Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-02-27

men dead and men sick unto deathf"
"What doest thou, o Queenfn ! said.
affrighted.
"What do II lido Justice on these Grim.
inals and traitors; and, Olympus, !
tearn the ways Of death. Six different
poisons have I caused to be given 10 these
slaves, aud with an attentive eye have
watched their working. That man, and
she pointed 70 q Nubian, s'he went mad and
raved Of his native deserts and his mother.
He thought himself q child again, poorfooll
and babe her hold him close to her breast
and save him from the darkness which
drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked,
and shrieking, died. And this he wept and
prayed for pity, and in the end, like a cow
ard, breathed his last. Now, note the
Egyptian yonder, he who still lives and
groans; the first he took the draught-the
deadliest draught of all, they swore-and
yet the slave SO dearly loves his life he will
not leave fiji See, he yet strives to throw
the poison from him; twice have I given
him the cup, and yet he is athirst. What q
drunkard have we herei Man, man, know
be foundt Struggle no more, but enter into
rest" And even as she spoke, the man,
with q great cry, gave up tbs, spirit.
"Therel" b cried, ssatlength the farceis
played-away with those slaves whom /
forced through the difficult gates Of Joyi"
and she cIapped her hands. But when they
had drawn the bodies thence she drew me
to her and thus she spoke:
Olympus, for all thy prophesies, the end
is at hand, Caesar must conquer, and I and
my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore,
he play being well nigh done, must / make
ready to leave this stage of earth in such
fashion as becomes aQueen. For this cause,
then, do I make trial Of these poisons, see
ing that in my person must soon endure
those agonies OF death that today give to
others. These drugs please me not; some
wrench out the soul with cruel pains and
some too slowly work their end. But thou
art skilled in the medicines of death. Now,
do thou prepare me such a draught as
shall. pangless, steal my life away" And
as I listened the sense Of triumph filed my
bitter heart, for I knewnowt that by myown
hand should this ruined woman die and the
justice of the Gods be done.
spoken like q Queen, O C~leopatrap I
said. death shall cure thy Ills. and I will
brew such q wine as shall draw him down q
sudden friend and sink thee in a sea OF
slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt
never wake again Oh! fear not Death.
Death is thy true friend; and, surely, sim
less and pure of heart shalt thou pass into
the dreadful presence Of the Godsf"
She trembled. and il the heart be not
altogether pure, tell me-thou dark man
what thenl Nay, I fear not the Godsi for II
the Gods Of Hell be men, there shall ]
queen it also. At the least, having once
been royal, royal shall I ever be-"
And as she spoke, suddenly from the pal
ace gates came o great clanaor and the noise
Of joyful shouting.
fWhy, what is thisa" she said, springing
from her couch.
"Antonyi Antonyl" rose the cry-"An.
tony hath conqueredi"
Swiftly she turned and ran, her long hair
streaming on the wind. I followed her,
more slowly. down the great hall, across
c~ourtyards to the palace gates. And here
she met Antony, riding through them,
radiant with smiles and clad in his Roman
armor. When he saw her he leaped 10 the
ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped
her to his breast
"What is itr she cried; sis Cesar
TALENT"
"Nay, not altogether fallen. Egypt; but
we have beat his horsemen back to their
trenches, and, like the beginning, SO shall
be the end, for as they say here: Where
the head goes the tail will follow More
over, Cesar has my challenge and il he will
but meet me hand to hand, soon shall the
world see which is b better man, Antony
or Oc~tavian." And even as he spoke and
the people cheered, there came the cry oil
ga messenger from CnsarI"
The herald entered, and, bowling low
gave q writing to Antony, bowed again, and
went. Cleopatra snatchedi it from his hand
broke the silk, and read aloud:
"Cgsdr to Antony. Greeting:
'sThis answer to thy challenge: Car Antony
find no better way OF death than beneath The
sword of Cesarf Farewellt'
And thereafter they cheered no more.
b darkness came, and ere 1t was mid
night, having Toasted with those friend:
who tonight wept over his woes and to
morrow should betray him, Antony wen
forth into the gathering Of the Captains o.
the land forces and of the feet attended b.
many, among whom was
And when all were come together ht
spoke to them, standing bareheaded fl
their midst, beneath the radiance OF tn.
moon. And thus he most nobly spoke:
"Friends and companions in armsi wht
yet cling to me-, and whom many q time
have led to victory, hearken to me now who
tomorrow, may lie in the dumb dust, dis
empired and ~dlshonored. This is our de
hiSu3 uO lOnS6E WAL uo AduS On R0lsSa
wings above the food Of war, but vii
straightway plunge, ~perchance thence Il
snatch the victor's diadem, or, falling
there, to drown. Be now but true to me
and to your honor's sake, and still may 70,
sit, the most proud of men, at my RICH
hand in the Capitol Of Rome. Fail me now
and lost Is the cause of Antony and lost ar
ye. Hazardous indeed must be tomorrow
battle, but many time have we stood ans
faced o fercer peril and ere the sun hat
sunk once more have driven armies lik,
desert sands before Dur gale OF valor ami
counted the spoils Of hostile Kings. VIVA