[Just such a frenzy as we see the colored women exhibit at their religious camp-meetings and church services in the United States at the present day.]
" 'At once each became the centre of an admiring circle, for their frenzy was a sign of a good omen, a sign that the sacrifice had been accepted with pleasure by the gods, whose spokeswomen they had now become, for the time being, at least.
" 'After a while things quieted down; the crowd once more became attentive, for the final ceremony was at hand. As already mentioned, another pit had been excavated in the centre of the pillars, now so firmly erected. Alongside this centre hole, a dozen or more miserable women were dragged. These were the unfortunates who had given birth to twins during the previous year in the king's dominions, and so brought evil upon it. One of the priests gave the people his views upon the subject, views that will hardly bear reproduction in these pages, and then the executioner, carrying an iron bar about two feet long, and followed by his assistants rolling a short thick log, threw the women down one after another, and, deliberately smashing their arms and legs in two places, doubled them up behind them and flung the poor creatures into the hole.
" 'Not a sound broke the silence, save the screams of the unfortunate victims of this horrible cruelty, and as soon as the last of them had been pitched, shrieking, into the pit, the earth was filled in over them while they were still alive, and with a wild shout the whole body of spectators rushed in and commenced stamping it flat with their feet. In a very short time all trace of the excavation had disappeared, and the
