The Argosy, Volume XLIV — page 249: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE CRUISE OF lous harness he had on when we first saw him, showed his proportions to ad- vantage. “IT am come, oh, great and beautiful queen,” he said, “ to ask forgiveness. I have conquered your army, and am now here as a supplicant.” “Well, what is it? ” asked the queen. “Again I kneel before you. Again you have seen the courage of your war chief and the strength of his hand. The warriors who came against me have been defeated, and now they arc eating meat with my warriors, and say that no more will they fight against Makolota. For without Makolota they cannot win battles against their enemies. Is this not true, oh, white and beautiful queen ? ” “ Well, suppose it is? ” “It is true. And I have come to you now, the victor, yet still asking you to be my queen. I will still be Makolota, the great war chief, and our country will be safe and happy. Is this not wise?” The queen glanced helplessly at us. We were few, though well armed. We could not hope to cope with the forces of Makolota. “What would you do if I said no?” asked the queen. ‘““ My warriors are thick in the forest. The women of this village will follow their warriors. You will be alone. I will come upon you and kill your white friends. Had they not come you would be my queen. But they have told you to say no. So I will kill them and carry you away.” “ Well, give me time to think, Ma- ‘kolota,” said the queen. “Give me till to-morrow. Then come for your an- swer.” “T will give you till to-morrow. But [ will show my power.” With the greatest dignity the chief walked out and wént among the women of the queen’s village. He spoke to them at some length, and we could tell by his gestures he was using his best oratory. The result was astonishing. As one family they followed him, and in ten minutes the village was deserted. The queen dropped into a chair and burst into tears. THE HANDICAP. 245 “Oh, is it not cruel?” she cried. “To be foreed into a marriage with that man! I cannot do it! I will not! But that he would kill you all, I would defy him now.” “ He won’t kill any of us,” said Ross. “Now, look here. This thing looked like a farce when we landed here. It was like opera bouffe, and we laughed at ait. But this sort of thing gets to be a tragedy. “Now, you can’t marry that ignorant savage. It would be a erime. [I insist that you owe it to society to escape. Let the old queen business go.” “‘That’s all right. But how can [ escape? There won’t be a ship here for 2 month.” , “ Now, 1f I might be permitted,” said the professor, “I would offer a sugees- tion.” “Yes, do!” said the queen. “I am half sick and cannot think of any way out of this difficulty.” “My idea is,” continued the profes- sor, “that we have had about all we want of this. I have been on islands and in savage countries before, and I have never known a savage to break his word when he promised to do some- thing evil. There is not a particle of doubt that to-morrow that rascal will arrive here with a gang of his warriors, and if vou do not vield to his demand he will try to take you by force. “Naturally, we, being white men, would interfere, and a fight would take place, and though we could perhaps kill a few of his men, we could not kill them all. They have every advantage of us. Now, 1t seems that we should do what we can to get out of this scrape, and as the Handicap is still seaworthy, though with a broken mast, I suggest that we find another mast, and at night set. sail on the raft. We know it will carry us somewhere, and almost anywhere is bet- ter than this place will be to-morrow. “As far as your poverty is con- cerned, I know something about Eng- lish law, and I believe we can establish your claim to this island, as well as the claim of Mr. Donaldson to the one we just left. We are getting nearer the path of ships, and I believe a few days at most will see us safely on board a vessel, What do vou sav?” GOHMGOOo (GO) awa