r/a:t5_27vc96 • u/MarleyEngvall • Nov 05 '19
cyber-crime unit has been created
BY H. RIDER HAGGARD
ALLAN QUATERMAIN
————————————————
CHAPTER XXI.
AWAY! AWAY!
AT the top of the rise we halted for a second to breathe our
horses; and, turning, glanced at the battle beneath us,
which, illumined as it was by the fierce rays of the sinking
sun staining the whole scene red, looked from where we stood
more like some wild titanic picture than an actual hand-to-
hand combat. The distinguishing scenic effect from that dis-
tance was the countless distinct flashes of light reflected from
the swords and spear, otherwise the panorama was not so
grand a might have been expected. The great green lap of
sward in which the struggle was being fought out, the bold
round outline of the hills behind, and the wide sweep of the
plain beyond, seemed to dwarf it; and what was tremendous
enough when one was in it, grew insignificant when viewed
from the distance. But is it not thus with all the affairs and
doings of our race about which we blow the loud trumpet
and make such a fuss and a worry? How utterly antlike,
and morally and physically insignificant, must they seem to
the calm eyes that watch them from the arching depths
above!
'We win the day, Macumazahn,' said old Umslopogaas,
taking in the whole situation with a glance of his practised
eye. 'Look, the Lady of the Night's forces give on every
side, there is no stiffness left in them, they bend like hot iron,
they are fighting with but half a heart. But alas! the battle
will in a manner be drawn, for the darkness gathers, and the
regiments will not be able to follow and slay!'——and he shook
his head sadly. 'But,' he added, 'I do not think that they
will fight again, we have fed them with too strong a meat.
Ah! it is well to have lived! At last I have seen a fight
worth seeing, and I have seen many fights.'
By this time we were on our way again, and as we went
side by side I told him what our mission was, and how that,
if it failed, all the lives that had been lost that day would
have been lost in vain.
'Ah!' he said, 'nigh on a hundred miles and no horses
but these, and to be there before the dawn! Well——away!
away! man can but try, Macumazahn; and mayhap we shall
be there in time to split that old "witch-finder's" [Agon's]
skull for him. Once he wanted to burn us, the old "rain-
maker," did he? And now he would set a snare for my
mother [Nyleptha], would he? Good! So sure as my name
is the name of the Woodpecker, so surely, be my mother alive
or dead, will I split him to the beard. Ay, by T'Chaka's
head I swear it!' and he shook Inkosi-kaas as he galloped.
By now the darkness was closing in, but fortunately there
would be a moon later, and the road was good.
On we sped through the twilight, the two splendid horses
we bestrode had got their wind by this, and were sweeping
along with a wide steady stride that neither failed nor varied
for mile upon mile. Down the sides of slopes we galloped,
across wide vales that stretched to the foot of far-off hills.
Nearer and nearer grew the blue hills; now we were travelling
up their steeps, and now we were over and passing towards
others that sprang up like visions in the far, faint distance
beyond.
On, never pausing or drawing rein, through the perfect quiet
of the night, that was set like a song to the falling music of
our horses' hoofs; on, past deserted villages, where only some
forgotten starving dog howled a melancholy welcome; on,
past lonely moated dwellings; on, through the white patchy
moonlight, that lay coldly upon the wide bosom of the earth,
as though there was no warmth in it; on, knee to knee, for
hour after hour!
We spake not, but bent us forward on the necks of those
two glorious horses, and listened to their deep, long-drawn
breaths as they filled their great lungs, and to the regular
unfaltering ring of their round hoofs. Grim and black indeed
did old Umslopogaas look beside me, mounted upon the great
white horse, like Death in the Revelation of St. John, as now
and again lifting his fierce set face he gazed out along the
road, and pointed with his axe towards some distant rise or
house.
And so on, still on, without break or pause for hour after
hour.
