Have I been your true servant: fit it is
That I, who witnessed Aztlan's first assault,
Should perish her last victim!.. and he moved
Towards the death. But then Erillyab

Seized him, and by the garment drew him back!..
By the Great Spirit, but he shall not die !

The Queen exclaimed; nor shalt thou triumph thus,
Liar and traitor! Hoamen, to your homes!
Madoc shall answer this!

Irresolute

They heard, and inobedient; to obey

Fearing, yet fearful to remain. Anon,
The Queen repeats her bidding, To your homes,
My people!.. But when Neolin perceived

The growing stir and motion of the crowd,
As from the outward ring they moved away,
He uttered a new cry, and disentangling
The passive reptile's folds, rushed out among them,
With outstretched hands, like one possessed, to seize
His victim. Then they fled; for who could tell
On whom the madman, in that hellish fit,
Might cast the lot? An eight-years boy he seized
And held him by the leg, and, whirling him
In ritual dance, till breath and sense were gone,

Set up the death-song of the sacrifice.
Amalahta, and what others rooted love
Of evil leagued with him, accomplices

In treason, joined the death-song and the dance.
Some too there were, believing what they feared,
Who yielded to their old idolatry,

And mingled in the worship. Round and round
The accursed minister of murder whirled

His senseless victim; they, too, round and round,
In maddening motion, and with maddening cries
Revolving, whirled and wheeled. At length, when now,
According to old rites, he should have dashed
On the stone Idol's head the wretch's brains,
Neolin stopt, and once again began
The long, shrill, piercing, modulated cry.
The Serpent knew the call, and, rolling on,
Wave above wave, his rising length, advanced
His open jaws; then, with the expected prey,
Glides to the dark recesses of his den.

VII

The Snake-God.

MEANTIME Erillyab's messenger had girt His loins, and, like a roebuck, o'er the hills He sped. He met Cadwallon and the Prince In arms, so quickly Madoc had obeyed Lincoya's call; at noon he heard the call, And still the sun was riding high in heaven, When up the valley where the Hoamen dwelt He led his twenty spears. O welcome, friend And brother! cried the Queen. Even as thou saidst So hath it proved; and those accursed schemes Of treachery, which that wretched boy revealed Under the influence of thy potent drink, Have ripened to effect. From what a snare The timely warning saved me! for, besure, What I had seen I else should have believed, In utter fear confounded. The Great Spirit,

Who taught thee to foresee the evil thing,
Will give thee power to quell it.

On they went

Toward the dell, where now the Idolaters
Had built their dedicated fire, and still.
With feast, and fits of song, and violent dance,
Pursued their rites. When Neolin perceived
The Prince approach, fearlessly he came forth,
And raised his arm, and cried, Strangers, away!
Away, profane! hence to your mother-land!
Hence to your waters! for the God is here;.
He came for blood, and he shall have his fill!
Impious, away!

Seize him! exclaimed the Prince;

Nor had he time for motion nor for flight,

So instantly was that command obeyed.
Hoamen, said Madoc, hear me !..I came here,
Stranger alike to Aztlan and to you;

I found ye an oppressed, wretched race,
Groaning beneath your chains; at your request,
For your deliverance, I unsheathed the sword,
Redeemed ye from your bondage, and preserved
Your children from the slaughter. With those foes,
Whose burden ye for forty years endured,

This traitor hath conspired, against yourselves,

Your Queen, and me your friend; the solemn faith
Which in the face of yonder sun we pledged,
Each to the other, this accursed man

Hath broken, and hath stained his hands this day
With innocent blood. Life must atone for life:
Ere I destroy the Serpent, whom his wiles
Have trained so well, last victim, he shall glut
The monster's maw.

Strike, man! quoth Neolin.

This is my consummation! the reward

Of my true faith! the best that I could ask,

The best the God could give: to rest in him,

...

Body with body be incorporate,

Soul into soul absorbed, and I and he
One life, inseparable, for ever more.

Strike, I am weary of this mortal part;
Unite me to the God!

Triumphantly

He spake; the assembled people, at his words,
With rising awe gazed on the miscreant;
Madoc himself, when now he would have given
The sign for death, in admiration paused,
Such power hath fortitude. And he perceived