{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50955/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50955","id":"gutenberg_50955","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50955","summary":null,"tags":["Book of Mormon stories","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Latter Day Saints"],"text":"[Illustration: ZARA]\n\n\nThe Cities of the Sun\n\n\nStories of Ancient America founded\non historical incidents in the\nBook of Mormon\n\n\nBy Elizabeth Rachel Cannon\n\n\nIllustrated from paintings by Geo. M. Ottinger and\nphotographs by the Author\n\n\n_SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION_\n\n\nSalt Lake City, Utah\n1911\n\n\n  \"Builded on the ruins of dead thrones\n  Whose temple walls were old when Thebes was new,\n  On altars whose weird sacrificial stones\n  With ghastly offerings were crimson through,\n  Oblivion hides and holds thy secrets fast,\n  The dust of ages lies upon thy past,\n  All-wonderful, mysterious Mexico.\"\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nTHE MARTYR.\n\nI. The King's Council\n\nII. The Revel\n\nIII. The Execution\n\nIV. The Waters of Mormon\n\nV. The Flight\n\nVI. The Abduction\n\nVII. The Revenge\n\nTHE GADIANTONS.\n\nI. The Gossips at the Fountain\n\nII. In the Patio of Miriam\n\nIII. The Balcony\n\nIV. The Triumph\n\nGENERAL MORONI.\n\nI. The Capitulation of the Lamanites\n\nII. Moroni Raises the Standard of Liberty\n\nIII. Amalickiah\n\nIV. Nemesis Overtakes Amalickiah\n\nAMMON'S MISSION TO THE LAMANITES.\n\nI. Ammon Embarks on a Mission\n\nII. The Cattle Herder\n\nIII. The Trance\n\nIV. The Journey\n\nV. In Prison\n\nWEST WITH THE SHIPS OF HAGOTH\n\nI. The Shipwreck\n\nTHE CITY IN THE GLOOM.\n\nI. The Last of His Tribe\n\nII. Alone\n\nTHE CONQUEST OF Aida\n\nI. The Plot\n\nII. Aida Dances before Akish\n\nIII. Fruition\n\nIV. Reaping the Whirlwind\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS.\n\nZara\n\nAlma Loitered in the Perfumed Gardens\n\nAlma Baptizing in the Waters of Mormon\n\nThe Sacrificial Stone\n\nThe Lamanite Girl was Pretty\n\nWith One Foot Chained to the Rock the Gadianton Robber Fought and\nVanquished Eight Warriors\n\nHall of the Monoliths, Mitla\n\nPalace Ruins at Mitla\n\nZorabel\n\nMoroni Raises the Standard of Liberty\n\nAztec God of War\n\nAmalickiah Sent the Corpse of Her Husband to the Lamanite Queen\n\nAmalickiah Sacked the Coast Cities and Put Hirza to the Sword\n\nBas-relief of Ancient Warrior\n\nAlla Deriding the Idols\n\nRuins of the Palace of the Indian King\n\nThe Island Chief\n\nThe Cliff Dweller's Daughter\n\nThe Corn Crib of the City in the Gloom\n\nThe Stairs that Lead to the Top of the Pyramid\n\nPyramid of the Sun, Mexico\n\nJared was Murdered as he Descended from his Throne\n\nThey Brought her Baby Boy in, Dying upon his Shield\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION\n\nThe end justifies the means, so these stories are designed to increase\ninterest in the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of books have been written\nfounded on the Bible, and there are some wonderfully colorful accounts\nof the founding of Christianity in Judea, Alexandria, and Rome. It is\nsurprising that more has not been done dealing with the ancient history\nof the western world. Several of these stories were first published in\nthe _Improvement Era_, and acknowledgement is made to that magazine\nfor the encouragement it extended to the author, who traveled twice to\nMexico and excavated amon the ruins there to gain information at first\nhand. If any boy or girl, after perusing these pages, is inspired to\nturn direct to the beautiful and simple language of the Book of Mormon\nitself, the purpose of \"The Cities of the Sun\" has been accomplished.\n\n\n\nThe Cities of the Sun\n\nStories of Ancient America, Founded on Historical Incidents in the Book\nof Mormon.\n\n\n\nTHE MARTYR.\n\nI.\n\nTHE KING'S COUNCIL.\n\n\"What now, Amulon? Why so gloomy? Upon my word, you have not smiled for\na week,\" and King Noah affectionately slapped his favorite's shoulder.\n\n\"I'll warrant me it's a woman,\" continued the king, when the other\nvouchsafed no reply, \"for nothing else would move you.\"\n\n\"And what if it were?\" answered the other moodily. \"Would talking about\nit mend matters?\"\n\n\"There is only one cure for a broken heart,\" and Noah wagged his head\nsagely.\n\n\"And that is--?\"\n\n\"Another love.\"\n\n\"H'm.\"\n\n\"Among the thousand women of the court, are there not maids that please\nyou? Women of all types grace the gardens of the city of Lehi-Nephi.\nWould you have a rose, a violet, a magnolia, a lily, a passion flower\nor a tulip? Pluck it.\" And he nodded toward the court of the women.\n\n\"Need I remind thee, O King, who art the prince of love, that when a\nman wants one woman--\"\n\nThe king threw back his head and laughed until his fat sides shook.\n\n\"And who is the lady that dares withstand the bold Amulon?\"\n\nThe king's face displayed the first interest it had worn that day,\nas he lolled on the crimson cushions that extended before his golden\nthrone. He and his priests sat in the Hall of the Ambassadors,\nadjoining the great stone amphitheatre used for large assemblies. The\nhall where the king held his court was richly beautiful with its tiled\nfloor, its ivory-tinted walls and the great gilded chairs of the thirty\npriests who constituted the king's council. All morning they had been\nattending to affairs of state, dealing principally with taxes, for\nthe dissolute king maintained his magnificence with one-fifth of his\npeople's produce.\n\nThe moment was propitious and Amulon hastened to explain. \"The maid, O\nKing, is Zara, the daughter of Gideon, who opposes my suit.\"\n\n\"What, do you court the father? Make good with the girl.\"\n\n\"I cannot. She will have none of me.\"\n\nFor Amulon, who owed his title of favorite to his intrepidity and\nunscrupulousness, to acknowledge himself beaten was highly amusing.\n\n\"The girl has been a companion to her father and has imbibed his\nnotions,\" her lover continued. \"If she were moved into another\natmosphere she might change her mind. Association with the gracious\nPrincess Otalitza would certainly mend her manners.\"\n\n\"So you want--\"\n\n\"Her brought to the palace.\"\n\nThe king scowled. \"Amulon, I can deny you nothing. Let the girl be\nbrought. But look you,\" he added quickly, \"she is to be in the train of\nthe princess. Hands off, for awhile, you understand. Her father is a\ngood soldier, and might cause trouble.\"\n\n\"You will send your orders?\" said Amulon, following up his advantage.\n\n\"The palanquin shall fetch her today.\"\n\nBoth men looked up. Noises of turmoil and commotion came from the\ndoorway. Half a dozen soldiers, dragging a limp figure, burst into the\nroom. They were followed by a howling mob that shouted, \"Away with him!\nDown with the prophet!\"\n\nAs they hauled the man over before the dais, the twenty odd priests\nleaned forward with interest, while one exclaimed, \"It is the Prophet\nAbinadi!\"\n\n\"Aye, Abinadi, whom I found in the plaza reviling thee, O king,\"\nexclaimed Himni, a priest, from the mob.\n\nNoah looked down upon a tall man with straggling gray hair. In spite\nof his manacled hands, the buffetings of the soldiers and the jeers of\nthe multitude, his thin lips curved in a scornful smile and his defiant\nface showed no sign of fear.\n\n\"What are the charges?\" asked the king.\n\n\"He promises bondage and dire calamities to the people, and thy life, O\nKing, he says, will be as a garment in a flame of fire. Who is this man\nthat he should judge thee?\"\n\nThe great, purple veins stood out on the king's forehead and he\nexclaimed angrily, \"Take him to prison!\"\n\nThe priests crowded up expectantly, for though Noah was not loved, yet\nhe was feared; but Omner petitioned, \"Let us question this pretender\nthat we may confound him.\"\n\n\"Yes, surely, the Lord must confide all wisdom to his prophets,\"\nscoffed Nehor.\n\nSo they plied him with questions, and to their astonishment he answered\nthem boldly. \"Why do you, the priests of the Lord, who are supposed to\nteach the people, ask these things of me? You cannot teach what you do\nnot practice. You are wine-bibbers and revelers. You set the example of\nsensuousness and law-breaking, and seek not the kingdom of heaven, but\nthe riches of the world.\"\n\nThe king turned wearily. \"Away with this fellow,\" he said, \"and slay\nhim, for he is mad.\"\n\n\"Touch me not,\" commanded the prophet, \"until I have delivered my\nmessage; then do with me as you will.\"\n\nHe spoke with such dignity and authority that they listened while he\npreached with the power of God. He dwelt on the law of Moses, then, a\nwondrous light illumining his face, he told them about the Messiah. How\na new star should appear in the heavens and there should be continuous\nlight for the space of three days, while far across the seas a child\nshould be born in poverty, of a lowly virgin, and he should be the\nSon of God. The child should grow to be a man, despised and rejected\nof men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who would suffer\nhimself to be mocked and scourged, and cast out and disowned by his\npeople. And after working many mighty miracles among the children of\nmen, he would be crucified and slain. Thus would the spirit triumph\nover the flesh and he should bring to pass the resurrection of the dead.\n\n\"And where will you be, you priest of Satan, on that day?\" he cried,\nworking himself into a frenzy. \"I tell you that the wicked shall have\ncause to howl, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth!\"\n\nThen he launched into such a fierce denunciation of the court, that\nthe priests looked at each other aghast, and the king turned a sickly\ngreen. Abinadi lashed himself into a fury as he pictured the torments\nof the wicked, until his body swayed with the power of his imaginings.\nCalming himself, finally, he commanded: \"Repent ye, teach the law of\nMoses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to\ncome. Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ, the Lord, who\nis the very Eternal Father.\" He ceased speaking.\n\n\"Take him away and put him to death.\"\n\nThen Alma, the sweet-spirited one among the priests, young, but wise in\ncouncil, stepped forward, the sunlight glinting on his fair hair.\n\n\"This man has spoken the truth, and when, in all the reign of the just\nNoah, was a man put to death for speaking the truth?\"\n\n\"He said that the king's life should be as a garment in a hot furnace,\"\ncried Himni vindictively.\n\nAmulon, who hated Alma for reasons of his own, smiled as he mockingly\nexclaimed, \"What! has the gentle Alma turned prophet? Presently we\nshall have a pair of them.\"\n\nThe king motioned for the guards to remove the prisoner, and turning on\nhis heel he leaned affectionately on the arm of Amulon and passed out,\nleaving Alma biting his lips with vexation and choking with humiliation.\n\n[Illustration: ALMA LOITERED IN THE PERFUMED GARDENS.]\n\nII.\n\nTHE REVEL\n\nA solitary figure crossed the court on the pyramid, where the cluster\nof state buildings was located. Although he went toward the palace, he\nlagged like an unwelcome guest at a feast. The night was not cold but\nhe shivered and wrapped his cloak around him. Behind him lay the great\nstone amphitheatre, with its tier after tier of seats, vaulted by the\nstarlit sky. To the north loomed the great temple, surmounted by its\ntower. The somber blackness was relieved only by the sacred fire that\nburned on top. Ahead of him reposed the royal palace, resplendent as a\njewel in its setting of perfumed gardens. Sounds of music and revelry\nissued from the casement, and the guest stopped to take a deep breath\nof the sweet night air before he plunged into the hot-house brilliance\nbeyond.\n\nAs he entered the great banquet hall, many eyes turned that way. Alma\nhad thrown off his cloak, displaying a purple tunic that enhanced the\ngold of his hair and the blue of his eyes. His short robe was caught in\nat the waist by a girdle of sapphires, and his lower limbs were bare\nsave for the thongs of buckskin, extending from his sandals, which\nwere strapped around them. It was not the beauty of the graceful young\ncavalier that attracted attention, but the whisper had gone forth that\nhe was out of favor at court. That was what had brought him there to\nface it out, to show he was not afraid. For the most part, the guests\nwhose brains were not addled with wine were absorbed in their own\naffairs, for the hour was late and the diners at the banquet table,\nwhich was heavy with its gold and silver service, were on the last\ncourse. It consisted of dainty dishes of snow, brought on the backs\nof men from the distant volcano, delicately flavored with the grated\nrind of limes. Goblets brimming with odoriferous wines were constantly\nbeing refilled, but the real revelry was just begun. Before morning the\ngreat jars that stood on the buffet, that extended all around the great\nbanquet room, would be overturned and emptied. Beside them were baskets\nladen with fruit--the gold of the tropics--bunches of purple grapes,\npomegranates, tunas, oranges, pineapples, bananas, achuacates (the\nbutter that grows on trees) and wild plums.\n\nAbove these, on the wall, was a fresco of naiads, while the magnificent\nceiling was of green and gold. Oh, he had an eye for beauty, had King\nNoah;--too much for his good. A crowd of musicians played barbaric\nmusic, a troupe of acrobats performed in an ante room, while from the\ncorridor came peals of laughter.\n\nAlma ran his eye along the table. The king leered into the face of the\never-present Amulon, while on his left the buffoon, Omo, discoursed\ncoarse jests. Suddenly Alma's heart stood still and then sickened.\nCould that be Zara, the daughter of Gideon, in the party of the\nprincess? Yes, it was Zara, looking more radiant than ever. What was\nshe doing in the palace of the king? From the shadow of the curtains he\nwatched her with troubled eyes. A smile played on her expressive face\nand her eyes were bright with excitement. He waited impatiently until\nthey rose from the table, but before he could get to her she was gone.\n\nA few minutes later she appeared with the dancers. How beautiful she\nlooked, cream robed, with golden orchids in her hair! The intoxication\nof the dance set his blood to throbbing, but he noticed with rising\nresentment that he was not the only one interested in the new beauty.\nAlma wandered around the hall shunned by all, for it is not wise to\nflatter the one on whom the king frowns. He watched his chance, then\nwent to speak to Zara. She rose to meet him, and there was genuine\npleasure in her tone.\n\n\"Why, Alma, I've been looking for you so long.\"\n\n\"Is that what brought you here, my lady?\" he asked tensely.\n\n\"It was the king's palanquin that brought me here,\" she answered archly.\n\nHis brow lowered. \"Perhaps the same conveyance will carry you back?\"\n\n\"Perhaps.\"\n\n\"Zara, I don't like to see you here.\"\n\n\"Why not? It is glorious! I love the magnificence of the court. It is\nbreath to my nostrils. I have never lived before.\"\n\n\"Your eyes are blinded by the gilded surface and you do not see the\nrottenness beneath. When you know it as well as I--\" and he laughed\nbitterly. \"I cannot understand,\" he added soberly, \"how your father\nallows you here, when he objected to me simply because I belonged to\nthe court, though I hate everything that is connected with it.\"\n\n\"My father--you might know--he did not send me here. I came by the\norder of the king.\"\n\nAlma looked startled. \"Do you know what for?\"\n\nShe shrugged her shoulders. \"No one asks his reasons of the king.\"\n\n\"Yes, but there is a reason. You had better go away from here, my lady.\nThis is no place for you.\"\n\n\"I cannot,\" she said simply. \"Besides, I tell you, Alma, it is not the\nplace, but the person. A pure-minded person can be good anywhere, the\nevil always find means to sate their appetites.\"\n\n\"No one is safe in the palace; you must go away.\"\n\n\"If I should leave, what then? I should be brought back again. You are\nsatiated with all this. It opens a new world to me. I intend to see\nit,\" she cried, almost angrily.\n\nShe turned to talk to some young bloods, who were hovering around her,\nand Alma was dismissed. Realizing his failure with the girl, he turned\nhis steps toward the king. If he were not in disfavor, he might have\nher released. At least there was a chance to find out why she was\nthere, he argued.\n\nHe approached the throne, bowed, and murmured, \"I have a petition to\nmake, your majesty.\"\n\nThe king stared coolly past him, as if he did not see him, and went\non talking to Amulon, while Alma retreated, reddening to the ears, as\na titter arose behind palm leaf fans. His disgrace was now complete,\nand he thought the next move would be assassins. \"Well, Abinadi, you\nmay have company,\" he muttered. He wandered aimlessly about in a daze,\nfinally going to the gaming tables for, though he did not gamble\nhimself, he hoped to drown his misery in the excitement of the players.\n\n* * * * *\n\nZara stood in the shadow of the palms at the entrance to the patio.\nThe revel was beginning to pall on her with its grossness. True,\nthe musicians had been replaced with others, and as she listened,\nthe strains of \"The Heavens for a Kiss\" floated out to her. Many of\nthe lights were out and what remained burned badly, but they were\nsufficient to display sights from which her whole soul shrank. Omo\nlay across the end of the table, his bull neck kinked so his heavy\nbreathing could be heard all over the room. Omner had tipped over a\nwine jar, and lay on the floor with his head in a red pool that looked\nlike blood. Himni was pouring cold water down the neck of a servant\ngirl, while he explained that it would make her lips red. Mulek's\ndominating voice roared above all others. Some callow youths were\ntrying to sing. Nobody knew where the king was. Most of the girls had\ndeparted, and Zara, for the first time, felt lonely and scared. She\nwished Alma would come. She heard a footstep behind her; then a door\npulled to. She listened, thinking it was he.\n\n\"So, I have found you at last, my dove!\"\n\nShe uttered a startled cry and looked up to see the great form of\nAmulon towering above her. His eyes glowed like fires in the dark.\n\n\"Come!\" he coaxed. \"How these arms have ached for you!\"\n\n\"Let me go!\" she cried fiercely, struggling, like a frightened bird in\nhis grasp.\n\n\"Fight away, my pretty. My, how tigerish we are! I faith, I believe\nthat is why I love you!\"\n\n\"I shall cry for help.\"\n\n\"Who is there to hear you?\"\n\n\"I shall expose you to the king.\"\n\n\"He will not believe you.\"\n\n\"Then Alma shall intercede in my behalf.\"\n\nAmulon laughed. \"Alma! he is already a doomed man.\"\n\n\"My father shall carry my case before the king!\" she cried in a panic.\n\n\"Why did the king have you brought here? To grace the train of\nOtalitza, when there are a hundred women fighting for the place you\noccupy? Why, I say, except at my request? If you spurn me, the king\nwill claim you. Take your choice.\"\n\nSeeing the hopelessness of her case, woman's wit, which has been her\nchief weapon since the world began, came to her rescue. She slipped up\nher arms and encircled his head, kissing his handsome, bruised-looking\nlips.\n\n\"Amulon,\" she whispered, \"I am not a slave to be coerced. What I do, I\nmust do of my own free will, without force.\"\n\n\"You are right,\" he said, won by her speedy capitulation. He instantly\nfreed her, for he was as generous as he was passionate.\n\n\"Your lips are like the desert and your brow is fevered. See, I will\nbath it in the fountain.\" She darted forward, and as he stumbled after\nher and fell headlong on the pavement, she did not stop to look back,\nbut kept right on.\n\n* * * * *\n\nThe breeze that precedes the dawn was stirring when a white-robed\nfigure stole out on the roof garden of the palace. She started back\nwhen, on turning a corner, she was confronted by a man muffled in a\nlong cloak.\n\n\"Zara!\"\n\n\"Oh, Alma, I am so glad!\" and she wrung her hands in relief.\n\n\"Why are you here alone at this time?\"\n\n\"I could not sleep. So many strange things have happened. And you?\"\n\n\"I could not sleep, either. I searched for you, last night, but could\nnot find you. Where did you go?\"\n\n\"To the inner patio.\"\n\n\"With whom?\"\n\n\"Amulon.\"\n\n\"Amulon! So, that is why you came to the palace?\"\n\n\"He said as much.\"\n\n\"And I have ruined myself at court through espousing the cause of the\nProphet Abinadi.\"\n\n\"So Amulon intimated.\"\n\n\"Where is he?\"\n\n\"Down the well, for aught I know. I fled from him, and he gave chase.\nHe was half drunk and stumbled over the fountain curbing, but whether\nhe pitched in or not I do not know. I didn't stop to look back.\"\n\n\"He didn't; trust his luck for that. And you? How did you get out?\"\n\n\"Why, through the court of the lions, of course.\"\n\n\"They might have killed you.\"\n\n\"So I thought; but the king's ocelots are well fed. They did not care\nto get up to dine off me in the middle of the night.\"\n\nThe rainbow colors of the dawn of the tropics illumined the sky to\nthe east, and below, the hills were swathed in pearl gray mist. Alma\nbreathed deep as he looked at Zara, fresh and radiant as the morning\nitself. The fleecy robe she had slipped on parted at the throat, her\ndark head was swathed in a pale blue gauze, broidered with silver\nstars, and not all the turmoil of the night could disguise the fact\nthat she was young and glad to be alive. As she lifted a slender,\nrounded, white arm to indicate the violet and orange of the horizon,\nAlma caught her in his arms.\n\n\"Come with me,\" he whispered, \"away from this wicked place. Let me\nteach you the principles of Abinadi. Together let us live our lives as\nhe has taught, in conformity with the will of the Lord.\"\n\n\"Abinadi!\" she murmured. \"I already believe in him, although he has\ntaught the strange doctrine that we must return good for evil, instead\nof demanding an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But you must\nteach me. Alma,\" she added fearfully, \"for there are many things I do\nnot understand. And this strange doctrine of repentance, that they talk\nso much about--\"\n\n\"The king had better take to heart,\" Alma finished grimly. \"Would that\nthe scales might fall from his eyes, as they have from mine!\"\n\n\"He is going to put Abinadi to death?\"\n\n\"So I fear.\"\n\n\"And you?\"\n\n\"Oh, I shall take up the work where he left off. I'm afraid his mantle\nwill fall on unworthy shoulders. I have carefully written down all\nhis words, and I shall teach them to the people when he is gone. I\nconsecrate my life to the work. God grant me strength and light to do\nit well!\"\n\n\"Does Abinadi know?\"\n\n\"Yes; I go now to visit him in his cell.\"\n\n\"Tarry a little, Sir Prophet,\" she commanded, running her hand through\nhis yellow hair.\n\nTogether they watched the sun rise. The mocking birds sang riotously.\nThe lavender flowers of the bougainvilaea drooped in the garden, while\nfrom the patio below the air came laden with the heavy odor of the\nblossom called \"The Perfume of the Night.\" The lovers did not notice\nthat with it was mingled the scent of the ill-omened \"Flower of the\nDead.\"\n\nIII.\n\nTHE EXECUTION.\n\nThe great market place was the heart of the city. The streets, like\nso many arteries, emptied into its pulsating center. There all the\nbuying and selling went on. Here was a fruit stand from which a\nbronze Lamanitish goddess flicked the flies. Yonder was a clothier's\ncontaining garments of chameleon dyes. There were cafes, candy stands,\nbutcher shops, fish from the lake, venders of pottery, and makers of\nlace. The band played there in the afternoon, and lovers sought the\nshade of its arbors in the evening.\n\nThis morning something of unusual occurrence was about to happen.\nPeople were running hither and thither. There was a hushed murmur of\nexcitement among the crowds, which were larger than on any market day.\nFour regiments of soldiers were stationed at the comers, while a fifth\nwas keeping the people back from an open space in the middle of the\nsquare.\n\n\"Wherefore the crowd?\" asked the countryman who had just brought his\ncart of vegetables to the city that morning, of a young man who was\nhurrying to the scene.\n\nThe other looked at him in surprise, \"Why, they are going to burn the\nProphet Abinadi.\"\n\n\"They're not going to burn him alive?\"\n\n\"How do you think they'd burn him--dead?\" he threw back over his\nshoulder, as he hurried on.\n\nThe crowd was impatient.\n\n\"Light the fire, and let us see if this false prophet is pluckily true\nto his convictions.\"\n\n\"What are they waiting for?\" called another.\n\nThere was a blare of trumpets, a blast of martial music, and then the\ncry, \"Make way for the king!\"\n\nOn a palanquin, borne aloft on the shoulders of men, surmounted by\na green canopy, reclined the king. As soon as he reached the place\nof execution he ordered the soldiers to bring forth the prisoner.