"What suggested to you," I asked one day of Eveena, "the suspicion that so narrowly saved my life?"
"The carefully steadied hand—you have teased her so often for spilling everything it carried—and the unsteady eyes. But," she added reluctantly, "I never liked to watch her—no, not lest you should notice it—but because she did not seem true in her ways with you; and I should have missed those signs but for a strange warning." … She paused.
"I would not be warned," I answered with a bitter sigh. "Tell me, Madonna."
"It was when you left me in this room alone," she said, her exquisite14 delicacy15 rendering16 her averse17 to recal, not the coercion18 she had suffered, but the pain she knew I felt in so coercing19 her. "Dearest," she added with a sudden effort, "let me speak frankly20, and dispel21 the pain you feel while you think over it in silence."
I kissed the hand that clasped my own, and she went on, speaking with intentional22 levity23.
"Had a Chief forgotten?" tracing the outline of a star upon her bosom24. "Or did you think Clavelta's daughter had no share in the hereditary25 gifts of her family?"
"But how did you unlock the springs?"
"Ah! those might have baffled me if you had trusted to them. You made a double mistake when you left Enva on guard…. You don't think I tempted26 her to disobey? Eager as I was for release, I could not have been so doubly false. She did it unconsciously. It is time to put her out of pain."
"Does she know me so little as to think I could mean to torture her by suspense27? Besides, even she must have seen that you had secured her pardon."
"Or my own punishment," Eveena answered.
"Spare me such words, Eveena, unless you mean to make me yet more ashamed of the compulsion I did employ. I never spoke28, I never thought"——
"Forgive me, dearest. Will it vex29 you to find how clearly your flower-bird has learned to read your will through your eyes? When I refused to obey, and you felt yourself obliged to compel, your first momentary30 thought was to threaten, your next that I should not believe you. When you laid your hand upon my shoulder, thus, it was no gesture of anger or menace. You thought of the only promise I must believe, and you dropped the thought as quickly as your hand. You would not speak the word you might have to keep. Nay31, dearest, what pains you so? You gave me no pain, even when you called another to enforce your command. Yet surely you know that that must have tried my spirit far more than anything else you could do. You did well. Do you think that I did not appreciate your imperious anxiety for me; that I did not respect your resolution to do what you thought right, or feel how much it cost you? If anything in the ways of love like yours could pain me, it would be the sort of reserved tenderness that never treats me as frankly and simply as" … "There was no need to name either of those so dearly loved, so lately—and, alas32! so differently—lost. Trusting the loyalty33 of my love so absolutely in all else, can you not trust it to accept willingly the enforcement of your will … as you have enforced it on all others you have ruled, from the soldiers of your own world to the rest of your household? Ah! the light breaks through the mist. Before you gave Enva her charge you said to me in her presence, 'Forgive me what you force upon me;' as if I, above all, were not your own to deal with as you will. Dearest, do you so wrong her who loves you, and is honoured by your love, as to fancy that any exertion of your authority could make her feel humbled34 in your eyes or her own?"
It was impossible to answer. Nothing would have more deeply wounded her simple humility35, so free from self-consciousness, as the plain truth; that as her character unfolded, the infinite superiority of her nature almost awed36 me as something—save for the intense and occasionally passionate37 tenderness of her love—less like a woman than an angel.
"I was absorbed," she continued, "in the effort that had thrown Enva into the slumber38 of obedience39. I did not know or feel where I was or what I had next to do. My thought, still concentrated, had forgotten its accomplished40 purpose, and was bent41 on your danger. Somehow on the cushioned pile I seemed to see a figure, strange to me, but which I shall never forget. It was a young girl, very slight, pale, sickly, with dark circles round the closed eyes, slumbering42 like Enva, but in everything else Enva's very opposite. I suppose I was myself entranced or dreaming, conscious only of my anxiety for you, so that it seemed natural that everything should concern you. I remember nothing of my dream but the words which, when I came to myself in the peristyle, alone, were as clear in my memory as they are now:—
"'Watch the hand and read the eyes;
On his breast the danger lies—
Strength is weak and childhood wise.
