The record-union., 1897-01-17

anu sCAy pcdutlIui d SlidHSC, ~ MI
way. Lindsay said it was like La
Belle Dame sans Merci. and ii had
snakes twining in the hair, wonder
fully cut in a sort Of green enamel,
with glistening eyes and scarlet fangs,
and two little wings just above the
ears"
Carteret stopped for a moment to re-
fill his pipe
What luck," 1 said softly. DO you
know what 1T was, Jack? You hit upon
an old Etruscan tomb. Pliny and Tao
titus had heard of them somewhere in
the wild Danube country in their day.
and to think it was reserved for bar
barian sportsman like you to discover
one. A German archaeologist would
give his ears to have been in your
place. But go on."
Just underneath this head" he went
on, was a stone shelf, and on it one of
those old bronze lampS-open things,
like beat, you know; the wick was
i'll 1T, too, but quite dry. Lindsay felt
about behind it, and found a little hol-
low in the wall, and in this bronze
jar sealed with green WAX. We scraped
| the wax off, pulled out the wooden
stopper, and found, as l half expected,
that it was the oil flask belonging TO
the lamp. So WE filled the lamp and
| lighted it. We We're at the foot of the
| steps now, and the passage opened out
into a gCodsized oblong ROOM The
walls We're covered from floor to roof
with the same curious painted carvings;
some of them, Lindsay said, were per-
| feet Greek work, but among them were
| Egyptian looking things-griffins and
| sphinXes, you knoW-and one wall was
covered with the most horrible things
l ever saw. There We're men and wo
men being tortured in the most CHASTITY
ways, unspeakably revolving, and over
all the toremnts there presided the
same lovely woman with the cruel eyes
and snaky hair
| go on, Jack" 1 said: 'I'll explain it
all afterward Its Etruscan for GER
tain, and ever so Old
Well he said slowly, ''the strange
part now begins
| There's scarcely anything too
strange for them, l fancy l told him.
Nobody knows exactly where they
came from or who they We're; but they
had a frightful religion, cruel and hor-
riEle, and they were possessed of all
sorts of evil secrets, according to the
legends
| I'm glad you know their reputation, :"
| Carteret answered; lit may make my
story seem less crudely impossible. A
little way from the far end of the room
was a large screen of beaten bronze
| magnificently worked. We went up to
examine it closely, and Lindsay passed
| behind it; / heard a startled exclama-
ton, and felt him lean heavily against
| the screen. I hurried round with the
lamp, and found him gazing at the
| strangest sight I ever saw. Within a
recess, on a large sarcophagus of jet
| black marble, lay a girls figure draped
| in filmy white. I don't mean a statue,
but form which had once actually
| lived. How it was done l can tell, but
it looked exactly as if she were quietly
sleeping. except that there was no
movement of breathing. I think she
had the most beautiful face I have ever
seen; white as ivory, with fine, delicate
| features, great coils of black hair, and
dark lashes fringing the closed eyes
Her hands were lightly crossed on her
breast, and between the slender fingers
vas this slip of parchment Neither
Lindsay nor 1 could read it, and indeed
| AlC NCOiu iicI lcho lilS eyes IIOIl lllc
dead girls face. His breath came fast
and 1 could feel him tremble
'Carteret,' he whispered, this is the
dead queen of dead people; there are
none SO lovely on the earth to-day
| And truly she looked a queen in
deed, with the coronal of dark hair ris-
| ing from the low, white brow.
Come, Lindsay 1 said at last, let
us go, and leave her to sleep on as she
has slept SO long
| But a kind of fascination seemed to
| hold him, and to draw him nearer and
rearer until he bent slowly down and
| kissed the icy lips. He fingered still
as though he half expected his kiss
would wake the motionless features in
| to new life, and then turning slowly,
with the dazed air of a dreamer, he
went before me up the steps, out into
the forest again. The moon was shin
ing from cloudless sky, and the cool
night breeze felt like the breath of life
| after the heavy air of the rock tomb
I piled UP some stones in the gap, and
then we made our way, guided by the
sound of the river, to the gorge we had
| left in the afternoon. The dawn was
| breaking when we reached the village.
| don't know how Lindsay felt-he was
very silent and preoccupied-but it was
a relief to me to see the river sparkle
| in the light and to hear the birds sing
| ing again / found that Josef. my
| guide. had just returned after a vain
search for us and was greatly rejoiced
| to see me safe. But I was far too
| tired to answer his questions, and after
| ar attempt at breakfast I went off to
led. / woke about ., and after cold
| bath felt disposed to look on the events
of the night almost as a dream. Lind
| say, / hoped. was resting quietly. so I
did not go to his room for a couple of
hours; then I opened his door softly
and looked in. He was sitting close to
the window. with his easel before him.
SO engrossed in his work that he did
not hear me enter
My dear fellow. I said, haven't you
been to bed? Why, you've not even
changed your things.'
| No, he answered, YEARLY: L
could not have rested without trying to
paint her, but Think / shall go to bed
now, I'm very tired. Don't look at it.
Carteret; it's only a rough sketch vet
Il looked in again an hour later. and
he was sleeping the dead sleep of an ut
| terly exhausted man. / gave the peo-
pie orders not to disturb him in the
morning, and left note telling him to
take things easily the next day. /
hardly liked to leave him, but had ar
ranged for days shooting on the es-
tate of rich old Boyard / met in Con-
stantinople, and had put him off once
| already. So / was away all next dav
and night, and did not get back until the
| evening of the following dav Iirds.o y.