Thomas County cat., 1890-01-23

no QOur 1Or Su8rp WOrOS.
s'Forgive me my quick tongue" she said
"but from salt spring do bitter waters
well Be seated, Harmachis; have heavier
words to speak to thee before thou goest. u
''Say on" answered; 'words, however
heavy, can move me no more"
She stood before me with folded hands,
and the lamp light shone upon her beaute-
ous face. Idly noticed how great was its
pallor and how wide and dark were the
rings about the deep black eyes. Twice
she lifted her white face and strove to
speak, twice her voice failed her; and
when at last Il came twas in hoarse
whisper.
lean not let thee CO." she said-'I can
not let thee 60 unwilling Of the truth.
Hdrmdehts, 't,oas I sho did betray tteer"
! sprang to my feet, an oath upon my
lips; but she caught me by the hand.
''Oh, be seated.' she said-''be seated
and hear me; then, when thou hast heard,
do unto me as thou wilt Listeni from
that evil moment when, in the presence of
thy uncle Sepa, for the second time set
eyes upon thy face, I loved thee-how
much, little canst thou guess! Think upon
thine own love for Cleopatra, and double 1t,
and double it again, and, perchance, thou
mayst come near to my loves mighty sum.
loved thee. day by day loved thee more.
till in thee and for thee alone I seemed to
live. But thou vast cold-thou vast worse
than cold; thou didst deal with me not as q
breathing woman, but rather as the instru-
ment to an end-as q tool wherewith to
grave thy fortunes. And then saw-yea,
long before thyself thou knewest
it-thy hearts tide was setting strong
towards that ruinous shore where
on to-day thy life, is broken.
And at last came that night, that
dreadful night, when. hid within the cham
Der, saw thee cast my kerchief to the
winds, and with sweet words cherish my
Royal rivals gift. Then-oh! thou knowest
in my pain I betrayed the secret that
thou wouldst not see-and thou didst
make mock of me, Harmachis! Oh
the shame of it!Athou, in thy foolishness,
didst make asmock Of me! I went thence,
and within me were rising all the torments
which can tear woman's heart, for now
was sure that thou didst love Cleopatra!
Ay, and so mad was !, even that night was
minded to betray thee; but thought
not yet; not yet; tomorrow he may soften
Then came the morrow, and all was ready
for the bursting Of the great plot that should
make thee Pharaoh. And I, too, came
thou dost remember-and again thou didst
put me away when spake to thee in para
bles, as something Of little worth, as thing
too small to claim q moments weighty
thought. And, knowing that this was be-
cause-though knewest it not-thou didst
love Cleopatra, whom now thou must
straightway slay, grew mad, and wicked
spirit entered into me, possessing me ut
terly, so that no longer was myself. And
because thou hadst scorned me, this, to my
everlasting shame and sorrow ! didl-I
passed into Cleopatra's presence and be-
trayed thee and those with thee, and all our
holy cause, saying that had found q writ
ing which thou hsdst let fall and read all
this therein
gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly
at me she went on:
"When she understood how great was
the plot, and how deep its roots, Cleo
patra was much troubled; and, at first, she
would have fed to Sais or taken ship and
run for Cyprus, but showed her that the
ways were barred. Then she said that she
would cause thee to be slain, there, in the
and 1 left her so believing; for,
at that hour, fain was that thou shouldst be
slain--ay, even if I wept out my heart upon
thy grave. But what said anons-ven-
geance is an arrow that oft falls on him
who looses lt9 So was it with me; for be-
tween my going and thy coming she
hatched deeper plan. She feared that to
slay thee would but be to light a fiercer
ire Of revolt; but she saw that to bind |
hee to her, and having left men awhile in
loubt, to show thee faithless would strike
he imminent danger at its roots and |
vither it. This plot once formed, being |
,reat, she dared its doubtful issue, and
iced go on. Thou knowest, Harmachis,
low she won; and thus did the shaft Of |
that l loosed fall upon my own |
lead. For on the morrow knew that |
lad sinned for naught, that on the |
vretched Paulus had been laid the burden |
II my betrayal, and that had but ruined |
he cause whereto 1 was sworn and given |
he man / loved to the arms of wanton
Egypt"
She bowed her head awhile, and then, a.
spake not, once more went on:
"Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and
hen let justice come. See how this thing
happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love
hee, and deep in her heart she bethought
Ter OF taking thee to welded husband. For
he sake of this halt love Of hers she spared
he lives of those in the plot whom she had
neshed, bethinking her that If she welded
hee she might use them and thee to draw
he heart Of Egypt, which loves not her nor
my Ptolemy. And then, once again she en-
raped thee, and in thy folly thou didst be-
ray to her the secret of the hidden wealth
4 Egypt, that today she squanders to de-
light the luxurious Antony; and, Of q truth,
It that time she purposed to make good her
ath and marry thee. But on the very morn
when Dellius came for answer she sent for
ne, and, telling me all-for my wit, above
my, she holds at price-demanded Of me
ny judgment whether she should defy An
ony and wed thee, or whether she should
'ut the thought away and come to Antony.
And I-now mark thou all my sini-I, in my
utter jealousy, rather than would see her
by welded wife and thou her loving
ord, counseled her most strictly
hat she should cou.e to Antony,
veil knowing, for I had had speech
With Dellius - that if she came, this
weak Antony would fall like ripe fruit at
er feet, as indeed. he has fallen And to-
light have 1 shown thee the issue Of the
cheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleo
Atra loves Antony, and thou art robbed,
nd matters have gone well for me, who Of
II women on the earth tonight am the
by far. For when I saw how
ny heart broke, but now my heart seemed
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