CHAPTER I 



The Arrival of the Herd 



^ I ^HE summit of the hill was crowned with 

 -*- a grove of lofty trees. They had stood 

 thus for centuries, opposing their columned 

 strength against wind and storms, against the 

 onslaught of tropical rainfall, even in spite of 

 earth tremors that made them shiver with 

 apprehension. Their crowns were interlaced, 

 so that they must stand or fall together ; it was 

 an effective alliance against the forces of nature, 

 which no single tree could hope to withstand. 

 Within the grove, where the buttressed 

 trunks rose suddenly from the soft 

 earth, stood an ancient shrine, 

 a hermit's cell with rough 

 stone walls, and a little 

 temple in whose dim recesses 

 might be seen vaguely some 



