Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1890 — ALLAN QUATERMAIN. [ARTICLE]

ALLAN QUATERMAIN.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER XlX— Continued. Then Agon, who had been sulking In a corner near the altar, came forward and gabbled off something in his bearjd at such a rate that .1 could rit»t follow it. but it appeared to be an invocation to the Sun to bless the union and make it fruitful. I observed that Nyleptha listened very closely to every _ word, and I afterward discovered that she was afraid least Agon should play her a trick, and by going through the invocations backward divorce instead of marry them. At the end of the invocations they were asked, as in our service, if they took each other for husband and wife, and on their assenting they kissed each other before the altar, and the service was over, so far as their rites were concerned. But it seemed to me that there was yet something wanting, and so I produced a prayer-book; which has, together with the "Ingoldsby Legends,” that I often read when I lay awake at night, accompanied me in all my later wanderings. I gave it to my poor boy Harry years ago. and after his death I found it among his things and took it back again. “Curtis,” I said, “lam not a clergyman, and I do not know if what I am going to propose la alio wable—lknow it is not legal—but if you and the Queen have no objection I should like to read the Engiish marriage service over you. It is a solemn step which you are taking, and I think that you ought, as far as circumstances will allow, to give it the sanction of your own religion.” - □“I have thought of that,” ho said, “and I wish you would. I do'not feel half married yet.”

Nyicpt-ha raised no objection, fully understanding that her husband wished to celebrate the marriage according - to the rites his own country and so I set to work and read the Service from “Dearly beloved” to “amazement,” as well as I could; and when 1

came to “I, Henry, take thee, Nyleptha,” I translated, and also, “1, Nyleptha, take thee. Henry,” which she repeated after me very well. Then Sir Henry took a plain gold ring from his little finger and placed it on hers, and so on to the end. The ring had been Curtis’s mother's wedding-ring, and I could not help thinking how astonished the dear old Yorkshire lady would have been if she coula have foreseen that her wedding-ring would serve a similar purpose for Nyleptha, a Queen of the Zu-vendi: As for Agon, he was with difficulty kept calm while this second ceremony was going on, for he at once understood that it was religious in its nature, and doubtless bethought him of the ninety-five new faith& which loomed so ominously in his eyes. Indeed, he at once set me down as a rival high priest, and hated me accordingly, However, in the end off he went, posi ively bristling with indignation, and I knew that we might look out for danger from his direction. And off Wont Good and I, and old Umslopogaas, also, leaving the happy pair to themselves, and very low we all felt. Marriages are suppesed to be •cheerful things, but my experience is that they are very much the reverse to everybody, except perhaps the two people chiefly interested. They mean the breaking-up of so many old ties as well as the undertaking of so many new ones, and there is always something sad about the passing away of the old order. Now to take this paper for instance: Sir Henry Curtis is the best and kindest fellow and friend in the world, but he has never been quite the same since the little scene in the chapel. It is always Nyleptha this and Nyleptha that—Nyleptha, in short from moraine till night in one way or Another, either expressed or under<»tood. And as for the old friends— Jrell, of course they had taken the place that old friends ought to take, and which ladies are, as a rule, very careful to see they do take when a man marries, and that is, the second place. Yes, he would be angry if anybody said so, but it is a fact for all that He is not quite the same, and Nyleptha is very sweet and very charming, but I think she likes him to understand that >she has married him, and not Quatermain, Good & Co. But there! What is the use of grumbling? It is all very right and proper, as any married lady would have no difficulty in explaining, - and lam a selfish, jealous old man, 4hough I hope I never show it

So Good and I went and eat in silance and then indulged in an extra fiue flagon of old Zu-vendian to keep our spirits up, and presently one of our attendants came and told us a story that gave us something to think about. It may, perhaps, be remembered that after his quarrel with Umslopogaas, Alphonse had gone off in an exceedingly ill temper to sulk over his scratches. Well, it appears that he walked right past the Temple to the Sun, down the wide read on the further side of the slope it crowns, and thence into the beautiful pext. plea&wce

gardens, which are laid out just beyond the outer wall. After wandering about there for a little he started to return, but was met hear the outer gate by Sornis’s train of chariots, which wore galloping furiously along the groat northern road. When she caught sight of Alphonse, Sorais halted her train and called to him. On approaehUigho was instantly seized mid dragged into one of the chariots and carried off; "crying out loudly,’’as our informant said, and us from ray general knowledge of him I cftfl well bo- — Have. 4l first I was much puzzled to know what object Sorais could have hod in carrying off the peor httle Frenchmen. She could hardly stoop so low as to try to wreak her fury oh one whom she *ftew was only a servant. It would - ~ : < . 1 '

