"I am already doomed," replied the girl; "I am cos-ata-lo."

"Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!" What did these phrases mean that
they were so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu and
lo, Bradley knew to mean man and woman; ata; was
employed variously to indicate life, eggs, young, reproduction
and kindred subject; cos was a negative; but in combination
they were meaningless to the European.

"Do you mean they will kill you?" asked Bradley.

"I but wish that they would," replied the girl. "My fate is to
be worse than death--in just a few nights more, with the coming
of the new moon."

"Poor she-snake!" snapped the Wieroo. "You are to become sacred
above all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has chosen you
for himself. Today you go to his temple--"the Wieroo used a
phrase meaning literally High Place--"where you will receive
the sacred commands."

The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley.
"Ah," she sighed, "if I could but see my beloved country once again!"

The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo
could interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no
way by which he might encompass her escape. She shook her
head sorrowfully. "Even if we escaped the city," she replied,
"there is the big water between the island of Oo-oh and the
Galu shore."