\nWhen Abinadi, sustained by the heroism of martyrdom, but very weak\nand trembling physically, stood before him, Noah pronounced sternly:\n\"Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee and thou art worthy\nof death; for thou hast said that God himself should come down among\nthe children of men, and now for this cause thou shalt be put to death,\nunless thou wilt recall all the words thou hast spoken evil concerning\nme and my people.\"\n\nWith a hunted look in his eyes Abinadi answered: \"I will not recall the\nwords I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true.\nI will suffer even unto death. I will not recall my words, and they\nshall stand as a testimony against you. And if ye slay me, ye will shed\ninnocent blood, and this shall stand as a testimony against you at the\nlast day.\"\n\nThe words touched even the callous heart of Noah, and he was half\nconvinced. He turned to the priests.\n\n\"Shall we release him?\"\n\n\"Death to Abinadi, he has reviled the king!\" was the shout.\n\n\"Death to Abinadi!\"\n\n\"Let his God delay the flames!\"\n\n\"He says we shall all be captives to the Lamanites!\"\n\n\"Down with false prophets!\"\n\nAmid the maledictions, they bound Abinadi to the stake and lighted the\nfagots under his feet.\n\nAs the flames licked his quivering limbs, and he writhed in agony,\nhe looked into the faces of the terror-stricken populace and said in\naccents thick, \"It will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with\nall manner of diseases because of your iniquities. Yea, and ye shall be\nsmitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro,\neven as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts. And in\nthat day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your\nenemies.\"\n\nAs the flames mounted higher and higher, and the victim writhed in\nagony, a young man, with sunny hair, made his way out of the crowd, for\nhe could stand it no longer. Henceforth he was the disciple of the dead\nprophet, and the blood of martyrdom had won its first convert in Alma.\n\nHis was not the only sick heart, for when the agonized victim looked\nout of his pain-dimmed eyes and said prophetically to Noah, \"Ye shall\nsuffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire,\" the king called\nsuddenly, \"Ho, take me hence!\"\n\nIV.\n\nTHE WATERS OF MORMON.\n\nGloom reigned in the palace and in the heart of Zara. The death of\nAbinadi seemed to portend evil. Alma was condemned to death, and\nguards were scouting the country for him, for he had disappeared. Zara\nwas torn with fear, for she expected daily to see him dragged there\nin irons. Again she thought he had been secretly murdered, and this\nhunting for him was a pretense.\n\nThen a message came to her. She sent for Amulon, who came gladly, for\nshe had locked herself up in her apartments and refused to see him for\ndays, while he, whose will was law, chafed like a chained lion. She was\npeculiarly gracious, and it was with difficulty he restrained himself,\nfor his love for this maiden, who was the first who had ever opposed\nhim, swept him off his feet.\n\n\"I have a favor to ask of you. Amulon, as always,\" she began.\n\n\"Which is already granted, if it lies within my power, princess.\"\n\n\"Ever am I more indebted to you.\"\n\n\"What is my lady's latest caprice?\"\n\n\"You know I am virtually a prisoner here. All of the palace is mine,\nbut the bird is none the less barred because the cage is gilded. An\naged aunt of mine is dying, and she has sent for me to soothe her\nlast hours. I would go to her bedside. Will you not ask the king's\npermission that I may go?\"\n\nAmulon was touched by her earnestness, for ever are strong men weakest\nthrough their strength.\n\n\"Go, Zara, and I will be responsible to the king.\" He stepped to the\ndoor and summoned Mulek. \"Do you accompany this lady wherever she goes.\nSee that no harm approaches, and return her in safety to the palace.\"\n\nMulek bowed and retreated.\n\nZara sallied out accompanied by the giant soldier Mulek. They made\ntheir way to a large house with a stone front. They entered, and passed\nthrough corridor after corridor, until they came to the one that led to\nthe death chamber.\n\n\"You will wait here for me, Mulek?\"\n\n\"The Lord Amulon said I was not to let you out of my sight.\"\n\n\"But you can't go in there when she is dying!\"\n\n\"I go where you do,\" he answered doggedly.\n\nShe was in despair. But everyone has his vulnerable point. She began to\nplead with him, using all her art, but he only shook his head. She tore\na heavy gold chain from her neck. Three great emeralds hung pendant\nfrom it. The bauble was worth a fortune. She thrust it into his hand,\nsaying imperiously, \"Wait here, I will soon be back.\"\n\nBefore he could recover himself she was gone. His first impulse was to\nfollow her, but he distinguished the sound of a woman's voice, and it\ndeterred him.\n\nThe giant waited a long time. He paced restlessly around the room. When\nthe afternoon sun faded into evening he grew alarmed. He rang a bell,\nwhich no one answered. He walked through the deserted halls. He came\nback and went to the room of the sick woman. There was no couch there,\nand a new light broke in on him. He ran through the house shouting. A\nLamanitish woman, a servant, confronted him.\n\n\"Where is Zara, the daughter of Gideon?\" he fairly shouted.\n\nShe eyed him calmly. \"I know of no such a woman.\"\n\n\"I brought her here,\" he reiterated.\n\n\"She is not here,\" she repeated.\n\nHe rushed through the house, but found no trace of her whom he sought.\nHis first impulse was to flee and escape the anger of Amulon. But on\nsecond thought he decided that would look as if he had connived at her\nescape. If he reported at once, she might yet be found. He started on a\nrun back to the palace.\n\nWhen he presented himself before Amulon, a sweating, palpitating,\ntrembling wretch, the courtier gave him one look and then roared,\n\"Where is the girl?\"\n\n\"Alas, I know not!\" wailed the other. \"I turned, m'lord, and she was\ngone. Some power of magic--\" he dodged a heavy bronze vase that Amulon,\nin his rage, hurled, at his head. It crashed into the door beyond and\nsplintered it.\n\nThe chief priest clapped his hands. Slaves appeared.\n\n\"Take him,\" he commanded. \"Let him be lashed. Send soldiers to search\nthe house of Zeezrom, and arrest every one you find there.\"\n\nAll night Amulon paced the palace, and all night rose the shrieks of\nMulek, lashed to the whipping post.\n\nIn the meantime Zara, after her escape from Mulek, was being borne\nthrough tall hedges of organ cactus on the outskirts of the city.\nThrough fields of maguey--the large century plant--until they reached\nthe prairie where the mesquite grew, they continued their flight.\n\n[Illustration: ALMA BAPTIZING IN THE WATERS OF MORMON.]\n\nBeyond, palm trees were gracefully silhouetted against the sky.\nPlantains rattled in the wind. As they neared the oasis, they felt the\ndread stillness of the tropic jungle, for the night was coming on. The\nrich velvet of the sward was flecked with the wild tulip, and long\nmosses cast black shadows in a pool as clear and deep as a woman's eyes.\n\nSuch were the Waters of Mormon, where Alma, the sweet-spirited,\nbaptized believers and taught the gospel of the Savior, thus carrying\non the work of Abinadi.\n\nWhen the slaves stopped, and Alma saw that the white palanquin bore a\nwoman, he came forward. Zara slipped lightly out, without assistance,\nand ran to meet him.\n\n\"Zara!\" he exclaimed.\n\n\"It is I, Alma.\" Then she continued breathlessly, \"They have located\nyou. The sentence of death hangs over you and your followers. You must\nflee quickly.\"\n\n\"How did you find out?\"\n\n\"Ever since you went away I have lived on the name of Alma. Every\nbreath that concerned you my intuition has ferreted out. The armies of\nthe king have orders to march against you now, for the king fears the\nstronghold you are gaining among the people.\"\n\n\"And you came to tell me this! If they knew it, what would they do to\nyou?\"\n\n\"I don't know; I'm not going back to find out.\"\n\n\"Not going back?\"\n\n\"No; I'm going with you--if you will let me.\"\n\n\"Let you, Zara!\" A look of glad surprise broke over his face, as he\ntook her tenderly in his arms. But amid all his joyful exultation,\nthere was a fear in his heart of hearts. He knew that behind his\ncherished one lay luxury and pleasure, and ahead of her was--the desert.\n\nV.\n\nTHE FLIGHT.\n\nConsternation reigned in the palace. The unsuccessful army returned,\nannouncing the escape of Alma and four hundred and fifty of his\nfollowers. Amulon, in an angry mood, and the king had had words over\nthe disappearance of Zara. Noah foresaw trouble with her father, and\nGideon was one of his best generals. Nor was he mistaken, for along\ncame the sturdy old soldier demanding to see his daughter. Noah\nexplained that the girl was gone, that every effort had been made to\nlocate her, but without avail.\n\nGideon did not believe it. He thought they were deceiving him. He\npoured execrations on their heads.\n\n\"There is only one fate that awaits a woman that steps inside your\npalace. Were there not enough, but my daughter must grace your court?\nShe was of a different type, and that was why you coveted her. You have\nlied to me, for you have something to conceal. A father's curse be on\nyou!\"\n\nIt was in vain that the king denied any knowledge of Zara's\nwhereabouts. He had been involved in so many intrigues that he was not\nbelieved when he spoke the truth.\n\n\"Curse you. You will tell me where she is, or I will run you through!\"\nand Gideon drew his sword. \"It would be a service to rid the Nephites\nof such a tyrant.\"\n\nNoah could have summoned his guards, but Gideon had challenged him as\nman to man. The king had been a soldier in his youth, but years of\ndissipation had rendered his flesh flabby and his spirit afraid.\n\nThey crossed swords and lunged at each other. A few moments and the\nking was breathless. Gideon so evidently had the advantage that Noah,\nin sheer cowardice, turned and fled. He rushed to the temple. With\ndrawn sword Gideon followed him. Through chamber after chamber the king\nran. The rooms were superb with their mosaic and metal work, but Noah\ndid not notice any of the decorations, for after him followed grim\nNemesis. The two flying figures, one very little behind the other,\nreached the top of the second pyramid. Noah mounted the steps that led\nto the top of the tower. This was ascended by a series of ladders, and\nwhen he reached the second he kicked the first from under him. When he\nreached the top his face was purple, and every breath was a pain. He\ncould go no further, and he knew that his respite was short. He looked\ndown from the dizzy height. Then he lost himself in astonishment.\n\n\"Let me down!\" he screamed. \"The armies of the Lamanites are upon us!\"\n\nGideon, deeming this but a ruse, was in no wise deterred in his pursuit.\n\n\"I tell you they are spread out in battle array on the plains below!\nLet me down that I may save my people!\" pleaded Noah.\n\n\"Save your people? you had better save your own neck,\" Gideon thought\ngrimly. He went to the parapet and looked over. The king was right,\nthere were the Lamanite phalanxes spread out upon the plain as far as\nthe eye could see.\n\n\"Come down and save your people,\" he called, sheathing his sword. He\nhimself went over and began to beat the alarum drum to call the men\nto arms. As the old king tottered down there was time for a new fear\nto supplant the other. None knew better than he how illy his kingdom\nwas prepared for war. He had made his people lovers of pleasure. The\nstanding army was small, and no match for the fierce Indians inured to\nhardship.\n\n\"Call the people together and tell them to bring their families and\nflee into the wilderness,\" he commanded. \"It were folly to fight them\nhere.\"\n\nWhen all the people of the city congregated, Noah, like a good leader,\nled the flight.\n\nThe Lamanites were not slow to discover the tactics, and started out\nin swift pursuit. They soon overtook the Nephites and the massacre\ncommenced. Noah, maddened by the sight of the blood, bade the heralds\ncommand all the men to flee, for they were retarded by the women and\nchildren.\n\n\"They will not murder the women in cold blood,\" reasoned the valorous\nking, \"and some of us may be saved while Gideon engages the enemy here.\"\n\nLike geese that follow their leader, on the spur of the moment many of\nthe men turned and followed the king and his priests, who were in full\nflight.\n\nAfter they had gone some distance into the wilderness, they began to\ncome to their senses. One commoner voiced the sentiment of the men\nwhen he said, \"If our loved ones are slain, it were better that we had\nperished with them.\"\n\n\"But, at least, after first striking a blow in their defense,\" added\nanother.\n\n\"Let us go back and see if they are dead. And if they are,\"--here the\nspeaker looked meaningly at Noah--\"we will seek revenge.\"\n\n\"We are a laughing stock and a bye word,\" said one man who prided\nhimself on his honor.\n\nThey were all heartily ashamed of themselves, and, as is always the\ncase under such circumstances, they sought someone on whom to lay\nthe blame. Whereupon, when the king commanded them not to return, it\nbrought their anger to a head. Instead of obeying him, they turned\nviciously upon him as the cause of all their misfortunes. They\noverpowered him roughly and bound him hand and foot. Amulon, who at\nleast had the saving grace of loyalty, was the only one who drew\nhis sword in defense of the king. He was run through the side for\nhis pains. The other priests, for their part, seeing themselves so\nout-numbered, took to their heels.\n\nAmulon, weak from loss of blood, staggered over to a brush heap,\nand there they let him lie. With presence of mind, he stuffed his\nshirt into the wound and staunched the flow of blood. He was in a\nraging fever, and one of the men taking pity on him as he tossed with\nsleepless eyes, brought him a cup of water.\n\nWhen night was well advanced, he dragged himself down to a stream and\ndrank deep of the running water. He was conscious of the fact that no\none had paid any attention to him. To attempt the escape of Noah, he\nknew was hopeless. He felt that the king must have help, and have it\nquickly. Urged on by some power beyond himself, the wounded man arose\nand staggered out into the jungle.\n\nHe found the priests, or rather, they found him wandering in the woods,\nand Amulon, by his old power of eloquence, rallied them and brought\nthem back. But lo, when they arrived at the place where the Nephites\nhad camped, they were gone, and Amulon feared that in his daze he had\nmistaken the place. But Himni raised a shout, and they found only too\nghastly evidence of the recent presence of the Nephites. The trunk of\nan immense tree had been partially burned. Lashed to its side was what\nwas left of a man, under whom a fire had been built. One of the priests\nwalked over, and from the ashes picked out the king's signet ring.\nThey had burned Noah to death. Thus had the prophecy of Abinadi been\nfulfilled.\n\n\"His life was as a garment in a furnace of fire.\"\n\nVI.\n\nTHE ABDUCTION.\n\nLike nomads the priests wandered into the forest, subsisting on berries\nand wild game. One day Omo, the voluptuary, came into camp with what\nfor him was unusual speed. The men loafing around the camp began to\njeer at him.\n\n\"I have seen such a sight--\" he began.\n\n\"You must have seen something to make you run. He has seen such a\nsight--\"\n\n\"As you would all break your necks to see.\"\n\n\"What have you seen?\"\n\n\"Women.\"\n\n\"Women!\" they muttered.\n\n\"Girls--young, beautiful, graceful as gazelles.\"\n\n\"He has been seeing visions.\"\n\n\"Listen. As I lay under a willow, that I might digest my dinner out of\nthe heat of the sun, I did hear singing and laughter--\"\n\n\"He was asleep and dreamed it.\"\n\n\"Very cautiously did I crawl out, and there I beheld fifty Lamanitish\nmaidens--\"\n\n\"Lamanites! Huh!\"\n\n\"Fifty Lamanitish damsels, as I did start to say, wreathed with\ngarlands and bedecked with golden circlets on their arms and ankles,\nmaking merry in the woods. Then they ceased from their sports and sat\nthem down to picnic out of great hampers. They took out such viands! Ah\nme, I have not tasted cooked food in a twelve month! Who knows? I might\nhave made myself known and been made much of among so many maidens; but\nI forebore, and came here to acquaint you with the fact.\"\n\nA shout of laughter arose. \"Come on, boys,\" volunteered one.\n\n\"But Lamanites!\"\n\n\"I care not,\" decided Omner. \"We are outcasts among our own people, and\nwe dare not return to Lehi-Nephi. For my part, a Lamanite maid is good\nenough to cook my food and live in my tepee.\"\n\n\"Mine, too, if she be good looking. Omner, lead out.\"\n\nAs gaily as a crowd of school boys on a lark, they hurried through the\nwoods. Others joined them on their way.\n\nAfter the order of primitive man did they lie in wait for, and carry\noff, their mates. After the first panic, the girls, when they found the\nwhite-skinned men were inclined to be wooers, were nothing loth. So the\ncamp was doubled that night, for the fifty of Omo's imagination had\ndwindled to twenty-four.\n\nAlso like primitive man, they fought for their mates. A dispute arose\nas to who should have a tall, slender girl who wore great golden\nornaments in her black hair. She was well worth fighting for, as\nmost of the men seemed to think, for the riot soon developed into a\nfree-for-all fight. It threatened to turn the camp into a hospital,\nwhen Amulon, returning from the hunt, strode in and threw a buck from\nhis shoulders.\n\nWithout more ado he threw himself into the midst of the melee and\nseparated the opponents. As soon as the combatants saw who it was they\ndecided to leave the decision with him.\n\nAmulon listened to the story of the day's conquest, and patiently heard\neach claim. In the meantime he had casually looked the girl over. She\nstood with heaving bosom and scornful lips while the parley went on.\nShe narrowed her eyes, however, and paid attention when this big,\npowerful man, so evidently the master, took a hand.\n\nFinally he announced his decision, \"I shall keep her myself.\"\n\nAn ominous murmur arose.\n\n\"He struck not a blow, but he seizes the plunder.\"\n\nNot a man there but knew Amulon would make his claim good, but where he\nwas sure of his ground he could afford to be politic.\n\nHe had exchanged a meaning look with the dark-eyed beauty, so he said\nmagnanimously, \"Come, we will let the girl herself make the choice.\"\n\nAs soon as she understood the import of his words, she went over and\nstood up straight and tall by his side.\n\nAs with primitive man, the strongest had won out. So Amulon, garbed in\na leopard's skin was wed to the Indian girl in the forest. He did not\nknow until afterwards that she was Lamona, the daughter of the king of\nthe Lamanites.\n\nVII.\n\nTHE REVENGE.\n\nAlma came in and hung his sickle on the wall. Although he assumed\ncheerfulness, his wife, who greeted him brightly over the pile of\ncolored wool with which she was working, knew that he was sorely\ntroubled. The room was airy, but simple, in its appointments. The floor\nwas carpeted with rush mats and bears' skins, while the walls bore\ntrophies of the chase in the form of antlers and deer heads. The supper\nlooked inviting, and Alma came to it with the hunger born of hard labor\nin the fields.\n\n\"I wish you would not work so hard,\" admonished Zara, laying her work\naside. \"Amulon exempted you from labor.\"\n\nAlma laughed shortly. \"Small satisfaction that, to rest in the shade\nwhile I see my brethren toiling in the hot sun, with hard taskmasters\nover them. When I refused to be king, I explained that we are all equal\nin the sight of the Lord. Now that disaster has come upon us, I am no\nbetter than they. The drivers will not even allow our people to pray\naloud any more.\"\n\n\"Surely Amulon has not forbidden that,\" gasped Zara, with dilated eyes.\n\nThe Lamanites had conquered all the southern provinces of the Nephites.\nThe latter had only saved their lives by paying tribute of one-half\ntheir substance to their hard masters. At the time he fled from the\narmies of King Noah, Alma had traveled with his followers to a land of\npure water where they built the beautiful city of Helem.\n\nWhen Amulon and the gay priests stole the Indian girls and married\nthem, King Laman had been wrathful. He sent out spies, located them\nwhere they were living and was getting ready to visit punishment upon\nthem when his daughter Lamona, the wife of Amulon, came and threw\nherself at her father's feet and pleaded for mercy for the white men.\nShe prevailed and the king of the Lamanites gladly welcomed his big\nson-in-law into favor. The head priest of King Noah rapidly resumed his\nold place of king's favorite. He introduced his own liberal schemes\nwith the learning of the Nephites, and King Laman appropriated part of\nhis kingdom for Amulon and his daughter to rule over. It so chanced\nthat this province included the city of Helem.\n\nWhen Amulon, accompanied by his dusky princess, and flanked by the\nbarbarian armies, marched in, he was much surprised to find that the\ninhabitants were the followers of Alma. He found them easy prey, for\ntheir leader commanded them not to shed blood. The new ruler did not\nmake it any easier for the captives because Alma had been a fellow\npriest of his who had won his sweetheart.\n\n\"Something has got to be done,\" pronounced Alma, looking across at his\nwife. \"The people must break this yoke of bondage, for they cannot\nstand it any longer. I want you to unite with me in calling on the Lord\nfor help.\"\n\nZara acquiesced, and when she arose a new light shone on her face as\nshe rapidly unfolded to him her plan.\n\n\"Why don't you reproach me for having brought you to this?\" he asked,\ndrawing her tenderly toward him, for he realized that the task she had\nset herself was no easy one.\n\n\"Nay, I have been happier here helping you than I ever was before, with\nall my luxury. I never realized what a blessing work is!\"\n\n* * * * * * * *\n\nZara went and presented herself before Amulon. With mingled emotions\nthey looked on one another. Zara noticed that the black-bearded,\nhandsome man was more dominating than ever. The deep-eyed, dusky\nprincess by his side was well suited to such a husband. Lamona, for\nher part, was curiously interested in her prince's former love. Amulon\nmarked that Zara had retained her beauty, and looked very little older.\nHe wondered what this slip of a woman who had preferred a soft-voiced\nmissionary, could have to ask of him.\n\n\"I have a petition to make, my lord,\" she began, bowing low.\n\n\"And that is--\"\n\n\"That you, your lady, and all your soldiery will dine with us at a\nbanquet that we have prepared. There is much ill-feeling between the\npeople and the soldiers. There has been a brutal quarrel or two, and we\nwould seek to allay the trouble.\"\n\nAmulon's eyes lighted with pleasure. It was long since he had eaten\nat a Nephite board, and he would like to sup with Zara. I think I can\nanswer for the men.\n\nThey will come, like a horse to water. What say you, my girl? He turned\nto Lamona.\n\nIn thick, musical tones she graciously accepted the invitation.\n\nOn the day of the banquet Zara flitted among the wine jars, pouring\ninto them a concoction brewed of the sleeping herb and the juice of the\nwhite poppy. Practically all of the Helemite's store would be guzzled\ndown the throats of the thirsty horde in one night. The people of Alma\nwould drink none. That was a part of the game.\n\nThat night at the feast, when the atmosphere was redolent with perfume\nand the air vibrant with music, Amulon cornered Zara and with his\ncompelling gaze fixed on her face demanded that she drink with him\nthe toast, \"For old time's sake,\" while Lamona watched with jealous\neyes. Fearful that this virile leader would not drink enough for her\npurpose, she raised the goblet with quaking hand to her lips. They were\nalmost driven white by a new fear. What if she herself should go to\nsleep in this dire exigency? Already the drugged soldiers were lying\nin heaps about the room. Some still kept up the feast, but even these\nwere too far gone to notice that the halls were being strangely emptied\nof Nephites. Already their flocks and herds were being rapidly driven\ninto the mountains, to be speedily followed by their owners, for the\nHelemites were abandoning their homes to their conquerors.\n\nOutside in the starlit night, Zara a second time faced the desert.\nSeated on a horse, like another Mary, she fearfully clasped her little\nson to her bosom. He was Alma, son of Alma, future high priest of\nZarahemla.\n\n[Caption: THE SACRIFICIAL STONE.]\n\n\n\nTHE GADIANTONS.\n\n\"And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of\nGadianton; * * insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed\nfrom among the Lamanites.\"\n\nI.\n\nTHE GOSSIPS AT THE FOUNTAIN\n\n[Illustration: THE LAMANITE GIRL WAS PRETTY.]