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DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 The Glenn Negley Collection 
 of Utopian Literature 
 
DR. SILEX. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 littp://www.arcliive.org/details/doctorsilexOOIiarr 
 
Cy»ui Ci/M£o 
 
 " We saw with surprise that lie was a European, and moved 
 fofl^ard to greet him." (Page 102.) 
 
 ^'■- ■Si'^'^l '' [Frontispiece 
 
DR. SILEX. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. B. HARRIS-BURLAND, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " DACOBRA." 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY CYRUS CUNEO. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WARD, LOCK & CO,, LIMITED. 
 
 1905. 
 
H3WJ 
 
 Zo mg aSrotber, 
 W. M. HARRIS-BURLAND. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 Preface by Sir John Cordeaux 
 I. — The Mazarin Bible 
 II. — Silent Square 
 III. — John Silver, Dealer in Books 
 IV. — The Princess 
 
 V. — An Extraordinary Expedition 
 VI. — ^A Re-Shuffling of the Cards 
 VII. — A Dead Man's Legacy . 
 VIII.— Bon Voyage! .... 
 IX. — The Frozen North 
 X. — The Arrow Head . 
 XI. — The Lonely Man of Cape Alfred Ernest 
 XII. — The Narrative of the Princess 
 XIII. — The Breath of War . 
 XIV. — The Cataclysm 
 XV. — "AsturniaI AsturniaI" 
 XVI. — A Message to Count Guy of M 
 XVII. — The Siege of Sancta Maria 
 XVIIL— The Trap 
 XIX. — The Circle of Steel . 
 XX. — The Carnage . 
 XXI. — Prisoners of War 
 XXII. — A Bird in a Gilded Cage 
 
 PAGE 
 
 9 
 
 22 
 26 
 
 33 
 
 44 
 52 
 63 
 71 
 80 
 
 85 
 95 
 100 
 107 
 120 
 126 
 
 133 
 
 142 
 149 
 
 157 
 164 
 171 
 1S2 
 192 
 
8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 XXIII. — A Traitor to the King . 
 XXIV.— The Death Song 
 XXV. — The March to the Capital 
 XXVI. — Bv the Lake of Nitril 
 
 XXVII. — Avranches 
 
 XXVIII. — The Gorge of the Pasquerelle 
 XXIX.— The Last Battle 
 XXX. — The Frozen City 
 XXXI. — Charles the Red 
 XXXII.— The Waters of Death . 
 XXXIIL— The Torrent .... 
 XXXIV. — The Darkness and the Dawn 
 XXXV.— The New Regime 
 XXXVI. — The Day of Triumph 
 XXXVII.— Queen or Woman 
 XXXVIII.— The Combat .... 
 
 XXXIX.— The Impostor .... 
 XL. — A Confession . . . . ^ 
 XLI. — The Better Life 
 
 page 
 
 202 
 
 212 
 
 aig 
 224 
 229 
 
 239 
 247 
 
 253 
 260 
 269 
 
 277 
 285 
 291 
 298 
 304 
 314 
 322 
 
 329 
 340 
 
DR. SILEX. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 By Sir John Cordeaux. 
 
 It is now some ten years since the Silex Expedition left 
 England to discover the North Pole, and though fresh 
 interest has been directed to it from time to time by 
 relief expeditions, and more recently by the publication 
 of the will of Dr. Silex, yet the cursory reader of the 
 newspapers may be glad to have his memory strengthened 
 by a recital of the main facts. 
 
 Dr. Silex was an intimate friend of my own, and I 
 feel that it is my duty both to him and to the readers 
 of the extraordinary story I have now to make public, 
 to first of all give some description of the character and 
 personality of a very remarkable man. 
 
 In 1890— a year before the Expedition left England 
 — Dr. Silex was best known to the world as a man of 
 vast wealth, and to his friends and acquaintances as one 
 whose whole life from boyhood had been devoted to the 
 study and purchase of rare books. All his ideas of 
 beauty and happiness were confined to the four walls 
 of his magnificent library. He had never, so far as I 
 know, been in love with a woman, nor had he ever been 
 heard to express admiration for a beautiful face. He 
 was content to read about the other sex, and kept his 
 real affections and hatreds for the characters depicted 
 in his books. His world was peopled with the creations 
 
10 DR. SILEX. 
 
 of other minds, and he would not hear a word against 
 the ones he loved. If anyone had hinted to him that 
 Juliet was a silly lovesick wench, the discussion might 
 have ended in blows. But even in this case Juliet was 
 to him always the Juliet of the early Folios and Quartos 
 — a goddess enthroned in a perfect shrine — and perhaps 
 if he had only made her acquaintance in a shilhng 
 edition of the play, he would have scarcely troubled to 
 defend her. 
 
 Yet Edward Silex was a man who, if he had ever been 
 taken out of his narrow world of books, would have 
 made his mark on the lives of his generation. 
 
 Physically, he was tall, lean, and broad-shouldered, 
 and he would have passed for an athlete — which, indeed, 
 he was in his boyhood — if it had not been for the slight 
 stoop in his shoulders which spoke of years of study and 
 a sedentary life. His clean shaven features were sensi- 
 tive and finely cut, but there was a quiet determination 
 about his keen grey eyes and the lines of his mouth 
 that removed any suspicion of weakness from his face. 
 It gave one the impression that he might be weak about 
 trifles, but that in matters of moment he would exhibit 
 a will quite foreign to the character of his everyday life. 
 His occupation, however, gave no opportunity for the 
 display of any such power. The events of his life were 
 very trivial, and most of his difficulties were scarcely 
 worth troubling about. 
 
 Intellectually, his mind was more keen than powerful. 
 In his own particular line he was one of the first authori- 
 ties in Europe. Men old enough to be his father were 
 accustomed, in certain matters, to yield to the mere 
 weight of his name, and a great university had recognised 
 his extraordinary powers of research by making him an 
 honorary Doctor of Civil Law. He had a marvellous 
 memory, and his powers of discernment amounted almost 
 to an instinct. No book-dealer ever dared to offer him 
 a volume with a missing page. He would merely open 
 the book at half a dozen places, and one of them would 
 l^e sure to disclose the loss. His knowledge of human 
 nature was limited, but exact within those limits. He 
 knew the hearts and minds of book-dealers as though 
 
PREFACE. II 
 
 their lives had been printed on one of the pages of their 
 own books. No artifice was hidden from him, and no 
 change of expression escaped his notice. He knew to a 
 nicety how far each man would conscientiously depart 
 from the truth, and how far each man's price might be 
 beaten down. 
 
 Dr. Silex read much, and had more than a superficial 
 knowledge of every subject he read about, and a com- 
 plete grasp of many of them. He knew more law than 
 many barristers, more medicine than a good many 
 doctors, and more theology than half the curates in 
 London. If he had devoted his mind to the learning 
 of a single profession, he would undoubtedly have risen 
 to great eminence, for he had that power of arranging 
 facts, and sifting evidence, and weighing theories, which 
 makes for distinction in every branch of life. 
 
 But here again he was cramped by the narrow sphere 
 of his ambitions. And, indeed, it seemed as though his 
 will, his body, and his intellect had all been stunted by 
 his surroundings. He had the makings of a magnificent 
 man, but he was merely a pedant, wasting his physical 
 strength in hours of useless study, and his intellect in 
 the pursuit of useless knowledge. A man of his wealth 
 and talent might have safely flung himself into the arena 
 of politics, where his powers would have been so quick- 
 ened in the conflict that he would soon have borne no 
 more resemblance to his old self than the lion bears to 
 the domestic cat. 
 
 The following incident will show how the keen devotion 
 to any one subject may destroy all sense of proportion 
 in a man's mind, and how ludicrous the man can become, 
 if that subject is of a trivial character. It also, as I 
 now realise, had considerable bearing on the events which 
 followed it. 
 
 One day in June I called on Dr. Silex after lunch and 
 found him positively miserable. He was standing at 
 the window when I entered, and I noticed a deep frown 
 on his forehead. 
 
 " Well, Silex," I said heartily, " how are you ? I just 
 called in on my way to the club to borrow your pamphlet 
 on ' Compositors in the i8th Century.' I am going to 
 
12 DR. SILEX. 
 
 meet a man who thinks himself an authority. I can 
 read up all I want in the cab. I don't know much 
 about that period myself — uninteresting, I call it. 
 You look pretty black — what crime are you meditating, 
 eh?" 
 
 " Haven't you heard about Budlip ? " he said gloomily. 
 
 " No, not dead, is he ? " I asked in some alarm. 
 
 " Dead," replied Dr. Silex savagely, " of course not 
 — unless he has died of happiness. Sit down and li.ave 
 a cigarette, and I'll tell you all about it." 
 
 I sat down and lit the cigarette which he offered me. 
 " Well," I said, " I'm ready." 
 
 " It's simply this," he said. " Budlip has bought a 
 Mazarin Bible for a mere song. I had his letter this 
 morning. The pieces are in the waste-paper basket." 
 
 " Lucky chap, Budlip." 
 
 " That's one way of looking at it. I call it disgusting. 
 I have been looking out for a cop}' for seven years. None 
 of the known copies are likely to come into the market. 
 I have been hoping to discover a fresli one. And now, 
 Budlip — well, I'd rather anyone but Budlip had found 
 it." 
 
 I leant back in my chair and laughed heartily. Dr. 
 Silex frowned more deeply than ever, and puffed vigor- 
 ously at his cigarette. 
 
 " You seem amused," he said coldly. 
 
 " I am amused," I replied, " I have no copy of the 
 Mazarin Bible myself, but I still see some prospects in 
 life." 
 
 " You don't collect Bibles," he answered bitterly. 
 " Everyone in Europe knows that you have made a 
 speciality of the Early Classics, and that you are the 
 first living authority on the subject. Of course you don't 
 care. You are selfish, like all specialists." 
 
 I laughed again and rose from my chair. " Where's 
 that book I wanted ? " I said. Silex searched in a 
 drawer of one of the tables, and handed a pamphlet to 
 me. I took it and laid one hand on his arm. 
 
 " Do you know, Silex," I said, seriously, " that I am 
 very anxious about you, and I want to give you some 
 advice. You will believe that I am your friend." 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 " You are my only friend, Cordeaux," he answered. 
 
 " Well," I continued, " if you will take my advice, 
 you will sell every book you have, and go out from the 
 seclusion of this library into the strife of the world. 
 Go in for law, medicine, pohtics, anything but this. 
 Shoot big game in Africa. Try to climb inaccessible 
 mountains. Make an attempt to reach the capital of 
 Thibet. Do anything but this ! It doesn't suit you. 
 You want bracing up. I can see you're a fighting man 
 by your jaw, and you've sunk to the level of a tame 
 rabbit. Go out into the world and get some blows, and 
 I reckon you'll give as good as you get. I'd rather see 
 you digging potatoes in a field than fussing about Budlip 
 and his Bible. It is well enough for me, but I'm fifteen 
 years older than you, and had done most of my hard 
 work at your age. 
 
 " Thank you, Cordeaux," he rephed with flushed 
 cheeks and a dangerous sparkle in his eye, " the life 
 suits me very well, and I think you will confess I have 
 made some name for myself already." 
 
 " Name, name ! " I cried ; " yes, you have made a 
 name, but what have you done for yourself, for your 
 country, for the world ? A lot of responsibility lies on 
 your shoulders. A man like you should devote his wealth 
 and talents to something great. But I mustn't preach, 
 Silex, and I must absolutely go. Good day," and 
 I left him, half amused, and half indignant at his 
 childishness. 
 
 This apparently trifling incident, which had almost 
 passed out of my memory, has now assumed an import- 
 ance which justifies its narration, for if Professor Budlip 
 had not written that letter, it is probable that Dr. Silex 
 would still be buried in his library at Hanbury House. 
 
 Two days, however, after this incident, I was astounded 
 to hear that he had himself discovered another fresh copy 
 of the Mazarin Bible, and a month after that I was 
 positively dumbfounded to read in the papers that 
 Dr. Silex, the bookworm and bibliophile, was going to 
 spend a million pounds on an expedition to the North 
 Pole. But an extraordinary change came over him at 
 this time, and I began to flatter m3^self that my words 
 
14 DR. SILEX. 
 
 had sunk deeply into his mind. From a quiet student 
 he became a busthng man of action, and threw all his 
 physical and mental energies into the manifold arrange- 
 ments of the expedition. 
 
 It was, as most people remember, of enormous size, 
 consisting of no less than twenty ships and one thousand 
 men. It sailed on April 3rd, 1891, and, in spite of all 
 our arguments and entreaties. Dr. Silex himself sailed 
 with it. It reached St. John's, Newfoundland, on 
 April 13th, and remained there a week. Then it left 
 amid a scene of great enthusiasm. I read in the Daily 
 Telegraph that as the fleet moved slowly down the 
 harbour, the captain and Dr. Silex were plainly seen on 
 the bridge of the " Aurora " waving their caps. Then 
 a reporter described how they became mere specks as 
 the distance increased, and how in an hour's time the 
 ships themselves were only dots on the horizon, and 
 the great Silex expedition passed out of the world of 
 civilisation. 
 
 A month later a Danish boat from Godhaven arrived 
 in St. John's, and reported that she had passed through 
 the fleet in lat. 53° 40" N. and long. 56° 20" W., and a 
 month afterwards the " Tromso," from Upernavik, said 
 that the lookout man on the mast had seen a few ships 
 on the horizon in lat. 70° 10" N. long. 58° 15" W. Not 
 long after that we heard from both Godhaven and Uper- 
 navik that the fleet had called at these places, and many 
 people had letters from their friends and relations. But 
 Dr. Silex did not write me a single line, or if he did, 
 the letter never reached me. 
 
 After that there was no more news of any description. 
 The fleet had apparently passed beyond the tracks of 
 all vessels, and disappeared into the lonely silence of 
 the Polar Seas. 
 
 A year passed, and no word nor sign came from the 
 North to enlighten the world as to the fate of the ex- 
 pedition. Under ordinary circumstances this would 
 have occasioned no surprise, and certainly no anxiety 
 in the minds of the explorers' relatives. It was fairly 
 certain that the fleet would have to spend at least two 
 winters in the ice. 
 
PREFACE. 15 
 
 There was, however, one circumstance which might 
 well bring terror to the hearts of all those who watched 
 and waited for the return of the ships, and scientists 
 gravely shook their heads as they pondered over maps 
 of the Polar Sea, and jotted down certain calculations 
 on paper. On July i8th, 1892, as some may well re- 
 member, the whole of the northern part of Europe, 
 Asia, and America was visited by one of the most terrible 
 and destructive earthquakes that has ever been recorded 
 in the history of the world. The loss of life indeed was, 
 considering the enormous area affected, comparatively 
 small, for, with the exception of a few towns in Russia, 
 the countries in the line of the disturbance were either 
 totally uninhabited or only thinly populated with a few 
 wandering tribes of Esquimaux and Samoyads. But the 
 physical effects of the shock were enormous. Lakes and 
 valleys were filled up, rivers turned from their courses, 
 great mountains levelled into square miles of rockstrewn 
 plain, and in the lonely tundras of Siberia a mountain 
 of mud, 1,000 feet in height, was cast up from the level 
 wastes by some stupendous subterranean force. 
 
 Nor did the seas escape the general disturbance of 
 nature, A huge tidal wave swept from the North and 
 bore the ice down the Davis and Behring Straits as far 
 as the thirtieth degree of latitude, while the Northern 
 shores of Siberia and America were heaped up fifty feet 
 high with gigantic floes and bergs. The movement of 
 the ocean was felt all over the world, and the tidal wave 
 was said to have reached the Northern shores of Aus- 
 tralia. 
 
 It was not strange that considerable anxiety was felt 
 about the Silex expedition. Whether the ships were in 
 open water or imprisoned in the ice, they must have 
 inevitably perished in so gigantic an upheaval, if they 
 had been in the line of destruction. But, as one scientist 
 pointed out, it was, of course, quite possible that they 
 had been outside the track of the seismic wave. Its 
 path was very irregular, and it was noticed that places 
 a few miles from some striking evidence of the earth- 
 quake's power had been absolutely unaffected. So much 
 so that in Siberia the town of Alaikha had scarcely been 
 
i6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 shaken by a faint tremor, while a neighbouring village 
 had been so completely levelled to the ground that no 
 trace of it existed. Moreover, several Arctic explorers 
 said that it was quite possible that the ships had been 
 securely sheltered from the North by the rocky bulwarks 
 of some deep fiord, and that they might have escaped 
 with a severe shock, while perhaps two miles away from 
 them in the open straits nothing could- have lived among 
 the whirling blocks of ice. However, there was grave 
 cause for uneasiness, and many people confidently ex- 
 pressed an opinion that not a man of the expedition 
 would ever be seen again. 
 
 This opinion was justified. Another year passed, and 
 still another, and the North refused to divulge its secret. 
 The ships were provisioned for five years, and six months 
 before the expiration of that time an American million- 
 aire equipped two vessels to go in search of them. Two 
 years afterwards these ships returned, having thoroughly 
 explored Grant Land, Grinnell Land, and the North 
 of Greenland. They reported that they had discovered 
 many evidences of the visit of the ships on the coast 
 of Grant Land. Half-a-dozen broken boats, piles of 
 empty tins, part of a rifle, and whole cart-loads of odds 
 and ends, such as men leave behind them after a pro- 
 longed stay in a place. But not a sign of a wreck or 
 the remains of a human being. 
 
 The result of this relief expedition was doubtful. 
 Optimists said that, if the one thousand men and twenty 
 ships had been destroyed, it would scarcely be possible 
 to explore so limited an area without finding some trace 
 of the expedition. The broken boats meant nothing. 
 It was easy to lose a boat, or still easier to be obhged 
 to abandon one. 
 
 Pessimists, on the other hand, said that if the men 
 had been alive, and the ships afloat, it would have been 
 impossible to explore so limited an area without en- 
 countering at least one ship, and they gave it as their 
 opinion that the earthquake of 1892 had so overwhelmed 
 the whole expedition that all traces of them were, 
 perhaps, one hundred feet beneath the ice. 
 
 And so the state of uncertainty was intensified, and 
 
PREFACE. 17 
 
 up to the beginning of this year women watched 
 with white faces and sick hearts, and looked at the 
 North with pleading eyes, as though asking it either to 
 give up its dead or send their dear ones back to them. 
 And men went out and risked their lives to explore the 
 Arctic regions and rescue their fellows from the white 
 tomb of the Polar seas. But both women waited and 
 men explored in vain. 
 
 Then at last all hope was abandoned, and the men 
 were written off the books of civilisation as dead. Their 
 relatives assumed mourning, and the world forgot. In 
 the last book relating to Polar Exploration it is stated 
 that the Silex Expedition was probably overwhelmed by 
 the great earthquake of 1892. 
 
 On March 20th of this year I broke up the establish- 
 ment at Hanbury House. For ten years the house- 
 keeper had ruled the servants with a rod of iron, abating 
 none of her punctiliousness and precision by reason of 
 her master's absence. For ten summers the roses in 
 the garden had flowered and faded in all their accus- 
 tomed splendour, and for ten winters the fire had blazed 
 cheerfully in the great library, and the books were aired 
 and dusted with a regularity absolutely unknown when 
 the Doctor himself had been in the house. 
 
 But on this date I published the will of Dr. Silex to 
 the world. It was, in effect, a deed of gift. It required 
 no proof of death. It simply provided that, if nothing 
 was heard of him for ten years, his property should be 
 disposed of absolutely in the way he prescribed. The 
 provisions of the will are probably fresh in the memory 
 of everyone who takes an interest in the legacies of ricli 
 men. He handsomely provided for the housekeeper and 
 all the other servants. He left Hanbury House with 
 all its contents, including the magnificent library, to me, 
 Sir John Cordeaux, and I have taken up my residence 
 there. A house and estate of ten thousand acres in 
 Cumberland, which had been in his family for fourteen 
 generations, was left to a second cousin, John Silex. 
 The residue of the estate, amounting to over one million 
 and a half of money, and inherited by Dr. Silex from 
 his mother, the sole heiress of an American millionaire, 
 
 B 
 
i8 DR. SILEX. 
 
 was left ill trust in perpetuity, the annual income to 
 be applied for the benefit of the labouring classes of his 
 own county. 
 
 On the mountains of Cumberland John Silex reared 
 a stately i)illar of white marble, which gleams in the 
 sun like snow, and is visible from half the county. 
 At the base he has placed an inscription recording that 
 it had been erected to the memory of one who had given 
 his life in the pursuit of knowledge, and his wealth for 
 the good of his fellow men. And in many towns and 
 villages throughout the land there are other monuments, 
 less noble in size and design, but perhaps erected in a 
 spirit of deeper sorrow. Some were of stone, some mere 
 crosses of wood, but beneath none of them lie the bodies 
 of the men whose names they bear. 
 
 This much of the Silex Expedition is known to many 
 of you already. It now only remains for me to tell you 
 how the extraordinary narrative which I have edited for 
 your perusal came into my possession. 
 
 One evening towards the end of September, I was 
 sitting in the library of Hanbury House and enjoying 
 a cigar after dinner. It was a raw night, and I was 
 glad to sit near the fire. I am a bachelor. On this 
 evening I had no comj)anions but two wire-haired 
 terriers, who had curled themselves up as close as possi- 
 ble to the fender. My thoughts had turned to Dr. Silex, 
 and indeed, it was hardly possible to help thinking of 
 him in the room where for so man}^ years he had lived 
 out his studious, quiet life. The very place breathed 
 of him, and, apart from the fact of his magnificent gift 
 to me, I was reminded of him by almost everything I 
 set my eyes upon. I began to wonder, as I often clid, 
 whether he was really dead or whether by some miracle 
 he had escaped the terrible cataclysm of 1892. It was 
 strange, I thought to mN'self, that not a single wreck 
 had been discovered by the relief expedition. Twenty 
 ships had disappeared, as though the earth had swallowed 
 them up. 
 
 My meditations were interrupted by a footman, who 
 said that a man wished to see me, and that he was 
 waiting in the hall. From the servant's description, I 
 
PREFACE. 19 
 
 gathered that he was a rough sort of fellow, and that 
 he had something to deliver to me. I gave orders for 
 him to be admitted. When he entered, I saw at a glance, 
 from his clothes and walk, that he was a sailor. His face 
 was tanned to a mahogany colour and pitted with small- 
 pox. He wore a small tuft of grizzled hair on his chin, 
 which was otherwise clean shaven. Under his arm he 
 held a curious object which looked like a six-inch shell. 
 
 " Well, my man," I said rising to my feet, and quieting 
 the dogs, who barked and growled furiously. 
 
 " Are you Sir John Cordeaux ? " the man asked 
 respectfully. 
 
 " I am," I replied. 
 
 " This is for you, then," he said, and he handed me 
 the object under his arm. I took hold of it in both 
 hands and examined it carefully. It was conical at 
 both ends and made of some metal, probably steel. It 
 was perfectly black, and covered with dents and ridges, 
 as though it had been subjected to tremendous blows, 
 and some steady pressure that had scraped long furrows 
 in its surface. I turned it over and over, and looked 
 at the man inquiringly. 
 
 " Where did you get it ? " I said, " and how do you 
 know it is for me ? " 
 
 " I am the captain of the Ardilaiin, a Dundee whaler, 
 sir ; we spent last winter icebound off the coast of 
 Spitzbergen. We came across this, sir, shortly after the 
 ice broke up. It was floating in a small piece of open 
 water." 
 
 " But wh}^ did you bring it to me ? " I asked. 
 
 " If you look at it more closely, sir," he replied, " you 
 will see. Hold it sideways to the light ; there's some- 
 thing written on it, though the ice has scraped it down 
 pretty clean." 
 
 I held it to the light and turned it round slowly. 
 Then I saw a few faint marks on the metal whicli sug- 
 gested an inscription. I looked at them again, and 
 made out some letters one by one. They formed the 
 following sentence. 
 
 " Whoever will take this to Sir John Cordeaux, Han- 
 bury House, London, England, will receive ^500 reward." 
 
20 DR. SILEX. 
 
 I took quite five minutes to puzzle this out ; then I 
 looked up at the man with a quick glance of suspicion. 
 
 " I can read it," I said, " but I really do not know 
 if it is worth £500. It may be a fraud, or even the work 
 of a practical joker." 
 
 " I know nothing of it," the man answered, " except 
 what I have told you, sir," and he looked me squarely 
 and honestly in the face. 
 
 " It might be worth ;f500 to me," I said, making an 
 effort to be calm, though the metal case trembled in my 
 hands, " on the other hand it might not be worth five 
 pence." 
 
 The man scratched his head, and looked as though he 
 were trying to grasp my view of the case. 
 
 " It seems as though there were somethin' in what you 
 say, sir," he said, after a pause. " Yet finding it where 
 we did, above the Arctic Circle, and knowing when I 
 got home, from the papers, as how you were a great 
 friend of Dr. Silex, it occurred to me that it might be 
 from him." 
 
 " Well, look here," I answered, only too anxious to 
 get rid of him and open the case, " if it is from Dr. Silex 
 and contains any news of the expedition, I will give you 
 the /^500. If it is nothing of interest to me, I will give 
 you ten pounds for your trouble." 
 
 " Very good, sir." 
 
 " Call again to-morrow," I said, " about twelve o'clock. 
 Good-night." 
 
 " Good-night, sir," he replied, and left the room. 
 When he had gone, I rang the l^ell and again examined 
 the metal casket. It appeared to me to be made in two 
 pieces, one fitting on the other like the lid of a box, and 
 both soldered together iu the middle. When the foot- 
 man entered, I told hmi to bring some files, a chisel, and 
 a hammer. 
 
 In a few minutes he returned, and then I set to work 
 to crack this nut of steel and extricate the kernel. It 
 was hard work, and when at last I managed to loosen 
 one piece from the other, the clock was striking twelve. 
 Trembling with excitement, I drew out the contents, 
 a hard bulky C3'linder wra])ped in oiled silk. I quickly 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 21 
 
 tore off this covering and smoothed out a thick roll of 
 manuscript. I glanced eagerly at the writing and gave 
 a cry of pleasure. The captain of the Ardilaun had 
 earned his ;^5oo. The manuscript contained more than 
 three hundred pages of close writing, inscribed on some 
 fine, transparent material like gold-beaters' skin, and all 
 of it was in the handwriting of Dr. Silex. 
 
 I threw myself into a chair and commenced to read. 
 It was not till five o'clock in the morning that I finished 
 the last page, I had kept the fire burning brightly in 
 the grate before me, but, as I made my way up to my 
 room, I shivered as though I had been handling a block 
 of ice. 
 
 The following is the narrative, given word for word 
 as Dr. Silex wrote it. I publish it to the world without 
 further comment. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MAZARIN BIBLE. 
 
 I CANNOT give you any clear and complete account of 
 the events that have hapi)ened since I last saw you, 
 Cordeaux, without reverting to matters which happened 
 some time before I left England. 
 
 On the i2th of June, 1890 — I have good reason to 
 remember the date — I was sitting by myself in my library 
 at Hanbury House, and as miserable as I then imagined 
 a man could be. It would seem hard, as you know, for 
 a lover of books to be unhappy in that room. The very 
 walls were cased with books from floor to ceiling. Re- 
 volving bookcases groaned with them. The tables were 
 littered with them, and even the chairs held a few volumes 
 that had strayed from their shelves. The contents of 
 my library would have endowed any hospital in London 
 with a handsome income for ever. 
 
 Yet I was miserable, and my latest purchase — an 
 Editio Princeps of Virgil, printed by Sweynheym and 
 Pannartz, lay almost unnoticed on my knees. For 
 I had a letter in my pocket, the contents of which were 
 large enough to occupy all my thoughts and gloomy 
 enough to cloud all my happiness. It was only a short 
 note whicii had arrived before breakfast. 
 
 I drew it from my pocket again, and read it over three 
 times. Then I tore it up angrily, and threw the pieces 
 into the waste-paper basket. 
 
 If you could recollect so tri-^'ial an event as your visit 
 
THE MAZARIN BIBLE. 23 
 
 to me that morning, you would remember that the letter 
 was from Professor Budlip, and that it announced his 
 purchase of a copy of the Mazarin Bible at a ridiculously 
 low price. You made some very scathing remarks to 
 me about the use I was making of my life, and ridiculed 
 my intense devotion to my books. I think that the 
 course of events which has led me to my present goal 
 was first set in motion by those few words of yours. 
 
 When you left the room, they were still ringing in my 
 ears. I walked over to the window and looked out into 
 my garden, which was glowing with thousands of roses, 
 white, yellow, pink, and crimson, in every conceivable 
 shade and variety, but even the flowers could not dis- 
 tract my thoughts from your words. I was the more 
 annoyed with what you had said because it merely empha- 
 sised the vague whisperings of my own consciousness. 
 I had always managed to stifle these whispers, but your 
 voice is too loud and precise for a man to turn a deaf ear to 
 anything you may say. And I told myself that perhaps 
 you were right after all, and that there were better things 
 in the world than books, and objects more worthy of a 
 man's strength and intellect. Yet the words were no 
 comfort to my mind. Even if they were true, it was 
 still most irritating that Budhp should have got the 
 Mazarin Bible for less than its value. 
 
 My meditations were interrupted by the entrance of 
 a footman bearing some letters. I took them from him 
 without any show of interest. The 2.30 post was merely 
 local, and was chiefly composed of circulars. I tore three 
 or four of these across without opening them, put aside 
 two book catalogues, and opened the only letter, a 
 square envelope of very thick paper, addressed in a 
 large angular handwriting. 
 
 But as I read the contents I gave a sudden exclama- 
 tion of surprise, and my hands trembled with excitement. 
 I read the letter again and again, pacing up and down 
 the room with rapid strides. A poor man who had just 
 come into a great inheritance could scarcely have felt 
 or shown a greater joy. In one moment I had been 
 lifted from the depths of despair to the seventh heaven 
 of delight. The letter ran as follows : — 
 
24 DR. SI LEX. 
 
 " Silent Square, VV. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I saw in last night's paper that Pro- 
 fessor Budhp had secured a copy of the Mazarin Bible, 
 printed by Gutenberg and Fust, making the eighth copy 
 known to exist in the world. The paper went on to 
 state the whereabouts of the known copies, and offered 
 an ophiion that no more would be discovered, as for 
 over two hundred years the value of the book had been 
 almost universally known, and collectors had searched 
 the world for it. In this the writer of the article is 
 mistaken. I have a copy in my possession, and am 
 open to an offer for the same. I can, moreover, sell it 
 to you at an entirely inadequate price, if you will do 
 me a favour which will cost you nothing but a little 
 personal exertion on my behalf. 
 
 " If you will make your way to Peebles Square, 
 Notting Hill, W., you will have no difficulty in finding 
 my residence. For some reason or other, it is neither 
 on the map nor in the directory. I shall be in to-morrow 
 between three and seven. 
 " I am, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " John Silver." 
 
 I went to a table and unfolded a large map of London. 
 After a considerable search and many references to the 
 index, I found Peebles Square. It was in the centre of 
 a dense mass of small and crooked streets, and appeared 
 to have only one entrance. As the writer of the letter 
 said, there was no Silent Square to be found in the 
 neighbourhood, nor was there any such name in the 
 index. This did not strike me as peculiar, for the best 
 London maps are very defective, especially in the out- 
 lying and crowded districts. 
 
 I folded up the map and rang the bell. When the 
 footman entered, I told him to call a hansom. Then I 
 went to a writing table, unlocked one of the drawers, 
 and taking out a cheque book, placed it in my pocket. 
 In a minute or two the man returned and said that the 
 hansom was at the door. 
 
 " I shall not be in till dinner time," I said, as I got 
 
THE MAZARIN BIBLE. 25 
 
 into the cab, " and if Professor Budlip calls, say I am 
 sorry to have missed him, but I have an important 
 engagement. Tell the man to drive to Peebles Square, 
 Notting Hill, W." 
 
 " Never 'eard of sich a place, sir," said the driver 
 from the roof. 
 
 " Well, drive to Notting Hill and ask," I answered 
 sharply, " it's not my business to direct you." 
 
 The man whipped up his horse. I leant back on the 
 cushions and lit a cigar. Then I pulled out the letter 
 and re-read it. I could scarcely believe my good fortune, 
 but I should have found it harder to believe that this 
 drive to Peebles Square was but the first step to the 
 accomplishment of a journey which would take up two 
 years of my life. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 SILENT SQUARE. 
 
 Twenty-five minutes' quick driving took me into the 
 district of Notting Hill. Repeated inquiries on the part 
 of the cabman failed to elicit the exact position of 
 Peebles Square, and the hansom seemed to go by leaps 
 and bounds in every direction but the right one. After 
 each five minutes of furious driving the man stopped 
 and occupied two minutes in extracting fresh informa- 
 tion, and heaping curses on the last man who had in- 
 structed him. The neighbourhood seemed an endless 
 wilderness of slums. We appeared to have driven 
 through miles and miles of squalid streets, and I began 
 to think I should soon be getting into the country, 
 though in reality we had been going round and round 
 in a circle, and were barely outside the four mile radius. 
 Then at last a man more truthful or more intellectual 
 than his fellows gave lucid instructions how to reach 
 the entrance to Peebles Street. He added that it was 
 impossible to drive into Peebles Square, as Peebles 
 Street was the only entrance, and the end of that street 
 was reached by a narrow alley between two houses. 
 
 In less than five minutes we reached an opening 
 in a line of back walls. The passage was paved with 
 stone and guarded by two posts, apparently to prevent 
 anyone trying to drive over the pavement. A small 
 crowd collected round the hansom and watched me 
 alight. It was evident that hansoms were almost as 
 rare as gondolas in this district of London. 
 
 26 
 
SILENT SQUARE. 27 
 
 I paid the cabman handsomely, and made my way 
 through the posts, still followed by one or two curious 
 children. 
 
 The street was narrow and dirty, with a row of ugly 
 little two-storied houses on either side. A few slatternly 
 women conversed in the doorways, and the centre of 
 the road was occupied by children and mongrel curs 
 basking in the narrow strip of sunshine. It was one of 
 the backwaters of the great city, undisturbed by traffic, 
 and only collecting its own scum year after year in 
 silence. 
 
 I walked to the end and saw the name of the street 
 painted on a rusty iron plate. It was called Peebles 
 Terrace, W. The man had made a mistake, but Peebles 
 Square could not be far off. The road terminated a few 
 yards further on, but a narrow footpath between two 
 houses led into a sort of square paved with stone flags. 
 I resolved to ask my way, and looked about me for some- 
 one who would be likely to receive my question with 
 sympathy and answer it with intelligence. 
 
 There was not a single man in sight, and the nearest 
 approach to one was to be found in a small boy of four, 
 who was pouring dust on his head, doubtless in penance 
 for his past sins. The women at the doorways were for- 
 bidding in aspect, harsh in feature, and ungainly in shape. 
 Two of them were standing quite close to me. One was 
 very thin and the other absurdly fat. The bones of the 
 thin one seemed to have cut through her clothes, while 
 the flesh of the fat one had burst through all restraint, 
 and a single button, strained to the utmost length of 
 its thread, was all that held her blouse together. They 
 were both laughing immoderately, and I felt that they 
 were looking at me. I turned round and faced them 
 boldly, prepared to risk insolence or, what would have 
 been worse, jovial familiarity. 
 
 " Could you tell me where Silent Square is ? " I asked 
 courteously. For answer the fat woman laughed and the 
 thin one pointed a skinny finger at the rusty iron plate. 
 
 " Yes, yes," I said hastily, " I noticed that ; but how 
 far am I from Silent Square ? " 
 
 " Dunno. Never 'card of it," was the curt reply. 
 
28 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " Is there a restaurant," I continued ; " I mean a 
 public-house, anywhere near ? " 
 
 This introduced a subject on which both the women 
 were evidently qualified to speak, and for quite two 
 minutes I was overwhelmed with a torrent of names 
 and directions, from which I tried to extract the central 
 facts. The " Blue Boar " was undoubtedly the nearest, 
 and the " Crown and Sceptre " was the cheapest, but 
 the " Red Cow " sold the best gin. There was, however, 
 some difference of opinion on this last point, and, as it 
 seemed likely to be decided by an ultimate appeal to 
 arms, I thanked them for the information and turned 
 to go. This decisive measure called for an armistice, 
 and they both moved after me with offers of an escort. 
 Fortunately, however, they differed as to my proper 
 destination, and became so personal in their arguments 
 that they forgot my presence, and I made my escape 
 down the narrow footpath. But choice pieces of family 
 history still rang in my ears as I passed into the little 
 square beyond. 
 
 There I found the " Blue Boar," and, having purchased 
 a small glass of vile whiskey, I sipped it cautiously and 
 asked the man behind the bar if he could direct me to 
 Silent Square. 
 
 " Never 'card of it," said the man. " Is it a fancy 
 name, or what ? Julia ! " 
 
 In answer to the summons a lady, resplendent in faded 
 mauve velvet and jingling with silver ornaments, ap- 
 peared from an inner room and smiled graciously at the 
 stranger within their gates. 
 
 " Ever 'eard of Silent Square, Julia ? " 
 
 " No, never 'eard of such a place. I s'pose you wouldn't 
 call this Silent Square about closing time, would you ? " 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 " I want to go there," I continued. " A man named 
 Silver lives there, I believe." 
 
 Both the man and the woman burst into roars of 
 laughter. 
 
 " Oh, 'im ! " cried the lady ; " why, that's close by. 
 You can't miss it. It's down the end of the passage 
 leading out of this square. Of course, what a thick 
 
SILENT SQUARE. 29 
 
 head I am not to have thought of it ! Silent Square ! 
 Lor, it's a good name for it ! It is silent, ain't it, 'Enery ?" 
 and they both laughed again. I began to feel uncom- 
 fortable. 
 
 " Do you know Mr. Silver ? " I asked. 
 
 " Never seen 'im. No one 'as ever seen 'im. They 
 say 'e's mad. I don't know if there is such a person. 
 But there's 'is daughter, or she calls 'erself 'is daughter. 
 She's a beauty, she is, and no mistake. There ain't a 
 face in the picture papers to touch 'ers, I'll warrant. 
 All golden 'air and such like — like some advertisement." 
 
 " He sells books, I believe," I said coldly. I was not 
 interested in the daughter. 
 
 " 'E says so outside 'is 'ouse, but I never 'ear of anyone 
 buying any. And to tell you the 'onest truth, sir," she 
 said, lowering her voice, " I wouldn't go in that 'ouse if you 
 paid me. Not a soul about 'ere will go in the square 
 after dark. There's somethin' wrong about 'im. 'E's a 
 Nihilist or Fenian or murderer, or else I don't believe 'e 
 exists, and that's worse. My 'eart goes out to that poor 
 child, though she's as 'aughty as a countess in the 
 Family 'Erald stories. 
 
 " Does no one else live in the square ? " I asked. 
 
 " Not a soul," said the man ; " 'e bought it all three 
 years ago and won't 'ave a brick touched or a room 
 occupied. It 'ad a name once, I b'lieve, but 'e pulled it 
 down, and I'm 'anged if I can rec'llect it. Some say 'e's 
 'alf a man and 'alf a monkey and crawls about on all 
 fours." 
 
 " Thank you for your information," I said, depositing 
 threepence on the counter. " Good afternoon." 
 
 I found the opening in one corner of the square. It 
 was not more than three feet in width, and lay between 
 high dead walls of crumbling brick. Two dirty children 
 followed me curiously to the entrance, and then stopped 
 and whispered to each other. The passage ran for some 
 distance and had two right-angled turns in it. It finally 
 opened out into another square, the sides of which were 
 not more than twenty yards each way. Some of the 
 houses were four stories in height, and had evidently 
 once been inhabited by prosperous people. I could 
 
30 DR. SILEX. 
 
 sec at a glance that one house, which occui)ied a whole 
 side of the square, must have stood there many years 
 before the ever- rising sea of brick and mortar had crept 
 up to its walls. It was lower than the others and built 
 of brick mellowed with age and crusted here and there 
 with lichen. A wrought-iron gateway stood in front of 
 the steps, but the gate had disappeared. The walls 
 had cracked in one or two places, and all the windows were 
 boarded up. The whole place looked as though no one 
 had lived in it for years. 
 
 And, indeed, the square itself might have been part of a 
 deserted city. All the other houses appeared to be in a 
 worse state of ruin, and two of them were roofless and 
 blackened with fire. There was not a soul to be seen 
 in the whole place. A few blades of grass appeared 
 between the stone flags in the centre of the courtyard, 
 and the square was so small that most of it was in shadow. 
 There was almost complete silence, but I could hear a 
 barrel organ in some other street playing a music hall 
 air and an occasional squeal of laughter in the distance. 
 
 I smiled. The place was so unlike a London square. 
 A sensible landlord would have patched up these ruins 
 and converted them into rookeries teeming with life. 
 I thought the owner must indeed be mad, or else so rich 
 that he cared nothing for a few pounds a week. It was 
 interesting. 
 
 I crossed the square to the house with the iron gate- 
 way, and, when I reached it, I saw a small black tin 
 plate nailed on to the door. A close inspection revealed 
 the following inscription : 
 
 " John Silver. Dealer in Books." 
 
 The name of the man ptood out clean and white, and 
 appeared to have been jmintcd over some other name. 
 The record of his occupation was faint and scarcely 
 decipherable. He had evidently taken over some other 
 person's business. 
 
 My heart beat fast with expectation, but, as my eye 
 wandered over the desolate front of the building, I felt 
 some misgivings. It was a strange place for a book- 
 
SILENT SQUARE. 31 
 
 seller to choose. There was only one entrance to the 
 square, and no one would be likely to enter it except by 
 mistake. There were no passers-by, and the neighbour- 
 hood was the last that would commend itself to a book- 
 hunter. 
 
 But it was possible that the man advertised and was 
 independent of chance customers. I tried to recall the 
 name. I could not remember having heard of it until a 
 few hours previously, and I knew the name of every 
 dealer of importance in the whole of Europe. Yet the 
 man who had a Mazarin Bible to offer could hardly be a 
 common street hawker of twopenny selections. 
 
 I ascended the broken steps and looked for the bell. 
 I only found the place where it should have been, and I 
 saw that the knocker had also been wrenched off. Then 
 for a moment I was disheartened and half inclined to 
 turn back. I recalled the idle gossip of the people in the 
 " Blue Boar," and coupled it with the somewhat enig- 
 matical condition in the man's letter. I remembered 
 the book was to be bought for a price — not money, but 
 a service to be rendered — and for a few seconds I 
 hesitated. 
 
 Then I laughed at my own timidity, and resolved to 
 see the matter through, I raised my stick and knocked. 
 I waited a minute, but there was no reply. Then I 
 knocked again and heard the sound reverberate through 
 the house, but still no one answered. I determined to 
 take the question of entrance into my own hands, and, 
 turning the handle of the door, pushed it open. 
 
 It opened into a sort of dim twilight. The hall 
 windows were boarded up, but some window high up on 
 the stairs let a few rays of light filter down into the gloom. 
 I certainly did not feel ver}^ cheerful as I tried to dis- 
 tinguish things in the semi-darkness. The whole atmo- 
 sphere was depressing. The ruined houses and deserted 
 square, the absence of light and sound, the damp cold 
 air that suggested a cellar, all combined to produce a 
 chilling effect on my spirits. I hesitated again, and had 
 half a mind to turn back. Then the broad band of light 
 that had streamed in from the square outside suddenly 
 narrowed and disappeared, and the door swung to with a 
 
32 DR. SILEX. 
 
 crash. At the same time I heard the faint notes of a 
 viohn in the distance. 
 
 I groped my way back to tlie door and, fumhhng for 
 the handle, flung it open again and hstened. The sound 
 of the viohn came from upstairs, and the instrument 
 was played by no mean performer. I made up my mind 
 to proceed on my quest, and, striking a match, found the 
 balustrade of the stairs. Before I ascended, however, I 
 struck another and examined the hall and staircase. 
 The whole place was absolutely devoid of carpet or fur- 
 niture, and the only thing that attracted my attention 
 was a horizontal iron bar fixed on the ceiling. It ran 
 from the door to the foot of the stairs, and then ascended 
 at the same angle as the staircase, finally disappearing 
 round a corner. The use of it was not apparent, and it 
 was certainly not ornamental ; but I gave it no further 
 thought and commenced the ascent with one hand on the 
 balustrade. 
 
 The stairs creaked horribly, and I stumbled more than 
 once in the darkness. The violin still played on. Who- 
 ever occupied the house must have been very deaf or 
 else have been completely wrapped up in his music. 
 Then, as I reached the half-landing, the music stopped, 
 and a few seconds afterwards I heard the sound of an 
 opening door. 
 
 " Is anyone in ? " I called out. There was no reply, 
 but in a few seconds I heard a curious thumping sound 
 coming closer and closer towards me. I stopped and 
 listened. Then, in the semi-darkness, I saw a black 
 mass moving swiftly towards me along the ceiling, and a 
 second later something bumped against my head. I 
 quickly put up my hard to ward it off and grasped a 
 man's body. Then I stepped on one side with a cry of 
 horror, for my hand had passed beneath it and encoun- 
 tered no legs. It was merely a body suspended from the 
 ceiling. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 JOHN SILVER, DEALER IN BOOKS. 
 
 I SPRANG down one or two stairs, and, fumbling for my 
 matchbox, struck a light. A strange sight met my eyes. 
 
 There, hanging from the iron bar on the ceiling, was a 
 man, or rather the half of a man. He had no legs, and 
 he clung to the bar with both his muscular hands, appar- 
 ently as much at ease as though he was standing on the 
 stairs below. By the flickering light of the match he 
 looked like some great spider. I stared at him in silence ; 
 then the match burnt down to my fingers, and we were 
 again in darkness. 
 
 I lit another, and this time saw that the strange 
 apparition was smiling at me. 
 
 " Who are you ? " I cried. 
 
 " The owner of the house," was the quiet reply. The 
 voice was soft and musical, with some trace of a foreign 
 accent. 
 
 " Didn't you hear me come in ? " I asked. 
 
 " I have just heard you come in," he replied ; then 
 he laughed. 
 
 " I am Dr. Silex," I said curtly. " Are you John 
 Silver ? " 
 
 " I am," he answered. " Come upstairs." Then the 
 thumping noise recommenced, as he began to move 
 hand over hand along the iron bar. 
 
 I followed till we reached the landing. The light was 
 better here, and I saw that the iron bar went straight 
 into the wall over the top of one of the doors. The man 
 
 33 C 
 
34 DR. SILEX. 
 
 moved quickly towards the entrance, and, holding on by 
 one hand, pushed the door open with the other. Then he 
 dexterously swung himself under the lintel, and, grasping 
 another bar within the room moved a few feet forward 
 till he reached an upright stanchion. He slid down this 
 and dropped himself into a chair. I followed him through 
 the door and saw. what at first appeared in the dim light 
 to be a lumber room. 
 
 It was a large apartment, and was crammed with an 
 odd mixture of treasures and rubbish. The walls were 
 covered with shelves piled up with books and china and 
 bundles of clothes. The floor was thickly strewn with 
 heaps of old firearms, Hindoo gods, tin kettles, cracked 
 earthenware, moth-eaten skins, hats, sham jewellery, 
 and every conceivable article under the sun. Even the 
 space on the ceiling was not wasted. It was covered 
 with iron hooks, and from these hung dark bundles of 
 various shapes and sizes. A narrow footpath, a few 
 inches wide, was left for any visitor who might come to 
 inspect the goods. The owner himself was independent of 
 all such conveniences. The room was traversed in every 
 direction by bars similar to that by which he had entered 
 but nearer to the ground, so that he could wriggle his 
 way to almost any part of his establislimcnt. The whole 
 place was thick with dust, and every corner of it was crossed 
 and re-crossed by hundreds of cobwebs. Some of the 
 articles must have lain undisturbed for years and years, 
 and it was evident that John Silver's trade was not a 
 very brisk one. 
 
 I threaded my way carefully along the narrow ])ath 
 and searched the whole room with eager eyes. The man 
 watched me with a faint smile on his weather-beaten 
 face, and, taking up the violin, which lay on the floor 
 beside his chair, fmgered it lovingly, and drew the bow 
 across its strings. 
 
 " I got your letter," I said, as I reached the further 
 wall and tried to decipher the titles of a heap of dusty 
 volumes ; " have you any other good books beside the 
 one 3'ou mentioned ? " 
 
 " For its size," he answered, " this is the best collection 
 of books in the world." 
 
JOHN SILVER, DEALER IN BOOKS. 35 
 
 I looked at him with an incredulous smile. The man 
 was either jesting, or else he was what he was supposed 
 to be — a lunatic. 
 
 " Can I look at them ? " I asked. 
 
 " You can, Dr. Silex," he replied. " That is why I have 
 asked you here," and, putting up his violin to his shoulder, 
 he began to play a soft low melody on the instrument. 
 And, as he played, I forgot for a while to look at the 
 books. The air was strangely fascinating. It was not 
 beautiful, as we count beauty in music, but full of chords 
 and intervals that are strange to our Western ideas of 
 harmony. No instrument but the violin could have 
 produced them. At first the music seemed harsh and 
 unmelodious, like some familiar air played out of tune, 
 but, before I had listened to a dozen bars, I grasped the 
 motif, and it seemed to me that no music I had ever 
 heard before expressed such depth of sorrow. The 
 cripple's eyes were fixed on me, and they seemed to shine 
 with a peculiar light. 
 
 At last the music died away in a few weird arpeggio 
 chords, and I felt as though some weight had suddenly 
 been lifted off my mind. 
 
 " What tune was that ? " I asked, turning again to the 
 bookshelf. 
 
 "Perhaps," he replied, "it was my thoughts 
 materialised into sound — but you have not come to 
 listen to music. You are at liberty to examine my 
 books." 
 
 I turned to the shelf nearest me and took three books 
 from it at random. They were quartos, black with dust, 
 and had been thrown so carelessly on the shelf that I 
 was obliged to dig them out from under a heap of plated 
 fish knives and odd bits of Ijroken metal. I hsmged 
 them together till the air was filled with a cloud of dust. 
 Then I opened one, and, glancing at one or two lines, 
 turned quickly to the title page. I was flabbergasted. 
 The book was the First Quarto of " Romeo and 
 Juliet." 
 
 " Man ahve," I cried out, striding towards the cripple 
 and catching him by the arm ; "do you know what you 
 have got here ? " 
 
36 DR* SILEX. 
 
 " OneTof Shakespeare's ' First Quartos,' is it not ? " 
 replied Silver, with exasperating calmness. " I thought 
 I put them on that shelf. Which one is it ? " 
 
 " Which ? " I said sarcastically. " Which ? Why, 
 ' Romeo and Juliet,' of course. Is the man mad ? He 
 talks as if the place was strewn with ' First Quartos ' ; 
 as if it were one of the volumes of the ' Hundred Best 
 Books,' sold with the bookcase complete and half-bound 
 in imitation morocco." 
 
 " Look at the other volumes," was the quiet answer. 
 I looked, and, uttering fresh exclamations, sank down 
 on a heap of old uniforms and feverishly turned over 
 the pages. The other two were the First Quartos of 
 " Hamlet " and " Macbeth " in perfect condition. The 
 three together would have been cheap at £1,500. 
 
 There was a minute's silence. Then I raised my head 
 and stared at the crippled object in the chair. 
 
 " Who are you ? " I cried hoarsely. " A miUionaire 
 masquerading as a book dealer ? What are you ? How 
 did you get these books ? Have you robbed the libraries 
 of Europe ? " 
 
 " I should reserve your exclamations," said John 
 Silver, with a faint smile, " or your vocabulary will 
 hardly be extensive enough by the time you have finished. 
 If you are interested in Shakespeare, you will find a 
 few more quartos in that old copper coal-scuttle, but I 
 am afraid you will blacken your fingers. We use it for 
 its proper purpose in the winter," 
 
 I rose to my feet, and, sweeping all the rubbish off the 
 shelf with a crash, reverently replaced the three volumes 
 I held in my hand. Then I went down on my knees 
 beside the coal-scuttle and drew forth its treasures one 
 by one, dusting them carefully with my handkerchief 
 and turning over their leaves with trembling fingers. I 
 was speecliless with amazement. John Silver still watched 
 me with his keen dark eyes. 
 
 Then I rose and positively ransacked the room, turning 
 out books from shelves and corners, unearthing them 
 from piles of rubbish, drawing them out of strange nooks 
 and hiding places, and, as I dusted each one, I laid it on 
 some shelf, hurling aside everything else and breaking 
 
JOHN SILVER, DEALER IN BOOKS. 37 
 
 glass and china till the ground was strewn with fragments. 
 Yet never a word of reproach escaped the owner's lips. 
 But he occasionally gave vent to a low chuckle, as some 
 specially heavy article, like a kettle or a bundle of fire- 
 irons, went flying to the floor. 
 
 And what wonders were displayed before my eager 
 eyes. It seemed to me as though all the treasures of the 
 earth were heaped up and spread out before me. Surely 
 Aladdin in the " Enchanted Cave " had never feasted his 
 sight on such gems as these. Here were scattered, like 
 educational works on a penny book-stall, the finest pro- 
 ductions of the ancient presses of Europe. Volumes 
 printed by Caxton, Wynken de Worde, and Richard 
 Pynson ; magnificent specimens of the work of Aldus 
 Manutius, with an inch more margin each way than the 
 finest copies I had ever heard of. Early Bibles, rare 
 black letter pamphlets, books that I had not known even 
 to exist, though I flattered myself few men in England 
 had a more complete knowledge on the subject. And, 
 to crown all, a complete and glorious copy of that king 
 of books — the Mazarin Bible, the first book printed with 
 movable type, and even to-day the most splendid pro- 
 duction of all the ages of printing. The value of this 
 book would have purchased a small estate, and it was to 
 be mine — for a price. 
 
 There was not a piece of rubbish in the whole collection. 
 An hour passed, two hours, three hours, and still I ex- 
 tracted and dusted and examined. My face and hands 
 were black. My clothes were festooned with cobwebs 
 and torn in one or two places. The room was darkening, 
 though the sun still cast a ruddy shaft of light across 
 it, and lit up the swarthy features of the cripple, who sat 
 now with closed eyes, his fingers clasped round the neck 
 of his violin. 
 
 Then at last I began to feel faint and tired, and the 
 lines of black letters swam before my eyes. I leant 
 wearily against one of the iron bars and mechanically 
 dusted my coat. 
 
 " Well ? " said John Silver, opening his eyes. " Are 
 you satisfied ? " 
 
 " Yes," I replied feebly ; " it is wonderful. I can- 
 
38 DR. SILEX. 
 
 not speak of them. I have many of them my- 
 self, but not such copies as these. How much do you 
 want ? " 
 
 " For the Mazarin Bible ? " 
 
 " For the lot," I replied. " For the lot ? Every one 
 of them, down to the pamphlets which you have used 
 to wrap u|) nails in. How much do you want ? " 
 
 " There arc about five hundred volumes," he answered, 
 " and they would be cheap at £100,000." 
 
 I drew out my cheque-book and began to take the 
 cover off my stylographic pen. Then I stopped, and, 
 for some reason or other, Cordeaux, your words began 
 to ring in my ears. I commenced to idly wonder how 
 much good £100,000 might do, if spent in a more worthy 
 manner, in the endowment of a hospital, the foundation 
 of a school, the furtherance of some charitable scheme 
 which might lighten the misery of the poor. John Silver 
 noticed my hesitation, and smiled. He did not know the 
 cause. 
 
 " For the present. Dr. Silex," he said, " let us discuss 
 the matter I wrote to you about. In any case, the 
 Mazarin Bible would not be included in the sale of this 
 library, whatever price was offered. I am pre])ared to 
 practically give it to you, if you will assist me in another 
 matter I have in hand. I will sell it you for fifty pounds, 
 so that you can tell your friends you have acquired a 
 wonderful bargain." 
 
 I gave a low whistle. Sir John Thorold's copy, the 
 last that came into the market, sold for £3,900. This 
 copy was, indeed, a bargain at the sum mentioned, but 
 the rest of the purchase price had yet to be considered, 
 and perhaps the whole matter was a fraud. My business 
 instinct asserted itself at once. I took the famous Bible 
 from its shelf and turned over the leaves, no longer a wild 
 enthusiast, but an expert with eyes keen as those of a 
 hawk to detect some flaw or some missing leaf. The 
 Bible, as book collectors know, is not paged, and the task 
 promised to be a tedious one. 
 
 " I will guarantee it to be perfect," he said, impatiently 
 drumming on the arms of his chair. 
 
 I continued to mechanically turn over the beautiful 
 
JOHN SILVER, DEALER IN BOOKS. 39 
 
 leaves, caressing each one with the tips of my fingers, 
 as a lover might caress the cheek of his sweetheart. 
 
 Then I said suddenly. " What do you want me to 
 do ? " 
 
 " Sit down and I will tell you," he answered. I sat 
 myself down on a pile of old carpets and continued to 
 examine the book. 
 
 " In the first place," he said, " I will tell you that I am 
 a very rich man, so do not imagine that I am a need}' 
 adventurer trying to curry favour with a millionaire." 
 
 I laughed. " These books alone are a fortune," I 
 replied. 
 
 " And only a small part of my fortune," he answered, 
 " or rather of the fortune I hold in trust for another." 
 He drew a small key from his pocket and held it out to 
 me. 
 
 " If you will remove that pile of armour in the corner," 
 he continued, " you will find a cupboard. Please open 
 it with this key and bring me out a small green box 
 which you will see on the top shelf." 
 
 I moved the armour and found the door of the cup- 
 board. It appeared to be made of oak, and matched the 
 panels of the wahs, but directly I turned the key in the 
 lock and swung the door back I saw that the oak was 
 merely a facing and that the cupboard was lined with four 
 inches of solid steel. I struck a match and found the 
 box. It was about nine inches square and six inches in 
 height, and made of some natural green wood richly 
 carved with figures and arabesques. I brought it across 
 to him and reseated myself on the carpets. 
 
 He took another small key from his pocket, and unlock- 
 ing the box threw the lid back. The shaft of sunlight 
 through the window streamed full on its contents, and 
 my eyes were for a moment dazzled by a thousand points 
 and rays of light, white, blue, green, purple, yellow, and 
 orange, quivering and scintillating as the box moved 
 slowly in its owner's hands. 
 
 " Diamonds," he said. " Would you care to look at 
 them ? " and he handed me the box. 
 
 I took it and gazed on its contents with wondering 
 eyes. Then I stirred the jewels with my fingers, and, 
 
40 
 
 DR. SILEX. 
 
 taking one or two handfuls out of the box, let them stream 
 down again in a shower of rainbow hght. The gems were 
 of various shapes and sizes. Two were as big as small 
 filberts and some no larger than a small pea. Some were 
 cut rose fashion, some tablet, and all were of wonderful 
 whiteness and brilliancy. 
 
 " What would they be worth ? " he asked. 
 
 " I could not ten you," I answered, still playing with 
 the cascade of coloured fire. " I know nothing about 
 jewels, but the total value must be enormous. Why have 
 you shown them to me ? I am not likely to purchase 
 any of them." 
 
 " I have shown them to you," he answered, " because 
 they have some connection with our bargain. I want 
 you to take them to a diamond merchant and obtain an 
 offer for the lot. I also wish to sell ah my books. Will 
 you obtain an offer for these as well ? " 
 
 " I will buy the books myself," I said. 
 
 " That is as you please," he replied. " Personally, I 
 would rather that you did not, for there are better 
 channels for your wealth than collecting old books. 
 Money is power, but when it is locked up in curios 
 and objects of art it is so much dross. I wish to realise 
 a large sum of money for a certain object, and I want 
 your assistance." 
 
 " I will sell them for you," I answered. " It will not 
 be much trouble to me, and, in fact, it will be some 
 occupation and amusement ; but why do you de- 
 pute such a matter to another ? " and I looked at him 
 suspiciously. 
 
 " I am, as you see, a cripple," he replied, " and have 
 not moved from this house since I first entered it five 
 years ago. I am also an unknown man, believed to be 
 poor, and by some even a lunatic. It would be hard for 
 me to dispose of these jewels. I should be subjected to 
 annoying questions and inquiries. I should be beaten 
 down in price. I might even be accused of theft. I will 
 gladly pay to be freed of such annoyances. No one will 
 doubt Dr. Silex, the millionaire." 
 
 I gave a keen glance at his face, and my look was 
 returned frankly and openlj'. I experienced a strange 
 
JOHN SILVER, DEALER IN BOOKS. 41 
 
 feeling of shame at my suspicions, which, after all, were 
 only natural, and I half opened my lips to make an 
 apology. 
 
 " I will sell them for you, Mr. Silver," I replied quietly. 
 " Do you want me to do anything further ? " 
 
 " Yes, when you have sold them, I want you to place 
 the money to your own account. There will be no need 
 to invest it, for it is all going to be spent within the next 
 few months." 
 
 " I will do so," I replied. 
 
 " Then I want you to make all payments and arrange- 
 ments in the matter I have in hand, in your own name, 
 and take all the credit of it for yourself. I will discuss 
 the matter with you another day, and will not bind you 
 to anything now. It is sufficient to say that it is a worthy 
 enterprise in the cause of science, and that probably you 
 will be as enthusiastic as myself before the preparations 
 are complete." 
 
 " I will give my assent," I replied, " when I know the 
 project." 
 
 " Then I want you to call on a man, Captain Thor- 
 lassen by name. His address is 266, Budd Street, West 
 Ham. Tell him that you can offer him a post as leader 
 of an expedition which will bring him both fame and con- 
 siderable pecuniary gain. Make an appointment for him 
 to meet us here, and I will lay my scheme before both of 
 you." 
 
 " I have no objection to calling on the man," I said. 
 " Is that all ? " 
 
 " No, there is one thing more, a slight thing, and yet of 
 great importance to me. Before you leave here I wish 
 to introduce you to my ward, to whom all this treasure 
 lielongs. I want you to promise me that you will treat 
 her as though she were in reality a queen, and that you 
 will humour her in whatever she pleases to ask." 
 
 " I will do so," I replied, with a rather doubtful voice. 
 I began to wonder whether it would not be better to pay 
 the full price for the book and escape an interview with 
 a girl, wlio, as it seemed, was not quite right in her head. 
 But, as I fingered the volume, I remembered it was not 
 for sale, and that I could only obtain it on these conditions, 
 
42 DR. SILEX. 
 
 and at the same time I again felt a vague desire, of which 
 I did not understand the full purport, to assist John Silver 
 in this matter. 
 
 " I will do so," I repeated with more decision ; " that 
 is to say, if I am not asked to commit any offence against 
 the law, or do anything impossible, or unworthy of a 
 gentleman, or to imj^air my private fortune in any way." 
 
 " You will be asked to do none of these things," he 
 said ; "at the worst you will merely appear to yourself 
 ridiculous." 
 
 " I don't mind that," I answered. " I will do as you 
 ask." 
 
 " The book is yours. Dr. Silex," he said ; " perhaps 
 you may think that I have asked too much for it, but, 
 if you offered me fifty thousand pounds, I would not 
 take it, except on these conditions." 
 
 I laughed and held out my hand. " It is a bargain," 
 I said, and the man's enormous fingers closed on my 
 own, " yet I do not know why you have selected me for 
 the business." 
 
 John Silver loosed my hand and looked me steadily in 
 the face. " You are the man I want," he replied, " and 
 I think it wih be for your good. There is something 
 else in the world beside books." 
 
 I was a little irritated at the remark. Why was 
 everyone harping on the same subject and trying to make 
 me believe that I was wasting my life ? Even this 
 stranger, though probably for his own ends, seemed to be 
 concerned about my method of living. 
 
 He saw my look of annoyance, and, taking up liis 
 violin, began to play, and, as he played, I began to under- 
 stand that there were emotions and passions and thoughts 
 untouched by the world of literature. The rugged face 
 was transformed with a strange light as he poured out his 
 melody into the darkening room. A broad ray of crimson 
 fell athwart the door, touching the bowed head of the 
 player and casting a black shadow of his profile on the 
 reddened oak. 
 
 Then, above the music, rose the sound of a clear voice 
 singing in the distance. Nearer and nearer it came. 
 Then it ceased, and there was a creak of some loose 
 
JOHN SILVER, DEALER IN BOOKS. 43 
 
 boards in the passage outside. The player half turned 
 his head, and suddenly the gentle melody swelled into a 
 glorious march of triumph, crescendo and crescendo till 
 the whole room seemed to vibrate. And, as I listened to 
 him, I was filled with a quick and strange yearning to 
 break loose from my present life and cast all my talents 
 and energies into some fierce battle of arm and intellect. 
 
 " She IS coming," he said in a low voice ; " kneel when 
 she enters. I implore you to kneel when she enters. 
 It will not be for long. You have promised." 
 
 ^' Who is coming ? " I asked. 
 
 " The Princess," cried the cripple, drawing his bow 
 across the strings until it seemed to me that the whole 
 room was filled with the blare of trumpets. "My 
 Princess, and perhaps one day— yours." 
 
 The handle of the door turned, and the door itself 
 swung back with a crash, and the broad red bar of sun- 
 light fell on a glory of cloth of gold, and jewelled crown 
 and golden hair. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PRINCESS. 
 
 I LOOKED for a moment in wonder ; then I fell upon my 
 knees and bowed my head. John Silver continued his 
 triumphal march and did not look up from his violin. 
 
 For a few seconds the girl stood in the doorway, the 
 red sun illuminating her from the golden crown upon her 
 head to the golden sandals on her feet. I raised my eyes 
 furtively and examined her. She could not have been 
 more than eighteen, and was tall and beautiful as some 
 white lily. Her eyes were of a deep blue, and her hair 
 like some glorious golden cloud at sunset. Her bearing 
 was queenly and dignified ; but her lips were slightly 
 parted and her eyes wandered from object to object with 
 swift uncertain glances. I thought that I could read in 
 their light the history of her throne, and could guess the 
 awful source from which she had inherited her kingdom. 
 
 The marvellous splendour of her beauty, suddenly dis- 
 closed in the setting sun, filled my whole mind with 
 reverence ; but, as I looked steadily into the dark blue 
 depths of her eyes, a great wave of pity swept over me, 
 and once more I bowed my head. 
 
 She moved from the doorway down the narrow path, 
 her silk and gold encrusted robes rustling at every step. 
 When she came to John Silver she laid a white hand 
 glittering with gems upon his shoulder, and the music 
 began to slow and die away until it passed into absolute 
 silence. 
 
 44 
 
"I looked for a moment in wonder; and then I fell upon 
 my knees and bowed my head." 
 
 Dr. Silex\ 
 
THE PRINCESS. 45 
 
 " Who is this ? " she said in a low voice. " Let him 
 rise. I can scarce ask a stranger to do me homage in a 
 place like this." 
 
 I rose to my feet and gazed on her with heartfelt 
 admiration. She was like some being of another world, 
 some illuminated saint from an ancient missal. No 
 ordinary beauty could have moved me like this. 
 
 " Who is it ? " she repeated. 
 
 " It is one," said John Silver, " who has hitherto 
 devoted his life to books, but who has now promised to 
 do much in your service. He is rich and powerful. His 
 name is Edward Silex." 
 
 " A man who is in the service of books," she replied, 
 with a sad smile, " needs no worthier master. And yet 
 I am in need of another willing servant, for I have but 
 one in all the world," and she held out her hand 
 to me. 
 
 I advanced and put forward my own hand. Then I 
 suddenly changed my mind, and, dropping on one knee, 
 raised her fingers to my lips. And, as I did so, a curious 
 and wild idea seized me that this was no mock courtesy. 
 A thrill of emotion went through all my frame as I kissed 
 the cold jewels on her fingers. Before my lips had 
 touched them, I had been merely acting a ridiculous 
 farce in accordance with my promise. I had been 
 humoring a poor deluded girl with a foolish pantomime. 
 But now, as I knelt at her feet, it seemed a natural and 
 becoming action, and I could almost believe that I was 
 in the presence of Royalty itself. I rose to my feet and 
 tried to rearrange my thoughts. 
 
 " Dr. Silex," said the cripple, " has consented to sell 
 your Highness's property, and lodge the money in his own 
 account at the bank. He will also make such payments 
 as are necessary, and call on Captain Thorlassen." 
 
 " It is kind of Dr. Silex to undertake so much on our 
 behalf," she said simply. " Docs he understand the 
 project we have in hand ? " 
 
 " Not yet, your Highness. The matter is to be dis- 
 cussed with Captain Thorlassen, and he will be present 
 at the interview." 
 
 " Then it is still more kind of him to interest himself 
 
46 DR. SILEX. 
 
 in that which is unknown to him, and for the benefit of 
 strangers." 
 
 I began to feel uncomfortable. I knew that my con- 
 duct had been far from disinterested and that I had been 
 bribed with a price. I saw, too, at a glance that the girl 
 was ignorant of the means that had been employed to 
 bring me to the house and of the payment I was going 
 to receive for what I had promised to do. 
 
 " It is hardly to be expected, your Highness," said 
 Silver, " that Dr. Silex would undertake this work for 
 us, if he did not hope to benefit in some way. He is a 
 total stranger, though he is the one man in London whose 
 help will be most useful to us. He came here at my 
 request to purchase a Bible. I have given it him for 
 nothing. In return he will do what I have asked him." 
 
 A shade of disappointment crossed the girl's face, and I 
 experienced the lowest depths of shame. I would have 
 given much to contradict Silver and say that m}/ services 
 had not been bought. 
 
 " A Bible ? " she said slowly ; " that is not much." 
 
 " It is the most valuable book in the world," I said 
 bitterly. 
 
 " Yet nothing to one of the richest men in London," 
 she answered, apparently still hoping that I had some 
 other inducement to offer my services. 
 
 " I refused to sell it," Silver exclaimed. " It was not 
 to be bought for money. I named the price, and Dr. 
 Silex has promised to pay it." 
 
 The girl's face flushed, and I could have strangled 
 Silver on the spot. 
 
 " It is well," she said coldly. " Whatever the value of 
 the book, it cannot be set against the services Dr. Silex 
 will render us," and she turned as though to leave the 
 room. 
 
 I sprang forward. I was trembling with indignation 
 and my cheek was hot with shame. 
 
 " The book is here," I said, holding it out in my hand. 
 " I refuse to take it. When I made the bargain, I had 
 not met your Highness. Now I have done so, I will tell 
 you that it takes more than four thousand pounds' worth 
 of printing to buy the services of a millionaire." 
 
THE PRINCESS. 47 
 
 " Do I understand, sir," she said, " that you wish to 
 be released from your promise ? " 
 
 " I do." 
 
 She looked inquiringly at John Silver, and he frowned. 
 It was a situation he had not anticipated. He had 
 evidently relied on my inordinate love of books, and on 
 my desire for this particular volume. He did not know 
 that his own words and actions had begun to break 
 through the habits and motives of twenty years. He 
 was silent. 
 
 " You shall be released," she said ; " unless, indeed, 
 we can tempt you with a larger offer." 
 
 " I will do what you wish," I replied, handing the 
 book to John Silver ; " but only on one condition." 
 
 " Name your condition," she said," and, if it is possible, 
 we will grant it. Your services are valuable to us." 
 
 " It is simply this," I answered, " that I may give my 
 services for nothing. They are very trivial, and not 
 worth paying for. The work will, moreover, cause me 
 considerable amusement." 
 
 The girl gazed at me with wondering eyes, and I looked 
 down on the ground. Then she advanced a step to- 
 wards me, and her face was ahght with a smile of triumph. 
 
 " Now, indeed," she said, " I have one more willing 
 servant. For another, we need look no further than 
 this," and she laid one of her hands on the cripple's 
 shoulder. " John Silver has lost two of his limbs in 
 my cause, and he fought by the dark lake of Nitril till 
 its waters were red with his blood, and its shores were 
 heaped up with dead. For the third, you look in vain. 
 And such is all the kingdom of Thora de Brie." 
 
 I was silent, and once more a wave of pity swept over 
 my mind. For this poor girl was raving of subjects 
 and kingdoms in a ruined square in one of the worst 
 quarters of London. She was young and so l^eautiful 
 that the whole world might have worshipped her. Yet 
 there was so great a shadow on her mind that she could 
 not see the realities of life nor escape from the clouds of 
 her imagination. 
 
 " We, too, can give," broke in John Silver ; " the 
 Mazarin Bible is j^ours." 
 
48 DR. SILEX. 
 
 I smiled contemptuously. " Such gifts," I replied, 
 " are too like a purchase. I will buy the book with 
 money and not with my services. Lady, I will bid you 
 farewell." 
 
 " Stay," she said hastily, " at least you cannot refuse 
 some badge of your services. Wear this, and so long 
 as you wear it, do your best for the cause of Thora de 
 Brie." She drew one of the sparkling rings from her 
 fingers and held it towards me. I watched it for a second 
 glittering in the light of the setting sun. 
 
 " It is too valuable," I said, advancing towards her. 
 " Have you nothing simpler ? Remember, I take no 
 payment for my services." 
 
 She replaced the ring, and drew another from her left 
 hand, a wide circlet of rough gold engraved with a single 
 word, " Fidelitas," in rude ill-carven letters. The 
 cripple began to play very softly on his violin, and, as I 
 looked past the Princess, I caught sight of his two dark 
 eyes glowing above the instrument ; and, as I gazed into 
 their depths, I thrilled as though I were one of the violin 
 strings vibrating to the man's touch. And then once 
 more there came that strange feeling of something new 
 in my life, and the strong desire to accomplish some 
 unknown object. I sank on one knee and the Princess 
 took my hand in hers. 
 
 " Edward Silex," she said softly, " will you be my 
 loyal and true servant — of your own free will ? " 
 
 " All that I may do in honour and self-respect I will 
 do for you," I replied. 
 
 She stooped down and placed the ring on my little 
 finger, and as she did so a single strand of her glorious 
 hair fell forward and brushed my cheek. The hot blood 
 rushed into my face, and my heart glowed with all the 
 fires of chivalry. 
 
 " I will serve you till death," I murmured, scarcely 
 knowing what I was saying, so intoxicated was I with her 
 loveliness and the touch of that stray wisp of hair. Then 
 I rose abruptly from my feet and looked round the room 
 with a bewildered stare. The sight of the dusty books, 
 the piles of ironware and crockery, reassured me. The 
 cripple was still playing the violin, but his music had 
 
THE PRINCESS. 49 
 
 grown louder and more martial. His two eyes were 
 fixed on my face. It was a weird scene, but still part of 
 London, where, doubtless, there were hidden away many 
 such lumber rooms. I was glad to feast my eyes on it 
 just then. A few seconds before I rose to my feet, I was 
 distinctly under the impression that I was in a hall of a 
 great castle, and that knights and men-at-arms glittered 
 round me in a solid wall of steel. I blinked my eyes, 
 and then I saw the Princess smiling at me. In the half 
 light she appeared to tower up from the heaps of rubbish 
 at her feet like a beautiful column of gold. 
 
 " Farewell," I said, and, bowing low over her hand, I 
 kissed it rather more warmly than the etiquette of a court 
 would require. " Shall I take your Highness's jewels 
 with me now ? " 
 
 " I leave everything to you and John Silver," she 
 replied, and with those words she turned and left the 
 room. When the rustling of her golden robes had died 
 away, the whole place seemed darker than before. I 
 turned to John Silver. 
 
 " I will take the jewels," I said abruptly, " though this 
 seems a rough sort of neighbourhood. When I have 
 disposed of them, I will call on the man you mentioned. 
 Somehow, his name seems familiar to me. Have you 
 nothing further to tell me ? " and I searched the man's 
 face with a keen glance. 
 
 " Nothing," he replied, handing me the box and its 
 key. 
 
 " I have the right to know a good deal more," I said 
 sternly. 
 
 " You have the right," he answered. 
 
 " I have undertaken to serve a lady who is a complete 
 stranger to me, in a business, the mere nature of which 
 has not even been revealed. The lady, if I may say so 
 without disrespect, appears to be under some delusion." 
 
 " She would appear to be so." 
 
 " If I ask for no more information," I continued, " and 
 consent to do these things in the dark, it is for pity of her, 
 and because I know she needs a friend." 
 
 " It does you credit," he said with a smile, " but you 
 shall know a great deal more when you bring Captain 
 
 D 
 
50 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Thorlassen to me, and later on you may perhaps know 
 everything. I do not think I have been unreasonable. 
 You have not committed yourself to much." 
 
 I glanced at the ring on my finger, and wondered 
 whether, after all, I had not committed mj'self to a good 
 deal. Then I suddenly remembered the object of my 
 visit and drew out my cheque-book. 
 
