The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-12-25

clearness of the upper world they
plunged into the stufTy gloom of strait
ened Enclosures underground. Descend
ing few steps they found themselves
In long corridor, out of which opened
{ several small rooms some Is by ID feet
In dimensions-throne rooms, so to
speak. Of the defunct and sublimated
bulls. In the center OF the room stood
; the sarcophagus. hewn from a single
block of granite or sandstone, the mass
i've shell Unfolding the remains of the
/ regal bovine which so many centuries
ago had housed the masquerading Osi-
ris.
| More than a thousand years before
the last Of them had passed out of the
life Of Egypt. and not her own short
lifetime back, a Frenchman of Bou-
logne. Mariette Pasha. had unearthed
their tombs. long lost in the irreverent
enshrouding sand. Yet the solemnity
Of 1t all, If any there was. did not
check the scornful CULVER of her lip as
Clarice reflected that her heart asked
not for Crisis, but for one friendly
touch TO save 1t from an aridity like
that of the surrounding desert Alas.
cowed by her oppressed feelings. intol-
erantly resentful OF Lucien Bonvale's
degrading jealousy, scarce daring to
call her soul her own, she appealed
silently TO the whole world for SYM
pathy. and there was none to heed her
and bring peace TO her soul.
With q quick sigh and a passing
tremor of her sensitive lips she averted
her dark, brilliant eyes from the sar-
cophagus standing grimly forth in the
fare OF the torches and without
thought or intention turned them full
upon those OF an attendant
He was a young. handsome. pure type
Arab. with clear. pale skin. clean cut
features. tall, sinewy, silent, gentle.
mysterious. suggesting an intensity Of
repressed passion. In that flickering
light. down in the gaunt chamber Of
death, his soul looked straight through
the glowing eyes which cleaned be-
meath his straight black brows and
grasped that OF the girl with sense of
Its desolation and hunger. 1t was a
river of cool refreshment TO her parch-
ed being. Life thrilled through her.
The shackles, whose tightening con-
strictions numbed her by their viselike
grip, fell of. She breathed with the
JOY of a released prisoner.
Her soul in that first impulsive mo-
ment spoke back with all the eloquence
which can be uttered by the eye 1t
was heart answering heart Time is
measured by intensity. not mere dura-
ton. The whole length of that encoun-
ter-perception, bestowal, acceptance
and grateful relief - could not have
been a full minute. But IL was a mile
stone from which life was to be meas
ured. When Clarice Bonvale left the
tombs Of the Apis bulls and returned TO
Cairo she was not an alien woman
alone In Egypt. A friend was with
her. a kinsman of her heart-her proud
hungry young heart. The memory OF
him In the long wanderings up the Nile
was tiny, bubbling spring in her be
ing from which welled solace and
strength. The rancor of loneliness had
departed, the wasting touch Of aridity
was gone, the eager stretching fortl
for something on which to lean felt q
prop and support The image of that
Arab youth, the strong gentleness oi
the passionate grasp he had laid upor
her. haunted her with soothing sweet
ness.
She seemed 70 feel II especially a
Phila. The soft charm OF the little Is
land and the graceful peace that brood
ed over it-she felt her new kinsmar
more In them With a smile il oc
Cured TO her that here was where Osi
ris the Beneficent was laid TO his rest
that TO the old Egyptian there was nj
,, , mightier oath than that sworn ''bl
him who sleeps at Phile." 1t was a
the solemn tomb that guarded tn
! stately bull which he had possessed Z
be again with his adorers that she ha'
met the one who had led her out o
Egypt, the dark land of her heart long
inSs that could find no rest. Whel
would she see him nexti Would sh
ever see him again? And. IL she did
E could he say more than he had said Il
that first. quick. close. magnetic fusio
e OF their souls? Well. Osiris the Benef
cent, the struggler against evil. ha
:, been good to her. 1t was enough.
They were returning after their lon
\ leagues up the Nile. Al last their fee
were set homcward There was not 5
much charm in that rs that they wer
L leaving Egypt. the place where she ha
/ for the first time realized I.ucien Boz
vale.
One night at Luxor she sicod on IL
wharf. waiting 10 embark on the ii,i,
steamer which puffcd with imDudrr
1 u. 10 4 L.
y , her for a few moments on one Of h
fussy. suddenly thought of Gues:
Around her was motley crowd. wit
sprinklings OF many nations In lis mo
y ing mass. In the noise and confusin
/! and small babel OF jarring elemen
strong fingers suddenly Slipped smootl
ly, possessively. into the hand whiC
" hung listlessly al her side. \ ilut;'
ran through her Her own finger
with an instinct of sympathy. Close
upon those which had been so gent
pushed into ber warm palm. s.
!" looked up with a soft welcoming I
!, childlike eagerness.
!, There In the flooding light Of Il
=, moon stood her hearts kinsman. Il
:, strong young Arab of the SerapeuI
n Impassive. powerful. with a repose til
!, the west knows little of. his dark ey
= under the strong brows burned with
:. fire which told OF his intense feeling.
His eyes bent on her unwaveringl
He murmured softly: Il have broug
you my heart and something to remel
:. ber me by when you are gone so E
- - away to your country. Do not fore
- me in the long years to come or that
~ love you"
a. Iht tiONd HitSSfu- NV was tOA