And thus an hour
passed, with the four on the earth quite unable to take a hand in
any way.
Then one of the villagers--the first, in fact, who had dropped out
of the dance--stirred and presently awakened. He sat up and looked
about him, dazed and dizzy, for all the world like a drunken man.
After a while he managed to get to his feet.
No sooner had he done this than a dozen bees were upon him.
Terror-stricken, he stood awaiting their commands. They were not
long in coming.
By means of their fearful buzzing, the deadly insects guided him
into the nearest hut, where they indicated that he should pick up
one of the rude hoelike tools which was used in the fields. With
this in hand, he was driven to the little piles of smoldering ashes,
where the fires had flickered an hour before.
Hardly knowing what he was doing, but not daring to disobey, the man
proceeded to heap dirt over the embers. Shortly he had every spark
of the fire smothered beneath a mound as high as his knees.
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