The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-10-16
The Sunken City,

Who has not heard Of the sunken city
that lies stately fair beneath the scar Tenn
pie aud tower and slender column and fret.
ted palace halls he buried in the deep, and
the mariner sails over the spot, ignorant of
the hidden glories underneath Only, at
sunset the bells from tower and minaret
peal forth wild sweet music that floats
family over the waters, and to him who
listens comes great longing to see the
mysterious beauty Of this hidden city,
Tapped in the waves of Ocean. Still, as, he
fingers the desire grows stronger, sweet,
overpowering force urging him to descend
through the cold, pure water, until with
his eyes he can behold the lovclincss that
lies concealed beneath. II he Is strong in
spirit he closes his ears to the impelling
music and stcels his heart against the yearn-
ing voice within. If he is weak or sorrow-
tul or wide-eycd with hidden fancies he
yields to the spell, and the sunken city
holds another victim, lying dead amid the
beautiful desolation below.
LaZlly floating in a small boat were two
men, one graY-haired and spent and worn,
with far-of look in his tired eyes; the
other young and strong and happy with
the Ignorant happiness of youth. The day
was drawing to close and the sunset gid
ed the smooth waters on which the boat
rocked gently, while both men sat absorbed
In thought and hardly conscious of each
others presence.
Suddenly the younger started. "Hark!'
said he; "what far-oH bells are those that
can be heard at this distance from the
shore?"
The other listened. Soft and clear and
strangely sweet they rang, now dying into
silence, now poaling forth anew over the
waters. Spellbound they listened as the
sounds swept by them On the evening wind.
''lhey are the bells of the sunken city,"
SAID the gray haired man at last, sand it
must lie beneath us now"
In silent awe they both leant from the
boat and looked long and earnestly into the
quiet waters. Clear and green they lay,
Dathed in the radiance OF the setting sun,
and as they watched it seemed to both that
the rays OF light were reflected back from
cleaning roofs beneath. Intently they
gazed and gradually unfolded before their
eyes lay stately towers and minarets, vast
marble halls and strangely gilded domes
and steeplcs. Between them surged fathoms
OF crystal water, but underneath all was
still and fair and beautiful and shroudcd in
mystery no man could penetrate. The
sunken city lay revealed in this brief hour
OF sunset to the rapt watchers overhead.
Neither spoke word but stralning their
eyes to see moro gazcd at tho shadow
beauty of the scene and listened to the
wild, sad music Of the bells. Strange Wis.,
ions tloated before their bewildered sight,
and the deserted streets and lonely grandeur
Of the buried city told to each silent watch
er wildly different tale.
The VOunp man with plou,;,,rr o,,,, I,o
held beneath HIM all his hopes and desires
reached and fulfilled. All that he worked
to possess awaited HIM in the sunken city,
peopled with the shadows of those he
loved, rich with the wealth he longcd for,
teeming with the fruition of his proudest
hopes. His life and completion lay there;
II he would but take tho step and reach it;
and what should hold him back2
And the other man older in work and
disappointment than in years, saw beneath
him IN the sunken city all the past joys of
his lie return. Those whom he had loved
and lost walked through the deserted
streets, and his bygone youth, rich with the
hopes now dead, shone alluringly before his
eyes. One downward plunge and he could
regain it all.
with start both men rose in the little
boat ready to leap into the waves. when
suddenly with faint echoing sound the
music of the bells broke and died into 81
lencc, and the glories beneath them grew
dim and indistinct before their straining
eyes. Tower and turret and gilded roof
melted softly away into nothingncss, and
they saw only the tapping waters growing
gray and misty in the approaching gloom.
With shudder the young man drew
back from the edge of the boat. 'Tt is
over, lie said; 1.-THE spell is past and night
is coming on. We must return to the shore
without delay, and in the real world and
following out my own life will gain all
that have seen shadowed forth to-day. My
path lies before me and am eager to tread
it. Let us hasten back
But the other did not heed him. His
eyes were fixed upon the water. Beneath
lay hidden the golden vision of the past and
he could never hope to reproduce 1t on the
earth. An Overwhelming ycarning seized
him. All that he valued lay in the sunken
city and he would join them there.
There was faint cry, a sudden plunge,
and the young man sat alone within the
boat as the twilight darkcned into nights