lse priests, for they were slain, and the gods
had not protected them, and that Nefri was prince by the will of
Heiri.

And then he said that Heiri with his latest breath had said that he
should be the last victim--and that thus it should be; "for Heiri," he
said, "has become a god indeed and fought for us, and has conquered
the Romans, and, therefore," he said, "the Lord Nefri has decreed that
the precinct of the god should not indeed be destroyed--for that were
impious; but that a great mound should be raised over the place, and
that it should be the tomb of Heiri, and that peaceful offerings
should be made there, and that it should be kept as a day of festival;
and that Nefri himself should be priest as well as prince, and his
successors for ever."

And the people all applauded, for they had dreaded the bloody
sacrifices; and the next day and for many days they laboured until
over the whole precinct they had raised a mighty mound, burying the
image of the god; and for Heiri's body they made a chamber of stone,
and they laid him therein, with his face upward to the sky, and made
great lamentation over him.

When all things were in order a solemn feast was held; and Nefri on
the top of the mound made a sacrifice of fruits and milk, and blessed
the people in the name of Heiri; and he made order that to make the
place more blessed, all weddings should thenceforth be celebrated upon
the mound, so that it should be the precinct of life and not of death.
And the people rejoiced.

That night Nefri slept in the hut of Heiri; and at the dead time of
darkness, when all was silent in the camp, except for the pacing of
the sentry to and fro, Nefri awoke, and saw in the hut the form of
Heiri standing, only brighter and fairer than when he lived; and he
looked upon Nefri with a smile as though his heart was full of joy;
then he came near and said, in a voice like the voice of a distant
fall of water, "Nefri, dear child, thou hast done well and wisely; be
just and merciful and loving to all; and rule with diligence, and
grieve not."

Then Nefri would have asked him of the place wherein his spirit abode,
but could not find words; for he was full of wonder, though not
afraid. But Heiri smiled again, as though he knew his thoughts, and
said, "Ask me not that, for I may not tell; but only this I may tell
you, that no man who has lived wisely and bravely need fear the
passage; it is but a flying shadow on the path, like a cloud on