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To
his
amazement
he
found
himself
looking
on
not
in
terror
,
but
in
curiosity
.
It
was
a
graver
dance
than
that
of
Beltane
,
not
the
mad
riot
of
the
bursting
life
of
spring
,
but
the
more
sober
march
of
summer
and
the
hot
suns
bringing
on
the
harvest
.
.
.
.
Seen
from
above
,
the
figures
were
only
puppets
,
moving
at
the
bidding
of
a
lilt
that
rose
and
fell
like
a
lost
wind
.
The
passion
of
wrath
with
which
he
had
watched
the
former
Sabbath
had
utterly
gone
from
him
.
He
felt
a
curious
pity
and
friendliness
,
for
there
was
innocence
here
,
misguided
innocence
.
"
Will
this
be
the
way
God
looks
down
upon
the
follies
of
the
world
?
"
he
asked
himself
.
What
was
it
that
Reiverslaw
had
said
?
-
-
If
the
Kirk
confines
human
nature
too
strictly
,
it
will
break
out
in
secret
ways
,
for
men
and
women
are
born
into
a
terrestrial
world
,
though
they
have
hopes
of
Heaven
.
.
.
.
That
was
blasphemy
,
and
he
knew
it
,
but
he
did
not
shudder
at
it
.
How
long
these
gentle
dances
continued
he
did
not
know
,
for
he
was
in
a
dream
and
under
the
spell
of
the
piping
.
.
.
.
Then
suddenly
there
came
a
change
.
The
dancing
-
floor
became
dark
,
and
he
saw
that
clouds
were
coming
over
the
moon
.
A
chill
had
crept
into
the
air
.
Lights
sprang
up
out
of
nowhere
,
and
though
the
wind
had
begun
to
sigh
through
the
trees
,
he
noted
that
these
lights
did
not
flicker
.
.
.
.
The
music
stopped
,
and
the
dancers
crowded
together
around
the
altar
.
The
hound
-
faced
leader
stood
above
them
with
something
in
his
hand
.
The
mysterious
light
seemed
to
burn
redly
,
and
he
saw
that
the
thing
was
a
bird
-
-
a
cock
which
was
as
scarlet
as
blood
.
The
altar
top
was
bare
,
and
something
bright
spurted
into
the
hollow
of
the
stone
.
From
the
watchers
came
a
cry
which
chilled
David
’
s
marrow
,
and
he
saw
that
they
were
on
their
knees
.
The
leader
was
speaking
in
a
high
shrill
voice
like
a
sleepwalker
’
s
,
and
David
caught
but
the
one
word
often
repeated
-
-
Abiron
.
Every
time
it
was
uttered
the
man
dabbled
his
finger
in
the
blood
on
the
altar
and
marked
a
forehead
,
and
as
each
received
the
mark
he
or
she
fell
prostrate
on
the
ground
.
There
was
no
innocence
now
in
that
spectacle
of
obscene
abasement
.
Terror
entered
into
David
’
s
soul
,
and
his
chief
terror
was
that
he
had
not
been
afraid
before
.
He
had
come
very
near
falling
himself
under
the
spell
.
There
followed
what
seemed
to
be
a
roll
-
call
.
The
leader
read
names
out
of
a
book
,
and
the
prostrate
figures
answered
.
The
names
seemed
like
an
idiot
’
s
muttering
,
not
good
Scots
words
,
but
uncouth
gutturals
.
And
always
like
an
undercurrent
came
the
word
Abiron
.
Then
with
an
unholy
cry
the
whole
coven
was
on
its
feet
.
The
pipes
began
again
,
and
music
other
than
pipes
,
which
seemed
to
soak
out
of
the
ground
and
the
adjacent
coverts
.
Gone
was
every
trace
of
gentleness
and
innocency
.
It
was
witch
-
music
made
by
the
Devil
himself
on
the
red
-
hot
chanter
-
reeds
of
Hell
,
and
the
assembly
capered
as
if
their
feet
were
on
the
lake
of
burning
marl
.
The
Israelitish
prophet
in
David
awoke
,
and
he
saw
it
all
with
clear
eyes
and
horror
-
stricken
soul
.
If
the
Beltane
dance
had
been
hideous
,
this
was
the
very
heart
of
bestial
lust
.
Round
and
round
it
swept
,
a
fury
and
yet
an
ordered
fury
,
in
which
madness
and
obscenity
were
mingled
.
He
recognized
the
faces
of
women
,
old
and
young
,
who
sat
devoutly
beneath
him
in
kirk
of
a
Sabbath
.
The
men
were
all
masked
,
but
he
knew
that
if
he
could
tear
off
the
beast
coverings
he
would
see
features
which
were
normally
composed
into
a
pious
decency
.
Figure
would
clasp
figure
and
then
fling
apart
,
but
in
each
circuit
he
noted
that
the
dancers
kissed
some
part
of
the
leader
’
s
body
,
nozzling
him
like
dogs
on
the
roadside
.
