Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-05-28

you meet there. 1t is not my own
will that / shall not appear there by
your side
They heard my words with smiles,
and very courteously saluted me with
their weapons, and there we parted.
I did not see the fight, but / know it
was good, from the time which
passed before Phorenice's hordes
| broke out on the crest of the noun
tain They died hard, that last rem
nant of the lesser priests of Atlantis.
With sour enough feeling [ went
up to the head of the pass. and then
through the groves, and between the
temples and colleges and houses
which stood on the upper slopes of
| the Sacred Mountain, till I reached
that boundary beyond which in mild
er days it was death for any but the
privileged few to pass. But the
time, it appeared to me, was past for
conventions, and, moreover, my own
temper was hot; and it is likely that
[ should have strobe on with little
scruple if 1 had not been interrupted.
But in the temple which marked the
boundary there was old Zaemon
|
of words, and with the whole of some
ancient ritual ordained for that pur-
pose, sought dispensation from the
high gods for my trespass, and would
not give me way till he was through
with his ceremony.
Already Phorenice's tower and
bridge were in position, for the clash
and yelling of fight told that the
small handful of priests on the ram
part of the last gate were bartering
their lives for the highest return in
dead that they could earn. They
were trained fighting men all, but
old and feeble, and the odds against
them were too enormous to be
stemmed for over long. In very
short time the place would be put to
the storm and the roof of the Sacred
Mountain would be at the open
mercy of the invader. If there was
any further thing to be done, it was
well that it should be set about
quickly while peace remained. It
seemed to rue that the moment was
for prompt action, and the time for
lengthy pompous ceremonial was
done for good.
But Zaemon was minded otherwise.
He led me up to the Ark of the Mys-
teries, and chided my Impotence, and
waited till [ had given it my rever-
entail kiss, and then he called aloud,
and another old man came out of the
opening which is in the top of the
ark, and climbed painfully down by
the battens which are fixed on it's
s,11 i
seen before, hoary, frail and enact
ated and he and Zaemon were then
the only two remaining priests who
had been raised to the highest de-
gree known to our clan, and who
alone had knowledge of the highest
secrets and powers and mysteries.
"Look!" cried Zaemon, in his shrill
old voice, and swept trembling fin
ger over the shattered city, and the
great spread of sea and country
which lay in view of us below. l fol
lowed his pointing and looked, and
, chill began to crawl through me
All was plainly shown. Our Lord the
Sun burned high overhead in a sky
of cloudless blue, and day shimmere6
in his heat. All below seemed from
that distance peaceful and warm an6
: still, save only that the mountains
smoked more than ordinary, and some
spouted fires, and that the sea boiled
with some strange disorder.
But it was the significance of the
, sea that troubled me most. Far on
: on the distant coast it surged agains
I the rocks in enormous rolls of surf
|, and up the great estuary, at thu
head of which the city of Atlantis
y stands, it gushed in successive wave
S of enormous height which never re
u turned. Already the lower lands OF
) either side were blotted out beneat1
tumultuous waters, the harbor wall
, were drowned out of sight, and tn
S flood was creeping up into the lowe
u wards of the great city itself.
q You have SEEM" asked Zaemon.
e 81 have SEEN"
o you understand"
I'm part
a 'Then let me tell you all. This
the beginning, and the end will 70
t. low swiftly. The most high god:
S. that sit behind the stars, have a limi
ID to even their sublime patience; an
n that has been passed. The city {
id Atlantis, the great continent that
lie beyond, and all that are in them ar
Is doomed to unutterable destruction