The Adventures of Dick Maitland

"The Adventures of Dick Maitland" (continued 6)

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As for the Izreelites, infuriated at the wanton invasion of their country, and fully realising what would have been their own fate had the savages chanced to have been the victors, they relentlessly pursued the flying enemy during the whole of their retreat down the passes, and would doubtless have destroyed them to the very last man had not Dick personally, and by means of imperative messages persistently reiterated, stayed the slaughter, by pointing out that the victory was too decisive and complete for further aggression to ever again become a possibility; and that a too relentless pursuit of already desperate men could but result in a further loss of life among the Izreelites themselves. Even this representation, forcibly as it appealed to a people who regarded the lives of their men-kind as the most precious possession of the nation, scarcely sufficed to curb their lust for further slaughter, for they had become, for the moment, human tigers who, having tasted blood, abandoned their prey only with the utmost reluctance and with much savage snarling of discontent and disappointment. But at length the obvious soundness of Dick’s reasoning gained recognition and acceptance by the Izreelite chiefs, who finally persuaded their followers to content themselves with the mere ejectment of the insignificant remnants of the enemy beyond the frontier.

Meanwhile Dick, having paid a flying visit to Bethalia, to satisfy himself that all was well in that quarter, made arrangements for the immediate reconstruction of those portions of the roads through the passes that had been broken down, in order to check the advance of the invaders. This was temporarily accomplished by the building of rough bridges across the gaps; but, fully recognising how important a part had been played by those gaps, he sketched out a scheme whereby they should be made permanent, spanned by substantial drawbridges, and defended at the inner extremity by strongly fortified gateways. This scheme he laid before the Elders, who immediately approved of it, and ultimately the work was carried out.

But long before that many things had happened. In the first place the victorious Izreelites, having shepherded the last of the fugitives over the border, had returned in triumph, each to his own home, and had set to work to repair the devastation wrought by the fighting on the lands that lay outside the circle of the protecting hills. This was considerably less than had been anticipated; for, so certain had Mokatto and his colleagues been of victory that they had issued the most stringent orders against any wanton destruction of property, the result being that such damage as had accrued had only amounted to what was inevitable in the course of a stubbornly contested fight; and that did not amount to very much where neither of the combatants possessed guns or other battering paraphernalia of any description.

The return of the triumphant army to Bethalia was a pageant exceeding in gorgeousness of display and general enthusiasm anything that had ever before occurred within the memory of any living inhabitant of the city. The regular troops were comparatively few in number, every male Izreelite being armed and liable to be called upon for active service, should occasion for such service arise; but the paucity of numbers was an altogether insignificant detail; the one thing that was of importance, and counted, was that they had fought and signally defeated a force of overwhelming numerical superiority, and inflicted upon their immemorial enemy a blow of such crushing severity that a lasting peace was now assured. Little wonder that the people so recently hag-ridden with a perpetual fear, that often approached perilously close to panic, scarcely knew how to give adequate expression to the feeling of joy and relief that now possessed them, and were just a little inclined to become extravagantly demonstrative.

The troops, conveyed across from the mainland in boats, and landed at the one grand flight of steps which afforded the solitary means of access to the island, were marched through the city to the palace and the House of Legislature, where they received the thanks of the Queen and the Elders for their gallantry; and at the last moment it was made known to Dick—to his secret but profound annoyance and discomfiture—that nothing would satisfy the populace but that he, as the one hero, par excellence, of the brief but sanguinary war, must head the troops, mounted on the horse that had carried him so gallantly and well in the press of battle! He would willingly have avoided the distinction if it had been possible, and had indeed fully intended to absent himself from all active participation in the pageant; but a note from Grosvenor, informing him that the idea had really originated with Queen Myra, and that Her Majesty would be intensely disappointed if he refused, caused him good-naturedly to set his own feelings on one side for the nonce and consent to become a puppet for once in a way. Accordingly he was the first warrior to pass through the gateway which gave access to the interior of the town, and as he emerged from the shadow of the arch into the dazzling sunshine that flooded the streets he was met by a choir of some sixty young women arrayed in gala attire, crowned with roses, and wearing garlands of flowers round their necks, who, forming up at the head of the procession, led the way, some singing a hymn of triumph, rejoicing, and glorification of the victors, while others accompanied them on flutes, flageolets, and cymbals. But this was not all. As Dick, blushing furiously and feeling more uncomfortable than he ever before remembered, emerged from the gateway, two maidens stepped forward, one from each side of the way, and while one deftly twined a garland of roses round the horse’s neck, the other, catching the lad’s hand, gently drew him down and caused him to bend in the saddle sufficiently to permit her to cast a similar garland round his neck!

It was a distinctly embarrassing situation for a modest young Englishman to find himself in, but as he heard the shouts of greeting and acclamation that rang out from the throats of the jubilant crowd who thronged the streets, and realised that all this was but the outward expression of a very real and deep feeling of gratitude for important services rendered, he put his embarrassment on one side, and bowed and smiled his acknowledgments, to the frantic delight of the spectators.

