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_ Next day the mutes woke us before the dawn; and by the time that we
had got the sleep out of our eyes, and gone through a perfunctory wash
at a spring which still welled up into the remains of a marble basin
in the centre of the North quadrangle of the vast outer court, we
found /She/ standing by the litter ready to start, while old Billali
and the two bearer mutes were busy collecting the baggage. As usual,
Ayesha was veiled like the marble Truth (by the way, I wonder if she
originally got the idea of covering up her beauty from that statue?).
I noticed, however, that she seemed very depressed, and had none of
that proud and buoyant bearing which would have betrayed her among a
thousand women of the same stature, even if they had been veiled like
herself. She looked up as we came--for her head was bowed--and greeted
us. Leo asked her how she had slept.
"Ill, my Kallikrates," she answered, "ill. This night have strange and
hideous dreams come creeping through my brain, and I know not what
they may portend. Almost do I feel as though some evil overshadowed
me; and yet how can evil touch me? I wonder," she went on with a
sudden outbreak of womanly tenderness, "I wonder if, should aught
happen to me, so that I slept awhile and left thee waking, thou
wouldst think gently of me? I wonder, my Kallikrates, if thou wouldst
tarry till I came again, as for so many centuries I have tarried for
thy coming?"
Then, without waiting for an answer, she went on: "Come, let us be
setting forth, for we have far to go, and before another day is born
in yonder blue should we stand in the place of Life."
In five minutes we were once more on our way through the vast ruined
city, which loomed at us on either side in the grey dawning in a way
that was at once grand and oppressive. Just as the first ray of the
rising sun shot like a golden arrow athwart this storied desolation we
gained the further gateway of the outer wall, and having given one
more glance at the hoar and pillared majesty through which we had
journeyed, and (with the exception of Job, for whom ruins had no
charms) breathed a sigh of regret that we had not had more time to
explore it, passed through the great moat, and on to the plain beyond.
As the sun rose so did Ayesha's spirits, till by breakfast-time they
had regained their normal level, and she laughingly set down her
previous depression to the associations of the spot where she had
slept.
"These barbarians swear that Kôr is haunted," she said, "and of a
truth I do believe their saying, for never did I know so ill a night
save one. I remember it now. It was on that very spot when thou didst
lie dead at my feet, Kallikrates. Never will I visit it again; it is a
place of evil omen."
After a very brief halt for breakfast we pressed on with such good
will that by two o'clock in the afternoon we were at the foot of the
vast wall of rock that formed the lip of the volcano, and which at
this point towered up precipitously above us for fifteen hundred or
two thousand feet. Here we halted, certainly not to my astonishment,
for I did not see how it was possible that we should go any farther.
"Now," said Ayesha, as she descended from her litter, "doth our labour
but commence, for here do we part with these men, and henceforward
must we bear ourselves;" and then, addressing Billali, "do thou and
these slaves remain here, and abide our coming. By to-morrow at the
midday shall we be with thee--if not, wait."
Billali bowed humbly, and said that her august bidding should be
obeyed if they stopped there till they grew old.
"And this man, oh Holly," said /She/, pointing to Job; "best is it
that he should tarry also, for if his heart be not high and his
courage great, perchance some evil might overtake him. Also, the
secrets of the place whither we go are not fit for common eyes."
I translated this to Job, who instantly and earnestly entreated me,
almost with tears in his eyes, not to leave him behind. He said he was
sure that he could see nothing worse than he had already seen, and
that he was terrified to death at the idea of being left alone with
those "dumb folk," who, he thought, would probably take the
opportunity to hot-pot him.
I translated what he said to Ayesha, who shrugged her shoulders, and
answered, "Well, let him come, it is naught to me; on his own head be
it, and he will serve to bear the lamp and this," and she pointed to a
narrow plank, some sixteen feet in length, which had been bound above
the long bearing-pole of her hammock, as I had thought to make
curtains spread out better, but, as it now appeared, for some unknown
purpose connected with our extraordinary undertaking.
Accordingly, the plank, which, though tough, was very light, was given
to Job to carry, and also one of the lamps. I slung the other on to my
back, together with a spare jar of oil, while Leo loaded himself with
the provisions and some water in a kid's skin. When this was done
/She/ bade Billali and the six bearer mutes to retreat behind a grove
of flowering magnolias about a hundred yards away, and remain there
under pain of death till we had vanished. They bowed humbly, and went,
and, as he departed, old Billali gave me a friendly shake of the hand,
and whispered that he had rather that it was I than he who was going
on this wonderful expedition with "/She-who-must-be-obeyed/," and upon
my word I felt inclined to agree with him. In another minute they were
gone, and then, having briefly asked us if we were ready, Ayesha
turned, and gazed up the towering cliff.
