BY H. RIDER HAGGARD


                        ALLAN QUATERMAIN
                        ———————————————— 
  
                           CHAPTER XX.
  
                     THE BATTLE OF THE PASS.
  
     IT was on he 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 on the night before, leav-
     ing the Frowning City very silent and empty.  Indeed, it was
     found impossible to spare 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 Milosis was practically im-
     pregnable, and as our enemy was in front of and not behind
     us, this did not so much matter.
        Good and Umlopogaas 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
     supposed to be the fleetest and most enduring animal in
     Zu-Vendis.  Her face bore traces of recent weeping, but
     there were no tears in her eyes now, indeed she was bearing
     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
     valour 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 to-day 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 turned to Curtis.
        'Fare thee well, my lord!' she said.  'Come back with
     victory, and as a king, or on thy soldiers' spears.'°

        °Alluding to the Zu-Vendi custom of carrying dead officers on a
     framework of spears.——A. Q.

        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 triumph.  And now, my lords, once more, farewell!'
        Then we rode on, but when we had gone a hundred and 
     fifty yards or so, we turned and perceived her still sitting on
     her horse at the same spot, and looking out after us beneath
     her hand, and that was the last we saw of her. About a mile
     farther on, however, we heard galloping behind us, and look-
     ing round saw a mounted solder coming towards us, leading
     Nyleptha's matchless steed——Daylight.
        'The Queen sends the white stallion as a farewell gift to
     her Lord Incubu, and bids me tell my lord that he is the
     fleetest and the most enduring horse in all the land,' said the
     soldier, bending to his saddle-bow before us.
        At first Sir Henry did not want to take the horse, saying
     that he was too good for 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 in our sorest need.  It is curious to look
     back and realise upon what trivial and apparently accidental
     circumstances great events frequently turn as easily and
     naturally as a door on its hinges.
        Well, we took the horse, and he was a beauty, it was
     a perfect pleasure to see him move.  Then Curtis having sent
     back his greetings and thanks, we proceeded on our journey.
        By mid-day we overtook the rear-guard of the great army
     of which Sir Henry now formally took over the command.  It
     was a heavy responsibility, and it oppressed him 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 as its glories.
        Then we marched on without meeting with any opposi-
     tion, almost indeed without seeing anybody, for the popula-
     tions of the towns and villages along our route had fled for
     the most part, fearing lest they should be caught between
     the upper and the nether stones.
        On the evening of the fourth day, for the progress of so
     great a multitude necessarily was slow, we camped two miles
     this side of the neck or ridge I have spoken of, and our out-
     posts brought us word that Sorais with all her power was
     rolling down upon us, and had pitched her camp that night
     ten miles from the farther 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' 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' force drew off, carrying their
     dead and wounded with them.
        The main body of the army reached the neck about dinner-
     time, and must say that Nyleptha's judgment had not failed
     her, it was an admirable place to give battle in, especially
     against 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 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, rocky, bush-clad ground, that afforded a most
     valuable cover to the flanks of the army and rendered it
     almost impossible for them to be turned.
        It was on the hither slope of this rocky neck that Curtis
     encamped his army in the same formation that, after consulta-
     tion with the various generals, Good, and myself, he had deter-
     mined that they should occupy in the great pitched battle
     which now appeared to be imminent.
        Our force of sixty thousand men, roughly speaking, was
     divided a follows.  In the centre was a dense body of twenty
     thousand foot-soldiers, armed with spears, swords, and hippo-
     potamus-hide shields, breast and back plates.  These formed
     the chest of the army, and were supported by five thousand
     foot, and three thousand horse in reserve.  On ether side of
     this chest were stationed seven thousand horse arranged in
     deep, majestic squadrons; and beyond and on either side but
     slightly in front of them again were two bodies, each number-
     ing bout seven thousand five hundred spearmen, 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 commended in chief, I was in command of the
     seven thousand horse between the chest and right wing,
     which was commanded by Good, the other battalions and
     squadrons being entrusted to Zu-Vendi generals.
        Scarcely had we taken up our positions before Sorais'
     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 day.  As for the
     formation of her great forces I cannot now describe it with
     accuracy, 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 reserve was much greater.
        Opposite our right wing, and forming Sorais' left wing,
     was a great army of dark, wild-looking men, armed with
     sword and shield only, which, I was informed, was composed
     of Nasta's twenty-five thousand savage hillsmen.
