"All is prepared, O n.o.ble Nicholas, according to thy order," said Chow.
"Thou art as nimble as thou art brave, Chow," said Nicholas, pa.s.sing to the room of the princess, whom he found with the mother of Chow well wrapped in furs.
"It is well that thou art prepared, O beautiful and ill.u.s.trious La-Loo, for the villain innkeeper heard our conversation, and I doubt not intended to earn the rebel Li-Kong"s reward." At this the limbs of the princess trembled, and her face became pale with fear.
"Let us haste then, O n.o.ble brother, for La-Loo fears that demon Li-Kong, and would rather that her parent"s blow had proved effective than fall into his power."
"The weather is severe and the journey drear, and fraught with dangers of savage beasts and still more savage men," said Nicholas, as fearful of the danger of proceeding as of remaining; adding, "At least the innkeeper can not return till to-morrow, and early morning would be less dangerous than the darkness of this winter"s night."
"The last of the line of the great Tait-sou have the courage of their ancestors. Let us on our journey, my brother," said the princess.
Without another word Nicholas led the princess and her attendant to the camel, and a.s.sisted them into the litter.
"Surely," said La-Loo, "there are times when women should have the courage of men. An arrow sped by my hand would be as useful as one from the bow of my brother."
Understanding the meaning Nicholas gave the princess his own bow, and quiver full of arrows.
"Truly my venerable and beloved parent can pull a bow-string to save her life," said Chow giving his bow and arrows to his mother.
"This is not well, Chow, for we are left unarmed, except with our short swords, which will be of little use," said Nicholas.
"The n.o.ble Nicholas left Chow to provide for the journey, and so, knowing that female arms, like female tongues, can fight when the time comes, he provided weapons for each," said Chow, taking two bows from the sides of the mule.
"Thou hast the wisdom and foresight of a colao, O Chow," said Nicholas, laughing; then adding, seriously, "But the guide."
"Is here, O n.o.ble stranger, and as he hopes to have his tomb well dusted, will conduct thee safely to the distant mountains," said a youth, stepping forward with an unlighted torch in his hand.
Nicholas then mounting behind the camel, Chow upon the mule, and the guide taking hold of the cord which was tied to the great animal"s mouth, they proceeded on their journey, and as it was just within the time of closing the gates, they pa.s.sed out of the town into the open country of teas and drugs; and so quickly did they travel, that before night came on they had reached a narrow gorge between two mountains, which was good, inasmuch as they would be protected from the keen winds.
The darkness came on, and the guide lighted his torch, which flamed so terrifically, that they might have pa.s.sed for one of our slow night trains.
So for some hours they traveled, till they came to a forest so dense with trees that the guide would go no further, and they pitched the two tents, one for the ladies, and the other for themselves, surrounding both with a great fire, made of stubble, to keep off the wolves or other beasts of prey. The following morning they resumed their journey, till as they were leaving the forest, they could hear the distant howling of wolves; the camel exhibited its fright by making strange noises, and the mule grew restless, snorted, and every now and then turned its head as if to look for its enemies. The whole party fixed arrows in their bows, ready for an attack, and for some time their hearts palpitated with alarm. Ordering the little caravan to stop, Nicholas sent Chow to examine the probability of an attack. He had been absent half an hour when they heard the trampling of horses near at hand. What could it mean? surely they were not pursued? Then came Chow, who, running forward, said, "We are lost, O my master, for there are banditti near."
"On my brother, on, for these rogues are doubtless the troops of the rebel Li-Kong," exclaimed the princess, as she leant forward from the litter with the bent bow in her hand; and onward they went, with open ears, and as noiselessly as possible; pa.s.sing along the side of a mountain into which the wood opened, till they came to a gorge, when the guide stopped, and proposed that they should make a _detour_, in order to avoid the pa.s.sage of the mountain platform.
"It is not possible, my master; for to the right are the banditti, to the left the wolves. Let us keep onward and dare this platform;" and again they proceeded through the gorge. Still the wolves kept up their dreary howling, and the trampling of the banditti, if banditti they were, seemed at no greater distance from them than the animals; at length they pa.s.sed through the gorge, when a sight was before them that would have caused the stoutest hearts to quail. There, leading from the gorge, was the platform of which the guide had spoken. It was supported by rafters, which stood out some six feet from the rock, a mere shelf, without edge or railing, at least five hundred feet above the level of the sea, which the mountain skirted.
