Next to
that strange, invisible prophet whose name was Fire-Tongue, Naida
held unquestioned sway in this secret city. Her house was
separated from the others, and she travelled to and from the
temple in a covered litter. To look upon her, as upon Fire-Tongue
himself, was death. Women, I learned, were eligible for admission
to this order, and these were initiated by Naida.
"As the days of my strange but delightful captivity wore on, I
learned more and more of the weird people who, unseen, surrounded
me. There were lodges of the Cult of Fire all over the East, all
having power to make initiates and some to pass disciples into
the higher grades. Those who aspired to the highest rank in the
order, however, were compelled to visit this secret city in the
Indian hills.
"Then at last I learned a secret which Naida had for long kept
back from me. These followers of the new Zoroaster were
polygamists, and she was the first or chief wife of the
mysterious personage known as Fire-Tongue. I gathered that others
had superseded her, and her lord and master rarely visited this
marble house set amid its extensive gardens.
"Her dignities remained, however, and no one had aspired to
dethrone her as high priestess of the temple. She evidently knew
all the secrets of the organization, and I gathered that she was
indispensable to the group who controlled it.
"Respecting Fire-Tongue himself, his origin, his appearance, she
was resolutely silent, a second Acte, faithful to the last.
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