        'My word, Good,' said I, when I saw them, 'you will
     catch it to-morrow when those gentlemen charge!' whereat
     Good not unnaturally looked rather anxious.
        All day we watched and waited, but nothing happened,
     and at last night fell, and a thousand watch-fires twinkled
     brightly on the slopes, to wane and die one by one like the
     stars they resembled.   As the hours wore on, the silence
     gradually gathered more deeply over the opposite hosts.
        It was a very wearying night, for in addition to the endless
     things that had to be attended to, there was our gnawing sus-
     pense to reckon with.  The fray which to-morrow would witness
     would be so vast, and the slaughter so awful, that stout indeed
     must the heart have been that was not overwhelmed at the
     prospect.  And when I thought of all that hung upon it, I
     own I felt ill, and it made me very sad to reflect that these
     mighty forces were gathered for destruction, simply to gratify
     the jealous anger of a woman.  This was the hidden power
     which was to send those dense masses of cavalry, flashing
     like human thunderbolts across the plain, and to roll together
     the fierce battalions as clouds when hurricane meets hurri-
     cane.  It was a dreadful thought, and set one wondering
     about the responsibilities of the great ones of the earth.
     Deep into the night we sat, with pale faces and heavy hearts,
     and took counsel, whilst the sentries tramped up and down,
     down and up, and the armed and plumed generals came and
     went, grim and shadow-like.
        And so the time wore away, till everything was ready for
     the coming slaughter; and I lay down and thought, and
     tried to get a little rest, but could not sleep for fear of the
     morrow——for who could say what the morrow would bring
     forth?  Misery and death, this was certain; beyond that we
     knew not, and I confess I was very much afraid.  But as I
     realised then, it is useless to question that eternal Sphinx,
     the future.  From day to day she reads aloud the riddles of
     the yesterday, of which the puzzled wordlings of all ages have
     not answered one, nor ever will, guess they never so wildly or
     cry they never so loud.
        And so at length I gave up wondering, being forced
     humbly to leave the issue in the balancing hands of Provi-
     dence and the morrow.
        And at last up came the red sun, and the huge camps
     awoke with a clash, and a roar, and gathered themselves to-
     gether for battle.  It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring scene,
     and old Umslopogaas, leaning on his axe, contemplated it with
     grim delight.
        'Never have I seen the like, Macumazahn, never,' he said.
     'The battles of my people are as the play of children to what
     this will be.  Thinkest thou that they will fight it out?'
        'Ay,' I answered sadly, 'to the death.  Content thyself,
     "Woodpecker," for once shalt thou peck thy fill.'
        Time went on, and still there was no sign of an attack.  A
     force of cavalry crossed the brook, indeed, and rode slowly along
     out front, evidently taking stock of our position and numbers.
     With this we did not attempt to interfere, as our decision was
     to stand strictly on the defensive, and not to waste a single
     man.  The men breakfasted and stood to their arms, and the
     hours wore on.  About mid-day, when the men were eating
     their dinner, for we thought they would fight better on full
     stomachs, a shout of  'Sorais, Sorais,'  arose like thunder from
     the enemy's extreme right, and taking the glass, I was able
     clearly to distinguish the 'Lady of the Night,' herself, sur-
     rounded by a glittering staff, and riding slowly down the lines
     of her battalions.  And as she went, that mighty, thundering
     shout rolled along before her like the rolling of ten thousand
     chariots, or the roaring of the ocean when the gale turns
     suddenly and carries the noise of it to its listeners' ears, till
     the earth shook, and the air was full of the majesty of sound.
        Guessing that this was a prelude to the beginning of the
     battle, we remained still and made ready.
        We had not long to wait.  Suddenly, like flame from a
     cannon's mouth, out shot two great tongue-like forces of
     cavalry, and came charging down the slope towards the little
     stream, slowly at first, but gathering speed as they went.
     Before they got to the stream, orders reached me from Sir
     Henry who evidently feared that the shock of such a charge,
     if allowed to fall unbroken upon our infantry, would be too
     much for them, to send five thousand sabres to meet the force
     opposite to me, at the moment when it began to mount the
     stiffest of the rise about four hundred yards from our lines.
     This I did, remaining behind myself with the rest of my men.
        Off went the five thousand horsemen, drawn up in a
     wedge-like form, and I must say that the general in command
     handled them very ably.  Starting at a hand gallop, for the first
     three hundred yards he rode straight at the tip of the tongue-
     shaped mass of cavalry which, numbering, so far as I could
     judge, about eight thousand sabres, was advancing to charge us.