"It would be death to cross with these animals; we must turn back and make the _detour_," said the guide.
"Open thy ears. We dare not, O n.o.ble Nicholas," said Chow! "for the wolves are upon us."
"Onward, my brother, for there are sounds of more terrible beasts than wolves. Let us trust ourselves in the hands of Providence," said the princess.
Seeing the knees of the guide knocking together with fear, Nicholas said, "Get thee to the rear, and follow the mule, thou coward;" then, dismounting, he caught hold of the reins in the nostrils of the camels and averting his eyes from the chasm beneath, led the sure-footed beast along the platform. They had reached midway, when the wolves, with a howling concert, made their appearance at the commencement of the platform; and as Chow, who brought up the rear, led the mule, he felt the animal tremble, and fearing that if the wild brutes ventured across the platform the terrified beasts would be the means of precipitating the whole party into the abyss, he trembled with anxiety. It was a fearful situation, but the brave youth retaining his presence of mind, crept to the flanks of the mule, and only in time, for one of the wolves who had ventured along the platform, followed by the pack, received an arrow in his brain, and as he rolled over into the abyss beneath, its companions stood with their fore feet stretched forward, and their ears bent, as if astonished, when another arrow flew among them, but so intent had Chow become in this fight, that he was unconscious that the progress of the rest of the party had been stopped midway. For the cause of this we must return to Nicholas; who, as he led the camel, to his horror, saw issuing from a fissure in the rock the head of a serpent of the most venomous kind. He fixed an arrow in his bow, but a moment"s thought, and he dared not fire, for should he miss the reptile it would be upon them instantly. What should he do? His sword--yes--he drew it; but then he dared not leave the camel"s head, and he called to Chow, little thinking that he was in a more terrible position than himself.
"Let fly thy arrow, my brother; should you miss, here is my bow," said the princess, leaning forward.
Still Nicholas would not move. The situation was fearful; the wolves on one side, the deadly serpent on the other; indeed words are wanting to paint the dread anxiety and terror of all, even the animals who stood transfixed, with their hearts beating against their sides in the agony of fear.
CHAPTER x.x.xIV.
SAVED BY A MUSK-DEER.--STORIES OF WONDERFUL MOUNTAINS.
Relief came, but so imperceptibly that it stole over them. A perfume so strong filled the air that the animals coughed, the great snake writhed, and approached nearer to them; they were lost; no, the perfume had entered the nostrils of the reptile; its movement was languid, another second, and their deliverer appeared. It was a musk-deer, or roe-buck, who had pursued the serpent till it had lost it in the fissure for a few minutes only, when, recovering its trail, the deer had pursued it to the platform, where, with one grip at its neck, it killed it, when, startled at the cavalcade, it retraced its steps, not at all to the regret of Nicholas, for, valuable as the musk animal was, his grat.i.tude was too great to have killed it. Having crossed the platform, Nicholas saw the predicament of Chow, who was still employed in keeping the wolves at bay. He had fired many arrows, yet had killed but three, while others sat crouching, as if neither liking to recede or advance, waiting, in fact, for the boy"s back to be turned, before they made an attack; so keeping poor Chow in one terrible position, not daring to turn his back or to fire his last remaining arrow, for fear that it should miss. The tables, however, were turned, when Nicholas, followed by the guide, both with fixed bows, came to his rescue; one flight more from the three bows, and the now terrified beasts scampered off, when Chow returned to the other side of the platform with Nicholas, and the whole party offered up thanks to Heaven for their miraculous preservation.
It is in the mountains of Pe-tche-Lee that the musk-deer is generally found by hunters, who find a good market, not only for the musk, but the body, which is in great esteem; and that I may account to you in a reasonable manner for the providential escape of the travelers, I must tell you that the flesh of serpents is the favorite and most common food of this roe-buck, who kills them with ease, however large or numerous; for no sooner does he come near than the serpent becomes overpowered with the scent of the musk; and so well is this fact known to the mountaineers, that when they go to cut wood or make charcoal in the mountains, they carry about their persons a few grains of this musk, and rest and sleep without fear from the venomous snakes, which might otherwise destroy them.
