Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-29
THE PEOPLE
OF THE MIST.
By q. RIDER HAGGARD.
[copyright. Isoo. by tho AuthOr.l
CHAPTER XIV.

A-Ah
Still the silence endured, and still the
moonlight grew, creeping lower till it
shone upon the face of the seetbing waters,
ana, except in tie Immediate shadow OF
the walls. all the amphithcater was full OF
It.
Then the voice OF Nam spoke again from
far away, and Leonard looked to SEQ
whence he spoke. Now he saw. Nam, at
tended by three priests. was perched like
an eagle on the left palm of the colossus,
and from this dizzy platform he addressed
the multitude. Looking across the breast
of the statue, Leonard could just see the
outstretchcd arm and catch the outline of
the fierce face Of the high priest of the
snake as he gland down upon the people.
'.Hearkcn, W jewellers in the mist, chill
drcn of the snake. Yc have seen your an
cient gods, your father and your mother,
come back to rule you and to lead you on
through war and peace, to wealth, to pow
or and to glory. You see them now by
that light and in that place wherein only
it is lawful that we should look upon them.
Say, do We believe and do We accept them.
Answer. every one Of you, answer with
your vOicc!''
Then a mighty roar OF sound went up
from the gathered thousands, a roar that
shaped itself into the words, I'VE believe,
and we accept"
1t is wcll,'' said Nam when the tn
multi had died away. ''Hcdrkcn, We high
gods, o AGA, and o .Ial, bend down your
ears and deicn TO hcarken to Your priest
and servant, speaking in tho name of
your children. the People of the Mist! Be
vC kings to reign over US! Accept the
power and the sacrifice and sit in the
place CT kings! We give you rule through
all the land. The life of every dweIler in
the land is yours. Yours are their cattle
and their goats. their cities and their
armies For you the affairs shall run red;
the cry Of the victim shall be music in
your cars You shall look upon him whom
long ago yc set to guard the secret awful
place, and he shall crawl beneath your
feet. As We rulCd our fathers, SO shall ye
rule Us, according to the customs which
We laid down forever. Glory he to you, o
AGA, and TO you. o Jal, immortal kings
fOrcvcrmorc!
And the great audience echoed in n
shout that rent the skies, GLORY be to
you. y ACa, and to you, o jail, immortal
kings fOrCvCrmOre!'
Then Nam spoke again, saying: Bring
forth the virgin. that fair maid who is des-
tined to the snnlr, th;H be may look upon
her and accept her rs his wife Bring her
forth also who IL months gone was vowed
in marriage TO the shape of the stone, that
she may bid her lord farewell"
As he SpOkC IDeEC was n sIlr DS0lDu tho
| idol. and presently from either side of It
| q woman was led forward by two priests
| on to the little space of rock between its
feet and the edge of the gulf and placed
one TO the right OF the altar and one to
the left. Both these women were tall and
lovely with the dark and somewhat terri
| flying beauty Of the People of the Mist, hut
| there the resemblance between them ended
| She to the left was naked except for Cir
die OF snakeskin and the covering of her
| abundant hair. which was crowned with
n wreath of rcd lilies similar to the flower
that the priests had given to Juanna. She
| to the left, ON the contrary, was clothed in
| black robe round which was broidcred
| the shape OF Il blood rcd snake, whose head
| rested on her brCnst. Leonard noticed that
the appearance OF this woman was one of
extreme terror. for she shrank and trem-
| blCCl. whereas that of the flower crowned
bride was jubilant and even naughty. For
| n moment the two women stood while the
| people gazei upon them. Then at q signal
| from Nam she who was crowned with
| flowers was led before the altar and thrice
| she bowed the knee 10 the idol, or rather
| TO Otter, who sat upon il. Now all eyes
were fixed on the dwarf, who stared ut the
| girl, but made no sign, which was not
wonderful, seeing that ho had not the
| faintest idea of the meaning of the ccre-
| UlODy- AS II CnflnCSG- nc EOuLu IOI nave
acted more wiscly-at least in the interests
of the bridC-for here. rs elsewhere, silence
was held TO give consent.
Behold, the god accepts cried Nam.
The beauty of the bride is pleasing in his
eyes. Stand aside. Saga, thou blessed,
that the people may look upon thee and
know thee Hail to thee. wife of the
snake"
Smiling triumphantly, the girl moved
| l., H., Ill
her proud face to the people Then the
multitude shouted:
Hail TO thee, bride of the snake! Hal
to thee, thou blessed, chosen of the god!"
While the tumult still lasted she who
was clad in the black robe was led for
ward, and when it had died away she alsC
made her obcisancc before the idol.
Away with her that she may seek hcl
lord in his own place" cried Nam.
Away with her! Her day is done, >
echoed the multitude. Then. before Juan
M could interfere, before she could ever
speak, for, be it remembered, she alon
understood all that was said, the tw,
priests who guarded tho doomed woman
rent the robe from her, and with a singh
swing of their strong arms hurled he
| backward far into the pool of seething wa
tiers. She fell with a fearful shrek an,
lay floating on their surface just wher
this way and that by the eddy of the whirl
pool. All who could of the multitude ben
forward to see her end, and overcome b.
q fearful fascination Leonard flung himsel
on his face, and craning his head over tn
stone of the idols hand watched also, 70
her struggling shape was almost immedi
: ately beneath him. Another minute an
he would have foregpne the hope of win
!. | ming the treasure he came SO far to see
i not to have yielded to the impulse.
= For rs he stared the waters beneath til
feet of the idol Were agitated as pond
| agitated by the rush of a pike when b
- dashes ut his prey. Then for an instar
the light CLEANED upon n dull, enormou
shape, and suddenly the head of a croct
die reared itself out of the pool, the hea
OF a crocodile, hut of such n crocodile as
, had never heard or dreamed of, for th
head alone was broader than the chest
the biggest man, its dull eyes were ii
size of n mans fist, its yellow fangs wei
like the teeth of n lion, and from its lowe
jaw hung tentacles, or Jumps of viii
:. flesh, which ae that distance gave it Il
4 appearance OF being bearded like n goa
- also the skin of this huge reptile, whiC
d could not have measured less than so fe
" in length by feet in depth, was here ar
N there corrode6 into rusty excrescences,
though some fungus or lichen had grow
upon it like gray moss on an ancient wal
9 Indeed its appearance seemed to point
extreme antiquity.
Hearing the disturbance in the waite
the reptile had emerged from the ca'
20 where it dwelt beneath the feet of Il
~ idol to seek its accustomed food, which col
sisted of the human victims that were ca
to 1t at certain intervals 1t reared /
hideous head and glared around. then
a sudden the monster and the victim va
ished together into the depths.
Sick with horror, Leonard drew himse
, back into sitting posture and glanc'
y toward Juanna- She was crouched in h
ivory chair overcome, and her eyes we