Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-04-20
rose to the occasion.


.'This is marvel indecdp' he CRIED
when silence had at length been restored
for no such thing is told of in our history
as that white dawn upon the mountain
should turn to red. Yet, o People of the
Mist, those whom we thought gods have
not been offered up wrongfully. Nay, this
| is the meaning of the sign. Now are the
true gods, Aca and Jal, appeased because
those who dared to usurp their power have
gone down to doom. Therefore the curse
| is lifted from the land, and the sunlight
has come lack to bless u.s..
Again, as he finished speaking, the tn
multi broke out, some crying this thing
and some that, but no action was taken,
for Mans excuse was really and plausible,
and the minds of men were confused. So
the assembly broke up in disorder. Only
the priests and as many more as could
find place. 0lfan among them, crowded
round the edges of the pool to see what
happened in its depths.
This was what had attracted Otter's no.
tice, causing him to think no more of the
shouting above him than of the humming
! of last years gnats. Suffering his eyes to
travel round the circumference of the rocky
wall, he saw the mouth of circular hole
that was situated Immediately under the
base of the idol and may have measured
some feet in diameter. The lower edge
of this hole stood about six inches above
the level of the pool, and water ran out of
1t in thin stream. Passing down this
stream, half swimming and half waddling,
appeared that huge and ungainly reptile
which was the real object of the worship
of the People of the Mist.
Great as it was in length and bulk, the
dwarf saw it but for few moments, so
swift were its movements Then it van
ished into the deep waters, to reappear
presently by the side of the dead priest,
who was now beginning to sink. Its lIor-
rible head rose upon the waters as on that
night when the woman had been thrown
to it. 1t opened its huge jaws, and Selling
the body of the man across the middle it
disappeared beneath the foam. Otter
watched the mouth of the hole, and not
in vain, for before he could have counted
ten tho monster was crawling through it,
bearing its prey into the cave. Now once
more the dwarf felt afraid for the snake.
or rather the crocodile, at close quarters
was far more fearful than anything that
his imagination had portrayed. Keeping
his place beneath the ledge, which, except
for the GOODNESS of the water he found
himself able to do with little fatigue or
difficulty, he searched the walls of the
pool, seeking for some possible avenue of
escape, for somehow his ardor for personal
conflict with this creature had evaporated,
but search as he would he could find moth
ing. The walls were full 80 feet high and
sloped inward, like the sides of an invert-
cd funnel, and wherever the exits TO the
pool might be they were invisible also not
withstanding his strength and skill Otter
did not dare to swim into the furious eddy
to look for them. One thing he noticed
indeed Immediately above the entrance
to the crocodile's den, and some 20 feet
from the Level of the water, two holes were
pierced in the rock, six feet or so apart,
each measuring about 10 inches square,
but these holes We're not to be reached
and even If reached they were too small to
pass, so Otter thought no more of them.
Now the cold was beginning to nip him,
and he felt that if he staid in the water
much longer he would become paralyzed
by it, for it was fed from the ice and snow
above. Therefore it would seem that there
WAS but one thing to do-to face the rep
tile in its lair. 70 this, then, Otter masto
up his mind, albeit with loathing and a
doubtful heart
fro BE Continued