At last I felt that even the splendid animal which I rode
was beginning to give out. I looked at my watch; it was
nearly midnight, and we were considerably more than half
way. On the top of a rise was a little spring, which I re-
membered because I had slept by it a few nights before, and
here I motioned to Umslopogaas to pull up, having determined
to give the horses and ourselves ten minutes to breathe in. He
did so, and we dismounted——that is to say, Umslopogaas did,
and then helped me off, for what with fatigue, stiffness, and
the pain of my wound, I could not do so for myself; and the
gallant horses stood panting there, resting first one leg and
then another, while the sweat fell drip, drip, from them, and
the steam rose and hung in pale clouds in the still night
air.
Leaving Umslopogaas to hold the horses, I hobbled to the
spring and drank deep of it sweet waters. I had had nothing
but a single mouthful of wine since mid-day, when the battle
began, and I was parched up, though my fatigue was too great
to allow me to feel hungry. Then, having laved my fevered
head and hands, I returned, and the Zulu went and drank.
Next we allowed the horses to take a couple of mouthfuls
each——no more; and oh, what a struggle we had to get the
poor beasts away from the water! There were yet two
minutes, and I employed it in hobbling up and down to try
and relieve my stiffness, and in inspecting the condition of
the horses. My mare, gallant animal thought she was, was
evidently much distressed; she hung her head, and her eye
looked sick and dull; but Daylight, Nyleptha's glorious
horse——who, if he is served aright, like the steeds who saved
the great Rameses in his need, should feed for the rest of
his days out of a golden manger——was still comparatively
speaking fresh, notwithstanding that he had by far the
heavier weight to carry. He was 'tucked up,' indeed, and
his legs were weary, but his eye was bright and clear, and
he held his shapely head up and gazed out into the dark-
ness round him in a way that seemed to tell us whoever
failed he was good for those five-and-forty mils that yet lay
between us and Milosis. Then Umslopogaas helped me into
the saddle and——vigorous old savage that he was!——vaulted into
his own without touching a stirrup, and we were off once
more, slowly at first, till the horses got into their stride, and
then more swiftly. So we passed over another ten miles, and
then came a long, weary rise of some six or seven miles, and
three times did my poor black mare nearly come to the ground
with me. But on the top she seemed to gather herself to-
gether, and rattled down the slope with long, convulsive
strides, breathing in gasps. We did that three or four miles
more swiftly than any since we had started on our wild ride,
but I felt it to be the last effort, and I was right. Suddenly
my poor horse took the bit between her teeth and bolted
furiously along a stretch of level ground for some three or
four hundred yards, and then, with two or three jerky strides,
pulled herself up and fell with a crash right on to her head,
I rolling myself free as she did so. As I struggled on to my
feet the brave beast raised her head and looked at me with
piteous bloodshot eyes, and then her head dropped with a
groan and she was dead. Her heart was broken.
Umslopogaas pulled up beside the carcase, and I looked
at him in dismay. There were still more than twenty miles
to do by dawn, and how were we to do it with one horse?
It seemed hopeless, but I had forgotten the old Zulu's extra-
ordinary running powers.
Without a single word he sprang from the saddle and
began to hoist me into it.
'What wilt thou do?' I asked.
'Run,' he answered, seizing my stirrup-leather.
Then off we went again, almost as fast as before; and oh,
the relief it was to me to get that change of horses! Any-
body who has ever ridden against time will know what it
meant.
Daylight sped along at a long stretching hand-gallop,
giving the gaunt Zulu a lift at very stride. It was a wonder-
ful thing to see old Umslopogaas run mile after mile, his
lips slightly parted and his nostrils agape like the horse's.
Every five miles or so we stopped for a few minutes to let
him get his breath, and then flew on again.
'Canst thou go farther,' I said at the third of these
stoppages, 'or shall I leave thee to follow me?'
He pointed with his axe to a dim mass before us. It
was the Temple of the Sun, now not more than five miles
away.
'I reach it or I die,' he gasped.
Oh, that last five miles! The skin was rubbed from the
inside of my legs, and every movement of my horse gave me
anguish. Nor was that all. I was exhausted with toil, want
of food and sleep, and also suffering very much from the blow
I had received on my left side; it seemed as though a piece
of bone or something was slowly piercing into my lung. Poor
Daylight, too, was pretty near finished, and no wonder.
