A Trip to Mars

The great difficulty now seemed to be to get a sufficient quantity of the necessary mineral; and to do this Ivanta would have to pay a visit to Saturn, that being the only place he knew of where it could be obtained.

Meantime, Ivanta had decided to keep the cargo he had brought locked up; and to postpone its distribution until his return from his projected journey.

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!'

'No more do I, for that matter! We'll keep our eyes open!' said Jack.

A few days later, Alondra, wandering alone in the gardens, one morning, came upon an immense round glass-house, the door of which, he noticed, was standing open for the first time. He had paused at the place two or three times before; but the door had always been shut and locked. Moreover, there was a label upon it, which read: 'Private. Contents Dangerous.'

Naturally, such a placard had aroused his curiosity, and he had made attempts to see what was inside; but everywhere the glass was screened off within, and he could discover nothing. Here, this morning, was an opportunity to see for himself what the mysterious 'contents' were. He had his trident with him – he had carried it every day in consequence of the warning that had been given – so what had he to fear?

He passed through the open door, and came to a second door at one side. Opening this, he made his way amongst a lot of thick shrubs, and came out in an open space paved with white marble. In the centre was a large marble pool, with steps leading down into it. In the pool a fountain was playing; the whole looking very cool and inviting. It had the appearance of a plunge-bath; and seemed to tempt the stranger to take a dive into its bubbling waters.

Alondra looked round. Nothing was to be seen on any side but flowering shrubs, the scent of which filled the air. But the most beautiful blooms of all, he noticed, were some large white lilies growing amongst clusters of immense leaves in the pool.

Surprised and fascinated at the extreme beauty of these blooms, the like of which he had never seen before, he walked down the steps as far as the edge of the water, and put his hand amongst the green leaves to pluck a flower. Immediately the leaf curled over upon his hand, and to his astonishment and dismay he found he could not withdraw it! Not only that, but the leaf was exercising a distinct pulling power; it was steadily dragging him towards the water! Then he put the other hand down to try to free the first one, when another leaf curled round it, and he found himself held as though his hands had been tied together with a strong rope. He struggled hard, but he could not cast off that deadly grip; and, little by little, the horrible leaves dragged him forward until he was forced into the pool. Other leaves then began to curl round his body, and forced him down, down, step by step, until the water encircled his neck!

CHAPTER XX

THE DEATH POOL

It was well for Alondra that Gerald and Jack happened to be walking in the gardens that particular morning. They had, in fact, strolled out to look for him, and Providence must have led them into the neighbourhood of the large glass-house just at the critical moment. They also noticed – as he had done – that the outer door was standing open; and they were reading the warning notice with great curiosity, and considering whether, in despite of it, they should venture on a peep inside, when a terrible cry rang out from within, a cry as of some one in urgent need of help.

'It's Alondra's voice!' exclaimed Gerald. 'He's inside there, and must be in some trouble! Come on, Jack!'

The two pushed open the inner door and rushed along the pathway amongst the shrubs.

A moment later they came in sight of the pool with the fountain playing in the middle; and there they saw Alondra – or, rather, his head, for that was all there was above the water – with a look of terrible, deadly horror upon his face.

'Help me quickly!' he gasped. 'Some awful thing is clinging round me and is dragging me down! Your knives! Get out your knives! But be careful, or you may get drawn in yourselves – both of you!'

The two friends acted upon the hints thus given; and, drawing their knives and joining hands, Gerald went boldly down the steps and seized hold of the young prince just as he was being drawn completely under the water.

The task of setting him free, however, proved a tougher one than they had expected. The clinging leaves, as though directed by some dreadful, sinister intelligence, closed upon Gerald's extended arm, and, exercising a strength and tenacity which had about it something almost superhuman, endeavoured to drag him in too.

A terrible struggle for dear life ensued between the three, on the one side, and the horrible, silent power which they had to fight against, on the other.

Gerald managed to free one of Alondra's arms, and gave him his own knife, taking Jack's in place of it. The two then hacked and slashed at the slimy, slippery, but wonderfully tough leaves. As fast as they cut themselves free from some, others laid hold of them; and it seemed at one time as though all three would be dragged bodily into the water.

Just then Jack caught sight of a coil of strong rope lying upon the floor in a corner, and he made a dart and possessed himself of it. In a trice he had passed one end to Gerald, and secured the other round one of the columns supporting the roof.

