people, or this was their law when I left
them forty years ago: That every stranger who passes through their gates
should be offered as a sacrifice to Aca the mother if the time of his
coming should be in summer, and to Jal the son if the time of his coming
be in winter, for the Mist-dwellers do not love strangers. But there is
a prophecy among my people which tells, when many generations have gone
by, that Aca the mother, and Jal the son, shall return to the land which
once they ruled, clothed in the flesh of men. And the shape of Aca shall
be such a shape as yours, Shepherdess, and the shape of Jal shall be as
is the shape of this black dog of a dwarf, whom when first I saw him in
my folly I deemed immortal and divine. Then the mother and the son
shall rule in the land, and its kings shall cease from kingship, and the
priests of the Snake shall be their servants, and with them shall come
peace and prosperity that do not pass away.

"Shepherdess, you know the tongue of the People of the Mist, for
when you were little I taught it to you, because to me it is the
most beautiful of tongues. You know the song also, the holy Song of
Re-arising, that shall be on the lips of Aca when she comes again,
and which I, being the daughter of the high-priest, learned, with many
another secret, before I was doomed to be a bride to the Snake and fled,
fearing my doom. Now come apart with me, Shepherdess, and you, Black
One, come also, that I may teach you your lesson of what you shall do
when we meet the squadrons of the People of the Mist."

Juanna rose to obey her, followed by Otter, grumbling, for he hated
the old woman as much as she hated him, and, moreover, he did not take
kindly to this notion of masquerading as a god, or, indeed, to the
prospect of a lengthened sojourn amongst his adoring, but from all
accounts somewhat truculent, worshippers. Before they went, however,
Leonard spoke.

"I have heard you, Soa," he said, "and I do not like your words, for
they show me that your heart is fierce and evil. Yes, though you love
the Shepherdess, your heart is evil. Now hear me. Should you dare to
play us false, whatever may befall us, be sure of this, that moment you
die. Go!"

"Spare your threats, Deliverer," answered Soa haughtily. "I shall not
betray you, because to do so would be to betray the Shepherdess. But are
you then a fool that you think I should fear death at your hands, who
to-morrow with a word could give you all to t