_ Still the silence endured, and still the moonlight grew, creeping
lower and lower till it shone upon the face of the seething waters,
and, except in the immediate shadow of the walls, all the amphitheatre
was full of it.
Then the voice of Nam spoke again from far away, and Leonard looked to
see whence he spoke. Now he saw. Nam, attended by three priests, was
perched like an eagle on the left palm of the colossus, and from this
dizzy platform he addressed the multitude. Looking across the breast
of the statue, Leonard could just see the outstretched arm and the
fierce face of the high priest as he glared down upon the people.
"Hearken, ye Dwellers in the Mist, Children of the Snake! Ye have seen
your ancient gods, your Father and your Mother, come back to rule you
and to lead you on through war to peace, to wealth, to power, and to
glory. Ye see them now by that light and in that place wherein only it
is lawful that ye should look upon them. Say, do ye believe and do ye
accept them? Answer, every one of you, answer with your voice!"
Then a mighty roar of sound went up from the gathered thousands, a
roar that shaped itself into the words:
"We believe and we accept."
"It is well," said Nam when the tumult had died away. "Hearken, ye
high gods! O Aca! and O Jal! Bend down your ears and deign to hearken
to your priest and servant, speaking in the name of your children, the
People of the Mist. Be ye kings to reign over us! Accept the power and
the sacrifice, and sit in the place of kings. We give you rule through
all the land; the life of every dweller in the land is yours; yours
are their cattle and their goats, their city and their armies. For you
the altars shall run red, the cry of the victim shall be music in your
ears. Ye shall look upon him whom long ago ye set to guard the secret
awful place, and he shall crawl beneath your feet. As ye ruled our
fathers so ye shall rule us, according to the customs which ye laid
down for ever. Glory be to you, O Aca, and to you, O Jal! immortal
kings for evermore!"
And in a shout that rent the skies the great audience echoed: "Glory
be to you, O Aca, and to you, O Jal, immortal kings for evermore!"
Then Nam spoke again, saying: "Bring forth the virgin, that fair maid
who is destined to the Snake, that he may look upon her and accept her
as his wife. Bring her forth also who, twelve months gone, was vowed
in marriage to the Shape of stone, that she may bid her lord
farewell."
As he spoke there was a stir behind the idol, and presently from each
side of it a woman was led forward by two priests on to the little
space of rock between its feet and the edge of the gulf, and placed
one to the right of the altar, and one to the left. Both these women
were tall and lovely with the dark and somewhat terrifying beauty of
the People of the Mist, but there the resemblance between them ended.
She to the right was naked except for a girdle of snake-skin and the
covering of her abundant hair, which was crowned with a wreath of red
lilies similar to the flower that the priests had given to Juanna. She
to the left, on the contrary, was clothed in a black robe round which
was broidered the shape of a blood-red snake, whose head rested upon
her breast. Leonard noticed that the appearance of this woman was that
of extreme terror, for she shrank and trembled, whereas that of the
flower-crowned bride was jubilant and even haughty.
For a moment the two women stood still while the people gazed upon
them. Then, at a signal from Nam, she who was crowned with flowers was
led before the altar, and thrice she bowed the knee to the idol, or
rather to Otter who sat upon it. Now all eyes were fixed on the dwarf,
who stared at the girl but made no sign, which was not wonderful,
seeing that he had no inkling of the meaning of the ceremony. As it
chanced, he could not have acted more wisely, at least in the
interests of the bride, for here, as elsewhere, silence was held to
give consent.
"Behold, the god accepts," cried Nam, "the beauty of the maid is
pleasing in his eyes. Stand aside, Saga, the blessed, that the people
may look upon you and know you. Hail to you, wife of the Snake!"
Smiling triumphantly the girl moved back to her place by the altar,
and turned her proud face to the people. Then the multitude shouted:
"Hail to you, bride of the Snake! Hail to you, the blessed, chosen of
the god!"
While the tumult still lasted, the woman who was clad in the black
robe was led forward, and when it had died away she also made her
obeisance before the idol.
