San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-01-15

gated to the heaviest brute IN all the
regimental stud.
Edith had grown more intimate with
the face of the Nile than she was with
the dirtier one of the Thames She had
several times crossed its bend to visit
Gizeh in the long, fat ferryboats pro-
PEELED by strong, yellow arms at the
sweeps when wind failed the great yell
low lateen sails. She had picnicked amid
the ruins of old Memphis, and in a light
caique had inspected the cleaning mar
bles of Rhoda island and its rugged
Nilometer, that index finger Of eldest
photography.
The English party had religiously
clambered over the chin high base tiers
of the Great Pyramid, climbing its two
hundred and-three steps before lunch
time; and daring the passage to the
"king's chamber" when fortified by bit
ter beer to better resist its mingled stuff
finess of potted Rameses and living Arab
guide. And here, as in many other
rambles, valuable adjunct to the party
was the English physician, Sir Roger
Arnyffe, a long resident in Cairo, whose
skill had won the confidence of the khe-
dive beyond that of any native hakeem,
and whom the foreign colony quite idol
lied.
One whole morning was devoted to the
Sphinx. Sir Roger had given much
valuable information about the grand
colossus of Gizeh, hewn mostly from the
solid spar rock, some hundred PAGES east
ward of the second Pyramid. He had
taken part in the excavations at the
front to which the party had descended.
Edith seemed deeply impressed with the
giant proportions of the statue-looking
upward, as they stood between the fore
paws Of masonry which make its total
length some hundred and seventy-two
feet, the great head rearing fifty-six feet
over them. .....
"How majestic she looks!" she ex-
claimed with half sigh. .t.... .
$50 you insist on the female theory"
Sir Roger asked with smile. b., .
Certainly do" she answered ear
nestly. II am sure she is the embodi-
ment of the earliest legend of the name
of the wickedness of woman and her
punishment.
"Oh, very WE'LL" the old surgeon
laughed back Then We'll dismiss the
broken beard theory, or change it into
the bow of her ladyShip's nightcap. 1t
is useless to argue with one woman
about her views of another-especially
when one is thirsty" And he moved
off to where Lord Martindale stood.
with his back to them and the statue.
deep in contemplation of the immediate
present as represented by the Bass ale
and potted meats Harris was carefully
transferring from a hamper to the slab
that perhaps held down the ashes of a
long dead king.
"And how calm the grand face is,
though scanned by agesl'' the woman
added "She looks as though her mem
cries of the past cannot be broken by
the littleness of the present. And such
PRESENT. ..........
The tone Of the last words made La
tours glance follow hers toward Lord
Martindale. Then it sought her eyes, to
find in them O restless contempt, seen
once or twice before, but always dis
missed as Pigment of his own magma
ton. But as her eyes met his the light
IN them grew softer, and again she raised
them to the towering head above them.
"And those deep lines may mean
either suffering or thought" she added.
"They probably mean age in part"
Latour answered, smiling. But in
larger part they mean that your adopted
countrymen are only vanda3s, in plaid
getaways, who have despoiled her maj
esty's countenance for souvenirs before
excavation spared it. And in part, too,
the tears are blows from lances of the
Bedouins.1 The followers of the prophet.
in the pure simplicity of their faith, re-
vile those images and symbols of ma
teriality which their cousins of Rome
and Oxford and Hindoostan bow down
before. They show their contempt by
blows as we'll as words; though l grieve
to dispel your more poetic view"
Then all the grander that calm upon
the face which insult even cannot break"
The exclamation had more the reso-
nance of thought Unborn than the
sound of casual criticism; and again La
tour saw the dark face turned from the
Sphinx toward the men about the lunch.
This Sphinx has always been to me
the most interesting of all the monu-
ments, he said, turning again. 'Wheth-
er king, or queen, or god, the diverse
theories leave me understanding her ORR
gin and purpose less than any of them.
She puzzles me, even as she seems to
have 49, 1,1ad tho apciapts