A old Priest came up and touched me on the shoulder.
“Well?” I said sharply, having small taste for just now.
“News has been to the Three, my King, of what is threatened.”
“Then they will know that I here now, brother, to the of my life. When it is I shall go to the Gods, and be there the to welcome them when presently they also arrive. They have my that they are too old and too to die and look upon a killing themselves.”
“I have from them, my King, to upon you, which I you will like but slenderly. You are to your death here in the fighting. They have a use for you yet.”
I on the old man enough. “I shall take no such order, my brother. I am not going to it was given. You must have misunderstood. If I am a man, if I am a Priest, if I am a soldier, if I am a King, then it to my that no enemy should pass this gate yet I live. And you may go and that message at their teeth.”
The old man enviously. He, too, had been a soldier in his day. “I told them you would not easily such a message, and asked them for a sign, and they with me, and gave me one. I was to give you this jewel, my King.”
“How came they by that? It is a from the of Nais.”
“They must have her of it. I did not know it came from Nais. The word I was to you said that the owner of the was the Ark of the Mysteries, and waited you there. The use which the Three have for you her also.”
Even when I that, I will that my was tried, and I have the less in setting it on these sheets, I know that all true soldiers will a for my plight. Indeed, the promise of the was very tempting. But in the end my love for Nais prevailed, and I gave the that was needful in that I the order and it.
To the of Priests who were left for the defence, I and my farewells. “You will have what I shall miss, my brothers,” I said. “I you that fight. But, though I am King of Atlantis, still I am only one of the Seven, and so am the of the Three and must their order. They speak in the will of the most High Gods, and we must do as they command. You will the I come, and I ask of you that you will me to Those you meet there. It is not my own will that I shall not appear there by your side.”
They my with smiles, and very me with their weapons, and there we parted. I did not see the fight, but I know it was good, from the time which passed Phorenice’s out on to the of the Mountain. They died hard, that last of the Priests of Atlantis.
With a I up to the of the pass, and then through the groves, and the temples and and houses which on the upper of the Sacred Mountain, till I that boundary, which in days it was death for any but the to pass. But the time, it appeared to me, was past for conventions, and, moreover, my own was hot; and it is likely that I should have on with little if I had not been interrupted. But in the temple which marked the boundary, there was old Zaemon waiting; and he, with of words, and with the whole of some for that purpose, from the High Gods for my trespass, and would not give me way till he was through with his ceremony.
Already Phorenice’s tower and were in position, for the and of a told that the small of Priests on the of the last gate were their for the return in that they earn. They were men all, but old and feeble, and the against them were too to be for over long. In a very time the place would be put to the storm, and the of the Sacred Mountain would be at the open of the invader. If there was any thing to be done, it was well that it should be set about peace remained. It to me that the moment for action, and the time for was done for good.
But Zaemon was otherwise. He me up to the Ark of the Mysteries, and my impatience, and waited till I had it my kiss, and then he called aloud, and another old man came out of the opening which is in the top of the Ark, and by the which are on its sides. He was a man I had before, hoary, frail, and emaciated, and he and Zaemon were then the only two Priests who had been to the to our Clan, and who alone had knowledge of the and powers and mysteries.
“Look!” Zaemon, in his old voice, and a over the city, and the great spread of sea and country which in view of us below. I his pointing and looked, and a to through me. All was shown. Our Lord the Sun high overhead in a sky of blue, and day in His heat. All from that peaceful and warm and still, save only that the more than ordinary, and some fires, and that the sea with some disorder.
But it was the of the sea that me most. Far out on the it against the in of surf; and up the great estuary, at the of which the city of Atlantis stands, it in of which returned. Already the lands on either were out waters, the were out of sight, and the was up into the of the great city itself.
“You have seen?” asked Zaemon.
“I have seen.”
“You understand?”
“In part.”
“Then let me tell you all. This is the beginning, and the end will swiftly. The most High Gods, that the stars, have a limit to Their patience; and that has been passed. The city of Atlantis, the great that is beyond, and all that are in them are to destruction. Of old it was that this great wiping-out would through the of men, and to this end the Ark of the Mysteries was under the direction of the Gods. No can so much as its surface, no or it. Inside is on of the all that is in the world of learning that is not by the common people, also there is in a store, and sweet water in for two for the space of four years, together with seeds, weapons, and all such other as were fit.
