Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-01-03

them, put ner you SnalI not ndrln. ''Why should I swear this, daughters" ! be asked.
 "You shall swear because I, whom you love, love her, and also because so shall you gain the greater honor" ''Who am that should lift my hand 1 against the gods, daughter? I swear it by he blood of Aca, and if break my oath l then may Jal deal with me as once he dealt with Aca."
 Then Soa went on freely, for she knew ! that this was a vow that could not be broken. Beginni1g at the commencement, I she told him all the story of her life since, ' 10 years ago, she had fled from among the | People of the Mist, passing on rapidly, however, to that part of it which had to do with the capture and rescue of Juanna | from the slave traders, and with the prom | iSe that she had made to Leonard as the price of his assistance, Q promise, she ex- plnined, which she hnd no intention of | fulfilling until she was forced to do so by 1 Juanna herself. Then she gave him a | minute history of the object and details of | their expedition down to her final quarrel 1 with Leonard and her mistress on the pre- 1 vious day.
 To say that the old priest was thunder struck at these extraordinary revelations l would be too little. He was literally over V he could scarcely speak. Ut is well for this jade of a mistress of | yours, who dares to make mockery of our goddess that she may steal her wealth, that have sworn to save her from harm, I daughter" he gasped at length, "else she | had died, and swiftly. At least the others remain to me" And he spranR to his feet.
 Stay awhile. father,'' said Soa. catch ' ;,,-, ls afo rk,k K- My plan? To drag them to the temple 1 and denounce them. What else is there | to do?"
 And thereby denounce yourself also, | who proclaimed them gods. think have | better"
 l Speak it then, daughter" 1t is this. Do you pass in before the \ gods this day, speak humbly to the gods, | praying them to change tho face of the heaven that the sun may shine, and tell ing them that strange talk has come to your ears by the mouth of Saga and tho other women of words that have been | spoken by the god Jal, which would seem | 70 show that he is no god, but that of this
 5ou believe nothing as yet. Then tell them that if the face of the heavens remain un- l changed on the morrow you will know that this talk is true, and that they will be brought to tho temple, there to be | judged and dealt with according to the finding of the people, who have heard these things also"
 And what if the weather should change, daughter?'
 1t will not change yet awhile, but If that should chance we must make another plan.'
 | Just now swore to you that would not harm her whom you love, and yet, daughter, if sho is proved to be false goddess in the face of all the multitude, how shall she escape harm, for then her end must he quick and terriblef'
 "She shall escape because she shall not be there, father. You have seen the white man with her-nOt the delivcrcr, tho other. Were that man dressed in the robes of Aca and sat on high upon the head of the statue when the light is low,
 who shall say that it was not AcaF''
 Then you would give all the others to death, daughter:"
 Nay, would save the deliverer alive,
 for awhile, at least"
 And wherefore! You aro too subtle
 for me"
 For this reason, father. He loves her
 who is named AcA and trusts to marry her,
 to marry her fully according to tho GUS
 tom of his people. Therefore would that
 he should sec her given to another"
 ''To another! To whom, thcn'"
 ITO Olfan, the king, who also loves
 her"
 Now Nam hold up his hands in perplex-
 ity, saying:
 "Oh, my daughter, be plain, pray of
 you, for l cannot understand your coun.
 sels Were it not better to give to these
 people the red stones that they desire and
 send them secretly from the land, saying
 that they had vanished into the earth
 again, for so it seems to me we should be
 rid of much shame and trouble?''
 Listen, my father, and I will tell you.
 Were she whom love to leave this land
 should sec her face no more, and this mad
 ness has come upon me that cannot live
 without the sight of her Also how can
 these people escape the dangers of the road?
 But four of them arc left alive, and even
 were they without our borders they must | journey for three months before they come
 to any place where white men live, pass
 ing through swamps and deserts and tribes
 of wild men, which they could hardly do
 with arms such as those whereby the deliv-
 ercr slew the priests, and now their arms
 arc gone, you alonc know where, my
 father"
 "The instruments of which you speak lie in the deep waters of tho temple pool,
 my daughter, for there caused them to
 be cast.'
 Their arms are gone. They arc alone. Here they must live or die Three of them l would give to death, and tho fourth
 would make the wife of the king, seeing that nothing better can be done for her.
 Let her be hidden for awhile, and then let Olfan take her. As for the tale that we shall tell of the matter to the ears of the
 people, doH btless time will show It. say that Olfan loves her and will buy her with l a nriRa and ha nrina that St
 ask shall be that henceforth he obeys you in everything"
 'The scheme Is good, daughter-at least bearing my oath in mind, have none
 better, though were 1t not for my oath
 either I would Kill them all or set them 2 free. Yet who can say that 1t shall sue
 ceed' It is in the hands of fate. Let il , go as fate wills And now follow me, that I may place you where you shall dwell 1T
 comfort, and then when we have eaten |, will speak with these gods whom you have let loose upon us."
 r That morning passed heavily enougt
 for the four wretched prisoners in the pal , ace. For some hours they sat together 1T the throneroom almost silent, for they were crushed by misfortune and fear. Tn,
 tolls were closing on them, and they knew l. it, nor could they lift finger to save them n selves. Francisco knelt and prayed, Leon u ard and Juanna sat hand in hand listen h ing to him, while Otter wandered to ana O fro like an unquiet spirit cursing Soa l. Saga and all women in many language
 and with resource and vigor that strucl l, his hearers as unparalleled. At length h 10 vanished through the curtains to get drunl It probably, Leonard reflected. However, the dwarf sought not drink ? but vengeance. A few minutes later, hear e ing screams in the courtyard, Leonard raI Is out to find himself a witness of O curiou d scene There on the ground, surrounded
 by a group of other women, her compan l, ions, who were laughing at her discomfl 'r ture, lay the stately Saga, bride of tn snake, and over her stood her lord ant W master, the god Jal, his left hand twiste'