|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 63
But it did not move Gagool or Gagool's master, though I saw signs of
pity among the guards behind, and on the faces of the chiefs; and as
for Good, he gave a fierce snort of indignation, and made a motion as
though to go to her assistance. With all a woman's quickness, the
doomed girl interpreted what was passing in his mind, and by a sudden
movement flung herself before him, and clasped his "beautiful white
legs" with her hands.
"Oh, white father from the Stars!" she cried, "throw over me the
mantle of thy protection; let me creep into the shadow of thy
strength, that I may be saved. Oh, keep me from these cruel men and
from the mercies of Gagool!"
"All right, my hearty, I'll look after you," sang out Good in nervous
Saxon. "Come, get up, there's a good girl," and he stooped and caught
her hand.
Twala turned and motioned to his son, who advanced with his spear
lifted.
"Now's your time," whispered Sir Henry to me; "what are you waiting
for?"
"I am waiting for that eclipse," I answered; "I have had my eye on the
moon for the last half-hour, and I never saw it look healthier."
"Well, you must risk it now, or the girl will be killed. Twala is
losing patience."
Recognising the force of the argument, and having cast one more
despairing look at the bright face of the moon, for never did the most
ardent astronomer with a theory to prove await a celestial event with
such anxiety, I stepped with all the dignity that I could command
between the prostrate girl and the advancing spear of Scragga.
"King," I said, "it shall not be; we will not endure this thing; let
the girl go in safety."
Twala rose from his seat in wrath and astonishment, and from the
chiefs and serried ranks of maidens who had closed in slowly upon us
in anticipation of the tragedy came a murmur of amazement.
"/Shall not be!/ thou white dog, that yappest at the lion in his cave;
/shall not be!/ art thou mad? Be careful, lest this chicken's fate
overtake thee, and those with thee. How canst thou save her or
thyself? Who art thou that thou settest thyself between me and my
will? Back, I say. Scragga, kill her! Ho, guards! seize these men."
At his cry armed men ran swiftly from behind the hut, where they had
evidently been placed beforehand.
Sir Henry, Good, and Umbopa ranged themselves alongside of me, and
lifted their rifles.
"Stop!" I shouted boldly, though at the moment my heart was in my
boots. "Stop! we, the white men from the Stars, say that it shall not
be. Come but one pace nearer, and we will put out the moon like a
wind-blown lamp, as we who dwell in her House can do, and plunge the
land in darkness. Dare to disobey, and ye shall taste of our magic."
My threat produced an effect; the men halted, and Scragga stood still
before us, his spear lifted.
"Hear him! hear him!" piped Gagool; "hear the liar who says that he
will put out the moon like a lamp. Let him do it, and the girl shall
be speared. Yes, let him do it, or die by the girl, he and those with
him."
I glanced up at the moon despairingly, and now to my intense joy and
relief saw that we--or rather the almanack--had made no mistake. On
the edge of the great orb lay a faint rim of shadow, while a smoky hue
grew and gathered upon its bright surface. Never shall I forget that
supreme, that superb moment of relief.
Then I lifted my hand solemnly towards the sky, an example which Sir
Henry and Good followed, and quoted a line or two from the "Ingoldsby
Legends" at it in the most impressive tones that I could command. Sir
Henry followed suit with a verse out of the Old Testament, and
something about Balbus building a wall, in Latin, whilst Good
addressed the Queen of Night in a volume of the most classical bad
language which he could think of.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|