\n\n\"Hurry with your trifling, and lend me your cup that I may fill my\njars,\" admonished Abish.\n\n\"You are in a hurry, today?\" queried Sara lazily. The water in the\nfountain was low and it had to be scooped up from the bottom. Sara was\ntrickling the cool liquid over her fingers quite oblivious to her own\nempty water pitchers standing; with gaping mouths on the curb.\n\nThe two women, Abish, servant in the house of Ahah, and Sara a\nservant of Seantum, often met at the fountain to gossip. At these\ntimes the possible union between the heads of their two houses was an\ninexhaustible subject, for Seantum, the proud Nephite, was a suitor\nfor the hand of Ahah, a girl of mixed blood. Possible exigencies were\nsuggested by the fact that Ahah was believed to love Hagoth, a Lamanite\nsoldier; on the other hand her mother, the widowed Miriam, openly\nencouraged the suit of Seantum.\n\nTruly the plaza in the beautiful suburb, Antionum was a pleasant place\nto loiter. The fountain was the life source of the city, and sooner\nor later everyone came there to drink. The gorgeous flowers of the\ntropics were so rich that the very bees became intoxicated and produced\na honey that was the original nectar. A long line of Biblical looking\ngirls carrying water jars on their heads extended from the fountain.\nAlternating with oval Madonna-like faces lit with lustrous eyes was\nthe ardent gypsy coloring that told of mixed blood, for Lamanites and\nNephites mingled freely in the community.\n\n\"The servants at our house do not dawdle the day away,\" announced Abish\nseverely, \"Our mistress looks after her household.\"\n\nSara felt the implied sneer, for the ancient halls of Seantum\nlanguished in bachelor neglect.\n\n\"When the fair Ahah comes to preside over our household then may I have\nto run home heavy laden.\"\n\n\"If your white faced master be not so slow that he lets Hagoth the\nLamanite walk off with her before his eyes, I could tell him things--\"\n\n\"A Lamanite,\" laughed Sara derisively. \"Ahah is not particular in\nher taste. But then, poor girl, she cannot help it, it is in her\nblood\"--Sara stopped short, for along the street, ringing with\nstartling distinctness arose the cry, \"Cezoram, son of Cezoram, the\nchief judge, is dead.\"\n\nFor a moment there was absolute stillness, then wild clamor broke\nforth. Rumor, with her thousand tongues told that Cezoram, chief judge\nof all the Nephites, had not risen that morning and when an attendant\nwent to wake him he found him lying naturally in his bed--dead. He had\nbeen struck upon the head as he slept, by an assassin who had come and\ngone as stealthily as the night air.\n\n\"Who killed him?\" inquired Abish plucking at the arm of a man who\npassed with broad strides, muttering in his beard.\n\n\"Who should it be but the Gadiantons, a handful of robbers, the mention\nof whose very name blanches the faces of the people and shakes the\ngovernment. The Nephite officials are in secret league with them else\nwe would not be so terrorized. Two chief judges slain within a year:\nCezoram the elder struck down as he sat upon the judgment seat; his son\nand successor most foully murdered in his room! Is there no end to our\nendurance?\"\n\n\"The Gadiantons!\" Bursting with her news Abish caught up her\nhalf-filled jars and hurried out through some deserted gardens that\nshe might more quickly arrive home. As she picked her way through\nsome overgrown vines she stopped suddenly. Her eye had caught sight\nof a familiar crest. Across the open space was the stalwart figure of\nHagoth clothed in the tiger skin, his badge of knighthood. By his side\nin flaunting red petticoat walked a Lamanite girl. At the edge of the\nwoods he returned the basket he had been carrying and the head of the\nplumed chief bent low over her.\n\n\"Hagoth making love to an Indian; I wonder what Ahah will say?\"\n\nLater she heard what her mistress had to say, and the servant's tale\nlost nothing in the telling of it.\n\nII.\n\nIN THE PATIO OF MIRIAM.\n\nA party of four sat at the supper board of Miriam. It was spread in\nthe roofed cloisters, midway between the patio where the margherites,\nlike Psyche, flirted with their own fair image in the fountain, and the\nhouse, where, through gold embroidered gauze curtains, an occasional\nglimpse was had of a vast inner apartment set with mosaics.\n\nBefore the guests, who sat on mats, were spread tempting dulces\n(sweets) and heaped up salvers of the strange fruits of the tropics,\nthe butter, eggs, and custards that grow on trees.\n\nA servant brought cups of frothing chocolate to the two women, Ahah,\nwhose gold crowned head rose like an aureole above the sea foam green\nof her gown, and her mother Miriam, massive and handsome despite her\nyears. Shem, an aged traveler from the far south, was scooping out\nspoonfuls of papaya, a peptonized squash, while Seantum leaned against\na marble pillar, his pale face with its weak features peering luridly\nthrough clouds of tobacco smoke.\n\nThe murder of the morning was under discussion.\n\n\"Who are these Gadiantons?\" asked Shem, who was a stranger in the\ncountry. \"Methinks it was they who robbed a pack train of a merchant in\nour town. Though he carried the matter to the tribunal he could get no\nrestitution.\"\n\n\"Restitution!\" Miriam smiled grimly. \"How can we expect justice when\nthe Nephite officials are in secret league with the robbers?\"\n\n\"They have been a menace to our nation since their organization,\"\nhastily interposed Seantum, anxious to change the subject.\n\n\"Indeed.\" Shem thoughtfully stroked his long beard while his Jewish\nface bent forward with interest.\n\n\"The chief judges have been their victims ever since Kishkumen, an\nunscrupulous adventurer stabbed the judge Pahoran. The good Heleman\nwould have suffered a like fate had not a servant of his overheard\nthe plot and killed Kishkuman first. The blackguard followers of this\nprofessional assassin were organized into a secret society by Gadianton\nwho introduced Satan's own machinations. After that the bandits fled to\nthe mountain where they have subsisted ever since.\"\n\n\"Cannot they be apprehended?\" asked Shem astonished.\n\n\"They hold the mountain fastnesses and rout every army sent against\nthem. Only occasionally do they infest the valleys to drive off the\ncattle,\" explained Seantum surprised at the other's ignorance.\n\n\"They'd do well if they drove off only the cattle,\" remarked Miriam\nsharply. \"They swooped down upon a village when most of the men were\naway at the late war, and carried off the women and children.\"\n\n\"The Gadianton robbers are dreadful men.\" Ahah shuddered. \"They brought\none who had been taken prisoner to fight upon the sacrificial stone\nbefore Tubaloth, king of the Lamanites. With one foot chained to the\nrock and armed only with sword and shield he fought and vanquished\neight warriors. The king granted him his freedom.\"\n\n\"They will surely punish this slayer of Cezoram,\" suggested Shem.\n\n\"Certainly, if they can find him.\"\n\n\"Must a whole nation quail before those bloodthirsty barbarians,\"\nexclaimed Ahah passionately. Remembering that it was whispered that\nSeantum himself, like many of the officials, was helpless against the\nbandits, she asked suddenly: \"Seantum, why don't you lead an army\nagainst them?\"\n\n\"Impossible!\" returned that effeminate youth. \"Perhaps our friend,\nthe husky Lamanite, will undertake the task,\" he added sneeringly.\n\"They say that Tubaloth's young men are deserting the army to join the\nrobbers. The king has sworn vengeance on them.\"\n\n\"When did the Nephites have to call upon their ancient enemies for\nhelp?\" interposed Miriam haughtily.\n\nThe meal was finished and despite the fuming of Seantum and the open\ndispleasure of her mother, Ahah excused herself on the plea of illness\nand fled to her room Although the servants came in and lighted the\ntorches, for the three that remained, the light had gone out.\n\n[Illustration: \"With one foot chained to the rock the Gadianton robber\nfought and vanquished eight warriors.\"]\n\nIII.\n\nTHE BALCONY.\n\nAhah threw herself in the hammock on the balcony that her apartment\nopened on. She was shaken with rage, but the more violent the passion\nthe sooner does it consume itself. Destruction would have descended on\nthe head of Hagoth, if it had appeared at that moment; as it was her\nanger had just three hours to cool.\n\nThe stars hung low in the tropic heavens; a nearby field was illumined\nby the phosphorescent glow of flitting fireflies; below a tree burst\ninto a galaxy of white stars.\n\nAs she clenched her small hands until the nails cut the palms, Ahah was\nnot in a mood to contemplate scenery.\n\n\"Flirting with a Lamanite frump, indeed! How do I know that Hagoth\nhas not a dozen Indian loves among his own people?\" Hitherto Ahah had\nbeen so engrossed by her condescension in loving a mere Lamanite, that\nthe possibility of anyone else loving him had never occurred to her.\nThat Hagoth had been whole souled in his devotion to her she admitted.\nNothing wins a woman quite so quick as the knowledge that a man has\nstaked his all on her. Else why had she stooped to love him?\n\nSlowly she lived over their acquaintance; all the details were graven\non her brain. It had been romantic from the start. The horses of the\nLamanite king were running away, dragging the broken chariot behind\nthem. The driver had been hurled out in turning the corner and Tubaloth\nhimself was reeling, when the careening animals were stopped by the\nimpact of a lithe body hurled full at their heads. The catapult was\nHagoth who thereafter was knighted and received the order of the tiger,\na distinction he valued less than the murmured thanks of a mother who\ncaught up her little brown baby that had been playing in the road\ndirectly in the way of the runaway. Since then Ahah's every meeting\nwith Hagoth had tightened the grip on her heart. Yet the thing that\nmade her angriest of all was that she should care so much.\n\n[Illustration: HALL OF THE MONOLITHS, MITLA]\n\n[Illustration: PALACE RUINS AT MITLA]\n\nWhen a plumed crest of sable hue loomed up above the passion flower of\nthe balcony she started up as if she had not been looking long for that\napparition.\n\nAs Hagoth swung himself easily in front of her she faced him with the\naccusation, \"You are late.\"\n\n\"I have been watching the lights below for hours. I thought you were\nthere with Seantum.\"\n\n\"Did he stay so long with mother? I left them hours ago--to wait here\nalone, while you, forsooth, amused yourself with an Indian girl--Ugh.\"\n\n\"Ahah!\"\n\n\"I tell you, you were seen walking in the woods with her, whispering to\nher, carrying her basket, and they said she was pretty,\" she finished\nwith a wail.\n\n\"It is a mistake. I--\"\n\n\"A mistake! Look at me,\" she cried fiercely, \"You, a Lamanite, an\nassociate of laboring wenches, have made me weep. I, Ahah, who do not\nshed tears once in five years have wept this night over you.\" She\nlaughed bitterly.\n\n\"But the girl gave me some information from a relative of hers.\"\n\n\"What could I expect, I who without reason, against the warnings of my\nfriends, the opposition of my relatives, have squandered my attention\non you.\"\n\n\"Ahah you possess the best part of my life, but if I am bringing you\nsuch unhappiness--\"\n\nThat brought her to terms. Her face shone with transcendent light.\n\n\"See, Hagoth,\" she breathed earnestly, \"Beautiful as this is, I lie\nawake nights worrying where it will end. I am too much of a coward\nto flee with you for I fear to fail in the new life. You must raise\nyourself to my station. You have youth, strength, brains and my faith\nin you.\"\n\n\"And if I win out.\"\n\n\"I will marry you.\"\n\n\"I accept the challenge. In forty days I shall return to claim my own.\"\n\nAhah looked startled. \"How do you propose to do it?\"\n\n\"Because of what you have promised me this night, I shall confide to\nyou my secret, though the success of the venture itself depends on\nsilence. At dawn I take command of a party of Lamanites that goes into\nthe mountains to destroy the Gadiantons.\"\n\n\"Oh\"--Ahah reeled and she felt the world slipping from under her, such\nterror did the name of the dread robbers inspire.\n\n\"If I win, any favor within the gift of Tubaloth, king of the\nLamanites, is mine.\"\n\n\"If you should fail?\"\n\n\"I fail! You will admit I shall have a splendid tomb, the snow clad\nsummit of Mt. Misti.\"\n\nAhah with a moan threw up her arms to shut out the torturous vision for\nthe Gadiantons not only murdered but mangled their victims.\n\nHe came closer; his eyes blazed with triumph; his voice was tense with\nsuppressed emotion. \"Remember in forty days you are mine,\" and he was\ngone.\n\nAhah threw herself against the post. \"You shall not go. I tell you I\nwon't let you,\" she screamed. In her desperation she almost hurled\nherself over the balcony, but no answer came. Hagoth had vanished into\nthe night whence he had come. Overwhelmed with remorse for driving him\non: steeped in her own misery, she lay where she had fallen until the\nmocking birds began to sing and the day emerged from the night like\nVenus, new born, from the sea.\n\nRising, she dashed the crumpled bell of the passion flower under her\nfeet and entering her apartment she threw herself upon the bed.\n\nWhen Abish stole softly up to tell her young mistress that the bath\nwater was ready she found her buried among the cushions with all her\nclothes on, breathing heavily. Throwing a silken shawl over her, she\nturned and tiptoed out.\n\nIV.\n\nTHE TRIUMPH.\n\nAhah lay languidly back in the boat and dabbled her white hand in the\nwater. Seantum opposite, equally lazy, was doing nothing more strenuous\nthan watch the sunlight on her hair of burnished copper. The servant\nAbish knelt in the bottom of the boat trying to bring order out of\nthe chaos of flowers with which the craft was loaded. It was the\nfestival of flowers and Ahah had insisted on buying some of every kind\nshe saw. As she had selected them for their gaudiness the effect was\npicturesque. The boatman who stood in striped cotton garment with bare\nbrown feet and broad brimmed hat drove the canoe along the sluggish\ncanal by means of a pole.\n\nThey were enroute to the floating gardens of Miramar. Conversation\nlanguished while they looked at the panorama, for the canal was alive\nwith graceful craft as this was a special feast day. There were boats\nloaded with poppies; others banked with pink rosebuds; more modest\nsymphonies in purple and electric blues,--violets and forget-me-nots,\nlike a demozel, left a fragrant trail behind them. They passed cargoes\nof green vegetables bound for the city, and houseboats which carried\nnot only the family and their household furniture, but also the\nlivestock, dogs, chickens and parrots.\n\nGayest of all were the flat bottomed boats filled with troubadours.\nThese children of the sun lent the richness of their voices to\nthe tinkle of their stringed instruments. Everyone seemed bent on\nmerry-making, and as a lonely heart is never so desolate as when buried\nin a gay crowd, so Ahah felt more poignant misery by contrast.\n\nThirty days had elapsed since Hagoth's sudden departure. Since then\nshe had had no word from him, and her veiled inquiries had elicited no\nnews. \"He is so bent on his man's enterprise, that he would not stop to\nconsider a woman,\" she exclaimed petulantly, but her good sense told\nher it would not be wise for him to send her a message. Again, she was\nconsumed with a wild fear that he was dead and during the long hours\nof the night saw him die twenty deaths in as many different ways. In\nthe meantime she went calmly about her affairs and continued to endure\nSeantum as there was nothing else to do.\n\nThey had planned to spend the day in the rustic bowers of a planter at\nMiramar, but as they wound in and out among the floating gardens,--at\nfirst nothing but patches of variegated green, it was evident that\nsome unusual occurrence was happening on shore. Market venders had\ndeserted their stalls and women had left their meat sizzling on the\nbrazeros,--open air stoves of clay containing glowing charcoal.\n\n\"What's the matter,\" called Seantum to a hoary boatman.\n\n\"They say the Gadiantons are destroyed,\" he answered.\n\nAhah was on her feet swaying in the boat, \"Who did it,\" she cried as if\nher life hung on the answer.\n\n\"A Lamanite by the name of Hagoth. One of his men stopped off here.\nHe's over in the square there now.\" Without waiting for the boat to\nstop, Ahah bounded quickly to the oozy mud of the shore and was up the\nbank in a moment. Running swiftly she reached the excited crowd and\nmade her way through it. In the center she recognized one of Hagoth's\nlieutenants.\n\n\"You are going back to Antionum?\" she queried breathlessly.\n\nOn his answer in the affirmative, she begged eagerly. \"Then you will\nlet us take you back in our boat?\" She tossed him a golden seon. As if\nhe were in his chief's secret he gladly accepted the invitation, and\nSeantum was doomed to hear his rival's praises lauded on the return\ntrip which had begun so auspiciously for him.\n\nWhile the warrior recited the story of the expedition in his crude way,\nAhah hung on every word.\n\n\"When we started we had to hew our way through the underbrush; higher\nup it was easier climbing but the tropical downpour descended in\nbucketfuls and drenched us to the skin. Under foot it was so slimy we\nslipped back a step for every two we advanced. The guides lost the\ntrail and we slunk under the trees while they found the path.\n\n\"Later we spent the night in a cave. The fire went out as it was as\nmuch a man's life was worth to descend into the barranca for wood. The\nroof leaked and we woke up with our heads in a pool of water.\n\n\"The next morning the ravines were raging torrents. Advancing under\nthese difficulties we finally descried above the tree tops the misty\nexpanse of Lake Ticaca. Like all high waters it is sullen, cold and\ndeep. There on the shores we found the log hut of an old Nephite whose\nonly daughter had been carried away by the Gadiantons. He had lived\nthere as a hermit vowing vengeance ever since. He offered to act as\nguide and lent us his two boats. It took many trips across the lake to\nget all of our party over and when we reached the bluffs on the other\nside Hagoth's plans became apparent.\n\n\"The reason that the robber's rendezvous had never been discovered was\nbecause of the impassable ravines that hedge it in on all sides.\n\n\"Hagoth proposed to take the shortest route straight across the summit\nof Mt. Misti which towers eighteen thousand feet into the air. So up we\nclimbed, up into the rarified atmosphere, among the pines and cedars.\nOccasionally the clouds below us parted like the veil of a Turkish\nbeauty, affording us seductive glimpses of the tropics at reeling\ndistances below. We passed the timber line and traveled across the lava\nbeds, undulating hills of black ashes. Here grew a yellow daisy with\nfrosted leaves; somewhere below the clouds lay the world; but our goal\nwas the snow clad peak that cut the sky in two.\n\n\"The ascent through the snow was bitterly cruel; some of the men were\nbleeding at the nose, others found it difficult to breathe, while some,\nwith palpitation of the heart were crawling on their hands and knees.\nWe were all temporarily blinded by the sun on the snow.\n\n\"At the top we skirted the sulphurous crater for a mile and a half and\non the other side, slid down the snow clad peak on mats. Then we had to\nmake quick work of it, for provisions that are carried as a man pack\nare light.\n\n\"Six hundred feet below us in the barranca was the camp of the\nGadiantons. A gruesome spectacle they made in the light of the camp\nfire. Despite the cold, their lean brown limbs were bare save where\nthey had decorated them with blood. Their loins were swathed in\nsheepskin and their shaven heads cockaded with feathers. Altogether,\nwe were glad that the depth of the canyon lay between us. All night we\ntoiled loosening the great boulders of the cliff that had been eroded\ninto great blocks. At dawn of the second day we started several of them\nover the cliff by way of good morning. They cut great oak trees off\nfrom their roots, and crumbled to pieces in the ravine below. They did\nnot do much damage but they brought the robbers out from their lair.\nWhen a side of the mountain crashed down, Zorum, the leader of the\nband, came out and called a truce.\n\n\"Hagoth descended to parley with him; he left instructions with us\nto wipe out the band in case he did not return. He offered them\ntheir choice of death or surrender. The terms were that they return\nto civilization and become decent citizens. It is one thing to die\ngloriously on the field of battle, and another to have the life crushed\nout of you like a rat in a hole. There was no possible way of escape\nas before they could get out, the top of the mountain would bury them\nalive, leaving them all like one of their men who had already been hit\nby a rolling boulder and whose remains were but a mangled mass in the\ngulley. They surrendered. They didn't seem to be enjoying themselves\nmuch up there in the mountains, anyway. So Hagoth just brought them\ndown with him.\"\n\nSeantum, as he leaned back in the boat and heard of the success of his\nrival, watched Ahah's expressive face, now agonizing in fear, again\nexulting in Hagoth's triumph. He knew that he had lost.\n\nBy the time the victorious warriors entered the city Ahah was on her\nbalcony waving her scarf. Amid strains of barbaric music and the\nhurrahs of the populace she beheld her chieftain borne through the\nstreets in the gilded chariot of the Lamanite king. As he glanced in\nher direction Hagoth removed his sable plume and let the sun caress the\nglossy black head she loved so well. Behind him stalked the Gadianton\nrobbers, frightful apparitions to the awe-struck people. The travel\nstained Lamanite soldiers brought up the rear.\n\nDuring all the feasting that followed, when Hagoth sat on the right\nhand of the king, and the great of the nation assembled at the board to\nhear him lauded and glorified, the chief panted for the time when all\nthis tinsel should be over and he should be alone with a girl and claim\nhis reward.\n\n[Illustration: ZORABEL]\n\n\n\nGENERAL MORONI.\n\nI.\n\nTHE CAPITULATION OF THE LAMANITES.\n\nMoroni leaned back in his chair under the canopy of his tent. Another\nman, under the strain that the young general had passed through, would\nhave looked wan and haggard. He possessed that inexhaustible vitality\ncharacteristic of great leaders, that can be drained heavily and still\nmeet all emergencies.\n\n\"A messenger to see you, sir,\" announced a young lieutenant, pulling\nback the flap of the tent.\n\nMoroni looked up to behold an Indian of powerful build. As he entered\nthe fur mantle fell from his shoulders leaving them bare. As their\neyes rested on the superb figure whose skin glittered like polished\nmahogany, the captains in the room ejaculated in admiration. The new\ncomer's bold eyes scanned every face and finally rested on that of the\nyoungest man in the room.\n\n\"I address the commander-in-chief of the Nephite forces?\" he presumed.\n\nMoroni eyed him keenly, as he inclined his head.\n\n\"Zerahemnah, leader of the Lamanites, sends greetings, and asks when he\ncan meet you to make terms.\"\n\n\"Let him come at high noon to yonder eminence,\" replied Moroni.\n\nThe messenger bowed and silently withdrew. As his magnificent form\ndisappeared, the captains whose composure had been perfect during\nthe interview, threw back their heads and raised a shout of triumph.\nTo them it meant the end of the war at practically their own terms.\nHostilities had ceased since the night before. The Nephite forces,\nthough outnumbered two to one, had triumphed over their ancient\nenemies. The battle had been long and stubbornly fought until night\nclosed down to stop the conflict. The captains, picturesque in their\nbandages, had fresh sword cuts as proof of their valor, but even they\ndid not know that the battle would go down in history as the greatest\nthat the Lamanites had ever fought. The Indians were ably generaled,\nfor Zerahemnah, himself a Zoramite, a descendent of the servant of\nLaban, had placed the bloodthirsty Amalekites as officers among them.\nLittle wonder that they fought like dragons.\n\nThat the Nephites had vanquished them against such odds was due to\nthree things: they were fighting for their liberty as the Lamanites\nhad tried to take them into bondage; they had superior arms and were\nprotected by armor while their dusky antagonists fought almost naked:\nMoroni by strategy had surrounded the Lamanites by the Nephites, had\npenned in Zerahemnah's forces between two wings of his own, and crushed\nthem.\n\nWith spies he had determined the line of the Lamanite march. Then he\nplaced one of his generals, Lehi, with his command in ambush behind the\nhill Riplah. When Zerahemnah advanced to the banks of the river Sidon,\nLehi attacked him and finally drove him across the river.