<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
<p>When Esteban Miranda regained consciousness, the fire before his rude
shelter was but a heap of cold ashes and dawn had almost come. He felt
weak and dizzy and his head ached. He put his hand to it and found
his thick hair matted with coagulated blood. He found something else
as well—a great wound in his scalp, that made him shudder and turn
sick, so that he fainted. When again he opened his eyes it was quite
daylight. He looked about him questioningly. Where was he? He called
aloud in Spanish—called to a woman with a musical name. Not Flora
Hawkes, but a soft, Spanish name that Flora never had heard.</p>
<p>He was sitting up now and presently he regarded his nakedness in
evident surprise. He picked up the loin cloth that had been cut from
his body. Then he looked all about him on the ground—his eyes dull,
stupid, wondering. He found his weapons and picking them up examined
them. For a long time he sat fingering them and looking at them, his
brows puckered in thought. The knife, the spear, the bow and arrows he
went over time and time again.</p>
<p>He looked out upon the jungle scene before him<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</SPAN></span> and the expression
of bewilderment on his face but increased. He half rose, remaining
upon his knees. A startled rodent scurried across the clearing. At
sight of it the man seized his bow and fitted an arrow, but the
animal was gone before he could loose his shaft. Still kneeling, the
bewildered expression upon his countenance deepening, he gazed in mute
astonishment upon the weapon he held so familiarly in his hand. He
arose, gathered up his spear and knife and the balance of his arrows
and started off into the jungle.</p>
<p>A hundred yards from his shelter he came upon a lion feeding upon the
carcass of its kill that it had dragged into the bushes beside the
wide elephant trail along which the man made his way. The lion growled
ominously. The man halted, listening intently. He was still bewildered;
but only for an instant did he remain motionless in the trail. With
the spring of a panther he gained the low swinging limb of the nearest
tree. There he squatted for a few minutes. He could see Numa the lion
feeding upon the carcass of some animal—what the animal had been he
could not determine. After a while the man dropped silently from the
tree and went off into the jungle in the opposite direction from that
he had at first chanced upon. He was naked, but he did not know it. His
diamonds were gone, but he would not have known a diamond had he seen
one. Uhha had left him, but he did not miss her, for he knew<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</SPAN></span> not that
she ever had existed.</p>
<p>Blindly and yet well, his muscles reacted to every demand made upon
them in the name of the first law of nature. He had not known why he
leaped to a tree at the sound of Numa's growl, nor could he have told
why he walked in the opposite direction when he saw where Numa lay up
with his kill. He did not know that his hand leaped to a weapon at each
new sound or movement in the jungle about him.</p>
<p>Uhha had defeated her own ends. Esteban Miranda was not being punished
for his sins for the very excellent reason that he was conscious of
no sins nor of any existence. Uhha had killed his objective mind.
His brain was but a storehouse of memories that would never again be
raised above the threshold of consciousness. When acted upon by the
proper force they stimulated the nerves that controlled his muscles,
with results seemingly identical with those that would have followed
had he been able to reason. An emergency beyond his experience
would, consequently, have found him helpless, though ignorant of
his helplessness. It was almost as though a dead man walked through
the jungle. Sometimes he moved along in silence, again he babbled
childishly in Spanish, or, perhaps, quoted whole pages of Shakespeare
in English.</p>
<p>Could Uhha have seen him now, even she, savage little cannibal,
might have felt remorse at the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</SPAN></span> horror of her handiwork, which was
rendered even more horrible because its miserable object was totally
unconscious of it; but Uhha was not there to see, nor any other mortal;
and the poor clay that once had been a man moved on aimlessly through
the jungle, killing and eating when the right nerves were excited,
sleeping, talking, walking as though he lived as other men live; and
thus, watching him from afar, we see him disappear amidst the riotous
foliage of a jungle trail.</p>
<p class="space-above">The Princess Janzara of Veltopismakus did not purchase the slave of
Zoanthrohago. Her father, the king, would not permit it, and so, very
angry, she walked from the apartment where she had come to examine
the captive and when she had passed into the next room and was out of
her royal sire's range of vision, she turned and made a face in his
direction, at which all her warriors and the two hand-maidens laughed.</p>
<p>"Fool!" she whispered in the direction of her unconscious father. "I
shall own the slave yet and kill him, too, if I mind."</p>
<p>The warriors and the hand-maidens nodded their heads approvingly.</p>
<p>King Elkomoelhago arose languidly from his chair. "Take it to the
quarries," he said, indicating Tarzan with a motion of his thumb, "but
tell the officer in charge that it is the king's wish that it be not
overworked, nor injured," and as<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</SPAN></span> the ape-man was led away through one
doorway, the king quitted the chamber by another, his six courtiers
bowing in the strange, Minunian way until he was gone. Then one of
them tiptoed quickly to the doorway through which Elkomoelhago had
disappeared, flattened himself against the wall beside the door and
listened for a moment. Apparently satisfied, he cautiously insinuated
his head beyond the door-frame until he could view the chamber
adjoining with one eye, then he turned back toward his fellows.</p>
<p>"The old half-wit has gone," he announced, though in a whisper that
would have been inaudible beyond the chamber in which it was breathed,
for even in Minuni they have learned that the walls have ears, though
they express it differently, saying, instead: <i>Trust not too far the
loyalty of even the stones of your chamber.</i></p>
<p>"Saw you ever a creature endowed with such inordinate vanity!"
