Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-01-23

icci, his eye fen upon the white mark his
sword had made, and he swore o great
oath by his heather gods. "An' thou hast
died, lad," he SAID, "methinks ] could
never again have held III, my headi All!
that was u coward stroke, and shamed am
to think that should have struck it, and
thou on the ground and with thy back to
me. kuowest thou that when thou tidst
lie 'twixt life and death, every day came
to ask tidings of ,heel and ] swore by
Taranis that If thou didst die I'd turn my
back upon tha: soft palace life and then
away for the North.'
s'Nay, trouble not, Brennus,s I answered;
lit was thy duty"
"Mayhap! but there are duties that
brave man should not do nay, not at the
iAiding of any Queen who ever ruled in
Egypt! Thy blow had dazed me or had
1ot struck. What is It, liads art in trouble
with this Queen Of ourss Why art tn
dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure
partya Enowest thou that we are strictly
charged that if thou dCst escape our lives
shall pay the prIce."
'Ay, in sore trouble, FRIEND" I an
iwered; TASK me no more"
''fhen, ing of the age thou art-there's
woman in it, that swear land, per-
oiance, though / am rough and foolish, /
might make u guess Look thou, lad, what
sayest thou. am a-weary Of tho service
II Cleopatra and tits hot land Of deserts
and of luxury, that sap q mans strength
and drain his pocket; i.nd so are others
whom wot Of. What sayest thou; let's
take one of these uuwieldy vessels and
away to the Norihl I'll lead thee to a bet
ter land than Egypt-a land of lake and
mountain and great forests of sweet
scented pine; av, and find thee girl fit
to mate with, mine own mecca strong
girl, and tall, with wide blue eyes, and
long, fair HAIR, and arLis that would crack
thy ribs were she TO hug thee! Come,
what sayest thoui Put away the past, and
away for the bonay North, and be a son to
me"
For moment thought, and then sadly
shook my head; for though sorely was
tempted to be gone, knew that in Egypt
lay my fate, aud my fate might not fly.
Brennus,"I answered. 1T may not be,
'Fain would l that it might be, but 1 am
bound by a chain OF destiny which l can not
break, and in the land Of Egypt must live
and die''
.'As thou wilt, lad,'' said the old warrior.
'sDearly should have loved TO marry thee
among my people aud make q son of thee.
At the least, remember that while am
here thou hast Brennus for friend. And
one thing more: beware of that beauteous
Queen of thine, for, by Tarauis, perchance
an hour may come when she will hold that
thou knowest too much, and then" and
he drew his hand across his throat. Sand
now good night; cIp Of Wine, then to
sleep, for to morrow the f,'olery-''
HIRE several te 'gths Of the second roll Of
par'yrus are so broken as to be ind ci 5herdb c.
They en- to re been desc fptise If CleopatId's
voyage up the Cyinns to the city of 7dIsus.
And 1.-THE writing continuesf 40 thoSo who
could take joy in such things the sight must.
indeed, have been a gallant one. For the
stern of our galley was covered with sheets
of beaten gold, the sails were of the scar
let of Tyre, and the oars of silver dipped in
the water to the measure of music. And
there in the center of the vessel, beneath
an awning aolaze with gold embroidery. lay
Cleopatra, a;tired as the Roman Venus
(and surely Venus was not more fairly, in
thin robe of whitest silk, bound in beneath
her breast with a golden girdie deiicately
craven DER with scenes of love. All about
her were little rosy boys, chosen for
their beauty, and clad in naught save
downy wings strapped upon their shoulders,
and on their backs Cupd's bow and quiver,
who famed her with fans Of plumes. And
upon the vessels decks, handling the cord
age that was of silken web, and SOFTLY sing
ing to the sound of harps and the beat OF
oars, stood no rough sailors, but women
lovely TO behold, some clad as Graces aud
some as Nereids that is, scarce clad at ali,
save in their scented hair. And behind
the couch, with drawn sword, stood Bren-
nus, in spleudid armor and winged
helm of gold; and by him otlers-I
among them-in robes richly worked, and
knew that was indeed slavei On the
high poop also burned golden censers filed
with the cost!iest incense, whereof the fra
grant steam hung in little clouds about our
wake.
Thus, as in dream of luxury, followed
by many ships, we glidcd on toward the
wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay
that ancient city Tarshish. And as we came
the people gathered on the banks and ran
before US shouting: "Venus is risen from