The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-06

eetfulness embraced him; and he awoke to feel his pulses beating fresh ana calm. and to welcome the young oay with hope-inspired soul. :. Led by Mephistopheles he went 70 the imperial court, where. beneath tne ermine and the crowd, black trouble hid and grfnned. The cities sat pe- hind their walls, defiant. The Darons | looked rebellious from their mountain roosts. The army clamored ana. iach, ing pay from the Emperor, plunoereo the land that it was sworn to proteo. ]; Vassals fell away each day. hihss anu territories refused tribute. Faust taught the Emperor and his perplexed Chancellor to finance the hidden resources of the empire. he unraveled the tangled motives or men and nations and brought peace To tne disturbed land. Plenty seemed 10 spring from his touch. Glory returned to the court and pomp and splendor grauy ma aricalIy where he trod. -. Having made the Emperor rich again, he demanded naturally that he be amused. Mephistopheles piled sorcery trick on sorcery and still the royal feaster's appetite grew. till at last he demanded of Faust that he call Helen of Troy from the underworld. Mphistopheles confessed to Faust
 
 Hades. but he gave him a key and told him how to descend into the under world to the place of the mystic tripod Faust made the voyage and returned l to court with the symbol of power He erected the tripod before the court and touched 1t with the magic key. Clouds arose, pillars and columns appeared amid the vapors, and Paris anibrosial with youth. appeared be- ara ell strength and grace and lay down to sleep.
 Out of the wreaths of smoke stepped another figure-the figure of woman At the sight of her, one great gasp of engagement and helpless admiration escaped from the rapt circle of the court Troubadours were there who had seen and sung all the famous
 beauties of the living world. Beauties were there whose spell had loosed the tide of war and shaken thrones. But neither sight had seen nor had brain dreamed a beauty such as hers who appeared in the air before their living eyes.
 Faust shaken to his soul, forgot his part. Stepping toward the vision, he exclaimed: How empty, useless, fte- tered was the world to me till had
 won my priesthood by my fearful voy- age Into the nOtn1nSneSs! NOW khoW
 what 1t is to love!"
 As he spoke Paris stirred, arose,
 sprang toward Helen and seized her to carry her away.
 Faust. no longer in control of his
 senses leaped at him and touched him
 with the key. A vast explosion stunned the air. Faust fell unconscious, and
 darkness and tumult broke loose in
 the hall.
 Mephistopheles, lifting Faust and
 fleeing. grumbled: There we have iti Dealing with a fool will bring the devil himself to grief at last" When pr. Faust awoke he was in 1 his old study. His first utteranee was | a demand for Helen. Mephistopheles l shrugged his lean shoulders, My Kingdom is in the north" said he, q
 cannot lead you to the Hades of the south."
 Then alchemy came to his aid
 Faust's old disciple Wagner. who had
 continued his masters studies, had
 succeeded in making a Homunculus, a
 human intelligence, but lacking form and body. Scarcely created. the Hom-
 unculus strove to know the beginning
 of all things and demanded a physical
 existence. Floating out of. Wagner's
 grasp 1t shone with ethereal light and shaped its course to Greece. with Faust and Mephistopheles in It's train Restless was the flight till the Hom- unculus settled on the plain of Phara-
 salus, the battle-ground of Caesars
 victory. It was Walpurgis Night again
 Gods, heroes. fauns. sphynx and | centaurs. the garces and the furies were gathered in revelry as were the
 witches of the north on the Brocken.
 But here were beauty without blasp- hemy, bacchanaian joy without deg
 radiation, fantastic form without malig-
 nant, distorion. Faust moved among
 them, bathing his heart in the antique
 splendor of pure beauty, feeling none
 of the loathing that had driven him
 from the black and hldeous Brocken.
 Carried by ChiFon, wisest of the Gen.
 turs. he found his way to Helen and carried her away from the lost ages into his own time, as glowing, as splendid in her young beauty as when
 the walls of Troy fell for her sake.
 Homunculus, led by Proteus, des- cended into the sea where there lay all the be ginningof life. There Is the eternal, the fountain of aH," sang Proteus. There has the spirit gather ed a form. There shall you grow de- Velop and be-"
 In Arcadian peace Faust and Helen wandered while time stood still. Pas sionwithout touch of earthly gross ness. love that rose far above the world, adoration and splendid vision were theirs. Yet still the unattainabie beckoned Faust and still he did not whisper to the moment: "Oh stay. re- main! Thou art so fair"' love could not i'll his desires, peace could not meet his craving.
 Helen returned to the underwood and