 " I will take the Bible," I said, " and I will pay you 
 five thousand pounds for it." 
 
 " Very well," he answered. " It is a handsome offer — 
 and the other books ? " 
 
 " I will send for them, and place the money in my 
 bank for your purposes." 
 
 " Do not trouble to write a cheque," he said. " Pay 
 the five thousand pounds in as well. We trust you. 
 We only ask you to trust us. Good-bye." 
 
 He held out his hand, and, as I grasped it, I looked 
 him straight in the eyes and tried to read something of 
 this mystery. Then I suddenly started, and loosed my 
 hands from his fingers. I had distinctly heard the clash 
 of armour and the blare of trumpets. I stej)ped back 
 and stared round the room. It was now so dark that I 
 could distinguish nothing clearly but the square head 
 and shoulders of John Silver silhouetted against the 
 window. Then they died away, and for a moment 
 cverj'thing assumed strange shapes and forms, as the 
 most ordinary things will in the twilight. I thought I 
 could see the wreckage of a battle, the heaps of slain, the 
 broken weapons, and the torn standards. The walls and 
 bookcases had grown into a vista of gigantic gorge and 
 precipice, and where the grey patch of the window had 
 been, there were wreaths of mist curling and floating 
 across the surface of a lonely lake. And still I heard the 
 sound of the trumpet like a far echo in the distance. 
 
 I rubbed my eyes and looked again. It was nothing 
 but a dark room full of books and furniture. 
 
 " Good night, Mr. Silver," I said, heartily anxious to 
 get out of the place into the fresh air. " I will advise you 
 of all I do," and, making my way out of the room and 
 down the stairs, I passed out into the square. 
 
 It was a beautiful evening, and I stood on the steps for 
 
THE PRINCESS. 51 
 
 a moment while I drank in the cool evening breeze. The 
 square was still absolutely deserted ; not a light in any 
 window and not a sound of anyone stirring in the house. 
 A sparrow twittering in the eaves above my head was 
 the only sign of hfe. But in the distance I could hear the 
 florid notes of a barrel organ, the shouts of a drunken 
 brawl, the bark of a dog, and all the multitude of small 
 noises that steal up from a great city at night. 
 
 I reached home in safety and placed the diamonds in 
 the safe. Then I had dinner and retired to my study to 
 gloat over my new-found treasure — the most valuable 
 book in the world. 
 
 But, as the blue smoke of my cigar floated up to the 
 ceihng, I found myself thinking very little of the valuable 
 volume and a great deal of the way I had obtained it, 
 and more still of the Lady Thora de Brie. My triumph 
 over Professor Budlip had faded into the background, 
 though the king of all books lay with its pages open on 
 my knees. 
 
 Then the clock struck eleven, and the sound roused 
 me from my reverie. Looking down, I saw the Mazarin 
 Bible, and I laughed. Twelve hours ago I would have 
 given my soul to have it in my hands, so that I could 
 flaunt it in my rival's face. Now I regarded it idly, and 
 began to look on the five thousand pounds as a waste 
 of money. I shut the book up with a bang, and, jumping 
 to my feet, placed it in the safe, and went up to bed. As I 
 undressed, I thought of all I had to do during the next 
 few weeks, and the name of Captain Thorlassen began to 
 worry me. I was certain I had heard it before. Then, 
 just as I was ready to get into bed, an idea struck me. 
 I put on my dressing-gown, and, going back to the library, 
 began to search through several dusty volumes on a top 
 shelf. For ten minutes I opened books, referred to 
 indexes, and turned over pages. I found what I wanted, 
 and went back to bed. 
 
 But I had much to think of before I went to sleep, for 
 I had discovered that Captain Thorlassen was the second 
 in command in the Norwegian Polar Expedition of 1882. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN EXTRAORDIXARY EXPEDITION. 
 
 For a whole month I was fully occupied with the affairs 
 of John Silver and his ward. I divided the diamonds 
 into small parcels, which I distributed among the various 
 merchants of London and Amsterdam, and the two large 
 stones I sold privately to a Russian prince. No questions 
 were asked by the dealers. The Russian made a few 
 inquiries for sentimental reasons, thinking it possible 
 that two such splendid stones had a long and romantic 
 history. I merel}^ told him that they had been taken 
 from a new mine in which I had a substantial interest. 
 I said the position of the mine was for financial reasons 
 still a secret. These two magnificent gems were sold 
 for fifty thousand pounds apiece. The others fetched 
 no less than six hundred thousand pounds, making a 
 total of seven hundred thousand pounds. 
 
 I changed my mind about the purchase of the books 
 but had them sent round to my house, where I disposed 
 of them to some of my acquaintances at prices which 
 realised one hundred and fifteen thousand pounds. I 
 further credited Silver's account with five thousand 
 pounds, the price arranged for the Mazarin Bible, and 
 thus held at the latter's disposal the sum of eight hundred 
 and twenty thousand pounds for a purpose of which I 
 had been told nothing, and to which my only clue as yet 
 was the name of Captain Thorlassen, 
 
 52 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPEDITION. 53 
 
 Towards the end of July I made my way to 266, 
 Budd Street, West Ham, and met for the first time 
 a man who was afterwards destined to become my 
 closest friend. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen was a bronzed and weather-beaten 
 man of about fifty. By birth he was a Norwegian, but 
 he had been associated with Englishmen for most of his 
 life, and spoke the language perfectly. In appearance he 
 was not tall, but of such powerful build that a man might 
 easily be mistaken as to his height, which was in fact five 
 feet eleven inches. His face was lined and scarred with 
 a continual life of hardship and responsibility. He had 
 been in the ill-fated Stromson Expedition of 1882, and 
 had lived on the ice for over six months without any food 
 but the raw flesh of birds and the occasional luxury of a 
 walrus. He had been in the Antarctic Expedition of 
 1886, and had seen his ship crushed like a nut between 
 two mountains of ice. He had tried the North-West 
 Passage four times, and had been in the first Expedition 
 with Nordenskjold. His whole soul was wrapped up in 
 the excitement of exploration and discovery, and his 
 whole heart in the dangers of the sea. Yet for more than 
 a year he had not set foot on the deck of a ship, and had 
 been eating his heart out in the back parlour of a dingy 
 villa. 
 
 I introduced myself, and briefly stated that I had an 
 enterprise in hand which would bring both fame and 
 fortune to those concerned in it. I added that I was at 
 that moment not prepared to discuss either the object 
 or the destination of the expedition, nor yet the terms to 
 be offered. If, however, he would call the next day about 
 three o'clock at Hanbury House, Great Charteris Street, 
 I would drive him round to see the person who would 
 lay the whole matter before him. I would, however, tell 
 him so much, that the sum of over ;£8oo,ooo was to be 
 expended on the object in view. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen gave a low whistle, and his face 
 brightened. " Eight hundred thousand pounds ! " he 
 repeated. " I think I could find the North Pole with that 
 money," and he looked at^me inquiringly. I was silent, 
 and took my hat and gloves from the table. " Will you 
 
54 DR. SILEX. 
 
 have a cigar, sir, and a drop of excellent brandy ? " 
 he continued. 
 
 " No, thank you," I replied, getting up from my seat, 
 " I am pressed for time. Will you be at my house at 
 three o'clock to-morrow ? " 
 
 " I will," he said heartily, holding out his great brown 
 hand. " And if the job is anything to take me out of this 
 hole and set my feet on the good boards of a ship, there 
 will be no difficulty about the terms." 
 
 The next day he called punctually at my house, and 
 we both drove round to the entrance of Peebles Terrace, 
 and made our way to the house in Silent Square. 
 
 This time the door was opened to us by a neatly- 
 dressed maid, and we followed her up the staircase, where 
 a lamp was burning to relieve the darkness. We were 
 shown into a room opposite to the one where I had had 
 my previous interview. It was a large and handsomely 
 furnished apartment. The walls were panelled with oak 
 and hung with pictures of decided merit. Rare porcelain, 
 bronze statues, Japanese ivories, antique silver and 
 enamels, were scattered about the various tables and 
 shelves in endless profusion. It was the ordinary living 
 room of a rich man, and a strange contrast to the weird 
 disorder of the other apartment. There was only one 
 peculiar thing about it. All the windows were carefully 
 closed and boarded up. The place was lighted by three 
 silver lamps hanging from the ceiling. 
 
 I was a little annoyed when I entered and looked round 
 the apartment. I began to fancy that Silver's former 
 interview with me had been stage-managed to produce 
 a certain effect, and that the scenery of the room and the 
 costume of the girl had been carefully chosen to inspire 
 me with a sense of some mysterious power. 
 
 The cripple was seated at a large pedestal writing- 
 table, which was covered with books and newspapers. 
 His deformity was concealed, and he looked like an 
 ordinary English gentleman. As we crossed the room, he 
 held out his hand. 
 
 " Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said. " I am a 
 cripple. Captain Thorlassen, and cannot rise to greet 
 you. Will you sit down," and he pointed to two com- 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPEDITION. 55 
 
 fortable morocco-covered chairs facing him. Then he 
 opened a drawer, and, taking out a box of cigars, handed 
 them to us and lit one himself. 
 
 " I find it easier to discuss matters if I smoke," he said, 
 " though I have only recently acquired the habit. Now, 
 Captain Thorlassen, to come to the point at once, are you 
 willing to take command of an expedition to the North 
 Pole ? " 
 
 Captain Thorlassen's eyes flashed, and his whole face 
 was lit up with eager pleasure. 
 
 " Am I willing, Mr. Silver ? " he said quickly. " I 
 tell you it would be like going home after a long voyage 
 to get once more among the ice." 
 
 " Very good. You are, I know, a capable man, not 
 only in nautical matters but, which is more important, 
 in the command of men. Are you married ? " 
 
 " No, Mr. Silver." 
 
 " Nor likely to be married ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Have you any depending on you } " 
 
 " Not a living soul." 
 
 " Very good. You are what I should desire every 
 man in the expedition to be, a free man, whose life is 
 his own property to risk as he chooses. Now, I must first 
 tell you that Dr. Silex, who is, as you know, a very rich 
 man, has consented to draw all the cheques in this 
 matter, but he has left the scheme to me. I have, I may 
 tell you, special knowledge of those regions, and special 
 information which will enable the expedition to reach 
 the Pole itself." 
 
 Captain Thorlassen nodded approvingly, and I found 
 myself wondering whether I ought not to correct the 
 false impression that I was supplying the sinews of 
 war. 
 
 " This expedition," he continued, " will differ in many 
 respects from all others which have preceded it. In the 
 first place, it will be of great magnitude. We propose 
 to equip and send out no less than twenty ships, with 
 crews of fifty men apiece." 
 
 I leant forward in my chair and stared at the speaker 
 in amazement. 
 
56 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " One thousand men ! " Captain Thorlassen exclaimed ; 
 " twenty ships ! impossible ! and quite unnecessary." 
 
 " Money makes all things possible, Captain Thorlassen ; 
 and it is obvious that with so large a number of vessels, 
 the chance of one being successful will be very much 
 greater than if the whole expedition depended on a single 
 ship." 
 
 " It is stupendous," murmured the captain ; " stupen- 
 dous." 
 
 " You see now," he continued, " why I want a man 
 who can lead and organize. You, Captain Thorlassen, 
 will take command of one ship in person, and general 
 command, so far as is possible, of the whole fleet. You 
 will select suitable captains and crews for the other 
 vessels. We propose to offer j^ou £10,000 for your 
 services, and another ;£5,ooo if you or any of your ships 
 actually reach the Pole itself." 
 
 Captain Thorlassen rose to his feet. " I will do it," 
 he cried with enthusiasm ; "I will do it. I will reach 
 the Pole, gentlemen, and, if I don't, you needn't pay me 
 a farthing." 
 
 " You have not heard all yet, Captain Thorlassen," 
 said Silver quietly. " I told you that in many respects 
 this expedition would differ from all others. I will con-^ 
 tinue to enumerate the points of difference. Perhaps you 
 may not accept the post after all. No funds will be 
 provided except on the following conditions." 
 
 Captain Thorlassen resumed his seat. 
 
 " The first condition," the cripple contnmed, " is 
 that the expedition must proceed to Cape Alfred 
 Ernest in Grant Land, where the first winter will be 
 spent." 
 
 " I have been there before," interrupted Captain Thor- 
 lassen. " When I was a boy, with one of the expeditions 
 in search of Franklin." 
 
 " In the second place," Silver continued, " you will on 
 your own ship provide accommodation for a lady and 
 her maid. This lady will be placed in your charge, and 
 her comfort and safety must be your especial care." A 
 shadow crossed Captain Thorlassen's face, and he puffed 
 hard at his cigar. I looked keenly at the speaker. Was 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPEDITION. 57 
 
 it possible that his ward was going to take so long and 
 perilous a voyage ? 
 
 " In the third place," John Silver proceeded, keeping 
 his eyes fixed on Captain Thorlassen's face, " you will 
 take with you an unusually large supply of firearnis 
 for such an expedition. Each man must be armed with 
 a magazine rifle and a revolver, and 10,000 cartridges 
 must be taken for each weapon. You will, in addition, 
 take on each ship a Maxim with 100,000 rounds of ammu- 
 nition, and a 15-pounder with 1,000 rounds of shell. 
 The object of this equipment will be scarcely obvious to 
 you. You must take my word for it that this provision 
 is indispensable for your safety. I think neither you 
 nor Dr. Silex will suspect piracy above the 8oth degree 
 of latitude. This expedition must be ready by the 
 beginning of April next year. You will choose your own 
 route to Cape Alfred Ernest. You will there endeavour 
 to get the vessels into some sheltered harbour, and close 
 the outlet to the sea with floes and bergs of ice. There 
 is a place on that coast which is just suited for the pur- 
 pose. Your ships must remain in this harbour during the 
 months of June and July. If all or any of you fail to 
 reach it, you must take refuge in the best place you can 
 get, and cut yourself off from the open sea as far as is 
 in your power. In any case I should advise you to land 
 all your stores, and to be ready to go ashore at a moment's 
 notice. I leave all other arrangements in the hands of 
 you and Dr. Silex. You have an absolutely free hand 
 as to choice of men and the nature of the equipment. 
 But these conditions must be observed, and, if you 
 observe them, this expedition will be accompanied by 
 none of those horrors and hardships which have made 
 it more perilous for a man to go in search of the North 
 Pole than to expose himself in the thick of battle." He 
 stopped and looked at us keenly. 
 
 The captain had listened attentively, but there was 
 a puzzled expression on his face, which had deepened to a 
 frown when John Silver came to the question of Maxims 
 and 15-pounders. I myself began to think that Silver 
 was not quite right in his head. 
 
 " What are the guns f or ? " asked the captain sharply. 
 
58 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " I cannot tell you," Silver replied ; " except that they 
 are necessary." 
 
 The captain eyed him narrowly for a moment, and 
 then, pushing back his chair, rose to his feet. 
 
 " In an expedition of this sort, Mr. Silver," he said 
 bluntly, " a man risks his life, and is willing to give up 
 everything, but he expects perfect confidence to be placed 
 in him. All must be straight and above-board. There 
 must be no sailing in the dark, no sealed orders, so to 
 speak. You are both rich men, and I am a poor devil 
 who has cared more for the excitement of life than the 
 pleasures of it, but in a thing of this kind we are equal. 
 Tell me plainly, as one man to another, what you want 
 me to do with these guns." 
 
 " I have given you all the instructions that are neces- 
 sary," replied Silver coldly ; " you are at liberty to 
 accept or refuse the offer." 
 
 " I do not mind the women, mark you," Captain 
 Thorlassen continued, " though they will wish themselves 
 back in England, poor things, before we have crossed 
 the Arctic Circle. But I have no intention of command- 
 ing a naval expedition for God knows what purpose, 
 and finding a rope waiting for me when I get back to 
 England." 
 
 " What harm do you think you can do with artillery 
 in those regions ? " said Silver quietly. 
 
 " Heaven knows ! " the captain exclaimed ; " all I 
 know is that we do not want Maxims to shoot seals with. 
 I want you to tell me what we do want them for." John 
 Silver was silent, and played with a paper-knife. 
 
 " I am a plain man." Captain Thorlassen continued, 
 " and I want a plain answer. You must not treat me 
 as a child, gentlemen. I shah have the lives of my men 
 in my care ; and there is no responsibility so great, and 
 no authority so absolute, as that of a skipper in command 
 of a Polar expedition." 
 
 " I cannot tell you," John Silver replied promptly ; 
 " perhaps it is a mere whim of mine. Perhaps I have 
 a grave purpose. I can only tell you that the expedition 
 must be so equipped, and that its very safety depends 
 on these instructions being carried out." 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPEDITION. 59 
 
 The captain's face brightened a Httle. " Of course, 
 in self-defence," he said thoughtfully, " it would be 
 different, but the idea is absurd. No weapons will 
 prevail against the enemies we have to meet, against ice- 
 bergs, low temperature, and starvation. The space 
 occupied by these arms would be better filled by extra 
 provisions." 
 
 " I will give you my assurance," said Silver, " that 
 they are necessary, and that you will not be asked to 
 countenance anything that will bring you within the 
 grasp of the law. I can explain no further. Come, 
 Captain Thorlassen, you are unreasonable. If the arms 
 are there, you are not bound to use them. You and 
 your companions cannot be compelled to do anything. 
 I only stipulate that the arms shall be put on board. 
 Their mere presence will not injure either you or your 
 reputation." 
 
 Captain Thorlassen sat down in his chair and relit his 
 cigar. Silver did not disturb him, preferring to let his 
 own view of the case become thoroughly digested. 
 
 After a couple of minutes' silence, the captain smiled. 
 " I will go," he said; " the money is too great a tempta- 
 tion. And I cannot stand the parlour of my house for 
 another six months. It is like being in the hold of a 
 ship. I am in your hands, gentlemen. I do not think 
 you would knowingly bribe an honourable man to commit 
 any crime or offence against the law." 
 
 " If such a thing were intended," I said sternly, " I, 
 for one, would be no part}^ to it." 
 
 " Captain Thorlassen will be asked to do nothing that 
 an honourable man may not do," said Silver. " He 
 knows the conditions, and has agreed to them. I have 
 no more to say to you, gentlemen. The practical arrange- 
 ments I leave to you, Captain Thorlassen ; the financial 
 matters to you. Dr. Silex. I have the fullest confidence 
 in both of you. There is much to be done, and the 
 expedition must start at the beginning of April. As you, 
 Captain Thorlassen, are now in our service, Dr. Silex 
 will pay £1,000 on account to your credit at a bank for 
 your personal expenses up to the time of your departure. 
 I wish you good afternoon, gentlemen." 
 
6o DR. SILEX. 
 
 We rose to our feet. He shook hands with both of us, 
 and we left the room. 
 
 I drove my companion back to Hanbury House and 
 insisted on his remaining to dinner. Afterwards we 
 discussed the details of the expedition far into the night, 
 and speculated on the strange conditions that had been 
 made by John Silver. I confessed to Captain Thorlassen 
 that I was in complete ignorance of the secret object of the 
 expedition, and that the money was being supplied 
 through me by John Silver himself. The particular 
 object, I said, was immaterial to either of us. Neither 
 the captain nor the crews could possibly be forced to do 
 anything of which they did not approve. I said nothing 
 about the Princess. I was sure in my own mind that 
 she was the passenger referred to, but for some reason 
 or other I felt disinclined to mention her name, or asso- 
 ciate her in any way with the mysterious objects in view. 
 
 I found Captain Thorlassen's conversation of peculiar 
 interest. He told many stories of his previous ex- 
 periences and adventures, always modestly, and only to 
 illustrate some practical point under discussion, but yet 
 with such simplicity and vigour that my mind was 
 strangely stirred. A new world began to open out before 
 my eyes, a world of strenuous life and hardship, peopled 
 by men of action. In such a world the mere bookworm 
 and scientist was only a speck of dust swept aside by the 
 strong feet of those who were fighting nature with all the 
 force of their brains and bodies. I began to despise 
 myself, and to wonder whether, after all, this rough sailor 
 was not doing better work in the world than anything 
 a mere scholar could accomplish. 
 
 When Captain Thorlassen left, and I was alone in the 
 library, I allowed my thoughts to turn once more to 
 Thora de Brie, and to wonder why her beauty had made 
 so strange an impression on my mind. Beautiful women 
 were common enough in London, but I had never turned 
 my head to look a second time at any one of them. Yet 
 this girl's face was constantly in my mind, and I was 
 now even annoyed and worried at the thought of her 
 being exposed to the terrible rigour of an Arctic winter. 
 I tried in vain to analyse my thoughts. The only con- 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPEDITION. 6i 
 
 elusion I came to was that her costume and her sur- 
 roundings had in some way appealed to me. The air of 
 mediaevalism had surrounded her, and she had appeared, 
 as no ordinary woman in London had ever appeared 
 before, in the robes of a queen, to the weird m-usic of a 
 violin, and in the semi-darkness of a strange apartment 
 with one ray of sunlight on her face, and with an atmo- 
 sphere of mystery about all her words and actions. She 
 had been more like the heroine of some old romance 
 printed in black letter and bound in yellow vellum, 
 than a creature of flesh and blood. 
 
 I looked at the ring on my finger. The gift had been 
 melodramatic. In the case of an ordinary girl it would 
 have been indelicate. Yet, as I turned the circlet round 
 on my finger and read the single word " Fidelitas," I 
 felt that it was given with no idea of sensational effect 
 and no thought of sentiment, but rather as a queen of old 
 might have given a ring to a faithful courtier as a mark 
 of approval and a badge of servitude. " Fidelitas ! " I 
 laughed, and, knocking out my pipe in the fireplace, I 
 filled it again and smoked thoughtfully. 
 
 Then I began to idly wonder why John Silver had 
 chosen me for a confidant and assistant. The man's 
 own explanation was palpably a mere excuse. Though 
 he was a cripple, he could have sent for Captain Thor- 
 lassen and placed everything in his hands. He could 
 have easily sold the jewels and books in the public 
 market. The thought troubled me, and I had a vague 
 idea that something more would be required of me. I 
 was a millionaire, and the services of millionaires are 
 usually required to supply money. I resolved to enter 
 into the details of expense with Captain Thorlassen. 
 Eight hundred and twenty thousand pounds was a 
 huge sum, but the expedition was also gigantic. I 
 began to think that John Silver would require more 
 money, and that he was working to obtain not only my 
 personal but also my financial assistance. 
 
 I further came to the conclusion that he had tried to 
 work on my feelings with a carefully-arranged piece of 
 acting, and a face of unusual loveliness. The thought 
 sickened me, and I turned to the contemplation of my 
 
62 DR. SILEX. 
 
 books for comfort. They at least were genuine, and had 
 been my friends through life. 
 
 But to my surprise I found no comfort in the long lines 
 of faded calf and vellum. On the contrary I began to 
 wonder why I had wasted so much money on them. 
 Though I did not realise it as yet, a great change was 
 was working in my nature. The old ideas were withering 
 and the new had not yet sprung to life. But the seeds 
 had been planted in my heart and brain. The few chosen 
 sentences of John Silver, the hard breezy influence of 
 Captain Thorlassen and his stories of the North, and 
 even your own chance words, Cordeaux, were slowly 
 but surely drawing my mind along a definite line of 
 thought, and whispering that a man's true life is one of 
 action. 
 
 I was troubled in spirit, and, rising from my chair, 
 went up to bed. And, as I slept that night, I dreamt of 
 much action and much reward, and every deed and 
 every guerdon was stamped with the single word 
 " Fidehtas." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A RE-SHUFFLIN'G OF THE CARDS. 
 
 The next morning the organisation of this gigantic 
 expedition was commenced in earnest, and before many 
 days were over the whole country knew that I, Dr. Silex, 
 an " eccentric " milHonaire, was arranging and paying 
 for the despatch of a whole fleet for the discovery of the 
 North Pole. The journalistic imagination ran riot in 
 details of huge expenditure, in libellous portraits, in 
 stupendous statistics, and in ridiculous interviews. So 
 many young men arrived at Hanbury House to ascertain 
 my favourite amusements and what I usually eat for 
 dinner, that my housekeeper thought the whole world 
 was going mad, and I think she suspected that the 
 maddest of all was her master. 
 
 The fullest information was given to all inquirers. 
 But on one point I maintained absolute secrecy. I said 
 nothing about the shipment of the arms and ammunition. 
 It required, indeed, the utmost skill to keep all know- 
 ledge of these warlike preparations from the eyes of the 
 Press and Government. But I insisted that this should 
 be done, and Captain Thorlassen, a man of infinite 
 resources and untiring energj^, placed the orders among 
 various Continental and American firms, and shipped 
 the goods at various ports direct on to his own vessels 
 with so much skill and secrecy that no whisper of the 
 truth reached the ears of the most inquisitive official. 
 
 63 
 
64 DR. SILEX. 
 
 The various large and weighty packages, labelled with 
 the cards of fictitious provision merchants, were shipped 
 without question or remark. Even the captains and 
 crews themselves were in ignorance of the real nature of 
 these consignments. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen recognised that the magnitude of 
 the task before him imperatively demanded an extensive 
 division of labour. He at once engaged his crews and 
 appointed the captains to serve under him, and not a 
 single man had a day's leisure for the next eight months. 
 
 I myself developed an extraordinar}^ energy which was 
 quite foreign to my usual quiet methods of transacting 
 business. At first I was merely the man who drew the 
 cheques, but, before a month had passed, I had thrown 
 my whole soul into the task, and worked day and night 
 in furtherance of the scheme. I made Captain Thor- 
 lassen take up his residence at Hanbury House, where 
 everj'thing could pass under my personal scrutiny, and 
 all day long the library resounded to the tapping of four 
 typewriters. There was indeed no rest for anyone who 
 had agreed to give their services in the matter, and of all 
 the thousand men who were labouring, each at his ap- 
 pointed task, I think no one worked harder than myself. 
 
 From the very first it was evident that the expedition 
 would cost a quarter of a million more than the sum set 
 aside for the purpose. I and Captain Thorlassen had 
 gone carefully into the figures, and, after allowing a safe 
 margin for contingencies, we resolved that we could only- 
 purchase and equip fifteen ships out of the twenty John 
 Silver had asked for. 
 
 We communicated this to him by letter, and in reply 
 received an urgent summons to call on him. He went 
 through all the figures, and frowned as he read and 
 checked them. 
 
 " Very well, gentlemen," he said, " we must have 
 fifteen ships. In a matter of this sort there can be no 
 economy and no cutting down of expenses. Everything 
 must be plentiful and of the best. But it is unfortunate. 
 We could have done with five more ships than I originally 
 asked for, instead of having to do with five less." 
 
 I went away with a more favourable impression of the 
 
A RE-SHUFFLING OF THE CARDS. 65 
 
 man. I had fully expected him to hint that it was a 
 rare opportunity for some rich man to help the cause of 
 science, or even to ask me outright to contribute the 
 balance of the necessary funds. But he had merely 
 acquiesced in the inevitable. The interview puzzled me. 
 It was no longer clear why I had been chosen for this task. 
 And the raison d'etre of that first meeting, with all its 
 mummery of golden robes and music, was still more 
 obscure. 
 
 But I threw myself into my work with redoubled 
 energy. There was now indeed a marked and radical 
 change in my mode of hfe. I had tasted for the first time 
 the sweets of action. I had realised the pleasures of 
 organisation and arrangement. I had felt the keen 
 sensation of power extending over the lives of a thousand 
 men, and through all the intricate branches of a great 
 undertaking. I now felt that I was a man with the 
 best of them. Both my mind and body had grown 
 rusty in the exotic atmosphere of my books, but now 
 I exerted them both to the utmost, and was glad to find 
 that they grew more vigorous from day to day. My 
 friends looked on and marvelled. They regarded me 
 as a harmless lunatic, and even you, Cordeaux, thought 
 the change was too violent to be the genuine indication 
 of a firm and studied resolve. 
 
 But before three months had passed, I had made a 
 resolution which might justly have been deemed insane 
 by the kindest of my acquaintances, and John Silver 
 himself, whatever his designs were with regard to my 
 money, did not dream that in me he had introduced a 
 new and important factor into the ultimate develop- 
 ment of all his plans. 
 
 About the middle of October I called at Silent Square. 
 I had written the day before to make the appointment, 
 and had stated that my business was important. It 
 was only my fourth visit to the house, John Silver 
 having made it clear to both me and Captain Thorlassen 
 that he did not wish to be consulted about any arrange- 
 ments or expenses, and that he could grant no personal 
 interviews whatever. I had been much irritated by this 
 arrangement. I told myself that I was annoyed by such 
 
 E 
 
66 DR. SILEX. 
 
 unbusinesslike methods, but I think in my inmost heart 
 I reahsed that tlie true cause of my irritation was my 
 inabihty to see Thora de Brie. 
 
 On this occasion I was shown once more into the 
 lumber room, where John Silver was seated in a heavy 
 oak chair, with a large square sheet of brown parchment 
 spread out on a table before him. The apartment, 
 denuded of its books, seemed in a greater chaos than 
 ever. It was ignoble and undignified. It was no longer 
 a dusty treasure house, but a mere untidy rubbish heap. 
 
 " Well, Dr. Silex," he said, holding out his hand, " I 
 hope you have come with better news than you had the 
 last time I saw you." 
 
 " Everything is progressing well," I answered. " Thor- 
 lassen is a splendid worker, and it is impossible for the 
 men to be idle when he is in touch with them." 
 
 " I can believe in his powers," he said drily, " when 
 I hear of Dr. Silex, the great bibliophile, superintending 
 the delivery of tinned meats, and even unpacking the 
 cases with his own hands." 
 
 " Physical labour is good for man," I replied; " it is 
 rest and recreation to a student." 
 
 "I believe you will be quite sorry when the expedi- 
 tion leaves, and you return to your groove. But your 
 news. Dr. vSilex ? You know my wishes in this matter. 
 They are not meant to be discourteous, but I do not 
 wish any voice in the arrangements. This is the Silex 
 Expedition." 
 
 " So it is called in the newspapers," I said. " One 
 of them devoted two columns the other day to my 
 biography and various domestic details. It concluded 
 by saying that if every millionaire would devote his 
 wealth to the cause of science, the millennium would soon 
 come, or words to that effect. I blushed \\'hen I read 
 it. May I smoke ? " 
 
 John Silver took two cigars from his pocket, and 
 haiiding me one, lit the other and laughed. 
 
 " Yes," I continued, " I blushed, not with modesty, 
 but with shame. I have nothing to do with this ex 
 pedition. I do not even know its ultimate purpose." 
 
 " The discovery of the North Pole," he said quietly. 
 
A RE-SHUFFLING OF THE CARDS. 67 
 
 " Ostensibly, yes ; but a fifteen-pounder is useless for 
 that purpose, and fifteen ships are as good as twenty- 
 Mr. Silver, will you not trust me in this matter ? Be- 
 lieve me, I have your interests at heart, and the interests 
 of the Lady Thora de Brie." 
 
 ^^ " Have you come to ask me this ? " he replied sharply ; 
 " the matter was discussed with Captain Thorlassen. 
 He is satisfied ; and, after all, he is the person most 
 concerned." 
 
 " No," I said, " I have come for quite another purpose. 
 You have used me for your own ends, Mr. Silver, though 
 it seems that any other man in London would have 
 done as well. Your purpose is unknown to me. I am 
 now going to make use of you— for my own ends." 
 " I do not understand you." 
 
 " Well, in the first place, I am going to supply the 
 necessary money to purchase and equip the five extra 
 ships that you require." 
 
 He held out his hand, and there was a faint smile of 
 triumph on his lips. He had not laboured and restrained 
 himself in vain. 
 
 " I have not asked you for these, Dr. Silex ; I have 
 not even hinted at such a thing. You have done it of 
 your own free will, and it is a generous act." 
 
 I took the proffered hand and looked into his eyes. 
 " I have done it of my own free will, but do not thank 
 me until you have heard all I have to say." 
 
 " There are conditions ? " 
 
 " I impose no conditions, I merely state what I am 
 going to do." 
 
 " What else do j'ou propose ? " 
 
 " Well, in the second place," I said, " I propose to 
 make the name of this expedition a fact and not a lie. 
 I propose to bear the entire cost of it, and repay you 
 the sum of ;^820,ooo." 
 
 He leant back in his chair and stared at me with wide- 
 open eyes. " Impossible ! " he said. " Impossible ! " 
 
 " You have been misinformed as to my means," I 
 answered coldly. 
 
 II Suppose I do not consent," he said bluntly. 
 
 " You have no choice," I replied. " All the world 
 
68 DR. SILEX. 
 
 believes the expedition to be mine. Everyone but 
 Captain Thorlassen is under the impression that I am 
 financing the whole business. There is no deceit. If 
 I return you the money, the expedition is mine." 
 
 He was silent, and appeared to be wrapped up in his 
 thoughts. Then he suddenly laughed. 
 
 ' Suppose I do not consent," he said. " The Princess 
 will not go, if I advise her not to." 
 
 I flushed with anger at his insinuation. " The North 
 Pole can be discovered without — without the Princess," 
 I replied ; " and I have never heard of a man refusing 
 a gift of nearly a million of money." 
 
 " What is your object in doing this ? " he asked. 
 
 " It is like your own objects," I answered slowly, 
 " only known to one person. But, if you press for 
 the reason, I will tell, you in the words of the Morning 
 Mail, that ' no millionaire could employ his wealth in 
 a better way than in the advancement of science.' " 
 
 He looked hard at me and smiled. I could not face 
 his eyes, and, walking over to the fireplace, shook the 
 ashes off my cigar. 
 
 " No man gives without an object," he said, " and it 
 is nearly always a personal one. You are giving me a 
 million pounds." 
 
 " It will be of use to you," I answered. " Where guns 
 are required, there are men ; and where there are men, 
 there is always a use for money." 
 
 He looked thoughtfully at the parchment before him, 
 and then he broke into a hearty laugh. " I submit," 
 he said. " You have made yourself my master. A 
 million will purchase much, yet I doubt if it will pur- 
 chase all that 3^ou desire. No words could thank you 
 for such a gift. I offer you no thanks, save in the cause 
 of science, to which you have devoted your wealth. You 
 have made it clear that you offer this money on no 
 personal grounds." 
 
 " I hope I have made that clear," I said. 
 
 "It is a magnificent gift," he replied, " and it will 
 have its reward — the discovery of the North Pole," and 
 he smiled sarcastically. 
 
 " There is one more thing I have come to tell you," 
 
A RE-SHUFFLING OF THE CARDS. 69 
 
 I continued, " and it may surprise you even more than 
 ^^^.^iu "^*end to accompany the expedition myself." 
 
 " T^ u ^ "^* surprise me at all," he answered. 
 
 Jt IS theological sequence of what you have already 
 told me. Yet for your own sake, Dr. Silex, I would ask 
 you to reconsider your decision." 
 
 " I have decided." 
 
 He reached out his hand and rang a bell. In a minute 
 the door opened, and the Lady Thora de Brie entered 
 bhe was dressed in the ordinary costume of an English 
 lady, but seemed as beautiful as ever. I rose from my 
 seat and advancing to meet her, knelt down and kissed 
 her hand. 
 
 " I have news for your Highness," said Silver. " Dr 
 bilex msists on defraying the whole of the expenses of 
 this expedition. He will provide twenty ships and 
 return us the sum of £820,000." 
 
 She looked at me as though trying to read my thoughts. 
 I gazed on the ground. " He will have his reward " she 
 said after a pause ; " it is a righteous cause, and Heaven 
 will bless him. My thanks are nothing, but I gladly 
 give them with all my heart." 
 
 "He will be our master," Silver continued, " and no 
 longer our servant." 
 
 I faced the speaker angrily. 
 
 " Your master," I exclaimed, " but the servant of the 
 Princess — always." 
 
 John Silver smiled. " Dr. Silex will also accompany 
 the expedition, ' he continued. " I have advised hini not 
 to go." 
 
 The Princess moved quickly forward and grasped the 
 cripple by the arm. " Have you told him everything ? " 
 she cried quickly. ^ " 
 
 " I have told him nothing, your Highness " 
 ^ 'You must not go. Dr. Silex," she said hastily: 
 
 there is grave danger. You may never return." 
 ^ ".rTf7 ^^?*^^ explorer must face the chance of 
 death, I replied. " I do not set up to be brave, but 
 surely I may dare to follow where a lady dares to lead " 
 You may never see England again," she said. " You 
 are rich and happy. You have much to lose." 
 
70 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " I am rich," I answered, " but I do not know that 
 I am liappy. And I will not pay men to do that which 
 I am afraid to do myself. I shall go." 
 
 " This is no ordinary expedition. Dr. Silex," she said, 
 nervously clasping and unclasping her hands. 
 
 " I have guessed that," I replied, " but at any rate 
 it is my expedition, and will do as I direct." 
 
 " There is grave danger," she continued. " It is 
 probable that not a man of all this expedition will ever 
 return." 
 
 " If I am sending them to their death," I answered, 
 " the least I can do is to go with them." 
 
 " I tell you," she cried, " that if you go, you will not 
 return." 
 
 " I will go," I said obstinately. Then I kissed her 
 hand and left the room without another word. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A DEAD man's LEGACY. 
 
 On the 23rd of March twenty whalers, reconstructed 
 and strengthened for the trying ordeal before them, lay 
 in London docks waiting the signal to start. They were 
 manned by a thousand men, captained by the most 
 experienced and adventurous navigators of the Arctic 
 seas, amply provisioned for five years, and carried every- 
 thing that could possibly add to the comfort and safety 
 of their crews. Their equipment represented the sum 
 total of all Arctic science and experience. As it was 
 the largest, so it was also the most perfect expedition 
 that had ever been sent to the North Pole. 
 
 But though everything had been ready for the start 
 for nearly a fortnight, the fleet was still waiting in 
 London docks. For John Silver, in whose brain lay the 
 deep and ultimate purpose of its mission, was seriously 
 ill, and the doctors said that any attempt to move him 
 in his present condition would mean certain death. 
 
 In vain had the invalid pleaded with them. He had 
 told them that the air of the sea was the breath of life to 
 him ; he had told them that the expedition must start 
 at once, and that, as it could not go without him, more 
 than a million pounds would be wasted, and more than 
 one thousand men thrown out of employment. He had 
 told them that if he was to die, he would rather die in 
 the open air with the waves splashing past his cabin 
 than be shut up in that wilderness of brick and stone 
 of London. But it was all in vain. They replied that 
 if he went, he would certainly die, and that if he re- 
 
72 DR. SILEX. 
 
 mained in his bed, he would probably recover. They 
 were not, they said, prepared to risk a man's life, even 
 for the sum of a million pounds. 
 
 But they told me and Captain Thorlassen that unless 
 the invalid's mind could be diverted from this worry 
 and anxiety, they had grave doubts as to his recovery. 
 
 On the evening of March 23rd I sat alone in my library 
 after dinner. It was a wild night. A bitter east wind 
 whistled round the house, and even seemed to find an 
 entrance into my warm and comfortable apartment. 
 I drew my chair close to the fire and gazed thoughtfully 
 into the glowing coals. The stress of seven months' un- 
 wonted toil and exertion was over. My things were 
 packed and put on board the Aurora, the same ship 
 that was to carry John Silver and the Princess, and to 
 be commanded by Captain Thorlassen. 
 
 All my private arrangements were now complete. I 
 had put all my affairs in order, and appointed you, Cor- 
 deaux, as my most intimate friend, to act for me in 
 my absence, and had left minute instructions for the 
 ordering of my household and estate. My arrangements 
 were, in effect, the same as a man might make in his 
 will. It was doubtful if the expedition would be back 
 at the end of three years, and it was just possible it 
 would never return at all. 
 
 I was going to leave London against the wishes of 
 everyone. You, Cordeaux, told me I was a fool, and 
 I cast your previous words back in your teeth. You 
 once told me that I wanted a life of action ; and I had 
 decided to get all the action a man could possibly want. 
 My mere acquaintances in the book world said I was 
 mad. John Silver and the Princess had used every 
 argument in their power to dissuade me, and these two, 
 at any rate, spoke with full knowledge of what was in 
 store for the expedition. But I had turned a deaf ear 
 to everj^one, and now, as I sat by my fire with a cigar 
 between my lips, I was well satisfied with all I had done 
 and all that I was intending to do. At any rate, as I 
 said to mj^self, I was risking a huge fortune in the ad- 
 vancement of science, and was not afraidTto hazard my 
 own Hfe by the side of the men I employed. Quiet 
 
A DEAD MAN'S LEGACY. 73 
 
 recluse that I had been all my life, I do not think I had any 
 fears in this matter. I even felt the glow of enthusiasm, 
 as I thought over the danger and difficulties that lay 
 before me. My life was my own. I was alone in the 
 world, and I realised with a tinge of sadness that my 
 death would leave no great blank in the heart of any 
 man or woman. 
 
 Then my mind reverted to my books ; and, turning 
 my head, I glanced round at the well-filled shelves 
 rising tier on tier to the ceiling, and almost, as it were, 
 shutting me out from the strife and trouble of the world. 
 They had been my friends and comrades for many years, 
 and now I was going to desert them for the close com- 
 panionship of my fellow men, and leave their shelter 
 for a life I could as yet only dimly imagine. Out of 
 the many thousands of volumes I had chosen but three 
 for the long voyage before me. There was a good 
 library in each vessel, and I took these more as some 
 link with my past life. They were the Mazarin Bible, 
 a copy of Homer's Odyssey, and an Editio Princeps 
 of Virgil. The two latter especially appealed to me on 
 the eve of unknown adventures and experiences. 
 
 All the others had to be left behind, and I realised, 
 as I looked at the long lines of vellum and leather, that 
 the parting was not so bitter as it should have been, 
 and that ten months ago it would have been impossible 
 to have parted from them at all. I shrugged my shoul- 
 ders and once more gazed into the fire, wondering when 
 the expedition would start. The suspense had become 
 wearisome, and seven months' hard work and untiring 
 energy had made me impatient of delays. Everything 
 had led up to and been arranged for a certain date, and 
 now the date itself had become indefinite. I was on the 
 eve of a great change in my life, and the uncertainty 
 was hard to bear. 
 
 Then I felt a sudden pang of shame that such thoughts 
 should be uppermost in my mind, for John Silver was 
 lying dangerously ill, and the mere question of con- 
 venience was nothing while his life was hanging in the 
 balance, and while the Princess was burdened with so 
 great a load of sorrow and anxiety. I would have given 
 
74 DR. SILEX. 
 
 much to have spared her this fortnight of pain, and to 
 have sheltered her from all the unknown danger that 
 necessarily lay in that long journey to the frozen fast- 
 nesses of the North. 
 
 For I knew at last, Cordeaux, that I loved her with 
 all my heart and soul, and the knowledge was bitter 
 pain to me. Whoever she was, and whatever future 
 lay before her, I could not get away from the grim idea 
 that her mind was slightly unhinged, that she was 
 suffering from some extraordinary delusion. 
 
 My meditations were interrupted by the loud ring of 
 a bell, the opening and closing of a door, and the sound 
 of voices in the hall. A few moments later the footman 
 entered, and close behind him the tall slim figure of a 
 woman. I rose quickly to my feet and flung the end 
 of my cigar into the fireplace. At first I thought it was 
 the Princess, but, as she advanced, I saw it was the maid 
 who had opened the door to us in Silent Square. I could 
 see that her face was very white, and that her whole 
 bod}' was trembling from head to foot. 
 
 " Quick, sir," she gasped, " you are wanted at once. 
 He is dying. The doctors say there is no hope. He has 
 asked to see j^ou. My lady desires you to come at once. 
 A cab is waiting outside." 
 
 I followed her out into the hall without a word. I 
 was too dazed at the news to ask any questions. The 
 whole fabric of the last few months seemed to be 
 shaken to its foundations. John Silver had planned 
 and built it up to its completion. He alone knew its 
 ultimate purpose. In his brain were all its future plans ; 
 in his hand the innumerable strings of its great under- 
 takings. And John Silver was dying. 
 
 I entered the cab with the maid, offered a sovereign 
 to the driver if he would do the journey in less than 
 twenty minutes, and leaned back on the cushions with 
 my mind a whirl of thoughts and conjectures. The 
 servant shrank into the opposite corner and was silent. 
 I had asked nothing, and she had proffered no infor- 
 mation. It was enough that John Silver was dying. 
 That was the central fact, and no inquiries could have 
 elicited anything else of consequence. 
 
A DEAD MAN'S LEGACY. 75 
 
 The driver earned his sovereign, and we made our 
 way down through Peebles Terrace to Silent Square. 
 I was shown into the oak-panelled room. In one corner 
 of this there was a door, and I could hear voices through 
 the panels. 
 
 I waited there alone for ten minutes. Then the 
 Princess came out with the two doctors. Her face was 
 white and stained with tears, and there was an expres- 
 sion in her eyes I could not fathom — a strange look of 
 horror, as though she had been confronted with some- 
 thing new and terrible in her life. She held out her 
 hand, and I kissed it. Neither of us spoke. The doctors 
 passed into another room. For half an hour we sat 
 thus in silence. There was no sound but the ticking 
 of the clock on the mantelpiece, and through the closed 
 door the muffled voices of men. Then the door opened 
 and a priest came out. He had been administering the 
 last sacrament and hearing the last confession. His face 
 was grave but kind. As he passed, he laid his hands 
 upon the head of the Princess. 
 
 " Be brave, my child," he said, " and do as your 
 conscience directs. For the next few days I am always 
 at hand to help you. Perhaps the voice of God may 
 deign to speak through my lips. May His blessing be 
 with you." And with these words he passed on. I 
 could see that he was strangely moved for a man who 
 had seen much death and heard many deathbed con- 
 fessions, but the seal of silence was on his lips, and he 
 would carry a secret to his grave. 
 
 " He will see you now," said the Princess in a low 
 voice. " If his strength fails, give him some of the 
 medicine by his side." 
 
 I opened the door, and, closing it behind me, found 
 myself in a large square room, completely furnished and 
 decorated in the purest white. The carpet, curtains, 
 wall paper, furniture, rugs, were all of the same colour, 
 and whitest of all was the face of John Silver. He was 
 propped up on great pillows, and his eyes were fixed on 
 the dark outline of the window, which faced the 
 North. 
 
 I went to his side and took one of his great wasted 
 
76 DR. SILEX. 
 
 hands in my own. The dying man scarcely seemed to 
 notice the action, for he did not turn his head. 
 
 " Mr. Silver," I said in a low voice, " I am here — 
 Dr. Silex." The man turned his white face, and I 
 shuddered as I looked into his dark and burning 
 eyes. 
 
 " John Silver ? John Silver ? " he said in a faint 
 voice. " Who calls the Lord of Argenteuil by that 
 name ? Who " — then a sudden gleam of recognition 
 came into his face, and I felt a slight pressure on my 
 fingers. " I remember now," he continued, " you must 
 pardon me. I was dreaming. This is a sad business, 
 Dr. Silex." 
 
 " My poor friend," I murmured, " I know something 
 of what this means to you. Yet perhaps in a year's 
 time many of us will be praying for rest." 
 
 " I wish to speak to you of that," he continued, in 
 short gasping sentences. " This is no time for regrets 
 — though it is hard to die — just as one's hopes and 
 ambitions are about to be realised. The hours are 
 few. Will you respect the wishes — of a dying man. 
 Dr. Silex ? " 
 
 " I will, with all my heart," I answered. 
 
 " The expedition must leave," he murmured, " directly 
 after my burial. There is no time to be lost. I wish 
 my body to be burnt. The ashes 3'ou will take with 
 you. They must rest in the most Northern point you 
 reach. Promise me this." 
 
 " I swear it," I replied. 
 
 " Then the Princess," he continued, in so faint a voice 
 that I could scarcely catch the words, " she will be alone. 
 Will you guard her — serve her faithfully — protect her 
 from harm ? " 
 
 " With my life, if need be," I said fervently, and then 
 stopped, anxiously watching the man's face. A great 
 shadow was falling upon it, and the light seemed to be 
 flickering in the e37es. Quickly I measured out some 
 medicine and poured it between the white lips. He gave 
 a deep sigh, and a faint flush of colour came into his 
 cheek and died away again. 
 
 " Thank you. Dr. Silex," he said, " I shall die more 
 
A DEAD MAN'S LEGACY. 77 
 
 easily — knowing she is in your hands. I trust you. 
 Perhaps in the future you will influence the destiny of 
 a kingdom." 
 
 " Will you not tell me your secret ? " I said gently. 
 " If I am to help effectually, I should have perfect 
 knowledge." 
 
 " Not yet, not yet," he whispered. " I am on my 
 death-bed, and have told it to the priest of God. I have 
 also told the Princess that which she did not know before 
 to-night. I have laid on her young shoulders a burden 
 which none but the bravest and noblest of women could 
 bear. She has consented to bear it — for my sake. She 
 will need all your help. Before you have finished your 
 voyage, she will herself tell you the object I have in 
 view. But I dare not tell you now. You are an honour- 
 able man, you would feel obliged to tell your companions. 
 I will not weight you with this secret. You shall all 
 know together, and choose whether you will proceed or 
 turn back. It will all lie in your own hands." 
 
 " Perhaps you are right," I replied. " And if the 
 Princess knows — that is enough for me." We were both 
 silent for more than a minute. He gripped my hand, 
 and his eyes were once more turned to the window. 
 
 " Turn down the lamp," he said suddenly, " and open 
 the window. I would see the stars." 
 " It is a bitter night," I said. 
 
 " It does not matter," he replied, " unless you are 
 afraid of the cold." 
 
 I rose and turned the lamp down low, till there was 
 only a faint flicker of firelight on the walls. Then I 
 threw open the window, and the cold air came rushing 
 into the apartment. It was a clear night. The moon 
 was not yet up, and the whole square patch of sky twinkled 
 with points of light. I returned to the bedside, and once 
 more grasped John Silver's hand. 
 
 " There lies the North," he said, " under those same 
 stars. My body is here, but my spirit has outstripped 
 this broken shell ; it has passed the smoke of London 
 and the shores of England ; passed the wide ocean and 
 the eternal snows of Greenland ; it is now on the shores 
 of the Great Frozen Sea. Now it has crossed the great 
 
78 DR. SILEX. 
 
 waste of impassable and everlasting ice. It has reached 
 its home." 
 
 I looked through the window, and a strange thing 
 happened to me. The white room began to melt and 
 change into a wide vista of snowbound valleys and 
 mountains. The stars flared up and flickered like 
 tongues of fire, and there in the distance, at the boundary 
 of a great plain of ice, stood the white walls and towers 
 of a large city. But the delusion was only momentary. 
 I turned away my head and closed my e^^es, and when 
 I looked again, the stars were shining in the dark 
 sky, and the firelight was once more flickering on the 
 walls. 
 
 " Did you see it ? " he said in a low voice. 
 
 " I saw it," I answered. 
 
 " You saw it through my eyes," he said. " Perchance 
 one day you will see it with 5''our own. Farewell, Dr. 
 Silex, I would be alone with the Princess until the end 
 comes. Farewell, my friend. Through you I hope to 
 live again, and fulfil her destiny and my own." 
 
 " Farewell, John Silver," I said, still holding his hand ; 
 " if it is the will of God, I will do all you yourself would 
 have done. I took your place by force for the sake of 
 my own pride and new-found strength. I will hold it 
 now for your sake — and for hers." 
 
 I loosed the cold, thin hand, and left the room. In 
 the next apartment I found the Princess with her face 
 buried in her hands. The two doctors were seated in 
 a far corner, and rose as I entered. I crossed over to 
 them. 
 
 " He desires to see this lady," I said in a low voice. 
 " Is tiiere absolutely no hope ? " 
 
 " None," one of them said ; " we can do nothing. 
 We may keep him alive for a while by artificial means, 
 but we cannot save him." 
 
 " Will you see him now ? " I said, " before she goes 
 in ? " 
 
 " Yes," they replied, and they both entered the bed- 
 room, shutting the door behind them. Then I heard the 
 sound of a window being shut. In ten minutes' time 
 they returned. 
 
A DEAD MAN'S LEGACY. 79 
 
 " He wishes to see you, madam," said one of them 
 to the Princess. " There is no time to be lost. We will 
 wait here till you call us. Give him the medicine when 
 his strength fails." 
 
 She rose from her seat and went into the room. There 
 were no tears on her face now. It was white and calm 
 as death. She looked like some imperial and beautiful 
 statue of ice. The door closed behind her, and once 
 more there was silence, only broken by the ticking of 
 the clock and the low whispers of the two doctors. 
 
 For more than an hour we sat in the room and waited. 
 Then we heard a low cry. The door was suddenly flung 
 open, and the Princess rushed into the room. " Quick, 
 quick," she cried, " the medicine is of no use. He will 
 not speak." 
 
 We hurried to the bedside, but the doctor's efforts 
 were in vain. John Silver never spoke another word, 
 and in less than an hour he was dead. And, looking 
 upon the face of the Princess, I saw that the burden of 
 some great secret had been lifted on to the shoulders 
 of a lonely woman. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BON VOYAGE ! 
 
 At 6.30 on the morning of the third of April, the A iirora 
 and her companions moved slowly down the Thames in 
 single file, bound on their long voyage northwards. The 
 expedition departed, as you know, suddenly and quietly, 
 with no farewell speeches or banquets or enthusiasm of 
 any description. It crept out almost like a thief from 
 a house at daybreak. Three reporters who had hung 
 about the docks day and night in the hope of picking 
 up stray scraps of information, were rewarded for their 
 tenacity of purpose, and were the sole representatives 
 of the Press. A few loafers and dock hands raised a 
 feeble cheer, and one or two relatives of some of the 
 men waved their handkerchiefs or pressed them to their 
 eyes. All good-byes had been said a week before, but 
 some of the sailors had hoped for twenty-four hours' 
 notice, and a spell of leave ashore. In this they were 
 disappointed. The orders to sail were only given at 
 ten o'clock the previous night. 
 
 I stood on the bridge with Captain Thorlassen, and 
 watched the muddy water as it was churned up in a 
 long yellow streak behind us. It was a bright morning, 
 and the thousand spires and domes of the great city 
 stood out clearly in the sunlight. In the distance I 
 could see the glittering glass of the Crystal Palace, and 
 the wooded heights of Bromley. Close at hand I saw 
 miles upon miles of small houses and great chimneys, 
 with their fringe of wharves. When I looked west, 
 the city seemed vast and illimitable. Yet in the east 
 1 could see the flat marshes of Plumstead, and the 
 
 80 
 
BON VOYAGE! 8i 
 
 waterway seemed to widen out into a promise of sparkling 
 waves and salt breezes. I turned my back sharply upon 
 the west, and idly wondered how many years would 
 pass before I should see it again. 
 
 The Aurora was a fine boat of about 500 tons. She 
 was fitted with first class engines, and carried two masts 
 and a full complement of sails, for her coal was to be 
 used sparingly, and only when it was absolutely necessary. 
 She would coal again at St. John's, Newfoundland, and 
 after that would have to trust to such fuel as she could 
 collect, and such winds as Providence sent her. She 
 was the finest vessel in the fleet, and besides the valuable 
 lives of the Princess and Captain Thorlassen, she carried 
 on board the ashes of John Silver and ;^820,ooo in gold. 
 
 Every detail of the route to Cape Alfred Ernest had 
 been carefully mapped out and arranged among the 
 several captains. It was not to be hoped that the fleet 
 could keep together, and it was agreed that if they 
 separated, they should assemble at various fixed points 
 on the route, and wait for each other before proceeding 
 to the next point. It was, however, laid down as a 
 general axiom that no vessel should be more than a 
 mile from at least one of its companions. This procedure 
 would necessarily hamper individual progress, inasmuch 
 as the strength of a chain is that of its weakest link, 
 but it was absolutely necessary, at any rate in the 
 earlier part of the journey, if anything like a combined 
 attack was to be made on the northern ice. 
 
 For the first day or so the Princess spoke neither to 
 me nor to Captain Thorlassen, and expressed all her 
 wishes through her maid. But on the third day she 
 emerged to some extent from the solitude of her sorrow, 
 and intimated her desire to take her meals with us, and 
 for the first time she gave me some indication of her 
 great mental powers and abilities. Her conversation 
 was marked by a certain quiet dignity, but was other- 
 wise calculated to set us entirely at our ease. It was 
 a strange mixture of knowledge and ignorance. In 
 some matters she was as ingenuous as a child, in others 
 she showed a depth of reasoning and extent of reading 
 which would not have disgraced a grey-haired professor. 
 
 F 
 
82 DR. SILEX. 
 
 She had dropped the vague and dreamy manner which 
 had characterised her words and actions in Silent Square, 
 and there was no longer that restless and uncertain look 
 in her eyes which had filled my heart with so much pity 
 and sorrow. Her conversation showed that she was 
 not only perfectly sane, but that she was a woman of 
 extraordinar}' intellect. A great burden was taken off 
 my mind. I had loved her in spite of everything, but 
 the thought that I was in love with a mad woman had 
 been almost too terrible for a human mind to bear. 
 
 She discussed many matters with us, but she never 
 tired of one particular subject — the route of the ship 
 and the probable success of the expedition. Her own 
 cabin was completely papered with Polar maps, and 
 the voyage of every Arctic explorer was marked upon 
 them. When she found the captain alone, and with an 
 hour of leisure on his hands, she would extract every 
 little detail of his previous Polar expeditions from him, 
 discuss currents, ice packs, and degrees of frost with 
 him, and sit by his side gazing earnestly at a map, as 
 he pointed out his previous voyages, and gave her full 
 reasons for taking the route he had marked out for 
 this one. And for some reason or other Grant Land 
 itself seemed to fascinate her more than any other part 
 of the Polar Area. She asked as many questions about 
 those desolate ice-bound shores as if they had been one 
 of the fairest spots of creation. Captain Thorlassen had 
 been there once, but as his memory of it was confined 
 to a recollection of a dreary waste of snow and ice, in 
 no way differing from a thousand other shores in that 
 lonely region, he was unable to answer with much 
 accuracy or enthusiasm. He made no comments on 
 her curiosity, and either did not understand her per- 
 tinacity on this point, or else he ascribed it to a certain 
 meaningless obstinacy which was part of his conception 
 of the fair sex. But I stored it up in my mind, and 
 tried to imagine that this country had some connection 
 with her past. 
 
 As the voyage proceeded, she won her way into the 
 hearts of every man on board the Aurora. She had a 
 kind word and smile for the humblest sailor, and for a 
 
BON VOYAGE! 83 
 
 whole night she sat by the bedside of young Aldrich, 
 who had broken his leg by falling down a hatchway- 
 Her youth and magnificent beauty might have brought 
 the proudest man in England on his knees to her feet, 
 but it was not till she had descended from the high 
 throne of her reserve, and had showed the tenderness 
 of her womanly nature, that she touched the hearts of 
 these rough seamen. By the time the ship had reached 
 St. John's, I verily believe every man on board would 
 have died in her defence. 
 
 The voyage to St. John's was accomplished in ten 
 days, and for a whole week we all lived like fighting- 
 cocks. Our fame had preceded us, and from the 
 moment that we landed to the hour when more than 
 half the population waved their farewells from the quay, 
 our existence was a round of fetes and banquets. We 
 drank the cup of civilisation to the dregs, knowing that 
 many months — perhaps many years — would elapse be- 
 fore we could raise it to our hps again. 
 
 The Princess alone shrank from the proffered hos- 
 pitality. It was, of course, known that she was on 
 board the Aurora, and small boats containing enthusi- 
 astic reporters from New York and Boston hovered 
 round the ship all day in the hope of catching a glimpse 
 of her. They saw a tall, slender figure in deep mourning 
 pacing the deck, but her face was so muffled up with 
 furs that it was impossible to see the features. This, 
 however, did not prevent various portraits of her appear- 
 ing in the Sunday papers, and these pictures were all 
 that the Newfoundlanders ever saw of her. The 
 Governor's wife wrote her a special and pressing invi- 
 tation to a private lunch, but it was declined on the 
 ground of her recent bereavement. However, I myself 
 interviewed the reporters, and to the best of my ability 
 concocted several satisfactory reasons for a woman 
 undertaking so long and perilous a voyage. 
 
 We left St. John's on the 27th of April. As you may 
 have read in the papers, it was a scene of unparalleled 
 enthusiasm in that place. The bells rang out merrily ; 
 flags were flying on every tower in the town and on every 
 mast in the harbour, and even the departing ships were 
 
84 DR. SILEX. 
 
 decorated with such small stock of bunting as they pos- 
 sessed. A vast crowd thronged the wharf, and the 
 Governor himself came down and shook Captain Thor- 
 lassen and myself by the hand before we stepped into 
 the boat which was to take us to the ship. Then a few 
 minutes later the fleet began to move slowly down the 
 harbour. The steam sirens hooted. A single gun from 
 the fort answered the salute, and the white smoke drifted 
 across the sea. Thousands of handkerchiefs were waved, 
 hats thrown in the air, and cries of " Good luck " and 
 " Bon voyage " were yelled across the water. I stood 
 upon the bridge with Captain Thorlassen and watched 
 the figures of the crowd melt away into a blurred mass 
 of black. Then, an hour later, the city itself faded into 
 a faint blot of smoke, and finally the long coast line 
 sank down into the sea, and there was nothing about 
 us but the heaving swell of the Atlantic. 
 
 I turned away and went down to the cabin full of a 
 strange and unreasonable sorrow. I could not share the 
 enthusiasm of my brave and hopeful companions. They 
 only saw before them the perils of a dangerous expedi- 
 tion, and danger was the salt of their lives. But I, who 
 knew more than they, and yd not enough for my peace 
 of mind, was obliged to wonder what task lay before 
 us, and whether the terrors of the dark and frozen sea 
 might not fade into insignificance beside some awful 
 danger that I could not yet imagine. I began to think 
 that I was a coward. Perhaps my nerves had grown 
 weak from years of study and a sedentary life. I had 
 no fear of hardship, and the thought of intense cold and 
 starvation did not trouble me ; yet on that bright spring 
 afternoon, when I saw the land die away on the horizon, 
 I felt as though I were being swept away from all tangible 
 things into an unknown darkness. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FROZEN NORTH. 
 
 The wind was fair behind us, blowing strongly from the 
 south, and before night came on, the fires in our furnaces 
 were allowed to go out, and we made a good eight knots 
 an hour towards the North under a full spread of canvas. 
 
 This breeze continued for six days. On the seventh 
 we saw our first ice, and as the berg sailed majestically 
 past us, we drank its health with full glasses, and gave 
 three cheers in its honour. 
 
 A day later we saw a great quantity of ice, and it 
 was no easy work steering our course through the bergs 
 and floes that dotted the sea as far as the eye could 
 reach. Captain Thorlassen had the fires re-lit, and steam 
 was kept up in the boilers. The wind was decreasing 
 in strength and veering to the west. It was quite 
 possible that it would fail us in an emergency. The 
 sea, however, was still open, and though it was be- 
 ginning to grow very cold, the Captain assured me that 
 we should meet with no obstacle to our progress for 
 several days to come. 
 
 Only six of the vessels were in sight, and it was quite 
 evident that we could outsail all the rest of the fleet. 
 In fact, when we reached Godhaven two days later, we 
 had to wait twenty-four hours before the last and slowest 
 of our ships arrived. At this port we took in a supply 
 of fresh meat, and again sailed into the North. 
 
 Davis Strait was now thick with drifting floes, and 
 we made slow progress to Upernavik, which we reached 
 in four days' time. Here we had again to wait, and on 
 
 85 
 
86 DR. SILEX. 
 
 this occasion for a week, one of our vessels having 
 damaged her bows against a piece of ice. The few 
 inhabitants of the place were most hospitable, though 
 our large numbers prevented us from presuming on 
 their hospitality. We should have eaten them out of 
 hearth and home, if we had accepted all they offered us. 
 They gave us a roaring send-off, every man, woman, and 
 child turning out to see our departure, and we looked 
 back upon the little settlement with mingled feelings 
 of pleasure and regret. They had been very kind to us, 
 and it was the last kindness we were likely to experience 
 at the hands of any living creature for two or three years 
 to come. 
 
 On May 21st we again set our faces towards the North. 
 The ice was now becoming more than troublesome, and 
 for many days we moved so slowly that we could count 
 all our ships in sight. The water was thickly covered 
 with small floes, but we saw none of the gigantic ice- 
 bergs that we had encountered farther south. Most of 
 the pieces were too small to menace us with any serious 
 danger, but here and there large low islands, in some 
 cases nearly ten acres in extent, drifted slowly past us. 
 It was not difficult to avoid them, but our progress was 
 of necessity slow. The wind was now in the north-west. 
 
 It was not until ten days after our departure from 
 Upernavik that we accomphshed the crossing of Mel- 
 ville Bay, and rounded Cape York. Here a compara- 
 tively open stretch of sea lay before us, but far away 
 on the Northern horizon the trained eye of Captain 
 Thorlassen noticed a white reflection on the clouds, and 
 he told me that probably the ice pack was not far off. 
 He was right in his conjecture. In two days' time we 
 steamed slowly into another mass of small floes and 
 bergs, and saw in the distance a long white line like the 
 coast of a frozen shore. When we came closer, we saw 
 that it was a solid barrier of ice, and knew that the battle 
 had begun. 
 
 We steamed a few miles south and waited until the 
 rest of the fleet came in sight. Then for a whole week 
 we cruised east and west in the hope of finding some 
 open channel in the ice. We were now in Murchison 
 
THE FROZEN NORTH. 87 
 
 Sound, latitude 75.50 N., and it would indeed be hard 
 if we could not get farther north with three months of 
 summer before us. However, for the present, there 
 appeared to be no opening of any sort, and personally 
 I was thankful that there was no inducement to us to 
 make a rash attempt through a narrow passage. We 
 should probably have been nipped in the ice. 
 
 We cruised backwards and forwards from Whale 
 Sound to Cape Clarence, eagerly watching day after 
 day for some break in the ice, but the wind was now 
 blowing steadily from the North, and, so far from ad- 
 vancing, we were actually obliged to retreat before the 
 moving pack. We finally resolved to take shelter to 
 the south of Cape Clarence, and to anchor 200 yards off 
 the black and inaccessible cliffs of North Lincoln Land. 
 
 It was well that we had moved our ships into this 
 shelter, for before we had been there twenty-four hours 
 the north wind freshened into almost a gale, and the 
 whole pack was swept forward with incredible rapidity. 
 If we had been out in the open Straits we should have 
 had to fly south before the enormous body of ice, and 
 perhaps have lost a month of the precious summer-time 
 before we could regain our present position. 
 
 As it was, the movement of the pack appeared to fill 
 the heart of everyone with hope. Captain Thorlassen 
 said that it might sweep by entirely and disperse in the 
 broad waters of Baffin's Bay, leaving an open sea behind 
 it, and that, even if it did not actually pass us, it would 
 be sure to leave a channel on one side or the other. 
 
 The breaking-up of this solid block of ice, as it swept 
 past the point that sheltered us, was one of the most 
 magnificent spectacles I had ever seen. I stood on the 
 bridge and watched the gigantic forces of nature in silent 
 admiration, not unmixed with fear at our proximity to 
 their enormous strength. 
 
 The Aurora was only a quarter of a mile round the 
 point, which ran out almost due east, and was ri^t 
 across the progress of the ice pack. The other ships 
 were in single file behind us at distances of 100 yards 
 apart. We were, therefore, in the post of danger, if the 
 ice should happen to spread westwards, but we were 
 
88 DR. SILEX. 
 
 also in the best position to see the full effect of this 
 tremendous force striking against an immovable barrier 
 of rock. 
 
 The cliffs here were of black basalt, and ran sheer 
 into the deep water of the sea from a height of nearly 
 500 feet. The extreme point was smooth, and so hol- 
 lowed out by the friction of the ice of centuries that 
 the summit of the cliff overhung the base by quite fifty 
 feet. On this cape the whole gigantic force of the ice- 
 pack bore down with a pressure that it was almost 
 impossible to estimate. It must, however, have been 
 many thousands of tons to the square foot. The noise 
 was so terrible and so continuous that I was forced to 
 stop up my ears with my hands. It was like the inces- 
 sant crash and roar of a prolonged and deafening ex- 
 plosion. The very foundations of the earth seemed to 
 be shaken. At the foot of the cliff huge broken frag- 
 ments of rock, twenty or thirty feet in height, were 
 shifted like pebbles on the beach, and rolled into the 
 deep water on the south side of the cliff. The ice itself, 
 though more than twenty feet in thickness, split up like 
 a pane of broken glass, and the pieces were slowly pushed 
 one on the top of each other till a mountain fifty yards 
 in height, and twice as thick again at the base, was 
 heaped up against the wall of basalt. Then the whole 
 structure would slide and collapse, and great waves, like 
 the swell of the Atlantic, would come rolling towards us. 
 Then, foot by foot, the mountain would once more be 
 raised against the cliff, and again it would go tottering 
 and crashing into the sea. It was a wonderful sight. 
 It seemed as though nothing on earth could have re- 
 sisted the enormous pressure of the ice. An iron-clad 
 would have been cracked like a nut. The strongest wall 
 of cement ever raised by human hands would have been 
 groimd into dust. But the basalt cliff stood firm, 
 though, when I saw pieces as l)ig as a man's body chipped 
 out of its edge like scraps of marble knocked off by a 
 sculptor's chisel, I began to think that the whole mass 
 of rock might possibly give way and bury us in its ruins. 
 
 Before night, however, the pack had passed by, and 
 the wide field of ice stretched to the south as far as 
 
THE FROZEN NORTH. 89 
 
 the eye could reach. Behind it roaring and grinding 
 floes were tossed about in the water hke huge corks. 
 I and Captain Thorlassen never left the bridge for 
 twenty hours, and all through the night we heard the 
 crashing of the ice as it beat against the cliffs. 
 
 Then, when morning came, we saw the open sea to 
 the North, and all hands were piped on deck. The 
 signal was given to the fleet, the men cheered, and in 
 less than half an hour we were once more steaming 
 northwards. 
 
 For several days we made steady progress. The wind 
 shifted into the south-west, and we saved our coal, 
 running nearly ten knots an hour under full canvas. 
 We passed up the whole length of Smith Sound without 
 encountering any more serious obstacles than a few 
 small bergs. On July loth we passed 80° N., and 
 Grinnell Land lay on our left. Open water was still 
 before us, and it looked as though we might possibly 
 winter well north of Grant Land, though Captain Thor- 
 lassen shook his head when the more optimistic of his 
 officers suggested the possibility of such a happy 
 event. 
 
 Our life on board ship was by no means dull or mo- 
 notonous. There was always the excitement of avoiding 
 the floes of ice, and the keen pleasure of wondering what 
 lay before us. There was also plenty of amusement on 
 board every ship, for one of the first rules of Arctic 
 exploration is to keep up the spirits of the men. For 
 myself, I had two congenial companions, whose society 
 I would not have exchanged for that of any other two 
 people in the world, except, perhaps, yourself, Cordeaux. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen was a man whom it was impossible 
 not to admire and respect, though his nature was as 
 different from mine as fire from water. I was attracted 
 to him from the very first by his simple and manly 
 qualities. I imagine that the old Vikings of the north 
 were cast in a similar mould. His rugged face, huge 
 frame, and absolute insensibility to all fear, made him 
 seem like some demi-god or hero of the remote past ; 
 in physique, a king of men, in nature half a savage and 
 half a child. He ruled the expedition with a rod of iron, 
 
90 DR. SILEX. 
 
 but every man under liim would have followed him to 
 the death. 
 
 My other companion was the Princess, who of all the 
 thousand people embarked with us on this perilous 
 enterprise, was allied to me not only by sympathy of 
 class and intellect, but by a stronger bond, of which 
 she herself knew nothing. For she alone of all the 
 women I had ever met was the one I desired to share 
 my life with me. I was not a boy, Cordeaux, and you 
 well know that women have had no place in my exist- 
 ence. I am no amorous driveller to burden you with 
 her praises, or with any account of how she took her 
 place in my heart. I simply tell you that I loved her. 
 
 But I did not see much of her during our voyage. 
 Directly she entered the northern sea, she froze her 
 nature into the coldness of queenly dignity and in- 
 accessible pride. She apparently wished to mould her- 
 self to her surroundings, and I tell you, Cordeaux, that 
 the North Pole itself did not seem so far off, and so 
 hemmed in with everlasting ice, as her heart appeared 
 to the man who longed to reach it. 
 
 Hour after hour I watched her pace along the deck 
 in solitude, her eye fixed always on the North, her bearing 
 that of no ordinary woman, who has set out on a long 
 voyage from mere curiosity, but rather that of one who 
 waits and watches for something or someone that she 
 loves. We were all her devoted servants. The men 
 saluted her as though she were an Admiral of the Fleet. 
 Captain Thorlassen himself, the indisputable ruler of us 
 all, was as humble in her presence as a child ; and I 
 — well, from what I have told you, Cordeaux, you will 
 understand that she was something more than a queen 
 to me. 
 
 Yet love is not so blind that it asks only to see the 
 external form of that which it loves. I passed many a 
 sleepless night as we ground our way through the crush 
 of ice, and wondered hour after hour about her past, 
 trying to guess what mystery surrounded her, and what 
 strange web of circumstances had been woven about 
 her. The awful thought would sometimes come to 
 me that my first impression might not be altogether 
 
THE FROZEN NORTH. 91 
 
 wrong, and that she was really deluded with the idea 
 that she was a queen of some country which only existed 
 in her own brain ; but these thoughts were only imagina- 
 tions of the night. One had only to see her beautiful 
 face, bearing all the stamp of power and intellect, to 
 realise that such fears were groundless. There was, 
 however, much cause for anxiety and wild conjecture, 
 and day by day I waited, Cordeaux — waited for I knew 
 not what. 
 
 Our voyage proceeded without much hindrance 
 through the North water until August ist, when we 
 passed through Robeson Channel and turned due west 
 along the north coast of Grant Land. Then once more 
 we saw the white bank of ice on the horizon. Captain 
 Thorlassen at once expressed an opinion that we had 
 reached the limit of our voyage, and that all further 
 advance would have to be made by sledges. In a few 
 hours we reached the pack, and saw that it extended 
 north as far as the eye could reach. It was the great 
 Frozen Sea itself. 
 
 We waited here for two days until the whole of the 
 fleet had assembled, and, hugging the coast of Grant 
 Land, where there was still a narrow channel of water, 
 made our way slowly mile by mile, expecting every day 
 to be shut out from further advance or retreat. We had 
 on the way established six huge depots of provisions 
 on the coast of Grant Land, and had thus furnished a 
 line of retreat in case of accident. 
 
 On August 6th a terrible disaster took place, which 
 threw a gloom over the whole fleet. On this date the 
 ice began to close in behind us, and, looking eastward 
 from the bridge, we saw that our last four vessels were 
 likely to be caught between the pack and the shore. To 
 our great relief the North Star and the Loch Awe just 
 squeezed through, the latter with the loss of her rudder 
 and screw. 
 
 The Petrel and Sandsvall were, however, not so for- 
 tunate. The latter was nipped between the shore ice 
 and the pack, and we saw her slowly flung to one side, 
 as the pressure forced her clean out of the water up 
 the slope of a great berg. The men rushed from her 
 
92 DR. siLEx. ; ; 
 
 like rats, saving what they could. They were not a 
 moment too soon, for the pressure suddenly relaxed, 
 and the ship rushed down the ice slope into the gap like 
 a toboggan, masts, sails, and rigging toppling over her 
 like a shroud, and the water flying fifty feet into the 
 air. When we looked again, the pressure had returned, 
 and she was caught like a nut in a pair of crackers. At 
 a distance of half a mile we could hear the bursting of 
 her timbers, and in less than five minutes' time she was 
 flattened out into a shapeless mass of wood and iron. 
 
 But a worse fate was in store for the Petrel and her 
 unfortunate crew. She had struggled into a small piece 
 of open water between the pack and a huge perpendicular 
 berg which had grounded in fifty fathoms of water of? 
 the coast. Suddenly, without any warning, the ice pack 
 closed in so swiftly on her that only half a dozen men 
 had time to jump overboard. Then there was a blinding 
 flash, a volume of black smoke that hid everything 
 from view, and a second or two afterwards a report like 
 the discharge of a thousand cannon, and a shock that 
 flung several of us on our faces. The whole thing was 
 almost like a clap of the hands in its rapidity. 
 
 When the smoke cleared away, the whole vessel was 
 buried from sight in a gigantic pile of debris that had 
 been blown clean out of the face of the berg, in the side 
 of which appeared a deep rent half an acre in extent. 
 It was evident to Captain Thorlassen and myself what 
 had happened. The sudden and tremendous shock had 
 struck her store of dynamite and nitro-glycerine on the 
 berg, like a hammer might have struck them on an anvil. 
 
