Evening star., 1924-12-14
Simon Of the Closed Door
KATHERINE HOLLAND
The Story of Stolen Bride of the First Century.

meant a kindness. He could not
have said a crueler thing.
For all his bitterness, Simon, being
human, felt vaguely friendly toward
the apostles, because he had be-
friended them. The next night he
found himself lettering around the
market place.
Oddly, tonights crowd listened-in
quietly. in bland unconcern. over and
over Paul implored them, open your
doors to the light! Open your locked
hearts, that JOY may enter i'm
His words burnt on Simon's brain.
Rebellious. he turned away, and shut
himself into his house.
After long hour, he heard the
! homebound crowd go by. He peered
through his narrow window. Here
came Paul and Silas, tagging wearily
past.
Simon hurried to the door.
stop. Enter" he called gruffiy.
"Tarry this night with me. / have a
venison from Mount Gerizim and new
wheaton bread. 1 will put couches
for you before the fire, and pile them
| with bearskins and coverlets of
lambs wool. Enter, pray you"
The worn men agreed. gladly. Soon
they slept, in deep luxurious warmth.
But Simon crouched before his hearth.
In the flames he saw again the pic
ture that he cherished. The face Of
his little Lydia, as she put the pre-
cious stone into his hand: the face of
the old hunter, amused and kind.
Again he heard the old mans gentle
| word:
open thy hand. little son. And
open thy heart, that Joy may enter
in
He took tho shining stone from its
| case; then thrust it back. Tonight,
somehow, the sight of it all but broke
his heart.
you may as well make my house
your headquarters" he told the apos-
ties at break Of day. Come and go
as ye will"
Instead Of speaking thanks, Paul
and Silas stood and looked at him.
BY that look, Simon felt himself
warmed and comforted, repaid as In
fine gold.
Driven by inexplicable impulse, he
dragged both doors wide open. and
wedged them so that they would stay
open, night and day.
Now, when the men Of Joppa passed
by and saw those long sealed doors
set wide, with one accord they stopped
and opened their mouths to marvel
For his. doors stood always open to
whomsoever would enter in. Even
the children came and played, un-
afraid, at his threshold. Nor were
they daunted by his grave face and
his silence; the silence of his endless
grief.
Nov. while Simon. courteous. a
little sardonic. was opening,
gradually, the doors of his life and
his heart, on 4 far island to the west,
strange events were afoot.
On this island, called by the Ro-
mans Ba sia, there were no cities. Its
barren rock plateau boasted but one
! small group of houses, rough little
huts of wattles and sunbaked clay.
But within these dismal hutches were
a glory. Their mud walls were hid
by great webs of silk. gold, amber,
hyacinth; huge tiger skins and hides
Of wolf and bear strewed the dirt
floors: chests Of gold coins. tall pitch
ers Of beaten silver, pearl, spices,
ivory-the huts were a riot OF stolen
/ treasure. For Basia was the fast
| ness OF Irais, daughter Of q famed
pirate chief and now the bold, inso-
lent ruler of her fathers crew.
Serving Irais. wan, silent, strangely
lovely despite her frail body, the moon
white of her averted face, was a Jewish
girl. This girl had been handmade to
the beautiful. harsh princess for seven
years. Plotus, younger brother to Irais,
had seized her, during a raid on the
Judean coast A storm, that very night
but almost wrecked the pirate trireme
and had drowned Plotus. the captain,
and half the crew. Therefore all the
pirate folk looked upon this girl with
superstitious fear, believing that she, a
stolen bride, torn from her bridegroom's
arms had called down the storm that
had all but destroyed their ship. Hence,
no man had ever laid a hand upon her
No word nor glance had offended her
these seven years. That enduring
dread Of her powers OF magic was to
her as armor, as her sword and shield.
Beside Irais, beside the pirates guady.
bedizened women, Lys in her gray drug
get and her slave sandals was as an
image Of gray mist. Never would she
even touch the robes, the furs, the gew-
gaws, that Irais. whimsically generous,
flung to her.
Only one treasure did she cherish
That was a trihe, an armlet OF silver
wire, unevenly braided, as If by clumsy
little hands. A piiful trinktet, but a
bracelet OF black magic, the pirates
whispered Had they not spied on her
and watched her press it to her lips
when she thought herself unseen?
So the years had slipped by. But In
the seventh year dark rumor filled that
tiny lawless world. Word came that q
powerful armada Of sea rovers from
North Africa had seized and looted the
three nearby islands. This new band
far outnumbered Irais' crew. They
were swift and powerful and unbeliev-
ably cruel. Horrid tales drove before
them,- like the spray beneath their