loquial powers while
seated in such close proximity to the king, he felt that he must make
the effort, and make it successfully, too, if Inaguy's life was to be
saved. Therefore, when a few minutes later, Inaguy was led forth, and
the king put to him the question which Macoma had declared himself
unable to answer, and Inaguy had in turn passed it on to the idol, the
latter was heard to reply, sharply:

"Let a young bull be found, without blemish, and let him be slain upon
the altar and his carcass be burned before me, and I shall be satisfied;
for ye can offer me no more acceptable sacrifice than this and your
obedience to my commands. It is enough. I have spoken. Henceforth,
trouble me not, for I will speak no more."

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

A DEFINITE CLUE AT LAST.

This final communication from the god Anamac was received by the vast
multitude with great shouts of rejoicing, for it was accepted as putting
an end finally and for ever to the practice of offering annually human
sacrifices to him. And upon those occasions the choice of victims was
usually made jointly by the king and the chief priest; and the choice
was always of so capricious a character that, when invited to attend the
festival, no man could ever know whether he would survive to return from
it. Therefore the substitution of a single animal for several human
victims--seldom less in number than half a dozen--was regarded as a
national boon; and never, perhaps, was Anamac worshipped with more
sincerity, or with more gratitude, than he was upon the day when Dick
Cavendish and Wilfrid Earle so narrowly escaped dying upon his altar.

The festivities not only lasted through the entire day, but were
continued far into the night, some fifty oxen being slaughtered and
roasted to provide a feast for the numerous visitors whom King Jiravai
had invited to Yacoahite to participate in the great annual festival;
and when at length it was all over, and the guests had departed to their
respective homes, everybody agreed in the opinion that it had been the
most joyous and successful festival within living experience. As for
Dick and Earle, they were lodged in the king's own house, with Inaguy to
act as their interpreter--that astute individual having soon made up his
mind that service with the white men was safer, and likely to be more
profitable in the end, than even the position of chief of the Mangeroma
priests. And on the night of the festival, when the gre