\n\nWhen the Lamanites emerged dripping on the other side, they were\nswooped down upon by the phalanxes of Moroni. Like rats in a trap,\nsurrounded on all sides, they struggled with ferocious courage,\nclanging their cimeters on the Nephite armor and in return being\nfrightfully mangled. Sickened with the sight of gore, Moroni finally\ncalled off his troops.\n\nMoroni's position was unique. Chosen as commander-in-chief of the\nNephite army at the age of twenty-five, he yet towered so far above the\nother characters of his age, that older men did not dispute his place.\nEven the lean Amalickiah, eaten up with ambition, hid his envy.\n\nEducated in the school of the priests, Moroni combined wisdom with the\nfire of youth. Disliking warfare and bloodshed, he had been forced into\nit in defense of his people when their freedom was threatened. To the\nspotless purity of his life was attributed much of his power.\n\nAs men often owe successful periods of their lives to the influence of\nsome woman, so Moroni had known two, Hirza, clear-eyed and spiritual\nminded, he had met at school. Keenly intellectual she had dazzled him\nwith her brilliancy. To her he owed much of his erudition and his\nwide knowledge of human nature. He was genuinely attached to this gay\ncomrade when the handsome Zorabel came into his life. She reminded him\nof a full blown rose, whose fragrance gradually steals over the senses\nuntil they are steeped in delirium. He was yet to find out that she had\nher thorn below the soft petals. Zorabel was a sister of Amalickiah,\nand, like him, was ambitious.\n\nMoroni sallied out of his tent into the brilliant sunlight to go\nand meet Zerahemnah at the appointed place. Behind him filed his\nbody-guard, led by Amalickiah who walked by the side of his chief.\nDoubly dear to the general was this brother of Zorabel, yet he dared\nnot give him a higher place in the army because he could not trust\nhim. Amalickiah had done things--and yet under the genial influence of\nhis presence, soothed by his flattering words, Moroni was inclinded to\nlaugh at his fears.\n\nMoroni reached the little hillock, ascended it, and let his gaze rest\non the emerald expanse of the river that writhed like a green snake\nbetween the burnished gold of its banks. Below him swarmed the hordes\nof the Lamanites, perturbed by a spirit of unrest, as they expectantly\nawaited the result of the parley.\n\nThere was a commotion in the ranks and Zerahemnah moved out from among\nthem and advanced toward Moroni. A shaggy homely man, he seemed, yet\nnot without a suggestion of power. A gruff leader of men, of violent\ntemper, he had gained his position by force. When he stopped a pace\nfrom Moroni, the latter addressed him.\n\n\"Behold, Zerahemnah, we do not want to be men of blood. You know that\nyou are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.\" He reminded\nhim that the Nephites had not gone to war for power, but to defend\ntheir loved ones against the yoke of bondage. He added that they had\ntried to destroy his religion whereas the Lord had delivered them\ninto his hands. He finished by demanding their weapons of war and the\npromise that they would go their way and come not again to battle\nagainst his people.\n\nZerahemnah unbuckled his sword, threw down his cimeter and handed his\nbow to Moroni, saying, \"Here are our weapons of war. We will not suffer\nourselves to take an oath unto you, which we know that we shall break,\nand also our children. Take our arms and suffer that we may depart into\nthe wilderness. Otherwise we will perish or conquer. We are not of your\nfaith, we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your\nhands; it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords.\"\n\nMoroni handed him back his arms. \"We will end the conflict,\" he said.\n\nWhen Zarahemnah grasped the import of his words his face purpled with\nrage. Paying no heed to his weapons that clattered to the ground, he\nbrandished his sword and rushed at Moroni. It would have pierced him\nhad not the alert Amalickiah on Moroni's right smote it to the earth\nwith a blow of such force that it shattered it at the hilt. Before\nthe dazed Zerahemnah could realize what had happened, a second blow\ndescended with such swiftness that it shaved off his scalp. With blood\nstreaming in his face and a snarl like a wounded beast, Zerahemnah\nsprang back to his own cohorts that had surged forward at the vivid\nspectacle.\n\nAmalickiah stooped and picked up the scalp by the tuft of hair.\nFastening it on the point of his sword he stretched it toward them\ncrying in a loud voice, \"Even as this scalp of your chief has fallen to\nthe earth, so shall you fall to the earth unless you deliver up your\nweapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace.\"\n\nVisibly impressed, and quaking with fear, many of the Indians came\nforward, took the oath, stacked their weapons at the feet of Moroni,\nand departed in little bands into the wilderness. But Zerahemnah,\nhoarse with wrath, mingling with the remaining soldiers urged them on\nto recommence the assault.\n\nAngered with their stubborn resistance the Nephite leader turned his\nlegions loose. In the frightful massacre that ensued the dark warriors\nwere swept down.\n\nWhen Zerahemnah saw that they were going to be all wiped out, he cried\nmightily to Moroni, promising, if he spared the remainder of their\nlives, never to come against him again.\n\nThe latter ordered the battle to cease and allowed the shivering\nremnants of the Lamanites to leave.\n\nNight descended on the field of horrors and obliterated many of its\nsights, and Moroni, weary and sick at heart, made his way back to his\ntent. Outside a lashing rainstorm had arisen, increasing the agony of\nthe wounded. The soldiers were clearing the field and throwing the\nbodies of the unnumbered dead into the river. Dreariness enveloped the\ngeneral as he threw himself disconsolately down.\n\n\"A lady to see you, sir,\" announced the sentry at the door. Moroni\nstarted up. Doubtless some heartbroken mother come in search of her\nson. Was there no end?\n\n\"Admit her,\" he ordered curtly.\n\nA woman clad in a rough brown cloak entered. She threw back her hood\nfrom which her head emerged like a gorgeous poppy.\n\nMoroni started toward her. \"Zorabel,\" he exclaimed.\n\n\"Thank God you are safe!\" she withdrew her hand from his compelling\ngrasp to feel the massive armor on his shoulders, to assure herself\nthat he was not hurt.\n\n\"This is no place for you. How did you come here?\" he gently chided.\n\n\"Since you left I have been in torment. When I heard of a clash of arms\non the other side of the river, I jumped on my swiftest steed. See how\nfast I rode. It shook down all my hair.\" She showed him her black hair\nstreaming almost to her knees. \"When I reached the lines they said you\nbarely escaped death today,\" her voice broke.\n\n\"I suppose I should have been killed if it hadn't been for Amalickiah!\nYour brother saved my life.\"\n\n\"Dear Amalickiah! You must tell me.\"\n\nAs he recited the incidents of the day she drank in his words with her\nsoul in her eyes.\n\nStrange spectacle that, of Zorabel, the charmer. She had recognized\nMoroni as the coming man and had deliberately set out to fascinate him.\nBut as she entrapped him with her hundred coquetries, she found herself\nin the toils. The fresh young general had stirred her as no other man\never had and the proud Zorabel was now avowedly the abject slave of\nlove.\n\nIn her sweet presence the exigencies of the camp were forgotten, the\nturmoil of the day faded away, and Moroni felt a calm descend on his\nspirit.\n\nII.\n\nMORONI RAISES THE STANDARD OF LIBERTY.\n\nMoroni sat in his study bent over a message which read, \"Amalickiah has\nstirred up an insurrection to gain the kingdom,\" when a young lawyer\nentered and accosted him. The newcomer had formerly been the general's\nsecretary and an affectionate familiarity existed between them.\n\n\"What is it now?\" asked Moroni pushing his papers aside, for something\nin the other's air suggested matters of import.\n\n[Illustration: MORONI RAISES THE STANDARD OF LIBERTY.]\n\n\"Only this, sir. I found out by accident that there was a meeting of\nthe judges of the lower court called to which I was not bid. I took\nmeans to investigate and found that they have all pledged themselves\nto support Amalickiah as king on the strength of his empty promises to\nincrease their power.\"\n\n\"I was afraid of this,\" sighed Moroni. His eye traveled to the door\nwhence a young captain entered with angry stride.\n\nThe stern young blade was vibrant with vehemence as he saluted and\nannounced, \"There is a defection in the army, sir. The soldiers have\nbeen stirred up with tales of civil war. The men, spoiling with\ninaction, hail the idea of a clash with delight. Already they are\ntaking sides. Amalickiah has won over the rougher element with promises\nof loot.\"\n\n\"What have you done?\"\n\n\"Put the rebels in irons. But the insurrection is spreading, and I\ncan't imprison the whole army.\"\n\n\"You have done well. Let us hear what Sherum has to say.\" A servant\nwith disheveled hair, his garments almost torn from his back, and his\neyes rolling wildly in his head, had rushed in and thrown himself at\nthe feet of the general.\n\nIt was a moment before the panting wretch could get his breath. Between\ngasps he managed to ejaculate, \"The city has gone mad. Howling mobs\nare blocking the streets. As I returned from the charcoal vender's I\nventured to enquire what it was all about. They jeered at me and when\nI refused to cry, 'Long live King Amalickiah, cuffed me from hand to\nhand.\"\n\nMoroni knew enough about the management of men to realize that\nturbulent conditions require desperate remedies. Unless the revolution\nwas stopped Amalickiah would be swept into office on the flood tide of\na riot.\n\nHis face darkened. \"Was it for this that my people fought the bloody\nwars with the Lamanites? Resisted the yoke of bondage to become thralls\nof a Nephite king, because perchance, Amalickiah would have it so?\" he\nmuttered bitterly.\n\n\"Teancum, go back to the barracks. Order the soldiers to prepare to\nmarch and the first one who tries to desert make an example of. Let fly\nan arrow and shoot him in the back.\"\n\nFilled with the valor of his emprize, Teancum saluted his chief in\nsilence and strode out.\n\n\"Sherum, arise, and bid Horeb bring here my full armor. You,\" he\ncontinued, turning to the lawyer, \"go tell the town criers to summon\nthe people to a mass meeting at the palace of justice. Say that Moroni\nwould speak with them.\"\n\nTearing off the white cotton mantle that hung from his shoulders\nhe took it over to the longest spear that rested against the wall.\nQuickly he lashed the white flag to the pole with thongs of buckskin.\nThen hastily thrusting his brush into the ink pot that stood near, he\nwrote on the white banner in bold letters, \"In memory of our God, our\nreligion and freedom, our peace, our wives, and our children.\"\n\nBefore he had finished his body servant entered bowed under the weight\nof his harness. With firm, deft touch he encased his master in the\nglittering metal. First he adjusted the breast plate, and then fastened\nthe heavy armor that shielded the vital organs. He handed his chief his\nshield dented with the fray of many battles and lastly crowned him with\nthe great helmet which bore on its crest the winged serpent.\n\nHe knew that one man could not quell the insurrection. He felt that he\nwas but a weak instrument. Before he ventured out Moroni bowed himself\ndown and prayed mightily that the Lord would pour down on the people\nthe blessing of liberty.\n\nFilled with the new strength that earnest prayer always imparts, he\nseized the title of liberty, and walked boldly out into the howling mob\nin the street.\n\nWhen the people saw Moroni clad in martial array and read what was on\nhis torn flag, the clamor died on their lips. Many quickly separated\nthemselves from the crowd and followed the general.\n\nWhen he reached the palace of justice and ascended the stairs to the\nportico, he found the square below filled with a surging multitude and\nfrom all directions others were hurrying. Men who had fought in the\nwars with Moroni were fastening on their armor as they ran, and women\npulled children by the hand.\n\nMoroni stepped forward and grasped the standard of liberty as he cried\nin a loud voice, \"Behold whosoever will maintain this title upon the\nland, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a\ncovenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that\nthe Lord God may bless them.\"\n\nAt this many of the people rent their garments and trampled them under\nfoot as they cried, \"So may our enemies trample us under foot if we\nfall into transgression.\"\n\nMoroni reminded them that was what would probably happen. Then he\nlaunched into speech while the populace hung spell-bound on every word.\nThe vast concourse stood silent while his utterance rang out. Never had\nsuch a eulogy been paid to liberty, never such a tribute to their God.\nIn glowing words he pictured what they had endured for their religion,\nwhat they had suffered in the recent wars for their freedom. Scarcely\none in that vast multitude but what had sacrificed for both. As the\norator ended with the appeal, \"Will you who have so bitterly resented\nthe Lamanitsh yoke bend the knee to a Nephite king?\" an ominous shout\narose and he knew that the populace was with him. General Moroni was\nstill the idol of the people and Amalickiah stood impugned.\n\nAs the speaker, sucked of his strength, turned to descend, someone\nplucked at his arm. He recognized the big servant of Zorabel who\ndelivered the message.\n\n\"My mistress would speak with you. She begs that you will come to her.\"\n\n\"Tell your mistress Zorabel that I shall come, but not yet.\"\n\nWith that he dismissed the messenger and made his way to the\nbarracks where there was much that demanded the attention of the\ncommander-in-chief for the rest of the afternoon.\n\nIt was evening when he at last made his way toward the house of\nZorabel. In her apartment the oil already flamed in its brazen cruet.\nSo vast was the room that the light did not penetrate to its further\ncorners, but it served to illumine its magnificence. The walls were\ncarved in grotesque designs brilliantly colored. Prominent among the\nengravings was the winged serpent of Moroni, and by its side the\nleopard of Amalickiah. On the floor, over the couches, at the door,\nwere displayed richest blankets of heaviest woof and rainbow hue. Nor\nwere there lacking evidences of the personality of Moroni, for his\ngifts were placed with loving care. On an alabaster stand lay a book\nof papyrus filled with picture writing in colored inks, depicting the\nscenes of the conflicts Moroni had taken part in. Against the wall\nstood a buckskin shield won from a famous Lamanite chief. Her own divan\nwas graced by the skin of an ocelot that Moroni had brought from one of\nhis foraying expeditions.\n\nAnother woman would have paled in such gorgeous surroundings, but\nZorabel dominated the whole. In crimson robes, the wealth of her\nraven hair bound in fillets of gold, she was the throbbing heart of\nthe scene. Her own heart beat unevenly beneath the white bosom which\nwas circled with a necklace of jade. She had placed the bangles there\nwondering if his man's brain would remember under what circumstances\nhe had given them to her. She had neglected no detail that night that\nwould help in the desperate enterprise on which she was bound.\n\nThere was a tread in the corridor and Moroni stood in the doorway. As\nshe looked at him all her reproaches for his tardiness died on her lips\nand her woman's tenderness gushed forth.\n\n\"You are ill.\"\n\nAfter the exertions of the day Moroni's features were drawn, his face\npallid, and the life had gone out of him. Quickly she went to him and\nhe enveloped her in his arms.\n\n\"Come,\" she said at last, \"you are shaking as if you had the ague. I\nwill give you some wine.\" She poured an amber liquid into a goblet and\nheld it to his lips as he sat down weakly.\n\n\"It has been a terrible day,\" she moaned.\n\n\"Yes,\" he agreed. \"Was that what you wanted to see me about?\"\n\n\"I always want to see you, but I wished to talk to you, about--\" she\nhesitated, \"Amalickiah.\"\n\n\"I had to oppose him,\" said Moroni wearily.\n\n\"Yes, and defeated him. You won the people over to your side.\"\n\n\"He would be king.\"\n\n\"He is ambitious but he cannot help it.\"\n\n\"But he should learn that he cannot jeopardize the liberty of a nation\nto gratify his vaulting ambition.\"\n\n\"He was dissatisfied with his position.\"\n\n\"He saved my life, but I could not pay my debts with the offices of the\npeople. The trust I gave him he has betrayed.\"\n\nZorabel winced, \"The first victory came to you. Promise me you will\noppose my brother no longer.\"\n\n\"He is a menace to our freedom.\"\n\n\"You will cease the conflict for my sake?\"\n\n\"I cannot.\"\n\n\"Moroni, I would give up my life for you.\"\n\n\"Ask me for my life, Zorabel, and it is yours. As military leader, I\nmust defend the country against any encroachment.\"\n\n\"Then you will let him go his way and not molest him further.\"\n\n\"He is seducing the people and they will have to come back.\"\n\n\"At least, you will let Amalickiah go?\"\n\n\"Not even that, my Zorabel. As long as he is free the Nephite republic\nis threatened.\"\n\n\"Then you will do nothing?'' And her face was terrible.\n\n\"I cannot.\"\n\n\"Oh, God, have I come to this? What is this insensate thing that I have\npoured out the lavishness of my soul on? I thought it was a man,\" she\nflung up her arms despairingly.\n\n\"As I am a man I cannot do this thing you ask me. Forgive me, Zorabel,\"\nhe choked.\n\n\"I have wasted my wealth of love; there is none left. What has it\nbrought me? I have torn my heart out and it has been devoured by the\nGod of War, but unlike the miserable victim that is sacrificed, my body\nshall live on and on, after the heart has gone from it.\"\n\n\"Zorabel, you are killing me.\"\n\n\"I am already dead. No man shall again thrill me with his touch nor\nwill he put me on the rack. Henceforth, I have no master. As for you,\"\nshe had worked herself into a paroxysm of fury, \"never let me see your\nface again.\" In her tempestuous rage she seized the lamp and dashed it\non the floor.\n\nDarkness closed in, and out of the blackness Moroni heard a voice that\nordered him to \"Go.\" He groped blindly around but instinct told him\nthat if he touched her he would be lost, nor would he be the first\nman that betrayed his country for a woman. Staggering, he turned and\nstumbled out. Like a drunken man he descended to the street. Even then\nhad he known that Zorabel lay on the floor shaken with convulsive sobs\nhe might have turned back. But destiny guided him on.\n\nWhen he reached home he found a message from Hirza, congratulating him\non the splendid achievement of the day. With a wan smile he thought,\n\"At what a cost!\"\n\n[Illustration: AZTEC GOD OF WAR.]\n\nIII.\n\nAMALICKIAH.\n\nZorabel carried out her threat; having cast love out of her life she\nwas ruled by ambition. After renouncing Moroni she proceeded to marry\nthe aged, decrepid Lachoneus. He was the richest man in all Zarahemla,\nbut her beauty bought him. She lived for wealth and power and outwardly\nwas as handsome as ever. Moroni used to see her rolling resplendently\nin her carriage, but he never met her without a twinge of the old pain.\n\nAmalickiah, when he saw his forces were far outnumbered by the legions\nof Moroni, beat a hasty retreat into the wilderness. Moroni marched\nagainst him, cut him off, and drove the insurgent soldiers back to\nZarahemla. During the melee, however, Amalickiah with the chief\nconspirators, managed to escape. According to time honored custom they\nsought refuge in the city of Nephi, with the Nephite's arch enemy, the\nking of the Lamanites.\n\nThat august personage received the renegade Nephite with wide open\narms, and when he found what a good fellow he was, heaped honors upon\nhim. Amalickiah, with the charm of his words, won all hearts at court.\n\nHe conceived a gigantic scheme. That was to rule the Nephites through\ntheir ancient enemies, the Lamanites. To this end he began by his\nsubtle flattery to stir up the king's anger against the white people.\n\n\"Why should you not rule over the whole continent, for you are stronger\nthan they?\" he intimated.\n\nThe idea tickled the king's fancy, for though he reigned over mighty\nhosts, he had a vast respect for the Nephite laws and craftsmanship.\n\n\"Seize them now, while their power is divided, and they are yours. They\nhave no head,\" urged the deserter.\n\nThe king remembered a certain General Moroni, but wisely held his\ncounsel. \"They have those liberty flags floating from the towers of\nevery city,\" he suggested.\n\n\"Yes, and you will trample every one of them in the dust beneath your\nchariot wheels,\" prophesied Amalickiah with rising vindictiveness.\n\nThe king, dazzled by the glories pictured by this astute adviser,\nissued the mandate for war. Throughout the length and breadth of the\nland went the word that summoned the hosts.\n\nThen a remarkable thing occurred. Many of the warriors had fought on\nthe banks of the river Sidon and had taken an oath not to again take up\narms against the Nephites, nor would they. These men fled to a place\ncalled Onidah, appointed a general and declared, \"We will have peace,\nif we have to fight for it.\"\n\nThe king suggested to Amalickiah, since he was so much interested in\nthe campaign, that he whip the insurgents into line. The latter gladly\naccepted the command of the troops that were still loyal, for he had\nalready planned to dethrone the king and he counted that one step\ntoward the accomplishment of his design.\n\nThe rebels who refused to fight for the king, under the command of\nLehonti, occupied the hill Antipus. Amalickiah pitched his camp at its\nbase.\n\nAt night, muffled in a zerape, Amalickiah passed the guard, and with\nsinister stride, made his way around the side of the mountain. When\nhe was out of sight of the sentry, he stopped abruptly. The night was\nfitted for deeds of darkness, as it was so black one could not see the\nnext step in advance. To the west the clouds were banked up and the\nwind was beginning to rise. The gaze of the man who stood amid the\ndesolation was fastened on a moving object up the side of the mountain.\nA stone, becoming dislodged, rattled down and instinctively his hand\nsought his sword.\n\nThe next moment the figure accosted him.\n\n\"It is you, Tish? What does Lehonti say?\"\n\n\"He returns the same answer that he has sent the past two nights. He\nwill not come down to parley with you.\"\n\n\"Did you tell him it was of vital importance?\"\n\n\"He said that if that was the case, that you could send the message up\nto him.\"\n\n\"You told him I would assure his safe conduct.\"\n\n\"He answered that a man who had betrayed two masters might do no better\nby an enemy.\"\n\nAmalickiah showed sudden magnanimity.\n\n\"Go tell the coward dog that I come alone to confer with him. Bid him\nbring his guards and meet me at his own gate.\"\n\nSwiftly the messenger sped off and Amalickiah picked his more\ndeliberate way up the side of the mountain. When he reached the place\nappointed, he found that Lehonti already awaited him and that he had\ntaken the precaution to bring his full body guard.\n\n\"What I have to say is for your ears alone,\" explained Amalickiah in a\nlow tone.\n\nNot to be outdone in generosity, Lehonti motioned for his men to fall\nback.\n\nWith the bluntness his crafty soul knew so well how to assume,\nAmalickiah came straight to the point.\n\n\"My policy is to unite the two divisions of the Lamanite army. If we\nfall on each other and shed blood my very purpose will be defeated. We\nneed all the men for the common enemy.\"\n\n\"I too, am opposed to bloodshed,\" answered Lehonti, slowly. \"It is not\ngood for brother to fight against brother.\"\n\n\"I wish to put the whole Lamanite army under one head. If you bring\nyour troops tonight and surround our camp, I will deliver it to you at\ndaylight.\"\n\n\"The price? What do you want?\" asked Lehonti looking the traitor\nstraight in the eyes.\n\n\"That you make me second in command of all the forces of the Lamanites.\"\n\nThe Indian mistrusted how he might get along with such a lieutenant,\nbut the proposition seemed fair enough on its face, and he agreed.\n\nAt dawn, when the soldiers began to stir, they found that they were\ncompletely surrounded by the army of Lehonti. Then they pleaded with\nAmalickiah that he would let them fall in with their brethren and not\nbe destroyed. That was what he wanted. In direct disobedience to the\ncommands of the king, he delivered his men to Lehonti. That noble but\ntrusting general had taken a viper to his bosom, though he had to die\nto prove it.\n\nFrom second in command to the office of commander-in-chief, was but one\nstep. It mattered little to the unscrupulous Amalickiah that Lehonti\nstood in the way. He had slow poison administered in his food. When the\nlatter sickened the Nephite took over his duties.