exclaimed one.</p>
<p>"He believes that he is wiser than, not any man, but all men combined,"
said another. "Sometimes I feel that I can abide his arrogance no
longer."</p>
<p>"But you will, Gefasto," said Gofoloso. "To be Chief of Warriors of
Veltopismakus is too rich a berth to be lightly thrown aside."</p>
<p>"When one might simultaneously throw away one's life at the same time,"
added Torndali, Chief of Quarries.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"But the colossal effrontery of the man!" ejaculated another, Makahago,
Chief of Buildings. "He has had no more to do with Zoanthrohago's
success than have I and yet he claims the successes all for himself and
blames the failures upon Zoanthrohago."</p>
<p>"The glory of Veltopismakus is threatened by his egotism," cried
Throwaldo, Chief of Agriculture. "He has chosen us as his advisers,
six princes, whose knowledge of their several departments should
be greater than that of any other individuals and whose combined
knowledge of the needs of Veltopismakus and the affairs of state should
form a bulwark against the egregious errors that he is constantly
committing; but never will he heed our advice. To offer it he considers
a usurpation of his royal prerogatives, to urge it, little short of
treason. To question his judgment spells ruin. Of what good are we to
Veltopismakus? What must the people of the state think of us?"</p>
<p>"It is well known what they think of us," snapped Gofoloso. "They say
that we were chosen, not for what we know, but for what we do not know.
Nor can you blame them. I, a breeder of diadets, master of ten thousand
slaves who till the soil and raise a half of all the food that the city
consumes, am chosen Chief of Chiefs, filling an office for which I have
no liking and no training, while Throwaldo, who scarce knows the top<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</SPAN></span>
of a vegetable from its roots, is Chief of Agriculture. Makahago worked
the quarry slaves for a hundred moons and is made Chief of Buildings,
while Torndali, who is acclaimed the greatest builder of our time, is
Chief of Quarries. Gefasto and Vestako, alone, are masters of their
bureaus. Vestako the king chose wisely as Chief of the Royal Dome, that
his royal comfort and security might be assured; but in Gefasto behold
his greatest blunder! He elevated a gay young pleasure-seeker to the
command of the army of Veltopismakus and discovered in his new Chief of
Warriors as great a military genius as Veltopismakus has ever produced."</p>
<p>Gefasto bowed his acknowledgment of the compliment.</p>
<p>"Had it not been for Gefasto the Trohanadalmakusians would have trapped
us fairly the other day," continued Gofoloso.</p>
<p>"I advised the king against pushing the assault," interjected Gefasto,
"as soon as it became evident that we had failed to surprise them. We
should have withdrawn. It was only after we had advanced and I was free
from him that I could direct the affair without interference, and then,
as you saw, I quickly extricated our troops and withdrew them with as
little loss of men and prestige as possible."</p>
<p>"It was nobly done, Gefasto," said Torndali. "The troops worship you.
They would like a<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</SPAN></span> king who led them in battle as you might lead them."</p>
<p>"And let them have their wine as of old," interjected Makahago.</p>
<p>"We would all rally around a king who permitted us the innocent
pleasure of our wine," said Gofoloso: "what say you, Vestako?"</p>
<p>The Chief of the Royal Dome, the king's major domo, who had remained
silent throughout the arraignment of his master, shook his head.</p>
<p>"It is not wise to speak treason now," he said.</p>
<p>The three looked sharply at him and glanced quickly at one another.</p>
<p>"Who has spoken treason, Vestako?" demanded Gofoloso.</p>
<p>"You have all come too close to it for safety," said the oily Vestako.
