So this Empress to be of a woman prisoner!
Now my mind has been to work with a in these moments of stress, and I on my proper on the the had left her lips. I was myself for Atlantis by order of the High Council of the Priests, and, if needful, Nais must be also, although in the same a came to me for saving her.
So I the Empress, and said I, “In this, and in all other where a hand is potent, I will out your wishes, Phorenice.” And she on her part my arm, and fresh of up from the of her eyes. Surely the Gods for her her and her when they gave Phorenice her shape, and her voice, and the which the of her face.
By this time the merchants, and the other to this part of the harbour, where the stands, had come down, of raiment, and houses to retire into. Phorenice was all graciousness, and though it was little I for of my coat, still that part of the into which we had been by the was not over savoury, and I was to her example. For myself, I said no word to Nais, and from her a of farewell. But a small like this was no for Phorenice, and she gave the port-captain orders for the of his she left him.
At the house into which I was they gave me a bath, and I my of the in his store, and he was pleased at off so cheaply. But I had an hour to on the to the of Phorenice came out to me again, and I not help some at the of the merchant who followed. The was ruined. He had a store of and of the most kind, which were only in his own, that he had them (as the is) in partnership with other merchants. These had pleased Phorenice’s eye, and so she had taken all and them on her person.
“Are they not pretty?” said she, them to me. “See how they under the sun. I am now, Deucalion, that the gave us that and that spill, since it has me such a present. You may tell the here that some day when he has some more, I will come and be his guest again. Ah! They have us litters, I see. Well, send one away and do you mine with me, sir. We must play at being lovers to-day, if love is a which will come to us with more to-morrow. No; do not order more bearers. My own will us enough. I am you are not one of your gross, men, Deucalion. I am small and myself, and I do not want to be by a man who will me.”
“Back to the pyramid?” I asked.
“No, to the walls. I neither wish to to as Empress to-day, sir. As I have told you before, it is my to be Phorenice, the maiden, for a hours, and if some one I of would me now, as other are wooed, I should it a luxury. Bid the us the harbour’s rim, and give word to these that, if they follow, I will call fire upon them as I did upon the sacrifice.”
Now, I had something of the of the myself, and I had a hint also from the officer at the gate of the that night of Phorenice’s banquet. But as there was in the must be common knowledge to the Empress, I did not it to her memory then. So I the which had come up, and away with a the of who always, creatures, must needs come to at their betters; and then I sat in the in the place where I was invited, and the put their to the pole.
They away with us along the wide which the houses of the merchants and the and the of the harbour, and I sadly of the ships that on that now, and of the of that themselves on the quays. Time was when the ships were so close that many had to wait in the the walls, and had been sent to the King that the port should be in size to the of trade. And that, too, in the old days of and sail, when power from our Lord the Sun were but used to help a along her course.
The Egypt and a return was a of a year then, as against a of months now, and of three ships that set out, one at least be upon to the of the wide and the terrible that them. But in those old days with life, and was and more heavy. Your merchant then was a man and gave to the Gods. But now all the world to be in arms, and was vulgar. Your merchant, if he was a man of substance, his merchandise, that was more than and his after the new fashion, and a courtier. Where his father had days with and ship-master, the son hours in men as they a coat, and nights in at a banquet.
Of the smaller merchants who had no by, taxes and the of had ground them into starvation. Besides, with the country in uproar, there were markets left for most merchandise, was there now which be abroad. If your is pressed as a fire-tube man he not make cloth, and if your farmer is playing at rebellion, he not to till his fields. Indeed, they told me that a month my return, as a of had been into as came out of Europe, and there was nothing for it but to set them across the estuary, and them free to or live in the wild ground there as they chose. There was no man in all Atlantis who would so much as one more as a gift.
But though I was at this away, all for would be for afterwards. It would only make to speak of it as we together in the litter. I was to know Phorenice’s moods for that. Still, I think that she too had mine, and did her best to me her of trifling. We out to where the the land, and there the set us down. She me into a little house of which by itself, out on a where there is a of tide, and when we had been admittance, after much unbarring, she me her new gold collectors.
In the knowledge in the and of the Sacred Mountain it had been a common to us that the metal gold was present in a in all sea water, but of plans for it into yellow hardness, none had been discussed. But here this field-reared of an Empress had upon the as though it had been in a book.
