Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-05-21
. 3 The 3 D
Lost Continent
By CUTCLIFFE HYNE.
CHAPTER XvI.-CoNr1NUED.
Pub BY Harper Bros Copyright 1901 by cunts lyme.

"Phorenice is headstrong. No, my
lord, there is no need to shake your
head and try to deny it. 1 have had
some acquaintance with her. But
the order has been made, and her
immortality will be snatched from
from her very rudely. Now mark
solemnly my words. 1, Deucalion,
have been appointed king of Atlantis
by the high council of the priests
who are the mouthpiece of the most
high gods, and if l do not have my
reign, then there will be no Atlantis
left to carry either king or empress.
You know me, Tatho, for a man that
never lies"
He nodded.
Then save yourself before it is too
late. You shall have again your
viceroyalty in Yucatan.'
But, man, there is no Yucatan.
A great horde of little hairy crea-
lures, that were something less than
human and something more than
beasts, swept down upon our cities
and ate them out. Oh, you may sheer
if you choose. Others sneered when L
came home, till the empress stopped
them. But you know what a train of
driver-ants is that you meet with in
the forests? You may light fires
across their path, and they will
march into them in their blind BRAY
cry, and put them out with their
bodies, and those that are left will
march on in an unbroken column,
and devour all that stands in their
path. l tell you, my lord, those little
hairy creatures were like ants-aye,
for numbers and wooden bravery, as
we'll as for appetite. AS a result, to-
day thers is 10 Ygciatan."
! hfou shall have Egypt, then"
He burst at me hotly. II would
not take seven Egypts and ten Yucca
tans. My lord, you think more poor
ly of me than is kind when you ask
me to become a traitor. In your
place would you throw your Nais
away if, the doing it would save you
from a danger?"
THAT is different
"In no degree. You have a kind
ness for her. l have all that and
more for Phorenice, who is, besides,
my wife and the mother of my chill
dren. If l have qualms-and l freely
confess l know you are desperate
men up there, and have dreadful
powers at your command-my shiv-
erings are for them and not for N.Y.
self. But 1 think, my lord, this par
ley is leading to nothing, and though
these common soldiers here will I'M
derstand little enough of our talk,
they may be picking up word here
and there, and l do not wish them
to go on to their death (as you will
see them do shortly and carry evil
reports about me to whatever gods
they chance to come before
He saluted me with his sword and
drew back, and once more the mis-
siles began to fly, and the doomed
wretches who had been hating be-
side the steep rock walls of the pass
began once more to press hopelessly
forward. They had scaling-ladders
certainly, but they had no chance of
getting these planted. They could
do naught but fill the narrow way
with their bodies, and to that end
they had been sent, and to that end
they humbly died. Our priests with
crow and lever wrenched from their
lodging-places the great rocks which
had been made ready, and sent them
crashing down, so that once more
screams filed the pass, and the hor-
rid butchery was renewed.
But ever and again some arrow, or
some slingstone, or some fire-tube's
dart would find its way up from be-
low and through the defenses, and
there we would be with a man the
less to carry on the fight. 1t was
well enough for Phorenice to be
lavish with her troops; indeed, if she
wished for success, there were no