“Out of all this country it has been by the High Gods that two shall not perish. Two shall be chosen, a man and a woman, who are fit and proper to away with them the learning to of it as they see best, and to up a who shall in time another and do to our Lord the Sun and the other Gods in another place. The woman is the Ark already, and seated in the place for her, and though she is a of mine, the of her is with you. For the man, the choice has upon yourself.”
I was with the of what was befalling. “I do not know that I to be a survivor.”
“You are not asked for your wishes,” said the old man. “You are an order from the High Gods, who know you to be Their servant.”
Habit upon me. I in the form, and said that I and would obey.
“Then it to you to the of the Three, and if your learning is so small that you will not the keys to many of the Powers, and the of the Mysteries, when they are to you, that fault cannot be now.”
Certainly the time was enough. The still at the gate in the pass, though it was a wonder how the of Priests had their ground so long. But the rolled in upon the land in an ever-increasing flood, and the and more of as the weight on their parts, and presently those that the Mountain not fail to see the that them. Then there would be no their rush. In their and panic they would all them, and those who in their path might look to themselves.
But there was no Zaemon and his sage. They were without temple for the ceremony, without or to it. They had but the sky for a to make their echoes, and the Gods themselves for witnesses. But they through the work of me to their own degree, with all the and which has from the ages, and by no one did they it. A with a as the met its fires, but they on, in turn their sentences. Phorenice’s the last resistance, and in a the and temples, but still they in the ritual.
It had been said that this is the and the most of all those with our religion; and I it so; and I speak as one with all the others. Even the which them in do nothing to make these old men the which was to the order of the Clan.
For myself, I will own I was less rapt. I there in the heat, a man trying to himself, and yet the while by a thousand emotions. The thing that was all around some of my attention. A was in the very act and article of meeting with complete destruction, and if Zaemon and the other Priest were to give their minds up to a to the priesthood, I was not so stoical. And moreover, I was with other and Nais. Yet I managed to a of attention to the ceremony; making all those which were of me; and trying as well as might be to in my mind those which were the keys to power and learning, and not of and devotion.
But it clear that if the of my did not soon arrive at its natural end, it would be cut presently with something of suddenness. Phorenice’s out on to the of the Mountain, and now full knowledge of the thing that was come upon the country. They were out of all control, and ran about like men distracted; but full well that the Priests would have this terrible to pass by of the powers which were the Ark of the Mysteries, it would be their natural to out a final upon any of these same Priests they come across it was too late.
It to come to my mind that if the did not very terminate, the part of the plan would very small of completion, and I should come by my death after all by to a finish, as I had pictured to myself before. My attention saw the soldiers always nearer in their wanderings, and saw also the sea and in upon the land.
The fires, too, which in the mountain, up to their old height, and with an roar. But for all these gave to the two old Priests who were me, we might have been in the of some temple, with no so much as a to an interruption.
But at last an end came to the ceremony. “Kneel,” Zaemon, “and make to your mother the Earth, and by the High Gods that you will make use of the powers over Her which this day you have been granted.”
When I had done that, he me as a and of the Three. “You will have no opportunity to the of this with either of us, my brother,” said he, “for presently our other and I go to the Gods to deliver to Them an account of our trust, and of how we have it out. But what you here and there may turn of use to you hereafter. And now we two give you our farewells, and promise to you to the Gods when soon we meet Them in Their place the stars. Climb now into the Ark, and be to the door which it, if there is any attempt by these people to that also. Remember, my brother, it is the Gods’ direct will that you and the woman Nais go from this place and sound, and you are to accept challenge or to on any whatever. But as long as may be done in safety, you may look out upon Atlantis in her death-throes. It is very that one of the only two who are sent hence alive, should the full of what has befallen.”
I to the top of the Ark of Mysteries then, there by the which are to the sides, and then by the which is and Nais in a little waiting for me.
“I was here by Zaemon,” she said, “who me to this place by and also by promises that my lord would follow. He is very ungentle, that father of mine, but I think he has a for us both, and any way he is my father and I cannot help him. Is there no to save him from what is going to happen?”
“He will not come into this Ark, for I asked him. It has been from the time when the Ark was built, that when the day for its purpose came, one woman and one man should be its only tenants, and they are here already. Zaemon’s will in the is not to be by you or by me. He has a message to be delivered to the Gods, and (if I know him at all), he every minute that is in it to them.”
I left her then, and out again up the stair, and once more on the of the Ark. On the Mountain top men still ran about distracted, but they were to where the Ark rested on the point. For the moment, however, I passed them lightly. The of the great that had been spread out the eye. Ocean in upon it with still more waves. The and the level lands were lakes. The great city of Atlantis had eternally. The alone their above the flood, and out rocks, and steam, and stone, or when the them and great of sea, and trees, and mud.