He spoke in a much louder voice than the others had spoken, as though,
far from being fearful of being overheard, he rather hoped that he
would be. "Elkomoelhago has been good to us. He has heaped honors and
riches upon us. We are very powerful. He is a wise ruler. Who are we to
question the wisdom of his acts?"</p>
<p>The others looked uneasily about. Gofoloso laughed nervously. "You were
ever slow to appreciate a joke, my good Vestako," he said. "Could you
not see that we were hoaxing you?"</p>
<p>"I could not," replied Vestako; "but the king has a fine sense of
humor. I will repeat the joke<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</SPAN></span> to him and if he laughs then I shall
laugh, too, for I shall know that it was indeed a joke. But I wonder
upon whom it will be!"</p>
<p>"Oh, Vestako, do not repeat what we have said—not to the king. He
might not understand. We are good friends and it was said only among
friends." Gofoloso was evidently perturbed in spirit—he spoke rapidly.
"By the way, my good Vestako, I just happened to recall that the other
day you admired one of my slaves. I have intended giving him to you. If
you will accept him he is yours."</p>
<p>"I admire a hundred of your slaves," said Vestako, softly.</p>
<p>"They are yours, Vestako," said Gofoloso. "Come with me now and select
them. It is a pleasure to make my friend so trifling a present."</p>
<p>Vestako looked steadily at the other four. They shifted uneasily in
momentary silence, which was broken by Throwaldo, Chief of Agriculture.
"If Vestako would accept a hundred of my poor slaves I should be
overwhelmed with delight," he said.</p>
<p>"I hope they will be slaves of the white tunic," said Vestako.</p>
<p>"They will," said Throwaldo.</p>
<p>"I cannot be outdone in generosity," said Torndali; "you must accept a
hundred slaves from me."</p>
<p>"And from me!" cried Makahago, Chief of Buildings.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"If you will send them to my head slave at my quarters before the Sun
enters the Warriors' Corridor I shall be overwhelmed with gratitude,"
said Vestako, rubbing his palms and smiling unctuously. Then he looked
quickly and meaningly at Gefasto, Chief of Warriors of Veltopismakus.</p>
<p>"Best can I show my friendship for the noble Vestako," said Gefasto,
unsmiling, "by assuring him that I shall, if possible, prevent my
warriors from slipping a dagger between his ribs. Should aught of harm
befall me, however, I fear that I cannot be responsible for the acts
of these men, who, I am told, love me." For a moment longer he stood
looking straight into the eyes of Vestako, then he turned upon his heel
and strode from the room.</p>
<p>Of the six men who composed the Royal Council, Gefasto and Gofoloso
were the most fearless, though even they flattered the vain and
arrogant Elkomoelhago, whose despotic powers rendered him a most
dangerous enemy. Custom and inherent loyalty to the royal family, in
addition to that most potent of human instrumentalities—self-interest,
held them to the service of their king, but so long had they been
plotting against him, and so rife was discontent throughout the city,
that each now felt that he might become bolder, with impunity.</p>
<p>Torndali, Makahago and Throwaldo, having been chosen by the king for
their supposed <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</SPAN></span>pliability and having, unlike Gefasto and Gofoloso,
justified his expectations, counted for little one way or another.