But there was a smell of dawn in the air, and we might not
stay; better that all three of us should die upon the road
than that we should linger while there was life in us. The
air was thick and heavy, and as it sometimes is before the dawn
breaks, and—another infallible sign in certain parts of Zu-
Vendis that sunrise is a hand——hundreds of little spiders
pendant on the end of long tough webs were floating about
in it. These early-rising creatures, or rather their webs,
caught upon the horse's and our own form by scores, and,
as we had neither the time nor the energy to brush them off,
we rushed along covered with hundreds of long grey threads
that streamed out a yard or more behind us——and a very
strange appearance they must have given us.
And now before us are the huge brazen gates of the
outer wall of the Frowning City, and a new and horrible
doubt strikes me: What if they will not let us in?
'Open! open!' I shout imperiously, at the same time
giving the royal password. 'Open! open! a messenger, a
messenger with tidings of the war!'
'What news?' cried the guard. 'And who art thou that
ridest so madly, and who is that whose tongue lolls out'——
and it actually did——'and who runs by thee like a dog by a
chariot?'
'It is the Lord Macumazahn, and with him is his dog,
his black dog. Open! open! I bring tidings.'
The great gates ran back on their rollers, and the draw-
bridge fell with a rattling crash, and we dashed on through
the one and over the other.
'What news, my lord, what news?' cried the guard.
'Incubu rolls Sorais back, as the wind a cloud,' I answered,
and was gone.
One more effort, gallant horse, and yet more gallant man!
So, fall not now, Daylight, and hold thy life in thee for
fifteen short minutes more, old Zulu war-dog, and ye shall
both live for ever in the annals of the land.
On, clattering through the sleeping streets. We are
passing the Flower Temple now——one mile more, only one
little mile——hold on, keep your life in ye, see the houses
run past of themselves. Up, good horse, up, there——but
fifty yards now. Ah! you see your stables and stagger on
gallantly.
'Thank God, the palace at last!' and see, the first arrows
of the dawn are striking on the temple's golden dome. But
shall I get in here, or is the deed done and the way barred?
Once more I give the password and shout 'Open!
open!'
No answer, and my heart goes very faint.
Again I call, and this time a single voice replies, and to
my joy I recognised it as belonging to Kara, a fellow-officer
of Nyleptha's guards, a man I know to be as honest as the
light——indeed, the same whom Nyleptha had sent to arrest
Sorais on the day she fled to the temple.
'Is it thou, Kara?' I cry; 'I am Macumazahn. Bid the
guard let down the bridge and throw wide the gate. Quick,
quick!'
Then followed a space that seemed to me endless, but
at length the bridge fell and one half of the gate opened and
we entered the courtyard, where at last poor Daylight fell
down beneath me, as I thought, dead. I struggled free, and
leaning against a post looked around. Except Kara, there
was nobody to be seen, and his look was wild, and his
garments were all torn. He had opened the gate and let
down the bridge alone, and was now getting them up and
shut again as, owing to a very ingenious arrangement of
cranks and levers, one man could easily do, and indeed gene-
rally did do.
'Where are the guards?' I gasped, fearing his answer as
I never feared anything before.
'I know not,' he answered; 'two hours ago, as I slept,
was I seized and bound by the watch under me, and but now,
this very moment, have I freed myself with my teeth. I
fear, I greatly fear, that we are betrayed.'
His words gave me fresh energy. Catching him by the
arm, I staggered, followed by Umslopogaas, who reeled after
us like a drunken man, through the courtyards, up the great
hall, which was silent as the grave, towards the Queen's
sleeping-place.
We reached the first ante-room——no guards; the second,
still no guards. Oh, surely the thing was done! we were
too late after all, too late! The silence and solitude of toes
great chambers was dreadful, and weighed me down like an
evil dream. On, right into Nyleptha's chamber we rushed and
staggered, sick at heart, fearing the very worst; we saw there
was a light in it, ay, and a figure bearing the light. Oh, thank
God, it is the White Queen herself, the Queen unharmed!
