Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 37

Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 37

"'Increased my span of life at least tenfold, and won the hand of as

fair a woman as was ever conceived!'

 

"'And sold your soul to evil, I fear.'

 

"'Then I am content to abide by my bargain, although no thought of such

a compact has ever suggested itself to me. But what is the Doctor's

opinion?'

 

"'That you must be mad--mad, and blind with love; and that he has never

seen such a rapid change in a man as has taken place in you since you

met Volinè. All interest in your old pursuits seems gone; all feelings

of companionship for us are slipping away. I suppose it is ever so. I

was the same myself in the long ago--when a mistress comes to reign in

our heart, verily in the early days of her power she rules supreme!

I don't think the dear old boy will ever quite forgive you. He has

curious ideas on women; besides, he always insists that all the evil

that has befallen us in Edos was caused by her.'

 

"'I am afraid 't were useless to deny the soft impeachment, Mr. Temple;

but, after all, Volinè--who, you yourself must own, is peerless amongst

her sex--and I have had little time together, and more than our share

of trials and troubles during our courtship. Wait until I enter the

noble army of Benedicts. All being well, I expect my commission therein

to-morrow, and then you will again find me heart and soul with you in

all your plans. For if I overcome this scamp Perodii--and a greater

scoundrel never drew air--I hope to wed Volinè before the day has

passed. Fancy Perodii challenging me! It is the last trump-card in the

trick of his revenge and hatred; but I think I hold the ace of his

suit.'

 

"'Then you really mean to fight?'

 

"'I should rather think I do. I am not quite a fool with the cutlass,

or with the pistol either; and I picked up a few wrinkles in the use of

the dagger when I was engineering some waterworks in Spain, which may

now be of service to me. And if personal prowess alone is to decide

between us, well I will show this braggart, strong as he is, how a

Yorkshireman in good 'fettle' can 'wrastle,' as we say in that fair

county of broad acres and honest hospitality.'

 

"'Well, I wish you every success, Graham, my boy; every success, and

every happiness; and no one in all Edos will see you lead Volinè to the

altar--that is, if an altar forms a necessary article of the marriage

ceremony in this strange world--with more genuine pleasure than I

shall. I feel that indirectly, and through you, I owe my life to this

girl, in spite of all that the Doctor may say to the contrary; and that

being so, I wish her every happiness too. Besides, this match appears

to find great favour with the King.'

 

"'Ah, for that I have to thank Echri. It appears that he has had a

vision in which it was declared that the peoples on the family of

planets that circle round the Sun are to be united; and that we having

established communication between Earth and Mars, are fulfilling this

sacred manifestation. This the King has only lately learned from Echri,

and it has done more than anything else to place us high in royal

favour, and to win consent to my union with Volinè.'

 

"'Well, now, about this fight to-morrow. Have you no idea of the

weapons, conditions of combat, and so on?'

 

"'None; nor do I want any. But if you should chance to drop on Sandy

Campbell, tell him that I would see him. I should like him near me

to-morrow, just as a sort of henchman like---you understand?'

 

"'I won't fail to send him if I get the chance, but the Doctor keeps

him more than busy. Only this very morning he packed him off somewhere

or other in search of some insect which, he tells me, is curiously

allied to a beetle of Earth.'

 

"'Gracious! Poor old Sandy! I have half a mind to pity him in his

search for that illustrious bug.'

 

"Chatting together thus, the morning slipped quickly and pleasantly

away, until we were summoned to our mid-day meal. Neither the King nor

Volinè was present; and the Doctor, as well, was too absorbed in his

studies to make his appearance. I spent the afternoon posting up my

journals, from which this portion of our narrative has been written;

and in the evening I went unto our trysting-place, there to wait my

loved one's coming.

 

"Verily the quiet, dreamy beauty of the night in this tropic region

of Mars is beyond all power of description. The atmosphere is balmier

than in the torrid zone of Earth, by reason of the greater remoteness

of the sun; and the absence of all those insect-pests that make life

there unendurable, especially during hours of darkness. Such nights

inspire Love! Such an atmosphere makes the tender, sacred passion glow

with an intensity unknown in higher and cooler latitudes. The air

breathes it; the night-birds sing it; the fountains, in their rising

and falling cadence, echo it from grove to grove; the moons and stars,

scintillating in their ether sea of blue, excite it; even the very

flowers distil it in their ravishing perfume! Ah! 't is a wondrous

thing, this universal Love! A legacy of God, immutable, unchanging

through the unrecorded ages on every sphere where man doth dwell.