In this fashion, then, the troops paraded the principal streets of the city, while young girls and tiny children strewed flowers before them in the roadway, and the populace cheered and applauded, until the spacious park in which stood the palace and the House of Legislature was reached, when a halt was called before the principal entrance of the palace, where the Queen, once more in radiant health, came forth and, in a few well-chosen words, expressed her fervent gratitude to all the brave men who had borne themselves so nobly and gallantly in the defence of their country, winding up with an expression of admiration and sorrow for the fallen, and of sympathy for those whom the relentless cruelty of war had bereaved of their nearest and dearest.

Then Malachi and his fellow Elders appeared and pronounced a long oration of a very similar character, but going somewhat more into detail. He dwelt particularly upon the fierce, undying animosity with which the savages of the surrounding nations had regarded the presence of the Izreelites in the country from time immemorial, reminded his hearers of the state of almost perpetual warfare in which the nation had lived through the ages, and described the recent attack as the most virulent and determined that they had ever experienced, being nothing less than a carefully elaborated and well-ordered plan for their complete extermination. Then he touched upon the arrival of the two young Englishmen in the country, spoke of the law prohibiting the admission of strangers, and fully explained the reasons which had led to an exception being made in their case, and congratulated himself and everybody else upon the happy issue of that exception, going on to say that but for the warlike knowledge and skill of the visitors, and the superlative importance of the parts which they had played in planning and carrying out the scheme of defence, that day of triumph and glory for Izreel would never have dawned. And he wound up by saying that, in acknowledgment and recognition of the enormously important and valuable services which these young men had rendered to the nation, he and his fellow Elders had felt it to be their duty to recommend the Queen to confer upon both the honour and distinction accompanying the title of Princes.

A roar of delighted approval greeted this peroration; and if perchance there happened to be here and there a noble or two who regarded with disapprobation the bestowal of this unique honour upon aliens, they were too prudent to permit that disapprobation to be suspected, in view of the apparently universal popularity of the act.

The Queen, acutely conscious of the fact that she contemplated a step, the effect of the announcement of which it was utterly impossible to foresee, and quick to recognise that the popularity of Grosvenor and Dick would probably never be greater than it was at that moment, determined to make the utmost of the opportunity; and, upon the occasion of the public investiture of the newly created princes, electrified everybody present by calmly announcing—in a manner which seemed to suggest that she was doing something which she was certain would meet with the full and unanimous approval of her people—that it was her intention to espouse Prince Philip as soon as the necessary preparations for the ceremony could be made!

The announcement was followed by silence so tense that, to make use of a much hackneyed expression, one might have heard a pin drop, and it lasted so long that the Queen grew white to the lips, and her eyes began to glitter ominously. Was it possible that the nobles—who but for the military genius of Phil and Dick would now in all probability have been, with herself, captives in the hands of the savages—were going to show themselves so selfishly ungrateful as to disapprove of her choice? An impatient stamp of her little foot on the daïs, and a defiant upward toss of her head seemed to threaten an outburst that would probably have caused the ears of those present to tingle, when somebody—whose identity was never established—began to applaud vociferously. The applause was almost instantly taken up by another, and another, and others, until within a moment or two the vast chamber was ringing and vibrant with the expressions of approval and rejoicing. The verdict, though delayed, perhaps, a second or two too long for Her Majesty’s entire liking, was decisive, unmistakable, and not to be gainsaid; and if there were any present who recognised that it meant the final collapse of certain cherished ambitions of their own, they were wise enough to say nothing about it.

But although the Queen’s choice of a husband was thus ratified by the only section of her subjects who might possibly have raised objections to it, a great deal of exceedingly delicate negotiation and arrangement was found to be necessary, and a number of quite unexpected difficulties and hitches arose, before the path to the hymeneal altar was made perfectly smooth for the royal lovers; while, on the other hand, as the negotiations and arrangements progressed, it grew increasingly clear that a man possessed of Grosvenor’s outside knowledge and experience was infinitely preferable, from the point of view of the national advantage, as a ruler, to even the most powerful and influential of the Izreelite nobles. By the time, therefore, that everything was settled, approval had become intensified into delight, and there was every prospect that Phil’s reign would be a highly popular one. Then, in due time, came the marriage, which may be dismissed with the mere mention of the fact, since this makes no pretence to being a love story.

But although even a royal wedding may possess little or no interest for those for whose entertainment this story is written, it had a most important effect upon the fortunes of those whose adventures are here set forth. For, by the Izreelite law, it not only made Philip Grosvenor the Consort of the Queen, but it also put into his hands the actual government of the nation; it made him, in fact, the King, an absolute monarch, with power to shape and control the destinies of the nation as seemed to him good; with nobody to say him nay, whatever the nature of the decrees he might promulgate, and to whom even the Queen herself became subject. Then, with regard to Dick Maitland, it will be remembered that he, as well as Grosvenor, had been compelled to take an oath that he would never seek to leave the country without the royal assent. But, now that Phil was King, that assent was, of course, to be obtained easily enough; and obtained it was, as soon as the wedding was over and Grosvenor was securely installed in his new position. For, whatever inducements there might be for Phil to pass the remainder of his life in the strange, scarcely-heard-of land of the Izreelites, no such inducements existed in the case of Dick Maitland, who was now all impatience to return to England and provide for the welfare of his mother—if, haply, she still survived.