"Away with her that she may seek her Lord in his own place," cried
Nam.
"Away with her, her day is done," echoed the multitude. Then, before
Juanna could interfere, before she could even speak, for, be it
remembered, she alone understood all that was said, the two priests
who guarded the doomed woman rent the robe from her and with one swing
of their strong arms hurled her backwards far into the pool of
seething waters.
She fell with a shriek and lay floating on their surface, flung this
way and that by the eddy of the whirlpool just where the moonlight
beat most brightly. All who could of the multitude bent forward to see
her end, and overcome by a fearful fascination, Leonard threw himself
on his face, and, craning his head over the stone of the idol's hand,
watched also, for the girl's struggling shape was almost immediately
beneath him. Another minute and he would have foregone the hope of
winning the treasure which he had come so far to seek, not to have
yielded to the impulse.
For as he stared, the waters beneath the feet of the idol were
agitated as a pond is agitated by the rush of a pike when he dashes at
his prey. Then for an instant the light gleamed upon a dull enormous
shape, and suddenly the head of a crocodile reared itself out of the
pool. The head of a crocodile, but of such a crocodile as he had never
heard or dreamed of, for this head alone was broader than the breast
of the biggest man, its dull eyes were the size of a man's fist, its
yellow fangs were like the teeth of a lion, and from its lower jaw
hung tentacles or lumps of white flesh which at that distance gave it
the appearance of being bearded like a goat. Also, the skin of this
huge reptile, which could not have measured less than fifty feet in
length by four feet in depth, was here and there corroded into rusty
excrescences, as though some fungus or lichen had grown upon it like
grey moss on an ancient wall. Indeed, its appearance seemed to point
to extreme antiquity.[*]
[*] Crocodiles are proverbially long-lived, but Leonard could never
discover the age of this particular reptile. On enquiry he was able to
trace it back for three hundred yards, and tradition said that it had
always dwelt among the People of the Mist from "the beginning of
time." At least it was very old, and under the name of the Snake had
been an object of worship for many generations. How it came among the
People of the Mist is difficult to say, for no other specimen appeared
to exist in the country. Perhaps it was captured in some distant age
and placed in the cave by the priests, to figure as an incarnation of
the Snake that was the object of their worship.
Hearing the disturbance in the water, the reptile had emerged from the
cave where it dwelt beneath the feet of the idol, to seek its
accustomed food, which consisted of the human victims that were cast
to it at certain intervals. It reared its hideous head and glared
round, then of a sudden the monster and the victim vanished together
into the depths.
Sick with horror Leonard drew himself back into a sitting posture, and
glanced up at Juanna. She was crouched in her ivory chair overcome,
and her eyes were closed, either through faintness or to shut out the
sight of dread. Then he looked down at Otter. The dwarf, staring
fixedly at the water, sat still as the stone effigy that supported
him. Evidently in all his varied experience he had seen no such thing
as this.
"The Snake has accepted the sacrifice," cried Nam again; "the Snake
has taken her who was his bride to dwell with him in his holy house.
Let the offerings be completed, for this is but the first-fruit. Take
Olfan who was king, and offer him up. Cast down the white servants of
the Mother, and offer them up. Seize the slaves who stood before her
in the plain, and offer them up. Lead forth the captives, and offer
them up. Let the sacrifice of the Crowning of Kings be accomplished
according to custom, that the god whose name is Jal may be appeased;
that he may listen to the pleadings of the Mother, that the sun may
shine upon us, that fruitfulness may fill the land and peace be within
its gates."
Thus he cried while Leonard felt his blood turn cold and his hair rise
upon his head, for though he could not understand the words, he
guessed their purport and his instinct told him that a great danger
threatened them. He looked at the two priests who stood by, and they
glared hungrily on him in answer. Then his courage came back to him;
at least he had his rifle and would fight for his life. It must go
hard if he could not put a bullet through one or both of them before
they got a hold of him.
Meanwhile the priests below had seized the king Olfan, whose giant
form they were dragging towards the stone of sacrifice. But of a
sudden, for the first time Juanna spoke, and a deep silence fell upon
the temple and all within it.
