d summon thy shaky wits
against the ordeal I shall put thee to. Some one among ye stirred up the
rising which resulted as ye now see. That one I shall know before
sundown, and he shall bitterly repent him. Away!"

Dolores was astonished at seeing no sign of Rufe, but outwardly she
showed none of her astonishment. A more vital consideration was present
in the disobedience of the motley crew who as yet made no effort to come
to her call. Drawing herself fully erect when the old woman departed,
she again stretched out her hand and cried:

"Dogs of Satan! I await your homage. Red Jabez lies dead: yet his spirit
lives in me, your queen. By so many breaths that ye flout me, by just so
many torments shall I have ye torn. Come, dogs. Kneel!"

A hoarse murmur went up from the forest edge, and first one by one, then
in knots of half a score each, the negroes and half-breeds slunk into
the open and approached her with eyes full of panic. The whites, not so
susceptible to abstract influence, still hesitated, drawing near to each
other in growling consultation. Dolores gave them no sign, though she
watched them keenly from under her lowered lashes. She gave her
attention to the line of abject creatures who filed slowly past her,
each one stopping to grovel in the dust at her feet and passing on.
These Milo halted near by and herded into a shivering, frightened mob.
And Dolores's cool disregard of the whites had its calculated effect.
One by one they stepped out into the open as had the colored men; the
more timorous, or superstitious, came first, some wearing shamed grins,
others palpably impressed by the example of the others and shuffling on
their way uncomfortably. Last of all came the bolder spirits, and these
wore faces intended to express contempt, or at least sarcastic
indifference; but the faces changed invariably on closer approach to the
queen. Memory proved a stubborn master; in every man's breast
remembrance clamored to them to have a care how they bore themselves
before this beautiful fury they called queen.

Still Yellow Rufe came not.

When all had knelt, and all had been herded by the giant Milo in two
separate parties, the number was tallied, and of the whites, besides
Rufe, seven were missing. One lay inside the passage; of the rest there
were remains lying about the rocky wall to the cavern that might be
three men or six--human discernment could never decide which.

Dolores faced her mongrel subjects again a