A perfectly black, solid wall of rock met the gaze of
Rex and Zendah,
when they approached the entrance to the Land of the Bull.
It rose straight and smooth, and as far as they could
see there was not
a crack anywhere.
At the height of about six feet from the ground there
was a band of
carving; little figures, birds, and animals such as you
see on the old
temples that are discovered in the deserts of Egypt.
The figures were carved, and raised slightly above
the surface of the
wall, and the whole of the background was set with a
beautiful blue stone to
show them off.
In front of the wall the ground was sandy, and so dry
that it flew up in
clouds with each step you took.
They had been told that the Gate of the Bull was
concealed, and hard to
find, so they began to examine every bit of the wall in
front of them.
Suddenly Zendah stumbled on something in the ground.
They pushed back the sand with their hands, and found
a large square
slab of stone with a ring of copper in the middle. Just
below the ring was a
hollow cut in the stone.
Rex took hold of the ring and gave it a tug, but could
not move it a bit.
Then Zendah tried; but she could not move it either!
Suddenly she remembered—"Why Rex, we have to put
that blue powder which
was given us by Hermes into that queer shaped hollow, and
place the jewels
of the Scorpion-Eagle and the Water Carrier on the two
horns, and that of
the Lion below: then wait and see what happens."
They looked in the scroll of Hermes to be quite
certain that this was
the right thing to do, then Zendah knelt down and placed
the powder in the
hollow, arranging the jewels in the proper order.
The minute they were all in place, a swirl of smoke
rushed up from the
powder, and the earth shook so violently that Rex fell
down on one side of
the stone and Zendah on the other.
On getting up they found themselves at the side of an
opening in the
ground, with the stone standing upright on one side like
the lid of a box.
The jewels lay in a row in front, all ready for them to
pick up again.
The opening was the beginning of a stone stairway,
and they at once
guessed it to be the entrance.
Down the broad stairs they went, until they reached
the bottom where
they saw an archway with a stone door, on which was a
knocker like a bull's
head. Rex gave two raps, and a voice challenged them:
"Who comes there?"
"Rex and Zendah."
"The Password?" again demanded the voice.
"Strength."
The door opened backward, so that they had to step on
it to enter. They
saw that the Guardian of the gate was a big figure with a
helmet like a
bull's head. Such a queer-looking person!
At the entrance stood a sturdy woman. She was dressed
in a thin white
robe with a blue belt; a large flat collar of blue stones
completely covered
her shoulders. A band of copper held her dark brown hair
in place, and this
had a horned ornament in front.
"Welcome," she said, "to the Land of the Bull. May
our friendship endure
as our foundations are strong and lasting." Stepping to
one side she waved
them toward the entrance where stood a chariot, drawn by
two white oxen with
wreaths of flowers on their horns. When the children had
stepped in, she
herself stood in front, and drove the chariot.
The roads were broad and smooth, well made in every
way. They did not
travel fast, but that gave them time to look around. The
first part of the
land through which they drove was country; everywhere
they saw men and women
busy plowing and planting. All looked strong and sturdy,
most of them had
splendid heads of hair and large dark brown eyes.
Everyone was singing at his work, and where many were
in one field quite
a concert was to be heard.
Seeds were coming up in some places, and there did
not seem to be a
vacant piece of land anywhere.
Further on, they saw men planning new roads and
cutting the foundations
of houses. These were strong and well arranged; the walls
were enormously
thick and made with huge blocks of stone. They looked as
if they would last
forever when they were finished. Where these houses were
inhabited, the
children noticed that each one had a small field, and
that a cow or a bull
was nibbling the grass or lying down basking in the Sun.
In fact there were
as many cattle in this land as there were horses in the
Land of the Archer.
Soon they came to the City of the Bull. It was
exactly square, a high
and massive wall on each side, and entrances that faced
north, south, east,
and west. The chariot drew up by the north entrance, and
they followed their
guide on foot through the town. The streets were filled
with people; and how
busy they all were! There seemed to be every kind of
thing you can imagine
for sale.
Merchants from every part of the world were either
trying to sell their
own goods or bargaining with the owners of the shops for
theirs.
In some places there were all sorts of good things to
eat in the
windows; they made one feel hungry only just to look at
them. The children
stood entranced before the jewelers' stalls, for they had
never seen so many
gold ornaments, nor so many beautiful gems all in one
place. Zendah wanted
to buy some to take home, only they found they had no
money in their "star
clothes."
It was difficult to drag themselves away, there were
so many things to
see; but at last they came to the center of the market
place, where stood
the chief building of the land. There was a fountain at
each corner, raised
on the backs of four marble bulls; for this great
building like all the city
was a perfect square. The entrance porch was guarded by
men with helmets
like the one at the gate. Their short tunics were blue
and their shields
white, with a black bull as the crest.
