Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-26
lave ye not heard me in thevolec. Of ,ss.

the Dawningi
Why have yc fncurncd me. the sleeper awak-
encdf
Thus she sang, ever more swectly and
louder, till her voice rang through the
still air like the song of the bird in win
ter. flushed were the ranks OF the great
men rs she drew toward them with slow
and gliding Gtcps-hushcd with fear and
wonder, as though her presence awokc q
memory or fulfilled n promise.
Now she was In front of their foremost
rank, and battling there was silent for n
moment Then she changed her song:
Will We not greet me, children of my chiidrenf
Have ye forgotten the promise of the deaas
Shall return TO the dreamland whence wan
dcrf
win You refuse me. the Mother of the snakef
Tho ranks of the great eyed men looked
upon one another and murmured each to
each. Now she saw that they understood
her words and were terror stricken by
them. For another moment there was ST.
lence; then suddenly tho three priests or
medicine men, who had drawn near To-
eether, passed through the ranks and stood
before her. accompanied by the warrior
king.
Then one Of them, the most aged, a
man who must have numbered 90 years
spoke In the midst of an intense stiffness
and as they had understood her, SO, to
Juanna's joy, she understood him, for the
language which he spoke was the same
that Soa taught her many years before,
and In which, for the sake of practice,
they had always conversed together for
the last two months.
Art thou woman or spiritf'' asked the
ancient priest.
~ am both woman and spirit. - she nm
swered.
And he with thee. he whom we know
of'-the priest trcmblingly pointed to OF
ter-''is he god or mant'
He is both god and man, " she answer
ed.
And those yondcr, who arc theyi'
They are are our ministers and serv-
ants, white for the white and black for
the black, the companions of our wander
ings-men and not spirits
Tho priests consulted together, while
the chief looked on Juanna's beauty with
wondering eyes. Then the Oldest OF them
spoke again:
Thou tellest us in our own tongue of
things that have long been hidden, though
perchancc they are remembered. Either,
. beautiful, thou hast learned these
things and lest TO us, and then food IRE
ye all for the snake against whom thou
dost blaspheme, or yc are gods indeed, and
as gods ye shall dc worshiped. Tell us
dwarf, of whom we know"
II am named tho Shepherdcss of Heav-
en- among men. He is named Otter,
Dweller in the Waters among men. Once
We had other names"
TELL us the other names, o Shepherd
ess."
"Once In the far past / was named
Brightness: / was named Dawn; / was
named Daylight. Once in the far past he
l.
TOR; he was named Darkness. Yet at the
beginning we had other names. Perchance
ye know them, ministers of the snaket''
"Perchance we know them, D thou
who art named Shcpherdess of Heaven,
o thou who vert named Brightness and
Dawn and Daylight, . thou who art
named Dwrlier in the Waters and were
named Silence and Terror and Darkness!
Perchancc we know them, although they
| be known to few and are never spoken
save in utter gloom and with hidden head.
But do you know them, those names of
the beginning! For If ye know them not,
. Beautiful, then yc lie, and yc bias
pheme, and ye are food for the snake
seldom through all the years have
those holy names been spoken save in ut
ter darkness and with covered heads, "
Juanna answered boldly, but now is
tho new hour, the hour of the coming,
and now they shall be called aloud in the
light OF day from open lips and with up
lifted eyes. Hearken, Children of the
Snake, these are the names by which we
were known in the beginning: AGA is my
name, the Mother OF tic Snake. jail is
he named who is the Snake. Say, do yc
know lis now!"
As these words rang from her lips a
| groan of terror burst from every man who
heard them. Then the aged priest cried
aloud: Down upon your faces, ye Chill
dren OF the Snake. Worship, all ye Peo-
| pic of the Spear, Dwellers i'm the Mist.
| Aca, the queen immortal, has come again.
Jal, the god, has put on the flesh of men.
Olfan, lay down thy kingship. IL is his.
Ye priests, throw wide the temples. They
arc theirs. Worship the mother; do honor
TO the god.
The multitude heard and Frustrated
themselves like n single man, every ono of
them crying in n shout of thunder:
| AGA, the queen of life, has comet Jal,
the death god, has put on flesh! Worship
tho mother; do honor TO the god"'
IL was rs though the army had sudden
| ly been smittcn with death, and of tho
hundreds there Junnna and Otter alone
wcro left standing. There was one cxccp-
tion, however, and that was Olfan, the
| warrior chief, who remained upon his feet.
not seeming to relish the command to ab-
dictate his authority thus brusqucly in fn-
vor of n dwarf, wcrc he god or man.
Otter, who was utterly bcwildored, not
comprchcnding word of what had been
said and hcing unable to fathom the mean
| ing of these strange antics, pointed at tho
/ chief with his spear ny way of calling Ju-
| anna's attention to the fact that he was
| still standing. But the great man inter
| prcted the action otherwise. Evidently
he thought that the newly arrived god
was invoking destruction on him. His
pride yielded to his superstition, and no
| sank to his knees also.
When the sound of the worshiping had
passed away, Juanna spoke again, nd
dressing the old priest.
Rise, my child" she said-hc might
| we'll have been her great grandfather
land rise all ye soldiers of the spear and
servants of the snake, and hear my words.
/ Ye know me now. Yc know me by
/ the holy name. Sc know mo ny the
fashion of my face and by the rcd stone
; that CLEANS upon my brow. In the begin
ming my blood fell yondcr and was frozen
into such gems rs these which to-day We
| offer yearly to him who Is my sop and
/ slew me. Now the fate Is accomplished,
/ and his reign Is finished. l come with
him indeed, and hc is still n god, but he
| loves me rs n son again and bows the knee
4 to mo in service. Enough; yc know the
| ancient tale that is fulfilled this day. Now
We pass on toward your city, there to So
journ with you awhile and to proclaim
the law of the ending, and we pass alone.
There I'm your city let q place be made
ready for us, Il place apart, but nigh to
the temple, and let food bo brought to the
/ place, that my servants may cat. At the
| gates of the city also let men bc waiting
to bear us to that place. Let none spy
| upon us, lest an evil fate attend You all,
and let none be disobedient. lest we pass
\ from you back tn the land of death and
dreams. Perchancc we shall not tarry
here for long. pcrchance we come to bring
II Il.