The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1920-08-04

6AVCn Aln 6PniiuS VI loOu Out hb0 I
chief sustenance that nerved his feeble !
limbs was revenge!
"'The priest Calenus! Calenusv
cried the mob. is 1t he? No, 1t is q
dead man.
att is the priest Calenus,' said the
praetor. bravely. What hast thou to
sayT
"'Arbaces of Egypt is the murderer
of Apaecides, the priest of Isis;
these eyes saw him deal the blow.
It 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 innocentv
at is for this, then, that the lion
spared him. A miraclei q miracler
cried Pansa.
"A miracle! a miraclev shouted tha
people; remove the Athenian-
Arbaces to the lion!'
"The power Of the praetof was as
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
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 accusers-"
. The fires Of the "avenging Orcus''
; were those of the great eruption of
!. Vesuvius in 70 A. D. Toward such q
}. melodramatic climax, furnished him
d. 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.
8 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 thai
d daily took place in the energetic life
4; Of this toy copy of Rome at the begin
ming Of the Christian era. The stor!
e centers around Glaucus the Athenian
l. brilliant, gay, witty. descendant of I
t. nobler race frivolling himself ava.
d amid the coarser pleasures of the RO
e mans, until finally all that was fin
d in him was brought forth by his low
e for lone Of Naples. who. like himself
was a child of Gre>.e. And alongsfi,
- story of Nydia, the blind slave girl
=. who centers all her hopes Of happl
). ness in winning the affection of Glau
, Gus. To this end she gains possession
o of a love potion which the opulen
n Julia has had prepared IN the belle
# that it will bring to her the much-de
# sired Glaucus. In reality the potion
a is poison which will drive the un
10 fortunate drinker mad. 1t is designe,
q by the sinister Egyptian Arbaces t
5. clear his path to lone from his riva
q Glaucus. In his raving. Glaucus come
II upon Arbaces just as the latter ha
+. killed Ione's brother Apaecides,
IS young priest of Isis. who. much to tn
u annoyance of Arbaces. has embrace
IS the new Christian faith. Arbace
If throws the guilt upon poor Glaucu
.. with apparent success. But the prizes
n. Calenus was a hidden witness, wit
n the final result shown in the great ep
RI sode of the book. AS the crowd in tn
re- circus turned their eyes toward Vest
N vius, they beheld "a fire that shifte
and wavered in its hues with ever
10 moment, now fiery luminous, now G
W dull and dying red. that again blaze
n terrifically forth with intolerabl
r. glare. Then there arose on high tn
~ universal shrieks of women: the me
=. stared at each other, but were duml
10 At that moment they felt the cart
shake beneath their feet; the wall
of the theater trembled. and beyond
~ the distance they heard the cras
~ of falling roofs; an instant more an
the mountain-cloud seemed 10 roll t.
IT. wards them. dark and rapid, Liz
ls a torrent; at the same time it ca:
ae forth from its bosom shower {
re ashes mixed with vast fragments {
OF burning stone! Over the crashin
n, vines. over the desolate streets, owe
III the amphitheater itself, far and wild
ne with many mighty splash in the az
"a tated SEQ, fell that awful shower! n
p longer thought the crowd Of justice {
rs Of Arbaces; safety for themselvs
q, was their sole thought. Each turne
IS to fly-each dashing. pressing, crasl
ne ing, against the other"
IL Y< x,oS Soro h}vnco1f vho r0u1d