the assurance that he would return presently, having first reminded them
that the lives of all depended upon the maintenance of the delusion as
to the divinity of Otter and the Shepherdess.

The remainder of that day passed heavily enough. After the first
excitement of their strange position had gone by a reaction set in, and
everybody was much depressed. As the hours drew on, the mist, which had
lifted a little about ten o'clock, closed in very densely, throwing
the ill-lighted chamber where they sat into a deep gloom. In such an
atmosphere conversation languished; indeed, at times it died altogether,
and the only sound to be heard was that of the monotonous voices of the
priests without the curtains, as they muttered prayers unceasingly. At
length Leonard could bear it no longer, but rose, declaring that he
was going out to see whatever might be seen. Juanna tried faintly to
dissuade him, and Otter wished to come too, which was impossible. The
end of it was that he went alone.

First he revisited the Settlement men and tried to cheer them, and sadly
did they need cheering. Then he passed to the great gates of the palace
yard and looked through them. The mist had lifted a little, and about a
hundred paces away he could perceive the doors of the temple, on either
side of which rose Cyclopean walls fifty feet or more in height. It was
obvious that here preparations for some ceremony were in progress, and
on a large scale, for immense crowds of people were gathered about the
doors, through which bodies of priests and armed men passed continually.
More he could not learn, for the gates of the palace yard were barred
and guarded, and the soldiers would not let him through. He stood by
them watching till sunset, then returning to the others, he told them
what he had seen.