It was long since I had for a parcel of sleep, and so the larger part of that day I am free to that I soundly, Nais me. Night fell, and still we the of the temple. It was our plan that I should there till the slept, and so I should have more of the sea without disturbance.
The night came wet, with a of rain, and through the in the temple we see the many in the well for, the men and in skins and them, with steam as the with their wetness. Folk seated in like this are and in the temper, and Nais as she looked on the of the weather.
“A night,” she said, “and I would have sent my lord to the city without a here being the wiser; but in this chill, people sleep sourly. We must wait till the hour them sounder.”
And so we waited, there together on that so long by worshippers, and it was little we said aloud. But there can be good without of talk.
But as the hours on, the night to less quiet. From the some one to on a or a shell, sending a note incessantly. The came nearer, as we tell from its loudness, and the voices of those by the themselves heard, at the for his disturbance. And presently it stationary, and up we see through the in the the people of the up from their rest, and together one who and talked to them from the of a engine.
What he was upon we not hear, and our on the was not keen. Given that all who did not sleep to themselves with this fellow, as Nais whispered, it would be for me to make an in the opposite direction.
But here we were without the busybody. A dozen of through the wet came up to the of the little temple, and that Nais should join the audience. She had of tongue, it appeared, and they this who had taken his on the engine should make their ranks unless some person up also to his arguments.
Here, then, it to me that I must be into my by the most of chances, but Nais was that there should be no fight, if on her part turn it. “Come out with me,” she whispered, “and keep from the light of the fires.”
“But how my being here?”
“There is no to anything,” she said bitterly. “They will take you for my lover. There is nothing in that: it is the mode here. But oh, why did not the Gods make you wear a beard, and it, as other men? Then you have been gone and safe these two hours.”
“A me better.”
“So it me,” I her as she her weight on the which in the doorway, and pushed it ajar; “your chin.” The men outside—there were with them also—did not wait to watch me very closely. A or two (which I have good to have with a sword-thrust) and they off into the darkness, just from time to time to make sure we followed. On all others were pressing in the same direction—black against the night; the rain on the as we passed them; and from us came up others. There were no in the now; all were pressing on to this who on the of the engine; and if we had to from the course, we should have been marked at once.
So we on through the darkness, and presently came earshot.
Still it was little of the preacher’s we make out at first. “Who are your chiefs?” came the question at the end of a harangue, and all talk was in uproar. “We have no chiefs,” the people shouted, “we are done with chiefs; we are all equal here. Take away your magic. You may kill us with magic if you choose, but us you shall not. Nor shall the other rule. Nor Phorenice. Nor anybody. We are done with rulers.”
The press had us closer and closer to the man who on the engine. We saw him to be old, with white that on his shoulders, and a long white beard, and uncurled. Save for a of about the loins, his was unclothed, and in the wet.
But in his hand he that which marked his caste. With it he pointed his sentences, and at times he it about his wet, in a of light. It was a with an fire, which and and like some star sent by the Gods from their own place in the high heaven. It was the Symbol of our Lord the Sun, a no one forge, and one on which no man would a doubt.
Indeed, the did not question for one moment that he was a of the Clan of Priests, the Clan which from time out of had for the land, and in their they his powers. “You may kill us with your magic, if you choose,” they at him. But they to come to their old allegiance. “We have too many these later years,” they cried. “We are done with now for always.”
But for myself I saw the old man with a different emotion. Here was Zaemon that was father to Nais, Zaemon that had me yesterday seated on the at Phorenice’s elbow, and who to-day me as Deucalion if so he chose. These had a in their wish to kill me four days earlier, and if they of my nearness, though Nais were my advocate, her cold would have had little of an audience now. The High Gods who keep the of our Their well, but I did not think it to be sure that mine was very near the then.
The woman saw this too. She so as to her in mine and press them as a farewell, and I pressed hers in return, for I was sorry not to see her more. Still I not help my travel with a over the of I should these ragged, me down. And it was this should be so. For of all the that can in the heart, the of is keenest, and none but an old fighter, to with what must necessarily be his final battle, can tell how this is into the very of his being.
But for the time Zaemon did not see me, being too much in his outcry, and so I was free to to the which he spread around him, and to their on the hearers.
The he was no new one. He told that since the of history, the Gods had set one Clan of the people to over the and be their Priests, and until the of Phorenice these had done their with and justice. They had invaders, against the beasts, and earth-movements so that they were able to and eruptions, and spread that the people might be able to their devastations. They are no self-seekers; their was always to the of Atlantis, and so do to the on which the High Gods had set their special favour. Under the Priestly Clan, Atlantis had the of and happiness.
“But,” the old man, the Symbol till his wet in a of light, “the people and careless with their easy life. They to have a that their good was by their own and thews, and was no gift from the Gods above; and presently the of these Gods neglected, and Their temples were of gifts and worshippers. Followed a punishment. The Gods in Their way that a wife of one of the Priests (that was a of no province) should see a woman child by the wayside, and take it for adoption. That child the Gods in their into a for Atlantis, and you who have the weight of Phorenice’s hand, know with what the High Gods can fashion their instruments.