"Goodness me, Leo," I said, "surely we are not going to climb that
precipice!"
Leo shrugged his shoulders, being in a condition of half-fascinated,
half-expectant mystification, and as he did so, Ayesha with a sudden
move began to climb the cliff, and of course we had to follow her. It
was perfectly marvellous to see the ease and grace with which she
sprang from rock to rock, and swung herself along the ledges. The
ascent was not, however, so difficult as it seemed, although there
were one or two nasty places where it did not do to look behind you,
the fact being that the rock still sloped here, and was not absolutely
precipitous as it was higher up. In this way we, with no great labour,
mounted to the height of some fifty feet above our last standing-
place, the only really troublesome thing to manage being Job's board,
and in doing so drew some fifty or sixty paces to the left of our
starting-point, for we went up like a crab, sideways. Presently we
reached a ledge, narrow enough at first, but which widened as we
followed it, and moreover sloped inwards like the petal of a flower,
so that as we followed it we gradually got into a kind of rut or fold
of rock, that grew deeper and deeper, till at last it resembled a
Devonshire lane in stone, and hid us perfectly from the gaze of
anybody on the slope below, if there had been anybody to gaze. This
lane (which appeared to be a natural formation) continued for some
fifty or sixty paces, and then suddenly ended in a cave, also natural,
running at right angles to it. I am sure it was a natural cave, and
not hollowed by the hand of man, because of its irregular and
contorted shape and course, which gave it the appearance of having
been blown bodily in the mountain by some frightful eruption of gas
following the line of the least resistance. All the caves hollowed by
the ancients of Kôr, on the contrary, were cut out with the most
perfect regularity and symmetry. At the mouth of this cave Ayesha
halted, and bade us light the two lamps, which I did, giving one to
her and keeping the other myself. Then, taking the lead, she advanced
down the cavern, picking her way with great care, as indeed it was
necessary to do, for the floor was most irregular--strewn with
boulders like the bed of a stream, and in some places pitted with deep
holes, in which it would have been easy to break one's leg.
This cavern we pursued for twenty minutes or more, it being, so far as
I could form a judgment--owing to its numerous twists and turns no
easy task--about a quarter of a mile long.
At last, however, we halted at its farther end, and whilst I was still
trying to pierce the gloom a great gust of air came tearing down it,
and extinguished both the lamps.
Ayesha called to us, and we crept up to her, for she was a little in
front, and were rewarded with a view that was positively appalling in
its gloom and grandeur. Before us was a mighty chasm in the black
rock, jagged and torn and splintered through it in a far past age by
some awful convulsion of Nature, as though it had been cleft by stroke
upon stroke of the lightning. This chasm, which was bounded by a
precipice on the hither, and presumably, though we could not see it,
on the farther side also, may have measured any width across, but from
its darkness I do not think it can have been very broad. It was
impossible to make out much of its outline, or how far it ran, for the
simple reason that the point where we were standing was so far from
the upper surface of the cliff, at least fifteen hundred or two
thousand feet, that only a very dim light struggled down to us from
above. The mouth of the cavern that we had been following gave on to a
most curious and tremendous spur of rock, which jutted out in mid air
into the gulf before us, for a distance of some fifty yards, coming to
a sharp point at its termination, and resembling nothing that I can
think of so much as the spur upon the leg of a cock in shape. This
huge spur was attached only to the parent precipice at its base, which
was, of course, enormous, just as the cock's spur is attached to its
leg. Otherwise it was utterly unsupported.
"Here must we pass," said Ayesha. "Be careful lest giddiness overcome
you, or the wind sweep you into the gulf beneath, for of a truth it
hath no bottom;" and, without giving us any further time to get
scared, she started walking along the spur, leaving us to follow her
as best we might. I was next to her, then came Job, painfully dragging
his plank, while Leo brought up the rear. It was a wonderful sight to
see this intrepid woman gliding fearlessly along that dreadful place.
For my part, when I had gone but a very few yards, what between the
pressure of the air and the awful sense of the consequences that a
slip would entail, I found it necessary to go down on my hands and
knees and crawl, and so did the other two.
But Ayesha never condescended to this. On she went, leaning her body
against the gusts of wind, and never seeming to lose her head or her
balance.
