Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-04-13


woman CHANGED to learn the story of our
people-how shall show you presently
and also that we find in the earth and use
in the ceremonies of the temple certain
rcd and blue stones which, among the
| white people, are of priceless value. These,
being Adventures who seek after wealth,
they determined to steal, and to this end
| the Shepherdess learned our language, and
also by the help of the dwarf how to PLAY
the part of AGA, while he, dog that he is,
dared to take the holy name of jail. ! viii
be short. They accomplished their jour
ney, and the rest you know. But, as it
| happened, none of the stones they coyet
have come into their hands, except that
one which the Shepberdess wears upon her
| forehead, and this she brought with her.
Now, People of the Mist, when doubts
| of these gods had entered into me, l made
| a plan. l set spies to watch them in the
palace yonder, those spies being the wife
who was given to the dwarf and her hand
maidens; also / caused their black serv
| ants to be seized and thrown in to the
| snake, one or two OF them at time for
of this l was sure-that if they had power
they would protect their servants; but, as
the snake knows, those men were not pro
! tected. Meanwhile reports came to .
| from the women, and moro especia ~
from Saga the granddaughter of my broth
| er, who was given as bride to jail This
| was their report-that the dwarf behaved
| himself like cur of low birth, and that
when he was in liquor, which was often,
| he babbled Of his doings with the deliver
| er IN other lands though all that he said
| they could not tell me, because even now
| he has little knowledge of our tongu,
| When these tales came to my ears, yo
may guess, o People of the Mist, that if l
had doubted before now my very heart
was shaken, and yet l had no proof ] 4
my darkness prayed to the gods for
light, and, 10! light came. Among the
| followers of these wanderers was wonl-
an, and but yesterday this woman came
to me and confessed all. Forty years ago
| she had fled from among our people, l
know not why, but she took with her a
| knowledge of our secrets. 1t was she whn
told them of the gods and the story of the
| gods and instructed them how they should
deceive us and win the rcd stones which
/ they desired. But now her heart repents
her of the evil, and will summon her be
! fore you that you may judge between me
and these liars who have brought me to
| this shame. Bring forth the woman. -"
There was silence, and SO intense was
/ the interest that no sound came from the
| audience, which watched for the appear
| ance Of the witness. Presently Soa ad-
| yanced from the shadows at the foot of IL.
| colossus, ana, escorted by two priests tooa
| her stand in the center of the semicircle OF
the judges.
Speak, woman, y said Nam.
| Then Soa spoke. II am Of the People of
the Mist, she said, as ye may know by
| looking on me and hearing me. | was the
daughter of a priest, and 40 wears ago,
| when was young and fair, l fed the land
| for my own reason and Travelled south for
| three months journey till l came toa VIII
lage on a mighty river, where l dwelt for
20 years, earning my livelihood as u doc
trcss of medicine. Then there came into
| the village a white man, whose wife gave
birth to daug liter and died / became the
| nurse of that daughter. She is the woman
who sits before you, and her name Is Shep
| herdess. Twenty years more went by, and
desired to return to my own land that /
might die among my people. l told the
| tale of my land and of its wealth to tie
| Shepherdcss and her husband the deliv
| erer, for dared not travel alone. There
I fore, in my wickedness, | showed them
how they might pass themselves off as the
gods of the People of the Mist come
back according to the legend, for | saw
that the dwarf, the deliverer's servant,
was shaped like to the shape of the statue
Of jail, who sits in stone above you Be
| ing greedy, ohey fell into the plan, for,
above all things, they desired to win the
| precious stones, but when we were como
hither my leart was troubled because of
| the evil which l had done, and yesterday
/ tn Il tl,.,t Il,
that you have heard That is the story,
People of tie Mist, and now pray your
mercy and your forgiveness y
Soa ceased, and Leonard, who had bcen
watching the multitude, whispered to Ju
anna:
"Speak quickly if you can think of
anything to say. They are silent now be
cause of their establishment but in IN
other minute they will break out, and then
our chance will be gone
People OF the Mist" cried Juanna
taking the hint you have heard the
words of Nam and the words of her who
was my servant They dare to tell you
that we are no gods So be it On this
matter we will not reason with you, for
can the gods descend to prove their god
head! We will not reason, but will say
this in warning-put us away If you wish,
and it may well chance that we shall suf-
fer ourselves to be put way, since the gods
do not desire to rule over those who reject
| them, but would choose rather to return
to their own place. Yet for you it shall
be an evil and an unlucky day when you
lift hand against our majesty, for in GO
ing we will leave you that by which we
shall bo remembered Aye, we will be-
queath to you three things-famine and
pestilenee and civil war, which shall rage
among you and destroy you till ye are no
more a people. Ye have suffered our serv-
ants to be murdered and disobeyed our
commands, and it is for this reason, as /
have told you, that the sun shines no more
and the summer will not come Complete
your wiekedness if We will and let the gods
! follow by the path that their servants
trod, and then, People of the Mist, ye
shall reap as ye have sown, and death and
desolation shall be your harvest. And now
for that base slave who has borne false
witness against us. Among the many
things she told you one thing she left un-
told-that she is daughter to Nam, the
priest; that she fed the land because she
was chosen bride to the snake and is there
fore an apostate worthy of DEATH Ono
word also as to Nam, her father If that
he himself is condemned by it, for doubt
less he knew it all at the beginning, from
the lips of his daughter Soa, and knowing
it it would seem that he dared to set up
gods in the land whom he believed to be
false, trusting thereby to increase his own
power and glory and when they failed
him because of his wickedness then he did
not scruple to cry aloud his shame. have
spoken, People of the Mist. Now Judge be-
tween us and let fate follow Judgment,
for we renounce you"
She ended her face alight with anger
and her eyes flashing with excitement,
and so great was the power of her clio
quence and beauty that it seemed to throw
spell of silence over the hearts of her
fierce and turbulent audience, while Soa
skunk back into the shadow and Nam
covered visibly beneath them
1t is false, peoplel' cried the high
priest in a voice trembling with rage and
fear. My daughter told me the tale for
the first time at dawn today
His voice awoke the audience, as it
were, and instantly there arose babel of
sounds that rent the very skies .'TIis
daughter He says that she is his daugh-
teri Nan, owns his crimesr' yelled some
Away with the false godslp shouted
others. ',Toucn them noti They are true
gods and viii bring curse upon usi' an
swcred n third party among whom Leon
ard recognized the voice of Olfan. And SO
the tulnult went on. For |. fun ten min
utes it ragged till the exhaustion of those
that caused it brought it to an end, and
Juanna who ali this while sat silent nc