Very rapidly, as the normal temperature of that warm land reasserted itself, this snow or rather hail melted, causing a flood of water which, where there was any fall, began to rush away with a gurgling sound.  Also we heard other sounds, such as that from the galloping hoofs of many of the horses which had broken loose from their wrecked stables at the north end of the market-place, where in great number they had been killed by the falling roofs or had kicked each other to death, and a wild universal wail that rose from every quarter of the big town, in which quantities of the worst-built houses had collapsed.  Further, lying here and there about the market-place we could see scores of dark shapes that we knew to be those of men, women and children, whom those sharp missiles hurled from heaven had caught before they could escape and slain or wounded almost to death.  For it will be remembered that perhaps not fewer than two thousand people were gathered on this market-place, attending the horrid midnight sacrifice and discussing the unnatural weather when the storm burst upon them suddenly as an avalanche.

“The Child is small, yet its strength is great.  Behold the first curse!” said Marut solemnly.

I stared at him, but as he chose to believe that a very unusual hailstorm was a visitation from heaven I did not think it worth while arguing the point.  Only I wondered if he really did believe this.  Then I remembered that such an event was said to have afflicted the old Egyptians in the hour of their pride because they would not “let the people go.”  Well, these blackguardedly Black Kendah were certainly worse than the Egyptians can ever have been; also they would not let us go.  It was not wonderful therefore that Marut should be the victim of phantasies on the matter.

Not until the following morning did we come to understand the full extent of the calamity which had overtaken the Black Kendah.  I think I have said that their crops this year were magnificent and just ripening to harvest.  From our roof on previous days we could see a great area of them stretching to the edge of the forest.  When the sun rose that morning this area had vanished, and the ground was covered with a carpet of green pulp.  Also the forest itself appeared suddenly to have experienced the full effects of a northern winter.  Not a leaf was left upon the trees, which stood their pointing their naked boughs to heaven.

No one who had not seen it could imagine the devastating fury of that storm.  For example, the head of the diviner who was buried in the court-yard awaiting resurrection through our magic was, it may be recalled, covered with a stout earthenware pot.  Now that pot had shattered into sherds and the head beneath was nothing but bits of broken bone which it would have been impossible for the very best magic to reconstruct to the likeness of a human being.

Calamity indeed stalked naked through the land.