Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour

"I dressed in haste, eating as I did so, for the hour appointed for my meeting with her was nigh, and my heart was filled with anxiety for the news that she might bring. But ere I had time to leave my chamber a servant came, leaving a message from my darling, saying that she would see me in her apartments. At the foot of the stairway Cyni and her sister waited my coming, and conducted me into the same room I had entered before.

"Volinè was waiting for me, and as the two handmaidens bowed and left, she came quickly to my side, a frightened, anxious look clouding her peerless face.

"'What is the matter, dear one?' I asked, as I saw her troubled look, although I guessed the cause.

"'Thy sickness hath grieved me sorely, dear. Art thou better now?'

"'The sight of you makes illness flee. But my malady is more of the spirit than the body. Darling, I cannot sleep for thoughts of you. That is all my ailment. And now let me thank you and kiss you for the pretty flowers. See; I wear them near my heart, and prize them much. But why do I see you here?'

"'For two reasons. First, thou art not well enough to risk the chilly air of evening; and second, I have prevailed upon Echri to meet thee here at a later hour. Already have I seen him when he came to Edos this morning, as is his daily custom, and by great good fortune persuaded him to grant my prayer. Oh! Harry, Harry, canst thou bear this pain for me?'

"'Dear one, my word is given, and I am ready, even now, to-night, to pass through this mystic ceremony, if it but hastens the day of our happiness. Have you yet made known our secret to the King?'

"'Alas! no; for I fear his refusal. But methinks I hadst better tell him before Echri comes. He may ask if my father hath given his consent to our betrothal, and even refuse his aid if such hath not been given.'

"'Then, darling, tell your father of our love to-night,' and I took her in my arms as I spoke, and kissed her upturned face in boundless pride.

"'As thou sayest, so will I do. Yea, even now shall the King hear of my love for thee, and my desire to be thy wife.'

"So speaking, Volinè withdrew herself from my arms, and placing the whistle to her lips, called her faithful Cyni into the room.

"'Is thy royal master engaged with business of State? Learn, and tell me.'

"'His Majesty, O mistress, is in the Hall of Song.'

"'Alone?'

"'Even so, O mistress.'

"'Ah, then, conduct me to his presence, good Cyni, for I would speak to him there'; and waving her hand to me Volinè departed, leaving me to wait by myself whilst the question of our happiness was decided.

"Slowly the moments slipped away – one hour passed, another had nearly sped, and yet Volinè came not. My heart was filled with forebodings of evil. Dread had seized upon my soul, and so agitated did I begin to feel as the time wore on, that I trembled like an aspen, and my legs became unable to bear me. Once more I passed through untold agonies of suspense, until at last I heard Volinè's voice outside, bidding Cyni leave her.

"The look of triumph on her face as she entered told me her story before she could speak, yet her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes bore silent witness that the interview with the King, her father, had been by no means an unexciting one.

"'My darling, I read your secret on your radiant face. Now all is well, and I may justly claim you as my own.'

"'Thou sayest truly. My father hath said that I may wed thee; he hath consented to our troth, and, Harry, I could cry with joy. But wilt thou always love me as thou lovest me now? Art thou really sure? for I can tell thee, men of Gathma are often known to tire of their wives.'

"'Then they cannot be one quarter so charmingly fascinating as you are, darling.'

"'Ah, flatterer, thou seemest to know the way to a woman's heart. Who hath taught thee her weakness?'

"'None of your sex, certainly, my sweet one, unless maybe I inherit it from those who have had more experience. But, Volinè, why stay so long away? Was your father at all inclined to withhold his sanction?'

"'He was; for although succession to the crown of Gathma never runs through female descendants, it was his wish that I should wed a noble of our own race. He hath prejudice against thee, for thou art not of this world; besides, he also urged thy short span of life.'

"'But that is easily overcome, darling,' I urged.

"'Not so easily as thou thinkest; but I am not going to brood on that terror to-night – at least, not yet. I spoke of Echri's power, and of thy own determination, and that bringeth me to what I hadst forgotten in my joy. My father at last consented to my wish; but he made it the condition that thou shouldst pass through this ordeal of fire. He sayeth that if thou hast the courage to face this awful trial, which will make thee more of Gathma than of Ramos, then, and then only, art thou worthy of being mate for me.'

