Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-03-23


mo, no. +" said Francisco, ''the sonora
was right. Let us trust in Providence and
keep ourselves clean from such iniquity.
i As he spoke the roars of wrath in the
distance changed to shout of triumph,
followed by silence.
What is thats0 cried Juanna family.
At that moment Olfan pushed the cur
tains aside and entered and his face was
heavy.
Speak, Olfan, she said.
Tho people sacrifice as Of old, queen, "
he answered. ''All of us did not pass the
gate. Two of your black servants were
mixed up with the crowd and left, and
now they offer them-them and others. -
Leonard ran to the yard and counted
the settlement men, who were huddled to-
gether in their fear and staring toward the
temple through the bars of the gate Two
were missing
! As he returned he met Olfan coming
out
Where is he goingS" he asked of Juan
na
ITO guard the gates. He says he can
not be sure of the soldiers. Is it true
about the settlement men?'
ALAS, yesl Two arc gone
She hid her face in her hands and shud-
dered
Poor creatures!" she said presently in
hoarso voice. why did we ever bring
them here? Oh, Leonard, is there no es-
cape from this land of devils?'
Il hope So ~ he answered, then added
"Come, Juanna do not give way. Things
| look so bad that they are sure to mend. "
There is need of it, - she answered.
All that evening and night they
watched, hourly expecting to be attacked
and dragged forth to sacrifice, but no at
tack was made Indeed on the morrow
they learned from 0lfan that the people
had dispersed after sacrificing about n
score of human beings, and that quiet
reigned in the city.
| And now began the most dreadful of
their trials, and the longest, for it endured
Ive whole weeks AS has been said. the
climate of the vast upland plains backed
| by snow clad mountains that are the
dwelling place of the People of the Mist is
cold during the winter months to the
verge of severity. But at certain period
of the year, almost invariably within day
or two of the celebration of tho feast of
,Jal, the mist and frost vanish and warm
weather sets in with bright sunshine.
| Now, this is the season of the sowing of
crops, and upon the climatic conditions of
the few following weeks depends the yield
OF the harvest. Should the spring be de-
iayed even week or two, short crop
would certainly result, but if its arrival is
| postponed for a month it means something
like famine during the following winter,
for although this people dwell on high
| lands, they cultivate the same sorts of
| grain which are common in these ATTITUDES
namely, maize and sundry varieties of
Kaflir corr having no knowledge of wheat
and other hardy cereals. Therefore it is all
important to them that the corn should
have fair start, for if the autumn frosts
catch it before it is cit to harvest the great
proportion of the crop turns black and is
rendered useless.
| Now, these agricultural details had no
small bearing upon the fate of our adven-
turers. The feast of Jal was celebrated in
order to secure good seed bed and spring
ing time for the grain. Juanna and Otter
had abolished the hideous ceremonies of
that feast, and the People of the Mist
watched for the results with gloomy and
superstitious eye. If the season proved
more than ordinarily good, all might go
well, but If it CHANGED to be bad
And, as was to be expected seeing how
much depended upon it, it turned out the
very worst that any living man could re-
member in that country. Day after day
| the face of the sun was hidden with mists
which only yielded to the bitter winds
that blew from the mountains at night, so
that when the spring should have been
| month old the temperature was still that
of midwinter and the corn would not start
| at all. Leonard and Juanna soon discuv-
cred what this meant for them, and never
! was the aspect of weather more anxiously
! scanned than by these two from day to
| day. in vain. Every morning the blanket
| of cold mist fell like cloud, blotting out
| the background of the mountains, and ev-
cry night the biting wind swept down
upon them from the fields of snow, chill
| ing them to the marrow.
And SO they lived side by side, lovers at
heart, and talked and acted as q brother
and sister might, and through it all were
| happy in IL way because they were to-
| gether.
But Soa was not happy. She felt that
her mistress no longer trusted her and was
| at no loss to guess the cause. Day by day
she sat behind them like mummy at a
feast and watched Leonard with ever
growing jealousy and hate.
Francisco for his part did not attempt to
conceal his fears like the others. He was
certain that they were about to perish and
sought consolation in religion, which was
edifying, but scarcely improved him as a
companion. As for Otter, he also believed
that the hour of death was nigh, but being,
q fatalist this did not trouble him much.
On the contrary, in spite of Leonard's re-
monstranees he began TO live hard, betak-
ing himself freely to the beer pot, When
| Leonard grew angry with him, he turned
somewhat sulky
To-day l am god baas, " he answered;
tomorrow / may be carbon While l am
a god let me drink and be merry. All my
/ days also women have cursed me because
I am ugly but now my wife holds me
great and beautiful What is the good of
thinking and looking sad? The end will
come soon enough. Already Nam sharp
ems the knife for our hearts Come and be
merry with me, baas If the Shepherdoss
will let YOU
Do you take me for a pig like your
self said Leonard angrily. We'll, go
your own way, fool that You arc, but be-
ware of the beer and the spirits. Now you
are beginning to know this language, and
when you are drunk yon talk and do you
think that there are no spies here? That
girl Saga is greatniece to Nam, and you
are besctted with her. Beware lest you
bring us all to death.
''Thither we shall come anyway, so let
us laugh before we cry, baas, Otter re-
piled sullenly. Must then sit here and
do nothing till dief"
Leonard shrugged his shoulders and
went. He could not blame the dwarf,
who, after all, was a savage and looked at
things as a savage would He sometimes
wished so deep was his depression, that
he also was savage and could do like
wise.
But the worst of their trials is still to
be told For the first week the settlement
men staid in the palace, their fears and
the rumors that had reached them of the
terrible fate of their two lost companions
keeping them quiet. By degrees, however,
their dread wore off, and one afternoon,
wearied with the sameness OF their life,
they yielded to the solicitations of some
men who spoke to them through the bars
of the great gate and went out in a body
without obtaining Leonard's permission.
That night they returned drunk-at least
ten of them did; the other two were miss
ing When they were sober again, Leon
ard questioned them as to the whereabouts
Of their companions, but they could give
him no satisfactory Information. They
had been into various houses in the city,
they said, where the people had piled them
with beer, and they remembered nothing