 Men made their way from nearly every ship to give 
 assistance, but not a living thing remained ; nor, indeed, 
 any trace of human existence beyond a few charred and 
 blackened fragments flung out several hundred yards 
 across the ice. We held a funeral service on the spot, 
 out of respect to the dead, then we rescued the survivors 
 of the Petrel from the land, and distributed them among 
 the various ships. 
 
 This incident gave rise to a considerable discussion 
 among the men, and some of them said they were not 
 going to continue the voyage with a powder magazine 
 
THE FROZEN NORTH. 93 
 
 beneath their feet. The matter was, however, smoothed 
 over, and Captain Thorlassen told them that a large 
 stock of explosive was necessary for the blasting of the 
 ice. He added that the Petrel was carrying more than 
 her share. 
 
 I will not worry you, Cordeaux, with a detailed account 
 of our advance during the next month, nor of our daily 
 struggles with the ice. It is sufficient to say that fortune 
 favoured us with a better passage along the coast than 
 we had ever expected, and making our way slowly west, 
 we skirted along the north coast of Grant Land through 
 a narrow and shifting channel of open water. 
 
 On September 2nd we reached an opening in a big 
 black wall of cliff. It was not more than one hundred 
 feet in width, and appeared to be the entrance to a 
 land-locked harbour several acres in extent. We had 
 no doubt that this was the spot indicated by John Silver 
 as a place of refuge, and we were fortunate to have 
 reached it before the northern ice closed in upon the 
 land. As it was, we had to blast away many hundred 
 tons of ice before we could effect an entrance into the 
 channel, and the Aurora was the only ship destined to 
 spend the winter in this snug retreat. The other vessels 
 were all to the east, and one or two of them so far behind 
 us that we could only see their masts. They were one 
 and all bound in the ice or driven up among the loose 
 bergs on the shore. 
 
 The place where we expected te spend many dreary 
 months was about twenty miles further west than the 
 point Aldrich reached with his sledges in the Nares Expe- 
 dition of 1876. The little harbour, which ran almost 
 due east and west, was large enough to have held our 
 entire fleet, if they could have reached it. On two sides 
 great perpendicular cliffs rose from the water to the height 
 of over five hundred feet. Towards the shore the ground 
 sloped inland more gradually, and on the east there was 
 another solid wall of rock with a single opening to the 
 sea. 
 
 The land to the south of us was white and desolate, 
 as far as the eye could reach. To the west we could 
 trace the coast line extending in a series of headlands 
 
94 DR. SILEX. 
 
 for quite fifteen miles, and we reckoned that the furthest 
 of these headlands was Cape Alfred Ernest. To the 
 north lay the Great Frozen Sea, the Palseocrystic Ocean 
 whose eternal ice had for all time barred the way to the 
 North Pole. 
 
 I must confess, as I gazed towards the north, I ex- 
 perienced no small emotion. Up to the horizon stretched 
 a vast expanse of rugged ice hummocks, piled and 
 moulded into every conceivable shape and form. Be- 
 yond that horizon the mind could only speculate. There, 
 perhaps, lay another lonely and desolate land ; perhaps 
 an open sea ; perhaps only the same monotonous stretch 
 of ice. There was room for much fanciful conjecture 
 about the six hundred odd miles that lay between us 
 and our destination, and for me there was a weird 
 fascination in watching that terrible and unconquerable 
 barrier of frozen hill and plain. 
 
 There was still open water in places, and progress 
 from one ship to another was difficult. But in less than 
 a fortnight's time every scrap of water was frozen over, 
 and at the end of another week it was firm and hard to 
 the foot. The daylight was fast disappearing, and every 
 hand on board worked their hardest to get the ship into 
 order for the winter. Awnings were erected, ropes and 
 spars were trimmed, huts made out of ice blocks were 
 built on the shore, all explosives stored on the land, 
 snow shovelled a foot deep on the deck for warmth, 
 and a thousand other arrangements made to give us a 
 certain degree of comfort, and even to defend our bare 
 lives against the coming ordeal. For a long and cold 
 night was before us, and it might be that a good many 
 of us would never see the sun rise again. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ARROW HEAD. 
 
 Two months of darkness passed by, and it is unnecessary 
 for me to recount the experiences which are the common 
 lot of all explorers, The daily routine of the ship was 
 carried out with scrupulous exactitude. The men were 
 exercised by sharp walks on the shore and drilled with 
 dumb-bells between decks. There were also the usual 
 sledge expeditions, in which the men endured severe 
 privations, and even intense physical agony, with scarcely 
 a murmur. On one of these three men lost their lives 
 through frost bites. 
 
 Shortly after the darkness set in, we made an impor- 
 tant discovery. A mile inland Captain Thorlassen came 
 across a thick seam of coal. The outcrop itself was of 
 considerable extent, and with the aid of pickaxes, drills, 
 and dynamite, a huge store of this valuable mineral soon 
 lay at our disposal. We excavated many hundreds of 
 tons, which we stacked in heaps on the shore ; and the 
 quantity we had in sight was so enormous that Captain 
 Thorlassen resolved to make use of it in a manner which 
 a practical man would have condemned as a waste of 
 good material, but which I am firmly convinced did 
 much to mitigate the gloom of those long winter months. 
 
 We made a square wall of stone, ten feet each way 
 and four feet high, on a broad slab of rock near the sea. 
 We filled this entirely with coal, and lighted a huge fire, 
 which we kept going through all the darkness of the long 
 night. As far as warmth went, it was no more than a 
 spark in an ice house, but the mere sight of it filled the 
 
 95 
 
96 DR. SILEX. 
 
 heart of every man with joy. The blazing coal fire is 
 to every Englishman a touch of home, and a reminder 
 of his own hearthstone. And not a man of us, as he 
 looked at that crackling, roaring mass of flame and 
 white hot coal did not feel the happier for the welcome 
 vision. It was never allowed to go out. A shift of 
 ten men were told off to attend to it, and the shift was 
 changed every hour. Not a man complained of the 
 work, and most of them would have done duty for eight 
 hours at a stretch. It was a real pleasure to these poor 
 frost-bound fellows to heap coal on to that blazing pile, 
 and they experienced much of the glory of conquest, as 
 they fought the cold and darkness with that pyramid 
 of warmth and light. It shone far into the night over 
 fields of sparkling ice and snow, and spoke something 
 for man's efforts amid the gigantic opposing forces of 
 nature. 
 
 Nothing particular happened until the beginning of 
 December, when we made two or three discoveries of 
 considerable interest. On one of our sledge expeditions 
 we reached 82.9° North, and were just about to return 
 to the ship, as our provisions were running short, when 
 Captain Trondall, who was in command of the Firefly, 
 drew my attention to some small footprints on the 
 newly-fallen snow. I could not distinguish what they 
 were in the faint starlight, but I could see that they 
 marked the track of some small animal going north. 
 Everj^one examined them with interest, and I was told 
 they were the footprints of a hare. Now the Arctic 
 hare is rarely found so far north, and it was not at all 
 likely that this particular one was wandering away from 
 land across the Great Frozen Sea without some definite 
 object in view. That object apparently lay to the north 
 across the almost impassable barrier of ice. And a great 
 hope filled our hearts that somewhere in that vast un- 
 occupied region lay the shores of an undiscovered land. 
 We traced the footmarks for several miles, to see if they 
 doubled back to the south, but they still continued their 
 course northwards, and, fearing for the safety of several 
 of our men who were very ill with scurvy, we were 
 obliged to abandon our search and return to the ships. 
 
THE ARROW HEAD. 97 
 
 A few days afterwards one of our expeditions brought 
 home a large quantity of mud and small red stones which 
 they had found on the ice beyond the eighty-third 
 parallel. It was not improbable, said Captain Thorlassen, 
 that this had been carried from the shores of some island 
 still further north, as the drift of the pack was south- 
 west. But, on the other hand, it might have come from 
 the coasts of Siberia or Spitzbergen. There was certainly 
 no similar stone to be found on the shores of the land 
 which was sheltering us through the winter. 
 
 But towards the end of December I and Captain 
 Thorlassen made a still more interesting discovery 
 within five miles of our little harbour. We had gone 
 out by ourselves to see if we could get any fresh meat 
 for our scurvy patients, one or two of whom were suffer- 
 ing horribly. It was almost a vain hope, as so far we 
 had seen nothing larger than two hares and a few lem- 
 mings during our sojourn on the coast of Grant Land. 
 
 As we were returning home, however, we saw a 
 curiously-shaped lump on the smooth white surface of 
 a little valley between two steep hills. We scraped away 
 the snow with the butts of our rifles, and came across 
 the body of a musk ox, which had probably been dead 
 some months, as the animal only wanders so far north 
 in the summer time. It was perfectly fresh, and frozen 
 as hard as a block of stone. We were, as you may 
 imagine, over- joyed at the discovery, for it meant at 
 least a pound or two of fresh meat for each of our 
 sick men. 
 
 " Let us go back at once, Thorlassen," I said, " and 
 get a sledge." 
 
 He did not answer me, but remained on his knees by 
 the animal's head, scraping away at the skin and pulling 
 at something ; then he placed our lamp close to the 
 hairy jaw, and uttered an exclamation of surprise. I 
 came up to him and looked. A piece of yellow wood, 
 half an inch in diameter, was sticking out of the flesh. 
 It was smoothly polished, but the end had apparently 
 been broken off short. It looked like part of an arrow. 
 
 We got out our clasp knives and hacked at the skin 
 and bone to loosen it. It was hard work, and it was 
 
98 DR. SILEX. 
 
 more than ten minutes before I drew it out with my 
 fingers. It was an arrow head, and so hard had it struck 
 its victim, that more than nine inches were buried in the 
 bone and muscle of the animal's head. 
 
 " Eskimo ? " I queried. Captain Thorlassen took it 
 from me and examined it under the lamp. 
 
 " No Eskimo made that," he said ; " and no Eskimo 
 bow would have driven it nine inches into the skull." 
 
 " But surely," I replied with a smile, " no civilised 
 race would use a thing like that." 
 
 " No," he said thoughtfully, turning the piece of wood 
 over and over and examining it under the lamp, " I do 
 not see why they should. But I will wager this arrow 
 was never made by an Eskimo, unless it were by some 
 tribe of which I have never heard, and I have been in 
 most parts, and met thousands of them from time to 
 time. However, the meat is of more importance than 
 the arrow." 
 
 We made our way back to the ship, despatched a 
 sledge party, and before many hours were over, our 
 patients were revelhng in fresh meat, and there was a 
 sparkle of appreciation in the eye of many a weary man 
 as he smelt the flesh frizzling over the fire. 
 
 We said nothing of the arrow head to anyone ; but 
 Captain Thorlassen kept the incident in his mind, and 
 despatched a large number of expeditions to scour the 
 surrounding country, ostensibly in search of food, but 
 really in the hope of discovering some signs of the exist- 
 ence of a human being in this lonely and frozen land. 
 
 The parties returned without having even seen the 
 tracks of any animal, but with various stories of other 
 discoveries which they thought worthy of mention. 
 
 One man had picked up a piece of stone weighing, 
 perhaps, two pounds, and having one side fashioned into 
 a sharp edge. Another party had discovered an ice 
 cave concealed by snow among the mountains, in which 
 were the remains of a fire. Another had actually found 
 a complete arrow similar to the piece we had pulled out 
 of the musk ox. It was four feet in length, tipped with 
 albatross feathers, and could only have been drawn to 
 its full extent by a person of gigantic strength and reach 
 
THE ARROW HEAD. 99 
 
 of arm. Another party reported that far away on the 
 western horizon they had seen a faint and flickering 
 spark of red hght, which might have been a fire. It 
 was quite evident, frona all these circumstances, that 
 some human l^eing was on this lonely land beside our- 
 selves. 
 
 But what manner of man he was, and why he had not 
 already paid us a visit, were questions to which we were 
 unable to find a satisfactory answer. It was almost 
 certain that he must have known of our existence. Our 
 coal furnace blazed to heaven with such brilliance that 
 anyone within a radius of twenty miles must have seen 
 it ; and a thousand men cannot lie hid on a white and 
 desolate tract of country, like a lot of brown snakes in 
 a valley of rocks. 
 
 Day after day we examined the surrounding country, 
 but found nothing further, though often, when I peered 
 into the wall of darkness, expecting someone to emerge 
 into our little circle of light, I imagined that I heard 
 faint footsteps crunching on the snow, and experienced 
 a sensation of being watched by someone I could 
 not see. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE LONELY MAN OF CAPE ALFRED ERNEST. 
 
 Towards the end of January the cold grew so intense 
 that it was impossible for us to leav^e the ship for more 
 than an hour at a time. All thought of expeditions was 
 abandoned, and the men only left the warmth of their 
 quarters to take brief and violent exercise on the main- 
 land. It was a trying time for all of us, and I felt as 
 though a huge pall of darkness had entombed us for all 
 time, and that the light would never come to us again. 
 However, we had plenty of amusement and work ; and 
 if it had not been for the awful depression and the scourge 
 of scurvy, which we had not been able to successfully 
 combat, we should, I think, have been fairly comfort- 
 able. We were absolutely protected from the cold, and 
 as snug as human ingenuity could make us. 
 
 The Princess bore all the hardships and gloom with 
 a courage which was almost incredible in a tenderly- 
 nurtured woman. Before the end of December she was 
 the only woman left among a thousand men, for her 
 maid died of scurvy after her mistress had nursed her 
 day and night for a whole week. She was thus placed 
 in a position few women could have endured with any 
 show of fortitude. Her rank and sex placed her abso- 
 lutely alone. 
 
 Yet she showed no signs of fear, and moved among us 
 as a ministering angel ; nursing the sick, comforting and 
 cheering the sad, and straining every nerve to brighten 
 the lives of the men. She was a noble woman, Cordeaux, 
 and as I saw her thus struggling against every hardship 
 
THE LONELY MAN. loi 
 
 and peril that a woman could encounter, and yet moving 
 amid It all with a cheerful face and an air of supreme 
 dignity and tenderness, my love for her grew into such 
 reverence as one offers at the shrine of a saint. 
 
 I gave her no hint of my secret by outward word or 
 action. Yet I thought it quite possible she had guessed 
 It, lor a woman's intuition is said to be keen in such 
 matters, and she may have been equally careful to show 
 no signs of her knowledge. At any rate, she realised 
 that 1 was her faithful servant in all things ; but the 
 same might have been said of so many men in the 
 expedition. 
 
 • •■.The winter passed by, and when the first sun rose 
 again above the horizon, the l^lood rushed through our 
 veins with fresh vigour, and our hearts beat with fresh 
 hope. 
 
 Fifty-eight of our number who had been with us at 
 the commencement of that long night were not there to 
 see the first faint flush of rose glow on the fields of 
 snow and hummocks of ice. Twice that number were 
 still sick, but not a man of them was too weak to raise 
 a leeble cheer as he heard the tumult of applause ringing 
 from ship to ship. The night was over, and anothe? 
 long days work lay before us. We all felt that much 
 would happen in the next six months. 
 
 And on April loth, something occurred which, as 
 It turned out, influenced the whole future career of both 
 myself and the Lady Thora de Brie. 
 
 On that day Captain Thorlassen and myself were on 
 the top of the hill overlooking the harbour, a dreary 
 mass of snow-covered rock some 800 feet in height He 
 was taking oliservations, and I was amusing myself by 
 scanning the surrounding landscape with a telescope. 
 At our feet the harbour and the whole coast line stirred 
 with human life. The men were shifting the stores back 
 to their various vessels, and lines of small black figures 
 were passing to and fro in all directions. Inland I could 
 see range after range of round white hills, with here 
 and there the black face of a precipice. East and west 
 tne land faded into an indistinct blur, and seemed 
 to lose Itself m the whiteness of the sea. Northwards 
 
102 DR. SILEX. 
 
 the sun glittered on endless hummocks of ice as far as 
 the eye could reach ; and it was in that direction that 
 I looked longest and most keenly, wondering whether 
 the summer would break up a path for us along the 
 coast, so that we could manoeuvre our ships round the 
 frozen sea. 
 
 My meditations were cut short by a sharp bark from 
 Flo, one of our Eskimo dogs, who had followed us up 
 the slope. I turned sharply round, and saw Captain 
 Thorlassen gazing intently down the valley, which ran 
 to the south-west. He pointed to a place about a mile 
 distant, and I saw a dark spot moving slowly across the 
 snow. In front of it moved a larger blur of white. It 
 appeared to the naked eye as though a wolf was following 
 a polar bear. On looking through the telescope, how- 
 ever, I saw that it was the hgure of a man clothed ap- 
 parently in white, and that he was dragging a sledge 
 behind him. I handed the glass to Captain Thorlassen. 
 
 " Not one of our men," he said, after a pause. " They 
 all had orders to work at the cargoes to-day ; and I 
 don't know of anyone that wears white furs." 
 
 " It is the man we have found traces of," I replied. 
 
 We watched him come nearer and nearer, and Flo 
 barked frantically as the faint south breeze brought 
 the scent to her nostrils. The stranger was concealed 
 from the men below by the hill on which we were stand- 
 ing, and we were the omy ones conscious of his approach. 
 He must have noticed us, but he made absolutely no 
 sign to attract our attention, plodding steadily up the 
 side of the hill with long, slow strides, and pulling the 
 sledge carelessly after him with one hand. As he came 
 closer to us, I saw that he was an exceedingly tall man, 
 and that he was clothed from head to foot in dirty white 
 furs, apparently made from the skin of the polar bear. 
 
 In a few minutes he had reached the summit where 
 we stood. We saw with surprise that he was a European, 
 and moved forward to greet him. He bowed his head 
 gravely in acknowledgment of our out-stretched hands, 
 and looked at us frankly and fearlessly, but as if 
 doubtful how to address us. 
 
 AU that we could see of his face proclaimed him to be 
 
THE LONELY^. MAN. 103 
 
 an exceedingly handsome man ; his eyes were of a bright 
 blue, and a piece of light-yellow hair strayed out from 
 under the white fur of his hood. I had no doubt in my 
 own mind, when I looked at his general build and 
 features, that he was some Norwegian who had been 
 wrecked in this desolate region, and who had managed 
 to support life during the winter by his own skill and 
 courage. 
 
 " Glad to see you," I cried heartily. " Where do you 
 come from ? " The man shook his head. He evidently 
 did not understand. 
 
 " What ship have you come from ? " said Captain 
 Thorlassen, in Norwegian. " Can we help you ? Have 
 you any comrades ? " The man still shook his head. 
 
 Then Captain Thorlassen, who was a practical linguist 
 of no mean order, knowing the few most necessary 
 questions in about fifty different languages, plied him 
 with Dutch, Eskimo, Samoyed, Russian, Danish, Swedish, 
 German, and finally in French. 
 
 But the man did not seem to understand any of them, 
 though his eyes brightened a httle at the Captain's 
 French, and he seemed to be trying to follow what was 
 being said. 
 
 Then he suddenly began to speak quickly and earnestly, 
 accompanying the words with gestures, and pointing first 
 to the west, then to the shores below us, and then to 
 the north. I could not at first understand what he said, 
 but as he proceeded, an idea crossed my mind that I 
 had heard some language like this before, and I puzzled 
 my brain to recall the circumstances. 
 
 " Speak more slowly," I said distinctly. Then, re- 
 membering that he did not understand English, I spoke 
 very slowly in French, pausing between each word and 
 pointing to his mouth. He stopped and looked at me 
 for a minute, and then proceeded with his story, or 
 whatever it was. I listened for a minute attentively ; 
 then I gave a cry of surprise, and burst into a hearty 
 laugh. He was speaking in old Norman French. 
 
 You may remember, Cordeaux, that some five years 
 ago I made a study of this language for the sole purpose 
 of editing an early manuscript of French ballads. I 
 
104 DR- SILEX. 
 
 recognised several words now that they were spoken 
 slowly, but, as I had never heard the language spoken, 
 I could not understand what he was talking about. It 
 was also impossible for me to form any intelligent ques- 
 tion, but a sudden idea struck me that if he spoke Norman 
 French he might understand Latin ; and I asked him 
 in the best Ciceronian who he was and where he came 
 from. He looked puzzled for a moment, and I repeated 
 the question, this time very slowly and with the French 
 accentuation of the vowels. 
 
 His face brightened at once, and he answered me, but 
 I only caught one word clearly, and that was the name 
 of " De Brie." I looked at him in astonishment. What 
 did this snow-clad man, cast away on an ice-bound coast, 
 know of the Lady Thora de Brie ? 
 
 " Who is he ? " Captain Thorlassen said gruffly. 
 " What does he want, and what sort of language does 
 he speak ; and how the devil do you understand it ? I 
 thought I knew most languages." 
 
 I laughed. " I don't think you know this one," I 
 replied, " it has not been spoken for more than five 
 hundred years. I don't understand it very well myself ; 
 but he has mentioned a name we both know very well, 
 and that is the name of De Brie." 
 
 The Captain gave a low whistle. " De Brie ? " he 
 said, thoughtfully ; " that is curious. What does he 
 know about the Lady Thora ? There is something in 
 this, Dr. Silex. Let us take him back to the ship at 
 once." 
 
 I turned to the stranger and, pointing to the vessel 
 below, said we should be glad if he would come with us. 
 He bowed, and we all three walked down the slope in 
 silence. As he strode along between us, his enormous 
 height became still more apparent. The top of my head 
 no more than reached to his shoulder, and his huge 
 form, swathed in thick skins, suggested some giant of 
 the stone age. 
 
 As we neared the ship, we saw little groups of men 
 looking at us through the telescopes ; and when we 
 reached the Aurora, we found the whole of the crew 
 looking over the bulwarks. 
 
THE LONELY MAN. 105 
 
 Captain Tliorlassen led the way up the ladder on to 
 the ship, and told a couple of the crew to transfer the 
 sledge and its contents on to the deck. The stranger 
 followed, and gazed somewhat sternly at the men who 
 were pressing close round him and plying him with 
 questions. Captain Thorlassen, however, said a few 
 curt words about a wreck and the sole survivor, and 
 ordered the men to get about their duties. 
 
 As they dispersed and left a clear view of the ship, 
 the stranger suddenly gave an exclamation of joy and 
 surprise, and strode rapidly towards the stern of the 
 vessel. We turned round and saw the Princess standing 
 by the bulwarks, with the sunlight streaming full on her 
 beautiful face and crown of golden hair. Her eyes were 
 fixed on the man, as he advanced, with a puzzled ex- 
 pression, as though she were trying to remember some- 
 thing ; then quickly her face lit up with a glad smile 
 of welcome, and she moved forward with both her hands 
 outstretched. He grasped them in his own, and for a 
 moment gazed at her hungrily, as if she were some dear 
 friend given back to him from the dead. Then he 
 suddenly dropped on to one knee, and raised her hand 
 to his lips. I was irresistibly reminded of my own ex- 
 perience in Silent Square, and there seemed nothing 
 strange in the action. But Captain Thorlassen and all 
 the men looked on in astonishment. Then the man rose 
 to his feet, and I could hear the Princess speaking to 
 him in his own language ; and, as she spoke, a shadow 
 of disappointment crossed his face, and he answered her 
 with one short sentence, in which I could hear the word 
 " De Brie." 
 
 Then she spoke again, earnestly, and almost as though 
 she were asking for forgiveness. And, as she spoke, she 
 laid her hand upon his arm and looked up into his face 
 with so much affection and admiration that a throbbing 
 pain went through my heart. 
 
 Again they conversed, and she seemed to be explaining 
 something. Then at last, his face brightened, and once 
 more he knelt and kissed her hand. The men began to 
 smile, and Captain Thorlassen ordered them off to their 
 duties. 
 
io6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Then the Princess advanced towards us, leaning 
 slightly on the man's arm. I winced, but faced her 
 with a smile. 
 
 " Gentlemen," she said, so that we two alone could 
 hear, " this is my cousin, Sir Thule de Brie, a knight 
 of my kingdom, and with royal blood in his veins. Till 
 to-day I thought him dead. If he had died, it would 
 have been for my sake. For five years he has lived 
 with death very near to him, preferring that to dis- 
 honour. And he, too, thought me dead. It is scarcely 
 surprising that we should have much to say to each 
 other. But before we leave you, he would grasp 3'our 
 hand in friendship. I have told him of 3'our true and 
 loyal services, of your kindness, and of 3^our earnest 
 desire to accomplish the objects of this expedition, and 
 he would welcome his new comrades." 
 
 With these words she turned to the stranger, and he 
 held out his hand. We each took it in turn, and it felt 
 as though beneath the thick fur glove there lay a vice 
 of steel. Captain Thorlassen gave a few words of hearty 
 greeting, but I was silent. Then the two left us, and I 
 watched them from the bows with a great pain at my 
 heart. Sir Thule de Brie was looking earnestly into her 
 face ; and I could not decide whether his eyes expressed 
 the homage of love or the loyalty of a faithful servant. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS. 
 
 Before Sir Thule de Brie liad been with us three weeks, 
 he was regarded with esteem and admiration by every 
 man in the expedition. 
 
 Indeed, at a first glance, no one could help admiring 
 so splendid a figure of a man. I have seen giants before ; 
 huge, hulking lumps of fat, or thin drawn laths of skin 
 and bone, but I have never seen such a man as this. 
 He was six feet six and a half in height, and as beautifully 
 moulded as the statue of a Greek god. Every limb was 
 perfect in proportion and symmetry, every muscle was 
 hard as steel, and showed clear cut under his smooth 
 white skin. 
 
 For the first two or three days he held himself aloof 
 from the men, and it did not seem as though he was 
 likely to become popular with them ; but one day he 
 expressed a desire to join them in their daily sports and 
 exercises, and he gave us some measure of his enormous 
 strength. He threw a sixteen-pound shot twenty-two 
 feet further than Captain Buhner, reputed to be the 
 strongest man in all our expedition, and bent a crow- 
 bar in his hands as though it were a piece of wire. Then, 
 to give us some idea of his own warhke accomplishments, 
 he shot an arrow clean through half an inch of steel at 
 a distance of three hundred yards, and cut an iron be- 
 laying pin in half with a single stroke of the long two- 
 handed sword he carried among his baggage, and with 
 no more effort than if he had been lopping off a twig 
 with a bill hook. And from that day forward the men 
 
 107 
 
io8 DR. SILEX. 
 
 worshipped him as a hero, and were never tired of 
 watching the evidences of his phj'sical prowess. 
 
 And during those three weeks I had considerably 
 added to my knowledge of his language, and found 
 myself able to converse with some freedom, and under- 
 stand nearly everything that he said. And from knowing 
 him better, I had learnt to like the man and to recognise 
 in him the most sterling qualities of a brave and straight- 
 forward gentleman. I heard from the Princess that for 
 five years he had lived alone on the coast of Grant Land, 
 and had endured the awful solitude and semi-starvation 
 of that inhospitable region. And no man could have 
 gone through so much and apparently suffered so little 
 in mind and body without being possessed of powers and 
 qualities almost unknown to us in Europe. But in all 
 the conversation I had with him, not a word escaped 
 his lips as to his mysterious origin, nor did he throw any 
 light on the past history of the Princess, or on her plans 
 for the future. 
 
 But whether they talked of the past or the future, 
 it was quite evident that they had much to say to each 
 other. Every day he spent several hours in her com- 
 pany ; and I watched them, I am ashamed to say, with 
 a growing sense of pain. The Princess seemed to have 
 thnist me entirely aside. I counted myself lucky if I 
 could get five minutes' conversation with her in the da}'. 
 But hour after hour she would pace the deck, and De 
 Brie would walk beside her, and neither of them had a 
 word for, or cast a glance at me. Heaven knows that 
 I was not jealous of the man, for s})lendid creature that 
 he was, he scarcely dared to raise his eyes to her face. 
 But I was jealous of their talk and the business that 
 required it ; for whatever affair it was that they discussed, 
 it rose before me as a solid wall, shutting out what I 
 most loved to see. No, Cordeaux, I was not jealous of 
 the man, I would have you note that. Yet he had done 
 my self-esteem much wrong ; for who was I to dare to 
 love the Princess, when this man was no more to her 
 than a humble slave ? 
 
 I and Captain Thorlassen, now thrown more together 
 than ever, discussed the question of these two at con- 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS. 109 
 
 siderable length, and with many vague guesses at the 
 truth. It was strange that the Princess had as yet given 
 us no explanations of the rifles and guns we carried in 
 our hold. 
 
 It was now the beginning of May, and we were already 
 considering the advisability of getting all the ships into 
 our little harbour, and taking such precautions as John 
 Silver had indicated. None of the captains were in 
 favour of such a course ; and indeed, it seemed folly 
 to waste two of the best summer months cooped up in 
 a great well of rock. But I and Captain Thorlassen 
 had given our word in the matter, and we were quite 
 firm in our resolve to carry it out, if it were possible. 
 I was, moreover, sure in my own mind that Silver would 
 not have laid down such a strange and apparently dis- 
 advantageous condition without some very good and 
 sufficient reason, based on his own exclusive knowledge 
 of the locality. His words had been most emphatic, 
 " Your ships must remain in this harbour during the 
 months of June and July." The language was plain 
 enough, though the reason was still far to seek, so on 
 the I St of May we began blasting the ice round the im- 
 prisoned vessels. 
 
 By the middle of the month there was already a thin 
 line of water along the coast, and the thermometer was 
 7° above freezing point, a circumstance which was 
 almost unknown at this latitude, and which, in the 
 opinion of many old Arctic navigators, presaged some 
 unusual disturbance of the atmospheric conditions. The 
 desolate land to the south of us was showing some signs 
 of life. Small green mosses and lichens appeared in the 
 black rocks, and here and there the tiny flowers of the 
 saxifrage burst into a faint pink bloom. Stray gulls 
 came up from the south and circled about our ships in 
 the hope of food. Most of them returned southwards 
 over the land, but a few more adventurous ones flew 
 northwards over the waste of ice. The atmosphere 
 seemed unpleasantly close and hot to us after the bracing 
 cold of winter. Occasionally there were a few falls of 
 snow, and theVice^was covered with a most unpleasant 
 slush. Everything seemed to be damp, and large 
 
no DR. SILEX. 
 
 pools of water formed on the surface of the Frozen 
 Sea. 
 
 The unusually mild temperature assisted us materially 
 in our work of freeing the ships. An ordinary Arctic 
 May would have rendered the task almost impossible, 
 for some of our vessels were more than ten miles from 
 us. With the help, however, of nearly a thousand 
 strong workers, and many thousand pounds of dynamite, 
 we finally effected our object. No one worked harder 
 than Sir Thule de Brie, and he won golden opinions from 
 every man in the expedition. He toiled like a common 
 sailor, and many a look of envy and admiration was 
 cast on him, as he shifted enormous blocks of ice that 
 no ordinary man could have moved. 
 
 By the end of May every ship was in the harbour, and 
 a great ice floe was towed to the entrance and jammed 
 between two walls of rock. But when it was all finished, 
 the men began to grumble, and ask each other for what 
 purpose they had wasted so much time, and such an 
 enormous quantity of valuable explosive. It also began 
 to be rumoured that our holds contained many articles 
 not usually considered necessary for an Arctic expedi- 
 tion, and men whispered of a case that had burst on the 
 SveUholm, and of an ugly steel muzzle that had showed 
 itself through the gaping timbers. 
 
 I told the Princess of these rumours, and on the second 
 of June she asked Captain Thorlassen to call a meeting 
 of all the captains of the vessels, and said that she would 
 then explain everything and place her fate in our hands. 
 
 We all assembled in the big deck-room of the A iiroru, 
 twenty men of different nations and various characters, 
 but ail bound together by one common purpose. The 
 Princess sat at the head of the table, and by her express 
 desire I was accorded a seat on her right hand, and 
 Captain Thorlassen a seat on her left. The gigantic De 
 Brie refused to sit at the long table, and took his place 
 behind her chair, where he stood as if to guard her, 
 leaning upon his naked sword. I watched the expression 
 in his eyes, and felt sure that he expected difficulties, and 
 was well prepared to meet them. 
 
 The Princess was attired more magnificently than I 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS, in 
 
 had ever seen her since the day we first met. Her sable 
 jacket was thrown aside, displaying a gorgeous white 
 bodice embroidered with pearls and gold ; a circlet of 
 magnificent diamonds sparkled on her hair, and was 
 worn in such a way as to suggest a crown. Her beauty 
 seemed more marvellous than ever, and I do not think 
 there was a man in the room who was not dazzled by 
 the sight of so much loveliness. 
 
 When we were all seated in our places, she looked at 
 us for a moment, as if measuring the sort of men she 
 had to deal with. Then she began to speak, and I give 
 you her words as nearly as I can remember them, though 
 all the charm of voice and expression that drove them 
 deep into our hearts, is lost. 
 
 " My friends," she said in a quiet but firm voice, " I 
 owe you much and have paid you little. You have 
 brought me so far on my journey, and I am grateful to 
 you for your courage and protection. But it is my duty 
 to give you something more than mere thanks, and 
 first of all I wish to offer you some explanation of my 
 presence here to-da}'. 
 
 " It must have occurred to many of you that this is 
 a strange place for a woman, who can be nothing but 
 an encumbrance in an enterprise of this sort. You are 
 risking your lives to discover the North Pole. It is a 
 quest that has attracted many brave men, and cost 
 many valuable lives. So far, we have come in safety, 
 but even now there lie between us and our destination 
 400 miles of ice, a barrier that has never been crossed, 
 and which has been the final and insurmountable diffi- 
 culty in the path of every explorer. Not a man of you 
 knows what lies beyond that pathless and rugged 
 wilderness ; but I know, and Sir Thule de Brie knows, 
 and I will tell you now, and what I tell you will explain 
 my presence here to-day. Beyond the Great Frozen 
 Sea there lies an island five thousand square miles in 
 extent. It is the country of Asturnia, and it has a 
 population of 200,000 people. I am Ijy right of birth 
 queen of that country, though I have l)een defrauded of 
 my inheritance." 
 
 She stopped and looked round the room. The men 
 
112 DR. SILEX. 
 
 stared at each other in silent astonishment and manifest 
 unbeHef. One or two of them smiled, and I saw a look 
 of pity on the face of Captain Thorlassen. For myself, 
 I saw everything in a new light, and if her words were 
 not the result of a disordered imagination, all the previous 
 mysteries were made plain. This expedition had been 
 equipped and armed with the ultimate object of re- 
 covering her kingdom, 
 
 " Perhaps," she continued, " I shall not weary you if 
 I tell you my tale from the commencement of my coun- 
 try's existence." 
 
 " Aye, aye," said the men in chorus, nudging each 
 other as they spoke. 
 
 " In the year 1105," she continued, " there set sail one 
 spring morning from the town of Avranches in Nor- 
 mandy three ships, having on board one hundred men 
 and seventy women and children. They fled from the 
 wrath of Henry I., of England, who, after his victory 
 at Tenchebray, had laid their country desolate with fire 
 and sword, and driven them northward to take refuge 
 on the sea. Among them were some of the noblest 
 families of France, yet with scarce more possessions left 
 to their name than their swords, the clothes they stood 
 up in, their horses, and the ships that were to be their 
 castles and their homes. 
 
 " They pointed their course westwards so as to sail 
 round the coast of France to Gascony and Aquitaine, 
 there to wait till the wheel of fortune turned. But a 
 strong S.E. wind arising, they were driven northwards 
 to the inhospitable shores of a land called Munster. 
 Here they fell in with tribes of wild and uncivilised men, 
 no less savage than the great cliffs that formed the 
 bulwark of their land. Our ancestors slew many hun- 
 dreds of these half-naked barbarians, and having filled 
 their ships with food, set out to sea again, hoping to 
 retrace their course to France. 
 
 " But again, so our historian Gaillard tells us, the winds 
 proved adverse, and drove the ships far out into the 
 ocean, where they sailed for more than forty days seeing 
 no land, and in daily peril of their lives from the great 
 waves. Thev suffered terribly from cold and semi- 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF 'THE PRINCESS. 113 
 
 starvation, and many of the women died. But at last, 
 when despair had begun to settle down upon their hearts, 
 they sighted a bleak and barren land, the name of which 
 has not been handed down to us, but which I have 
 subsequently ascertained to be Greenland. At first it 
 appeared to be totally uninhabited, but after they had 
 landed and built themselves a few rude huts of loose 
 stones, they encountered some of the natives, a thick-set 
 dwarfish race, whom they forbore to slay, because they 
 thought to obtain more provisions by peaceful methods. 
 When they had accomplished this, they again set sail, 
 and again the south winds drove them north ; and the 
 cold increased so much that they were glad to make 
 use of the skins which the natives had sold them. And 
 also the historian tells us in quaint language how they 
 first encountered that ice which ever since has been the 
 limit and boundary of our land. 
 
 " Then his story descends from what is probably true 
 to that which it is hard for a reasonable person to be- 
 lieve. He tells how ten days after they left land the 
 sky darkened and the wind so increased in violence that 
 they ran before it with bare masts. Then suddenly the 
 whole world seemed to tremble and break to pieces. 
 Behind them rose a mountain of water many hundred 
 feet in height, but so smooth on its sides that they were 
 gently lifted to its summit, and saw it roll before them 
 like a mighty wall, tearing the ice into fragments before 
 it, and sucking them after it at so great a pace that 
 men and women lashed themselves to the ships. For 
 three days they swept onwards past crumbling rocks 
 and whirling floes of ice. Then the darkness cleared 
 away, the sun was bright in a blue sky, and they passed 
 gently into a calm and open sea. 
 
 " We regard this more as a fable than as an actual 
 account of what occurred. But so much is certain, 
 though it is unknown to anyone in this room but myself 
 and Sir Thule de Brie, that in that open sea lies the land 
 of our birth, the country of Asturnia, and that in our 
 veins flows the best blood of ancient Normandy." 
 
 She stopped speaking, and looked round the room with 
 flashing eyes, and her little hands clasping and unclasping 
 
 H 
 
114 DR- SILEX. 
 
 with excitement. I saw the faces of the men hght up 
 with a sudden enthusiasm and then darken into a sullen 
 frown of disbelief. And then again, as they looked at 
 her face, the light of a wild hope came into their eyes. If 
 what they had heard was true, there was something worth 
 discovering at the North Pole, and there was one in 
 their midst who could lead them to it. I myself was 
 too astonished to either hope or disbelieve. I could 
 only keep m\' eyes fixed on the face of the woman I 
 loved. But the thought of the guns and ammunition 
 in our holds flashed again across my mind, and then I 
 realised that no child's play was before us ; for our 
 destination was a kingdom, and men do not sail for a 
 kingdom, armed to the teeth, in search of aught but war. 
 I think some similar thought struck Captain Thorlassen, 
 for I saw his face grow very stern and his lips were closed 
 like a vice. 
 
 Then one of the captains cried out, " The North Pole, 
 my lady ; the North Pole ! " 
 
 " Before another winter sets in," the Princess replied, 
 " I hope that we shall all be at the North Pole. I myself 
 will lead you there, if you will follow me. It lies, as far 
 as I can judge, in my kingdom, but — the path to it will 
 be through blood." 
 
 Again she stopped, faltering as though afraid to con- 
 tinue. Sir Thule de Brie slightly moved his sword, so 
 that the steel clanked against an iron bolt in the floor. 
 At the sound she proudly threw back her head, and the 
 diamonds in her hair flashed across our eyes like a streak 
 of light. 
 
 " My friends," she continued in a low hesitating voice, 
 " I will now in a few words tell you my own story, and 
 you shall choose whether you will be with me in the 
 enterprise which is so dear to my heart. Five years 
 ago my father died. He was the wisest and noblest 
 ruler of our country since the days of Fulk the Great, 
 who gave us our present laws. Yet he died by the hand 
 of his brother in open fight. His loyal followers were 
 routed, and the rebels pursued and slew them till scarce 
 a quarter of their number lived to tell the tale of the 
 defeat. The common people of the country were on 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS. 115 
 
 the side of my father, for he had raised them out of 
 
 Tnd ni Z: f ^^^^ "^^'^ Ignorant and disorganised 
 
 and of no avail agamst the power of tlie great lords 
 
 He die'dtk'e ??•"'" -i^"."^^ ^^^^^^^ against them 
 ne died like a king, with his dead heaped ud around 
 
 faTe' a'nd a'btl'" ^Z' '""T^"^ ^^^ ^^^^ -"h a whit 
 ace and a bloody sword and an accursed soul, slaying 
 
 ed to^L'?h^^ '^7 "" T''' ^"d h^^ tongue' was^ 00 
 tirea to give the sentence of death. 
 
 In the confusion, I was taken from the oalace hv 
 four of my trusty servants. Sir Thule d^ Brie ^the Lord 
 Mai^?Tnd'l^' Hugh de L'Espec, and Sir Guy Le 
 life in our i.S I'T'"^ ^^^^ ^^''^ ^^^ "« hope for 
 blood we set fn .h'^ '''^' '^""^"^ ^^^^ ^ith fire and 
 Diood, we set forth from a lonely peninsula on the 
 
 thf ctst tThet"^ ' ^.''" barrier^^^f^ice r"uns oiuVom 
 food ?n L? f '°^'" ^^^ ^^y^"^- We took enough 
 us some Of h! ' '''' ""^"f^^' ^"^ ^^^« ^^^^^^ away with 
 scrohTn fhi crown jewes of Asturnia, and an ancient 
 scrol m the possession of the Lord of Argenteuil in 
 
 Th"n^'e%'etTff1"' '7 'Ji' "^^"^^^^ hope o?our return" 
 inen we set off towards the unknown south in the hoDe 
 
 otefpas?^ C^^'fT '^" '^^ "^^^^^'^ mldness wa 
 overpast, ^o man had ever set foot on this ice further 
 
 flyinVfrom' us^:^'" T.^ ^^"'^ -^^^^ -^ - t; "criminal 
 af tifp ' T ^ 5^ ^^"^ ^^^^^°n 'beyond is known to us 
 iTve Y.^?''''''^.^'"?' ^'"^'^ no man may cross and 
 wHdern^s of Zf"'fl '" l^^ '^' ^^"^^^^ °^ that awful 
 mercies'o ttvJ^/f^''-^^^^^ «"^^^J^^^ ^o the 
 
 S our land! fratricide who had gained possession 
 
 of'whr/VfHl'^ff^'' ^^"'."'y ^"""^^' ^^ith an account 
 
 endr^?£!^^/^Sl^Sft&^^ 
 
 froin deTth' '"^ ^r ?"^ ^^ ^^"^^ ^i^^ i" savTng me 
 
 ha or th7.?^^^ ^°? '''^ their souls. I will onl? say 
 
 reached tie Inn i'°"u''' ^' wandered south, until we 
 
 l7ut ac^orL. tn q^'^T? n ^r' ^^''^^ the winter. 
 
 Te i Here Ll^iu '"^'i^^' ^"'' "^^"^ "^^^^^ further 
 wesr. Here ue Iniilt ourselves a permanent home in a 
 
ii6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 sheltered ravine and stored our scanty stock of provi- 
 sions, living on such flesh as my two brave guardians 
 could procure. 
 
 " Then one day, when I was a few miles from our 
 camp with the Lord of Argenteuil, a tribe of dwarfed 
 savages swept down upon us, and in spite of the bravery 
 of my companion, who slew ten of them before he was 
 overpowered, we were carried away captives towards 
 the south. I cannot describe to you what we endured, 
 nor the savage cruelty with which they tormented my 
 brave and faithful follower. I had some power over 
 their brutal minds, and kept them off from me to the 
 last, when they took out the Lord of Argenteuil and 
 tortured him before my eyes. Then, suddenly, loud 
 shouts burst upon my ears, and then louder reports, and 
 I saw five of our captors fall headlong in the snow and 
 stain it with their blood. A minute later a band of 
 sturdy men rushed up to us, and the Eskimos took 
 refuge in flight. These men were of 3'our race, and to 
 them I owe my life. They treated us with every kind- 
 ness, and we were sore in need of it. My gallant follower 
 had been so maimed by the cruelty of the savages that 
 the doctor had to cut off both his legs. In the course 
 ot many months we reached what I now know to be the 
 land of Canada, and there we lived for nearly a year, 
 perfecting ourselves in the language of its people, and 
 making ourselves acquainted with the great world that 
 had been a sealed book during all the history of our 
 nation. We subsequently journeyed to England and 
 settled down in the capital of that great country. 
 
 " And during all this time neither of us breathed a word 
 about our true history. Nor through all these years up 
 to the present day have we said or done anything that 
 might have revealed the secret of our country's exist- 
 ence. We saw the great nations round us armed to the 
 teeth with strange and powerful weapons, their armies 
 countless as the sands, and their hearts filled with a 
 lust of conquest. We feared that a single word from 
 us might send them streaming to the north. The know- 
 ledge that a fair country existed in the region of the 
 North Pole might have tempted them to brave the 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS. 117 
 
 Eternal Ice, and though that terrible barrier might have 
 proved the bulwark of our land, we resolved to expose 
 Asturnia to no risk of subjection to an alien race. It 
 was even better for the Red King to rule than for a 
 stranger to sit on the throne of our people. Dr. Silex 
 and Captain Thorlassen will now understand why I have 
 been silent so long, and why the Lord of Argenteuil only 
 unsealed his lips on his deathbed to a priest of God. 
 But through all these years the expedition has been 
 uppermost in our minds, though we had to wait our time. 
 
 " The rest of the story I need not tell you. Most of 
 it is known to Dr. Silex, and I will only tell you that 
 my uncle, Charles the Red, is still King of Asturnia, 
 unless he has already met his fate by the hands of God 
 or his people, and that I — and that I have vowed before 
 heaven to sit upon the throne of that kingdom." She 
 stopped and stretched out her hands appealingly to- 
 wards us. 
 
 " My friends," she continued, " I have tried to make 
 myself one with you. I have prayed for you in your 
 undertakings. I have sympathised with you in all your 
 sorrows and sickness. I am very sick and sore at heart 
 myself. My country and my people wait for me. During 
 these last five years the nobles must have ground them 
 to the dust. My place is with them. My hand is 
 burning to help them and to avenge them. My heart 
 is full of their sorrows and full of the lust of revenge on 
 the man who slew my father. But I am only a woman. 
 I am in your hands. You are powerful — a thousand 
 men of the greatest nation in the world ; a nation which 
 is a thousand years ahead of us in intellect and device. 
 You are armed with weapons of destruction unknown 
 to us, and so terribly conceived and planned that the 
 whole army of our kingdom would melt away beneath 
 their breath. You can go anywhere and do anything. 
 And our goal is the same. You desire to stand at the 
 North Pole, and I want my kingdom. I am in your 
 hands." 
 
 She stopped speaking. For a moment there was 
 absolute silence. Then, as though a gust of wind had 
 swept them from their seats, every man in the room rose 
 
ii8 DR. SII.EX. 
 
 to his feet ; one crying out that he would follow wher- 
 ever she might lead, another that he would cut the 
 throats of every rascal in her kingdom, another that he 
 would go to the death for her, till the air of the room 
 rang with shouting and acclamation. I alone was silent, 
 for I could not speak. 
 
 Then Captain Thorlassen asked for silence, and the 
 men sat down. 
 
 " My lady," he said, " your story is so strange that I 
 can scarcely believe what I have heard ; yet I know 
 that you do not speak lightly. For my part, if there 
 is a way to the North Pole, I will tread it. My captains, 
 whom I have the honour to command, have spoken. I 
 have no doubt that the men will not be less certain in 
 their utterances. We are your servants." 
 
 Then he sat down, and the men applauded his words 
 with mighty cheers. 
 
 " My friends and comrades," she replied in a trembling 
 voice, " I thank you with all my heart. I am leading 
 you to danger, and perhaps to death. But whatever 
 comes, I will share it with you ; and if you set me on 
 the throne that my father occupied, you will find that 
 Thora of Asturnia will not forget the brave fellows to 
 whom she owes all that she possesses." 
 
 She held out her hand, and one by one the captains 
 filed out of the room, and raised her fingers to their 
 roughly bearded lips. I was left alone with her and 
 Sir Thule de Brie. She turned to me with a smile. 
 
 " I did not hear your voice. Dr. Silex," she said quietly, 
 " and yet you sat very close to me." I raised my eyes 
 to her face but did not answer. 
 
 " This is your expedition, and your consent is re- 
 quired for this," she continued. " Why did you not 
 speak ? " 
 
 I looked her straight in the face, and I almost fancy 
 a faint tinge of colour came to her white, tired face. 
 She turned her eyes away from mine. 
 
 " Dear lady," I said in a low voice, " you know that 
 I am already your servant. There is no need for me to 
 speak. The only need is for me to prove myself in your 
 service." 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS. 119 
 
 With these words I kissed her hand, and, making my 
 way into the open air, leant over the bulwarks and 
 looked towards the north. I had much to think of, 
 and was sorely troubled in my mind ; for as I recalled 
 all the details of the strange story I had just heard, I 
 could not get rid of the horrible idea that part of the 
 narrative was not true. When the Princess was relating 
 the history and origin of her country, she spoke without 
 pause or hesitation, like one who is merely reciting a 
 passage from a book ; but, when she came to her own 
 personal story, it struck me that she spoke with fear 
 and trembling, and that this was not altogether due to 
 the painful circumstances of her tale. It seemed to me 
 that her manner was that of a person who is inventing 
 a fable, and not that of one moved by the recollection 
 of distressing events. For instance, it would have ap- 
 peared almost impossible for a woman who had wit- 
 nessed the torture of John Silver to have recalled the 
 incident without some expression of pain. She told it 
 with some hesitancy, but I watched her face in vain for 
 any look of horror. These thoughts and suppositions 
 about the woman I loved were very painful to me, Cor- 
 deaux, and I tried to thrust them from my mind ; but 
 as I looked towards the north, I began to think that, 
 even if the whole story were true, there was still some 
 essential fact or circumstance withheld from our know- 
 ledge. I could only comfort myself with the thought 
 that the Princess was acting for the best. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BREATH OF WAR. 
 
 The next day the captain of every vessel summoned his 
 men together and told them briefly the story of the 
 Princess, and what assistance she required of them, first 
 speaking in pity of the noble lady in their midst, and 
 then firing them to enthusiasm with brightly-painted 
 ]iictures of adventurous war, and the attainment of 
 tlieir goal. But the men needed no such spurs, and 
 indeed some sort of bridle would have been more suited 
 to their mood. They shouted and cheered wildly, and 
 I think they would have gone straight to Asturnia, if 
 it had been possible, and tried to tear Charles the Red 
 and his knights to pieces with their naked hands. The 
 long winter life of inactivity had made them as keen for 
 adventure and hard knocks as any roving blade of the 
 middle ages, and down in their rough natures there was 
 a vein of chivalry that would not have disgraced Sir 
 Launcelot himself. They did not stop to ask themselves 
 what chances of success they would have against a 
 trained army of gigantic warriors, cast in the mould of 
 Sir Thule de Brie. They did not even know of the 
 fifteen-pounders and the Maxims that were stowed away 
 in the holds of their ships. But they had no desire to 
 think deeply on the matter. They were rough and 
 simple men, looking no further than the fact that the 
 Lady Thora had asked their services ; and they had no 
 doubt in their own minds that armed with a few axes 
 and shot guns they were a match for any barbarian 
 army in the world. 
 
THE BREATH OF WAR. 12 r 
 
 Then Captain Thorlassen summoned a great assembly 
 of all the men, and formed them in lines and companies 
 on the snow-clad slope behind the harbour. I myself, 
 as the man who had paid all the expenses of the ex- 
 pedition, spoke a few words to them about the matter 
 we had in hand, and I told them of the cargo we 
 carried in the hold of every vessel. I had intended 
 to apologise for keeping them in ignorance so long, and 
 to point out that no man was compelled to fight with 
 the weapons provided for him ; but at the first mention 
 of the guns and of the ammunition, so great a cheer 
 went up to heaven that I thought it unnecessary to add 
 anything further to my speech. 
 
 Then, at the word of command, long lines of rough 
 sailors filed past the Princess, who, with Sir Thule de 
 Brie and Captain Thorlassen, was standing by my side. 
 As they passed one by one, they kissed the hand she 
 extended to them. Then every man returned to his 
 ship ; double rations of food and half a pint of rum was 
 served out to each one of them, and that evening was 
 spent in song and merriment. Never had war been 
 forced on a peaceful community with so little trouble or 
 dissent. 
 
 But the next day we had to look to the reality of things. 
 What lay before us v/as no child's play, and was not to be 
 accomplished either by cheers, or enthusiasm, or kissing 
 of hands. We had already had a long and earnest talk 
 with the Lady Thora and Sir Thule de Brie, and they 
 were not inclined to minimise the task that lay before 
 us. The king's army would probably consist of at 
 least twenty thousand archers, and one thousand knights, 
 each one of whom had toughened and proved himself in 
 a lifetime of feuds and warfare. They were, too, from 
 all accounts, almost a race of giants, six feet being con- 
 sidered an ordinary stature among them. On our side 
 there were less than a thousand men, armed, it is true, 
 with terrible weapons of destruction, but as yet unskilled 
 in the art of using them. 
 
 Then again, between us and our foes lay 400 miles of 
 rough ice, frozen into one solid block by the frosts of 
 centuries, and in all probabilit}^ likel}^ to remain un- 
 
122 DR. SILEX. 
 
 broken to the end of the world. It would have been 
 impossible, with what we had in view, to leave our 
 ships and traverse it on foot, for we could not have 
 taken our guns with us. It seemed equally impossible 
 that we should find a passage round it. Most Arctic 
 explorers had been obliged to leave their ships and take 
 to sledges after they had reached a certain point. And 
 we had as yet no reason to believe that we should be 
 more fortunate, beyond the assurances of the Princess 
 that she would lead our expedition to the North Pole. 
 
 But we had still something to learn in this respect, 
 and the information was imparted to us at our second 
 council of war, which consisted only of Sir Thule de Brie, 
 Captain Thorlassen, the Princess, and myself. 
 
 We were discussing our plan of action when we reached 
 Asturnia, and arranging some methods of gun and rifle 
 practice for the training of our crews. Captain Thor- 
 lassen offered but few suggestions, and then hazarded 
 the remark that these plans were somewhat premature. 
 That, for his part, he had entire confidence in the Princess 
 Thora and Sir Thule de Brie, but it seemed to him that 
 the most essential detail for discussion was how we were 
 to get over the hundreds of miles of ice which lay be- 
 tween us and our destination. He would be glad to hear 
 some suggestion on this point, as he could see no other 
 way than an attempt to cruise along the open waters by 
 the shore, when such an opportunity offered itself. 
 
 The Princess Thora smiled. " When I said I would 
 lead you to Asturnia, Captain Thorlassen," she answered, 
 " I did not speak idly, and though what I am going to 
 tell you will meet with incredulity and perhaps contempt, 
 I have no doubt in my own mind that what I say will be 
 fulfilled by actual occurrences." 
 
 " I have spoken to you of the Lord of Argenteuil. 
 Dr. Silex has met this brave and wise man, and I think 
 he will tell you that he was possessed of no ordinary 
 powers and of no ordinary knowledge. He was, in fact, 
 descended from the same Argenteuil who came to this 
 country from the shores of Normandy, and who was then 
 reputed to be the greatest seer and prophet of his century. 
 I think I told you that among the few things we took 
 
THE BREATH OF WAR. 123 
 
 away from this country was an ancient scroll, apparently 
 of no value to people fleeing for their very lives, but 
 which the Lord of Argenteuil carried on his own person 
 till we reached the shores of England. This scroll, 
 supposed to have been written by his famous ancestor, 
 contained a prediction of the most important events 
 that would occur in the history of our kingdom, and it 
 is worth noting that most of these predictions have since 
 been verified by the actual occurrences. The very last 
 prophecy inscribed on this scroll is that in the month 
 of July, in the year 1892, the kingdom of Asturnia would 
 once again for a brief period be freed from the eternal 
 barrier of ice that surrounded it. The scroll says nothing 
 as to how this will be brought about, but since the Lord 
 of Argenteuil expressly laid down that we should take 
 shelter in this harbour, and close the entrance until the 
 end of July, it is probable that he foresaw some great 
 disturbance of nature, such as took place in the year 
 1 105, when a path was made for our ancestors through 
 a great barrier of ice 700 miles in width. 
 
 " And indeed that occurrence is an argument in favour 
 of the truth of so strange a prophecy as the one in which 
 I ask you to place your confidence. You may say that 
 this piece of ancient history is a mere myth ; but this 
 solid fact remains, that by some way or other a people 
 that still perpetuates, as I ascertained in England, the 
 speech and customs of the old inhabitants of Normand}^ 
 exists to this day in the kingdom of Asturnia. What 
 has happened once, may occur again, and the mere fact 
 that so many of the predictions have come true is in 
 itself an argument in favour of this particular event taking 
 place. 
 
 " There is, however, an anxious time before us. It is 
 possible that we may be unable to avail ourselves of the 
 opportunity afforded to us. It may be that the forces 
 employed on our behalf will be so gigantic and untame- 
 able that we shall be overwhelmed with a terrible disaster. 
 But in any case, I believe that before this summer is 
 past, a clear sea will lie between us and the southern 
 coast of my country." 
 
 Captain Thorlassen was a practical man, and I could 
 
124 DR- SII.EX. 
 
 see in his face that he would have preferred some more 
 practical method of dealing with the question. I myself 
 would have rather listened to some plan, the success of 
 which would depend on our own exertions rather than 
 on the intervention of nature. But we both concealed 
 our doubts, and all four of us discussed the matter as 
 though it had been an ascertained fact. The Princess, 
 with a woman's quick intuition, guessed our disappoint- 
 ment, but she evidently so firmly believed in what she 
 had told us, that she thought it unnecessary to say any- 
 thing more on the subject. 
 
 The next day we started our preparations for war, 
 and in the course of a week all the rifles and guns were 
 brought up fromt he holds, cleaned, and set in thorough 
 working order. We had among our crews more than 
 fifty old naval gunners of experience, and a large number 
 of men were well acquainted with the use of the modern 
 rifle. We owed this to an act of foresight on Captain 
 Thorlassen's part, for although he had been opposed 
 to the shipment of these munitions of war, he had had 
 the good sense and honesty to see that they would not 
 be rendered absolutely useless to us for lack of skilled 
 men to fire them. These gunners were appointed to 
 posts of command, the rifles were handed out to the 
 crews, and a certain number of men were told of^ to 
 learn the use of the guns. 
 
 For the next month the lonelj' world of ice and snow 
 rang with the crack of rifles, the thunder of cannon, and 
 the bursting crash of shell. We were sparing with our 
 ammunition, but recognised that a certain amount of it 
 was well spent in procuring some efficiency in the use 
 of the remainder. Sir Thule de Brie and the Princess 
 watched the operations every day with the keenest 
 interest. The fifteen-pounders were a continual source 
 of wonder and appreciation to the former, who was an 
 earnest and skilled soldier. We hauled two of these up 
 to the top of the cliff and fired at marks set up on the 
 ice hummocks far out across the sea, and as the shells 
 threw up showers of glittering fragments into the sun- 
 light, his face flushed with pleasure, and the light of 
 battle came into his eyes. It was indeed a remarkable 
 
THE BREATH OF WAR. 125 
 
 sight to a man who had never before seen the devastating 
 effect of modern artillery. 
 
 " Do you think your armour will stand that ? " I said 
 one day, as a shell shattered a block of ice ten feet high 
 into pieces no bigger than a cocoanut. 
 
 He smiled grimly. " The armour may stand it," he 
 replied, " but God help the man inside the armour. The 
 fight is as good as won." 
 
 So little did Sir Thule de Brie himself understand the 
 magnitude of the task before us. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE CATACLYSM. 
 
 All through June the thermometer had been rising 
 daily, until at the end of the month it was above 60° Fahr. 
 Captain Thorlassen told me that so high a temperature 
 had never hitherto been recorded in this latitude ; and 
 he by no means regarded it with the same pleasure as 
 the men, who absolutely revelled in the warmth and 
 sunshine after so many months of the Arctic cold. He 
 shook his head doubtfully, when I asked him what were 
 the reasons for this unusual heat ; and his reply was 
 that it probably foretold some unusual disturbance in 
 nature, and that possibly the prophecy of the first Lord 
 of Argenteuil might not be so wild as it seemed. But 
 he adde;d that if the heat continued for two years, it 
 would not melt the barrier of ice that lay between us 
 and the North Pole. 
 
 And before the middle^of the month there were other 
 signs and portents which indicated that something extra- 
 ordinary was going to happen. The whole sky glowed 
 with a dull copper light. There were strange rumblings 
 from time to time, and vibrations that rattled everything 
 on the ship. The atmosphere, moreover, seemed highly 
 charged with electricity. The compass was absolutely 
 useless. Strange blue lights shot out from men's fingers 
 as they touched anything made of steel, and their hair 
 glowed with sparks as they brushed it. The heat was 
 almost unbearable, such as one experiences before a 
 summer thunderstorm. 
 
 These strange occurrences grew more frequent from 
 126 
 
THE CATACLYSM. 127 
 
 day to day, and the trembling of the earth became almost 
 incessant. Captain Thorlassen ordered steam to be kept 
 up in all the boilers and had the ships firmly anchored 
 bow and stern. He said that he had seen signs 
 like these before a tornado in the China Seas, and 
 before the great volcanic eruption of 1882. He also 
 allowed no one to leave the ships for more than an 
 hour at a time. 
 
 The thermometer rose to nearly 70° by July 7th, and 
 there was open water three miles from the shore. The 
 heat was insufferable, and we walked about in our shirt 
 sleeves. 
 
 On July 8th Captain Thorlassen and I were on shore 
 taking observations from the top of the hill, when he 
 pointed out to me a thin pillar of smoke streaming 
 straight up into the still air from a mountain ten miles 
 to the south of us. Even as we watched it, the pillar 
 increased in size, and presently a flame shot up from the 
 dark vapour. 
 
 " A volcano," he said examining it carefully through 
 the telescope. " We are going to have trouble. Dr. 
 Silex. Did you ever see any pictures of the Krakatoa 
 eruption ? " 
 
 I admitted that I had. 
 
 " Well, it is going to be as bad as that, I expect, 
 if not worse. The Princess is not far wrong in her 
 prophecies. We are going to have trouble. Dr. Silex." 
 
 The next day the column of smoke died away, but 
 the vibrations of the earth became more severe and 
 continuous. Small pieces of rock began to fall from the 
 cliffs, and the surface of the water swayed gently to and 
 fro like soup in a plate. Even the eternal ice began to 
 shift and change. Huge fissures, several feet wide, 
 crossed it in all directions ; and looking over the edge 
 of these we saw chasms sixty feet in depth with water 
 splashing at the bottom of them. Huge hummocks came 
 crashing down into heaps of fragments, and the shape 
 of them changed day by day. A fine brown dust began 
 to cover everything. I examined some of it under a 
 microscope, and it seemed to be of volcanic origin. As 
 the result, I suppose, of this dust we saw strange refrac- 
 
128 DR. SILEX. 
 
 tions in the atmosphere. An object six miles off was 
 magnified and thrown out of all proportion. And once, 
 reflected in the sky, I thought I could see the inverted 
 towers and walls of some strange city. 
 
 On July i6th a thick vaporous haze overhung every- 
 thing. It did not last long, for on the next day a faint 
 breeze blew up from the north and cleared it away. I 
 began to wish that something definite would happen. 
 The suspense was telling terribly on our men, and the 
 constantly increasing vibrations were enough to affect 
 the strongest nerves. 
 
 On July i8th I and Captain Thorlassen went again 
 to the top of the hill to take observations, and, if 
 possible, find some explanation of these ]:)henomena. 
 Sir Thule de Brie and the Princess accompanied us, but 
 all the rest of the men were, by express orders, on board 
 their various vessels. 
 
 I think it was the hottest day we had as yet experi- 
 enced. The thermometer was 73° Fahr. in the shade. 
 The sky above was clear, but the blue was tinged with 
 a curious pale orange colour. On the western and 
 northern horizons lay a dark semicircle of black clouds, 
 lined here and there with a lurid copper light. There 
 was not a breath of wind, and the atmosphere was 
 stifling and intolerable. I watched the flight of some 
 gulls with interest. They were unusually active, and 
 flew round our heads in short swift circles, uttering loud 
 cri<^. There are no better harbingers of climatic dis- 
 turbance than these birds, and I saw Captain Thorlassen's 
 eyes fixed steadily on the west, as though he expected to 
 see something. 
 
 And, even as we looked, the sky above us began to 
 darken, but not with clouds. The blue faded from it 
 and changed into a pale yellow, and then into a light 
 muddy brown. You have seen something similar, 
 Cordeaux, in a London overhead fog. But this was 
 perfectly clear, and we could see everything plainly 
 for miles round, as though through a piece of yellow 
 glass. 
 
 Then the earth began to tremble more violently under 
 our feet, and a huge piece of the cliff, weighing several 
 
THE CATACLYSM. 129 
 
 tons, fell into the water of our little harbour, and shot 
 a tall pyramid of spray into the air. The Princess Thora 
 seemed nervous and depressed, and I chatted cheerfully 
 to her in the hope of raising her spirits. Captain Thor- 
 lassen still had the telescope to his eye, and was looking 
 all round the horizon. Then, suddenly, the gulls ceased 
 to scream, and I noticed for the first time a faint con- 
 tinuous moan, like the sound of a threshing machine in 
 the distance. 
 
 Then a breath of hot wind suddenly struck our faces 
 like the blast from an open furnace door. Captain Thor- 
 lassen looked back towards the little harbour, which 
 was hidden from us, and I fancied I saw an expression 
 of anxiety cross his rugged face, though a solid wall of 
 rock five hundred feet in height and one thousand feet 
 in thickness sheltered the vessels from the west. Then 
 he again looked through his telescope at the now ad- 
 vancing wall of blackness. 
 
 " A storm ? " I queried. 
 
 " Perhaps worse than a storm," he replied laconically. 
 *' We should be better off lower down the hill, but I want 
 to see it." 
 
 " There is some shelter," I said, pointing to a low 
 overhanging ridge of rock about a hundred yards off. 
 " It will protect us from the west, and we shall have a 
 good view in every other direction." 
 
 He nodded approval, and we all moved towards it. 
 The ledge was about eight feet high, and would shelter 
 us from both rain and wind. We stood at the corner of 
 it, where it sloped on to the level, so that we could look 
 over the top towards the west, until we were obliged to 
 seek protection from the storm. 
 
 Scarcely had we reached the spot when, without a word 
 of warning, a violent shock flung us flat on to our faces, 
 and there was a deafening crash like the fall of a five- 
 storied house about our ears. 
 
 When I had sufficiently recovered my senses to look 
 up, I saw a column of dust and smoke, half a mile in 
 height, and a mile away to the left of us. As it cleared 
 away, I saw with horror that the whole of a huge cliff 
 had broken away from a hill side, and had tumbled 
 
 I 
 
130 DR. SILEX. 
 
 into a heap of fragments on the valley below. I also 
 saw, and the sight almost paralyzed me with fear, that 
 on the very spot on which wc had just been standing, 
 there:'was a fissure in the rock two feet in width and 
 extending across the whole plateau. As I looked, it 
 slowly widened, and several million tons of rock began 
 to lean out towards the harbour where our ships lay. 
 Not one of us spoke, but all our faces were white with 
 terror. I could hear the shrieks and cries of the men 
 on the ships, but, from where we stood, we could not 
 see the vessels themselves. For two minutes we watched 
 that widening crack in silence. I do not think the idea 
 of any danger to ourselves entered our heads. We were 
 fascinated and spell-bound, as though by the sight of 
 some huge black serpent extending its dark length across 
 the rock. 
 
 Inch by inch the crack opened out until it was over 
 twelve feet across. Then it suddenly ceased to widen, 
 but I could still hear the plunge and roar of the pieces 
 of rock falling into the water beyond. 
 
 We rose to our feet, and the Princess burst into tears, 
 turning her head away from us so that we should not 
 see. But she only gave way for a moment, and con- 
 trolling her feelings with an effort, smiled. 
 
 " That was a narrow shave," said Captain Thorlassen. 
 "Ah! I was afraid they could not stand it," and he 
 pointed to the slope by the far part of the harbour. 
 The men had evidently taken to the boats and deserted 
 their ships, for small bodies of them were scrambling up 
 the sloping rock close to the entrance. We were cut 
 off from them by twelve feet of chasm. 
 
 Then, before we could discuss what had happened, we 
 saw such snow as was left on the distant hills towards 
 the west, caught up and tossed into the air like a white 
 cloud, and at the same time it seemed to my straining 
 eyes that the horizon suddenly lifted a little. Captain 
 Thorlassen dropped his telescope, and seizing me and 
 the Princess by the arm, almost hurled us on to the 
 ground, and dropped flat on his face. " Lie down, De 
 Brie," he called out ; but the tall knight never stirred, 
 and kept his eyes fixed on the west. Then, suddenly, 
 
THE CATACLYSM. 131 
 
 there was a fearful roar and rattle, and I saw his steel 
 cap go spinning a hundred yards into the air, and float 
 away like a white speck into the distance. At the same 
 time his head and shoulders bowed like a reed, and he 
 stumbled to his feet and crawled up to us. Looking 
 below, we saw the crowd of frightened men, though 
 partly sheltered by the cliff, go flat like a field of corn 
 before a gale. The storm had broken. 
 
 The noise was like the shriek of a thousand steam 
 whistles. Stones and snow and pieces of ice whirled 
 over our heads, and the whole earth seemed to vibrate. 
 But before two minutes had elapsed, there arose a sound 
 so terrible and so deafening that the noise of the wind 
 seemed only like the pipe of a penny whistle. I cannot 
 describe it to you, Cordeaux, but if a thousand railway 
 trains had met in one grinding crash of collision, it 
 could not have produced so awful a result. Captain 
 Thorlassen gripped me by the arm and pointed 
 northwards. 
 
 Then, through the driving snow, I saw the solid ice 
 bend upwards into a white and rugged hill a hundred 
 feet in height, which stretched from the shore as far as 
 the eye could see. This hill roHed on towards the east 
 like a wave, and as it rose and fell, the ice roared and 
 splintered into blocks and fragments, which were tossed 
 one against the other like corks on the crest of a wave. 
 Some of them were hurled clean into the air, and others 
 driven into great heaps and pyramids that came crashing 
 down again into the water in cataracts of foam. Most of 
 the ice was sixty feet in thickness, but the volume of 
 water shattered it, as a boy breaks a window with 
 a stone. 
 
 The wave rolled steadily on until it passed out of sight 
 in the east, and behind its path the whole sea, as far 
 as the eye could reach, was one horrible seething cauldron 
 of grinding ice and water churned into a thick white foam, 
 tossing and heaving itself into waves fifty feet in height. 
 And the shrieking tornado, blowing probably at a 
 hundred and twenty miles an hour, hurled all its fury 
 on this scene of confusion and drove ice and water 
 before it like chaff from the threshing floor. 
 
132 DR. SILEX. 
 
 I turned away my eyes and tried to dig my fingers 
 into the rock to save myself, for it seemed as though the 
 end of all things was at hand. Five minutes later J 
 looked up and realised what had occurred. The Palaeo- 
 crystic sea was shattered into fragments. The ice of 
 centuries was broken at last, and the prophecy of the 
 Lord of Argenteuil had been fulfilled. 
 
CHAPTER XV. . 
 
 " ASTURNIA ! ASTURNIA ! " 
 
 For three hours we remained in the shelter of the rock, 
 while the cold wind and rain went whistling over our 
 heads. Then the storm began to abate. The sky above 
 changed to a bright blue, and the sunlight sparkled on 
 the foam-crested waves. The air was clear and keen, 
 and the thermometer must have dropped below freezing 
 point. An open sea, still covered with large bergs and 
 floes of ice, lay between the land and tlie North as far 
 as the eye could reach. 
 
 Several times we had crept on our hands and knees 
 to the edge of the chasm, and called out to our comrades. 
 But there had been no reply, and it was impossible to 
 get a glimpse of the harbour from that position. The 
 split in the rock had lengthened and continued itself in 
 a long arc, cutting us off from the rest of the land as 
 completely as though we had been on an island. The 
 chasm itself was now fourteen feet wide and so deep that 
 its sides disappeared into the darkness. 
 
 Then at last, after a long and weary waiting, an 
 answering call came back ; and in a few minutes half a 
 dozen white-faced and bedraggled men appeared on the 
 other side of the abyss and gave a faint cheer of welcome 
 as they saw us. 
 
 " The ships ! " I cried hurriedly. " Are they safe ? " 
 
 " Safe, thank God," answered Captain Bulmer, who 
 
 was one of the party. " The ice barrier stood, -but only 
 
 by a miracle. Here you, Andrews and Johnson, run 
 
 back, and get some planks." 
 
 133 
 
134 DR. SILEX. 
 
 The men disappeared, and Captain Bulmer, after 
 Jiaving flung us across a flask of brandy, which put some 
 Hfe into our cold Hmbs, told us that we had been given 
 up for lost when the men saw the cliff crack. He said 
 that, as far as they could judge, we had been on that 
 very spot. Captain Thorlassen asked liim eagerly about 
 the ships, and he told us that the first swell of the ad- 
 vancing wave had created a sort of back -wash which 
 had driven several huge pieces of ice towards the creek, 
 and piling them up against the berg we had already 
 placed there, had more than doubled the strength of 
 the barrier. Even then the rising water had poured 
 into the creek, and one or two of the vessels had burst 
 their moorings, but the rest of the steel cables had held 
 out bravely, and very little damage had been done, as 
 far as he could see at present. 
 
 In about half-an-hour the men arrived with two long 
 planks, which they laid side by side to bridge the chasm ; 
 and when we had crossed these, we descended with some 
 difficulty the slope l)elow. When we came close to the 
 harbour entrance, we sto])ped in silent amazement, and 
 I uttered a silent prayer of thankfulness for our escape. 
 
 It was impossible that one single berg could have 
 stood the strain of that enormous flood of water. It 
 had not been more than fifty feet above the level of the 
 sea, and its irregular shape had left several gaps on each 
 side of it. But now across the narrow channel, between 
 the two great walls of cliff, the ice was piled up to a 
 height of over a hundred feet, and the whole solid mass 
 was jammed so tightly between the two sides, that it 
 might have been a wall of masonry. We afterwards 
 found that it was actually covered with pieces of black 
 basalt it had scored off the face of the rock. Our fleet 
 lay quietly in the harbour, and the men were already 
 on board several of the vessels. We made all haste to 
 join them, and in less than twenty minutes we were on 
 board the Aurora. I changed my clothes, and sank into 
 a chair worn out with excitement and fatigue. But that 
 indefatigable man. Captain Thorlassen, allowed neither 
 himself nor his men to rest ; and before an hour had 
 passed, I was roused l^y the sound of the dynamite 
 
*• ASTURNIA ! ASTURNIA ! " 135 
 
 blasting away the ice at the entrance to the 
 harbour. 
 
 It took five hundred men with axes, and a thousand 
 pounds of explosive, to clear away this obstacle to our 
 progress ; and though the work was carried on con- 
 tinuously by day and night, five days elapsed before we 
 were enabled to steam through the narrow channel and 
 set our faces once more towards the north. 
 
 The open waters lay before us as far as the eye could 
 reach, and here and there a few masses of ice floated 
 idly along like small white islands. Most of these pieces 
 were low and flat, and had evidently formed a part of 
 the Great Frozen Sea. The wind was favourable, having 
 veered to the south west, and we were able to save the 
 coal which we had put on board before our departure. 
 The thermometer was at freezing point, and the fresh, 
 keen air filled out hearts with new life and hope. Nature 
 had truly intervened on our behalf, and even if we did 
 not reach the Pole, we had every possibility of proceeding 
 further north than any previous expedition. There 
 were, however, many things to consider with a grave 
 mind. For we had embarked on a fresh undertaking, 
 the outcome of which no man could foresee. 
 
 On July 27th we reached the eighty-seventh degree of 
 latitude, and still open water stretched before us to the 
 horizon. We were the first to penetrate that blank 
 space entitled on the maps " Unknown Region," and 
 were further north than any man had ever sailed before ; 
 or at any rate, any man who had lived during the period 
 of modern Arctic exploration. Many had died in the 
 attempt, or after having battled in vain with the ice, 
 had been forced to beat a retreat as best they could. 
 Here were we, Cordeaux, sailing along as comfortably 
 as any man could wish, with plenty of provisions, light 
 hearts in our bodies, and good stout ships beneath us. 
 It seemed almost incredible ; and, perhaps, if you ever 
 read this narrative of mine, you will refuse to believe it. 
 