Gerald, in his turn, managed to slip the end round Alondra and pass it back to Jack, who caught hold of it, and, standing himself on the steps out of reach, hauled with all his might. This enabled the two who were struggling in the water – for by this time Gerald had also been drawn in – to use both hands. Little by little, step by step, they struggled backwards, until at last they reached the water's edge and were free.

Panting and exhausted, the three sat down on a low marble balustrade, and looked first at the pool, then at one another. Then they stared once more at the treacherous pool, where all now was silent and still, save for the bubbling and splashing of the water as it fell from the fountain.

'Jupiter!' cried Jack at last. 'Of all the awful death-traps I ever saw or heard of, commend me to this! A horrible death pool! But what in the name of all that is fiendish is that awful plant?'

'It's some kind of cannibal plant, I suppose,' said Gerald.

'Yes, that is right,' Alondra agreed. 'I have heard there are such plants on our globe in some remote corners, but I have never seen one before.'

'What does anybody want to keep such a monstrous, uncanny affair for?' queried Jack indignantly.

'I never heard that they grew to such a size,' Alondra added. 'This must have been growing here many years to become so large, I should say.'

'A nice sort of pet to cultivate and pamper!' Jack grumbled. 'What do they feed it on, I wonder? Such a thing ought not to be allowed! It's a public danger!'

'There's a warning on the door,' Gerald reminded him. 'After all, it's our own fault, I 'm afraid people will say, for coming here.'

'My fault, you mean – for I was the one who yielded first to curiosity, and so drew you here,' Alondra confessed.

'Oh, we should have come in on our own, you may be pretty sure of that,' Jack declared. 'We were just discussing the point when we heard you call out.'

'It's a very beautiful flower,' Gerald observed, looking attentively at the large, handsome blossoms, 'and the scent is delicious. Who would imagine that anything so lovely to look at could be so treacherous – so deadly?'

He walked cautiously up near to it to get a clear view, and Jack followed him – partly, as it seemed, to satisfy his own curiosity, and partly to see that his chum did not become too venturesome and get unwittingly caught again.

Meantime, Alondra was evidently thinking deeply. He began to look and search about, first in this direction, then in that. Presently the others noticed his proceedings, and, leaving the side of the pool, went across and asked him what he was doing.

'Before I tell you,' was the reply, 'you must promise that you will say nothing to any one else. If what I am thinking of was mere fancy, I don't wish to be laughed at; and if it turns out that it was not fancy – well, then I still wish that nothing should be said about it just now. Do you understand?'

The two friends readily gave the required promise. 'Well, then, what is troubling me is this: Just as I called out – when I was struggling up to my neck in the water – when, as it seemed to me, I was at my last gasp, and all hope had gone – I saw, or imagined I saw, some one peering at me from among those thick bushes!'

'My stars! That sounds funny!' was Jack's comment. 'D'you mean to say that there was some one in here, some one so cold-blooded as to stand by and look on at you, and never offer to help?'

'That is my – er – impression; but' —

'Who was it, then? Anybody you know?'

Alondra hesitated. Then he said slowly, 'I cannot say. I could hardly see more than the eyes, if I saw any one. But, understand me, I cannot declare positively that I saw any one at all. I was in such a state of horror that I may have imagined it. I was ready to imagine anything.'

Jack looked at him attentively.

'I don't think you are one to lose your wits to that extent, my friend,' he declared, shaking his head, 'though I admit it would be no discredit to you if you did. I can't imagine a more frightful predicament, or one better calculated to try the nerves of the bravest man.'

'Let's all set to work and have a good hunt round,' suggested Gerald. 'If any one was here, he must be somewhere in hiding now, unless there is another way out. If there is, let's find it!'

They searched the place in all directions, but for some time could find nothing to reward their trouble. They could see no trace of any person other than themselves having been there.

They were about to give it up and go away, when Jack suddenly uttered a cry. 'See! What is that on the floor!' he exclaimed. 'Ah, I thought so! A diamond – a small diamond!' He exhibited upon the open palm of his hand a little sparkling stone. While his companions were busy looking at it, he went on to examine attentively a number of slabs of carved marble which stood up from the floor some four or five feet, forming a many-sided enclosure. They made a ring, as it were, fifteen feet in diameter or thereabouts, and upon each slab were figures or scenes carved in bas-relief.

