Unlike all other idols Adoni had seen, this one was alive. It rolled its protruding eyes in restless approval over the large assemblage crouching at its feet. When it laughed, the multitudes laughed with it; when it frowned, its worshipers turned pale and trembled.

At the foot of this dazzling throne stood an altar of fretted gold, studded with blood-red stones. Above it extended an arch, emblazoned with letters of bloody hue. - One word - Mammon.

From every part of the temple, offerings of gold were emptied into one large channel which poured its earthly treasures in a ceaseless stream upon the altar. The sordid melody of the clink, clink, clink, thrilled the listening throng with wildest ecstacy. The altar could no longer hold the heaping coin. It began to overflow. Instantly attending priests, with pious zeal, gathered it with slavish movements and cunningly concealed it in a massive vault behind the throne.

The golden stream continued to pour upon the altar. Mammon's smile broadened. He chuckled in miserly glee. Suddenly, his quick ear caught the diminishing tone of the clinking chant. Its echo sounded a dismal refrain. Mammon's features became rigid as the golden stream upon the altar grew smaller - the magic clink fainter and fainter, until the last chanting rhythm trembled into a mysterious silence, followed by a death-like stillness. A shuddering fear held the vast throng in breathless agony, all eyes riveted upon their angry god, whose smile became cruel. His jaw hardened into iron - his lips set into a thin inflexible line; his eyes began to roll like balls of burnished steel. The giant idol arose, stretched forth his arms with wild ejaculations as his voice thundered with tempest fury over the terrified mass of humanity.

"Ingrates!" he roared, "dost think thou canst stint thy god with scanty dole? Thy god by whose grace thou sittest in slothful ease. Imbeciles ! To think that thou canst mock Mammon with paltry gifts. Up, and stir thyselves! Get thee hence and gather treasure, nor come ye back with meager pittance! Such may be acceptable to thy dead gods, but I, Mammon - am The Living God. Who shall find favor in my sight pays tribute; those who serve me keep my commands - Begone!"

A horrible fear fell upon the stricken multitude. The clanging doors of the steel vaults sent forth a knell of despair to their quivering hearts. A sudden panic seized them. There was a wild rush for the door, madly they surged onward; crowding, jostling, trampling each other under foot in their frantic scramble to evade their angry master.

At last the struggling mass of slaves had fled; the vast temple was empty, save the priests who served at the altar. Tremblingly, one approached Mammon and prostrated himself before his throne.

"Speak," thundered the idol. "What treachery is here? Why this meager pittance in the days of prosperity? Why am I defrauded when the wheels of my giant industries shake the solid earth; when my iron dragons dash forth on paths of steel to the ends of the world? Where have you hidden the mighty treasures, wrung from the bowels of the earth? From the hordes of toilers on land and sea; from men in mines; from women in the sweat shops and from the children in the mills? Where is the golden pile amassed from the liquor traffic and the white slave trade?

"Verily, I say to thee, never in all ages has Mammon's work flourished so mightily - Speak! What sayest thou? Why am I thus robbed of my tribute?"

Low bent the priest in abject servility. In suppliant voice he cried:

"Oh, Mighty and Merciless One! Supreme Subduer of the Earth! Thou art the Lord our God! Thy servants have set no living God before thee. They have served thee with all their hearts, minds and strength. They have borne false witness against their neighbor; have coveted everything upon the earth and all the wealth within it; have stolen with brazen effrontery and bribed the powers to sanction their thefts. They have killed honor, virtue and committed adulterous deception that thy power might wax strong in the land. Thy Servants have blinded men's eyes, darkened their intellects and broken their spirits. But oh, Insatiable One, have mercy upon us, for great is our tribulation. Behold, we have fallen upon evil days, lo, the rabble is rising in revolt. 'Tis whispered that the world's vulcan is waking from his long sleep. There is a stirring in the depths, and mutterings are heard threateningly. The humble are clamoring for Justice. Boldly they bawl from the housetops: 'Down with Mammon!9 Tea, of a truth, they would wrest from thy pitiless hand the scepter that rules the world. They deny that the earth and the fullness thereof belongs to thee, declaring it is not God's will that they serve Mammon, the god of this world, and sacrifice their all upon thine altars. They refuse longer to eke out their days in misery, and protest against the toil of their little ones, against the debauchery of their daughters and luxurious lives of thy votaries. They will dethrone thee, mighty one of power, and hail Justice as Lord of the world therefore we are helpless to aid thee."

Mammon sat speechless with rage. His livid face, convulsed with madness was terrible to look upon; a torrent of hoarse and inarticulate curses burst from his throat; his lips foamed with a rising shriek, that resounded like a trembling echo through the deserted temple.

"Bah! What sickening idiocy! Hearken, priest! speed thee in all haste to these craven-hearted renegades; say ye unto them, that I, Mammon, the living god, do summon them in grand conclave, to devise means for quieting these ignorant drudges, lest they become unruly. Dost heed this message? Suffer naught to delay thee; let the fear of Mammon's wrath lend wings to thy feet. Begone!"

With stealthy tread, the trembling priest sped swiftly from Mammon's presence, locking behind him the heavy bronze doors of the temple.

Mammon was alone. Long, long, he sat on his gilded throne, his face distorted in dark, dark schemes of plunder.