"'With you for my reward, dearest Volinè, I would not hesitate to suffer the pangs of death a hundred times. I win your love in this ordeal – "

"'Nay, Harry, thou hast won it long ago.'

"'May heaven bless you for those precious words,' I answered, as I kissed her flushed cheeks, and drew her head gently down upon my shoulder.

"A low knocking at the door broke the spell of our delicious pleasure, and we heard Cyni, who had evidently being instructed to watch, saying:

"'Hearken, O mistress; Echri the Priest cometh.'

"'Then conduct him thither, Cyni, with thy fleetest steps,' Volinè answered, seating herself on a couch and smoothing her ruffled hair.

"In a few moments this famous Priest arrived, and I was not a little astonished to see with what reverence he was received. But his calm, saintly, dignified bearing seemed imperatively to demand respect, even obeisance. Never before had I seen so aged a being, or one whose full-ripe years of life were borne with so much vigour and manliness. He came into Volinè's room with a firm and upright step, his long hair and beard, which reached below his breast, white with the winters of centuries, setting off a singularly handsome and intelligent face. Bareheaded, clad in a long loose black garment, tightened with a scarlet sash round his waist, and with a scroll of what looked like parchment in one hand, and a long, richly ornamented staff in the other, he advanced towards Volinè saying: —

"'God's blessing rest upon thee and thine, Volinè, daughter of our well-loved King.'

"'I thank thee, Holy Father, for thy kindly benediction, and also for showing me such favour in coming hither at so late an hour.'

"'Nay, nay, child. I am ever ready to comfort any sorrow, and assist distress. I come to talk of thy troubles, and, by God's good grace, relieve them.'

"'But thou art weary, good Father, and may not yet have supped. Wilt thou not eat before thou hast converse with us?'

"'God ever gives me strength unto the measure of my labours, child; and my humble fare awaits me in my mountain-home, as soon as the works of the day be done. This stranger here is the man of Ramos, who was delivered from thy father's misplaced wrath at Remagaloth?'

"'The same, O Father. See! thy sacred ring is even now upon his finger, thy talisman from evil.'

"'And now, most reverend Echri, I would offer you my gratitude, as well as that of my companions, for your timely and marvellous aid in the hour of our darkest need, both there and in the Chados deserts, when we were perishing of thirst,' I said, advancing to where the old priest stood, and bowing to him respectfully.

"'I ever seek to help all who put their faith in God, and blindly trust themselves to His Omnipotence. But thou hast come a long journey, my son, from a world whose ways I know not save by their revelation to me in a vision. Therein was declared unto me that ye do worship God, but in a different manner from us of Gathma. Therein, too, was declared unto me that, all in God's good time, the peoples of the worlds that roll across the sky in majesty and splendour, those balls that speak of His creative wisdom in their throbbing lights by night, shall be knit together in one grand brotherhood of God! This vision teacheth me that in thee and thy companions I see the shadowed prophecy beginning its fulfilment. Ye have conquered Space by your cunning arts, and the planets now no longer keep them to themselves. So will God gather those scattered worlds together and hold all His people united! And now Volinè tells me that the passion ye call Love hath taken root between ye, and that already thou hast asked her to wife. Thou art but an agent of God in this wondrous thing, and being so, it is my holy duty to help thee yet again, in prolonging thy days, so that they shall equal hers. I hear that thou art willing to go through the holy rite that will endow thee with a longer span?'

"'Even so,' I answered, overwhelmed by the solemn words the old priest had uttered.

"'But hast thou weighed well thine inclination? The ordeal that thou must pass is one of Fire. Know ye that Fire is Life, and Life is Fire? By passing Fire ye enter Life. But even so must Death be conquered first!'

"'Holy Father, I wait with growing impatience to so prolong my days, having all faith in your wondrous power to help me,' I answered with a trembling voice, awed beyond description by the subtle influence this old priest already had over me.

"'Then, at noon upon the morrow, come thou to the Temple on the hill Verosi, and there will I help thee to thy wish. Volinè will show thee thither; and let your coming and your going be in secret, and be done by stealth.'

