Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-11-05

the plans that had formed for Egypt. And she seemed to listen gladly, weighing them well, and spoke of means and methods, tell ing me how she would purify the faith and repair the ancient temples-ay, and build new ones to the Gods. And ever she crept deeper and more deep into my heart, till at length, now that all things else had gone from me, learned to love her with all the unspent passion of my aching soul. Ihad naught left to mo but Cleopatras love, and twined my life about it, and brooded o'er 1t as widow oer her only babe. And thus the very author of my shame became my all, my dearest dear, and l loved her with n wild, deep love that grew and grew, till it seemed to swallow up the past and make the present as a dream. For she had con- quered me, she had robbed me of my honor and steeped mo to the lips in shame, and l, poor, blinded wretch! kissed tho rod that smote me and was her very slave.
 Ay, even now, in those dreams which will come when sleep unlocks tho secret heart, and sets all its terrors free to roam through the open halls of thought, seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come with arms outstretched and loves own light shining in her deep eyes, with lips apart and flow ing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of utter tenderness that she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the years, I seem to see her come as erst she came, and still wake to know her an unutterable lie.
 And thus one day she came. She had fled ill haste, she said, from some great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and she came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, and in her hand the scepter, and on her brow the uraus diadem of gold. There she sat before me laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the envoys, to whom she gave audience in the council, that she was called from their presence by sudden message come from Rome; and to her the jest seemed merry. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow, and set it on my hair, and on my shoulders her Royal chlamys, and in my hand the scepter, and bowed the knee before me, Then, laugh ing again, she kissed me on the lips and said was, indeed, her King. But, rcmem- bering how had been crowned in tho halls of Abouthis, and remembering also that wreath of roses whereof the odor haunts me yet, rose pale with wrath and cast the trinkets from me, asking her how she dared to mock me-her cagcd birds And methinks there was that about me that startled her, for she fell back.
 'Nay, Harmachs,'' she said, ''be not wrothl How knowest thou that I mock thee! How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and deedl'
 "What meanest thou!" 1 said. ''Wllt thou, then, wed mo before Egypta How else can be Pharaoh nowa'
 She cast down her eyes. ''Perchance, love, 'tis in my mind to wed thee,' she said gently:
 "Listenp' she went on. s:Thou growest pale here in this prison, and little dost thou eat. Gainsay me not! know 1t from the slaves. l have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thine own sake, that is so dear to me; and for thine own sake, and thy honol's sake, must thou still seem to be my prison CT. Else wouldst thou be shamed and slain -ay, murdered secretly. But here can l meet thee no more; therefore tomorrow will free thee in all save in the naiIa, :l21 thou shalt once mora be seen at Eour,..s my astronomer. And this reason will give that thou hast cleared thyselfI nri, more over, that thy auguries as regards the war have been auguries of truth-as, indeed, they have, though thereon have Gn e,t:. ! to thank thee, for methinks thou ttllst S.t, thy prophecies to fit thy cause. Now fare well; for 1 must return to those heavy browed ambassadors; and grow not so sud- den wroth, for who knows what may come to pass 'twixt thee and me?'
 And, with little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had it in her heart to take mo to husband. And, of a truth, do believe that, at this hour, such was her thought For, if she loved me not, still she held mo dear, and as yet sue hua not Wearied of me.
 On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came-Charmion, whom had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She en- tered and stood before me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were words of bitterness,
 Pardon me-" she said, ill her gentle voice, "in that I dare to come to thee in Cleopatra's place. Not for long Is thy joy delayed, for thou shalt see her presently.
 l shrank at her words, as we'll I might, and, seeing her vantage, she seized it.
 'I come, Harmachis-Royal no more! I come to tell thee that thou art frcsl Free thou art to face thine own ipfamx, and see 1t thrown back from every eye that trusted thee, even as shadows are from water. l como to tell thee that the great plot-the plot of twenty years and morc-is at It's utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless 'tis Sepa, who has vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and nut iu chains, sr driven from the land, and ttelr party Is no more. The storm has melted ere it burst. Khem is lost, and lost forever, for her last hope is gonel No longer may she struggle-now for all time must she bow her neck to the yoke, and her back to the rod of the oppressorr'
 1 groaned aloud. "Alas, l was be-
 
 'Thou vast betrayeda Nay, thou myself vast the betrayeri How came 1t that thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou vast alone with hera Answer, thou for sworn!'
 "She drugged me," I said again.
 70 Harmachisr r' answered the pitilcss girl, "how low art thou fallen from that Prince whom once knewl thou who dost not scorn to be 8 llarI Yea, thou vast drugged-drugged with love philtre! Yea, thou didst sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton's kiss! Thou Sor- row and thou Shamer r she went on, point ing her finger at ma and lifting ber eyes to my face, "thou Scorn!-thou Outcast,- and thou Contempt Deny 1t # thou canst. Ay, shrink from me-knowing what thou art, we'll mayst thou shrinkl Shrink and crawl to Cleopatra's feet, and kiss her sandals till such time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy kindred dlrt; pul from all honest folk shrsnk!-shrtnkE'
 My soul quivered beneath the lash ot her bitser hate, but I had po words to an.