Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers Part 37

"Yes, my lord," answered the slaves. "We have not been disturbed since my lord first brought us to this gloomy cavern."

"Where is Camul?" said the Vizier.

"He watches," replied the slaves, "with the axe in his hand."

"What hour of the night is it?" said Horam to his slaves.

"The third watch of the night is past," answered the slaves.

"Then enter, my Sultan," said Horam, "and see thine enemies perish from before thee."

"What enemies? and what mysterious place is this?" said the Sultan.

"Who is Camul? and what axe doth he bear in his hand? Lead me, Horam, not into danger, and remember that the sabre of my captain hangeth over thy head."

The Sultan then entered in at the little door, and followed the Vizier and his guard, and the four slaves with flambeaux in their hands.

In this manner Misnar pa.s.sed through a long pa.s.sage hewn out of the solid rock, till he beheld, at a distance, a man seated on a stone with an axe in his hand, and nine lamps burning before him.

As they drew near, the man fell prostrate before them; and the Vizier, also falling prostrate, desired Misnar to take the axe out of the hand of Camul his slave.

"What wonderful axe is this," said the Sultan, "that is thus preserved in the bowels of the earth?"

The Sultan took the axe, and Camul the slave removing the stone on which he sat, there appeared a strong rope underneath, one end of which pa.s.sed through the rocks, and the other was fastened to an enormous ring of iron.

"Strike, royal master," said Horam, "and sever that rope from the ring of iron."

The Sultan did as Horam desired, and struck the rope with his axe, and divided it from the ring.

The rope, being released, flew with great swiftness through the hole in the rock, and Misnar waited some time to see what might be the consequence of cutting it asunder; but nothing appearing, he said to his Vizier,

"Where are the riches, Horam, which I left my bed to view? Is this like the rest of your promises? and am I brought here to be again deceived?"

"Royal master," answered Horam, "let me die the death of a rebel. I have nothing more to discover: pardon my follies, and avenge thine own losses by the sword of justice."

"What!" said the Sultan, enraged, "hast thou brought me through the dangerous pa.s.ses of the mountains by night only to cut a rope asunder?

And was I called forth to see only a pa.s.sage made in the rocks, and the slaves of Horam as ill employed as their master lately has been?

Lead me, villain!" continued he, "back to my tent, and expect with the rising of the sun the fate you have so amply merited."

Thus saying, the Sultan returned, and the captain of the guard led Horam back in chains to his place of confinement.

In the morning, the army of the Sultan Misnar, which had escaped to the mountains, were all drawn out, the cymbals sounded, and a gibbet forty feet high was erected in their front, to which the captain of the guard led the unfortunate Vizier Horam.

At the sound of the cymbals the Sultan came from his tent, and gave orders that Horam should be conducted to his fate.

The Vizier, unmoved at his doom, surrendered himself to the officer who was to execute the Sultan's sentence; and the ignominious rope was put about his neck, when a messenger, attended by several sentinels, came running into the camp.

The messenger hastened to the Sultan, and thus delivered his message: "Ahaback and Desra, the wicked enchanters who have upholden thy rebellious brother, are dead; the army of Ahubal is in the utmost consternation; and the friends of the Sultan wish to see thee hunting thine enemies, as the lion hunts the wild a.s.ses in the forest."

This messenger was succeeded by several of the Sultan's spies, who confirmed the account.

Misnar then put himself at the head of his troops, ordered Horam back to his former confinement, and hastened to fall upon the forces of the rebels.

Early the same morning, Ahubal was awakened by his guards, who, with countenances of woe, declared to him the death of his friends Ahaback and Desra.

"Are my friends dead?" said Ahubal, trembling: "by what misfortune am I bereaved of them? What new device has Misnar practised against them?

Are not these wise and sage magicians, then, a match for a boy's prudence? Alas! what can _I_ effect against them, when these fall away before his victorious arm?"

"Prince," answered the guards, "we have too late discovered the wiles of our enemies. Over the magnificent pavilion of the Sultan, which Horam built for his master, the artful Vizier had concealed a ponderous stone, which covered the whole pavilion. This, by some secret means, he contrived in the night to release from its confinement, while Ahaback and Desra were sleeping on the sofas beneath it; and ere day began to rise, their guards were surprised by the fall, and ran to release their masters from the stone; but, alas!

their bodies were crushed to atoms, and still remain buried under the pavilion, as fifty of the strongest of thy troops were unable to remove the stone from the ground."