"Hearken, People of the Mist," she said; and her voice falling from
that great height seemed small and far away, although so clear that
every word was audible in the stillness of the night.
"Hear me, People of the Mist, and ye, priests of the Snake. Aca is
come again and Jal is come again, and ye have given them back their
rule after many generations, and in their hands lies the life of every
one of you. As the old tradition told of them so they are, the Mother
and the Child, and the one is clothed with beauty, the symbol of life
and of the fruitful earth; and the other is black and hideous, the
symbol of death and the evil that walks upon the earth. And ye would
do sacrifice to Jal that he may be appeased according to the ancient
law, and listen to the pleading of the Mother that fruitfulness may
fill the land. Not so shall Jal be appeased, and not because of the
sacrifice of men shall Aca plead with him that prosperity may reign in
the land.
"Behold, the old law is done away, and we give you a new law. Now is
the hour of reconciliation, now Life and Death walk hand in hand, and
the hearts of Aca and Jal have grown gentle through the ages, and they
no longer crave the blood of men as an offering to their majesty.
Henceforth ye shall bring them fruits and flowers, and not the lives
of men. See, in my hand I hold winter lilies, red and white, blood-red
they are and white as snow. Now the red flower, token of sacrifice and
slaughter, I crush and cast away, but the white bloom of love and
peace I set upon my breast. It is done, gone is the old law; see, it
falls into the place of the Snake, its home; but the new law blossoms
above my heart and in it. Shall it not be so, my children, People of
the Mist? Will ye not accept my mercy and my love?"
The multitude watched the red bloom as, bruised and broken, through
the light and through the shadow, they fell slowly to the seething
surface of the pool; then it looked up like one man and saw the white
lily set upon Juanna's whiter breast. They saw, and, moved by a common
impulse, they rose with a sound like the rush of the wind and shouted:
"Gone is the day of blood and sacrifice, come is the day of peace! We
thank you, Mother, and we take your mercy and your love."
Then they were silent, and again there was a sound like that of the
wind, as all their thousands sank back to the seats of stone.
Now Nam spoke again in a voice of fury that rang through the still air
like a clarion.
"What is this that my ears hear?" he cried. "Are ye mad, O ye Dwellers
in the Mist? Or does the Mother speak with a charmed voice? Shall the
ancient worship be changed in an hour? Nay, not the gods themselves
can alter their own worship. Slay on, ye priests, slay on, or ye
yourselves shall die the dreadful death."
The priests below heard, and seizing the struggling king they cast him
with difficulty down upon the stone.
"Leonard, Leonard," cried Juanna in English, addressing him for the
first time by his Christian name, as even then he noticed, but looking
straight before her that none might guess to whom she spoke. "These
priests are going to kill you and all of us, except Otter and myself.
If you can, when you see me point with my hand, shoot that man who is
about to sacrifice the king. Make no answer."
Leonard heard and understood all. Resting his back firmly against the
thumb of the statue, he shifted his position a little so that the
group below him came within his line of sight, and waited, watching
Juanna, who now was speaking again in the language of the People of
the Mist.
"This I promise you, ministers of blood," she said, "if ye obey me not
ye shall indeed die the dreadful death, the death unknown. Hearken, my
servant, who are named Deliverer," and she looked down upon Leonard,
"and do my bidding. If one of these shall dare to lift his hand
against yonder man, slay him swiftly as you know how."
"Smite on," screamed Nam, "smite on and fear not."
Most of the priests drew back affrighted; but one ruffian lifted his
knife, and at that moment Juanna pointed with her hand. Then Leonard,
stepping forward, covered the priest's great breast with his rifle as
surely as the uncertain light would allow. Unconscious of his danger,
the executioner muttered an invocation. Now the knife was about to
fall upon the throat of Olfan, when fire and smoke sprang out far
above him, the rifle rang, and, shot through the heart, the priest
leaped high into the air and fell dead. Terror seized the witnesses of
this unaccustomed and, to them, most awful sight.
