two extremes of the registry of sound threatening to complete the
circle and coalesce into the bull-mouthed thundering he had so
often heard beyond the taboo distance.

Forgetful of safety, of his own life itself, entranced by the
wonder of the unthinkable and unguessable thing, he raised his
knife to strike heavily from a long stroke, but was prevented by
Balatta. She upreared on her own knees in an agony of terror,
clasping his knees and supplicating him to desist. In the
intensity of her desire to impress him, she put her forearm between
her teeth and sank them to the bone.

He scarcely observed her act, although he yielded automatically to
his gentler instincts and withheld the knife-hack. To him, human
life had dwarfed to microscopic proportions before this colossal
portent of higher life from within the distances of the sidereal
universe. As had she been a dog, he kicked the ugly little
bushwoman to her feet and compelled her to start with him on an
encirclement of the base. Part way around, he encountered horrors.
Even, among the others, did he recognize the sun-shrivelled remnant
of the nine-years girl who had accidentally broken Chief Vngngn's
personality taboo. And, among what was left of these that had
passed, he encountered what was left of one who had not yet passed.
Truly had the bush-folk named themselves into the name of the Red
One, seeing in him their own image which they strove to placate and
please with such red offerings.

Farther around, always treading the bones and images of humans and
gods that constituted the floor of this ancient charnel-house of
sacrifice, he came upon the device by which the Red One was made to