"'Fail the bowl, and—'ware the knife!
Rests on him the Sovereign's life,
Rests the husband's on the wife.
"'They that would his power command
Know who holds his heart in hand:
Silken tress is surest band.
"'Well they judge Kargynda's mood,
Steel to peril, pain, and blood,
Surely through his mate subdued43.
"'Love can make the strong a slave,
Fool the wise and quell44 the brave …
Love by sacrifice can save.'"
"She again!" I exclaimed involuntarily.
"You hear," murmured Eveena. "In kindness to me heed45 my warning, if you have neglected all others. Do not break my heart in your mercy to another. Eivé"——
"Eivé!—The prophetess knows me better than you do! The warning means that they now desire my secret before my life, and scheme to make your safety the price of my dishonour46. It is the Devil's thought—or the Regent's!"
As I could not decide to send Eivé forth47 without home, protection, or control, and Eveena could suggest no other course, the days wore on under a domestic thunder-cloud which rendered the least sensitive among us uncomfortable and unhappy, and deprived three at least of the party of appetite, of ease, and almost of sleep, till two alarming incidents broke the painful stagnation48.
I had just left Eivé's prison one morning when Eveena, who was habitually49 entrusted50 with the charge of these communications, put into my hands two slips of tafroo. The one had been given her by an amba, and came from Davilo's substitute on the estate. It said simply: "You and you alone were recognised among the rescuers of your friend. Before two days have passed an attempt will be made to arrest you." The other came from Esmo, and Eveena had brought it to me unread, as was indeed her practice. I could not bear to look at her, though I held her closely, as I read aloud the brief message which announced the death, by the sting of two dragons (evidently launched by some assassin's hand, but under circumstances that rendered detection by ordinary means hopeless for the moment), of her brother and Esmo's son, Kevima; and invited us to a funeral ceremony peculiar52 to the Zinta. I need not speak of the painful minutes that followed, during which Eveena strove to suppress for my sake at once her tears for her loss and her renewed and intensified53 terror on my own account. It was suddenly announced by the usual signs of the mute messenger that a visitor awaited me in the hall. Ergimo brought a message from the Campta, which ran as follows:—
"Aware that their treachery is suspected, the enemy now seek your secret first, and then your life. Guard both for a very short time. Your fate, your friends', and my own are staked on the issue. The same Council that sends the traitors54 to the rack will see the law repealed55."
I questioned Ergimo as to his knowledge of the situation.
"The enemy," he said, "must have changed their plan. One among them, at least, is probably aware that his treason is suspected both by his Sovereign and by the Order. This will drive him desperate; and if he can capture you and extort56 your secret, he will think he can use it to effect his purpose, or at least to ensure his escape. He may think open rebellion, desperate as it is, safer than waiting for the first blow to come from the Zinta or from the Palace."
My resolve was speedily taken. At the same moment came the necessity for escape, and the opportunity and excuse. I sought out the writer of the first message, who entirely57 concurred58 with me in the propriety59 of the step I was about to take; only recommending me to apply personally for a passport from the Campta, such as would override60 any attempt to detain me even by legal warrant. He undertook to care for those I left behind; to release and provide for Eivé, and to see, in case I should not return, that full justice was done to the interests of the others, as well as to their claim to release from contracts which my departure from their world ought, like death itself, to cancel. The royal passport came ere I was ready to depart, expressed in the fullest, clearest language, and such as none, but an officer prepared instantly to rebel against the authority which gave it, dared defy. During the last preparations, Velna and Eveena were closeted together in the chamber61 of the former; nor did I care to interrupt a parting the most painful, save one, of those that had this day to be undergone. I went myself to Eivé.
"I leave you," I said, "a prisoner, not, I hope, for long. If I return in safety, I will then consider in what manner the termination of your confinement can be reconciled with what is due to myself and others. If not, you will be yet more certainly and more speedily released. And now, child whom I once loved, to whom I thought I had been especially gentle and indulgent, was the miserable62 reward offered you the sole motive63 that raised your hand against my life? Poison, I have always said, is the protection of the household slave against the domestic tyrant64. If I had ever been harsh or unjust to you, if I had made your life unhappy by caprice or by severity, I could understand. But you of all have had least reason to complain. Not Enva's jealous temper, not Leenoo's spite, ever suggested to them the idea which came so easily and was so long and deliberately65 cherished in your breast."
