s
eyes, and pointed to the stone.

I stood without motion.

He repeated the gesture and said, "Lie down here."

"I will not," said I.

"But it is on this stone," said he, "that you are to get the blessing
of death."

"I'll die first!" said I, fiercely, and I raised my rifle.

The Chief Pauper was puzzled at this. The others looked on quietly,
thinking it probably a debate about some punctilio. Suddenly he seemed
struck with an idea.

"Yes, yes," said he. "The woman first. It is better so."

Saying this he walked toward Almah, and said something to the hags.

At this the chief of them--namely, the nightmare hag--led Almah to the
nearest stone, and motioned to her to lie down. Almah prepared to
obey, but paused a moment to throw at me one last glance and wave her
hand as a last farewell. Then without a word she laid herself down
upon the stone. At this a thrill of fury rushed through all my being,
rousing me from my stupor, impelling me to action, filling my brain
with madness. The nightmare hag had already raised her long keen knife
in the air. Another moment and the blow would have fallen. But my
rifle was at my shoulder; my aim was deadly. The report rang out like
thunder. A wild, piercing yell followed, and when the smoke cleared
away the nightmare hag lay dead at the foot of the altar. I was
already there, having burst through the astonished crowd, and Almah
was in my arms; and holding her thus for a moment, I put myself in
front of her and stood at bay, with my only thought that of defending
her to the last and selling my life as dearly as possible.

The result was amazing.

After the report there was for some moments a deep silence, which was
followed by a wild, abrupt outcry from half a million people--the roar
of indistinguishable words bursting forth from the lips of all that
throng, whose accumulated volume arose in one vast thunder-clap of
sound, pealing forth, echoing along the terraced streets, and rolling
on far away in endless reverberations. It was like the roar of mighty
cataracts, like the sound of many waters; and at the voice of that
vast multitude I shrank back for a moment. As I did so I looked down,
and beheld a scene as appalling as the sound that had overawed me. In
all that countless throng of human beings there was not one who was
not in motion; and all were pressing forward toward the pyramid as
to a common centre. On every side there was a multitudinous sea of
upturned faces, e