with tiles or galvanized iron I am sure it would never have done,
since the lumps of ice must have shattered one and pierced the other
like paper. Indeed I have seen this happen in a bad hailstorm in
Natal which killed my best horse. But even that hail was as snowflakes
compared to this.

I suppose that this natural phenomenon continued for about twenty
minutes, not more, during ten of which it was at its worst. Then by
degrees it ceased, the sky cleared and the moon shone out beautifully.
We climbed to the roof again and looked. It was several inches deep in
jagged ice, while the market-place and all the country round appeared in
the bright moonlight to be buried beneath a veil of snow.

Very rapidly, as the normal temperature of that warm land reasserted
itself, this snow or rather hail melted, causing a flood of water which,
where there was any fall, began to rush away with a gurgling sound. Also
we heard other sounds, such as that from the galloping hoofs of many
of the horses which had broken loose from their wrecked stables at
the north end of the market-place, where in great number they had been
killed by the falling roofs or had kicked each other to death, and a
wild universal wail that rose from every quarter of the big town, in
which quantities of the worst-built houses had collapsed. Further, lying
here and there about the market-place we could see scores of dark shapes
that we knew to be those of men, women and children, whom those sharp
missiles hurled from heaven had caught before they could escape and
slain or wounded almost to death. For it will be remembered that perhaps
not fewer than two thousand people were gathered on this market-place,
attending the horrid midnight sacrifice and discussing the unnatural
weather when the storm burst upon them suddenly as an avalanche.

"The Child is small, yet its strength is great. Behold the first curse!"
said Marut solemnly.

I stared at him, but as he chose to believe that a very unusual
hailstorm was a visitation from heaven I did not think it worth while
arguing the point. Only I wondered if he really did believe this. Then
I remembered that such an event was said to have afflicted the old
Egyptians in the hour of their pride because they would not "let the
people go." Well, these blackguardedly Black Kendah were certainly worse
than the Egyptians can ever have been; also they would not let _us_
go. It was not wonderful therefore that Marut should be the v