Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1920-05-13


Arbaces to the lion!
"The power of the praetor was as a
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
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-
age!
''He stretched his hand on high;
over his lofty brow and royal features
there came an expression of unutter-
able solemnity and command.
"'Beholdr 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 accusersr"
The fires of the "avenging Orcus"
were those of the great eruption of
Vesuvius in 70 A. D. 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
a complete picture of the life of Pom
peii-its shops, tiny palaces, baths,
forum, theater, circus, and all that
daily took place in the energetic life
Of this toy cOp- of Rome at the begin.
ming Of the Christian era. The story
centers around Glaucus the Athenian,
brilliant, gay, witty, descendant Of
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 runs the pathetic
story of Nydia, the blind slave girl,
who centers all 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. 1t 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, a
young priest of Isis, who, much to the
Of Arbaces, has embraced
the new Christian faith. Arbaces
throws the guilt upon poor Glaucus
with apparent success. But the priest
was d WlluCSS1 Will
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 it's hues with every
now fiery luminous, now Of
a dull and dying red, that again blazed
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 roofs; an instant more and
the mountain-clOud seemed 10 roll to-
wards them, dark and rapid, like
a torrent; at the same time 1t cast
forth from its bosom a shower of
ashes mixed with vast fragments of
burning stonei Over the crashing
vines, over the desolate streets, over
he amphitheater itself, far and wide,
With many mighty splash in the agi-
:ated sea, fell that awful shOwerl No
onger thought the crowd Of justice or
# Arbaces; safety for themselves
vas their sole thought. Each turned
o fiy-each dashing, pressing, crash
ng, against the other"
It was save himself who could in
hat night Of horrors. OF the many
EPISODES seen In the flashes Of light was
hat Of blind Nydia guiding Glaucus to
one, and then leading both to safety,
he the only one at home in the dark
less in which she had always lived.
md then, when they had gained a
hip and put to sea and all but Nydia
lad fallen into exhausted slumber,
May the gods bless you, Athenianl"
he murmured, ''may you be happy
With your beloved one; may you some
lines remember Nydial"
A sailor, half doing ON the deck,
ieard a slight splash on the waters.
he looked up, and believed,
Is the vessel merrily bounded on, he
ancled he saw something white abOvS
he waves
copyright. iSla By tho Post Publlshihg Co.