The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1901-12-12

"eIc Dio i5SS., Hiiu hay ~ AA' WIZ ~
curely fastened behind my back. All
the time they kept up great shouting
and shrieking.
As I lay OF the stone floor of the
great bare temple, saw Kaumai, the
Driestess, move toward me. She
moved, as I say, rather, than walked.
There was something so divinely
graceful and dazzlingly beautiful about
this strange being. She was tall and
Of superb proportions. Her face was
cold and proud, even austere. Yet il
was lovely in its fairness, with its skin
of velvet aud with well-molded chin
and lips of ravishing redness. Her
arm, which was bare, was raised, and
showed full and plump, and a hand
hat an artist would travel leagues to
ind, pointed slender, tapering finger
II my direction.
"Let the vile desecrator of the tenn
ole OF Pele be carried at once into the
dungeon, said Kaumai; and, although
ler words were harsh and her manner
stern, the voice was voice strangely
musicsl. low and capable of as great
passion as it was Of such
"Away with the false priest! To
the dungeon with him." they cried.
'sHe awaits his own death! He must
pay the cost to Pele!"
Hooked at Kaumai, hoping to arouse
in her breast some little mercy, but
there were no sigI.s of it in the calm.
bright eyes that looked sternly apoI
me as was carried forth.
cob, why do You think I am false
priest?" Icried in the native tongue.
"Have T not obeyed all the iniunc
tions of Lowai, whose successor. ]
amr'
:'You have desecrated the temple Of
Pele," said one of the high priests.
"How have 1 desecrated the tenn.
pleI" I asked. -,
sacred one set apart for sacrifice to
Pele when the devils of the fire stir
the volcano into action. That is your
crime"
':But Lowai did not tell me that /
must not do that, and when | saw my
sister could not resist the tempta
| ;on to caress her"
"He talks like the people of earth, "
said the high priest, perhaps little
uore insane than the others He
does not know that in the temples Of
Pele no earthly relation exists"
"No, I did not know that" I an.
swered. "The sacred victim was my
sister in Honolulu, and I thought she
was my sister here"
"You have had your eyes opened,
oh priestI" said one of the highs,
with q half moan and half howl. "You
know your error now."
"I ought to-" I said. 'Ihaye been
pounded to jelly and tied up into q
knot. fought to have learned some.
thing from all that"
ellis eyes are opened, Pele be
praised!" sang a skinny old lunatic,
dancing along by my side. "He will
assist at the sacrifice of the sacred one
when the volcano spits and boils. So
to the praise and glory of Pele all
mortals come"
4 happy idea seemed to strike them
at this point. The words of the old
dancing maniac were fortunate ones
Tor me.
"Ah, that is what he will dol" they
replied gleefully. "Let the new priest,
the successor of Lowai, assist at the
sacrifice of the sacred one, and thus
show his devotion to the great and
good Pele. If his work is done well,
then we will make him one of us-a
high priest of the Kammiloukanilima-
val"
Eyes. All, it is n good test of his
devotionw said another.
"Do you agree to this?" asked one,
who appeared to be the oldest and the
highest in authority among them.
"Do agree to what?" I asked, as
though 1 had not heard them. I did
this to gain time. I was rapidly think
! ing.
'.Do you agree to assist in the
sacrifice of the sacred one you saw in
the temple, and hurl her to the feet OF
Pele in the boiling torrent, after which
you shall become high-priest, as we
are, and enjoy the confidence of Pele
| and her priestess Kaumai?"
eyes, I agree to that" 1 said. u
will do your bidding"
1 had jumped to hasty resolve to
accept their terms, hoping that in ap-
| pearing to submit, I might gain some-
thing, either in freedom from impris'
onment or the confidence of some OF
the priests. I knew that by holding
out and protesting against my sisters