Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-06

old man as On the young one, Uut ne was
quicker to recover himself, and his Keen
and practiced eye soon discerned that 1T was
not single gigantic form which was rising
from the metropolis to cross the plain, but
a multitude of moving creatures who seemed
to be surging or swaying to and fro on the
meadow land. Nor did the hollow hum
and wailing come up from one particular
SPOT. but was audible now nearer and now
more remote Anon he fancied that 1t was
rising from the bosom of the eartn, and then
again that it fell from some airy height.
Fresh terror came upon the old astrologer.
He seized his grandson's hand in his right
hand, and pointing with his left to the city
of the dead, he cried in a trembling voice:
''The dead are too many in number. The
neither world overfows, as the river does
when its bed is too narrow for the waters OF
the south. How they swarm and sway and
surge onl How they part hither and
thither. These are the ghosts of the thousands
whom black death hath snatched away,
blasted bv the Hebrews curse, and sent un-
buried, unprotected from corruption, to de-
scend the rungs of the ladder which leads
to the world without end"
"Yea. it is theyl" cried the other, in full
belief He snatched his hand from the old
mans grasp. and struck his fevered and
burning brow, exclalming, though hardly
able to speak for terror, 'They-the
damned! The wind has blown them to the
sea, and its waters spew them out and cast
them on the land again, and the blessed
earth rejects them and drives them into the
air. The pure ether of Shoe filings them
back to the ground, and now-look, listen!
They are groaning as they seek the way to
the DESERT
ITO the frep' cried the elder. "Flame,
purify them; water, cleanse themp'
= The youth Joined in the old priests form
OF exorcism, and while they chanted it in
unison the trap door was lifted which led to
this observatory on the top of the highest
gate of the temple, and priest of humble
grade cried to the old man:
"Cease thy labors. Who cares now for
the stars of heaven when all that has life is
being darkened on earth?"
The old priest listened speechless, till the
messenger went on to say that it was the as
trologer's wife who had sent for him, and
then he gasped out:
"Hora? Is my son then likewise stricken?"
The priest then bent his head, and both
his hearers wept bitterly, for the old man
was bereft of his frst-born son, and the lad |
of tender father.
But when the boy, trembling with fever,
fell sick and sorrowing on his grandfather's |
breast, the elder hardly freed himself from |
his embrace and went to the trap door; for al |
though the priest had announced himself as |
the messenger of death, it needs more than |
the bare word of another to persuade father |
to give up all hope of life for his child. The |
old man went quickly down the stone stairs. |
through the lofty halls and wide |
courts of the temple, and the lad |
followed him, although his shaking |
knees could scarcely carry his fevered |
frame. The blow which had fallen within |
his own little circle had made the old man |
forget the fearful portent which threatened |
the whole world perhaps with ruin; but the |
he had passed the first court and was in
sight of the outermost pylons, to his terrified
and anxious soul it seemed as though the
shadows of the obelisks were spinning
round, while the two stone statues of King
Rameses on the corner piers of the great
gate beat time with the crook in his hand,
At this the lad dropped fever-stricken on
the ground. A convulsion distorted his
features and tossed his slender frame to and
fro in frantic spasms; and the old man, fall
ing on his knees, while he guarded the
curly head from striking the hard stone
flags, moaned in low voice: snow it has
fallen on him p
Suddenly he collected himself and shouted
aloud for help, but in vain, and again in
vain. AT last his voice fell; he sought con-
ISOLATION in prayer. Then he heard sound
of voices from the avenue of sphinxes lead
ing to the great gate, and new hope revived
in his heart.
Who could it be who was arriving at so
late an hour?
Mingled with cries of grief, the chanting
of priests fell on his ear, the tinkle and
clatter of the metallic sistrum shaken by
holy women in honor of the god, and the |
football OF men praying as they
marched on.
A solemn procession was approaching,
The astrologer raised his eyes, and after
glancing at the double line of granite COL |
umns, colossal statues and obelisks in the |
great court, looked up, in obedience to the |
habits of q lifetime, at the starry heavens |
above, and in the midst of his woe bitter |
smile parted his sunken lips, for the gods |
this night lacked the honors that were their |
due.
For on this night-the first after the new |
moon in the month of Pharmutee-the sane
tuary in former years was wont to be CAV |
with garlands of flowers. At the dawn of |
day after this moonless night the high festi-
val of the spring equinox should begin, and |
with 1t the harvest thanksgiving.
At this time grand procession marched
through the city to the river and harpor. as
prescribed by the Book Of the Divine Birth
Of the Sun, in honor of the great goddess
Meth, of Rennout, who bestows the gifts of /
Ihe field, and of Horus, at whose bidding
the desert blooms; but to-day the silence Of
Heath reigued in the sanctuary, whose court |