第68章 HOW PHARAOH MET SHADRACH(3)

"These lords of the Council，" she said， speaking with a ring of contempt in her voice， "declare that your plan is mad， and that they will never sanction it because the Abati could not be persuaded to undertake so dangerous an enterprise as an attack upon the city of Harmac， which would end， they think， in all of them being killed. They point out， O Orme， that the prophecy is that the Fung will leave the plain of Harmac when their god is destroyed and not before， and that therefore it must be destroyed. They say， further， O Orme， that for a year you and your companions are the sworn servants of the Abati， and that it is your business to receive orders， not to give them， also that the condition upon which you earn your pay is that you destroy the idol of the Fung. This is the decision of the Council， spoken by the mouth of the prince Joshua， who command further that you shall at once set about the business to execute which you and your companions are present here in Mur."

"Is that /your/ command also， O Child of Kings？" answered Oliver， colouring.

"Since I also think that the Abati can never be forced to attack the city of the Fung， it is， O Orme， though the words in which it is couched are not my words."

"Very well， O Child of Kings， I will do my best. Only blame us not if the end of this matter is other than these advisers of yours expect.

Prophecies are two-edged swords to play with， and I do not believe that a race of fighting men like the Fung will fly and leave you triumphant just because a stone image is shattered， if that can be done in the time and with the means which we possess. Meanwhile， I ask that you should give me two hundred and fifty picked men of the Mountaineers， not of the townspeople， under the captaincy of Japhet， who must choose them， to assist us in our work."

"It shall be done，" she answered， and we made our bows and went. As we passed through the Council we heard Joshua say in a loud voice meant for us to hear：

"Thanks be to God， these hired Gentiles have been taught their place at last."

Oliver turned on him so fiercely that he recoiled， thinking that he was about to strike him.

"Be careful， Prince Joshua，" he said， "that before this business is finished you are not taught yours， which I think may be lowly，" and he looked meaningly at the ground.

So the labour began， and it was heavy indeed as well as dangerous.

Fortunately， in addition to the picrate compounds that Quick called "azure stinging bees，" we had brought with us a few cases of dynamite， of which we now made use for blasting purposes. A hole was drilled in the face of the tunnel， and the charge inserted. Then all retreated back into the Tomb of Kings till the cartridge had exploded， and the smoke cleared off， which took a long while， when our people advanced with iron bars and baskets， and cleared away the débris， after which the process must be repeated.

Oh！ the heat of that narrow hole deep in the bowels of the rock， and the reek of the stagnant air which sometimes was so bad that the lights would scarcely burn. Indeed， after a hundred feet had been completed， we thought that it would be impossible to proceed， since two men died of asphyxiation and the others， although they were good fellows enough， refused to return into the tunnel. At length， however， Orme and Japhet persuaded some of the best of them to do so， and shortly after this the atmosphere improved very much， I suppose because we cut some cranny or shaft which communicated with the open air.

There were other dangers also， notably of the collapse of the whole roof where the rock was rotten， as we found it to be in places. Then it proved very hard to deal with the water， for once or twice we struck small springs impregnated with copper or some other mineral that blistered the feet and skin， since every drop of this acid water had to be carried out in wooden pails. That difficulty we overcame at last by sinking a narrow well down to the level of the ancient tunnel of which I have spoken as having been shaken in by the earthquake.

Thus we， or rather Oliver and Quick with the Mountaineers， toiled on.

Higgs did his best， but after a while proved quite unable to bear the heat， which became too much for so stout a man. The end of it was that he devoted himself to the superintendence of the removal of the rubbish into the Tomb of Kings， the care of the stores and so forth.

At least that was supposed to be his business， but really he employed most of his time in drawing and cataloguing the objects of antiquity and the groups of bones that were buried there， and in exploring the remains of the underground city. In truth， this task of destruction was most repellent to the poor Professor.

"To think，" he said to us， "to think that I， who all my life have preached the iniquity of not conserving every relic of the past， should now be employed in attempting to obliterate the most wonderful object ever fashioned by the ancients！ It is enough to make a Vandal weep， and I pray heaven that you may not succeed in your infamous design. What does it matter if the Abati are wiped out， as lots of better people have been before them？ What does it matter if we accompany them to oblivion so long as that noble sphinx is preserved to be the wonder of future generations？ Well， thank goodness， at any rate I have seen it， which is more， probably， than any of you will ever do. There， another brute is dumping his rubbish over the skull of No. 14！"