Barbour County index., 1902-02-05

lures and ecstasies over their enjoy
ment. Women and men both, they
fingered over each Utilization of the
palate as though it were caress of
the gods.
Phorenice. with her quick, bright
eyes. looked on, and occasionally flung
one or another a few words between
her talk with me, and now and again
called some favored creature up to
receive scrap of Wand from the royal
dish. This the honored one would eat
with eXtravagant gesture, or (as hap
pened twice) would put it away in the
folds of his clothes as a treasure too
dear to be profaned by human lips.
To me this fiattery appeared gross
and disgustful, but Phorenice, through
use, perhaps, seemed to take it as
merely her due. There was, one had
to suppose, weakness in her some
where, though truly to the outward
seeing none was apparent. Her face
was strong enough, and il was
subtle also, and. moreover, it was
wondrous comely. All the courtiers
in the banqueting hall raved about
Phorenice's face and the other beau
ties of her body and limbs; and though
not given to appreciation in these mat
ters, I could not but see that here at
least they had groundwork for
their admiration; for surely the gods
have never favored mortal woman
more highly. Yet lovely though she
might be. for myself I preferred to
look upon Ylga, the girl, who, because
of her rank, was privileged to sit on
the divan behind us as mediate at
tendant. There was an honesty in
Ylga's face which Phorenice's lacked.
They did not eat to nutrify their bod
les, these feasters in the banqueting
hall of the royal pyramid, but they
ate to cloy themselves, and they strut
ted forth new usages with every plat
ter and bowl that the slaves brought.
To me some of their manners were
closely touching on disrespect. At
the halfway of the meal gorgeous
popiniay-he was governor of an
out-province driven into the capital
by rebellion in his own lands-this
gorgeous fop, l say, walked up be-
tween the groups of feasters with
flushed face and unsteady gait, and did
obeisance before the divan. "Most
astounding empress" cried her, "fair-
est among the goddesses, queen reg
nant of my adoring heart, hail!''
And so the feast went on, the guests
practicing their gluttonies and their
absurdities, and the guards standing
to their arms round the circuit of the
walls as motionless and as stern as
the statues carven in the white stone
beyond them. But a term was put to
the orgie with something of sudden
ness. There was stir at the farther
doorway of the banqueting hall, and
clash, as two of the guards Joined
their spears across the entrance. But
the man they tried to stop-or per-
haps it was to pin-passed them un-
harmed, and walked up over the pave
ment between the lights and the
groups of feasters. All looked round
a t him; few threw him ribald words;
but none ventured to stop his prog
ress. A few, women chiefly, l could
see shuddered as he passed them by,
as though a wintry chill had come over
them; and in the end he walked up
and stood in front of Phorenice's di-
van and gazed fXedly on her, but
without making obeisance.
lie was frail old man, with white
hair tumbling on his shoulders and
ragged beard. The mud of wayfaring
hung in clots on his feet and legs
His wzened body was bare save for
single cloth wound about his shoul-
ders and his loins, and he carried in
his hand wand with the symbol of
our Lord the Sun glowing at it's tip
That wand went to show his caste,
but in no other way could 1 recog-
nize him.
took him for one of those ascetics
of the Priests clan,s who had for
sworn the steady nurtured life of the
Sacred Mountain, and who lived ou.
in the dangerous lands among the
burning hills, where there is daily
peril from falling rocks, from fire
streams, from evil vapors, from sud-
den assuring of the ground and from
other movements of those unstable
territories, and from the greater liz
ards and other monstrous beasts
which haunt them. These keep con.
slant in the memory the might of the
holy gods, and the insecurity of this
frail earth on which we have our rest.
ing place, and so the sojourners there
become chastened in the spirit and
gain power over mysteries which even
the most studions and learned of other
men can never hope to attain.
cIln I1I ~