The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1920-05-14

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"'The priest Calenusl Calenusr
cried the mob. is 1t he? No, 1t is
dead manp
at is the priest Calenus, said the
praeter, bravely. What hast thou to
say?
"'Arbaces Of Egypt is the murderer
OF Apaecldes, the priest of isis;
these eyes saw him deal the blow.
1t is from the dungeon into which
he plunged me, it is from the
darkness and horror of death
by famine, that the gods have raised
me to proclaim his crime Release
the Athenian-he is lnnocentP
att is for this, then, that the lion
spared him. A miraclel a miracler
cried Pansa.
"A miracle a mlracler shouted the
people; remove the Athenian-
Arbaces to the lionp
"The power Of the praetor was as q
reed beneath the whirlwind; still, at
his word the guards had drawn them.
selves along the lower benches, on
which the upper classes sat separate
from the vulgar. They made but a
feeble barrier; the waves OF the hui
man sea halted for a moment, to en-
able Arbaces to count the exact mo-
ment Of his doom In despair, and in
a terror which beat down even pride,
he glanced his eyes over the rolling
and rushing crowd, when right above
them, through the wide chasm which
had been left In the velaria, he beheld
a strange and awful apparition; he
beheld, and his craft restored his cour-
agel
''He stretched his hand on, high;
over his lofty brow and royal features
there came an expression of unutter-
able solemnity and command.
HBeholdr he shouted with a voice
of thunder which stilled the roar Of
the crowd; behold how the gods pro-
tect. the guiltless The fires Of the
avenging Orcus burst forth against
the false witness of my accusersp"
The fires of the "avenging 0rcus"
were those of the great eruption of
Vesuvius in 70 A. ID. Toward such a
melodramatic climax, furnished him
by Nature, the author had been spin
ming the lives of his characters in the
little city which nestled under the
shadow of the volcano.
The converging threads of the story
are many, giving in the final weaving
complete picture of the life of Pom.
peli-its shops. tiny palaces, baths,
forum, theater, circus, and all that
daily took place in the energetic life
of this toy copS of Rome at the begin.
ming of the Christian era, The story
eenters around Glaucus the Athenian,
brilliant, gay, witty, descendant of a
nobler race frivolling himself away
amid the cOarser pleasures of the Ro-
mans, until finally all that was fine
in him was brought forth by his love
for lone Of Naples, who, like himself,
was child of Greece. And alongside
this tale Of love rrss the pathetic
stccy se Nydia. TIE blind slave girl,
who centers ali her hopes of happi.
ness in winning the affection of Glau-
Gus. To this end she gains possession
of love potion which the opulent
Julia has had prepared in the belief
that 1t will bring to her the much-de-
sired Glaucus. In reality the potion
is poison which will drive the I'M
fortunate drinker mad. II is designed
by the sinister Egyptian Arbaces to
clear his path to lone from his rival
Glaucus. In his raving, Glaucus comes
upon Arbaces just as the latter has
killed Ione's brother Apaecides.
young priest Of Isis. who, much to the
annoyance of Arbaces, has embraced
the new Christian faith. Arbaces
throws the guilt upon poor Glaucus
with apparent success. But the priest
Calenus was a hidden witness, with
the final result shown in the great cpl
sOde of the book. As the crowd In the
circus turned their eyes toward Vesu-
vius, they beheld "a fire that shifted
and wavered In its hues with every
moment, now fiery luminous, now Of
a dull and dying red, that again blazed
tefrifically forth with intolerable
glare. Then there arose on high the
universal shrieks Of women; the men
stared at each other, but were dumb.
At that moment they felt the earth
shake beneath their feet; the walls
of the theater trembled, and beyond In |
the distance they heard the crash
of falling reofs; an instant more and
the mountain-cloud seemed 10 roll to-
wards them, dark and rapid, Ike
a torrent; at the same time II cast
forth from its bosom shower OF
ashes mixed with vast fragments of
burning stonei Over the crashing
vines, over the desolate streets, over
the amphitheater itself. far and wide. /
with many a mighty splash In the ag.-
tated sea, fell that awful showerl No
longer thought theacrowd Of justice or
of Arbaces; safety for themselves
was their sole thought. Each turned
to fy-each dashing. pressing. crash
ing. against the other"
II was save himself who could In
that night Of horrors. OF the many