Page:The Song of the Sirens.djvu/91

 or bellowed. As mild and meek a hundred bulls as those never stood about one altar. Every liver was perfect, not one with a shrunken lobe, not one with a white spot, not a streak on any, not a discoloration. So with the hearts and the rest. No man ever had a more unmistakable pledge of his God's approval, no man ever had a more positive authorization from Heaven."

"Suppose some of the omens had been bad?" Anna suggested.

"Anyone is used to that," Iarbas shrugged.

"Suppose they all had been bad," Anna continued.

"I should have sacrificed another hecatomb," Iarbas reflected, "until they came out right."

"Suppose they did not come out right?" Anna pursued. "Suppose they were all bad and continued to be bad. Suppose you had sacrificed a thousand bulls and not one of them but was as bad as possible in every respect?"

"Too improbable to suppose," Iarbas muttered. "That would be impossible."

"Just suppose it," Anna insisted. "Say it had happened so, what would you have done?"

"I should have stayed in Usinaz, certainly," Iarbas ruminated. "Likely I should have disbanded my men too and let them go home. If such a thing could happen and if it had happened to me I should have been too scared to stir out,