Like the majority of the Veltopismakusian nobles under the reign of
Elkomoelhago they had become corrupt, and self-interest guided their
every act and thought. Gefasto did not trust them, for he knew that
they could be bought even while professing their virtue, and Gefasto
had taken to the study of men since his success with the warriors of
his city—a success that was fully as much a surprise to him as to
others—and his knowledge of the mounting restlessness of the people
had implanted in the fertile soil of a virile brain the idea that
Veltopismakus was ripe for a new dynasty.</p>
<p>Vestako he knew for a self-acknowledged and shameless bribe-taker. He
did not believe that there was an honest hair in the man's head, but
he had been surprised at the veiled threat of exposure he had used to
mulct his fellows.</p>
<p>"Low indeed have fallen the fortunes of Veltopismakus," he said to
Gofoloso as the two walked along the Warriors' Corridor after quitting
the council chamber of the king.</p>
<p>"As exemplified by—?" queried the Chief of Chiefs.</p>
<p>"By Vestako's infamy. He cares neither for king nor for people. For
slaves or gold he would betray either, and Vestako is typical of
the majority of us. No longer is friendship sacred, for<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</SPAN></span> even from
Throwaldo he exacted the toll of his silence, and Throwaldo has ever
been accounted his best friend."</p>
<p>"What has brought us to such a pass, Gafasto," asked Gofoloso,
thoughtfully. "Some attribute it to one cause and some to another, and
though there should be no man in Veltopismakus better able than myself
to answer my own question, I confess that I am at a loss. There are
many theories, but I doubt me the right one has yet been expounded."</p>
<p>"If one should ask me, Gofoloso, and you have asked me, I should say
to him as I am about to say to you that the trouble with Veltopismakus
is too much peace. Prosperity follows peace—prosperity and plenty of
idle time. Time must be occupied. Who would occupy it in labor, even
the labor of preparing one's self to defend one's peace and prosperity,
when it may so easily be occupied in the pursuit of pleasure? The
material prosperity that has followed peace has given us the means
to gratify our every whim. We have become satiated with the things
we looked upon in the days of yesterday as luxuries to be sparingly
enjoyed upon rare occasion. Consequently we have been forced to invent
new whims to be gratified and you may rest assured that these have
become more and more extravagant and exaggerated in form and idea until
even our wondrous prosperity has been taxed to meet the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</SPAN></span> demands of our
appetites.</p>
<p>"Extravagance reigns supreme. It rests, like a malign incubus, upon the
king and his government. To mend its inroads upon the treasury, the
burden of the incubus is shifted from the back of the government to the
back of the people in the form of outrageous taxes which no man can
meet honestly and have sufficient remaining wherewith to indulge his
appetites, and so by one means or another, he passes the burden on to
those less fortunate or less shrewd."</p>
<p>"But the heaviest taxation falls upon the rich," Gofoloso reminded him.</p>
<p>"In theory, but not in fact," replied Gefasto. "It is true that the
rich pay the bulk of the taxes into the treasury of the king, but first
they collect it from the poor in higher prices and other forms of
extortion, in the proportion of two <i>jetaks</i> for every one that they
pay to the tax collector. The cost of collecting this tax added to the
loss in revenue to the government by the abolition of wine and the cost
of preventing the unscrupulous from making and selling wine illicitly
would, if turned back into the coffers of the government, reduce our
taxes so materially that they would fall as a burden upon none."</p>
<p>"And that, you think, would solve our problems and restore happiness to
Veltopismakus?" asked Gofoloso.</p>
<p>"No," replied his fellow prince. "We must<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</SPAN></span> have war. As we have found
that there is no enduring happiness in peace or virtue, let us have a
little war and a little sin. A pudding that is all of one ingredient is
nauseating—it must be seasoned, it must be spiced, and before we can
enjoy the eating of it to the fullest we must be forced to strive for
it. War and work, the two most distasteful things in the world, are,
nevertheless, the most essential to the happiness and the existence
of a people. Peace reduces the necessity for labor, and induces
slothfulness. War compels labor, that her ravages may be effaced. Peace
turns us into fat worms. War makes men of us."</p>
<p>"War and wine, then, would restore Veltopismakus to her former pride
and happiness, you think?" laughed Gofoloso. "What a fire-brand you
have become since you came to the command of all the warriors of our
city!"</p>
<p>"You misunderstand me, Gofoloso," said Gefasto, patiently. "War and
wine alone will accomplish nothing but our ruin. I have no quarrel
with peace or virtue or temperance. My quarrel is with the misguided
theorists who think that peace alone, or virtue alone, or temperance
alone will make a strong, a virile, a contented nation. They must
be mixed with war and wine and sin and a great measure of hard
work—especially hard work—and with nothing but peace and prosperity
there is little necessity for hard work,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</SPAN></span> and only the exceptional man
works hard when he does not have to.</p>
<p>"But come, you must hasten to deliver the hundred slaves to Vestako
before the Sun enters the Warriors' Corridor, or he will tell your
little joke to Elkomoelhago."</p>
<p>Gofoloso smiled ruefully. "Some day he shall pay for these hundred
slaves," he said, "and the price will be very high."</p>
<p>"If his master falls," said Gefasto.</p>
<p>"<i>When</i> his master falls!" Gofoloso corrected.</p>
<p>The Chief of Warriors shrugged his shoulders, but he smiled
contentedly, and he was still smiling after his friend had turned into
an intersecting corridor and gone his way.</p>
<hr />
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />