Part 25 (1/2)

”Was it was it ?” her dark eyes ith fright Yasrasp

”Oh, Vateesa, It caain! I saw It heard It speak! It spoke Its nahted ones What oh, what shall I do?”

Vateesa twisted a golden bracelet about her rounded arm, in meditation

”Oh, princess,” she said, ”it is evident that no mortal power can deal with It, and the charave you Therefore seek you the forgotten oracle of Mitra”

In spite of her recent fright, Yasmela shuddered The Gods of yesterday beco since abandoned the worshi+p of Mitra, forgetting the attributes of the universal Hyborian God Yas very ancient, it followed that the deity was very terrible Ishtar was much to be feared, and all the Gods of Koth Kothian culture and religion had suffered froian strains The sie extent by the sensual, luxurious, yet despotic habits of the East

”Will Mitra aid erness ”We have worshi+pped Ishtar so long ”

”To be sure he will!” Vateesa was the daughter of an Ophirean priest who had brought his customs with him when he fled froo with you”

”I will!” Yasmela rose, but objected when Vateesa prepared to dress her ”It is not fitting that I coo naked, on my knees, as befits a suppliant, lest Mitra deem I lack humility”

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”Nonsense!” Vateesa had scant respect for the ways of what she deeht before hi blood of aniated, Yasht sleeveless silk shi+rt, over which was slipped a silken tunic, bound at the waist by a wide velvet girdle Satin slippers were put upon her slender feet, and a few deft touches of Vateesa's pink fingers arranged her dark wavy tresses Then the princess followed the girl, who drew aside a heavy gilt-worked tapestry and threw the golden bolt of the door it concealed This let into a narroinding corridor, and down this the two girls went swiftly, through another door and into a broad hallway Here stood a guardsold-chased greaves, with a long- shafted battle-ax in his hands

A , he took his stand again beside the doorway, irls traversed the hallhich see the lofty walls, and went down a stairhere Yas in the angles of the walls Three levels down they halted at last in a narrow corridor whose arched ceiling was crusted with jewels, whose floor was set with blocks of crystal, and whose walls were decorated with golden frieze-work Down this shi+ning way they stole, holding each other's hands, to a wide portal of gilt

Vateesa thrust open the door, revealing a shrine long forgotten except by a faithful few, and royal visitors to Khoraja's court, mainly for whose benefit the fane was h she was born in the palace Plain and unadorned in comparison to the lavish display of Ishtar's shrines, there was about it a sinity and beauty characteristic of the Mitran religion

The ceiling was lofty, but it was not domed, and was of plain white marble, as were the walls and floor, the for about thereen jade, unstained with sacrifice, stood the pedestal whereon sat the material manifestation of the deity Yasnificent shoulders, the clear-cut features the wide straight eyes, the patriarchal beard, the thick curls of the hair, confined by a sih she did not know it, was art in its highest forhly esthetic race, unhampered by conventional syardless of Vateesa's admonition, and Vateesa, to be on the safe side, followed her exairl, and it was very

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awesome in Mitra's shrine But even so she could not refrain fro in Yasmela's ear

”This is but the emblem of the God None pretends to knohat Mitra looks like This but represents him in idealized human form, as near perfection as the human mind can conceive

He does not inhabit this cold stone, as your priests tell you Ishtar does He is everywhere above us, and about us, and he drea the stars But here his being focusses Therefore call upon hi terror

”Before you can speak, Mitra knows the contents of your irls started violently as a voice began in the air above them The deep, cale than froain Yas to her, but this time it was not frohter, for I know your need,” ca rhytholden beach ”In oneit, save all the world fros of the serpent which has crawled up out of the darkness of the ages Go forth upon the streets alone, and place your kingdom in the hands of the firsttones ceased, and the girls stared at each other Then, rising, they stole forth, nor did they speak until they stood once old-barred s The ht Sounds of revelry had died away in the gardens and on the roofs of the city Khoraja slumbered beneath the stars, which seeardens and along the streets and on the flat roofs of houses where folk slept

”What will you do?” whispered Vateesa, all a-tre her teeth

”But alone, in the streets, at this hour!” expostulated Vateesa

”Mitra has spoken,” replied the princess ”It ht have been the voice of the God, or a trick of a priest Noa volu a velvet cap froh the corridors and approached a

154bronze door where a dozen spear of the palace which let directly onto the street; on all other sides it was surrounded by broad gardens, bordered by a high wall She eular intervals