\n\nAs the two sat at the table at dinner, one day, Lehonti collapsed and\nfell on the floor. Amalickiah shrugged his shoulders and indifferently\nremarked that he had taken a fit. When the physicians examined the\nprostrate figure and pronounced him dead, Amalickiah affected surprise.\nHe ordered that Lehonti be buried with military honors, and that same\nday appointed himself to the dead man's place.\n\nSlowly the great army began to make its way back to the capitol.\nRunners brought word to the king that the hosts covered the plains.\nThinking that Amalickiah had gathered together so great an army to go\nto battle against the Nephites, he, with great pomp, accompanied by\nhis guards, sallied out to meet the victorious general. He did not\nknow that Amalickiah would fain advance another step and that the king\nhimself this time stood in the way.\n\nThe advance scouts, the employed hirelings of the general, went ahead\nof the army and bowed themselves down before the king to do him\nreverence. Among them was Tish, noted for his dog-like devotion to his\nmaster. It was he, it was suspected, who had administered the poison to\nLehonti. Whatever his faults, he was unswerving in his loyalty to his\nchief. It chanced that he knelt directly in front of the monarch. When\nthe sovereign put forth his hand to raise him in token of peace, he\nleaned forward and buried his dagger to the hilt in the king's heart.\nSo quickly had it happened as the two men stood together, so sure was\nthe stroke, that not until the king went down on his back and the red\nspot on his robe slowly widened, did the dazed onlookers realize what\nhad happened. The attendants, in abject terror that they would share a\nlike fate, swiftly fled.\n\nAn accomplice, taking his cue from the fleeing servants came up and\naddressed the assassin.\n\n\"So his own guards have killed the king and are running away.\"\n\nTish, smiling sardonically down on his own blade drinking the life\nblood of the dying monarch, murmured, \"It must be so.\"\n\nThe eye lids of the victim quivered accusingly an instant and then\nclosed forever. Tish turned away his head.\n\nThe others closed in and raised a great shout, \"Behold the servants of\nthe king have stabbed him to the heart, and he has fallen and they have\nfled. Come and see.\"\n\nThey did not bethink themselves to pursue the refugees until\nAmalickiah, with the main division of the army came up.\n\nWhen that doughty general had looked in silence on the king, lying\nin his gore, he worked himself up to a mighty wrath and ordered,\n\"Whosoever loved the king, let him go forth and pursue his servants\nthat they may be slain.\"\n\nAt this, those who loved the king, and they were many, started in hot\npursuit of the renegades, but the latter, when they saw an army coming\nafter them, fortified with the strength born of desperation, made good\ntheir escape.\n\nAmalickiah, having won the hearts of the people with his valorous\nattempt to apprehend the supposed slayers of the king, marched into the\ncity in triumph at the head of his troops. He had already sent messages\nto the queen, accompanied by the corpse of her husband. In her vigil\nover the bier she listened to the tramp of the numberless battalions,\nand replied by craving mercy for the inhabitants of the city. She asked\nthe general to wait upon her and bring witnesses to testify concerning\nthe death of the king.\n\nAmalickiah, looking very handsome in full armor, went to the palace and\npresented himself before the queen as she sat in state upon the throne.\nHe was accompanied by Tish and the other conspirators, who had killed\nher husband. They all solemnly swore that the king had been slain by\nhis own servants. They added, \"They have fled. Does not this testify\nagainst them?\" While she received the report, Amalickiah kept his\ndominating gaze on the queen's face. When she felt him looking at her,\nshe dropped her eyes. After the others withdrew, Amalickiah remained to\nadjust affairs of state with the queen.\n\nFor three days the widow shut herself up in her chamber to mourn.\nDuring that time Amalickiah surfeited her with embankments of flowers\nand baskets of fruit. His multiple gifts were accompanied by a\nglib-tongued messenger, who lost no opportunity to sound his master's\npraises.\n\n[Illustration: AMALIKAIH SENT THE CORPSE OF HER HUSBAND TO THE\nLAMANITE QUEEN.]\n\nThe lady, overburdened with the affairs of state, came to rely more and\nmore on the big, strong, councillor. They were thrown much together and\npeople began to wonder if there had been another reason for the king's\nsending Amalickiah away to the wars. He was a Nephite with the charm\nand manners of his race, and the queen was but a pawn. Only, since he\nwas to marry her to gain the throne, he gloried in the fact that she\nwas so beautiful.\n\nSo the two were wed, and Amalickiah, seated on the throne by the\nqueen's side, was crowned king. She salved her conscience for her\nundue haste by ordering a splendid tomb for the remains of her former\nhusband. She had the funeral chamber decorated with leopards, the coat\nof arms of Amalickiah.\n\nHe gave himself over to the pleasures of the court, but still\nunsatisfied, desired to rule the earth. Slowly he began to plan the\nvast campaign which would again mark the clash of the two greatest\ngenerals of the age, Moroni, commander-in-chief of the Nephites,\nand Amalickiah, king of the Lamanites, only now the latter had the\nbarbarian hordes behind him.\n\nIV.\n\nNemesis Overtakes Amalickiah.\n\nMoroni again sat at his study table, while Teancum walked the floor\nlike a caged hyena. The former was haggard-gray like a blasted tree;\nthe latter vowed vengeance, in harsh, inarticulate sounds. Thus the\ntwo men took their sorrow differently. Word had come that day that the\ncity of Moroni on the Atlantic coast had been sacked by Amalickiah. For\ncertain reverses that his troops had met with at first, that worthy had\nsworn to drink Moroni's blood. City after city had fallen under his\nattack, and ruin and destruction followed in his wake. Finally Moroni's\nhome town was captured. When Amalickiah found that he was cheated of\nhis revenge, as Moroni had gone to Zarahemla, he had without mercy had\nthe aged parents of Teancum and Moroni's young wife, Hirza, put to the\nsword. Her woman's wit had saved her boy, Moronihah, and sent him in\nsafety to his father, but it could not save herself.\n\n\"The vampire has drunk your blood through Hirza's veins.\" Teancum\nstopped in his mad pace. \"Poor Hirza, whose only fault was being loved\nby you.\"\n\nMoroni groaned.\n\n\"It was a coward's trick,\" continued the other. \"They are dead, my aged\nfather and my poor old mother--Look you, Moroni, Amalickiah belongs to\nme. Before heaven I swear to kill him with these two hands!\" He flung\nhis powerful arms with clenched fists above his head.\n\n[Illustration: AMALICKIAH SACKED THE COAST CITIES AND PUT HIRZA TO THE\nSWORD.]\n\n\"Nay, do not swear,\" cautioned Moroni. \"Teancum, you have been given\nthe command of the division that moves against the Lamanites tomorrow.\nFight with the genius and tenacity you displayed on the narrow neck of\nland. For the rest I trust you implicitly. Now I would be alone.\"\n\n* * * * * * * *\n\nAmalickiah marched toward the land Bountiful driving the Nephites\nbefore him. On the last day he had been much harassed by the archers\nof Teancum that skirted the woods. When they reached the seashore\nthey met the forces of Teancum drawn up in martial array. A pitched\nbattle ensued in which the Nephites had the advantage over the footsore\nLamanites who had been marching and fighting for many days, while their\nopponents were fresh. With nightfall hostilities ceased. \"If Amalickiah\nwere dead, there would be no more war; the snake cannot strike without\nits head,\" cogitated the Nephite.\n\nTeancum sat in his tent and by the sputtering flame of a pine torch,\nwas engaged in coloring his skin brown by rubbing it with the juice\nof a wood berry. His servant, who had already gone through the same\nperformance, and was a Lamanite to all appearances, was sorting over\nrather gingerly, a pile of women's apparel.\n\n\"You are hard to please. Does nothing there suit you?\" asked Teancum,\nwith mocking irony.\n\n\"Nay, there are so many, I know not which to choose,\" replied the other\nin the same spirit.\n\n\"It need not be overly becoming in the dark. Let me warn you to make\nyour skirts short, for you may have to run.\" So daring hearts make\nlight of the gravest dangers.\n\nThe man servant replied with a vicious wrench as he got into the\nwoman's garb.\n\nTeancum surveyed him and laughed. \"My word, you make a charming wench.\nHalf the men in the Lamanite camp will try to flirt with you, and so\ndefeat our adventure. Pull your scarf down more over your face, so.\"\n\nThe other grinned, displaying a mouth unfeminine in width. But he\nlooked sober when Teancum handed him a battle axe with the remark, \"If\nI fail, you may have an opportunity to finish it,\" Teancum himself\ntucked a double-edged dagger into his belt and took down his javelin.\nHe then enveloped himself in a blanket.\n\nAs the two passed out, the servant in the yellow striped skirt of\na drab, the other with the shuffling gait of a camp straggler,\nthey attracted little attention. When they entered the camp of the\nLamanites they elicited less, for the men slept with the abandonment of\nexhaustion. \"A fellow and his girl out late,\" was all they thought, if\nthey saw them at all.\n\nAs the couple picked their way among the tired soldiers one would\noccasionally open his eyes, see who it was, only grunt and turn over\nwearily. So without mishap they reached the tent of Amalickiah. Fortune\nwas with them, for his servants were sleeping heavily. Although delay\nwas fraught with danger, Teancum reconnoitered a moment to ascertain\njust where Amalickiah lay. He was asleep on a camp couch with his arms\nby his side. A streak of moonlight straggled in and illumined his pale\nface.\n\nFor a moment Teancum poised his javelin in the air. Then he struck. So\npowerful was the arm that drove the weapon that it went through the\nsleeper's body, speared the heart, and he died without a groan.\n\nTeancum joined his cowering companion at the entrance, and the two\npicked their way out of the hostile camp.\n\nNot until morning did the Lamanite hordes raise a wail for their dead\nking. They had just found his corpse, stark and cold, stuck through\nwith a javelin.\n\n[Illustration: BAS-RELIEF OF ANCIENT WARRIOR]\n\n[Illustration: ALLA DERIDING THE IDOLS]\n\nAMMON'S MISSION TO THE LAMANITES.\n\nI.\n\nAMMON EMBARKS ON A MISSION\n\nAmmon was the Napoleon of the western hemisphere. One trembles to think\nwhat a man of such power might have done, had he used it for his own\naggrandizement, instead of converting souls. He was a king's son, and\nthough not the eldest, he was chief among his brothers, for his name is\nalways mentioned first.\n\nDuring a brilliant and careless youth, the whole course of his life had\nbeen metamorphosed by a miracle. Thenceforth he consecrated his life\nto the work of the Lord, beside which a mere earthly kingdom sank into\ninsignificance.\n\nWhen Mosiah, king of the Nephites, waxed old, there was no one to take\nhis place as his four sons had elected to go as missionaries to the\nLamanites. His death marked the beginning of the reign of the judges.\n\nHeavily armed, the missionaries departed into the wilderness. Their\nweapons were not designed for their fellow man, but for wild game that\nthey should kill for food. That they went hungry was not due to their\nlack of prowess, for they often chose to fast that the spirit of the\nLord would be with them. Nor was their sacrifice without effect, for\nthe Lord promised them that if they made examples of their lives that\nthey should be instruments in his hands unto the salvation of many\nsouls.\n\nIt was characteristic of Ammon that he should separate from his\ncompanions and go up to the land of Ishmael alone. Here, skirting the\nwoods, he was captured by the Lamanites, and, like every Nephite caught\non their borders, was taken before their king.\n\nLamoni was in a good humor. He had just returned from the hunt where he\nhad killed the silver fox. As he threw himself back on his divan, he\ntook in the points of the prisoner with the keen eye of a connoisseur.\nWith discriminating approval, he noted the swelling muscles beneath the\nloose garments of the white man, but with black suspicion, demanded,\n\"What are you doing here?\"\n\n\"I was entering your country when I was violently assaulted and bound\nwith thongs of buckskin.\" Ammon looked ruefully, down at his chafed\nankles.\n\n\"May I ask what you were entering the country for?\"\n\n\"I came here to live.\"\n\n\"You came here to live!\" repeated the king stupidly.\n\n\"Yes, and I may stay until I die.\"\n\n\"Which may be soon, judging by the fate that your last two countrymen,\nthat encroached on my borders, met. What crime did you commit in\nZarahemla that makes you an outcast?\"\n\n\"None. I came here of choice, not of necessity.\"\n\n\"Then you are a merchant?\"\n\n\"No. I am a king's son and need nu money.\"\n\nLamoni looked puzzled. Clearly he could not understand this man, yet\nhis words carried conviction.\n\n\"I am a missionary,\" explained Ammon simply. \"I have come here to\npreach the gospel of righteousness.\"\n\n\"I know that your people have preserved some remnants of the truth that\nwe have lost. You say that you have relinquished your father's kingdom\nto come and live among us?\" he asked incredulously, obviously flattered.\n\n\"What is that compared with the salvation of souls? Who knows but what\nif we come to one belief that these bloodthirsty wars between our two\npeoples shall cease?\"\n\n\"Cut this man's bonds,\" ordered Lamoni, pleased with his new guest.\n\nLike a hound loosed from leash, Ammon shook off his fetters and stood\nforth majestically.\n\nLamoni opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly his jaw dropped and\nthe utterance died on his lips. A woman's laugh, shrill and taunting,\ncame from the terrace and recalled his chief trouble to the king. His\nbrow puckered. His daughter, Alla, was the trial of his life. She kept\nthe court in a continuous uproar. Not the least of her faults was that\nshe was an incorrigible flirt and kept the nobles in continual hot\nwater with her coquetries. It would not have been so bad if she had\nconfined her operations to the nobility, but she showed a democratic\npredilection for commoners that was at least alarming. More than\nonce, he had tried to marry her off but his and the princess' choice\nhad never fallen on the same person. Only three days before, she had\nlured two young men into an embroglio with the result that one carried\nhis arm in a sling while the other had lost the temporary use of an\neye. When openly charged with encouraging them, Alla had shamelessly\nconfessed that she led men on to see what they would do under certain\ncircumstances. Hers was a woman's insatiate curiosity, which, deprived\nof books, read people in lieu thereof.\n\nLamoni was seized with a sudden inspiration. \"Tell Alla to come here.\"\n\nThe servant sped out, but Ammon was not prepared for the apparition\nthat presently appeared.\n\n\"You wanted me, father?\" Of strong rather than beautiful features as\nshe stood there in regal robes she was every inch a princess. She was\ndressed with the care bred of the knowledge that every detail was dear\nto the heart of a man. Yet Alla did not make her conquests at first\nsight. They were wrought out of the diabolical cunning of her brain,\nbut once she got her grip on a man--she did not let go.\n\n\"This is Ammon, son of King Mosiah. Since he purposes to dwell among us\nI shall give him you for a wife,\" announced Lamoni. Turning to the man\nhe continued, \"That you may appreciate the honor I confer upon you, I\nwill add that the hand of my daughter has been sought by every noble\nin the kingdom.\" He did not explain that a decision in any one's favor\nwould probably precipitate civil war and that he was pawning her off on\nthe newcomer to gain peace for himself.\n\n\"I do not know him,\" interposed Alla.\n\n\"The women of our country choose their own husbands,\" abetted Ammon.\n\"Moreover, missionaries do not marry. They cannot divide their\nattention between their work and a woman.\"\n\n\"Then you refuse her,\" repeated the king dully. The humor of the\nsituation burst on him. \"Alla, there is one man who will not have you.\"\n\nWith one look at Ammon, she tossed her head and swept out.\n\n\"She will make you regret it,\" remarked Lamoni with a twinkle in his\neye, \"No one ever offends Alla with impunity.\"\n\n\"I meant no offense to the princess. Under the circumstances what else\ncould I say?\"\n\n\"Since you have refused to become the king's son-in-law, may I ask what\nyou propose to do?\"\n\n\"No work is too humble for my new calling. Let me be your servant,\" he\nsuggested with enthusiasm.\n\n\"The training of a king's son seldom fits a man for labor. What can you\ndo?\"\n\n\"I have herded cattle and I love the open.\"\n\n\"Then a cattle herder you shall be.\"\n\nHe clapped his hands. To the servant that appeared he ordered, \"Take\nthis man and give him a place among the herders. Provide him with all\nnecessities.\" To Ammon he said, \"If there is anything I can do for you\nlet me know. I shall see you again.\" They were dismissed and with a\nsigh of relief he sank back among his cushions.\n\nII. THE CATTLE HERDER.\n\nFor three days Ammon rode among the cattle. A born horseman he sat\nwell the king's mount that had been sent him. During that time he had\nseen no more of Princess Alla though his ears had been filled with\na multitude of servant's tales about her that were both weird and\nstartling.\n\nIt so chanced that early in the morning as the herders drove the cattle\nto the waters of Sebus to drink, that the robbers from the mountains\nhad congregated there to scatter the herds. This was not an unusual\nthing for the vast wealth of Lamoni in live stock was known and\ncoveted. A rather peculiar criminal code existed, by which any servants\nwho allowed the king's cattle to be stolen, were put to death, while\nthe robbers retreated to their mountain fastnesses unmolested. This\nprevented collusion but encouraged the thieves.\n\nAs the cattle neared the river the robbers, with wild whoops, plunged\nin among them, scattering them in all directions. This was what they\nwanted so they could drive them off in bunches to their rendezvous.\nAmmon, who was not familiar with the conditions, viewed the scene with\nastonishment; but his surprise knew no bounds when he beheld the king's\nservants throw themselves violently to the ground and begin to weep in\na paroxysm of grief.\n\n\"Look here, you will be run over,\" he cried heading off a frightened\nheifer. The chief danger was over, as the stampede was swallowed up in\na cloud of dust across the plains.\n\n\"We are all dead men,\" wailed an old man to whom life was still sweet.\n\n\"I leave a young wife,\" added a youth in a lifeless monotone.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" Ammon impatiently exclaimed.\n\n\"Simply this,\" explained a man of middle age, \"when the king's cattle\nare stolen, the herders are put to death.\"\n\n\"Then they must be brought back,\" said Ammon with finality. \"Instead of\ndriveling here, spread out to the sides and help drive them in when I\nturn them this way.\"\n\nThe others eyed him as if paralyzed as he dug his heels into his horse\nand sped off across the plains like the whirlwind. As his flying figure\nwa? swallowed up by a cloud of dust, they arose and mechanically began\nto spread out on the prairie.\n\nAmmon was handicapped as the cattle had the start of him. He leaned\nforward and swirled his lariat in the air although his poor beast was\nalready panting with distended nostrils. Slowly he gained on the herd\nwhich was impeded by its own numbers. His horse was frothing with foam\nas he reached the front. He dared not plunge in to destruction but he\nedged along the outskirts, curving the herd to one side. His alert\neyes had espied the leader, a young bull, and he made for him. Without\nputting himself directly in its infuriated way, he uttered a wild whoop\nand almost imperceptibly turned him in another direction. The cattle\nfollowed suit and traveled in a circle and by the time that the cowboys\nhedged them in they were able to drive them back to the waters of Sebus.\n\nThe robbers, unprepared for such tactics, had after their first\nunsuccessful attempt massed themselves together at the watering place\nto again scatter the herds as they came up.\n\nAmmon called cheerily to the herders to encircle the cattle and guard\nthe outskirts in case they again turned that way. Then he rode straight\nat the robbers. They were amused at this onslaught of a lone rider and\nthought that they could kill him at will, but when he hurtled among\nthem and began to hew right and left with his polished blade, they took\nnotice and heaved stones at him. He emerged from the shower unscathed\nand retaliated by striking down man after man. When he reached the\nleader, whom he distinguished by his white crest, he stopped long\nenough to kill him. For the rest he was content to disarm them, for\nthey were panic stricken. Ammon understood a trick probably learned\nin his fencing at court, which stood him in good stead. His opponents\nfought him with clubs. By a dexterous stroke he disabled their\narms so that they fell limp by their side. The robbers, completely\nrouted, fled, and Lamoni's awestruck servants crowded up and gathered\ntogether the arms of the cattle thieves. Bearing these trophies of the\nencounter, they hurried to tell the wonderful tale to the king.\n\nAmmon leisurely betook himself to the courtyard where he got out the\nhorses and began to harness them to the king's chariot, as Lamoni had\ngiven instructions that it was to be prepared. He purposed to attend\na feast given by his father, a neighboring but greater king. As he\nled the spirited animals out, one of them reared but Ammon yanked the\nbridle down and forced the brute into place. A flower fell at his feet\nand he looked up to see Alla watching him from one of the windows.\n\nShe leaned out and called, \"My father wants you to come so he can thank\nyou for saving his cattle today.\"\n\nAmmon finished fastening the straps to the gilded chariot, picked up\nthe blossom, and went in.\n\nIII.\n\nTHE TRANCE.\n\nThe queen sent for Ammon to come to the death chamber where the body\nof the king had lain in state for two days and two nights. Though her\nhusband was apparently dead and the magnificent sepulchre stood gaping\nfor the interment, the grief-stricken wife would not have it so. As\nin all southern countries, it was the custom to bury a corpse within\ntwenty-four hours after death. The servants began to go about holding\ntheir noses as they exclaimed, \"He stinketh.\" In this dilemma, the\nqueen sent for Ammon. She had heard of his fame through Alla.\n\nShe met him at the entrance and conducted him into the funeral\nchapel where she had been keeping sorrowful vigil. Coming out of the\nsunlight into the damp chamber, a cold chill swept over him. The vast,\ndimly lighted apartment, constructed entirely of stone, was bare of\nfurnishings except for the bier in the middle where the body was laid\nout.\n\nAs the queen led Ammon over and removed the draperies, displaying the\nking garbed in his royal robes, she murmured in agonized tones, \"They\ntell me you are a prophet of God, and have power to do mighty works in\nhis name. See, some say that he is dead and ought to be placed in the\nsepulchre, but to me he is not dead.\"\n\nThe missionary bent low over the wax like face still as a mask. Closely\nhe scrutinized the veins. Looking up he announced, \"He is not dead, but\nhe sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore\nbury him not. Believeth thou this?\"\n\n\"I believe it will be according as you say.\"\n\n\"Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith: I say unto thee,\nwoman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the\nNephites.\"\n\nAll through the still hours of the night the queen kept vigil over the\nlifeless figure. When the gray dawn stole in through the casement she\nwelcomed it with relief. At the appointed hour when the king should\nrise came Ammon to give her courage.\n\nAs they watched the form stirred, then slowly arose and shook off the\nshroud. When the king recognized his faithful wife he stretched forth\nhis hand and blest her. His face shone with a transcendent light, and\novercome by the spirit, he sank down by the side of the bier. The\nqueen, in sheer weakness of joy embraced him. Ammon fell on his knees\nand poured forth his soul in prayer and thanksgiving.\n\nIt so chanced that Alla was hovering near. She felt strange influences\nin the air; also was she piqued by this Nephite prophet who ignored\nher. When she came into the room, beheld the trio on their knees and\nher father risen from his bed, she uttered shriek after shriek. The\nfrightened servants came running, and when they saw the king risen from\nthe dead they also fell upon their knees.