not be in keeping With her character to do 60. At last, however, an idea occurred © me. We three were, as I think I have said, much revered by the people of Zu-vendis at large, both because were the first strangers they had ever seen, and • because we were supposed to be the possessors of almost supernatural wisdom. •„ indeed, though Sorais’s cry against the “foreign wolves”—or, to translate it more accurately, “foreign hyenas'”—was sure to go down very woll with the nobles and the priests, it was not, an we learned, iikely to be particularly effectual among the bulk of the population. The Zu-vendi people, like the Athenians of old, are ever seeking for some new thing, and just because we were so new, our presence was on the whole acceptable to them. Again Sir Henry’s magnificent personal appearance made a deep impression upon the race who possess a greater love for beauty than any other I have ever been acquainted with. Beauty may be prized in other countries, but in Zu-vendis it is almost worshiped, as indeed the national love of statuary shows. The people said openly in the market-places that there was not a man in the country to touch Curtis in personal appearance, as with the exception of Sorais there was no woman who could compete with Nyleptha and that, therefore, it. was meet that they should marry; and that he had been sent by the Sun as a husband for their queen. Now, from all this, it will be seen that the out-

cry against us was to a considerable extent fictitious, and nobody knew it better than Sorais herself. Consequently, it struck me that it might have occurred to her that down in the country, and among the country people, it would be better to place the reason of her conflict with her sister upon other and more general grounds than Nyleptha’s marriage with the stranger. It would be easy in a land where there had been so many civil wars to rake out some old cry that would stir up the recollection of buried feuds, and, indeed, she soon found an effectual one. This being so it was of great importance to her to. have ono of the strangers with her whom she could show to the common people as a great outlander, who had been so stuck by the justice of her cause that he had elected to leave his companions and follow her standard. This, no doubt, was the cause of her anxiety to get hold of Good, whom she would have used till he ceased to bo of service and then cast off. But Good having drawn back, she grasped at the opportunity of securing Alphonse, who was not unlike him in personal appearance, though smaller, no doubt with the object of showing him off in he cities and country as the great iougwan himself. I told Good that I thought that was her plan, and his face was a sight to see—he was so horrified at the idea. •- —

“What!” he said, “dress up that little wretch to represent me? Why, I shall have to get out of the country! My reputation will be ruined forever.” I consoled him as well as I could, but it is not pleasant to be personated all over a strange country by an arrant little coward, and I oan quite sympathize with his vexation. \ Well, that night Good and I messed, as I have said, in solitary grandeur, feeling very much as though we had ; ust returned from burying a friend instead of marrying one, and next morning the work began in good earnest. The messages and orders which had been dispatched by Nyleptha two

days before now began to take effect, and multitudes of armed men came pouring into the city. We saw, as may be imagined, but very little of Nyleptha and not too much of Curtis during those next few days, but Good and I sat drily with the council of generals and loyal lords, drawing up plans of action, arranging commissariat matters, the distribution of commands, and a hundred and one other things. Men came in freely, and all the day long the great roads leading to Milosis were spotted with the banners of lords arriving from their distant places to rally round Nyleptha, After the first two days it became clear that we should be able to lake the field with about forty thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry, a very respectable force considering how short was the time we had to collect it and that about half of the regular army had elected to follow Sorais.

But if our force was large, Sorais’s was, according to the reports brought in day by day by our spies, much larger. She had taken up her headquarters at a very strong town called M’Arstuna, situated, as I have said, to the north of Milosis, and all the coun-try-side was flocking to her standard. Nasta had poured down from his highlands and was on his vray to jpin her with no less than twenty-five thousand of his mountaineers, the most terrible soldiers to face in all Zu-Vendis. Another mighty lord, named Belusha, who lived in the great horse breeding district, had come in with twelve thousand cavalry, and so on. Indeed, what bat ween one thing and another, it seemed certain that she would gather a fully armed host of nearly one , h.vuid.'ced. thausaad meu.