Best described as a passion of the night; as its subtle influence is

strongest under a starlit sky; for doth it not droop and languish under

the fierce light and blazing heat of day, requiring softer illuminants

and balmier air to flourish in all its beautiful intensity! No other

feeling evolved by the human mind can compare in tenderness or beauty

with that of first love. He who has not known that incomparable

joy-sorrow, knows not what it is to live; for of all the feelings

that animate the human breast it is at once the most tender, the most

pure, full of innocence, yet heavy with primordial sin, selfish, yet

generous; passionate, yet without lust; divine, yet human!

 

"But here my reverie in Siccoth's arbour was broken by the foot-falls

of Volinè, and in a few moments she was by my side.

 

"'Ah, Harry, dear; so thou art communing with thyself, or maybe with

the stars. Dost thou still cherish love for that Mother Earth, shining

so witchingly fair above thee, or for anyone that doth dwell thereon? A

woman?'

 

"'Nay, nay, my darling,' I answered, drawing her gently to my breast,

and planting a kiss on her lips as I spoke, 'I have no thoughts away

from you. You are the nucleus of them all, their one inspiration. I was

musing to myself on Love--ah! Volinè, even on first love; the tender

passion you, and you alone, have inspired within me. And I mused on the

exceeding beauty of this wondrous thing, and of its universality; until

your footsteps broke the thread of my reverie, and swept away the one

sorrow-cloud that tinged my bliss and transformed it into perfect joy.'

 

"'And what may this one cloud of sorrow be?'

 

"'To be separated from you, even for one hour--one moment. My heart is

yearning for the time when we may part no more--when I may proudly call

you mine; MINE for ever!'

 

"'But is there no one who beckoneth to thee from that star-world

yonder; no memory of one fairer in thy sight than I?'

 

"'Ah, darling,' I sighed, 'have I not told you that, until I saw you,

I knew not Love; and that the women of my native Earth cannot compare

with you in grace and beauty? I have but a single thought for all those

teeming millions of humanity that people yon shining star, and that one

is for the old father, who parted from me with his blessing when I left

its surface years ago.'

 

"'And I may never see him! Dost thou know Harry, I have great curiosity

to visit thy native world. All would seem so wondrous strange to me.'

 

"'And perhaps the day may yet come when I shall take my darling yonder;

for I hear from my companions that great things are being planned, and

that your royal father takes a deep interest in them. But now tell me,

dear one, if to-morrow I may take you to myself for ever? Is the morn

to bring your bridal day?'

 

"'Ah, thy words have stirred sad thoughts within my heart. To-morrow

thou hast promised to fight Perodii.'

 

"'And when the fight is over?----'

 

"'Why, then, if all--be--well,' she sighed, 'thou mayest have thy wish;

for then will I become thy wife,' and she hid her blushing face, and

stole yet closer into my arms.

 

"'Your words, dear one, make me feel happier than I can say,' and for a

few moments neither of us spoke; and only the loud, fast beating of our

own hearts broke the silence surrounding us.

 

"'Now, Harry, I must leave thee. I would see my father before the

evening hath passed.'

 

"'Then, when I see your dear face again, I may leave you no more. You

will not be present at this fray to-morrow?'

 

"'No, dear Harry, I could not. But I will pray for thee; and when all

is over, and thou art victorious--as I trust thou mayest be--then will

I come to bring thee thy reward. Now, fare thee well; and may all good

fortune attend thee on the morrow,' and trying bravely to conceal her

agitation and her tears, Volinè walked with me through the silver,

sheeny moonlight unto the Palace; where, with a last, sweet kiss, she

left me, and went her way.

 

"The night was a restless, sleepless one for me; and right gladly

I welcomed the first streaks of what was to prove one of the most

eventful days of my life. I was up with the sun, and the first person I

saw was Himos; and from him I learned particulars of the coming duel.

We were to fight with a peculiar kind of short, broad sword, in a large

arena, where combats of this description were wont to be decided. The

hour for the fray was ten; and the King had signified his intention of

being present, and acting as umpire between us. Then came Sandy--his

face absolutely beaming with delight at the prospect of a little

fighting; and with a due sense of his importance on acting as my second.

 

"'By bonnie Prince Charlie's memory, Mr. Graham, this is real guid

news. I hear that ye are aboot to ha' a tussel with Peerodii. De'il

tak' him, when ye ha' done wi' him, Mr. Graham, for the muckle harm he

has warked for us; and they do say that we are going to ha' a weddin',

too. Weel, weel, Sandy Cam'bell will step ye a Highland reel, if he do

it without the pipes an' a' that; an' good luck to ye an' your winsome

bride, say I; for she is a bra' fine girl, and enough to turn the heads

of a' who clap their een on her.'