Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1912-10-11


the eighteenth century. living before
these wonders were even thought Of.
might have doubted WetmOre's state
ment. Not 30 this girl. She sank upon
her knees. clasped her hands and bent
her eyes TO the door.
20 Apollo" she said wetmOre Is q
handsome mani, forgive NIX that !
have dared to look upon your celestial
face. II you have flown In the air Ike
a bird you have done a wonder that
no person has spoken Of IN these days
or since the sacred Ere was committed
to the vestal virgins. Did you fly
from that strange land across the
ocean to the Pillars Of HercuiesY'
mo; l came In a ship far larger than
the greatest trireme-a ship moving
without oars or snils."
This seemed to affect the girl as wen
more Of a marvel than dying In the afr.
She bent her head clean down to the
I floor.
20 Apollo" she said. trembling. 'for
/ am sure you are he. J fear you have
come to work disaster on this hOuseT'
Il assure you I have not"
Have you come to bring US good
fortune, to peat down those evil spirits
that would work us illT"
II would gladly favor you"
Then attack these monsters in the
mountain who are grooming under the
work Of preparing to shake 1t as they
did q decade ago, when they destroyed
our city"
Wetmore smiled. Then. advancing,
he raised the girl, but she dared not
look in his face.
Il have no power Over such forces.
I am not Apollo. nor Jupiter, nor Her
cules. am an ordinary man, one of
many men who have learned that these
phenomena. which to you are the acts
Of gods. are mere forces of nature. We
have learned that the world is a great
globe resting on nothing. whirling
around the sun once every year"
THAT cannot be. Atlas supports the
world. And. as for the sun, 1t rises in
the east and sets in the west, and none
but the gods knows where 1t goes at
night"
what i say l know. I have started
eastward from Atlantis. gone around
the great globe and come upon Atlantis
again from the west"
And yet you say you are not a god.
Then how do you steer your ships
across the waters, since between the
shores no land is to he seen?"
I'VE poise a steel needle on a point.
so that 1t swings free. 1t is always
turned to the north"
"And what god points it-NeptuneT'
1t occurred to Wetmore that any at
tempt TO explain to this n of a peo-
pie who had a god for every force what
even scientists of the present advanced
age cannot explain would be futile.
And yet" he said to himself. even
with all our enlightenment, the source
Of these forces-our one Gods no
more Ineligible to us than the many
gods of the ancients were to them"
''TeIl me-" said the girl, lowering her
eyes. "who is yOur goddess of lover"
1--WE have no such goddess"
The girl looked surprised Nor
Cupid?"
mo Cupid"
whence, then, zones lover"
Another point in which we heirs to
the past know no more than the an
clients.
Love is sent by God" he replied,
with an uncertain tone.
"But ! thought you said you have no
god for lover
1.-The difference between our n God
and your many gods is that each OF
yours controlled a certain power OF
emotion; our one God controls all. He
can move us to love as powerfully as
II he had no other work. From heaven,
I believe at this moment. comes upon
me that which you believe follows
from a prick Of Cupid's arrow"
"FOr whOmT'
"For you. fair maiden"
She stood as one In a dream. Wet
more was curious to know how she
would receive the announcement BE
knew that all his efforts to convince
her that he was not immortal had been
ineffective. What would be her reply
to the announcement hat she had been
chosen by a celestial beingl At last
raising her eyes oiled with an inefable
pride and happiness, she exclaimed:
Happy mortal, that / may be the
mother Of a gOd!"
This Is as far as Wetmore ever goI
in a clear narration of what he be
lieves to be a meeting with a live
Pompelan. Beyond this point he be
came incOherent. He had evidently
been seized with a passion for this
heather maiden. and It wal returned
but she faded from him just as he wai
about to stretch forth his arms to EN-
brace her.
Next he wat lying on the stone nooI
Of the house OF Cassius. and It was
again a ruin. One Of the guardians Of
this city Of the past was standing OveI
him.
How did you get in hereY" asked
the man IN Italian.
Wetmore looked at him. dazed. He
} had not yea got the vision Of this HOUSE
as It wal ana the maiden he met IN Il
out OF bis mind. He made no reply
The man raised him, led him TO thu
4 rnfinraa 1eaffru anN nuf him In n train