 We took soundings from day to day. At first we 
 could not touch the bottom. Then, just before we 
 passed the eighty-seventh parallel, we found four hundred 
 fathoms of water beneath our hulls. But when we 
 
136 DR. SILEX. 
 
 reached 87^ 15', we were astonished to find the lead 
 strike bottom at sixty fathoms, and this depth decreased 
 every hour, until at the eighty-eighth parallel we found 
 no more than twenty fathoms. This rapid shallowing 
 of the water seemed to indicate that we were approach- 
 ing land, or at any rate that we were no longer in the 
 open sea. We were also visited by several flocks of 
 birds, which wheeled over our heads, and sat on the 
 rigging. Most of these were gulls, but three or four 
 species were unknown to me, and I saw one — a large 
 black sort of partridge, with a red bill and red legs 
 — which was obviously no sea bird at all. 
 
 The thermometer, too, began to ascend as the depth 
 of the water decreased ; and on the 28th July it had 
 reached 50° F. This was not so easily to be accounted 
 for, as the near presence of land would hardly cause a 
 rise in the temperature, and we certainly expected to 
 encounter more severe cold as we proceeded further 
 north. 
 
 On the 29th a dense fog came down on us, and the 
 heat was so considerable that the atmosphere was like 
 that of a Turkish bath. We took the temperature of the 
 water and found it to be 70° F. 
 
 The wind had now dropped, and we steamed along 
 slowly at about three knots an hour, not knowing what 
 lay ahead of us, nor, indeed, being able to see more than 
 twenty yards in front of our bows. Fog signals sounded 
 constantly on all sides of us, for our ships were close 
 together, and from time to time the shadows of masts 
 came out of the mist and disappeared again. 
 
 We were unable to account for this warm stream of 
 water. The Princess told us that her country was as 
 warm at this time of year as any part of England, but 
 she could not account for it. She had always regarded 
 it as quite natural. But I and Captain Thorlassen sur- 
 mised that it must be due to some interior volcanic heat. 
 
 During these few days on the Polar Ocean the Lady 
 Thora gave me some account of her country, and we 
 realised how it was that a nation of people were able 
 to exist in the very centre of the Great Frozen Region. 
 I will not deviate from my narrative, Cordeaux, to re- 
 
"ASTURNIA! ASTURNIA ! " 137 
 
 peat all the information she placed before us, which 
 was intended rather for our practical guidance in con- 
 ducting her campaign, than to gratify our idle curiosity. 
 She was, indeed, singularly reticent on the whole sub- 
 ject, and only told us that which she thought it necessary 
 for us to know. The nature of the country and people 
 will appear in the due course of my own personal ex- 
 periences, and so extraordinary were all the circumstances 
 that I would rather tell you what I saw with my own 
 eyes than of what I was told through another's lips. 
 
 On August ist we were still steaming through the belt 
 of mist. At three o'clock in the afternoon, I was in 
 the fore part of the vessel and was occupied with my 
 thoughts, which I must confess to you were chiefly of 
 the Lady Thora and the hopelessness of my love. The 
 sun was still in the heavens, but was no more to look 
 at than a round white cheese. Captain Thorlassen was 
 on the bridge hailing one of the other ships, and his voice 
 sounded dull and ghostly in the thick atmosphere. When 
 he had finished speaking, the silence was almost oppres- 
 sive. A few muffled footfalls, as the men went quietly 
 about their business ; a very faint ripple of water at 
 the bows, and the slow throb of the engines, were the 
 only sounds to break the silence ; and these seemed to 
 be swallowed up and muffled in this blanket of fog. 
 
 My meditations were broken by the sound of a woman's 
 dress sweeping along the deck. It went slowly back- 
 wards and forwards, and each time as it passed me, my 
 heart beat a little faster, and I gazed through the mist 
 at the faint shadow which went by. Since we left Grant 
 Land, I had studiously avoided the Princess, resolving 
 to see as little of her as possible until I had proved 
 myself more worthy to be in her service. I was no 
 longer able to conceal my love, and I had no wish to 
 earn either her pity or her contempt. 
 
 Then I saw her come slowly forward towards me. 
 She was clad in a long white robe richly embroidered with 
 silver, and caught in at the waist with a dull heavy belt 
 of the same metal. In her fair hair was a thin, plain 
 circlet of gold. I had never seen her look more queenly, 
 and the idea struck me that she was dressed for some 
 
138 DR. SILEX. 
 
 particular occasion. As she came up to me, I took my 
 cap from my head and bowed gravely. 
 
 " Well, Dr. Silex," she said, " have you seen anything 
 to interest you ? " 
 
 " Only the fog and the sea, my lady," I replied, rather 
 more coldly than was necessary. " And, indeed, I am 
 beginning to tliink that we shall see little else." 
 
 " You do not believe me, then," she said haughtily. 
 " You think 1 have romanced — i)erha])s think that I am 
 mad." I Hushed deepl3^ for 1 remembered what I had 
 thought when I first saw her. 
 
 " God forbid," I said quickly and angrily. " But you 
 have forgotten what we have witnessed. The whole of 
 this region — perhaps the whole world — has experienced 
 so great a convulsion of nature, that your island kingdom 
 may now lie a hundred feet below the sea ; or, perha]is, 
 the ice has been piled all over it, a iiundred feet in height." 
 
 " Impossible ! " she cried ; " you do not know the 
 place, or you would not imagine such a thing. The 
 cliffs round its shores are high and would protect it from 
 both ice and water." 
 
 " Yet in the earthquake of 1882," 1 replied, " whole 
 islands sank into the sea, and fresh ones rose from its 
 depths. Two weeks ago we saw with our own eyes a 
 mountain crumble into fragments." 
 
 " Enough, Dr. Silex," she said sternly, " God chd not 
 bring us so far for that." 
 
 I looked her straight m the eyes. 
 
 " Are you sure that it was God who brought us ? " I 
 inquired. I paused, and to my surprise, she buried her 
 face in her hands, and her whole body shook with emotion. 
 
 " Forgive me," I said humbly. " I did not mean to 
 hurt you." 
 
 " You are right," she cried, proudly lifting up her 
 head. " It was I who brought you, and whatever 
 happens will be laid to my account." 
 
 " No, to our own ; for we followed you of our own 
 accord and gladly." 
 
 " I would have you turn back, if you will." 
 
 " No one would turn back now," I answered, " not 
 even if you asked them." 
 
" ASTURNIA ! ASTURNIA ! " 139 
 
 " Then I would have you reach your North Pole, and 
 realise the object of your mission, and sail before the 
 ice closes in on you again." 
 
 " Our ambition," I re})lied, " is to do more than 
 merely reach the North Pole. We wish to serve you to 
 the best of our ability. I am only a poor bookworm, 
 with no strength of arm, and little skill with wea])ons 
 of any sort, but I somehow feel now as though to fight 
 were the breath of m}^ life. It will l3e rather amusing 
 to see what a fool I shall make of myself." 
 
 vShe laid her hand on my arm, and I trembled as 
 though an electric shock had been passed through my 
 body, 
 
 " I know your heart," she said simply ; " you will be 
 true as steel." Wherein she spoke idly, for, if she had 
 known what was in my heart, she would never have laid 
 her hand upon my arm. Human nature could not stand 
 it. I took her fingers in mine and kissed them passion- 
 ately. Courtiers may kiss the hands of their rulers, but 
 not as I kissed hers. She withdrew them sharply, and 
 my secret was no longer hid from her. 
 
 She moved a little away from me, and there was an 
 awkward pause. Then suddenly we heard a bell booming 
 through the fog, and a few seconds afterwards the sound 
 of a trumpet and the clash of steel and voices of men 
 shouting. We peered over the edge of the vessel, and 
 saw a dim long shadow sweep across our bows, and heard 
 the steady sweep of oars. Almost instinctively I seized 
 the Princess by the arm and pulled her sharply down 
 below the bulwarks. I was not a moment too soon ; 
 almost instantaneously there was a swift whistling 
 through the air, and the sound of some missiles striking 
 wood and iron, followed by one or two sharp cries of 
 pain. Our guns and rifles were below, but I saw six 
 short flashes of flame shot from the bridge, and knew 
 that Captain Thorlassen had emptied his revolver into 
 the mist. Then the ship, whatever it was, disappeared 
 from sight, and we did not dare to follow it, for we did 
 not know what vessels of our own we might crash into 
 or what rocks lay ahead of us. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen gave the signal to all the vessels 
 
140 DR. SILEX. 
 
 to anchor, and we heard it passed from one to the other 
 through the fog, until it was lost in the distance. Three 
 of our men had been wounded by arrows, and one died 
 towards the evening. We buried him the next day, 
 and the Princess herself laid some small withered bits of 
 pink saxifrage upon his shroud, the only tribute she could 
 pay to the first man who had died in her cause. 
 
 For three days we lay at anchor in latitude 89° 25', 
 and then steamed slowly forward at about four knots 
 an hour, taking soundings every hundred yards. 
 
 Then, on the morning of August 5th, a faint breeze 
 came from the south, and lifted the shroud of mist which 
 had covered us for so many days. One by one the masts 
 of our different ships appeared to right and left of us, 
 and the sun burst through overhead, as the vapour was 
 rolled away towards the north. And there at last, two 
 miles away from our bows, we saw land ; and at the 
 sight of it every man on every vessel cheered with all 
 his heart and soul, again and again. Hats were flung 
 into the air, flags run u]) to the mast-heads, and the whole 
 fleet seemed as though it were celebrating some national 
 festivity, instead of being about to engage on a most 
 perilous and uncertain enterprise. 
 
 The land before us seemed singularly desolate and 
 uninviting. Black cliffs rose out of the water to the 
 height of two hundred feet, extending as far as one could 
 see to east and west. Their bases were heaped high 
 with enormous blocks of ice, doubtless thrown there by 
 the recent earthquake. Against this stern barrier the 
 waves of the Polar Sea broke with fury and beat them- 
 selves into foam and showers of spray. We could see no 
 signs of life on the shore, though we examined it through 
 a telescope ; and it seemed hardly possible that this was 
 the fertile country that the Princess had spoken of with 
 so much pride and affection. Far away to the east we 
 caught sight of three white specks on the horizon. It 
 was evident that they were ships and not icebergs, for 
 they moved rapidly from us and finally disappeared. 
 
 But no one who looked on the faces of the Princess and 
 Sir Thule de Brie could doubt that this was our destina- 
 tion. The former stood with eager eyes and parted lips, 
 
" ASTURNIA ! ASTURNIA ! " 141 
 
 anxiously scanning that long strip of rock-bound coast 
 as though she was trying to recognise something on the 
 shores. The latter watched it with a stern look of 
 affection, as if the memory of the wrongs he had suffered 
 at its hands outbalanced his joy at seeing it again. 
 
 Then he suddenly laid his hand on the hilt of his 
 sword and whipped it from the scabbard, so that the 
 gleam of the sun on the steel flashed across our eyes like 
 a bar of lightning. 
 
 " Asturnia ! " he cried in a loud voice, waving the 
 gigantic weapon above his head. " Asturnia ! " 
 
 And we all took up the cry, until the whole sea and 
 sky seemed to echo with the single word " Asturnia." 
 But at the sound the Princess, who was standing close 
 to me, suddenly buried her face in her hands, and I 
 could see that she was weeping. But I did not then 
 know whether she wept for present joy, or the remem- 
 brances of past sorrow, or the fear of evil to come. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A MESSAGE TO COUNT GUY OF MAKMOREL. 
 
 Following the directions given us by Sir Thule de Brie, 
 we steamed slowly along the coast towards the east, 
 keeping our distance from the shore, and with a man 
 at every mast-head. Rifles and ammunition were served 
 out, and a fifteen-pounder placed in position on each 
 vessel, so that we were prepared for any emergency. 
 We were now in latitude 89° 40', and crossing a dozen 
 degrees of longitude every half-hour. 
 
 Before we had gone ten miles, we saw some signs of 
 life along the coast. Here and there a few rude huts, 
 clustered together on the edge of the cliffs, and with 
 steps cut down the rock to the shore. Then a mass of 
 short sturdy trees, in which we caught the gleam of 
 steel. Then a castle with gre}' towers and turrets 
 thronged with men-at-arms, and with a gay banner 
 floating from the keep ; and everywhere, men riding 
 along the coast at break - neck speed, and ever 
 going east. 
 
 Then we encountered a long rocky headland, jutting 
 far out into the sea, and when we had rounded this, there 
 burst upon our sight a small fair bay with sloping sands, 
 almost entirely cut off from the sea by a long line of 
 reef ; and behind this a grey town with many towers 
 and spires ; and behind that again, on a great eminence 
 of rock, the long dark outline of a huge fortalice. Through 
 the telescope I could see the armorial bearings on the 
 ensign that floated from the highest tower — Quarterly 
 
 142 
 
A MESSAGE TO COUNT GUY. 143 
 
 —first and fourth argent, a dexter hand gules, second 
 and third or, a griffin sable. 
 
 I handed the glass to Sir Thule de Brie, and, as he 
 looked, a torrent of curses burst from his lips, and he 
 shook his huge fist in the direction of the castle. 
 
 " You know the device ? " I asked. 
 ^ " By God and our Lady, I do," he cried vehemently, 
 " and before many days are past I will tear it from its 
 staff. It is the pennant of Count Guy of Marmorel, and 
 the castle is — mine." 
 
 "^ Yours ? " I queried. 
 
 " Ay, mine ; and I would rather that the meanest 
 swmeherd in all Asturnia kept his filthy revels in its 
 hall than that Count Guy of Marmorel had crossed its 
 threshold. But we will blow him from his resting 
 place in pieces, as I saw you shatter the ice in the land 
 of snow." 
 
 " H'm," I said thoughtfully, " it is a sturdy-looking 
 place, and it will take some time to capture it." 
 ^^ '' It will have to be captured," he replied simply, 
 "it is one of the two keys of this country. I 
 do not care whether a single stone is left standing 
 upon another, so long as Count Guy is driven from 
 its shelter." 
 
 We anchored two miles out from the shore in ten 
 fathoms of water. No ships of any kind were to be seen, 
 but in the town we noticed the people running madly 
 to and fro, and caught the gleam of the sun on bodies 
 of horsemen filing through the narrow streets towards 
 the castle. We instantly summoned a council of war, 
 and before an hour had elapsed, the captain of every 
 vessel was on board the Aurora, and we discussed some 
 definite plan of action. 
 
 We decided to send a herald ashore to announce the 
 arrival of the Princess, and to demand that she should 
 be remstated in her just and lawful position as Queen 
 of the country ; failing which, we should do our best 
 to ensure the fulfilment of that happy event. This 
 document was drawn up in English, approved by 
 all, and then translated into Norman French by the 
 Princess herself. 
 
144 DR- SILEX. 
 
 The next step was to find someone to take the message. 
 There was, I must confess, no rush to fill the ancient and 
 honourable post of herald. The captains were all brave 
 men, but they had very vague ideas about the manners 
 and customs of the Middle Ages, and their imagination 
 conjured up certain pictures of horrible and unmention- 
 able tortures depicted in accounts of Nero's dealings with 
 the early Christians. Sir Thule de Brie at once volun- 
 teered, but the Princess would not allow him to go, 
 knowing that Count Guy of Marmorel was his private 
 and particular enemy. I, however, had no compunction 
 in offering my services, having every confidence in the 
 usages of ancient chivalry, and, since I was an absolute 
 stranger, being in no fear of any act of private revenge. 
 When I said I would go, the Princess opened her lips, 
 as though to speak, but I looked her hard in the face, 
 and she was silent. She remembered that I had yet to 
 prove my loyalty and devotion, and that here was an 
 opportunity ready to hand. After some discussion, 
 my offer was accepted, and I began to work out in 
 my own mind a true heraldic coat suitable for the 
 occasion. 
 
 But all my good intentions were nipped in the bud, 
 for, as we talked, we heard the clang of steel coming down 
 the hatchway ; the door was thrown open by one of the 
 sailors with a broad grin on his face ; and a gloriously 
 emblazoned figure stalked into the room, bowing 
 his tall plume as he passed through the entrance. 
 The armorial bearings embroidered on his silk tunic 
 were the same as those which floated from the keep 
 of the castle. 
 
 His eyes wandered round the room, until he encoun- 
 tered those of the Princess ; then his face paled, and he 
 started back as though he had seen a ghost of the dead. 
 The Princess rose to her feet. 
 
 " Do not be afraid. Sir Herald," she said sweetly, in 
 her own tongue. " Your office will be respected. Your 
 message ? And from whom ? " For reply he handed 
 her a scroll with trembling hands. She took it and un- 
 rolled it with a smile. 
 
 " Is it your pleasure, gentlemen," she said to us, 
 
A MESSAGE TO COUNT GUY. 145 
 
 " that I read you the message of Count Guy of 
 Marmorel ? 
 
 We nodded assent, and then we all stared at the tall, 
 glittering figure before us, as though he had been some 
 strange animal. He was a darker man than Sir Thule 
 de Brie, and not quite so tall, but he had a remarkable 
 air of assurance, under what must have been to him most 
 trying circumstances. 
 
 " The following is the message of Sir Guy of Mar- 
 morel," said the Princess. 
 
 " ' All welcome to the strangers who have come to our 
 shores like strange birds from the south.' " Some of the 
 men smiled, and Captain Thorlassen bit his lip, remem- 
 bering the dead body of John Allerton. " ' Count Guy 
 of Marmorel, Lord of the Castle of Sancta Maria, and 
 Lord Deputy of King Charles of Asturnia, would know 
 by whom he is honoured, and would exchange courtesies 
 with those who have deigned to visit him. The whole 
 town opens its arms with gladness, and lifts up its voice 
 with thanksgiving. This very night will pass in wine 
 and feast and song, and we do most grievously desire 
 your honoured presence.' " 
 
 She stopped and looked round on us with a smile. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen," she said, handing the scroll back 
 to the herald, who bowed low as he received it. " Shall 
 this night pass in wine and feast and song, and shall we 
 give our honoured presence where it is so much de- 
 sired ? " 
 
 The men laughed, and I saw the herald's face flush 
 as he drew himself up to his full height. He did not 
 understand the words, but a laugh is translatable all over 
 the world. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen rose to his feet. " Our answer, 
 lady," he said curtly, " has been written by yourself. 
 May I ask that you send it to its destination by this 
 man, if it is your pleasure." And he handed the scroll 
 to her. 
 
 " It is my pleasure," she said. " Sir Herald, I would 
 ask you to take this answer back to your master." Then 
 she unrolled the piece of foolscap, and read as follows — 
 this, of course, being a translation, and perhaps not so 
 
 K 
 
146 DR. SILEX. 
 
 courteously expressed as in the ancient language of 
 Normandy. 
 
 " Whereas it appears that the Lady Thora de Brie is 
 b}^ birth and inheritance the just and lawful Queen of 
 the kingdom of Asturnia, we call upon Count Guy of 
 Marmorel to hand the keys of the Castle of Sancta Maria, 
 which he holds by virtue of an usurper's force of arms, 
 to the lawful owner of the said castle, and to himself 
 appear in the presence of the Queen, and ask such mercy 
 as she may be graciously disposed to extend to him. 
 We further call upon all loyal subjects of this realm to 
 offer her welcome and honour on her return to her 
 country, and swear their fealty at the Court of Sancta 
 Maria, where she purposes to take up her residence until 
 certain matters of state have been arranged. To the 
 self-styled and self-appointed king of the country we 
 have no message, save that we are prepared to enforce 
 the wishes and commands of our sovereign lady in all 
 matters." 
 
 She handed the scroll to the herald, who had listened 
 to the words with a scornful smile on his face. He 
 bowed, and casting his eye carelessly over the writing, 
 as though to assure himself of the substance of the mes- 
 sage, began to roll it up, looking slowly round at the 
 rough faces of the captains. Then Sir Thule de Brie, 
 who during all this had been in the shadow of the corner, 
 came out into the light, and the two men looked each 
 other squarely in the face. 
 
 " You ? " stammered the herald. " Sir Thule 
 de Brie ? How many more dead have come to 
 life ? " 
 
 " Ask rather, Sir Herald, how many that are living 
 sJiall die. And tell your master, that if he respects my 
 lady's wishes, she takes his life out of my hands ; but 
 that if he thwart them, neither castle, nor armour, nor 
 armies shall keep him safe. I have lived for five years 
 alone, starved and frozen in a wilderness of ice, and I 
 have only struggled to live that Count Guy of Marmorel 
 may die." 
 
 The herald did not answer him, but turned to the 
 l,ady Thora. 
 
A MESSAGE TO COUNT GUY. 147 
 
 " I take it, my lady, " he said, " that this courtly and 
 somewhat ambiguous document is, in effect, a declaration 
 of war, seeing that no man with the blood of our 
 race in his veins would be likely to comply with its 
 demands." 
 
 " You are at liberty to read it as you will. Sir Herald," 
 she replied. " I only ask that which is my own. Gentle- 
 men, have you aught to add to this message ? " 
 
 " Only this," cried Captain Bulmer, who had no proper 
 sense of dignity of diplomatic language. " That if this 
 Count Guy doesn't turn out of the place by to-morrow 
 morning, we will blow him out of it by to-morrow night." 
 
 " Aye, aye," cried the others. 
 
 The Princess smiled, and then turning to the herald, 
 said sweetly — 
 
 " My friends agree with all I have said, and desire an 
 answer by noon to-morrow. We shall not require your 
 presence any longer. Sir Herald." 
 
 The man stepped forward a pace, and his dark eye 
 glittered coldly. " I will take upon myself to give you 
 my master's answer," he said ; " both to you, and to 
 Sir Thule de Brie, and to these poor fellows who have 
 risen like wreckage from the sea, and who know not the 
 hopelessness of your cause. My answer is this." He 
 drew his steel gauntlet from his left hand, and threw it 
 ringing on the floor. Sir Thule de Brie sprang forward, 
 and picking it up, handed it on his knees to the Princess 
 Thora. She rose indignantly to her feet, imperious, 
 with flashing eyes. We all rose, too, and more than one 
 of us laid his hand on the knife at his belt. 
 
 " Sir Herald," she said sternly, " you exceed your 
 authority. Your master knows naught of us as yet, 
 and you were sent with a message of welcome. We 
 will receive his answer, not yours, by noon to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " I have my master's confidence," he replied, turning 
 to leave the room, " and I can assure you, my lady, 
 that the answer to-morrow will not be spoken with 
 the lips." 
 
 " And our reply may speak louder than you think. 
 Sir Herald," the Princess replied. "The audience is 
 
148 DR. SILEX. 
 
 ended. Sir Thule de Brie, conduct the knight to his 
 boat." 
 
 The ghttering figure of embroidered silk and pohshed 
 steel passed out of our sight through the cabin doors, 
 and Sir Thule de Brie followed with his hand upon his 
 sword. 
 
 Before three hours had passed we had our answer. 
 It came in the form of a mass of rock, which went singing 
 over our heads with incredible velocity, and buried itself 
 in the sea, about a quarter of a mile beyond us. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF SANCTA MARIA. 
 
 It was quite evident that the siege of Sancta Maria was 
 to be no child's play. We were rather over two miles 
 from the shore, and yet this huge mass of stone had been 
 hurled at us with marvellous accuracy and force. The 
 manufacture of mangonels had evidently improved since 
 the days of William the Conqueror. We examined the 
 castle carefully through telescopes, and saw a great 
 engine of some sort perched upon the highest tower, and 
 fifty men straining at a long lever. Then they suddenly 
 stepped back, the lever whirled round like a wheel of 
 mist, and another dark object flew towards us. We 
 could distinguish its flight the whole distance, and saw 
 it swing down on our main top like a thunderbolt, break 
 the wood off short like the stem of a clay pipe, and tumble 
 into the sea fifty yards away. 
 
 This was too near to be pleasant, and Captain Thor- 
 lassen gave orders to steam slowly out to sea, stopping 
 every quarter of a mile to test the range of the enemy's 
 fire. It was not until we were three miles out that the 
 missiles began to fall short of us. 
 
 Then, secure from all interruption, we spoke an 
 answer to the Count of Marmorel, and it chipped off a 
 few feet of turret from his highest tower. 
 
 After that began such a bombardment as no inhabitant 
 of Asturnia could have ever dreamed of, and many a 
 stalwart man-at-arms must have thought that all the 
 devils had been loosed from the depths of the sea. 
 White puffs of smoke burst from the long line of ships, 
 
 149 
 
150 DR. SILEX. 
 
 and the roar of the guns was almost continuous. Shells 
 burst all over the castle, splintered stones flew in all 
 directions, and the whole building was so crowned with 
 smoke and flame that it seemed to be on fire. Then the 
 proud ensign of Count Guy of Marmorel was blown clean 
 off its broken staff and floated away on the breeze, and 
 before five minutes had elapsed we saw the beams and 
 wheels of the mangonel come crashing down the castle 
 walls, and certain small objects that glittered in the sun 
 were sent spinning in all directions. Two shells had 
 burst simultaneously in the middle of the group of men 
 who worked the machine, and the progress of modern 
 science must have been forcibly brought home to 
 them. 
 
 The signal to cease fire was given. We had taught 
 the moral lesson which we thought it necessary for our 
 enemies to learn, and had paved the way for an advance 
 by destroying what appeared to be their chief engine of 
 destruction. Further bombardment was merely a waste 
 of ammunition, for the castle was too huge and solidly 
 built for our fire to make any real impression on its 
 walls. It was necessary for us to come to closer 
 quarters. 
 
 Along the sea shore, and skirting the whole of the bay, 
 ran a line of small towers connected by a continuous wall. 
 This formed a complete fortification to the town on the 
 seaward side, and was doubtless intended to protect it 
 from roving bands of marauders and outlaws, a large 
 number of whom, so the Princess informed me, had 
 gathered themselves together in the northern fastnesses 
 of the kingdom, and were occasionally bold enough to 
 make raids on the coast. After due consideration, we 
 resolved to occupy this line of forts, and make them a 
 base from which to conduct our operations against the 
 castle ; and with that end in view we slowly steamed 
 up to within a mile of the shore and lowered enough 
 boats to land five hundred men. Every man was armed 
 with a rifle and cutlass, and there was a Maxim in the 
 bow of every boat, with a broad iron shield that covered 
 the whole of the craft from any front attack. 
 
 We covered them with our guns and watched them 
 
THE SIEGE OF SANCTA MARIA. 151 
 
 row shorewards. When they were three hundred yards 
 away from the sandy beach, we saw the air darken with 
 a cloud of arrows, and heard the ratthng reply of rifles 
 and Maxims. We opened fire with our fifteen-pounders, 
 and to our surprise the conflict did not last more than 
 three minutes. The enemy evacuated the walls and 
 towers and fled through the streets towards the castle, 
 evidently preferring to make sure of a safe retreat while 
 there was yet time. We threw one or two shells into 
 the town wherever we saw the glint of steel, and our 
 men ran their boats up on the sand, blew down the gate 
 of the fortifications, and hoisted the English flag on the 
 central tower. 
 
 Before eight o'clock that evening we had landed ten 
 guns, an enormous quantity of provisions, and another 
 three hundred men, and had secured our first footing in 
 the land of Asturnia in a position which, with modern 
 cannon and stout hearts to defend it, seemed absolutely 
 impregnable. 
 
 A continuous passage, pierced with loop-holes, ran 
 through the whole length of the fortification, but it was 
 divided into sections by strong oak doors heavily clamped 
 with iron. The walls were five feet thick, and the floors 
 strewn deeply with rushes. The traces of recent habita- 
 tion lay about in every direction ; earthenware jugs and 
 iron pans, massive chairs and tables, and remains of 
 recently-cooked food. These long corridors had evi- 
 dently been used as rooms by the common soldiers. 
 Within the towers, which were three stories in height, 
 there were signs of greater luxury, heavy silken tapestries, 
 embroidered rugs and hangings, flasks of wine or some 
 sort of liquor, and in one of them a small dog of the 
 Pomeranian type, with a silver collar round his neck. 
 These towers had probably been occupied by the oflicers 
 of the guard. 
 
 We distributed our small force along the whole length 
 of the wall, and, as we were now to be a military body, 
 divided them into small sections of about forty men, 
 each under the command of their own captain. Each 
 section had a Maxim and a fifteen-pounder. Captain 
 Thorlassen was in command ; and Sir Thule de Brie, 
 
152 DR. SILEX. 
 
 an ex-gunnery lieutenant, and two ex-sergeants of 
 marines, constituted his whole staff. His own military 
 knowledge was not great, but he was a man who was 
 well able to assimilate and make use of the knowledge 
 of others. 
 
 Before twenty-four hours had elapsed, we were com- 
 fortably settled in our new home. The guns were 
 mounted on the towers, the provisions distributed, and 
 the whole system of guards and military routine marked 
 out. The place appeared absolutely impregnable, and it 
 was a marvel to me why it had been evacuated. Not a 
 single dead man was left within its walls ; and, if any 
 had been wounded, they must have been carried off by 
 their comrades. I could only suppose that the defenders 
 had under-rated its importance to us, and had supposed 
 that they could fight equally well from the castle. I 
 wondered what Count Guy of Marmorel, reputed the 
 finest soldier and strategist of the kingdom, would say 
 to them when they arrived at the castle gate. I think 
 we could have held the place a year against all the 
 forces of Asturnia. But it was our intention to leave 
 it at the earliest opportunity. It was only the thin 
 end of the wedge — a resting place where we could form 
 our plans, and a base from which we could conduct our 
 operations. 
 
 Our plan of campaign was a simple one, and dictated 
 by circumstances. A map of the castle, roughly drawn 
 by Sir Thule de Brie, lay before us, and we studied it 
 carefully. It was obviously useless to batter away at 
 the castle walls, and quite impossible to storm them. 
 It was also a waste of time to wait for the enemy to 
 come into the open to be shot at, and if we were to 
 adopt that Fabian policy, the two forces might have 
 had to wait for a year, each crying defiance, but 
 making no efforts to thrust it down the other's 
 throat. 
 
 We resolved, therefore, to blow in the gates of the 
 castle with dynamite, advance two guns to cover the 
 great inner courtyard, and fight our way into the heart 
 of the fortress. It was a plan in which the advantage 
 would lie with an enemy trained and equipped for a 
 
THE SIEGE OF SANCTA MARIA. 153 
 
 hand-to-hand conflict, but it was the only Hkely one 
 that suggested itself to us. Perhaps you will smile, 
 Cordeaux, when you read of these simple arrangements, 
 but you must remember that we had no trained strategist 
 or commander in our ranks, and that our ideas were only 
 those of men who are forced to fight without having been 
 taught how to do so. 
 
 We rested ourselves for two days, for we had gone 
 through much, and the task that lay before us demanded 
 that the men should be absolutely fresh in body and 
 spirits. Hour after hour I sat quietly on the top of one 
 of the towers and examined the town through a telescope. 
 The people and buildings were most interesting to me as 
 an antiquarian. Here was a place where life had evi- 
 dently stood still for nearly eight centuries. The inward 
 development of the country had, so far as I could gather 
 from Sir Thule de Brie, tended merely to more perfect 
 methods of robbery and violence. The development 
 from without had been, of necessity, nil. Here was the 
 same architecture that one still finds in a few great 
 buildings in Normandy, the same narrow streets and lack 
 of sanitation that prevailed in the middle ages, the same 
 customs, the same atmosphere of mental inactivity and 
 physical strength that belonged to a time when a man's 
 muscles were the charter by which he lived. 
 
 The great castle itself, grim and silent in the back- 
 ground, was a symbol of sullen conservatism. A fresh 
 and equally gorgeous flag floated from the keep, but 
 there was no other sign of life on its walls. It watched 
 us like a gigantic eagle perched on some lofty crag, 
 never stirring, but with keen and open eyes. 
 
 Behind the castle lay the unknown kingdom of As- 
 turnia, and somewhere, not more than twenty miles 
 away, lay the goal of our ambitions. We were now in 
 Lat. 89° 40'. The ground sloped so steeply from the 
 shore that it was impossible to see any land beyond the 
 curve of the bay and the sharp ascent on which the 
 castle stood. We gathered, however, from various con- 
 versations with the Princess and Sir Thule de Brie, that 
 the Pole itself was most probably in Avranches, the 
 capital of the kingdom. If that were the case, it was 
 
154 DR- SILEX. 
 
 still quite possible that none of us might ever set foot 
 upon the spot. 
 
 It was now August 29th, and we already had several 
 hours of darkness each day. Whatever was to be done 
 would have to be done quickly. The thermometer, 
 however, was no lower than 48°, and it was quite pleasant 
 sitting in the sun. I concluded, which afterwards turned 
 out to be the case, that this comparative warmth was 
 due to some peculiar and internal heat below the crust 
 of the earth's surface, and that the whole land was in 
 fact the centre of intense volcanic activity. 
 
 On the night of August 31st we decided to make our 
 first attempt to drive the enemy from their stronghold. 
 In making our plans, we had received considerable 
 assistance from the merchants and common people of 
 the town, who were still at heart the enemies of their 
 king, and who had already sent us a secret deputation 
 under cover of darkness. We could not count on their 
 open assistance in the attack, as they were too deeply 
 saturated with fear of their over-lord, and too appre- 
 hensive of the consequences of defeat ; but they gave 
 us much valuable information as to the position of the 
 enemy's outposts in the town, and there was little doubt 
 that if things went at all in our favour, they would 
 swarm out to fight with us and avenge themselves for 
 five years of slavery and oppression. In one respect 
 their sympathy was practical. We had decided that 
 the success of this attack would depend more on the 
 affair being carried out by stealth than by any open 
 display of force ; and they supplied us with five hundred 
 costumes, such as were worn by the ordinary mechanics 
 in the city. 
 
 Arrayed in these garments, we sallied out after dark 
 in parties of five and six, and strolled unconcernedly 
 into the town. Two guns were unlimbered and packed 
 on a rude sort of waggon in such a way as to suggest 
 bales of merchandise. The ammunition and gun car- 
 riages were covered over and placed in a similar vehicle, 
 and both were drawn by a line of men pulling on ropes. 
 This rather peculiar sight would occasion no particular 
 comment in the town, as the horses in this country are 
 
THE SIEGE OF SANCTA MARIA. 155 
 
 limited in number and exclusively owned by the knights 
 and .noblemen. 
 
 It was nearly midnight before the whole five hundred 
 of us had passed out into the town. It was a dangerous 
 enterprise, and would have been impossible if we had not 
 been able to rely on the silence and passive assistance of 
 the people. We agreed to meet at the north end of the 
 town close to the gates of the castle, but not in such a 
 way as to attract attention, remaining scattered in small 
 groups in the neighbouring streets until the signal was 
 given. Each man was armed with his rifle, muffled up 
 to resemble a bundle of sticks or reeds, and at a pre- 
 concerted signal, the men on the forts had instructions 
 to open a heavy shell fire on the east end of the castle 
 to create a diversion in that quarter. We also detailed 
 one hundred of our men to make a feint on the eastern 
 gate from a safe distance. The main point of our attack 
 was to be the Great West Gate. 
 
 I, Sir Thule de Brie, Captain Thorlassen, and two 
 other men made our way unobserved to a small alley 
 which led into the open space round the castle. We 
 narrowly escaped detection, for no sooner had we hid 
 ourselves in the shadow of an archway, than we heard 
 the clank of steel, and six tall soldiers filed past us and 
 disappeared into the darkness. It was now after one 
 o'clock, and the streets were deserted. It was scarcely 
 possible that the guard could go far without encounter- 
 ing some of our men. Then there would be questions, 
 and the whole affair would be ablaze. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen took a rocket from under his jerkin, 
 and placing the stick in some soft earth between two 
 stones, lit a match and applied it to the fuse. It splut- 
 tered for a few seconds ; then there was a long hiss, and 
 a white line of fire streamed up into the sky. For a 
 minute there was silence ; then we saw our searchlight 
 strike the dark mass of the castle into a white picture of 
 illuminated wall and tower. Almost simultaneously 
 there was a clash of steel close by, cries, and the reports 
 of rifles. Then from the forts came the roar of guns, 
 the singing of shehs, and the yellow spurts of flame as 
 they burst over the fortress. Then from the east we 
 
156 DR. SILEX. 
 
 heard the long continuous rattle of rifles, spurting lead 
 aimlessly at a stone wall. Yet on our side there was 
 still silence, save for those few shots, and only the soft 
 creeping of many feet, and the gathering of men in the 
 shadows, and the whispered commands, as the guns were 
 swiftly mounted and moved into position by a hundred 
 eager hands. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE TRAP. 
 
 As we made our way into the square to join the others, 
 we came upon an outpost of the Royal Guard. They 
 were lying dead on the pavement, their faces shattered 
 with bullets, and four of our own brave fellows were 
 lying in a pool of blood by their side, one with his body 
 literally cut into two pieces. 
 
 I myself had obtained permission to be one of the 
 three men told off to place the charge of dynamite 
 against the Western Gate, and to fire the fuse. It was 
 not a very glorious post of honour, as the danger was 
 slight, but 1 was as yet young in war and the individual 
 act appealed to me. 
 
 We crept forward across the square without much fear 
 of being observed, for the men on the ship were using 
 the searchlight skilfully, and the western end of the 
 castle was left in utter darkness. Our soft leather shoes 
 made no sound on the smooth rock. A single yellow 
 torch flared high up on one of the flanking towers, but 
 its light was lost in the blackness before it reached the 
 earth. Our elementary ruse had apparently been suc- 
 cessful. We could hear the roar of battle on the eastern 
 side — the rattle of rifles, and the cries of men. ■ But here 
 the walls seemed to be deserted. No light came from 
 the loopholes and no arrows were sent out to search the 
 darkness. And yet those few shots, which had silenced 
 the Royal Guard, could hardly have gone unnoticed. 
 Count Guy of Marmorel was no novice in the art of war. 
 
 We reached the castle wall without mishap, and felt 
 
 157 
 
158 DR. SILEX. 
 
 cautiously along it until we came to the Great Gate. 
 Then we sank on our knees and arranged fifty pounds 
 of dynamite to the best advantage. Not a word was 
 spoken, and we worked so silently that a man with his 
 ear against the oaken doors could not have heard a sound 
 louder than the nibbling of a rat. 
 
 Then came the only perilous part of our enterprise. 
 A match had to be struck, and a match gives light, and 
 a hundred arrows sent in the direction of a light are 
 likely to strike at least one of three men who are near 
 it. We had not remembered to bring our electrical 
 firing apparatus with us, and it was now too late to 
 repair the error. Taking my matchbox from my pocket, 
 I carefully struck a wax vesta, and, sheltering it with 
 my hands, applied the flame to the fuse. It was agreed 
 that the others should run directly this was done, and 
 my companions were ten yards across the square before 
 I could blow the match out and stumble to my feet. 
 Then to my horror I felt a hand catch hold of my coat 
 collar and draw me back tight against the gates. I was 
 almost choked, but I hardly thought of that, for the 
 fuse was spluttering away at my side, and it was only 
 timed for one minute. I writhed my head round for 
 an instant and saw a light streaming from a small barred 
 hole, and against the light a bearded face and black 
 hairy arm. Then there was the sound of some steel 
 weapon being loosened in its sheath, and, quick as 
 thought, I reached under my jerkin, whipped out my 
 revolver, and discharged its five chambers over my 
 shoulder through the gi^ating. There was a groan ; the 
 grip relaxed on my collar ; and, stumbling forward, I 
 struggled to my feet and flew for my life across the 
 square, with the singing of arrows about my cars and 
 the ring of their steel on the rock beneath my feet. I 
 heard cries of pain from my comrades, and knew that 
 some of the random shots had found their mark. 
 
 Then there was a fearful roar, and a shock that threw 
 me to my feet, and for a moment the whole darkness 
 seemed to burst into flame. At the same moment the 
 searchlight, concerning the use of which minute and 
 distinct orders had been previously given, fell on the 
 
THE TRAP. 159 
 
 western face of the castle, and revealed a blackened and 
 smoky gap in the face of the stone, and a great pit 
 hollowed out from the rock, and beyond a large court- 
 yard, illuminated with half-a-dozen small torches, but 
 absolutely empty. 
 
 Our men raised a cheer, and gripped their rifles more 
 firmly in their hands. The two guns were trained on 
 the shattered gateway, and then for a few seconds there 
 was absolute silence — the silence of expectation. Then 
 like a storm of hail came the arrows, whizzing over our 
 heads, striking the stones beside us, burying themselves 
 in men's limbs and bodies, and hissing past us into the 
 darkness beyond. In reply, we fired wildly at the castle 
 walls, and deluged the courtyard with spitting bullets 
 and bursting shells. But the superiority of modern 
 weapons was useless against men securely entrenched 
 in that mountain of stone. The order to advance was 
 shrieked out above the din. I know not to this day 
 who gave it. Perhaps Thorlassen, perhaps De Brie, 
 perhaps one of the sailors. It was an act of madness, 
 but no one questioned it ; for it was impossible to stand 
 our ground, and the men were as furious as chained 
 beasts to get at their adversaries. The noise of the guns 
 ceased, and through the white smoke, glittering in the 
 searchlight like clouds about the moon, the men dashed 
 forward across the square with wild cheers and cries of 
 rage. Only the gunners — some twenty in number — 
 stood firm to their posts, ready to assist us when their 
 time came, if any of them were left alive to do so. 
 
 We reached the gateway, scrambled over the great 
 pit which the dynamite had hollowed out beneath it, and 
 poured into the courtyard. No man skilled in the art 
 of war would ever have allowed his followers to run their 
 hoads into what could easily prove a veritable death-trap. 
 The whole place was in almost complete darkness. The 
 searchlight was of no use to us, and the torches had 
 either been put out by our shell fire or else purposely 
 extinguished by the defenders. 
 
 Then someone struck a match and lit a piece of mag- 
 nesium wire, and we saw plainly in what manner of 
 place we were. The courtyard was about two hundred 
 
i6o DR. SILEX. 
 
 feet square and entirely surrounded by walls at least 
 sixty feet in height, and only pierced by narrow loop- 
 holes. A single door, made apparently of iron, gave 
 entrance to the rest of the castle. It was a fortress within 
 a fortress. 
 
 The momentary light flared out, and at the same time 
 there was the thud and crash of some enormous weight 
 falling to earth a few yards away from me, and the 
 shrieks and groans of some of our men. Then a great 
 hand gripped me by the arm, and I heard Thorlassen's 
 voice in my ear. 
 
 " For God's sake, Silex," he cried, " help me to get 
 the men out of this, or not one of them will be alive in 
 five minutes." 
 
 They had begun to fire aimlessly through the darkness 
 at an elevation which precluded the possibility of hitting 
 either friend or foe, and the only reply was the occasional 
 hiss of an arrow and a low groan as it found its mark. 
 They were as brave as lions, these hardy sailors, but 
 helpless in a })lace like this. Count Guy of Marmorel 
 could have killed us all. I wondered why only a few 
 single arrows came dropping in among us. It was like 
 a cat playing with a mouse. 
 
 We dashed frantically among the men, yelling out the 
 orders to retire, and hustling them towards the gate. 
 
 They were not unwilling to obey. The messengers of 
 death, that came dropping among them one by one, had 
 exercised a sobering influence on their rage, and with 
 one accord they began to move towards the entrance, 
 shouting and cursing in half-a-dozen different languages. 
 Then suddenly a pyramid of fire shot up from the walls 
 and illuminated the whole scene. The black crowd of 
 men jostled each other more eagerly, some turning round 
 and liring at the light behind them, others dragging 
 themselves painfully along, others staggering with 
 burdens on their shoulders — the bodies of their comrades, 
 wounded or dead. It was an anxious moment. I saw 
 the glitter of steel on the surrounding walls and heard 
 the hoarse shouts of our enemies echoed from tower to 
 tower. Then the iron doors swung back, and from the 
 entrance poured a crowd of gigantic men. I could see 
 
THE TRAP. i6i 
 
 their armour glittering in the light of the bonfire, and 
 their long swords seemed like streaks of flame. 
 
 It was no time now to fly in disorder. Captain Thor- 
 lassen and Sir Thule de Brie stopped and hastily gathered 
 twenty men around them to cover the retreat. 
 
 " Back to the guns ! " Thorlassen cried in a voice of 
 thunder to the retreating crowd. " We will keep them 
 off. Back quickly, you dogs, and don't mind us if we're 
 rushed and you have to fire." 
 
 We fired a volley into the advancing line of knights 
 and retreated with the others, but with our faces towards 
 the foe, until we reached the shelter of the archway. 
 There we flung ourselves behind the fallen masonry and 
 shattered woodwork. The enemy were not ten yards 
 away. If they once reached us, rifles would have been 
 of no more use than the clubs of a savage. Twenty shots 
 rang out simultaneously, and the mass of steel and 
 waving plumes staggered and broke, but so close were 
 they to us that one huge fellow came toppling and crash- 
 ing into our midst, and, before we could make an end 
 of him, he had twisted a man's neck as one wrings the 
 neck of a chicken. 
 
 The advance was checked, but only for a moment. 
 They came on again, and again we fired, but this time 
 it seemed as though nothing could check them. The 
 dead crashed to the ground, but living men leapt over 
 their bodies, and they swept upon us like a wave of 
 steel. Rifles were cut clean in half and sent spinning 
 from men's hands. Men themselves were flung about 
 and dashed to the ground, as rats are shaken by a 
 terrier, and for a moment it seemed as though not one 
 of us would leave that gateway alive. We were empty- 
 ing our revolvers as fast as we could into grim helmeted 
 faces, but in a hand-to-hand combat we were as children. 
 The great swords rose and fell upon us unceasingly, and 
 as soon as one shattered face sank to the ground, another 
 rose behind it. It was useless to fight. We turned and 
 fled into the square, six of us, Captain Thorlassen, I, and 
 four sailors, and the searchlight that fell upon our faces 
 was as welcome as the sun after an Arctic night. 
 
 Half way across the square we stopped, for no one 
 
 L 
 
i62 DR. SILEX. 
 
 followed, and there was still the sound of fighting at the 
 gate, and the clash of steel against steel. 
 
 " Sir Thule de Brie," Thorlassen whispered hoarsely, 
 " He is keeping them off. We must go back." 
 
 It was indeed Sir Thule de Brie, the only man among 
 us able to meet these warriors hand to hand on equal 
 terms. We saw his broad back as he was slowly forced 
 out of the entrance into the square. We saw the rise 
 and fall of his sword like a bar of light, and whenever 
 he struck, a man fell. He was their master for a moment, 
 but it could not last for long against such odds. Once 
 he had to drop his sword, catch his assailant by the 
 throat, and hurl him back among his comrades like a 
 stone flung from a mangonel. And every moment he 
 retreated a yard. He could easily have turned and fled, 
 but I suppose something in his ]:ilood forbad the thought 
 of flight. And so he fought and fought, with such fury 
 that no strength could sustain it for long. 
 
 " Quick," cried Captain Thorlassen, " we must save 
 him," and turning round, he ran across the square to 
 the guns. I followed him, wondering what he had in 
 his mind, and knowing that the guns were useless, except 
 to kill the man who had saved us. 
 
 He rushed back to the gunners, spoke a few words, 
 and a dozen men fumbled in a large grey box. Then 
 he handed me a small black thing the size of a cricket 
 ball, and putting another in his pocket, dashed back 
 across the square. 
 
 Sir Thule de Brie was still facing his enemies, but his 
 blows were less frequent and less vigorous. The j^lumes 
 were shorn off his helmet, and I could see the dark stain 
 of blood upon his armour. 
 
 "Throw when I do," Thorlassen cried, "and hard. 
 I think we can settle them." 
 
 We reached De Erie's side, and whispered in his ear. 
 Then suddenly we all three turned and fled. Our enemies 
 were taken by surprise, and we were ten yards from them 
 before they started to pursue. But they were too late. 
 We turned and flung our message to them, hard and 
 straight, catching two of them in the centre of their 
 corselets. There were two loud reports, two sharp flashes 
 
THE TRAP. 163 
 
 of light, and the whole mass reeled back and began to 
 totter like ninepins to the ground. 
 
 The dynamite bombs had done good work, and before 
 the survivors had recovered their senses, all three of 
 us were behind the guns, and the shells began to sweep 
 the remnant of our foes from the square, as an October 
 wind scatters the leaves across an empty street." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE CIRCLE OF STEEL. 
 
 Out of the two hundred men who had flung tliemselves 
 through the gates of Sancta Maria, fifty were dead, and 
 over eighty had been disabled. The gigantic Sir Thule 
 de Brie was streaming with blood from a dozen cuts, 
 but so deftly had he defended himself that not one of 
 them was of a serious nature, and he only asked an 
 hour's rest and a few bandages. Captain Thorlassen 
 and myself had escaped with a few scratches, more by 
 good fortune than by any skill of our own. 
 
 We held a brief council of war, and opinions were 
 divided as to the best course to adopt. Most of the 
 captains and a large number of the men advocated a 
 speedy return to the forts before the day broke. We 
 should then, they said, have time to recruit our strength 
 for a fresh attack, and enjoy absolute security. But 
 Captain Thorlassen was firm in refusing to desert the 
 position he had gained. He pointed out that we vir- 
 tually commanded the shattered entrance of the castle 
 with our guns ; and that if we returned to the forts we 
 might never have another chance of regaining that 
 position. It was true, he said, that we had made a 
 great mistake in attempting to storm the castle, and 
 also in neglecting to entrench ourselves before commenc- 
 ing the attack. That, however, could be remedied at 
 once. We could fight from the houses opposite the gate, 
 and a house was as good a protection from arrows as 
 any castle that was ever built. 
 
 164 
 
THE CIRCLE OF STEEL. 165 
 
 I and Sir Thule de Brie backed him up in this opinion, 
 and after a few minutes' heated discussion we carried the 
 day. A dozen men were at once despatched to the forts 
 to bear the news of what had occurred and to bring back 
 reinforcements of two hundred men, two more guns, and 
 as much ammunition and provisions as could be got 
 together in an hour. 
 
 The rest of us turned our attention to the houses 
 facing the castle gate. Fortune had favoured us in this 
 matter, for fifty yards behind our guns, and commanding 
 every inch of the square, there was a large stone house, 
 in itself almost a fortress. It belonged, so Sir Thule de 
 Brie told us, to the Governor or Mayor of the town, 
 who, in the stormy times which appeared to generally 
 prevail in Sancta Maria, was glad to be near the shelter 
 of the castle walls. A few thunderings at the heavy 
 gate gained us admission. The occupants had watched 
 the castle gate go flying and had learned their lesson. 
 A hundred hands dragged the guns inside the courtyard, 
 and with profuse apologies to the owner and his house- 
 hold, we set to work to adapt the place to our own 
 requirements. 
 
 The numerous narrow windows were sufficient loo];- 
 holes for at least two hundred rifles, and it did not take 
 long to knock out four port-holes for the guns on the 
 ground floor. We constructed them so as to command 
 the castle and the square, for the other three sides of 
 the house faced narrow streets where artillery would 
 have been useless. The house itself was built in the 
 form of a square around a courtyard, and had no entrance 
 except that which faced the castle. We could not have 
 found a better place for our purpose. It looked as 
 though with sufficient provisions and ammunition we 
 could hold our own against twenty times our 
 number. 
 
 While half of our men were engaged in fortifying this 
 place, the remainder went out on a foraging expedition, 
 and completely cleared four or five hundred of the 
 neighbouring houses of their stores of provisions. This 
 unpleasant work was carried out firmly but decently 
 by the men. Receipts were given for everything taken. 
 
i66 DK. SILEX. 
 
 and though the inhabitants understood not a word of 
 what was written on the pieces of paper, I think they 
 recognised that some pa3'ment would be made. 
 
 In less than two hours the place was thoroughly 
 fortified, and we had sufficient food, apart from what 
 would be brought us from the forts, to last for a fort- 
 night. An hour afterwards we heard the tramp of feet, 
 and the heavy roll of wheels, and then a burst of cheers 
 outside the gates. We opened them, and our comrades 
 streamed in, hauling in the guns and Maxims, and 
 dragging great waggons after them laden with food. 
 When the gates were shut, the new-comers mounted 
 guard, and we turned in for a few hours' rest. It was 
 now after four o'clock, and there was a faint greyness 
 in the sky, but the thought of daybreak kept none 
 of us from sleep, and it was after noon-day when 
 we awoke. 
 
 It was a day of rest for us. Our loaded guns were 
 trained on the gateway, but nothing moved nor stirred 
 within the castle, and the fluttering banner of Count 
 Guy of Marmorel was the only sign of life upon the 
 towers. We took the opportunity to bury our dead. 
 Two hundred j^ards behind our house, and towering 
 above the other dwellings like some huge mountain of 
 stone, rose the spires and towers of the great cathedral 
 and monastery of Sancta Maria, for the Catholic religion 
 still held its ancient sway over the hearts of the men 
 of this countrj^ and among all the turbulence and tumult 
 of this unhappy land men still found time to pray. By 
 the permission of the Father Abbot, Bishop of this place, 
 we laid our fallen comrades to rest under the shelter of 
 this citadel of God, and fired three volleys over their 
 graves. The Bishop himself conducted the service, 
 having ascertained that our religion was a branch of 
 the true faith ; and the singers of his choir chanted 
 strange but solemn melodies as the bodies were lowered 
 into the ground. We met with no interruption from 
 the castle, and were half ashamed that we had come 
 to the burying-ground tw^o hundred in number and 
 armed to the teeth, and that lurking round the corner 
 of the graveyard was the grim muzzle of a Maxim. It 
 
THE CIRCLE OF STEEL. 167 
 
 was a sad and impressive scene, and as I watched it, 
 I wondered how many of us would leave our bones in 
 this remote land. We were less than a thousand men 
 in the midst of a hostile nation ; hemmed in by the 
 everlasting ice, and cut off from all possibility of retreat 
 or succour. It would be a fight to the death, and the 
 most sanguine man could scarcely dare to hope that he 
 would come out from the contest alive. 
 
 Evening came, and still the enemy made no stir. We 
 fired an occasional shell into the courtyard just to let 
 them know that we held them in mind, but there was 
 no reply. 
 
 I took my turn with the guard that night, and from 
 the roof of the southern wall watched the waves of the 
 searchlight pass over the sleeping city and the grim 
 castle. My two companions, one a smooth-faced boy 
 of about seventeen, and the other the scarred and 
 grizzled captain of a Norwegian whaler, leant wearil3' 
 on their rifles, and stared across the sea to where 
 the lights of our ships twinkled in the darkness. 
 They did not speak, and were probably thinking of 
 home. 
 
 Then suddenly a small tongue of fire flickered on the 
 highest tower of the castle, and as the searchlight played 
 on it, I saw a thick column of smoke mount steadily 
 into the sky. A minute or two afterwards the flames 
 increased and burst through the smoke, and a clear 
 blaze illuminated the square with a ruddy glow. I had 
 no doubt that it was a signal, but to someone that we 
 knew nothing of. The men who watched by the guns 
 saw it too, and I heard the order to fire. One shell 
 after another burst against the tower, and before five 
 minutes had elapsed the blazing embers were scattered 
 out in a circle like some great firework, and there was 
 darkness. 
 
 " What do you make of that ? " I asked my com- 
 panions, as I watched the sparks fly out and die in the 
 night. The old man did not turn or answer. His head 
 was bowed on his hands, and I think he was asleep. 
 The youth sauntered over to my side. 
 
 *' The king's army is marching on Sancta Maria," 
 
i68 DR. SILEX. 
 
 he replied in a low tone, " and we shall have to 
 fight our way back to the forts through twenty 
 thousand men." 
 
 I started as I heard the voice, for I tliought I recog- 
 nised it. The youth's face was in the shade, and I could 
 not distinguish his features. His back had been turned 
 to me the whole night, and I had paid no particular 
 attention to him, being occupied with other matters of 
 more importance. 
 
 I grasped his arm, and turning his face to the white 
 glare of the searchlight, looked him squarely in the eyes. 
 They dropped before my gaze, and I stepped back witli 
 a cry of amazement and horror. It was the Princess 
 Thora. 
 
 " You here," I gasped ; " what madness ! what folly ! 
 
 Who allowed you to " 
 
 " Ahowed ! " she replied, drawing herself up with 
 dignity ; " allowed. Dr. Silex ? " 
 
 " Persuaded, I should have said," I replied sharply. 
 " I beg your i)ardon. Lady Thora, this is no time for 
 nicety in words, and this is no place for you." 
 
 " It is my place to share the dangers of those who 
 risk their lives for me, and it is sufficient that I have 
 come. No one but Captain Johansen knows, and he 
 sleeps." 
 
 A strange thrill of joy ran through my heart, though 
 I trembled to think of what might come. At last I had 
 the opportunity of protecting the woman I loved. Per- 
 chance — who knows ? — I might have the saving of her life 
 put into ni}' hands. I looked at her with fierce passion, 
 and I felt as though she could see my eyes burn through 
 the darkness. Then I clasped one of her little hands in 
 mine, and, dropping on one knee, raised it to my lips. 
 My soul was in a tumult, and thoughts of love were 
 seething in my brain, coming too thick and fast for my 
 tongue to find them words. 
 
 She withdrew her hand sharply from mine, and raised 
 it to her ear, as though listening for something. I rose 
 and moved nearer to her, and opened my lips to speak 
 that which was in my heart. 
 
 " Hush." she said. " Listen. Do you hear it ? " 
 
THE CIRCLE OF STEEL. 169 
 
 1 listened, and through the silence of the night came 
 the faint sound of clanking steel and tramping feet, like 
 the dull continuous murmur of an advancing storm. 
 We looked towards the north, and far away beyond 
 the roofs of the houses, caught the .glimpse of a 
 thousand specks of light moving like fireflies in the 
 darkness. 
 
 " The king," she cried. " King Charles the Red ! He 
 is marching from Avranches." 
 
 I did not answer, but I cursed the king deeply in my 
 heart, for I had that on my lips of more importance to 
 me than many kingdoms, and it might chance that the 
 words would never be spoken now. However, it was no 
 time for love. Even as I hesitated the sound grew louder, 
 and the long trail of lights crawled nearer and nearer to 
 the town. I raised my voice and gave the alarm. Old 
 Johansen sprang to his feet and dropped the butt of 
 his rifle on the stone floor with a loud clang. In less 
 than five mimites the whole building resounded with 
 words of command and the hurrying to and fro of 
 feet. Some cried out for an instant retreat, but their 
 comrades laughed at them. 
 
 " My secret is safe with you ? " the Princess whispered, 
 as we descended to the courtyard. 
 
 " On one condition," I replied. 
 
 " Condition ? " she queried sharply. " How do you 
 mean ? " 
 
 " You must allow me to keep by your side ; I can 
 then help you to conceal your identity, if any question it." 
 
 She consented, but gave me a look which told me 
 plainly that she read what was in my mind, and indeed 
 I was anxious to protect her from more than mere 
 curiosity. 
 
 We watched the approach of the king's army in 
 silence. Our guns were useless to check their advance, 
 and we were wise enough not to waste our rifle ammu- 
 nition. In less than a quarter of an hour the tramp of 
 feet seemed to pass round us some distance away, and 
 then it ceased altogether. Half an hour afterwards the 
 dawn rose swiftly into the heavens, and the whole land 
 was flooded with light. 
 
170 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Then, looking from the roof of the house, we saw that 
 an iron ring had been set about us, and the rising sun 
 fell on line after line of waving pennon and glittering 
 steel, forming a complete circle round the square and 
 the castle of about a mile in diameter. It was a mag- 
 nificent sight for a parade ground, but I think more 
 than one of us looked at the ships in the bay with wistful 
 eyes and wondered if we should ever set foot upon their 
 decks again. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE CARNAGE. 
 
 It looked as though we were caught Hke rats in a trap 
 but Captain Thorlassen came to my side and pointed 
 towards the forts with a smile. The circle of steel wa 
 less than half a mile from their walls. 
 
 " There is the weak spot in the chain," he said. " They 
 won't stay there long, if I know Captain Edwards. A 
 retreat will be left open to us if we want it. And, by 
 God, there will be some dead before to-night." 
 
 Even as he spoke, four white clouds floated from the 
 forts, and we saw four long gaps in the ring of steel. 
 Then the whole line of battlements began to belch forth 
 smoke and flame, and the wind which blew from the 
 sea carried a thick white haze between us and the 
 contest. When it had cleared away and the firing 
 had ceased, I saw no trace of waving pennon or gay 
 armour between us and our comrades. 
 
 " I thought so," said Captain Thorlassen, " it is our 
 turn now. Here, young fellow," turning to the Princess, 
 who stood behind me, " go down to Captain McCaul and 
 tell him to widen the embrasures so as to sweep 45° to 
 right and left. Then tell him to open fire on both sides 
 of the castle, but carefully. We shall want all our 
 ammunition before to-night." She went off, only too 
 glad to be out of his sight, and he turned to me. 
 
 " Who is that lad. Dr. Silex ? I seem to know his 
 face." 
 
 " He's on the Skylark," I replied, looking out at the 
 171 
 
172 DR. SILEX. 
 
 forts, as though the matter did not interest me. " Cap- 
 tain Bulmer told him off to do a job for me one day, 
 and he's rather taken a fancy to me." 
 
 " H'm, he looks a weakling. But lots of those poor- 
 looking chaps have grit. By Gad, Dr. Silex, we shall 
 all of us need grit to-day." 
 
 " Nothing can stand up against our guns," I replied. 
 
 " Niggers have rushed guns before now," he said, " and 
 these are no niggers, Dr. Silex, but better men than you 
 or I." 
 
 " We shall see," I replied laconically ; " strength is 
 not everj'thing." 
 
 We watched the movements of the troops around 
 us. Then there was the boom of guns beneath our 
 feet, and the masonry quivered. Our work had begun. 
 We watched the shells burst to right and left of the 
 castle, and they did their work excellently. And a few 
 minutes afterwards we saw the long circle of steel begin 
 to close in upon us. As they advanced we spat out our 
 shells upon them at the rate of four a minute, every 
 shot carefully aimed at the thickest parts of the line 
 so as to deal the greatest destruction possible. But 
 though we tore long and terrible gaps in the circle, we 
 could not check its advance. The northern part of it 
 was apparently advancing without hindrance through 
 the streets of the town. We could see nothing but an 
 occasional banner, and it was useless to waste ammuni- 
 tion with so small a hope of hitting anything. Our 
 whole attention was centred on the other three points 
 of the compass, which lay within the range of our 
 guns on the south wall, though one hundred and 
 fifty of our number lined the other sides of the 
 house, and were ready to do their best when the 
 time came. 
 
 As the advancing army drew nearer to us, we could 
 hear the hoarse cries of command, the groans of the 
 wounded, and the continual clash of steel. Our rifles 
 now opened fire, and swept the whole circle from left 
 to right like the stroke of a scythe. But the waves of 
 steel rolled on, stUl nearer and nearer, though we beat 
 them into bloody foam with our shells and bullets. 
 
THE CARNAGE. 173 
 
 When we could almost see the faces of our enemies, 
 Captain Thorlassen gave the order to cease firing. It 
 was evident, even to me, the most unwarlike of men, 
 that they intended to rush us, and that they so out- 
 numbered our little garrison that we should have to 
 literally blow them back from the walls of our fortress, 
 or else be overwhelmed. We had to reserve our 
 ammunition until the real contest began — a fight 
 not for the mere honour of the victory, but for our 
 very lives. 
 
 The ring closed in upon us until it swept along the 
 castle walls, fifty men deep in close formation. In the 
 front a forest of spears, behind these dense masses of 
 bowmen, and behind these again a triple line of knights 
 and nobles, gay with armorial bearings and golden 
 device. Captain Thorlassen watched them with a grim 
 smile. The advance had stopped, and for a minute 
 there was almost complete silence. 
 
 Then the air was darkened, and the arrows came 
 rattling against the walls like hailstones. And a few 
 seconds afterwards huge masses of rock and iron beat 
 against the masonry and shivered part of the parapet 
 into fragments. They were working their mangonels 
 from the castle walls, but they seemed unable to pitch 
 their missiles at proper elevation, for none of them fell 
 into our courtyard. 
 
 Under cover of this fire, a thousand men detached 
 themselves from the ranks and ran swiftly towards us 
 across the open courtyard, some bearing ladders and 
 some huge shields of metal, and every man of them 
 armed with a long handled axe. Simultaneously, the 
 whole building shook with the roar of our guns, and the 
 rattle of our rifles, and for five minutes we could see 
 nothing but figures leaping out of a dense pall of smoke 
 towards us, then tumbling in heaps against the very 
 walls. It was like hell let loose — the continuous roar 
 or artillery and rifle, the cries and shrieks of pain, the 
 bodies of men writhing in a thick sulphurous haze. It 
 seemed impossible that anyone could live within our 
 zone of fire. But they came at us again and again, and 
 the king was evidently determined to pour out the lives 
 
174 I^^- STLEX. 
 
 of his humbler subjects like water. There was the 
 tliunder of axes at our gates, and several ladders were 
 planted against the walls, and hurled back again to the 
 ground. Two or three men set foot upon the parapets 
 and made good use of their weapons before they fell 
 riddled with bullets. One, indeed, jumped down into 
 the courtyard itself, shattered the skulls of two men, 
 and would have annihilated the Princess herself with 
 one blow of his axe, if I had not emptied my revolver 
 in his face. 
 
 Then we heard the rifles ring out all round the building, 
 and we knew that the worst part of the battle had begun. 
 There were no guns to beat off an attack on the other 
 three sides, but we mounted a Maxim to command two 
 of the streets, and our men fought like heroes till their 
 rifles grew hot in their hands. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen came up to me, his face black with 
 smoke, and his left hand bleeding. 
 
 " We can't keep this up, Dr. Silex," he said hurriedly ; 
 the ammunition will run out. It will be a hand to hand 
 light before long, and then, God help us. Thank heaven, 
 the Princess is safe. Here, you young skulker," he 
 cried, catching sight of the Lady Thora, who was doing 
 nothing in particular, " get to the north side and let fly 
 as well as you know how. You'll get your head broken 
 in by an axe in five minutes, so you may as well make 
 some show of being a man." 
 
 The Princess turned round and looked him in the face 
 with a faint smile, and I saw his cheek whiten. I 
 whispered quickly in his ear. 
 
 " My lady," he stammered, and then, " Oh, my God 
 — it is too awful. But we will stick by you to the end, 
 and they won't touch you, if you let them know who 
 you are." 
 
 " Thank you. Captain Thorlassen," she replied with 
 quiet dignity, " I would rather die with you, than fall 
 into their hands. And I would gladly go to the north 
 wall, if I felt sure I should be of any use. But please 
 don't waste time on me, either of you. I can look after 
 myself." 
 
 " You stay with her, Dr Silex," said Thorlassen ; 
 
THE CARNAGE. 175 
 
 " put her into shelter, I will come back ; but my 
 hands are full just now." 
 
 I placed her inside the building and returned to the 
 courtyard. A minute or two later the guns ceased 
 firing, and we only heard the crack of rifles and the 
 clash of steel. B}^ degrees the smoke cleared awaj', and 
 as we looked out on the square an awful scene of death 
 lay before our eyes. A man could hardly have walked 
 across the ground to the castle without stepping on a 
 dead body. In places they lay in heaps five or six deep, 
 and men-at-arms, archers, and here and there a knight 
 and his horse were mangled together in one broken and 
 bloody mass. The battle had now shitted round to the 
 other side of the building, and on this side nothing 
 stirred save the limb of a wounded man, or the wing 
 of some bird of prey. A faint steam rose from the 
 ground as the sun beat upon it, and some distance off 
 we saw the glint of steel still circling us round. We 
 had yet to meet tlie knights of Asturnia. Only a few 
 of them lay dead in the square, and they were evidently 
 not anxious to prove their chivalry by tilting against a 
 Maxim. 
 
 The ships and the line of forts were still firing at the 
 enemy, wherever a sufficient body of them came within 
 range, and I was glad to notice that there was a clear 
 path between us and the sea. It was time for us to 
 retreat, for no reinforcements could save us, and it was 
 necessary to conduct the Princess out of danger at any 
 cost. 
 
 The battle was raging furiously now against the north 
 wall, and both our Maxims were sweeping the streets to 
 right and left. The guns on the other side were silent 
 and useless. We learnt from the gunners that they 
 had just twenty rounds left for each gun. Captain 
 Thorlassen had ordered these to be kept for an 
 emergency. 
 
 I left the Princess in the care of some of the gunners, 
 and sought out Captain Thorlassen. I found him on 
 the north wall with Sir Thule de Brie. They both 
 looked grave, and were anxiously scanning the town 
 between us and tlie forts. 
 
176 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " We must go back," I cried, breaking in upon 
 them ; " this is useless, and there is a way open for 
 us. The Princess is here, and she must be got away 
 at once." 
 
 " Yes," answered Captain Thorlassen, " and in ten 
 minutes it will be too late. We cannot hold this wall 
 any longer. The enemy won't require scaling ladders. 
 Their dead reach nearly to the parapet." And he did 
 not speak idly. The Maxims must have piled up nearly 
 two thousand men in that narrow street, and still the 
 stream of spears and axes poured out in waves against 
 the wall. 
 
 " It must be now," said Sir Thule de Brie. 
 
 Captain Thorlassen turned to the grimy and bleeding 
 men who stood near him. 
 
 " Who will stay here with me ? " he cried at the top 
 of his voice ; " the rest must retreat to the forts, and 
 we must cover the retreat. I may as well tell you, 
 boys, that there is a good chance of our not getting 
 back. I want a dozen of you." 
 
 Ten dozen hands went into the air, and thrice as many 
 would have answered if they had not been too far off 
 to hear the invitation. He quickly picked out a dozen, 
 and I afterwards learned that they were all unmarried 
 men. 
 
 I tried to persuade him not to risk his life in this 
 matter, as his authority and experience were so necessary 
 to the whole expedition, and I instanced the case of a 
 general on the field of battle. But he would have none 
 of my arguments. It was his simple faith that a captain 
 should be the last to leave his sinking shi]), and the 
 example of generals did not appeal to him. 
 
 In less than five minutes every arrangement was 
 complete. We resolved to take the guns with us, and 
 leave only the two Maxims to hold the north wall. The 
 enemy on that side would not be likely to notice the 
 withdrawal of the main force, as all our fighting had 
 been done under cover, and they had no means of judging 
 of the number of defenders left. Our departure would, 
 of course, be noticed from the castle, and probably by 
 the troops in the distance, but we should get a start of 
 
THE CARNAGE. 177 
 
 these, and might beat them off if they came too close. 
 
 rn Jn^t'f. 7"^^^^^^'°^"*^^^ necessary to keep back the 
 main attack on the north wall, as, if the firing had only 
 nnnrt^ a moment, a flood of men would have been 
 poured over the parapet, and our flight detected. 
 
 At a given signal the gates were flung open : then we 
 swung out into the open square at a st'eady t^ot The 
 guns brought up the rear, each drawn by twenty men. 
 
 J^JvTn"l!"i'\.r^l^' '''' «^ '^' ammunition was 
 ready to hand. We thought we might have use for 
 them before we reached the forts, which were quite a 
 mi e away Fortunately for us our path was all down 
 till]., and the whole race would only be a matter of a few 
 
 minutes 
 
 As we swept past the corner of the house we heard 
 k.ud shouts and cries, and knew that we had been seen. 
 i^ut Captain Thorlassen had, with admirable judgment 
 and self-sacrifice, moved one of the Maxims to command 
 the direct line between the enemy and us, and no living 
 
 the LTt ^ ^^'^ '^'^^"' °*" ''""'^^' ^^^^ ^^^P^ 
 
 waTr^.^n^^Tt^'"°Tu^'^5^- ^owever, signed their death 
 warrant The north side, deprived of half its defence 
 
 I^hfZ^"^,^\'T'^ ""^ ^?°^"^^ ^^^k ^'« ^-^ the men 
 efmi^fntr !^"^"|/T"d their guns, and caught a 
 glimpse of Captain Thoriassen wielding a huge axe against 
 half a dozen spears. Then the Maxims cefsed firl Lnd 
 as we passed round a corner the house was lost to sight 
 . We were a quarter of a mile on our road now, pass"- 
 mg down a wide street of barred doors and shuttered 
 windows. The inhabitants had retreated in^o theTr 
 she Is until the storm was over. But many a gaping 
 
 position ' '"'"" ^°'^ ''^^^'"'' °^ ^^^^ ""^ipy 
 
 whTf^P^^"^"''ff ^'f ^;'^ ^'^^'^y ^y ^^y ^'^^^ ^er face as 
 white as death. I fancy she was thinking of Captain 
 Thoriassen and the silent Maxims 
 
 fh^/'yi.°T ^'"^''.^^'^ °" ^^^ ^°^*^ ^^^1 seen us, and we saw 
 wA ^°"g line ot wall was bristling with rifles, and 
 that the muzzles of the guns had been swung into position 
 Ihen, suddenly, behind us we heard the thunder of 
 
 M 
 
178 DR. SILEX. 
 
 hoofs and the loud shouts of " Asturnia ! " "A Mar- 
 morel ! " " St. Etoile ! " and other battle cries, and, 
 looking back, we saw a wave of steel and pennons sweej) 
 across the square and begin to pour down the street. 
 The knights of the castle had been roused from 
 their inactivity, and were coming to break up our 
 retreat. 
 
 I grasped the Princess by the arm and hurried her 
 along. Three shells from the forts came hissing over 
 our heads and burst among our pursuers. The check 
 was sufficient to enable us to swing our guns into position 
 and prepare for a stand. It would have been madness 
 to have continued our flight. We should have been 
 ridden down and cut to pieces in less than five minutes. 
 The guns on the forts would be useless directly our 
 enemies came to close quarters, for every shell would 
 kill as many friends as foes. The only possible way of 
 escape was to administer so severe a check that our 
 pursuers would abandon the chase. And this would 
 have to be done in a few minutes or we should be 
 cut off by the troops with whom we had just been 
 fighting. 
 
 The knights were only two hundred yards from us 
 when the shells from the forts burst in their midst. And 
 the muzzles of our guns were scarcely trained on them, 
 before they recovered from their confusion and came 
 thundering down the hill. Six abreast they rode, in 
 glittering armour and emblazonry of gules, argent, and 
 sable, each man with lance in rest, and a huge sword or 
 axe swinging from his side. 
 
 We fired our four guns, and every rifle spurted out 
 its message of death, and the hail of iron and lead took 
 them clean abreast, ploughing long lanes of dead and 
 dying through their ranks. I saw the armour bend 
 and crinkle up like tinfoil crumpled in a man's hand. 
 Lances, swords, and morions were crushed into a shape- 
 less mass of splintered steel and wood. Men and horses 
 writhed and slipped and sank. But the hearts of these 
 knights were as strong as their iron hands. And out 
 of that hell of destruction came the unhurt and the 
 \\'Ounded, leaping the dead l:)odies of their comrades. 
 
THE CARNAGE. i79 
 
 trampling them under foot, spurring their horses as 
 their feet shpped in the blood, and rushing at us like 
 an avalanche. 
 
 Our rifles spoke three times, and our guns once again 
 before the wave of steel reached us. We literally blew 
 it back from the muzzles of our guns, and the blood 
 spurted in our faces like rain. Then there was_ a mo- 
 mentary pause, and a silence only broken by cries and 
 curses and groans. Then from the shattered column 
 rose the cry of "A Marmorel ! " "A Marmorel ! " 
 and the remnant flung themselves out of the smoke 
 upon us with a fury and strength that nothing could 
 resist. 
 
 The guns formed a barricade for us. I tell you, Cor- 
 deaux, I saw two of these knights seize a fifteen pounder 
 and fling it out of their path, crushing one of the gunners 
 with his own weapon. In less than a minute they had 
 leapt from their horses and were among us like terriers 
 in a pit of rats. 
 
 Then began a scene which beggars all description. 
 At close quarters, we were children in their hands. Tlie 
 steel of their swords and axes rose and fell in the sun 
 like flashes of lightning, shearing through cutlass and 
 rifle as a knife cuts through cheese. Men fired point 
 l)lank into the grim faces and died before they could 
 fire again. Sir Thule de Brie had five dead bodies at 
 his feet ; he waited with a dripping sword for each 
 knight that came at him, and I could see that he was 
 a mark for every blade. Nothing could stop these 
 terrible men. Half a dozen, at least, were fighting 
 with one arm hanging from its shoulder like a piece 
 of loose pulp, and most of them were streaming with 
 blood. 
 