It was not unlike a huge, many-sided flower-pot; and it appeared to be intended for a similar purpose; for the space it enclosed was filled with mould up to the level of the top of the slabs, and this again was thickly planted with large shrubs.

Jack walked all round this affair, peering keenly into the dense leafy screen. It was so thick that nothing could be seen of what was in the middle. Then he returned to the starting-point – that opposite to the place where he had picked up the diamond. He caught hold of the branches and pulled them apart. Then he uttered a low whistle. 'Come and look at this!' he cried.

The other two ran up to the place and peered in. There, upon the loose mould, could be seen a footprint, and a little beyond it another.

Jack pointed to one of the bas-relief figures on the slab. It was in a kneeling position, and the head formed a convenient step to any one wishing to mount to the top of the slab. 'Do you see?' he cried. 'This has been used as a step! You place a foot on it – thus, take hold of these branches – so, pull them apart – so, and you can spring up and through quite easily. Then the branches close up after you and hide all trace. But the last one who passed this way was in a great hurry. He was in such haste to get through that he snapped off a twig – here it is – and another twig caught against his breast, and tore off a little diamond, and cast it on to the floor where I found it.'

While talking, Jack had suited actions to words, and shown, by practical illustration, how easily what he had suggested might happen.

'Where, then, is that person now, do you suppose?' asked Gerald, in a low tone. 'Hiding in the middle of those bushes?'

Jack shook his head. 'I should say not,' he replied. 'I should say there must be a secret passage leading to this curious place, and that those bushes conceal the entrance to it. However, that's a question we'll soon put to the test. I 'm going in to see what's in the middle. You fellows come after me!'

CHAPTER XXI

A SECRET TREASURE-HOUSE

Jack's theory proved to be well founded. In the middle of the clump of bushes they discovered a portion of an old tree-trunk. It was about three feet high by, perhaps, four feet in diameter. A glance over the side showed that it was hollow, and that inside it there were some steps leading downwards.

Jack pointed to them in quiet triumph. 'Are you going to explore farther?' he asked Alondra, in a low tone scarcely above a whisper. 'Because, if you are, I should suggest that we go very quietly.'

'Yes; I 'm going to find out what it all means,' said Alondra firmly.

'What about arms?' queried Jack dubiously.

'I have my trident, or I had,' Alondra answered. 'I must have left it somewhere about on the floor.'

Jack went back to look for it, and Alondra followed; but it was nowhere to be seen.

'It has disappeared!' exclaimed Alondra, bewildered. 'What can have become of it? I remember putting it down when I went, towards the pool to pick one of those terrible flowers. Are you sure you have not picked it up, either of you?'

'What should we do with it – put it in one of our pockets?' laughed Jack. 'No; this is one more proof that what you saw was reality and not a vision of your fanciful brain. Some one was here – some one who coolly looked on while you were struggling for your life in the grasp of the dreadful floral monster beside yonder pretty-looking fountain. Some one who wears diamonds on his breast, and was in too great a hurry to notice that the bushes had scratched one off in passing. Some one, finally, who has walked off with your trident.'

'True. But why did he take that?'

'It seems to me that the reason is not difficult to guess at. It tells a little tale to me by itself. He considered that you were as good as dead, and would have no further use for your trident. So, as it is a very beautifully ornamented one, he thought he might as well have it.'

'I 'm afraid you must be right!' Alondra rejoined, with a slight shiver. 'Yet, I don't understand it! However, let us see what we can find out. As to arms, who would dare to lay a hand openly on me?'

As Alondra asked this last question he drew himself up proudly, and his eyes flashed.

'It's not for me to say,' Jack remarked, with a philosophical air. 'Gerald and I have our own arms – what we call revolvers when we are at home. They're not like yours, though. They hurt if they are used properly, as you know.'

The two went back to where they had left Gerald, and a little later they were all three creeping noiselessly down the steps inside the hollow tree-trunk. At the bottom they found themselves in another passage, which they calculated must run under the floor of the glass-house, and then under the garden. It was in darkness, save for a little glimmer which came down the steps they had descended.

'Now, I wonder where this goes to?' muttered Jack. 'It doesn't seem to me to lead to the palace. I fancy it runs in the opposite direction.'

