Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-01-27
1t the Gates Of the City.

In the brave days of old, in the
/, rs when valor consisted of impair
ing vast numbers of ones enemies
upon pixies and spears, there resided
In Syria a youth named Tyra.
Now, Tyra was not unlike many
youths of to-day, inasmuch as he took
great delight in tales of warfare and
slaughter. 1t is true he was not given
to the perusal of Observation-Disclosures
novels, but this virtue was due only
to the fact that the printing press had
not as yet been invented, and the high
price of parchment made a liberal dis
tribution of lurid literature imprac-
ticable.
But Tyra was possessed of good
pair Of ears and a vivid imagination,
and he made use Of the former to
listen to and Of the latter to embellish
the numerous stories of the Assyrians,
Persians and Macedonians. And it
may be stated in all candor that Tyra s
early education on these lines was not
neglected.
Before Tyra had even the sugges-
ton of mustache he had achieved an
enviable reputation among the Sy-
rians as a Juvenile terror. Scarcely
playmate had he from whom, at one
time or another, he had not taken, by
sheer force of muscle, divers articles
beloved to childish hearts, and left in
their places sundry cuts and bruises
as mementoes of the occasion.
Indeed, Tyra's own father yielded
up his life as the result Of d spear
thrust inflicted by the youth in re-
taliation- for certain chastisement
administered at time when Tyra was
barely able to walk, and his mother,
likewise, died of a broken heart and
a fractured skull, loudly lamenting
that she had not been sufficiently de-
voted to Moloch to lay her first born
in the arms Of the red-hot god.
After the untimely demise of his
parents Tyra entered upon so crimson
q career that the residents of the city
wherein he dwelt, familiar though
they were with deeds of vaIor and vio-
lence, decided that the youth was too
great man for their quiet and peace
flu city, and that his talents would be
better appreciated by them if exer-
cised outside the walls of the city.
And so he was banished.
With many curses upon Syria in
general and this city in particular,
Tyra set forth literally to carve out
his destiny. And he succeeded ia
mously.
Now, in the city upon which he thus
disdainfully turned his back, there
dwelt, one upon whom he had be-
slowed all his young affection. This
was the orphaned maiden, Leodesia.
Frail she was, with hair of jet and
eyes that ever were dreaming And
Tyra loved her. To him she YVES the
one object in the universe worth the
Worshiping.
Nor was his affection wasted upon
this maiden of Syria, the chords OF
whose heart were bound around her
handsome, dashing lover. Life with
out his smiles seemed as barren as
the Assyrian Desert.
She loved him with all the passion
and devotion of her semi-barbaric ma
ture, and when, at the urgent invita-
ton of his neighbors, Tyra took his
departure from the city, she put her
trusting hand in his and promised to
wait for him until he should return
Then she threw herself upon the burn
ing sands by the gates of the city and
Wept. and would not be comforted.
After he had gone the good people
of Syria, conscience stricken perhaps
of the unusually harsh treatment they
had accorded her lover, bestowed such
unlimited affection and kindness upon
Ieodesia that the poor girl actually
learned to love them as she loved heI
own life.
Contrary to the predictions of the
Syrian wiseacres, Tyra did not throw
himself upon the desert and die mis-
cradle death. The trouble with Tyrs
was that, like many great men of to
dav he was without honor only in hi:
own country.
Along the Euphrates he found many
wild and adventurous spirits, whC
aocked to his standard with amazing
LOYALTY. He did not care that his fol
lowers were not rich in jewels AM
nrecious stones. They could speed th