Maqueda.

"Lady," he answered, "I, your servant, am instructed to attempt to
destroy the idol Harmac, by means of the explosives which we have
brought with us from England. First, I would ask you if you still cling
to that design?"

"Why should it be abandoned?" inquired Maqueda. "What have you against
it?"

"Two things, Lady. As an act of war the deed seems useless, since
supposing that the sphinx is shattered and a certain number of priests
and guards are destroyed, how will that advance your cause? Secondly,
such destruction will be very difficult, if it can be done at all. The
stuff we have with us, it is true, is of fearful strength, yet who can
be sure that there is enough of it to move this mountain of hard rock,
of which I cannot calculate the weight, not having the measurements or
any knowledge of the size of the cavities within its bulk. Lastly, if
the attempt is to be made, a tunnel must be hollowed of not less than
three hundred feet in length, first downward and then upward into the
very base of the idol, and if this is to be done within six weeks, that
is, by the night of the marriage of the daughter of Barung, the work
will be very hard, if indeed it can be completed at all, although
hundreds of men labour day and night."

Now Maqueda thought a while, then looked up and said:

"Friend, you are brave and skilful, tell us all your mind. If you sat in
my place, what would you do?"

"Lady, I would lead out every able-bodied man and attack the city of the
Fung, say, on the night of the great festival when they are off their
guard. I would blow in the gates of the city of Harmac, and storm it and
drive away the Fung, and afterwards take possession of the idol, and if
it is thought necessary, destroy it piecemeal from within."

Now Maqueda consulted with her councillors, who appeared to be much
disturbed at this suggestion, and finally called us back and gave us her
decision.

"These lords of the Council," she said, speaking with a ring of contempt
in her voice, "declare that your plan is mad, and that they will never
sanction it because the Abati could not be persuaded to undertake so
dangerous an enterprise as an attack upon the city of Harmac, which
would end, they think, in all of them being killed. They point out, O
Orme, that the prophecy is that the Fung will leave the plain of Harmac
when their god is destroyed and not before, and that therefore it must
be destroyed. They say, further, O Orme,