The San Francisco call., 1905-05-07


day and night. sleepless and savage.
There had been desperation in his
toll. In his semi -barbaric blood had
ragged a curious conflict between his
hatred of Gordon and something
reused by theN others act in delivering
him from Cassidy's marines He was
by instinct an Oriental, and instinct
led him to revenge; but his strain Of
Welsh blood made his enemy's mag
nanimity unforgetable>and had driven
him to this fierce effort for an imper-
sonal requital. Because Shelley had
been the friend of the man he hated
but who had aided him, the deed in
some measure satisfied the crude re-
morse that fought with his vulpine
enmity.
Almost touching the creeping lip OF
surf, three wands stood upright in the
sand. Trevanion beckoned the labor
ers and they began to dig in silence
AT length a hollow sound followed the
thrust of a mattock.
Gordon drew nearer. He heard lead
emily the muttered conversation OF the
workmen as they waited, leaning on
their spades-saw but dimly the uni
forms of the dragons. He scarcely
felt the hot sand scorching his feet.
Was the object they had unearthed
that whimsical youth whom he had
seen first In the Fleet Prison? The
unvarying friend who had searched
him out at San Iazzarro-true-heart-
ed, saddened but not resentful for the
worlds contumely, his gaze unwaver-
ing from that empyrean in which
swan his lustrous ideals? This bat
tered fiotsam of the tempest-could
this be Shelley?
From the pocket of the faded blue
Jacket a book protruded- He stopped
and drew it out. 1t was the "Oedt-
pus" of -Sophocles. doubled open.
Aidoneus, Aidoneus I implore
To that dim land that houses ali tho dead
Win no long agony or % voice % woe
Upon his iifs bav. fallen
God the Adjust, shall raise him up againl
He lifted his eyes from the page as
Trevanion spoke his name. He fol-
lowed him to the tent. Beside 1t the
laborers had heaped a great mass OF
driftwood and fagots gathered from
stunted pine growth.
Shutting footsteps fell behind him
he knew they were bearing the body.
He averted his eyes, smelling the pun
gent. aromatic odors Of the franklin
cense, wine and salt that were poured
over all.
Trevanion came from the tent with
a torch and put it into his hands. Cor
don's fingers shook as he held it to
the fagots. but he did. the work thor
oughly, lighting all four corners. Then
he flung the torch into the sea-
climbed the slope of a dune and sat
down, feeling for an instant a giddi-
ness, half of the suns heat and half OF
pure horror.
The flames had leaped up over the
whole pyre, glistening with wavy yell
low and deep indigo, as though giving
to the atmosphere the CLASSY essence
of vitality itself. Save for their rustic
and the shrill scream Of a solitary
circles about the fiery altar, there was
no sound.
Sitting apart on the yellow sand,
his eyes on the flame quivertng up
ward like an offering of prisons and
aspirations. tremulous and radiant.
the refrain Of Ariel came to Gordon:
OF his bones are coral made:
Those pearls that his eyes;
Nothing OF him that doth fade.
But doth suffer sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Had Shelley been right? Was death,
for Christian or pagan, only a part Of
the inwoven design, glad or sad. on
that veil which hides from US some
high reality? Was Dallas-was Padre
Somalian-nearer right than his own
questioning that had ended In mega
ton? Had Sheridan found the girl
wife he longed for-beyond the ques-
tioning and the stars? And was that
serene soul, whose body now sifted to
its primal elements, walking free
somewhere in universe of loving in
telligence which to him. George Cor
don, had been at most only The
Great Mechanism"
AT length he rose. The group in
the lee of the tent had approached the
pyre. He heard wondering exclanna-
tions. Going nearer, he saw that OF
Shelley's body there remained only a
heap OF white ashes-and the heart
This the flames had refused to touch
He felt a strange sensation dart
through every nerve. Trevanion
thrust in his hand and took It from
the enbers.
Gordon turned to the barouchs,
where Dallas leaned back watching,
pale and grave. He had brought an
oaken box from Pisa, and returning
it the wine-soaked ashes and laid the
heart upon them. His pulses were
thrilling and leaping to a wild man
hysteria.
As he replaced the Golfer In the
carriage he saw Trevanton wadtng
knee deep In the cool SURF He settled
the box between his knees and the
horses toiled labortously toward tha
homeward road
A sound presently rose behind thena-
It was Trevanion. shouting at the cur
lew circling above his head wild,
savage scream Of laughter.
Gordon clenched his hands on the
edge of the seat and great fearless
sob broke from his breast It was ths
release of the tense bowstring-the
scattering of all the bottled grief and
horror that possessed him.
He became aware after q time that
Dallas was reading aloud. The lat
ter had picked up the bIistered copy
of the "Oedipus' and was translating.
AS he listened to the flowing lines. q
mystical change was wrought In
George Gordon. With q singular ac-
curacy OF estimation. his mind set the
restless cravings Of his own past over
against Shelleys placid temperament
his long battle beside the others ac-
quiescepce. He had been the simeon.
Shelley the trade wind He had razed.
Shelley had reconstructed. His own
doubts had pointed him-wheref
Shelley had been meditating on I'M
mortality when he met the end.
The end? Or was It only tho be-
ginning7 God. the AL Just. shall
raise him UP againi"-the phrase was
fx, mind fhau