The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1921-02-24

artificial light reached the wanderer.
He could not stop short of the wall;
his feet carried him against II. Mo
ments Of an unreal clarity came to his
brain, In which everything was out
lined with indelible severity, inkllnes
OF memory. There was an uncanny
view OF certain room in D1ry street,
long ago, a man sleeping. mumbling as
he slept, one hand twitching upon the
side of the cot. He was whispering,
"rm going" and the room was sur
charged with the warm scent OF CHINA.
mon and roses. Lexington gasped,
snatching at the wall, and this vision
Of his father and koresh broke away
only the dark again, with a green glow
overhead somewhere, and great
pulslng like seismic threats. Some
thing that was distantly yet truly him
self now commanded, and with sur
prislng difficulty Con stretched his
fingers up the barrier and began TO lift
himself His eyes came level with the
top, and he blinked into the glow.
A low altar of rock was sending up
the very crystalline soul OF smoke,
clear as water rising In spring. or
lifting gas In still air. Round about
the altar, or reclining against the
walls of the low chamber, were figures.
motionless, their colored robes and the
silken draperies of their couches as
lIfeless as the sandstone that encased
all. The light came from an inverted
bowl of Jade upon the wall. One couch
was higher than the rest, nearer the
peak of stones that made the altar,
and beside this couch an old woman
stood, robed In black. OF all the fig
ures in the chamber, the ancient fe-
male alone moved, and her arms,
swaying so gradually, the tips of her
sleeves drifting, were the essence of
stiffness. Lexington was gripped cold
as he dlscerned through the vapors
that this person was stroking the eye
lids OF his princess.
Gowned In celestial blue and gold
gemmed ankle rings lax upon the cush-
| ions, Helen lay as one in death beyond
the colorless font of smoke, and her
lovers torture was complete.
From a yellow bowl, the woman In
black molstened her fingers and con-
tinued the Grugged caresses. The hag
was proof against the fumes that had
| dizzied Lexington when he was yet far
down the passage, and that drove the
souls from the bodies of all the
devotees within the subterranean
| chamber.
Stupidly he observed the cash In the
rock behind the bowl of jade from
which the flaming gas emerged to H.
lumine the room; he noted the door
beyond, and an iron ring in the door.
In the crisis he duly observed details
the tangled long mustaches of one
waXen face in a corner. the CLINT Of
polished nails on royal fat hand. the
| silken dragons that stood forever lick
ing the throat OF one (male or female,
he could not telD. who lounged with a
frozen smile on a couch of crimson.
Under the weight of agony, Lexington
held on stifily, and had the inept recol-
lection that this was the state religion,
goddess and inverted prayer, blow
ing upon the senses, soft as the
tongues of serpents, deadly as their
fangs.
Then came the thought that cen
tered him once more. He heard Helen
saying TO him. an hour, an age, since.
You are making me unhappy" To
forget his words. to loose the tangle
he had brought into her life she had
descended to pay this visit to the
darker gods. The old hag went on
and on, rubbing gently, diminishing
more and more the slight rise and fall
Of Helen's breast. The gas hissed
dryly from the wall.
Con felt a murderous impulse, but II
did not extend to his muscular sys-
TEN. His eyes narrowed with rage
and pain; yet he could not overcome
the smother of koresh In the air. He
loved, hated the Jeweled bands on her
naked ankles, the chains of jade and
wrought gold about her body. These
textures and precious things were TAX.
ing her further from him, and they
aggravated the loss of his own bodily
control. His mouth opened and Ger
tain muscles of the jaw tightened in q
laugh Of hysterical anger, but his
lungs gave forth no cry, and his emo
ton remained silent. All that he had
formerly known to be himself was now
but an encasement. lock, dry dam
upon the real man. He pictured him
self In leap into the chamber, past
the cone - rock, up to the side Of his
princess. He would carry her away
out somehow into sunlight and sanity
But the old Con Lexington Of nerve
and sinew would not respond, hanging
half-blindly upon ledge of sandstone
helpless, while the new Lexington wal
out of command-clear-eyed, able &c
suffer yet equally helpless He had @
final glimpse Of the dead colorful ng
ures reclined In static delight about
the chamber. final furious wish t.
seize Helen In his arms, crush hel
| silks and golden wells m his heart anf