Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1895-10-12
KARL AND TARPUS.

of them flashed strange, strange light
that quivcred the core of his being; IL
light that unnerved his hand and with
cred his desire to kill
And it smote him not with fear-for
Karl had slain many lions, and his
nerves We're as steel-but it smote him
with sudden, overwhelming remorse
Thus he, the mighty hunter, was
shaken and made to send his bullet fly
ing wide.
And he lay in the grip of death.
Though he felt that his end had come,
he had that clearness and poise of mind
which come i'll supreme moments.
Tho noisome breath of the lioness
burned his face as he lay crushed into
the sand by her weight. He was wait
ing, with eyes closed, for the beginning
Of the end, that hideous beginning but
q calm was i'll his soul, strange calm.
He felt at rest, at peace.
There was a pause. Suddenly the lion
snarled, and Karl opened his eyes.
All, again that weird, reproaching
light 1t tstreamcd from the glaring, yell
low eyes. Into their depths he gazed
and gazed till his mind partly left him.
No moro he thought of death.
And now the eyes became a piercing
blazo of light, which grew and grew till
Karl saw before him broad, shining
space.
In the distance flashed q scene. And
the soul of the hunter flew toward it.
This was the scene:
Humans filled vast amphitheater.
They shook it shouting. Fearsome was
this shouting, even as tho howl of a
myriad pack of wolves On the faces
was the look of glee-that glee indie
scribable-that comes when the passion
for blood spilling fills the soul.
This passion was upon all-all, from
emperor to slave. Man was transformed
to human wolf The wish to kill OF
see killed linked, bound all.
The impulse of Cain made all akin.
1t was u feast day to the gods in
Rome, and a mighty, yelling multitude
had gathered together to do them hon.
age by seeing a man fight with and kill
q man, by seeing a man wait for the
signal that might bid him drive his
gladius into the heart Of beloved COM
rade, by seeing man fight with beast.
Their gods were honored by the flowing
and flying of blood. Huge, huge sport to
watch it And yonder Nero sat, swathed
i'll purple. His eyes CLEANED as he wit
messed the glorious sport
Prolonged was the shouting, because
Tarpus, Il favorite gladiator, had just
killed, i'll single combat, with the gladi-
US, his third man. He was now about
to fight yonder Numidian ioness. She
was striving to burst the bars of her
cage, for she had been without food for
three days.
A fine fellow was Tarpus, with way
ing, yellow hair that hung afar down
his back. Frank was his face, bold was
the glance of his blue eye, and he was
great of stature.
And Karl was Tarpus.
Course the Roman cowardsp' the
gladiator muttered as he waited, heed
less and resentful of the ovation he was
receiving, for the black lioness to be let
forth into the arena. "Oh, to think that
l obeyed their cruel mandate that bade
me slay my cOmrade, DavOro-Davoro,
who risked his life for mine in the cam
paign! But he smiled iii my face, as I
bent over him, and said, Strike deep,
my Tarpus, if thou lowest mer and 1
drove the full of my blade through his
heart. Oh, |, of all men-I, who loved
him, thus to have slain himl Oh, the
fight-the tight-it is with me yet Da-
voro, who was bound to me by ties oft
closer than the ties of blood, stands be-
fore me, his gladius in hand. We cross
blades, but our eyes meet not, and 10 (!
before know aught, he is lying ON the
sand beneath me, while stand o. 'er him
with uplifted blade. Then look up to
yonder sea of coward faces, and see
thumbs which point downward. Aye,
around and around l look but from all
sides the vile gestures come, crowding,
overwhelming my soul They bid me to
slay. And then Davoro's S voice rings in
my ear, as he lies PROSTATE, bidding me
to falter not, but kill him swiftly. Ohw
And the face of Tarpus was softened and
sad as he looked across the blood red
dened sand of the arena to the place
where his comrade lay III death.
Grand was the face of Tarpus-like
to the face of a Morse god.
And he thought Of his home far, far
away-his home from which he was
torn, long years ago, from loved one
and little ones, and carried to this great
city to be made slave; to be made to
fight out his heart blood for the amuse-
ment Of the brutal Romans Visions of
ortstretched hands and loving, SORROW
fnl faces came to him from across far,
wild seas. The arena, with its blood
lust, its pitilessness, was forgotten in a
flood of old, tender memories.
Suddenly he looked up at the shout
ing Romans. Scorn was in his face.
They looked upon him but as human
fighting beast, and he wished fiercely
that he could kill them all with one
thrust from his blade. His heart hard
ened. lie felt that he was indeed alone
His glance sank and fell upon the black
lioness. He wiped the blood off the
blade of his gladius and waited. No
long did he wait, for with a mighty,
resounding roar she tore from the cage
into the center Of the arena, The door
had been suddenly flung open.
She paused, turning her head and
shifting the air. Tarpus walked straight