Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-19

LYMAN felt the cold fresh air Of the night
,,,,a,, lie brow. There Was door opposite
Nm which appeared toSommunicate with
The street. 10 the right Of this another
door stood ajar. throwing. q spurt of yellow,
lipht across the passage, Come In here
said the attendant shoftiy; W. IL
honed that he had come to the end OF his
adveu,u,e Yet bis curiosity was strong
ss.,h;, Mn, He could not leave the mat
w.. ,,nsnlved. 40 he followed his strange
c ~, into the lighted chamber.
~ wac a small room, such as is devoted
IN n coincerpe. A wood fire srarkled in the
CRATE. Al one side stood truckle,bed.
and az the other a coarse wooden cnelI,
bnra The rerua,ns Of meal. As the visitors
eve glanced ronnd he could not but re.
marf with with an overcoming thrill
that ali The small details Of the room were
~ the most quaint design and antique
yro,Lmanship. The candlestcks, the vases
unon tha chimney-piece, the fre-ironss,
the ornaments upon the walls. were an
such as be had been wont TO associate win
the remote past. Inc enarlsa; ne az
Of the bed and motioned his guest into the
chair. u.;u ,.;,
still sneakinv excellent English. - 1t may
he decreed that | should leave some az
count behind az a warning TO all rash NOR
tails who would set thor wits W.. against
workings Of nature. ] leave IL with you.
Make such use as you VIII OF u, ispeeK 70
you now with my feet upon the IhieshOiu
OF the other world.
~ am. as You snrmised, an Egyptian
not one OF the down-trodden race OF slaves
who now inhabit the delta OF the Me, OuI
n survivor OF that fiercer aud harder peo-
nile who tanned the Hebrew, drove tho
Ethiopian back into the southern deserts,
and built those mighty works wnich nave
| been the envy and the wonder OF an
after generations. IT was III the reisH VI
I Tuthmosis, sixteen hundred years before
the birth of Christ, that ! first saw the
light. You shrink away from me. wait,
and Won will see That L am more 10 DO
pitied than TO DO feared. .,
NV name was Sosra. BY father had
been the chief priest of Osiris IN the great
temple Of Abaris, which stood IN those
DAYS upon the Bubastic branch OF the
Milo. I was brought up in the temple, ana
was trained in ali those mystic arts which
are spoken OF in your own Bible. was
an ait pupIl. Before was sixteen had
learned all which the yisest priest could
teach me. From that time on STUDIED
natures secrets for myself and shared my
knowledge with no man. 9,
"Of all the questions which attracted
me there were none over which laooreu
80 long as over those which concern them,
selves with the nature OF lie. proped
deeply into the vital principle. The ann
of medicine had been to drive away ulseaSe
when it appeared. IL seemed to Inc That
( method might be devised which should so
fortify the body as to prevent weakness or
death from ever taking hold OF 1t. 1t IS
useless that / should recount my re-;
searches. You wonld scarce comprehend
them if / did. They were carried out
partly upon animals, partly upon slaves,
and partly on myself. Sunice 10
that the result was to furnish me
with substance which, when injected
into the blood, would endow the body
with strength TO resist the effects OF time,
of violence. or of disease. 1t would not
indeed confer immortality. but It's potency
would endure for many Thousands Of years;
| used itupona cat and afterwards drugged
the creature with tho most deadly polsons.
That cat is alive in Lower Egypt at tho
present moment. There was nothing OF
mystery or magic in the matter. 1t was
simply q chemical discovery, which may
well be made again.
Love of life runs high in the young.
II seemed to me that bad broken away
from all human care now that had
abolished pain and driven death TO such
ulStduCb. Win ikut utdi POuttu W (.
accursed stuff into my VEINS. Then l
looked round for some one whom | could
benefit. There was young priest OF
/ Thoth Parmes by name, who had won
nv good will by his earnest nature and bis
devotion TO his studies. To him whis-
pered my secret, and at his request IN
( iected him with my elixir. | should now,
/ / reflected, never be without companion
/ of the same age as myself.
/ 90 or thia Grand. 1fgQOVQrV relaxed nv
/ studies to some extent. but Parmes con-
/ tlnued his with redoubled energy. Every
dav could see him working with his iias ks
and his distiller in the Temple of Ihoth,
but he said little to me as to the result or
his labors. For my own part, l used TO
walk through the city and look around me
with exultation as | reflected that all this
was destined to pass away and that only |
should remain. The people would bow to
meas they passed me. for the fame OF my
knowledge had gone abroad.
There was war at this time, and the
Great KING had sent down his soldiers 20
the eastern boundary to drive away the
Hyksos. Aeoyernor, too, was sent TO Aba
ris. that he might hold 1t for the King. l
had heard much of the beauty OF the daugh-
ter Of this governor, but one day as | walk
cd out with Parmes we met her borne upon
the shoulders of her slaves. | was struck
with love "a with lightning. My heart
went out from me. / could have thrown
myself beneath the feet of her bearers
/ This was my woman. Life without her was
1 impossible. | swore by the head OF horus
that she should be mine. swore II TO the
priest of ThOth. He turned away from me
with brow which was as black as mid
night.
There is no need to tell you Of orr
woOing. She came to love me even as
loved her 1t seems that Parmes had seen
her before did, and had shown her that
he too loved her, but | could smile at his
passion, for knew that her heart was
mine. The white plague had come upon
the city. and many were stricken, but |
laid my hands upon the sick and nursed
them without fear or seattle. She maryeled
at my daring. Then told her my secret
and begged Der that she would let me use
my art upon her.
"Your flower shall then be unwithered.
Atma,' | said Other things may pass
away, but you and |, and our great love
for each other, shall outliye the tomb OF
King Chefru.'
but she was full of timid maidenly OBJ
/ jections. WAS it right = she asked, was
+, il not thwaTting Of the viii Of the gods
Ii the great Osiris had wished that our
years should be so long would he not him
self have brought it about?'
with fond and loving words / over
| came her OOuDtS, anu Yet sHo uo7ltuJtus =
was q great question. she said. She would
think it over for this one night. In the
morning / should know her resolution.
Surely one night was not too much to ask.
She wished to pray to Isis for help III her
decision.
with q sinking heart and n sad fore
boiling of evil / left her with her tire
women. In the morning. when the early
sacrifice was over, hurried TO her house.
A frightened slave met me upon the steps.
Her mistress was i'll, she said, very i'll. IN
/ q frenzy broke my way through the at
| tendants and rushed through hall and
corridor to my Atma's chamber. she lay
upon her couch, her head high
upon the pillow, with paid face and q
! glazed eye. Or her forehead there blezed
| q single angry purple patch. knew that
! hell-mark OF old. IL was the scar of the
white plague. the sign-manual OF death.
"Why should | speak of that terrible
! time? For months / was mad. fevered,
delirous, and yet could not die. Never
did an Arab thirst after the sweet wells as
| longed after death. Could poison or
steel have shortened the thread OF my ex-
istence I should soon have rejoined my
| love in the land with the narrow portal. /
| tr,aI h,,4 a xvoc 81 M ovail The aecIlrea1