 For my part, I clutched the Princess by the arm and 
 shrank to the rear. I had no thought of making a 
 fight, but only considered how to save her. That was 
 my small part in the contest. I managed to extricate 
 her from the melee, and slipped into a doorway. The 
 door was closed, and the position could only have given 
 us a moment's breathing space. She clung to my arm 
 and looked up in my face. I do not think she was as 
 
i8o DR. SILEX. 
 
 frightened as I was, but the sight of the carnage had 
 sickened her woman's heart. I myself knew that death 
 was near to both of us. 
 
 Then suddenly arose the cries of men in terror and 
 confusion, the shouts of " Retreat ! " "To the forts ! " 
 "For your lives!" and a tumbling, fighting melee of 
 men swept past our shelter down the street. The battle 
 was over. Our brave fellows had given way at last, 
 and it was a case of " Sauve qui pent." 
 
 Before I could decide to join in the mad race for life, 
 it was far beyond us, and from the shadow of the door- 
 way we saw none of our own men, save those who were 
 dead. 
 
 Then a gigantic shadow passed between us and the 
 light, and stopped. I laid my hand on my revolver, 
 and was ready to fire my last shot into the dark hand- 
 some face that looked sternly at us. 
 
 " Yield," he cried, " quarter or no quarter." I could 
 not help smiling. It sounded so mediaeval. But I 
 answered him, as best I could, to the effect that we 
 yielded. 
 
 He laid one great hand on each of us, and drew us 
 out into the light. I slipped my revolver back into my 
 pocket. It might be of use some day to myself — or the 
 Princess. 
 
 Our captor was a magnificent man, as tall as Sir Thule 
 de Brie and dark as night. His clean-shaven face was 
 streaming with blood from a nasty cut across the fore- 
 head, and I saw that his broken helmet had only just 
 saved him from death — it was evidently the work of 
 Sir Thiile de Brie. His eyes were keen as those of a 
 hawk, and there was something about his mouth that 
 I did not like. It was hard and cruel, and I trembled 
 to think of what might befall the Princess. 
 
 He looked at us both with searching eyes, and as he 
 did so, my gaze was riveted by his silken surtout. It 
 was torn into shreds, and blackened with powder, but 
 I thought I could recognise the armorial bearings worked 
 thereon. I had seen them when the herald came into 
 the main cabin of the Aurora. They were the arms of 
 Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 
THE CARNAGE. i8i 
 
 He did not condescend to address us further, but 
 handed us over to the charge of two archers, who con- 
 ducted us to the castle, and we had the unpleasant 
 experience of seeing the shells from our own forts burst 
 all round us. 
 
 When we reached castle, we were — as fortune would 
 have it — thrown into separate cells, and one of us, at 
 least, passed the night in thinking of the other's pain. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 
 For three whole weeks I was confined in the narrow 
 limits of my stone cell, seeing no face but that of the 
 man who brought me my daily portion of food and 
 water, and knowing nothing of the fate of the Princess. 
 
 There was a single window in the cell. It was a thin 
 sht, not more than six inches in width, and by standing 
 on tip-toe, I could catch a glimpse of the sea, and jmrt 
 of the forts. The British flag was still flying from the 
 battlements, and I saw that my comrades had not 
 abandoned their position. The ships were still in the 
 bay, and I looked at them with longing eyes, wondering 
 when they would turn their bows to the south again. 
 The discovery of the North Pole seemed to have sunk 
 into insignificance beside the stirring events into which 
 we had plunged ourselves. It appeared ridiculous that 
 men should trouble themselves about such paltry matters 
 as geography and exploration. As far as I could judge, 
 the Pole lay about twenty miles from us, but I will 
 venture to say that the thought of its ]:)roximity entered 
 into the minds of but few of those who had left England 
 to look for it. Other and larger matters had risen before 
 our eyes, matters not of mere fame and discovery, but 
 of life and death. 
 
 As far as I coifld see from my tiny window, hostilities 
 appeared to have almost ceased, and indeed, Cordeaux, 
 a single day of such fighting as I had witnessed was 
 enough to glut the most warlike nation on earth. Yet 
 I knew that, as far as our men were concerned, the in- 
 activity could only be superficial, and that they were 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR. 183 
 
 only regaining strength for some desperate enterprise. 
 They knew that the Princess was either dead or a prisoner, 
 and it was certain that they would not rest until they 
 had rescued or avenged her. It was probable that 
 Captain Thorlassen was dead, and that the command 
 had passed to Captain Edwards, of the Sveltholm. But 
 I knew that her honour was safe in his hands, and that 
 this rough Englishman would leave no stone unturned 
 to avenge our defeat. 
 
 Day after day I saw the sun rise to a lower altitude 
 in the heavens, and day by day the air grew colder, 
 and the nights grew longer. From my narrow window 
 I could see the ice pack forming in the south, and I 
 watched it creeping up from the horizon like a long 
 white wall. And, as I gazed on it, my thoughts for the 
 moment were taken off the immediate events that con- 
 fronted me, and I looked into the future, and realised 
 that we were being slowly cut off from our own world 
 by a barrier that it would be almost impossible to pass. 
 
 But these thoughts were only momentary ; I had so 
 much else on my mind that I was able to think but 
 little of my own fate. I was racked with anxiety about 
 the Princess, of whom my gaoler had told me nothing. 
 I did not even know if she were alive or dead. I won- 
 dered if her sex had been discovered, or if she had 
 managed to keep her secret in spite of all the many 
 chances of detection. I asked myself how she would 
 fare at the hands of Count Guy of Marmorel, if he once 
 knew her to be a woman, and the answer worked like 
 madness in my brain. 
 
 Then one evening; my gaoler told me that it was time 
 I worked for my living, and catching me roughly by 
 the shoulder, bundled me out of the cell, and gave me 
 a kick that sent me crashing in a heap to the bottom 
 of half a dozen stone steps. I rose almost stunned 
 and trembling in every limb. My whole soul rose in 
 revolt against the needless brutality of the act, and if 
 I had had my revolver I should have killed the man 
 where he stood. 
 
 He laughed at my white face and flashing eyes, and 
 holding me by the arm in a grip hke that of a steel vice, 
 
i84 DR. SILEX. 
 
 he led me down several long passages into tlie great hall 
 of the castle. 
 
 As we entered I heard loud laughter, and a faint 
 scream of pain or fear. My blood ran cold at the sound, 
 for it was a woman's voice. 
 
 I found myself in a room of vast ])roportions, two 
 hundred feet long, half as wide, and quite sixty feet in 
 height. From the walls hung long lines of drooping 
 banners, for the most part torn and faded, but a few 
 of them bright with armorial devices. They were 
 doubtless the ensigns of the various governors of the 
 castle. In times of peace the place was probably the 
 banqueting hall, and reserved for the Governor and liis 
 officers, but it was now turned into a kind of barrack 
 room. Stacks of lances, bows, and battle-axes were 
 piled up against the walls, the tables were littered with 
 jugs and knives, and various remnants of food, and 
 there were at least three hundred men-at-arms in the 
 room, some eating and drinking, some playing games of 
 chance, some laughing and singing uproariously. 
 
 My eyes passed rapidly over the scene in search of 
 what I feared to see, until they rested on a large group 
 of men gathered round a huge fire at the far end of the 
 hall. Their tall forms were silhouetted in a black ring 
 against the blaze, and I thought I could sec the slender 
 figure of a boy cowering in front of them, and so close to 
 the flames that they seemed to be flickering round his 
 body. 
 
 With a sudden wrench I tore myself from the man 
 who held me, leaving a piece of my sleeve in his hand, 
 and dashed down the whole length of the hall. There 
 was a brief silence for a second or two, then, as the men 
 realised who I was, there was a loud chorus of laughter, 
 and, as I passed, they pelted me with bones and bits of 
 bread. 
 
 One of them put out his leg and tripped me up, but 
 I rose to my feet again and no one troubled to prevent 
 me. But another played me the same trick, and yet 
 another, and by the time I reached the fire I must have 
 fallen half a dozen times, and each fall was greeted 
 with a fresh roar of laughter. They were quite good- 
 
" I thought I could see the slender figure of a boy cowering 
 in front cf them." 
 
 Dr. SiUxl 
 
 [Page 184' 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR. 185 
 
 tempered about my discomfiture. I scarcely noticed 
 them, but bruised and bleeding I reached the fire at 
 last, and one glance within the circle of men showed 
 me the cowering form of the Princess, her face hidden 
 in her hands, and her whole body trembhng with rage 
 or terror. Her cap had fallen off her head, and I noticed 
 with surprise that her hair had been cut short like that 
 of a boy. Three or four lances were pointed close to her 
 body, and she was forced back to within less than a foot 
 of the flaming logs. It was a form of torture not un- 
 known in the rougher days of our public schools, and 
 these semi-barbarians would probably look on it more 
 as a form of sport than as any serious cruelty. 
 
 But, knowing who the victim was, and seeing the 
 sufferings of a woman, and, moreover, of the woman I 
 loved, I became for the moment a madman, without 
 control of my reason or thought of future consequences. 
 My blood boiled in my veins, and a red light flashed 
 across my eyes hke a stream of blood, and I flung my- 
 self on the men nearest to me with the fury of a wild 
 beast, tearing them apart with my hands, and fighting 
 my way through them with such suddenness and strength, 
 that I was by the side of the Princess before they could 
 recover from their surprise, I bore the lances to the 
 ground with the full weight of my limbs and body, and 
 faced them. 
 
 " Are you men ? " I cried, using their own language 
 brokenly as best I could, and freely interspersed with 
 Latin, " to torture a — boy like this ? If you want any- 
 one to amuse you, you can have me. You cowards ! 
 If any one of you will come out in the open, I will give 
 him as much sport as he wants. But a boy — I thought 
 you were soldiers, and not curs ! " 
 
 They withdrew their lances and laughed. My chal- 
 lenge was so idle and so futile that it could not lielp 
 affording them amusement. Any man of them could 
 have fought me with one hand tied behind his back. 
 But at that moment I felt as though I could have taken 
 on any two of them with ease. 
 
 They understood enough of what I said to gather what 
 I meant, and the idea seemed to appeal to them. There 
 
i86 DR. SILEX. 
 
 were exclamations of approval, and some of them 
 shouted to their comrades in distant parts of the room. 
 The crowd round the fire broke up, and the Princess 
 came to my side. There were tears in her eyes, and 
 her clothes were singed and blackened. 
 
 " You must not do this," she whispered hurriedly, 
 " they will kill you. I must tell them who I am. I 
 should have done so, if j'ou had not come." 
 
 " No," I replied sternl}', " you shall not tell them. 
 Do you realise what it would mean — with these rough 
 men. It would be worse for you than death." 
 
 " There is still chivalry in Asturnia," she replied, with 
 flashing eyes. 
 
 " These are not knights," I answered, " but men whose 
 souls have been crushed out of them by generations of 
 servitude. You shall not tell them." 
 
 " Come along, Sir Cockcrow," cried one of the men, 
 catching me by the arm. " You have promised us 
 sport, and we mean to have it. Otherwise, the boy goes 
 back to the fire." 
 
 He dragged me into the centre of the room. The 
 men had all left their tables and had gathered them- 
 selves into a wide ring. Their grim faces were lit up 
 with the expectation of some unusual amusement. 
 
 Then a heavy bludgeon of oak was thrust into my 
 hand, and I saw the crowd open on either side of the 
 ring to let someone through. It was my opponent, and 
 even the sense of my unpleasant position could not 
 prevent me from smiling when I saw his grotesque 
 figure waddle out into the centre of the room. 
 
 He was a man of about my own height, but so enor- 
 mously broad and stout that he seemed like a dwarf. 
 He must have measured nearly four feet from shoulder 
 to shoulder, and about ten feet round the waist. His 
 limbs were of proportionate thickness, and looked like 
 great bolsters of flesh. I am myself, as you know, a 
 very thin man, and the sense of ludicrous contrast had, 
 I suppose, prompted them in the choice of their champion. 
 In his right hand this monstrosity grasped a huge stick 
 about the thickness of a scaffolding pole. In spite of 
 his unwieldy flesh, he was, in all probabilit}', of enormous 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR. 187 
 
 strength, and a single blow from that piece of timber 
 would have been sufficient to kill an ox. I noticed, 
 however, that he moved slowly, and with so much 
 difficulty that it would be impossible for him to get 
 near me, if I chose to avoid him. 
 
 The whole crowd roared with laughter as we faced each 
 other. I set my teeth and gripped my stick more firmly 
 in my hand. I was determined to make some sort of a 
 fight of it, though I was tempted to keep well out of 
 the man's reach, and I think I should have done so, if 
 the Princess had not been there to see me do battle on 
 her behalf. 
 
 I walked quietly up to within striking distance of 
 him, and as he raised his ponderous arm and weapon 
 to strike me, brought my stick down on his hand with 
 such force that it would have broken the fingers of an 
 ordinary man. It might just as well have fallen on a 
 rubber cushion, and though I saw the blood spurt up, 
 he did not loose his hold, and I only just sprang back 
 in time to avoid a crushing blow, which would have 
 probably ended my career once and for all. 
 
 Again and again I struck him, now on the face, now 
 on the legs, now on the shoulders, and each time I went 
 in peril of my life, but escaped untouched. It was hke 
 beating at the trunk of an oak tree, and his huge face, 
 which was streaming with blood, broke out occasionally 
 into a broad smile at my puny efforts. 
 
 " How like you being tickled with a straw, Orbeuil ? " 
 cried one of the men to him, and I have no doubt that 
 my blows were of as little annoyance to him as flicks 
 with a feather. I was getting exhausted, and noticed 
 with some apprehension that I was less nimble in avoid- 
 ing his blows. One of them grazed my shoulder, and 
 another caught my stick with such force that it fell 
 twenty feet away from me. I picked it up before he 
 could reach it, but I began to be more careful. I did 
 not close with him so often, and I tried to tire him out 
 by retreating round and round the ring. 
 
 Then at last I struck him so fierce a blow across the 
 top of his head that the stick broke, and, staggering back 
 from the force of the concussion, I stepped on the broken 
 
i88 DR. SILEX. 
 
 piece and came crashing to the ground. When I looked 
 up, he was standing over me, and the huge piece of 
 timber was raised above his head. There was terrific 
 applause from the spectators, and I heard the faint cry 
 of a woman. 
 
 " Not with that, Orbeuil," cried someone, " not with 
 that. Count Guy wants the prisoners alive, not dead." 
 A man rushed into the ring and handed him a slender 
 cudgel, about as thick as an ordinary walking stick. I 
 watched the change with a faint smile of interest, but 
 with little satisfaction. It was still a formidable weapon 
 in the hands of this giant. 
 
 " Now will you yield, Sir Cockcrow," he cried, with 
 a hoarse chuckle, " and let the boy go back to the fire ? " 
 
 " No," I replied faintly, " I will not yield." 
 
 For answer he caught me across the arm with the 
 stick, and I felt as though it had been touched with a 
 red hot iron. But the blow roused me to action, and 
 struggling to my knees, I gripped his leathern jerkin 
 and pulling mj'self to my feet caught hold of his stick, 
 with both hands before he could strike again. The 
 spectators cheered and laughed, and for one moment I 
 saw the white face of the Princess peering between the 
 shoulders of two stalwart men. 
 
 Orbeuil looked down in my face for a second with a 
 broad grin, then he caught hold of the stick with both 
 his hands and swung me clean off my feet into the air. 
 I set my teeth and was determined not to let go, though 
 I could have easily dropped to the ground and escaped. 
 
 He held me high above his head and began to swing 
 me slowly round in a circle. My head swam, and my 
 arms were nearly torn from their sockets, but I locked 
 my fingers on the bar of oak, and held on like a drowning 
 sailor to the plank that floats between him and death. 
 If either of us had let go I should have been swung out 
 into the circle of spectators like a sack of coals. Then 
 he suddenly stopped, and brought me down on the 
 ground with so great a shock that I lost consciousness. 
 
 When I came to, they were pouring water on my face. 
 I saw the Princess looking at me with tears in her ej-es, 
 and it was worth any pain to see so tender a look of pity. 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR. 189 
 
 Orbeuil was for finishing the work he had begun, and 
 waved his stick hghtly over my head. But some of the 
 bystanders were against it, and cried out that I had 
 proved my pluck. It was put to the vote, and I watched 
 the upHfted hands with strained eyes. Orbeuil gained 
 the day by a substantial majority, and the crowd fell 
 back to let him thrash me. It was decided that he was 
 only to have a dozen strokes, but I had no doubt in my 
 own mind that he would manage to give me all he 
 wanted in that limited number. I was too bruised and 
 shaken to rise again, and too proud to cry out for mercy. 
 
 He lifted his stick, but before he could strike, there 
 was a sudden stir in the crowd, and the Princess sprang 
 to my side with flaming cheeks and flashing eyes. 
 
 " You cowards," she cried in their own language. 
 " Do you know why this man is suffering at your hands, 
 and why he will not speak to ask anything of you ? " 
 She stopped and faced them like a young tigress. I 
 motioned her to be silent, but she turned her head, and 
 I saw that nothing would stop her now. 
 
 Murmurs of astonishment went round the ring of men. 
 They had been addressed in their own language, not 
 spoken as I had tried to speak it, but perfectly, and with 
 the accent of high birth and the tones of authority. 
 
 " I will tell you why," she continued. " I am a woman, 
 and this true gentleman has defended me with his life, 
 and would rather die than tell my secret. I am a woman, 
 and— I am not afraid." She buried her face in her 
 hands to hide her blushes. 
 
 There was a loud burst of laughter from the spectators, 
 and they crowded round her with rude stares and coarse 
 jests. Orl:»euil held out his hand, and raised me to my 
 feet. 
 
 " If it was for a woman," he said, " it was well done, 
 and well borne. I will stand by you both — but how 
 shall we know ? " 
 
 " Aye," cried the others, " how shall we know ? " 
 and one of them knocked the cap from her head. 
 
 " This is no woman," he cried. " We must see more 
 than a head of curly hair," and he laid his hand on her 
 shoulder. 
 
igo DR. SILEX. 
 
 " Stand back, you brutes," she cried, lifting her hands 
 from her face, and deahng him such a stinging blow on 
 the cheek that the marks of her five lingers stood out 
 red upon it. " Take me to one of the women of the 
 house, and she will satisfy you." 
 
 " Aye, aye," the}' laughed, " a good excuse, my young 
 cockerel ; but the women of our house care not for the 
 company of boys." 
 
 " You devils," I cried, struggling to be free from the 
 grasp of Orbeuil's arm. " Have you no shame ? If 
 you knew who this lady was, you would bite your 
 tongues out before you spoke. I tell you Count Guy 
 of Marmorel will have a word for some of you. Take 
 this lady to the women of your household, if you have 
 a spark of honour in your vile bodies." 
 
 " Na^', nay," they cried, " we will see for ourselves," 
 and one of them again grasped the Princess by the 
 shoulder. 
 
 It was the man's last action on this earth. There 
 was a quick stir in the crowd, the clank of steel, ex- 
 clamations, and a falling back of men. Then a gigantic 
 black-visaged knight sprang to the struggling girl, and 
 dealt her tormentor such a terrible blow in the face with 
 his spiked and armoured fist, that the fellow dropped 
 like a log to the ground, and his features were battered 
 and torn out of all recognition. I looked at the knight's 
 face and recognised it. It was Count Guy of Marmorel 
 himself. 
 
 " Take that man and hang him from the battlements," 
 he said quietly. " But let him come to his senses first, 
 so that he may repent of his sins." 
 
 Half a dozen men laid hold of the prostrate figure. 
 The blood was pouring from his forehead, and his face 
 was terrible to look upon. " He is dead, my lord," said 
 one of them ; " the spike of your gauntlet has pierced his 
 brain." 
 
 " So much the less trouble," the knight answered ; 
 " remove him ; and hark you, my soldiers, I do not 
 take prisoners to provide sport for your idleness." 
 
 They removed the body, and the crowd dispersed to 
 different parts of the room, leaving us three by ourselves. 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR. 191 
 
 The Princess had buried her face in her hands and was 
 trembhng from head to foot. Count Guy turned sharply 
 to me. 
 
 " Who is tliis wench ? " he said slowly ; " your wife ? 
 your " 
 
 " Stop, Sir Guy," I cried, " I am but her servant." 
 
 " I have heard," he continued slowly, looking hard at 
 the Princess, " that there was only one woman on your 
 ship. Is that so ? " 
 
 " There were two," I replied. It was not necessary 
 to tell him that one was dead. 
 
 " And which of the two is this ? " he said. 
 
 I hesitated, but the Princess raised her crimson and 
 tear-stained face from her hands, and drawing herself up 
 proudly, looked straight into his eyes. 
 
 " Sir Guy," she said quietly, " you are a knight and 
 a gentleman. I fear no ill from you. I am the Lady 
 Thora de Brie, and you received your knighthood at my 
 father's hands." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A BIRD IN A GILDED CAGE. 
 
 From the hour that the Princess declared herself to 
 Count Guy of Marmorel, we ceased to be companions 
 in adversity. For a whole fortnight I never set eyes 
 upon her sweet face, but I heard the soldiers say that 
 she had been given a magnificent suite of rooms for her 
 own private use, that she was clothed as became her 
 high station, and that a dozen attendants administered 
 to her wants. They compared her to a bird in a gilded 
 cage, and did not spare their jests on the matter. I 
 learnt from them what manner of man Count Guy was, 
 and that he was not in the habit of bestowing favours 
 for nothing, and as I listened to their coarse laughter 
 and innuendoes, my heart grew cold within me. 
 
 For myself, I was set to do the most menial tasks of 
 the household, and though I had won a certain amount 
 of favour and esteem by my combat with Orbeuil, yet 
 I was still looked upon as the lawful butt of practical 
 jokes and clumsy wit, and 1 often wished myself back 
 in my solitary cell. 
 
 During these days of separation, darkness completely 
 settled down on the land, and I saw for the first time 
 how these extraordinary people had succeeded in creating 
 an artificial daylight for themselves. The Princess and 
 Sir Thule de Brie had previously told me of the great 
 fires which during the winter night blazed for twelve 
 hours out of every twenty-four, but now I had an oppor- 
 tunity' of seeing the strange spectacle with my own eyes. 
 
 As far as the eye could reach long columns of brilliant 
 192 
 
A BIRD IN A GILDED CAGE. 193 
 
 flame leapt up into the darkness. The town itself was 
 a blaze of light, and the summit of every hill was crowned 
 with fire. The first impression I had of this wonderful 
 sight was that these flames served only to magnify the 
 sense of the great darkness over the land, but when my 
 eyes grew accustomed to the light I realised that every 
 detail of the landscape was clear to me. The Asturnians 
 had very nearly succeeded in turning night into day, 
 and it was possible for them to carry on the ordinary 
 pursuits of life through all the Arctic winter. 
 
 One of these pillars of light was just outside the castle 
 walls, and I took the opportunity of examining it more 
 closely. It issued straight from the rocky ground through 
 a brick-lined funnel some four feet in diameter, and went 
 roaring and spurting skywards to a height of over forty 
 feet. The heat from it was so great that, although it 
 was twenty yards away from me, I could scarcely put my 
 head out of the window. I noticed that a great steel 
 lid several inches in thickness swung downwards on 
 hinges from the side of the funnel, and that long steel 
 chains trailed away from it over the ground. The 
 bricks and part of the lid were white hot. The fire was 
 lit by the simple expedient of leaving a burning torch 
 by the edge, retiring to a distance, and raising the cover 
 by chains. It was extinguished by the mere closing of 
 the lid. 
 
 A peculiar feature of these fires was the clockwork 
 regularity with which they were lit and extinguished — 
 a regularity which, I understood, had not been broken 
 for five centuries, and which was as sacredly observed as 
 any tenet of the national religion. I learnt that in the 
 far past a wise Archbishop of Avranches — the representa- 
 tive of the Pope in that remote island of the north — 
 had proclaimed the curse of God on all or any who 
 might disturb the regular sequence of artificial day and 
 night, and either light or extinguish the fires for their 
 own private ends. This proclamation, prompted by the 
 wisdom of man, had come to be regarded as an edict 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 I could see at a glance the origin of the flames. They 
 were simply jets of natural gas, which poured out from 
 
 N 
 
194 DR. SILEX. 
 
 some sulphurous reservoir, and I was confirmed in my 
 opinion that the whole island was but a crust on the 
 surface of some great internal fire. It was small wonder 
 that the Asturnians were able to cope with the rigours 
 of an Arctic winter. But, as I watched the bluish white 
 light go streaming up to the sky, I wondered how this 
 nation could live so cheerfully in the present, without 
 fears for their future existence. It seemed to me like 
 living on a barrel of gunpowder with a million sparks 
 flying round it. Only complete ignorance could produce 
 such a calm disregard of the possibilities of a terrible 
 catastrophe. Though doubtless a practical Asturnian 
 would have answered any scientific conjectures on my 
 part with the simple statement that the country had 
 existed for eight centuries, and might well last another 
 thousand years. 
 
 The Asturnians, however, provided in this manner 
 with an artificial light which enables them to pursue 
 their occupations during the winter months, lived a life 
 not very different in scope and character from that of 
 their ancestors in Normand}'. They have made but 
 little progress in anything but the art of war, and the 
 continual feuds between rival lords, and between various 
 hostile parties in the state, have left but little time for 
 men to think of ought but the sharpness of their swords 
 and the strength of their habitations. Yet even this 
 endless warfare has served one good purpose, for it has 
 kept down the population within reasonable limits. 
 
 The country itself seems to be a land of plenty. It 
 is remarkabl}^ rich in fruit and cereals. The earth is a 
 veritable hotbed, and plants spring up with the rapidity 
 of mushrooms. The corn is sown in May and reaped in 
 August. In the same period trees bud, and blossom, and 
 bear fruit, and lose their foliage. Vines and olive trees, 
 stunted but prolific, are in abundance. Fish swarm 
 round the coast. A species of musk ox and a multitude 
 of liarcs and birds supply as much flesh as the nation 
 can consume. A kind of spider, which appears to be 
 almost too abundant, spins a fine substance which is 
 scarcely to be distinguished from silk. This provides 
 clothing for the rich. The poor depend on skins and 
 
A BIRD IN A GILDED CAGE. 195 
 
 the feathers of birds, which they weave into wonderful 
 garments. 
 
 The more barren parts of the island are rich in gold 
 silver, iron, copper, and lead. But for the six months 
 of darkness, which at present would weigh heavily on 
 rny nerves, the island seems to be a most desirable 
 place. 
 
 I propose, Cordeaux, at some future date, to write 
 you a detailed account of this nation and country. For 
 the present I am unwilling to interrupt the course of 
 my narrative with more than these few passing remarks 
 When a fortnight had elapsed, I received a summons 
 to attend the pleasure of the Princess Thora. An 
 effeminate and silk-clad youth brought the message, and 
 with an escort of two soldiers, conducted me to her 
 private apartments. 
 
 I passed through three ante-rooms. The first was 
 inhabited by a young squire and a file of ten soldiers ; 
 the second, which was handsomely decorated was 
 empty save for a couple of brilliantly-dressed 'pages 
 playing some game at a table in the corner. The 
 third at the door of which we knocked, contained four 
 members of the fair sex, three of them young and 
 beautifu women gorgeously attired, and the fourth 
 an elderly person of somewhat forbidding aspect. The 
 youth with me stopped and bowed. 
 
 "Is it her Highness's pleasure to receive us > " he 
 said with a sly glance at one of the girls. The old 
 MJ"^^^ ^'^^ '''' ""^^ ^^ exceeding dignity, and knocking 
 at the door on the far side of the room, entered and 
 closed it behind her. 
 
 I looked round the room and almost felt inclined to 
 turn back. My heart was chilled at the sight of so 
 much form and ceremony. I began to realise to the 
 full the distance that lay between me and the woman 
 1 loved On board ship she had been little more than 
 a sweet and noble woman, of a proud and dignified 
 manner indeed, but not set apart in a world of her own 
 nor fenced about with pomp and circumstance. Here 
 she was housed as a queen, while I was cleaning up the 
 pots and pans in the soldiers' kitchen. And then there 
 
196 DR. SILEX. 
 
 was Count Guy of Marmorcl — a man who never spent 
 his gold in vain. What purpose had this tall dark- 
 visaged warrior ? He was a knight and a gentleman, 
 but 
 
 My unpleasant reveries were broken by the re-entrance 
 of the duenna. She signified that Count Guy of Mar- 
 morel and the Lady Thora would receive us. The 
 soldiers fell back respectfully on each side of the door, 
 and I followed the page into the apartment. 
 
 It was a large room with a vaulted ceiling. This was 
 painted a pale blue with golden stars, and the walls 
 were hung so thickly with a damask of dark blue and 
 gold that not an inch of their grey stone could be seen. 
 The floor was strewn deep with rushes, and a huge fire 
 of logs blazing in the open hearth filled the whole apart- 
 ment with a warm glow of heat and light. 
 
 The Princess was not alone with Count Guy of Mar- 
 morel, and for that I gave much thanks. A slender, 
 fair-haired girl was in attendance on her, and the two 
 were laughing together on a couch as I entered. Count 
 Guy stood a few paces off. He was clad in complete 
 armour, save for his plumed helmet, which lay upon the 
 table. He was apparently lost in thought. He did not 
 look up as I crossed the room, but gnawed his mous- 
 tache and frowned. 
 
 My dear lady rose to her feet, and stepping forward 
 a pace or two to meet me, stretched out her hand. I 
 bent upon one knee and kissed it. 
 
 " My dear friend," she said in English, " my dear 
 friend. How much you have suffered for my sake. It 
 is impossible to repay you by any word or deed of mine." 
 
 " I am repaid already," I replied, rising to my feet, 
 and loosing her little hand from mine, " and am willing 
 to let you run up a larger debt. The security is ample." 
 
 She laughed, but there was a tender look on her face 
 which did not escape the keen eyes of Count Guy of 
 Marmorel He did not understand the words that 
 passed between us, but I saw the lines deepen on his 
 face, and he gave an impatient movement which brought 
 the sword at his side clanking against the leg of the table. 
 
 " You can go, D'Arcy," he said sharply to the page, 
 
A BIRD IN A GILDED CAGE. 197 
 
 who bowed and left the room. Then he turned to me, 
 and the expression on his face was not a pleasant one. 
 
 " Tlic Lady Thora," he said slowly, as if weighing 
 every word, " has told me of your good services. She 
 desires that you be in attendance on her, and her desire 
 amounts to a command. Do you understand what I am 
 saying ? " 
 
 I nodded assent. I understood him to mean a gallant 
 compliment to the Princess, which I did not relish, and 
 I bit my lips with rage. 
 
 " I am assured," he continued, " that you know your 
 station in life, and that you know hers, and what is due 
 to her. You will of necessity not presume on your past 
 services." He stopped and smiled at the dark flush 
 that rose over my face. The Princess looked at him 
 with contempt, and her face was like a mask of stone. 
 
 " The Lady Thora," he continued, " is my most wel- 
 come guest, but is still a prisoner of my lord the king. 
 Any attempt at escape on her part will involve punish- 
 ment. We do not inflict punishment on women, but we 
 shall hang you from the battlements." 
 
 I bowed. " I thank you, Count Guy," I said, speaking 
 the language as best I could. " I will accept the service 
 and all the risks attached to it." 
 
 And so once more I was brought into contact with 
 my dear lady. I was clothed in silks and satins, richly 
 embroidered with gold, and became a fourth page in 
 waiting, a part whicli sat rather absurdly on my shoul- 
 ders. I had httle work to do, but from the date of 
 my appointment, m}^ three companions held sinecures. 
 If anything was required, it was I who was sum- 
 moned, and every little task was an excuse for a few 
 minutes' conversation. This created no jealousy. The 
 others were left free to lounge and flirt in the ladies' 
 chamber. 
 
 I noticed, however, that I was never allowed to see 
 the Princess alone. The fair-haired girl, who was, so I 
 learnt, no less a person than Count Guy's daughter, the 
 Lady Margaret de Marmorel, was always in attendance. 
 She was a charming girl, sweet both in face and tem- 
 perament, and I lost no opportunity of making myself 
 
1 98 DR. SILEX. 
 
 pleasant to her, though I often wished she would leave 
 us a little to ourselves. Count Guy, on the other hand, 
 had many interviews with my lady alone. On those 
 occasions his daughter would absent herself on some 
 excuse or other, and no page or lady-in-waiting ever 
 interrupted the interviews. And every time the knight 
 strode through our room on his wa}^ to her chamber, 
 my mind became a seething hell of doubt, suspicion, and 
 despair. I clenched my hands, and averted my face 
 from his, and would have sprung at his throat, if common 
 sense had not prevailed and whispered in my ear that 
 my death would in no way improve the situation. 
 
 Yet when he returned from these visits, my heart beat 
 fiercely with joy and hope, for he generally came back 
 like a thunderstorm, with darkened brow and flashing eye, 
 and a look on his face that boded ill for anyone in his 
 path. I chuckled with savage glee at every little sign 
 of his wrath and discomfiture. My lady was evidently 
 not too kind to him. 
 
 For a whole week I had the wild idea in my head that 
 Count Guy was attempting to dishonour my dear lady, 
 and that she had spurned his advances with such firm- 
 ness and regularity that she had driven him to a state 
 of mind bordering on madness. I had started with this 
 idea, founded on a fairly accurate estimate of Count 
 Guy's character, and had not stopped to reason the 
 matter out. But one day, after Count Guy had gone 
 in, I happened to be in the ladies' room and saw the 
 Lady Margaret come out, with an arch smile on her 
 pretty face, and like a flash of lightning a new and more 
 reasonable suspicion entered my mind. The Lady 
 Margaret was evidently helping her father in his cam- 
 paign. It was hardly likely that she would assist him 
 in another woman's downfall, or even that he would ask 
 her to do so. Count Guy was a widower. Perhaps he 
 intended marriage ; though at first sight marriage with 
 the sworn enemy of his " lord, the king," seemed an 
 unlikeh^ and even impossible event. But on turning 
 the matter over in my mind, a sudden idea struck me, 
 and I resolved to watch and wait until I could learn 
 the truth. 
 
A BIRD IN A GILDED CAGE. 199 
 
 From the broad windows of our ante-room I had an 
 uninterrupted view of the sea and the town. The ice 
 was now within half a mile of the shore, though there 
 was still a passage to east and west, and the vessels 
 were lying quite close to the forts. The English flag 
 still fluttered in the breeze, and *night after night 
 searchlights played over the town and castle, and threw 
 white lines across the room in which I slept. 
 
 For hours in the day-time, by the light of the great 
 fires, I would watch the small black specks moving 
 along the decks of the vessels, and behind the parapets 
 of the long sea wall, and was thankful for this one link 
 with my companions. But I looked in vain for any sign 
 of activity on their part. After the defeat, they seemed 
 to have settled down to a kind of armed neutrality, 
 content to let the Princess work out her own affairs in 
 her own wa}^, and apparently careless of what happened 
 to either her or her kingdom. But I knew in my heart 
 that this could not really be so. Sir Thule de Brie was 
 still with them, and I knew that he would not rest until 
 he had rescued his mistress or died in the attempt. Still, 
 it was strange that no word nor sign had come from him. 
 I certainly expected that he would have made some 
 effort to communicate with us. 
 
 Meanwhile, I watched my dear lady's face for some 
 signs by which I could read the story of Count Guy of 
 Marmorel. She never spoke of him, except in terms 
 that could have been applied to any kind and courteous 
 host. I think a nice delicacy on her part prevented her 
 from discussing him in his daughter's presence, even 
 though she spoke in a language that the daughter could 
 not understand. And the Lady Margaret was always 
 with her, so we had no opportunity of talking alone. 
 All the information that I could glean was written on 
 her sweet face. I noticed with anxiety that it grew 
 paler from day to day. I might have put this clown 
 to her enforced captivity, if I had not also noticed the 
 
 * Whenever the words "night" or "day" are used in my 
 narrative during the winter months, they merely signify the 
 Asturnians' own division of the twenty-four hours into equal 
 periods of light and darkness. 
 
200 DR. SILEX. 
 
 shadows in her eyes and the new Hnes of thoughtfuhiess 
 and perplexity on her fair white brow. It seemed to me 
 that she was thrashing out some problem in her mind, 
 and was unable to find a satisfactory solution. 
 
 Then one day the whole truth was flashed before my 
 eyes like a blaze of lightning across a dark sky. On 
 October 20th I was serving my lady in some trivial 
 matter — I think I had to convey some message to the 
 kitchen about her meal — when the Lady Margaret went 
 suddenly white as a sheet, and leaned back on her stiff 
 oaken chair with closed eyes. In a second the Princess 
 was by her side, holding her hand, and using such words 
 as women have towards each other on these occasions. 
 The girl opened her e5^es, and asked to be excused from 
 attendance for a few minutes. The Princess opened the 
 door and summoned a stern duenna to assist her from 
 the room. The door closed, and we were alone. I knew 
 Count Guy's instructions, and realised that it would not 
 be for more than a minute or two, until the slight con- 
 fusion had settled down. I resolved to come to the 
 point at once. 
 
 " Poor girl," the Princess murmured ; but I am afraid 
 that I dismissed the Lady Margaret from my mind with 
 an indifference that amounted to brutality. 
 
 " Lady Thora," I cried, coming up close to her, " we 
 are alone for the first time since — since that awful night 
 of defeat and bloodshed. I want to know the truth. 
 I have no right to ask it, save that I wish to serve you. 
 But I want to know the truth. What does Count Guy 
 of Marmorel require of you ? " 
 
 She stepped back from me wdth a look of surprise, 
 and even of anger, on her face. Her eyes blazed, and 
 for a second I lowered my own. Then I looked her 
 squarely and unflinchingly in the face. 
 
 " What does Count Guy of Marmorel want with you ? " 
 I repeated slowly and sternly. " If you cannot answer 
 me, I will ask him myself." 
 
 For a few seconds her eyes met mine, and I fought 
 them with my own till the light of anger died away in 
 their depths, and the blood rushed to her cheeks. She 
 opened her mouth to speak. Then there was a sound 
 
A BIRD IN A GILDED CAGE. 201 
 
 of voices in the outer room, and I could hear the clank 
 of steel. " It is Count Guy," she cried, catching me by 
 the arm. 
 
 " Well ? " I said quietly, " so much the better. I can 
 ask him what I want to know." 
 
 " If he finds you here, he will kill you," she cried, 
 looking up into my face. " Quick, Dr. Silex, you must 
 hide. For my sake, for my sake." She looked at me 
 in such a way that no resolution of man could have held 
 out against the appeal. 
 
 I slipped behind some hangings which covered a small 
 recess in the wall, and she held out her hand. I kissed 
 it, and a moment later the door opened, and I shrank 
 into my place of concealment. Through a small rent in 
 the damask, no bigger than a threepenny piece, I saw 
 Count Guy, tall, handsome, and soldier-like, on the 
 threshold. He was clad in complete armour, as if 
 prepared for war, and his dark face was lit up as though 
 he anticipated a victory. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A TRAITOR TO THE KING. 
 
 For a moment he stood in silence. The Princess bowed 
 stiffly, and looked at him with questioning eyes. It 
 was evident that his love suit was not prospering as he 
 would wish. He turned round, and, closing the door, 
 walked across the room to her side. 
 
 " You are alone ? " he said quietly, giving a swift 
 glance round the apartment. I shrank closer to the 
 wall, and began to wish that I held some weapon in my 
 hand. It was probable that someone outside had told 
 him that I was in attendance on the Princess. 
 
 " Your daughter is not well," she answered, " as 
 perhaps you saw before you entered." 
 
 " I saw nothing," he cried passionately, " and thought 
 of nothing but you, my dearest queen. I have news 
 from the king of the highest importance, and I can stay 
 but a few minutes. He upbraids me with inactivity, 
 and asks me why I have not blotted out your followers 
 from the face of his land." 
 
 " He would get an answer to that," she replied with 
 a smile, " if he came himself." 
 
 " Aye, if he came here and saw me now," he said 
 tenderly. 
 
 " I meant," she replied coldly, " that he would find a 
 quite sufficient answer, if he asked it a quarter of a mile 
 from the mouth of our guns." 
 
 " Pshaw," he said, " you do not think I am afraid. 
 We can afford to lose a few men. Numbers must tell 
 
A TRAITOR TO THE KING. 203 
 
 in the end. But why talk to me hke that ? You know 
 the reason of my inactivity. You know why I have 
 spared your followers. You know why I, Count 
 Guy of Marmorel, have forfeited my sworn honour 
 as a knight." 
 
 " It is no honour to serve your king— a murderer and 
 a tyrant. You swore to serve my father. He gave you 
 your knighthood, yet you helped to steal the kingdom 
 from his only child." 
 
 Count Guy came a httle closer to her. " It is possible 
 to make amends," he said in a low voice. She looked at 
 him steadily. I do not know what he read in her eyes, 
 but I saw his own flash dangerously. 
 
 " A man may make a mistake," he continued ; " he 
 may repent, and wish to make honourable amends." 
 
 And why should Count Guy of Marmorel repent ? " 
 she asked. " He is high in the service of his kine, and 
 may rise higher." 
 
 \\ ^^i' ^e muttered, " and he may rise higher." 
 He is a bulwark of his lord and master," she went 
 on m a voice that must have cut the man to the heart 
 if he really loved her. " If all I hear is true, he props 
 up the rotten edifice he helped to build." 
 
 Count Guy was silent for a moment. Then a burst of 
 passion seized him. He caught her by the arms and 
 looked into her face as though he would devour it. " The 
 bulwark is broken," he cried, " shattered, crumbled into 
 a thousand pieces— and you have broken it, and may 
 break my heart as well. Lady Thora, I have asked you 
 to be my wife. I love you with all the passion of a man 
 whose conquests have been on the battle-field rather 
 than in the courts of love. I care for nothing if I have 
 not you. The favours of the king ! Bah, toys for fools ! 
 It you will consent to be my wife, I will forswear all, 
 king, country, wealth, position, everything, absolutely 
 everything ! I will return with you in secret to the 
 torts. We will embark on your ships. There is always 
 a tew hundred yards of clear water round these coasts. 
 We will wait until the summer, until the ice breaks 
 up, and we can return to those other countries vou 
 speak of. -^ 
 
204 DR. SILEX. 
 
 I knew that he spoke idly, for it was more than hkely 
 that the ice barrier would never be broken again. But 
 the Princess Thora looked straight into his eyes and I 
 could read nothing from her face. 
 
 " I do not love you," she said slowly ; " I shall never 
 love you, Count Guy of Marmorel. You are a brave 
 and honourable soldier, according to the standard of 
 this unhappy land, but there is too much blood between 
 us. I thank you for your offer. Made to a captive, 
 from whom you might have enforced favours and not 
 sued for them, it does you much credit." 
 
 " I am the captive," he said, loosing her arms and 
 striding across the room to the window, " and you have 
 made my captivity very hard for me." 
 
 " I am sorry," she replied simply. He returned 
 swiftly to her side, and in the white light of the flaring 
 lires outside, his armour looked hke some tall pillar of 
 flame. 
 
 " Why do you tempt me ? " he said ; " you know 
 I am all powerful in this castle. Why do you tempt 
 me to do you wrong ? I tell you my passion has so 
 burnt up my brain, that before long I shall not know 
 the difference between good and evil." Then he suddenly 
 pressed his great hands to his face, and his whole frame 
 shook. For a few seconds he did not speak ; then he 
 flung himself on one knee and kissed her hand. 
 
 " Forgive me," he cried hoarselj' ; "I did not mean 
 it. I was taken beyond myself." 
 
 " I know," she answered softly ; " I know, too, that 
 Count Guy of Marmorel is a gentleman, and a soldier 
 who will fight even with temptation." 
 
 He walked over to the window, and looked out on the 
 sea. For quite a minute there was complete silence. 
 I wished myself far away. I was dishonoured by 
 listening to the outpourings of this man's heart, and 
 was almost tempted to reveal myself. But I re- 
 flected that this would mean my death. Count Guy 
 was in no mood to trifle with an eavesdropper. So 
 I consoled myself with the thought that I was an 
 unwilling listener. 
 
 '' Come here," he said suddenly, " I want to show you 
 
A TRAITOR TO THE KING. 205 
 
 something," and the Princess walked slowly over to his 
 side. 
 
 " Well ? " she asked. " I have looked from that 
 window often, and there is nothing I do not know." 
 
 " There," he said mechanically, and as though not 
 heeding her reply, " are your forts. Beyond are your 
 ships. Beyond them again a plain of ice stretching as 
 far as the eye can reach, a barrier that will not break 
 until many months of darkness have past." 
 
 " It will never break," she said quietly. 
 
 " There is your httle army," he continued, " some 
 six hundred in number, if indeed we have left so many 
 of them. Rats in a trap, with ultimate starvation 
 staring them in the face." 
 
 " You know nothing of their supplies," she 
 broke in. 
 
 " Rats in a trap," he continued, not heeding the 
 interruption, " waiting until we choose to kill them. 
 Their guns, from what I have learnt, cannot be fed for 
 ever. A week of such fighting as we had in the last 
 battle will silence them. But our swords will only grow 
 sharper with combat. We have so many men that we 
 can afford to throw life after life against you, until we 
 wear you out. And our soldiers will not spare them- 
 selves. As you know, battle is the Hfe and breath of the 
 Asturnian. Starvation ! Ruin ! Death ! That is the 
 prospect that you see from the window, Lady Thora. 
 Do you see it now in a new light ? " 
 
 " I have seen it like that before," she replied, " when 
 I was weak and foolish. When I am brave and sensible 
 I only see a gallant band of strong-hearted men who will 
 not rest till they have torn your king from his throne." 
 As she spoke, her eyes flashed, and she drew herself to 
 her full height. Count Guy folded his arms and regarded 
 her with a faint smile. 
 
 " Lady Thora," he said in a cold and quiet voice, 
 " it is possible to be both brave and foolish. You know 
 as well as I do that you are a prisoner in an almost 
 impregnable castle, that twenty thousand men are at 
 my service to keep you here, and that your expedition 
 is doomed." 
 
2o6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 She was silent. Then she suddenly turned round 
 on him. " Why do you wish to impress these facts on 
 my mind ? " she cried sharply. " If they are true, will 
 your presence on the ship as my husband save any lives, 
 or give me my kingdom ? " 
 
 He did not answer, but left her side, and paced up and 
 down the room several times, as though meditating 
 some new move in the game. I could see that he was 
 biting his lips and that his hands were clenched. Then 
 he suddenly stopped, and, drawing his sword from its 
 belt, cast it on the floor at the Lady Thora's feet. 
 
 " That is my answer to your question," he said. " I 
 am your servant. I will fight for you and with whom 
 you will." 
 
 She looked at him hard, as though she scarcely realised 
 what he meant. " With whom I will ? " she asked in a 
 low voice. " What do you mean, Count Guy ? " 
 
 He did not answer for a moment, but looked upon the 
 ground, and a red flush came to his cheek. Then, after 
 the pause, he raised his eyes to her face. 
 
 " I mean," he said slowly, " that there are ten thousand 
 men in the king's army who would follow me anywhere 
 and in any cause, and that the king himself only retains 
 his throne by the will of his soldiers. Do you understand 
 me now ? " 
 
 A strange and new light flashed into her face, and my 
 heart grew cold as I watched her features. Then it 
 died away and gave place to a quick look of horror and 
 disgust. 
 
 " I understand you. Count Guy," she answered ; " the 
 king is fortunate in having such a servant. I did not 
 know it was possible to buy the honour of a knight of 
 Asturnia." 
 
 " I can bear your taunts," he said in a passionless 
 voice ; "we are discussing business now. I have made 
 you an offer and have named the price." 
 
 She moved away from the window, and her feet struck 
 the sword that lay upon the floor. She stopped sud- 
 denly and laughed. 
 
 " I understand you now. Count Guy," she said con- 
 temptuously ; " you have played the part of an ardent 
 
A TRAITOR TO THE KING. 207 
 
 lover to perfection. You have not been wooing me, 
 but a kingdom. By yourself you could never reach the 
 throne. I am the daughter of a king to whose memory 
 all the poorer classes are still devoted. If I were by your 
 side the whole country would rise and support our arms. 
 I am your stepping-stone, and you tempt me with an 
 offer of that which is nearest and dearest to my heart. 
 I do understand you, Sir Guy — now." 
 
 He made a step towards her, and caught her by the 
 wrists. " By all the saints ! " he cried out, " you do 
 me a great wrong, Lady Thora. It is not I who have 
 tempted you. It is you who have tempted me — to 
 sacrifice my honour as a knight. I love you more than a 
 thousand kingdoms. Can you not read it in my face ? 
 Can you not hear it in my voice ? " 
 
 She looked at him coldly. " When I was in England," 
 she said, " I saw men and women pretend to be what 
 they were not, and feign emotions that they did not feel — 
 for the amusement of the people. They feigned the 
 passion of love most wonderfully." 
 
 " You will drive me mad," he cried hoarsely. 
 
 " There is, however," she continued in cold, even tones, 
 " no need to discuss the question of love. It is in- 
 different to me whether you love me or not — save, 
 perhaps, that my woman's vanity is a little piqued. 
 Your proposed bargain is a purely commercial one. I 
 do not love you, and it is perhaps better that there should 
 be no sentiment on either side." 
 
 " You are right," he replied in a voice as calm as her 
 own. " It is purely a matter of business. Look on me 
 as an instrument, a means to an end, an opportunity 
 of gratifying the true love of your heart — the welfare 
 of your country. On the one hand, I sell you an army, 
 and — my honour." 
 
 " On the other," she replied, " I sell you the key to the 
 hearts of the people — and myself. It is well to be plain 
 about the matter." 
 
 " It is well to be plain," he said. " These are the 
 terms. Do you accept or refuse them ? " 
 
 She moved once more to the window and looked out 
 to where the great barrier of ice stretched along the 
 
2o8 DR. SILEX. 
 
 horizon. From the look on her face I think she reahsed 
 that Count Guy had spoken the truth. The fate of the 
 expedition was sealed. Her followers were rats in a 
 trap, waiting until their foes chose to kill them. My 
 heart was sick with pain and apprehension. She could 
 fulfil her dearest hopes and ambitions with a single word, 
 and with the same word could strike out all the happiness 
 from my life. 
 
 Count Guy came to her side. " Before you choose," 
 he said, " I would place the matter clearly before j^ou. 
 I can fulfil my })art of the bargain. The king has op- 
 pressed his country, and his throne is tottering on its 
 foundations. You yourself have said that I support it. 
 If I withdraw my support, the kingdom falls. I will 
 take no advantage of you. I will not ask you to marry 
 me until you hav^e been crowned Queen of Asturnia. 
 There will be no misalliance. The blood of kings runs 
 in my own veins." 
 
 She was still silent and looked out across the ice. 
 And even as she looked, the Great Fires suddenly died 
 out and the night began. And with them all hope died 
 out from my heart. 
 
 For I had expected an indignant rejection of the offer, 
 a few scathing words of scorn, a sharp dismissal of the 
 subject. But she was only silent. 
 
 " Do you know, too," he continued, " that your 
 followers are in revolt ? They have watched the ice 
 close in upon them until they are sick with terror. Three- 
 quarters of the men are for leaving you to your fate. 
 Any moment these ships of 3'ours may go west in search 
 of some escape from their prison. It is no time for 
 maidenly scruples and delays. Remember that this 
 is merely a marriage of convenience, and remember, 
 too, that to-morrow you may look from that win- 
 dow and see nothing but an empty waste of ice 
 and sea." 
 
 " How do you know this ? " she asked quickly, without 
 looking at him. 
 
 " I have been in correspondence with your leaders," 
 he replied ; "I have suggested to Sir Thule de Brie the 
 possibility of my assistance." n\ 
 
A TRAITOR TO THE KING. 209 
 
 " And did you mention the price you ask ? " 
 " No, I did not mention the price I ask. I do not 
 ask it of Sir Thule de Brie." 
 
 Again there was silence, and I heard nothing 
 but the beating of my own heart and the rusthng 
 of the rushes, as Count Guy stirred them with one 
 of his feet. 
 
 " Remember your love for your country," he said, 
 after a pause ; " remember your oppressed people." 
 
 But still there was silence. 
 
 " Your followers have sacrificed their lives in this 
 cause," he continued. " Are you not prepared to sacrifice 
 anything ? " 
 
 But still there was silence. 
 
 Then suddenly I saw the face of the Princess faintly 
 silhouetted against the window. I started, for the only 
 light outside that I knew of was due to the reflection 
 from the city lamps and the sky. And this could not 
 be occasioned by any such cause. But even as I looked, 
 the patch of sky changed from grey to pink, and from 
 pink to crimson, till the glare of it was reflected on every 
 wall of the room. 
 
 " What is happening ! " the Princess cried, pointing 
 out across the sea, " what are those fires springing to 
 light in the bay ? " 
 
 He looked out into the glare, and in the reflection of 
 it I saw a smile of triumph on his face. 
 
 " They are your ships," he said quietly ; " they are 
 burning ; they will never return to England." 
 
 " Is this your work ? " she cried passionately, turning 
 on him as though she would strike him in the face. 
 
 " It is the work of those who love you," he answered. 
 "It is the best reply to those who would leave you to 
 your fate. I suggested it to Sir Thule de Brie when he 
 sent word of the threatened mutiny. By all the saints ! 
 he will not be popular with his men to-night." 
 
 The Princess buried her face in her hands and was 
 silent. The sight of the burning ships must have filled 
 her mind with a multitude of thoughts. These men were 
 now bound to her for life 01 death. There was no turning 
 back. Their very lives were given into her hand, and 
 
 o 
 
210 DR. SILEX. 
 
 the question that would decide their fate was still 
 unanswered. Count Guy was not slow to press his 
 point. 
 
 " Lest they should draw back," he murmured. " Sir 
 Thule de Brie could not have done this by himself. 
 There are others, not men of this country, who have 
 sacrificed themselves that you may be Queen of Asturnia. 
 These rash fellows know their dut}'. Are you going to 
 leave them to their fate ? " 
 
 The Princess did not answer, but I knew that she had 
 been driven into a corner. If I had only had my revolver, 
 I could have cut the whole tangled skein of ruse and 
 argument. But I was unarmed, and the man I had to 
 deal with could have crushed me with one hand. 
 
 " Have you no duty to your country ? " he continued, 
 and his voice was very tender. She drew herself up and 
 looked at him with a face of stone. 
 
 " Count Guy," she said in a hard voice, " I will give 
 you your answer to-morrow morning. I must have the 
 night in which to think it over. When I am by my- 
 self, I shall be able to weigh things more clearly in 
 my brain." 
 
 He bowed, and raising her hand to his lips, turned on 
 his heel and left the room. When the clank of his steel 
 had died away, I flung myself from my place of conceal- 
 ment with hot words of anger and passion on my lips. 
 The Princess moved towards me, and by the glow of the 
 burning ships I could see the expression on her face. 
 It was such that I could not speak. Pain and doubt 
 and fear and noble resolve were so mingled upon her 
 countenance that all thought of self was thrust 
 aside, I read the answer she would give Count Guy 
 of Marmorel. 
 
 " My dear lady," I whispered, " can I help you ? " 
 
 " By your silence," she replied ; " by leaving unsaid 
 what would bias my true judgment. My good and kind 
 friend, I have a great burden to bear, and I must bear 
 it alone." 
 
 " I know, I know," I answered, " and I would help 
 you." 
 
 " You do not know all," she said, turning her eyes 
 
A TRAITOR TO THE KING. 211 
 
 away from mine. I took her hand and hfted it to my 
 hps, but when I recalled who had kissed it last, I dropped 
 it as though it had stung me, and crept to the door with 
 bowed head and clenched hands. 
 
 At the door I turned, and for one brief moment I 
 imagined I saw a look of love and pity upon her face. 
 But when I looked again, I saw nothing but a cold mask 
 of stone, gazing out into the red glare on the sea. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE DEATH SONG. 
 
 The next morning I heard from one of the pages that the 
 Lady Thora had consented to become the wife of Count 
 Guy of Marmorel. An horn- later we were summoned 
 to a meeting in the great hall of the castle. It was full 
 to its utmost extent with a moving mass of pennons 
 and plumes and spears, and the low murmur that ran 
 through the throng showed me that expectation and 
 discussion ran high. In a few minutes the multitude 
 of men had settled itself into a more orderly disposition. 
 The knights stood in long ranks of steel and blazonry 
 close to the great dais at the end of the hall, next to them 
 the squires and pages, and then stretching to the other 
 end a close mass of archers and men-at-arms. 
 
 On the dais itself were placed two chairs, and behind 
 these stood Sir Hugh de la Perche, Lord Fulk of Braban- 
 9on, the Lord of Marmontier, and Sir Gascon de Varaville, 
 who were, next to Count Guy of Marmorel, the foremost 
 soldiers of the kingdom. They spoke with one another 
 in a low voice, and I tried in vain to glean from their 
 impassive faces how they looked upon this desperate 
 move. I could not doubt that they viewed it with some 
 degree of favour. Count Guy was too keen a diplomat 
 and too wary a soldier to have made a false step. It 
 seemed plain to me that he had already sounded the 
 most influential men around him, and was unlikely to 
 say anything which would bring the sword of every 
 loyal subject to his breast. This was but the final move 
 
THE DEATH SONG. 213 
 
 in a long-premeditated and thought-out game. The 
 knights would be on his side. For the common soldiers 
 he would care little. In a kingdom where internecine 
 wars were so fierce and so constant as to have kept down 
 the population for eight centruies, they would care little 
 what master they served so long as they saw their way 
 to victory and a certainty of being paid their wages. 
 It would rest with the knights, their feudal lords, to 
 direct their wills and energies. 
 
 Then a sudden hush came over the whole assembly, 
 and the murmurs died away like falling echoes. I looked 
 at the dais and saw an open door behind the chairs, and 
 beyond it the bright light from some lamp, and sil- 
 houetted against the light the tall figure of a man. He 
 paused but for one second, and then stepped forward a 
 pace, closing the door and advancing towards us. It 
 was Count Guy of/Marmorel, clad from head to foot in 
 complete armour, with his blazoned shield on his left 
 arm, and his right hand upon his sword. He gave one 
 keen glance round the whole room, as though estimating 
 the exact attitude of every man's mind, and spoke to the 
 point without beating about the bush. 
 
 " Knights of Asturnia," he said, and his voice had the 
 ring of confidence in every word, " knights of Asturnia, 
 and you my faithful followers, who have been with me 
 through years of battle, I have that to tell you aloud 
 which most men would whisper in the council chamber. 
 I have to-day resolved to take a step which may plunge 
 this unhappy country more deep in blood than it has 
 ever stood before, yet which shall purge it from much 
 evil." He paused, and watched the faces of his listeners. 
 I may do them a wrong, but it seemed that the prospect 
 of hard fighting illuminated their features with the light 
 of a fierce joy. 
 
 " With my own hand," he continued, " I set your king 
 upon his throne — with my own hand and by your help. 
 It seemed that the good of the nation required it, and 
 that much wrong would be righted thereby. I was mis- 
 taken, as better men have been mistaken before me 
 The land has groaned under the hand of a tyrant. The 
 people cry out to Heaven, and God has answered them. 
 
214 DR. SILEX. 
 
 To-day I give myself for an instrument of vengeance 
 into His hands." 
 
 He paused again, and among the soldiers every man 
 looked at his neighbour with a grim face and questioning 
 eyes. The knights alone, as I expected, gave vent to no 
 expression of surprise, but I heard the faint shivering 
 rattle of steel run through their ranks, and I fancy more 
 than one of them loosed his sword from its scabbard. 
 Then a low murmur ran through the assembly, and it 
 swelled into loud questions and the clank of weapons 
 on the stone floor. Then a single voice cried " Traitor ! " 
 above the tumult, and a moment later I heard the groans 
 of a dying man drowned in the swell of a great acclama- 
 tion. The men had spoken. They themselves had 
 sprung from the masses and knew the burden laid upon 
 them. They had only watched for a leader, and now he 
 stood before their eyes, a man triumphant in war, the 
 first soldier of the kingdom. They knew not whither he 
 might lead them, but they were resolved to follow. 
 Count Guy raised his hand, the noise died away like a 
 passing storm, and the room was still once more. 
 
 " There is in our midst," he continued, " a lady, by 
 the fortune of war a captive, by birth one of the highest 
 in the land. I myself in my mistaken zeal thrust her 
 from her inheritance. She and her followers have fought 
 for the crown against surpassing odds. She has the 
 welfare of the nation at heart. She has sacrificed much 
 to return to it. She would follow in the footsteps of her 
 father. To whom should the crown go but to this lady 
 to whom it rightfully belongs ? " A loud murmur of 
 approval ran through the assembly, and it gradually 
 swelled into a roar of applause. The knights alone 
 preserved a dignified silence, and some of them 
 frowned. 
 
 " I will bring her before you," said the Count, " and 
 you shall tell her your answer to my question," and with 
 these words he passed through the door, closing it behind 
 him. 
 
 When he had gone, a loud buzz of conversation filled 
 the hall. The knights gathered themselves into little 
 groups, and appealed to be engaged in warm disputes 
 
THE DEATH SONG. 215 
 
 with one another. Then the door was flung open, and, 
 followed by Count Guy, there appeared a vision so glorious 
 that the whole multitude was stricken with silence. It 
 was the Princess herself. 
 
 She swept across the dais before their astonished eyes, 
 as I had once seen her before, a glory of cloth of gold 
 and jewelled crown. And as I looked upon her sweet 
 face, white as death, but magnificent in its pride and 
 queenliness, there floated before my eyes a darkened 
 room, with rows of musty books, and piles of strange 
 and curious objects heaped upon the floor. I could 
 almost hear the voice of John Silver saying, " The 
 Princess ! My Princess ! and perhaps one day — 
 yours." 
 
 I looked around me with blinking eyes, and it flashed 
 across me that I was looking on a familiar scene. The 
 knights in armour, the hall of a great fortress, the solid 
 mass of men-at-arms ; I had seen all these before in the 
 darkened room at Silent Square. But the scene was 
 real enough now, and in the midst of it, like some golden 
 star, stood the Queen of Asturnia, a woman who had 
 conquered the hearts of every man who had ever seen 
 her and who now had triumphed over her own heart 
 as well. 
 
 My memories were swept from me by a terrific burst 
 of cheering, by the loud clamour of trumpets, by the 
 clang and clash of arms, and for the space of quite three 
 minutes the air glittered with waving swords and spears 
 and pennons. My dear lady looked on the scene with a 
 gracious smile. She had a part to play and a popularity 
 to win, and only two men in the hall knew the cold pain 
 that gripped her heart. She bowed and moved a little 
 forward, leaning on the arm of Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 Then she opened her lips as though to speak, and the 
 tumult died into silence. 
 
 " My people," she said in a clear voice, " my people, 
 I thank you. I have only lived that such a day as this 
 might come." Then her strength forsook her. She 
 buried her face in her hands and shook with emotion. 
 Count Guy led her to one of the chairs, and,^'when she 
 was seated, he stood by her side with drawn_sword and 
 
2i6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 a fierce proud look on his face that boded ill for any who 
 should dispute his right to stand there. 
 
 " Knights and men of Asturnia," he said, " I would 
 have \'ou know that the throne of this kingdom is no 
 place for an unprotected woman. She needs by her side 
 one with a grave and subtle mind to advise her, and with 
 a strong right arm to enforce her decrees. This gracious 
 lady has been pleased to choose one, who, though far 
 too unworthy to kiss her hand, has in some small measure 
 the qualities which will ensure the strength of her govern- 
 ment. She has done me the honour to consent to be my 
 wife, and I am prepared to uphold her position against 
 all comers." He advanced a step, and loosing his gaunt- 
 let from his left hand, flung it with a crash on the stone 
 steps of the dais. 
 
 For a moment no one in the hall stirred or spoke. 
 Then Lord Fulk of Braban9on, a grizzled noble of the 
 Northern Province, moved a little forward from his 
 place. 
 
 " Surely, Count Guy of Marmorel," he said sternly, 
 " this act is unnecessary. You are among friends, and, 
 if what you have told us be the lady's free and unbiassed 
 will, we are prepared to uphold her choice. I think 
 I express the thoughts of my comrades and their 
 followers." 
 
 Every man thundered out a tumultuous " Aye," and 
 the air once more rang with shouts of approval and 
 greeting. Count Guy smiled and stepped forward to 
 pick up his glove. But before he reached the step on 
 which it lay, I saw him stop, and it seemed as though 
 he were listening to something. 
 
 The cheers ceased, and the eyes of everyone in the hall 
 were on him. They, too, were wondering why he did not 
 pick up his gauntlet from the stone. And in the silence 
 which ensued they heard a sound which had never 
 been heard in the land before. Someone was playing 
 a violin. 
 
 But though the instrument was strange to them, the 
 music itself must have spoken very plainly to their 
 minds, for I never saw so great a look of horror and con- 
 sternation shadow the faces of a multitude. Men's 
 
THE DEATH SONG. 217 
 
 countenances grew dark, their lips parted, and their 
 eyes stared at Count Guy of Marmorel, who still paused 
 at the edge of the steps and listened. 
 
 " By the saints, what music ! " whispered D'Arcy 
 to me. 
 
 And music it was, Cordeaux, of such a high order that 
 I felt the wail of its notes in my ears like a song of despair 
 and death. And, as I listened, I realised that I had 
 heard the tune before, and I shuddered at the recollection. 
 Count Guy stepped forward, livid with fury. 
 
 " What folly is this ? " he cried. " Rievaulx, take a 
 hundred men and search the castle ; lock the gates, and 
 do not come back to me until you have hung the musician 
 from the highest tower." 
 
 The men began to leave the room, and for a few minutes 
 the music was drowned by the clatter of steel as they 
 pushed their way out of the throng. But when they 
 had disappeared, there was nothing to be heard but the 
 wail of the violin. Everyone in the room listened to it 
 in silence, and I could not understand why the sound 
 had so great an effect on them. 
 
 The Lady Thora alone stood with a wrapt expression 
 on her face, as though she were listening to some music 
 of the spheres. Now that the men had departed, there 
 was a grim smile on the Count's lips, but the sword in his 
 hand quivered as though it would fain be buried in 
 someone's heart. Then he abruptly moved forward to his 
 gauntlet and picked it up from the floor. And, as he 
 did so, the music ceased. 
 
 " Men of Asturnia," he cried, " my challenge has 
 remained unanswered. You are soldiers, and not to be 
 frightened by the pranks of a juggling minstrel. You 
 know me for your leader, and with you behind me, I will 
 ring out such music with this sword that the whole land 
 will dance to it." He was indeed a leader of men. His 
 words acted like a spell on the assemblage, and they 
 broke once more into a tumult of acclamation. 
 
 Then he and the Lady Thora disappeared through the 
 doorway, and the meeting broke up. As we left the 
 room, I asked D'Arcy why the tune had produced so 
 extraordinary an effect on the soldiers. 
 
2i8 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " It is the death song of the First Lord of Argenteuil," 
 he answered, " the great wizard and prophet of our 
 country. It is only played at the death of a member of 
 the Royal House." 
 
 But I remembered whom I had last heard play the 
 melody, and wondered for whose ears John Silver had 
 sent this ghostly message from the grave, and whether 
 it were meant for Count Guy of Marmorel, for Charles 
 the Red, for Sir Thule de Brie, or ]for the Lady Thora 
 of Asturnia. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE MARCH TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 During the next few days events moved rapidly The 
 
 k7 ??T ^.°''"^ ^""y °^ Marmorel had declared his 
 betrothal and cast off his allegiance to the king the great 
 courtyard of the castle was lined with glittering ranks 
 of knights and men-at-arms, the gates were flung wide 
 open and my comrades filed in amid the blare of trumpets 
 and loud cries of welcome. At their head rode Sir Thule 
 ^rie, clad m complete armour, with his naked sword 
 m his hand. 
 
 Count Guy of Marmorel rode out to meet him and 
 formal salutations passed between the two. I could not 
 read the impassive masks of their faces, but there was a 
 cold ghnt m their eyes which accorded ill with the sur- 
 rounding enthusiasm. For the time, however they had 
 one great object in common, and I did not doubt that 
 they would work together with a single purpose But I 
 scarcely dared to think what would happen when that 
 purpose was once accomplished, and as I saw those two 
 magnificent specimens of manhood facing each other 
 in the flare of the torchlight, I felt that the time was not 
 far off when Asturnia would be too small to hold the 
 pair of them. 
 
 Then the ranks of soldiers opened, and the Princess 
 herse f came forward to welcome her faithful followers 
 bir Thule de Brie flung himself from his horse and knelt 
 to kiss her hand. I noticed, however, that he did not 
 look her in the eyes, and that his face grew even more 
 cold and hard as she spoke a few gracious words to him 
 
220 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Then one by one the captains and sailors filed past, doing 
 their obeisance with genuine pleasure on their weather- 
 beaten faces ; and, to my surprise and joy. Captain 
 Thorlassen was with them. 
 
 After that the men were dismissed, and were enter- 
 tained royally by their new comrades, whom but a short 
 time ago they had encountered in a terrible and bloody 
 combat. I went among them, and, making my way 
 to the side of Captain Thorlassen, grasped him by the 
 hand, and overwhelmed him with a torrent of questions. 
 
 He told me how he had been left for dead in a pool of 
 blood, and that he would have died, if it had not been 
 for some worthy citizens who came out by night with 
 lanterns to see if any lived in that hecatomb of death. 
 One of these, who had some skill in surgery, had sent a 
 message to the forts for a doctor, and had given the 
 wounded man every comfort and attention till he could 
 be moved to the care of his own comrades. 
 
 He told me further how they had thought us dead ; 
 how they had failed to find a satisfactory plan of cam- 
 paign ; how their hearts had failed them, and they had 
 determined to fly before the ice closed them in ; how 
 the stores had all been moved to the forts on some pretext 
 or other ; how the ships had then been burnt by a few 
 brave and desperate men, headed by Sir Thule de Brie ; 
 how they had resolved to kill their betrayer, and been 
 shamed by the things he said to them ; and how Count 
 Guy had opened negotiations for peace, and promised 
 his assistance. 
 
 The day was given up to rejoicing, and the men 
 returned to the forts, Sir Thule de Brie, however, 
 remained in the castle, and sat far into the night with 
 Count Guy of Marmorel, and the four chief leaders of the 
 army. 
 
 The next day the call to arms began. Count Guy had 
 laid his plans well, and surely. The knights in command 
 of the 9,000 troops quartered in the town had been 
 thoroughly sounded as to their views before the Count 
 openly declared himself. The men responded as eagerly 
 as their fellows in the castle had done, though that night 
 a dozen knights and their squires left Sancta Maria 
 
THE MARCH TO THE CAPITAL. 221 
 
 under cover of the darkness, and spurred their horses 
 in hot haste to the capital, each of them eager to be 
 first with the news. 
 
 It was quite evident that Count Guy was going to adopt 
 no Fabian pohcy of war. From what I had gathered, 
 he had assumed the king's immediate knowledge of the 
 rebellion. Every plan was laid and every scheme of 
 advance was thought out. For a week past provisions 
 had been piled on great waggons, every minute detail 
 of organisation mapped out, and the whole force held 
 in readiness to move at an hour's notice. It had been 
 given out that the Northern Province was in revolt, 
 and that instant orders might arrive to march on the 
 insurgents. 
 
 That very night the whole army was on the road. A 
 sufficient force was left to defend the castle, and it was 
 strengthened by twenty of our sailors armed with their 
 rifles, one Maxim, and one fifteen-pounder. All the rest 
 of the guns and ammunition were destined for the king's 
 entertainment at Avranches, if indeed he did not ask to 
 hear the music before we reached his capital. 
 
 It was now the end of October, and the sea to within 
 two hundred yards of the shore was covered with one 
 solid mass of ice, several feet in thickness. The natural 
 warmth of the land doubtless kept a narrow boundary 
 of clear water round the island. 
 
 The thermometer, which I once more had an oppor- 
 tunity of consulting, stood at 10° above zero. This 
 was an extraordinary reading for the time of year in the 
 high latitude, and I realised how it was that the Astur- 
 nians were able to support an existence round the North 
 Pole itself. I afterwards found, as we marched north- 
 wards, that the ground in places was quite warm beneath 
 the feet, and I laid my hand on one or two rocks that 
 were almost unpleasantly hot to the touch. 
 
 We gathered in the great square before the castle at 
 9 o'clock p.m. Greenwich mean time. It was an impres- 
 sive sight. The flaring light of a thousand torches fell 
 on a long line of spears, on the glittering armour and 
 swords of the knights, on waving silk pennons, rich with 
 armorial bearings, on the dull iron of Maxims and 
 
222 DR. SILEX. 
 
 fifteen-pounders, and on the great sea of grim and eager 
 faces. The two banners, newly wrought, of Count Guy 
 of Marmorel and the Lady Thora, were planted side 
 by side. The Count and Sir Thule de Brie rode hither 
 and thither, shouting orders to the knights, who echoed 
 them in turn to their men. 
 
 Then one by one our companies began to file off 
 towards the town. There was a steady clank of steel 
 and tramp of feet, swelling and swelling as the column 
 grew. The torches appeared like a long line of sparks 
 streaming out into the darkness. I fell into my appointed 
 place close to the Princess, who, disdaining any kind of 
 conveyance, rode her horse in the centre of the column. 
 
 My gilded costume was laid aside now, and I was 
 clothed in the garb of an ordinary Englishman, but I wore 
 a thin coat of chain mail beneath my fur-lined cloak. 
 There were two revolvers in my belt, and a bandoleer 
 of cartridges slung across my shoulders. We swung 
 through the town, past closed doors and shuttered 
 windows, with never a voice to wish us luck, or a hand 
 to wave us farewell. The prudent townspeople were 
 resolved not to commit themselves to any appearance 
 of partizanship in the coming war until they saw which 
 way the wind blew. And so we passed through dark 
 and silent streets, till we emerged upon the sloping road 
 which led towards the north. 
 
 For five hours we never drew rein, proceeding at a 
 uniform pace of about three miles an hour. Then we 
 pitched camp for the night. Before I turned in I stood 
 with Captain Thorlassen on a spur of rock and looked 
 across the country. We were still on the top of a range 
 of boulder-strewn hills. The darkness was dotted with 
 our fires, and far away in the distance we could see a 
 faint red glow which betrayed the positions of our out- 
 posts. 
 
 The moon rose above the horizon, and the whole scene 
 was bathed in a silvery light. A few miles away to the 
 left the dark scenery bounded a vast plain of white. 
 It was the Great Frozen Sea, and as I looked across it, 
 I recalled how we had gazed over its surface from the 
 other side, little thinking that it would ever open a path- 
 
THE MARCH TO THE CAPITAL. 223 
 
 Z^lh^'^''^ ^^^"u r ^°°^^^ ^^e "orth, and, far away 
 m the distance, behind the range of mountains the 
 
 ^ueJsed ft7t ^''^ " veritable'sea of hghts and 
 guessed that there lay the destination of Sur army- 
 remTnXd Th''f ^"^P^^jble capital of Asturn'T."^ I 
 r^m nn/h ^""'''^ ^J ^^" ^^^ ^ ^^"^^ on him in his 
 [nto the nthf T.^""' ^'' ""'' ^^^^^^ °^ ^any things far 
 wake ?m thf L- ^T r '^'"'^ ^" *° ^^^t' ^"d I did not 
 
 haU un?^ non7 w ^«"*^""^^ «^^ march, and did not 
 lia t until noon. We were now on the brink of a steeo 
 hill sloping down to the shores of a lake, which was walkd 
 old m??hL%t- ^''^ "^l^' °^ ""^^'^ ^°^k. The Princess 
 fa he?s armv hf7^'i^' T^ ^^^^ °^ ^^^"^ ^^ere her 
 J|?ari£ r£ -^^^ Se 
 
 thei?Tor^et f^XtJZ.l [t '"^ '' ^^^ ^^ ^^^ 
 
 thf steen h^lf '.^''"^ '"''"" *^^ ^^^^^' ^^^ ^s I rode down 
 on sucTa scent T'f ^^''" f''"'^^ "^^ ^^^t I had looked 
 It had been whif. '/' ^f'^- °^^h" P^^^^°"« occasion 
 cL .t,^^"^ ^^h/t^ a^^ pale in the moonlight and the 
 silent shores had been strewn with the wreckage of battle 
 
 dead ' nd Xn^ "^H^^^" ^^^^^d^' -^ gre^t heaps of 
 s^JS^L r^ffeS Ta ItdTerhr^ai^ 
 r^rfS^-SL^^ngr ''' -vance^^ ar^A^ 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 BY THE LAKE OF NITRIL. 
 