\n\nOne alone, Abish, a waiting woman, who had been converted to the gospel\nsometime before, retained her presence of mind.\n\n\"It is the power of God,\" she opined, and ran carrying the news from\nhouse to house.\n\nA vast multitude assembled and when they beheld the spectacle at the\npalace and noted the Nephite in the strange group, they began to murmur.\n\n\"A great evil has come among us,\" cried one.\n\n\"Nay, let it fall on the king's head for harboring the alien,\"\ninterposed another.\n\nStill others said, \"The king has brought destruction on himself for\nkilling his servants when they lost the herds at Sebus.\"\n\nThe friends of the men whom Ammon had slain there heaped their\nmaledictions on the Nephite. One, whose brother had been killed,\nobsessed with frenzy, drew his sword, and rushed at Ammon, but as he\nraised his blade to strike him, he himself reeled and fell dead. Was it\napoplexy, a deep seated heart trouble, or had the Lord, who promised\nAmmon that he should pass unscathed through perils, struck him down?\nThe awestruck populace did not know.\n\n\"This man is the Great Spirit,\" said one clinging to some vestiges of\nthe old faith.\n\n\"He is a monster,\" disagreed another.\n\nThey straightway quarreled over the matter; the crowd took sides. A\nclash was imminent whereat Abish burst into tears. In this emergency\nshe went over to the queen, and tenderly helped her to her feet. The\nlatter's face was radiant as she took hold of the hand of the king. He\nconfronted the multitude. In few words he endorsed the work of Ammon.\nHis conversion was wrought during his trance. From that time forth he\nwas the missionary's ablest advocate.\n\nThat night a great feast was given to celebrate the recovery of the\nking. The palace gardens were thrown open to the people. Bands played\non the terraces, fountains sprayed by the lurid light of the bon fires,\nand the moonlight kissed the lake. The whole city rejoiced in gala\nattire, while the attaches of the palace, relieved from the recent\nstrain, relapsed into abandon. The queen's heart expanded toward all\nmankind; the king, snatched from the grave, lorded it graciously over\nhis subjects. The nobles exchanged merry quips and the banquet was long\ndrawn out. People treated Ammon with semi-worship. He was in an exalted\nframe of mind for he knew that his work was auspiciously begun.\n\nBlinded with the lights and deafened with the noise, he felt faint,\nand clambered out into the open air to walk beneath the stars. Back\nand forth he paced when he heard his name called in a soft voice. He\nwheeled to behold Alla beneath the rubber plants. As he went towards\nher, she, in her yellow robes against the dark green of the foliage,\nreminded him more than ever of a gorgeous butterfly.\n\n\"I have not had a chance to thank you before for what you did for my\nfather,\" she said between sips of fruit juice.\n\nAmmon disclaimed credit, saying it was all due to the power of the Lord.\n\n\"I want you to help me tonight. Come into the garden. We will have to\nhurry, or Hebron, who went to fetch me an ice, will be back.\"\n\nWithout more ado she took hold of his arm and hastily urged him down\nthe stairs. On reaching the garden she plucked a burning brand from the\nfire and led him through dark, circuitous paths beneath the umbrella\ntrees till the roof of a round topped building loomed before them.\n\n\"Be careful of the steps,\" she cautioned as she started to descend into\nit, but she herself jumped when a black beetle fell from one of the\noverhanging branches. He came to her rescue and together they entered\nthe underground chamber. Ammon looked about him curiously. The place\nwas lined with hewn stone. He laid his hand on a porphyry vase that\ncontained incense.\n\n\"See,\" Alla held the light up to the wall. \"These paintings depict the\nprincipal events in my father's life.\"\n\nAmmon's eyes followed the intricate designs without grasping their\nmeaning.\n\n\"You will notice,\" she continued, \"that the other side of the room is\nblank. That space is kept for the scenes yet to come.\"\n\n\"But if he should die--\" his gaze traveled to the middle of the room\nwhere reposed a marble sarcophagus with its maw gaping wide for the\ndead.\n\nShe read his thoughts, \"Yes, this is my father's tomb. The lid was\nremoved when we thought we would have to bring him here. He must not\nsee it in this condition. I dared not bring the servants to shut it,\nfor they talk. You are strong, will you not lift the lid back into\nplace?\"\n\nThe missionary bent his shoulders to the task. He clutched the marble\nslab in his arms, rocked for a moment under its weight, then closed it\ndown on the tomb.\n\n\"So it is cheated of its occupant,\" he finished.\n\n\"I hope it stays sealed a long time,\" sighed Alla.\n\nThe torch flickered out and they stumbled out of the musty tomb into\nthe garden scented with honey suckle blooms. They found their way\nto the rose garden whose charms Ammon had never known before. The\nexcitement of the day had not yet worn off and the allurement of the\ntropics got into his blood. Seeing the city gone wild with pleasure,\ngave rise to resentment that he should be cheated of it. With parched\nlips he thirsted to quaff this sweet cup that was held to his lips. He\nglanced at his companion, natural and more fair than any wild thing in\nthe woods. Seized with moon madness the couple wandered down to the\nsluggish waters of the lake.\n\n\"Yonder is my chinampa,--my floating garden.\" She indicated a black\noasis. \"When I grow weary of the world I flee to it and while the day\naway on the bosom of the waters. I have there a little chapel filled\nwith the images of our Lamanite gods. Would you like to see them?\"\n\nAmmon assented, so she clambered over the rocks and shot out her canoe.\nThey took their places in it and the man drove it across the lake with\nbroad strokes.\n\nAlla fell silent. What availed all her little vanities in the presence\nof this man who read her very soul. He was her master; already she\nworshiped him. The calm also gave Ammon time to think of where his\nfolly led him. Even if he should marry, this creature of impulse was\nnot the woman for him. Linked with his austere life she would beat her\nbrilliant wings out and become a limp, draggled thing. He could not\nspoil her life. On the other hand, if he made her happy, his mission\nwould have to be abandoned. If she were only different. Then he\nreflected a little sadly that if she were anything but what she was he\nwould not love her.\n\nAs if to make his resolve harder she broke the silence. \"You remember\nthat day when we first met, my father offered me to you?\"\n\nHe inclined his head.\n\n\"You said then, 'The women of my country choose their own husbands.'\nWould it make any difference if the woman offered herself to you?\"\n\nAmmon felt a sharp twinge of pain, but he steadied his voice. \"No. You\nremember that I said afterward that a missionary cannot marry.\"\n\n\"That day, smarting with hurt pride, I determined that I would make you\nlove me. Now, I wish I hadn't.\" They had reached the island and she\nhid her confusion in landing. The garden was one bouquet of fragrant\nposies. Their feet sank into long moss beneath, while festoons of\nSpanish moss draped above. Alia led the Nephite to a grotto, whence\nissued the sound of running water. The sanctuary was built around a\ngurgling spring. Dark and dismal, it was but illy lighted by the white\nmoonlight that streamed in.\n\n\"These are the images of the gods of the Lamanites.\" She indicated huge\nfigures carved in stone that lay about the place. \"This is Tlalac, god\nof rain; yonder the goddess of grain.\" Stroking the most hideous idol\nshe added, \"This is Huitzil, god of war.\"\n\nAmmon's eyes were fastened on a slender white cross reared in front of\nthe last.\n\n\"That is the symbol of your religion, for I saw a little cross hanging\naround your neck. I have embraced your faith and I brought the new\nsymbol here in their own temple to deride the fallen idols.\"\n\nAmmon, deeply touched, took off his own chain and fastened the pendant\ncrucifix around the neck of the girl. She reached up to thank him. For\na moment he felt his head reel. Then very gently he took hold of her\narms and pushed her away from him. As they stood thus the sound of a\npaddle fell on their startled ears. They both started back and then\nAmmon impulsively stepped out to the edge of the water. He saw Hebron,\na noble who paid court to Alla, rowing alone on the lake. He hailed\nhim. \"The Princess Alla came here to show me the ancient idols. Will\nyou not take her back.\"\n\nHebron, who was surprised to find the lady that he had missed earlier\nin the evening, came up with alacrity. If Ammon had a momentary flash\nof jealousy as he helped Alla in, it was soon dispelled, for she\ncrouched down in the further end of the boat in a dejected heap, her\npoor little wreath of flowers drooping forlornly in her hair. Still as\na statue he watched them speed across the lake. When they touched shore\nand the man arose to help her out, he turned away his eyes, for they\nwere blinded with tears.\n\n\"It is better so,\" he muttered with finality. He took the other canoe\nand resolutely turned his back on the scene. He plowed viciously\nthrough the water until his mighty arms ached. When he had worn himself\nout he landed on the opposite shore of the lake.\n\nIn the shadow of the giant trees he walked. The hoary cypresses held\nthe secrets of a thousand years, but never before had they witnessed\nsuch a struggle in the soul of a man. When the hateful dawn came\nstealing through the branches, wan and haggard, Ammon sought his cell.\nNever before had it seemed so bare, nor the hard bed more uninviting.\nAt his order prison doors should break and kings should bow the knee,\nbut the greatest thing that Ammon ever did was to conquer himself, that\nnight.\n\nIV.\n\nTHE JOURNEY.\n\nAmmon and the king had been playing totoloque, a game of ball, in\nthe garden. Lamoni sat himself down to rest, for the heat of the day\napproached.\n\n\"Ammon, I would have had you for a son, but I must needs be content to\nkeep you for a friend.\"\n\n\"It is an honor to be counted the friend of the king,\" he retorted,\nignoring the first part of the remark.\n\n\"Alla takes it rather hard.\" An amused twinkle came into the father's\neye. \"She has been unbearable since you refused her.\"\n\n\"I have consecrated my life to the work of the Lord, Alla is too young\nand fair a creature to be tied to a somber personage like me.\"\n\n\"Your church is well started here. Let me take you to Nephi to meet my\nfather, the emperor. He would like such a man as you.\"\n\n\"He is not a believer. He would seek my life. Moreover, I must journey\nin the opposite direction to Middoni for my elder brother Aaron and his\nfriends, Muloki and Ammah, are in prison there. I go to deliver them.\"\n\n\"I know that in the strength of the Lord you can do all things, but I\nshall go with you. Antiomno, king of Middoni, is a friend of mine and\nI will flatter him that he will release your brethren from prison.\" He\nadded curiously. \"Who told you that they were in prison?\"\n\n\"The voice of the Lord. Much of the power you attribute to me is gained\nthrough listening to the inner spirit that always prompts me aright.\"\n\nWithout question the king ordered his chariots and horses to be got\nready for the journey. \"We will travel together,\" he said. \"Perhaps I\nmay be able to help even you.\"\n\nWhen a king journeyed it meant the moving of a cavalcade. That they\nmight travel faster, Lamoni simplified his preparations. Besides his\nimmediate servants he took only a small body guard. As he went as the\nguest of a neighboring king, what he lacked in number he made up in\nmagnificence. He remarked to Ammon as they started out that they would\nfall an easy prey to robbers who could see their gold from afar off.\n\nTo give color to his predictions, they had not gone far when they\ndescried a cloud of dust across the plains.\n\n\"Whoever they are, they far outnumber us.\" They had all been straining\ntheir eyes when Lamoni raised a shout. \"It is my father, the old king\nhimself. Only the ruler of all the Lamanites would travel with such a\nconcourse.\"\n\nThe new comers bore rapidly down on them, and soon the heavy chariot\nof the emperor shot out and pulled up along side of them. The old man\nembraced his son but scowled at the white man.\n\n\"Why didn't you come to my feast?\" he demanded. \"And where are you\ngoing with this Nephite, who is the son of a liar?\"\n\n\"I accompany him to get his brother out of prison in Middoni.\" He\nexplained his absence at the feast by telling how he had lain as if\ndead for two days, and would probably have been buried alive had it not\nbeen for the missionary.\n\nTo his astonishment his father became furiously angry. \"I am astonished\nthat you have been caught in their toils. These Nephites have come here\nto rob you. Kill this man with your sword. Then turn about and come\nback to Ishmael with me.\"\n\nHis son defied him: \"I will not slay Ammon, neither will I return\nto the land of Ishmael, but I go to Middoni that I may release the\nbrethren of Ammon, for I know that they are just men, and holy prophets\nof the true God.\"\n\nEnraged by his disobedience, his father raised his sword to strike him.\nAmmon interposed, \"You shall not slay your son, though he is better\nprepared for death than you for he has repented. If you should kill him\nhis blood would cry from the ground, and you might lose your soul.\"\n\nThe old man hesitated; his voice almost broke. \"I know that if I should\nslay my son I should shed innocent blood. It is you that I ought to\nkill.\" He turned his blade toward Ammon, but the latter was too quick\nfor him. He whipped out his own sword and with the stroke that had\nstood him in good stead at Sebus, he disabled the king's right arm.\nHe could not use it. Realizing that the other was at his mercy, Ammon\nfollowed up his advantage. \"I will smite you unless you grant that my\nbrethren be released from prison.\"\n\nLamoni would not interfere. The retainers kept at a respectful\ndistance. In fear of his life the emperor promised, \"If you will spare\nme, I will give you anything you ask, even to half my kingdom.\"\n\nThe Nephite had the old man where he wanted him. \"Release my brethren\nfrom prison. Let Lamoni retain his kingdom. Be not displeased with him;\nallow him to be his own master. Then I shall spare you; otherwise I\nstrike.\"\n\nThe emperor's temporary feeling of relief at being spared from this\nwhirlwind Nephite who swept everything before him, was supplanted by\nwonder. Ammon had asked for nothing for himself,--only for favors for\nLamoni. Should he let a stranger be more generous than he? Touched by\nthe missionary's love for his son, he rejoined, \"Because this is all\nyou have asked, I shall have your brethren cast out of prison. My son,\nLamoni, may retain his kingdom from this time and forever, and I will\ngovern him no more.\"\n\n\"Come, let the mid-day meal be prepared,\" exclaimed Lamoni, overjoyed\nat the turn affairs had taken. \"We will eat together.\"\n\nA hastily served meal it was, that consisted mostly of cooked meat and\nbread taken from leather pouches, but to the diners it was relished\nwith the sauce of interest.\n\nThe two rulers asked each other many questions. They exchanged much\nnews of family and national interest. The emperor asked eagerly after\nhis granddaughter Alla. Lamoni, looking at Ammon out of the tail of his\neye, explained that she was temporarily indisposed.\n\nThey took their siesta during the heat of the day while the attendants\nwatered the animals. In the late afternoon when they arose to continue\ntheir journey, the emperor took an affecting leave of his son. Slipping\noff two gold bands that had encircled his left arm, he held one out\nto Lamoni, \"Give this to Antiomno, to aid your quest. Say it is from\nthe emperor, though, if rumor be correct, a gift from Alla might be\nappreciated more.\" He slipped the other bracelet on the arm of Ammon.\n\"As for you, strange man, that asks nothing for yourself, if perchance\nyou should think of something, bring this to the king, and he will\nredeem his pledge. The doctrine that holds such an exponent as you\ncannot be wholly wrong. You and your brethren come up to me to my\ncapitol at Nephi, for I would know you better.\"\n\nWith that he took his departure. As the cavalcade wound across the\nplains, Lamoni and Ammon continued their journey to Middoni.\n\nThe herald of their coming had preceded them, for Antiomno, accompanied\nby his nobles, sallied out to meet them. The two rulers hailed each\nother like boon companions. After the formalities of greeting had been\nexchanged, the young Antiomno ventured to enquire after the health of\nthe Princess Alla.\n\n\"So even when I leave her at home, I cannot get rid of the minx!\"\nlaughed Lamoni. \"Take this cue from me, oh king, she is disconsolate.\nA sore heart is impressionable. It is ever ready to attach itself to\nsomething else. She has been disappointed.\"\n\n\"I will remember it,\" said Antiomno. \"You may expect me to return your\nvisit.\"\n\nLamoni looked relieved. There were still hopes of marrying his daughter\noff. After they reached the palace and had refreshed themselves from\nthe journey, Antiomno was much astonished to learn that he owed the\nhonor of the king's visit to some imprisoned missionaries that he had\nnever heard of before.\n\n\"They may be here,\" he admitted dubiously, \"I shall send and find out.\"\n\nLeaving Lamoni to be entertained by his royal host, Ammon took his way\ntoward the prison in search of his brethren.\n\n[Illustration: RUINS OF THE PALACE OF THE INDIAN KING]\n\nV.\n\nIN PRISON.\n\nThe guard admitted Ammon on his passport. As they passed through the\ncorridors of the jail, he eagerly scanned every group of prisoners in\nanticipation of recognizing a familiar form. When they reached the\nlarge sunny courtyard in the middle of the rambling buildings his hopes\nran high, for the place was crowded. Here were the prisoners accused\nof petty thieving. In the center, in a murky looking fountain, a\nbronze Hercules bathed his mighty shoulders. Others fashioned sandals,\nwove baskets, or arranged ingenious feather work. One clever person\nmanufactured a tiny stringed instrument out of bits of wood that he\ninlaid with mother of pearl. Queer sight in a jail incarcerating\nthieves, wrought the jewelers, tracing filigree work out of gold.\nAnother group cooked over clay ovens filled with glowing charcoal. The\nattendant explained to Ammon that the trinkets were sold to defray the\nexpenses of board. Prisoners were dependent on their own ingenuity or\nthe bounty of their friends for their food, a condition which explained\nthe presence of women with baskets who hovered about the jail, waiting\nto send in cooked delicacies to their enchained lords and masters.\n\nAaron was not there. The visitor was conducted through musty chambers\nand oozy passages very different from the breezy courtyard vaulted by\nthe sapphire sky. So far did they go that Ammon almost began to suspect\nfoul play. The guard threw open a door.\n\n\"The missionaries are here.\"\n\nStumbling in the dark, he stepped in. As his eyes became accustomed to\nthe gloom, he distinguished the forms of men almost naked.\n\n\"Is my brother Aaron, son of King Mosiah here?\" he enquired.\n\nAt the sound of his voice a wretch raised himself on a pallet of straw.\nHe staggered toward him and peered in the new-comers face.\n\n\"Ammon!\" he exclaimed.\n\nThe latter had more difficulty in recognizing in this emaciated, broken\nform the brother from whom he had parted in the pride of his youth and\nstrength.\n\nGenuine grief shook his voice. \"Aaron, how did you come to this?\"\n\n\"It is a long story.\" He sat down again wearily. \"How did you know I\nwas here?\"\n\n\"The Spirit of the Lord prompted me to come,\" he answered simply.\n\n\"You have prospered?\" He contrasted the fine physique of his brother\nwith his own gaunt frame, the other's glow of health with his\nparchment-like skin.\n\n\"Yes, the mission is established at Ishmael. And you?\"\n\n\"Have met with little success. After I separated from you and our\nyounger brothers I went to the city of Jerusalem. The people were\nhardened, and when I preached in the synagogue, they arose and disputed\nwith me. When they saw that I had the best of the argument, they mocked\nme. They refused to listen. Then I heard that Muloki and Ammah here,\nwere preaching over in the village of Ani-Anti; I went there. We could\nmake no converts. We came to Middoni. Though we have preached the word\nof God to many, few believed. Then they cast us into prison.\"\n\nDuring this recital Ammon had noted the flayed flesh, the mark of the\nthongs that had bound them. Ammah came up and greeted him with sunken\neyes. Muloki was too ill to greet him except by a wan smile. There\nwere two others there whom he did not know. Their plight was pitiable.\nAmmon's whole soul revolted against the squalor and foul air of the\nplace.\n\n\"I tried to get word to Omner and Himni, but without avail. We would\nhave starved to death had it not been for a poor shoemaker, one of the\nfaith, who has deprived himself to bring us sustenance. It has not been\nso bad for us, but Muloki broke down with a disease.\"\n\nA heavy tramp resounded through the outer corridor. Guards entered.\nThey were followed by servants who carried clean raiment.\n\n\"King Antiomno says that the prisoners are to be released. They are to\nbe fed and clothed and presented before him. You will step this way to\nthe baths.\"\n\n\"It means--\" cried Aaron.\n\n\"That you are free,\" finished Ammon. \"Moreover, I shall give you a\ntalisman that will assure you of future success in your labors. Take\nthis bracelet to the emperor. You will convert him; with the head\ngained, you can win the nation to the faith.\"\n\n\"And you?\"\n\n\"I return to Ishmael with my friend Lamoni. I may be called upon to\nperform a marriage ceremony there. Our missionary work is just begun.\"\n\n\n\nWEST WITH THE SHIPS OF HAGOTH.\n\n[Illustration: THE ISLAND CHIEF]\n\nThe man fought with the waves, throwing out his white arms ever more\nfeebly. At times it seemed that he must give up, and under would go\nthe black head, only to reappear again a little nearer the shore,\nwith eyes bent on those smiling, white sands, that seemed to mock in\nderision. Hawai was half defeated by famine before he began the battle.\nOne of the survivors in the storm-tossed bark, he had seen two of his\ncompanions drown before his eyes, when the craft was dashed to pieces\non the rocks. That sight had cost what strength yet remained in his\nexhausted body, for, presently, where his friends had gone down, he\ncaught a glimpse of the glittering belly of a shark.\n\nRemembering that he had been the best swimmer of the Panama coast, he\nstruck out with renewed courage, although his limbs were numb, his arms\nhad lost all sense of feeling, and his face was purple. Dazzled by the\nsun-light, the coast seemed ever further away, so he shut his eyes and\nfloundered blindly on. When he reached the cove, the tide pushed him\ngently in, and the sea-foam billowed around him like a bed of down.\nWhen he reached the beach, half senseless, he sank down like a tired\nchild, but the greedy waves would fain suck him back, so he crawled\nhigher up, digging his nails into the sand, and tearing his hands till\nthe blood came, but he gave no heed to that. He could go no further,\nhis brain reeled, he sank into the oblivion of exhaustion.\n\nPallid of aspect and slender of form, he lay like a withered lily on\nthe strand. How long he was in this damp trance he knew not, for the\nday was as the night to his congealing blood and dim senses.\n\nWith throbbing pulse and aching limbs he came back to consciousness.\nAs he opened his eyes, he looked into the black eyes of a girl, whose\nface bent so low over him that her breath fanned his cheek. As she\nchafed his chilled arms, he felt the warmth of life slowly returning.\nShe raised his faint head and poured water through his blue lips. Soft\nhands smoothed the black curls from his death-like forehead, and wrung\nhis damp locks. The sun came up and warmed him into feeling. Loa, the\ngirl who had found him on the beach, did not explain that she had tried\nfor hours to make a fire by striking a knife with flint, as she had\nseen the men do. Failing in this, she threw her mantle over the slender\nframe, pillowed his head in her lap, and waited for the day.\n\nStraining every muscle of her lithe, young body, she dragged him to\nthe protecting shelter of a cave. There, with the juice of shell-fish,\nbreadfruit, and wild strawberries from the woods, she slowly nursed\nhim back to life. She dared not leave him very long, as she, unlike\nthe original Eve, was afraid of the snakes that haunted the jungle.\nThe space around the cave was bare, but, in the midst of some foraying\nexpedition, Loa would have a vision of a white body coiled around by\na green snake, and, seized with terror, would race back to the cave,\nonly to find her charge a little stronger and more roguish than ever.