"'Come hither, Volinè, for I would give my blessing to ye both before I go' – and the old priest, taller by a head and shoulders than I, stood up, and with one hand placed on Volinè's head, and the other on my own, he breathed a silent prayer for us.

"'And now, my children, I must get me gone. The nightly services of our Holy House upon the hill await my ministration, and methinks ye both do tire of an old man's company.'

"'We thank thee much for thy good offices, Holy Echri; and will keep faith with thee to-morrow. Fare-thee-well.'

"Then taking up his staff, and his scroll of holy writings, the old priest, with a smile in which no human passions mingled, slowly went his way.

"'Now, Harry, thou shalt sup with me to-night, as a mark of royal favour,' said Volinè with a smile, 'and then must thou go and rest, and fortify thyself for the morrow.'

"So saying, she led me into another and a smaller room adjoining, where Cyni and her sister Irolne waited to serve us with food. Our meal over, I bade Volinè adieu until the morrow, she promising to meet me at our old tryst in the garden of Siccoth-trees, an hour before noon, whence we might journey together to the gold-domed Temple on the distant hill of Verosi.

"'And so the morrow is to be the most eventful day of all my eventful life,' I mused, as I sat in my chamber looking out upon the Palace grounds, now appearing in all the subtle beauty a tropical night alone can lend. There I sat for an hour or more, deeply pondering over the morrow's mysteries. 'Where and what shall I, Harry Graham, be at the close of that all-fateful day?' My home, my Earth, shone like a steady-burning brilliant in the green-blue southern sky; in a few hours more, and all the ties that bind me thereto will be burnt away – destroyed by fire! Slowly, as I mused, her beautiful point of light sank lower and lower, and finally she dropped behind the garden-trees, and I bade her adieu – farewell, for with earthly eyes I should see her no more. One pang of regret, and one only, shot through my heart quicker than the lightning flash, and was gone; and then I cursed my weakness, for it seemed like a breach of loyalty to Her!

"All night I slept but little, and right glad was I to see the distant mountains, through my eastern window, tipped with ruddy day. I rose up from my couch and, early as it was, summoned Herio, the servant who had been charged with the duty of attending to my personal needs.

"'At what hour do my comrades take their morning meal, Herio?' I asked as he entered.

"'Two hours from the present, sire.'

"'Then you will find me, if they make enquiry, in the garden below. I go there to breathe the morning air, and to refresh myself.'

"Truly, this garden was a wondrous place – filled with strange flowers and plants and trees, many of the latter festooned together by creepers which dropped in mid-air blooms of rare beauty and fragrance. It was graced with statuary, and with fountains which, by hidden means, dispelled a subtle perfume in their spray as the winds caught it and wafted it across the groves. Here I wandered, striving to compose myself and steady my nerves for the coming trial. Besides, I had no desire at present to betray myself, and to let my comrades know the step I was contemplating. When all was over, then might I tell them my secrets, but, until then, I deemed it best to keep my own counsel.

"The time slipped quickly away, and Herio came to summon me to eat. Already my companions were at table, waiting for me. "'Why, Graham, wherever on Earth – no, on Mars – do you hide yourself?' said Temple, as I entered the room. 'Where did you conceal yourself last evening? We knew that you were a-bed all day, for the Doctor came from time to time and saw you as you slept, but at night you utterly vanished.'

"'I thought I told you explicitly to keep quiet, Graham, and here you are gadding about the moment you awake, casting all my cautions to the winds.'

"'Now, Doctor – and you, too, Temple – as to where I spent the evening, I did so with Volinè, at her invitation, and I assure you I was well taken care of – '

"'Really; I don't doubt it! What a lucky fellow you are! And when is the fatal day to be?' said Temple carelessly, and with a merry laugh, determined to have his say for once, in spite of the Doctor's presence, yet little dreaming of the awful signification his last lightly-spoken words had for me.

"'I'm real glad to see you in such spirits, Mr. Temple, after all we have gone through lately,' I answered, trying to turn our conversation to subjects less personal and painful to me. 'What are your plans for the future, Doctor? Have you seen anything more of the King?'

