A Trip to Mars

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE FIGHT FOR THE STRONGHOLD

It was a critical moment for those of the adventurers who had gained the top of the well. Being without tridents and shields, they were absolutely at the mercy of any enemy who carried them. They were armed only with swords, spears, or daggers, which were useless against the other weapons. It seemed as though they must all inevitably, within a few minutes, be lying at the mercy of their foes.

A second glance, however, revealed an unexpected piece of good fortune. Their enemies were no better armed than themselves! The members of the garrison had dwelt in the place so long in peace and security that it had become their habit to stack away their tridents in their stores, as articles for which they had no use from day to day. Moreover, they knew that their stronghold was reputed to be impregnable, and they never dreamed of its being thus suddenly attacked.

Hence, when the outcry arose in the cavern in which was the old disused well, they had rushed in on the spur of the moment, wondering what the noise could be, and armed only with those weapons which formed part of their everyday equipment.

Swords flashed from their scabbards on both sides, and a moment later the two parties were engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand fight. A number of Fumenta's people had followed him up his side of the well, while those on the other side were hauling at their rope. Thus, for the time being, the adversaries were about equally matched in point of numbers as well as weapons. It was pretty certain, however, that the defenders would be reinforced at a much greater rate than the assailants could be, to say nothing of the fact that at any moment some of the former might arrive on the scene bringing with them the dreaded tridents.

Ivanta turned to Jack and Gerald, and whispered a few words at the moment of drawing his sword.

'You have your pistols! Try to close the door and hold it fast. That will give us time!'

The hint was sufficient. The two acted upon it at once, and calling to Bob Reid to follow, they made a circuit, and avoiding the rush of the defenders, got round to their rear. The first group passed without noticing them, and there was no one else inside the door. But upon the other side of it they could see another group, who were running to the support of their friends, and two of them, who were in advance, were carrying tridents.

It was doubtful which would reach the door first; but two shots rang out, and the trident-bearers dropped their weapons. They had each been wounded in the arm. Their comrades, wondering what was wrong, and, startled by the reports of the firearms – added to by a hundred echoes from the rocky vault overhead – paused in their advance, and crowded round the wounded men.

The three near the door on the inside took advantage of their halt to bang it to, and hastily shoot some bolts which they found upon it.

Then they turned to ascertain how it fared with their friends, and see what they could do to help them.

Ivanta and Fumenta had apparently been singled out for special attack, and each was defending himself against two or three adversaries. Both were fighting like heroes of old, and for a brief space the two chums paused to watch them, spellbound by the fascination of the combat.

Fumenta was fighting as such an old war-dog might be expected to fight. Grim, hard-visaged, and stalwart, his grizzled locks shaking at every turn of his head, he rained blows so quickly upon his foes that two had already fallen under them; and the others now seemed more anxious to keep at arm's length than to trust themselves near enough to strike.

Ivanta, on his side, was fighting not less valiantly, but in somewhat different fashion. As Gerald subsequently expressed it, he fought 'like the king that he was.' In his flashing glance there was nothing of the cold gleam of hatred, bred of long experience as a hunted outcast, which showed in the eyes of the outlaw chief. Rather was there dignified disdain, and even something of pity for those with whom circumstances forced him into conflict. In his whole appearance there was that which reminded the spectators of a lion defending himself in contemptuous fashion against the attacks of a number of curs; while Fumenta might be likened rather to an old wolf driven to bay.

Suddenly one of those opposed to Ivanta lowered his sword, and stepped backward, as if in surprise, crying out loudly, 'It is the king! Down with your swords! It is the king!'

At this there was a general pause. The man's comrades imitated his action, and the rest of the defending force desisted also in surprise. Thus, for a space, there was a cessation of hostilities all round.

'What said you, Sedla?' cried one near the speaker. 'The king! What king? We serve Agrando! He is not here!'

'This is Agrando's overlord, King Ivanta,' the first one answered. 'We must not fight against him.'

