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CHAPTER SEVEN

The Escape

As John stared in amazement, something very strange began happening around him. The sky seemed to become dark for an instant and the wind started blowing.

There seemed to be trumpets playing far away. For a time there was darkness and the birds’ songs stopped. There seemed to be the sound of thunder.

That was all. Then the dawn continued as before and the sun rose. The leaves laughed in the sun and their laughter moved the trees. God had refused to accept the bribe.

For another moment John watched the beauty of the day. Then he turned and saw the airplanes land near the castle.

John ran down the side of the mountain where the two girls were awake. They were waiting for him. Kismine jumped to her feet. John knew there was no time for words.

They must get off the mountain immediately. He took the hand of each girl and they silently moved through the trees in the morning light.

When they had gone about half a mile At a certain point they turned around and saw the mountain they had just left.

Against the clear sky they saw a white-haired man slowly coming down the mountain. Two enormous slaves followed him. They were carrying the diamond between them, which shone in the sun.

Then two other figures joined them, Mrs Washington and her son, Percy. The pilots with their guns had gone from their airplanes to the front of the castle.

Braddock Washington and his group stopped by a rock. The slaves pulled up a trapdoor in the side of the mountain. They all disappeared into the trapdoor - the white-haired man first, then his wife and son, and finally the two slaves.

Kismine pulled John’s arm.

“Where are they going? What are they going to do?” she cried wildly.

“It must be some way of escape.”

A little scream from the two girls interrupted his sentence.

“Don’t you see?” cried Kismine. “The mountain is going to explode. They are going to destroy it.”

Before she finished speaking, the color of the mountain became a bright yellow. At the same time the castle exploded and there was a great fire, and then nothing but smoke.

The pilots and the five people who had gone inside the mountain were certainly dead. Everything was destroyed and there was silence everywhere. John and the two girls were alone in the valley.

At sunset they reached the high cliff which had marked the boundaries of the Washingtons’ land. They looked back at the beautiful valley, which was now peaceful again. They sat down to finish the food Jasmine had brought with her in a basket.

“There,” she said, as she put the tablecloth on the grass and then put the sandwiches on it. “I always think food tastes better outdoors.”

“Now,” John said, “empty your pockets and let’s see what jewels you brought with you. With a good selection of jewels we will be able to live well all our lives.”

Kismine put her hand in her pocket and took out a lot of shiny jewels.

“Not so bad,” cried John enthusiastically. “They aren’t very big, but - oh no!” His expression changed when he held one of them up to the sun. “Why, these aren’t diamonds. Something is wrong.”

“Oh,” exclaimed Kismine. “What an idiot I am.”

“Why, these are glass,” cried John.

“I know!” She started laughing, “I opened the wrong drawer. They belonged to a girl who visited Jasmine. She gave them to me in exchange for diamonds. I had never seen anything but diamonds before.”

“And this is what you brought?”

“Yes,” she said. “But I think I like these better - I’m a bit tired of diamonds.”

“Very well,” said John sadly. “We’ll have to live in Hades. And you will grow old and tell women that you opened the wrong drawer, and they will never believe you. Unfortunately, your father’s bank books disappeared with him.”

“Well, what’s the matter with Hades?”

“If I come home with a wife at my age, my father won’t give me a penny.”

Jasmine spoke up.

“I love washing,” she said quietly. “I have always washed my own handkerchiefs. I’ll wash clothes for people and support both of you.”

“Do they have laundry ladies in Hades?” asked Kismine innocently.

“Of course,” answered John. “It’s just like everywhere else.”

“I thought it was too hot to wear any clothes.”

John laughed.

“Just try it, he said.”

“They’ll throw you out of town before you know what’s happening.”

“Will father be there?” she asked.

John looked at her in astonishment.

“Your father is dead,” he answered sadly. “Why should he go to Hades? You’ve confused it with another place with the same name.”

After dinner they put away the tablecloth and put out their blankets for the night.

“What a dream it was,” Kismine said, looking up at the stars. “How strange it seems to be here under the stars with one dress and a poor fiance.”

“Under the stars,” she repeated. “I never noticed the stars before. I always thought of them as great big diamonds that belonged to someone. Now they frighten me. They make me feel that my youth was all a dream.”

“It was a dream,” said John quietly. “Everybody’s youth is a dream - just a form of chemical madness.”

“How pleasant then to be mad” cried Kismine.

“That’s what I’m told,” said John. “Let us love for a while, for a year or so, you and me. That’s a form of divine drunkenness that we can all try. Turn up your coat collar, little girl, it’s a cold night.”

He covered himself with his blanket and fell asleep.