The two could scarcely keep from jumping from their places, but the decisive moment had not arrived.
The stillness of death had fallen upon the multitude. The drum-beats stopped suddenly, the reed flutes ceased their wails, the voices of the singers were hushed, and half-emptied cups of wine slipped from nerveless fingers and fell to the ground. Every eye was turned skyward, and upon the sea of faces came a pallor and a look of horror, for the impossible was unquestionably happening. A black disk was rapidly stealing over the face of the sun from the west; half of the flaming orb was already obscured, and slowly but relentlessly a sickly gray twilight was falling upon the earth. Brilliant colors faded in the uncanny dusk, and jewels that had flashed and shimmered grew dull and lifeless. Familiar objects took on strange, fantastic shapes before they melted in a maze of grotesque shadows.
“Speak, Villac Umu! Speak!” Quizquiz’s voice was bordering on despair. “You are High Priest of the Temple of the Sun and know the will of the gods. You said this thing could not happen.”
“It is but a cloud,” Villac Umu explained nervously, but his faltering words carried no conviction.
“You lie! It is not a cloud. Command the shadow to retreat. Show your power. Use your magic. Do anything you wish to stop this terrible thing!”
The high priest arose and stretched both arms heavenward. In one hand was a staff from which numerous charms dangled, in the other a rattle of dried seeds. He loudly berated the demons that dared thrust themselves in front of the sun, and commanded them to depart without delay. He shook his staff and rattled his charms at them, but the grayness rapidly deepened into gloom, and when the last vestige of light had disappeared his helplessness was apparent to all. Loud cries, first singly, then in chorus, were raised in terrible accusation. In the darkness it was impossible to see who spoke, and this gave the speakers courage to say what was on their minds, but Ted and Stanley recognized the voice of Soncco among the leaders.
“Villac Umu is to blame for this; he said it could not happen, but it did, and now he is powerless to protect us. Kill him!” the mob shouted, and “Quizquiz shares in his guilt; he is not fit to be king, for he has betrayed us.”
Then one solemn voice made itself heard above the multitude:
“Stay in your places,” it shouted, “for you know not what new terror may overtake you if you move. Do nothing—yet. First beg the white man, who has shown you his power, to bring back the sunlight he has taken away, then——”
A deafening crash cut short the words that came from Soncco’s lips. Then more crashes came, followed by roars and rumbles that shook the very ground beneath their feet.