"'Well, Graham,' said the Doctor, evidently as pleased as myself to see the conversation taking a more practical turn, for an argument of any feminine subject was his one abomination. 'Well, Temple and I had a long consultation with the King yesterday; and we are about to hold a grand scientific Congress here in Edos, to which all the leading philosophers are to be invited, and then we are going to discuss I don't know how many important subjects. The King is quite enthusiastic, especially on one great project we are contemplating, namely, the establishment of regular communication between Earth and here. I have, also, a bit of news for you. I heard yesterday from our old friend Kios that that rascal, that villain Perodii, had destroyed the poor Sirius– wrecked her completely!'

"'Doctor, you don't mean that?'

"'But I do; and if I were a younger man, I would thrash him soundly for his mischief.'

"'Ah, Doctor,' I answered, 'Perodii is having his day, but retribution may be coming swiftly.'

"'Has come, but too late for me. The King has banished him from here.'

"'A worse fate than that awaits him, or I am no prophet,' I added, in a tone of hatred.

"'But your plans, Doctor?'

"'We are going to make exhaustive collections of the fauna and the flora of this planet. Temple is going to investigate its commercial resources, visiting all the great centres of industry, acquiring information useful to the manufacturers of Earth, and at the same time imparting whatever knowledge he may possess that is likely to be welcome here. You, Graham, might do worse than go with Temple – an engineer would be a useful companion. Ah, Graham, we have years of work before us – years. Here, in my glory of triumph, I positively pity the poor scientists of Earth, turning over and over their few theories and time-worn specimens, each with little better to do than to spend his life and efforts in seeking to overturn the views of his contemporaries on this question and on that. It is almost an event, nowadays, in the scientific world at home, for any real good new species to be discovered; and yet here a world, an entire world, crammed full of new and curious forms, lies before me!'

"'You see, the Doctor has not been idle,' said Temple.

"'Indeed he has not,' I answered, 'and all you tell me interests me exceedingly.' At any other time I should have felt enchanted whilst listening to dear old Doctor Hermann's plans and projects, but this morning I heard all that was said like one in a dream. I was heartily glad when the Doctor took Temple off to hear of a wonderful account of some monster insect, whose habitat was in a valley near Edos.'

"'I suppose you are engaged for the day, Graham?' said Temple, slily, as the two walked away.

"'I am going to write up some of my notes, and may then join you,' I answered evasively. Already it wanted but an hour to the time I had promised Volinè to meet her, so long had we lingered at table.

"With ever increasing excitement, with nerves becoming strung unto their tightest tension, I passed that hour away, and then betook myself to the arbour where Volinè was to join me. There, to my great astonishment, I found one of her maids – Irolne, sister of Cyni – awaiting my coming with a message from her mistress, saying that I was to go with this maiden, who would conduct me to a distant part of the Palace grounds, where Volinè already waited. Along secluded paths, and twice for some considerable way underground, through wild and wondrous grottoes we went, until at last we came unto steps which seemed to lead into a large and lofty building, entirely underground. At the bottom of this stairway stood Volinè, with Cyni. We were in a round chamber, from which radiated in all directions large pipes or tunnels, similar to the one through which we were brought by Perodii captives to Edos. In the centre was a luxuriously-fitted car, by the side of which stood two marshals in royal uniform.

"Smiling sweetly to me, Volinè stepped forward and said to these attendants:

"'We would visit Echri's Temple on the hill Verosi. Place us thither with speed,' and, beckoning to me, she entered the brilliantly-lighted car, and I followed her and sat down by her side. Then the car was turned round perhaps a quarter of a circle, and began to move forward into one of the pipes, and in an instant we were gliding onwards with ever-increasing speed. My arm stole round Volinè's waist as we travelled on, and, kissing her, I said:

"'You see, dear one, I am still as anxious to go through this ordeal of fire as I was when I left you last night.'

"'I knew thou wouldst not fail, dear Harry; but already my heart falters within me. Even now there is time for thee to repent thy words.'

"'And lose you? Never, darling! I see happiness before me, happiness with you; and though the path that leads thereto is rough and terrible, the reward will all the sweeter be.'

"We had no time for much further converse, as in a few minutes of time we slowed, and at last came to a stop in another building, similar in all respects to the one we had left.

