Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1881-06-09
Select Story.
SAVED BY A WOMAN.
A Thrilling Romance Of Mount Athos
BY JAMES WIGHT.

10 the east OF the Iul1 OF SalOnlca,
in European Turkey, peninsula pro-
lects from the main land into the wa
ters of the Archipelago, and afterwards
divides into three smaller peninsulas.
The most eastern of the three is called
Mount Athos, (Hagion Oros, or the
Holy Mountain narrow ridge thir-
= ty miles in length, four or five in
breadth, and six thousand feet above
the sea- The sides of Athos are COW
cred with monasteries belonging to the
Greek Church, whose possession of this
locality has always been tolerated by
the Turkish government.
The most curious feature of this mo-
nas.ic society is the absolute exclusion
from it of every female creature,
whether of the human species or of
any other kind capable of being pre-
vented from communicating the pious
brethren by its feminine influences.
The numbers of the priestly society
are, of course, kept up by the admis-
sion of recruits from the masculine
world without; and some of the monks
who were admitted early in life are in
utter ignorance Of the appearance oi
that large fragment of the human race
termed woman. Consequently, Mr..
RIP Vesey (christened Euripldes, of
the United States, was rather startled
when his chaperone-a still youthful
mopk-gravely informed him that the
only woman he had ever seen was his
mother, and that he had forgot even
her appearance, as he had i,een sent
on visit to his uncle on the mountain
when four years of age, and he had
never crossed its Limits since, a period
of over a quarter of century.
No woman was ever on Hagion Or
os,' then added the unsophisticated
brother, and any one of the sex who
would presume to touch the sacred soil
of the peninsula with her feet, would
be summarily dealt with for her i'm
piety'
When Rip Vesey left the Holy
Mountain he had promised to pay an.
other visit three days afterward to wit
ness the grand torchlight procession
which winds up tie festivities of Eas
ter as observed by the Greek Christi
an.
Mr.. Rip Vesey was the well known
American athlete, whose marvellous
performances, under professional
name, few years since astonished the
world. At the end of the previou!
season his health had suffered some
what, and he was easily induced tt
take trip to the Mediterranean will
an old friend of his, the captain of {
trading steamer. The bills of ladins
of the Cinderella had taken her t(
Salonica, and curiosity had carried he
only passenger up the slopes Of Noun
Athos.
1t was the balmy hour of lat,
April sunset when Rip Vesey crossed
the boundary of the Holy Mountain
Stars were flashing out one by one
with mellow lustre in the iufnity O
the sky. Hagion Oros seemed to bt
asleep, as he climbed the hill past tht
darkening masses of the great monas.
teries. With the exception of two OF
three visitors, evidently attracted by
curiosity like himself, there was no sug
gestion of the outside world to disturb
the soothing influences of the houl
and scene.
Suddenly the sound of many voices
struck upon his ear. A wild rhythmic
chant, rising aud falling with strange
weird cadence was borne upon the
zephyrs, and a minute more it hae
swelled into a grand harmonious chor
lis. Soon the fierce glare of five hun
dred torches heralded the approach O
the procession, in front of which wa
borne by four brethren, an enormous
gilded cruciix. The white boards O
the monks descended over their breasts
and their hoods and black garments
impaired to them an appearance of pc
culiar awe and solemnity.
The procession had nearly passec
Kip Nesey, when the entirety and har
nony of the chorus was impaired
Something had happened and the