FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115  
116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   >>   >|  
the lot of man born of woman?_" Back came the answer rolling out from every throat in that vast company-- "_Death!_" Gradually, however, the song was taken up by company after company, till the whole armed multitude were singing it, and I could no longer follow the words, except in so far as they appeared to represent various phases of human passions, fears, and joys. Now it seemed to be a love song, now a majestic swelling war chant, and last of all a death dirge ending suddenly in one heart-breaking wail that went echoing and rolling away in a volume of blood-curdling sound. Again silence fell upon the place, and again it was broken by the king lifting his hand. Instantly we heard a pattering of feet, and from out of the masses of warriors strange and awful figures appeared running towards us. As they drew near we saw that these were women, most of them aged, for their white hair, ornamented with small bladders taken from fish, streamed out behind them. Their faces were painted in stripes of white and yellow; down their backs hung snake-skins, and round their waists rattled circlets of human bones, while each held a small forked wand in her shrivelled hand. In all there were ten of them. When they arrived in front of us they halted, and one of them, pointing with her wand towards the crouching figure of Gagool, cried out-- "Mother, old mother, we are here." "_Good! good! good!_" answered that aged Iniquity. "Are your eyes keen, _Isanusis_ [witch doctresses], ye seers in dark places?" "Mother, they are keen." "_Good! good! good!_ Are your ears open, _Isanusis_, ye who hear words that come not from the tongue?" "Mother, they are open." "_Good! good! good!_ Are your senses awake, _Isanusis_--can ye smell blood, can ye purge the land of the wicked ones who compass evil against the king and against their neighbours? Are ye ready to do the justice of 'Heaven above,' ye whom I have taught, who have eaten of the bread of my wisdom, and drunk of the water of my magic?" "Mother, we can." "Then go! Tarry not, ye vultures; see, the slayers"--pointing to the ominous group of executioners behind--"make sharp their spears; the white men from afar are hungry to see. _Go!_" With a wild yell Gagool's horrid ministers broke away in every direction, like fragments from a shell, the dry bones round their waists rattling as they ran, and headed for various points of the dense human circle. We could not watch
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115  
116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Mother

 

Isanusis

 

company

 
waists
 
Gagool
 

pointing

 
rolling
 

appeared

 

doctresses

 

fragments


Iniquity
 

horrid

 

direction

 

ministers

 

halted

 
circle
 

arrived

 

crouching

 

points

 
mother

rattling

 
headed
 

figure

 

answered

 

taught

 

justice

 

Heaven

 
wisdom
 

executioners

 

vultures


slayers

 

tongue

 

senses

 

hungry

 

ominous

 

compass

 

spears

 

neighbours

 

wicked

 

places


majestic

 

represent

 

phases

 

passions

 

swelling

 

breaking

 
echoing
 

suddenly

 

ending

 

throat