She my arm laughingly as I the place. “I tell all others in Atlantis that only the Gods have this secret,” said she, “and that They gave it to me as one of themselves. But I am no Goddess to you, am I, Deucalion? And, by my face! I have no other of how this plan was invented. We’ll I must have it. Look! The sea-water in through that culvert, and over these metal plates set in the floor, and then out again in its natural course. You see the yellow metal in the of the plates? That is gold. And my here melt it with fire into bars, and take it to my smith’s in the city. The constantly, as you know well, as the moon them, and it not take much to know how much of the sea through these in a month and how much gold to a should be in the plates. My here at to me, but I two of them in the water once a till the fish ate them, and since then the others have me for—for what do you think?”
“More divinity.”
“I it is that. But I am you see how it is done. Just have the to work out a little sum, and see what an can be gained. You will be a God yet yourself, Deucalion, with these Atlanteans, if only you will use your and cleverness.”
Was she laughing at me? Was she in earnest? I not tell. Sometimes she pointed out that her success and were the of and brilliancy, and next moment she gave me some and left me to that she must be more than or the thing have been found. In good truth, this little woman with her mind and her me more and more the longer I by her side; and more and more did I that Atlantis be by my agency to peace and the Gods, after I had out the of the High Council, and taken her to wife.
Only one plan possible, and that was to her by death and then the country naturally to recover. It was just a dagger-stroke, and the thing was done. Yet the very idea of this me, and when the came to my mind (which it did and anon), I to myself the answer that if it were to do this thing, the High Gods in Their would surely have put upon me for its out.
Yet, such was the of Phorenice, that when presently we left her gold collectors, and into such peril, that a little of my hand would have her a passage to the Gods, I myself when she called upon me, as I have before. And though, of course, some for this must be upon that of which the of us when to and war-cries start to ring, there is no also that the of protecting Phorenice, and the for her by those rude, put special nerve and into my blows.
The of the was the and the to which I have spoken of above, and the of the common people, which them to take any if it them a of the to purchase a meal. We had once more the litter, and once more the bearers, with their the pole, us on at their trot. Phorenice was telling me about her new of gold. She had fresh laws, it appeared.
“In the old days,” said she, “when yellow gold was up by from river in the lands, a full would cost a rich man’s savings, and so none but those high station them to be so wear ornaments. But when the sea-water gave me gold here by the a day, I that the price of these river decreased, and one day—could you it?—a common fellow, who was one of my smiths, came to me a of yellow gold on his own common neck. Well, I had that divided, as payment for his presumption; and as I promised to repeat the on all other offenders, that special of to be for the time. There are many exasperations, Deucalion, in these common people.”
She had other to say upon the matter, but at this point I saw two of to us from over the ripples, and at the same time the narrow which the houses on the other of us, savage-faced men were to after the in clusters.
“With permission,” I said, “I will step out of the and this rabble.”
“Oh, the people always me. Poor souls, they to take a in to at my looks. But them. I have said I did not wish to be followed. I am taking now, Deucalion, am I not, you learn to me?”
I to the ground. The in the were to to those who the houses to see to it that we did not escape, and the numbers who us in on the were every moment. The was enough. We had come out the merchants’ quarters, and were level with those small of and which the population for shelter, and which has always been a spot where might be expected. Indeed, in those days of peace and good government in the old King’s time, this part of the city had been without its riot.
The life of the is the most hard that any have to endure. Violence from the wind and waves, and from out of the sky are their daily portion; the great that in the them with persistence, and it is a day when at least some one of the fishers’ fails to come home to answer the tally.
Moreover, the manner which of fish is not without its risks.
To each man there is a large sea-fowl taken as a nestling, and to the work. A ring of is its to prevent its the for which it dives, and for each fish it takes and with to the boat, the and and are to it for a reward, the ring being it makes the meal.
The are faithful, once they have got a training, and are to their owners; but, although the them more than they do their wives, or children of their own begetting, the life of the is like that of their masters. The larger and fish of the sea on them as they on the smaller fish, and so may be upon them, they are most to off.
