Gunnison news-champion., 1921-09-09

cried the mob. Is il her No. ii is .
dead man-
-It is the priest Caienus' said the
praeior. braveiy. What hast thou to
sayY
-.Artaoes Of Egypt Is the murderer
of Apaecides. the priest Of Isis:
these eyes saw him deal the blow.
IL Is from the dungeon into which
he plunged me. II Is from he
darkness and horror Of death
by famine. that the gods have raised
me TO proclaim his crime, Release
the Athehian-he Is Innocentr
"It is for this. then that the lion
spared him A miraciei a mlracler
cried Pansa-
"a miracle, miracle = shouted the
people: remove the Athenian-
Arbaces TO the lioni'
The power Of the prae,or 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 separatG
from the vulgar. They made but Q
feeble barrier: the waves Of the hu-
man sea halted for moment. to en-
able srbaces 10 count the exact mo-
neut OF IFS doom. In despair. and in
terror which heat down even pride,
be 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!
''Ie stretched his hand on high;
over his lofty brow and royal features
there came an expression Of unutter-
able solemniiy and command.
"'Beholdl' he shouted with n 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 - A. ID. Toward such Q
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 conyerging threads OF the story
are many, giving in the final weaving
complete picture of the life Of Pom
reli-its shops. tiny palaces. baths,
forum, theater, circus. and all that
daily took place In the energetic life
OF this toy copy of Rome at the begin
ming Of the Christian ern. The story
centers around Glaucus the Athenlan,
brilliant. gay. witty. descendant Of q
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 hnppi.
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 It will bring to her the much-de-
sired Glaucus. In reality the potion
is a poison which viii drive the un-
fortunate drinker mad. It Ia designed
by the sinister Egyptian Arbaces to
clear his path to lone from his rival
Glaucus. In his ravfng. Glaucus comes
upon Arbaces just ~ 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 GIaucus !,
with apparent success. But the priest
Calenus was a hidden witness. with
the final result shown in the great epi-
sode Of the book. As the crowd In the
circus turned their eyes toward .vesu-
vius. they beheId "a fire that shifted
and wavered in its hues with every
moment, now fiery luminous, now Of
dull and dying red. that again blazed.
terrifcally 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 ah1
the mountain-cloud seemed TO roll to-
wards them. dark and rapid. Ike
q torrent: af the same time It cast
forth from its bosom Z 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 q mighty splash In the agi-
tated sea, fell that awful showerl No
longer thought the crowd Of justice Or
Of Arbaces: safety for themselves
was their sole thought. Each turned
to ny-each dashing, pressing. craaA-
Ing, against the other"
It was save himself who equld n