She rose and faced me, and there was something of contempt in the eyes that answered mine for this once with the old fearless frankness.
"I had no reason to hate you? Not certainly for the kind of injury which commonly provokes women to risk the lives their masters have made intolerable. That your discipline was the lightest ever known in a household, I need not tell you. That it fell more lightly, if somewhat oftener, on me than on others, you know as well as I. Put all the correction or reproof66 I ever received from you into one, and repeat it daily, and never should I have complained, much less dreamed of revenge. You think Enva or Leenoo might less unnaturally67, less unreasonably68, have turned upon you, because your measure to their faults was somewhat harder and your heart colder to them! You did not scruple69 to make a favourite of me after a fashion, as you would never have done even of Eunané. You could pet and play with me, check and punish me, as a child who would not 'sicken at the sweets, or be humbled by the sandal.' You forbore longer, you dealt more sternly with them, because, forsooth, they were women and I a baby. I, who was not less clever than Eunané, not less capable of love, perhaps of devotion to you, than Eveena, I might rest my head on your knee when she was by, I might listen to your talk when others were sent away; I was too much the child, too little the woman, to excite your distrust or her jealousy70. Do you suppose I think better of you, or feel the more kindly71 towards you, that you have not taken vengeance72? No! still you have dealt with me as a child; so untaught yet by that last lesson, that even a woman's revenge cannot make you treat me as a woman! Clasfempta! you bear, I believe, outside, the fame of a wise and a firm man; but in these little hands you have been as weak a fool as the veriest dotard might have been;—and may be yet."
"As you will," I answered, stung into an anger which at any rate quelled73 the worst pain I had felt when I entered the room. "Fool or sage51, Eivé, I was your fellow-creature, your protector, and your friend. When bitter trouble befals you in life, or when, alone, you find yourself face to face with death, you may think of what has passed to-day. Then remember, for your comfort, my last words—I forgive you, and I wish you happy."
To Velna I could not speak. Sure that Eveena had told her all she could wish to know or all it was safe to tell, a long embrace spoke my farewell to her who had shared with me the first part of the long watch of the death-chamber. Enva and her companions had gathered, not from words, that this journey was more than an ordinary absence. Some instinct or presentiment74 suggested to them that it might, possibly at least, be a final parting; and I was touched as much as surprised by the tears and broken words with which they assured me that, greatly as they had vexed75 my home life, conscious as they were that they had contributed to it no element but bitterness and trouble, they felt that they had been treated with unfailing justice and almost unfailing kindness. Then, turning to Eveena, Enva spoke for the rest—
"We should have treated you less ill if we could at all have understood you. We understand you just as little now. Clasfempta is man after all, bridling76 his own temper as a strong man rules a large household of women or a herd77 of ambau. But you are not woman like other women; and yet, in so far as women are or think they are softer or gentler than men, so far, twelvefold twelve times told, are you softer, tenderer, gentler than woman."
Eveena struggled hard so far to suppress her sobs78 as to give an answer. But, abandoning the effort, she only kissed warmly the lips, and clasped long and tenderly the hands, that had never spoken a kind word or done a kind act for her. At the very last moment she faltered79 out a few words which were not for them.
"Tell Eivé," she said, "I wish her well; and wishing her well, I cannot wish her happy—yet."
