THE LAIR OF THE SERPENT
“Korah! Korah!” the and fainter, until at length, out with religious fervour, Jez-Riah herself on the ground and asleep. Alan and Desmond after her for some time and then Alan said “Let’s down, Dez. We are out, and it is to her. She will return to us only when the moves her.”
“Then for Heaven’s let us away from this din.”
They walked one of the passages until they came to a place where the was thick and soft and the noise of the water rose upon their ears.
“Ar-lane—Jez-mun.” The came low and clear and Alan rose to his feet. He had been asleep and his rested and his was clearer.
“It is I, Jez-Riah,” came the soft again, and against the he saw the of the woman.
“We must go on,” she “We have to go and much to do.”
“Where have you been?” he asked her.
“I have been in with the Spirit of the Waters, O Ar-lane; soon the of Korah will be eyes. Come! Come! Tarry not too long.” In a second Desmond was awake, and Jez-Riah all to start.
“Have you been here before?” asked Desmond of Jez-Riah.
“No, O Jez-mun, but the water of Korah has me the gift of sight. Before I was blind—now I can 103see. Come up my eyes, O Ar-lane, that of may be mine.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bind up my eyes,” she again.
Alan a from his mantle, and it across her eyes.
She gave an of joy. “O Ar-lane,” she cried. “Before I in darkness; now my path is brightly, and I can lead you to many sights, and things.” As she spoke, she out her hands her and started off at a quick pace. In the her. In their position as in the earth, so that they had little of the sun again, they had no choice but to the strange, who had herself their leader.
The of the road they were now changed. The of the passage were no longer and earthy, but of a hard, substance—the floor, too, was and rough. The passage until it left only room for them to walk in single file, and the air was and stifling; there was a pressure in the that the boys from the upper, world as they the going to their heads.
They efforts, however, and on, one after the other, Jez-Riah who a moment in the she was taking. For five miles they walked until they entered a large cavern, the of the many others they had been through. They noticed the in the air immediately. It was purer, fresher, and the boys under its effect.
Jez-Riah the from her eyes. “The place of my dreams,” she cried.
“I faint,” said Desmond in a low tone, but not so low that Jez-Riah not hear. “He needs food?” she questioned “Here is plenty,” and going to the of the she up by the handful—roots like the ones they had had in the world itself.
104All the time they had been walking they had been ascending—at times the passages were almost like passes, they rose at such a gradient—at other times the was not so noticeable, but all the same they that they were upward, and the the two white men.
They sat and ate the and refreshed, when Desmond rose with a cry. “My God—what’s that?” There on the opposite wall, high above their heads, a light upon them, a light that in the semi-darkness.
“It is the of the Tomb,” Jez-Riah. “I have of it often when I was a child. It has the ages—it will always exist.”
“Nonsense,” said Alan.
“You cannot kill it,” she “It is the Guardian of the Tomb.”
“What, are we there, at the Tomb of Korah, already?” asked Alan in amazement.
“No! No! But we must its path if we would the Tomb. In my I I was all powerful. I was over-confident, O Ar-lane! I not the that is large to an army and yet its power.”
The nearer, and already they see the as it moved along a ledge.
“How big is it?” asked Desmond.
“I cannot see its length,” Alan “but it as thick as a man’s body. Let us out of this place. Which is the way, Jez-Riah?”
“Through that narrow opening yonder,” said she.
Flattening themselves against the they the way she directed, and were but a steps from it when there came the of a terrible hissing, and a long evil-looking shape in of them, and pendulum-wise up the opening.
“We can’t go that way now,” said Alan “I am it’s too large to tackle. Why it must be thirty long at least. We shall have to go back.” Then 105came the most the had had. The most awful. The most terrifying.
“Run,” Alan. “If we can into the passage we may be able to up the way and prevent it through after us.”
They the narrow opening, and all around were of and which they up one on top of the other.
“Only one more is needed,” Alan triumphantly. But he spoke too soon—a large, head, a and a in length, with like live fire, through the opening, and them. The mouth was open wide and the in and out in fury. The was terrible, from its or through its skin from its body, they not tell, but it them giddy, and ill. For ten minutes (if time be in that place) it there motionless, and then the came as it its way through the barricade.
