Part 7 (2/2)
”But, not forgetting that summer would soon pa.s.s and his food supply be gone, he made his way southward until at last he came within sight of the camp fires of a village.
”It was with much fear that he approached these strangers. He found them friendly enough, ready to share food and shelter with him providing he was willing to share their labor.
”You wouldn't care to hear of his life among these natives. Only the part relating to the blue G.o.d is of importance.
”He found that these people wors.h.i.+pped a strange G.o.d, or idol. This idol was a very ugly face carved out of a block of solid blue jade. When being wors.h.i.+pped it was always illumined by some strange light which caused it to appear to smile and frown at alternating intervals.”
Lucile leaned over and gripped the speaker's arm. ”See how the faces in the candlestick smile and frown,” she shuddered.
Florence smiled and nodded, then proceeded with her story:
”Little by little, as these people who called themselves Negontisks, who lived in skin tents and traveled in skin boats as the Eskimos do, and are considered by some to be the forefathers of the Eskimos, came to have confidence in the seaman, they told him the story of the blue G.o.d.
”So ancient was this G.o.d that not the oldest man in the village could recall the time when it had first been accepted as their G.o.d. They did know, however, that one time when there were but five villages of their tribe, and when all these villagers had joined in a great feast of white whale meat and sour berries, on a slope at the foot of a great mountain a huge rock had come rattling down from the cliffs above and, pa.s.sing through their midst, had crushed to death five of their number.
”As is the custom with most barbaric tribes, these people considered that anything which had the power to destroy them must be a G.o.d. This rock, which proved to be of blue jade, became their G.o.d. And that they might have it ever with them as they traveled, that it might protect them and bring them good fortune, they carved from it five hollow faces, like masks. One of these was taken by each village. Then they went their way.
”From that day, so the story goes, the Negontisk people were greatly prospered. They found food in abundance. No longer were there starving times. They had children in numbers and all these lived to grow to manhood.
”As the tribe grew, they wished to create new villages. They returned to the place of the rock for new G.o.ds, only to find that the rock had vanished.
”Their medicine men explained that, being a G.o.d, the rock had the power of going where it pleased. So there could be only five blue G.o.ds. But the people lived on and prospered.
”As the years pa.s.sed, many cruel practices grew up in connection with the wors.h.i.+p of these G.o.ds. Some of them are so terrible that the old seaman would not tell me of them. One, however, he did tell; that was that all the illuminations of the G.o.ds were held in a tent made of many thicknesses of skins. Only men were permitted to be present during the illumination. The life of a woman or child who chanced to look into the tent at such a time must be sacrificed. Their blood must be spilled before the face of the blue G.o.d. Very strange sort of”--she broke off abruptly, to exclaim:
”Why, Lucile, what makes you tremble so?”
”Nothing, I guess.” Lucile tried to smile but made a poor attempt at it.
”It--it's ridiculous, I know,” she stammered, ”but you know I saw a blue face illumined and I am a girl, so--”
”Nonsense! Pure nonsense!” exclaimed Marian. ”You are in America, Chicago. This story comes from Siberia. Probably not one of those tribesmen has ever set foot on the American continent, let alone in Chicago. And if they did, do you suppose for a moment that our authorities would allow them to continue to perform these terrible religious rites?”
Florence was silent.
Suddenly Lucile whispered:
”Listen! What was that?”
For a moment the room was silent. Only the faint tick-tick of the clock in the wall disturbed the stillness. Then, faintly from outside there sounded a sort of metallic jingle.
”Someone out there, below,” whispered Marian. ”He has kicked that tin can I threw out there; the third can of corn, remember?”
The answer was a faint ”Ah.” Then again all was silence.
Two or three moments had elapsed when there came a faint scratching sound, seemingly upon the side of the yacht.
”Last time,” said Marian, setting her teeth tight, ”he got away with his note tacking. This time he shall not.”
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