The bees came closer. Several thousands of them were stricken by smoke
from the embers, and the rest of the swarm took good care to avoid it.
They hovered over the prostrate forms of the aborigines and made sure
that they were unconscious.
"Is there nothing we can do?" whispered Cunora, straining her eyes to
see.
"Nothing, save to watch and wait," returned Rolla, her gaze fixed upon
the dark heap which marked her lover's form. And thus an hour passed,
with the four on the earth quite unable to take a hand in any way.
Then one of the villagers--the first, in fact, who had dropped out of
the dance--stirred and presently awakened. He sat up and looked about
him, dazed and dizzy, for all the world like a drunken man. After a
while he managed to get to his feet.
No sooner had he done this than a dozen bees were upon him. Terror-
stricken, he stood awaiting their commands. They were not long in
coming.
By means of their fearful buzzing, the deadly insects guided him into
the nearest hut, where they indicated that he should pick up one of the
rude hoelike took which was used in the fields. With this in hand, he
was driven to the little piles of smoldering ashes, where the fires had
flickered an hour before.
Hardly knowing what he was doing, but not daring to disobey, the man
proceeded to heap dirt over the embers. Shortly he had every spark of
the fire smothered beneath a mound as high as his knees. Not till then
did any of the others begin to revive.
As fast as they recovered the bees took charge of them. Not a human had
courage enough to make a move of offense; it meant certain death, and
they all knew it only too well. As soon as they were wide awake enough
to know what they were doing, they were forced to search the bodies of
those still asleep.
"We must find the means for growing the flower," said Supreme, evidently
convinced that a seed was a seed, under any circumstances. And presently
they found, tucked away in Corrus's lion-skin, a large chunk of the
pyrites, and a similar piece on Dulnop.
"So these were the discoverers," commented Supreme.
"What is your will in their case?" the subordinate asked.
The commanding bee considered for a long time. Finally she got an idea,
such as bees are known to get once in a great while. It was simply a new
combination--as all ideas are merely new combinations--of two
punishments which were commonly employed by the bees.
As a result, eight of the villagers were compelled to carry the two
fire-finders to a certain spot on the bank of a nearby stream. Here the
two fragments of pyrites were thrown, under orders, into the water; so
that the eight villagers might know just why the whole thing was being
done.
Next the two men, still unconscious, were buried up to their necks.
Their heads, lolling helplessly, were all that was exposed. So it was to
be the Head Out punishment--imprisonment of one day with their bodies
rigidly held by the soil: acute torture to an aborigine. But was this
all?
One of the villagers was driven to the nearest hut, where he was forced
to secure two large stone axes. Bringing these back to the "torture-
place," as the spot was called, the man was compelled to wield one of
the clumsy tools while a companion used the other; and between them they
cut down the tree whose branches had been waving over the prisoners'
heads. Then the villagers were forced to drag the tree away.
All of which occurred in the darkness, and out of sight of Rolla and
Cunora. They could only guess what was going on. Hours passed, and dawn
approached. Not till then did they learn just what had been done.
The villagers, now all awake, were driven by the bees to the place on
the bank of the stream. There, the eight men who had imprisoned the two
discoverers told what had been done with the "magic stones." Each
villager stared at the offenders, and at something which lay on the
ground before them, and in sober silence went straight to his or her
work in the fields.
Presently the huts were deserted. All the people were on duty elsewhere.
Such bees as were not guarding the fields had returned to the hives.
Rolla and Cunora cautiously ventured forth, taking great care to avoid
being seen. They hurried fearfully to the stream.
Before they reached the spot Rolla gave an exclamation and stared
curiously to one side, where the tree had been dragged. Suddenly she
gave a terrible cry and rushed forward, only to drop on her knees and
cover her face with hands that shook as with the palsy. At the same
instant Cunora saw what had been done; and uttering a single piercing
scream, fell fainting to the ground.
Heaped in front of the two prisoners was a large pile of pebbles. There
were thousands upon thousands in the heap. Before each man, at a
distance of a foot, was a large gourdful of water. To the savages, these
told the whole story; these, together with the tree dragged to one side.
Corrus and Dulnop were to be buried in that spot every day for as many
days as there were pebbles in the heap; in other words, until they died.
Every night they would be dug up, and every morning buried afresh. And
to keep them from telling any of the villagers where they had found the
pyrites, they were to be deprived of water all day long. By night their
tongues would be too swollen for speech. For they had been sentenced to
the No Shade torture, as well; their heads would be exposed all day long
to the burning sun itself.