St. Tammany farmer., 1906-06-09

.s@AN no Time 10 remove
;z7zkg~=s the dust and dirt
. :i5:sRHElS:sSz::= which had accum-
ulated. And as though this filthy con-
dition was not enough annoyance to
the priests, whose religious rites and
ceremonies required such rigid bath
Ing and cleansing, the stencil arising
from the heaps Of dead frogs in the
open spaces about the temple filled the
air and made the situation almost un-
bsarable. s-. ~ =<4s
James and Jambres, the chief
priests Of the temple, were In any
thing but an amiable mood, and az
they passed through the court OF the
temple on the way to their apart
ments, they lifted their white linen
robes high that they might not be
smirched by the filth on the pavement,
and grumbled as they went. Noticing
the slow movements of one of the at
tendants, Jambres angrily exclaimed:
Faster! You will never get this
filth cleaned out at such a pace a.
that" ..s...-~.- -s
The poor fellow. too weary almost
to feel resentment, tried to hasten his
efforts, and James, with more feeling
than his colleague, said:
But they have been laboring day
and night to rid the place of the
frogs, and 1t is no wonder they are
weary. Curses be upon the Hebrews,
who have brought this upon us"
AYE, but We may be thankful that
the king Is more than ever incensed
against them, and 1t is certain that
he will not let them go, as they have
requested" responded Jambres.
HAD we not boldly withstood him
though after he had pleaded with
Moses to ask his God to remove the
loathsome pests. I fear he might have
yielded"
YEA, but did we not tell him that
Just as the bloody waters of Egypt
would recover their freshness, SO
would this plague subside? Are the
gods OF Egypt dead that we should
listen to despised Hebrew"
They had now entered their private
apartments, which they found as filthy
Is the other portions Of the temple.
Seating themselves. they continued
their conversation.
They had just returned from the
palace, where they had been discuss
| Ing the situation with Pharaoh. The
feeling Of hatred against Moses and
Aaron burned dercely in their breasts,
for they secretly feared their growing
power and were apprehensive OF their
next move.
| "Where obtained he this skill -
James exlaimed, at last, while he
poked with his staff in the dust on the
floor In an aimless sort OF way
s.Neyer before have any possessed
such powers outside Of the priesthood
Of Egypt. and thou knowest how such
skill is obtained by us only after the
most painful and persistent practice.
well, If our plot had not fallen
through Just when we were on the
eve Of success" exclaimed Jambres
savagely, there would be no Moses
now to trouble us. But the fellow who
huneled the job won't spoil ahy more
Of our carefully laid plans, that's sure
Rut what's that?" he cried, pointing
excitedly at the dust through which
Jannes still continued to poke h1s
stan.
II appeared to become suddenly AMI.
mated and the thick covering upon
the floor and furniture about the room
became q wriggling, moving mass
with a startled cry of mingled feal
and horror, the two men, forgetful o.
their priestly dignity, sprang upon tht
chairs where they were sitting, but
aven there the squirming mass fol
lowed them, and the rustic Of thei1
robes started up cloud OF dust thai
was transformed In Its fight into thu
same little green mites, and these set
tied upon them-upon their heads, ant
hands, and faces, and covered the41
robes and quickly burrowed within
and crawled over the flesh OF tn
body.
Their disgust and terror was nov
augmented by the pain caused by th'
creeping, crawling, biting things, ant
Nth a cry Of distress they rushed
from the room and into the QUITE
conrt. But there there was even great
| ar confusion. The attendants, whit
had been bussly cleaning the temple
were jumping and running about al
though mad. They were tearing thei
acant attire from them and slappinl
and rubbing their bodies first her
land then there. The temple was fair
II alive with the loathsome mites
The floor was literally a rolling
souirming sea of them, and the men
i Shiny and slippery mass.
At that moment runner burst int
their midst, calling loudly that tn
hing had sent for his magicians, de
manding that they come at once t
tina palace, for he was in distress
nespite their discomfort, James an
1ambres started at once. As the
nassed the apartment where the sa
crad cats were kept, the most horribl
howling was heard, and as they opene
tha door leading thereto, there spe
mast them like fight Of arrows score
nf the beasts, maddened by the irri
fatin9 lice. The sacred bull could b
heard snorting and rearing about i
ia quarters, and the rattle and sna
!, g. liz silver and gold trappings tol
the story Of It's frantic moves. Alon
the way they saw the people excitedl
rnnninr about and trying franticall
"a rid themselves Of the little pest
that covered them. And they, tot
81 we're nyhting the lice. desperatel
a-.hfna And shaking tn driYa they