Part 19 (1/2)

Then, without h should have been, there was no bough, but on the rock lay several of the red flowers, bitten off, I suppose, by To it Nor was this all I think I haveLady wore sandals which were fastened with red studs that looked like rubies or carbuncles On the rock lay one of these studs

I picked it up and we exaolden thread or silk So from the hole drilled in the stone which served for an eye It was as rotten as tinder, apparently with extreh the passage of tih this encies, such as the action of the radium rays I smiled at Bickley who looked disconcerted and even sad

In a way it is painful to see the effect upon an able and earnesttheories

We went for our walk, keeping to the flat lands at the foot of the volcano cone, for we seeh of wonders and to desire to reassure ourselves, as it were, by the study of natural and fas As it chanced, too, ere rewarded by sundry useful discoveries Thus we found a place where the bread-tree and other fruits, rew in abundance, as did the yam Also, we cae and beautiful fish from the lake, which seemed to find it a favourite spot Perhaps this was because a little streareat pool or mere which filled the crater above

At these finds we rejoiced greatly, for noe knew that we need not fear starvation even should our supply of food from the main island be cut off Indeed, by help of sohly, Bastin, as rather clever at this kind of thing,two or three pounds apiece, wading into the water to do so It was curious to observe hat ease he adapted himself to the manners and customs of primeval man, so much so, indeed, that Bickley remarked that if he could believe in re-incarnation, he would be absolutely certain that Bastin was a troglodyte in his last sojourn on the earth

However this ht be, Bastin's primeval instincts and abilities were of the utmost service to us Before we had been many days on that island he had built us a kind of native hut or house roofed with palm leaves in which, until provided with a better, as happened afterwards, we ate and he and Bickley slept, leaving the tent to ht abundance of fish, and -lines of the same material (fortunately we had some hooks) which he baited with freshwater mussels and the insides of fish By means of these he secured some veritableHis greatest triuhs, wherein he trapped a nuood table of a sort, especially after he had learned how to cook our food upon the native plan by means of hot stones This suited us admirably, as it enabled Bickley and ical and other studies which did not greatly interest Bastin

By the ti, so we cooked our food and ate, and then, thoroughly exhausted, made ourselves as comfortable as we could and went to sleep Even our marvelous experiences could not keep Bickley and s had no effect He accepted them and that was all, much more readily than we did, indeed Triple-armed as he was in the ers at evil spirits which he supposed the Sleepers to be, and at everything else that other ht dread

Now, as I have h we did not think it wise to adventure ourselves aain at present, we had lost all fear of the Orofenans In this attitude, so far as Marama himself and the majority of his people were concerned, ere quite justified, for they were our warm friends But in the case of the sorcerers, the priests and all their rascally and superstitious brotherhood, ere by no e or for his under of new doctrines which, if adopted, would destroy theiven Bickley for shooting one of their nueance of their God

So it came about that they made a plot to seize us all and hale us off to be sacrificed to a substituted ie of Oro, which by now they had set up They knew exactly where we slept upon the rock; indeed, our fire showed it to them and so far they were not afraid to venture, since here they had been accustos to the God of the Mountain Secretly on the previous night, without the knowledge of Marama, they had carried two ht, just as the , they made their attack, twenty-oneon the following darkness to get us away and convey us to the place of sacrifice to be offered up at dawn and before Marama could interfere

The first we knew of the lected to keep a watch, was the unpleasant sensation of brawny savages kneeling on us and trussing us up with palrass into our h as air carass, we did not suffocate The thing was so well done that we never struck a blow in self-defence, and although we had our pistols at hand, led as well as ere able, but it was quite useless; in three minutes ere as helpless as calves in a net and like calves were being conveyed to the butcher Bastinout of his mouth for a few seconds, and I heard him say in his slow, heavy voice:

”This, Bickley, is what co with evil spirits in rass as jaain, but distinctly I heard the inarticulate Bickley snort as he conceived the repartee he was unable to utter As for ht for not keeping a watch, and abandoned the issue to fate

Still, to confess the truth, I was infinitely ht hours earlier This is a dull and in most ways a dreadful world, one, if we could only sulad to leave in search of new adventures But here a great and unprecedented adventure had begun to befall me, and before its mystery was solved, before even I could for it, ed therein, sent far afield; or, if Bickley were right, eclipsed

It seeuessed wandering rey flats of the ascertained and made them shi+ne with hope and wonder

They carried us off to the canoes, not too gently; indeed, I heard the bony frame of Bastin bump into the bottom of one of theht as he was the fount and origin of our woes Two stinkingon their heads undress editions of their court cages, since these were too cumbersome for active work of the sort, and painted all over with various pighappened I did not knohat it was, but as a result,upon my back

Then, within my line of vision, which, it must be remembered, was limited because I could not lift my head, appeared the upper part of the tall person of the Ancient who said that he was named Oro I could only see hiuely that he seeed For instance, he wore a different coloured dress, or rather robe; this time it was dark blue, which caused me to wonder where on earth it came from Also, his tremendous beard had been trimmed and dressed, and on his head there was a sih it were made of velvet Moreover, his face had plumped out He still looked ancient, it is true, and unutterably wise, but now he reseour Also, his dark and glowing eyes shone with a fearful intensity In short, he see

He looked about hi in the Orofenan tongue:

”What do you, slaves?”

No one seemed able to answer, they were too horror-stricken at this sudden vision of their fabled God, whose fierce features of wood had become flesh; they only turned to fly He waved his thin hand and they came to a standstill, like animals which have reached the end of their tether and are checked by the chains that bind them There they stood in all sorts of postures, i extremely ridiculous in their paint and feathers, with dread unutterable staain:

”You would s fashi+oned in the shape of men You would sacrifice those ell in my shadow to satisfy your hate because they are wiser than you Coer to the chief ician

The man advanced towards hiht do, and stood before him, his miniature crate and feathers all awry and the sweat of terrorthe paint in streaks upon his face

”Look into the eyes of Oro, O worshi+pper of Oro,” said the Sleeper, and he obeyed, his own eyes starting out of his head

”Receive the curse of Oro,” said the Ancient again Then followed a terrible spectacle The ht inconceivable He threw hiain and staggered round and round, tearing pieces out of his arms with his teeth He yelled hideously like one possessed

He grovelled, beating his forehead against the rock Then he sat up, slowly choked and--died

His companions seees often do They too performed dreadful antics, all except three of the each other with their fists and wooden weapons, looking like devils frorappled and fought furiously They separated and plunged into the lake, where with a last gri while, but I think that as a matter of fact within five minutes it was over; they were all dead Only the three paralysed ones re their eyes