And then came news that she was proposing to break up her camp and march on the Frowning City itself, desolating the country as she came. 1 Thereon rose the question whether it would bo best to meet her at Milosis or | to go out and give her battle. When our opinion was asked upon the subject, Good and 1 unhesitatingly gave it ThTavdr dTah advance. If we were to shut ourselves up in the city and wait tb be Attacked it seemed to us that our inaction would bo set down to fear. It is ho very important, especially on**n occasion of tic will suffice to turn men’s qpinion pne way or the other, to be up and doing something. Ardor for a cause will soon evaporato if the cause doe? pot move but sits down to conquer. Therefore we east our vote for moving out

and giving battle in the open, instead of waiting till we were drawn from our wall like a badger from a hole. Sir Henry’s opinion coincided with ours, and so, needless to say, did that of Nyleptha, who. like a flint, was always ready to flash out fiFe. A great map of the country was brought and spread out before her. About thirty miles this side of M’Arstuna, where Sorais was, and ninety odd miles from Milosis, the road ran over a neck of land some two and a half miles in width, and flanked on either side by forest-clad hills, which, without being lofty, would be quite impracticable for a great baggageladen army to cross. She looked earnestly at the map, and then, with a quickness of perception that in some women amounts almost to an instinct, she laid her finger upon this neck of rising ground, and turning to her husband, said with a proud air of confidence and a toss of the golden head: “Here shalt thou meet Sorais’s armies. I know the spot, here shalt thou meet them, and drive them before thee like dust before the storm.

CHAPTER XX. THE BATTLE OF THE PASS. It was on the third morning after this incident of the map that Sir Henry and I started. With the exception of a small guard, all the great host had moved bn the night beforo, leaving the Frowning City very silent and empty. Indeed, it was found impossible t) leave any garrison with the exception of a personal guard for Nyleptha, and about a thousand men who from sickness or one cause or another were unable to proceed with the army, but as the place was practically impregnable, and as our enemy was in front of and not behind us, this did not so much matter. Good and Umslopogaas had gone on with the army, but Nyleptha accompanied Sir Henry and myself to the city gates, riding a magnificent white horse called Daylight, which was sup posed to be the fleetest and most enduring animad-in-Zu-Vendis. Her face bore traces of recent weeping, but there were no tears in her eyes now; indeed, she was hearing up bravely against what must have been a bitter trial to her. At the gate she reined in her horse and bade us farewell. On

the previous day she had reviewed and addressed the officers of the great army, speaking to them such high, eloquent words, and expressing so complete a confidence in their valor and in their ultimate victory, that she quite carried their hearts away, and as she rode from rank to rank they cheered her till the ground shook. And now today the same mood seemed to be on her. “Fare thee well, Macumazahn!” she said. “Remember, I trust to thy wits, which are as a needle to a spear-handle compared to those of my people, to save us from Sorais. I know that thou wilt do thy duty.” „ I bowed and explained to her my horror of fighting, and my fear lest I should lose my head, at which she laughed gently, and then turned to Curtis, “Fare thee well, my lord!” she said. “Come back with victory, and a king, or on thy soldiers’ spears.” Sir Henry said nothing, but turned his horse to go; perhaps he had a bit of a lump in his throat. One gets over it afterward, but these sort of partings are trying when one has only been married a week.

“Here,” added Nyleptha, “will I greet ye when ye return in triumphAnd now, my lords, once more, fare, well!” ' 1 ' - . "Then wo rode on, but when we bad gone a hundred and fifty yards or so, we turned and perceived her still sitting on her horse at the same spot, and i looking out after us beneath* her hand, and that was the last we saw of her. AbAt a mile further on, however, we he»B galloping behind us, and looking round, saw a mounted soldier coming toward us,- leading Nyleptha’s matchless steed—Daylight. • ‘The queen sends the white stallion as a farewell gift to her Lord Incubo, and bids me tell my lord that ha is the fleetest and the most enduring horse in all the land,” said the soldier, bending to has saddle-bow before us. At first Sir Henry did not want to take the horse, saying that he wae too

good fee such rough work, but I persuaded him to do so, thinking that Nyleptha would be hurt if he did not. Little did I guess at the time what service that noble horse would render m, our sorest need. It is curious to look back and realize upon what trival and apparently accidental circumstances great events frequently turn as easily and naturally as a door on its hinges. Well, we took the horse, and & beauty he was; it was a perfect pleasure to see him move, and Curtis having sent back his greetings and thanks we proceeded on our journey.