\nGradually the color crept back into his alabaster cheek, for Hawai was\nyoung.\n\nAs soon as he was able, he took over his share of the housekeeping\nduties. One of the first things he did was to go to work with the\nflint. He made the sparks fly, and finally succeeded in getting fire.\nThat night they had broiled fish for supper, and around the genial\nblaze they looked into each other's faces in the flickering light, half\nunderstandingly, half expectantly.\n\nShe approved of the poise of his head upon his bare shoulders, and he\nwatched the firelight play on her expressive features and illumine the\ngold of her hair, that fell all around her like a voluminous mantle.\n\n\"Are you the princess of this island, or Mother Eve in the Garden of\nEden?\" he asked, quizzically.\n\n\"Neither, but a poor, ship-wrecked mariner like yourself.\"\n\nHe stared. \"Did _you_ come in one of the ships of Hagoth?\"\n\nShe inclined her head.\n\n\"But the others? Where are the others from your boat?\"\n\n\"The same place that your companions are, I'm afraid. There was a body\nwashed upon the shore down there, and when I first found you, I thought\nyou were like it,--dead!\"\n\n\"Must have been Shem or Mirror. We'll go down and take a look at it.\"\n\nThe woman shuddered. \"I believe I'd rather stay here by the fire.\"\n\n\"Poor little girl! So you are all alone, and have had to care for a\nlugger like me.\"\n\n\"I was alone--until I found you. That helped me; I had something to do\nbesides think about myself.\"\n\n\"How long were you--alone?\"\n\n\"Two days.\"\n\n\"And during that time you found no signs of life? There are no people\nliving here?\"\n\n\"No, I saw no evidence whatever. I was afraid to go very far inland, so\nstayed mostly on the beach, but I have a feeling that there is no one\nalive on this island except you and me.\"\n\n\"How do you know it is an island?\" quickly.\n\n\"Because I have seen it melt into the haze of the sea on three sides,\nand I imagine if we climb that peak over there that we could see the\nblue water on the other side.\"\n\n\"Nonsense! There may be big cities in there. When we are better able\nwe will reconnoiter a little. How was it that you, a girl, of all your\ncrew was saved?\" he asked curiously.\n\n\"I do not know. When the boat began to fill, and it was only a question\nof a few moments before it would sink, my father lashed me to a large,\nflat board. As an afterthought, he took out his big knife and fastened\nit at my waist. 'If you should be saved, you can cut yourself loose,'\nhe explained, while his hand shook. We could see the blue outline of\nthe land over here, and there was a chance that some of us might reach\nit. After that the hulk settled, and I felt a cold wave sweep over my\nlimbs, and then I was strangling with the salt water in my nose and\nthroat. I was churned around, and then the plank righted itself, with\nme on top. When the salt water got out of my smarting eyes sufficient\nfor me to see, I noticed that the ship was gone, with most of the\npassengers, only a few were floundering around like me. Nowhere could\nI see my father, and though I called, no one answered. I could see\none man clinging to a cask that bobbed around, and the black head of\nanother would appear, only to be submerged again. That swimmer fought\nhard, but he stayed under longer each time, till at last he went down\nand did not come up again. After that the storm broke, and the rain\nlashed us in sheets. I could see nothing, but the cool water was\ngrateful to my parched throat. Something was singing in my ears, and\nthen I must have fainted, for I knew no more until I found myself lying\nhigh and dry here on the beach, scorching under a tropical sun. Its\nrays warmed me back to life, and then I felt for my father's knife. It\nwas still there, and with it I cut myself free, rose to my tottering\nfeet and looked around. The place was pretty enough, with its white\nsand and glittering sea. I made my way over to some cocoanut palms and\nfound a fresh water stream, that emptied into a little cove. I drank\ndeeply, and bathed my hot forehead in its cool depths. Then I walked\nalong the beach to see if any others had been saved.\" She hesitated.\n\n\"You found--?\"\n\n\"Two corpses. When I saw that they were quite dead I went up to the\njungle, but a wailing cry, like a soul in purgatory, issued from the\ntrees. I went back to the beach, but the bodies were gone.\"\n\nHawai jumped.\n\n\"I did not know what to do, so I crawled into the cave. Then I was\nafraid of snakes. I have since found out that the cries in the woods\nwere made by the little monkeys. I do not know who carried off the\nbodies.\"\n\n\"Probably washed out by the tide,\" he reassured her.\n\n\"I think not,\" she continued slowly. \"The next day was worse--when I\nrealized that I was alone. I should have died if I had not found you.\nMy only fear, when I saw you lying so white and still on the sand, was\nthat you, like the others, were dead.\" She caught her breath with a\nlittle gasp.\n\nHe reached over and impulsively touched her hand.\n\n\"Poor little girl! You came up out of the sea and saved my life.\"\n\n\"I don't know what I should have done if you had eaten very much,\" she\nexplained, half tearfully. \"I could only gather the poor cocoanuts off\nthe ground; but when you are strong you can climb the trees and get\nfresh ones. The bananas were hard to get, and there was strange fruit\nI was afraid to try, for fear it might poison you. See, we shall have\neggs for breakfast. They are quite good.\"\n\nShe poked one out from among the ashes where they were roasting.\n\n\"Did you lose any other relatives besides your father on the boat?\" he\nasked suddenly.\n\nShe shook her head sadly. \"No.\"\n\n\"Then you were not married?\"\n\n\"No; only betrothed.\"\n\nHis brow darkened. \"Was he, to whom you were betrothed, drowned?\"\n\n\"I think so.\" But the look of pain which flitted across her face when\nhe spoke of her father did not return. \"It was this way: when we\nembarked in one of the ships of Hagoth to seek new homes in a foreign\nland, my father, being old, made me promise to marry Isar, when we\nreached the new country. I agreed, for Isar was a good man and would\ntake care of me, though I did not love him, or even know him very well.\"\n\nHawai looked relieved, and his eyes glowed as they rested on her.\n\n\"You have my story, but you have not told me yours,\" she burst out.\n\n\"Mine is similar to yours. I sailed on another ship of Hagoth's only we\nfloundered around in the waste of waters in search of land for so long,\nthat all the crew except three died of famine before she foundered.\" He\ndismissed the subject with a shrug of the shoulders, as if unwilling to\nfill the night with further horrors.\n\n\"You must sleep now, and gain some rest, for tomorrow we go on a\nforaging expedition,\" he added with gentle raillery.\n\nLoa's eyelids were already drooping, and, soothed with the grateful\nwarmth, she lay down and was soon fast asleep. Hawai piled dry brush on\nthe camp fire until it roared and crackled, and then, like a sentinel\non guard, he sat looking moodily into the blaze for hours.\n\nThe day dawned auspiciously, and Loa led Hawai down toward the place\nwhere she had seen his companions lying. Suddenly she drew back with\na little cry. At the exact spot where the mariner had lain, reclined\nan immense devil fish, with its tentacles wrapped around something.\nHawai watched it a moment. He thought perhaps that explained the\ndisappearance of the other two bodies. He silently led Loa away.\n\nThey went into the woods to hunt for food, and Loa in helping him soon\ngot back her spirits. They found raspberries and a strange apple, both\nof which Hawai pronounced good. The man who first tasted the tomato had\nmore courage than did Columbus. He decried the date palm afar off, and\nremarked that they should soon fare like princes. The man cut sugar\ncane, and showed Loa how to chew the pulp and extract the sweetness\nthereof.\n\nThat was but the beginning of their rambles. Every day they sauntered\nforth to gain new strength, and came home laden with their treasures.\nOne night they dragged in armfuls of bamboo. Another time Hawai brought\na mealy root which he had found by accident. It proved a novelty in\ntheir diet, for it was the sweet potato. One day they skirted the coast\nand found a secluded beach where the turtles had come to lay their\neggs. The latter they gathered eagerly, while Hawai jocularly remarked\nthat, when they had something to cook it in they could have turtle\nsoup. They had gradually gone over the whole island, and on the night\nthat completed the circuit, and proved conclusively that they were the\nonly human beings there, despair descended on them. They had traveled\nfar that day, and the dusk overtook them, but Hawai insisted on cutting\narmfuls of a tough rush that grew in a swamp.\n\n\"What do you want that for?\" inquired Loa.\n\nThe man was a born woodsman, and was very clever.\n\n\"To make a net to catch shrimps with,\" he answered. \"The little shrimp\nis better than the mussels we have been eating so long.\"\n\nLoa acquiesced. She was tired of shell fish. So she helped carry the\nrushes back to the cave, in the long walk through the night.\n\nThe next day Hawai spent fashioning the shrimp net. Loa amused herself\nmaking festoons of brilliant flowers and garlanding them around his\nneck. That gave her an idea. She gathered a large quantity of fleshy,\nfibrous leaves, and began weaving them together.\n\n\"Why can't I make clothing out of these?\" she queried.\n\nHawai glanced at her. Their clothing was rent in strips, and sadly in\nneed of repair, and Loa had a skin averse to the sun. He watched her\namusedly, until she got tired and threw them aside.\n\n\"I believe I could make better things out of feathers.\" She glanced\nat a squawking sea-bird that sailed overhead. \"I could make you a\nheadpiece that would crown a chief.\"\n\nHe smiled at the woman's vanity that would think first of adorning the\nhead, but humored her by saying gently, \"If you will lend me some of\nyour tresses, I shall try and snare some birds.\"\n\nShe shook out her mane, for she firmly believed him capable of\nanything. When she went over to help him tie the net, she voiced the\nthought that had haunted both of them.\n\n\"If we are the only persons living on this island, how long must we\nstay before others come?\"\n\n\"Perhaps forever.\" It was no use deceiving her. She might as well know.\n\"Some of the ships may have reached one of those bodies of land over\nthere; for owing to the warm current all of Hagoth's crafts came in\nthe same direction. If some of our compatriots are alive, sooner or\nlater they may visit this island.\"\n\n\"Or you could build a boat and go to them.\" Her faith in him was\nunlimited.\n\nHe shook his head. \"I intend to keep you here, and not risk you with\nthe treacherous sea again.\" Something in his tone made her drop her\neyes. \"Would it then be so distasteful?\"\n\n\"No,\" she answered bravely, \"I have been very happy here.\"\n\n\"I want you to give me the right to protect you. You must marry me.\"\n\n\"But there is no priest,\" she subterfuged.\n\n\"Kings make their own laws. You and I, by right of possession,\nare joint rulers of these islands. We shall effect a union of our\ninterests. Come, we will ask the Heavenly Father, who watches over even\nthe outcasts, to guard and protect us.\"\n\nKneeling, he invoked a blessing on the new life on which they were\nembarking. He prayed fervently that they should not die out, but live\nto perpetuate a new race in this paradise of the Pacific.\n\nThey arose with rapt faces, and in a spirit of exaltation wandered down\nto the beach. It was a glorious, starlit night, and the wind from the\nsea was tempered with a summer softness. They gazed upon the glittering\nsea, heard the wave's roar and the wind's low moan. They saw each\nother's dark eyes darting light into each other. In early days the\nheart is lava and the blood ablaze. They were alone, but no feeling of\nloneliness oppressed them. Around them lay the white expanse of the\nsand; beyond, they heard the drip in the damp caves. They clung to each\nother; for them there was no one else in the world.\n\nThe shrimp fisher flung in his net, and Loa, afraid to trust him in\nthe water alone, went surfbathing. The catch was successful, and at\nlast Hawai, with the consciousness of work well done, threw down his\nnet and joined her in the sport. Loa took the flat board on which she\nhad been rescued and rode on it on the crests of the waves, keeping\nwell to the shallow water, for she dreaded the flitting black fins that\nportended the shark. It was a sunlit honeymoon, and, surrounded by\ngorgeous flowers and brilliant birds, they imbibed the brightness of\nthe atmosphere. As Loa did not like the gloom of the cave, Hawai built\nher a summer house of bamboo, and thatched it with grass. Gradually\ntheir comforts increased. One night, after they had dined off a young\nroast pig, Loa remarked, \"Hawai, don't you ever say that you and I are\nthe only people on this island.\" She looked him straight in the eyes.\n\nHe put his arm around her tenderly, but this thing worried him more\nthan he liked to show.\n\n\"I want you to declare war on the wild boars,\" she continued, \"for this\nplace must be safe for a little child to play in.\"\n\nHe mentally resolved to do it, although he was at a loss how to\ncommence. After that he renewed his efforts, and toiled indefatigably\nto bring in every necessity his ingenuity could devise.\n\nOne night he had gone to look at some traps. One had been dragged\naway, and in looking for it he went farther than he intended. When\nhe returned to the hut he was panic-stricken to find Loa gone. Wild\nwith fear, he dashed up to the mouth of the cave whence smoke issued.\nInside, guarded by the fire at the entrance, lay Loa. A thin, piping\nsound issued from her side.\n\n\"Come in,\" she said, \"and see your little son.\"\n\n\"My little son!\" he repeated in wonder.\n\nWith a mighty thankfulness, Hawai gathered up his family in his arms\nand carried it to the house, with a heartfelt prayer that he might not\ndrop all that he held dear.\n\nThus Hawai and Loa founded their island kingdom and were progenitors of\na new race in the South Seas.\n\n[Illustration: THE CLIFF DWELLERS' DAUGHTER.]\n\n\n\nTHE CITY IN THE GLOOM.\n\nI.\n\nTHE LAST OF HIS TRIBE\n\nThe thing sprawled on the white stone of the Giant's Steps, in the\ncanyon. Closer scrutiny proved it to be a man who lay on his stomach\ndrinking out of a blue pool of water. He stood up and showed what a\nmiserable thing he was. He had been white, and displayed the pitiable\nplight of the civilized man reduced to dire extremity. His horny feet\nwere encased in ungainly moccasins, shaggy goatskin swathed him about\nthe middle, while his poor shoulders shivered under their covering of\nrabbit skins pieced together. The muscles stood out like whip cords\non his emaciated limbs. The head, unkempt and shaggy, had a ferocious\nappearance which was enhanced by the eyes that seemed starting out of\nhis head.\n\nHe stooped and filled a misshapen jar with water, then gathered up a\nleather pouch that contained wild grapes, and a haunch of venison. They\nwere all presents for Gualzine, the woman up at the clift house in\ngloomy Cave Valley. The deer had cost the life of a man. When the woman\nsickened and could no longer munch the corn nor drink the water of\nthe place, Ulric and his friend Izehara, had ventured forth in search\nof fresh meat. A rash undertaking at any time, it was particularly\ndangerous when the cave dwellers were expecting an attack from their\ninveterate enemies, the Lamanites. So the chief of the tribe told them\nwhen they left, but the remembrance of the woman moaning on her pallet\nlent wings to their feet.\n\nThey shot the doe on the morning of the second day out. They startled\nher at dawn as she grazed. Though the arrow sped true, she ran a\nhundred and fifty yards before she fell. They found her panting in the\nbrush. Ulric left Izehara to carve the meat and prepare the camp while\nhe went higher up to look at the traps.\n\nWhen he found that one of them had caught an old silvertip, he wished\nthat the other man had come along. He beat her to death with his club,\nand when the quivering brute lay down, the day was well advanced. \"I\nwill bring Izehara up to help me skin her. It will make a warm robe for\nGualzine.\" Then panic seized him. What if she were already dead?\n\nHaunted by this new fear, he hurried back to camp where new horrors\nawaited him. By the side of the partially dismembered deer, Izehara\nlay writhing in the last stages of poisoning. He had been bitten by\na rattle-snake. Ulric flung himself down and applied his lips to the\nwound. He was too late; even as he sucked the poison out, his friend\nlooked at him for the last time, then closed his eyes forever.\n\nThe survivor built up the fire and gnawed at the rarely, broiled meat\nfrom a sense of duty, for he knew that he must keep his strength up.\nHe devoted what daylight remained to getting in the wood. During the\neverlasting hours of the night he prodded himself to keep awake to\nwatch the precious food and the corpse. The coyotes howled in the\ndistance, but more to be feared was the mountain lion, that sends no\nhalloo of its coming.\n\nThough seldom seen, wherever the prey is, there will it be. As his\nstraining ears imagined a padded footfall, he built the fire up until\nthe flames arose and lighted the rock walls of the canyon. Even the\n\"cat\" fears man's \"red flower\"--fire.\n\nAt dawn he dragged the dead body down to a gully and covered it up\nwith leaves. He wondered how long the wolves would leave them there.\nHe regretfully left them most of the deer, for urged on always with\nthe thought of the woman, he must travel light. If the horrors of\ntheir surroundings palled on him, what must it be to her? A forlorn,\ntransplanted thing she had come among these wild men and won their rude\nhearts.\n\nEven Ulric, a long time before, had lived in a city. It was called\nTeotihuacan, which means \"House of God,\" and was famed far and wide for\nits great pyramids for worship. This fair city contained many splendid\nhouses, although Ulric did not know so much about that, as he was only\none of the common people. It had been prophesied that the inhabitants\nwould be destroyed because of their unbelief. Then the Lamanite hordes\nswept down upon them, and the men went out to fight them. The fields\naround Teotihuacan were spangled with black bits of obsidian where the\nopposing warriors shattered one another's spears. When the Indians\nbegan to massacre the women, they, with children clinging to their\nskirts, fought them back. After that Ulric didn't like to remember what\nhappened.\n\nHe, with a few survivors had taken refuge in the subterranean city,\nwhere there were chambers just as above ground, and a black well with\nplenty of water. Only they had no sunlight and some of the women\nsickened and died. When their enemies had left, they sneaked out and\nmade their way across the desert to the north until they reached\nthe Sierra Madres, on the pinnacles of whose peaks they perched\ntheir eyries built of sun dried mud. They carried up handfuls of soil\nfrom the valley and plastered it on the ledges, where they raised a\nlittle stunted maize. There, in deadly fear of the marauding bands of\nLamanites that were wiping out their race, they eked out a miserable\nexistence, a little lower than the beasts.\n\nSo outnumbered were they that only by the utmost caution did they\nmanage to live. The rooms were dark as the apertures were small and\nhad to be crawled through by means of rope ladders that they pulled in\nafter them. They had got so used to climbing over the rocks that they\nsprang among them like goats.\n\nPeople who exist in daily fear of their lives do not go in for art.\nSo the cave dwellers' implements were crude, their pottery deformed,\nand their necessities scant. Obsessed with the idea of keeping the\nlife in them from one day to another, they had lost their sense of\nfeeling, when Gualzine came among them. She was sent accompanied by\ntwo attendants, from a neighboring cliff dwelling, for safe keeping\nduring time of war. The other cliff house was demolished, so Gualzine\ntook up her abode in the new place. She was the daughter of the High\nPriest and the last of her blood. A wan, washed out thing, she took\nlittle interest in her mediocre surroundings. Time was when she had\nbeen beautiful, as her portrait on the wall of the casa of the priests\nat Teotihuacan could prove. They called it \"Queen of Hearts.\" But grim\ncircumstance will leave its impress on the fairest form.\n\nThough she toiled not, a new impetus evinced itself in the colony.\nLike the queen bee, others worked for her, and comforts appeared. She\nshowed the boys how to mould their pottery better, and played with the\nchildren and hushed their wails, so that their dragged out mother might\nbe less dispondent. She made ready threaded needles out of the thorns\nand fibers of the maguey that grows on the foothills, and taught the\nmen how to make medicine from its juice. She was eyes to old Malcre\nwhen she sewed the skin garments in the poor light, and she cut out\nbetter patterns for their sandals. Because she would eat nothing but\ncooked food, the others gave up their way of eating it half raw. The\nmen brought fresh pine boughs to sleep on, and they hunted up warmer\ncovering because this frail thing had to be protected. When she fell\nsick it was a dire calamity. All the inmates loved her. Little wonder\nthat Ulric showed such dog-like devotion.\n\nDropping with exhaustion, every step a pain, he approached Cave\nValley. Finally he lost consciousness of his aching muscles; only one\nnagging instinct whipped him on. He must get to the house with his\nprecious burden, fresh meat and grapes and good water from the Steps.\nThat ought to put her on her feet again. The water was the hardest to\ncarry. He was afraid that he might spill it. She would have liked the\nbig thick bear robe. It would have been so soft while she was sick.\nIzehara had died and he couldn't bring it. Poor Izahara, up there in\nthe cold. Then the old gnawing fear. What if she were gone and all of\nhis torture were in vain? The thought spurred on his flagging strength,\nso he stumbled into the valley. Ulric looked towards the cliffs that\nhe called home. In the evening haze he could not distinguish the\nfamiliar curl of smoke. Torn by uncertainty, he hurried up the side\nof the mountain. He stopped short. The growing feeling that something\nwas wrong was realized. What was the matter with the garden? The corn,\nwhich was almost ripe, had been trampled down. At the same instant his\nfoot touched something soft. He reached down, then drew back. The boy\nKohath lay there with an arrow in his breast, stark dead. He had been\nshot down while he was carrying wood. Why hadn't they picked him up and\ncarried him in? Cold chills shook him. What if they were all dead? What\nif the Indians were there now, waiting for him. Where was Gualzine?\nCautiously, he crept along the terrace through the maize.\n\nHe waited for what to him seemed an age, while the wolves howled in the\ndistance. No sign of life issued from the place. He could stand it no\nlonger. He must find out what had happened to Gualzine. Careless of his\nown fate, he went down.\n\n[Illustration: THE CORN CRIB OF THE CITY IN THE GLOOM.]\n\nThe entrance showed signs of a conflict. Chunks of plaster had been\ndislodged. His people had put up a fight. As little things will often\nattract attention in dire extremities, so the first thing he noticed on\nentering, were the dead white ashes scattered on the hearth. Nearby was\na broken pot of hominy, partly spilled.\n\nThe massacre had taken place the day before. One of the men lay dead\nby the fireplace, also the thirteen-year-old girl. The marauders\nwould have no object in slaying her. Ulric wondered if she had killed\nherself. The form he sought wasn't there. He passed into the next room.\nTo do so he had to step over the body of the chief that lay through the\ndoorway, a hatchet cleaving his skull. In her chamber he found Merari\ndecapitated. Dear old Merari, Ulric reflected, her servant, who loved\nher as much as he. Parts of her pallet were scattered about the room,\nbut Gualzine was not there.\n\nMany of the inhabitants were missing. Old Malcre was gone. She could\nmake good corn cakes. The Indians had a use for her. The other woman\nwith her babe was missing. They also had a use for her. Ulric hoped the\nchild would live. He did not think that Gualzine would be carried off\nwithout a struggle, yet, search as he would, he could find no shred's\nof her cotton clothing. What if she had died before the cliff dwelling\nwas attacked? In times of siege it was the custom to bury the dead\nbeneath the floor. He hastily searched through the house but he found\nno sign of a recent excavation.\n\nThe next morning he renewed the hunt. He found that a number of bodies\nhad been thrown over the cliff. Hopeful, yet dreading, he made the\nprecipitous descent. Her remains were not there, although he felt\nrewarded for the climb, for there were several bodies of the Lamanites.