and between them and Hanadra was a dense black
mass, the whole of old Hanadra's able-bodied manhood, lined up to
defend the city. Now was the time to pray. Fifty to one are by no means
despicable odds, but the aid of the gods as well is better!

So the huge dome of Kharvani's temple began to echo to the sound of
slippered feet and awe-struck whisperings, and the big, dim auditorium
soon filled to overflowing. No light came in from the outer world.
There was nothing to illuminate the mysteries except the chain-hung
grease-lamps swinging here and there from beams, and they served only
to make the darkness visible. Bats flicked in and out between them
and disappeared in the echoing gloom above. Censers belched out
sweet-smelling, pungent clouds of sandalwood to drown the stench of hot
humanity; and the huge graven image of Kharvani--serene and smiling and
indifferent--stared round-eyed from the darkness.

Then a priest's voice boomed out in a solemn incantation and the
whispering hushed. He chanted age-old verses, whose very meaning was
forgotten in the womb of time--forgotten as the artist who had painted
the picture of idealized Kharvani on the wall. Ten priests, five on
either side of the tremendous idol, emerged chanting from the gloom
behind, and then a gong rang, sweetly, clearly, suddenly, and the
chanting ceased. Out stepped the High Priest from a niche below the
image, and his voice rose in a wailing, sing-song cadence that reechoed
from the dome and sent a thrill through every one who heard.

His chant had scarcely ceased when the temple door burst open and a man
rushed in.

"They have begun!" he shouted. "The battle has begun!"

As though in ready confirmation of his words, the distant reverberating
boom of cannon filtered through the doorway from the world of grim
realities outside.

"They have twenty cannon with them! They have more guns than we have!"
wailed he who brought the news. Again began the chanting that sought the
aid of Siva the Destroyer. Only, there were fewer who listened to this
second chant. Those who were near the doorway slipped outside and joined
the watching hundreds on the roofs.

For an hour the prayers continued in the stifling gloom, priest
relieving priest and chant following on chant, until the temple was half
emptied of its audience. One by one, and then by twos and threes, the
worshipers succumbed to human curiosity and crept stealthily outside to
watch.

Another messenger