In a few minutes we had crossed some twenty paces of this awful
bridge, which got narrower at every step, and then all of a sudden a
great gust came tearing along the gorge. I saw Ayesha lean herself
against it, but the strong draught got under her dark cloak, and tore
it from her, and away it went down the wind flapping like a wounded
bird. It was dreadful to see it go, till it was lost in the blackness.
I clung to the saddle of rock, and looked round, while, like a living
thing, the great spur vibrated with a humming sound beneath us. The
sight was a truly awesome one. There we were poised in the gloom
between earth and heaven. Beneath us were hundreds upon hundreds of
feet of emptiness that gradually grew darker, till at last it was
absolutely black, and at what depth it ended is more than I can guess.
Above was space upon space of giddy air, and far, far away a line of
blue sky. And down this vast gulf upon which we were pinnacled the
great draught dashed and roared, driving clouds and misty wreaths of
vapour before it, till we were nearly blinded, and utterly confused.
The whole position was so tremendous and so absolutely unearthly, that
I believe it actually lulled our sense of terror, but to this hour I
often see it in my dreams, and at its mere phantasy wake up covered
with cold sweat.
"On! on!" cried the white form before us, for now the cloak had gone,
/She/ was robed in white, and looked more like a spirit riding down
the gale than a woman; "On, or ye will fall and be dashed to pieces.
Keep your eyes fixed upon the ground, and closely hug the rock."
We obeyed her, and crept painfully along the quivering path, against
which the wind shrieked and wailed as it shook it, causing it to
murmur like a vast tuning-fork. On we went, I do not know for how
long, only gazing round now and again, when it was absolutely
necessary, until at last we saw that we were on the very tip of the
spur, a slab of rock, little larger than an ordinary table, that
throbbed and jumped like any over-engined steamer. There we lay,
clinging to the ground, and looked about us, while Ayesha stood
leaning out against the wind, down which her long hair streamed, and,
absolutely heedless of the hideous depth that yawned beneath, pointed
before her. Then we saw why the narrow plank had been provided, which
Job and I had painfully dragged along between us. Before us was an
empty space, on the other side of which was something, as yet we could
not see what, for here--either owing to the shadow of the opposite
cliff, or from some other cause--the gloom was that of night.
"We must wait awhile," called Ayesha; "soon there will be light."
At the moment I could not imagine what she meant. How could more light
than there was ever come to this dreadful spot? While I was still
wondering, suddenly, like a great sword of flame, a beam from the
setting sun pierced the Stygian gloom, and smote upon the point of
rock whereon we lay, illumining Ayesha's lovely form with an unearthly
splendour. I only wish I could describe the wild and marvellous beauty
of that sword of fire, laid across the darkness and rushing mist-
wreaths of the gulf. How it got there I do not to this moment know,
but I presume that there was some cleft or hole in the opposing cliff,
through which it pierced when the setting orb was in a direct line
therewith. All I can say is, that the effect was the most wonderful
that I ever saw. Right through the heart of the darkness that flaming
sword was stabbed, and where it lay there was the most surpassingly
vivid light, so vivid that even at a distance we could see the grain
of the rock, while, outside of it--yes, within a few inches of its
keen edge--was naught but clustering shadows.
And now, by this ray of light, for which /She/ had been waiting, and
timed our arrival to meet, knowing that at this season for thousands
of years it had always struck thus at sunset, we saw what was before
us. Within eleven or twelve feet of the very tip of the tongue-like
rock whereon we stood there arose, presumably from the far bottom of
the gulf, a sugarloaf-shaped cone, of which the summit was exactly
opposite to us. But had there been a summit only it would not have
helped us much, for the nearest point of its circumference was some
forty feet from where we were. On the lip of this summit, however,
which was circular and hollow, rested a tremendous flat boulder,
something like a glacier stone--perhaps it was one, for all I know to
the contrary--and the end of this boulder approached to within twelve
feet or so of us. This huge rock was nothing more or less than a
gigantic rocking-stone, accurately balanced upon the edge of the cone
or miniature crater, like a half-crown on the rim of a wine-glass;
for, in the fierce light that played upon it and us, we could see it
oscillating in the gusts of wind.
"Quick!" said Ayesha; "the plank--we must cross while the light
endures; presently it will be gone."
"Oh, Lord, sir!" groaned Job, "surely she don't mean us to walk across
that there place on that there thing," as in obedience to my direction
he pushed the long board towards me.