At these words the countenance and the heart of Ahubal sank; and ere he could recover, word was brought him that the Sultan's troops were in the midst of his army, and that none dared stand against them unless he approached to encourage them.

Ahubal was so overwhelmed with fear and grief, that, instead of leading his troops, he prepared himself for flight; and Misnar, pursuing his good fortune, was in a few hours in possession, not only of his own tents, but also of those of the enemy.

Having gained a complete victory, and sent part of his troops after those that were fled, the Sultan commanded his Vizier to be brought before him, and, in the sight of his army, asked him what merit he could challenge in the success of that day.

"The contrivances of thy slave had been useless," Horam replied, "if a less than my Sultan had afterwards led his troops to the battle.

Therefore thine only be the glory and the honour of the day; but my lord must know, that some time since we were informed that the enchanters Ahaback and Desra were preparing to uphold thy rebellious brother; and well I knew that prudence, and not force, must prevail against them. I therefore besought my lord to grant me the chief command for forty days, and neglected to take such advantages over Ahubal's troops as the captains of thy armies advised.

"This I did, knowing that any victory would be vain and fruitless, if the enchanters were not involved in the ruin; and that, while they were safe, a second army would spring up as soon as the first was destroyed. For these reasons, I endeavoured to strengthen my Sultan's army, that when the reinforcements of Ahaback and Desra should arrive, their numbers might not prevail against us.

"In the meantime, the sumptuous pavilion which was built for Ahubal inspired me with a device, which I hoped would put the enchanters in my power.

"Studious that no one might interrupt or betray my designs, I enclosed a place near the mountains, surrounded with trees, where I began to build a pavilion, which I gave out was erected in honour of my lord the Sultan: within this pavilion I concealed a ma.s.sy stone, which was sawn out of the solid rock, and which, by the help of several engines, was hung upon four pillars of gold, and covered the whole pavilion.

The rope which upheld this ma.s.sy stone pa.s.sed through one of the golden pillars into the earth beneath, and, by a secret channel cut in the rock, was carried onward through the side of the mountain, and was fastened to a ring of iron in a cave hollowed out of the rock on the opposite side.

"By the time the enchanters were arrived in the camp of Ahubal, the pavilion was finished; and although I had secret advice that my Sultan's troops were to be attacked on the morrow, yet I chose to conceal that knowledge, and so to dispose of the army that the chief part might fly with me behind the mountains which hung over the pavilion, and that the rest, having no conductor, might be put to flight with as little slaughter as possible. This I did, expecting that Ahaback and Desra, puffed up with their good fortune, would take possession of my Sultan's pavilion."

"Rise, faithful Horam," said the Sultan Misnar; "your plot is sufficiently unravelled; but why did you hide your intentions from your lord?"

"Lord of my life," answered the Vizier, "because I was resolved, in case my plot did not succeed, to bear the burden myself, that my Sultan's honour might not be lessened in the eyes of his troops."

This n.o.ble confession of the Vizier pleased the whole army, and they waited with the utmost impatience to hear his pardon p.r.o.nounced.

The Sultan then embraced his Vizier, and the shouts of the army were,--"Long live Misnar the lord of our hearts, and Horam the first and the most faithful of his slaves!"

The army of Ahubal still continued to fly after their Prince, whose fear did not suffer him to direct those who came up to him.

And now, in a few days, the army would have been totally dispersed, had not the giant Kifri, enraged at the death of his brethren, and travelling in his fury, appeared before the eyes of the terrified Prince and his troops, in a narrow pa.s.s among the rocks.

The presence of Kifri was not less terrifying than the noise of the pursuers; and Ahubal, at the sight of the monster, fell with his face to the ground.

"Who art thou," said Kifri, with the voice of thunder, "that fliest like the roebuck, and tremblest like the heart-stricken antelope?"

"Prince of earth," said Ahubal, "I am the friend of Ulin, of Happuck, of Ollomand, of Tasnar, of Ahaback, and of Desra. I am he who, through the power of the enchanters, have contended for the throne of India."

"Wretched, then, are they that league with thee," answered the giant Kifri, "thou son of fear, thou wretch unworthy of such support! Was it for thee, base coward, that Ollomand poured forth his unnumbered stores? that the plains of India were dyed with the blood of Desra, the mistress of our race?"