Part 33 (1/2)

Suddenly he remembered Francisco, and opened his eyes, which he had closed to shut out the sight of the yawning gulf beneath It was not too soon The priest had seen also, and consciousness was deserting hiave way, and he sank forward and doard

Quick as thought Leonard stretched out his right hand and caught Francisob the robe he wore, then, resting his weight upon the rifle, he strained at the priest's falling body with all his force in such a manner that its direction was turned, and it fell sideways upon the platforain, and thrust hih which they had reached this dreadful eminence, where he lay quiet and safe, lost in blessed insensibility

All this took place in a few seconds The two priests of the Snake, who stood by theh their feet were still on the solid earth, saw, but rimly, and a horrible fear struck his heart like a breath of ice What if they waited a signal to cast hih of their rites to enable hiion of blood and huain turned faint, so faint indeed that he did not dare to keep his feet, but sank into a sitting posture, resting his back against the stone of the idol's thumb

CHAPTER XXIII

HOW JUANNA CONQUERED NAM

Still the silence endured, and still thelower and lower till it shone upon the face of the seething waters, and, except in the immediate shadow of the walls, all the amphitheatre was full of it

Then the voice of Naain from far away, and Leonard looked to see whence he spoke Now he saw Nale on the left palm of the colossus, and fro across the breast of the statue, Leonard could just see the outstretched arlared down upon the people

”Hearken, ye Dwellers in the Mist, Children of the Snake! Ye have seen your ancient Gods, your Father and your Mother, coh war to peace, to wealth, to power, and to glory Ye see theht and in that place wherein only it is lawful that ye should look upon them Say, do ye believe and do ye accept them? Answer, every one of you, ansith your voice!”

Then a athered thousands, a roar that shaped itself into the words:

”We believe and we accept”

”It is well,” said Nah Gods! O Aca! and O Jal! Bend down your ears and deign to hearken to your priest and servant, speaking in the nas to reign over us! Accept the power and the sacrifice, and sit in the place of kings We give you rule through all the land; the life of every dweller in the land is yours; yours are their cattle and their goats, their city and their armies For you the altars shall run red, the cry of the victim shall be o ye set to guard the secret awful place, and he shall crawl beneath your feet As ye ruled our fathers so ye shall rule us, according to the customs which ye laid down for ever

Glory be to you, O Aca, and to you, O Jal! is for everreat audience echoed: ”Glory be to you, O Aca, and to you, O Jal, iain, saying: ”Bring forth the virgin, that fair maid who is destined to the Snake, that heher forth also who, twelve e to the Shape of stone, that she may bid her lord farewell”

As he spoke there was a stir behind the idol, and presently from each side of it a woman was led forward by two priests on to the little space of rock between its feet and the edge of the gulf, and placed one to the right of the altar, and one to the left Both these wo beauty of the People of the Mist, but there the reseht was naked except for a girdle of snake-skin and the covering of her abundant hair, which was croith a wreath of red lilies siiven to Juanna She to the left, on the contrary, was clothed in a black robe round which was broidered the shape of a blood-red snake, whose head rested upon her breast Leonard noticed that the appearance of this woman was that of extreme terror, for she shrank and trembled, whereas that of the flower-crowned bride was jubilant and even haughty

For a azed upon thenal from Nam, she as croith floas led before the altar, and thrice she bowed the knee to the idol, or rather to Otter who sat upon it Now all eyes were fixed on the dwarf, who stared at the girl butthat he had no inkling of theof the ceremony As it chanced, he could not have acted more wisely, at least in the interests of the bride, for here, as elsewhere, silence was held to give consent

”Behold, the God accepts,” cried Na in his eyes Stand aside, Saga, the blessed, that the people may look upon you and know you Hail to you, wife of the Snake!”

Sirl moved back to her place by the altar, and turned her proud face to the people Then the multitude shouted:

”Hail to you, bride of the Snake! Hail to you, the blessed, chosen of the God!”

While the tumult still lasted, the woman as clad in the black robe was led forward, and when it had died away she also made her obeisance before the idol

”Aith her that she may seek her Lord in his own place,” cried Nam

”Aith her, her day is done,” echoed the multitude Then, before Juanna could interfere, before she could even speak, for, be it remembered, she alone understood all that was said, the two priests who guarded the doo of their strong ar waters

She fell with a shriek and lay floating on their surface, flung this way and that by the eddy of the whirlpool just where the htly All who could of the multitude bent forward to see her end, and overcome by a fearful fascination, Leonard threw hi his head over the stone of the idol's hand, watched also, for the girl's struggling shape was almost ione the hope of winning the treasure which he had come so far to seek, not to have yielded to the impulse

For as he stared, the waters beneath the feet of the idol were agitated as a pond is agitated by the rush of a pike when he dashes at his prey