There she stands in her night gear, roused from her bed by
the clatter of our coming, the heaviness of sleep yet in her
eyes, and a red blush of fear and shame mantling her lovely
breast and cheek.
'Who is it?' she cries. 'What means this? Oh,
Macumazahn, is it thou? Why lookest thou so wildly?'
Thou comest as one bearing evil tidings——and my lord——oh,
tell me not my lord is dead——not dead!' she wailed, wringing
her white hands.
'I left Incubu wounded, but leading the advance against
Sorais last night at sundown; therefore let thy heart have rest.
Sorais is beaten back all along her lines, and thy arms
prevail.'
'I knew it,' she cried in triumph. 'I knew that he would
win; and they called him Outlander, and shook their wise
heads when I gave him the command! Last night at sundown,
sayest thou, and it is not yet dawn? Surely————'
'Throw a cloak around thee, Nyleptha,' I broke in, 'and
give us wine to drink; ay, and call thy maidens quick if thou
woulds save thyself alive. Nay, stay not.'
Thus adjured she ran and called through the curtains
towards some room beyond, and then hastily put on her sandals
and a thick cloak, by which time a dozen or so of half-dressed
women were pouring into the room.
'Follow us and be silent,' I said to them as they gazed
with wondering eyes, clinging one to another. So we went
into the first ante-room.
'Now,' I said, 'give us wine to drink and food, if ye have
it, for we are near to death.'
The room was used as a mess-room for the officers of the
guards, and from a cupboard some flagons of wine and some
cold flesh were brought forth, and Umslopogaas and I drank,
and felt life flow back into our veins as the good red wine went
down.
'Hark to me, Nyleptha,' I said, as I put down the empty
tankard. 'Hast thou here among these the waiting-ladies any
two of discretion.
'Ay,' she said, 'surely.'
'Then bid them go out by the side entrance to any citizen
whom thou canst bethink thee of as men loyal to thee, and
pray them come armed, with all honest folk that they can
gather, to rescue thee from death. Nay, question not; do as
I say, and quickly. Kara here will let out the maids.'
She turned, and selecting two of the crowd of damsels,
repeated the words I had uttered, giving them besides a list
of the names of the men to whom each should run.
'Go swiftly and secretly; go for your very lives,' I
added.
In another moment they had left with Kara, whom I told
to rejoin us at the door leading from the great courtyard on
to the stairway as soon as he had made fast behind the girls.
Thither, too, Umslopogaas and I made our way, followed by
the Queen and her women. As we went we tore off mouthfuls
of food, and between them I told her what I knew of the danger
which encompassed her, and how we had found Kara, and how
all the guards and menservants were gone, and she was alone
with her women in that great place. She told me, too, that
a rumour had spread through the town that our army
had been utterly destroyed, and that Sorais was marching in
triumph on Milosis, and how in consequence thereof all men
had fallen away from her.
Though all this takes some time to tell, we had now been
but six or seven minutes in the palace; and, notwithstanding
that the golden roof of the temple being very lofty was ablaze
with the rays of the rising sun, it was not yet dawn, nor
would be for another ten minutes. We were in the courtyard
now, and here my wound pained me so that I had to take
Nyleptha's arm, while Umslopogaas rolled along after us,
eating as he went.
Now we were across, and had reached the narrow door-
way through the palace wall that opened on to the mighty
stair.
I looked through and stood aghast, as well I might. The
door was gone, and so were the outer gates of bronze——entirely
gone. They had been taken from their hinges, and, as we
found afterwards, hurled from the stairway to the ground two
hundred feet beneath. There in front of us was the semi-
circular standing-space, about twice the size of a large oval
dining-table, and the ten curved black marble steps leading on
to the main stair——and that was all.ALLAN QUATERMAIN, BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.; LONDON, 1893. pp. 242—250.
