Part 32 (1/2)
”My God!” whispered Ragnall, ”it is my wife!”
”Then be silent and thank Him that she is alive and well,” I answered
The Goddess Isis, or the English lady--in that excitement I did not reck which--stood still while the priests and priestesses and all the audience, who, gathered on the upper benches of the amphitheatre, could see her above the wall of the inner court, raised a thrice-repeated and triumphant cry of welcome Then Hart and the first priestess lifted respectively an ear of corn and a flower from the two topmost platters and held these first to the lips of the child in her arms and secondly to her lips
This ceremony concluded, the two attendant women led her round the altar to the stone chair, upon which she seated herself Next fire was kindled in the bowl on the tripod in front of the chair, how I could not see; but perhaps it was already s there At any rate it burnt up in a thin blue fla that caused the flame to turn to s this ceremony, was caused to bend her head forward, so that it was enveloped in the smoke exactly as she and I had done sonall Castle
Presently the smoke died away and the two attendants with the feathered head-dresses straightened her in the chair where she sat still holding the babe against her breast as she ht have done to nurse it, but with her head bent forward like that of a person in a swoon
Now Hart stepped forward and appeared to speak to the Goddess at soain and waited, till in theher wide eyes on the heavens, spoke in her turn, for although we heard nothing of what she said, in that clear,For soain upon the chair and reht in front of her Hart advanced again, this ti his stand upon a kind of stone step, addressed the priests and priestesses and all the encircling audience in a voice so loud and clear that I could distinguish and understand every word he said
”The Guardian of the heavenly Child, the Nurse decreed, the appointed Nurturer, She who is the shadow of her that bore the Child, She who in her day bears the symbol of the Child and is consecrated to its service from of old, She whose heart is filled with the wisdom of the Child and who utters the decrees of Heaven, has spoken Hearken now to the voice of the Oracle uttered in answer to the questions ofmy life-days Thus says the Oracle, the Guardian, the Nurturer, marked like all ent before her with the holy eneration to generation, has alighted for a while 'O people of the White Kendah, worshi+ppers of the Child in this land and descendants of those who for thousands of years worshi+pped the Child in a more ancient land until the barbarians drove it thence with the remnant that remained War is upon you, O people of the White Kendah Jana the evil one; he whose other name is Set, he whose other name is Satan, he who for this while lives in the shape of an elephant, he who is worshi+pped by the thousands whoht, coht, the Evil wars against the Good My curse has fallen upon the people of Jana, my hail has smitten them, their corn and their cattle; they have no food to eat But they are still strong for war and there is food in your land They come to take your corn; Jana comes to trample your God
The Evil coht to Devour the Day It is the last of many battles How shall you conquer, O People of the Child?
Not by your own strength, for you are few in nuth of the Child, for the Child groeak and old, the days of its dominion are almost done, and its worshi+p is alers, but new Gods, who are still the old Gods, press on to take its place and to lead it to its rest'
”How then shall you conquer that, when the Child has departed to its own place, a remnant of you may still remain? In one way only--so says the Guardian, the Nurturer of the Child speaking with the voice of the Child; by the help of those whom you have summoned to your aid from far
There were four of them, but one you have suffered to be slain in the maw of the Watcher in the cave It was an evil deed, O sons and daughters of the Child, for as the Watcher is now dead, so ere long many of you who planned this deed must die who, had it not been for that man's blood, would have lived on a while Why did you do this thing?
That you ht keep a secret, the secret of the theft of a woht continue to act a lie which falls upon your head like a stone froainst the three who reive, for thus alone shall some of you be saved froh the Guardian and the Child be taken away and the Child itself returned to its own place' These are the words of the Oracle uttered at the Feast of the First-fruits, the words that cannot be changed and mayhap its last”
Hart ceased, and there was silence while this portentous th they seemed to understand its ominous nature and froroan As it died away the two attendants dressed as Goddesses assisted the personification of the Lady Isis to rise fro the robes upon her breast, pointed to so beneath her throat, doubtless that birthmark shaped like the new moon which made her so sacred in their eyes since she who bore it and she alone could fill her holy office
All the audience and with them the priests and priestesses bowed before her She lifted the syh above her head, whereon once more they boith the deepest veneration Then still holding the effigy aloft, she turned and with her two attendants passed into the sanctuary and doubtless thence by a covered way into the house beyond At any rateher no ation, if Itheir seats, swarh its eastern gate, which was now opened Here the priests proceeded to distribute arain of corn to each of the men to eat and a flower to each of the women, which flower she kissed and hid in the bosonall lifted himself a little upon his hands and knees, and I saw that his eyes glowed and his face was very pale
”What are you going to do?” I asked
”Deive me back my wife, whom they have stolen
Don't try to stop me, Quatermain, I mean what I say”
”But, but,” I stammered, ”they never will and we are but three unarmed men”
Hans lifted up his little yellow face between us
”Baas,” he hissed, ”I have a thought The Lord Baas wishes to get the lady dressed like a bird as to her head and like one for burial as to her body, who is, he says, his wife But for us to take her fro so many is impossible Nohat did that old witch-doctor Hart declare just now? He declared, speaking for his fetish, that by our help alone the White Kendah can resist the hosts of the Black Kendah and that no harm must be done to us if the White Kendah would continue to live So it see to sell which the White Kendah ainst the Black Kendah, for if ill not fight for them, they believe that they cannot conquer their ene that the Baas says that our price is the white woman dressed like a bird, to be delivered over to us e have defeated the Black Kendah and killed Jana--after which they will have nothat the Baas says that if they refuse to pay that price ill burn all our powder and cartridges so that the rifles are no use? Is there not a path to walk on here?”
”Perhaps,” I answered ”So in , I explained the idea to Ragnall, adding: