The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-02-02

i. =
HdcKkN they tell where the
WINHKL%Hb rocks are. The
WaRkEN) snakes rattle Is
hideOus. but q,
gives timely warn
Ing. From the piazza Of my sum
mer home. night by night. saw
= lighthouse fifteen miles away,
not placed there for adornment.
but TO tell mariners TO stand OF from
that dangerous point SO all the iron
bound coast Of moral danger is marked
with Saul, and Herod. and Rehoboam.
and Jezebel. and Ablmolech These bad
people are mentioned In the Bible not
only as warnings. but because there
were sometimes flashes OF good conduct
in their lives worthy Of Imitation. God
sometimes drives a very straight nail
with a very poor hammer.
The city OF shechem had TO be taken.
and Abimelech and his men we're to do
II. see the dust rolling up from their
excited march. hear the shouting OF
the captains and the yell Of the beseig-
ors. The swords olack sharply on the
parrying shields. and the yociieration
Of two armies In death grapple Is hor-
rlble TO hear. The battle goes on all
day and as the sun Is setting Abigae-
leeh and his army cry: Surrender"
to the beaten foe And. unable longer
10 resist. the city Of shechem falls; and
there are pools OF blood and discovered
limbs, and glazed eyes looking up beg
gingly for mercy that war never shows.
and dying soldiers with their head on
the lap Of mother. or wife. or sister,
who have come out for the last Offices
Of Kindness and affection and a groan
rolls across the city, stopping not. be-
cause there IL no spot for II to rest so
full Is the place Of other groans. A
city wounded, A city dying! A city
dead, Wall for shechem. all We who
know the horrors Of a sacked town.
AZ look over the city, can find only
one building standing. and that is the
temple OF the god Berth Some sol
diers outside Of the city In a tower.
finding that they can no longer defend
Shechem, now begin 10 look out for
their own personal safety, and they ny
TO this temple OF Berth. They 10 with
In the door. shut II. and they say Now
We are safe Abimelech has taken the
whole city. but he cannot take this tenn
pie OF Berth. Here we shall be- under
the protection Of the gods" o Berth,
the god! do your best now for these ref
ugees. II you have eyes. pity them.
II you have hands. help them. II you
have thunderbolts. strike for them.
but how shall Abimelech and his army
take this temple OF Berth and the men
who are here fortified? VIII they do
Il with sword? Nay Will they do Il
with spear? Nay. With battcring
ram. rolled up by hundred armed
strength crashing against the walls?
Nay. Abimelech marches his men to
a wood In Zalmon. With his axe he
hews OF limb OF a tree. and puts that
limb upon his own shoulder, and then
he says to his men. you 40 the same %
They are obedient 10 their commander.
There Is a struggle as to who shall have
axes. The whole wood Is full OF bend
ing boughs. and the cracking and the
hacking and the cutting until every
one OF the host has the limb Of tree
cut down. and not only that. but has
put Il on his shoulder just as Abimelech
showed him how. Are these men all
armed with the tree branch? The re-
ply comes AN armed" And they
march on. Oh. what a strange army.
with that strange equipment They
come up to the foot Of the temple at
Berth. and Ablmelech takes his limb Of
a tree aud throws II down: and the first
platoon OF soldiers come mp and they
throw down their branches, and the
second platoon. and the third. until all
around about the temple OF Berth there
Is a pile OF tree branches, The Shech-
emltes look out from the window OF the
temple upon what seems to them child
ish play on the part OF their enemies.
But soon the fiints are struck, and the
sparks eegin to kindle the brush, and
the fame comes up all through the pile
and the red elements lean TO the case
ment. and the woodwork begins "a
blaze. and one arm Of fame Is thrown
up on the right side Of the temple. and
another arm Of fame Is thrown up on
the left side Of the temple, until they
clasp their lurid palms under the wild
night sky. and the cry Of Fire" with
In. and Fire. without. announces the
terror, and the strangulation, and IN,
doom Of the Shecheml,es, and the com