Alondra produced from his pocket a little electric lamp, and by its aid they followed the passage for some distance. Then they came to more steps, which went much farther down into the ground. They also came to other side-passages, which branched off in different directions. Soon the passage became wider and higher, and finally ended in a heavily barred door, which, however, was standing ajar.

They listened cautiously, and, hearing no one about, pushed it open, and suddenly found themselves in a blaze of light. Yet it was certain that they were not in the open air.

They stared around, and then up, in wondering astonishment. They seemed to be in another glass-house, for certainly there was some kind of transparent or semi-transparent roof overhead. But the light was not the light of the sky exactly. It was a strange reflected light, such as puzzled the three who gazed at it.

Then an idea flashed into Jack's mind. 'I know what it is!' he whispered. 'We are looking up through water! This place is built underneath the large lake in the gardens.'

'Yes, you are right. It must be so,' Alondra agreed. 'But why? This must be some place constructed in this strange fashion on purpose that its very existence should be kept a secret! Now, why is that, I wonder? I do not believe that my father even knows of its existence. But why all this secrecy? There seems to be no one about. Let us try to find out what it all means.'

One thing they found it undoubtedly was – a treasure-house. They quickly saw enough to convince them that Agrando had a great store of treasure here. But there were also roomy chambers, and a spacious central place, with a great dome as large as a good-sized theatre, and not unlike one, having banks of seats around, one behind the other, arranged like semicircular steps. The use of this building seemed very doubtful, as did that of some small, dark side-chambers – mere cells – of which there were quite a number about.

While the explorers were wondering what it all meant, they heard the sound of voices. Jack pointed to one of the small cells high up in the wall, and led the way up the banks of seats, stepping from one to the other like going upstairs.

The cell had a strong door, the upper part of which consisted of a grille, and when they were well inside they pulled it to after them. Then, peering through the grille, they could see nearly all over the interior. The voices drew nearer, and in a few moments there entered King Agrando, Kazzaro, and Zuanstroom, with two attendants, each of whom bore small sacks. Judging by their manner, the sacks were pretty heavy.

'That will do. Put them down there!' ordered Agrando. 'We can examine them better here than in the other chambers. This has the best light of any.' The centre was occupied by a circular platform or staging of stonework, the use or meaning of which the three hidden spectators had not been able to guess at. Upon this the attendants deposited their bags, and immediately withdrew.

When assured that their servitors were out of sight and hearing, Zuanstroom opened the bags, and turned out from one a sparkling collection of jewellery of all kinds and designs, and from the other a dazzling heap of unset stones, some of them of great size and brilliancy.

It was curious to see the expressions of greed and avarice which crept into the features of the king and his favourite as they gazed upon this display.

'There!' cried Zuanstroom triumphantly, 'have I not kept my word? Have I not done as I promised? You doubted whether I could perform what I said; but you see I've managed it, spite of all Ivanta's edicts and precautions! He little dreams that all these are now in your hands, instead of reposing peacefully in his own treasure-house until it suits his royal fancy to allow me to deal as I please with my own. Ah, he is a clever man, in many ways – a wonderful man; but he does not know everything! He has yet to learn the real power that lies in diamonds. I learned it long ago! There is nothing too difficult to attain, no living being you cannot bribe, if you have only diamonds enough!'

Jack had put a hand on Alondra as a hint to keep his feelings under control. And it was well he had done so, for he felt him start, and could tell that he was battling with his rising indignation as he listened to this talk. Jack, however, had quickly decided in his own mind that it would be better to keep their presence there a secret if possible, and the pressure of his hand upon the young prince said so plainly. Alondra, on his side, was forced to admit to himself that Jack was right as to this; though he did so all unwillingly.

There ensued a good deal of talk between Agrando and the other two, the while that they turned the scintillating heaps over and over, but it was carried on for the most part in such low tones that the listeners heard but little of what was said. Now and then they heard exclamations, or caught scraps of sentences, but these did not convey much information.

At last the conspirators put the two heaps back into their respective receptacles, which they themselves then carried into another chamber. Presumably, they there locked them up in some vault, and went their way; and all once more became quiet.

'Now's our time!' said Jack. 'If you take my advice, Prince, we shall slip back the way we came, and get out – if we're lucky enough to meet no one – through the glass-house where we found you. I should keep what you have learned to yourself till you are safely back home, and then tell your royal father, who will know what to do better than you or I, or Mr Monck.'