CHAPTER XXIII

HOW JUANNA CONQUERED NAM

Still the silence endured, and still the moonlight grew, creeping lower
and lower till it shone upon the face of the seething waters, and,
except in the immediate shadow of the walls, all the amphitheatre was
full of it.

Then the voice of Nam spoke again from far away, and Leonard looked to
see whence he spoke. Now he saw. Nam, attended by three priests, was
perched like an eagle on the left palm of the colossus, and from this
dizzy platform he addressed the multitude. Looking across the breast of
the statue, Leonard could just see the outstretched arm and the fierce
face of the high priest as he glared down upon the people.

"Hearken, ye Dwellers in the Mist, Children of the Snake! Ye have seen
your ancient gods, your Father and your Mother, come back to rule you
and to lead you on through war to peace, to wealth, to power, and to
glory. Ye see them now by that light and in that place wherein only it
is lawful that ye should look upon them. Say, do ye believe and do ye
accept them? Answer, every one of you, answer with your voice!"

Then a mighty roar of sound went up from the gathered thousands, a roar
that shaped itself into the words:

"We believe and we accept."