Part 33 (2/2)

Then for an instant the light gleamed upon a dull enormous shape, and suddenly the head of a crocodile reared itself out of the pool The head of a crocodile, but of such a crocodile as he had never heard or dreamed of, for this head alone was broader than the breast of the biggest man, its dull eyes were the size of a s were like the teeth of a lion, and fro tentacles or luave it the appearance of being bearded like a goat Also, the skin of this huge reptile, which could not have th by four feet in depth, was here and there corroded into rusty excrescences, as though sorey moss on an ancient wall

Indeed, its appearance seemed to point to extre-lived, but Leonard could never discover the age of this particular reptile On enquiry he was able to trace it back for three hundred yards, and tradition said that it had always dwelt a of time”

At least it was very old, and under the naenerations How it ca the People of the Mist is difficult to say, for no other specimen appeared to exist in the country Perhaps it was captured in soure as an incarnation of the Snake that was the object of their worshi+p

Hearing the disturbance in the water, the reptile had eed from the cave where it dwelt beneath the feet of the idol, to seek its accustomed food, which consisted of the human victims that were cast to it at certain intervals It reared its hideous head and glared round, then of a sudden the ether into the depths

Sick with horror Leonard drew hilanced up at Juanna She was crouched in her ivory chair overcoh faintness or to shut out the sight of dread Then he looked down at Otter The dwarf, staring fixedly at the water, sat still as the stone effigy that supported him Evidently in all his varied experience he had seen no such thing as this

”The Snake has accepted the sacrifice,” cried Naain; ”the Snake has taken her as his bride to dith his be completed, for this is but the first-fruit Take Olfan as king, and offer him up Cast down the white servants of the Mother, and offer them up Seize the slaves who stood before her in the plain, and offer them up Lead forth the captives, and offer thes be acco to custom, that the God whose nas of the Mother, that the sun may shi+ne upon us, that fruitfulness ates”

Thus he cried while Leonard felt his blood turn cold and his hair rise upon his head, for though he could not understand the words, he guessed their purport and his instinct told hier threatened thelared hungrily on hie caht for his life It h one or both of theot a hold of hi Olfan, whose giant for towards the stone of sacrifice But of a sudden, for the first time Juanna spoke, and a deep silence fell upon the temple and all within it

”Hearken, People of the Mist,” she said; and her voice falling froh so clear that every as audible in the stillness of the night

”Hear me, People of the Mist, and ye, priests of the Snake Aca is coiven theenerations, and in their hands lies the life of every one of you As the old tradition told of them so they are, the Mother and the Child, and the one is clothed with beauty, the symbol of life and of the fruitful earth; and the other is black and hideous, the symbol of death and the evil that walks upon the earth And ye would do sacrifice to Jal that heto the ancient law, and listen to the pleading of the Mother that fruitfulness may fill the land Not so shall Jal be appeased, and not because of the sacrifice of n in the land

”Behold, the old law is done away, and we give you a ne is the hour of reconciliation, now Life and Death walk hand in hand, and the hearts of Aca and Jal have grown gentle through the ages, and they no longer crave the blood ofto theirthem fruits and flowers, and not the lives of men See, in my hand I hold winter lilies, red and white, blood-red they are and white as sno the red flower, token of sacrifice and slaughter, I crush and cast away, but the white blooone is the old law; see, it falls into the place of the Snake, its home; but the ne blossoms above my heart and in it Shall it not be so, my children, People of the Mist?

Will ye not accept my mercy and my love?”

The multitude watched the red blooh the shadow, they fell slowly to the seething surface of the pool; then it looked up like one man and saw the white lily set upon Juanna's whiter breast They saw, and, moved by a common impulse, they rose with a sound like the rush of the wind and shouted:

”Gone is the day of blood and sacrifice, come is the day of peace! We thank you, Mother, and we take your ain there was a sound like that of the wind, as all their thousands sank back to the seats of stone

Now Nah the still air like a clarion

”What is this that my ears hear?” he cried ”Are ye mad, O ye Dwellers in the Mist? Or does the Mother speak with a chared in an hour? Nay, not the Gods themselves can alter their oorshi+p Slay on, ye priests, slay on, or ye yourselves shall die the dreadful death”

The priests below heard, and seizing the struggling king they cast him with difficulty down upon the stone

”Leonard, Leonard,” cried Juanna in English, addressing him for the first ti straight before her that noneto kill you and all of us, except Otter and myself If you can, when you see me point withMake no answer”

Leonard heard and understood all Resting his back firainst the thumb of the statue, he shi+fted his position a little so that the group below hi Juanna, who noas speaking again in the language of the People of the Mist

”This I promise you, ministers of blood,” she said, ”if ye obey me not ye shall indeed die the dreadful death, the death unknown Hearken, my servant, who are named Deliverer,” and she looked down upon Leonard, ”and do ainst yonder man, slay him swiftly as you kno”

”Smite on,” screamed Nam, ”smite on and fear not”

Most of the priests drew back affrighted; but one ruffian lifted his knife, and at thatforward, covered the priest's great breast with his rifle as surely as the uncertain light would allow Unconscious of his danger, the executioner muttered an invocation Now the knife was about to fall upon the throat of Olfan, when fire and s, and, shot through the heart, the priest leaped high into the air and fell dead Terror seized the witnesses of this unaccustoht

”The Gods speak with flame and thunder,” one cried, ”and death is in the flame”