The CRYSTAL SCEPTRE
A Story of Adventure
By PHILIP VERRILL MIGHELS
Author of “Nella, the Heart of the Army,” etc.
R. F. FENNO & COMPANY
9 and 11 East Sixteenth Street, New York
1901
Copyright 1901
by
Philip Verrill Mighels
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE I. [The end of the voyage] 9 II. [A strange alliance] 14 III. [The home of the Links] 25 IV. [A reconnoitre] 36 V. [Hostile neighbours] 44 VI. [Language and weapons] 50 VII. [Important discoveries] 60 VIII. [Attacked and besieged] 67 IX. [The cauldron of gold] 76 X. [Daylight at last] 86 XI. [A camp on the hill] 91 XII. [A deadly foe] 97 XIII. [The night in the jungle] 108 XIV. [An old roué] 115 XV. [A gleam of hope] 120 XVI. [Treachery and a battle] 127 XVII. [Saurians as foes] 141 XVIII. [The enemy near] 151 XIX. [Adoration scorned] 155 XX. [The chief is pleased] 159 XXI. [War with the Blacks] 165 XXII. [Home joys and troubles] 172 XXIII. [Needed munitions gathered] 183 XXIV. [Experimental gunpowder] 188 XXV. [The tribe frightened] 197 XXVI. [Sport at the lake] 203 XXVII. [An exploration] 211 XXVIII. [Amazing discoveries] 218 XXIX. [A sacred disguise] 229 XXX. [Again besieged] 240 XXXI. [Lost in the jungle] 247 XXXII. [The bamboo bombs] 261 XXXIII. [King at last] 271 XXXIV. [A moment of rest] 276 XXXV. [A fellow human] 282 XXXVI. [Surprise and suspense] 293 XXXVII. [The goddess] 306 XXXVIII. [A prospect of wealth] 313 XXXIX. [Stealing the enemy’s fire] 324 XL. [Coveted gold] 334 XLI. [Farewell to the camp] 344 XLII. [Golden gleams] 358 XLIII. [Surrounded by the Blacks] 365 XLIV. [Vale faithful Fatty] 380 XLV. [No longer a king] 387
The Crystal Sceptre
CHAPTER I
THE END OF THE VOYAGE
We had lost all control of the wild balloon. It was driven ahead of the wind like a shred of rags, the car trailing behind at a fearful angle, for many of the ropes were broken and all the others were twisted in a hopeless tangle. Nearly all our ballast had fallen into the angry sea beneath us an hour after the storm first caught us in its whirl.