Under orders from Oleric, men fetched from stables near the quays a long, low car, to which two span of horses were attached, and the Americans were bidden to take their places in it. Wild and reckless drivers these Maeronicans were. Two of them climbed into the car, turned their horses' heads toward the great archway and whipped them into a gallop. With a yell, the crowd parted. The hoofs of the horses rang on the stones of the paved courtyard. As they passed from the court into the tunnel, the line of steel horsemen came clattering after them. Oleric rode at the side of the car.
At intervals in the walls of the tunnel were set translucent globes like those on the fademe, which shed a strong white light along the way. The flooring was paved and smooth. For perhaps five minutes the cavalcade thundered through the passage in the rock, and then it emerged again into the light of day.
Ahead stretched a long, wide roadway, paved from side to side with blocks of black stone, fast embedded in a cement of the same hue. At both sides of the road were low walls, and beyond the walls were handsome mansions and grounds, where fair trees tossed their greenery and bright flowers bloomed amid a wealth of shrubbery. From the splendid and fragrant lawns men and women looked forth as the car whirled past, and children left their play to run to the walls and stare wide-eyed at the strangers.
Most of the men were garbed as had been those of the fademe's crew and also the crowd at the harbor, in loose, belted tunics and hose, but finer in texture and more showy in coloring than those of the commoner sort.
Some of the old men wore flowing gowns. The women and children were clad in short kirtles. Everywhere was a riot of color. The garments of the people were gay with many tints and hues. The grounds were flecked with flowers. The dwellings, all of which were built of stone, made their brave show of colors, too. The quarries from which the masonry was cut yielded white and black and red stone, and in their construction work the builders had varied them pleasingly.
From the tunnel's mouth at the base of the ancient hill, the long, black road sloped up gradually. Far ahead loomed the walls and domes of a great city. Oleric rose in his stirrups and pointed to where they were outlined against the sky.
"Yonder lies Adlaz, chief city of the Children of Ad," he cried.
Midway in their course to the city, the shouting drivers pulled their horses suddenly to one side of the road, and the riders of the escort scattered to right and left to leave a clear passage. From far up the wonderful street sounded the clash and clatter of pounding hoofs in desperate haste.
But no horse it was that galloped so madly from Adlaz town to the sea, but a giant, bronze-coated bull. On he came, head down and tail aloft, his hoofs striking fire from the smooth, hard rock of the roadway. At intervals he gave voice to a deep-throated bellow.
He was still three hundred yards from the car when Rose Emer screamed out in horror. "Ah, the child! Save the child!" she cried.