Analy High School - Azalea Yearbook (Sebastopol, CA)

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Had she been not able to come, or maybe she had not heard of it, for she had not been to the announcement in the morning? They formed the idea that she did not know of it. The tom-toms soon began to beat and throb in unison, a wild rythm, and the head priests came forth in their gaudy sacrificial robes, chanting the wierd Death Song. The people, one by one, joined in until it rose and fell as a mighty, roaring wind. Then abruptly it broke off, and ceremonies began. One by one the other priests came in, until all but the victim were there. Then the tom-toms began their strange booming, and he walked in. Oluti strode as straight as a tall pine tree, looking neither to right nor left but proudly up. A hush fell upon the throng; it seemed so terrible to sacrifice one so young and beautiful. Then the priests took their long knives and stabbed him to the heart, throwing him upon the altar and calling for aid to the Fire Goddess. As the silenced throng watch¬ ed the ceremony, they heard a voice singing an old love song, coming nearer and nearer: “The moon is shining down on the sea, A maid is pining, ’neath a tall palm tree. For her brave, for her brave, But never more will she meet him, Never more will she greet him. Her brave, her brave ’ Then the song came to an abrupt end, for the old chief’s daughter, it was she who was singing, came upon the scent of the sacrificed to appease the wrath of the Fire Goddess, who he could not tell. She at once knew who it was, and leaping upon the platform where the chief sat, demanded in a strange, strained voice, “My father, have you done this?’’ The chief’s very composure seemed to drive her mad for she stretched her arms to heaven and shrieked, terrifingly, “You know that you are guilty. You acknowledge it in your every glance. Oh! to know that one I love should turn against me. I return his hate with hate tenfold. Gods! Look upon me! May this coward thing that stands before me and before you all, may he wander until this pen¬ ance be done for this deed, and until he is forgiven by me. Gods! Grant it!’’ Then she ran to the altar where Oulitis’ body still lay, red stained by his heart’s blood. She took the red, dripping knife from his side and pierced her bosom with it, gasping with her last breath, “Hear me, oh ye gods,’’ and fell upon his body. The old chief was unconsolable, he blamed everybody, especially Atu for bringing this thing upon him. As he was grieving there runners came with messages saying that the lava was bearing straight down upon the village. People once more packed their goods and 19

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selfishly hoarded treasure. Then, as they turned to go, the priests stopped them with the words that the Goddess was not yet appeased, that only human sacrifice in addition would stop her anger. The people resignedly awaited their next fate, but the priests said that this was all. They asked the people to choose between sacrificing one young life, and the lives of the whole island. They resisted, but when the priests grew impatient they consented, bewailing their fate. Then the priests said that the youth would be chosen in an hour. The people sadly, once more started home. “All the while this was happening the wily old Maru had not been idle. Long had he cherished a desire to get rid of Ouliti, now he saw his chance. He seized a bag of treasures from a hiding place, where he had hid them from the Fire Goddess. He hid them in his robe, and with his long knife shining in his hand, he hurried forth to the Temple. The priests were surprised to see him, but they were even more sur¬ prised when he told him his fiendish plan. His evil eye gleamed like his knife when he told him of his bribe. The priests at first were hor¬ ror stricken, they said that the wrath of the gods would be called down upon them, but slowly they unbent until they at last agreed to the bribe and do as he bade them do. Then, after Maru gave them minute instructions, he sallied forth into the night. His face was so fiendish that a wanderer who saw him turned tail and rushed home- Y ' cird, gasping as he burst into his hut, that he had seen the old fiend himself. Meanwhile Maru glided homeward, little reckoning what was the purpore of this wciked scheme. “When the time came for the announcement the people slowly straggled back to the Temple, a hush falling over them as the priest came out to tell them. Then when the name was announced, the people who were not the victim’s kin fell to wild rejoicing for their luck, while the victim’s relatives went home to prepare the sacrifical garments. All so far had gone as Maru had planned, for Ouliti had been chosen as the victim. The priest and his daughter were to be pres¬ ent so the people wondered how she, the doomed man’s sweetheart would act. The ceremony of sacrifice was to be that evening, so they had not much time to prepare. But they worked their curiosity up to such a pitch that the whole village buzzed and hummed like a beehive. Their interest and expectation grew with time, and when the time came for the ceremony they were keyed up nearly to the breaking point. “They waited at the sacrificial until the chief took his seat. His daughter had not come. The people were more curious than ever. 18

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started to flee, but the old Maru forbade them to leave, so they re¬ mained in the village, now as still as nature before a thunder storm. The lava came quickly. It sounded like all the thunder in the universe let loose. The people ran before it, but it engulfed them. They prayed upon their knees to the Fire Goddess, and it flowed over them, mocking their last shrieks with sullen hisses. The old chief was the only one saved. “He has wandered many years, but now he may return home as his daughter has forgiven him. For do you not see that the sun streams more brightly through the trees? And hark! I hear the birds of Para¬ dise singing their sweetest songs. They sing only when some sinner is forgiven, and it is he.” The old story teller’s face was lit up by a smile of joy supreme, and the children wondered. Then their attention was attracted to another person, who was shouting and crying far down the street. When they turned their eyes once more to where the old man sat they were wonder stricken for where the old man sat was only a gap¬ ing crack that had not been there before. “He was the chief,” said an awe-stricken youngster, “He came from the earth, and he returns. The mystery was a mystery to them no longer, so they started after the man, who was now near them, for boys are very quickly turned from one amusement to another. The sun went down and the long western twilight rolled upon the drowsy world, and all was silence once more. Wqt pesert By GEORGE WINKLER, ’21 (Honorable Mention) In the land of the Western Desert, Where fortune seekers go. There is a law in that land of hope That every man must know. Three columns of smoke in the sky by day; By night three fires aglow; This is the law of the desert That every man must know. It’s the signal of help for the dying. From the men who answer the call; A wild life is the desert one. Where men die where they fall. 20