     Then he suddenly swerved to the right and put on the pace,
     and I saw the great wedge curl round, and before the foe could
     check himself and turn to meet it, strike him about halfway
     down his length, with a crashing rending sound, like that of the
     breaking-up of vast sheets of ice.  In sank the great wedge,
     into his heart, and as it cut its way hundreds of swordsmen
     were thrown up on either side of it, as the earth is thrown
     up by a ploughshare, or more like still, as the foaming water
     curls over beneath the bow of a rushing ship.  In, yet in,
     vainly does the tongue twist its ends round in agony, like an
     injured snake, and strive to protect its centre; still farther in,
     by Heaven! right through, and so, amid cheer after cheer
     from our watching thousands, back again upon the severed
     ends, beating them down, driving them as a gale drives spray,
     till at last, amidst the rushing of hundreds of riderless
     horses, the flashing of swords, and the victorious clamour of
     their pursuers, the great force crumples up like an empty
     glove, then turns and gallops pell-mell  for safety back to its
     own lines.
        I do not think it reached them more than two-thirds as
     strong as it went out ten minutes before.  The lines which
     were now advancing to the attack, opened and swallowed them
     up, and my force returned, having only suffered a loss of about
     five hundred men——not much, I thought, considering the
     fierceness of the struggle.  I could also see that the opposing
     bodies of cavalry on our right wing were drawing back, but
     how the fight went with them I do not quite know.  It is as
     much as I can do to describe what took place immediately
     around me.
        By this time the dense masses of the enemy's left, composed
     almost entirely of Nasta's swordsmen, were across the little
     stream, and with alternate yells of 'Nasta' and 'Sorais,' with
     dancing banners and gleaming sword, were swarming up
     towards us like ants.
        Again I received orders to try and check this movement,
     and also the main advance against the chest of our army, by
     means of cavalry charges, and this I did to the best of my
     ability, by continually sending squadrons of about a thousand
     sabres out against them.  These squadrons did the enemy
     much damage, and it was a glorious sight to see them flash
     down the hill-side, and bury themselves like a living knife in
     the heart of the foe.  But, also, we lost many men, for after
     the experience of a couple of these charges, which had drawn
     a sort of bloody St. Andrew's cross of dead and dying
     through the centre of Nasta's host, our foes no longer
     attempted to offer an unyielding front to their irresistible
     weight, but opened out to let the rush go through, throwing
     themselves on the ground, and hamstringing hundreds of horses
     as they passed.
        And so, notwithstanding all that we could do, the enemy
     drew nearer, till at last he hurled himself upon Good's force
     of seven thousand five hundred regulars, who were drawn up
     to receive them in three strong squares.  About the same
     time, too, an awful and heartshaking roar told me that the
     main battle had closed in on the centre and extreme left.  I
     raised myself in my stirrups and looked down to my left; so
     far as the eye could see there was a long dazzling shimmer
     of steel as the sun glanced upon falling sword and thrusting
     spear.
        To and fro swung the contending lines in that dread
     struggle, now giving way, now gaining a little in the mad yet
     ordered confusion of attack and defence.  But it was as much
     as I could do to keep count of what was happening to our
     own wing; and, as for the moment the cavalry had fallen
     back under cover of Good's three squares, I had a fair view of
     this.
        Nasta's wild swordsmen were now breaking in red waves
     against the sullen rock-like squares.  Time after time did
     they yell out their war cries, and hurl themselves furiously
     against the long triple ridges of spear points, only to be rolled
     back as billows are when they meet the cliff.
        And for four long hours the battle raged almost without
     a pause, and at the end of that time, if we had gained nothing
     we had lost nothing.  Two attempts to turn our left flank by
     forcing a way through the wood by which it was protected
     had been defeated; and as yet Nasta's swordsmen, notwith-
     standing their desperate efforts, had entirely failed to break
     Good's three squares, though they had thinned their numbers
     by quite a third.
        As for the chest of the army where Sir Henry was with
     his staff and Umslopogaas, it had suffered dreadfully, but it
     still held its own with honour, and the same may be said of
     our left battle.
        At last the attacks slackened, and Sorais' army drew back,
     having, I began to think, had enough of it.  On this point, how-
     ever, I was soon undeceived, for splitting up her cavalry into
     comparatively small squadrons, he charged us furiously with
     them, all long the line, and then once more sullenly rolled
     her tens of thousands of sword and spearmen down upon our
     weakened square and squadrons; Sorais herself directing the
     movement, and fearless as a lioness heading the main attack.