The travelers resumed their journey, and continued till it became dark, when they pitched their tents upon an open plain, lighted a circle of fire around their encampment, and remained for the night; so, for at least three months, they continued this tedious journey, keeping within a few miles of the sea-coast, through mountains, plains and forests, till they reached a small village, at the base of the mountain chain of Lao-yang, where they were once more enabled to rest beneath the roof of a house, without fear of traitors, for Lao-yang was the head-quarters of the governor and general of the province, Woo-san-Kwei.
As they were pa.s.sing the ridges of these mountains, the guide kept his eyes fixed upon their green sides, as if in deep thought. "Surely my brother can see nothing wonderful in these tree-growing hills," said Chow.
"Thy mean servant was dreaming of his native province, of which these mountains reminded him, although compared with those of my native Chen-si they are dirt heaps."
"The mountains of my brother"s province of Chen-si are doubtless great, but they are mole-hills to those of Fokien, where thy unworthy brother was born," said Chow.
"Why, what words are these? Does not the whole world know that Chen-si has a mountain of the shape of a c.o.c.k, and which sometimes crows so loud that it may be heard for ten miles?"
"Fokien has a mountain which is so high that its summit can not be seen, and foretells storms by moving its great body to and fro like a tree with the wind."
"It is a dirt-hill compared to another in Chen-si, that at the sound of a drum breathes forth fire and flame."
"Rat"s flesh! thy mountain is nothing to the good hill of Fokien, which makes thieves so giddy when they gaze upon it, that they drop down their plunder and run for their lives," said Chow.
"That may be useful, my brother, but how can its qualities be compared to another of my mountains, which has the power of conferring immortality upon all who live thereon?" replied the guide.
"It is even of doubtful merit compared to the mountain of Fokien, which has grown into the exact shape of the G.o.d Fo, and is so large that its eyes are three miles round, and its nose ten miles long." The guide having no other on his list, turned sulkily aside, and so ended this conversation, which, I may tell you, did not spring from the imaginations of either, for the a.s.sertions on both sides are accredited by the people of China.
Delighted at the probability of their being near the end of their journey, and as much so at the prospect of a few days" rest, you may imagine the dismay of the party at being awakened early the next morning by a great tumult. What could it mean? They were not long in doubt, for the master of the inn came to them with tears in his eyes. "Arise, O worthy strangers, this is an unfortunate day for us all; the thieves, the rats of the ocean have landed," said he.
"What words are these, O worthy friend?" said Nicholas, jumping to his feet.
"The Emperor Li is marching a great army to beseige Lao-yang, where the great Woo-san-Kwei is encamped; but far worse, the sea wasps have landed within a day"s journey, and are scouring the country, joined by the rogues and thieves of the province, and the people are flying with what goods they can collect to the places of refuge; if the n.o.ble stranger is wise he will follow," said the man, leaving the room to make preparation for the departure of himself and family.
Of the places of refuge, of which the man spoke, there were many in the province of Leao-tong. Some were in the open plains, encompa.s.sed by strong walls, and entrenched ditches of great depth; others were erected upon the summits of mountain crags, and approachable only by great ladders, or secret steps in the rock.
Fearing for the safety of the princess, Nicholas lost no time in securing the aid of the innkeeper, who, for a handsome present, and in compa.s.sion for the ladies, offered to secure them a safe asylum. So when the greater portion of the terrified inhabitants of the little hamlet had fled to their different places of refuge, taking with them the bulk of their property, the innkeeper, placing his wife and daughter in a cart, led the way through a defile of the mountain, and many times was he stopped by his flying neighbors, who implored of him to seek a safer place than the open mountains, where the rogues could so easily follow.
Keeping steadily along the ridge, while they were in sight, the last had no sooner disappeared than he turned through a great cleft, just large enough for the cart and camel to pa.s.s, when, pointing to a crag which hung over the summit, at a great height, he said, "The rogues will not reach us there."
"Are we birds, that we can fly?" said Chow, with astonishment.
When they had proceeded some distance through the opening, they came to another and narrower cleft, cut out of its sides, to pa.s.s through which they were compelled to unharness the mules and camel, when they entered a wide, open s.p.a.ce, like a courtyard.
"Even now we want wings, my brother," said Chow, shuddering, as he gazed upward at the great height.
"Our wings are here," said the man, turning aside what appeared to be a huge block of rock, but was only an ingenious imitation, when before them there was a flight of steps, steep, and so narrow, that they looked as if the ascent would squeeze a fat man a foot taller.