'How do you know?' 'What does it mean?' 'How can we tell?' 'How can such a thing have come about?' such were the questions which were called out, first from one and then from another.

Evidently the garrison of this isolated post knew nothing as yet of Agrando's revolt. No news of it had reached them, nor had any messengers come from Agrando instructing them that he was now at war with his overlord, and expected them to espouse his cause. Neither, as it seemed, were they – with one or two exceptions – acquainted with Ivanta's person. Of those then present, only the one who had first spoken knew him by sight.

Ivanta was quick to take advantage of this favourable turn.

'It is well that you spoke,' he haughtily said. 'It explains, I suppose, why you and your friends have attacked me. Otherwise, you would be guilty of treason! Down with your weapons, all of you!'

'But,' objected one who was evidently an officer, 'if you are King Ivanta – I ask, sir, with all respect – why have you forced an entrance in this strange fashion?'

'And,' said another dubiously, 'how comes it that the great King Ivanta is here attacking us hand and glove with the outlaw Fumenta and his band – the sworn enemies of our master Agrando?'

Ivanta smiled.

'I can understand your perplexity, my friends. Strange things have happened outside these walls of which I see you have as yet heard nothing. Let your chief officers confer with me, and I will give them the information which I see you are in need of.'

There ensued some discussion, carried on in a low tone amongst three or four who were the leaders of the garrison. Evidently there were differences of opinion among them. Some were for submitting to Ivanta; while the others, doubtful of his identity, and fearing some trick, were for continuing the combat.

Suddenly one of the little council broke away from the others and looked angrily at Fumenta.

'You may do as you please with those others!' he cried. 'That gentleman may be King Ivanta or he may not! What is certain is that yonder old villain is Fumenta, the leader of the outlaw bands, and I for one have an old-standing grudge against him, which I mean to take this chance of paying off!'

With sudden fury and upraised hand, in which gleamed a naked dagger, he made a rush at the one he had denounced. Fumenta had been quietly talking to some of his people, and just then had his back to his assailant.

Another moment and the weapon would have been buried in his breast, when Malto, who had been standing near, threw himself between the two. There was a smothered exclamation, a blow, then Malto reeled back and was caught by Malandris; while, with a cry like an enraged tiger, Fumenta darted upon the would-be assassin.

One hand closed upon the man's throat, and the other upon his wrist. There was a brief, fierce struggle; then the assailant was lifted high in the air and flung down with terrible force upon the rocky floor, where he lay prone without a sign of life.

Fumenta glanced round as though to challenge the man's friends to try conclusions with him; but as no one seemed inclined to take the quarrel upon himself, he turned to where he now saw Malto lying, supported by a group of anxious friends.

The young fellow was evidently badly wounded, for he had fainted, and Malandris was engaged in trying to stanch the blood which flowed from a wound in the breast.

'Let me come to him! Leave him to me!' cried Fumenta. 'He offered his life to save mine; it is my place to care for him!'

They made way for him, and formed a circle around to guard the two from any more treacherous attacks; while Ivanta, seeing that these events had roused bad blood on both sides, applied himself to preventing the threatened renewal of the fighting.

Sedla, however, the one who had recognised Ivanta, was, fortunately, firm in his refusal to take sides against him; and his particular friends were content to follow his lead. Those who were for continuing the strife thus found themselves in a minority; and, recognising this, they sullenly submitted.

All this time there had been much knocking and banging at the closed door on the one side; while, on the other, men had come scrambling up the well, adding, every moment, to the numbers of Ivanta's supporters, and bringing with them this time the tridents which had been left below.

Very soon Ivanta was in a position to dictate his own terms to those present; but there was still the rest of the garrison to be considered.

After some talk, Sedla undertook to act as negotiator with these, and presently the door was thrown open, and he and his friends stood in the entrance.

