Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-09-14

Ing White luhl ulu Out serve 10 SNOW IL
perfect and imperial shape. instinct with a
life that was more than life, and with a
certain serpent-lke grace that was more
than human, On her little feet were
sandals, fastened with studs of gold. Then
came ankles more perfect than ever sculpt-
or dreamed of. About the waist her white
kirtle was fastened by double headed
snake of solid gold, above which her
gracious form swelled up in lines as pure
as they were lovely, till the klrtle ended
I on the snowy argent Of her breast, where.
them al her face, and-I do not eXagger-
ate-shrunk back blinded and amazed |
have heard of the beauty of celestial
| beings; now | saw IL only this beauty,
with all its awful loneliness and purity,
was evii--at least, al the time, 1T struck
me as evil How am TO describe it,
can not-simply, l can not. The man
, does not live whose pen could convey a
/ sense Of what saw | might talk of the
great changing eyes of deepest, softesl
black, of the tinted face, of the broad and
noble brow. on which the hair grew low,
and delicate, straight features. But
beautiful, surprisingly beautiful AS they
all were her loneliness did not lie in them.
II lay rather, if it can be said to have any
fixed abiding place in visible majesty,
in an imperial grace, III a god-ike stamp
of softened power, that shone upon that
radiant cOuntenance like living halo
Never before had guessed what beauty
made sublime could be, and yet the
sublimity was dark one, the glory was
not all of heaven, though none the less
was il glorious. Though the face before
me was that Of a young woman in perfect
health and the firstflush of ripened beauty,
yet it had stamped upon it a look Of
unntterable experience, and Of deep ac-
quaintance with grief and passion Not
even the lovely smile that crept about the
dimpes Of her mouth could hide this
shadow Of sin and sorrow Ii shone even
in the light of the glorious eyes. it was
present in the air Of majesty, and it seemed
to say: Behold me, lovely as no woman
was or is, undying and half divine Mem.
DRY haunts me from age to age, and
passion leads me by the hand Evil have
done. and with sorrow have | made ac-
quaintance from age TO age and from age
to age evil shall do, and sorrow shall |
know till my redemption comes
Drawn by some magnetic force which
could not resist let my eyes rest upon
her shining orbs and felt "a current pass
from them to me that bewildered and half
blinded me
She laughed-ah, how unsteady and
nodded her little head at me with an air Of
sublmated coquetry that would have done
credit to q Venus Nictrlx.
Rash man" she said like Action,
thou hast had thy will; be careful lest like
Actaon, thou too dost perish miserably,
torn to pieces by the ban hounds Of thine
own passions too. oh, Holly, am a
virgin goddess not to be moved of any
man, save one, and it is not thou Say,
hast thou seen enough
II have looked on beauty, and l am
blinded, - said, hoarseiy, lifting my
hand to cover up my eyes
SO what did tell thee Beauty is like
the lightning; 1t is lovely, but It destroys
especially trees, oh, Holly"
suddenly she paused. and through my
1 fingers | saw an awful change come over
her countenance Her great eyes suddenly
/ fixed themselves into an expression in
which horror seemed to struggle with some
tremendous hope arising through the
depths OF her dark soul. The lovely face
grew rigid, and the gracious, willowy
/ form seemed 10 erect itself.
Man she half whispered, half Kissed,
throwing back her head like snake about
to strike-"man, where didst thou get that
scarab on thy hand5 Speak, or by the
/ Spirit OF Life will blast thee where thou
standest?' and she took one light step to-
ward me, and from her eyes there shone
such an awful light-to me it seemed
almost like hame-that I fell, then and
there, on the ground before her, babblng
confusedly in my terror
There, she said, with a sudden change
of manner and speaking in her former
soft voice, Il did alright thee Forgive
me. But at times, oh, Holly, the almost
infinite mind grows impatient of the slow
ness of the very finite, and am tempted
TO use my power out of sheer vexatlon.
Very nearly vast thou dead, but | remem.
bered. But the scarab-about the
scarab0usw
Il picked it up" gurged, feebly, as
got on TO my feet again-and it is a solemn
fact that my mind was so disturbed that at
the moment | could remember nothing
else about the ring except that picked it
up in Leos cave.
1t is very strange" she said, with a
sudden access of woman like trembling
and agitation that seemed out Of place in
this awful woman, but ence | knew a