"That's it, Job," I halloaed in ghastly merriment, though the idea of
walking the plank was no pleasanter to me than to him.
I pushed the board on to Ayesha, who deftly ran it across the gulf so
that one end of it rested on the rocking-stone, the other remaining on
the extremity of the trembling spur. Then placing her foot upon it to
prevent it from being blown away, she turned to me.
"Since I was last here, oh Holly," she called, "the support of the
moving stone hath lessened somewhat, so that I am not certain if it
will bear our weight or no. Therefore will I cross the first, because
no harm will come unto me," and, without further ado, she trod lightly
but firmly across the frail bridge, and in another second was standing
safe upon the heaving stone.
"It is safe," she called. "See, hold thou the plank! I will stand on
the farther side of the stone so that it may not overbalance with your
greater weights. Now, come, oh Holly, for presently the light will
fail us."
I struggled to my knees, and if ever I felt terrified in my life it
was then, and I am not ashamed to say that I hesitated and hung back.
"Surely thou art not afraid," this strange creature called in a lull
of the gale, from where she stood poised like a bird on the highest
point of the rocking-stone. "Make way then for Kallikrates."
This settled me; it is better to fall down a precipice and die than be
laughed at by such a woman; so I clenched my teeth, and in another
instant I was on that horrible, narrow, bending plank, with bottomless
space beneath and around me. I have always hated a great height, but
never before did I realise the full horrors of which such a position
is capable. Oh, the sickening sensation of that yielding board resting
on the two moving supports. I grew dizzy, and thought that I must
fall; my spine /crept/; it seemed to me that I was falling, and my
delight at finding myself sprawling upon that stone, which rose and
fell beneath me like a boat in a swell, cannot be expressed in words.
All I know is that briefly, but earnestly enough, I thanked Providence
for preserving me so far.
Then came Leo's turn, and though he looked rather queer, he came
across like a rope-dancer. Ayesha stretched out her hand to clasp his
own, and I heard her say, "Bravely done, my love--bravely done! The
old Greek spirit lives in thee yet!"
And now only poor Job remained on the farther side of the gulf. He
crept up to the plank, and yelled out, "I can't do it, sir. I shall
fall into that beastly place."
"You must," I remember saying with inappropriate facetiousness--"you
must, Job, it's as easy as catching flies." I suppose that I must have
said it to satisfy my conscience, because although the expression
conveys a wonderful idea of facility, as a matter of fact I know no
more difficult operation in the whole world than catching flies--that
is, in warm weather, unless, indeed, it is catching mosquitoes.
"I can't, sir--I can't, indeed."
"Let the man come, or let him stop and perish there. See, the light is
dying! In a moment it will be gone!" said Ayesha.
I looked. She was right. The sun was passing below the level of the
hole or cleft in the precipice through which the ray reached us.
"If you stop there, Job, you will die alone," I called; "the light is
going."
"Come, be a man, Job," roared Leo; "it's quite easy."
Thus adjured, the miserable Job, with a most awful yell, precipitated
himself face downwards on the plank--he did not dare, small blame to
him, to try to walk it, and commenced to draw himself across in little
jerks, his poor legs hanging down on either side into the nothingness
beneath.
His violent jerks at the frail board made the great stone, which was
only balanced on a few inches of rock, oscillate in a most dreadful
manner, and, to make matters worse, when he was half-way across the
flying ray of lurid light suddenly went out, just as though a lamp had
been extinguished in a curtained room, leaving the whole howling
wilderness of air black with darkness.
"Come on, Job, for God's sake!" I shouted in an agony of fear, while
the stone, gathering motion with every swing, rocked so violently that
it was difficult to hang on to it. It was a truly awful position.
"Lord have mercy on me!" cried poor Job from the darkness. "Oh, the
plank's slipping!" and I heard a violent struggle, and thought that he
was gone.
But at that moment his outstretched hand, clasping in agony at the
air, met my own, and I hauled--ah, how I did haul, putting out all the
strength that it has pleased Providence to give me in such abundance--
and to my joy in another minute Job was gasping on the rock beside me.
But the plank! I felt it slip, and heard it knock against a projecting
knob of rock, and it was gone.
"Great heavens!" I exclaimed. "How are we going to get back?"
"I don't know," answered Leo, out of the gloom. "'Sufficient to the
day is the evil thereof,' I am thankful enough to be here."
But Ayesha merely called to me to take her hand and creep after her. _
Read next: CHAPTER XXV - THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
Read previous: CHAPTER XXIII - THE TEMPLE OF TRUTH
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