It was a curious scene, that which followed. Behind Sedla, at a little distance, was Ivanta, at the head of rank after rank of men, all armed with their tridents and shields. On the other side of the doorway there were again to be seen rank upon rank of the garrison, similarly armed, and evidently ready for the fray, yet wondering what had been going on behind the closed door, and doubtless curious to know, before they began, who it was they were to fight, and what it was all about.

Sedla cleverly took advantage of this natural curiosity to gain a hearing for what he had to say, and followed it up so tactfully that he eventually gained over the whole garrison.

Thus was the place captured with but little actual fighting; and Ivanta gained thereby a valuable base for the supply of his aerial fleet, as well as a stronghold in which he and his following could find secure refuge in case of necessity.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

A GREAT AERIAL BATTLE

Having made his dispositions within and without – taking note of the resources now at his disposal, sending out airships as scouts, &c. – Ivanta turned his attention to the wounded. He found Fumenta in close attendance upon Malto, who was still lying in an almost unconscious state; and Ivanta, who was himself well skilled in such matters, made an examination of his wound.

'I think he will pull round,' was his verdict. 'I shall hope yet to see him, with you, and others of my new friends, around me at my Court at Karendia – my "palace in the clouds."'

Fumenta shook his head. 'I am too old – ay, and too rough and rugged now – for Court life, sir,' he answered. 'Time was – but we must wait and see what happens. I shall help you with might and main so long as you need a trusty ally; after that, when you have succeeded in getting back your own, I shall make the request which I have already prepared you for. Then I shall ask but one favour more – the permission to withdraw into obscurity, and pass the rest of my days in peace. But I am meanwhile sorely concerned about this brave young fellow. I was strangely taken with him when I first saw him, and I need not say how that feeling has been intensified by his heroic act of bravery and self-sacrifice. But for his devoted action I should now be lying in his place, or more likely I should be already dead.'

'It was truly, as you say, an act of heroism,' Ivanta declared with emotion. 'It is passing strange that you two should be joined, as it were, by such a link; the more so that I have understood that you each had some special request to make to me. I shall be curious to see, when the time comes, whether the two requests have any connection.'

'I do not see how that could possibly be,' returned Fumenta, with another shake of his head. 'I have never heard of him before, and he knows no more about me. But his future, if he lives, shall be my care. I can make him rich, wealthy – ay, I can make him one of the wealthiest men on our globe – and I will do so out of gratitude for what he did. For know, oh king, that I made but recently a great discovery! In one of the passages beneath the ancient volcano I came across a gold-mine – a veritable cave of gold! It was to that I referred when I said I could supply you with gold to carry on your warfare with Agrando. What you do not require I shall divide between this young man and those who have been my faithful followers.'

'You shall tell me more about it at another time,' rejoined Ivanta kindly. 'As to what I shall myself require, it will, all being well, be paid back later on; for I have no wish to make your friends' share less than it would otherwise have been. Send me word if you notice any change in the young man's condition,' he added, as he left to continue his round of inspection.

Meanwhile, the two chums and Alondra were constantly in and out asking for news of Malto. To them the unexpected success, thus far, of their expedition was cruelly saddened and overshadowed so long as his life was in danger.

'We owe him much,' Alondra declared. 'But for him we should now be Agrando's prisoners, to a certainty.'

'There is no doubt as to that,' Gerald agreed. 'But apart from any such consideration, I like him immensely on his own account. I wonder who he is? There is some mystery about him, I feel sure. Some sad event, I fancy, must have happened to him which has thrown a blight over his whole life.'

'For the matter of that, to be a sort of slave to Agrando is enough to blight anybody's life!' cried Jack warmly. 'Anyway, whoever he is, I feel sure he is well-born. His whole manner and bearing – ay, and his instincts, so to speak – tell you that much.'

Thus, in low and sorrowful tones, did they speak of their wounded friend while they waited about, anxious for bulletins. It was curious to see what a good impression the young fellow had made upon all those who had been his companions, even for so short a time.

