nd still
the priests hesitated, and the people hung in the balance like
a herd of startled buck as it were, making no sign one way or
the other.

The last yell of the burning priest had died away, the fire had
finished him, and a great silence fell upon the place.

Then the High Priest Agon turned, and his face was as the face
of a devil. 'Let the sacrifice be sacrificed,' he cried to the
Queens. 'Has not sacrilege enough been done by these strangers,
and would ye, as Queens, throw the cloak of your majesty over
evildoers? Are not the creatures sacred to the Sun dead? And
is not a priest of the Sun also dead, but now slain by the magic
of these strangers, who come as the winds out of heaven, whence
we know not, and who are what we know not? Beware, oh Queens,
how ye tamper with the great majesty of the God, even before
His high altar! There is a Power that is more than your power;
there is a Justice that is higher than your justice. Beware
how ye lift an impious hand against it! Let the sacrifice be
sacrificed, oh Queens.'

Then Sorais made answer in her deep quiet tones, that always
seemed to me to have a suspicion of mockery about them, however
serious the theme: 'Oh, Agon, thou hast spoken according to thy
desire, and thou hast spoken truth. But it is thou who wouldst
lift an impious hand against the justice of thy God. Bethink
thee the midday sacrifice is accomplished; the Sun hath claimed
his priest as a sacrifice.'

This was a novel idea, and the people applauded it.

'Bethink thee what are these men? They are strangers found floating
on the bosom of a lake. Who brought them here? How came they
here? How know you that they also are not servants of the Sun?
Is this the hospitality that ye would have our nation show to
those whom chance brings to them, to throw them to the flames?
Shame on you! Shame on you! What is hospitality? To receive
the stranger and show him favour. To bind up his wounds, and
find a pillow for his head, and food for him to eat. But thy
pillow is the fiery furnace, and thy food the hot savour of the
flame. Shame on thee, I say!'

She paused a little to watch the effect of her speech upon the
multitude, and seeing that it was favourable, changed her tone
from one of remonstrance to one of command.

'Ho! place there,' she cried; 'place, I say; make way for the
Queens, and those whom the Queens cover with their "kaf" (mantle).'

'And if I refuse, oh Queen?' said A