And here is another thing that makes the life of the most precarious: if his bird be slain, and the second which he has in also come by fortune, he is left of all of livelihood, and (for his guild-fellows care) he may go starve. For these that the Gods of the sea their craft, and that if one is not to Them They him of his birds; after which it would be to have any or with such a fellow; and he is left to or as he chooses.
All of which to make the rude, men, who have been into the all other have rejected them. They are fellows, moreover, who will the of a month on a night’s debauch, for that the will them of life and the of spending; and, moreover, it is their one point of to be in no by an ordinary of consequences. As will appear.
I the largest of these people, who were the houses, the in the path me, and I them to disperse. “For an employment,” I added, “put your houses in order, and clean the fish from the them. To-morrow I will come here to inspect, and put this into a order. But for to-day the Empress (whose name be adored) for a privacy, so your staring.”
“Then give us money,” said a voice from the huts.
“I will send you a in an hour’s time,” I said grimly, “and you a gallows, if you give me more annoyance. To your kennels, you!”
I think they would have the voice of authority if they had been left to themselves. There was a quick them. Those that in the into the shadow, and many into the houses and in dark out of sight. But the men in the two hide-covered fisher-boats that were up, called them with cries.
I to the litter-bearers to move on along their road. There was need of here, and I was to it out myself with a hand. I that I prevent them the Empress, but if she still as a for them to rob, and I had to protect her also, it might be that my work would not be done so effectively.
But it I was in an order which with the person of Phorenice. She the where they were, and out, and her from the cushions. She came me a on to her hip, and a well-dinted of gold on her left forearm. “An trick,” she, laughing. “If you will keep a to now, Deucalion, where will your you when I am your shrinking, little wife? Are these going to up against us?”
I was not a fight, but it as if there would be no of it now. The and the of which Phorenice had the merchant, the of these people with attraction. The in the into the which the beach, and and left the basket-work to be up or smashed, as ordered. And from the houses, and from the them, out of others, mixed with the men, us threateningly.
“Have a care,” one on the of the crowd. “She called fire for the once to-day, and she can up others here if she chooses.”
“So much the more for those that are left,” another. “She cannot all.”
“Nay, I will not any,” said Phorenice, “but you shall look upon my sword-play till you are tired.”
I her say that with some amusement, (as one of the Seven) how she had called the of the sky to that cloven-hoofed offered in sacrifice, and too, full well, that she no fire here. But they gave us little time for courtesies. Their Empress unattended, and, for the knew, an might be close behind. So what they did, it them to done quickly.
They closed in, one another to be first, and the of their us cough. A hand out to some of the which on Phorenice’s breast, and I it off at the elbow, so that it at her feet, and a second later we were engaged.
“Your to mine, comrade,” she, with a laugh, and then and about her with dexterity. Bah! but it was slaughter, that bout.
The with such to what they could, that none had space to for a thrust, and we two a circle us by of steel. It is necessary to do one’s work in these bouts, as left on the ground one are as as so many snakes. But as we in our I noted that all of Phorenice’s peaceful and still. By the Gods! but she play a sword, this Empress. She touched life with every thrust.
Yes, it was plain to see, now an example was given, that the of Atlantis had been won, not by a and a alone; and (as a myself) I did not like Phorenice the less for the knowledge. I but see her out of the of my eye, and that only now and again, for the fishers, despite their ill-knowledge of fence, and the of their weapons, had numbers, and most ferocity; and as they so of being able to us down, it more than a little hard to keep them from doing it. Ay, by the Gods! it was at times a my to, and if I had not to a from one who came too vain-gloriously near me with one, I not they would not have me by savageness.
And always above the of the came very to my ears Phorenice’s of “Deucalion!” which she as her shout. I her, of course, to be a past-mistress of the art of compliment, and it was no new thing for me to the name out above a din, but it was there under which were peculiar, and for the life of me I not help being by the flattery.
Condemn my how you will, but I came very near then to the Empress of Atlantis in the way she wished. And as for that other woman who should have my mind, I will that the of the moment, and the of the engagement, had her and her out the of my memory. Of such are we made, those of us who ourselves the strongest.
Now it is a men to the can resist, to themselves and into a for a fight’s sake, and it that can be with the same infection. The attack and halted. We in the middle of a ring of dead, and the of the and their who us in out of of our weapons.
