The Day of Resis

by Lillian Frances Mentor

But Enola had not lost consciousness entirely when she sank to the floor. She had rested there only a moment, when she thought she felt something pushing her. She half rose, and looking over her shoulder thought she saw a ray of light. Could she be dreaming? Was this some awful torturing vision come to torment her in her fearful suffering? No. She could see the sun, the sky, and far away she caught a glimpse of a beautiful city. She now realized it all; her weight upon this particular part of the floor had set the door to moving. She must move through the opening quickly. Her senses were roused to action by this revelation. She knew the door would revolve and close again perhaps forever.

She had by some strange fatality accidentally found the means of opening it, for which they had searched so vainly, but while in such a semi-conscious state she might not be able to repeat the operation. She knew where to find the spring on the other side, and as the opening began to grow smaller, the door slowly swinging into its place again, she gave one frantic leap and turned to find herself cut off from the rest by the solid wall of rock.

From the ground she began to tear bits of grass and succulent weeds, and partially allaying her thirst with these, she hurried to the point which might be, she thought, the hiding place of the spring. Almost tearing the flesh from her hands in pulling the underbrush away, she was rewarded by seeing a loose piece of rock set into the solid cliff. Removing this the lever was before her. It took nearly all the strength she had left to move the lever, but she was rewarded at last by seeing the door swing on its pivots again. Peering through the opening she saw the light of a torch moving quickly toward the door, and she knew that it was Sedai returning. Sedai had caught the glimpse of daylight, and hastening his steps, he had moistened the lips of the sufferers, and when the door again swung open he hurried through with Mrs. Graham, and as often as Enola would lift the heavy lever he would carry out another of the prostrated companions.

One by one, all were carried out, and Sedai returned for the arms and accoutrements. Ladened with these he lacked the rapidity of motion necessary, and the massive stone as it revolved, caught him squarely between the shoulders. Slowly the grinding mass pressed closer, while Enola, petrified with horror for the moment, pressed her hands to her throbbing temples. Finally, realizing the fearful position that Sedai was in, she seized one of the rifles, and using it as a lever, placed it in the crack of the door and threw her whole weight against it. At the same time Sedai, with a herculean effort of his mighty muscles, strained every nerve, pushed himself through, and fell on the ground bruised and bleeding. Enola, taking one of the water gourds which Sedai had tramped so far to fill, placed it to the lips of the noble fellow, and then gave the others a very little. Her strength now gave out again and she sank down thoroughly worn out.

The few drops of water had partially roused the others, and Mr. Bruce especially seemed to have regained complete consciousness. He looked about him, but it had grown dark and he could see nothing; but he could hear, and the cries of many beasts reached his ears. He tried hard to remember how he had come here, and wondered where his companions were. The cries of the wild beasts, however, brought him back to himself, and he knew that a fire must be built or the beasts would be on him. He rose and began looking for some dry twigs with which to build the fire; he stumbled over something, and stooping, he found it to be one of his companions. He felt about him and found a torch, and lighting this, he saw the rest of the party lying about him. He started a fire, and not a moment too soon, for the cries of the animals were growing dangerously near; and a little while after he saw two bright eyes looking at him from out the darkness; then all about him he could see those glaring eyes. The number was growing, and Mr. Bruce becoming thoroughly alarmed, roused the others, and all gathering near the fire, waited for further developments. They were jackals, as nearly as the party could make out; and occasionally one a little bolder than the rest, would come within the circle of light; but a ball from one of the rifles would stop him, when his bloodthirsty comrades would jump on the body and devour it in an instant. They increased in numbers until those in the rear, crowding forward, pushed the foremost nearer and nearer the fire, it became necessary to use the rifles as clubs and beat them back.

The situation had become most alarming when the roar of a lion almost in their midst struck terror to the hearts of the travelers, and made the jackals scamper off into the jungle. A crashing of the underbrush was followed by another mighty roar, and looking, our friends could just see, in the outer edge of light, two tawny monsters about to engage in a combat, evidently over the possession of a beautiful lioness which was moving about urging the lions on. The two lions sprang at each other simultaneously, and meeting in midair, down to the earth they fell, fastened together by teeth and claws. Over and over they rolled, biting and snarling, and striking murderous blows with their powerful paws. It was a magnificent battle, and in spite of bleeding wounds, raged furiously for a quarter of an hour, when, through loss of blood, the blows became weaker, and the biting less fierce. The royal combat was drawing to a close. Suddenly, as though determined to win or lose all in one final struggle they separated and once more came together in savage fury. A terrific blow from the paw of the one laid open the neck of the other, but not soon enough to check the fearful crunch of the powerful jaws upon the throat of his opponent, and in a moment the writhing mass lay quiet on the ground, dead.

Our friends had stood gazing at the awful fight with a horrible fascination, and it was some minutes before they could take their eyes off the fallen foes. When they did, and looked at the east they saw that dawn was breaking.

As the shadows faded before the rising sun the sounds from the forest grew less and less, until nothing was heard but the songs of the wakening birds. Slowly the dawn crept into the heavens. The gray turned to pink, the pink to a rich red and then to a yellow, and the sun rose in all its equatorial splendor. A mist hung over the landscape, but gradually this was dissipated before the hot rays of the sun, and the country and city of On lay before them.

They were standing on a small plateau on the eastern slope, a lofty range of mountains or cliffs. As far as the eye could reach westward, these mountains rose in perpendicular cliffs, thousands of feet into the air. A few miles east of them the range turned in a northerly direction, and extended on and on until the eye could follow it no farther. The mountain descended about six hundred feet from where they were standing, and ended in a beautiful valley.

In their immediate vicinity was a dense jungle, and to the north of a magnificent forest. At the base of the mountain was a wide river, and on the opposite bank of this was a stone wall fifty feet in height. Beyond this wall stretched a beautiful valley, dotted with numerous groves and small lakes. To the northwest of them a few miles rose the tall towers of a vast and beautiful city, all glistening in the sunlight. The city rose from the valley to the top of a high hill on the summit of which was a grand structure, probably a temple.