But their talk was suddenly ended, and their thoughts turned into other channels, by news that was just then brought in that a large fleet of airships had been descried by their aerial scouts.

'Those who think they know,' Monck announced to Ivanta, 'declare that Agrando himself is probably with them. They recognised the Alsperro, which, as you know, sir, is the former warship which he has been using as a yacht. She is now, I suppose, to act the part of a war-vessel once more.'

Fumenta, on hearing the news, hurried from the couch of the wounded youth to confer with Ivanta.

'The fleet which is approaching is far stronger than yours,' Ivanta explained to him. 'You cannot hide your vessels here in the fortress, so they must either fight or make their escape – if they can, which, as you know, is doubtful. As they are manned by and belong to your friends, it is fitting that I should ask you which course they will prefer to adopt.'

'I am for fighting at all hazards; and so will they be, I know,' returned Fumenta, with grim determination. 'You need not put the question to them.'

'I am glad to hear that, since it accords with my own wishes,' was Ivanta's answer. 'I shall take my measures at once in accordance with your decision. But you must take charge of your fleet, and, for the time being, do the best you can at first, as though my yachts were out of it. They are not fitted to bear the brunt of the first attack from heavier craft, but you will find we shall be able to render you help in another way. We can rise higher and manoeuvre better than any airship belonging either to you or to Agrando.'

'So be it,' said Fumenta simply. 'We will do our best, sir, rest assured, apart from your yachts; and if you can help us so much the better.'

It was the Nelda, the king's yacht, from which Monck had observed the approach of the hostile squadron. She could soar so high that, by the aid of powerful glasses, the strangers had been sighted at an immense distance. Then, thanks to her swiftness of flight, she had carried the news to the fortress before the foe had appeared above the horizon.

When, an hour later, therefore, those in charge of Agrando's powerful fleet drew near, they found a smaller squadron waiting to give them battle.

The oncoming fleet halted, and for a while the hostile forces remained watching each other. Then amongst Agrando's airships there was seen the flutter of a white flag, which on Mars, as on our own globe, is the generally recognised sign of a desire for a parley.

Presently a small pinnace, bearing the white emblem, came flying towards the vessel which Fumenta had made what we should term his 'flagship' – a large-sized craft called by the Martian equivalent for Crescent.

As the pinnace approached, it was seen that the officer in charge of her was Gorondo, Agrando's generalissimo. A little later he was within speaking distance, and delivered his message, which conveyed to Fumenta two or three pieces of information. The first was that Agrando himself was in command of his fleet; the second, that he had somehow heard of the outlaw's chief feat – the seizure of the Iraynian squadron; the third, that he was still ignorant of the capture of the fortress.

The message itself was a haughty and peremptory demand for immediate and unconditional surrender, the bearer taking the trouble to point out that resistance would be useless, as not only were Agrando's ships larger and far more numerous than those opposed to him, but another fleet was on its way to join him. Between the two, Fumenta's position would be hopeless, more especially as he had no power-station to look to to renew his supply of electricity. This last assertion it was which showed that Agrando was unaware of the capture of the fortress.

Fumenta did not enlighten him as to this, but contented himself with a refusal to surrender, couched in terms as curt and peremptory as those of the summons.

With a shrug of the shoulders and a sarcastic expression of pity for the forthcoming fate of the 'rebels,' the ambassador returned to his master.

Both fleets then began their aerial war manoeuvres. Agrando formed his force into two divisions – not lines, but two planes or tiers, one above the other. Fumenta replied by forming his vessels into three similar divisions; whereupon Agrando altered his formation to four tiers.

Each side sent out a number of smaller craft – a kind of mosquito fleet, consisting of different kinds of 'fliers.' Many of these were parties of boarders, whose duty it would be to watch their opportunities and then swarm round any of the opposing vessels which met with a mishap or got into difficulties.

