knew
nothing.

In the afternoon Birnier was required to preside at the consecrating of
the ground and the setting up of the idol. But all he had to do was to
squat silently in front of the new temple and before Bakahenzie and the
group of the cult, while the concourse of the other wizards and the few
chiefs that were not away grunted a belly chorus upon the levee without.
The ceremony was disappointing as ceremonies go, for beyond the stewing in
the great calabash of a magic concoction with which to anoint the hole for
the feet of the idol, the doorposts of the temple and the House of Fires,
to the accompaniment of the usual chanting and drumming, it was ended by a
dance, with Bakahenzie as the premier danseur.

After his evening meal of boiled chicken, goat flesh and milk, Birnier
squatted in the doorway of his new quarters smoking. He had no lights as
his store of carbide was finished. Before leaving for the forest to carve
the Incarnation of the new Unmentionable One, he had had the forethought
to despatch a messenger to a certain village on the great lake to
intercept his carriers with goods and the mail for which he had sent after
escaping from the noble son of Banyala; he had already informed Bakahenzie
of the coming of a fresh stock of magic and impressed upon him that great
precaution must be taken to ensure that it came directly to him, lest
contact with strangers should offend the spirits. Bakahenzie had assented
in his usual non-committal manner, a manner that was beginning to get upon
Birnier's nerves.

As he smoked, staring up at the great moon over the sinister head of the
idol framed in the green light, he observed that the day after the next
would be the full moon, the Harvest Moon, the time of the yearly festival.
Then, by a coincidence which sometimes seems to have a telepathic basis as
explanation, he heard a curious soft sound from apparently behind the hut.
Mungongo, squatting near his Sacred Fires in the immobile manner of the
native, heard the sound too. Again a sibilant whisper, almost like the
hiss of a snake, brought a "Clk" of astonishment to Mungongo's lips. He
rose swiftly and disappeared behind the hut. Another muffled exclamation
of astonishment aroused Birnier's curiosity. He followed, to find Mungongo
leaning over the palisade as if speaking to some one.

"Ehh!" murmured a familiar voice. "'Tis Moonspirit!"

With a grunt of horror Mungongo turned upon Birnier and began to push him
a