Philip’s dismal forebodings were destined to be realized within a very short time. If his subjects had been impatient on the day previous because they only saw him on the balcony, they were furious now when the windows and doors remained closed and their king came not forth to greet them.

From his place of refuge he could hear a murmuring sound, as of the waves on the sea-shore; but after an hour passed this had increased to a deafening roar, which was echoed and re-echoed from every portion of the forest until it seemed as if the entire island must be covered with apes searching for their ruler.

Now and then the fugitive could hear a hoarse cry, which arose above the general din, and in it he believed he recognized Goliah’s voice. The huge baboon, who had been only suspicious on the day previous, was probably positive now that the king was not all he should be, and was most likely inciting the multitude to open rebellion.

Judging from the events which followed, it was not a hard task to induce these long-tailed subjects to rise in their might, for before noon the attack was begun.

[231]

The apes, probably understanding that they could not learn the cause of the king’s indisposition and sudden disappearance except by demolishing the building which they themselves had reared, made a furious attack on all four sides at the same moment.

From previous experience Philip knew that in this assault they must necessarily be successful owing to their numbers, and also because it was no longer possible for him to interpose any lengthy resistance; therefore he remained in one corner of the kitchen, with the musket in his hands and the small amount of ammunition in his pocket, resolved to sell his life dearly when the supreme moment should arrive.

Against the sides of the building the heavy missiles rattled like hail; the walls shook under the repeated blows, and now and then the crashing and splintering of roof-timbers told that slowly but surely Philip’s place of refuge was being reduced to a ruin.

At rare intervals the bombardment ceased as the entire army burst forth in noisy cries of grief, deafening howls of sympathy, and groans which were intended to be expressive of tenderness.

This mourning for their king was always followed by a more vigorous onslaught, and, as near as Philip could judge, it was about the hour of sunset when the building gave way beneath a shower of rocks. First a heavy crash from above told that the roof had fallen; then the front wall was forced in, probably burying amid its ruins the papers and books of Captain Seaworth, and causing Philip’s hiding-place[232] to rock to and fro like a tree shaken by the wind.

Finally there came that which Philip had not anticipated.

Instead of the dwelling being demolished in such a manner that he was exposed to view, the walls, besieged on every side, fell inward; and at the last deafening crash he commended himself to God, for it seemed positive he was buried alive.

In the brief space of time which elapsed from the first shattering of the side-wall until the end came Philip thought, with intense relief, that he would be crushed to death rather than murdered by those who had been so loyal a few days previous. Then the ceiling and sides of the room burst in, sending forth great clouds of dust, which from the outside must have looked like smoke ascending from a funeral pyre.

The assailants were silenced—awed by their work. The building was nothing more than a mass of ruin, but yet no trace of their king could be seen.

Looking from the outside, one would have said there could be no living thing beneath these enormous fragments of rock and wood; and yet, strange as it may seem, Philip was there with not so much as a single scratch upon his body. It was destined that his life should not be taken by his subjects during an assault planned by Goliah.

The heavy furniture, piled up from the door of the cupboard to the corner of the room as a barricade in case the apes succeeded in entering the[233] building, had been sufficient to uphold the weight which fell upon it, and the timbers of the ceiling had formed across the top a perfect support.

The king of the apes, whose reign had been of such short duration, was thus literally buried alive; but in this accidental tomb he had provisions sufficient to serve him many days.

For a few moments after the falling of the timbers Philip congratulated himself upon this fact; but his joy was short-lived. He soon realized that unless—as was improbable—he could have aid from the outside, the stock of provisions would simply serve to prol............