Unfortunately, however, the mischief had already been done; the seeds of serious trouble had been sown, and were now growing to a far larger extent than King Ivanta knew of.
King Agrando, in particular, was hatching a double plot, which, if it succeeded, was not only to gratify his newly-born craze for a big collection of jewels, but to restore him to his former position of independent ruler. Even, perhaps—who could tell?—it might raise him to the position now occupied by Ivanta himself!
Into this conspiracy Zuanstroom had entered. That, at first sight, may appear a little strange; but the so-called Diamond King had newly awakened ambitions of his own. He saw that, as the owner of this great cargo of precious stones, he was in a position which was absolutely unique in the world of Mars. Upon Earth he had only been the Diamond King in a relative sense; here he was actually entitled to that name. But why should he stop there? Why should he not use his unique position to make himself a king in actual fact? Upon Earth, even with the help of all his diamonds, he could never aspire to such a height; but here it was different. Ivanta, he knew, would never fall in with such an idea; but Agrando, if approached in the right way, might—and he did.
The result of the conferences between the two plotters may be summed up thus: Agrando had said, 'Let us use your diamonds to depose Ivanta and put me in his shoes, and give me the biggest share of the treasure; and I will then put you into a position similar to that I now myself occupy. You shall be king over a large tract of country, subject only to me as your overlord.'
And Zuanstroom's ambition and unscrupulous nature had determined him to seal the compact and risk the consequences.
The visitors to Agrando found plenty to amuse and interest them during their stay. The palace gardens alone were a never-ending source of wonder and delight to the two chums. Rumour had not exaggerated when it had spread reports of the marvels to be seen there. The friends spent a good deal of their time exploring and investigating—for the gardens were of very great extent—and every day they came upon something fresh.
At the beginning, Monck had given them this curious warning: 'Kazzaro has asked me to put you on your guard,' said he. 'King Agrando remembers the dangers which you, Gerald, so narrowly escaped during our journey in the Ivenia; and he does not wish that a similar unhappy occurrence should cast a reflection upon any of his people here. So he has instructed Kazzaro to remind me that there are many specimens and scientific curiosities in the gardens which may be dangerous to strangers unacquainted with their characteristics—not merely among the animals, and reptiles, and so on, he says, but even amongst the trees and plants. For King Agrando has devoted an immense amount of money and trouble to collecting and cultivating specimens of most out-of-the-way kinds, some of them with qualities never known or heard of before. Apart from this consideration, you have the king's permission to go about freely wherever you choose!'
Later on, Gerald asked Jack his private opinion of this warning. 'What does it mean?' he asked doubtfully. 'Is it genuine, do you think, or does it conceal some crafty trick?'
'Sounds straightforward enough!' Jack declared. 'Where can the trick come in?'
'I don't know,' Gerald mused. 'I have no right, perhaps, to suspect any trickery; yet, somehow, I don't trust the Ogre!'