The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-01-17
licked the teardrops from her eyes,
while her sheen 0razed where thew listed.

while her sheep grazed where they listed.
Cyriam, Of origin divine, is great
among men. He is the most beautiful,
the strongest, the most beloved. He has
wished for gold-he is rich; for land
and titles-he has them. In wal he ex-
terminates, and the obscure crowd OF
combatants give way before him, lose
their footing. terrified by the supernat-
ural. After Regina, who died for love,
others have adored him. The earth is
illumined by his brightness. And his
adventures are numberless- He has sue
cumbed successfully to all human temp
tations. The seven capital sins are his
best companions; by all his immortal
force, which multiplies the evil tenfold
and prolongs it indefinitely. he surpasses
the worst human culprit. He acknowl-
edges neither fatigue nor repose. He
pauses not.
Sometimes, however. he looks upward
and signs. Yet the sounds about him
again divert him, and he returns to his
wished for pleasure.
As time passes, bitterness m The
immortal beholds death about him. As
he is human of heart, so has he loved
unreservedly both mistresses and
friends. He sees them grow old, sadden
and die. Others he has after them, but
their fate is the same. Alone unchange-
able, he sees them pass away, and each
time that a loved being disappears he
suffers and weeps.
How many times did he suffer and
weep during ten human centuries, which
seemed to him as hardly SO many days?
And his martyrdom was Of every hour.
Renewal did not fill up the CULTS Of the
past.
Across the throng Of faces that he had
met in the abolished years two mem
cries haunted him implacably-that of
heaven, and also-how strange indeed!
that Of Marie, the poor child whom
he had met on that first evening, and
who now, doubtless, had long been dead.
And it was the women who resembled
Marie that he preferred above the others.
Thus, amid noise and commotion,
Cyriam existed for century after GEN.
tury. Then, one day, weary Of every
thing, envying mankind, whose inevita-
BILE escape is death (Which yet may be
advanced by self killing), he drew apart
from the abodes Of civilized men, walk
ing for a long time in the solitude of
the fields. "
At twilight, as on the evening Of long
ago, he sat him down at the foot of q
hill, in a corner of a deserted road.
Suddenly he saw a poor, barefoot
child coming toward him, leading
rich flock through the deepening gloom.
With painting breath he watched her al
she drew nigh, and he murmured:
"Oh, earth! Oh, earth accursed! Ye'
will I pardon thee if this poor child be
by a miracle the child Of long ago, thu
first one met, whose memory-why,
know not-dwells ever in my dream,
For thee have I suffered, oh. earth!
judged of men too hardly, though
knew them not. Now, more guilty my
self than all mankind together, I absolv'
them. Have mercy upon Them But tn
child m neal. Who art chop, littl
one?" ~.
"a poor, kinless child, who have eve
been very unhappy. And you, oh
prince of heaven, beautiful angelic
such by your wings I know you to be-
come to supplicate you to take me witt
you-up yonder. whittier you 60"
Cyriam started. Behind him, in yer.
truth, he felt the quivering of his wing
divine. God, because he was penitent
recalled him to the light. Yet he spak
again:
, $50 it is thou, Marie, the first whor
I met-here find I thee again, my siste,
after a thousand years!'
NO." said the child, guileless c
heart. 81 know not what you mean
Yet hapless little girls are Of all time i
this world. Misery is their name, and
am one Of Them"
And Cyriam, the pardoned, Cyriam
+ the charitable, opening his wide wings
quivering with rapture, took the chill
up in his arms and bore her aloft int
:, the eternal glory reconquered. Fro,
the French in Short Stories.