Upon both sides the men had been already provided with 'parachute costumes,' which would enable them to float in the air for a while in case of disaster to their vessel, and aid them in making a safe descent to the ground. Then a certain number were fitted out with motor-wings, while others again had wings without motors, and all these different classes were organised into separate groupings, just as we divide fighting-men into various classes – such as infantry, cavalry, &c., on land, and sailors, marines, and so on, upon the sea.

Agrando sent up first one, then others of his craft, soaring high into the air, with the object of getting above the enemy and dropping down missiles upon them. But even as they mounted above their companion vessels, similar craft were seen rising from the other side to oppose them, and it was between these 'soarers' that the actual conflict commenced.

All the larger vessels on each side were provided with movable turtle-decks or shields as a protection against missiles hurled from above. The real danger from these, however, lay in the injury which might be done to the upright spirals or the extended wings, thereby crippling the manoeuvring power of the craft, or causing her to fall headlong to the ground.

On this account war-vessels did not depend upon one pair of wings alone, but all were fitted with at least two pairs, and some – the biggest – with even three or four pairs. Spare wings were also held in readiness to be run out at any moment to take the place of those which might suffer. The soarers, as stated, began the actual fighting with the efforts of those on one side to get above the vessels opposed to them, and of the other to prevent them from doing so.

While these craft were darting to and fro, chasing each other round, now shooting upwards, now diving to avoid a threatened collision, suddenly a shock was heard, as two of them met in mid-air, with consequences mutually disastrous.

A moment or two later both vessels were falling towards the ground, though the course followed was in each case most erratic. Just previously they had met and remained for a brief space as though glued together; then they flew apart, and began whirling and whizzing round in seemingly mad fashion, like gigantic bluebottles which have singed their wings.

As they pursued their eccentric, irresponsible flight, darting this way and that, now spinning round like humming-tops, now rushing through the air like stray rockets, dangerous alike to friends and foes, each left behind it a sort of 'trail,' which wound round and about, marking its exact course.

This 'trail' consisted of the members of the crews who had jumped or been thrown off, and were now floating downwards in their parachute dresses.

Occasionally there were conflicts in mid-air, as individual castaways from the two airships happened to be thrown one against another in their descent.

But such incidents as these were but trifles in an aerial battle; and, since they exercised practically no effect in deciding its ultimate issue, attracted little general notice. The main struggle would have to be fought out between the larger craft when they came to close quarters – a state of things which Agrando was manoeuvring to bring about.

Fumenta, however, by previous arrangement with Ivanta, was equally anxious to avoid close fighting just then. Accordingly, he was exercising every stratagem his lengthened experience could devise which might tempt his enemies to alter their close formation and draw them on to attack him in loose order.

Agrando, moving slowly forward, sent out yet more boarders, armed with tridents and shields, in readiness for the attack, and these formed another curious feature in this strange battle-scene.

They were towed through the air in long strings, holding on to ropes made fast to their respective vessels, their parachute dress serving for the most part to maintain their position, with the aid of the ropes, and small motor-machines here and there.

As the great array advanced, Fumenta retired – at first as though with reluctance, then more hurriedly, till at last the retreat began to look like the beginning of a panic-stricken flight.

Then Agrando sent his swiftest vessels ahead, towing with them their strings of boarders. In the excitement of pursuit some went faster than the rest, whilst others swerved off to right or to left to outflank the fugitives and head them back, thus creating gaps and spaces in their own ranks.

Meantime, where were Ivanta and his two yachts? That was the question that was being asked by Fumenta and his trusted lieutenants, and they asked it more anxiously as the minutes went by.

The outlaw chief had – sorely, it must be confessed, against his own feelings – consented to carry out a plan which involved the appearance of ignominious flight. The old fighter did not like the role he was thus playing; but he had promised, and he was carrying out his part. The question was, would Ivanta arrive soon enough to carry out his part? If he was to do so it was time he put in an appearance.