, I tell you that being a brave and honourable
man, although our enemy, he will become ten times more wroth with you
than he was before, and exact a vengeance even more terrible. I tell you
also, that then you must find another Walda Nagasta to rule over you,
since I, Maqueda, will do so no more."

"That is impossible," said some one, "you are the last woman of the true
blood."

"Then you can choose one of blood that is not true, or elect a king,
as the Jews elected Saul, for if my guests are butchered I shall die of
very shame."

These words of hers seemed to cow the Council, one of whom asked what
would she have them do?

"Do?" she replied, throwing back her veil, "why, be men, raise an army
of every male who can carry a sword; help the foreigners, and they will
lead you to victory. People of the Abati, would you be slaughtered,
would you see your women slaves, and your ancient name blotted out from
the list of peoples?"

Now some of them cried, "No."

"Then save yourselves. You are still many, the strangers here have skill
in war, they can lead if you will follow. Be brave a while, and I swear
to you that by harvest the Abati shall sit in the city of Harmac and not
the Fung in Mur. I have spoken, now do what you will," and rising from
her chair of state Maqueda left the chamber, motioning to us to do
likewise.

The end of all this business was that a peace was made between us and
the Council of the Abati. After their pompous, pedantic fashion they
swore solemnly on the roll of the Law that they would aid us in every
way to overcome the Fung, and even obey such military orders as we
might give them, subject to the confirmation of these orders by a small
council of their generals. In short, being very frightened, for a time
they forgot their hatred of us foreigners.

So a scheme of operations was agreed upon, and some law passed by the
Council, the only governing body among the Abati, for they possessed no
representative institutions, under which law a kind of conscription was
established for a while. Let me say at once that it met with the most
intense opposition. The Abati were agriculturalists who loathed military
service. From their childhood they had heard of the imminence of
invasion, but no actual invasion had ever yet taken place. The Fung were
always without, and they were always within, an inland isle, the wall of
rock that they thought impassable being their sea which protected them
from dange