forward, and with her came nine of her sisterhood. They turned east

and west, north and south, searching the heavens; they turned east and

west, north and south, searching the earth; they turned east and west,

north and south, searching the hears of men. Then they crept round and

round the great ring like cats; then they threw themselves upon the

earth and smelt it. And all the time there was silence, silence deep

as midnight, and in it men hearkened to the beating of their hearts;

only now and again the vultures shrieked in the trees.