Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-11-30

resembed that which 4 had sometimes
seen upon Le0's when he was plunged in
to profound sleep. can only sum up the
closeness of the resemblance by saying
that never saw twins so exactly similar
as the dead aud living pair.
turned to see what effect was produced
upon Leo by this sight OF his dead self,
and found it tn be one of partial stupefac-
tion. He stood for two or three minutes
staring, and said nothing. and when at
last he spoke 1t was only to calculate.
Cover it up, and take me away"
Nay, wait, said Ayesha, who. standing
with the lamp raised above her head,
flooding with its light her own rich beauty
and the cold wonder Of the death. clothed
form upon the bier. looked more like an
inspired sybil than woman as she rolled
out her majestic sentences with grandeur
and freedom of utteraHce to which am,
alas quite unable to do justice.
"Wat; would show thee something
that no title of my crime may be hidden
from thee Do thou. oh. Holly. open the
garment on the breast of the dead KILL
krates. for perchance my lord may fear to
touch himself"
l obeyed with trembling hands. II
seemed a dissertation and an unhalowed
thing to touch that sleeping image of the
live man by my side. Presently his broad
chest was bare, and there upon it, right
over the heart, was wound, evidently in
tlicted with spear.
Thou seest, Kallikrates," she said
Behold. 1t was who slew thee. In the
place Of life gave thee death. slew
thee because of the Egyptian Amenartas.
whom thou didst love; for by her arts she
held thy heart, and her could not STAY as
but now slew the woman, for she was
too strong for me. In my haste and bitter
anger l slew thee, and now for all these
days have l lamented thee and waited for
thy coming. And thou hast come, and
none can stand between thee and me, and
OF truth now for death | will give thee
life-not life eternal. for that none can
give, but life and beauty shall endure for
thousands upon thousands of of years, and
with it pomp and power and wealth, and
all things that are good and beautiful
such as have been TO no man before thee
nor shall be to any man who comes after.
And now one thing more. and thou shalt
rest and make ready for the day of thy
new birth. Thou seest this body which
vast thine own. For all these years it has
been my comfort and companion, but now
need 1t no more, for have thy living
presence, and il can but serve to stir up
memories of that which had fain forget.
Let it therefore go back TO the past from
which l kept it,
Behold have prepared against this
happy hour" and going to the other shelf,
or stone ledge. which she said, had served
her for bed. she took from it a large
vitritied double-hsnded vase, the mouth
Of which was tied up with a bladder.
This she loosed, and then, having bent
down and gently kissed the white forehead
Of the dead man, she undid the vase. and
sprinkled its contents carefully over the
form, taking, l observed, the greatest pre-
cautions against any drop Of it touching
us or herself. and then poured out what
remained of the liquid upon the chest and
head. Instantly dense vapor arose. and
the cave was filled with choking fumes
that prevented US from seeing anything
while the deadly acid (for | presume il
was some tremendous preparation of that
sort did its work From the spot where
the body lay came fierce fizzly and crack.
ling sound, which ceased, however. before
the fumes had cleared away. At last thew
were all gone, except little cloud. which
still hung over the corpse. In couple of
minutes more this, too, had vanished. and
wonderful as it may seem, it is fact that
on the slone-bench that had supported the
mortal remains of the ancient Kalikrates
for so many centuries there was now
nothing to be seen but few handfuls of
smoking white powder. The acid had ut.
terlY destroyed the body, and even in
places eaten into the stone. AvesAa
stopped down, and taking a handful of
this powder in her grasp, threw it into the
air, saying at the same time, in voice
of calm solemnity:
dust to dust!-the past to the past!-
the dead to the dead Kalikrates is dead
and is born agan"
The ashes floated noiselessy to the rocky
floor, and we stood IN awed silence and
watched them fall, too overcome for
words.
Now leave me- she said land sleep if
We may. must watch and think. for to.
morrow night we go hence, and the time
is long since trod the path that we must
follow"
Accordingly we bowed, and left her.
As we passed to our apartment | peeped
into Jobs sleeping place to see how he
was, and | rejoiced to think that his
nerves which like thosa Of ,,oet -.