When the two young men arrived the same elder who had spoken to Alorcus the day before advanced. He was the wisest of the tribe, and had counselled Endovellicus many times before undertaking audacious expeditions. Under extraordinary circumstances he had laid open with his sacred knife the viscera of his prisoners to read the future in the quiverings of their entrails. Again he had cut off the hands of the conquered to dedicate them to the god of the tribe, nailing them to the chieftain's door to placate the divinity. Mystery used him as a mouthpiece and all the tribe regarded him with awe and fear, as if he were capable of changing the course of the sun and of destroying in a night the crops of an enemy. "Advance, son of Endovellicus!" he said solemnly. "Look upon your people who choose you as most valiant and most worthy to succeed your father!" He questioned the assemblage with a look, and the warriors answered by beating on their shields, uttering the same shouts with which they infuriated themselves on plunging into battle. "You have become our king!" continued the elder. "You shall be father and guardian of your people! That you may fulfill your mission receive the great inheritance of your father! Bring hither the shield." Two young men climbed to the top of the pyre, and raising Endovellicus' head, they brought down the shield engraved with the image of the god, and delivered it to Alorcus. "With this shield," continued the venerable warrior, "you shall protect your people from the blows of the enemy. Bring hither the sword!" The young men brought down the sword, drawing it forth from the stiff fingers of Endovellicus. "Bind it upon you, Alorcus," continued the wizard. "With this you shall defend us, and may it fall like a thunderbolt wherever the destiny of your people points! Advance, youthful king!" Guided by the elder, Alorcus stepped forward to the pyre upon which his father lay. He turned away his face that he might not behold the body, fearing an outburst of grief which would force him to shed tears before his tribe. "Swear by Neton, by Autubel, by Nabi, by Caulece, by all the gods of our tribe, and of all the tribes that people this earth and hate the foreigners who one day came from across the sea to rob us of our riches. Swear to be faithful to your people and ever to obey the counsels of the warriors of your tribe! Swear it by the body of your father, which soon will be only ashes!" Alorcus took the oath, and the warriors pounded upon their shields again, uttering acclamations of joy. The old warrior, with extraordinary vigor, climbed upon the logs and searched beneath the cuirass of the corpse.