The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-24
THE LADY OF THE HEAVENS.
Copyright, 1908. by H. Rider Haggard
(Continued,l

Then the dawn broke. an awful ! blood-red dawn, and by degrees they saw. Beneath them ran shallow 1 river. and beyond it. stretching for 1 league upon league farther than the ! eye could see, lay the mighty forest 1 whereof the trees scared two hundred feet or more into the air; the dark l 1llimitable forest that rolled as the sea rolls beneath the pressure of the gale 1 and indeed. seen from above, like a green and tossing ocean. At the sight of the water Rachel and Noie began to run towards 1t hand in hand for they were parched with thirst wh-se mouth were full of the salt dust of the desert. The bearers of the filters in which were the three priests ran also, paying no heed to the cries of the dwarfS
 within. At length it was reached. and
 throwing themselves down they drank until that raging thirst of theirs was satisfied; even Eddo and his compa l-
 ions crawied out of their filters and drank. Then having washed their hands and faces in the cool water,
 they forded, the fleet stream, and. filled with a new life. followed the road that
 ran beyond towards the forest. Scarce
 Iy had they set foot upon the farther
 bank when the heart of the tempest,
 which had been eddying round them
 all night long. burst over tfem in it's
 fury. The lightnings blazed, the thun-
 dor rolled. and the wild wind grew to
 Q hurricane. so fierce that the 1tters
 in which were Eddo, Pani. and Hana
 were torn from the grasp of the bear
 CTS and rolled upon the ground. From the wreck of them. for they were but
 frail things. the little grey priests
 emerged trembling. or rather were dragged by the hands of their giant
 bearers, to whom they clung as frightened infant clingS to it's mother.
 Rachel saw them and laughed
 Look at the Masters of Magicr' she cried to Noie. "those who kill with curse. those who rule the Ghosts" and she pointed to the tiny-contemptible figures with fiuttering robes being dragged along by those giants whom but little while before they had threa tened with death.
 T see them,'' answered Noie into her car. Their spirits are strong when they are at peace. but in trouble they fear Goom more than others. Now, if I were those Umkulu, I would make an end of them while they can"
 But these great, patient men did otherwise; indeed. when the dwarfs, worn out and bewildered by the hurri- cane. could walk no more, they took them up and carried them as a woman carries a babe.
 Now they were passing a belt of open land between the river and the forest in which terrified mobs of cattle rush ed to and fro. while their herds. slave men of large size like the Umkulu, where they would he safe from ths tempest. In this belt also grew broad fields of grain, which furnished food for the Tree-folk At last they came to the confines of the forest. and Ra- chel looking round her with wondering eyes, saw at the foot of each great tree a tiny nut shaped like a tent. and in front of the hut a dwarf seated on the ground staring into a bowl of water and beating his breast with his hands.
 What do they ?'' she asked of Noie.
 "They strive to read their fates, Lady, and weep because the wind rip pies the dew in their bowls, so that they can see nothing, and cannot be sure whether their tree will stand or fall. Follow me. follow me. I know the way. here we are not safe.
 The hurricane was at its height; the huge trees about them rocked and bent like reeds, great boughs came crashing down: one of them fell upon a praying dwarf and crushed him to a pulp. Those around him saw it and uttered a wild shrill scream: Eddo, Pani, and Hama saw it and screamed also, in the arms of their bearers, for this sight of blood was terrible to them. The forest was alive with the voices of the storm, it seemed to howl and groan, and the lightnings illumin- cd its gloomy aisleS. The grandeur and the fearfulness of the scene ex cited Rachel: she waved the spear she carried, and began to laugh in the wild fashion of her madness, so that even the grey dwarfs, seated each at the foot of his tree. ceased from his prayers to glance at her askance.
 On they went. expecting death at