"Instantly four venerable, white-haired Priests approached, and with some invocation which I did not understand, assisted us to alight, and, in a tone of great respect, asked us to follow them. We walked up a sloping path in silence, and then found ourselves in a beautiful grove of trees, from which, perhaps a quarter of a mile distant, towered the three mighty domes of burnished metal we had seen from the air, when approaching Edos in the Sirius.

"Escorted by our priestly guides, we wended our way between the trees, until we reached the lofty arched entrance to the Temple. Passing under this we came into a kind of courtyard, after crossing which we went through another and a smaller way, and here Holy Echri stood waiting to receive us. He was dressed much more imposingly, in a crimson robe, with a long rod of what looked like fine gold in his left hand, and a scroll of parchments, bound and suspended by a curiously-wrought chain of the same metal, in his right.

"'Welcome to our Holy House, O daughter of the King, and man of Ramos! Welcome to the Temple of God. Thy faith is strong within thee, my son. Have no fear, and follow me without dismay, for heaven shall lend thee strength equal to thy weakness.'

"Then, turning round, he led the way into a gorgeous sanctuary under one of the smaller domes. To say that I was astonished at the magnificence around me, conveys but a faint idea of my actual feelings. It was a Temple of gems and costly fabrics, enough to excite the envy of a Solomon, and fill his soul with despair. There were altars and curious structures whose uses were unknown to me, wrought in solid gold and garnished with jewels; there were rows and rows of venerable Priests ranged in close array round each altar, some bearing pots of incense slung by chains of gold, others with rods of gold, others yet again with curious lamps that burnt so brilliantly that the eye could not look upon them without becoming almost blind to all other objects. Then there was a sumptuous throne, encircled round about with a low trellis-work of gold, and behind that a lofty gallery, also filled with Priests. As we entered a dirge-like chant was sung to strains of music, where and how played I know not, which vibrated through our very souls in its harmonious beauty. Coming to a pause before the trellis-work, Echri bade Volinè and myself stand there together, and then, escorted by two aged Priests, he went and sat him down thereon. Then the music and the singing ceased, and a great silence fell upon the assembled throng, all eyes being fixed upon the throne, and we who stood before it. Volinè clung to me, and I could feel that ever and anon she trembled violently. All were apparently waiting now for Echri to act. Soon he did so, by addressing me:

"'Man of Ramos, the hour hath now arrived when, if thy faith or thy courage hath not failed thee, thou mayest, by the ordinance of Eternal Fire, obtain a greater span of years for thy decaying body. If thou hast the nerve within thee to let this living Fire embrace thee, then shalt thou become possessed of that for which thy heart hath craved.'

"Then, addressing Volinè, he continued:

"'And hast thou, Volinè, daughter of Gathma's mighty King, sought and got thy royal Father's free consent to take this man of Ramos for thy husband? If so be thou hast, speak!'

"'In truth, most Holy Echri, the King hath said that this shall be, and I assure thee this man of Ramos, standing by my side, goes through thy sacred ceremony with the King's full knowledge and approval unto that end,' Volinè answered, in a voice choked with the emotion that was fast overcoming her.

"'Enough! Now let us, therefore, enter upon our solemn duty.'

"And as he finished speaking, the multitude of Priests formed themselves into procession; the incense-throwers swung their cups to and fro, the lamp-bearers hoisted their lights on high, and the singers in the gallery commenced their solemn anthems. When they had finished singing, the grand procession began its imposing movement to the distant strains of some wind-instrument of great power and loud tone, on which twelve priestly artistes played, with marvellous precision, a march of soul-stirring beauty, though sad and tenderly plaintive in its cadence. At the end of this long company of marching Priests came Volinè, Echri, and myself; and so we wended our way around the spacious Hall and under an archway, into a larger building which was beneath the mightiest of the three brazen domes.

"This larger Temple was fitted up even more gorgeously than the one we had left; and right in the centre thereof was a High Altar, at the front of which flowed a constant stream of molten fire, smokeless and silent, yet so brilliant that it lighted up the vast dome into its uttermost recesses with a noonday brightness. The heat, as we passed within fifty paces of this wondrous fire-stream, was great, and beads of perspiration formed themselves on my face; but these were more the result of the great and awful excitement that filled my brain, than the glow of heat that radiated from this living furnace. As we passed, Echri said: