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.Urging his god forward, and sweating, Brim the locksmith made a path to thefront of the crowd."There!" he bellowed, throwing up his arm to indicate the hideous red idol."That's the best they can muster against you! Hark at his howling! Why,already he fears your mere presence!""I must go down," said the Margrave in low tones."I have no stomach to standand watch the poor fools massacred.""I will come also," said Eadwil.And accordingly they descended together tothe gate.Among muttered threats from the commoners, saying that if thesenobles were going to- interfere out of spite they would get short shrift, theyelbowed closer and closer to Bernard.The heat of Eadwil's glowing feet helpedclear a path.At last the Margrave was face to face with Bernard Brown, and cast on him alook full of sympathy."This is none of our doing," he said in apologetic tones."It seems that thepeople of Ryovora, so long reputed sensible, have finally taken leave of theirsenses."Bernard Brown blinked unhappily at him."I think you are right, sir," heagreed."Especially since this galumphing monstrosity is plainly nothing morethan an overgrown child.""A what?" said the Margrave, and Eadwil was seen to be grinning almost fromear to ear."An overgrown child," repeated Bernard patiently."Why, he howls and strikesout and breaks things at random-this is not the behavior of an intelligent,adult personality! Moreover, one must assume that the folk of Acromel haveattempted to establish communication with the idol, must one not?""Why-ah." The Margrave was bewildered."One would imagine so, yes!""Yet their preferred mode of communication proves to be torches on sticks."Bernard spread his hands."I deduce that we have here a case of arrested development, and what I wouldpropose."VIIIWave upon wave of laughter rang out around the walls of Ryovora, and at oncethe citizens, led by theMargrave, set about implementing Bernard's plan.Eadwil stood a little apart,Page 24 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhis lips set in a smile that bid fair to become permanent.Meanwhile, the sky grew to full brightness, and the sun hoisted itself towardsthe meridian.Among the ranks of those from Acromel a certain impatience grewmanifest.The long torches which served to goad the idol were withdrawn one byone, soaked in fresh pitch, and re-lit; the chains which tethered his sixteenlimbs were anchored firmly to posts hammered in the ground, so that the teamsof men afoot and ahorse who weighed him down when he was on the move mightrelax for a while; but in the comings and goings of the people, there was morerestlessness than purpose.Ultimately, towards mid-day, the spokesman who had previously addressed thenobility of Ryovora again ascended his knoll and called for the Margrave.Sweating from his work, hands filthy, his richly embroidered sleeves turnedback above his elbows, the Margrave leaned over the ramparts and gave a wave."Margrave! Our god is restive! Time wastes, and we desire to know the outcomeof this affair!"The Margrave glanced down into the avenue below the wall, where work wasproceeding apace underBernard Brown's direction.Far below him, Eadwil raised an arm in signal thatall was ready."Good!" said the Margrave to himself, and called to the spokesman for Acromel."Our city's god is prepared to meet yours!"The man from Acromel at once spun on his heel and yelled to those charged withloosing the QuadrupleGod's chains.A moment passed; then, from the front of the crowd before thegate, diffidently yet with unfaltering strides Bernard Brown marched outtowards the enemy.A gust of merriment ascended, and the welkin echoed with scornful gibes.ButBernard kept on marching towards the Quadruple God.And the Quadruple God paid him no attention.Behind the approaching man, behind the ramparts of the city, another figurewas appearing-a figure so gigantic, so bloated, so huge that the Quadruple Godseemed a mere ant by comparison.This apparition had a head with teeth twentyfeet long in its gash of a mouth; it had arms like a hundred barrels, it hadlegs planted either side of a tall building.This figure was growing.It was rising as though from the depths of the earth,and all four heads of theQuadruple God were striving to fasten their eyes on it at once.Gracefully, considering its incredible bulk-thanks to an afterthought ofEadwil's-the bloated colossus raised its arms into a menacing posture.Fromthe camp of the men of Acromel, the naked eye could not detect the fine silkcords governing its motions.And then this construct of inflated wineskins, of paint and cane and waxedfabric supported with hot air, spoke with the massed voice of all the citizensof Ryovora, a voice like the crashing of a waterfall."Go away!" said the monster with terrible emphasis.And the Quadruple God burst his chains, stamped on the torch-bearers, andfled.Only once was his panicky progress interrupted before he regained the familiarsanctuary of his temple atAcromel on the far horizon.That was when a gaunt and scarecrow-like personrushed into his path, crying in a voice which though thin and reedy causedcracks to open in the surface of the land, and strange colors to muddy theclear blue of the sky.The Quadruple God trampled this nuisance with three of his eight massive feet,and left nothing but a smear like a crushed beetle to mark the spot.Triumphantly, the people of Ryovora went forward in the wake of the people ofAcromel, and with their ad-hoc weapons wrought considerable havoc among thelaggards.Not the most tongue-tied of them wasPage 25 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlBrim the locksmith, who spent more breath on yelling praise of his ownperceptiveness than on catching up with the rearguard of the enemy.But certain of his fellows who had been lukewarm in their acceptance ofBernard Brown as a ready-made god turned aside to surround Brim in a hostilemanner."Nonsense!" they said emphatically."If we had not been lured by fools like you away from our customary trust incommon sense, we should have seen what he saw and done what he advised,anyway."Then they set about Brim with meticulous thoroughness, and impressed theextent of his stupidity upon him, in such fashion as to ensure he could neveragain overlook these various mementos.That chore attended to, and the otherparty in utter disarray, they returned with satisfaction to their homes.Bythat time the aura of blue depression which had pervaded the atmosphere thesemany weeks past haddissipated; the cause for rejoicing which this gave them made them forgetaltogether about BernardBrown.The Margrave and his nobles assembled again in the Moth Garden, and the peoplebegan to reclaim the offerings they had set before Bernard's altar, to feaston them and deck themselves in gaudy ceremonial attire.To preoccupy thenobles, though, there were still problems, and Eadwil spoke of the mostpressing when they were met.He said, "I think, sirs and ladies, that the age for enchantments is passing."The Margrave nodded.So did several others.Some of them glanced at the placewhich had been-very briefly-Tyllwin's."Regard it this way," said Eadwil musingly."In its nature enchantment, magic,whatever term you give the art, is a survival of the chaos which we knowreigned before time.But the imprint of that chaos is fading from the world
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