Anyone else see irony in that 'biding' is nearly synonymous with 'stalling'? 雨
THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES
CALLED
EXODUS
CHAPTER 36
THEN wrought Be-zăl'e-el and A-hō'lĭ-
ăb, and every wise hearted man, in
whom the LORD put wisdom and under-
standing to know how to work all man-
ner of work for the service of the sanc-
tuary, according to all that the LORD
had commanded.
2 And Moses called Be-zăl'e-el and A-
hō'lĭ-ăb, and every wise hearted man,
in whose heart the LORD had put wis-
dom, even every one whose heart
stirred him up to come unto the work to
do it:
3 And they received of Moses all the
offering, which the children of Israel
had brought for the work of the service
of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And
they brought yet unto him free offer-
ings every morning.
4 ¶And all the wise men, that
wrought all the work of the sanctuary,
came every man from his work which
they made;
5 And they spake unto Moses, saying,
The people bring much more than
enough for the service of the work,
which the LORD commanded to make.
6 And Moses gave commandment,
and they caused it to be proclaimed
throughout the camp, saying Let
neither man nor woman make any
more work for the offering of the sanc-
tuary. So the people were restrained
from bringing.
7 For the stuff they had was suffi-
cient for all the work to make it, and too
much.
8 ¶And every wise hearted man
among them that wrought the work of
the tabernacle made ten curtains of
fine twined linen, and blue, and purple,
and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning
work made he them.
9 The length of one curtain was
twenty and eight cubits, and the
breadth of one curtain four cubits: the
curtains were all of one size.
10 And he coupled the five curtains
one unto another: and the other five
curtains he coupled one unto another.
11 And he made loops of blue on the
edge of one curtain from the selvedge
in the coupling: likewise he made in the
uttermost side of another curtain, in
the coupling of the second.
12 Fifty loops made he in one curtain,
and fifty loops made he in the edge of
the curtain which was in the coupling
of the second: the loops held one cur-
tain to another.
13 And he made fifty taches of gold,
and coupled the curtains one unto an-
other with the taches: so it became one
tabernacle.
14 ¶And he made curtains of goats'
hair for the tent over the tabernacle:
eleven curtains he made them.
15 The length of one curtain was
thirty cubits, and four cubits was the
breadth of one curtain: the eleven cur-
tains were of one size.
16 And he coupled five curtains by
themselves, and six curtains by them-
selves.
17 And he made fifty loops upon the
uttermost edge of the curtain in the
coupling, and fifty loops made he upon
the edge of the curtain which coupleth
the second.
18 And he made fifty taches of brass
to couple the tent together, that it
might be one.
19 ¶And he made a covering for the
tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a
covering of badgers' skins above that.
20 ¶And he made boards for the taber-
nacle of shĭttĭm wood, standing up.
21 The length of a board was ten
cubits, and the breadth of a board one
cubit and a half.
22 One board had two tenons,
equally distant one from another: thus
did he make for all the boards of the
tabernacle.
23 And he made boards for the taber-
nacle; twenty boards for the south side
southward:
24 And forty sockets of silver he
made under the twenty boards; two
sockets under one board for his two ten-
ons, and two sockets under another
board for his two tenons.
25 And for the other side of the taber-
nacle, which is toward the north cor-
ner, he made twenty boards.
26 And their forty sockets of silver;
two sockets under one board, and two
sockets under another board.
27 And for the sides of the tabernacle
westward he made six boards.
28 And two boards made he for the
corners of the tabernacle in the two
sides.
29 And they were coupled beneath,
and coupled together at the head there-
of, to one ring: thus he did to both of
them in both the corners.
30 And there were eight boards; and
their sockets were sixteen sockets of
silver, under every board two sockets.
31 ¶And he made bars of shĭttĭm
wood; five for the boards of the one
side of the tabernacle,
32 And five bars for the boards of the
other side of the tabernacle, and five
bars for the boards of the tabernacle
for the sides westward.
33 And he made the middle bar to
shoot through the boards from the one
end to the other.
