CHAPTER XIX
A DARING PLOT
In due course the travellers reached the country of Sedenia. They were met upon – or rather over – its borders by the ruler of the realm, King Agrando. He was accompanied by his chief councillor, Kazzaro – otherwise the Ogre – Gorondo his chief General, and his principal officers of State. He also had with him a number of war-airships of various sizes.
Under his conduct the travellers passed on to his capital, the city of Dyrania, a rambling town of considerable size, built upon the slopes of a high mountain and overlooking a large lake.
The visitors left their airships, and took up their abode for the time being in suites of apartments assigned to them for their use in the royal palace.
Here King Agrando dispensed his hospitality with a sort of semi-barbaric dignity. To Gerald, in particular, as may be imagined, it seemed a curious thing to find himself attending his Court as a guest. It cannot be said that it was a pleasant experience, and he entered into it with very mixed feelings.
So far as the outward conduct of his host went, however, he had nothing to complain of. He had come there with Prince Alondra and Monck, King Ivanta's special representative; and he, Mr Armeath, and Jack, were treated upon that footing with the strictest regard to everything that courtesy and etiquette required. At the same time, try as he would, he could not feel exactly comfortable. Every time he attended any function, and saw before him King Agrando and his chief officers, there came back to him the memory of that time when he had been brought before those same men as a helpless prisoner, and treated with contumely and insult. His cheeks would flush, and the hot blood rush through his veins even now, as he recalled how Kazzaro had prodded and pommelled him as a farmer might a bullock offered for sale, and remembered the sinister and forbidding aspect of the whole crowd as they gazed upon him.
Still, so far as they were concerned, all this might have been a mere dream. Nothing in their behaviour showed that they even recollected it. The king, indeed, in a certain fashion of his own, seemed to wish to convey to Gerald that he desired the whole 'regrettable incident' to be forgotten.
As King Agrando plays an important part in this history, some further particulars concerning him may be given here.
His had been one of the last countries to be brought under the sway of the all-powerful, all-conquering Ivanta. He now occupied a semi-independent position, one somewhat similar to that of some of the richest and most powerful of the native princes of India. In his time he had himself been a great fighter and conqueror, having invaded and conquered several adjoining countries. He had ruled over these – and over his own subjects also – with an iron hand; and at times, it was said, with tyrannical cruelty. There had been, indeed, dark rumours afloat of terrible deeds carried out by him with the aid of the band of councillors he kept about him, of whom Kazzaro was the chief. If these tales were anywhere near the truth, then the title of Ogre, which the chums had bestowed upon Kazzaro, might have been quite as suitably given to his master.
But those days were past – or supposed to be past. Agrando was now on his best behaviour. Ivanta had insisted that there should be no more fighting or quarrelling with his neighbours, and no more cruelty and oppression within his realm. Thus the tyrant's 'occupation was gone,' and he had little left to him to do save to occupy himself and his select circle with such more or less harmless amusements as the circumstances permitted.
For one thing, he had become a great collector of curios of all kinds, animate and inanimate. That is to say, he had got together the finest collection of curios and zoological and botanical specimens of any upon the planet. Some of these had been contributed by Ivanta – brought by him from distant planets, Earth and Saturn – who possibly thought it good policy to encourage his restless vassal in so blameless a hobby. Thus the gardens surrounding the palace formed a sort of glorified Zoo and Kew Gardens rolled into one. His palace, too, was filled to overflowing with the most remarkable works of art that money could buy and the countries of his globe could produce. The fame of his collections had spread throughout the world of Mars, and people travelled immense distances and made long pilgrimages to see them.
It is scarcely a matter for surprise that such a man should now be bitten with a craze for diamonds, with a burning, overmastering desire – which later on became a determination – to become the possessor of the finest collection of jewels upon his planet.
Now, it so happened that while Agrando's desires in this direction had been growing and growing until they had almost reached the length of becoming a sort of madness, Ivanta's thoughts had been working in an exactly opposite direction. By degrees he had come to wish he had never troubled himself about precious stones at all. Certainly, what he had done had been planned with the best intentions; but his sagacious instinct now began to lean to the idea that for once in his life he had made a great mistake. Therefore, he was casting about for some plausible excuse for undoing what he had travelled all the way to Earth specially to accomplish.
Already, during the voyage home to Mars, he had noted many incidents which his keen insight into human nature had told him were the little seeds likely to grow into a big crop of future trouble. He had seen, with sorrow and alarm, that even his most trusted councillors and dearest friends were beginning to give their chief thought and attention to 'dividing up' the cargo of diamonds they were carrying back. Already envy, covetousness, and greed were raising their ugly heads where before all had been amiability and goodwill. And if this were so even before the distribution took place, what was likely to be the state of things afterwards?