Rex and Zendah felt sure that this palace could not
be moved easily, it
was as solid, and as still, as the palace of Hermes was
moving and airy.
Once inside they could not help noticing the floors
in the halls and the
corridors, for they were the most beautiful part of the
building; every one
was of a different design and all made of stones in
various shapes and colors.
Azure-blue curtains were flung back to allow them to
enter the great
hall, the roof of which was painted to look like the sky
with many stars.
All around were immense pillars with painted figures like
those on the wall
at the gate.
The throne was carved with standing bulls for its
arms, and above, in
the wall behind, was a large window shaped like a
crescent. A woman who sat
on the throne, smiled at them, and they soon saw that she
was Queen Venus,
although she looked so different that they did not
recognize her at first.
Her robe was wrapped round and round her, in so many
folds that she was
almost hidden by them; but her arms and neck were bare.
she wore a
magnificent collar of blue enamel with hanging chains of
emeralds, and on her
head was a crown made of a thick band of copper with two
curved horns,
between which hung a shining circle of silver.
It was now evening, for night had come on while they
traveled to the
palace, and soon the full Moon shone through the window
just over the
Queen's head.
As it did so an organ at the end of the hall began to
play softly, and a
choir of voices chanted a song of greeting that gradually
grew louder and
louder, until there was a final burst of music. It was in
the moment of
silence which followed that Rex and Zendah saw the
figure, with a star on
his forehead, of the fourth great Angel, resembling those
they had seen in
the other lands, only this angel had blue wings.
The curtains were then drawn back and a procession of
pages carrying
copper trays entered.
It was the Festival of the Offerings of the Earth;
these were silks and
seeds, bowls of violets, gold and silver ornaments,
everything beautiful
that you can imagine, and last of all, bowls of gold and
silver coins.
Merchants of all races and colors gave their greetings.
Master builders
brought their plans, and all the time the voices sang the
song of the Plenty
of the Earth. Each page as he entered with the gifts took
his stand either
to the right or to the left of the throne, until they
were all in their places.
Last of all Rex and Zendah found they were expected
to stand before the
throne too. They felt rather shy, for they had no gift to
offer.
Queen Venus smiled and said:
"We do not expect visitors to bring gifts; instead we
give them
something to take away with them. You have noticed how in
this land there is
plenty of everything that gives comfort and beauty. Here
is the magic purse
that will
never be empty so long as you give something of its
contents away to others
who need it, every time you spend some of the money on
yourself. It will
give wealth, Rex, but spend wisely. To you, Zendah, I
grant the gift of
song, a gift more precious than gold."
Touching the child's throat with a little wand tipped
with violets, she
placed a string of emeralds round her neck. Zendah felt a
queer swelling in
her throat, just as though she must sing!
Venus nodded, and gave the sign to the musicians, and
before she knew
what she was doing, Zendah found herself singing alone.
How Rex stared, for
he had never heard her sing at all before. When she had
finished her song,
Queen Venus made them a sign and they both ran up the
steps of her throne,
and she put her arms around them and kissed them.
"Now sit down on the cushions in front while I send
you to the next
gate."
The organ sounded a slow, swelling chord and again
the voices sang some
words the children did not understand, joined at the end
by Queen Venus herself.
The lights vanished, and down, and down, they seemed
to go into the
Earth—a sudden noise like the shutting of a door—and
they found, with the
fourth earthquake, they were once more outside the Gate
of the Bull.
Rex and Zendah were soon aware that they were near
the last gate, that
of the Ram, for it began to get so hot that they quickly
turned around to look.
It was the first time during their adventures that
they were really
startled, and even a little afraid, just for a moment.
Where one would
expect to find the gate, there was a wall of leaping
flames, dashing with a
roar higher and higher above their heads until they
seemed to touch the sky.
They stood and watched, and as they did so, they
began to see all the
wood-fire colours of green and blue, lilac and red,
where, at first, they
had seen only yellow. Each color seemed to be singing a
note of music, so
it was fascinating to watch and pleasant to listen to.
"The last gate!" said Rex after a few minutes, "and
it seems to be the
most difficult to pass. See! among the flames there hangs
a horn; but how
ever can we manage to get it so as to sound the alarm?"
"Well," replied Zendah, "courage is the password of
this land so we had
better see if we can get near it."
Hand in hand, step by step, they crept nearer and
nearer. Strangely
enough it did not get hotter the nearer they came to the
gate, and at last
they stood quite close to the flames. Rex, greatly
daring, put up his hand
and found he could take the horn without getting burned.
He sounded the horn, which was answered by another on
the other side of
the gate.
