Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-04-17


doth the wheel Of Fortune turn! But for
that traitor" and she nodded toward the
door by which the corpse of Paulus had
been carried, 81 should now be as i'll a thing
to look on as he is, and the red rust on yon-
der knife would have been gathered from
my heart"
So it was Faulus who had betrayed me.
cay" she went on, s'and when thou
earnest to me last night, well kner that
thou earnest to slay. When, time upon
time, thou didst place thy hand within thy
robe, knew that it grasped q dagger-hilt,
and thou vast gathering thy courage to the
deed which little thou didst love to do. OIL
it was strange, wild hour well worth the
living, and greatly, from moment to mo-
ment, did wonder which of US twain would
conquer, as we matched guile with guile
and force to force.
"Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp be-
fore thy door, but be not deceived. Knew
not that do hold thee to me by bonds more
strong than prison chains; knew I not
that am hedged from ill at thy hands by
a fence Of honor more hard for thee to pass
than all the spears OF all my legions, thou
hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See,
here is thy knife" And she handed me the
dagger. Snow slay me il thou canst" And
she drew near and tore open the bosom Of
her robe, and stood waiting with calm eyes.
s'for there are things, as know well, that
no man-no such man as thou art-may do
and live; and this IS the chief of them-to
STAY the woman who is all his own. Nay,
stay thy hand! Turn not that dagger
against thy breast; for If me thou mayst
not STAY, by how much the more mayst thou
not STAY myself, o thou forsworn Priest
that outraged Majesty in Amentia With
what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly
Mother look upon her son who, shamed in
all things and false to his most sacred VOW,
comes to greet Her, his hfe-blood on his
hands! Where, then, will be the space for
thy atonement-if, indeed, thou mayst
atonew
Then could bear no more, for my heart
was broken within me- Alas! it was too
true-I dared not die. To such pass was
come that did not even dare to diel !
flung myself upon the couch and wept-
wept tears of blood and anguish
But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating
herself beside me, she strove to comfort
me. throwing her arms about my neck.
''Nay, Love, look up" she said. Gail is
not lost for thee, nor am I angered against
thee. We did play mighty game; but as
warned thee, matched my woman's
magic against thine, and 1 have conquered.
But I will be open with thee. Both as
Queen and woman thou hast my pity-ay,
and more; nor do I love to see thee plunged
in sorrow. Well was it and right that thou
shouldst strive to win back that throne my
father seized, and the ancient liberty of
Egypt Myself lawful Queen had done
the same, nor shrunk from the deed of
darkness whereto was sworn. Therein,
then, thou hast my sympathy, that goes
ever out to what is great and bold. Well is
it also that thou shouldst grieve over
the greatness Of thy fall. Therein,
then, as woman-as loving woman-thou
hast my sympathy. Nor is all lost The
plan was foolish-for, as I hold, Egypt
never might have stood alone; for though
thou hadst won the crown and country, as
without doubt thou must have done, yet
was there the Roman to be reckoned with.
And for thy hope learn this: Little am /
known. There IS no heart in this wide land
that beats with a truer love for ancient
Khem than does this heart of mine; nay,
not thine own, Harmachis. But heavily
have been shackled heretofore, for wars,
rebellions, envies, plots have hemmed me
in on every side, so that might not serve
my people as I would. But thou, Har-
machis, shalt show me how. Thou shalt be
my counselor and my love. Is it q little
thing, o Harmachis, to have won the heart
of Cleopatra, that heart-fie on theei-that
thou wouldst have stilled! Ay, thou shalt
unite me to my people, and together will we
reign, linking thus in one the new kingdom
and the old. Thus do all things work for
good-ay, for the very best-and thus, by
another and a gentIer road, shalt thou climb
to Pharaoh's throne.
'sSee thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery
shall be cloaked about as much as may be.
Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman
knave betrayed thy plans! that, thereon,
thou vast drugged, thy secret papers
stolen and their key guessed! Will it,
then, be blame to thee that, the great
plot being broken and those who built it
scattered, thou, still faithful to thy trust,
didst serve thee of such means as Nature
gave thee, and win the heart of Egypt's
Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou
highest yet attain thy ends and spread
thy wings of power across the rolling Nile!
Am I an ill-counselor, thinkest thou,
Harmachisl"
lifted my head, and ray of hope crept
into the darkness of my heart; for when
men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, for
the first time, spoke
ssAnd those with me-those who trusted
me-what of them!"
Say" she answered, ssAmenemhat, thy
father, the aged Priest of Abydos; and
Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose
shell Of form; and"
Methought she would have said Char
mion, but she named her not.
'sAnd many others-oh, know them all ~
"Ayp I said, 'swhat of themH'
s'See thou, Harmachis," she answered,
raising and placing her hand upon my arm,
''for thy sake will show mercy to them.
No more will do than must be done. I
swear by my throne and by all the Gods of
Egypt that not one hair of thy aged fathers
head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be
not too late, thy uncle Sepa win I also
spare, ay, and the others. I will not do as
did my forefather Epiphanes, who, when
the Egyptians rose against him, dragged
ATKINS, Pausiras, Chesuphus and 1robash-
tus, bound to his chariot-not as Achilles
dragged Hector, but yet living-round the
city walls. will spare them all, save the
Hebrews, if there be any Hebrews; for the
Jews hate"