Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-03-02


covering himself, said:
"Must be afraid for two, thenY
"For two," said the Crab "and as
many more MS may come after"
MY brother, the Bull, had better
fate" said Leo, sullenly; "He is
alone"
A hand covered his mouth before he
could finish the sentence, and he found
the Girl in his arms. Womanlike, she
had not S aged where Leo had left her,
but had hastened off at once tG know
the worst, and passing all the other
Houses, had come straight to Cancer.
THAT is foolish, said the Girl, whis-
pering al have been w ting In the
dark for long and long before you
came. Then / was afraid. But now
-" She put her head down or his
shoulder and sighed sigh of content
ment.
al am afraid now," said Leo.
That is on my account" said the
Girl. s'I know it is, because | am
afraid for your sake. Let us go, hus-
band"
They went out of the darkness to-
gether and came back to tire Earth,
Leo very silent, and the Girl striving
to cheer him. NJ brothers fate is
the better one," Leo would repeat
from me to time, and at last he said:
"Let us each 90 our own way and live
alone till we die. We were born into
the House of Cancer. and he will come
for u.s."
az know; L know. But where shall
l go? And where will you sleep in the
evening? But let us try. l will stay
here. Do you go on?"
Leo took six steps forward very
slowly, and three long steps backward
very quickly, and the third step set
him again at the Girls side. This time
it was she who was begging him to go
away and leave her, and he was forced
to comfort her all through the night.
That night decided them both never
to leave each other for an instant, and
when they had come to this decision
they locke back at the darkness of
the House of Cancer high above their
! heads, and with their arms arouLd
I eaC h others necks laughed, "Hal hal
| hal" exactly As the children of men
| laughed. And that was the first time
In their lives that they had ever
| laughed.
Next morning hey returned to their
proper home, and saw the flowers and
! the sacrifices that had been laid before
their doors by the villagers of the hills.
! Leo stamped down the fire with his
/ heel and the Girl flung the flower
wreaths out of sight, shuddering as
she did so When the villagers re-
/ turned, as of custom, to see what had
become of their offerings, they found
neither roses nor burned flesh on the
Z nlt lr,t ArIr "a
with frightened white faces sitting
| hand in hand on the altar steps.
care you not Nirgo?" said woman
to the Girl. 81 sent you flowers yes
terday."
Little sister," said the Girl, flush
ing to her forehead, edo not send
any more flowers, for l am only
a woman like Yourself" The man
and the woman went away doubtful
! ly.
Now, what shall we do?" asked
Leo.
1--WE must try to be cheerful, L
think" said the Girl. 1--WE know the
very worst that can happen to us, but
we do not know the best that love can
bring us. We have great deal to be
glad of"
"The certainty of death?" said Leo.
"All the children of men have that
certainty also; yet they laughed long
before we ever knew how to laugh.
We must learn to laugh, Leo. We
have laughed once already.
People who consider themselves
Gods, as the Children OF the Zodiac
did. find it hard to laugh, because the
Immortals know nothing worth laugh
ter or tears Leo rose up with a very
heavy heart and he and the Girl to-
gether went to and fro among men
their new fear of death behind them.
First they laughed at a naked baby
attempting to thrust its own fat toes
into its foolish pink mouth; next they
laughed at a kitten chasing her own
tail; and then they laughed at a boy
trying to steal kiss from a girl, and
getting his ears boxed. Lastly, they
laughed because the wind blew in theil
faces as they ran down hillside to-
gether, broke painting and breathless
into knot of villagers at the bottom.
The villagers laughed, too, at then
flying clothes and wind-reddened faces
and in the evening gave them food and
invited them to a dance on the grass,
where everybody laughed through the
mere ioy of being able to dance.
That night Leo jumped up from the
Girls side crying: every one of those
people we met Just now will die
!, $50 shall we," said the Girl sleepily
'Iie down again, dear" Leo could
not see that her face was wet will
tears.
But Leo was ut and far across the
fields lr1ven forward by the fear O
death for himself and for the Girl, who
was dearer to him that himself. Pres
emily he came across the Bull drows
ing in the moonlight after hard day
work, and looking through half shut
eyes at the beautiful straight furrowi
that he had made.
"Hol" said the Bull, $50 you have
been told these things, too. Which
of the Houses holds your deathP
Leo pointed upwards to the darl
house Of the Crab and groaned. 'AnC
he will come for the Girl, too" ht
said.
well, said the Bull, "What vii
you do?"
Leo sat down on the dyke aud saiC
that he did not know.
"You cannot pull plough, said the
Bull with little touch OF contempt
"I can, and that prevents me from
thinking Of iae Scorpion.
Leo was angry and said nothing til
the dawn broke, and the cultivatol
came to yoke the Bull to his * ork.
Sing" said the Bull, as the stiff
muddy ox-bow creaked and strained
''My shoulder is CALLED. Sing one o
the songs that we sang when we thought
we were all tiods together"
Leo stepped back into the cane-brakc
and lifted his voice in a song of the
Children of the Zodiac-the war-whooi
of the young Gods who are afraid o
nothing. At first he dragged the song
along unw1llingly, and then the sone
dragged him, and his voice rolled
across the fields, and the Bull stepped
to the tune and the cultlva or banged
his f1anks out of sheer light-hearted