We embarked80 in the balloon, attended as on our last journey by two of the brethren in my employment, both, I noticed, armed with the lightning gun. I myself trusted as usual to the sword, strong, straight, heavy, with two edges sharp as razors, that had enabled my hand so often to guard my head; and the air-gun that reminded me of so many days of sport, the more enjoyed for the peril that attended it. Screened from observation, both reclining in our own compartment81 of the car, Eveena and I spent the long undisturbed hours of the first three days and nights of our journey in silent interchange of thought and feeling that seldom needed or was interrupted by words. Her family affections were very strong. Her brother had deserved and won her love; but conscious so long of a peril surrounding myself, fearfully impressed by the incident which showed how close that peril had come, her thought and feeling were absorbed in me. So, could they have known the present and foreseen the future, even those who loved her best and most prized her love for them would have wished it to be. As we crossed, at the height of a thousand feet, the river dividing that continent between east and west which marks the frontier of Elcavoo, a slight marked movement of agitation82, a few eager whispers of consultation83, in the other compartment called my attention. As I parted the screen, the elder of the attendant brethren addressed me—
"There is danger," he said in a low tone, not low enough to escape Eveena's quick ear when my safety was in question. "Another balloon is steering84 right across our path, and one in it bears, as we see through the pavlo (the spectacle-like double field-glass of Mars), the sash of a Regent, while his attendants wear the uniform of scarlet85 and grey" (that of Endo Zampta). "Take, I beg you, this lightning-piece. Will you take command, or shall we act for you?"
Parting slightly the fold of the mantle86 I wore, for at that height, save immediately under the rays of the sun, the atmosphere is cold, I answered by showing the golden sash of my rank. We went on steadily88, taking no note whatever of the hostile vessel89 till it came within hailing distance.
"Keep your guns steadily pointed90," I said, "happen what may. If you have to fire, fire one at any who is ready to fire at us, the other at the balloon itself."
A little below but beside us Endo Zampta hailed. "I arrest you," he said, addressing me by name, "on behalf of the Arch-Court and by their warrant. drop your weapons or we fire."
"And I," I said, "by virtue91 of the Campta's sign and signet attached to this," and Eveena held forth the paper, while my weapon covered the Regent, "forbid you to interrupt or delay my voyage for a moment."
I allowed the hostile vessel to close so nearly that Endo could read through his glass the characters—purposely, I thought, made unusually large—of his Sovereign's peremptory92 passport. To do so he had dropped his weapon, and his men, naturally expecting a peaceable termination to the interview, had laid down theirs. Mine had obeyed my order, and we were masters of the situation, when, with a sudden turn of the screw, throwing his vessel into an almost horizontal position, Endo brought his car into collision with ours and endeavoured to seize Eveena's person, as she leaned over with the paper in her hand. She was too quick for him, and I called out at once, "Down, or we fire." His men, about to grasp their pieces, saw that one of ours was levelled at the balloon, and that before they could fire, a single shot from us must send them earthwards, to be crushed into one shapeless mass by the fall. Endo saw that he had no choice but to obey or affect obedience, and, turning the tap that let out the gas by a pipe passing through the car, sent his vessel rapidly downward, as with a formal salute93 he affected94 to accept the command of his Prince. Instantly grasping, not the lightning gun, which, if it struck their balloon, must destroy their whole party in an instant, but my air-gun, which, by making a small hole in the vast surface, would allow them to descend95 alive though with unpleasant and perilous rapidity, I fired, and by so doing prevented the use of an asphyxiator96 concealed97 in the car, which the treacherous98 Regent was rapidly arranging for use.
The success of these manoeuvres delighted my attendants, and gave them a confidence they had not yet felt in my appreciation99 of Martial100 perils101 and resources. We reached Ecasfe and Esmo's house without further molestation102, and a party of the Zinta watched the balloon while Eveena and I passed into the dwelling103.