“Yet, as they set up, so can they down, and those that shall Phorenice are now appointed. The old is to be re-established; but not till you who have are to to it for relief.” He the Symbol him. “See,” he in his high old voice, “you know the Power of which that is the sign, and for which I am the mouthpiece. It is for you to make now. Are the Gods to this woman who has Them and so on you? Or are you to be still of your you are for deliverance?”
The old off with a gesture, and his white on to his chest. Promptly a man, skin and his weapon, up through the press of listeners, and jumped on to the him. “Hear me, brethren!” he bellowed, in his voice. “We are done with tyrants. Death may come, and we all of us here have how little we it. But own again we will not, and that is our final say. My lord,” he said, to the old man with a face, “I know it is in your power to kill me by magic if you choose, but I have said my say, and can the cost if needs be.”
“I can kill you, but I will not,” said Zaemon. “You have said your silliness. Now go you to the ground again.”
“We have free speech here. I will not go till I choose.”
“Aye, but you will,” said the old man, and on him with a of the brows. There was no passed; the Symbol, which like a star against the night, was not so much as in warning; but the man to retort, and, himself with a dumbness, with a of fear, and jumped he had come. The of them expectantly, and when no was given, they to that a should be them, and then they would be to the old allegiance.
The old man and at them in fury. “You dogs,” he cried, “you empty-witted dogs! Do you ask that I should the powers of the Higher Mysteries by dancing them out you as though they were a mummers’ show? Do you yourselves that you are to be to your allegiance? It is for you to the Gods who are so offended. Come in humility, and I take it upon myself to that you will and relief. Remain stubborn, and the scourge, Phorenice, may you into she in turn is to answer for the she has put upon the land. There is the choice for you to at.”
The of voices rose again into the of the night, and were menacingly. It was clear that the party for had by the weight, in numbers and lustiness; and those who might, from of strife, have been for surrender, their word through terror of the consequence. It was a on the of speech, about which these had their boast, and, with a malice, I not help a word on this to Nais as she at my elbow. But Nais at my hand, and me for caution. “Oh, be silent, my lord,” she back, “or they will tear you in pieces. They are on fire for now.”
“Yet a hours you were for killing me yourself,” I not help her.
She on me with a look. “A woman can her mind, my lord. But it you little to her of her fickleness.”
A man in the press me with an effort, and at me through the darkness. “Oh!” he said. “A chin. Who are you, friend, that you should cut a of it? I can see no on your face.”
I answered him that, with “freedom” for a watchword, the fashion of my was a of private concern. But as that did not satisfy him, and as he to be one of those that are the of every community, I took him by the and the shoulder, and his with the old, quick turn till I it crack, and had him any of his had what had befallen. The press of the him from to the ground, and so he on there where he was, with his forward, as though he had asleep through heaviness, or had through the of his fellows. I had no to that last of mine in a place like this, where there was no room to a weapon, to clear a ring.
But all this time the from the was sending his angry anathemas, and still the attention of the people. And next he set them the of the Gods in the as is prescribed, and they (with old to them) response in the and in the places where the old enjoins. It was sight, that time-honoured service of adoration, upon these wild people after so long a period of irreligion.
They to the old as the high voice of the them forth, and as they listened, and as they how was the of the Gods for the and of their daily lives, so much their responses.
“... WHO STILLED THE BURNING OF THE MOUNTAINS, AND MADE COOL PLACES ON THE EARTH FOR US TO LIVE!—PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GODS.
“WHO GAVE US MASTERY OVER THE LESSER BEASTS AND SKILL OF TEN TIMES TO PREVAIL!—PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GODS....”
“WHO GAVE US MASTERY OVER THE LESSER BEASTS AND SKILL OF TEN TIMES TO PREVAIL!—PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GODS....”
It one to their earnestness; it one to know that they would yet be and not return to their old allegiance. For this is the way with these common people; they will work up an one minute, and an hour later it will have away and left them cold and empty.
But Zaemon no calls upon their loyalty. He the of sentences, and off the of the engine with the Symbol of our Lord the Sun out him. To all ordinary the had been packed so that no was possible, but the of the Symbol the people back, a wide for his passage.
And here came the point of my life. At first, like, I take it, every one else in that crowd, I that the old man, having his mission, was making a way to return to the place from which he had come. But he to one direction, and as that was myself, it naturally came to my mind that, having with things, he would now settle with the less; or, in words, that having put his policy the people, he would now the man he had but yesterday seated as Phorenice’s minister. Well, I should that final I had promised myself, and that of for my bed. It was clear that Zaemon was the of the Priests’ Clan, appointed; and I also was a priest. If the word had been on the Sacred Mountain to those who sat the Ark of the Mysteries that Atlantis would more with Deucalion sent to the Gods, I was to to the with submissiveness. That I had for this mode of off, I will not deny. No man who has the game of arms the promise of such a final without a of longing.
