hand the guiding-rod from the car. The sphere, with the creature on it, continued its ascent with added impetus, and was soon far away; while the car containing Jack and Jim began a descent toward the planet beneath.
The situation seemed serious. “I think we’re in for a bad tumble, Jim,” Jack remarked, glancing over the edge of the car. “It’s some comfort to have landed on that fellow’s jaw before he got away; and that punch you gave him in the eye will help him remember us; but Saturn will hit us a harder blow yet. If you should happen to come out alive tell Miriam we did our best.”
“Dat tumble we had from N’York was bigger dan dis, and didn’t hurt us none,” Jim responded cheerfully. “Some o’ dem Sattum guys may be holdin’ a blanket to catch us, like at a fire on the Bowery. Say, boss,” he added, “here’s dat keepsake de lady give yer in de lab’ratory hangin’ down yer back! What about it?”
Jack had forgotten the sapphire talisman. If it had warded off the lightning bolt launched at him by Torpeon it might have some further occult virtue in reserve. The drop earthward continued with increasing velocity, but there was still a good distance to go. He lost no time in getting his hands on the talisman, and there it lay, sparkling in his broad palm. But how was it to be used?
“Look at what’s comin’ for us, boss!” squeaked Jim.
Some disturbance had occurred in the atmosphere—a vortex movement, reminding Jack of a Kansas tornado he had seen in his boyhood. It swooped down upon the car with a long, whistling scream. The vertical line of their descent was immediately modified, and they were driven off in a circular direction, like a boat gyrating on the circumference of a whirlpool. The little talisman blazed like a purple star. The car still approached the earth, but was so buoyed up on the wings of the tornado as greatly to counteract the attraction of gravitation, and the angle of incidence was so much enlarged that they would strike the surface at but a slight deviation from the parallel. Even this, however, might give them an awkward jolt, for their speed was immense.