moment of trial. Nor was this all; for Juanna had loosened her dark
hair--which was of great length and unusual beauty--so that it hung
about her almost to her knees, and upon her forehead, gleaming like a
red eye, was set the great ruby, ingeniously fastened thereto by Soa in
a band of linen pierced in its centre to the size of the stone.

"Behold the goddess and do homage," said Juanna with mock solemnity,
although Leonard could see that she was trembling with excitement.

"I do not quite understand what you are going to do, but you look the
part well," he answered shortly. And, indeed, until that moment he had
never known how beautiful she was.

Juanna blushed a little at the evident admiration in his eyes; then,
turning to the dwarf, she said:

"Now, Otter, you must make ready too. And remember what Soa told you.
Whatever you see or hear, you are not to open your mouth. Walk side by
side with me and do as I do, that is all."

Otter grunted in assent, and proceeded to "make ready." The process was
simple, consisting only in the shedding of his coat and trousers--an old
pair of Leonard's, very much cut down--which left him naked, except for
a _moocha_ that he wore beneath them in accordance with native custom.

"What does all this mean?" asked the headman Peter, who, like his
companions, was trembling with fear.

"It means," said Juanna, "that Otter and I are impersonating the gods of
this people, Peter. If they receive us as gods, it is well; if not, we