Page:Ayesha, the return of She (IA cu31924013476175).pdf/217

Rh   of the object of your wanderings, then, returning thence swiftly, made report to me. Thereon I bade the Khania Atene, and that old magician her great-uncle, who is Guardian of the Gate, go down to the ancient gates of Kaloon to receive you and bring you hither with all speed. Yet for men who burned to learn the answer to a riddle, you have been long in coming.

We came as fast as we might, O Hes, said Leo; and if thy spies could visit those mountains, where no man was, and find a path down that hideous precipice, they must have been able also to tell thee the reason of our delay. Therefore I pray, ask it not of us.

Nay, I will ask it of Atene herself, and she shall surely answer me, for she stands without, replied the Hesea in a cold voice. Oros, lead the Khania hither and be swift.

The priest turned and walking quickly to the wooden doors by which we had entered the shrine, vanished there.

Now, said Leo to me nervously in the silence that followed, and speaking in English, now I wish we were somewhere else, for I think that there will be trouble.

I don't think, I am sure, I answered; but the more the better, for out of trouble may come the truth, which we need sorely. Then I stopped, reflecting that the strange woman before us said that her spies had overheard our talk upon the mountains, where we had spoken nothing but English.

As it proved, I was wise, for quite quietly the Hesea repeated after me—

Thou hast experience. Holly, for out of trouble comes the truth, as out of wine.

Then she was silent, and, needless to say, I did not pursue the conversation.

The doors swung open, and through them came a procession clad in black, followed by the Shaman Simbri, who walked in front of a bier, upon which lay the body of