The morning call., 1891-02-06
PRINCESS ISOLETTA.
A Tale of a Lost Race.
BY PORTER EDMINsrER.
CHAPTER V-CoNCLUDED.
written fOur days Iater)

WHO was HG!u captive IN lne great prison,
under my charge. Isolettl, once Princess,
was confined in the prison tor the murder of
YulO, the King.
On the evening before her death the Prin-
cess Isolelta called me to her cell and gave
me this piece of cloth. which she had been
engaged all day in writing upon, and told
NE that it contained the history of her life. |
Then gave she unto me sume coins and |
number Of ornaments and jewels for my |
wife. Then did she make me swear that |
would write a complete and true account OF
her death upon what remained OF the piece !
of cloth. and then St crete it in her old home !
within g d that would find there. Then |
SAID she unto me: "Jailer, thou seemest 10 !
be kind man. and l will tell the that
which in the time to come Will profit thee
to know. Soon Will there fall upon the
great City OF the Sun a sore misfortune.
What it will be l will not reveal; be thou
prepared to fly hence. But before doing so
thou must set down upon this cloth all that
befalIs."
With this she babe me leave her.
And now will l fulfill that promise which
l did make her The morning which was
TO witness her death dawned cold and cheer
less. The whole earth seemed to mourn
that one so young and beautiful should thus
be Put 10 death. But the sentence of the
wise men had been pronounced aud the fair
Princess ISOletta must die. The puniSE- !
ment was that she should be crushed to
death between two huge stones.
At daybreak l visited her and found her
hopeful and happy. Has the time come,
o jailer" she asked.
at has, o Princess" | replied
"Then lead thou the way" l led her ont
from the prison, out into the street, to the
shelf of rock in front of the palace. the very
spot from which Martec had hurled himself.
There was great concOurse of people who
had come hither to see her die, and who,
when the Princess approached, knelt before
her.
She walked with firm step, and upon her
face was smile, the ike of which | never
saw before. Proudly she advanced to the
center of the incloSure, and thus spoke:
oh people of the sun, that power which
directs all things has ordained that this
should come to pass. Ye all know that |
should be your Queen, but other things have
transpiTed. 1e are come here to see me |
die. Some have pity for ME. others of ye |
rejoice 10 my death. But to all l say, that |
this which ye call death IS but the begin |
ming Of another life to me. l am about to |
cross into that land so near us ever, yet so |
far that our strongest eyes cannot discern it. |
- Bat, oh people of the sun, l see a time when |
this mighty city shall be no more when va |
all, who now are in the joy of health and |
strength, shall be fleeing like women before |
4 foe ye know not how to fight. See We /
these clouds which hover overhead even so |
does cloud We know not OF hover beneath |
When these broad plains shall be the dwell
ing-Dlace of strangers, men learned |
in war. And l fOresee how ye will |
be driven before them, and how they shall |
take away thy lands, thy homes, and all |
thy possessions. Then in that hour, and in |
that hour which is hard upon We, think on |
Isoetta. Think on Martec, whom We drove |
to death, and for D 0 fault Of his, but to gain |
iavor with the cruel ulo, who is now gone |
TO join his father, whom he sent into the un- |
In | re Of fhn
s9n, that these little hands were the means
OF administering justice. And now is my !
work done. l am prepared"
Close by stood the huge stone upon which |
the doomed Princess was to lie, while an
other stone was TO be placed upon her by
the soldiers
AS shel finished speaking, the officer in
charge advanced and motiOned toward the
stone. The Princess drew herself up and
said, "Oh, Captain, ISOletta submits not 10
your mode of DEATH" From her bosom sha
drew dagger with long thin blade, which
all recognized as once belonging 20 the dead
fulo. Raising this in the air, she cried in
loud voice, Martec, come to tbeev'
There was a fash as the glittering steel
descended, and in one moments time the
Princess lsoletta had gone to that unknown
land CT which she spoke so much.
A Shudder ran through the people, and |
without a word, they, one and all, turned |
away and betook them TO their homes. And |
as they did so the clouds parted and a ray |
Of sunlight fell across the dead Princess, as |
though the gods were pleased at what she |
had done.
We lifted the body from the place where |
it had fallen and reVerently bore it away. |
She was buried in a niche in the face of the |
cliff, near where she had lived.
She is gone, and in this life we shall see |
her no more. but sometimes think there is
a laud where we shall some day go, not 10
some fiery abode within the sun, as our
priests tell US, but in some other place,
where we can ali live out those lives which
have been cut short here; and, rough man
that am, it gives me comfort to think so,
aHd surely it can do no harm. And | be-
lieve that some time we can see more clearly
than we do now, and when that time comes
we may know even before we traverse that
dark path what lies beyond.
And now do put aside my pen, and place
this piece of cloth in its appointed resting
place, to there remain to tell to the count
less men of the future how Martec and Iso-
letta Jared in this dismal world.
written circles later)
l. Volori, again write upon this piece of
cloth. Wnen l last laid it away | thought
that the story which it contained was fin
ished: but no. In the hour of her death
ia the Princess lsoletta warn the people of
the City OF the Sun Of an awful hour, Which
she sad was at hand. And she did prophesy |
that the people of the sun would fiy from |
before a foe they knew not how to fight. |
And as her words were, even so has il come |
to pass For the people of the sun are scat |
tered like leaves, and our once proud CITY is |
deserted, and l write this surrounded by
desoation and destruction.
And now will take up again for the last
time my pen of bone and write upon the
piece Of cloth.
Will go back to the death of the poor
Princess Iso!etta, and tell what soon after
befell the great City of the Sun Rustigi-
nous, cousin of Yulo, assembled the throne,
and during his reign it was that the city was
abandoned For nearly a moon all went
well. The death of the Princess was nearly
forgotten, but her solemn warning haunted
me. 1t Is thought by our tribe that MANY
persons Just before death are able to see into
the future.
One day, as l was at work in one of the
cells u the prison, noticed in tile floor of
solid rock a small crack | stnoped tn ey-
amired it, for l had never seen it there be-
fore, and discovered that a pungent, sicken-
ing 0dor arose from it. 1t seemed to me in
great volumes, as though great supply of
1t was secTeted within the solid rock.
gathered handful of clay from the plaster
ing Of the wall and with it filed up the
crack ] thought no more Of it until on CO.
Jag into the cell which had been occupied
by the Princess Isoletta | noticed in the
floor a similar crack. l examined il aud
found that it was STOPPED up with clay, just
as had stopped up the one in the other
cell. l went on with my duties and gave it
no more heed.
That night was aroused by noise like
sioab VIM ehSepihS uo"u tne stIeet. 1
spraEg I'D, and to my great surprise found
my house filled with the yapor of the pc
culiar odor winch l had discovered coming
through the cracks in the rocks. | went out
into the street. and as did SO gust rushed
by me, nearly sitting me. for 1t was not
gust OF wind, but of the vapor. In an in
slant the full horror of the situation flashed |
upon me. 1t was this which the Princess |
isoletta had foreseen. In her cell had APP |
peared the first crack, and she first had |
knowledge that the City of the Sun was stu
ated directly over great volume of vapor
imprisoned in the rock, which for ages had
been forcing its way to meet the outer air.
And now did know all.
Again heard the great roaring sound In
the street, and again was my house filled |
with the Sitting vapor. We were smother |
ing. In the street / could hear the cries of |
the frightened people. " 1t is the doom Of |
which the Princess Isoletta spoken l |
shouted Hasten all to leave this doomed |