The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-06-02

ri a second time, ana
- FI bI noted the drawn
~ 7 expression On the
- ~ face and tn {
E-CSLS eyes. in which
could be seen terror and despair. Not
since years before when their daughter
had been brought home a corpse. a vic
tim Of the wicked pleasures and vices
Of Sodom, had ne seen similar eApres-
sion on her face.
But Lot needed no urging. An over
powering dread Of impending disaster
filled his heart, and his uneasy con-
science acted as a spur to his terrified
feelings.
By way Of reply, he pushed the street
door open aud ~~ithUui.-a word he sped
forth into the darkness, and down the
street over which he had so proudly
walked with his two guests but a few
hours before. Their last words were
still ringing in his ears, and over and
over again he could hear the solemn au-
thoritative tones rs they declared:
Hast thou here any besides? Son
in-law, and thy sons and thy daughters,
and whatsoever thou hast in the city,
bring them out of this place; for we will
destroy this place, because the cry of
them is waxen great before the face Of
the Lord and the Lord hath sent us
10 destroy It."
Fear lent swiftness to Lots feet, and
despite the darkness, and repeated
stumbling over the uneven, rough road,
the troubled father made good time.
His errauds took him to the far side Of
the city, where his daughters dwelt
Gould it be, he pondered. as he went,
that 1t was only yestT afternoon that
| talked with King BerR regarding the
extension of the boundaries of the city?
Never was the city SO prosperous, never
were there 50 many people within our
gates, never were the markets of So
dom so freQueuted by he people from
the surrounding countrr2 And now all
is to be swept away, y and LOT snahvu,
sGppEaityA}e&g he axglAaiigmHesd, II h3 III me anu "a
ing of it all swept over him.
Lots administration OF the affairs
OF the city had proved more than sue
c~essful, and with the material prosper-
lty had come increased population. so
that no longer did the walls of the CITY
compass all the people who sought
habitation therein. Many at the pres.
ent time were dwelling outside the
walls, and the conference with the king
the previous afternoon had resulted in
definite plans being laid for the partial
rebuilding and extension of the wall.
And the memory Of all this made Lot
pause suddenly and ask himself over
and over again:
Can it be that all this is to be lost Yo
He remembered the pride and salts
faction with which he returned to his
post at the city's gate; he recalled the
deierential mods and bows of the popu.
lace as he passed along the street, and he
thinking at the time with
a selt-conscious Complacency of how
mucn better the city was than it would
have been had he not been there to curb
and stem the currents of vice. But with
the latter thought came the memory
of the awful violence of the night. of
his appeal for order ana deceney. and of
he mad brutishness which made the
people Indifferent to his authority and
Zeal to his appeals. The coming of the
.wo strangers to Sodom had aroused
relish passions and hatred which he
lad never dreamed existed in the CITY.
How dare he pause? he asked him
elf. He knew the two strangers were
iod's messengers, and again their warn
rang IN his ears and feverlshly he
-ufrlcd on, The night was far spent
ma save for an occasional s~tragpler re- |
lrnlns from a late debauch, the streets c
ere deserted, AS he proceeded, the o
ound of wild, drunken revelry was a
card in the distance, and as he drew il
carer, he saw the lurid glare of the L
'rches Of the atten iants as they pilot t,
the roisterers to their homes. Had II
ot not been in such haste he would O.
ave made a wide Getour to avoid them. h
thinking he could slip by %unnoticed, n
continued on his way. He was al W
past the group, and a few more a
cps would have taken him into the W
darkness just ahead, when
e Of the fellows pushed his way to the +,
OF Lot and, leering up into his face. a:
i'd in a ~half-drunken gutteral; al
Well, by the gods, if it isn't Father
II" i,
And then, throwing a wink and nod II,
his companions as they gath
about him. he continued, with a sp
chuckis: ba
THE sweets OF Sodom taste best at ba
hit, hey, Lot. It's time you were get. m,
G a few of the pleasures. Sorry YOU cit
Int come sconer. Oh, but we have
4 a night of it," on
The outhurst of wild laughter would be
We encouraged the speaker to con. WI
Ge bis ribald speech had not some, ou