Part 43 (1/2)
”I may as well die warm as cold, Baas,” he explained, ”for of cold I shall know enough when I auard aiting, but they found no opportunity of speaking with hireat number of priests, who preceded and followed the forate of the temple from that by which they had entered it on their previous visits On this occasion the secret passages were avoided, and they passed up a broad avenue though the centre of the amphitheatre, to seats that had been prepared for them on that side of the pool which was furthest from the colossal idol As before, the teh it was very impressive, for the priests chanted as they walked, while the multitude preserved an ominous silence
At first Leonard was at a loss to knohy they were placed on the hither side of the pool, but presently he saw the reason In front of the chairs to be occupied by Juanna and Otter, an open space of rock was left, semicircular in shape, on which were set other seats to the number of thirty or more These seats were allotted to elders of the people, who, as Leonard guessed rightly, had been chosen to act as their judges
The position was selected for the convenience of these elders, and in order that the words they spoke er proportion of their vast audience
When Juanna and Otter were seated, and Leonard and Francisco had taken their places behind them, Nam came forward to address the Council and the multitude beyond
”Elders of the People of the Mist,” he said, ”I have conveyed your wishes to the holy Gods, who but lately have deigned to put on the flesh of men to visit us their people; namely, that they should meet you here and talk with you of the trouble which has coracious Gods have assented to your wish, and behold, they are face to face with you and with this great company of their children Be pleased therefore to make knohat you desire to the Gods, that they may answer you, either with their own mouths or by the voice ofwhich the people rily, an elder rose and said:
”We would know of you how it is, O Aca and O Jal, that the summer has deserted the land Now our strait is very sorry, for fao, O Aca and O Jal, you changed the worshi+p of this people, forbidding the victi festival, and lo! there has been no spring Therefore we ask a word of you on this ether, and say by our voice that they will have no Gods who kill the spring Speak, O ye Gods, and you, Nam, speak also, for ould learn the reason of these evils; and from you, O Nam, ould learn how it comes that you have proclaimed Gods in the land whose breath has destroyed the sunshi+ne”
”Ye ask me, O People of the Mist,” answered Juanna, ”why it is that the winter stretches out his hand over the slu her to awake, and I will answer you in feords and short It is because of your disobedience and the hardness of your hearts, O ye rebellious children Did ye not do sacrifice e forbade you to take the blood of men? Ay, and have not our servants been stolen secretly away and put to death to satisfy your lust for slaughter? It is for this reason, because of your disobedience, that the heavens have grown hard as your own hearts and will not bless you with their sunshi+ne and their gentle rain I have answered you”
Then again the spokesman of the elders rose and said:
”We have heard your words, O Aca, and they are words of little comfort, for to sacrifice is the custom of the land, and hitherto no evil has befallen us because of that ancient custom Yet if there has been offence, it is not ho have offended, but rather the priests in whose hands theseof thees of the Gods, and to the questions of the people, for you are the chief of their servants and you have proclaimed them to be true Gods and set them over us to rule us”
Thus adjured, Nam stood forward, and his mien was humble and anxious, for he saell that his accusers were not to be trifled with, and that his life, or at least his poas at stake, together with those of the Gods
”Children of the Mist,” he began, ”your words are sharp, yet I do not corievous
Truly, I am the chief of the servants of the Gods, and I am also the servant of the people, and noould seeh not of end that has come down to us, that Aca and Jal should reappear in the land, wearing the shapes of a fair white maiden and of a black dwarf Ye know also how they came as had been promised, and how I showed them to you here in this temple, and ye accepted them
Ye remember that then they put away the ancient law and forbade the sacrifices, and by the hand of their servant who is named Deliverer, they destroyed two of the priests, e and terrible fashi+on
”Then I h they threatened me with death, but ye overruled my words and accepted the ne, and froone ill Now I took counsel with my heart, for it seemed wonderful to me that the Gods should discard their ancient worshi+p, and I said to my heart: Can these be true Gods, or have I perchance been duped?
Thenceforward I held --alas! I must say it to my shame--I have discovered that they are no true Gods, but wicked liars who have sought to usurp the places of the Gods”
He paused, and a roar of rage and astonishment went up from the assembled thousands
”It has come at last,” whispered Leonard into Juanna's ear
”Yes, it has come,” she answered ”Well, I expected it, and noe must face it out”
When the tumult had subsided, the spokes:
”These are heavy words, O Na uttered them you must prove them, for until they are proved ill not believe readily that there are hus so wicked that they dare to name theers to be Aca and Jal, we accepted them, perhaps too easily and after too short a search Now you denounce them as liars, but ill not disclaim them e have once received till we are sure that there is no room for error It may chance, Nam, that it would please you well to cast aside those Gods who have threatened you with death and do not love you”
”I should be bold indeed,” answered Na testi against these wanderers Nor should I seek to publish e that, did I conceal it, would make me a partner of their crime Listen, this is the tale of those e have worshi+pped: the fair woman, as she herself told us, is named Shepherdess of the Heavens, and she is the wife of the white man who is named Deliverer, and the dwarf Dweller in the Waters is their servant, together with the second whitein a far country, these men and women chanced to learn the story of our people--how, I shall show you presently--and also that we find in the earth and use in the cere the white people are of priceless value
These they deter adventurers who seek after wealth
To this end the Shepherdess learned our language, also she learned how to play the part of Aca, while the dwarf, dog that he is, dared to take the holy name of Jal I will be short: they accomplished their journey, and the rest you know But, as it happened, none of the stones they covert have coem which the Shepherdess wears upon her forehead, and this she brought with her
”Now, People of the Mist, when doubts of these Gods had entered into me I made a plan: I set spies to watch theiven to the dwarf and her handmaidens