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In a few moons all the southern provinces were ripe for a revolt, and the troops who were sent to overawe them were most desirous of opening the campaign against their Sultan. Two hundred French engineers were also invited, by large rewards, to join the armies of Ahubal; and the troops were supplied by the vigilance of the enchanter Ollomand.
As Ollomand spake these words he stamped with his feet, and a chariot, drawn by four dragons, arose from the pit in the centre of the court, which Ahubal and the enchanter ascended, and were conveyed in a dark cloud to the woods behind the city of Orixa.
"Favourite of the race of the powerful," said Ollomand, "see here the bones of those who have lifted up their arms against thee; and I will add to their number till this castle be filled." "Alas," answered Ahubal, "Ulin is no more, and the vultures are preying on the vitals of Happuck! Ten provinces have deserted my cause, and the coffers of my army are exhausted!"
When the dwarf had reached the bottom he advanced to Ahubal, and, presenting him with a clue, he told him that, if he threw it before him, and followed it, the clue would unravel itself, and discover to him the path which led up the rocks to the castle of Ollomand, his master.
Ahubal fled at the news, and hid himself in the mountains; for he feared lest his soldiers should betray him, and deliver him up to his brother. But Ollomand, the enchanter, who first counselled the Sultan of India to secure his throne by spilling the innocent blood of his brother, now resolved to revenge the common cause.
Ollomand the enchanter, notwithstanding Ahubal had thrown off the disguise of a merchant, still attended him as a black slave, being always about his person, till the freedom which the Prince allowed him was resented by the officers of his army.
"These," said Ollomand, "are the arms of Europe, a part of the earth filled with industrious robbers, whose minds are hourly on the stretch to invent new plagues to torment each other. Of these mortals many are settled on the sea-coasts of our southern provinces, whom I shall persuade through the instigation of that god whom they worship, to join the forces of Ahubal."
"Hast thou, then, mighty enchanter," answered the Prince Ahubal, "the gods of Europe in thy power?" "The Europeans," said Ollomand, "acknowledge one God, who, they pretend, doth inhabit the heavens, but whom we find buried in the entrails of the earth: gold, O Prince, is their god, for whose sake they will undertake the most daring enterprises, and forsake the best of friends.
Ahubal, having heard from Ulin and Happuck that Ollomand was his friend, took the clue out of the hand of the dwarf, and threw it before him. As the clue rolled onward until it touched the rocks, Ahubal discovered a regular ascent, which, winding round, brought him by degrees to the castle on the summit of the mountain.
This the enchanter perceived; and therefore he desired Ahubal would grant him five thousand of his troops, and the European engineers, that he might advance before the main army, and signalize himself by a blow which he meditated to give the enemy. The counsel of Ollomand was never opposed by Ahubal; the Prince commanded the troops to attend Ollomand, and be subject unto him.
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