He told them that the plot had succeeded, and that Otter and the Shepherdess were accepted as the gods of the People of the Mist.

Because of this they were left alive and held in honour, who, but for it, would now be dead, riddled through with the arrows of the Great People.

He explained to them for the second time that it was necessary to the safety of all that this delusion as to the divinity of Otter and the Shepherdess should be maintained, since, if the slightest suspicion of the fraud crossed the minds of the Great People, without doubt they would all be sacrificed as impostors.
This was the tale that they must tell:--They should say that all of them were hunting game in a far country with himself, Soa, and Francisco, when one night they heard a singing, and by the light of the moon they saw the Shepherdess and the dwarf Otter coming towards them.

Then the Shepherdess and Otter commanded them to be their servants and travel with them to a new land, and they obeyed them, black and white together, for they saw that they were not mortals .-- This was the tale that they must tell; moreover, they must act up to their words if they would continue to look upon the sun.
But their first surprise was past, the Settlement men, who were quick-witted people, entered into the spirit of the plot readily enough; indeed, Peter caused them to repeat the story to him, so that he might be sure that they had its details by heart.
Then they continued their march towards the city on the hill.

The two white men went first, next came Juanna and Otter followed by Soa, and last of all walked the Settlement men.