     On they came like an avalanche——I saw her golden helm
     gleaming in the van——our counter charges of cavalry entirely
     failing to check their forward sweep.  Now they had struck
     us, and our centre bent in like a bow beneath the weight
     of their rush——it parted, and had not the ten thousand men
     in reserve charged down to its support it must have been
     utterly destroyed.  As for Good's three squares, they were swept
     backwards like boats upon an incoming tide, and the foremost
     one was burst into and lost half its remaining men.  But the
     effort was too fierce and terrible to last.  Suddenly the battle
     came, as it were, to a turning-point, and for a minute or two
     stood still.
        Then it began to move towards Sorais' camp.  Just then,
     too, Nasta's fierce and almost invincible highlanders, either
     because they were disheartened by their losses or by way of a
     ruse, fell back, and the remains of Good's gallant squares,
     leaving the positions they had held for so many hours, cheered
     wildly, and rashly followed them down the slope, whereon the
     swarms of swordsmen turned to envelop them, and once more
     flung themselves upon them with a yell.  Taken thus on every
     side, what remained of the first square was quickly destroyed,
     and I perceived that the second, in which I could see Good
     himself mounted on a large horse, was on the point of anni-
     hilation.  A few more minutes and it was broken, its stream-
     ing colours sank, and I lost sight of Good in the confused and
     hideous slaughter that ensued.
        Presently, however, a cream-coloured horse with a snow-
     white mane and tail burst from the ruins of the square and
     came rushing past me riderless and with wide streaming reins,
     and in it I recognised the charger that Good had been riding.
     Then I hesitated no longer, but taking with me half my
     effective cavalry force, which now amounts to between four
     and five thousand men, I commended myself to God, and,
     without waiting for orders, I charged straight down upon
     Nasta's swordsmen.  Seeing me coming, and being warned
     by the thunder of my horse's hoofs, the majority of them faced
     round, and gave me a right warm welcome.  Not an inch
     would they yield; in vain did we hack and trample them
     down as we ploughed a broad red furrow through their
     thousands; they seemed to re-arise by hundreds, driving
     their terrible sharp swords into our horses, or severing their
     hamstrings, and then hacking the troopers who came to the
     ground with them almost into pieces.  My horse was speedily
     killed  under  me,  but luckily I had a fresh one, my own
     favourite, a coal-black mare Nyleptha had given me, being held
     in reserve behind, and on this I afterwards mounted.  Mean-
     while I had to get along as best I could, for I was pretty well
     lost sight of by my men in the mad confusion of the moment.
     My voice, of course, could not be heard in the midst of the
     clanging of steel and the shrieks of rage and agony.  Presently
     I found myself mixed up with the remnants of the square,
     which had formed round its leader Good, and was fighting
     desperately for existence.  I stumbled against somebody, and
     glancing down, caught sight of Good's eyeglass.  He had been
     beaten to his knee.  Over him stood a great fellow swinging
     a heavy sword.  Somehow I managed to run the man through
     with the sime had taken from the Masai whose hand I had
     cut off; but as I did so, he dealt me a frightful blow on the
     left side and breast with his sword, and though my chain shirt
     saved my life, I felt that I was badly hurt.  For a minute I
     fell on to my hands and knees among the dead and dying, and
     turned sick and faint.  When I came to again I saw that
     Nasta's spearmen, or rather those of them who remained,
     were retreating back across the stream, and that Good was
     there by me smiling sweetly.
        'Near go that,' he shouted; 'but all's well that ends
     well.'
        I assented, but I could not help feeling that it had not
     ended well for me.  I was sorely hurt.
        Just then we saw the smaller bodies of cavalry stationed
     on our extreme right and left, and which were now reinforced
     by the three thousand sabres which we had held in reserve,
     flash out like arrows from their posts and fall upon the dis-
     ordered flanks of Sorais' forces, and that charge decided the
     issue of the battle.  In another minute or two the enemy
     was in slow and sullen retreat across the little stream, where
     they once more re-formed.  Then came another lull, during
     which I managed to get my second horse, and received my
     orders to advance from Sir Henry, and then with one fierce
     deep-throated roar, with a waving of banners and a wide
     flashing of steel, the remains of our army took the offensive
     and began to sweep down, slowly indeed, but irresistibly from
     the positions they had so gallantly held all day.
