Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-01-11
by H. RIDER HACCARD. !
CHATTER NXy.

earth. over the peas tnt in his hovel, over
the monarch in his palace nails, and cities
crowned with towers and those who
breath therein Whereer the sun shakes
out his spears. whereer the lonesome wat
ers mirror up The moon, where er storms
roll. aud heavens bows arch in the sky
from the pure North shrouded in her
SHOWS, across the middle spaces of the
world, y where the armOus South lying
like IA bride upon her azure seas. breathes
in signs made sweet with myrtle bloom
there shall thy power pass, and thy domin
ION find home Nor sickness, nor icy
fingered fear. nor sorrow, and pale waste
of form and mind lowering ever DER hu-
mainly shall so much as shadow thee with
the shadow of their wings. As a God
shall thou be, holding good and evil IN
the hollow of thy hand. aud l. even |,
humble myself before thee Such is the
power of Love, and such Is the bridal gift
l give thee Kallikraies, Royal Sou Of Ra
my Lord and Lord of all.
And now it is done-and come storm,
come shine, come good, come evil, come
life, come death, ii never, never can be
undone For of truth that which is is,
and being done, is done for aye, and can
not be altered | have said-Let US hence
that all things may be accomplished in
their order" and taking one Of the lamps,
she advanced toward the end of the cham.
Der that was rooted in 10y the swaying
stone, where she halted.
We followed her, and perceived that in
the wall of the cone there was a stair, or,
20 be more accurate that some projecting
knobs IF rock had been so shaped as TO
form good imitation of stair. Down
this Ayesha began TO climb, springing
from step TO step like a chamois and after
her We followed with less grace When
we had descended some fifteen or sixteen
steps We found that they ended in a ire
mendOus rocky slope. running first out
ward and then inward, like the slope OF an
inverted cone or tunnel. The slope was
very steep. aud often preclpitous but 1t
was nowhere impossible. and by the light
of the lamps we went down ii with no
great difficulty, though it was gloomy
work enough travelling on thus.
For a long period we travelled on thus,
| perceived that we were reaching the
point of the inverted cone. In another
minute we were there, and found at the
very apex of the funnel was a passage so
low and narrow that we had 10 stoop As
we crept along it in In ian file. After
some fifty yards of this creeping the pas
sage suddenly widened into a cave so
huge that we could see neither the roof nor
the sides AZ length this cave ended in q
third passage, through which cleaned a
faint glow of light.
heard Ayesha give sigh of relief as
this light dawned upon US.
1T Is well, she sand; prepare to enter
the very womb Of the Earth, wherein she
doth conceive the Life that ye see brought
forth in man and beast-ay, and in every
tree and flower,
Swiftly she sped along, and after her we
stumbled as best we might We passed
down the tunnel until we stood in third
cavern. some fifty feet in length by, per
haps, as great a height, and thirty wide.
1t was carpeted with fine white sand, and
its walls had been worn smooth by the &C
ton Of know not what. The cavern was
not dark like the others, it was filled with
lffrI,t Iaa nj fttl 70,
on than anything that can be conceived.
Presently, however dread and beautiful
thing happened Across the far end Of
the cavern with a grinding and crashing
noise-a noise so dreadful and awe.inspir-
ing that we all trembed, and Job actually
sunk TO his knees-there famed out an
awful cloud or pillar of fire, like a rainbow
many .coored, and like the lightning,
bright. For, perhaps forty seconds, it
famed and roared thus, turning slowly
round and round and then by degrees the
terrible noise ceased, and with the fire it
passed away-leavng behind 1t the same
rosy glow that we had first seen
Draw near, draw near cried Ayesha,
Behold the very Fountain and Heart of
Life as il beats in the bosom of the great
world. Behold the substance from which
all things draw their energy, the bright
Spirit Of the Globe, without which it can
not live, but must grow cold and dead as
the moon. Draw near, ana wash We in
the living flames. and take their virtue in
10 your poor frames in all its virgin
strengthened as now feebly gows within
your bosoms, filtered thereto through all
the fine straners of a thousand intermedl
ate lives, but as it is here in the very fount
and seat of Being"
We followed her through the rosy glow
up to the head of the cave. till at last we
stood before the spot where the great pulse
beat and the great flame passed
We reached the head Of the cave and
gazed at each other in the glorious glow
and launched alOud-in the lightness of our