The Yale expositor., 1913-09-18

was surprised when | answered him in the
= same tongue.
I'VE must kill you, he said. but theIe Is
no hurry. We shall wait.
AS though acting on the suggestion the
thirty black fends squatted in semrclrcle
about me and fell slowly and deliberately 10
sharpening their knives.
"'There is no hurry the chief said again
We must do so before the coming OF day.
that is all
Then in a fash il came back to me that
had heard from men of our own tribe that the
Aneza were worshippers, and that II was the
greatest OF all religious crimes among them 10
commit murder when the sun-their god-was In
the ascendancy Like shot it came to me that
if | could delay the execution until sunrise my
life would be saved. But how?
THE hope seemed futile. | wondered what
time it was. | knew 1t was after midnight AS
| lay on my blankets. watching those hideous
black faces that were doubly black and grotesque
in the weird fame of the torches, began to work
my hand slowly toward my pocket where Kept
my watch. | got it out and dropped my eyes TO
the face In the gloom | could make out the
hands pointing to o'clock 1t was nearly three
hours to sun-up There was not the ghost OF
chance of holding them of until then
But just the same, kept trying to figure It
out in my mind-to devise some plan to that end
And meanwhile I began to witness the services
that were 10 precede my death. Squatting there
with their black legs crossed that grim semi
circle of hends began to rock slowly back and
forth from the hips, hummng a strange, un-
cannv minor monotone out in front the big
chief led them 1t was the Aneza sacrifice pre-
Jude so to speak. And was to be the sacrifice
81 tell YOU it got into my nerves. ! don't think
I am a natural coward but half rythmically
keeping time as it were to the beating chant OF
those voices and the sway and swing of the black
bodies heard my teeth begin to click
q glanced over my shoulder to the other flap
Of the tent AS did so the Arab chief seemed to
divine my thought, for at motion of his hand
the semi-circle moved forward a couple Of feet
closer and, squatting again. went on with the
gruesome ceremonies. There was chance Of
escape by fight, that was certain
But never for moment did stop thinking;
struggling to drag an idea out of the confusion in
my brain And all the time the Aneza went on
whetting the knives and grooming and swaying
Half an hour then an hour went by. ] count
ed the minutes, for ! knew they measured the
time left me yet to live. And then suddenly
turned cold. My heart eaped and something fill
cd my throat 1t the idea had been comb
ing my brain for and it chance, ever so
faint, perhaps, but still a chance
Across the tent, not ten feet distant, was my
trunk with my stereoptcon lantern. and my
sdes-slides l had made of New York city, Of
the Metropolitan tower and Broadway. and all
the other sights of home. Could but! l
must Speaking in Arab | addressed the chief.
Before the time came to make the sacrifice had
something to show them-something the like OF
which they had never Would they like to
it?
"Breathless awaited the answer. There was
silence; then 1t came The chief would like to
see. | pointed to the trunk They brought 1t to
me- / unpacked the lantern and set IL up. the
long knives we're following me not two inches
away the while. The side of the tent the
screen. | lighted the lantern and dropped in the
first slide. Across the circle OF light hoated in
color the great Metropolitan tower. AS II did so
the muttering murmur of the death prelude wav.
cred and died out.
There was silence: then sharp words OF
mystery wonder of-fear Working swiftly,
! killed the exterior of the tower and shot into
its place a view of its interior. then another and
another. | followed with pictures from its top
pictures of the river of Broadway below. OF
motor tearing along with no visible means
OF ocomotion, of the loom of giant skyscrapers
I'm the distance, OF huge bridges across the East
river of steamboats, and liners running out OF the
harbor of Miss Liberty on Bedloe's Island and of
the marvellous tangle of Coney Island
The death prelude forgotten. The fear
gave place to evergrowing wonder The
semi-circle leaned forward, mass Of peering
crowding black heads and black shoulders;