第 六 章 · THE ECLIPSE

. It came into my mind in the nick

of time, how Columbus, or Cortez, or one of those people, played

an eclipse as a saving trump once, on some savages, and I saw my

chance. I could play it myself, now, and it wouldn't be any

plagiarism, either, because I should get it in nearly a thousand

years ahead of those parties.

Clarence came in, subdued, distressed, and said:

“I hasted the message to our liege the king, and straightway he

had me to his presence. He was frighted even to the marrow,

and was minded to give order for your instant enlargement, and

that you be clothed in fine raiment and lodged as befitted one so

great; but then came Merlin and spoiled all; for he persuaded

the king that you are mad, and know not whereof you speak; and

said your threat is but foolishness and idle vaporing. They

disputed long, but in the end, Merlin, scoffing, said, 'Wherefore

hath he not _named_ his brave calamity? Verily it is because he

cannot.' This thrust did in a most sudden sort close the king's

mouth, and he could offer naught to turn the argument; and so,

reluctant, and full loth to do you the discourtesy, he yet prayeth

you to consider his perplexed case, as noting how the matter stands,

and name the calamity--if so be you have determined the nature

of it and the time of its coming. Oh, prithee delay not; to delay

at such a time were to double and treble the perils that already

compass thee about. Oh, be thou wise--name the calamity!”

I allowed silence to accumulate while I got my impressiveness

together, and then said:

“How long have I been shut up in this hole?”

“Ye were shut up when yesterday was well spent. It is 9 of

the morning now.”

“No! Then I have slept well, sure enough. Nine in the morning

now! And yet it is the very complexion of midnight, to a shade.

This is the 20th, then?”

“The 20th--yes.”

“And I am to be burned alive to-morrow.” The boy shuddered.

“At what hour?”

“At high noon.”

“Now then, I will tell you what to say.” I paused, and stood over

that cowering lad a whole minute in awful silence; then, in a voice

deep, measured, charged with doom, I began, and rose by dramatically

graded stages to my colossal climax, which I delivered in as sublime

and noble a way as ever I did such a thing in my life: “Go back

and tell the king that at that hour I will smother the whole world

in the dead blackness of midnight; I will blot out the sun, and he

shall never shine again; the fruits of the earth shall rot for lack

of light and warmth, and the peoples of the earth shall famish

and die, to the last man!”

I had to carry the boy out myself, he sunk into such a collapse.

I handed him over to the soldiers, and went back.

CHAPTER 6

THE ECLIPSE

In the stillness and the darkness, realization soon began to

supplement knowledge. The mere knowledge of a fact is pale; but

when you come to _realize_ your fact, it takes on color. It is

all the difference between hearing of a man being stabbed to

the heart, and seeing it done. In the stillness and the darkness,

the knowledge that I was in deadly danger took to itself deeper

and deeper meaning all the time; a something which was realization

crept inch by inch through my veins and turned me cold.

But it is a blessed provision of nature that at times like these,

as soon as a man's mercury has got down to a certain point there

comes a revulsion, and he rallies. Hope springs up, and cheerfulness

along with it, and then he is in good shape to do something for

himself, if anything can be done. When my rally came, it came with

a bound. I said to myself that my eclipse would be sure to save me,

and make me the greatest man in the kingdom besides; and straightway

my mercury went up to the top of the tube, and my solicitudes

all vanished. I was as happy a man as there was in the world.

I was even impatient for to-morrow to come, I so wanted to gather

in that great triumph and be the center of all the nation's wonder

and reverence. Besides, in a business way it would be the making

of me; I knew that.

Meantime there was one thing which had got pushed into the background

of my mind. That was the half-conviction that when the nature

of my proposed calamity should be reported to those superstitious

people, it would have such an effect that they would want to

compromise. So, by and by when I heard footsteps coming, that

thought was recalled to me, and I said to myself, “As sure as

anything, it's the compromise. Well, if it is good, all right,

I will accept; but if it isn't, I mean to stand my ground and play

my hand for all it is worth.”

The door opened, and some men-at-arms appeared. The leader said:

“The stake is ready. Come!”

The stake! The strength went out of me, and I almost fell down.

It is hard to get one's breath at such a time, such lumps come into

one's throat, and such gaspings; but as soon as I could speak, I said:

“But this is a mistake--the execution is to-morrow.”