The boys their foe. They were powerless. Escape was impossible, for them was a narrow passage, a mile in length, that offered no shelter.
Would it attack them? Why keep them in this suspense?
“Knife,” came from Alan’s lips. Then after a moment, which time he opened the well blade—“There are of behind?”
“Plenty.”
Swiftly the instructions. “Pick up the largest you can handle—both of you—when I give the word them at the brute’s head. It is our only chance—then past the head.”
“But—” Desmond.
“Don’t argue—it’s our only hope. The thing is too big to turn in this small space. It must go on. Once we past it we may a chance.”
Alan his gaze. Suddenly the 106reptile its and an came from its mouth.
“Now,” Alan, and as he the knife, harpoon-like into the open mouth two came on its skull.
The the creature, and its to the ground. Quickly they past it, but they all that they were not yet out of danger. The passage they were in was very narrow and the was so that it was for them to without the skin next to them.
Jez-Riah shuddered. “What will of us?” she “It is too big to kill.” And indeed, it to be, for Alan had not exaggerated. The length was thirty feet, and the of its middle was ten feet, to two at the tail.
“You can’t kill it,” Desmond. “Why we haven’t the old knife now.” A movement passed along the serpent’s body, and it them to see the from its in movements to its tail. Then it itself up, and Alan was right—it was for it to turn—it was too big and cumbersome. For some time, with its six from the ground, it to and in anger that its should so it. As its anger greater, its rolled and moved in heaps, and the as the pressed itself against them and them to the wall.
“Lannie, what can we do?” asked Desmond. Jez-Riah was almost with the pressure, and the was telling on the two boys. The of the was enormous, and they that it had the power, when at a itself, to press the very life out of them against the wall.
Then came a of relief, as the itself, but gave way to as they that it was through the opening, and its would soon be on a line with them.
107“Stones,” Alan hoarsely. “Hurl them at the head. Jez-Riah, you must help too.”
Feverishly they and with at the monster’s head. It the for a time—its was enormous—but at last a well of Desmond’s it full the eyes, and the like a stone.
“The serpent—it is dead?” asked Jez-Riah. “But alas, no. The is all over—it has life still.”
A piece of out above Alan’s head. “Help me,” he said to his cousin. “This is our last hope—this is as as a knife. If we can but it you must help me to it in the brute’s head. It is now—we must try and it while it is in that condition.” All the time they were talking they were hard to the and at last it into Alan’s hands. It was not very large, but it had an like a bayonet, and was of hardness.
Cautiously they their way on either of the mass, until they were on a level with its head. “There,” Desmond. “Just the eyes.”
The was raised; the was motionless—then, with almost power, Alan the and it in the flesh, while as Alan let go, Desmond a piece of hammer-wise on the top of the stone, and the still in the wound. The great to consciousness, and the boys had only just time to out of the way of its jaws. “Press close to the wall, Dez,” Alan, and they Jez-Riah’s in safety. Their with as they the great die, for the boys them had it its death blow.
How long the death they knew. Alan an hour, Desmond said two. Blood from the in its and a rose from the liquid. For some time the 108remained in the of the serpent, but its at last it, and it to the ground with a thud, while the blood out of the open like a fountain.
Fascinated the three its last movements. The rolled from to side, against one then against the other of the unlucky prisoners, but by themselves against the walls, they any big injury—only left their mark to what they had been through.
The movements more irregular. For a long time the still, only to wake up again after a with energy. At last its less and less powerful. It was dying. Its came like that its body. The was almost unendurable. “I think it’s safe now,” said Alan at last. Slowly they moved from their positions. Their and their ached. Fearsomely they gave a last look at the of the dying, if not already dead, monster. A ran through them all. The through which they had passed had been terrible, but for Alan, who had the defeat, it had been terrific. His ached, his swam, and he as he walked on the free ground, by the serpent. He laughed a wild laugh; it in his own ears, and he it, as he he was going mad. He frightened. Everything from him but the memory of the behind. With another of almost laughter, he ran away into the distance, until the him up, and only the of his wild the stillness. Jez-Riah at her and spoke to Desmond. “Ar-lane—he is ill—come,” said she, and the two Alan away into the as he on, laughing—laughing—laughing.
109
