"It is not altogether good, as I had hoped," he began. "The people can talk of nothing else but the men of Ramos, meaning yourselves. Their excitement hath increased; for some traders, who had journeyed to the lake of Kimeth, near which ye have told me ye camped, returned to Pamax yesternight, bringing with them scraps of strange food and other refuse ye must have left behind. The troops have started thither at dawn this morning; and what is worse, that villain Perodii is at their head. He will never rest until ye are all once more in his power, for he bears ye strange and deadly hatred."
"But, Kios,——" began the Doctor.
"Nay, hear me out, men of Ramos, for I have but few more words to say. It is fortunate for ye that the troops have gone on this fool's errand; for they may search far and wide up there, and the time they waste ye will profit by. Yet, when they return to Pamax, as return they surely will, Perodii's mood will not be pleasant; and ye may be assured that the journey to the borders of Chados will not tend to cool his wrath against ye. Men of Ramos, ye must not linger here; I cannot answer for your safety longer. These woods will be searched, and it may be at daybreak. Ye must start for Helmath to-night—nay, at once."
"But we are in ignorance of the way thither, and may lose ourselves in the darkness," said Temple.
"Trouble not yourselves; for I will guide ye a few hours' journey hence, and put ye in the path that leads thereto."
"I am afraid, worthy Kios, we shall never be able to repay you," said the Doctor.
"Ye saved my life; it is but well that I should seek to save yours in return. Besides, I aim Perodii a blow, through ye—and it is always sweet to strike one's enemies. Know ye, I was rich and noble once, with rank and dignity almost as high as he. Through his knavery and wickedness, I am degraded to the calling of a hunter to the palace, banished from my home in Edos, and owe what little I now possess—even my life itself—to the clemency of the King. Some day the truth may prevail, and I be restored to my rights. Had Perodii honour enough left to speak, he could accomplish this in few words; yet he remains silent; and I suffer, because I resented the great wrong he did me. But we waste time in needless words. Get ye ready, and let us hasten hence; for the path is heavy, and the way is long."
We reluctantly left our comfortable quarters, and started off with Kios through the darkness. The night was calm and beautifully fine—just one of those delicious evenings that make the tropics of Earth so sweet, when the broiling heat of the day is spent. Kios led us by a circuitous route down the wooded hillside; and we passed so near to Pamax, that the roar of its machinery sounded clearly in the night, and the glow from its thousands of furnaces shone against the sky like a mighty conflagration.
"The men of Pamax work late," remarked Temple, with a manufacturer's instinct, and thinking of his own noisy looms at home on Earth.
"The wheels of their machinery are never still," answered Kios. "The worker's lot is hard, but they are a cheerful community, if their greed of gain is great."