The Washington times., 1906-02-11
CHAPTER XxI-(Continued).

CHAPTER (COntInued).
Thou Holly" she said. quickly, who
art ever OF a caviling and suspicious
mind, remembering what I said but
now. believcst that I lie to thee"
I protested that I was only rejecting
upon an apparent variation between two
statements.
Play not with words" she an
sweTed: Sin thy heart thou didst write
me down a liar. and I take that ill.,
Know. foolish man. that when / said
that the Macedonian Alexander lived
before me. / meant before this present
life of mine. In the existence that Ure~
ceded il, though L outlasted him by
thirty years. we were born in the same
summer. and ! knew him well, for I
was the oracle whom he consulted most
upon his wars and TO my Wisd m he
owed his victories. AfterwaTd we quar-
relied. and I left him and pushed for
ward with Rassen- From that day the
bright star of Alexander began to
wane."
At this Leo made a sound that re-
sembled a whistle In a very agony of
apprehension. beating back the criti-
cisms and certain recOlleCtiOns Of the
which would rise within me. I asked
quickly:
And dost thou Ayesha remember
well all that befell thee in this fcTmer
lIfe2''
NAY. not well" she. answered. med
itatively "0nlv the greater facts. ana
those I have. for the most part. reccN-
cred bv the study of secret things
which thou caIlest vision or magic. For
instance, my Holly, ] recall that thou
vast living in that life. Indeed, 1 seem
10 see an ugly philosopher clad in
dirty robe and filled both with wine and
the learning OF others. who disputed
with Alexander till he grew wroth with
him and caused him TO be banished. or
drowned forget which
Il suppose that 1 was not called Di-
osenes?' I asked. tartly. suspecting
perhaps not without cause that Ayesha
was amusing herself by foolinE ne.
No" she replied. Eravely. i do not
think that was thy name. The Diog-
enes thou speakest of was a much more
famous man. one of real. ii Grabbed.
wisdom, moreover. he did not indulge
I'm wine 1 am mindful of very little or
that life however, not of more indeed.
han are many of The followers of the
prophet Buddha. whose doctrines I
have studied and of whom thou. HollT.
hast spoken To- me SO much. Maybe We
did not meet while it endured Still, I
recollect that the Valley of Bones,
where ] found thee. my Leo. was the
place where "a great battle was fought
between the fire priests, with their vas
sails. the tribes Of the mountain. and the
army Of Rassen. aided by the people of
KalooH. For between these and the
was onmity. since in this present war
history does but rewrite itself"
so thou thyseif vast our guide,' said
Leo. looking at her sharply.
"Ay, Leo, who else2 though ii is not
wonderful that thou didst not know me
beneath those deathly wrappings [
was minded to wait and receive thee in
the sanctuary. yet when I learned that
at length both of you had escaped
Atene and drew near. I could restrain
myself no more. but came forth thus
hideousiy disguised. Yes. I was with you
even at the rivers bank, and, although
you saw me not there sheltered you
from harm,
leo. I yearned to look upon thee and
to be certain that thy heart had not
changed. although until the allotted time
chou mightcst not hear my voice or
see ftlA late WHO vert hDpilitl 10 uti-
derCo that sore trial of thy faith. OF
Holly also, I desired to learn whether
his wisdom could pierce through my
disguise. and how near he stood to
truth. 1t was for this reason that I
suffered him to see me draw the lock
from The satchel on thy breast and TO
hear me wall over thee yonder in the
pest house. Wei, he did not guess so
III. but thou. thou knewest me-in thy
sleep-Gnewest me as I am, and not as
I seemed To be, yes" she added, softly.
and didst say certain sweet words,
which I remember well"
Then beneath that shroud waS thine
own face" asked Leo again, for he was
very curious on this point-''the same
lovely face / see today?"
''Mayhap-as thou wilt" she answer
ed. coldly; also it is the spiric that
matters. not the outward seeming.
though men in their blindness think
otherwise Perchancv ny race is but
as thy heart fashions il, CT as my viii
presents It to the sight and fancy Of
its beholders. But mark! The scouts
have touched