rl, your choice is wise;
perhaps your loss is not so great as you have thought. Hafela, take you
the hand of Hokosa and release the girl back to him according to the
law, promising in the ears of men before the first month of winter to
pay him two hundred head of cattle as forfeit, to be held by him in
trust for the girl."

In a sullen voice, his lips trembling with rage, Hafela did as the
king commanded; and when the hands of the conspirators unclasped, Owen
perceived that in that of the prince lay a tiny packet.

"Mix me the cup of the first-fruits, and swiftly," said the king again,
"for the sun grows low in the heavens, and ere it sinks I have words to
say."

Now a polished gourd filled with native beer was handed to Nodwengo, the
second son of the king, and one by one the great councillors approached,
and, with appropriate words, let fall into it offerings emblematic of
fertility and increase. The first cast in a grain of corn; the second,
a blade of grass; the third, a shaving from an ox's horn; the fourth,
a drop of water; the fifth, a woman's hair; the sixth, a particle
of earth; and so on, until every ingredient was added to it that was
necessary to the magic brew.

Then Hokosa, as chief of the medicine men, blessed the cup according
to the ancient forms, praying that he whose body was the heavens, whose
eyes were lightning, and whose voice was thunder, the spirit whom they
worshipped, might increase and multiply to them during the coming year
all those fruits and elements that were present in the cup, and that
every virtue which they contained might comfort the body of the king.

His prayer finished, it was the turn of Hafela to play his part as the
eldest born of the king. Kneeling over the cup which stood upon the
ground, a spear was handed to him that had been made red hot in the
fire. Taking the spear, he stabbed with it towards the four quarters
of the horizon; then, muttering some invocation, he plunged it into the
bowl, stirring its contents till the iron grew black. Now he threw aside
the spear, and lifting the bowl in both hands, he carried it to his
father and offered it to him.

Although he had been unable to see him drop the poison into the cup,
a glance at Hafela told Owen that it was there; for though he kept his
face under control, he could not prevent his hands from twitching or the
sweat from starting upon his brow and breast.

The king rose, and taking the bowl, held it on high, sayin