The Monticellonian., 1917-02-08

| 'SHt0u duIoHhoDlle rdclnS, l SalQ, ma lictously. You referred, of course, doctor, 70 the fact that the Byzantines were crazy over chariot racing, and meant, l take it, that Harris and Mor- ton were once competitors in the stad- lum for the laurel wreath and purse
 Certainly" answered the little doc tor. nursing his knee. Nations are reincarnated as well as individuals Just as ancient Greece, with her un- paralleled painters, sculptors and architects, was reborn as the Italy of the middle ages, with Michaelangelo, Rafael and Da Vinci. and Rome lives again in England. so America is Rome's mightiest offshot, Byzantium. How can you doubt these parallels? What were the Roman qualities? :? Justice. aggrandizement, a very poor appreciation of the arts but an un- equaled sense of law, which gave us the foundations of every western sys- tenn of jurisprudence until the common law of England spread through the English-speaking world Has any country but England inherited the Ro- man instinct for self-government? And Is the Englishman a member of an artistic nation?'
 We'll" said l, but how about America being Byzantium?"
 T am coming to that" the doctor answered, letting his knee fall T shall pass by the common social in stincts of the two nations, their amaz- ingly similar love of luxury, and sup port my case by a single parallel What is it that unites every American to his fellows on certain days of the year in a communion of passionate ecstacy?"
 The presidential election" said Tarrant laughingly.
 The Fourth of July" said l.
 "Pshaw, gentlemen: guess againt"
 "Baseballi" shouted the millionaire
 Yes, or, in its wider application, sport. You know, of course, that the Roman passion for games reached it's apothesis in Byzantium. At the chari- ot races the Greens and the Blues fought and mauled one another as say agely as Orangemen and Hibernian today, or the packers of opposing baseball teams would wish to. We'll, gentlemen, to cut this dsquisition short, I have discovered who Harris and Morton are"
 The doctor rose and walked toward our hosts well-filled library shelves. which were stocked with books of an cient history and antiquities-his l hobby. He took down a stout volume bound in calfskin and turned the pages until he found what he sought. i He seemed about to read it, but sud denly replaced the volume on the shelf
 Show us. Immanuel," pleaded Tar rant.
 No, gentlemen; not until my faith has been vindicated," the doctor an i swered. But l will tell you. Harris l in his last birth is named Hippias, and was the son of a Bithynian slave Morton was named Coluber, and was also slave, but in the palace of Jus tinian. He was a skilful charioteer, and drove Empress Theodora's chari ots when she entered them in the races. The men were rivals for the love of a beautiful slave of the em- press named Iris"
 And Iris is"
 Mae Connolly, the woman in this case. Hers was the name that Harris whispered as he recovered conscious ness"
 Do you claim, doctor" said Tar rant, that we must return to earth to go through the weary round of our past lives, with all their sins and fail ures-and even successes?" asked our host, seriously. q confess that that prospect is not an alluring one I, for example, have not the slightest wish to be millionaire a thousand or if teen hundred years from now. would like something different"
 Only when the past life has been cut short without the fulfilment of it's destiny" answered the doctor grave ly.
 You told me once, 1 think" said Tarrant that it was sometimes possi- ble to discover these lost secrets by hypnotism?"
 Yes, rarely. All dreams of an in. tense nature, all the imaginings of de- lirium are usually a reflection of for mer experiences. How else should these thoughts come to one?"
 But you did not hypnotize Harris?'
 He was already hypnotized"
 How so?"
 By the monotony of the race; by the eternal spectacle of the course with it's everlasting single-hued track, and the brown fence, and the specta- tors. All automobile drivers are hyp- notized. It is when something wakes them that they lose control-as Harris did. Something, some powerful emo tion, some unexpected shock awak- ened him-and he went through the fence. It was while he was coming back to this world of sense that he gave me the clue
 Tn Greek?" I asked, in amazement.
 No. He saw, in that moment, perfect picture of king and queen enthroned, watching a race of street watering carts with four donkeys har- messed abreast. The mirror, of course, distorts it's. images. We'll, gentlemen, suppose we go to the hospital tomor- row and see the patient and try to To- cate Mae Connolly"
 By all means," exclaimed. How about yourself. Mir Tarrant?"
 Well, conNss I'd like to- go," an-