The Festival of Humiliation began a period of mourning which was continuous and fervid until this curious monument was completed and dedicated. While Yermah was away from Tlamco, Orondo served in his stead much to the annoyance of Setos, who was as busy as a mole in the dark, stirring up sedition, and adding to the general unrest and suspicion everywhere manifest. The high-priest, Imos, at the suggestion of Setos, openly charged that the Brotherhood of the White Star were to blame for the destruction of Atlantis. Some solemn vow had been broken, and Deity was mortally offended. This assertion gave pestiferous, meddlesome Setos the desired opportunity, and he instituted a severe and rigorous investigation into the conduct of all public affairs; also, into the lives of every man and woman in Tlamco. No one escaped; nor was any situation sacred to the inquisitors, who in the name of morality did not hesitate to go to any length. Setos did not dare to openly accuse Yermah of breaking a vow made to the Ineffable One. He refrained from fixing this unpardonable sin on any other person, and by innuendo and insinuation contrived to strengthen every breath of discontent inherent in the unusual conditions arising from a mixture of races, habits and modes of thought. He urged Yermah to give all refugees asylum in Tlamco, knowing that enforced idleness and nameless dread opened the mind for seditious propaganda. Both he and Imos insisted strenuously that some one had sinned against Divinity. This accusation made each one distrustful and suspicious, and in their anxiety to clear themselves many an overt act or word was let loose to strengthen the intangible something which hovered in the air. None pretended to name it; nor was there anything but the most circumspect language used.[19] Setos knew better than to show his hand. He was content, at present, to merely discredit the Dorado. As to his future plans—time would prove them. Yermah felt, rather than saw, the change, but he was above indulging a personal grief. He had already consecrated his life to his fellows, so that work was the one thing which absorbed and interested him. He saw that planting must be confined to the southern part of the country, since steady downpours marked the spring and early summer months. He also knew it would require his best endeavors to procure food for the ensuing year. Reports from the Valley of the Mississippi stated that heavy floods had prevailed for months, caused by preponderance of hot air blown over the Rocky Mountains and condensed into rainfall early in the season. The winter months set in with unparalleled rigor, and the spring found that whole country under one solid sheet of ice.