But I had been to none of these on my face, and when the old man came up to me, I my ground and gave him the our ranks, which he returned to me with and accuracy. The back, being away by the of the Symbol, us alone in the middle of a ring. Even Nais, though she was a priest’s daughter, was of the Mysteries, and not its force. And so we two men there alone together, with the of the Symbol us, and up the sea of that watched.
The people were quick to put their natural on the scene. “A spy!” they to out. “A spy! Zaemon him as a Priest!”
Zaemon on them with a look on his old face. “Aye,” he said, “this is a Priest. If I give you his name, you might have interest. This is the Lord Deucalion.”
The word was up and them with a thousand emotions. But at least they were to their policy; they had that Deucalion was their enemy; they had already a for his destruction; and now that he was in by their masses, they to tear him into with their fingers. But and though they might against me, the from the Symbol them as though it had been a lava-stream; and Zaemon was not the man to hand me over to their until he had delivered as the of our Clan on the Sacred Mount. So the end was not to be yet.
The old man me and spoke in the tongue, which the common people do not know. “My brother,” he said, “which have you come to serve, Deucalion or Atlantis?”
“Words are a thing to answer a question like that. You will know all of my record. According to the Law of the Priests, each ship from Yucatan will have home its report to at the of their council, and I to that vice-royalty, what I did was plain here on the of Atlantis.”
“We know your doings in the past, brother, and they have approval. You have well, and you have austerely. You set up Atlantis for a mistress, and her well; but then, you have had no Phorenice to you into and fickleness.”
“You can send me where I shall see her no more, if you think me frail.”
“Yes, and your usefulness. No, brother, you are the last which this land has remaining. All other means that have been against Phorenice have failed. You have returned from for the final duel. You are the man we have, and you are our final champion. If you fail, then only those terrible Powers which are locked the Ark of the Mysteries to us, and though it is not to speak in this of their scope, you at least have full of their potency.”
I my shoulders. “It that you would save time and pains if you me to these of rebels, and let them end me here and now.”
The old man on me angrily. “I am you do your duty. What have you for to it?”
“I have in my memory the you spoke in the pyramid, when you came in the banqueters. ‘PHORENICE,’ was your cry, ‘WHILST YOU ARE YET EMPRESS, YOU SHALL SEE THIS ROYAL PYRAMID, WHICH YOU HAVE POLLUTED WITH YOUR DEBAUCHERIES, TORN TIER FROM TIER, AND STONE FROM STONE, AND SCATTERED AS FEATHERS BEFORE A WIND.’ It that you my defeat.”
The old man shuddered. “I cannot tell what she may us to do. I spoke then only what it was to me must happen. Perhaps when have that pass, she will and submit. But in the meanwhile, we use the more of the Gods, it is that we should all power to us. And so you must go, my brother, and play your part to the utmost.”
“It is an order. So I obey.”
“You shall be at Phorenice’s again by the next dawn. She has sent for you from Yucatan as a husband, and as one who (so she thinks, conqueror) has the weight of arm necessary to her tyrannies. You are a Priest, brother, and you are a man of tongue. It will be your part to make her mind see the power that can be against her, to point out to her the of against it.”
“If it is ordered, I will do these things. But there is little of success. I have Phorenice, and can her will. There will be no her once she has a decision. Others have tried; you have yourself; all have failed.”
“Words that were on a may go home to a wife. You have been here to be her husband. Well, take your place.”
The order came to me with a pang. I had little to through all of a life, though when I landed, the taking of Phorenice to wife would not have been very to me if policy had it. But the of the last two days had put in a different shape. I had two other who had me, and one of these had me a such as I had my economies.
To lead Phorenice in marriage would a from this other woman eternally, and I as I of it. But though these through my and gave me of pain, I did not my the of the of the Priests. I Zaemon, and put his hand to my forehead. “It is an order,” I said. “If our Lord the Sun me life, I will obey.”
“Then let us from this place,” said Zaemon, and took me by the arm and a way for us with the Symbol. No word did I have with Nais, to her with these who round, but I one from her eyes, and that had to for farewell. The ranks of the opened, and we walked away them scathless. Fiercely though they for my life, with though they their cries, no man to in and a hand against me. Neither did they follow. When we the of the crowd, and the ranks thinned, they had a mind, many of them, to along in our wake; but Zaemon the Symbol their with a of light, and they to their knees, grovelling, and pressed on us no more.
The rain still fell, and in the light of the as we passed them, the wet on the old man’s body. And us through the the of the Sacred Mountain, with the ring of its crest. I as I of the old peaceful days I had in its temple and groves.
But there was to be no more of that now. There was work to be done, work for Atlantis which did not delay. And so when we had out into the waste, and there was none near to view (save only the most High Gods), we the place where the passage was, entrance is only to the Seven the Priests; and there we parted, Zaemon to his in the lands, and I by this way into the capital.
