The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-01-20

tIOI3 NuOliJ dbSOi Dcu " lCf ~ II
heavy thoughts, and careless of all be-
sides.
1t was at this crisis that q shrill and
prolonged flourish of trumpets arose,
almost painfully, upon the cart was
a Roman trumpet. There was pause,
brief but awful pause such as is often
left between the first peal in a thunder
storm and the bursting deluge of the
shower. Again it rung, nearer, aud
nearer yet-and now beneath the very
window of the mausoleum.
As the first note sunk into silence
the queen had arisen breathlessly to her
feet; and there she stood motionless as
a statue, her eyes still fixed on the
brow of Antony, but her lips slightly
quivered, her head and her frame eX-
pressing the earnestness with which she
listened for a repetition of the sounds,
but, as the second flourish smote her
ear she threw her arm aloft in triumph
"A fash Of oxultation kindlcd that
glorious brow like sunburst, aud her
eyes danced il their sockets with the
highly wrought ecstacy Of the moment; /;
but while her brow and eyes were radi-
ant with delight, the wide expansion Of
the nostrils and the curl Of the chiseled
lip spoke volumes of defiance and con-
tempt.
cit Is too late!" she cried, in accents
still clear and musical, though strained
far above the natural pitch Of her voice.
''It is too latc-ye Roman robbers
lie whom your sacrilcgious trumpets
would have but now aroused to ven
geance; from the lightning of whose
eye We would have fed like how ling
wolves before the hollis of Jove; whose
voice would have stunned you like the
thunders of Omnipotcnce--the con-
queror Of the universe has sunk to sleep,
nor can your senseless clamors awake
him to the annihilatiOn of your auda-
.cious frchzy!"
Even as she spoke the rattle of the
ladders, by which the cohorts Of the
victor were sealing the porticocs of that
fortress tomb, the shouts of the rude
veterans and the claDg of their brazen
harness were distinctly audible, and
ere her words were ended the same wild
sounds Tere heard echoing along the
vaulted passages and spacious halls of
the story next beneath. In another
instant their steps were heard mount
ing the long, slopiDg passages which,
in Egyptian architecture, atfOrding ac-
cess to The upper chambers, supplied
the want OF stairs. The door, formed
like the walls of the apartment Of pol
ished alabaster and invisible when
closed, was violently forced, and a
group of men whose Italian complex
ions and features prominent and
strongly marked, denoted them to be
the victors of the world, the iron men
of Rome, stood on the threshold. All
sheathcd in completc armor, nor deck
ed, like the orientals, with golden
sculptures or precious stones bat brass
SO brightly polished that it reflected
ry object; perfect in the exactnes'
.th which it was adapted to theiI
frames in The facility of motion it left
to all their limbs, ard in its exquisite
finish, with crested casques and Grim
son tuuics, it weuId have been impos
sibIe to conceive mortal figures.
Foremost Of all, the laureled con
queror of Actium entered the arena O.
his triumph; and, in truth, although
he could not have sustained momentt
comparison with the superb person o
his less fortunate rival, he looked a.
least, if lie was not, the hero. No flusl
of cxultation tinged his complexion
no iusolence of victory sparkled iii hi
eve; but not the less did exultation
insolence and cruelty live within hi
breast. He was sufficiently versed il
dissimulation 10 conceal his odiou
character beneath vell of stoicai in
difference and mock msgnanimity.
"Hail, Emperorw cried the dyin
sovereign. fronting him with demean
or thousand times more lofty thar
his own-"Hail, conqueror! He
countensuce alone would have eGprel
sed the scorn she felt, even if had no
her very tones been such, that The cold
biooded despot wrilhed beneath thei
lash,
"Comest thou hither, puissant lord
noble successor of the mighty Julius,
comest thou hither to violote the ashe
of the dead, or to prove thy maidensval
or on a weak woman Jfacts t,la ri
. tuel-On-On in the path Of glory
Why a dead Caesar was to thee tyr
to Herculesl Weare no Amazons +
check thine impetuous valor' Od
{ with thy falchion, Ceaser-the Al
+ guslus !" And She laughed in bite
/ scorn.
"Nay, by the faith of Jove, but "
would have the lovely Cleopatra anon
onr friends," replied the imperial dis
Z sembler, "thou art still free-sti
queen of Egypt"
"By the great Gods, am nor is
in the power Of all Rome 10 make n
; other. Free was born and roy al
. Tree will | die and royal. Caeser,
scorn your mercies, Is defy your m'
/ naces! by fathers left ne crown
4. and crowned l viii 80 to my father
S What-think you Cleopatra isa slave
t a base crlnging slave; that she woul
, reign by yeur permission, or live