The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-10-24

II =
IIEA IF the Queen, with the pay
EEAALSH Aol and perqnisiies of that
,SA7 -M AAl Office. which were not
Ss38E1e1a&j small. Also rooms were
sW a. given me in the palace,
EA Il through which / passed
aESAl1lNLT AT might to tho high watch
49, ll|Nl tower, whence looked IN
feiEZ2e--@-A the stars and drew their
I'll augurlas. For at this time cleopa-
ira was much troubled ABOUT matters
Y political And not knowing how the
great struggle among the Roman factions
would end. but being very DESTROYS TO side
with the strongest. she took constant coun-
sci with me as TO the warning of the stars
These / read to her in such manner as best
seemed to fit the high interest Of my ends.
For Antony, the Roman Triumvir. was now
IN Asia Minor, and, rumor ran, very wroth
because 1t had been told TO him that Cleo
patra was hostile to the Triumyi,ate i'm that
her General. Serapion, had aided cassius.
But Cleopatra protested loudly to me and
others that Serapion had acted against her
will. Yet Charmion told me that, as with
Allienus, It was because OF prophecy of
Dioscorides, the unluckv. that he Queen
herself had secretly ordered Serapion SO to
do. Nevertheless, this did not save Scrap
ion, for, to prove to Antony that she was IN
noccns, she dragged the General from the
sanctuary and slew him. Woe be to those
who carry out the will Of tyrants If the scale
should rise against themi And so Serapion
persisted
for the minds of Cleopatra and those about
her were SO set upon affairs abroad that
neither she nor they thought of revolt ut
hnuna day h.r ~, ,xz
strength in the cities Of Egypt. and even in
Alexandria. which is 10 Egypt as another
land, all things being foreign there. Day
by day those who doubted were won over
and sworn TO the cause by that oath which
can not be broken, and our plans Of action
more firmly laid And every other day
went forth from the palace to take counsel
with my uncle Sepa, and there at his house
met the nobles and the great priests who
were for the party of Knem.
OF Cleopatra, the Queen. I saw much,
and never was / more astonishcd at the
wealth and spiendor of her mind. that for
richness and variety was as woven cloth
Of gold throwing back all lights from its
changing face. She feared me somewhat,
and therefore was fain 10 make friend of
me. asking mo many matters that seemed
TO be beyond the province Of my Office. OF
the Lady Cilarmion also l saw much
indeed, she was ever ut my side, so that /
scarce knew when she came and when she
went. For with that soft step OF hers
would she draw nigh, and would turn me
TO lind ter u, hand and watching beneath
the long lasLes OF her downcast eyes,
There was no service that was TOO hard for
her, and no task too long, for day and night
she labored for me and for our cause. But
when thanked her for her loyalty and said
it should be had in mind in that time which
was at hand. she stamped her foot and
pouted with her lips like an angry child,
saving that, among all the Things which /
had learned. this had l not lcarned-that
Loves service asked no payment and was
its own guerdon. And being innocent in
such matters aud foolish that was. hold
ing the ways OF women as Of small account,
read her sayings III the sense that her scrv-
ices 10 the cause of klem, which she
loved, brought with them their own reward.
But when | praised so fine spirit she
burst into angry tears and left me wonder.
ing: for knew naught of the trouble at her
heart. ] knew not then that, unsought,
this woman had given me all her love and
that she was rent and torn by pangs OF
passion fixed like arrows in her breast /
G4u uDI hEUA-uDW suUQlu KNOW Ia VINO
never looked upon her otherwise than as
an instrument Of our joint and holy causel
Her beauty never stirred me; nay, not even
when she leaned over me and breathed
upon my hair. never thought OF it other
wise than as man thinks Of the beauty Of
a statue. What had to do with such de-
iightsi ] who was sworn to Isis and dedi-
Gated to the cause Of Egypt. o, ye Gods.
bear me witness that am innocent Of this
thing, which was the source Of all my woe
and the woe Of Khem!
How strange Is this love of woman. that
II is so small in its beginning and In its
end so great! See, at the first it is even as
The little spring of water yelling from
mountains heart. And at the last what is
Its It is q mighty river that foweth ar
gosies OF JOY and makes wide lands to
smile. Or, perchapceit is torrent to wash
in Hood OF ruin across the fields of Hope
bursting in the barriers Of design, ami
bring TO tumDicd nothingness the tenement
Of mans purity and the temples Of his
faith. For when the Invisible conceived
the order Of the universe, He set within its
plan this seed Of woman's love that by its
most unequal growth is doomed to bring
about equality of law. For now it lifts the
low to heights untold. and now it brings the
noble to the level of the dust. And thus,
while woman, that great surprise Of Nature,
is, Good and Evil can never grow apart.
For still she stands, and, blind with love.
shoots the shuttle Of our fate, and pours
sweet water into the cup Of bitterness, and
poiscns the wholesome breath Of life with
the doom Of her desire. Turn this way and
turn that, she is at hand to meet thee. Her
weakness is thy strength, her might is thy
undoiIg. OF her thou art. TO her thou
goest She is thy slave, yet holds thee
captive; at her touch honor withers, locks
open, and barriers fall. She IS infinite as
ocean, she is variable as heaven, and her
name is the Unforeseen. Man, strive not to
escape from woman and the love of woman
fer, fly where thou wilt, she is yet thy fate,
aud whatc'cr thou bGilicst thou buildest it
for her!
AID thus il came to pass that ], Harma
CHS, who had put such matters far from
me, was yet doomed TO fan by the thing
held of no account. For. see, this Char
mon: she loves mc-why. knew not OF
her own thought she learned 10 love me,
and OF her love came what shall be told
But /, knowing naught, treated her even as
sister, walking as it were hand in hand with
her toward our common end.
And SO the time passed on till, At length,
all things were made ready.
X was the night before the night when
the blow should fall, and there were reve..
ings in the palace. That very day had seen
Scpa, and with him the captains OF u band
Of five hundred men, who should burst into
the palace at midnight On the morrow,
when had slain Cleopatra the Queen, and
put the Roman and the Gallo DICTIONARIES
10 the sword. That very day had l sub
orned the Captain Paulus, who, since drew
him through the gates, was my Wills slave,
Half by fear and half by promises of grea,
reward had prevailed upon him, for his
was the watch, At the signal on the morrow
night to unbar that small gate which faces
to the east.
All was made ready-the flower OF Free
dom that had been five and twenty years
in growth was on the point of bloom. In
every city, from Abu unto Athue, armed
companies were gathered, and from their
walls spies looked out, awaiting the com
ing OF the messenger who should brint
as shck Sx,on s1n