“I have made the one holiday of the Land of On, ‘The Day of Resis,’ and this day, if all of my laws are adhered to, will be the happiest day in the lives of those who participate in its ceremonies.”
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ROYAL HUNT.
Mrs. Graham had, during the past few weeks, given herself up to the comforts of her delightful boudoir, seldom accompanying her friends on the many excursions which were projected for their pleasure. The splendid attendance, the magnificent apartment, the sumptuous table, all tended to make her new life a happy one. It was just suited to the fastidious tastes of such a woman as Mrs. Graham, and she had determined to startle her native city with a reproduction of many of its delightful features.
Nellie had enjoyed the new life quite as much as her mother but in a different way. With Mr. Bruce she had visited every nook and corner of the Temple, and had taken sketches of the principal courts, colonnades and terraces, intending to copy them in oil at home. Then they had taken long walks through the city and visited the schools in which Nellie was especially interested; had remained one whole day in the provision market, where the inhabitants went each morning for the day’s supplies, and another in the mills where the cloth for wearing apparel was woven. They had spent many happy hours in the fine art studio, where beautiful statues were being carved out of blocks of onyx, and where pictures were being painted on flat pieces of hard wood.
There was also the school of architecture, where students between the ages of twelve and twenty were busy working out the difficult problems and drawings. In this building also were made the gold ornaments which were used in every household in rich profusion, in the shape of girdles for the waist, bands and ornaments for the hair. It was noticed that certain models were used for all these different works of fine art, and that nothing new was ever executed. As Onrai had told them, though, the models were perfect and nothing more beautiful could be conceived. They had also visited the parks, squares and principal thoroughfares, and had taken an interest in studying the architecture and furnishings of the different residences. All places were open to them and the greatest attention was paid them wherever they went.
This constant association and similarity of tastes had brought these two closer together, and although Mr. Bruce had never yet mentioned his love to Nellie, still he felt that she reciprocated that love.
Mr. Graham, sometimes accompanied by Harry, but oftener alone, had gone everywhere. He was in his element, for, astride of a beautiful zebra, he would take long rides into the country and spend whole days fishing on the small lakes, or at other times, would venture a short distance into the great hunting reserve. In this grand expanse of wild jungle and forest could be found every known species of African animal, and Mr. Graham was especially delighted in the hunting of large game. The laws governing these hunts were rather strange; the smallest of each species of animal was killed, the largest always being left. The same laws which governed the inhabitants were applied to the wild animals and also to those domesticated, allowing the larger to mate and bring forth healthy offspring. If a colt or baby elephant should be dwarfed at birth, or show any ailment afterward, it was instantly killed. By observing this law with the domestic animals, and in killing only the smaller of the wild animals, the whole race had become large and powerful.
Harry seemed to be the only unhappy one in the party. This was easily accounted for. During the long excursions the King would be at Enola’s side constantly, and Harry had hardly found time to speak with her alone since they had arrived in this, as he called it, barbarous land. Onrai always dined with the party and sat at Enola’s right. Harry had been given a seat the farthest from her; whether this was done intentionally or not, Harry could not say, but he fumed in silence. After the evening meal, Enola would invariably accompany Onrai to the terrace where they would sit until near midnight. Occasionally Harry would have a short talk with Enola in the morning, but even then their conversation was of Onrai.
Sedai had been given a home with one of the inhabitants and was enjoying the new life greatly. He had been given a zebra and spent most of the time on its back. Once each day he would go to the Temple to see his friends, and while there would tell of his exploits among the fair woman of the city. Because he was one of the party he was looked upon with great admiration. As he was but little below the height of the native men and was only a shade darker in color, the inhabitants had been led to believe that he was one of their own race, but had in some mysterious way left his own land and visited that planet from which the strangers were supposed to have come. The women smiled on him, the men treated him with the greatest respect and he could hardly help liking this new life. He had come up to the Temple on this morning to join the party in the royal hunt.
The rifles which our friends had brought with them they had never used for fear of the natives coveting them when they learned their value in the hunt, but now they felt, because of the great respect which had been shown them, that they and everything pertaining to them was held as sacred by the natives, and they had decided to use the guns on to-day’s hunt.