Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-04-05

loop, slipped it over leg, and pulled
hard as a signal. Those above began
to haul, and so / went back to the Sa-
cred Mountain after an absence of so
many toilsome and warning years.
There were none to disturb the ascent.
Phorenice's troops had no thought to
guard that gaunt, bare, seamless preci-
pice.
The men who hauled me up were old,
and painted heavily with their task,
and, until l knew the reason, I won
dered why knot of younger priests
had not been appointed for the duty.
But | put no question. With us of the
Priests clan on the Sacred Mountain
it is always taken as granted that
when an order is given it is given for
the best. Besides, these priests did
not offer themselves to question. They
took me off at once to Zaemon, and
that is what could have wished.
The old man greeted me with the
royal sign. "All hail to Deucalion," he
cried, "king of Atlantis, duly called
| thereto by the high council of the
priests"
"Then being king, 1 can speak with
| out seeming to make use of threat.
1 must have my queen first, or l am not
strong enough to give my whole mind
to this ruling"
''She shall be brought here
$50! Then | will be a general now,
and see to the defenses of this place,
and view the men who are here to
stand behind them"
went out of the dwelling then, Zae-
mon giving place and following me. 1t
was night still. but there is no darkness
on the upper part of the Sacred Noun
| tain. A ring of fires, fed eternally
from the earth-breath which wells up
| from below, burns round one-half Oh
the crest, lighting it always is bright
as day, and in fact forming no small
part of its fertilization. Indeed, it is
said that in the early dawn of history
men first came to the mountain as a
stronghold because of the natural de-
! Tense which the fires offered.
There is no bridging these flames
or smothering them. On either side
of their line for hundred PAGES
the ground glows with heat, and
man would be turned to ash
who tried to cross it. Round full
one-half of the mountain slopes the
fires make a rampant unbreakab BILE
and on the other side the rocks run
in one sheer precipice from the crest
to the plain which spreads beyond its
foot But it is on this farther side
that there is the only entrance way
which gives passage to the crest OF
the Sacred Mountain from below
Running diagonally up the steep face
of the cliff is gigantic assure, which
succeeding ages (as man has grown
more luxurious) have made more
easy to climb.
Looking at the additions, in the
ancient days, l can well imagine that
none but the most daring could have
made the ascent. But one generation
has thrown bridge over bad GAP
here, and another has cut the living
stone and widened a gap ledge there
till in these latter years there is a
path with cut steps and carved balus-
trade such as the feeblest or most
giddy might traverse with little eff
fort or exertion. But always when
! these improvers made smooth the
obstacles, they were careful to weak.
en- in no possible way the defenses
but rather to add to them.
Eight gates of stone there were
cutting the pathway, each command
ing a straight, steep piece of the as
cent, and overhanging each gate was
a gallery secure from arrow shot, yet
so contrived that great stones could
1 be hurled through holes in the floor
! of it, in such a manner that they
must irretrievably smash to a pulp
any man advancing against it from
below. And in caves dug out from
| the rock on either hand was a great
hoard of these stones, SO that no en-
envy through sheer expenditure OF
troops could hope to storm gate by
exhausting it's ammunition.
But though there were eight OF
these granite gates in the series, we
had the whole number to depend OF
no longer. The lowest gate was held
by garrison of Phorenice's troops
who had built a wall above them to
protect their occupation. The gate
had been gained by no brilliant feat
of arms-it had been won by threats
bribery and promises; or, in other
words, it had been given up by the
blacklist treachery.
And here lay the keynote of the
weakness in our defense. The most
perfect rampant that brains Gun in.
vent are useless without men to line
them, and it was men we lacked. Oh
students entering into the colleges
of the Sacred Mountain there had
been none now for many year. The
younger generation thought little OF
the older gods. Of the men that had
grown up among the sacred groves
and filled offices there, many had be.
come lukewarm in their faith and re.