“Order changed; been set forward a day. Haste thee!”

I was lost. There was no help for me. I was dazed, stupefied;

I had no command over myself, I only wandered purposely about,

like one out of his mind; so the soldiers took hold of me, and

pulled me along with them, out of the cell and along the maze of

underground corridors, and finally into the fierce glare of daylight

and the upper world. As we stepped into the vast enclosed court

of the castle I got a shock; for the first thing I saw was the stake,

standing in the center, and near it the piled fagots and a monk.

On all four sides of the court the seated multitudes rose rank

above rank, forming sloping terraces that were rich with color.

The king and the queen sat in their thrones, the most conspicuous

figures there, of course.

To note all this, occupied but a second. The next second Clarence

had slipped from some place of concealment and was pouring news

into my ear, his eyes beaming with triumph and gladness. He said:

“’Tis through _me_ the change was wrought! And main hard have I worked

to do it, too. But when I revealed to them the calamity in store,

and saw how mighty was the terror it did engender, then saw I also

that this was the time to strike! Wherefore I diligently pretended,

unto this and that and the other one, that your power against the sun

could not reach its full until the morrow; and so if any would save

the sun and the world, you must be slain to-day, while your

enchantments are but in the weaving and lack potency. Odsbodikins,

it was but a dull lie, a most indifferent invention, but you should

have seen them seize it and swallow it, in the frenzy of their

fright, as it were salvation sent from heaven; and all the while

was I laughing in my sleeve the one moment, to see them so cheaply

deceived, and glorifying God the next, that He was content to let

the meanest of His creatures be His instrument to the saving of

thy life. Ah how happy has the matter sped! You will not need

to do the sun a _real_ hurt--ah, forget not that, on your soul forget

it not! Only make a little darkness--only the littlest little

darkness, mind, and cease with that. It will be sufficient. They

will see that I spoke falsely,--being ignorant, as they will fancy

--and with the falling of the first shadow of that darkness you

shall see them go mad with fear; and they will set you free and

make you great! Go to thy triumph, now! But remember--ah, good

friend, I implore thee remember my supplication, and do the blessed

sun no hurt. For _my_ sake, thy true friend.”

I choked out some words through my grief and misery; as much as

to say I would spare the sun; for which the lad's eyes paid me back

with such deep and loving gratitude that I had not the heart

to tell him his good-hearted foolishness had ruined me and sent me

to my death.

As the soldiers assisted me across the court the stillness was

so profound that if I had been blindfold I should have supposed

I was in a solitude instead of walled in by four thousand people.

There was not a movement perceptible in those masses of humanity;

they were as rigid as stone images, and as pale; and dread sat

upon every countenance. This hush continued while I was being

chained to the stake; it still continued while the fagots were

carefully and tediously piled about my ankles, my knees, my thighs,

my body. Then there was a pause, and a deeper hush, if possible,

and a man knelt down at my feet with a blazing torch; the multitude

strained forward, gazing, and parting slightly from their seats

without knowing it; the monk raised his hands above my head, and

his eyes toward the blue sky, and began some words in Latin; in

this attitude he droned on and on, a little while, and then stopped.

I waited two or three moments; then looked up; he was standing

there petrified. With a common impulse the multitude rose slowly

up and stared into the sky. I followed their eyes, as sure as guns,

there was my eclipse beginning! The life went boiling through

my veins; I was a new man! The rim of black spread slowly into

the sun's disk, my heart beat higher and higher, and still the

assemblage and the priest stared into the sky, motionless. I knew

that this gaze would be turned upon me, next. When it was, I was

ready. I was in one of the most grand attitudes I ever struck,

with my arm stretched up pointing to the sun. It was a noble

effect. You could _see_ the shudder sweep the mass like a wave.

Two shouts rang out, one close upon the heels of the other:

“Apply the torch!”

“I forbid it!”

The one was from Merlin, the other from the king. Merlin started

from his place--to apply the torch himself, I judged. I said:

“Stay where you are. If any man moves--even the king--before

I give him leave, I will blast him with thunder, I will consume

him with lightnings!”

The multitude sank meekly into their seats, and I was just expecting

they would. Merlin hesitated a moment or two, and I was on pins

and needles during that little while. Then he sat down, and I took

a good breath; for I knew I was master of the situation now.

