The Great White Queen Part 21

In the red flickering light we recognized the evil bony features. It was the dreaded Naya herself!

"The vengeance of Zomara upon mine enemies," she cried in harsh, metallic tones. "I will treat each and every one who dareth to oppose me in the way I will now punish these three savages who have entered our region forbidden. Watch, and let it be a warning to those who may be tempted by bribes to entertain disloyal thoughts."

With stately stride she led the way along a dark colonnade from beneath the wing of the colossal vampire to the enormous closed mouth of the hideous crocodile, being followed by the high priest and his attendants, who dragged along the three of our unfortunate companions.

At once a headlong rush was made by the frenzied spectators to obtain a view of what was to transpire, and we followed leisurely at a respectable distance, remaining in the shadow of one of the grotesquely-carved columns of rock.

When all had taken up their places we could see the expressions of abject fear upon the glistening faces of the wretched blacks, and longed to rush forth and rescue them, but with knowledge that instant death would result from such foolhardiness we remained breathlessly silent, compelled to watch.

Again the high priest, with outstretched hands over the people, cried:

"Give heed unto me! Were Zomara, the G.o.d whom we wors.h.i.+p, to be wors.h.i.+pped in perfectness, the whole length of our lives would not suffice to lie prostrate before him. But the merciful Avenger of Wrong expecteth not more from us than we are able to pay him. True it is that we should begin early, and late take rest, and daily and hourly offer up our praises and pet.i.tions to the throne of his handmaiden's grace. But better is a late repentance than none; and the eleventh hour of the day for work than perpetual idleness unto the end of our time; and this is not to be obtained for us but through our mighty Naya, the daughter of Zomara the Swallower-up of Evil."

Himself facing the hideous gigantic head with its long jaws and gleaming eyes, he flung himself suddenly upon his knees and commenced a gabbled prayer. All prostrated themselves in adoration, even to the great Naya herself, whose magnificent jewels flashed and gleamed with wondrous brilliancy each time she moved.

In order not to appear strange to this extraordinary proceeding, we, too, cast ourselves upon our knees and remained with heads bent in devotional att.i.tude, but allowing no detail of the weird scene to escape us.

Suddenly the priest arose, and with a fire-brand ignited at the brazier near his hand, he stood before the wonderful figure of Zomara and made a mystic sign.

Instantly the ponderous jaws with their double row of iron teeth, each as long and as sharp as swords, slowly opened, and there issued forth a great roaring ma.s.s of flame that licked the upper jaw, a veritable tongue of fire.

The Naya rose, swaying her long arms wildly, but the people remained still kneeling, silent in awe.

Her voice was heard for a moment above the roaring and crackling of the furnace in the throat of the colossus, and then, at a sudden signal from the high priest, our three wretched black companions were seized by the group of dwarfs, carried up a short flight of steps by white-robed attendants, and hurled headlong into the flaming mouth of the monster.

A loud scream broke upon our ears, and for a single instant the flames belched forth with increased fury, but as the last victim of this horrible rite was consigned to his terrible doom, as sacrifice to the dreaded G.o.d, the cruel jaws closed again with a heavy clang.

The merciless barbarity of the Great White Queen horrified us. The fearful fate of those who had shared our perils during our adventurous journey to this spectral land of mystery held us dumb in terror and dismay.

Yet, ere the giant jaws of the hideous monstrosity had snapped together, the people, hilarious and excited, sprang to their feet exhorting their great deity to send his fiercest vengeance upon us, the intruders, that our sinews might be withered and that we might rot by the road-side like cattle smitten by the pest.

Then the terrible Naya, wheeling round slowly, gave her people her blessing, and they, in turn, shouted themselves hoa.r.s.e in frantic adulation.

Truly, the scene was the strangest and most weird that my eyes had ever gazed upon.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE FLAMING MOUTH.

WE stood rooted to the spot. The hideous colossus, the intensely white light streaming from its gigantic eyes, seemed to tower above us to an enormous height, its outstretched wings threatening to enclose the great swaying crowd of fanatical wors.h.i.+ppers. With monotonous regularity the long jaws, worked by hidden levers, fell apart, disclosing the terrible pointed teeth against a roaring background of smoke and flame, and so frenzied had the people now become, that each time the mouth of the monster idol opened, numbers of wild-haired men and women rushed up the incline that led to the blazing furnace, and with loud cries of adoration of their deity, lifted their arms above their heads and cast themselves into the flames. Some fell clear of the double row of pointed teeth into the furnace, while others not leaping sufficiently far were impaled upon the great spikes of steel, and in full view of their companions writhed in frightful agonies, as slowly they were consumed by the tongue of fire lapping about them.

The scene was awful, yet the Naya, surrounded by priestly dwarfs, stood regarding it with satisfaction. Such voluntary sacrifices to Zomara, were, to them, gratifying in the highest degree.

Suddenly the light in the eyes of the giant figure changed from white to a deep blood-red, illuminating the strange place with a ruddy glow that increased its weirdness, and was a signal for a large number of sacrifices. Indeed, the wors.h.i.+ppers now lost their self-control absolutely, and when the horrible mouth, dripping with blood, again unclosed, there was such a press of those anxious to immolate themselves, that many could not struggle forward to cast their bodies into the flames before the teeth again snapped together.

It was horrible. Nauseated by the sickening sight of men impaled and absolutely crushed to a pulp by the ascending jaw which must have weighed many tons, and the sharp teeth of which cut the unfortunate wretch to pieces, we turned away. We had emerged from the shadow that had concealed us and stood in the full white light shed by one of the monster's eyes, hesitating how to seek some means of escape, when two of the dwarfs, suddenly turning a corner, came full upon me. In an instant I remembered that on account of the suffocating atmosphere I had unwrapped my haick from about my mouth, thus allowing my features to remain uncovered. But ere this thought flashed across my mind the uncanny-looking imps had detected my features as those of a stranger.