 Our column streamed down the incline like some long 
 snake of glittering steel. We were now moving in ex- 
 tended order, and the scouts were more numerous and 
 farther ahead. If ever there was a place fashioned for 
 an attack, it was this. The shore, along which the road 
 ran, was scarcely two hundred feet in width, bounded 
 on one side by the lake and on the other by a precipitous 
 wall of rock. It was, so I learnt, the only road between 
 Sancta Maria and the capital — on the other side of the 
 lake the waters were deep against the rock itself — and 
 I was not surprised to hear that it had been the scene 
 of the fiercest and most decisive battles in the history 
 of Asturnia. 
 
 I had a few words with Sir Thule de Brie, as he rode 
 to the front of the column to make some disposition of 
 the knights, and he himself told me that it was very 
 unlikely that we should emerge on the heights above 
 Avranches without a skirmish. He quickly arranged 
 for the protection of the Princess, and rode on. 
 
 He was not mistaken in his estimate of the king's 
 intentions. Before we had traversed half the length of 
 the lake there was the wild alarm of a trumpet in the 
 distance ; then the sound of running feet far ahead, the 
 clank of steel on the rocky ground, cries and the clash 
 of arms. Then a long shiver seemed to run through the 
 whole column, as though it had been an iron rod struck 
 against some hard substance. A second or two later 
 came the shock of battle, and the front ranks were in 
 
 224 
 
BY THE LAKE OF NITRIL. 225 
 
 the thick of it. The scouts had been driven in ; 
 arrows began to whistle through the air and cHnk 
 against the rocks. I could see in the white light of the 
 fires that a long column of men were pressing against 
 us, and that a terrible hand to hand combat was in 
 progress. Long swords rose and fell ; spears were thrust 
 backwards and forwards till they were red with blood. 
 Gay pennons dipped, and rose again crimson. There 
 were cries of " A Marmorel ! " " The King ! " " As- 
 turnia ! " " The Queen ! " and the whole air was full 
 of the tumult of battle. 
 
 Then Sir Thule de Brie came thundering down the side 
 of the column on his great white horse, and I saw him 
 fling himself into the thick of the fight, and heard the 
 cry of "De Brie!" "De Brie!" and saw the enemy's 
 ranks part and close again as he drove himself into 
 them like a wedge. 
 
 A few moments later I saw a small party of our own 
 men detach themselves from the main body, dash down 
 to the shore of the lake, and wheel a gun into position 
 so as to cover the enemy's flanks. Up to this time there 
 had been no sound of firing. The fight had been too 
 concentrated, and the melee too thick to fire with safety. 
 But an opportunity had evidently afforded itself, and a 
 moment later came the rattle of rifles, and the sharp 
 report of the quick-firing guns. 
 
 I could not restrain myself any longer ; I gave one look 
 at the Princess, and saw that she was so hemmed in 
 with a wall of men that no chance arrow could reach 
 her ; I spurred my horse to the breach and dashed 
 forward to the front. An arrow struck me full in the 
 chest, but snapped in two like a dead twig. The force 
 of the blow surprised me ; it sent me reeling back on 
 my horse, and I was glad of the coat of mail Sir Thule 
 de Brie had lent me. A moment later my horse came 
 crashing to the ground ; I was stunned for a minute or 
 two ; and, when I rose, I saw three arrows driven deep 
 into his struggling body. I blew out his brains with my 
 revolver, and made my way on foot across the pebbles 
 which bordered the lake. 
 
 As I did so, I saw a steel-clad line of men and horses 
 
226 DR. SILEX. 
 
 wheel out of the enemy's ranks, and thunder along the 
 beach to the guns. The rifles spoke three times and 
 the guns but once. Then our men died one by one at 
 their posts. But before the remnants of the knights 
 could return, Sir Thule de Brie and Count Guy of Mar- 
 morel had flung themselves upon their flanks, and were 
 tearing their way into them like tigers into the midst 
 of a pack of hounds. More knights came up on either 
 side, and when I reached the scene of the conflict, at 
 least eighty men were engaged in a terrible combat. It 
 was, however, quite evident that we were outnumbered, 
 and the king's followers were artfully retreating, step 
 by step, so as to bring the contest within their own 
 lines. 
 
 I caught a riderless horse, jumped on its back, and 
 rode to within ten yards of the melee. It was no place 
 for anyone but a knight in complete armour, and I 
 was as useless as a child. Even the men-at arms on 
 either side forebore to fling themselves into that whirl- 
 pool of steel. The air sparkled with the flashing swords 
 and axes. Shorn plumes floated away into the lake. 
 The very ground was red with blood, and a little stream 
 of it flowed down among the pebbles. 
 
 Then I saw that Count Guy of Marmorel had got 
 separated from the others, and that at least half a dozen 
 of his opponents lay between him and his followers. 
 For a brief moment my heart was filled with a fierce 
 joy, for it seemed as though the death song of John 
 Silver had spoken the truth, and that he would never 
 live to marry the Princess. But I quickly stifled the 
 unworthy thought. Here, at any rate, was a man, 
 fighting for the woman he loved, and not a skulker, 
 like myself, hanging on the outskirts of battle. 
 
 Then suddenly, for some reason or other, our knights 
 seemed to give way and fall back, and there was a clear 
 space between them and those who surrounded Count 
 Guy of Marmorel. The Lord of Sancta Maria was fight- 
 ing alone, and never before had I seen a man fight as 
 he did that day. Men and horses seemed to sink be- 
 neath his blows like corn cut down by a sickle. He was 
 crimson from head to foot, and his horse's feet trampled 
 
BY THE LAKE OF NITRIL. 227 
 
 in a pool of blood. I saw his horse fall, and noted that 
 he sprang from its back before its body touched the 
 ground. Not a man among the knights went out to 
 help him. As a matter of fact, they had but left him 
 for a few seconds, though the swift and terrible course 
 of the combat made it seem as many minutes. 
 
 Then there rose a loud cry of " De Brie ! A rescue ! " 
 " De Brie ! " and Sir Thule flung himself and his horse 
 against the ring of knights with such force that he bore 
 two of them to the ground. Inch by inch he carved 
 his way through them, beating them down with his axe, 
 and trampling them underfoot, hacking and hewing like 
 a madman. Then I saw him lean from his saddle, fling 
 Count Guy of Marmorel across it, knock two men from 
 their horses with two successive blows, and come gallop- 
 ing back to the rear of the melee. 
 
 It was all done with such strength and swiftness that 
 no one had the courage or time to bar his way. Before 
 a few seconds had passed, the whole line of battle was 
 raging as fiercely as before. 
 
 Sir Thule de Brie placed Count Guy upon his feet close 
 to where I stood, and the two men looked each other 
 in the face. Their armour was battered and dented and 
 red with blood. Count Guy's helmet was half shorn 
 away, and Sir Thule de Erie's shield was reduced to a 
 mere shapeless mass of steel. 
 
 " You have saved my life, Sir Thule," Count Guy said 
 simply, " and perhaps the fate of this kingdom. I shall 
 not forget you." 
 
 " I would rather you forgot. Count Guy," the other 
 answered. " I did not do it for the kingdom's sake, nor 
 yet " 
 
 " I will find a horse," Count Guy broke in sharply ; 
 " and again I say I will not forget you, and again I 
 thank you," and turning abruptly on his heel, he went 
 to find another horse. Sir Thule de Brie rode back into 
 the fight, and as I sat my steed alone on the beach, I 
 wondered why he had so effectually checked the fulfil- 
 ment of his own desires. 
 
 In less than a quarter of an hour the tide of battle 
 turned. By a subtle and well-timed movement, four 
 
228 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Maxims and two guns were trained on the king's force, 
 and guarded by a strong body of knights and spearmen. 
 The effect of the fire was terrific, and we Hterally ploughed 
 a path for our column through the enemy's ranks. 
 Before an hour had passed they broke and fled. 
 
 Then, one by one, the lights died out upon the hills, 
 and there was darkness. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 AVRANCHES. 
 
 camp tnat night. Half of our force pursued the flvin,^ 
 enemy and driving them out of the N^tril valley elab^ 
 hshed themselves in a stron-^ no^itinn or, fi ' 
 ground beyond the lake.'' He?e ^thereon ^ruct^dTudf 
 walls of boulders, and emplaced the guns under the 
 direction of Captain Thorlassen. The ren ainder of n^ 
 saw to the wounded and buried the dead Anion' the 
 latter were twenty-three of our own men and SnSteen 
 knights. Both sides had suffered severely in the con 
 
 road w^i^^h'^'f "i^^^^^ '^^ ^^"^ ^^^k shL and w52 
 road with our torches we found them thicklv stTevvn 
 with bodies. Some of these were even in the watJr 
 o^ti^^throaS' '-' -''' ''-'' ^-^^ grippn!g'\t":lrh 
 
 When our task was ended, we nroceedprl on n„. , 
 enlarged from the great rock encS ho ,ow Zdfe 
 joined our companions on the further hills li was like 
 coming mto the fresh air from a room of sickTess to 
 
 :r:ateTb'iSn'd'"uV"^<= "'°"' "'^ '-vc iLTtTp'.t 
 
 flooded the surrounding country with light, we tarted 
 
 told t thaT tV'r'I^ t '''' ''^''^'- S- Tiiul d?Brie 
 Ihi, T 7 i ^^'"^ ^^^^ ''^^"er of hills lay before us and 
 
 reached the rhs'T?.' ^"7 '^°^^ oppLtiorun?il Tve 
 reached the walls of the city itself. As far as I could 
 
230 DR. SILEX. 
 
 judge from the distance we had travelled, and the 
 observations I made that night by the stars, we were 
 within a few miles of the Pole itself, and if that was the 
 case, the goal of our original mission was in all pro- 
 bability within the very walls of the capital. How 
 surprised the savants and explorers of Europe would 
 have been to know that the busy feet of men trod daily 
 past the place which was deemed to be either the open 
 sea or a desolate expanse of snow-covered ice. 
 
 We toiled up the range of hills before us, and they 
 were more rugged and precipitous than any I had yet 
 seen in the country. Their lower slopes, indeed, were 
 fertile and cultivated, but their summits were great 
 heaps of rock, divided by long gaps into different spurs 
 and eminences. The road itself was in excellent order, 
 but ran up and down like a switchback, making the 
 advance of an army, with all its impedimenta of guns 
 and waggons, a slow and laborious business. Traces of 
 those who had fled before us were abundant ; the drops 
 and splashes of blood upon the stones, the broken 
 lances, the pieces of heavy armour flung recklessly to 
 one side, and here and there the bodies of dead and 
 dying men, told us how terribly we had dealt with our 
 adversaries, and how swift and anxious had been their 
 flight. 
 
 After four hours of ascent and descent, along a path 
 which took us higher after every dip and rise, the front 
 of the column began to slowly climb a long slope, that 
 stood out against the sky, and then began to disappear 
 from view. A few minutes later I reached the summit 
 myself, and a wonderful sight spread itself out before 
 my eyes. 
 
 Three miles away and six hundred feet beneath us lay 
 the great city of Avranches. Not indeed seen, as a fair 
 city should be for the first time, in golden sunlight, or 
 with its walls and towers silvered by the moon, but yet 
 so wonderfully illuminated that it seemed like some fair 
 palace from the Arabian Nights. 
 
 It was indeed a fitting home for the king of a country 
 that had been plunged in civil war for nearly eight 
 centuries. It was built in the fork of a broad river, 
 
AVRANCHES. 231 
 
 which sprung from a hundred streams in the hills. The 
 valley itself was like a deep basin, six miles in diameter, 
 and entirely surrounded with hills. To the east it 
 narrowed and sloped up steeply to the mountains. To 
 the west the river had cut itself a deep and narrow 
 ravme through a great wall of rock, and poured through 
 this to a long plain which bordered on the Frozen Sea. 
 The walls which surrounded the town seemed nearly 
 a hundred feet in height, and rose sheer from the waters 
 of the river. Every eighty yards or so they jutted out 
 into escarpments and flanking towers, and even at this 
 distance I could see that they were pierced with count- 
 less casements and loopholes. Within lay the houses of 
 the city, divided into concentric circles by line after 
 Ime of walls and towers, and in the centre of all, on a 
 rocky eminence, lay a great castle, long and low' built, 
 like some animal crouching to spring. 
 
 The whole city blazed with tall columns of blue-white 
 fiame, and coruscated with thousands of smaller lights. 
 From the top of the hill we could see with a telescope 
 black specks moving to and fro in the glare, and could 
 catch the glint and flash of steel. 
 
 As fortune would have it, the whole column halted a 
 few seconds after I had caught my first glimpse of the 
 town, and I was enabled to survey the whole scene with 
 silent admiration. Never was a place so well adapted 
 and fortified to hold an insecure throne. For the days 
 of modern artillery, it was too near the commanding 
 hills, but I estimated that it was just out of range of 
 the strongest mangonel. Plentifully stocked with pro- 
 visions it would be almost impregnable. 
 
 We halted for an hour, and Count Guy of Marmorel 
 and Sir Thule de Brie rode round and round the columns 
 deep in consultation. Then Captain Thorlassen was 
 summoned, and a few minutes later I saw two fifteen- 
 pounders being brought into position, and men carrying 
 cartridges from the waggons. We were going to try the 
 range of our artillery. 
 
 Then there was a report, and the eyes of all were fixed 
 on the town. The shell burst a hundred yards short of 
 the castle, and we could see the smoke of it drifting 
 
232 DR. SILEX. 
 
 across one of the great fires, and men running hither 
 and thither in confusion. The gunners sighted the 
 weapon afresh, and the next shot struck one of the towers 
 of the castle. That was sufficient. We could not afford 
 to throw away more cartridges on experiments. Ammu- 
 nition was none too plentiful, and we had to reserve it 
 for large bodies of men, where every shot would account 
 for at least twenty dead. 
 
 After a brief discussion between the leaders of the 
 expedition, it was resolved to make the place in which 
 we had halted the base of our future operations. It 
 commanded the city, and also the road to Sancta Maria. 
 There was a spring close by, and our foraging parties, 
 covered by modern artillery, held practically the whole 
 valley at their mercy. 
 
 Before evening came, and the great fires died out 
 along the valley and hills, we had marked out the site 
 of our encampment. It was chosen with skill on a flat 
 tableland, with precipitous sides ; and one of the great 
 fires burned in the midst. 
 
 All night long large bodies of men toiled incessantly, 
 bearing boulders and baskets of earth, and when the 
 fires once more flashed out across the country, a ram- 
 part three feet high had grown up all round the encamp- 
 ment ; and before darkness came again it had raised 
 itself as high as a tall man's head, and our guns bristled 
 out through the entrenchments, like watch-dogs with 
 open jaws. It was clear to me that Count Guy medi- 
 tated a long siege. 
 
 Subsequent consultation with Sir Thule de Brie showed 
 that this was the policy they had decided on. Count 
 Guy's haste to leave Sancta Maria had been justified. 
 We had struck a blow before the enemy had had time 
 to fortify the road to the capital, and had struck the 
 blow home. Now that we had reached the heights 
 overhanging the town and valley, haste was unnecessarj', 
 and probably inexpedient. We could watch the town 
 from our lofty eminence, sweep down on foraging parties, 
 hold the place in a state of siege, and bide our time. 
 
 For three days we waited, and no sign came from 
 the city beneath us. We fired an occasional shot to 
 
AVRANCHES. 233 
 
 remind the inhabitants that we were still close enough 
 to them to make ourselves unpleasant, collected all the 
 provisions we could from small villages and hamlets, 
 and watched the town day and night. 
 
 Then on the third day we saw a gate open in the 
 walls nearest to us, and a small procession file across 
 the narrow bridge which crossed the river. In an in- 
 stant the guns were turned upon it, and if Sir Thule de 
 Brie had not come up to the ramparts, the cavalcade 
 would have had a very sorry advance across the plain. 
 
 He looked through Captain Thorlassen's telescope, 
 and abruptly told the men to wait. 
 
 " A herald," he said to me. " The king might have 
 saved himself the trouble. He is not likely to bring a 
 message of conciliation." 
 
 An hour later the herald himself arrived, a tall, broad- 
 shouldered man with fair hair and a long beard. He was 
 clad in armour, covered with a gorgeous surtout of silk, 
 emblazoned with the royal arms. He bore no weapon 
 that I could see, though he may have had one concealed 
 about his person. In front of him rode two knights 
 with white pennons fluttering from their lances, and 
 behind him six squires, bearing his lance, a shield, sword, 
 and various emblems appertaining to his office. 
 
 He rode with quiet dignity up the only approach to 
 our camp, and Count Guy of Marmorel and Sir Thule 
 de Brie, surrounded by all their knights, received him in 
 full sight of the whole army. He approached Count 
 Guy, and, bowing coldly, handed him a parchment scroll. 
 The latter ran his eye over it and scowled. 
 
 " I will read your message to my knights, Sir Herald," 
 he said sharply. " They will answer you," and he 
 whispered a few words to a squire at his side. 
 
 " The message is to Count Guy of Marmorel," said the 
 herald abruptly. 
 
 " The voice of Count Guy of Marmorel is the voice 
 of his followers," replied the Count. " The answer 
 shall come from them. Knights and men-at-arms, 
 this is the message of our lord the king." 
 
 " ' To Count Guy of Marmorel, sorrowful greeting. 
 Though the heart is grieved that so distinguished a 
 
234 DR. SILEX. 
 
 subject has, in a fit of temporary madness, thought fit 
 to take arms against his master, and league himself 
 with the enemies of his country, yet bearing in mind 
 his great services in the past, and a loyal devotion, 
 which we had deemed proof against the sorceries of a 
 woman's eyes, we, of our clemency, are wihing to grant 
 a free pardon to him and all men of this kingdom, if 
 the woman calling herself Princess Thora of Asturnia, 
 and her alien followers, are delivered into our hands.' 
 That is the message, my knights and soldiers. What 
 answer have you to make to so fair a proposition ? " 
 
 The knights were contemptuously silent, but the men- 
 at-arms laughed with anger and derision. 
 
 " You have your answer, Sir Herald." 
 
 " I do not take it from churls. I came to Count Guy 
 of Marmorel, and he must answer me." 
 
 " Look round you then," cried Count Guy of Marmorel, 
 " and see what answer I am able to give you." 
 
 The herald glanced beyond the lines of knights, and 
 my own eyes followed his looks. Every gun and maxim 
 had been swung round from its embrazure, and was 
 turned to a common centre — point-blank on the herald. 
 Count Guy, his knights, and all the mass of common 
 soldiers. Beside each piece of artillery stood a knot 
 of our sailors, alert for action. They could have blown 
 the whole crowd of us into a heap of mangled flesh in 
 five minutes. " Shall we bind them now. Sir Herald," 
 the Count continued, " and deliver them into your 
 hands, or shall we await their consent ? " 
 
 " I do not understand you, Count Guy," the herald 
 answered haughtily. " What is this foolery ? Have 
 you no plain answer to a plain question ? " 
 
 " It is certain that you do not understand," the 
 knight said drily. " But I will make things clear to 
 you. You do not understand that we are in the power 
 of these men, and that if I were to agree to the pro- 
 position of your king, they would sweep you and me 
 and every living soul that stands about us into a bloody 
 heap of corpses, and spatter our dead bodies on the 
 rock as men crush insects with their hands." 
 
 " I have heard of these weapons, Count Guy," he 
 
AVRANCHES. 235 
 
 answered coldly, " and it may be as you say. Am I to 
 understand that your answer is ' No ' ? " 
 
 " That most certainly must be my answer. It grieves 
 me to give it, but it is enforced on me." 
 
 " And your answer might have been different, if you 
 had been your own master ? " the herald said, with a 
 touch of sarcasm in his voice. 
 
 " It might have been different," Count Guy replied 
 grimly, " under different circumstances." 
 
 The herald smiled. " Then I will deliver you this 
 message from the king. To you. Count Guy, to you. 
 Sir Thule de Brie, and to you, men of Asturnia. The 
 king will give your possessions to those who have served 
 him loyally, and will decorate the walls of his city 
 with your bodies before another month has passed." 
 
 Sir Thule de Brie moved forward. " Tell your king 
 from me," he answered, " that before a month has 
 passed he will have no walls to decorate, and that those 
 who have served him loyally will be where earthly 
 possessions will interest them but little." 
 
 The herald wheeled his horse round sharply, and fol- 
 lowed by his escort, rode swiftly across the rocky table- 
 land, and disappeared from view. When he had gone. 
 Count Guy of Marmorel broke into a hearty laugh. 
 
 " What think you of that, my master ? " he said. 
 " Was it not a jest ? Methinks he will carry back a 
 wholesome fear of the strange weapons in his mind, 
 and perchance some false hopes in his heart." 
 
 " I would rather you had spoken your mind plainly," 
 replied Sir Thule de Brie. " But I took the liberty of 
 speaking it for you." 
 
 " Sir Thule de Brie," he answered quietly, " you are 
 a brave man, but not versed in the craft which makes 
 the fortunes of a leader. I have led the king to suppose 
 that I am in your power, and that our force is divided 
 in opinion. He will act accordingly, and so play into 
 our hands." And with these words he rode back to his 
 tent, while Sir Thule de Brie watched him with a faint 
 smile upon his face. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Two months passed, and we were still perched upon 
 
236 DR. SILEX. 
 
 the top of the hills, waiting for an opportunity to strike 
 at the city beneath us. The cold grew more intense, 
 and night and day a hundred great fires blazed in our 
 camp, and the spring of water was circled with flames 
 to keep it from freezing. It was weary work, and I 
 began to think that it might last for years. I was, 
 indeed, informed that Count Guy had relied on a revolt 
 in the city itself, and had hoped that the gates would 
 have been opened from within. But in this he had 
 been disappointed. The place was watched day and 
 night through a large telescope, and there had not been 
 the slightest sign of an unusual disturbance. 
 
 We were not, however, idle during this period of 
 waiting. Day after day two thousand of our men toiled 
 in the valley below, and drove long entrenchments and 
 parallels across the plain, till they were within bowshot 
 of the city itself. The enemy made several sorties to 
 stop the work, but a couple of maxims entrenched 
 behind the higher earthworks, and a few shells from 
 our fifteen-j)ounders on the hill turned the scale in our 
 favour, and only on two occasions did they fight our 
 men hand to hand. 
 
 As each day passed, Count Guy of Marmorel's face 
 grew more stern and dark, and I tliink, indeed, he spent 
 very little time l:)y the side of the Princess. He passed 
 hour after hour looking through some embrazure, motion- 
 less and deep in thought, occasionally studying a com- 
 plete and accurate plan of the city, but addressing no 
 one, and curtly answering any who came to him on 
 business connected with the army. And every evening 
 he and Sir Thule de Brie and his chief knights would 
 meet in consultation and discuss new schemes to take 
 the capital. 
 
 It was now evident that we could not effectually 
 blockade the city. Our force was too small, and would 
 have been most dangerously weakened if we had divided 
 it. It would have been equally foolhardy to attempt to 
 storm the place, and vacate an impregnable position. 
 There were at least 15,000 troops within the walls, and 
 a third of that number could have held them against 
 us. We lived in hope that the enemy would leave their 
 
AVRANCHES. 237 
 
 stronghold and give battle to us on the plain, but no 
 device or ruse on our part could draw them out to a 
 pitched battle. We continuously sent out small parties 
 of men in the hope that some attempt would be made 
 to cut them off, but the king knew the strength of his 
 position, and restrained himself from meeting us in 
 open fight. The old Asturnian proverb was a true one : 
 " Who holds Avranches is king of Asturnia." 
 
 It must not be supposed that Count Guy was'idly 
 waiting his chance, and taking no further steps to bring 
 the tottering throne of King Charles the Red to its fall. 
 East and west and south and north his messengers were 
 stirring up rebellion. They were enthusiastically re- 
 ceived by the common people ; but in most cases the 
 knights and their followers refused to commit themselves, 
 and in one or two instances hung the envoy to the 
 nearest tree. The death roll of Count Guy's secret 
 service was a long one. No less than thirty-five men 
 had made their way into the city itself, to approach 
 those knights who were known to be disaffected to the 
 king, but not a man returned, nor was there any sign 
 that the message had been delivered. The only gleam 
 of hope came from the Northern Province. The chief 
 city, St. Brieuc, had openly declared for the Princess 
 Thora, and a force of five thousand men was slowly 
 making its way through the great forests to our assistance. 
 
 On January 4th, the thermometer had fallen to 3°, 
 though in the camp itself, and near the great fires, it 
 was not unpleasantly cold, I shall remember that day 
 well, for, after a long conflict in my mind, I myself 
 decided the fate of Avranches. 
 
 It was nearly seven o'clock, and in a few minutes the 
 whole land would be plunged in darkness. I stood alone 
 by one of the embrazures, and, leaning upon a fifteen- 
 pounder, gazed idly on the glittering town. My thoughts 
 were not of the happiest, and I knew that however long 
 the siege might be, it would be only a respite for me. 
 When that proud city fell, the Princess would be crowned 
 Queen of Asturnia, and become the bride of Count Guy 
 of Marmorel. 
 
 And as I gazed, the flaring lights reflected on the 
 
238 DR. SILEX. 
 
 frost-bound Fiver began to fascinate me ; and it seemed 
 to my imagination that the city was held fast in the 
 coils of a long white snake. I followed the silvery line 
 to where it disappeared in a black wall of rock, and I 
 could not get the idea out of my head that the tall mass 
 of walls and towers and blazing lights was being strangled 
 in the grip of that thin white reptile. Then, as I looked, 
 a sudden thought struck me, and starting to an upright 
 position, I looked sharply round the valley, and I felt 
 a cold chill at my heart, for the horror of the thing I 
 had imagined was inconceivable. 
 
 The great fires died out, but for a whole hour I stood 
 looking on the smaller lights that twinkled in the city. 
 I was fighting a great struggle with myself. So long as 
 Avranches held its own, the Princess Thora would be 
 free, and yet so long would the desire of her heart remain 
 unaccomplished. Love and jealousy and hatred of 
 Count Guy of Marmorel warred fiercely with my wish 
 to give her the greatest happiness of all — the crown of 
 her kingdom. But in the end my better self conquered. 
 She had of her own free will chosen her part, knowing 
 the price she had to pay. It was not for me, her most 
 loving subject, to do aught but further her wishes. I 
 left the battlement, and made my way to the tent of 
 Count Guy of Marmorel, feeling that I was about to 
 sign the death warrant of my own happiness, and that 
 I carried the doom of a great city in my hands. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE GORGE OF THE PASQUERELLE. 
 
 When I had gained admission to Count Guy's tent 
 through a double line of soldiers, I found myself in the 
 presence of the whole council of war. 
 
 Count Guy and Sir Thule de Brie sat at each end of 
 a long oaken table, and on either side of them were 
 Captain Thorlassen, the Lord of Marmontier, Sir Hugh 
 de la Perche, Sir Gascon de Varaville, and Lord Fulk of 
 Braban9on. A large oil-lamp flared from the centre pole 
 of the tent, and the table was strewn with parchments 
 and maps of the city and surrounding country. It was 
 evident that there had been a heated discussion on some 
 matter. There was a dark flush on Count Guy's face, 
 and Sir Thule de Erie's eyebrows were knitted ominously 
 together. The others looked sullen and discontented, 
 as though they were sick of the whole business. It 
 was apparent that my entrance was hailed as a relief 
 from a somewhat awkward situation, and Captain Thor- 
 lassen smiled at me. 
 
 " Well, sir," said Count Guy sharply, " I trust your 
 news warrants this interruption of our business." 
 
 " It does, Count Guy of Marmorel," I answered, " if 
 you are still of a mind to capture Avranches, and place 
 the Princess Thora on the throne of Asturnia." Lord 
 Fulk of Brabangon laughed and looked meaningly at 
 Sir Hugh de La Perche, who frowned and fingered one 
 of the maps on the table. I guessed that my word had 
 gone home, and that one, at least, of those present had 
 been advocating the abandonment of the siege. 
 
 239 
 
240 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " Proceed," Sir Thule de Brie said quietly. " We are 
 of one mind in this matter, but Charles the Red, of 
 Asturnia, thinks differently, and his opinion seems likely 
 to prevail." 
 
 " I have that to lay before you, my lords," I con- 
 tinued, " which may overrule the king's voice in this 
 matter, and leave you alone to decide the fate of Av- 
 ranches." 
 
 Sir Thule motioned me to a seat at the table, and 
 casting my e\'es over the various plans, I selected one 
 which showed the whole valley of the Pasquerelle, and 
 pulled it towards me. 
 
 " Kindl}' state your business," Count Guy said sharply, 
 " if there is anything in what you have to say." 
 
 I took the map, and smoothing it out before me, went 
 straight to the point. 
 
 " I understand," I said, " that the river Pasquerelle 
 enters the valley down a long slope of hills, and leaves 
 it through a single opening in a sheer wall of rock." 
 
 " That is so," answered Sir Thule de Brie. 
 
 " I also understand that the circular basin in which 
 the city of Avranches lies is about six miles in diameter, 
 and that there is no opening in the circle of hills except 
 the ravine I have mentioned, or, at any rate, no opening 
 until the ground has risen at least two hundred feet 
 above the level of the sea." 
 
 " You are correct," Count Guy said quickly, with a 
 gleam of intelligence in his dark eyes. 
 
 " The river," I continued, "is, I believe, a large one. 
 Could anyone give me some idea of its width and 
 depth ? " 
 
 "It is about one hundred feet in width, and forty 
 feet in depth where it crosses the plain," answered 
 Count Guy. " Nearer the ravine it narrows and deepens. 
 It is fed by all the streams in these hills, and is itself 
 the conjunction of the only three rivers in the country." 
 
 " Good," I replied. " Well, suppose it were possible 
 to effectually close the ravine so that no water could 
 pass through it, or, at any rate, so that only a small 
 portion of the river could find an outlet. What would 
 be the result ? " 
 
THE GORGE OF THE PASQUERELLE. 241 
 
 " The valley would in time be flooded," said Lord 
 Fulk of Brabangon, with a laugh, " and Avranches 
 would be more impregnable than before. We cannot 
 swim to the walls with our swords in our teeth." 
 
 " And yet," I answered slowly, giving effect to every 
 word, " if the flood continued to rise, the water would 
 reach the top of the walls themselves ; and if it still 
 continued, the whole city would lie beneath the surface 
 of a great lake." 
 
 For a few seconds no one spoke. The contemplation 
 of so gigantic a catastrophe as the overwhelming of a 
 whole city in one watery grave, was too tremendous, 
 even for these stern warriors. They were accustomed 
 to see hundreds slaughtered in the heat of battle. But 
 this thing was different — a deed calmly calculated and 
 carried out in cold blood, and a wiping-out of a tenth 
 of the nation. 
 
 Then Count Guy laughed loudly, and rose to his feet 
 with an exultant look on his face. " By my faith, sir," 
 he cried, " for a man of peace, you have pretty ideas of 
 life and death." 
 
 " I have only one idea in my mind," I replied angrily, 
 " and that is to set the Princess Thora on the throne of 
 Asturnia. For myself, I would not see a man die either 
 for or against her, if it could be avoided. But where 
 she is concerned, neither my own life, nor those of her 
 enemies, nor even yours, Count Guy of Marmorel, are 
 aught but straws in the wind." 
 
 " You are right," said Sir Thule de Brie ; " and it is 
 possible that by this plan many lives may be saved. 
 The king may capitulate before the water is up to his 
 ankles." 
 
 " I only jested," Count Guy said hastily ; " I know 
 that you do not seek your own advantage in this matter," 
 and he looked at me with so much meaning in his eyes 
 that I flushed and bit my lips with shame. 
 
 "Is it possible to fill up the ravine in less than a 
 year ? " asked Sir Hugh de La Perche. " The rock is 
 hard as steel. There is no earth near the summit of 
 the gorge." 
 
 " I will undertake to do it in two weeks," I replied, 
 
 Q 
 
242 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " with five hundred men. We have powers at our 
 disposal that you know httle of, Sir Hugh. We could 
 send half of one of those hills toppling into the valley, 
 if we wished to do so." 
 
 Count Guy smiled grimly. He remembered how the 
 great gates of his castle had been blown-in like bits of 
 paper. 
 
 " You have not seen the ravine yet," said Captain 
 Thorlassen. " I would not promise to do it in so short 
 a time. How long would the valley take to fill ? " 
 
 I took out a piece of paper and a pencil, and made 
 some rough and hurried calculations. 
 
 " The water should be one hundred feet deep in 
 three months," I replied. " Of course, this is only an 
 estimate. I have no exact measurements ; I don't 
 know the rate at which the stream runs, nor can I yet 
 tell how much water will escape." 
 
 " The water will freeze, of course," said Sir Thule de 
 Brie, " and it will be possible for our troops to advance 
 over the ice. It will be about two feet thick." 
 
 " I had that in my mind, Sir Thule de Brie," I answered. 
 " The barrier should be raised to such a height as to 
 bring the water within a foot of the top of the walls. 
 It will not be hard to make the calculation with our 
 instruments. If the king refuses to give in, we can raise 
 it higher. If he capitulates, his troops can leave the 
 city and deliver up their arms under the shadow of 
 our guns." 
 
 " And when we are in possession of the city ? " some- 
 one asked. 
 
 " We can blast the barrier to pieces, let the water 
 out of the valley, and remain with the key of Asturnia 
 in our hands." 
 
 " A well-thought-out plan," said Count Guy of Mar- 
 morel, holding out his hand to me. " What say you, 
 my lords and knights ? Is not this gentleman deserving 
 of our thanks ? " 
 
 " Aye, aye," they cried one by one, rising and pressing 
 round me to grasp my hand. I responded but coldly 
 to the warmth of their enthusiasm. 
 
 " You owe me no thanks," I said, moving towards the 
 
THE GORGE OF THE PASQUERELLE. 243 
 
 trhellr' ^" ^^""^ *^^ '^™^ interests at stake and-and 
 
 " When Avranches falls," said Count Guy, his ereat 
 
 beTorZf""^ °T r ^'^' ^ ^h^^'^^' "y«^ shah no 
 be forgotten ; and when the Princess is crowned Queen 
 of Asturnia, you shall have your reward " 
 
 on n-,v°hf 1^™.T?^'!^^^^ '"^ ^^^ ^y^^ ^"^' turning sharply 
 on my heel without a word, left the room. I had done 
 a night's work that the whole world could not com- 
 fhnnf^Ti/""- P^^^hance, too, the deaths of tTn 
 thousand fellow-men would be laid at the door of my 
 
 The next day the great dam was begun. We picked 
 ou two hundred of our own sailors and three hu^ndred 
 A urnians for the work in hand. All the men were 
 
 IvI^hfnZ ,' ^f ^-^T^ ^^^' °^ waggons followed us laden 
 with food, tents, pickaxes, crowbars, 1,000 lbs. of blasting 
 gelatine, and all the apparatus and instruments necessary 
 lor hrmg the charges and obtaining the level of the top 
 of the town wahs. We had resolved to save time hv 
 camping on the spot. The ravine was only one and a 
 rolTh r °^.^ /""^ and was practically inaccessible 
 from the valley side without a considerable detour It 
 was, moreover, very unlikely that the king's forces would 
 leave the town, as we Iiad failed to drat them out on 
 so many previous occasions. By way of further pre- 
 
 and ?wn mT'^'"' ?t *°°^ ^'^^ ^^ ^ fifteen-pounder 
 and two Maxims. The moon was favourable for our 
 
 Zn'T; r^ ^^"^ ^^°^^ *h^ h°"^«n ior ten days 
 and nights like a great electric arc lamp ; and gave us 
 
 k Te >^^' ^' '' r' '^'y ^° read^small p?int by 
 It. ^^e divided ourselves into three shifts, and were 
 able to work every hour out of the twenty-four 
 
 .rfTil^ '■''7''!? '^'^^^ "^^^ ^^^1 worth a visit from the 
 artistic standpoint, and would have been a show place 
 for tourists, it it had been in Switzerland. ^ 
 
 .nrl f>,7''"' T! ^^ ^^""^^ ^w° hundred feet in height, 
 h tKltV^' W, ^^^7^^"\them not more than twenty fee 
 in width When I first looked over the edge there was 
 
 he rolr f^^' T' ^""'f ^^"^^^ Sulf, from which ascended 
 the roar of waters and a laint mist of spray. But we 
 
244 DR. SILEX. 
 
 had brought a searchlight with us, and when its rays 
 had pierced the darkness, we saw near the entrance a 
 cauldron of boiling foam, and farther down a long lane 
 of swift black water flecked with white froth ; and 
 further still a veritable inferno of jagged rocks and 
 seething whirlpools. The walls of the gorge were glit- 
 tering with frozen spray, and from every projection in 
 the rock hung gigantic icicles. The water itself was 
 descending, as far as I could judge, about one in twenty, 
 and it was almost impossible for the surface to freeze ; 
 but every now and then a great block of ice, detached 
 from the upper part of the river, would whizz down the 
 ravine, and splinter itself against the sides into a thousand 
 fragments. 
 
 Such was the place we had to work in. I had spoken 
 glibly enough in the tent about making a dam, but as 
 I looked into that awful hell of ice and water, I realised 
 that the credit of the work would not rest with hirh 
 who planned the scheme, but with those who dared to 
 carry it out. Small wonder that such a task had never 
 been attempted in the previous history of the kingdom. 
 I doubt if it could have possibly been accomplished 
 without modern explosives. 
 
 We selected the lower part of the gorge for our work. 
 In the first place, it was hidden from the town of Av- 
 ranches by the rising ground ; and in the second, the 
 water was more shallow and broken up with rocks, and 
 there would be less chance of the falling debris being 
 carried away. 
 
 We were fortunate in having with us several men with 
 a practical experience of rock blasting. Under their 
 supervision we bridged the gorge with four great baulks 
 of timber, and letting down half a dozen cradles on 
 either side, began to bore a hundred holes in the solid 
 rock. Each hole was twenty-five inches in depth, and 
 contained a two-pound charge of blasting gelatine. They 
 were all connected by wires to an electrical firing ap- 
 paratus placed a hundred j^ards away from the edge of 
 the gorge. Although we were equipped with diamond 
 rock-drills, the work occupied ten days. Hawkins, who 
 had worked on some of the hardest quartz reefs in the 
 
THE GORGE OF THE PASQUERELLE. 245 
 
 world, said that he had never struck any formation of 
 such metalHc hardness. 
 
 I should hardly like to say what the men suffered 
 from the cold of that icy and foam-spattered gorge. It 
 was no uncommon thing for us to pull up a man in a 
 half-fainting condition and thaw him to life before a 
 roaring fire. We watched the men carefully under the 
 searchlight, and a signal cord hung to the side of every 
 one of them, but in spite of all precautions four of them 
 fell senseless into the rushing water below, and died as 
 surely for their Queen as though they had perished in 
 the front of battle. 
 
 The Asturnians were of no use to us in this work. 
 Time was too short to teach them the intricacies of 
 modern machinery and engineering. We employed half 
 of them in guarding the camp and the other half in 
 hewing down hundreds of stunted fir trees, and piHng 
 them up thirty yards from the brink of the precipice. 
 
 The work was finished without interruption from the 
 king's forces ; and it is doubtful if he had any knowledge 
 of what we were doing. On January 15th the last hole 
 was bored, and the last connection was made, and four 
 hundred men stood ready with trees and brushwood on 
 their shoulders to assist in the formation of the dam. 
 
 I fired the charge myself. There was a terrific con- 
 cussion, a long roar, and we saw the edges of the gorge 
 crumble away in a cloud of dust and smoke. We rushed 
 to the brink of the gulf, fixed the searchlight, and saw 
 a great mass of debris piled up the sides of the chasm 
 twenty feet above the water. Every man hurled his 
 burden of trees or bush into the river, and we could see 
 them being forced and tangled into the jagged lumps of 
 stone, till they seemed to bind the whole fabric with a 
 network of wood. The work had been well done. The 
 face of either cliff to a depth of three feet and a length 
 of ten yards had been precipitated into the ravine. 
 The river boiled against this new obstacle with fury, 
 and some of it forced its way through the crevices of 
 the rocks ; but for a few minutes the torrent below the 
 dam dwindled away into a babbling brook, and the 
 water on the other side was rising inch by inch. I held 
 
246 DR. SILEX. 
 
 a brief consultation with Captain Thorlassen, and we 
 made a series of accurate measurements and observations. 
 As we did so, we noticed that the water suddenly ceased 
 to rise in any perceptible degree. It had evidently 
 reached the level of the entrance of the gorge, and had 
 the whole great plain in which to expand itself. 
 
 As the result of our observations, we set the men to 
 work again, and five days later, two more huge slices 
 were cut off the rocky walls, and hurled on to the dam. 
 And we had to repeat this operation three times to bring 
 the obstruction up to the requisite height and breadth. 
 When we had finished, there was not an ounce of ex- 
 plosive left in our camp, and the top of the gorge had 
 widened to over forty feet. We completed the work at 
 the end of January, and as we returned to the camp 
 we saw an ice-covered lake three hundred acres in extent 
 spreading out from the mouth of the gorge, and grinding 
 its broken edges against the hills on either side. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE LAST BATTLE. 
 
 Day by day the icy surface of the lake broadened and 
 crept nearer to Avranches, and day by day we watched 
 it from the camp, as men watch their dogs creep on 
 some trembhng prey. On February loth the whole 
 valley was a couple of feet under water, and we could 
 see the inhabitants of the town blocking up the gate- 
 ways of the outer wall, and running hither and thither 
 in indescribable confusion. 
 
 A few days later the lower part of the town was 
 flooded. The enormous weight of the water had forced 
 in some ill-constructed barrier, and pouring through the 
 streets and houses a yard in depth, had driven the 
 inhabitants out of their homes to the higher ground. 
 A gang of soldiers, however, managed to stop up the 
 gap, and as the water froze, the wretched people re- 
 turned, walking on the ice, and apparently endeavouring 
 to drag out some kind of existence in the upper parts 
 of their houses. Before the end of February the water 
 was twenty feet deep outside the walls ; the loopholes 
 and windows were stopped up in vain, and the whole 
 of the town between the first and second ring of forti- 
 fications was uninhabitable. Still no word came from 
 the king, and his flag floated as proudly as ever from 
 the highest tower of the castle. 
 
 But his soldiers and his people were not disposed to 
 look upon the advancing danger with so much equani- 
 mity. The whole surface was frozen hard, except at 
 the edges, where the rising water broke the ice and left 
 
 247 
 
248 DR. SILEX. 
 
 a narrow moat about the castle walls and the shores of 
 the lake. The risk of crossing this channel of small 
 floes and freezing water was great, but many risked it. 
 Scarcely an hour of the night passed in which we did 
 not see small black figures hurrying away across the 
 frozen plain, or did not hear the shrieks and cries of 
 drowning men. 
 
 One night five hundred soldiers of the king's own 
 guard crossed the ice to our camp and gave themselves 
 into our hands. They came with a pitiable story on 
 their lips. Half the city was under water. The whole 
 of the population and the soldiers were crowded together 
 within the last line of ramparts. Food was running 
 short, and the king was driving the wretched citizens 
 from the walls, to perish or escape as best they could. 
 Many of them, fearing to leave the city, were huddled 
 together upon the ice in the lower town, without food 
 or light or warmth. The army itself was fast merging 
 into a disorderly rabble without guidance or discipline. 
 Some were for escaping to the hills and fortifying Bra- 
 bangon ; some were for meeting Count Guy in open 
 fight, and deciding the issue on a single cast of the 
 die ; some were for surrender ; some had vowed to 
 hold the castle till the water washed their dead bodies 
 from the walls. Not a day passed without strife and 
 bloodshed. The place was a hell of indecision and 
 tumult. Yet over all stood the king, calm as the ice 
 itself, favouring no policy, and with his own resolutions 
 locked in his crafty brain. With two thousand picked 
 men, he kept himself within the walls of his great castle, 
 and brooded over the ill-fated town like a vulture. 
 Charles the Red was loved by no man, but feared by 
 all. Of enormous physical strength, and reputed to be 
 more skilful in the use of the sword than any man in 
 Asturnia, he held the whole of the place in a state of 
 terror and despair. His presence was the only check 
 on open rebellion. 
 
 But we were destined to learn his policy within the 
 next few days. Like many statesmen of our own 
 European countries, he knew the surest remedy for 
 internal disorder. The din and fury of battle have 
 
THE LAST BATTLE. 249 
 
 always been powerful enough to drown the feuds and 
 dissensions of parties. Men have little time to argue 
 with their neighbours when they are led out against a 
 common foe. It is those who wait inactive for the 
 bullet and the steel who are wont to discuss how best 
 to meet them. On the night of the first of March, 
 Charles the Red, as he was called from the flaming 
 colour of his beard, played for high stakes and 
 lost them. 
 
 It was a dark night, for the moon was not yet above 
 the horizon. The stars only showed a dim white sea 
 beneath us, and in the distance a dark island twinkhng 
 with a few yellow flames. The only searchlight we had 
 brought with us from Sancta Maria was unfortunately 
 out of order. It had been of considerable assistance 
 in watching the movements of the enemy by night. 
 We had, however, no fear of the darkness. Every sound 
 could be heard in the stillness, and anything in the 
 nature of a surprise was an impossibility. 
 
 I did not go to bed that night until after twelve ^ 
 o'clock. And I had scarcely closed my eyes when I '■ 
 was roused by the cry of the sentry. I listened for a 
 minute and heard the sound of footsteps and voices, 
 and then the clank of arms, and the stir and movement 
 of the whole camp. I flung on my clothes and rushed 
 to the battlements. They were lined with men peering 
 into the darkness across the valley. 
 
 " Hark," cried someone, and all those near me were 
 silent. I listened. I heard sounds in the distance, 
 the continual clank of steel, the cracking and shivering 
 of ice, and now and then a faint splash and the voice 
 of a man. Then, listening further, I heard sounds to 
 the right and left of us along the hills, very distant 
 and very faint, but to the man who waits for his enemy, 
 the loud signal of his approach. The most unlikely 
 thing in the world had happened. We were going to be 
 attacked in our almost impregnable position, and the 
 king was going to hazard his throne on the result. 
 
 Men moved swiftly to their posts ; orders were hurriedly 
 given and obeyed. Troops were arranged, guns trained, 
 ammunition served out, swords drawn, bows strung, 
 
250 DR. SILEX. 
 
 and the whole camp was moving Hke a hive of bees. 
 There was plenty of time, for the sounds were yet faint 
 in the distance, but it is better to wait than to be sur- 
 prised. We were determined to be ready when the hour 
 came. 
 
 But we had reckoned without our host. While orders 
 were still being shouted, and men still hurrying to and 
 fro, there came a rattling sleet of arrows from the south. 
 A moment later there was a roar of guns and a rattle 
 of Maxims. Then there was a clash of steel, and men 
 were fighting hand to hand. Charles the Red had indeed 
 prepared a rare surprise for Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 He had raised a large force of knights and soldiers, and 
 had managed to throw them against us on the one side 
 where we least expected an attack — the one that faced 
 the road to Sancta Maria. 
 
 In less than twenty minutes great bodies of men 
 dashed up from east and west, and shortly afterwards 
 the storm broke from the north, and our camp was 
 hemmed in on all sides with a ring of steel. 
 
 It is impossible for me to speak of that battle with 
 the accuracy of a historian. In the darkness I saw 
 nothing but the spitting flames of our guns, the occa- 
 sional flash of a sword, and dark masses of men swaying 
 to and fro in the starlight. I felt nothing but the rap, 
 rap of arrows against my coat of chain mail, and the 
 occasional lurch of a stricken man against my side. 
 But my ears had no lack of sounds to fill them. The 
 roar of artillery, the war cries of the knights, the clash 
 of steel, the groans of the wounded, and the thud and 
 crash of blows. It was a deafening pandemonium ; but 
 a man can only write of what he sees, and for ten minutes 
 I saw little. 
 
 Then the moon rose above the mountains, and I could 
 see that we were completely hemmed in by a great 
 army of men, and that the enemy were breaking like 
 waves over the walls and fighting their way within the 
 very ramparts. I could see, too, that every time one 
 of our guns spoke, a long furrow passed through the 
 silvery surface of armour, and closed up again ; while the 
 Maxims literally cut down swathes of men, and flattened 
 
THE LAST BATTLE. 251 
 
 them to the earth as a tornado flattens a cornfield. The 
 carnage was horrible. I know of nothing like it in 
 modern war. Since we had been in the country our 
 guns had been used more than once with great and 
 terrible effect ; but it was reserved for Charles the Red 
 to teach us what hellish work modern artillery can do 
 against great masses of men. I shall never forget that 
 scene in the moonlight ; the waves of steel-clad men 
 rushing against the battlements, only to be hurled back 
 and shattered into mangled heaps of flesh and blood ; 
 the splash of a warm rain on our very faces'; the con- 
 tinuous shrieking of the wounded ; and through it all 
 the hot sleet of arrows streaming from every point of 
 the compass into our midst. 
 
 I had little to do, though now and again a few knights 
 broke through the ring of death, cut down our gunners 
 at their posts, and hewed their way to where the twin 
 ensigns floated over the centre of the camp. But they 
 never reached their goal. They had passed the guns, 
 but cold steel was waiting for them, and they died like 
 heroes. I killed two of them myself with my revolver, 
 and the battle-axe of another would have beaten the 
 life out of me, if Sir Hugh de La Perche had not inter- 
 vened his shield. 
 
 The whole affair did not last twenty minutes. No 
 fight could have lasted longer under such conditions. 
 It was mere butchery. The enemy broke and fled, 
 leaving three-quarters of their number heaped round 
 our camp in great piles of dead and dying, and the very 
 mountain side was red with frozen blood. The victory 
 was the work of our sailors. It is possible that without 
 them the barricade would have been rushed in that 
 sharp and sudden surprise from the south. They bore 
 the brunt of the conflict, sticking to their guns till they 
 fell in the forefront of the battle. Two hundred of them 
 died that night, and when the fight was over there were 
 five rounds left for each gun, and two rolls of cartridges 
 for each Maxim. Before the last sound of the retreating 
 army had died away, Count Guy knighted myself. 
 Captain Thorlassen, and Captain Edwards with his own 
 hand, and vowed that every one of our men should receive 
 
252 DR. SII.EX. 
 
 a house, land, and free maintenance by the state till the 
 day of his death. 
 
 The enemy were not suffered to depart in peace. The 
 whole long mountain-side was strewn with their dead. 
 A large body of knights and spearmen and archers 
 pursued the fugitives, cutting, stabbing, and shooting 
 up to the very edge of the lake. Less than one thousand 
 men reached the shore, and even then the ice was dyed 
 with their blood. There were single combats on the 
 slippery surface, and long after our men had retired, 
 the arrows of the archers found many a mark, and our 
 rifles made a line of dead up to the very castle walls. 
 
 When morning came, and the long fires streamed once 
 more up into the sky, the scene about our ram])arts 
 was so terrible that we decided to move our camp. We 
 had no longer any need of fortifications, but I have 
 learnt that it is impossible for a leader to be too careful. 
 We resolved to entrench ourselves lower down the moun- 
 tain, not more than a hundred feet above the edge of 
 the water. 
 
 At noon the Princess Tliora was led out on her horse 
 through the heaps and lanes of dead. Count Guy and 
 Sir Thule de Brie insisted on her being blindfolded, so 
 that she saw nothing of that fearful sight. Her face 
 was white as death, and tears streamed down her 
 cheeks. These dead men were her subjects, and perhaps 
 under different circumstances would have died in her 
 defence. She could hear the hoofs of her steed striking 
 the steel of their armour, and feel the stumble of its 
 feet against their bodies. Poor child ! she had indeed 
 succeeded to an inheritance of blood. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE FROZEN CITY. 
 
 For three days our men toiled on that death-strewn 
 height, and did their best to bury the dead, and note 
 the names of the principal victims. Lords, knights, 
 and common soldiers were all there, but no one found 
 the body of the king himself, or those of his two sons. 
 Our work was not yet over, but the fate of the castle 
 lay in our hands. The waters still continued to rise, 
 and the crust of ice was breaking and toppling over the 
 summit of the city walls. The whole of the town was 
 flooded out, and apparently all the wretched inhabitants 
 had made their escape into the surrounding country, 
 save those who were too weak to move, and those who 
 had perished in the attempt. We could see the frozen 
 water glistening round the base of the very castle itself. 
 But the king's flag still floated on the highest tower, and 
 Avranches was not yet delivered into our hands. 
 
 Then the water suddenly ceased to creep up the 
 mountain side, and we knew that the power of the dam 
 had reached its limit. We had now to choose between 
 increasing the height of the barrier and storming the 
 castle by force of arms. We decided on the latter, as 
 being the quickest means of attaining our end. It 
 would have taken two more months to completely flood 
 the king from his castle— if, indeed, he was still in it 
 — and four more months to drain off the water from 
 the plain. The undertaking was too gigantic for our 
 purpose. It was like taking a fifteen-pounder to shoot 
 a squirrel. We resolved to move our forces on the castle, 
 
 253 
 
254 DR. SILEX. ^ 
 
 blast the gate down with dynamite, and put an end to 
 the war with a single decisive stroke. 
 
 On the night of March ist, three hundred picked men 
 made their way across the ice to the beleaguered city. 
 They took with them a single gun, and all the remaining 
 ammunition. Four of our sailors wheeled some large 
 iron-sheathed boxes on small trolleys. These contained 
 a hundred pounds of dynamite apiece, and a firing 
 apparatus. The ice was firm and strong. Now that 
 the water had ceased to rise, it had thickened consider- 
 ably. It was very rough in parts, but it would have 
 borne an army in close formation. 
 
 We advanced in a great semi-circle, two miles in 
 length, and a hundred yards in depth. Every man 
 was twenty feet from his neighbour. The extended 
 lines offered a difficult target to the enemy, and mini- 
 mised the danger of breaking the ice, if there should 
 happen to be any weak spots in it. 
 
 The moon was shining brightly above the hills, and 
 it gave almost as much light as the artificial day. There 
 was no question of a surprise. We were prepared to 
 reduce the place by force, and hazard our lives in the 
 doing of it. Every single survivor of our expedition 
 who could walk had obtained permission to join in the 
 attack. For two months I and Captain, or, as I must 
 now call him. Sir Otto Thorlassen, had been engaged 
 on a long series of observations with our most delicate 
 instruments, and we had located the Pole within the 
 castle walls. The true location, of course, depended 
 on the exact measurements from the point of observa- 
 tion to the castle. But we had obtained this from fifty 
 different sources, and had no reason to doubt their 
 accurac}'. The Asturnians are by no means ignorant in 
 practical matters of this sort, and the maps of their 
 country would do credit to an English ordnance surveyor. 
 The result was made known to every sailor and captain 
 in our little band, and their thoughts had been once 
 more turned from the grim realities of war to that 
 imaginary spot where a man can grasp all the lines of 
 longitude with a single hand. And not one of them 
 would have missed the chance of being first within the 
 
THE FROZEN CITY. 255 
 
 castle, for all the rewards and gold Count Guy could 
 have offered them. They did not for the moment seek 
 the glory of knocking away the last prop of Charles' 
 kingdom, but the honour of being first at the North Pole. 
 
 I looked on that strange scene in the moonlight more 
 with sorrow than with expectant pleasure. Of the 
 thousand men who had sailed from London, a bare 
 two hundred were moving across the ice to their final 
 goal. Of these many limped, and not a few had but a 
 single arm, while the number of gashed faces and band- 
 aged heads bore witness to the fierce nature of a combat 
 from which scarce a man had come out unscathed. More 
 than one hundred men were unable to leave the camp. 
 With wistful eyes and curses on their lips they watched 
 their more fortunate comrades depart across the ice. 
 The other six hundred odd were dead. Some had died 
 in the long journey to the Frozen North and the first 
 cruel winter, others had fallen victims to disease, but 
 the great majority had perished on the field of battle. 
 And for what had they died ? Not indeed for the glory 
 of their country, nor in the pursuit of science, nor yet 
 for their own advantage ; but to place a stranger on 
 the throne of a strange kingdom. Yet they had fought 
 as brave men will ever fight, to help a woman in distress 
 and right a grievous wrong ; and they had not died in 
 vain. From the hour when the first shot was fired 
 against the walls of Sancta Maria to that last bloody day, 
 when more than two hundred died in the embrasures of 
 our fortress, the throne of the Lady Thora had been in 
 their keeping, and they had kept it well. It was with 
 their labour and with their lives that the foundations of 
 a new kingdom had been wrought and set in place. 
 
 Yet it was no time for melancholy thoughts such as 
 these. There before us in the white light of the moon 
 lay the goal of every man's ambitions. For some the 
 crowning victory of the war. For others the fulfilled 
 hope of many years — the discovery of the North Pole. 
 It was a striking scene. The great plain of ice, dotted 
 with crawling specks of humanity. In the distance a 
 ring of broken floes, the only remaining trace of where 
 the first city wall had stood. Beyond that a wilderness 
 
256 DR. SILEX. 
 
 of dark objects breaking through the crust of ice — 
 towers, spires, and other tall buildings that had not been 
 totally submerged. Then another line of wall, seven 
 feet in height, though its foundations were thirty yards 
 beneath tlie ice. Then more scattered islands of stone, 
 but higher and more numerous ; then another wall, this 
 time twenty feet in height ; then a wide moat of smooth 
 unbroken ice ; and lastly the castle itself, dark and 
 silent, like some monument reared to the memory of a 
 dead city. I have looked on many scenes of desolation 
 in my life, Cordeaux ; on long miles of burning sand, on 
 wastes of sea and granite rock, on interminable fields of 
 ice and snow ; but I do not think anything has appeared 
 to me more desolate than the ice-bound and ice- 
 buried city of Avranches. It was not merely that 
 it was dark, and motionless, and silent, but that it 
 did itself seem to be the tomb of all light, and life, 
 and sound. 
 
 We reached the ice blocks which marked the line of 
 the outer wall without hindrance or interruption. We 
 were more than a bowshot from the castle, but death 
 might have lurked behind every piece of masonry that 
 jutted out from the ice, and we were glad to reach the 
 shelter of the jagged floes. Some of them were over 
 four feet in thickness, and we had considerable difficulty 
 in getting our gun through the barrier. 
 
 We moved towards the next wall with every sense 
 on the alert. It formed a perfect fortification for either 
 a defending or attacking force, and it seemed hardly 
 likely that the enemy would allow us to occupy it with- 
 out opposition. Yet such was the case. We passed a 
 few dead bodies glued to the surface of the ice by frozen 
 pools of blood, but no living soul stirred to oppose us. 
 Even in the castle itself there was no sign of life. Not 
 a single figure was silhouetted against the moonlit sky, 
 and not a single light gleamed from its long rows of 
 windows and loopholes. The silence was suspicious. 
 Under the shelter of the stonework we extended our 
 lines so as to surround the whole wall. Yet no one saw 
 or heard anything to report. 
 
 We waited for an hour. Then Count Guy saw that 
 
THE FROZEN CITY. 257 
 
 the cold was only inflaming the impatient spirits of our 
 men, and the advance continued. The water was now 
 lower in the town, and our path more difficult. We 
 moved among the tops of the houses, which formed 
 dwarfed streets in all directions. The terrible nature 
 of the catastrophe I had conceived stood naked in the 
 moonlight. Blocks of ice hanging through the windows ; 
 floors of ice ; long icicles festooned from the walls ; 
 household goods welded and frozen together into shape- 
 less blocks ; here and there a dead body, white and 
 rigid, still preserved by the frost, and cased in a tomb 
 of ice. It was terrible to look upon. I saw the face 
 of a woman peering up through the glassy surface, and 
 could read a curse on her half-opened lips. A little 
 further on a child stared up at me with eyes of piteous 
 terror. One of its tiny hands still grasped a rudely- 
 fashioned toy. I gave thanks to heaven that the Princess 
 was not there to see the cost of her victory. 
 
 We reached the third wall without opposition, and 
 still there was no sign of life from the castle. We were 
 now about one hundred yards from the main entrance, 
 and it was impossible to suppose that our approach had 
 gone unnoticed. Either the place was deserted, or else 
 some great surprise was in store for us. Our leader took 
 the latter view, and laid his plan accordingly. 
 
 This third wall, owing to the upward slope of the town, 
 rose at least twenty feet above the ice. It was nearly 
 ten yards in width, and very similar in character to the 
 forts of Sancta Maria. We scaled it with the aid of rope 
 ladders, and managed with considerable difficulty to 
 haul up the gun after us. This we trained on the main 
 gate of the castle. The parapets were over four feet 
 in height, and afforded ample protection for the gunners. 
 Nothing lay between us and the entrance but a smooth 
 sheet of ice. When all our men had scaled the wall, 
 and were ready with strung bows and loaded rifles, we 
 fired point blank at the gate. 
 
 The shell, which was exploded by a percussion fuse, 
 burst right against the massive oak and iron, and small 
 fragments of it came rattling back against the parapet. 
 It was evident that we should be able to make short 
 
 R 
 
258 DR. SILEX. 
 
 work of the gate without the use of dynamite. It was 
 a doll's affair compared to the great entrance of Sancta 
 Maria, where the iron alone was four inches in thickness. 
 We waited a minute for some response, but there was 
 no sound save the faint crackling of the ice in all direc- 
 tions. The smoke drifted away in the moonlight like a 
 silver cloud, and we saw a gaping hole some two feet 
 square. But no one moved along the castle walls, and 
 no lights flashed from the long lines of loopholes. Either 
 the place was deserted, or else the defenders were exer- 
 cising considerable self-restraint. We fired again and 
 again, till every inch of the gate was demolished, and 
 the entrance was a mere heap of wood and stone and 
 iron. The fragments of the last two or three shells 
 rattled on the far side of the courtyard. Still there 
 was no answer. 
 
 Then the word was given to advance. Our sailors 
 slipped over the edge of the parapet like monkeys, 
 dropped on to the ice, and raced across the slippery 
 surface to the gate. I was well among the first of them ; 
 for I have, as you know, been something of a runner in 
 my day. I had, moreover, no rifle to carry, and my 
 hands were free. The repeated shocks of the exploding 
 shells had cracked and split the ice in all directions, and 
 it groaned and moved under our feet. But it stood 
 firm till we reached the edge. Then we splashed up to 
 our knees in water, and reached the gate. Captain 
 Edwards, of the Sveliholm, was first through the entrance, 
 and I foflowed him, revolver in hand ; for if the enemy 
 had any surprise waiting for us, now was the time for 
 it. But we encountered nothing. The courtyard was 
 empty, and the moonlight fell on nothing but walls and 
 towers of stone. 
 
 I and Thorlassen had decided that the great donjon 
 keep of the castle was as near as possible the exact 
 location of the North Pole ; and it was agreed to treat 
 it as such until fresh observations could be made in 
 the summer from the place itself. We only paused for 
 a second, in expectancy of a sudden sleet of arrows or 
 a fierce rush of steel-clad knights. Then we tore across 
 the courtyard to the door of the keep. I reached it first 
 
THE FROZEN CITY. 259 
 
 others.''°^' ^""^ ^'^'^'''^ *^^ ^''''^^ ^^^""^^ ^«und to the 
 
 I' Is it mine ? " I gasped. 
 c;-i \'^ yours," they cried. "Three cheers for the 
 Si ex Expedition. ' They shouted lustily, and I fumb ed 
 round my waist for something I had brought w h me 
 I untied It and waved it in the moonlight. It waTa 
 
 and h^Tt J"'^- \""^ ^^^y ^^^-^^^^ °-t their cheers! 
 and the Asturnians, who were now crowding up in the 
 rear, cried heartily for Count Guy and th^e Princess 
 They knew nothing of the emblem before thdr eves 
 ave that it was the standard of those who had set Ihetr 
 leader on his throne. The courtyard was fu if of men 
 the air flashed with swords and lances, and there was 
 a scene of wild enthusiasm. Avrancles was in our 
 hands, and our feet on the North Pole itself 
 
 Ihen, suddenly, a clear light gleamed out from the 
 window in the tower, and a great silence fell upo^ the 
 throng, and every eye was turned to that p?teh of 
 yellow, forty feet above the ground. A few momen? 
 
 to'^'and'tt^f Pf f!"''!'^ ^^^^^^-' ^^^ ^li""of 
 glasses and the famt clash of steel. Then there was a 
 louder burst of laughter, and then silence 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 CHARLES THE RED. 
 
 I PRESSED my shoulder against the door and it swung 
 slowly backwards, revealing nothing but darkness. 
 Someone thrust a torch into my hand, and I saw a 
 wide bare chamber and a narrow flight of stone steps 
 disappearing in the gloom above. They jutted out from 
 the interior wall of the keep, and were without a rail 
 of any kind. A single man at the top of them could 
 have held his own against a hundred swordsmen, though 
 one good shot from a bow or a rifle would have brought 
 him crashing down on to the floor below. It was a 
 nasty place to climb in single file, and there was at 
 least one living man to give us welcome when we reached 
 the summit. I hesitated a moment at the foot of the 
 stairs, peering into the blackness. A tall figure in 
 armour pushed through the crowd of sailors behind me 
 and came to my side. It was Sir Thule de Brie. 
 
 " This is my business," he said abruptly. " I have 
 a long account to settle. If there is any living soul in 
 this tower, it is Charles the Red ; for no one else would 
 stay to meet us. I have waited for six years to meet 
 him face to face. I have much to avenge." 
 
 " I, too, have wrongs to avenge," I answered, placing 
 my foot on the first step, and holding the torch above 
 my head. 
 
 For answer Sir Thule took me by the arm, and, swinging 
 me back, snatched the torch from my hand. " I ask 
 your pardon. Sir Edward," he said, " but you do not 
 know what man you have to meet — nor do you know 
 
 260 
 
CHARLES THE RED. 261 
 
 this castle as I do," and he began to mount the steps 
 with his eyes fixed upwards, and his right hand grasping 
 his sword. 
 
 I was annoyed, for no one Hkes to be thrust from the 
 post of honour ; but in my heart I knew that he had 
 acted rightly. He was best fitted to take the lead, and 
 no one, save the Princess herself, had more to avenge 
 than Sir Thule de Brie. 
 
 I followed him up the stone steps, my revolver in my 
 right hand, and my left touching the rugged wall of 
 stone. The steps were hardly three feet in width, and 
 we could only advance in single file. Behind me came 
 Captain Edwards, then half a dozen sailors, rifle in hand. 
 Count Guy of Marmorel watched us with a grim smile. 
 He, at any rate, had no burning desire to meet his former 
 master. 
 
 We filed up the narrow staircase till we were thirty 
 feet above the ground. The light from Sir Thule de 
 Brie's torch fell now on an open door at the top of the 
 stairs. A single strong man in that doorway could have 
 sent the long line of us crashing to the earth like a row 
 of ninepins, but the doorway was empty. I began to 
 wonder if there was really anyone in the tower at all, 
 and if the light and the sounds of laughter had not been 
 due to some supernatural agency. 
 
 I passed into a low vaulted passage with a sigh of 
 relief. I had no fancy for that crazy staircase of stone, 
 and am not ashamed to confess that I prefer to meet 
 an enemy on level ground. 
 
 The passage was about twenty feet in length, and I 
 could see a bright light shining from underneath a door 
 at the end of it. We paused for a few seconds, and again 
 I heard the sound of laughter and the clink of glasses 
 and the faint clash of steel. Sir Thule de Brie moved 
 forward quickly and flung open the door. A strange 
 sight lay before our eyes, as we paused at the entrance. 
 
 The room was a large one, and could not have been 
 less than forty feet square. A dozen great oil lamps 
 flared round the walls. In the centre of the stone floor 
 there was a long oak table. It was laden with every 
 delicacy that Asturnia could produce, and covered with 
 
262 DR. SILEX. 
 
 jewelled goblets of gold and steel and silver, which 
 sparkled in the flickering light. The room was horribly 
 cold, and the reason was not far to seek. Great ice 
 blocks were piled round all sides of it, and they glittered 
 like a crj'stal wall. At the head of the table, in a large 
 oaken throne, sat Charles XV. of Asturnia, his long copper- 
 coloured beard sweejiing down to the golden plate in 
 front of him. It was his grim fancy to have his armour 
 painted crimson, and he looked like some huge stain of 
 blood against the white ice behind him. His size and 
 physical strength were enormous. I noticed that one 
 side of his helmet was torn into a jagged hole, that half 
 his red plume was shorn away, and that his armour was 
 scarred with a hundred cuts and dents. His evil face 
 was terrible to look upon, and I could well believe the 
 stories I had heard of his atrocious cruelty. 
 
 On either side of him sat two tall knights, with their 
 vizors down, and rigid as statues of steel. The armour 
 of one was pierced and riddled like a sieve, and it was 
 scarcely possible to believe that any man could have 
 worn it and lived. The other appeared to have gone 
 through the battle unscathed, save that the steel of his 
 cuirass was covered with a bright crimson stain. Both 
 of the knights wore the royal crest — a fox couchant 
 gules — on their helmets, and I had no doubt that they 
 were Counts Ralph and Raoui de Brie, the only surviving 
 sons of the king. 
 
 Charles the Red rose to his feet as we advanced across 
 the room, and I could see that he was even taller than 
 Sir Thule de Brie. The other two knights remained 
 motionless, and did not appear to notice our entrance. 
 The king held a golden goblet to his lips, drained it, 
 and resumed his seat with a loud laugh. The steel of 
 his great sword crashed on the stone floor, and he struck 
 the oak table with his mailed hand. 
 
 " By my faith, cousin," he cried, " I have not seen 
 you for many years, and cannot receive you as I should. 
 This is all that is left of my army," and he pointed to 
 the motionless figures on either side of him. 
 
 " The wheel has turned," answered Sir Thule de Brie. 
 " When I last saw you, my Lord Charles, my army was 
 
''•This is the place, Sir Thule de Brie,' he cried. 'By the side 
 of their dead bodies.' " 
 
 Dr. Silcx] 
 
 Page 263 
 
CHARLES THE RED. 263 
 
 as small as yours is to-day.. Do you yield yourself into 
 my hands ? " 
 
 The Red King rose to his feet and laid his sword on 
 the table before him. " I did not stay here to yield, 
 Sir Thule de Brie," he said in a loud voice. " I could 
 have fled across the ice with the curs who followed me. 
 I stayed here to fight — for a last good fight, Sir Thule 
 de Brie." 
 
 " You sliall have it," Sir Thule de Brie replied ; then, 
 turning to the men who were crowding in the doorway : 
 " There is no need for you here. But tell Count Guy 
 of Marmorel and Sir Hugh de La Perche that the king 
 desires their presence." The men left the room. 
 
 " Three men to three, I suppose," he continued ; " but 
 your companions — your sons — they do not seem eager 
 for the combat." 
 
 " One will suffice at present," the king answered with 
 a horrible grin ; " whoever wishes to do battle with my 
 sons, must go to heaven or hell," and leaning forward 
 he raised the visors of the two knights. Their faces 
 were white and drawn with death, their eyes wide open 
 and staring. The cheek of one was crossed with a dull 
 red gash. I saw at a glance the meaning of the wall of ice. 
 
 We were both silent with pity and horror. The king's 
 face was terrible to look upon. He gazed at his two 
 sons, as though he were trying to draw back the life 
 that had left their bodies, glancing from one to the 
 other with fierce looks of passionate love. Then he 
 suddenly sank back in his chair with a crash, and buried 
 his face in his hands. 
 
 " Yield, my Lord Charles," said Sir Thule de Brie. 
 " This is no place to fight — in the presence of your dead 
 children." The voice roused the king as though he 
 had been stung by a scorpion. He rose to his feet, 
 and shook his sword across the table. 
 
 " This is the place, Sir Thule de Brie," he cried. 
 " By the side of their dead bodies. I have waited for 
 this. I have not waited for life. That can be nothing 
 to me now. I have no wish to escape, and the kingdom 
 does not matter now my sons are dead. This is the 
 place, Sir Thule de Brie. I only wait for the man," 
 
264 DR. SILEX. 
 
 With these words he picked up the two dead bodies, 
 one in each arm, and set them against the wall in a far 
 corner. Then he flung himself into the chair and fingered 
 the hilt of his sword. 
 
 " I am the man," answered Sir Thule de Brie after 
 a pause ; but, as he spoke, there was a clank of steel in 
 the passage, and Count Guy of Marmorel and Sir Hugh 
 de La Perche entered. 
 
 The king turned on them with a face like that of a 
 wild beast, and rose to his feet with such violence that 
 the heavy oak chair went spinning back from the table, 
 and splintered the ice on the wall behind him. 
 
 " Ah, Count Guy," he cried, " you come in time to 
 offer your services to your king. On which side are 
 you to-day ? When a man has twice turned traitor, 
 and twice abjured his knightly oath, it is hard to tell 
 for whom he is fighting — though it is generally against 
 the weaker side." 
 
 Count Guy's face flushed. " You are our prisoner," 
 he answered sternly ; " there is no question of fighting 
 now. I am here to accept your sword." 
 
 " You shall have it, Count Guy," roared the king. 
 " By all the saints you shall have it," and grasping the 
 huge oaken table with both his hands he flung it from 
 his path, and sent food, plates, goblets, and chairs to 
 the ground in one crash of destruction. Then he picked 
 up his sword, swung it once round his head, and strode 
 across to Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 
 The Count's sword leapt into the air like a flash of 
 light, but before the two men could meet, Sir Thule de 
 Brie had stepped between. 
 
 " I am the man," he said quietly, " and not Count 
 Guy of Marmorel." 
 
 " Stand from my path," cried the king. " It is Count 
 Guy who desires my sword." But Sir Thule de Brie 
 did not move, and only swung his weapon idly to and 
 fro before him. Yet, if he had moved, he might have 
 cut the knot of all our difficulties. Count Guy was a 
 great warrior and a leader of men, but the king was 
 more than his match with the sword. I could not 
 understand this interference. The throne was won for 
 
CHARLES THE RED. 265 
 
 the Princess, and only one desire remained in my heart 
 — the death of Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 
 But whatever Sir Thule de Erie's personal feelings in 
 the matter were, he stood his ground, and there was a 
 moment's pause. I heard the sound of laughter from 
 the courtyard below, and the wind suddenly began to 
 moan round the tower. It sounded like the forerunner 
 of a storm. Then the king's face worked horribly and 
 he sprang forward. 
 
 " Out of my path," he cried hoarsely ; " I will glut 
 you with fighting when I have done my work with that 
 traitor. Until then no man shall stand between him and 
 me and live." 
 
 " You speak of your conqueror," Sir Thule said 
 coldly ; " you are his prisoner. He is the future king 
 of this country. There is no obligation for him to meet 
 you. He has but to give the word and fifty of his 
 knights will fall upon you. He will, however, give you 
 so much grace as to permit me to meet you hand to 
 hand." 
 
 " Count Guy permit others to do his fighting ? " 
 sneered the king. " But he shall not escape me to-day. 
 He has asked for my sword, and by our Lady of Bra- 
 ban^on, he shall have it through his body. Stand from 
 my path. Sir Thule de Brie." 
 
 For answer Sir Thule swung his sword so that the 
 point of it grazed the king's armour. The latter struck 
 back with so sudden and terrific a blow that the knight 
 went staggering two paces backwards. Then they both 
 paused, and again I heard a long low moan of wind 
 round the tower, and the voices of the crowd in the 
 courtyard were suddenly hushed into silence. 
 
 But the pause was only for a few seconds. Sir Thule 
 de Brie sprang forward and attacked the king so furiously 
 that I could scarcely note the swift movements of his 
 sword. The room echoed with the grinding clash of 
 steel, and the air seemed full of darting shafts and circles 
 of light. Yet so marvellous was the defence on either 
 side that not a single blow struck home. Thrust, cut, 
 and parry followed each other in bewildering succession. 
 Steel rang against steel in continuous music, and I could 
 
266 DR. SILEX. 
 
 see the sparks glinting when blade struck blade. It 
 seemed like an exhibition in a school of arms. Yet I 
 had seen Sir Thule de Brie cut an iron crowbar in two 
 with a single stroke of his sword, and knew that the 
 terrible force of each blow would have driven in the 
 guard of any ordinary man, and beaten him to the ground. 
 
