Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-01-16

| Eighty emotions"
Then | would that another woman
were empress, and that | were some
addressed creature of the gutter that
strong man could pick mp by force
and carry away TO his home for sheer
passion. An. How could revel in it!
How | could respond if he caught my
whim." She laughed But | should
lead him a sad life of it if my liking
were not so strong as his"
1--WE are as we are made. and we
cannot change our inwards which
move us"
She looked at me with n sullen
glance. "lf | do not change yours,
my Deucalion. there will be more trou-
bic brewed for this poor Atlantis that
YOU set such store upon. There will
be i'll doings in this coming household
of ours if my love grows for you. and
yours remains still unborn"
! believe she would have had me fon-
de her there in the golden castle on
the uammoth's shaggy back, before
the city streets packed with curious
people. She had little enough appetite
for privacy at any time. But for the
lie Of me ] could not do it. The gods
know | was earnest enough about nv
task, and they know also how it re-
PEELED me. But ! was a true priest
that day. and | had put away all per-
sorpl liking to carry out the com
ma uds which the council had laid upon
me. If | had known how o set about
it. I would have fallen in with her
mood. But where any of those shall
low. beGizened tritlers about the court
would have been glibly in his element,
stuck FOR lack of a dozen words.
But here, by lucky chance for me,
an incident occurred which saved me
from further batting. The rebels out
side the walls were conducting their
days attack with vigor and some in
telIieence. More than once during
our procession the lighter missiles
from their war engines had sang up
through the air and split against Il
building. and thrown splinterS which
wounded those which throngcd the
streets. Still there had been nothing
TO ruf'e the nerves OF anyone at all
used to the haps of warfare. or In
any way to hinder our courtship. But
presently. it seems. they stopped
hurting stones from their war en-
gines. and took to loading them with
carcasSes of wood lined with the
throwing fire.
Now against stone buildings these
did little harm. save only that they
Scorchcd horribly any poor wretch
that was within splash of them when
they burst; but when they fell upon
the rude wooden booths and rush
shelters of the poorer folk. they set
them ablaze instantly. There was
no putting out these fires.
These things also would have given
TO either Phorcnice or myself little
enough of concern, as they are the
trivial and common incidents Of
every siege: but the mammoth on
which we rode had not been so prop
erly schoolcd. When the first blue
Whit of smoke came to us down the
Windings of the street. the huge red
beast hoisted its trunk. and began to
sway its head uneasily. When the
smoke drifts grew more dense. and
here and there a tongue of fame
showed pale beneath the sunshine. it
stopped abruptly and began to
trumpet.
The guards who led II tugged man
fully at the chains which hung from
the jagged metal collar round its
neck. so that the spikes ran deep
into its flesh. and reminded il keculv
Of its bondage. But the beasts ter
ror at the fire, which was native to
its constitution, mastered all its new
bought habits of obedience. From
time unknown men have hunted the
mammoth in the savage ground, and
the mammoth has hunted men: and
the men have always used fire a. a
shield, and mammoths have learned
TO dread fire as the most dangerous
of all enemies.
phorenicc's brow began to darken
as the great beast grew more FESTIVE.
and she shook her red curls viciously.
"Some one shall lose a head for this
blnndcring. said she. II ordered TO
have this beast trained 10 stand in
different to drums, shouting. arrows.
stones, and fire. and the trainers as
sured me that all was done, and
brought examples"
! slipped my girdle. Here" I said.
"quick. Let me lower you to the
ground"
She turned on me with CLEAN.
"Are YOU fearful for my neck then,
Dcucaion?"
II have no mind to be bereaved be-
fore ] have tasted my welded life"
"Pish. There is little enough of
danger. / will stay and ride it out.
am not one of your nervous wom-
en-, sir But 90 you. if you please"
"'Therc is little enough chance for
that now"
Blood flowed from the mammoth'S
neck where the spikes of the collar
tore II. and with each drop, so did
the tameness seem to ooze out from
1t also. With wild squeals and trum-
prtings il turned and charged vicious
y down the way it had come, seat
tering like strawS the spearmen who
tried to stop il. and moving a great
SWathe through the crowd with its
monstrous progress. Many must
have been trodden under foot, many
Killed by its murderous trunk, but
only their cries came to us The