Preserved from corruption104 by the cold which Martial chemistry applies at pleasure, the corpse105 of Kevima looked as the living man looked in sleep, but calmer and with features more perfectly106 composed. Quietly, gravely, with streaming tears, but with self-command which dispelled107 my fear of evil consequences to her, Eveena kissed the lips that were so soon to exist no longer. From the actual process by which the body is destroyed, the taste and feeling of the Zinta exclude the immediate87 relatives of the dead; and not till the golden chest with its inscription108 was placed in Esmo's hands did we take further part in the proceeding109. Then the symbolic110 confession111 of faith, by which the brethren attest112 and proclaim their confidence in the universal all-pervading rule of the Giver of life and in the permanence of His gift, was chanted. A Chief of the Order pronounced a brief but touching113 eulogy114 on the deceased. Another expressed on behalf of all their sympathy with the bereaved115 father and family. Consigned116 to their care, the case that contained all that now remained to us of the last male heir of the Founder117's house was removed for conveyance118 to the mortuary chamber of the subterrene Temple. But ere those so charged had turned to leave the chamber in which the ceremony had passed, a flash so bright as at noonday to light up the entire peristyle and the chambers119 opening on it, startled us all; and a sentinel, entering in haste and consternation120, announced the destruction of our balloon by a lightning flash from the weapon of some concealed enemy. Esmo, at this alarming incident, displayed his usual calm resolve. He ordered that carriages sufficient to convey some twenty-four of the brethren should be instantly collected, and announced his resolve to escort us at once to the Astronaut. Before five minutes had elapsed from the destruction of the balloon, Zulve and the rest of the family had taken leave of Eveena and myself. Attended by the party mustered121, occupying a carriage in the centre of the procession, we left the gate of the enclosure. I observed, what seemed to escape even Esmo's attention, that angry looks were bent upon us from many a roof, and that here and there groups were gathered in the enclosures and on the road, among whom I saw not a few weapons. I was glad to remember that a party of the Zveltau still awaited Esmo's return at his own residence. We drove as fast as the electric speed would carry us along the road I had traversed once before in the company of her who was now my wife—to be, I hoped, for the future my sole wife—and of him who had been ever since our mortal enemy. Where the carriages could proceed no further we dismounted, and Esmo mustered the party in order. All were armed with the spear and lightning gun. Placing Eveena in the centre of a solid square, Esmo directed me to take my place beside her. I expostulated—
"Clavelta, it is impossible for me to take the place of safety, when others who owe me nothing may be about to risk life on my behalf. Eveena, as woman and as descendant of the Founder, may well claim their protection. It is for me to share in her defence, not in her safety."
He raised the arm that bore the Signet, and looked at me with the calm commanding glance that never failed to enforce his will. "Take your place," he said; and recalled to the instincts of the camp, I raised my hand in the military salute so long disused, and obeyed in silence.
"Strike promptly122, strike hard, and strike home," said Esmo to his little party. "The danger that may threaten us is not from the law or from the State, but from an attempt at murder through a perversion123 of the law and in the name of the Sovereign. Those who threaten us aim also at the Campta's life, and those we may meet are his foes125 as well as ours. Conquered here, they can hardly assail126 us again. Victorious127, they will destroy us, not leave us an appeal to the law or to the throne."
Placing himself a little in front of the troop, our Chief gave the signal to advance, and we moved forward. It seemed to me a fatal error that no scout128 preceded us, no flanking party was thrown out. This neglect reminded me that, my comrades and commander were devoid129 of military experience, and I was about to remonstrate130 when, suddenly wheeling on the rocky platform on which I had first paused in my descent from the summit, and facing towards the latter, we encountered a force outnumbering our own as two to one and wearing the colours of the Regent. The front ranks quailed131, as men always quailed under Esmo's steady gaze, and lost nerve and order as they fell back to right and left; a movement intended to give play to the asphyxiator they had brought with them. Their strategy was no less ridiculous than our own. Devoid for ages of all experience in conflict, both leaders might have learned better from the conduct of the theme at bay. The enemy were drawn132 up so near the turn that there was no room for the use of their most destructive engine; and, had we been better prepared, neither this nor their lightning guns would have been quick enough to anticipate a charge that would have brought us hand to hand. Even had they been steady and prompt, the suffocating133 shell would probably have annihilated134 both parties, and the discharge would certainly have been as dangerous to them as to us. In another instant a flash from several of our weapons, simultaneously135 levelled, shattered the instrument to fragments. We advanced at a run, and the enemy would have given way at once but that their retreat lay up so steep an incline, and neither to right nor left could they well disperse136, being hemmed137 in by a rocky wall on one side and a precipitous descent on the other. From our right rear, however, where the ground would have concealed a numerous ambush138, I apprehended139 an attack which must have been fatal; but even so simple and decisive a measure had never occurred to the Regent's military ignorance.