At midday we overtook the roar guard of the great army of which Sir Henry formally took over the command. It was a heavy responsibility, and it oppressed hkn very much, but the queen's injunctions on the point were such as did not admit of being trifled with. He was beginning to find out that greatness has its responsibilities as well os its glories.

| Then wo marched on without meet- ' ing with any opposition, almost, indeed, without seeing anybody, for the populations of the towns and villages along our route and for the most part fled, fearing lest they should be caught between the two rival armies and ground to powder like grain between the upper and tho nether stones. * On the evening of the fourth day, for the progress of so groat a multitude was necessarily slow, we camped two mites this side of the neck or ridge 1 have spoken of, and our outposts brought us word that Sorais with » all her power was rolling down upon

us, and had camped that night ten miles the further side of the neck. Accordingly before dawn we sent forward fifteen hundred cavalry to seize the position. Scarcely had they occupied it, however, before they were attacked by about as many of Sorais’s horsemen, and a very smart little cavalry fight ensued, with a loss to us of about thirty men killed. On the advance of our supports, however, Sorais’s force drew off, carrying their dead and wounded with them. The main body of the army reached tKcneck about dinner time,and I must say that Nyleptha’s judgment had not failed her. It was an admirable place to give battle in, especially to a superior force. The road ran down a mile or more, through ground too broken to admit of the handling of any considerable force, till it reached the crest of a great (green wave of land, that rolled down a gentle slope to the banks of a little stream, and then rolled away again up a still gentler slope to the plain beyond, the distance from the crest of the land wave down to the stream being a little over half a mile, and from the stream up to the plain beyond a trifle less. The length of this wave of land at its highest point, which corresponded exactly with the width of the neck of land between the wooded hills, was about two miles and a quarter, and it was protected on either side by dense, rOckyT bush-clad ground, that afforded a most valuable cover to the flanks of the army and rendered it almost impossible for them to bo turned. ... ... ... - 1

It was on the • hither slope of this neck of land that Curtis encamped his army in the same formation that he had, after consultation with the various generals, Good and myself, determined that they should occupy im the great pitched battle which now appeared to be imminent. Our force of sixty thousand men was, roughly speaking, divided us follows: In the center was a dense body of twenty thousand foot-soldiers, armed -with spears,- swords, —and hippopotamus hide shields, breast and backplates. These formed the chest of the army, and were supported by five thousand foot, and three thousand horse in reserve. On either side of this chest were stationed seven thousand horse in deep, majestic squadrons; and beyond and on either side but slightly in front of them again were two bodies, numbering about seven thousand five hundred spearmen each, forming the right and left wings of the army, and each supported by a contingent of some fifteen hundred cavalry. This makes in all sixty thousand men. Curtis commanded in chief, I was in command of the seven thousand horse between the chest and right wing, which was commanded by Good, and the other battalions and squadrons were intrusted to Zu-Vendi Generals. Scarcely bad we taken up our positions before Sorais’s vast army began to swarm on the opposite slope about a mile in front of us, till the whole place seemed alive with the multitude of her spear-points, and the ground shook with the tramp of her battalions. It was evident that the spies had not exaggerated; we were outnumbered by at least a third. At first we expected that Sorais was going to attack us at once, as the clouds of cavalry which hung upon her flanks executed some threatening demonstrations, but she thought better of it, and there was no fight that duy. As for the formation of her great forces, I can not now describe it, and it would only serve to bewilder if I did, but I may say, generally, that in its leading features it resembled our own, only her rese-ve was much greater. To be Continued.

Josh Billings’ Philasop> New York Weekly. Az good a way az i kno <w tew git at enny man’s honesty, iz tew divide what he claims tew hav by four,Qand then guess at what's left. The text which has been most preached from by the human family is vanity.

There are as many old phools intbis _ world az yung ones, and the old ones are the siliyest. The publik judge ov a 'man hi his success. Avarice eats up everything, even ekonemy. Hope is a blind guide, but whare did you find a better one. I like a wide-awake Christian, one whose virtue haz got some kayenne pepper in it. Indolence may not be a crime, bub it iz liable tew be at enny time. 1 am satisfied thare iz more imaginary trouble in this world than real. Most ov us, when we repent ov our sins, think it iz a change ov heart, when in fakt it iz only a fear of punishment.

I havo sumtimes thought that the man with mousy vices was safer than the man with one; for the menny vice often wear each other out, while the one wears the man out. I thank Heaven for one thing, that tharo iz not in this wide woila u human, or in human being, that i 1 would rather not help than huit. I find this sentiment in mi conscience, or i wouldn't dare claim it; and i kno mi own conscience better than ennyboddy daz.. . —- The buty of'gratitudo iz that a beggar kan bo az grateful az a prince, and the power of gratitude iz that thank you” makes the beggar equal tew the prince,' The Brooklyn. Central Union refused to indorse the bHt before the f.egis lature] which will allow grocers U> collect 10 per cent, of a man's wafcus when he ows a bill.