Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-12-27
THE PEOPLE
OF THE MIST.
By q. RIDER HAGGARD.
Copyright. 1875. by the AuthOr.l
CHAPTER XII.

claspCd upon her breast. Things had be
| fallen rs she expected, rs they must hC-
fall indeed, provided that Juanna did not
forget her lesson or show fear, and that
the dwarf did nothing foolish. But Sea
| knew well that this was but the begin
ming OF the struggle, and that, although
it might be comparatively easy for Juanna
and Otter to enter the city ard impose
themselves on its superstition haunted
| people rs the incaTnatiOns of their tabled
gods, the maintenance of the impOsture
| was u very different matter Moreover,
she knew that, should they be discovered,
escape would 10 impossible, or that ut
best it must he most difficult. Therefore
she sat apart and brOCded, for notwith-
standing their present triumph her heart
fOrEbOdcd evil
But with the others it was different.
They had heard the singing; they had
seen the regiment of great men prostratc
themselves, and the sound of worship
ing had come 10 their ears like thunder,
| but Cf the why and wherefore OF il all they
could only guess
What has happcncd:" said Leonard
eagerly. Your initiation seems to have
como of we'll
Bid the men all back, and l will tell
! you" Juanna answered.
Leonard did 80, but instead of speaking
SA4G IEOkc INTO ny SACE4GsAA 4tNEulCE
nerves had bCCn ovcrstrained, and now
they sought relief thus.
Won must all bC very respectful to OF
ter and lsy<Olf" she said ut length, for
we rCaI!y are gods. Don't look shocked,
Francisco. | bcgin to believe in it my
; self. We have only just found il out, but
a>surc yen ii is a fact They accepted
! Us fully, and that after not moro than five
minutes cross examination. Listen. "
And she told them all that had passed.
While she was speaking the regiment
began To- move, 10 longer in a square, but
in formation Of companies. Company
by company it rushed by where they
/ stood, shaking the earth with its footsteps,
and As each section passed them it tossed
its spears into the air rs a salute, crying.
GLORY to the mother. glory TO the snakc!''
and He'd ON toward the city.
At length the story was done, and tho
regiment WAS gone.
Well. e" said Leonard, so far so good
Juanna, you are the bravcst and the clev-
crest girl in the whole world. Most young
women would have forgotten everything
and gone into Mysteries Mt the critical
! point
II Kept them till aftcrward, :" she an
| swcrCd GC:lUTCly. And as for being
brave and clever, only repeated what
SOI taught me like = parrot. You see,
knew that should be killed if made
any mistake, and that sharpcns the mem
DRY All have to say is, il the snake
| they talk 81 much aDuut is anything like
| those which are tattCOCd upon the old
/ priests brCaStS. l have no wish to make II
| nearer acQuaint anCC with il. l hate snakes.
| There, don I say any more, - for both Leon
ard and Francisco were breaking into
fr,ssh prUtc>tatiOns Of gratitude and admi-
ration. If You want to thank anybody.
thank Soa-'
And 81 90. said Leonard heartily,
for his spirits had risc IL in n most wonder
full manner ''Su1, You have told us the
truth, and you have managed well, and
thank YOU
- Did you take me for n liar" the wOm-
an answered, fixing her gloomy eyes upon
| LcOnArd'S face II told You the truth,
dclivcrcr. when l said that my people
would accept the ShcphcrdCss and this
| black dog of yours Us thci: gods. But did
not tell you also that tie death Of the
rest Of Us lies in the mSttcr! Ii not,
say 81 now, You have not been named n
| god, delivcrcr, nor has yondcr bald pate
| tho natives called Francisco thus be
cause OF his tOnsurC-''and Your black dog
! will bctray you by his yapping. When
| You look down the jaws OF the snake, re
member then that Sna told You the truth,
dCliVCrUr. PCrchancr you shall find the
| real stones You seek hidden in his belly,
white man
Be silent. Soa. >.;id Juanna indig-
rantly, and she skunk hack like a whipped
| hound
-Confound the old woman" put in
| Leonard. with a shivCr. she is a black
Jonah, ana if l have to go inside this
! snake l hope that it will be a case of Ia
dies first. that is all 1t will be the best
place for her
Il am SURF don't know what has hap
pcnCd to SOa," said Juanna- Her native
air has a very bad effect upon her temper. -
Well. the future must look out for
| ITSELF" answered Leonard, snake or no
snake At present we must follow our
luck. Otter, listen to me Do you under,
stand that you are a god. the god Of this
people,
The god, baas: That is what that old
cow Soa called me when first we met in
An evil hour. What i n gOd:''
You fool, have not told you n hun
drcd times? GOu are not n man any more
you are a spirit Once you ruled thi:
people in the past, and now you will rule
them again. You and the Shcpherdes.
are both gods. She is your mother, and
you are her SON
.-Ycs. haas, no doubt, but once l hat
another mother, n much uglicr one
Otter. cease to talk folly, else wher
you are no more a god will kill you. Now
you are god, and We are all your scrv
ants, except the ShephcrJless When yOI
speak to Us. yuu must speak roughly, lik'
a great chief To the lowest of his people
calling us dogs and slaves II you mann
me BIAS in public, l will beat you pri
vately when you are no mOrc n god Gol
will do best To speak little or not at all
80 that none can take hold of your words
| which are always foolish"
If you say that l am god, baas, it i
enough, for doubtless you have met tn
gods and know their ways, though il i
strange that none have told me this bG
fore. They must he an ugly people, tn
gods. But how will IL bc With the settle
ment men when they hcsI.' that l am
great spirit: They will say: Does a spiri
wait upon a man and call him chief
! Does u spirit clean the guns and cook til
food for n mani They will ask man
such things, and the great people wi
: hear them. And will they think the
. that am a god? No. They will knoN
, me for n liar and will kill me and all [
: us
, That Is true said Leonard. Then b
summoned Peter and the settlement me
and addressed them. He told them tbs
, the plot had succeeded, and that OttC
and the ShephcrIicSs were accepted as tf
gods of the People of the Mist. Bccau:
of this they were left alive and held
honor, who. but for il, would now |
a dead, riddled through with the arrows
the great people. He explained to thel
for the second time that il was necessaI
to the safety of all that this tlclusion
to the divinity of Otter and the Shcphcr'
ess should be maintained. since, shoul
the slightest suspicion uf fraud crOss Il
minds of the great people, without dOuI
. they would all be sacrificed as iInpOstors
This was the tale they should tell: Til,
should say that all Of them Were huntiI