The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-03-14

crowd of porters who were clamor
ing for hire. Then / followed HIN
adown the quay, which was bordered with
| drinking places, where all sorts Of men
| were gathered, tipplins wine and watching
the dancing of women, some Of whom were
but scantily arrayed, and some not arrayed
| at all. And SO we went through the lamp-li,
houses, till at last we reached the shore OF
the great harbor, and turned to the RICH,
along wide way paved with granite and
bordered by strong houses, having cloisters
in front of them, the like Of which l had
never seen. Turning once more to the
right, we came to quieter portion Of the
city, where, save for parties Of strolling
jewellers, the streets were still Presently
my guide halted at house built of white
stone. We passed in, and, crossing small
courtyard, entered a chamber where there
was light And here at last found my
uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
When had washed and eaten he told me
that all things went well, and that as yet
there was no thought of evil at the Court.
Further, he said, it having come to the ears
of the Queen that the Priest Of On
was sojourning at Alexandria, she
sent for him and closely questioned
him-not as to any plot, for of that she
never thought, but as to the rumor which
had reached her that there was treasure
hid in the Great Pyramid that is by On.
For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in
want of money, and had bethought her of
opening the Pyramid. But he laughed
at her, telling her the Pyramid was the
burying place of the Divine Chufu, and
that naught knew he of Its secrets. Then
she was angered, and swore that SO surely
as she ruled in Egypt she would tear it
down, stone by stone, and discover the
secret at its heart. Again he laughed, and
in the words of the proverb which they
have here at Alexandria, told her that
Mountains live longer than Kings" There
on she smiled at his ready answer and let
nim go. Also my uncle Sepa told me that
on the morrow should see this Cleopatra.
For it was her birthday las, indeed, it was
also mine), and, dressed as the Holy Isis,
she would pass in state from her palace on
the Lochias to the Serapeum to offer a sac
rifice at the shrine of the false God who
sits therein. And he said thereafter that
the fashion whereby should gain entrance
to the household Of the Queen should be
contrived.
Then, being very weary, went to rest;
but could sleep little for the strangeness of
the place, the noises in the streets, and the
thought of the morrow. While 1t was yet
dark, rose, climbed the stair to the roof of
the house, and waited. Presently the SUMS
rays shot out like arrows, ard lit upon the
white wonder of the marble Pharos, where
of the light instantly sank and died, as
though, indeed, the sun had killed it. Now
the rays fell upon the marble palaces of the
Lochias where Cleopatra lay, and lit them
up till they famed like a jewel set on the
dark, cool bosom of the sea. Away the
light few, kissing the Soma's sacred dome,
wherein Alexander sleeps, touching the
high tops of a thousand palaces and tenn
pies; past the porticoes of the great mu-
scum that doomed near at hand, striking
the lofty shrine where, carven of ivory, is
the image of the false God Scraps, and at
last seeming to lose itself in the vast and
gloomy Metropolis. Then, as the dawn
gathered into day, the great flood
of brightness overbrimming the bowl
Of night flowed into the lower lands
and streets, and showed Alexandria red in
the sunrise as the mantle of king, and
shaped as a mantle. The Etesian wind
came up from the north and swept away the
vapor from the harbors, so that l saw their
saw, too, that mighty mole of the Hepta-
stadium; saw the hundreds of streets,
the countless houses, the innumerable
wealth and splendor of Alexandria, set like
a queen betwixt Mareotis and the ocean,
and dominating both, and was filled with
wonder. This, then, was one city in my
heritage of lands and cities! Well, it was
worth the grasping. And having looked
f,,n oy,l fad -
the sight of splendor, l communed with
the Holy Isis and came down from the
roof.
In the chamber beneath was my uncle
Sepa. 1 told him that had been watch
ing the sun rise over the city of Alex
andria.
"So!'' he said, looking at me from beneath
his shaggy eyebrows; land what thinkest
thou of Alexandria?'
81 think it is like some city of the Gods"
I answered.
"Ay!" he replied, fiercely, "a city of the
internal Gods-a sink of corruption, bub-
bling well of iniquity, home of false faith
springing from false hearts! Iwould that
not one stone of it were left upon another
stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath
yonder waters Iwould that the guils were
wind, untainted by Grecian breath. swept
through its ruins from ocean to Mareotis,
o Royal HarmachIs. let not the luxury and
beauty of Alexandria poison thy sense; for
in their deadly air Faith perishes and Reli-
gion can not spread her heavenly wings.
When the hour comes for thee to rule,
cast down this accursed CITY,
and, as thy fathers did, set up thy throne in
fb,x 70 lie Of
that for Egypt Alexandria is but splendid
gate Of ruin, and while it endures all ma
tons of the earth shall march through it to
the plumber of the land. and all false faiths
shall nestle in 1t and breed the overthrow
of Egypt's Gods"
Imade no answer, for there was truth in
his words. And yet to me the city seemed
very fair to look on. After we had eaten,
my uncle told me it was now time to set
out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she
went in triumph to the shine of Scraps.
For although she would not pass till with
in two hours Of the midday, yet these peo-
pie of Alexandra have SO great love of
shows ana idling that had we not presently
set forth by no means could we have come
through the press of the multitudes who
were already gathering along the highways
where the Queen must ride. So we went
out to take our place upon stand, fashioned
of timber, that had been built at the side of
the great road which pierces through the
city, even to the Canopic Gate. For there
in my uncle had purchased right to enter,
and that dearly.
And with much struggle we won our way
through the great crowds that were al
ready gathered in the streets, till we
reached the scaffolding of timber, which
was rooted in with an awning and gayly
hung with scarlet cloths. Here we seated
ourselves upon bench and waited for
some hours, watching the multitude press
past, shouting, singing and talking loudly
in many tongues. At length came soldiers
TO clear the road, clad, after the Roman |