Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-09-01

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whsz@s 0f tie Spazrxs~<, ss<pSea fog
ward frum the tkrvng. rsa~~a has
eyes fro1 tina grozna until they uaes
those u AhrIn2n. and foxthvifh be-
gHn b shake and shIver as Il ssrscksn
speeches uIth texrcr. 1 beissved
q, the time that the rascal simulated
il all. 1 even thought be gave me q
sly wink as he retired when he had
got through trembling.
You see" said Ahriman, turning
proudly TO me, what q marked ef-
feet my presence has on our worthy
friend, Jeremiah Stackpole, though
he has been accustomed to the sight
of me for nearly twenty years"
This mortal, then, was the atheis-
teal youg man of Canaan, of whose
mysterious disappearance in 1858 I
had been informed in Deacon Plymp-
toms grocery, I afterward learned
that the manner of his introd duction
to the Cave Of the Splurgles was
identical with my own. Unlike me,
he had speedily become recon-
ciled to the situation. The socie-
ty of the retired devils in the
bowels of the earth exactly suited
his tastes. Assured of q comfort
able subsistence as long as he lived,
he made no attempt to escape from
the cave, and found It TO HE interest
to earn the good will Of his captors
by toadying to their harmless vanity.
Now, mortal" resumed Ahri-
man, with a lofty air, "you may
think it strange that Evil Spirits, so
powerful and terrible as we are,
should contemplate any other dispo-
sition of your worthless body and to-
tally depraved nature, than to wipe
you out of existence altogether. To
tell the truth, however, we find it
convenient to have a mortal or two
on hand to do the hard work of the
community-to assist in the devel-
opment of the immense natural re-
sources of the cave. Not that we
are lazy" he added, "but in our
honorable retirement we are perhaps
less active and energetic than we
used to be. It is for this reason
that you are offered the opportunity
to enjoy the remarkable advantages
of perpetual companionship with
Beings so great as we are. Dear,
dear!" continued this awe-inspiring
demon, tanning himself with a
barbed tail, which I had not pre-
viously noticed, it is rather warm.
Moloch, take this mortal away. I
find it very fatiguing to talk so
much"
I confess that I felt q trife un-
easy at the mention of a name which
had been awful to the ears of men
for centuries. There was something
ghoulish in the idea of being turned
over to the cruel and bloodthirsty
Moloch, at whose red affairs thou
sands of human lives had been sac
rifced. The appearance of my new
custodian, however, was reassuring.
Moloch came up with q friendly
smile, patted me on the head, and
offered to show me over the Cave.
He was q fat demon, good-natured,
and apparently lazy, with grotesque
face. l liked Moloch from the first.
I'm tell you a good one" he
whispered in my ear. "What were
the silliest nations that ever lived on
the face of the earth. Ha, hal it's
a good one. l assure Won"
Il give If up" / said
why," he said, begin aing to
shake Ike . jelly Ssh with SUPPRESSED
nir.h. =. the siilsess nations were the
Ass-yriAns and the Ninny-vites and
the Babils-onlxns- D'yeseey And
Noio@ch went Of into eo1y slssoa Of
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