e gained that holy
place, for it was told to me that he dragged rope after him, perhaps as
he fled before the Snake.

"Now it was promised to the man that when he had laid the bag of stones
in the place of the Snake, for the Snake to guard for ever, his sins
would be purged, and, if it pleased the Water-dweller to spare him, that
he should be drawn up again. Thus Nam swore to him, but he did not keep
his oath, for when the man had entered the cave he bade those who held
the ropes to cast them loose, and I know not what happened to him, but
doubtless he is food for the Snake. None who look upon that holy place
may live to see the sun again."

"I only hope that the brute did not swallow the rubies as well as their
bearer," said Leonard to Juanna; "not that there is much chance of our
getting them, anyway."

Then Olfan went, nor did he return till the afternoon, when he announced
that Nam and his two principal priests waited without to speak with
them. Juanna ordered that they should be admitted, and presently they
came in. Their air was humble, and their heads were bowed; but Leonard
saw fury gleaming in their sombre eyes, and was not deceived by this
mask of humility.

"We come, O ye gods," said Nam, addressing Juanna and Otter, who sat
side by side on the throne-like chairs: "we come to ask your will, for
ye have laid down a new law which we do not understand. On the third
day from now is the feast of Jal, and fifty women are made ready to be
offered to Jal that his wrath may be appeased with their blood, and that
he may number their spirits among his servants, and withhold his anger
from the People of the Mist, giving them a good season. This has been
the custom of the land for many a generation, and whenever that custom
was broken then the sun has not shone, nor the corn grown, nor have the
cattle and the goats multiplied after their kind. But now, O ye gods, ye
have proclaimed a new law, and I, who am yet your servant, come hither
to ask your will. How shall the feast go, and what sacrifice shall be
offered unto you?"

"The feast shall go thus," answered Juanna. "Ye shall offer us a
sacrifice indeed; to each of us shall ye offer an ox and a goat, and
the ox and the goat shall be given to the Snake to feed him, but not the
flesh of men; moreover, the feast shall be held at noon and not in the
night-time."

"An ox and a goat--to each an ox and a goat!" said Nam humbly, but in
a voice of bitterest sarcasm. "As y