Part 21 (1/2)

”Better wait till they co ”If you disobey that Lord Oro you may meet with another experience in the sacrifice line”

”Perhaps you are right, Arbuthnot I will occupy the interval in preparing a suitable address”

”Much better occupy it in preparing breakfast,” said Bickley ”I have always noticed that you are at your best exteh in a distrait fashi+on; indeed I found hi-pan Bastin felt that his opportunity had arrived, and wasready to rise to the occasion

Also we felt, all three of us, that ere extreh none of us said so, each did his best to improve his personal appearance First of all Bickley cut Bastin's and my hair, after which I did him the same service Then Bickley as normally clean shaven, set to work to rerowth, and I ore one of the pointed variety, trilass Bastin, too, perfored type, wisely rejecting Bickley's advice to shave it off altogether, offered, I felt convinced, because he felt that the result on Bastin would be too hideous for words After this we cut our nails, cleaned our teeth and bathed; I even caught Bickley applying hair tonic fro rock, and borrowed soave it me on condition that I did not mention its existence to Bastin who, he remarked, would certainly use the lot and make hi our store of spare clothes, for the Orofenans had brought these with our other possessions, and put the silk cumberbunds and neckties My tie I fastened with a pin that I had obtained in Egypt It was a tiny gold statuette of very fine and early work the crown of the Upper Land with the uraeus crest, and holding in his hands, which projected froe and the crux ansata, or Sign of Life

Bastin, for his part, arrayed himself in full clerical costuyman's collar which, as he remarked, made him feel extremely hot in that climate, and were unsuitable to do-up I offered to hold his coat while he did this office and told him he looked very nice indeed

”Beautiful!” remarked Bickley, ”but why don't you put on your surplice and biretta?” (Being very High-Church Bastin did wear a biretta on festival Sundays at home) ”There would be no mistake about you then”

”I do not think it would be suitable,” replied Bastin whose sense of humour was undeveloped ”There is no service to be perforh perhaps that cave--” and he stopped

When we had finished these vain adorns and tidied up, we sat down, rather at a loose end We should have liked to walk but refrained froht dirty our clean clothes So we just sat and thought At least Bickley thought, and so did I for a while until I gave it up What was the use of thinking, seeing that ere face to face with circuared all recorded human experience? What Bastin did I am sure I do not know, but I think froed in co Lady

One diversion we did have About eleven o'clock a canoe came from the main island laden with provisions and paddled by Mara our experiences of the night, but Mara our revolvers, ent to the rock edge to h he was, prostrated himself upon his face before us, which told ies were abject He explained that he had no part in the outrage of the attack, and besought us to intercede on behalf of him and his people with the awakened God of the Mountain whom he looked for with a terrified air

We consoled hione before the God of the Mountain appeared, and perhaps treated him as he had done the sorcerers In his na materials and build us a proper house upon the rock, also to be sure to keep up a regular and as, and anything else we ht from time to time command, we said that perhaps his life and those of his people would be spared

This, however, after the evil behaviour of souarantee

Maraot to ht be, or where he ca Of course, the place had been sacred a, whenever that may have been, but that its sacredness should ht sorcerers of the highest reputation to a most unpleasant end, just because they wished to translate their preaching into practice, was another matter It was not to be explained even by the fact of which he hi the dreadful storm of some months before, the cave mouth which previously was not visible on the volcano, had suddenly been lifted up above the level of the Rock of Offerings, although, of course, all religious and instructed persons would have expected so peculiar to happen after this event

Such I kneere his thoughts, but, as I have said, he was too frightened and too hurried to express them in questions that I should have found it extremely difficult to answer As it was he departed quite uncertain as to whether one of us was not the real ”God of the Mountain,” who had power to bring hideous death upon his o on to the contrary, except the word of three priests ere so terrified that they could give no coherent account of what had happened? Of these events, it was true, there was evidence in the twisted carcass of their lah sorcerer, and, for the matter of that, of certain corpses which he had seen, that lay in shalloater at the bottoue, and in his heart I am sure that Marama believed that Bastin was the real ”God of the Mountain” Naturally, he would desire to work vengeance on those who tried to sacrifice and eat hie of the God of the Grove and borne away its head whence he had suckedthe tale of the frightened sorcerers, for he admitted as reat hurry, fearing lest the ”God of the Mountain,” or Bastin, whose new and splendid garb he regarded with ainst hi the industrious Bastin, aniht spoil if left in the sun, to carry it into the shade of the cave Owing to the terrors of the Orofenans the supply was so large that to do this he reat good will since Bastin loved physical exercise The result on his clerical garments, however, was disastrous His white tie went awry, squashed fruit and roast pig gravy ran down his waistcoat and trousers, and his high collar endered by the tropical heat Only his long coat escaped, since that Bickley kindly carried for him

It was just as he arrived with the seventh load in this extreed frohted, alore spectacles that, owing to his heated state were covered with nitary, du:

”There, you lazy beggar, I told you I would bring it all, and I have”

In fact he thought he was addressing Bickley and playing off on hilodytic practical joke

Oro, however, who at his age did not appreciate jokes, resented it and was about to do sohter res Thank him, O Lord my father”

So Oro thanked hi in his toes, and once an to apologise profusely in English, while the lady Yva studied him carefully

”Is that the costuion, O Bastin?” she asked, surveying his dishevelled form ”If so, you were better without it”

Then Bastin retired to straighten his tie, and grabbing his coat from Bickley, who handed it to hi arms into it in a peculiarly aard and elephantine fashi+on