Accordingly, having in due form sought and obtained the royal assent to his departure from Izreel, Dick lost no time in completing his preparations for the long and perilous journey that lay before him. And, first of all, he presented Leo—now nearly full-grown and, thanks to careful and judicious training, a most amiable, docile, and affectionate beast—to Queen Myra, as the most cherished possession it was in his power to offer her. Of the horses which they had brought with them into the country he kept only the one which King Lobelalatutu had given him, leaving the rest with Phil—there being no horses in Izreel. Ramoo Samee, being given his choice, elected to remain in Izreel, in the capacity of stud groom; but Mafuta, Jantje, and ’Nkuku returned with Dick, as a matter of course. And, as a measure of precaution, Grosvenor arranged for an escort of five hundred Izreelite warriors to accompany the wagon through the country immediately on the other side of the border; for although the savage inhabitants had received such terrible chastisement that they were scarcely likely to interfere with anyone coming from Izreel, it was deemed wisest to run no risk of a possible hostile demonstration.

At length the day and hour of parting came, and Dick, fully equipped for his journey, presented himself at the palace to say farewell. The moment was not without its emotions, for although it had already been planned that at no very distant date Maitland should revisit Izreel, bringing with him certain matters which Grosvenor felt it would be highly desirable for him to possess as monarch of a people of such great potential possibilities as the Izreelites, both remembered that the journey from Bethalia to the nearest confines of civilisation was a long and arduous one, bristling with perils of every imaginable kind, and who could say that it would be accomplished in safety, or, if accomplished, could be repeated? For life is too full of chances for a man to make plans for the future, with any certainty that he will be able to carry them out. Therefore, when these two adventurous sons of the most adventurous nation on earth finally clasped hands and said their last words of farewell, though those words were entirely cheery and optimistic, the voices which spoke them were a little husky with feeling, and the firm, strong hand-grip was lingering, and relaxed with much reluctance.

Dick’s ride from the palace through the town to the point of embarkation for the mainland was one long, unbroken ovation; for there had now been time for the people to recognise, and also to appreciate, the many fine qualities of the young Englishman’s character; realisation of the enormous debt which they owed to him and to his friend, their new king, had come to them, and they were as unfeignedly sorry to witness his departure from among them as a naturally unemotional people could well be.

As he stepped into the swift-sailing cutter which was to convey him across to the mainland, where the wagon, already inspanned, was awaiting him, a letter was handed to him by one of two men who had just carefully deposited in the boat a well-filled leather portmanteau bearing Grosvenor’s initials. The letter ran thus:

“Dear old Chap,—

“The portmanteau which accompanies this note contains Myra’s and my own parting gift to you, in the shape of the finest diamonds which a gang of twenty men have been able to extract from the newly discovered mine during the last month. They are quite valueless to us, it is true, but in the dear old country to which you are bound they ought, even apart from the rubies which you are taking back, to make you one of the most wealthy men in the world. May God grant you health and long life to enjoy that wealth, and to employ it—as we know you will—in ameliorating the lot of those who are worse off than yourself! We confidently look forward to your return to Izreel in the course of the next year or two; but should unkind fortune forbid that return, think of us occasionally, and remember that in the far interior of Africa there are two hearts in which your memory will be cherished so long as life shall last.

“Yours, in undying friendship,—

“Phil.”

My story is told. It only remains to add that, some six months later, Dick Maitland arrived safely in England, with all his treasure intact, just in time to rescue his mother from the grip of destitution that was on the point of closing relentlessly upon her, and to place her in a position of such absolute safety and luxury that it was months before the dear old lady could persuade herself it was not all a tantalising dream, from which she would sooner or later awake to again find herself face to face with the ever-recurring, harassing, heart-breaking problem of ways and means, and the even more painful state of anxiety and uncertainty concerning the whereabouts of her son that had so worried and distressed her during the past year.

As for Doctor Julian Humphreys, Dick nearly drove the good man crazy with delight by placing to his credit at the bank a sum so stupendous that he might have spent the rest of his days in riotous luxury, had he so chosen. But that was not Humphreys’ way at all; his heart was set upon the relief of those who suffered the keen pangs of poverty through no fault of their own; and he thenceforth enjoyed the pleasure of doing good to the top of his bent, retaining his modest establishment at 19 Paradise Street, but greatly enlarging his surgery, stocking it abundantly with every drug, instrument, and appliance that could possibly ameliorate pain or heal disease, and continuing enthusiastically to practise medicine and surgery among the poor, without fee or reward of any sort, save an occasional expression of gratitude from some more than usually appreciative patient.