Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1901-12-26

side again before the dawn, putting
all his resources at my disposal.
| had little enough 10 ask him.
"A ship to take me home" ! said,
land | shall he your debtor"
The request seemed 20 surprise
him. "That you may certainly have
if YOU wish it. But my ships arc foul
with the long passage, and are in
need of "A carcen. If you take them,
you will make slow passage of it
to Atlantis. Why do you not take
your own navy? The ships are in
harbor now, for saw them there
when we came in. Brave ships they
arc, too"
"But not mine. That navy belongs
to Nucatan."
well, Ducalion. you are Nucatan;
or, rather, you were yesterday, and
have been these 20 years"
I saw what he meant. and the
idea did not please me. ! answered
stitly enough that the ships were
owned by private merchants. or he
1oupcd to the states, and ! could not
claim so much as a tenslave galley.
Tatho shrugged his shoulders. 81
suppose you know your own policies
best" he said. Though 10 me il seems
but risky for a man who has at
taircd to a position like yours and
mine not TO have provided himself
with stout navy of his own. One
n"rcr knows when recall may be
sent. and through lack of these pre-
cautions life's earnings may very
well he lost in a dozen hours"
"T have M fear for mine | said,
coldly.
"Of course mot. because you know
me to be your friend. But had an
other man been appointed TO this
viceroyalty, you might have been sad
~ shorn, Deucalion. 1t is not many
fellows who can resist snug hoard
ready and waiting in the very Golfers
they have come to line"
My Lord Tatho," | said, at is
clear to me that you and I have
grown to be of different tastes. All
of the hoard that | have made for
myself in this colony, few men would
covet. ! have the poor clothes you
see me in this moment. and box of
drugs such as | have found useful to
tn stomach. | possess also three
slaves, two of them scribes and the
third sturdy savage from Europe,
who cooks my victual and fills for me
the bath. For my maintenance dur
ing my years of service here I have
BLEED the state of a soldiers ration,
and nothing beyond: and if in my
name any man has mulcted a crea-
ture in Nucatan of so much as an
ounce of bronze, | request you as d
last service to have that man hanged
for me as a liar and a thief"
Tatho looked at me curiously. "I
do not know whether I admire yoN
more or whether | pity. | do not
know whether to be astonished or to
de spisc. We had heard of much of
your uprightness over yonder in At
lantis, of your sternness and your
justice. but | swear by the old gods
that no soul guessed you carried your
fancy so far as this. Why. man,
money is power. With money and the
resources money can buy, nothing
could stop a fellow like you; while
without it you may be tripped up
and trodden down irrevocably at the
hrSt puny reverse"
"The gods will choose my fate"
"PossiDly: but for mine, | prefer to
nourish it myself. tell YOU with
franiness that | have not come here
to follow in the pattern YOU have
made for a viceroyalty. / shall gov
ern Yucatan wisely and we'll TO the
best Of my ability; but | shall govern
it also for the good of Tatho, the
viceroy. I have brought with me
here my navy OF eight ships and .
personal bodyguard. There is my
wife, also. and her women and her
slaves. All these must be provided
for And why indeed should it be
otherwise? III a people is to be gov
erned, it should be their privilege to
pay handsomely for their prince"
I'VE shall not agree on this. You
have the power NOW, and can employ
il as you choose. If | thought it
would be of any use, should like to
supplicate YOU most humbly to deal
with lenience when you come to tax
these people who are under YOU.
They have grown very dear to me.
81 have disguised you with me, and
| am grieyed for it. But even to
retain your good opinion, Deucalion
which ! value more than that Of
any man liying--I cannot do here as
YOU have done. II would be impos-
sible, even if wished it. Nou must
not judge all men by your own
strong standard; a T'tho is by no
means colossus like "a Deucalion.
And, besides. have "A wife and chill
dren, and they must be provided for,
even if | neglect myself"
You have changed, Tatho. with
the years, and perhaps ! have
creep imperceptibly into ones being
as time advances. Let us part now
and, forgetting these present differ
cnccs, remember only our friendship
| of 20 years agone. That for me. at
any rate, has always had pleasant
SAVIOR when called up into the mem
Dry"
Tatho bowed his head. $50 be it,
| he said.
And 7 would still charge myself
upon your bounty for that ship. Dawn
cannot be far off, now. and il is not