The flames divided themselves into two pillars curved
and twisted at the
top like horns. A chain of scarlet fire joined them
together, from which
hung a curtain of rose colored flames. The pillars were
of a golden color and
very brilliant.
Again the inner horn sounded and then came the
challenge.
"Who dares to come to this gate?"
The children replied as instructed by their scroll:
"Rex and Zendah through Courage dare to enter the
Land of the Ram."
"Enter the fire," commanded the voice.
This instruction did seem difficult and they stood
and looked at each
other for a minute or two, but neither of them said
anything in case the
other was afraid.
They came closer to the gate and found the curtain of
flames divided in
the center, which allowed them to enter without harm,
although the flames
seemed to be roaring on each hand as they passed. They
arrived suddenly at
the other side and found themselves in a land of
brilliant sunshine.
The air was so sparkling, that they wanted to jump
and sing with excitement.
No one was there to meet them, as at some of the
other gates, and wild
country lay ahead—rough stones and forest land,
uncultivated but beautiful,
and with no roads.
At their feet they found two hatchets, which
evidently they were
expected to take, for they had labels, on which were
carved the words, "Use
me, I help to smooth rough places."
"There does not seem to be any path," said Rex,
picking up one of the
hatchets and giving the other to Zendah. "I wonder which
way we had better
try to go?"
"Let us follow the sun," she replied, "That will
surely lead us somewhere."
Off they went, over the rough land, clambering amid
rocky slopes,
through woods, where they had to cut a path in the
thickets with their axes.
It was all great fun though rather rough traveling.
At last, after some little time, they came to
pleasant fields and signs
of habitation, and were met at the edge of the wild woods
by a big white
ram. Bells hung from the rams' gilded horns.
Flocks of sheep filled the fields but the ram,
somehow, made Rex and
Zendah understand that they were to follow him—he was
certainly a very wise
one!
On they went, tramping after the ram. The sun was
very hot, and the
breeze strong, but it made them feel vigorous and able to
walk miles without
becoming tired.
At last they came to a road and houses, and from the
largest of these
sounded forth the noise of machinery and much hammering.
They stopped to
look, for all the doors and windows of the building, from
which came the
hammering, were wide open. Inside many men were working
with tools,
machinery and furnaces, handling in some cases red hot
iron.
"What are they making?" they ventured to ask of a man
who was coming out
of the building.
"Everything you can imagine that is made of iron," he
replied. "All the
tools that are used on the land for plowing and reaping,
and at present I am
sorry to say, swords and guns, and all things that men
need when they go to
war, and these we shall have to make until men stop
fighting. Then the
energy of the ram will be used for only really useful
tools."
For a few minutes they watched the busy hive of men,
and the sparks that
flew up every now and then. At last turning away they
again followed the ram.
Up the road came dashing a group of horsemen who
glittered in the Sun as
they approached. When they drew their panting horses to a
halt, Rex and
Zendah saw they were knights in real armor. The leader
saluted them with
his sword. "The King desires your presence at once," he
said, "and has sent
us to fetch you. Mount quickly and ride with us."
A horse was brought for each of the children, and
they were delighted to
find that they were the same horses they had ridden in
the Land of the
Archer. The leading knight too, they had met before in
the Land of the Lion,
so they felt quite at home.
Rex was invited to ride at the head of the troop of
knights, because he
was the special visitor, this being his own land. Very
fast they rode, the
wind rushing through their hair with the speed at which
they traveled, on
and on, past clearings in the forest where rough huts
were springing up,
past towns that seemed only just built; until at last
they arrived at the
City of Mars.
Situated on a hill was the palace, built entirely of
red polished
marble, looking very splendid and shining like fire in
the rays of the Sun.
They did not stop for a moment, but swiftly ascended
the steps until
they drew up at the palace porch, where more knights met
them. These knights
wore over their armor white tunics, embroidered in red
and gold with the
emblem of the cross and the lamb. Some of them, but not
many, had red tunics
and white crosses.
Each knight was attended by a small boy, with red
hair, who walked in
front carrying the knight's sword and helmet, which was
always splendid, and
made of worked steel.
Rex and Zendah were escorted along passages and up a
long flight of dark
green, bloodstone steps, until at the top they were met
by an old man in a
monk's robe.
"You have something very important to do," he said.
"In this, your last
visit, we have been given orders to make you Knights of
the Sun, if you will
take the pledges. The fire you passed through at the gate
was the first test.
"Will you, Rex and Zendah, promise to speak the
truth, be fearless,
fight for the weak, and be loyal to our King?"
Each replied: "I will."
He then placed on their shoulders a long white cloak
with a red cross on
the back and requested them to follow him into the hall
and not speak until
he bade them.
It was a very lofty hall, so high that one could not
see the ceiling.
The walls were pale rose color, and the pillars were a
magnificent scarlet,
like a poppy.
