Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-12-29
A MODERN REVELATION.

As travelled across an African plain tbs
sun shone down holly. Then l drew my
horse up under mimosa tree and took the
saddle from him and left him to feed among
the parched bushes. And all to right and tc
left stretched the brown earth. And | sal
down under the tree because the heat beat
fercely and all along the horizon the all
throbbed And after awhile heavy drowsi.
ness came ove- me and laid my head down
against my saddle and ! fell asleep. And in
my sleep had a curious dream.
thought stood on the border of great
desert and the sand blew about every
where. And thought l saw two great fig
ures, like beasts of burden of the desert, and
one lay upon the sand with its neck stretched
out and one stood by it, apd l looked
curiously at the one that lay upon the ground.
for it had great burden on its back and
the sand was thick about it, SO that it seemed
to have piled over it for centuries
And looked very curiously at it. And
there stood one beside me watching And
said to him, What is this huge creature
who lies here on the sandf'
And he said, "This is woman; she that
bears men in her body"
And said, 'sWhy does she lie here motion
less, with the sand piled round here"
And he answered, Listen, will tell you.
Ages and ages long she has lain here, and the
wind has blown over her. The Oldest, oldest
man living has never seen her move; the
oldest, Oldest book records that she lay here
then, as she lies here now, with the sand
about her. Butlisten! Older than the oldest
book, older than the Oldest recorded memory
Of man, on the Rocks of Language, on the
the hard baked clay of Ancient Customs now
crumbling to decay. are found the marks OF
her footstepsl Side by side with his who
stands beside her you may trace them; and
you know that she who now lies there once
wandered free over the rocks with him"
And said, ''Why does she lie there nows"
And he said, 81 take it, ages ago the Age
of Dominion Of Muscular Force found her,
and when she stopped low to give suck to her
young, and her back was bowed, he put his
burden of subsection on to it, and tied it on
with broad band of Inevitable Necessity.
Then she looked at tho earth and the sky,
and knew there was no hope for ner; and she
lay down on the sand with the burden she
could not loosen. Ever since she has lain
here And the ages have come and the ages
AatNc SOLt, puV ttO DaI4o VI ISoCeS'
sity has not been cutn
And [ looked and saw in her eyes the terri.
BILE patience Of the centuries; the ground wa.
wet with her tears, and her nostrils blew uu
the sand.
And ! said, HAS she ever tried to moveg'
And he said, Sometimes limb she ouiv-
cred. She is wise; she knows she cannot rise
with the burden on her."
And l said, "Why does not he who stands
by her leave her and go onf'
And he said, "He cannot. Lookln
And saw a broad band passing along the
ground from one to the other, and it bound
them both together.
He said, "While she lies there he must stand
and look across the desert"
And l said, ''Does he know why he cannot
move"
And he said, "No."
And l heard sound Of something crack.
ing, and looked, and l saw the band that
bound the burden broken asunder, and the
burden rolled on to the ground.
And said, "What is thisa"
And he said. "The Age of Muscular Force
is dead. The Age Of Nervous Force has
killed him with the knife he holds in his
hand, and silently and invisibly he has crept
up to the woman, and with that knife of
Mechanical Invention he has cut the band
that bound the burden to her back. The In
evitable Necessity is broken. She might rise
nown
And saw that she still lay notionless on
the sand, with her eyes open and her
neck stretched out. And she seemed to look
for something on the far off border of the
n or-f hat, A. 7
she were awake or asleep And as looked
her body quivered, and light came INTO her
eyes, like when a sunbeam breaks into dark
room.
said, What is itr'
He whispered, "Hushi the thought has
come 10 her, Might l not risep"
And l looked. And she raised her head
from the sand, and saw the dent where her
neck had lain SO long. And she looked at the
earth and at the sky, and at him who stood
by her; but he looked out across the desert. r
And saw her body CULVER; and she pressed |
her front knees TO the earth, and veins stood |
out; and cried, ''She is going to rise"
But only her sides heaved; she lay still |
where she was.
But her head she held up; she did not lay it |
down again. And he beside me said, '.She is
very weak. See, her legs have been crushed |
under her so longI"
And | saw the creature struggle, and the
drops stood out.
And ] said, Surely no who stands beside
her will help herg'
And he beside me answered, "He cannot |
help her She must help herself Let her |
struggle until she is strong"
And | cried. AT least he will not hinder |
heri See, he moves farther from her, and |
tightens the cord between them, and he !
drags her down"
And he answered, "He does not under |
stand When she moves she draws the band |
that binds them, and hurts him, and he |
moves farther from her. The day win come !
when he viii understand, and will know
what she Is doing. Let her once stagger on |
10 her knees. In that day he will stand close |
to her, and look into her eyes with SYM
oathyn
And she stretched her neck, and the drops
Iell from her.
The creature rose en- inch from the ground
md sank back
And / cried, "Oh, she is too weak! She
,annot walkl The long years have taken
III her strength from herl Can she never
mover
And he answered me, ''See ths light in her
,yei"
And slowly he creature etsgTered on to IT'S
,nees.
And awoke; and all 30 the east and TO the
vest stretched the barren earth, with the dry
pushes on it. The ants ran UP and down in
he red sand, aud the heat beat fiercely l
ooked up through the thin branches of the
rec st the blue sky overhead I stretched
myself, and l unused over the dream | had
had fell asleep again, and in the fierce heat
had another dream.