Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-11-16

Yet within little space shalt thou
creep to my knee, and swear that thou
dost love me-" answered Ayesha with q
sweet, hooking laugh. Come there is no
time like the present time, here before
this dead girl who loved thee, let us put il
to the proof.
Look now on me, Kallikrats!' and with
"a sudden motion she shook her gauZy GOV.
ering from her. aud stood forth IN her low
| kirtle and her snaky zone, in her glorious,
radiant beauty aud her imperial grace, ris-
ing from her wrappings, as 1t were like
Venus from the wave. or Galatea from her
marble, or beautiful spirit from the tomb.
She stood forth, and fixed her deep and
glowing eyes upon his own, and saw his
clinched fist uuclasp, and his set and quiv.
ering features relax beneath her gaze. |
saw his wonder and astonishment grow in.
to admiration, and then into fascination;
and the more he struggled the more saw
the power of her dread beauty fasten on
him and take possession of his senses
drugging them, and drawing the heart out
of him. Did | not know the process2
Had not |. who was twice his age. gone
through it MYSELF Was | not going
through it afresh even then. though her
sweet and etfectionate gaze was not for
should haye TO confess that at that very
moment | was rent by mad and furious
iealously | could have flown at his
throat shame upon me! That woman had
COMPOUNDED and almost destroyed my NOR
al sense, as she was bound TO confound all
who looked upon her superhuman lowell
ness But, somehow, do not know how,
got the better of myself, and once more
turned to see the climax of the tragedy.
"Oh, heavens" gasped Leo; art thou
womanY"
"A woman in truth-ln very truth-and
thine own spouse, Kallikratesl' she ans
wered, stretching out her rounded ivory
arms toward him. and smiling, ali, so
sweetly
He looked and looked, and slowly per
ceived that he was drawing nearer to her.
Suddenly his eye fell upon the corpse of
poor Ustane. and he shuddered and stop
ped
How can Il" he said hoarsely. Thou
art murderess She loved me.
Observe he was already forgetting that
he had loved her.
1T is naught, she murmured. and her
voice sounded as the night wind passing
through the trees 1T is naught at ALL
If have sinned, let my beauty answer for
my sin. If | have sinned 1t is for love OF
thee; let my sin, therefore, be put away
and forgotten" and once more she stretch
ed out her arms and whispered Come,
and then IN another few seconds it was
over | saw him STRUGGLED saw him ev-
en- turn to fly; but her eyes drew him
stronger than iron bonds, and the magic
Of her beauty and concentrated will and
him-ay, even therein the presence of
the body of the woman who had loved
him well enough TO die for him. 1t sounds
horrible and wicked enough, but he can
not be blamed too much, and be sure his
sin will find him out The temptress who
drew him into evil was more than human,
and her beauty was greater than the love-
illness Of the daughters of men.
"Perchance thou dost not believe my
word, Kalikrates -perchance that thou
thinkest that do delude thee, and that
have not lived these many years, and that
thou hast not been born again to me
Now will | show thee, and thee also. my
Holly, who dost stand staring there "a,
though of a truth thou hadst taken root in
this unkndly soil. Bear each one Of you
a lamp, and follow after me whittier |
shall lead ye'
Without pausing to think-indeed
speaking for myself. | had almost aban.
doned the function in circumstances under
which TO think seemed to be absolutely
useless, since though fell hourly helpless
against black wall of wonder-we took
the lamps and followed her. Gong to the
end of her ''boudoir," she raised curtain
aud revealed little stair Of the sort that
was SO common in these dim caves Of Kor |
As we hurried down the stair observed |
that the steps were worn in the center to
such an extent that some OF them had been |
reduced from seven and half inches-at
which guessed their original height-to |
about three and half Now, as all the |
other steps that | had seen in the caves |
had been practically unworn, as was to be |
expected, seeing that the only traffic that |
ever passed upon them was that of those |
who bore fresh burden to the tomb. this |
fact struck my notice with that curious |
pertinacity with which little things do |
strike us when our minds are absolutely |
overwhelmed with a rush of powerful sen |
satious, beaten flat, as it were, like sea |
beneath hurricane. so that every little
object on the surface stands up like a |
AT the bottom of the stair case