This alteration in his views had been greatly strengthened by his conversations with Armeath. That honest sage, also deeply experienced in human nature, fearlessly expressed his own opinions on the subject. He gave Ivanta endless illustrations and 'modern instances' of the crimes and misery which a covetous greed for precious stones might be expected to introduce into his world.
Ivanta – convinced, yet, as an honourable man, hampered by his own promises and undertakings – gladly jumped at Armeath's suggestion of making artificial stones in such quantities as to render them as 'common as pieces of glass.' Then, as Armeath had argued in his talk with Monck, nobody would bother himself to be the possessor of any of the 'gems,' whether real or artificial. For none could tell the former from the latter when manufactured by Armeath's process.
The great difficulty now seemed to be to get a sufficient quantity of the necessary mineral; and to do this Ivanta would have to pay a visit to Saturn, that being the only place he knew of where it could be obtained.
Meantime, Ivanta had decided to keep the cargo he had brought locked up; and to postpone its distribution until his return from his projected journey.
Unfortunately, however, the mischief had already been done; the seeds of serious trouble had been sown, and were now growing to a far larger extent than King Ivanta knew of.
King Agrando, in particular, was hatching a double plot, which, if it succeeded, was not only to gratify his newly-born craze for a big collection of jewels, but to restore him to his former position of independent ruler. Even, perhaps – who could tell? – it might raise him to the position now occupied by Ivanta himself!
Into this conspiracy Zuanstroom had entered. That, at first sight, may appear a little strange; but the so-called Diamond King had newly awakened ambitions of his own. He saw that, as the owner of this great cargo of precious stones, he was in a position which was absolutely unique in the world of Mars. Upon Earth he had only been the Diamond King in a relative sense; here he was actually entitled to that name. But why should he stop there? Why should he not use his unique position to make himself a king in actual fact? Upon Earth, even with the help of all his diamonds, he could never aspire to such a height; but here it was different. Ivanta, he knew, would never fall in with such an idea; but Agrando, if approached in the right way, might – and he did.
The result of the conferences between the two plotters may be summed up thus: Agrando had said, 'Let us use your diamonds to depose Ivanta and put me in his shoes, and give me the biggest share of the treasure; and I will then put you into a position similar to that I now myself occupy. You shall be king over a large tract of country, subject only to me as your overlord.'
And Zuanstroom's ambition and unscrupulous nature had determined him to seal the compact and risk the consequences.
The visitors to Agrando found plenty to amuse and interest them during their stay. The palace gardens alone were a never-ending source of wonder and delight to the two chums. Rumour had not exaggerated when it had spread reports of the marvels to be seen there. The friends spent a good deal of their time exploring and investigating – for the gardens were of very great extent – and every day they came upon something fresh.
At the beginning, Monck had given them this curious warning: 'Kazzaro has asked me to put you on your guard,' said he. 'King Agrando remembers the dangers which you, Gerald, so narrowly escaped during our journey in the Ivenia; and he does not wish that a similar unhappy occurrence should cast a reflection upon any of his people here. So he has instructed Kazzaro to remind me that there are many specimens and scientific curiosities in the gardens which may be dangerous to strangers unacquainted with their characteristics – not merely among the animals, and reptiles, and so on, he says, but even amongst the trees and plants. For King Agrando has devoted an immense amount of money and trouble to collecting and cultivating specimens of most out-of-the-way kinds, some of them with qualities never known or heard of before. Apart from this consideration, you have the king's permission to go about freely wherever you choose!'
Later on, Gerald asked Jack his private opinion of this warning. 'What does it mean?' he asked doubtfully. 'Is it genuine, do you think, or does it conceal some crafty trick?'
'Sounds straightforward enough!' Jack declared. 'Where can the trick come in?'
'I don't know,' Gerald mused. 'I have no right, perhaps, to suspect any trickery; yet, somehow, I don't trust the Ogre!'
'No more do I, for that matter! We'll keep our eyes open!' said Jack.
A few days later, Alondra, wandering alone in the gardens, one morning, came upon an immense round glass-house, the door of which, he noticed, was standing open for the first time. He had paused at the place two or three times before; but the door had always been shut and locked. Moreover, there was a label upon it, which read: 'Private. Contents Dangerous.'
Naturally, such a placard had aroused his curiosity, and he had made attempts to see what was inside; but everywhere the glass was screened off within, and he could discover nothing. Here, this morning, was an opportunity to see for himself what the mysterious 'contents' were. He had his trident with him – he had carried it every day in consequence of the warning that had been given – so what had he to fear?
