Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-12
sroSEHENGE.

OF the Sunday school library. and to later
years through various dismal tales of highway
robbery and murder in the past. There was
seldom farm or house of any kind In sight as
we drove along. only flock after flock Of sheep,
each with its attendant shepherd, his dog and
his queer little house on wheels. Nowhere in
England is there a more desolate spot than
this vast plain in the very heart of rich and
fertile country. Gloomy clouds rushed across
the dull sky and cast flying purple shadows
over the cherries land; We were cold and the
fat notified sheep were huddled together and
crouchlng under the hedges as we passed
strange weather for August.
After a drive that seemed longer perhaps, in
Its monotony than it really was our coachman
suddenly pointed ahead with his whip and there,
close before u.s. gray against the gray sky. rose
the strange clumsy shapes of the historic stones.
There Is an outer and an inner circle of these
lnexplicable memorials Of forgotten past.
The great blocks, which, rough as they now
seem, bear marks of skillful hewing. are Of an
almost uniform height of sixteen feet, and some
OF them still support an upper stone. Most of
these. however, have fallen ages since and now
lie half-imbedded in the grass with the delicate
harebeils waving above their lichened sides. In
the center of the great circle is the fat altar
stone. nearly hidden by two huge blocks which
fell down upon it in 1870. In direct line to
the eastward from this altar, but outside the
charmed circle, stands single stone, so placed
that 1t catches the first rays of the rising sun
shadow of the stone upon the altar.
THE sLAUGHTERINa STONE.
Midway in the path of this shadow lies the
Strengthening stone, in whose holes and crew
ices rather vivid imagination saw bloody
stains, probably the mere result of time and
weather. but horribly significant on that dread
full butchers block. The fancy flew back in
stinctively to some fresh summer twilight long
ago when the red dawn was flushing the east
N XIV han fha hirIa Al
innocent joy Of another day. when the dew Law
fresh and cool upon the grassy upland and mil
lions OF small lives. beasts and birds and insects
we're happily awaking all through the peaceful
country. Above the rustic of tiny wings and
paws and OF breeZe-swept grass and wild flow
ers. rises the sound of suppressed breathing
the hushed, eager respiration Of a great multi
tude.
What are those dim forms crouching beneath
the granite pillars; this dark mass vaguely seen
In the dawning light crowded close in silent
terrible expectation? There is not a sound Of
human life audible but that awful breathing
Against the pure morning sky the tops Of the
giant stones are clearly visible, but the vast
congregation at their feet remains a seething
blackness of horror. The east grows bright
the little clouds are dappled with pink and gold:
the sun rises and the tallest of the stones turns
red IN the sudden glory. but it filings long path
OF shadow across the circle to one dreadful
spot where the crowd is gathered closest A
AoHB o. uedtu rings out TO meet
that shadow, and IN an instant the silent multi
tude breaks into shrieks of horrid exultation
screams of heather joy, and the sunlight falls
upon wild faces and outstretched' frantic arms
No, mist fills our eyes. and then the summer
glory and the red stain alike are gone and there
Is only the windy plain and the dark blowing
clouds and the messy stones.
THE MYSTERIOUS MoyUMESre
Stonehenge was standing in the days OF the
Romans, for Tacitus refers to it. Scientists
now think that the contrivers Of this strange
pile had some knowledge of astronomy, and
were very probably sun worshipers English
writers OF every age refer to its mystery fire.
quently, and there are many legends and stories
connected with the dreary monuments in their
desolate plain Ii is believed that no man can
count them twice and make the number the
same, and that he who visits them at midnight
and performs certain rites will behold a fright
ful apparition, and may even be stricken dead
1t seemed natural to US that the superstitious
English peasants should regard the spot as
cursed, SO strange was the contrast between the
garden country whence we had come and this
rugged moorland with its nameless blocks of
stone. We turned our backs on Stonehenre
and drove away again by the grassy cart track
across the plain. and presently the white spire
of Salisbury peered above the horizon well
coming US hack to the green fields ana blossom
ing gardens MARY VIKLH