The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-08-21
THE STORY OF CABIRIA.

"Cabiria," one of the biggest motion
| picture features Of the year. viii be
shown at the Strapd. formerly the
Orpheum Theater, next week. The picture
was produced by the Itala Film Company
at Turin. Italy. The novelizatiOn Of the
play Is as follows
CHAPTER l.
The Devil OF the Mountain stirred in
his sleep. Shudders ran through the
! land. Thousands Of eyes turned in dumb
horror toward the crater.
The Devil of the. Mountain awoke in red
| fury And from Aetna's jagged mouth
poured his breath in living flame and
molten lava
Down upon the old world Sicilian village
| of Catana, nesting sleepily in the noun
tain's shadow, swept the molten death.
| licking up or burying everything and
everybody in its path. Before IL in wild
| terror fled man and beast.
Like a flaming tidal wave. shaken on
/ ward by the earthquake. rushed the lava.
In its course lay the marble villa of
Batto. the Roman patrician. who. with
his wife and their little daughter. Cabiria.
was leading a pleasant life Of rustic re-
| tirement on Aetna's slopes
BY a miracle the tide OF death passed
by the spot where Batto and his wife
covered. But IL swept over their home.
Cabiria. the baby. had been playing with
her nurse, Croessa, when the first tremor
gave warning of the Mountain Devil 5
waking wrath. With a mob Of fellow
servants Croessa snatched up such Of
her masters treasures as she could and
with Cabiria in her arms fed for the
| seashore.
It was a fight from one peril into
worse. AS they reached the coast the
| fugitIves were seized by a gang Of Phoe-
nician pirates and carried away to Car
thage to be sold as slaves.
Carthage. today a long-dead city and
nation. was in the third century before
Christ the richest, wickedest, most SPLEEN
did power on earth. Hasdrubal, its ruler.
| and Hannibal its general, made its
I strength felt from one end OF the globe
] to the other. Its only rival was Rome.
With Rome there had already been one
clash. And even now Hannibal. at the
head OF an invading army. was march
| ing over the ice-bound Pyrenees to strike
blow at Rome's very heart
And for the success Of this expedition
the Cartha gfnian high priest, Parthalo,
was making sacrifices, day and night, to
the city's deviI-god. Moloch-not sacri-
fees Of goats and lambs and cattle, as
did the Romans and the Hebrews. but
horrible sacrifices Of human life.
In the giant temple OF Moloch, with its
stood a furnace of white heat-a furnace
| in the shape Of Moloch. Into the blazing
heart OF this furnace were cast the fair
est little children to be found in all Car
thage.
Seeking such children, Karthalo one
day strobe through the slave market
There his snakelike gaze CHANGED to fall
upon Cabiria, clasped TO her nurses
breast. Rarthalo bought the child and
daxy hi har IN - n
loch to feed the fire demon his people
vorshIpped.
| The nurse, Croessa, followed her
adored little charge to the temple.
shrieking to the priests to spare the
child. It was a demand for mercy 10
| the merciless KarthaIo passed on with
| the victim: and for interfering in the
! holy rites. Croessa was rogged.
| Sore OF body. broken Of heart. the
desperate woman fed through the streets
streets that wer deserted because ali
Carthage was at the temple. viewing the
sacrifice ceremonies. As she stumbled
along. half blind with weeping. Croessa
almost collided with two cloaked figures.
She heard one Of them speak. The voice
was that Of a Roman And she stopped
To stare at these people who dared ven
ture into their enemy's capital.
The man who had spoken was young.
patrician. despite his ragged disguise
His companion was an Ethiop. a giant OF
unbelievable stature and strength. The
/ patrician was Fulvius AxiIla, a Roman
! officer. who had volunteered to risk his
life by coming to Carthage as a spy.
The giant Ethiop was Maciste. his slave.
Croessa rushed up to Fulvius and brok-
emily poured forth her story: entreating
him to rescue the doomed CabIria- She
thrust upon him a strangely engraved
ring she had saved from the loot of
Batto's house. a talismanic loop bearing
the Inscription: Save and you shall be
saved
Fulvius. touched by her pfeadings con-
scented to undertake the child's rescue.
Guided by Croessa. he and Maciste made
their way to the temple. Maciste strid-
| ing ahead. through the handsguarded
mouth OF the shrine, thrust the worship
pers aside like so many children, and
made way for his master toward the
! glowing furnace at the far end.
Karthalo, the crying Cabiria in his
arms was standing in front Of the white
hot idol He chanted a prayer for Han
nibars victory over the Romans. The
worshipers swelled the chant to a roar
| like the bowling Of hungry beasts. Then
| stepping forward. Karthalo swung open
! the door in the chest of the idol-shaped
| furnace. Out gushed blast Of heat
that singed the little girls haxen curls.
! High in air Karthalo poised Cabiria pre-
! paratory to casting her into the flames.
At the same instant Karthalo was hurl-
ed senseless to the ground. The child
was snatched from him. Two men, one
a black giant, the other a Roman patri-
! clan, lowered for an instant above him.
Then they seized the baby and dashed
through the stupefed throng, through the
! temple and into the street.
] The worshipers, recovering from their
momentary horror at the sacrilege,