Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/83

Rh which we were constantly passing, and the numbers of people on horseback and on foot, all bound for the same quarter, deliberately took off all his clothes, and put on a gorgeous uniform and a splendid cocked hat and feathers, and girded himself with a sword-belt, to which was attached a heavy weapon, studded with innumerable brilliants. All these he drew from a spacious chest in his carriage, muttering to himself while he put them on: 'They shall know me now; I've been incognito for a long time; they will not be satisfied without blood; they shall have plenty, the grumbling, growling, pestilent knaves; their rascally quarrels disturb even my peace of mind; I'll crush the troublesome brutes.'

'I hope, sir,' I said as respectfully as I could, 'that there will be no real war to-day. I am a man of peace, and it would be a dreadful thing for me to see a million of men fighting and murdering each other on one battle-field.'

'You are right, my friend,' he bellowed; 'it would be a dreadful thing; but you are always ready to take nonsensical notions into your head. Who is thinking about real war? I'm sure I'm not. L'Empire c'est la paix.'

On we sped through and over the astonished multitudes I conjectured that each quarter of that great city was separate and distinct, and that there were no covered ways or short cuts from one to another. The distance from one gigantic archway to the adjoining one, though very considerable, was rapidly traversed, and soon we found ourselves entering a vast square into which opened a number of wide avenues. Its size was immense, and the roof was supported by a great number of pillars of black marble, on which hung innumerable bright lamps. It was surrounded by fantastic buildings which appeared in the lurid light like the spirits of mediaeval castles. There were peaceful-looking palaces, too, but these, as I afterwards discovered, were inhabited by the most treacherous and bloodthirsty of created beings.