The Irish standard., 1889-10-26

Il gauze, Cleopatra lay asleep. 95sa There sshe
N lay-the falrest thing that man eyerha
II fairer than q dream, and all about horY
flowed the web Of her dark hair. One white,
rounded arm made q pillow for her head
and one hung downward to the ground Her
d rich lips were parted III 8 smile, showing
& the ivory lines Of teeth; and her rosy limbs
/. were draped ID so thin asrobe Of the silk Of
4 Cos, held ,lbout her by Q jeweled girdle,
that the white CLEAN Of flesh shone through
it. / stood astonished, and, though my
thoughts had little bent that way, the sight
Of all her beauty struck me- like a blow, SO
that for moment / lost myself as it were
in the vision of its power, and at heart was
grieved that I must Stay 50 fair thing.
Turning suddenly from the sight found
Charmion watching me with her quick eyes
watching as though she would search my
heart And, indeed, something Of my
thoughts must have been written on my
face IN language that she could read, for
she whispered in my ear:
SAY, it is pity, is it not7 Harmschis be-
ing after all man, methinks thou wilt need
all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the
deedn'
i frowned. but before I could frarne an
answer she touched me lightly on the arm
and pointed to the Queen. A change had
come upon her; her hands were cle1ched,
and about her face, all rosy with tie nue. OF
sleep, gathered a cloud Of fear Her breath
came quick, she raised her arms as though
to ward away blow, and then with
stuffed moan sat up and opened the wiz dows
of her eyes. Dark they were, dark as
=, ErI+
grew blue, even as the sky grows blue be-
| fore the blushing Of the dawn.
'Casarion?'' she said; where is Casa
rion2 Was it then a dream? I dreamed
that Julius-Julius who IS dead-came to
me, his bloody toga wrapped about his face,
| and. having thrown his arms about his child,
| led him away. Then I dreamed 1 died
! died in blood and agony; and one 1 might
| not see Knocked me as died. Abl who Is
that man?"
ssPeace Madam! peace!'' said Charmion.
ss'Tis but the magician Harmachis, whom
thou didst bid me bring to thee at this
hour"
"Ah! the magician-that Harnachis who
overthrow the giant2 l remember me now.
He IS welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can
thy magic mirror give forth an answer to
this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is
| AAAAAA~A ~'~
darkness, straightly compels it to its will.
Whence, then, come those images of fear
| rising on the horizon of the soul like some
untimely moon upon the twilight skyl
Who grants them power to stalk so hfellke
from Memory's thronging halls, and, point
! ing to their wounds, thus confront the
Present with the Past? Are they, then,
messengers! Doth the semi-death of sleep
give them footho]d in our brains, and
thus upknit the severed thread Of human
kinship? That was Caes lr's self l tell thee,
who but now stood at my side and MUIR
INJURED through his muffled robe warning
words whereof the memory is lost to me.
Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,
and I'll show thee roster path to fortune
than all thy stars can point. Thou hast
brought the omen, solve thou its problem"
s'In good hour do / come, most mighty
Queen,' made answer, ''for l have some
skill in the mysteries of sleep, which is, as
thou hast rightly guessed, a stair whereby
those VINO are gathered to Osiris may from
time to time enter at the gateways Of our
living sense, and, by signs and words that
can be read of mortals thereto duly learned,
repeat the echoes OF that Hall of Truth
which is their habitation. Thereby also the
messengers of the guardian Gods may de-
scend in many shapes upon the half-loosed
spirit of their choice. For, 0 Queen, to
those who hold the key, the madness of our
dreams can show clearer purpose and
speak more certainly than all the acted
wisdom of our waking life, which is q
dream indeed. Thou didst see great Caesar
| in his bloody robe, and he threw his arms
| about Prince Caesarion and led him hence.
| Hearken now to the secret of thy visions.
| Twas Casar's self thou sawest coming to
| thy side from Amenti in such a. guise az
might not be mistaken. When he embraced
| the child CBsarion ne did it for sign that
to him, and him alone, he passed his great
ness and his love. When he seemed to
lead him hence he led him forth from Egypt
to be crowned in the Capitol, crowned the
Emperor of Rome and Lord of all the lands.
For the rest, / know it not. 1t is hid from
me.''
| Thus, then, read the vision, though to
my sense it had a more evil meaning. But
! it is not we'll to prophecy evil unto Kings.
Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, hav-
ing thrown back the gnat gauze was seated
upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed
upon my face the while her fingers played
with her girdle's jeweled ends.
| s'Of truth" she cried, 'sthou art the
| best of all magicians, for thou readest my
! heart, and out of the rou b shell Of evil
omen drawest the hidden sweetp'
SAY, o Queenp' said Charmion, who
stood by with downcast eyes, and me-
| thought there was bitter meaning in her
soft notes; ''inay no rougher words ever at
! front thy ears, and no evil passage less
closely tread upon its happy sense" Cleo
patra placed her hands behind her head, and
leaning back looked with half-shut eyes.
''Come, show us Of thy magic, Egyptian"
she said. st is yet hot abroad, and am
weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and
their talk of Herod and Jerusalem. / hate
| that Herod, as he snail find and I will
have rome Of the Ambassadors to-day,
though little do yearn to try my Hebrew
on them. What canst thou DO? Hast thou
no new trick? By Scraps! it thou canst
conjure as well as thou canst prophecy thou
shalt have place at court, with pay aud
perquisites to boot and thy lofty soul doth
not scorn perquisites."
s'Nay," l answered, tall tricks are old;
but there are some forms Of magic to be
rarely used, and with discretion, that may.
perchance, be new to thee, o Queenl Art
| thou afraid to venture on the charm9n