"There's an amusing thing--called 'Historical Fragment.' I
remember, oh I remember very well, how it pleased me when I first
read it."
He read it aloud now, with many a chuckle, many a pause of sly
emphasis.
"'The Story of the last war between the Asiatic kingdoms of Duroba
and Kalaya, though it has reached us in a narrative far too concise,
is one of the most interesting chapters in the history of ancient
civilisation.
"'They were bordering states, peopled by races closely akin, whose
languages, it appears, were mutually intelligible; each had
developed its own polity, and had advanced to a high degree of
refinement in public and private life. Wars between them had been
frequent, but at the time with which we are concerned the spirit of
hostility was all but forgotten in a happy peace of long duration.
Each country was ruled by an aged monarch, beloved of the people,
but, under the burden of years, grown of late somewhat less vigilant
than was consistent with popular welfare. Thus it came to pass that
power fell into the hands of unscrupulous statesmen, who, aided by
singular circumstances, succeeded in reviving for a moment the old
sanguinary jealousies.
"'We are told that a General in the army of Duroba, having a turn
for experimental chemistry, had discovered a substance of terrible
explosive power, which, by the exercise of further ingenuity, he had
adapted for use in warfare.
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