The evening of the second day had already come, when Ar-hap arrivedhome after weekending amongst a tribe of rebellious subjects. But anyimposing State entry which might have been intended was renderedimpossible by the heat and the threat of that baleful world in the westernsky.
It was a lurid but disordered spectacle which I wit- nessed from myroom in the gate-house just after nightfall. The returning army hadapparently fallen away exhausted on its march through the town; onlysome three hundred of the bodyguard straggled up the hill, limp andsweating, behind a group of pennons, in the midst of which rode ahorseman whose commanding presence and splendid war harnessimpressed me, though I could not make out his features; a wild,impressionist scene of black outlines, tossing headgear, and spearsglittering and vanishing in front of the red glare in the sky, but nothingmore. Even the dry throats of the suitors in the courtyard hardlymustered a husky cry of welcome as the cavalcade trooped into theenclosure, and then the shadows enfolded them up in silence, and, too hotand listless to care much what the morrow brought forth, I threw myselfon the bare floor, tossing and turning in a vain endeavour to sleep untildawn came once more.
A thin mist which fell with daybreak drew a veil over the horribleglare in the west for an hour or two, and taking advantage of the slightalleviation of heat, I rose and went into the gardens to enjoy a dip in a pool,making, with its surrounding jungle of flowers, one of the pleasantestthings about the wood-king's forest citadel. The very earth seemedscorched and baking underfoot--and the pool was gone! It had run as dryas a limekiln; nothing remained of the pretty fall which had fed it but amiserable trickle of drops from the cascade above. Down beyond thetown shone a gleam of water where the bitter canal steamed and simmered in the first grey of the morning, but up here six months of scorchingdrought could not have worked more havoc. The very leaves weredropping from the trees, and the luxuriant growths of the day before looked as though a simoon had played upon them.
I staggered back in disgust, and found some show of official activityabout the palace. It was the king's custom, it appeared, to hear petitionsand redress wrongs as soon after his return as possible, but today theceremony was to be cut short as his majesty was going out with all hiscourt to a neighbouring mountain to "pray away the comet," which by thistime was causing dire alarm all through the city.
"Heaven's own particular blessing on his prayers, my friend," I said tothe man who told me this. "Unless his majesty's orisons are fruitful, weshall all be cooked like baked potatoes before nightfall, and though I havefaced many kinds of death, that is not the one I would choose bypreference. Is there a chance of myself being heard at the throne? Yourpeculiar climate tempts me to hurry up with my business and begone if Imay.""Not only may you be heard, sir, but you are sum- moned. The kinghas heard of you somehow, and sent me to find and bring you into hispresence at once.""So be it," I said, too hot to care what happened. "I have no leveedress with me. I lost my luggage check some time ago, but if you willwait outside I will be with you in a moment."Hastily tidying myself up, and giving my hair a comb, as though justoff to see Mr. Secretary for the Navy, or on the way to get a senator topush a new patent medicine for me, I rejoined my guide outside, andtogether we crossed the wide courtyard, entered the great log-built portalsof Ar-hap's house, and immediately afterwards found ourselves in a vasthall dimly lit by rays coming in through square spaces under the eaves,and crowded on both sides with guards, courtiers, and supplicants. Theheat was tre- mendous, the odour of Thither men and the ill-dressed hidesthey wore almost overpowering. Yet little I recked for either, for there atthe top of the room, seated on a dais made of rough-hewn wood inlet withgold and covered with splendid furs, was Ar-hap himself.
A fine fellow, swarthy, huge, and hairy, at any other time or place Icould have given him due admiration as an admirable example of thesavage on the borderland of grace and culture, but now I only glanced at him, and then to where at his side a girl was crouching, a gem of humanloveliness against that dusky setting. It was Heru, my ravished princess,and, still clad in her diaphanous Hither robes, her face white with anxiety,her eyes bright as stars, the embodiment of helpless, flowery beauty, myheart turned over at sight of her.
Poor girl! When she saw me stride into the hall she rose swiftly fromAr-hap's side, clasped her pretty hands, and giving a cry of joy would haverushed towards me, but the king laid a mighty paw upon her, under whichshe subsided with a shiver as though the touch had blanched all the lifewithin.
"Good morning, your majesty," I said, walking boldly up to the lowerstep of the dais.
"Good morning, most singular-looking vagrant from the Unknown,"answered the monarch. "In what way can I be of service to you?''
"I have come about that girl," I said, nodding to where Heru layblossoming in the hot gloom like some night- flowering bud. "I do notknow whether your majesty is aware how she came here, but it is a highlydiscreditable incident in what is doubtless your otherwise blameless reign.
Some rough scullions intrusted with the duty of col- lecting your majesty'scustoms asked Prince Hath of the Hither people to point out the mostattractive young person at his wedding feast, and the prince indicated thatlady there at your side. It was a dirty trick, and all the worse because itwas inspired by malice, which is the meanest of all weaknesses. I hadthe pleasure of knocking down some of your majesty's representatives, butthey stole the girl away while I slept, and, briefly, I have come to fetch herback."The monarch had followed my speech, the longest ever made in mylife, with fierce, blinking eyes, and when it stopped looked at poorshrinking Heru as though for ex- planation, then round the circle of hisawestruck courtiers, and reading dismay at my boldness in their faces,burst into a guttural laugh.
"I suppose you have the great and puissant Hither nation behind you inthis request, Mr. Spirit?""No, I came alone, hoping to find justice here, and, if not, then prepared to do all I could to make your majesty curse the day yourservants maltreated my friends.""Tall words, stranger! May I ask what you propose to do if Ar-hap, inhis own palace, amongst his people and soldiers, refuses to disgorge apretty prize at the bidding of one shabby interloper--muddy andfriendless?""What should I do?""Yes," said the king, with a haughty frown. "What would you do?"I do not know what prompted the reply. For a moment I wascompletely at a loss what to say to this very obvious question, and then allon a sudden, remembering they held me to be some kind of disembodiedspirit, by a happy inspiration, fixing my eyes grimly on the king, Ianswered,"What would I do? Why, I WOULD HAUNT YOU!"It may not seem a great stroke of genius here, but the effect on theMartian was instantaneous. He sat straight up, his hands tightened, hiseyes dilated, and then fidgeting un- easily, after a minute he beckoned toan over-dressed in- dividual, whom Heru afterwards told me was the Courtnecromancer, and began whispering in his ear.
After a minute's consultation he turned again, a rather frightenedcivility struggling in his face with anger, and said, "We have no wish, ofcourse, stranger, to offend you or those who had the honour of yourpatronage. Perhaps the princess here was a little roughly handled, and, Icon- fess, if she were altogether as reluctant as she seems, a lesser maidwould have done as well. I could have wooed this one in Seth, where Imay shortly come, and our espousals would possibly have lent, in the eyesof your friends, quite a cheerful aspect to my arrival. But my ambassadors have had no great schooling in diplomacy; they have broughtPrincess Heru here, and how can I hand her over to one I know nothing of?
How do I know you are a ghost, after all? How do I know you haveanything but a rusty sword and much impertinence to back your astounding claim?""Oh, let it be just as you like," I said, calmly shelling and eating a nut Ihad picked up. "Only if you do not give the maid back, why, then--" And I stopped as though the sequel were too painful to put into words.
Again that superstitious monarch of a land thronged with maliciousspirits called up his magician, and, after they had consulted a moment,turned more cheerfully to me.
"Look here, Mister-from-Nowhere, if you are really a spirit, and havethe power to hurt as you say, you will have the power also to go and comebetween the living and the dead, between the present and the past. ............