It was the moment for a truce, and the moment when a would have sent them to their huts, and us free passage to go where we chose. But no, this Phorenice must needs sing a to her and mine, over our and invulnerability; and then she must needs ask payment for the of her they had killed, and then speak of the burnings, and the skinnings, and the with which this fishers’ would be in the near future, till they learned the of and manners.
“It makes your creep, it?” said Phorenice. “I do not wonder. This must have its side. But why do you not put it my power to give the order? Either you must think yourselves Gods or me no Goddess, or you would not have gone on so far. Come now, you nasty-smelling people, out your theory, and if you make a good of it, I by my I will be with those who do not fall.”
But there was no pressing up to meet our swords. They still us in, and sullen, the ring of their own dead, and would neither to the houses, give us the game of fight. There was a about them that one not but admire, and for myself I that next time it my to troops, I would catch a of these men, and teach them with the of war, and train them to and faithfulness. But presently from their ranks a flew, and though it the Empress and myself, and a fisher, it that they had a new method into their attack, and it us to take and meet it.
I looked me up and the beach. There was no of a rescue. “Phorenice,” I said in the tongue, which these would know little of, “I take it that a of the sea-breeze would come very after all this warm play. As you can such work, will you cut me a way to the beach, and I will do my best to keep these from at our heels?”
“Oh!” she. “Then I am to have a for a husband after all. Why have you your speeches till now? Is that your to make me love you?”
“I will think out the for it another time.”
“Ah, these stern, husbands,” said she, “how they do press upon their little wives!” and with that over the ring of her, and cut and a way through those that her and the which and upon the beach. Gods! what a she made. It me with as I her, the rear. And I am a man that has so many years in battling, that it takes something out of the common to move me to any in this matter.
There were two and about in the of the surf, but in one, happily, the wicker-work which its was by the weight of the into a of sticks, and would take a day to replace. So that, let us but the other afloat, and we should be free from embroiling. But the were quick to see the object of this new manoeuvre. “Guard the boat,” they shouted. “Smash her; her skin with your knives! Tear her with your fingers! Swim her out to sea! Oh, at least take the paddles!”
But, if these run, Phorenice was like a for speed. She was the any it, laughing and out that she them at every point. Myself, I was slower of foot; and, besides, there was some that offered me a on the road, and I was not to them; and moreover, the we left behind, the there would be to speed our going with their stones. Still I came to the beach in good order, and hands on the and her dry.
“Fighting is no for, me,” I cried, “whilst you are here, Phorenice. Guard me my and walk out into the water.”
I took the boat, it afloat, and with it till two lines of the were past. The us, active as fish in their native element, and to hands on the and the which it with their fingers. But I had a hand, and a stabbing-knife for such close-quarter work, and here, there, and was Phorenice the Empress, with her thirsty sword. By the Gods! I laughed with at her art of fence.
But the of a great fish into the shallows, and the of a as he was and home away into the deep, me of that no skill can conquer, and no avoid. Without taking time to give the Empress a word of warning, I stooped, and an arm her, and her up out of the water into the boat, and then on with all my might, the out to sea, my under me for of the which the waters.
To the fishers, to these by daily association, the of one of their number meant little, and they pressed on, careless of their lives, only to the which still on Phorenice’s breast. Of the that might come after they nothing; let them but the for one night’s good debauch, and they would that such a thing as the of a have existence.
Two I and killed that, beneath, to the skin of the out of under the water; and Phorenice for all those that to put a hand on the gunwales. Yes, and she did more than that. A long-necked that was out of the by the turmoil, came up to daylight, and its great horn-lipped mouth to this and that, for a prey. The near it and dived. I, at the of the boat, only it would pass me by and so offered an easy mark. It me, its noisy lips, and the water into with its flippers.
But Phorenice was quick with a and a rescue. She passed her through one of the that pressed her, and then the the turtle. The great it; the long which from its and snuffled; and then the green on it, and it out of sight.
The was in water now, and Phorenice called upon me to come in over the side, she the while so that the thing should not be overset. The had up their pursuit, that they nothing but lopped-off arms and by of this terrible of their Empress, and so themselves with in the of us or the boat. However, Phorenice in the stern, the two shields—her own target, and the I had won—and so protected of us I paddled, and though many against the shields, and the of the boat, so that it like a drum, none of them did damage, and we out of their range.
