Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-28


"who is il, i wonder
Leonard shuddercd, but made no answer,
for a great hand was placed upon his
mouth in warning.
At length tho portentous quiet was
broken, and n voice spoke, tho voice OF
Nam, the priest. In the silence all that hc
uttered could be heard plainly, but his
words came from far away, and the sound
of them was still and small.
Hear me, ye children of the snake, ye
ancient Peopla of the Misti Hearken to
me, Nam, the priest of the snakel Many
a generation gone in the beginning OF
time, so runs the legend, the mother god
dess whom we worship from of old de-
scended from heaven and came hither to
us, and with her came the snnke, her son.
While she tarried in the land the crime OF
crimes was wrought, the darkness slew
the daylight. and she passed hence, we
know not how or where, and from that
hour the land has been n land of mist. and
its people have wandered in the mist, for
he whose name is darkness has ruled over
them, answering their prayers with death.
But this doom was on the sdn-that because
of his wickednesS he must put of the flesh
of men and descend into the holy place Of
water, where, rs we and our fathers have
known, his symbol dwells eternally, taking
tribute of the lives of men. Yet ere that
crime was wrought the mother gave n
word of promise to her people. Now
am about to die at the hands of him
bore, for SO it is fated,' she said, but not
forever do ] lenve you, and not forever
shall my son be punished by putting of
the flesh of men. Many generations shall
60 by, and we will return again and rule
over you, and the veil of mist shall be
lifted from your land, and we shall be
great in the earth. Till then choose your
and lot thcun erOpPrn Won MOrpoypr
forget not my worship and see to it that
throughout the ages the altar of the snake
is wet with blood, and that he lacks not
the food he loves, and / will give you n
sign by which we shall be known when ut
length the fate is accomplished and
the hour of forgiveness is at hand. As
fair maid will 1 come again, a maid
lovely and white, but because Of his sin
the snake, my son, shall appear in the
shape of that which sits within your tenn
pie and his hue shall be black and his face
hideous- Out of the earth will we arise,
and we will call to you, and We shall know
us, and we will tell you our holy names
that shall not be spoken aloud from this
hour to that hour of our coming. But be-
ware lest We are deceived and false gods
set themselves up among you, for then
shall the last evil fall upon you.
Thus, Children of the Mist, did the
mother speak to him who was her chief
priest in the long ago, and he graved it
with iron on the stone of that wherein ]
stand. And now the time is full, and it
has been given to me, his successor, in my
old age, TO see the fulhllment of the propb-
ecy.
Tho time is full, and this night the
promise of the past is accomplished, for,
People of the Mist, the mother and the
son, whose names are holy, have appeared
~ rnrln rhnir children Yesterday rhPy
came, We saw them, and in your ears they
called aloud the sacred names. AS a maid
en- fair and white and as dwarf black
and hidcOUs have they come, and AGA Is
the name of the maiden. and Jal Is the
name OF the dwarf
He ceased, and his voice died away in
the echoes OF the great place. Once again
there was silence, broken only by the sccth-
| ing sound of waters and the indennablo
murmur of the unseen throng beneath.
Leonard stood still awhile, then edged
himself gently forward with the design OF
| discovering where and upon what they
were standing. His curiosity was soon
met with violent check, for before he
had gone n yard he felt that his right foot
| was dangling i'll space, and it was only by
n strong effort that he prevented himself
from falling, whittier he knew not.
Recovering his balance, he shuflled him
self back again to the size of Francisco
and whispered warning to him not &c
move if he valued his life. AS he spoke he
| noticed that to the east the blackness OF
the night was turning gray with the light
| of the unrisen moon. Already her rays
striking upward, frightened the sky
above and the mountains behind, and
from them fell pale reflection, which
grew gradually stronger and clearer. Now
he could discover that close upon him tC
| hn LIFT black fOxVarp6 hinh inff
the air, and that beneath him CLEANED
something like the foam on broken water
For n time he watched this water, or what
ever it might be, until a snothered excla
nation from Francisco caused him to lool
up again. AS he looked the edge of TIT
full moon rose above the horizon, and b.
slow degrees wonderful sight was re
vealed to him. Not till the moon was full!
up did he see everything, and to describ
all as he discovered it piecemeal would b
difficult, if not impossible This was wha
he saw at length:
Before him and beneath him was n vas
and roofless building, open to the cast
| covering some two acres of ground ant
surrounded by titanic walls so feet o
more in height The building was shaped
like n Roman amphithCater; but, with the
exception of the space Immediately beneath
him, its area was filled with stone seats
and round its vast circumference stone
seats rosc tier on tier. These were all &C
cupied by men and women in thousands
and, except ut the farther end, scarcely
place was empty. At the western extrem
ity of the building huge statue lowered
20 or so feet into the air, hewn, to all up
pearance, from a mass of living rock. A
the back of this colossus, and not NOR
than u hundred PAGES from il, the shee
, mountain rose. precipice upon precipice
to the foot of the white peak clad in eter
, nal snow. 1t was this peak that they hat
! seen from the plain when the mist lifted
and the statue was the dark mass beneatl
it which had excited their curiosity.
: This statue was fashioned to the shap
of n huge seated dwarf of hideous coun
tenance, with bent arms outstretched in
| slightly forward direction and palm
turned upward as though to bear til
weight of the sky. This fearful colossu
, stood, or rather sat, upon n platform c
rock, and not moro than four PAGES fror
its base, so that the outstretched hand
and head bent slightly forward, overhun
, it indeed, was circular gulf measurin
o perhaps 80 yards across, in which seethin
waters ragged and boiled Whence the
4 came and whittier they went 1t was impo
p sible to see, but Leonard discovered afte
a ward that here was the source of the riv,
which they had followed for SO many day
Escaping from the gulf by undergroun
passages that it had followed for itse
through the solid rock, the two branch'
70 of the torrent passed round the walls
the town, to unite again in the plain b
:. low. How the pool itself was supple
y Leonard was destined to learn in aft
days, SO nothing need be said of 1t here.
- Between the steep polished sides of tn
rock basin and the feet of the statue WI
u placed an altar, or sacrificial stone. He
,, on this ledge, which covered an area 1
greater than that of n small room, and
front of the altar stood man, bound,
- whom Leonard recusnizsd Olfan, the kin
while on either side of him were priest
" To h.