He passed through the open door, and came to a second door at one side. Opening this, he made his way amongst a lot of thick shrubs, and came out in an open space paved with white marble. In the centre was a large marble pool, with steps leading down into it. In the pool a fountain was playing; the whole looking very cool and inviting. It had the appearance of a plunge-bath; and seemed to tempt the stranger to take a dive into its bubbling waters.
Alondra looked round. Nothing was to be seen on any side but flowering shrubs, the scent of which filled the air. But the most beautiful blooms of all, he noticed, were some large white lilies growing amongst clusters of immense leaves in the pool.
Surprised and fascinated at the extreme beauty of these blooms, the like of which he had never seen before, he walked down the steps as far as the edge of the water, and put his hand amongst the green leaves to pluck a flower. Immediately the leaf curled over upon his hand, and to his astonishment and dismay he found he could not withdraw it! Not only that, but the leaf was exercising a distinct pulling power; it was steadily dragging him towards the water! Then he put the other hand down to try to free the first one, when another leaf curled round it, and he found himself held as though his hands had been tied together with a strong rope. He struggled hard, but he could not cast off that deadly grip; and, little by little, the horrible leaves dragged him forward until he was forced into the pool. Other leaves then began to curl round his body, and forced him down, down, step by step, until the water encircled his neck!
CHAPTER XX
THE DEATH POOL
It was well for Alondra that Gerald and Jack happened to be walking in the gardens that particular morning. They had, in fact, strolled out to look for him, and Providence must have led them into the neighbourhood of the large glass-house just at the critical moment. They also noticed – as he had done – that the outer door was standing open; and they were reading the warning notice with great curiosity, and considering whether, in despite of it, they should venture on a peep inside, when a terrible cry rang out from within, a cry as of some one in urgent need of help.
'It's Alondra's voice!' exclaimed Gerald. 'He's inside there, and must be in some trouble! Come on, Jack!'
The two pushed open the inner door and rushed along the pathway amongst the shrubs.
A moment later they came in sight of the pool with the fountain playing in the middle; and there they saw Alondra – or, rather, his head, for that was all there was above the water – with a look of terrible, deadly horror upon his face.
'Help me quickly!' he gasped. 'Some awful thing is clinging round me and is dragging me down! Your knives! Get out your knives! But be careful, or you may get drawn in yourselves – both of you!'
The two friends acted upon the hints thus given; and, drawing their knives and joining hands, Gerald went boldly down the steps and seized hold of the young prince just as he was being drawn completely under the water.
The task of setting him free, however, proved a tougher one than they had expected. The clinging leaves, as though directed by some dreadful, sinister intelligence, closed upon Gerald's extended arm, and, exercising a strength and tenacity which had about it something almost superhuman, endeavoured to drag him in too.
A terrible struggle for dear life ensued between the three, on the one side, and the horrible, silent power which they had to fight against, on the other.
Gerald managed to free one of Alondra's arms, and gave him his own knife, taking Jack's in place of it. The two then hacked and slashed at the slimy, slippery, but wonderfully tough leaves. As fast as they cut themselves free from some, others laid hold of them; and it seemed at one time as though all three would be dragged bodily into the water.
Just then Jack caught sight of a coil of strong rope lying upon the floor in a corner, and he made a dart and possessed himself of it. In a trice he had passed one end to Gerald, and secured the other round one of the columns supporting the roof.
Gerald, in his turn, managed to slip the end round Alondra and pass it back to Jack, who caught hold of it, and, standing himself on the steps out of reach, hauled with all his might. This enabled the two who were struggling in the water – for by this time Gerald had also been drawn in – to use both hands. Little by little, step by step, they struggled backwards, until at last they reached the water's edge and were free.
Panting and exhausted, the three sat down on a low marble balustrade, and looked first at the pool, then at one another. Then they stared once more at the treacherous pool, where all now was silent and still, save for the bubbling and splashing of the water as it fell from the fountain.
'Jupiter!' cried Jack at last. 'Of all the awful death-traps I ever saw or heard of, commend me to this! A horrible death pool! But what in the name of all that is fiendish is that awful plant?'
'It's some kind of cannibal plant, I suppose,' said Gerald.
'Yes, that is right,' Alondra agreed. 'I have heard there are such plants on our globe in some remote corners, but I have never seen one before.'
'What does anybody want to keep such a monstrous, uncanny affair for?' queried Jack indignantly.
'I never heard that they grew to such a size,' Alondra added. 'This must have been growing here many years to become so large, I should say.'
'A nice sort of pet to cultivate and pamper!' Jack grumbled. 'What do they feed it on, I wonder? Such a thing ought not to be allowed! It's a public danger!'