"The gods speak with flame and thunder," one cried, "and death is in
the flame."
"Silence, dogs!" screamed Nam, "ye are bewitched. Ho! you that stand
on high, cast down the wizard who is named Deliverer, and let us see
who will deliver him from death upon the stone."
Then one of the guards who stood by him made a movement to grasp
Leonard and throw him down, but the other was terrified and could not
stir. The first man stretched out his arm, but before it so much as
touched its aim he himself was dead, for, seeing his purpose, Leonard
had lifted the rifle, and once more its report rang through the
temple. Suddenly the priest threw his arms wide, then fell backwards,
and with a mighty rush dived into sheer space to crash lifeless on the
stone floor below, where he lay, his head and hands hanging over the
edge of the pool.
Now for the first time Otter's emotions overcame him. He stood up on
the knees of the dwarf, and shaking the sceptre in his hand, he
pointed with it to the dead men on the paving below, at the same time
crying in stentorian tones:
"Well done, Baas, well done! Now tumble the old one yonder off his
perch, for I weary of his howlings."
This speech of Otter's produced even a greater effect on the
spectators, if that were possible, than the mysterious death of the
priests. That he whose name was Silence should cry aloud in a strange
tongue, of which they understood no single word, was a dread and
ominous thing that showed his anger to be deep. But Leonard took no
heed, he was too engaged in covering the second guard with the barrel
of his repeater. This man, however, had no liking for such a dreadful
death. Swiftly he flung himself on to his knees, imploring Leonard to
spare him in humble accents, and with gestures that spoke more plainly
than his words.
Taking advantage of the pause, again Juanna cried aloud: "Ye see,
People of the Mist, I make no idle threats. Where are they now, the
disobedient ones? The tongue of flame has licked them and they are
dead, and as they have perished, so shall all perish who dare to
gainsay my word, or the word of Jal. Ye know us for gods and ye have
crowned us kings, and gods and kings we are indeed. Yet fear not, for
on the rebellious only shall our anger fall. Answer you, Nam. Will you
do our bidding? Or will you die also as your servants died?"
Nam glanced round desperately. He looked down on the multitude and
found no help there. Long had they cowered beneath him; now hope was
born in their breasts, and in the presence of a power greater than
his, if only for a little while, they broke his yoke and the yoke of
their red superstitions. He looked at the company of priests; their
heart was out of them, they were huddled together like knots of
frightened sheep, staring at the corpses of their two companions. Then
he bethought him of Otter. Surely there was refuge in the god of blood
and evil; and he cried to him:
"The Mother has spoken, but the Mother is not the child. Say, O Jal,
what is your command?"
Otter made no answer, because he did not understand; but Juanna
replied swiftly:
"I am the mouth of Jal, as Jal is my hand. When I speak I speak the
words of Jal. Do his bidding and mine, or die, you disobedient
servant."
This was the end of it. Nam was beaten; for the first time in his life
he must own a master, and that master the gods whom he had himself
discovered and proclaimed.
"So be it," he said suddenly. "The old order passes, and the new order
comes. So be it! Let your will be done, O Aca and O Jal. I have
striven for your glory, I have fed your altars, and ye threaten me
with death and put away my gift. Priests, set free that man who was
king. People, have your way, forget your ancient paths, pluck the
white flower of peace--and perish! I have said."
So he spoke from on high, shaking his clenched fists above his hoary
head, and was gone. Then the executioners unbound the limbs of the
ex-king, and he rose from the stone of death.
"Olfan," cried Juanna from on high, "you that were the king, we, who
have taken your kingship, give you life, and liberty, and honour; see
that in reward you serve us well, lest again you should lie upon that
bed of stone. Do you swear fealty to us?"
"For ever and for ever. I swear it by your holy heads," answered
Olfan.
"It is well. Now under us once more we give you command of the armies
of this people, our children. Summon your captains and your soldiers.
Bid those that brought us hither lead us back whence we came, and
there set guards about us, so that none trouble us. For you, our
people, for this time fare you well. Go in peace to dwell in peace
beneath the shadow of our strength." _