"O Slumberer," she said, "you—you have told? Then the time for the Revelation has come?"
"It has come," said Steve quietly. "Speak, Mother."
The Mother laid a trembling hand on Beth's dust-gold hair. And:
"Then hear, O my daughter," she said, "and learn the Great Secret which until now no common Woman has been allowed to suspect, which no priestess has ever known until after she has made the sacred pilgrimage to the Place of the Gods.
"The Gods—great Jarg and solemn Taamuz, lean Ibrim and far-seeing Tedhi—are not Women like ourselves. Deep in the shadowed grottoes of far 'Kota I have looked upon them; I have seen their faces strong and fine, covered with the crisp Man-hair. The Gods of the Ancients, O Beth—are Men!"
Chuck glanced at Duane curiously.
"She's seen the gods, Steve?"
Steve nodded. "So have we, Chuck—in the modeling. I'm not surprised these women worshipped their statues. They must be impressive to a civilization so backward as this. In the Black Hills ... the side of a mountain carven in a gigantic work of art ... don't you remember? George ... Thomas ... Teddy ... Abraham...."
"Mount Rushmore!" gasped Chuck. "That is the 'Place of the Gods'!"