Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-02-23
THE PEOPLE
OF THE MIST
By H. RIDER HAGGARD.
copyright, 1898, by the Author. ]
CHAPTER XII

forget her lesson or show fear, and thai
the dwarf did nothing foolish But Sol
knew well that this was but the begin
ming of the struggle, and that, although
it might be comparatively easy for Juann;
and Otter to enter the city and impos,
themselves on its superstition haunted
people as the incarnations of their fablet
gods, the maintenance of the impostur(
was q very different matter. Moreover
she knew that, should they be discovered
escape would be impossible, or that al
best it must be most difficult. Therefore
she sat apart and brooded, for notwith
standing their present triumph her heart
foreboded evil.
But with tho others it was different
They had heard the singing; they had
seen the regiment of great men PROSTATE
themselves, and the sound of worship
ing had come to their ears like thunder,
but of the why and wherefore of it all they
could only guess
What has happcned?' said Leonard
eagerly. Your initiation seems to have
come off we'll t."
IBID the men all back, and l will tell
you" Juanna answered.
Leonard did SO, but instead of speaking
she broke into hysterical laughter Her
nerves haf been overstrained, and now
they sought relief thus.
You must all be very respectful to OF
ter and myself" size said at length, 'for
We really are gods. Don't look shocked,
Francisco. l begin to believe in it my
self, We have only just found it out, but
| assure you it is q fact. They accepted
us fully, and that after not more than five
minutes cross examination. Listen -
And she told them all that had passed.
While she was speaking the regiment
began TO move, no longer in a square, but
in n formation of companies. Company
by company it rushed by where they
| stood, shaking the earth with its footsteps,
md as each section passed them it tossed
its spears into the air as salute, crting,
Glory to the mother, glory to the snake!''
and fed on toward the city.
At length the story was done, and the
| regiment was gone
well, " said Leonard, $50 far so good
| Juanna, you are the bravest and the clev-
crest girl in the whole world. Most young
women would have forgotten everything
and gone into Mysteries at the critical
point"
II kept them till afterward," she an
swered dcmurely. And as for being
brave and clever, l only repeated what
! Soa taught me like parrot. You see,
knew that l should be killed if l made
any mistake, and that sharpens the mem
cry. All l have to say is, if the snake
they talk so much about is anything like
those which are tattooed upon the old
priests breasts, l have no wish to make I,
nearer acquaintance with it. | hate snakes
| There, don't say any more, - for both Leon
ard and Francisco were breaking into
fresh protestatlons of gratitude and admi
ration. If you want to thank anybody
| thank Soa
And so l do, " said Leonard heartily
for his spirits had risen in a most wonder.
| full manner. ''Soa, you have told us the
truth, and you have managed well, and /
thank you.
Did you take me for liar?" the WON
an answered, fixing her gloomy eyes upon
| Leonard 5 face. II told you the truth
dclivercr, when | said that my people
| would accept the Shephcrdess and this
black dog OF yours as their gods. But did
| | not tell you also that the death of the
rest of us lies in the matter? If not,
say so now. You have not been named Il
god, deliverer, nor has yonder bald pate"
the natives called Francisco thus be
cause of his tonsure-''and your black dog
will betray you by his yapping When
you look down the jaws of the snake, re.
member Their that Soa told you the truth,
delivercr. Perchance you shall find the
red stones you seek hidden in his belly,
| white man
BE silent, Soa" said Juanna indig-
nantly, and she skunk back like whipped
hound
"Confound the old woman" put in
Leonard, with a SILVER "Sho is black
Jonah, and if l have to go inside this
snake l hope that it will be case of la
dies first that is all 1t will be the best
place for her "
Il am sure l don't know what has hap
pened to Soa, said Juanna. Her native
| air has 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 cus
luck. Otter. listen to me. Do you undcr-
stand that you are god, the god of this
people,"
THE god baasf That is what that old
COW Soa called me when Arst we met in
an evil hour What is gods"
You fool, have l not told you hun
dred times? You are not man any more
You are a spirit. Once you ruled this
people in the past, and now you will rule
them again. You and the Shepherdess
are both gods. She is your mother, and
you are her SON."
Yes, baas, no doubt, but once 1 Lad
another mother, a much uglier one. -
otter, cease to talk folly, else when
you are no more a god will kill you. Now
you are god, and we arc all your serv-
ants, except the Shepherdess. When you
speak to us, you must speak roughly, like
great chief to the lowest of his people,
calling us dogs and slaves. If you name
me baas' in public, will beat you phi
vately when you are no more a god. You
will do best to speak little or not at all
so that none can take hold of your words,
which are always foolish. -
If you say that l am god, baas, it is
enough, for doubtless you have met tho
gods and know their ways, though it is
strange that none have told me this be
fore They must be an ugly people, the
gods. But how will it be with the settle
ment men when they hear that l am a
great spirit? They will say: Does a spirit
wait upon man and call him chief?
Does a spirit clean the guns and cook the
food for MANI They will ask many
such things, and the great people will
hear them. And will they think then
that am god' No They will know
me for liar and will kill me and all Of
us"
That is true " said Leonard Then he
summoned Peter and the settlement men
and addressed them. He told them that
the plot had succeeded, and that Otter
and the Shepherdcss were accepted rs tho
gods of the People of the Mist. Because
of this they were left alive and held in
honor, who, but for it, would now be
dead, riddled through with the arrows of
the great people. He explained to them
for the second time that 1t was necessary
to the safety of all that this delusion as
to the divinity of Otter and the shepherd
css should be maintained, since, should
the slightest suspicion of fraud cross the
minds of the great people, without doubt
they would all be sacrificed as impostors.
This was the tale they should tell: They
should say that all of them were hunting
game in far country with himself, Soa
and Francisco when one night they heard
singing, and by the light of the moon
they saw the Shephertess and tho dwarf
Otter coming toward them. Then the
Shepherdess and Otter commanded them
to be their servants and travel with them
to n new land, and they obeyed them,
white and black together, for they saw
that they were not mortals.
This was the tale that they must tell,
and, moreover, they must act up to their
words If they would continue to look upon
the sun.
When their first surprise was past, the
settlement men. who were quick witted