Knights in their shining armor stood at attention
along the walls, and
banners of all countries and lands hung everywhere, some
new and some worn
and tattered.
The throne was not in the usual place, but in the
center of the hall,
and facing it at the far end stood an altar. The window
in the wall behind
this was curiously shaped like a sword, stretching from
floor to roof. The
cross handle of this sword formed the diameter of a
narrow circular window,
with twelve small divisions, each of a different colored
glass.
Slowly they followed the old man to the throne, where
they found King
Mars dressed in wonderful red and gold robes, and wearing
a crown of
polished steel.
He bowed to them and said, "I am commissioned by our
Lord the sun, to
make you his knights; it is a great honor. You have
promised to obey the
knights' law, and so when the right moment arrives you
will follow me to the
cushions in front of the altar.
"You notice the fire is not lighted; once every year
the sun relights
the Sacred Fire to show that the Earth awakens to its
year of work with his
help. It is at this time that we admit anyone who is
qualified to become a
Knight of the Sun."
In front of the altar on the right hand, stood a
herald with a trumpet.
On each side were seated six drummers. The drummers
rolled out a tattoo, and
as they did so Mars left his throne, and walked up and
took his place in
front of the altar. Rex and Zendah followed and knelt
down on the cushions
placed for them. The trumpeter sounded one clear note,
and at this moment a
great beam of sunlight flashed through the sword-shaped
window, striking
across the altar on its way, and shining on Mars and on
the children who
knelt at his feet.
The scented wood caught fire and clouds of smoke rose
into the air. In
the clouds they saw the face of the Sun Lord smiling at
them, and then it
vanished.
While the sunbeam still shone upon them Mars drew his
sword, and
striking each child lightly on the shoulder, cried:
"Rise true Knights of the Sun, take each the Sword of
Light, like that
which was bestowed upon King Arthur, and, with courage
and cheerfulness,
fight the Dragon of Selfishness in the world, never
despairing, however
difficult the task."
The children rose to their feet, and the attendant
pages girded them
with scarlet belts, and gave them shining swords whose
handles had their
names set in brilliant diamonds.
Every knight in the hall drew his sword and saluted
them. It was a
wonderful sight to see them all flashing in the air.
Then they took their places as knights by the side of
Mars, and watched
men and women come to beg him to sign their papers, that
they might, during
the coming year, go forth into strange lands and explore
or fight for the
oppressed.
To each he said as he fixed his red seal to the
paper: "Go forth,
brother, with courage, and overcome all difficulties."
The beam of sunlight gradually faded away and Mars
turned to the
children and told them it was time for them to go.
Saluting with their new swords, they turned and went
out of the palace,
back to their horses which were waiting for them at the
entrance.
The knights rode with them to this entrance, and
after saluting their
brother knights with their swords, the children soon
found themselves
outside the gates.
"Our adventures are over, Zendah," sighed Rex, "now
we have to go home."
"And you would not find that so easy without me,"
cried a voice, and
turning around they saw Hermes.
"Now we must go quickly. When we get home I shall
help you to remember
all you have seen and heard. You are wondering how to use
your talismans?
Well, as each month comes, think of your password and you
will find that you
will be able to use your talisman all that month. How
much use you can make
of it depends on practice. See, too, here are the rest of
the keys to open
the Book of Wisdom; these you will be able to use also as
you grow older."
He took hold of their hands, and back they flew to
Earth, so swiftly
that before they could count two, they were standing in
their own room.
"Now," said Hermes, "you must get out of your star
bodies very slowly
and then you will remember when you wake up in the
morning." He touched them
with his wand, and—the next thing they remembered they
were sitting up in
bed with the Sun shining in at the window and mother
saying: "Well, you are
a long time waking up this morning."
They jumped up at once. "Oh mother, we have had such
a lovely time, we
have been to the star lands with Hermes. And oh—do you
remember seeing us
in the Land of the Crab?"
Mother smiled, "So you do remember too. I hope you
always will, for not
all children are taken by Hermes to the lands of the
Zodiac."
The adventures are ended. But you can all find the
entrance gates to the
lands of the Zodiac if you search for them. However, you
will find some of
these lands much easier to visit than others. Of course
this does depend
upon which fairy smiled into your cradle when you were
born and gave you for
your very own the talisman and password of your sign.
If King Neptune smiled upon you, or the Lady Moon,
you will have
adventures to tell even more exciting than those of Rex
and Zendah when you
awaken in the morning. And then you must write your
adventures for other
children to read.
Best of all, if you can persuade Hermes, the
messenger of the gods, to
touch you with his magic wand and give you his shoes of
swiftness, these
will bring to you, as your most cherished possession—a
passport to all the
Lands of the Stars.
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