'There's a warning on the door,' Gerald reminded him. 'After all, it's our own fault, I 'm afraid people will say, for coming here.'
'My fault, you mean – for I was the one who yielded first to curiosity, and so drew you here,' Alondra confessed.
'Oh, we should have come in on our own, you may be pretty sure of that,' Jack declared. 'We were just discussing the point when we heard you call out.'
'It's a very beautiful flower,' Gerald observed, looking attentively at the large, handsome blossoms, 'and the scent is delicious. Who would imagine that anything so lovely to look at could be so treacherous – so deadly?'
He walked cautiously up near to it to get a clear view, and Jack followed him – partly, as it seemed, to satisfy his own curiosity, and partly to see that his chum did not become too venturesome and get unwittingly caught again.
Meantime, Alondra was evidently thinking deeply. He began to look and search about, first in this direction, then in that. Presently the others noticed his proceedings, and, leaving the side of the pool, went across and asked him what he was doing.
'Before I tell you,' was the reply, 'you must promise that you will say nothing to any one else. If what I am thinking of was mere fancy, I don't wish to be laughed at; and if it turns out that it was not fancy – well, then I still wish that nothing should be said about it just now. Do you understand?'
The two friends readily gave the required promise. 'Well, then, what is troubling me is this: Just as I called out – when I was struggling up to my neck in the water – when, as it seemed to me, I was at my last gasp, and all hope had gone – I saw, or imagined I saw, some one peering at me from among those thick bushes!'
'My stars! That sounds funny!' was Jack's comment. 'D'you mean to say that there was some one in here, some one so cold-blooded as to stand by and look on at you, and never offer to help?'
'That is my – er – impression; but' —
'Who was it, then? Anybody you know?'
Alondra hesitated. Then he said slowly, 'I cannot say. I could hardly see more than the eyes, if I saw any one. But, understand me, I cannot declare positively that I saw any one at all. I was in such a state of horror that I may have imagined it. I was ready to imagine anything.'
Jack looked at him attentively.
'I don't think you are one to lose your wits to that extent, my friend,' he declared, shaking his head, 'though I admit it would be no discredit to you if you did. I can't imagine a more frightful predicament, or one better calculated to try the nerves of the bravest man.'
'Let's all set to work and have a good hunt round,' suggested Gerald. 'If any one was here, he must be somewhere in hiding now, unless there is another way out. If there is, let's find it!'
They searched the place in all directions, but for some time could find nothing to reward their trouble. They could see no trace of any person other than themselves having been there.
They were about to give it up and go away, when Jack suddenly uttered a cry. 'See! What is that on the floor!' he exclaimed. 'Ah, I thought so! A diamond – a small diamond!' He exhibited upon the open palm of his hand a little sparkling stone. While his companions were busy looking at it, he went on to examine attentively a number of slabs of carved marble which stood up from the floor some four or five feet, forming a many-sided enclosure. They made a ring, as it were, fifteen feet in diameter or thereabouts, and upon each slab were figures or scenes carved in bas-relief.
It was not unlike a huge, many-sided flower-pot; and it appeared to be intended for a similar purpose; for the space it enclosed was filled with mould up to the level of the top of the slabs, and this again was thickly planted with large shrubs.
Jack walked all round this affair, peering keenly into the dense leafy screen. It was so thick that nothing could be seen of what was in the middle. Then he returned to the starting-point – that opposite to the place where he had picked up the diamond. He caught hold of the branches and pulled them apart. Then he uttered a low whistle. 'Come and look at this!' he cried.
The other two ran up to the place and peered in. There, upon the loose mould, could be seen a footprint, and a little beyond it another.
Jack pointed to one of the bas-relief figures on the slab. It was in a kneeling position, and the head formed a convenient step to any one wishing to mount to the top of the slab. 'Do you see?' he cried. 'This has been used as a step! You place a foot on it – thus, take hold of these branches – so, pull them apart – so, and you can spring up and through quite easily. Then the branches close up after you and hide all trace. But the last one who passed this way was in a great hurry. He was in such haste to get through that he snapped off a twig – here it is – and another twig caught against his breast, and tore off a little diamond, and cast it on to the floor where I found it.'
While talking, Jack had suited actions to words, and shown, by practical illustration, how easily what he had suggested might happen.
'Where, then, is that person now, do you suppose?' asked Gerald, in a low tone. 'Hiding in the middle of those bushes?'
Jack shook his head. 'I should say not,' he replied. 'I should say there must be a secret passage leading to this curious place, and that those bushes conceal the entrance to it. However, that's a question we'll soon put to the test. I 'm going in to see what's in the middle. You fellows come after me!'