 Count Guy of Marmorel watched the fray with a calm 
 face, but I could see the light of battle kindling in his 
 eyes. Much as I loathed tlie man, I will do him the 
 justice to say that he feared nothing on God's earth, 
 and that the clash of steel was to him the sweetest 
 music in the world. He fingered his sword impatiently, 
 and I could see that his practised eye followed every 
 feint and parry of the combat. Perhaps, too, he had 
 other thoughts in his mind, and was calculating the 
 strength of either combatant. If Sir Thule de Brie fell, 
 he would have to meet Charles the Red. If Charles the 
 Red fell — well, as I have said before, Asturnia was 
 hardly large enough to hold Sir Thule de Brie and 
 Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 
 I watched the fight with less outward composure than 
 either of the other two knights, to whom such contests 
 were a familiar spectacle. I was fascinated with the 
 gleam and glance of the swords in the flaring lamplight, 
 and could scarcely take my eye from the blades. But 
 every now and then it wandered to the icy wall beyond, 
 to the rigid faces of the dead men watching the combat 
 with wide-open eyes, to the great heap of gold and silver 
 vessels that the king had hurled to the floor, and to the 
 face of Count Guy of Marmorel. 
 
 The noise of the fight was hke the continuous clang 
 of an anvil, but now and again other sounds would 
 come to my ears. Bursts of laughter and merriment 
 from the courtyard below. The clink and rattle of 
 large bodies of men-at-arms. Triumphant shouts for 
 the Princess and Count Guy. " God save the Queen ! " 
 sung by two hundred lusty throats, and then three 
 British cheers. And through all these sounds the loud 
 whistling and shriek of the wind, which appeared to be 
 fast rising into a gale. 
 
 Then it seemed to me that I heard another sound 
 
CHARLES THE RED. 267 
 
 indistinct but persistent — a loud rumbling murmur such 
 as a distant sea makes on a rocky shore, and then the 
 harsh scraping and rasping of something against the 
 castle walls. Count Guy heard it too, for his eyes 
 glanced swiftly to the window, and he said something 
 to Sir Hugh de La Perche. Then for a moment all the 
 sounds died away, and I could hear nothing but the 
 clash of steel. 
 
 The combat was terrific in its intensity. The two 
 figures, one crimson and the other white and gold, moved 
 round and round the room, across it, backward and 
 forward, beating one another to and fro, hacking and 
 hewing with enough force to beat down a wall of stone. 
 Yet neither faltered nor tired. The fight was almost 
 mechanical in its swiftness and regularity. 
 
 Then I began to imagine that the whole room trembled 
 with the shock of the contest, and that I could feel the 
 quiver of the stone floor through my bodj^ and beneath 
 my feet. I looked at the walls, and it seemed to me 
 that they vibrated, and that the oil lamps swayed to 
 and fro. A moment later I heard a distant roar like 
 thunder, and saw the sky ablaze through the loopholes, 
 and I fancied that the whole tower was shaken to its 
 foundations. 
 
 Count Guy of Marmorel saw these things too, and for 
 one brief moment the combatants paused and glanced 
 aside. But they fell to with renewed vigour, and for a 
 while I heard nothing but the grinding of their swords, 
 and saw nothing but the flash of steel. 
 
 Then, suddenly, I heard loud cries from the courtyard 
 below, and the hurried rush of men ; and a moment 
 later I saw Sir Thulc de Brie stagger back from the 
 whirling ring of steel, with the blood pouring from his 
 left shoulder. Charles the Red had struck home at last, 
 and his sword was lifted to strike again, when suddenly 
 the whole tower rocked, the ice blocks came glittering 
 and splintering from the walls, there was a roar like 
 the explosion of dynamite, and the floor split between 
 the two men like the sides of a walnut shell. 
 
 The crack widened and widened, and I saw that the 
 half of the floor on which the king stood was slowly 
 
268 DR. SILEX. 
 
 slanting upwards and backwards ; that the walls had 
 cracked wide to the ceiling, and that the whole tower 
 was virtually splitting in two. Our half remained up- 
 right, and the other half was falling away from it inch 
 by inch. 
 
 The Red King watched the widening gulf between him 
 and his foe, and smiled as he saw Sir Thule sink to the 
 ground in a pool of blood. For a moment he hesitated, 
 and I thought he would jump the yawning gulf. But 
 he only drew back from the crumbling edge a pace or 
 two, and raising his sword, hurled it point foremost 
 with all his might at Count Guy of Marmorel. The 
 weapon missed its mark, but it struck Sir Hugh de La 
 Perche with such force that it drove him two feet back- 
 ward, and pinned his left arm to the oak lintel of the 
 door. 
 
 It was the Red King's last blow. Before Sir Hugh's 
 cry of pain had died away, there was a roar of crumbling 
 masonry, a cloud of dust, the flash and flare of falling 
 oil lamps, a glint of splintering ice, and half of the tower 
 flung itself outwards to the ground. I saw two dead 
 bodies sinking out of sight in a shower of stones and 
 mortar and golden cups and chips of ice ; and a second 
 later I saw a great crimson form clinging to a cracked 
 wall like a fly. Then the wall parted, and sank, and 
 disappeared, and I heard the shrieks of crushed men, 
 and cries of terror ; and above all I heard the roaring 
 of the wind, and the long steady grind of ice against 
 the castle walls. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE WATERS OF DEATH. 
 
 For a moment I was too dazed and deafened by the 
 catastrophe to see or hear anything. Then, as the thick 
 dust whirled away in the gale, I saw the stars shining 
 in the clear heavens. The stone floor had been sliced 
 off into the edge of a precipice, and forty feet below a 
 frenzied throng of men were crouching round a mass of 
 debris with loud cries and the flash of torches. 
 
 I could not realise what had happened, but I saw 
 Sir Thule de Brie reddening the stones with his blood, 
 and rushed forward to his assistance. Count Guy was 
 occupied with vSir Hugh de La Perche, who writhed in 
 agony against the doorway, and for a few minutes I 
 had to do my work alone. He rose to his feet, and I 
 quickly removed the armour. The blow must have 
 been a terrific one. It had fortunately alighted on a 
 thick embossed knob of steel, which served both as 
 ornament and protection to the shoulder ; but it had 
 bitten clean through it, and an inch into the flesh beneath. 
 I bandaged the wound as best I could with my hand- 
 kerchief, and the Union Jack which I found in my 
 pocket. Sir Thule laughed at my anxiety. He said it 
 was a mere scratch, as sword cuts went in that country. 
 If it had fallen two inches nearer the neck, where the 
 armour was thinner, it would have cut him down to the 
 heart. As it was, he was highly pleased with himself. 
 No man, so he said, had ever held Charles of Asturnia 
 so long with the sword. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Count Guy had drawn the weapon 
 269 
 
270 DR. SILEX. 
 
 from Sir Hugh's arm, and between us we helped the 
 two wounded men down the crazy staircase to the 
 ground. The whole building was still quivering as 
 though struck by a succession of blows, and pieces of 
 mortar were still falling from the masonry. The stairs 
 hung slantwise from the wall, and here and there a 
 whole step had disappeared. It was a perilous descent, 
 but we accomplished it, and when we emerged into the 
 open air, a great shout went up from the searching 
 multitude. They had been looking for our dead bodies 
 among the piles of fallen stone. 
 
 We worked unceasingly by the torchlight among the 
 debris, for many of those below had been overwhelmed 
 in the fall, and there was a chance of saving some maimed 
 and broken body in which the life was not yet extinct. 
 We found many corpses, and among them that of the 
 Red King, crushed beyond all recognition — a mere mass 
 of crimson armour and flesh. It so chanced that the dead 
 bodies of his two sons had been hurled beside him, and 
 even in death these three were not divided. 
 
 When this work was done, we turned to a consideration 
 of our own position. No one seemed to know what 
 had happened. But the evidence of a great upheaval 
 lay before us in the dim glare of the torches. Against 
 the sky stood the jagged outline of half a tower. The 
 walls of the castle were cracked in a hundred places, 
 and leaned out towards the ice. The very ground 
 beneath our feet was scarred with long thin fissures 
 from which faint jets of vapour floated out into the 
 frosty air. Though the sky above us was clear, there 
 was a dull red glow along the southern horizon, and 
 the wmd whistled past us with aU the force of a gale ; 
 and outside the walls there was still that ominous clash 
 and creak of grinding ice. I knew it well. We had 
 heard it often before we reached Grant Land. The 
 frozen surface of the lake had broken, and the wind 
 was lashing it into a storm-tossed tumult of ice and foam. 
 
 None of the Asturnians seemed to realise what had 
 happened. But at least two of us knew the truth. 
 Captain Thorlassen came to my side and pointed to 
 some distant hills. I watched them, and at first 
 
THE WATERS OF DEATH. 271 
 
 saw nothing but their outHne, dimly defined against 
 the starht sky. 
 
 Then I saw a faint red glow on their summits, and 
 a moment later the whole sky flashed crimson and died 
 away again into darkness. I had not spoken idly when 
 I said that for eight hundred years the country had 
 existed by the sufferance of God on the crust of some 
 great volcano. 
 
 When the day came, and the great fires flashed out 
 on the circle of hills, we saw that we were indeed on 
 an island, and that we were cut off from the mainland 
 by nearly three miles of leaping waves and crasliing ice 
 floes. The peril of the position was apparent to the 
 most ignorant and light-hearted among us. We had, 
 indeed, discovered an enormous stock of provisions, 
 enough to last us with care for a month. The king 
 must have taken all the food he could lay hands on 
 from the wretched inhabitants of the city. But if, at 
 the end of that month, we had failed to establish com- 
 munication with our camp, starvation stared us in the 
 face. Even if we had had boats, it would have been 
 impossible to take them through that hell of ice and 
 water. On the other hand, it was possible that the 
 storm and earthquake would subside, and that the water 
 would once more freeze into a solid pathway. 
 
 There was, however, a greater and more immediate 
 danger than starvation. The whole country seemed 
 to be in the throes of some great volcanic upheaval. 
 The outlook was sufficiently alarming for those who 
 were in the camp. But they, at any rate, had a refuge 
 in the surrounding country from any great catastrophe, 
 and were almost certain to find firm ground somewhere 
 for their feet. But to us, penned up on a small island 
 in the middle of a raging lake of ice and water, the 
 situation was terrible indeed. At any moment the 
 whole castle might come tumbling about our ears, or 
 the rock itself be shattered and sunk beneath the surface 
 of the water. 
 
 The wind raged the whole of that day, and a violent 
 snowstorm drove us into such shelter as the castle still 
 provided. It was useless to attempt to signal to our 
 
272 DR. SILEX. 
 
 comrades on the shore. It was impossible to see across 
 the courtyard. In any case, it would have been hopeless 
 to ask for assistance. They knew our position, and 
 were no more able to reach us than we were able to 
 reach them. There was no gleam of hope in our gloomy 
 outlook. The earthquake shocks continued, growing 
 more violent and more frequent. Every hour some 
 piece of masonry dropped from the tower, some fresh 
 gap opened in the stonework of the walls. The ground 
 beneath our feet was warm, and we had this at least to 
 be thankful for, as we could find no fuel in the castle 
 except a stock of oil, and we required that for lighting 
 purjioses. 
 
 The next day a fresh horror was added to our position. 
 The last great fire in the whole tract of the flooded 
 valley was close to the castle walls. It was placed on 
 a slight eminence, and that alone had hitherto preserved 
 it from extinction. But now it suddenly went out and 
 we were plunged in darkness. We leaned over the wall, 
 and by the light of our torches we could see that the 
 eminence had disappeared. We thought that the ground 
 must have sunk, and that the ice and water pouring 
 into the shaft had put out the flame. 
 
 But in less than twenty-four hours we realised the 
 terrible truth. The water was still rising. When we 
 entered the castle it had scarcely reached the walls. 
 It was now a foot deep in the gateway, and a great ice 
 floe was grinding against the broken fragments of the 
 gate. It was possible that the force of the wind was 
 heaping up the waters to one end of the lake. It was 
 possible that the heavy snow had swollen the mountain 
 streams. But before a week had passed, we knew that 
 it was neither of these things. The snow had ceased 
 and the wind had died down, but still the water rose 
 inch by inch. We filled in the gateway with a barrier 
 of solid stone and debris, stopped up every window 
 and loophole, and sat down to face the same fate that 
 we had ordained for our enemies. It was indeed the 
 judgment of heaven. 
 
 Then we began to realise the truth of the situation. 
 The dam still held, and something had occurred to 
 
THE WATERS OF DEATH. 273 
 
 raise it above its original level. If we were to be saved, 
 the dam must be blown up with dynamite. 
 
 If only we could have communicated with the camp, 
 all might have been well. But all nature seemed to be 
 working against us. No sooner had the wind and snow 
 abated, than a dense fog sprang up which hid us entirely 
 from the mainland. The surface of the lake was neither 
 solid enough to walk on nor liquid enough to float a 
 raft. Both these misfortunes were doubtless due to the 
 great internal heat of the earth. 
 
 It seemed strange that those in the camp had not 
 noticed the rising of the water and realised our danger. 
 But they were either too much occupied with the care 
 of their own lives to notice the cause, or else there was 
 no one able to make use of the dynamite and firing 
 apparatus. Captain Thorlassen said that the latter was 
 probably the case. Most of the men we left behind 
 were too ill to move a yard, and he was positive 
 that not one of them could have explained to an As- 
 turnian in his own language the use of an electrical 
 instrument. 
 
 But in these conjectures he was mistaken. On the 
 fourteenth day from the death of Charles the Red, a 
 low boom came through the fog, and then another, and 
 still another, until we counted ten reports. We watched 
 the lake anxiously. It had now crawled more than six 
 feet up the walls, and in spite of all our efforts, the 
 courtyard was several inches deep in a slush of ice and 
 water. For three hours we watched the surface by the 
 light of a large oil lamp. The result was disappointing. 
 The lake continued to rise. 
 
 Hour after hour, and day after day, came the sound 
 of blasting ; but the water still crept up the wall. The 
 courtj^ard was submerged to a depth of ten feet. We 
 were driven to the upper parts of the building. And 
 sloping walls and cracked floors alone stood between us 
 and death. Fortunately, the earthquake shocks had 
 ceased, or I believe the whole fabric must have crumbled 
 to the ground. As it was, there were places in the rooms 
 where no man dared to walk, and stones in the walls 
 that a boy could have pushed into the lake below. 
 
 S 
 
274 DR- SILEX. 
 
 Count Guy of Marmorel, Sir Thule de Brie, and most 
 of the Asturnians, remained hopeful. Our dynamite had 
 become a sort of fetish to them, and they were convinced 
 that nothing on earth could withstand it. But we, who 
 had fathomed the limitations of modern science, knew 
 that the most ingenious and powerful device of man is 
 often helpless against the great forces of Nature. The 
 most magnificent piece of machinery that man has de- 
 vised — a modern battleship — is a toy in the clutch of a 
 tornado. In this case I calculated that there were two 
 thousand pounds of dynamite in the camp, or within 
 reach of it. Used by unskilful and ignorant workmen, 
 it would probably have only the efiect of half that 
 amount. Still, it was a formidable weapon. But none 
 of us knew how formidable an adversary it had to meet. 
 No one had seen the gorge of the Pasquerelle since the 
 earthquake had commenced. The blinding snow or 
 dense fog had refused us a single glimpse of the main- 
 land. For aught we knew a million tons of ice might 
 have been heaped up in that ravine, and for aught we 
 knew the very mountains might have toppled across the 
 path of the river, and formed a barrier that all the 
 explosives of the world would be powerless to move 
 from its path. 
 
 A week passed, and still the sound of blasting con- 
 tinued, and still the water rose outside the wall. At 
 least a hundred of the Asturnians had attempted to 
 escape from the death that was creeping so close to 
 them. In the dense fog they tried to cross the chaos 
 of ice and water, some on foot and some on rude rafts, 
 composed of boards and tables. More than half of them 
 perished within a bow-shot of the walls. Their muffled 
 screams and cries came to us through the mist. Most 
 of them must have died before they had covered half 
 the distance between the castle and the shore. It would 
 have been a foolhardy attempt in the broad sunshine, 
 but in the twofold darkness of night and fog, it was 
 almost certain death. I afterwards learned that a single 
 man reached the mainland. He was insane with terror, 
 and never spoke an intelligible sentence to the day of 
 his death, which occurred a fortnight afterwards. 
 
THE WATERS OF DEATH. 275 
 
 Before long the lake was within ten feet of the top of 
 the walls. The sound of blasting had ceased, and we 
 felt that we were abandoned to our fate. The accursed 
 fog hung over us like a funeral pall. A single glimpse 
 of the stars, or even the dim shadow of the land, would 
 have put a gleam of hope into my heart. But the cloak 
 of that awful mist and darkness added fresh terrors to 
 death. It was suffocating and overwhelming. A man 
 felt inclined to beat against it with his hands and try 
 to tear it apart. A few feeble oil lamps glowed here 
 and there throughout the castle, but they only served 
 to accentuate the darkness. The oil was running short, 
 and orders were given that lights should only be used 
 where absolutely necessary. The men cowered in groups 
 in the gloom. Wherever there was the faint gleam of 
 a lamp, they clustered thick together like flies. They 
 cursed God, and the man who had led them into this 
 death trap. 
 
 The supply of food still held out, though we were now 
 on half rations. There was no danger of our dying of 
 thirst, and it was quite possible that we could hold out 
 another fortnight. But the water seemed to be rising 
 very rapidly — perhaps the earthquake had opened out 
 fresh springs — and in another week it was only two feet 
 from the parapets. The lowest part of the castle was 
 totally submerged, and we were now crowded together 
 more closely than ever. Not an hour passed without 
 some fatality. Men groping in the darkness stumbled 
 over the edge and vanished through the thin ice. I 
 think some leapt out to death of their own free will, 
 preferring that to the last struggle for existence. We 
 rescued a few, but many never rose to the surface, and 
 it is probable that several perished unnoticed in the 
 blackness of that awful night. 
 
 I had no doubt in my own mind that death was only 
 a question of time. I calculated that in three days the 
 water would rise above the battlements, and only leave 
 half of a broken tower for two thousand men to cling 
 to. For myself, I regarded the prospect with a numbed 
 and equable mind. The future held nothing for me but 
 misery, and there was a fierce joy in my heart that 
 
276 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Count Guy of Marmorel would also perish, and the 
 Princess be freed from her promise. There would be 
 others to take our places, and she would not be without 
 advisers — Lord Fulk of Brabangon, and the Lord of 
 Marmontier, great soldiers both, and wise statesmen. 
 She would attain the desire of her heart and be crowned 
 Queen of Asturnia. But she would pay no price for it 
 but the lives of those who had won it for her. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE TORRENT. 
 
 On March 31st five of us stood on one of the towers of 
 the castle ; Count Guy of Marmorel, Sir Thule de Brie, 
 Sir Hugh de La Perche, Sir Otto Thorlassen, and myself. 
 The chamber beneath our feet, which we had appro- 
 priated for our own private use, was now full of water 
 to the ceiling, and we had been forced to take refuge 
 on the roof. A small lamp flickered in the gloom, but 
 the light was not sufficient for me to see my companions' 
 faces. Their bodies loomed strange and gigantic in the 
 yellow mist. No one spoke, and there was almost com- 
 plete silence in the castle. Occasionally a muffled voice 
 would come through the fog from some distant wall, or 
 we could hear the faint clash of armour as a man moved 
 on his hands and knees along the flat stone roof. Most 
 of the men were worn out and asleep. But we five, in 
 whose hands lay the direction and management of the 
 whole force, did not dare to close our eyes. Half an 
 hour before, we had held the lamp over the parapet. 
 It was four feet in height, but so deeply castellated that 
 the bottom of the embrasures were but a foot above 
 the place on which we stood. The water was within 
 an inch of these embrasures, and one or two large blocks 
 of ice towered above them. 
 
 I leaned over the edge and looked out into the dark- 
 ness, revolving many things in my mind, as a man will 
 do who has to meet death with no means of resisting 
 it. Nothing was visible beyond our own little oasis of 
 yellow light. If any other lamps were lit in the castle, 
 
 277 
 
278 DR. SILEX. 
 
 their flames were swallowed up in the blackness. Within 
 that oasis itself all was dim and shadowy. 
 
 I turned my eyes towards the place where our camp 
 had stood when we last saw it. For a while I laid aside 
 the selfish thoughts of my own life and death, and 
 wondered how the Princess had fared in this violent out- 
 burst of Nature ; whether she was well and safe, and 
 — I am not ashamed to say it — whether she had any 
 thoughts of me, and whether she would miss me from 
 the circle of her councillors. Then I took a piece of 
 paper and a pencil from my pocket, and there on the 
 edge of the parapet wrote a few last words to her. I 
 will not tell them to you, Cordeaux, for they were written 
 for her eyes alone. I thought it was just possible that 
 they might reach her if the waters subsided, and if they 
 were found on my body. 
 
 When I had finished, I turned round and looked at 
 the others, hoping that I had been unobserved in the 
 gloomy light. To my surprise, I could see their faces 
 plainly. At the same moment the piece of paper in my 
 hand rustled, and I felt a faint breeze against my cheek. 
 
 Then, looking shorewards, I saw the darkness swiftly 
 changing to a dull pall of iron-grey. A few moments later 
 it changed again to a faint white haze. Then there 
 came a long gust of wind, and the sea of vapour began 
 to whirl and split and roll away in all directions. I 
 caught a glimpse of a single star through a gap. A 
 minute afterwards there was a wide white circle in the 
 mist low on the horizon. And then the haze was thinned 
 and scattered in all directions, and we stood in the 
 glorious light of a full moon. I offered silent thanks 
 to heaven. At least, we could have one glimpse of the 
 earth and sky before the end came. 
 
 We all crowded to the edge of the battlement, and 
 drank in the scene before us with the eagerness of men 
 who had not seen more than a yard in front of them 
 for a month, and who have but little time in which to 
 anything at all. In less than five minutes every 
 man in the whole castle was awake and on the walls. 
 
 It was a strange and terrible sight that was spread 
 out before us in the brilliant moonlight. Death had 
 
THE TORRENT. 279 
 
 up to now lurked in the shadows and silence of the fog. 
 Its presence had been felt and heard, but only dimly 
 seen. Now, for the first time, it stood gaunt and naked 
 in the moonlight. A great lake of broken ice and water 
 stretched to the dark circle of the hills beyond. The 
 surface was no longer a sheet of black firm ice, but a 
 treacherous and shifting mass of small floes, and slush, 
 and pools of water. The faint breeze that had risen up 
 moved the floes to and fro, and it was evident that 
 from the castle to the shore there was scarcely a square 
 yard of foothold. Straight before us, and half way up 
 the hills, there was a large cluster of lights. A thin line 
 of them trailed down the slope and moved incessantly. 
 It was evidently our camp, and I could see that it had 
 been moved further up the mountain side. 
 
 I looked at it for a few moments, and then turned 
 to inspect our own position. All that was left of the 
 castle lay on the surface of the lake like some strangely- 
 shaped raft, or floating monster of the deep. The 
 broken fragment of the tower was an island by itself. 
 Of the rest of the buildings not a stone was more than 
 three feet above the surface, and in many places the 
 water swished to and fro across the battlements. It 
 somehow reminded me of a sinking ship, or of some 
 great vessel buried in the sand. 
 
 The men were huddled together in a dense crowd 
 along the narrow belt of stone. The light seemed to 
 have stirred their sinking hearts to life. They talked 
 and moved eagerly and pointed shorewards. I could 
 see the faces of those nearest to us. They were haggard 
 and white in the moonlight, but there was a fierce sparkle 
 in their eyes, as though hope were not yet dead. 
 
 Then I turned my eyes to the cause of all our mis- 
 fortunes — the ravine of the Pasquerelle. I could see at 
 a glance that the outline of the rock had changed. It 
 was certainly very much higher, and the hill to the 
 right of it, instead of sloping down to the gorge, was 
 broken off sharp into a precipice three hundred feet in 
 height. It appeared as though half of the mountain 
 had been sliced away, as a pear might have been sliced 
 with a knife. It was quite clear what had happened. 
 
28o DR. SILEX. 
 
 Half of the hill had been cast across the path of the 
 river, and the waters of the lake might yet rise another 
 two hundred feet. 
 
 Then Captain Thorlassen came up to me and pointed 
 to the camp. 
 
 " Do you see that ? " he said, handing me his night 
 glass. I looked, and noticed for the first time a long 
 thin black line running out from the shore about the 
 distance of a mile and a half. At the end of the line 
 two or three lights moved backwards and forwards. 
 I had not perceived this before. Perhaps my thoughts 
 had been too much centred on other things. I realised 
 now that everyone else had observed this peculiar black 
 line, and that everyone was discussing it. I looked 
 carefully through the glasses and handed them back to 
 Captain Thorlassen. 
 
 " Well," I said ; " what do you make of it ? " 
 
 " They have tried to rescue us," he answered abruptly. 
 " They are still trying — working perhaps night and day. 
 That thin black line in composed of pine trunks. They 
 have been constructing a floating bridge over this quag- 
 mire of ice and water, in the hope that they might reach 
 us. The idea was excellent. It is a pity they have 
 been so slow." 
 
 " I will wager that they have done all that men can 
 do," I replied. As I spoke I heard the faint splash of 
 running water, and looking down I saw a small cataract 
 rippling over the edge of the embrasure. 
 
 " We shall get our feet wet," Captain Thorlassen said, 
 with a grim smile. " I think the time has come to risk 
 it." 
 
 " Risk what ? " 
 
 " The passage of that ice." 
 
 " Impossible," I exclaimed. 
 
 ' It has been till now. But it is a different matter 
 in the light. Give me a plank, a chair, a table, or any- 
 thing, and I'll risk it." 
 
 Others were going to risk it too. After all, it did not 
 matter in what particular place one was drowned. Every 
 piece of wood in the castle had been carefully removed 
 and preserved. Count Guy had foreseen the time when 
 
THE TORRENT. 281 
 
 they might stand between us and death, and had not 
 even allowed them to be used as fuel. These were not 
 enough to go round, and the men began to fight for 
 pieces. The clamour of their voices was deafening, and 
 there was the clash of swords and lances and the report 
 of one or two rifles as the men came to blows. 
 
 Then suddenly the whole sky flamed into a roof of fire, 
 and there was silence, and every face was turned up to 
 heaven with blinking eyes. Three seconds later there 
 was a report like the explosion of a thousand tons of 
 dynamite, and a terrific shock threw us on our faces. 
 Hundreds of the men were hurled from the walls, and 
 as I staggered to my feet I saw their black forms swirled 
 by me in a foaming torrent of ice and water. The 
 surface of the lake had changed into a boiling roaring 
 river. In a second we were up to our waists in water, 
 and borne against the far side of the parapet. 
 
 There were some iron rings and stanchions let into 
 the stone, and we clung to them for very life. Small 
 pieces of ice came ringing against our armour like blows 
 from an axe, and beating the breath out of our bodies. 
 If the opposite parapet of the tower had not held, we 
 should have been crushed to death. As it was, only 
 the small pieces got through the embrasures, and the 
 larger blocks of ice began to pile against it, and form 
 some sort of protection from the flood. The rest of 
 the castle was swept clean from end to end. The waters 
 sluiced and whirled over it like a mill-race. Writhing 
 and shrieking men went spinning past us like corks. 
 We managed to save five — two of them English sailors 
 — at the risk of our own lives. It was doubtful if we 
 had given them a much longer lease of life. The para- 
 pets were two feet thick, of solid stone, mortised with 
 iron ; the walls beneath were six feet in thickness, but 
 the strain on them must have been terrific. We saw 
 the broken half of the castle-keep crumble away like a 
 house of cards, and in five minutes our little tower 
 was the only thing that stood above the waters. 
 
 Then the whole outline of the sunken castle began to 
 appear black in the moonlight. The water sunk from 
 our waists to our knees, from our knees to our feet, and 
 
282 DR. SILEX. 
 
 half dead with the cold and the buffeting, we crawled 
 to the far side of the parapet, where the ice towered six 
 feet above the edge. Before we reached it, the ice wall 
 tottered backwards and crashed into the lake. 
 
 We looked over the edge, and saw the water lashing 
 the stone like a whip of steel. The floor trembled be- 
 neath our feet, as each block of ice struck the projecting 
 portion of the tower. The surface of the lake was 
 falling rapidly, but no work of human hands could 
 stand this strain for long. One thing alone might save 
 us. The connecting wall with the next tower was twenty 
 feet broad, and ran out for thirty yards straight into 
 the face of the current. So long as that wall held, we 
 were secure. But it was a mere question of time. The 
 tower at the other end went with the first rush of the 
 torrent. And now in the moonlight we could see the 
 ice chipping the wall off foot by foot. It was a race, 
 and our lives were the stake. If the water fell below 
 the level of the castle before that line of stone was 
 completely swept away, we should be saved. 
 
 We leant over the edge and watched the contest. We 
 were numb with cold, and faint with hunger, for all the 
 food had been carried away. No one spoke. The 
 catastrophe had been so terrible and overwhelming that 
 it was hardly possible to realise it. Of all the men 
 who had set out across the ice to take Avranches there 
 were ten left, and the lives of these ten still hung in the 
 balance. 
 
 The water fell rapidly, but still more rapidly, so it 
 seemed, did the end of the wall come nearer and nearer 
 to us. In less than an hour what was left of the castle 
 stood ten feet above the surface. And all that remained 
 of it were the two walls that stood sideways to the 
 stream. The rest had been levelled down as though 
 with a plane. The spires and towers of the city were 
 now beginning to peer out from the flood. Here and 
 there a black speck would rise, grow for a minute, and 
 then vanish as an ice floe sliced it off and hurled it into 
 the water. It was morning now, and the Great Fires 
 began to blaze on the circle of hills, and flood the scene 
 with light. 
 
THE TORRENT. 283 
 
 Then I saw what had happened. A quarter of a mile 
 to the left of the ravine, the solid wall of rock had been 
 split asunder. A new gorge had been formed by some 
 stupendous upheaval of the earth's crust. It was, as 
 far as I could judge, at least two hundred yards in 
 width, and even at this distance I could see the broad 
 river of foam spinning into its darkness, and the spray 
 of its tumultuous waters thrown skywards in a silver 
 cloud. Beyond it a dense wall of smoke and vapour 
 and Hame towered up and hid the stars, and I could hear 
 the hissing of mingled fire and water. 
 
 Lower the lake sank, and still lower. The ruins of 
 the castle began to rise above the flood— great tangled 
 heaps of masonry that no ice could move from their 
 death bed. Here and there dead bodies were jammed 
 among the stones. All round us the city began to rise 
 from its watery grave, and glisten in the light ; walls, 
 houses, towers, spires, heaped up with ice and debris, 
 broken, crushed and distorted into mere piles of stone. 
 
 At last only ten feet of barrier stood between us and 
 the raging flood. But the floes of ice were growing 
 smaller and further apart, and only three feet of water 
 swept round the castle wall. Inch by inch it sank, till 
 at last the two fragments of the building stood out 
 jagged and gaunt, with the foam swirling harmlessly 
 round their ice-wrapped bases. Then the bare rock 
 appeared, and the flood beat upon it in vain. We were 
 saved. 
 
 In three hours' time the whole city of Avranches was 
 uncovered to the light. Never have I looked upon a 
 more terrible example of desolation and destruction. 
 Black and silent as the grave, it was literally torn to 
 pieces. Here and there blocks and heaps of ice glittered 
 in the moonlight. The water still dripped and trickled 
 from every wall. There was not a single outline of a 
 house to be seen. Everything was jagged and broken, 
 as though some giant had crushed the place under his 
 heel. The town had been literally blotted out from the 
 land of Asturnia. 
 
 Beyond the outer walls— now a mere heap of masonry 
 —the swelling river rushed sparkling down its course. 
 
284 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Beyond that again lay the valley, a plain of mud and 
 stranded ice floes, streaked with small streams, and 
 dotted with shining pools. 
 
 I stood there in silence, and looked round me with a 
 heavy heart. Ten of us were alive to boast of the 
 capture of Avranches. The catastrophe that had given 
 us life had overwhelmed our comrades in one awful 
 grave. Of a truth my conscience cried aloud in the 
 silence, for this had been my work. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 THE DARKNESS AND THE DAWN. 
 
 Worn out with cold and hunger and want of sleep, we 
 descended the tower, and made our way through the 
 silent city to the plain. I, Thorlassen, and the two 
 sailors staggered rather than walked, and every climb 
 across a pile of fallen stone made such demands on our 
 strength that we had to rest for a few minutes before 
 we could proceed. Even the enormous physical powers 
 of the Asturnians had felt the long strain of the last 
 month, and the concentrated horrors of the last few 
 hours. Compared to us they were able-bodied men, and 
 they gave us all the assistance in their power. But the 
 life and energy had died out of their great frames, and 
 they moved mechanically. Sir Thule de Brie and Sir 
 Hugh de La Perche still felt the effect of their wounds, 
 and the latter's arm still hung useless by his side. 
 
 We were fortunate enough to find one of the bridges 
 still left. It had been shattered by the ice, but we 
 managed to find a foothold on the debris, which had 
 fallen into shallow water, and had been greatly aug- 
 mented by piles of broken masonry from the walls. As 
 we crossed over to the plain, we saw a great body of 
 men leaving the hillside by the camp and coming towards 
 us, their weapons and armour flashing in the light of 
 the fires. 
 
 We struggled on as best we could across the ice-strewn 
 meadows, now stumbling knee-deep tlirough small lakes 
 of water, now crossing long broken ridges of ice on our 
 hands and knees, now slipping and sliding over acres of 
 
 285 
 
286 DR. SILEX. 
 
 slippery mud. It was a hard task for weary men, but 
 we set our teeth, and the sight of our comrades slowly 
 advancing towards us gave us fresh strength. 
 
 In an hour's time they were close to us, and we could 
 distinguish their faces. In their midst was the flutter 
 of a crimson dress. It was the Princess herself, not 
 riding nor even borne on a litter, but struggling and 
 stumbling over the broken ground like the meanest of 
 her followers. Lord Fulk of Brabangon and the Lord 
 of Marmontier supported her on either side. 
 
 As we came up, the whole valley rang with their 
 shouts, and the circle of hills echoed and re-echoed with 
 the sound of their cheering. The Princess came forward, 
 her beautiful face flushed, her silken robes torn and 
 plastered with mud, and her hands outstretched to 
 greet us. We knelt to pay her homage, but she would 
 have none of it. She commanded each man to rise, and 
 clasped him by the hand, uttering broken words of 
 gratitude. Then her feelings overcame her, her lip 
 trembled, and she burst into tears. Count Guy went 
 to her side, and whispered something in her ear. She 
 raised her head proudly and smiled at him through her 
 tears. 
 
 " Hail, Queen of Asturnia," he cried in a loud voice, 
 and his dark face was flushed with pride. " Charles the 
 Red and his two sons are dead. The remnant of his 
 army are scattered on the hills. The capital of the 
 kingdom is in your hands. On behalf of those few who 
 stand with me, and those many who have died for you, 
 I offer you Avranches." 
 
 He pointed his hand to the black mass of ruins on 
 the plain — that mockery of a once fair city — and smiled 
 grimly. The Princess winced with pain, as though he 
 had struck her a blow. The crowd were silent. There 
 was not a man there who had not lost some brother or 
 father or friend. And there were many who looked on 
 the wreck of a home, not knowing where their wives 
 and children were to lay their heads. 
 
 But the Princess had the spirit of her fathers, and it 
 rose above the weakness and tenderness of her woman- 
 hood. 
 
THE DARKNESS AND THE DAWN. 287 
 
 " I thank you, Count Guy of Marmorel," she answered, 
 with uphfted head ; " though my heart is sore for the 
 sufferings of this kingdom. I trust I shall live my life 
 so as to reward those who live, and to honour those 
 who have died. The price shall not be paid in vain ; 
 and God grant many years of peace and prosperity to 
 this unhappy land. The wives and children of the dead 
 shall be my own care. Avranches shall be rebuilt, so 
 far as my fortune will allow it, at my own expense ; 
 nor will I set the crown upon my head till this city has 
 risen once more from its ruins. And may the wrath of 
 God be averted from this unhappy country, and may 
 He suffer me to atone for the misery I have brought 
 upon it. To the day of my death I will try to be not 
 only your queen, but your servant and friend." 
 
 Then her courage gave way, and once more she buried 
 her face in her hands. 
 
 " Hail to the Queen of Asturnia ! " cried Sir Thule de 
 Brie ; and the whole mass of men took up the cry and 
 shouted again and again. Then they brought us food 
 and drink, and Captain Bulmer produced a bottle of 
 brandy and cigars. The Princess would not hear of a 
 return being made until we had satisfied our wants, and 
 she brought us food with her own hands. In twenty 
 minutes' time I felt another man ; I had eaten heartily, 
 and the blue smoke of a cigar curled from my lips. 
 
 Then we returned to the camp, where the rest of our 
 comrades gave- us so hearty a welcome that we almost 
 forgot the miseries we had endured. A royal feast was 
 prepared, and the whole place resounded with the sound 
 of laughter and merriment. There was many an aching 
 heart in the camp that night, but it was bravely con- 
 cealed with a smiling face, to welcome the few who had 
 been spared from the general catastrophe. And how- 
 ever much a man might mourn his own loss, he could 
 not but rejoice that Count Guy of Marmorel, Sir Thule 
 de Brie, and Sir Otto Thorlassen had been spared for 
 the future service of their queen. 
 
 And many were the tales we heard by the roaring 
 camp fires. They told us how the ground had rocked 
 and crumbled under their feet, and how thev had been 
 
288 DR. SILEX. 
 
 forced to fly up the mountain-side. How rocks had 
 spht and chasms opened up beneath them. How they 
 had watched the water rise, and reahsing the cause, had 
 gone to the gorge and seen half a mountain piled across 
 it. How day and night they had laboured in the fog 
 with drills and dynamite, and, under the direction of 
 Captain Bulmer, had attempted to blast a tunnel through 
 the debris. How they had nearly succeeded, when the 
 roof caved in, and another hundred lives had been added 
 to the death-roll. How they had then tried to construct 
 a pathway of pine- trunks across the ice and water, and 
 how time after time it had been broken and carried 
 away. And how through all they had never caught a 
 glimpse of the castle, and did not know whether we 
 were victors or prisoners within its walls ; nor if we 
 lived, nor even if the building itself had withstood the 
 repeated attacks of earthquakes and ice and water. 
 
 Then they described to us the horrors of that night 
 when the earth seemed to have gathered together all 
 her strength for one great convulsion, and had torn the 
 solid wall of rock apart like a man tears a newspaper. 
 They told us how they had watched the thin black 
 island swept clean by the raging flood. How hour after 
 hour they had seen the waters fall, and the remnants of 
 the castle crumble into the waves. How through the 
 telescope they had discerned a few figures on the tower, 
 and knew not if they were friend or foe ; and how the 
 Princess had never moved from one spot for six hours, 
 but had stood with a white face, hard and stern, and 
 wet with tears, and had watched the seething lake as 
 a woman might watch the grave of her lover. 
 
 All these things they told us, and many more ; and 
 we realised how it was that men could for a while forget 
 those who had perished, in the joy of welcoming the 
 living whom they had thought to be dead. 
 
 Tired as I was, I did not sleep much that night, I 
 rested my aching limbs on a couch and watched the 
 moonlight streaming through the door of my tent. My 
 mind, strained to the utmost by a long month of real 
 horrors, was now vibrated by the touch of evils to come. 
 The Princess had paid a terrible price for her kingdom, 
 
THE DARKNESS AND THE DAWN. 289 
 
 but she was still in debt, and I knew that she would not 
 go back from her word. Indeed, she would estimate 
 her own sacrifice as a small one compared to that which 
 had been already made. It was even quite possible that 
 she would look upon it as an atonement for what she 
 had brought on her country. But to me, as I lay there 
 tossing through the night, her marriage with Count Guy 
 seemed more horrible than all the slaughter of men and 
 ruin of cities. And the thought was not entirely due 
 to the selfishness of a passionate lover. There was that 
 in Count Guy's face which did not promise happiness 
 for the life of any woman committed to his charge. He 
 was a brave man, an accomplished statesman, a skilful 
 soldier and leader of men, but the very rock of the 
 island was not more hard than his heart. He had shown 
 himself a passionate and devoted lover, but the inward 
 nature of a man will outlive his passion and devotion. 
 
 So I lay there in the silence, and in the ingratitude 
 of my heart gave no thanks to God that He had spared 
 my life. The long months of darkness and artificial 
 light had crushed the spirit out of me. They lay over 
 my existence like a cloud, and now at this moment 
 they seemed to overwhelm, suffocate, and imprison me. 
 Never had I so felt my loneliness. I was indeed a 
 stranger in a strange land, and with no hope of ever 
 seeing my country again. Most of my comrades were 
 dead. With a thousand of them at my back, I could 
 still have prevented the marriage. But it seemed as 
 though I stood alone in this matter. Sir Thule de Brie, 
 who had l^etter cause than I to hate Count Guy of 
 Marmorel, had twice stepped in to save his enemy from 
 death, and seemed to have sunk all differences in the 
 one object of the campaign. I was alone in my hatred ; 
 and as I thought of my loneliness, a terrible thought 
 crept into my brain, and stung it like a viper. I began 
 to whisper to myself that a single hand could cut the 
 thread of a man's life. 
 
 I rose from my couch with a cry of horror, and slipping 
 on my clothes, rushed out into the night. Assassin is 
 an ugly word, but it rang in my ears again and again. 
 For assassination was the only possible tool that lay 
 
 T 
 
290 DR. SILEX. 
 
 ready to my hand. It would have been a childish waste 
 of time to meet the man in fair and open light. I 
 leaned over the low parapet of rock and let the cold 
 night air blow on my burning face. I reasoned to my- 
 self that any means were justifiable for so good an end. 
 That I should be a martyr giving myself up to certain 
 death for the woman I loved. That my hands would 
 be the chosen weapon of God. No anarchist ever 
 reasoned with more certainty and comjDlacence. Then 
 the shame of my thoughts struck me in the face like a 
 blow, and sent the red blood rushing to my cheek. I 
 remembered that I was an English gentleman, and a 
 knight of Asturnia. I would have given much to have 
 been some desperado, without honour and without shame. 
 
 I did not stir from my place for several hours. All 
 through the cold night I stared into the heavens and 
 across the moonlit plain as though to read some answer 
 to the question of my heart. But no answer came to 
 me save from the ruins of Avranches, and I could not 
 read the words aright. At first they spoke of a great 
 sacrifice ; of lives laid down and honour destroyed for 
 the sake of one from whom honour would ask at least 
 as great a gift. Then they whispered of the power and 
 wrath of God, and dangled a phantom before my eyes. 
 Would God Himself intervene and stop this unholy 
 alliance, this sordid bartering of the greatest thing on 
 earth — the love of a human heart ? 
 
 Then the Great Fires burst out upon the hills, and 
 for the first time for many months I saw a long thin 
 line of twilight on the horizon. I had seen it once 
 before — a year ago — the gladdest sight in all the Arctic 
 world. It was the advent of daylight. I drew myself 
 up with fresh hope in my heart. It was an omen of 
 good. With the sun would come new life to this un- 
 happy country, the birth and growth and harvesting of 
 crops, the warmth and gladness of light. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE NEW REGIME. 
 
 The next day the Princess Thora was formally pro- 
 claimed Queen of Asturnia, and the next fifteen months 
 were spent in ceaseless activity. Before three weeks 
 had passed, the Government of the Queen and Count 
 Guy of Marmorel was firmly and swiftly established in 
 the country. A few counts in distant parts of the 
 kingdom rebelled against the new order of things, and 
 gathered to themselves small bodies of desperate men. 
 Count Guy, with admirable tact, exhausted all the re- 
 sources of diplomacy, and then burnt their castles over 
 their heads. But the knights and nobles, as a whole, 
 flocked willingly to do homage to their new Queen ; 
 and even those who had borne arms both against her 
 and her father were received with the utmost courtesy 
 and consideration. I think that perhaps Count Guy 
 would have advocated a few reprisals and a little less 
 kindness. But the Princess was firm on this point, 
 and she showed thereby her fitness to rule her 
 subjects. 
 
 But the broad base of her sovereignty was fixed on 
 the love and affection of the common people. This was 
 indeed the foundation stone of her policy. It was for 
 these that her father had died. It was for these that 
 she had battled to regain the throne ; and she had given 
 her own self as the price of their freedom. Through 
 everything that had happened they had been first and 
 foremost in her thoughts. The feudal spirit which had 
 survived through eight centuries was now at last to 
 
 291 
 
292 DR. SILEX. 
 
 find an opponent in the head of feudahsm itself. The 
 Princess had not spent five years in a free country in 
 vain. What the dictates of her own heart had whis- 
 pered to her was now graven in her mind by what she 
 had seen and heard — by the practical knowledge of 
 what freedom can do for a nation. Her brain had 
 swiftly taken in and assimilated the history of progress. 
 She saw in the feudal sj-stem a constant menace to her 
 own throne, a continual source of strife, and an unending 
 persecution of the people. And she had determined 
 that her country should awake from its long sleep, and 
 move forward as the other nations of the world had 
 moved. And she saw with wisdom beyond her years 
 that the first step in this progress was the freedom and 
 happiness of the common people. 
 
 With this end in view she immediately set to work 
 to repair some of the havoc she had wrought in the 
 struggle for the throne. Before half the sun had shwon 
 itself above the horizon, large gangs of men were at 
 work upon the ruins of Avranches. Before a week had 
 passed, one hundred thousand of her subjects were 
 labouring in the city. Their white tents dotted the 
 plain, and the mountains echoed with the blows of their 
 stalwart arms. In this she achieved a threefold good. 
 She rebuilt her capital ; she put money in the pockets 
 of the common people ; and she withdrew practically 
 the whole male population of the country, save those 
 employed in agricultural pursuits, from the authority 
 of their over lords. And she accomplished this without 
 friction, pleading the urgent necessity of the case. But 
 I, who had plumbed some of the depths of her mind, 
 guessed that she had more far-reaching plans in view 
 than the mere re-construction of a ruined town. 
 
 Day by day lines and squares of walls evolved them- 
 selves out of chaos. Most of the material was on the 
 spot. It was, to a certain extent, a question of re- 
 building heaps and piles of masonry into habitable 
 houses. The architects and builders worked with the 
 old plan of the city in their hands. The Queen had 
 insisted that, as far as possible, every house should be 
 rebuilt on the place on which it had formerly stood, so 
 
THE NEW REGIME. 293 
 
 that the inhabitants could return to their old homes. 
 And money was not wanting to accompHsh this stu- 
 pendous task. Besides the ^820,000 in gold which she 
 had brought from England, the vast treasures, accumu- 
 lated and wrung out of the nation by generations of 
 kings, were poured out like water. Long vaults in the 
 solid rock beneath the castle were flung open to the 
 sunlight, and the gold and silver and jewels were re- 
 distributed to the source from whence they came. I 
 fancy Count Guy had much to say on this matter. He 
 looked on these treasures as the basis of power in a land 
 where any man could be bought as a soldier ; and in 
 this he had the approval of all the governments of 
 Europe. They use their credit for their commerce, and 
 keep their gold for battles. But the Queen's will pre- 
 vailed. Perhaps she converted the Count to her own 
 ideas of future government. Perhaps he was wise 
 enough to see that the throne would not be secure till 
 the fortress city of Avranches was rebuilt. In any case, 
 the work proceeded with marvellous rapidity, and the 
 cost of it must have been an enormous strain on the 
 royal exchequer. 
 
 _ The subterranean forces of the earth had been silent 
 since the last great convulsion which had opened out a 
 passage for the waters of the lake. From that night 
 there had not been a single tremor of the ground, nor 
 any sign of internal disturbance. The violence of 
 Nature had apparently exhausted itself. The Astur- 
 nians regarded it as a tribute to their new Queen ; the 
 inauguration of a reign of peace. I was not so contented 
 in my own mind. The fires beneath our feet were like 
 a sleeping giant. They had slept for eight hundred 
 years, and had warmed a frozen island in the north 
 into a land of smiling prosperity. Then their mood 
 had changed, and they had risen to destroy the child 
 they had nurtured. Now they had once more sunk to 
 rest. Perhaps they would not wake again for another 
 eight hundred years. Perhaps they were merely dozing, 
 and might any day start from their slumber and fling 
 oi^ their coverlet of earth. 
 
 But during these fifteen months the kingdom of 
 
294 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Asturnia was allowed both by God and man to recuperate 
 its shattered strength. The crops were sown, and the 
 whole land smiled with corn and foliage. Avranches 
 rose from its ruins, and the population began to return 
 to the shelter of its walls. Close to the edge of the dark 
 gorge of the Pasqucrelle, a new fortress had risen white 
 in the sunlight. It l:)ristled with guns, and its fortifica- 
 tions were designed on modern principles. I had found 
 the weak spot in the impregnability of Avranches, and 
 this new castle was there to defend the ravine from any 
 subsequent attempt to dam the river. 
 
 The Court had its temporary residence at Sancta 
 Maria, and from the centre of this great castle the 
 threads of a new and just government were spun over 
 all the land. The Queen gathered round her the 
 finest intellects and the most renowned warriors of the 
 kingdom. She did not forget her old friends. Sir Thule 
 de Brie, who was now, after the death of Charles and 
 his two sons, the heir apjjarent to the throne, was made 
 Count Thule of Sancta Maria, appointed chatelain of 
 the castle, and elected Lord President of the Council ; 
 a body which, as far as any comparison can be made, 
 resembles our Privy Council and Parliament combined. 
 Count Guy of Marmorel, as the future consort of the 
 Queen, held no office, but he was the head of the military 
 forces of the countrj^ though in a reign of peace this 
 post promised to be a sinecure. Sir Otto Thorlassen 
 was given large estates near Pasquerelle, of which he 
 was appointed the Governor. I was made Commander 
 of the new fortress by the ravine, and this was hence- 
 forward to be my home. But, in addition, a most 
 delicate and difficult task was entrusted to me — no 
 less a work than the theoretical reconstruction of the 
 laws, taxation, and government of the country, based 
 on the light of modern European experience combined 
 with the practical knowledge of Asturnian requirements. 
 This was to be prepared in the form of a report, and 
 to be submitted first to the Council and then to the 
 approval of the nation. As advisors and coadjutators 
 in the matter, I had Lord Fulk of Brabangon and the 
 Lord of Marmontier, both men of sound and mature 
 
THE NEW REGIME. 295 
 
 judgment, and with the fullest knowledge of Asturnian 
 Jaw and history. 
 
 You can imagine, Cordeaux, that with this task before 
 me I had little leisure for my own private affairs. Yet 
 during this last year I have found time to write you 
 this narrative, in the hope that some day it may reach 
 your hands. It is possible that I may never see you 
 again, and I should wish you and the world to know 
 the true story of the Silex Expedition, and that I myself 
 was the first to reach the North Pole.* 
 
 They have in this country a parchment of marvellous 
 fineness prepared from the skin of some sea bird, and 
 ink of a most excellent quality. Night after night I 
 have covered these sheets with writing, and have now 
 brought the narrative up to the present date. Hence- 
 forth, I shall continue it from time to time, putting 
 down, as often as I can find leisure to do so, such events 
 as may interest you. This will enable me to close the 
 story at almost any moment, and leave you as complete 
 a record as possible. I am impelled to do this by no 
 foolish fear of death or disaster ; but common sense tells 
 me the uncertainty of life in a land where human exist- 
 ence seems to be held cheap by both Nature and man. 
 
 I know that under the circumstances, Cordeaux, you 
 will not smile at any faults of diction you may find in 
 what I have written. You are, I know, a stylist ; and 
 unevenly balanced sentences jar on your sensitive ear. 
 But you will take this as a plain tale of fact, told by a 
 man who has seen and heard the things he writes about, 
 and who has endeavoured, however feebly, to convey 
 his own impressions to your mind. 
 
 My thoughts are much with you to-night, and have 
 drawn me away from the thread of my own story. I 
 do not know what I would not give to be in my own 
 library, with you in the opposite chair, our cigars well 
 alight, and our conversation on an Editio Princeps or a 
 rare volume from the press of Wynkyn de Worde. How 
 
 *Since writing this we have made fresh observations, and have 
 discovered that the North Pole cannot be pinned down to a par- 
 ticular spot, but that the end of the axis of the earth varies 
 within a circle one hur^dred yards in diameter, 
 
296 DR. SILEX. 
 
 long ago those days seem, and in what far-off land were 
 they passed. But I have had much to be thankful for, 
 Cordeaux. I have cast aside the dreams of a scholar 
 for the realities of life. I have hawked back to the 
 primaeval passions of man. I have gone forward into 
 the finest arena for the strife of human intellects — the 
 world of statecraft and government. I have loved, I 
 have slain, I have sat in councils of state, and have 
 framed the laws of a kingdom. 
 
 I think you would hardly know me now ; and perhaps 
 would hardly care to do so. Both mind and body have 
 been so toughened and hardened by the blows of 
 circumstances, that my former self seems like a picture 
 of my boyhood. 
 
 And yet to-night I cannot keep you from my thoughts, 
 and it seems as though I were for the moment the old 
 Dr. Silex, of Hanbury House, scholar, pedant, and 
 collector of books. Up to now I have avoided all 
 personal intercourse in my narrative. I have told it as 
 an author tells his fiction to the world, not as one friend 
 writes to another. My purpose has been to gain your 
 undivided attention to my story, and not to pain you 
 with personal thoughts of one whom you may look upon 
 as dead. But to-night it seems different. The past 
 rises before me, and I have not been able to resist the 
 temptation of adding these few lines to my narrative. 
 If you care to publish this story to the world you can 
 cut them out, for they will be of little interest to any 
 but yourself.* 
 
 I am lonely and wretched and homesick to-night, 
 Cordeaux. Perhaps it is that I have a moment's freedom 
 from work ; for I have now finished my business of the 
 state and also my formal narrative to you of all that 
 has taken place. At last I have leisure to think, and 
 for the first time for many months my thoughts have 
 wandered to England. It is now 11 p.m., by Greenwich 
 mean time. The sun is still circling round the horizon, 
 and the light is beginning to weary me. From the 
 
 * Note by Sir John Cordeaux. — I have decided to retain these 
 words, as showing in some measure the mind of Dr, Silex, 
 
THE NEW REGIME. 297 
 
 window of the tower in which I sit, I can see afar off 
 a thin blue hne of sea, and beyond that the white ghtter 
 of the eternal ice. It is the wall of my prison. But 
 my eye follows still further south, and I see you reading 
 in your study, with the lamplight on your face ; and 
 I can almost smell the scent of the roses coming in from 
 your garden. I tell you, Cordeaux, that if it were not 
 for the woman I love, I would crawl out across the ice 
 and try to make for the mainland, preferring my chance 
 of death to this living tomb. 
 
 But enough of this. A trumpet call on the battle- 
 ments has roused me to my true self again. I am 
 tempted to put my pen through all the words I have 
 written. But on second thoughts I am leaving them. 
 It will do you good to know that for a moment Dr. Silex 
 has been his old self — weak and sentimental. 
 
 That trumpet call is the signal for me to go. The 
 troops are gathering in the courtyard, and I can hear 
 the clattering of their arms. We all have to be in 
 Avranches to-night, for the Queen enters her fortress 
 home to-morrow, and a week from then she is to be 
 crowned Queen of Asturnia and married to Count Guy 
 of Marmorel. 
 
 God bless you, Cordeaux, and keep some memory of 
 me in your heart. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. ;. 
 
 THE DAY OF TRIUMPH. 
 
 July i6lh. — Six days ago the Court entered Avranches 
 with all the military and civil pomp that a nation could 
 display. It was a day of general rejoicing. The whole 
 population of the town, now restored to their former 
 homes, thronged the streets and filled every available 
 inch of roof or window along the route. The Queen 
 rode a white horse, and she was clothed in a sparkling 
 dress of white and gold. Her beautiful face was flushed 
 with the keen air and the excitement of the moment. 
 In her hands she bore a small golden casket, set with 
 precious gems. It contained all that was mortal of 
 John Silver, the Lord of Argenteuil. She had resolved 
 that his ashes should enter the city in triumph, and 
 that the next day should be set apart for a solemn 
 service to his memory. 
 
 By her side rode Count Guy of Marmorel, his dark 
 eyes flashing from face to face as he passed, his steel- 
 clad figure erect upon his horse, and the white plumes 
 of his helmet dancing in the sunlight. A fine figure of 
 a man, indeed. Behind them rode Sir Thule de Brie, 
 Lord Fulk of Brabangon, Sir Hugh de La Perche, Sir 
 Otto Thorlassen, myself, and five hundred nobles and 
 knights of the kingdom, with their squires and ladies ; 
 a veritable sea of flashing steel, and nodding plumes, 
 and fair faces, and heraldic blazonry. Behind these 
 came the remnant of our little expedition, one hundred 
 and fifty sailors, half of them halt and maimed, a string 
 of grey Maxims and fifteen-pounders, and four waggons 
 
 298 
 
THE DAY OF TRIUMPH. 299 
 
 filled with those still too sick to walk. Behind them 
 again came a long stream of men-at-arms, archers, and 
 spearmen ; the great army that had wrested the king- 
 dom from the Red King, shorn of half its original members 
 by death, but to some extent augmented by those who 
 had flocked to the Queen's standard after the fall of 
 Avranches. 
 
 As they passed through the gates and along the new- 
 built streets, a roar of welcome rose from the crowd, 
 men fell on their knees and invoked a blessing, women 
 wept and held up their children to see the Queen go 
 past. It was indeed a scene worthy of remembrance — 
 the occupation of a new city born from a pile of shattered 
 ruins, the inauguration of a new era of peace and pros- 
 perity, a bridal procession, a march of triumph. Yet to 
 me, who rode in its midst, and watched the faces round 
 me, it was but the hollow mockery of all it seemed. I 
 looked, as it were, into the heart of Count Guy, and only 
 saw the base fulfilment of sordid lust and ambition. I 
 looked into the heart of the Queen, and saw — God knows 
 what I saw, but it was nothing of joy and peace. I 
 looked into the hearts of the knights, and saw pride 
 and insolence, and a mere pandering to the powers that 
 be. And lastly I saw, stepping side by side with the 
 brilliant throng, the long columns of those who had died 
 that this day might come ; many of them comrades of 
 mine, and all of them the victims of the lust of power. 
 
 But the people saw none of these things. From the 
 depths of despair they had been raised to the heights 
 of hopeful enthusiasm. Their city had risen from a 
 heap of broken masonry to a fair town. Their oppressor 
 was dead. The knights who still scowled haughtily at 
 them from under their visors were held in a grip more 
 powerful than their own. The dawn of liberty was at 
 hand. And she who had done all this and who was to 
 be the guardian of their rights, was riding through their 
 town to-day to take up her residence in their midst. 
 Small wonder that the men cheered and the women 
 wept for very joy. 
 
 When the procession had entered the castle, the whole 
 town was given up to feasting and revelry. For the first 
 
300 DR. STLEX. 
 
 time for many years the poorer classes had plenty of 
 money in their pockets. The liberal wages paid by the 
 Princess to expedite the rebuilding of Avranches had 
 enabled a naturally frugal people to put by considerable 
 sums in their leather purses. And they spent it now 
 right royally. The meanest cottage was stocked with 
 food. Huge fires blazed on the hearthstones. The 
 luscious smell of baking meat permeated the darkest 
 and humblest streets. The sound of laughter rang out 
 even from those homes that were still shadowed by death. 
 
 The castle itself was a scene of gorgeous splendour. 
 No one under the rank of a knight or his lady was lodged 
 within its walls. The squires and attendants had to 
 find accommodation in the inner circle of the fortifica- 
 tions, and the open ground between this wall and the 
 castle was white with the tents of the Queen's Guard, 
 a body of men recruited from her own private estates, 
 and bound to her by personal and feudal ties. Probably 
 never in the history of Asturnia had so many people of 
 high rank been gathered together in one building. It 
 was an heraldic education to note the devices blazoned 
 on the long lines of shields, which by the custom of 
 the country were hung round the walls of the courtyard. 
 On many of them I saw the lioncels of AnjoU; and recog- 
 nised armorial bearings still borne in England by the 
 great families of Norman descent. 
 
 The warhke spectacle of so many steel-clad men and 
 so great an array of swords and lances was heightened 
 by the presence of a host of gorgeously attired ladies. 
 Up to this time I had seen very few of the fair dames 
 and daughters of Asturnia. During the war and the 
 subsequent settlement of the kingdom they had remained 
 in their castles ; but now they burst forth into the 
 sunlight like butterflies, and flocked to do homage to 
 their new Queen. Her coronation was in truth a 
 triumph for their sex. No woman had reigned in this 
 country for one hundred and fifty years, when Margaret 
 of Brabancon had wrested the sceptre from the hands 
 of a feeble and half-witted brother. It was true that 
 the new Queen was to be married to a consort, but no 
 one who knew her intimately had any doubt that, 
 
THE DAY OF TRIUMPH. 301 
 
 although her husband might govern the kingdom by 
 the force of arms, she herself would hold the throne 
 through the love of her people. 
 
 For six days the festivities continued ; banquet fol- 
 lowed banquet, and every night some new and splendid 
 entertainment was devised and carried out by Count 
 Guy of Marmorel. Everyone seemed to have given 
 themselves over to pleasure, and thrust aside the serious 
 affairs of life. Tourneys were held in the plain, largess 
 was scattered broadcast to the poor, the troubadours 
 sang a thousand songs praising the beauty and virtues 
 of the new Queen. Everywhere there was the sound of 
 laughter and music. The Queen herself, on the eve of 
 her sacrifice, smiled and jested with the merriest of her 
 courtiers. I watched her closely, and could detect no 
 shadow on her beautiful face. 
 
 But to-night, Cordeaux, this night of July i6th, I 
 have crushed the fair outside of the dead sea fruit, and 
 seen the ashes within. Moreover, it has given me a 
 single hour of the fiercest joy a man can have. 
 
 About twelve at midnight I went out on the battle- 
 ments of the castle, and walked along to the very place 
 where we had made our last stand against the furious 
 waters of the flood. Everyone had retired to rest, the 
 last sounds of music and laughter had died away, and 
 the whole building was wrapt in silence. Beneath my 
 feet lay the city sleeping in the broad light of day. Its 
 empty streets glared white in the sunshine. It might 
 have been a city of the dead. Not a living being moved 
 in all its broad circle of walls and houses. Not a sound 
 of any description came to my listening ears. It was 
 a scene of singular peace and beauty. One cannot see 
 anything like it in England, where rest only comes with 
 darkness, and the first gleam of light awakens all the 
 toil and tumult of the day. 
 
 For myself there was no rest that night, nor could 
 any scene on earth bring peace to my fevered brain. 
 Two days hence my dear lady would be formally crowned 
 Queen of Asturnia, and Count Guy of Marmorel would 
 lead her to the altar. Out there on the plain were the 
 preparations for a grand feast and tourney, transcending 
 
302 DR. SILEX. 
 
 in size and magnificence anything previously witnessed 
 in the country. The long rows of seats and stands 
 covered with scarlet cloth glowed aggressively in the 
 sunlight. A quarter of a mile away from the castle 
 the Great Abbey reared its maimed and patched towers 
 against the sky. It had been found impossible to restore 
 so great a work of art to its former perfection in so short 
 a time. But the workmen had done their best, and it 
 was under that vaulted roof that Count Guy of Marmorel 
 would be made the King Consort of Asturnia. On the 
 donjon keep of the castle, side by side with the standard 
 of the Royal House, floated the ancient arms of the 
 Marmorels. There was nothing wanting to remind me 
 of my pain, and I savagely let the iron sink into my 
 soul, keeping my vigil as though I were some knight on 
 the eve of a great battle. 
 
 Then my meditations were broken in upon by the 
 faint sound of an opening door, and some soft slow- 
 footsteps along a distant part of the roof. As I listened, 
 they came nearer and then they stopped. I could see 
 nothing, but part of the battlements were hidden from 
 observation by a new square tower of great height 
 ^vith overtopped the one on which I stood. For ten 
 minutes there was silence, and then there came the 
 sound of a woman sobbing as though her heart would 
 break. 
 
 A woman's tears are no concern of mine, and they 
 only played a fitting accompaniment to m\^ thoughts. 
 But a few minutes later there came a sharp cry of terror, 
 and a call for help. I swung myself swiftly off the tower 
 on to the wall below, ran along it for a few yards, passed 
 along the parapet which skirted the base of the new 
 tower, and emerged on the part of the wall which had 
 previously been hidden from my sight. There for a few 
 seconds I saw nothing. Then I caught sight of some 
 white fingers gripping the stonework, and there came 
 another cry for help. I dashed to the edge, and caught 
 hold of a pair of white wrists. Beneath me dangled the 
 body of a woman. In her terror and frenzy she was 
 too weak to raise her head, but I saw her hair streaming 
 round her like a golden cloud, and I saw the jewels on 
 
THE DAY OF TRIUMPH. 303 
 
 her fingers. My heart went cold with terror, for the 
 great ruby of Asturnia was flashing its crimson rays 
 into my face, and I knew who hung there between life 
 and death. But I thrust all thoughts of who it was 
 from my head. All my nerves and strength were re- 
 quired to save her. 
 
 Telling her to hold on for a few seconds longer, I 
 loosed her wrists and quick as thought leaned over the 
 edge and gripped her tight under the arms. 
 
 " Pull yourself up as much as you can," I said, and 
 I strained my muscles to the utmost. A year of fighting 
 against man and Nature has made a man of me, Cor- 
 deaux, and, as you know, my physique afforded the 
 possibilities of development. With a tremendous effort 
 I drew her up till her face was level with my own and 
 her golden hair brushed my cheek. It was no time for 
 thoughts of love, but I confess that my pulse quickened 
 as her lips almost touched my own. 
 
 " Put your arms round my neck," I cried; " I have 
 you tight." She did so, and loosing my hold, I caught 
 her by the waist, threw all the weight of my body and 
 strength of my limbs backwards, and drew her over the 
 edge. She sank exhausted on to the stone roof, and I 
 stood over her for a minute in silence, all the horror 
 of the moment obliterated with the burning thought that 
 I had held her in my embrace, that her arms had been 
 round my neck, and that her lips had been so close to 
 mine. 
 
 I know not what thoughts were in her own mind, but 
 when she raised her head from the stone, and looked 
 me in the eyes, her face was not pale with the terror 
 of what she had escaped, but red with a deep flush of 
 shame and wet with tears. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 QUEEN OR WOMAN, 
 
 July i6th [coniinued). — Her embarrassment lasted but 
 a few seconds. I held out my hand and raised her to 
 her feet. She looked at me with questioning eyes. 
 Then she glanced swiftly round the castle. My own 
 eyes followed hers, and I perceived that here, under the 
 shelter of the new tower, we were free from all observa- 
 tion. This part of the wall was indeed a sort of well 
 between the two towers ; and the inside parapet, con- 
 structed on some obsolete ideas of fortification, was very 
 high, pierced with loopholes, and had a sort of broad 
 ledge running along its inner side. We looked out on 
 the city below, but were absolutely hidden from the 
 rest of the castle. I was surprised that no one beside 
 myself had heard her cries, but this was probably due 
 to the fact of her position against the wall. As she 
 hung down, her face was close to it, and the stone would 
 deaden the sounds to anyone within the castle. 
 
 " God has been doubly good to me," she said slowly. 
 " He has preserved me from death, and " — then she 
 hesitated. I looked at her inquiringly, and my heart 
 beat very fast indeed. " And by the hands of a trusty 
 friend and servant," she continued with her eyes fixed 
 on the ground. " One who will not speak of what he 
 has seen, or tell of what he has done." 
 
 My heart grew cold as ice, and the passion died out 
 of me, as fire dies under a deluge of water. 
 
 " It is the duty of a servant to be silent," I answered 
 
 304 
 
QUEEN OR WOMAN. 305 
 
 coldly ; " every well-trained lackey can hold his 
 tongue." 
 
 She looked up at me with a pained expression on her 
 face. " Are you angry with me, Sir Edward ? " she 
 said. " I am sorry if I have displeased you." 
 
 The tenderness in her voice once more sent the blood 
 surging through my veins. The thought that within a 
 few hours I should lose her for ever broke down the 
 barrier of my self-restraint. I moved closer to her and 
 caught her hands in mine. 
 
 " Angry ? Displeased ? " I said quickly, in a low 
 voice ; " these are no words for one who loves you 
 with all his soul." She drew her hands sharply from 
 my fingers, and shrank back from me. Then she raised 
 herself to her full height and looked me straight in the 
 eyes. 
 
 " You forget yourself, Sir Edward," she said. " I am 
 the Queen of Asturnia." 
 
 " The Queen," I cried hoarsely ; " aye, and the queen 
 of more than this paltry kingdom, but still a woman. 
 It was the woman that made me start on this expedition. 
 It was the woman that drew the hearts of my men after 
 her as a magnet draws splinters of steel. It was the 
 woman that wound Count Guy of Marmorel about her 
 fingers, and made him a traitor to his king. It was a 
 woman that a moment ago hung between life and death, 
 who might even now have been less than the meanest 
 beggar in all the world, and who is yet so thankless to 
 her God that she talks of queens and kingdoms, while 
 she is still trembling on the threshold of life. — Forgive 
 me, forgive me, I do not know what I am saying. I 
 am mad, but you have made me so." And, flinging 
 myself on my knees at her feet, I took one of her hands 
 and kissed it reverently. This time she did not draw 
 it from my clasp. 
 
 " Sir Edward," she said quietly, " I was wrong. My 
 rank is nothing. And such as it is, you have given it 
 to me. But the day after to-morrow I am to be the 
 wife of Count Guy of Marmorel. Even the meanest 
 beggar in the world might be excused some maidenly 
 pride on the eve of her marriage." 
 
 U 
 
3o6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 " If she loves the man she is to marry," I said sternly. 
 " If she loves the man she is to marry," and I searched 
 her face with eager eyes. 
 
 " Love is not everything," she replied ; " if it were 
 so, there would be no marriage the day after to-morrow. 
 I have sold myself for the freedom of my people. I am 
 prepared to carry out the bargain. I am proud enough 
 to offer the price without taint or blemish." 
 
 "It is too great a sacrifice," I cried. " Oh, my dear 
 lady, I am nothing to you — nothing. I know how to 
 bear my own pain, for I know that I can be nothing 
 to 3'ou. I have borne it in silence till now. But the 
 sight of you so near to death has wrought me up to so 
 great a tumult that my lips have opened. I would my 
 tongue had been bitten out before I spoke. But, having 
 spoken, I will say all that lies in my heart. I do not 
 plead for myself. Have I not said that I am nothing ? 
 I only plead for you to save yourself from a life of 
 misery." 
 
 " To break my word ? " 
 
 " I know this Count Guy of Marmorel," I continued. 
 " A brave man, but hard as the rocks of this island. 
 He will break your heart. He will break your heart." 
 
 " I have pledged my troth to him." 
 
 "It is worse than the mere sale of an innocent girl 
 to a man hardened in vice and cruelty," I continued. 
 " This man should be your bitterest foe. He dashed 
 your father from his throne, he accomplished his death ; 
 for aught I know, he may have slain him with his own 
 hand." 
 
 " Even if it were so," she answered, " I have concluded 
 the bargain with open eyes. I shall be satisfied if my 
 price has not been paid in vain. I ask no more than 
 this." She turned round and pointed to the silent city, 
 and the fair valley with its golden corn, and the ring 
 of mountains beyond, shutting out miles and miles of 
 fertile country from our view. The sunlight gilded it 
 so that field and tree, wall and tower, rock and stream 
 glowed like some scene from fairyland. 
 
 " My country," she said simply ; " there is not an 
 acre of it that is not dear to me. Not a peasant toiling 
 
QUEEN OR WOMAN. 307 
 
 in its fields whose liberty I would not give all to purchase. 
 How much has been given for me, how many lives, how 
 many ruined homes. And how little I have to give. 
 Do you ask me to shrink from the giving ? " and she 
 turned upon me with an almost fierce look in her eyes. 
 
 " Your happiness is dearer to me than a thousand 
 kingdoms," I cried. " I would the earthquake had 
 sunk this accursed land under the sea, so long as it left 
 us two free to do what we desire." 
 
 " You speak of Asturnia," she answered in a cold, 
 even voice ; " the country that means so much to me, 
 and — and you are mistaken — if you think — that I am 
 not free to do as I desire." I looked her in the face, 
 and she lowered her eyes to the ground. Her cheeks 
 flamed crimson in the sunlight, and her two hands were 
 pressed closely to her breast. I moved a step nearer to 
 her. 
 
 " Lady Thora," I said quietly, " it is a waste of time 
 to argue with me. You have only to say, ' I do not 
 desire your presence ; even if I were a poor woman, 
 I would not stop to speak to you.' Why waste time 
 in defending your actions to one who has no right to 
 judge them ? " 
 
 For answer she walked away to the edge of the parapet 
 and buried her face in her hands. I followed her, and 
 she turned on me with flashing eyes in which the tears 
 still sparkled. 
 
 " How dare you ? " she cried. " Oh, my God, why 
 do you speak to me like this ? Have you no sense of 
 honour, no spark of manhood left in you ? If you come 
 a step nearer to me, I will throw myself from the battle- 
 ments. It will not be the first time the thought has 
 been in my mind." 
 
 " Not the first time ? " I gasped, recalling how I had 
 found her. " You do not mean " 
 
 " I mean that already I have stood on the edge in 
 hesitation. Half swaying in my mind, I leant outwards. 
 Repenting, I drew back, but too late. I slipped ; grasped 
 the air ; falling, caught the stone ; and too late repented 
 of my wickedness. From that moment, till you came, 
 I lived my whole life through. The vile desertion of 
 
3o8 DR. SILEX. 
 
 my duty flamed before my eyes as I looked up to heaven, 
 and cried to it. I prayed, and my prayer was answered. 
 What do you think could turn me from my duty now ? " 
 
 I stood in silence, too horrified at what she had told 
 me, to make any repl3^ Love, duty, empire shrank 
 away into nothing before this one awful reality — that a 
 young girl had contemplated death rather than endure 
 the life that lay before her. Only the single thought 
 that she was deserting her defenceless people had altered 
 her purpose. I saw the wliole truth, and in a flash her 
 secret heart had been laid bare to me. I had misjudged 
 her. I knew that she regarded Count Guy with in- 
 difference, if not with absolute aversion. Jiut I had 
 not dreamt of such a misery as this. During the past 
 week she had smiled on her courtiers, and borne herself 
 as a proud and triumphant queen. Now I knew the 
 truth, and my heart was so overwhelmed with fear and 
 grief that I could not say a word to comfort her in her 
 sorrow or dissuade her from her purpose. 
 
 " My dear lady," I said brokenly. " my dear lady — 
 if only I could help you — if you would only let me help 
 you. Surely there is a way." 
 
 She came slowly towards me from the parapet. " There 
 is only one way," she said, " and God mercifuHy stood 
 in my path." 
 
 Swiftly my mind went back to that night when I had 
 wrestled with my own evil thoughts by the battlement 
 of the camp, and my hand instinctively moved to the 
 revolver at my side. 
 
 " There is another way," I said slowly and deliberately, 
 and the feel of the butt in my fingers seemed to give 
 me strength and hope. She must have seen the move- 
 ment of m}' hand, and divined my thoughts, for a look 
 of horror crossed her face, and she shrank from me, as 
 one would shrink from some loathsome reptile. 
 
 " You would die yourself," I said in a reproachful 
 voice, " yet you would not let one who loves you die 
 on your behalf." 
 
 " Not die in dishonour," she replied. " Sir Edward, 
 I have read your thoughts. You are too old a friend 
 to mind plain words. What you meditated would set 
 
QUEEN OR WOMAN. 309 
 
 me free and lift the burden off my life. Yet I tell you 
 that I would rather see you dead at my feet than that 
 you should do this thing." 
 
 I flushed with shame, but murder was in my heart ; 
 and if I could have torn myself away from the spot, 
 no fear of death or dishonour nor even the hatred of 
 her I loved would have stayed my hand. But the 
 sorrowful and noble expression of her face held me like 
 an iron chain, and beneath her glance I saw myself as 
 vile a thing as ever crawled this earth. I averted my 
 eyes, feeling that I was not fit to look upon the woman 
 I loved. Then the bitterness of my passion stung me 
 to speech. 
 
 " I will meet Count Guy of Marmorel to-morrow in 
 fair and open field," I said. " I have made up my mind 
 that he must die — and die to-morrow before he chains 
 you to his life. It was not because I feared him that 
 the vile thought of murder came to me. It was rather 
 that I might make the result more certain. Bat you 
 shall see with your own eyes that I do not fear him." 
 
 " He will not fight you." 
 
 " He shall, or I will shoot him like I would a dangerous 
 beast." 
 
 " If he does fight you, the result is certain." 
 
