Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-02-20

formed finest There's bopei thersre nss-,
that Cesar who never etrs except fro~
~polcy-robbed Of their victor bays, ana
crowned with shameful duftfs
aAy," cried Charmion, There ID yethope,f
II thou wilt but play the mani Ony Lotdli
come back with us; come back to the loving
arms of C~leopatrai All night she lies upon
her golden bed, and fills the hollow dark
ness with her groans for sAntonyr who, en-
amored now Of Grief, torgets his duty and
his Lowell"
81 comel I comet Shame upon me, that I
dared to doubt bert Faave, bring water,
and q purple robe; mot thus can ! be seen
Of Cleopatra. Even now ! come"
In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony
back to Cleopatra, that he ruin Of the
twain might be made sure. I
We led him up the Alabastsr Hall and
into Cleopatra's chamber, where she Lay. her
cloudy hair about her face and breast, and
tears flowing from her deep eyes.
80 Egyptp he cried, 'behold me at thy
feetp'
She sprang from the couch. Sand art.
thou here, my lovea' she murmured; s'thsn
once again are oil things well. Come near,
and Ia these arms forget thy sorrows epd
turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while
love Il left to US, still have we ALL"
And she fell upon his breast and wildly
kissed him.
That same day Charmion came to me and
babe me prepare a poison Of the most dead.
" power. And this at first would not do,
fearing that Cleopatra would herewith
make an end Of Antony before the tiwe.
Blu Charmion showed me that this was NOT
so, and showed to me also for what puf-
| pose was the poison. Therefore ! SUM
moned Atoua, the skilled ip simples, and
all that afternoon we lsbored at the decay
work. And +vhep 1t was done, Ch3ra1in
Of fresh roses that she bade me steep In the
poison.
This then I did.
That night at the great feast Of Cleo
patra I sat nigh to Antony, who was at her
side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now,
as the feast went on, fast flowed the wine,
till Antony and the Queen grew msryy.
And she told him of her plans, and Of how
even now her galleys were being drawn BY
the canal hat leads from Bubastis on the
Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to Clysma St
the head Of the Bay Of H~ieraopolis. For II
was her design, should Cesar prove stub
born, to fly with Antony and her treasure
down the Arabian Gulf, where Cesar had
no feet, and seek some new home in India,
whittier her foes might not follow. But,
indeed, this plan came to nothing, for the
Arabs of Petra burnt the galleys, inoited
thereto by a message sent by the Jews Of
Alexandria, who hated Cleopatra ana were
hated of her.
Now, when she had made an end OF telling
him, the Queen called on him to drink q cup
with her to the success Of this new scheme,
bidding him, as she did SO, steep his wreath
Of roses in the wine, and make the draught
more sweet. This, then, be did, and it be-
ing done, she pledged him. But when he
was about to pledge her back, she caught
his hand, crying "Holdr' whereat he paused,
wondering.
Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was
n Eudosius, asteward; and this Eudosius,
seeing that the fortunes Of Cleopatra were
at an end. had laid q plan to fly that very
night to Caesar, as had lone many of his bet
tiers, taking with him all b treasures In
the palace that he could steal. But this de-
sign being discovered to Cleopatra, she de-
termined to be avenged upon Eudosius,
"Eunosius," she cried, for the man stood
near, 'tcome hither, thou faithful servant
Eeest thou this man, most noble Antony;
through all our troubles he hath chung to ts
and been of comfort to US. Now, therefore,
he shall be rewarded according to his de-
serts and the measure Of his faithfulness,
md that from thine own hand. Give him
thy golden cup Of wine, and let him drink q
pledge to u success; the cup shall be his
guerdon."
And still wondering, Antony gave 1t Il
the man, who, stricken In his guilty mind
took it, and stood trembling. But he dranG
not.
"Drink, thou slave, drinkl' cried Cleo
patra, half rising from her seat land flashing
q fierce look on his white face. "BySerapis
90 surely as I yet shall sit in the Capitol a
Rome, and thou dest thus fout the Lore
Antony, I'll have thee scourged to ths
bones, and the red wine poured upon thy
open wounds to heal themi All at length
thou drinkesti Why, what Is 1t, good
Eudosiusi art sicki Surely, then, mus
this WINE be as the water Of jealousy O.
those Jews, that hath power to slay tn
false and strengthen the honest only. Go
BONE of you, search this mans room; me
thinks he is a traitor!n
Meanwhile the man stood, his hands b
his head. Presently he began to tremble
and then fell, s~hrieking, to the ground
Anon he was on his feet again, clutching .
his bosom, as though to tear out the fro Il
his heart. He staggered, with hvid, twist
ed face n foaming lips, to where Cleo
Pdtl6 ldy WoeonAA8 Ahm WAN o SAoW oA'
cruel smile.
"Ah, traitori thou hast It now ~ she said
"Prithee, is death sweet3"
sSThou wantoni" yelled the dying mar
"thou hast poisoned mel Thus mayst tho
! also per1sh!" and with one shrek he fun
!, himself upon her. She saw his purpose
,, and swift and supple as a tiger spran1 {
one side, SO tina he did but grasp her Roys
. cloak, tearing it from its emerald clasy
|, Down he fell upon the ground, rolling owe
|. and over in the purple chiffon till PRESENT.
, he lay still and dead, his tormented fac
end frozen eyes peering CHASTITY from II
,, folds.
|. "Ahw said the Queen, with a hard laugl
!. 1.-THE slave died wondrous hard, and fai
would have drawn me with him. See, b
hath borrowed my garment for a pail TAX
him away and bury him in his livery"
"What means Cleopatyaa" said Anton.
|, as the guards dragged the corpse swa5
3 purpose Of this most sorry 1esti"
!. sit serves a double end, noble Anton,
This very night would that man have &c
to Octaviapus, bearing of our treasure wit
him Well, I have lent him wings, for u
dead fly fasti Also this: thou didst fes
that I should poison thee, my LORD; nay,
. know 1t. See now, Antony, how easy WEI
> It that I SHOULD STAY thee i'll had the wi
3 That wreath OF roses which thou didst stee
? within the cup is dewed with deadly ban
: Had I, then, a mind to make an cad Of the
= / had not stayed thy hand. o Anton
2 henceforth trust me; sooner would I sls
|. myself than harm one hair Of thy believe
headi See, here come my messenger
: = Speak, what did We find4"
. "Royal Egypt, this we found. All thin,
In the chamber of Eudosius are made READ
for flight, and in his baggage is much trea
9 ure.n
l sSThou hearesta' said she, smiling dark
n s'Think ye, my loyal servant all, that Gle
patra is n with whom it is well to play Il
q traitor2 Be warned by this Romans fate
y Then a great silence Of fear fell upon Il
y company, and Antony sat also silent.
h fro BIZ Continued
=. THE HUMAN VOICE.
- II II Ruined by the Habitual Use
Liquor or Tobacco.
Tobacco, alcohol and fiery condiments
al kinds are best avoided by those wi