\nThe Nephites had clutched their antagonists and locked in their\nembrace, and leaped over the cliff with them to destruction.\n\nII.\n\nAlone.\n\nAt first, overwhelmed with the disaster, Ulric did not realize his\ncondition. He spent a number of days burying the dead beneath the\nfloor. He placed their implements of war with them, and at the head he\nput an olla, containing a little of the corn that was left; over all he\nput a layer of charcoal and covered it up with earth. Merari's head he\nplaced upon a shelf, saying, \"You stay there old fellow, and help me.\nYou and I are great pals. You are the only friend I've got left.\"\n\nIn the after days he realized his utter desolation. At first he clung\nto life and he bounded over the rocks like a hunted thing. One night a\nparty of Lamanite robbers passed through the valley and he watched them\nfrom the cliffs. He looked hungrily down into their camp, but dared not\nmove, for fear that they would shoot. Later, when he got frightened\nof the solitude, he would have gladly given himself up. He became\na perfect coward. Most scared of all was he of the stillness. The\nmountains made him infinitely lonely; he felt as if the peaks weighed\ndown on his chest and he could not get his breath. He foresaw that he\nwould go insane, which gave rise to a new fear. What would happen to\nhim there among the hills if he lost his reason? He could not journey\nto his own people, for he knew not if any of them were alive.\n\nIt was not so bad when he could get out and hunt, but one day he\nslipped and sprained his ankle. It swelled up and pained so he could\nnot walk. After that he crawled down to the stream to get his water. A\nnew horror developed. The corn was almost gone. Already he could see\nthe bottom of the big olla in which it was kept. Since he could not get\nout and hunt food he must surely die.\n\nHe began to prepare for the end. He would write his story on the wall\nin red and blue and yellow hieroglyphics. Future generations should\nknow how he, Ulric, had outlived his compeers. He picked up a chisel.\nAs he struck the wall with it, it resounded hollow. He remembered the\nlimestone cave back of it. Funny he hadn't thought of it before! He\ngrasped his bludgeon, and with what was left of his remaining strength,\nhit the wall. It took many of his weak blows to cave it in, but he\nalso went down with the earth. Staring straight at him was Gualzine.\nShe sat upon a stone dais. Her body had been preserved by the peculiar\natmosphere of the cave. On her shrunken form the cotton cloth hung limp.\n\nSlowly the realization forced itself on Ulric. The queer little men of\nthe caves, determined that the daughter of their High Priest should\nnot fall into the hands of the enemy, had walled her up there when\nthreatened with attack. She was alive when they took her there; perhaps\nshe lived when he returned. He had let her be slowly asphyxiated.\n\nUlric threw himself at her feet with all the grief that his warped\nnature would allow. That marked the beginning of the fever. Starvation\nhad prepared him for it, for he had got down to counting the kernels of\ncorn. Perhaps the rotting skull had been a friend indeed and lent its\nmalignant aid.\n\nAlone, with parched lips burning with thirst, with no human being to\nspeed the parting soul, Ulric died.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\nOne of an alien race, exploring the cave, found there the skeleton of\na man lying along the wall, a crumbling skull on a ledge above, and a\nmummy seated on a dais.\n\nHe pondered, \"What a tale those blackened lips might tell if they could\nonly speak!\"\n\n[Illustration: STAIRS THAT LEAD TO THE SUMMIT OF THE PYRAMID]\n\n[Illustration: PYRAMID OF THE SUN, MEXICO]\n\n[Illustration: JARED WAS MURDERED AS HE DESCENDED FROM HIS THRONE]\n\nTHE CONQUEST OF AIDA.\n\nI.\n\nTHE PLOT.\n\n\nJared, as he reclined on the roof-garden, looked out over the city\nbasking in the afternoon light. Although it was yet warm, he had\nstumbled out into the open air from his siesta couch where he had\nsmothered and tried in vain to sleep during the sultry afternoon.\nThere was a discontented look in his eyes as his gaze wandered over\nthe vast extent of the roofs, the palms silhouetted against a pastel\nsky, to the crystalline peaks in the distance crowned with eternal\nsnow. The nearby stone mansions were resplendent in red-tiled roofs,\nsun-burnished walls, and purple shadows, while an occasional opening\nafforded a glimpse of a green courtyard or paved street. Nor could the\nbeauty of his own aerial gardens, a riot of color, with subtile perfume\nof violets and verbenas, win him from his trouble. The laughter of\ngirls floated up from the pool below, where his daughter Aida with\nher women, was disporting herself in the water. Unlike less active\nwomen, who let an indented pillow in a hammock tell the story of the\nafternoon's exertions, she preferred violent swimming in the humid\nplunge.\n\nWearily he leaned back, as if he found the cushions hard for his\nemaciated limbs. Jared had once been ruler over this vast domain, and\nhe who has tasted power cannot soon forget the flavor. Lusting for the\nkingdom, he had dispossessed his old father, King Omer, but his younger\nbrothers had risen up and wrested it from his greedy grasp. They\ndefeated him in open battle, took him captive, and Jared only bought\nhis freedom with the promise that he would never go to war again. After\nthat he found life, shorn of its glory, but a worthless thing.\n\nEvening is unknown in the tropics, for night descends swiftly,\nshrouding the earth in a black pall. Tonight, for a transitory\nperiod, a crescent moon hung in a sapphire sky, a breeze sprang up\nfrom the sea, and the city shook off its lethargy. A hum arose as its\ninhabitants prepared for the traffic and activity of the night. Lights\nsprang out. A step on the stair and a rustling of the leaves made the\nman turn to behold the laughing face of Aida, like a lily on its stem\nabove a bed of narcissus.\n\n\"Come here to me, daughter,\" he said fondly, his face lighting up.\n\nShe shook out her mane of black hair, which was still wet, and\nwent toward him. Her shoulders and arms emerged like snow from her\nloose-fitting, black gown, and the dead pallor of her face was relieved\nonly by the scarlet streak of her lips. Her gray eyes were so heavily\nshrouded that they appeared black. As she knelt before him, her father\nleaned forward and touched her forehead with his lips.\n\n\"Father,\" she murmured, \"it is eating my heart out to see you always so\nsad.\"\n\n\"I fear I am but a broken shell from which the life has departed,\" he\nlamented.\n\n\"Can't you shake this depression off?\"\n\n\"I have tried,\" he sighed.\n\n\"I know it. You will never be yourself again until you are restored to\nyour old place. The throne is yours by right. You are a younger man\nthan Omer, and can manage the affairs of the nation better. You must be\nking.\"\n\n\"How?\" he raised his eyebrows.\n\nAs she had watched her father waste away, gnawed by festering ambition,\nAida had realized that something must be done or he would die. So she\nhad evolved a plan.\n\n\"Listen,\" she glanced hastily around and lowered her voice. \"There is\nonly one thing between you and your lawful right to the throne.\"\n\n\"My father!\"\n\n\"Then remove it,\" she hissed.\n\n\"You mean kill the king!\" He started as if she had surprised his own\nguilty thought.\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"It is not for a son to spill his father's blood.\"\n\n\"Get someone else to do it.\"\n\n\"And who, in all the realm of the Jaredites would dare?\"\n\n\"Only one that I know of. The dark and moody Akish could if he wanted\nto, for he controls the secret societies.\"\n\n\"True,\" he ruminated, \"but he is a friend of Omer's.\"\n\n\"Every man has his price.\"\n\n\"What would his be?\" he shrugged his shoulders. \"The coffers of Akish\nare bursting with gold now.\"\n\n\"Tempt him with something else.\"\n\nJared scowled. What office in the kingdom could he offer for such a\ncrime?\n\nAida broke in on his reflections. \"Send for him here, and I will dance\nbefore him, and when he covets me, say, 'Bring hither the head of Omer,\nthe king, and I will give you my daughter for wife.'\"\n\nFond father that he was Jared never doubted but what Akish would want\nAida, but the thoughts of bartering her shot a pang through his heart.\nHe would sacrifice his aged father for his soul's desire, but to give\nup his daughter, that was another thing.\n\nAfter a silence, he said gently, \"Have you thought, my child, that\nafter this is accomplished there must come a day of reckoning?\"\n\n\"What of it?\"\n\n\"You are willing to pay the price?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" then hurriedly as the color crept into her face, \"I am\nsick of these effeminate nobles with their perfumed locks, and if I am\nto have a master it must be one worth obeying. Akish is such a man.\"\n\nAs he watched her with half-closed lids, her father thought that it\nmust be a strong trainer indeed to hold such a splendid tigress in\nleash; but when he thought of the cruel Akish, his heart was full of\nmisgiving.\n\nII.\n\nAIDA DANCES BEFORE AKISH.\n\nAkish stood at the gate of the gardens of Jared on the night of the\nbanquet. In crimson tunic he leaned a vivid patch against the gray\nstone arch. A nearby torch illumined his figure, lean, brown and\nmuscular. Black-eyed, hawk-beaked and cruel-lipped, he conveyed a\nsuggestion of power that was felt in the magnetic personality of the\nman. A band of dull gold hung low over his brow, sheathing his glossy,\nblack hair. Collar and sandals of the same material were the only\nornaments he wore. As he surveyed the scene, a gleam came into his eyes\nfor it was well calculated to stir a more sluggish soul than his.\n\nCruets of burning oil filled the gardens with soft radiance and\nchangeful shade. Interspersed with these were braziers of incense whose\naromatic smoke curved upwards in spirals. In the fountain the figure\nof a sea-nymph upheld a conch shell from which the water trickled. It\nran into the swimming pool of blue-veined marble which in turn emptied\nitself into a miniature lake covered with lotus leaves and yellow\nwater lilies. The lagoon was not entirely given over to white-necked\nswans and pink-legged flamingoes, for a dainty shallop lay moored to\nthe shore as if inviting one to a trip to fairyland among the floating\ngardens of the lake. One tiny isle grew purple hyacinths, another\nyellow daffodils, a third flaunted gaudy tulips. In the somber green\nof the grove was caught the occasional gleam of the white magnolia and\npomegranate blooms.\n\nTo one side was the aviary, filled with the strange and gorgeous-hued\nbirds of the tropics; beyond, causing an instinctive shudder, were the\nmany species of Central American snakes. The cages of the wild animals\nwere still farther removed so the roars of their inmates would not\ndisturb the ears of the diners. The banquet table was spread on the\nterrace which was gained by a magnificent sweep of stairs.\n\nThe stone glowed yellow, while the supporting columns were of marble,\nshot with amethyst. Even as Akish devoured the scene, the portals were\nthrown wide, and the guests thronged out upon the terrace. Throwing the\nloose end of his tunic across his shoulder, he strode forward.\n\nThe table groaned under its golden service, many of its dishes designed\nin grotesque forms of birds and animals. Overhead stretched a net from\nwhich roses fell upon the board. Akish found himself seated next to\nAida whose presence he felt intuitively, before he looked at her. She\nwore a loose-fitting, white robe from which her bare arms emerged like\nalabaster. No ornament marred the purity of the throat, nor the poise\nof the head crowned with living night. The jade bangles which dangled\nfrom her ears only heightened the pallor of her skin.\n\n\"So I have met you at last,\" he murmured.\n\n\"I have known Akish long, by reputation,\" she flattered subtly.\n\n\"Three times have I seen you before, but ever failed to make your\nacquaintance.\"\n\n\"Three times? Twice only do I remember. Once as you rode by, leading\nyour troops to battle, I thought that your eyes rested on me for a\nmoment. Again in a little park in Heth you passed me with a group of\ngray-beards.\"\n\n\"But first I saw you bathing one morning in the pool at Ether's house\nin Heth. I noticed that you were the best swimmer among the women. I\nwent back that afternoon and enquired of their guests only to find that\nyou had left that day. As for the night in the park--after I went to\nthe council with the old men, I excused myself, and hurried back to the\npark but you had gone.\"\n\n\"After you had passed I went home,\" she confessed.\n\nHe replied with a burning glance, and she saw her father watching them\nwith furtive eyes from across the table.\n\nA troupe of acrobats, assisted by deformed mountebanks, performed. A\ngroup of dancing girls, garlanded with flowers, went through a series\nof figures for the guests, while ever roses fell from above. Everyone\ndid as he pleased as the banquet progressed. Some of the diners were\nstupid from gormandizing, others had partaken too freely of the\nintoxicating juice of the maguey. Aida tasted little of the rich meats\nbefore her, but Akish seemed possessed of a burning thirst which goblet\nafter goblet of frothy mead failed to quench. His veins were on fire,\nand as he whispered in Aida's ear, he suddenly swooped to cool his hot\nlips on the clear expanse of her shoulder. But even as he clutched\nher she eluded his grasp and slipped away, leaving him with distended\nnostrils like blood-hound thwarted in pursuit.\n\nPresently Jared, arising from his seat, announced, \"My daughter has\nconsented to dance for us.\" The guests crowded forward and waited\nexpectantly, but then they were not prepared for the sight that greeted\ntheir eyes. Aida slowly made her way to the center of the terrace. As\nshe emerged into the light, the spectators uttered an exclamation of\nhorror, and Akish swore under his breath, for wrapped around her body\nwere the thick coils of a snake.\n\nA snood fastened over her brow made her head resemble that of the\nserpent, and her form, sheathed in green, writhed so with the monster\nthat the watchers could scarce tell where one ended and the other\nbegan. Slowly the undulations of the snake-dance started. The onlookers\nwatched fascinated, much as the shivering little monkeys are hypnotized\nby the dance of Kaa, the rock python, before they are devoured by him.\nAkish, with bulging eyeballs, crept nearer under the spell. The woman\nand the serpent swayed together; then out darted a white arm, followed\nby the glistening writhe of the snake. At times it seemed almost a\nbattle between the two, and again it seemed as if the monster would\nhug her to death in its embrace. Finally, at a signal, two attendants\nrushed forward and helped disengage the python which seemed loath\nto leave its fair prey. As it was coaxed off, the audience heaved a\nsigh of relief. As the snake sheds its skin, so Aida threw off her\nouter robe, and emerged in roseate gauze of dawn-like hue. The music\ncrashed into gayer strains. First the dancer depicted the awakening of\nlove,--joy, bliss, rising to the delirium of ecstasy,--then languor,\nand when it seemed that she had fairly swooned away, her muscles became\ntaut, and she arose to show the fury of love scorned. Snatching a\ndagger from her belt she brandished it in the air. Wildly she struck,\nfaster and faster resounded the music, more passionate became her\nmotion, until she was fury incarnate. She seemed a harlequin of the\ndesert, as she struck right and left. Akish did not realize how near\nhe was until she plunged the blade at him and he drew back with a cold\nsweat on his brow. Her vengeance seemed to rise to the height of black\nhate. Centering her strength she drove the dagger into her imaginary\nenemy, and the knife went clattering down on the pavement.\n\nThe dance was ended. The spectators broke into wild applause. Aida\nstaggered toward the shade of the orange trees, and not realizing what\nhe did, Akish plunged after her. He reached her just as she swayed and\nfell, with utter exhaustion, on his outstretched arm.\n\nIII.\n\nFRUITION.\n\nLured on by the bait of Aida, Akish called the secret societies\ntogether and started his diabolical machinations, but the Lord warned\nOmer, in a dream, of his impending danger, with the result that the\nold king gathered his household together and departed secretly to the\nland of Ablom, where he pitched his tents by the sea-shore. Jared was\nanointed king by the hand of wickedness, and at the same time Akish was\nwedded to Aida.\n\nIf Jared loved power, Akish did more so, and his vaulting ambition led\nto the throne itself. He fretted inwardly; and, because such a nature\nmust be active in evil, he began to lay his subtle plans to consummate\nhis end. He must get Jared out of the way. By reason of his control\nof the secret organizations, whose members were bound by dread oaths,\nhe was already a more influential man than the king. His marriage to\nJared's daughter strengthened his position. Strangely enough, the\nthing that should have deterred him from the murder, consideration for\nhis wife, confirmed his dire decision. Akish loved Aida as much as a\nnature of his kind is capable of, but mingled with it was a desire to\ndomineer. He derived pleasure from torturing the beloved object. During\ntheir brief married life, he had been afforded some rare flashes of\nher temper, and he now saw a chance to quell the rebellion in her, and\ncrush it with one blow.\n\nThe arch conspirator sent out his band of assassins to kill King Jared\nas he sat upon the throne, and as they departed he called after the\nbullies, \"That I may know that you have done your work well, bring me\na token, bring me the head of the king,\" and he smiled grimly to think\nthat the same fate that Jared had decreed for his father, should now be\nmeted out to him.\n\nAkish did not know what fear was, but he could ill brook delay. He sat\nin his great stone chamber and essayed a dozen tasks only to throw them\naside and listen impatiently, as the afternoon lengthened into night.\nWhen the heavy tread of his accomplices resounded in the corridor, he\ncould have shouted with relief.\n\n\"How goes it?\" he questioned sharply, as the men filed into the room.\n\n\"It is done,\" answered Simon.\n\n\"How?\"\n\n\"With twenty wounds, Chief,\" broke in one of the followers.\n\n\"We went in and mingled with the people as he sat high upon his throne,\nand when the petitioners for justice had all gone, and he started to\ndescend, we stabbed him. Our men watched the entrances so we would not\nbe interrupted in our work.\"\n\n\"And the proof?\"\n\n\"Behold, my Lord,\" Simon threw back his cloak and held up by the hair\nthe ghastly trophy, but it was not this gruesome spectacle that froze\nthe look of horror on the face of Akish.\n\nInstinctively he looked in the other direction to behold Aida, clad in\nher night robes, in the doorway. Whether or not she had recognized the\nhead of her father, in the half light of the room, they could not tell,\nfor she turned silently, and they heard the swish of her draperies down\nthe hall.\n\nConfusion fell upon the retainers, and Akish, shaking as if he had the\nague, said, \"I did not mean for her to see that. Get out of my sight.\"\n\nIf they had any doubts they were soon dissipated, for Aida shut herself\nup in her apartments, and for three days her screams resounded through\nthe palace. On the third day Akish commanded her to appear at a\nbanquet, for he dared not face her alone. She came and sat stony-faced\nat the board.\n\nDuring the coronation ceremonies which followed, when Akish sat in her\nfather's place, and she, on his right hand, was crowned queen, neither\nof them ever mentioned Jared's name.\n\nNot until her son Ether was born some months later did Aida smile\nagain, and somehow, because Akish was his father, the little newcomer\nrenewed the bond between them.\n\nIV.\n\nREAPING THE WHIRLWIND.\n\nBeyond the initial step, Aida had taken no part in Akish's crimes. When\nhe attained the throne, she thought that his violence must cease, but\nhis increased power only offered him more opportunities to sate his\nlust for wickedness. Because his honor was bound up with his queen,\nas well as for her innate charm, Akish had cared more for her than he\ndid for anybody. But, steeped with satiety, he constantly sought new\nsensations; and, as he grew more brutish, Aida's influence with him\nwaned. His crimes became more vicious, and he reveled in bloodshed,\nuntil the people called him monster, and prayed for a liberator.\n\n[Illustration: THEY BROUGHT HER BABY BOY IN DYING UPON HIS SHIELD.]\n\nTheir eyes turned naturally to the tyrant's eldest son. Ether, now\ngrown to splendid manhood, who through his mother, had kingly blood in\nhis veins. The old king saw with jealous eyes how the populace loved\nhis son, and despised him, and his hate knew no bounds. He incarcerated\nEther in prison, and gradually starved him to death.\n\nHis mother, who could stand no more, left the monster, and retired to\nher desert castle to mourn. Nimrah, her second son, fearful that his\nfather's wrath would now fall on him, fled with a few followers to Omer\nat Ablom.\n\nNot to please a paramour but to punish Aida for leaving him, Akish\nyielded to the importunities of one of his favorites, a vulgar, blase\nwoman and flaunted her openly at the palace.\n\nIt is said that the reason the criminal always gets caught is because\nhe stands out against organized society; nay, more than that, he is\nfighting the law of the universe, progression. As soon as a man impairs\nhis own usefulness, or injures his fellow-men, he becomes a clog to\nblock her advancement, and nature is going to crush him. She has no\nuse for weaklings, but on the useful worker she will lavish power a\nhundredfold.\n\nThe debased debauchee had become a menace, so the immutable laws\nprepared to destroy him. Grief-stricken over the death of his brother,\nand smarting under this latest insult offered to his mother, Gilead,\nthe third son, arose in wrath, and declared war against his father.\nThousands in the kingdom, who nursed grievances, rallied to his\nsupport. So Aida saw her own flesh and blood arrayed against their\nfather. Deep as she had drunk of the bitter draught of sorrow, she was\ndestined yet to drain it to the dregs.\n\nAs befitted her mood, the queen had retired to a bleak castle, partly\nin ruins and surrounded for miles by barren cacti. Bats lurked in its\nturrets, and the wind claimed its ancient towers for its own. The\nnation had risen in arms, and when rumors of battle reached their\nretreat nothing would do but that Aida's youngest son, a boy of\nfifteen, must sally forth to join his brothers on the field. In vain\ndid his mother plead; he was obdurate. Finally with trembling fingers\nshe fastened the armor on his stripling limbs, kissed him, and let him\ngo. After that the queen of tragedy haunted the edge of the battlefield\nlike a vampire, until they brought her baby boy in dying upon his\nshield. Then her already tottering reason gave way, and she went stark\nmad. A few hours later, when they placed the fair, slender body in the\nsepulchre, his mother was a raving maniac.\n\nAll the tragedies of her life were babbled forth in the drivel of\nthe insane. One night, under cover of a storm, she escaped from her\nkeepers. The next morning they found her body in the well, but, whether\nblinded by the rain, she had stumbled over the curbing and been plunged\nby accident into the pit, or had sought to drown her troubles in the\nLethean waters of suicide, they did not know.\n\nCouriers carried the news of the queen's death to the king. It stirred\nthe remnant of feeling left in him, but his last hold on life was gone.\nScarce had the messengers ceased speaking when the guard from the watch\ntower broke in to say that the legions were advancing on the citadel.\nThen a captain came to report that his soldiers had been bribed by the\nenemy. Hated by his own followers, with half-hearted officers who knew\nthey were on the losing side, with fear written on every countenance,\nAkish realized that he had lost, before the enemy had raised a spear.\n\n\"At least we'll die with harness on our back,\" and he motioned for an\nattendant to get down his armor from the wall, and, as the boys' hands\nshook, he kicked him for a coward, and stooped and fastened the straps\nhimself. He ordered his chariot, and when seated on high, the gates\nwere thrown back. Like a bull who charges the toreadors, he glanced\nover the plain, which, as far as the eye could see, was alive with\nplumed warriors. His whip sang out over the heads of the horses, and,\nundaunted to the end, he plunged into the maelstrom to his death.\n\n(THE END.)","title":"The Cities of the Sun: Stories of Ancient America founded on historical incidents in the Book of Mormon","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":35584}