At this critical moment a flash from a thicket140 revealed the weapon of some hidden enemy, who thus escaped facing the gaze that none could encounter; and Esmo fell, struck dead at once by the lightning-shot. The assassin sprang up, and I recognised the features of Endo Zampta. Confounded and amazed, the Zveltau broke and fell backward, hurrying Eveena away with them. Enabled by size and strength to extricate141 myself at once, I stood at bay with my back against the rocks on our left, a projection142 rising as high as my knee assisting to hinder the enemy from entirely and closely surrounding me. I had thrown aside at the moment of the attack the mantle that concealed my sash and star; and I observed that another Chief had done the same. It was he who, occupying at the trial the seat on Esmo's left, had shown the strongest disposition143 to mercy, and now displayed the coolest courage amid confusion and danger.
"Rally them," I cried to him, "and trust the crimson144 blade [cold steel]. These hounds will never face that."
The enemy had rushed forward as our men fell back, and I was almost in their midst, thus protected to a considerable extent from the lightning projectile145, against which alone I had no defence. Hand to hand I was a match for more than one or two of my assailants, though on this occasion I wore no defensive146 armour147, and they were clad in shirts of woven wire almost absolutely proof against the spear in hands like theirs.
To die thus, to die for her under her eyes, leaving to her widowed life a living token of our love—what more could Allah grant, what better could a lover and a soldier desire? There was no honour, and little to satisfy even the passion of vengeance, in the sword-strokes that clove148 one enemy from the shoulder to the waist, smote149 half through the neck of a second, and laid two or three more dead or dying at my feet. If the weight of the sword were lighter150 here than on Earth, the arm that wielded151 it had been trained in very different warfare152, and possessed153 a strength which made the combat so unequal that, had no other life hung on my blows, I should have been ashamed to strike. As I paused for a moment under this feeling, I noted154 that, outside the space half cleared by slaughter155 and by terror, the bearers of the lightning gun were forming a sort of semicircle, embarrassed by the comrades driven back upon them, but drawing momentarily nearer, and seeking to enclose before firing the object of their aim. They would have shattered my heart and head in another instant but that—springing on the projecting stone of which I have spoken, which raised her to my level—Eveena had flung her arms around me, and sheltered my person with her own. This, and the confusion, disconcerted the aim of most of the assailants. The roar and flash half stunned156 me for a moment;—then, as I caught her in my left arm, I became aware that it was but her lifeless form that I clasped to my breast. Giving her life for mine, she had made mine worse than worthless. My sword fell for a moment from my hand, retained only by the wrist-knot, as I placed her gently and tenderly on the ground, resting against the stone which had enabled her to effect the sacrifice I as little desired as deserved. Then, grasping my weapon again, and shouting instinctively157 the war-cry of another world, I sprang into the midst of the enemy. At the same moment, "Ent an Clazinta" (To me the Zinta), cried the Chief behind; and having rallied the broken ranks, even before the sight of Eveena's fall had inspired reckless fury in the place of panic confusion, he led on the Zveltau, the spear in hand elevated over their heads, and pointed at the unprotected faces of the enemy. Exposed to the cold steel or its Martial equivalent, the latter, as I had predicted, broke at once. My sword did its part in the fray158. They scarcely fought, neither did they fling down their weapons. But in that moment neither force nor surrender would have availed them. We gave no quarter to wounded or unwounded foe124. When, for lack of objects, I dropped the point of my streaming sword, I saw Endo Zampta alive and unwounded in the hands of the victors.
"Coward, scoundrel, murderer!" I cried. "You shall die a more terrible death than that which your own savage159 law prescribes for crimes like yours. Bind160 him; he shall hang from my vessel in the air till I see fit to let him fall! For the rest, see that none are left alive to boast what they have done this day."
