The Washington herald., 1906-11-13
CHAPTER XIV.
The Capture of AttaIa.


When the old Count d'Attala returned
10 the castle after his ruthless destruc-
lion of Jfbaloff's yacht and the murder Of
the boats crew and ships company, he
was weary and anxious for repose As
sisted by the chained slaves he left the
paianquin. on reaching the library, and
entered one of the rooms adjoining,
large and airy bedchamber, whose furni-
tuTe and fittings were Of princely magnili-
Cence. The walls were entirely COM
posed of huge plate-glass mirrors, ar
ranged in the manner of panels. The
ceiling was painted by~masJers Of craft
with scenes from Dante's Inferno" each
separate square being a priceless work
of art. wrought either by copyists OF Gus
tave Dore OF by Dore himself, and In
such grim fashion that a single upward
glance was sufficient to thrill the bosom
of an ordinary observer with a sentiment
Of gloom or dread
But the count was not an ordinary OBJ
server. When he was disrObed and lifted
by his attendants into the huge carved
four-poster bed that rested on the center
OF the richly carpeted floor. he lay quietly
while the slaves massaged his limbs from
head 10 heel and covered him with unguent
and gazed up at the realistically pictured
horrors of he'll; his lips parted with a
smile of keen appreciation, an apprecia-
tiOn that for years had never wearied,
II amused him TO pass his leisure mo-
ments in rejecting upon the mysteries Of
time, space. and eternity, for his iron soul
had never been the subject Of fear and
was an atheist from the sincerest pos
ble conviction.
IN his belief nothing existed which his
8telIgence could not realize, or at least
hthom. Neither God nor Satan had
Ever been made manifest 10 him; he had
YneVer known a dead man TO return to
life; therefore heaven, he'll, and the here
after he regarded as merely bogies Gre
ated by the imagination of softeT-brained
folk than himself. The sUperstitiOus ter
Tors Of others gave him food for pleasure
and sarcastic contemplation, since he was
himself incapable of similar weakness
1t was for this reason that at great cost
he had had his ceiling painted in such
ghastly manner: but though a miser of
money, he had never regretted the ex-
penditure for thereby his sleeping and
waking thoughts had always filled him
with egOtStical satisfaction. since they
furnished him with an excuse 10 jibe
and sneer at the world. whose enemy
he was.
II may be inferred that he wasted no
time in prayer. He was his own god
and there was little need 10 pray to him
self; but his reflections were all self
adulative, seIf-Teverent He felt that
he had done a good days work He
had forever rid himself of a dangerous
rival, a man whose ambition had Of late
caused him grave uneasiness He had
saved his money and would make more.
how TO cajole Jibaloffs master into be
lieving that the pasha had perished at
sea by some unknown peril of the deep.
He laughed aloud TO think that there
was no occasion 10 admit 10 the Sultan
the receipt of any portion of the gold
and all the miser IN him reveled and de-
lighted in the idea of exacting a second
payment for the nefarious contract he
had IN hand. There was still work for
him 20 do. Tomorrow. at the latest
the prince would arrive tO claim his pOr-
tion Of the spoil. thinking fOndiy. no
doubt that he, the Count d'Attala, would
be such a madman as lightly 20 part with
so vast a sum as a hundred thousand
pounds. The old man chUCkled softly TO
himself Well tomorrow the prince, too,
would die: he had never been more than
q fCurehead, and his period of usefulness
had passed; indeed, he was becoming
troublesome. and had lately dared to voice
q threat.
The counts thin, yellow hands clutched
hungrily at the bedclothes then, for a
further consideration had occurred to
him. After the princes death there
would never be need for another division
Of the gold that he loved 50 dearly. All,
all would be his.
II would certainly be necessary TO ap-
point substitutes in the places Of the dead
men in order 10 carry on the work Of
nihilism. and reoonsttute the internal
trio who had worked SO long together.