Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-11-20

CLEOPATRA.
Being an Account of the Fall and
 Vengeance of Harmachis, the Royal Egyptian.

of thine: for, by the Gods! at this hour 1 do believe that thou didst love Harmachis, and because he Scorned thee thou dldSt be- tray him, and for that cause also thou hast all thy days remained q maid, which is thing unnatural. Come. Charmion, tell us; for naughtit matters now at the end"
 Charmion shivered and made answer: "It is true, o Queen; also was of the plot and because Harmachis scorned me betrayed him, and because of my great love for him have remain ed unwed." And she glanced up at me and caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes vail her own.
 ''So! thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause, methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love; what sayest thou, Olympusa An, and so thou also vast a traitor, Charmlon! How dangerous are the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, forgive thee, for faithfully hast thou served me since that hour.
 ''But to my ta.e. Harmachis dared not slay, lest his great party should rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the issue. Though he must murder me, III secret this Harmachs loved me, and something thereof l guessed. A little, for the sake of his beauty and his wit, had l striven to draw him to me; and for the love of man Cleoratra never strove in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his robe, he came to slay me, matched my charms against his will, and need tell you, being men and women, how won! On, never can I forget the look in the eyes of that fallen man, that forsworn priest, that discrowned king, when, lost in tho poppied draught Isaw him sink into that shameful sleep whence no more might he wake with honor! And, thereafter-till, in the end, l wearied of him, and his sad, learned mind, ror h;o lf1c cn,,lf In 1,nr little did I come to care for him, though not to love. But he, he who loved me, chung to me as drunkard to the cup which ruins him. Deeming that l should wed him, he betrayed to me the secret of the hidden wealth of the pyramid Her-for at the time much needed treasure--and together we dared the terrors of the tomb and drew it forth, even from dead Pharaoh's breast. See, this emerald was part thereofr' and she pointed to the great scarabBus that she had drawn from the holy heart of Menka-ra. And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which we saw in the tomb; ah, pest upon it! why does it's memory haunt me now?- and also because of rolicy, for would fain have won the love of rhe Egyptians was minded to marry this Harmachis and de- clare his place and lineage to the worldl aye, and by his aid hold Egypt from the Roman. For Delllus had then come to call me to Antony, and after much thought determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that very morning, as tired me for the Court, came Charmion wonder, and this told her, for I would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now | mark, Olympus, the power of jealousy, that | little wedge which yet hath strength to rend the tree of empire, that secret sword ,.,}l ia fat of kings! This she could in nowise | bear-(deny it, Charmion, if thou | canst, for now it is clear to me )--that the 1 man she loved should be given to me as 1 husband, me, whom he loved! And there fore, with more skill and wit than can tell, | she reasoned with me, showing that should by no means do this thing but journey un- to Antony; and for that, Charnion, l thank thee, now that ali is come and gone And | by very lttle her words weighed down my scale of judgment against Harnachis, I and ts Antony ! went. Thus it is that through the jealous spleen of wonder fair | Charmion, and the passion of q man where 1 oE played as on Tyre, all these things have l come .o pass. For this cause doth Octavian | sit King iI < Aexapdria; for this cause is
 Antony discrowuea and dead; and for this 1 cause must. l, too. die tonight! Ah! | Charmion! Charmion thou hast much to answer for; thou hast changed tho story of the world; and yet, even now, would | not have it otherWisc!'
 ] She paused awhile covering her eyes with her hand: and. looking, saw great tears upon the et.aels of Charnon.
 | ''And of this ttarl.at-his?" I asked
 "Where IS he now, O QueenP'
 "Where is he! In Amenti forsooth, 1nal1. I ing bis peace with Isis, perchance. At | Tarsus saw Antony and loved him; and l from that moment toaGh6l the sight of the ! Egyptian, and swore to make an eau oi l him. for lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he spoke
 some words Of evil omen, even at the Feast of the Pearl; and or the same night
 would have slain him, but before the deed was done he was gope.''
 l 'And whither was he goHei'
 'Nay; that know notI. Brennus. he who
 led my guard, and last year sailed North tc | join his own people, Brennus swore he saw 1 misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks he l loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus
 and was drowned; perchance Charmion can l tell us hoW.'
 "Naught can tell thee, Q Queen, liar l machis is lost.'
 ''And well lost, Charmion, for he was an 1 evil man to play with; aye, though I bet
 tered him say it! Well. he served my
 purpose; but loved him not and even now
 fear him; though, thanks be to God, as
 thou sayest, he is lost, and can no moro be | found"
 But I, listening, put forth my strength
 and, by the arts have, cast the shadow ol
 my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra, SC
 that she felt the presence of the lost liar
 macbis,
 ''Nay, yyhatis ita" she said, stRy Serapis | Igrow afraid! It seems to me that l feel
 Harmachis here! His memory o'erwhelms
 me like flood of waters, and he this ter
 years deads Oh! at such time it is un
 holy!"
 May, O Queen," answered. If he be
 dead then he is everywhere, and well al
 such time, the time of thy own death
 may his Spirit draw near to welcome thine
 at its going"
 Speak not thus, Olympus. No more
 would sec Harmachis; the count betweer
 us is too heavy, and in another world thar
 this more evenly, perchance, should we bt
 matched, An, the terror passesl ] wa:
 but unnerved. Well, the knave's stor,
 hath served to while away that heaviest O
 our hours, the hour which ends in death | Sine tO mo. Charmiop Sinp for thv yOiCa l.