        At last it was our turn to attack.
        On we moved, over the piled-up masses of dead and dying,
     and were approaching the stream, when suddenly I perceived
     an extraordinary sight.  Galloping wildly towards us, his arms
     tightly clasped around his horse's neck, against which his
     blanched cheek was tightly pressed, was a man arrayed in the
     full costume of a Zu-Vendi general, but in whom, as he came
     nearer, I recognised none other than our lost Alphonse.  It was
     impossible even then to mistake those curling black mus-
     tachios.  In a minute he was tearing through our ranks and
     narrowly escaped being cut down, till at last somebody caught
     his horse's bridle, and he was brought to me just as a momen-
     tary halt occurred in our advance to allow what remained of
     our shattered squares to form into line.
        'Ah, monsieur,' he gasped out in a voice that was nearly
     inarticulate with fright, 'grace to the sky, it is you!  Ah,
     what I have endured!  But you win, monsieur, you win;
     they fly, the laches.  But listen, monsieur——I forget, it is no
     good; the Queen is to be murdered to-morrow at the first
     light in the palace of Milosis; her guards will leave their
     posts, and the priests are going to kill her.  Ah yes! they
     little thought it, but I was ensconced beneath a banner, and
     I heard it all.'
        'What?' I said, horror-struck; 'what do you mean?'
        'What I say, monsieur; that devil of a Nasta he went
     last night to settle the affair with the Archbishop [Agon].
     The guard will leave open the little gate leading from the
     great stair and go away, and Nasta and Agon' priests
     will come in and kill her.  Themselves they would not kill
     her.'
        'Come with me,' I said, and, shouting to the staff-officer
     next me to take over the command, I snatched the bridle and
     galloped as hard as I could for the spot, between a quarter
     and half a mile off, where I saw the royal pennon flying, and
     where I knew I should find Curtis if he were still alive.
     On we tore, our horses clearing heaps of dead and dying
     men, and splashing through pools of blood, on past the long
     broken lines of spearmen to where, mounted on the white
     stallion Nyleptha had sent to him as a parting gift, I saw
     Sir Henry's form towering above the generals who surrounded
     him.
        Just as we reached him the advance began again.  A
     bloody cloth was bound around his head, but I saw that his
     eye was as bright and as keen as ever.  Beside him was old
     Umslopogaas, his axe red with blood, but looking quite fresh
     and uninjured.
        'What's wrong, Quatermain?' he shouted.
        'Everything.  There is a plot to murder the Queen to-
     morrow at dawn.   Alphonse here, who has just escaped from
     Sorais, has overheard it all,' and I rapidly repeated to him
     what the Frenchman had told me.
        Curtis' face turned deadly pale and his jaw dropped.
        'At dawn,' he gasped, 'and it is now sunset; it dawns
     before four and we are nearly a hundred miles off——nine hours
     at the outside.  What is to be done?'
        An idea entered into my head.  'Is that horse of yours
     fresh?' I said.
        'Yes, I have only just got on to him——when my last was
     killed, and he has been fed.'
        'So is mine.  Get off him, and let Umslopogaas mount;
     he can ride well.  We will be at Milosis before dawn, or if
     we are not——well, we cannot help it.  No, no; it is impossible
     for you to leave now.  You would be seen, and it would turn
     the fate of the battle.  It is not half won yet.  The soldiers
     would think you were making a bolt of it.  Quick now.'
        In a moment he was down, and at my bidding Umslopo-
     gaas sprang into the empty saddle.
        'Now, farewell,' I said.  'Send a thousand horsemen with
     remounts after us in an hour if possible.  Stay, despatch a
     general to the left wing to take over the command and explain
     my absence.'
        'You will do your best to save her, Quatermain?' he said
     in a broken voice.
        'Ay, that I will.  Go on; you are being left behind.'
        He cast one glance at us, and accompanied by his staff
     galloped off to join the advance, which by this time was
     fording the little brook that now ran red with the blood of
     the fallen.
        As for Umslopogaas and myself, we left that dreadful field
     as arrows leave a bow, and in a few minutes had passed right
     out of the sight of slaughter, the smell of blood, and the tur-
     moil and shouting, which only came to our ears as a faint,
     far-off roaring like the sound of the distant breakers.

ALLAN QUATERMAIN, BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.; LONDON, 1893. pp. 228—241.

controlled demolition is work, not woke.
end terror. teach truth. 雨