The Bourbon news., 1902-01-10

II
and nothing beyond; and if in my
name any man has mulcted q erea-
ture in Yucatan of so much as an
ounce of bronze, request you as a
last service to have that man hanged
for me as a liar and thief"
Tatho looked at me curiously. 81
do not know whether admire you
more or whether I pity. l do not
know whether to be asto7ished or to
despise. We had heard of much of
your uprightness over yonder in At
lantis, of your sternness and your
! Justice, but 1 swear by the old gods
that no soul guessed you carried your
fancy so far as this. Why, mon,
money is power. With money and tlsc
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
first puny reverse"
"The gods will choose my fate"
Possibly; but for mine, prefer to
nourish it myself. 1 tell you with
frankness that I have not come here
to follow in the pattern you have
made for a viceroyalty. 1 shall gov
ern Yucatan wisely and well to the
best of my ability; but 1 shall govern
it also for the good of Tatho, the
viceroy. 1 have brought with me
here my navy of eight ships and a
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? If a people is to be gov
erned, it should be their privilege to
pay handsomely for their prince"
Eve shall not agree on this. You
have the power now, and can employ
it as you choose. If 1 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. =
''I have disgusted you with me, and
1 am grieved for it. But even to
retain your good opinion, Deucalion
which / value more than that of
any man hving-I cannot do here as
! y
sible, even if 1 wished it. You must
not judge all men by your own
strong standard; a Tatho is by no
means a colossus like a DeucAliOn.
And, besides, have a wife and chill
dren, and they must be provided for,
! even if 1 neglect myself"
"You have changed, Tatho, with
the years, and perhaps l have
changed also. These alterations
creep imperceptibly into ones being
as time advances. Let us part now,
and, forgetting these present differ
! ences, remember only our friendship
of 20 years agone. That for me, at
any rate, has always had a pleasant
SAVIOR when called up into the mem
ory."
Tatho bowed his head. $50 be it,"
he said.
"And would still charge myself
upon your bounty for that ship. Dawn
cannot be far Off, now, and it is not
decent that the man who has ruled
here so long should walk in daylight
through the streets on the morning
after his dismissal"
$50 be it," said Tatho. "You shall
have my poor navy. 1 could have
wished that you had asked me some
thing greater"
''Not the navy, Tatho; one small
/ ship. Believe me, more is wasted"
"Now, there" said Tatho, ST shall
act the tyrant. I am viceroy here
now, and will have my way in this.
You may go naked of all possessions:
that 1 cannot help. But depart for
Atlantis unattended, that you shall
not"
And so, in fine, as the choice was
set beyond me, it was the Bear, Ia
tho's own private ship, with all the
rest of his navy sailing in escort, that
I did finally make my transit
The voyage was very different to
my previous sea-going. There was no
creeping timorOusly along In touch
with the coasts. We stood straight
across the open gulf in the direction
of home, came up with the banu of
the Carib islands, and worked conf
IDENTIFY through them, as though they
had been sign-pOsts to mark the sea
highway; and stopped only twice to
replenish with wood, water and
fruit. These commodities, too, the
savages brought us freely, so great
was their subsection, and in neither
place did we have even the sem6lance
of a fight. 1t was a great certificate
of the growing power of Atlantis and
her finest oversee colony.
Then boldly on we went across the
vast ocean beyond, with never a
sacrifice to implore the gods that
they should help our direction. One
might feel censure towards those
rugged mariners for their impiety
but one could not help an admiration
for their lusty skill and confidence.
The dangers of the desolate sea are
dealt out as the gods will, and man
can only take them as they come
Storms we encountered, and the
mariners fought them with stubborn
endurance; twice a blazing stone
from heaven Kissed into the sea be-
side us, though without injuring any
. I