 " The result is in the hands of God," I replied. 
 " Strength of purpose has nerved many a weak arm 
 before now. I am not afraid. My dearest lady, I will 
 leave you. I have told you the secret of my heart, and 
 I ask your forgiveness for having done so. My only 
 wish is for your happiness. It has always been so since 
 I first met you. I ask you to remember this, however 
 great my offence has been." I came up to her, and 
 raising her hand to my lips, kissed it fervently. Her 
 fingers were cold as ice, and she did not speak. Then 
 I raised my eyes and looked at her. Her head was 
 bowed, and I saw nothing but the crown of her golden 
 hair. I loosed her hand, and, turning away from her, 
 strode towards the place from whence I had come. As 
 I reached the corner where the narrow ledge ran past 
 the new tower, I looked round, and saw that her hands 
 were pressed to her face, and that her whole frame was 
 
310 DR. SILEX. 
 
 shaken with sobs. In a flash I turned shar])ly on my 
 heel and recrossed the wall. Before I had covered half 
 the distance she looked up and I stopped, not daring 
 to gaze in her face for fear of what I might see in her 
 tear-stained features. She came quietly to my side, and 
 laid her hand on my arm. 
 
 " Promise me you will not fight Count Guy to-morrow," 
 she said in a low voice. I was silent and still was afraid 
 to look upon her face. 
 
 " If you fight him," she continued, " you will die. 
 There is not his equal in this kingdom — save one. Your 
 efforts will be useless, and — I shall lose a friend. I have 
 not many of them." 
 
 " Many have died in your cause," I answered, still 
 not raising my eyes, " one more or less will scarcely 
 matter." And as I spoke, I despised myself, for I had 
 made a wild guess at the truth, and was only trying to 
 confirm the hopes and fancies in my brain. 
 
 " Promise me you will not fight," she repeated, almost 
 pitifully. 
 
 " I have only your happiness at heart," I replied ; 
 " your marriage with Count Guy of Marmorel will bring 
 you lifelong misery." 
 
 " Promise me you will not fight," she murmured, 
 " and — you will give me all the happiness in your 
 power." 
 
 My heart beat like a sledge hammer, the blood rushed 
 to my head so that I could scarcely hear or see. Then 
 I raised my face, and seeing all the glorious truth in 
 her eyes, caught her in my arms and pressed her lips 
 to mine. 
 
 She broke away from me with a cry, and buried her 
 face in her hands. 
 
 "Is it true ? " I cried hoarsely. "Is it true ? Oh, 
 my God, is it true ? This one moment is the crown of 
 my life. I will wear it till death, though it pierce me 
 like a crown of thorns. My dearest, my queen — my 
 queen," and advancing to her, I would have taken her 
 in my arms again. She stepped back, and holding out 
 her hands to stop my advance, smiled at me through 
 her tears. 
 
QUEEN OR WOMAN. 311 
 
 " No, no," she cried, " that is over and done with. 
 You know the truth. I would not have told you, 
 except to save your life. It only remains for us to 
 forget. We have much need of courage, you and I. 
 I look to you to help me in the battle." 
 
 " I cannot forget," I answered. " Oh, my dearest 
 one, let me take you away from this. Let us hide in 
 some lonely and desolate part of the country. Give up 
 your crown and your kingdom of sorrow, and let us live 
 in happiness. Let us go forth on the eternal ice, and 
 try and reach Europe. A relief expedition cannot be 
 far off now. Will you not give up all for me — and for 
 love ? " 
 
 " I would give up all," she answered slowly, " for you 
 and for love, if it were not that I have sworn an oath 
 to a dead man, and I will keep it to the bitter end. I 
 would give up all, but my path has been marked out 
 for me by God, and I must tread it apart from you. 
 My country and my people claim all that I have to give 
 them." 
 
 " Why should you sacrifice yourself ? " I cried. 
 " Count Guy could rule this kingdom without you by 
 his side. He is firm in the saddle now. He has risen 
 by your name. He would not care if you left him. He 
 does not love you." 
 
 " Count Guy would rule them," she replied, " but 
 their happiness is in my hands. I have my father's 
 work to do. He bequeathed it to me as an inheritance. 
 He died himself for the sake of the work that I must 
 finish. And Count Guy — Count Guy loves me with all 
 his heart and soul." 
 
 " Yet, if Count Guy were dead," I whispered. " No, 
 you mistake me, it will not be by my hand. But if he 
 were dead " 
 
 " If Count Guy were dead," she replied slowly ; " if 
 Count Guy were dead, it would be impossible for me to 
 be your wife, if I remained Queen of Asturnia. No one 
 of alien race could share the throne of this country. 
 Not a lord nor knight, nor even a peasant in the kingdom 
 would suffer it. Yet, if Count Guy were dead " — she 
 stopped, and I looked eagerly into her face, which glowed 
 
312 DR. SILEX. 
 
 with love. Then a feehng of shame swept over me. 
 I could not accept so great a sacrifice as the one she 
 would offer, though but a few moments ago I had 
 asked for it. 
 
 " No, dear lady," I cried, " I am not altogether vile 
 and selfish. In a moment of passion I was blind. But 
 now I see what I have asked of you. The love of your 
 country, j^our hopes and plans for its happiness, your 
 oath to a dead man, your ambition and the better part 
 you have chosen. All these I have asked, that I 
 may break and crumble them, that I may cast them 
 into the fire of passion and consume them to feed 
 my own desire. I am not really so vile a thing 
 as that. Forget that I have for a moment believed 
 myself to be so." 
 
 " Yet, if Count Guy were dead," she murmured, 
 " Count Thule de Brie is still the heir apparent to the 
 throne. He is a just and noble man. If I resigned the 
 throne to him — but why talk of such matters } " and 
 she laughed bitterly. 
 
 " There would stih be your oath," I said. 
 
 " My oath ? " she repeated, and again she laughed. 
 Then she flushed red, and clenched her hands. " Why 
 do we talk like fools ? " she cried ; " this is no time to 
 speculate on the death of another man, still less on the 
 death of the man whose strong arms and keen brain 
 have set me on my throne. Our paths lie apart. I 
 have had to choose between my love and my duty. I 
 have chosen the latter. My dear one, I look to you to 
 help me in this weight of sorrow. I am afraid of temp- 
 tation. After all, I am but a woman with a woman's 
 heart." 
 
 I knelt at her feet and kissed her hand. " I will serve 
 you with all the strength of my body and soul," I replied ; 
 " if love is anything more than a thing of earth, anything 
 better than mere possession and happiness. Though my 
 hand may never touch yours again, it will always be 
 near to defend you. Though my lips may never breathe 
 a word in your ear beyond the chatter of a courtier or 
 the advice of a statesman, yet they are always at your 
 service to give you counsel and uphold your will. I 
 
QUEEN OR WOMAN. 313 
 
 will try to be as brave as vou. Good-bye, my dearest 
 one." 
 
 I rose to my feet and clasped her to me in one long 
 embrace. Then I left her, with trembling limbs and a 
 heart that burned like the flames of hell. 
 
 As I strode along the courtyard to my chamber, I 
 passed the chapel door. It was open, and within I saw 
 the gigantic form of a man kneeling before the altar 
 with a great sword pressed to his lips. The sunlight 
 streamed through the windows and fell on the steel of 
 his armour, and the blazonry of his shield which lay 
 beside him. It was Sir Thule de Brie keeping a lonely 
 vigil with his God. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE COMBAT. 
 
 July 20th. — To-night as I sit down to write to you, 
 Cordeaux, the whole world seems to have shifted from 
 its order and stability, and I myself can hardly yet 
 believe the things that I tell you. 
 
 The 17th of this month was the culminating point of a 
 week's brilliant festivities. The following day had been 
 solemnly decreed a day of great pageantry and solemn 
 prayer, and national thanksgiving. But this day was 
 set apart for the lighter and more festive accompaniments 
 of a great ceremonial. At noon the whole population of 
 Avranches were entertained at a gigantic banquet on the 
 plain. Thousands flocked in from the countryside, and 
 were provided for with equal hospitality. More than 
 five hundred acres of land were covered with tables, 
 and the sound of laughter and rejoicing rose up to the 
 sky like the music of a great sea. 
 
 After the banquet, a great tourney was held outside 
 the city gate. More than twenty thousand people found 
 seats round the enclosure, and nearly as many thronged 
 the walls of the town. The noblest and most skilful 
 knights of Asturnia displayed their prowess in arms before 
 the assembled multitude, doing battle for the credit of 
 their fair ladies, and for the enhancement of their own 
 reputations in the national pastime of war. These 
 combats, though for the most part fought with the full 
 fury and strength of the combatants, were rendered com- 
 paratively harmless by the fact that they used blunted 
 weapons. However, more than one knight was borne 
 
 314 
 
THE COMBAT. 315 
 
 senseless from the field, and such was the force of the 
 blows that many helmets were cracked, and the blood 
 flowed from many a broken head. 
 
 At three o'clock the melees and single combats ceased, 
 and a hush of expectation fell on the multitude. It is 
 the custom in Asturnia, as it is in England, for some 
 knight or noble to champion the cause of the sovereign 
 who is about to be crowned, by a challenge to single 
 combat with the sword. In our own peaceful country 
 the challenger's gauntlet has never been picked up from 
 the floor where the champion has hurled it. But I find 
 in the troubled records of Asturnia that in no less than 
 ten instances was the challenge taken up, and that a most 
 deadly combat ensued. I also found that on only one 
 occasion was the champion defeated. Probably the 
 sovereign-elect took care that he was represented by the 
 finest swordsman in his kingdom. These battles were no 
 mimic combats with blunted weapons, but wore fought 
 with weapons of war, and were fought out to the death. 
 
 It is not, therefore, to be wondered that the people 
 looked forward to such an exhibition with an unusual 
 show of interest. There was always a chance of a real 
 battle, and in this particular instance a very good chance 
 indeed, for the throne had been wrested by force from 
 its former sovereign, and there might easily be found some 
 knight to avenge him. But it was well known that Count 
 Guy of Marmorel would himself take the field, and no one 
 could doubt the issue of the combat. The only knights 
 that could have met him with an equal chance of success 
 were ranged on his side. It would have been different, 
 some whispered, if the Red King himself had been alive. 
 That would have been a fight indeed. 
 
 At a few minutes past three Count Guy rode into the 
 lists amid the loud and prolonged cheers of the multitude. 
 He was clad in a new suit of armour, richly inlaid with 
 gold, and he bore on his shield, as was the custom, not 
 his own device, but the royal arms of Asturnia. His 
 great sword was grasped in his right hand, and it flashed 
 in the sun like a shaft of light. He rode his powerful 
 white horse three times up and down the lists, and each 
 time, as he turned, he cried out in a loud voice, " Doth 
 
3i6 DR. SILEX. 
 
 any man deny the right of the Princess Thora to hold the 
 throne of Asturnia ? " and each time the heralds blew a 
 loud blast with their trumpets. 
 
 After the third time, he paced slowly to the centre of 
 the lists, and, raising his sword to his lips, he cried out, 
 " If there be any to deny the Princess her rights, I stand 
 here, by the grace of God, to defend them in single 
 combat," and with these words he slung his shield on his 
 saddle bow, and, loosening one of his steel gauntlets, cast 
 it sparkling far into the arena. 
 
 For a moment there was silence, then I saw a move- 
 ment in the crowd at the end of the lists, and heard some 
 shouts of anger and derision. A few seconds later I saw 
 a narrow lane opening out in the dense mass of heads, 
 and at the end of it the tall figure of a knight on horseback 
 moving slowly through the multitude. 
 
 All the eyes of that vast throng were now turned 
 towards the spot, and as the rider came out into full view, 
 a loud roar of voices went up to heaven, some crying out 
 in mockery, some in the delight of an anticipated combat, 
 some in indignation that any should be found to dispute 
 the rights of their Queen, and even some in fear of what 
 they saw. For the knight was clad in blood red armour 
 from head to foot, and some of the women near to me 
 whispered in awe-struck tones that Charles the Red had 
 returned from his grave to claim the throne again. 
 
 The knight, who rode a black horse, carried no armorial 
 bearings of any kind, and as his visor was down, there was 
 no obvious clue to his identity. But as I looked upon his 
 enormous bulk, and noticed the straight set of his back, 
 and the almost angular squareness of his shoulders, 
 there came to my mind, like a flash, what I had seen in the 
 chapel the night before, and my heart beat fast with 
 exultation. If it was Count Thule de Brie, he was pre- 
 pared to risk his life and his good name to save his mistress 
 from the marriage with Count Guy of Marmorel. No 
 man could offer a greater sacrifice than this, for, whether 
 he lived or died, he_^would_be, branded as a traitor in the 
 eyes of all "Asturnia. 
 
 The knight'rode slowly towards the glove that sparkled 
 on the ground in the sunlight. Then, lowering his sword 
 
THE COMBAT. 317 
 
 and inserting the point in the steel Unks, he tossed the 
 gauntlet high into the air, and caught it again with his 
 left hand. Count Guy of Marmorel sat on his throne 
 like a statue and watched him with a cold smile on his 
 face, but with the eagerness of battle in his eyes. To 
 this man a keen fight was as the breath of life, and the 
 great size of his opponent gave but a zest to the encounter. 
 But I wondered if he would smile with so much content- 
 ment when the red knight raised his vizor. 
 
 The knight rode close up to the Count and handed 
 him the glove on the point of his sword. 
 
 " I come," he cried in a loud voice, so that all might 
 hear, " to deny the right of the Princess Thora to sit 
 on the throne of Asturnia, and to prove my words in 
 single combat." 
 
 A great hush fell on all the throng. Owing to the 
 narrowness of the lists the speaker was close to us, and 
 at the sound of his voice I saw the Queen look swiftly 
 round the body of knights and nobles who attended her. 
 I knew for whom she was looking, and as she did not see 
 the face she sought, I saw a red flush come into her cheeks 
 and brow, and she half rose in her seat. But she con- 
 quered her emotions, and when I looked again, her face 
 was pale as death. 
 
 Count Guy took the proffered gauntlet, and calmly 
 replaced it on his hand. 
 
 " Your name, Sir Knight ? " he said courteously. 
 
 " I have no name," the knight answered. " I fight 
 not for myself, nor under my own device. If I die, I 
 die unknown. If I live, I depart in peace. Such is the 
 custom of these combats." 
 
 Count Guy beckoned the heralds to him and apparently 
 consulted them. Then he turned to his opponent. 
 
 " Such appears to be the custom of these combats, 
 Sir Knight," he said, " and though most combatants have 
 been proud to fight under their own names, believing that 
 their cause is just, yet your privacy must be respected, 
 and, doubtless, in this case you have excellent reasons 
 for preserving it." 
 
 At these words, spoken in a loud voice, a yell of appro- 
 val went up from the multitude, and they derisively 
 
3i8 DR. SILEX. 
 
 called on the knight to disclose himself, or they would 
 tear his armour from his back. He sat motionless on his 
 horse, but I could see his steel-covered fingers gripping 
 and ungripping nervously on the hilt of his sword. 
 
 Then Count Guy rode up to the great scarlet-covered 
 stand, from whence the Queen and her suite had been 
 watching the proceedings. He bowed, and holding his 
 sword by the blade, stretched out the hilt towards her. 
 She took it with trembling hands, and Lord Fulk of 
 Braban9on whispered something in her ear. For one 
 brief second she looked round with a white and terrified 
 face, and I thought that she was going to fling the weapon 
 into the arena. But she composed herself, and, raising 
 the hilt to her lips, handed the blade back to Count Guy. 
 Yet all the time her eyes were fixed on that silent red 
 figure in the lists, who had no lady to wish him God 
 speed or consecrate his sword. 
 
 Count Guy rode back to his place, and the two men 
 faced each other, a bare twenty paces apart. The silence 
 of the expectant crowd was so complete that I could hear 
 the faint creaking of the Red Knight's armour, as he 
 slightly raised the point of his sword. Then there was the 
 sudden blare of trumpets. Count Guy dug his spurs into 
 his horse and rode full tilt at his opponent. It was a 
 risky thing to do in a combat with swords, but the Count 
 evidently held his adversary in slight esteem, and hoped 
 to unhorse him with the mere shock. 
 
 But though the Red Knight had not been the first to 
 move, he was quick enough to make his horse swerve 
 from the path of the Count, counter a terrible stroke of 
 his sword with a forward parry, and make a second stroke 
 backwards, so far that he appeared to be almost lying 
 back on his horse's hindquarters, and so swiftly that 
 though the Count went past like a flash of lightning the 
 force of the blow beat him on to the crupper of his saddle. 
 If the blow had been struck half a second sooner, or if 
 the Count had been going a shade less fast, the sword 
 must have bit through the armour into the spine. 
 
 Sir Hugh de La Perche turned to me with a glow of 
 anger on his face. " Count Thule de Brie," he said in a 
 low voice, lest the Queen should hear. " No other man 
 
THE COMBAT. 319 
 
 in the kingdom can make that stroke and parry. Is he 
 mad ? " 
 
 " Perhaps he is mad," I answered curtly, " or perhaps 
 he is a traitor." 
 
 As I spoke. Count Guy reined in his horse, and turned 
 again to meet his opponent. The latter made no attempt 
 to follow up his advantage, but once more waited for an 
 attack to be made on him. The Count advanced slowly 
 this time, till he was within six feet of the Red Knight, 
 and then there passed some words between them which 
 I could not hear. Then, by a sudden movement of his 
 horse. Count Guy brought himself within striking distance 
 and attacked his opponent with such fury and such a 
 rapid succession of blows that it seemed as though no- 
 thing on earth could have stood up against them. The 
 Red Knight replied with equal vigour, and the clashing 
 of steel was so loud and continuous that a blind man 
 would have supposed that at least a dozen men were in the 
 throes of a deadly combat. 
 
 In less than five minutes both their shields were hacked 
 into fragments and both their horses lay dead on the 
 ground. They were fighting on foot, grasping their 
 gigantic swords with both hands, and with little protection 
 but the blades themselves. Now and again one of them 
 would partially break through the other's guard. Twice 
 Count Guy of Marmorel was beaten to his knees, and twice 
 he recovered himself, and in his turn attacked with so 
 much fury that the grass grew red with his opponent's 
 blood. Both men were horribly gashed and wounded, 
 and Count Guy's armour was nearly as crimson as that 
 of the Red Knight. It was a terrible sight to watch 
 these two magnificent specimens of manhood beating 
 the life out of each other in the sunlight. 
 
 Such a combat could not last for long, even between 
 opponents so equally matched. Both were growing 
 weak from loss of blood, and the fury of the battle was 
 enough to exhaust a frame of iron and arms of steel. 
 The Queen rose in her seat with horror on her face, and 
 turning to Lord Fulk implored him to stop the combat. 
 
 But, even as she spoke, the end came. Count Guy, 
 by a strange irony of fate, slipped on a piece of grass that 
 
320 DR. SILEX. 
 
 was wet with his adversary's blood, and before he could 
 recover his balance, one stroke of the Red Knight's 
 sword sent his weapon spinning into the air, and another 
 cut deep into the side of his helmet. He fell backwards 
 with a crash and lay motionless. The whole multitude 
 rose to their feet with horror-stricken faces. I and 
 several other knights rushed forward to the side of the 
 fallen man. When we had unlaced his helmet, we saw 
 at a glance that he was dead. The sword had cut clean 
 through the steel into his brain. 
 
 Then there arose an indescribable tumult among the 
 people. As a man, Count Guy had not been popular ; 
 but, as a soldier and statesman, he stood high in the 
 estimation of his countrymen, and had always been the 
 idol of his soldiers. There were ominous cries of " Death 
 to the traitor," and the long rattle of steel round the 
 enclosure showed that the soldiers would have to be held 
 in check. But the Red Knight stood motionless, leaning 
 upon his sword, and gazing on the dead man's body. 
 And even as he stood, the ground beneath his feet grew 
 red with blood. 
 
 The crowd began to pour over the barricades, and I 
 could see the gleam of swords among them. But before 
 they could reach the object of their movement, a thin 
 line of steel-clad knights began to form and extend itself 
 in a circle round Count Guy and the man who had 
 slain him. Then Lord Fulk of Braban9on stepped 
 forward. 
 
 " Men of Asturnia," he cried in a loud voice, " this has 
 been a fair fight. Whatever pain or wrath we have in our 
 hearts, our own honour, and our own vows of chivalry, 
 give protection to the man who has slain our future king. 
 His only punishment will be that he has wrought this 
 work in vain." 
 
 " Not in vain, Lord Fulk," said a faint voice. " Not 
 in vain, thank God," and, leaning on the arm of Sir Hugh 
 de La Perche, the Red Knight staggered through the 
 line of knights and faced the people. 
 
 " Unfasten my helmet," he said faintly. They unlaced 
 it, and, taking it off, showed to the astonished multitude 
 the countenance of Count Thule de Brie, white and 
 
THE COMBAT. 321 
 
 haggard with pain, but with the indomitable spirit of 
 his race still flashing from his eyes. 
 
 " You know now," he said, in short, gasping sentences, 
 " who has slain your future king. There are matters 
 between me and the Lord of Marmorel — that could only 
 be settled in this manner. Before the first bout was over 
 he knew the truth. He consented to continue the com- 
 bat — to risk his life on the result — as I risked mine. 
 The challenge was a farce. I am, as you all know, heir 
 to the throne — but loyal to the Queen. I helped to set 
 her on her throne — and, by the grace of God, I will, if I 
 live — hold it secure for her. Count Guy was the first 
 soldier in the kingdom. He was a brave and honourable 
 man. Yet it had come to this — that either he or I must 
 die. The chances were in his favour. He at least died 
 like a true knight and soldier — in defence of his Queen. 
 If I had died — I should have been buried as an unknown 
 traitor. No man would have known for whom or for 
 what I had died. Count Guy is dead, and may God " 
 
 He suddenly reeled and fell forward with a crash, 
 dragging Sir Hugh de La Perche to the ground with him, 
 and the spectators saw that the grass was crimson with his 
 blood. Quickly and silently they made two litters from 
 the boards of the enclosure to bear Count Thule de Brie 
 and the dead Count of Marmorel from the field. The 
 crowd whispered among themselves in awe-struck tones, 
 but as they opened out a passage for the sad processioii, 
 every head was bowed and there was absolute silence, 
 as though they had been at a funeral. 
 
 Then all at once in the silence there arose a bitter cry, 
 and I saw the Queen rise with a white face and vacant 
 eyes that seemed to stare at something that I could not 
 see. I turned quickly to go to her side, for I felt some- 
 how that she needed my assistance. But before I could 
 reach her, she fell back senseless into the arms of her 
 attendants. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE IMPOSTOR. 
 
 July 20th {contimted). — For a whole hour the Queen 
 neither stirred nor opened her eyes, and we were well 
 nigh mad with fear and apprehension for her life. Her 
 face was white as death, and her breathing so faint as to 
 be scarcely perceptible. Several remedies were tried in 
 vain, and the one ship's doctor, who was still left to us, 
 said that some severe shock had thrown her into a 
 state of coma and that there was the greatest cause 
 for anxiet}'. 
 
 She was moved into one of the apartments of her castle, 
 where only the Archbishop of Avranches, two doctors, 
 and two ladies-in-waiting were permitted entrance. 
 Lord Fulk of Brabangon, Sir Hugh de La Perche, and 
 five other officers of her court, including myself, sat round 
 a table in an antechamber. In another apartment lay 
 the dead body of the last Count of Marmorel, and in yet 
 another Count Thule de Brie, so grievously wounded 
 that his life hung in the balance. Truly a grim sequel 
 to a week of festivity and rejoicing. 
 
 My heart was so full of my own secret sorrow that I 
 scarcely heard the conversation of my companions. It 
 was carried on in low undertones, and was evidently not 
 mere chatter to pass the time, but a consideration of the 
 gravest matters of state. Count Thule de Brie was the 
 next heir to the throne, and from time to time I heard 
 his name mentioned. I even heard it suggested that if 
 both he and the Queen recovered, a marriage between 
 
 322 
 
THE IMPOSTOR. 323 
 
 them would consolidate the interests of the kingdom. 
 Yet this talk of thrones and successions only buzzed in 
 my ears hke the murmur of some distant sea. All I 
 could hear clearly was the voice of the woman I loved, 
 crying aloud, " After all I am but a woman, with a 
 woman's heart." The room and the stern faces were 
 shrouded in a mist of tears, and all I could see was that 
 single figure lying motionless on her couch, and that 
 smgle face with the shadow of Death creeping very 
 near to it. raj 
 
 Every few minutes one of the two doctors would enter 
 the room, and make his report to us. There was little 
 enough to tell. Every remedy known to the Asturnians 
 had been tried in vain, and every device of modern 
 science had proved ineffectual. Hot baths, injections, 
 even electricity, had been tried and had produced no 
 result. At last Dr. Jackson said if no change for the 
 better took place before midnight, he was going to operate 
 on the brain. He warned us, however, to be prepared 
 for the worst. 
 
 At nine o'clock a soldier entered the room and said 
 that an old woman desired to see the Queen. She hoped 
 we would graciously permit it. She had nursed the 
 Queen in her childhood, and desired to look once more 
 upon her face. She had, so the man said, travelled from 
 a bed of sickness in the Northern Province, to be present 
 at the Coronation. She could not hope to live long, 
 and only asked this small request. She had heard of the 
 Queen's illness, and thought perhaps she might be of 
 service. 
 
 Most of the knights received the request with contempt. 
 The feelings of an old woman were little enough to be 
 considered when the future of a kingdom had to be 
 gravely discussed. But I, full of human love for the 
 unconscious Queen, and recognising in this humble 
 request just the one touch of humanity that was so wanted 
 at this critical hour, persuaded them to accede to the old 
 woman's desire. Perhaps, I said, this single link with 
 the past might bridge over the dark gulf which had 
 yawned in the mental Hfe of the Queen. In any case, 
 it was a trivial matter. The presence of the nurse could 
 
324 DR. SILEX. 
 
 harm no one. She might even afford assistance to the 
 doctors by detaihng the course of the Queen's childish 
 aihnents. It was at least, I argued, but an act of kind- 
 ness, that the Queen herself would have been the first 
 to approve of. 
 
 I so wrought upon them with my words that they 
 consented, and resumed their discussion of affairs of state. 
 How I longed, Cordeaux, for a single word of comfort 
 from someone who knew the deep love of my heart. 
 I felt like a stranger in a strange land. The woman I 
 loved was perhaps dying, yet I was compelled to wait 
 outside her door, and listen to the wisdom of her coun- 
 cillors. 
 
 In a few minutes the old woman entered. She was so 
 feeble that she had to be supported by the soldiers who 
 showed her in. She repeated her tale humbly, but with 
 some pride, as one who had nursed two sovereigns, for 
 she had, so she told us, nursed the Queen's father. She 
 said that at the return of the Queen to her kingdom, 
 of which she had vaguely heard in the remoteness of her 
 village, she had longed to see her again. Unfortunately, 
 she had been confined to her bed for the last two years. 
 But she had made a supreme effort. Her son-in-law 
 had assisted her with a little money, and a cart, and so 
 on, and so on. 
 
 We summoned the doctor, told him of her request, 
 and she entered the room on his arm. Then the knights 
 resumed their discussion of state affairs, and I relapsed 
 into the depth of my own dark and despairing thoughts. 
 But in less than ten minutes' time, the two doctors 
 burst hastily into the room and said that the Queen was 
 awaking from her stupor. She had already opened her 
 eyes and turned over on her side, and the first flush of 
 life had come back to her face. She had not yet spoken, 
 but was looking round the room and apparently trying 
 to collect her thoughts. 
 
 We all rose to our feet. The flood of happiness that 
 burst upon me was so great and wonderful that I felt 
 like a man reprieved from death. The others, though 
 they had been calmly and gravely discussing tlie possi- 
 bility of her death, showed a most heartfelt joy at her 
 
THE IMPOSTOR. 325 
 
 recovery, and it was quite evident that she had been very 
 near to their hearts. 
 
 After a minute's conversation with the doctors, we 
 obtained permission to enter the apartment, and be the 
 first to welcome her on her return to consciousness. 
 There was nothing strange in this, for in Asturnia, as in 
 more modern and civihsed courts of Europe, audience 
 was frequently granted in the bed-chamber. 
 
 We filed in one by one, slowly, as though into the 
 chamber of death. Most of us were clad in armour, and 
 we must have formed an incongruous group in the private 
 chamber of a lady. 
 
 Propped up on huge white silken cushions, and covered 
 with a gorgeous counterpane of gold and crimson, em- 
 broidered with the royal arms, lay the frail form of the 
 Queen of Asturnia. Her arms, bare almost to the 
 shoulder, lay like the white stems of some water lily on 
 the glittering surface of her bed. The sunlight was on 
 her face, and her glorious hair rippled down the pillow 
 like a shower of gold. Kneeling beside her was the Arch- 
 bishop of Asturnia, the haughtiest prelate in the king- 
 dom, yet humble enough now, as he returned thanks to 
 God for His mercy. Behind him, in the shadow of the 
 l)ed-curtains, were the forms of three women, and all 
 three of them were kneeling in silent prayer. I felt 
 ashamed. It was as though we had burst into the House 
 of God with the rattle and clank of steel. 
 
 The Queen stirred slightly as we stood there with un- 
 covered heads, and her eyes were turned upon us in a 
 sort of anxious wonder. There was no gleam of recog- 
 nition m them, and a cold chill went to my heart. Was 
 it possible that her life had been spared at the expense 
 of her reason ? 
 
 ^^ " Beloved Queen," said Lord Fulk of Braban9on 
 we are here to welcome you back to life and to offer 
 thanks for your recovery," and with these words he sank 
 upon his knees, and we all followed suit, and remained 
 so for the space of a minute. Then we rose, and 
 I noticed that the Queen was still looking round the 
 room m puzzled surprise, as though trying to recall 
 something. 
 
326 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Then she suddenly caught sight of mc, and smiled. 
 I had been standing in the background, afraid lest my 
 face might speak too loudly of my thoughts. But at this 
 quick glance of recognition I moved a little forward, and 
 my heart beat fast with a sudden joy. 
 
 " Why, Dr. Silex," she said in English, " are you here, 
 too ? What has happened ? " 
 
 " The best thing in the world, my dearest lady," I 
 answered. " You have been restored to life and con- 
 sciousness." 
 
 " But where am I ? " she repeated. 
 
 " In your castle of Avranches." 
 
 " Avranches ? Avranches ? " she repeated in a puzzled 
 voice. Then she started up straight in her bed. " Of 
 course, yes, Avranches. What a stupid person I am. 
 In Asturnia with Dr. Sile.x and Captain Thorlassen and 
 all the rest." .She broke into a loud laugh, and leant 
 back again on her pillows. 
 
 My companions looked at each other in some un- 
 easiness. With the exception of Sir Otto Thorlassen, 
 they understood but few words of what she had said. 
 But there was no mistaking the strange manner of her 
 looks and voice. 
 
 " I have been dreaming," she said quietly in their 
 own language. " I thought I was somewhere else. 
 You will pardon me ; I remember everything now. I 
 thank you all foi your kindness. And Count Thule de 
 Brie ? Count Thule de Brie ? " 
 
 " His life is still in the balance, your Highness," 
 said one of the doctors. " But we have hopes of 
 his recovery.' 
 
 " Ah ! " she said sharply as though in pain, " His 
 life is in the balance ? Look well to that life, my lords. 
 It is perhaps of more value than you think. Dr. Jackson, 
 and you, Lavarre, I have no need of you. I am well. 
 But look you to Count Thule de Brie. And you, my 
 Lord Archbishop, I would have you pray by his bedside. 
 Heaven help this country, if Count Thule de Brie dies. 
 And you, my lords ; I have something to say to you, 
 anon, which will deeply affect the welfare of this kingdom. 
 I would hav^e you leave me for a space with my ladies- 
 
THE IMPOSTOR. 327 
 
 in-waiting and this old nurse, with whom I desire some 
 conversation. May I ask you to remain in the ante- 
 chamber till I have attired myself. I desire the Council 
 to be summoned at once." 
 
 The doctors protested against her taking so much 
 exertion. But they spoke in vain. I knew not what 
 she had in her mind, but she was quite firm in her resolve 
 to rise from her bed, and hold consultation with the 
 Council of State. 
 
 We filed out of the room, leaving her alone with her 
 women. The doctors and the Archbishop made their 
 way to the bedside of Count Thule de Brie. A messenger 
 was despatched to summon the other members of the 
 Council. Lord Fulk of Braban9on and the rest of the 
 knights stood round the long table, and talked m low 
 voices of what they had seen and heard. It was the 
 common opinion that the great shock of the Count Guy's 
 death, and Count Thule de Brie's danger, had unseated 
 the reason of the Queen. I alone was certain she had 
 spoken with a clear mind, after her first forgetfulness 
 and confusion, which seemed the natural result of awaking 
 from a long unconsciousness. 
 
 For a whole hour we sat in the great antechamber. 
 One by one the other members of the Council dropped 
 in, and took their places at the table. From behind the 
 curtained door there came no sound, though once I 
 thought I heard a woman crying bitterly. 
 
 It was close on midnight when the door opened, 
 and the Queen entered with her two attendants. Her 
 face was pale, but illuminated with the light of some 
 great happiness. As she advanced, we all rose to 
 our feet and bowed. She was clothed in a magnificent 
 dress of white and gold, but I noticed with some 
 surprise that she had forgotten the narrow circlet of 
 gold which she generally wore on her head on such 
 occasions. 
 
 When she had taken her seat, she motioned to 
 her women to retire, and they went back to the bed- 
 chamber. ,, 
 
 " My lords," she said in a firm but quiet voice. I 
 have much to say to you. But the chief substance 
 
328 DR. SILEX. 
 
 of it can be said in a dozen words." She paused and 
 looked round at our faces, as though asking for encourage- 
 ment. I think she found nothing but kindness and 
 admiration. 
 
 "What I have to say," she repeated slowly, "can 
 be said in a dozen words. You see before you an 
 impostor. I am not the Princess Thora de Brie of 
 Asturnia." 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 A CONFESSION. 
 
 July 20th {continued). ~l{ a thunderbolt had fallen 
 from heaven and rent the roof above us, and riven the 
 ground under our feet, it would scarcely have caused so 
 much consternation as these few simple words. We 
 looked at each other with half-open lips and questioning 
 eyes, as though each one of us could scarcely believe his 
 senses, and sought some confirmation frorn his neigh- 
 bour's face. Lord Fulk of Braban9on smiled, as a man 
 might smile at the harmless babbling of a child. I could 
 read in his expression that he looked upon the statement 
 as the utterance of an overwrought brain. 
 
 vSir Hugh de La Perche seemed puzzled and shrugged 
 his shoulders. Sir Otto Thorlassen looked sharply at 
 me and frowned. The Queen alone was calm and un- 
 impassioned. I had butlo look at her face, to see that 
 she was in the full possession of her senses. She spoke 
 the startling words that burst upon our ears, in a quiet 
 and passionless voice that suggested the careful utterance 
 of a judge pronouncing sentence rather than the con- 
 fession of a distressed woman. 
 
 _ " I see you do not believe me," she continued. " But I 
 will convince you that I am speaking the truth. First, 
 I must tell you that I am Sybil Hartington, and as a child 
 I was the intimate friend of the Princess Thora de Brie. 
 She was my playmate, and so remarkably did we re- 
 semble each other that people often took us for twins. 
 She lived with John Silver, known to you as the Lord of 
 Argenteuil, and my father, who resided in an old house 
 
 329 
 
330 DR. SILEX. 
 
 in London, and who was engaged in the sale and purchase 
 of old books and other articles, was, I think, the only 
 stranger who ever made friends with this remarkable 
 man. When my father died, he left me to the care of 
 this same John Silver, and made him guardian of my 
 property, which consisted of our house in Silent Square, 
 and a large collection of various articles which had con- 
 stituted his stock-in-trade. We all moved into the house, 
 and dear old John Silver, for his own amusement, spent 
 vast sums of money in books, that, as far as I can re- 
 member, he never tried to sell again. 
 
 ' ' For three years we lived in a sort of fairyland, peopled 
 entirely with the men and women of Asturnia. John 
 Silver never talked of anything else, and so much did he 
 tell me, and so often did he tell the tales, that every 
 person of note, every incident of importance, and every 
 feature of the country itself became indelibly impressed 
 on my mind. Before I left England, I could almost 
 have described Count Guy of Marmorel, Sir Thule de 
 Brie, and you yourself, Lord Fulk of Braban9on, as 
 though I had actually met j'ou. I could have drawn a 
 map of the country, and could have found my way un- 
 aided from Sancta Maria to Braban9on. Our very games 
 were of Asturnia. We played at being kings and queens, 
 and there, in the heart of London, we held court, and 
 made laws, and ennobled those whom we deemed worthy 
 of the honour. Then, in the spring of 18S9, my dear 
 playmate Thora died." 
 
 The Princess stopped, and for one brief moment an 
 expression of pain crossed her face. Then she looked 
 up at us, and I could see a tear glistening in her eyes. 
 The memory seemed to have come back to her as fresh 
 and clear as though the event had happened but a week 
 ago. 
 
 " Yes," she repeated, " the Princess Thora de Brie 
 died, and for a while it seemed as though the whole 
 world had been blotted out from the eyes of John Silver. 
 I myself, who had no hopes or ambitions centred in her 
 bright young life, felt as though a great twilight had 
 fallen over all the earth. No one could help loving her 
 for her sweet nature, her all em])racing sympathy, and 
 
A CONFESSION. 33i 
 
 the genuine kindness of her dear heart. Yet I think 
 John Silver himself knew that she would never have 
 filled a place of power, and that a crown would only have 
 pierced her head with its many thorns. I thank God 
 to-day that she has been spared what I have seen and 
 suffered. Even in my games, she played the lower, 
 but I think the better part. It was I who directed, and 
 organised, and planned. It was she who obeyed and 
 carried out, and endued each childish action with a 
 courtly grace, that could have only come to her through 
 a long line of distinguished ancestors. 
 
 " For three months after her death John Silver seemed 
 to have lost all interest in life. Then he suddenly threw 
 his whole heart and soul into my education and amuse- 
 ment. For hours he would talk to me of Asturnia, and 
 endeavour to perfect me in the language, which I already 
 spoke with some fluency. 
 
 " Then one day — how well I can recall it now — he was 
 sitting with me in the lumber room, and playing to me 
 on his violin. The sun was streaming through the 
 window on his face, and his eyes were like wells of fire. 
 I could not help looking at them. Then I remember, 
 when I looked away, the whole room seemed to have 
 disappeared, and in its place the castle of Avranches 
 rose from the plain, and around, as far as the eye could 
 reach, there was a great circle of hills." 
 
 She stopped again, and glanced nervously at our faces, 
 as though to find out if we believed her. I recalled my 
 own experience in Silent Square, and I resolved to add 
 one more link to the chain she was constructing. 
 
 " Extraordinary though this statement may seem," 
 I said, " I can myself bear witness to its probability, 
 as I can solemnly swear that I experienced the same 
 strange delusion in the same room, while John Silver 
 was there." 
 
 " Thank you. Sir Edward," she said simply ; " and 
 now, most noble lords and knights, I will tell you that 
 from the time of this incident I have just related, up to 
 the day of John Silver's death, I actually considered 
 myself to be the Princess Thora of Asturnia, and was 
 fired with so much ambition to regain my kingdom, and 
 
332 DR. SILEX. 
 
 better the lot of my subjects, that these two things 
 became the ruHng passion of my Hfe. What power held 
 me in its grip I know not. I do not understand to this 
 day— I only know that a few hours before John Silver 
 died, I believed myself to be Thora dc Brie." 
 
 Again she paused, and like a flash there came to my 
 mind the recollection of various incidents and circum- 
 stances, for which I had hitherto found no explanation. 
 Her sudden change from a wild-eyed dreamer to a practi- 
 cal woman of the world. The look upon her face when 
 she came out of the chamber of death, and when it 
 seemed as though something new and strange had come 
 into her life. The remark she had made more than once 
 that I did not know all her story. Her hesitation when 
 she told the false history of her life. And, lastly, the 
 trifling incident when she lirst met Sir Thule de Brie, 
 and apparently did not recognise him, though he had 
 been so intimately connected with the strange adven- 
 tures of the Princess of Asturnia. All these things were 
 plain to me, if what she said were true, yet I could hardly 
 believe that any woman could have planned and carried 
 out so gigantic a deception. 
 
 "If the Lord of Argenteuil had lived," she continued, 
 " it is possible that my delusion would have continued 
 to this day. Under those circumstances, I should merely 
 have been a deluded woman, and no blame would have 
 attached to me for anything I did. But on his deathbed 
 John Silver took the spell from my life, and I knew once 
 more that I was Sybil Hartington. And all that I have 
 done since, I have done of my own free will ; and though 
 I have known much sorrow, and sacrificed many lives, 
 I firmly believe that I have tried to do what was right." 
 
 Again she stopped, and the eyes of every one of us 
 were fixed on her, as though we could find some solution 
 to this strange problem in her face. But she bowed her 
 head and I could only see the red flush on her cheeks 
 as we gazed at her. 
 
 " Yes," she continued, raising her face, and looking 
 at us with bright rebellious eyes. " I stand before you 
 a confessed liar ; one who has lived a lie, and brought 
 death into thousands of homes. Yet hear me, my lords, 
 
A CONFESSION. ^^i, 
 
 and do not judge John Silver and myself as totally 
 deserving of your wrath and contempt. When John 
 Silver was dying, he asked me to do this thing. Re- 
 member that this great-souled and high-minded man was 
 dying, and was forced to leave all his dearest hopes 
 and ambitions unfulfilled. He was dying in a strange 
 country, and knew that he would not see his native 
 land again. No one could call his conduct mean or 
 base. The Princess Thora's death had cut the thread 
 of all his schemes, and I, from my remarkable resemblance 
 to the dead child, was placed ready to his hand — a temp- 
 tation that he could not resist. He sought no personal 
 gain, and only the good of his country. I, at any rate, 
 forgive him the wrong he did me, when he took my will 
 into his hands and moulded it for his own purpose. I 
 swore to him on his deathbed that I would personate 
 the Princess Thora as best I could, and work out the 
 good schemes he had planned for the future of the 
 kingdom, and not leave my place of power till the 
 lawful heir to the throne was one who could be safely 
 trusted to carry out the work I had begun. Such a 
 moment never arrived till yesterday, and to-day I lay 
 bare my soul before you." She paused and looked at 
 us defiantly. 
 
 "What of Count Thule de Brie?" said the Lord of 
 Marmontier ; " was he not worthy to sit upon the 
 throne ? " 
 
 " Count Thule de Brie," she answered, " is worthy to 
 sit on any throne. But he is, as you know, only second 
 cousin of the late king, and until Charles XV. and his 
 sons were dead, was not the heir to the throne. When 
 these died, I would have given all into his hands, if I 
 had then been alone in the matter. But, as you know, 
 complications had then arisen. I was the betrothed 
 bride of Count Guy — God rest his soul — and even Count 
 Thule de Brie would have been powerless to wrest the 
 kingdom from his hands. And so lie followed lie, and 
 the network of deceit made it impossible for me to draw 
 back. I stand before you, my lords, a confessed liar, 
 a woman who deserves no pity for her deceit. Yet I have 
 suffered — my God, how I have suffered. I gave up all 
 
334 DR. SILEX. 
 
 for the sake of my oath and the welfare of this kingdom. 
 I sold my body, my love, my very soul, that the people 
 might be free." 
 
 She ceased, and, burying her face in her hands, sobbed 
 bitterly. We looked at each other, not knowing what 
 to say or do ; some of us incredulous, but all with a 
 look of pity on our faces — pity either for her madness, 
 or else for the things she had suffered. 
 
 Then Lord Fulk of Braban9on rose to his feet, and 
 leant forward with his great mail-clad hands on the 
 table. 
 
 " My Lady of Asturnia," he said gravely, " what 
 you have told us, whether it be true or not, is of so 
 serious a matter to your kingdom, that I for one should 
 not receive it as truth on the unsupported testimonial 
 of a single person, even though that person be the one 
 who has most to lose by such a confession. You have, 
 my dear lady and sovereign, but just returned to us 
 from many hours of unconsciousness, perhaps even from 
 the very gate of death itself. I speak with no disrespect, 
 but, knowing from personal experience how faithless a 
 servant the memory of man can be, and how easily 
 disturbed and confused it can become when the body is 
 sick, and the mind disturbed, I shall, as one of your 
 own Council, ask for time to consider the matter, and 
 collect such evidence of your identity as can be found. 
 I speak for myself, not knowing the minds of my com- 
 panions." 
 
 He sat down, and a murmur of approval greeted his 
 speech. The Princess raised her head and smiled. 
 
 " Your care. Lord Fulk," she replied, " is reasonable ; 
 and such as one might expect and hope for in a member 
 of the Council. By a strange coincidence, I am able to 
 offer you some evidence for your consideration. In 
 my chamber is the woman who, thinking she had nursed 
 me as a child, came here to see me once again before 
 she died. Perhaps you will send for her, and for my 
 ladies-in-waiting, who will bear witness that she speaks 
 her own mind and has no instructions from me in the 
 matter." 
 
 The old woman wa5 sent for, and she hobl^lcd into 
 
A CONFESSION. 335 
 
 the room, leaning on the arms of the two ladies-in-waiting. 
 She bowed feebly before the Council, and seemed much 
 distressed, for I saw a tear trickling down her flushed 
 cheek. She was given a chair, but the other women 
 stood behind their mistress. 
 
 " For how long were you the nurse of the Lady Thora 
 de Brie ? " said Lord Fulk. 
 
 " For seven years, my lord — almost from the day of 
 her birth." 
 
 " There are, I suppose, many who can identify you 
 as Margaret Valoux ? " 
 
 " Many, my lord. These two ladies," pointing to the 
 Lady Chalisset, and the Countess D'Armel, " remember 
 me well." 
 
 " Is that so, my ladies ? " 
 
 " That is so, Lord Fulk," one of them answered. 
 " And when you first saw that lady," he said, indi- 
 cating the Princess, " had you any reason to believe that 
 she was not the Princess Thora de Brie ? " 
 " I had no reason, my lord." 
 " Do you know who she is ? " 
 
 " I do not know, my lord ; but she is not the Lady 
 Thora de Brie." 
 
 " What evidence have you that she is not the Lady 
 Thora de Brie ? " 
 
 " By her own request, my lord, I examined her. She 
 told me nothing of her purpose, but asked me in jest 
 if there were any marks on her as a child. I told her 
 of these. She said she was anxious to know if they still 
 existed, and asked me to look. I looked, and there 
 were none. Of my own accord, and knowing nothing 
 of her wishes, I said to her that she was not the child 
 I nursed, and was therefore not the Lady Thora de Brie." 
 " Were these marks such as would remain for life ? " 
 " They were, my lord. Two of them were large moles, 
 and the third a long cut across the ankles. It was done 
 by her father's sword, which she one day pushed off a 
 table on to her foot, and was of such a nature that it 
 would leave a mark for life." 
 
 " You have an excellent memory for trifles." 
 
 " Things that are trifles, my lord, in the case of an 
 
336 DR. SILEX. 
 
 ordinary child, are great events in the memory of one 
 who has nursed a princess. The Court Physician Lavarre 
 attended the wound. He will bear witness that I speak 
 the truth." 
 
 " Let Lavarre be sent for," said Lord Fulk, and a 
 knight left the room to give orders to a messenger ; 
 " and now, my ladies of Chalisset and D'Armel, I must 
 ask you if this old woman has spoken the truth on two 
 points within your knowledge. Has she examined the 
 Queen, and did she do so without previously knowing 
 that the Queen was herself desirous of her imposture 
 being discovered ? " 
 
 " She examined the Queen," answered the Countess 
 D'Armel, " and knew nothing save what you j^ourself 
 heard from the Queen when she awakened from her 
 trance. We are also able to bear witness that the marks 
 she discovered were not on the Princess." 
 
 Lord Fulk continued to examine and cross-examine 
 the nurse until Lavarre entered. On being questioned, 
 he said he well remembered the accident, and that the 
 wound would leave a mark till death. He further stated 
 that he remembered the marks on the back of the 
 Princess, but he seemed offended at so intimate and 
 delicate a question being discussed at a Council of 
 State. 
 
 When he had finished. Lord Fulk gave him leave to 
 withdraw, but before he reached the door the Queen 
 called after him : " Your patient, your patient ? Have 
 you any news of him for us ? " 
 
 " He lives, my lad5% and I think I may say the scale 
 has turned in his favour." Then he left the room. The 
 face of the Queen was lit with a glad smile, as she turned 
 to the Council, who were still grave with the serious 
 matter before them. 
 
 '' Do not waste j'our sadness on me, my lords," she 
 said ; " rather rejoice that the one man who is most 
 worthy to rule over this nation may yet be spared to 
 you. The crown of Asturnia will rest more firmly on 
 the helmet of a strong man than on the locks of a foolish 
 girl." 
 
 " You speak lightly, my lady," said Lord Fulk, with 
 
A CONFESSION. 337 
 
 a tinge of sadness in his voice, " yet less than a clay 
 ago we thought that the happiness of this kingdom was 
 more near to your heart than aught else in the world. 
 Was this but part of the deception you say you have 
 practised upon us ? " 
 
 At these words she buried her face in her hands and 
 was silent. Then she rose quickly to her feet, with 
 flashing eyes, and burning cheeks, on which I could see 
 the glistening of tears. 
 
 " No, Lord Fulk," she cried passionately. " No, my 
 lords, a thousand times No ! I am not one of you by 
 birth, but I have been trained and educated to be one 
 of you. For years I listened daily to the stories of 
 your history. I learnt your language. I studied the 
 customs and manners of your country. I lived in my 
 imagination among you. For months I was made to 
 believe that I was your Queen, and my whole mind 
 and heart were filled with ambition for your good. For 
 the last three years I have wrought and suffered for 
 your happiness. To-day I am one of you, and so long 
 as I live I shall be one of you. I have always loved 
 Asturnia, since first I heard its name. And I love it 
 still, and still will work for it, and still own it as the 
 country nearest to my heart. Yet will I stand in no 
 man's place, and will rob no man of his inheritance. I 
 could have held my peace, and ruled by the advice of 
 my councillors, and the grace of God, for the good of 
 this land, but I will no longer act this lie. At last a 
 way of escape has opened up for me, and I will step 
 from my unlawful position. Whatever decision you 
 come to, my lords, I know the truth and shall act 
 accordingly. What I have done, has been done. I 
 have deceived you, not for my own good, but to benefit 
 my people — your people. My acts remain, and the 
 power to further them remains. I further them best 
 by giving the rule into the hands of Count Thule de 
 Brie, in whose mind, perchance by my help, perchance 
 by the influence of that great and wise man, the Lord 
 of Argenteuil, exist the same hopes, the same ambitions, 
 and the same scheme of a just and beneficent govern- 
 ment, as I myself have dreamed of and battled for. 
 
338 DR. SILEX. 
 
 Though of my own free will I resign the rule into the 
 hands of another, I have no regret for what I have done, 
 and no desire to be freed from the burdens of a crown. 
 What I have done has brought about the downfall of 
 tyranny, and sent the breath of freedom into the land ; 
 and no desire is nearer to my heart than that tyranny 
 should lie for ever dead, and that the breath of freedom 
 should swell into so strong a blast that war and oppression 
 and the strife of kings and nobles and people should be 
 swept for ever from Asturnia." 
 
 She ceased, and the sunlight falling through the 
 narrow window, fell on her face in a shaft of gold. She 
 looked like some angel, purified of all earthly desires, 
 and crowned with the glowing fires of heaven. Then 
 she sank back into her chair, and I could see that her 
 face was very white, and that she seemed like the ashes 
 of some exhausted flame. Every eye was riveted upon 
 her with sorrow and admiration. I know now for a fact, 
 that if she had so wished, some of those in the room 
 would never have breathed a word of her secret to the 
 nation, and would have upheld her claim to the throne 
 against even Count Thule de Brie. 
 
 Then Lord Fulk of Braban^on rose slowly from his 
 chair, and I could see that for so hard and rugged a 
 man he was deeply moved. 
 
 " My dear lady," he said, " there is much yet to be 
 deliberated on, and much to be weighed and sifted 
 before we release you from that position which both 
 you and we ourselves have sacrificed so much to uphold 
 and maintain. Yet, whether you be the Princess Thora 
 de Brie, or whether you be a stranger born in a strange 
 land, your name will always be graven in our hearts and 
 in the annals of our country. Whatever your l)irth, no 
 one is more fitted to rule, or more competent to further 
 the interests of our people. If you be not the Princess 
 Thora, our regret is, not that you filled her place, but 
 that you of your own accord resigned it and told us 
 that which might never have been known. We will 
 leave you, for it is late, and you have risen from a bed 
 of sickness. Perchance it will yet be possible to amalga- 
 mate the two interests of the Empire." 
 
A CONFESSION. 339 
 
 " Aye, aye," they all cried, rising to their feet. A 
 quick flush came into her face, for she knew he hinted 
 at a marriage with Count Thule de Brie. 
 
 " It is impossible," she said in a low voice that thrilled 
 every nerve of passion in my body. " My lords, I am 
 tired," and she rose to her feet. One by one we filed 
 past her, and kissed her hand with more than customary 
 reverence. I was the last, and she signalled to me to 
 remain. 
 
 When they had all gone, she requested her ladies to 
 go into the ante-chamber, saying she had a message for 
 Count Thule de Brie for my private ear. They left the 
 room and closed the door behind them. We were alone. 
 
 " What message, my lady ? " I asked in a low voice. 
 
 She came close to me and laid her hands on my 
 shoulders. " Tell him," she said very softly so that I 
 could scarcely hear, " that I love you, and am soon to 
 become your wife." 
 
 I took her in my arms, and pressing her body close 
 to me, covered her face with kisses. Yet the whole 
 nation nmst sorrow for that which gave me the keenest 
 and most passionate joy. After a while, I took her dear 
 face in my two hands and raised her eyes to mine. 
 
 " Was it for this," I whispered, " was it for this you 
 gave up your kingdom ? " She was silent, and I waited, 
 half in hope, and half in fear for either answer to my 
 question. 
 
 " Was it for this ? " I said again, drawing her to me 
 till her face was pressed to mine. 
 
 " No," she replied faintly, " it was not for this ; yet 
 this has given me another — and a better kingdom. 
 Good-night, dear heart." 
 
 I left the room, and passing the chamber of Count 
 Thule de Brie, felt the full sting of my unworthiness. 
 This man, heir himself to the whole kingdom, had freely 
 risked his life to save her pain. Yet I had all the glory 
 of heaven and earth, and he — only the kingdom of 
 Asturnia. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE BETTER LII-E. 
 
 December i6ih. — On the south coast of the island, 
 close to where the Pasquerelle pours out its mingled 
 ice and water into the Great Frozen Sea, there is a low 
 range of hills. They are crowned with larch and fir, 
 and their long lines of wooded slopes form a protection 
 to the fertile valley which stretches inland to within a 
 few miles of Avranches. 
 
 On the summit of these hills stands a small house, 
 built of dark grey stone. It is little more than a cottage, 
 yet it is built square and solid to meet the winds that 
 beat about it, and every room in it glows with the light 
 and warmth of home. 
 
 It is here, Cordeaux, that I have spent the sweetest 
 and most glorious month of my life ; and it is here that 
 I am going to write to you a few more lines before I 
 commit this narrative to the seas which lie between us. 
 
 I was married to Sybil Hartington on November 14th; 
 a week after Count Thule de Brie was crowned King of 
 Asturnia. Although every castle in the kingdom was 
 offered to us for our honeymoon, and though I myself 
 had been appointed the Lord of Sancta Maria, the most 
 splendid residence of them all, yet both I and my bride 
 chose the quiet and solitude of this humble cottage, 
 and were only too glad to escape for a while from the 
 barbaric splendours of a feudal home. 
 
 Here, attended by a single servant, we have with- 
 drawn ourselves from the world, content for one short 
 month to forget everything but our own love and liappi- 
 
 340 
 
THE BETTER LIFE. 341 
 
 ness. By our own desire we see no one and receive no 
 news, and for one month Sir Otto Thorlassen has ruled 
 at Sancta Maria and taken upon him the cares and 
 duties of my province. For the present our kingdom 
 IS the httle cottage in which we dwell, and we rule no 
 one but ourselves. We only ask for rest after the storm 
 and strain of the past three years. 
 
 Here we have seen the swift passage of summer into 
 winter and of day into night. There is a great darkness 
 over all the land, and the grip of ice is closing on the 
 country once more. But our hearts are as fuU of warmth 
 and light as the small square building that we have 
 made our home. From this little nest, perched on the 
 hills, we look both east and west over the long stretches 
 of woodland. We look to the south across the frozen 
 plain of ice. We look to the north across the wide 
 valley stretching to the mountains round Avranches 
 Yet lor the time being there comes no voice to us from 
 either north or south. Our thoughts have neither 
 strayed across the great barrier that lies between us 
 and our native land, nor have they turned to that new 
 city m the hills, whose very stones were cemented with 
 our past sufferings. 
 
 To-morrow the spell will be broken, and we shall leave 
 our lotus land for the work and anxieties of our new life 
 There is much yet to be done in Asturnia, and much 
 required from both of us in the doing of it To-night 
 I take the opportunity of writing you these few words 
 more in the form of a letter than a narrative 
 
 I have much to tell you, Cordeaux, but can tell you 
 little. By the unwilling consent of the council and the 
 universal regret of the people, my dear wife resigned 
 her kingdom to Count Thule de Brie, who accepted it 
 with the utmost reluctance. I do not think he would 
 have consented to take the throne at all, if it had not 
 been for Sybil's earnest prayers and entreaties. One 
 afternoon the two were closeted together for more than 
 three hours, and even I do not know exactly what took 
 place at the interview. I have never asked her for a 
 detailed account but I shrewdly suspect that Count 
 Ihule de Brie asked his cousin to share his throne with 
 
342 DR. SILEX. 
 
 him. I do know, however, that he is resolved to carry 
 out the good work she has begun, and that she still holds 
 the reins of power in her two dear hands. 
 
 A great monument of basalt has been reared above the 
 tomb of Count Guy of Marmorel, and the whole nation 
 has done justice to the memory of a man, who, whatever 
 his faults and ambitions, has stood out as one of the 
 landmarks of his age. On the monument are inscribed 
 the simple words : 
 
 " To the memory of Guy, last Count of Marmorel ; a 
 man, and a leader of men." 
 
 A new life is opening up before me, Cordeaux, and I 
 do not think I would return to England, even if the 
 return were possible. My life is bound up with that 
 of the woman I love, and she is still at heart the Queen 
 of Asturnia. No European has ever been given so great 
 an opportunity as that which has been given to me — 
 the advancement of a civilised race through eight cen- 
 turies of progress. The lifting of a country from the 
 darkness of the middle ages to the light of the nine- 
 teenth century, the selection of those new ideas and 
 discoveries which have benefited the human race, and 
 the rejection of those which have brought evil in their 
 wake. Never was there such a field in which to plough 
 and plant and reap. A country rich in mineral and 
 vegetable wealth, a people, strong, noble-minded, and 
 intelligent. The task before me might appall even the 
 intellect of Lord Bacon, who had made all knowledge 
 his province. It could not be effected in a lifetime, nor 
 yet in a single century. The question of over-popula- 
 tion has yet to be dealt with. A long era of peace will 
 bring this difficulty home to us in the next generation. 
 It will have to be met with some terrible antidote. Still 
 I can plough, Cordeaux, and perchance my sons will 
 sow, and perchance my grandchildren will reap. It is 
 a great responsibility. But do you think I would leave 
 it for the peace and quiet of my library, for the scent 
 of the roses in my garden, for all the dear scenes of 
 old England, for even a glimpse of your own face and 
 a grasp of your own hand ? No, Cordeaux. The 
 woman I have married has endowed me with some- 
 
THE BETTER LIFE. 343 
 
 thing of ,her own strength of purpose, and my place 
 is here. 
 
 I have written this long narrative in the hope that 
 it may some day reach your eyes. I have retained a 
 copy, and when leisure permits I shall again make 
 further copies and launch them on their perilous voyage. 
 I have every reason to believe that the current which 
 runs past our coast must eventually find its way to the 
 shores of Spitzbergen. If so, one of these messages 
 may be picked up by some Arctic expedition. 
 
 I know, that if this account does come to your hand, 
 and you publish it abroad, the whole of Europe and 
 America will redouble their efforts to reach the North 
 Pole. Perchance you yourself may voyage forth to find it. 
 The path is as perilous as ever it was, but the knowledge 
 that a civilised country exists beyond that terrible and 
 cruel barrier of ice may induce men to push farther 
 north on sledges than they have ever dared to go before. 
 We shall welcome the few who survive the ordeal, and 
 you most of all, Cordeaux. But let no man bring the 
 flag of his country with him in the hope he may annex 
 the land for his countrymen. If a hundred thousand 
 men came with guns and rifles, they would only leave 
 their bodies on the northern ice. Before this reaches 
 you, the land will bristle with guns. There is no lack 
 of steel and the materials for gunpowder, and we have 
 more than one man among us who could in time turn 
 out a serviceable weapon. Even with our present 
 stock of guns we could repel an army, exhausted by 
 its awful passage across the Palaeocrystic sea, and at the 
 most, only a few of you could come. Those few we 
 shall receive with pleasure, and give them of our 
 hospitality, but perchance no man of them shall 
 return. 
 
 And it may so happen that men shall come and find 
 no land at all, and write me down as one who has in- 
 vented the whole narrative, and curse me as one who 
 has led them to their death. In that hour remember 
 all that I have written, and know that the Island of 
 Asturnia, and its people, and its castles and towns, 
 have been overwhelmed by the Hand of God. The 
 
344 DK. SILEX. 
 
 land is but a crust on the surface of a lake of fire, and 
 no man can tell the hour of its destruction. 
 
 And now, Cordeaux, farewell. Let the instructions 
 in my will stand as though I were dead. I send you 
 a list of those* men out of our crews who are still alive, 
 that you may carry the news to their relatives. The 
 rest arc dead, and for all practical purposes these are 
 dead also. 
 
 Farewell, Cordeaux. No words can tell you of my 
 haj)j)iness. But, if it please God, I will show my gratitude 
 by a life of good works. Darkness is on the land, but 
 the moon is u]), and as I write these words, a long white 
 path stretches across the ice as far as the eye can reach. 
 In mj' fancy it is still a link between us, and I like to 
 think that m\' whispered words of greeting may travel 
 along it to your ears. 
 
 * Note by Sir John Cordeaux. — Tliis has beeu omitted as being 
 of no interest to the general reader. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Ward, Lock & Co., Ltd., London, New York, & Melbourne, 
 
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Novels by GUY BOOTH BY. 
 
 5S. each Volume. Fully Illustrated. 
 A Bid for Freedom. 
 
 To every reader who loves a romance to thrill the nerves and make the pulses 
 leap, the name of Guy Boothby has a magic fascination. In this story Mr. 
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 Every reader will concur in pronouncing " A Bid for Freedom" fully as hue if 
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 Connie Burt. 
 
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 Boothby's." 
 
 The Glasgow Herald says: — "Contains many stirring scenes of life in the 
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 The Kidnapped President. 
 
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 its predecessors from the same pen." 
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 My Strangest Case. 
 
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 Farewell, Nikola. 
 
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 My Indian Queen. 
 
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 Long Live the King. 
 
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 A Prince of Swindlers. 
 
 The Scotsman says: — " Of absorbing interest. The exploits are described in 
 an enthralling vein." 
 
 A Maker of Nations. 
 
 The Spectator says: — "' A Maker of Nations' enables us to understand Mr. 
 Boothby's vogue. It has no lack of movement or incident." 
 
 The Red Rat's Daughter. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph says: — " Mr. Guy Boothby's name on the title-page 
 of a novel carries with it the assurance of a good story to follow. This sprightly 
 imaginative writer's latest romance is a clever and fascinating narrative." 
 
 London: WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED. 
 
Novels by GUY BOOTH BY, continued- 
 Love Made Manifest. 
 
 The Daily Telkgraph says : — " A powerful and impressive romance. One of 
 those tales of exciting; adventure in the Confection of whicli Mr. Boothby is not 
 Cicelled by any novelist of the day." 
 
 Pharos the Eg^yptian. 
 
 The Scotsman says: — -'This powerful novel is weird, wonderful, and soul- 
 thrilling. Mr. Boothby succeeds in making it almobt real, and its marvels and 
 mysteries almost credible. There never was m this world so strange and wonder- 
 ful a love story, and Mr. liuothby's admirurs will probably agree that the most 
 marvellous fiction he has ever produced is ' Pharos the Egyptian.' " 
 
 Across the World for a Wife, 
 
 Thi'. British \Vti;Ki.Y says: — " This stirring tale ranks next to ' Dr. Nikola* 
 in the list of Mr. Booihby's novels. It is an excellent piece of workmanship, and 
 wo can heartily recommend it." 
 
 A Sailor's Bride. 
 
 Tub Manchester Courier says :— '' Kew authors can depict action u 
 bMlliantly and resourcefully as the creator of 'Dr. Nikola.' " 
 
 The Lust of Hate. 
 
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 be called dramatic interest, so whoever wants dramatic interest let him read 
 ' The Lust of Hate.' " 
 
 The Fascination of the King:. 
 
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 seen from the pen of Mr. Guy Boothby . . . . ' The Fascination of the King ' is 
 one of the books of the season." 
 
 Dr. Nikola. 
 
 The Scotsman says: — "One hairbreadth escape succeeds another with 
 rapidity that scarce leaves the reader breathing space. . . . The interest of their 
 experience is sufficient to stay criticism, and carry him through a story ingeniously 
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 The Beautiful White Devil. 
 
 The Yorkshire Post says . — " A more exciting romance no man could reason, 
 ably ask for." 
 
 A Bid for Fortune. 
 
 The Manchester Courier says:— "It is impossible to give any idea of the 
 verve and brightness with which the story is told. Mr. Ilu(jthby may be con- 
 gratulated on having produced about the most original novel of the year." 
 
 In Strange Company. 
 
 The World says:—" A capital novel of its kind — the sensational-adventurous. 
 It has the quality of life and stir, and will carry the reader with curiosity unabated 
 to the end." 
 
 The Marriage of Esther. 
 
 The Manchester Guardian says : — " A story full of action, life, and dramatic 
 interest. There is a vigour and a power of illusion about it that raises it quite 
 above the level of the ordinary novel of adventure." 
 
 Bushigrams. 
 
 The Manchester Guardian says: — " Intensely interesting. Forces from us, 
 by its powerful artistic realism, those choky sensations which It should be the 
 ami of the human writer to elicit, whether in comedy or tragedy." 
 
 5heilah McLeod. 
 
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 crow 1 more adventure into a square foot of canvas than any other novelist." 
 
 London: WAKU. LOCK A CO., LIMITED. ~~ 
 
POPULAR NEW 
 SIX=SH1L L1NG N0VEL5 
 
 STRONG MAC 
 
 By S. R. Crockett 
 
 AUTHOR OF "JOAN OF THE SWORD HAND," "THE RAIDERS," ETC. 
 
 A stirring romance of Scottish family life in days when the last century was 
 voune The Look is full of movement and colour, and for sustamed interest and 
 skill in craftsmanship will rank high among Mr. Crockett's novels Indeed inany 
 readers will probably acclaim it the authors finest achievement. The heroine 
 " Adora " is really " adorable," and many of the other characicrs are fine studies in 
 varied humamty^^^^^ THE ADVENTURESS 
 
 By E. Phillip Oppenheim 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A VELLOW CRAYON," "a PRINCE OF SINNERS," ETC 
 In 'Anna the Adventuress" Mr. Oppenheim has broken new ground. Retakes 
 us behind the scenes of the life of a beautiful actress who has created a furore in 
 Piris He takes us into Bohemia, and after that into London society, and has 
 drawn characters-Anna the mystery, and Annabel the venturesome-which prove 
 that he understands that mystery of mysteries, the heart of a woman, as no living 
 noveHst save perhaps Mr. Hardy and. Mr, Meredith can be said to t.nderstand 
 women Withal it is a story of entrancing interest, told in that brilliant way which 
 has established Mr. Oppenheim so firmly in popular estimate as one of the most 
 delighting of novelists. 
 
 JARWICK, THE PRODIGAL 
 
 By Tom Gallon 
 
 AUTHOR OF "TATTERLEY," ETC. 
 
 Doffing, for once in a way, the mantle of Charles Dickens, Mr. Tom Gallon has 
 here prodliced a novel of mysterious plot and counterplot that must hire the most 
 iaded reader feverishly on to a most ingenious denouement. Mr. Gallon, amongst 
 the Drophets of sensational romance, is, indeed, a most welcome recruit, because 
 at one bound he is entirely and most convincingly successful. No one can possibly 
 discard the book till the last page has been turned. 
 
 THE ALBERT GATE AFFAIR 
 By Louis Tracy 
 
 AUTHOR OF "rainbow ISLAND," "THE FINAL WAR," ETC. 
 
 Mr Tracy's " Rainbow I'iland" attracted more aitention than any previous book 
 he has done. But in the " Albert Gate Affair" he has gone one belter and given 
 us a detective story so mysterious, so absorbing, and so ingenious, that our old 
 friend Sherlock Holmes must bestir himself in good earnest if he is to keep his place. 
 There is of course murder in the story, with sensation galore, but so mysterious and 
 unheard of, as to leave the element of mystery-solvers in a quandary. 
 
 BY SNARE OF LOVE 
 By A. W. Marchmont 
 
 AUTHOR OF "when I WAS CZAR," ETC. 
 
 Readers who take up a novel by Mr. Marchmont know that they are sure of an 
 exciting time Vivid writing, constant change of scenery, boldly drawn characters, 
 with love and adventure running a neckand-iieck race, the attention on tip-toe 
 throughout. In " By Snare of Love " an American capitalist goes to Turkey wuh 
 the idea of healing the disorders of the Ottoni:ui Empire by the power of industrial 
 force, backed by American push and gold. The Turkish pashas whose interests are 
 threatened by reform, weave plot and counterplot, with the result that love-making 
 and fighting and incident and intrigue carry one with a rush to the finish of one ol 
 the most rousing romances of modern times. 
 
 ROOM FIVE 
 By Hamilton Drummond 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A .MAN'S FEAR," " ON BEHALF OF THE FIRM," ETC. 
 
 A remarkable " problem " novel of a curiously exceptional kind, full of the hne de- 
 tail and strong delineation of character thatrea.iers have learned to expect fro.n this 
 author The " derivations " of the two chief actors in the drama are realised with a 
 masterly power of psychological analysis, and the sombre story is so impressively 
 wrou<'ht that the book compels a painful but fascinated attention to the very end. 
 
Six-5hilllng Njvels, continued— 
 
 ON SATAN'S MOUNT 
 By Dwight Tilton 
 
 AUTHOR OF "miss PETTICOATS," ETC. 
 
 The author has taken for a background the social and economic situation and 
 followed it to its logical conclusion, but his main object is to tell the story of a 
 supreme temptation and a unique tale of love. In fact, taking for his subject the 
 familiar ({notation, " And taking Him up into a high mountain, showed unto Him all 
 the kingdoms of the world," he applies it to a possible situation resulting from the 
 centralisation of wealth. 
 
 A RACE WITH RUIN 
 By Headon Hill 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE QUEEN OF NIGHT," " CAGED," ETC. 
 
 Mr. Headon Hill is the cleverest of reader-catchers. The only way by which one 
 can escape reading his books is not to open them. The reader who whether he 
 commence at the first chapter or whether he " dip.s in " casually here and there is 
 lost. Henceforth he must go on to the end. In " A Race with Ruin " Mr. Hea- 
 don Hill hasachieved that rarest of all successes, a successful sporting novel. Huge 
 as is the sporting public, the sporting novelists who are worth reading could be men- 
 tioned in three breaths. Vet " A Race with Ruin " is as thoroughly successful as a 
 sporting novel as it is intensely interesting as a love story. The reader who puts his 
 money on Mr. Headon HilTs novel may rest assured that he has " backed awinner." 
 
 THE SWORD IN THE AIR 
 By A. C. Qunter 
 
 AUTHOR OF " MR. BARNES OP NEW YORK," "MR. POTTER OF TEXAS" ETC. 
 
 This latest storj' by the popular author of " Mr. Barnes of New York " has all the 
 dash and buoyancy that made Mr. Barnes famous in two continents and his many 
 successors hardly less celebrated. The present hero is, indeed, in spirit a throw-back 
 to the earliest and best of the author's many fine fellows. 
 
 ONE OF MY SONS 
 By A. K. Green 
 
 A17TH0R OF "the LEAVENWORTH CASE" 
 
 As welcome as the reappearance of .Sherlock Holmes will be the announcement 
 that A. K. Green has agam been persuaded to reintroduce Mr. Gryce, and he here 
 appears in a plot that bears evidence of the author's highest ingenuity. "One of 
 my Sons " is believed by its author to be her best book. It has all the breathless 
 interest and sustained mystery of " The Leavenworth Case" combined with an even 
 more attractive style. 
 
 THE TRAIL OF THE DEAD 
 By B. Fletcher Robinson and J. Malcolm Frazer 
 
 An extremely ingenious mystery of the "detective" school of modern romance, 
 and one redeemed from the commonplace by a very discriminating literary skill. 
 One of the authors, Mr. Fletcher Robinson, is the young writer to whom Sir Arthur 
 Conan Doyle recently made handsome acknowledgment for his share in the creating 
 of "The Hound of the Baskervilles." 
 
 MONSIGNY 
 By J. Miles Forman 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the JOURNEY'S END," ETC. 
 
 To-Dav says : — " The charm of this almost idyllic story lies no less in the manner 
 in which it is told than in the story itself. ... A novel of great refinement." 
 
 Court Circular says : — " ' Monsigny ' will add very materLilty to the author's 
 reputation as a novelist." 
 
 London: WARD, LOCK & CO.. LIMITED. 
 
Works by Ethel Turner. 
 
 (Mrs, H. R. CURLEWIS). 
 
 Crown 8fo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, gilt edges, 
 each 3s. 6d. 
 
 "Miss Ethel Turner is fast becoming to the world at large what 
 the authoress of ' Little Men," &c., was for generations past to America, 
 and to children and grown-up people alike all the world over." 
 
 — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 " Miss Ethel Turner is Miss Alcott's true successor. The same 
 healthy, spirited tone is visible which boys and girls recognised and 
 were grateful for in ' Little Women ' and ' Little Men,' the same absence 
 of primness, and the same love of adventure." — The Bookman. 
 
 LITTLE MOTHER MEG. 
 THE STORY OF A BABY. 
 THREE LITTLE MAIDS. 
 THE CAMP AT WANDINONG. 
 MISS BOBBIE. 
 THE LITTLE LARRIKIN. 
 SEVEN LITTLE AUSTRALIANS. 
 THE FAMILY AT MISRULE. 
 
 A Sequel to the above. 
 LONDON: WARD, LOCK & CO., LTD. 
 
Some Magazines are 
 
 MERELY MASCULINE. 
 
 Others are 
 
 FRIVOLOUSLY FEMININE. 
 
 W . W^ THE 
 
 Windsor 
 
 STANDS ^ As the Illustrated Magazine 
 ALONE ^ for Men and Women .... 
 
 ITS STORIES— Serial and Short alike— are by the leading Novelists 
 
 of the day. 
 ITS ARTICLES, ranging over every branch of our complex modern 
 
 life, are by recognised Specialists. 
 ITS ILLUSTRATIONS represent the high-water mark of current 
 
 Black-and-white Art. 
 
 These features combine 
 to make the Windsor's 
 contents, month by month, 
 a popular theme for con- 
 versation in circles that 
 are weary of the trivialities 
 of the common -place 
 periodicals. 
 
 6 
 
 D. 
 
 MONTHLY. 
 
 In addition to its strong 
 interest for Men and 
 Women, the Windsor 
 
 makes a feature of pub- 
 lishing the Best Studies 
 of Child-Life that the 
 modern cult of youth has 
 yet produced in fictional 
 literature. 
 
 The WINDSOR'S recent and present contributors include — 
 
 Rudyard Kipling 
 Mrs. F. A. Steel 
 5. R. .Crockett 
 Cutcliffe Hyne 
 Max Pemberton 
 
 Hail Caine 
 E. Nesbit 
 Guy Boothby 
 Ian Maclaren 
 Frankfort Moore 
 
 Anthony Hope 
 Ethel Turner 
 Robert Barr 
 Barry Pain 
 Gilbert Parker 
 
 London : WARD. LOCK, 6c. CO.. LIMITED.