The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-10-28

| could not lift my eyes from the ROAD Delor'
me. Then a bony finger moved; shrivelet
hand unclasped and beckoned TO me; theI
another and another, until the whole for
est awakened. baleful lights CLEANED from
the hollow skulls. the rustling leaves woki
a weird melody. 2 multitude of grisiy arms
waved me a greeting-and LGwoke to heal
the noises of the street beneath my win
dow. and see the morning sunlight making
quaint mosa:cs on the floor
A package from DR.. Max was handed II
me an hour later. a book, less than an
inch in thickness, fell from the newspaper
wrapping, Between heavy OK hide covers
each crossed with three parallel brass
bands, found fifty sheets of heavy parch
ment. The sheets were hard and brittle
and coarse, indicating great age There
was no exterior symbol, but | knew that
the manuscript was a copy OF an Older
work. 1t was in early Greek, and the
/ quaint characters, many of them obsolete
! forced the conclusion that my bask would
not be an easy one. There was neither
| preface nor introduction. The first page
began abruptly in hexameter, measure
| that was sublime 1t ended on the last
page as abruptly as it had commenced.
did not waste precious time commence
! ing my work, which promised great faS-
| cination for me. The reverence, the curl
! osity which this relic of lost age awak-
/ ened within me was but the natural out
/ growth of my bi0iophilism, fostered
/ through years of study and research in the
! old languages. touched the faded leaves
with caressing hand, and for brief In
terval stepped from under the black shadow
that hung over me, l forgot the promised
reward, and the doctor of Dutch Bottom"
was to me, for the moment, as though he
had never been.
1t was noon before knew it, but inter-
est in the brass bound book held me to my
work, and unmindful of repeated rings of
the dinner bell kept on. Hour after hour
Iwrote, until the floor about my table was
white with the shower of leaves.
The original manuscript had been the
work of a Delphian priestess, and was
sacred to her offices. 1t was a treatise on
the oracle the functions of the priestly
order, the secrets of the temple and the in
cantation spells. 1t was in three parts
The first fifteen pages held the rhythmic
measure of poem of indescribable beauty.
1t was an appeal to the highest intellectual
powers of mana leading string thrown
out to draw him to consideration of the
unseen and the unknown. This, in the
succeeding fifteen pages, embraced, in
prose, a treatise on elemental mysteries,
the necessity Of inward purity to perfect
knowledge of the sublime and the control
ling forces in nature. The remainder of
the strange tome, until it broke abruptly
on the last page, detailed the external and
purely ceremonial rites requisite to invoke
the appearance and control of elementals,
their complete subjugation, for evil or
for good, to the rule of the master mind.
Wrapped up, fascinated under the spell
of the book, the tea hour passed unheeded,
and the day died with the red signals of a
storm flying in the eastern sky. My eyes
were swollen with the hours of application
to my task. The lids hung over the blood
shot orbs like canOpies of lead. But kept
on, pausing only at intervals to shut out
the light until the white film that gath
cred over the pupils had passed away.
The remembrance of the eighteen hours
spent at that study table maddens me, even
at this late day The surge of conflicting
emotions the uneeraint : of hope, the de-
spair born of a dread of "a life of darkness,
were lulled into a sudden sleep that bore
with it nightmare more raeking than the
passion that preceded it. was chained to
my chair by some strange power that en-
anated from the book. The lamplight,
falling upon the pages of my work, took OH
the effulgence of noon, that scOrchedi the
organs of sight untas Che blue lines on the,
pages wavered upder my weary pen, then
faded entirely, and my staring eyes looked
helplessly into space. tys
Nothing but my indomitable will sus-
tanned me TO the end. | was conscious that
the secrets of priestly race were mine. l
reached down the ages, past the crumbling
glories of Attica and the ruined monu-
ments Of Macedonia; into the very shadow
of ParnaSsus, and tore the veil asunder
that shielded the secrets of the Pythoness
from the multitudes that made her haunt
their Mecca centuries before Judea had
known the NaZarine What was modern
theOsophy and the teachings of Blavatsky
to the secrets that were within my grasp?
All sounds of life had been hushed for
hours when l reached the last line Trem-
bling under the pressure of emotions held
in check ! wrote the final word and threw
my pen aside. As l rose from my chair a
faintness seized me, my brain reeled and |
knew no more.
wheels and voices in the street fell on my
ear with a confused murmur when l re-
gained my senses. 1t was broad daylight
| walked to the window and threw up the
sash. The warm mind, rich with the per-
fume of the autumn woods and fields, was
like balm tony aching brain. My blood
throbbed fiercely through my hot veins. Ev-
erything seemed unreal. Twas an automa-
the first time in my life l called for and
drank heavy draft of brandy. l fell
asleep again, but only to bring a recurrence
of the dream torture of the previous night.
Hour after hour went by, until finally l
rallied from my semicomatose condition
just as evening fell. l awaited the coming
of the darkness with feverish impotence,
for the curse of the manuscript was upon
me.
Should l test the secreti Why might
not prove the whole thing TO be cunning
fraud, or, if true, place myself in posses
pion of a power that would bend TO my
wish the forces of nature9
| could resist no longer. Grasping a
small night lamp and a grotesque earthen
water bottle from my table, | rushed into
the night. 1t was intensely dark. and the
wind was rising The streets OF tie village
were nearly deserted, and the few people
met were passed unrecOgnized as burned
on, driven by an irresistible impulse. And
vet. above the chaos of my thoughts, felt
that my brain was clear.
paused on the summit of hill outside
the town and looked back. The lights
from the village dotted the low background
like far off watchfires; a bell struck the
hour. and the sound came floating ont of
the distance, weird aud wailing. To the
west thin red line marked the horizon,
though the day was two hours dead; while
higher up it faded into a tawny saffron