Struggling and screaming, the Regent was dragged to the summit, and hung by the waist, as I had threatened, from the entrance window of the Astronaut. Esmo's body and those of the other slain161 among the Zveltau had been raised, and our comrades were about to carry them to the carriages and remove them homeward. From the wardrobe of the Astronaut, furnished anew for our voyage, I brought a long soft therne-cloak, intended for Eveena's comfort; and wrapped in it all that was left to us of the loveliest form and the noblest heart that in two worlds ever belonged to woman. I shred162 one long soft tress of mingled163 gold and brown from those with which my hand had played; I kissed for the last time the lips that had so often counselled, pleaded, soothed164, and never spoken a word that had better been left unsaid. Then, veiling face and form in the soft down, I called around me again the brethren who had fallen back out of sight of my last farewell, and gave the corpse into their charge. Turning with restless eagerness from the agony, which even the sudden shock that rendered me half insensible could not deaden into endurable pain, to the passion of revenge, I led two or three of our party to the foot of the ladder beneath the entrance window of my vessel, and was about in their presence to explain his fate more fully13 to the struggling, howling victim, half mad with protracted165 terror. But at that moment my purpose was arrested. I had often repeated to Eveena passages from those Terrestrial works whose purport166 most resembled that of the mystic lessons she so deeply prized; and words, on which in life she had especially dwelt, seemed now to be whispered in my ear or my heart by the voice which with bodily sense I could never hear again:— "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay." The absolute control of my will and conscience, won by her perfect purity and unfailing rectitude, outlasted167 Eveena's life. Turning to her murderer—
"You shall die," I said, "but you shall die not by revenge but by the law; and not by your own law, but by that which, forbidding that torture shall add to the sting of death, commands that 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' Yet I cannot give you a soldier's death," as my men levelled their weapons. Cutting the cord that bound him, and grasping him from behind, I flung the wretch168 forth from the summit far into the air; well assured that he would never feel the blow that would dismiss his soul to its last account, before that Tribunal to whose judgment169 his victim had appealed. Then I entered the vessel, waved my hand in farewell to my comrades, and, putting the machinery170 in action, rose from the surface and prepared to quit a world which now held nothing that could detain or recal me.
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incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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apprehensions
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heinous
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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12
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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13
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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14
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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15
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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16
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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17
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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18
coercion
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| n.强制，高压统治 | |
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19
coercing
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| v.迫使做( coerce的现在分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配 | |
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20
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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21
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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22
intentional
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| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
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23
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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24
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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25
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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26
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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27
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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28
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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29
vex
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| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
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30
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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31
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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32
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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33
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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34
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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35
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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36
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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38
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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39
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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40
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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41
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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42
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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43
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
quell
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| v.压制，平息，减轻 | |
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45
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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46
dishonour
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|
| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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47
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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48
stagnation
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| n. 停滞 | |
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49
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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50
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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52
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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53
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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55
repealed
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| 撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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57
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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58
concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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59
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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60
override
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| vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于 | |
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61
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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62
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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63
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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64
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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65
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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66
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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67
unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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68
unreasonably
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| adv. 不合理地 | |
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69
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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70
jealousy
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|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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71
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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72
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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73
quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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75
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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76
bridling
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的现在分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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77
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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78
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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79
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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80
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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81
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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82
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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83
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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84
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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85
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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86
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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87
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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88
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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89
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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90
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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91
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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92
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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93
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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94
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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95
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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96
asphyxiator
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| n.碳酸气灭火器，动物窒息器 | |
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97
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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98
treacherous
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|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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99
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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100
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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101
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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102
molestation
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| n.骚扰，干扰，调戏；折磨 | |
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103
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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104
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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105
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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106
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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107
dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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109
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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110
symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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111
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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112
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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113
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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114
eulogy
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| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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115
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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116
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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117
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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118
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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119
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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120
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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121
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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122
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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123
perversion
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| n.曲解；堕落；反常 | |
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124
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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125
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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126
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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127
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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128
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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129
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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130
remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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131
quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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133
suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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134
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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135
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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136
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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137
hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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138
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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139
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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140
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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141
extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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142
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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143
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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144
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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145
projectile
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| n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的 | |
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146
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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147
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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148
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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149
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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150
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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151
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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152
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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153
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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154
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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155
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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156
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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157
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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158
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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159
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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160
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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161
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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162
shred
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| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
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163
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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164
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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165
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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166
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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167
outlasted
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| v.比…长久，比…活得长( outlast的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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168
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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169
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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170
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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