Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-01-07

Heaven,-hcr face trds grotrtng 0ld before
nv eUCs, | suppose that Leo saw il also;
certainly he recoiled n step or two.
what is it, my Kallikratesy' she said
and her voice-what was the matter with
those deep and thrilling notes? They were
quite high and cracked.
why. what is it-what Is it?' she said,
confusedly. II feel daZed. Surely the
quality of the fire hath not altered. Can
the principle Of Life alter? Tell me, Kal-
likrates. is there aught wrong with m
eyese see not clear and she put her
hand to her head and touched her hair
and oh. horror Of hOrrOrSi-it all fell off
upon the floor, leaving her utterly bald.
"Oh, look, look, lOokl' shrieked Job, in n
shrill ~falsetto of terror, his eyes nearly
dropping ont OF his head. and foam upon
his lips! "LoOk! took, took, she's shrivelinc
up, she's turning into q monkeys" and
down he fell upon the floor, foaming and
crashing in a fit.
True enough faint ever MS I write it
III the living presence of that terrible re-
collection-she 1rns shriveling up; the
| golden snake that bad encircled her gra-
ciouS form slipped over her hips II fell
upon the ground; smaller and smaller she
grew; her skin changed color, and in place
OF the perfect wilderness of its luster il
turned dirty brown n yellow, like an Old
piece Of withcred parchment. she felt nj
her bald head; the delicate hand was moth
INK DitJ IL claw nON, IL IlAilliii t1lbii, INN
that Of a badly preserved Egyptian mum
my, and then she seemed To realize what
kind Of n change was passing over her,
and she shrieked.-an, she Shriekcd!-She
rolled upon the floor and shriekedl
Smaller she grew, and smaller yet. TIL
she was no larger han a she balloon. Now
the skin was puckered into a million wrin-
kles, and on the shapeless face was the
stamp Of unutterable age. | never saw
anything like il, nobody ever saw anything
like the frightful age that was craven on
that fearful c~ountenance, no bigger now
| than that of n two-months' child, though
the skull remained the same size, or nearly
So, and let all men pray 10 God they never
may, if they wish To keep their reason.
At last she lay still, or only feebly NOV
| ing. She who but two minute before had
gazed upon us the loveliest, noblest, most
splendid woman the world had ever
seen, she lay still before US, near the masses
Of her own dark hair, no larger than a big
| monkey, and hideous-ah, too hideouS for
words. And yet, think Of this-at that
very moment | thought Of tit was the
anne woman!
she was dying; W. saw 1t, and thanked
God-for while she lived she could feel,
and what must she have felt? She raised
herself upon her bony hands, n biindly
ga2ed around her, swaylng her head slow
liz froLl sic to side AZ a tortoise does. She
could NOT see, for her whitish eyes were
covered with u horny film. Oh, the horri-
BILE pathos OF the sight! But she could still
SPEAK.
"Kallikrates." sine said, in husky, trem-
bling notes. Forget rae not, kailikrates.
Have pity on M shame: 1 shall come
again, and shall once more be beautiful, /
swear tit Is truel Od-h-h."( and she
fell upon her face and was still.
IN The very spot where twenty centuries