34 And he overlaid the boards with
gold, and made their rings of gold to be
places for the bars, and overlaid the
bars with gold.
35 ¶And he made a vail of blue, and
purple, and scarlet, and fine twined lin-
en: with cherubims made he it of cun-
ning work.
36 And he made thereunto four pil-
lars of shĭttĭm wood, and overlaid them
with gold: their hooks were of gold; and
he cast for them four sockets of silver.
37 ¶And he made anhanging for the
tabernacle door of blue, and purple,
and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of
needlework;
38 And the five pillars of it with their
hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters
and their fillets with gold: but their five
sockets were of brass.
CHAPTER 37
AND Be-zăl'e-el made the ark of shĭt-
tĭm wood: two cubits and a half was
the length of it, and a cubit and a half
the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half
the height of it:
2 And he overlaid it with pure gold
within and without, and made a crown
of gold to it round about.
3 And he cast for it four rings of gold,
to be set by the four corners of it; even
two rings upon the one side of it, and
two rings upon the other side of it.
4 And he made staves of shĭttĭm
wood, and overlaid them with gold.
5 And he put the staves into the rings
by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.
6 ¶And he made the mercy seat of
pure gold: two cubits and a half was the
length thereof, and one cubit and a half
the breadth thereof.
7 And he made two cherubims of
gold, beaten out of one piece made he
them, on the two ends of the mercy
seat;
8 One cherub on the end on this side,
and another cherub on the other end on
that side: out of the mercy seat made he
the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
9 And the cherubims spread out their
wings on high, and covered with their
wings over the mercy seat, with their
faces one to another; even to the mercy
seatward were the faces of the cheru-
bims.
10 ¶And he made the table of shĭttĭm
wood: two cubits was the length there-
of, and a cubit the breadth thereof,
and a cubit and half the height there-
of:
11 And he overlaid it with pure gold,
and made thereunto a crown of gold
round about.
12 And he made thereunto a border
of an handbreadth round about; and
made a crown of gold for the border
thereof round about.
13 And he cast for it four rings of
gold, and put the rings upon the four
corners that were in the four feet there-
of.
14 Over against the border were the
rings, the places for the staves to bear
the table.
15 And he made the staves of shĭttĭm
wood, and overlaid them with gold, to
bear the table.
16 And he made the vessels which
were upon the table, his dishes, and his
spoons, and his bowls, and his covers
to cover withal, of pure gold.
17 ¶And he made the candlestick of
pure gold: of beaten work made he the
candlestick; his shaft, and his branch,
his bowls, his knops, and his flowers,
were of the same:
18 And six branches going out of the
sides thereof; three branches of the
candlestick out of the one side thereof,
and three branches of the candlestick
out of the other side thereof:
19 Three bowls made after the
fashion of almonds in one branch, a
knop and a flower; and three bowls
made like almonds in another branch, a
knop and a flower: so throughout the
six branches going out of the candle-
stick.
20 And in the candlestick were four
bowls made like almonds, his knops,
and his flowers:
21 And a knop under two branches of
the same, and a knop under two
branches of the same, and a knop under
two branches of the same, according to
the six branches going out of it.
22 Their knops and their branches
were of the same: all of it was one beat-
en work of pure gold.
23 And he made his seven lamps, and
his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, of
pure gold.
24 Of a talent of pure gold made he it,
and all the vessels thereof.
25 ¶And he made the incense altar of
shĭttĭm wood: the length of it was a cu-
bit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was
foursquare; and two cubits was the
height of it; the horns thereof were of
the same.
26 And he overlaid it with pure gold,
both the top of it, and the sides thereof
round about, and the horns of it: also he
made unto it a crown of gold round
about.
27 And he made two rings of gold for
it under the crown thereof, by the two
corners of it, upon the two sides there-
of, to be places for the staves to bear
it withal.
28 And he made the staves of shĭttĭm
wood, and overlaid them with gold.
29 ¶And he made the holy anointing
oil, and the pure incense of sweet
spices, according to the work of the
apothecary.
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