In the space of a every that in the had been by the waters, save for a who in a pair of that were inland, over what had once been black and land for the beasts. And as I watched, these also were up by the of sea, and nothing but the sea beasts, and those of the which can live in such waters, have that of the destruction. Indeed, none but those men who had now standing-ground on the upper of the Sacred Mountain survived, and it was plain that their was short, for the great of the and more every minute our eyes, the of the seas.
But though the great of the were and at the of the which them, there were some with a of mind too to give any of discomposure. Presently a little of people came from out the houses and the temples, and directly across the open ground the Ark. On the Phorenice’s personal with their new blooded. They had been to a way through their own soldiers. The had it was every one for himself now, till these (by their mistress’s order) proved to them that Phorenice still came first.
And in the middle of them, in a of gold and by her European slaves, the Empress, still calm, still lovely, and in her and amusement. Her two children in the at her feet. On her right hand Tatho apparelled, and with a and into a thousand ringlets. On the other side, her with defence, walked Ylga, once again fan-girl, and so still second lady in this kingdom.
The party of them a score of from the Ark by Phorenice’s order. “Do not go nearer to those old men. They a rank with them, and for the moment we are of to the air of their neighbourhood.” She her and looked up at me. “Truly a little of old acquaintances. Why, there is Deucalion, that once I took the of and when he me.”
“I have Nais here,” I said, “and presently we two will be all that are left alive of this nation.”
“Nais is welcome to my leavings,” she laughed. “I will look upon your country when presently I go to the Place the from which I came. You are a very person, Deucalion. They tell me too that three or four of these old men up here have named you King. Did you much with dignity? Or did you that there was a Empress left that would still be Empress so long as there was an Atlantis to govern? Come, sir, your tongue. By my face! you must have for me very these years we have been parted, if new-grown of is an evidence.”
“Have your gibe. I do not at a woman who presently will die.”
“Bah! Deucalion, you will live the times. Have they not told you that I know the Great Secret and am a Goddess now? My can make life on eternally.”
“Then the will presently test them hard,” I said, but there the talk was taken into other lips. Zaemon to the of the with the Symbol of our Lord the Sun in his hand, and into a of cursing. It was hard for me to his words. The of the which up over the land, and in against the Sacred Mountain itself, nearer and more loud. But the old man had his say.
Phorenice gave orders to her for his killing; yes, to from the and do the work herself; but Zaemon the Symbol to his front, and its power in that moment all the that be against it. The of the most High Gods was vindicated, and that Empress it and the of her litter, a woman.
Only one person in that of people power to the rest, and that was Ylga. She came out to the of the Ark, and up, and me a through the of the flood.
“I would I might save you and take you with us,” I said.
“As for that,” she said, with a gesture, “I would not come if you asked me. I am not a woman that will take anything less than all. But I shall meet what comes presently with the memory that you will have me always in your recollection. I know of men, men of your stamp, Deucalion, and you will that you came very near to me once.”
I think, too, she said something further, Nais, but the of the all other words. A great from the sent up by the stopped all view, though the from the it like gold. But I had a last of a of up the of the Mountain, with a of at their heels, and many of them in its clutch. And then my on old Zaemon to me with the Symbol to the door in the of the Ark.
I his last command, and the stair, and closed all me. There were ready, and I these into their sockets, and there were Nais and I alone, and cut off from all the of our world that remained.
I to the place where she lay, and put my arms around her. Without, we men on the Ark with their weapons, and some by the to the top and to try and move the door from its fastenings. The end was very nearly to them now, and the great of them were with terror.
I would have much to have how Phorenice in that final tumult, and how she it. I see her, with her face, and her eyes, and her about her neck, and by all the Gods! I more of her at that last moment than of the land she had conquered, and misgoverned, and to this destruction. There is no the which Phorenice with her.
But the end did not long with its coming. There was a little that the Ark a hand’s or so in its cradle, and set it again with a and a quiver. The from and on its part, but into on its roof. There were some and also which came to us but through the of its sheathing, though likely they were sent at the full of outside. And when another came, and thundering, which up the great as though it had been a feather, and it giddily; and after that we touched earth or no more.
We about on the and of seas, a sport for the Gods of the ocean. The lamp had fallen, and we there in darkness, with the of knowledge that we alone were saved out of what was yesterday a nation.