For a second they paused, starting and glancing keenly at me, then they turned and gazed earnestly at my companions. There was, I knew, no mistaking Kona's sable yet good-humoured face.

"Lo!" they cried, shouting to the group of their priestly tribe standing rigid and silent around the bejewelled Naya. "See! There are strangers present! One is a black savage like those thou hast given unto Zomara, and the other white, like the people dwelling beyond the great black water."

Their announcement produced an effect almost electrical. In an instant a silence fell, and at the same moment the voice of the Naya was heard commanding:

"If they are strangers who have dared to descend to this our Temple of Zomara, bring them forth, and let them be given unto the great G.o.d whose maw still remaineth unsatisfied. Hasten, ye priests, do my bidding quickly; let them not escape, or the curse of the King of the Crocodiles be upon you."

The two dwarfs sprang forward to seize us, while the group of priests, fleet of foot, accompanied by the great mob of wors.h.i.+ppers, sped in our direction. The people, having worked themselves up to such a pitch of excitement, were eager to a.s.sist in the immolation of any intruders. They were bent upon obeying the law of their queen.

But in an instant Kona felled both the dwarfs with two well-directed blows with his huge black fist, and without hesitation we all three turned and fled in the direction we had come. My companions had apparently forgotten where the steps descended, but fortunately I had fixed the spot in case any untoward incident occurred. They were over against a great pillar of rock, rudely fas.h.i.+oned to represent a woman with an eagle's head.

"This way," I shouted. "Follow me!" and with a bound sped in its direction as fast as my legs could carry me.

We had nearly gained the spot when to my dismay I saw a dozen of the wors.h.i.+ppers, divining our intention, approaching from the opposite direction in order to cut off our retreat.

It was an exciting moment. Behind, was a mad, fanatical mob of five hundred men and women led by the dwarfs shrieking vengeance against us; before us were a dozen determined men ready to seize us and convey us to a horrible death in the throat of the gigantic representation of their sacred reptile. Even if we safely descended the steps, we knew not the secret means by which we might reach the earth's surface, nor did either of us remember the exact point where the long dark tunnel joined the wonderful cavern.

None, however, knew that Omar himself was one of my fellow fugitives, for the dwarfs, being consigned to a subterranean life perpetually, had never set eyes upon him, and therefore he had been unrecognized. Another moment, and I knew he must be detected by some of the devotees. If so, the hostile feeling against us would be intensified, and we should probably be torn limb from limb.

I had retained the lead in this race for life, and seeing retreat cut off by the group of men gaining the top of the steps before us I turned quickly, and, although fearing the worst, made a long detour. Determined to sell my life dearly, I drew my long knife from its velvet sheath, and gripped it, ready to strike a deadly blow in self-defence. Luckily I armed myself in time, for almost next moment a man of huge stature sprang forward from behind one of the columns of rock where he had been secreted and threw himself upon me, clutching me by the throat.

Scarce had his sinewy fingers gripped me, when, by dint of frantic effort, I freed my right arm, and with a movement quick as lightning flash, I buried my knife full in his breast. One short, despairing cry escaped him, and as he staggered back I dashed forward again, without turning to look at the result of the swift blow I had delivered. But I was desperate, and being compelled to defend my life, I do not doubt that my blow was unerring, and that my blade penetrated his heart.

Hindered thus in my flight my two companions had reached the edge of the precipice ahead of me, and were skirting it, when suddenly I saw a body of our pursuers approaching, and cried to them in warning. In dismay I noticed they took no heed of my words, but continued their swift flight right in the direction of those who sought our destruction.

"Take care, Omar!" I shouted, in English. "Can't you see those devils in front?"

But he answered not, and I was about to halt and give up all thought of escape, when I saw them both suddenly throw themselves on their knees on the edge of the abyss, and almost instantly disappear over the precipice.

They had found another flight of steps!

Eagerly I sprang forward, and in a few seconds found myself descending the rough face of the rock, scrambling desperately down into the yawning chasm with a wild horde of excited fanatics shrieking and yelling above.

Half a dozen of the more adventurous swung themselves over and commenced to follow us, but those above, determined that we should not escape, fetched huge stones and lumps of rock, which they hurled upon us. But their excess of zeal only wrought destruction upon their companions, who, being above us, received blows from the great stones which sent them flying one after another to the base of the rock, killed or stunned ere they reached it. Twice we had narrow escapes on account of the unconscious bodies of our pursuers or their companions' missiles falling against us, but while all those who had followed us, save one, fell victims to the merciless frenzy of their companions, we were fortunate enough to be enabled to descend to the base of the rock, where once again the impenetrable darkness hid, although at the same time it hampered, our movements.

For a few moments at least we were safe, and paused to recover breath. My arm was bleeding profusely where it had been severely grazed by a sharp edge of rock in our headlong flight, and the white garments of all three of us were soiled and torn. But our halt was not of long duration, for suddenly we heard whispers and the sound of stealthy footsteps in the darkness.

We listened breathlessly.

"Hark!" cried Omar. "Our pursuers are here also, and are looking for us!"

"Let us hide behind yonder rock," Kona suggested, in a half-whisper.

"No, let us creep forward," answered the son of the Great White Queen.

"They will search every crevice and hiding-place now the hue-and-cry has been raised," and glancing up I saw a black stream of excited wors.h.i.+ppers, many with torches that in the distance shone like moving stars, already pouring down over the rock in our direction like a line of ants descending a wall.