The king said:

“Be merciful, fair sir, and essay no further in this perilous matter,

lest disaster follow. It was reported to us that your powers could

not attain unto their full strength until the morrow; but--”

“Your Majesty thinks the report may have been a lie? It _was_ a lie.”

That made an immense effect; up went appealing hands everywhere,

and the king was assailed with a storm of supplications that

I might be bought off at any price, and the calamity stayed.

The king was eager to comply. He said:

“Name any terms, reverend sir, even to the halving of my kingdom;

but banish this calamity, spare the sun!”

My fortune was made. I would have taken him up in a minute, but

I couldn't stop an eclipse; the thing was out of the question. So

I asked time to consider. The king said:

“How long--ah, how long, good sir? Be merciful; look, it groweth

darker, moment by moment. Prithee how long?”

“Not long. Half an hour--maybe an hour.”

There were a thousand pathetic protests, but I couldn't shorten up

any, for I couldn't remember how long a total eclipse lasts. I was

in a puzzled condition, anyway, and wanted to think. Something

was wrong about that eclipse, and the fact was very unsettling.

If this wasn't the one I was after, how was I to tell whether this

was the sixth century, or nothing but a dream? Dear me, if I could

only prove it was the latter! Here was a glad new hope. If the boy

was right about the date, and this was surely the 20th, it _wasn't_

the sixth century. I reached for the monk's sleeve, in considerable

excitement, and asked him what day of the month it was.

Hang him, he said it was the _twenty-first_! It made me turn cold

to hear him. I begged him not to make any mistake about it; but

he was sure; he knew it was the 21st. So, that feather-headed

boy had botched things again! The time of the day was right

for the eclipse; I had seen that for myself, in the beginning,

by the dial that was near by. Yes, I was in King Arthur's court,

and I might as well make the most out of it I could.

The darkness was steadily growing, the people becoming more and

more distressed. I now said:

“I have reflected, Sir King. For a lesson, I will let this darkness

proceed, and spread night in the world; but whether I blot out

the sun for good, or restore it, shall rest with you. These are

the terms, to wit: You shall remain king over all your dominions,

and receive all the glories and honors that belong to the kingship;

but you shall appoint me your perpetual minister and executive,

and give me for my services one per cent of such actual increase

of revenue over and above its present amount as I may succeed

in creating for the state. If I can't live on that, I sha'n't ask

anybody to give me a lift. Is it satisfactory?”

There was a prodigious roar of applause, and out of the midst

of it the king's voice rose, saying:

“Away with his bonds, and set him free! and do him homage, high

and low, rich and poor, for he is become the king's right hand,

is clothed with power and authority, and his seat is upon the highest

step of the throne! Now sweep away this creeping night, and bring

the light and cheer again, that all the world may bless thee.”

But I said:

“That a common man should be shamed before the world, is nothing;

but it were dishonor to the _king_ if any that saw his minister naked

should not also see him delivered from his shame. If I might ask

that my clothes be brought again--”

“They are not meet,” the king broke in. “Fetch raiment of another

sort; clothe him like a prince!”

My idea worked. I wanted to keep things as they were till the

eclipse was total, otherwise they would be trying again to get

me to dismiss the darkness, and of course I couldn't do it. Sending

for the clothes gained some delay, but not enough. So I had to make

another excuse. I said it would be but natural if the king should

change his mind and repent to some extent of what he had done

under excitement; therefore I would let the darkness grow a while,

and if at the end of a reasonable time the king had kept his mind

the same, the darkness should be dismissed. Neither the king nor

anybody else was satisfied with that arrangement, but I had

to stick to my point.

It grew darker and darker and blacker and blacker, while I struggled

with those awkward sixth-century clothes. It got to be pitch dark,

at last, and the multitude groaned with horror to feel the cold

uncanny night breezes fan through the place and see the stars

come out and twinkle in the sky. At last the eclipse was total,

and I was very glad of it, but everybody else was in misery; which

was quite natural. I said:

“The king, by his silence, still stands to the terms.” Then

I lifted up my hands--stood just so a moment--then I said, with

the most awful solemnity: “Let the enchantment dissolve and

pass harmless away!”

There was no response, for a moment, in that deep darkness and

that graveyard hush. But when the silver rim of the sun pushed

itself out, a moment or two later, the assemblage broke loose with

a vast shout and came pouring down like a deluge to smother me

with blessings and gratitude; and Clarence was not the last of

the wash, to be sure.